"Listen, Stallone..."
"Stu."
"Stu, I'm mighty sorry," Applejack said, trotting towards the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres. She slowly escorted the stallion to the dirt road leading into Ponyville from afar. "Here you came in the mid-afternoon just to do a regular delivery, and I done kept you far past sundown!" She grimaced. "Talkin' about apples!"
"It's quite okay!" Stu Leaves smiled. He tucked his clipboard into a saddlebag and folded his wings to his sides. "I could tell you were enjoying yourself!"
"Well, still... t'ain't not excuse for wastin' yer valuable time..."
"What's wasted?" Stu shrugged. "I learned a lot about apples! Plus—on the side—a whole buncha stuff about farming that I didn't previously know!" He smiled pleasantly. "I only want to fit into this place now that I'm here, and a big part of that is learning what makes the local farmsteads tick! And—if I must say so, Miss Applejack—you're a tick above the rest!" He chuckled, chuckled some more, then sighed. "That's... uhm... that's a joke—"
"I know what it was," Applejack droned. "If you want some good advice..." Her muzzle hung open. She hesitated... then ultimately shook her head. "Naaaaaaaah."
"What???"
Applejack waved a hoof. "It's a mite bit insultin'..."
"Insult me! I can take it!"
"Errrr... what?"
"Besides, I inadvertently insulted apple farming once or twice earlier, didn't I?"
"More like four times."
"Haha! Anyways, I'm sure I probably deserve it." He winked. "What's some good advice for me?"
"I... was gonna say 'stick to yer day job.'" Applejack winced. "But that sounds awfully cruel, does it? Yer obviously fixin' to learn more about anythang and everythang."
"You never know until you ask!" Stu said. "Thanks to you, Miss Applejack, I know a lot more about wagon-fixing and apple farming!"
"Yeah... well..." Applejack blew out the side of her muzzle. "Ain't much to knowin' about apples until you go out into the field and buck and pluck 'em!"
"Well..." Stu scratched his chin in thought. "...there's one way to fix that."
"Yeah?"
"If you ever need a helpin' hoof one of these days..." His wingtips flapped and he smiled. "...feel free to drop me an invite!"
Applejack's brow furrowed in the moonlight. "Yer invitin' me to invite you to come work on this here farm?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Stu gulped nervously. "Is that what I'm doing?"
"It's a mighty fine offer, Stu, but—and please dun take offense to this—"
"How can I?" He chuckled warmly. "I've got a day job!"
She smirked. "But I've already got plenty of local farmers and sharecroppers whom I've been askin' for help every once in a while. They all have experience. When it comes to harvest time, we gotta get fruit out of them trees mighty fast. I just... dun really have the time to pick ponies who've been foaled outside the farmin' scene. Not unless I'm in a real pinch, and then I'd be hollerin' at my friends to come on over. Does that make any sense?"
"Heh... absolutely." Stu nodded. "And I wouldn't wanna step on any fetlocks."
"Well, that's mighty neighborly of ya."
"But if you need help with anything else—!"
"Oh lawd... seriously?"
"Totes serious! Even if I'm from Cloudsdale, I'm fixing to be a good Ponyvillean neighbor!" He tilted his head up with a proud smile. "So—call on me if you ever need any winged help."
"Can I ask ya somethin'?"
"Sure."
Applejack tilted the brim of her hat back up. "How come yer such a goody-goody smilin' colt? Is it somethin' in the water where yer from? I mean... the only pony I know with this much cheer bakes sugary treats for a livin'. But what's yer excuse for bein' so squeaky and smiley?"
Stu weathered a long sigh. When he next looked at Applejack, it was through an honest—albeit tired smile. "Nothing makes me happier than feeling useful. I wanna..." He cleared his throat. "I need to do good by my fellow ponies here in Ponyville. It's... very important to me."
"It must be to make you wanna leave yer home."
"Heh..." Stu shrugged. "'Home' is simply where you're destined to be, Miss Applejack. It's as simple as that."
Applejack blinked at him. Her ears tickled to the sound of familiar leaves rustling in a familiar wind. She smelled the scent of apples in the air and it made her tremble for the first time in years. "Reckon it is simple, isn't it?"
Silence.
"Well..." Stu waved, turned, and trotted off. "I best be off. Have a wonderful evening, Miss Applejack—"
"Ain't you..." Applejack suppressed a snorting laugh. "Ain't you gonna fly?"
Stu paused slightly in his shuffle.
"I mean, ya do have wings, ya silly varmint!"
"... ... ..." A sweet smile flickered between them for one final moment. "I think I'll enjoy trotting at an earth pony's pace this evening," he said. "I already like everything else that they've taught me today." A final flick of the tail, and he vanished beyond the bend.
Applejack shook her head with an amused smirk. Eventually, she too turned and vanished... this time towards her house.