Diplodocus

by The Cloptimist

Applejack Writes a Letter

My very dearest sugarcube

I can't believe it. Twilight really let me down, and I want to cry about it, and the one pony I could really do with by my side right now is off with the Wonderbolts, doin your Wonderbolts stuff, and...

And I miss you, Dashie, I miss you a whole lot.

Yeah yeah I can just see you laughin now. I guess if you open this in front of your squad or Scootaloo I'm gonna look pretty silly huh, the big tough farm pony wantin a cuddle with her Dashie, just a cuddle to make everythin better again and you always know just what to say don't you, the right thing to say whenever you need to let me know its all gonna be OK, your silly earth pony who adores you and wants nothin more than to kiss and cuddle and have feathers tickle my muzzle when we're drinkin cider by the fire after a long day in the fields and yeah I know it's faster you lookin out from the sky, best farmin pegasus there ever was and I never denied it.

Ive been drinkin a little bit so maybe its the liquor talkin but today really got me down, Dash, and I know I shouldnt take it so personal like and I know PRINCESS Twily has her big important job and all but dang it.

You know I cant stay in your place when you aint there Dashie, all them pegasus pegasi flyin around and me not knowin what clouds I can step on and what clouds are like to send me plummetin to the ground again, like remember that time with Spitfire, not that you ever let her forget, you should tell that story again next time she comes to check on how her old squad is doin with the BEST FLYER IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA still helpin out pretty much runnin things!! You cant see it but I'm smilin so much right now. I'm so proud of you. My Dashie. Mine.

But your place gets so lonely when I'm stuck in there and havin to wait for a chariot or somethin whenever I want to go to the store and I cant walk down the street else I'm like to fall to my death, and so with you off doin your churio coreo stunt flyin school things I came back to the farm for the week but I couldnt get in our cottage on account of the tent I spoke of in my last letter and I couldnt stay in my old room on account of how Sugar Belle and Big Mac had their selves another foal and I'm happy to help out with all the baby chores, you know how much I love foals no I aint havin THAT conversation again dont worry, I just mean I'm happy for the two of em but they dont need me crashin on their couch and gettin under their hooves and I was really looking forward to spendin some time in our lil cottage but now theres these dinosaur ponies, not dinosaur ponies, ponies that like diggin up dinosaur bones, I'm sorry you already know all of this and I'm kinda drunk but I miss my darlin and you aint here.

Are the others readin this over your shoulders? You can show em, I don't even care, everypony knows how much I love my Dashie.

You never said how long you need to be up there and so I'm hopin you can still come for a visit even if it aint the cottage you could come see me here in Starlights castle yeah I know not to get my hopes up and I know its silly but buck it Dashie I'm gonna leave the window open just in case and maybe when I wake up my sugar cube is snorin on the pillow next to me. And don't you deny it you know you snore like a rattle snake tryin to eat an apple grinder and you know I wouldnt have it any other way just so long as I get to wake up by your side always.

I wish you were here.

Your one and only
Applejack

---

Applejack blearily finished scratching her name at the bottom of the scroll, before letting the quill drop from her aching mouth, and trying to roll up the letter with her hooves.

"...Are you done now?", asked Spike, with a raised eyebrow.

"Whuh?" said Applejack, swaying in her throne, holding the map table for balance.

"You asked me to wait up with you while you wrote another letter, and then you spent fifteen minutes crossing things out and cussing to yourself in between drinks of cider."

"It ain't cider, Spike. This here is rye whiskey. Ain't you learned the difference by now? Maybe we need to set up another night of drinkin' down on the farm..."

"It smells like apples," said Spike.

"Ah didn't say it don't got apples in it," retorted Applejack, taking another swig and setting the bottle back on the map table, where she promptly knocked it over.

"...Right," said Spike, raising an eyebrow. "So, is this one ready to send?"

"Sure as shhhh..." (hiccup!) "...sugar," drawled Applejack, rearing up and shoving the screwed-up scroll into his hands. "You just make sure that gets to mah Dashie, now, Spike? You go on an' do that for me, yeah? She's at the Wonderbolts... place. With the Wonderbolts."

"Here, let me..." said Spike, unrolling the scroll and rolling it back up properly, before holding it up and searing it with a blast of green flame. The letter disappeared in an instant, and Applejack grinned up at the muscular dragon.

"You always were a good boy, Spike," said Applejack. "Even if'n you did get mighty big. We can get to reminiscin' again in the mornin' if you like. But... ah think I'd best be headin' off to bed, or Starlight will wonder what we're still doin' up in her hall."

"You're sure? You don't want to write Rainbow any more letters? And you know I could write them for you if you're, uh... having trouble. Just like old times. Or something like that."

"Nope! Ah'm good," grinned Applejack, as she climbed down from her old throne and turned to leave.

"Do you need a hand finding your way?", asked Spike, slightly concerned, as he watched Applejack hobble unsteadily for a moment before straightening herself up.

"Nah," said Applejack, with a smile. "Ah may not be able to handle mah liquor quite so much as I was once upon a time, but ah still remember this place like the back of my hoof."

Applejack trotted off in a mazy path down the corridor, muttering to herself as she went.

"Diplodocus. Pah. Better be the best an' greatest danged diplodocus anypony ever did see, ah'm tellin' y'all right now. Movin' me outta mah bed, and denyin' me a night in the arms of mah darlin', for which ah shall not be receivin' no adequate recompense. Diplodocus. Did ya ever...?"

Comments

[The Cloptimist]

I love Applejack so much. Even my drunken old lady version of her.

Hope you're all enjoying the story!

[Spamotron]

10113583
Drunk maudlin AJ is adorable

[B_Munro]

I can't really see them as any older than their forties in the epilogue episode (Big Mac and Sweetie Belle waiting a decade or longer before having their kid seems...unlikely), but perhaps this is further down the timeline.

Edit: I cant walk down the street else I'm like to fall to my death,
Wait, what the fuck? How old is she supposed to be again???

[Spamotron]

10122161
It’s a popular head canon that Lil Cheese and SugarMac’s unnamed child are just the kids young enough that they needed adult supervision and there are as many next-gen spawn as a fan prefers offscreen doing their own thing.

[avidreader07]

10122161
Old enough to realize that walking around Cloudsdale, or whatever sky settlement Rainbow’s place is located, is a dangerous prospect for an earth pony like her.

[The Cloptimist]

10233416
Exactly! The idea was that no matter how often she had visited over the years, I wanted Cloudsdale to remain a slightly weird and dangerous place for an unaccompanied earth pony - that even a sober one who was thinking straight might step on the wrong cloud and plummet - and to have a little think about what that said about Applejack's relationship with Dash.