Homesick

A few days passed, and things really did seem to go back to normal. The night after their talk, Dash still seemed kind of uncomfortable, like something was bothering her. Applejack tried to pry it out of her, but Dash insisted nothing was wrong. It was then Dash realized she had to be better about hiding her feelings, or she would do exactly what she feared most; Put strain on their friendship. After that, Rainbow Dash pulled out of her slump, and things were right as rain.

~ ~ ~

“AJ, that fella from tha bank is here.” Mac was standing in the doorframe of his sister’s bedroom, watching as she brushed the last few knots out of her hair.

Applejack set the brush down, and hurriedly tried to put her hair up. “Alright, ah’ll be down in just a minute Mac. Go n’ offer him a drink or somethin’…”

With that, her brother started heading back down the hallway, returning downstairs to keep their guest occupied. Applejack knew her brother was awful with small talk and even worse when it came to holding an actual conversation with strangers. She would have to handle most of that herself, and she was not looking forward to it.

Today there was a scheduled visit from one of the bank’s representatives – no doubt to go over any debt left by their grandmother, what they’ll continue to owe on the farm, etc. The farm girl really knew very little about it, she just hoped it would be a quick and simple visit, no fancy legal jargon or anything. She finally headed downstairs to meet her brother and the formally dressed banker across the table from him. He was wearing a black suit, white dress shirt, and light blue tie – he had a pair of glasses which were set on the table, next to a pile of papers, and he was holding a pen, clicking the top the top every few seconds, surely to keep himself occupied.

“Ms. Apple” the banker smiled, politely standing up to greet the young woman. “My name is Mr. Green – You can call me Buck if you’d prefer though. I’m your personal banker, been dealing with the Apple family account for the past decade now.” He motioned her over to the seat next to her brother “Take a seat! I won’t bite.” They both lowered themselves to the table before he continued. “Now uh…Let’s see here…”

Applejack looked over at her brother while the businessman shuffled through his papers a bit. He was staring at the corner of the room; he had absolutely no interest in what the man was saying. It brought no comfort to the young woman to know her brother didn’t care the least bit.

“Alright!  Well, first let me say, my deepest condolences to both of you. I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother, she was a very sweet woman.” He started, but realized it gauged no reaction from either farmer. They clearly seemed nervous to be there with him. “Anyway…This doesn’t have to be anything formal. Just a quick little chitchat about what you owe on the farm, some debts we’re transferring to you now, stuff like that. Any questions?”

Again, utter silence.

The banker shuffled a few of his papers, then cleared his throat. “That’s alright…I know this is probably confusing to you two…I’ll try to explain everything as simply as possible…”

For a while, they went over some figures and charts, and neither farmer really seemed to understand fully what any of it meant. He discussed what they owed, some loans their grandmother hadn’t paid off fully yet, and certain payment plans they could choose for the next year. It was a lot to take in, but they listened as carefully as possible, understanding a thing here and there.

“So...Basically, we just gotta pay this here money to keep our farm, n’ transfer tha title over to Big Mac’s name?” Applejack said, somewhat unsure. She scratched her head for a moment while he eyed a piece of paper explaining how a transfer of ownership worked.

“To put it simply, yes…We’re just going to need a first payment by the end of the month….” Mr. Green laid a finger atop the paper Applejack was focusing on, right over the total due for that month. “This is what you’ll owe. As long as you make payments every month, you’ll be fine. Before that happens though, we need to get some information from you guys, and transfer the farm’s title over to Big Macintosh here.”

The cowgirl swallowed hard. That was a lot of money, she thought. She knew a little bit about her family’s expenses, and knew they barely scraped by most months, but seeing it on paper like that was more intimidating than usual. She felt her brother rest his hand on her shoulder.

“Alright, ah’ll take care ah that.” Mac finally offered something to the conversation. Applejack let out a small sigh of relief.

Another hour passed, it seemed to be filled with endless paperwork and the signing of this and that, and more about this money and that money and something about bringing a death certificate to the bank. The siblings could hardly wait for it to be over with.

After signing one final paper, the banker pulled his pen into his shirt pocket and gave a quick smile. “Good! It looks like we’ve got everything figured out.” AJ and Mac let out a breath of relief as he started to pack the paperwork into a folder. “Alright, let me just get everything together and I’ll be out of your hair. If you have any questions though, give me a call!” He set a business card down on the table, then finished packing up his bag.

“Thanks fer stoppin’ by, Mr. Green. We’ll be sure to holler if we have any questions fer ya.” Applejack gave the businessman a gentle handshake. She closed the door behind her when he was finally out of the house, and leaned against it for a moment, taking everything in. Big Macintosh was staring at her from across the room.

“Y’alright?”

Applejack nodded. “Ah guess so. We’ll figure it out, right? How hard can it be?”

Her brother gave a reassuring smile. “Eeyup.”

The two were silent for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say now. Applejack stepped towards the widow to make sure the banker was far out of sight, then turned back to Mac.

“Ah think ah’ll see what Rainbow’s up to. She’s outside practicin’ ah think.” All she wanted to do now was get away from the pile of paperwork left on her kitchen table, and see what her friend was up to. Rainbow Dash was told about the visit over dinner last night, and decided it would be best to stay out of the way. It was their business, not hers. Plus, if Applejack really needed anything, she could just ask.

~ ~ ~

Rainbow Dash stood atop the family barn, her Wonderbolt goggles pulled tightly over her eyes as she stared up to the blue skies above. There were clouds rolling by, but that wasn’t a problem, she could handle a few clouds. The athlete took a few deep breaths, preparing herself for this physical feat.

“One….Two….Three…” She bent her knees a bit, then took off to the sky, leaving her signature rainbow trail behind. In just a matter of seconds, she was now zooming past the clouds, going further and further up into the atmosphere. She splayed her wings out to slow herself down, and hastily dropped back down towards the earth. ‘Alright, Dash, you can do this!’

As she approached the clouds, she flapped her wings even harder, struggling to get top speed.

“Wow” Applejack simply remarked, she titled her cowboy hat up a bit to get a better view of the sky. She watched Dash spiral out of the sky, then pick up again, leaving hints of color behind her as she went. She spent a few minutes up there, moving almost too fast for the human eye to see. Her stunts were impressive, a lot more complicated than Applejack was used to seeing the Pegasus pull off.

When the flyer was finally done with her routine, she noticed a certain cowgirl on the ground below her, and drifted down to meet her. After landing next to her, she stared up at the sky to bask in the glory of her own creation. ‘Rainbow Dash’ was spelled out across the sky in clouds.

The Pegasus turned her attention to her friend, who was still focusing on the words in the sky. She gave a sheepish grin. “Pretty awesome, huh?”

The farm girl confirmed with a nod. Both stared for a minute, until the clouds started to pull apart again and separate into their own entities.  Dash pulled her shirt up a bit, revealing her flat belly while she used the fabric to wipe the sweat away from her face. She pulled her goggles up and rested them on her forehead finally, somewhat disappointed to see her latest creation falling apart.

“So…How’d it go?” Dash turned to her friend, who was still staring blankly at the sky.

“Huh?” Applejack looked back at the smaller girl. “Oh. It was good, ah guess. Ah didn’t understand everythin’ he was sayin’, but it made enough sense. ‘Sides, Mac and I are plenty smart; we’ll get ourselves through this.”

Dash knew it must have been hard on her. To be given this burden, handling the entire farm and business with her brother, raising her sister, having to hear about all this debt and money they owed barely a week after burying a family member. Applejack was stubborn though, she wouldn’t just give up, but she also wouldn’t accept much help. Despite everything AJ had confided in her about, how worried she was about it all, she knew when push came to shove, AJ would do everything she could for her family.

“Gotta work extra hard this month, though. The bank’s expectin’ some kinda payment by the end of this month, so Mac n’ I are gonna hafta scrape everything we got together. Nothin’ new there, though. We’re used tah it.” Applejack admitted. She rubbed the back of her neck for a few seconds, then turned back to her best friend. Her magenta eyes were staring, her face was pressed with worry.  “But it’s nothin’ for ya to worry about, sugarcube. We could use an extra hand ‘round the farm though, any help’s appreciated.”

“Of course, AJ, that’s why I’m here!” The Pegasus reassured her friend. “And…Hey, if you need money…I…”

Applejack shot daggers at her friend. “Dash, don’t you go offerin’ me none of yer money. Ah refuse to accept a penny I ain’t earned.” She was somewhat annoyed by the fact her friend was even offering. Dash knew she was way too stubborn to ever accept that, it was a miracle she even asked for Dash’s help.

“Don’t be like that. We’re family, and I totally owe you for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve given me countless meals, let me stay here where I had nowhere to go, it’s the least I could do.”

It was true, for years, Sweet Apple Acres had practically been home to Rainbow Dash. When Dash started working for the weather factory, she was able to move out and get her own place, but she still stopped by for meals pretty often when she was short on money. Still, Applejack would never ask for her friend to return the favor like that. Dash really didn’t owe her anything, she thought.

“Thanks fer the offer, Rainbow. But we’ll be alright, ah couldn’t ask that of ya. I’m lucky enough to have a friend as thoughtful as yerself, really.” The farmer was hoping that would put an end to the conversation.

Rainbow Dash wanted to roll her eyes, but her friend was staring right at her. Instead, she just shrugged, then folded her arms over her chest. “It’s nothing, seriously. You can ask me for help if you need it”

“Ya’ll can help me around the farm. That’ll be more than enough tah pay me back. Please, that’s all ah’m askin, Dash.”  AJ pleaded.

She knew she was defeated at this point; there was no sense in arguing. “Alright, alright, alright. You win, I’ll help you out around the farm.” Dash let out a heavy sigh. She had more than enough money saved up – The Wonderbolts paid handsomely, and since she was traveling with them, she didn’t have to worry about rent, or food, or clothes, or any of that. Everything was taken care of. Yes, the Pegasus was well off. She barely touched her savings.  But, she knew Applejack would sooner chew her own arm off than accept money from her.

“So…” The pegasus stretched out her arms and wings before changing the subject, “Whaddya wanna do?”

Applejack thought for a moment, “How about we git some work done ‘round here, then head into town to pick up some supplies?”

That sounded just fine to the Pegasus. Only a few chores had to be done around the farm today. They started out in the chicken coup, then made their way out to the orchard to harvest apples. When Applejack felt satisfied with the amount of work put into the day, she and Rainbow Dash went back in to get cleaned up, and then the duo headed into town.

______________________________________________________________________________

As the two walked side by side, Rainbow couldn’t help but notice Applejack would look over at her, stare for a few seconds, then divert her eyes any time she was caught. It happened a few times, and Dash wondered what was on her friend’s mind.

“Why do you keep looking over at me?” Dash was feeling a bit insecure suddenly “Do I have something on my face? My wings?” She stopped for a second to look over her shoulder and study her wings. They seemed to be fine.

Applejack smiled. “Sorry if ah’m starin’. Ah was just noticin’ your hair. Ya let it grow out a little bit…Ah like it, that’s all.” Her face was bright pink. She was embarrassed to be caught staring. The farm girl continued anyway, “It’s just been a while since ah’ve last seen ya…”

“Oh…Well, thanks. I guess I haven’t cut it in a few months. I’ll probably have to cut it before going back; it gets annoying to fly with long hair.” Dash felt flattered. Her friend didn’t compliment her looks often – it felt nice. “You look nice too AJ. Not that you’ve changed much…But, you always look nice.” Dash offered back.

AJ’s face flushed with more redness. Did Dash really just say that? The egomaniac rarely ever said anything like that. The last time she mentioned Applejack looked ‘nice’ was at the gala, when she was wearing one of Rarity’s signature dresses.  Dash was drunk, and asked her friend to a dance. Although Dash was a clumsy dancer, she was still charming. ‘You look nice, AJ. You should dress up more often. I’m sure a few dozen guys would come knocking on your door.’ Guys… Like Applejack really cared about the opinion of guys she had never met. She hated the idea of courting, it made her uncomfortable. She figured she’d find the right person eventually, but then again, didn’t really put much effort into finding them.

“Hey, earth to AJ? Where are we going?” Dash waved a hand in front of the girl’s face to get her attention. “Jeez, it was just a little compliment. Don't let it go to your head.”

“Sorry, Dash –“, She chuckled, her friend was just giving her a puzzled look. “Let’s stop at the Cake’s, ah need to get some bakin’ supplies.”

~ ~ ~

“What in the world? It’s dark in here, are they even open?” Rainbow Dash looked around, but couldn’t make anything out. The lights flickered on, revealing her four friends around a table; a cake was perfectly placed in the middle. ‘Welcome home, Rainbow Dash’.

“SURPRISE!” They all shouted in (almost) unison.

Rainbow turned to Applejack, who had a hand placed over her mouth. She began to laugh, “Y’oughta see your face, Rainbow.”

She looked back at her friends; they were approaching her now, coming closer to give the Pegasus a hug one by one. “Guys? You did all this for me?”

“Of course!” Pinkie was the first to speak. “APPLEJACK CAME BY YESTERDAY AND SAID guess who’s in town! And I said OH OH I LOVE GUESSING GAMES! IS IT BON BON? IS IT DERPY? IS IT…Then she told me to shut up, and said it was YOU!” Pinkie Pie began to giggle “And then I said OH MY GOSH! DASHIE! We just HAVE TO THROW HER A SURPRISE PARTY!” Her arms wrapped around the pegasus’ body, and Dash feared she may never let go. Pinkie Pie was especially affectionate, and out of her group of friends, was always the most verbal about missing her.

Dash was a pretty surprised by this. Lately, Applejack seemed to enjoy surprising her. This time, she couldn’t complain, though.

“When were you planning on telling us you were back, darling? We were elated to hear the news!” Rarity was next to speak – the young designer was trying to pull their pink-haired friend off of the guest of honor.

“Well uh…” Rainbow Dash didn’t really have an excuse prepared. She simply didn’t consider leaving her friend’s side, not since they had their talk about the ‘accident’.

“Aw shucks, she’s just been busy helpin’ me ‘round the farm guys. ‘Sides, she just got here a few days ago, and she’ll be here for another few weeks!” Applejack was quick to defend her friend. Dash looked over at her; the farmer gave her a subtle wink.

“It’s great to see you, Dash. How was your trip back?” Fluttershy gave her friend a very gentle hug, and let go quickly. It was the complete opposite of Pinkie’s grip.

“It took a few days to get back of course, and the train was a little cramped, but they did set me up in a nice private cabin. Said it was the least they could do for a Wonderbolt!” Dash boasted a bit.

Her friends gathered around and asked their various questions, wasting no time to catch up with each other. While Dash was explaining something to the group, Applejack shifted her position and made her way over to Twilight. The girl had said basically nothing since the two showed up.

“Everything alright, Twilight?” Applejack whispered, hoping they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. “Ah noticed ya didn’t say anything to Dash when she came in. Y’ain’t feelin’ sour ‘bout her bein’ gone, are ya?”

Twilight raised a brow. “No, of course not. I already saw Dash, though. Earlier this week….I thought she would have told you?” Based on Applejack’s completely puzzled expression, the bookworm thought maybe it was a mistake to have mentioned that. “I mean…It was just for a bit –“, she attempted to backtrack, “She was around town and stopped by, and we talked for a little bit, that was it.”

Applejack looked over at Dash. She as still going on about something, and nobody seemed to be paying attention to the two of them having their own conversation. She knew the Pegasus must have gone to Twilight’s the night after the kiss, during those few hours she was MIA. She wondered why Rainbow Dash would leave that detail out.

“She didn’t mention that…” Applejack gave her friend a sad stare “Was she…Actin’ strange or anything?”

Before the magician could answer, Pinkie butted in. “What are you guys whispering about!?”

“N-Nothin’!” Applejack was a terrible liar. She looked back at Twilight, begging her to get her out of this situation.

“Oh. Nothing, Pinkie. We were just saying how great it is to see Dash again.” Twilight laughed nervously. She wasn’t much of a liar herself.

“OH I KNOW!” Pinkie squeaked back. “Having Dash here is the best! I haven’t been this happy since…Since Applejack came to see me and said GUESS WHO’S IN TOWN!”

Twilight looked back at the farmer apologetically. The conversation would have to wait until later. For now, they carried on with the party’s festivities. They still had a great time, all in all. Applejack wanted to know more about Rainbow’s visit with Twilight though. Twilight, on the other hand, wanted a moment alone to talk to Rainbow Dash, to see how her talk with AJ went. Twilight could at least assume everything was okay. They probably said a few things, made up, and things went back to normal.

At this point in the evening, the six friends were pretty buzzed. Fluttershy was a lightweight, so it took her no more than half a drink to get her tipsy. Rarity had a few drinks herself, however refused to drink any more, stating she had to get up tomorrow and finish an order. Twilight wasn’t much of a drinker, but it was hard to say to Pinkie’s punch. Pinkie could hold her alcohol like no other – The girl was small, but could drink like a sailor. And of course, the guest of honor, Rainbow Dash, and her Stetson wearing friend were now neck and neck in a drinking competition. It always amounted to this – Dash would tease AJ about being a lightweight, AJ would bet she could drink more, and the two would end up trashed by the end of the night.  They were each ten beers into the night, and there was no stopping now.

This time, Applejack came out victorious. The poor Pegasus had passed out, her body was curled up on the floor, and she was snoring. Loudly.

“Maybe we should call it a night?” Flutteryshy was the voice of reason here. They all nodded, agreeing it would be best to call it quits, now that their special guest drank herself into a coma.

Fluttershy and Rarity said their goodnights, then went their own separate ways. Pinkie said she would take Dash upstairs and get her settled in bed, then come back down to get the shop cleaned up. That just left Applejack and Twilight.

“So…” Twilight wasn’t sure if her drunken friend was even capable of talking anymore. “How are you feeling, Applejack?”

“What’d Dash come to yuh about?” Applejack said surprisingly clearly. Despite her ability to still talk, the room was spinning for the young blonde. She closed her eyes for a second, hoping that would make it stop.

“Are uh…You sure you want to talk about this now?”

“Ya don’t hafta tell me Twi. I know what she came ta yuh bout. M’sure she todlja aalll about what ah did.”

“Pardon?” Twilight was trying to seem oblivious to where this was heading.

“C’mon Twilight. Dash came tuh yuh. She toldja bout the kiss, probly said she was disgusted n didn’t wanna see me no more.” The apple farmer’s words were getting sloppier. “S’aright. Ah ain’t mad. Ah can’t blameerrr for feelin that way. Ah know she said errythin is a’right, but ah know she’s lyin’ to spare mah feelins.”

There were no more words. AJ was wobbling back and forth now, barely able to hold herself up. Twilight had no idea how the farm girl managed to get all of that out.

“You don’t look so good, AJ. Did you want me to walk you home? Or maybe you could stay the night with me? My place is a lot closer…” Twilight put Applejack’s arm over her shoulder in an attempt to keep her from falling over. AJ was a bit heavy though – the girl was a lot taller than Twilight.

“Twi…” Applejack finally whispered. “Ah…”

“Sorry guys” Pinkie was now bouncing down the stairs “I was gonna put her into bed, but then she said she was gonna be sick. So I took her to the bathroom, and watched her puke! It was way funny! But also kind of gross!”

‘Oh thank Celestia…’ Twilight wasn’t sure she could handle any more confessions. She knew exactly where Applejack was going with this, and would rather not have her spill it while this intoxicated.

“Hey, is AJ okay?” The pink-haired-party-animal pointed back at their friend. Twilight looked down, Applejack was crying.

‘Not now…’

“Maybe I’d better take Applejack back to my place, Pinkie…Get her into bed. She must not be feeling well.” Twilight tried to stand up, but was finding it difficult to bring her friend up with her. Pinkie came over and lifted Applejack from the opposite side, now that AJ was standing Twilight could handle walking.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Guess I’d better get going. Make sure Dash is okay, will you?”

“Can do!” Pinkie giggled, then followed the girls to the door. The two said good night, then Twilight began her long walk back to the library.

Luckily the farm girl around her shoulder stayed mostly quiet. She mumbled a few things, but it wasn’t anything Twilight could make out. When they arrived back at the library, Twilight took her straight upstairs, and laid her out on the bed. She stepped away from her slumbering friend to get a glass of water. When she returned upstairs, she set the glass down on the nightstand, and turned out the lights.

“Twilight?” She heard her friend mumble.

“Yeah, AJ?”

“Ah miss Dash…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You’ll see her in the morning, I promise. Try to get some sleep.”

“Ah mean when she’s gone. All ah think about is stupid Dash. Dash, Dash. Dashhh…” Applejack quieted down for a second, Twilight was praying she’d fallen asleep. “Why do ah hafta care about stupid Dash so much?” The farm girl let out a heavy sigh, then turned over in her friend’s bed. Twilight stayed silent, waiting to see if her friend had finally drifted off into slumber. After a few minutes, she safely assumed Applejack was out for the night, and retired to the downstairs couch.

‘What am I going to do with those two?’