I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I made Dawn pretty upset earlier, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Would an apology cut it? I promised I wouldn't do it again, but she hasn't talked to me for a while. What should I do?
I groaned, leaning back in my chair. The library was practically empty, aside from myself and Starlight. She seemed unusually active recently; stacks upon stacks of books on her table, ranging from all manner of topics. She looked to be searching for something, but I couldn't tell what from the books alone.
"What should I do? I feel like Dawn's still mad at me," I thought to myself.
"Perhaps, try making love?" Chrysalis suggested.
I bolted upright in my seat, choking on my spit. "Make what!?"
Chrysalis scoffed. "What? It's what I did with my partners when they were upset. Worked like a charm, for the most part."
"No offense, mother, but I don't think this is quite the same."
Chrysalis hummed to herself. "Is it not? I could have sworn you two were an item."
"What? No, I mean, I like her, but...I don't know. She's a friend, you know?" I stammered.
"Sure, if that's what you call a friend." Chrysalis teased.
I felt my face flush. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I see the way you two look at each other, it's kind of cute, to be honest. Staring lovingly into each other's eyes, wishing you could hold each other's-"
I abruptly slammed my head on the table a few times, interrupting my mother's lewd commentary. This seemed to snap even Starlight out of her trance, as she was now staring at me, eyes wide with confusion. Getting an idea, I awkwardly trotted over to Starlight's table before taking a seat.
"Anon, is everything alright?" Concern filling Starlight's voice.
I twiddle my hooves around, staring down at the floor. "Let's say hypothetically, you've made a friend upset, what would you do to fix that?" I asked.
Starlight narrowed her eyes. "What kind of upset?"
"The kind where you put your life on the line in front of them."
Starlight rubbed her forehead with her hooves. "Alright, tell me what happened."
"So, you asked my daughter to fire a magic beam at you under the pretense that you would block it, but mere moments before impact, you dropped your barrier, instead, dispelling the magic blast?" Starlight said, recalling what I had told her.
"Yup, that's the gist of it."
Starlight began massaging her forehead again. "That poor girl," she whispered to herself.
I sat there, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Did you at least apologize?"
I raised a hoof to my chin, thinking over the question. "Nope, but I did promise not to do it again."
Starlight sighed. "Well, that's your first step. Although, I have a feeling a simple apology won't cut it. You'll need a gift too."
"A gift?"
"Yes, a gift. We often give gifts to re-confirm or establish a connection with somepony. Giving a gift to somepony allows one to communicate their feelings and appreciation for them."
That makes sense, a lot better than other suggestions.
That's when it hit me, I had no idea what sort of gift Dawn would like. "What should I get her?"
Starlight rested her chin on one hoof, smirking at me. "I'll leave you to decide that."
Thanking Starlight, I made my way to the stairs, a new mission in my heart.
Racking my mind, I remembered that Dawn said she always loved the sun. The sun... I should get her a gift that has to do with the sun. Wait, I don't have any money. I paused in my tracks, walking back over to Starlight.
"Starlight..."
"Yes?"
"I need a job."
"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked as Starlight and I arrived outside a place that seemed to be a farm.
There was a gate lined with apples, a wooden sign hanging from the top with an apple cut-out in it. I was guessing this was some sort of apple farm.
"I'm sure. If you need quick bits, this is the place to get 'em. Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Come on, let's go find Applejack!" Starlight shouted.
Trotting through the gate, we made a b-line for a large red barn. Starlight peered inside before walking out of view. I followed after her.
Inside was a mare with a brilliant gamboge coat, a pale, light grayish olive mane, and moderate sap green eyes. Atop her head, sat a light brown stetson. Using her teeth, she dragged several bales of hay across the barn floor. She's pretty strong.
"Hey, Applejack." Starlight said, catching the mare's attention.
The pony which I now knew was Applejack dropped the rope, looking up to address Starlight.
"Howdy, Starlight, who's yer friend?" Applejack said, pointing a hoof at me.
Starlight moved me in front of her with her magic. "This is Anon, she's looking for a job actually, and we were wondering if you had any work available."
I smiled widely, eyes filled with anxiety.
Applejack tipped her hat at me. "Well, slap me silly, and call me a filly. It ain't often ponies come here looking for work. Most ponies shy away from hard labor. Think you got what it takes?"
"Yes ma'am!" I declared.
Applejack hummed to herself. "Well, we'll see soon enough. Alright, let's head out to the orchard. There's some trees that need buckin'."
"If you can buck all of these trees by Sundown, I'll give you 10,000 bits."
My jaw dropped. 10,000 bits, that's like, a lot of money.
"Don't go getting too excited now. You have to buck all of them. I can tell from those legs that you have some kind of athletic background, I have high expectations for you. You don't have to worry about moving the barrels of apples, I'll come get 'em later. Good luck, newbie," Applejack said as she walked back to the barn.
I shouted after her. "Thank you!"
"It's no problem," she said as she walked away.
There's at least 500 trees here. By my estimate, I had about 5 hours before Sundown. That's 100 trees per hour. Yeah, I can do that. I'm not your average pony after all.
While looking at the sky, I saw a rainbow streak across the sky. It was a bit odd in the sense that it didn't seem to act exactly like a rainbow, but I took it as a sign of good fortune.
Luster Dawn exited her room after a few hours of studying to herself. Making her way to the magic chamber, she found that Anon wasn't there. Thinking that maybe, Anon might be in her room, Luster Dawn headed there next. Imagine her surprise, when she found that Anon wasn't there either.
"Did she head into town?"
Dawn trotted to the library next on the off chance that Anon might be there, all she found was her mother working quite busily at the center of the room.
"Mom, have you seen Anon?" Dawn asked, addressing her mother.
Starlight looked up from her book. "Anon? I'm sure she's around. You should just wait for her, maybe she'll pop up soon."
Dawn leaned on a window ceil, looking outside a library window, noticing that the sun was setting. She began to worry to herself.
"I was too harsh, wasn't I?"
The trick was rather simple. Buck a tree, and guide the apples into their bins using telekinesis. At first, I was bucking the trees too hard, leaving hoof prints in a few of them. But it gave me a good sense of my strength, I'll have to keep a close eye on it from now.
Finished bucking the last tree, I looked up at the sky, estimating how much time I had left. Looks to be a little over an hour. Nice, I finished with an hour to spare, I'm really good at this.
I trotted over to the barn to retrieve Applejack, to show her my work. Peering inside the barn, I found that she was nowhere in sight. Where had she gone? Looking around, I spotted a small shack. Reasoning that it was worth a shot, I trotted over to it. Before even reaching the door, I could hear rustling inside. Opening the door with a hoof, I just about to call out Applejack's name, only to see a sight I shouldn't have. I won't go into detail, but let's just say ponies are very loving creatures. I slammed the door, apologizing before running back to the orchard.
"Well, they were quite active," Chrysalis noted.
"Stop, I don't want to think about it."
"Oh please, you're just mad because you wish it was you and that-"
Mother's sentence was again interrupted midway, as I smashed my face into the ground.
After a few minutes, Applejack trotted over to me, face flushed red. I avoided eye contact, it was still too fresh in my mind after all. Applejack's facial expression changed as soon as she saw the orchard, however. A face that was now that of disbelief replaced the overly embarrassed one.
"That's just about some of the best bucking I've ever seen. There's not a single apple on the ground, and you probably have an hour to spare. Incredible..."
I puffed my chest out pridefully, noticing that I had quite a bit of fluff on my tuft. I wondered if staying in a form too long would cause me to grow in it. I should probably cut it when I get the chance, or maybe not. I might look cuter with it.
Applejack pointed to a shed beside the barn, a different one, of course. "It's all in there, it's all yours."
"Thank you again," I said as I trotted over to the barn.
Applejack nodded absentmindedly.
Walking over to the shed, I flung the door open, my eyes greeted by a pleasant surprise. There was a huge sack slumped toward the back wall of the shed, brimming with gold bits.
"Yes," I said to myself.
Wait, I can't go into town with something like this. Not only would I look dumb, but I might also get robbed, or worse, I'll be targeted by sales ponies.
Reluctantly, I grabbed the sack in my magic, and began making my way back to the castle. Boy, was I glad I spent so much time training because this thing was moderately heavy.
"I wonder what I should get Dawn..."