"Let's clean this off here."
A warm, damp cloth floated over to the patient and dabbed at the blood on his shaved skin. Once it was gone, a dry rag followed behind it, rubbing away any moisture that may have been left over.
"Alright, let's close him up. Suture."
The requested item made its way over and was traded between magical auras. Stitch by stitch, the gaping wound was sealed as well and tight as it could be. A nurse cut the excess string once it was tied off and set it to the side. Two of Matt's surgeons glanced at each other and exchanged a nod. Their horns lit up and their magic once again took hold of the injury as it did on Matt's back a couple hours earlier, the healing abilities hopefully accelerating the restoration process. It seemed to do alright with the burn marks on his abdomen when they began working on it, so they were reasonably confident the rest would be okay.
With the surgery finally coming to a close after several hours, the head doctor snapped his rubber hoof-gloves off and breathed a sigh of relief. He and his co-workers had done all they could, and it felt like it took forever given how much damage there was. He wondered if it'd be enough as he looked to his side, the heart monitor beeping faintly and less often then he'd like.
"Nice work, doctor," one of the nurses said as they started straightening things up.
"Don't congratulate me just yet," he muttered. "It's up to him now. I'll go talk to his friends, let them know what's going on."
-----
It was generous of Celestia and Luna to allow Applejack and her friends to stay at the castle until the hospital came calling. She wasn't sure what made her feel worse – hearing that Matt may not wake up or the waiting to see if it becomes true. Staring out the same window looking at the same view hour after hour had been excruciatingly dull as well.
If Rarity hadn't been sharing the room for these last three days, giving her someone to talk to, she probably would've gone stir crazy. She wondered what the others were up to and how they had been keeping themselves distracted. It probably wouldn't have been a bad idea to go spend more time with them, but she simply didn't have the energy to move.
The farm girl had heard from the Princesses during a get-together that the bizarre happenings around Canterlot had gone away. She figured the ones around Ponyville and the rest of Equestria had as well, but she'd be damned if she understood what all had gone down. There hadn't been any reports of the deformed maniac either. Everything he had done to them in that throne room had undone itself when he vanished, so maybe he – and, frankly, everything else – was gone again. She really hoped that to be the case; enough was enough with all the stress.
Just as the miserable mare was going to lay down yet again, there was a knock at the door. She and the dressmaker met up to greet their guests together. They were met by four welcome smiles, two being the royal sisters, the others belonging to Twilight and a hopping Pinkie Pie.
"Howdy, y'all. What's got you so chipper?" A letter with the hospital's header floated down to meet her. As Applejack took it and read it, a relieved smile crept across her lips. Rarity patted her on the back happily. "Guess we should go pick up Rainbow and Fluttershy and make our way over then, huh?"
"Indeed," Celestia said, magically placing the stetson on its owner's head.
-----
The loud creak of Matt's door stirred him from his slumber. Eight concerned but joyful mares stepped in one by one. Applejack was half-tempted to leap onto the bed and squeeze him until his eyes popped out of his head but she knew better than to risk reopening any wounds. Hopefully Pinkie Pie would come to the same obvious decision.
"Take all the time you need, your Highnesses," the nurse said as she left them alone.
"Thank you. How are you feeling, Matt?"
He groaned and shrugged tiredly to answer. At his side, the bed controls sat. May as well sit up a bit, make it a little easier to talk with them face to face instead of staring at the ceiling. With the push of a button and a soft hum, Matt's bed slowly bent upwards, its passenger taking in a deep breath as he rose.
"Hey," Matt groaned, not really answering the question.
"Been waiting to see how you were, mostly," the farmer answered. "Been pretty quiet otherwise. Those things that popped up in Canterlot seem to be gone."
"No boats in the ballroom?"
"No boats in the ballroom," Celestia replied.
"That's good." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to ask the next question. It was probably just for reassurance more than anything. The bastard had come back from nothing once already. "What about...him?"
The girls shared a collective glance. It was something they had double and triple-checked what felt like every other hour since he vanished in front of them.
Luna eventually spoke up. "We have not seen or heard from him since...that day."
"Good," Matt grunted. "Fuck him."
Applejack walked up beside him and laid a hoof on his arm. "Shug, I know this is probably something you'd prefer not to think about again, but...well, what in Equestria did he want with you? Why'd he hide you the way he did?"
Was the cowgirl ever right. All it did was remind him of what it cost him to overcome the spiteful prick for the second time. He looked around the room at his friends, each just as curious as the last, and sighed, letting his eyes fall sadly.
"He, uh...he showed me everything. What was bringing things here, why...all of it."
"What all was it?" Twilight asked.
"Long story short, when...when he first brought me here, he wasn't the only thing that latched onto me apparently. He said that he never used that spell before and there were some side effects or something."
"But we hit you with the Elements. Shouldn't that have destroyed them?"
"He said that they must have determined it wasn't bad magic or whatever and didn't get rid of it completely."
"I'm a bit confused myself," Celestia said. "Luna and I looked you over and found no trace of Discord."
"He mentioned that too," Matt grumbled, still only half awake. "He said if you looked for more than only him, you may have spotted it, but...well."
"And you believe what he told you?" Rainbow spoke up.
"Think about it. You told me what happened to that cat when it almost sliced my face off and when that bastard smashed me into that car. He figured it out. He knew if..." Matt gritted his teeth and sneered, remembering again what he had lost and the kind of agony she must have endured being thrown back home – all because of him. Try as he might, he couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice over it and the pain in his eyes. "He knew what would happen if something happened to me. I didn't want you to look for me cuz he said he was going to kill you just so he wouldn't run the risk of you possibly finding me again if you found me to begin with."
The color nearly left their skin upon the revelation. The princesses were not quite as surprised. They had experienced what he was really like long ago. He wasn't above torturing ponies for amusement or worse, should the right mood have struck him.
Celestia took a step forward, eyeing his chest with concern – the same spot they had focused much of their attention on when Discord was vanquished so many months ago. "Matt, if what you said is true, I think it would be in our best interest to look you over one more time, this time in much more detail. If there is any trace of any kind of magic still inside you, it needs to be found."
"Especially if it could potentially start everything all over again," Luna added.
Ugh, even after it was over, it wasn't over. But it was a reasonable concern. If that link to Earth wasn't completely stamped out, they'd be back to square one; it had to be done.
"Two things," he mumbled. "First, this is going to take a while, isn't it?"
"If we are to be thorough, yes."
"Figured. Second, do I need to be awake for it?"
The royal sisters shrugged at each other. "No, you don't have to be."
"Good. I'm passing back out now." And with a gentle rolling of his shoulders, he flopped onto his pillow, dead to the world as soon as he closed his eyes.
"Aw, come on, Matt. You can stay up a little longer, can't you?" Pinkie insisted to no avail. He wasn't budging.
"Come now, dear. He's been through...well, more than a lot over the last few days. We should let him get some rest."
They were all thinking the same thing in both respects. As much as they would have loved to chat with him some more, he had to have been physically and mentally spent.
Celestia turned to address the group. "I can imagine you all want to stay, but if you wish to head back to your rooms or stretch your legs around Canterlot, I'm sure he'd understand. Either way, Luna and I must look him over again, and like we told him, it's going to take some time."
Applejack and her friends shared a disappointed look, but what Celestia was subtly suggesting was probably for the best. It was rather obvious Matt didn't want to be bothered right now. How much of that was because of the surgery and how much because of his sour mood was up for debate.
"You'll...let us know if there's any change in his condition while you're here doing your thing, right?" the cowgirl asked.
"Of course we will, but I don't think that's going to be a concern. The note did say he was doing fairly well, all things considering."
"Yeah, that's true. What do y'all think? Should we...I don't know, head back to the castle or something?"
One by one, the girls eventually – reluctantly – conceded and filed out, taking one last look at the slumbering young man. Applejack was the last to leave, gazing longer than the rest. She could only imagine what he was thinking about as he fell deeper into dreamland, but the list she came up with was fairly short. She had gotten to know his mannerisms especially well for a while now. It only lasted for a second or two, but the subtle twitch, the anguish written on his face when he told them what Discord wanted with him, told enough of the story. Her ears drooped sadly as she sighed to herself and stepped into the hallway, the Princesses' horns lighting up being the last thing she saw as she quietly closed the door.
-----
A solid buck to the tree sent its fruit falling into the well-placed baskets sitting on the ground beneath it. Applejack looked up and surveyed the branches, adjusting her stetson just enough to block the high sun from her eyes. As usual, the tree was cleared in a single kick. A few stray apples had landed on the ground, but that was par for the course. Satisfied with her work, she glanced around through the orchard toward the south – the direction of the farm's front gate.
As it had been every day for the past two-plus weeks since they departed from Canterlot, nothing and nobody was coming to greet her. She sadly curled her lips and returned her attention to her namesake. She caught herself constantly looking and waiting even though she always assumed correctly that it was never coming. Sometimes only five or ten minutes passed before she'd look again; sometimes it was a few hours. Either way, the result was always the same, and the heartache was always real. Why she constantly felt the need to search for a ghost was beyond her.
She went to pick up the basket and fling it onto her back when she paused. It wasn't the first time she had been so agitated since everything had settled back down to normal again. The poor mare was getting rather sick of it though. She had chores and responsibilities around the farm and she couldn't afford to be distracted so much, especially as much as she had been recently.
Fortunately, it was a simple thing to make it stop – she had just chosen not to think about it until now. With a miserable grunt, Applejack put her harvesting duties aside and walked up to her nearby brother. It was about time she put things to rest once and for all.
"Hey, Big Mac," she muttered, not looking him in the eye.
He set a powerful hind leg back to the ground before he could convince the tree he was working on to cough up the goods and nodded casually at her. He suspected he knew what was troubling her...again. She was never very good at hiding her emotions, plus he had seen her looking the way she was on plenty of occasions.
"Listen, um...there's...th-there's something I really need to do in town and...well, would it be a big deal if–"
With a clear of his throat, he got her attention and cut her babbling off. No need for her embarrass herself further. For a moment, they stared at each other in silence, but the message became loud and clear when he jerked his head to the side, letting her know that she could get going if she wanted. Before she left, though, she wrapped a forelimb around her brother's neck and hugged him tightly. It took him a bit by surprise.
"I should've listened to you."
"'Bout what?" he asked, trying to play dumb.
She backed off and stared sadly at the question. The big red stallion glanced away, ashamed at his less-than-stellar attempt at small talk. They both knew what was being referenced. Big Mac's heart went out to his younger sister as she walked off with her head hanging, shuffling through their home-grown forest and gradually disappearing from sight.
"It'll be okay," he called out. Whether she heard him – or believed him – was anyone's guess.
-----
Applejack couldn't be sure exactly how long it took her to wade through the orchard and into the heart of the quiet little village. She spent most of her walk staring at nothing, lost in thought. About the only thing that made her mind change the subject was the slight pinch in her neck that she had gotten from time to time for a little while now. She reasoned it was probably thanks to that crash into the fountain in that shopping place.
The couple doctors she had talked to about it did all they could, given their extremely limited knowledge on how one could be injured in one of those car things, but it still surfaced occasionally. She may have have been stuck with it permanently for all she knew, but it was a minor inconvenience to her at best. Even when it'd occur during some apple bucking when she would put her back and neck into a good kick, she'd grunt, shake it off and get back to work. None of her friends had mentioned any pains of their own; perhaps they just got lucky.
After a while, her goal was finally upon her. The familiar small home that she had visited quite frequently in recent memory stood before her, its dark blue curtains drawn. She hoped the door was unlocked. She could always ask Twilight or Rarity to help her pick the lock or open it from the inside with a little unicorn magic if it was sealed up tight, but that would be unlike her. Neither of her magically-inclined friends would probably be too keen on honoring such a request though Rarity may be easier to convince.
The fashionista really had been an angel to Applejack through the entire ordeal. She'd have to do something nice for her at some point, maybe treat her to dinner at a fancy restaurant or something. Rarity would probably insist that the cowgirl not pay her back and that she was more than happy to help, but Applejack wasn't going to be having any of that.
Taking a deep breath, the farmer walked up to the door and took hold of the knob, giving it a slight twist. It was open, thank Celestia.
The door whispered a creak as Applejack pushed it open, finding the living room barely lit by the sunlight. It wasn't so dark that she didn't see the hole in the wall immediately upon stepping inside and the broken bottle laying on the floor below it. A quick survey of the rest of the carpet didn't reveal any more shards of glass in the way to the couch where Matt lay face down and sprawled out.
A lazy arm hung over the side and the other barely held a mostly empty bottle of whiskey in its drooping hand. Applejack could see on the far side of the coffee table what looked to be a white case of said alcohol. Strange, none of her friends mentioned seeing him up and about to go pick it up at the local liquor store. She figured he had holed himself up in his house after they returned him and he grunted at them to be left alone. Either way, it was rather obvious what he had been doing when she spotted three more empty bottles and another two laying on the floor. A couple of plates with a few crumbs here and there laid on the small table, but thankfully there didn't appear to be any bugs crawling on them.
She had never seen so much facial hair on Matt before. Was he still wearing the same clothes he had on when they released him from the hospital in Canterlot? It was entirely possible; she could smell him from across the room. It wasn't so powerful that it made her gag, but it was still noticeable. A simple, unpleasant odor was easy to deal with where the fact that he may not have been laying there if it weren't for the surgeons in Canterlot would have crushed her.
At least she didn't have to worry about random things showing up out of nowhere anymore. The Princesses had looked Matt over more meticulously than she thought they would have needed to. It was, frankly, quite astounding how long they took, but it was a necessary evil that gave him an absolutely clean slate. As another bonus, Celestia and Luna had eventually received reports of things such as that New York place disappearing, assumedly going back to where it came.
If it wasn't for Matt's gentle snoring, one could have easily assumed he had left them again. Biting her lip, Applejack quietly approached her dozing friend and gave him a gentle nudge.
"Matt?" No response. She poked at him again. "Hon?" He stirred with a muffled grunt. "I'm sorry to wake you, but...I needed to come see you."
"You saw me. Now go away," he grumbled into his pillow.
"Come on, Matt, you've holed yourself for too long now. We've...I've been worried sick about you."
With a long sigh, he sat up, wobbling as he got to an upright position. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked half dead. Applejack climbed onto the couch next to him only for Matt to grab onto her shoulder for a moment so he could finally sit still. Unfortunately, the little bit of movement was all it took for his stomach's contents to start making their way back up, and he threw himself onto the floor at the only container in the area – his half-empty case of booze. The farmer winced as she watched her love interest bury his face into the box and then listen to what he drank spilling all over the bottom of the crate. Once his stomach was emptied, he fell back against the sofa and wrapped his arms around himself, shaking and cold with a few leftovers dripping off his lip.
"Don't move, sugarcube. I'll go get a paper towel," Applejack said, hopping right back off the couch. She returned shortly with what she needed and sat up against him again, wiping his mouth clean. "Jeez, Matt, you're destroying yourself."
Another indignant grunt was his answer.
"Don't give me that. This isn't any way to handle what happened and you know it."
"She's gone again," he muttered.
Applejack set the rags on the table and stroked a hoof through his hair. "I know. I know what it's like to lose someone you love. It took a while for me to move on after my folks passed on, but it did happen eventually."
"You've never lost someone you loved twice," he growled under his breath.
The mare held a breath as her inside suddenly starting tying themselves in knots. She saw a palace floor, a puddle of blood.
"I almost did."
To her surprise, Matt didn't ask what she meant, but instead hunched over and broke down crying. It was New York all over again, only A.J. was doing the rescuing this time. She pulled his head into hers and curled her limbs around him, quietly nuzzling him as he let everything out. Eventually, he calmed down enough for her to speak what had been on her mind, the reason why she ventured to his home in the first place. She took a deep breath, hoping to Celestia she wouldn't sound like a foolish schoolfilly. She let his head go and held his cheek, looking straight into his eyes.
"Matt, listen..."
She stopped and chewed her lip. Okay, so it wasn't going swimmingly so far.
"The main reason I came over here is, uh...well, I-I know that this...may not be the best time, but...there's something that's been eating at me for a while now – something real important – and...and I almost never got a chance to say it, y'know? I...um..."
"What is it already?" Matt groaned.
Her hoof left his cheek and squeezed his hand. She sighed again. "We need to talk."
-----
"–sident Obama still declined comment on the strange events that first started occur–"
"–have kept turning up over the last several days, bringing the death toll up to twelve hund–"
"'–want to really make this easy on yourself, you'll help us find this guy.'
'That depends on wha–'"
Rachel shut off the television and set the remote on the end table next to her cushy chair. There never seemed to be anything on these days, and whenever she'd flip past the news networks, most of their coverage still revolved around what she went through, even after a few weeks. Why couldn't they just give it a rest? She didn't need the news to help remind her of what was gone.
At least everything seemed to get put back where it originally came from, if nothing else. When Rachel realized where she was when she came to, it left her confused as Hell for thankfully only a short time. Before she recognized that she was back in her apartment, she worried it'd be another impossible journey to get home again, especially after stranding her car in New York.
She had no way to determine exactly how her complex was back where it was supposed to be when she looked out the window and saw what she usually did, but she didn't really care in the end. Finding her vehicle downstairs where she originally left it was another welcome relief. The fates of everyone and everything else didn't become a concern of hers until she was bombarded by TV news stories speculating what had happened.
She yawned and rubbed her tired eyes. Might as well get ready to get yet another night's restless sleep soon. But first, she had a visit to make.
Next to the remote was her phone. It had become almost a nightly ritual. Sometimes when she sat in front of her computer, she'd pull it up on her hard drive, having emailed it to herself to save. She opened the camera selection and found the short video she recorded when they were sitting in the Waldorf Astoria's living room. She could probably do it with her eyes closed at this point.
The familiar picture came onto the tiny screen and, like always, a warm but sad smile crept across her lips. The multicolored ponies greeted her the way they did every time: the orange one with the hat waving awkwardly, the yellow one hiding behind her long hair, the one with the rainbow mane smiling confidently, the purple mare saying hello and then putting her nose back in her book, the white unicorn fluffing her mane and the pink one acting silly. Pinkie blowing a raspberry at the camera always made Rachel laugh to herself, no matter how often she saw it.
Finally, Matt came on at the end of the pan. He blew her a kiss and tickled her stomach, making the camera flinch and the photographer laugh. Lastly, before the short film ended, he told her he loved her.
A lump formed her in her throat. The smile she started with had slowly disappeared as she watched her memories but returned when she glanced down at her belly and rubbed it lovingly.
-----
It was the eleventh day after Applejack's little visit. Life had continued on as it usually did, particularly at Sweet Apple Acres. In the heart of the trees, a stallion stood under the branches and leaves of his bucking target, taking careful aim on its trunk. Something he saw out of the corner of his eye made him stop in his tracks, however. He blinked at what caught his attention – a familiar, two-legged chum walking toward him, his hands in his pockets and his eyes hovering toward the ground. Matt's clothes looked cleaned and possibly pressed, his face clean shaven. After what his sister told him, it was refreshing to see Matt in a better state.
The two finally came face to face, not saying anything for several seconds until the taller of the two broke the ice. "Hey, Big Mac."
"Hey," he replied with a nod.
Another awkward bit of silence. "How're things?"
"Fine."
"Good, good," Matt said. "Business been okay?"
"Eeyup."
"Cool." The two stood in silence aside from a cleared throat, waiting for the other to say something. With a nervous stutter, Matt eventually was the one to do it. "Look, Big Mac...I-I'm sure A.J. told you about...y'know, what happened and all, and I understand if you want to kick my ass, I wouldn't blame you. I'm...I'm really sorry about–"
The stallion waved a hoof and shook his head, cutting his taller friend off. "You didn't do anything wrong. She should've said something a long time ago. But if you're looking to apologize to somepony, it ain't me you need to talk to."
Matt bit his lip as he nodded. "Yeah. I don't suppose you have any idea where she is?"
"Should be at the corn field," Big Mac replied.
"Would it be a big deal if I...?"
"Go on ahead. She'll be happy to see you."
Matt gave the apple bucker a casual salute and smirked. "Alright, cool, I'll go say hi then. Was nice seeing you, man."
"Eeyup."
-----
Applejack plucked another ear of corn and tossed it into the cart with its numerous brethren. She hoped she could get at least half of the large field done by the time the sun started going down, but something told her that wouldn't be a problem. Ever since she sat down and came clean with Matt, she had felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, allowing her mind to be relatively free of distractions. It still hurt a bit, sure, not hearing from him since then, but she had been able to rest a little easier.
She turned back to the harvest but caught a glimpse of something she hadn't expected to see. It was a figure approaching her in the distance that she could have spotted anywhere. Her heart suddenly started racing more and more with each step Matt was taking, and her mouth fell open in pleasant surprise.
Ugh, she needed to keep her cool! It's not like she hadn't seen him before. Had to keep it together.
After a couple long minutes, Matt came to a stop a few feet in front of her. It was clear as day on his face that he was feeling just as awkward as she was. They stared at each other for a moment, sizing up the situation. Things seemed to be normal.
"Hey," Matt muttered.
"Hey." If she was ever going to say something sweet, now was the time. "...You shaved."
Yeesh, smooth as sandpaper. He didn't really seem to notice. At least they were talking.
"Heh, yeah, it was starting to get kind of itchy. Don't know how you guys deal with it twenty-four hours a day."
"Eh, you don't really notice when you're born with it, I suppose," she said. "So, uh...how've you been?"
"Okay. Been doing a few jobs here and there. Still gotta pay the bills, right?"
"Ain't that the truth."
"What's been up with you?"
Applejack shrugged. "Not much really. Work and chores, chores and work, you know how it is."
"Yep," Matt replied, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet. "How's the family doing?"
"Good, good. Granny's been wondering where you've been." The mare glanced away and poked at the ground. "Apple Bloom misses seeing you around too."
"I'm honestly kind of surprised she and Sweetie Belle and Scoots didn't stop by when I was, uh...well, y'know."
"Yeah, I told her to leave you be while you cleared your head. She probably told her friends to do the same, or Rarity and Rainbow Dash told them or something."
"Ah." He stepped around the cowgirl and sat on the ground, leaning up against the wagon and letting out a relaxed sigh. Applejack followed suit, planting her flank right beside him. She could take a few minutes off her hooves; she'd be busting her rump pretty hard so far that day. Another silent moment passed by. "You haven't heard of any...strange stuff anywhere, have you?"
"No, looks like everything's a-okay."
"Yeah, I checked around too since you stopped by and I haven't found shit either. Nice to have things back to normal for a change." Matt bit his lip before the conversation continued. He had danced around the real issue at hand and the pleasantries had all been gotten out by now. "A.J., listen...I'm...I'm real sorry about, Hell, everything. I mean, I'm all flirty with you and teasing you and stuff the whole time and it was probably driving you crazy. For God's sake, I was sitting there...biting your ear that one–"
"N-no, no, it's...i-it's okay, Matt, it's okay. You didn't know. I should've told you – a long time ago," she said, eyeing the dirt sadly.
A smirk found Matt's face. "That's what Big Mac said when I saw him earlier."
The farm girl nodded. "He and Granny Smith I think knew for a while."
"Anyone else?"
"Yeah, I talked to Rarity about it. She said the same thing, that I should've just been straight with you." She shook her head and curled her lips, mentally kicking herself. "Really was a stupid reason I didn't, looking back. I was just so scared, y'know?"
Just then, she felt a comforting arm wrap around her, caressing her shoulder. Her eyes met his, which were just as warm as his gesture. Utterly content, she closed her eyes and leaned blissfully into him, any fears or concerns she may have had melting away. There was still something left that she wanted to tell him when she finally spilled the beans but didn't feel it was quite the right time. Now seemed to be just that.
"Matt?"
"Hm?"
"I've...been thinking a lot lately about what you must have gone through thanks to Rachel arriving here and then eventually...well, y'know. But, the way I've been seeing it, it's not every day that we get to see those we cherished in our lives a second time once they're taken away from us. So, even though it was...kind of a nightmare in the end, in an odd way, it's not unreasonable to see what happened as kind of a gift." She smiled softly at him, adding, "And thanks to those doctors, I'd like to think I was given one too."
Hm, he hadn't thought of it that way. He shifted his eyes away and cocked a wry smile, letting her words sink in. Her last comment was making him blush a little.
"You're not getting all sappy on me, are you?" he joked.
"Eh, maybe a little," she said, her own cheeks turning a shade of red. "You, uh...can I ask you something kind of odd, shug?"
"Go 'head, you know you can."
"Alright." The farm girl bit her lip, fumbling for the right words. The butterflies really needed to pick a better time to decide to start migrating back to her stomach. It wasn't an easy question she wanted to ask, but it had eaten at her for a bit ever since she came clean with him. "Erm... Let's say that you never spotted that one record thing when you were playing us that music that one time. Do you think that...?"
"What, that I wouldn't have thought of her at all?" he clarified.
"Yeah."
His lips pursed and he pictured various scenarios in his head. In all honesty, it was probably too difficult to answer. If he could make predictions like that, he would have probably found a lottery to play. He shrugged and said, "I don't know. Doesn't really matter anymore. Here we are now, right?"
"Yeah, that's true." She took in a deep breath and steeled herself. There was one other, much more important thing to her that she needed to know. "Matt?"
"Sup?"
Of course, she had to get tongue-tied now. "I...err...if I had said something...y'know, um...before that whole big mess started...well...w-what would you have said?"
Ah yes. Matt half-expected Applejack to ask such a thing. He had thought about it more than once since her visit. That was even harder for him to figure out than the last one, and like before, he was never able to really put together a clear answer. He had never really thought about such a thing, despite living in Equestria and adopting their culture and norms as his own for so long – as well as spending so much time hanging out on the farm. Plus, any time he was feeling antsy, so to speak, he took care of things himself and he was able to get by just fine.
What all could he tell her? If he said no, she'd likely be utterly devastated, even if she'd never admit it. If he said yes, she'd probably get down in the dumps and feel stupid for not speaking up sooner. He didn't want to see either of those happen, and neither answer would have been entirely true anyway, so he replied in the best way he knew how.
He reached across and pulled her hat down over her eyes, making the nervous mare giggle like always. She nudged the brim away from her face and glanced up to see him pretending to be uninterested.
"Y'know, we never did get to see that movie thanks to that friggin' mountain lion. Well, and everything else too, I guess."
Applejack's smile got just a hint wider. "No, we didn't."
"I happened to pass by the theater earlier, saw that that one we were going to go see wasn't playing anymore. But I talked to the guy at the ticket counter. He said there's this one that, like, all the critics hate. Said he doesn't even remember the last time he sold a ticket for it." Matt lifted a brow and spied the country girl from the corner of his eye. "Want to go check it out? Show starts at 7:20."
A brow of her own was raised. "Err, why would you want to go see something like that?"
With a hard shrug, he explained, "Well, I figured that, like, we could be all loud and obnoxious and yell at the screen and stuff and there wouldn't be anyone there that would care at all."
Alone...in a dark theater...with Matt. Okay, maybe she could get behind that. Her eyes lit up and her cheeks again went red at the thought.
"If I remember right, we were supposed to get something to eat first," she reminded him.
Playing along, he gave her a slow, sure nod. "This is true."
"My treat."
"You don't have to do that."
"I want to," she said, poking his chest. "Though I can't promise we'd be able to find a place that serves, y'know, chicken or cow or whatever."
"Eh, I went for over a year and a half without eating that stuff. A little longer ain't going to kill me. Soooo, pick you up about 6:15-ish?"
"Sounds good."
"Alright, cool," Matt said happily. "I better be heading out. Got a couple things I need to do before tonight, and you probably want to finish up some more of the field here too, I'll bet."
"Heh, yeah. Never ends around here!"
"Yup!" As he rose to his feet, he smiled mischievously and tapped her on the nose. "I'll see you later."
"Take care, sugarcube," she giggled.
Applejack's heart fluttered in her chest as Matt turned and began heading out, a noticeable spring in his step. It had been quite a while since she had such high spirits. For a moment, she got lost in her thoughts, dreaming of what may come of that night. Matt had long since vanished in the distance by the time she blinked and came back down off her cloud. With renewed vigor, she stood up and looked back over the rows and rows of light green stalks. Matt was definitely right about that – she needed to get back to her chores. But, something told her the rest of the work day was going to fly by.