Buckshot walked through the fields and came to the tree with Applejack.
“Alright Buck. What Ah want ya ta do is shove this here pipe into that there tree and drain the sap. Can ya do it?”
“Yes ma’am.” he said, tired of all the work he had to do for his friend. “Anything ta help me stay here.”
“Don’t sweat it Buck. As long as you work as hard as you have for the past week, I’m sure you’ll do enough ta earn your keep. Heck, ya’ll are already treated as family!” she laughed.
“Ah thank ya kindly Miss Applejack.”
“How many times do Ah have ta tell ya? Juss call me Applejack.” she winked.
Buckshot nodded sheepishly and turned around as Applejack left to go back to the house. He was already covered in sweat from plowing the field. They hadn't any more plow harnesses, so he had to use the one Big Mac wore all the time. It smelled terrible and was still wet from the fresh sweat off of Big Mac’s back. Buckshot shivered at the thought but faced the tree and got to work.
First he peeled the bark away from the tree, leaving the smooth, lighter wood exposed. Then he slammed the pipe into the tree, hitting it deeper and deeper with a hammer until a slow stream of brown sap dripped out. He placed a bucket under the pipe and stretched, relieved that his work is done for the day.
He turned around to go back to the house but something caught his eye. A mare with a dark gray coat and blonde mane was walking down the road next to the farm. Her large glasses pressed firmly against her face and her green saddlebag filled to the brim with books and parchment.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Never before had he seen a mare as beautiful as this. He watched her as she walked and couldn’t look away. It was like he was in a trance. He almost began to drool before she looked his way. He quickly turned around and began to blush.
“Aww darn it!” he heard her yell.
He quickly turned around to see what had gone wrong. Her saddle bag strap had snapped and her books and quills lay strewn about the dirt floor. She quickly stooped down to pick them up, but her glasses fell off and she just finally dropped to a sitting position and began to sniffle, trying hard not to cry.
Buckshot quickly started running, jumping over the fence and galloping full speed to her. She looked up at the noise and quickly backed up in fear.
“Please don’t hurt me!” she screamed, cowering in fear.
Buckshot slowed down in confusion and stopped running. “Ahm not gonna hurt ya. I just came ta help.” he said softly.
She reopened her eyes to look at the stallion talking to her. She was surprised by his size and muscles. Not that many stallions in Canterlot had the build, nor were they as handsome as he was. She was caught in his looks until he spoke again.
“Uhm ma’am, are you okay?” he asked, concerned.
She quickly snapped out of her trance and stood up. “I’m...I’m okay. Th-thank you.” she blushed.
He blushed back. “It’s no problem. Anything ta help a pretty mare like you.”
They both blushed hard and stood there awkwardly until Buckshot looked down at the ground.
“Oh, your stuff!” He stooped down and began picking up her things and putting them on his back. “Where ya’ll headed anyway?”
She quickly joined him in picking things up, but he refused to let her carry a single thing. He put everything on his back and looked at her. “I was just headed for the Ponyville Library. I was going to work for Twilight Sparkle.”
“Oh! Miss Twilight? I deliver food ta her a lot. She’s a friend of mah boss. I could walk you their...i-if ya w-want.” he stuttered.
The mare looked away and blushed a little. “I-I think I can get there on my own thanks.” She then grabbed all of her things and began walking away.
“Wait!” Buckshot yelled.
The mare turned around and looked at him.
“What’s yer name?
The mare smiled and giggled softly. “It’s Bright Eyes.” She then turned around and left towards town.
Buckshot smiled to himself and whispered softly, “Bright Eyes.” and turned to go back to the farm, but something caught his leg and he tripped, kicking up dirt into a cloud around him. He looked down at his hind hoofs to see Bright Eyes’ saddle bag wrapped around them. He slowly got up and held it in one of his hooves.
“Miss!” He yelled, but she was already around the corner and out of sight. He felt sad and trotted to the house, with the saddle bag in his mouth. As he entered, Applejack was in the kitchen cooking dinner. It was a soup with apple and hay. It smelt good, but Buckshot didn’t notice. The only thing that was on his mind was Bright Eyes.
Applejack looked at Buckshot and could see the sadness in his eyes. “Wuss wrong, Buck?” she asked.
“Ah met this mare...”
“And?”
“Ah’m too shy ta go see her.”
Applejack walked over to him and wrapped her hooves around him in a hug. “Just be brave and tell her how you feel. Where does she live anyways?”
“She said she was gonna go live with Miss Twilight.”
“Oh that’s great! The next time we go see her, you can bring her back her saddlebag. Ah’m assuming thats hers.”
Buckshot blushed “Uhh, yeah.”
“Well then, stop bein’ so shy and tell her. Now c’mon. Stop lookin’ so down and eat some dinner with us.” she smiled.
Buckshot smiled too and walked with Applejack to the table.
“Thanks Applejack.” Buckshot said quietly.
“No problem Sugarcube. Now eat before your soup get’s cold. And besides, Twilight juss recently ordered a couple a apple pies.” she winked.
Buckshot laughed and started to eat, only realizing for the first time how hungry he was.
