Just This Once

by PropheticProse

Rating: everyone
Tags: Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, Main 6, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Sad, Romance, Original Character
Length: 8353

Just one act of kindness can really change someone's life. Just as Amoretta and Lyricalana, two best friends who's hearts are touched by the random acts of selflessness from two of our favorite earth ponies.

Lyricalana and Amoretta. Two mares who certainly aren't strangers to dealing with unpleasant ponies. Lyric has been guarding her heart and her wings with a vengeance after years of vicious bullying, and Amy, a highly successful matchmaker from Canterlot, has had to deal with more fake and snobbish behavior over the years than she would like to admit. They think that the only genuine ponies they can put their faith in is each other, but will a trip to a certain small town and getting treated with some unexpected kindness change their minds? And what effect will these mares have on the ponies they meet when they get there?

Published 2014-02-17 03:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-23 20:00:11 UTC

Business as Usual

Business as Usual

“Congratulations, Royal! I’m so happy for you!” This was a little bit of a shock to this particular unicorn. Well, not that Royal Ribbon was getting married to a certain Canterlot guard she knew. That was bound to happen. What surprised Amoretta, the unicorn currently receiving the news, was the fact that she was the first to be told about it. The couple hadn’t even announced it to their respective families yet; instead, they decided to come to her and tell her about it before doing anything else. … Well, actually, it seemed more like Royal Ribbon just wanted to show off the sapphire engagement ring on her horn, but still, she went out of her own way to come to Canterlot Castle just to show it off to Amy. Why exactly would she do that?

“I couldn’t be happier, Amoretta. I had to come here and make sure you knew about it. After all, if you hadn’t convinced Guardian Heart to ask me to the Grand Galloping Gala all that time ago, I probably wouldn’t be wearing this ring on my horn right now. You brought us together, Amoretta. You just had to be the first to know!”

… Oh, yeah. That’s why.

The ever modest Amoretta blushed a light pink that matched her mane and tail...or part of them, anyway. The primary color was a deep magenta, but there were streaks of rose pink all throughout. “... I just helped him get his confidence up a little, that’s all… Once he had his courage up, he was able to take care of it on his own… I didn’t do a whole lot, really…” she timidly insisted, her seafoam green eyes darting to the marble floor beneath her ivory colored hooves.

Royal Ribbon couldn’t help giggling at those words. Not that it was much of a change from every other time she spoke to this pony. “Always the modest one. Even with yours current level of success, you manage to maintain such humility. That’s what this town loves about you, Amoretta. You know that?” she asked, looking at the fellow unicorn mare with nothing but the utmost respect. She only giggled because she knew meeting a pony that was modest while being successful as well as a long time resident of Canterlot was very rare to say the least.

“... You know you can call me Amy, right?” asked the white unicorn mare, the blush on her face deepening slightly from the praise. Of course, she kind of knew the answer to the question already. Amoretta had set up Guardian Heart and Royal Ribbon when she was still technically a blank flanked filly, though so close to becoming a mare. Ribbon and Guardian were her first ever matchup, and it was getting them together and realizing her desire to see ponies find happiness through true love that finally earned her the beautiful cutie mark on her otherwise ivory flank. Ever since then, she’s been playing Cupid for any and all ponies she could get to listen to her. The white unicorn had told Royal even back then that she also went by Amy for short, but the socialite unicorn mare continued to use her full name anyway. This had been going on for years, so Amy knew there wasn’t much of a point in bringing it up anymore. She didn’t like to give up on things, though. Not if she still saw a even slight glimmer of hope that she could make that something happen. A certain pegasus she recently met taught her all about that.

“Oh, dear, of course I know. I’m just not quite used to the idea is all. I still consider myself a client of yours, after all; I just don’t think it would be terribly appropriate to call you outside of your full name.” That was the exact same reasoning the pink unicorn always gave, and she even gave the same little shrug at the end that she did whenever she said it. This time, however, she added a little compliment: “Besides, Amoretta is such a lovely name.”

… Ok, fine. Amy had to agree she loved her name. She thought it was pretty, and it just rolled off the tongue so easily for her. The comment still made the bashful unicorn blush some more, though. “... Thank you…” she almost whispered, now staring at the marble tile beneath her hooves once again. She tried not to do that, but when she was in one her bashful moments like this, she just couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, there’s my Guardian!” cheered Royal Ribbon, looking over her shoulder to see her fiance Guardian Heart and some of the guards were talking amongst each other. Apparently, the sapphire maned mare hadn’t been listening to Amoretta. Anyone else probably would have been upset by this, but Amy was just too happy over Royal and Guardian’s engagement to really be upset with either of them. “Listen, Amoretta, it’s almost time for me to get going. Guardian Heart’s taking me to dinner to celebrate. I just wanted to make sure you knew how grateful we were to you for bringing the two of us together. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to either of us.” she said, now focused on the matchmaker once again.

Amy took a moment to look around for a clock. She soon realized they weren’t in a room with any kind of clock, but when she looked out the window to see that the sun was already setting thanks to Princess Celestia, she smiled. Guardian Heart worked here at the castle during the day, so he was going to be free from now until tomorrow morning to spend time with Royal Ribbon. Amy was only worried about that because she didn’t want Guardian Heart to get in trouble for leaving during his work hours; he was a grown stallion and could do what he wanted, of course, but he was a dear friend to Amoretta, so of course she didn’t want him to get in trouble. Knowing this wouldn’t happen, however, she slightly sighed in relief before speaking again to the blue maned unicorn in front of her, a warm smile on her face as always. “Well, I’m really happy for the both of you, then. And I’m especially happy I was able to help the both of you. You can always tell me if you need anything else.”

“Of course, dear. Oh, and we haven’t gotten the invitations ready just yet, but we’ll be sure to send you one as soon as possible. We both agreed we just wouldn’t feel quite right if you weren’t there.”

This was another common occurrence for Amoretta. Being a successful and especially helpful matchmaker meant she was invited to a lot of weddings. It was quite humbling for her, really. It was still hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that she was so important to a relationship between two ponies that both ponies felt it necessary to invite her to their wedding to see everything come full circle for them. It easily warmed her heart just thinking about it. “I’ll be sure to be there. I’m so happy you both want me there, Royal. Thank you so much.”

“Think nothing of it. It’s the least we can do.” said the unicorn mare before an excited sparkle filled her violet eyes. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my dear, sweet fiance is waiting for me.” And with that, Royal Ribbon immediately went stand beside Guardian Heart, who was now standing by himself. The other guards seemed to have left already.

Amoretta stood there and waved after Royal Ribbon, but she knew the mare wasn’t paying her any mind anymore. She continue to watch as the couple was soon reunited. Watching them kiss and then nuzzle each other left Amy with a feeling she had only very recently become used to. It warmed her heart and made her happy as always, but it also left her feeling...hollow. Like she herself was incomplete somehow. This wasn’t even the usual emptiness she got from wondering where her birth parents were, either. This was something else altogether. She recognized this hollowness as having nothing to do with her birth family for once, which was good. In that instant, however, she simply couldn’t recognize it for what it really was--and that was enough to frustrate her to no end. That had always been a problem for her, actually. She focused so much on taking care of others that she never noticed or cared enough about what wrong with her.

Seeing Guardian Heart smile and wave to her, Amy sighed before giving him a warm smile and returning the wave, not wanting him to think anything was wrong with her. He returned her smile and started leaving the castle with Royal Ribbon, and once they weren’t facing the white unicorn, she let her hoof fall as well as the smile on her face. As ecstatic as she was for the couple, she couldn’t help feeling the slightest hint of jealousy. She knew it was jealousy, but she didn’t know what reason she could possibly have for feeling this way...at least, not at that exact moment. When she saw Ribbon rest her head on Guardian’s shoulder and took another look at the flower shaped, sapphire ring on the mare’s horn, however, she started to understand what was bothering her. Amoretta suddenly remembered that she was still single--and, as a consequence, very lonely. She had her new pegasus friend, of course, but that’s all they were. Friends. It wasn’t remotely the same.

“Well… Way to bring down your own mood, Amy. As if you didn’t have enough on your mind.” thought the ivory unicorn as she silently stood by the grand staircase in the castle foyer, still looking in the direction Guardian Heart had taken his precious Royal Ribbon even though they were both far out of her line of sight by now. With another dilemma to add to the burdens she carried on a regular basis, Amoretta sighed deeply to herself and walked through Canterlot Castle in search of her bedroom, deciding she needed to call it a day. Maybe some sleep would help her relax. “... That is, if I can actually get any sleep.”

Life for the past six months hadn’t been all that bad. At least not for Lyricalana. Canterlot had been pretty good to her; she was currently residing in the castle, she had at least one singing gig every week now that she had ties to Princess Celestia, and perhaps best of all, the job that landed her in this position also gave her a new friend. No, more than a friend. To Lyric, Amoretta was more like a sister. Not that anyone could really take the place of her real sister, but Lyric was sure that stupid orphanage couldn’t have found a better sister for her than the one she ended up finding for herself. The deep blue pegasus flying over Canterlot realized where her thoughts were heading and sighed before literally shaking the memories away. “Don’t think about it anymore, Lyric. That’s all old news. Flight school, the bullies, the tornado, the orphanage, all of it. You’ve made an awesome new life for yourself. Way better than whatever would have happened if you’d had to stay in that awful orphanage with those sociopathic colts… Ugh… Those guys… Seriously, though, that’s all behind you. Nothing about the past is even relevant right now. Especially not their reasons for bullying you.”

That last thought finally got Lyric to smile again. Well, really, it was more of a smirk. She looked down at the classy, decorated ponies walking the streets of Canterlot, probably wanting to get home or to whatever fancy little soiree they would be attending that evening before it was was too dark. She suddenly had an idea that would involve shaking things up for the ponies below that most likely didn’t understand what real fun actually was. Granted, the plan’s original purpose was just to help her prove a point to herself, but she was realizing now that it would effectively serve both purposes if she played her cards just right. Her smirk widened to a grin at the thought, and before she could think too much more on it, she called to the Canterlot ponies she was flying over: “LOOK OUT BELOOOOW!!!!” And that was the only warning she gave before flying in a nose dive towards the ground, reaching record speeds much quicker than she actually cared to realize.

The screams and general panic of the ponies running around the sidewalk below hardly fazed Lyric, nor the fact that she could easily crack her skull open if she didn’t pull up somehow as quickly as possible. The only reason that grim scenario didn’t bother her was the fact that she knew she wouldn’t make that mistake. She already had every movement planned out before she even made it close enough to the ground. She angled her body from a straight line towards the ground to an angle that would lead her to a streetlight at the corner of the sidewalk she was flying over. The four times she swirled her lithe pegasus body around the streetlight were enough to bring her dangerously close to the ground, but she went through with her next move--which just so happened to be zipping across the street in order to weave in and out of the crowd of panicked upper class ponies running all over the sidewalk.

The startled screams and irritated shouts to watch where she was going only seemed to amuse Lyric as she worked her way through the crowd and down the street as fast as her wings would take her. What some might not have noticed was the trail she left behind when she was flying at this speed. Similar to Cloudsdale’s pride and joy of a speedster pegasus, Lyricalana left a trail that looked similar to a line from a page of sheet music, except this one had a cerulean base, thin navy blue lines that were evenly spaced, and deep violet music notes in various positions on or between the lines. It wasn’t that hard to catch in broad daylight, but it was getting dark already, so it would be a little more difficult to catch now--especially with the pegasus responsible for this anomaly weaving in and out of a small sea of upper crust ponies. That wouldn’t last much longer, though, as the end of the street was coming up fast. Even while performing a maneuver that could possibly make somepony else airsick, Lyric realized this and mentally prepared herself for something she could have even hoped to be able to do as a filly. She imagined the absolutely stunned look her young self would have seeing what she would accomplish when she finally got older, and liking what her mind’s eye saw, the indigo and cerulean maned pegasus smirked deviously to herself and went for it.

At the corner of the sidewalk was a lone pegasus stallion; he was about as decorated as the general population of this town, but that meant he blended in so much that most people in Canterlot probably didn’t pay him as much attention as, say, Fancy Pants. Lyric noticed him, however, and smirked wider as she decided she should use her next move to ruffle his feathers. “... Ok, horrible pun. Never say that one in public, Lyric. Ever.” After slightly scolding herself for the horrible pun, she smirked again and headed straight for the stallion. He seemed to notice her and panic, but before he could react with anything aside from the startled “yelp” that escaped from his throat (anyone else besides him would have considered it a shriek), Lyric was flying around him in circles at unbelievable speeds. She stopped trying to count how many times she circled around him after about thirty, and unbeknownst to her, she had created a dome shape around the dumbfounded pegasus stallion, the dome with the same cerulean and navy lines of the trail she tended to leave during especially fast flights. The violet music notes were even scattered all in there for some extra color. By now, some of the other Canterlot ponies in the surrounding area had gathered to watch, and even the currently captive pegasus stallion was awestruck by the display. After what must have been the seventy-fifth time circling around him, though, Lyric shot directly into the air, maintaining the speed that would have been impossible for her to reach some years ago. No multicolored sonic boom resulted for her shooting up into the sky like a firework, but when she did slow down and stop in midair, high above the stunned ponies, she called down to them with an exhilarated smile on her face. “Hope you enjoyed the little show I put on for you, everypony. I hope this was a start to a memorable evening for all of you.” And with that, the dusk colored pegasus blew a kiss to the ponies and took off again, this time a little more focused on getting to the castle.

Lyric could easily hear mixed reactions behind her, as some ponies were cheering over the stunning display while others still sounded annoyed by her swerving through the crowd for basically no reason. If it had bothered her, she would have yelled back, but she just kept flying along, not fazed in the slightest by anything she was hearing. In fact, all she could think about was the fact that, even now, none of her classmates from her old flight school would have possibly been able to do what she just did. Even if they had all grown up as well, they still most likely would have had a hard time comprehending that she was able to do that, let alone try and do it themselves. Thinking about that only further convinced Lyric that her decision all those years ago was the right one; she never would have gotten so much uninterrupted flight training time if she didn’t decide to run away from Wingston, and knowing that just made her so much more grateful that she had done just that.

Wingston, Lyric’s hometown, was an all pegasus sky city built on and entirely composed of clouds; basically, it was just like Cloudsdale, except it was much smaller and definitely not quite as well known as the more famed city in the sky. Still, even if Wingston was just a nowhere town that not a lot of ponies cared about, the city was still highly similar to Cloudsdale in it’s own ways--especially in the sense that one’s worth in that town seemed heavily dependant on their flying ability. Lyric knew this all too well, as she was constantly bullied all throughout flight school because she was one of the three weakest flyers in her class. The dusk colored pegasus mare remembered being very insecure in those days as a result, so she could only imagine herself as a filly seeing the flying tricks she would someday be able to perform as a mare. “... Actually, depending on when in that time frame I’d speak to myself, I’d probably be alarmed to see that I’d be flying again at all…” Lyric thought as she suddenly remembered that night she was grabbed and brutally beaten by those vicious bullies before she was rushed to the emergency room. Those moments before the surgery were still all a blur to her, but she still distinctly remembered the words “She may never fly again…” coming from a surgeon’s mouth.

“LYRIC, WATCH OUT!!!!”

It was too late. Lyric had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice she had been nearing Canterlot Castle--and now flying right towards the balcony her best friend Amoretta was standing on. She tried to slow herself down, but she was already too close and inevitably crashed onto the balcony and into Amoretta. The two rolled into Amy’s bedroom through the opened, sliding glass doors, and when they stopped in the center of the room, both mares were extremely dizzy. “Ugh… S-Sorry, Amy…”

“It’s ok, Lyric. It’s not like you meant…to…”

Amoretta couldn’t say anything more when she realized Lyric was now on top of her and that their faces were mere inches from each other. … Well, technically, she could have said something, but she was too stunned to actually attempt to do so. This shouldn’t have felt so awkward for her after knowing the pegasus for quite some time already, but Amy just couldn’t help it. Even though this was her best friend’s deep violet eyes staring back at her, something about being this close to anypony always made the shy, typically anxious unicorn mare start to blush, and it seemed that this time would be no exception.

Lyric, meanwhile, was less flustered and surprised over what just happened and much more concerned for her friend. Had she been on top of somepony who could potentially have some kind of feelings for her, she would have been much more nervous, but this was Amy. They may have gotten extremely close in the six months Lyric had been in Canterlot, but it was more of a sisterly kind of thing, so she didn’t have anything to worry about as far as that was concerned. What she actually was worried about, however, was making sure she hadn’t cause any serious injuries to her best friend. “Amy, are you sure you’re alright? Did I hurt you or anything?” she asked, looking worriedly into the sea foam green eyes before her with obvious concern.

Hearing the question made Amoretta herself start to calm down; her mind had gone blank for a minute, but hearing her dearest friend’s concerned voice was just enough to bring her back to reality and smile that warm smile of her’s again. The concerned look in Lyric’s eyes along with the questions simply made the unicorn mare shake her head and say “I’m alright, Lyric. I might still feel that impact in the morning, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

At that, Lyric let out a sigh of relief. “Ok, good.” With that, she smiled apologetically at the ivory unicorn before she finally stood up and moved to the side, holding out her hoof so she could help the fallen pony stand up again. “With you being about as fragile as a butterfly, I was worried I had really messed you up there.” she said with a teasing smirk on her face.

Amy chuckled and returned the smirk as she grabbed onto the pegasus mare’s outstretched hoof. “You know, there actually are ponies out there that are way worse than me.” she asked, standing to her own hooves again and staying balanced as she did so with her friend’s help.

“I’d be willing to bet it’s a pretty small number, though.” Lyric retorted, maintaining her smirk and releasing Amy’s hoof only when she knew she was steady. As much as she made fun of the unicorn mare’s timid disposition on some days, the pegasus knew she could still take care of herself. Regardless, there was no way Lyric would let anything bad happen to her. No way was she going to helplessly sit back and possibly lose another sister.

Ignoring her friend’s comment, Amoretta suddenly realized something and decided to ask about it: “... Lyric, why did you crash onto the balcony like that anyway? You didn’t even look like you realized you were anywhere near the castle. Usually, when you’re flying, you’re much more focused than that.”

That question made Lyric think back to the thoughts that had been assaulting her right up until she crashed. She gave the slightest hint of a shudder at the gruesome memories that had been on her mind, but she simply shook it off before answering her best friend with a calm smile and a shrug. “It’s really nothing, Amy. I just kind of got wrapped up in remembering something, but it’s not really important now anyway. Sure as hay nothing you need to go worrying that pretty little head of yours about.” she answered, quite similarly to the way she always did.

Amy noticed they were falling into this pattern again. She had known Lyric for a little less than six months, and she always avoided talking about her past this way. It was starting to get annoying since Amy confided in the pegasus mare more than anypony else. She considered reading Lyric’s thoughts for a second, but the thought left as quickly as it came, and she, once again, decided it wasn’t any of her business as long as her friend thought that was the case. “... Well, as long as you’re alright now…” she said, putting on a small smile for the indigo and cerulean maned mare specifically to mask her curiosity and concern.

“Of course I am.” Lyric said, masking her own terror at what had almost become of her when she was little with her usual relaxed attitude and a lazy looking smile. She became more focused, however, when she noticed something wasn’t quite right in her friend’s eyes. Besides the usual lingering curiosity that was always there after the pegasus dodged another “tell-me-about-your-past bullet” (as she called them), something else in Amy’s usually inviting eyes wasn’t quite right. They were sort of...empty. Devoid of any of the life that was there just about any other time. “... You’re not alright, though. Did something happen today?” she asked knowingly, her head slightly tilting to one side.

“What? … Oh, no, not really.” Amy said that with a sweet smile, but the suspicious look in Lyric’s eyes proved she wasn’t fooling her. Like she should have expected any less since it was literally the mare’s job to know when something was bothering her. With all of this in mind, the unicorn finally sighed in defeat and decided to tell her friend what was wrong. “It’s really not that big a deal, Lyric, I swear. All that happened was Royal Ribbon telling me she’s engaged to Guardian Heart.”

“That one guard you told me about?” asked Lyric, remembering the story of how Amoretta helped Guardian Heart find the courage to ask out Royal Ribbon. When the magenta and rose maned unicorn nodded in response, she grinned. “Well, that’s awesome news. They were the first couple you ever set up, right? I figured you’d be really excited for those two.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t possibly be happier for them! It’s just…” Amy paused to stare at the floor for a moment, then sighed before going over to sit on her bed. “... I’m single and everything, so...it just reminded me of how lonely I actually am… I try not to think about it so much and just focus on how happy I am to see things come together for two ponies who clearly love each other. It’s what I love. Helping others find that kind of happiness always makes me happy… It’s just…”

“You want to find that same happiness for yourself someday, too...and it kind of bugs you that you haven’t yet.” Lyric said, walking towards her friend’s bed as she put the pieces of what she was given together. She was pretty good at doing that. Then again, her friend had already said a lot, so it didn’t really take a genius to put the rest of the puzzle pieces together.

Amoretta nodded in response, knowing she couldn’t have said it better herself. Seriously, she had issues sometimes expressing herself through words. “Like I said, I try not to think about it, but seeing that ring on Ribbon’s horn...it just kind of made me think about it, I guess. It was always easy to blow this kind of thing off, but this time made me feel like I’m missing something…”

That was the kind of talk that told Lyric her best friend most likely wouldn’t get to sleep without her. With that in mind, she had the distressed unicorn lay down under the covers on her bed, then sat on the edge of the bed next to her. “Well, until you find out what that is, I’ll be right here to help you relax. In the meantime, I think you need some music to help you sleep tonight.” she suggested, noting as she looked towards the window that the sun was now gone and the moon was probably being raised into the sky already.

Hearing Lyric’s words made Amy smile again, and the mention of music made her sigh in relief and scoot closer to her friend so she could rest her head on her shoulder. “It’s at times like this that I almost forget which one of us is the mind reader.” she said with a small, tired looking smile.

Lyric returned Amoretta’s smile with a grin of her own before holding the unicorn close. She let Amy’s head rest under her chin and against her chest, then started gently rocking her back and forth like a little foal before she started humming something special to her. This lullaby was one Lyric’s sister always hummed to her when she couldn’t sleep, and it always seemed to work on Amy as well. It was a slow, beautiful, repetitive tune that didn’t seem like it would be out of place in a well-known nursery rhyme, but it wasn’t part of any known song or story. Regardless, both Lyricalana and Amoretta knew that just the sound of the lullaby made them feel safe and comfortable, much like how one feels coming from after a very chilly day, wrapping himself/herself up in a cozy blanket and sipping hot cocoa while sitting by the fire. That feeling in itself was always enough to get Amy to sleep, and judging by how she was nodding off already, this wouldn’t be any exception.

Lyric held her best friend close and hummed to her for quite sometime until she herself started to feel really sleepy. As Amoretta started softly snoring, indicating she was finally asleep, the pegasus gently set her down so she was laying on her bed and facing the nearest wall. She realized in the back of her mind (as she decided to stay the night in case Amy had nightmares again) that, while she had been able to get her friend to sleep again, she knew this would keep coming up until there was a long term fix to her problem. “I promise, Amy… I promise I’ll help you be happy. One way or another, I’ll help you find somepony just right for you.” And with that decision made, Lyric softly yawned to herself and decided to lay down close to Amy in her bed and fall asleep; she technically did this for her friend so she could comfort her in case of nightmares, but she was also too tired to go to sleep in her own suite in the castle, hence her decision to sleep in the closest bed she could find, which just so happened to be that of her best friend.

Impossible

Impossible

“Thanks again, Twi. Ah can’t tell ya how grateful Ah am that yer doin’ this fer me.” said a smiling Applejack as she unhooked herself from a cart full of buckets of freshly bucked apples. She leaned down and opened the door to her apple cellar with her teeth before turning to her unicorn friend once again: “Ah’d tell her ‘bout all o’ this mahself, but Ah just can’t get away from the farm today--not with all that’s been goin’ on.”

“I understand completely, Applejack. Your family needs you, and we all know how important it is to you to be there for them.” said Twilight Sparkle with a warm smile on her face, understanding as always. As she used her magic to empty the buckets of apples one by one into the cellar, she continued by saying “No doubt Pinkie’s probably going to be a little sad that you can’t make it, but once I explain to her and the others what’s going on, I’m sure they’ll all understand.”

“Ah hope so. And again, Ah really can’t thank ya enough.” Applejack responded with a warm, grateful smile on her face. She really hated that she was going to be missing Pinkie Pie’s party, especially considering this one was the anniversary of Pinkie moving in with the Cakes and getting her job at Sugar Corner. It was a really big deal to Pinkie, and AJ wanted so badly to be there for her, but the timing was terrible, as her whole family was really counting on her to almost single hoofedly keep Sweet Apple Acres running for the next few weeks, if not more so.

“No need, Applejack. Really, it’s no trouble.” Twilight said just before emptying the contents of the last bucket into the apple cellar. Once that was done, she placed the now empty bucket into the cart with the others. “Anyways, I guess now would be a good time to get going. Pinkie wants as much help as possible setting up for this party, and since the rest of our friends will be there, too, that should be the perfect time to let them know you won’t be able to make it.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Sounds good. Have a good time at the party, Twilight. An’ give Pinkie ‘n’ the Cakes mah best wishes, would ya?” she humbly asks, taking off her treasured Stetson and holding it over her heart as she makes the request.

“Of course. And you take it easy. We wouldn’t want a repeat of that one Applebuck Season, now would we?” Twilight asked with a giggle. With that being said, she waved goodbye to AJ and headed back the way she came, treading the same path between Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres that she had plenty of times in the several months she had been here.

Applejack smiled sadly as she watched Twilight leave. She really did want to go to Sugar Cube Corner and help her friends set up for Pinkie’s party, but this time, it just wasn’t an option. Even if all of her friends were available to help her today, she still would have had too much work to do today. If only Big Macintosh wasn’t out of commission for the next month or so…

“Applejack!! Hey, Applejack!!”

The orange farm pony was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when a familiar voice started calling to her from a distance. She couldn’t make out the exact face of the pony calling her, but she could clearly see a pale yellow coat, ruby red mane and rose colored bow coming towards her as fast as possible. At first, Applejack was surprised to see her little sister already, but looking up at the sky, she could see that it was somewhere around 3:30 in the afternoon judging by the position of the sun. School must have already ended for the day. Still, though, Apple Bloom would usually be with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo heading towards the treehouse at this time if they decided to come anywhere near the farm this early, and AJ could clearly see that her sister was alone. Was something wrong with her friends? Were they not having their usual Crusaders meeting today?

With Applejack standing still as she thought about all of this, Apple Bloom was given ample time to run over to her, and when she did finally reach her, she came to an abrupt stop right in front of her older sister. “Ah’m glad yer still here. A mail pony came by ‘n’ asked me ta give somethin’ to ya.”

Oh, so that’s what it was. Yeah, Apple Bloom would get excited over getting a task like that. The youngest Apple liked to do a good job at everything she was asked to do--mostly in the hope that it might earn her a cutie mark. Thinking about all of this was enough to calm AJ down slightly, though not enough to dispel her curiosity about the whereabouts of the remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Oh, alright, then. Let’s see it.” said the second eldest Apple sibling with a smile on her face.

Apple Bloom happily nodded and reached into the saddlebag she brought with her to school every day, managing to pull out what seemed to be a postcard. AJ took it and was about to examine it further, but seeing the sudden sadness in Apple Bloom’s face took her attention away from that almost immediately. “What’s wrong, sis?”

“Umm...well...Ah was wonderin’... Ah was gonna head back to town to find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo after Ah gave ya that postcard, but...since Ah’m here anyways…” Apple Bloom trailed off and stared at the ground under her hooves, almost as if she was afraid to ask her question.

Applejack smiled and gently patted her little sister on the head. “It’s ok, Apple Bloom. Go on ‘n’ ask me what ya wanna ask me. It’s alright.” she insisted, not wanting her sister to think she had to hide anything from her.

After hearing those words, Apple Bloom sighed and tried one more time, this time managing to finally get her point across now: “Since Ah’m home anyway, could Ah maybe see Big Macintosh now? Ah promise not ta cry this time, honest!”

Hearing those words managed to catch Applejack off guard, causing a slight pain in her heart as she remembered her injured brother. Looking towards the house where Big Mac was resting, she remembered when Apple Bloom had gone to see him the other day and ended up running out of the room with tears in her eyes. The injury wasn’t anything Big Macintosh wasn’t used to, and Apple Bloom had seen him both walk around and lay in bed while recovering from pulling a muscle or two in his back before. What caused the tears was being there when her brother hurt himself, seeing him actually fall to the ground in pain and being the one to run off and find him some help. She had never actually witnessed any physical harm come to either of her siblings, and seeing Big Mac of all ponies get hurt was a little too much for her to wrap her mind around at the time. Not that the filly had ever admitted such a thing to anyone, but her big sister had been through those same emotions before, both on the same level and levels much more intense than that.

Thinking it over, Applejack eventually smiled and turned back to face her sister so she could nod at her. “Ok. Go on ahead ‘n’ say hi ta ‘im. Ah’m sure ya can handle yerself this time.” she said, thinking Apple Bloom must have had plenty of time to recover and accept what had happened by now. It had already been two days since it happened, so surely, the filly was ready this time.

An ecstatic grin crossed Apple Bloom’s face, and she showed her gratitude to Applejack by hugging her and simply telling her “Thanks, sis!” before taking off towards the farmhouse. In her excitement, she tripped in the middle of her run, but she simply got up, shook it off and started running again. The determination of the Apple bloodline was showing more and more in her everyday.

Applejack chuckled a bit as she watched her sister leave, then looked at the postcard she gave her. The smile immediately dropped from the mare’s face, though, as she realized the card was from Galloping Gorge. “Granny…”

Immediately following her realization, Applejack headed inside the house as well, waiting until she knew Apple Bloom was upstairs before looking at the other side of the postcard and reading the message on the other side:

“Dear Applejack,

Just sending this to let you know Zecora and I got to Galloping Gorge in once piece. Basically, this is to tell you to not be a worry whale and concentrate on taking care of your siblings. We’re doing fine, and I’ll send you a letter or another postcard once your cousin is feeling better and we’re on our way home. I’m not sure how long that’s going to take, but in the meantime, please don’t worry. I promised you everything would be ok, and you of all ponies oughta know you can hold an Apple to her word.

Love always, Granny Smith.”

Reading this message from Granny made Applejack roll her eyes a few times, but it also made her chuckle and feel better. She had to admit she had been worried since finding out her dear cousin, Curly Cobbler, had fallen sick with an illness that no doctor in her town could cure. She thought her worries would be put to rest when she got Zecora to agree to go to Galloping Gorge to see what she could do, but when Granny Smith said she was going with Zecora to Galloping Gorge and wouldn’t let AJ go since someone needed to stay and take care of Big Macintosh, the freckled farm pony’s concern only doubled from what it was before. This message seemed to help her feel much better, though...at least until she got to the last part of the message:

“P.S.: Remember what your mom always used to tell you about what to do in times of trouble and doubt? Just keep that in mind, ok? Something tells me that advice is gonna be really useful to you in these next few weeks.”

That was enough to practically make Applejack’s heart stop. She certainly did remember those words of advice her mother had given her all those years ago--it was just such a shock to her or those words mentioned again after all this time. Thinking about Honey Blossom, her, Big Mac and Apple Bloom's mother, was usually too much for her to handle, so she did her best not to, especially when she had something important to do. "Looks like Ah've got no choice but ta think of ya now, huh Momma?"

With that thought, Applejack sighed and stood up from the couch, placing the postcard under her hat. That would be the safest possible place for it until she got up to her bedroom. Walking up the stairs, those words, the last words she remembered her mother saying to her and only her with that warm, loving smile on her face, echoed in her mind louder than any echo that had ever bounced off the stone walls of Ghastly Gorge.

"In times of trouble and doubt, the best thing you can do is keep your mind and your heart open to all possibilities."

Thinking about those words actually made Applejack chuckle as she remembered everything she had been through. It was funny because she hadn't really taken that advice to heart until a certain Applebuck Season came about. The first Applebuck Season with Twilight in town. Before then, she had been so used to taking on more responsibility than most ponies were able to; she had to if she was going to help take care of her family, after all. That day she finally realized she couldn't handle harvesting all of those apples by herself, though, she looked up at Twilight and, for a brief moment, she saw her mother's concerned face looking down at her instead of her unicorn friend's. That's when the advice finally clicked, and she learned it was ok to accept outside help. Opening her mind and heart to the idea that her new friends could and happily would help her was one of the best decisions she had ever made.

That was actually a very fond memory for Applejack, but as she looked up and realized she had made it to her room, she sighed and opened the door. "This ain't the same, though, Granny... Ah probably will need help...but it's help that'll require me lettin' somepony in more than Ah'm ready to..." she murmured to herself, staring at the hardwood floor beneath her gives as she walked across her room. She thought off all of her friends, knowing she lived each of them dearly--just not enough to let her see a slightly more...emotional side of herself. After all, this wasn't just about the fieldwork this time.

The blonde farm pony stopped in front of her nightstand and shook her head. "No. This is a little too much to get even mah friends involved in. Ah'll just have ta handle this on mah own..." As she said that, she took off her hat and reached inside to grab the postcard. Reading Granny Smith's words once again made her smile just a bit. "... As much as Ah can, anyway..." she murmured before opening the drawer of the nightstand next to her bed. She could see some of the other items inside, and looking at them for even a moment was enough to almost make her cry. Before she could get a good look at the contents of the drawer, she put the postcard inside and shoved it closed. She was already feeling a little too emotional at the moment without looking inside that drawer.

A knock at the door snapped Applejack clean out of her thoughts. After shaking her head and wiping away the tears she felt staring to form, she took a deep breath and went over to the door, opening it to see none other than Apple Bloom. "Oh, hey, sis. How's Big Mac?" she asked, feeling grateful that she had managed to keep her voice steady and smile as if she was perfectly fine. Seeing both of her older siblings in an especially vulnerable state might end up being too much for the youngest Apple to take.

"He says he's feelin' better. He tried to get outta bed to get himself a snack, but Ah got him ta stay put by tellin' him that Ah really wanted ta take care o' it mahself." Apple Bloom said, smiling proudly at the fact that she had gotten her brother to stay in bed and risk hurting himself more.

AJ had to admit that was an impressive feat. Everypony in this family was awfully stubborn (she was willing to openly admit that about herself now), so hearing that her little sister got Big Macintosh to change his mind with hardly any struggle was enough to make the freckle-faced farmer proud. There was one thing she had to ask, though. "Ah see... And Ah'm sure ya told him all 'bout how yer supposed ta be meetin' yer friends in a few minutes, right?"

That question caught Apple Bloom off guard, and almost immediately afterwords, she stared down at the floor and started shuffling her hooves a bit. "Uhh...well..."

"Ah'll take that as a no." Applejack said with a chuckle before patting her sister on the head. "You go on 'n' have fun with yer friends, Apple Bloom. They're probably worried sick 'bout ya by now. Ah'll go fix Big Mac somethin' ta eat."

"Ya mean it?" Apple Bloom's question was clearly rhetorical, for she didn't even wait for an answer before jumping onto her sister so she could give her a hug. "Thanks so much, big sis! Ah don't know what we'd do without ya!" And with that, she released her older sister, waved goodbye and ran off to find her Crusader friends.

Applejack smiled and waved goodbye as she watched her little sister run off, but once she was out of earshot, the older mare sighed and murmured to herself "Yeah...me either..." A sigh followed those words, but she shook off her uneasy feelings, just as she had been doing for years, and went downstairs to get some food for her brother. Maybe some apple fritters and milk. That was a favorite combo of his--one that had always helped him relax.

As much as AJ hated to come off as too proud an individual, she had to admit that her family very heavily depended on her; Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and even Granny Smith had admitted this on a few different occasions, so it couldn't have possibly been a lie, right? If that was the case, she really was making the right decision. She needed to remain the source of strength, comfort and reliability that she had been in the past--the main thing that had gotten her family through so many rough patches before. Opening up as much as she would need to in order to receive help would me practically abandoning that role for a while, and how could she do that at the time when her family needed her the most?

Wandering into the kitchen, Applejack looked up and out the window just over the kitchen sink. She could see the sunlight peeking out from behind a few clouds, and that sunlight automatically made her think of her mother's sunshine colored mane. A deep sigh escaped her before she spoke again, this time as if she was looking straight into her mother's eyes. "Ah hate ta say it, Ma, but Ah just don't know if Ah can open up enough to let in the help Ah need at this point. Ah'll keep mahself open ta all the possibilities like ya said, but acceptin' the kind o' help Ah need this time 'round...Ah just dunno if that's possible fer me..."

After that confession, AJ wiped away some tears that had welled up at the mere prospect of disappointing her late mother. She hoped deep in her heart that things would change and she really would be able to open up enough to get the help she really needed, but at that moment, as she started putting together a plate of apple fritters and a glass of milk for Big Macintosh, it just didn't seem like something she could do.