Chapter 35: Plans

It is early in the morning, when Dusk wakes up, as per usual.  He carefully pulls himself out of bed, feeling a lot more tired than usual. He starts rubbing his eyes with his hoof, trying and failing to get rid of his sleeplessness. As he stretches, he hears the satisfying *crack* of his bones, which pleases him. He walks down the stairway of the house, and out of the door, so he could get to work.

He is thankful that it is such a short walk to get to the apple farm, as long walks during the night/early morning made him feel uneasy. He didn’t like to admit that he was a bit scared of the dark. He also like the small distance between the two places, because it is quite convenient. He would hate it if he had to walk through the town just to get to the farm, as it would waste too much of his time.

He approaches the farm, and can see that Big Mac is preparing for the day of work, as he always does.

Dusk yells at him from a distance. “Hey Big Mac!” He waves his hoof in the air.

Big Mac returns the welcoming gesture, “Hello Dusk, How have you been?” Asks the towering, red stallion.

“I’ve been alright, but I’ve found out yesterday, that I should never read any of Fluttershy’s books, ever.”

The farm stallion is now quite curious, “So what types of book does she read?”

“Romance.” Dusk quickly answers.

Big Mac looks slightly disappointed with Dusk, “Now Dusk, there is nothing wrong with a good, ol’ fashion romance novel.” He lectures.

“No, no, no, you don’t understand. She reads the excessively detailed ones.” Big Mac is quite surprised with her preferred choice of books. “Think of them, as sex on paper.”

“Oh… I wasn’t expecting Fluttershy to like those sorts of books…”

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Dusk is apple bucking with Applejack near the farm house, and he is doing a bit better than usual. He has bucked a total of 25 trees before the lunch break, which are about five trees better than usual. (It still doesn’t come close to Applejack or Big Mac though.) Dusk is inside the house eating a few apples, when Applejack walks up to Dusk.

“Ah don’t think that you’ll need tah go tah work tomorrow Dusk,” Says Applejack. “Me and my friends are organizing something, and you’re allowed to come with us, if ya want.”

Dusk is quite confused, as he has no idea as to what is going on. “Wait a second, what’s happening tomorrow?”

“We are going tah have a meet up, and we’ve agreed tah let you and Zephyr come as well, because you two are in ah relationship with Fluttershy and Twi.” Explains Applejack.

“Alright then, I’m free. What time, and where?”

“11:30AM, at the Sugarcube Corner.”

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Dusk gets back to work at the farm. He can tell that his hindlegs have gotten stronger, from his work on the farm. After he bucks his 36th tree, he looks out at the orchard, and marvels at the amount of trees that the Apple family owns.

‘How the hay does Big Mac, Applejack and Caramel buck this many trees, during the Applebucking Season? There are just so many trees.’

He could see trees as far as his eyes could see, and only a quarter of the trees have been bucked. They also do it without the use of magic, every single year.

It takes about 10-20 bucks, for Dusk to knock all of the apples off a tree. As he kicked his 37th tree, he stops midway, and picks up an apple. He begins to examine the apple, to see if there are any bruises on the red fruit. Unsurprisingly, there were no bruises.

‘I don’t understand why there are no bruises on these apples. Shouldn’t apples bruise when they hit the ground from that height? What the hay is up with that?’

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Dusk had bucked 48 trees for the day, and has earned 120 bits for the day. He walks towards the Sugarcube Corner, as he intends to spend some of his bits on a snack for himself. As Dusk walks closer to the store, he examines the unique decoration, and sees that there are a few bite marks on the candy canes near the corner of the store.

He walks inside the colorful store, and looks at the vast amount of baked goods inside the store. He didn’t see all of this food the last time he arrived at Sugarcube Corner, because Pinkie converted it to a party area. He notices that neither Pinkie Pie or Mr/Mrs Cake are in the room, and that unsettles Dusk a little bit. He sees a batch of cookies with a chocolate flavored base and white chocolate chips. He reads the price card.

1 cookie = 2 bits

3 cookies = 5 bits

10 cookies = 15 bits

He decides to buy only one cookie, so he approaches the counter, and sees a small bell, and it has a small note under it. ‘Ring for Assistance’

He rings the bell, and Pinkie pops up from behind the counter, surprising Dusk. “Hiya Dusk, are you coming here for lunch, tomorrow with the girls, (and Zephy) because it is going to be super fun with all of my friends here for lunch, especially with Dashie *wink*. So are you gonna come Dusky?”

“Yeah, I’m coming here tomorrow with Fluttershy. (I need to tell her when I get back to the house.)” Confirms Dusk.

Pinkie now has an impossibly large smile on her face, after hearing the good news. “GREAT, it’s going to be so good tomorrow with all of my friends here. There are going to be cupcakes, and cookies, and chocolate, and-“

Dusk interrupts Pinkie by talking, “Yeah that’s good, but I came here so I could buy a cookie.” He points his hoof to what type of cookie he would like.

Pinkie grabs it from the display, puts it into a small paper bag and gives it to Dusk in one second. “That’ll be two bits.”

Dusk grabs the bits from his money pouch, and gives it to Pinkie. He grabs the cookie, and begins to eats the baked item. After his first bite, he realizes that it is the best cookie that he has ever eaten. It is the perfect ratio between crunchiness and softness and the flavor is heavenly. He quickly finishes the cookie while still in the store, and approaches the counter, where Pinkie is still standing.

“Pinkie, those cookies are so good, actually, they are better than good, THEY'RE BUCKING LEGENDARY! Anyway, I would like to buy 30 cookies.” Says Dusk.

“Okie dokie lokie.” She runs into the kitchen, puts ten fresh cookies in three different paper bags and gives it to Dusk in five seconds. “That’ll be 45 bits.”

Dusk gives her the required bits and gives them to her. “Thanks Pinkie.”

“No problem, See ya Dusky.” She waves her hoof with an impossible speed.

“Bye Pinkie.”

‘How does Pinkie do that so quickly?’

Next Chapter: Chapter 36: Movie Night Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 10 Minutes