Chapter XIV: Labor
Time passed once more for Ponyville after the Ursa attack, which the giant bear turned out to be an Ursa Minor. Still, Trixie's claims at her show turned out to be false, causing the showmare to make her escape; though when Sapphire heard of it, it completely cemented her desire to abandon the pursuit of being a showmare herself. So she turned to her studies once more, though she did take on a share of chores in keeping Rarity's home clean. Though, things turned out to be interesting when the sky was suddenly blocked out by plumes of smoke which originated from a sleeping dragon in some cave on the top of a mountain. This resulted in the Elements having to go to the top in an attempt to convince the dragon to find another cave to sleep in. Thankfully, their trip was a success since the sky cleared up some time after they left for the mountain. However, Sapphire did pick up that Spike had to take care of Angel during the adventure, causing Sapphire to feel terrible for the poor little dragon.
It was ten days after the Ursa incident when Applejack suddenly dropped by the boutique to pick up Sapphire. Apparently, Sapphire needed some more exercise than going back and forth to Twilight's library every time she needed some more books to study. Hence, Applejack was going to bring her to the farm to do some chores 'earth pony' style.
"I really don't see the need for this Applejack. Last time Rarity said it was to keep me from becoming overweight, which I don't think is going to happen regardless of how much I eat," Sapphire said, pointing at the fact that she's still thinner than the average pony.
"This ain't about keepin' you from gainin' weight sugarcube. This is about makin' sure you keep your muscles stay fit as a fiddle," Applejack replied as they trotted through Ponyville.
"Wouldn't cleaning Rarity's home be enough exercise for me?" Sapphire asked as she raised an eyebrow at Applejack's response.
"Now sugarcube, that only gets you exercise for some of your muscles, not all of them."
"Fine... but why do I have to do these chores 'earth pony' style? Why can't I do them as a unicorn?"
"Cause then you'll just be usin' your magic while sittin' around," Applejack answered as Sapphire furrowed her eyebrows.
"But doesn't that mean that maybe unicorns are meant to just sit around all day and let their magic do their work for them?"
Stopping suddenly, Applejack gave Sapphire an exasperated look as she replied, "Are you tryin' to say that doing some chores earth pony style is beneath you?"
Blinking in confusion, Sapphire responded, "Ummm, no? I was just thinking that maybe each tribe are supposed to do things their own way and hence have the ways of taking care of their own bodies might be different? Also, why would I think your way would be beneath me?"
This in turn caused Applejack to blink for a second, before a blush came onto her face as she answered, "Well, it's because some unicorns think they are better than earth ponies since they can use magic."
Tilting her head, Sapphire replied, "But that doesn't make sense. Yeah, unicorns have magic, but from what I read, earth ponies are stronger and have a connection with the land that makes them the best farmers. Without the help of earth ponies, wouldn't the rest of Equestria have a hard time growing food? It doesn't make sense to think of oneself as better than the ponies that are keeping you from starving."
In response, Applejack just stared at Sapphire, which caused her to become uncomfortable enough to start rubbing one of her forelegs against the other. It took a few minutes before she shook off her stupor before saying, "You may be uneducated sugarcube, but that ain't stoppin' you from sayin' some words of wisdom."
This caused Sapphire to tilt her head again as she asked, "Wisdom? I thought that was just common sense?"
Shaking her head while chuckling to herself, Applejack resumed her trotting as she answered, "Well, not everypony has as much 'common sense' as you do then. I reckon some nobles can learn a thing or two from you."
Following Applejack, Sapphire replied, "Oh... okay... but what's a noble?"
It didn't took long for the two mares to arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, though Sapphire wasn't happy to see that the trees are still fruitless, much to Applejack's amusement. That was when a rather large red stallion came over to them, causing Sapphire's eyes to widen at his sheer size.
"Ah, I reckon you haven't meet my brother Big McIntosh yet, though we just call him Big Mac," Applejack announced, to which Sapphire just nodded slowly in response.
"Pleasure to meet you," Big Mac said, as he gave Sapphire a nod.
"Um... pleasure to meet you too?" Sapphire weakly replied, receiving a nod in return.
"Well, now that we're here, it's time to get some farm work done," Applejack declared, causing Sapphire to turn her attention to her.
"Okay... but just what exactly are we doing?"
"Well, there's plowin' the fields for new apple trees to be planted, feedin' the pigs, harvestin' some of the vegetables..." Applejack answered, causing Sapphire's ears to droop with each passing chore before thinking to herself, Why am I getting the feeling that I'm just being used as free labor instead of getting exercise?
"I can't believe you're still standin' after all that work," Applejack said, as the sun was setting. Sapphire ended up spending the entire day doing whatever the Apples told her to do, though they were surprised that despite being a thin mare and not showing much muscle, she was still able to pull a plow. Of course, they weren't the only ponies to be surprised, for at lunch time Sapphire finally met the Apple matriarch, Granny Smith. It resulted in her giving Sapphire extra food due to seeing how thin she was, only for both her and Big Mac to drop their jaws at how fast Sapphire devoured her lunch.
"Well, what can I say? I don't know my own strength. I’ve never tried doing physical work like this before, since... you know," Sapphire replied, her ears lowering at the reminder of her amnesia.
"Now don't you worry there sugarcube, your memories will come back to you when the time is right. No sense worryin' about something you have no control over," Applejack responded as she placed a hoof on Sapphire's withers to help cheer the mare up.
"I suppose so... though... seeing your family... it makes me wonder whether or not I have a family too," Sapphire dejectedly said.
"Now that's just silly of you to say sugarcube. I reckon you have a family out there that is worried about you."
"How can you be so certain of that? Ponies already looked for anypony that could be related to me and found nothing. Not only that, but since I'm uneducated, I could have been living in the woods my entire life as an orphan for all I know," Sapphire countered with a sniffle.
Seeing how distraught Sapphire was becoming, Applejack gave her a hug while saying, "Don't be sad that nopony found any relatives, cause I think there is something I reckon you overlooked."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, if you're uneducated, it either means you were all alone. That, or your family wanted to live a life away from cities and towns," Applejack explained.
"Wait... you mean that my family might be out there, in the woods or something?" Sapphire asked, her ears rising up as her eyes started to glisten with some hope.
"Maybe, just cause nopony found any relatives doesn't mean you don't have any. Do you remember anything about your family?"
"Well... I did remember a voice of some mare calling me precious..."
"Then that must be somepony that cares about you sugarcube. A mare that might be your mother, who's probably out there, is worried about you," Applejack said, breaking the hug as Sapphire's rubbed her nose with her fetlock, her sniffing coming to a halt. "Now that you're all feeling better, how about you have a bath before goin' back to Rarity's place?"
"Um... why can't I just have a bath at her place instead since I'm going back there anyway?"
Giving Sapphire a bemused look, Applejack answered, "And here I thought after livin' with Rarity for so long you would at least know how she responds to seeing dirt."
"...Oh..."
Humming to herself, Rarity was putting the finishing touches on a dress when she heard the back door opening. Knowing that only one pony would be using that door at this time, Rarity exclaimed, "Welcome back Sapphire, I hope you had a splendid day with Applejack."
Coming into Rarity's work room, Sapphire replied, "Um... depends if we're using your idea of a splendid day or just in general."
"What do you mean dear?" Rarity asked as she turned her attention towards Sapphire.
"Well, long story short I had to do a lot of hard labor that ended up with me being sweaty and covered in dirt. Though I did meet Big Macintosh and Granny Smith and had lunch with them. I also had a talk with Applejack about the possibility that I might have a family in the wilds," Sapphire answered, causing Rarity to grimace at the first part before taking on a joyful look.
"It's nice to see you looking at the bright side of things dear. I'm certain that Applejack is right about your family being out there, somewhere in this world."
"Yeah... but wouldn't they be nearby though? I mean, it's been weeks, and if I got separated from my fam—" Sapphire started to say before Rarity came over placed a hoof on her lips.
"Tut tut, no more fretting dear. Sometimes mysterious things just happen in Equestria that can't be explained. It may be best to wait and see, since your family is bound to come to a city to find you. Or perhaps they're from another nation. Regardless, if your family loves you, they will find you, and I'm certain they do love you. So instead of worrying, just wait until you recover your memories or until they finally find you dear," Rarity said, causing Sapphire to nod in agreement.
"Yeah, you're probably right about that," Sapphire replied, causing Rarity to smile at her when she returned with one of her own.
"It's good to see some more positivity from you dear. Being sad and negative all the time isn't good for a mare's complexion," Rarity responded, causing Sapphire's expression to change into a deadpanned one.
"Well, thanks for looking out for my appearance Rarity," Sapphire dryly said, to which Rarity rolled her eyes at her while still smiling.
"You really should consider taking care of your appearance Sapphire. It would be a shame for your own beauty to be denied to the world. Now, how about we have some supper? I'm pretty sure that after all that hard work today, you must be starving by now." As if on cue, Sapphire's stomach let out a rather loud rumble, causing her to blush as Rarity continued, "Don't worry dear, I'll have supper made soon. Now head upstairs and wash yourself."
Blinking, Sapphire replied, "But I took a bath before I left Sweet Apple Acres."
"Dear, while I appreciate that you didn't come home covered in dirt, I'm certain that you couldn't do a thorough cleaning without proper cleaning supplies. Now head upstairs and enjoy your bath, otherwise you won't be getting supper," Rarity scolded, causing Sapphire to dumbly stare at her with her mouth ajar. She soon closed it and headed upstairs, grumbling to herself in frustration over Rarity's excessive need to be clean.
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You said aether when sapphire entered the back door lmao
7060021 I make mistakes sometimes! *hides in Fluttershy's mane*
Ponies with sticks so far up their rear end that they have to hold up their head all the time.
What's the difference?
This has been on my 'read later' list for a while, but seeing it featured has moved it to the top of the list. Hold my beer, I'm diving in!
HAHAHA! I love how Rarity is still like that even after Sapphire's already bathed.
7060285 Unable to resist, I regret nothing.
Well, it appears that Sapphire is used to physical labor, add another check to her being an escaped slave.
While this story is a fun read, I quite enjoy it, I'm sorry to say this tale is also riddled with several typos, mostly the wrong form words, but still a little concerting.
7062481 Well, I'm looking into a prospective editor, so hopefully that would be cleaned up.
7062618 it wouldn't hurt to practice some self-editing in the mean time, just do a quick read through of what you have posted so far and see if you can spot any errors
Awesome story so far, great work.
7060021
7060036
Meanwhile in Canterlot....
Celestia: "*gasp!* LUNA!"
Luna: "What it is, Tia?"
Celestia: "I've just felt a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of chairs were hurtling at us!"
Luna: "Speak for yourself, Kimosabe. I've had the wisdom to not piss off every dimensional visitor who comes to Equestria."
Celestia: "Okay! Be that way, bitch! I'm still getting rid of all these chairs!"
7087477
with tasers strapped to them!
And yet another and more overt hint about her past.
The facehoof givith, and the facehoof takith away. In this case it is being given in ♠SPADES♠
this is being insisted by the naive characters so much that I'm starting to think- no HOPE that this is not the case, just to see their reactions.
Take note Justin trudeau.
Big Mac and sapphire?...
I ship it.
Well said Sapphire l
.
Really Rarity? You’re going there
?! Threatening to not give Sapphire food if she didn’t ‘properly bath’ herself?! I get that you want to keep a presentable appearance but come on! She took a bath at Sweet Apple Acres, so that should be good enough
! You are incredibly lucky that Sapphire is not a lion, and if there’s one thing I know...a hungry lion, is a dangerous lion.
Common sense isn't so common