Shouldn't Be

by Lumadous

Ch 8. Just Another Day

After Applejack explained to a very skeptical Big Mac how I had saved them from a cockatrice, he was still giving me looks of distrust, but mixed with... something else, I was not quite so sure, but if I had to guess it would have to be respect?

Soon afterwards the doctors came in, very delighted that we had recovered so quickly and, despite wanting to "study" me further, released Applejack and me. Applejack, not wanting to leave her brother in the hospital, refused to leave until he insisted that she go, threatening to dye her purple if she didn't go attend to the fields.

A few hours later we arrived back at Sweet Apple Acre farms, a slight breeze blowing through the air, carrying the sweet smell of ripe apples to us as we walked down the lonely path towards the farm house. Applejack's mood had made an almost instant change when she made it back to the farm, she became more relaxed than I've seen her since that party, almost seeming to bounce down the path.

At least until, that is, a little yellow and red streak took her out in a flying tackle that was almost too fast for me to see.

"I missed you sooo much big sis!" Cried Apple Bloom who was hugging Applejack in a pile on the side of the path "I was so worried I would never see you again!"

"Mah..ribs." Applejack wheezed out

"Umm, I think you're crushin’ the life outta your sister." I cautioned

"Eeepp, whoops, sorry sis." She said as she released her sister, trying to hide that she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"Ah promise to spend the day just with you." Applejack said with a big smile.

"But what about them apples? Nopony has bucked the trees in days!" Apple Bloom asked.

"I got it, don't worry ‘bout it" I said, helping them disentangle themselves from each other.

"But thats a whole lotta apples for just one pony, umm, person." Said Applejack.

"Are you sayin' my mouth is makin' promises I can't keep?" I asked teasingly.

"But you're still only one person, and one human plus hundreds o' apple trees just doesn't add up to..." She responded.

"Don't muddle the issue with your fancy ass mathematics. Don't worry ‘bout it, if I need help I'll just go get Rainbow Dash or someone to come down and help me out. Ain't like I'm gonna half kill myself when I know I got friends to help me out." Applejack was just staring at me as if I had just turned into a pony.

"What?" I ask, checking myself to make sure something like that really hadn't happened.

"Umm, nothin’, just déjà vu." She responded.

"Uh huh, sure, anyways, go enjoy your day with your sister." I said, pushing her towards her little sister, who looked almost back to tears, tears of joy this time.

"Go go" I added, with little shooing motions with my hands.

"Ah'll get you for this!" Applejack yelled over her shoulder as her little sister dragged her towards town.

With a smile still on my face I turned back to the fields in front of me, and only then did I realize that there were a lot of hills in the background covered with red-spotted trees.

"Looks like I am gonna need that help"

---

That evening we were as tired as could be. Finding Rainbow Dash was surprising easy, I just had to find the one cloud that was snoring. After quickly explaining why I needed her and the others help I soon had the 5 other ponies out in the orchard helping me pick the apples. It was funny to see each pony's style of picking apples, they were as varied as the ponies themselves. Rainbow Dash zoomed through the trees at break neck pace, the wind of her passing whipping apple from the branches to land in a heap in the barrels, Twilight expertly picked every apple off a tree with a single spell, and then proceed to catalog each apple. Rarity carefully picked each apple one by one before gently placing them in the barrel, and Fluttershy had brought a lot of her woodland friends to help her pick the apples. Now Pinkie, I don't know how she did it but she seemed to bounce on the sides of the trees, completely ignoring gravity. All the while I grabbed the barrels and dragged them towards the house as quickly as I could, but even going full pace I still couldn't keep pace with the 5 ponies working together to fill the barrels.

Getting a sudden idea while at the farmhouse, I rushed back to where the ponies were working.

"Rainbow Dash!" I yelled as the rainbow streak rushed past me.

She skidded to a sudden stop, looking confused. "Yeah?"

"Feel up to a race?" I asked mischievously.

"Heck yeah, but who's going to race me?" She asked looking at the other ponies, who were watching us expectantly.

"Well, me of course!" I said, feeling a little hurt that she didn't even consider me an opponent.

"What?! No way that your two legs can keep up with my four, plus my wings!" she said proudly.

"Is that fear of losing I hear?" I said, barely keeping my laughter contained.

"What? No, you're so on now!" She said, taking a runners stance in front of one group of barrels.

"Twilight, you mind?" I asked as I took my own stance in front of another group.

"I would be delighted." She said, stepping between us.

"Get ready, get set, GO!" She yelled as she threw up a green apple.

Rainbow Dash took off gaining an early lead, knowing that there would be plenty of time to catch up I paced myself, pulling on the rope I looped on the barrels strongly but evenly, keeping right on her tail. By the time we had a dozen barrels moved back she had started slowing down, visibly winded, while I continued at the same pace, controlling my breathing and focusing on that next step. I had barely noticed when I passed her on the twentieth or so barrel, nor when I started on the thirtieth barrel three ahead of her. All too soon the giant group of barrels disappeared despite the other ponies doing their best to keep the groups large.

Coming back from my last lap I saw that I had no more barrels in my group.

"No more apples." Said Twilight apologetically.

Looking over at Rainbow Dash's group I saw she had 7 more barrels, and looking over to the pony, she was currently pulling away from us. Knowing she would be devastated from losing by so much I held my finger up to my mouth and moved four of her barrels over to where my group was, and started pulling "my" next one.

As I passed Rainbow Dash, who was coming the opposite way, I yelled "Come on Dashie, almost there!"

She looked up and, after seeing how few she had left and how close she was, put on an extra spurt of speed. Seeing that I picked up my pace also. We had just dropped off both of our second to last barrels when she took off at a blinding speed towards her last one, leaving me coughing up dust. I sprinted back as fast as I could and grabbed my barrel, but she was already a third of the way back, luckily for me, where she has speed, I have strength. I slowly caught back up to her, putting all my strength into the last 50 yards, keeping neck and neck with the pony right next to me, neither of us backing down as we came sprinting across the finish line, instantly collapsing in a heap on the ground, panting for breath.

"I....Won!" She gasped out.

"No.... I.....Did!" I wheezed out.

"An ah say ah won!" Said Applejack leaning over the two of us, a big grin on her face.

"No way!" Complained Rainbow Dash loudly, before being shushed by Applejack, pointing to her back, where a sleeping Apple Bloom was draped across her back.

"Aww" Came from behind as the rest of the ponies walked up behind me and saw the young filly snoring.

"Ah got y'all somethin’ to drink, they're in the house." Said Applejack, letting Apple Bloom be levitated off her back by both Twilight and Rarity.

As the rest of the ponies walked in front of us towards the house, Applejack nudged me with her flank, winking at me.

"Ah saw what ya did there, you sly dog." She said with a grin.

"Hmmm, what, I did nothing of the sort."

"Well thanks, Rainbow Dash would not have taken this lose well." she said, quieter. "But ah've never seen anypony even keep up with her, much less surpass her."

"Well in a straight out race she would have me, I'm no good for speed, but strength-wise, I think I can take anybody."

"We'll have to settle that then." She said with a grin. "You any good at rasslin?"

"I couldn't wrestle ya, you’re a girl, I can't hit girls!" I said, surprised at her directness.

"Even in self defense?" She said teasingly.

"Yeah, unless ya were about to kill me or someone else." I said as I tripped over a tree root hidden by the quickly deepening evening.

"Well that's borin’..." There was an awkward pause.

"So, umm, how much do you remember of that party?" I asked tentatively.

"Not much, just you over-reactin’ and not much after that. Why, did something happen?" She asked warily.

"Well yeah, I don't like hiding things from you." Pause, sigh, "During the party you got really drunk, like really drunk." I paused to look over at her, seeing her blush slightly. "Well when you were drunk, well..." sigh, "You kissed me and said you loved me."

"Ah what?" She said, looking shocked.

"Yeah, and after that you got so embarrassed by Pinkie that you ran out, and unfortunately took the road into the woods by accident."

"So, uhmmm." She stopped biting her lower lip, looking incredibly embarrassed. "Was it that bad?"

"No, quite nice, but it was my reaction that was bad." I said sorrowfully.

"Why, what did you do?" She asked, trying to piece it together.

"Well you remember Sarah?" A nod. "Well I'm conflicted, I still love her but I know for a fact, Princess Luna told me, that I will never be able to get home." A tear rolled down my cheek.

"Well does she know that you're still alive?" Applejack asked, stopping, letting the other ponies get even further ahead, before they eventually disappeared into the house.

"No, there is no way she could."

"Well what would she want?" She asked, getting even quieter.

"She would want me to be happy." I said, my knees sagging, leaving me sitting on an old stump.

"Well, what would make you happy?" She asked, her looking at me questioningly, the moon rising behind me, casting her face in shadows.

"I don't know." I sobbed. "Never have I had to make a choice like this, I don't know what's right and I don't know what’s wrong. It's like I'm drowning and don't know which way is up."

I was surprised when her lips brushed mine, slowly drawing me into a warm embrace that chased the shadows from my heart. All too soon she stopped, looking at my shocked face in fear.

"Ah'm sorry!" She sobbed as she turned away.

I grabbed her quickly, sweeping her up and kissing her back, for the first time since I've arrived here, I felt truly happy,as if a giant weight had been lifted off my heart. We stopped, both of us breathing as hard as if we had just ran a marathon. Both of us blushing as if we had something to be ashamed of, but the moon was our only witness....

"Wow."

Comments

[Lumadous]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I got bored and this one just kinda flowed, see ya friday

[Skywind]

ha ha i just finished reading the last chapter and then left and then i came back i felt like an idiot thinking i missed this one

[AtomicMuffin45]

So far i'm really liking this story. Keep up the great work!!

[grunt11795]

hahahaha i swear nice ending there

[Lumadous]

1127452
Eh, it just ninja-ed its way in

1127513
1131305
thanks

1127554
Fixed, and thanks

1145987

what? again? dammit! where?

[Vates Despero]

"Are you sayin' my mouth is makin' promises my I can't keep?" I asked teasingly.

[RoadRunneR]

"I just blank out and become a ruthless killing machine with no mercy, completely unstoppable, completely out of control, completely a hundred percent monster." Please proceed, Dr Jekyll.

[RageCake]

That escalated quickly

[King_Krysalis]

OMG All ready there is shipping.

[Blue Spark]

Actually, reading back, it wasn't even really a kiss, just a peck on the cheek.
Well, kind of a kiss...
Furthermore, AJ never said that she loved him, only that he tasted nice, not sure how someone's skin would taste nice.
Lastly, I don't think Cass's reaction was bad at all, it was more like Pinkie's fault.
All Cass really said was that AJ is never getting drunk again.

[Bazing]

I swear to god, you are deliberately giving this guy reason to go out with Applejack... Or you are giving yourself reason to make this a ship fic. It's too god damn early for this to be happening.

[PrincessLunaTheGamer]

Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie are always watching! I get to say it now! Those poor, poor, bastards.