Applejack groaned inwardly, cracking her knuckles and scrubbing at another greasy Tupperware. She wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but there was a massive pile of suds, grease, and non-dishwasher-safe plastics in her way.
She and Mac had to get up early for applebuck season, which looked to be one of their biggest yet. While she certainly didn’t mind the farm making its best haul in years, it meant she’d been up since four all week, working her tail off (and herself into exhaustion) just in time for school.
And what a time it was, because some sicko at the board of education had decided that the height of applebuck season was the perfect time for midterm exams. Every moment of her free time not spent gathering, packing, or transporting apples had been spent poring over page after page of notes that, at the time, made so much sense. If she wasn’t working her tail off at home, she was working it off in class.
Today had been particularly grueling. Today’s midterm was a nasty Physics exam (electric fields were the work of the devil), during which she ran out of time and had to turn in an incomplete paper. Back at home, she was in the middle of working her afternoon away when her truck blew a flat in the middle of the orchard, forcing her to hike all the way to the barn and back for the carjack and a spare tire. And then, because fate had decided to conspire against her today, her shower was freezing, Winowa had chewed through another dog bed, and Applebloom and her friends had broken a window in their clubhouse that she’d probably have to fix.
Oh, and it was her night to do dishes. Because working her tail off for the last seventeen hours just wasn’t enough.
She sighed, glancing at the large pile of dirty cookware left to scrub through. Applebloom sat behind her at the dinner table, finishing off a slice of pie while glancing at her own homework. I should probably study tonight, too, thought Applejack, although the thought of another five-hour night’s rest before her Engineering exam tomorrow made her cringe.
‘I’d like to see you,
‘Out in the Moonlight…’
Applebloom checked her phone. “Sis, is that yours?”
“Yup,” Applejack sighed, drying off a hand on a dish towel and pulling out her phone. Who the hay wants me now? She nestled the phone in her shoulder and went back to her work. “H’llo?” she muttered.
As soon as she heard the other voice, she instantly perked up. She wiped her hands off and stepped back from the sink, leaning against the countertop. She held her phone to her ear with one hand while subconsciously running the other through her hair. “Oh!” she said, smiling. “H-hey!”
Applebloom smiled knowingly, dropping her empty pie plate in the sink. “Say hi to miss Rainbow for me,” she said, taking her homework and leaving.
Applejack nodded dismissively, too busy listening to the phone. After a moment’s thought, she covered the receiver. “Howd’ya know it was Rainbow?”