I exit the payloader and make my way up beside her and see three earth ponies with carts behind them, the pony on the left, just a little behind the middle one has a Persian bluish gray coat with a grayish blue violet mane and light turquoise eyes. The middle pony in the front has a bluish gray coat with an Opalish gray mane and light apple green eyes. The third pony on the right, a little bit further behind the pony on the left has a Turquoisish Gray coat with dark cyanish gray mane and grayish violet eyes. I watch as the one in front flips her mane to the other side of her neck in annoyance and looks at me with a frown, then continues to lead the way down the road. I watch as Pinkie pronks down the road a little towards them, greeting them happily.

Pinkie then looks to Roger and then says to her sisters, "Come and meet Roger girls, you are going to like him." She then pronks along back towards Roger with a smile on her face.

I watch as they finally reach us and then smile at them and say, "So who are these three sisters of yers Pinkie Pie?"

She smiles widely and then is about to introduce them all when Maud interrupts her and says in a monotone voice, "Hi, my name is Maud Pie and I am Pinkie's older sister." She then looks to her sister Limestone and blinks.

Limestone sighs in annoyance at traveling such a long distance then says, "My name's Limestone Pie, and I am the oldest of Pinkie's many sisters." She turns to look at Marble and introduces her saying, "This is Marble Pie, we came here after receiving a letter from Pinkie Pie this morning saying something about some discarded rock. Can you tell us about these rocks you are getting rid of?"

I nod and then lead them towards the rock pile I have in the boneyard and say, "Howdy, mah name's Roger Sheridan and this is mah farm called Sheridan Acres. Follow me this way to the rock pile girls, they were out in mah field and in mah way. Ah couldn't work the land with them there, so ah asked some ponies if they could move them from the field onto the road. Ah then picked them up with the payloader ya see behind me on the road, then dumped them into a pile because ah don't want em."

Pinkie then looks to him and says, "You can't just give them away Roger, you will miss out on hard earned bits in these tough times!"

I stop by the pile and look at her and give her a nod, letting a sigh out saying, "Would y'all be interested in these here rocks?"

Maud gets out of her harness and approaches the large rock with curiosity in her eyes, then turns to Roger and says, "That big one there is not a rock, and shouldn't be this far away from a mountain."

I cock my head at her then say, "If it isn't a rock, what is it?"

She pulls out her pet rock and looks at it then says, "Go get him boulder, let's show them what it really is." and then throws it at the other large rock.

I stare at the odd Maud in curiosity as she tosses a small pebble against the large rock, hitting the rock and bouncing off of it. I get ready to say something but a large crack is heard from the big stone, looking up at it to notice there is a crack running up the middle of it.

Maud then walks up to the split and then taps the split and pushes one half away, tumbling to the bottom of the pile on its back and reveals a hollow center. She then turns to him with a blank look on her face and says, "It is a geode."

I look at the geode and smirk saying, "That is an impressive boulder ya have there, how did ya know it was a geode?"

She blinks and looks up at him, raising one corner of her mouth a fraction of an inch saying, "Thanks, I study rocks." She pays attention to how he is a distance from Pinkie and starts to study him.

I then smile and say, "Yer welcome." I then shift my eyes over to Limestone and then say, "So whatcha think about the pile, see anything that strikes yer fancy?"

Limestone silently sends a glare of jealousy towards Maud at how she is showing an interest in Roger and turns her attention to the pile instead and says, "There are a lot of rocks there with big potential, I will let Maud decide which rocks she desires first. Then marble and I will look through the pile after her."

I nod my head and notice how Maud is looking at me and then shuffle a little bit and say, "Is there somethin' wrong Miss Maud?"

Maud blinks and looks at Pinkie for a moment before looking at him intently, saying, "What is going on between you and Pinkie Pie?"

I look away for a bit and blush saying, "Nothing is wrong, it has been dealt with already. Why are you looking at me like that?"

She turns to her sister Pinkie Pie and approaches her, then stares directly into her eyes and narrows them slightly then asks, "Pinkie...what happened between you two?"

Pinkie flinches under her sister's intense glare and begins sweating and says, "N-Nothing happened, and it was already dealt with like Roger said."

Maud gets a little closer and narrows her eyes even more and asks again, "Pinkamena Diane Pie, tell me what happened right now or I will get mad."

Her facade breaks and she collapses to the ground, breathing heavily and looks down at the ground and answers her, "Last evening, I tried to help my friend out this season. She really wants a foal to care for, so I talked to roger and tried to get him to help her get one." She then looks up to her sister with puppy dog eyes and says, "He scolded me for it too, we are still friends though."

Limestone looks at Maud with wide eyes as she hardly ever uses her glare for anyone, then shakes her head in disappointment at Pinkie and says, "You did something very bad Pinkie, and you could have lost a friend over it."

Marble watches Pinkie and gets out of her harness and steps in front of Limestone and glares at her, intent on her to fix her harsh comment.

She blinks a couple of times and relents to Marble's glare saying, "You have learned a valuable lesson with that scolding Roger gave you, so learn from it and be sure it never happens again."

Maud pats Pinkie on the head saying, "There there Pinkie, cheer up now." She then goes over to the rock pile and pushes the other half of the geode off the pile, then pushes both halves into a separate pile and returns to searching through them.

I watch as she picks up her pet boulder and places him back in a pouch and starts to set quite a few rocks aside, then looks to her sister and tells her to look through the pile.

Limestone looks to Roger with a curious eye and looks to her sister saying, "Come on Marble, let's look through the rest of this pile for anything that we could use on the farm."

I watch as Limestone and Marble both glance back at me from time to time and turn my head to Maud and ask, "Do ah look funny to ya?"

She turns to look at him closely up and down, then shakes her head side to side saying, "No you don't. You look good to me. Why?"

I then scratch my chin in confusion and then say, "Ah'm just wonderin' because those two keep lookin' back at me."

Maud looks to her sisters and notices that they both are blushing furiously, immediately figuring out why and turns back to him saying, "The season starts early for most of us Pies. They are good at controlling themselves, as am I." She then smiles ever so slightly at him.

I then sigh and say, "Ah guess ah know where ah'll be visiting before the sun sets tonight."

Limestone and Marble both finish looking through the pile as Limestone says to her, "What do you think Marble, is this a good pile or not?"

Marble looks to her sister and looks the pile over, then nods her head once in answer.

She nods her head and smiles at her, then turns to Roger and says, "Well handsome, I mean Roger, we will take the whole pile for about four hundred bits. Does that sound like a deal to you?" Her tail lightly twitches behind her as her eyes travel down his body, wondering how he reproduces before shaking her head clear of those distracting thoughts.

I look at her and nod my head saying, "Yep, that sounds lahk a fine deal to me miss Limestone Pie." I then turn to look at Maud and then say, "So miss Maud Pie, did ya find all the rocks you wanted?"

Maud looks to him and nods her head saying, "Yes, I can offer 1,000 bits for them. Does that sound fair?"

I then look at her and nod my head and say, "We have a deal Miss Maud Pie, do either of ya need help to load the rocks into yer wagons?"

Limestone and Maud both shake their heads no as Limestone says, "We appreciate the offer, but Marble and I work on a rock farm about 50 miles South West of Ponyville. We saved some time and came here by train from Apple Loosa."

I scratch my chin in thought and ask, "Does that keep ya busy over there? Is it just the two of ya out there?"

She nods and then replies, "Yes it does, and no we don't. The rest of my family lives out there with us two."

I nod my head and say, "What is the weather like over there, how often does it rain?"

Limestone cocks her head to the side and then says, "The weather there is usually dry with an occasional rain about once or twice a month, the heat isn't so bad once you get used to it. There is also a near constant, howling wind that keeps you somewhat cooled off."

I then sigh and say, "Well that sounds like it wouldn't be bad for growing cotton, except the wind would pose an issue. Ah may hafta rent some land fer a season beside yer farm, if ya wouldn't mahnd talking it over with the rest of yer family about me lookin' into tryin' to raise some cotton out there. Just write a letter and tell me what y'all decide awright? Ah'll keep an eye out for other possible locations it can grow."

She reluctantly nods her head with a slight blush coming to her cheeks then says, "Okay, I will be sure to do that." She then pulls out a bag of bits and removes the amount and hands it towards Roger.

Maud then counts out a few bits and hands them over to him with a bare hint of a smile and says, "Thanks, have a good day Roger." She then turns around and gets back into her harness and heads over to Limestone's pile first to get those two loaded and waits for them to get their wagons into place.

I accept the bits and say, "Well, if ya need any help, all ya hafta do is just ask. Ah have bales to pick up and put away, and a field to flatten and prepare for planting. Oh, what the hell, let's just git y'all loaded up and on yer way back home."

Marble smiles a little and softly whispers, "Thank you for helping us out." then returns to her harness and waits for Limestone to be loaded first.

I make my way to the pile and pick up a few rocks from Limestone's pile and start carrying them to Marble's wagon and place them in there towards the front and say, "Where ah come from it is first come, first served." I then head back to the pile as Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy start to pick up rocks from the same pile, then place them into Marble's wagon as Limestone gets into her harness and turns her wagon around.

It takes a few minutes until the rock pile is loaded into the two wagons as I watch Marble turn her wagon around to head down the road, then stop and wait for her sister Maud to join them. I then look to Maud and ask her, "How do ya want to load the wagon? Do ya want the small rocks loaded first or the big bastard?"

She then looks to me and says, "Load the small ones first. Tomorrow I will pick up the big one."

I then nod and say, "Don't ya live on the farm with the other two? That is quite a ways to travel."

Maud shakes her head and says, "No, I live in the crystal cave close to Ponyville, it is not far for me."

I then nod and begin loading the rocks with the others helping me out, taking only five minutes to get her pile into her wagon and wave goodbye to her as she and her sisters walk down the road as Pinkie goes with them and say, "Have a good evening you girls."

Applejack waves goodbye to Pinkie and hears Fluttershy yawn and says, "Ya better git on home shy, ah'm sure yer friends are mighty hungry right now. Ah'm gonna stay and watch Roger tonight, since nopony was with him last night. Can you let my family know that ah'm watching over Roger tonight?"

Fluttershy smiles tiredly and then waves goodbye to Roger and Applejack and says, "Of course I can do that for you Applejack, that is what friends are for. Goodnight Applejack and Roger, I can come by tomorrow so we can start on getting the critters moved to different homes. I can even bring my pet Angel with me to help out, see you tomorrow sometime in the morning."

I wave goodbye to Fluttershy and then look to Applejack and ask, "Before we hit the hay, can ya help me get rid of a bedbug infested mattress?"

She then nods her head with a smile and says, "Eeyup ah sure can, ah hate those little buggers so lead the way pardner."

I send Applejack up to the house while I take the payloader to the house and park it, shaking my head at knowing that I still haven't picked up those bales yet and make my way to the house as the sun sinks further towards the horizon. I open the outer door for her and follow her into the house, then lead her to the guest bedroom and lift the queen sized mattress off the box spring. We then set it on its side as Applejack holds it up with her hooves, working together to slide it over the floor and out the door. We then drop it beside the bucket and then return for the box spring, dumping it into the bucket before the mattress for extra support for the coil spring mattress. I then look to her with a soft smile and ask, "Would ya mahnd makin' dinner tonight? Ah always wondered what your cooking tastes lahk when ah saw the food that ya made."

Applejack smiles and nods her head saying, "Ah can do that fer ya pardner, go dump those mattresses off and park that machine. By the tahm ya git yer evenin chores done, dinner will be ready."

I chuckle and say, "Awright Applejack, ah'll git right on that. Ah'll be back in a couple hours after ah finish milkin' the cows. If ya can't reach something on a shelf, there's a folding step stool between the counter and the fridge."

She nods her head and smiles saying, "Awright then, ah'll use that time to think of what to make fer ya." She then heads into the house to begin searching for what she has to work with.

A couple hours pass by as I finish the last of my chores, thinking to myself, 'Ah need to burn that hole out that has those pig corpses in it, before Rarity comes by in a few more days to wash that hog barn. That is a problem to worry about after ah git mah fields prepared, then ah gotta find out who has the land over by the Pie's Rock Farm. A new challenge pops up every day it seems, but ah wouldn't trade this job fer anythin'.' I then head towards the house and open the door to smell a variety of delicious food coming from the kitchen, making my way there to find Applejack cleaning up the kitchen counters and say to her, "Hot damn! Ya' cook and clean? Ya'd make a damn good wahf fer someone lucky enough to land you."

Applejack looks over her shoulder at Roger and says, "Haha, very funny. Whatcha mean by that?"

I smile and then head over to the counter to help her out and say, "Well, we have an expression on our world. Let me explain how it works, Some men on earth think of potential girlfriends as fish in a vast sea. They hafta put in the effort to catch one of em. If they lose 'em, they will be sad about the loss for a bit and then will try to land another girlfriend or 'fish'."

She smiles and chuckles saying, "Oh, we have that expression here as well. Ah just thought that ya meant something different, whoponyever lands me is gonna be one lucky pony indeed. How's yer injury feelin' after liftin' them rocks. Pull yer shirt up and let's check out how it's doin'."

I pull my shirt up to my shoulders so she can check the bandage and say, "Here you go, how's that Applejack?"

Applejack carefully unwinds the wrap and checks the dressing over the wound, seeing that it needs to be changed. She then checks the other side and says, "Those dressings need changin', let's take care of that first before we eat dinner."

I lead her to the bathroom where I have the other dressings and say, "Ah keep the dressings in here for when the bandages need to be changed."

She follows him in and starts working on changing the first dressing, setting aside some gauze and rubbing alcohol to clean the wound. Slowly working the bandage away from the wound, she sees that the wound is beginning to scar over as it heals and says, "It's starting to scar already, ya have some healing power in ya. Lets wipe it down and then put the new dressing on, shall we."

I cringe as she wipes the wound down with rubbing alcohol and then applies a new dressing, then works on the other one and hear a gasp and say, "What is it, what is wrong?"

Applejack looks at the large scar in the shape of a cow's hoof and traces it with her own and asks, "What is this scar right here from?"

I feel her hoof touch the scar on my back and look back to her then say, "Well, ah got that at a rodeo when ah was 17, ah was good at ridin' bulls. One day ah rode a bull called Texas Tornado when he caught me off guard with a sudden change of direction, ah couldn't hold onto him and fell to the ground on mah stomach. Ah was tryin' to git outta the way, but one of his hooves landed on me. As the weight started to come down against mah lower back just left of my spine, two of my ribs snapped. When the hoof came to rest against the ground and crushed one of mah kidneys, some of my large and small intestine was damaged and a few feet from both had to be removed. It took me a few months to heal from that accident, as soon as ah was well enough, ah returned to workin' on the farm."

She sighs and stops tracing it and moves her hoof towards the bandage saying, "Ah'm sorry ah reminded ya of such a painful experience Roger." She then starts to remove the other bandage on his back to change it.

I sigh and answer her, "It's fine, ah'm over it now. It is just a part of lahf over there, when lahf gives ya a challenge, ya do yer damndest to beat it. If ah only had one arm or one leg, ah'd still find a way to work the farm."

Applejack resumes changing the dressing in silence, curious as to why somepony would want to ride a bull and asks, "Why did ya ride bulls if it's so dangerous?"

I chuckle and find an opportunity to improve our friendship then say, "Ah rode them because it is fun and was part of a rodeo, but there were others lahk me that rode fer fame, or even just to show the girls how brave or crazy they were. Believe it or not, bull riding is actually a much loved sport that is watched by millions of people all over the world on earth. Would ya want me to show ya a video of a rodeo from a few years ago?"

She cocks her head for a moment, then nods as she is curious about what their rodeo is like and says, "Awright, but let's eat first after ah finish this last dressing."

I grin and reply, "Okay then, let's git this finished then so we can eat."

Applejack smiles and finishes up the dressing thinking, 'Yer gonna love mah cooking. Only one better at it than ah is Granny, but she is not your age.'

Nearly an hour passes by as I finish my mashed potatoes and say, "Damn that was really good food Applejack, maybe ah should visit yer farm fer lunch or dinner."

She finishes her baked beans thinking, 'Ah shouldn't have opened that can of Bush's Beans with onion, now ahm gonna be tootin' up a storm tomorrah. Dang they are good though, at least ah'll be workin' wit' Applebloom in the orchard.'

After we finish eating dinner, I take her to the living room and pick out one of the VHS tapes and turn the TV on saying, "This thing here on the stand is called a television, ya can watch things that were recorded with a video camera by other people or are broadcast as they happen. The thing in mah hand is a VHS or Video Home System tape, this is a slightly different type that you can record things on and record over things that ya don't watch anymore."

Applejack chuckles lightly and then says, "We aren't in the stone age Rodge, those just came out five years ago fer us."

I then playfully gasp and cover my mouth with my hand in shock and say, "Oh god, there is yet hope fer yall to catch up to us humans!"

She then laughs and chucks a pillow at his head saying, "Ah resent that comment!"

I laugh back at her, letting the pillow strike me and fall to the floor. I then turn on the DVD VHS combo player, flip to the proper channel and then pop the tape in and rewind it to the beginning. I hop onto the couch with Applejack taking a seat beside me, then start to tell her who's who in the video before the rodeo begins. I then inform her about a few things that are happening in the rodeo, surprised that she recognizes a few of the events that are going on and shushes me, saying she knows about it.

Applejack sits on the edge of her seat, excitedly watching the different events and asks, "Is this the rodeo that ya were injured in?"

I look at her with a straight face and shake my head no and say, "Nah, ah ain't that young. Ah recorded this in 2002, mah niece is one of the competitors fer the barrel racin' that's comin' up. She's the one with red hair, a yellow stetson, and a yellow and red vest with chaps on a paint called Silver Dollar."

She watches intently as Roger tells her that team roping will be coming up next, then after that is the barrel racing followed by the bulldogging competition with the bronc riding just before the bull riding which is always saved for last. She watches the teams working together to catch the cows, astonished at how much practice some of the teams put in for this competition. When the barrel racers start competing, she notices that they are nearly all female and asks, "Why are there mostly women for this one?"

I watch the next racer and answer without looking at her, "Well, it was originally developed fer women some years before 1948. It originally had a figure 8 pattern, but was dropped later in favor fer the more difficult cloverleaf pattern. In amateur and youth levels, both sexes can compete. But on the professional level, it is usually an event fer only women. The next one comin' up is my niece, watch how she and her horse move."

Applejack watches closely at how close Silver's nose gets to the barrel and is amazed at how she makes it around all three barrels in just 14.25 seconds and says, "Wow, that's fast."

As the rest of the competitors make their runs, and the other event passes by with me explaining how bulldogging relies on how well and quick the bull can be wrestled to the ground. I then pause the video to explain to her how bronc riding works, and how the rider and horse are scored for a total of 100 points. With the explanations over, I resume the film until the first bull rider gets ready to sit on the bull and pause it again and say, "This next event will take a little explaining as well. A rider must stay on a bull for a total of 8 seconds or they will be automatically given a no score ride, a perfect score is 100 points but the majority of the professional bull riders score in the mid 70's to high 80's. Bull riding has a long history and has evolved from bull taming in Minoan culture, but has direct roots in Mexican contests of equestrian and ranching skills." I then drone on a bit about how a good score is given before getting back to the rodeo.

She watches as the first rider gets onto the bull, getting settled before nodding and launching out the gate right when it opens. She sees how the bull puts up a fight to get the rider off its back, succeeding after 5 seconds pass by dropping his shoulder and rolling his back to the left. She continues to watch the riders get on the bulls, with only two getting scores in the high 50's and says, "Wow that sure was somethin' to watch, what do the competitors of each event get?"

I look at her and then tell her how the prize system worked for this small town rodeo, I then smile at her and see the time is around 10 p.m. and sigh saying, "Well cowpoke, shall we hit the hay? Do ya want to sleep on this uncomfortable couch or share a bed with me?"

Applejack notices the time as well and says, "It's that late already? Wow, time really does move quickly. Ah spose we should hit the hay, ah'll share a bed with ya."

I then head upstairs as she follows me to my room and climbs into bed before me. I start to strip down to my boxers as I climb in after her and begin to doze off and say, "Goodnight Applejack, ah'll see ya when the rooster crows."

She then blushes slightly at sharing a bed with a handsome stallion and asks, "Umm, would ya mind if we spoon?"

I nod and chuckle and shift onto my side, laying my stomach and chest against her back. I then wrap my left arm around her, just under her shoulders and say, "Nope, ah don't mind at all."

Applejack gulps at feeling him press up against her and says, "Thank you Rodge, goodnight and ah'll have breakfast ready when ya git the morning chores done."

I then pull her into me a bit more saying, "Thanks Applejack, if ya ever need help on the farm with somethin', all ya hafta do is ask."

Next Chapter: Chapter 22: Getting back on schedule: Part 1 (Edited 7/23/23) Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 48 Minutes