Chapter 4:Apple Buck Season

He now stood out in the open of Ponyville with a look of tranquility. Orion's soul at peace as he stood alone and exposed with no ponies around to bare witness him. He wore only his black shorts while wind blew in his thick black hair. His body sweaty and shiny that brought out his four pack abs as he performed pony ti chi. His art style was that of the hurricane, and the tornado.

They helped him to be in sync with both his body and his mind when he fought. They were also his fighting style, spinning and making every edge of his spinning body lethal. He spun slow to start after letting out a sigh before putting in some sleek foot work. Stepping across the smooth grass cross leg while he slowly turned with his arms to create a hurricanes outer shell and balance. After one spin he was in perfect balance and crouched to bring out his leg.

Every edge and side of his body was to be lethal to approach during his movements. It confuses and intimidates while approaching, and in the end it harms and even kills. It is seen as beauty, but only from afar where it can destroy without harming a little soul. His mind was soon in a trance and he was spinning faster, and throwing chops with his hands that sliced the grass nice and fine. He planted his feet firmly for the shift in the swirling storm and go even faster and raise more chaos.

His freedom was realized and he jumped and swung his leg for a kick. His eyes opened and went to red before the red became crystal like, and he could see the rocks he set up. From all directions he saw every way to clear them as sharp shards of crystal grew from his finger tips. He cartwheeled and continued to spin before running forward. He front flipped, and spun again before making contact with the rocks.

He felt the wind now under his control as he slashed at the rocks and felt the wind whip. A slice of red wind went through the hard structure as he planted himself firmly to the ground. Ducking down to finish his exercise before he heard stone crumble. He smirked and could see the rocks slide apart in five whole layers of slabs. Before smashing to pieces once they met the soil.

"I still got it...! That was a nice way to start the morning,"He stood tall and raised his glowing red hands before his body lit up, and his cloak was once again hiding his face,"Now then, I should be getting back for some steady reading with Twilight...!"

First, he squatted and twisted his back, left and right to stretch and crack his bones. He popped his neck and took a deep breath in before stretching back, and cracking his back. He let out his breath and felt relieved before standing up completely refreshed. He then began to casually stroll to the town to get home. Only to feel the soil still quaking beneath his feet, he turned to see that no other rocks had been destroyed.

He lifted his right eye brow and felt the quaking escalate to what could be a full on earthquake. He turned his head and widen his eyes completely to the quaking grounds. He then spotted a brown cloud of dust in the distance and vastly approaching the town. His red eyes of crystal looked further and saw large bulky cow bodies among the dirt cloud. He gasped and quickly ran for the town to give the warning of a stampede.

"Stampede! WE GOT A STAMPEDE COMING!"He shouted to the town and entered it to see the town in a panic.

"YEEHAW!"Came the calls of the strong sun flower of the Apple family, Applejack and her dog Winona.

"Guess this is becoming an old fashion round up,"Orion looked back to the cheering ponies.

He listened and heard Winona barking and taking point to start herding the cows. Though she was not fast enough to circle the cows before they reached the townsfolk. With little thought, he too went to help and pointed to fingers to the dirt around the town. With a glow of his fingers, he carved a red path in the soil and assisted the dog with turning the cows away. The line he carve filled with red magic and frighten the cows, and force them to turn.

"Come on, little doggies! Turn,"Applejack called and whistled to her dog to circle the stampede that slowed down from the turn,"That a girl, put em up. Haha gotcha!"

Applejack celebrated as she wrangled the cows with the aid of Orion. Who had then jumped and landed with a powerful slam that spooked the cows and forced them to stop. He stood up and dusted himself off before standing next to Applejack in triumph.

"Much oblige fer the assistance back there partner. Very much oblige,"Applejack took a deep breath in and nodded to the man before turning to the lead cow,"Whoa hooie...! Now what was that all about?"

"Oh my! Begging your pardon, Applejack, but Moorielle here saw one of those nasty snakes and it just gave us the willies don't ya know."The cow collected her thoughts and explained the situation.

"We completely understand, just next time, try to stay clear of Ponyville."Applejack was polite to ask the cow to be more careful.

"We certainly will Applejack. So long Winona...!"She gave the dog a farewell as it barked at her before the cows kindly trotted away..

"Well that was certainly a incredible after exercise...! Impressive skill you showed there Applejack."Orion complimented Applejack's herding and traditional Apple skills.

"Well thank you kindly sir. You sure knew how to handle yerself. You turned them cows around when You saw Winona wasn't going to make it."Orion chuckled at the cow pony's comment before walking off.

"This victory is yours never the less. Enjoy yourself..."He smiled from within the cloak an departed for the home as Twilight and her friends arrived to congratulate Applejack.

He walked home happy and proud for the young Apple, she reminded him of many in her family. In the olden years, he recalled the Apple family as settlers that begged for Celestia, and his blessing to settle in the lands. It was the greatest decision he had ever made, the Apples had been his greatest and oldest friends. Next to one friend he now calls a pain in the neck and former friend. One he now has completely stonified in the property of Canterlot castle.

He quickly shook off that painful memory before it became a problem for his brightened up mind. He quickly went back to the Apple family, and remembered the day an Apple almost beat him in a round of arm wrestling. He started chuckling after his near loss resulted in his foes tear jerking lost. Shaking his head again, he had made it home with a smile at the memories that made his walk an adventure. Upon entering he had noticed the building was freshly cleaned and empty for the moment.

He took a deep breath and exhaled before plopping down on the couch. He put his feet up, and took a small nap that turned into a day long sleep, and an adventure into the world of dreams. He found himself among the clouds, in a night time world of light blue and midnight blue. It was calm, it's wind was virtually harmless and gentle to the touch to his skin. He heard a giggle on the wind and it was the most adorable thing he had heard in a long time.

He himself chuckled and looked around, knowing that those giggles could come from only one pony. He lifted his eyes to the sky and bare witnessed to the descent of his little sister. He smiled and saw her wings flap and show their new wing span, and her more night time like color. He saw her smiling and more grown up face land upon the cloud before him, as he then removed his hood. He sighed with glee to see his baby sister once more, she was so grown up now.

"Some pony went through a little growth spurt in my absence..."He spoke softly as he saw her new mane and tail wave in the wind and resemble the night time sky.

"I had a lot of growing to make up for after a thousand years ago Orion... It's helped me to appreciate what I have with you and dear sister,"Luna sighed and turned to go on a walk with her brother,"I have yet to see how much has changed about you... I haven't seen you since you and Twilight freed me from evil..."

"Uh... I noticed you look a whole lot taller than before Luna. Guess you really are not so little any more..."

"Orion... Don't change the subject, that game has been played way too many times in the past."Luna took notice of her brother trying to dodge her words about their family.

"I wasn't...! It's just... A touchy subject is all. Things haven't been well between me and Celestia..."Orion came clean finally and spoke of the troubles.

"You shouldn't shut her out Orion... It was my fault for all the things I have done."

"NO IT WASN'T!"Orion suddenly snapped and froze in place.

The world froze with him and grew gray in color as Luna stopped and looked to him. Concern spread across her face while Orion brought his sudden anger into his control. His knuckles popped and he took in a seething breath to cool his head, never wanting to lose his temper in front of his baby sister.

"It was my fault Luna, and it was Tia's fault! She was so selfish and let her ego blind her to your misery, and I let it HAPPEN,"Orion was loud but staying controlled as he professed his guilt in that night of banishment,"I let Celestia try to calm you and control you, but all she did was make it worse! Instead of jumping in, I let her try to stop this feud, and it caused you both to fight!"

"Orion... Stop... You don't need to defend me like I'm-"

"If any pony should be punished, it should have been us...! Tia doesn't deserve me to be around and defend her any more. And I don't deserve you if I can't even protect my family from bad blood...! Don't you dare blame yourself for what happened...!"

He took a deep breath in, and he panted out of an emotional weakness that was growing in his heart. Luna looked to the ground with solemness, her brother was still willing to take blame for what happened so long ago. Not only that, Celestia was getting just as much blame, while he still portrayed her as a victim. Just like he did many times since she was the baby of the family. She sighed and lifted her head to force a small smile before placing a hoof to his heart.

He paused and felt her gentle hoof to his beating heart full of emotion. His hand lifted and gripped her hoof for the comfort as he too lifted his head. Her pleasant and soothing smile made him almost want to cry as she then pulled him in and held him in a loving hug. Her arms wrapped around his powerful body and brought warmth of a family's old love that he had been missing. While he too gave the same to her, the little sister he had back.

"Promise me you'll try and settle your problems with Tia... In time..."Luna whispered while his breath shuddered at such a complicated promise to make.

"I... I promise. With time... I will try and fix our family... Luna."He whispered back and made the promise he was now bound to.

"Thank you... Now wake up Orion...! Wake up...!"Luna's voice began to fade as she disappeared into an orb of white and he awoke from his dream.

Only to feel his ears ringing from Twilight screaming in his ear to wake up. He yelled and shrieked as he grasped his ear and rubbed it while shoving her away for a moment. He popped his ears with a few good pats against them and could hear properly.

"What...the HAY IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"Orion continued to rub his ears while Twilight cleared her voice and smiled.

"Sorry about that... I was a bit worried you were going to be asleep for quite a few days if I didn't get you up now,"Twilight tried an honest approach, much like the friend she saw was having trouble,"Look I need your help with Applejack. It's very important."

"What is it? I got done helping her with the stampede, she should be golden after that trouble."Orion rubbed his eyes and stood up to meet Twilight.

"Look... She's at Sweet Apple Acres right now doing more work than she can handle. She's delirious, and losing all her sanity,"Twilight began to explain a bit stressed herself,"Now I believe you might be able to convince her with your stern attitude."

"And why exactly would I do that Twilight?"Orion asked before she flashed two books in front of his face.

"Because we are not doing any reading time till you do...!'She decided to play hard ball with the disguised prince

Orion slumped and groaned now that Twilight had him in a bind. He wanted to have their reading time together and he couldn't even use his authority to get out of it. She'd obviously rat him out if he continued to deny, however this was his decision to live as a civilian like her. He needed to play the part and do what he most to remain under the radar. He in hailed to relax any desire to strangle her and forced a smile.

"Very well...Twilight... I'll help our...friend with her problem...!"He muffled and did his best not to growl.

"Great! When you get back, we can read about Clover the Clever's earlier years from birth to her unity with Star Swirl the Bearded...!"Twilight smiled brightly and walked off to make snacks.

Orion sighed and got situated before he was out the door and to the town. He just needed to remember which way to go after he arrived to Sugar Cube Corners. He approached the sign and looked around before he saw the giant ginger bread house like structure. He went to leave, and was given a scare from the doors of Sugar Cube Corners swinging open. A tidal wave of children with green faces piled out and looked as if they were going to be sick.

"What the hay?! What happened to all these kids?!"Orion yelled as he ran to the children while Spike emerged with cookies.

"No idea dude. I thought these cookies Applejack made were delicious,"Spike walked to Orion with a lumpy and very nasty cookie,"You want one?"

Spike offered Orion one of the cookies as a worm shot out from the lumpy food. The man nearly went so green, his face was almost noticeable from within his hood. He slapped the cookie from Spike's claws and coughed with a gag.

"That is just disgusting Spike...! You're saying Applejack made this absolute garbage?!"Orion yelled as he stomped on the worm cookie.

"Gee... Thanks for the harsh criticism. Applejack worked hard on those cookies...! And she was so tired afterwards."Spike ranted while concern now brewed for Applejack within the man's gut.

"Oooookay... Now I'm actually worried."He said to himself and moved on while Spike went back inside for more nasty cookies.

He was ready to lose his mind now that he heard that an Apple was going under. This was not like the Apple family he remembered from back in the day. They were honest and hard working ponies that supported each other and the friends that they made. They weren't known for poor work ethics and getting people sick with their cooking, something wasn't right here. He needed to get to the Apple home and figure this out.

As he neared the edge of town, there was then a rumble in the distance. The pebbles didn't tremble quite as much as before, so it wasn't a cow stampede. He searched around and saw nothing, but when he brought out his red gem eyes, he saw it. A cloud of dust from the north east, near Fluttershy's building. A stampede around her home was unheard of as far as he knew from the town residence.

"Stampede!"Ponies shouted as they went into a panic and promoted the prince to rush back to the town.

He stopped and looked around for the source of the stampede through the panicking ponies. One mare even fainted after her and Orion were then hit with the stampede wave. He covered his eyes and was ready to take the full impact of the stampede. Only he never was crushed by anything, but very fluffy creatures did brush by his legs and squeak as they raided the gardens. He slowly opened his eyes and uncovered before he saw the culprits.

Bunnies, a lot of small and fluffy bunnies were all over the town. All over the mare and all over the garden as he slouched and sighed in the anticlimactic realization. A whole bunch of harmless bunnies were all over the place and were merely a threat for vegetables. He growled and kicked the mare awake nice and gently before she looked around and giggle nervously. She got up and smiled at him with embarrassment before running away.

"A bunny rabbit stampede...?! How in the hay does a bunny rabbit stampede happen?"He asked himself before he saw Fluttershy flying around the sky.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! My rabbits! Oh I told her to be gentle with them!"Fluttershy squeaked as she flew down to gather the rabbits.

"Fluttershy! What in the name of the elements is going on here?!"Orion yelled as he started picking up fluffy rabbits and getting Fluttershy's full attention.

"Applejack and her dog scared all the rabbits away from the cottage! Oh...they were so scared,"Fluttershy gathered up the tiny baby rabbits and sighed with stress on a personal matter,"Now my bunny census is ruined now...! Why would Applejack do this?!"

"I... Do not know. But I'm going to get to the bottom of it...!"Orion promised before Fluttershy ran off with all the rabbits.

Now Orion had to get to the bottom of this issue, and it started with finding Applejack. He ran off after dropping the little bunnies and running for Sweet Apple Acres. This was a nice way to get another work out to stay fit and flexible as taught from his father. He was now irritated with Applejack's sudden turn for the worse and wanted answers himself. Then he could finally return to Twilight for their reading time.

"You better have a very good reason for this Applejack!"

Before the prince knew it, he was on the dirt road and nearing the farm of the Apples. He then suddenly tripped over what felt like a small body that yipped on impact. He flew forward and face planted into the dirt before grinding for a goof five feet. He lifted up his dirt filled face full of scratches before coughing out clumps of dirt. He shook his head and stood up with a growl before turning around.

He froze from wanting to say something mean as he saw that it was none other than Apple Bloom. The little filly, and youngest member of the Apple's in Ponyville. He swallowed his tongue and sighed as he walked over and lifted the filly to her hooves and brushed her off.

"You ok there little one? Sorry about the brush back there..."Orion gave her a sincere apology since she was a small filly.

"Oh..that's ok mister. I wasn't looking where I was going. Too busy looking at mah-"She froze and looked up before seeing that it was the cloaked stranger once again,"Hey! I remember you! You were over at Mah house during the Summer sun celebration!"

"Uh...yeah. It's nice to see you again little one. How goes your family?"

"Oh... It's ok. Applejack has been a bit...busy with all the apple trees she took up fer Big Mac since he got hurt..."Apple Bloom revealed a possible reason for the element of honesty's weird behavior.

"Is that so? You're sister took up both her own trees and your brother's trees by herself? Don't each one of them get about five hundred or more trees to do?"He asked before realizing the issue more and more.

"Yep. Now she's taking both of their trees by herself. It's got her all tired and a bit loopy in the head...!"

"Is that so? Now I know what's going on here. That stubborn Apple pride from great Apple Spirit,"Orion thought of the Apple's he knew of in his olden times, old Apple Spirit, the most pride filled and stubborn Apple he ever knew,"Thanks... I'll see about trying to help your sister out."

"Thanks... And...one more thing before you go?"

"Sure little one. What's on your mind?"

"Well... Do you have a cutie mark? If so... How old were you when you first got it?"She asked while looking back to her blank flank with a sigh.

"Oh...! Uh...well... I was thirteen when I got mine..."He admitted that he too had a cutie mark.

"Really? Can I see it?!"The little Apple lit up with excitement as she ran to him and pulled his pants down inadvertently

"AAAAGGH! No it's not on my flank!"He pushed her away and pulled his pants back up and fixed his cloaked

"What? Then where is it?"

"I'll show you my cutie mark some other time...! Now I'm going to go to help your sister... And can you forget that this happened?"He asked with a bright red face.

"Sure. You promise to show me yer cutie mark mister?"

"I promise... Now I'm gonna leave nice and easy so you see me going,"He smirked and backed away trying to forget that a filly almost got him half bare,"And...remember... We are not to talk about what just happened..."

"Ok. Bye mister!"

He gave a small smile and waved at the filly before turning around and running. He panted and ran again before he passed the barn and heard a big yeehaw. He looked around as it revealed to be a female voice, the voice that belong to one young mare. He looked around and saw Applejack charging at him with bags heavier than stone under her eyes. He raised an eye brow as she turned and swung her legs before bucking what she thought was a apple tree.

"Applejack? What are you doing out here working for days on more than you can-"

Suddenly as her hooves met between the man's legs and made a faint cracked. He cringed and gritted his teeth as sickening pain echoed through his body and forced a loud screamed. He leaned forward and grabbed his legs together before falling to his face. He panted and groaned loudly with a sore groin from the earth pony's hard and blind buck. She backed await and squinted her eyes as she tried to make out both a tree and Orion.

"Oh... Is that you stranger? What are you doing in front of mah apple trees? I'm in the middle of apple buck season."Applejack asked as the prince growled and slowly tried to stand up.

"I was coming over to see what was going on with you and all this I hear about you making nasty cookies, scaring bunnies, getting crazy with Twilight...and what ever else you been doing,"He growled before standing on shaky legs,"And for the record...! There are no trees out here...! Just me and my...foal makers...!"

"Oh... Whoops... Sorry about that...!"Applejack turned and finally found the trees and ran to them to continue her work.

He shook his head and coughed while on the verge of getting sick from the blow. He struggled to stay standing as he waddled towards Applejack before seeing her miss a tree. He groaned and took a deep breath as he started to walk to her and grab her shoulder before she went for it again.

"Look...! Your friends are worried about you and your behavior is unethical for you...! Your tired, overworked and losing sanity,"Orion said before letting her go and watching her turn to him with twitchy eyes,"You need help with all this. You need to rest and relax...! Let go of your pride for once...!"

"You sound like Twilight...! Thinking I can keep my promises, and handle mah work...! Why don't you leave?"Applejack suddenly turned defensive and hostile.

"I'm not going anywhere until you let go of your pride and submit...!"Orion said boldly while Applejack snorted.

"I said... Leave...! Or I will make you leave...!"She sneered and almost fell over as she saw three Orion's with her blurry vision.

"Make me...! I'm not going anywhere until you submit...!"He crossed his arms and stood firm against her.

"Then this is what you get,"Applejack swung but only hit the air in front of her as she was still seeing three Orion's,"Oh you think yer so good? I see yer game here...!"

She swung again and hit the air beside Orion before swinging wildly all around him. She hit grass and bucked the air above the man's head, still not hitting her target. She swung up for an uppercut, but overshot it and lifted on both of her back hooves. He shook his head and poked her exposed stomach before she fell back and slammed on her back. She rolled and shook her head before snorting at him again.

"You ain't bad...! But I am better and more than capable of anything...!"She called out before pulling a rope from her hat.

"You haven't even struck me because you're too tired from biting off more than you can chew,"He sighed and remained still with his arms crossed,"Can we please not drag this on any more? I get the feeling this is going to be very sad...!"

"Yer gonna be sad when I hog tie you,"She threw her lasso and completely missed the man and locked on to a tree stump,"Yer heavier than I thought. You need to lighten up on the cake and ice cream...!"

He shook his head and walked over while she began to yank hard at the tree. He met the tree stumps side and kicked at it before it came loose and flew. It zoomed fast and met Applejack directly before exploding into splinters and chunks of wood. Applejack was then on her back again on the verge of falling unconscious and was seeing stars. He tapped his foot and waited for her to get up and try again.

"For the record. I am on a strict diet! And you roped up a tree stump crazy...!"He remarked before his ears perked up to a voice.

"What are you two doing? This isn't what i meant by helping her mister O...!"Twilight raced to her friends and stood between them.

"I was helping...! In my own way...! She's just been stubborn and needed some sense knocked into her,"Orion pointed out as she was slowly getting up,"Only thing is, she did a good job of doing it herself...!"

"What were you saying about me ya varment...!?"

Applejack charged and shouted as she aimed to tackle the human. Only for him to grip Twilight and pull her to the side in time to watch the earth pony pass right by them. He watched as Applejack smacked right into the last tree of her acre and made the apples fall from the tree. The apples filled the basket, and her ego at the same time. She got up and looked to the completed acre with pride and happiness of her work.

"Hah! I told you I didn't need help. I harvested all of Sweet Apple Acres, without yer help. How do you like them apples?"She asked before Orion smirked and saw the big red stallion arrive with some news.

"Um... How do you like them apples?"Big Macintosh towered over her and pointed out another acre of trees.

This sent Applejack into a spiral of emotions and confusion at all her work getting her nowhere. She lost her sanity and fell back to look at the sky from a collapse of personal pride. It was now broken, all her work meant nothing now that she was so far from success. Orion and Twilight looked at her from above and gave her a moment of silence.

"Are you done being stubborn? And are you ready to drop your pride and let us help you?"Orion asked as Applejack gave him and Twilight an answer.

"Okay Twilight... Mister O..."

"We are not taking no for an answer... What?"Twilight was shocked by this as was the man himself as Applejack finally gave in.

"Yes Twilight! Mister O! Yes! I could really us help from both of you...!"Applejack even went as far as to beg as she hugged Orion's legs.

Orion looked to Twilight as she too looked to Orion before they chuckled. Now that their friend had dropped her guard, they could get to work and help Applejack with her issue. It was only hours later before he, Twilight and all their friends were in the fields. Using magic, bucking the trees like normal or like Orion, he would simply karate chop the trees. He was finishing his hundredth and final tree as he heard Applejack calling out for apple juice.

He rushed over while all of Twilight's friends were already digging in to apple juice.

"There you are stranger! I was just saying how sorry I was about being a bit stubborn as a mule..."Applejack said with a bit of blush.

"A bit?"Twilight questioned.

"Okay. I might stubborn, and I'm awful sorry. Now I know the town gave me the prized pony award,"Applejack admitted with humility,"But the real reward is having you six as my friends..."

"All is forgiven Applejack. This is how I remember your family... Honest, strong, and humble."Orion complimented as Applejack smiled while Rainbow Dash complained about being hungry.

"And I've got the perfect treat for that...!"Spike announced before pulling out the nasty worm cookies from before.

"Eww! Spike. I threw those all away. Where did you get them?!"Pinkie held her muzzle and gagged.

"From the trash!"

"Eww! That is disgusting you crazy dragon...! Get those away from me...!"Orion felt a worm pop out and touch his cheek before he slapped the cookies out of Spike's hand.

"Awww... Just a nibble?"Spiked picked it back up and teased the man further with it by trying to touch him with it.

"NO SPIKE, BACK AWAY FROM ME WITH THOSE THINGS!"Orion was forced to run as Spike collected the cookies and ran after him with the worm cookies.

I hope this isn't rushed again friends, I'm still dealing with some issues. Writers blocks, and personal things. But I'll still be writing and trying to entertain you/. So thanks for your patience and stay pony. Ghost/Spirit out!