Night filling the air, while across the horizon that is tainted by trees is a hint of morning. A light array of color softening the black and blue that dominates the sky giving a serene emotion from the land. Above the blue and black, or between, are the sparkling stars. Those beautiful stars that the inhabitants of Equestria fathom so much about…
The still lit moon just tapping the crust of Equestria with its light that is reflected off from the sun that will soon be on the horizon. The clouds steady in the sky, from just sprinkling their water over night onto the farm of Apple Acres.
On their farm is a large red barn, with it's double door slightly open. A little ways from the warn barn is the home that house the Apple family. The house fully made of wood with a few windows. It has a recently tidied porch, with a few chairs residing on it. The barn has a fence that rides along a dirt road all the way to a 3 way split dirt road.
At the split, there is a pole that is made of a simple branch. On the homemade pole, there are the signs. Each pointing to a different direction; one pointing to the long path to the Apple Acres.
The other points to the Everfree Forest, which is home to many creatures that may not be accepted into regular society. It is known all around Equestria to be a dangerous place. The only thing tops it's dangerousness, is how it is always shrouded in mystery. Not many souls know much about the Everfree Forest which is probably for the best, given it's reputation. It is plagued by swamps, thick unwinding trees, and unrelenting weariness.
The final sign addresses Ponyville in the direction it is pointing. Ponyville, being easily noticeable, makes the sign basically useless. The town is calm now, as it is breaking dawn with the light bouncing off all the different buildings, but in the day is when it shines with life. Each pony walking about the town square talking amongst each other, and the Pegasi flying about freely.
What is truly Equestria prize, next to Canterlot, is the sky city…Cloudsdale. The cloud city resides just in Ponyville's view. It is no doubt any normal cloud, as it has large buildings shaped from clouds themselves. Around it is almost another representation of Ponyville, but built for Pegasi. There are many clouds around the city made from clouds, giving it some depth. If Ponyville had the outlandish houses, Cloudsdale is the outlandish city; quite literally.
The city has every building made from clouds that are constructed in their large factory. By this cloud factory, is a Rainbow factory, where the Pegasus race creates the mush of colors. The prize of this legendary place is the stadium in which the Wonderbolts often perform. It has rows, and rows of seats for the audience, and sometimes these thousands of seats aren't enough.
Not far from the stadium is a specially constructed house for a special Pegasus. Inside the front entrance and to the right is a staircase leading to the bedrooms. To the left is the kitchen where a table lies still with a bowl on it. Across the table is a refrigerator with a calendar on it surrounded by a bunch of different colored magnet letters. Parallel to the fridge is the counter where a desert of dishes lies. They are everywhere, but the sink. Above the desert are half open cupboards, obviously raided for late-night snacking.
Between the fridge and counter is a gap in the wall that leads to the dining room. In the dining room is a cloud table, far in length, but weak in width. There are 6 cloud seats spread around the table, in a classic dining manner.
To the right of the dining room is a doorway without a door that leads back to the entrance. Upstairs, there is only one room that is used, because there is only one occupant of the house. Inside this room is the mess that claims the title from the rest of the house.
There are clothes everywhere accompanied by various different objects. There is no sign of any flooring in the room. To the left of the doorway to the bedroom is a cabinet that is slightly open revealing a blue outfit that is exotic of all standards. Straight ahead of the doorway is a balcony with a glass slide door. There are no guard rails for the balcony, as it was not wanted.
To the far right end of the room is a single bed, with a lonely body. There is a blanket, and pillow on the bed, but the pony lying on the cloud bed made no attempt to use. The pony sleeps quietly, deep in her sleep….
"Rainbow Dash!"
Looking below, the blue, multi-mane colored Pegasus seeing a orange blur recognizing that voice from anywhere. This orange figure is just a small blur, from being so high in the sky; where she belongs. She knows who this orange figure, just by that thick southern accent; Applejack.
"Yeah, what?" The Pegasus's voice squeaks knowing that she can't be heard from up above the trees while keeping her flight speed, making sure the earthbound pony has to go her top speed to keep up.
"Why don't ya'll come down here a little so ah could hear ya!" Addressing Rainbow Dash, knowing very well why she is flying so high. The striking blue pony, aggravated, and descends some. Keeping her speed only feet from Applejack keeping herself afloat in the air.
"Ya'll know you said yesterday ya would help me buck' them apple trees." She says calmly, easily keeping up with Rainbow Dash's speed, as she is slowing down, although knowing she is due to help with the Apple's farm.
"Can't help you today. I have uhh…clouds I have to move from here." Obviously a lie. The sky was beautiful, with only a couple clouds in the blue ocean above. Rainbow Dash just wants to go lay on a cloud…Relax, sleep…Then later, get some flying down, and practice some of her signature moves that can only be performed by a pony with true flight talent.
"Ahh know sugarcube, you aren't going to skip out of work again like you did last season. Ya'll made a promise to help, n' Ima make it happen!" The frustrated orange athlete yells to the stubborn blue pony.
"How can you make me if you can't catch me?" The Pegasus starts to flap her wings to greater speed, soaring past the acre, and turning into the large field of trees.
The orange pony follows shouting, "Ah know you're not trying to run from me!" She knows she cannot compete with a Pegasus, or Rainbow Dash for that matter in speed, but she knew Rainbow Dash well…"Without them there wings ya'll would be in a heap a' trouble!" The orange pony yells to her Pegasus friend, knowing very well this made her furious.
"You are just jealous that I have wings, and you don't!" She yells back in defense, looking at the frantically following pony, as they race through all the trees still full of apples.
"Ya'll lucky too cos' ah'd be heck'a faster than you!" She yells to her friend, knowing immediately how ticked it got her. Rainbow Dash putts herself to a stop. Her hind legs bending back, pulling her wings back for wind resistance, and her front legs bracing themselves for her stop. Applejack slows down, not needing to do so much just to stop herself.
"I am the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria! No other pony has come close to my speed!" Rainbow Dash yells to Applejack with her scratchy, almost squeaky voice. Applejack just looks at her, confident in her knowledge of her arrogant friend.
"If ya'll so fast, how come ah get ya to stop easier than buckin' trees?" AJ replies with an eyebrow raised to put emphasis on, "easy". Rainbow Dash's Magenta eyes narrowing, seeming to lose their natural cool.
Raising her right hoof to Applejack, as if accusing, "If you weren't so stubborn all the time, maybe I would help out!" Rainbow Dash counters. She lowers her hoof, and raises her head with her cool regained, her over abundance of ego filling up the entire Apple's farm.
"Ah am not stubborn! Ah a know when to help my friends, because ah don't just think bout' my own self! All ya'll do is lay on those clouds and do nothing." She yells back to Rainbow Dash, equalizing their anger now. There might as well be lightning between them.
"You have no idea how much work I do! I have to move clouds from and to Ponyville, traffic storms, and today I have to move your stupid clouds from your stupid farm!" Rainbow Dash yelling to her friend. Knowing she lied about the last part, Applejack sighed, sat down, and bowed her head in defeat. The most stubborn earth pony defeated by the most arrogant Pegasus. Her Stetson covering her face, and she motions her hoof to let Rainbow Dash leave. Rainbow Dash, feeling remorse now, looks at her earth pony friend, lowering her head as well.
She takes off, at a casual flight speed. She flies off, in a far direction; most likely towards Ponyville. Rainbow Dash is gone in seconds, leaving the light trail of her spectrum of colors.
Applejack looked to the trace of the blue Pegasus, and sighed again, this one disappointed in herself for letting her fly away. She knows for sure that Rainbow is going to find a cloud, and sleep there, or go off to practice her flying.
'Who is she to tell me I am arrogant! I need to practice so I can become a wonderbolt!' She thinks to herself, immediately betraying her thoughts…She knows that the apples could have used her help. She would have a significant effect on how many apples they would get this harvest. The blue Pegasus decides to reside on a puffy looking cloud; this cloud almost familiar, like she had already spent time on it before, she sighs.
'She's a good friend…She doesn't do me any wrong…' Rainbow says to herself, trying to reason the incident just moments ago. She looks up to the beautiful sky she flies through it every day of her life. It's almost alien to her to not be able to fly, as she does not comprehend the difference between a pony with wings…And one without…
Feeling her eyes clench tighter than they already were from a shattering noise. Rainbow Dash perks her ears up, knowing well it is her alarm clock. Her alarm clock is not like you would think. It does not ring, as any other ponies'. Hers is a large stereo system, which blares whatever rock music there happens to be in it at the time, and it is loud.
She tucks close to her almost cloud soft pillow. Well…It is a cloud. Not wanting to get up, she tolerates the loud guitar playing, and the generic vocals. 'Screw Applejack…She doesn't know all the work I do…Why am I always the misunderstood one?' Her thoughts wonder, as she thinks of her old nickname…Rainbow Crash…'I'll show all them that I am not an ordinary Pegasus!'
Finally she got up, not having as much energy as she thought she did. Hind legs off the bed while she contemplates what today could be. As she rubs her head with her hoof, her mane now messier than usual. She decides to shut off her obnoxious alarm clock first. How ironic.
Leaving the comfort of her plush bed, she steps over to her large speakers, her hooves only shaking more and more against the clouds. Normally these loud speakers with their sound would force the cloud apart, but these were specially made to withstand pretty harsh forces. Not only that, when Rainbow Dash had her house constructed, she knew this was what would wake her up in the morning, and wanted it to be sound proof; she didn't want any noise complaints, no matter how much she wanted to announce her presence.
Smacking her system on the power button, the vibrating coming to a stop under her whim. While she rubs her face with her available hoof she turns around and heads for her bathroom. Although she is definitely not the cleanest pony, she does like to keep herself looking good. She is the most awesome pony after all. She also needs to impress the Wonderbolts if she ever meets them for whatever reasons.
This morning, she is not feeling a shower will be necessary; she looks clean. With all the flying she does, and how fast she can get up to, there isn't really a need. That or she is too lazy to take a shower. Usually, she only takes one to relieve stress.
She looks over herself in her full body mirror, and starts to comb her mane. Even her comb has to be the greatest comb there is. After straightening (For the most part…) her vibrant mane, she wiggles her tail a little, brings it to the comb in her mouth, and starts to brush.
She thinks to herself…'Ugh…I have to clean my room…' Looking behind her, she sees her belongings scattered around the place. She is not one for wearing any type of fancy clothes, or any for that matter, so she usually just tosses them to the floor after the first day. All the clothes she gets are from Rarity anyways. It is a good thing she never comes to her house, or can't for that matter; she would throw a fit…Most of the other various things are just gifts she gotten over the years she spent in Ponyville. The most common being combs, goggles, and soda cans. Lots and lots of soda.
Sighing, she stops brushing her long tail, now with her mane and tail in their classic style of, "I don't care". This is quite the contrary, because if she didn't care, she would not be crushing her mane, tail, or even bothers having 10,000 combs.
She gets up, and looks herself over. "Sexy…" Saying to herself in a low, cocky voice, moving her head lightly forward as she says it. She walks off, with her confidence full, ego bursting, and arrogance a blast. Walking out of her bathroom, with her usual strut, she looks around her room, biting her bottom lip. Seeing the monstrous amount of useless junk lying around she thinks to herself…
Maybe I should clean this tomorrow…
The rainbow mare nods in agreement with her plan, as if she needed it, and looks to the only closet she owns. By how big it is, it could definitely hold the clothes that are scattered around her room. She sighs seeing the always hanging Wonderbolts outfit hiding alone in the large white, fluffy closet. She got this precious trophy when she was at a Wonderbolts show. She bought it, at a souvenir shop. It is the high quality that the actual Wonderbolts use, so she figured, "Why not?" She vowed she will never wear it until she is an official member.
Imagining herself up in the sky...A whole stadium, all her fans cheering for her over the other Bolts. She does all her signature moves, even the Legendary Sonic Rainboom. The crowd going insane, all these different ponies came here to see her…No one else. To see her. She gives herself a reassuring grin, and trots off to her begin her day.
As she walks down her cushiony steps, she thinks of what she wants for breakfast. She imagines a handsome colt downstairs, laying a plate of toast right where she always sits; the only seat that she has. She smiles, knowing that she deserves nothing less.
So, she decides on toast. She isn't exactly hungry, and she can always stop by Applejacks if she feels the need; they always give her apples. 'Ugh…I don't want to get caught up there though…' Two pieces then.
A pop, a burn, and a munch later, Rainbow Dash is about to head out her door, before she realizes she doesn't even know what she has to do today. Turning around, sighing, knowing it will be boring. She looks to the calendar posted on her fridge, next to an array of magnet letters. Seeing on the calendar that it is Wednesday. Sighing, she then looks to the magnet letters that are jumbled on her fridge. "Move clouds from Ponyville".
Rainbow Dash just loves flying. More than anything. The rustling of air past her, her wings flapping, gaining more and more speed. It gives her a sensation that only comes from the rough sound of wind passing her by. If there was one thing that always brought her down to Equestria, it was flying high above it. Hearing ever bristle of clouds softness going past her, she gets to work.
Herding all the smaller clouds together in a single, much larger cloud. She starts to push the cloud, giving it momentum to start to migrate back to Cloudsdale to be recycled to another cloud. She puts her hooves to her hips, and smiles triumphantly at the defeat of the cloud. Turning around to see a whole collage of clouds, each being about the size of the combined cloud that is now floating away, she groans…
I'm gonna be here forever!
After much work, morphing the clouds together, pushing them away, then repeating… and repeating…and repeating…She kept the nicest, fluffiest cloud to herself, so she can lounge around for a while.
Now that the skies are clear of the white time consumers, the baby blue sky similar to the Pegasus that just cleared the skies of clouds, Rainbow Dash resides on the single cloud in the sky.
As if she isn't obvious enough with her vibrant colors, she is known for sleeping on clouds…There is only one cloud in the sky…She couldn't be a more obnoxious Pegasus. Her head falling back, she takes her usual nap. Her hands behind her neck, as she drifts away…
Smack!
An apple tree that was just bucked by the best spills all of its apples, falling all around the orange mare. She starts walking to the next tree, and bucks it as well, each apple falling around her. Rinse, and repeat…
From above the field of countless apple trees, where one pony deals with them all, is a single cloud. On this cloud is a single Pegasus. In this Pegasus is a single thought, sleep. Lying down relaxing, eyes shut calmly, while her ears listen to the occasional smack from Applejack hitting a tree with her hind legs.
After Applejack makes her way to right under Rainbow Dash's cloud, she starts kicking the trees, drawing Rainbow Dash from her trance. Rainbow, furious from being awoken from her fantasy dream about the Wonderbolts, pokes her head through her cloud, and looks straight at Applejack.
Her frown going flat, as she sees the lone earth pony taking on all the apple trees on her own. She looks ahead, where the well toned orange mare is heading, seeing a massive field of apple trees still full of lush apples. Rainbow Dash frowns again, out of guilt. Pulling her head back up, she takes her time, thinking of what to do…Help her? Or go back to sleep?
While thinking, she doesn't even realize her eyelids getting heavy…Very heavy. Too heavy. Going back to sleep, leaving the orange mare to her work, alone.
Waking up, Rainbow Dash picks her head up, and scratches her eyes with her hooves. She doesn't need her full, un-blurred vision to see that she overslept. "Shit!" Cursing to herself, as she looks around. She planned on practicing her newest move today too! Sighing in defeat of her own tiredness, still wanting to sleep. She flaps her wings steady, and starts to float away to Cloudsdale. She just wasn't into flying right now
As she takes her leave from the cloud that kept her too long, she hears a faint 'Smack!' Narrowing her vision, still a little blurry, she takes her body lightly over to what she now realizes is the one and only; Applejack. It must be late, around 10. She looks across the field, seeing all these trees she has yet to relieve of apples, and frowns. Now really feeling bad for her friend, she flaps her wings to gain altitude, not wanting to alert the earth pony. She flies to her home at Cloudsdale, not really feeling down to Equestria right now.
Walking the soft steps to her upstairs rooms. She stumbles a little over some junk on the floor, but doesn't mind. She also doesn't mind her bed, as she just plops herself onto it, not covering up, or even grabbing her pillow that is now on the floor.
Just Sleep…
Just Dream…
Just Forget…
Applejack stepped outside, taking a slow, deep sigh of the cool, early morning air around her. The world was still touched with that soft blue coating that told anypony outside that really, they should still be asleep. But Applejack wasn't asleep. Long used to such early mornings, the blonde-maned mare totally ignored nature's lullaby. What use was there sleeping until the afternoon, when there was always so much work to be done?
As a filly, this sort of early morning, when the dew twinkled on the grass, and Luna's moon, just heading back to its roost under the horizon, casting its milky glow over everything underneath it, would remind her of sneaking out after her bedtime, when the world was still new and exciting. It put her in mind of the days where she would raid the pantry, sneak out into the orchard with her makeshift picnic and sit under her favourite tree, dreaming of days where perhaps, she lived in the big city, or at least away from all these apples. Of course, that was a long time before she realised her true calling, and apples became her way of life. She could practically tell the time from the seasonal state of a full-grown apple tree, she was so in tune with orchard life. She felt much more at home under the shade of a red delicious tree than perhaps anywhere else, and to her at least, there wasn't anyplace better to live than Sweet Apple acres.
Of course, as she had gotten older, her time and willingness to go and stare at the moon for a few hours had diminished, and if she was honest, she hadn't done so in years. But that didn't stop her from looking back on those days where she could sort out what few problems she had just by setting up a little picnic for herself. Smiling, she reminisced on the way Granny Smith had always been so frustrated when food went missing without a trace… It was her little secret. It wasn't that she ever lied about it, of course not. She'd never do something like that. It was just that nopony had ever really asked her.
Now, she had her friends to confide in if she ever had a problem, so her favourite tree didn't really seem necessary. But it might have been nice to go there, every once in a while, just to feel nostalgic.
A lot of ponies might not see Applejack as a thoughtful pony, or even a particularly bright one, considering her accent, line of work, and of course the fact that there wasn't a horn on her head. (The unicorn dominated society had annoyed her greatly since the gala – perhaps, if earth ponies had a say in things, Canterlot wouldn't be so stuck up?) But this wasn't really the case. Sure, her arithmetic left a lot to be desired, and her grammar wasn't a great deal better, but she was full of what she liked to call 'down ta earthedness'. 'Down to earth' was a phrase that she liked anyway, because it implied that ponies connected to the earth were insightful, so the thought that she had a lot of it satisfied her. Besides, she could leave book-smarts to ponies like Twilight. It came easier to them anyway.
She looked out to the horizon, seeing a blush of pink tint the sky and the orchard beneath it. She had gotten up later than she had thought.
Stifling a yawn, she trotted out to the huge red barn that sat next to the farmhouse that was easily visible all over town, if you looked the right way. That was another thing that Applejack felt proud of. Not only was she the direct descendant of the oldest and founding family in Ponyville, all of their traditions were exactly the same as they had been the day her granny first set hoof on the featureless plain that would one day become her favourite place in the world. And not only that, but the farm still looked the same, to boot. Agreeably, every plank of wood in the whole farm had been replaced at least twice over the years, so saying it was the same building was a bit of a stretch, but at the very least, it was put together by the same family, and from appearances, it was exactly the same. None of this new-fangled technology was present on Sweet apple acres, as they were convinced that the old ways were the best, both for the apples, and the ponies farming them. Not to mention the fact that their last run-in with advanced apple technology had been less than enjoyable.
All in all, everything felt as it was, as it always had done, and as it always should do. Soon, Celestia's sun would rise high in the sky, and the beautiful summer's day would make the apples taste all the sweeter as they were shaken down and made ready for storage. Then, in a few months, the last of the apples would be squeezed into cider, and shipped all over Equestria to keep them sitting pretty over winter. The thought that everything was just right was a comforting one, and it kept Applejack's spirits up as she trotted inside the darkened barn, sweet with the scent of hay and apples, much like the rest of the farm. It was usually warm in the barn, especially in summer, and it was certainly warmer than outside. Trotting quickly to the corner of the barn, she fetched a dozen apple baskets and loaded them onto a cart. Along with those she had already set up the evening before, filling them up would take up about half the morning, and then she could come back for more.
Of course, things would be done a lot faster if Rainbow dash turned up like she asked her to, but holding Rainbow to her word when it came to manual labour was like trying to herd cats. She'd agreed to show up at dawn, which, to the multi-coloured mare, meant somewhere around mid-morning, and by noon, Applejack would know if she was coming or not for sure.
It amazed her that an athlete with as much physical ability as Rainbow could be so mind-blowingly lazy. In fact, it mystified Applejack thatanypony could spend so much time asleep, or just lazing around. If she spent anywhere near that much time without doing anything productive, she started to get fidgety. It just didn't sit right with her that anypony could waste time when there was work to be done.
Speaking of which, those apples wouldn't buck themselves. With a little struggling, she hitched herself up to the cart, adjusted her hat slightly, and trundled out into the dusk air once more. In about twenty minutes, Big Macintosh would be ready to work as well, hauling his bulk across the farm wherever his strength was needed. Together, they made for a pretty inelegant and inefficient system, but it worked, and probably would do for a long time, what with Applebloom getting steadily more and more capable on the farm as the years went by.
She could remember the day her little sister was born like it was yesterday, although she preferred not to. Too many… Difficult memories. But every moment of growing up with the excitable little filly had been a blessing to her, and had certainly made long winter nights all the warmer and more cosy with another set of hooves in the farmhouse to share a hot mug of cocoa with.
As per usual, thinking about her bouncy little sister immediately reminded her of another, more cheerful foalhood memory, one that became all the stronger as she dragged the old cart down the beaten earth track into the orchard, her condensed breath swirling around her face in the cold, dark air. It was her old treehouse, now rejuvenated into the headquarters and clubhouse of the 'cutie mark crusaders,' the three infamous fillies who had recently been voted a public pest by the majority of the town, much to the dismay of the members. That had given Applejack a good chuckle. They may have always meant well, but disaster and calamity seemed to follow them with every hoofstep. Living with one of them was a nightmare, no matter how much she loved her.
But all that was largely by the by right now. It was the peak of applebuck season, and she was burning dawnlight. In about half an hour, she'd be burning sunlight too, so there was no time to waste. She shook the thoughts out of her head gently, so as not to dislodge her hat, and then dragged the cart further down into the farm. On her left, she passed the section that she had completed the day before, and just beyond that was the one that Caramel had half finished. Just beyond that was where she was setting up for the day, so she hoped to get Rainbow to finish Caramel's work, mostly so she could keep an eye on the bone-idle pegasus.
Within ten minutes of dragging the bouncy, rickety old cart behind her, she made it to her station for the day. The pinkish blush on the horizon had gotten noticeably more intense since she set off, and it would be morning very soon.
With an agitated kick or two and a couple muttered curse words, she managed to unhitch herself from the cart by herself. It was pretty difficult when you only had hooves to work with.
Normally, somepony alone in the woods, especially at night, would probably feel at the least a little threatened or unnerved, possibly even scared. But there were few places that Applejack considered safer than Sweet Apple Acres, even when the timberwolves came calling.
Maybe somewhere like Manehattan, that might be scarier. She thought to herself as she grabbed the first basket between her teeth, trotting over to the nearest 'unbasketed' tree and setting it down. Nopony knows anypony there. Even your next door neighbour could have it out for you… That was a more alarming thought to the orange-coated farm mare. Down in Ponyville, everypony knew everypony, and the regular village meetings helped the community feel a lot closer.
She guessed it was a fear of the unknown. Sure, the farm was pretty close to the Everfree, and she could thank her Granny's parents for that. But she knew everything that was likely to happen, and even then, it rarely did. That and the fact that the whole place was just…home. Not in a literal sense, that was the farmhouse. But Sweet Apple acres was practically all she'd ever known, and it made her happy, and comfortable. If that wasn't home, then what was?
She smiled with satisfaction as she realised that her little daydream had carried her through the motions and she had laid out the baskets in more or less the right place. Ordinarily, she didn't much like to ramble, even in her own mind, but she could think about the farm for hours at a time.
There was just so much to do all the time! If it had actually bothered her, she would spend every waking minute complaining about how she never got a moment's peace. But of course, that wasn't true. Not really. Sure, she was more hard-working than Macintosh, inasmuch as she had less free time than he did, and she certainly did more work than Applebloom or Granny Smith, but she'd still get free days every now and then, and she almost always had Sunday afternoons to herself, in which she usually enjoyed a cold cider on the front porch. Simple pleasures, that's what it was.
Of course, she'd have even more free time if Rainbow dash actually came down and helped her like Applejack had asked. She couldn't tell if she was coming just yet, but if the last three occasions were anything to go by, it wasn't really worth leaving anything to anypony else.
Really, it mystified her that she asked her technicolour friend for anything, sometimes. She was supposed to embody loyalty, but she was about as reliable as Rarity's lips after a little too much punch. Still, out of all of her friends, it was Rainbow that she'd trust most to get some work done. Twilight was always busy with some, obscure magical duty, Fluttershy didn't have the strength, and Rarity felt that manual labour was uncouth. That only left Pinkie, and as much as Applejack appreciated her help, the way that the hyperactive pink pony did things was… Unnerving. So, unfortunately, the lazy pegasus was the only outside help she could get her hooves on. Or rather, when it suited her.
-.0.-
Clearing her mind, Applejack quickly set her hat square on her head and got to work, delivering a mighty buck to any tree unwilling to release its apples. To anypony unfamiliar to the work, it might be considered a gruelling, repetitive task that left the leg muscles in agony and the ankle joints feeling like they'd just been hit by a train.
But to Applejack, it was all that she had known. Her hind legs were toned beyond compare, and her sturdy ankles were all but indestructible, even when pitted against the most stubborn of trees. With an even tone and a smile on her face, she would trot over to the tree, her eyes expertly scanning the shape and condition of the tree she was approaching. From just this initial examination, she could judge approximately the best location to plant her hooves. Then, making her way over to it, she could get a feel for the bark and the density of the wood, if she needed to. All that would take was a couple good pats from her forehoof. After that, she would turn one hundred and eighty degrees, and take aim. Looking back, she would wiggle her rump just a touch, sizing up her opponent. Then, she gave a small flick of her tied back, sun bleached blonde tail, and she would throw her weight forwards onto her powerful forelegs, crouching a little and raising her mighty hind legs into the air. These legs would bunch up, her back would arch ever so slightly, and she would be ready. Like a compressed spring, her forelegs, back, and most importantly her hind legs straightened out with incredible force, and her perfectly synchronised rear hooves would smash into the wood with an almighty crack, the sheer power of the blow shaking up through the canopy and knocking the apples loose from the branches. If her aim was true and her force adequate, her buck was accompanied by a soft rumble of apples falling into baskets, and a few loose leaves would flutter around her. Of course, it wasn't always that easy. She did have to be careful not to put everything into every kick, as she might crack the bark, or worse, crack the bones in her legs. (It wouldn't be the first time.) However, she didn't have the problem that her brother would have, where here was every possibility that he could permanently damage the trees he was bucking.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking of her brother. From now until sundown was apple time, and that was what mattered to her. Well, except one thing – She couldn't help but notice, as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, that Rainbow simply wasn't making an appearance.
It shouldn't have surprised her, and really it didn't, but it sure was annoying. If she could just get her hooves on that lazy, good-for-nothing, egotistical little-
Something high up in the air caught her eye, and she looked up, frowning and tipping her hat back to see more of the morning sky.
It was an unmistakeable sight. No other pony had that same blinding array of colours, or that same impressive turn of speed. It was impossible to be wrong about this – Rainbow dash was flying straight over her farm, without a care in the world. As if their conversation the day before (Not to mention the three days before that) had never happened. She let out a frustrated growl, leaving the tree she was about to kick and sprinted after her, weaving through the trees a little to keep below her.
"Rainbow!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, glaring fiercely up at the insolent mare.
"Yeah, what?" The multi-coloured mare's voice drifted dismissively back, and she didn't slow down.
"Why don't y'all come down here a little so Ah can talk to ya?" She shouted back, her patience wearing thin.
The careless blue mare dropped a little, putting her just inside talking range. After a good ten seconds of running, she eventually slowed down, and Applejack cantered to a halt. Frustrated, Applejack growled under her breath, before speaking up again, fighting to keep her tone polite.
"Y'all know ya tol' me yesterday you'd help me with the applebuck, Rainbow." She said evenly, the glare not leaving her features.
In return, Rainbow dash grinned her signature grin and scratched the back of her head a little, ignoring eye contact. "Can't help you today, AJ. I have uhh… Clouds to move from here…" She said quickly.
A quick glance at the beautiful blue sky was all the proof one would need that this was a weak excuse and a straight-out lie. She'd just spent the last thirty seconds looking straight up, and in that time, she'd not seen a single cloud. That did it.
"Oh, no, Sugarcube. You ain't skippin' out on me like you did last season. Y'all made me a promise, And Ah'm gonna make ya stick to it!" She snarled, taking a step forward. The lazy pegasus's antics had gone on long enough.
"How can you make me, if ya can't even catch me?" Rainbow said cockily, floating higher into the air and apparently missing out on just how irritated Applejack was. And with that she shot past her, wings pumping furiously, attempting to vanish into the treeline. Setting her jaw, Applejack took off after her, her hooves thundering down the orchard and trailing Rainbow almost perfectly.
Of course, she couldn't ever catch the slippery little varmint, even if she actually stayed close to the ground, which was unlikely. Even her legs were no match for the wings of a determined pegasus, especially one like Rainbow dash. No, if she wanted to get back at her, she was going to have to outthink her. Which, even for AJ, wasn't going to be difficult.
"Ah know y'all ain't tryin' ta run from me, Rainbow!" She called after her. "After all, without them wings, y'all'd be in a heap o' trouble!" Ever since the iron pony competition, that had been a touchy subject for the proud pegasus.
"Y-you're just jealous I have wings and you don't!" She threw back, her scratchy voice sending out a pretty clear signal that she was angry. It was easy to get Rainbow to spit her bit.
"Y'all are lucky you do, Rainbow! Ah'd be heck'a faster 'n you if Ah did!" She hurled back, losing her temper to the chase. She had to admit that she had a pretty short temper as well, and as honest as she was, she ended up saying a lot of things she later regretted in the heat of the moment.
Ahead of her, Rainbow screeched to a halt, rounding on her. A little surprised by her sudden drop in speed, she dug her hooves into the ground, ripping up a little turf and coming to a stop herself. But her angry glare was now mirrored by the features of her friend.
"Hey! I'm the fastest flier in Equestria, AJ! Nopony can match my speed!" She shot back, her voice getting all the scratchier as she got more and more irate.
"If y'all 're so fast, why can Ah get ya to stop so easy?" She asked, putting extra emphasis on 'easy'. She knew all of her friend's buttons, and she was pressing them all at once, just to see what would happen. Rainbow had hurt her by doing this, and Applejack wasn't going to let things rest until she'd returned the favor.
Rainbow zoomed in closer, poking at her chest in an accusing manner, their faces inches apart. "Maybe if you weren't so damn stubborn about things, I'd help out more often!" And with that she drew back, oozing with so much confidence and pride that Applejack felt like she could taste it. It tasted like unripe lemons.
"Ah'm stubborn, sugarcube? At least Ah know when it's the right ta help yer friends! Ah don't jes' think about mahself all the dang time! All you ever do is sit on your dang flank and sleep!"
"You have no idea how much I do around here! I have to move these clouds all damn day, traffic storms, and today, I have to keep the stupid clouds away from your stupid farm!" She fumed ,pressing her muzzle up against hers. Her magenta eyes blazed furiously, and it took the fight straight out of Applejack. To an extent, she was right anyway. She did have a lot more duties than Applejack ever liked to admit. She was beaten, and it was a waste of time fighting anyway. Rainbow or not, she had work to do. Bowing her head, she stepped down, looking away. In the edge of her vision, she could see Rainbow's triumphant grin. That was the part that hurt more than losing, more than Rainbow letting her down in the first place. She simply didn't give a damn about her feelings. Not looking up to face her, she motioned with her hoof for her to leave. Rainbow suddenly stuttered a little, and Applejack saw her move a little toward her, reaching out. But Applejack had had enough. She motioned again, more violently this time, and Rainbow got the image. Her wingbeats slow and soft, she began to drift away.
Applejack wiped her nose, sniffing.
"Ah thought y'all were trustworthy, Rainbow." She muttered, uncaring if Rainbow heard her or not. "Ah thought you were a good friend, and a good pony. Shows how wrong Ah can be." And with that she turned, plodding back to her current section of the orchard. "Element of Loyalty mah flank, Rainbow." She choked out, her head and tail hung low. It was going to be a long day, and for once, her heart really wasn't in apples.
