Things back at the farm were also very tranquil; the oinking and splashing of pigs in their mud, gentle clucking of the chickens in their pens, even the mooing of the cows chewing on the cud; it all gave a lively peaceful atmosphere to the barn yard, where the Apple family was hard at work taking care of some of their daily chores.
At the moment, Applejack and Applebloom both worked in the back barn portion of the barn, changing out the straw bedding on the floors and up in the loft, as well as moving and reorganizing some boxes stored around.
“Aw, but Applejack!” whined Applebloom, looking up to her sister standing in front of her, gripping her with her big amber eyes.
“I promise Applebloom, we’ll get done in time for you to go play with your friends.” said Applejack, walking over and picking up a ladder leaned up against the wall, placing it up right and up into the loft.
“But we have to go now!” said Applebloom, continuing to dog her sister. “Me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo going down to the field on the other side of town to try and get our firework cutie marks! If we don’t meet Firecracker there by sun down we ain’t going to get them today!”
“Well… that’d be a shame too, uh, miss that appointment…” Applejack said in a flat taut voice.
“It would! Please Big Sis!’ It wouldn’t be right for the other girls to go alone! We ain’t the Cutie Mark Crusaders unless we’re all there! Please!?”
“Tell you what, we get the loft knocked out early, then you can go. Sound good?” said Applejack with a smile.
Applebloom nodded eagerly in agreement, her eyes lighting up as she took a broom in mouth and began up the ladder quickly, sweeping down the old dried out straw from the loft, mixing into the air a large cloud of dust and dirt.
Big Macintosh came up the way from the northern fields closer to town, hauling a wagon full of tubs of apples.
“Is that the order for the Manehattan ponies?” asked Applejack.
Big Mac nodded, slipping out of the straps of the wagon. He looked over at the garden along the lining of the orchard, seeing behind it a large boulder resting in between the garden and the apple trees, its rough, oblong, shape casting a shadow over their crops. He remembered it was on the chore list to take care of; it had to be taken down to the stone query.
“Ya’ want me to take care of that?” asked Big Mac, nodding over in the direction of the stone.
“Hmm? Oh, nah. Wildfire said he’d take care of it when he got back.”
Applejack’s ears flinched, picking up a voice off in the distance, shouting out in a scratchy tone.
“What in the hay?” murmured Applejack.
“Go! Go!!!” shouted the voice, coming up the trail quickly.
Just over the hump in the trail, a pair of light blue wings could be seen, flapping rapidly as they peered over the hill, coming more into view as the shouting came further into earshot. A Rainbow mane quickly followed, the face of the mare it belonged to twisted into an intense strained face as the pegasus shouted into the ear of the other orange colored pegasus stomping out the trail.
“Well, speak of the devil!” said Applejack, a sight to her to see the two ponies coming up the trail paired up in this way.
Wildfire stomped the road, kicking up dirt and dust off the dry soil, the dust beginning to cake along his sweaty underside and in the pits of his hooves. Rainbow Dash continued to drill the orange stallion, forcing him forward and feeding him energy he wouldn’t have had otherwise. For every command she fed him, he responded with a grunt and a nod of his bobbing head, continually remoistening his mouth as the wind from Dash’s wings blew the dirt clouds back in his face, leaving a gritty taste in the stallion’s mouth.
“Come on! Don’t let up! Right there! I want you to sprint to the entrance!” shouted Dash, pointing to the white arch way out in front of the farm.
Wildfire gave his all, mane flapping in the wind, back straight, rolling his neck as he pushed harder. He definitely wasn’t letting up, and he wouldn’t at this point. He lunged forward some, wanting to thrust forth with his wings but resisting the urge to even let them stretch out. He took the corner under the arch way tight, sliding out on his hooves in the loose soil, and charging right into the barn yard.
“There! That hay bale is the finish line! Hurry! They’re gaining! Faster! Faster!!!” shouted Dash as she skipped the fence, her voice cracking up as she shouted Wildfire on.
Wildfire leaned into his stride, stretching out like a greyhound and rocketing his slender body forward. Dash was invigorated by his determination, and her shouting continued to charge him up; both feeding off each other’s energy.
Wildfire crossed the stack of hay bales, immediately slowing his hard driving charge to a light trot, taking a rest to catch his breath. Rainbow Dash circled him, congratulating him with a quick splash of water from a bucket she filled from the barn spigot. His mane stuck to his head, except for the part over his forehead which seemed to stand on its own. The Apples watched on, seeing the once aggressive ponies acting civil, somewhat, toward each other for a change.
“I think they’re starting to get along.” said Applejack, getting a half nod from Big Mac.
Wildfire sighed out a drawn out breath, preparing himself for another set of exercises. Although he wasn’t looking entirely eager about it, as he pranced about in anticipation, he was definitely looking pumped enough to complete it. He stretched out his back legs, laying out flat as he held himself up on his front legs. He lowered himself down slowly, then thrust himself back up, repeating this process several times over as the sweat from his mane ran down his face. It didn’t seem too hard for him to Rainbow. She sprouted another idea as she watched Wildfire work. She landed beside him and placed a fore hoof on his back, pressing him to the ground firmly with a thud.
“Hey! What are you doing?” exclaimed Wildfire.
“Well you wanted to push yourself, right?” Wildfire gave her another half-crazy stare. Dash leaned down some, the sun glaring in Wildfire’s eyes shadowing Dash’s face. “Come on! Ten more, strong pony!”
With a huff, Wildfire lifted himself, strained by the added weight that Rainbow was presenting to him. The first few went quietly, but Dash demanded that Wildfire counted them out. Wildfire did call out his count too, all the way up to ten, becoming louder and more pronounced with each push. His legs shaky now, he picked himself up and walked around some, catching his breath once more.
“Hey! Applejack.” said a winded Wildfire. “Still need me to take care of this rock?”
“Sure. Go ahead sugar cube!” said Applejack, sharing a wide smile with Applebloom who was watching from the loft window.
Wildfire stepped over to the large rock, looking it over and preparing himself a plan to start moving it along. Unannounced to Wildfire, Dash had also stepped over to the rock, bracing herself against the other side. Her mischievous smile returned, daring to challenge Wildfire even more. Big Mac saw her, and leaned over to Applejack at his side.
“You sure they getting along sis?” the piece of straw hanging from Big Mac’s mouth wiggled about as he spoke.
“Yeah, I’d say they are getting along just fine.” said Applejack with a confident smile.
Wildfire shoved at the rock with his shoulder, not getting even the slightest budge out of it. He pushed again, and again, beginning to get giggles out of Dash still holding the boulder down on the other side. Quick to frustrate, Wildfire turned abruptly and gave the stone a firm buck, sending it rolling over and away from him, capturing the hidden Rainbow Dash and pinning her beneath the rock. Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom all watched terrorized by the sight of the stone overtaking Dash. She disappeared under the rock, the boulder rolling over her and another five feet from her. She turned out lucky though, as she popped her head up from a ditch that she had fallen into, safeguarded from the weight of the stone.
Applebloom ran down from the loft, sprung forward by her own panic as she raced down the ladder and to her two sibling’s side.
Rainbow Dash turned to Wildfire, who was just as shocked as the Apples were, standing on three legs with the front one lifted up, tensed and frightened. Dash didn’t feel the same surprise as the rest of them did though, or at least not for long, for her panic quickly turned to rage, directed at Wildfire with bearing teeth and a low browed scowl.
“And just what was that for?” shouted Rainbow, her rough voice breaking up into a squeal, hopping out of the hole and quickly closing the gap between her and Wildfire. “You could have crushed me!”
“You should have said something then! I don’t have x-ray vision!” Wildfire said, his breath returning with his frustration, his dripping coat glistening in the sun.
“Well excuse me for trying to push you a little.”
“I don’t remember asking you to help me.”
“Help you?”
“Or, not…” said Applejack, the long faces of the other ponies nodding in agreement.
“I was trying to break you!” exclaimed Dash.
“For what reason!?” Wildfire stepped in closer, narrowing his eyes on the blue pegasus’, the emerald and greyish blue hues of his calico eyes staring daggers back at the arrogant mare, sweat and water dripping from his nose to the ground at Dash’s hooves. “To see me suffer?”
“I just want to see how great you really are!”
“Is this still about me out running you the other day? Because it wasn’t even meant to be a race, so I sure as hell was not cheating!” Applejack pulled Applebloom closer and covered her ears.
“Then prove it! I want a legit race!” demanded Rainbow Dash.
“Ok then… time, place, terms.”
“Two days from now at noon, Ghastly Gorge, all the time you want to prepare!”
“Ghastly Gorge?” The other ponies were struck speechless, terrified. Wildfire probably hadn’t been around long enough to hear the horrors of Ghastly Gorge; the giant Quarray Eels, the intense gusts, thick patches of razor sharp Bramble Bushes; just a few of those horrors to name. They had known the path that Rainbow was referring to as Ghastly Gorge specifically; a path that hit all the dangers and obstacles possible. Ghastly Gorge itself was about a few miles out of town as well, where no civilization resided aside from where the train tracks lay; a serious problem if something were to go wrong.
“And you’d better not chicken out!” said Dash, poking a hoof into Wildfire’s chest.
“Just make sure you don’t get hung up on your own tail.” said Wildfire, shoving Dash’s hoof off of him.
“Right back at ya’ big wig!” said Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, this big wig is going to get enough practice to give you a run for your money, so don’t expect me to go soft on you.” said Wildfire, staring Rainbow down.
Dash groaned, gritting her teeth.
“Fine!” shouted Rainbow.
“Fine!” returned Wildfire.
Dash tore off through the trees and over the hill, her blistering speeds tearing leaves and some apples off the trees. Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom all stood frozen, their jaws and eyes both open wide as their horrified stares fixed back on Wildfire, whose breath had gotten shaky. His weak knees trembled, as did his body, and his teeth chattered some, frustration over taking him completely, a mix of exhaustion and fury filling him. The water in his hair was practically steaming, Wildfire was so extremely heated by his fight with Rainbow, and wasn’t seeming to let it go.
His attention turned over to the boulder, still resting solid on the farm land, a shallow rut formed by its weight from where it had rolled across the ground. His breath labored, slowly building up to a louder huff, which slowly built to a frustrated grumble, with quickly turned into a loud furious scream, filling the tranquil atmosphere of Sweet Apple Acres with fury. He charged it, his wide sprinting stride returning to the light frame of the orange pegasus, quickly rushing the rock, spinning, and kicking his legs out straight, the added momentum from his stride giving him much more power than he needed to move the rock.
It rolled over, rumbling the ground as it tumbled over itself, chips of the stone breaking off in small pebbles and littering the ground where the boulder once stood. The rock caught an edge, rolling back up and balancing on a corner for a split second before falling back in the direction it came from. Wildfire rushed it again, planting his fore hooves on its underside and spreading his wings out wide, thrusting up against the rock and lifting it back up. The rock left the ground under Wildfire’s power, arcing lazily with a small amount of altitude that pointed towards the sky and down the road away from the farm. In one final motion, Wildfire twisted his wings in opposite directions, acrobatically turning his rear to the stone and giving it one more firm kick, the speed and the ferocity of his hooves sending the boulder into a violent line drive, hopping the farm’s fence, and landing with a ground shaking thump and rolling down the road.
Wildfire, still breathing shakily, fell back to the ground, planting his hooves firmly where he stood. He closed his eyes and looked towards the ground then, breathing deeper, his hyperventilating calming back down to a steady even breath. His shakiness calmed, and his composure returned, slowly opening his eyes and fixing a concentrated, dark scowl forward, neck ridged and not moving.
The Apples all stood terrified, pale in the face as Wildfire’s outrage scared them stiff. They didn’t dare talk to him, and they definitely didn’t want to try and calm him down. They just let Wildfire leave, watching him slowly walk out the front of the farm and back to Ponyville, trembling with rage.