//------------------------------// // 08 : The Walk // Story: The Journal // by TropicalWings //------------------------------// "Hey Applejack, mind if I go to the outer orchards today?” Applejack’s eyes widened and she spat out the cider she was drinking, making a small mist of the stuff appear in front of her face. “This stuff tastes funny.” she muttered, eyeing her mug containing the rest of her drink before setting the mug down on the wooden dining table. “Anyways, are ya serious Twi?” she asked, looking back at me. It was already noon and we were having lunch, everyone else was already finished and had excused themselves from the table, leaving only me and Applejack all alone in the dining area. She pushed away her mug of cider and grabbed a glass of water, taking a sip from it. “Ah know yer’ legs have been feeling better recently, but don’tcha think it’s kinda too early to just go ‘round outside after that ordeal of yers?” “Nah, I’m okay Applejack, trust me.” It’s been two days already since I had that talk with Rarity, and since that night, the mark on my neck's been slowly disappearing. By now, it is barely visible to the naked eye. Perfect, I knew that medication I used would work, now Rarity doesn’t have to tell the others. “Ah’m not so sure Twi’. What if ya go get more of your legs broken or somethin’?” she answered back. “Just stay here in the ranch ‘till we finally get back to Ponyville.” I let out a frustrated whine. “Hey AJ, when did you ever become the worrying type?” I looked back and found Rainbow Dash coming down the stairs with Rarity and Summerfree. "Shut it Dash, just so you know what's going on here, Twi's asking me if she cud' go out to the outer orchard with that injury of hers" Applejack said without looking at the multicolored pegasus. Rainbow Dash took a quick glance at me. "She looks fine enough to me, AJ," she commented, "I think we should let her go." "For once, Rainbow's right, Applejack darling" Rarity exclaimed. "She actually looks quite right," she added as she looked at me from top to bottom. For a brief moment, we made eye contact. She smiled back at me, relief strewn on her face. Applejack shot a glare back at her, “Yer’ not helping Rares,” she retorted and pointed at me. “Look at her, she can’t even use that horn of hers!” pointing at the bandaged spike above my forehead. “Oh stop being worrysome Applejack, you can’t just keep the poor mare locked up here in the ranch forever you know.” Rarity chortled back. “I’m not letting her stay here forever, Rares. Just until help arrives and we cud’ get back to Ponyville. Right now, ah don’t want her to get lost or somethin’, not with that condition of hers.” I saw Rarity roll her eyes. “Applejack, she just wants to go to the outer orchard. She’s technically still here at the ranch you know. There’s no way she could get lost there.” “Yeah,” I heard Rainbow Dash say. “Plus, I could always just fly around and look for her if she ever gets lost. No biggie, you ARE looking at the fastest flyer in Equestria after all” I saw Applejack roll her eyes, letting the cyan pegasus bask in her self praise. Then she looked back at me and bit her lower lip, her mind deep in thought. She looks like she’s going to allow me to go around town. All I need to do is convince her a little more... “I could accompany her if you want...” a voice spoke. We all faced where the voice came from; it was Summerfree. He had the biggest expectant smile plastered on his face. …uhh, for an excuse, this isn’t really what I had in mind. “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea Summerfree!” Rarity chortled “See Applejack? Your cousin can go watch Twilight for you if you want so you don’t have to worry.” Applejack looked back at her cousin, her mind obviously trying to process what she just heard. She stared at his expectant face before taking a quick glance at me, and then to the mug of cider on the table. A few moments later, she sighed in defeat. “...fine, Twi’, you can go... as long as you’re with Summerfree.” she said, putting emphasis on the last part. Summerfree eyes grew wide with the smile on his face and he quickly went to Applejack and gave her a rather strong, friendly hug, almost knocking her over as he did. “Just... make sure ya keep... a good eye on her, Summers.” Applejack grunted while she was being crushed by her cousin’s grip, her face slowly turning purple. “I will Applejack!” he answered as he let go of Applejack. I watched the orange apple farmer gasp for air and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now can I please get back to my lunch?” she asked exasperated. “You’re so stressed out AJ” Rainbow Dash chortled out, grabbing the mug of cider from the table. “You should be more relaxed like me sometimes you know” she commented before taking a swig from the mug. “Man, this is some good stuff.” It was around one o’clock in the afternoon when Summerfree and I left for the outer orchards. Braeburn said that’s where the more resilient cultivars of apples were grown, and due to their hardy nature, they required less attention than the more sensitive apple trees found in the inner orchards. The orchard was a one kilometer trek away from the ranch and at the rate we’re walking, it would take us around twelve to fifteen minutes to get there. Right now, we were just busy enjoying the scenery while we walked. It’s quite amazing, really. We’re out smack in the middle of the Great Buffalo Desert, one of Equestria’s most remote and barren landscapes, and hostile at that. Yet, these apple trees managed to grow and thrive under the sweltering conditions. Come to think of it, I wonder how I managed to survive, being lost in the middle of nowhere, all unconscious and hurt like that. My train of thought was suddenly broken by the voice of a young colt. “Hey Twilight, wait up!” I heard Summerfree shout. I looked back and found him running to catch up with me. I slowed down to a stop and waited for him to reach me. He panted a few times to catch his breath before he regained his posture. “Sorry Twilight, I got caught up checking the nearby apple trees when I realized that I was lagging behind.” he said sheepishly, he raised up one of his forehooves and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. I smiled back at him. “Nah, It’s okay Summerfree.” I told him before I looked back and began walking again, with Summerfree following close beside me. “So Summerfree,” I said, trying to start a conversation. He raised his head and looked at me. “What brings you to Appleoosa anyway?” “...What do you mean?” he asked me, lowering his head. “Well, you said that you were from Trottingham, why did you suddenly want to go here in Appleoosa of all places?” “...Oh, uh, I wanted a little break from city life, I wanted to go and get away from it all for a while, have some problems back there” he replied back. “...and you chose Appleoosa... why?” He raised his head up. “Heard it was a nice place, far, isolated. And the townfolk are really friendly, great place to get a break from modern life” “Oh, I see. So you’re planning to go back to Trottingham sometime?” I asked him. He nodded. “Maybe, but if I’m doing fine here at Appleoosa, I might stay here.” “Cousin Braeburn said he always did need help here at the orchard” he exclaimed, chuckling a bit. After a few minutes, the ranch house behind us has disappeared from view and all that was ahead of us was a blanket of apple trees. The dirt path we were walking on winded around the apple trees like a snake. It went along the contours of the ground rather than cutting through it. The leaves of nearby apple trees blocked most of the sun’s blinding light but allowed some to pass through in small spaces, creating a wonderful pattern of sunlight dotting the rather dim ground. Occasionally, the dirt path we took would edge a nearby cliffside, revealing an amazing view of the acres of apple trees the ranch maintained. If one would look far in the distance, one could also see the massive Mount Buffalo dotting the landscape along with a few other stone monoliths. Not far off in that direction was also our destination, the outer orchards. “The view here is amazing!” I exclaimed while we were taking a break along the cliffside. He nodded back in agreement. “I still can’t believe Braeburn and the town folk managed to plant all these trees out in the desert.” I exclaimed. “Well, cousin told me that it had something to do with underground water and how the ground underneath us has a lot of those, he said it’s kinda complicated” he exclaimed. “But I guess, it doesn’t matter now right?” he asked me. I looked back at the trees below me. Most of them bearing bright red apples. I smiled. “Yeah, I guess it doesn’t.” It was around ten minutes before two o’clock when Summerfree and I finally reached the entrance of the outer orchard, I guess we kind of spent too much time resting at that cliffside. The outer orchard was pretty big. There were over a hundred apple trees littering the area, most of them were bearing red & yellow apples. A few meters away from us was a small wooden shed, presumably housing equipment Braeburn uses to maintain the trees and its fruit. A small bench with a table was also there, Braeburn must also probably use the small shack as a resting station or something. "Cousin Braeburn and Applejack just took me here yesterday," Summerfree exclaimed as we walked towards the wooden shed. "The apples around here are almost in their prime, they said they'd harvest it by next week." "Are you hungry?" he asked me as we sat down on the bench beside the shed. "Cousin told me we cud' get a few apples to eat" he said, pointing at a nearby apple tree. "No thanks," I replied, raising a hoof. "I'm good". “Well then,” he replied back, standing back up. “Let's go take a walk around the outer orchard, I wanna show you a few things” he smiled, grabbing my hoof and pulling me up from the bench. I offered no resistance and followed his lead. In my head however, I was thinking of other things. There’s a lot of work to be done here. After all, I didn’t come here for no reason.