Long Distance Friendship

by Drag Orion

Chapter 9

“Dodge Junction,” Applejack said eagerly as she got off the train and admired the open spaces. Everypony walked about at a leisurely place and nothing around was taller than a barn. “Last couple of times the map called on me for a friendship problem,” she explained to Braeburn. “It sent me to Manehatten and Los Pegasus. They were nice and all, but all this is much more my element.”

“It’ll probably be easier to find your friendship problem too,” he added. “Me finding the best cherries will probably take longer than that.”

“You don’t have to fret about that,” Applejack assured him. “I know just the place, at Cherry Jubilee’s farm. She’s actually a friend of mine I met a little while back.”

“Did you help her with a friendship problem too?” asked Braeburn as he followed his cousin.

“Actually, it was one of my own problems that my friends had to help me with,” she explained recalling it. “I promised to win some prize money at a rodeo to help repair town hall, but in the end I didn't earn one measly bit. I didn’t want to return without what I promised so I ran off to here and took up a job to earn the money instead.”

“At Cherry Jubilee’s farm?” he concluded.

“It wasn’t my proudest moment,” she sighed. “I can guarantee you that. I made a rather big fool of myself in front of my friends. Then there was the chase and outrunning a train.”

“You outran a train?” asked Braeburn shocked upon hearing that.

“I said I was more than a might foolish at the time,” she reminded him. “And if nothing else can prove that I should stay at Sweet Apple Acres it’s that. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom were heartbroken when I wasn’t there and my friends went through a lot of trouble to find me. I reckon they’d have hogtied me if need be to get me back to Ponyville with them. So you don’t have to bring up me leaving the farm anymore.”

“Ok, but I didn’t bring it up,” he reminded her. “You did. I already dropped it.”

“Well, uh, that’s in case you do again,” she stated defensively.

It wasn’t a very far walk before they came upon the barn surrounded by countless cherry trees. Walking down the road they were able to see ripe, plump, red and yellow cherries just waiting to be plucked from the trees and a handful of workers doing just that.

“Hey, y’all,” Applejack called to them. “Have any of you see Cherry Jubilee around?”

“She’s in the barn helping sort the cherries,” one of them answered.

“Ok, thanks,” she smiled. “It was nice seeing y’all again.”

“Nice seeing you too,” the workers told her. “You should come around more often.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” she told them before hurrying over to the barn.

“Looks like they’ve taken a fancy to you when you were here,” noticed Braeburn as they reached the barn.

“Everypony does love a hard worker, after all,” she pointed out.

Inside the barn, there were several ponies standing at a conveyor belt as cherries made their way down it several dozen at a time. As the cherries came by them, they gently tossed the cherries into their respective baskets. Over on the side, Applejack saw Cherry Jubilee talking to the pony on the wheel that was powering the conveyor belt. He had yellow hair that darkened to orange around his hooves. On his flank his Cutie Mark was an eight written as “VIII.” His eyes were a bright emerald green, but the most distinct thing about him was his mane that was like a big, red, spiky inferno. Applejack chuckled recalling the little incident that happened when her friends had come to bring her home and ended with her getting covered head to hoof in cherries. “I really was acting silly back then,” she thought to herself. “But at least now when I think back to it, I can laugh about it.”

“Alright, you can take a break,” Cherry Jubilee told the running pony. “You’ve been running on that wheel for a while now and I’m sure your hooves are barking.”

“I can run a little longer,” he assured her between panting and sweating. “Just a little longer.”

“Five more minutes, but after that you take a rest,” she instructed him. “And make sure it’s a full lunch break too.”

“Will do,” he agreed and continued to run.

“Hey, Cherry Jubilee,” greeted Applejack as she brought her cousin over to greet her. “It’s been aspell hasn’t it.”

“Why Applejack,” she replied surprised to see her out of the blue. “It certainly has. What brings you around to these parts?”

“Well, first off, my cousin, Braeburn, has come to get some of the best cherries in all of Equestria,” she explained.

“If it’s the best he wants, he has no further to look than right here,” she answered confidently. “You can take all you want. It’s the least I could do after all the hard work you put in here.”

“Oh, it weren’t nothing,” blushed Applejack at the praise.

“No, I really mean it,” she went on. “You were only around for a few days, but it was more like taking on four ponies rather than one. The only one I can even think to come close to that is my new hire over there on the treadmill.”

“He works as hard as me?” she asked sounding impressed.

“He just showed up one day insisting he had to work here and that I wouldn’t be sorry to take him on,” she explained. “I agreed and he sure wasn’t fooling. Every day he’s been up even before me doing one chore or another and he’s always the last one to stop working at night too. He makes a lot of the other workers tired just watching him work.”

“Certainly sounds impressive,” agreed Braeburn as they watched him continue to run on the treadmill. “Did he tell you what farm he worked at before coming here?”

“That’s the most surprising thing about him,” she added. “He’s actually a cityboy, if you can believe it. He came all the way from Manehatten to work here. I’ve seen a lot of unusual things in my day, but I never thought a city slicker would prefer to be living in a place like this.”

“I’d say I’m proof of that,” nodded Applejack. “I tried to live with my Aunt and Uncle Orange in the big city when I was a youngun, but before long I got so homesick I hurried right on back home. But he’s no colt so I guess it isn’t quite the same.”

“I don’t know his reasons for coming here, but he’s welcome to stay as long as he wants,” she said before turning back to him. “Alright, that’s enough. Take your break now.”

“Sure thing,” he nodded and slowed his running to a trot to get off the treadmill. “I’ll be back as soon as my lunch break is over.” As he headed out of the barn, he grabbed a black coat that was on a hook by the door and left with it.

“Just take your time,” she added. “The work won’t be going anywhere.” Jubilee then returned her focus to Applejack and Braeburn. “Now then, let’s go get you those cherries.”