//------------------------------// // 13. What's in a name? // Story: Orchestrated Chaos // by ReFro //------------------------------// After Granita finished giving the filly a good scrub and a comforting hug, she gathered up her bucket and brush and gently nudged the foal back in the direction of the farmhouse, indicating that it was time to go. As they headed back through the apple orchard, the only sound that could be heard was the rhythmic clip-clop of their hooves and the occasional gust of wind that rustled the leaves above them. The pair trotted silently, side by side, neither having anything to say to the other—not that it would have mattered anyhow. Granita had been pondering just how she was going to keep an eye on the filly while also getting her chores done before suppertime came around. Not to mention the catastrophe in the barn that she would have to clean up and explain to Pa. He wasn’t going to be too happy that a good portion of his new tools were now painted in various shades of pink. A barely audible sigh left Granita’s mouth. She wondered if her mother’s earlier remark about how watching a filly would be ‘no trouble at all’ was just a joke at her expense. Seeing how it had only been two hours since she had started watching her. In that short time, the grey filly had already proven to be more of a hoofful than Granita could have ever imagined. Chloe was trying to keep up with the longer legged mare as she seemed to be walking at a faster pace than before. During this time, she had been thinking as well. That was a really stupid thing for me to do. Why couldn’t I have just sat there and waited patiently while she did her thing? It was only like what, ten minutes if that? She started falling behind the mare and had to pick up her pace to get back next to her. A small headache started to manifest in the back of her head as they walked. I have never had problems with my attention span before, so why now? Am I suddenly developing a pony version of ADD, or am I just starting to lose my mind? She let out a slow breath and momentarily closed her eyes. All this thinking seemed to make her headache worse. Well, on the bright side, at least that bath got rid of the dried sweat in my coat. She made a disgusted face. I hope I don’t ever wake up like that again… Stupid blanket burrito, stupid killer moth. She stopped for a moment to rub her head. Ugh, stupid headaches…everything here is just plain stupid! After a few more minutes of walking in silence, with Granita looking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure the filly was still there, they had entered the barn again. Chloe followed the mare as they made her way over past the giant mess, hanging her head a bit lower as she glanced at the mess she made. I didn’t really think too much about it before, but this is why we must have come out here. She’s a farmer. This is where she works. That’s gotta be it. And if this is her work, I bet I just really messed up her day… She picked up her pace as the mare went towards the burlap sacks. I hope I didn’t get her in too much trouble with her boss. That old mare has a strong grip, I would hate to see her when she is angry. Chloe stopped as the light-green mare grabbed a sack from the top of the pile with a picture of an apple on it, setting it down on the floor. I’ll just have to try and make it up to her somehow. Maybe if I show her I won’t wander off anymore, she won’t be so nervous about me getting into trouble. Chloe lay down as the mare started turning to face her. “Now you stay—” Granita stopped. Her hoof was already pointing towards the ground by the time she noticed that the filly was already laying on the ground to her side. Chloe was looking up to her with a small, apologetic smile. “Good girl.” She smiled, patting the filly’s head before turning back to the sack of seeds. “Yeah, knew that was coming,” Chloe muttered under her breath. She returned the smile and watched as the mare filled her saddlebags for the second time today. Chloe noticed that the mare was still glancing at her every now and then. But then again, she figured she would be doing the same thing if she were in the mares shoes, or hooves, as it were. The minutes slowly ticked by as Chloe waited, patiently this time, for the mare to finish. She was contemplating just going to sleep to let her headache run itself out, but that idea was squashed when the mare set down the scoop. “Alrighty. Let’s get a move on,” she spoke with a smile, nodding in the direction of the barn door. “You finally ready, huh?” Chloe got to her hooves, gave a quick stretch. “Well, at least my headache isn’t as bad as before,” she mumbled, turning towards the exit. Chloe followed the mare out of the barn and into the sunlight. She noticed that her coat was completely dry now, although most of her flank and tail were still an off shade of pink. “Bleh!” She stuck her tongue out, wrinkling her face. “I look horrible!” Granita chuckled, watching the filly make a face at her dyed coat. “It won’t be like that for long, sugar. A few more baths and you won’t even notice. But come on, I got work to be gettin’ to.” She motioned for her to follow. Celestia’s sun was steadily climbing higher in the sky and with it, the chill of the morning was replaced by its warm rays. Granita and her little accomplice had made their way out into the field that she had been tending to yesterday. She stopped in the middle of the field where the evenly spaced mounds of dirt stopped and began to dig the dirt up with her hoof.. Chloe surveyed the field in front of her. There were small, evenly spaced humps in the dirt, all arranged neatly in long rows about five hundred feet wide. She turned around and looked behind her. The field went on for a considerable distance. It was hard to tell exactly how far, but it had to be at least a half a mile long. That meant that there was still a good portion of this field to complete and the mare was doing it by herself. And by hoof at that! Chloe watched as the mare’s hoof dug into the soft, pulling back a good size chunk of fertile looking dirt with it before depositing a few seeds from her saddlebag into the hole, covering it back up and moving down a bit to start all over again. “You’re going to do the whole field like this by yourself?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m planting apple seeds. Gotta get this field done soon so I can get a’ going on the next one,” she replied, pushing a pile of dirt over the hoofful of seeds she had just placed. “We’ve been plantin’ a new field every month so we can have fresh apples almost year round.” She moved over to the next spot as the filly followed and dug a new hole. “Here, you wanna try plantin’ some? It’s real easy like.” She grabbed a hoofful of seeds, holding them out to the filly. “What, you want me to plant them?” Chloe asked, taking the seeds. She looked at the seeds and then back to the waiting mare. “Well, go on. Just drop’em in the hole in the ground,” she explained, pointing to the freshly excavated dirt. “Alright.” Chloe put the seeds into the hole. “Easy enough.” She shrugged. Not exactly how I thought I would be spending my day, but it beats just standing around watching her work. Besides, I need to make it up to her anyways. “Very good!” Granita smiled, covering up the seeds and moving to the next spot. “You’re a quick learner.” Chloe followed her and stopped the mare’s hoof when she was about to dig with her own. “Wait, I’ll start digging some. It could save us some time.” “What in tarnation are ya doin’?” She watched as the filly started digging in the ground with both front hooves, pulling out a good portion of dirt. It wasn’t as much as she could do with one hoof, but it made her smile anyways. “So, ya like to dig, huh?” Chloe grunted, pulling out a second pile of dirt but making sure to keep it out of her clean coat. Getting her hooves dirty didn’t seem like such a big deal, but she just had a bath and didn’t want to have to go through that twice in one day. The hole was now deep enough for proper planting. “Here, I’ll keep digging. You plant and cover them back up,” she said, pointing to the mare then to the hole. Granita stared at the filly for a second before snapping out of it and planting the seeds in the ground. While she did that, Chloe moved over to the next spot, which caused Granita to worry for a second, thinking that she was going to run off. She smirked when the filly started digging the next hole. And it was right where it should be too, directly in line with the other holes. “We’ll I’ll be.” She looked at the hole the filly had dug. “I have never seen a filly as young as you pick this up that quick. And I didn’t even have to explain it to ya.” She chuckled. “Doc was right, you are a smart one. Well, when ya want to be anyways.” Chloe smiled back as she watched the mare plant the seeds and fill in the hole she just dug. “See, I told you this would be faster! And I won’t be bored out of my mind just watching you work. Everyone wins!” She proudly beamed before starting to dig a new hole. The sun was now slightly past its zenith and the deceptively cool morning had turned into a blistering hot afternoon. Chloe’s pace had slowed almost to a crawl in the span of just a few minutes. She held her tongue out of her mouth and was heavily panting as rivulets of sweat ran down her already soaked face. Wondering just where her seemingly boundless energy had gone as she rubbed her face free of sweat with a clean spot on her fore leg, she glanced over to the light-green mare. The mare seemed to be having no trouble at all, sure her sweat-soaked coat glistened in the sunlight but other than that, she kept right on going as if the heat didn’t bother her one bit. Chloe trudged over to the next spot and slowly dug out yet another hole for the umpteenth time that day. But halfway through the first scoop, her front legs gave out and she collapsed on the soft dirt with an ‘oomph’. She tried to get back up, but her limbs felt like jello, and an emerging pain in her chest was causing her to take short shallow breaths. There was an unexpected shadow over her head as she glanced up to see the mare standing above her, looking rather concerned. “Hey, you okay? Ya feelin’ alright?” Granita soothing spoke as she ran a hoof over the exhausted filly’s head. Chloe attempted to take a few deeper breaths, but the pain was still there each time she inhaled. She rolled onto her side, not caring anymore about getting her coat dirty. “I can't move,” she said in a shaky voice. “And it hurts to breathe.” She held a hoof to her chest and winched when it made contact. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did a few days ago, but the pain was definitely coming back, and she was worried that she might have overexerted and re-injured herself. Granita gave the filly a worried look as she looked her over; she was showing signs of heat stroke. The foal had been going almost non-stop since they started, and the heat was growing very intense at this point. Granita sighed. She knew she couldn't keep her outside in the hot mid-day sun. If she did, the effects of heat stroke would worsen and possible put her right back in the clinic. But if she took the filly back to the house, it would prove to her parents that she couldn’t watch over her.   “Well, there’s no way around it. You’re going back inside with Ma before you get any worse.” She laid down and nuzzled the filly. “Get on,” she said, glancing to her back. She waited for a moment as the foal tried to get up. It wasn’t until her second attempt that she realized she could no longer move on her own. It was an awkward feeling to say the least. Being lifted up by the back of your neck the way a cat would pick up its young, that is. At first, Chloe thought it was going to hurt. The mare had been surprisingly gentle with her teeth and with some careful maneuvering, was able to safely set her down in between the saddlebags. She hung on the best she could as they headed back to the barnyard. As the mare trotted along, the urge to sleep was tugging strongly at Chloe's mind. She fought it off for most of the trip, but it was getting to be too much for her to keep fighting. She gave out a stifled yawn and shut her weary eyes. <><><><><> Chloe awoke to the sound of several nearby voices, one of which she recognized as the light-green mare’s voice. Of the other two voices, one sounded like a female and a little familiar. The last voice, she couldn’t place it at all. It was much deeper and gruff. She let out a yawn and sat up. Her muscles felt much better and the pain in her chest was now just a dull throb with each breath. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around the unfamiliar room. The setting sun was flooding in through the open window, basking the entire room in a magenta hue. The small bedroom looked like it was part of the farmhouse, which would make sense. Wow, I must have really been tired. I slept for quite a while and what a strange dream. I think I was in a washing machine or a tub, or something. Everything was wet. She rolled over and slid off the bed. Her hooves made a sharp clopping sound as they impacted the wood floor. Chloe was going to head out the door and see what was going on, but the voices outside the room came to an abrupt halt which caused her to stop in her tracks. A set of hooves could be heard heading her way. Chloe debated whether she should jump back into bed or not. She didn’t want to get into trouble like she did back at the clinic. Before she could decide, the light-green mare appeared in the doorway. Chloe’s ears fell flat as she sat back on her haunches while looking up at the approaching mare, almost expecting to get scolded for being out of bed. The expression that the mare was wearing was not one of anger or annoyance, but a gentle one of concern. Granita smiled and sat down in front of the filly. “Ya feeling better now?” She asked, moving fallen strand of mane from the filly's face. She waited a moment for her to respond or do something but only received a blank stare in return. “Well, come on, dinner is ready and on the table. Plus I want you to finally meet Pa,” she cheerfully stated. “And don’t worry he’s not that upset about his tools.” She winked, nudging her to her hooves, making sure she could walk again before heading out of the room. Chloe followed her into the other room, and as she had guessed, she was indeed back in the farmhouse. There was the older mare sitting at the table and a new face as well. This new pony was also older looking, like the mare, but was a burly stallion that looked like he had worked hard most of his life. His mane was dark, almost black—it was very close to the same color as hers. His coat was close to auburn in color but with more brown than red in it. He reminded Chloe of her father in a strange kind of way. He took a gander at the filly as she followed his daughter out of her bedroom. “So this here is the little troublemaker that was messing with my stuff,” he gruffly stated, setting down his spoon and getting up. Chloe didn’t like the expression on his face as he stared at her while walking over, he didn’t look happy at all. She began to hide under the mare but was blocked by her hoof. She looked up to her and just received a smile back. Chloe turned her attention back to the very large stallion that was now towering over her. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. “Pa, I would like you to meet Melody.”