//------------------------------// // More Land for No More Apples // Story: "Just Progress, My Friend." // by Sloped Armoured Pony //------------------------------// It was the morning of the first Saturday of Spring. The leaves on the trees were dripping with last nights showers, and the sound of the early birds filled the barely lit-up sky. The Apple Family was looking forward towards another long, hard, and hopefully prosperous harvest this year. There was still a lot of time to pass before any harvesting could start, so the day began with the every-day tending to the animals, clearing dead wood, and removing pests. By around six o' clock in the morning, Applejack and Big Macintosh had their branch cutters ready to clear away any dead branches. Applebloom was not too far behind as she eagerly ran after Applejack, hoping to be of some assistance. By around lunch, Applejack and Big Mac had finished most of the farm work. With Applebloom's help, they managed to finish pruning most of the immature apple trees and tend to most of the animals. They still had to clear any trees that died during the winter, and there was almost a whole boarder of trees on the farm that had succumbed during the frigid months. Applebloom had left to go play with her friends as Big Mac and Applejack set off to start tugging the dead trees for disposal. As they arrived at the southeast corner of the farm, they met their neighbor Old Farmer Strauss. He had owned his farm for as long as Granny Smith had, and the two were good friends. As the mare and stallion finished up with removing the dead trees, they looked over the fence to bid Farmer Strauss good night, but as they peaked, they found most of his farm to be completely ravaged. Big Mac and Applejack decided to stop by to help him with his dead trees. "Why, good evening! What brings you here this late?" asked Farmer Strauss as he was tugging a dead tree out of his farm. "Well, we came to see if you needed any help for them lot of trees," replied Applejack, "because there seems to be more tree than there should be. By the way, what did happen to your trees? Did your soil die? Was there a fire?" "Yes, my soil died. It seems that none of my plants can grow here anymore. I don't know what went wrong, but it seems that the ice had shaved off the whole topsoil. It will take years for that topsoil to come back," said the old stallion. "I could pile some more soil, but we all know that the best apples come from native soil. and besides, Ponyville only sells soil from these two farms. Actually, come to think about it, do you have some spare soil I can buy for my farm? Applejack and Big Mac thought hard. They had no soil to spare because the spring had only started, and the soil was still barely alive in their farm. However, the two could not bare to think about a poor old stallion without any soil to make a living. He had been working on the farm for years, and he was already in his 90s. They thought long and hard about what to do with him with the few options they had. "Sorry sir, but we don't have no soil in our farm," explained Applejack, but just as Farmer Strauss was about to enter his house sad, Applejack added, "However, would it be in our best interests for us to buy your farm off of your hooves? We feel that you have been working for long enough, and we can pay enough money for you to retire." Farmer Strauss turned around with a sign of relief. He also felt that he was too old to be working, and happy thoughts rushed his mind. "Would you, please?" begged the farmer, "I the gesture was kind and I would really appreciate it!" The three ponies shook hooves and then head back to their homes for a well earned night's sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------ The next day had begun, but today demanded all the effort Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith could put. As well as the chores, they had to stop by in Ponyville to talk to the lawyer so that the land exchange could be approved. As they walked into town, Rarity was strolling town square to pick up Applebloom for the day as the rest of the Apple family consulted about the topic of land purchase. Farmer Strauss was waiting by the doors of the courthouse waving to the generous ponies, and then walking with them inside to meet the lawyer. The group sat inside the courtroom as the lawyer came in with his papers. "So you're Applejack, Macintosh, and Lady Smith, I presume?" asked the lawyer, and then turned to ask, "and you're Mr. Strauss?" All the ponies replied and stated their desires to by the land off of Farmer Strauss. "Okay, let us see. So, Mr. Strauss, you are 90 years old, am I correct? Yes, and you have been working on the form for 67 years? Ok. The land you own is approximately 1,000 acres in size. What is the quality of the land?" Mr. Strauss explained how most of his farm was dead, and how the soil was not fertile enough to grow crops. "Um, let us see now. I will have to have a surveyor come with me to inspect the value of your land. We will be there in about two hours. Is that convenient scheduling?" asked the lawyer. The ponies agreed and returned home to get as many chores done as they could to make up for lost time. It was almost lunch time when the lawyer and the surveyor arrived to inspect the land. The poked at the ground and sampled the resources in the farm. They then left and called back about five hours later. The letter stated, "We have come to a conclusion to how much the land owned by Mr. Strauss is worth. Judging by the quality and size of the land, it is only worth 500 bits. Come to the court room by 10 o' clock tomorrow morning to either confirm or refuse the purchase." They ponies returned the next day, and the Apple family believed that 500 bits was not a fair price for land that was only recently destroyed. "So, have you made a decision. Both you, Lady Smith, and Mr. Strauss must sign this contract in agreement to the transaction. If any comments or changes must be made, please do so before your signatures." "We would like to pay double for the land," exclaimed the whole Apple family. The lawyer was surprised, but he was not in the position to deny this offer. He adjusted the contract to be a transaction of 1,000 bits towards Mr. Strauss, and Granny Smith and Farmer Strauss signed the contract. The deal was confirmed. ------------------------------------------------------------ The next day, Mr. Strauss was waiting outside his house for a cabby while Applejack visited to bid him good-bye. "So, ready for some well earned years of relaxation mister?" asked Applejack. Mr. Strauss replied, "I am really thankful for this. I can now retire and live a peaceful life in Ponyville without worrying about a dead farm." He bid his last good-bye as the cabby arrived, and then he was gone. This job was over, and it was now time for Applejack to figure out what she would do with the new land her family had acquired. For a few days, the land was only being used as a play area for Applebloom. Applejack and Big Mac were working hard as Applebloom wandered around in search for hidden treasures. She even had Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo join the hunt as they then assumed characters as pirates hoping for scavenging cutie marks. The poked in the bushes and the dead wood, until Sweetie Belle decided to dig into the ground. "Sweetie Belle, what are you doing? Mah sister doesn't eve know what to do with this land, so you can't go around digging into it! Do you know how much trouble I could get in?" angered Applebloom. As she continued ranting, Sweetie Belle stopped just at the time a shimmering reflection poked from out of the ground. "Hey, check this out!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, exciting the other two crusaders who were anticipating a major discovery. They peered into the ground and also saw something shiny. The continued digging to find out that the shiny material was really a disgustingly gooey body. The cutie mark crusaders sprinted to inform Applejack about their discovery. When she saw the substance, her firs reaction was that it was a dangerous fungus that needed to be removed. This could even have been what had caused Strauss' plants to die. Applejack brought an iron shovel and scooped up the fungus to throw into the Everfree Forest, but as she was walking, she tripped and fell on the shovel. Something strange happened. "Huh, that's funny," Applejack responded, "Why didn't my shovel break? I even landed on a rock and it still didn't break." She tested the shovel by hitting it on a rock, but there wasn't even a scratch. The dropped the "fungus" onto the ground near the forest and found that the metal was tinted brown. She hit the shovel on the rock in a place on the shovel that was still grey iron. The shovel bent like wire, but whenever she hit on the brown metal, the metal remained strong. At first she thought the metal was affected by a chemical and that it was unsafe to touch. The mare left it behind until finding out that ants started crawling on the shovel hoping for some leftover fungus. This was worth studying. After the chores were complete, Applejack stayed up late to study this "metal" and "fungus." She tasted the fungus, and it was rather delicious. Flies had been on it all day, so she knew that the only thing wrong with the fungus was whatever gunk landed on it. The metal, on touch, felt like ordinary metal, but significantly stronger. She placed it in flame, and it would not melt. She left it in the ice box for several days and it didn't even crack. She managed to crack it when she placed it in the oven and the metal smothered away. It was impressive, considering that the metal performed better than iron. Applejack also discovered that the fungus made any sort of iron into this metal, and with the help of Applebloom, she also discovered that the new land was littered with these fungi, all growing in quantity by harvester ants. Maybe this land had use after all.