Doing the Dirty Work [Open!]

[appletastic]

How did Applejack stand working so hard around the farm? Her secret was simple: combining work and play. She'd brought the same styl to Hydroponics, where she'd sectioned off a small patch of the ground to be a place for some of the animals to play. The grass was dug up and seeds were planted elsewhere, water was poured, and Applejack herself was pounding her legs into the dirt. Making mud! Her bright orange coat was now coated in brown, and the longer she worked, the further she sank.

But this wasn't very fun. Back home, she'd done---yeah, that was what was missing! She hopped out of her little mud pit, tracked dirt across the grass, and set off at a fast trot. "Yee-haw!"

If anypony happened to be hanging about, they'd be splattered when the large pony came crashing down, rolling in her little pit of dirt. Her hat sat some distance to the side, miraculously untouched by the splattering of mud. Surely most would know to stay away from such a display.

Comments

[morganknight]

"Well, we had people and machines to do that sort of thing. Me, personally, I only dealt with one business very directly and that was my comic book business. That one, I created," he said, pointing his thumb at himself with a proud smile. "That's my baby."

[appletastic]

"Comic books?" Applejack knew of books, of course, and sometimes she read a few, but she hadn't seen many of them. "Those funny picture stories?"

[morganknight]

"These weren't so much funny. It'd be fair to say they were like some of the life stories of people on this ship." Morgan had not failed to notices that some people around here seemed to behave like comic book characters, or at least observe the tropes and conventions of characters like that.

[appletastic]

"So they're more like regular ol' books. With pictures."

It sure sounded good to her! Something a little easier on the eyes.

"What's so exciting about those stories, though?"

[morganknight]

"The same as any stories, of course!" he said. "They're a different time and place, a different world. Reading them is exploring that world!"

[appletastic]

"Wish I could see it all," she wondered. "Just ain't the same as smelling the grass or walking the earth. But I like stories---just as long as they're not coming true and causing chaos everywhere."

That...was a sore spot.

[morganknight]

Morgan's mouth twisted to a wry expression that was closer to a smile than anything -- but wasn't, really. "We had that happen, once. It was kind of insane and I never heard half of what happened, but what I do know is enough to make me wish I hadn't been anywhere near any of it."

[appletastic]

"What did you know?" Applejack's expression shifted into a serious one. "Was it bad? Were they...y'know, dying?"

[morganknight]

"No," Morgan said, though her question brought up all sorts of painful memories for him abruptly, like a kidney shot. But Morgan was good at taking hits. "One of my friends was a comic book author. She worked for my company. Her best work had characters that were based off of people she knew, including herself. Well, somehow -- I don't know how -- the comic book version of her, and she herself, traded places."

[appletastic]

"What?" Applejack yelped, very tempted to cling to her hat. That was just wrong.

"So she's just trapped in the book forever?" Now why did that sound familiar?

[morganknight]

"Oh no! She didn't go into the book! See... in this universe, anything is possible. Like talking ponies or ships made of meat or... anything. Everything is real somewhere. So was the character that was based off my friend. Two real people switched places."

Though man, the idea of her being trapped in a book forever was, in retrospect, kind of appealing. That was a mean though and unworthy of Morgan but he thought it anyway!

[appletastic]

"That still ain't right," Applejack grumbled. "So she went'someplace else and you never saw her again?"

[morganknight]

"They were so identical, we didn't even know it had happened for a while. But they switched back, eventually... THAT part I don't know the details of. But she did come back." Not that he would pretend to be thrilled.

[appletastic]

"Phew," Applejack sighed, kicking her hoof in the mud. "All this business is a lot more trouble than it's worth, ain't it? I'd be happy farming for the rest of my days."

Of course, that's not a choice and she knows it.

[morganknight]

"I wouldn't know! I was never going to have a peaceful life anyway," he said with a laugh.

[appletastic]

"Never ever?" Applejack asked. "Were you getting into trouble as a little guy, huh?"

She could see it happening.

[morganknight]

"A little less than most kids, I think!" he said, hoping that she'd interpret kids as children and not young goats. "But once I hit around sixteen or so, man, the trouble I got into!"

[appletastic]

She'd figured it out by now, thankfully. Goats couldn't grow up into people! It just didn't happen.. "How bad?"

[morganknight]

That's lucky.

"Welllll, it's kind of a long story, but if you want to hear it... It takes a lot of background explanation, just as a warning!" Not that he minded telling it, but she might get bored with it...

[appletastic]

"I've got time," Applejack said almost too quickly, plopping back down on the grass. "Can't grow trees if you can't do a little waiting."

[morganknight]

"Well." Morgan rubbed his chin a moment, pondering how to proceed. What did he know about her world that he could use as a parallel to explain --

Wait, why did he need a parallel?

"Your world has magic on it. Do you ever sometimes feeling that magic can be more trouble that it's worth? That it can be more dangerous than good?"

[appletastic]

"Just about every day," Applejack said with a little laugh. "That's why we do some things without magic. Tends to be a big mess otherwise."

[morganknight]

This could set the discussion in an interesting light... "Well, imagine over time that it grew into two groups of people -- a small group of people who could use magic, and a large group of people who wanted to be safe, secure, and live in peace, instead of having weird supernatural creatures and magic threatening them."

[appletastic]

"I can picture it." She did imagine. She did more than imagine. Equestria felt juts like that sometimes, and she was guilty of keeping it going. "I feel it sometimes too. Only unicorn ponies can use magic where I'm from. Pegasus ponies can fly, but earth ponies like me gotta get by on our own four hooves. Sometimes their fancy-saddle magic messes everything right up."

But she was still listening, ears pitched forward.

[morganknight]

"Now imagine the second group of people managed to win over so much public support that they almost, almost crush magic out of existence in the name of safety, security, and progress."

At least this discussion was comprehensible to her! Which in itself was a little odd...