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- >Afternoon at the Sparkle residence slash library.
- >"Anon, this CAN'T be healthy."
- >You just mumbled incoherently at Twilight, munching on some carrots and apple slices.
- >You were getting so very, very tired of apples, and for good reason.
- >Today marked the end of day number ten at the Apple Family farm, with you pulling twelve hour shifts.
- >There had been a twenty-four hour shift or two in there too, which in turn lead to another twelve hour day, for a grand total of thirty-six hours straight without 'you' time.
- >Or sleep.
- >Those two nights you just hadn't come home, and Twilight had been worried sick.
- >The second shift like that had been just last night/this morning.
- >You had started at three yesterday morning, and it was currently three thirty in the afternoon.
- >You were losing track of time.
- >They needed apples for cider (Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming were coming), and Big Mac got himself hurt again.
- >This time it was a pile of tools that fell on his head, the tool shed itself just collapsing entirely from age.
- >The stallion was lucky to get away with just a sprained neck muscle, but he'd still be down for at least four more days.
- >The doctor was sure to stress the words "at least", which in turn likely meant another week and a half of this.
- >AJ had learned her lesson from last time, enlisting your help because you were too dumb to say 'no'.
- >You would have asked for additional help if you weren't as stubborn as the blonde earth pony.
- >The only good thing about all of this is that AJ promised to pay you extremely well for your effort, double your usual rate.
- >Twilight always made sure you had something to eat when you got home, even if she was already asleep herself.
- >There was usually a note saying "Go to bed, mister. I love you!" or something to that effect.
- >Sound plan, if it wasn't for this thing you had: You couldn't just fall asleep.
- >You had to unwind first, either through writing or watching TV, something.
- >Seeing as ponies lacked television (they had only just gotten the hang of movies), you had two options: Write or read.
- >Writing took effort and think-muscle capacity, both of which were painfully low at the end of the day.
- >Reading was much the same.
- >So most nights lately you'd come home, lay in bed with Twilight (who was usually already asleep), and just...stare at the ceiling until you passed out.
- >"I know humans have this whole 'endurance' thing going for them, but this is getting out of hoof." The mare continued with a concerned frown.
- >You didn't respond, suddenly finding the salad Twilight had made very...interesting.
- "I'm fine, Twi." You replied, before a massive yawn made a liar out of you.
- >"No, you're not."
- "I'm doing better than Big Mac is at the moment, I'll live."
- >She gave a frustrated sigh.
- >"What is it about you always pushing yourself much too hard!? You're falling apart at the seams, Anon!"
- >You didn't reply, picking at your food.
- >"Anon, eat, please. You haven't eaten right in over a week."
- "I'm still in 'work mode', Twi. Can't eat much, it'll make my stomach upset."
- >"Good! Maybe it'll convince you to take it easy!"
- "Or I'll puke all over a batch of apples, costing them fifty or so bits."
- >You stood, leaning heavily on the mallet...before falling over.
- >Dizziness plagued you, and it was a fight just to get your bearings.
- >"Anon!"
- >Twilight was on you in under five seconds.
- >"Can you hear me? Are you alright?!"
- "Yes, Twilight. I can hear just fine." You answered from your spot on the floor. "Just waiting for the world to stop spinning."
- >"That's it, I'm telling AJ she needs to find somepony else tomorrow." Twilight sighed.
- >"Meanwhile." She poked you with her horn. "You. Bed. Now."
- >She put a hoof on your back, and in a bright flash, she teleported you upstairs to your shared bed.
- >"I'll be back soon." The mare started, before you could *feel* an intense glare on your back. "You move off of this bed, and you're gonna be in BIG trouble with me."
- "Alright, alright, geez."
- >You heard the familiar sound of teleportation, and the weight on your back was gone.
- ===
- >You felt horrible.
- >You had expected Anon to stop after five days of this.
- >Tartarus, you knew that you would have.
- >Most ponies, barring the Apple family themselves, would have.
- >It was supposed to be a mostly harmless experiment, and AJ agreed to keep it quiet.
- >The plan was simple enough: Big Mac fakes an injury, Applejack pushes Anon to work extremely hard.
- >The catch was that she would pay him more than usual. How much more was up to her.
- >An experiment in human endurance, just to see how far humans could go when given ample stimulus.
- >To make it enough work for him, Applejack would 'pretend' to work.
- >The Apple siblings working together could have the entire field cleared in a day, after all.
- >Big Mac himself was taking a small vacation with Cheerilee.
- >At worst, Anon was supposed to be slightly more tired and irritable than usual, you were prepared for that.
- >You hadn't anticipated Anon to just...not stop until he literally couldn't stand anymore.
- >Plenty of data on how bucking STUBBORN he could be.
- >You teleported to Sweet Apple Acres, the orange Earth Pony looking expectantly at the gate.
- >"Howdy Twilight! What's goin' on?"
- "I'm calling it off, Applejack." You said with a sigh.
- >"Really?" The blonde pony said with a bit of shock. "What happened?"
- "He collapsed, said his vision was spinning. He has all of the typical signs of severe exhaustion and sleep deprivation. I have him in bed now, where he BETTER be when I get back."
- >"Didja get what ya needed?"
- "I think I've gotten more than I bargained for, yes. Thanks, Applejack." You replied quietly, voice filled with shame.
- >"He'll get better, sugarcube. Ah did, and Mac's worked himself like this before too."
- "I hope he does."
- ===
- >It couldn't have been more than five minutes before Twilight was back, teleporting into the bedroom.
- >"Good to know you listen, finally." The mare muttered dryly.
- >She put her body weight on your back again, her hooves kneading your spine.
- >The mare sighed.
- >"I'm worried about you, Anon. Why are you doing this to yourself?"
- "I dunno." You answered lamely.
- >"Don't tell me 'I dunno'." She snapped. "You know why, you just don't feel like saying."
- >You felt like you were five years old again.
- "What do you want me to say?"
- >"The truth."
- "Fine."
- >You went to roll over and sat up, which forced Twilight off of you.
- "When I was growing up, I was always told that a lady comes first, and that a real man provides for her to the best of his ability. My father rubbed off on me in the best way, I think."
- >You sighed.
- "Therein comes the problem when you don't NEED me to help you. I feel...useless."
- >"Anon..."
- "Useless not only because of the stipend you get, which is more than I make in three months, mind; but because you can do things that I just flat out CAN'T."
- >You flopped back into the pillows.
- "I work my ass off because if I don't, I feel worthless. It's why I pay for everything for you that I can, and why I point-blank refuse to just sit here and coast off of you."
- >Hooves wrapped around your torso, and Twilight began to laugh musically as she nuzzled your neck.
- "What's so funny?"
- >"Rarity would kill for a stallion like you."
- >She then sighed, like she was debating on telling you something.
- >"Anon, I've got something I need to...confess."
- >Oh great, here it comes.
- "What, have you been cheating on me?"
- >"What?! No, nothing like that!"
- "Then what is it?"
- >"This whole thing, with Big Mac getting hurt and Applejack pushing you to the breaking point..it's been an experiment."
- >What.
- "You're...kidding me, right?"
- >It was strange. You figured you'd be angrier than this.
- >Instead, it just felt like you had been physically wounded.
- >"No, Anon. I wanted to test human endurance, see just how much you would put up with before calling it quits."
- >She huffed.
- >"Of course, that implies that you actually would CHOOSE to stop before your body FORCED you to."
- >You looked away from her.
- >"I've got plenty of data on that subject now, but..."
- >The amethyst mare sniffled, ears flat and eyes looking anywhere but at you.
- >"I feel like trash for doing this to you. I should have told you after day one, but that would have spoiled the results..."
- >Yeah, now you were mad.
- >You slid out of bed and stood up, wobbling slightly.
- >"Anon, where...?"
- "Out."
- >You stumbled down the steps and out the door, heading towards the park.
- ===
- >Now you've messed up, Sparkle.
- >You should have kept quiet, or at the very least waited until he was well rested.
- >He probably would have laughed it off if he felt better.
- >You KNEW the human was frustrated, and this made it worse.
- >He had every right to be angry at you.
- >This was your fault, you had to make it up to him somehow.
- >Only thing was: you had no idea where he was going.
- >And you had no idea how to make it up to him.
- >Usually sex would work, but...you had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't in the mood for once.
- >You had spent the last half an hour wandering all over Ponyville, looking for Anon.
- "Anon? Where are you?" You called.
- >You'd think a being twice the height of a pony would be easy to find.
- >Lyra helpfully pointed you towards the park after an hour of searching.
- >"Lucky..." You heard her mutter as you walked away.
- >He was indeed there, napping on a bench.
- >Silently, you hopped into the bench and maneuvered yourself into his lap.
- >His hand automatically placed itself on your back, and he snorted in his sleep before going back to snoring.
- >You'd wait here for him to wake up, you'd think of something by then.
- >Hopefully.
- ===
- >You had felt the mare snuggle herself into your lap, which woke you up.
- >The calming fountain and resulting nap had actually done wonders for your mood, but you were still somewhat irritated.
- >You kept pretending to sleep, unsure of what to say.
- >A huge part of you wanted to forgive her.
- >Twilight was only doing what came natural to her, after all.
- >A small part of you was still very upset at the secret-keeping, however.
- >She could have just told you, but...
- >You knew of scientific methods from back home, when scientists would study human behavior themselves.
- >If the subject knew they were being watched or otherwise observed, the results would be useless, or at the very least tainted.
- >Twilight was nothing if not a scientist at heart.
- >You placed your hand on her back, stroking the mare softly.
- >"I'm sorry, Anon...I'll do anything to make it up to you"
- "Finishing that massage is a start." You replied after a moment, and you felt the mare jump in shock.
- >"O-of course! Your place or mine?" She playfully teased, batting her eyelids at you.
- >You rolled your eyes.
- >"I can make this an experiment on human pressure points..."
- >You made your point known by a light flick to the horn, the mare hissing in discomfort.
- >"Okay, okay! I get it!"
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