We start in on a picture. A picture perfect background, appropriate lighting, subjects centered, et cetera. And just who is it whose likenesses have been preciously preserved forever? Why, the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, and her Council of Friends, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. As the flash died away, pony photographer extraordinaire, Photo Finish, stepped away from her work's primary tool. And yet even now, as they all basked in the glory of their most recent triumph, none of them could keep their minds from drifting to more pressing, still unresolved matters. After all, a pony's work is never done.
"Okay, yes!" Photo Finish exclaimed, turning to her regal clientele, "I, Photo Finish, shall have zis masterpiece developed at once. Vhat vas the number of prints you vished to request again?"
"May as well make it a baker's dozen, Photo Finish," Celestia said, glancing around at all of the otherwise distracted ponies within the new council room. "It wouldn't hurt to have a few extras, just in case."
"Ah yes, how vise of you Princess," Photo Finish agreed as she bowed respectfully before her sun's personal agent. And then, almost all too quickly, she sprung back to her hooves with a hearty "I go!" before sprinting off to work her magic. Everypony still present stared after her, all silently marveling at just how unique ponies truly can be.
"Well then, everypony," Luna said as she stepped out from the background, the shadows seeming to melt away as she came into the light, "I will be raising the moon in short order. I believe it would be wise of us to retire for the night."
"And I'll be leaving for the Crystal Empire," Cadance followed, casting the occasional glance towards the room's exit. "I get the feeling Shining Armor has his hooves full without me." And with that, the three elder princesses vacated the brand new throne room and made their way to Ponyville's train station to catch the last train to their destinations, having been through so much lately.
"It's time I made myself scarce as well," Discord added, suddenly appearing next to Twilight Sparkle in front of the green stained glass window. "This experience has left me with...a lot to think about." After that, he was gone. Twilight briefly considered going after him, but decided to give him some time alone.
"Hey, Twilight? I just realized something," Spike said as he walked over from his throne, which he had been admiring. "Are we supposed to live here now? I mean, the library's gone, along with all our stuff."
"Hmm...," Twilight thought as she took a closer look around, taking in the finer details her mind had glossed over in its previous elation. The overall decor was obviously very luscious and decadent, but it facilitated a foreign emotion that she couldn't quite put her hoof on. The throne room alone looked like it made up a good chunk of the tree's interior, though this was expected as it was meant to house royal deliberations between a group of ponies. This thought process idly piqued Twilight's curiosity, wondering whether or not her friends could now be considered 'royalty'. She filed it away for later, fully intending to ask Princess Celestia next chance she got. "I guess we don't have a choice for now. I wouldn't want to impose on anypony," here Twilight noticed all of her friends getting ready to protest, and continued before any of them could, "and it won't hurt to give it a try. Who knows, we might end up feeling right at home here." This was followed by a few awkward moments of everypony looking around the room for themselves and truly doubting those words.
"So Ah said, 'Palindrome? You best git on home!'" Applejack said as she finished her anecdote, Fluttershy and herself sharing a laugh. They had both been headed home, and since their residences were in the same general direction they made the journey together. They had been short on talking points, and Fluttershy had brought up the incident with Trenderhoof. That got AJ onto a whole rant about stallions who had suddenly been showing interest in her, like some kind of switch had gone off. Fluttershy was just about to change the focus to somepony else when they saw the familiar treeline ahead of them.
"It really is beautiful...," Fluttershy said idly, staring into those trees and starting to lose herself in her fantasies and memories.
"Ya got that right," Applejack agreed, looking on with her measure of pride. After a moment of just admiring the view, AJ glanced at Fluttershy and suddenly had a thought. "Ya know, you live so close, and Ah don't think we've once had you over for supper."
"Huh?" Flutters replied sensibly, trying to shake the pleasing images from her mind. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"Lost in thought, huh?" AJ asked. "Ah said you should come over for dinner some time. You live so close and Ah feel like Ah rarely see ya!"
"That could be...nice," Fluttershy admitted, her mind returning to its previous subject.
"Great! Ah'll let Granny know that we'll need an extra plate tomorrow. See ya then!" Applejack ended as they separated, each looking forward to a well-deserved rest.
As Applejack began her solo stroll among her beloved apple trees, she looked back on her life thus far. As far as she was concerned, she had it all. Sure, there were things she didn't have. But what she had was everything she ever wanted. She had her wonderful family, her fantastic friends, her beautiful business, plenty of wiggle room being so close to the Princesses, there was nothing else that AJ had ever wanted out of life. One thing that bothered her, though, was the fact that everypony else seemed to be talking about getting hitched. Not all of them quite focusing on marriage, but all of them at least showing an interest in others. For a while she thought she might be going the other way, but after a particularly heartfelt conversation with Rainbow Dash a while back, she was pretty sure she wasn't interested in mares, either.
It wasn't as if affection wasn't enjoyable, it just never had the right meaning to AJ. Whenever she came into contact with other ponies, she always had some other relation to them, whether they be family or a particularly happy customer. And the euphemisms! Some of the things she's overheard stallions saying about her confused her, while others outright repulsed her. She was really starting to wonder what made her so different...
"Granny, Ah'm home!"
"Soup's on!?" AJ always wondered why Granny Smith had a tendency to assume dinner was ready whenever somepony would call her, but then her own stomach rumbled saying the same thing Granny's probably was.
"Not yet, Granny, but Ah'll git right on it," she said as she made her way into the kitchen, glancing at the clock as she went. "So Granny, Ah wanted ta let you know we'll be havin' some company fer supper tomorrow!"
"Ah, onna them stallions finally caught yer eye, eh?" Granny Smith egged on from her rocker, undoubtedly giving her eldest granddaughter a particularly suggestive look.
"No, Granny," Applejack said forcefully, hoping Granny caught the level of irritation in her voice. "It's onna mah friends."
"Oh," Granny sighed in disappointment. "Well, which one?"
"Fluttershy, Granny," AJ said back, now getting a little angry with Granny's tone when talking about her friends.
"Oh, well she's nice. At least it's not that Rainbow gal again!" Granny said, almost sounding relieved.
"And what's wrong with Rainbow Dash, Granny Smith?" Applejack asked, poking her head out of the kitchen and giving the elder apple the stink eye.
"Nothing, deary, s'just that she's a bit...loud." At that, AJ blushed deeply and returned to preparing the food.
"At least you never have trouble hearing her," AJ mumbled, exasperated by Granny's conventions.
"What was that?!" Granny pushed, perhaps to prove she had, in fact, heard that.
"Nothing, Granny!" Applejack said back, now intent on giving her full attention to her task. Just as she was setting all the heated dishes in their respective cooking apparatuses, Applebloom came plowing in through the front door.
"Applejack! Ye'll never guess what Ah just made!" she exclaimed loudly as she screeched to a halt in front of her older sister.
"Did ya'll remodel the Clubhouse again?" AJ asked, remembering how proud she'd been that her little sis took the reigns on their first carpentry project like that.
"No," AB rolled her eyes, which peeved Applejack just a little, "Ah've been workin' on a whole buncha dif'rent potions and Ah've been makin' real progress!"
"Well, let's see what ya got," AJ complied, still somewhat surprised by how much enthusiasm Applebloom showed toward chemistry. She followed the growing filly out to the fields, up to a particularly wilted looking tree. She sat her supplies down next to the tree and took quick note of its condition. Then she whipped a brew up real quick and administered some to the poor, defenseless tree. Within moments, it became clear that the shedding leaves meant it was dead.
"Ah don't understand! It worked on that other tree!" Applebloom gestured to another tree nearby, which did indeed seem healthier than the trees around it.
"Don't worry about it, little sis," Applejack cooed as she comforted her. "Ah'm sure you'll git it right if you keep at it. Ya just gotta follow the steps, like building a clubhouse!" With that, AJ turned tail and went to check on the food, make sure the house didn't burn down. Applebloom, however, remained rooted.
"'Follow the steps', huh?" she said as she glanced up at the dead tree then over to the thriving one.
"Great! Ah'll let Granny know that we'll need an extra plate tomorrow. See ya then!" Applejack's voice kept saying over and over again in Fluttershy's mind. She knew just what dinner at the Apple's would mean, and while she was excited by the prospect, she knew the possible consequences.
Knowing he'd find out sooner or later, Fluttershy took off over the apple trees, certain he wouldn't have retired for the night just yet. Sure enough, she found him bucking another tree when she eventually did find him, hard at work as usual.
"McIntosh," she called out gently as she landed, knowing he was aware of her presence even if he hadn't heard her. "We need to talk."
"'Shy, is everythin' alright?" Big McIntosh asked evenly, concerned that there may be an emergency.
"Well...Applejack has invited me over for dinner tomorrow," Fluttershy admitted before she could back out.
"Oh...," ambivalent, Big Mac shifted gears as he considered how to deal with this particular emergency.
"Look, McIntosh, I know we ended things on a very sour note, but that was years ago," Fluttershy pushed, looking more bashful than ever. "I think it's time we, gave it another shot. A real shot this time." By the end her gaze had taken on a determined feel.
"Ah don't know, 'Shy," Big McIntosh drawled, fighting his instincts. "How do we explain-"
"Ah don't understand! It worked on that other tree!" Applebloom's voice could be heard, and from a dangerously short distance. The two star-crossed lovers darted under the nearest cover, Fluttershy diving into the branches while Big Mac tried to flatten himself against the trunk. They cautiously examined the area and eventually spotted Applebloom and Applejack standing by a particularly unwell tree. They waited for the scene to play out, which ended with Applebloom taking a sample of the dirt around the dead tree, and almost discovering them as she took a sample from the dirt under their hiding place as well. Once they were certain she was out of earshot, Fluttershy fell out of the tree, her body stiff as a board. Thankfully, Big Mac caught her on his back. He sighed deeply and began carting the mare of his dreams back to her home.
"So then I said, 'Oatmeal?! I don't even like oatmeal!'" Pinkie Pie rambled on as she and Rarity were on their respective ways home from Twilight's new abode.
"Hm, yes, did you now?" Rarity replied idly, not really paying any real attention to her hyper-active friend whatsoever, despite being the one to bring up stallions in the first place. Rarity herself happened to be brimming with ideas for new designs, but could feel them slipping away with every step she took. Thus, like any good artist, she devoted most of her cognitive faculties to clinging to them for dear life until she could get them on paper.
"Yeah!" Pinkie followed, completely unfazed by her friend's blatant disregard for her story. "And then he was all, 'But you like oats, don't you?' And I was like, 'Duh! I'm not a weirdo, I just think that food shouldn't resemble liquid.' I mean seriously, how are you supposed to chew something while it's trying to slither down your throat!?" Here Pinkie paused, which would have been Rarity's cue to continue the so-called conversation if they hadn't just then reached Sugarcube Corner.
"Well then, Pinkie darling, it seems this is where we part ways," Rarity said, expecting some sort of response, when she took her first good look at the pinkest Pie since leaving the castle, "for now, of course." she added hastily. The very slight deflation which had begun to take hold of Pinkie's mane immediately receded as she lunged in for a hug.
"Okie dokie lokie, then! Bye Rarity!" Pinkie said as she bounded into the building which served as both her place of residence and employment. It was late, and the sign on the door let passersby know that they were no longer open for business that day. The place was in shambles, but this was to be expected as the Cakes' only helper had been out on another one of her adventures leaving them to juggle troves of customers and two particularly rambunctious foals.
She made her way up the stairs, careful not to disturb the Cakes as they tended to their children, fully intent on unearthing her pApp music player from the ordered chaos that was her room. She began her structured search, starting with shelves and bookcases, when a singularly unexpected sight caught her eye outside her window. There, gazing in at her from the street, was none other than Cheese Sandwich. She caught herself just as she was about to call out to him, thinking of the possibly sleeping young ones just in time. Instead, she opted to take the opportunity to play a little Secret Agent and try to sneak out of the building and into position to take Cheese Sandwich by surprise.
Pinkie was just slithering around the final corner, all ready to full-on goof out, when she saw that Cheese Sandwich was nowhere to be seen. Confuzzled, Pinkie looked around and noticed he was standing down the road, watching her once more. Unsure how he had gotten so far away in so short a time, she made her way towards him. Which in turn caused him to duck around a corner he had been standing by, making Pinkie Pie think Cheese Sandwich was playing some sort of game. So she continued to chase him, always catching glimpses as she barely kept up with him.
Pinkie Pie was just starting to get tired when the sun began peeking over the horizon, and only then did she realize she'd been going all night. She tried to lay eyes on her target once more, but Cheese Sandwich was completely gone. With her adrenaline fading fast, Pinkie was too tired to really think or feel anything at the moment, and decided it would be best to head back to Sugarcube Corner and get at least a few hours of sleep.
Rarity shredded yet another abomination unworthy of being considered a "design" and roughly pulled a fresh piece of paper from her supplies. In her haste, she accidentally ripped the rectangle in half and flat out screamed in frustration as it burst into flames in front of her.
"WHY ISN'T ANYTHING COMING OUT RIGHT?!" Rarity cried to the heavens, yanking on her disheveled mane as if attempting to extract some precious inspiration. In private, she had been getting worse for some time now and was passed worrying about the success of her business and well on her way to questioning her very existence. If Rarity could not create so as to give generously of herself anymore, then what reason did she have left to live?
She thrust herself onto her closest piece of furniture and began bawling her eyes out, distraught. After a while, she noticed that she was feeling a little better, and looked beneath herself to see that she had been resting against her hope chest at the hoof of her bed. She sniffled as she eased it opened, wondering to herself, when was the last time she had looked inside?
Rarity's eyes fell upon the only thing residing within the disproportionately large container. Her pupils dilated and her lips formed a soft smile as she carefully extracted the precious fire ruby Spike had so generously offered her, on his own birthday no less!. She always looked back on the whole ordeal with mixed feelings, being truly touched by Spike's tribute while also being extremely guilty about offering so little in return. The gem itself usually brought about an unbearable tightness to her own chest whenever she would lay eyes on it, which was why she only wore it on special occasions.
Only now, as she caressed the most generous gift she had ever been given, she found herself filling only with inspiration, determination, and...warmth. Somewhat nervous, her hooves shook as she slowly fit the jewelry upon her neck, and felt electricity shoot through her body starting at the tips of her hooves and traveling all the way to the ends of her mane.
Suddenly filled with astonishing clarity, she glanced back at the workbench calling to her, and then had the presence of mind to glance out the window. There was an orange glow beginning to show against the sky, accompanied by a fleeting streak of living color spectrum.
Rarity took a deep, calming breath and allowed it to completely fill her before letting it out slowly. She sauntered over to her window, feeling more and more fatigued with every step, and closed the glass pane before turning tail and making her way back over to the bed, finding herself feeling the familiar disappointment at the fact that it would remain empty without her. Though, somewhere in the back of her addled mind, she faintly realized that, for the first time, she had been thinking of a particular baby faced dragon as she fell into slumber.
Rainbow Dash arrived at her cloud home in record time, having shaved off yet another fraction of a second as she studied the stopwatch she always kept on her. She hurried inside and recorded her new time in the column corresponding to the route she had just taken, being one of those with the most entries as she often visited the location of the formerly non-crystal tree where Twilight Sparkle lives.
Or used to live? Rainbow wasn't sure, and knew she didn't have time to wonder about it. Instead, she resolved to ask Twilight herself first thing in the morning. She let out a massive yawn as she made her way to her bedroom, getting ready to thoroughly relax her body into a deep sleep. She flung herself onto the clouds arranged into the shape of her bed, always welcoming that extra cushion-y feeling she took such care to cultivate out of the carefully selected groupings of moisture.