//------------------------------// // A Short Visit [Sad] // Story: Half-Hour Horses // by HoofAndQuill //------------------------------// (The Prompt: The potion of memories.) (Warning, a bit sad) Princess Twilight Sparkle sat comfortably in her warm, pleasant library. It was quiet inside, the silence only broken by the occasional turn of a page or sip of warm, mulled cider. Outside, it was a howling blizzard, the result of the weather team making up for too many mild, sunny days this winter. Really though, Twilight enjoyed having an excuse to stay inside all day, and the winds and snow outside somehow made the comfy library feel all the more comfy. The blizzard is why Twilight Sparkle found herself so surprised to hear a knock at the door, well past sundown. She jumped from the sound, and nearly spilled her cider, but then took a deep breath and trotted quickly over to the door, opening it to reveal a familiar pony-shaped bundle of well-worn but warm winter coats, topped by a firmly-tied-on beat up old stetson hat. Twilight smiled brightly, even as she ushered her friend quickly inside. "Applejack! What in Equestria are you doing out there?" Applejack trudged her way over to the fire, looking all the way like she was still outside fighting the wind. After a few moments, her teeth stopped chattering enough to reply. "Sorry, Twilight, y'know I don't like droppin' by unannounced. But uh... I was thinkin' I could come visit." Twilight took a moment to help Applejack disrobe, so that the fire could heat her more readily. She shook her head at the other pony's irresponsible behavior. "But it's freezing outside! You walked all the way here from Sweet Apple Acres? Let me warm some cider for you, you must be nearly frozen to the bone!" Sitting by the fire, now properly undressed and warming herself, Applejack shook her head. She spoke slowly, looking into the fire as she did so. "Uh... beggin' your pardon, but I'm lookin' for a different kind of drink." The smile on Twilight's lips, built by the pleasant evening and the surprise visit from a friend, died immediately. A few long seconds passed before she spoke again, her voice carrying a note of careful reproach. "Applejack, you shouldn't..." "I know what you're about t' say, Twilight, and you don't have to say it. You don't know what it's like! Some days I just need... I mean, seein' as how I can go back now, with that stuff, and..." Applejack trailed off, looking for a rationalization. Twilight watched her for a moment, and then shook her head and sighed, opening a high cabinet nearby with her magic, and pulling a familiar and nearly empty vial down. "I don't know what it's like, you're right. But this isn't healthy, Applejack. Also, there's only maybe three doses left, and then we'll never have any more of it." Applejack closed her eyes, and nodded slowly. "I know it, Twilight. I'm sure if somethin' else happens we need to know about the past to fix, we can find another kind of way to learn it." "It's not about saving Equestria, it's about you, Applejack. When we run out, it'll be like losing--" Twilight cut herself off, and shook her head with resignation. She brought a small cup over from the table, and poured a single dose of the magical potion into it. "Here. You can go in the side room, it should be warm enough and nopony will bother you." Applejack stared down into the cup for a long while. "I'm sorry, Twilight. This'll be the last time." Applejack took her cup and walked slowly into the small side study of the library, and closed the door behind her. Twilight sat down at her book again, but no longer felt the warm, pleasant comfort from before. It wasn't the first time Applejack had said she'd stop drinking that stuff, and Twilight Sparkle knew it wouldn't be the last, either. But she had a point, Twilight didn't know what it was like. She considered a moment, and then pulled a scroll over to write a somewhat overdue letter to two important ponies in Canterlot. --- Applejack's eyes opened slowly, to reveal the worn, weather-beaten Apple family farmhouse. The parlor, even if all the furniture was out of place, and a lot newer than it should be. She looked down at her hooves and smiled a bit at how much closer she was to the ground as a blank flank filly. Laughter and voices could be heard just one room away, and Applejack wasted no time in going to go join them. Far from the quiet, dusty parlor room, the family den of the Apple family farmhouse was warm, bright, and well-maintained. Nice, well-woven rugs kept the wood floor from feeling too cold on her hooves, and the couches and tables were all brightly colored and well maintained. The layout was all different, but she knew it this way by now just as well as the right way. Apple Bloom wasn't there, of course, but Macintosh was, laying out next to the fire in a slightly coltish mess, looking exhausted from a day of helping out with the winter maintenance on the orchard. Applejack heard a voice of pure love and warmth calling her over to the couch. She nearly flew on her hooves, galloping across the room to launch herself up onto the cushion. She didn't have a choice, she was more watching than much of anything else. She looked up into the eyes of her mother, and then wrapped her short filly forelegs around her in the biggest hug she could manage. She was obviously with foal, Apple Bloom of course, not that she was Apple Bloom just yet. But Applejack didn't pay that any mind. She felt her mother's forelegs wrap around her and pull her tight. Everything the mare did was done with such love and care for her family, and Applejack felt more warm and secure and happy than she could remember feeling in years. This was home, this was family. This was everything she wanted. Applejack closed her eyes and pressed her muzzle against her mother's neck, and smiled as she heard the mare start singing. She'd always had such a voice, carried over from her songstress schooling back with the Orange family in Manehattan. The slow, calm tune just flowed through Applejack's whole body, making the already soft and warm room even more comfortable and pleasant. Everything was just perfect. But all good things must come to an end. She shivered as she felt the first few effects of the fading potion. She'd learned to recognize it by now. The crackling of the fire slowly faded, her father's murmuring talk with Macintosh about the day's work got less and less distinct. She clung tightly to her mother, even as the singing quieted and the warmth on her coat slowly turned into the cold of the disused room of Twilight's library. Applejack opened her eyes, only to close them again. She fell to the floor and tears streamed from her tightly-shut eyes as she tilted the cup upward again, hoping against hope that the scant few drops left would offer her another trip back home. Of course, it wasn't enough. Twilight was right, she was always right. There were maybe two more drinks of this stuff, and then... then Applejack would lose her parents forever. Again. Applejack lay alone on the floor of the library study, and she cried.