They ate dinner quietly before moving to retire. Their movements were a bit stiff, heavy with a combination of numbness and relief. Willow took Sunflower off to a room of their own, leaving Applejack and the girls to a second bedroom. Applejack moved for the bed and flopped onto it heavily. She closed her eyes and settled into the softness, ready for the sweet embrace of sleep.
The sudden presence on her back was not in the schedule. Applejack perked an ear back towards it. "S'that you, Apple Bloom?"
"Maybe." That voice was certainly Apple Bloom. Another presence was felt at her left, then her right. She was surrounded by small warm forms. "We need ta talk."
Applejack sighed softly. "Don't suppose this can wait until morning?"
"Nope." Apple Bloom scooted up along Applejack's back and hugged around her neck. "We need ta talk. Ah don't remember pa much... but ya do, right?"
Applejack's head sunk to the cushions, eyes closed and breath becoming more labored. "Ah don't really want to talk about that..."
"Wrong answer." Apple Bloom softly nipped at Applejack's left ear. "Ah deserve to know pa, the good pa, not that thing in there. What was he like?"
Applejack went silent, but Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders would not give her peace. Sweetie Belle sat up beside her. "You know you haven't done anything wrong, Applejack."
"Haven't I?" Applejack frowned, but her eyes remained closed. "Y'all are here, instead of home. Y'all are missing school. Y'all are always in very real danger. Ah didn't stop any of that. The farm only has one pony working it. Poor Big Mac's all alone, suffering while we do our best ta throw our lives away. Yer just foals. Ah'm the adult. Ah shoulda stopped all of this, but ah didn't. Y'all have done more rescuing than ah have. Maybe y'all would be better if ah wasn't even here."
Scootaloo gave a soft pfft. "If you weren't here, we would be in big trouble. You're big and strong and smart too."
Apple Bloom softly bonked Applejack on the head. "And mah sister. Yer the best Apple ah know, and yer doing yer darndest for us and ah ain't blind ta it."
Sweetie quickly bobbed her head. "Uh huh. You're great, Applejack. Everypony needs help sometimes. Just because we had to rescue you sometimes doesn't negate all the times you saved our flanks."
Applejack rolled over, forcing them all to quickly scurry to not be squished or thrown off. "Do ya really wanna know, or are ya just askin' ta get me talkin'?"
Apple Bloom bobbed her head fiercely, though Applejack couldn't see that. "Yes! Tell me about pa, and ma. We may be far away from home, but it's also right here." She touched Applejack over her heart. "Tell me about home."
Applejack cracked a little smile, and began to tell tales of the farm, from before there was an Apple Bloom. Their triumphs, and their failures. How they worked as a family. "Poor Big Mac. He used to talk more, ya know? Their passing didn't rest easy with him. Ah don't think he's... depressed... but ma really could draw the words outta him, and with her not around, well, maybe he just don't have nothin' to talk about."
Apple Bloom reached up and put a hoof on Applejack's cheek. "Ya can cry, ya know."
Applejack frowned a little. "Ah do cry, on the inside."
Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs. "That's not the same."
Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "Why are we telling her to cry? Crying's lame anyway."
Apple Bloom reached over to swat at Scootaloo. "Like ya never cried before! Go on, Applejack, we're here for you."
Applejack softly thumped the bed with a hoof. "Ya shouldn't... have ta be here for me... I should..." It was becoming too much, a tear drilling its way to the surface with a painful stinging before it ran free. "Ah'm the adult. Ah have ta keep it together! Ah have to get y'all home... safe... but yer not safe. Yer not safe at all!" Her head sank to the bed and the tears flowed more freely. "Y'all saw things y'all shouldn't ever have ta see, and I wasn't there to stop it, or to protect ya. Ah was too busy laying in a bed while ya risked life and yer heads."
Scootaloo wobbled a hoof. "It wasn't that bad."
Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, being chased by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when they want to kill us instead of just make fun of us wasn't so bad."
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Ya done forgot they changed their minds. They were gonna brand us instead."
Scootaloo snorted. "Twist with a sharp candy cane was pretty awesome really. She looked like she knew how to use it!"
Applejack cringed at the tales of the visions the girls encountered, and could hold back no longer. She began to bawl under Apple Bloom, loud and lost. The girls quieted and gathered close around her, comforting her with their presence and soft strokes of their little hooves. "Sis?"
Applejack perked an ear, the tears slowing a little as she stopped bawling. "What?"
Apple Bloom tilted her head. "What did ya see, when ya were tied down to tha table?"
Applejack cringed. "Ah... Ah saw all of ya. Y'all looked so scared. Y'all were so lost. Ya kept running around in circles, and running into terrible things. Just running. The doctor, he... He told me it was my fault. If y'all were raised right, y'all wouldn't be busting into no place and running around wild."
Scootaloo thumped the bed. "We had to! For you!"
"Fer me..." Applejack's voice was thick with defeat, and she lay there still. "Ah thought it was some kinda trick, that it were some kinda lie... But it wasn't. Y'all really did go through all that."
Apple Bloom smiled gently. "Maybe, but ah'd do it again, fer my big sis. Yer family, and ya done been mighty good ta me." She prodded Applejack in the shoulder. "And don't tell me otherwise."
Sweetie Belle raised her hooves up. "You've been my sister before! I didn't forget. You're a great pony, and a great sister."
Scootaloo tilted her head. "When's my turn?"
Apple Bloom snickered softly. "Yer getting it right now. Applejack's all our big sister right now." She flopped down onto Applejack and hugged her tightly. "And ah couldn't ask for a better one." The girls joined in the hug, and the sleep that had been denied Applejack came gently to whisk her away, a fragile but real peace settling over her troubled heart.
When Applejack was deeply asleep, Apple Bloom sat up and looked around. The other two were awake as well, and she quietly gestured for them to follow before she slipped from the bed and moved for the door. They gathered in the hallway outside the room and Apple Bloom sagged against the door. "That was rough."
Sweetie smiled brightly. "We did a good job."
Scootaloo wobbled a hoof. "I'm not sure I get it, but she looks better now."
Apple Bloom let out a slow breath. "We really need ta get home. Ah don't want too much more of this kinda excitement."
Scootaloo tilted her head, growing all the more confused. "What's wrong? We've handled everything that's come at us. We're doing great! It's exciting, not scary."
Sweetie raised a brow at Scootaloo. "Exciting can be very scary. I'm with Apple Bloom. We need to get home, not here."
Scootaloo shrugged. "Well alright, but saying it doesn't make it happen. We're stuck here for now."
"Fer now." Apple Bloom sat up. "Let's focus on gettin' to Viljatown, and reachin' Twilight. She'll get us home. She has ta."
Sweetie nodded firmly. "No more jobs. No more distractions. We're not adventurers."
Scootaloo looked displeased, but nodded. "Fine. No more adventuring... besides what we have to."
Sweetie pointed vaguely northwards. "I'm sure there'll be plenty we have to do. We don't need extra credit."
They all nodded at one another and slipped back into the room, settling for sleep.
In the other room, Sunflower sat with his mother. "Tell me about dad."
Willow scowled. "You were the only good thing about him."
Sunflower shook his head. "That can't be true. If you didn't like him, you wouldn't have been with him, and I wouldn't be here."
Willow pointed at the bed. "You should be sleeping." Sunflower didn't budge. She sighed softly. "Is this something you must know?" He nodded firmly. "Very well. Because I love you." She scooped him up and sat him down before herself, hugging him in soft paws. He began to purr as she spoke. "He was a handsome cat, young and full of grand ideas. Like someone I know." She softly tickled at Sunflower's sides, making him squirm, but he was listening and struggling not to laugh.
"We met at a social event, a dance. Several purrsian families were there. I think I was the victim of matchmaking elders." She clucked her tongue against sharp teeth. "We hit it off fairly quickly. He had grand ideas of starting a trade enterprise, and I was swept along with his trade goods, helping him get from place to place. I became skilled at driving the beasts, on both two and four legs. He began letting me do the bartering, and I did so. Things were good and happy, until I began to show."
Sunflower perked an ear. "Show?"
Willow patted her belly. "With you, little one. You were making your mother fat, as little ones do. Your father balked at the news. This wasn't in his plans at all. I said it was a sign we should be done with it and be married, he disagreed. He fancied himself a fine slice of meat, and wanted to become wealthy enough for a collection of cats, not just me. Rather than risk being tied to me alone, he cut loose, and vanished one evening."
Sunflower frowned. "I... could have sworn I saw him."
Willow tilted her head. "You never saw him. How would you recognize him?"
Sunflower shook his head. "I dunno. I just thought I did. Was he a bad person?"
Willow frowned with thought a moment. "If I put aside his ambitions, and his faithlessness... I suppose not. He was a good person, mostly. He let his ambitions get the better of him." She tapped Sunflower on the nose. "Never forget to cherish what you have in your paw before chasing after something else."
She hefted him up and carried him to the bed, setting him down on its softness. "And never forget you are a worthy cat, who can do what he sets out to do, so long as you keep your priorities straight."
Sunflower did not seem appeased, claws unsheathing into the bed. "But... the girls don't need me. They're going on an adventure, and I'm just... part of it, not part of them. They like me... kinda... like a friend, not a boyfriend, and I abandoned them! I ran off when they needed me. And then they had to rescue me, I was so embarrassed..."
Willow softly ran a finger down under Sunflower's chin and raised it up to face her. "You go to your saviors tomorrow, and you thank them. Then you offer to do something special for them before we leave the city." She drew out a few gold coins and handed it to Sunflower. "Take this. Get them something delicious to eat, and some pretty things to put in their hair. They all have such lovely hair."
Sunflower gave a slow nod. "Will that make them like me more?"
Willow smiled. "Don't force it. Be a good friend. It may grow into more, or not. Enjoy your time with them, even if it never grows into more than friendship, it should be treasured dearly." She held out an empty paw. "As I said, don't forget to value what is already in your paw. There is no shame in being rescued by a girl, especially a pony girl. They are a fierce lot, and are used to protecting their males."
Sunflower gave a little smile. "I'll make our last day here super special."
Willow nodded. "Do exactly that. They'll want to be distracted and entertained. Be there for them. Now, time for bed. I love you, my dear kitten."
Sunflower bounced to his paws and kissed Willow on the cheek. "Love you, mom."