Chapter 4

The next day, you wake up to the sound of a knocking on the door. “Scootaloo? You in there?” you hear the voice of Applebloom from the other side.

Oh… darn! You forgot to unlock the door this morning! What time is it?

“Wha-! What time is it, Applebloom?!” You quickly rush over to the door, slamming it open, your disheveled mane and fur taking Applebloom by surprise.

“Erm… sun came up about an hour ago, came out here t’ grab a few things,” she says, raising an eyebrow at you. “Y’all alright?”

You shake your head quickly, realizing it’s your friend. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, I’m alright!” You say, chuckling to yourself. “Never better!”

She shrugs it off, and smiles at you. “So, ya ready t’ help out in the orchard today?” she asks, walking inside and opening a few windows. “Applejack’s really needed some help lately, ever since we got some new land on the south orchard a few years back. Remember?”

Oh yeah, you remember! Applebloom wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks; she definitely seemed excited for her sister.

“Is… is Anonymous out there already?”

“Yup!” she exclaims, smiling at you. “Ah’m sure he’s waitin’ on ya t’ help out with it,” she says, grabbing a few books. “Ah’ll be comin’ out t’ help ya also, but I got a few things t’ take care of in the house first.”

You nod, quickly going over to fix up your disheveled mane. “So where are they now?” You turn to your friend, who’s placing the books into her pack.

“They’re out by the farm last I checked,” she says, going to the door. “Takin’ a break, but you know my sister…” She sighs, walking down the steps. “She prob’ly already has him out workin’ again…”

You quickly speed out behind her, walking alongside Applebloom on her way up to the farm. “So what’s that book you got there, anyway?”

“Nothin’ big, jus’ somethin’ that Granny Smith wanted me t’ get,” she says, grinning happily. “Granny and I are gonna be workin’ on somethin’ good fer dinner tonight, so we gotta make sure we finish up fast!” She turns to you. “Maybe ya might like t’ come on over for dinner tonight? Maybe bring Anonymous too, if mah big sis will let ‘em,” she says, her face beaming.

Dinner? With Anonymous? It’s more likely than you might think!

You grin back at Applebloom. “Sure! Just make sure you can keep up with us… wouldn’t want you to get tired from all those apple trees you gotta buck.”

She takes this as an implied challenge and grins back at you. “Yer on! Ah’ll meet ya at the orchard!” she exclaims, before speeding off towards the farm. “Meet with mah big sis before ya start! She’ll tell ya where to go!” She calls back at you before disappearing over the hill.

You nod, beating your wings a few times before lifting up off of the ground, floating into the air.

There! Leaning against the barn wall in the shade; you’d recognize that hat anywhere.

You quickly speed down to the barn, landing softly on the grass below.

“Well, hey there Scoots,” you hear that familiar mature Southern accent, and see the orange mare eyeing you, chewing on a grass stem. “Hope y’all are ready for a hard day’s work,” she says.

“Ready as I’ll ever be!” You grin, extending your wings in an intimidating stance.

She lets out a chuckle, before spitting out the grass she was chewing on and giving you a grin. “Good ta hear.”

She points out to the south, and you see a small movement coming from a tree in the distance. “That’s where Anonymous is working,” she says. “His legs are strong, but he ain’t strong enough ta work effectively without help. That’s where you come in,” she says. “Help him buck the trees and collect the apples. Do yer best ta finish as much as ya can.”

“Aye aye!” You hold your hoof up in a mock salute, before speeding off towards Anonymous.

Finally, the two of you will get to hang out on your own!

Maybe you’ll finally get some insight on why Applejack doesn’t like him, too…

Your legs are screaming at you.

Then again, you shouldn’t be surprised; after kicking roughly fifty trees as hard as you can, of course your legs are going to be tired. Good thing it’s just the beginning of summer, though; it’s not gotten NEARLY as hot as it could be right now.

You knock the last apple from the tree that you can see, before wiping your forehead and moving to stick them into the basket.

“Anon! Wait!” you hear an all-too-familiar voice call from the distance. You turn and see Scootaloo, barreling towards you through the air. She has a grin on her face rivaling that of Rainbow’s whenever the two of you are racing, and probably-

SMACK!

While you were deep in thought, she was trying to stop herself from crashing into you. Being the ignorant one you are, however, you didn’t notice her not being able to pull it off, and ended up getting slammed in the torso, sending both of you falling to the ground.

You slam your back hard into the ground, letting out a pained grunt. “Whoa, kid! Watch where you’re flying next time…” You cough, catching your breath after you got the wind knocked out of you from this pegasus.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, trying to help you back onto your feet. “I was trying to get here as quickly as possible, but when I arrived I wasn’t able to slow myself down…” she mutters, her ears drooping a bit in sadness.

You sigh, patting her on the head. “It’s alright, Scoots. Just be careful next time, alright? We’ve got a lot of trees to go through, after all; I’m gonna need all the strength I can get.”

She smiles up at you and nods, before lifting up into the air. “I’ll get the ones that are higher up in the trees that don’t get shaken off by your kicks, alright?”

You chuckle; it seemed a bit unfair, but hey, at least she’ll be helping you get it done. Three kicks per tree should do the trick if she’s telling the truth. “Alright, sounds like a plan.”

“Woohoo!” she exclaims, flying up into the air and beginning to go over the last few trees in the area you’ve kicked already, snagging the last remaining good apples from the tops of the trees.

A few hours pass before anything of note is spoken between the two of you.

“Hey, Anon?” she looks down at you, dropping an apple into the nearby basket.

“Yeah Scoots?”

“I was just wondering; why does Applejack treat you like she did back in the market? She doesn’t seem to treat any other pony like that…”

You sigh; she’s bound to figure it out eventually. “Well, it’s a long story, Scoots… you might want to land for this. I think we both need a rest before finishing up the orchard here.”

Both of you take shelter under the shade of a nearby large apple tree, both of you taking one apple each out of the basket; it’s just two apples, after all. What’s it gonna hurt?

“It all started two years ago…”

End of Chapter 4

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed! This is the first time I'm posting a story in FIMFiction's new layout, so let's see how this formats...

~Wuten, King of Spaghetti