//------------------------------// // Part Four // Story: New Perspectives // by Alerhys //------------------------------// New Perspectives a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic by Alerhys Part Four Applejack woke with the rising sun, as was her normal habit. She usually slept fully on her side, but this morning she found herself resting on her left flank and chest, front legs and head curled around her pillow. “Guess Ah was trying to make m’self a cloud ta sleep on,” she chuckled, getting up and making the bed. Walking over to her washstand, she wiped her face and brushed out her mane and tail, tying them with practiced ease. She began to reach for the hat hanging next to her mirror when she noticed her wings in the reflection. “Huh. Feathers do seem ta be a mite outta place there. Preenin’, Fluttershy called it. Guess Ah outta give it a try.” She thought back to what she had seen and heard the day before, when Fluttershy had groomed her wings. Stretching her right wing up, she took a primary in her mouth, feeling it slip naturally in between her teeth as she smoothed it into place. She paused, running her tongue over her teeth, trying to figure out if this was another thing about her that had changed, but she couldn’t be sure. “Makes no never mind anyhow,” she muttered, resuming the work of smoothing feathers into place and removing a few small loose ones. She started to discard those, then decided to leave them on the stand instead. “Might as well have a souvenir of the experience.” She repeated the process on her left wing, then folded them neatly to her sides. “That was neat!” Applejack looked over to the room’s doorway, where Apple Bloom stood enraptured. “Now, don’t you go gettin’ too enthusiastic about this, sis, or you’re likely ta spook yer friend Scootaloo all over again.” “Aww. Anyways Granny says you’re late to breakfast .” A night’s sleep hadn’t improved Granny Smith’s mood where Applejack was concerned, but the rest of the family carried on like any normal day, getting Apple Bloom ready for school and going over the list of chores for the day. Late spring and early summer were mostly maintenance times for the orchards, and it wasn’t a market day, but there were secondary crops to be weeded and trees to be inspected for any signs of trouble. After the breakfast dishes were cleaned up and Apple Bloom sent off to school, Applejack and Big Mac gathered the tools they needed and set to work. After a few hours of weeding, Applejack was done. She was also hot, tired, and annoyed, both at the fact that she was more worn out by the job than she though was reasonable and at the fact that there had been no sign of Rainbow Dash or any other pegasus in the sky over the farm that morning. “Don’t it beat all that the one mornin’ I need her to come by, she up and vanishes. Course as far as Ah know the weather schedule is clear, so she’s likely practicin’ her stunts somewhere on the other side of town.” She looked at the sun’s position and grinned. “But that don’t change the fact that Ah still need to get word to her, and Ah’ve got just the mare for the job.” and with that she headed back to the farmhouse and started preparing a note while keeping an ear out for the mailmare. She was about to address the letter when there came a familiar clatter at the front porch. Opening the door, she greeted the grey pegasus dropping letters into the box. “Heya, Derpy.” Derpy Hooves smiled back, cocking her head and indicating Applejack’s side with a hoof. “Hi! I heard about you getting opinionated!” “Yeah, I guess the story’s all over town by now, huh?” The mailmare nodded. “Yep! Real wibbly-wobbly stuff!” “Zactly. Anyhow, Ah’ve got a special delivery for ya. Got time for a fritter while Ah finish getting it ready?” “Sure, that sounds scrumptious!” Derpy followed Applejack into the house, waving at Granny Smith knitting in her chair and taking a place at the dining table as Applejack fetched the apple fritter from the kitchen. While she devoured her treat with gusto, Applejack finished her letter. “Now, this has got to get to Rainbow Dash right away, it’s an official weather team request.” The mailmare put the letter into her pouch and saluted. “Priority Class!” “Ah’m much obliged.” After Derpy took off, Granny Smith broke her silence. “Not gonna hoof-deliver it yerself?” Applejack snorted. “Derpy files better than Ah do. Honestly, Ah suspect chickens fly better than Ah do.” The answer seemed the mollify the elder mare, who went back to her knitting. “Fix up a basket for you and your brother then, won’t you? He’s probably clear out to the back forty and takin’ lunch to him will save a passel of time.” “Sure thing, Granny.” *** Fluttershy looked embarrassed, but she was smiling all the same. “Really, you shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble for me.” “Nonsense, darling,” Rarity replied. “You told me yesterday that Twilight didn’t know how many days or weeks it might be before they found a way to reverse your condition, and it’s simply not like you can be expected to put your life on hold until they do. Besides, these step stools are divine! Light but sturdy, easily carried, and just perfect for your decor! I was lucky to remember seeing them.” “But you didn’t need to get me two of them.” “Trust me, dear, if you only have one it will always be upstairs when you need it downstairs and vice versa. It almost defeats the purpose of having them in the first place. Now, let’s find a good place for these and you can tell me if there’s anything else I can help with.” “Oh, well, if you’re sure you don’t mind.” “Not at all. Whatever are friends for?” *** Rainbow Dash sat in the tree, picking twigs and leaves out of her tail. Keeping her mind on her loops was proving to be difficult, but she was at a loss for what else to do. It seemed like all anypony in town wanted to talk about was Fluttershy and Applejack, which was the last thing she wanted to discuss. “Official Special Derplivery for Rainbow Dash!” Startled, Rainbow looked up to see Derpy Hooves hovering next to the tree. “How do you do that?” “Simple, it’s synchronicity!” “What? No, never mind. What have you got for me?” The mailmare pulled out the letter from her bag and gave it to Dash. “Swift completion!” she added, before saluting and speeding away. Dash inspected the letter in her hooves, frowning. “Official Weather Request from Sweet Apple Acres.” She opened and read the note. “Northwest orchard, afternoon drizzle and cloud cover.” She looked out at the horizon. “Not a lot of raw material in the sky, but the lake isn’t that far away. So I can put half the team on it, or just do it myself. Fine. Guess I’ll go show AJ what a real pegasus looks like.” Tucking the letter under her mane, she took off, arriving over the lake a few minutes later. Coming in fast and low, she skimmed the surface of the water, drawing the moisture up in her wake and forming it into a vapor trail. Pulling up into a loop, she repeated the process several times, building up a substantial cloud, which she then pushed up into the sky and towards her target. Sitting in the shade after finishing her lunch, Applejack spotted the massive cloud approaching. “Looks like we got our weather order comin’, Mac.” “Eeyup.” Dash spotted the two farm ponies below as she moved into position. Maneuvering the cloud to the edge of the orchard, she began spreading it out in a thin layer over the apple trees, kneading a thin drizzle out of it as she did so. In minutes, the whole area was covered in overcast and mist. Dash looked down at her work, noting that she was no longer visible from the ground, which gave her the perfect opportunity to just call the job done and take off. She shook her head; that’s was the coward’s way out. Sailing beyond the edge of the drizzle, she landed with a flourish, forcing a grin. “One orchard, misted to order, courtesy of your Ponyville Weather team.” Big Mac grinned and indicated the lunch basket. “Thank ye kindly, Miss Dash, and help y’self to a fritter by way of gratuity.” “Don’t mind if I do.” She looked over at Applejack. “So, were you taking notes?” “Can’t say that I understood it so well, but it did look mighty neat. Kinda like rollin’ out a big ol’ pie crust.” Dash paused between bites of fritter. “That’s... not a bad way to think of it. Like dough.” Applejack shrugged, startling herself as her wings half-opened with the gesture. “Just what it reminded me of, is all. Anyways, thanks as usual Rainbow, we owe you.” Dash licked her lips. “Just doing my job. Not that I don’t appreciate the apple-favored bonuses.” She looked down, then back up. “Um, AJ, you know that I was just worried about Fluttershy, right?” “Yeah, I figgered as much. Don’t worry about it. Thanks for helpin’ Apple Bloom patch things up with Scootaloo.” “You’re welcome.” Dash looked away, awkwardly. “Not ta chase you off or anything, Miss Dash, but AJ and I hafta get back to work.” Big Mac put in. “Oh. Sure. I’ll see you later, AJ.” and with that Dash turned and flew off back towards Ponyville. “Nice save there, bro.” “Eeyup.” *** Twilight Sparkle looked at the stack of books on her reading table and frowned. “Problem, Twi?” asked Spike. “It’s just annoying. What happened to Applejack and Fluttershy doesn’t follow any of the rules of magic as I understand it. Even my oldest references don’t mention anything I hadn’t already thought of.” “Well, that’s why you sent those messages to Princess Celestia, right?” Twilight grumpily started levitating books back into place on the shelves. “That’s not the point, Spike. I’m their friend. Besides that, I’m supposed to be the one that takes care of things for the Princess, not running to the Princess when I can’t figure out what to do.” “Aw, Twilight, I’m sure that the Princess understands that... *uuurrpp*!" Spike’s reply was interrupted by a belch of green smoke and a rolled and sealed parchment, which he plucked from the air. “Speaking of the Princess, it’s a message for you.” Twilight levitated the letter over, breaking the seal, unrolling the parchment, and scanning the contents. “Good news?” “She wants me to have Fluttershy and Applejack here tomorrow morning so that she can talk to them. That’s all the letter says.” “Ooh.”