Applejack wasn't used to working the fields past sundown. But that wasn't her problem that evening.
Her problem was actually her best asset at the moment: Rainbow Dash zipped through the orchards and tackled the branches with such speed and bravado that it nearly blew the farm mare off her hooves. Applejack would be done with a single row of apple trees, and by the time she was shoving the baskets full of apples to the wagon, she would find that Rainbow Dash had arranged twice as many and was already working halfway through the next line.
The petite pegasus was a veritable force of nature. Even though it was a full moon, Applejack had the hardest time keeping track of her between each sweaty blink. While it was encouraging to have such great help in a pinch, there was the undeniable feeling that Applejack was being outdone by a far more capable apple bucker.
Through waves of exhaustion and mental frustration, Applejack's mind clung to agonizing, self-pitying ideas that darkened in time to the waning evening. She thought of what it would take to actually attempt to find farmwork elsewhere... if she and her family would be considered too "old-fashioned" or "slow-paced" to make the cut. The realm of Equestria was complex, wild, and fast-paced. All it took was one summer visit to Manehattan for Applejack to embrace the full concept of a blazingly competitive environment. Ponyville was simply something Applejack was born into. How in tarnation was she to survive anywhere else?
To keep her heart and soul from imploding, Applejack focused on Granny Smith's kind words. Despite how rotten things had gotten with the farm as of late—with the departure of an age-long business partner and all—Granny Smith had somehow maintained her cool. She had lived a long life tempered by both joy and tragedy. Applejack envied her, in a way... envied her for the calm and tranquil mindset required to take such calamitous things in stride. Perhaps there was a greater thing worth living for... worth striving for than promises that Applejack struggled to keep in times of tribulation.
And it wasn't long until Applejack's mind wandered to some of Rainbow Dash's questions... and the answers that she heard herself giving just two hours ago. Answers kindled by the warmth of the glowing land under a rosy sunset. Answers tingling with the same joy a young Applejack felt when clinging to her mother... or resting on her father's backside as he did the simplest of farm chores. Looking back, she realized that her folks were just as laid back as Granny Smith. They did their harvests gradually... methodically... with no fear of a disastrous future.
What's more, they did all of their tasks together. Side by side. Heck... they only passed away from the tragedy that befell them because they were tackling something together as well.
Could it have been possible that they had discovered their true calling... their one single goal in life?
Had they found their happiness already, and all work beyond that was just striving to do what was best for the fruit of their labor?
For that matter... did either of them feel pressured to meet promises made to the gray shadows of souls that came and went before them?
Did they ever... feel imprisoned?
Applejack shuddered.
She paused in apple-bucking, wiping sweat off her brow in the moonlight.
Her mind had wandered too far. Phantom limbs had stubbed themselves on ideas both timeless and bitter. It shot a pain up her spine and manifested in a sour lump in her throat.
And at this juncture in her life, Applejack only knew of one way to solace the sting.
She took her hat off and gazed at the interior. It was a daring thing, but Rainbow Dash was far off on the other side of the farm, kicking fruit loose. She couldn't possibly see. And even if she did, how would she be expected to understand?
Even Applejack didn't understand. After all the things said and words exchanged...
...the feeling still remained. A bottomless well she could tap with just a momentary glance. The feeling of being needed... of sharing something precious... of something surprising and fulfilling all at once.
A sensation that was born out of absurdity and destroyed in the sober reality of the following morning. Something that was true in six spoken words and then obliterated immediately thereafter. A moment that would change Applejack's life forever—only it didn't—and all she could do now was sustain herself with the lingering flavor of the spontaneous happenstance. Forever and never. After all, the most precious things don't live for long. Applejack—if any pony—knew that the best. A "sensation" it would remain... forever.
But something happened when she went to take a look at the feather this time.
It blew off in a gust of nightly wind... along with the entire hat.
Applejack gnashed her teeth. "Awwww gul-darn it!"
The hat toppled and rolled downhill, threading through tree trunks. The moonlight caught a flicker of tiny blue vibrance. The feather was still plastered inside. Anypony could see the unmistakable glint. Even—
"Chillax, AJ!" Rainbow flew in from nowhere, heroically gliding towards the windblown article. "I got it!"
Applejack's heart stopped. She might as well have grown wings—for in a savage burst she was sailing downhill towards the inevitable holocaust.
In her throbbing vision, she saw the petite pegasus touching down... bending low... grasping the edge of the Stetson with her hoof...
"Hrmmmf—You should staple this thing to your ears, I swear—"
Reality crushed the fragile moment. Rainbow Dash was an annoying habitual drunkard with no respect for sobriety, royal garden statues, or country-bred best friends who bent over backwards to protect her from the law.
Engulfing all these things, Applejack let loose a dragon roar. "Don't touch that!"
Rainbow jumped in place. The hat rolled from her grasp and into Applejack's—who was just then landing with a monumental thud.
Wheezing, Applejack snatched up the article. In a heartbeat, she hugged the hat to her fuzzy chest... then struggled with the putrid task of having to shrug the entire debacle off before her loyal companion.
""I... I-I mean... please, sugarcube, if you don't m-mind..." Applejack reached into the hat with one hoof, felt around, and shuddered with relief upon feeling the precious feather still resting inside. Clearing her throat, she plopped the article back atop her crown and resumed damage control. "Whew! It's just that... uhm... you see, I've got... uhm..."
Rainbow stared at her, eyes wide in the starlight.
Applejack stared back.
Some things were too broken to fix. Whatever happened to Rainbow Dash on the Gala—whatever the entire drunken debacle meant to the scampy pegasus—was undeniably one of them.
The farm, however, was something that could be salvaged. If Rainbow Dash was there to assist with that, then that was all the confidence Applejack needed to proceed.
So she did.
"Right." She spun about and marched up the hill in the moonlight. "Reckon th-that's enough apple buckin' for the day. Heh... t'ain't even day anymore. By golly did we get a lot of fruit basketed! Could use a lil' help rollin' the wagons in, darlin', if ya don't mind helpin' me just a sneeze more. There's a good filly."
Behind her, she heard a confused pony muttering: "Yeah... s-sure. No problem."
Applejack clenched her teeth. She considered smacking herself in the forehead...
...but the tiny flutter of the feather against her scalp told her otherwise. So—ever obedient—she simply trudged forward. If nothing else, it was the easier thing to do, Applejack discovered...