Ranch Hands

by Ezrienel

Sweet Apple Acres

"Ranch Hands"

1. Sweet Apple Acres

"A ranch? You have to be kidding me, Twilight," I spat rudely as her smile contorted into a forced one. "Why would I willingly spend my spring break smelling horse manure?"

“Come on, your last chance to qualify for the city championship is just after spring break, if you guys can't pick it up that game will mark the end of the season. None of the other members of the team seem to have such a negative opinion of the idea,” she responded politely, letting me have a little fit and groan obnoxiously about it.

"They don't have many opinions at all if you ask me," I remarked, which was true. The only opinion I knew all of them shared was their misogyny. "Come on Twilight, when I voted you in for team manager I thought you'd have some better ideas than this."

"Voted me in? You put in a good word for me with the coach, but I like to think I got in of my own merit, thank you," Twilight snapped at me, and I could tell I had hurt her feelings a bit. "The school already paid the deposit, it's happening Rainbow Dash." I hated when she said my name like that, all serious and disappointed like she was my mother or something. "Deal with it."

"But Twilight—" I tried to talk rationally to her, but she turned suddenly and stormed off, leaving me standing there feeling like a jerk. I sighed a bit and ran my fingers through my myriad-of-hues hair nonchalantly. "Don't expect me to like it!" I found myself yelling as I growled again and stormed off myself.

She was a good team manager, I'd give her that. I never had a problem with her until then, though I could understand that she was just trying to do something nice for us. It was no secret that I had been on edge lately, but who could blame me? The whole team seemed to hate me because I was the only girl in the whole bunch. What could I do about that? There wasn't enough girls interested in forming a girls soccer team, so I had to join the boys'. It was humiliating enough, especially when I was a better player than every one of them, but having them constantly making remarks? It was always, 'Don't break a nail', or 'Careful, it's muddy, don't want to get your dress wet', like I ever, ever wore a dress. Jerks.

Still, Twilight insisted that we needed some kind of bonding retreat or something, which is how she got the idea to send us on a trip for spring break. If it meant actually winning games I didn't score every single goal in, I was all for it I guess. We had fund raised for weeks for a spring break trip: bake sales, car washes (which I had skipped out on, knowing what the remarks would have been then), movie nights, you name it. I don't know why I cared really, this was my graduating year and I should be able to have one hell of a going-away spring break. Still, no college recruiters would ever look for a star player on a losing team, so I got the idea well enough. Anyway, the closer it got to the trip, the more I realized there was no way out of it. Twilight had even gone and told my parents about it, so they forced me to go just the same. Served me right for being close friends with my malicious team manager.

I leaned against the other side of the school bus, arms crossed in defiance. I could hear the rowdy guys getting on the bus and stomping around, shaking the whole thing. The worst part was I kind of wished I was in there, that I could joke around and be friendly with the guys. I let my head fall back and tap against the cool orange metal, and though I could feel my multi-coloured hair nestling uncomfortably close to bolts, I didn't care.

There was little hope of getting out of this, Twilight always had a check-list and marked off everyone's names as they boarded, she'd know I wasn't on yet. Well, I smirked as I remembered that she had already put my bag under the seats in the storage compartment of the bus, if she was going to make me go I was going to make a good time of it. I had packed some insurance deep inside my clothes; it was my final spring break after all, nothing wrong with letting a little loose.

"Rainbow!" my name rung out in this annoyingly loud and high-pitched voice, dragging on for seconds too long until I looked at the source of it.

"Sheesh, Pinkie I'll be gone for like a week, chill out," I said to her as I pried myself off the side of the bus and approached her. "You guys better put a leash on her while I'm gone," I told our friends, who came out after Pinkie to say their farewells.

"Only a week? But Rainbow, what if there's a horrible crash?!" Pinkie kept on, and the meek girl beside her gasped.

"Crash?" Fluttershy's timid voice was barely heard beneath Pinkie's rants.

"What if your body is mangled in the explosion—" she started, and I tried to cut it short.

"Explosion? Who said anything about—" she wouldn't let me get much of a word in.

"What if you have to be scraped up off the road, and they take you to a hospital far away, and the three of us rush to your side to say our goodbyes, but by the time you arrive you already died and we never see you or talk to you again!" Pinkie hardly paused for a breath. "So, determined to see you off, I have to find some mystic shaman and concoct a secret time potion, but to make it work I have to sell my soul for the chance—"

"Enough already, you're freaking me out. I'll be fine, okay?" I knocked her a nudge on the shoulder, and she seemed to relax a bit and get back to her old happy-go-lucky self. "I bet that the only thing that'll change is one of those guys will have a broken bone, courtesy of yours truly."

"Do try to have fun, at least?" my third friend spoke up at last, though she was never good with goodbyes. "I don't know how you possibly could, what with all those ruffians on some muddy farm."

"I'm sure I'll live." I smirked again as the three of them gave me supportive smiles. "It's just too bad you guys can't come with me, Rarity on a farm would be one hell of a sight," I teased as she pouted about the remark.

"Well," Fluttershy squeaked in again. "I'm volunteering at the animal shelter again this year, they said they'll give me a good reference on my resume."

"Yes and I will be hosting the débutante ball at my house again," Rarity tried to act modest, but we knew she was more than proud of it.

"What are you girls talking about?!" Pinkie all but screamed as we cringed, though really we should have been used to it by now. "I'm going to party all week long!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you will Pinkie." I shook my head, though I knew it was probably true. I found myself expelling a slow breath of air, trying to hold the comfortable moment for just a bit longer.

"Rainbow Dash." I jolted as I heard Twilight's voice from a ways behind me. "Get on the bus, we can't wait all day. And here I thought you were the fastest one on the team?"

"Then I guess you haven't heard Snails in the locker room when he thinks no one is around," I called back, and I heard some laughter and defensive wailing. I gestured for the other girls to follow me and made my way back to the bus. "Is this really what you wanted to do on your spring break, Twi?" I asked her as my hands slipped into my pockets. "I thought you'd have a reading list ten feet long."

"Oh don't worry Rainbow." She stepped off the bus and folded the clipboard under her arms. "Its never a good time without some reading material, I brought my notebooks to study for exams while I'm at it. No need to waste precious time, right?"

"Yeah, right." I felt like busting her chops about it, but remained silent until I came right up to the bus doors. "Guess I'll see you girls later."

"Have fun Rainbow! Fluttershy and I will tell you all about our parties when you get back, maybe we'll even save you some fun!" Pinkie pulled the shy girl into an embrace, and she tensed up as usual.

"Me? Why me too?" Fluttershy asked gingerly.

"Oh come on, I know the animal shelter closes at like five, that leaves plenty of time to spend with your dear friend Pinkie!" she squealed and jumped around a bit.

"I suppose I'll see you in a week, dear Rainbow Dash. Do take care of her, Twilight," Rarity added with a flip of her self-proclaimed gorgeous hair. I merely stuck my tongue out at her. "I expect to meet the man of my dreams at the ball, so do not be surprised if you come home to find me a changed woman."

"Pinkie, I think Rarity wants to party a bit this week too, don't forget to drag her along." I grinned as I grabbed the handle on the bus door and pulled myself up the stairs with a lazy wave.

"The more the merrier!" I heard her crying out and Rarity making some offended noises as Pinkie Pie hugged her too. "See you Rainbow! Bye-bye Twilight!"

I heard them say their farewells to Twilight as I swung around and sat near to the front of the bus. There was no way I was about to sit in the back with those Neanderthals, no way no how. I peeked out of the window to watch them finish up their hugs and let Twilight get on the bus. It kind of made me smile, seeing them all together. I'd hate to admit but I'd miss them all, we'd all been so busy with our graduation preparations that it'd been a while since we were all together.

I leaned back into the uncomfortable, squeaky leather seat and tried to make room for my legs. The bus doors closed behind Twilight and she pulled out the clipboard once more, doing another scan of the bus to be certain everyone was on board. Our coach sat up by the front too, but you could tell he really didn't care if anyone was skipping out. These guys were more than enough to handle for one person, we all knew that. He'd have his hands full all week.

I fell asleep time and time again on the road, I don't know how Twilight could keep her eyes open staring at that book the whole way. I would sometimes leaned over the seat in front of me and look over her shoulder, try to strike up a conversation or something, but I ran out of things to say pretty quick. It seemed every five minutes the coach had to get up and tell the guys to shut up or quit fighting, they sure were a mess.

I leaned against the cool glass of the window, watching the hills and buildings disappear gradually. I heard the guys say my name a couple times, and could barely resist the urge to look back and glare at them. They never picked on Twilight like that, but then again, how could they? If they messed with her, someone could get a pink slip or worse, a pink uniform. She had control over the equipment, no one wanted to mess with that kind of power. That didn't keep them from saying things behind her back of course, the whole school had it out for her because of her attachment to books, the only thing that kept her from knowing about it was my iron fist. Anyone who messed with Twilight, or the rest of our gang for that matter, had to deal with me. And I was no pushover.

I sat up a bit as we turned suddenly, something we hadn't done in about an hour I'd gauge. We slowed down a bit as the gravel kicked up from the tires, and drove under this great arch of a sign that read "Sweet Apple Acres". From my guess, this was the place. Twilight looked up too, and finally closed her book before her fingers might have frozen up in that position.

We pulled up sideways to the whole place, and I could see all kinds of old barn structures and fences. This elderly lady was already on her way to greet us, though at that speed it might take a minute or two to reach us. The bus doors opened, and I stood up at long last, stretching my arms. I dodged out into the aisle and made my way to the front, getting a mouth full of that dry, dusty air as I did. I could feel the heat just groping into the bus, and wanted to go and sit back down. Not that it was cool in the bus, but with the windows open the wind sure did keep us happy on the ride here.

"Move it, Rainbow Crash." The guy behind me shoved me, sending me stumbling off the bus and almost falling to the ground. I caught myself in time though, and had a tickling urge to deck the fool who put his hands on me. I didn't though, I just scoffed and stood by the side of the bus by myself again.

"Rainbow Crash, yeah real original guys, only been using that one since kindergarten," I complained mostly to myself as I rolled my sleeves up my arms and tucked my bright hair behind my ears.

The elderly lady finally reached us and had to take a break as she caught her breath. Luckily, the guys were being immature and pushing each other instead of getting off the bus and gathering around, so she had plenty of time. The bus driver came around and unlocked the cargo compartment, so I had to move out of the way. I ended up standing near Twilight, who had already gone and greeted the old lady. Having arranged the whole thing, Twilight must have spoken to the lady sometime before. Finally, Twilight got everyone's attention by standing in front of them all and the coach got them all to shut up with threats of discipline.

"Welcome y'all to Sweet Apple Acres, folks 'round here call me Granny Smith," the elderly lady shook as she spoke, and leaned heavily on her cane.

"I wonder why," I heard one of the guys whisper, and I just rolled my eyes.

"Ya'll'll mostly be dealin' with m' grandson Big McIntosh, he's th' strappin' young fella who's gettin' yer bags out f'r ya." She couldn't do much of a gesture, so we all just sort of looked back at the bus to see him unpacking the bags from the cargo hold. It was no wonder they called him Big McIntosh, the guy was a titan. I guess ranches did require a lot of work, or at least I'd think so. "My granddaughter's 'round 'ere somew're too, oh Mac where'd that girl scamper off t'?"

"Got me," he shrugged as he replied in this deep, intimidating voice.

"Oh well, I'll g' get dinner ready. Hope y'all like buffalo stew." The elderly lady had already turned around and started walking to the ranch house as she babbled on.

"Can't say I've ever had it," I murmured to myself and crossed my arms tightly again.

"Al'right then," Big McIntosh's voice boomed again as he came around the group of us and stood straight before us. "Grab yer bags and I'll take y'all to the loggin's."

I grabbed my dufflebag and slung it over my shoulder, the mass tipping me a bit. I shrugged the weight around until it was comfortable and waited for the rest of the guys to grab their things, my foot tapping impatiently all the while. I saw Twilight grab her bag last, after checking to be certain everyone already had their own. Hers was a dull purple of course, but looked to be stuffed to the bones. She dragged it across the dirt and gravel a bit until she came up beside me, smiling as if she was excited about this whole thing. I could barely mirror a fake expression of my own, but did my best not to drag her down. Her bag seemed to be doing a good job of that already. The large country man came up beside her though and spoke right to her.

"Lemme get that for ya little miss," he offered as he reached out, letting her release her hold on it before he hoisted it up like it was full of crumpled newspaper.

"Oh, well, thank you." She sort of blushed a bit in embarrassment but let him carry it.

"Eeyup." He graciously accepted the thanks and led us along to the loggings, which was this great long cabin on the other side of the ranch house from what I could see.

The ranch sure was something, in every direction the land seemed to go on until the Earth sloped, disappearing into the horizon. There were crop fields, stables, pens, and this great red barn a little ways away. I could hear all kinds of animals too, and winds in the trees, but otherwise it was a lot quieter than I was accustomed to. The gravel beneath our feet shook and was kicked roughly around, and I found it a bit difficult to step. After all, my feet were used to grass and concrete, not dirt and gravel. On the way to the loggings, we passed this little shed which had it's door wide open. I tried to look in, but Big Mac started talking before we had come around enough to see.

"Ah, there she is. That's my little sis," he spoke as she came into view, and I was surprised at how normal she looked. She had this long blonde hair done up in a loose pony tail, tanned skin and freckles all over. She looked at us as she heard Big McIntosh speaking, and she dropped my metaphorical jaw with her stunningly symmetrical visage. "Say hey there, A.J."

"Howdy y'all, I'm Applejack, but you can just call me A.J., just a sec now," she said as she finished up whatever she was doing and closed the shed up behind her, showing us the dusty back of her jeans as she did. I usually wasn't so quick to notice things like that about a girl, but with all the guys around me snorting rude comments, it was hard to avoid.

"Cut me a slice of that Apple pie," I heard from the group, and made a weird face about such a thing to say. "Maybe this ranch wasn't such a bad idea," came next and, "Check that out." Twilight avoided the confrontation of telling them off, but I could tell she heard them too and it made her just as uncomfortable. "Southern comforts, as they say. That country girl sure is fine."

Worst part was, they were right. They were damn right. She turned back around and came over to us, tipping her cowboy hat back on her head to let the sun caress her face. I found myself angry with her that she had me looking at her like that, or maybe I was angry with myself. I must have just been jealous, no one ever said that kind of stuff to me no matter if it was rude. Whatever the case, I sort of snorted a bit and looked away, waiting for us to get a move on it.

"Al'right y'all, Big Mac's gonna take you to yer rooms." She went over to her brother and he handed the bag he was carrying to her, which she just as easily hauled. "Just drop of yer stuff and come on back out. You can unpack later. You girls," she addressed us and I twitched a bit at the attention. "Yer comin' with me."

"Lucky," someone whispered in a hush, and for a second I thought it might have been the coach's voice. But that probably wasn't the case.

"Come on now, don't be shy." She smiled and winked directly at me as she gestured for me to follow after her. I couldn't help but look right in her gleaming green eyes as she did, before obeying in a less than enthusiastic way.

"Nice to finally meet you Applejack, I'm Twilight Sparkle, we spoke on the phone. This is Rainbow Dash, a good friend of mine." Twilight walked up beside this rancher girl and shook her hand, though I could tell Applejack's shake was overly friendly and a little rough.

"Yea', I remember you." She nodded firmly before going on, "So what brings you two 'round these parts? I can't imagine most girls wantin' to spend their spring breaks out on a ranch."

"Not by choice, I'll tell you." I murmured grouchily as I adjusted my bag on my shoulder a bit and focused on looking around the ranch more than this stranger.

"Ah shoot, well we sure are glad to have ya. We'll take good care of ya, promise." I felt her looking at me again and it made the heat feel worse. "If ya need anything, just go ahead and ask. I'll be around."

"Thank you so much, Applejack," Twilight said in a friendly manner as we stepped into the far door of the loggings, the opposite end from where the boys entered.

"Nothin' doin'. Now, we only have the one buildin' for our guests, so I hope you don't mind bein' so close to your team mates," she explained as she held the door open for me. "They're at the other end, but the main hall goes all the way down to either entrance and the common room is free to all of ya. You two are lucky." She smiled as she stopped at the first couple of doors. "The rest of the guys have to bunk together, but seeing as how you're on this end all alone, you can have yer own rooms."

"Sweet." I was glad to finally hear some good news, and I pushed open the door to one of the rooms, finding two bunk beds, one on each side. I could pick any bunk I wanted, which was awesome.

"Toss yer things in there and get on back outside so we can show you the grounds," Applejack called to me from the next room as she put Twilights bag in there. "This'll be yer home for the next few days, hope y'all enjoy yourselves. Come on out when you're ready."

"You got it," I said as I watched her leave, kicking the screen door open before stepping back out into the sunshine. I waited for a moment before I said anything more, making certain she was out of earshot, "Hey, Twilight, did you catch that at all?"

"Catch what?" she asked me sceptically, seemingly already knowing what I was going to say.

"That girl, she was totally sweet on you, didn't you notice?" I poked at her, leaving my room and intruding on hers.

"Oh cut the crap. You're crazy Rainbow Dash, she did nothing of the sort. What's with you, anyway? She was just being friendly, to both of us," she corrected me sternly, making sure I understood. I crossed my arms and acted angry. I knew I was just blowing smoke, but for some reason I felt on edge, and needed someone to blame. I pouted a bit as Twilight finished moving her stuff around and inspecting her room. "Now come on, we don't want to be rude."

"Whatever you say, Twilight," I agreed with a sigh and let her pass me before following her out the back door.

"Come on Rainbow Dash, cheer up, would you?" She pulled me along despite my grumblings and led me back to where we were supposed to meet the rest of the team.

There she was again, just standing next to her brother chatting him up. I could hardly make out much of her silhouette though, the sun was so bright above her and the sky was so blue it was as though I was blind. I shielded my eyes with my hand as we approached the pair, and without provocation they noticed us. The tip of the some tall water-tower-looking contraption finally took the sun away and I could see her once more, her freckles do-si-doing out of the way so her slightly dimpled smile could shine out. She gave us a courteous tip of her hat, though I don't know why since we saw her but two minutes ago. I let my hands stretch my pockets even though my palms sweated profusely in the heat.

"Hey again," she said out of the side of her smile, keeping the whole expression afloat. "I trust y'all found everything all right."

"Absolutely," Twilight replied for the both of us, shoving me a bit to be less of a downer.

"Come on out, y'all," she called to the rest of the team, who of course hurried out as if they were sprinting from their rooms.

It still irked me, how upset it made me. I knew I was competitive, hell, I loved to be first. She just made me feel, like, jealous. It was stupid. Anyway, the rest of the guys finally piled out, and they hung on ever damn word to boot.

"Now, who's up fer some ranchin'?" Applejack asked as her hands locked onto her angled hips, raising her chin in question. I looked over my shoulder as every single guy around me had their hands way up. I smirked, I knew what kind of business they were running around here, keeping this girl around. It was obvious. "Good, Big Mac here'll take you to the stables whenever yer ready."

I almost spat out a laugh when I felt the mood shift to disappointment around me. Men sure were predictable.

She must have had some work to do, because she took off before the rest of us, and though most of the guys seemed to want to follow her, Big McIntosh was well aware of their desires. He was no one to be fooled when it came to his sister, I could tell. He took us around the farm first, giving us short introductions to the facilities and the buildings before he took us around to the stables. From what I could tell, it was just the three of them running the whole place. They must have kept busy.

I didn't really want to see the horses up close like everyone else, so I waited by this fence that encircled some kind of riding area. Even Twilight seemed to be interested, and Big McIntosh led three horses out of the stables, offering rides. Some guys must have thought it was a joke, or thought they'd show off or something. Fall off was more like it, I was glad to simply be watching them all make fools of themselves.

Behind me was the barn, and from what I could tell from our tour it was mostly empty except for the hay around the sides, all stacked in big square bales or mounds. Sure, there were pitch forks and wheel barrows and that sort of stuff, but otherwise it was vacant. Looked cool to me though. Anyway, I was just watching my team mates fall on their faces or struggle to get control of the horses, when I heard a noise form behind me in the barn.

"You don't wanna ride?" I heard her voice again and it almost startled me. I looked back at her, watching her bend over and move some loose hay away from a couple of bales.

"It's not really my thing," I admitted with a shrug, letting her get back to whatever she was doing as I looked out at my team. For a moment anyway, before I felt like I was compelled to speak, "You always get this many people here?"

"This many? Nah, business has been slow as of late," she made conversation as she grunted a bit to move some stuff around—I don't know, I wasn't watching. "Sure is nice to have y'all here."

"What are you doing, anyway?" I finally asked as I looked at her, watching her feel around the hay to get some kind of a grip on one of the smaller square bales.

"I gotta feed the horses, we keep these smaller hay bales here to keep em dry, use 'em as fodder for the animals," she explained to me as she got enough of a grip to lift the whole thing up. It was pretty big though, and from the way she struggled to get a better grip, it looked like it was going to knock her over.

"Well don't hurt yourself there." I smirked and poked at her buttons, pushing off the fence and going over to the girl. "What's wrong? It's just hay."

"It's a lotta hay, lots of light things can make one big heavy one, you know," she told me simply as she turned around and carried the hay a few steps. I snarled at her though, that comment rubbing me wrong.

"You calling me dumb? At least I don't break a sweat carrying grass," I snapped, trying to take a shot at her. She just sort of raised her eyebrow at me, though her tone was not entirely care free.

"Yeesh, what's with the hostility? Y'think you can carry this to the stables, then?" she asked, stepping towards me and looking over the compressed bundle of dried grass and straw.

"As a matter of fact," I started, when she shoved the whole thing into my arms and let it go.

I let out a surprised yelp as I caught the thing on my finger tips, trying desperately to move my hands around to get a grip. Applejack smirked at me then, seeing the way my knees were buckling. She sighed a bit and put her elbow onto the bale, leaning in as I squatted a bit, the weight pulling me down. I couldn't see her other hand, but the one that sat on the weight nearly broke my arms.

"Honey, you city folk don't know nothin' 'bout hard work, it ain't about showin' off, trust me," she told me as she leaned closer, her plaid shirt open loose around her chest teasingly blowing in the breeze. I could feel my eyes dart back and forth before I got a hold of myself.

"You trying to pick a fight with me?" I struggled to say with conviction, too focused on keeping the bale off the ground. She didn't seem that angry with me though.

"Nah I ain't," sounded sincere, and her gentle expression made me all the more vindictive. "I don't know what bee has got up yer boxers, but you should let him sting ya and move on."

She put her other hand back under the hay and picked the whole thing up again, walking away from the situation in a damn stride. I gawked at her, watching her hips sway easily as she carried the armful to the stables without so much as another word. I snorted again, feeling the stares of my team mates and Twilight as they looked on from a long few yards away.

"What does that even mean?!" I put my hand to my mouth and called after her, but she didn't reply.

Slowly I let my hand slip back to my side, and went back to leaning on the fence like I wanted to push it over. I rested my chin on my crossed hands, breathing out such a deep sigh I thought the dust by my feet might get kicked up. I must have just been stressed out or something, letting her get to me like that.

Author's Note:

Point Of View: This story is told from shifting POVs, Rainbow Dash one chapter, Applejack the next. I hope that remains clear.

Comments

[TwizzleDragon]

I don't get why this is getting such bad ratings...

[Ezrienel]

2958516
I just hope it's merely pairing flames, not a reflection on my writing...

[TwizzleDragon]

2958822
I thought it was written really well considering the context. I'm not a big fan of the actual idea but it's not a bad slice of life.

[Lammen_Gorthaur]

The story is great man, really great. Don't worry about the ratings, Appledash gets a lot of hate, and so do Humanized fics. This already is likely to become the best human Appledash on the website; that couple (my absolute OTP) has some amazing fics, but not too much human ones, so I'll be following this one closely. Best of lucks.

[MellowMabari]

So this is pretty great so far. I just clicked onto the site, wondering if anything new or interesting had popped up, and bam! New awesome Appledash with a bunch of chapters already up. I was not disappointed.

Like some others have already said, don't let the silly ratings get you down. There're a bunch of turds out there who automatically downvote Humanized or certain pairings (or just shipping in general) without actually reading anything or judging based on actual content. So yeah, solid start (haven't seen this premise done before) and I'm definitely hooked. Onward!

[Infamous IF]

Guilty pleasure or not your pretty damn good! Not bad.

[lunainthetardis]

the shypie shipping was awesome at that one part princess lua in the tardis approves

[Onerepublicfan]

I love love love humanized appledash ^.^

[SnowOriole]

I know this is old, but I love your writing