> The Secret Success Of Sweet Apple Acres > by DerpyStarlet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Work As Usual > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the crack of dawn At a chickens call A cowgirl arises Ready for all A farmer at heart An apple to the core Applejack the honest Reliable, hard-working, and more Ready to go Raring to go But breakfast comes first It’s healthy you know After she starts her day With a plate of oats and hay She gets herself going With work and not play Tending the farm Working the fields Fixing the barn Seeing what the crop yields Gathering lots of apples Apple tree bucking All this work she tackles And she keeps on trucking A figure crests the hill And heads deeper into the farm But the farmer smiles For the figure means no harm She intercepts the figure And looks him up and down And just by looking at him She knows he’s from out of town “Howdy there, partner! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Best apples in Equestria, And we ain’t no fakers!” The cowgirl smiles pleasantly The stranger smiles back They shake hooves And he answers with tact “So I’ve heard, And I was hoping to buy. But it’d be just great, If I could give your wares a try?” “Well, sure Sugarcube. Come and follow me. I’ve got fresh produce, Straight from the tree.” And so the farmpony led Deeper in they tred The stranger unknowing And the cowgirl carefully goading They reached the barn And the cowgirl swung around Picking a tree and bucking Then picking the apple that fell from the ground The stranger takes it Being sure to wipe any dust away He bites into the succulent fruit And swallows to say: “These are great, as always. Though one things not clear, How do you make them so good? That’s what I’d like to hear.” The farm pony chuckles The question is asked countless amounts And each time presents an opportunity And she takes this opportunity into account “That right there is a secret And well kept one to be honest, But I’m feeling generous So I’ll show you what makes our apples the best.” And so she leads him into the barn The stranger follows behind her The door shuts and locks Leaving them stuck in there Neither of the two panic For the stranger assumes it was meant And it very much was He just didn’t know the intent “This here’s where the magic happens We make our own fertilizer right there And it sure does stink But I’m sure you can bear.” “The fertilizer certainly smells As I’m sure you can tell. But it smells like something dead Or is that all in my head?” The cowgirl chuckles darkly Pulling a hidden object out of the hay She makes sure it’s clean Before turning to him to say: “I apologize for that I really do But this fertilizer Is not merely poo.” “A body contains all the nutrients we need And we’ve realized something wonderful. If we put that in when we plant the seed It greatly improves the crop and makes it tasteful.” “That must be the smell But don’t pay it any heed You won’t have to worry anymore Once I’ve done the deed.” The stranger trembles in fear at her speech For she had since revealed her object A knife that had been cleaned with bleach Making it clean and letting light reflect He wanted to cry out He wanted some help But it mattered naught If he uttered a single yelp For they were deep in the orchard And the barn muffled all sound And no matter if he tried hard His cries would be bound The cowgirl lunged and he squealed The knife plunging into his stomach and up The body slumped and the knife clattered The cowgirl left the body to cleanup Washing her hooves in a nearby trough And cleaning the knife in kind She grins down at the body Thanking chance for her lucky find With her hooves cleaned of all trace And the stranger dealt with easily She leaves the barn at a quick pace Getting back to her chores giddily Moments later, she’s joined by a sound The sound of joyful laughter She looks up and around Looking for the source to the noise The owner makes themselves known They come up on her and she pauses They smile kindly at each other The newcomer speaks up “Hey Applejack! How’s work?” Asks a pink party pony Hopping in place giddily Her eagerness definitely isn’t phony “We just met our quota Thanks to the latest resource we’ve earned.” Applejack thinks back fondly While her friend smiles, unconcerned “That’s great to hear! Say, you wouldn’t have seen my new friend? He was headed here But I don’t know where he went.” “He arrived a while back But he’s not with us anymore. He departed in fact If only you’d stopped by before.” Her friend only frowned slightly Then she returned to regular Not sensing anything shady Smiling and none the wiser “Okay, I’ll keep looking He couldn’t have got far. Good luck with your working, I’ve got a pony to search for.” As her friend hopped off, aloof And she returned to the task at hoof She couldn’t help but feel satisfied About the stallion that died A twisted grin And a merry tune And Applejack keeps bucking Long into the afternoon She made sure to lock the barn So no ponies will go wandering where they shouldn’t And now she must wait Though she almost feels like she couldn’t At a giddy pace The work speeds up greatly The time is never a waste And the work is done enthusiasticly The day continues without interruption And her work is finished with gumption As she retires to bed after the days ordeal She thinks on it’s mundane feel It was just work as usual And every weeks the same old routine Eat, work, sleep, repeat Even if she harbors a secret noponies seen There at Sweet Apple Acres With the best apples in Equestria And Applejack will do whatever it takes her To keep it that way