//------------------------------// // The Wager // Story: Christian and Geo in Equestria // by ChrisTheCat //------------------------------// Not long later, outside in the Sweet Apple Acres apple orchard... Christian gazed in awe. He had walked right past this place, and not seen its sheer size because of how dark it was at the time. There was no denying it. Sweet Apple Acres was enormous. Christian and Applejack where standing on the top of a hill overlooking the expanse of apple trees. It did actually go on a long way. The sun was high in the sky, and while Applejack maintained that the current time was 6:00 am, Christian did not believe her. The sky was bright and blue already. The sky was never bright and blue at 6:00 am. Nor was the sun almost at the same height is should be at if it were midday. Overlooking the large orchard caused Applejack's heart to swell with pride. Every morning, she and her brother went out to buck the trees with ripe apples, or prune the others. It was hard, but honest work, and she couldn't be happier, and she could say the same for the rest of the Apple family. Christian, however, had much less pure thoughts. At first, after viewing the orchard, he was astounded at the sheer size of it. It was bigger than any apple orchard on Earth. However, the thought that this orchard was the only source of income for the Apple family was ever present in the back of his mind, and images of the orchard on fire, flames spreading quickly from one tree to another, ruining the Apples for the rest of their lives. Hmph. That would teach them. But Christian began to think more about the aftereffects of such an occurrence. Fire spread quickly. It may spread to the town, which was not far away. Ponies would die. Members of the Apple family may die. As much as he despised the ponies of this world, he would not kill them. They could not suffer that way. Maybe it would be better to poison the trees one by one, slowly causing the Apples to lose hope and move away, having nothing left for them here, Christian thought to himself. Maybe find myself a large swarm of insects...release it here...that way, the Apples wouldn't die, and they could continue their lives, now in total misery. Christian was distracted from his train of thought with a hard nudge to his hip, causing him to stagger slightly. He turned to the source of the annoyance with a look of irritation on his face to find that Applejack had head-butted him in the side to gain his attention. "Where you listenin' t' a thing Ah said, Christian?" Applejack asked, a hint of disappointment to her voice. Christian mock yawned. "No I was not, simple farm pony. You were boring me, and so I simply...tuned out." he said, looking her straight in the eye. There was a tense moment when the two of them locked eyes. Applejack's emerald beauties against the unique colouration of Christian's eyes, the grey-green-blue. They stared, completely silent, until Applejack began to feel sick, and looked away. Christian smirked. No one beats me in a staring competition. "Alright then, if what Ah was sayin' was so totally borin', then why don't Ah make it short an' sweet?" Applejack finally retorted. Christian simply sniffed in response. "Oh by all means, go ahead. Dazzle me." Applejack took a breath, trying to remain calm and not buck the human right in the face. "Alright then, this's what we'll be doin'. Jus' down this here hill is a bunch o' apple trees. These trees'll be 'bout right fer buckin' this time o' year, so what we're gonna do is-" Christian shook his head and held up his hands. "Alright, alright, stop right there, pony." Applejack sighed. "What's th' problem?" she asked through gritted teeth. Christian nodded. "The problem at hand is your accent. It is nigh impenetrable. I cannot understand a word you are saying." Christian then flashed his trademark smirk and said, "Are you able to emulate an accent able to be understood by those who were not raised on a farm?" The orange farm mare actually had a response to this. All o' them lessons on how t' speak all fancy-like from when Ah was a filly may jus' come in handy. Applejack cleared her throat, and said in an accent that almost perfectly mirrored Rarity's, "Of course, darling. I was taught how to speak properly as a filly, and I retained the knowledge imparted by my tutors. I can speak like this anytime I would wish." Applejack showed a smirk of her own, reverting back to her regular speech patterns. "But Ah don' really feel like it right now, if'n ya don' mind." Christian stared, wide eyed. He had definitely not been expecting that. Applejack made an effort to maintain eye contact with him, but found that after a few seconds of focusing on the colour of Christian's eyes, she felt as if she was going to vomit. What in th' hay is up with that? Christian had, by now, stopped looking so shocked, and began to look highly irritated. "Oh, fine. Speak, farm pony. I wish to get whatever we plan to do out of the way as fast as I possibly can." Applejack, still looking smug, which was a nice change of pace from that expression constantly plastered on Christian's face, began to explain what they were doing once again. "Well alright. So, like Ah said, them apple trees at th' bottom o' th' hill're due fer a buckin'. Me 'n' you're headed down, and we're gonna buck them trees as hard as we darn-well can, and get all the apples t' fall." Applejack explained. Christian scrunched up his face in confusion. "So, you do not pick the apples, rather, you kick the tree as hard as you can to shake the fruit loose?" Applejack nodded. "That about sums it up." She looked down towards the target trees. "Now let's get a move on. We ain't got all day." With that, the orange farm pony began to walk down the hill. Christian looked very sceptical, but if he had an opinion, he kept it to himself for once. He followed her, making sure to stay behind her. While he was back there, his eyes slowly began to drift out from the wondrous view of the orchard to Applejack herself. Christian was the kind to notice the little things, and the body language of the mare in front of him did not go unnoticed. Applejack walks in a way that suggests she is angry, most likely at me. She is, however, unwilling to look back at me and see how I am doing. That is a mistake; if I was plotting to kill her, this would be a good opportunity, nay, a perfect one. I could bury her underneath her precious apple trees, give them something to feed off of. Suddenly, Applejack turned her head to look back at the human. This went unnoticed, as he was lost in thought, though he was still facing her. Or rather, a specific part of her. "Hey!" she cried, turning around to face him, her face portraying offence. Christian was snapped out of his little morbid fantasy at the sudden loud noise. He noticed the look on her face, but did not react with fear. Instead, he raised an eyebrow, completely oblivious to what he had done wrong. "What did I do now, pony?" He looked back the way they had come. "Did I stand on a grave or memorial of some sort?" "No, ya liar! Ya'll were staring at my plot!" Applejack accused, rather loudly. Christian could have sworn it echoed. "Your..." Christian did a quick mental scan. Plot...plot...horse plot...oh... Realisation dawned on the humans face. OH. Christian suddenly raised his hands, wide eyed. "No, it is not what you think. I can explain." "Then explain, an' fast, 'fore Ah come over there an' buck ya in th' face!" Applejack threatened, a threat Christian had no doubt the irritated farm pony would carry out. "Ugh...look, Applejack," Christian began, using her name for the first time since they had gone outside, "I did not look at you that way. I will never look at you that way. I was simply daydreaming and looking in your general direction at the same time." Christian ended. Applejack still looked uncertain, but she recalled the conversation she and Geo had had in the Everfree Forest about how Christian views sex. "Well, Ah suppose ya'll're tellin' th' truth..." Christian saw a chance, and took it. "Yes, well, even if I was looking at your plot, you will have to forgive me. In my society, women wear clothes to hide themselves. You, on the other hand, wear nothing but your hat." At that, a certain Tom Jones song came to mind. "Aha! So ya were lookin'! Ah caught ya red-hoofed!" Applejack cried in triumph. "No, you misinterpret me..." Christian stopped. "You know what? I do not care what you think. If you believe you are attractive enough to draw the eyes of one who cares not for physical form, then that is your delusion." Christian shook his head in disgust. "For goodness sake, you are an animal, anyway. I am not a zoophile by any means." Christian looked thoughtful for a second, before suddenly chuckling. "I unfortunately do not know how Geo would feel about such things. I will naturally assume the worst with her, however." Applejack just scowled, turned back towards the orchard, and did not speak a word to the human until they reached the trees they were meant to be bucking, though she did check over her shoulder every now and again to see if Christian was...peeking. He made a concentrated effort not to look in her general direction. When they did get to their destination, the farm pony turned to the human once again, only this time it was not blame that came from her mouth. No, this time, Applejack was here to teach Christian how to buck. Trotting over to the nearest tree, the orange mare looked up to check if these particular apples were ripe. They seemed it. Good. This here tree'll be a mighty fine example. "Okay then, Christian. Now, if ya'll want t' buck down some apples, ya don't jus' go buckin' an' kickin' all willy-nilly." Applejack explained. For emphasis, she turned around, and bucked the tree with one hind leg. The apple tree shook slightly, but didn't release any of its succulent fruit. "See?" Christian didn't look particularly interested. "So, essentially, what you are doing is placing baskets underneath apple trees, kicking them, and then hoping that they land in the baskets, if any fall at all? In short, you rely on luck?" he asked, his face devoid of expression. "Movin' on, fer a pony t' buck an apple tree, they'd jus' have t' turn 'round an' buck with all their might." Applejack continued, ignoring the sceptical human. As she was speaking, she was also dragging some nearby baskets towards the tree, placing them underneath at specific points. Christian raised an eyebrow. Firstly, where did those baskets come from? Secondly, how does she expect to get all the apples into those baskets? The human was expecting Applejack to have some sort of warm-up ritual of some sort, but to his moderate surprise, after placing the baskets where she thought the apples may land, she just turned around and bucked the trunk of the tree full force. Sure enough, every single apple fell from the tree, and every single apple landed in a basket. Christian was silent. All he could do was stare in utter disbelief while Applejack gave him a smug grin. "Nothin' to it." She declared. There must be some trick to it, Christian thought, there is no possible way she can do that every time without fail. "Alright, pony, shall I have a try?" Christian asked, still trying to keep up an air of disinterest. Applejack didn't buy it for a second. "Okay then. Now, follow me t' th' next tree, an' we'll see if ya'll can buck like ya'll can talk." The odd couple continued, leaving the previous bunch of apples in the baskets to be picked up later. When they finally arrived at another tree that Applejack deemed ready for bucking, she stood next to the large fruit-bearing plant and began to instruct Christian on how to buck properly. "Alright then, Christian," Applejack began, "Remember what Ah said. Jus' kick as hard as ya can." "Challenge accepted, farm pony." Christian challenged. He may have been confident on the outside, but inside he hadn't the slightest clue as to what he was doing. He'd never tell anyone that, though. So, he walked up to the tree, and stood perfectly still in front of it for a few seconds. Applejack just assumed he was figuring out exactly how to kick the tree. Not long later, the human lifted his left leg, twisted his hip, and aimed the bottom of his shoe towards the trunk. When he was in what he believed to be the prime position, he let his kick go, full force. His foot struck the tree, and shook it violently. To both his and Applejack's complete bewilderment, every single Apple fell from the tree, into the baskets. To his credit, Christian did not turn around and gloat immediately. He was thinking thing along the lines of Excellent, I can upstage that animal at her own game, and How did those baskets get to this tree without me noticing? After a little bit longer, Christian turned to Applejack with a large grin plastered on his face, the kind of face that just made the farm pony want to buck it clean off. "Yeah, yeah, so ya got lucky on yer first kick. Don' be expectin' it t' be too easy." She warned, but her words fell upon deaf ears. "If all of the trees I am to kick are as easy as this one, then I will have this done in no time at all." Christian bragged. Ah don' think he knows how many trees we're gonna be buckin' today... "Hey hotshot? Ya think ya'll can keep up that kind o' kickin' fer th' whole day?" Applejack challenged. Surely, the human was not arrogant enough to- "I believe I will take you up on that, pony." Christian smirked. Applejack sighed. He is. Christian suddenly placed a hand on his chin, as if pondering something. There was a moment of silence, and just as Applejack was going to interrupt, he revealed what he was thinking about. "Applejack, I have a proposition for you." Christian began. "Let us call it a...wager." The orange mare raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? An' what would this here 'wager' entail?" Christian paused slightly. "Huh. I did not think you would know that word." He shook his head quickly. "Nevertheless, Applejack, I challenge you to collect more apples than me by the end of the day." Applejack snorted, trying to hold back laughter. "Are ya kiddin' me? Ya'll think that ya'll can beat me at my own game, after jus' one tree?" The mare couldn't hold on any longer, bursting out into fits of hysteria. In between gasps for breath, she managed to make out "Ya'll're crazy!" "Yes, maybe I am, Applejack. Maybe I am." Christian said nonchalantly. "However, I believe I can do it. I honestly believe that I can be better than you at your job, and I am willing to place a bet." Christian smirked once more. "Are you up for it?" Applejack had stopped laughing by this point, realising just how serious Christian was. "You...ain't jokin', are ya?" she asked simply. "No, I am not." Christian replied, just as simply. "Alright...say Ah were t' agree t' this little...wager o' yours." Applejack began, "What'd be in it fer me?" Christian smirked again. He knew he was slowly grating on her nerves, whether she knew it or not. "Actually, I was hoping you would come up with the terms." Applejack was still unsure. She had a feeling the crafty human had a trick hidden up his sleeve. However, Christian was surveying her body language, and knew she was debating internally. "What is the matter, Applejack?" Christian asked, false concern evident on his voice. "You do not think you could possibly defeat me...right?" All Christian had to do was smirk one more time to set her off. "Alright, that does it!" Applejack cried, pointing a hoof at him. "Ah'll show ya, ya dang upstart!" "Excellent, Applejack! There is that fighting spirit!" Christian yelled. "Okay, what're we bettin'?" Applejack asked. Christian could see the fire in her eyes. The farm pony was definitely determined. "That is you choice, pony." The human replied. Applejack didn't really have anything to bet, but she wasn't about to back down. "Um...if Ah win...ya'll..." An idea spread across her face, her emerald eyes lighting up. "Ya'll will have t' do all o' my chores fer as long as ya'll're here!" Christian didn't even stop to think about it. "Yes, that seems fair." After a few seconds, however, Christian's own eyes lit up. "Actually, I do have something I want out of this." Christian said. "If I win this challenge, then you have to take me into town, and buy me a few things." Applejack scrunched up her face in confusion. "What kind o' things?" Christian smirked once again, infuriating the pony internally. "Oh, just a few miscellaneous items, nothing of major importance, and nothing too expensive." Christian then leaned down, and extended his arm towards the farm pony. "Do we have a deal, Applejack?" Applejack was so engrossed in winning and teaching Christian some respect for those that were clearly better than him that she didn't really seem to think about the consequences of losing. Christian could have her buy anything for him, and the items at his disposal could be used for anything. Of course, these were not her thoughts. Her thoughts were along the lines of Ah'll teach this smug jerk a thing 'r two 'bout respect! Christian, however, already had plans as to what he was going to buy, and several plans involving his vengeance on the ponies. I can put them into greater detail later. I have a wager to win. Without much thought on Applejack's part, she extended her hoof in return, and the two shook on it. "Deal." She said. With that, the single most evil grin Applejack had seen since Nightmare Moon, Discord and the Changeling Queen spread slowly across Christian's face. He had plans. Plans within plans within plans, and fail-safes for those plans. He knew exactly what he was going to do, and when he would do it, while she fumbled in the dark. Applejack couldn't help but think that she'd just sold her soul. /// Meanwhile, back in room 233 in Ponyville General Hospital... "Alright then, Miss Rainbow Dash. You've healed exceptionally well. We believe that you are well enough to leave the hospital," proclaimed Nurse Redheart. She was standing in front of a hospital bed, holding a clipboard in one hoof, but not actually facing the bed. She was looking next to it, at the cyan pegasus with the multi-coloured mane and purple-red eyes. Rainbow did a little jump. "Yes! I knew I'd be outta here soon! Awesome!" She yelled, pumping a hoof into the air. ""Please be quiet, Miss Rainbow Dash!" the nurse pony said in a loud whisper. "There are some patients that are still asleep!" Rainbow looked a little sheepish. "Oh, right. Sorry." She said, rubbing a hoof over the back of her neck. "Well, that's really all we need to do here." Nurse Redheart said. "You can go." Rainbow grinned widely, and began to trot towards the door of her room. The nurse called for her one last time before she left. "Now Miss Rainbow Dash, we hope to never see you again under these circumstances!" she exclaimed. Rainbow chuckled slightly, before continuing all the way down the white halls, passing many sick and injured ponies, before finally making it to the entrance past the receptionist desk, not replying to the half-hearted "Have a nice day" from the receptionist. When the doors opened, Rainbow revelled in the feeling of the wind that was blowing through her mane. She longed to fly. It had been two whole days without it. She didn't just want to fly, she needed to fly. And so, Rainbow Dash opened her wings, flapped them experimentally a few times just to be sure, and when she confirmed everything was in working order, she shot directly upwards as fast as she possibly could, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. Rainbow Dash continued to fly higher and higher, until she reached the point where she could see all across Ponyville. It was a magnificent sight, though Rainbow was focused more on the fact that she was flying. She shot forward across the skies, no destination in mind. Just...flying. Freedom. The wind blew through her mane once again, though with more force this time. She felt truly free, slipping from the bonds of the hospital bed and soaring through the sky, like all pegasi should. She began to do loops and spins, barrel rolls and dives, anything she could think of, until finally... Rainbow flew up as high as she thought safe. Looking down at the town below her, the ponies in the streets nothing more than ants, tiny specks moving around, unaware of her presence high above their heads. Nopony knows I'm out of the hospital yet, Rainbow thought. She manoeuvred her body so that she was facing straight down in the most aerodynamic position she was capable of. Time to change that. With that thought, Rainbow shot down towards the town as fast as her wings could carry her, travelling faster and faster, the wind whipping around her, whistling. She continued to gain momentum, until she could feel the pressure on her hoofs. The barrier. Rainbow pushed with all of her might. She could feel the barrier giving in. Tears began to fill her eyes from the speed she was travelling at. And then, it happened. BOOM! The Sonic Rainboom. A large wave of multi-coloured light spread across the sky, a beautiful sight for anyone to behold. It was also very hard not to notice. There was only one pony in all of Equestria that could pull off the Sonic Rainboom, and that one name filled the minds of everypony who saw and heard it. It was heard and seen by Pinkie Pie, who had a sudden burst of motions from her Pinkie Sense telling her to wake up and go outside. She thought it was the single most super-duper-fantastic-arific thing she had ever seen, besides all of the other Sonic Raibooms Dash had pulled off. She briefly wondered if she could make a Sonic Rainboom flavoured cupcake before bouncing back indoors. Rarity saw it as well, because she had been up all night trying to make clothing for her human guest, and happened to be looking out of the window at the time. It filled her heart with joy to see the colours, and it gave her inspiration to keep working on the oddly shaped garments. Geo had seen it as well, though only after putting on her glasses and looking out the window after the loud noise had awoken her from a dreamless slumber. She had some idea of what it was, and who had done it, and it was awesome. Twilight had been doing an all-night study binge when she had also by chance looked out of the window and seen the large colourful blast. It caused her to smile and yawn, the grand colours relaxing her slightly. Spike, however, was asleep, and didn't hear or see it, snoring lightly and muttering something about gems. Fluttershy was always and early riser, and tending to the animals was a job that she did with a smile, even if waking up very early was the price she had to pay. The loud bang and sudden waves of colour caused her to jump and shriek, but she calmed down immediately upon spotting the cause of the Sonic Rainboom. She knew who had caused it, and she couldn't have been prouder to call that pony her friend. Applejack looked up at the sky above the orchard after just shaking on the wager with Christian, taking note of the beauty of the circle of light passing though the sky, blowing wind through the orchard. The orange farm mares mind was briefly taken off of the deal she had just made as she thought back to times with her friends. Christian saw it as well. He recognised the sound as a jet breaking the sound barrier, but the gigantic wave of multi-coloured light was not something he had been expecting. It was...highly fascinating. Causing such a thing to happen was nigh impossible in his world. The science behind it would be very difficult to explain indeed. But those thoughts were removed from his mind upon his sharp eyes spotting the tiny cyan speck in the sky that had caused the beautiful sight. The human was immediately filled with the only emotion his cold black heart was truly capable of feeling: hate. Through every single mind that saw the Sonic Rainboom, one name was present, though only one mind saw it as a negative thing. That name was Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus flew over the town towards her house of clouds, smiling all the way, one single thought racing through her own head. I'm back. This was the next step in the large chain of events centered around the two strangest creatures in all of Equestria, now unofficial guests, Christian and Georgina. Sorry, Geo. /// Author note: I did it! Another chapter out and ready for viewing! Remember, please tell me what's bad about this chapter, spelling and grammatical errors and the like. Now, as many of you should know, today (April 25th) is Anzac Day, and Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym 'ANZAC' stands for 'Australian and New Zealand Army Corps', whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. I wish to pay my respects to those who fought and died not just at Gallipoli, but to all those who died everywhere else for their country. Lest We Forget. Next chapter, Rarity finishes Geo's clothing, and the wager between Christian and Applejack begins! See you then! Also, if you didn't catch the Tom Jones song, it was "You Can Leave Your Hat On".