Forever Summer

by Cold in Gardez

Applejack's Day

“I’m gonna kill ‘em. I really mean it, Mac.”

“Eeenope,” Big Macintosh said. He’d always been the calmer of the two.

“Well, alright, not really.” Applejack frowned at the fallen tree. It was an old one, and only half its leaves had come in that spring. If she were being honest, it was probably going to be chopped down in a few weeks anyway, to make room for a new sapling.

But that was her job, not theirs. Just a few hours into the first day of summer, and they were already on the warpath.

“How did they even knock it down?” she asked. She stepped over to the uprooted bowl, a mass of broken and stripped roots clogged with dirt. A few tiny centipedes crawled through the disturbed earth around her feet. “They just dug it up?”

“It was already fallin’ over, AJ. They just gave it a little nudge.”

“But why? Why, Mac? Did they think they’d get a tree-uprooting cutie mark?”

He shrugged.

She sighed. “Whatever. I’ll go get the axe. You start thinkin’ of chores for her to do.”

“Eeeyup.”

Comments

[Telaros]

Makes me wonder if this means Snips and Snails will show up again, or if this particular story of the treasure is complete and the warpath will just continue to other areas of Ponyville and their unfortunate adult citizens.

Can't wait for more! (I totally can, it's all worth the wait!)

[Manaphy]

I found this cute and very well-written. The story is simple, but sweet, and I'm envious of how well you're able to characterize the CMC. Excellent job!

[Sind]

Wonderful story. Looking forward to the next chapters

[Foxy E]

Haha, I finished reading and slipped back into reality. A bit of a shock. It's dark outside, and it sounds like the rain clouds are doing their best to drown us. A far cry from idyllic summer.

Anyways, good stuff. The transition between the real world and the one seen through the Crusaders' imagination was fantastic, and I really liked the fluidity of time and space. Sounds like something from science fiction when I put it that way, but the way minutes become hours and metres become miles played a big part in selling the childrens' perspective to me.

I'm looking forwards to more

EDIT:
In Chapter 2, noticed these errors --

So close! Apple Bloom ignored the searing heat on her flanks and leaned forward, pushing Snails' rump with the top of her head. He yelped, but the extra burst of speed to outpace the bursting lava, and they spilled out of the pit, back into the forest and the clean air, hacking, panting, covered with dirt and soot.”

The section in italics doesn't make sense, and the quotation mark in bold doesn't belong.

[BlabideeblahMLP]

This is well-written, descriptive, action-packed, and most of all, adorable.

If you don't like this story you need a comfy, snug-fitting straightjacket.

[HiddenBrony4]

You know, this story leaves me nostalgic for summers past. Back when summer was more than a time to complete some long-term goals, more than a time to get some extra hours at work. When a wagon and a hill could entertain for hours, and a sandbox, hose, and pail created entire cities. When the days were filled with super soakers and water balloons, and building forts in the woods.

This brings back the same nostalgia that Calvin and Hobbes induces, and for that, I commend you. Very few authors ever manage to succeed at that. Have the trifecta of approval: an upvote, a follow, and a comment. You deserve it.

[Cold in Gardez]

5033796
5034295

Thanks for the catches. Editing in your barracks is a pain.

[djthomp]

“But why? Why, Mac? Did they think they’d get a tree-uprooting cutie mark?”

Hey, you never know unless you try.

[Ri2]

Oh, never mind.

[Glazius]

This is reminding me of many cartoons of my youth, where kids let their imagination run crazy, but there was always just a little bit of reality.

[RagnuPony]

Judging from the description, the story sounds like a heartwarming slice of life (one of my favorite types). I'm totally putting this on my 'to read' list.

Also, Grennadder!

[Cold in Gardez]

5034437

Calvin and Hobbes was exactly the sort of vibe I was going for. Glad it worked for some people.

[Stormy Skies]

When they had not yet traced the orchard's rows, hiding between the moments, searching for the spot where the sun stood still and every day was the same as the one before and the one after.

Turns of phrase like this reminds me why I follow you.

It's perfect. It's summer.

[Dash The Stampede]

That was beautifully done. I hold a special love for this paragraph's section:

When they had not yet traced the orchard's rows, hiding between the moments, searching for the spot where the sun stood still and every day was the same as the one before and the one after. When the hot brush of wind on their coats drew out their sweat and melted the rough edges from the hours, blending them, until morning and noon and evening and night were all one memory with no beginning they could remember and no end they could foresee.

It's like an acid trip to read this, it's so fluid and intricate at the same time, it's amazing. You never cease to remind me why I followed you

[Alondro]

The one thing I need to do with a fic like this is clear my mind of the majority of other fics, as I am beset with the expectations of horrendous, apocalyptic catastrophe I find overwhelmingly dominant in the lion's share of fanfics.

I wish more people would remember that the show is about happy little ponies in a magical fantasy land who, every now and then, must face a baddie.

It's not a vile, disgusting world of backstabbing sociopaths out to crush and dominate the minds and spirits of the populace... like the UN.

[howard035]

I love this story. It feels like I'm reading a classic Bill Waterson collection, not just because of the imaginative kids, but also because of the hilarious jokes about adults. So far my favorite characters are actually Cheerilee, using the girls to clean her classroom so she can get to Las Pegasus faster, and Applejack. How I hope we hear more remembered lectures from Applejack!

[Fluttercheer]

Aaaaah, the long summer days viewed from the perspective of a foal.
I know that well.
The quiet mornings when you get up, with nopony there, because your parents are already at work, haven't woken you up because they knew you don't have school, the enjoyment of the silence while you slowly realize that it's summer and that you don't have to go to school.
You stay lying in the bed for some minutes, enjoying the atmosphere, and then you get slowly up, heading outside, enjoying the long summer days.
And then your foalish imagination, that turns everything into an adventure and everything is so exciting that you have the feeling that many hours, even days, have passed, while it was in truth only the few hours until noon.
I know all these feelings, remembering them from my foalhood. And you conveyed these feelings perfectly!
There's nothing more to say.
10 from 10 stars and I can't wait for the next chapter!

[KwirkyJ]

This was completely adorable. An elegant slice-of-life baked into a summer where adventure that only foals can have takes place. You succeeded in triggering some nostalgia for the wild imaginative abandon of youth.

As a critical curiosity, I'm not sure how well the first chapter actually fits with the story; it struck me more as establishing the setting and tone rather than taking part in the story itself. That is not to say that its removal would improve anything at all, but my brain noticed. <shrugs happen here>
EDIT: But my brain did fail to notice the 'In' part of 'Incomplete.' This fact changes a few integral components of my comment. Whoops! Just goes to show that the second two chapters stand very well on their own as a "one-shot."

5038630
As I was reading, I remember quite distinctly reaching the lava part and realizing 'Ohhhh, maybe this all isn't actually happening, and suddenly so much clicked into place. Your mentioning of Calvin and Hobbes as your intent captures it perfectly.

A delightful tale.

[TheJediMasterEd]

 hiding between the moments,

A metaphor that makes a sundial of the orchard.

[Adjutant Stormy]

Fantastic.

[Kagitaar]

That was so damn fun. Trying to see through their eyes, knowing that it's in their heads mostly, was a trip well worth taking.

I do have one little thing: around her feet. around her hooves.

[sopchoppy]

Awesomeness

[Dash The Stampede]

Just gonna leave this here. Listened to it the whole time

[Cozy Mark IV]

That was adorable, and all the more remarkable for having been written in a war zone.

[swyrl]

There are many stories I'm waiting on for chapters. Some are superb stories, some terrible but with heart, some that I follow reluctantly to their eventual ends. This story, however, trumps them all. It fills my heart with the warmth and lightheartedness of childhood, and actually reminds me of one of the reasons I started watching MLP in the first place. Well done, good sir.
Well done.

I eagerly await whatever adventures you have in store for the CMC.

[Meridian Prime]

This is perfect.

You have perfectly captured what makes the summers of our childhoods so special.
It feels like I'm reading the prose version of a Calvin & Hobbes strip, and believe me when I say that is meant as high praise indeed.

[Blue_Paladin42]

I wonder who else we'll see this summer.

[Xepher]

Reminds me in some ways of Bridge to Terebithia, or as noted, the daydream sequences in Calvin and Hobbes. Definitely a fun read so far, and if some larger plot or message gets woven in by the end, it'll be even better. Looking forward to more!

[JAG]

I was also reminded of Calvin and Hobbes. Nicely done, so far! Thumbs-Upped and Tracked.

[Morphy]

5121125

I have a feeling stuff like that happens in Equestria all the time, almost commonplace for them.

[Kichi]

A little short the third chapter, and also Applejack could wait to listen the full history after all, If they have lava then it could be dangerous.