//------------------------------// // Strawberry Fields I // Story: Applejack Gets Lost // by MagicS //------------------------------// It was a day like any other. For her at least. Applejack walked by the side of a slowly flowing creek, despite the plentiful amount of water the land around her was rather desolate. It looked like it was at one point farmlands but any crops had either dried up or weren’t maintained. It annoyed Applejack to see such apathy to farming. But there was nothing she could do about it, just keep walking until she found something or somepony new. The creek at least gave her plenty of water to drink so she was never dehydrated. The clouds were rolling overhead and the temperature outside was nice and even. It was definitely what one would call a nice day but without any scenery to enjoy Applejack was just bored as she continued her walk. “Best not to wish for something exciting to happen.” Applejack said to herself. “Didn’t I already do that before and something crazy happened like right after? Probably.” The apple farmer shook her muddled head and kept walking. The crazy events of her journey away from home were almost like a dream to her now, it seems amazing that it all actually happened to her. But if she ever needed proof she could just obliterate a stone with Hoof of the Earth or look at the tiny bite mark still healing on her shoulder. Now as she looked up at the sky she wondered how much longer she’d be going on, how many more aimless days like this would she travel? She wasn’t the type to give up but it was frustrating. If there were just apples on this journey she could at least cope, but this was the longest she had ever gone in her entire life without biting into a juicy apple. If she could just have an apple everything would be okay, Applejack was sure of it. Applejack started kicking a pebble along to take her mind off things. Nudging it slightly and counting how many times it bounced, trying to hit it one way and then the next, seeing if she could make it bounce a certain number of times. Her little game continued until she almost missed the gopher hole right in front of her. “Woah! That could’ve been nasty.” Applejack hopped over the hole, paying harder attention to the ground. “I’ve had enough of falling flat on my face thank you very much.” The rain came out of nowhere. Drenching her body as if she had just been swimming in a lake, the heavy downpour beat on her coat and hat relentlessly. Her mane was a sopping mess as it clung to her neck so Applejack minutely adjusted it to get any errant strands out of her face. She looked up into the sky which, while it did have a good number of clouds floating about above her, looked far away from about to rain just a few minutes ago. The heavy drops poured onto her face, if she was a turkey she’d be in a lot of trouble but Applejack’s blank stare at the sky was one of pure annoyance and resignation at the universe. Not bothering to sigh or say anything she turned her head from the sky and started to walk on again. Looking straight ahead and doing her best to ignore the insane weather. The cacophony of the rain was deafening, louder still due to all of the drops hitting the creek right next to Applejack, and the powerful torrent was quickly turning the ground beneath her hooves into mud. Now she was wet, dirty, annoyed, and she occasionally struggled to lift her hoof out of the thick mud she was forced to walk through. She was a little worried at how soaked her hat was, and the wind was picking up and starting to blow the rain directly into her face as she walked. Applejack brought up one of her forelegs to block the rain coming at her and tried to push forward through it all, but it was mighty tough going. The fierce rainstorm she was now caught in was doing all it could to crush her spirits and probably knock her down into the mud at the same time too. But she wasn’t about to let something like that happen. Applejack kept pushing hard against the wind and the rain coming at her face, eyes squinted and steps decisive she walked down the road. Since it was already raining the hail was a little less out of nowhere. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...” Applejack muttered as the apple seed sized balls of hail pummeled her body. She wasn’t sure just how many hundreds of times she had been hit already in these few moments but it was probably already going to leave her sore and a little bruised later. The muddy path she walked on was covered in those little pieces of ice now, all of it crunching and melting under her hooves. She was lucky at least that the hail wasn’t any bigger, her hat was enough to deflect most of it from her head and face. “I didn’t let vampire fruit bats or Discord or Flim and Flam stop me, I sure as hay aint letting some measly hail stop me!” Applejack kept charging on. “This is the kind of thing where I can put my stubbornness to good use, stupid hail!” And just as she was getting riled up the hail stopped, the storm broke, the clouds disappeared, and it returned to being a nice sunny day. Applejack looked around at the muddy and rain devastated ground before looking back up at the sky and shaking her hoof at nothing in particular. “Yeah, you heard me!” Her walk continued. After going a bit further she started to see a tree rising up in the distance, as she steadily got closer she realized that the tree was practically giant-sized. It was way taller than any in the Everfree forest and it was thick enough around at the trunk that she and her friends wouldn’t have been able to form a ring around it if they tried. There was also a sign in front of the tree but Applejack ignored it, even putting up a hoof so she wouldn’t see what it said at all. But beyond the tree the formerly desolate farmlands turned much greener. In fact the land turned into rows upon rows of little leafy green bushes on the ground. It was such a stark contrast it seemed almost unnatural. The leafy green bushes looked familiar to Applejack, apple farmer she may have been she still knew what most other fruit plants or trees looked like, but she couldn’t quite place exactly what they were at first. Past the rows Applejack could see a farmhouse with a big green barn rising up. Kind of weird to her to paint a barn green and not red but on the other hoof it was a really nice sight to see. “Well not only do I finally find a sign of some ponies but it’s a farm.” Applejack said happily as she walked her wet body to the farmhouse. “Always nice to meet other farmers.” Closer to the farmhouse she made out a few picnic tables spread out in front of it along with a few tents and wagons that made it look like some big event was being planned. Shrugging, Applejack walked on by all that to knock on the door and say hello to anypony that might be home. It would be good if she could get a place to clean up and rest for a bit. Especially if that weird weather might return anytime soon. “Hello? Anypony home?” Applejack said as her hoof rapped on the front door a few times. It sounded like a stampede on the other side of the door. A short second later and the door swung open, what looked like a dozen or so ponies were jammed into the doorframe, each one of them clearly having tried to be the one to open it and greet whoever it was that knocked. Applejack stepped back, surprised at so many bright smiling faces. “Why hello there!” A red coated and green maned mare said with a country twang even heavier than Applejack’s own as she pushed through the mob of other ponies and caused them all to collapse backwards onto the floor of the entryway with a groan. “And just who might you be to wander on to our Delicious Strawberry Fields?” The poor apple farmer’s pupils shrank. “The what fields?” “Why the Delicious Strawberry Fields! Owned and farmed by us, the Strawberry Family!” She grinned and winked at Applejack. “My name’s Silk Strawberry, current head of the household. And boy howdy did you come on by at the right time, got a whole bunch of the family here for our annual reunion!” She grabbed Applejack by the shoulders and pulled her inside with one swift motion, not giving her a chance to talk back or speak up. “Let me introduce ya to everyone!” Silk Strawberry said as she stood Applejack in front of the other ponies, who had gotten back up and were now standing at attention, smiling wide at the stranger. Applejack noticed that all of them had coats and manes that were varying shades of red and green. “So this here be my sister, Chocolate Strawberry.” Silk gestured to a very dark-red mare that was quite a bit younger than her who gave a short wave of hello to Applejack. “These are her two kids Alba and Albion.” She pointed at a young filly and colt, clearly twins, who also enthusiastically waved at Applejack. “Daybreak, my cousin.” A tall light-red mare. “Jewel Strawberry, my other cousin.” A very thin and short stallion. “Red Ruby, my aunt.” An older and rather fat mare with a warm smile. “Valley Sunset, my uncle.” A stallion not quite as old looking as Red Ruby but with a wiry looking frame. “And of course, the ones who built this farm in the first place, my parents, Ma and Pa Strawberry Bush!” An ancient pair of ponies on par with Granny Smith in age. They were all very happy to say hello and welcome a stranger into their house, even her dirty and untidy appearance didn’t seem a bother. And despite her inner feelings Applejack just didn’t have it in her to be honest right now. It annoyed her but she learned her lesson with Rarity back then, if they loved strawberries then that was fine. Even though she had been so long without an apple she wasn’t about to start something with a perfectly nice clan of ponies. Again it felt like the universe was playing a joke on her but oh well. She didn’t need to start complaining about strawberries to ponies who valued them so much. I am going to buck Strawberry Sunrise in the face when I get home. She did allow herself that thought though. As Applejack was lost in thought she didn’t notice the little messy-haired filly walking up to her. “What’s your Cutie Mark?” Applejack’s ears perked up and she looked down to see a filly maybe right around Apple Bloom’s age looking up at her with inquisitive eyes and a somewhat furrowed brow. Whoever this pony was, Silk Strawberry didn’t introduce her. “Well now, look who came out of her room and decided to stop being a little pouty pony.” Silk Strawberry came walking up and nuzzled the filly’s head to her annoyance. “Stop it, mom!” The filly angrily pushed her hoof away and ran off to hide around the corner of the hallway, just barely peeking out. Silk Strawberry giggled at her daughter’s behavior. “You don’t mind her none, my little Wild Strawberry is always in one mood or another.” “Yeah, no problem.” Applejack replied to her, sparing a glance at the filly in question. “By the way, what’s your name? I got so enthusiastic seeing a new face I just had to introduce her to the family! Sorry about that, sweetie pie.” Silk said in her very overly affectionate way while the rest of the family gathered around Applejack. “That’s no problem at all, my name’s Applejack. I’m also a farmer too you know.” Applejack said to the Strawberry clan, smiling proudly. “Ooooh, it’s always wonderful to meet another farmer.” Daybreak said to her. “Yes, quite so.” Chocolate Strawberry said. “So what do you farm?” “Well, uh, like my name and Cutie Mark implies, I farm apples.” Applejack told them, pointing at the trio of apples on her flank. Silk Strawberry took a closer look at her Cutie Mark. “Looks like another kind of fruit if I do say so myself! Well aint that just great! I love meeting ponies who grow other fruits.” She said with a big genuine smile to Applejack. “And it’s a real pleasure to meet your family too.” Applejack said. And it was the truth. Really. “It’s just about the perfect time that a fellow farmer could’ve wandered around here too.” Silk said with a wink. “Tomorrow’s harvest day! We’ll be out early in the morning and gathering up a whole new batch of fresh strawberries, as our guest we’ll treat you to all sorts of meals!” Before Applejack could respond Silk began leading her to the stairs. “And don’t you worry none about imposing, even with the family here we’ve got plenty of room, I’ll lead you to a spare!” Applejack was grateful for Silk Strawberry and the rest of the clan’s hospitality, even if it made her feel a little awkward. Maybe she could help them out tomorrow to pay them back but that would probably go into a back and forth of “we couldn’t possibly let you do that” and “I insist”. As Applejack was led to her room upstairs by Silk Strawberry she heard a scuffle on the floor behind her and turned back to see Wild Strawberry running back down the stairs. But what really caught Applejack’s attention was the blank flank she saw before it disappeared behind the corner.