//------------------------------//
// Harvest Time 
// Story: Moonbeam 
// by Laurence Brown 
//------------------------------//

Luna spent the rest of the afternoon after her bath resting and trying not to think what Princess Celestia's arrival in town earlier in the day portended. Had she slipped up somewhere? Did her sister actually know where she was hiding? Was she simply letting paranoia get the better of her? She found herself with no easy answers, and nopony to talk about them with. Eventually, she gave in to the exhaustion from running for over an hour and took a nap.

The moment her eyes had closed and her head had hit the pillow, she was asleep. Instead of the peaceful slumber she had hoped for, however, Luna found herself back in that too-real dream on the moon, with Nightmare Moon waiting for her. She braced herself, staring at her evil incarnation, trying to figure out what she wanted. Was she going to taunt her again, pointing out all the flaws in her plan? Or was this another round of 'Let's Tempt Luna'? After a short while, Luna just wished that she would say or do something other than just look at her intently! Luna was about to just cut loose with a scream of aggravation when Nightmare Moon walked slowly up to her…

And bowed down? Luna cringed back a bit, eyes wide in shock. "Wha, what are you doing?"

Keeping herself prostrate, Nightmare Moon answered in a humble tone, "Princess Luna, I have come to see the genius of your plan. Please, forgive me my earlier recalcitrance. Today was an eye-opener for me, a day which I will remember fondly centuries from now."

Luna scowled at Nightmare Moon. "Stop it! You're just making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No!" Nightmare Moon protested. "I can see how you might think that, due to our previous talks, but I'm being honest with you. I am sincere when I say that I fully agree with your plan, and I want to do everything I can to help with its implementation."

Luna gaped at Midnight Moon. "You, you want to help me make friends?" she stammered.

Nightmare Moon looked up at her. "If that helps you keep your disguise going, then yes. Anything to help you stay here, as Moonbeam."

"Why?"

A wicked smile opened up on Nightmare Moon's face. "Did you not see the pain Celestia was in at the ceremony? Oh, she tried to hide it, but I could tell. She couldn't take her eyes off of you!" Slowly, she stood up. "Every day that you are here, every hour that you are away from her, is causing her torment. We owe her a millennium's worth, Luna. We're one month of the way there now, but we still have a long ways to go just to get even."

Luna could only stare in horror as the truth of Nightmare's Moon's words struck home. 'No! I'm not doing this to hurt my sister!' She wanted to scream this for Nightmare Moon, for all of Equestria to hear, but couldn't find her voice.

"In fact, I've taken the liberty to think some things over, and I have a few suggestions for you. First off, you need to keep being friends with Twilight Sparkle. It's obvious she's being used by Celestia to watch over us. Let her! The more she can report back, the more Celestia suffers."

Luna felt tears running down her face. "Maybe, maybe Celestia doesn't know…" The protest sounded false as soon as it left her lips. Nightmare Moon's words, she realized, explained why the magical prodigy of a unicorn had spent so much time with her over the last month.

"Ha! Oh, she knows. Just think of all the resources she has available to her. I'd be surprised if she hadn't figured out where we were by the end of the first week. I'll admit, I was worried when she showed up at the medal presentation. But after that initial moment, when she didn't call in the guards or even come up to say hello, that's when I knew we were safe. Indeed, I suspect you could even drop the disguise, and she wouldn't do a thing to come get you." Nightmare Moon paused to consider what she had suggested. "I don't think you should, though. I can see that backfiring all too easily right now, and then where are we? Forced to go back to Canterlot and Celestia, that's where."

Unwilling to listen anymore to how wicked and twisted her plan could be turned, Luna closed her eyes and screamed in an effort to block out the words of Nightmare Moon. By the time her lungs were empty, she realized she was awake. Looking outside, she saw that it was still early in the evening, an hour or two before sunset. Part of her wanted to go back into town and join her friends, who were most likely still celebrating Feather Down's third place finish in the race. But she didn't know if Princess Celestia was still around, and seeing her was the last thing Luna wanted to do at the moment. 'Besides,' she thought as she absently reached up to wipe a tear off of her cheek, 'if anypony saw me right now, there would be questions. I don't think I could handle those right now.'

'But what else can I do?' she wondered, looking around her still barely-furnished house. After budgeting money for food and rent, she found that what was left wasn't enough to buy much in the way of furniture. Oh, sure, she had bought some new sheets for her bed, but she still felt embarrassed by the lack of items in her house.

'Hold on, I do have something I could do!' Trotting upstairs, Luna pulled out her spell book. 'I keep putting off reading this stupid thing, but not today!' She had tried several times before, but even when lack of daylight or the sudden arrival of friends hadn't kept her from perusing the tome, boredom usually did. 'Today's the day when I read it from front to back! All my friends are busy, and there is still time left before the sun sets. If I go outside, the way I look after having cried is going to raise concerns, too. So, let's do this, Luna! You can do it!'

Dragging the book to the middle of the room, and away from the temptations that a bed might offer after a few paragraphs of overly-wordy, academian writing, Luna knelt down and started to read. She almost ignored the first few pages. She had read those opening passages enough in her previous efforts that she knew a couple of the lines by heart now, but she resisted the urge. 'If I skip one now, I'm likely to skip another down the road.' Slowly, she worked her way through the book until she reached a passage that made her stop and reread it several times to make sure she was reading it correctly.

"'The danger inherent in using any kind of complete transformation spell, like the ones I outline later in this volume, is that the body can forget its original shape over time. I have discovered that after a year and a day, even if the spell is canceled, the target of the spell will not be able to change back'?" she exclaimed. Luna found herself started to hyperventilate, and her heart was beating in her chest faster than a galloping pony. In a panic, Luna rushed over to her closet, and dug through her saddlebags. Shoving the dried husk of... something that might have been edible when she had first left Canterlot, but now was just waiting to attract ants, she found her gem pouch. Her hooves trembling, she opened it up. Carefully grabbing the bottom fringe with her teeth, she gently shook the pouch in order to empty it.

After a couple of seconds, the moonstone that had been created when she had cast her disguise spell fell out and landed on the floor. It bounced once, then rolled a short distance before coming to a halt. Dropping the pouch, Luna walked over to the moonstone, knelt down next to it, and examined it from point blank range. It didn't look like much to her, except for its uncanny resemblance to the moon.

Suddenly, she felt an impulse wash over her—an urge to raise her hoof and bring it down hard on the gemstone. 'Now would be the perfect time to do it,' she thought, slowly lifting a hoof above the stone. 'Nopony else around to see it happen. My friends are all celebrating, so my sudden disappearance shouldn't hurt them as much. I could just go back to Canterlot, and beg my sister for forgiveness. I'm sure she'd welcome me back with an open heart...' Luna stood there for a while, and then slowly brought her hoof back down to the floor. "No," she whispered to herself. "Not now, and not like this. But I will do it soon. And it will be on my terms. Not on Nightmare Moon's, and not on Celestia's. My terms, my way. I owe my friends that much, at the very least." Carefully placing the moonstone back in its bag, she went out onto her deck to simply watch the world move by as she tried to calm her emotions and misgivings.



Sleep took a long time coming that night, but was thankfully devoid of any dreams, conversational ones with evil personae or otherwise. Luna still felt a bit sore from the previous day's running, but she was still ready for the day ahead of her. When Pine Needle passed by her house, she joined him on their walk to work as she usually did.

Luna was worried her friend would ask her where she had been yesterday, but Pine Needle was strangely quiet for a change. She noticed that he kept on looking at her when he thought she wasn't looking. A couple of times he seemed ready to say something, but then visibly reconsidered and kept quiet instead. It was, Luna decided, a very uncomfortable way to start the day. Finally, as the two of them came within sight of the gate to Haystack's farm, Luna decided she had had enough. She trotted in front of Pine Needle, turned to face him, and stopped. "What's wrong?" she asked him, hoping her voice didn't sound as strained as she was feeling at the moment.

Pine Needle froze. To Luna's surprise, he not only refused to respond, but just looked at the ground and tried to walk around her. Luna quickly sidestepped to keep in front of him. "You look like you've been wanting to say something to me all the way here. What is it?" she asked her friend. "Have I made you mad or something?"

"No!" Pine Needle protested. "No, I'm..." He sighed. "Moonbeam, I am sorry, I am not mad with you at all. I am just trying to come to grips with something, and I don't know how to do it."

"Well, if you're not mad at me, tell me then! Maybe I can help!" Luna said, exasperated that Pine Needle was being so close-mouthed.

Pine Needle's face turned a bit red and drooped. "Fine," he said resignedly. "You are right, it is something I need to get off of mine chest anyways. Something I realized during the Running of the Leaves. Something involving you."

'Oh, no!' thought Luna. 'He's figured out who I am!'

"When you used your earth pony magic, I swear that I was able to feel you doing so. And that made me realize something, something that I'm afraid to say..." Pine Needle was blushing so much that his face was almost as red as an apple.

'Wait a second!' Luna thought, panicking as her trail of thought went into uncharted territory. 'Is he going to admit... THAT?'

"Because if I say it, I'm afraid that our relationship as friends may be over, and I don't want to lose that..." All of a sudden, Pine Needle stood up straight and stared Luna in the eye. "But it needs to be said!"

Luna felt herself blush a little under the fierceness of Pine Needle's stern look.

"Moonbeam... I am..."

Luna's heart was beating so fast, she thought it would burst from her chest.

"I am jealous of you, and I'm sorry!"

Luna blinked a few times, and had to resist the urge to fall over onto her side in shock. "You're... jealous of me?" she weakly got out.

"Yes! It took me many years of practice with mine parents to be able to do anything close to what you did! And yet, on your first time trying, you seem to have mastered it! I know it is terrible for me to think this way, but I can't... help..." Pine Needle trailed off, and tilted his head at Luna. "Actually, I can't help but wonder why you are now lying on the ground laughing at me!"

Luna could tell her friend was rapidly turning angry, and waved a hoof to try to calm him down. "No! I'm sorry, I just... I thought, he he, that you were going to say something completely else! And when you didn't, ow, I think I hurt my side there from laughing... Wait! Come back Pine Needle! Please wait up a second!" Seeing her friend stomping past her, Luna scrambled back onto her hooves and ran back in front of her friend. "This is going to sound stupid, especially now that I remember how big of a crush you have on Applejack. But the way you were talking, and how red your face was turning, it just seemed like you were about to, you know, admit a different kind of feeling for me." Luna felt herself blush a bit in embarrassment at her misunderstanding.

It was now Pine Needle's turn to look confused, until, "What? No! You know mine heart is for Applejack and Applejack only!" He paused and then chuckled. "Although, I can see how, with the way I came around to the subject... heh heh!" Soon, both of them were laughing loudly, and after a minute they both finally found themselves gasping for breath over the whole mix up.

Finally, after they had both settled down, Luna turned to Pine Needle. "Pine Needle, I'm not mad that you're jealous. I can understand, in a way." All of a sudden, Luna realized she did know exactly how Pine Needle felt. After all, hadn't it been jealousy that had led to her becoming Nightmare Moon and trying to keep the sun from rising all those years ago? Suddenly somber, she said, "It isn't fun, is it? It tears you up inside, and makes you consider doing things you normally wouldn't think yourself capable of attempting. I'm so sorry I made you feel like that. But it wasn't anything I wanted to do—make you jealous I mean. I just did what you told me. You're just that good of a teacher, I guess?"

Right in front of the gate to Haystack's property, Pine Needle froze. "That's it! You are a genius, Moonbeam! I shouldn't be upset at the fact that I am no longer the best at what I consider to be mine personal talent! No, I need to help train you! What we can do is so rare, after all! What do you say, will you let me help you?"

"Well, I, um, will we even have time, with the harvest coming up?" Luna asked, realizing that she would have a hard time of keeping her true level of power secret from Pine Needle if they actually did start working together like he wanted to.

"Oh, not now. You are correct. Harvest will take up all of the time we will have and then some! But during the winter will be perfect! Please, at least consider it for now?"

"Deal!" said Luna. "Okay, let's see what Haystack needs us to do today." She held the gate open for her friend, and the two walked up to Haystack's house. As they reached the door, Haystack came out to meet them.

"Hello Pine Needle, Moonbeam. I have some bad news." Haystack looked stressed to Luna.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"We're not going to be able to get the neighboring farmers to help us out this year in getting the crop in." Haystack looked weary. "I went around yesterday, after the Running of the Leaves, and they all told me no."

"Why not?" Pine Needle demanded.

Haystack sighed. "The parasprites."

"The what?" Luna asked.

"Earlier in the summer, Moonbeam, I'd say it was a week or so after the Summer Sun Festival, so before you arrived here in Ponyville, right?" Seeing Luna nod in confirmation, Haystack continued. "These little things swarmed all over Ponyville. Cute little buggers, but they ended up eating almost everything. And I'm not talking just food either. They were devouring buildings before they were made to leave town. I don't know what made them come, or why they left, but all that matters is that everypony's crops were hurt in one way or another. Mind you, we had time to replant what was lost. But instead of being able to coordinate and figure out a schedule of who would harvest when, making it so we could all help out each other, well, the time table got pushed way back. Everypony is putting off things as long as they can to get the most growth out of their crops.

"But I just received word today. Winter has been scheduled to begin next week. Mind you, there won't be any snow right away, but it's the frost that's the real problem." Haystack sighed. "We sent a petition to Canterlot, asking for an extension, but it got voted down. Which I guess I can understand. Seasons are something that shouldn't be messed around with except in dire emergencies, but one more week would have made things so much easier!" Haystack's face was filled with frustration. "Anyway, not only do we not have the help of the other farmers, it also means that there is going to be a lot of competition to try to hire any other help. Every other farmer is going to be looking for extra hooves too. So, I've already inspected the farm this morning, and we'll be okay letting things sit for now. Any extra watering at this stage isn't going to change things. What we need to do is head into town, and try to get some help for tomorrow. I'm sorry to make the two of you walk all the way in, but I didn't want to risk have us taking different routes and end up missing each other."

"Not a worry, Haystack!" Pine Needle assured his friend.

In town, Haystack's fears were confirmed. They stopped by Town Hall, but the Mayor sadly informed them that there were no ponies currently seeking employment. "Well then," Haystack told them, "we'll have to split up. Don't be afraid to ask anypony. Tell them that they'll be paid well for a day's work, and that their efforts will also help to make sure nopony goes hungry this winter." Luna wandered off from the other two, wondering just who she could ask.

'Twilight Sparkle? She's been very friendly to me...' she froze when she considered Nightmare Moon's words from yesterday. 'But, do I want this reported back to Celestia? That would be a terrible thing to pass on to my sister, that I'm being reduced to begging for help from others that I barely know." Luna resumed walking, and found herself approaching the inn where Dewdrop worked. 'It's a long shot, but even if she can't help, maybe she could recommend somepony who could.'

It took a few minutes for Dewdrop to have some time to spare from her busy schedule to talk to her. "I'm sorry, Moonbeam," Dewdrop said, "but this has been a crazily busy and taxing week. Apparently, Rarity is hosting a fashion show in a few days, and some hot-shot fashion pony is going to be staying here at the inn, so my boss has us all working twice as hard to try to impress him when he shows up."

"Can you think of anypony else who might be able to help?" Luna asked. "Would it be a waste of time for me to ask Feather Down?"

"It's probably a bit late for her to get the time off, but it can't hurt to ask her. Good luck hun, and again I'm sorry that I can't be of help." Dewdrop waved at her as she left.

Luna was glad it was still fairly early in the day, so she didn't have to worry about dealing with the lunch rush as she arrived at the restaurant. Just as Dewdrop had guessed though, Feather Down told her that she wouldn't be able to get the day off. "I'm sorry, Moonbeam, but I need to know at least a week in advance for me to be able to guarantee that I get a certain day off. I wish I could help you, Haystack pays well for harvest help. I'd make more doing that than I would here for the day!"

After that, Luna found herself aimlessly wandering about town, trying to think if there was any other pony she could ask. 'I've met most everyone else at one point or another, but I just can't bring myself to go up to some pony whose name I can barely recall and ask them to come work on the harvest!' Discouraged at not being of any help, she sat down under a tree to sulk for a bit.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Luna had been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed the other pony walk up to her. "Oh, hi Pinkie Pie. I'm sorry, I'm just upset that I can't help out my friends any."

"Why not? Were they all kidnapped by a colossal stone creature?" Pinkie Pie sat down next to Luna.

"No, nothing so grand or exciting as that," she replied with a grin.

Luna explained the situation. "So, we need to get some help for tomorrow, but there's so few ponies that I know well enough to ask that I've already asked everypony that I can think of!"

"Oh, I can think of at least one pony you haven't asked yet who would be willing to help you out!" Pinkie Pie jumped to her feet, and started hopping around Luna. "Go on, guess! Guess!"

Luna stared at the hyperactive pony for a moment, before it dawned on her what was happening. "Pinkie Pie! Are you saying you'll help us out?"

"Yup! I still haven't seen that much of Haystack since way back. This will be a good chance for me to get caught up on what he's been up to since then! And I have some experience farming too, although it has been a while. But I know that there's going to be hard work—it won't scare me off!"

Luna stood up and gave Pinkie Pie a big hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me! Now I can go tell Pine Needle and Haystack that I found somepony to help! And if they both found some others, things should be easy. Just show up at my place tomorrow morning, okay? We can walk to the farm together."

"Sounds good! I'll see you then, Moonbeam!" Pinkie Pie wandered off, and Luna started searching for her friends. It took her a little while, but after trotting through what felt like half the town, she finally caught sight of Haystack talking with a couple of other stallions. Waiting a short distance away so as to not interrupt, she went to her friend after he was done talking.

"How's it going, Haystack? Any luck so far?" Luna asked.

Haystack shook his head morosely. "No luck at all! It's just as I feared, everypony else with a farm is out and about right now looking for help. I just saw Pine Needle a short while ago, and he's come up against the same things I have. Everypony who might be willing to help has already committed to helping out somepony else. We got a late jump on this, it seems." He sighed, then looked at Luna. "I don't suppose you have any good news to report?"

Luna stood up straight, her chest sticking out in pride. "As a matter of fact, I have managed to find a pony who was willing to lend a hoof!"

Haystack's mood noticeably improved. "Really? That's great! Who is it?"

"Well, I got..."

Pine Needle was near his house, deciding he would try asking all of his neighbors in one last desperate attempt to find some help, when he heard Haystack yell, "PINKIE PIE?"

'Impressive! If he is even close to where I left him a short while ago, that's over halfway across town that I am hearing him from!' Pine Needle thought as he approached another door to ask for help.

Luna was taken aback by the sheer volume of disbelief that Haystack had voiced. "But, you said we could use anypony's help!" she said, fearing she had made a terrible mistake. "And, and she was the only pony who would do it! Everypony else that I know is already busy, and I don't know all that many ponies, and..." she trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Haystack hung his head. "No, you're right, Moonbeam, and I'm sorry that I yelled at you like that." He motioned for Luna to follow him as he started walking. "It's just that Pinkie Pie and I have a bit of a history, you could say."

Luna fell into step besides Haystack. "You know, I think Dewdrop told me that before, but I don't remember much of what she said. Something about you and Pinkie Pie growing up near each other?"

"Yes. My family lived close to Ponyville, and the Pies were neighbors of ours. They were farmers. A very serious family, if I recall correctly. Then, one day, Pinkie Pie seemed to completely change. Gone was the silent filly, and in her place was, well, the Pinkie Pie you see today. Except without any of the experience, I guess you could say. She was always trying to come up with new ways to make people laugh, or different ways to throw parties, or thinking up new pranks to try out. And since my family was the closest to hers, that made me the main target for all of her experiments." Haystack sighed. "After a year of being her first choice to try out new jokes and pranks, my uncle and aunt moved away, and offered up their property to me if I wanted to farm it. I probably accepted just as much to get away from Pinkie Pie than I did for any real desire to farm. I've come to like the farming life very much since then, however, so I don't regret the decision at all."

Haystack stopped and looked around. "Well, I'm going to stop by the Mayor's place one last time, but I don't think we're going to find any other ponies that can help us. Take the rest of the day off; the only things left to do right now are get the equipment ready and make sure the mill didn't fall apart during the summer. Tomorrow is going to be hard work. We'll be starting as early as we can, and I can't guarantee that we'll be done at a reasonable hour either. The only consolation I can offer you is that after tomorrow's work, we get it easy for several months."

"Thanks, Haystack. I'll make sure to get plenty of sleep." Luna waved to her friend as he walked off towards the center of town. After Haystack had disappeared around a corner, Luna turned and walked towards the market. 'I better get a good dinner and breakfast ready too. I sure would hate to be unable to do my share of the work because I got weak from hunger,' Luna thought.



The sun had barely risen above the horizon when Luna woke up. She found herself strangely excited by the day ahead. In a way, it felt like a personal challenge. 'If I can do this,' she thought, 'then I can do anything!'

She had just finished eating her breakfast when a knock came from her door. Luna grabbed her saddlebags and tossed them on her back. (She was impressed at how quickly she had learned to do that without magic.) She opened the door to see Pine Needle and Pinkie Pie waiting for her. "Good morning Moonbeam!" Pinkie Pie said to her. "Ready to go?"

"You bet!" Luna answered with a smile on her face. The three of them headed down the road, pretty much the only things moving in town at this early hour. On the way there, Luna noticed that Pinkie Pie didn't seem to be her usual, bouncy self. As they crossed over a bridge, she asked her, "Are you feeling okay, Pinkie Pie?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you just seem a bit quieter than normal is all. I don't want to think I dragged you into a bunch of work if you are feeling sick or something."

"Oh, no, I perfectly fine. I'm just trying to think about what might happen today. It's going to be a doozy of a day, after all."

Pine Needle nodded. "That it will! So much work for so few hooves."

Pinkie Pie turned to Pine Needle. "No, not that kind of a doozy, but I guess it will be too. But that's not what I meant. Sometimes, I just get these feelings about when something amazing is going to happen. And the moment I woke up and stepped outside to come here, that's when the shudders hit me. Something today is going to happen that even I'm not expecting."

Luna considered Pinkie Pie's words. 'Something that even Pinkie Pie wouldn't expect? I've heard stories about her from others here and there. That sounds like it could be really weird, dangerous, or both!'

Pine Needle asked, "So, I am a bit surprised that you actually came to help us out. I am not complaining at all, mind you, but what made you decide to come?"

"Well, ever since Moonbeam's party," Pinkie Pie began, seeming unusually subdued, "I've been thinking a bit about the time that I knew Haystack from when we were growing up. And I've come to realize that I may be partially responsible for him having turned into such a gloomy and serious pony. I was really going overboard, even for me, in trying to figure out all of the best ways to make people smile and laugh, and what things worked and didn't at parties. I was really hit or miss for a while, and I didn't have too many friends back then either. So I ended up dragging Haystack into a lot of my experiments, and while we had some really fun times, it wasn't until right before he moved away that I really started to get the hang of what I was doing."

Pinkie Pie paused to look up at the sky. "So, this is my way to try to make it up to him. To try to get him to smile. If I can do that in what seems to be one of the toughest of days for him, I think I'll have pulled off something worthwhile." Pinkie Pie then brightened up. "That, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake buy his flour, so if he can't get his crop in, we won't be able to bake as many things this winter as we usually do. So helping with this helps a lot of ponies, myself included!"

The three of them walked the rest of the way in silence. At Haystack's farm they found him already outside, getting the last of the preparations done. Luna thought she saw Haystack tense up a little at his first sight of Pinkie Pie, but he quickly seemed to relax again. "Welcome. Pinkie Pie, thank you very much for your help." He gestured towards the barn. Near one end of it, a large tarp covered the ground, below the open second story door of the barn. Luna could see that the pulley system was trailing a rope down to the tarp, which also had several sharp looking tools laying off to one side.

"Okay, here's the best division of labor that I could come up with. I'll be using the mower to cut down the wheat," Haystack pointed to a strange-looking device. From what Luna could see, a harness was used to push a wheeled device that had several blades a few inches above the ground. "Pinkie Pie, Moonbeam, I want the two of you to gather up the wheat that I cut and bring it over to Pine Needle at the tarp. His job will be to trim off the stalks so there is less chaff when it comes time to mill it later on."

"Are you sure that I shouldn't be the one to use the mower?" Pine Needle asked. "I have more experience with it than you do."

Haystack shook his head. "I want to keep you fresh. You're going to have to do most of the work in powering the mill later on today. Any other questions?" Seeing that nobody had any, he walked towards the mower. "Let's get started then." Stepping into the harness, he started to move forward at a slow but steady pace and after a dozen steps or so was already mowing down the first lengths of grain. Luna and Pinkie Pie took turns gathering up a mouthful of cut crop, and carried it over to Pine Needle. Using a longer blade that looked to Luna like an over-sized kitchen knife, he would line up the stalks as best as he could, then cut them off with one powerful swing of the blade. Next, he picked up the stalks and carried them off to one side. After that, he returned to sweep the ready to milled wheat into a pile near where the pulley rope came down, and then repeated the process for the next load carried to him.

After an hour, Haystack had finished with the wheat that was on level ground, and all that was left was the crop on the steep hill that took up a large portion of the farm. Luna wondered just how Haystack was going to push an obviously heavy contraption up the steep incline. But all became clear when she saw him start to circle the base of the hill instead of going straight up the slope. 'Oh, that makes sense!' she thought. 'He'll just go around and around it, slowly climbing it a little bit at a time.'

But watching Pinkie Pie had been even more interesting to Luna. Every time she came up to Haystack to gather up some more wheat to carry to Pine Needle, she would stop, open her mouth, and pause with a frustrated expression on her face. After only a moment, she would gather a mouthful of wheat stalks and head back toward the barn instead. Luna waited near Pine Needle for Pinkie Pie to drop off another load, then walked back towards Haystack with her.

"What's wrong, Pinkie Pie?" Luna asked. "I don't think I can ever recall you being at a loss for words before!"

"I need to wait, I think." Pinkie Pie replied after a brief pause. "Getting a smile from Haystack today will be a gigantic challenge, and I think I need to do it in a roundabout way. Lull him into complacency at the start. And then, once he lets down his guard... BAM!" Pinkie Pie mimed a punch with a foreleg.

The rest of the morning was spent in a similar fashion. The sun had almost reached its zenith when Haystack finally crested the summit of the hill. Haystack called Pine Needle to come help him, and both stallions slowly descended from the top, doing their best to not let the mower pull them down too quickly and risk an injury to anypony or damage to the tool or the property. Luna, busy gathering wheat as fast as she could, had not been able to see how much of a toll using the mower had been on her friend. She could now see that he was covered in a lather of sweat, and he could barely hold his head up from exhaustion.

They were about to move the mower back into the barn when the bell at the house started to ring loudly and urgently. The four ponies exchanged glances and, as one, trotted off to see who was paying them a a call. They were pleasantly surprised to see Feather Down waving at them by the front door of the house. She was wearing a set of saddlebags that looked stuffed full.

"Lunch time!" Feather Down yelled. "I have a feast for a set of hard working ponies! Who wants some lunch?" Feather Down opened the flaps on her saddlebags to reveal a plethora of sandwiches and fruits, all ready for eating.

"Thank you very much!" Haystack said as he and the others came up to Feather Down. "I honestly wasn't expecting anything like this at all. This is fantastic!"

"Hey, just because I couldn't get the day off from work doesn't mean that I'm going to leave my friends hanging! I can't stay long, I'm on my lunch break right now and I had to pull some strings to be able to take it at this hour. But this is the least I can do for my friends! Now, sit, sit! Let the waitress do what she knows best and serve, and give you tired ponies a break!" Feather Down expertly grabbed item after item from her saddlebags, and in short order a tasty spread had been laid out before them.

Luna was amazed at how fast she devoured the dandelion sandwich that had been placed in front of her. 'All that work kept my mind off of how hungry I was getting, I guess.' When Feather Down finally pulled out an apple for herself and sat down, Luna turned to her and said, "Thank you so much! Perfect timing too, Haystack just got done cutting down all the wheat."

Luna was surprised when Feather Down frowned. "He's only now finished with cutting down the wheat?" Feather Down asked softly.

Luna nodded slowly. "Yeah," she replied, feeling the bottom of her stomach drop away for some reason.

"Wow, not having the other farmers to help him is really slowing him down then. I helped out last year, and they had that done in maybe an hour. Of course, when you have several ponies doing the cutting, and not just one, it's going to take a lot less time." Feather Down swallowed the last of her apple. "Okay guys, I have to gallop if I'm going to get back to work on time. See you later!" One quick round of thanks and a hug from Luna later, Feather Down was speeding away down the road, back into Ponyville proper.

Luna felt a bit of trepidation. 'If what took them just an hour or two before took us almost half the day this time...' She looked back at the field, still covered with cut wheat to be gathered. 'Oh dear.'

After they had finished eating, they returned to their tasks with Haystack helping carry in the cut wheat. Pinkie Pie found she could gather up a lot of wheat from the hill quickly simply by sliding down the hill, pushing the cut grain in front of her like a plow. Luna giggled as she watched Pinkie Pie yelling in glee, and joined her. Haystack quickly caught on and waited at the base of the hill to transport the gathered crop over to Pine Needle. After an hour of this, the wheat was all down at the bottom, and Haystack called everyone together again by the barn.

"Okay, we've got enough wheat ready to go that I think we should start milling it. Pinkie Pie, you have experience working with knives, right?"

"Yup! Nobody cuts a cake faster and better than me!" Pinkie Pie said with pride.

Haystack nodded. "Okay then, I want you to take over Pine Needle's job. Also, I'll be lowering and raising that bucket there, I'll need you to fill it with grain when you can please."

"Will do!" Pinkie Pie headed over to get herself situated with her new assignment area.

"Moonbeam," Haystack turned to Luna, "I'll need you at the bottom of the mill to catch the flour in bags. You'll see that there is a tarp on the ground there. Don't worry if some spills out, but do try to keep your hooves as clean as possible. There's a tub there for you to wash off with."

"What do I do with the bags when they get full?" Luna asked.

"There will a drawstring on the top. Once it gets most of the way full, and the bag is able to stand up mostly on its own, give it a good tug. It won't be perfectly sealed, but that's something we can work on in the next few days. Once you get the top closed, drag the bag off to the side. I should be able to make time every now and then during the breaks to help make room." Haystack explained. He then turned to Pine Needle. "I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do this alone. The moment you need a break, let me know! I would feel terrible if you hurt yourself doing this for me."

"Worry not, mine friend!" Pine Needle declared. "I will not be doing anything stupid." He turned to Luna, and in a stage whisper said, "Besides showing up here today, that is."

Haystack gave a small snort. "Okay guys. The wheat won't mill itself, sadly. Let's get to work."

Luna headed into the barn and found things were laid out just as Haystack had said. Washing her hooves in the tub, she saw Pine Needle walk up the shorter ramp to the platform that wrapped around the mill pillar. On one of the bars was a padded harness, and after stretching, Pine Needle got himself situated. "Give me the word when to start, and I shall!" He called up to Haystack.

Haystack didn't reply right away, as his mouth was busy turning the crank to raise a bucket full of wheat from outside. Once the bucket was high enough, he used a hoof to flip a latch to keep the rope from dropping back down, and then brought the bucket over to the opening in the mill. Nudging open a door on the side of the mill by him, he emptied the bucket through it. "Okay, Pine Needle, start whenever you're ready!" Haystack undid the latch on the crank, alerted Pinkie Pie to the soon-to-be-falling bucket, and nudged it back outside, letting gravity do the work of carrying it down for him.

Luna took the first woven bag from a pile near the mill's spout and set it up to catch the flour when it came out. She watched as Pine Needle seemed to struggle in vain to get the bar to move, but finally, with a grinding sound coming from inside the mill, it finally budged, and he started to push the bar around the mill slowly. As he came around to where he could see Luna, he gave her a smile. "Do not worry," he called to her, "getting it started is the hardest thing to do. Kind of like trying to wake up Feather Down." Luna smiled back, but she could sense that Pine Needle was struggling all the same.

Steadily, the first bag filled with milled flour, and Luna found herself faced with her first real test so far. She had seen that there were ebbs and flows in how the flour came out. 'Probably has to do with when the buckets of wheat get dumped in.' She realized. Waiting for a slower trickle of flour to come pouring out, she balanced the bag in place with her front legs and then grabbed the drawstring with her teeth and pulled it tight. She found the hardest part was trying to move the full bag of flour aside so she could get the next bag in place. A full bag was very heavy, and in her first attempt at moving it, not suspecting how much weight the bag would have to it, she did nothing to budge it. Not wanting to let too much flour spill onto the tarp, she put her entire body into her next attempt, and managed to drag the bag a few feet before her momentum died. Deciding that was far enough for now, she dashed over to the pile of empty bags and got the next one in place as quickly as she could.

After watching Haystack expertly operate the winch and pulley system a few times, a thought occurred to her. "Hey, Haystack," she yelled up to the pegasus pony, "I'm guessing there's a simple answer, but I'm curious, why don't you just fly up and down with the bucket yourself instead of using a pulley?"

"If it was just a couple dozen, or even a hundred or so trips up and down, it would be easier and faster." Haystack called back when his mouth was free. "But for what will be well over a thousand loads by the time we're done, it would wear me out before we even got halfway through. Even though it would be in small loads, it adds up. Think about how heavy that full bag of flour was. All that weight had to come up first before we can mill it back down to you."

Luna nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you for explaining it to me." She split her attention between watching the bags that were her responsibility and keeping an eye on her friends. Pine Needle continued to worry her. 'There are three bars, which means that the mill should have triple the pony power pushing it right now. He can't keep this up long enough by himself to do the large number of loads Haystack was talking about! If only there was some way I could make it easier for him.'

After a moment, Luna realized that there was—theoretically. 'If I had my magic back, I could do all of this by myself! But...' her thoughts turned dark. 'Who knows how they would react to that. Not well, likely.'

And then something else occurred to her. "I didn't even think of using my magic right away. It was like I had... forgotten it.' The revelation stunned her to the point that she almost let the bag she was holding overflow. 'Focus, Luna!' she berated herself, pulling the string tight and pulling the bag to one side. 'You've got the easiest job of anypony here, you can't be messing up now! If you do, it will mean the work of the others was wasted!' With renewed vigor and determination, she got the next bag in place. Still, she couldn't keep her thoughts from wandering as she stood there. 'Have I really become so used to being without my magic, after just over a month, that I'm already forgetting about it?' She felt a cold shiver travel down her back that had nothing to do with the autumn air.

The afternoon slowly passed. Once an hour, Haystack would make them all stop and take a break. Stretching her legs, Luna was amazed by the pile of straw that had been accumulated from all the cut wheat stalks outside. And then she saw how many still had to be cut. 'We're not even halfway done yet. Maybe not even a quarter of the way done, and we're getting close to dinner time!' Luna realized as she checked the sun. The realization hit her hard, and she felt tears of frustration start to well up. Shaking her head, she started to walk back to the barn when a whoop from the road made her look toward the house.

"Better late than never, right?" Dewdrop yelled as she trotted up to everyone, still wearing the apron she used at work. She took a look around, and a confident look came across her face that chased away Luna's frustration. Using her magic to take off her apron, she walked over to Haystack. "What can I do to help?"

Haystack looked around. "Where couldn't you help?" he muttered as he thought about where to use Dewdrop. "Okay. Everypony, change of plans!" He pointed to the pile of wheat that still had their stalks attached. "Let's get that taken care of as fast as we can." He turned to Dewdrop. "Don't use your magic for this part. Save that for later."

Dewdrop took a look at the pulley, and nodded. "I think I see what your plan is. Sounds good to me, let's get started." Soon, stalks were being removed at a furious pace, and Luna and Pine Needle found themselves hard pressed just to move the stalks away from the cutters at a fast enough clip. The sun was barely above the horizon by the time they finished when more hooves could be heard coming from the road.

"Sorry I'm late, supper rush was a big one!" Feather Down yelled, once again carrying saddlebags full of food. "Hiya Dewdrop!" The roommates hugged briefly, then both of them got to work serving a late supper.

While they ate, Pinkie Pie came up to Luna. "Remember when I said I felt a doozy for today?" Luna nodded as she ate a radish. "It hasn't happened yet, and I just felt it hit me again. It's going to be soon, I think."

Luna considered that for a moment. "Do you think it will be because of him smiling at getting everything done, now that all of his friends are here to help?"

"I don't know," Pinkie Pie answered. "Actually, I'm a bit excited by it all. Doozies don't happen all that often, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it might be!"

As they finished their meal, the sun started to set behind the hills. Haystack lit some lanterns. "Sorry I don't have electricity way out here, but I need it so rarely, it just isn't worth the cost to get it installed." He looked at everyone. "Okay, here's the plan. I'll join Pine Needle in powering the mill. Pinkie Pie, you'll join Moonbeam and help her with the bags at the bottom. Dewdrop, will you be able to use your magic to carry the grain all the way from down below up to the top of the mill?"

Dewdrop walked over and examined the area. "I hate to say it, but no. I've never been that strong with my magic, and while I could do some, I don't think I could lift that much, or at least, with any appreciable speed."

"That's okay." Haystack said. "I'll have you be up top then. Your magic should be able to handle the crank without too many problems at least?"

Dewdrop nodded slowly. "A lot shorter distance for me to use my magic over. That will make it much easier."

"Okay then. Feather Down, your job will be to fill up the bucket when Dewdrop lowers it to you." Haystack looked them all over. "As before, if any one of you needs to take a break, speak up! I would rather let grain sit out and get ruined by frost and flocks of birds than have any of you hurt yourselves. Is that understood?" When everyone nodded, he said, "Okay then, let's just do our best, and if we finish by some miracle, all the better!"

The next few hours, chatter was at a minimum. Luna watched anxiously as all of her friends worked hard. Nobody seemed willing to call a break, though. She was about to do it, just to give others a breather when Pinkie Pie nudged her into silence. "Not for me," Luna silently protested to Pinkie Pie, "but for the guys. They look like they're about to collapse!"

Pinkie Pie nodded. "I'm pretty sure though, that if we take a break now, they won't be able to get started again. It's just too late to be doing this."

Luna could feel despair build up inside her again. "This isn't right. Maybe I could fill in for one of them, or..." She swallowed a scream of frustration. "If only there was something I could do!"

Pinkie Pie smiled at Luna. "There is. Watch."

Pinkie Pie started to hum a tune, and then started tapping a hoof in time with it. Luna soon found herself tapping a hoof along in time, and only then did Pinkie Pie start to sing.

"When work get hard, becomes a trial
You've dragged your hooves for many miles
And you find it very hard to do your part
Don't let the workload get you down
Don't buckle under, mope or frown
Instead just let a song enter your heart!"

Luna started to smile as Pinkie Pie's words filled the barn. 'This is more like the Pinkie Pie I know!' Dewdrop looked down at them, wondering what was happening, while Haystack scowled, but lacked the energy to tell her to keep quiet.

"You need to smile and sing!
That's the only thing
Just open up your heart and smile and sing!

It doesn't matter how it goes
Or if you're the only one who knows
The words or rhythm to your special tune
Just sing away, and do it loud
Don't be bashful, be brave and proud
And in the end you will receive its boon!

You need to smile and sing!
That's the only thing
Just open up your heart and smile and sing!"

Luna recognized the chorus as Pinkie Pie started it the second time and joined in, and their two voices echoed with a joyful noise. Glancing around, Luna saw that Pine Needle saw actually grinning and bobbing his head in time with the beat. Dewdrop was confirming to Feather Down outside that, yes, there really was singing going on in the barn. Haystack for his part silently suffered.

"Okay, Moonbeam, your turn!" Pinkie Pie yelled out cheerfully.

"What, me?" Luna asked, surprised that Pinkie Pie wanted to her to contribute beyond joining in on the chorus. "What do I sing?"

"Anything! Just keep the song going!"

Swallowing down her nervousness, Luna wracked her brain for something to start with, hoping that those words would lead to more, and finally, tentatively, started her verse.

"When I look here upon my friends
I worry that we're at our end
That we have come as far as we can go
But now I find myself singing
And I think it may be just the thing
To keep me fast, to stop my being slow

You need to smile and sing!
That's the only thing
Just open up your heart and smile and sing!"

This time, Pine Needle joined in on the chorus, and Dewdrop was smiling down at them all from where she stood at the crank. Luna looked at Haystack, and her eyes widened in shock.

'Is he... tapping his hoof?' she wondered, not trusting her eyes at this weary time.

"Pine Needle, GO!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

Without missing a beat, Pine Needle raised his voice to sing a verse.

"When I first came from Stalliongrad
There was little that I had
Besides what I did carry in mine packs
But Haystack he became mine friend
I then met more and in the end
Friends in my life is something I don't lack!

You need to smile and sing!
That's the only thing
Just open up your heart and smile and sing!"

This time, everyone except Haystack sang along on the chorus, and Luna could tell that everyone's spirits had been raised. Even...

Not stopping to think, Luna put a hoof up to Pinkie Pie's mouth to silence her. Luna could see she was looking up at Dewdrop, but for some reason, Luna didn't think Dewdrop was the one who should sing at the moment.

"Last verse!" Luna hollered. "HAYSTACK, SING!"

Luna felt Pinkie Pie freeze up, and then start to shudder violently. Haystack, who had been bobbing his head along with Pine Needle's singing, was caught off guard, and almost tripped. He then looked at Luna, puzzled. Luna nodded at him encouragingly, and then Haystack raised his voice.

"It's come to the end of the day
We've milled the flour, stacked the hay
And the harvesting is now mostly complete
Pinkie Pie, without your aid
This progress we would not have made
All of my reservations you did defeat!"

While Haystack was singing his verse, Pinkie Pie had sprinted up as close to Haystack as she could while on the ground below the platform, and danced along, pure surprise on her face.

"You just need to smile and sing!
That's the only thing."
"Just open up your heart and smile!" sang Pinkie Pie.
"Even if it takes awhile!" replied Haystack
"Just open up your heart, and, SING!" Everyone finished together.

Pinkie Pie dashed back to Luna. "Look! Lookie look look!" She said, pointing at Haystack.

Luna beamed at Pinkie Pie. "I see it. A first for me too, now that I think on it. Quite a doozy, isn't it?"

Haystack's face wore a giant smile of joy as he laughed with everyone else.



Outside, Feather Down grumbled, "Sure, guys, have all the fun in there why don't you? Hmmph."