//------------------------------//
// A Helping Hoof 
// Story: My Little Behemoth: Friendship is more than Food 
// by Kishin 
//------------------------------//

	"Applejack!"

Ears perked from hearing her name distantly called, the orange earth mare turned her head away from her work. She brushed away the sweat from her brow, only for more to start entering her eyes and dripping down onto the manured soil below her. 

The voice was deep, and familiar. But it took her longer than usual to connect that voice to Big Macintosh's. Today had been one of the hottest, windless days she had ever experienced, and she was starting to become so dehydrated that she couldn't even trot properly. As she started to head back, she suffered as the sun's heat beat her spirits down and weighed heavily on her.

Dadgummit. The heat today is worse than at Appleoosa. And tha' was in the middle of a desert! I hope that mah letter to the Princess made it through!

As she finally reached the farm, she was beginning to truly believe that the heat was making her hallucinate. In front of the farm, there was a very large crate, a carriage, two Royal Guards, and two familiar alicorns that she had met again only a day before.

Big Mac, with his hoof in a sling and cast, hopped/trotted up to her and said, "Welp, ain't ya gonna welcome the Princesses?"

So the alicorns weren't a hallucination. Awwww horseapples. I was just managing to end the day...

Applejack bowed down in a hurry, but her tired muscles had finally failed her, as she ended up collapsing and face-planting into the ground. She recovered and recomposed herself into a proper bow.

"Yer Majesties. It's a pleasure to have ya here on our farm!"

Celestia inclined and brought Applejack up from the ground, "The pleasure is all mine! I have read your letter, and I plan to help you indirectly with your crop quota with this." She gestured to the titanic crate next to Luna.

Applejack, hearing such words of hope, sprung up and forgot her physical condition from working in the fields non-stop for the past two days, resulting in another dizzy fit and another fall.

Come on ya dang useless hooves! Don't fail me now!"

Luna walked up to the earth mare. "We have decided to let thou rest. Thou have done so much with so little help. Rest while our...." She paused and stared at the crate with utter contempt. "...solution attends to thine matters."

"Ah don't know, yer majesty. I never was the type to use them fancy contraptions farmers are usin' nowadays."

"Do you hear that Celestia? She is uncertain," Luna smiled eagerly. "There is always.....this." She teleported what looked to Applejack to be a sharpened wooden pole, almost lance-like. Applejack, in her water-deprived mind, could only wonder what she needed a really sharp stick for.

Celestia sighed. She whispered to the crate, "Do you need to eat something?"

There was a profoundly deep response, which Applejack didn't bother straining herself to hear, "No. What your Princess has given me will be enough for two months. Workers have longer longevity than Drones do."

Celestia proceeded to ignore Luna's pleads and say to Applejack, "Drink some water and go rest. We shall leave you with our....help. But I must warn you. Do NOT panic when you see something strange working in your fields."

"Can do, Princesses. Thank ya kindly. I owe you a debt a' gratitiude," she said tiredly.

"Not after you saved my niece's wedding. If you have ANY trouble, go to Twilight. She knows of this situation and has been ordered to give me regular reports. Farewell, my little ponies."

Celestia and Luna entered the carriage, and waited until Applejack returned to her abode.

"Sister? Doth thou think that this may have been the wisest idea?" questioned Luna.

Celestia paused. It did appear she placed a little too much faith in rather unconventional ideas, this being one of them.

"I trust in the Behemoth's compassion. He will make the right choices. If not you'll never let this go, will you?"

Luna touched her chin, and pulled her face in a pseudo-thinking pose.

"Hmmmmmm.....no," She playfully decided.

Celestia sighed. "I thought not."

As the carriage began its ascent, and soon became a faint dot in the clear sky, the crate door cautiously creaked open.

The being inside carefully observed his surroundings. The climate was as dry and hot as.....well Cyr had lived in tunnels for his whole life, so he had nothing to compare his present situation with. But the farm and the acres of apple trees were a rustic, yet pristine and breathtaking, sight. 

"So a change of scenary and some farm labor. I'm not sure this is a form of punishment I'm familiar with," Cyr murmured to himself.

He double-checked his area, and as soon as he confirmed no-pony or any-ling saw him, he trotted out of the humongous wooden crate and walked into the fields.

He became entranced with the new smells of manure and earthy organic plant life. Even from afar, the faint yet sweet scent of apples carried with the breeze and entranced Cyr. It was almost too good to be true. 

Cyr sighed. "Here I am acting like a new-born Spawnling."

He gathered his thoughts and set to work. But he found that it was quite....awkward for him to remove the apples from their branches. If he attempted to buck them, he would have uprooted the tree in its entirety. He could not remove the delicate fruits with his mouth either, with his incisors and all.

But, I could....Oh Chrysalis condemn me if this goes wrong....

He rose his upper forehooves up into the air, and from his upright position, he stomped down onto the soil, sending seismic tremors throughout the acres of land and trees. Soon millions of apples dislodged themselves from their respective trees, and began to roll downhill. Cyr could only stare as he soon became hoof-deep in a literal avalanche of apples.

Well that was easier than I thought. Time to get started.

Cyr waded through the apples to collect some nearby barrels. With his mouth, he carefully avoided crushing a barrel altogether and began scooping the apples up.