A Year in Equestria

by Blade Star

Chapter 3 - March

Today was the day. Today, we said goodbye to snow, to the frost, the cold wind and everything else that winter entailed. Today was Winter Wrap Up, and tomorrow would be the first day of spring. I found myself getting up even earlier than usual. It would be busy as all hell today. I mean, we have to completely alter the season in a scant twenty four hours. Even with the help of Twilight “Checklist” Sparkle as the much vaunted All-Team Organiser, it was still quite an undertaking.

Fortunately, having lived and worked on this farm for a few years now, I’ve learnt to overcome that little voice in my head that tells me to just lay in bed for five more minutes. With some effort, I pushed off the covers and got out of bed, feeling a slight chill in the cold morning air. Shivering for a moment, I quickly trotted over to my wardrobe and fetched out my light green Plant Team vest. I was tempted to throw it straight on to ward off the cold, but figured that a hot shower would probably do a better job. So after making my bed, I laid out the vest on it, and went across the hall to have a quick shower and brush my teeth. I found Applejack on her hind legs at the sink doing her own teeth. She still looked a little tired, and like me, had only just gotten up. Although her wet, and currently let down mane, told me she’d just gotten out of the shower.

“Mornin’, AJ,” I said blearily. Applejack did her best to reply ‘good morning’, but the toothbrush in her mouth didn’t do much for her diction.

Pulling back the curtain, I stepped into the shower and started the water, which was still warm. It really helped to push back the cold, although I knew that before too long I’d have to go back into the cold, cold world. As we both came to, we talked through the curtain. I honestly don’t know why ponies even have shower curtains. It’s not like we’re any more naked than we are normally. So why was there a need for privacy? For a moment, I toyed with the idea of asking AJ to join me. I may be asexual, but I’m not above letting AJ have some fun. But given that the rest of the family would be up soon and queuing to use the facilities, I decided against it. There was too much work to do today. Maybe I could suggest something later tonight if we weren’t all knackered. As I finished up washing my mane and tail, AJ called out to me through the curtain.

“I’m gonna head downstairs and help Granny start on breakfast. Okay, Bones?” she said, keeping her voice just loud enough to be heard.

“Sure, AJ,” I called back. “I’ll be done in a minute, and I’ll come and help you.”

With that, I heard the bathroom door open and close. I quickly finished washing the suds out of my mane and shut the water off. Hot water is a luxury on Sweet Apples Acres, and I wasn’t about to be accused of wasting it. Hell, I remember when there was something of a minor drought last summer due to a weather mix up, we had to follow old Navy style, have the water on to wash yourself, turn it off, soap yourself up, and then turn it back on again to wash off. At least on this cold winter morning I could indulge in a Hollywood shower. Or would that be Applewood here?

Hoping out of the shower, and back into the cold, I quickly brushed my teeth and gave my face one more good wash before heading downstairs to join Applejack.

---

Heading downstairs, I found Applejack hard at work already. Even by our standards it was far too early for anyone to be up and about, and the poor girl looked haggard. So, falling back on traditional gender roles, I offered to take over making breakfast for her. But this was Applejack.

“Oh, quite your fussin’, Bones,” she said with more venom than she probably intended. “I can manage just fine. Ain’t no need for y’all to swoop in.”

“Okay, okay,” I said placatingly, holding up my two front hooves in a gesture of surrender. “I ain’t your papa. Just tryin’ to help. At least let me make you some coffee.” AJ relented at this.

“Sure,” she said, pausing to yawn. “And sorry, Bones. It’s just too early for anypony to be up right now.”

“Yeah, ain’t that the truth,” I agreed as I started on the coffee. I think black would be the order of the day; get the caffeine full force.

A short while later, the rest of the family joined us. Firstly, Big Mac, who also tried and failed to pry his little sister away from the stove, and then Apple Bloom and Granny Smith, the latter of whom did manage to convince AJ to let her at least help.

“Consarn it, Applejack,” the old matriarch said. “Y’all can be one real stubborn filly sometimes. We’re all gonna be busy today. Ain’t no sense in tryin to do everythin’ by yourself.”

As we all sat down to breakfast, which consisted of generous helpings of warming porridge and seemingly infinite cups of coffee, we all slowly began to wake up properly. Apple Bloom was considered too young to have coffee and had to make do with sweet cider. The house was warming up a bit too with the stove on, and Big Mac had thrown a few logs on the fire in the other room. We had a little bit of time yet before we needed to head out to town to all get our assignments. I think Applejack was a bit touchy this morning, partly due to the lack of coffee, but also because she acts as the Plant Team leader during Winter Wrap Up. That’s a whole lot of responsibility when you get right down to it, and she rightly takes such matters very seriously.

Still, at least we had an hour or so of peace and quiet before we had to head into town.

Or so I thought. The only explanation I can think of is, at some point, I must have said ‘Well, it’s not like things can get any worse’ or words to that effect. Not long after we sat down to breakfast, we had a visitor. We were all startled by a sudden rapping on the door.

“Now who in Equestria could be that?” Apple Bloom asked in surprise.

Today, it was the same all over Equestria. Everypony would be working hard to wrap up winter and move on into spring tomorrow. There was no time to pay call on friends or relatives. And we always all met up in front of Town Hall for our assignments. So who could it be? My first thought was maybe Twilight, with some new, even more complicated schedule for us all to follow. Even as the organiser, Winter Wrap Up does cause Twilight to go Twilighting, as ponies have come to call it. My guess though, as Big Mac got up to get the door, was dead wrong.

The unfortunate stallion had barely opened the door when it was all but thrown back on its hinges by our new visitor. Big Mac was sent stumbling backwards, and only just managed to avoid a door in the face.

“Good morning, Big Mac!” an all too familiar voice shouted. Pinkie Pie was upon us. May Celestia have mercy on our souls.

Now, let me be clear. I love Pinkie Pie. She is, with the possible exception of Fluttershy, the nicest pony in all of Equestria. She did all she could to make us feel welcome when we got here, threw us all parties on our birthdays, pitched in to do something nice for Mom and Dad on their wedding anniversary, and in general, will stop and drop everything she’s doing if she sees somepony in need of help or cheering up, sometimes even to the detriment of her own well-being. While that may be the case, I was in no way prepared to deal with the hyperactive party pony this early in the morning. Not that that was going to do anything to stop her as she quite literally bounced into the kitchen like Zebedee. She was well prepared for the cold weather, with her own team’s vest on, along with a yellow and baby blue bobble hat, earmuffs, and boots on her hooves.

“And good morning to you, Applejack. Good morning, Granny Smith. Good morning, Apple Bloom. And good morning, Bones!” She continued to excitedly bounce in place and I resisted the urge to grit my teeth and forced a smile.

“Mornin’, Pinkie Pie,” I replied kindly. “What brings y’all here this early?”

The party pony reached behind the fridge, and in a move that as point only slightly surprises me, produced several sets of ice skates. I swear that she’s part draconequus or something. Discord is the only other creature who can seemingly bend reality like that. But even he can’t explain Pinkie Pie half the time.

“It’s you and me Bones!” she declared excitedly. “We’re going full on Blades of Glory!”

“Er, come again, Pinkie?” I asked, wondering to myself how on earth she knew about that film.

“You and me, Bones,” she repeated, now in a more subdued volume. “Twilight assigned you to work with me this morning on cutting up the ice on the lake here on Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack set down her mug of coffee.

“How the hay do you know that?” she exclaimed. “Ain’t nopony supposed to know any of the assignments before we all meet up at town hall.”

“Oh, Twilight wanted to do a bit of a trial run this year with a few of the jobs. Something about how much time was wasted getting everypony gathered in Ponyville. She sent me and a few other ponies to meet up with the ponies doing the first set of jobs today.”

It wasn’t like we’d all just be doing one thing today. We’d all get our assignments, and then work through a steady and tightly controlled timetable, going from one job to the next until the day was done. It sort of made sense in hindsight, but at that moment, my brain didn’t have the spare processing power to appreciate it.

“So we have to get started right now?” I asked forlornly. Pinkie, oblivious to my despair, nodded excitedly.

“Yes indeedy!” she replied. “You help me cut up the ice on the lake, and then we head into Ponyville for the rest of our jobs. Come on, Bones! There’s no time to lose!”

With that, I found myself yanked from my seat by her earth pony strength and all but dragged out of the house. I barely had time to grab my plant team vest and my stetson before we were out the door. The last thing I saw before I was dragged from the house was my loving marefriend sniggering behind her hoof at my fate.

---

The lake was a fair distance away from the farmhouse, but Pinkie wasted no time in getting there. She gleefully bounced along the still frost covered path, still holding my hoof in her iron grip. I swear, she has to be almost as strong as Applejack, or even Big Mac. Still, the walk there, and her constant chattering did help complete the long, slow process of me waking up that had been going on from the moment I woke up. Most of it, I’ll admit, I tuned out as white noise. Pinkie Pie does have an amazing ability at times to talk so much and say so little. But from time to time, she comes out with some seriously deep stuff, enough to make the likes of Kant or Nietzsche take notice.

Arriving at the lake, we found it still frozen over like the Thames. A thick layer of ice covered it completely; thick enough for a pony to walk on it seemed, as we weren’t the only ones out here this early. Sitting not too far from the middle of the lake, having drilled a small hole to dangle a fishing rod, was Zecora, Ponyville’s resident zebra. She and I get on well enough. I buy the odd potion off her at the market from time to time, as well as some of her herbal teas. I also sometimes take Apple Bloom into the Everfree Forest so Zecora can give her some lessons on potion making. She was sitting contentedly, focussed on the task at hoof. And judging by the small bucket full of fish next to her, she’d had quite a good expedition. I was awake enough now to be friendly, so I called out to her.

“Hey!” I called out to her. “Drift Ice Station Zebra!” Pinkie Pie chuckled at my reference to the old film. Zecora looked up from her work. Pulling her fishing line in, she packed up her supplies into her saddlebags and trotted over to us.

“Good morning, you two,” she said. “I assume you are here to help melt the ice? As much as I enjoy fishing, it would be better if the weather was a little more nice.” I was always amazed at how Zecora could just rhyme on the fly like that. If I had to speak in rhyme I’d probably only say something once a month.

“That’s right, Zecora,” Pinkie replied. “How come you were out there fishing though? I didn’t know zebras ate fish.” Zecora chuckled.

“It’s not for eating, my excitable friend, but to go in a potion that will cause headaches to mend.”

Ah, so she was working on Equestria’s answer to paracetamol. You always had to do a bit of translating with Zecora, even if she did rhyme in Ponish. I was probably going to need some of it by the end of today, or in the next few minutes. The wise zebra shaman then took her leave, heading back for her home in the Everfree. She was wise enough to avoid Pinkie at this time of the day. Meanwhile, I turned back to Pinkie, who was already doing up her skates.

“Pinkie,” I said carefully. “You do know I’ve never done any ice skating before, right?”

One thing that has carried over from my human body to my equine one, is my at times poor coordination and balance. I tried rollerblading when I was a kid and just ended up falling on my arse a lot. The same could be said for when my parents took us all skiing at the snow dome. I knew jack about skating except that I was probably not going to be very good at it. Pinkie however, had other ideas.

“Oh, don’t worry, Bones,” she reassured me. “It’s easy as pie! Just put your skates on and follow me.”

Resigned to my fate, I did as I was asked. Picking the skates up in my magic, I began to put them on, doing the laces up tight. Before too long, all four hooves had a skate on, and I was hobbling out to join Pinkie on the ice.

“Okay,” I said as I did my best to avoid falling over where I stood. “How do I do this?”

And so, Pinkie began to teach me the basics of skating. If you ask me, it is somewhat easier to do it as a pony. Four legs are far more stable than two. By degrees, I began to grasp the basics. After all, it wasn’t like I was training for Olympic figure skating. All I had to do was skate back and forth across the ice, cutting it into smaller chunks so as to speed the melting process. It actually was quite a lot of fun as I began to get the hang of things. Okay, at first, I did indeed fall on my rear end a few times. But Pinkie kept encouraging me and before too long, I was able to skate and stay upright without too much effort. I might not have looked all that graceful, and I certainly didn’t hold a candle to Pinkie, who gleefully pirouetted and twirled around on the ice while I practised just skating in a straight line and controlling my speed, but it would do for the task before us.

And so, about forty five minutes later, having briefly paused for a cup of hot cocoa that Pinkie had brought with her in a thermos, the two of us put on the thicker skates that were meant for cutting up the ice, and set to work. Pinkie trotted over to the other side of the lake. We’d be skating in a fairly precise pattern. I would go up and down on the lake, while Pinkie would skate left to right. This way, we could cut the lake up more quickly, and without risking either of us falling in as the ice gave way. Still, for it to work, we had to be pretty close to perfect with our timing.

“Okay, Pinkie!” I called out. “Whenever you’re ready.” Pinkie waved back, and on the count of three we set off.

I was at the bottom of the lake on the right hand side. Pinkie meanwhile, was on the right hand bank near the top. We both started at the same moment. If we did everything right, there’d be no need to worry about having to avoid each other, or deal with collapsing ice. We both quickly built up speed as we glided across the lake. The specialised skates cut deeply into the ice, compromising its integrity. As we both skated, the cracks we were making would begin to join up, causing the previously solid mass to separate into smaller chunks.

As I neared the opposite bank, I kicked out the two skates on one side to slow my speed and leaned to the left to begin a sweeping left turn. At the far left hand side of the lake, Pinkie was doing the same. We criss-crossed with each other on the way back and the first parts of the lake ice began to give way.

The two of us repeated the process several times, moving slowly across the lake, and cutting up more of the ice. All in all, I’d say it probably took no more than four or five minutes. But I was concentrating more on keeping with the rhythm we’d set up and not accidentally falling into the icy water. While falling in wouldn’t have me end up like Sir Ranulph Fiennes and losing half a hoof to frostbite, it was still plenty cold.

Eventually, we both came to the end of our runs, at more or less the same time. We were both now at the opposite position to where we’d started. I was at the top left hand corner of the lake, and Pinkie was diagonally opposite from me. As we retreated back to the safety of the bank, our handiwork began to pay off. I watched with amazement as the arrow straight paths we’d carved began to all connect. There came a tremendous cracking sound as the fractures spread out like a spider’s web. And then finally, the ice began to break apart into nice neat little squares, that floated atop the freezing water. Once the grey clouds above us were moved out of the way, the bright, warming sun would make quick work of the smaller chunks of ice.

Taking off the skates and, in typical style, knotting the laces and throwing them around my neck, I headed over to join Pinkie Pie. The snow might still have been thick on the ground, and it might still have been cold, but we’d just started to loosen winter’s grip on the landscape.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” I said to her. Pinkie chuckled.

“Oh, come on, Bones,” she said encouragingly. “You’ve got to be more self-confident. You did great out there.”

“If you say so, Pinkie,” I replied. “You were great though too.”

She was right though. I remember the first time I helped Applejack out on the farm. I had nowhere near the strength or endurance I had now. By the end of the day, I thought my limbs were going to fall off, while she’d barely broken a sweat. But I’d kept at it, slowly built myself up, and now I was just as capable as her or Big Mac. I’m sure, with time, I could probably become just as good at skating as Pinkie was. Too bad all the ice was melting now.

“Aww, thanks, Bones,” she said, pulling me into a one armed bear hug for a moment. “C’mon though, we better head to Ponyville. Twilight will be handing out the rest of the jobs for everypony.”

And so, I once again found myself on the road to town, only this time I had a good friend along for the ride.

---

Ponyville was packed when we got there. Were it not for the fact that the sport doesn’t exist in Equestria, I’d have thought there was a football match on or something. The crowd was concentrated around Town Hall, where Twilight had set up shop on a stage specially set up for her. Everypony present was decked out in their particular team’s colours. As part of the plant team, most of my work would be focussed on Sweet Apple Acres and the other farms, ploughing, planting new seeds and so forth. Pinkie meanwhile would continue to deal with more weather related matters on the Weather team. Ponies like Fluttershy and Rarity meanwhile, on the animal team, were responsible for helping the many animals that called Ponyville home adjust to the change. Hibernating animals, including Rainbow’s pet tortoise Tank, would need to be woken up, the birds from southern Equestria needed to be guided back home, and the sheep and cattle needed to be herded from their farmyard shelters back out onto open pasture. With so much to deal with, Twilight was the natural choice to organise everything into a well oiled machine. Once upon a time, Ponyville had gotten a bad reputation for finishing Winter Wrap Up behind schedule.

As we made our way through the crowds, Pinkie and I parted ways as I met up again with Applejack and the others. She’d also picked up Caramel on her travels. Caramel’s a nice enough guy. He actually kinda reminds me of me when I was younger. He’s got a good heart, but can be a little nervous and forgetful at times, to the point where his losing some of the seeds became something of a running gag come Winter Wrap Up. Still, he was usually assigned to Sweet Apple Acres to help out the Plant team.

With everypony assembled, Twilight began dividing each of the teams into sub-teams, giving each various jobs to do in and around Ponyville. I was assigned a job I was more or less familiar with at this point; snow clearing. Before the fields could be ploughed and have the new seeds planted, the vast amounts of snow needed to be cleared away. And while Equestria doesn’t have access to motorised snow ploughs, they do have the next best thing, relying on pony power instead.

I was assigned, along with several other ponies, to clear several of the fields on Sweet Apple Acres, as well as a few on other farms. The snow ploughs we had were essentially a small cart, with a snowplough fitted at the front, and two flanges at the side to funnel the snow into the bed at the back. This way, you gathered up the snow, instead of just pushing it around. The only downside was that they were a right beggar to move, particularly as they filled up with more and more snow. I smiled to myself as I remembered the scene from the first season where the then unicorn Twilight Sparkle tried to use a Come to Life spell on the plough, that sent it hurtling all over the place, and ticking off the somewhat anti-magic Applejack in the process. Luckily, as time has gone by, my marefriend has come to relax that policy a bit, particularly when shown the advantages, never mind the fact that her own strength comes from magic. Still, I do consider it something a point of pride to be able to work on the farm without having to ‘resort’ to magic as it were.

Along with myself, I had Caramel, Doc Hooves, and my own old man helping out with the section of fields I was to work on clearing. Dad of course, being human, and not exactly suited to a snowplough built for equines, arrived with the more homo sapiens sapiens suited shovel and wheelbarrow. The four of us quickly set to work in earnest. Me, Doc and Caramel would man the snowploughs, while Dad, at intervals, would empty the beds of each one as they filled up and cart it away. It made the best use of our resources according to a certain alicorn princess. Dad just grumbled about how the unicorns up in Canterlot used their magic to do everything in twenty minutes flat.

Still, we soon set to work, with the three of us dividing the fields between us and slowly working our way across each one, somewhat like how Pinkie and I had worked our way across the ice. Unlike that though, this job took a lot more effort, and I soon found myself wishing for my marefriend’s superhuman strength. The plough alone is heavy enough, but pushing it against tightly packed snow made it even more difficult. The Doc did come up with something of a fix though, applying a coat of oil and diesel fuel to the plough, which helped stop the snow clumping up and blunting the plough.

As we worked, building up quite a sweat that soon saw off the previous cold, I watched the landscape slowly change. The landscape was now no longer a sea of unbroken white. Plenty of patches and green and brown were now beginning to appear as the snow was cleared away by the teams. And by mid afternoon, the snow was all but gone. In a way, I was a little saddened by the change. As I said before, the world looked so beautiful under a blanket of snow. But then again, I wasn’t going to miss the cold, or having to scrape off my hooves every time I went into the house. Soft grass underfoot was far more pleasant.

High above us, the weather was also being changed over. The local Weather Patrol, including my little sister Lizzie, and Rainbow Dash, along with the vast majority of the pegasi in Ponyville were busily clearing away the grey clouds that had been more or less hanging about continuously since early January. The warming sunlight soon began to shine through, first as thin rays of light, and eventually as a pleasant spring sun. Celestia had turned the heat up just enough to be pleasant and melt the snow. It was nice to see the sunny blue skies again, and to feel the warmth of the sun on my coat. The snow we'd all helped clear away soon began to melt into mush, and very shortly into water, that drained into the nearby lake and river running through town. I liked the speediness of Winter Wrap Up. The worst part of snow, if you ask me, was the halfway point of melting, when the ground was covered in horrid mush that mixed with the mud and made everything look horrid and stuck to everything. Thanks to controlled weather and careful management, you didn’t get that in Equestria.

With the snow ploughing done and dusted, we all moved onto our next jobs. In my case, this saw me working with the plant team leader for a bit as we both turned our attention to Sweet Apple Acres’ apple trees.

---

As we moved from winter into spring, there were plenty of jobs that would need doing around Sweet Apple Acres. One of those involved pruning the apple trees. Most plants respond well to a trim in the spring. It keeps the trees in the orchard neat and in line, and stops an individual tree growing out and intertwining with its neighbours. It also helps stimulate growth in the tree down the line as it ages, and helps produce a greater crop yield. And while it might be nice to sit under the shade of an apple tree in the high summer, that wasn’t what they were for. Good apple trees didn’t give too much shade. The idea was to create a conical shape to ensure that the entire tree got plenty of sunlight and nutrients. We’d trim off any dead or diseased branches, anything that was pointing downward, anything that wasn’t showing any shoots, and possibly a few of the larger ‘scaffold’ branches as they were known, which could potentially block sunlight. The remaining branches were usually trimmed by around a third to encourage strong regrowth over the year. It also clears out the dead growth that is a fire hazard.

As you would back on Earth, Applejack and I would mainly use hand tools to prune away the branches. Although I could also use my magic, in the form of a finely focussed fire spell to prune back thicker branches that would otherwise require a saw. After all, there were a lot of trees to prune. We would only be doing a section of the orchard, with Big Mac and dozens of other ponies working on the rest, so as to finish in time for the start of spring tomorrow.

“Y’all ready for this, Bones?” Applejack asked as she grabbed her pruning shears and a few other odds and ends, along with a ladder to help get at the higher branches. As I saw her lugging that along with her, an idea popped into my head.

“Sure, Applejack,” I replied. “But I think you may be able to leave that here.” I gestured to the ladder. The farm pony pushed her stetson back for a moment and gave me a puzzled look.

“Say what now, sugarcube?” she said. I explained my idea.

“Why don’t we use my magic instead?” I suggested. “Instead of you havin’ to climb a ladder, I can just use my magic to levitate you up there. I can move you around each tree and even help you get right up to the top branches.”

Applejack considered the idea for a moment, clearly not too convinced.

“I don’t know, Bones,” she said after a moment. “That sounds mighty dangerous.”

“No, I can do it, AJ,” I reassured her. “My magic is plenty strong enough. I’ve got good fine motor control too. I certainly won’t drop you or anythin’. Tell you what; how about we do a little test. If you ain’t comfortable with it, we’ll just use the ladder.”

This seemed to sway her. To her credit, Applejack has done her best to try and be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things ever since she had to leave Twilight briefly in charge of the farm, and realised how many of her chores could be easily simplified. She’d just gotten into habit and routine.

“Alright,” she said with a nod, setting down her stuff. “Just promise me y’all are gonna be careful.” I smiled.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” I replied, doing the requisite motions.

Focussing for a moment, I activated my magic. Levitation, and telekinesis in general, isn’t that difficult. After all, it’s one of only a few spells that pretty much every unicorn is capable of, regardless of their magical power. But as with physical muscles, the amount that one unicorn can lift differs between ponies. Now, I’m no Twilight Sparkle, and you certainly won’t see me levitating an Ursa Minor through the air any time soon. But I am reasonably strong; strong enough to lift Applejack at any rate without too much effort.

She let out a short cry of surprise as the dark blue hue of my magic surrounded her and her hooves left the ground. I tried to be as gentle as possible. Having flown several times, I knew well the uneasy feeling of being in the air, particularly when you weren’t in control of what was happening.

“You okay, Applejack?” I asked as I suspended her a couple of feet off the ground. Applejack looked a little startled, but soon adapted to her new situation.

“Sure,” she replied, looking down at the ground as it slowly moved away from her as I lifted her up more. I decided to be a little cheeky.

“Kinda a role reversal, ain’t it?” I said. “Usually you’re the one who’s throwin’ me around like a rag doll, at least in the bedroom.”

Like I said before, with AJ’s strength, intimacy with her is er…interesting. Particularly when she gets really excited and forgets just how strong she is. While I had no trouble lifting her, to AJ, I’m light as a feather. The comment made her blush up to her ears.

“Bones!” she exclaimed. I let out a laugh, while AJ fumed good naturedly at her inability to retaliate. In the end, she settled for hurling her stetson at me.

After that, we slowly went through the process of getting Applejack used to being held in my magic. I carefully manoeuvred her around an apple tree, and she practised pruning some of the higher branches, and the two of us worked out a proper way to communicate where she wanted to go. In a sense, I was making the task more difficult. But at the same time, it also made things a lot easier, and there was far less chance of anypony falling and hurting themselves.

After about ten minutes or so of practice, the two of us headed out into our section of orchard, sans ladder, to start pruning back the apple trees. We still had plenty of time left, but there were also many other jobs to do after this. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet. Applejack would take charge of actually pruning back the trees, and I would help collect up the cut down branches. After all, while I was using my magic, I didn’t have to necessarily keep still, so I could move around underneath and catch the trimmings as they fell.

The two of us soon arrived at the first tree in our section. These were all reasonably young trees, a few years old now, having matured some time ago. Effective pruning here would greatly improve their crop yield in the autumn.

“Ready, AJ?” I asked as we both got into position, her with the shears, and me with a large apple basket.

“Ready, Bones,” she replied, taking a moment to adjust her hat one more time.

Activating my magic, AJ was soon encased in my magic. With now practised care, I gently lifted her off the ground, pausing for a moment to give her a chance to get used to the sensation of being suspended in the air. After that, I levitated her up to the highest part of the tree, with the intent of slowly lowering her down in a sort of spiral fashion.

Applejack soon got to work, picking out unnecessary or obstructing branches, as well as any that weren’t showing any buds. We called back and forth to each other as we worked around the tree. While I had to concentrate to keep Applejack steady and get her where she wanted to go, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much trust she’d put in me. Were the situation reversed, I’m not sure I’d have been as easily convinced. Heck, even if it was Twilight, or Celestia even, I might still be a little uneasy. Applejack clearly had a lot of trust in me, and I do consider her, amongst other things, an excellent judge of character, so I was pleased by the unspoken endorsement.

I was quickly brought back to reality though, as my marefriend cut down a larger branch on the tree, and sent it landing in the basket I was holding, also with my magic, with a sharp crash. I quickly got my mind back to the task at hand. Now of all times, was not the time for daydreaming or deep introspection.

After we finished the first tree, we soon fell into a comfortable pattern. Applejack even suggested we do this sort of thing for a few other jobs. It also sparked a question from her.

“So just how strong is your magic, Bones?” she asked. I thought for a moment before replying.

“I’m not that too much above the average according to Twilight. I certainly don’t hold a candle to her or Starlight,” I replied.

“Still, this is mighty impressive, sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “Y’all have been holdin’ me up here for nearly an hour now, and you still don’t look all that tired. I don’t think I could hold you over my head for this long.”

“Maybe,” I called back up. “But I don’t think I could lift an entire apple tree. And I saw you do that with just your back legs that one time.”

“So which would you rather have?” AJ asked. “Physical strength or powerful magic?”

Well, that was the question wasn’t it?

On the one hoof, superman strength was quite a tempting option. If nothing else, it would put me and AJ on more equal terms. Although I have to admit, being pinned down by a mare does have its charms. Still, it would make farm work a whole lot easier, and I’d love to be able to empty a whole apple tree with one kick. But on the other hoof, magic offers so much more diversity. With magic I can lift and move objects at a distance, my horn can serve as an impromptu torch, and in a pinch, I can even teleport short distances, although that is a rare act, since it leaves me pretty much drained. And of course, magic can also be used for defence, as in my cutie mark, shielding me and others from harm more than simple physical strength ever could.

“I reckon I’d stick with magic,” I eventually replied. “Sure, I wouldn’t mind being as strong as you or Big Macintosh, but at this point, my magic is like another limb. I’d feel lost without it.”

“I suppose I’d feel the same,” AJ agreed. “Well, that and I reckon I’d look mighty strange with a horn.” That made us both laugh.

And so we steadily worked our way through our section of the orchards, occasionally passing bemused ponies working on neighbouring trees. By the time we were done, the trees had all been neatly trimmed back and now resembled their more recognisable rounded shape, although it was a little hard to see with the trees still being virtually bare.

With the last one done, I carefully lowered AJ back to the ground. Deactivating my magic, the blue glow that had surrounded her, and the familiar tinkling bell sound that unicorn magic produces, dissipated and she was able to move under her own steam again.

“Thanks for your help, Bones,” Applejack said, adjusting her hat and coat. “That was a real bright idea ya had today.”

“Don’t mention it, AJ,” I replied kindly. “Just don’t expect me to be able to pick a dozen apple trees at once come Applebuck Season.” Applejack laughed.

“Well, the farm’s all ready to start up again,” she said as we both looked over the orchard, which was quickly turning green again as the last of the snow melted under the warming sun. “I’d say winter’s been well and truly wrapped up.”

---

One week later…

School was now back in session, and that meant that things were really on the up-tick. As the farm returned to life, Applejack had to split her time between farm work and teaching at the school, to say nothing of the occasional friendship mission the map in Twilight’s castle might send her on.

The same could somewhat be said for me. While I’m not a full time teacher, in the aftermath of the incident with Cozy, I came to an arrangement with Headmare Twilight. In exchange for using their extensive academic facilities to further my own research, I acted as something of a supply teacher, helping cover classes for any of them as needed. I’m not one to boast too much, but several seasons of MLP, and a couple years living it, has given me a pretty solid groundwork to teach the subject of friendship and harmony, and I do enjoy it too. The other positive was that it gave Applejack a bit more free time. As I said before, at times, she could be run pretty ragged by her schedule, so it made sense to share the workload where we could.

And of course Apple Bloom was now back at school as well. And while the filly may be perfectly old enough to get there and back on her own, a certain overprotective big sister insists that the little filly be escorted by somepony, just to be safe, so that was another task split between me, AJ, Big Mac, and Granny Smith.

Yes, all in all, life on the farm was fast becoming busy. And we weren’t even near the high water mark yet. Just wait until Applebuck Season rolls around in the autumn, with the cider making right on its heels. Before too long though, we’d get used to the routine. I found myself finding my feet as it were about a week or so after Winter Wrap Up, which saw me covering a lesson for AJ.

---

“Honesty,” I was saying to the assembled class, which included the now well known exchange students from outside Equestria. “Is about truth. But let me ask you this; what is truth?”

I paused and turned around to face the class, having written the word ‘Truth’ in large, mostly neat letters on the classroom chalkboard. The students were all listening and paying close attention. Twilight’s told me before I have a natural talent for lecturing. Maybe I should have tried to do one of those TED talks before we wound up here. Around the classroom, a smattering of hooves and claws went up.

“Yes, Ocellus,” I said, calling on the school’s only changeling student. She reminds me a lot of Fluttershy, and I’ve found her to be extremely intelligent, certainly the most academic of her little group of friends.

“It’s an absolute,” she replied in her somewhat quiet voice. “Something that is inherently right and correct, that any creature can see and agree with.” I nodded.

“Yes, that’s scientific truth; the absolute certainty; something that has been hypothesised and tested by the scientific method. But let’s go a little deeper. Scientific truth is true because it can be proven by experimentation. But what about truth itself. How can truth be true?”

“That’s a tautology,” Gallus, the resident griffin, called out from a couple rows back. This set the students muttering to each other and going over their notes. Eventually, a couple more hooves and claws went up. One surprised me.

“Yes, Silverstream?” I said calling on the excitable hippogriff.

“Well, there can’t be,” she said, answering my question. “Everycreature has their own version of the truth. It builds and defines their view of the world. It’s like...the lens through which they view it. It’s our truth that the Storm King was an insane megalomaniac. But I’m sure he genuinely believed he wasn’t the bad guy, even after all the horrible things he did. That was his truth.”

“That’s belief though, Silverstream,” Sandbar said. “Believing that you aren’t the bad guy doesn’t change the truth that you are.”

“Very good, Sandbar,” I agreed. “You are somewhat right though, Silverstream. We all do have our own personal truths that colour our view of the world. And societies in general have their own truths, influenced by the times they exist in, changing the truth as it goes. Yesterday’s good may be tomorrow’s evil, and both points of view are ‘true’.”

“Well then, nothing can be true then,” Gallus said. “All our laws and beliefs come from temporary truths that change over time. If there’s no underlining absolute truth to the world, then they’re all meaningless.”

“Now there’s a scary thought,” I said as I nodded in agreement. “But in a way, you are right, Gallus.”

Turning around, I picked up the chalk and jotted a few lines on the blackboard. My Arabic is a little rusty, but being a lefty, it was much neater than my English or Ponish. All the students looked on, uncertain what the alien writing meant. After putting in all the proper grammar notation (written Arabic doesn’t actually include any vowels, you know) I turned back to the class.

“La shay' sahihun. Kula shay' musamuwhun,” I said. “Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. If there is no absolute truth, as Gallus suggests, then there is no basis for morality. The notion of honesty is null and void in the absence of a truth to be honest about. But, of course, that assumes there is no truth to be honest about.”

“But you just showed us that it can’t exist,” Silverstream said.

“No,” I gently corrected. “I showed that our understanding of the truth changes and varies. The truth itself is another matter altogether. Truth is beyond ponies, griffons, yaks, changelings, dragons, hippogriffs, or any other creatures on this world or others. It is separate from us, existing entirely independently.

“You said earlier, Gallus, that the notion of the truth being true was a tautology. And we’ve argued now over whether or not truth is real. By doing so, we prove truth’s existence. Logically, you can’t argue about anything without there being a truth existing. To say there is no absolute truth, is itself a statement of an absolute fact, an absolute truth. So, as much as our own truths may change and warp with time, the truth itself, as an absolute, continues to exist. And in turn, an absolute truth allows for a creature to be honest, or dishonest when it comes to that truth.”

I watched with a small amount of mirth as the students tried to process this interesting proposition. Maybe next week I can talk to them about perception, Plato’s Ideal Form, and the different worlds we all see and exist in. I certainly seemed to have triggered a bit of an existential crisis in poor Yona who was now staring off into space with a thousand yard stare.

With that, I ended the lecture and spent ten minutes or so doing Q&A with the students. Some ponies might mock this school and its subjects, but as you can see, we deal with some pretty heavy duty philosophy. As the bell rang, the students all filed out for the day. Most would now split their time between the library and their dorm rooms.

As for me, I had to head over to Ponyville’s other school to pick up Apple Bloom. Still, it beats grading term papers.

---

Ponyville’s other, more long standing school, is a much smaller affair than the grandiose Hogwarts-esque School of Friendship. It’s a small simple schoolhouse, mostly built out of wood, and painted a soft red colour, with a small bell perched in an equally small bell tower. Given the small population of Ponyville, there’s only really one main class at the moment, covering a few years of school. You see similar setups in far flung places like Alaska, where there can often be only a couple of pupils in a single year group.

At the moment, Ponyville’s school had around twenty students in it, and two teachers; Cheerilee and my mum. Once upon a time, it was just poor Cheerilee all by her lonesome, running the classes, dealing with the CMC and their feuds with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, taking part in governors’ meetings, running parent teacher conferences; it was a lot for one mare. When we ended up here and realised we could be stranded here a while, we all started to look for work. Mum, being a semi-retired teacher, offered to help out at the school, and was gladly accepted by Cheerilee. The pair have since become good friends both in and outside of work.

I got there just as school was letting out. The little brass bell was ringing out at the end of the day, and the students were tearing out the front door, with Mum and Cheerilee following behind. I meanwhile joined the assembled group of parents, older siblings, and other guardians who ritually gathered to collect the newly freed students. As we waited, the pony next to me struck up a conversation.

“Hey there, Bones,” Derpy, Ponyville’s resident mailmare, said. “I haven’t seen you since Winter Wrap Up. How have you been?”

Ah yes, Derpy. Back when all this was just fictional, she was the fandom’s adorable mascot. She’s certainly one of the uppermost benefits of being in Equestria. Like Pinkie Pie, she has an almost innate ability to cheer you up. She’s also, however, mother to the smartest filly in Ponyville, Dinky. The unicorn filly at first seems like any other eight year old. But if you spend five minutes with her, you quickly find that she’s smart as any adult, maybe even smarter.

“Oh, not too bad, Derpy,” I replied, touching the brim of my hat. “How have you and Dinky been?”

Derpy now got very excited, understandably so, considering the exciting news she had to share with me.

“My little muffin’s put in her application to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” she said excitedly, brimming with pride. “Twilight says there’s a really good chance she’ll get invited for an assessment in a couple of months.”

“Well, that’s great, Derpy,” I said, meaning it too. “I’m sure she’ll get in. That filly’s as smart as Twilight. She’ll thrive there; they’ll really push her, way more than the school here can.”

No disrespect to my mum or Cheerilee, but Ponyville school isn’t built to cope with a pony that’s half Time Lord. You can thank Doc Whooves for that one. The guy’s retired these days, but he still has that wonderful blue box squirrelled away in the basement of his shop. And Dinky is more than capable of flying it.

“How’s Apple Bloom been?” Derpy went on. “She and her friends have been a real help working with Dinky and trying to find her cutie mark.”

“Believe it or not,” I said. “I think she’s glad to be back at school. I don’t know why, but winter really seemed to drag on this time around. I think we were all just glad for a change in routine. Having it be all quiet on the farm gets a mite tedious after a while.”

At that moment, I picked out Apple Bloom, along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, in the crowd. The three were together, as they so often are; the now famous Cutie Mark Crusaders, boasting branches in Manehattan and Griffonstone. The three of them were chatting, but getting ready to part ways for the day. Scootaloo peeled off when she spotted her aunts who looked after her while her parents were away (trust me, that one came as quite a shock when I first found out), jumping on her scooter and buzzing her wings to shoot off, complete with the sound of a moped engine. Sweetie Belle meanwhile, cantered off toward Rarity, who I think was taking care of her this afternoon until their parents got back from Canterlot.

As for Apple Bloom, her sharp amber eyes soon picked out my stetson in the crowd, and along with Dinky, she galloped over to join us.

“Bones!” she exclaimed gleefully.

“Hey, Apple Bloom,” I said as she all but ran straight into me for a hug. “You have a good day at school?”

“Uh huh!” she said with a nod. “We’re all startin’ a project on hobbies. So I figured I could do somethin’ on potion making.”

Ah yes, Apple Bloom does have quite an interest in potions, having spent a fair bit of time around Zecora. The little filly’s creations have more than once helped with the crop yield this past year, as she’s learned to make some pretty decent fertiliser and growth supplements. She even, with help from Zecora, made up something to help Granny Smith when she came down with a bad case of the flu a couple months back.

“Oh, so what are you fixin’ to make then?” I asked. Apple Bloom pondered that one for a moment.

“I was thinkin’ about maybe one of those fast growth potions like I made last fall,” she said as we headed back towards home. “But I’ll need to get some stuff from Zecora to make it.”

“Alright,” I said agreeably. “Tell you what. We’ll drop your school stuff off back at the farmhouse, and then I’ll come with you to see Zecora. You know how AJ feels ‘bout you goin’ in that place by yourself.”

Although if you ask me, Applejack was quite right on that one. Hell would freeze over before I’d let AB into the Everfree without a guide.

So, after saying goodbye to Derpy and Dinky, we both headed back to the farm, and after dropping off her school stuff and saddlebags, the two of us set off into the Everfree, bound for Zecroa’s hut.

---

I must admit, it does seem like the Everfree Forest has slowly become less dangerous as time’s gone by. Back when I was first introduced to the place, when Twilight and her five new friends trekked through the place to reach the old castle and confront Nightmare Moon, it was dangerous as all Hell, filled with a multitude of dangerous monsters. But more recently, the place seems to have become a lot less threatening. I mean, Twilight and the others went on a merry little camping trip in there not too long ago.

Of course, this is partly due to some of the more dangerous creatures being dealt with. Celestia, SMILE, or somepony, has been busy filling up Tartarus with some of the nastier beasties of the Everfree.

The place though, is by no means safe. It’s still the Everfree, operating on a completely different set of rules than the rest of Equestria. It’s still filled with wild magic, and only held in check by the Tree of Harmony. I still actively avoid going in there unless I have to, but it’s a lot better than it was. I certainly felt a lot better about taking Apple Bloom in there these days, compared to when we first arrived.

That didn’t mean though I was going to let her go in there on her own. Even if she knows the way to Zecora’s like the back of her hoof, the forest is still full of cockatrices, cragadiles, timberwolves, never mind the ursa major. It is still the Everfree Forest. So after Apple Bloom had dropped her schoolwork back in her room at the house, the two of us set off through the fields for the edge of the forest. It wasn’t too far to the hut that Zecora called home, and it’s fairly easy to find, using the somewhat well travelled path to the old castle. Still, as we crossed the boundary and entered the darkened canopy, I couldn’t help but remember how unsettling it had been when I first woke up and found myself in this place.

Apple Bloom, for her part, in spite of the bravado she might put on, holds a similar view of Equestria’s answer to the Wild Wood. While she wasn’t outwardly scared, I noticed that she was sticking much closer to me than normal, and her ears were on a near constant swivel. I was doing the same. Ponies, being prey animals in the grand scheme of things, are constantly watchful and wary of their surroundings. My own ears and nose were giving me a lot of information about the world around us, and I was keeping a sharp eye on the trees.

The one good thing about the Everfree’s denizens, was that they were a lot like many dangerous creatures on Earth. People are careful around wolves, bears, cougars, coyotes and the like, but most of the time, if you don’t bother them, and they can’t get the drop on you, they’ll give you a wide berth and figure that you aren’t worth the effort. I kept my horn glowing as a light source to help reinforce this. Many creatures are fearful of magic, just as they are of fire.

Eventually, as we got further into the woods, with no sign of anything coming to cross our path, the two of us began to relax. Apple Bloom stayed close to me, but was no longer almost pressing herself up against my side.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. About ten minutes later, when we were about a half mile from Zecora’s hut, we ran into trouble. I first became aware of an odd feeling; the kind that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I couldn’t see anything nearby, but I got the distinct impression that we were no longer alone. Apple Bloom seemed to feel the same way, and a moment later, the two of us stopped in our tracks.

“What is it, Bones?” the filly asked in a quiet voice. I looked around, trying to find whatever it was that was out there.

“I’m not sure, AB. Just stay close to me for now, okay?” I replied, wrapping a reassuring foreleg around her.

In my head, I was doing my best to recall all the important creatures that lived in this forest, and the best ways to keep them away. If worse came to absolute worst, I could probably pull off a short teleport, at the cost of my magical reserves. First though, we needed to know what we were up against.

Finally, I spotted something. Off to one side of the trail, hidden in the darkness of the deeper woods, I caught a pair of eyes glinting in the darkness. The eerie green glow didn’t fill me with confidence. Our gazes locked for a moment. Whatever it was seemed to start, realising that it had been spotted. But it didn’t retreat. Instead, it did quite the opposite.

An ominous howl now rang out, making it very clear that we’d encountered a timberwolf, and he was calling for his pack. And when I say timberwolf, I mean literally, a wolf made of wood. There strange creatures are formed out of the wild magic that exists within the Everfree. It isn’t evil by any stretch of the imagination, but like everything in the Everfree, it is beyond pony control. Like their flesh and blood counterparts, they were predators that hunted in packs. The only good thing was that, while impossible to outright kill, a solid hit from a rock or anything else would temporarily break them apart.

At my side, I heard Apple Bloom let out a soft whimper as the howl rang out. She was most likely the reason they’d decided to pick on us. A foal was much easier to pull down than a full grown stallion. Now they’d look to try and separate us so they could get at her. Well, I wasn’t about to let that happen.

As I said before, the best way to see off encounters like these was to convince the wolves that we were more trouble than we worth. If it became plain that it would take too much effort, they would most likely withdraw and look for other sources of food. I took a look around. There were seven pairs of eyes, arranged on either side of the trail, but they hadn’t encircled us. In fact, at the moment, they seemed more curious than anything else. They were sizing us, or more likely me, up. Time to show them I wasn’t worth it.

Reassuringly patting Apple Bloom, for a moment, I did my best to scare the timberwolves off. I didn’t stare at them; next to running, that’s the worst thing to do. They’d take that as a challenge, and you then just go from ‘food’ to ‘threat’. Instead, I made as much noise as I could, roaring like a horse, rearing up and down, pawing at the ground, tossing my head, as well as bringing my magic in on things. I fired off a couple simple light spells over the wolves, which detonated like little fireworks. Due to the risk of starting a forest fire, I kept any real fireworks as a last resort.

At first, the pack stood their ground. They ignored the shouting and roaring and the general display I was putting on. But the moment I used magic, and sent it in their direction, they took off. The eyes vanished and we heard the sound of wooden paws hurrying away. At least for now.

With the immediate threat over, I turned to Apple Bloom, who, despite her best efforts, looked visibly shaken.

“It’s okay, Apple Bloom,” I said, briefly leaning down and pulling her into a hug. “They’re gone now.”

After that, the two of us hurried to Zecora’s hut. Having lived in these woods for as long as she has, all the animals know to give her a wide berth, and the area around her home is pretty much safe. I kept my eyes and ears open, but the timberwolves showed no sign of returning, I was worried that they might just circle back after the initial shock and begin stalking us again, but I saw nothing to suggest that.

Before too long, we reached Zecora’s hut. After helping Apple Bloom gather supplies she needed for her school project, the zebra shaman was kind enough to join us on the journey back to the farm. Needless to say, we weren’t bothered by the timberwolves on the return trip.

---

That weekend saw us engaged in something far less stressful than wandering through the Everfree Forest. While winter had been wrapped up for a couple of weeks, there were still a few things to do on the farm as spring truly took hold. One of those involved the cattle that reside on Sweet Apple Acres.

The farm, you see, doesn’t just have apples. In addition to the various other crops, we also have a modest cattle herd and sheep flock, in addition to the chickens and pigs. While the latter are part of the farm; the chickens for eggs and the pigs for fertiliser and disposal of spoilt crops, the former are in a more unusual position. Both cattle and sheep are somewhat sentient, capable of speech and rational thought. As I’ve said before, they occupy a bit of a morally grey area in Equestrian society, at least by human standards. Of course, they aren’t slaughtered for meat; the cattle provide milk, while the sheep provide wool, with both species helping to keep the open grasslands of the farm in check through grazing. I suppose you could say there’s a sort of symbiotic relationship; in return for their milk or wool, ponies provide them with food and shelter in the colder winter months, as well as offering help whenever they need anything in the way of medicine. They also work as day labor, helping to pull carts and the like. While they might be able to speak, they are still animals if you will. They don’t build houses, and their society is just the same as any cow herd or flock of sheep you might find on Earth, only they can talk.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Moral quandaries aside, we look after these animals. That meant for the last few months, the sheep had been moved down to lower winter pastures, which were sheltered and offered better grazing, while the cattle had been moved into the sheds, both to protect them from the cold and to stop them poaching the ground and turning half the farm’s open grassland into a quagmire. With the onset of spring though, it was time to change that. The cows would be led back out onto the open range, and sheep would head up to their summer grazing pastures.

In short, we had ourselves a good old fashioned cattle drive. And by God was I looking forward to it. Okay, it wasn’t like we were taking 3,000 head of two year old steers up the Chisholm Trail, but it was still a proper cowboy cattle drive. This herd was more like fifty, and given their nature, would be a lot easier to herd, considering you could just tell them where you wanted them to go. We were more of an escort than anything else. Still, I was looking forward to it.

We’d lead the cattle out and once they were all set out, they’d be turned loose to do as they pleased. With fifty cattle to move, we needed all the help we could get, so everypony was getting involved; me Applejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Winona, the family’s beloved Border Collie. We even had a little bit of extra help this year, as Sugar Belle; Big Mac’s girlfriend, had offered to lend a hoof.

And so, that morning we all gathered to start the drive. The cattle had been turned loose out of their winter sheds, and were presently milling about and grazing. Applejack would be in charge of the fairly short drive to the grazing pastures, acting as trail boss, to use the parlance of the exercise. I, along with Big Mac, would be up near the front of the herd, where we would help steer the herd as point men. Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom would be further back, keeping the main body of the herd from straying as swing men, while AJ and Granny would be at the rear, helping to drive the herd forward.

It was certainly quite a sight that morning. I couldn’t help but think back to that famous scene from Red River. At the start of the cattle drive, all the cowboys let out a yeehaw to get the cattle moving. We were no exception. As the morning sun rose above the eastern horizon, we heard Applejack call out.

“Alright! Move ‘em out!” she called from her spot at the rear of the column.

Apple Bloom started it, with her own, high pitched and excited yeehaw. Big Mac soon picked this with his own much deeper version. Sugar Belle took after her boyfriend, letting out a good approximation of a buffalo war whoop. Granny Smith let out an oddly Australian cooee, while Applejack gave us her own signature yeehaw. As for me, well, like Sugar Belle, I harkened back a little further in history, and let loose my best go of the ancestor of the yeehaw, the old Rebel Yell. The noise was more than enough to get the herd moving and we were soon underway.

Heading away from the barns and cow sheds, we threw the herd onto the trail. It would probably take most of the day for us to get the herd to pasture, but the only real obstacle was the river, which ran from the Everfree, through the farm and on over to Ponyville. But there was a serviceable ford for us to use, although given how much snow had melted since Winter Wrap Up, it might now require a bit of swimming.

To start with, the herd strung itself out, becoming a long, flowing column of cattle, which moved along at a steady pace. As I said before, we were more a guide or escort than anything else. You see, while they might be able to talk and hold a conversation with you, to the point that you wonder why they’re still treated more or less as we would animals, the cattle still retained many of their basic instincts. A sudden start could set them stampeding. Confronted with the river crossing on their own and they would balk. And if left to their own devices, they’d wander all over the place, doing all sorts of damage to the orchards and fields. That was why we were herding them as we were.

Still, for the most part, it was an easy enough undertaking. Big Mac and I effectively steered the herd along their course, keeping the leaders up front on the right track. The cows were friendly with the both of us, knowing us both well from their time in the sheds over the long winter.

“So, you lookin’ forward to gettin’ back to greener pastures Mooriel?” I asked one of the lead cattle.

“Oh, we sure are, Bones!” she replied in that oddly Wisconsin accent all the herd seem to have. “Being cooped up in those sheds is nice enough when it’s so cold outside. But now that it’s so much warmer, it’ll be great to have an open range again.”

“I bet,” I agreed. “I gotta admit, this winter really did seem to drag. I’m glad it’s over now.”

At this point, we heard the sound of hoofbeats coming up as AJ cantered up the column.

“Pay attention, you two,” she said to Big Mac and me. “Some of the youngsters are startin’ to stray off the trail.”

Cattle are curious beasts by nature, and so when they see something interesting, they do have this annoying tendency to wander off. Further back, the job of getting them back would fall to the swing men, but this far up, it was my job.

“You okay to keep the lead, Big Mac?” I called across the herd.

“Eeyup,” came the reply.

So I peeled off with Applejack, headed after five or six head of cattle that had wandered. We had been passing by the apple orchards at this point, and several of the youngsters had gathered around one of the trees, nibbling at the young shoots on the lower branches. AJ came at them from the right, and I from the left.

“Alright y’all,” our trail boss called out. “C’mon. Vamoose! Back to the herd with ya!”

The calves all looked up in surprise and, startled, started away from us. But as we had come wide from two different directions, we were able to check their flight and get them turned around. Presented with the sight of the herd, they soon rejoined their worried mothers, allowing us to return to our usual posts.

That pretty much set the tone for the day. A cattle drive, at least back on Earth, meant long hours in the saddle. Here it meant a long day on your hooves with little rest. Still, it was nice to make our way through the farm like this. It wasn’t too often that I went up to the open grasslands of the farm, apart from when we went out to check the fence line. The steady drive was punctuated by occasional strays, but other than that, all was quiet. It was mid afternoon when we came in sight of our one major obstacle; the river.

---

As we’d feared, melting snow had turned the normally fordable river into a torrent which would need to be swam across. The cattle all instantly balked at the state of affairs and the column quickly turned into a large mass gathered at the water’s edge. A couple of them tentatively dipped their hooves in the water, but quickly thought better of it. All of the ponies had also gathered to try and work out what to do.

It would take a good couple of weeks for the river to subside, and we couldn’t turn the cattle loose here so close to the orchards. Truth be told, the river acted as a sort of natural barrier between the orchard, the seeded fields, and the grazing pastures. Nor could we camp out here and wait for the river to subside. In the end, Granny Smith came up with the first suggestion.

“Why don’t we get Bones to use his magic to carry the cows across?” she suggested. We’d told everyone about the little stunt we pulled during Winter Wrap Up, and this seemed like an opportunity for a second application. However…

“I don’t know, Granny,” I said, taking a look at all the cattle. “Lifting one pony is one thing. There’s no way I could move the whole herd. Even if we did it in batches or one at a time, by the time we got about half way, I’d be exhausted, and then we’d have the herd split up on each side of the river.”

“What about building a bridge or a raft?” Sugar Belle offered.

“Nnope,” Big Mac replied. “The ground’s too soft on the river bed. We tried it a few years back. Any posts you put in the bed wash away, no matter how much you dig them in.”

I thought back to what little I remembered of old western stories of cattle drives. Water bound herds were a common problem on the trail. At least we didn’t have to worry about other herds behind us intermingling with our own. Although I did recall one, albeit somewhat unkind way of getting a balked herd to move.

“Why don’t we rope one of the calves and swim it across,” I suggested. “If anything will move these cattle, it’ll be a crying calf. They’ll just follow after it, forgetting their own concerns.”

“No way, Bones,” Applejack said firmly. “These cows are our friends, and I sure as hay ain’t gonna put some little calf in danger like that.”

In the end, it was little Apple Bloom who came up with the idea. Turns out those old Bible stories I’d sometimes tell her were paying off as she remembered a certain miracle from Exodus. While my magic wasn’t powerful enough to move the cattle, it was powerful enough to move the water. We couldn’t stop the flow outright, as that would flood everything upstream, but I could use my magic to channel the water over us. In effect, I could create a tunnel for the cows to pass through, although I wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. After much deliberation, it was agreed that this was the best option, and after putting it to the herd, they were equally agreeable, if not entirely cognisant of what would be happening.

So, having prepared the herd, I stepped into the river. It was reasonably easy to ford, despite the fast flowing water. While the water was constantly trying to push me over along with the current, given that it was reasonably shallow, I was able to dig in with my hooves and keep a firm footing.

The spell I’d be using was mainly a shield spell, something that I’m particularly good at, in light of my special talent. Just don’t go asking me to throw up a shield around Canterlot any time soon. Essentially, I’d create a semi-circle barrier around myself, forcing the water up and over me. I’d also add a channel on the top to keep the water from simply spilling off to the sides. The only opening would be at either side of the river, allowing the cattle to pass through.

Standing in the middle of the river, which let me say was bloody freezing cold, I began. I figured the best way to do this was to start behind me, and then bring the shield forward until it completely blocked the flow of water. Steadily, a dark blue arch began to form over me. For a few moments, the water rose as it had nowhere to go, and I got a brief soaking as the water channelled up the half finished barrier. But a few moments later, I was able to look up and see the perplexing sight of water rushing straight over my head.

It wasn’t an easy spell to pull off. I could feel the weight of the water pushing against my magic, and it was taxing to hold the flow of water aloft like this, so I quickly called out to Applejack.

“Okay, AJ! Bring the herd through. One at a time!”

Applejack and the others quickly got the herd moving. While a little uneasy about the situation, they did begin to move through my improvised archway. The river bed underfoot was muddy and slippery, but they showed no signs of bogging. Apple Bloom and Sugar Belle followed the leaders through, helping to guide them away from the river’s edge and stop the herd crowding. We needed to keep them moving. Celestia knew I couldn’t keep this up forever. By the time we were about two thirds of the way through, I was flagging.

“AJ!” I called out over the sound of the river. “You need to hurry this along. I can’t hold it much longer!”

In response, AJ did her best to hurry the herd. As we hit forty, my magic was starting to flicker and fizzle. I was getting near the limit of my endurance. Magic may be a muscle of sorts, but pushing yourself beyond your natural reserves, more often than not, does more harm than good. ‘Just ten more head’ I tried to tell myself.

As the last heifer cleared the river, I ran out of juice. My magic faltered, sputtered, and finally stopped, and with that went the arch. I’d planned to slowly ease it back, so as to reduce the effect of the water hitting me again. As it was, the water that was going over dropped on me like a tidal wave, and combined with the return of the strong current, knocked me off my hooves. For a few sickening seconds, I was under the water, too disorientated to swim. Luckily, a moment later, I felt some strong hooves grab my own, and I was bodily pulled from the river and back onto the bank.

Landing on the soft grass, I let out a cough as I did my best to get my bearings again. I was lying on my front, having been pulled from the river. Behind me, the herd, along with Granny, AB and Sugar Belle had gathered on the opposite bank. In front of me meanwhile stood Big Mac, who oddly, looked a little displeased. I assumed he had pulled me out.

“Thanks, Mac,” I said, too exhausted to notice his expression. “Did the herd all get through? And where’s Applejack?”

“Down here,” she said as her brother snorted in disapproval.

That was when I realised I wasn’t resting on grass, I was straddling a somewhat amused looking Applejack. I guess that explains why Mac looked a little annoyed; big brothers for you. Our eyes met.

“Oh...hey,” I said awkwardly.

“Hey yourself, sugarcube,” she replied with a grin. “As much as I like bein’ the one pinned down for a change. I think you might wanna get off me before Big Mac loses his cool.”

Blushing up to my ears, I scrambled back to my feet and did my best to put some distance between me and Big Mac.

---

From there, the three of us crossed the river to join up with everypony else. They were all impressed by the feat I’d managed to pull off. And Sugar Belle managed to get her boyfriend to ease off, pointing out that it was just physics and his sister’s incredible strength that left me and AJ in our uncompromising position. Still, I’m no better with Lizzie around Dewdrop, so I’ve no right to throw stones. And Mac is a lot more accepting of me now than when AJ and I first started going out.

With the herd across the river, they were turned loose to do as they pleased. They’d still provide milk to the farm of course, but we’d only be seeing them every now and then, instead of being around them in the sheds every day. The large creatures even jumped in excitement at being out on the open range again.

With the herding complete, the six of us recrossed the river again and headed back for home, the warm spring sun helping to dry our coats.

Author's Note:

Proofread by Sweetolebob18.

So, a little more action this time around. I found myself re-reading 'The Log of a Cowboy' the other week and got to thinking about what the Apples do with the sheep and cattle we've seen on the farm.

Speaking of, where do you guys stand on the whole cattle vs ponies debate? Is it slavery, symbiosis, or just something that Hasbro execs didn't think through and now we're all overanalysing?

Comments

[Hawkx1]

Officially C, head canon is now B

[PinkDragonJr]

honestly with a lot of things, especially early MLP it was more 'what can we do to make a point to children. ' So it was more an agency tool for the writers than something that even crossed an exec's desk, let alone be considered in any capacity.
And yes, definitely over-analyzed by the community.
Which is one of the reasons I like MLP fan fiction over a lot of others. the blase approach about throw-away presentations gives so much more room for interpretation. Background ponies are the best example of this. Most had no lore or canon attached to them in the show. A lot still don't but the community took one brief appearance of a random pony and used image that to create whole character traits that are now head canon for most of the community. Lyra, Bonbon, Derpy and Vinyl Scratch are the best examples of this. you know who these ponies are, what they do and what they are like. All of this, right down to their very names, are fan created. It wasn't until much later that the show incorporated some of these fan made traits into the characters (while ignoring others, for reasons. looking at you Muffins).