Wow, Whopper thought to himself, I forgot how much I missed being blue.
He walked in front of his wooden cart, then pulled his metal collar on.
Okay, that sounded a bit weirder than I thought it would.
"Hey, Whopper! You all good?" Moody Root asked.
"Oh, um..." Whopper turned to face the elder earth pony. "Yup. Just thinking about some things."
"Haven't we all?"
Whopper chuckled. "You can say that again."
Well then," Moody Root continued, "have a safe trip, Whopper!"
"I always do, Moody!"
With that, Whopper began to trot forwards, the cart full of peaches behind him creaking and bobbing along as he moved forwards. It was a sound the blue earth pony stallion had grown quite familiar to. It was almost comforting, in its own, strange way. One of the few constants that had stayed with him, even after the town had initially lost its hope and its color.
Like many of his journeys across town tended to do, his path brought him through the town square. It was actually pretty jarring how quickly it had livened up over the past month or so, give or take a few days. Old relationships rekindling, neighbors being reintroduced to each other... It was a strange, albeit very welcome, change in attitude.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. One he hadn't expected to hear again so soon after his last encounter with the pony it belonged to.
"Hey, Whopper!' Applejack greeted from across the square. Having gained his attention, the orange earth pony quickly galloped up to him.
"So," she continued, "this is what you're normally supposed to look like, huh?"
"Yeah, this is," he replied. "You like it?"
"Well, it certainly beats being all gray and down-in-the-dumps."
"Amen to that."
There was a brief silence.
"Anyway" Applejack began once again, "Ah'm sorry for the surprise interruption, but Ah had a wide berth of free time and just couldn't let this sleeping dog lie, if you know what Ah mean."
Whooper shrugged. "I think I get it. So, I take it this is about your brother? The one that apparently looks almost exactly like me?"
"Correctamundo, good sir," Applejack replied.
"You brought a photo this time?"
"Exactly."
She bent around to her saddlebags and flipped one side open with her muzzle. She reached into it with a hoof and pulled out a small sheet of paper. To be specific, the sheet of paper was a polaroid photograph.
"Here, look at this here picture," she said, holding the photo in question up to Whopper.
Whopper looked down at the picture. It showed a large, red-coated earth pony stallion with an orange mane and a green apple for a Cutie Mark.
"So, this is Big Mac?" he asked.
"Eeyup," Applejack replied. "Now do you see what Ah was talkin' about before?"
Whooper continued to study the large, red-coated stallion in the picture. He looked at Big Mac's mane, then his own. He looked at Big Mac's hooves, then his own. This continued for some time, Whopper taking in every little similarity between him and Applejack's older brother.
Finally, he spoke.
"Yeah, you're right. That is a bit odd," he said.
"HAH!" Applejack exclaimed, victoriously pointing a hoof at him. "Ah told ya!"
"Eeyup," Whopper sighed. "You sure did..."
And that was that.
END. (AGAIN)