Chapter 3 - A tiny little problem
Mid June, 1004 A.D. (After Discord)
It was another beautiful day in Ponyville; the sun was shining, the birds were chipping, and Rarity was in search of a certain farm pony to help with her latest dilemma. She found the orange mare working the apple stand that afternoon; just as she was going to greet the mare Rarity noticed how tired she seemed and changed what she had planned to say.
“Applejack, darling, whatever is the matter?” Applejack shook her head rapidly to wake up and smiled at the unicorn.
“Oh, hey sugarcube; Ah’m just ah bit tired, nothin' tah worry about. Is there something the matter fer you Rarity?” Applejack adjusted her hat as Rarity frowned briefly before giving her mane a flip as she remembered why she had came to the market place.
“Oh yes; it's my kitchen sink. I was cleaning up after Sweetie Belle's, uh... 'Cooking'... And now my sink is horribly clogged. Could you be a dear and -”
“-Help ya? Of course Ah will Rarity; Ah'll be over in ah moment tah help.” Rarity watched with slight concern as the farmer packed away the stand slowly and tiredly trudged out to the farm; if it weren't for the fact that Applejack had already learned a lesson about stubbornness, Rarity would say she was doing too much again.
Within moments Applejack was at the Boutique, half under the kitchen sink and cursing up a storm at being unable to turn off the water in order to start the real work.
“Consarn – varmit!” In a pause between hammering and muttered curses, Sweetie Belle stepped up and tried to apologize once more.
“Applejack? I'm sorry for causing so much trouble...” At the soft voice Applejack pulled out from under the sink to look at the young filly.
“It's ok sugarcube; ya just need more practice and then ya won't make that much of a mess.” Sweetie Belle frowned at this and tilted her head.
“But if I practice so I don't make a mess, how can I not make a mess by making a mess?” Applejack pulled out of the cabinet once more to eye the downhearted filly.
“Ya can always practice some place else; then ya can make ah mess there and still get better.” While Sweetie Belle thought about this idea Applejack tried to turn off the water to the sink to be able to properly fix it; the earth pony used too much force on it and it burst, spraying water everywhere.
“Oh for pony's sake! Consarn it, feathering pipe!” The stream of profanities continued as Applejack resorted to smacking at it with a hammer.
“Of all the-”
*bang bang*
“-Foolish-”
*smack-bang*
“-Feathering -”
*bang-bang*
“-Son of a varmit-”
*smack thud*
“-Gosh darn-”
*BANG*
“-There!” Applejack managed to stem the flow of water by bending the pipe back into shape (in a manner of speaking); while it did have quite a few dents in it by this time and didn't seem as nice looking, it did stop gushing water without any sign of drip.
It was even working again as the two ponies found when they tested the taps and drain.
“There! Ah, it's fixed at least...” Applejack gave Sweetie Belle a wavering smile as she stood dripping wet in the kitchen. The older mare noticed the young unicorn watching her drip onto the floor and suddenly imagined a certain fashionista's response to the mess.
“Oh, er, when a pony works on plumbing, they get awful wet. Where does Rarity keep her towels?” As Applejack and Sweetie Belle were about to go off in search of a way to clean the mess, the mare of the hour walked in and gasped at the sight before her.
“Goodness! Is everypony alright?” The unicorn levitated several towels over, giving one to each soaked pony before mopping up the mess on the floor.
“Shucks Rarity, Ah'm sorry. While Ah was fixin' the pipe the water broke through and we were just about tah clean up the mess, honest.” Applejack held her hat over her heart as she looked at the fasionista who was trying to dry Sweetie Belle off as she levitated the towels to the laundry room.
“That's ok Applejack, it's only a bit of water...” Rarity smiled tensely until she noticed that Applejack wasn't using her towel to 'properly' dry off.
“Oh, darling! You simply must dry off in the right way, otherwise your mane and tail will be an absolute mess! Ideaaa! Why don't I give you a makeover?! We simply must make sure you dry off properly and we wouldn't want to do anything half-way.” At the exclamation of 'idea', Applejack tensed and looked the unicorn wearily; once she heard the 'idea' she knew helping time was over and started to edge towards the door.
“Oh, uh, shucks, look at the time. Ah gottah get back to mah chores now; Ah'll see ya'll later!” As Applejack put her soaking wet hat back on and quickly left the Boutique, Rarity tried to thank her helper properly.
“Alright dear, if you're sure... Thanks ever so much darling!” Rarity watched slightly concerned as Applejack trotted home to finish her chores; Sweetie Belle looked between the two before tilting her head in confusion as she focused on her older sister.
“Why has Applejack been coming over so much? Can't someone else help with all this stuff?” Rarity snapped back to her surroundings as she resumed her task of drying her little sister.
“Applejack likes to help others; don't you remember when the mayor gave her that award for being the Most Prized Pony of Ponyville?” Sweetie Belle managed to stick her out from under the towel and reminded her sister of the last part of her question.
“Yes, but you used to have other ponies help with repairs and all that.” Rarity paused in her ministrations at the statement and gave it some thought.
“She's a good friend who has always come quickly to help, that's all. She's dependable, hard working, good with tools and fixing things, strong... Sweet... Pretty when she tries...” Rarity trailed off in her list as she realized where it may have started to go, much to Sweetie Belle's curiosity.
The young unicorn watched as a slight blush came over the older mare before she shook her head while clearing her throat.
“Anyways, there are many reasons I ask for her help; and a great help she has been, I simply must find a way to thank her.” At this proclamation, Rarity gave one last firm rub to dry off her sister before whipping the towel off with a flourish.
“There! Now to style it just right and then back to work.” Sweetie Belle followed her sister with a sigh and roll of her eyes; sometimes it felt like she was just something for her sister to dress up.
On the other side of town, Applejack had just arrived home. It was the middle of the afternoon, meaning that it wouldn't make as much sense to set up the stand once more. Big Mac was out in the fields, making sure there was nothing wrong with the trees and Apple Bloom was doing her own chores in the barn; since Applejack had her own chores to do she didn't stop by the house to dry off in an attempt to quickly do her part of the work. There was always something that was needed at the farm and they didn't only have apples to grow; they also grew grapes, corn, beans, celery, turnips and some carrots, all of which needed attention and care.
Applejack continued to work, ignoring her slight dizziness, fierce headache, wobbliness and labored breathing. When it was supper time, the rest of the Apples found Applejack passed out in the fields, trying in vain to pull a cart full of water for the crops.
Within moments Applejack was put to bed with a cold compress on her forehead as Granny Smith diagnosed the orange mare's illness.
“Yup, ya over worked yerself Applejack. Yer gonnah have tah stay in bed till ya get over this here cold.” Applejack shifted in her bed, unwilling to just lay down while others worked.
“But Granny-!”
“But nothin' sweet pea; we'll just have tah work without ya until yer as healthy as a picklididly pear.” As the family looked on, Applejack sighed and settled on to the bed.
“Yes ma'am...”
The next day found Rarity searching the market place for a familiar stand. As time wore on with no sign of Applejack, the unicorn slowly grew concerned and began to ask some of the other ponies working the stands. No one had seen anypony selling apples that day and it was suggested to visit Sweet Apple Acres if she really wanted to know what was happening; while it wasn't what Rarity had planned to do with her day, she had thought of a few things to show her gratitude for all the help and wanted to check with Applejack for when would be a good time to do any of them.
As the gray-white mare walked up the dirt road she noticed how quiet the farm was and became even more concerned. The fashion-minded pony picked up her pace as she headed for the house, hoping to hear some kind of sign of the Apples working. She found Granny Smith in her rocking chair napping in the living room of the farmhouse; Rarity paused on the threshold as she tried to get the elder pony's attention to come inside. It was considered impolite to just barge in after all.
“Excuse me; Granny Smith? May I come in?” At a particularly loud snore, the pale-green mare's head nodded downwards for a moment before resuming it's original upright position; Rarity perked up and assumed the best in order to get to the bottom of the situation.
“Oh, thank you! I'll just nip upstairs to see who's about and then be on my way.” Rarity trotted past the sleeping mare to head upstairs in search of anypony who could tell her what was going on; while she hadn't been inside the farmhouse before, she figured she would find somepony inside since it didn't seem like anyone was working in the fields that day.
“Hello? Anypony home?” Rarity knocked on one door after another as she made her way down the hall, searching for any of the usual residents.
“Rarity...? Is that.. *Cough cough*... You?” The weak call came from the last room in the hallway, causing Rarity to snap her head towards the source and trot to the room with relief that she found somepony after all; better yet, it sounded like Applejack, solving her problem of finding the orange mare.
“Applejack, darling! I'm so glaaahhaahaahhh -” Rarity reared back in surprise at the scene before her as what she had been saying was cut off by her exclamation of shock.
Applejack was laying in her bed with the covers pulled close while she had a compress resting on her head; there were bags under her red eyes as she coughed weakly, nose stuffed and perspiring lightly as she tried to focus on the unicorn in the doorway.
“Applejack! What happened?” Rarity entered the room and was about to come closer to the farmer when she was waved to stay back.
“*Sniff*... Don't come closer, Ah'm real sick an' Ah wouldn't want ya tah catch it... *Cough cough*... Sorry sugarcube, but Ah can't help ya fer a few days.” Rarity gasped at the assumption that she only wanted the farm pony's help and put a hoof to her heart as she refuted the claim.
“I wouldn't dream of making you work! I came by to check on you and show my appreciation for all your help this past month and a half.” Applejack fidgeted in place as she blushed; she hadn't helped in order to be thanked, though she avoided thinking of exactly why she ran herself ragged helping the unicorn.
“Shucks, ya don't have tah do anythin'.” Rarity waved a dissmissing hoof as she took in the décor around her, never having been in the farm pony's room before; she found it charmingly rustic.
“Nonsense darling. However did you get sick in the first place?” At the question Applejack felt a sense of dread; she had a hunch about why she got so sick and knew that telling the fashion-minded pony wouldn't help the situation at all.
“Oh, er, Ah... Ah don't know fer sure...”
“Oh, ya know it's 'cause yer been working yerself too hard between the farm and helpin' yer friends!” Granny Smith made her way slowly into the room before checking Applejack's health. Rarity was surprised and slightly concerned at this information and looked at the older mare in confusion.
“Helping her friends?”
“Yes indeedy; our Applejack here is a mighty hard worked but has been tryin' tah do too much again. Why just the other day she came back as soaked as a fish in water and kept workin' anyways.” At the description of Applejack's state the previous day Rarity gave a guilty flinch; she knew exactly why Applejack had been soaked and to know that she didn't dry off properly didn't help her conscious any.
“O-oh... I see. Is, is there much work left to do on the farm?” Applejack shifted in her bed at the hesitant tones of the unicorn and was about to intervene when Granny Smith put a hoof onto her shoulder and held her down.
“Now settle down young'un! Yer in no shape tah do anythin' but rest. There's plenty tah do, runnin' a farm isn't simple; there's the animals tah feed, plants tah water, the barn tah clean not tah mention takin' care of the house.” Granny Smith seemed satisfied that Applejack remained in bed before making her slow way out of the room, leaving the two mares to sit anxiously at the news.
“Oh my, that is a lot do . Where is Apple Bloom or Big Mac, can't they help?” Rarity couldn't bring herself to look at Applejack due to the guilt of having been demanding so much help from her the past month; instead she posed her question to the ground, though she made sure the sick mare could hear her.
“Big Macintosh is getting everythin' ready for the swarm of caterpillars that always come by around this time... *Cough*... We gottah make sure the crops don't get swarmed on. Apple Bloom is with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders crusadin'; they planned on havin' a sleepover afterwards.” Applejack tried to focus on the unicorn to judge if she was going to act rashly after learning how the farmer got stick; what she could see did not reassure her as Rarity tapped a hoof to the ground in thought before standing upright in determination.
“Have no fear darling, I know just the way to help you in return for all the work you've been helping me with; I shall help around the farm while your family is busy and you rest!” Applejack jolted upright as she stretched a pleading hoof towards the unicorn who dashed out of the room to get started.
“Rarity...! Wait!” Applejack called weakly to the fashionista only to be ignored; the orange mare half fell from her bed and stayed in that position with her fore-hooves on the ground while her back half remained on the bed for a moment. Once she caught her breath she crashed completely out of the bed and made her painstakingly slow way downstairs to chase after the fashionista.
(Gottah... Make sure... Not tah... Get caught by Granny... Please don't make a mess Rare...)
Rarity dashed outside (though she made sure to not wake the elder mare from her new nap) and stood facing the farm land as she thought of the list Granny Smith gave.
(Let's start with watering the crops; surely that won't be too hard?) Rarity nodded decisively and went in search of the water and a cart to carry it all; as she couldn't find it right away, she started to doubt herself.
(Maybe I can ask...? No, I shouldn't bother them over such a small thing, I'm sure I can find it...)
Rarity spent the next ten minutes searching the barn and tool shelf before giving up the search to instead clean the barn which was in disarray. The barn had piles of tools near one wall, without any kind of sorting, piles of planks near that and for whatever reason a large pile of logs inside the building; not including the hay strewn everywhere and piles of feed and supplies stored away without order or neatness.
Cleaning everything took longer than expected but was worth it in the unicorn's mind; all the useless wood and planks were outside waiting to be thrown away while the bags of supplies were spread out evenly giving a better appearance of the inside while the tools had been put back in an organized manner, from the smallest to the largest in the tool box..
(That wasn't so bad; though some of that was rather heavy... And I never did find any watering cans.. Oh well; onto the next task!) With a pleased smile on her face, Rarity exited the barn only to find Applejack leaning up against the wall as she searched for the gray-white mare.
“Applejack! Darling, you look just awful! You simply must go back to bed, I have everything well in hoof.” Rarity made to help the earth pony back inside when Applejack pushed off the wall and entered the barn to see what had been done.
“Raritttyyy... What did ya do tah the barn?!” Even in her weakened state, Applejack's annoyance was clear and Rarity frowned in confusion.
“I merely straightened up!” Rarity followed the other mare inside and was about to show off her work when she noticed Applejack's annoyed face.
“Sigh.... Rarity, we need them pieces of wood and planks for other things that might need fixin'; we don't have the extra bits tah always buy new wood.... An' we can't have the feed and supplies layin' along the ground in the open, the critters would get to them.... An' what did ya do to the tools?!” Each statement took more energy out of the unwell mare as she felt her workload increase; the one good thing was that the old hay have been removed, though new hay was needed to replace it.
“I simply organized the tools... I'm sorry Applejack, I didn't realize all that other stuff. I'll fix it, don't you worry!” Applejack had been looking through the sorted tools and felt a sinking feeling both from the sight before her and the unicorn's reassurance.
“Rarity, some tools are missin'. Ya just organized them right? They're all here?”
“Of course darling! I haven't placed any elsewhere, it wouldn’t be very organized if that was so.” Rarity huffed, slightly insulted due to the assumption that she had lost or moved some tools. Applejack just sighed wearily as she walked over to the bags of supplies and began to move them back into a wooden box that was meant to keep them away from easy reach of critters.
“Sorry Rares; the tools go missin' every so often an' we don't know who takes 'em... The wrench, pliers and hammer this time huh? Wonder what for..” Applejack trailed off as she paused in exhaustion which Rarity took advantage of and led her back to the bed inside; the unicorn had a slight blush on her face at the shortening of her name but decided to pay it no mind, associating it to Applejack not feeling very well.
“Come along dear, you must get proper rest! Don't worry about a thing; I'll fix it.” Applejack was so weak that she couldn't stand against the gentle pressure of the unicorn though she protested the entire time; Granny Smith was deep in her nap and didn't notice the two friends head upstairs even when the orange mare didn't stop her protests of Rarity continuing to help.
Once Applejack was tucked back in bed, Rarity left to put the barn back in order; she was so focused on the goal that she didn't notice Applejack attempting to leave said bed to stop the fashionista once more.
After 'fixing' the mess she made of the barn, Rarity turned to feed the animals since she knew where the food was at least. But with each different animal to feed Rarity had issues; the chickens were skiddish and panicked when Rarity tried to collect any eggs as she fed them, causing them to run out of the coop and scatter after pecking the unicorn for her attempts. The sheep were much easier; she merely left the gate open and the herd left to graze where they pleased, wandering from one area to the next. The pigs were another task altogether; there was the food they ate and the fact that they were filthy as well which caused the cleanliness-minded mare great annoyance. Rarity tried to clean them but they raced off and tromped through more mud, getting the fashion-minded mare dirty in the process as she chased after them before giving up.
Rarity was standing in the middle of the barn and house as she seethed in frustraition; not only did most of the feeding went badly, but she was covered in mud and feathers. Just as she was reminding herself that it was all to help Applejack when she noticed an orange earth pony crawling over to where she stood.
“Applejack! Really darling, constantly getting out of bed doesn't help you get better!” Applejack deadpanned the gray-white mare as she was able to tell, even in her dizzy and unfocused state, that Rarity had been near the breaking point due to the messier kinds of farm work.
“Rarity, ya don't have tah do all this. Ah can-” Rarity had been anxious when the farmer began to speak, knowing that she was not helping all that much at all, when she cut the other mare off in order to try one last thing. She wasn't willing to give up just yet and wanted to do something to help the hard working pony who had done so much for her.
“Honestly dear, I'll be fine! Let's get you back to bed.” Once again, Rarity used gentle pressure on the other who protested weakly. The gray-white mare kept up her own stream of mental monologue, contemplating how she had failed so far but assuring herself of the ease of the last task and didn't listen to Applejack's attempts to dissuade her from helping.
To try and prevent the orange mare from leaving her bed once more, Rarity closed the door firmly behind her as she went to try and water the various crops. She didn't find the watering cans and decided to just pull over a water hose to use instead; upon turning it on and preparing to use it with her magic, Rarity found that there was a kink in the line and spent a few obsessive minutes making sure everything was perfectly straight. Once she fixed the problem the water blasted out rapidly, making the hose flail wildly and breaking loose from her magical grip.
Rarity couldn't help but panic as her mane got soaked as she tried to get a grip on water hose; before she could really start panicking the water tapered off. Looking back to the source Rarity found Applejack staring blandly at her before looking to the badly watered crops; half were flooded from the flailing hose and the other hadn't been watered at all.
Rarity couldn't meet Applejack's gaze as the earth pony took in the sight of the drenched but still dirty mare before looking out at the rest of the farm and it's varying degrees of mess. The sheep were grazing among the crops, tramping some and eating others; the pigs were rooting in the orchard, digging up roots and eating perfectly good apples that were early bloomers; and the chickens were running around freely, getting into everything.
After taking in the state of the farm, Applejack was able to focus enough to look at the unicorn once more who seemed even more downhearted than before; she had looked at the farm while thinking of it as an outsider's point of view, realizing the large mess she had made for the farmer to have to worry about.
“Sugarcube, Ah appreciate the thought; Ah really do.... *Cough*... But Ah don't think ya should help with farm work....” Rarity could only stand still as she listened, noticing how Applejack swayed in place as she continued despite her dizziness.
“Look, ya probably want tah get cleaned up... Let's head inside and you can use the tub tah get clean.... *Cough cough* Ah'll find Big Mac and let him know about all this...” Applejack sighed once more before turning away when she felt a hoof on her shoulder; she looked back and found Rarity was barely able to meet her eyes as she pushed Applejack towards the house.
“I shall find him, please go inside and lay down.” Applejack was unsure but as Rarity slowly trudged in the direction that Applejack was about to go in search of the stallion, the sick mare just sagged slightly before heading into the house again.
Trying to find the silent stallion was a hard task, though compared to the rest of her day so far Rarity was more than up to the task; the unicorn was able to come across the red earth pony as he was coming back from the southern fields for more supplies. While it was odd to talk to somepony who didn't seem to respond all that much to what she was saying, Rarity tried to explain without embellishments or diminishing what she had done that day and how they needed his help to set it to rights.
Once she was done, Big Mac merely nodded once with an 'Eeyup' as an answer to if he would help or not; after that was sorted out Rarity went in search of the tub Applejack had mentioned to clean up as much as she could.
While the Apple Family didn't have a vast array of cleaning products, they did have shampoo, soap and conditioner which helped the gray-white unicorn feel almost like her old self. This was a good thing since Rarity wanted to do one last thing before giving up on helping for the day; and if there was one thing she was good at, it was taking care of the house, cleaning and cooking.
Within moments the fashionista had the whole farmhouse cleaned and even cooked a proper supper for everyone while making something that would help sick ponies get back on their hooves. She knew it wasn't proper to leave without saying goodbye but she didn't want to bother Applejack more than she already did that day and just made sure that the plate of food was within hoof's reach for the sick mare to reach when she woke up.
When Applejack woke later that evening, she found the tray of food and soothing drink waiting for her on her nightstand; the cover kept it warm and it was easy to eat and keep down in her weakened state. Just as she was finishing her meal, Granny Smith entered to check on her once more.
“That there friend of yers sure did clean up this old house real nice! Glad tah see ya got some of yer apatite back sweet pea, it don't help fightin' off bein' sick with an empty stomach.” As the older mare checked Applejack's forehead the orange mare frowned thoughtfully.
“Rarity cleaned up the house?” (I told that mare not tah help...! But Granny said it was done proper... She is a fussy pony, Ah guess; she'd know how tah clean up a place an' make it look nice...)
“Yes indeedy, made supper an' everythin'; right nice of her.” As the pale-green mare continued to ramble on about what was done, Big Mac ambled into the room to check on his sister.
“Did, did she make much of a mess Big Mac?” Applejack asked her brother in curiosity, wondering if perhaps she had been a bit too harsh to the unicorn before.
“Eenope.”
“Not even with all her 'helping' on the rest of the farm?”
Big Mac thought about this for a moment, making Applejack slightly nervous about what it was actually like since she couldn't tell how much was her being sick or actual mess. The stallion thought about some of the messes the Cutie Mark Crusaders got into and compared it to what he found that day after the fashionista 'helped'.
“Eenop.” Applejack settled firmly back into her bed as she felt some guilt at having assumed that everything had gone horribly wrong; Rarity did have good intentions even if it was a bit of a mess.
(Guess Ah gottah apologize and thank her for helpin' today... When Ah'm better...)
The two other Apples smiled as they watched Applejack fall back asleep to fight off her sickness; not knowing that the orange earth pony’s dreams would feature a certain helpful unicorn; though due to Applejack's sickness, she didn't remember any of those dreams the next day.
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