The sun was setting.
Applejack hummed to herself.
It took about half an hour for her to even recognize what the tune was. She realized that it was a song that her Aunt and Uncle Orange loved to play on the phonograph during her short stay in Manehattan as a child.
Applejack didn't realize she actually enjoyed anything from her attempted stay in Manehattan. But—for some reason—pockets of nostalgia bubbled up to the surface with no warning. It was a good thing. A pleasant thing.
It felt as though something silly and innocent had opened the floodgates nestled between her heart and mind. It invigorated her, and—before she knew it—she had packed up the harvested apples and locked them all in the barn with record timing.
She trotted into the farmhouse with a kick in her step... and prepared a hearty meal for the rest of the family.
Big Macintosh gobbled and gobbled up his oats alfredo.
Apple Bloom was similarly entranced by her food.
"I must say, AJ, darlin'..." Granny smiled as she hoofed her fork through her own plate of alfredo. "You really outdid yerself today. Is there some special occasion?"
"Hmmm?" Applejack looked up. Her plate had hardly been touched. She didn't actually feel very hungry for some reason. "Why... can't it always be a special occasion when I make vittles for the ponies that I lurve?"
"Heheheheh..." Granny took a bite and winked across the dinner table. "Mrmmfff... ain't gonna argue with that. Just yer spoilin' us somethin' rotten with these fine eats."
"Mmm-hmmm!" Apple Bloom produced.
"Mrmmmfff—Eeeeyup!"
"Well, have all you like," Applejack said. "Once in a while I'd say we deserve to dig into the good stuff."
"What recipe are ya usin' anyways?" Granny Smith asked.
"Oh... just a little somethin' they served at Friendship Camp back when I was a little filly."
"Wow..." Apple Bloom paused in mid munch. "Didn't you go to that place ages ago?"
"Uh huh..."
"How'd you remember such an old recipe?"
"I..." Applejack blinked. "...guess I always knew it. Just never bothered to cook it before." She glanced aside at the gentle warm candlelight illuminating the rest of the kitchen. "Silly how I've never bothered to put the effort into makin' more tasty stuff..."
"Well... uh..." Apple Bloom smiled bashfully. "Could you cook it more often? If it's n-not too much trouble?"
Big Macintosh nodded voraciously.
"Heheh... alright, y'all." Applejack winked. "Since ya asked so kindly."
"Everythang goin' okay, AJ?" Granny Smith arched an eyebrow. "You seem very chipper today. Not that there's anythang wrong with that, but..." She took another bite and hummed. "Mrmmmfff... last time I saw a family act so flighty they was hauled off to the looney barn!"
"Heh... reckon I'm just fine, Granny..."
"Had yerself a nice day?"
"Oh..." Applejack nodded, smiling into the firelight. "She was very bright."
"Eh what's that?" Granny Smith blinked.
Applejack blinked. "...my day was very bright."
"That's not what you said."
"Err... what did I say?"
"You know what...?" Granny smiled. Teetered. "I plum forgot. These vittles are to die for!" She took another bite. "Mmmmm... did I ever tell you about the summer I cooked for the pegasus defenders of Western Fillydelphia? Boy, was that a summer full of explodin' taste buds..."
As Granny Smith rambled on, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom listened.
And Applejack...
Applejack poked at her plate of alfredo.
And she smiled.
Applejack sat in front of the mirror of her bedroom, brushing her hair.
She went through the motions quickly... without hesitation.
The mare didn't even bother too look at herself most of the time. Her eyes were wandering the sights and shadows of the reflected bedroom.
Then, once her task was complete, she trotted to bed.
She rolled in, drew the covers over herself...
...and sighed.
But she wasn't frowning.
She wasn't tearing up.
And although a pillow or two was within reach...
...she didn't feel the urge to hug one to her chest.
Instead, she rolled over, gazing into the silver moonlight beyond her window. The sky cast a sheen of blue over the lengths of Sweet Apple Acres, and it couldn't have been more appropriate.
She smiled... at some point she yawned...
And then she slept like a foal.