The next morning she woke up, having mostly forgotten the previous night, and went to breakfast feeling cheerful. She had a lot of bucking to do, but she had agreed to meet with her friends for lunch at Sugarcube Corner, so she at least had something to look forward to.
“Mornin’, Blueblood.” The stallion was setting the table under Granny Smith’s watchful eye. He set down the plate carefully before speaking.
“Good morning to you as well, Miss Applejack. Will you be ‘bucking’ again today?”
“Yup! Yer more than welcome to join me; Ah’d like to be done with a few rows a’fore lunch.” Blueblood nodded eagerly.
“Applejack, y’caught yerself a real prize here.” Granny Smith winked at her.
Applejack blushed and looked away. “T… t’ain’t like that, Granny Smith.” She quickly ate her breakfast and rushed out the door, but not before seeing Big Macintosh’s disapproving frown and Blueblood’s sorrowful eyes...
Applejack slammed her hooves into the tree’s rough bark, knocking the apples free into their baskets. Granny Smith had reminded her of all the uncomfortable chatter the night before. She didn’t… she didn’t think of Blueblood that way. He was, at best, a friend. A friend who just happened to be a stallion. She sighed. Rarity was always bubbling about “the most eligible bachelors in Equestria”, but Applejack had never given marriage or having a special somepony any thought. To her, stallions had always been fellow workers or family, never an object of romance. But Blueblood… there was just something different about him. When he looked at her, his eyes slightly adoring, she felt something… but what? Finding no answer in this tree, Applejack set about dragging baskets to another.
She heard somepony approach and didn’t have to even turn to know it was Blueblood. “Miss Applejack?”
She didn’t respond.
“I… I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused you.” Applejack continued to silently work. “From henceforth I… I will not bother you any longer.”
Applejack hmphed.
“I will leave Sweet Apple Acres and return to Canterlot. I am told…” He sounded a bit choked. “… that the Princess is very powerful and may be able to restore my memories. Regardless, I will remain in Canterlot, where I cannot trouble you or your family any longer.”
Applejack finally stopped bucking to look at him. His face was pained, and she could swear he’d cried between the house and here. He had a small knapsack draped across his shoulders. “Blueblood…”
“Good-bye, Miss Applejack.” He turned and ran.
Applejack stood as still as if she’d been rooted to the spot. Part of her wanted to chase him and tell him he could stay, it wasn’t that big of an imposition. The other part said she should simply continue bucking and let him go; he wasn’t worth the trouble. And a very small part of her, deep inside, just felt like crying. After a few minutes of standing still, she turned mechanically back to the tree. She had work to do and anything she’d felt… or thought she felt… didn’t matter.
A little before noon Applejack loaded the wagon and hauled it back to the barn. She left it to sort in the afternoon and washed off quickly with the hose before trotting to town. Sugarcube Corner smelled deliciously of baked goods and happiness, but Applejack could not match her friends’ cheerful chatter.
“By the way Applejack, where’s Prince Blueblood?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “I found some books he might like, about fairy tales.”
“Ah… Ah wouldn’t look t’see him again, Twi… he done gone back t’Canterlot this mornin’…”
“Aw, that’s a real shame!” said Pinkie Pie brightly. “I even made enough cake for him too! When will he get back, huh, AJ?”
Applejack looked away. “He ain’t comin’ back, Pinkie,” she muttered.
“Well that’s weird… I thought he…”
Applejack slammed a hoof onto the table, overturning her plate and making Fluttershy squeak in fear and cower under her chair. “What we all thought didn’t mean nothin’! He’s gone an’ it don’ matter now!”
They all looked at her for a minute with varying degrees of confusion before a voice pipe up from under the table.
“Um, Applejack… I don’t mean to seem… nosy or anything but… maybe you do miss Blueblood, just a little?” Fluttershy poked her head out from under the tabletop and looked at her in concern. “I mean, I’ve never seen you so… angry…”
Applejack was about to protest when she realized Fluttershy was right, she was angry. “But that don’t mean it’s cuz o’him!”
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. “Applejack, don’t try lying to yourself. It’s not like you. You do miss Blueblood, even if just as a friend and not a…”
“He ain’t my special somepony!”
“Please, Applejack, darling, if you like him, then just say so. It’s perfectly natural.”
“Whether you like him like that or not, if you don’t do something soon he’ll be back in Canterlot, and you’ll never know for sure.” Twilight nudged her towards the door. “Go on, you can catch up to him if you hurry.”
“But… but Ah…”
“For Pete’s sake!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Just go already!”
Applejack nodded at them all and ran out the door.