Appleshy Prompt Tag Collab

by Twinkletail

A Helping Hoof - Squinty Mudmane

Written by Squinty Mudmane

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Applejack wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hoof and exhaled slowly as apples showered down from the crown of the tree into the strategically placed baskets around the trunk. The summer sun had long since gone from pleasantly warm to mercilessly scorching, or so it seemed. That’s what hours of hard physical work with little shade for shelter did, though Applejack chided herself lightly for being this bothered by it; she should be used to it by now. She certainly wasn’t going to complain about it out loud, least of all in the present company.

She smiled as she looked over at the pink-maned pegasus doing her best to buck the apples off another tree. Although Fluttershy was putting up a valiant effort, she just didn’t have the experience yet, and each kick only dislodged two or three apple at a time. It wasn’t that her technique was completely wrong; Applejack had given instructions on the optimal stance and where on the tree to aim for maximum yield, and she continued to make minute adjustments as she saw them. However, the pegasus simply still was not using enough force yet, even though Applejack had assured her a dozen times that she wasn’t actually hurting the tree. She certainly had strong legs—strong, shapely legs—and was a quick enough learner that Applejack could tell she would eventually be good at applebucking. She just needed time.

Of course, it was the damnedest time Big Mac had chosen to come down with a flu, right as Applebuck Season really kicked off. Apple Bloom had gone to Manehatten to visit Cousin Babs about a week earlier and wouldn’t be back home for another week still, and with Granny Smith being who she was, that left Applejack to take care of the season’s harvest.
It brought a wry little smirk to her lips to know that an Applejack a couple of years younger would have insisted on doing it all on her own with a stubbornness that would have made a donkey proud. This time—thanks in no small amount to Twilight—the first thing she had done was reach out to Fluttershy and ask for a helping hoof.

Fluttershy had given that along with an army of helping paws, claws and beaks.

The trees around them buzzed with activity as Applejack sauntered over to Fluttershy. Here, a group of rabbits, Angel being one of them, delivered rapid-fire kicks to a tree trunk so that the whole tree vibrated, sending apples falling down like rain. There, a pack of squirrels darted up and down another tree, their tiny arms only just managing to grasp the fat, ripe apples. On their right, Harry the Bear vigorously shook his tree, dislodging apples by the dozen. On their left, a flock of birds picked the apples from the crown by the stem, the smaller birds teaming up for the task.

As grateful as Applejack was for the immense help the critters provided, right now all her attention was focused on the mare in front of her. Fluttershy raised her head and smiled as Applejack approached, wearing her own brown Stetson that the farmpony had lent her for the occasion. Her coat had a faint sheen to it from all the hard work, and a couple of leaves had caught in her voluminous pink mane and tail. She looked so beautiful.

Applejack doffed her hat back as she leaned close and Fluttershy repeated the gesture, eyes glinting in anticipation. Their lips locked together, and for a moment, Applejack allowed herself to ignore the work that remained to be done and instead lose herself in the sensation. She closed her eyes and slipped a foreleg around her marefriend’s neck, breathing in deeply through her nose. Fluttershy smelled of grass and flowers, of sweat and hard work. To Applejack, that scent was divine.

Applejack couldn’t find words with which to express her gratitude at that moment, for the assistance and for everything else, but the alternative suited both mares just fine.