//------------------------------// // Arc XXII Episode I: Down On The Farm // Story: Family Begins With You // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// A few days later… With school out, and the Summer Festival starting in two days, everyone was getting everything ready. The city streets were already set up with various booths and games based on Eastern culture and fireworks were already pre-ordered by the Mayor to get the event rolling. All that was left, was some freshly made apple juice made from the finest fuji apples to compliment the entire thing. And who better to get it done than the Apple Family? Unfortunately though, Big MacIntosh was busy helping organize and set up booths with Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith was working with the Mayor to get all of the food properly sorted, which left them a bit short-staffed at the farm on this obscenely hot day. However, they did have some help in the form of a certain green-skinned, white-haired daywalker… “All ya need’ta do is help us with some’a the apples,” Applebloom said as she walked down the sidewalk, “Can ya do that fer us, Keiji?” And next to her, the vampboy who served as their employee in exchange for state-issued bloodpacks would have no choice but to agree. “Yeah. Doesn’t sound so bad. Just some little red fruits--how are can they be?” “Good,” Applebloom replied as they rounded the corner and walked up to the Apple Family farm. “‘Cuz we’re gonna need all the help we can get,” she turned her head right--towards the farm, and called out for her sister. “Right, Applejack?” Applejack had just stepped outside of the barn wearing daisy dukes and a minimalist, red front-knot top to secure her chest in place, leaving the rest of her muscular abdomen exposed. “That’s right.” She held up her hand to shield her face from the sun and whistled, “Soo-wee. Sure is hot today. Better stretch so I don’t pull nothin’.” And she stepped off the porch and began to stretch, starting with her arms, then bending down to stretch her legs and back. “Good idea,” Applebloom added, “Ready’ta get started, Keiji?” She looked to her left, but the vampboy was no longer there. Rather, it was just an outline of dust that resembled his shape. “...Keiji?” Down the street, Keiji could be seen sneaking away like a criminal that had just stolen a bag of cash from a bank. “Keiji! What are ya doin’?!” Applebloom called out. “That body of hers is--” But Applebloom wasn’t having it today. She angrily tapped her foot on the ground and shouted, “Boah! If you don’t getchyer garlic-not-havin’ behind back here right now!” Keiji came back moments later and smirked, “I’m joking, I’m joking…mostly.” “Yeah well, it’s 99 degrees fahrenheit out here. That ain’t no joke,” Applebloom scolded him as she started walking onto the farm. “Yeah it’s…yeah, sorry about that,” Keiji replied as he followed her, unable to take his eyes off of Applejack. That’s when Applebloom took notice. “...Oh. I see how it is. Ya little horndog,” she playfully punched his arm and snickered. “H-hey--it’s not! Gah…” he wasn’t in the mood to argue, so he didn’t bother responding. The heat had lowered his ire on this day. Once she had finished stretching, Applejack walked over to them and prepared to give out orders. “Alrighty, ya’ll. First things first--Keiji. You might wanna ditch yer shirt. It’s mighty hot today and I don’t want ya passin’ out on us.” Keiji looked at the T-shirt he had on and realized that there was already a ring of sweat around the neck of it. “Damn…you have a point.” With a nervous sigh, he lifted his shirt off of his neck, and threw it onto the porch. “Alright, what’s next?” “Next, we’re gonna clean our feet--we’re gonna be stompin’ apples into juice. Follow me to the barn, ya’ll,” Applejack beckoned them to follow her. Keiji followed with a neutral expression on his face, visibly embarrassed by being shirtless and exposing his old wounds to them. Applebloom tried to acknowledge it to help him feel better. “Honestly, fellers like you are lucky ya get’ta wander around with yer shirts off. Makes me a bit jealous.” From nearby, Applejack sighed as she grabbed multiple washbuckets. “I feel ya, Applebloom. But you know good and hell well why we gals can’t do that. Just roll up yer shirt and much as ya can and tie a knot on one side.” “Yeah yeah, I getcha,” Applebloom did just that, and removed her shoes and socks before stepping into one of the wash basins. Keiji had removed his shoes and stepped into another water-filled basin nearby. “...So we’re just making manmade apple juice from eastern apples, huh? Seems simple enough.” “Eeyup,” Applejack replied as she turned off the hose and started to wash her feet off as well. “Ma and pa used’ta do this all the time. With apples, pears, cherries…” She sighed at the thought of her parents, her expression turning a bit somber… “Huh.” Keiji commented, “Thought you all were strictly apple-only. Guess I’m wrong.” “Psssh!” Applebloom scoffed as she stepped out of the water. “Are ya kiddin’?! Don’t get me wrong now, apples are mah favorite, but life would get hella borin’ if that’s all we ever ate.” The swearing snapped Applejack out of her saddened stupor. “Hey now, watch yer language, sugarcube,” she warned with a stern raise of an eyebrow, then continued, “But she’s right. In fact, I’m a big fan’a strawberries, myself.” That caused Keiji to chuckle as he walked out of the water and up into the giant vat of apples. “Wow. That’s the most surprising thing I’ve heard all day.” Applejack started to laugh as she began smashing apples into juice. “What? Ya makin’ it sound like we’re the types’ta walk up’ta people’s doors and yell in their faces about how apples are the best fruits or somethin’.” Keiji began to stomp on the apples alongside Applebloom, and replied, “...Yeah that’d be hella weird, wouldn’t it?” “Language, boah.” “Sorry.”