On one Friday morning, the hills and trees of Sweet Apple Acres were waiting patiently for something to happen. Some of the leaves had fallen with the arrival of the autumn season, moving around with each breeze. But more than anything, they were waiting for their caretakers to get to work before the winter season would arrive.
When the sun rose to signal it was dawn, it was clear what maintenance needed to be accomplished. Some of the trees had been rotten to the core with age, and looked almost hideous with their decaying bark. They had lost some of their luster, and a few even smelled of death.
The sun rays covered everything in a bright yellow glow, entering within the open windows of the house of the Apple family.
One of the rooms were that of Apple Bloom's. She snored lightly as she slept, before the sun gave its shine. When it hit her eyes, they slowly opened up, only for her entire attitude go from being a drowsy filly to...something else.
"Today's the day!" she shouted in a Southern drawl. She glanced over at the calender on her desk, and surely enough it was the day circled with red pencil several times over. "Today's the day Ah get closer to becoming a mare! Yee haw!"
She exploded out from her bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror. A little adjustment on the mane, make sure the tail isn't all mangled, the bow looks nice. That takes care of this step.
After her little routine was over, she ran to the bathroom and pushed the door open, only to see Applejack in there brushing her teeth. The older sister jumped back in surprise, only to be a little annoyed.
"Apple Bloom? You need to knock first before you come in here all excited like that! Ah could have been doing something else in here," she warned.
"But today's the day!" Apple Bloom chirped, as she hopped up and down like Pinkie did. "Ah can't wait!"
"What in tarnation are you talking about...oh, that day," she said, her eyes widening with revelation. "Ah almost forgot about that! We're cutting down some of the older trees, that day, right?"
Apple Bloom nodded, still hopping like a bunny. "So when do we start?"
"Big Mac and Ah are going to be working all day, there's a lot of trees to cut down. You'll be helping once you get back from school. You studied like Ah told you last night?"
"Yes ma'am! Ah got everything right in here," she replied, sticking a hoof on her forehead.
Applejack finished up brushing her teeth and turned off the sink. "It's all yours," she said as she left.
It wasn't long until the little filly ran inside the bathroom, shutting the door hard in her wake. After some noises that sounded like brushing, flossing, and Celestia knows what else, she came out with shiny teeth and a clean face. Her bow was a little wet, and she shook the water off with a few brushes.
But she could smell something coming from the floor below. It was sweet and warm, with hints of cinnamon in there. Her stomach was rumbling inside, so it was just what she needed at that moment.
She ran down the stairs without any restraint, and sniffed around to find where it was coming from. Dining room, of course. She followed the scent like a dog to find a bowl of hot oatmeal with a glass of milk next to it on the table.
Granny Smith was by the sink, and turned around to see her youngest granddaughter come inside. "Now, you tell me what you think of that new recipe I cooked up," she commented. "Took five times this morning to get it right. Almost burned the whole house down the third time."
Apple Bloom wasted no time and plopped down in her chair. She took the spoon next to the bowl and dug in immediately. It was even better than she hoped, with the perfect mix of flavors giving a delicious taste. Granny Smith watched as the filly dug in again, with multiple spoonfuls going in.
"I take it the oatmeal's great?" she inquired.
"Yeah! Best oatmeal Ah've ever tasted!" Apple Bloom commented, as half the bowl was gone already.
"Now hold on just a minute," Big Mac said as he entered the room. "You need to slow down right there. There's no rush to finish it first. Try to enjoy it for now."
Apple Bloom frowned, only to see just how fast she had ate. She felt like she was going to be sick, and washed the oatmeal down with some milk. All better now, as she took a few smaller bites and tried to savor them for once. Big Mac smiled on how his point was taken.
"Sorry, Ah'm just so excited," she explained. "Ah've done so many thing to help around here for years, and this is the first time Ah get to help with something bigger."
"Fillies," Granny Smith laughed. "They always want to grow up faster than they should."
Apple Bloom blushed at that comment, and dove in again for the oatmeal. She noticed her brother was smiling at the humor as well, and her bow went down in embarrassment. She was doing great so far in her life, she thought.
She looked up at the clock in the room, seeing she had plenty of time. Big Mac sit down next to her as he had his own bowl to eat from. Much bigger than the filly's, given their size difference.
"So what will Ah be doing out there?" she asked.
"Well, there's a lot to it," he answered. "First, there's cutting it down with a saw, and that's a two pony job. Some of them will be really big, so maybe you can help Applejack or me get one side of it. But you have to be careful. Those trees are mighty heavy, and you can't be in the way of one of them when they fall to the ground. Both of us will make sure you'll be fine, but sometimes you have to know where it's going to fall and where to run."
She nodded, and took a few more bites from her oatmeal. She still couldn't wait, having a sense of danger to the job only caused her to look forward to it more than ever. It even caused her to return to eating the meal faster, until there was no oatmeal or milk left for her to enjoy. She placed the bowl and glass cleanly in the sink and returned to her bedroom.
There wasn't much time left before she had to leave for school, and all her supplies were in her room. She opened the saddlebag to see everything was where it should be. She had already planned to eat in the cafeteria, cheese pizza was one of her favorite meals.
Feeling like she had a few precious minutes to kill time, she looked outside her window and covered the sun with a hoof in her face. From there, she could see all the trees that were past their prime and chosen for cutting. They all had red X's spray painted on them, marking them for reference. There was plenty of X's all over the acres, meaning it might take the whole weekend to cut them all down.
She sighed, wishing she could skip school to do it now. But it wasn't going to happen, especially on test day. Oh well, it was only for a few more hours, right?
Then she heard the door open, as Applejack came in with her trademark hat on her head. "You ready for school?"
"Yeah, let me get this on..." She heaved the saddle bag on her back, the last thing she needed. "Ah'm ready to go when you are."
"Hold up, you're getting a practice quiz first," Applejack interrupted. "What's eleven plus 17?"
"28!"
"What elements make up for water?"
"Hydrogen and oxygen!"
"And who was the previous ruler of Equestria before Celestia and Luna?"
"A man with a goat head that has an addiction to cotton candy clouds, chocolate rain, and giving Granny Smith a good back!"
Applejack sighed with that answer. "What's his name, Apple Bloom?"
"Discord!"
"Exactly! You got some brains there, you've been studying more and more, Ah've noticed. So let's go on and get out of here."
Apple Bloom gleamed again and followed her big sister through the house. They went downstairs as Big Mac was waiting on the front porch with a double sided saw resting next to him on the floor.
"We'll be waiting for you when you get back," he encouraged her. "Have fun out there."
"Sure will!" she responded with a grin.
The two sisters began to trot out of the Acres, as the sun had risen much higher into the sky. It caused the previously blackened sky to turn to light orange, with hints of blue mixed in.
Yet, school was the last thing on Apple Bloom's mind. Every so often, she found herself wishing for a time machine to go into the future by six hours, just so she could cut down trees right now. Wasn't there a doctor in Ponyville everypony kept saying was a Time Lord? Probably wasn't a real tale, most of them never are.
At the same time, Applejack could read the enthusiasm in Apple Bloom's eyes. It reminded her of herself as a filly...back when her parents were still around...
"So how excited are you about all of this?" she said, trying to get that memory out of her head.
"Very! Ah can't wait to do all of this. It will help me get stronger, and maybe Ah'll be half as strong as you when I'm finished!"
Applejack laughed. Always the humble one. "Maybe. We'll have to find out once you start out there. But, Apple Bloom?"
"Yeah, sis?"
"Did Big Mac ever tell you about how dangerous a job like this can be?"
The filly ruffled her mane with her right front hoof. This was getting strange to her now. "Something like that. He said Ah should be mighty careful out there. Ah guess it's because those are really heavy trees, right?"
"Right. None of us want to see anypony get hurt, and that means you too. Ah know Ah haven't talked to you about this, but Ah'm kind of worried about this."
"Ah'll be fine. You'll be there if something goes wrong, right?"
"Ah want to be there. But...Ah'm not sure if you're old enough for all of this. You...you could wait a little while."
Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks, and she wasn't enthusiastic anymore as much as a little annoyed. "What do you mean, 'You're not old enough'? Granny Smith had no trouble that I wanted to do this. So what's the matter?"
Applejack sighed, as she had no choice but to recall those years. "You ever remember our parents?"
"No, Ah was a little foal when they died. But you and Big Mac were old enough to remember. But what do they have to do with me?"
"Well, Ah've never talked to you about this before, and Ah think it's the right time. They didn't just die when you were a foal, they died when Ah was just a filly. Everything about my life changed when they were gone. It wasn't a good time for me. When they went, there were still the Sweet Apple Acres to take care of. So after the funeral, Ah had to take up some of the load they left behind.
"Ah forced myself to grow up faster than Ah should have. Ah didn't have time for friends almost every day of the year, it took so long for my filly body to do any work for a while, even with your brother's help. Save for school, Ah didn't even get to see many fillies my age. While it got better as Ah got older, trading my fillyhood away for a heavier workload is one of the few regrets Ah have in my life."
Apple Bloom kicked at the ground, feeling bad about it when she really thought about the story. "And what does it have to do with me?"
"Ah...Ah've been kind of worried you could be doing the same right now," she admitted. "You really should be hangin' around with your friends, goofing off and not having a care in the world. But you're out here, all excited that you're going to be doing something only full grown stallions and mares should be doing."
The filly frowned, not believing it for a second. "Ah just want to help out more around the house. One day, Ah'll have to be part of the farm, you know?"
"You might not. We don't know yet, we wouldn't be able to tell until you have your cutie mark. None of us will stop you if you decide you want to move out one day."
"But Ah want to stay with the family. Is that OK if that's what Ah want to do with my life?"
The farm pony sighed, and nodded. By now they could see the school coming up within the next mile, and she could tell this was the path her sister wanted, cutie mark to back it up or not. In the end, she wouldn't fight that decision.
At the same time, Apple Bloom did feel bad since she had gone against what Applejack had suggested several times. Although, there were points she couldn't argue with, like the part about trading away her fillyhood. Yet, she just couldn't picture a future without Sweet Apple Acres at all. She enjoyed it too much to even think about it.
They arrived at the school shortly after. It was a little early, but most of the school ponies that were enrolled there were already present. It was bustling with activity as many ponies were at the playground, enjoying their final moments before "prison" resumed.
Over in the distance, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were knocking a ball back and forth with their noses. They continued on with their game, before the pegasus could see her other friend behind Sweetie with her sister.
"Hey, there she is! Hi Apple Bloom!" she greeted.
The ball popped on Sweetie Belle's horn, but she forgot about it as soon as she could see Apple Bloom next to her.
"There you are! We were just talking about you. I asked Rarity if we could sleep over at her house tonight," she went on. "She hated the idea, saying that we might wreck another dress of hers. But once I agreed we would stay in my room the whole night, she might have said yes. I don't know, she mumbled something about it. I'm sure it was 'yes'."
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Sorry girls, but Ah'm going to be plenty busy today. Ah'm helping Applejack out with the farm after school. Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Sweetie responded. "We can wait until tomorrow if you want. I also heard she's finishing some shipment today. Maybe she'll be in a better mood after that."
With that, Applejack didn't feel like she needed to be there anymore. "Well, you all take care of yourselves out there. Apple Bloom, make sure you get as many questions right as you can. Ah'll see you all later."
The Crusaders waved as she walked back to the farm. When she was gone, Sweetie and Scootaloo could see that their friend was a little gloomier than her usual self. She kept looking down at the ground, kicking dirt around for no real reason.
In response, Sweetie turned around to see where she put that ball, only to see its remains popped on the ground. Stupid horn.
Scootaloo saw that the clock at the school building still gave them two minutes to play and talk, so she felt the need to get to the bottom of the issue.
"What's the matter?" she brought up. "I haven't seen you like this since we didn't get our marks after we tried being Cutie Mark Parachuters. And that was painful."
The bowed pony looked back up, hiding her true feelings. "It's nothing. Ah'll be fine, just needed some time with you girls."
"So what are you going to be doing over at the farm?" Sweetie asked.
"Oh, that's the fun part." Her eyes lit up, with more enthusaism than before. "Ah'll be getting to help Applejack and Big Macintosh cut down some of the older trees. It's going to be a lot of fun."
"Sounds dangerous," Scootaloo added. "And that's great! Maybe that's how you'll get your cutie mark, in tree cutting!"
"Yeah, with a falling tree on your flank!" Sweetie continued.
At that moment, the school bell rung with much noise over the playground. Everypony groaned a bit as the doors opened, as Cheerilee waited for them at the front door.
"Come in, my little ponies!" she said with her cheerful demeanor. "It's time to start the school day!"
A crowd of ponies came in the front doors, as they found their way to their classroom. The hallways were full with the noise of hooves clamping on the ground and lockers opening and closing, as the school day was almost here.
It wasn't long until the Cutie Mark Crusaders had taken their seats along with everypony else. Apple Bloom had her hooves on her desk, nervous about what would happen once the class began.
The class bell rang as Cheerilee walked into the room. The chalkboard was already marked with the phrase "All Subject Tests Today" with the corresponding subjects to the right. They were all numbered in the class order, with the first being math.
"As we've discussed many times since Monday, today we're going to have tests for all the subjects. First, you're going to have a math test followed by one on science. I hope you all studied hard, you should have good scores if you studied hard like a good student."
She handed a stack of paper over to one of the students. The little colt, named Rumble, passed the sheets to each student one test at a time, going through row by row.
It wasn't long until Apple Bloom had her own test, full of addition and subtraction questions with division for bonus points. She lifted up her pencil only for a note to land on her desk. She looked around to see Diamond Tiara sticking her tongue at her. She did the same and opened the note.
Can't wait to see you crash and burn when Cheerilee says your low score on Monday. Have fun.
Apple Bloom pushed it off the desk and got to work. She found the test to be rather easy, to the point where she even knew how to do the division work. Agreeing to more math lessons by Big Mac had paid off big time.
She sped through the questions like they were nothing, and it wasn't long until she had the entire thing finished. The bin where they would place their tests after they were done was empty right by Cheerilee's desk, and so she felt a twinge of pride as she put her test in place.
"Already done, Apple Bloom?" Cheerilee said. "Let me look...there's no way anypony's work could be good after just a minu--oh." She looked over the test, surprised at the answers. "They're almost all right. A 97...good work, Apple Bloom!"
Diamond Tiara's jaw was on the floor as the filly went back to her seat, sticking her tongue out again.
However she did not think about the next test in front of her. It was barely worth the thought, she was going to get an A on that one as well. Instead, she looked out the window and thought about her family. She felt like this was almost a rite of passage, to prove she really did belong in the hard working and famous-for-that-reason Apple family.
When she did come home, the reality would be much different.