MLP: The Heart of Friendship

The road was the only constant thing along the path. Always dirty and dry, the scenery had long since changed from the farmland AJ knew. Steep hills doted the land with clumps of rock cluttered about them. Being a earth pony, she could sense the richness of magic in the ground.

She'd always wondered what life was like outside her hometown. If this is what it is like out here, then she would have journeyed out here ages ago. But Applejack disregarded that thought. She wasn't old enough for this long of a trek back then. Even now, she was having trouble. It had already been 3 days and her supplies were running dry. She'd underestimated the amount of food needed for the trip.

...or she was just a glutton when stressed.

"I may need to ration out the rest. I hope there's enough food to make it there." Speaking out loud like this kept AJ from being stir-crazy. Though talking to one's self could be seen as worse in a way.

Coming over the next hill, Applejack finally caught a glimpse of the legendary structure. Off in the distant west, obstructing the sunset was the great divide. The wall stood tall against its scenery. It was out of place, yet standing for so long that it seeped in the very land itself.

Looking upon it stirred a feeling in AJ that she was trying to hide. But seeing that monolith shoved it right in the open. Because it represented a separation between land, cultures, and ponies. And that opening can be filled with only one feeling.

Loneliness.

Applejack had never been alone for this long in her life. And she hated it. She expected to meet travelers and tradesponies along the way. But the road had been strangely absence of anypony. Did she take a wrong turn or completely pass up her destination.

Luckily, around the next turn a sight caught her attention. A wagon teeming with nick-nacks and memorabilia sat offroad ahead. Strangely the amount of stuff in it towered the wagon thrice over. Despite its mass, the stack seldom wavered or crumpled. Though it did jostle a little. In fact the whole wagon moved with its contents.

Coming closer, AJ could hear a sound coming from behind it. Though a little hesitant to approach, she stepped forward anyway. Eventually AJ could discern the sound to be a pony's voice.

"Come on, up up up. Just go up."

AJ then noticed another peculiar thing. Both wheels on its back weren't touching the ground. The wagon was in truth teetering on the edge of a steep cliff. Finally seeing the danger, Applejack galloped forward for an assist. Reaching the troubled vehicle, she grabbed ahold of its reins and announced. "Don't worry, I've got you!"

AJ poured magic into her back hoofs, magnetizing them to the earth. She then pulled with all her strength hoping to save whoever was on the other side. The struggle only lasted for a few seconds before the wagon jolted up at last. Although with no force pushing back, Applejack fell backwards. Her head landing forcefully onto the dirt. All the while chunks of dirt still sticking to her empowered hoofs.

"Ow..." Being knocked in the back of her head, AJ lay there eyes closed in pain.

"That stings like Tartarus."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Gah!"

Opening her eyes in fright, AJ observed a mass of pink frills atop clear baby blue orbs observing her. It seems that wagon's owner had come over to thank her.

Silently, Without Applejack hearing her. Frankly, it freaked her out.

"Did you get tired after helping? Cause you were only helping for a few seconds. And I know that's bad and all but if you think about it, that's like a new record or something."

AJ realized the pink wagon owner was smiling during the whole speech. And now finished, was just staring down at her with that same smile, as silent as when she 'apparently' first entered.

"Um... no. I just hit the back of my head. It just stings a little right now." AJ then rolled over and pushed herself up. Though when she looked back at the pink stranger, her face had changed to a slight tinge of confusion.

"...That hurt you?" Now the confusion was mirrored.

"Well yeah, I probably didn't have the right form when pulling. Relied to much on magic, speaking of which." The dirt still stuck to her hoofs abruptly fell off her in a heap. The strangers eyes glanced up and down from AJ's hoof then face. Suddenly a look of realization dawned on her.

"Of course it hurt you. You're..." Suddenly stopping, the pink one then took on a nervous disposition.

"You're..... not..... wearing a hat! No wonder you got a booboo, silly." The cadence of her response was obviously suspicious. But for the life of her, AJ couldn't figure out what the other pony was trying to hide. So, in light of everything that just happen, Applejack decided to converse with the pink individual in a polite manner.

"All right then, I'm Applejack by the way." She lifted a hoof for a shake, which was immediately taken and shook viciously.

"Hi Applejack, I'm Pinkie Pie. A totally normal pink Terahoof out here in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason." The strained smile Pinkie wore afterward did not inspire confidence in that statement.

"I didn't ask you why you're out here."

"Well now you don't have to ask now."

"Well then, I have something else to ask." AJ then pointed her hoof towards the wagon. "What's all that for?"

"Just some souvenirs from my travels. I manage to limit myself to one item per stop." AJ glanced up towards the forementioned trinkets.

"That's a lot of stops, you seem to have basically traveled all across Equestria."

"I hope so! The pamphlet I bought was very thorough."

"What pamphlet..?" When bringing her sights back to Pinkie, Applejack was taken aback by a substantial change. Pinkie nose deep in a pamphlet titled '7 wonders of the realm'. This was the second time that she had silently changed positions. Not to mention wherever she proclaimed it from.

The silence eventually clued in Pinkie to the dropped conversation. Pulling back from her reading, Pinkie's nervousness came back, and then some. But as the tension was rising, it was eventually cut off with a break in eye contact by Pinkie, her self looking deflated. Then with mutterings of "Not again" She crumpled her pamphlet and threw it into her pile.

"Look, its been fun, but I need to get going." Quickly ending the conversation, Pinkie then hitched herself onto her wagon and started off. "See yeah."

Applejack could sense the hollowness in that last statement. Pinkie was obviously running away from her. And from what AJ had seen, she had dodged a spell there. Pinkie's actions and behaviors were concerning. The gaps in knowledge, the silent movements.

And with the wagon out of the way, one more peculiarity reared its ugly head. The ground where she would have been pushing the wagon was steep. And not tumble down steep, but a cliff side with no where to stand on steep. This impossibility only strengthen the argument to stay away from that mare.

But that look on her face as she left, it told AJ what Pinkie was feeling. And it was something she was accustom with ever so recently. What AJ was going to do was probably a dumb move, but she couldn't let Pinkie wallow in that negativity alone.

Besides, they seem to be going in the same direction.

"Hold up Pinkie!" With that declaration, the caravan screeched to a halt. When Pinkie turn towards AJ, her eyes conveyed a slight terror at the situation.

"Look, I think we both know that I have a lot of questions . And I would like to know the answers to most of then." At that sentence, Pinkie looked ready to make a run for it.

"But I won't." And at that sentence, she came to a halt again.

"Call it naive or stupid, but I can't see you being some sort of dangerous trickster."

A reply came in a whisper. "You just met me."

"Like I said, stupid." AJ then started to approach the stunned Pinkie. "I seen to care more about the feelings of a complete stranger then to my own safety." Meeting Pinkie, Applejack put her hoof across her back in comfort.

"It's not hard to see that your too scared to open up. And you obviously want somepony to talk to. So lets make a promise. We'll walk together for as long as are paths intercross, then at the end we split up doing are own things. And during are time together we'll talk, get to know each other. But I will not comment or question anything you don't want to. And if everything works out, we will have some much needed fun together on the road. So what do you say?"

The speechless Pinkie's expression was unreadable. As such, AJ didn't know if her plead had worked. "If you need time to think, I don't mind to- gah!"

The bone crushing hug was not the response Applejack expected.

Her experience with bearhugs is high, with her father and brother giving them out constantly. So she should be at peek huggability. Yet Pinkie manage to squeeze all of the air out of her lungs and lift her up off her hoofs. The amount of strength from this small pink pony was staggering to say the least.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Finally Pinkie relented and put AJ down, who was gasping for breath.

"Gasp! is.... is that a yes to the.... promise cough."

"Of course I'll promise. In fact I'll Pinkie promise." She then leaned in and stage whispered. "Trademarked of course, to prevent unethical secret keeping."

The smile towards AJ was the brightest she'd ever seen. And in return she threw one back towards her. "Then that's what we'll do."

"Great, now repeat after me." Pinkie then used her hoofs to do a simple ritual while rhyming "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

After copying what Pinkie had just done, Applejack smiled sweetly at Pinkie for the earnestness that she was treating a simple agreement to be. "Welp, looks like a deals a deal."

"Yep, now that promise can never be broken. Now and... Forever!"

Blinking at the sudden intensity, AJ reminded herself that her bed had been made and roll with it. "Now that that's out of the way, where are you headed? Our conversations are going to eat up time and I want to plan the journey ahead."

Pinkie answered instantly "Ponyville."

"Well that smooths things out. That's were I'm headed too."

"Ooooo road trip! I always wanted to have one of those when I was younger. But it was always 'Pinkie we have work, Pinkie it's nighttime, Pinkie this is the fifth time today you asked.' But now I get to go on one with my new best friend and..." Like last time, Pinkie stopped mid sentence abruptly. But this time it was more to do with embarrassment more then anything.

"Sorry, you probably don't want to be called that. Maybe best acquaintance will- "

"I don't mind."

"You don't?"

"I really don't. Being friends can be as easy as you make it to be. And that 'best' part, that just sweetens the deal, doesn't it?"

"Well in that case. Is there anything in the whole wide world I could do for you at this moment. Oh bestest of friends."

That was obvious from the outset. The thing Applejack craved from her whole being was on her mind during this whole debacle.

"Got anything sweet in there?"

"Do I!"

End chapter 2