//------------------------------// // Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! // Story: Applejack's Power // by Twilicorn //------------------------------// Applejack pulled the cart the final steps, Roseluck trailing behind her offering to help. "Fer the las' time, ah'm not lettin' any guest help with work!" she exclaimed, setting the cart down against the barn. "Now, le's git alon', we need ta check on li'l Pip 'fore he runs 'imself ragged," she joked, trotting quickly towards the home in the distance. A comfortable silence was shared between the mares as they ran, Roseluck panting occasionally. "Pip?" called Roseluck, leaning into the door of the home. "I'm up 'ere, cap'n!" called a young voice, and Roseluck sighed. "Good, good," she said, visibly relaxing a bit as Applejack led her through the door, shutting it with a small clang behind her. "What's happened to the place?" asked Roseluck, then raised a hoof to cover her muzzle in embarrassment. The living room was nearly bare, save a radio sitting on a small side table and a ratty couch that was long past its years. Through the doorway to the left, you saw a kitchen with a lonely gas stove and a small sink and counter with a fold-out table towards the back. Directly ahead was the sagging staircase, creaking ominously with every step Pip took down it. "'ello, cap'n!" cheered Pip, wrapping his limbs around Applejack and swinging onto her back. "Who's this?" he asked, turning his head to look at Roseluck questioningly. "This 'ere is Roseluck," said Applejack with a grin. "She's a frien' o' mine an'll be stayin' here fer a while with us," she said, raising a hoof to wrap around Roseluck's neck. "She use ta be one o' the biggest competitors a' market," she chuckled, then released Roseluck, carrying Pip towards the window. "If all the trees are bare, where do the apples come from?" asked Roseluck plainly, staring at the broken down trees ahead. "You'll see," said Applejack teasingly, opening the door and walking towards the orchards. As she approached them, she lowered herself to the ground, letting Pipsqueak slide off. "Y'all best stay back 'ere, where i's safe," she warned them, then ran forward several yards. The other two ponies stood back, their slight confusion overruled by eagerness. Applejack closed her eyes, letting the soil's energy flow through her body as a pale orange glow pulsed around her. It spread in a cracking style towards the trees, and soon they were all covered in their own glow, each pulsing in time with Applejack. Keeping her eyes closed, she raised her rear hooves off the ground, then brought them down with a swift 'crack'. Again and again, she smashed her hooves against the ground, and Roseluck and Pipsqueak watched in fascinated awe as the trees' glow grew, apples sprouting onto the trees at full growth. With a final, deafening bang, they fell into buckets below the trees, each shade of yellow, green, or red shining and perfect. Opening her eyes, she turned towards Pip and Roseluck and chuckling as she saw their jaws hitting the ground. "How'd you do that?" asked Roseluck, breaking the peaceful silence. "Ah'm not quite sure. Ah... ah just knew how when ah needed to," she admitted, scuffing her hoof against the ground. "How do you collect all the apples?" "Usually ah have li'l Bloom around ta help me, but ah sent her wi' Miss Hooves. Poor thing, losing 'er daughter like that, all up and a sudden," she sighed, the looked across the orchards. "Ah may as well get started. You two best go prepare yerselves. The nights are cold, what with Luna's moon gittin' weaker. Ah'll show y'all the guest room right quick, then ah'll git to work. Follow me," she gestured, and the two still-in-awe ponies followed, dragging their jaws behind them. Entering the house, Applejack quickly darted up the stairs, trotting down the hall towards the last two rooms. "This here, on yer left, is Roseluck's room," she said, snickering a bit as she pretended to be a hotel manager. "And on yer righ' we have Mista' Pipsqueak's room," she gestured. Dropping the act, she continued. "In fron' o' you is the bathroom, an' my room is jus' down ta hall. Enjoy unpackin'," she added, trotting back down the stairs. Roseluck and Pip shared a glance, then burst out laughing. "Do you have anything to unpack?" asked Roseluck through chuckles, and he snickered in return. "Jus' me spyglass, me apples, an' meself," he admitted, and Roseluck gently patted him on the head. "I'll help you," offered Roseluck, pushing open the door. The first impression of the room was rundown, but that was incorrect, Roseluck realized. Though the paint was peeling, the room was furbished grandly, with a quaint wooden dresser and comfortable bed. Pip quickly removed his spyglass and apples from the small sack across his back, setting them atop the dresser with a satisfied groan as she leaned back to sink into the covers, crashing into Roseluck instead. "Hmm?" grunted Pipsqueak. "You are not, under any circumstances, going to dirty up this bed! Go take a bath," she commanded. "Bu-" "Now," she added, and he sighed, stomping off to the bath.