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

[appletastic]

"So...wait," she thought, trying to wrap a lasso around the concept. "You just learn a lot about stuff and do it?"

[morganknight]

He'd rambled too much, and frankly was a little embarrassed by it.

"Look at it this way," he said. "If I wanted to plant an apple seed and have it grow into a tree that produced delicious apples, I'd have to learn a lot about planting, watering, growing cycles, and all of that, right? Then I could use that sort of knowledge when I was planting other things."

[appletastic]

"So it's fancy thinking." No, she wasn't going to get it. But she'd just have to settle for accepting that these people had strange and mysterious ways.

[morganknight]

"No, no, it's not fancy..." And Morgan was too stubborn to give up that easily. "Okay, how about this? You're good at bucking apples off of trees, yes?" Of course she was, the question was a rhetorical conversation device.

[appletastic]

"Sure am," she answered, tilting her head. Where was he going?

[morganknight]

"Well, you never trained to kick people, I'll bet, but you could still give someone a real good kick because you know how to shift your weight and put power into your rear legs, right?"

[appletastic]

"So...you get good at one thing that can do other things?"

Those were a lot of things.

[morganknight]

He nodded. That was about the size of it! "Changing the form of other people is a lot harder than changing myself. So when I sat down to learn how to heal someone else of a serious condition, I was able to use what I learned on myself too."

[appletastic]

"Oh! So that's how it gets easier." She's getting it now...as much as she ever will. "Guess it's hard with somepony who's not your shape, huh?"

[morganknight]

"Science and magic both teach that every animal, human or pony or anything else, is a hundred times more alike than they are different," Morgan said with a smile. "You're just as easy to work with as another human. You personally, a little bit easier, actually!"

[appletastic]

That surprised her. "How so? I thought it'd be easier for y'all to work together, with your thumbs and things." With the way she tripped on 'thumbs', it was clear it wasn't a usual word for her.

[morganknight]

"Well, I was speaking specifically to magic," Morgan said. "But even generally? It's always, always easier to work with someone who's friendly, helpful, and willing to do their part. Personality and attitude mean a lot more than thumbs."

[appletastic]

"Can't say no to that," Applejack laughed. "I know a few who'd be sticks in the mud, thumbs or not. No amount of cajolin' will get 'em moving along."

Or caring. Or cooperating. They were the worst.

[morganknight]

"Besides." Morgan grinned, glancing around the area Applejack had mudded up. "You haven't needed thumbs all this time. If I expected you to be worse off because you didn't have 'em, then I'd be the idiot!"

[appletastic]

"You sayin' somepony's an idiot here?" she warned, though she clearly didn't mean it.

She's not an idiot. She just doesn't like math much.

[morganknight]

"Anyone who thinks you're hard to work with or not worth it because you're a pony." He took a quick look around. "Don't see anyone here doing that, so not at the moment! Unless you already buried them under the mud," he added with a wink.

[appletastic]

"Nah. Hasn't been that bad of a day yet," she laughed. "But somepony might get buried! Day's still young."

It sounded like fun, actually. Not that she'd admit that.

[morganknight]

"Serve them right if they do!" he said, imagining a few of the darker and more serious people on the ship going under. That earned more than enough amused snickering from him to hint that he might be enjoying the image too.