Alternate Beginnings: Year Four

by Doug Graves


17 Soil, Worms, and Blood

June 14th, 996

Big Mac looks over the four partitioned wheat fields. They had taken one large virgin field near the Everfree, about an acre, broken it into four parts, and plowed three of those parts twice for the heavy field weave. Doug had plowed and planted the last quarter, by himself and with no weave, to test and see how it worked with no magic at all. The next day Big Mac planted the remaining three quarter acres, everything timed as they normally would.

Today has gone well so far, the morning sun shining down on the chaff scattered around and the fresh earth, newly plowed and waiting. The wheat harvest on the heavy weave, as he predicted, has taken five weeks instead of the normal twenty days. The harvest took longer to gather, owing to the increased yield; about thirty percent more than their harvest on the light weave. Thirty percent less than a normal harvest, by how much the field could grow in a week. One of their light weave harvests, from a different acre that served as their control, is there, still a week from harvesting but growing steadily. No sense in letting a field lay fallow for weeks, and there should only be a very small amount of contamination to the other tests, if any.

Doug's last quarter, though, is still growing. If you could call it that. Barely even coming up to his barrel, compared to the rest that had waved back and forth above his head, full stalks ready to be harvested. They had finished the reaping yesterday, what felt like a long day of cutting stalks, but was probably closer to three hours. Big Mac did not care for harvesting wheat. Or planting it for that matter, but there aren't any Ponyvillians who grow a lot of the grass. So, if they wanted bread, or pie crusts, or dumplings, then they had to grow it. Well, they could import the flour, like Ms. Swirl did at Sugarcube, but they have their own small mill so they don't ever need to.

But, here is the real test, the reason that he had expended the extra time on the three fields. Big Mac has plowed and planted his section as he normally would, the mounds of dirt already teeming with green sprouts working their way through the fertile earth. It felt a little off, and in the back of his mind he knows why. When you do a heavy weave, it doesn't... how would he put this so Doug would understand... it makes it harder for later infusions of magic to take hold. As in, when he plows, and plants, the magic he is newly infusing into the field doesn't really stick around, doesn't really get absorbed by the new crops. Plowing instead helps keep the heavy weave in place, so it feels more different, rather than bad. The crops get more of their fertilizer from the ground, welling up through the heavy weave from the surrounding earth.

So, the heavy weave would take a little longer to grow. Probably about the same as the first run. At only a quarter less than a normal light weave, it won't hurt the farm that badly overall. Still, not enough for him to want to do another experiment like this. Maybe if Doug had more free time, or Apple Bloom got a cutie mark in farming that somehow isn't apple related. Otherwise, they really wouldn't see any savings at all. But, maybe he'd be surprised, but it has been quite a while since Big McIntosh has been surprised at something happening on his farm.

Doug is nearly finished plowing his field. Big Mac had taken about fifty minutes to plow his quarter acre, the human just about finishing on his second hour. Sweat glistens off the human's back, despite the cool summer breeze and the clouds overhead. Big Mac glances up; if he was really serious about finding the best combination of rain, sun, and weaves he might do a bit more, plow another few fields and have the water set up differently for each. Try to find that sweet spot, but that is more Doug's thing. And it's unlikely they'll plant this much wheat again, given how the quarter Doug planted by himself is doing.

Big Mac glances over to Apple Bloom; she is starting to get acquainted with her own plow. The filly is inspecting each section, just like he showed her, testing the various pieces and making sure they are securely attached. Running a hoof along the blades. Making sure there aren't any worn or loose areas on the straps. He smiles; she sure takes to new things quickly, just like her sire.

Big Mac finds himself watching Doug again, eyes running down his toned flanks. Doug pauses at the end of a row, stretching his muscled arms above his head, taking a drink from his bottle before dumping the remaining water on his head, drops of liquid flinging from his short cropped hair as he-

"Grr!" Big Mac stamps a hoof in frustration; ever since Applejack made fun of him he can't help himself, his thoughts occasionally turn to Doug when he is free to think. Maybe he should find a mare to court, if just to take his mind off of things. He focuses again, the human finishing the last row of plowing. Big Mac watches as Doug drops the well-worn plow off to the side; they normally don't plant this much wheat, so they will probably end up trading a bit of what they are growing here to some of the other farmers. Or they could give it to Pinkie Pie to use at Sugarcube. The Apples prefer to let the other farmers grow their own of a crop that, in all honesty, doesn't require much of a special touch. At least Doug eats a lot of it, but since he only eats the seeds, they have a lot extra to go through. Or plow under, as he did with his section, and Doug did with his.

Maybe Junebug would be interested; she is kinda cute, and batted her eyes at him the last time he had gone to market. Or maybe it was at one of the other ponies around him, it could be kind of hard to tell sometimes. Would she really be lead mare material, though? He really wants a mare that he can trust to run things on her own, help around the farm when needed, a mare with some business sense, a mare like Applejack...

Big Mac beats his head against one of the nearby trees, stomping both hooves against the ground and trying to remove those images from his mind. He hears Doug call, "Alright, Apple Bloom, you're up!" the human moving over to the filly and trying to ignore Big Mac. Doug helps her strap in to the filly sized plow they had to custom make. It looks real funny, like one pony trying to pull a house, seen from far away. Hopefully she has the strength to drag it through the ground, and the fortitude to go the whole quarter acre without giving out. Or taking too long, for that matter. He would like to get all three fields plowed and planted on the same day, at about the same time.

While Big Mac, and Applejack for that matter, had taken a turn at the plow at around her age, maybe a little older, they didn't plow the whole field. More just as a test to see if they would get some sort of plowing cutie mark. Sometimes it would be easy as that; other times, like Applejack's case, you had to realize what you were missing. But, as the saying goes, if you never started it in the first place, kinda hard to miss it.

"Almost thirty months and she's got a full length plow; we going for a cutie mark in strength here?" Applejack remarks, walking up to Big Mac. She looks over the field; they had cleared it of chaff and weeds, if only to help the filly with the arduous task ahead of her. Done their best to not drop any magic while doing so, as against their nature as that is. There shouldn't be any large rocks, or existing root systems, all them having been dug out five weeks ago when Big Mac laid the heavy weave.

"Eeyup."

Doug walks over, nodding to Big Mac, "Hoss." Big Mac rolls his eyes as Doug moves over to Applejack, rubbing her withers as Apple Bloom starts plowing. "Good to see you, Applejack. We've got half lengths if she has trouble with getting enough power, but she seems all right, at least initially. Theoretically I could help push, too, since I won't contaminate her side of the experiment. At least, assuming her magic flows as easily as Big Mac's does just by walking along the plow instead of dragging it. That might not be a good assumption, actually."

"Eeyup."

"Hey Doug, you planted your side yet?" Applejack asks, looking over at the second field.

Doug wipes his brow, "Not yet, going to grab something to drink first, need to stay hydrated. Been a while since I worked this hard out in the fields."

"Eeyup."

Applejack's eyes slowly work down Doug's body, stopping at his flanks, "Sound to me like we need to get you working harder around here; hate to see that nice, toned body of yours go to waste."

"Ee... consarn it, Applejack!" Big Mac glares at Applejack, frustrated that she has gotten under his coat yet again.

Applejack smirks, turning her head up and winking at Doug, "Hey, not my fault you talked without thinking again." She flicks Doug's flank with her tail as he walks away, the human turning and winking at her as he walks back to the farmhouse, dragging the plow. The two watch as Apple Bloom steadily pulls her plow across the field. Doug soon returns, heading to his field with a satchel of seeds on one shoulder and a large jug of water set down next to the field. He makes his way up and down the rows, planting seeds and kicking the dirt back on top. Applejack turns to Big Mac, "Hoss?"

Big Mac shrugs, "He called me that after Ah told him not to call me 'sir'. Ah think it's a cross between boss and horse."

Applejack smiles, "Hey, if the horseshoe fits," as Big Mac snorts.

Apple Bloom is slowing down, pausing at the ends of rows to rest. But, she is keeping at it; Big Mac nods to Applejack, turning and walking back to the farmhouse. It will be several hours until the filly is done with the field, and there are other chores that he needs to attend to. Plus, he could spot that twinkle in Applejack's eye.

Applejack gives a contented sigh as she watches Apple Bloom start another row, still about a quarter of the field to go. Doug walks back over to Applejack, his field planted, and he kneels down, resting his hand on her back. "How's she doing?"

"Real well, for her first time. Taking breaks, which is good; endurance is holding up mostly 'cause of that. Ah probably would have given out by now, honestly. A great job for her first plowing. Speaking of," Applejack winks at Doug, moving forward to kiss her stallion. His hand moves down her back, slowly digging in deeper as he gets closer to her flanks, "Ah think you got one more field to attend to."