Another Sappy HiE Fic

by exsnaggerwes

Chores

"Hey there, Spike!" A jubilant yellow filly greeted us on the path leading to Sweet Apple Acres, "Did you get done with your chores early too? Scootaloo, Sweetie and I were going to try our hooves at extreme bird watching. Wanna come?"

I almost wanted to ask what made the bird watching extreme, but I had other things I should have been focused on, like getting a job. Spike was more than willing to ask our shared quandary, "What's extreme bird watching?"

"It's a long story, but basically Scotaloo got the idea to combine activities to make finding our cutie marks go faster. She said she has a feeling about this one, and I feel it too. Hey!" She turned to me, eyes wide and tail wagging, "You don't have your cutie mark either?"

"Uhh," I turned to look at my rump for a mark I knew wasn't there. I don't know what I expected, but it was still blank. Obviously my special talent hadn't been hugging or scarfing down cupcakes. I tried to think of an excuse, not wanting to explain my story to somepony who probably wouldn't understand yet.

"Do you wanna try to find your special talent with us? You've probably tried everything, haven't you? I bet you know all sorts of tricks and stuff," she chirped.

I looked to Spike, hoping he would get me out of the situation, only getting a shrug in response. "No thanks," I replied, trying to keep it short, "I'm actually quite satisfied with the color of my flanks." I gave a weak grin, hoping to avoid any extreme shenanigans the crusaders would get into. I couldn't fathom exactly what they could be doing, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it involved tree sap. The dejected filly only gave a sigh in response. I began to apologize, only to be cut off by Spike.

"Is Applejack around? Wes here was looking for some work while he was in Ponyville, and we were hoping he might be able to work here."

The yellow filly perked up again while answering, "Yeah, she's still out checking the west orchard. She shouldn't be too hard to find. Do you still want to come with us Spike?"

"Sure, after I'm done showing Wes around," he paused to think, "Oh! Sorry for not saying anything before. Applebloom, this is Wes. He's new to Ponyville and I'm showing him the town and introducing him to our friends. Wes, this is Applebloom. She's one of the founding members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. You'll probably meet the others soon, too."

"It's nice to meet you, Applebloom," I said, for once not knowing how to greet another pony. Twilight, Celestia, and Luna were all royalty, so I just bowed to them. Spike actually offered a claw to shake and Pinkie seemed okay with the hugging thing, but for once I didn't know a casual greeting.

What I lacked in cultural knowledge, Applebloom made up for in neighborliness as she offered a hoof, "It's nice to meet you too, Wes. I'm always glad to meet another blank flank, and I hope you reconsider about crusadin' with us sometime." I made an honest attempt at shaking her hoof without looking awkward, and was surprisingly successful. I smiled more at my attempts at ponyisms than a potential new friend.

When we broke the hoofshake Spike turned back to me and asked, "Are you going to be okay on your own here while I go hang out with the girls?"

"I think I can find my way. West orchard, right?" I asked Applebloom.

"That's right! See ya 'round, Wes," she nodded, then trotted off with Spike in tow. I turned back onto the path into Sweet Apple Acres, noticing the sun directly in front of me. There were apple trees all around on both sides of me, and a fence isolating the orchards from the path. I assumed the halfway point would be the Apples' farm house, and it was a fair trot just to get that far. I didn't notice anypony near the farm house, so I nervously trotted around the area heading further into the farm. Luckily for me, there were apple trees just beyond the house, and I could see an orange mare wearing a stetson talking to somepony I couldn't see yet. From a distance, I couldn't make out anything she was trying to say and as I approached, I didn't see anypony else in the area. I noticed she was facing a tree and she fell silent upon my approach.

"Howdy there! I haven't seen you around these parts, I reckon you're new here." She turned to meet my eyes and trotted closer, "Name's Applejack. What brings you out here?"

"Wes, it's nice to meet you," I introduced myself. I kept the conversation all business, knowing too soon I already had nothing in common with the mare, and wanting to get away from a constant escort as soon as possible. "As a matter of fact, I am new here, and I was just looking for a job. I heard you need a few extra hooves around the farm. Is there anything I can do?"

She gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of her neck with a foreleg. "Well gee, that's mighty nice of you to offer, and I would be happy to accept, but..."

"What is it?"

"You're kind of... not the kind of help we need around here."

"What do you mean?" I was honestly confused, not knowing if I had broken some cultural norm or missed something in her body language. If an assumingly capable stallion wasn't the kind of help that was wanted around the farm, then what was?

"Well for one, you're not in the best of shape." She was clearly trying not to be offensive. It was true, I may not have been as athletic as Rainbow Dash, but I wasn't out of shape or unfit, either. I felt confident I could still beat Applejack at hoof wrestling, and even though I wasn't much taller than her, I was still rather strong. "You're also a pegasus." I was almost shocked by what she had put so bluntly, even though she was avoiding eye contact. I didn't think she discriminated based on race like that, and figured she would have taken any help she could get and would just pay a fair wage based on what a pony could produce.

"What?"

"I mean no offense! Really, I don't mean to turn you down based on how you're put together or nothin'. It's just that... don't pegasi usually do better with jobs involving the sky?"

I could tell she was dancing around a subject that I probably should have known. She could have been referring to each race possessing their own unique kind of magic, but until then I was unsure of the truth behind that theory. I decided to test my knowledge of Equestrian magic by directing the conversation in that direction, "Do you mean because I don't have terrestrial magic?"

"Well," she paused, "sorta." I didn't move. I wasn't ready to give up just yet, and she seemed like she would have given me a chance anyway. It wasn't like I had something to lose by asking complete strangers for favorites. She seemed friendly enough to not hold it against me. I waited for her to reconsider, donning a poker face in preparation for a stare-down. She continued, "I suppose I could give you a try, but don't be too upset if you can't handle the work. Remember, I warned ya." Having no apples for bucking since the trees were only in bloom, she led me to another barn further away from the farm house.

"Thanks for giving me a chance. I know I'm nothing special, but I'm not afraid of physical labor."

She just gave me a nod in approval (or possibly a 'yeah, whatever' nod) and opened the large doors to the barn. "If'n you ain't afraid of work, I suppose you wouldn't mind starting with this mess then?" I looked to where she gestured to find that this particular barn housed many animals, not separated by fences or stables. Cows and pigs were allowed to roam free and lie wherever they felt like. There were a few stray chickens in the barn which quickly fled the area when they noticed the farm pony entering. There was plenty of lighting filtering through from the windows and a generous amount of artificial lighting. I noticed several switches for said lighting on the wall in the corner of my eyes.

Both of my eyes. One thing I neglected to remember about pony physiology until that exact moment had been that they were herbivores. Herbivores have a tendency to see quite a bit further than common predators, and especially humans. More specifically, horses had almost a 360 degree viewing angle, and could see (and focus) in two directions at once. However, being human for all of my life, I hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing such vision, and unlike seeing color for the first time, this was not anywhere near pleasant. It was just plain disorienting, and I made a silent vow to never make the mistake of moving my eyes backward again. My neck could turn far enough to lick my own backside, if I so chose, and as long as my eyes were forward relative to my head, they would move in the same direction. It took me a moment before I could figure out how to return them to their original position (which was easier when I stopped thinking about it) and shook away the feeling.

I went back to examining the communal housing unit for what I thought was most of Applejack's farm creatures. I could hear the cows talking in both English and a language I didn't recognize, but sounded awfully familiar anyway, and the pigs responding in the same alien language. They didn't even sound like farm animals at all, and I figured I had my new equine ears to thank for that. I looked around for the 'mess' Applejack mentioned, only to notice that the place was relatively clean. It didn't smell nearly as bad as the few farms I had been to in my life, and everything in general looked well kept for a farm. Then it hit me. This wasn't just any kind of farm. Equestrians must treat their animals with far more dignity than humans did, most likely due to their sentience. I wasn't surprised to hear the cattle speaking a common language, but I was slightly put off by their volume and dialect. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. I searched deeper a second time to look for things that would need cleaning and began to find the small things that one would look for while cleaning up after a pet.

Surprisingly, I found next to no droppings, and I wondered whether there was indoor plumbing in the building, but figured I didn't need to know either way. There were a few other odds and ends I could spot, and I even found the tools for the jobs. I looked to Applejack for directions, which she happily gave. Clearly she was humoring me and testing out my abilities. I knew she wouldn't have a formal application process like Twilight obviously would, but no job was without an entrance exam of some sort. In the end, I had cleaned the barn, moved about a dozen bails of hay, refilled water troughs on several areas of the farm, and was even hitched to a hoe to till a small plot of land. Applejack was surprisingly straightforward in her supervision and directions, and in the end, she welcomed me aboard without any more red tape than a spit-covered hoofshake and a few bits for the short day of work.

"And that's not even half of what a normal day of work will be like later, you hear?"

"Absolutely, thank you again," I nuzzled her gratefully noticing that I had acquired a new scent. "What time do you want me here tomorrow?"

"I won't need you back for some time, but I'll give you a holler when that happens, alright?"

"That works for me," I beamed. "I live at the castle with Twilight and Spike. If you need any help finding me, just ask them. They'll know." I trotted away before giving her a chance to voice any questions or objections. I finally carried a hoofful of bits for spending, or saving up for my own place, and I may as well have been floating from earning my first bits. It had gotten late while I was working, but I still wasn't nearly tired enough to head back to the castle, not to mention I was finally alone. My thoughts raced through all of the things I could try in my new pony body and I couldn't settle on a single one.

I wanted to eat grass, sleep standing up, and most of all, fly! Deciding that two of those could wait, I flapped my wings in an attempt at takeoff. I expected a struggle, or at least a stumble, but it seemed that after hours of skipping, gliding, and trying to do simple tasks like writing with my wings, I had gained relatively good control over them. They seemed so natural, like I had wings for years before attempting takeoff. I was in the air in a matter of moments, and while it was easy to get off of the ground, staying still and hovering was another deal entirely. I adjusted the angles to try to stop movement and I flicked my tail around in frustration, falling from the loss of balance. It made me remember that pegasi used their tails as counterweight for flight, and that they were about as important as a ship's rudder.

Trying another approach to flight, I galloped away down the makeshift runway that the path to Sweet Apple Acres made, I closed my eyes and spread my wings and gave one hard flap to bring me off of the ground and propelling forward at nearly double the speed. At first I felt like I had tripped, but after opening my eyes I realized that I was nearly three meters away from stable hoofing and therefore past the point of no return. I glided for nearly a minute while enjoying the feeling of wind speeding past me and eventually returned to the unforgiving ground. I stumbled a bit, but luckily remained standing. Once more, I repeated the procedure and chose after the initial takeoff to continue flapping.

Each thrust took me even higher into the sky and pushed me even faster as I found myself speeding over Ponyville, reaching the town square in next to no time.

The feeling of my first flight was incredible. I had never been so close to the sky in my life. I had never been in a plane, hot air balloon, or even tall roller coaster. It was never the fear of height that kept me so ground-bound, but instead the mistrust of those forces guiding said vehicles. Granted, I would have never expected a plane to crash, and a hot air balloon seemed safe enough, but I could never afford either money or time for riding in one. Carnival rides and Roller coasters were where I really had problems. I avoided them at all costs for the longest times, and whenever I was dragged into those accursed death traps they dared to call 'rides', I never once lost the feeling that I would be thrown out at an uncontrollable speed and die. I even thought ferris wheels would come unhinged at some point, but I eventually did grow out of it. When I thought of it, I was never a risk taker before. I always stayed on the safe side of town, and always looked both ways before crossing the street. Taking off and flying on my own had never once crossed my mind until the moment I had wings.

I contemplated turning lightly without putting much effort into the actual act. All I really had to do was lean into the turn and the rest of my body would follow through. Movement in the air came so natural to me that I wondered why I ever was afraid of it. I wondered even more why I wasn't so scared when I was in the air. Perhaps it was because I had gotten there and was maintaining control by my own power. I began by drifting to the right, circling around my previous path and heading back in the direction of Applejack's farm. When I reached the side of town neighboring the orchard, I circled again. I glided above the town just enjoying myself for as long as possible, only looking down to make sure I wasn't leaving the Ponyville area and getting lost.

Soon enough, I grew adventurous and climbed in altitude. The clouds remained above my head and an idea came to me when I started smelling my sweat and the nasty farm scent again. I peered into the cloud layer, noticing their intimidating size. I remember once trying to build a cloud city in Minecraft made out of wool and snow, and only discovering when I got that far that the distance made the clouds look far smaller than they actually were. I also remembered that the distance to the clouds from the ground was far more than I previously estimated as well, and tried my hardest not to look back down. A relatively small cloud appeared in my line of sight, and I flew toward it intent on flying through it. Clouds were made of vapor, and surely a quick rinse would get some of the smell off. I didn't slow myself at all as I approached it and soon found myself reeling back from being bounced off of the side.

"What?" I asked the cloud out loud, "Why didn't I just go right through you?" I shook it off, reflexively hovering in place and managing somehow to keep my balance, and tried again. The same thing happened. The cloud basically refused my entry, acting like a giant pillow. At least it had the courtesy to absorb the shock.

"If you're trying to break up that cloud your wasting your time," I heard a gruff feminine voice call out, "it's not supposed to move either. What are you even doing out here? You're not one of the newbie weather team recruits are you?"

I looked back to see a rainbow-maned pegasus folding her forelegs across her chest in disappointment. "No, I was just trying to..." I paused, "actually, I don't know what I'm doing up here. This cloud won't let me through though," I pointed an accusatory hoof toward the cloud.

"I uh, what?" She raised an eyebrow. "It's a cloud, not a palace guard. Just push your way through if you want inside, not that there's anything in there. Why do you want in there anyway? Are you hiding from somepony?"

"No, I was just looking for a quick rinse," I almost whispered. Her eyes went wide and she nearly tackled me.

"NO!" She dragged me tail-in-mouth away from the cushiony vapor and let me free a safe distance away. "Don't touch the clouds with your filthy hooves! You could contaminate the water supply and make the rain rancid," she scolded, "I don't know how things are where you're from, mister, but around here we don't poison the rain with horse stench."

"Sorry, I didn't know. I'm new, I haven't even been a pony for a week," I groveled. She didn't seem to buy it. "No, really! I came through the portal. Please don't hurt me."

Her mood seemed to lighten at hearing that last bit. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Just stay away from my clouds, got it?"

"Yeah, no problem. Sorry I didn't think about it much."

"So what were you just talking about? What portal?"

"You don't know? Remember when Princess Twilight had her crown stolen from her -" I was interrupted by a hoof forcing its way into my mouth.

"What do you know about that? Nopony was supposed to know about that, how did you get classified information? Are you a spy?" I resisted my fangirl urge to squeal in delight.

Hoof still in mouth, the only response I could give was waving my forehooves and shaking my head. Noticing she hadn't given me a way of answering, she removed her hoof from my mouth and prodded, "Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm not lying to you. I'm Wes, and I used to be human. I came through the portal from Earth and it transformed me."

"Human?"

"A pink monkey-like creature with hands and fingers."

"Oh. Weird."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest mare in Equestria and soon-to-be wonderbolt! Maybe you've heard of me." She posed as best she could while remaining airborne.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really?" Her eyes glimmered with anticipation.

"No, not really." I shrugged my forehooves. It wasn't because I wanted to disappoint her or anything, I just knew there was no reasonable way to explain where I heard of her if I said yes.

"Well then, I guess a demonstration is in order, but first you stink. Do you want to wash off at my place? It's right over there," she gestured over her shoulder to a massive cloud I would have otherwise mistaken as a storm cell had it not been garbed in a rainbow waterfall and windows. Remember when I said that the clouds were a lot bigger closer up? Rainbow Dash's house was equally as huge. She had a cloud mansion, and from the outside it looked about half the size of Twilight's castle. I gaped in astonishment. "Come on over, I'll show you around newbie."

Author's Note:

First, I want to thank FerretXcon and Bootter (Not on social media) for their ideas to help the beginning of this chapter move along. Ultimately, the end result was going to be the same. Wes needed a job, and he was determined enough to try any and every chore to make any amount of bits whether it be legal or otherwise. I enjoyed the beginning part, but the chores were what got me.

This is what happens when you procrastinate forever and can't come up with good ideas or character development.
*rant*
I realized a bit late in the game that I'm not so good at putting words into Applejack's mouth. Not only that, I have no farm experience aside from being on a few from time to time. I've carried bales of hay and cleaned a few stables, but nothing major. I enlisted the help of my Skype group for the beginning to think of some silly ideas I might want to use later on in the story. i.e. The CMC's "extreme bird watching" and the tree sap line. If you have any comments, criticisms, or suggestions, I would be happy to read them.

Comments

[Darkheretic]

Well this gave me a bit of food for thought with the possibility of contamiating normal white fluffy clouds seeings as they would be used for shade and asthetic reasons (nopony would like to sit under a brown or yellow cloud *yuck*), rainstorm clouds though I don't think it would matter much.