Catching Up

by BronzeLoki

Out of the Blue - 1

"Thanks again."

Trodden Fields surveyed the vast farmland as he unhitched the dirt laden harvester upon his back. A matting of golden hay seemed to unfurl from the rear of the ancient equipment, coating the entire field in the enchanting glow of the year's labour. With a deep thud, the harvester fell from the aging stallion's back, hitting the black earth. He breathed a sigh of relief, turning towards the earthpony mare beside him.

"Don't mention it, Fields." She turned away from the stallion, heading back down the farm path, although after a few steps, she hesitated. "Are you sure you can handle the rest?"

"I've been doing this for forty four years, I know how to wrangle a couple strands of grass, Petal", he smiled assuredly. Her concerned look remained but, unwilling to argue, she continued down the farm path towards the great tractor she had rode in on.

Fields watched as the hulking piece of equipment roared to life. It spat black clouds of smoke from its exhaust at the rhythm of the engine's humming. A harvester trailer, at least twice the size of his own, was attached to the rear of the machine yet it was towed away effortlessly with resounding metal clattering. It wasn't long before the tractor's engine completely faded into the distance; the calming silence of the cool autumn breeze returning with the distant cawing of crows.

He gazed over the fields the mare had harvested, where a great landscape of cut crops should have resided. Instead, scattered at sporadic intervals, were large cylindrical bales of hay. They were colossal, with the blackish dirt beside them deformed with striped furrows where the tires of the machine had driven. He sighed at the thought of moving the weighty bales, about to turn back towards the matted field, when something caught his eye.

In the sky just above the field, there seemed to be a lone crow. A large lone crow. A large lone crow speeding right at him!
"What in Celestia's name!?" He dove to the ground, hoof over head, as a wave of rushing air washed over his flank.
THUMP
...
Fields raised his head cautiously. Small strands of hay rained upon him like yellow confetti as he peaked over his shoulder to see what was once a hay bale. What used to be a bale of hay rustled and groaned, startling Fields. He rushed for a pitchfork, picking the tool up as swiftly as his age would allow, and turned to face a dazed black pegasus crawling from the pile.

"What the heck are ya doing on my farm!" Fields forcefully stabbed the fork into the dirt by his side, but the pegasus stallion just grinned cheerily. Fields put an assertive hoof down as he noticed the small saddlebag attached to the winged pony's side. It was double buckled with a small insignia resembling a windmill at its base. It looked familiar. The pegasus clumsily righted himself with his forehooves, lifting his rear with a quick flap of his wings. He dusted the strands of hay from himself and began to unbuckle the saddlebag, not waiting to finish before talking.

"Express delivery! Sorry about the whole..." He waved a hoof towards the piles of hay now building up around Fields. Fields grunted, the air blowing a small strand of hay from his muzzle. "But I've got a letter here from Mr Fields!". He drew from the saddlebag a letter with a matching windmill wax seal. "Must've been important, he said he'd double my pay if I made it here by six!" The pegasus muffled behind the letter.

"It's half two!" Fields cried. The pegasus grinned proudly. "And I'm 'Mr Fields'! Trodden Fields!". The winged pony tilted his head with a look of confusion as Fields stepped towards him and took the letter unceremoniously. He bit off the wax seal and spat it to his side as he glanced at the pegasus. "What's your name?".

"Oh!" The pegasus snapped out of his confusion and puffed up his chest with a proud smile, "My name's Raven Ruffle, express courier for Miller Fields'! Although my friends just call me Raven.". He looked back to the Fields who was engrossed by the letter, taking no notice of him. The old stallion's look became more stern by the second as he read each line; Raven's puffed up chest deflating. "Is everything alright?"

"Just... dandy" The old stallion murmured, distracted by the letter. He stopped reading, seeming to stare through the paper in thought, before casually folding it up and taking notice of the pegasus again. "You wouldn't happen know how to get to my kid's place without a pair of wings would you?".

Comments

[MadhatterZack]

Hmm...seems like an interesting read.