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]

"I can do that." It was a date, then. "Guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you?"

[morganknight]

Unless somehow he ended up with a girl stuck in his body, but what were the odds of that happening?

"Maybe too much. You might have nightmares about me once I start really putting you through some paces." He paused, then. "Um, is that a horrible expression to use in this case?" Because despite it having entered into common usage, Morgan had realized that it originally applied to, well, equines...

[appletastic]

Applejack had to think about that for a moment. "I'll let it slide, alright? And don't be so sure you won't have nightmares after dealin' with me," she grinned not-so-innocently.

[morganknight]

"I think I'm less likely to have nightmares about it and more likely to have laryngitis," he said, trying so hard to keep a straight face -- but the corners of his mouth kept twitching, and he couldn't hide the wicked sparkle in his eyes. "At the very least, this whole experience might leave me..." Wait for it. "A little hoarse."

[appletastic]

Applejack groaned. Oh, just great. Perfect.

"Nah, y'all don't have to worry about that happening. Don't think I've ever seen anypony change like that."

Yeah, just playing along here.

[morganknight]

The groan earned a laugh. He leaned backwards, propping himself up with his hands to look up into the air. "It was a bad joke, but I could. Believe it or not."

[appletastic]

Applejack needed two seconds to consider that.

"Nah, don't believe it." She needs more than that.

[morganknight]

"Really? There's no magic on your world that would let one creature take the form of another?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. Granted, he'd only seen minor feats of magic from Rarity, but he'd also been in the presence of Princess Celestia, who gave off an aura of... possibility.

[appletastic]

"...don't think so," she said slowly. Nah. Couldn't be, right?

[morganknight]

"And after everything you've seen, done, and been through, you don't think it's possible?" he said, waving a hand lazily in the air to encompass all of everything. Then he looked at her slyly. "Or maybe you think I'm just boasting and making stuff up, hmm?"

[appletastic]

"Could be," she shot back, lifting an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be the first person talkin' a load, but I put more faith in you than that. I just haveta wonder."

[morganknight]

"I can do a lot of impressive things," he said, still amused. "But to be more specific, there's a certain level of understanding of how living creatures work, and the deeper your understanding, the more you can do. You remember I helped you sleep, once, right? That's part of that general understanding. I have a pretty deep knowledge of that sort of magic, because for some time I was working very hard to get that knowledge so I could heal my sister." The one he'd suggested she name the tree after, at that.

"Actually, I've never taken on the form of another sort of living being. But I know I can do it. The knowledge was just... incidental to learning what I really needed to do."

[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.