Applejack wiped her brow with her hoof, coming away with copious amounts of sweat.

"Oh boy, sure is hot today Mac, almost as if summer's come early or something." She smiled at her brother as he passed, his body straining under a heavy load as he hauled a large cart of farming equipment towards the barn.

"Eyuup," Bic Macintosh agreed as he ground to a halt, resting for a moment in front of his sister, also taking the chance to wipe his own brow.

"Say, aint that Miss Fluttershy over there." He pointed with his hoof towards the horizon.

Applejack followed his gaze and sure enough, in the haze of shimmering heat, she could see the winged form of Fluttershy hovering gently towards them.

"Say, what do you suppose she wants?" Applejack mused out loud.

"Why don't you ask her?" asked Big Mac.

"It was one of those fancy type of questions I didn't expect an answer to, Mac." Sighed Applejack. "Anyway, you sure you can handle all that on your own."

"Eyuup," Big Mac nodded. "T'aint nothing."

"Thanks, Big Mac, owe you one."

"Are you alright, Sugarcube?" asked Applejack as she reached Fluttershy, the pegasus sweating profusely.

"No." Fluttershy shook her head, panting. "I need to talk to you about something?"

"Well, what's the matter, Fluttershy? Is this about last night?" Applejack asked, gently nuzzling her.

"No." Squeaked Fluttershy a little bit too quickly, pulling away from Applejack. "Well, yes, but it's not about us. It's about this whole situation with the bet."

"What d'ya mean?" Applejack asked, confused

"I mean it's not fair to him, Applejack, Richard's already suffered enough." A single tear began to fall down Fluttershy's cheek as her eyes began to fill with water.

"Suffered? In what way has he suffered? And if you remember, the bet was made because of what he said about you." Applejack reached out with a hoof, carefully wiping away the tear.

"And how do you think that makes me feel?" asked Fluttershy with a sob. "So what if he was making some comments, he was right after all. You girls have never missed a poker night since he started coming. And as for his suffering? He's trapped on an alien world with no way back to his family."

"The only reason we haven't missed a poker game was because it was winter, none of us have had a fierce heat yet, but I guarantee you we will soon. And the Princesses are trying to find a way to send him home, I doubt he'll be stuck here forever." Applejack said quietly, gently stroking Fluttershy's mane in an attempt to sooth her.

"But they've been at it for a couple of months, Applejack. If they were going to find a way to send him back, they would have found it by now. Besides, Twilight told me that as more time passes, the magical trail left by his arrival gets fainter. Soon, even if they find a way to send him back, they won't be able to locate his home. If it's not too late already."

"You shouldn't give up hope, Fluttershy, the Princesses have never let us down before." Applejack whispered in her ear. "And about this bet thing, I can understand why you don't like it, but why has it got you so worked up?"

"You've seen how he looks at Twilight sometimes, right?" Applejack nodded a response causing Fluttershy to sniff. "Well, what chance has he got of winning the bet? He'll lose and then... and then he'll be turned into a pony." Fluttershy burst out into tears.

The sight of Fluttershy crying was too much for Applejack who instantly wrapped her in a hug and began to kiss Fluttershy's tear stained face repeatedly. After several minutes of this, Fluttershy eventually calmed down.

"I'm sorry," said Fluttershy shyly.

"It's okay, Fluttershy." Applejack smiled gently at her as she cradled Fluttershy in her hooves. "But why did you start crying?"

"Because the thought of him losing who he is, even for just a week, after all he's been through. It's too much, Applejack." Fluttershy let out another whimper, quickly burying herself into Applejack's shoulder.

"That's okay, Fluttershy, we'll just have to make sure he doesn't lose."

"But what about Twilight, if he wins, he can make her do whatever he wants."

"Richard's a reasonable sort, I'm sure we can convince him to not do anything unreasonable." Applejack leaned down and gently kissed Fluttershy, causing her to squeak and turn a bright shade of pink to match her hair. "Are you up for that?"

"Okay." Fluttershy mumbled through her occupied lips.

"Alrighty then, I'll work on a plan tonight and we can meet tomorrow to discuss it, okay?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Cool, well you better get going before Big Mac sees either of us, I'm sure he'll need some help locking up the barn." Applejack reluctantly let go of Fluttershy who quickly rose to her hooves and turned to head off home. "And Flutters? Be sure to get some sleep."

Author's Note

I know this is a short chapter, wanted to get back into writing the story after my 'little' break. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think. I know it might not be up to snuff, but I needed to get a chapter out.