Natalya let out a groan and twisted around in her bed. She had been rudely awoken by an incessant pounding from somewhere nearby. Cracking open her eyes, she saw from a clock that it was only slightly earlier than when she usually got up.
She was no stranger to getting up early. Back in Griffonstone, she had disciplined herself so that she would be fully warmed up and limber to face whatever training was on the agenda by the time most griffons struggled to get out of bed. Even though her stay in Ponyville had thrown off her schedule, she still tried to maintain her workout routine whenever she could.
That being said, just because she was used to waking up early, it did not mean she was fond of doing so. She hated mornings, but facing it was a necessary evil.
As the pounding continued and her mind shook off some of the dregs of sleep, Natalya was able to identify the sound as a hoof knocking on glass. With another, much louder groan, she sat up, turning her head to the window. She was hardly surprised to see a waving Pinkie standing on the balcony.
Tempted as she was to just leave Pinkie outside and maybe catch a few more precious minutes of sleep, Natalya dragged herself out of bed. She made sure to grumble and curse during her trudge to the window.
Opening the window, Natalya stood in front of Pinkie, straightening up to her full height so that she could look down at her visitor. “Pinkie…” Natalya uttered in a seemingly neutral tone, the kind that could easily lead to smashed furniture and much louder voices if the wrong answer was given.
“Good morning,” Pinkie greeted with a smile.
The two of them stared each other, neither of them making a move or saying a word. Feeling that something was off, Natalya scrutinized Pinkie. She noticed that Pinkie’s smile was not as wide or perky, and even her mane was not as poofy as usual.
And then it hit her: Pinkie and silence did not mix.
Natalya could already guess what was wrong, and a short yawn from Pinkie quickly confirmed her suspicion.
“Guess even you’re not immune to mornings,” Natalya remarked. It was comforting to find out that Pinkie did indeed have her limits, even if they did sometimes defy reality and reason.
“Yeah, I only had three cupcakes before I came here,” Pinkie replied. “Don’t worry, once I get a couple more in me, I’ll be back to my pinky, perky, peppy, plucky, pony self.”
“Have you ever thought about maybe cutting back on the sugar?”
Pinkie’s eyes flew wide open for a moment as she emitted a loud gasp. She then narrowed her eyes and frowned at Natalya. “Never!”
Natalya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. Anyway, why are you here? You better have a good reason for waking me up early.”
“I came here to see Gilda. If she still wants to do today’s baking lessons and help with the big order, I kind of need her now. We got a lot of stuff to do if we’re going to finish in time.”
“If you haven’t noticed yet, this isn’t Gilda’s room,” Natalya flatly stated.
Pinkie giggled. “I know that, silly. I thought that I could check up on you in case you were still sleeping. It’s kind of a kill two birds with one stone thing… but with griffons… Actually, killing is a meanie thing to do. Why would I try to hurt you or Gilda with a stone? Maybe I should say I got two griffons to eat one cupcake? But wait, I have plenty of cup—”
Natalya clamped her talons over Pinkie’s mouth, silencing the pony. “Pinkie, get to the point,” she commanded and then retracted her paw.
Pinkie nodded. “You should be getting ready to go help Applejack and Rainbow with applebucking! You don’t want to be late!”
“How can I be late? It’s not like we set up a time.”
“Well, Applejack should already be done with her breakfast and is now getting ready to start her chores. Knowing Rainbow and that there’s going to be cider later, she’s likely over there as well. You don’t want them to start the fun without you, right?”
“I wouldn’t call what we’re doing today fun, but I guess you kind of have a point. If those two are all ready, then I might as well join them.” Natalya sighed. “Something tells me this is going to be a long day.”
“That’s the spirit! I’m sure that you’ll have a good time with Rainbow and Applejack today. Now, I have to go get Gilda before the Cakes get worried. See you, Natalya!”
Natalya gave Pinkie a half-hearted wave as the pony trotted across the room and exited out of the door. Since she was in a hurry, Natalya decided that she would cut her morning workout short and make do with just a few quick stretches before she headed out. Her warmups only took a few moments, briefly interrupted by a loud squawk coming from the direction of Gilda’s room. As she proceeded out onto the balcony to take-off, she paused when she saw a cupcake lying on the ground.
Obviously a treat left by Pinkie, Natalya plucked the cupcake off the ground and promptly bit into it. Given the number of pears Pinkie was lugging around yesterday, Natalya was hardly surprised to taste the fruit mixed within the frosting. Satisfied with her sweet, simple breakfast, Natalya began her flight to Sweet Apple Acres, finishing her cupcake along the way.
Natalya quickly spotted Applejack when she made it to Sweet Apple Acres. The mare was emerging from one of the storage barns with a wagon full of baskets in tow. Applejack unhitched her load next to a second wagon also brimming with baskets.
Natalya dived down at Applejack, landing with a loud thump right behind her and causing the mare to jump and whirl around with wide eyes, only to let out a sigh when she saw who it was.
“Geez, you scared me, Natalya,” Applejack remarked, the faintest hint of a frown crossing her face.
Natalya merely shrugged in response.
Applejack frowned for another second before she sighed. “Well, regardless, thanks again for helpin’ out today, and Ah appreciate you even comin’ in early.”
“Actually, Pinkie barged into my room and kind of urged me to get going because you were going to start working soon. Since we never set up a time to meet, I figured now was as good time as any.”
Applejack idly scratched the back of her neck with a forehoof. “Really? Ah forgot that? Sorry about the confusion, but in my defense, Ah was still shaken up by the, uh, prank you four pulled on me yesterday.”
Deciding not to comment about Applejack’s pear-phobia, Natalya slowly turned her head from left to right, scanning her surroundings. “Rainbow here yet? Pinkie also said that she would be here.”
“Got here a few minutes before you, in fact. But since Ah still needed a bit to get ready and you weren’t here yet, she went off to try and squeeze in a quick nap.”
Natalya cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously? She wakes up early so that she can come here to sleep?”
“Whether it’s cider or sleep, Rainbow can’t get enough of it.” Applejack chuckled quietly and then hitched herself back into one of the wagons. “Ready to start?”
“Shouldn’t we get Rainbow?”
Applejack gave a knowing grin. “Don’t worry, we’ll grab her on the way. Just hook yourself up to the other wagon and we’ll head out.”
Natalya shrugged and moved over to the second wagon. The harness was a simple, metal loop that wrapped around her midriff, and with a minimal amount of fiddling with her claws, she was able to hook herself up. All set, she nodded to Applejack, and the two of them proceeded into the orchard.
They had barely walked for a minute when Applejack told Natalya to stop and unhitch from her wagons. As Natalya worked herself out of the metal loop, she paused when she heard a loud snore from somewhere nearby. Glancing at Applejack, she was met with a smirk and a hoof pointing upwards.
Natalya looked up to see a familiar rainbow tail dangling from one of the tree’s branches, and she could also pick out hints of sky-blue behind the leaves.
“Rainbow does this often?” Natalya asked.
“All the time,” Applejack replied.
“I’m guessing you want me to fly up there and wake her up.”
“Nope, Ah got a better idea.” Applejack swiftly grabbed a few baskets from her wagon and set them up around the tree. She glanced at Natalya and then back up where Rainbow was. “Hey, Natalya, could you scooch a little bit to your left?”
“Uh, okay?” Natalya uttered slowly, moving as she was told.
“Good, now if you don’t mind, just stand up on your hind legs and hold out your forelegs straight out.”
Natalya cocked her head in confusion, but again, did as she was told.
Applejack suddenly bucked the tree. Amidst the usual deluge of apples that came raining down, there was a yelp as Rainbow fell off her branch and into Natalya’s waiting paws.
“And that’s how you get rid of varmints who go snoozin’ in our trees.” Applejack snickered while she watched Rainbow squirming in Natalya’s grasp with her eyes still closed.
“Ugh, what the heck, Applejack?” Rainbow groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes flew wide open when she saw that a displeased Natalya was only inches away and staring right at her with a flat look. “Uh, morning?”
“Sup,” Natalya greeted dryly. “Now get off me before I drop you.”
“What?” Rainbow craned her head to the side to see what she was lying on. “Oh, uh, sure.”
When Rainbow used her wings to fly up a little and then landed back on her hooves, Applejack said, “Alright, that’s enough fun for now. If you two are ready, I really would like to get things started now.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Natalya replied.
“Just one quick question,” Rainbow stated.
“Cider tastin’ is around lunch time,” Applejack informed.
Rainbow blinked. “Never mind then.”
Applejack flashed a smirk at Rainbow. “Anyway, like Ah said yesterday, we’re behind on the applebuckin’, so that’s what you’ll be helpin’ out with. All you have to do is get the apples into the baskets. No need to carry any of them back. Big Mac and Ah will take care of it later. Just harvest as much as you can in this area, but don’t push yourselves too much either. Got it?”
“Got it,” Natalya and Rainbow answered simultaneously.
“Good. Now Ah gotta get movin’ to my section. Sorry that Ah can’t stick around to show you the ropes, Natalya, but Rainbow should be able to help you out.” Applejack hitched herself up to her wagon once again. “Ah’ll come find you two when it’s about time for the cider tastin’. Thanks again for all the help.”
After Applejack left, Natalya was eager to try out applebucking herself and zipped back to the wagon she brought to grab a bunch of baskets. As she began arranging around a nearby tree, she asked, “So this applebucking, all you have to do is kick the tree really hard?”
“Uh, actually, there’s more to it than that,” Rainbow replied.
Natalya paused. “Like?”
“Um…” Rainbow went silent for several seconds. “Yeah… I got nothing…”
Natalya rolled her eyes. “This is Sonic Rainboom training all over again…”
“Hey, you try listening to Applejack yammer on about apples! She’s almost as bad as Twilight whenever it’s something apple-related.”
“And yet you seem to do decent enough.”
“Er, yeah. I just kick them as hard as I can.”
“So pretty much what I said earlier…”
“Right… Hey, I just wanted to point out there’s more to applebucking than kicking trees hard… I just don’t know what those things are.”
“Sometimes I wonder why I follow you around…” Natalya sighed and finished setting up the baskets around the tree. Once that was done, she positioned herself with her rear facing the tree, just like how she saw Rainbow and Applejack. Taking a deep breath, she put her weight onto her forelegs and raised her hind legs to attempt her first applebuck.
Unused to the new position, Natalya soon felt herself tipping over, and she had to frantically flap her wings to prevent herself from falling. Hearing a stifled snicker, she immediately looked up to shoot a withering glare at Rainbow.
“Sorry, sorry!” Rainbow apologized, waving her forehooves defensively. “I tried to hold it in, honest!” She cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah, it takes a bit to find your balance and stuff. Just try it again, and I promise, no laughing.”
Natalya slowly nodded, her hostile gaze lingering on Rainbow for a few seconds. She eventually returned her attention to applebucking and once again reared up her hind legs. Again, she felt herself unbalanced and had to jerk her body to save herself. She was glad that Rainbow kept her promise and just watched her in stoic silence.
Natalya continued to try and get herself situated. Each attempt brought about a slight shift in her stance and a bit more confidence in her posture. Eventually, she felt that she had found the right stance for her and was able to try her first real applebuck.
Taking one more deep breath, she reared up and kicked out with her hind legs in one smooth motion. She felt a slight stinging sensation flood her body, but she was more interested with the satisfying thump she heard when she hit the tree.
Hastily turning around, she expected to catch a glimpse of the apples dropping out of the tree. She was extremely disappointed to see that not even a single fruit dropped into any of the baskets or onto the ground.
“Um, at least you got the bucking part down,” Rainbow chimed in.
Natalya shot Rainbow a quick glare that clearly stated that the comment was not helping. Turning her attention back to the tree, Natalya hastily got back into her bucking position and kicked the tree a second time.
Again, Natalya’s buck did not yield anything.
Natalya growled and commenced throwing out bucks one right after the other. She tried aiming her kicks at different parts of the trunk. She tried shifting her weight around with her bucks. She even tried backing up a bit before charging at the tree and then spinning around to deliver her bucks.
Nothing worked, and each failed buck added to her frustration.
Eventually, Natalya had enough, and with a loud growl, she bucked the tree one more time, this time channeling as much of her strength as she could. Pain flooded her senses as soon as her legs impacted the wood, causing her to collapse to the ground. She took no small comfort in the fact that she finally got one apple out of the tree, especially since she felt that apple conk her on the head.
“Whoa, you okay, Natalya?!” Rainbow asked, rushing over to the downed griffon’s side.
“Just fine…” Natalya replied, taking deep breaths through gritted teeth. “It was more of the shock that got me.”
After resting for a few minutes, the pain ebbed away enough for her to slowly get up. Once she was on her feet, she tested her limbs and was pleased to find that it seemed like there were not any real injuries, even if her hind legs were still stinging a bit.
“You just keep on relaxing for a bit longer,” Rainbow recommended. “If it’s alright with you, I’m going to get started with my own bucking. I haven’t really done anything yet since I was watching you.”
Natalya made no argument, gingerly laying back down on all fours. She watched as Rainbow walked over to the tree that she was working on and bucked it. Her eye twitched when she saw a shower of apples come down, and she could not help but let out a scoff of annoyance.
Rainbow promptly let out a long sigh. Without turning to Natalya, she said, “Yeah, yeah, I know it looks like I’m trying to show you up, but I’m not trying to. Don’t forget that I have been applebucking for a few years. It’s not really fair to compare the two of us, especially since this is your first time.”
“I know…” Natalya got back on her feet, albeit a bit shakily with her still-sore legs. “Doesn’t make it any easier watching you do it so effortlessly.” She walked over to the wagon, grabbed a couple of baskets, and moved toward a new tree.
“Wait, you’re going to try again already?” Rainbow asked with a worried frown.
“How else am I going to get better at this?” Natalya answered as she laid down the baskets around the tree.
“Well, yeah, I guess, but you did kind of hurt yourself. Shouldn’t you at least rest a bit longer?”
“I've dealt with worse.” Natalya quickly turned around and began bucking the tree. She made sure to try and not overexert herself again.
Rainbow silently watched Natalya buck with little success for a few moments before letting out a sigh. “Alright fine, you keep trying with your applebucking. I got my own bucking to do. Just don’t forget you can pick the apples too if you don’t get it down.”
Natalya incoherently mumbled her understanding, her attention still focused on trying to buck the apples out of the tree.
Rainbow sighed again. “Just don’t hurt yourself again, alright?” she said before starting her own applebucking.
Natalya continued to try and perfect her applebucking technique, but was met with little success. The apples refused to yield to her bucks, and all she was rewarded with was sweat and pain.
Every now and then, Natalya would have to take a break, both to relieve her sore muscles and her growing stress. She would also take the chance to glance at Rainbow, who was slowly clearing the trees surrounding her. Since Rainbow needed an average of three bucks to harvest most, if not all, of the apples in a tree, Natalya tried mimicking the pegasus’s applebucking posture and movements.
And yet no matter what Natalya tried, she could not get a single buck that was remotely successful.
By the time Applejack finally came back, Natalya’s legs were aching and likely full of splinters, she was exhausted, and her best record was two apples in one buck, although she was pretty sure that it was only because those fruit were already on the verge of falling themselves. Needless to say, she was not happy with how things turned out.
“Very nice job,” Applejack cheerfully complimented, surveying the filled baskets littering the area. “All of this is gonna help a great deal in gettin’ us back on schedule. You two really pulled through, and Ah greatly appreciate all of your hard work.”
“Well, that’s just how we awesome flyers do,” Rainbow proclaimed with a proud grin.
Natalya kept silent, but she stole a quick glance at the pegasus. She wondered why Rainbow made it sound like they did roughly the same amount of work. After all, Natalya knew well enough that she only picked several trees worth of apples just to make it look like she did something productive. Rainbow had harvested far more trees with her applebucking skills.
“So, uh, I believe there was another thing that I was supposed to help out with today?” Rainbow’s grin was now full of eagerness bordering on desperation.
Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, Granny should be just about done with the cider. On top of that… and she’s gone…”
Natalya turned her head. The only signs Rainbow had been standing next to her just a moment ago was the pegasus’s telltale rainbow trail heading in the direction of the farmhouse and an audible “Sweet!” off in the distance.
“Well, we better get movin’,” Applejack recommended, walking past Natalya in the direction Rainbow vanished to. “If we don’t hurry, Rainbow’s gonna guzzle down the whole batch of cider before we get a taste. Oh, and Ah was about to say before Rainbow flew off was that Granny also made some lunch as a thank you for helpin’ us out.”
Natalya nodded and followed Applejack. With the sugar of Pinkie’s pear cupcake long gone, she was starving. Given how tasty Granny Smith’s pie was the last time she was here, Natalya also hoped that some good food would help improve her mood after all of her failed applebucking.
It did not take long during their walk before Applejack asked, “So, how was applebuckin’ for you?”
“Alright,” Natalya replied quietly.
Applejack stared at Natalya, one of her eyebrows rising and disappearing into her hat. “Oh really?”
Natalya sighed. “No… It…” She paused to find the right word for her experience. “It sucked.”
“Yeah, can’t say Ah wasn’t expectin’ that.”
Natalya stopped walking and glared at Applejack. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Sorry, Ah didn’t mean that to sound bad.” Applejack also stopped to bow her head in apology. “Let me explain. You see, my family have been applebuckin’ for generations, and Ah never heard of a griffon being able to do it.”
“There’s always a first time for everything,” Natalya grumbled as they resumed walking.
“True, and that’s why Ah let you go ahead and try out applebuckin’ for yourself. Sorry to hear that things didn’t work out for you.”
“That’s an understatement. I spent almost the entire time trying to get a decent buck, but my best was only two measly apples.”
“So you’re admitting that Rainbow pretty much did most of the work?”
“Why? Got a problem with that?”
Applejack shook her head. “Nope, just glad that you’re tellin’ the truth and givin’ Rainbow credit for her work. Still, the way Ah see it, you both worked hard for Sweet Apple Acres, even if you don’t have as much to show for it in the end.”
“Whatever…” Natalya mumbled trying to act nonchalant, even if her pride was still slightly bruised. “The main reason I did this was to try and build up my strength for the Sonic Rainboom, not to be an apple farmer.”
“If you say so.”
Their conversation came to an end, and they continued walking in silence.
“Still would’ve been nice to at least get more than two apples…” Natalya complained a few steps later.
Applejack chuckled lightly. “Yeah, that is pretty disappointin’.” Before Natalya could voice a complaint, Applejack continued, “But Ah don’t think it’s fair to be so hard on yourself when the odds are stacked against you.”
“What do you mean?”
Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, Ah didn’t want to tell you all of this earlier and possibly discourage you. You know, in case things did happen to work out for you. But since they didn’t, well, Ah guess it’s time you learn a bit more about applebuckin’. You see, there’s a reason we’re called earth ponies. We have a special bond with the earth, including the stuff that grows from it.”
“So are you saying that you can talk to trees or something like that?”
“In a way, yes,” Applejack replied, taking Natalya’s quip with stride. “It’s hard to explain, but to put it simply, we have like a sixth sense sort of thing when it comes to plants. It lets us know how they are doing so that we figure out the best way to care for them. We can even sort of communicate with them to get them to do certain things. Now, it’s not anythin’ fancy like makin’ stuff instantly sprout out of the ground. Just little nudges or requests.”
“Like making the trees give you their apples?” Natalya asked.
Applejack nodded.
“So I suck at applebucking because I can’t talk to some stupid tree?”
“Hey! Have some respect!” Applejack chastised. “But yeah, something like that. You just don’t have that connection.”
“Then what about Rainbow? She seems to do pretty good without being an earth pony.”
“Twilight explained that to us one time, but to be honest, a lot of it went over my head. Somethin’ about how all ponies have magic within them, so we all share some traits. Earth ponies just happen to better with all of that when it comes to plants.”
“So what you’re saying is that I can’t applebuck because I’m not a pony,” Natalya summarized with a frown.
Applejack shrugged. “That’s my theory anyway. Ah’m no researcher like Twilight. For all Ah know, you could end up buckin’ like a pro with just a bit more practice. Just don’t be surprised if nothing happens if you try again either.
“Sorry if Ah’m rubbin’ you the wrong way, but Ah figured that Ah should be honest with you. Ah’m happy to let you keep tryin’ your hoof at applebuckin’, but Ah also don’t want you goin’ crazy over it if it ends up bein’ somethin’ that’s impossible for you to do.”
Natalya had no response to give, so she continued walking forward in silence, mulling over Applejack's words.
After some more walking with neither of them talking, Applejack added, “You know, Apple Bloom once challenged Rainbow to a little applebucking contest. The face Rainbow had when she found out Apple Bloom could easily outbuck her was priceless."
That got Natalya to break her silence with a quiet chuckle.