The street's of Ponyville's shopping district were bustling as the citizens of the town were working and buying from every store there. As this happened, the Carousel Boutique was currently experiencing a very quiet day, with not a single customer within its walls. This was for the best, as Rarity wasn't there and it was being run by Lightning...who was asleep behind the counter.
"Uhh…" he snored as he used his front legs as a pillow on the counter-top, "Yes, I'd like to return this printer."
"Lightning?" The voice was all he needed to wake up, his head shooting up.
"I'm awake!" He yelped, blinking as his head darted around, "Huh?"
"Down here."
The defender glanced down over the counter, now seeing a certain filly, "Oh...its just you." Lightning moaned as he rubbed his eyes, "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"School ended. Ages ago." Sweetie replied with crossed hooves.
"Oh," Lightning turned to a clock, "No wonder I feel so well rested. I guess my after lunch nap went on a little too long."
"What are you even doing here?" Sweetie asked. "And where's Rarity?"
"She had plans with Applejack to go to the spa," he replied as he began stretching his body out. "She was gonna close up for the day, but I said I'd keep an eye on things for her."
"And by keeping an eye on things, you mean being fast asleep," Sweetie giggled, making Lightning roll his eyes, "You might want to check to make sure nopony came in and took anything while you were asleep."
"Oh please. You think I wouldn't have noticed if something like that had happened?" Lightning responded before his eyes darted around, making sure everything was the same before he fell asleep. "Yeah, looks okay. See, nothing to worry-"
SLAM!
The two turned to the sound of a slamming door, only for Sweetie to scream, "GYAH!" She quickly leapt behind Lightning as he moved to grab one of his daggers.
But as he pulled one out, both of his eyebrows went up, "Rarity?"
Before the two was the unicorn in question, though her face was completely wrinkled, including her horn. Sweetie poked her head out from Lightning at this, gasping before Rarity growled at them, "Not. A. Word."
"But-"
"Not." she interrupted him, "A word."
"What happened to you?" Sweetie asked as she slowly walked out of the counter.
"I spent a little too long in the steam room," Rarity hissed as she began heading into the store's kitchen. "I was waiting for Applejack. She loves a good steam at the start of a spa treatment."
"Well, at least you two got to spend some time together," Lightning replied while he and Sweetie followed her, only to hear a low growl from her, "Uh...you did get to spend time together, right?"
"Not exactly," she moaned while sitting down at a table, her horn shining as she magically began to fill her kettle with water for a cup of tea. "She arrived just as the spa was closing. I mean, honestly. I know she has a lot of work on the farm, but she could have at least sent me a message saying she would be late!"
"I'm sure she feels bad," Lightning said as he sat down beside her, "I doubt you need to get too angry at her."
"Yeah!" Sweetie nodded, "Don't go getting to...steamed." She began to laugh as the two turned to stare at her, "What? Come on, that was funny."
Rarity let out a sigh and looked away, "I'm not as much angry as I am worried." She began to pour the hot water into the cup. "Applejack spends so much time working on the farm that she doesn't have any time to relax and enjoy herself. If she's not careful, she's gonna burn out, and things will get even worse for her. You remember that old saying: All work and no play."
"Kinda makes her sound like a dull pony," Sweetie commented.
"Well, what can you do about it?" Lightning asked. "She can't exactly not do any work on the farm."
"No...but I can make sure she has at least one day off for her own good." She stomped her hoof onto the table. "During our next spa day, I'll get her to that spa early, even if I have to drag her there." Lightning and Sweetie shared a glance, frowns on both faces.
Fast forward to a bit later...
Rarity was now trotting to Sweet Apple Acres, only to hear a rattling sound behind her. She turned to the noise as Twilight's voice rang out, "Hi, Rarity!" The mare now saw Flash, Springer and Spike walking beside the alicorn, Springer and Spike carrying two tall towers of pie tins.
"Morning darlings," she replied before raising an eyebrow, "Good heavens, that's a lot of empty pie plates."
"Uh...yeah," Spike blushed, "We were just heading to pick up some fresh pies. Heh...I don't know why we keep running out at the castle."
"Are sure it's nothing to do with the food fight you, Heart and Scootaloo had last night?" Flash chuckled, the mares giggling as Spike's blush continued to grow.
"What are you gonna get?" The little dragon asked Rarity, who let out a sigh.
"Applejack, actually. Although, I'm quite sure she'll be too busy once again."
"What do you mean?" Twilight added as they came up to the farm's entrance.
"Oh, nothing." Rarity groaned, "It's just that Applejack and I haven't had one of our spa days in ages."
"You two really should set aside some time."
"I think that's what she's trying to do right now," Springer pointed out.
"Exactly," Rarity exclaimed, "I have been trying for moons! But Applejack is so busy these days, it's next to impossible."
"Huh." Twilight responded, "I didn't realize Applejack had so much to do."
"I would have figured she would have more free time these days," Flash chimed in, "I mean, they have Rogue helping out now."
"I doubt Rogue is doing much," Twilight added, "Thestrals are nocturnal, so he probably sleeps most of the day and does a few things at night."
They then got to the farm house, now seeing Applejack putting a pie on the window to cool. "Hey, Applejack!" Spike cheered. "Another order of pies, please."
"Sure thing, Spike!" Applejack took the empty pie tins, pulling into the kitchen before returning a second later with two piles of pies that Spike took in his claws.
"I don't suppose those pies are the last chore on the schedule for today?" Rarity asked as she stepped up to the window.
"Gah! Land's sakes!" Applejack yelped while facehoofing, "Is it time for our spa day already?" Rarity gave her a deadpan stare as Applejack continued, "Rarity, why don't yah go on ahead and ah'll meet ya there?"
"Oh please, Applejack! Let's not kid ourselves!"
"Well, it ain't 'cause ah don't wanna." Applejack added, "But the work on the farm has just been takin' up more and more of mah time."
Flash and Twilight shared a glance, Twilight speaking up, "Applejack, Rarity, please don't fight. I hate seeing you two not getting along and spending time together."
"Yeah! There's gotta be something you can do to cut the time down," Flash chimed in, "And don't overwork yourself. I don't wanna get Apple Buck Season flashbacks," he shivered, the memory of those terrible muffins now appearing in his head.
Twilight nodded in agreement, "Can't you get somepony else in your family to take over for a bit?"
Applejack sighed and shook her head, "Wish ah could. But Granny, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom all have chores of their own, and today they're all busy takin' the harvest to market."
Twilight shined a small smile at this, turning to Flash as he nodded to her, "I know what you're thinking, and I'm in."
"Nice!" Twilight cheered as she spun back to Applejack. "I know we're not farmers, but I'm sure the four of us could handle things for a little while."
"Maybe..." Applejack muttered, biting her lip. "Ah don't know..."
"Is there one chore we could do?"
"Or heck, we could split up and do two things." Flash pointed to Springer, the jakhowl nodding in agreement.
"Well...ah suppose if two of you got started on feedin' the pigs and helped gather up the fallen apples, I could maybe leave for an hour."
"Oooh! An hour of spa perfection?!" Rarity clapped, "I can work with that!"
"Perfect!" Twilight added, "You head out to the spa and we'll take care of things here." Spike and Springer gave them a thumbs up, only for Spike to lose balance with his pie tower, almost falling over till Twilight caught him and the pies in her magic.
"Uh...yeah." he said while floating in the air, "We totally got everything covered."
Applejack let out a sigh, quickly scribbling out a list of instructions. The ponies then placed their pies back into the kitchen for safe keeping before heading over to the pig pen as Applejack finished the scrolls, "Okay, this list pretty much covers everything you need to know on how to feed the pigs." She then held up another scroll, "And this one explains everything you need to do to gather the apples." They both nodded, Twilight about to take the lists with her magic, only for Applejack to pull them back. "But uh, maybe I should go over it with you just to-"
She didn't get to finish as Twilight yanked the lists out of her grasp. "Applejack, please." She gave one list to Spike and the other to Flash. "If there's a list involved, I am one hundred percent on top of it."
"Uh, right." Applejack muttered before she and Rarity began to head off to the spa.
The others waved them off as Twilight called out, "And don't worry about things here! Spike and I have totally got this! I mean, it's just feeding the pigs. How hard could it be?"
She then felt somepony tap her on the side. "Uh, Twilight?" They turned to him, now seeing the unfurled scroll was as long as Flash and Twilight standing flank to flank, causing Twilight to gulp.
"Whoa."
"Twilight..." Flash added, "Why are you giving that face? I've seen you handle lists three times as long."
"Yeah!" Springer nodded, "That looks like your average Thursday...morning." He turned to Flash's list and gulped, "Now let's see how bad this is."
Flash took a deep breath and unfurled it, only to find it was a few feet long. "Nice!" Flash chuckled before turning to Twilight, "Alright, we'll handle the apples, and you feed the pigs."
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Sure, give us the fun job." Flash and Springer shined a couple of grins before walking away, now hearing Twilight speak to her dragon assistant. "Okay Spike, ready with that list?"
"Ready."
"Let's do this!
"Step one..."
Flash didn't hear anymore as he looked down at his scroll, "Okay, step one: Gather buckets from the barn." He and Springer walked over to the building after hearing this, the pegasi repeating the same words as he looked around, "Now...buckets...buckets...buckets." But as he said this, something swung down from the rafters, making him flinch before seeing what it was.
"Do you have to be so loud?!" Rogue hissed while rubbing his eyes, the bat pony hanging from a beam using his tail.
"Sorry," Flash replied, "We're just looking for some buckets." Rogue responded by spreading his wings and pointing to some crates, "Thanks." The defender said as he pulled the buckets out of the boxes, "Step one, complete."
"What do you need those for anyway?" Rogue asked, his eyes almost closed again.
"We're helping out Applejack so she can spend some time at the spa with Rarity."
"Huh," Rogue cracked an eye open, "I did wonder if she was gonna take a day off. From dawn till dusk she's constantly working, not stopping for a second."
"Everypony needs a break every now and again," Flash added, "Which is why we need to finish collecting all the dropped apples."
"Oh, that's easy," Rogue replied, "All you have to do is inspect all the orchards and pick up any apples that have fallen."
"We figured that," Springer chimed in before reading the list, finding that it said the same thing Rogue had just told them.
"Well, it's the part after that that's tricky." Rogue yawned.
"What next part?" Flash looked back at the scroll, only to find nothing.
"Eh, guess Applejack didn't think you'd finish before she got back," Rogue muttered as he closed his eyes. "Now go away...I want some shut eye."
"Got it." Flash and Springer whispered before tiphoofing out of the barn, slowly closing the doors. "I guess it would take a while for Applejack," Flash told Springer, "But with our speed, I bet we can check every orchard and gather every apple in half the time we have." Springer nodded as both grabbed a bucket, running off into the apple orchard.
Along the way, they saw Spike and Twilight back at the pig pen, Twilight making funny faces at them.
Meanwhile...
Applejack and Rarity were now about to reach the spa, the farmer putting a hoof to her mouth, "Oh...ah don't like this. Ah hope they can handle things until ah get back."
"Now Applejack," Rarity chimed in, "If we are really to enjoy this time together, you simply must give yourself over to the idea that you are off-duty and try to relax."
"I know...I know." Applejack sighed, "You're right. Ah really am glad we're doin' this. And as long as it's only an hour, ah'm sure everythin' will be just fine."
"Exactly," Rarity nodded as they reached the spa, "Now kindly step this way, as relaxation...awaits." She opened the door as they walked in, finding several mares and a few stallions in the waiting room. And one such mare made Rarity gasp. "Rainbow Dash?!" The mare in question jumped at the sound of her friend's voice, the pegasus currently wearing a purple gown and slippers designed to look like Tank. "What are you doing here?!"
A blush covered Rainbow's face that made the two to giggle before trotting over to her. "Yeah! Ah didn't think spa treatments were your thing."
"What?!" Rainbow quickly took her gown off and threw it away, jumping off the couch while trying to fling her slippers off. "Oh, they're totally not. At least, not the froufrou kind."
"Ah/Huh," the two replied in unison.
"Yeah!" Rainbow rapidly nodded, "I uh, I think I tweaked something at Wonderbolts practice the other day. I just came in for a deep tissue sports massage."
She then shined a huge grin, only for one of the spa ponies to walk up beside her. "Miss Dash? I am so sorry, but we are running just a tad behind, and we are not quite ready to start your pampered muscle massage and indulgent hooficure just yet."
Rainbow went wide-eyed at this, now seeing her grin get transferred to her friends, "Oh, uh...I-I-I'm pretty sure that wasn't what I signed up for."
The pony held up a clipboard, "But they are your usual-"
"And it seems like you're really busy today anyway!" Rainbow took to the air. "I'll just come back tomorrow," she shined a tiny grin to Rarity and Applejack. "Uh, see you two later! Have fun!" She then whispered something to the spa pony before shooting off, Applejack letting out a laugh once she was gone.
"Too bad Rainbow Dash just hates those 'froufrou' spa treatments. She could have joined us for a nice steam. Hoo-wee! I can't wait."
Rarity laughed into her hoof. "Indeed....although, if they couldn't fit Dashie in, I wonder just how far behind things are running." She then headed to the area the steam room was in. "Obviously, we're on a very tight schedule." But as she stepped through the curtain, she suddenly walked face first into the back of another pony. She and Applejack then looked around him, now seeing he was at the back of a very long line. One so long they couldn't see the end of it, due to it turning around a corner they knew lead to the steam room.
"Well..." Rarity gulped as she turned to Applejack, "Maybe not everypony is waiting for the steam room."
"Oh no," the pony she bumped spun around, "No, that's exactly what we're waiting for." He frowned as he looked back at the line. "I hope you're not in a hurry."
Applejack and Rarity exchanged a glance, both slightly gulping as the famer spoke up, "So everypony here wants a steam bath?" The ponies turned back to her and gave a mumble of agreement, making Applejack raise an eyebrow.
"It's one of the only reasons I'm here," a gruff voice called out, making them see a certain stallion in the room.
"Iron?" Iron Core was leaning against the wall, a towel around his neck. "I wouldn't have expected to see you here."
Applejack nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Rainbow ah can buy, but you?"
"What?" Iron growled, "A stallion can't enjoy a little stress relief now and again?" Applejack and Rarity raised an eyebrow at this, making him look away, "Besides, I need this. You think I'm grumpy normally, imagine how bad I am if I don't de-stress. Especially since Shy keeps trying to get me to get along with Discord more recently." He then glared at the line, "Although, looks like I won't be de-stressing today."
The mares sighed before Rarity spoke up. "Well, the solution is obvious. We'll simply have to start our short time at the spa with something else."
She spun around to walk off, only for Applejack to raise a hoof, "Nothin' doin'. Ah came here to have a steam, and that's just what ah'm gonna get!"
Rarity's eyes went wide at this. "But-but, it'll take most of our hour to just get through this line!"
As she said that, one of the owners walked up behind them.
"RRRRarity!" Aloe said with her accent. "My favorite customer!" She gave Rarity a pair of cheek kisses before turning to the earth pony, "And Appleyack?" She hugged her, Applejack rolling her eyes at the mispronunciation while patting her back. "Well," she pulled away, "it certainly has been a long time since you two were here together! So lovely to have you back."
"Well, I wish I could say the same." Rarity gestured to the long line, Aloe sighing at the sight.
"Yes, the wait time for the steam room certainly has been getting worse lately." She then tried to show a small smile, "But I'm sure we'll be able to accommodate your usual treatments."
"Not without my steam!" Applejack pouted, making Rarity sigh as she turned to explain the situation to Aloe.
"Apparently, Applejack won't consider starting her time at the spa without a steam...and we only have an hour."
"That is a problem," the spa pony replied.
"Sound more like somepony being a whiny foal," Iron added, making the farmer glare at him, "What? You got a limited amount of time and you're gonna waste it trying to do something you can't do? Tell me my last statement wasn't wrong."
Applejack growled at him in response, only to spin around and begin to trot off. "Applejack..." Rarity called out, "Where are you going?" When no response came, she glared at Iron, "Thanks a lot."
"What?" He replied as she and Aloe followed the farm pony. "Gaaah," he turned to the pony behind him, "Save my place." He trotted out of line and took a few steps before turning back to that pony, who had stepped forward to fill the gap. "Save it." He then glared at the pony, the stare making the pony gulp before backpedaling before Iron followed after the mares.
He caught up as they arrived at the front of the line, Applejack staring at them with a raised eyebrow. "Um, why are ya'll just standin' here?"
"Ugh!" The stallion who was second in line shivered, "Just waiting for the steam to build up."
The one in front, Spoiled Rich, turned to give her hoity 'look down at you' response. "Without steam, a steam room's just a room, and I've got plenty of those at home. Because I live in a mansion."
The ponies all rolled their eyes, Applejack walking up to the steam room's temperature gauge and tapping it. The needle was barely in the warm section of the gauge, Aloe speaking up behind her, "It has been taking longer for the steam to reach the Ponyville Day Spa quality."
"We've noticed," Iron shivered despite the fact he was technically wearing more clothes then he normally did with the towel around his neck.
Aloe sighed as she pointed to a close hallway entrance. "We even had to add a warm towel service." As she said that, a unicorn stallion stepped out of the hallway pushing a cart filled with warm towels. "So sorry for the delay everypony. Please help yourselves." And as the ponies began to get new towels, all getting out of line as they threw the ones they currently had on into a basket. Even Iron helped himself to a fresh linen while accidently throwing his used towel behind him and onto the unicorn's face.
As this happened, Applejack just glared at the temperature gauge. "So if you're not gettin' enough steam, that must mean there's not enough hot water." She looked up at the ceiling, seeing a large pipe coming out of the room while Rarity pulled out a pocket watch that she...apparently hid in her tail or something.
"Oh Applejack, can't we just start with a hooficure? We're going to run out of time."
But Applejack didn't reply, instead trotting down the hall while following the pipe. Rarity let out a sigh and followed along with Aloe and Iron doing the same from the back. The four made their way through the spa, Applejack's eyes squarely focused on the pipes above their heads. "You mind explaining where the heck you're even going?" Iron asked the farm pony, whose eyes didn't look away from the ceiling.
"Ah have no idea."
"That's comforting," he sighed as Applejack turned a corner and sped up. Picking up the pace, they followed her as Iron began to hear several pained groans coming from one of the rooms to their left. He poked his head inside, only to see Mr. Cake getting the spa's famous extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage. "Ouch," he winced as Bulk Biceps stomped his hooves down on the older pony's back.
"Sup Iron Core!" The bodybuilder cheered before slamming both hooves down, Mr. Cake's eyes almost flying out of his head in pain, "You wanting to try this? I've got a free space once I'm done here."
"Err...I'm good. That and I might need something a bit stronger."
"Oh, I can do that!" Bulk replied as a resounding 'crunch' could be heard as he kept thrusting his hooves into Mr. Cake. "Wanna do it after your steam?"
"Yeah." Iron responded before going after the mares again, soon finding the three at a door. Applejack easily opened it, making Aloe gasp as they walked in, Iron seeing it was filled with the building's pipes. "Huh. You really need a sign or something on this door," he told Aloe, "What if a foal wandered in here?"
"It's supposed to be locked," she sighed as they continued to walk through the room, shaking her head as she continued, "Birch must have forgotten to lock it back up after coming through." The four then stepped out into a hallway that was much less decorated than the rest of the spa, or in other words, an employee only area.
Applejack began racing down it, her eyes still on the ceiling as the others followed her before she turned a corner and exclaimed, "Ah-ha!" She pointed upward, "Now what do we have here?"
They all looked into the room she was pointing at, seeing to be filled with pipes, washing machines and racks upon racks of fresh towels. Rarity rolled her eyes as she watched the pony they saw before throw the used towels into one of the machines. "The laundry room, of course." She took out her pocket watch again and saw the time, causing her to huff. "And at this point, I'm considering soaking my hooves in one of the machines so my time here isn't a total loss!"
"The Ponyville Day Spa prides itself on sanitary conditions, and fresh linens are integral part." Aloe commented, Applejack humming at this while tapping her chin.
"Well sure, but...have ya'll always run every single one of these here machines full bore all day, every day?"
"The answer is no," the laundry pony replied as he opened a machine that had just finished its wash. "But ponies sure do love the warm towel service." He used his magic to pull the fresh towels out, folding them in up in very precise skill and grace before placing them in the basket. He then pushed it back the way he came, Applejack watching him leave while nodding.
"Alright Sherclop Pones," Iron grumbled, "What are you thinking?" Applejack didn't reply and instead followed Birch down the hall, "I guess the game is a hoof."
Iron followed after her, Aloe turning to Rarity with raised eyebrows, "A hoof?"
"Starting," Rarity replied, "Or beginning. Either one."
"Then why not just say one of those?!" She asked as they turned to followed the duo.
Applejack quickly caught up with Birch, now spotting him trotting through the large pipe room and leaving the doors opened and unlocked. And as Birch made his way through the hallways, he began passing out towels to every customer before coming to a stop near the steam room line, turning to the ponies following him. "Uh, you all wanting a towel?"
Applejack simply pointed to the cart. "Looks ta me like ya'll don't have any left." He turned to the cart, only to see the ponies in line to help themselves while throwing their dirty towels onto it. One towel was even thrown into his face by accident...again.
He huffed while removing said towel. "Well, like I said, warm towels are big hit." He once again began to walk off, Applejack humming at this before staring at the pipes on the wall. The main one she was staring at had a wheel on the front while also giving off a strange hissing sound. She leaned up to it, now seeing several puffs of steam shooting out from the gaps of the pipe.
This caused everything to suddenly click into place, Applejack's eyes going wide as she exclaimed, "Ah think ah've figured out the problem."
"Already?" Iron asked as everypony in line turned to her.
Applejack tapped the pipe. "Ya'll got a small leak, and that means the steam takes just a little longer to build up." They all nodded at this, "And while ponies wait, they get cold. Cold ponies start wrappin' themselves in towels, and all those dirty towels have to be cleaned because Ponyville Day Spa prides itself on cleanliness."
As she said that, Birch returned while pushing another cart full of hot towels. When he arrived, he saw everypony staring at him. "Hmm? What?"
Applejack shook her head as she continued, "Basically, losin' steam makes yah use more towels. That means yah do more laundry, which uses up the hot water yah need to make more steam, so the problem just keeps gettin' worse." Birch quickly retreated back around the corner before anypony could blame him as the rest of the ponies chatted amongst themselves as Aloe put the pieces together.
"Ah!" She gasped before nodding, "I had no idea."
"Seriously?" Iron yelped before pointing to the pipe. "You didn't notice eight puffs of super hot water that's literally a lawsuit waiting to happen?!"
The two then glared at him as Rarity let out a long sigh, "Wonderful. Now that we've solved the great steam mystery, we can finally get back to our..." She glanced at her pocket watch again, a look of pure defeat on her face, "Significantly less than an hour of relaxation."
"Rarity, are you kiddin'?" She turned to Applejack, "Ah can't just leave things like this." The farmer stared at the pipe, crossing her hooves as she gave a confident nod, "Ah'm gonna need mah tools."
This caused Rarity to sigh in utter defeat while Iron raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked the earth pony, "Don't you think this is something an actual plumber should look at?"
"Oh please," Applejack leaned against the wall next to the pipe. "Ah handle stuff like this all dah time back on dah farm. This is nothin'"
"There's a difference between DIY and being a licensed expert. You realize that the minute you start working on that pipe, you become liable for it. As in, you'll be blamed if anything goes wrong between you fixing it and somepony else looking it over." Rarity nodded in agreement. "Besides, I thought you two came here to relax. Fixing leaky plumbing doesn't sound very relaxing to me." Rarity's nodding became more vigorous. "Just leave it alone and have them call a professional."
Applejack growled at him before turning to Aloe. "What da you think? Wanna let me handle this, or call a plumber, even though that could mean days or even weeks waiting fur them ta fit yah in."
This seemed to catch more than Aloe's attention, mainly everypony waiting outside the steam room. "APPLEJACK!" They all screamed their preference, the spa pony nodding back.
"I think Applejack knows what she's doing." Iron and Rarity sighed with a facehoof, Applejack chuckling before turning back to the leaky pipe, her mind now going over out how to fix it.
Back at the farm...
Flash and Springer had just got done with the many apples that had fallen to the ground. In one orchard, Flash was zipping from tree to tree, his eyes focused squarely on the ground. He was carrying a bucket in his front hooves and when he spotted an apple, he smirked before flying low and sweeping his tail along the dirt. The apple was picked up into the tail's long strands of hair, all of it curling around before flipping up into the air and landing in the bucket.
In another orchard, Springer was using his Velocity Strike speed to rush through the field. He had a bucket full of apples under one arm and a Bone Breaker in the other. With this, he would easily run up to an apple on the ground before swinging the Bone Breaker at it, smacking the fruit upward before landing in his bucket. The jakhowl spun the aura weapon like no tomorrow, knocking apples up like crazy as one hit a nearby tree before bouncing off it and falling into the basket as well as Springer chuckled, "Three points."
They both shot around every single orchard, kicking up trails of dust as bolted across the fields. In a flurry of motion, they soon had every single apple picked up off the ground, all the fruit in their buckets. Both seemed to collect their final apple at the exact same time, the two laughing at this as they met up right outside the farm house.
"Woo! What a rush!" Flash whipped his head around, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he commented, "Now that was a workout!"
"Who knew collecting apples was so exhausting," Springer moaned as he put his bucket down before grabbing one of the dangles behind his head and twisting it. Drops of sweat splattered out, making him groan as he began to do the same to the other dangles.
"I think most apple collectors don't move at the speed we were going," Flash chuckled as they opened the barn doors. The sound of the frames moving caused Rogue to let out a yawn, unfurling his wings as he creaked his eyes open as Flash continued, "But we did it. Every fallen apple in the orchard, and it barely took us half the time Applejack gave us."
"Really?" Rogue asked as he fully opened his eyes, releasing the beam he was hanging on before opening his wings to glide down, "Huh. You really did collect them all."
"You know it," Springer replied with a giant grin and crossed arms. "There's not a single apple touching the ground out there."
"Unless more of them have fallen since we left," Flash added, "So what now? Applejack's list just ends there, but if we can do the next part of this chore, she might get some more free time."
Rogue began stretching his hooves as he let out another yawn, "Well, if you really wanna help...now she would give them to Granny Smith in order to sort 'em."
"Sort them?" Springer asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah," Rogue nodded before picking up one of the apples. "See this one? It's in pretty good condition." The two stared at it, seeing only a small bruise on one side. Rogue then picked up another one, this one being far more bruised and even had a piece missing. "Now this one's not doing too well. She'd put this one in a basket meant for the pigs."
"Huh." Flash and Springer both replied before putting down their buckets and grabbing the rest they had used to collect the fruits. In response, Rogue flew up to sleep upside down as they began sorting through the apples, seeing which ones were okay and which were beyond saving. As they did this, Flash stared up at Rogue, "Almost hard to believe you've only been here a short time. You already seem to know most of what you need to do here."
"It's not that hard," Rogue responded while yawning, "I just watch what the others do and remember."
"But aren't you asleep most of the day?" Springer asked, taking out an apple he thought was good until a worm popped out of it.
"Not really. When you live underground most of your life, you don't really have a proper sleep schedule. I normally just sleep whenever I feel tired. I don't even need that much sleep to be honest. Six hours and I'm ready to do whatever is needed for the remaining eighteen hours."
The two hummed at this before going back to sorting through the apples, both now wondering how Twilight and Spike were doing.
Meanwhile...
"That can't be right," Twilight told Spike.
The little dragon pointed at the scroll, "It says it right here. Do chicken dance." Twilight leaned down, glaring at the words while raising an eyebrow before turning back to the pigs. "Maybe she got distracted and accidently wrote it down."
"Even if it was, we shouldn't leave it out. Just in case it is meant to be on this list..." Twilight let out a long sigh, "Let's do it." With that, Twilight started dancing, Spike trying to keep back his laughter as he wished he had a camera.
Back at the spa...
Applejack had just finished fixing up the pipe while Rarity had enjoyed some treatments. The earth pony had tightened up a few bolts to stop the steam escaping and wrapped the whole thing in duct-tape so they wouldn't come loose again. Once this happened, the heat in the steam room shot straight up, allowing the ponies waiting in line to finally enjoy themselves.
"Phew!" Applejack wiped her brow before turning to Aloe. "Now that the leak's fixed, ponies won't get so cold when they use up all those towels!" As she said that, a still frowning Rarity trotted up to her. "And without all that laundry, there'll be plenty of hot water for all the steam anypony could want!"
"And I only have to be doing vash once a day!" Birch cheered before running into the steam room.
"Wow..." Aloe gasped, "Appleyack! Have you ever considered a career in the spa industry? I'm sure I can find something for you."
Applejack laughed at this, "No thanks. Ah'm just relieved I can finally relax in the steam." She turned to the still frowning Rarity, "What do you say, Rarity?"
Rarity shined a large frown, knowing what she was about to say, "It sounds lovely Applejack, but..." She took out her pocket watch, "Unfortunately, you spent so much time fixing the steam room that we don't have any time left to use it." She put her watch away before turning to Aloe. "Honestly, how in Equestria did it never occur to you to check for leaks?"
"There's just so many other things to worry about!" Aloe replied before looking away, "I suppose ve get used to the way things are, and ve don't realize there vas problem."
Rarity rolled her eyes at this, "You obviously need an outside eye to evaluate the situation. It's lucky for you that Applejack is just too stubborn to relax!"
Applejack glared at the mare, "Rarity..." Rarity glanced back at her, "Look, ah'm sorry, but we'll just have to do this another day. Twilight and Spike should be done feedin' the pigs by now and Flash and Springer should be checkin' the last orchard for apples."
"Flash and Twilight are very capable ponies. I'm sure they can figure out what to do next."
"Look, ah know Twilight's a princess and an alicorn while Flash is a knight that's saved Equestria a half-dozen times, but they ain't farmers. Ah've been doin' farm work mah whole life, and ah'm not sure it's somethin' ya'll can just 'figure out.'"
"Of course," Rarity sighed, only to let out a gasp, "Say, why don't we pop back so you could explain to them what to do next, and then we'll come back here and pick up where we left off?" Applejack's face showed a half-frown at this, only to slightly flinch as Rarity gave her a big grin. "Please? At least try it."
"Well..." the farmer looked away while tapping her chin, "Ah suppose ah could try...assumin' everythin' went well so far."
"Oh Applejack," Rarity laughed. "Honestly! How could it not?"
With that, the mares headed for the exit just as the steam room opened with a highly relaxed Iron Core stepping out of the room. "That hit the spot," he moaned with a look on his face that said 'all is right with the world.' He turned to head for the exit as well, only to come to a stop. his head shifted between it and the steam room, biting his lip for a second before trotting back into the room, shutting the door with ease.
"I think that's it," Flash said as he picked up the last apple and placed it in the beyond saving bucket. "I declare these apples sorted."
Rogue unfurled himself again, staring down at the two full barrels, one of which was filled with near perfect condition apples while the other was full of bruised, broken and very messy fruit. "Huh," he yawned before flapping down, "Not bad. I'm no expert, but I think this is about as well as Granny Smith would do."
Flash and Springer hoof-bumped. "Sweet," Springer picked up the basket of destroyed apples. "So these go to the pigs, right?"
"Actually, they'll be added to tomorrow's feed."
"So what do you do with these?" Flash pointed to the almost okay ones. "I know they're not too bad, but I doubt Applejack's gonna still wanna sell them."
"Not in their current form," Rogue chuckled, "But that's where I come in." He trotted up to the bucket, staring into with a giant smirk before taking a deep breath. Flash and Springer quickly covered their ears at this, Rogue then unleashing his sonic scream into the bucket. Doing so caused the apples to vibrate, the fruit now crumbling and turning into a pile of mush.
Now the apples were completely pulverized, Rogue stopping his scream as he lifted his head out of the bucket. "Pretty cool, right?" The defenders uncovered their ears, both leaning over the bucket and now seeing nothing but apple mush. "Apple Bloom thought of me doing this after seeing what I did to their apples when we met. This means they can make applesauce, apple pie and apple crumble filling much easier."
"So that's why they've been selling so many pies and crumble lately." Flash responded while rubbing his ears, "You're right, that is pretty cool. Though could you warn us next time?"
"Sorry." Rogue added as he grabbed a lid and put it over the bucket.
"Its cool. Come on, let's go see how Twilight and Spike are doing."
Rogue nodded at this before walking to another part of the barn, grabbing some sunglasses. Equipped for the day, they headed out into the farm. But when they arrived at the pig pen, they were met with Twilight hanging from a rope over the pen, holding a stick with a corn cob tied to it. Spike was holding the rope, which was connected to a pulley system that helped the mare suspend over the pen.
"Uh...Twilight....honey...what are you doing?"
"Feeding the pigs," Twilight replied while trying to balance herself, "Just like Applejack's list said so."
Spike let out a groan as he almost lost his grip on the rope. "Wouldn't it be easier to just fly?!"
"I told you Spike, we're following Applejack's list to the letter, and Applejack doesn't fly!" She then tried to fill the trough, only to lose her balance and fall off the post. "WHOA!" This made Spike lose his grip, the rope pulling upward while wrapping his leg, yanking him as well.
"WHOA!" He yelped before Springer caught him, keeping the dragon from getting too high and saving Twilight as she was about to be dunked in pig mud.
Twilight sighed in relief before heating hoofsteps and turning to see Applejack and Rarity. A large frown was on the farmer's face, "Ah'm sorry Rarity, but ah think ah'm gonna have to finish these chores mahself."
This got a grumbling response from Rarity as Flash grabbed the rope so Springer could unfurl it from Spike's leg while Rarity spoke up. "Twilight, darling! How in the world did you end up there?"
Once Spike was free, Twilight used her magic to untie the rope around her and spread her wings. "Spike and I were just trying to follow Applejack's list as closely as possible."
As she said that, Spike let out a growl and held up the list, "Maybe not the best plan."
"I'm sorry, Applejack," Twilight landed next to her. "But we never even got started feeding the pigs."
Applejack nodded at this, "That's alright Twilight." She trotted over and picked up the dropped bucket of food, which she placed on the fence post. "Ah know yah did yer best. Ah guess a list can't really capture all the ways ah have of doin' things."
"Though me and Springer completed our task without any problems," Flash added as he leaned up against his partner as they folded their arms, "And Rogue helped us sort them for Granny Smith."
"Ya'll did?" She turned to Rogue, who nodded at this. "Well thanks. That's sure to take a load off for her. But the rest of mah chores ah'll need to do fer mahself."
"At least you two got to spend some time at the spa together," Twilight chimed in.
"Yeah," Spike said while nodding, "That must've been super relaxing!"
However, Rarity let out a long sigh, "Well, if watching Applejack fix plumbing counts as relaxing, then yes."
"What do you mean? What about your hour of spa perfection?" Twilight asked, "Don't tell me the place was closed."
"As it turns out, the Ponyville Day Spa had a few problems with their steam room." She then shot Applejack a long glare, "And somepony refused to relax until she had fixed them."
In response, Applejack grabbed the rope and moved over to the fence as she started to speak up, "Ah'm sorry, but ah just couldn't let those spa ponies go another minute puttin' up with problems they didn't even know they had! Somehow, they just got used to a huge bottleneck of ponies standin' around waitin'." As she said that, she opened the gate before closing it for no reason. "And ah took one good look at that spa jam and ah knew ah had to do somethin'!" She then moved over to the other side of the pen. "Sometimes the simplest things can just derail a whole operation." After saying that, she suddenly gave the pig a strange look. She googled her eyes, waved her hooves and stuck out her tongue to make babbling sounds.
"What's she doing?" Springer asked Rogue.
"I have no idea," he replied. "I've never actually seen her feed the pigs before."
"Whether it's a leaky pipe or doin' too much laundry." Applejack moved back to the other side, "Yah can't just stick to the same old way of doin' things and expect them to get better." She then started doing the chicken dance, everypony raising an eyebrow as she clucked and mimicked the winged beast. "I mean, thinkin' you can is just plumb ridiculous, right?" She let out a short laugh before grabbing the rope and jumping up onto the pulley system, wrapping the rope around it. "It's funny when yah realize the extra work they were doin' was actually makin' things worse!"
With that, she leapt off the beam, the pony now suspending herself above the pig pen. She waved the corn around, finally catching the pig's attention. They picked themselves up and ran toward the corn, Applejack swinging it away so they shot past the trough. This caused the bucket to fall over, making the food land in the metal bucket right in front of the pigs.
And as the beasts began to feast, Applejack continued to speak, "Ah mean, ah guess it's possible to get stuck in a routine where yer doin' all this extra stuff and not realize it, but ah can't for the life of me think of how!" She turned to the others, now seeing them all giving her glares or raised eyebrows, "Why are y'all starin' at me like that?"
"I think you're about to get an extra special lesson on irony," Flash replied as Twilight and Rarity shared a glance.
The fashion pony let out a long sigh as she turned back to the farmer, "Um...are you certain everything you just did is entirely necessary to feed the pigs?"
"What?" Applejack threw the corn stick away, "Of course!" She began to untie the rope and fell to the ground. "Why would ah be doin' it if it weren't?" She then moved back over to the fence. "See? This gate here used to squeak so loud that the pigs would run to the other side of the pen and never come out!" She repeated what she had done earlier, "So ah open and close it to let them know it's safe."
"But it doesn't squeak anymore," Twilight pointed out.
"Of course not! I fixed that ages ago."
"So why are you-" Springer didn't get to finish as Applejack ran over to the other side and repeated the face.
"Then ah realized puttin' a little fright into 'em got 'em all hustlin' out of the pen."
"They don't look scared to me," Spike chimed in.
"Well, no." Applejack responded while moving away, "They got used to it. Which is why I started doin' the chicken dance!" She then repeated the dance as she continued, "To show 'em that if they didn't get to eatin' their food, the chickens would." She came to a stop, running out of sight as the six tried to follow her, only to hear her voice coming from the pulley. "Course, bein' a chicken, I couldn't very well open the gate." She jumped off again and began to hang from the rope. "Gettin' the food bucket to spill into the trough was just a happy accident because one time I left it there by mistake."
She shined a big grin at this, only for her smile to disappear as they all just stared at her.
"My brain hurts," Springer moaned while rubbing his head.
"Uh...Applejack? It seems like everything you're doing is to fix things that aren't really problems anymore."
"Yeah," Flash added with a nod, "I mean, the gate I can probably get continuing to do. But the face and dance thing...that just a little..."
"Stupid," Rogue deadpanned, making Applejack flinch.
She then watched the others continue to stare at her, making her rub her chin in thought, "Well ah'll be..."
"Hmmm," Rarity hummed as she walked up to her hanging friend, "Maybe it isn't so hard to get stuck doing extra work after all."
"Huh." Applejack dropped down, "Ah wonder if ah've been doin' that around here with anythin' else."
"Well, there's only one way to find out!"
"But first, there's something I've been dying to ask." The others turned to Flash, "Why exactly do you have pigs on a farm? I mean...what purpose do they serve?"
The others shared a glance, curiosity on every face before turning back to Applejack as she spoke up, "Well, yah see-"
Several hours later...
It turned out that Applejack had been doing a bunch of extra work without realizing it. She was feeding chickens one at a time to collect their eggs, trying to patch holes in wire fences instead of replacing the whole thing, and using the pipe sprinklers to water only one patch of vegetables at a time instead of all at once.
With the help of her friends, Applejack managed to finish her chores not only on time, but actually early. She let out a long sigh of relief as she said to them, "Thanks ya'll. I guess I just got so used to doin' everythin' a certain way that I didn't realize there were any problems."
"Having a friend look at what you're doing with an outside eye can really help!" Twilight added with a giant grin.
Rarity nodded in agreement. "Agreed. And I suppose if it weren't for our unsuccessful time at the spa, none of us would've realized it."
"But maybe Rogue can help from now on," Flash chimed in while slapping the thestral on the back. "Maybe whenever he sees you doing something, he can ask what you're doing and see if he can't find a better way to get it done."
"Yeah," Rogue chuckled, "Maybe I can."
Applejack gave a small smile at this, Twilight then walking up to her, "Well, now that your chores are streamlined, what are you gonna do with all the extra time?"
Applejack turned to Rarity, "Ah think ah have a few ideas." This made Rarity squeal in excitement as she began to trot in place.
A half hour later...
The two mares were now back at the spa, both ready for some quality time together. "Ahh..." Applejack sighed as they walking inside, "Think ya'll can come up with enough things for us to do now that we have more time to relax?"
"Oh, please." Rarity giggled while waving a hoof, "I could plan a week's worth of treatments!"
Applejack laughed at this, "Well, let's just start with the rest of the day for now. After all, with all that work we just did on the farm, ah'm ready for some serious relaxation!"
It was here they heard a sigh that they both recognized, the two turning to see Rainbow walking into the room wearing her gown and slippers. "Thanks for letting me know there was an opening," she told Aloe. "I don't know if I could make it without my pampered muscle massage."
"Don't vorry about it," the spa pony replied, "Shall I put you down for another one tomorrow?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Rainbow tapped her cheek, "Sometimes a girl just has to pamper herself. Am I right?"
"You certainly are!" Rainbow's eyes went wide hearing Rarity's voice, the pegasus gasping as she slowly turned to her friends.
"Oh! Hey! I was just, uh..." She stuttered out.
"Gettin' a 'sports' pamperin'?" She and Rarity giggled as Rainbow's face kept getting redder.
"Don't worry Rainbow Dash, we were just heading in for some pampering ourselves. You could always join us."
Applejack nodded in agreement. "That is, if yah don't mind sufferin' through one or two of those 'froufrou' treatments."
"Um..." Rainbow let out a small squeak, "I suppose I could take it. You know, for you two." The three all laughed as they headed back into the treatment area, Applejack and Rarity changing into some robes before they all moved over to the steam room.
But when they opened it up, they found somepony was already in there. "Iron Core?!" Rarity asked as the knight was laid out against the back seat, "You're still here?"
Iron looked up at them, a serene look on his face that none of them had every seen before. "What?! Can't a stallion spend over six hours relaxing in a room full of evaporated water?!" The three all laughed again, joining him as they intended to get as much relaxation in as they could before the spa closed.