Change Your Mind

by Scottish Brony


Chapter 9

After passing through one of the checkpoints at Cloudsdale, Applejack flew after the other pegasi in her team. Glancing to her left, she saw another team clearing away the clouds above Ponyville. She watched a couple of them kicking and nodded, thinking the technique looked comparable to applebucking. When she turned her head back to the ponies in front of her, she saw they were a little ways off to her right. The rainbow pony realised she must have dipped her left legs enough to sway off course. Correcting her angle, she flew faster to catch up again. She had decided to stay at the back of the group so she would have plenty of time to adjust for changes in speed or direction, so hopefully, nopony saw her breaking away.

“Hey, something up with ya, Dash?” asked a dark blue male pegasus.

Ah, ponyfeathers...

“Oh, nothin’,” she replied.

“Yeah, right. You kinda... flew off for a second.”

“Uh, I was daydreamin’. I just kinda let... my... body drive itself. I’ve been here quite a few times, y’know?” she said, even though the closest she had come was seeing the mountains at a distance while on a train on the way to and from the Crystal Empire.

“Really? I’ve only been here, what, three times? Yeah, three times. Twice back when I was in Second Class and once just after I got promoted to First. Not counting this time, that is.”

“It’s, uh... a nice place, ain’t it?”

“Yeah. I guess so. But come on, I think you’ve got bigger problems than daydreaming. You’re usually up at the front of the pack, just behind the leader.”

“Nah, just a bit tired, is all.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“Of course! Who are ya talkin’ to right now?” she said, flashing him a grin.

The pegasus laughed and shook his head, “Confident as ever! Yeah, you’re fine!”

The lead pegasus, Storm Chaser, held his left foreleg out to his side and swerved in that direction, the rest of the pegasi following his lead. Up ahead, Applejack could see the mountains of Unicorn Range. She gulped; they seemed to go on forever.

That’s what we’ll be doin’?

Her apple orchard back home was large, but it was nothing compared to a whole mountain range. She pushed the thought out of her mind. She had a team of expert pegasi with her and it was summer, so maybe there wouldn’t be that many clouds. Not that she had any idea how many there would be normally.

Lowering her gaze, Applejack noted how different everything looked from this high in the air. It was almost like looking at a map. A giant map with a giant amount of detail. She could see every tree, every house, every bridge perfectly instead of vague shapes and colours representing them.

“Alright, everypony!” said Storm Chaser loudly and stopped to face them, “We’re here.”

Applejack’s head snapped up again and managed to stop just in time avoid flying into someone.

The large pegasus continued, “Let’s just take these one at a time.”

He then called out five names, “You five go left and clear that side. Silver Star, you’re in charge. The rest of you, follow me.”

A white pegasus with shining, light grey hair nodded and flew off with the other four behind her.

Storm Chaser motioned with his hoof, “C’mon, c’mon!”

Applejack took a deep breath, Here goes...


The tree in front of Rainbow Dash seemed sturdy. However, the earth pony looked it up and down with a confident smile on her face.

Easy peasy!

She turned her back to it, launched a strong hoof at the trunk and nodded at the sound of apples falling into buckets. Rainbow turned to inspect her hoofwork and frowned at seeing the tree still having apples on most of its branches. She scratched her head, sure she had heard them falling down. Looking in the buckets confirmed what she had thought, but it wasn’t what she had expected; only three or four apples were in each bucket.

Positioning herself in front of the tree again, she slammed it with her hoof a second time. Again, only a few apples fell to join the others.

“What’s up, Applejack?” asked Applebloom, who was in the process of pushing a bucket to a tree further along, “Need more buckets?”

“...No, no. I got this.”

The filly stood on her hind legs and leaned over one of the buckets, resting her front hooves on the rim. She looked surprised at how little of the red fruits there were. She glanced up at the tree, down at the apples again, and then over to her ‘sister’, giving her a questioning look.

“Oh, about that...” said Dash, attempting to think up a good excuse.

“Since when do you not fill up whole buckets in one kick?”

“We, uh... we all have off-days, ya know?”

“But you’ve never had an off-day.”

“Well... first time for everythin’,” said Rainbow Dash, hoping her smile was convincing enough, fighting her eyebrows from trying to slope upwards and make her fake smile look like the worried one it really was.

“Ah guess...” said Applebloom, setting all four hooves on the ground.

“Yeah. Now, you go set up the rest of those buckets for your big sister, eh?”

“Alright.”

As the filly began pushing the bucket again, Dash turned her head to watch Big Macintosh buck a tree. His first kick knocked off most of the apples and the rest fell after his second kick. He looked over and saw Rainbow watching him. His eyes went up to the tree she was under, still covered in apples. Quickly, she averted her gaze and gave a strong kick with both legs, knocking the rest of the fruit off.

Yeah. See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now you just need to do it, like, five hundred more times...


The air grew colder as Applejack approached the high mountains. There were plenty of clouds around, as she had feared.

The other pegasi spread away from her and started clearing the sky. Two of her team gathered up smaller clouds and stuck them together before kicking them away. Applejack hovered in one spot, unsure of how to proceed.

“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Storm Chaser sternly, startling the sky blue pegasus. She took one look at his electric yellow eyes and immediately went for the nearest cloud.

Taking position like she would as if she were applebucking, she reared back a leg.

Shouldn’t take too much force, right? she thought.

She thrust her hoof towards the fluffy white shape with roughly half the strength she gave the average apple tree and was caught off-guard when it sunk in and got stuck. She looked around and blushed as she saw some of her teammates turn their heads away, obviously trying to conceal their laughter.

Placing her other hoof on the cloud, and hoping it wouldn’t get stuck too, she pushed against it while attempting to pull out her other hoof. It didn’t take her much effort to free herself, but she was beginning to doubt her ability to do the job. She didn’t want to mess this up, as she knew how much Rainbow Dash valued her reputation.

With her second try, Applejack used both hooves, kicking harder than before, and managed to separate the cloud into two halves. She turned and used her front hooves to finish them off.

She flew over to another cloud, and like before, split it in two with a kick, shaking her head at the same result. After disposing of the two halves, she approached her next target and examined it.

Ah’ve seen Rainbow get rid o’ these things in one go. How’s she do it? she thought, trying to figure out if there was a visual clue to a weak spot she had overlooked.

Finding nothing, she launched her rear hooves at the white lump, but ended up sending it spinning into two other pegasi and adding it to their cloud.

The male pegasus of the two scowled and tore off the extra chunk. With a grunt he threw it back at Applejack.

“Do your own clouds, Dash!” his partner said angrily.

The rainbow pegasus caught the cloud and was knocked back a little by the impact.

“Yeah, sorry!” Applejack called back.

Narrowing her eyes at the white object in front of her, she clapped her front hooves together, then pushed them out in front of her, alternating between them; left hoof, right hoof, left hoof. The cloud shrank after each hit, and on the fifth blow, it dissipated.

“Come on, pick it up, Rainbow!” said Storm Chaser as he flew past.

“Yes, sir,” she replied, wondering if she ever was going to ‘pick it up’.


At her fourth tree, Rainbow Dash found she was still unable to applebuck like her farmer friend.

She makes it look so easy... thought the earth pony. She aimed a strong, two-legged kick at the tree and, by pure chance, succeeded in knocking off all of the apples, as well as some of the tree bark. She awkwardly glanced around as a large amount of bark crumbled away from the spot she had kicked. Certain that neither Applebloom nor Big Macintosh had seen her damage the tree, she walked away from it, trying to look as casual as possible.

Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, Rainbow turned her head to watch some pegasi flying through the air, dispersing clouds as they went. She felt glum and jealous as she watched them soar through the sky, feeling the wind beneath their wings. Shaking it off as best she could, the earth pony tilted the brim of her hat up, wondering if Applejack was among them.

Unable to see any rainbow-coloured manes or tails, she shrugged and walked up to another tree.

I hope AJ’s doing better than me... she thought as she kicked the thick trunk. A dejected sigh escaped her as she heard the familiar sound of very few apples landing in the buckets and she closed her eyes. A solid thunk and the sound of falling apples made her turn. Big Macintosh stood before her, regarding his ‘sister’ with a worried expression. He said nothing, but Dash could tell he was concerned.

Forcing a smile, she waved a hoof, “Don’t start frettin’ yourself about me. Ah’m fine. Just feelin’ a little... you know... off.”

The large red colt cocked his head.

“Ah’m okay. Don’t worry,” she told him.

He half-turned, stopped and looked at Rainbow Dash one more time, then went back to the apple trees.

With a quiet sigh, the earth pony approached another of the many, many trees and readied herself.

I’ve gotta get this applebucking thing down fast. I can’t pretend I’m “feeling off” forever...


It was approaching sunset and the huge mountains of Unicorn Range cast long, looming shadows over the land. Clouds still hung in the air, but completely clearing them wasn’t the assignment, as light rain was scheduled for the next day.

A blue hoof struck a white, fluffy mass and dissipated it. Applejack turned her attention to Storm Chaser above who was checking the sky. He nodded in satisfaction.

“Good job, everypony!” he called out, “We’re done! Let’s head back!”

Oh, finally! thought Applejack.

The ten pegasi formed up next to their leader and followed him as he flew back towards Cloudsdale.

Cloud Kicker, sweat visible on her face, drew up alongside the rainbow pony, “I thought this day would never end!” she commented.

“Yeah, it was a tough one,” admitted Applejack.

“Speaking of which, you were having a really tough time of it. What’s up?”

“...I’ve... not been myself recently,” she said, not exactly lying.

“Something happen?”

The rainbow pegasus shook her head, “Nah. Not really. Nothing worth mentioning... kinda...” she added under her breath.

It wasn’t long before the white city of Cloudsdale could be seen. Applejack’s mind raced. She had just remembered about the security checkpoints.

Uh-oh! What was mah code again? Four-three-six-four? Four-six-three-four? Darn it!

Shortly, they landed at one of the ports. Fairly certain the ID code was four-six-three-four, the pegasus took her place in line just behind Cloud Kicker and waited. As the pegasi in front of her answered the questions, Applejack looked to the side to view the sunset. The horizon was ablaze in beautiful reds and pinks. The picturesque scene helped her push the day’s stressful events out of her mind.

“Next.”

The rainbow pegasus blinked, “Oh, me? Right.”

She answered the questions directed at her and, glad she remembered the code correctly, joined the group on the other side of the gate. Once the others had passed through, they flew straight to the Cloudsdale Weather Station.

Ah can’t wait to get back to Sweet Apple Acres and check on Rainbow Dash... thought Applejack as she followed the others, And ah gotta ask her how to kick them darn clouds...

Once inside the lobby, crowded and noisy due to the other two teams having returned earlier, they each signed a piece of parchment stating that they were present and accounted for that day. When the quill was passed to her, Applejack quickly read over the statement at the top of the paper, something she was sure everypony else had already memorised, and signed ‘her’ name. She felt strange and uncomfortable writing out Rainbow Dash’s name, pretending it was hers, but she couldn’t exactly write her real one. She placed the quill inside the inkwell and moved aside to let the next pegasus sign.

“So Rainbow, you coming with us to Cloud 9 tonight?” asked the dark blue pegasus she had met earlier that day.

She had no idea where or what that was, so she quickly thought up an excuse, “...Sorry, no. I gotta go check on a friend, see if she needs help.”

“Oh, is it that one who owns Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Yeah. Applejack,” she answered, a little annoyed at being referred to as ‘that one’.

“Yeah, that one. Well, maybe you’ll be there next time?”

“Maybe.”

Then Storm Chaser’s voice rang out above the chatter, “Alright, good work today, everyone! We’ll see you all tomorrow!”

Good. Time to get outta—

“And Rainbow Dash? I need to talk to you.”

Ah, shoot...

“Uh-oh, the Big S has called ya,” commented the blue pegasus colt, “Good luck.”

Now what in the hay does that mean?

Storm Chaser nodded his head towards a corridor, indicating the rainbow pegasus to follow him. With a nervous gulp, Applejack followed his large, dark grey frame. He led her into what she guessed was his office. Several framed certificates were displayed on the wall behind his chair. On his desk was a short stack of documents held down by a small rock on one side, and on the other side, a framed picture. Applejack couldn’t see what was on it, but she presumed it was a picture of his family.

Even though the window was open, cooling the otherwise stuffy office, the young pegasus still felt uncomfortably hot.

Storm Chaser sat down and sighed. With an expression of disappointment, he shook his head at Applejack and said, “I don’t know what was going on with you today, Rainbow Dash. You’re usually one of the top fliers, if not the top flier.”

“Uh... I... well, I...”

The large colt leaned forward, resting his forelegs on the desk, “Come on, Rainbow,” he said, lowering his voice a little, “Is there something happening at home? You seemed really distracted.”

“No... um, kinda...”

“Do you want to see someone about it?”

“No, no, it should work out...”

“There’s no shame in asking for help.”

“Really, it’s fine.”

“Well, I don’t think it is,” replied Storm Chaser, sitting up again, “Rainbow Dash, I’m going to have to ask you to take a couple days off.”

“Whut?”

“Come back Wednesday morning, see how you are then.”

“But...!”

“I’m not going to allow you to do any weather jobs when you’re like this. Take some time off, get yourself together.”

Rainbow’s not gonna be happy to hear this...

“Okay...” said Applejack, looking away.

The grey pegasus nodded and said, “Alright, you get home.”

Rainbow tail dragging on the floor, Applejack turned and opened the door.

“It’ll do you some good,” said Storm Chaser as the mare left.

“Ah reckon you’re right...” she replied and shut the door.

The grey pegasus pursed his lips, then slid a document in front of him from the pile on his desk. He had just taken a quill in his mouth when he looked up at the door, remembering what 'Rainbow Dash' had said.

“...‘Ah reckon’...?”


Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

The third buck caused the brown hat to slip loose and fall from Rainbow Dash’s head. She picked it up and firmly reaffixed it.

Hearing heavy hoofsteps, she turned to see Big Macintosh walking towards her.

“Ah think that’s enough fer now,” he said.

“I... Ah can keep goin’,” replied Rainbow, slightly out of breath.

“Well, it’s dinner time,” said the large colt.

Rainbow Dash had barely noticed the sun setting, “Oh. Oh yeah! Ah’m sure we can all keep goin’ after a good meal!”

Big Mac frowned and said, “...You can keep goin’ after dinner if ya want, but ah’m going to stop fer today.”

“...Y–Yeah, I guess it is a good time to stop.”

“We usually do at this time,” said the colt, nodding, then started walking towards the Apple Family house. The earth pony was about to follow him when a rainbow streaking across the sky caught her attention.

Applejack! thought Rainbow Dash excitedly.

“Uh... ah’ll catch up with ya!” she called after her ‘brother’. He turned his head while walking, saw the blue pegasus gliding towards the farm, and nodded at Dash.

Rainbow ran up to the pegasus, who stumbled a little when she landed.

“Boy, am I glad to see... me,” she said.

“Hoo-ee! Cloud clearin’ is lot tougher’n it looks.”

“Seriously? Do you know how much trouble I had gettin’ those apples down?” retorted the earth pony, pointing a hoof back at the huge orchard.

“‘Yeah, I got it, like kickin’ clouds!’ Sound familiar?”

“Well, I assumed it would be. But c’mon, you had trouble with clouds?”

Applejack blushed, “I, uh... got mah hoof stuck in mah first cloud.”

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, “How’d you manage that?”

“Ah dunno! Ah kicked the darn thing and mah hoof just sunk in! How do ya do it? Just breeze through ‘em all in one go?”

The earth pony shrugged, “Practice is all.”

“Ah guess...”

“Speaking of which... I could use some practice with applebucking,” said Rainbow Dash, wiping sweat from her brow, “Any pointers?”

“Shouldn’t you be goin’ in fer dinner? How’s about afterwards?”

“Yeah, alright. And I can help you out with cloud clearing for tomorrow.”

Applejack awkwardly scratched her head, “Uh, yeah... about that...”


“Where’s Applejack?” asked Applebloom, sitting at the dinner table.

“Talkin’ to her friend,” replied Big Mac as he laid down the plates.

He almost dropped the plate he was holding as he clearly heard his sister’s voice yelling, “YOU WHAT?