Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

23 Earth Drinker, Part Three

July 9th, 1000 Domina Solaria

Applejack cheerfully walks down the main path leading into Sweet Apple Acres. The farm pony is well rested, carbo-loaded from the night before, and just a light lunch she ate early in order to be ready an hour before noon. Her mane is styled (courtesy of Rarity - unicorn sure knows her way around an earth pony mane) in a tight weave down her neck, though it always takes a little getting used to not having to counter the weight of her ponytail swinging around. Her tail, even though she loves the free swaying ponytail style, is also clipped up and to the side, to keep out of the way of her hooves when she bucks. She only lets Rarity spruce her up but one week out of the year - and it's hard to tell if the dressmaker wants to see more or less of her - but it's worth it; once she gets going, not having to worry about either mane or tail getting in her way or getting as dirty is a gift from Celestia herself.

Twilight Sparkle is walking next to Applejack, her mane her normal brow-cut partially pierced by her horn. Her tail sways back and forth as she reads through the notes levitating in front of her. Spike is riding on her back, the dragon taking the opportunity to nap in the late morning sun, the quill loosely held in his claws threatening to drop down any minute now. She hums a little ditty to the cadence of their hooves, trotting in time to her friend.

"Thanks, again, Twilight, for coming and helping me," Applejack says, her eyes traveling from bough to bough, each heavy with apples of all varieties as they step off on one of the side paths. While the apples of the section of orchard she will be working had all ripened at the dawn earlier that day, Applejack wants to time the start of her straight eight hours of work such that she will end up finishing just before the sun goes down.

"I'm happy to help!" Twilight says with a grin, her gaze dropping from the notes she has on the earth pony practice to the trees surrounding them. "There's so many! Are you sure you can hoof this all on your own?"

Applejack snorts, "Well, Ah'm sure gonna try! Ah mean, Ah've got more apples ripening than Ah can get to in a day's work, so Ah'll be putting in a little overtime harvesting to make sure none go to rot. But only my best eight hour block counts for the competition. If they let you count more, you'd see way more injuries, and nopony wants that. After my shift, or before that if'n Ah want, Ah can take my time, but Ah'll still need to rest up for the next day's labor."

"And how about our non-earth pony competitor?" Twilight Sparkle smirks, glancing over at the brown pegasus barely visible, still hard at work. "How has she been holding up?"

"Honestly?" Applejack replies, her happy expression fading for the first time that day. "Ah'm really trying to not worry about it. Ah need to focus on my half of the farm. Besides, she's got Big Mac watching over her, and she's an adult. She knows how to ask for help if she needs it."

"Really?" says Twilight Sparkle, barely stifling her laughter. "Are we talking about the same pony?"

On the opposite side of the farm, Rainbow Dash is barely distinguishable from Applejack. She swapped her horseshoes to the same Apple-duty (who knew there was a level past heavy-duty) brand Applejack and the rest of the Apple family tree uses, as her Flier X-2s would have crumpled after the second buck. Dirt and dust cover the normally sleek coat, turning it a duller brown than Applejack's orange, though after a long day toiling in the fields they get mighty similar. The green, blue, and purple sections of her mane are matted against her side - the product of wayward splashes of water against her head to cool off mixing with sweat and the dust she kicks up. One of Applejack's beat up old Stetsons covers the rest of her mane, occasionally dipping down to cover her eyes after a too-vigorous swing.

What isn't covered is her spirit: Rainbow Dash has been hard at work for six hours now, and aside from having to fly up twice to take care of a few quick weather issues she has only taken one break, to grab a light meal and quell her growling stomach. She huffs as she reminds herself to keep her breathing steady as she positions herself in front of the next tree. Turn, rear up, buck!

Instead of the satisfying *thud* of hooves impacting wood followed by a myriad of lighter *thunks* of apples on baskets comes the considerably less satisfying *kshh* of a glancing blow of hoof scraping wood, quickly followed by the *whump* of an off-balance pegasus adding just a little more brown to her coat and muzzle.

"Rainbow Dash, if Ah've told you once, then Ah've told you five hundred times today. You're going too fast, and you're not planting your front hooves properly before you start rearing up." Big Mac rolls forward, lightly placing a hoof on Bloomington the Eighth, the vicious scratch in the bark slowly healing. He pulls back, "Ah know you've been at this since before dawn, and you're doing great, for a pegasus. Just another two hours and you'll have hit the eight hour mark."

Rainbow Dash barely grunts as she picks herself up, not able to waste the breath playing the apologist for her fellow pegasi - though she really, really, really wants to. One more snide comment out of that mud p-

Rainbow cuts herself off! Focus, Dash! She walks back up to the tree, forcing herself to take her time like a hoofball kicker before a game winning attempt. She hasn't missed twice in a row yet, and there's no way she's starting now! Head one foot from the tree, turn around. Plant front hooves. Rear up, and Buck!

That satisfying *thud* of hooves impacting wood resonates around the farm, the delightful *thunk thunk thunk* of apples filling the baskets surrounding her. A few miss their mark, rolling on the grass next to the tree. Rainbow Dash dutifully walks up to each, evening out the baskets that she then carries to the wagon next to her. Two more trees and the wagon will be full, another long trip to the barn that gets even longer every time she makes it. At least tomorrow she'll be starting on the far side of the orchard, and she'll be doing the difficult, longer hauling when she has the energy, the trips getting shorter and easier as the day goes on. "Eeyup," comes the reassuring call from behind her, a smile briefly cracking the dirt caked around Rainbow's muzzle.

The wheels crunch behind Big Mac as they roll on the grass, a barely palpable hum vibrating the leaves above. Another tree rejuvenated, new blossoms already sprouting and marking this tree as fully bucked. Which, if Big Mac is being honest, might also describe the mare he's been following for the last six hours. Yet, another part of him smiles; all those runs she did with Doug have really paid off. He might have expected the speedster to give out or give up five and a half hours ago, but the overeager pegasus that moved to Ponyville with her friend Fluttershy years and years ago, whose attention span could be compared to an evening sprinkling of rain, has long gone.

Another *thud* echoes among the trees, Big Mac wheeling himself forward as Rainbow Dash gathers another set of baskets.

Applejack smirks to herself; if Rainbow wasn't working the orchard on the other side of the farm, she might have asked the pegasus to fly a cloud around for her, give her some shade during the hottest parts of the day. Cut down on how many seconds she needs to spend hydrating. Maybe she should get Rainbow to order one of the junior weathermares to do that. Although, as Applejack spares a glance to Rainbow's side during one of the rare times she sees the pegasus, maybe Rainbow would want that cloud for herself.

Twilight Sparkle glances up from her notes as the two arrive at one of the wooden barns the Apple family has scattered around their land. Two wagons rest outside, filled to the brim with empty baskets - some newly crafted and some old. From inside the red painted walls comes a light scuffling, the quiet thump of apples rolling into each other, and muffled conversation. Twilight Sparkle says, "Alright, Applejack, I've got the checklists you asked me to make ready. Are you ready?"

"Eeyup!"

A quill scratches against the parchment, "Spike, are you ready?"

"Wuah?"

Twilight smirks as she readies the quill over the picture of Spike napping. "Come on, Spike, it's the middle of the day! Enough napping! Are you a baby, or are you a big colt? I mean dragon?"

"Some days I just want to be the baby dragon," Spike mutters, yawning as he sits up. "Why did you need me here again? It looks like you have the checklist taken care of just fine."

"Yes, but you taking care of that means I don't have to continuously levitate two objects, leaving me able to focus on other aspects of what happens here at the farm." Twilight motions to Applejack as Spike groans, hopping off Twilight and taking the parchment and quill, "Okay! Wagon?"

"Eeyup!"

"Spare wagon?"

"Eeyup!"

"Baskets?"

"Eeyup!"

"Spare baskets?"

"Eeyup!"

Spike's eyes close as he mechanically checks off one box after another. His claw keeps going, and going, and going, though after a little while an odd scraping sound disrupts his nap. He glances up, Twilight snickering while Applejack smiles. He looks down, several ink check marks on his leg scales. He laughs, "Oops!" as Twilight rolls her eyes.

Applejack looks up to the sun, "Just about that time, Ah reckon."

Twilight pulls out her watch, "Yup! One minute to go. You ready?"

"Eeyup!"

Applejack hunkers down, a racer readying herself at an imaginary starting line.

After what seems like far more than one minute the alarm goes off, Applejack taking off like a bolt. She straps herself into her wagon, quickly pulling it past the first set of trees. The harness falls off as she jumps up, bucking the baskets to each of the surrounding trunks. She already has to rein in her excitement, slowing slightly to the fast pace she can keep up for the full eight hours.

Twilight watches Applejack at work for a few seconds before she smiles down at Spike, "Oh, this is so exciting, isn't it? The speed, the precision, the control! Watching a master at work?"

"Yeah, sure," Spike says, another yawn as he briefly closes his eyes. One minute later and Spike looks up, waving at the brown hatted pony dragging in a wagon full of apples. He exclaims, perhaps more excitement in his voice than necessary, "Wow, Applejack! Done with your first wagon load already? That's incredible!"

"It's Rainbow Dash," the pegasus deadpans as she walks past the two to the barn. She unloads the baskets, Granny Smith and Doug waiting inside to start sorting the apples.

"Oh. Um, well, you're doing great too, Rainbow! Keep up the good work!" Spike says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He coughs as the pegasus collapses into the dirt, her hind legs spasming. "You okay, there?"

"I'm fine!" Rainbow Dash snaps from the ground, laying on her side and trying to stretch her legs. "Just... I just need a minute."

Twilight Sparkle says, "Are you sure this isn't too much for you, Rainbow? You don't look so good."

Rainbow Dash glares at Twilight Sparkle from her back, "Rainbow Dash does not quit." She snorts as she rolls to her barrel, "If Applejack can do it? Then I can! I'm going to make it through the rest of this shift, and Doug is going to use those magic hands of his, and then we're going to get the rest of Big Mac's side of the orchard done." She pushes herself up, "Then, I'll probably need another massage, and then dinner, then I'm going to sleep." She sighs as she pulls the first of the baskets of apples from the wagon, Doug moving up to grab it off the ground, "Then it's getting up early tomorrow and doing it all over again."

Twilight Sparkle sighs as she watches the exhausted pegasus pull off the last of the baskets, taking the bottle of water Doug offers her, then a quick bite of some honeyed nuts. "Are you sure you don't want any help now?"

Rainbow Dash stomps a hoof, wincing at the painful extra motion, "No way, no how. Now, out of my way."

"Um, I'm not in your way," Twilight says, standing several feet away from where Rainbow Dash will be dragging the wagon.

Rainbow Dash snorts, passing Doug the empty bottle of water. She nuzzles into his hand for a brief second before she hitches herself back to the wagon, a curt raise of her head saying goodbye to the four.

Comments

[badninja]

Wow it looks like in this timeline it will be Rainbow Dash who overworks herself. I hope she doesn't hurt herself when she finally collapses.

[Silentwoodfire]

Think Rainbow will get stronger?