Chapter 2
The next morning, Applejack was woken up by Braeburn’s call to breakfast. The bed felt so warm and snug that it was with no little regret that she finally stirred and sat up. She found that an additional blanket had been added atop the others—one that hadn’t been there when she went to sleep. Braeburn… Applejack realized with a smile. Ain’t that just like him?
After a quick visit to the bathroom, Applejack trotted into the kitchen. Braeburn was waiting for her…wearing an apron and a chef’s hat that would’ve given Rarity’ fits. “Morning cousin!” He beamed at her. “Pancakes?” He turned to the stove where he neatly flipped four pancakes onto a nearby plate without even looking. “Got some apple flapjacks for my cousin Applejack!”
“Morning Brae.” Applejack trotted over, giving him a friendly nuzzle. “You didn’t have t’do all this on mah account. But thanks.”
Braeburn chuckled sheepishly, “Gosh cousin, you’re family! Ain’t nothing more important!” The earnestness of his response was only slightly undercut when a pancake he had flipped landed across his muzzle instead of on the plate.
“You always were a silly pony, cous.” She hugged him. “Come on. Let’s eat up and find the others. Then it’s time to stack us some hay!”
Braeburn nodded, peeling his pancake off his face and taking a bite. “What?” he asked when Applejack gave him a look. “It’s still good!”
She just laughed.
After breakfast, the two ran out to the rodeo, splitting up to find their teammates.
Applejack began to stretch, warming up before the competition started. She and Rainbow Dash would be going up against several other teams, including Braeburn and Little Strongheart, in a hay-stacking contest. “Hey Applejack,” Rainbow called as she made her way over, Pinkie Pie and Twilight flanking her. “You ready?”
“Eyup,” Applejack tilted her hat. “Just follow mah lead and we’ll have this event in the bag.” She turned to Pinkie and Twilight. “Contest starts in five. Y’all better get yourselves a seat before all the good ones are taken.”
Twilight smiled, “Okay—have fun you two! Good luck!”
“Appreciate it, Twi—but we won’t need it,” Applejack grinned as they made their way over to the field. “I’ve been stacking hay since Ah was a filly … and this ain’t my first time at a rodeo, neither!” She nodded to Rainbow. “Just follow my lead.” Dash saluted, not having a problem taking orders—so long as they resulted in a win.
The soon made their way into the ring. There were about half a dozen teams, with a massive stack of haybales in the center. Applejack spotted Braeburn and Strongheart doing some sort of bizarre twisting and exercising. Her cousin smiled when he spotted her and waved as if they hadn’t seen each other only yesterday. Applejack gave him a somewhat subdued smile and wave in return. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof, positively beamed as she zipped her way over. “Hey guys! What’re you doing?”
Braeburn waved, his body looking something more like a pretzel than a proper pony to AJ’s mind. “Howdy Miss Dash! Little Strongheart was teaching me how she warms up ‘fore an event! Works wonders!”
“Think you could show me?” Rainbow looked interested. “I’ve been looking for some new wing exercises—”
“Rainbow!” Applejack grabbed her by the tail and started pulling her away. “C’mon, you can trade exercise tips later, the event’s about to start!” She didn’t know why she was suddenly so irritated all of a sudden—hopefully she could burn it off in the competition.
About a minute after everypony—and buffalo—had gotten into position, a somewhat rotund pony in an oversized hat spoke into a loudhorn. Applejack only half heard him. She knew the rules, they had ten minutes to stack the haybales as high as they could. The team with the highest pile at the end won. She crouched down, ready to spring into action. A horn sounded and the contest had begun. “Now!”
Even without her wings, Dash still more than lived up to her name, slamming into hay pile with such force that bales went flying everywhere.. Rainbow, always quick to recover from a sudden stop, was back punching and kicking the falling haybales over to Applejack. She grinned as she received each bale, bucking them out of the air and into position on the ground. Within moments they had a nice stable base established to build upon.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash fell into a steady rhythm. Applejack even started up a little chant in her head, Build this pile, build this pile, one-two-three-four! She could even hear her family and Pinkie Pie and Twilight cheering from the sides. Her heart seemed to swell in her chest. This is what it’s all about…
But she was pulled out of her steady pace by a shout from Rainbow Dash. Turning to see what was the matter, Applejack saw that Braeburn and Little Strongheart’s pile was taller than theirs: Strongheart’s considerable strength proving to be an asset in quickly getting the bales of hay from the center to their pile—which looked somewhat like a buffalo tipis though a pyramid or ziggurat would’ve been closer to the mark.
Irked, Applejack barked at Rainbow Dash. “C’mon Rainbow, step it up!”
However, all this did was to ruffle her friend’s feathers. “Hey, I’m going as fast as I can—without using my wings.” She stressed, shoving another haystack over. “Maybe you should get the hay and I’ll do the stacking.” Rainbow gave the ramshackle pile Applejack had been assembling a dull look. “Maybe we should try doing what Braeburn and Strongheart are doing—”
“No way!” Applejack snapped. “Just gimme the bales and Ah’ll handle the rest.”
Rainbow Dash drew herself up, wings flaring. “Fine!” Dash snorted, grabbing another hay bale and shoving it brusquely at Applejack. “Here!”
Applejack, almost bowled over by the force of the impact, grabbed the hay and bucked it to the top of the pile. “There, y’see?”
“Yeah—great,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she went to fetch another stack. Their pile looked like an odd, half-torn down brick wall with a central, leaning tower. “I could fly up there and straighten that out.”
Applejack dug in her hooves, both literally and figuratively. “It’s fine, Rainbow—you don’t need to go fussing over making sure it looks pretty! I coulda brought Rarity if I needed that.”
Rainbow Dash grumbled as she kicked over another bale. “It’s not about looking pretty, it’s about making sure that it’s the tallest pile—without falling over on us.”
“Since when were you an architect?” Applejack snorted as they continued their routine, but without the easy, steady rhythm as before.
With a roll of her eyes, Dash grabbed another stack. “Gee, I dunno—since I built my own cloud home?”
Applejack waved her off. “Those’re made of cloud! This is hay. Totally different.” She bucked the next piece into position. “I know what I’m doing!” She glanced sourly at the tidier-looking pile her cousin and his friend had been assembling. “We don’t need your wings or their … whatever it is, in order t’win this! And that’s final!” As if to punctuate her remarks, she shoved the last bale into place with more force than was necessary—or wise. The pile began to sway and then topple over.
Before either one of them could get clear, Several bales of hay fell over, landing heavily on the two mares. Applejack winced as her world suddenly became very straw-filled. She heard Rainbow groaned as she tried to extricate herself from her own place. “AJ? You okay?”
“…Yeah,” Applejack grumbled as she climbed out from underneath another haystack.
“That’s good … now I can kick your flank without feeling guilty.” Rainbow’s ear flicked as the bell rang, ending the competition. “Great going.”
Applejack shook the hay out of her mane as she surveyed the situation. Braeburn and Little Strongheart had won—having just reached the height mark as the bell sounded. Most of the haystacks she and Rainbow had piled up remained in place, but not enough. Still, the news wasn’t all bad. “S’just bad luck, Rainbow. And we still came in second,” She tilted her head to the others teams, whose piles had either collapsed or simply hadn’t gained as much height as theirs.
Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. “Second’s just a fancy way of saying, not first. Ya know, losing?” She made a face … and then spat out a strand of hay. “Now we’re going to have to play catch up.”
“You saying you ain’t up for it?” Applejack asked, a touch too innocently. “S’one little hiccup all it takes to get Rainbow Dash to call it quits? Shame … I guess I’ll just have to get somepony else to partner with—” Before she could say another word, Rainbow had zipped over to her, their snouts practically pressing together as she met Applejack’s challenge with one of her own.
“Hey, I never quit! But maybe you should,” Dash prodded her friend’s chest. “I’m gonna walk out of here with so many blue ribbons that I’ll need somepony to carry them all for me.”
Applejack snorted. “They should be offering to carry your big head instead. Why I—” She suddenly felt herself caught up in a great big crushing hug that robbed her of her retort—as well as air.
“Cousin Applejack!” Braeburn’s enormous smile almost split his face in half. “Can you believe it? Me and Little Strongheart won first place!” He looked at the blue ribbon affixed to his vest and swelled with pride. “Shame your own pile fell over at the end there—I’m sure you’ll do better in the next event!”
“Better believe it!” Rainbow Dash flew up, jabbing at the air with her hooves as if preparing for a boxing event—which the rodeo did not have. After her little display of bravado, she landed and gave Little Strongheart a nudge. “That was pretty cool. Where’d you learn how to stack hay like that?”
Strongheart dipped her head, giving her an abashed smile. “It is nothing really—I’ve helped Braeburn do these sort of chores before, and I’ve had a lot of practice putting our tents together—and sometimes we’d have to stack rocks to create lean-tos when sandstorms strike us on stampede.” She offered modest smile. “I suppose it all just came together.”
Rainbow nodded. “I guess so, but it won’t save help you for the next event!” She paused. “Which would be what, by the way?”
“Well, we got a couple of smaller events throughout today and tomorrow, building up to the
obstacle course!” Braeburn whinnied, rearing up in excitement. “We put together a real humdinger of a race, full of obstacles and barrels and mud pits that the runners have to get through!”
That made Rainbow’s eyes light up. “A race? Now you’re talking my language!”
Little Strongheart adjusted her headband. “I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the concept either of running for extended periods either,” she with dry irony. Even she was not immune to the rush that came with a challenge to a worthy competitor.
Applejack wasn’t about to be left out. “Hey now, remember—you can’t use your wings in a race,” she teased. “You might be pretty fast on the fly, but down here, on the ground? Ain’t nothing that’s about to beat good ol’ hooves.” She stomped her feet demonstratively. “Ah’ve been toughening my hooves on bucking apple trees fer years—” she couldn’t help give Braeburn a small glance, one he seemed to miss. “—an’ I could run all day without gettin’ tired. Ain’t about speed, Rainbow, it’s about endurance.”
To her surprise, Little Strongheart agreed with her. “It is true. On long stampedes buffalo learn to pace themselves, otherwise they would exhaust themselves and tire. We run for days at a time without stopping to rest.”
Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be put off so easily though, “This isn’t a week-long marathon and I’m not as short on endurance as you think, AJ.”
“That a fact?” Applejack smirked. “You best bring it then.”
“Same to you!”
Braeburn coughed. “Erm, aren’t you two on the same team?” A brief but awkward silence fell.
“…Right!” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “But hey! It’s still a race! That means whoever gets to the end first wins, right?”
“Well, yeah,” he nodded. “The race isn’t until tomorrow though. Hate seein’ you two get so worked up ‘fore it even starts.”
Rainbow shrugged. “It’s fine. Applejack’s just being a grouch cuz she made us lose.”
Stung, Applejack glowered. “Now you just hold your horses, missy—it sure as sugar ain’t mah fault!”
“You didn’t want me to use my wings!”
“S’against the rules!”
“Uh, actually…” Braeburn winced as both mares suddenly turned on him. “Technically, you coulda used your wings in the competition.”
Applejack looked thunderstruck. “Say what? Since when?! The object’s to stack bales by bucking ‘em! What’s the point if you can have a pony just fly and stack the bales any which way they want?”
Braeburn rubbed his neck. “Well, we had to rethink the rules a bit since other ponies started getting interested in life out here—not just earth ponies. So, yeah, it’d be no fair if they just picked up the haybales and flew ‘em into place—but we thought it’d be fine if the pony on the ground bucked the hay into the air and a pegasus could buck ‘em into place from there.
“Ha, I knew it!” Rainbow Dash glared at Applejack. “You probably just didn’t want me to make you look bad!”
“Get off it, ya know that ain’t true!” She glowered back. “Not mah fault they changed everything up on me!” Applejack snapped, thinking of more than a simple rodeo event.
Braeburn removed his hat. “Ah’m powerful sorry ladies, I shoulda made sure you knew.”
Rainbow and Applejack looked at him, then sighed. “Yeah, all right,” Dash rubbed her neck. “Sorry about that—I just hate losing.”
“Seems a lot ‘round here’s changed,” Applejack observed trying to turn it into a joke, but could hear it falling flat as soon as she said it. Braeburn bit his lip, looking uncomfortable—and for the life of her, Applejack wasn’t that upset about his awkwardness. After a long moment, she coughed. “So uh, any thoughts on what to do until the next event?”
Braeburn adjusted his hat as he thought. “What to do…oooh! Ah just got an idea! There’s a stand over yonder for apple fritters. Mah treat, ladies!”
Applejack grinned and clapped her cousin on the back. “Heh, ain’t he sweet? Now that there’s Apple family manners for ya!”
“You Apples are very kind,” Strongheart agreed. “I would also like to try these apple fritters.”
“Just to be sure, we’re talking about the food and not your cousin with green hair, right?” Rainbow drawled.
That won her a half-exasperated eye roll from Applejack. “You’re a regular riot. Course, if you don’t want any that leaves more for the rest of us.”
“If ya’ll follow me...” Braeburn swept his hat off his head and bowed. Applejack dipped her head back to him and led Strongheart and Rainbow away, Braeburn following once they had passed. It was a simple, common mannerism that most ponies would’ve found antiquated or quaint at best. To Applejack and her family, it was as natural as breathing. She found that thought heartening and it improved her mood.
She soon spotted a stand full of freshly baked apple fritters. Standing behind that stand was Half Baked, a red-haired colt with friendly green eyes, distinctively pronounced buck teeth and freckles to match Applejack’s own. He wore a brown stetson of his own and a green bandana around his neck. “Cousin Applejack! How’re ya doing?”
“Howdy Half,” Applejack nodded. “How’s the family?”
Beaming so that his front teeth were even more pronounced, Half Baked replied, “Doing great!” He nudged the plate forward. “Try some! First one’s on the house!”
“Thanks!” Applejack took a fritter, chomping down with pleasure. “Eyep! This is one of Cousin Apple Fritters’ all right,” she commented. “Though you helped with these, didn’t you Half? They’re only a little warm.”
“They’re best the way!” Half protested.
Braeburn chuckled. “That’s Half for ya. ‘scuse me for a sec, Ah gotta go make sure everything’s going well at the fair ground.”
“I’ll go with you,” Little Strongheart offered. Tipping his hat, Braeburn let her by before heading off.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Half Baked chuckled. “Practically joined at the hip, those two—and the six-legged race ain’t until tomorrow!”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “So I guess we got that to look forward to,” she nodded to Applejack. “But given the choice between being tied to you or a buffalo—I think I’d prefer the buffalo. They probably sweat less.”
“Aw, give it a rest you,” Applejack waved her off. “Ain’t nothing wrong with working up an honest sweat.”
Rainbow made a show of clapping her hoof to her forehead. “Now I get your Element! It’s not that you always tell the truth—it’s that you sweat honestly! It all suddenly makes sense now.”
Applejack’s retort was interrupted by Half Baked letting out a sudden snort of laughter. “Sorry,” he offered sheepishly when his cousin glared. “S’funny s’all!”
“Mah own family,” Applejack sighed in deliberate Rarity-style melodrama, turning to Rainbow Dash. “Y’see what you’ve done? Even mah kin like the newest, flashiest thing instead of poor old Applejack…”
“It ain’t like that!” Half Baked protested. “Honest, it isn’t!”
“Maybe you should get traded in for a new model,” Rainbow tapped a hoof against the ground in thought.
Taking pity on her cousin, Applejack laughed. “Relax Half, we’re good. S’just how me and Rainbow act sometimes.”
“Well that’s good, I guess,” he rubbed his head. “Are you like that with all your Ponyville friends?”
“Nah,” Applejack shook her head. “Rainbow and I have got something … special, I guess. We really like going at it, seeing who’ll come out on top.” She shrugged. “Doesn’t change that we’re playing on the same team this time around. We’re here to show everyone our very best!” If only all these changes and such stop cropping up I could enjoy myself more…
“Oh. Oh!” Half Baked blinked, “Well congratulations to the two of you! I had no idea, you were…”
“So awesome?” Rainbow supplied, tossing her mane.
“Uh, yeah,” Half nodded numbly.
Applejack finished off her fritter. “So Half, what’s it like? I mean, with the buffalo an’ all?”
“Pretty interesting, I guess,” Half Baked nibbled his own fritter. “Family gets a lot of business with them. We’re gonna open our own diner soon!”
“That’s great!” Applejack beamed.
Rainbow scratched her head. “Wait, how do the buffalo have bits to spend?”
“Some of them do odd jobs around town,” Half explained. “Some buffalo—ones who can’t go on long stampedes—even stay around town most of the year. They send their calves to the school or find work around town … they make for pretty great neighbors. Half of menu is gonna be buffalo food or recipes with buffalo ingredients!” His enthusiasm made Applejack’s stomach squirm.
How can he be so happy about this? She wondered. His family always wanted to open their own diner and share Apple family cooking to ponies from all over—and now they’re going to prepare buffalo cooking instead? She had nothing against buffalo food, it tasted perfectly fine. But something about the idea of her relatives working over a hot stove to prepare meals someone else had created—it just didn’t sit right.
“Girls, there you are!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie waving over to them. After saying goodbye to Half Baked, they went over to join them. “We were looking for you after the competition.”
“Sorry, Twilight, got caught up talking,” Applejack explained. “You two enjoying yourselves?”
Pinkie Pie answered for them. “We sure are, Applejack!” Her forelegs were loaded with apple pies, apple fritters, candied apples, cotton candy and popcorn. “It’s a shame you didn’t win, but there’s always plenty more events for you to compete in and that means plenty more chances for me to cheer for you! Wanna see?”
“Uh, I think we’re good—“ Applejack’s protest died before it could even be fully made. Pinkie thrust her food into Applejack’s forelegs to hold as Pinkie was suddenly wearing a cheerleading outfit. The main section was the color of Applejack’s coat with the skirt made to resemble a rainbow. She couldn’t even feel surprised. She did, however, feel monumental embarrassment as Pinkie whipped out a pair of pompoms and began cheering, attracting no small amount of attention by passersbys—many of them Applejack’s relatives. “Applejack, Applejack, don’t let nopony give you flack! Gonna make it to the top, ain’t nopony gonna stop—Applejack!”
Applejack buried her face underneath her hat, only slightly relieved when Pinkie started cheering about Rainbow Dash. If I can’t see anypony, they can’t see me; they can’t see me, I’m not being embarrassed. Genius.
Twilight made her way over to her, gently patting her back. “It’s okay, Applejack. I, um, I don’t think anyone’s paying Pinkie that much attention…” She paused. “Are you doing alright?”
“Hm, yeah. Just thinking of changing my name and moving to Seaddle…”
“I don’t mean about Pinkie Pie.” That drew Applejack’s attention enough to pull her face out of her hat. “You seem a little … on edge, anything you want to talk about?” Twilight flattened her ears.
Applejack sighed. “Ah don’t know … maybe I’m just a little antsy about the competition, waiting for mah family to arrive and dealing with Braeburn’s—oddities.”
“I suppose that is a lot to deal with,” Twilight admitted. “I was concerned that you might be upset about something else.”
“What’re you going on about?” Applejack asked, taking a couple of steps to give her some distance from Pinkie.
Twilight accompanied her. “I saw you getting pretty worked up during the hay-stacking. And when you were talking about Braeburn just now, it seemed like...” she trailed off.
Sighing softly, Applejack’s shoulders slumped. “Ah suppose I’m having a bit of a time dealing with Braeburn,” she rubbed her neck, feeling awkward about talking about a family member behind his back. “I thought I’d be in the know about what was going on ‘round here, what with it being my family reunion and a rodeo ‘n all…turns out I think I know less about what’s going on than you or Pinkie or Rainbow Dash.”
“I think I understand,” Twilight offered. “It’s really unsettling when something that should be familiar feels strange. But...” she trailed off. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything—”
“Hey, hey now. None of that.” Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s withers. “We’re friends sugarcube. You can tell me anything.”
Smiling hesitantly, Twilight nodded. “Okay,” she took a shaky breath. “I think you might maybe possibly be worrying too much about how things are being done.” She bit her lip. “I-I know what it’s like. To be concerned about getting things done exactly the right way, to obsess over making sure nothing is wrong or out of place...” she risked looking Applejack in the eye. “After my—after the entrance exam—I wanted to make sure nothing like that ever happened again,” her eyes took on a far-away look. “I had to account for everything, be in control of everything. I stayed at home, almost never left except to go to the library, had no friends…”
Applejack made her way over and gave her a hug. “Hey, s’okay sugarcube. S’all right now.”
After taking a shuddering breath, Twilight exhaled slowly. “I-I’m okay. This isn’t about me though.” She regarded Applejack seriously. “I don’t want to see you isolate yourself because you’re trying to arrange everything a certain way.” She nodded back to the rodeo, where Braeburn was talking with Rainbow Dash and Little Strongheart. “I used to make sure everything in my room was arranged perfectly. Every night I would put everything back exactly where it was before I went to bed. If somepony came into my room it felt almost like an invasion. One time Shining came in and borrowed one of my books for a class. He didn’t put it back in the right spot, so I ended up taking every single thing I owned down and rearranged everything so it’d be where it was supposed to be.” Twilight paused. “I think your traditions are a lot like my habits: you have them to make sense of the world and to make you feel comfortable. But when you get too carried away...” she trailed off.
“Aww, sugarcube, I appreciate you lookin’ out for me, but you’re worrying over nothing.” She patted Twilight’s back. Twilight means well o’course. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her whole body. But she just don’t get it. She’s got herself plenty of book smarts, but this isn’t something you get from a book. Tradition’s about more than keeping everything nice and orderly. It’s about who you are, where you came from and keeping it for the ponies who come after you. “Don’t you fret none. Ah promise I’m not gonna go plum-loco or nothing,” she gave her a supportive smile. “That’s Pinkie Pie’s job and she’d be pretty sore if Ah took that away from her.”
That won a startled giggle out of Twilight who suddenly seemed more relaxed. “I guess she would. Want to head back?”
“After you, sugarcube.” Applejack swept off her hat, beaming broadly. Twilight smiled and took the lead, with Applejack following her. A real sweet kid, she found herself thinking despite them being the same age. But with Twilight’s very sheltered upbringing and shyness, Applejack couldn’t help occasionally thinking of her as being younger than her. Reminds me of Braeburn, come to think of it. She grinned to herself. Now there was an interesting idea … Assuming Brae doesn’t already have his eye on some little Appleloosan filly. She paused. Or colt. Need to ask him about that...
Among other things. Applejack rolled her shoulders. Braeburn’s a good pony, he just gets overly excited about new things sometimes. He just needs a little reminding that the old ways are the best ones. Like the saying goes about making new friends, but keeping the old. One’s silver, and the other’s gold. Just like friends, traditions are right there with you for your entire lives. Best to hold onto them.
Before long they had made their way back over to Rainbow Dash, who was still chatting with Braeburn and Strongheart. “Hey, what’s up?” Rainbow turned to her, causing Applejack to blink in surprise when she saw a feather tied in her mane. “Uh, what’s that?”
Rainbow beamed. “Isn’t it cool?” She reared up and tossed her head, sending her mane and the feather flapping this way and that.
“Uh, it’s nice?” Applejack scratched her head. “You know you got plenty of feathers already, right?”
“Well, duh. But it’s a buffalo thing. Check it, me and Little Strongheart traded.” Sure enough, when Applejack turned to the young buffalo mare she saw that her usual feather had been replaced by one of Dash’s blue ones.
Tilting her head, Applejack made a big display of rubbing her face with her hoof and ‘hmming’ to herself, giving the impression of being in deep thought. Finally she nodded as if coming to a carefully weighed decision. “S’nice.”
“…That’s it?” Rainbow almost looked crestfallen. “Come on, this is cool!”
“Ah suppose it works on ‘ya,” Applejack smirked. “You gonna start headbutting folks like some of those buffalo do? Ah know everypony’s been telling you to use your head more, but…”
Dash snorted. “Oh ha ha. Really funny. I don’t know why I even bothered asking you.”
Applejack shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, Ah just don’t get is all. Why wear a feather in your mane?”
“Why wear the same hat all the time?” Rainbow retorted.
Affronted, Applejack put a hoof to her hat and held it against her chest. “You take that back!” She stroked her hat. “Don’t you mind her, she don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Seeing her friend comforting her hat, Rainbow leaned away from her. “Uh, okaaaay…” she looked to Braeburn. “What’s the deal there? Is that hat important? She didn’t … get it from her folks or something, did she?” She asked in a whisper.
“Actually, s’a funny story. Y’see…” Braeburn stopped short, his ears perking as the sound of a ringing bell could be heard. “It’s time for the the next round of events!”
“Nice! What is the next event?” Rainbow asked as they headed over to a ringed-off area. Stacked against the side of some bales of hay were several rings and sticks.
“This is a buffalo game,” Little Strongheart explained as she made her way over. “This is a cangleska and a cansakala,” she pointed to the hoop and then the wand. “We made a few changes to make it more of a contest for the rodeo. One player uses a cansakala to keep the cangleska rolling on its side,” she demonstrated, clutching the wand and using it to maneuver the hoop onto its side, and gently tapped it on either side to prevent it from falling over. “Their job is to keep it rolling while a player from the other team tries to throw their cansakala through the hoop. They’ll have three turns. If they miss all three tries or hit the one rolling the cangleska, they lose. If the one rolling causes the hoop to drop, they lose. Then we switch.” She smiled. “It’s a lot of fun! I hope you like it!”
“Ah’m sure we will!” Braeburn nodded. “Ain’t that right cousin?”
“S-sure,” Applejack forced herself to grin. “Ah’m sure it’ll be … special.”
Rainbow stepped forward. “Hey Strongheart, how about you and me face off and we let the Apples be the other pair?” She shot Applejack a grin. “Bet you I get more canglge—canga—I bet I get my stick through the hoop more than you do!”
Her competitive spirit fired up, Applejack grinned back. “Yer on! Come on Braeburn—and don’t you take it easy on me cuz I’m your cousin!”
However her spirits were soon dampened when she found herself unable to keep the hoop rolling. No sooner had she gotten it up then it would fall over on its side. Worse, Rainbow Dash seemed to have no trouble doing the same. After a few more fruitless efforts, Applejack gave it up and switched.
Applejack gathered up some sticks and waited for Braeburn to get the hoop rolling. He did, after a couple of rough starts. He slowly started maneuvering the hoop away from Applejack, trying to not give her a good vantage point to throw. She galloped ahead of him, but as she started to line up her throw, he doubled back. The hoop shuddered, but didn’t fall over as he guided it away. Applejack’s wand went wide. “Shewt!” She grabbed her two remaining sticks and pursued. Her annoyance was redoubled when she saw Rainbow Dash neatly score a point on Little Strongheart’s hoop with her last wand.
For the love of Celestia! Applejack swore to herself, grabbing her next wand and throwing before she had her shot lined up. She instantly regretted it, especially when it caught Braeburn in the foreleg. He let out a pained holler and clutched it. Applejack, horrified, dropped her remaining stick and hurried over. “Braeburn! Oh biscuits! I’m so so sorry! You okay?!”
Braeburn sucked in a breath and shot his cousin a grin. “S’okay … just stings a bit. Ah’ll be fine.”
Little Strongheart and Rainbow Dash hurried over. “Everything alright?” Rainbow asked while Strongheart crouched down beside Braeburn, worriedly examining his foreleg.
“S’fine—all good,” Braeburn winced when Strongheart prodded his injury. “Ah’ll be right as rain in a bit. Hay, it ain’t even my hoof-wrestling leg!”
“Maybe, but you are going to stay off it for a while.” Little Strongheart’s tone showed she would brook no argument about this. “This event is over. Come,” she easily hefted the protesting Braeburn over her shoulder and carried him off.
“I’ll see you later!” Braeburn called back. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine!”
Applejack wanted to go after him to apologize further, but she knew he would just smile and wave it off. And while she wanted to talk to him about other things, the presence of Little Strongheart would … complicate matters.
But whatever she was going to decide was subverted when Rainbow spoke up. “Well, that’s another event we lost,” she grunted. “Way to go, AJ.”
Applejack bristled. “Excuse you? This ain’t exactly a game Ah ever played ‘fore. S’never even been part of a rodeo before!”
“Talk about excuses…” Rainbow muttered. “I never played it either, but I still managed to score some points!”
Applejack rolled her eyes and started to stomp off. The nerve of that pony! She thought, lashing her tail angrily. She hadn’t gotten more than a few paces then Rainbow Dash landed in front of her, cutting her off. “Whoa, hold up! Everything okay?” Applejack briefly considered just ignoring her in the hopes that she’d leave, before sighing despondently. That never works.
Sure enough, Rainbow kept prodding. “Look, I know losing sucks. Just means we’ve got be twice as awesome for the next stuff.” Applejack grunted noncommittally. “Come on, we can still win this!” Rainbow’s eyes lit up as she got an idea.
Thought I smelled something burning, Applejack thought wickedly.
“You, me. Hoof-wrestling. Now.” Rainbow tossed her head. “You know you want to go head to head with me.”
Applejack gave her a tooth-filled grin of her own. “Yer on!” Quickly sitting down by a tree stump, they began to hoof wrestle. See? Rainbow gets me, Applejack thought with satisfaction. This is how it’s supposed to be: no playing games I ain’t ever heard of, no weird new rules to games I’ve been champ at since I was a foal … just a mare going pony-a-pony with everything she’s got.
If she was being completely honest with herself, Applejack would admit that she had probably been looking forward to going head-to-head with Rainbow Dash even more than Rainbow had been, even if Rainbow tended to be more open in her boastfulness. Before Rainbow Dash moved to Ponyville, Applejack was unquestionably the town athlete: local rodeo champion, blue ribbon winner, you name it. Nopony stood a real chance against her in most competitions of strength (aside from her lug of a brother), speed and skill.
And it had gotten pretty darn dull. Ponies around Ponyville tended to refrain from challenging Applejack, knowing that her strength and endurance would carry her through almost any contest. Come the Running of the Leaves or the Sisterhooves Social, everypony knew Applejack would almost certainly be the winner. Everypony else either stopped challenging her or simply went through the motions, knowing the contest to be a foregone conclusion.
For Applejack, these contests were a welcome break from the time consuming work on the farm. As much as she loved it, everypony needed a change of pace every once in awhile. Sports and competitions were enjoyable, necessary outlets for her … until her string of victories left her without any competitors.
Then Rainbow Dash had shown up. Athletic, brash and always eager to prove herself, she soon became a natural athletic rival. After having been deprived of any real competition for so long, Applejack was overjoyed at having somepony to test herself against. She threw herself against Rainbow Dash near every chance she got, with the honors split pretty evenly between them.
And the rodeo in Appleloosa hosted no few events for Applejack to compete against Rainbow Dash, as well as several family members who she didn’t get to regularly see. She might be coming to Appleloosa for the family and apples, but she was staying for the rodeo competition.
Rainbow understood that, Applejack knew. Another pony—even her other friends, would’ve tried to console her by saying that they were ‘just’ games or that she was meant to have. Like that’s an excuse to not do your best, she snorted. If it don’t matter, then why do it at all? Once you start telling yourself that little things don’t matter, it won’t be long ‘til you’re saying it about bigger things. If a pony can have fun by not doing their best, that’s fine for them. But it ain’t my way—ain’t the way I was raised.
With a sudden grunt, Rainbow Dash forced Applejack’s hoof down. “Ha, there!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Applejack rolled her eyes. Rainbow Dash could be a mite full of herself at times. That’s why Applejack had to be there to deflate her big head from time to time. “You just got lucky.”
“You keep telling yourself that, AJ. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Rainbow folded her front hooves behind her head. “Of course, I might be willing to allow you another chance to lose to me … if you tell me what’s up.”
Applejack blinked. “What’re you talking about?”
Rainbow gave her a knowing look. “You can’t fool me. Something’s been bugging you since we got here. You’re not as good as me, yeah, but usually you’re a much better athlete than this. Something’s been distracting you and I’d like to be filled in on what’s up.”
Not as thick as she acts sometimes, Applejack sighed. “All right, fair enough. Ah suppose things aren’t going the way I thought they would.”
“So … what, you feel worse about losing to Little Strongheart and Braeburn than when you lose to me back in Ponyville? I guess I can see that, no shame in losing to the best,” Rainbow smirked.
Applejack took off her hat and whapped Rainbow with it. “That’s not what I’m talking about and even you aren’t that thick not to know it! I don’t like losing, but I like to think that if it happens, then, well, if I gave it my best that’s what matters. But I’m not sure if I did here.” She bit her lip as she thought about just what it was that was bothering her. An old recollection surfaced, herself as a little filly proudly showing her first blue ribbon at a junior rodeo. Her father had been so proud—Applejack felt like something was squeezing her heart and it was all she could do not to let out a sob. But she wouldn’t, not in front of Rainbow Dash of all ponies.
For her part, Rainbow was trying to think of what to say. “Look—I get wanting to win. I hate losing, worse than anything this side of a cancelled a Wonderbolt show. But it’s not everything. Remember the Best Young Flyer competition in Cloudsdale?”
“Ah remember,” Applejack nodded. “Everypony was making such a big deal over how sure a thing you were that nopony else wanted to even compete.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow looked glum. “I hated having to walk away from a contest, especially one I’ve been looking forward to for ages. And you know I could’ve won easy either way, whether anypony else showed up, right?” She waited for Applejack to nod. “But … it just wasn’t the right way, you know?”
“Reckon Ah do,” Applejack sighed. “You wanted a challenge. No point in winning a crown or a medal or a blue ribbon if you don’t have to work for it. Might as well stay home and have ‘em mail it to you.”
“Exactly! So, what’s wrong with looking at all these new events and stuff as another challenge? Think of how awesome it’ll be when we win, especially because these aren’t the events and rules you’re used to?”
The way she sounded it made it all very tempting. But the idea of changing the rodeo her parents had taken her to as a filly ate at her. Even winning this new rodeo wouldn’t be as satisfying as losing at a traditional one, because it wasn’t the rodeo she’d grown up with. The one her parents had grown up with.
Rainbow must’ve seen she wasn’t fully sold for she patted Applejack on the back. “Come on, let’s go see who can buck a football the farthest. I’ll even let you go first.”
Applejack felt her mood improve. Ah’ve been bucking trees for years and got much more powerful hindquarters than Rainbow … and she knows it. She was deliberately challenging her to a competition she knew Applejack was likely to win. Rainbow wouldn’t throw a contest anymore than Applejack would, but the outcome wasn’t really in question. Applejack felt incredibly touched that Rainbow would do that for her.
It suddenly occurred to Applejack that maybe Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one who let her pride get away from her. I guess it’s pretty arrogant to think that keeping Rainbow’s ego in check is my job … especially since I never once thought about keeping my own under control. I just assumed I could control myself and she couldn’t. Her cheeks reddened as thinking about it made her realize just how self-righteous she’d been.
She managed to shoot her friend a shaky grin. “Thanks Rainbow … Ah don’t know what else t’say but … thank you.”
Rainbow fidgeted, obviously not wanting to get into an overly-emotional moment with her friend and rival. “Yeah, well, come on and hurry up.”
“Oh, Ah’ll hurry alright—hurry and whoop your flank!”
“You can try, AJ.” Rainbow retorted. “And maybe bring a bit of that enthusiasm to the rodeo. Seems like you don’t even really want to win.”
"Of course I want to win!" Applejack's eyes flashed as inspiration struck her. "And I'm gonna do it the Apple family way!" I’ll show Braeburn just what he's forgetting.
"Which would be … what, exactly?"
Applejack shot Rainbow her most confident grin. "Using good ol' experience and time-honored knowledge me and mah kin have gained by performing in rodeos going back decades!"
Apparently her grin wasn’t as convincing as she thought, since Rainbow looked decidedly unconvinced. "In other words, you want me to just follow your lead?" Rainbow’s skepticism was obvious.
“Well, I have won rodeos before and you’ve never even been in one before.” Applejack shrugged. “S’just common sense, really.”
“I don’t see Braeburn bossing around Little Strongheart.” Rainbow observed. “Heck, sometimes she gives him suggestions and I don’t think she’s ever been in a rodeo before either.”
Grumbling slightly, Applejack lowered her hat. “Yeah, so? That’s just—Braeburn gets swept up in a lot of crazy ideas.”
“Those crazy ideas seem to be working pretty well so far,” Rainbow Dash gestured meaningfully to Appleloosa. “Plus, you know, they are winning.”
Applejack couldn’t quite suppress a wince. “It’s just a fancy trick or two, plus some changes to the rules Ah didn’t know about,” she insisted. “Trust me, Apples have been made winning rodeo events into an art—and none of that boring kind that Rarity likes. You know, the one where everypony pretends to get it when none of them’s got so much as a clue what it really is?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. But Little Strongheart’s been pretty awesome. Maybe you should try doing things her way for a bit.”
No thank you! Applejack felt her muscles clench. “She’s got her way, Ah got mine,” she ground out.
“Yeah, but she’s winning,” Rainbow pointed out blithely. “Doesn’t that mean you should follow the example of someone who’s doing better than you?”
“There are some things more important than winning.” Applejack said bluntly. “Like who you are and what you stand for—but it don’t matter since Ah am gonna win.”
Rainbow flicked her ears and regarded Applejack evenly. “Alright. If that’s how you want to play it. If we can win your way, fine. But if we can’t, then I’m gonna start doing it Little Strongheart’s way. If you don’t like that … then we’re gonna have a problem, because I’m here to win. Not make any points about—whatever it is you’re going on about.”
Applejack slowly dipped her hat to her. And that was it, right there. Rainbow might not care about anything besides winning, but I do. I’m gonna win to show Braeburn—and all the rest—that the Apple way isn’t something you can just toss aside. It’s guided my family for generations and I’m going to make sure it’s still there for future generations: the same as how I found it.
“Fine.”
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Oh good God Applejack GROW UP ALREADY.
Dangit Trinary you're making me ship StrongBurn even more than I already did.
No, no, Half. Rainbow is after Shining (and maybe Twilight), not AJ.
But, but, the hat story!
Not all new things are bad, AJ, and if you cling too tight to tradition, you can strangle yourself with it.
I hope Aj gets over this problem of hers before she does something to damage her relationship with her cousin.
Like in Hearth Breakers, AJ is taking tradition too far. It's not just Apples here anymore, there are Buffalo too. Traditions change.
6788528
Ya know, another user by the name of RealityCheck had a very...STRONG opinion on that episode and the concept of traditions...
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/554093/hearthbreakers
Yeah. Who you are and what you stand for is important all right. Apparently only who you are and what you stand for. Because you're the only pony in the team, right?
Seriously, Applejack's pretty much saying "Winning is not the most important thing, I am."
Ah yes, Applejack's biggest weakness tradition. This is about to get extra interesting.
No Half no, it's not what you think!
Umm...wouldn't it be called hoofball in Equestria? Or is that what they use for soccer?
6787430
Discord: "No? Okay, how about some jokes then? Uh. Knock, knock."
Applejack: "Who's the-"
Discord: "You're parents are dead! And frankly no one gives a-"
Applejack: "Grrrr!"
Applejack lassos Discord to the ground, then beats him off screen.
Discord: "Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Ow, would you stop that?"
Applejack really reads as so one-dimensionally fixated on tradition that Discord would have a field day with this Applejack.
You do a good job of developing Applejack and her mindset, even though it's frustrating to actually read it as a reader (this isn't a knock to you as a writer. Realism is something desperately needed in fiction), and she's being narrow-minded. In addition to her internal conflict, we're finally getting some external conflict as AJ's stubbornness over clinging to tradition is coming to blows with Rainbow Dash's desires to win, no matter the method.
Good job digging into Applejack's mind... even if I find the whole 'tradition!' excuse to be a bucket of horse apples.
Oh boy this is going to be a very long day at least for Applejack
Hmmm yeah Applejack I think you need to calm down and I understand you always followed tradition but sometimes things change
She's right though you don't want to push anybody away just because changes is happening and I get it sometimes you're just familiar from your own ways but sometimes trying something new can help as well so you can understand your family and your friends
Okay I know you published the story around 2015 and 16 before season 7 came to the light but the only reason why that hat is special to Applejack is because bright Mac gave it to her
Okay I get it Applejack has been kind of losing her patient when it comes to trying new things but it doesn't help that Rainbow dash is antagonizing about this whole situation
Ok so Applejack has been having some problems about changes especially with the new things been going on and Twilight and even Rainbow Dash knows what's going on with Applejack but she's in denial that she's doesn't have any problem but the thing is she's following like tradition which theres nothing wrong with that but sometimes trying something new is not always bad and something tells me Applejack is going to learn this the hard way 😥