Sugar Apples

Pinkie Pie was walking with Braeburn towards the edge of the Apple Orchard. They'd been working all day, bucking apple tree after apple tree. Her hooves were killing her, but there were a few more trees to do before they could call it a day. There was a bright smile on her sweaty face nonetheless. Braeburn on the other hoof didn't seem bothered one bit, it must've been an advantage to apple bucking for long periods of time. Meaning his entire life.

Pinkie stopped beside a tree with baskets under it, Braeburn at one a few trees away. She wound up and gave a good solid buck to the thick trunk, smiling as apples fell into the baskets. She gave it a few more kicks to shake loose any extra apples and moved on to the next one. She and Braeburn met in the middle, each with one more tree to buck.

Braeburn made quick work of his tree, giving it a good old fashioned Appleloosan Apple Family buck. He turned to see Pinkie Pie winding up for one last buck, determined to shake loose the stubborn apples that clung to their leafy shelter.

The pink earth pony had a determined smile on her face. There were only a hooffull of apples left, nothing a few good kicks couldn't solve. She wound up and bucked the tree, shaking some of its burdens loose but not as much as she wanted. As she went to give it another solid kick, the muscles in her front leg seized up painfully, throwing off her kick and making her fall to the ground with a sharp cry of pain.

Braeburn ran over. "Pinkie! What happened, are y'all alright?" He asked.

Pinkie shook her head. "Ugh... My leg..." She whinnied, looking at her burning foreleg. "I don't know what happened I was just bucking apples and then it started hurting!" She cried, looking at him with confusion in her eyes. "Is it broken? How bad is it? What did I do?" She asked.

Braeburn took her hoof and helped her up. "Ya just cramped up is all. Here." He took her leg and slung it over his shoulders. "That's enough apple buckin' fer today, lets get back ta mah house." He helped her walk on three legs, their progress slow. The sun was beginning to set when they arrived at Braeburn's house. He kicked it open and escorted her onto the worn sofa, taking her hoof in his. "Hold still Pinkie, Ah'm gonna try and work out the muscles in yer foreleg." He ordered, placing a stool under her leg and beginning to rub his hooves along it, working out the stress in her muscles.

Pinkie Pie let out a dreamy sigh, this stallion had magical hooves! She could feel the muscles in her leg unwinding, the pain dwindling as the stiffened muscles relaxed, the lactic acids draining. As the pain went away, she smiled at Braeburn. "Thanks Braeburn! That feels a lot better." She flexed her shoulder a few times and stood up, her leg a bit sore but other than that she was fine.