[Appleoosa] Harvest Time (PM to join)

[brianblackberry]

No matter how other ponies saw Braeburn, at his core he was just a simple, hard-working orchard pony. He wasn't that all great at handling the various personality quirks of ponies who would regularly volunteer at special harvests. He had no choice though, ponies in Appleloosa looked up to the goldenrod stallion as one of the pillars of the community and all the responsibility that entailed. All that being said though, Brabeurn didn't understand for the life of him what was made Sorghum Sweet appear upset, other than it had to be something.

The little goldenrod filly's brother, Durham Red, insisted everything was fine. Something told Braeburn otherwise, as he could recognize the stance of a pony who would do anything to protect a family member, it was a matter of pride in the Apple family to do so. Recognize, but also astute enough to respect and not insinuate that Durham was lying. "Well alright, after all there are still plenty of trees here to get to and w'all 're low on time. If Sorghum wants to come back and give me a helpin' hoof, she would be most welcome and Ah would surely appreciate it." Braeburn gave what he hoped would be a charming, disarming smile before turning back towards the front part of the orchard.

He just have to trust that Apple Cinnamon would tread respectfully around the pair, but she too was an Apple and surely would understand. Besides it wasn't lost on Braeburn that the green maned stallion was a bit twitterpated with his cousin, which would certainly make him more amendable to her and thus easier for her to talk to the little filly.

That just left him and Presteza, who looked mighty fine in his hat, but he had already mentioned that and it be lame to repeat such a fact. "Well Mizz Presteza, Ah guess it be best with w'all get back to buckin'. Y'all can tell me what all brought you to APPPPPPPLELOOSA!!" Maybe he can discover if she is single as well, never hurt to ask a pretty mare out later, right?

That just left the Doc, the Sheriff, and Miss LaMare. The cute dark maned mare asked what he though of the old unicorn's skills at apple bucking. "Well Ah gotta admit, Ah didn't know the old stallion had it in him!" More importantly, the pegasus recognized the tight schedule they were under, that storm would be here in well less than an hour, and it was certainly to wild looking for the lone pegasus to control, it meant they had to go faster! "Just roll those cartsnear the trees Miss LaMare, and we'll do the rest, right ponies!? YEEHAW!!!" With a swift kick he nailed the nearest tree perfectly, causing all the apples to fall right into the basket without a stray, just like a true Apple!

[Hippo]

Meanwhile, a yellow unicorn filly was running around the orchard looking for ideas on how she could use the coming storm to pull her with the wind. With the other ponies being distracted by a crying filly who seemed jealous about a stetson hat, Arrow would lose motivation to pick up apples and would eventually need finding. But she wouldn't scurry too far.

She was able to find a small blanket abandoned underneath one of the trees. It was pinned to the base of the tree by an iron shovel. She picked up the blanket and tied the corners together. As the wind started to pick up, arrow would fill the blanket with the breeze and it would pull her in the direction of the wind, her teeth being the only thing grabbing onto it. It started dragging her along the orchard grass, never enough to pick her up entirely, but just enough to feed her desire to move with it. Eventually she would catch up with the other ponies who were busy bucking apples and collecting them into baskets. Arrow slide by casually, her blanket in mouth, like she was some kind of sailing pony drifting across the orchard.

​

[Pretzelparty]

For now it seems that Sorghum was back to helping for now albeit with another group. Once Braeburn returned, Pressy perked up a bit. Even though she'd figured out that Sorghum had her own infatuation with the handsome apple stallion, Pressy couldn't stop her own little inklings of interest in the stallion from flaring up. Even without the hat Braeburn did have a very good look going for him. and his knack for taking charge of this situation helped make him seem even more impressive and like-able in the sheltered little mare's eyes.

"Well Mizz Presteza, Ah guess it be best with w'all get back to buckin'. Y'all can tell me what all brought you to APPPPPPPLELOOSA!!"

The silvery maned mare chuckled again at Braeburn's cheerful demeanor and gave a nod. Taking a deep breath she delivered another kick to another tree, stripping it again of apples and giving the gatherers a run for their bits once again,"Well, Mister Braeburn! I came 'ere ta try and meet the local buffalo tribes and paint one of their chiefs later on. Fer now though I was hopin' ta paint everypony for this event all tagether ta commemorate the occasion! I'm gonna be Equestria's greatest painter one day, y'know!"

The mare smiled as she witnessed Braeburn's kick do an excellent job of taking down those apples from another tree. The mare took a moment to give the stallion in the vest a short round of applause,"Nice kick! My turn again!" she said with a playful grin before delivering another powerful kick of her own to another tree and rendering it bare.

"I used ta read about the frontier life when I was filly and thought it sounded really cool, My dad's family used ta be farmers and he told me all about how hard the work was... but he also told me it was really rewarding." she said with a hint of pride in her voice as she mentioned her father who was probably busy with some R.E.A. Business somewhere. "By the way, is The filly okay?" she asked with a slight look of worry on her face.

[brianblackberry]

Braeburn kicked the nearest tree, filling the two wooden half-barrels full of shiny red apples for Arrow Plain and Miss LaMare to pick up. His mind though wasn’t entirely on the task at hoof. The main reason was the pretty mare bucking the trees next to him. She was really good at her job for a unicorn, but it turned out, apple bucking wasn’t why she had come to his fair town. “You don’t have ta call me “mista” at all Mizz Presteza, just Braeburn will do.” He gave another flirtatious wink and a smile. “So did y’all get ah chance to actually meet th’ Buffalo tribes? If y’all haven’t, Ah’d be more than happy to take y’all to see them; they’re quite friendly once y’all get to know them, just hard to find some days. Ah wouldn’t want y’all to be lost in th’ desert!” The Pinto was no place for a pony not familiar wit it or didn't have the survival skills to deal with such a climate if they did indeed found themselves off-track.

The subject turned to Presteza's father and his farming family, which piqued the goldenrod stallion’s interest almost as much as watching the cute unicorn hit those trees like an old pro. “Yer sire, was he an earth pony? Ah guess that may explain yer mighty good buckin’ skills!“ He never actually met any unicorn farmers, although no doubt there had to be some. The Apples had some unicorns and pegasus counted among them, although every one of the Braeburn had met at reunions over the years did something other than orchard farming, so it was hard for him to imagine a farmer who wasn’t an earth pony, or at least a crystal one.

Presteza’s other question brought the focus back to the other though that had nagging at Braeburn. He hadn't stopped worrying about Sorghum Sweet, she seemed quite upset despite her brother’s insistence to the contrary, and the goldenrod stallion just couldn’t figure out why. Was it something he said? Or that he did? He couldn’t think of a single thing. The little green filly appeared happy to be his assistant and looked to take to the job with enthusiasm. “Ah right don’t know Miss Presteza. Ah’m darn confuzzled to what made Sorghum so mightily upset. One minute she was right as rain, the next she was off runnin’ with all upset like. Her brother says its nothin’, but y’all could tell something was wrong.” Braeburn kicked another tree; all the apples save one fell into the buckets. He picked out the stay with his teeth, and placed it in the bucket with a look of concern. “Y’all have the faintest idea Miss Presteza? Maybe y’all have insight Ah don’t”.

Braeburn looked back with worry towards his cousin, Apple Cinnamon, along with the filly and her brother to see how she was doing, just as the first drops of rain began to fall.

[PedestrianWolf]

Durham Red continued buckin' trees with renewed vigor. With his little sister right where he could keep an eye on her, he had less to worry about. He still wasn't sure how to handle her crushed feelings for Braeburn. He hoped that she would forget all about it soon, and he wouldn't have to deal with it at all.

He noticed the temperature shift, and felt the first raindrops on his backside. "Well, shoot. I was hoping we had a little more time. Better put it in high gear."

Sorghum noticed the cooler temperatures and the drops of rain falling on her as well. She looked up to see how many apples they still had to get off the trees when she noticed that crazy yellow unicorn attempting to drift across the orchard with a blanket caught in her teeth. The little filly shook her head and went back to work. Her brother was buckin' even faster now, but his aim hadn't improved any. There were still lots of apples rolling on the ground.

"Alright, Ah'm glad to see you two are ok. Durham and Ah were havin' a friendly competition about who can clear the most trees. Want to join in Sorghum?" Apple Cinnamon had said to her when she came over to see how the siblings were doing.

"Thank you, ma'am, but I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with chasing the strays. I don't think I'd be much help trying to kick the apples down, too." she replied shyly. In truth, she had proven to herself at least that she was strong enough to buck a tree clear of all its fruity bounty. But now that the storm was almost on top of them, Sorghum didn't feel they had enough time to demonstrate her still limited skills.

[Mojo]

As the storm clouds began to gather in the sky, the apple harvesting team led by Braeburn continued their work. Two more cart loads of apples were delivered by Louise LaMare, who quickly returned with her empty cart. It was then that Sheriff Silverstar and Doc Holly Day noticed that all of the other teams were hauling their last cart loads of apples into town to be cooked into pies.

"Jumpin' Gee-haus-a-fat! We're way behind!" The Sheriff announced. "We gotta pick up the pace!"

"If'n we're so far behind, I best use magic then!" Doc Holly Day neighed as his horn glowed and entire trees glowed, their apples picked and floating down into baskets below.

"We better hurry up! We don't want to get caught outside when this storm hits!" Louise neighed as the winds started to pick up. "I wonder if bad weather will delay the arrival of our buffalo friends?"

"Kinda doubt it, Miss LaMare. Them big shaggy critters don't seem ta fear no kind of weather, aint that right Braeburn?"

"You may be right, Sheriff. But at least the other teams sent enough apples back ta start the pie makin' process jist in case them buffalo do come on time."

[Hippo]

Arrow started picking up a little speed. With every new gust of wind, her body began feeling lighter and lighter. Was this really going to work? Of course Arrow always hoped that it would, but if she was honest, she knew very well that it probably would end in disaster as always. Though it never kept her from trying. A filly that keeps trying is eventually going to figure out how to do everything, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes Arrow's spirit would dampen at times when she realized she wasn't going to succeed. And in those times, it was always hard for her to be encouraged. What was once a bright problematic filly would turn into a recluse for a couple days before finally bouncing out of the house to do another illegal adventure around the prairie.

Arrow's hooves left the ground. In a final attempt to gain some air, her push off from the ground helped her get suspended. Though she was hanging by her teeth, she considered it flying. But what could she do to get more air? She started wiggling around to try and steer, but she could not control it very well. And then, just when everything seemed to be going just fine, apples floating in midair from a unicorn horn intercepted her flight, and it knocked her blanket from her teeth, send her falling a short uncomfortable fall, and the blanket flying away in the distance. As Arrow watched the blanket get smaller and smaller from her sitting position with a sore rump, he shed a small tear that blended in with the rain drops that were streaking their way down her yellow pelt. "It's not fair," she mumbled.

Not a minute later, Arrow stood up and started picking up stray apples and putting them in baskets, finally obeying the rules without being told to again. But her somber walk and obvious saddened mood radiated from the filly's eyes.

​

[Lux]

Happy that things were back to normal between the brother and sister duo, Apple Cinnamon was about to resume her apple bucking when she felt a change in the weather. Soon a droplet of water from the sky fell on her nose, making it tickle for a moment. Then another droplet fell and soon there was a drizzle starting! But the mare knew that it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"Well Durham, Ah' think we may need to put this competition aside fer another day as a storm's rollin' in faster than a buffalo stampede! We better gett all these apples off the trees or else they might get lost in the storm."

"Thank you, ma'am, but I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with chasing the strays. I don't think I'd be much help trying to kick the apples down, too."

"Ah don't get yer hopes up little filly. We all have thing we're good at and some things that we need to put a little extra effort into. But Ah think that fer now if you can try and catch any stray apples on the ground then those won't get lost. How does that sound?"

[Pretzelparty]

“So did y’all get ah chance to actually meet th’ Buffalo tribes? If y’all haven’t, Ah’d be more than happy to take y’all to see them; they’re quite friendly once y’all get to know them, just hard to find some days. Ah wouldn’t want y’all to be lost in th’ desert!”

Presteza blinked a couple times before an ecstatic smile spread over her face, an actual guide for the Borderlands would be great! The fact that it was a stallion she was getting along so well with was a great bonus as well,"Ya'd really do that fer me? that'd be so awesome! I can't wait ta see them! I heard the buffalo tribes are really strong and have a really interesting culture ta learn about." The mare in the stetson had to try and hold herself from going on and on again, she had a habit of going into long monologues about the subjects that sparked her inspiration. As the mare continued to buck tree after tree she soon found the subject of the conversation was turning to her family. Normally the mare was hesitant to talk about her family but that was usually because ponies would ask about her mother's side... asking about her father's side was a nice change.

“Yer sire, was he an earth pony? Ah guess that may explain yer mighty good buckin’ skills!“

"Yep! 'e used ta tell me his family used to be farmers before they changed to running a taxi service. He sad his family specialized in plowing though so... maybe if ya ever need any help with plowin' I can volunteer!" If anything the mare was eager to help out. While most ponies who lived her sheltered lifestyle would be hesitant to do some actual labor of this sort but it seemed this little heiress was made of sterner stuff. "Honestly I think the buckin' is gonna from my own experience... since ever since I was little I had trouble with levitation so I usually buck food outta tree while I'm on the road if I can." as if to punctuate that statement she reared up and landed another strong kick to the trunk of the tree, sending another rain of apples, one of which looked like it was about to smash itself on a rock nearby but with some quick movements and even quicker thinking she dashed to the apple and caught it in Braeburn's stetson, the apple was safe and so was her friend's hat which she carried back over and placed the apple on the cart nearby and placed the borrowed hat back on her head.

“Ah right don’t know Miss Presteza. Ah’m darn confuzzled to what made Sorghum so mightily upset. One minute she was right as rain, the next she was off runnin’ with all upset like. Her brother says its nothin’, but y’all could tell something was wrong.” Braeburn kicked another tree; all the apples save one fell into the buckets. He picked out the stay with his teeth, and placed it in the bucket with a look of concern. “Y’all have the faintest idea Miss Presteza? Maybe y’all have insight Ah don’t”.

For a moment the cream colored unicorn could have facehoofed, but doing so would have been rather hypocritical since she hadn't figured it out initially either. It was only obvious to the young painter that Sorghum had a crush on the handsome stallion before her after she'd run away crying so it was hard to blame Braeburn. "Well... ta put it simply I kinda think she's got a crush on ya. Don't tell her I said that though I bet she's not ready ta admit it yet." the mare walked over to another tree and delivered another strong kick to it. "I think once she saw you gave me yer hat it was a bit too much fer her ta handle... " the mare let out a sad sigh as she looked to the hat on her head, "Maybe she sorta see me as.... a y'know, a threat?"

[Mojo]

As the storm clouds quickly approach, the team of ponies led by Braeburn continue their work. With all of the other teams finishing their assigned parts of the field and then hauling the last of their apples to the bakery, Sheriff Silverstar senses the reality of their situation.

"Jumpin' GEE-HOSS-A-FAT! We gotta git a move on!" Sheriff Silverstar shouted as he bucked the apple tree behind him. "We're laggin' behind an' that thar storm's gonna be here any minute!"

"Oh my!" Louise LaMare neighed, "I'll empty this current wagon and return for more fast!"

As the brown pelted Pegasus mare took flight with her wagon hitched behind her, Doc Holly Day was also working very hard bucking apple trees.

"Sheriff!" the unicorn physician shouted out, "time's runnin' out! Let me use mah magic ta grab the rest of them apples an' we kin beat the storm!"

"I don't know about that, goes agin' the grain of the Earth Pony way," the Sheriff said, turning towards Braeburn and the other ponies in the group. "Team, what do ya think? Should we let ol' sawbones use his magic ta help us finish the job quick?"

[brianblackberry]

Braeburn smiled proudly as he listened to the painter unicorn mare's excitement and astonishment that he would escort her through the desert to meet the Buffalo. Why wouldn't he? He would for most any pony, but especially young, and hopefully single, mares. "Well 'tis true, they're pretty darn strong, 'cuz on th' count of 'em being so big! Don't let that scare ya pretty head Miss Presteza! They're quite friendly once you get to know 'em! Not like griffins or anything of the sort, a lot like us ponies just with horns and a lot more girth!" Braeburn laughed as stretched his forehooves out sideways to visualize for Pressy how wide the typical buffalo really was. Taking her would be easy; since the day they managed to work out their differences, the ponies of Appleloosa and the local buffalo tribes have become quite friendly with each other, in fact it was not an uncommon occurrence to find some of the local buffalo joining in on Appleloosian celebrations. "Ah'm sure they'll be happy to tell y'all about themselves, and as long as y'all ask with respect, sure they wouldn't mind having paintings done of 'em."

The Apple stallion had an incredulous look open his face when Presteza revealed her father's family gave up farming, why would anyone give up farming?! Well some ponies are just weird, that's all. Still, there were some Apples who didn't work the land, like Ingrid Marie and Sugar Apple, but they weren't orchard ponies to start with and they still occasionally helped with special harvests in the family. "Well Ah'm afraid Ah don't have much need for plowing, as mah garden is rather small and its easy for me to do it mahself, and of course the orchard don't need any." Braeburn shook his head. Dumb colt, she is offering to spend time with you! Don't turn her down!! Braeburn suddenly looked a bit embarrassed, "ah, Ah mean, Ah may not need help with that but Ah can always use the company when Ah'm out in the orchard and all; so feel free to visit any time!"

The subject though turned to little Sorghum and why she was so upset; Braeburn listened in confusion as the cream colored unicorn mare explained the little green filly's obvious to everypony else crush on the goldenrod stallion when it finally hit him! "Oh.. Oh! Ohhhhhh! Oh dear! Uhh.. Wow." At least now her behavior of the little earth filly and brother made sense. Brabeurn though, had no idea how to handle the situation; if Sorghum had been grown up, it be one thing, but how does one handle the feelings of a little filly without breaking their heart? "Ah.. Uhh, Ah didn't know, Ah guess Ah just saw her as a little foal, like Applebloom, it never occurred to me to think she'd like me in that way!" Hopefully as a mare, Pressy had some advice for his situation, as he felt he should do *something* about it, right? "Uhh.. Should Ah talk to her? Should uhh, Ah give her may hat instead? Would that help? Ah have no idea what to say!" Ain't it the truth!

Before he could inquire further little Arrow Plain tumbled down nearby before picking herself up and looking dejected. Braeburn didn't see what had happened; did she try to climb a tree to get the apples? His first inclination was to lecture her on proper bucking, but given how he already inadvertently hurt Sorghum's feelings, the orchard stallion decided be especially mindful of saying anything that may cause the little unicorn to be more upset. "Are y'all alright Arrow? Y'all didn't hurt yerself did ya? Did you uh.. Need help with anything at all?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, a loud, bright flash of lightening struck one of the trees, singeing several of the leaves and causing one large branch to snap off and crash to ground with small whiffs of flame on its end. A thunderous crash came along at the same instant, so close that everypony there could physically feel the shockwave as the roaring sound traveled quickly through the orchard. The time for harvesting was over; now it was just about making sure every other pony got inside safely! Braeburn reared up and neighed loudly, "alright y'all, time to get them carts inside! No more bucking' or grabbing' apples, y'all need to get out of the orchard now!" Hopefully there would be no more disasterously close strikes before they got inside!

[Hippo]

For the few seconds that Arrow could use by herself, she carefully placed apples in her nearby basket as the storm approached. When Braeburn saw that she had fallen from somewhere, he offered assistance, but Arrow refused it, speaking solemnly. "No. I'm alright. I'm doing just fine right here. On the ground." Arrow really believed in her dream of flying, but at moments like this after failure, her emotion meets all time lows and is often hard to converse with. Which is odd, coming from a sparky personality of a filly who can't keep her mouth shut when it matters most.

Just then, lightning struck down on the orchard. It was so fierce, Arrow could have sworn she saw the dust from the desert floor pick up from the force of the lightning. Yet another illustration of how the activity of the skies had dominance over the yellow unicorn filly. At Braeburn's call, she started running towards the nearest cart and attempting to pull it from it's girth, but she was too short to reach it.

​

[Pretzelparty]

"Oh.. Oh! Ohhhhhh! Oh dear! Uhh.. Wow. Ah.. Uhh, Ah didn't know, Ah guess Ah just saw her as a little foal, like Applebloom, it never occurred to me to think she'd like me in that way!" Hopefully as a mare, Pressy had some advice for his situation, as he felt he should do *something* about it, right? "Uhh.. Should Ah talk to her? Should uhh, Ah give her may hat instead? Would that help? Ah have no idea what to say!"

The painter blinked a couple times and paused, thinking for a few seconds. In all honesty Presteza was a bit new to this as well... as a filly she had her fair share of crushes(mostly on teachers and tutors) but they never went anywhere... and they were probably unfounded in comparison to Sorghum's experiences with Braeburn. All this mare could really do was look back on her past emotional experiences in hindsight and make use of common sense. The mare reared back and delivered another kick to a tree to give her mind a little jump start.

"Well... I think maybe ya should let 'er sort out 'erself out fer now."

*Thump!* she delivered another kick.

"Really though I think ya might wanna tell her how -you- feel about this once she's calmed down, Mister Braeburn... We both know that things between you two won't be romantic since... well she's a filly and yer a full grown stallion!" Walking over to the stallion she smiled at him and took off his hat,"Really though I think ya might wanna let her hold on ta this fer the time being as a peace offerin' really it's gonna be kinda awkward if I keep wearin' it and she and I wind up workin' tagethah..." After a momentary pause she smiled and poked a hoof to the stallion's snout ,"I'm not gonna lie though, I did enjoy wearin' it!... also I'd love ta have ya intraduce me ta the local buffalo and as thanks I'll help ya out with yer garden, deal?"Before the mare knew it the storm was already closing in, dark clouds looming overhead and all.

"alright y'all, time to get them carts inside! No more bucking' or grabbing' apples, y'all need to get out of the orchard now!" Hopefully there would be no more disasterously close strikes before they got inside!

"Oi, Braeburn! I think I could haul some o' the heavier loaded carts in if ya need a hoof with that!"

[brianblackberry]

Braeburn adjusted his Stetson upon his mane and paid attention as Pressy gave her advice on how to handle little Sorghum’s crush on him. It made sense in theory, but telling the little goldenrod earth filly how he felt? He didn’t really have any feelings when it came to Sorghum, outside of his view that she was a sweet little filly who showed enthusiasm for the outdoors and works hard. What else could he say past that? “Sorry kid, you’re just a foal” felt far too hurtful, even if straightforward and honest. All foals had those puppy love moments, he did, and each of his cousins did, although it was usually another foal. He was sure Sorghum’s was fleeting though, like all schoolyard infatuations, but that didn't mean he had crush her little innocent dream.

There was another problem as he happily watched the shapely unicorn mare stretch her legs and buck the nearby tree; how could he ask Miss Presteza on a date now knowing how it would even hurt poor Sorghum’s feelings even more? Horseapples! All was not lost though; Pressy appeared grateful about him accompanying her to meet the buffalo, and surely there will be plenty of opportunity then for the pair to get to know each other better during the long trek! “Well Mizz Presteza, Ah’d be plum grateful for any help wi’ the garden, but Ah’d be happy to accompany y’all on meetin’ the buffalo either way, no need to pay me back. Us folk in AAAAAAAAppleLOOsa take great pride in being helpful an all.”

As much as he enjoyed chatting with the pretty mare, the storm’s unwelcome arrival necessitated that he made sure every pony got the apples, and more importantly, themselves out of the thunderous deluge. Durham, Sorghum and Apple Cinnamon were still on the far side of the orchard with a wagon of apples. "Y'all go ahead wi' the sheriff, Mizz Presteza, Ah'm going to make sure the others get in. Oh, could y'all check on Arrow Plain too, she's just a lil' filly!" The goldenrod stallion galloped with some haste through the sheets of rain up to the trio, “sorry y’all, but there’s just too much wind and lightening with this hum-dinger of ah storm to stay outside, if y’all want to carry a stray basket, ah’ll pull the cart; hurry now!”

He turned to little Sorghum and gave a warm, reassuring smile as he took his hat and placed it upon her head. “Here ya go lil’ partner, this will keep that pretty lil’ mane of yours dry; looks good on ya!” Braeburn got himself ready with the cart, his long mane already drooping from the persistent downpour and he scanned the scene behind him to make sure the others were ready to go. “Say Sorghum, wanna come along with me and ride in the cart; whadda you say partner?! With yer brother’s permission, of course.” He may be only encouraging her crush at this point, but it Braeburn figured in the end his way of handling the situation was harmless; besides it sure beat having any talk that would break her little heart; he was just too much of a softie.