//------------------------------// // Strawberry Fields II // Story: Applejack Gets Lost // by MagicS //------------------------------// After a night spent chatting and then Applejack and Silk Strawberry trying to out-stubborn one another our apple farmer found herself awake the next morning before the break of dawn and ready to help out with the strawberry harvest at Delicious Strawberry Fields. She was on the verge of having an existential crisis but she quickly squashed all that hard thinking and decided to face things head on like she always did. But she still never thought in a million years that she’d be helping out at a strawberry farm of all places. If all of them hadn’t been so nice and welcoming she probably would’ve exploded in one of her angry outbursts again. But even Applejack’s exhaustion at this journey and its lack of apples was no excuse for her to be so rude to a group of ponies like this. So now here she was. “Mmmm!~” Applejack groaned as she stretched on her way out of bed. She felt really refreshed after getting to use their shower last night. The orange pony grabbed her hat off the nightstand she had put it on and tugged it back in place on her head. “Alright, time for an honest day of hard work.” The farmer smiled as she opened up the door and stepped out into the second-floor hallway of the Strawberry family’s house. Already she could hear sound coming from below, most likely Silk Strawberry getting everything ready first. As Applejack made her way down the stairs she could hear others getting up and ready to come down to help with the harvest as well. Getting downstairs, Applejack walked into the living room that she had spent most of the previous night chatting in. “Well if it aint our stubborn guest!” Just as she suspected, Silk Strawberry was in there already going about her morning chores. So were Ma and Pa Bush and the mop-headed Wild Strawberry. The filly was staring at Applejack again but Applejack decided to ignore that for now. “Yep, gotta get up early to get all of the day in.” Applejack said to the Strawberrys that were down here. “Well I hope you’re looking forward to it. Now really, you don’t need to do any of this.” Silk Strawberry started to chide her again. “You’re our guest and all.” Applejack was about to start up again that she felt obligated to help after everything when Wild Strawberry spoke up first. “Mom, if she wants to work for free then let her work.” The filly rolled here eyes and hopped up to sit at the dining room table. Silk Strawberry scowled at her daughter even as Applejack smiled in amusement. “Wild, that aint no way to treat a guest. You shouldn’t expect anything from treating somepony nicely or giving them a roof for the night, it’s just the courteous thing to do. It’s our hospitality young lady.” Silk gave her daughter one last stern look before heading into the kitchen, presumably to set breakfast on the table. Meanwhile Wild sat slumped over, grumpily looking down at the table, while the old Ma and Pa Bush took up seats and motioned for Applejack to come sit down with them. The two old ponies hadn’t said a word the whole time Applejack was here but their faces were still friendly, maybe they just liked being silent or age had taken its toll on their voices. In short order the rest of the Strawberry clan came filing down the stairs, greeting Applejack and taking up their own seats, waiting for breakfast and the hard day of work that would follow. Silk Strawberry came walking back out of the kitchen with an absolutely massive bowl of salad balanced on her back. With a single heave she set it into the middle of the big living room table. “Eat up y’all! There’s a lot of work to be done out in the field today so make sure you fill up!” The matriarch smiled at the rest of her family and Applejack before taking a seat right next to the apple farmer. “I’m guessing you’ve never picked strawberries before?” “Can’t say that I have.” Applejack replied while in the middle of grabbing some salad for her plate. “Well I’ll be happy to show you how it’s done.” Silk flashed her signature warm and welcoming smile at Applejack. “Pretty much all grunt work to be done today though.” Now it was Applejack’s turn to smile at the strawberry farmer. “No worries there, that’s my favorite kind of work.” Applejack stood between two rows of strawberry bushes while the early morning sun beat down on her, they had gotten to work quickly and now every pony in the house aside from Ma and Pa Bush were out in the fields picking and gathering strawberries. It didn’t take the physical effort of applebucking but she still had to stay hunched over and be careful with how she got the strawberries, lest she bruise or improperly pick them in some way. But this was just the kind of work Applejack was made for, she didn’t have any complaints even if it was picking strawberries. She saw the twins Alba and Albion quickly making their ways down the rows of strawberries, the pair was like a well-oiled strawberry picking machine. Chocolate and Daybreak were working the rows behind Applejack, and doing a fast job of them as well. It dawned on Applejack as she looked out at them all that she was actually the slowest worker among all of them. That was new. “Better start pulling my weight.” Applejack said to herself and started to see if she could speed up her work without sacrificing any quality. The sun rose higher and higher and Applejack picked more and more. Wiping the sweat from her brow and taking the occasionally short break to stretch her back. Tough and tedious work, something she had done all her life. It brought a big smile to her face. “You don’t like strawberries do you?” Applejack perked up in surprise and turned around to see Wild Strawberry standing at her hooves and looking up at her with big bright eyes and a slight frown on her face. Applejack cocked her head to the side and glanced around to see if any of the others were nearby. Seeing that they weren’t she looked back down at the filly. “Nope, I don’t.” Wild Strawberry’s frown deepened. “Then why are you doing this? Why didn’t you say anything?” “I didn’t think it would be nice to upset your mom and the rest of the family like that.” Applejack shrugged. “They were all so enthusiastic about strawberries I didn’t want to rain on their parade. And besides, helping out has nothing to do with any of that, I just owe you all.” The little filly seemed to mull that over for a second. “Whatever.” She said, pawing at the dirt and not meeting Applejack’s eyes. Applejack raised an eyebrow at her actions. “Uh, is something the matter?” Wild Strawberry raised her head again, she seemed to be struggling with whether or not to ask something. “You’re... you said you were a farmer too right? Of apples? Does your whole family do that?” The filly finally asked her. “Well yeah, I am, and they do. The Apple family has been farming apples for generations. Our family farm, Sweet Apple Acres, is my home and just about the greatest place in the whole wide world if I do say so myself.” Applejack said proudly with a big smile on her face. Wild Strawberry wasn’t frowning anymore but she wasn’t smiling either. Her eyes looked into Applejack’s with a deep sense of hope and maybe worry. “Did you ever… worry that you might not have belonged on the farm? That you’d get your Cutie Mark and it wouldn’t have anything to do with farming apples?” Applejack smiled at her and kneeled down to get closer to eye-level with the filly. “I had a little trouble finding my place back when I was younger, yeah. I didn’t know what was right or where I belonged at first.” “I still haven’t gotten my Cutie Mark.” Wild Strawberry said, sadly looking down at her blank flank. “If I was meant to get one in strawberry farming shouldn’t I have gotten it by now?” “Well, I dunno.” Applejack said, not entirely sure how to respond. “Sorry to bother you.” Wild Strawberry chewed on her lip as she stared at the ground. “I just… don’t have anyone I can talk to about this. I’m sure my mom is just waiting for me to get my Cutie Mark in picking strawberries or whatever, and all the other kids my age live on other farms and they’ve already gotten their Cutie Marks. I’m the only one who hasn’t. I feel like something’s wrong.” “Are you worried that maybe you won’t get a Cutie Mark that has to do with your family’s work?” Applejack asked her. “Yeah but not not just that. What if I get one for strawberry farming and it still doesn’t feel right? Like I only got it because I’m a Strawberry.” Wild Strawberry looked up at her. “How did you get your Cutie Mark? Do you really love those apple things?” “I love apples from the bottom of my heart. And I got my Cutie Mark when I realized that my place, home, was at the farm.” Applejack told her, then grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, I may not be the best pony for you to talk to about something like this now that I think about it.” “Well I love strawberries. And I love it here too.” Wild Strawberry said, blushing a little bit in embarrassment after admitting that. Applejack grinned at her. “Do you love your mom?” Wild Strawberry blushed a little harder as she stared at the ground, too embarrassed to look Applejack in the eye. “Yeah...” Applejack raised her hoof and mussed up the precocious filly’s mane. “Pretty sure she loves you too, what are you really worried about?” “What if… what if...” Wild Strawberry started to tear up as she raised her head and looked at Applejack. “What if I get my Cutie Mark in something else and my mom doesn’t love me anymore? What if she says I’m not a Strawberry?” “You know,” Applejack gently rubbed the tears out of Wild Strawberry’s eyes. “I’ve known your mom and your family for not even an entire day yet, and they’re already just about the nicest bunch of ponies I’ve ever met. I’m sure that no matter what your mom will still love you, regardless of what your Cutie Mark is.” Applejack stood back up, winking at the filly. “And now if you do get a Cutie Mark in strawberry farming, well to me that sounds like a wonderful thing to have as your special talent and place to be.” Wild Strawberry sniffled as she dragged a hoof across her face. “Thank you… sorry for bothering you.” “No problem at all, little lady.” Applejack replied and went to muss up her mane again before stopping. “Hm.” Wild Strawberry felt something on her head as a shadow fell over her face, looking up she saw the brim of a hat coming over her eyes and saw the now hatless Applejack smiling at her. The hat was a little too big for the filly so she had to steady it a bit to keep it from falling off but otherwise it looked good on her. “What are you doing?” Wild Strawberry asked the apple farmer. Applejack smiled at the young filly. “I love that hat, it’s not the first of its kind I’ve ever had but I never go without it anywhere.” Applejack told her. “That was a gift from a close friend of mine, now I’m giving it as a gift to you. I want you to remember this little conversation we had. And a nice little filly like you could use a hat when you’re out here working in the hot sun anyways.” Applejack patted her head and gave her another smile. “Thank you...” Wild Strawberry sniffled again before pulling her new hat down. “I’ll be sure to treasure it.” Applejack beamed. And then the lasso that was sitting on her head fell to the ground, no longer held in place by her Stetson. She looked down at it with a slight frown and rubbed her chin. “Need to do something about that now though.” It was night now as Applejack left Delicious Strawberry Fields behind. The morning had been spent working, the day working, the evening laughing and enjoying the company of the Strawberry family, and the night will be spent walking until she decided to rest. Her lasso was roped around her neck, her head felt weird and wrong without her hat but she’d just have to get used to it until she could find a new one. Despite missing it already she was happy with where it was now. Maybe tomorrow the sun would beat down on her a little harder but she didn’t regret doing what she did. Applejack was happy.