I sat down on the dirt, heavy breaths racking my chest. “Alright... What's next?” I managed to say looking over at AppleJack who had just finished pulling the cart full of carrots into the barn.
The orange mare shot me a jovial look. “Well, now it seems you need to get some water or something because you're turning red” she said snickering behind a hoof.
Having forgone my hood, leather coat, gloves, and the cuirass I had forgotten to remove earlier. I ended up working with only the quilted shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Looking down at my arms I found that I was in fact turning a bright shade of red. The freckles on my arms sticking out from the burned flesh.
'Aw hell, this isn't going to be all that fun' I thought putting a hand on the back of my arm only for the arm to sting from the burn. “I think that drink sounds nice right now.” I nodded to which the AppleJack pointed towards the well at the entrance of the farm.
“Don't take to long now, we still gotta water the corn an' check to see if there's any damage from the storm fore helpin' Big Macintosh in the orchards”she said with a smile before heading over to the cornfield.
I walked towards the well waiting to recover my breath. 'I always thought it would be kinda nice to work on a farm for a bit' I thought as I reached the edge of the small stone and wood structure looking down to see the bucket was already tied on the end of the rope. 'Guess I didn't think I would fall short of the demanding work load though'
The crank turned slowly though I tried to lean into it to make it go faster. 'Wouldn't think picking carrots would be all that bad, thought it would be more towards lifting the bales of hay, or hauling large amounts of produce into the barn.' My eyes drifted as the crank revolved slowly to the stalks of corn, some of which shook and moved erratically to the others which swayed gently in the breeze. 'Guess they're just used to it, having done it all their lives.'
A chuckle sounded from me as I lifted a hand to my nose remembering the pain, “Wouldn't want to get hit like that again, that's for sure” I muttered only for the crank to stop. Looking over the bucket sat just below the coils of rope. Putting a supporting hand beneath it I let go of the crank and lifted the bucket to my lips. Drinking readily as the water poured over my dry mouth and throat. When I had my fill, the bucket was lessened by only a quarter. Taking some of what was left in my hand I splashed it on my face, the cool water stinging the burns on my face, but the pain quickly diminished.
I let out a content sigh before letting the bucket fall back into the well, the crank turning rapidly as the bucket of water fell before a splash sounded and the rope was still. Turning back towards the cornfield I started following the orange mare who had disappeared withing the stalks.
“Hey AppleJack, what exactly are we looking for in the ways of damage?” I called out to the mare who, despite the strange shortness of the stalks allowing me to stand nearly a head over the ears, had vanished within the plants, the breeze hiding her movements.
“Just look fer any fallen stalks. alright? Most o' the other thin's ya have ta know what yer looking fer!” the orange mare's reply sounded from within the field.
I scratched my head for a moment before shrugging. 'I suppose that's fair enough' I thought starting to sift through the field, looking for fallen stalks of corn.
After what felt like maybe five minutes of searching, the sound of a dog barking made me stand up from the position I had been kneeling, checking on one of the plants that had been tilting.
Looking out over the corn ears, a small brown and white dog rushed at Apple Bloom who had neared the small farmhouse. Winona ran at the young mare barking happily at the return of part of her family, running around the pony before stopping before the young apple panting.
Apple Bloom's voice sounded though I couldn't understand the words, simply that she was speaking. A smile came to my face as I watched the two of them play for a few moments. Apple Bloom chasing the small dog around, laughter rolling on the wind.
A small chuckle escaped me before I shook my head, kneeling back down, I gently pushed the stalk so it was facing upright once again before packing some dirt to keep it in it's position. My smile faded as I scratched at my head 'Is this alright?' I wondered looking around before shrugging and getting back up.
The sounds of laughter had faded. I turned watching the pair, a pony and her pet, run into the orchard. A sense of emptiness came at the thought of my family's pets, the black and white lab mix, the strange calico, my gray and white with tabby stripes on his tail. 'I wonder how he's doing, that dorky cat would get all forlorn when I wasn't around' I thought, a chuckle sounding as I turned back to the cornfield. 'Mom always told me about how he would yowl at the door to my room looking for me'
My throat started to tighten making me let out a cough and clear it. 'Anyways' Putting the thoughts of my family to the back of my mind, I started looking through the cornfield again,
“Ey sugarcube! We're about done in there, so c'mon. We should head over helpin' Big Mac in the Orchard” AppleJack's voice sounded through the corn.
I let out a quiet sigh as I stood back up from my crouched position. My back had been cramping up as I had been working making me lean back in an attempt to pop it back into place. I walked from the cornfield scratching at the skin on the back of my neck.
A playful smile formed on the mare's face as we started towards the treeline, “Got some o' them bugs on ya?”
I looked at the nails on my fingers noticing green from the plants before wiping my hand on my pants, “Nah, shoulda kept my hood on though, back of my neck is starting to blister”
Looking over at the orange mare she wore a look of knowing humor. “Well Ah understand ya there, don' gotta worry bout it now though, we should be in the shade fer the most part now.” Not a moment after she finished, we passed under the cover of one of the apple trees. The cool feeling of shade brought a smile to my face, the burns ached as a breeze blew through the trees and over the sensitive red skin making the smile fade.
I put a hand to my face in an attempt to calm the sting, only managing to aggravate the skin. “So what are we doing? Checking for fallen or damaged branches?” I asked removing the hand and looking over at the orange mare.
“Yup, tha's the long and the short of it.” Applejack nodded deeper into the orchard, “Big Mac shoulda been workin' on the orchard while we were pullin' carrots and checkin the corn so with three o' us on it we should be done fore the day's over”
'After our little encounter earlier I'd rather not run into him, but it was bound to happen' I thought nodding to the mare before following her into the forest. 'Worst case scenario, probably nails me a couple times before his sister manages to pull him off of me'
I lifted a hand to my nose again at the thought. “Wonder if it's crooked” I muttered under my breath feeling the appendage trying to ignore the sting from the sunburn.
“Whas that?” Applejack's voice pulled me from my thoughts making me turn to the orange mare.
“Ah, nothing, nose was just bugging me” I said quickly, “I take it we're finding Big Macintosh to see where we can start?”
The orange mare's eyebrow raised at me for a moment before looking forward “Yup, Ah figure no point in checkin' the same part o' the orchard he already checked.” Applejack's eyes widened a bit and a smile came to her face making me look forward to see the large red stallion in question walk out from behind a trunk inspecting the tree beside it hopping up on his hind legs shaking a few times.
“Ey Big Mac!” the orange mare beside me shouted making me cringe holding a hand to my ear and look at her from the corner of my eye. Big Macintosh turned from the tree he was inspecting his face hardening as he looked at me before his eyes found his sister.
Pushing off the tree, the stallion landed back on all fours as we stopped in front of him. “This one causin' problems fer ya sis?” his voice rumbled as chewed the wheat sprig hanging from his mouth.
Applejack's eyebrow shot up again as she looked at her older brother glancing at me. “Not particularly, Wanderer 'ere was actually helpin' me with the chores an' we wanted ta know if'n ya needed any help in 'ere.”
The stallion's eyes scanned over me stopping for a while on my face before turning back to his sister. “Well Ah got the majority o' the orchard already. Whas left won't take me more than a few minutes so ya can get some rest inside.”
“Huh. Well ah'll be” Applejack regarded me with a smile “Didn't think ya slowed me down that much. Ya can head out if'n that's the case, there's not much left fer ya ta do”
I looked between the two siblings Big Mac glaring at me quietly while his sister continued to smile. After a moment of silence I nodded, “Well if you need anything else I'll be around, and again Applejack I re-”
“Git on now. Ah don' need somepony apologizin' all day an' night fer somethin'.” The farm mare cut in giving me a scrutinizing eye.
'Well alright then' I thought shrugging “Have a good day then Applejack, Big Macintosh” I said turning away from the pair.
The sound of the sibling's voices carried through the trees after I had gotten far enough away. Silently I wondered what they were talking about, but the thought was pushed from my head as I walked out from under the canopy of trees and the back of my neck heated up to an uncomfortable degree reminding me of the burns. A sigh escaped me as I held a hand up to my neck, feeling blisters. There was an urge to mess with the wounds, similar to the habit to pick at scabs, but I shrugged it off.
'Pretty sure Applejack said she put my things in the barn' I thought eyes falling on the large red structure only for me to wonder if she meant this one or the orange barn we had been working by hours ago.
For an awkward moment, I stood in front of the large red barn doors questioning if I should check inside just to be safe. After a moment I shook my head, waving a dismissive hand towards the doors and heading around the corner towards the orange building.
Starting up the path, I looked around at the farm with a more attentive eye. It was a beautiful, though a bit stylized, plot of land. Silently I wondered if farm life was anything like this back on earth. My brows furrowed 'Back home' I mentally corrected.
Before I could pursue the train of thought the sound of barking made me turn around to see a brown and white blur coming at me. Winona came to a stop before me sniffing at my legs, slowly circling me before happily trotting in front of me looking up at me expectantly as she panted.
“Well hey there, how are you doing?” I asked holding a fist out to the dog which she sniffed curiously. After a few seconds she licked my hand before looking back up at me, her black eyes portraying intelligence so often found in canines. “There's a good girl” I cooed running a hand down her spine and giving her a few scritches under her collar.
“Go on good girl” I said after indulging myself petting the dog for a few moments. Turning away I found that Winona was actually following me giving happy yips as she tried to make me give her more attention even running in front of me and rubbing her nose on my hand.
I rolled my eyes as a smile formed on my face. 'It's hard to resist a face like that' I thought as I kneeled down and started petting the small dog with more fervor.
After a while of rubbing behind her ears and scratching other places that she couldn't easily reach the small brown and white dog seemed to be satisfied happily yipping and licking my face.
“C'mon now Winona, that's enough of that” I said laughing. Not a moment later the sound of a whistle tore through the air making the dog calm down ears raised looking towards where the shrill sound came from. Another whistle sounded making Winona hop off of me and run off towards the sound. Turning I saw Apple Bloom standing there, the brown and white dog now standing next to her obediently.
'Jeeze, is Applejack the only one who doesn't think I'm insane?' I wondered seeing the defensive and cautious look on her face. Getting back on my feet I smiled and waved to the young mare before starting back towards the orange barn, hoping I would be able to simply grab my things and leave.
'Then again I haven't met the Granny, though if she heard about me she's probably sooner hit me with a pan or rolling pin or something' I thought, hoping the young mare would simply go back to whatever it was she was doing.
“Hey, Mr. Guard” I heard Apple Bloom's voice sound making me groan inwardly. I let out a sigh before turning back around to face the approaching mare.
“What can I help you with?” I asked putting on a smile as sincere as I could make it.
The young mare stopped a few steps in front of me, looking up at me curiously. “Mah big brother told me ya hit Applejack. Is that true?”
I blinked at her a few times before letting out a sigh. I ran a hand through my short hair looking up into the sky as a few clouds over the town in the distance before returning my gaze to the mare before me. “I did.” I said, a feeling of guilt eating away at my stomach.
The curious look didn't face the young mare cocking her head to the side. “Why would ya do that? Applejack's one of the best ponies Ah know!” she said the emotion seeping into her voice. “I mean she helped save Equestria a bunch o' times!”
Dread slowly seeped throughout me from my stomach. “Let me ask you something then; Have you ever done something wrong?”
The filly's head fell slightly she scratched at her head with a hoof, “Well yea” Her posture returned to what it had been, now a bit of aggravation in her eyes. “Now wait a sec Ah'm askin' you somethin' not wantin' ta play twenty questions!”
I held a hand up trying to placate her. “Don't worry, it's relevant” I said motioning for her to follow me as I started back towards the orange barn. “The reason I asked is because; for those bad deeds, there's a punishment.”
“Well yea! That's what happens if'n ya do somethin bad! But wh-”
Stopping her with a hand again I continued. “Well what happened was I did something bad, and was punished for it. It was a rather terrible punishment and I didn't want to have it happen again. So when your sister tried to stop me from running away, I did the only thing I could think of and...” I sighed rubbing a hand down my sunburned face. “I was actually here today to apologize for that”
“What punishment was that bad ya had ta go and run away?” She asked, confusion lacing her voice once again.
I let a small chuckle escape me as I pushed the door to the carrot themed barn open. “Do you remember Discord? When he was trapped in stone?” I asked looking around for my things, which I found sitting in a small pile on a barrel.
Silence had the barn for a moment as I walked to my things and started putting them on, the sound of jingling buckles and metal filling it as the filly thought.
“Ye... Yea I think so. Miss Cheerilee took our class up to the palace garden and we all saw him” She said after thinking.
I nodded putting my belt on over my coat and tucking my belt in it. “Alright, well I was encased in stone as well. It was....” I trailed off, a shiver running up my spine
A look of worry mixed with caution fell over the young mare's face. “What did you do to make the princesses encase you in stone?”
I shook off the feeling of fear, reminding myself where I was. Focusing more on putting on my things now. “You remember Tirek?” I asked slipping gloves and vambraces over the quilted green sleeve of my shirt. Looking back I saw Apple Bloom nod the affirmative. “Well I killed him.”
The young mare's eyes went wide, “But Applejack said her and her friends stopped him, sent him back to Tartarus!”
I shook my head. “The princesses weren't quite honest on that one.” I said looking back at my things, strapping on my sabatons. “Applejack and the rest thought they sent him back to Tartarus after they drained him of all the magic he stole from everyone. Instead, while they brought the magic back to it's rightful owners, I approached the weakened Tirek and killed him.”
Finishing with my boots I grabbed my hood, pulling it over my head before looking back at the silent young mare. Apple Bloom's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, fear and shock screaming from them as she looked at me.
“App-” I started only for her to quickly back out of the barn and run down the path leading to the house. The barks of Winona signaled her departure as well. A sigh escaped me as I looked over at my helm and the cuirass that still laid on the barrel. 'I should probably of kept my mouth shut' I though running a hand down my face.