• Published 21st Oct 2016
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Appledashery Vol. Two - Just Essay



Rainbow Dash and Applejack have a long, joyous, arduous relationship.

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Home is Where One Heart Is

Applejack left Sugarcube Corner with a heavier saddlebag than when she trotted in. The extra weight was of no concern to her.

Instead, the mare found her gaze wandering around during her slow, lonesome trot home.

But she wasn't staring at the amber bands of the setting sun. She wasn't staring at the produce in the back of wagons being packed up and sent home to their respective farms before another day of trading in the marketplace. She wasn't looking at the storefronts as they closed one by one or the various farming equipment resting neatly behind glass displays.

Applejack found herself glancing at ponies. Or—more in particular—groups of ponies.

Groups of two.

Cup Cake and Carrot Cake were returning to Sugarcube Corner. They didn't even notice Applejack as they passed her; they were too busy nuzzling each other and whispering (or giggling) sweet nothings.

In the crossroads that led downtown, two mares squatted on a bench. They stared deeply into each other's eyes. Aside from a flicking ear or two, the pair were completely unmoving... frozen by their smiles.

Applejack passed by a local restaurant. Several ponies were eating outside. Among them was a couple—a mare and a stallion—and Applejack's ears tickled with the sound of the mare laughing as the stallion leaned in to nuzzle and tease her. They continued laughing into their conversation as the corner lamps of the establishment were lit up one by one.

The giggles of foals lit the air. Applejack looked towards the opposite side of the street to see a brother and sister chasing each other in circles. A mother and father trotted side by side with their bags full of wares. The parents gazed lovingly at their children, leaning gently against one another as they slowly and casually made their way to the front stoop of their apartment.

Applejack blinked. Her tail flicked, and soon the shadows dissipated as she exited town limits and ascended the crest of a hill. There, she was exposed to the last rays of the setting sun... and yet it didn't feel nearly as warm or toasty as the shadowed sights she had left behind.

The farm mare breathed... and they were warm breaths. Gentle breaths. Contented breaths. If anything was different—it was the scrunched look on her muzzle... the same one she beheld before Pinkie in Sugarcube Corner a mere hour ago. All of the shapes and textures of the world were still the same along her trek home... but they somehow felt different.

It was all so very confusing. Applejack hoped that trotting through the front gate of her farm and being surrounded by Sweet Apple Acres would eliminate the sense of perplexion entirely.

It didn't.

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