//------------------------------// // VI. (B) Applebloom Upon Ponyville // Story: Death of Mother Nature Suite // by Cynewulf //------------------------------// The first day of school was always a panicked rush. They were all used to waking up early, so that wasn’t the problem. They were all used to lives ruled by regimen and work, so that wasn’t the problem. It was not a thing of ability but of the mind. School came in like a lion, roaring one way or another but always roaring, a sudden intrusion upon the monolithic world of Summer. So it was that Applejack watched her young sister slowly descend the stairs that led up to her bedroom with a nervous energy. What she meant, what she would have explained if asked, was that the feeling she felt had everything to do with that half-remembered experience of the first day of the school year and absolutely nothing to do with her dreams. She was most certainly not thinking about dreaming in any form. Words like Apostle and Auditor did not cross her mind, nor did she feel them with her conscious curiosity, nor did she wonder too hard about the reactions the Applejack of her dreams had had to those terms. She most certainly did not think about Dust and Towers, cog’d or not. Applebloom yawned, pulling Applejack out of her spiralling thoughts like a claw attached to her face. “What’s for breakfast?” she said, her lips hardly parting to let the words go pass. “Toast, apple juice, omelet,” Applejack replied, staccato and flat. Gritting her teeth, praying to sound normal, she continued. “You sleep well, Bloom?” Her little sister nodded. “Mhm, slept fine. Took me a lil while, cause on account of school today.” Applejack smiled. “Eager? Nervous? Ready to have somethin’ besides chores to do?” Applebloom had already moved from the kitchen floor to the table and sat sleepily in her accustomed chair. “New school,” she said. “‘S gonna be weird, cause its a new place and I don’t know everybody, an’ cause it ain’t in town..” Applejack blinked. She nodded, though not at Applebloom. Her eyes kept focused on breakfast but her mind and her focus were suddenly gone, torn apart by the four winds. The new school wasn’t in Ponyville. It was two miles down the road, between Ponyville and the outskirts of Ponyford’s farms. It was certainly an improvement--the villages in this part of the province had relied on single room school buildings and an incredibly basic curriculum, making do with overworked but intrepid teachers and whatever funds they could afford. But Twilight Sparkle had changed that--and she had done it with technology. The new techniques in building were visible here, the new architecture and the new engineering. The new aesthetic, cinderblock and institutional grey shot through with bright color, the sharp right edges and the boxy construction. Twilight had asked for a modern building and she had gotten one. The Six Villages School was probably the most sturdy building around, not counting palaces with heavy enchantments scrawled into their roots. The new school, like the turbines and the great harvesting machines, was the future. It was progress. It was new. They were all bound up together. “Heard tale you’re still gonna have Ms. Cheerilee,” Applejack, managing something approximating bright cheer. “For this year, at least, just to ease you in, for at least a few classes. You know you’ll have more ‘n one now.” “Yeah, I know,” her sister replied, and Applejack placed an omelet in front of her, and left her to it. She called up the stairs for Mac, only for Apple Bloom to inform her that her brother wasn’t in his room. “Up before me? Figures,” Applejack said with a little smile, and turned to her own breakfast. Applejack closed up the panel with a grunt and then carefully slid off the great harvester. The machinery wasn’t perfect, obviously. Nothing ever would be absolutely perfect, and in a way this was actually a comforting thought. No perfection meant that there would always be room for ponies. She landed and dusted herself off. Her brother, who had waited patiently below, raised an eyebrow at her. She scowled at him. “Don’t you give me that look, big red.” “You figure out the problem?” “You know I didn’t. Damn thing’d be movin’ again if I had.” “You want I should go into town to grab the mechanic?” Applejack shook her head and sighed.. “Nah, I’ll go. I need you here. Grab one of the farmhooves and get them to help you finish up these rows. It’ll be slower, but we’ll get it done one way or another.” “Alright. Say hi to folks in town for me.” Applejack gave him a weary smile before he turned to go look for one of the others. She stood still for a moment, and a breeze blew through the row and she felt it like a kiss on her face. It was, after all, a good life. Her dreams seemed far away. Most things did, when she lost herself for a moment here and there in the day in the wide orchards. She did not think about Apostles and Auditors and Cogs. Even the bills and the payments on the harvesters slowly faded away. Only the wind remained, and herself, and the sound of the swaying branches and the grass whistling. Twilight was in, of course, and didn’t mind having a spot of lunch while Applejack waited for the mechanic to finish up with his work. She’d been irritated, but only for a moment. It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand being busy. If anything she understood it all too well. There were others there, of course. Rarity and Fluttershy had dropped by only a moment after she had, and so they decided to head across town to sit on the new porch at Sugarcube Corner. Talk drifted, as it was wont to, and AJ didn’t mind a bit. She wasn’t always interested or knowledgeable in exactly the same things as her friends, but there was a pleasure in listening to them talk about what irked them or what they cared about. “How has business been?” Fluttershy asked her at one point, right after the food had arrived and the now on-break Pinkie had scooted a chair between Twilight and Rarity. “Good,” Applejack answered with a lopsided grin. “It’s changed a lot, but it’s still the same old farm and the same old work day.” She nodded. The others chatted around them, and oddly Applejack felt like it was only the two of them in their own world. “I um…” Fluttershy looked away for a moment, and then shrugged. “Sorry if this is rude of me, but you seemed a little, uh… out of it, I guess. Tired, maybe? I thought you might be having a hard time.” Applejack blinked at her, and then sighed. “Ain’t been sleepin’ well,” she managed after a short pause. “I’m sorry if it’s obvious. I tried to keep myself lively today.” “No, no, there’s nothing to apologize for. Are you having, um, nightmares?” Applejack swallowed. “Yeah, Shy. Funny you should say that.” “I have those sometimes.” “Ah, do ya now?” “Mhm.” Fluttershy winced, and then smiled brightly. “But they don’t last forever! If you’re having trouble sleeping, I could give you some of the leftover medicine that Zecora gave me. It really helps.” “I think I’ll take you up on that. Busy this evening?” Fluttershy shook her head. “Not after five.” Applejack smiled and reached across to pat Fluttershy’s foreleg. “Come on down and eat dinner with us, sug. Mac’ll be happy to see ya, and you can bring me that medicine.” As Fluttershy’s face exploded into a blush amidst protestations, Applejack laughed, and felt some of the weight drift away.