Faithfully Yours

                                                                                                                                                      12th November

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Dear Rarity,

Oh goodness, I'm sorry I didn't get in touch sooner; I'd no idea how lonely you were. I'm afraid you're right; we have been very busy on the farm since it came under new management. Mac told me all about your wonderful wedding, but I enjoyed reading your account of it all the same. I can't tell you how disappointed I was that I couldn't make it (although to be honest I was still recovering from my own - I certainly won't try drinking again) but it's so comforting to know that I've gained a wonderful new cousin in one of my friends.

Oh but listen to me, talking so joyously of cousins, after what's happened with Applejack.  You seem to have been left a little in the dark, so I guess I'll go ahead and fill you in as best I can.

After our wedding, and your departure west, the FlimFlam brothers became interested in buying up Sweet Apple Acres. Well, they weren't just interested, they were sure, and very persistent also. I wasn't really involved, but I used to overhear Flam pestering Mac while Flim pursued Applejack in the fields.

I  never expected the Apples to sell, but then, I never expected to get up one morning and see Applejack pass me in a carriage between Flim and Flam. She saw me, I'm sure, I was right on the road, but she didn't look at me. She wouldn't. Mac hadn't come back from his night at the inn, and when I found him at work the next day, he just told me that nothing would be the same. Mac hates talking about what happened, but that, at least, he needn't have told me. Everything changed, from the moment the new management knocked on our cottage door.

I enclose in this letter a newspaper clipping that was our only notification of Applejack's marriage to Flim. You will notice that it is from the Manehatten Times; our relatives the Oranges sent it with their congratulations for Applejack marrying so "well". I certainly don't share their feelings, but I'm glad at least for some news of her. You'll also see that the newspaper is nearly a month out of date, surely more by the time this reaches you - it is so very hard to get post in and out of Ponyville these days. So while we know that they were married in Manehatten, there's no knowing if they are still there.

Life now isn't easy, but we're getting along fairly well. The new management are generally kind to us, and while the hours are long, I am receiving  a good wage, and Mac is paid much better than many farm ponies have been recently. As FlimFlam family members, Granny Smith and Applebloom are allowed to keep up residence in the Apple family home, although this right would be revoked if Mac and I quit our jobs. I feel just awful for Applebloom, who has had to skip school to look after Granny Smith. I've told Mac that I'll take time off work to take care of her myself, but he says it's for the best that Applebloom do it because my income is so crucial to our livelihood. It's tough, but we're helping each other through it. Lily and I ventured into the Everfree forest the other day, and found more than enough chestnuts to fill all our larders. (Can you believe I don't even get scared anymore when we have to go in there?) Mac's dream is to one day buy back a portion of the acres, and so long as we've this much love and support here in Ponyville, I'll never lose faith.

Oh goodness, here I am going on about our lives, when I haven't even told you about Pinkie Pie. I met Rainbow at her old home in Ponyville last week. It was so good to see her after so long, even though we only had a few minutes together out of her busy schedule. She told me she had stopped by the Pie rock farm, but the Pies weren't there, only there were accounts from the neighbours that all Pie sisters had been there a short while before, and that they had all left together. I hope this news is as reassuring to you as it was to me - we can at least assume that Pinkie is safe and with her family, although naturally I wish she were here. One of her parties would really do Ponyville good right now.

Well, I'd better wrap this up, I promised Rose I'd meet her for lunch before my shift starts again. I'm afraid I don't know when I can next write to you; as I've said, the postal service in Ponyville isn't very  reliable at the moment, and I'll need to work overtime for as long as possible if we want a happy Hearth's Warming Eve. However, I'm sure us Apples will be reuniting soon, and I'll be keeping you and Braeburn in my thoughts.

Lots of love

Fluttershy xxx