The New Farmhoof
Applejack once again looked back to the entrance path to Sweet Apple Acres. Still no sign of him. She gave the nearest tree a hefty kick, sending apples tumbling into her buckets. Now that they were full she lowered them to the ground and picked up a pair of empty ones. Making sure they weren't going to slip off, she bucked the tree once again. Fewer apples fell, letting the mare know that it was time to move deeper into the orchard. She was hesitant about losing sight of the path.
"Where in tarnation is that colt?" she asked the tree. When it didn't answer she took one last look at the path. She hitched up to the small wagon that held a large number of the half-barrel buckets, and, with a troubled sigh, turned away to head toward the east orchard, where the hills would block any view she would have of the path and even the house.
"Ah just don' get why we need more help 'round here…" She kept arguing with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith for weeks until finally the older ponies overruled her objections, even when she tried reasoning that her friends could help when they needed it.
They wouldn't hear it, and told her that it wasn't fair to put their responsibilities on those who already had things to do. That's why, Granny Smith had said, they needed to hire somepony that needed the bits and had nothing else to do in their spare time. When A.J. tried bringing up the question of how they were going to afford it, Big Macintosh reminded her of how well the farm was doing nowadays. She had been thoroughly defeated. So she could do nothing to stop them from hiring a new farmhoof from Trotledge, which she had happen to know was big on ranching. She didn't know what bothered her more: the fact that there was the possibility of the new pony messing everything up, or that he would be so good that she would have to compete on her own farm. Everypony kept telling her not to worry and that it wouldn't be that way. Applejack just couldn't bring herself to believe them.
"Well, now there's nothin' Ah can do 'bout it", she sighed. She had set herself up for another bucking, and gave the tree a healthy helping of her hooves. The apples rained down, filling her buckets again.
Celestia's sun was beginning to give the new day in Ponyville a warm hug when Thorn Hopper walked over the hill to Sweet Apple Acres. He complimented it with another awe-struck gaze. It looked like it grew since he had seen it just two days before! His amazement didn't last long; he didn't want to be late for his new job! Granny Smith had told him to look for her granddaughter Applejack when he had passed his interview, so he knew he was looking for an orange mare about his height. He hadn't met Applejack during his interview, and wondered what she was like.
"Ah hope Ah can find'er first." He looked around the yard, only to find that no pony was around. He was sure Granny Smith told him that Applejack was usually doing morning chores near the house at this time of day. He walked up to the farmhouse and gave the door a generous few knocks. Thorn Hopper waited about two minutes before knocking again. "Where is ever'pony? They ain't hidin' are they?"
The green stallion scratched his head. "Welp, better start on trackin'er." Thorny left the house's porch and looked around for a place to start tracking. He looked until his gaze settled on a tree surrounded by buckets that were full of apples. That looked like a good place to start. He inspected the buckets, but didn't see anything that would lead him to Applejack or any of the other farm ponies. Then he noticed that there was a spot in the grass where the night's dew hadn't fallen. He looked closer and saw the thin tracks of a buggy or wagon lead away from the spot and into the orchard. Since he was on top of a hill, he could easily see where the wagon and, to his surprise, a trail of hoofprints led. He followed them until they disappeared behind a few trees. He was just about to take a step toward them when he saw a tree shake violently in the distance, causing a few birds to fly from it.
"Woowee!" Applejack whooped. She was on a roll today. That was tree number fourteen in about an hour. At this rate she would be done much earlier than usual. Sure her hooves were sore, but it was completely worth it. If she could finish the east field before lunchtime, then the west field wouldn't be any problem, especially since—
"Howdy!"
Applejack nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around to see a green stallion. He was smiling warmly. This must be the new farmhoof. A surge of nervousness hit her. "Howdy", she said half-shakily.
He offered her his hoof. "Name's Thorn Hopper, but ya can call m' Thorny! Ah'm the new help 'round here!"
She shook his hoof. "Applejack, mah friends sometimes call me AJ though", she replied.
"Nice t'meet ya, Applejack!"
"Same here, Thorny", she said less enthusiastically. For some reason, a lot of her nervousness had gone away, leaving just a little uncertainty behind.
The moment threatened to get awkward, so Thorny got straight to the point. "Ah'm here to help, so put me t' work."
"Um…okay." Applejack looked around. "Ah already did the other chores, so right now there's nothin' but buckin' to do."
"Alrighty then."
"Y'all know how t' applebuck?"
Thorny shook his head.
Applejack positioned herself in front of an unbucked apple tree. "Jus' do what Ah do." She reared and gave the tree a strong kick. Thorny watched as the kick rippled upwards through the tree. It rattled the branches and shook the apples loose. They all fell into Applejack's buckets, give or take a few that missed and hit the ground.
"Now y'all give it a try", instructed Applejack as she shed the buckets and picked up two more. She grabbed two more from her cart and a bucket harness for Thorny. "Here, put all that on, first."
Thorny hooked up with a little trouble. He was used to cart and plow harnesses, so this was a little new to him. "Uh, Applejack?"
Applejack almost burst into laughter when she saw that he had put a hoof in the wrong way and was now stuck. One of his hooves was tightly bound to his side, and now he couldn't move his head in any direction. He tried pulling it back out, but it only tightened around him more. She rolled her eyes and fought back the laughter again. Grabbing the back of the belt, she yanked it back over his head, pulling it off with relative ease. She turned it around and helped him get it back on correctly. "Like this." She pulled it tight, nearly keeping Thorny from breathing.
"Hey, careful, Ah need t' breathe!"
"Sorry, Thorny", Applejack apologized. She loosened the harness slightly. She picked up a bucket and hooked it to the harness. "The buckets jus' snap on."
Thorny snapped the second bucket to the vacant hook. He stood in front of the nearest tree. Before he gave applebucking a try, he asked Applejack, "'Bout how hard do Ah kick?"
Applejack wondered for a second. She had been doing it for so long that it was hard for her to measure. "Ah don't know…Ah guess jus' give it a medium like kick."
Thorny nodded and kicked his hooves from the ground. His hooves contacted so hard that apples rained down upon him whether or not they were ripe and ready. He shielded his head from the downpour. When the last apple fell, he said with an embarrassed smile, "Too hard?"
"Ya think?" Applejack chuckled. "C'mon, help me get these up."
Together they loaded Thorny's buckets with the grounded apples. So many had fallen that he had to set his first set down and pick up a second, which they filled to about halfway. Applejack tapped another tree.
"Alraht", she said, "Try again, but with a little less oomph."
Thorny's second attempt was more successful. More apples fell than when Applejack did it, but there was more control this time. He filled the buckets up the rest of the way.
"Ya got the hang of it now", Applejack stated. "Now Ah jus' need help with the rest of the trees.
"How many trees do ya usually do?"
"Till there ain't no more to do."
Thorny's jaw just about hit the grass. "And ya used t'do it alone?"
Applejack felt a wave of pride bring her mouth into a smile. "Yessiree."
"Well, now with me around, ya don' have to work so hard no more." Thorny bucked another tree.
"That's what Granny Smith an' Big Mac say", she replied, "But Ah really don't mind much."
Thorny didn't reply right off. He had just filled another set of buckets and was hooking up to two fresh ones. "Ah feel ya there. Back home Ah loved work. Almost more than Ah love eatin'. An' Ah love eatin'."
"Granny Smith told me you was a rancher." Applejack moved on to her next tree. As she peered around she noticed that it was getting pretty hot out.
"Best one in Trotledge", Thorny boasted.
"What did ya usually do?" Applejack dropped her buckets to listen to him.
"Most of mah time was spent takin' care of the fields an' keepin' critters in their corrals", he replied, "Then it was just havin' fun with mah sisters an' friends."
"Ya come a long way from home jus' fer a job", Applejack stated, becoming a little more interested in Thorny. "Whatcha move fer?"
"Family tradition!" he yelled. "Once the oldest child is old enough to move out, they and their brothers an' sisters move out too. I moved with mah sisters."
"Applebloom'll make friends with'em pretty soon."
"Who?" Thorny dropped his buckets and leaned against a tree.
"That's mah little sister", she explained. The breeze stopped, and all defenses from the heat gave way. "Say, let's head back up an' get to know each other."
Thorny gave her a smirk. "Tired already?"
"Listen here pardner", said Applejack with instant annoyance, "Ah can buck circles 'round you!"
"Hey, hey." Thorny held up his hooves, "Ah'm just pickin' Applejack."
"Ah know that", replied Applejack, "Jus' don't go gettin' a big head about you."
She dropped her harness. "C'mon, Ah'll show you 'round Ponyville so ya won't get lost when you have t'do runnin'."
Thorny shed his harness and followed her up. He was silent. The last thing he wanted to do was make his new coworker mad on the first day. Thorny tried finding something to say, but was much better at contributing to a conversation than starting one. He thought about how fiery she was. It wasn't unusual for him to meet such feisty mare; there were a lot of those back home. Applejack was a little different, though. She was an instantly-tempered gal who didn't let anypony get ahead of her without a fight. He chuckled to himself. It was going to be so much fun to tease her. He knew he'd have to do it off work, and that he couldn't go too far with it.
"How many sister's do ya got?"
"Two sisters. June Berry an' Apple Sprout." He moved into a slight gallop as the hill steepened.
"Apple Sprout", she laughed. "Keep'er a way from mah famly. We might jus' adopt her!"
"Why's that?"
"'Cause everypony in mah family is named after an apple or something close to apples", she explained.
"How much family ya got?"
"Well…"
15 minutes later…
Thorny's mouth hung loosely as Applejack finished naming off the Apple Family. They had absently walked past the house and were slowly trotting into Ponyville. The mare stopped after her hoof clopped on the deck of Ponyville's southern entrance bridge.
"Oh, would ya look at that. Ah talked us right into Ponyville." She turned back to Thorny. "Y'all had time t'look around yet?"
Thorny shook his head, "Barely had time t'eat."
She stepped aside. "Then let me be the first t'welcome you t'Ponyville!"
Thorny smiled. Applejack was just his kind of pony.