"Mrnnngh!" Applejack bucked a tree.
Thap!
The apples did not fall.
She did a double-take, blinking up at the still-vibrating branches.
Chewing on her bottom lip, the mare stared and stared.
Then, with an even heavier grunt, she spun around and slammed her rear hooves into the tree trunk once again.
Thwappp!!!
Half of the apples fell into the bucket that she had placed beneath the branches.
Her lower legs stung from the impact, and yet she was too preoccupied with catching her breath. She stood in place, squirming. The teenager glanced down at her thin, noodly limbs. A frown crossed her freckled face, and she breathed in tense and tenser waves.
"Rrrrrrr..." She backed up, grind her hooves, and charged the tree with all her might. "Rrrrrr—Raaaugh!"
Thunk!!!
At last, the rest of the apples fell into the bucket.
Applejack heaved and heaved. Aching, she grabbed the basket and slid it towards the nearby wagon.
Gulping, she gave a forlorn glance down the line of orchards.
In the afternoon sun, hundreds of apple trees glistened... waiting to be bucked.
With a shudder, Applejack heaved the basket into the back of the wagon, strolled towards the next tree... and repeated the entire ordeal.
Th-Thunk!!!
Apples fell—but not all of them.
Panting and panting, a young Applejack swung and slammed the tree trunk yet again.
"Rrrrgh!"
THUNK!
At last, the rest of the fruit fell into the basket.
Applejack slumped forward, wincing. Her pigtails flounced in front of her face. Snarling, she batted them away... spitting out errant blonde hairs. In an attempt to catch her breath, the mare leaned into the tree she had just bucked. She panted and panted... waiting for the stinging pain to exit her limbs. She glanced down at her fetlocks to see that nasty whelts had already started to form.
There was a gust of cold wind. Her pigtails flew into her face yet again. Snarling, she batted them away, turned around, and pushed the basket back towards the wagon...
...a wagon that was hardly filled after two hours.
THWAP!
Falling apples.
Stinging limbs.
The sun was blinding. Burning bright. Applejack could scarcely squint at the tree branches above. By this time, she decided to buck the trees as hard as she could and vaguely plan a second pass through the orchards to clean the leftover fruit later on.
At the moment, she was in the process of heaving baskets into the back of the wagon.
She had a hard time seeing what she was doing—but this time not because of the sun. Her pigtails—damp with sweat—were falling across her face again with each physical motion.
"Mrmmmfff..." Applejack grimaced, nearly losing grip of the baskets as their weight threw her off. She gasped, teetered, then flung the containers into the back of the wagon. The mare shuddered, her peripheral flashing with the golden sway of her pigtails. She reached a hoof up, angrily tugging at the offensive manestyle.
The mare clenched her jaw. Then... with a determined breath... she turned around and strutted away from the wagon.
Applejack sat on an overturned basket.
Undoing the first and then second pigtail, she gave her petite cranium a shake.
The teenager tossed her full golden mane loose over her shoulders. Then—with practiced motions that she hadn't utilized since foalhood—she brushed the entire length of her hair back, gathered it all through one ribbon, and formed a single thick ponytail.
Standing up, she turned briskly to the left... then to the right. The combined weight of her mane caused the single ponytail to swing no further than her shoulders. They no longer obstructed her vision... or her work.
With a satisfied breath, Applejack tossed the spare hair ribbon into the back of the wagon, grabbed a heap of baskets, and marched sweatily towards the next line of orchards.
Welp...she's gonna work herself near to death.
On a side note, boy does this situation seem a little familiar...
God I love Applejack. Incase you couldn't tell from my avatar.
Who's a silly pony?
Oh gah... She's using more force than is healthy for her... Does Applejack secretly have some disease in the present for over exerting herself here? Bucker's Hips I think another story called it, but the name could vary.
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7671457 Well, given that SHE'S the only Apple with anything RESEMBLING a lick of sense OR responsibility after her parents' deaths (she, at least, acknowledges that the family needs to keep its commitments and agreements), I can understand WHY she's working so hard while Big Mac is fussing around with rusted plow parts and doing absolutely NOTHING to help her do ANYTHING!
As someone who HAS lost both her parents (not at the same time, thankfully), I know that we all handle grief and loss differently, but Mac and Granny BOTH are so lost to theirs that neither of them are thinking about what ELSE they could lose IF they don't get their heads on straight and give AJ some help with all that!
Namely, Sweet Apple Acres itself.
THEN what would the deceased Apple parents think of them?
Not too much, I'm thinking.
And in this, we see the start of the iconic Applejack mane-style.
I like it!
Wonder what Granny and Mac will think once they see it?
Not that I think that AJ's going give to bucks about what they have to say on the subject when it does happen.
Great chapter, Skirts.
Short, but great.
Love it.
I'm so proud of this girl right now. I mean, I've never done anything this amazing.
I wonder if this is pride's fault. No one thought of asking for some more time to Filthy Rich. I guess Dash and Applejack ain't that different.
7671570 dammit zap! i nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
Important Haircut, but without the haircut.
Applejack Begins
Entering Applejack...
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Words I never thought would be used to describe Applejacked.
I guess Rainbow and AJ have a lot more in common than I thought.