//------------------------------// // There’s A First Time For Everything // Story: A Day In The Life // by A Wild Magikarp //------------------------------// Laying on his couch with a book between his hooves, Sky grimaced and shifted in his seat. He was uncomfortable, but he could not tell the reason why. His tail seemed to have a mind of its own, occasionally flicking this way or that, and he found himself fidgeting with his hooves. Finishing the final page of the chapter, he put the book aside and took a moment to consider things. What was it that had him so worked up? Things were fine around the house. The repair ponies left for the final time last week, and there was no sign of there having ever having been a monster attack. Work was great, if a little lonely. Without a partner to work shifts with, Sky found himself taking more frequent trips into town to break the silence, and also to rest his eyes from staring through the telescope. Still, it was a minor thing compared to the benefits of having complete access to a state of the art facility and an unobstructed view of the entire sky. He had no real personal issues, in fact he was finding the local ponies to be perfectly agreeable, and was quickly making friends with many of them. He mostly saw them when making trips into town for supplies, or when visiting the library to get new reading material and help Nyx Sparkle with her schoolwork, which was becoming a more frequent event. Nothing was particularly wrong. In fact, things seemed incredibly... slow. Groaning, he let his chin come to rest where his reading material once sat. "I'm bored." Normally to fix such things he would go visit Quick Write, or perhaps go say hello to the family. There where also no shortages of events or celebrations going on in Canterlot at any one time. Here, not so much. While he was enjoying Miss Twilight Sparkle and her families' company, simply wandering in when he was out of things to do seemed a bit much for how well they knew each other. Everyone else was likely busy at work at the moment, so there was no such luck there. And while he had already been invited several times to a party of Pinkie Pie's invention (along with the entire town, he assumed), there was no such letter sitting on his front step today. Closing his eyes, Sky considered taking a nap to pass the time, but quickly decided against it. He wasn't tired, and trying to get some rest anyways would ruin his very delicate sleep schedule, what with having to balance day and night work hours for study and observation. Thinking for a few more moments, he eventually huffed, rolling off the couch and moving towards his saddlebags. "Well, I've been meaning to explore the town a little more. No time like the present." "Unf! Consarn trubleshim' piesha' junk! Git n' there already!" 'Well, someone is having a rough day.' Sky thought to himself as he came towards the bridge into town. It wasn't hard to imagine who either, the accent making it fairly obvious. Coming over the top of the bridge, he could indeed see Applejack, the source of the frustration. He found her positioned underneath the front end of a wagon, the transport itself carrying a large variety of tools, supplies, and wood. He had a moment of panic, thinking for a second that she was stuck there, before getting a better view on the situation. While she was indeed underneath the wagon, Applejack seemed to be so under her own volition. Positioned so that she was perpendicular with the thing, she had her head down, what looked like a wrench in her mouth, muffling her words. She was doing... something with the front left wheel, turning her head at an odd angle while supporting the front end of the wagon with her back. Her face was pinched in concentration and discomfort, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. It was fairly easy to figure out what was going on. "Er, good morning, Applejack. Need some help there?" The apple farmer's ear twitched at that, and she started to look his way before stopping herself. The damage had been done however, as the bolt she had been trying to screw in fell to the dirt. Growling in frustration, she spat out the wrench and looked up. Seeing Sky, who was now sporting an apologetic smile, her annoyance faded only slightly as she slowly removed herself from under the carriage, taking the unsecured wheel off and carefully set it all down with a grunt. "Hey Sky. Sorry bout the ruckus, I'm just having a mite bit of trouble with this wheel here, as you can see." Walking over to the side of the road, she drew Sky's attention to a now well and thoroughly broken wagon wheel sitting in the grass. Giving the thing a kick, her scowl returned. "Don't know how the thing coulda' rotted, but it's the only thing I can think of. Darn near feel apart when it hit a bump in the road. Whole thing about came crashing down, scared the life outta me." "Yikes. Sound like you got lucky, this thing looks like it was meant to be pulled by somepony twice your size. If it had fallen on you, you could have been seriously hurt." Applejack winced at that, rubbing at her shoulder nervously. Sky raised an eyebrow, curious. "Ya, its actually Mac's wagon. Uses it for haulin' lumber and big orders. Normally he would be doing this run, but he's pullin' a dead tree outta the southern orchard right now, so I went this time. Rotten luck I guess. Still, we carry spares for situations like this! Just gotta get it on is the problem..." "Well, my offer stands. You need some help getting the new wheel attached?" Applejack grinned and nodded her head. "Help would be mighty appreciated. Ifin' you could just put it on the axle and tighten it down when I lift the front end, I would be much obliged." "Of course!" Sky replied, heading over to the fallen parts, standing ready. Applejack made her way over to the left side again, putting herself under the carriage and taking a couple breaths before putting her legs into it. It didn't last long. About halfway up, her face contorted, and she dropped the wagon, its cargo leaping from the impact. Sky gave a yelp of surprise, dropping the wheel and moving to her side. Her head shot up and she shook it fiercely. "Fine! I'm fine, just gimme a second!" "You are not 'fine!'" Sky responded, urging her out from under the damaged transport with a hoof. Once she was fully out from under, Sky looked her over. Barely visible under her orange coat, he could see the starts of a large bruise on her right side. She also seemed to be favoring her left hoof slightly. When he looked up at her and gave a questioning look, she simply scoffed. "So maybe I wasn't quite so 'lucky' when the thing fell over. It ain't nothing serious." "Applejack if that thing fell on you, that's got to be at least a two hundred pounds with all the stuff in there!" "It didn't! The shaft just caught me in the side when it toppled, twisted my hoof a bit. I've worked through worse! I ain't some delicate flower or nothing, and this need to get fixed!" Sky frowned at that. "I never said you were. Applejack, I work in a lab, you probably put more physical work in during a day than I do in a month. But you could really hurt yourself if you get under that thing again and it falls on you. At least let me try once?" The apple farmer opened her mouth to retort when something gave her pause. Her eyes narrowed and she looked past him, her mind apparently elsewhere. A couple seconds later she sighed, letting her hat cover her eyes. "Fine. You're right, I shouldn't be so stubborn accepting help. Just... don't hurt yourself either, ya hear?" "Of course," Sky replied once more, switching places with her. Getting under the wagon, Sky took a moment to adjust and widen his stance in preparation. Copying what he had seen her do, Sky took a couple deep breaths before putting all his strength into a lift. Sky grunted under the weight, his cheeks puffed out and his eyes clenched shut as he slowly straightened out his legs for better support. For a moment it seemed he would drop it, before he took another quick breath and with a final burst of effort brought it all the way up. Fully standing at last, Sky let out an explosive breath of air and tried to keep his knees from shaking too much. Applejack quickly got to work, attaching the wheel and locking it in place with the bolt. as she tightened it down, beads of sweat began to form on Sky's brow. He silently pleaded with her to hurry up. She did not disappoint, easily tightening the bolt down without the extra effort of lifting the carriage as well. Giving one last turn on the wrench, she confirmed it was on tight before dropping her tool and putting her front hooves under the bed of the wagon to help him ease it down. Sky willingly accepted the assistance, quickly, but carefully, dropping his load and moving out from under it before taking a moment to lay down and recover. Applejack took a moment to marvel at the sight. "Hoowee! Boy, you weren't kidding! I mean, you got a kinda skinny look about ya, but I guess being a fancy professor up in Canterlot hasn't done much for your legs neither, huh?" "Thanks, Applejack... Glad I could help." He grumbled between breaths. She walked over and gave his shoulder a light punch. "Aw I was just ribbing ya, Sugarcube, ya did fine. Not half bad for a city pony to be honest." She offered him a hoof, which he happily took and righted himself with. While she returned to the wagon to hook herself back in, Sky took a moment to compose himself and wipe the dirt off his coat. "Though you can probably thank your genes for that. Good ol' Earth Pony magic is a beaut, ain't it?" "Are you complimenting me, or my EPM?" Applejack blinked in confusion at that. "EP-What now?" "Er... EPM. Ya know, Earth Pony Magic? It's an acronym." "Speakin fancy nonsense, I getcha." Sky scowled at her, drawing a laugh in response. "You know what I meant, smarty-pants! And as for what I was saying before, I just meant you could do to practice it a little more!" She grinned, tipping her hat. "I better get going. Still plenty of work waiting for me back home, and these supplies ain't going to deliver themselves. Thanks for the help." Sky stood by for a second, watching her go, before following after, coming up to her side and looking at her curiously. "What do you mean by 'practice?'" "So it's like a muscle?" "That's how all magic is as far as I know! Twilight doesn't just practice spells cause there hard to learn, it's like working out her horn. Or her brain, or... whatever. Same rule with earth ponies and pegasi. The more you use your innate magic, the more you get used to it, the stronger it gets!" Sky took a moment to chew on that. "So... if I worked out a lot, I would get even more strong?" Applejack looked over at him and raised a single eyebrow. "Not uh... not exactly. I said it was LIKE a muscle, not that earth pony magic WAS their muscles. We also tend to be much closer to nature than others, helps with gardening and animals and the like. You mean you never heard none of this before?" Sky coughed into his hoof. "Biology and magical application. I may have... slept through parts of that class." Applejack suddenly burst into laughter, slightly startling Sky before realization brought a blush to his face. He grumbled under his breath as she stopped their trip to recover, her glee calming into a light chuckle. "Just because I make a living out of a laboratory doesn't mean EVERY branch of science has to interest me. I found the entire topic kinda dull to be honest... Besides, I wasn't really talking about the farming part of it, just the other part. Is there really a difference between working out your muscles and your, uh, earth pony strength?" "Well course! It's way more than just pushin' really hard or liftin' a ton of weight! It's... um... well it's kinda hard to explain ta be honest. Mac and I have talked about it before, and Pa is the one who taught me, but the way he described it... I get the feelin' its different for everypony. Mac's way of explaining it was quite the earful to hear, let me tell ya." "Well, what is it like for you then?" Applejack bore a distant look on her face as she thought on that, slowly starting back down the road towards the farm. After a minute of deliberating the best way to put it, she spoke. "...It's just this feeling I get, down in my gut, like... like warm fire keeping out the chill on a cold night. It's comforting. I delve deep into it, and so long as I don't let myself give up, I know I can do anything I put my mind too. And as for the using it part, it's like adding fuel to the fire. It just gets stronger the harder you push it. I know in my head I have limits, but when I find it in me to give it my all... I can't really say that I care what they are, I just keep going. It don't feel weird, or foreign like unicorn magic on the coat. It's just a part of you, something that you gotta find deep in yourself. It's... really an amazing feeling to be honest." A moment of silence was shared between the two before Sky answered that. "Wow Applejack. That was strangely poetic." "Don't go spreading THAT around. Ponies may start to talk!" "Hehe! Well I agree with you, I don't think I have ever felt like that before. Of course I don't know if I have ever been put into a position where I've needed to push myself like that before, so it makes sense that I wouldn't know... Well, with one, notable exception a few weeks ago." The barn started to come into view over the hill, and the two ponies had settled into a companionable silence when Sky spoke again. "But I would be willing to learn," he said quietly with a glint in his eye. "What was that, Sugarcube?" "Say, Applejack, how would you and Big Macintosh feel about a little extra help on the farm?" The farmer's eyes widened in surprise, catching on to what it was he was really asking. "Um... Listen, Sky, I don't mean no offense, but you probably shouldn't drop everything and come work for us. It ain't as easy as you may think is it..." "I get that! Besides, I didn't really mean it in a full-time sense. It's just, I realized today that other than work, I don't have a whole lot to keep me occupied." Applejack said nothing in response, opting to just give him a curious look. "And sure, I have a TON of books I could read, but that's already so much of my job, I need something else to do, you know? something to give my eyes a rest, change things up a bit. I could do that here, helping you guys, learning how to control my magic better!" "..." "..." "... You SURE you know what your getting yourself into, partner?" Sky blushed a little at her disbelief. Granted his earlier display may not have painted him in the most favorable by comparison, but it was hardly as if he was made of glass. He huffed slightly and attempted to put on a look of indignation. "I understand I may not be a... a very imposing figure, but I would like to think I know myself and my limits well enough to say I can handle helping around the farm a little. I promise I'll follow all the rules and I won't complain, honest!" Applejack grinned at that. "Don't go makin' promises you can't keep. Mac's been doing his part since before I could walk, an' he still finds time to vent sometimes." Making a show of mulling it over some more, Applejack gave a resigned sigh, but the grin on her face told a different story. Coming to a stop in front of the barn, she turned to look at the scientist. "Well alright, I guess it couldn't hurt to have an extra hoof every once in a while. If you really want to help, I wont stop you. Don't feel obligated to keep going if it turns out to be too much either." "I understand. So, when can we start?" "Right now!" She responded, dropping out of the harness and nodding towards the supplies. "You can start by getting all this stuff unloaded. Tools go into the barn on the left, materials go out here on the right side. Once you're done with that, meet me out in the orchard. If you want to learn how to channel that magic of yours, no better way to practice than bucking some apples! Head that way till you get to the top of the hill, then a left. You'll be able to see me from there." Looking at the large pile of cargo he had been ordered to start with, Sky let out a nervous chuckle. "Uheheh... Don't you normally, I don't know, begin slow during a workout? Should I be doing stretches or something?" "Haha! What do you think I have you starting with the wagon for? Best get movin', you'll be fishing today, not cutting bait!" "What does that even mean...? Applejack?! What does that mean?!" Selene was quite beside herself at the moment. She had no idea where that pony had gotten off to, but Sky had been gone far too long for a simple walk around town. The sun was low, and dinner was not about to serve itself. She could hardly be expected to open the cans herself now could she? The cat had half a mind to go find his saddlebags and give them a good clawing just so he would understand her displeasure. As that one half was trying to convince the other, a sound at the door drew her attention. Somepony was at the door, fumbling with the lock it seemed. She was just about to bolt for a place to hide and observe when they finally seemed to get it, opening the door to reveal none other than the source of her ire. Or at least, what was left of him. It was a sorry sight to be sure. Night Sky looked forward into his living room with a vacant expression, mouth hanging slightly ajar and his eyes focused somewhere beyond the walls of his home. The rest of him was not much better, both mane and tail sticking out in odd places, his coat matted and grimy. It looked to Selene at least that he had spend the entire day rolling through the dirt of all things! Sky slowly trudged his way into the living space, closing the door behind him almost as an afterthought, before deciding the couch was too much effort and simply laying down on the floor, face down in the rug. Selene slowly made her way over to the sweaty, dirty, foul smelling pony. Both concerned for his well-being and unwilling to sully herself to much, as she had just finished bathing herself not long ago, she reached out a paw and gave him a bat on the ear and a light meow. "Mwrr?" Her efforts where rewarded with a loud groan as he turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. He then proceeded to make all her efforts to remain unsullied in vain, as he reached a weak hoof out and pet her shakily atop her head, spreading dirt and perspiration all over her perfectly groomed fur. "What have I gotten myself into, girl?" He asked, not expecting a response. "One torn up saddlebag, that's what." Was her silent reply.