Friday, June 24, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Uranus is waxing, so it's a good time to buy into commodities.

Early Morning

Getting up at the crack of dawn is starting to get easier, as are the morning chores. There's very little complaining as we all head to our assigned tasks.

At breakfast, Granny Smith announces, "You kids been workin' so hard all week, Ah reckon tomorry might be a nice time for a little break."

"Woohoo!" Scootaloo crows, throwing a fist in the air.

"After mornin' chores, mind."

"Aww."

Granny chuckles. "Sorry, yung'un, there's some things that can't be put off." She looks around at us. "Tomorry's gonna be a mighty hot day, they say. Thought me an' Pinkie Pie might whip up a picnic lunch an' you kids could spend th' afternoon down at th' swimmin' hole."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh agrees.

"That sounds delightful," Rarity says.

"Ah ain't spent th' afternoon at th' ol' swimmin' hole in a dog's age!" Applejack says with a grin.

"I didn't bring a swimsuit," Sonata pouts.

"Neither did I," I say.

Twilight coughs. "I, umm...had Cadance go into everyone's room and pick up a swimsuit before we left, just in case," she said. "They're all in my bag, clean, wrapped, and labeled."

"Woohoo! Go Twilight!" Sunset says with a grin.

"Heh, who knew Twilight's OCD would come in handy for somethin' cool?" Rainbow laughs.

Fluttershy raises an eyebrow. "You seriously thought we'd need swimwear on a trip to an apple farm?"

Twilight shrugs. "Well," she says sheepishly, "all those old movies with scenes out on a farm or a ranch show kids our age, y'know..." She pokes her fingers together. "At the pond, on the farm...maybe skinny-dipping or something..."

Big Macintosh snorts. Applejack shakes her head. Apple Bloom giggles.

"Y'know, you coulda just asked me if we had a swimmin' hole on th' farm," Applejack says. "Then Ah'd have told everyone t' pack a swimsuit in case we got a chance t' use it."

"Oh. Umm...yes, I...guess I could've done that," Twilight says meekly, ducking her head. We all laugh.

"What about Silver Spoon and Scootaloo?" Rainbow asks curiously.

Apple Bloom grins. "Ah did tell them t' bring swimsuits, 'cuz Ah already knew about th' swimmin' hole."

"Oh, right," Rainbow says, scratching the back of her head.

"Where is this swimming hole anyway?" Sunset asks suddenly. "I don't think I've seen it."

"Oh, it's out past th' west orchard," Applejack says. "It's about a two mile walk down from th' house."

"Two MILES?" Silver Spoon cries.

"We'll be takin' th' horses," Big Mac says. "Even us farm folk don't walk two miles in that kinda heat if'n we got horses."

"Oh! That's okay then."

"But no slackin' off today now, y'all," Applejack admonishes. "There's still a whole heapin' heck of a lot t' do today."

"We wouldn't dream of it, darling," Rarity says. "We came here to work, and we're going to work. Right, everyone?"

"Right!"

As we're all getting ready to head our separate ways for the day's chores, Pinkie pulls me and Twilight aside. "I wanna warn Sonata," she says. "I think she deserves to know instead of..." She grimaces. "Instead of having it just thrown in her face like I did."

Twilight sighs. "Okay. We'll do it tonight."

Daytime

After lunch, Rarity and I head down to the cellar to sort and pack apples. A truck is coming Sunday to pick up an order, and so far only a third of the order is packed and ready.

Rarity seems to have something on her mind. "What did you and Sweetie Belle talk about all day yesterday?"

Rarity sighs and smiles. "I just...had a very long heart-to-heart with my sister," she says. She picks an apple up, looks it over, and places it in a barrel. "Ever since we fought that..." She shudders. "Bizarre apparition, I've been doing some soul-searching. For so long, I've been so obsessed with status and society and..." She sighs. "I just...I haven't really been very understanding of my parents' simple lifestyle. They bend over backwards to accomodate my every whim, and I..."

She trails off, sorting a basket of apples.

"I've always been so obsessed with trying to impress upon Sweetie Belle the importance of being a proper and elegant lady that I never really accepted that perhaps what's best for me isn't what's best for her. I really do just want her to be happy..." She laughs softly. "I suppose we simply have different ideas about happiness." With a sigh, she adds, "Or perhaps I've spent so long trying to convince myself that all the things I surround myself with and all the airs I put on make me happy, when really I..." She looks up at me. "Really, I just need my friends and my family. I think...I think I'm ready to accept that now."

Wiping her hands on her apron, she removes her false eyelashes, which she places in a tiny plastic bag.

"I'd like you to keep these," she says. "As a token of my appreciation. You've really helped me understand that it's important to be true to myself and not try to force my family to be something they're not."

---

"From now on, I'm going to let Sweetie Belle live her own life, and if she needs my help or wants my advice, I'll always be there for her. And I won't be ashamed to be seen in public with my parents or force them to do things they're not interested in." Rarity smiles brightly.

She then produces her compact and a fresh pair of false eyelashes from her pocket. She looks up at me and blinks innocently. "What? I never said I was going to stop wearing false eyelashes. It was a symbolic gesture, darling."

I shake my head, snort, and go back to packing apples.

Evening

Before we all turn in for the night, Pinkie drags Sonata into our tent. Sonata blinks around at all of us in confusion. "You're not gonna gangrape me, are you?" she asks raspily.

"No!" Twilight cries, facepalming.

"Maaaaaybe," Pinkie says with a teasing smile and a giggle.

I groan and slap Pinkie upside the head. "Be serious," I say. "You're the one who insisted on warning her."

Sonata's brow wrinkles, her lips pursed into a small, pouty frown.

Pinkie sighs. "You're right. I'm sorry." She looks at Sonata. "We just...we wanted you to be ready for tomorrow." She looks over at me.

I take a deep breath, then face Sonata squarely, looking her in the eye. "The next Shadow...it's you."

Sonata's eyes widen and her face pales. "M-me?" she whispers.

"Yeah."

"Oh," she croaks. She mutely turns and leaves the tent without another word.

A long silence falls over the three of us.

"She took that well," Pinkie says.

It takes me a while to get to sleep. I'm worried about Sonata. Given what she's been through, facing her Shadow is going to be...really ugly...