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Green horses unite!
 
 
“Pazazz! There you are!” Jade Lightning grinned, rolling up to the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres as his friend soared by. It had been awhile since the two had seen each other, especially since their Wonderbolt Summer Boot Camp had ended.
 
“Hey, Jade! You ready to buck some apples?” The stallion suddenly lowered to the ground, his landing a little less than graceful out of excitement. They both started chatting without missing a beat, laughing and fluttering their wings, showing their elevated energy. As they neared the orchard, trees clearly ready for harvest, Pazazz started to explain their plans for the day.
 
“Alright, so my Ma and my cousin Cloudy are gonna be working with us today, so I figured we could turn it into teams! Girls against boys!” Pazazz looked ready to rumble, already starting to build up his cocky posture as they spotted Cloudy Cortland through the trees.
 
Jade Lightning laughed at his buddy’s exaggerated pose, but paused temporarily as one of his wheels caught a rock that was sticking out of the dirt. He gave a soft ‘dangit’, backing up just enough to maneuver around the stone. But before he could get past the rock, a deep voice sounded from behind him.
 
“Those rocks always give me a hard time, too. Even a tiny rock can make my wheels completely useless.” Applejack walked ahead of Jade as he turned to face the pony behind him, a front hoof digging out the stone and kicking it as far as she could. She gave him a smile and motioned for him to walk with her. The pegasus looked starstruck, moving his back legs quickly to catch up with her.
 
AJ, even with muscles upon muscles, was strapped into a wheelchair of her own. Her back legs rested on a platform, removing any weight from her lower back as she pulled herself ahead with her front legs.
 
“So, you gonna help us buck apples today? Pazazz told me you wanted to try it out after he mentioned it at that Wonderbolt camp. We’re always glad for extra hooves during harvesting.” Applejack kicked another rock out of their way, this one simply laying on top of the dirt. Her son was already with Cloudy Cortland, the two nearly butting heads in the start of a playful bet to harvest the most fruit.
 
“Uh, yeah!” Jade stammered, giving a nervous smile. “Although, I don’t know how much help I’ll be… A-Are you going to be bucking, too?” He glanced to her wheelchair and back to her, clearly not wanting to question her ability even in a mobility device.
 
“Ya better believe it! Long as I remember to lock my wheels, my front legs can work just as hard as my back ones.” AJ chuckled, clearly remembering a time when she was still learning to work while in her wheelchair. “And I’m sure you’ll do a great job. How ‘bout this: why don’t you start bucking with Cloudy first and then if you need help, I’ll show ya some pointers.”
 
Jade nodded quickly, looking up at the tall draft horse as if she was Celestia herself. He started wheeling away towards the other Apple mare, motioning to Pazazz that AJ wanted her son to join her. He zoomed away, leaving Jade Lightning and Cloudy Cortland next to some empty buckets and trees ready to drop ripe apples with a good kick.
 
“Hey, Jade! I’m glad you decided to join us today, we need all the help we can get.” Cloudy was already moving buckets under trees as she talked, glancing up to him when she was done.
 
It had been awhile since the pegasus had seen most of the Apple cousins and Jade gave a grin, his wings fluttering giddily. He had always admired the Apple family, but Cloudy was, by far, his favorite (unless Applejack was there, of course). “H-Hi, Cloudy! Pazazz’s mom said you’d show me how to buck apples since it’s my first time helping.”
 
“Yeah, you got it!” She gave a firm nod, motioning for him to watch her closely. “Okay, so when Baba first showed me how to buck apples, he had me use one leg at a time to get used to the motion of it, y’know? So just wind up… aaaand kick!” The mare let a back leg loose, connecting with a tree with a solid ‘thunk’. A handful of apples fell into the buckets surrounding the tree, a few strays rolling away. Had she used both legs, Jade had no doubt half the tree’s fruit would have fallen.
 
“Okay, my turn!” Jade smiled again, backing up to a tree next to the one Cloudy had just struck. Remembering AJ’s comment about remembering to lock her wheels, the stallion quickly made sure to do so. He gave a couple of warm-up bucks, moving slowly to get used to the motion of it. Cloudy took a few steps closer, giving an occasional tip.
 
“So just a bit more of an upward kick when you go for it.” She tried to guide him from a distance, giving encouraging grins and nods whenever he looked to her for advice. “There you go, that looked good. Now do it fast! Give it a good kick!”
 
The pegasus nodded, smiling confidently. ‘I can do this!’ he thought, winding one leg before kicking back as hard as he could. He heard his hoof connect with the tree trunk before he saw it and the next second, a few apples fell from the branches. Jade laughed loudly, clearly excited that he actually knocked a few pieces of fruit out of the tree.
 
“That was great, Jade!” Cloudy congratulated him, with the farther away voices of Applejack and Pazazz concurring with her.
 
“There ya go, Jade! Good job!”
 
“Good kick, buddy!”
 
Jade took a moment after his kick, watching Applejack knock an entire tree’s worth of apples into buckets below while her son swooped from the branches and caught the stragglers before they hit the ground and bruised. She lifted up her front legs, slamming into trunks again and again, and without fail, apples rained from above.
 
“Gosh, she’s strong…” The stallion muttered, awestruck by AJ.
 
“You should see when she and Baba get competitive! Those two could level an entire orchard.” Cloudy gave a grunt as she bucked a tree of her own. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you didn’t know Auntie AJ was in a wheelchair, huh?”
 
He shook his head, Jade’s gaze turning back to his harvesting partner. “Pazazz told me that his mom had back problems, but I guess I didn’t think she’d be in one. Captain Dash always joked that Pazazz’s mom was built like a mountain, so I thought she was physically able. I never thought she’d be kinda like me.”
 
Cloudy Cortland gave a soft smile, ears flicking back in an empathetic way as she listened to the pegasus. “Y’know, both of you got quite a bit in common.” When Jade raised an eyebrow in question, she nodded in confirmation. “Y’all are both close to Pazazz, you’re both driven by doing what you love, and you’re both strong.”
 
Jade shook his head at her last point, glancing back to Applejack in amazement. “Nah, I’m nowhere near as strong as her. I don’t think I could ever be as strong as her.”
 
“Says the Wonderbolt cadet who spends almost every waking moment training.” The mare chuckled. “Being strong isn’t just going and doing, Jade. It’s also being able to keep doing and keep going. Strength isn’t all muscle, silly!”
 
Jade Lightning smiled sheepishly, his wings raising a few times as he readjusted them. “Okay, okay. I guess I see what you mean…” He looked at Pazazz and his mother one more time before shaking his head. “Alright! I’ve spent enough time not kicking these trees! Let’s get to it!”
 
The two got to work, Cloudy clearly doing most of the work. But Jade didn’t mind, still bucking the best he could as Pazazz playfully teased them from a few rows down.
 
“Group who has the least amount of apples does the dishes! Looks like you two are gonna be doing clean up after dinner!”