//------------------------------// // Unexpected 'Guest' // Story: Apple Scratch : A summer at the Farm // by Mariacheat-Brony //------------------------------// Applejack had just done a delivery to Barnyard Bargain and she was waiting for Rarity at the town entrance. She had unattached Red Hare, the huge red coated stallion the Apples possessed who was pulling the cart, so that he could stretch his legs and wander around a bit. She laid down in the cart and started sky gazing. It had always allowed her to think about something. 'We're Friday now, which means the girls will leave in four days' She thought in deep reflexion. 'Maybe Ah should talk to Vinyl about doin' somethin' special with them before that.....Maybe a girl night out... Anyway, Ah'll be glad to get my bed back... Not that sleepin' at Rare's side is annoyi..' Her thought process was interrupted by a sudden little painful realization. Her pensive expression turned into a small sad frown. 'How in tarnation, could Ah've forgot that it would also mean that Rarity'll be leavin'?...Ah got to do somethin' special for her.' She thought absently. She heard the sound of heavy hoof steps and sat up straight thinkin' Red Hare had come back from his little stroll. Instead, she saw a man riding a imposing white saddle horse next to her cart. The man had short black hair and was wearing a complete rider outfit, to Applejack it was pretty clear the man wasn't from Ponyville. Everything he and his horse were wearing was screaming Canterlot Nobility. But he somehow looked familiar. "Excuse me, young farm girl." The man said in a highly fancy accented voice. "But, do you happen to work for the farm named Sweet Apple Acres?" 'Eeeyup, definitely Canterlot nobility.' She nodded to herself internally. "Ah reckon, Ah'm. What can Ah do ya for, fella?" Applejack asked in a polite tone as she stood up and jumped from the cart. The man frowned a bit at how straightforward the woman was, he wasn't accustomed to such behavior from non noble. "Could please show me the way to the farm then?" He asked after a small moment, his expression convinced Applejack he had thought of saying something entirely different. "Well, Ah'm waitin' someone, then Ah'll be on my way to the farm. If ya got time, ya could wait here and then we could make the road t'gether." Applejack offered. "I suppose I can do that." The noble reluctantly accepted as he dismounted. "Quite a nice horse ya have there." Applejack casually said as she extended her hand to pat the horse. "I would appreciate you do not do that." The man sharply said. "I don't like stranger touching my horse." Applejack frowned a little, but quickly regained her composure. "Sorry, Ah didn't realize." She said slowly. "Ah reckon that if 'twas ma horse, Ah wouldn't like it much too." She conceded. "Because a simple worker at the farm like you has enough money to buy a horse?" He asked with a condescending tone and a crooked eyebrow. "Because ya think Ah pulled this cart here by maself?" Applejack sharply retorted. 'Not that Ah couldn't though...But Red and Philibert need exercise..' She thought before whistling to call Red Hare back. The huge red stallion trotted slowly back in their range of vision. Applejack snickered when she noticed the man's eyes going wide as saucers at the size of the workhorse. Red Hare slowly positioned himself where he could be harnessed to the cart easily. Something Applejack did, knowing that Rarity wouldn't be late in meeting with them soon. "Cornelio? Is that you?" Came a crystal clear voice that sounded as a sweet melody to Applejack's ear. The farmer and the noble turned their heads toward the source of the voice and saw that Rarity was walking toward them. The farmer frowned a bit when the noble quickly close the distance and pecked Rarity's hand. "My Lady, it's a pleasure seeing you again." The man, Cornelio apparently, said in a sophisticated polite voice. "I dare say that you're lovely as ever." Rarity blushed at the compliment. "It's a pleasure to see you again, as well." Rarity said. "You seem to be in good shape." 'Hold on a cotton pickin' minute, are they....Nah ya worry about it too much AJ...' Applejack thought to herself. "So, Rarity how did yer errands go?" "How dare you speak like that to Lady Rarity?" Cornelio said, shocked by Applejack. "Don't you know who she is." "Considerin' she's been livin' with her Council members gal pals in ma house for the last two weeks. Yeah, Ah think Ah know who she's." Applejack said casually causing Rarity to giggle. "The only one Ah don't know who he is, is ya." "Applejack, let me introduce you to Count Cornelio Philharmonica. He's Octavia's older brother." Rarity said softly as she went toward the cart. "That's why he looked familiar." Applejack shrugged before facing Rarity. "Ready to head back?" Rarity nodded and took a seat in the cart. "Well let's go then. Ya comin' in the cart with us?" She asked Cornelio. "No thanks, I have my horse." Cornelio slowly said. "Suit yerself." Applejack said before seating next to Rarity and grabbing the reins. "Come on, Red. Git going." She shouted to make Red Hare start to pull the cart as Cornelio was going back to his horse. When she noticed the cart had a small advance on Cornelio, who had took his time to mount his horse, and was convinced he wasn't within earshot. She turned toward Rarity. "Ah don' like him." Applejack simply pouted. "Applejack dear, you've known him for what? Five minutes." Rarity chuckled. "I can assure you he's a real gentleman." "He didn't look'd like one when he was talking to me." Applejack slowly said. "Beside he was all flirty with ya. I don't like that." "My. My. Is Jacquelyn Apple jealous?" Rarity playfully asked with a small grin. "NO!.....Maybe.....Just a little bit..." Applejack stammered, her eyes shifted from up and down as she was blushing a little. "Aww! You're just so cute when you're jealous." Rarity cooed, before pecking Applejack's cheek, which started to become even redder than before. "Don't worry about Cornelio. He can flirt with me all he wants, the only one I'll flirt back with is you." She added softly. "Shucks Rare, how do you do that? Ya always win with me." Applejack said with chuckle, before turning a bit more serious. "Ah suppose ya're right! But still, Ah got a bad vibe about that fella..." Octavia had grown fond of horse riding in the first minutes of yesterday's ride with Vinyl. Right after breakfast, she had urged to Vinyl for more lessons in dressage, something Vinyl had falsely reluctantly agreed to do. Vinyl had observed that Amadeus wasn't the best choice for Octavia's type of riding, and now she was making her work with Hex Mark. The white stallion was a bit more rough around the edges compared to Amadeus, but he was gentle as possible under Vinyl's watchful gaze. "I think that's enough for now, Octavia." Vinyl said after Octavia and Hex slowed down from gallop to trot as they passed in front of her. "Dismount and don't forget what I told you about Hex." "All right Vinyl." Octavia replied, slightly panting, before dismounting and going toward the basket of apples from which she took one to reward Hex Mark. She took her gray hat off and wipe the sweat from her forehead. "It's more wearying than with Amadeus." She said as she gave the white stallion an apple. "A saddle horse is less stable than a work horse." Vinyl explained. "You'll get used to it pretty fast." "Incredible. Octavia's finally riding a horse. If I haven't just seen it, I wouldn't believe it." Octavia and Vinyl snapped their heads toward the one who had said that. When they noticed young man dismounting his white horse and facing them. Octavia smiled and ran toward the man to pull him into a deep hug, much to Vinyl's surprise and disapproval. "I take it you know each other." Vinyl said slowly, in concealed anger. "Vinyl, that's my brother Cornelio! I talked to you about him yesterday." Octavia said to Vinyl who relaxed at Octavia's sentence, before turning toward her brother. "What are you doing here?" "Well, two weeks without any news from you." Cornelio said with a chuckle. "Of course, Father and Mother would be worried about their precious little cellist." "Oh sorry about that." Octavia said apologetically. "I got caught up in so many things here, I forgot to send a letter." "No need to worry. At least, I know you're doing ok." Cornelio said. "Anyway, who's that?" He asked designating Vinyl. "That's Vinyl Apple, a fellow musician, my horse riding teacher and a very good friend of mine." Octavia said with a smile, which crisped at the end of her sentence. 'Hold on ... only a GOOD FRIEND?!!' Vinyl thought in anger. 'Graaa, focus Vinyl! That's not the moment...' "So you're Octavia's brother, the one who won a few riding competitions?" "That's me, indeed. Count Cornelio Philharmonica." Cornelio said with no small amount of pride. "One of Equestria's best riders." Vinyl shot a glance at Cornelio's horse. "Pretty good looking horse you have there. What's his name?" Vinyl asked with interest. "Hmmm! I think its name was Maximus." Cornelio said with hesitation, earning a raise of eyebrow from Vinyl. 'Did he just say ITS name...' "You think his name's Maximus?" Vinyl asked in small confusion. "Well it's not my usual horse." Cornelio casually explained. "The poor beast was exhausted after a dressage practice. So, I took this one to make the travel from Canterlot." Vinyl was far from being satisfied with his answer but, before she could say anything, Cornelio was tackled for a big hug by a poofy pink haired blur. "Cornelio, I'm sooooo happy to see you!" Pinkie said with her usual cheerful voice. "Hello, Ms Pinkamina." He said with a pained smile as he tried to resist to Pinkie's bone crushing embrace. "What have you been up to?" Pinkie proceed to tell him everything she has done since they have arrived. Every single thing! He managed to listen to a rather decent part of it. Vinyl wasn't sure that one was able to hold his attention on Pinkie's rambling for as long as he did. Eventually, he started to gaze elsewhere, not paying much more attention to the pink haired inventor who kept on talking. "Hold on. Is that what I think it is?" Cornelio suddenly asked as his gaze focused on something behind Vinyl. His eyes lit up with interest. Vinyl and Octavia turned their face to see what he was looking at. They saw Alizee who was trotting peacefully in the large pen. Vinyl had forgotten to un-saddle her after having worked with her to demonstrate various riding tricks to Octavia. "You mean Alizee?" Octavia asked with curiosity. Cornelio didn't bother to answer, and walked next to the pen's fence. "A Saddle-Arabian horse. With a full black coat." He said dreamily to no one in particular, before facing Vinyl. "How did you manage to get one?" "Stroke of luck." Vinyl shrugged. "Luck indeed." Cornelio whispered. "How much do you want for it?" He asked suddenly. "What?" Vinyl blinked profusely, completely taken by surprise. "Name your price! Money's no issue for me." Cornelio said smiling. "She's not for sell!" Vinyl said sharply in anger. "Vinyl, no need to get angry about..." Octavia started with worry as Pinkie and her were watching the scene with caution. "Oh, come on!" Cornelio shouted. "A horse like that isn't fit for farm work. It has no purpose here!" "Oh, and you think she would have a purpose with you?" Vinyl asked with sarcasm. "My stud farm would be the perfect place for it." Cornelio claimed with conviction. "Ok Pal, first thing first." Vinyl snapped. "SHE has a name, SHE is not an IT!" Vinyl shouted poking fiercely at Cornelio's chest. "Second, MY horse's place is here with me, not in some training facility for racing horse owned by some rich spoiled brat. Beside, she would buck you out of your saddle." "Lady please." Cornelio said, rolling his eyes. "I'm Equestria's best rider. No horse can buck me out of my saddle." "Not what I heard!" Vinyl humphed with a smirk, causing the offended man to burst in anger. Unbeknownst to Vinyl, her last comment had infuriated Octavia as well. If Pinkie hadn't been there to hold her back, she would have slapped her girlfriend with all her might. Pinkie was trying her best to calm Octavia, but unfortunately she didn't seem to succeed in that. "I don't know what you heard." Cornelio said slowly. "But, I can assure you that I can ride any horse in the land." "Go on and try then, she's right there." Vinyl said sharply. "But don't you complain if you're hurt afterwards." Cornelio passed on the other side of the fence and try to make way toward Alizee who was looking at the man with cautious curiosity. Vinyl snickered when she saw Alizee slowly trotting away each time Cornelio came too close to her. She didn't kept that expression for a long time, since her face was swiftly turned around, only to be slapped with a strength that made her take a few steps back. When she looked up, she saw an incredibly pissed off Octavia. "What in the hay is goin' on?" Applejack asked in confusion, as she walked toward them with Rarity. "We've been hearin' some shoutin' from the stables for about five minutes!" Pinkie explained as best as she could the situation to Applejack and Rarity, while Octavia was yelling at Vinyl for bringing her brother's accident in the conversation. In the pen, Cornelio had managed to grab Alizee's reins, but he was having a hard time at trying to make her stand still so he could mount her. "Stand still! You stupid horse!" Vinyl heard him shouting before hearing a loud clack followed by what looked like a pained whinny. That made her snap her head toward where Alizee and Cornelio were. She saw Cornelio holding firmly the reins with his left hand with something in his right hand. She focused her gaze on what he was holding. It was a riding crop. "Vinyl! Look at me when I talk to yo..." Octavia started in anger when she noticed something had changed in Vinyl's behavior. "Vinyl? Are you ok?" She asked in a more gentle voice. Vinyl had started to shake violently. Like she would have if she had been outside in winter with nothing on her. Octavia looked in her lover's eyes and only saw fear. She looked where Vinyl was looking at and saw her brother waving his riding crop, trying to whip Alizee. 'What's so terrifying about my brother waving a ...riding crop...'Oh sweet Epona!' Octavia thought with eyes wide in realization as Cornelio managed a second hit on Alizee's flank. The second pained whinny from her horse made Vinyl move. She jumped on the other side of the fence and grabbed Cornelio with her magic before tossing him without ceremony away. Vinyl close the distance and hug Alizee as the horse tried to nuzzle her for comfort. "It's ok, sweetie! It's over, no one's gonna hurt you anymore!." Vinyl slowly said in a low motherly tone. "I'm sorry I let him get close to you. It won't happen again, I promise!" Cornelio stood on his feet again, completely infuriated by now. "That tears it!" He shouted. "I've had enough of you low life farmer's behavior. You'll learn your place." He said before hitting violently Vinyl's back with his crop, to the others's shock and disbelief. Vinyl didn't feel the pain. Everything changed for her. She wasn't a grown up woman anymore, she was just a little girl. She wasn't in a pen holding her horse close to reassure her, she was cowering in a dark corner of a small shabby bedroom. She turned around and noticed Cornelio wasn't there anymore. Who she saw was a monster from her past. One she hadn't dreamt or thought about in more than fifteen years. The orphanage's director stood there, three feet from her, towering her and holding a crop high, ready to hit Vinyl again. Vinyl wasn't strong anymore, she didn't have her magic to protect herself, she did the only thing a little girl could do when she faces her worst nightmare. She screamed. Vinyl's shriek of terror resonated in the plain. Cornelio was taken aback by the sudden outburst, before being bucked in the chest by an angry Alizee who stood in front of her owner, ready to protect her. Octavia ran toward Vinyl and pulled into a reassuring embrace, she was joined by Pinkie Pie whose hair seemed straighter than usual. They both whispered some comforting words, hoping it will make Vinyl stop screaming. Applejack lifted Cornelio from the ground and was ready to punch him in anger before being stopped and levitated away from him by a deep blue aura. "LET ME GO THIS INSTANT, RARITY!" Applejack bellowed as she struggled against the magical grip. "AH'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!" "Applejack, please calm down!" Rarity pleaded, as she winced because of Applejack's attempts to break free from her magic. 'Uggh! I won't be able to hold her off for too long' "Vinyl, everything's ok." Octavia slowly said in a low comforting tone. "I'm here. Nothing's gonna happen to you. It's just some bad dreams." In Vinyl's mind, the nightmarish scene from her past was slowly losing its substance. Her tormentor was slowly fading into oblivion at the sound of what looked like a low melody of a cello. She started to hear a voice. A beautiful voice she had already heard before. Vinyl's wounds on her back started to close, she was slowly growing back to her usual size as the scene around her vanish in a big light, she closed her eyes to protect them from the glare. When she opened them, she was in a plain of her family orchard, in Octavia's arms. She had stopped screaming, and slowly started to hug Octavia back, softly sobbing because of what happened. Octavia turned her face and slowly kissed Vinyl, to reassure her and letting her know that she was there for her. A gesture Vinyl returned instantly. It was less passionate and more shaken than usual, but Octavia didn't care. "Octavia, what are you doing?" Cornelio asked in disbelief with wide eyes. "Silly, that's pretty obvious what she's doing!" Pinkie said with her usual cheerful voice. Her hair were back to normal, even if her face bore a disapproving frown at Cornelio. When Vinyl had stopped screaming and started hugging Octavia, she had backed away to let them have their moment. "I think you should leave Cornelio. And rather quickly." "Hun- What?" Cornelio blinked in confusion, he hadn't really processed what Pinkie was saying as he tried recover from what his sister was doing. "You should leave." Pinkie repeated slowly as she mimed a person running away with her fingers. "Why?" "Well first, because I don't think Octavia would want to talk to the meanie pants who hit her lover, even if he's her brother." Pinkie Pie explained. "And second, If you value your physical integrity, something you probably do or at least I hope you do, you might want to be very far from here before Applejack breaks free from Rarity's magic." As soon as she said that, Applejack let out a triumphant groan as she finally freed herself. She dashed toward Cornelio with her right fist ready to strike him. He managed to get out of the way and Applejack ended up punching one of the fence's beams, breaking it in two like it was a dry stick. Her momentum carried her further and she stumbled on the rest of the fence. "Waoh Nelly!" Applejack shouted as she fell on other side of the fence, face first. "OWwww!" she groaned in pain. "Applejack, are you ok?" Rarity said with worry as she ran toward Applejack. "Hmm! You're lucky the author doesn't want you hurt, Cornelio." Pinkie Pie said casually as he blinked in confusion at her. "But don't push your luck too much. Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" She said as she pushed him toward his horse. When he heard Applejack standing up, he ran to his horse, mounted him in an instant and galloped away from Sweet Apple Acres as fast as he could. "YEAH! RUN FASTER YA RASCAL!" Applejack shouted as she angrily shook her fist at him.