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Juniper Jewel left the barn kicking up clods of dirt as she scanned the nearby pens for any side of her amazing disappearing ranch hand. His usual hiding place, the barn, had been disappointingly empty, if he wasn’t on the grounds then the probability that he walked the two miles back to town seemed all the more likely, which made Juniper all the more angry.

“I swear when I get my hands around his scrawny neck I’ll chop him up, deep fry him, and feed him to Chino*!” Being empty, Juniper left the front side of the barn to investigate the holding pens in the back imagining she wouldn’t have much luck their either.

"Are you sure you’re not part mule? You are as stubborn as one.”

“Are you part fruit, because Honeydew, you have no idea how fine you look right now?

Ah there he was. Hightide, who was supposed to be helping her, had of course snuck off to be with Ruth Opal. Again. The minotaur was adept to long suffering but Juniper could see the strain on her face smeared with dust and mud. She must have just finished mending the fence further down. Hightide, who looked small and inadequate by comparison, was admiring her like a gallery statue. Juniper stalked towards them not attempting to hide the scowl creeping onto her face.

“Bluebell, I know you’re busy but why don’t I give you some company. Isn’t it lonely working out here all by yourself?” Hightide leaned against a post, grinning blithely. Ruth halted mid stride and turned towards Hightide incredulous. “¿Cómo me llamaste?”

“Hightide! I’m gonna grind your hooves off and use em for plant food!”

Hightide flinched, both he and Ruth looked up to see Juniper behind him, arms crossed and non too pleased. "Do everyone a favor and stop wastin time botherin Ruth. It's highly unprofessional, and embarassin to watch."

The stallion’s ears tilted up in defiance. “Never.”

“I left you to sort through those three barrels of apples a near two hours ago, and I come back to find you gone and the job not done!” Hightide, to his credit, had the sense to look surprised.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “I sorted all three of those barrels.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Juniper pushed an apple covered in bites and scratches into his face. He could only stare at it dumbly. “I…seriously have no idea how that happened. Maybe a rat got to it. Or a grouse*?”

“Or a gremlin.” Ruth added.

“No ya dummy, grouse don’t have teeth…and gremlins,” Juniper inspected the apple. “That’s the last thing we need.” She massaged her temples with a sharp exhale. “Now what am I supposed to do with near a barrel full of gnawed on apples?” There was a pause.

Hightide shrugged “Uh, fertilizer?”

Ugh!” Juniper raised the apple high, prepared to throw it. “You!”

“Save me!” Hightide squeaked and ducked behind the minotaur for protection.

“Oye espera. I have a suggestion.” Ruth’s voice broke the tension like a pry bar against glass. The two ponies ceased their struggles and looked up at her.

Ruth Opal smiled simply. “Solo usa las manzanas, Juniper.”

Juniper snorted like a bull. “Are you serious? That was well over a thirty apples ruined because lazy lover colt here let some critter chew on em.”


“Why is your rat problem my problem?” Hightide asked ducking when Juniper aimed for him again.

“We don’t have a rat problem!”

“How about we do this,” Ruth yanked Hightide towards her, as easy as plucking a daisy petal. “Come here.”

Hightide gasped dreamily. “Y-yes, seniora?”

“Here.” Ruth pushed a large canvas roll into Hightide’s arms, heavy and uneven his knees almost buckled but managed to keep steady.

“I was on my way to the barn to fix that hole in the roof. Hightide, you do it instead, you know, as an apology for the apples.”

Hightide poked his head up from over the roll. “I didn’t-”

“Shush, hombrecito.” She winked, not seductively but teasingly close. It was enough to shut him up. Ruth gently pushed him aside and went to Juniper, clamping a hand on her shoulder.

“Now lets see what we can do about these apples. You have that big desert run with the stonebacks* tomorrow, yes? Perfect, let’s make apple chips for the grouse. Los pollos no son quisquillosos!”

Juniper chuckled. “I suppose. Was plannin on cookin up somethin for the trip. May as well be for the birds.” Her expression shifted. “Then I'm after whatever nuisance is destroyin th’ apples. And when I find it, it ain’t gonna be happy!”

“What about me?” Hightide complained looking hopeless with the oversized bag clutched in his arms. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“The roof,” Ruth answered. “You know your way with hammer and nails don’t you?”

Hightide gulped and nodded. “Yeah, I can, I guess?”

“Está bien, after these apples are dealt with, I will come back to help you. Just the two of us.”

Hightide grinned, wide and toothy. “Buena!”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* Grouse: Since I'm drawing ponies more often in anthro form it made sense to give them some sort of Horse of a Different Color. They can't ride real horses obviously, that would be racist. (lol) So I went with the typical 'giant bird thing'. In this case it's this adorable thing only bigger and I imagine more colorful. The fake- scientific name is Plumeasaur but locally, cowponies call them grouse. Because when you squint that almost looks like 'horse'.

*Stonebacks are monsters from G1 I'm re-purposing for my headcanon. Big armadillo like creatures with hard stone-like hides. The hide actually sheds over time which can be used in construction and armor making, but their most important purpose is to burrow for gem veins out in the desert.

*Chino: Juniper Jewel’s doggo.

Upvotes at import: 19 | Stars at import: 13
Posted previously at: 2018-02-14T00:50:08 | Posted previously by: Ranch