The Tale of Lord Barleycorn
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Chapter 13: You guys have a cider press?
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Daisy collapsed under the oak tree that stood by the Harvest farm house. A tired groan fell from her lips as she breathed in the scent of sweet grass. Beside her was Lily Valley, who let out a bored groan. The weather was no longer hot, but the shade the tree provided meant the sun wouldn't sting their eyes.
"Makes you wonder how Applejack does it, huh?" Daisy chuckled dryly to her friend.
Lily gave a stretch, her jaw was feeling stiff from all the weeds she'd been pulling. "I'd agree, but they focus on their orchard. Weeds don't have much effect on how trees produce fruit."
"They still sell corn and pumpkins in the fall." Daisy said, "Enough for decorating Ponyville around Nightmare Night and not much else, come to think of it."
"Yeah, but the fields the Apples reserve for crops aren't even a quarter of these fields." Lily Valley yawned, "When we get back I'm going to give that old stallion that runs the cabbage stand a big hug. After today I have a new respect for career farmers."
"Makes me feel bad for complaining about my problems back home." Roseluck stated, suddenly plopping on the ground next to Daisy and Lily. "Aside from preparing for the Rose competitions, this has been the hardest I've worked in years."
Lily Valley and Daisy knew Roseluck could exaggerate here and there, but they both knew how frazzled the cream colored mare could get before the annual flower competitions. All flower contests were more brutal than the average pony would believe, since the judges would dock points for having a crooked stem, slightly off-colored pedals, the slightest sign of wilt, and even the kind of vase the flower was showcased within. It was common belief that the judges merely liked to nitpick and crush dreams.
"I think you did really well at the last one." Lily Valley said, "Second place isn't bad, but we all know you should have won."
Roseluck snorted, "It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't Thorn Glade who beat me. She gloated up and down the line like the Canterlot mare she is."
"Lovely, sounds like Petal Showers in my division." Daisy frowned, but she quickly noted that Lily Valley's eyes had wandered skyward again. "Lily, I know the clouds are weird but we've worked under them all day. I don't think they're going to snow, hail, or rain chocolate milk."
Lily Valley shook her head and gestured up to one of the clouds, "I was starting to wonder if this town had any weather team pegasi at all, but there's one of them now."
The three flower ponies turned their attention to the pegasus flying high above the farm. Unlike what the three had seen back in Ponyville, where the weather team would kick or pull on the clouds, this mare was simply fluttering about the clouds as if she had lost something. She would nudge the clouds with her hoof and look around, then write down something on the clipboard she had with her before moving on. Whoever she was, her methods didn't seem to be influencing the clouds at all.
The first to voice the question they were all thinking was Roseluck. "What's she doing?"
"I was hoping you would know, Rose." Daisy sighed, "I don't really know anything about how the weather team works back home. Lily, didn't you date Thunderlane for a while?"
The lily vendor made a sour face. "It was ONE date, and when he wasn't talking about himself he used a lot of weather lingo that I couldn't really follow."
"I'm surprised Flitter and Cloudchaser let you go out with their baby brother." Daisy rolled her eyes, having never liked how the twins treated Thunderlane like he was still some little colt.
Lily yawned again, eager to move this conversation to anything else. "Eh, I'd rather talk about the Harvests. Anypony get a chance to talk to any of Carrot Top's family?"
Roseluck let out an exasperated groan, "Just that little filly. She's nice, but she's only been around long enough to ask Goldie questions. I have questions too!"
"Yeah, but I did get to ask her a few questions, like if she's seen any forest spirits." Daisy chuckled into her hoof, "She stumbled over her words at first, but then the denied ever seeing anything. A little too much if you ask me."
"Denied seeing what, I wonder?" Lily Valley wondered out loud.
A malicious grin quickly formed on Roseluck's face. "Maybe she saw something that crawls across the ground on slithery tentacles and can eat an entire herd of cows in a night!"
"I don't recall ever seeing one of those before."
The three mares turned their heads to see an unknown pegasus, still young but with just a hint of gray on his muzzle. He was wearing a doctor's coat and had on a pair of black saddlebags. The small name tag that was clipped next to his lopsided tie read 'Dr. C. Nova, MD.' This doctor was scrutinizing each of them with tired, miserable eyes.
He gave a loud, tired yawn then rubbed his eye with his hoof. "It would make this little town interesting."
Lily Valley looked at the red stallion, a twitch in the corner of her uneasy smile. "There's really nothing like that in Hollow Shades, is there?"
Dr. Cherry Nova blinked as he looked at the strawberry-blond mare with a tilt of his head. "Let me guess, you're all new to Hollow Shades?"
All three nodded.
"We just came in from Ponyville." Daisy said, "We're just a little weirded out by the Everfree is all."
"Well, you don't have to worry about the forest." Cherry Nova droned, "I don't know what they say about it in Ponyville, but just like our weather it isn't as dangerous as it's made out to be. If it was, I wouldn't be the only physician here in town."
Roseluck stood and wiped her hoof on the grass before offering it to the doctor. "Nice to meet ya, doc. I'm Roseluck, and this is Daisy and Lily Valley."
The doctor stared blankly at the offered hoof, only raising his own hoof to shake it as an afterthought.
"Er, Cherry Nova. MD. Is Summer Harvest inside?" Cherry Nova nodded toward the house.
Daisy yawned, "Nope, he's still out in the fields. He's been out there since we got here."
Cherry Nova grumbled something under his breath, then cleared his throat. "Fine, then I'll wait up at the house. If he comes by, drag his flank inside. "
Roseluck blinked, "What's the matter, the old guy owes you some bits?"
"Yes, but so does a lot of other ponies in this town." Cherry Nova snorted, "Summer's got stitches that are due to be taken out."
Roseluck immediately recoiled at the mention of the word 'stitches.' The very idea of flesh having to be sewn together like some ghoulish quilt made Roseluck's stomach clench.
"Hey, since you'll just be waiting around for a little while, would you mind explaining a few things about this town?" Daisy asked.
"I'm not a tour guide." Cherry Nova then sighed and rubbed his face with his hoof. "But I don't have anything better to do. Shoot."
Roseluck clopped her hooves together, finally she'd get some answers! But before Roseluck could open her mouth, however, Daisy spoke first.
"Okay, what's with the weather pony up there?" Daisy smiled.
Roseluck's hoof nearly made a crater in her skull as she facehoofed. How much reassuring did these two need?
The red doctor looked up at the sky, squinting his eyes against the light of the sun and the throbbing migraine that it instilled. Cherry Nova groaned and rubbed his eyes as he finally looked back down to the ground. "You've seen weather ponies work in other towns, right?"
"Yeah, they normally have a weather factory that's not far away from any pony settlement." Lily Valley remarked, "From that factory, they make the weather for that area."
"Correct, but Hollow Shades doesn't have any such factory." Cherry Nova said, sitting down on the grass and stretched his wings.
The three mares all saw the plumage at the tip of his left wing refuse to move. The doctor followed their eyes to his wing and instantly drew it back, snorting at the indignity he had unconsciously brought upon himself.
"They had one here, a weather factory I mean." Cherry Nova said, trying to brush off what had happened as nothing. "But the factories exist on clouds, and the clouds around here are wild, the winds are wild, everything here is wild. The factory kept drifting away on the wind, and the few pegasi who live here had to pull it back into place every week."
Cherry Nova continued, "Since they couldn't even place tame clouds without them drifting out of place, the pegasi decided that instead of controlling the weather the only solution was to do the next best thing. They push here and nudge there, they try and keep the worst weather from hitting the town. Of course, other towns never seem to get anything they deflect. Needless to say, the weather factory has since been shut down."
Lily Valley blinked, "So... you don't get, like, tornadoes every week or-"
"-No." Cherry Nova interrupted with an annoyed groan, "Despite what the rest of Equestria must think, we rarely get more than a powerful thunderstorm with a lot of lightning. The weather is wild, but it's hardly random. The pegasi here have gotten good at predicting what's to come tomorrow." He then motioned up to the sky again. "I can see her checking the humidity and air pressure."
"There goes that cloud talk again..." Lily Valley muttered under her breath.
"What about nature spirits?" Roseluck blurted out, "Harvest Moon said she's seen a few of them."
"Her and every foal in town." Cherry Nova scoffed, "A town like this is awash with all kinds of superstitions. I wouldn't put too much stock in what you hear. But it's my turn for a few questions. What are three Ponyvillians doing here on the Harvest family farm?"
"Our friend is related to them, and we thought we'd come along and try and lend a hoof." Daisy shrugged, "Well, lend a hoof and see what goes on in a town we've never visited."
Roseluck nodded, "Goldie said her family's farm would bite the dust if they didn't get help." Roseluck then tilted her head, "Couldn't anypony in town have helped the Harvests out?"
The doctor responded by locking onto Roseluck's eyes, staring at her with tired but unrelenting eyes. "Do you honestly think the Harvests are the only ones around here that are about to lose everything? You did see the town on your way in, didn't you?"
Daisy looked to Lily Valley, who shared the same newfound confusion as her.
Roseluck wilted under the doctor's gaze, but that didn't stop her from her speaking. "You mean... the whole town's broke?"
"Destitute." Cherry Nova frowned, mercifully breaking eye contact with the cream colored mare. "You think one good harvest is going to solve these ponies' problems? If anything you're just putting this farm on life support for another year or two."
The flower trio looked at each other with a newfound sense of worry. The town had undeniably looked to be in a terrible state when they had come here. Although they had not done any real investigation into the local economy, there was no reason to doubt the good doctor's words; he was a local after all.
"Maybe... we could figure something out to help the town too?" Daisy offered, grabbing everypony's attention. "I mean... I'm sure the ponies back home could maybe donate some bits."
"That wouldn't work." Cherry Nova stated flatly. "The farmers around here are a proud sort, they wouldn't accept any kind of hand out. Personally, I'm shocked that Summer sent for help at all."
Cherry Nova lifted his head, casting his gaze across the field. "Ah, finally that old warhorse is coming in. You try and enjoy yourselves here in Hollow Shades while it's still standing."
Cherry Nova had just gotten to his hooves and started to walk away when Lily Valley spoke up; "The way you talk about Hollow Shades and everypony here is pretty harsh. Don't you care if this town shuts down?"
The doctor looked over his shoulder, showing the three mares an apathetic frown. "If it lives I have a practice that's as boring as rock farming. If it dies then I move to someplace else where I can put my tal... skills to use. "
And with that the mares were left alone under the oak as Dr. Cherry Nova idly trotted off.
Roseluck stuck her tongue out at him, but once her disgust was vented she didn't know what to say. Her friends were looking to the ground with pensive, downward frowns.
After several minutes of thoughtful silence Daisy licked her lips. "We need to talk to Goldie..."
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Hours later, the dinner bell rang and all across the farm rose a need to rejoice. Rest and food was promised, all that was required was to trudge back to the old and creaking farm house.
The Flower Trio had managed to share the discussion they had with the doctor with Carrot Top when their self-mandated break was at an end. The carrot farmer had sighed and said little, looking to be in a very thoughtful mood as she had concentrated on her labors. When she had been pressed to speak on the matter, Carrot Top had only said "I don't have an answer yet."
Together the four made it to the farm house, and sat down at the kitchen table. Space was an issue at the table, which had not been made with eight settings in mind. Before everypony took a seat at the table, she directed them to the stack of plates and the serving trays full of food that sat on the counter. This way she wouldn't have to pull Summer Harvest's old card table out to accommodate everypony.
Roseluck grimaced at some of the dishes. The baked potatoes with chives actually sounded great, but the large pot of boiled dandelions and kale made her flinch. Kale with some vinegar was a decent side dish, but plain, boiled kale? At least the prospect of more of those candied pears would be enough to wash the taste out of her mouth.
"There's a lot of ivy trying to grow around the pumpkins, we'll need to get them pulled and tomorrow." Summer said, his mind still on the work he'd been doing all day. Although he didn't seem to be speaking to anypony in particular, Leadfoot idly nodded his head. "And the carrots need to be watered, so be sure to get the big buckets out tomorrow."
"They did look a little sickly." Carrot Top said offhoofedly, "But it won't be too much longer before it's time to start pulling them."
Summer Harvest raised his head, looking at Carrot Top for the first time since he'd come inside. "Long enough to get them livened up."
"How's your leg, daddy?" Corn Crib asked, her plate consisting of more potato than greens. Much like the plate Roseluck was holding in her own teeth.
Summer Harvest looked to his daughter, a smile forming as he raised his leg. "Knitted and purled, but now that the stitches are out I'll be right as rain."
Roseluck clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see the stitch-marks that were left in Summer Harvest's leg.
Carrot Top on the other hoof was hiding her smile behind a mouthful of bitter greens. The slightest sign of blood, even just talking about a scratch or a bruise could make Roseluck curl up like a leaf after a frost.
"Sorry I didn't get a chance to welcome you all to our farm," Summer Harvest sighed, "But I'm sure my better half gave you a far warmer welcome than I could give."
Harvest Moon rolled her eyes and gave her husband a playful bat with her hoof. "Don't talk down about yourself. We've discussed this."
Carrot Top smiled, "Really, warm welcome or not, it's nice to see family again."
Leadfoot smiled, sitting between his cousin and father. "We all appreciate you coming Cousin Golden. You gotta be busy with your life in Ponyville."
"It's not as busy as you think. I have a few acres, I grow carrots, and sometimes radishes when the mood strikes me." Carrot Top nodded in the direction of her friends. "But you should really be thanking my friends for coming too. I had to come, but they took the time to come out here and lend twelve more hooves."
Lily shook her head, "Not really, once you told us that your family was having problems we had to come."
Corn Crib tilted her head, her mouth full of potato which she quickly swallowed. "But aren't you going to be late with your own harvests, or... is that the right word for when it's time to pick flowers?"
"You don't pick flowers en mass like you can with vegetables, kiddo." Roseluck smirked, "They wilt incredibly fast, and their taste goes with them. So they gotta be dug up and transported alive. Nearly every flower that's sold is fresh."
Daisy nodded, "And it's a tricky sale since you can only sell flowers when they're blooming and they don't last long even when they have the best soil. Imagine mining diamonds and you have to rush them to the jeweler before they turn to dirt."
Leadfoot blinked, "I didn't think being florist was so difficult."
Lily Valley sighed, swallowing a bite of her greens. "It can be, but farming's difficult too. Just in a different way."
Summer chuckled, "And I suppose the four of you had a good look into what life on a proper farm is like, huh?"
"And then some." Roseluck stretched, her potato skin laying limp and empty next to her untouched dandelions and kale. "So what do you usually do for fun when the day's over?"
Harvest Moon's smile twisted into a smirk, "Well, Summer used to play a violin when the children were small."
The Harvest patriarch blushed a little, his olive green coat turning a mild pink. "Fiddle, honey. Fiddle."
"What's the difference?" Carrot Top chuckled.
"The pony who plays it." Harvest Moon smiled, "Other than that, nothing really. He just thinks if he calls it a violin it makes him sound too 'Canterloty.'"
Lily snickered, imagining Octavia fuming if she had heard that statement. "Do you think we could hear you play?
"I don't know, I haven't played in years. And besides I think it got shuffled around into the mess in the attic." Summer Harvest politely shook his head. "Finding it would take all night and I don't think anypony wants to crawl around a dusty, spider-infested attic after working all day."
"Sounds like my basement back home." Daisy chuckled. "Don't worry about it."
"How is Ponyville?" Summer Harvest asked, "I haven't been there in nearly two years. I've heard that a lot of strange things have been happening there."
"I guess 'weird' is relative." Carrot Top thought, "Then again, some of the stuff that's happened to Ponyville has been very out of the ordinary."
"There's been a few scary things happen here and there." Lily Valley shrugged, "But the scariest was that stampede of rabbits that ate every flower we had out."
"That was more annoying than scary." Carrot Top rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they ate all the flowers you had out and then they got into my carrots. I had to juice everything they got their little paws to break even that month."
"Seems to be the Harvest family curse." Leadfoot muttered.
Summer Harvest jabbed his son in the side. "Hey, we aren't going to start calling it that. This family is just having a spot of bad luck. The Everfree soil's very difficult to manage."
Leadfoot rubbed his side, hiding his frown with a mouthful of food.
"Um, Mom?" Corn Crib leaned in close to her mother, "Did you set anything out for the er, forest ghost?"
Carrot Top raised an eyebrow and tilted an ear toward the filly.
Harvest Moon raised a hoof to her mouth, "No, but after dinner is over, I'll make a little dish and you can set it out for him."
"Set what out for who?" Roseluck asked.
Summer Harvest rolled his eyes, "It's an old tradition that you set out food for the Everfree spirits so they won't cause any mischief. I don't really approve of wasting food, but since much of it comes from the forest it's not like we're wasting money."
Corn Crib snorted and mumbled something as she chewed her food. A few ponies at the table glanced at her, but nothing was said aloud.
Harvest Moon on the other hand was smiling as if she knew something that everypony else at the table didn't. Carrot Top wasn't sure if anypony else noticed it, but she did.
"Golden Harvest? You've had the day to look over our farm." Summer Harvest said, "Do you think that you'll be able to stay long enough to help?"
"I have somepony I trust to look after my own plot of land. I'm not afraid to be away from it." Carrot Top said, turning her head to look out the kitchen window. "But I don't know how much help we can be. Much of the crops are due to be picked as soon as they've had a chance to dry out, there's not much fertilizer or transplanting can do at this point."
Leadfoot lowered his ears. "I should have sent that letter in the spring..."
"You couldn't have known things would be like this." Lily Valley offered, showing the stallion an encouraging smile. "Besides, in the spring we're all so busy trying to get things settled after Winter Wrap Up spring's never good for us."
"Oh right, you guys clean up winter yourselves." Leadfoot rubbed his head, "Here, winter just sorta cleans itself up."
"Winter that just changes to spring on its own? Finally something that sounds cool!" Daisy grinned.
"I'm sure we could stick around and help you get everything picked and pulled." Carrot Top shrugged, "But I'm not sure what to do exactly. You'll be hard pressed to sell those pumpkins, the hail really scarred them bad."
"I know, and truthfully, they aren't even the best pumpkins for making pies." Summer Harvest sighed, "I was hoping to be able to sell them by the pound. They're nice sized, but anypony will take one look at them and pass them by."
"Can't we use your trick Cousin Golden?" Corn Crib asked, "Could we make make pies out of the pumpkins and juice the carrots?"
Harvest Moon shook her head, "Your father just said they aren't the best for pies. Sure we could, but they wouldn't fetch a lot, and we don't have the bits for pie crusts and sugar. And juicing all those carrots would take something stronger than a cider press."
Roseluck blinked. "You guys have a cider press?"
Leadfoot grit his teeth and gave his father a cautious look before answering; "Yes, but we have no use for it. There aren't any orchard farmers in Hollow Shades."
"Then where'd the pears come from?" Roseluck asked.
"The Everfree. The darnedest things grow in there." Harvest Moon smiled proudly.
"I'll say," Roseluck nodded, "It's hard to believe those zap apples came from that dreadful forest."
Summer Harvest snorted and said nothing, but the scowl he wore could crack a plate.
"Speaking of apples," Roseluck rubbed her forehooves together, "I've been meaning to ask-"
Carrot Top grit her teeth, she should have seen this coming. There was no time to stop Roseluck from completing that sentence.
"What's this rumor about you and the Apples?"
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To be continued...