All was peaceful at Sweet Apple Acres as Rogue the thestral zoomed through the orchard at high speed. He glanced around, seeing no signs of intruders. "All's clear in orchard C," he told himself as he flew above the trees, "And all's clear in orchard D."
He licked his lips at all the apples that were growing. Any one of them looked perfectly delectable, and there was a very good reason for that. But the sun began to rise at this, Rogue flying back to the house. A cockcrow called as he arrived, stepping inside the place with a yawn. At this time of day, the Apple family would usually be getting up and getting ready, but Rogue smirked as he saw the four were already up and at the table.
Applejack had clearly been up the longest, as she was at the stove making a bunch of pancakes. She smiled at seeing him enter before putting some pancakes on a plate for him, throwing it like a discus that Rogue easily caught. She then put some in a bowl for Winona and turned to the others. "Ah know we've had this day marked on the calendar for quite a while, but it's finally here." She placed plates down, the group still looking tired with Big Mac seeming especially exhausted.
"Eeyup," the stallion moaned as he poured some blueberry juice on his pancakes.
"Sure is," Applebloom nodded as she used her pancakes as a pillow.
"What?" Granny Smith asked, Rogue wondering if her hearing had gone again or she had just forgotten what today was.
"The Confluence," Applejack chimed in, "A harvest a hundred moons in the makin'. When every apple comes ripe at the same time." Rogue was curious about that, since he still didn't know exactly how apple growing worked. He was just the guard dog after all. "Big Mac's been up late workin' on this schedule so we can be sure not to miss a single tree," Applejack showed them a map of the orchard that had trees colored with red, orange, green and yellow. "All it'll take now is a few days o' hard work. Who's with me?"
But the sound of snoring made her turn to see Mac asleep on his pancakes. "I'll get the coffee on," Rogue moved over to fill the tea kettle with water.
As he did this, Applebloom stared at the chart and groaned. "That looks like a lot of work."
"Aw," Granny Smith patted her head, "Don't you worry, chick-a-bidee. We got this Confluence under control. I got us some help."
This made Applejack smile. "That's great, Granny! Twilight and the others are too busy at the school to lend a hoof. We could sure use some more muscle. Who'd you get? Braeburn? Honeycrisp?"
Granny Smith just chuckled in response. "Even better." As soon as she said that, a sound filled the air. It started off weak but grew louder until the sound was right outside the door. The sound of many many...cats.
The door flew open and a giant wall of cats filled the opening, which eventually exploded out in all directions to reveal an old mare smiling at them. "Howdy, y'all!" Goldie Delicious giggled. She was an old orange mare with curly white hair. Rogue had never met her, but he had heard a lot of stories about her. The cats ran around the place, jumping about and trying to find comfy places to sleep. One of those places was the head of the sleeping Big Mac, another leaping up onto him and using its claws to knead his ear. Obviously, this woke him up and made him cry out in pain, the group all flinching as he fell back, his pancakes being knocked off the table and slamming into him.
"You okay?" Rogue asked as Goldie chuckled.
"Now, that's how you wake a pony up."
"Goldie Delicious!" Applebloom ran up to her and threw her hooves around the mare who smiled and patted her on the head.
"Granny told me y'all could use a helpin' hoof with this here Confluence, so I came a-runnin'."
Applejack flinched at this while Mac tried to pull the cat off his head. "Well, with a harvest this big, we're grateful for all the help we can get...ah guess."
"Eeyup," Mac pulled the cat off of him and threw it over to Rogue. The bat pony caught the feline, only to see the little thing begin waving its tail in his face.
And as it did this, he suddenly felt something in his nose. "Ah...ah...ahhhhh-CHOO!" He dropped the cat, the apples looking at him in shock. "Oh," he wiped his nose, "Sorry about that." But another cat then brushed up next to him and he suddenly felt the need to sneeze again. "ACHOO!" He accidently unleashed a small sonic blast, which hit the plates still on the table and knocked them off. Luckily, Applejack was able to save them before they and the pancakes smashed onto the ground.
"Oh dear," Goldie commented, "Looks like somepony's got a rather serious cat allergy."
"Cat allergy?" Rogue asked as he was about to sneeze again.
Fearing he might sonic blast them, Applejack ran over and pointed Rogue's head out of an open window. Seconds later, he sneezed and the sonic blast exploded out of him...which thankfully didn't hit anything. "This could be a problem," the Element of Honesty gulped.
"I got it," Applebloom ran out of the room and returned with a face mask. "Here. This should keep you from sneezing." Rogue put it on and moved his face next to a cat, breathing in and getting ready to sneeze. But he didn't.
"I think we're good."
"That's good," Applejack nodded, "Last thing we need is you accidently blasting all the apples into sauce. The Confluence is too rare to let such a chance pass by."
Goldie Delicious giggled at this, "It's too bad y'all ain't ever caught the Great Seedling. He'd have granted you a perpetual harvest, Confluence or no."
"The what?" Rogue scratched his head while Applejack and Mac both laughed.
"The Great Seedlin'?" Applejack chuckled, "Well now, ah haven't thought about that old mare's tale for years."
"The Great Seedlin' ain't no mare's tale!" Goldie replied, looking angry that she would say such a thing. "He's a magical Earth spirit."
"Really?" Rogue asked, "What's so special about him?"
"It's not real," Applejack chimed in, "Just a legend about a magical being shaped like a deer."
Goldie nodded, "Imagine a buck, all the colors of the harvest, that travels from farm to farm, daring ponies to catch him. And those that have the ingenuity are rewarded with crops that are always in bloom." She suddenly looked angry again. "And he's as real as you and me!"
Applebloom smirked at this, while Granny Smith smiled. "As I'm up to recall, Applebloom used to love settin' traps for the Great Seedlin' when she was a young'un." She laughed, Big Mac doing the same as Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm pretty sure she's outgrown the whole thing by now. Right, Applebloom?" She turned to her sister, only to see the filly was nowhere to be found.
"Or maybe I'm big enough now to finally catch him!" They turned to the voice, now seeing Applebloom dressed in a helmet covered in leaves and sticks while carrying a saddlebag stuffed with nets and other trapping supplies. "Who's with me?!" She smiled like a kid in a candy store, Goldie chuckling as Applejack sighed.
"Applebloom," she marched up to her, "You haven't hunted for the Great Seedlin' since you were little. Why would you want to start again now?"
"Cuz the Confluence is so big!" She excalimed, "He's bound to show up! And if we catch him, he'll make all the apples ripe all the time! Right, Goldie?"
"Mm-hmm," the old pony nodded, "That's right, young filly."
This made Applebloom laugh. "Just imagine. Sweet Apple Acres would be the busiest orchard in Equestria!" She turned to Rogue, "I bet you could help me find the Great Seedlin' in no time. So, wanna help?"
Rogue sighed, then yawned. "As fun as that sounds, I've been up all night making sure your Confluence apples weren't stolen. The only thing I wanna do right now is get some sleep."
Applebloom glared at him, only to sigh, "Fine. Then it'll be up to me to catch the Great Seedlin'!" She trotted up to the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do!"
She ran off at this, Applejack rushing to the door to call out after her. "Don't forget we have actual work to do!" But Applebloom either didn't hear her, or was too excited about the traps to call back.
"Nothin' like a little filly enjoyin' the harvest," Goldie chuckled.
"Ah don't mind Applebloom havin' fun," Applejack replied, "But there's honest-to-goodness work to do that doesn't have a thing to do with an old legend."
"Aw, quit worryin', sugar booger." She looked back to Granny, who had taken all the plates and started washing them. "Applebloom can hunt for the Seedlin' all she wants. If you're so fret-a-fied about work, why don't you and your brother get to buckin' your own selves?"
Applejack nodded before rushing over to the chart, "Granny's right." She took it down off the wall and turned to Big Mac, who was currently asleep on the ground while using a cat as a pillow. "Come on, sleepyhead. Let's get to work." Mac lifted his head, yawning as he replied with his signature catchphrase. But despite wanting to, he was clearly too tired to really get to work. Luckily, or unluckily, the cat he was holding had had enough and slashed at him. This really woke him up and allowed the cat to jump free, running off as Mac got up.
Rogue wished he could help, but he was almost as tired as Mac looked. As such, he headed over to the barn and hoped he could get a good day's rest before joining them to help later on. But when he arrived, he found Applebloom was already there.
"What are you doing?" He asked, seeing she had made a large wicker basket and was tying some rope to the top of it.
"Building my Great Seedlin' trap," Applebloom replied as she threw the end of the rope over a beam and used it to pull the cage up. "What do you think?" She released the rope and the cage flew down, hitting the ground hard and looked quite sturdy.
Rogue hummed as he stared at it, "Isn't it a bit big?"
"Of course!" Applebloom exclaimed, "The Great Seedlin's large, so the trap's gotta be big too!"
"Yeah, but if it's too big then I doubt you'll be able to hide it properly." Applebloom hummed at this, "Besides." He moved over and lifted it up, showing the basket was rather light despite being big. "If the Great Seedling's as good as they say, I'm pretty sure he'll be able to escape this."
"Aw donkey butter." Rogue gasped, though he wasn't quite sure if that was a bad phrase or not. "Guess I'm gonna have to start from scratch. Something heavier, but easily camouflaged."
She rubbed her hooves together at this, only for Rogue to walk over to her, "Yeah, well can you work on it outside." He used his wing to start pushing her toward the door, "Some of us need to get some shut eye." Once she was outside, he took off the mask, only for a cat to run past her, chasing a farm mouse. "Ah...ah...AHHH-CHOOOO!" Once again, he unleashed a sonic blast that made the barn shake.
"You might want to keep that on," Applebloom yelled from outside, making Rogue groan. He put it back on as he closed the barn, making sure there were no cats around before flying up to his sleep beam. Wrapping his tail around it, he let himself swing down and wrapped his wings around his head.
But despite how tired he was, he still couldn't seem to get to sleep with the mask making him have trouble breathing. Eventually, he took it off and tried to sleep while keeping his wings wrapped tightly around him, soon drifting off into a fairly comfortable sleep. And as he dreamed, he found himself running through a forest with the Great Seedling. It looked just like Goldie Delicious had described, being all the colors of the harvest while its wooden antlers had leaves and apples growing upon them. It was quite a sight.
The pair ran into an orchard, Rogue laughing as he did so. But as he did this, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way as a pitfall trap tried to get them. The pair quickly escaped, Rogue flying out and the Great Seedling somehow able to jump off the air itself.
And as they did this, a cage fell down on him. Rogue quickly unleashed a sonic blast that knocked it away, the Seedling nodding at him. Rogue smiled, only for his nose to start twitching and he found himself unable to breath out.
"Ah...ah...ahhhh-CHOOOOOOOOOO!" He sneezed and unleashed a sonic blast, which struck the Great Seedling and made it explode into a swirl of leaves and other plant life. And as this happened, Rogue found himself falling, only to wake up...and find he had fallen off the beam, hitting the ground with a grunt. A meow came next, making him look up and saw a cat on the beam, another purr causing him to turn and see a second cat next to him.
He groaned as he put his mask back on, the thestral coming to a very simple conclusion. "I'm definitely a dog pony." He laid there for a few more moments, trying to decide if he was still tired enough to try and get back to sleep...but soon found he was more than awake.
He got up and headed out of the barn, taking to the air as he began to look for the Apples. Based on how long he assumed he had been asleep, he guessed they had already completed three fields. But when he reached field number four, he found them still full of apples.
The same was true of field number three and when he arrived at field two, he found the place was only half harvested. "Huh. Guess they fell behind." He flew down, "Really behind." He landed, only to hear a flicking noise and suddenly had his feet pulled out from under him. "GYAH!" He crashed into the ground, pain in his wing surging as he hit the ground before getting pulled up into the air. When the pain in his wing died down, he looked up and saw he was being held up by a snare trap.
"APPLEBLOOM!" He exclaimed, hoping the filly was nearby. He then tried to pull himself up in order to untie himself, but couldn't, and his wing was killing him now, so flying was out of the question. He started swinging around, hoping that maybe the rope would give. But after several minutes of this, he realized it wasn't gonna happen. "Damn it!" He soon gave up, only to remember a book he had borrowed from Twilight once. "Looks like I'm gonna have to one hundred and twenty-seven hours my way out of this."
"You're gonna cut your hoof off?" He spun around, seeing Applebloom walking up to him.
"That's how it ends?" He asked, gulping at the thought. "I got super busy and my rental period expired. I figured he just wiggled himself free." As he said that, Applejack, Mac and the old ponies arrived.
"What are you doin' up there?" Applejack asked her special somepony.
"Oh, you know. Just hanging out." He grumbled, "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING UP HERE?!" Applebloom moved over to the rope and kicked out the peg, causing Rogue to fall, "Ow!" He yelped as he hit the dirt, only to flinch when he tried to move his wing.
"What happened?" Applejack asked.
"When I got caught, my wing hit the ground and-ahh." He stretched them out and sighed, "Not broken, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to fly for a day or two."
Applejack frowned and turned to her sister, "Now do you see what you've done? Your silly search for the Great Seedlin's gone and gotten Rogue hurt."
Applebloom glanced away, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Rogue moaned, "But maybe you should make a map or something, so I don't accidently run into another one." She nodded back and ran off, Applejack frowning at him. "What? She didn't mean to get me hurt. No reason she can't keep hunting after it."
Applejack sighed and shook her head, "Except we're running behind now cause she's been so busy chasing something that's probably not real."
"Is there any reason to believe it's not real?" Rogue asked as they started walking around to buck the apples. "I mean, after everything you've seen in your adventures, is a legendary earth spirit any different from a Spirit of Chaos, or a shadow pony that can mind control?"
"Ah guess," Applejack shrugged, "Come on, let's just focus on getting this field bucked." The others nodded and they all started bucking as fast as they could, but it was a slow process. By the time the sun went down, they had only managed to get through three and a half of the five fields they had hoped to get through that day. The Apples were all exhausted, one significantly more than the others, with Applebloom looking excited that the Great Seedling would be in her trap when she woke up the next morning.
"You've gotta be really careful," she told Rogue as Applejack dragged her back to the house to go to bed. "If you make too much noise, the Great Seedling might get away."
Rogue sighed, "I'll be sure to stay as quiet as possible." Applebloom smiled as she happily let her sister drag her the rest of the way home while Rogue headed over to the barn. He grabbed some more buckets, hoping to maybe spend the night catching them up. However, with his wing hurt, he had to rely on his less than stellar physical strength as he pulled the wagon to the field. Once there, he started bucking as best he could. Unlike the apples, he needed about two or three bucks to get the apples to fall into the bucket. It was slow work, but Rogue was never one to shy away from it. As such, he kept going for as long as he could while being careful to avoid Applebloom's many many traps.
Two hours after sunset, he needed to take a break and began to enjoy one of his golden apples. He sighed as he sat under a tree, happy there wasn't a single cat in sight. But as he finished it off, he suddenly heard a sound coming from behind him. A snapping twig, which made him get up and get into a battle-ready position. He waited, but the snapping sound didn't repeat itself.
He was about to shrug it off, but then his eyes caught movement in the distance. "Who's there?" He called out, "Whoever's here, you'd better come out. This is private property!" He slowly walked toward the movement, wishing he could fly, but found nothing, "Show yourself!"
And as he yelled this, he saw it. Something moving behind some trees. Rogue stared at the shadow and saw it was something quite big. They were moving through the trees and as Rogue tried to get a better look, he could swear he saw a pair of antlers. "No way." He whispered as he tried to give chase...only to instantly lose the figure.
"Darn it. If I could only fly right now." He commented, only to hear another sound. He spun around and saw a figure in the distance running away, "WAIT!" he exclaimed as he began to cut into a sprint...only to forget Applebloom had put a trap down in front of him, "GYAH!" He fell down a pitfall, hitting his head into the dirt, "Uhn..." He mumbled out before blacking out.
The next morning...
Before the sun was even up, Applejack was awake and busy getting breakfast sorted. Granny and Goldie were soon up as well as Applejack quickly made some pancakes. "We fell behind a bit yesterday," she pointed out. "So we need everypony at their best."
She put the plate down in front of Goldie, who had to protect it from her cats. But as she did this, she noticed a very tired Mac walking into the room. "If that's your brother's best, we might be done for. Mm-hmm."
Applejack sighed at this, "He was just up late workin' out a new schedule so we can stay on track." She took the paper as Mac fell to the ground asleep. As he did this, Applebloom ran downstairs and jumped onto her brother.
"I didn't sleep either!" She cheered, "I was too excited! I can't wait to see if I caught the Great Seedlin'!"
She then rushed out, as Goldie smirked at Applejack. "I hope you're ready to cheer Applebloom up when her traps come up empty," Applejack glared at her. "And where the heck is Rogue? He should be here by now."
As she said that, Applebloom shot back into the farmhouse. "Everypony! Come quick! You got to see!" She ran back out and the adults shared a glance before following her.
They followed her to a hill overlooking one of the fields. "What in blazes is all the excitement about?" She asked, as Applebloom jumped up and down in joy.
"Look!" She pointed at a clearing in the field and when they looked down, they gasped seeing a bunch of apples arranged on the ground in a pretty pattern. They could only watch, their mouths hanging low as Applebloom smiled at Goldie. "The Great Seedlin' did this! Didn't he?!"
Goldie laughed at this, "Well braid my mane! These sure look like Great Seedlin' tracks to me!"
This only helped to excite Applebloom. She leapt up for joy, "I knew it! He was here!" She grabbed Applejack and hugged her. "The Great Seedlin' was here! Ain't that amazin', Applejack?!" She ran off, wanting to examine the tracks closer while Applejack just stared at the sight.
"Yeah..." She scratched her head, "Amazin'..." But then she turned at Goldie, who laughed as she watched Applebloom run around the apples. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling she knew what really caused this. And she knew who to ask to be sure. "ROGUE!" She called out, expecting her boyfriend to call back. "ROGUE, YAH HERE?!"
But there was no answer, making Applejack frown. That is, till Winona let out a loud bark, making them all run over to the dog, who was at the edge of a pitfall trap. Applebloom gasped at this, "I caught it!" She ran over to the hole and looked down, only to flinch. "Oh." Applejack frowned and stepped over to the hole, grimacing when she saw her boyfriend laying at the bottom.
"Are you okay?" Applejack cried out, Rogue remaining quiet for a moment before letting out a moan.
"What happened?" He moaned as he glanced up, only to see he was in a hole.
"Ya'll okay Rogue?"
"I..." he moaned before pushing himself up and shaking his head. A second later, a memory dinging in his mind, making him gasp. He pushed himself up and leapt, grabbing the top of the pit. Applejack and Mac pulled him up and he staggered around, "I saw it!"
"Saw what?" Applejack asked, really hoping he didn't say what she thought he was gonna say.
"The Great Seedling!" Applebloom's eyes went wide. "It was last night. I was trying to make up for lost time, but then I heard a noise. And when I looked around, I saw it."
"WOW!" Applebloom exclaimed, "What did it look like?!"
"Well, I didn't get a good look. But it was big and had antlers coming out of its head!" Applejack frowned, since the others were starting to look like they believed in the Great Seedling.
"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Applejack asked.
"I know it was," Rogue shook his head, "And I would have caught it, if this stupid trap hadn't been in the way." As he said that, one of Goldie's cats ran passed and he found himself needing to sneeze. "ACHOO!" He let out a small sonic blast, which knocked him back, almost about to fall into the pit again.
Luckily, Applejack was there to grab and pull him back away. "Alright, yah clearly had a nasty fall and that made you remember somethin that wasn't really there."
"Oh, it was there alright." Applebloom added as she grabbed his hoof.
"You've gotta come see this!" She pulled him over to where the apples were lain, making Rogue raise an eyebrow. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"It sure is," Rogue nodded, "And this definitely wasn't here last night."
"I just can't believe the Great Seedlin' was really here!" Applebloom cheered as Applejack sighed.
"Neither can I."
Applebloom picked up one of the apples, looking it over, "What do you think this means?" Goldie moved over to her, a smile on her face as she let out a laugh.
"Well, it looks to me like a challenge. The Seedling wants you to know that he was here, and he's daring you to catch him. Mm-hmm." Granny Smith stepped up next to her, nodding as she did so.
"You think I still have a chance?" The filly asked, Granny giving her a playful elbow.
"You're an Apple, ain't ya?"
Goldie giggled at this, "Why, if you set enough traps, you're bound to catch him."
"You're right!" Applebloom cheered, "And that's just what I'm gonna do! Look out, Great Seedlin'! Here I come!" She exclaimed before running off toward the barn, looking to build as many traps as she could. Granny and Goldie laughed at this as Applejack frowned at the pair.
"Now, why would you go and do a thing like that?" She asked Goldie, who just raised an eyebrow.
"A thing like what?"
"You know what I mean!" Applejack grumbled, "We got enough work to do without you distractin' Applebloom by makin' some apple tracks and pretendin' the Great Seedlin' did it."
This got a gasp from Goldie, who looked insulted. "I did no such thing!"
Granny pointed a hoof at her granddaughter, "What in the tater tarnation would make you say a thing like that?!"
Applejack rolled her eyes, "Well, somepony did it." She turned to Goldie, "And she sure seems to be enjoyin' this quite a lot."
Goldie glared back at her. "I'm enjoyin' it because Applebloom's enjoyin' it!"
"Uh-huh," Applejack sighed before turning to the others. "And I suppose you two didn't do it either?"
"Nnnope," Mac shook his head as he picked up the apples.
"I was unconscious," Rogue pointed out, "And even if Goldie did do that, what about what I saw last night?"
Applejack glared at him while Granny smirked, "I suppose it could've been Goldie's cats! Why don't you ask them?" Applejack turned to the cats, which were playing around with the apples and clearly not smart enough to make such an elaborate display.
"Have you considered that maybe it was the Great Seedlin' after all?" Goldie asked as Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Ha-ha. Very funny." She walked off, picking up her apples as the others frowned.
"I swear," Granny Smith shook her head, "Sometimes I think she's part mule." She then turned to Rogue, seeing he was a little wobbly. "Great Seedlin aside, are you sure yer okay? Applejack was right about you takin a heck of a fall."
"I'm fine," Rogue replied before trying to walk after Applejack...only to walk right into a tree before recoiling back, "Though my steering might be a little off."
"I think you should go rest up," Granny responded, "Ah know you wanna help, but yer no good ta us if yah can't see straight." Rogue moaned but did as he was told, picking himself up and heading for the barn. He arrived back at the yard as Applejack walked in, the thestral hearing the mare talking as he approached.
"Are you sure you want to spend time tryin' to catch somethin' that... might not even be real?"
"What?!" Applebloom yelped, "But the Great Seedlin' is real! You saw the tracks! You think those appeared all by themselves?"
"Ah don't know who made the tracks," Applejack replied, "But ah don't think it was the Great Seedlin'."
"Why not?" He arrived as Applejack took her hat off.
"Because the Great Seedlin' is just somethin' to make the harvest fun for young'uns. And you're old enough now to know that there's a time for fun and there's a time for work."
"But catchin' the Great Seedlin' is helpin'!" Applebloom replied, "He can make the trees blossom all the time!" Applejack sighed at hearing this, seeing she was clearly not gonna be able to convince her sister.
"All right. How about this? If you help me with the harvest today, I'll help you set traps for the Great Seedlin' tonight. Deal?" She held out her hoof as Applebloom cheered.
"Woo-hoo! Yes!" She shook, "it's a deal!" She hugged Applejack, who hugged her back.
"Great," Rogue chimed in, "Do either of you know if we have any aspirin? My head's starting to kill me." The pair frowned at him, asking if Rogue needed a doctor. He assured them he would be fine with a bit of rest, so Applejack went to get him something for his head. "But if the orchard's really gonna be a Great Seedling death trap, I think I'll be staying home tonight."
"Maybe we can stay up together!" Applebloom exclaimed, "We can watch for it from mah room."
Rogue was tempted and once Applejack returned with the pain meds, he headed inside to take a rest. Lounging around on the couch, Rogue let his headache subside while trying to remember if what he saw last night was real or not. He knew it probably was a mistake made by his concussed head, but he had a feeling in his gut that it was real.
Three hours and six of Big Mac's comics later, Rogue head was feeling way better. He was able to get up and walk without feeling the world was spinning, and despite his wing still hurting, he was feeling better than ever. As such, he headed back out into the orchard while being sure not to fall into any more traps. He found the family in orchard five, which meant they were still far far behind.
As he got closer, he saw Applebloom bucking while Applejack was pushing a bucket of apples across the ground. As she did this, several fell out and landed in a swirl pattern. "Kinda looks like those Seedlin' tracks, huh?"
Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Sure. If there were hundreds of apples in a bunch of different lines."
"Well," Applejack thought about it, "If enough apples fell or got knocked down by the wind maybe." One of Goldie's cats then leapt onto the spiral of apples, knocking them away. "Or animals." Goldie stepped up, frowning since it was clear Applejack thought it was her who was doing all this. "I'm just sayin' there's a lot of possible explanations."
Goldie nodded, "And one o' them is the Great Seedlin'!"
"And the rest of 'em ain't!" Applejack growled, only for Granny Smith to shake her head.
"That ain't what you thought when you was a foal." That statement made Applejack's eyes go wide, as she clearly did not wanna have that piece of info leaked.
"What does that mean?" her sister asked.
"Your sister was plumb loco about catchin' the Great Seedlin' when she was your age. Same as you are now." She shot the pony in question a frowny glare. "Worse, even."
Applejack looked a little miffed, while Goldie smirked. "Oh, is that so? Do tell, Granny."
"Well, it must've been the last Conflu-inky, I reckon. I was supposed to keep an eye on your sister, but she was slippier then an apple seed." She told them the tale of how Applejack had been so gung-ho about catching the Great Seedling that she had accidently fallen into one of her own pitfalls. "She spent the better half of the day stuck in that trap!" Granny laughed her flank off while Applejack sighed.
"And missed out on helpin' with the harvest because I was chasin' somethin' for little foals." Applejack commented, "I felt guilty everypony else had to work harder because of me. So, I decided right then and there that I was too old to waste any more time on Great Seedlin'."
"Oh," Granny giggled, "We finished the harvest just fine. But we laughed about that story for years!" She let out a laugh again, Goldie doing the same.
"I'm still laughin'!"
Applejack huffed as her sister stepped up next to her. "I'm sorry that happened Applejack, but it won't if you and me set traps together like you promised." Applejack just frowned back at her, only for the filly to add, "Plus, we'll get 'em done twice as fast and won't miss out on any of the harvest!" She gave her sister a smile, one that Applejack could never say no to.
"Then let's get to work." Applebloom gasped before running off, Applejack looking back at the others and shrugging.
And so, they started working on the traps, leaving the others to do the harvesting. Mac and Rogue did their best to get as much of the work done as they could while Applejack and Applebloom set traps that covered every inch of the farm. Whenever Rogue spotted the pair, they were laying something down. He also noticed whenever Applebloom wasn't looking, Applejack tried to get in some extra work. But with every trap they laid, Applejack's interest in the Confluence decreased, although several of the traps didn't work out quite like they hoped. Big Mac needed to be released from at least three snare traps, which did not help as they tried to get as much of the harvest done as possible.
Eventually, the sun set, and they were barely halfway through field six. When Rogue arrived back at the farmhouse, carrying a large bucket as he heard Applebloom laugh. "It sure was fun settin' up all those traps together."
Applejack also laughed at this, "Ah forgot what a good time it could be."
"Glad you two enjoyed yourself," Rogue grunted as he staggered under the weight of the bucket.
The pair watched him bring it in, shutting the barn and letting out a yawn. Not getting a good sleep earlier, coupled with his work on the harvest had knocked Rogue's sleep cycle completely out of whack. "If you two think I'm guarding the orchard with all those traps set up, forget it. I'm going to bed." He walked off, the sisters shrugging at this before heading toward the house themselves.
"If any two ponies can catch the Great Seedlin', it's us."
Applebloom nodded, "I can't wait to check in the mornin'." But Applejack noticed how tired Rogue was and realized Mac was probably even more exhausted. This had been fun, but they needed to focus on the Confluence.
"Now, there's still plenty of harvestin' to do. So promise me you'll help, even if all our traps are empty."
"I promise," Applebloom replied, "So long as you're ready for the bountiful harvest the Great Seedlin's gonna give us when one of our traps nab him!"
Applejack laughed at this, "Deal."
The next morning...
The sun began to raise, and the cockcrow was just waking up, the bird stretching itself out preparing its throat to do its morning ritual. But before it could, the front door slammed open hard enough that the bang terrified the avian. Applejack and Applebloom rushed out of the house, leaping over and through their many traps on their way to the field.
"Come on, Applejack!" Applebloom cheered, "If we hurry, we can check every trap and still stay on schedule!"
Applejack smirked as she put the schedule chart into her bag. "Now that's what I like to hea-" She stopped when they reached the top of the hill, only to go wide-eyed, "Whoa." It was another apple circle, larger than the last one. Hundreds of apples, arranged in a series of pattens and swirls that were amazing to see.
Applebloom gasped as Mac arrived pulling a wagon with Granny and Goldie in it. "I don't believe it!"
"This must've taken all night," Goldie commented as Granny nodded before noticing Mac had fallen asleep at the saddle, the old mare smacking him awake.
"Eeyup."
Applejack was completely shocked by what she was seeing, only for Applebloom to call out. "ROGUE!" The mare run after Applebloom's voice, arriving under one of the trees, only to see her boyfriend swinging from a rope trap.
The thestral looked like he had just woken up, Applebloom staring at him, "What are you doing up there?" Applejack asked as Rogue stretched his body out.
"Girls! I saw it!"
Applejack tilted her head at this, "saw what?"
"Last night. I saw it."
He had been asleep on the couch, snoring as he laid on the comfy surface. But as he did this, a loud crashing sound suddenly rang out. "Wha?" He shot up and moved over to the barn door, opening the top and looking outside. As he did, he saw a dark figure making their way through the darkness toward the orchard. "The Great Seedling!" He raced out of the barn, quickly rushing through the trees.
But as he did this, he found that whatever he was trying to chase was moving pretty fast. Rogue then came across a trap, only to find it had been sprung but nothing was in it.
"This thing is really good at evading capture." He commented as he kept running. And as the figure started to get closer, he found an unsprung rope trap he was running straight toward. "HEYAA!" He leapt over the rope, managing to clear it, "Oh yeah!" He cheered, only to step back...and feel something tighten around his back leg. "Do'h!"
"And here I am," Rogue told them as he continued to hang there. "I tried to free myself, but you girls made these things way too well. Eventually, I just drifted off to sleep."
"And you didn't see the Great Seedling again?" Applebloom asked, Rogue shaking his head. "Augh! Ah can't believe this! "Ah checked all the traps near the tracks. Every one was sprung, but they're all empty!"
"Every trap sprung?" Applejack asked as Granny freed Rogue and lowered him to the ground. "No way critters did this. Or the wind. I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but...maybe the Great Seedlin' really was here!" This announcement made by Applebloom and Rogue smile like little kids, Granny and Goldie smirking at one another while Mac just looked exhausted.
The old ponies got off the wagon and moved over to Applejack, Goldie looking like she had just predicted snow in july. "So," she smirked, "You're finally ready to admit the Great Seedling might be real?"
Applejack looked back at the tracks, her brain trying one last time to figure out how it really happened. But nothing came to mind, especially after what Rogue had said. "I can't think of anything else that could've laid out these tracks and sprung all our traps."
Applebloom grinned at this, "And if he left this many tracks behind, he's practically beggin' us to catch him!"
Granny stared at the large tracks, "Ah ain't never seen anything like this before."
"Well," Applejack looked more excited than Applebloom, "Tell us what you have seen! Goldie, you too! We need to know it all if we're really gonna catch him!"
"Sure," Granny nodded, " Goldie and I'll tell you all about the Great Seedling all day." They began to walk toward the fields, "While we work." Applejack stopped at this, Applebloom thinking she was about to agree. But instead...
"Work? Applebloom and I don't have time to work today! We've got to set up traps in every row! Even the carrots! Just to be sure!" Applebloom was surprised by this, tapping her sister on the shoulder.
"Yesterday you said the Great Seedlin' was just somethin' to make the harvest fun for young'uns."
"That was before I thought we could actually catch him! Besides," she gestured to their yawning brother, "Big Mac can make time in the schedule for us to set traps, right?"
Mac's eyes went wide, "Uh...eeyup?"
"Great! Get to it! Applebloom and I are gonna go capture us the Great Seedlin'!" With that, the pair rushed off and left Mac, Rogue and the oldies to do the work. Rogue wanted to help set the traps, but Mac's expression told the thestral he was needed. And luckily, his wing was feeling way better, so he could finally fly and help Mac by placing empty barriers under the trees. This turned out to be a good idea, since Mac had chosen to just buck the trees without looking to see if a bucket was under it. His sleep deprived brain was barely working right, the stallion simply bucking mindlessly while crossing off sections on the chart.
Hours of work later, Rogue was exhausted, having had to fly at almost Rainbow speed to get the buckets where they needed to be. He desperately wanted a break, but knew Mac likely wasn't going to stop, so he couldn't either. However, the pair soon reached an area that left them both scratching their heads. Rogue followed Mac into an area that didn't have any apples, the large stallion preparing to buck one of them. "Mac, you've already done that one." Mac barely registered this and looked up, seeing the tree was bare.
He then turned to see all the other trees around them were also bare, the stallion taking out his chart, but seeing that area wasn't supposed to have been touched yet.
"What's up?" Rogue flew over his shoulder and realized the issue, "Did you forget to mark this area off?"
"Eenope," he replied as Applejack and Applebloom returned.
"Whew!" Applejack wiped her brow, "All right! Just one more hill to go!"
But then they noticed the boys, "What's wrong?" Applebloom asked as her sister checked the chart.
"Huh," she turned to Mac, "Is this right?"
"Eeyup," Mac nodded as Applejack tilted her head.
"But that doesn't make any sense. How can all these trees be bare if we haven't bucked 'em yet?"
"Seems like more work of the Great Seedlin' to me," Goldie chimed in, all turning to see the old ponies pushing barrels of apples into a wagon.
Applejack and Applebloom smirked at one another, the two stepping over to the wagon "How do you mean?"
"The closer you get to catchin' the critter, the more mischievous he gets."
"You're sayin' the Great Seedlin' is takin' our apples?" Applejack asked as Granny pushed the last barrel onto the wagon.
"Yes," the green pony replied, "Sounds like he's fixin' to throw you off the scent." She tried to get the barrel to stay on the wagon, but the wooden structure suddenly fell off as a bunch of cats fell out of it.
"Have you ever heard of anypony actually catchin' him?"
"Yeah..." Rogue added, "I'm not really up for an impossible pursuit."
"Oh," Goldie smirked, "There are stories. But it's hard to say for sure. He's quite a trickster. Guess that's why the reward is so great if you can trap him."
As she said that, Rogue noticed Mac rolling his eyes while Applejack added, "Well, his tricks have given me an idea." She turned to Applebloom. "Settin' traps is one thing. But I reckon if we keep watch over the trees that haven't been bucked, the Seedlin' won't know what hit him!"
"That's a great idea!" Applebloom exclaimed before turning to the others. "Anypony else want to stay up with us?"
"Ah, no." Granny Smith turned away. "A pony like me needs her beauty rest. But you young'uns have a good time." She walked away, Goldie following suit.
"My kitties can't sleep unless they're curled up on my haunches," she explained with a titter. "But I can't wait to see the Great Seedlin' with my own eyes once you catch him."
Applejack smirked at Applebloom, "Guess it's just you and me."
"And me!" Rogue added, "I'm supposed to be up at night anyway. Maybe if you two are there, I won't spend the whole night stuck in a Great Seedling trap." Applejack smirked before the three ran off to make preparations, leaving Mac to look at all the trees he still had left to buck on his chart.
That is, till the stallion growled before ripping the chart into a million pieces and walking off.
Nighttime fell as Rogue found himself in a tree alongside the Apple sisters. He was hanging from a branch, right next to a makeshift tree fort the pair had created. Applejack and Applebloom were wearing stick and leaf covered helmets, trying to blend in as they kept an eye out. Applejack had her binoculars at the ready while Applebloom was wrapped up in a blanket and pillow.
"Too bad nopony else wanted to come out," Applebloom whispered, "But I'm glad we're doin' this together."
Applejack chuckled at this, "Me too. It's been a long time since I was on a real Seedlin' hunt." She patted her on the head. "And this is the first time doin' it with mah little sister and mah boyfriend." Rogue smirked as he grabbed the binoculars, using them to keep a watch on the field while Applebloom let out a yawn.
"When did you start tryin' to catch the Great Seedlin'?"
Applejack put a hoof to her chin, "Ah couldn't have been much more than a foal. Ah remember our parents tuckin' Big Mac and me in and tellin' us all about the Great Seedlin' and I got so excited that I could barely sleep. So ah-" She stopped when she heard snoring, making her look down and see Applebloom had fallen asleep. "Don't you worry, sugarcube." She made sure she was tightly wrapped up, "We won't let him get away. Right, Rogue?"
"You bet!" Rogue nodded as he kept look out. The pair remained in silence for over an hour, not wanting to risk missing a sound with their talking. Despite being up so long, Rogue was feeling totally awake. His natural ability to stay up at night meant that he could stay up as long as he needed to, though the same couldn't be said for Applejack. For as the hour they spent in silence was soon broken when he heard snoring.
He turned to see Applejack had fallen asleep against the planks that made up their base, Rogue chuckling at this and using his wing to keep her warm. He watched out for another half hour or so before anything happened.
It was then that he heard it. A thumping sound coming from one of the unharvested orchards. He turned to it, the noise also happening to wake Applebloom up. "Over there!" Rogue pointed to a tree that suddenly started shaking, the apples falling to the ground.
Applebloom gasped before shaking her sister. "Applejack, wake up!"
"Huh?" Applejack yelped, "W-what is it?"
"I think a trap went off!" She pointed at the tree and Applejack smirked.
"Well, let's go check it out!" She leapt down and Rogue grabbed Applebloom, flying her to the ground. They began to carefully make their way to the sound, Applebloom starting to look a little freaked out. "See anything?"
"Mm-mm," they both shook their heads.
"Don't scare him off," Applejack whispered, "We got to lead him into one of the traps."
Applebloom let out a whimper, "I'm not worried about scarin' him." Rogue placed a wing around her back, trying to comfort her. He was used to being in the orchard at night, so he was trying to assure her they would be okay.
However, Rogue suddenly heard a sound and spun around, only to notice a bit of movement, "There!" The girls turned, but saw nothing. "It was just here a moment ago." They then heard another sound coming from behind, making them spin around. Applejack charged at this, Applebloom following since she didn't want to be on her own.
They came up to a bush and pulled it away as something was seen moving through the trees in the distance. Rogue's night time vision allowed him to see it better, but it was moving too fast for him to get any good details. "I thought it was supposed to be all the colors of the harvest."
"Why?" Applejack asked, "What color is it?"
"Red." As he said that, the figure stopped for a moment and bucked a tree. The apples fell, and as it did, they heard a rattling of cans coming from a trap they had set earlier.
They all turned to this, a presence suddenly appearing behind them. And before Rogue could look around, Applebloom screamed. "AH THINK THE GREAT SEEDLIN'S HUNTING US!" She let out a cry of horror and ran off, the presence behind them following after the filly.
"Applebloom!" Applejack raced after her, "Wait!"
Rogue took to the air and shot through the woods, getting above the commotion while Applebloom ran through the trap infested forest. The thestral flew down and spotted the Great Seedling, but as the creature got closer, he was finally able to see what it was.
"Huh?" He yelped, "Mac?!"
It was Big Mac, the pony staggering around with his eyes shut. He was wearing a sleeping cap that had pair of branches in them, likely caught on the head piece when he was pushing his way through the trees. The sleeping pony pushed past him without realizing it and continued to follow after Applebloom, Applejack having caught up. The sisters had become so terrified that they had tried to high tail it back to the barn, but it was locked to make sure the Great Seedling didn't steal any more apples.
Rogue flew above them and watched as Mac staggered over, the sisters screaming in terror since they couldn't get the barn open. "ROGUE!" Applejack screamed, "Blast it!"
Rogue chuckled at this, "I don't think that's needed." The two went wide-eyed, only to hear movement and saw the dark shadow moving up to them. And when it did, the house light finally illuminated him the pony.
"BIG MAC?!" The girls cried as their brother staggered around still asleep. "He's been harvestin' in his sleep this whole time!"
Applebloom let out a yelp at this, "Big Mac is the Great Seedlin'?!" As she said that, Mac accidentally stepped on a skateboard they had set as a trap. The stallion cried out as he finally woke up, the board rolling out from under him and causing him to fly into a pitfall trap.
He screamed as he fell into the hole, the three running over to him, "Y-You okay, Big Mac?" Applejack watched as her brother picked himself up, very tired and very annoyed.
"Nnnope." They couldn't help but laugh at this, their hunt for the Great Seedling having been quite the adventure.
By the next morning, they had managed to collect all the apples Mac had bucked down while telling the older ponies what was going on. "...And thanks to all of Big Mac's late-night work, we brought in the whole harvest with time to spare."
"No wonder you were so tired all the time," Goldie chuckled as Mac nodded.
"Eeyup."
"I'm glad we solved the mystery," Applebloom chimed in, "But I really wanted to catch the Great Seedlin' before I get too old to try."
Applejack giggled at this. "You know what, sugarcube?" She ruffled the filly's mane, "You're never too old to be a filly. There will always be work to do, but havin' fun together is somethin' you never grow out of." Everypony nodded at this, Rogue yawning and deciding to grab some golden apples before going to bed.
And as Goldie began to pack up to head home, Rogue flew through the trees and pulled the mask off his face. However, when he reached the area with his trees, he came to a stop at the sight of something unbelievable. Standing between two of them was a stag, one so large it could pluck an apple from the tree without needing to lift its head. Its body was a range of different colors, having an orange head, neck and chest, yellow body and green legs. Its antlers were made out of wood and had leaves with many different fruits growing out of them.
The creature walked around the trees until it noticed it was being watched, causing it to stare at the pony. A smile appeared on its lips before it turned away and leapt down the other side of the hill. "Wait!" Rogue flew after it, but when he reached the top, he found the Great Seedling was nowhere in sight. "Wow..."
He instantly spun around to tell the others, but a smirk appeared on his lips. Where was the fun in going after something you knew was real? It was better to not know whether you were wasting your time or not. No, Rogue would take this secret with him to the grave. And he'd enjoy setting traps for the Great Seedling with Applebloom and Applejack.
And maybe one day, they would actually catch it and allow the farm to truly bloom all year long.