Applejack lay in a hammock, tied between porch posts. She swung slightly in the breeze, rocking back and forth, enjoying the setting sun. Evening was upon them. It had been another day in troubling times. But the day had passed. Another day, another sunrise, and now, another sunset. The shadows lengthened and grew distorted. Applejack had no idea how she was going to get out of this hammock, but that was a problem that could be dealt with at another time, when the need arose.
Maplejack lay beside her, her constant companion. He squirmed and wiggled, fussing somewhat, sleeping.
He awoke with a snort.
“Mama,” he said, his mouth opening in a yawn, “somepony is comin’.”
Applejack gave him a squeeze with her foreleg.
“That so?” Applejack drawled. She had learned some time ago to listen to Maplejack’s occasional oddities. The little foal knew things. Knew about other ponies. Maplejack was special. Applejack wasn’t sure how, and she couldn’t explain it, but Maplejack was a lot like Pinkie Pie. Maple sense, Applejack thought to herself.
Applejack waited. Somepony would probably come. Not a family member, Maplejack seemed to know the difference. He had known about Rainbow Dash coming by for a visit, letting Applejack know in pretty much the same way that he was letting her know now. “Somepony is comin’.”
The evening loomed. The breeze picked up. Stars between to twinkle. Luna was hard at work, Applejack reflected, starbuckin’ the heavens into something worth looking at. Applebuckin’, babybuckin’, starbuckin’, it was all the same really, at least to Applejack. Hard work that somepony had to do and nopony seemed to appreciate. But it was hard work that had to be done or life would fall apart.
Well, she thought, not entirely true. Stumpy loved babybuckin’ and had his own way of saying thank you. Applejack felt a warm flush travel through her nethers. It was nice to be appreciated.
There was a dull thud overhead.
Applejack sighed. Somepony had came. Maplejack yawned. “I’m gonna be squished.” He said in a small voice.
“Most likely.” Applejack agreed.
“Applejack!”
Applejack took in the end of the day and looked at her visitor.
“Twilight Sparkle.” She drawled. “Go on, start talkin’, I already know why yer here.”
“What, how?” Twilight said baffled.
“I don’t know the specific reasons just yet, but yer in trouble. Just like Rainbow Dash. Just like Pinkie Pie. All of you show up on my farm when yer in trouble. I reckon yer going to want to talk about being a grown up and takin’ some responsibility.”
Twilight stared at her friend in awe.
“Pinkie Pie is in trouble?” Twilight finally said.
“She was.” Applejack said, not saying a word more than what was needed. “That spot of trouble over Canterlot a while back left Cyclone a mess. Pinkie was beside herself. She came to me with not a curl on her head.”
Twilight gasped.
“Cyclone turned out mostly OK though. He’ll never fly again, but he’ll live. Pinkie is curly headed again.” Applejack said, watching Twilight intently. “Pinkie is pregnant. When she thought she was going to lose Cyclone, she lost her cookies.” Applejack paused. “And tossed her cookies.”
“Oh.” It was all Twilight could muster. The recent events had taken too much out of her. She made a note to spend some time with Pinkie Pie as soon as possible.
“And Dashie is married. But you knew that.” Applejack drawled.
Twilight nodded.
“The rest of you are finally growing up and becoming real mares. Shy and I been waitin’ a long time for the rest of you to come along. So how about you Twilight Sparkle, what have you been up to?” Applejack asked.
Twilight suddenly found that there was a whole lot she wanted to say to Applejack. About how the farmer was the root of all their friendships. The anchor that held them all in. How Sweet Apple Acres was the one place that all of them returned to when they needed to find direction, or just did not know how to continue in life. How Applejack kept them all together. How Applejack was always there to make sense of the pieces. How Applejack knew how to hold both family and friends together. How the six of them would have probably fallen apart without Applejack keeping the tree that was their friendship alive and healthy, much in the same way she did apple trees. Twilight scowled at her internal metaphor.
“I’m lost.” Twilight said, all other words failing her and dying in her throat.
Applejack took a deep breath. “I know.” She exhaled.
“So much has happened.”
“I know.”
“And I am very lost and confused.”
“I know.”
“And I did something that I can’t make sense of.”
There was a long pause from Applejack…
“I figured as much. Which is why you came here, Twilight Sparkle.” Applejack’s green eyes stared at her friend, taking her in.
“I didn’t know who else to talk to. I couldn’t talk to Celestia. Not about this. Or Luna. Or even Cadance. I didn’t know who else to go to.” Twilight said, looking worried. She sat down in a ratty chair that had been left on the porch. “I couldn’t trust them in the same way I trust you Applejack.”
Applejack sighed as Maplejack squirmed next to her.
“I can’t believe what I’ve done. I’m always so careful. I make plans. I have checklists. I have checklists to manage my checklists. I’ve planned every aspect of my life. Every minute, every moment, all carefully accounted for.” Twilight sat, the corner of her eye twitching alarmingly.
Applejack had seen all of this before.
“And then I went and did something without a plan.” Twilight said, her voice becoming strained and rising in pitch.
“Twilight, what is so terrible? Get to the goldurn point.” Applejack said impatiently.
“I went out with a stallion named Phantom.” Twilight said, her face contorting violently.
“Oh, that’s awful Twilight Sparkle, how could you?” Applejack said in deadpan.
Twilight stared at her friend, ears twitching.
“Sorry Twi’, but I don’t see the big deal. Yer supposed to do that.” Applejack said with a faint smile.
“He took me brooding. Brooding is a sort of meditation that the…”
“I know what it is,” interrupted Applejack, “I do it all the time my self. It is how I fill my day while I lie around and these foals in my belly kick my insides. Now get to the point.”
“How…” Twilight started to say.
“I just do.” Applejack said, butting in again. “There’s a lot I know. I’m not as simple as I look. I’m one of them complicated mares. And don’t you laugh Twilight. I know what other ponies think of me. Dumb as dirt country farmer. I ain’t near as stupid as I might look sometimes. I might stay in the background a lot these days, but all of you come to me when yer in trouble. I have time to do the thinkin’ that gets us all through these confusin’ times.”
Twilight sat there flabberghasted.
“Now Twilight, get to the durn point. Before I get cranky on you and give you a well deserved piece of mind. Oh, and hug Maplejack. You’ll feel better.” Applejack smiled warmly.
Twilight lifted the foal in her magic and cradled him in her forelegs, holding him close to her chest. He squirmed and smiled up at her.
“Hi…” he drawled.
“I took Phantom up on his offer. To go brooding. I had a general idea of what it was, I’ve spent a lot of time around the lunar pegasi and I’m learning about them. He explained to me that I should listen to what the silence has to say to me, to push the chaos out of my mind and just listen and try to let my mind go blank. I thought the whole thing was silly. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen.” Twilight said.
“And something happened, something you can’t read about from some book, something you can’t neatly explain and file away and give a good reason for.” Applejack finished, knowing her friend too well.
Twilight nodded, her lower lip quivering.
“So what happened?” Applejack inquired, rocking gently in the breeze in her hammock.
“I started to hear things!” Twilight said. “All kinds of things. I heard screaming. And singing. I heard ponies crying. I heard foals crying. The sounds of the city flooded my ears. I knew that some of the things I was hearing weren’t actually there. Auditory hallucinations. All of this sound. And then the world became strangely quiet. I heard a clock ticking. And I heard this creaking sound, like Granny Smith’s rocking chair….” Twilight paused, looking at the battered rocking chair on the porch, not too far away.
Applejack sighed, suddenly feeling sad.
“Granny lived a long time.” Applejack said. Twilight nodded. “And then what happened?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know!” Twilight said. Tears were beginning to fall.
“You don’t know?” Applejack asked with some concern.
“Phantom and I suddenly weren’t brooding.” Twilight said in a small voice.
Applejack looked puzzled.
“We were going at it right there on the rooftops. There were lunar pegasi everywhere. All watching us. Silent. Brooding. Probably brooding about us. What we were doing.” Twilight’s voice began to disintegrate into a warble.
“I take it this was consensual?” Applejack asked, a faint hint of concern present.
“I didn’t give him much of a chance to say no.” Twilight said, continuing her meltdown.
“Oh.” Applejack snorted.
Applejack began to chuckle.
“It isn’t funny!” Twilight said. “I have never behaved like that before.”
“My little Twi’ is having herself a good time.” Applejack laughed. She paused. “Twi’ tell me that you’ve been with a stallion before. I hope you ain’t sayin’ what I think yer sayin’.”
Twilight began to rock back and forth while she clutched Maplejack.
“Oh pony farts.” Applejack swore.
“Life seemed so finite at that moment.” Twilight said, as though it explained everything. “I don’t know what came over me. Over us. So much had happened. We were sitting there brooding and I heard strange noises and then suddenly things just happened. And the lunar pegasi watched us. Nopony laughed. Nopony smiled. I was aware that I was being watched and I just didn’t care at the moment. I was so caught up in the now. My mind was completely clear of everything that holds me back. Phantom was with me, something I’ve actually been wanting for a very long time now. I didn’t know how to talk to him. During our brood, I realised how useless words were. There was this odd moment of total clarity and for a very brief moment, everything in the universe made sense. Draw breath. Live life. Continue life. Make life. Repeat.”
Applejack struggled for words to say.
“I make up too many reasons not to do things.” Twilight said, clutching Maplejack tightly. “I’ve talked myself out of so much that life has to offer. I convince myself that I have good reasons. A sense of obligation to my duties. To my friends. To Cadance, Celestia, and Luna. To my students, whom I love. I make time for all of them but I never make time for my self.”
“You and Fluttershy have a lot in common.” Applejack said, looking at her friend, watching the evening fade completely into night. Twilight time was over, Applejack reflected, pondering everything taking place on her porch.
“I’m not going to waste any more time Applejack. No more. I’ve seen too much go wrong lately. All of the best laid plans of so many, falling about them like so much ash. I’ll make time for my self. Like Cadance does. I’ll schedule a time to be spontaneous.” Twilight trembled slightly in her chair. “I’ll read a few books about how to take time for yourself.”
Twilight fell silent, her mouth moving, but no words forthcoming. Maplejack wrapped his forelegs around her and rested his head against her neck.
“Twilight…” Applejack said gently, trying to intrude on her friends internal mental processes.
Twilight didn’t reply.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Applejack said in her scoldin’ voice, the one she had inherited from Granny Smith when she became the matriarch of the Ponyville Apple clan.
Twilight froze, looking at Applejack.
“Twilight Sparkle, pull yerself together this instant, or so help me, I will applebuck some sense into yer thick skull.” Applejack warned.
Twilight nodded, her eye twitching only slightly.
“You got lost in a moment and did what ponies do when you cleared all that junk out of yer head. A lot of ponies had just died. It is only natural to do what you did. It is how we respond to disaster. We try to make more little ponies. And life goes on. It is how we deal with grief. With loss. With everything that happened that night. We clean up the pieces, sweep up the mess, and we get to babybuckin’ while hopin’ for the best. If we didn’t do this, we’d prolly all be long gone from this here world. Now, those lunar pegasi understand something that most of us don’t. Life goes on. Bad things happen. They know it. They live hard lives, lives that’d make most farmers cuss in frustration. A life I know I wouldn’t want. Some of us have to be princesses, some of us have to grow food, and some of us have be ready to die so that the princesses and farmers and such can continue to do their jobs. They understand this. Making life is what balances causing death. And you’d do well to listen to what they have to say. Spend more time brooding Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight blushed, heat flashing on her cheeks. “Brooding led us to…”
“I know.” Applejack interrupted.
“So you are saying…”
“Yes, dagnabbit.” Applejack cursed.
There were hooves tapping on the porch. Gala, Honeycrisp, and little Appleseed climbed the stairs and approached their mother.
“We were out chasing fireflies.” Appleseed announced.
“Ivy likes to eat Fireflies.” Gala added.
“I miss Ivy.” Honeycrisp finished.
Applejack looked at her foals.
“Hello Twilight.” They said in unison.
Appleseed crawled into the chair with Twilight. His small size allowed him to squeeze in almost anywhere there was a smidgen of extra space. “Twilight, can you tell me a story?” He asked, looking up at her with pleading eyes.
Applejack narrowed her eyes at Twilight, daring her to say no.
Gala and Honeycrisp sat on their haunches, leaning on one another.
“A long time ago, there was a little filly who lived in a tower.” Twilight began. “And she didn’t have any friends…”