Appledashery Vol. Two

by Just Essay

When Hairy Met Fuzzy

"So long, Applejack!" Sweetie Belle waved, trotting happily besides her big sister as the two made for the dirt road beyond the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. All around them, pairs of ponies were hovering about in lazy conversations. The older siblings gossiped and chuckled while the younger sisters played games of tag and giggled. "Today was totally fun! We're definitely going to show up for the Sisterhooves Social next year!" Sweetie Belle grinned at her familiar. "Isn't that right, Rarity?"

"Erm..." The slightly sickly unicorn reached aside mid-trot and patted her sibling's fluffy mane. "Ask me again eleven months from now... and Celestia-knows after how many showers."

"Heheheh..." Applejack chuckled. She sat on the lowest seat of a makeshift set of wooden bleachers bordering the obstacle course. A warm sunset bathed her even warmer freckles in red-orange hues. "It was a real treat havin' ya, Rarity! I mean it!" She winked and shouted through her fetlocks. "Try not t'think about pill bugs along the way home!"

"Damnation!" the fashionista cursed from afar. She made a muffled wretching noise and hissed: "Did you have to remind me?!"

Applejack laughed even more. She smiled aside, tipping her hat at the ponies trotting by. "Blossomforth. Taffy Twists. Been a real pleasure."

"So long, Applejack!"

"Heehee! I love my new ribbon! It's so shiny!"

"Well, ya done earned it, sugarcube!" Applejack winked. She smiled and tipped her hat at the other ponies making their gradual exit. "Dinky. Amethyst Star. Y'all come back, now." Another grin. "Golden. Blue. Thanks a ton with all the vittles. Ain't no hospitality like the Harvest's these days." Her eyes darted aside. "Amber Hops! And... Snails?" A blink. Another blink. Applejack popped a grin. "Them's purdy dresses!" A tip of the hat. "Come back next year!"

The crowd thinned. The neighborly farmers carried with them leftover snacks, party favors, and awards won from the day's events. A farmstead that was—at one point in the day—filled to the brim with laughing, cheering, and competing mares was now a serene patch of grass, lit aflame by a softly setting sun.

Applejack leaned back in the bleachers, sighing contentedly. She plucked a stalk of hay from a nearby bale and stuck it between her teeth. A freckled smile hung beneath lazy eyes as she gazed across the amber countryside, admiring the dwindling moment like a work of art. Her teeth chewed and chewed at the stalk until they went still—like the rest of her body—dangling breathlessly from this liquid moment.

Then, from behind her, a wishy-washy voice awkwardly quoted: "The key to ingenuity is constant application of talents, even in the absence of such strengths. Through persistence and hard work, one will eventually iron out the worst of flaws. Never perfect—but always combating imperfection with sheer earnest. Eventually, one finds success."

Applejack's brow furrowed. She looked left... saw nothing. She looked right—nopony. Finally, with an inward breath, she turned and looked behind her.

A winged stallion sat on the topmost seat of the wooden bleachers, and he returned her glance with a perky smile. "Saddle Greenhooves." His teeth showed. "Inventor of the modern reinforced wagon wheel! Circa 3212!"

Applejack blinked.

"I... uhm..." He squirmed in the seat. "...I read up a lot on wagons over the past few days." He smiled nervously, his wingtips coiling tight.

"... ... ..." Applejack's eyes narrowed. "Who in the hay are you?"

The stallion blinked. "Uhhhhhhhh..."

"And that's completely inaccurate," Applejack droned.

"Huh?" The stallion's ears perked in surprise. "Did... did I get the quote wrong?"

"No." Applejack spat the stalk of hay out. "Ptooie! I mean that Saddle Greenhooves feller didn't invent the modern reinforced wagon wheel. He merely patented it first," she said. A tilt of the hat. "If ya wanna get nitty gritty about it, the modern reinforced wagon wheel was invented simultaneously in two places. One—a buncha mule servants in Trottingham. Another—over yonder in Saddle Arabia, courtesy of some wealthy Queen who fancied a better form of desert transit."

"Oh." The stallion fidgeted. "Oh wow. Uhm..." He broke a nervous smile. "I-I guess I read the wrong books. Still... it's a pretty snazzy quote, huh?"

"Eh..." Applejack shrugged. "I ain't much for speeches."

"No kidding?"

"Some ponies like to hear themselves talk. The same kind of ponies who steal others' hard work and patent it under their own name. Nah..." She shook her head. "I respect the kind of ponies who do stuff... not just speak gibberish."

"Heheheh..." He bore a genuine grin, wingtips fluttering. "I like that. I really do."

"... ... ..." Applejack frowned. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Oh! Uhm..." He ran a hoof through his bangs. "I'm Stu Leaves."

"... ... ..."

"Stu Leaves...?" He blinked. "You met me the other day? When I was trying to help those nice old ponies with their wagon?"

"... ... ..."

"You trotted up out of nowhere and fixed the wagon in—like—ten seconds flat! It was super impressive."

"... ... ...I did?"

"You don't remember?"

"Well..." Applejack shrugged yet again. "...I'm always helpin' ponies in Ponyville around. I can't rightly keep track of every good deed I do. Uh..." She winced suddenly. "Heavens to Betsy! That sounded an awful lot like braggin'. Didn't mean it that way."

"Don't sweat it!" Stu waved a hoof, chuckling. "Brag away! From what I've heard, you're one of the nicest ponies around!"

"From... what you've heard?"

"Oh! Uhm... I... uh..." Stu fidgeted, avoiding her gaze. "I may have asked a bit about you when I went to the library to read up on wagons and wagon-building."

"The... library...?"

"Yeah! There was really cute unicorn there. City type. I mentioned your name once and she just... couldn't... stop... complimenting!" He laughed. "She had an entire set of notecards prepared—listing off your accomplishments! What was her name...? Twiset Glimmer? Sunspark Glisten? I dunno. I'm new here in case you couldn't tell—"

"Why'd you go to Twilight Sparkle to learn up about wagon wheels?"

"Well... so I can know better how to fix them! This is an earth pony town, after all. Odds are I'll need to know better for the future... y'know... so I won't embarrass myself in front of a bunch of old folk again and leave them hanging. Heheheheh..."

Applejack's eyes narrowed. "Sooooo... y'all came here just to tell me that?"

"What? No! I... uhm..." Stu reached over, fumbled, and finally lifted a rattling wooden crate. "Speedy pegasus delivery!" A nervous smile. "At your s-service!"

"Pfffft!" Applejack almost guffawed. "Speedy delivery?!?" She pointed at the western horizon. "It's dang near sundown!"

"Er... I know. I just... well..." He hugged the crate to his chest, avoiding her gaze again. "I showed up with the delivery. But everypony was super busy preparing for some obstacle course run or what-have-you. Once I realized that you were the owner of this farm—and I saw you competing—I figured it would have been really un-cool to interrupt you just for a signature on a delivery form. Especially since you were having so much fun. And... well... it's my last delivery of the day, and I don't have any weather flying scheduled for this evening. So I thought... heck it... and decided to just hang out!" He smiled at the few ponies still gathered near the outer fence of Sweet Apple Acres. "Such a fantastic little event! Heheheh... and all the little sisters are so adorable. What's this thing called again? The Sissy Showdown?"

"The Sisterhooves Social," Applejack said, growling slightly. She composed herself with a crooked smirk. "You really do talk a lot, don't you?"

"Er... I suppose?" He gulped and sported a weak smile. "And 'talking isn't as awesome as doing.' Got it. But hey! I'm getting there! At least... that's what I tell myself at the start of each day."

Applejack waved a hoof. "Nopony's judgin' y'all." She pointed at the crate. "Need me to sign that?"

"Oh! Yes! Please!" He floated over, hovering in front of her and grabbing a clipboard out of his saddlebag with his muzzle. "Mrmmmff—lemmf me juddd grabbff a pennff..."

Applejack fought the urge to laugh outright. "Maybe it would help ya to place the dag-blame'd crate down."

"Mrmmfff...!" He placed the crate down on the bottommost seat and used his free hooves to fetch a writing instrument. "Good idea! Heheh... maybe you should be doing my job!"

"I'd need wings for that."

"Or you could just jump really really high!"

"I... you..." Applejack shook her head, breathing through a dumb smirk. "What?"

"Forget it." Stu smirked, hoofing her the pen and clipboard. "Super old Cloudsdalian joke. It's just as stale as it sounds, I suppose."

"Mmmhmmm..." Applejack signed her name across the bottom of the delivery form. "So... yer from Cloudsdale, huh?"

"Uh huh! Born and raised!"

"I heard somethin' about weather flyin'. Yer one of the new cloud kickers?"

"I guess you could call me that."

"Heh... seems like we're gettin' more and more of you feathered folk by the bushel!" She hoofed him back the clipboard and smiled. "Y'know, one of my best friends is from Cloudsdale. Two of 'em, actually."

"Really?"

"Eeyup. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."

Stu Leaves grinned wide. "You know Rainbow Dash?!?"

Applejack leaned back, ears folded. "Uhhhhhhhh... yeah?"

"Eheh..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. She's just... hers is a name I've heard about a lot in town as well. Even your librarian friend Skyscape Spritzle couldn't stop talking about how amazing she was. Now I learn that you both know each other! Heh... small town." He winced. "Er... not that there's anything bad about Ponyville being 'small.'"

"Heheh..." Applejack folded her forelimbs. "At least you get some of my friends' names right."

"Well, yours is hard to forget," Stu said, gesturing at the amber-tinted countryside all around them. "Considering you actually work on a citrus farm and all."

Applejack did a double-take, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "Beg yer pardon?"

"Uhhhhhhh—"

The hairs on the back of Applejack's neck bristled. "Do these trees look like they grow apples and lemons?"

"Er... n-no...?" He leaned back, suddenly sweating. "But... apples are citrus, aren't they?"

"Tartarus, no! They ain't citrus!"

"They're not?"

"They're pomaceous fruit, ya silly varmint!" Applejack barked. "Citrus is sour-like and rich in vitamin c!"

"Yeah! And apples are too, right? Only sweeter?"

"... ... ...You really know nothin' about apples, do ya?"

"They... uh..." Stu Leaves trembled slightly. "...taste good?"

Applejack performed the first of many... many face-hooves.

Comments

[CommanderCuddle]

BURN HIM AT THE STAKE

[RoboRed]

Bruh...

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8580512 My thoughts exactly!

Can't stand Stu-pid Leaves.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Do you even Apple, bruh?

[Phoenix Kitten]

"Amber Hops! And... Snails?" A blink. Another blink. Applejack popped a grin. "Them's purdy dresses!"

Glittershell is canon with Appledashery.

"Sorry. She's just... hers is a name I've heard about a lot in town as well. Even your librarian friend Skyscape Spritzle"

Normally, I'm pretty chill with Stu, but he needs to leave town for mispronouncing best pons name.

Applejack performed the first of many... many face-hooves.

Much like a good 3/4 of us readers.

[zaponator]

8580566

Glittershell is canon with Appledashery.

I'm more than okay with this.

[Aatxe360]

I have the feeling Skirts is going to make Stu be easily hated. Poor form. A real challenge would make him fit Applejack so well that him showing up after he ran off after a fight or not tie all the readers up in knots on which pony deserves Frecklepone.

[Autumn Rush]

Oh lawd.

I grew to be okay with Stu, but this is definitely reminding me of one of the reasons why he took some getting used to.

Applejack performed the first of many... many face-hooves.

25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6v9hotKvi1r2op6ko1_250.gif

[PropMaster]

Oh, Stu.

[Giltor]

"You don't remember?"

For Stu it was a day that changed his life. The day when he met the incredible mare, who did the work he couldn't do half an hour "in ten seconds flat". For Applejack it was a Thursday.

P.S. Stu is a nice guy. Good-natured, socially awkward and truly awesome when need to be awesome. And I think we will see "Stu the awesome" at least one more time. Rainbow at the end of "Appledashery" needs all help she can get. And don't forget the "Applebloom arc" - we don't know exactly(yet), that he did there.

[Tchernobog]

[Leftover of Saikano]

Stu is too relatable and I hate that.

[Thursday]

8581562
It was which day?

[arancaytar]

"Er... n-no...?" He leaned back, suddenly sweating. "But... apples are citrus, aren't they?"

"Tartarus, no! They ain't citrus!"

"They're not?"

"They're pomaceous fruit, ya silly varmint!" Applejack barked. "Citrus is sour-like and rich in vitamin c!"

The mother of all brick jokes.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/149893/397/appledashery/simply-appetizers#comment/5394899

[iSleep]

Stu is so Stupid

[bronyheat]

Nopony's judgin' y'all.

Glances back at the comment section of every chapter in volume one with Stu