Joe

by JMDARE

Chapter 37

Twilight Sparkle sighed to Spike as they approached Ponyville and she saw the strange pattern of clouds still above it and the even stranger weather being suffered by the town below. She had a lot of faith in Rarity but that was in her dressmaking skill and general competence rather than her ability to do Rainbow Dash’s job, and it seemed the concern that she’d not begin to get the hang of it was valid.

“Rarity still isn’t having much luck with the clouds,” Twilight Sparkle commented.

“Maybe you should help her out?” suggested Spike.

“I want to find out what all our friends are doing first, but I could spare some time to try.”

Attempting to ignore the rain and other precipitation, and hoping they could settle this soon as Ponies were already beginning to look depressed, the pair made their way through Ponyville and towards Sugarcube Corner. This had seemed such a nice day when Twilight Sparkle had got up and that lack of anticipation of any problems almost made it worse for her.

“Rainbow said Fluttershy would be here,” Twilight Sparkle said, showing her nerves with the needless reminder.

A waft of laughter came to them from inside as they reached the door, and Spike nodded. “Sounds like she is doing better than Rainbow was with the animals.”

“Which is… surprising,” Twilight Sparkle replied, glancing to Spike in puzzlement as she opened the door.

Inside her puzzlement increased as it changed and became more shared by Spike. She’d been surprised that Fluttershy was doing so well and now they were both surprised as it was Pinkie Pie playing court to an audience. It was quite normal that she was doing that and quite normal that she was succeeding in producing a lot of laughter, but ‘quite normal’ was not what they had expected after finding two of their friends in the wrong job.

“I don’t get it,” Spike commented.

“Wait, look at her rump,” said Twilight Sparkle, her head twitching a little forward, “that’s Applejack’s Cutie Mark.”

Hearing familiar voices Pinkie Pie turned and bounced across, poofy mane and tail jiggling as she grinned. “Hi Twilight! Hi Spikey!”

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” asked Twilight Sparkle slowly.

“What Joe told me was my job, and seems more waaaay fun than trying to fix a water chute.”

“I wasn’t so sure, it did seem it was Fluttershy’s…” Mrs Cake said.

“But then Pinkie here started glowing…” said Mr Cake, continuing his wife’s sentence.

“Glowing?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“And I took a look upstairs,” said Mrs Cake, continuing where she and her husband had left off, “and I must admit the room looks more like Pinkie’s than it would Fluttershy’s…”

“And if I didn’t live here then why would Gummy and his tub and his food be in that room?” Pinkie Pie agreed.

“Wait,” repeated Twilight Sparkle, “glowing?”

“Pinkie here had got a couple of verses into a song when suddenly she lit up,” Mr Cake nodded.

“It was fun!”

“But you still have Applejack’s Cutie Mark,” asked Twilight Sparkle, trying to be sure, “and you still all think this should be Fluttershy’s job?”

“We are convinced something strange is going on and Pinkie should be doing this,” Mrs Cake corrected her, “despite what we thought before she arrived.”

“This is bad, I don’t know how bad, but this is bad,” said Twilight Sparkle, “where is Joe?”

“He left while I was singing,” Pinkie Pie replied, giving a slight pout that he’d not stayed for the whole performance.

Twilight Sparkle scooped Spike up with her head and tossed him up and onto her back. “We’ve got to catch up with him before he reaches Fluttershy’s cottage… but we just came from there, so why didn’t we see him and Fluttershy on the road?”

“I don’t know, dearie,” smiled Mrs Cake encouragingly, “but I hope you catch up with the three of them if it is that important.”

“Thank you Mrs Cake…” Twilight Sparkle said politely, then blinking. “Wait, the three of them?”

“We met Rarity on our way here from Sweet Apple Acres where I’d been…” began Pinkie Pie.

“Oh no!” Twilight Sparkle said, turning and galloping out of the Cake’s shop before Pinkie Pie could say what she had been doing.

Mud splashed from beneath her horns as she continued her gallop all the way to the Carousel Boutique and in through the door, opening it only at the last moment with a quick burst of magic rather than stopping and using a hoof. Rarity blinked at the sudden arrival and at the muddy hoof prints being left as Twilight Sparkle continued on in rather than use the doormat. Dismissing that as unimportant, for now, Rarity smiled as her friend skidded to a stop.

“Darling, darlings… hello! We looked for you.”

“Rarity, you are making dresses…” Twilight Sparkle said, looking at the cloth between her friend’s hooves on the machine and the patterns and tools floating around her.

“Oh I know!” replied Rarity happily, looking over the top of her dressmaking glasses at her friend. “I still have a hankering to shape the weather but cloth seems to work so much better.”

“Joe.”

“I wasn’t convinced, but when Pinkie glowed that seemed to suggest he had some idea. And of course there is that magazine there.”

Twilight Sparkle looked at the magazine, still open at the page with the article about Rarity and her boutique. “Oh no, I could have brought the picture of the six of us to show you had the wrong Cutie Marks…” She paused. “Rarity, have you glowed?”

“No sooner than I had finished the first dress, which helped convince Applejack.”

“But you still think the weather is your job?”

“I still feel that is my job,” Rarity clarified, “but I think this is mine.”

“Mrow!” added Opalescence, agreeing that a job that kept her Pony where she could more adequately serve her was a better one.

“And my beloved Opal being here was proof I do live here, though Joe pointing out the trouble I’d have getting to or walking around a cloud house…”

“Rarity, this is important,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted. “Where did Joe go?”

“Oh, they were going to check the library again but if you weren’t there try to catch up with you…”

“Where!”

“I said I thought you were going to check on Rainbow…”

“Back to Fluttershy’s cottage,” Twilight Sparkle said, whirling and breaking into a gallop again. “Got it.”

“Well, that was sudden,” commented Rarity as her friend disappeared, the door slamming a little in her wake.

“Merow,” Opalescence agreed, far too noisy as well.

==

The Golden Oaks Library had still been closed and after Joe tried knocking and Fluttershy the balcony again they had moved on. It had annoyed Joe a few minutes later when he realised that he hadn’t thought of leaving a note, but he consoled himself that with the wind and rain it would be hard to secure one to the front door or for it to remain legible if they did. As unlikely as it seemed that they would manage to catch up with Twilight Sparkle there seemed no point in dawdling so they had jogged along at an easy pace for the Ponies, Applejack being concerned that it would not be too hard a pace for Joe and Joe having to assure her that he knew he could manage after the treadmill work.

The cottage was far enough outside Ponyville that Joe was breathing a little deeper and the weather had returned to normal by the time they arrived. As they crossed the bridge over the stream Joe nodded downwards.

“Do you remember us talking about fish, after I helped you feed them to creatures here?”

“You said some humans only ate fish for meat…” Fluttershy began, “because… those are not so… but why would you be helping me feed animals here…”

“Never mind that for now, honey bun,” said Applejack, “do you hear that?”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy said, hearing that.

“Sounds like the critters are getting the better of her,” nodded Applejack.

“Which I’m not sure they would be if Dash had Spike and Twilight here as well,” Joe sighed.

He strode ahead and knocked, there was a shout of ‘just a minute’ but when that was followed by a crash he looked to Applejack and Fluttershy. They nodded so he pushed the door open to reveal a scene of chaos. Rainbow Dash was flying back and forth trying to deal with things as animals chased each other and stole each other’s food, or bit or clawed at the furniture, or climbed the shelves and knocked things off them to smash on the floor.

“Oh my!” Fluttershy repeated.

“You think this cottage would have survived if this was normal and every day?” asked Joe, in a low mutter.

“No,” Fluttershy agreed.

Applejack nodded to them and then stepped forward and stamped a hoof. “All right you critters, settle down!”

The animals seemed surprised by the sudden hoof stomp and bellow, as did Rainbow Dash, and they all froze for a moment.

“No need to be angry,” Fluttershy chided, flapping forward, “I am sure they didn’t mean to be naughty.”

“Ah ain’t so sure,” replied Applejack, glowering at a visibly intimidated bear.

“Now let’s all calm down,” Fluttershy continued gently, “you little friends go over there and we’ll see about giving you some nice plump cushions and munchie leaves and veggies…”

“And y’all behave as well,” said Applejack, “and ah’ll see about feeding you.”

“I’ll start sweeping up the debris before anyone steps on it,” Joe shrugged, seeing things under control through the contrasting means.

For a minute or so Rainbow Dash just watched as Applejack and Fluttershy got to work. She wasn’t sure if Applejack declaring her arrival or the fact these creatures were listening to Fluttershy’s quiet requests when they’d not listened to her one little bit was the bigger surprise. Then she flapped across to hover near Joe as he swept things together and occasionally bent and picked up larger fragments of glass or china.

“What… just happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You got helped,” winked Joe.

“Besides that,” Rainbow replied, giving him an unamused look.

Applejack retreated with a final glare at the varmints. “Joe thinks we’ve had our Cutie Marks swapped around, and he’s been two for two. Or, with how the critters are responding to Fluttershy, make that three for three.”

“Finding a magazine with an article on the dresses Rarity designed and made did help convince them.”

“Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing in a clear spot, “but she is the weather Pony.”

“No, she is the dressmaking Pony,” smiled Joe. “You are the weather Pony.”

“She glowed when she finished making one,” Applejack added.

“As had Pinkie Pie when I got her from Sweet Apple Acres to where she could take over from Fluttershy,” nodded Joe.

“Twilight asked me why Rarity was doing my job,” Rainbow Dash said, confirming they’d missed her there, “but it doesn’t feel like it. Feels like I should be here in my cottage.”

“Here in Fluttershy’s cottage,” Joe smiled, going to get a dustpan and brush. “Your cottage is the one with waterfalls the colours of your mane and tail. And which as a Pegasus you can fly up to and walk on the clouds of, unlike Rarity.” Rainbow Dash nodded slightly to this and Joe continued, “how long ago did Twilight leave?”

“I don’t know, feels like ages with how hassled the animals were making me…” Rainbow Dash stopped and looked to Applejack. “Not that I was losing my cool…”

Joe crouched by the pile of debris, but before getting the brush from the dustpan he draped his arm across Rainbow Dash’s shoulders to hug her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he pulled an exaggerated face and worked his jaw around. “Yike! So cool my lips nearly froze.”

“You saying you should have worried about frostbite rather than sunburn yesterday?” smiled Rainbow Dash.

The noise level had gone right down so as Joe began sweeping things into the dustpan he and the other two looked across at Fluttershy. They could all tell the animals were looking a lot happier and Joe was pleased to see the same was true of Fluttershy compared with at Sugarcube Corner. So any minute now perhaps?

“Oh, you are all very welcome little friends… eeek!”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash admitted as Fluttershy glowed and reacted to that. “Maybe you are onto something Joe.”

“I still want to make Ponies happy, and feel like I should be,” smiled Fluttershy, turning to look at them, “but I do feel better here.”

“And you are better at it,” Joe said, sweeping the last little bit into the dustpan. “Though you weren’t as bad at the entertaining as Applejack is at making dresses… oof!”

“Hey!” winked Applejack, interrupting with a hoof prod. “That may be true but no need to say it.”

“And you don’t need to say how bad I was doing either,” Rainbow Dash said, adding in a mutter, “I hate failing.”

“I am actually glad you were all doing so badly,” admitted Joe, standing with his full dustpan and looking around for a bin.

“What? Why?” Applejack asked.

With an expression of betrayal Rainbow Dash took off again to hover and glare in Joe’s face. “So you could have a good laugh?”

“No,” Joe replied calmly, not taking offense as he knew she’d had a hard day and meeting her gaze.

“He hasn’t… erm… laughed,” said Fluttershy.

“I was thinking of our two friends here,” Joe continued to Rainbow Dash, still meeting her eyes with his own. “You saw that Applejack could deal with the animals and you know Fluttershy has skill with fashion and sewing. So if Applejack had the butterflies or Fluttershy the Diamonds then they would have been doing better.”

“So?” asked Rainbow Dash, looking less betrayed and more puzzled.

“So ah think, sugar cube,” Applejack said, trying to take some of the heat off Joe, “we’d have been harder to convince.”

Joe nodded to Applejack. “And if Dash had been given your apples rather than Fluttershy’s Butterflies then with her strength and speed she’d have been doing better with chores at Sweet Apple Acres than with the animals here.” He looked back to Rainbow Dash. “So I am glad you were doing poorly so you could be convinced.”

Rainbow Dash nodded to Joe and let him escape to the bin. Applejack shook her head and then looked to her other friend.

“You alright there Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“Better than I was,” replied Fluttershy to her, before doing the Mane look, “and thank you Joe.”

“I am glad to have helped,” Joe said, emptying the dustpan and putting it by the bin. “Though we had better get on.”

“What’s the rush?” asked Rainbow Dash as Joe started to leave.

Once they got outside Joe tugged at his beard thoughtfully. “Big Macintosh let Pinkie Pie off ‘her’ chores for a few hours…” he began to muse before he chuckled.

“What?” Applejack asked.

“Sorry, I was just wondering if I had been unkind to him,” replied Joe, dropping his hand and giving her a slight smile. “This morning he had a pretty mare working the farm, and now he’ll have a pretty mare working the farm who is his sister.”

“Sweet talker.”

“But answering Dash’s question,” continued Joe, looking to her as they all walked towards the bridge, “there’s two problems you can help with…”

“Three if you count Joe’s,” Applejack winked.

Joe tried to regain his chain of thought. “Be good to talk to Twilight since she’s been surprised and seems unaffected.”

“Ah suppose we could have missed her on th’ road,” nodded Applejack, “but is only th’ one road.”

“So you want me to look for her?” Rainbow Dash asked, wings spreading a little to prepare to take off.

“As she wasn’t here, or at the Golden Oaks library, or on the road between them I wonder if she is at Zecora’s,” continued Joe, “but you wouldn’t be able to see down through the trees…”

“So you don’t want me to look for her?” Rainbow Dash asked again, her wings relaxing.

“Ah don’t think Joe wants you to look for her in th’ Everfree at least,” said Applejack.

Joe nodded. “Other problem, aside from mine, that a fast and beautiful Pegasus can help with is that Rarity was attempting stylish weather patterns rather than ones that would work, so the Ponyville weather is rather a mess.”

“I still don’t know about this,” Rainbow Dash admitted, “I can accept that animals are not what I am good at but…”

“We have faith in you, honey bun,” smiled Applejack.

“And even if I know why you gave me a strange look when I gave you that pendant…” Joe began, slowing as they approached a fork in the path.

“Pendant?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. “A crystal sphere on a silver chain, said it reminded him of a raindrop.”

“And then she and Rarity very politely didn’t point out that rainbows are made in Cloudsdale rather than through the refraction of light in raindrops…”

“Spike started arguing though.”

“Anyway,” Joe said, stopping to better look at them, “before I digressed I was going to try saying something sappy like ‘after the rain there should always be a rainbow, and Ponyville has had a lot of rain’.”

“You been drinking too much cider Joe?” asked Applejack, less impressed than Rainbow Dash seemed to be from the return of the slight blush.

Joe nodded to Applejack. “That would be a simpler explanation if Ponies hadn’t been glowing,” he admitted as he looked to Rainbow Dash. “Besides, do you remember the conversation at the event in Canterlot, before those Ponies pretended to be Changelings?”

“Yes?” Rainbow Dash said, puzzled.

“Then you remember me comparing you with Thor Odinson, because he was a God of Thunder and you’re a Goddess of Weather.”

Rainbow Dash winked. “I thought it was because I kicked a sleeping Dragon to make it stop snoring and he hit a sleeping giant-human for the same reason.”

“Oh! I remembered you’d kicked a Dragon but I didn’t know why…” Joe stopped and nodded to himself. “So that was what Rarity was teasing you about, and why you muttered about snoring… hmm, and I could have asked her if she remembered that conversation.”

“She seems convinced about th’ dressmaking now she’s tried it, and glowed in th’ trying,” Applejack reassured him.

“Okay, okay,” smiled Rainbow Dash, “and I’ll give this a try. It does seem strange you’d have compared me with a weather god if that wasn’t my job.”

“I have faith you’ll not just try, you will succeed…” Joe replied, rejecting a quote even if nopony would recognise the cliché.

Rainbow Dash gave them both a grin and, in a cloud of dust from her hooves and the powerful down stroke of her wings, she took off to leave a streak of colour behind her arcing towards Ponyville. Joe coughed a little as he’d still had his mouth open as he was still partway though his sentence, then he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and giving Applejack a slightly rueful smile.

“I was going to ask her to check the library,” Joe admitted, “maybe divert first to check Sweet Apple Acres, and then deal with the weather.”

“Ah thought you might be thinking of th’ library,” nodded Applejack, “why ah said not th’ Everfree at least.”

“I don’t want to go into the Everfree without my armour and spear, even with you to protect me…”

“Ah can understand that,” smiled Applejack, “and th’ same is true here, be fairly mutual th’ protecting. Sweet Apple Acres then? Check for Twilight and talk to mah family?”

“Sounds good,” Joe nodded, not sure if Applejack was just being polite to say ‘mutual’. “If Twilight’s not there then hopefully some applebucking or something will get you to glow and, if they need it, that will convince them.”

“Ah surely hope so, and would be nice to feel whatever it is th’ others have felt when that happens,” agreed Applejack, starting down the branch towards her family’s farm. “Rainbow isn’t the only one who’s sure of what she’s not to do but not sure what she should.”

Comments

[Shadowshame]

Joe tried to regain his chain of thought. “Be good to talk to Twilight since she’s been surprised and seems unaffected.”

I'm pretty sure it's train of thought but chain actually kind of works too