"Come on come on come one..."
Rainbow Dash flew like a fuzzy blue missile straight for Sweet Apple Acres.
"It's gotta be nothing... it's just nothing! Yeah..."
She feverishly stammered into the warm winds over Ponyville.
"It's all in my head! That's right, Zecora. I didn't tell you before, but I sure as heck am telling you now!"
She gulped, shivered, flew. "All in my head. All in my friggin' head. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to possibly—" She stared down at the fringes of the farmland, and her pupils shrank. "Buck me."
A crowd of two dozen ponies stood in a tight circle around the skeletal wooden framework of a brand new building along the easternmost hill overlooking the orchards.
Applejack, Big Mac, and several other vaguely familiar ponies from the local farmsteads were gathered together, rigging various sets of rope to a wallframe that lay on the grass.
"That about does it, folks!" Applejack shouted, smiling proudly into the morning sunlight. "In less than a minute, we should be able to give it the ol' heave-ho! Golden Harvest, thanks for bringin' yer family. How about you get the east side, ya hear?"
"Comin' along nicely, Applejack!" Granny Smith said. She trudged her way up the hill, pushing a cart of freshly squeezed lemonade pitchers. "My, oh, my, if this ain't a sweet sight already!"
"A lil' too early for refreshments, Granny!" Applejack replied with a smirk. "How about waitin' till we're done with the outer framework?"
"Awwww... but I walked all this way!"
"Well, have yerself a little sit-down in the shade. This part shouldn't take too long, I reckon."
Swooooosh! Plop! Rainbow Dash landed on four hooves, her face frozen like a poniquin's.
"Whoah, nelly!" Applejack grabbed her hat tight, then chuckled. "How nice of ya to drop by, Rainbow! Yer just in time for this here barn-raisin'!"
"Why?" Rainbow croaked, eyes darting all around. "Why raise a barn?!" She shivered slightly, her limbs locked in place. "Why so many heavy pieces of plywood... and st-strangling ropes?"
"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack squinted. "Ya look like you've been spooked somethin' awful."
"Wouldn't you... uhm..." Rainbow fidgeted. "...rather be doing something that didn't involve so much dangerous lumber... and splinters?"
"Pfft. Shucks, darlin'. Ain't nothin' dangerous about this!" Applejack tilted the brim of her hat back and smirked. "Not s'long as I'm keepin' a watchful eye on the whole procedure! My Uncle Red Glaze taught me the ins-and-outs of barn-raisin', and then my Pa before him!"
"Yeah, but... but..." Rainbow Dash's teeth chattered. "Why today of all days?"
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Uhhhhhh..."
"We've been doing so well with the apple harvest lately. I figured settin' up a storehouse by the east field would help out in the years to come! Might as well take advantage of the bits rollin' in, ya feel me?" Applejack chuckled heartily. "And thanks to you scarin' off them vampire fruit bats the other day, we've got an early start!"
"Yeah..." Rainbow gulped, eyes darting everywhere. "Thanks to me..."
"Well, I'd lurve to chat, but I've gotta get my hooves dirty sooner than later." Applejack trotted forward.
"Wait!" Rainbow's voice cracked. When she got Applejack's attention, she squirmed and nervously stammered, "How about... uhhhh... h-how about I-I help you!"
"Help me?"
"Yeah!"
Applejack blinked at her. Then snickered.
Rainbow squinted. "What?"
"Ohhhhhhhh Sugarcube..." Applejack rested a hoof on her shoulder, smiling warmly. "Why don't you leave this to the big-boned earth ponies, ya hear?"
"The hay is that supposed to mean?"
Rainbow felt a flounce to her mane as Applejack leaned back. "Oh, I'm only teasin' ya, sugarcube," she said. "We already have all of our positions cut out for us. Still, I appreciate the offer, even if yer just a petite little speedster."
Rainbow grinded her hooves. "Don't call me 'petite,'" her voice cracked in spite of her protest.
"Heck, reckon you could be our spotter if ya feel like it!" Applejack smiled over her shoulder as she trotted towards the group of ponies. "None of us have wings, and it'd be a big help!" She whistled towards the other ponies. "Golden Harvest! Big Mac! Let's do this thang!"
"Yeeeha!"
"Eeyup!"
"Show 'em how it's done, Big Mac!" Granny Smith cheered from where she stood, fanning herself with a wrinkled hoof. "Apple family style!" She turned, blinking down at colorful flowers on the ground. "Ooooh! Lilies!" She knelt down low to give the soft petals a nuzzle.
Rainbow Dash squirmed nervously in place, sweating in the sunlight as the situation unfolded uncontrollably before her.
"Alright, y'all! On the count of three!" Applejack bit onto a rope while the other ponies did likewise from their positions. "One... two... three. Heave!"
With coordinated effort, the grunting, straining ponies raised the eastern wall structure of the skeletal barn. Rainbow couldn't help but feel awestruck by the ease with which they performed this task. Her eyes followed the ropes through the pulley system and onto the framework being lifted up ever so gracefully. In less than two minutes, the wall was almost completely set in place.
With a long-winded sigh, Rainbow Dash slumped to her haunches with wilted wings. "What am I so freaked out about?" She gulped dryly, then produced a weak smile. "It's all good. I got worked up over nothing."
The mare sighed out her nostrils.
With a gentle smirk, she stood up, turned around, and trotted towards the fence.
And that's precisely when she tripped over something.
"Gaah!" Rainbow stumbled, spun, and squinted at the ground. She gasp.
A familiar granite horn lay in the grass, rattling to a stop.
Rainbow's heart beat through her chest. She heard a disturbing crack roll through the air. Her eyes darted upwards.
Across from the wall being raised, the opposite pylon of the barn had fractured down the center. In slow motion, a murderously heavy chunk of splintery wood broke loose from the barn and fell... directly over Granny Smith's flower-sniffing figure.
Rainbow flung a hoof forward and shrieked. "No—!!!"