A single apple fell from the apple tree and landed with a small thump in the bare hoof of a stallion. He threw it up into the air before bucking it into another tree, the apple landing squarely in the middle of the trunk.
"That be darn good buckin' right there." An orange mare said as she came up beside the stallion. "Thanks, ma." The yellow-ish orange stallion had a smile creeping up his face at the compliment. "I abviously got it from ya', everypony knows that, AppleJack."
Applejack blushed. "Come on, Sundowner. Ya know that ain't true. Yer just as good as buckin' apples as anypony in the apple family." she said to the stallion with a brown mane that had blonde strips cutting through his mane. His worn outgoggles hung around his broad neck, showing how much it had been through.
Sundowner and AppleJack lay down under the trees, talking about the catering for the Summer Sun celebration...when suddenly,
CRASH!!!
"What in tarnation!?" Yelled Sundowner as leaves and unripe apples fell from the tree above them, making Applejack pull her trademark cowboy hat over her head. Spectrum Flare was stuck, headfirst, into the apple tree AJ and Sundowner were lying down under. "Um, hey Sundowner, hi Mrs. AppleJack." Spectrum said sheepishly.
Sundowner facehoofed, while AppleJack just chuckled. "Hey there, Spectrum Flare. Need some help gettin' out of that there apple tree?" Spectrum Flare blushed and nodded a bit, his explosive mane shaking around. AppleJack just shook her head, smiling.
"Here's some practice for yer buckin', Sundowner"
She stood away from her son as he stood up from the soft grass and turned around.
"Ready there, Spectrum?" Sundowner asked as Spectrum Flare merely snorted.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He murmured. Sundowner nodded and raised his hind-legs, pushing them with full force at the trunk.
Spectrum Flare fell onto his face on the ground, followed by a few apples falling onto his head. Sundowner just laughed at his friend while AppleJack stood beside her son.
"Stop laughin' at ya friend now, won't cha?"She smacked him on the side of his head comedically.
"Ow!.. Fine.." He grumbled. Spectrum Flare just shook the apples off his head and stood up.
"Pfft. I wasn't really ready. Gosh. Anyways, we're going to be late for the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot! Hurry up and get Hayride!!" He exclaimed. Sundowner's green eyes widened to the point where you would think they would pop out.
"Now!?" Spectrum nodded vigorously to Sundowner's reply, his mainly navy blue mane getting messy and his magenta eyes frantic.
"Shoot!" Sundowner turned to face AppleJack. "Hayride's back at the barn, tell 'im to meet us at the train station, will ya, ma?" He spoke quickly, his brown hooves itching to get going. The orange mare simply smiled and nodded, agreeing.
"Bye, ma! Meet 'cha at the castle!" He exclaimed before turning to Spectrum. "Last one there be a rotten apple!" Sundowner shouted at Spectrum before running off, his hooves racing across the fruit laden grounds, leaving Spectrum to, easily, catching up to him with his strong wings.
AppleJack sighed and grinned. Those two always had a strange rivalry that was similar to her's and Rainbow Dash's. Like mother likes son, she thought. His eargness otherwise was only rivaled by his father, Caramel.
She shook her head slightly, setting her hooves on a path leading to the barn, where Sundowner's younger brother lay. Sundowner was definitely a great addition to the Apple Family, she thought. His passionate and wise, but not unkind, thoughts. Not to mention his commitment and help in rebuilding the equipment in the barn to make it not only look good, but make things much more convenient.
She let out a sigh. He certainly was an apple to the core.
-------- A/N --------
It's here! HUZZAH! The fun has been DOUBLED! I hope you like Sundowner's new name. If ya don't know what it means, it's basically another type of apple. And no, his talent IS NOT apple bucking, but is actually engineering! A big surprise since most apple family members' talents focus on apple related things. Not Sundowner, he kind of followed in his Auntie AppleBloom's steps. Anywho, hope you liked this chapter! I'll be taking down the photos since they take too long to do and we keep redesigning them. Fortunately the descriptions given in the writing are quite broad, so I'll leave their looks to your imagination! Don't forget to comment/vote if you enjoyed this story so far, and I'll see you next time! BUH BAI!
