A Place To Lay My Head

"Ah...Ah guess y'all can come stay at mah place for awhile. We do have an extra room..." Applejack put her hat back on and shot all of her friends a look saying 'Ah'm gonna get'cha for this.' "But ya ain't jus' gonna mooch off of our hospitality. You're gonna pull your own weight, ah mean it." Applejack gave a stern, no nonsense look to the jittery pink mare.

"Thank you Applejack! Thank you so much!" Pinkie, in an act of pure Pinkie magic, disappeared then appeared at Applejack's hooves, kissing them as if AJ was Princess Celestia herself. The orange pony looked down at her friend with a one cocked eye.

"Urm...y'all can stop doing that now.."

--

"We gotta get outta here..." Concluded Scootaloo quietly to her cohorts who were laying beside her on the couch. "Like...now." The other two Crusaders nodded in agreement. Three pairs of eyes fell upon the rather adorable sight of Fluttershy and Big Macintosh gently nuzzling each other. "Okay..now. I mean it, that's gross.." Scootaloo, to make her point, made a gagging sound.

"Agreed. Ah can't stand ta see mah brother all mushy." Applebloom averted her eyes from the sight of her brother kissing the pegasus. "Ugh...get a room..."

"I think they're cute together." Said the little white unicorn dreamily."

"Shut up Sweetiebelle." The two other fillies said in tandem. The unicorn flattened her ears and looked down, clearly learning her lesson about speaking positively of lovey-dovey things.

Both of the older ponies closed their eyes and enjoyed each other's embrace. The mischievous leader of the fillies quietly got up, spread her little wings, and hopped down from the couch silently. Being a pegasus had its advantages, mainly that the winged equines were very light due to hollow bones, making them near silent when doing anything.

Next Sweetiebelle hopped off, her hooves making a soft sound when hitting the ground, but that didn't disturb the two lovers.

Finally Applebloom jumped down. Now earth ponies were the most hardy of the three races, they were built for manual labor and it showed. The yellow filly hit the ground with a small, but mighty, thud. All members of the CMC stopped, their hearts skipped a beat as they all cast a sidelong glance at their foalsitters. Thankfully the two were too lost in each others eyes to even pay attention to the fillies.

"C;'mon..." The orange pegasus whispered as she started silently trotting down the hallway of Fluttershy's cottage to the room that they stayed in the last time they were in the animal caretaker's house. They knew the bed was positioned in such a way that they could hop through a window and escape the cozy cottage prison.

They quickly and quietly opened the door and entered the room in one fluid motion. Thankfully, the bed was still right under the window and ready for climbing! The three adventurous fillies clambered up on the bed, then, just like last time,  boosted one another up. Applebloom first, then Scootaloo, and finally the Sweetiebelle.

With that, they were free of any supervision and free to go to the hospital.

--

Pinkie Pie had been discharged from the hospital only a few minutes ago and had been left in the care of Applejack. Their friends, who had lives of their own to return to, each gave Pinkie a hug and Applejack their condolences. Now AJ and Pinkie were alone in the lobby of the hospital, awkwardly waiting for the other to say something.

"So....uh..." The country mare was the first one to speak. "Can y'all walk, or do ya need mah help...?" Pinkie looked down at her hoof which was now in a splint. The pink mare haphazardly put it to the floor then applied a little pressure.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Pinkie quickly lifted her hoof from the ground and grimaced. "No good, sorry A-" Her next word wasn't even a word, it was more of a squeak. The mare let loose the sound due to a very toned body coming underneath her own and lifting her up. "Ooh, a piggyback ride!" Pinkie gave her traditional grin, her pain already obviously forgotten. "Thanks Applejack!"

Applejack only nodded and started on a brisk trot out of the hospital. "Yer lighter than a leaf, Pinkie. Ah figured ya'd be heavier." It was true, the workhorse barely felt the load on her back, it was as if she was giving Applebloom a ride. She expected a full grown earth pony to be a lot heavier.

"I get that a lot." That was all Pinkie said, no explanation, no defense. Just a simple dismissal. Applejack never really expected an explanation from Pinkie Pie....or an explanation of Pinkie Pie. But one would be nice.

After a few minutes of trotting in absolute silence, Pinkie spoke up. "So, what kinda rules do you guys have at Casa De Apple?" Pinkie rolled over so that she was arched over Applejack's back. It was something she could be doing on most days out in the sunlight. She was basking in the warm glow of the day.

Applejack craned her head back to look at her friend, she looked so innocent in that position, and a lot like a feline stretched out in the sun. Applejack frowned. "Well for one, no lazin' about like ya do. Everypony has chores an' ah'm sure Applebloom would love ta split hers with ya." Pinkie Pie righted herself and gave a shake of her head in the affirmative. "But since ya have that injured appendage, ah'll leave ya to cookin' with Granny Smith until you're feelin' all better. Ah think y'all could learn a thing or two about bakin'."

Pinkie perked up at that. She did love to bake, and the only pony she ever baked with was Mrs. Cake so a change of pace would be nice. Plus, she might actually learn anything from the baking veteran. More silence penetrated the air for the next ten minutes or so. Applejack was concentrating, mostly on what chores she had to do when she got home. Now she had to add making up the guest room onto that list.

Pinkie's mind...well...nopony can ever really tell what Pinkie is thinking. Her thought process is akin to gelatin. It has many things suspended in it, but to the outside eye those things are distorted and only visible if you dive in...something very few ponies want to do.

"Well, here we are." AJ's twangy accent brought Pinkie from her chaotic jello mold of a mind. Before them was the simple country style house with a wrap-around porch and framed on all sides by apple orchards. Pinkie Pie found the house to be boring, it wasn't bright or colorful, it didn't entice the mind into wild imagining. It simply was, and simply being was very boring.

"I think I can walk from here." the pink mare slowly backed off of AJ's back and stood, her bad hoof still only inches from the ground. Applejack just continued walking, down to business as always. It came to Pinkie's mind as she hobbled after her friend, that Applejack was too serious, too uptight. She lacked the ability to have whimsy without her friends starting it. A bit sad.

Applejack, on the other hoof, was thinking about how nonchalantly Pinkie took anything. After all, all she did was prank ponies and start parties. She never had any real work like she would face on the farm. AJ doubted that Pinkie would even last a week before she gave up and decided to go stay with somepony else in town. Laziness had no place on this farmstead.

The orange mare made it to the door first, of course, and held it open for the hobbling pony. Pinkie went inside, and AJ followed, leaving the door unlocked for her siblings as she closed it.

The inside was just as quaint as the outside. Simple, bland furniture bordered the living room with a wooden rocking chair auspiciously close to the fireplace. It worried Pinkie Pie immensely, what if another fire started? What if she couldn't escape this time? What if the Apple Family didn't make it out? She was having a minor panic attack now, her pupils dilated and she started breathing shallowly.

A firm hoof met her shoulder. "Ya alright, Pinkie?" Pinkie just nodded and tried to distract herself by looking around, that's when she noticed something hanging above the fireplace. It was a simple poem.

I desire a place to lay my head,

Somewhere warm and with a bed.

I desire someplace to rest my weary soul,

Someplace loving and never dull.

I desire a place to empty my full heart,

Somewhere maybe a family can start.

All I want is to not feel alone.

Please, oh please, give me a home