Applejack woke up to a weird surrounding that day, a blushing horizon through the wobbly trees as they swayed in the breeze. Her vision blurred, and it felt like there were four of the same tree in every direction, and her mouth hung open as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Licking her dry lips, the area seemed long from her home, and these apple trees were no where near like the ones she usually bucked. "Where am I?" She spoke aloud, to no one in particular. It seemed to be awakening dawn by now, and last night seemed like a hazy memory from when she drank that apple cider she made for everypony. It all seemed to come back to her just then...
Applejack was doing her usual rounds, when her big brother, Big Macintosh came out to see her. "Hey sis, you've been bucking apples all day... you should really take a break." He said with a worried tone, noticing how tired she looked.
"Well I can't. I still need to do one more tree..." She replied back and gave a short pant, her hind legs feeling like they're on fire. She had been bucking apples all day now, trying her best to soothe the overbearing trees of their loads. It was the main exercise Applejack usually did, other than bringing the apples back to the barn. Settling down for a moment, she allowed those tired legs of her rest while she talked to her brother. "I'll go in after this tree, alright big brother?" She nodded her hat towards him.
He gave a throaty sigh, and shook his head with a smile. "That's my sister all right... not letting a single one of those apples get away from under her hooves." He padded back towards the house, then stopped for a moment in thought. "Granny Smith told me to take over while you sleep or something. I'll go get the other trees, alright?" He said afterwards.
Applejack nodded, picking herself up off the ground. She woozily made her way over to the last tree, and kicked it with as much strength left in her tired limbs. The tree quickly gave way, shuddering with the force, and all the bountiful, ripe apples fell into her baskets with a soft plop. She staggered all the way back, half dragging, half walking towards the barn. She set her apples down inside, and clopped over to the house. She gave herself a smile of gratitude, today broke her record, five more trees than last time. Heading in through the door, she shrugged off the comments or concerns about her welfare, and headed straight to bed. It had been a long day, and she didn't want to answer any questions.
Bring herself back to the present, she started to make her way through the everlasting grove of trees. She even tested one with the back of her hooves, and it felt like kicking a brick wall. She bit her lip, trying to hold in her yelp of pain as she set her ringing hooves back down onto the ground. Her nerves were on edge now, and she didn't feel safe at all in this place. What in tarnation would someone give apples a rock hard trunk, and have them stretch on endlessly? She thought to herself, muttering about rotten apples.
Soon she chanced upon a spring, and a small, trickling river running over a bed of smooth stones until it stretched out of sight, and seeing the stones, she guessed the river must have been here a while. Well then... she thought again to herself, this looks pleasant enough. Laying herself down again, she took a sip of the water. Her teeth instantly hurt as the ice cold water pierced her throat, and she shivered for a bit before daring another drink. Applejack never felt thirstier in her life, and soon after overcoming the cold liquids, began to drank eagerly of its contents.
The spring never wavered, and continued to flow, and she grinned for a moment. Taking off her hat, she sprang into the small pool with a loud whoop. The icy cold waves instantly made her regret her decision, but it felt nice to have a bath to wash off the dirt and grime from two days of straight apple bucking. She let the water seep through her hair, and dipped her head from time to time to wash every single strand in the clear water's brilliance. It just felt too good...
To be continued.