//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4~Early morning flight 
// Story: Youngblood 
// by Centurion Pike-Wall 
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Depressi yawned, sitting up in his bed as he licked his lips idly. He looked out the window, seeing that while it was still dark out, it was on the tail end of the night. He slid off the sheets, heading over to his suitcase to grab a new tunic. He slid it on, tightening his belt. As he lifted up a mirror to help him pull his hair into a queue, he heard his brother do the same in yawning and waking up. 

"'Pressi, what're you doing?", DJ said, cracking his back as he stretched. "Haven't you noticed that no one else is up?" He was right; not even a member of the weather team could be seen outside the small window. 

"Yeah. Different sleep and wake up schedule, remember?", he said. 

DJ looked at him, before blowing air out his beak. "So? An excuse to sleep for a bit longer, yeah?"

"You do that. You know that I like to stick to a schedule. I'll be going for my morning flight. If Aunt Scootaloo or Uncle Rumble get up before I get back, tell them about my little routine."

"Yeah, yeah", he said, lowering himself back down to his pillow. "Go fly out in the cold." 

Depressi finished pulling his hair back, setting the mirror back in his toiletries bag before slipping out the door of his room. He made his way down the hall, careful not to wake anyone else, and made his way downstairs and to the door. After he got outside, he looked down the street both ways. After he saw that no one was out, he turned, ran a short bit down the street, and took off. 

He smiled as the cool, early morning air whipped through his coat and hair. He looked down, examing the town below him, before looking up to look around the edge of town and the immediate area around the town. A large orchard dominated a majority of the south side of town, while the eastern side of town was covered in a large, creepy looking forest. He made another couple flaps, before descending towards the orchard. 

He landed on the road next to the orchard, changing from flying to a brisk walk. He sometimes did this to stretch his legs properly, but in this case, he did it out of necessity. The area around the town just wasn't as big as his usual route around Creui, which was a lap around the whole city before returning to the fort. Here, it was all so small. He sat down, considering his options. 

He could just go back to the house. Sneak back into his room, lay down, maybe read a book or something until his aunt and uncle were awake. But, well he just didn't feel like it. He would probably make the same mistake again tomorrow, or the next couple of days. It would just be a pain to deal with. Multiple laps around the town, maybe? It was similar to his usual route, and he could figure out an exact number by just doing it. 

Before he could fully make up his mind, a hard item smacked him in the back of the head. He winced and lightly cursed, looking down next to him to see what it was. He found one of the red fruit that were growing in the trees around him. Looking up, he confirmed that he was under one of the trees, so it must've just fallen loose. "Heh. What poor luck", he muttered as he picked up the fruit.

It was almost completely blood-red, save for a few green specks near the top and bottom. A pair of leaves and a stem poked out of the top. Despite it having hit him on the head, it still possessed an almost shiny effect, like he was holding a freshly polished piece of steel. He believed it was called an... an abble? Was that right? According to his mom, it made a good cider. 

After turning it over in his paws a few more times, he shrugged. If these were so popular and there was such a big orchard next to him, it must be good. He took a big bite, somewhat surprised by its hardness as he began to chew. It wasn't all that bad; a little sweet for his tastes, but all in all not bad. 

Before he could take another bite, a voice called out to him, "Hey! What'da think yer doin'!?"

Depressi looked over to his left, seeing a mare coming towards him between a few of the trees. She was rather tall and stocky; so much so that he might've mistaken her for a stallion if he saw her from behind. She had an auburn colored mane with about four black stripes running through it that was pulled up into a small mohawk. Her coat was a pale red, bordering on pink, with faint silver stripes along her chest, legs, and upper back. She was wearing a simple red bandana, while a pair of golden hoop earrings dangled from her ears. Her cutie mark was a reddish-purple abble, with a small tribal design on it.

He said, "Good morning, Mulier. Can I help you?"

"Yeah", she said, and he picked up a faint hint of a zebrican accent mixed in her voice. "Ya can answer mah question. About you what yer doin'?"

"Eating an abble?", he said. 

To his surprise, she snorted in amusement, before letting out a light chuckle. "Abble? Really?"

"What? Isn't that how it's pronounced?"

"No!", she said, by now full-on chuckling. "It's pronounced 'Apple'. Heh heh."

Depressi had caught on, and also joined in with his own light laugh. "I'm sorry. I thought that was how it was pronounced. I guess I'm not as good at this language than I thought."

"Well, ah suppose that's fine", she said. "Now, what're you doin'?"

"Eating an apple."

"Did ya pay fer it?", she asked. 

His eyes widened, then he looked down at the apple in his hand. He really should've thought of that. "Look, I'm sorry. No, I didn't. It fell and hit me on the head, so I guess I supposed it didn't matter. Just let me go back to my aunt's house. I'll go get my wallet, and I'll come back and pay you for it. You have my word."

"Now now", she said, stepping a bit closer. "That's not necessary. You must be new here, and ah can let this slide."

"Gratias", Depressi said, taking another bite. "So, I suppose we should properly introduce ourselves?"

"Right, makes sense. Mah names Southern Rose", she said, offering up her hoof for a shake. 

Depressi gripped it with his paw, shaking and saying, "Depressi Tonituro, at your service."

"Ah'm guessing you're not from around here", she said. "What with the accent an' all."

"Indeed. I'm from the Pryhan Empire, Creui, to be specific."

"So, what brings ya here?", she asked, leaning against the tree. 

Depressi said, "Me and my brother are apart of a student exchange program between the Empire and Equestria. We're staying with our aunt Scootaloo and uncle Rumble and will be attending the local high school for the school year."

She stopped leaning on the tree and said, "That's where ah recognize you! Well, yer mane at least. Yer Rainbow Dash's kid, ain'tcha?"

He said, "Correct! And, if I had to guess, you must be a relative of Applejack."

"Eeyup", she said. "'Er niece."

"Well, a pleasure to meet you", he said. 

"Likewise", she said. "So, what're you doin' out here? The sun's just startin' to rise."

"Well, it's my morning routine. Back home, I would get dressed and do a fly around the city", he said. "Course, the city was about nine hundred square kilometers, so it took a bit more than five minutes. What're you doing out so early?"

"Mah morning routine, ah guess you could say. It's harvest season, and we're harvesting the apples for sale."

Depressi said, "Ah, you're a farmer."

"Well, me, mah pa, and mah aunts are. Mah mom is the closest we have to a pharmacist, mah uncle is the Mayor, and mah other uncle is the head dance instructor at Miss Twilight's school", she said. 

"Sounds interesting", Depressi said. "So, might I ask what you do for fun around here? Like I said, I normally fly around Creui in the mornings, but since it's a lot smaller, I don't really have anything to do."

Southern seemed to consider it, tapping her hoof on her chin. "Well, ah guess you could help me. I could always use a little help around the farm. Could even see about payin' ya."

Depressi was a bit surprised. "Really?", he asked. "We just met, and you're already offering me a job?"

"Sure. Ya seem like a good colt, and like ah said, I could use the help", she said. "Ya come over about this time every mornin' and just help me with a few things. Again, ah'll see if ya can get a few bits fer yer help."

Depressi takes his time to consider it. Like he said, he didn't really have anything to do in the mornings now, so this could be something to do. But that didn't mean it was a perfect solution. On one paw, it wasn't something he had ever done before, and he didn't know if he would be any good at it. On the other paw though, she was right; it was something to do. Eventually, he shrugged, and said, "Very well. I suppose it would be something to do. What do you need me to do?"

"Alrighty then. Follow me", she said. She lead him into the orchard, bringing him over to one of the trees near the fence. "Alright, time to show you how to Apple Buck."

"Apple Buck?", he asked. "I'm not familiar with the term."

"Well, then ah'll show you." She turned around and reared up, before unleashing a powerful kick. The tree shook, and the apples fell into buckets around the tree. After a few seconds, the tree stopped quivering, and almost all of the apples were gone from the tree. "There ya go. Ah got buckets around the next few trees. You take that one over there", she said, pointing at one tree to his left. "Ah'll start on that one over to the right, and we'll meet in the middle. 'Kay?"

"Sounds good", he said, quickly flapping over to the tree she pointed at. He turned away from it, preparing to do what she had done. He reared up his hooves, kicked back like she had done, hearing several loud thumps sound behind him. He felt a large spike of pain flare up in his leg, and he stumbled forward, hissing in pain.

"Y'all ok?", Southern called over to him. 

He said, "Not exactly. Ah, fuck me with Harpoon's fish skinner."

Southern abandoned the tree she was by, coming over to him and putting a hoof on his shoulder. "It's ok. It took a bit for me to get used to it to. Don't worry about it. Ya can just hover up in the air 'er something."

He followed their advice, taking off above the ground. He watched her buck the remaining trees in the area, before calling to Depressi, "Ok! Ya can help me to set the baskets in the cart."

He nodded, grabbing one of them in his paws. After a bit of maneuvering to get a proper grip on it, he flapped harder to get higher up and carried it over to the cart. He headed back over, grabbing another two before they were all stored on the cart. Southern hitched herself up to the cart, before heading off in the direction he saw the house, Depressi following her.

Through a break in the trees, he saw a couple of large buildings. One was a large red barn with white trim, the door open to reveal stacks of hay and barrels of what he could only assume were apples. A shed was over to the side, with a connecting pen full of chickens and pigs. The final structure was a massive house, easily the size of his house back in Creui. Unlike his, it was made of wood and in a similar style to the houses in town, with a large porch and overhang. 

"PA! Aunt AJ! Ah'm back with the first cart!", she shouted. From out of the house came a few ponies. One was a massive red stallion with a plow collar and a deep auburn beard and mane, similar to Southerns. The other was orange with a blonde mane, wearing a red and orange shawl and a brown hat; a stetson, if he was right. The third was a tangerine-colored Terran colt with a fair blonde mane and a huge amount of freckles. 

"Who's this?", the red stallion asked. 

"Oh, this is Depressi", Southern said. "He's from out of town, and ah asked him to help me with a few of the trees."

"Salve, Domine", Depressi said, holding out his paw. 

"Big Mac", he said, shaking it. Meanwhile, Applejack seemed to put two-and-two together and figure something out. 

She said, "Wait. Yer Rainbow's kid, ain'tcha?"

"Correct. Praetor Rainbow Dash is my mother. Why?", he asked. 

"Well, ah'd just like to welcome you to Ponyville", she said. "And thank ya fer help'n mah niece with some of her work."

"Gratias, miss, but I should get going. It's getting a bit late for my normal routine, and I should get back to the house before my aunt and uncle start to worry", he said. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you."

"Well, maybe Southern here can introduce you to her friends. Ya know, help ya get more familiar with the area and have someone ta help ya when the semester starts."

"That ain't a bad idea", Southern says. "That sounds good to you, Depressi?"

"I suppose. When and where should DJ and I meet you?", he asked. 

She unhitched herself from the cart and walked over to him, pointing past him at a small cafe along with side of the road. "See that cafe over there?", she asked. "Meet us there about eleven. That work?"

"Sounds good", he said. "Like I said, a pleasure to meet all of you. Vale." He then took off, flying back towards town.