The Middle Distance

by Midnight herald

Chapter 4

Applejack blinked slowly to wakefulness, squinting against the sunlight lancing through the window. She threw back the covers and paused as Fluttershy let out a sleepy murmur of discontent. A warm, soft, yellow hoof wrapped around Applejack’s chest and tugged her in closer, and Fluttershy’s muzzle buried itself into Applejack’s mane. Applejack chuckled lightly and lay still for a moment longer, basking in the feeling of another body lying against hers. The emptiness in her chest was nearly gone, a tiny echo. But the morning sun brought unwelcome urgency as it crept across the bedsheets. As a guilty anxiety coiled up in her chest, Applejack finally shook Fluttershy awake.

“Mmm… whaz?” Fluttershy mumbled, squirming groggily. She slowly blinked her crusty eyes and smiled at Applejack with a breath-taking openness.

“Morning, beautiful,” Applejack breathed back, smoothing the worst of Fluttershy’s sleep-tangled hair from her face. She sighed contentedly and stared at Fluttershy’s face. This soon after waking, none of the guarded tension from the last month showed in her turquoise eyes. The dreamlike serenity of Fluttershy’s face reminded Applejack of their first, awkward dates; spilling a bottle of wine while stargazing, walking for hours through the Whitetail woods talking about anything that crossed their minds, missing the first two acts of a fancy Veneightian opera because cuddling seemed vastly more important…

Applejack nuzzled her way into a tender kiss, savoring the feel of Fluttershy’s soft lips against her own and the sense of closeness it brought. The morning sun hit Fluttershy’s face and taunted Applejack for her lateness - She should have been in the fields three hours ago. She lovingly licked Fluttershy’s chin and shuffled out of her loving embrace.

“‘Shy, I gotta get ready for the day, alright? Lemme rustle up some breakfast for us,” she said, tensing slightly, preparing for Fluttershy’s irritation. Instead, Fluttershy smiled a little wider and nipped her ear playfully.

“That sounds lovely, Applejack. Thank you.” Sleep had left Fluttershy’s voice low and just husky enough to give Applejack some … ideas. But instead, with one smooth roll, Applejack toppled out of the bed and landed on her hooves with a soft thud.

Less than ten minutes later, she was scrambling fresh eggs from the coop and heating Fluttershy’s skillet for omelets. A mug of eye-wateringly strong tea steamed on the counter next to her. She swigged a bitter mouthful of it before pouring out the first pan-full of egg mixture. She threw some chopped greens (from Angel's stash) and half the leftover cheese into the center and waited for the edges of the soon-to-be-omelet to crisp up entirely. Applejack folded her creation into neat thirds and flipped it expertly. The resulting sizzle sent a wonderful cloud of savory steam into the kitchen, and Applejack sighed happily. Last night's worries had almost left her; barely a troubled whisper slithered through her skull.

As she started her second omelet, Applejack began to hum quietly to herself, riding on the high her peace of mind had brought her. Maybe if she had more mornings like this, whatever was going on between her and Fluttershy lately would work itself out. Maybe if they had more mornings like this … Several pieces locked together in Applejack’s mind. She knew how to fix things, now. All she had to do was talk to Fluttershy.

With feather-light steps, Fluttershy came into the kitchen. Smiling, Applejack trotted to the table with two warm plates balanced on her back and slid them onto the knife-scarred ash with an eager twitch. Fluttershy smiled brightly as Applejack sat down beside her and nuzzled at Applejack’s neck dreamily.

“I could get used to mornings like this,” Fluttershy sighed. She bit into her lightly steaming omelet and let out a soft, embarassing moan. “I could really get used to mornings like this,” she repeated, squeezing Applejack tightly with her wing. Applejack chuckled and ate some of her own breakfast. Even she had to admit the food had turned out pretty well.

“‘Bout that...” Applejack began. An icy dread crept into her gut for some reason. She snuggled a little further into Fluttershy’s soft, warm feathers. Fluttershy looked at her, inquiring. Applejack ran her tongue around her suddenly dry mouth and twitched her cheeks into the smile she was feeling somewhere. “Well, Fluttershy, I’ve been thinking a bit, and …” Applejack stalled again, staring almost desperately into Fluttershy’s eyes for any sign on how this would go. She found nothing and breathed in, ready for an explosion, ready for silence, ready for anything. “What would you think of me moving in with you?”

She winced slightly as Fluttershy’s wing contracted in shock. Even now, she got surprised with quite how strong Fluttershy’s wings were, compared to how she used them. Fluttershy stared at her for another few, tense seconds, light tremors running through her body, before she finally relaxed again. “Applejack? What brought this on?” Good - she wasn’t angry. Just surprised. Applejack unclenched her jaw.

“Well, you’ve been real busy lately, and I’m not gonna lie … I’ve been missing you a little. A lot, really.” Fluttershy’s brow crinkled and her wing tightened ever-so-slightly around Applejack’s withers. “I know how important it is for you to keep helping out your animal friends, though, so I figured if I wanna spend more time with you, I should take the steps to make it happen. And … well, it’s been real nice getting to stay the night, spend the morning. Just … spending time with you.” Fluttershy was smiling now, her wingtip dipping slowly towards Applejack’s Cutie Mark. Applejack’s heart was bouncing against her ribs happily and her whole body buzzed with a pleasant heat. “So I thought that if I moved here … I mean, full-time, then we’d get more time together. Then we …” Applejack swallowed and corrected herself. “Then I’d be happier.”

The smile hadn’t slipped from Fluttershy’s face, although her head tilted slightly. “What about your family?”

Applejack shrugged as much as she could without disturbing Fluttershy’s wing. “It’s not too far to walk to the Acres for work every day, and I’ll spend lunches with ‘em,” she said, nuzzling Fluttershy for a moment. “They’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy nodded and polished off her omelet. When she’d swallowed her last mouthful, she licked her lips and flicked her ears. “Well, I’d like to see more of you, too...” She looked over Applejack one more time as if searching for reasons against the plan. “I’d love it if you moved in, Applejack.”

Applejack rinsed the dishes and excused herself for work. It hadn’t been hard to do so, since Belinda had woken up and Fluttershy’s other animals were clamoring to be fed. She broke into a sprint when she saw the sun. It was almost 9:00, and she’d planned on having the West Orchard done before lunchtime.

She headed straight for the rows of trees she had in mind the moment she passed the Acres’ main gate. Any time wasted, even to check in with Granny before heading out, was another tree she could be harvesting. So, mildly out of breath, she started on the first row, picking up her usual rhythm quickly and tearing through the field at reckless speeds. So what if she chipped a hoof against a rock while she turned to take on the tenth row? She’d told her family she’d finish the West Orchard before lunchtime, and her family depended on her.

---

Some weaker part of Applejack was relieved when the lunch bell rang out across the field. She trotted in on shaky legs and slumped to her haunches as soon as everything had been loaded out from the kitchen. Granny touched her shoulder gently on her way to the head of the table.

“We missed ya this morning, Applejack,” she drawled. Something about the tremors in her Granny’s voice made Applejack feel like she’d done something horribly wrong. She ducked her head and her ears drooped down.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Granny. I guess I haven’t slept well, an’ ‘Shy’s alarm is later than mine most days,” Applejack confessed, flicking her tail nervously. “I’ve only got four more rows in the West field to do after lunch, and then I’ll be good for whatever else you need, though.”

Granny smirked as she ladled out some lentil soup. “T’ain’t what I meant, child, an’ you know it,” she chided, sliding the bowl to Mac. The second bowl sloshed to a halt in front of Applejack. “Now, since you’re back, what d’ya want for supper tonight?”

Applejack froze. In her rush to get to work she’d forgotten that her family couldn’t read minds. So of course they didn’t know the plan. “Part of the other reason I was so late is ‘cause Fluttershy and I had ourselves a talk,” She began. If she eased into it, it would probably go across better.

Granny leaned in slightly. “Everythin’ alright ‘twixt the two of ya?” she asked, leaning in closer.

Applejack nodded. “We decided I should move in with ‘er,” she said. It didn’t calm Granny down like she thought it would. The worry just burned brighter.

“Whut? Ya mean tonight?” Granny almost yelped.

Applejack grimaced and nodded again. “The sooner the better,” she said, shrugging slightly. A quick glance over to Big Mac showed her brother looking tensely back at her. From the set of his jaw, she could tell he was completely against it. Granny’s eyes blazed and her mouth opened.

“Look,” Applejack interrupted her before she could get started. “I know this sounds sudden, ‘cause it is. An’ maybe it’s not such a great idea to do durin’ Applebuck season, an’ I’m sorry for that, alright? But I gotta do this, Granny…” Applejack stared at her soup for a few seconds before she got the courage to say what had to be said. She looked first at Mac, even tenser than before, then at Granny, who opened her mouth preemptively. Applejack held up a hoof to stall her.

“Granny, I’m losin’ her,” Applejack pleaded. “She’s drifting away from me, and you’re right, she is a keeper. She really, really is. But I look in her eyes and sometimes it's like there’s a stranger there, Granny. So I’m gonna try an’ hold her close, like maybe I should’ve earlier. If I don’t try now I’ll never forgive myself. That’s why I gotta go.”

Granny nodded slowly and started slurping noisily at her soup. With that, the tension in the air fell to pieces and the three of them enjoyed their lunch together in relative silence, like always. Applejack cleared the last four rows easily and joined Mac on the South Hills, clearing a respectable 2 acres before sundown.

Applejack sat in her room ...No, her old room ... and stared at the saggy cardboard box on her bed her old bed. She’d never really thought about ownership before, really. Pretty much everything in the house belonged to the family, really. The quilt on her… on the bed, sewn by her great-aunt Ambrosia, sorta technically belonged to granny if you squinted. Apple Bloom would probably get it, since she’d been complaining about cold hooves in the night. That was the way it ran ‘round here, more or less. And all the things that really belonged to Applejack and Applejack only could fit into this raggedy little box. She hoisted the box in question onto her back with a tiny sigh and headed downstairs. It toppled off her back when Apple Bloom tackled her in a bonecrushing hug.

“Hey now,” Applejack soothed, hugging Apple Bloom back, “I’ll be here in the mornings, and the weekends and all. It’s not like I’m gone forever.” Apple Bloom sniffled and buried her face into Applejack’s side. Applejack stroked her trembling back steadily. “Besides, you’re a big filly now, right? You were telling me so two nights ago.” Apple Bloom gave a tiny, reluctant nod and sniffled again. “So you don’t really need you ol’ sis around all the time, right? I know I’m always crampin’ your style these days.” Apple Bloom gave an even smaller, jerkier nod and what could have been a suppressed sob. Applejack nuzzled her insistently and waited nearly a minute before talking again. One of them had to.

“Bloom, I love you so much, don’t you forget that.” Applejack’s voice was rough with unshed tears, and she squeezed Apple Bloom dangerously tight. “And if you ever need to talk, I’ll listen. Always. But I gotta think of Fluttershy, too, and that’s why I’m movin’ out. Alright?”

“Alright,” Apple Bloom whispered. After one last squeeze, Applejack pried ‘Bloom off of her and picked up her box again. The front door closed heavily behind her and she walked off towards Fluttershy’s … No, their house.

That’s right, Applejack thought as she crested the final hill and saw smoke trailing out of Fluttershy’s chimney. This is my home now.

Comments

[BrinnyTheBrave]

Aaaawe, poor Bloom!