//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Studying Earth Magic 
// by Richer19 
//------------------------------//

	The kitchen was silent save for the sounds of Twilight eating her breakfast. Her demeanor still as it was despite the rather shocking and confusing statement she had just made. Applejack to her credit was handling it as well as expected which was with stunned confusion. She eventually managed to ask "What was that Twi? I don't think I heard you."

Twilight looks up from her meal "I said I wasn't going to be using my magic or wings while I'm helping you." She was wondering why Applejack was acting like the world was turned upside down but figured that Applejack was merely impressed that she was willing to do all that work without the use of her wings and magic. Although there was another reason, but she felt that it wasn't something that needed to be mentioned at this point so Twilight instead focused on the meal in front of her.

Applejack had managed to now grasp the fact that her friend wasn't lying and managed to get herself seated. Applejack watched Twilight while eating and said. "And why would you want to do that Twilight? I mean no offense but you aren't exactly the most athletic pony I know."

Twilight nodded in agreement before saying "True but I know how much you and your family value tradition and I didn't want to go against that. Besides how hard is it to actually buck a tree?"

Applejack honestly didn't have an answer to that or rather she did but it would be hard to explain to somepony who hasn't spent a large amount of their life on a farm. She let out a defeated sigh, she figured that once Twilight had gotten frustrated from failing to buck any apples off the trees then she would resort to her magic and wings. Then hopefully things will get back to how she had hoped they would go.

Once the two were finished with breakfast and after they spent a good amount of time not only in cleaning up their dishes without magic but cleaning their selves? ; the two ponies made their way out onto the farm just as the rising sun was just starting to pass the canopy of the trees. Applejack took a deep breath of the country air before saying "Alright we'll start at the south field and work our way north." Twilight nods her head in understanding and the two set out for the southern portion of the south field.

As they were walking, Twilight started to become more aware of how large Sweet Apple Acres actually was. Sure she and their friends have spent plenty of time here but those times were usually spent closer to the farm which she would now guessed was located in the north fields. The more rows of tress that they passed, the larger the task grew inside her mind before she couldn't stop herself from asking "And we have to buck all the trees?!"

Applejack nodded her head "That's right sugarcube. Most are sold as is, while the rest are used to create our apple flavored dishes, transported to other cities, or stored to be used in cider season." Applejack felt a sense of pride swell within her as she notes Twilight's surprised at the sheer scope of what she was getting herself into. Usually it would just be her and Big Mac doing this and while it was a lot of work; the reward was always worth it in the end of the Season.

Eventually they reached the southern end of the south field to find the apple baskets and carts that Big Mac and Applejack had placed a few days ago. Taking one of the carts, Applejack turns to face Twilight before saying "Alright so all you have to do is go down each row placing five buckets around each tree and stopping once you don’t have any more buckets. Then you go back and buck each tree until all five buckets are filled. Afterwards you load them into the cart and take them to the barn where Granny Smith and Applebloom will be waiting to sort and divide them. You get all that?"

Twilight nods her head in understanding before Applejack says "Good now we work till you hear the lunch bell ring." With that, Applejack starts walking to the far southwest corner of the south field leaving Twilight with a cart, several buckets, and the sense that she might have bitten off more then she could chew. Still she was determined to see this through and figures that the sooner she starts the better.

It turned out that strapping and pulling a cart without the use of her magic, much like several other everyday tasks she had been doing for the past couple of days, was harder then she had expected. Several times she would hit a loose stone or stick and the cart would bounce and even spill some baskets. It was lucky for her that they were still empty or else there would be a lot of bruised apples to be had. She made her way over to the southeast corner and once there got to work. A quick calculation showed that she had enough baskets to cover ten trees and there were ten trees in each row. With that in mind, she began placing the baskets in a way that would hopefully catch the maximum amount of apples.

Once that was done, she looked at the first tree in front of her with mixed feelings because now came the first hard part of this work and that was getting the apples out of the tree. Normal logic dictates that a simple levitation spell would be adequate and given the raw power she had, she could easily pluck all the apples from the row and place them in the baskets. She was actually close to using the spells when her mind quickly reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing and Twilight had no choice but to cancel the spell.

She let out a sigh and said. "Alright Twilight...you can do this. Just like the book says." Turning around, she lifts her back-hooves and feels around until they connect with the trunk of the tree. Nodding to herself, she pulls back before putting as much force as she could and gives the tree a hard buck. The result wasn't as bad as expected as she did manage to get a few apples to fall however it wasn't the tree clearing bucking that Applejack is able to do. Still Twilight was proud that she had gotten a few apples to fall and didn't waste time patting herself on the back.

By the time she was on her fifth tree, Twilight hears Applejack say "Well shoot Twi you are better at bucking apple trees than I had expected." Twilight looked up and saw Applejack walking towards her with a proud look on her face. Giving her an accomplished expression she replies "Well I did some research on farming and there were some useful tips on how to buck apple trees. How goes your progress?"

Applejack rubs the back of her head and replies "Well shoot Twilight I'm already half way through the third row."