"Heh... well, will you look at that." A tired Applejack smiled as she and Rainbow Dash reached the brick-laid intersection in Canterlot's western apartment district. She pointed at the only house they both recognized. "We're here already. I swear, Twilight's folks' place always looks bigger on the outside than on the inside. Explains a lot about Twilight's humble personality, ya reckon?"
"Uh... yeah. Sure, I guess," Rainbow Dash replied with a limp tail-flick. She had been noticeably subdued the entire rest of the stroll.
Applejack chalked it up to the weight of cider in both of their heads. "I imagine the gals must be worried about where we've been all night," she muttered. "Especially Rarity. That mare can weave a tale somethin' awful. Heheheheh..." She fidgeted for a bit, then looked pointedly at Rainbow. "I... wanna thank ya for hearin' me out, sugarcube. I know I was nothin' but a blubberin' mess, but... I suppose it helps to vent every now and then."
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded limply. "You're probably right."
Applejack blinked. A flicker of worry darted across her heart and back again. She tilted her hat back so she could get a better look at her friend. "Rainbow...?"
The petite pegasus slowly returned the look. Her shoulders were sagged and her ears folded.
Applejack fought a nervous lump in her throat. "You... you okay, darlin'?"
"Hmm? Me?" The devilish confidence returned to Rainbow's vocal cords. "Oh, you bet! I'm always chillaxed."
"Uh huh..." Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Rainbow, if ya don't mind me sayin', it looks like the energy's been completely sapped from ya altogether."
"Pffft. It's been a long day, AJ."
Applejack remembered all the things she had said—had confessed about Sweet Apple Acres. It was so easy to list off the innumerable problems plaguing her that she feared she had unleashed far too much on her friend's shoulders. "You sure that's all it is?"
"Pretty sure." Rainbow even smiled like the scamp that she was.
Applejack breathed a bit more easily. "Good, 'cuz I hate to think I brought yer spirits down on account of all my ramblin' about the farm woes."
"Nah. We're all strong ponies here."
"Heh... darn tootin'."
Silence.
"Well, best that we get settled in without wakin' the gals..." Applejack turned towards the apartment's front steps.
"Uhm." Rainbow's voice cracked, "I'm... gonna hang out here for a while."
Applejack froze upon hearing that. She looked over her shoulder. "Oh?"
"Yeah." Rainbow flexed her spine like a feline. "Hmmmmff... Figured I'd stretch my wings for a bit."
Applejack blinked. "This late at night?"
"Pfft. No rules against cruisin' over the rooftops of Canterlot."
Applejack's head rolled over previous conversations. "Ya... sure about that? These ain't exactly Ponyvillean residences."
"I'll be fine, Applejack." Rainbow Dash said firmly with a smirk. "You head on inside. Catch some Z's before they run away from you."
"What..." Teetering, a tired farm mare blinked up at the apartment. "...what should I tell the girls?"
"Nothing! Your snoring's enough to wake them up!"
Rainbow's sass was the happiest thing to listen to in over an hour. Nevertheless, Applejack responded to it predictably. "Ungh! I do not snore!"
"Yeah you buckin' doooooo." Rainbow winked with a smirk. "It's not honest to tell a lie, Applejack."
"I swear by it, Rainbow, I don't!"
"I rode in the berth next to you on the way to Appleloosa," Rainbow droned. "You sound like a horse."
"Hmmmph..." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Try not to fly into any lampposts while you take wing, ya hear?"
"Yeah, I'll try not to."
Applejack made her way to the front door. But just as she reached it—
"Uhm... AJ?"
Fighting the urge to yawn, Applejack looked back one last time. "Yeah, darlin'?"
Rainbow Dash's stance had turned soft again. She repeated something she had said earlier: "You... uh... you really deserve better, y'know?"
Applejack said nothing.
Rainbow contiued, and she looked even smaller and smaller as the words rolled out of her. "You and the farm, that is. You... really deserve more."
Applejack wasn't in the mood to repeat herself. So she said the only thing she knew that could drive the point home: "T'ain't about what a pony deserves, Rainbow Dash, but what she dares to accomplish in spite of the worst stuff that fate has to throw at her."
Rainbow had no response to that.
Applejack wasn't expecting any. She opened the door with ease... and stepped into Twilight's family household. When the door closed behind her, the mare felt naked. And a little bit guilty. She leaned back against the frame with a strange new weakness, fighting an invasive fog creeping in through the corner of her vision.
There were voices in the next room. Twilight... Rarity... Fluttershy... Pinkie Pie...
Her other friends had arrive long before, and they were in cheerful spirits.
Applejack did what she always did. She stood tall, breathed in deep, and fought the tears away. Once the fog had cleared, the pain remained—deep inside—where it belonged.
She thought of something that could give her the strength to trot forward... even smile.
Ruby eyes. Colorful threads. A cracking voice.
Soon, Applejack was smirking, and she strolled into the cloud of friendly voices, prepared for anything.