Farm Fresh (Closed: River)

[SteelEagle]

                                                                       


Moonlight took a deep breath. It allowed her to smell the deep country air that had welcomed her that very first time, all those years ago. She didn't think it felt like a long time ago but it was. So much had happened, good and bad- but mostly good- and all of it wouldn't have been possible if Applejack hadn't okay'd what had started with a simple country trip. There had been a lot of change since then to say the least, and not just in the most obvious (and stunning) of ways. But what hadn't changed was how the country air was still thick with the love and effort that the Apples had expended to make this not just an orchard, but a home and a symbol. It was really one of the purest, most Equestrian places a pony could ever find, even if they lied to themselves about it at first. It was hard not to be entranced!

 

Luckily for Moonlight she had grown immune to its very special brand of enchantment. Sweating herself out in the field wasn't her idea of a good time. The only time she wanted to sweat was when she was working on her cheerleading routine or when sunning herself by a pond in a baking sun. Why the Apples couldn't just, like, take a break and smell the roses was beyond her. 
Especially once you smelled the roses and realized there had to be something more so you went into town to get fragrances or something a little more civilized. Alas, her beautiful cousins were going to have to languish in their highly successful farm, regarded as heroines and respected as town founders. Truly, they would have to struggle to get up in the morning!

 

Ha, as if.
Her Apple relatives were totally tubular. Not mistake free, but she loved them, and love could get a pony through anything. Unless they were hungry. Hungry ponies were bad news.
But hungry griffons? They were natural predators surrounded by natural prey.
Kirin? They weren't themselves when they were hungry.
Yaks got huffy and stompy and don't even get her started on hippogriffs. Everypony reacted poorly to hunger. Luckily, they had access to one of the world's most productive farms, headed by one of the nation's greatest food supply expert. And Moonlight just happened to be related to her. Radical!

 

Until there was trouble. Then it was totally less radical. And there was trouble this time. She didn't know what the trouble was but she knew there had to be trouble because a small notice, the seal of the Apple family well waxed on it,  had went out about a possible delay in food shipments. That was super concerning for a whole load of reasons.
Sweet Apple Acres provided them with apples (duh), but also a whole host of various fruits and veggies. Applejack was also supposed to coordinate the stockpiling and deliveries of goods she didn't produce or couldn't sell to the school. Her saying there'd be a delay meant it wasn't just possible that they would have fewer Sweet Apple Acres products (already a major problem), but that their food would run out sooner rather than later.

 

Of course it was likely the school would just, like, shop at other local farmer's markets and organize goods in the meantime, but the day she ate non-Apple family corn in Applejack's general vicinity was the day she moved to Dodge Junction to join a brothel.
Which is to say, unlikely to happen just yet.
So she had decided to investigate the issue herself, headstrong and confident that she could tackle any problem. Or at least sit there and offer pleasant company while more capable ponies handled the hoofwork. And they were all more than capable when it came to solving this problem, or so she hoped.

 

She had regrets about her past headstrongedness (Was that even a word? Whatever!) as she rapped the door three times with her hoof in a light, trilling pattern. "Applejack? Appppllleeeejjjaaacccckkkk, it's, like, your cousin!" She said happily as she turned her head around to try and catch a peek inside.

[Hippo]

 

When Applejack bucked a tree, apples littered the ground around the tree, a surprising number of them falling in baskets that were placed there strategically. A few seconds later, she gave the tree another wack with her strong hind legs. More apples fell, but not as many as before. Applejack turned around towards the tree and smiled at it, a symbiotic relationship shining on each other magically radiated from the earth pony. But she dropped her smile, tilted her head and squinted at the leaves of the trees. She approached close to the tree, stood on her hind legs and leaned her front hooves on the trunk. With careful meticulous attention, she sensed the feelings of the tree, lifted one of her front hooves, and slammed it softly back onto the tree's bark. The small vibration shook the tree just enough to loosen a single apple from a stubborn stem, and it gracefully fell into one of the many baskets now full of apples. Applejack smiled again. "That's better!"

 

Applejack was in the middle of her afternoon bucking run, one of the first afternoons of what will be a long season. On account of the school's food supply needing to feed the students living at the campus dorms, Applejack was left in charge to organize shipments coming in from different regions of Equestria and beyond. Sweet Apple Acres might be up to the task at feeding all of Ponyville, all of the students at the school, and have enough left over for those exotic kings and queens ordering the famous fruit. But it would put unneeded stress on the farm without a fair trade in increased revenue. After all, even a well-run well-funded school has its budgets.

 

Applejack knew of several farmers of all different kinds of fruits and vegetables that would love the increase of business, even if it meant selling for less than the regular price. She also was required to find food sources from less conventional suppliers that had probably never delivered their product to Ponyville, because their product typically dealt with creatures that had a different diet compared to the typical small town equine. But in attempting this task of bringing in several suppliers worth of shipments, the deliveries were late because problems occurred in different ways that prevented the food from arriving on time. Applejack knew there was something fishy about them.

 

But in truth, it wasn't their fault. Almost all of the suppliers seemed to have gotten incorrect information related to the addressed their crates should be held to. Some of the inventory from these suppliers were being held overnight in a storage unit in order to relay the shipment in the right direction. The only issue was that where the shipments were being stored found the wrong relay and ended up being lost. There were lots of blames that could be assigned, but Applejack attributed the mistakes to one simple flaw. Different creatures have different normalcies, and communicating the logistics to the different cultures she corresponded with was met with phrasings from the letters being lost in translation. Who knew fishing griffons didn't know what a quarter moon was?

 

The shortage of food was not so dire that Applejack needed to send emergency guards from Canterlot to expedite the process, but it was deep enough in a hole that Applejack took it upon herself to increase the crop output on the farm in order to donate to the school's kitchen the amount that they could get by with until the shipments arrived. And hopefully the taste of the sweet apples would distract the students enough to not even notice that there was a problem. In a few weeks, she would expect this whole ordeal to settle back into the place where it was intended.

 

Applejack heard a faint feminine voice valley itself all the way from the front of the barn. "I'm over here, Sugarcube!" Applejack couldn't see her, but she knew a soft sweet voice like that had to come from somepony that could easily be mistaken as a cube of sugar.

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                                   


It was the trailing and familiar voice of Applejack that, as expected, came in reply. And truthfully it had come from where she should have looked first. Applejack was a mare of the fields and when a problem arose she was sure to be found there. It wouldn't have been the first time Moonlight had used her old knowledge of the Orange family and how it would respond to a potential crisis- paperwork, meetings, and office work- with the piston-pony powered piledriving plunge that was her Apple cousins' fierce association with their beloved apple trees. Her ears opened up to her cousin's voice, and the violent echoes of her bucking some distance away. That seemed normal. Normal was good, right? Right?

 

Right!
Moonlight followed the country voice and trotted happily towards it. Some of the ore recent events in their history had been kinda of strange or even stressful depending on how you viewed it, but even at their strangest and most heart-impacting they had never managed to move Applejack from being a rock of love and support in her mind. Applejack was as reliable as the morning sun and as earnest as anypony she had ever met. Moonlight hadn't been able to spend a lot of time with her cousin since the start of the school year and that was totally lame, so she was kinda looking forward to it. Well the hanging out part. Not the fact she was likely gonna have to work to see this through. Uggh. Whatever, take the bad with the good.

 

And the good was so good!
She finally found her cousin, who was treating the trees like they had been particularly naughty changelings from a few years ago. Yep, it was about time for apple bucking! "Well, look where I found you! No offense cousin but, like, sometimes you're soooo predictable," she said with faux concern, before she launched into a hug. The asking would come later. "Soooo nice to see you! We don't, like, get to see each other often or whatever. Gag me with a spoon! How have you been?" She asked expectantly as she started to dig through her saddlebag for the notice.

[Hippo]

 

It was Valen! Well, it was Valen. Applejack being the ol' stubborn mule she is sometimes had approached the first signs of aging, which was having to get used to something that changed. Her cousin had since moved to Ponyville permanently, and over the course of him growing and encountering a few interesting challenges, he found himself presenting himself in a much different way than he used to. Well, she found herself presenting herself in a much different way than she used to. To Applejack it was all the same, and sometimes even more. she was never fully satisfied with what happened, but her changed cousin seemed so much happier now than before, it was probably for the better. All that needed work was Applejack getting used to calling a pretty pink unicorn as a member of the family.

 

Applejack reciprocated the hug. "Moonlight! I know, we're both so guldarn busy! I'm fine, just a little tired since we're havin' to work overtime to get these supply orders fulfilled. How's school? You still likin' the dorms?" Applejack wondered if Moonlight would ever have any issues with the student chambers at the school, especially since they are co-ed dorms and being a mare might be a whole new set of habits and norms for the pony.

 

Winona approached both of them to greet the stranger with her typical tail-wagging ways. Winona ran up to Moonlight and gave her a strangers greeting, treating her like someone she has never met before. But Winona knew something was up. Her expression dropped to perplexion as she hinted at something about the filly she was trying to discern with her wet nose. Applejack smiled and allowed Winona to make sense of things on her own. "What's wrong Winona? Smell somethin' wrong with Moonlight?" Applejack held in a chuckle.

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                        


Applejack asked a question that made Moonlight light up as she bounded closer towards Applejack and then started going around her in her joviality. "Oh my Celestia, the dorms are so bangin', like, they're sooo cool. I'm rooming with an Abyssanian. You know, Thrilly? That girl's got, like, totally bitchin' flexibility cause she was, like, or is I guess, some sort of circus acrobat. I'm gonna try and get her to join the cheerleading team. I'm totally gonna join it too. How could I not? Like, I'd be a killer. Anyway, like, the point is that I love those dorms. It's like a home away from away from home. For real!" She ended with a breath, leaning against a tree as she gave off a big, fake sigh. "It'd be even better if I could get everyone to wear the clothes I made them, but I suppose the school uniforms will suffice."

 

What a tragedy. Everycreature looked positively rocking thanks to her. However would they recover?

 

Probably when they were fed. Applejack revealed a little about the problem but not enough for Moonlight. She needed to unstack these Applejack mystery packs into smaller, less problems that she could report with full confidence would be totally solved.  
"Yeah, about the supply shortage. What's the four-one-one, cuz? 'Cause, like, there's all of these totally bogus rumors going around and I don't believe any of them. They are being totaly not cool about it so I was all  like, 'ya know what? Just go talk to Applejack. She'll sort this out,' and so bam, I came down here so I can be all eyes wide open and stuff about all this and be, like, woke," she offered positively as she inspected the tree. She'd throw out a fake concern, hoping to get Applejack to open up about real ones. "The trees aren't all, like, gnarly and dying, are they?"

 

As she tried to pick apart the mystery of why the food hadn't arrived on time she was interrupted by a happy bark and then a confused look. It was Winona! That little troublemaker was always in such a good mood and had been one of the many bright spots of the first few days spent at Sweet Apple Acres at the start of that fateful trip.
"I haven't seen Winona in a while. Like, she looks so confused!" Moonlight laughed as she turned to face the dog. A smile creeped in as she approached Winona happily.  "Hmm, maybe you'll remember...here girl, my name's Moonlight!" she said as she dropped low and offered Winona to come closer. If Winona did, Moony would pet Winona in the way that only Valen had- with swift, gentle strokes on the head that curved around the ears, leaving strands of dog hair on edge around the edges of the ear.  

[Hippo]

 

 

Applejack was concerned that rumors around the school amongst the students were traveling, but it figures. "Everything is fine, I could go into all the details but it would be a long tiresome explanation and well, honestly, it's not worth the fret. All you need to know is that everything is fine and you students don't gotta worry 'bout a thang." Moonlight was such a magnificent pony. She reminded Applejack of the times Granny Smith would go on walks through town with her when she was a filly, and the matriarch would comment on how pretty her female classmates were, saying that they were the prettier than fillies she went to school with. Applejack guessed that it was a part of pony life. The newest band of young mares would continue to outdo the generation before them. Look out Rarity!

 

Applejack did have a more concerning issue with the way Moonlight was talking though. Through and through, she spoke as she always had done, and her recent magical transformation just gave her more courage to be who she always was at heart. But the vernacular she was using would unintentionally pierce Applejack's ears with what she felt was unnecessary coined terms. "Uh, Moonlight, sweetie. I think it's great that you have friends that you're gettin' along with and I'm sure your fashion sense will be realized in many other ways. But maybe tone it down on the adjectives you're using to describe your feline roommate. We don't like those words used around here. If Granny Smith hears those kind of words, she might throw you off the property quicker that the time it'll take me to explain to her that you're our cousin."

 

Winona accepted the rubs from Moonlight's hooves, and after a few seconds, the border collie recognized it as her old friend Valen's signature behavior. Winona wasn't entirely sure who this pink unicorn was, but she had an aura that smelled like Valen, she moved her hooves like Valen. She was probably Valen.

 

Applejack smiled and loved Winona's reaction, further evidence that Moonlight didn't need to be invited back into the family she was already apart of. She smiled smugly at Moonlight as she petted the farm dog. "You know Moonlight, you don't need to lie to me like that. I know you didn't come all the way over here to ask me about food. What's on your mind, cousin?"

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                    


Winona seemed satisfied. Good! She didn't want the dog to freak out when and if Applejack saw need to start wrestling Moonlight into tubs of juice or whatever else she had in mind. Speaking of, Applejack did a good job assuaging her of there being any awful concerns or problems, but still. Applejack wasn't one to miss out on a promise, so it had to be something. And seeing her work extra hard? Well, that meant it was something that could be fixed by work. And don't let anypony tell you that Moonlight didn't like having the appearance of a hard worker, even when it was totally fake. "Totally, like, its one thing to lose yourself and panic and, like, lose your cool and I'm righteous enough to not be all like 'blegh panic' about this, but, umm, I still wanna know if, like, there is anythin' that I could do. Like, if I can't that's fine but...ya know, whatever right?" She asked as she moved her hooves against a tree. 

 

She was never very good at bucking and was not significantly worse- something about not being an Earth pony anymore. Her horn wasn't good enough either to reliably pull the apples down either. Her magic was hella weak. She just learned that the little ring on her horn that was used to stabilize and focus her magic was really intended for foals. If she had been a public school pony she'd be soooooo made fun of. Luckily she wasn't.

 

She'd be angry, but she knew she needed it.

 

As she thought about the foibles of her magical issues it dawned on her that Applejack was taking a slightly more authoritarian ton wit her. About adjectives? Like what? It took her a few seconds. Was this about bitchin'? That seemed silly. Bitchin' was just the right word to describe how awesome Thrilly's flexibility was. No biggie. If Applejack wanted to complain about her bitchin' use of words, she could do so. "Okkkay, you don't need to, like, gag me with a spoon," she said with a friendly eye roll. She then stood on her hind legs and put her two hooves up in a pleading position, giant puppy dog eyes galore. "I'll put on, like, a whole innocent filly act here, for Granny's benefit," she said as she fell back down to all fours and stuck her tongue put playfully at her older cousin. 

 

That same older cousin was more than a little perceptive. Yeah she was here for more personal reasons as well. "Oh, well, not totally. I mean, like, I did come down here 'cause, like, I want to help because somepony as awesome as me could totally help you out, and, like, it's totally grody that anycreature would think you couldn't handle it," she said I order to puff up her cousin. "But, umm, you're totally right about other ponies, like, being on my mind."

[Hippo]

Applejack never feared talking to fillies and colts these days with the vernacular they were using. Any cool new words that a generation adopts and considers socially acceptable even though it may have been previously were fine by her. Applejack could take it. But she knew Granny Smith would not be able to withstand the urge to preach to younger ponies about what she thought was right and wrong in the times she was growing up as a filly. Up until that confrontation would ever happen, Applejack had her cousin's back. But if Granny Smith started ranting to her relative she possibly couldn't remember the name of, Moonlight was on her own. Granny Smith was about the only pony in all of Equestria who could tell her what's what.

 

It was amazing to her how much of a valley accent Moonlight had picked up from what all accounts suggest is a freak magical accident. Part of her was convinced that Moonlight was just pretending she had inherited this accent and that eventually she would end the gag with a punch line. However, how hypocritical would Applejack be if she even suggested to her cousin she says funny words in a funny way. Maybe in time, she would teach Moonlight how to diversify her vocabulary instead of using the same two or three inflects on literally everything she says. Applejack sighed. Moonlight was such a silly pony.

 

Applejack looked puzzled when Moonlight said she was right about ponies being on her mind. "But, I never said you had other ponies on your mind." She gave the unicorn a protective stink eye. "Are there other fillies at school makin' fun of you!? Who are they, what's their name? There ain't no bullying going on at that school on my watch. And are you sure its just ponies? None of the griffins are giving you problems? What about the kirins? I know they might look nice, but some of them have some serious anger issues. I know it's not the hippogriffs. All the hippogriffs are super nice." Applejack looked away ashamed of her profiling of other species. "Like, really really nice. Besides their fish breath, I ain't had any problems with any of them."

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                         


Moonlight had played herself pretty easily. Applejack had never mentioned a pony, it was all on Moonlight. Oh well. Pony, thing, apples, oranges, or Manehattan- none of it mattered too much. She blushed a little but before she could start talking about the pony who was on her mind, Applejack launched into a proactive defense of Moonlight. It was heartwarming to know that her cousin would always have her back. She never doubted that but so much has changed that it was always good to have it reconfirmed. But then Applejack started to run down who it might be. She jumped to the griffons really fast, said something unknowingly off-color about Hippogriffs, and she couldn't forget the kirins! Well well, looks like AJ had a little bit of a judgmental bone in her body, and it was on full display. Not super cool.

 

Just a little cool, because it was for her.

"Oh no, no, no," Moonlight laughed as she started to play with a bucket. "I'm not being teased or made fun of. Like, for real though, everycreature's been super chill and totally cool about everything," she said before she cast an eye sideways at her older cousin with an expression full of fake outrage as she put the bucket back down on the ground upside down and got on top of it. "But cousin, you need to, like, get substantially more with it and woke, filly. Didn't you know calling a hippogriff's breath fish breath is, well, its pretty bad? Geez Applejack. Sensitivity training much, sweetie?" She ended as she bopped her cousin playfully on the nose. She then hopped off of the bucket with a lilting laugh. "No, its another pony I have on my mind. Like, a familiar face, too. A colt from Manehattan, an old friend."

[Hippo]

She relaxed her aggressive stance, pulling her hooves out of the soil they were digging themselves into. Applejack was relieved that Moonlight was not being picked on. Having such a strange transformation as she had would only exponentially increase the rate of peer pressure and anxiety ponies feel at her current age. It would be challenging enough to deal with the regular amount of teasing and bullying, let alone making her recent past socially acceptable around creatures from all different kinds of cultures from every part of Equestria and beyond, including the ones that don't use magic. Especially the ones that don't use magic.

 

Moonlight gave her a little speal about her words describing her classmate diversity being inappropriate. Applejack crossed her eyes when her little cousin gave her a loving boop on the nose. Applejack rubbed her nose in slight frustration. "What are you talkin' 'bout? I wake up early in the morning ev'ry day before the sun comes up. I ain't never been woker. And anyways, I'm not makin' any falsities about the students. I'm sure plenty of them are great kids with aspirations as noble as yours. But kirin do have anger issues, hippogriffs do eat fish, and griffons often act poorly because for so long they've been treated poorly, too. It's not all their fault, but it is the reality." Applejack could see her negative honesty pouring out and how obscene it could appear out of context. Sunlight was the best disinfectant, right? "Look, I would never say it in front of them, I know it would hurt their feelings. But, sometimes you gotta hide the truth in order to make good relationships with ponies and creatures who are different from you, because maybe they just aren't ready for the truth yet."

 

Getting back to the last thing Moonlight had mentioned. "An old friend from Manehatten. Oh!" Applejack gasped entertained by the gossip-worthy story. But as her gears started grinding, she realized the maturity aspect of this situation, and she began to assume hormones would be involved and it triggered a funny thought. "Ohhhh...." She smirked, giving her little pretty cousin a sly look. But as her thoughts continued to race, she realized obvious awkward nature of this situation, Moonlight having feelings for a old friend who knew her as an orange colt. Applejack looked away momentarily and let out yet another reaction. "Oh."

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                     


"Sweetie, I could tell you what I meant by woke, but, like, you're just...sooo Applejack that it's totally too charming to stop," Moonlight giggled playfully. She was comfortable playing with Applejack in a way that she wouldn't have before. Maybe Applejack noticed it, or at least knew that Moonlight was more aggressively friendly than she had been before. How could she not? There was a liberation bundled in with who she was now that she never really had before. Friendliness and common good were in equal measure before and after. But there was a confidence and energy that she had now that never existed before, an infectious forwardness with her thoughts that would have been more carefully policed before. It was easy enough to give Twilight some credit for that but really, Moonlight didn't think she should get credit for all of it. 

 

She liked it. She liked it a lot. It was strange to think that she had ever been the type of pony who was demure or who would sideline herself, accept being the background element in a scene. She was a star, all the rage, the top of the page and the headline act. She knew it was right. Heck, even now, with Applejack, she felt more like an equal than she ever had before because her personality was bubbling up in ways she never could before. Of course, she had to keep her head screwed on because she was here not just to pal around with her awesome cousin, but get answers from one of the few mares she knew he could get a real answer to her totally real question. 

And an answer she was getting.

 

"But, sometimes you gotta hide the truth in order to make good relationships with ponies and creatures who are different from you, because maybe they just aren't ready for the truth yet."

Moonlight wasn't sure she was expecting Applejack to say that keeping your cards hidden was sometimes the best path forward, but she believed it. In a way, it relieved her. She had worried so much about how to approach to telling Remington the truth, worried about him rejecting her in so many ways. But if simply withholding the truth was an Applejack approved method of dealing with uncomfortable facts and truths, then she could totally utilize that and not feel guilty in the slightest. A weight lifted off and seemed to lay itself on Applejack in a cascade of meaningful ohs.

 

"Yeah, oh!" she said with her oh tinged with excitement, "-oh-" she followed with her a lowered, huskier tone as she leaned against a tree, "-and oh..." she trailed off before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, you totally get it. So that's awkward, and, like, I thought to myself, I said, 'you know what, Applejack is rockin' and she can help you' and so I came here. But!" She turned around, hoof up in defiance, "I'm not here to, like, be a freeloader, so gimme something to do. Quid pro quo, filly!" 

[Hippo]

 

Applejack smiled as Moonlight gave her the compliment and the truth Applejack always knew. "Yeehaw, that's right! I'm the rockinest pony ya ever gonna meet!" Applejack looked around. "Alright then. How 'bout you rake them leaves here. I don't need to do them right now, but if they are raked now, it saves me having to do it later this week." Scattered around the apple trees that shaded the two ponies, were small oval-shaped green leaves that were shed from their fruit-bearing trees. Occasionally during apple extraction, weak leaves would fall off and become yardwork. "There's a rake just inside the barn and an empty barrel I used for leaf and grass clippings. Just rake them up and shovel them into the barrel. Later you can deliver the barrel to Fluttershy's sanctuary where the leaves become snacks for all the critters she has that like them."

 

Applejack stepped up to another apple tree and gave it a strong kick. Apples fell into baskets, a few did not. She bent over to pick up the stray apples. When her mouth wasn't holding an apple, she continued the conversation. "So what's this colt's name? Do I know him? Have you talked to him yet?" Applejack had never had to have this conversation before. Apple Bloom undoubtedly experienced crushes already but Applejack hasn't talk to her little sister about it yet. Discussing Moonlight's feelings and how to manage them would be good practice for how best to approach Apple Bloom once she inevitably gets to her rebellious phase.

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                            


Finally, she was given something to do. She hated feeling like a freeloader even if she almost equally didn't much car for farmwork, but for family she knew she could handle it. She snapped off a quick salute and a smile before she trotted her way to the rack. Uggh, leaves. Now that was the sort of chore you didn't see often in Manehattan. There weren't that many trees around the residential areas and even when there were you often had hired help who could take care of it. She hadn't used a rake until she visited Ponyville for the first time, but she found it charming that earth ponies needed such things. Her hooves had been so fidgety with it before while Applejack was so sure. But now? Well, now Moonlight had another tool at her disposal.

 

Licking her lips and then biting her lower one, she activated her magic. A faint blue aura surrounded the barrel as she channeled herself through the Allsource on her horn. She then gently tugged at the rake and it took flight likewise, finding itself being dragged weakly next to the filly while she took the rake in her hooves. Ha, talk about an advantage! Both Rarity and Twilight told her to practice her magic so why not kill two birds with- oh, right. She couldn't say that anymore. It wasn't very Friendship of ponies to say that now that Griffons and Hippogriffs were commonly seen. She had to be more mindful, the silly filly. 

 

Stepping out of the barn with her tools at the ready she went to work. She would rake as well as she could which wasn't all that good but hey, better than nothing. She would set the barrel down every couple of hooves lengths when she felt the strain on her magic grow too much. Like anything else involving the body if you didn't work it out, it grew weak. And her magic was totally weak. Still, she continued to work gainfully as she spoke with cousin Applejack because if nothing else she wasn't going to put on a bad show.

 

 "So what's this colt's name?"
She smiled. "Remington! Old friend from Manehattan. Has these cute glasses and, like, a seriously handsome face," she said with a merest glint of a blush. She liked him. She wasn't sure entirely how much she liked him or what it meant, but she knew she liked it whenever they exchanged looks. That counted for something in the beating heart of a filly.
"Do I know him?"
She nodded. "He is, well, he is a student so I hope you'd know him just a scoshe. Like, can you remember a medium red colt with a blue mane? From Manehattan but born in Cloudsy. Also, has narcolepsy...so he probably fell asleep at some point while you're all like," she cleared her throat and pulled off her best Applejack impression, "well Ah'll be a mon-key's uncle if honesty ain't tha very best policy, eeee-yuuuuppp!" she snickered afterwards, clearly gleefully pleased with the result.
"Have you talked to him yet?"
"Oh, yes, yes I have. Seriously, I'm probably his best friend at school. Can't blame him, I'm pretty much the best thing since haute couture."

[Hippo]

Applejack continued kicking apples off trees. She saw Moonlight use her magic to gather tools and hold them. She winced a little bit. The use of magic during Winter Wrap Up and other Ponyville traditions was generally outlawed not because there was a disgrace of unicorns in the town, but because it went against the natural way of preparing the seasons and kept ponies from getting too comfortable with their magical luxuries. This attitude of old style maintaining carried throughout the traditions of the orchard as well. It often didn't come up in family conversations because few members of the Apple family can wield unicorn magic, and the ones that do rarely enjoy spending time doing chores with Applejack. She had many discussions and arguments with Twilight and Rarity about the use of magic on her farm, but conceded that magical use on the farm is not completely prohibited, but should never be used as a direct source of energy to complete a task. Since Moonlight was only using her magic to hold tools up, Applejack felt it was better than if she just used telekinesis to removed all the leaves instantaneously. No one likes a show-off.

 

As Moonlight started blushing and talking about Remington, Applejack perked up. She pondered and caressed her chin with her hoof. "Oh, yeah. I know that feller. Kinda skinny-lookin'? Square glasses? Talks obsessively about Princess Luna? Yeah I know him. Haven't got a chance to talk to him one on one, yet. If he fell asleep during my lessons I would've noticed. Ain't no pony falling asleep when I'm talkin' to 'em."

 

"Best friends, huh?" Applejack smiled. She dipped her smile into a disappointed smirk when Moonlight suggested her own beauty and attractiveness for being the reason Remington would spend any time with her. She could feel vibrations of Rarity's personality echoing through Moonlight, and the situation had a strange resemblance to Rarity's crush with Trenderhoof. Hopefully Remington wasn't the sort of young stallion to fall in love with his teachers.

 

Applejack walked over towards Moonlight and kicked a pile of leaves that had already been collected into her face. "Now, now. You know that beauty can leave just as fast as it came. And besides, this Remington guy doesn't seem to be the type of colt to only be friends with you for yer style. And if he is, that ain't a good thing. Do you know if he likes you back?"

[SteelEagle]

                                                                               


Moonlight nodded as Applejack described him. All of it was pretty accurate. She never did get why he liked Luna the best- well, she could maybe kind of get it because of his narcolepsy, but she seemed so blah and meh and not newsworthy or interesting. Oh well. Not everypony could be perfect, not even such a great friend like him. "Yep. Like, I mean, I'm not sure narcolepsy is something you could try and talk him out of, but I'd totally like to see you try! You get the gist of it though," she said as she continued to do her work.

 

It was slow and hard but she was happy to be helping. She didn't want Applejack to think she was a lazy filly and while she was never the most down-home country worker of all time she was still trying her best. She raked well and tight even if the hooks got caught once or twice and she had to pull it out of the ground slightly. The bucket was pulled up with her magic, moved, and plonked down again when she had a new pile ready for delivery. It wasn't fast, it wasn't glamorous, but it felt right emotionally to help her cousin...even if some beads of sweat started to form sooner than she'd like to admit.

 

She was so focused on doing a good job with the leaves that she didn't see her cousin kicking the leaves until they were flying around her face. This broke her concentration and the bucket fell down with a clack as her magic failed her. One leaf stuck to her snout, which she had to blow off, revealing an annoyed expression. The expression quickly morphed into a smile and then a laugh. "Wow, make fun of my cousin just a teensy bit and she totally goes crazy and physically assaults an innocent little filly. The horror!" She said dramatically as she pirouetted in place and fell into the leaves with an audible thud, spreading them around with a laugh.

She wouldn't admit it hurt more than a small bit.

She stood up and started brushing herself off, quick to respond to her cousin.

"Honey, beauty doesn't leave and beauty doesn't fade. Like, real beauty just changes," she said with an outstretched hoof before she picked up the rake and started back working. She had, of course, ruined the last pile. "Besides, I wasn't even talking about my body, though I am pretty much the cutest student in the whole school. As if there's any doubt!" She giggled, then sighed. "I know he likes me for me. Like, I'm just not sure if he likes-likes me or if he just, like, likes me. And he either likes-likes me or likes me, because, like, I'm totally likable. Not just good looking- I mean really more like great looking bit you catch my drift- but, like, because I'm super cool and nice. We speak the same language, right? Right."

[Hippo]

Applejack shared a chuckle with the pretty pony who took the deluge of apple tree leaves in good spirits. Applejack tilted her head happily as Moonlight spoke about beauty. She was so proud of her little cousin. She seemed to understand the best basics of good qualities in a pony, and it seemed almost as if obtaining a young mare's body that was curvy and sparkly as her's was more of a prize that she won, than it was a lucky get. When she started explaining the logistics of Remington's possible attraction to her, however, Applejack started crossing her eyes and flaring her nose at the many versions of the word 'like'. Through the roller coaster of many practical uses of a standard word the pink mare often uttered senselessly, it became hard to understand the details of her nuance. Fortunately, Applejack did think she had the gist of what she was laying out though. "Girl, you train your thoughts into words more confusing than an apple cart rollin' down a rocky mountain trail. I think I get it. Um. Basically you don't know for sure, but at the very least, he's a loyal friend." Applejack approved of such a pony. She just hoped Moonlight's heart-strung describing of Remington is half as good as the colt is in reality.

 

Applejack kicked a tree and the apples fell predictably into their assigned baskets once again. "Wait a minute. Did you say narcolepsy? Did he tell you that just because he accidentally fell asleep during one of Fluttershy's lessons?" She could picture it now. And what a ruse it would be. Remington sleeping in class and his default response as to why would be because he had a 'medical condition'. "Are you sure he's not just saying that as an excuse? Seems kinda odd." Suddenly, Applejack became worried about the integrity of the pony Moonlight seemed so enamored with. Remington was a red pony, and that was a very bold and gracious apple color, so that was a plus. But it would be hard for her to justify allowing Moonlight to bring Remington over during family functions if the pegasus is a habitual liar. "I once had a customer who kept saying they couldn't pay for their monthly apple home delivery because their dog ate their bits. I kept giving them apples in good faith that they would have the money, but eventually I had to cut'em off. I lettem do that to me for four months before I realized they didn't even have a dog."

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                          

Moonlight beamed as Applejack got what she was saying. She was so happy that their communication was totally next tier. It was great being on the same page as her cousin on so many things. As she continued to work- starting to sweat more as she went on- she appreciated it more and more. They were the best cousins in all of Equestria-
 "Wait a minute. Did you say narcolepsy? Did he tell you that just because he accidentally fell asleep during one of Fluttershy's lessons?" 
Wait what? Well, first you try and stay awake during one of her lessons. The previous year's class talked her up to be the best teacher ever but she was actually just the softest teacher ever. Her actual classes were pretty boring. You didn't need narcolepsy to all asleep during her classes, but it probably helped. 

 

"Are you sure he's not just saying that as an excuse? Seems kinda odd." 
What was Applejack even suggesting here? Was she actually proposing that somepony would lie about such a medical condition? It wasn't something that got you ahead in life. Back in Manehattan she had seen him struggle with it, even if he wouldn't admit it. You didn't get picked to play hoofball or get a lot of ponies wanting to go to the theater with you because of it. It wasn't something you would want to have, and it wasn't something somepony would lie about.

 

"I once had a customer who kept saying they couldn't pay for their monthly apple home delivery because their dog ate their bits. I kept giving them apples in good faith that they would have the money, but eventually I had to cut'em off. I lettem do that to me for four months before I realized they didn't even have a dog."
Moon wouldn't say a word but Applejack made herself look a little foolish. Who wouldn't ask for confirmation when it came to business, especially after the first month? And how do dogs even eat bits?

 

Moonlight dropped her rake and the bucket, wiping her brow and approaching her cousin with a bit more aggression than normal.
"Applejack, filly, seriously?" She asked, her voice caught halfway between disbelief and disappointment. "Like, do you even hear yourself? This isn't like lying to get out of PE class. That's a serious medical condition, right? Right. Uhhh, so, wouldn't the school have those records? It'd be real, like, stupid to lie about something he could totally get caught about, right?" She asked, her thoughts starting to run away with her. Why would Applejack say something like this? Insinuating that a pony with a major medical illness was lying was TOTALLY ableist!
"Besides, I've known him for a while. His narcolepsy hasn't been righteous or cool or, like, anything a pony would want to go through. He's totally lost out on things because of it," she said as she shook her head, picking up her work tools again. "Kinda mean to accuse him of lying, right?"

[Hippo]

It started to become a small vex in Applejack's ears by the amount of sass Moonlight held in her voice, but only because it was being used as a verbal weapon against her in a way of standing on high moral authority. Well, pretending to, she thought. The choice of words Moonlight would choose to convey her reaction to what she was saying seemed in poor taste, even though they were often used to disavow Applejack's choice of words, which were also poor. Applejack mustered inside of her mind the momentous force of integrity lecture in order to defend herself from a young mare who considered herself so up to date that her flank could solve strange warming weather patterns plaguing the driest parts of Equestria, but she held her temper low enough in order to hear her out.

 

"If you truly believe he has narcolepsy, I guess I can't argue that. I jus don' want you to fall into the trap of believing someone's over-dramatic shenanigans, all because he's a colt that'll get you all flustered soon as look at ya." Moonlight seemed confident that whatever the official school records would show about him should be good enough for Applejack or anypony else. Unfortunately, she knew the school records were typically tied down with a few hay scraps and were filed in Twilight's school ledger which was either with her in Canterlot, or hidden away beneath the many artifacts the new Headmare would use as decoration. There was no doubt the records were important at the time they would have been taken down, but the need for their information predictably waned and as a result, began gathering dust and credibility. The logs were sometimes so diligently incorrect that one of the professors kept marking a student by the name of Busted Nails absent for five weeks before realizing it was a misheard version of the the young pony Gusty Sails, who had applied on location the previous semester. Whoever took down her name probably had an ear infection that day.

 

Applejack would concede the filly's point, though. Moonlight had been a pretty good judge of character having spent so much time with Rarity and others, not to mention the honest apple mare herself. "Alright, you're right. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt." Applejack started projecting this as a if her approval was always part of the process. "So he ain't lyin' then, maybe." Applejack started smirking at all the silly things she remembered fillies and colts would do when Applejack was Moonlight's age. "He hasn't found himself," Applejack stood on her hind legs and illustrated her word choice with her hooves, "falling asleep", she stood back on all fours, "conveniently on top of you, yet, has he?" She chuckled. Obviously the answer was no, but Applejack would enjoy the laugh of such a demoralizing piece of evidence that would land her firmly on the suspicious side of this crush Moonlight had. It was a good thing it was probably not true.

 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                            

 

"If you truly believe he has narcolepsy, I guess I can't argue that. I jus don' want you to fall into the trap of believing someone's over-dramatic shenanigans, all because he's a colt that'll get you all flustered soon as look at ya." 
She didn't have to truly believe. Unless this was this longest con ever devised by a small colt who roped in family and other friends, she didn't have to have belief. She just had to know, and she knew. And she knew that knowing was the best part about being in the know, which she was when it came to Remington hard facts. Hard fact number one: He was a great friend. Hard fact number two: He had narcolepsy. "Don't worry. I know what I'm talking about, like, fluster or not. I've known him for longer than a quick second, right?"

 

While they spoke about her relationship she tried to keep her side of the bargain on the up and up, moving along and going after these leaves with gusto. She would continue raking and moving the and making sure she kept up with the bucket, her magic keeping it in her hold for a while. But her magic wasn't strong. It wasn't good. She wasn't a pony you could really trust on levitation for very long and she knew that better than most. She felt her head start to develop what she was learning was a magic-induced headache centered around the base of her horn, a clear sign of her magic straining itself too much. Beads of sweat rolled in as well, and she did her best to wipe them away,

 

 "Alright, you're right. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt."
Well, it was nice to get her approval of the facts, Moonlight guessed? It was good of Applejack to be involved but her approval wasn't necessarily required. Uggh. She had to calm down. Something about implying he was a liar set her off. Applejack was just being a loving cousin and more than a little protective.

 

"So he ain't lyin' then, maybe-He hasn't found himself-falling asleep-conveniently on top of you, yet, has he?"
Moonlight snorted, laughing as she tried to fix her messy mane. "Oh, please. Nothing like that. Hah if anything the closest is, like, my fault. I was having him be, like, a total hero and help me with designing these killer school uniforms for the school- you know, well, like, how awesome they are right?- when he had one of his episodes. I had totally forgotten! It had been yeeeaaaaaaarsssss since I had seen it and so much was running in my head that I was like, I said to myself, 'Oh my Twilight, like, what is HAPPENING!' and I ran to get water and then I tripped and sent us both hurtling into a cupboard. It was around that time I...I remembered. And since we were wrapped up and bound together, it was totally awkward!"

[Hippo]

Having heard Moonlight's explanation that something questionable in the eyes of a familial protector happened at the school involving this colt, Applejack's back tensed up and her brow lifted. She was getting concerned that maybe the way Moonlight was explaining this young stallion was not necessarily in opposition to how rambunctious and dirty the minds of colts can be, but rather showing light in on the way the young unicorn was projecting her style. Even a mare like Applejack had to reserve herself in front of other colts and stallions through the years. The wrong accidental touch of the flank or inappropriate gesture to somepony you're not that close with, could result in a misunderstanding of mutual respect and feelings. "Wow." She expressed her embarrassment for Moonlight. "Um, Sugarcube, are you sure you're not doing anything that might be leading him on a little too much? I know you like like him, but like, you never want to show him too much of yourself too soon. He might get the wrong idea." What idea that might be was any guess Applejack couldn't make. Granny Smith had always warned Applejack on the misgivings of intention some colts had, but even she as a filly was known to do some pretty stupid things.

 

 

"I know you spent a lot of time with Rarity, and I'm sure she has rubbed off on you a lot. Being taught how to be ladylike is pretty important." Applejack couldn't believe she would ever need to say these words. "Even I know when to let somepony else do the walkin'. I sometimes worry that you might still have that little colt attitude in you. If this guy likes you, it probably wont be the same as when you two were friends as colts." Applejack picked up a basket of apples with her back and hoisted it over to a wagon full of apples. "Even though I was a rough and tumble filly, even I knew that my fillyfriends and coltfriends had different ways of being. I wouldn't talk to a colt the same way I would talk to Rarity. Do you find yourself talking differently now?" Applejack knew no matter what the answer was, it was going to be a lesson. If Moonlight had properly adjusted, then it would mean she needs to approach a familiar friendship in a completely different way. But if she hadn't changed and was continuing her social relationships the same way she always had, then it required an understanding that while the social space of fillies and colts often shared the same space, there were plenty of differences that made them both dynamic and troublesome for somepony who is not familiar with how the perspectives change all because of the biological makeup of a pony's physique.

[SteelEagle]

                                                                           

"Wow."

Yeah, it was worthy of a wow.
"Um, Sugarcube, are you sure you're not doing anything that might be leading him on a little too much? I know you like like him, but like, you never want to show him too much of yourself too soon. He might get the wrong idea." 

She had to really consider what Applejack was saying. She didn't think she was doing anything too awkward or intentionally suggestive. And if she had done so than somepony needed to tel her that was Applejack because that mare would probably think sharing a particularly juicy apple was excessive flirting.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not, like, leading him on. I mean, you can't ever, like, totally know these things or whatever, right? but I'm pretty sure I'm not. Or, at least. Umm, not- well, not intentionally?" She said as she flipped her mane. It was hard not to be the freshest fruit in the bowl at all times but if she was and he found her fetching, was there anything wrong with that? "I mean, well, we're totally working together just fine and it isn't like he's tried to be all fresh and frisky with me just yet," she said, trailing off with only the slightest hint of disappointment.

"I know you spent a lot of time with Rarity, and I'm sure she has rubbed off on you a lot. Being taught how to be ladylike is pretty important."

Heh, how true that was. Even before Moonlight took center stage, Rarity had ensured quite the successful launch of Gilded Lilly and her immensely popular model tour. They had connected in a way that she never had with others. It was only naturally that the older mare would give the young up and coming fashionista tips on how to comport herself, no? "Ha, you can say that again. Of course, she was, like, totally rubbing off of me before anyway. I've always been just the most pristine example of fillyhood regardless of anything else, but, umm. I dunno," she finished with far less confidence as her mind turned on the subject of gendered communications, and whether she was still speaking as a colt. She didn't think so but...she also couldn't rule it out, could she? 

"Even I know when to let somepony else do the walkin'. I sometimes worry that you might still have that little colt attitude in you. If this guy likes you, it probably wont be the same as when you two were friends as colts. Even though I was a rough and tumble filly, even I knew that my fillyfriends and coltfriends had different ways of being. I wouldn't talk to a colt the same way I would talk to Rarity. Do you find yourself talking differently now?"
"I don't think I'm speaking the same as before. Like, not really. And I'm not really thinking, that, like, umm...I'm doing anything wrong, right? I mean, I speak to him like I'd speak to just about anycreature else!"

[Hippo]

 

As Moonlight shed more light on how she approached her potentially deeper relationship with Remington, Applejack began understanding that she was just being as genuine as ever. She liked that about her. Moonlight was never the kind of pony to mislead somepony else dishonestly for fear of rejection or embarrassment. And the filly had an authenticity that often seemed more pure than fillies who had not experienced the kind of transformations Moonlight did. Perhaps having that kind of perspective is what gave her such a keen eye on how things are different. Applejack might be trying to teach a lesson to the master of gender roles.

 

The apple mare smiled warmly. "Good. As long as you're being genuine, I suppose it'll turn out all right." Applejack dumped apples into a cart and returned to the trees to kick more apples off. "So, what is it about this colt you like so much? I can't imagine you liked him now the same way you liked him in Manehatten." Applejack smirked as she thought of how things could possibly be different. "I can't imagine those sleepovers are going to feel the same way the once did. Heh."

[SteelEagle]

                                                                      

As they talked, Moonlight tried to get back in her working mojo. She wasn't trying to work up too much of a sweat but sweet Twilight she couldn't help it. This was just hard! Even her horn felt stressed as she worked. But she wouldn't say a word. Not. One. A thin veneer of sweat was starting to form and the magic aura of her horn flickered every once in a while. She'd wait for Applejack to say something before she took a break. She continued to move the barrel with her magic and raked the leaves and picked them up- she'd have to start thinking of labor styles at some point to keep herself from bemoaning her self-perpetuated sorrow cycle. What color went well with sweat and leafy brown? White was out of season, but what about a light blue? Oooh, she'd look great in that. And it went well with red, which was always a consideration.

 

Applejack then asked the pertinent, hard-hitting question. Just what was it about Remington that she liked so much? She giggled, then tried to keep her composure, then tittered some more. "Hehehe. Well, uhh, like, let's start with the totes obvious first. He is so freakin' cute, like for real. And he is kinda dorky and awkward, but, like, I think that's mostly 'cause I probably make him feel all twisted up inside. How could I not, right? Right. So, like, he is also really smart and, like, wise in a way that I'm not sure he knows, and he's totally loyal, generous, and, like, super kind," she said as she grunted, the barrel falling down. She rolled her eyes and continued, though she blushed and smiled. "And oh my Twilight does he have a cute flank."

[Hippo]

As Moonlight ended her ramble, Applejack couldn't help but pipe in an addition. "Is he honest, though?" She chuckled.

 

Applejack was slightly concerned. She had never heard a filly of any age speak this much about a young stallion's back half. Well, except maybe from Granny Smith during one of her Las Pegasus trips, but that was a wildcard situation. "You uh, sure do like a good flank, huh?" Applejack knew stallions and the masculine variety of most species for that matter were way more vision oriented than fillies. But she had to remind herself that Moonlight, while she absolutely qualifies for being a filly, might have some of her colthood carried over into her new ponysona. And then she realized, what colthood. Applejack involuntarily chuckled to herself of her own thoughts. "Moonlight, you ever think that maybe his flank ain't the most important thing? But let's talk about the flustered aspect of it. I used to love getting colts that had a crush on me goofy by me just pretending that maybe I liked them. But then after realizing that was kind of mean, I also realized I didn't usually get honesty from them. Sometimes a colt who isn't completely obsessed with you is a good thing. But then if they don't care, then they don't care, right?" She chuckled, knowing full well not even she knew what she was talking about completely. She was in Rarity territory of this subject matter. She kicked a few more trees as Moonlight responded to her. Applejack's muscle memory could keep her ears unoccupied to Moonlight's teenage explanations.

 

[SteelEagle]

 

Well, there were a lot of things that Remington was honest about. For Applejack though honesty was a feature, something somepony would advertise about themselves big and bold in the bright lights on the interpersonal applications for friendship and more. But, well, to speak the truth, for most ponies she just considered it a given they would be honest or as honest as they could be. It wasn't like she had been fully honest with Remington about some aspects of her life just yet and it wasn't like she was a total hypocrite. And really, he was honest in the ways he needed to be honest in, like the way his body's blush betrayed him beautifully whenever she flirted with him. Words were decorations but the meat of the matter was the one thing a pony couldn't talk their way out of, and that was how they responded to you subconsciously.

 

"Oh, he's plenty honest too. Like, I don't think he's capable of lying. Well, intentionally. To me, anyway. I can, like, pry him open like a clam," she said as she continued her pleasant, not at all tainted by background thoughts conversation with her pleasantly firm-not-stern cousin. "Did I mention how super polite he is? He is the type of colt, that, like, you could take home to meet your parents and they'll be all like, 'oh my he is so divine!'. He's a real charmer. When I have him over for a dinner a few dozen times, like, I'm sure you won't get enough him. He has so many fun interests and is totally super cool. Oh!" She said as she gathered her work materials together, "yes, thats perfect! He can come over for dinner!" She said as she hopped up and down.