My Little Pony: The New Pony in Town

1-9: Apple Bucking Is Hard ╮(╯▽╰)╭

I woke up to sunlight streaming through my barnhouse window, and Applejack clapping her tan hooves in my face.

"WAKE UP, SUGARCUBE! ITS TIME FOR APPLE BUCKING!" Applejack informed me as she shook my tired body awake.

"Nnng.... what time is it...?" I answered drowsily as I snuggled back into my hay bed.

"IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNING! NOW LETS GET GOING!" Applejack started tugging me out of bed, making no progress whatsoever.

"MAC!?! GET IN HERE AND HELP ME CARRY THIS ONE!" The next thing I know, a pair of muscly red arms had picked me up and I was sprawled out on someone's back. I was stomach down, and I lifted my head to find my carrier taking me out of my barn. I sat up awkwardly, and rubbed my eyes open.

"Goodmorning." I said to Big Mac as he kept trotting along. Warmth was spreading through my veins.

"Morning." He answered as he glanced back at me with his green eyes.

I scratched my head and stretched out my pink arms and legs. I ducked as I almost hit my head on the branch of an apple tree we passed.

"So we're gonna start bucking today?" I asked him, wanting to create small talk.

"Eeyup." He kept trotting.

".... Is it hard?... " I wasn't sure how they bucked apples anyway. Can't they just wait for the apples to fall off?

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Experience."

"Apple bucking experience...?"

"Eeyup."

"Are YOU experienced?"

"Eeyup." He was starting to frustrate me. How can somepony say such few words....? I rubbed my temples soothingly and sighed.

"Can you help me then?" I asked him hopefully as we approached a big huddle of apple trees with baskets underneath them.

He thought for a moment, "Sure."

I smiled at his change of words. He must be pretty strong, I thought. He carried me all the way here from my barn. And I'm not the skinniest branch on the tree ya know. Even though I went a whole three days without food, but this might just be my opinion.

He stopped at the huddle of trees and baskets, and eased me down so I could get off his muscled back. I felt the cold morning air hit me as I slid off, he was really warm. I kinda wished I was still up there. I shivered as I followed him over to the closest apple tree with a basket. The sun was starting to peek up from the horizon, and its rays were warm against my skin. There weren't many rays because of all the trees though.

"Sooo...." I asked awkardly, "How do we do this?"

"Like this." Mac answered as he turned around to have his torso facing the tree. He stood on his front legs and kicked the apple tree with his hind legs. The tree rattled and shook with his kick, making the some leaves fall onto his back, but they were blown off by the subtle breeze.

Suddenly, a huge wave of red apples came crashing down from the tree and into the basket. I looked back up at the tree to see it completely apple free.

"Oh my." I said with my mouth gaping as I looked at the basket.

"You're turn." He declared as he nodded at the next tree. I've never done this before. I've never done anything physical except my dances in my whole life. I'm amazed that I even have the muscle strength to walk or run. Flying was something different, even though I have wings, I don't know how to use them.

"Uh... um..." I wasn't sure how to do this.

"Just turn around."

I turned around, and had my torso facing the tree. I was starting to sweat due to my nervousness, and Mac's presence really made this difficult. I remembered how he did this, and I stood on my front legs and kicked the tree with my hind legs.

Four apples fell out of the tree. Just four.

I looked over to Mac to see him with an amused expression. I huffed and tried one more time. This time, I put all my focus and strength into the kick. I turned around, and I kicked the tree as hard as I could.

The tree rattled as I kicked it and dozens of apples came pouring down and into the basket. The shiny red apples looked really worth the bucking. I smiled and was satisfied, though I am now completely drained of all my energy.

"Good. Let's keep going." Mac said as he turned around and walked over to another tree. The sun was starting to slowly come up now, and all the wildlife was starting to wake up with it. You could hear birds in trees, and squirrels chasing each other for nuts and even apples. The dead apple leaves crunched under our hoofsteps towards the next tree.

I really didn't want to continue, for that one tree really tired me out. I tiredly clopped over to the next tree and continued my apple bucking with Mac.

~super awesome time skip because I'm a boss~

Big Macintosh's POV:

*MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA. Cough cough *sprays some kind of spray in mouth* *clears throat* MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......~Sand*

We did pretty good today. Artea got tired quick, but for some reason when she looked at me, her energy would come back and she would continue. We ended up bucking a good fourth of the all the trees, and I told her we would continue later.

"Let's continue later." I said to Artea. Her tired pink body was leaning up against a tree. She was breathing heavily, and sweat came down her forehead in little beads. Her wavy seagreen mane was now tangled and sticking to her head, limply. I had the sudden impulse to go over to her and lay down with her, but resisted. Where did that come from? I thought.

Fluttershy's image and beauty popped into my head. Oh Fluttershy, I thought again. Your voice is all I want to hear anymore. I love the way you blush at everything, and how your hooves get entangled in your elegant pink mane... I wish those were my hooves sometimes.

"M-mac?" I heard somepony say. I looked over to Artea, ending my daydreams.

"Eeyup?" I was starting to loosen up to her. Saying more words, being more responsive...

"A-are we done?" She was trembling from tiredness.

"Eeyup." I paused and looked her over again. She looked like she was about to pass out.

"Would you like me to carry you to your barn?" I asked her with a small amount of worry.

She looked up at me with her seagreen eyes. They were the same color as her mane and tail. They sparkled as she smiled up at me.

"Yes please. Thank you Macintosh." She responded gratefully as she wiped some of her sweat drenched mane from her face.

I picked up her tired body, and lugged her onto my back. She started to snuggle onto me when she was on, and she fell asleep. On my back.

Oh... I thought. This is bad... Do I still bring her back? What if she doesn't wake up when I get there? What if she DOES wake up when I get there? What will she think? What will Fluttershy think? Why am I even thinking about Fluttershy? Why the hell am I freaking out right now?

I rolled my eyes at myself, and started slowly trotting towards Artea's barn. I tried to step softly, so the crunching of the leaves wouldn't wake her. I decided that she deserves this rest, she did buck a lot of apples for a first timer.

We slowly but surely approached her barn. I stopped at the doors and gazed at the old thing. This used to be my old 'meet-up-place' with Fluttershy. She's the only mare I have ever had any kind of relationship like that with. Nopony else. Well, we don't need this place anymore, its Artea's now. That makes me one happy stallion.

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Thank you for reading!