//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Pearl Farming // Story: Down on the Farm // by Valtyrian //------------------------------// “MOM!!” The loud country voice shook Pearl from her slumber. Lifting her head up she blinked to find something that quirked her eyebrows. Infront of her was Apple Bloom groaning while Kohaku was nuzzled up against her. His front limbs wrapped around Bloom's body while his head rubbed up against her neck. “Mom!! He’s in here!” Within the span of a few seconds Buttercup trotted into the room and gave a light chuckle. “Ah so sweet,” “Yeah well ah wouldn’t mind it so much if it weren't for my injuries.” Apple Bloom huffed out. “Um, what’s going on?” Pearl asked, rubbing her eye. “Oh don’t worry hun, go back to sleep. There’s still a few hours before you have to be up.” Buttercup said, pulling Kohaku gently. “Come to mommy,” her voice soft and tender as Kohaku rolled over and flopped onto Buttercup’s back. “That’s my boy. I’ll take him to my room, he can sleep it off there.” “Thanks mom.” “No problem hun, get some rest now.” Buttercup kissed her daughter’s forehead and tucked her back in. Pearl watched as Buttercup and Kohaku left the room, closing the door behind them. Turning her gaze back to Bloom she just motioned to the door. “What was that? How... why did he get into your bed?” “It happens a lot around here.” Bloom yawned out and snuggled into her bed. “Usually when he has a nightmare. It mustn't have been too bad if he crawled in bed with me. He usually runs to Mac.” “Uh, I'm not going to wake up with him in MY bed am I?” Pearl bit down on her lower lip and looked to the door. “Oh don’t worry, he only goes for family.” Bloom rested her head down and fell back to sleep. “That’s good then.” Pearl sighed out a bit and laid back down but the sight of seeing Kohaku nuzzling his sister kept her up for a bit longer. I wonder what he has nightmares about? Bah, it’s not any of my business. When sleep had finally caught up to her, Pearl felt as if she had just closed her eyes before a hoof lightly rocked her shoulders. “Pearl dear, time ta wake up.” Buttercup’s sweet voice slowly roused the young filly. Lifting her head she looked around while blinking and noticed how dark it is. “This early?” “Yes dear, we wake very early around here. We’ll see you downstairs in fifteen minutes for Breakfast.” Buttercup smiled as she moved over to Bloom’s bed. Shrugging a little she went on her way to get ready. *** Sitting down at the large table, Pearl looked about. Silverlay and Applejack sat comfortably next to each other off to her right. Mac was across from her tapping his hoof lightly on the table. A light humming came from the kitchen before both Buttercup and Kohaku came out with six bowls of steaming hot rice. “Rice?” Pearl questioned as she looked up. “Yeah we all take turns in deciding breakfast round here.” Silverlay chimed in. Pearl couldn’t get over how much Silverlay still sounded like Twilight. It tugged a bit on her own heart as she missed her mentor already. “Today’s Kohaku’s turn. He always has interesting choices and it’s always a culinary adventure.” “But rice?” “Yeah just crack open an egg or two, add the soy sauce and mix it together.” Kohaku sat down next to Pearl and prepped his bowl just how he explained. Pearl meeped as he flipped his paw out as two thin sticks appeared. “Well now that we’re all here let's get to our assignments,” Buttercup said after taking a few bits of her breakfast. “Mac I need you to finish turning the soil in the back nine so tomorrow we can get the plow ready for winter.” “Eeyup,” Was all Mac’s response between bites of his breakfast. “Silverlay, AJ. I need you two to finish the late apple harvest then start on clearing out all the dead branches.” “We’ll get right on that ma,” Applejack nodded “That leaves Kohaku and Pearl. The south and cattle barns both need to be cleaned out. Kohaku I need you to show her what needs to be done and then get started on the smaller hoof tools.” “Hai,” Kohaku nodded as he popped his chopsticks into his mouth. “I’m working with Kohaku?” Pearl nervously looked to her side as Kohaku who was ignoring her in favor of his breakfast. “Yes Pearl you are. Is that going to be a problem?” Buttercup gave Pearl a look that the Apple family knew all too well. As each one quickly turned their gaze, all but Kohaku who kept his gaze on what he was eating. “Uh… no ma’am.” “Good girl, now finish your breakfast then you and Kohaku can run out to the barn.” Buttercup nodded and sat down and started to eat. Pearl looked around before down at her bowl of rice. Blinking she saw that two eggs were already mixed inside of it. Wondering for a moment how or when he had done so, she looked to her right and half glared at Kohaku who only smiled at her. “Trust me you’ll love it.” He whispered at her Pearl squirmed a little bit as she looked at her bowl. Leaning down she took a few bites and blinked. The flavor in her mouth exploded on her tongue sending a shiver down her spine. I hate it when he’s right. She grumbled in her thoughts as she ate her breakfast. *** A half hour after breakfast had started, Kohaku led Pearl down the dark path, he looked at her half stumbling along and chuckled. His ear’s twitching as he listened to her half mumbling. “It’s cold, it’s dark, I'm tired,” Pearl said under her breath. With it being late fall the morning was bitterly cold and the sun hadn’t even risen yet. She was grateful that Bloom lent her a flannel shirt to keep the morning cold off. “Relax Pearl, you’ll get used to it by the third day.” “I hate those ears of yours,” Pearl grumbled as they walked toward the barn. “Yeah yeah I know.” Stopping at the barn door he flipped the overhead lights on. “Look, I know this is your punishment and all. But let's try to have a little fun with it.” “I see none of this as fun. I’ve never once been awake at this hour. And now I have to take orders from you!” Kohaku couldn’t help but notice the venom in her voice at that last word. Shaking his head he walked her over next to a large cart. “Don’t worry I’m just going to be showing you what to do. And I’ll be nearby if you have questions or need help.” “Right,” Pearl yawned out. “Okay first things first we have to get this place cleaned up. So first off, we start with the loft.” Snagging a push broom with his tails he bounded up the stairs as Pearl flew up and met him on the top step. Passing the broom off into her hooves he walked to the edge. “Easy enough, just get around all the bales, watch the cords binding them. And sweep everything off this edge into the cart.” “I think I can handle sweeping up hay.” Kohaku smirked as he leaned into a wooden post. “OH no doubt there. Just don’t over the red lines. Or you’ll trigger our hook and drop system we use to load and unload the carts for orders or storage.” Sighing deeply Pearl just pushed past him and started to sweep. “Yeah yeah yeah. Anything else?” “Not really. When you're finished up here, you can start sweeping up down below.” shrugging his shoulders, Kohaku leaped down to the lower level and moved over to a large work bench. Pearl watched as Kohaku started to sort through various hoof tools. “Phff. As if I can’t handle something as simple as this. For that matter where does he get off telling me anything.” Humming to herself, pearl slowly worked her way through the loft. As she pushed the Pegasus’s leg slipped. Half stumbling forward she stopped herself at the edge. Wiping a hoof across her forehead pearl heard a soft ‘click’ just under her hooves. Looking down, she found herself standing in the red zone Kohaku had warned her to keep clear of. Perking her ears up she heard the sound of a trap door give way. “OH buck me!” Spreading her wings out, Pearl pushed her hooves not noticing that her shirt had gotten tangled up in an overhead hook. As she flapped her wings slowly to descend, the filly heard a second click from overhead. Yelping out loudly, she was suddenly jerked backwards. Kohaku looked up and blinked at seeing Pearl dangling like a fish on a line. Putting down his wire brush and cleaning stone he sighed and headed toward the loft. Kohaku bounced up onto the cart and springed himself up onto the second floor. Leaning against the railing he smiled. “So. need help?” “Funny. Get me down!” Pearl flayed about causing her to spin around like a top. Kohaku couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled her down onto the loft and unhooked her. “Not as easy as it looks huh.” “No,” Pearl grumbled and sat down and sighed deeply. “You were doing okay, you just need to watch what you're doing.” “Right,” Pearl grumbled back and moved off to the other bales and started to push them. “And Keep your eyes down, once you see the red lines, stay clear of them.” Pearl looked at the floorboards and the second she saw the red paint, stopped and smiled. “Thanks Kohaku. I think I can handle it from here.” “No problem. I’ll be down there.” Pearl couldn’t help but notice he was still laughing from the sight of her dangling like a fish from the rafters. Shaking her head she went back to what he had instructed. Kohaku smiled up toward the second floor. He watched as Pearl quickly caught on. With a quick nod he went back to cleaning all the dirt and rust off of the small tools in front of him. As the hours passed, Pearl felt herself panting heavily and the temperature rising. Looking down she understood why Kohaku was working without his shirt the other day. In the flannel shirt she wore, Pearl felt like she was in an oven. After pushing what seemed like an endless amount of hay into the cart she found herself doing the same on the lower level. Sweeping everything into a large pile. After tidying up all the various brooms, rakes and other poled items. Pearl sat herself opposite of Kohaku at the workbench. Watching his paws methodically working various sided stones over the metal. The sound the stones made and his steady movement was very hypnotic. “Well since you're done with the morning cores,” Kohaku said with a smile as he looked up at Pearl. Stretching out like a feline he strutted to the door. “I guess I should show you your late morning job, which should last you until late afternoon.” “Late morning chores? There’s more?” “Of course. It’s a gowing farm. Don’t worry this one will be easier.” Pearl sighed as she followed him out to another barn which was highly more decorated. Outside were a bunch of grazing cattle. Several of them offered Kohaku a friendly greeting. “And here we go. Your job now is to clean out our cattle barn.” Pearl looked about and groaned louder than she ever thought possible. Every stall was littered with hay all strewn about. Walking about she blinked at seeing the far large cabinet in the corner and felt sick as the scent caught her nose. “The brooms are over by door on the wall. Our cows are very well mannered and sweet gal’s. So we make sure that they have clean stalls every day or at least every other day,” Kohaku said, swinging a broom toward Pearl who grabbed it in her front legs. “Just sweep out all the old hay to the piles out back, and you may want to put on Bloom’s work boots,” gesturing to the galoshes next to the brooms. “After you're done sweeping out the stall you pull one of the green bales of hay over there.” Pointing to the pile of hay behind a sliding wall near the barn door. “And pack it neatly in the top right corner of each stall. Make sure you remove the ropes and lay out a new blanket.” “That doesn't seem too bad,” Pearl smiled but wished she hadn’t spoken when she watched him move to the far corner. “After each stall has been cleaned then you need to wash their restroom here. It’s easy enough just use the hose over on the wall and spray everything down the drain.” “That’s all?” “That’s all, I’ll come collect you for lunch,” Kohaku nodded as he moved toward the door. “Have you done this job before?” Pearl looked over her shoulder. “A few times, but it’s Bloom who does it regularly.” Pearl watched as Kohaku left and leaned on the broom. Looking about she was glad that she didn’t eat anything too heavy for breakfast. Taking a few deep breaths she put on Bloom’s boots, gripped the broom in her hooves and started working. Pushing her way through the first stall, the young pegasus stepped forward, slipped and with a scream landed face down in the dirty hay. “I think the dungeons or banishment would have been easier,” Pearl moaned as she spat out the soiled hay. *** Buttercup smiled as she walked into the barn. Looking about she nodded as everything was neat and clean. In the corner at the workbench was her son, slowly and meticulously working a tool over a dual colored stone. “Hey mom,” Kohaku smiled up and set his stones down before stretching out. “Lunch time already?” “Yup, I had some errands to run in town so I got you and Pearl something nice from the Hay Burger.” Looking about, Buttercup sat down. “I take it she’s cleaning up the cattle barn? Shouldn't you be there observing her?” “I trust her, she did such a good job with the carts I felt she could handle it by herself.” Getting up he nuzzled his mom’s side for a moment but quickly averted his eyes as he caught one of her mother's looks. “But I’ll go get her. See you up at the house.” and with that Kohaku sprinted off out the door. Dashed across the yard he was only a few feet from the cattle barn and slid to a stop. Despite his best efforts he broke into a gasping laugh at what he saw in front of him. Standing there in the open door to the barn, huffing and puffing was Pearl. Half covered in mud, muck and hay. Brown water dripping from her main and tail. “Not… One… Word…” Pounding her hoof into the ground she screamed as loud as she could lifting her head up “I hate this place!!. Send me to prison, send me to the farthest reaches of the world. Just for all that is holy please don’t let me do this anymore!!” Pearls hooves pounding on the soft ground as tears fell from her eyes. Kohaku watched as Pearl slumped to the ground crying as hard as she could. Her face buried in her dirty hooves. Shooing away the cattle he walked up closer and placed a paw on her back gently. “It’s okay Pearl, really it is.” “Yeah right!” Pearl pulled away from Kohaku and shifted to the side a little more. “I’m a city girl damit, I'm not made for the farming life.” Kohaku moved closer again and wrapped his left foreleg around her shoulders and pulled her in closer. His tone soft and gentle as his paw lightly held her. Using every trick Fluttershy and his sisters taught him about calming a scared and frightened animal. “I know Pearl, and I understand. Do you think this was any easier for me on my first day?” “Pah, you were probably a farming prodigy,” Pearl scoffed as she just sat there. Her body was so worn out that she didn’t even move out of his grip. She barely admitted to herself that his touch was quite calming. Her eyes closed, she felt the soft touch of his tail brushing her tears away. “Well I can work wonders with plants, but the actual work itself. Everything it takes to keep this farm running. I was a first class bozo.” Kohaku smiled softly. “I couldn’t get anything right. I messed up orders, sent carts to the wrong place. You should have seen me trying to clear out dead branches. It was like paw to paw combat, and I’m sorry to say I lost most of the time.” “So what happened?” Pearl opened her eyes and looked up at him. A smile slowly appearing on her face. “As time went on I got better. And my family helped out a lot. Not by doing my job for me, but by not letting me quit. Offering helpful hints and tips.” “Easy for you, you're built for this. But as I said I’m a city girl.” “Pearl, I was born and raised in a temple. Literally in the lap of luxury. With my weekend allowance I could have bought this farm and everything in it.” Kohaku smiled at seeing the sudden surprised look on her face. “Didn’t know that huh. When I said princeling fox on Nightmare night, I wasn’t just grandstanding. Our home was larger than Twilight’s palace. Hell you could fit it in our family library.” Kohaku chuckled as that got a slight giggle out of Pearl. “Okay so you're a rich boy, you’ve been doing this longer than me.” “Yes, but the point is I wasn’t that good on my first day. And this is only your first day.” Brushing Pearl’s mane out of her face he leaned in closer. “Answer me this. Knowing all that you’ve done today, do you think you’ll make the same mistakes tomorrow?” Pearl would have normally pushed Kohaku away. She disliked being this close to him. But the look in his eyes was so vastly different then what she was so used to in town or at school that she just didn’t bother. Thinking for a moment she looked behind her at the Cattle barn. She was certain that she could clean things easier now that she understood what was inside. Looking into Kohaku’s eyes the Pegasus girl shook her head as she spoke with a slight weakness in her voice. “No.” “You see, now let's get you cleaned up for lunch. We have an outdoor shower you can use right over there.” Kohaku pointed to the blue building near the house as he led there. “And there should be a fresh set of work clothes in there. Just leave these soiled threads on the ground outside and we’ll clean them up later tonight.” “Thanks.” Pearl said, opening the door to the shower house. Watching him walk away she quickly called out. “Kohaku!” Watching as he stopped Pearl half hesitated and stepped closer toward him. “I don’t get you. You're a pain, you're a goof off at school and around town. You never seem happy unless you're giving me a world class headache or a heart attack. Yet I show up here and you're like a completely different creature. You're responsible, you're diligent, hard working. Halfway sexy in those damn jeans of yours. I have one of the worst days of my life, and you spent more time calming me down and getting my head on straight then anypony else would have. Why!. Why are you like this! I almost killed you, I wanted to kill you. You have more reason to hate me than anypony else. So why. Why are you treating me like this.'' Pearl couldn’t help her tears streaming down her face as her chest felt as if something was pressing down on it. Kohaku turned around and placed a paw on her cheek. Wiping the tears away with his thumb. “You really don’t know, do you? You should honestly pay closer attention to Twilight-sama’s lessons.” With that, Kohaku turned around and walked away. “You should hurry with that shower, I’d hate for your Hay Burger fries to get cold.” *** Pearl stood proudly in the center of the cattle barn, she had just finished placing all the new hay in each stall with fresh blankets. Finishing things off with a final sweet through of the entire floor. Hearing a set of hoofs behind her she turned around to see Buttercup walking. “Well I’ll be, I haven't seen the cattle barn this clean in years.” The Apple mom smiled as she walked up next to Pearl. “We might not have to clean this again for the next few days. Great job, but you didn’t have to go this far.” “I know,” Pearl said as she blushed a little from being praised. “I guess I just got inspired by Kohaku’s talk earlier.” “Oh? And what did my boy say to you that got you so inspired.” “Well he talked about how much of a blunder on his first day of farming.” Pearl giggled at the thought again. “So while I was taking a quick midday shower before lunch. I thought I might try and outdo him and be better on my first day.” Returning the broom she had nearby to its proper place on the wall. Pearl talked about everything Kohaku said to her earlier. Turning around she saw Buttercup shaking her head as laughter erupted in the barn. “Oh that boy,” Buttercup said and sat down. “Am I missing something?” “Not really, it’s just that Kohaku wasn’t that bad. Certainly no worse than you were today, but in no way as bad as he said.” “You mean he lied to me?” Pearl grumbled loudly as it slowly evolved into a low growl. “No, he may have embellished a bit to boost your confidence.” “I can’t believe he did that. That little…” Pearl took in a long deep breath and growled even louder. “How could he.” “Well, look around you. Do you think you would have done as well in here had he not done that?” Pearl took a few moments and looked around. Standing there at the door she thought back to her talk with Kohaku, how she was so eager to quit. Just walk away and take banishment or prison time. Shaking her head she just sighed. Kohaku had told her exactly what she needed to hear when she needed to hear it. “I just don’t get him, why does he do this? If I didn’t know any better or the fact that he’s with Sweetie Belle I would almost think that he’s in love with me.” “Well, he might just be. He always talks about you all the time. Mostly about how good of a friend you are.” “But he’s in love with Sweetie Belle. How can he be in love with me? And for that matter, why. I find the whole Idea sickening.” “Pearl,” Buttercup placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Love comes in all different forms. Maybe this is something you should discuss with him.” Pearl just nodded and sighed. “Come on, you could use another shower and have some free time to rest before dinner and bed. If you like, Kohaku has quite the library in his room. I’m sure he’ll let you read any book you want.” “Yeah maybe.” Pearl sighed as she walked out with Buttercup, waving her wing to all the Cattle who were just now entering after a long day of grazing and milking. *** Pearl stood in front of Kohaku’s bedroom door, dressed up in her favorite dragon decorated nightgown. Her hoof was poised just below the cutie mark. Which was rather odd. As all the other doors had one, he had two. One was of a tree with a treble clef and the other just off the side under the leaves, was an apple with three tails. Taking in a long deep breath she knocked three times on the door. “Come in Pearl!” Came from the other side of the door. Which left her a bit confused as to how he knew it was her. Walking in she blinked and halted in her tracks. Unlike the rest of the house, which was more farm oriented. This room was pure asian, right down to the paper lined walls and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling rafters. On a large queen size futon bed was Kohaku, dressed up in a black silken night kimono with pink cherry blossoms. His head was down as his claw traced along the pages of a book. “I was wondering when you were going to come in. You’ve been standing out there for five minutes.” The fox said without so much as looking up. Once he was finished reading the page he was on he looked up and stretched. “What can I help you with?” “Well first things first,” Pearl walked up and slugged his shoulder with her hoof. “That’s for lying to me today. Your mother told me about your first days here on the farm.” “Okay so I embellished a bit. It worked didn’t it?” “Yes, but that’s not the point.” Signing Pearl sat down at the foot of his bed. “Is there anything else?” Kohaku closed his book and folded his front legs on it. “I was wondering if. Well, I could borrow a book to read?” “Sure, the ones on the first and second shelves are in ponish. The others are in my native tongue.” Kohaku smiled. “Just be careful, some of them are quite old.” “I will be.” Pearl smiled as she walked over to the bookshelf. Reading the spines she found books by authors she has never heard of. Or ones so rare that she would never have been able to find if she lived a thousand years. Scanning the shelf she found one book that she had always desired to read. Pulling it from the shelf she scanned the cover, it was definitely worn but in better condition then ones in collector hooves. ‘The Adventures of Draco Wing the Magnificent.’ Stories about a brave Pegasus Knight who does battle with dark dragons. Smiling, she opened the cover and double blinked. It was signed and she knew the writing instantly. ‘To my beloved little brother, may this book lead you down a path of adventure and knowledge. ~Starswirl.’ Turning around she looked at Kohaku. “You know Starswirl the Bearded!” “Hmm? Yeah Onisan gave me that book when I was five. Your welcome to read it.” Kohaku said without even looking up from his book. “If you like you can take it with you when you leave, if you haven't finished it by then.” “You’d let me hold on to this valuable book?” “Yeah, what’s a best friend for if they can’t loan out a book or two,” Kohaku looked up with a smile. Pearl’s eyes sparkled as she smiled wide. “OH thank you, thank you, thank you!” Rushing forward she kissed his cheek and dashed out the door which closed behind her. Half skipping along to Apple Bloom’s room she suddenly stopped. Realization at what she had done finally caught up with her. A look of sudden horror crossed her face as she groaned. “I kissed him… I kissed Kohaku… I’m gonna be sick.” Groaning, she stoped at the bedroom door and halted again. Looking back to Kohaku’s room she looked at it questionably. “Best Friend?” her voice a soft whisper as she just shook her head and went inside the room to start reading.