The Blessing: A Second Chance

As the two walked out of the hospital, John slung his rifle over his shoulder.  Applejack took a different route to the farm, one that didn’t go through Ponyville.  She didn’t think that he needed the awkward stares of the townsponies as they tried to figure out what he was or what he was doing here.  He didn’t say much on the walk to Sweet Apple Acres, but Applejack thought he was just sad over the death of his comrades.  That was part of the problem, but the reality was that John was having a mental argument with himself.

‘What are you doing?  You know it isn’t real.’

‘How can you be sure?  It seems pretty real to me’

‘Come on, look around you.  A child’s TV show come to life?’

‘Maybe I’m in a coma and this is what my mind is projecting?’

‘Allright then John, let’s test this little theory of mine.  If this is a projection of my subconscious, then that pony in front of me will have to answer any question I ask it with an answer I thought she would say.  So go ahead, ask her a question.’

“Hey Applejack?”

Applejack turned her head.

“Yeah, John?”

“I know this is gonna sound stupid, but I have a question that I need you to answer for me.” He said almost apologetically.

“It’s not stupid, I’ll bet ya’, so go ahead and ask.” She encouraged.

John closed his eyes and took a breath.  When he opened his eyes, he looked back at her.

“Is this real?  Like, really real?”

Applejack cocked her head to the side a bit when she replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean all of this.” John gestured with his arm to the landscape. “Is this all real?”

Applejack looked John in the eye before she answered.  She was trying to see what he was thinking, but all she got back was confusion and skepticism.

“John,” she said comfortingly, “I know that you’re probably not from this world, and I know this is all kinda’ confusing, but I can assure you that this is all very real.”

‘Damn, that wasn’t the answer I was thinking at all.’ John thought to himself.

Unfortunately, his face reflected his inner doubts.  Applejack saw this and started thinking herself.

‘How can ah prove to him that this is real?’

‘You could kick him, they always say you can’t feel pain in a dream.’

‘No, that’s a bad idea.  Ah don’t even know the fella’, I can’t just kick him.’

‘Well, you’re gonna have ta think of something.’

‘Well, seeing is believing, right?  The only problem is, he can see me but he still feels that I’m not real.’

‘Wait a second, that’s it!’

Applejack stopped in the road and John did the same.

“John, give me your helmet.” She said.

John looked a bit puzzled at this request, but did as he was told.  He unclipped his helmet from his belt and handed it to Applejack.  She sat down and took it in one hoof, while the other removed her favorite Stetson and handed it to John.

“Now, put this on.” She told him.

He still looked puzzled, but again did as he was told.  While he was putting the hat on, Applejack put his helmet over her head.  It felt kind of strange, and heavy, but it wasn’t uncomftorable.  When the two were finished making adjustments, they looked at one another.  John started to chuckle a bit when he saw how AJ looked with a helmet on.  Applejack giggled a bit herself when she noticed how ridiculous her hat looked alongside all of John’s other equipment.  After a few seconds, Applejack made her point.

“Now, does that hat feel ‘fake’?” she asked with a grin.

John shook his head.  Applejack took off the helmet.

“Put your hand on my head”

John placed his hand behind her head on her mane.

“Do I feel fake.” She asked quietly.

John ran his fingers through her mane before answering.

“No. No, you don’t” he said, his doubts finally disappearing.

“Exactly.” she started, “I’m not fake, John, this is all real.”

John nodded his head, but then looked uneasy.

“Then, what happened to my world?” he asked with concern.

“I don’t know John, we’ll just have to figure that out later.  For now, we need to take everything one step at a time.”

John nodded and then smiled.  She had built his confidence up a bit.

“And the first step,” she continued, “Is getting you settled in.”

“Allright then.” John said and stood up.

As the two started walking back to the farm, Applejack realized something.

“Hey, John?”

“Yeah AJ?”

Applejack gave John a playful kick in his shin.

“Ouch!  Hey, what was that for?” he laughed.

“Gimme back my hat.”