Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

10. Family visit

Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

10. Family visit

As it turned out, Applejack had been just a tad too hasty when she had so boldly declared “let’s get to work!”. Certainly, she had meant well, and because there was indeed a lot of work to do it would have been wise to not waste any time. The problem was that Applejack had a job to do and a farm to run. That would not keep her from lending a helping hoof to her friend, of course, but the least she could do was inform her family about the change of plans. Which was why the farmer now found herself, in the company of her three friends, walking down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“Now you don’t worry your pretty lil’ head, Fluttershy,” Applejack said, glancing sideways to the pegasus for a moment. “Big Macintosh is perfectly capable of handlin’ the farm on his own fer a while. Ah just have to tell ‘im where I’ll be fer the next few days so he can plan and organize. He won’t throw a hissy fit over his sister helpin’ a friend. Not Big Macintosh. Kindest and most understanding stallion in all of Ponyville, Ah’ll have you know.”

Fluttershy gave Applejack a timid smile. Now that they were going out in public again, the pegasus had put back on the dress she had borrowed from Twilight, bearing the tight fit around her wings for a while. “I know, Applejack,” she replied quietly. “I know Big Macintosh quite well, I like to think… We have met before, if you remember.” Then she hid behind her mane, hoping she hadn’t said anything wrong.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was walking, Applejack would surely have planted one of her hooves square in the middle of her face. “Shucks, of course ya do, sugarcube.” The blonde mare found herself feeling more than a little bit stupid. “Apologies, ‘Shy. It’s just, havin’ not seen you mah entire life kinda makes this feel now as if Ah’m takin’ y’all to the farm to meet the Apples for the first time, you get?”

Twilight, who was walking between Applejack and Fluttershy, let out a soft chuckle. “It looks like Fluttershy isn’t the only pony who’ll have to adjust,” she observed.

“Sure looks that way,” Applejack agreed. She paused for a short moment, then broke into a smile and elbowed her unicorn friend in the side. “But Ah was just tryin’ to make Fluttershy feel less like the green apple in a bush of red ones. Bein’ a good friend by sharin’ the load and all that.”

Twilight’s chuckles became an all-out ring of laughter. “Of course you were, Applejack.”

“Ah’m serious!”

The unicorn playfully rolled her eyes. “Different times and changed lives or not, you’re still a horrible liar, Applejack,” she teased.

With a huff, the apple pony surrendered, though it was all in good fun and she was still smiling. None of her friends had mistaken her words for anything but. “Just tryin’ to lighten the mood, that’s all.”

“And I’d say you’ve succeeded quite well,” Twilight answered. She gestured at Fluttershy, who was chuckling quietly, obviously amused and happy. Even Pinkie, who was walking next to Fluttershy, wasn’t entirely unaffected. The pink pony wasn’t smiling, but at least she walked relatively normal with her head held high, instead of dragging her hooves over the ground with her head bowed, as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. It was a positive sign, and Twilight took heart from it.

“How are things going at the farm in this time, Applejack?” Fluttershy asked, once she had stopped her giggling.

“It all runs as smooth as Pinkie on skates, thank you kindly fer asking,” Applejack answered proudly. “Of course there’s been a couple of adjustments to all them fancy new machinery, but it all turned out to be for the best. Growing and harvesting the apples is still done with our own four hooves, but we have some machines now to lighten the load of sorting and packing the apples, and to make more cider.”

When she saw that Fluttershy giving her an uncertain look, no doubt thinking about the events with the Flimflam brothers, Applejack quickly added: “No worries, sugarcube. We still pride ourselves at usin’ the traditions of the Apple family. All apples for the cider are hoof-picked by Granny Smith, so we use only the best, as always. But we now have a machine to take care of the squeezin’, so Big Mac won’t have to run his heart out. Princess knows that pony works hard enough as it is.”

Fluttershy nodded in understanding. The changes Applejack spoke about didn’t sound that bad, it just lightened the considerable load of work of the Apples a bit. There wasn’t anything wrong with that.

Next to her, Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully with her right hoof. “Doesn’t Big Macintosh use a different plough for the fields now, too?”

“Shucks, Ah’d almost forget,” Applejack replied. She gave her friends an apologising look. “Twi’s right, though. We’ve ditched the pony-drawn plough for one of them steam-powered ones. It ain’t tradition, but there’s no denyin’ that it’s easier on mah brother’s back. Everythin’ gets done quicker, so we don’t have to work our manes off every day, not even during Applebuck Season.”

Twilight winked at their pegasus friend. “You could say that the production process of the farm has been… steamlined.” A silence fell in the wake of the unicorn’s joke, and Twilight found all her friends staring blankly at her. She smiled awkwardly and nervously.

“That pun was painful, Twi’,” Applejack teased, elbowing the unicorn in the side again. “Ah say leave the jokes to ponies who specialize in them. Like Dash, or Pinkie here.”

Said earth pony remained quiet, but did spare a brief glance at Applejack. She seemed to savour the praise, though it was hard to tell with her mostly blank expression. There was a twinkle of amusement in her blue eyes, however, a subtle sign that she was amused. Truth to be told, Pinkie didn’t think Twilight’s joke was that bad of a pun. She was certain that in her other life, she’d been laughing loudly and complementing the unicorn for her effort. After all, it wasn’t often that Twilight attempted to practice the art of humour. Not intentionally, at least. Yes, in her other life, Pinkie would surely have appreciated it.

Unfortunately, that life was naught but a collection of memories, and she lived here and now, in this altered and changed Equestria. And though Pinkie had displayed her first smile in years upon being reunited with Fluttershy, that was mostly because the reunion was an unexpected surprise that came right out of nowhere. Now that the excitement and novelty had worn off somewhat, so had the improved mood the earth pony had been in. She didn’t regress back to her utterly depressed and hopeless state, but just as well she didn’t feel inclined to join in the conversations of her friends or attempt any humour. For that, it was still too early, and she still felt far too gloomy.

Still, she appreciated their efforts.

A gasp from Fluttershy pulled the pink pony out of her thoughts, and she, as well as Twilight and Applejack, turned their attention towards the pegasus to see what bothered her. Fluttershy had stopped to look at something, and when Pinkie saw what it was, she suddenly got a feeling of dread in her stomach, as if she had swallowed a brick.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said, her tone one of horrified awe. She was staring with wide eyes at a ruinous wooden shack that stood at the edge of a barren field of rocks, one that was all too familiar for her friends. “Does somepony actually live in here?” Fluttershy looked back over her shoulder at her friends, questioningly.

Twilight and Applejack rubbed their hooves together nervously, while Pinkie suddenly found the stones that paved the road very interesting again. None of the three mares dared to meet Fluttershy’s inquisitive eyes, and they couldn’t look more suspicious and awkward if they tried.

“Somepony does?!” Fluttershy cried out, gasping again once that realisation hit her. “Who? And how could anypony even allow a pony to live in a house that is in such an obvious bad state?! Why, I bet that when it rains it just falls straight through the roof!” She gestured at the shack wildly, feeling outraged that it was even allowed to exist. “Just look at it! I bet it would collapse if I so much as blew at it!”

“Ehm… Well, you see, Fluttershy…” Twilight began, but she was suddenly interrupted.

“It’s mine.”

The pegasus turned away from the shack to look at the speaker, and her eyes were wide. For the third time in less than five minutes Fluttershy found herself so shocked as to be almost speechless. The pegasus stared at Pinkie incomprehensively. The earth pony merely let out a deep sigh and bowed her head, either out of sadness or shame, it could not be said.

“It’s my house,” Pinkie clarified, obviously not being particularly proud of that fact.

Fluttershy’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly, making the pegasus look a bit like a fish out of the water. It was clear she wanted to say something, anything, but that she was so shocked or outraged by this latest revelation that words failed her. After a few moments of struggling with herself like that, Fluttershy finally rounded on Applejack and Twilight, her face a mask of outraged disappointment. The two mares instinctively did a step back and swallowed.

“You!” the pegasus cried out. “How could you allow one of your own friends to live in something like this?! This is unbelievable! You two should be ashamed of yourselves!”

Her two friends winced as they were hit full-force by the words of a very assertive Fluttershy. If looks could kill then the stare the pegasus was giving them would have reduced them to heaps of smouldering ash ages ago. Twilight was speechless, and sweating profusely in discomfort. Applejack didn’t fare much better, but she did manage to find her voice again.

“Now wait just a hay-picking minute, Fluttershy,” the farmer said. “Ah know what this looks like, and Ah agree that it ain’t nice. But don’t you go accusin’ Twi’ and me of not doin’ anythin’ about it. We tried. We tried very hard to help Pinkie, or convince her to move in with one of us. Ah have enough room to accommodate for one more pony, no problem.” Applejack then pointed accusingly with a hoof at the pink earth pony, who was still occupying herself by studying the ground. “But she wouldn’t have any of it! She refused our help, and she would get out of there no matter what we tried or said!”

Upon hearing this, Fluttershy quit her intense glaring at her two friends, as she turned around to focus it on Pinkie instead. Twilight and Applejack both let out a sigh of relief when they no longer were the target of Fluttershy’s wrath. They did feel sorry for Pinkie, however. The depressed earth pony shrunk back as Fluttershy wordlessly advanced on her. The pegasus radiated assertiveness out of every single cell of her body, and her stare bore into Pinkie Pie relentlessly.

“Pinkamena. Diane. Pie!” Fluttershy said, with a voice that was all the more frightening due to how calm and collected it sounded. She planted one of her hooves firmly on her friend’s chest. “We are going to visit Sweet Apple Acres now. And when we get back, you are going to pack your things and move in with me on the double!”

Pinkie shrunk even more, if such were possible, under Fluttershy’s relentless, merciless stare. She was shivering, but still found the courage to look up and open her mouth to speak. But Fluttershy didn’t even give her a chance to gathered the necessary air to form words. The pegasus leaned in closely until their noses were touching, and Pinkie experienced Fluttershy’s assertiveness from way up close.

“No. Buts,” Fluttershy hissed.

By now Applejack and Twilight were biting their hooves, watching the exchange with rising fear. Both of them were praying to whatever powerful entity was willing to listen that Pinkie would have the common sense to give in. Fortunately, she did. The pink pony let out a meek squeak and nodded quickly and wordlessly. Fluttershy kept staring harshly into the blue eyes of her friend for a few more seconds after Pinkie had surrendered, but then suddenly retreated out of Pinkie’s personal space.

“Good,” Fluttershy said simply, sounding every bit like the kind, gentle and quiet pony her friends knew her to be again. A shy smile grazed her timid features. “I’m sure you’ll like living with me. I’ll have to find a spare bed, but you can use mine until then. I’ll just use the couch. Angel Bunny might be a bit resistant at first, but I’ll take care again. I’m sure the rest of my little friends will be fine with it. Though I hope it’s okay that you’ll share my room with them. Ehm… That’s not a problem, is it?”

Pinkie, who was still recovering from receiving a full dose of assertiveness, could only shake her head dumbly.

---

After the unplanned short stop at Pinkie’s shack, the four mares continued on their way and soon enough found themselves passing through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy looked around timidly, trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she took in the sights of the farm around her. To her delight, it hadn’t changed all that much. The farmhouse and the barns looked relatively the same, aside from the obvious presence of machinery. The fields around the farmhouse were still sown with corn or small vegetables, while the hills behind the fields were still lined with hundreds of apple trees. Having seen Ponyville and having barely recognized it as such, seeing the familiar farm still being how she remembered it made Fluttershy very happy.

“It looks lovely, Applejack,” the pegasus complimented her friend, and she gave the earth pony a smile. Despite knowing that Applejack hadn’t done it on purpose, Fluttershy still felt grateful towards her friend for not changing the farm too much. Still having this familiar landmark of Ponyville in a recognizable state would make adjusting easier.

“Thank you kindly, sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “But it ain’t anything special. We just did our thing, as we Apples always have.”

“Oh, but it is special!” Fluttershy insisted. She gestured at her surroundings. “It all still looks like how I remembered it. When I look at this wonderful place, I can see that I’m at Sweet Apple Acres. Un… unlike Ponyville…” She trailed off uneasily and pawed at the ground nervously with one of her hooves. Her three friends gave her sympathetic looks.

Applejack patted Fluttershy gently on the back, a gesture of comfort from one friend to another. “Ah understand, Fluttershy, and Ah’m happy that this lil’ farm can cheer you up like that. But don’t you worry, there are other places that haven’t changed one bit. If you want, Ah’m sure we can go visit ‘em.”

“That would be nice,” Fluttershy admitted, “but I wouldn’t want to be a bother…”

“Fluttershy, we already said it, we’re your friends,” Twilight chided her friend gently. Just like Applejack, the unicorn briefly placed a hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder. “If it helps you to see the places that haven’t changed, then it speaks for itself that we’ll take you there to visit them.”

Fluttershy nodded in understanding. She wasn’t going to argue, or refuse offered kindness. Not when a while ago she had scolded Pinkie for doing the same thing. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it,” Applejack said with a grin. With the matter dealt with, the farmer continued on her way to her home. “Now let’s go find Big Macintosh. If my memory ain’t pullin’ my leg, he should be in the orchard bringing in the early apples.”

“He was,” Twilight corrected her with a knowing smile. When her farmer friend gave her a look that asked her how she knew that, Twilight merely pointed in the direction of one of the barns. The three other mares could see Applejack’s brother walking towards it, dragging a full cart of apples behind him. Besides him walked another pony, though that one was still a filly. But even had it not been, the pony would still have looked decidedly tiny compared to the giant stallion. Twilight and the others soon recognised her as Apple Bloom, the youngest member of the Apple family.

The four friends went over to the barn, and as they got closer they heard the sound of grinding gears and machinery coming from inside. It unnerved Fluttershy at first, but when she saw that Applejack was completely unbothered by it, she managed to relax somewhat again. If Applejack wasn’t worried, then whatever machine was in there was probably safe, the pegasus reasoned. Twilight and Pinkie also didn’t show any sign of apprehension, for they had already been at the farm many times before, and knew what to expect.

They entered the barn and were greeted by the sight of Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom hard at work. The young filly was unloading the apples from the cart and putting them on a conveyor belt, which took the fruit through a machine that separated the bad apples from the good ones. The bad ones dropped in a crate under the machine, while the good ones came out and dropped into a crate at the end of the conveyor belt. Big Mac stood there, replacing the crates with empty ones once they were full, and then stocked the full crates alongside the wall of the barn.

Fluttershy found herself rooted to the floor, watching the steam-powered machine with an open mouth. Then she noticed her friends had gone ahead to greet the two ponies that were hard at work, and she had fallen behind. The timid pegasus hurried to catch up as discreetly as possible, and once she had, she took her chance to take a good look at Applejack’s relatives.

Big Macintosh was precisely how the pegasus remembered him to be. He was still massive and red as an apple, with an brown-orange mane and tail, the latter being quite shorter than how ponies usually kept them. The stallion had kept the freckles on his face, and his trusty yoke was still hanging securely around his muscular neck. Only it was now framed with copper plating, which was his own personal way of modernizing. Like any other pony in this altered time, he was clothed, donning a pair of practical blue overalls. Unlike Applejack, he did not wear a shirt under them. Naturally, he had a straw tucked between his teeth, occasionally shifting it to the other side of his mouth.

Apple Bloom was, to Fluttershy’s great delight, just as recognizable as her older siblings. She was still the adorable yellow filly with a red tail and mane, having a large, pink bow tied securely in the latter. Apparently the shift in time hadn’t stopped the young pony from looking up to her sister and aspiring to be like her, for Apple Bloom was wearing an exact replica of Applejack’s ensemble: red overalls and a white cotton shirt. Due to being dressed, Fluttershy couldn’t see if the young filly had earned her cutie mark in this life yet. Given how earnestly and dedicatedly she was helping her brother with his work, it was possible.

“Howdy there, Big Mac,” Applejack greeted jovially, tipping her hat towards her brother in playful proper etiquette. “Ah take it everything ran smoothly while Ah was gone?”

The massive stallion took his eyes off the conveyor belt for a moment so he could look at the oldest of his two sisters. He didn’t immediately say anything, taking his time to move his straw to the other corner of his mouth first.

“Eeyup.”

It was a simple word, consisting of only five letters, but it nevertheless brought a smile to Fluttershy’s face when her ears picked it up. Simply hearing those two simple syllables was enough to tell her that Big Macintosh was the same stallion she knew from her life in that other time. The changes in the world hadn’t affected him. He was still Applejack’s big brother. A stallion strong and reliable, but of little words, who wasted no time saying much when one word sufficed. Fluttershy blushed a bit when she admitted to herself that she had always admired that about him.

“That’s mah brother.” Applejack grinned, giving him a playful swat on the shoulder before turning her attention over to her other sibling. “How about you, lil’ sis? Did ya behave and lend your brother a hoof like Ah told you to?”

“Ah sure did, sis!” the little filly replied. Apple Bloom smiled widely and puffed her chest proudly, clearly very pleased with herself. “Just ask our brother. Ah even helped him with bucking the apples! Ah managed to make five of ‘em drop down with one buck! Ain’t that right, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight smiled and walked up to the young filly. “It seems like you’re making a lot of progress helping out lately, Apple Bloom,” she praised the younger pony. “If you keep it up Big Macintosh and Applejack will soon find you indispensable around the farm.”

Apple Bloom turned to face the unicorn and smiled. “Oh, hiya, Twilight!” she greeted politely. Then her face scrutinized into a frown, and her eyes were filled with incomprehension. “Indes… Indis… Inda what now?” She looked at the unicorn questioningly, silently asking for an explanation.

“Indispensable,” Applejack answered in Twilight’s stead, while coming to stand next to her younger sibling. “It’s a big word for saying that we won’t be able to run the farm without you anymore, lil’ sis.” She gave Apple Bloom a loving tap on the head. “And she’s right, you know. You’re doing very well fer a pony your age.”

The youngest member of the Apple family positively beamed as she basked in the praise she was receiving from her big sister. “Gee, thanks, Applejack,” she said. Despite enjoying the compliments, Apple Bloom nonetheless noticed how she was blushing a bit because of them as well. She suddenly noticed that Twilight wasn’t the only pony to have come in with her sister.

“Hiya, Pinkie!” she said excitedly, waving at the pink pony. She did her best to be as happy as possible, for Applejack had long ago explained to her that Pinkie was feeling very sad, and that they all had to be happy and positive around her to try and make her feel better. So far, it hadn’t really worked, but Apple Bloom shared the Apple family trait of being persistent and kept doing what her sister had told her to do every time she saw Pinkie.

Great was the filly’s surprise when the pink mare actually looked up from the ground to acknowledge her greeting with a very, very faint and tiny smile. Apple Bloom hadn’t been so shocked since that time when an apple actually fell down from a tree after she had bucked it. She was so surprised that she didn’t immediately recognise the other pony that had entered the barn with Applejack. Having the dress hide Fluttershy’s wings didn’t help much either.

“Um, Applejack, who’s that?” Apple Bloom asked, pointing a hoof at the pegasus.

Applejack merely rolled her eyes and teasingly poked her little sister lightly in the ribs. “Ah come on, Apple Bloom. Are you tellin’ me you don’t recognise Fluttershy?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened to the size of small saucers. “Fluttershy?!” she echoed, astonishment plastered all over her face. Then, in the blink of an eye, the little filly had disappeared from her spot next to the applecart and reappeared next to the pegasus. Apple Bloom was walking around Fluttershy in circles, examining her from every angle before tentatively poking the yellow pegasus on the shoulder to see if she was real.

Fluttershy giggled at the filly’s antics. “Hello, Apple Bloom,” she said, giving the young pony a kind smile. If she had expected that to calm the excited filly down, however, she was sorely disappointed. In fact, speaking to her only made the Mount Apple Bloom erupt with boundless energy even more.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Apple Bloom shouted happily on top of her lungs, throwing herself around the pegasus’ neck. Fluttershy let out a strangled noise as her throat was snapped shut and her supply of air cut off. Worse, she was sure she heard her neck starting to crack due to the filly’s iron grip. She tried to tell the eager filly to let go, but no sound would leave her mouth thanks to Apple Bloom’s death grip.

“Now, now, lil’ sis, give Fluttershy some space,” Applejack admonished, coming to Fluttershy’s rescue. “She just came back yesterday from ‘er long trip and she’s still getting’ used to bein’ back in Ponyville and around ponies. Keep it down a notch. You wouldn’t want to make Fluttershy tired, now would you?”

The bow-wearing filly immediately released the pegasus, and Fluttershy gasped for breath. Right on time, too, for her face had started to colour blue when Apple Bloom let go of her. Said filly was now standing repentantly before her sister, her head bowed.

“No sis. Ah’ll be good,” she promised. Apple Bloom then turned around so she was facing the pegasus she had nearly choked. “Ah’m sorry, Fluttershy. Ah was just so happy to see you and all…” Applejack gave her sister a look of approval, and Fluttershy gave the filly an affectionate nuzzle to show that she was forgiven.

“It’s alright,” Fluttershy said sincerely. “You wouldn’t be the first pony to get a bit overjoyed at my return today…” She gave Applejack a knowing look when she said those words, and the orange pony suddenly found the ceiling to be very interesting.

Apple Bloom’s usual eagerness quickly returned upon being forgiven, and she looked up to Fluttershy with shining but questioning eyes. “So how was yer trip, Fluttershy? Did you meet a lot of new animals like mah sis’ told me you would? Huh, did you? What’s it like outside of Equestria?”

The pegasus nervously backed away a bit, looking at her friends and quietly pleading them to help her. None of them had told her yet where all of Ponyville thought she had been during all those years she was absent. Applejack had clearly made up a story to explain Fluttershy’s absence to her little sister. That was just the problem: it was made up. So Fluttershy had no way to answer Apple Bloom’s questions, and she couldn’t lie either. She was almost as bad a liar as Applejack was.

This time, it was Twilight who came to her rescue. “She had an amazing and long journey, Apple Bloom. And she saw many wondrous things!” the unicorn lied smoothly. “So many things, in fact, that it would take too long to tell everything now. But I’m sure that once Fluttershy has settled in, she’ll make some time for you to answer all of your questions.”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped and she looked at Twilight with wide eyes. “A… all of them?” she repeated, her voice trembling. This caused Apple Bloom to glance at the pegasus with worried eyes and a trembling lower lip. Fluttershy inwardly winced while outwardly putting on her bravest and kindest smile. “I mean, yes, all of them.”

“YAY!” Apple Bloom screamed in delight, and she rejoiced by skipping around Fluttershy in circles.

“After she’s settled in,” Applejack reminded her younger sibling, and her words swiftly put an end to Apple Bloom’s latest attempt to make Fluttershy dizzy. Satisfied, Applejack turned her attention to her brother.

“That’s why we came over here, Big Macintosh,” she explained. “Since nopony ever went over to Fluttershy’s place here while she was gone, she came back to find her cottage in need of quite a mighty cleanin’. The kind of mighty that one pony can’t provide on her own. So me, Twi’ and Pinkie offered to lend a hoof in makin’ that place liveable again.” The earth pony gave her brother an apologetic look. “Ah’m afraid y’all be tendin’ to the farm without me fer a couple of days.”

“Fine with me,” he calmly replied.

“Now Ah know we got a lot to do and some big deliveries to make and all,” Applejack added, seemingly not having heard the reply she had received. “But ya gotta understand that Fluttershy’s mah friend and… Wait, what?” Big Mac’s words finally sunk in and she stared at him, surprised. “Yer fine with it?”

“Eeyup.” The big stallion took a moment to switch the straw to the other side of his mouth again, then calmly continued: “Ah know mah sis. The most friendly and loyal pony in all of Ponyville. She never leaves her friends hangin’. So when Ah saw Fluttershy come in, Ah knew wut time it was.” He smiled proudly at her. “Don’t worry, AJ. Ah can handle it.” And with that said, Big Macintosh went back to work.

“Can Ah help with the cleaning too, sis?!” Apple Bloom asked eagerly, secretly hoping that maybe she could get a cleaning Cutie Mark then.

“Thank you kidly fer the offer, Apple Bloom,” Applejack replied, smiling at her sister. “But Ah need you to stay here on the farm to help yer brother and to keep an eye on things while Ah’m gone. Ah’m entrusting Sweet Apple Acres to you, sis.” To further prove her statement, Applejack placed her trusty old hat on top of Apple Bloom’s head.

The young filly looked up at her sister and for a moment she was rendered speechless. “Really?” she then finally managed to bring out, barely daring to hope that Applejack was serious.

“Really,” the other mare replied. “You think you can do that?”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Apple Bloom said earnestly, and she gave Applejack a solemn salute. The filly had a frown of determination on her face, and her chest was puffed up with pride. “You can count on me, Applejack!”

“Ah knew Ah could,” Applejack answered proudly. She gestured at Big Macintosh, who was hard at work once again. “Now get to it, lil’ sis. There’s work to be done.” Her younger sister nodded and, still wearing an expression of serious determination, quickly went over to re-join her brother at the apple-sorting machine.

Applejack watched her go with a small but proud grin on her face, before moving over towards where her friends were waiting for her. “Well, that went easier than Ah expected it to. Ah’ll tell Granny Smith ‘bout the change of plans when Ah get back in the evening, if Big Mac won’t tell ‘er when she gets back from the market.” She took a quick glance over her shoulder at her brother, who was carrying another full crate towards the stack of crates near the wall.

“It’s really nice of you to do this for me, Applejack,” Fluttershy said quietly. “You really shouldn’t have, you have your own work to worry about.”

Applejack held up a hoof to silence her friend. “Ah’ll have none of that nonsense, sugarcube. We’re friends, and friends help each other out in their time of need,” she said, on a tone that made it clear she’d tolerate no other word on the matter. “Now, Big Mac and Apple Bloom are back to work, and Ah say it’s about time we all do the same. That cottage won’t clean itself, so let’s get to it. Fer real this time!”

End of chapter 10.

Comments

[Chill Mists(Chilly)]

Good to know Big Mac's the same as ever.

[Reader Wolf]

DANG! I know Fluttershy has THE STARE and all, but it's still a surreal and scary experience to see her so assertive.

[Thespurgin]

Well, Fluttershy was justifiably pissed at Pinkie putting herself through that for so long... but still, I mean YEARS of that? No wonder she went and cranked up her starebuster's power for a bit.

It is so nice that Big Mac and Applebloom even remember Fluttershy... I was afraid that it had something to do with being the bearers of the elements of harmony that kept them with the previous memories, and that would mean that the only ones that would remember her are rainbow, pinkie, twilight, AJ, and Rarity...

[Fury of the Tempest]

... Damn. Just. Damn.