Autumn was slowly drawing to a close, but for Sweet Apple Acres, the apple-bucking season was still far from over. The apple harvest had been unusually heavy that year, and Applejack and her siblings were so behind in their work that even by the time Nightmare Night had been and gone, there were still several trees that had yet to be bucked.
Luckily for them, two cousins of theirs – a mild-mannered, soft spoken young stallion named Ashmead Kernel, along with his jocular but somewhat tactless older brother Discovery – had come to visit from the Wild West town of Mustangia two days earlier, along with the latter's new wife Fuji. When they heard of the backlog with which their Ponyville relatives were having to cope, they offered to assist with the harvest until it was time for them to go home. That was why, one cool, quiet afternoon, the three ponies were helping Applejack and Big Macintosh gather apples near the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.
As Discovery lowered his hind legs after bucking yet another tree, he looked back at the literal fruits of his cousins' labour, and smiled with satisfaction as he watched them fall squarely into the baskets they had left at its base. “An' that,” he proclaimed proudly, “is what we call gettin' 'er done!”
“Eeyup,” agreed Big Macintosh in his usual, laid back tone.
“Sure was good o' y'all ta help us out la'k this,” observed Applejack as she began to hoist the loaded baskets into her waiting cart.
Ashmead smiled modestly. “Ah, nothin' really, cousin Applejack,” he replied. “It's what we Apples do best, after all. Even Fuji's doin' a pretty good job – an' yet she comes from a different background to us? What's with that?”
“Yeah? Well just because she's Japaneighse don't mean she can't cope with this sort'a job,” Discovery pointed out. “If anything, she's probably better than us, what with all her judo and karate skills.”
As if to prove his point, they heard an exuberant “HAI-YAH!” from close by as Fuji, an attractive but powerfully built young mare, delivered a well-placed kick against the trunk of one of the other trees. She was only using one hind leg, but that alone sent such a powerful vibration through the tree that it shook the apples loose almost as easily as Applejack and Big Macintosh would have done with both.
Applejack was most impressed. She hadn't known Fuji for very long, but clearly the Japaneighse mare was more than proving her worth at apple-bucking. “Great work, Fuji!” she praised as the latter came trotting over. “You got the makings of a true Apple right there.”
Fuji chuckled appreciatively. “That's very kind of you to say so, Appurujakku,” she smiled. “I guess all these martial arts skills of mine really do pay dividends when it comes to apple-bucking.”
“Y'all said it, Fuji,” beamed Discovery, fondly nuzzling his wife. “Ah always knew there was a reason Ah married y'all.”
“Really?” smirked Fuji, batting her eyelids flirtatiously. “I only ever thought it was because you couldn't resist my feminine charm.”
Discovery turned his head away in a vain attempt to hide his blush. “Well...that too,” he murmured.
Applejack could only shake her head in amusement at Discovery's shy behaviour as she gently lowered the last of the apple baskets onto her cart. That Fuji sure was a tease, she thought.
“Anyway,” she announced, tactfully changing the subject, “Ah'd better get this lot back to the barn. Keep up the good work, y'all; Caramel should be here soon with some more empty baskets.” And with that, she harnessed herself to the cart and set off back towards home.
Fuji raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Caramel?” she repeated. “I didn't know you had a Caramel working for this place.”
“Yeah, Ah thought she had an orchard of 'er own up in Hollow Shades,” put in Discovery.
“Nope – yo' thinkin' o' Caramel Apple,” replied Big Macintosh. “The Caramel mah sis was talkin' 'bout is an tan-coated pony with three horseshoes fo'...”
“Oh yeah!!” interrupted Ashmead. “Ah 'member now – he's that stallion from Manehattan that Applejack introduced us to a few reunions ago.”
But before Big Macintosh could answer, the four ponies were startled by a loud thud from nearby. Looking back over his shoulder, the red-furred draft pony could only shake his head in dismay as he noticed an overturned cart lying at the bottom of the hill, with a tan-coated, brown-maned Earth pony stallion hanging limply from its traces.
“Hey there, Mac,” he said meekly. “Uh...little help, please?”
With a heavy sigh, Big Macintosh resignedly trotted down the hill towards the unfortunate stallion, leaving the other three ponies to carry on with their work.
“So that's Caramel, is it?” remarked Fuji, her eyebrow still arched in her surprise.
“Yeah, that's him,” affirmed Ashmead. “He ain't exactly related to the Apple family, but he's a pretty good friend o' theirs, so Big Mac told me. Came down from Manehattan about five years ago, an' 'as been workin' 'ere ever since.”
“I see,” mused Fuji, watching with interest as Big Macintosh set about helping Caramel out of his harness. “Has he...always been known to get into accidents like this?”
“Accidents?!” joked Discovery. “The way he's goin', ya can hardly call 'em 'accidents' – that pony's a walkin' disaster, an' no mistake!”
He was only teasing, of course; but it didn't seem to sit well with his younger brother. With an annoyed look on his face, Ashmead marched up to Discovery and looked him crossly in the eye. “Now just a minute, bro,” he chided sternly, “was there any need fo' that? You know perfectly well Caramel don't mean ta cause all these accidents; least y'all could do is show a bit o' sympathy.”
“Ah, lay off, Ash,” scoffed Discovery, brushing him off with a wave of his hoof, “Ah was only kiddin'. 'Sides, ya know Ah don't always mean what Ah say.”
“No,” said Ashmead pointedly, “but Caramel don't know that, no more than he knows how many trees there are in our own orchard. Ah mean, what's to stop him from thinkin' y'all are just windin' him up fo' the heck of it?”
“Ashmead's right, Discovery kun,” agreed Fuji firmly. “If I hadn't been so understanding when we first met, would you have gotten away with that joke of yours about us Japaneighse ponies depending on sushi all the time?”
Discovery simply scoffed in reply as he thumped his rear hooves against yet another tree. Some ponies just couldn't take a joke, he thought.
Meanwhile, further down the hill, Big Macintosh had managed to set Caramel free and push the cart upright again and was now looking it all over to check for any damage. Having affirmed that there wasn't any, he turned back to the tan-coated stallion. “Y'all okay then, Caramel?” he asked.
“I think so,” answered Caramel, who had been checking himself for injuries all the while. “Guess I must have bumped over a tree root or something.”
“Don't worry about it, pal; no harm done.”
“Oh,” remarked Caramel thankfully. “Oh, well that's a mercy.” He still felt rather silly for what he had just done, but simply harnessed himself to the cart and continued up the hill without another word. Big Macintosh followed close behind, wisely checking for any breakages that he may have missed.
Having reached the top, Caramel wasted no time distributing the empty baskets beneath whichever trees still hadn't been bucked before making a start on the loaded ones. While he was doing this, Fuji decided to take a quick lull in her work so that she could assist if need be. “Need any help, Caramel san?” she offered, trotting over to the tan-furred stallion.
“Not at the moment,” replied Caramel, his voice muffled somewhat by the handle of the basket he was about to pick up, “but thanks anyway, Miss Fuji.”
“Well...okay then,” conceded Fuji, “but give us a shout if you do,” and she headed over to her next tree, leaving Caramel to deal with the loaded baskets.
But just as the Japaneighse mare had begun to lift one of her hind legs to kick against its trunk, she and the others were suddenly interrupted by a yell of agony. Startled, they looked over in Caramel's direction just in time to see him drop the apple basket and stumble backwards towards the cart, his face contorted with pain and shock.
“LOOK OUT!!” yelled Ashmead in horror; but he was too late. Before Caramel could gather his awareness, he slammed hard into the empty cart, knocking it over once again with a splintering crash. As soon as the dust had settled, all four ponies immediately cantered over to assess the damage and help him back to his hooves.
Fuji, who was more concerned about Caramel than the cart, shook her head in dismay as they approached him. “Okay......I know I said 'give us a shout', but I wasn't expecting this,” she remarked.
Ashmead nodded in silent agreement. “You okay, Caramel?” he asked anxiously, holding out a hoof.
Still grimacing in pain, Caramel took hold of Ashmead's hoof and staggered to his feet. “Not quite,” he groaned, clutching his front left leg in discomfort. “I think I might have gone and sprained my knee.”
“Ooh, heck, that don't sound good!” exclaimed Ashmead. “How bad is it?”
“Need you ask?” Caramel removed his right hoof from his leg so that Ashmead could see his wound, causing the green-furred stallion to recoil in shock. His knee was badly bruised, and appeared to have been bent a little to one side.
Big Macintosh sighed unhappily as he surveyed the wreckage. “Well, that's a nuisance,” he grunted. “Seems y'all done totalled that cart, Caramel. Darn that leg o' yours – now we're gonna have ta send back to the farmhouse fo' another one!”
“I...I-I'm sorry, Mac,” stammered Caramel nervously, his ears drooping against the sides of his head. “I didn't mean for this to happen...I just couldn't control myself...”
But Big Macintosh didn't seem to be listening. “Honestly, Caramel,” he muttered, more to himself than anypony else, “what are we gonna do with y'all?”
Discovery winked broadly at his wife. “What did Ah tell ya?” he quipped cheekily. “Clumsy as hay, that Caramel – it's a wonder he ain't wound up killin' nopony!” and he chortled heartily at his own wit.
But Caramel didn't find Discovery's joke the least bit funny – instead, it seemed to strike such a sensitive nerve within the tan-furred stallion that he couldn't think of anything to say, think or even feel. He stood where he was, staring at Discovery with a mortified expression on his face, as if he had just this moment learned that he had lost somepony close to his heart.
Fuji, Ashmead and Big Macintosh weren't amused either. They all turned and glared disapprovingly at Discovery, Fuji muttering something in her native language. The russet-coloured stallion stared back at them with a raised eyebrow; “What ya lookin' at me la'k that fo'?” he protested.
“An' y'all can shut up too!” ordered Big Macintosh severely. He then turned on his fetlock and escorted the injured Caramel back to the farmhouse, leaving Fuji and Ashmead still glowering at Discovery as if he were a complete idiot. A long, awkward pause ensued.
Predictably, it was Discovery who broke the silence first; “Was it somethin' Ah said?” he asked blankly.
A little later on, Big Macintosh arrived back at the Apple Family homestead with Caramel and explained to Granny Smith about the accident with the cart. The elderly mare wasted no time seeing to the wounded stallion; after holding an ice-pack against his knee to relieve the pain, she wrapped it up in a bandage and made up a sling into which he could rest it until it had healed.
“There ya go, Caramel,” she said as she gently lowered his arm onto the sling. “How's that feel?”
In spite of all the pain he was feeling, both physically and emotionally, Caramel still managed a small, grateful smile. “A bit better, I guess,” he replied. “Thanks for fixing me up, Mrs Smith.”
“Ah, that's okay, young 'un; just take care not ta put any weight on that there arm o' yours,” advised Granny Smith. “That means no work fo' the rest o' the day, ya hear – no repair work, no haulin', an' certainly no apple-buckin'.”
Caramel was most dismayed. “So...not even...sorting through apples down in the cellar?” he stammered.
“Good grief, no!” objected Granny Smith. “Y'all need ta look after yourself, Caramel; we can't have ya hurtin' yourself on the job, not with yo' knee in such a state. 'Sides, how ya gonna sort so many apples with just one hoof?”
“But...how are the rest of this family going to...”
“Ah'm not takin' 'no' fo' an answer, Caramel,” insisted Granny Smith firmly. “Yo' off work fo' the rest of today, an' that's the bottom line, ya hear?”
Caramel sighed and looked at the floor, scuffing a hoof against it in defeat. “Okay, Mrs Smith,” he muttered unhappily, “you win. But I'm at least taking a walk around the orchard – keep myself occupied.”
“Good – Ah thought you'd see it mah way,” answered Granny Smith, a look of satisfaction on her face. “Now y'all take it easy, okay?”
Caramel nodded wearily as he turned to leave the living room; but Big Macintosh couldn't help noticing a look of deep distress on his face. “Um...are ya sure yo' gonna be okay, Caramel?” he asked gently. “Ah wouldn't mind comin' with ya if ya need a bit o' company.”
“No thanks, Mac,” muttered Caramel sadly. “I've caused enough trouble on this farm as it is; don't let me hold you guys back any further.” Without even bothering to look back at either of the other two ponies, he limped sadly out of the house.
Big Macintosh could only watch in dismay as the tan-coated stallion gloomily took his leave. Caramel had always been like a little brother to him ever since he had started working at Sweet Apple Acres, so naturally he hated seeing him in such a low mood; but this, he felt, was far worse. In spite of his obvious distress, Caramel was choosing to suffer in silence.
Even Granny Smith couldn't help worrying. “Ah don' la'k this, Big Mac,” she murmured solemnly. “Caramel just doesn't seem la'k his usual self today.”
The only response she got from her grandson was a subdued “Nope.”