//------------------------------//
// Filler. That's all this really is. 
// Story: The Apple's Engineer 
// by Christs Disciple 
//------------------------------//

Loud as a speeding train, Applejack opened the door to Sprocket’s room open with a kick of a hind leg, turned around, walked in, and yelled, "Sprocket! Time ta git up!"
 
"HUH!? Whu?!" Sprocket’s head shot up from the book he had unintentionally used as a pillow, and he frantically looked back and forth through bleary eyes.
 
Applejack narrowed her own eyes at him as she asked, "Were ya readin' that book last night after we came in?"
 
Sprocket looked down at the little tome, then back to Applejack with a nervous smile. "Uh… noooo… Not at at all. I just like using books as pillows."
 
Applejack gave a small smile. "Nice try. Next time, go ta bed when we tell ya."
 
Sprocket hung his head low before sighing. "Got it."
 
"Now, breakfast is ready. Come on down." 
 
Sprocket nodded, hopped off his bed, and took five steps in that direction. He then promptly fell over with his eyes closed, snores following shortly after. 
 
Applejack grunted in annoyance. She left and returned a couple minutes later with a bucket of ice water right before chucking it on Sprocket, earning a yelp from him. "Good. Yer up. Gitcha some breakfast."
 
Sprocket nodded and shook the water off before following her out and downstairs to the kitchen. Once there, he saw today's morning meal was another set of pancakes. However, the stacks Sprocket saw at present were bigger than the other ones he had seen since moving in by a mile. A country mile, fittingly enough.
 
"H-h-holy cow! Th-th-that's A LOT of flapjacks!"
 
"Nope. That right there’s about the normal amount. We were just now able ta git enough of the ingredients we usually get to make ‘em that size.” 
 
Sprocket almost fell over from shock. "Dontcha go fallin' asleep again. Ah don’t wanna have to waste anymore perfectly good cold water."
 
"Yeah, but you'd probably get another kick outta hearing me yelp in surprise. Again."
 
Applejack thought for a second. "Yer probably right." 
 
They shared a chuckle before sitting down to gorge themselves. 
 
Halfway through, Applejack said,  "Sprocket, you’ll be workin' the apple stand in town today. Think ya can handle it?"
 
"Sure. My former boss was great at salesponyship and taught us several mighty fine strategies for hockin’ our wares."
 
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I see. You used to work at a clothing store?” 
 
Sprocket stopped chewing on his food and looked at Applejack like she had just said the sun was made of toast. 
 
“What? No! How would you ever even--”
 
“Ya said yer boss taught you strategies for hockin’ your wears, so explain to me how that doesn’t mean ya used to be in the clothing business.” 
 
Sprocket continued to stare at Applejack for several silence filled moments longer before cognition kicked in and he said, “Ohhh!” right before slapping himself in the face and letting out another, much less enthusiastic and more weary sounding, “Ohhh…” Upon putting his hoof down, he said, “No, Applejack. Not that kind of wear, and no, for the record, not the were as in werewolves, werelions, or werebears, either.” 
 
Now it was Applejack's turn to look at Sprocket like he had just said something weird here. “Uhhh… werelions? Werebears, sugarcube?” 
 
Sprocket threw his head up, sighed something fierce, and said, “Look, AJ, the kind of ware I’m talkin’ about is the same ware as in earthenware, hardware, and warehouse.” 
 
Applejack raised her other eyebrow. “So ya worked in a warehouse selling pottery and tools?” 
 
Sprocket face-hoofed and replied, “Yeah… let’s go with that.” Not feeling all too peckish anymore, Sprocket got up from his seat, put it back in its proper place beneath the table, and turned towards the living door. “Whatever gets me out of here from hurting myself anymore trying to explain things to you quicker.”  
 
Applejack huffed. “Well ain’t you in a hurry all of a sudden Mr. clay and spackle salespony.” 
 
Sprocket groaned in annoyance. He headed out and had Big Mac help him get hitched to the apple cart and trotted as fast as he could away from Sweet Apple Acres and a certain overbearing, overworking, cold water chucking, lariat twirling, stetson wearing farm filly. 
 
 

MIDDLE OF PONYVILLE, A FEW MINUTES LATER...

 
 
Sprocket got to the usual spot that the apple cart sat. But then, he ran into a bit of a problem. Namely, that he couldn't un-hitch himself from the cart. He tried pushing his back hooves against it and then tried pulling himself out with his front hooves while pushing his back hooves against it went that didn’t work, but all he managed to succeed in accomplishing was rocking and moving the cart a bit. 
 
Luckily, Twilight eventually came by during his titanic struggle with the stupid bits of wood and steel bolts that kept him from freedom. 
 
"Um… Sprocket? What are you doing?"
 
Sprocket looked over to where she was and blushed as he continued to frown because of his predicament. "Trying to get out of this consarned thing. I've never been hooked up to anything before." 
 
Twilight used her magic and undid the harness quicker than Rainbow Dash could clear the sky over the town (which would probably have made her jealous if she was there to witness things), making Sprocket fall in an unceremonious heap. 
 
"Thanks." He got up, went over to the side of the cart, opened it up with a pull of a lever, and smiled sheepishly Twilight’s way. "Wanna buy an apple?"
 
Twilight chuckled. "Sure." She tossed him a few bits and levitated an apple out of one of the baskets. "How has work on the farm been?"
 
"Tiring. Real tiring,” he said, getting up and going to his proper place behind the stall. “But, I always enjoy laying out in the field and looking up at the stars late at night after supper, so, that’s something. "
 
"Really now? I’m not sure if any of the girls or anypony else told you this, but I’m quite the stargazer myself. Any interesting constellations you like looking for?"
 
"Nah. I just enjoy seein’ them and getting lost in the majesty of the evenin’ sky. It’s all just so beautiful and mysterious."
 
Twilight nodded. "Wish the others felt the same. On another hoof, how are the books?"
 
Sprocket rubbed the back of his neck. "Good, good. But, I did get into a little bit of trouble for reading them not too long ago this morning."
 
"Oh?"
 
"Yeah. Let’s just say I may or may not have stayed up late reading one of them and had a hard time getting up this morning. Applejack may or may not have then drenched me with ice water to get me up and at ‘em." 
 
Twilight chuckled at his plight. 
 
"Really wish AJ hadn’t. I was just wanting to find a way to protect the farm from Timberwolves easily, is all."
 
"Well, I definitely know what it's like to get sucked into a good book. Spike can testify to that." Twilight blushed and her ears folded down against her head in embarrassment. Suddenly, though, all traces of humiliation were gone and Twilight was back to be overtly excited given the subject matter at hoof. "Oh! Speaking of good books, have you read any of the Daring Do novels by A.K. Yearling?"
 
“Can’t say that I have. They any good?"
 
Twilight nodded and replied, "Yes. Very. In fact, I happen to have the first book in the series with me right now!" She levitated the book out of her saddlebag and towards Sprocket. "Reading it’d be a good chance to pass the time while working I’d take if I were you," she said in a playful, sing song voice. 
 
Sprocket raised an eyebrow and asked, “Okay… I’ll bite, but, uh… why’d you have it with you now?”
 
“Nurse Redheart had checked it out earlier and I happened to run into her earlier and, since she was done with it, she just decided it’d be easier to hoof it over right then and there.”
 
Sprocket nodded. "Alright. Well, thanks. I'll be sure to return it once I've gone through it.” Sprocket then out a hoof to his chin and said, “Come to think of it, I’m also finished with one of the books I got from you earlier. Shoot. Wish I knew I could just have given it back to you now before I headed out today."
 
Twilight sighed and looked thoughtfully up at the side. “I know, right? Why does hindsight have to be so… 20/20? I’d probably still have Smarty Pants if I saw what I did to lose him that… one day we do not speak of ever…” 
 
Sprocket looked and felt like he had just stumbled onto some never before seen geode made out of some never before seen mineral that, for all he knew, could have been valuable… or extremely, incredibly, dangerous. 
 
Unsure as to how to proceed, he took one of the bits Twilight had given him for the apple, decided what the two possible outcomes of flipping it would be, quickly did so before Twilight looked back in his direction, caught it in one of his hooves, and looked down.
 
Tails. 
 
Squelching down his curiosity (which was a lot easier than he had expected given the vehemence in her voice when she mentioned that one day we do not speak of ever), Sprocket just looked at Twilight, waiting for her to notice the awkward silence she had formed, stop the conversation, and go about her no doubt busy day leaving him with several burning questions left unanswered (that may have been best that way). 
 
After seeing that there were ponies forming up a small line behind her, Sprocket tried coughing into his hoof as gently and respectfully as he could to get her attention. When that didn’t work, he tried tapping his hoof impatiently against the tabletop. When that didn’t work, he was prepared to get her attention through speech when one of the ponies in the line, apparently, had the same idea, though it seemed like it had come to him a few moments earlier.     
 
“Hey lady! Would you hurry it up!? I’ve got places to go, ponies to see, and an empty stomach to fill here!” 
 
The others in the line apparently had the same idea. 
 
“Yeah!” 
 
“That’s right!” 
 
“Move it along already!” 
 
“Get on with it!” 
 
“I went to college! I deserve better, ya lousy whippersnapper!” 
 
Twilight soon went, “Huh?” at all the commotion, looked behind her, wilted from the words when she realized she was their intended targeted, and turned back towards Sprocket. Grinning sheepishly, she chuckled just as nervously and said,  "Well, uh... just-return-it-when-you-get-the-chance-bye!" 
 
Sprocket nodded (having barely just caught all that).
 
Twilight then took her cue to gallop away like the dickens. "Have a good day!" she called back to him. 
 
"You too!" 
 
Sprocket then placed his new book on the table before him and started getting to work, hoping that he could deal with everypony quickly enough to dive right into said novel after the high marks Twilight had given it. 
 
 

NOON

 
 
In just a few short hours, Sprocket had not only dived into the book, but managed to do five cartwheels and cut through the proverbial water like a hot knife through apple butter. With a proud yawn, he slammed the finished book on the tabletop before stretching and smacking his lips loudly. It wasn’t that the book wasn’t a decent read (in fact, as adventure yarns go, it was good. Maybe a little editing to get rid of the more… well… been there, done that, bought the timeshare elements, but overall, fairly above average) but to Sprocket, reading required the kind of calm that, when coupled with his tiredness, made him wish he was cruisin’ on a cloud through dreamland, the cloud being a pillow and a bed.
 
Unfortunately, in between perusing the novel’s pages and manning the stand, he had somehow managed to sell nearly half of his stock of apples and had the big burlap sack full of bits Applejack and everypony else at the farm would be mighty sore at him if he didn’t keep the proper tabs on to prove it.
 
So, deciding it best not to take any chances, Sprocket made good use of the temporary lull in business he was currently experiencing to head back to the farm, hand the sack over to Granny, get a new one, and restock on his supply of delicious red fruit. 
 
He was about halfway getting himself tied back to the cart when the crusaders came a running in his direction, eyes wide like they had just seen a monster. 
 
"SPROCKET, SPROCKET, SPROCKET!” they yelled. 
 
"Huh!?" He turned to their panicked shouts just in time for them to come to a stop by bumping into him hard enough to unhitch him from what little connection to the cart he had and get him to fall over onto the ground about three feet away. Getting back up, Sprocket stammered out nonsense that certainly weren’t sentences much less words before he regained enough mental cohesion to ask, loudly, "What in tarnation is all the fuss about!?"
 
"COME QUICK! TIMBERWOLVES! ON FARM! NOW!" they said with unison that some who was a stranger to them might have thought was rehearsed. 
 
Sprocket's eyes widened and his breath got all kinds of caught up in his throat. 
 
"Oh boy." 
 
He quickly dashed into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, almost running or knocking the crusaders over in his path, but most certainly leaving the three fillies trailing in the newborn cloud of dust he left as he galloped full speed speed ahead. 
 

 


SWEET APPLE ACRES

 
 
Sprocket came a running, looking for magically animated wood of a lupine shape and form. 
 
Instead, he spotted Applejack bucking an apple tree, and ran up to her. 
 
"Applejack!"
 
“Gah!” Applejack yelled, so startled by his sudden appearance and screaming that she embedded his hind hooves into the trunk of the tree and had a hard time pulling them back out. 
 
“Applejack! Where are they!? Did you see ‘em yet!? We need to get out of here, now!” Sprocket continued. 
 
With a grunt, Applejack managed to extricate herself from the tree. Looking halfway peeved and confused at Sprocket’s alarmed self, she then said, "Whoa there, partner! Cool your jets now and tell me what's the big roundup."
 
"The crusaders! Said! Timberwolves! Farm!"
 
Applejack raised her eyebrow. "What? Timberwolves? Here? Can’t say I’ve seen ‘em ‘round these parts today.” 
 
"Club house! Near there! Maybe!?"
 
"That’d be a big nope there, partner. Point of fact: Ah was there when Applebloom and her friends ran out ta start crusadin,' and they headed in the direction opposite the Everfree. Right towards town."
 
After a lot more erratic panting, Sprocket paused to process what he had just heard before it hit him like he imagined a haymaker from Big Mac would feel like: he had been duped. 
 
"Those… those… little, raving rats! They done gone and lied to me! And about such a serious issue too!”
 
Applejack frowned. “So that’s why you looked like you saw… well… a pack of timberwolves.” Grinning guiltily for a moment, she then put her frown back on her face and asked, “So, they really told ya that there were timberwolves on the farm?”
 
Sprocket gave a frustrated sigh. “ Seems that way. I swear, I just don't understand why they’d lie to me, especially not like… like that!” 
 
Applejack looked thoughtful for a few brief moments before guessing, “Maybe they wanted ta getcha away from the cart.”
 
“Why in the blue blazes would they up and do that?"
 
"Ah don’t know, but we should probably hurry back. Knowing those three, they’re probably up to no good. The kind that mean I’ll have to dip into the savings account if we don’t hurry up and catch ‘em."
 
With that, Applejack and Sprocket made a beeline to Ponyville proper.
 
 

PONYVILLE

 
 
The two came to where Sprocket had last left the stand, but it was nowhere to be found. 
 
"Oh, consarn it! Those fillies are in so much trouble next time I see ‘em!"
 
Sprocket sighed. "Least you can’t say that you can build just about anything from a few pieces of metal, but that three fillies can easily pull the wool over your eye." 
 
Suddenly, before either could say another word, they heard a crash and their heads tilted in its direction. 
 
"I hope that isn’t what I think it was," Sprocket said. 
 
“With our luck today? Don’t count yer chickens,” Applejack replied. 
 
The two ran to where the noise sounded from and they saw apples, broken pieces of wood, some metal, and three dazed fillies, all lying in a dilapidated, chaotic mess.  
 
"Guys?” Applebloom asked. 
 
“Yeah?” came Sweetie Belle’s and Scootaloo’s dazed reactions. 
 
“Ah don't think we're meant ta be stunt ponies."
 
"Ya’ll also aren't meant to be seeing the light of day for a while if I have my say," Applejack, well, said.   
 
The three fillies looked towards the approaching cowpony and newly hired help, neither looking too happy.
 
The three nervously waved. "H-h-how are you two doing this fine… uhhh… dayie… day?" Sweetie Belle said with a nervous smile.
 
Suffice to say, Applejack was not amused. 
 
"Sprocket: take Apple Bloom home. Straight ta her room. Ah'll be taking Sweetie Belle n' Scootaloo home and having a long hard talk with their folks." 
 
Sprocket nodded and took Applebloom with him as he was told, while Applejack took Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to their places, all three crusaders’ heads bowed down in shame. 
 
For a long while, the walk back to the farm was as quiet as Fluttershy trying to whisper. Sprocket, feeling all kinds of bad for Applebloom, finally decided to break the increasingly unbearable silence when the two of them were halfway down the road to the farmhouse. 
 
"Applebloom." 
 
He looked down at her, but she refused to look up. 
 
"Applebloom, look my way, please." 
 
She raised her head and looked at him with those big, adorable eyes she and her friends were infamous for. 
 
He stopped dead in his tracks, prompting her to do the same. 
 
"What were you and your friends thinking?"
 
"We was tryin’ ta git our cutie marks as stunt ponies..." she muttered, barely audible.
 
Sprocket sighed. "Look: I understand you three want your cutie marks really badly, but doing stuff that could get you or others hurt the kind of bad that leads to being mighty sore on a hospital bed, or maybe even worse, is not what you should be doing. If something happened to you in one of these here attempts how do you think your sister would feel? Or your brother? Or  your grandmother? Or your many, many, MANY cousins, uncles, and aunts and the like?" 

Applebloom looked back down. 
 
"Also, what if one of your friends were to get hurt? How would you feel then?" 
 
Applebloom didn’t move her head, though, Sprocket could see that she was shaking and what seemed like tears seemed to be staining the ground where her eyes were pointed at. 
 
Sighing some more, he lifted Applebloom's head so that it was facing his own and, upon discovering that she was indeed crying, he sighed some more some more and said, "Applebloom, listen: I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I just want you to think your actions through, including thinking about all the consequences the next time.” Then, though a large part of him was telling not to do it because he’d look like a huge jerk, his look hardened and her told her, sternly, “I’m also VERY disappointed that you lied to me. Especially with how much trouble we’ve recently been having with those rotten, no good timberwolves." 
 
Without announcement, Sprocket then resumed his walk to the farm and looked over his shoulder at the guilt-ridden filly. "Come on now. We need to get home." 
 
Applebloom nodded and he faced forward again. 
 
As he heard the heavy, trudging hoof falls of Applebloom walking next to them, however, the grim facade on his face cracked and he let out a small sigh of relief. 
 
At least the timberwolves didn’t really come... today, anyways… 
 
 

LATER THAT EVENING

 
 
After Applebloom was sent packin’ right to bed when supper was finished, Sprocket trotted outside to the porch to find Applejack on the rocking chair her granny kept outside there, looking up into the wild, star studded ebon yonder. 
 
“Somethin’ on yer mind, Sprocket?” she asked without turning towards him. 
 
“Uh, yeah…” Sprocket said, somewhat unsettled since he had been sure to make his steps as light as possible and was sure AJ wouldn’t have been able to hear him. “Just wanted to run by what the deal you’ve decided with Applebloom is, in case I forget.” 
 
“Shoot.” 
 
"So, uh, if I got this right, she's been grounded for a week, only being allowed out for school after which she heads straight home, and when she's not working on homework, she'll be helping me rebuild the apple cart?"
 
Applejack nodded at his recap. "Yep,” she said, sighing. “ 'Bout sums it up. Also, thanks fer givin' her the talkin' to she needed.” She turned to him to continue with, “I appreciate it,” before looking back at the stars and the evening shroud they lay suspended in. 
 
"Well, it needed to be said, far as I reckon. Though, I hope she didn’t take it too hard. I made sure I had let my anger cool before I talked to her so I didn't say something that I'd regret, but, well, ya know how much of worry wort I can be… that I am."
 
Applejack nodded. "Hopefully, maybe now they'll stop doing such crazy, high falootin stunts like that."
 
Sprocket chuckled. "Well, I wouldn’t be so gung-ho. From what I've seen, they won't stop till they get their marks, come tartarus or high water. Now, they may take little extra precautions, but that’s all I’d feel safe counting on.” 
 
Applejack bowed her head and sighed. "Well, time’ll tell, won’t it?  Now, we should probably head in. Ya’ll got a cart ta repair tamorrow."
 
Sprocket nodded with a sigh. Man, he’d been doing a lot of that lately. "Believe me, I know. And believe me even more: I ain’t too keen about it."
 
"And Ah better not find out ya stayed up late readin’ again, cuz I ain’t too keen about that."
 
Sprocket held his hooves up. "Well, believe me further still, I learned my lesson this morning, so believe me even more when I say I’ll be a good boy and please don’t throw anymore frigid H2O my way, please." 
 
The two shared a chuckle as they went in.