The sun shone brightly through the solitary window into your modest room, casting an intruding light that tore into your dreams and pulled you away from them. Your subconscious though, struggled against the calling of wakefulness, and dared to grasp at the flagging tendrils of that night’s dream.

And no one, let alone yourself, could honestly blame you for it.

It was a dream turned paradise by the simple fact that she was a part of it. That she was a part of something that in your waking mind you knew would never be possible. There were too many factors to take into account. Too many obstacles in your way. But none the less, you clung to it. And as always, it was a losing battle with an ending that, through repetition, you knew all too well, and would never change.

In the final moments, as the fading shadows that clouded your mind recessed further into nothingness, you caught one final glimpse of her. And it burned itself into the back of your eyelids, as most dreams tended to, so that you could view it every time you closed your eyes.

Her blonde mane, styled into a ponytail, billowed in a lingering breeze as she turned and focused here emerald green eyes onto yours, and her features were made bright by a warm loving smile.

Your eyes slowly opened, and with a sense of dismay, longing, and most of all, hatred for the orbiting ball of gas outside, you allowed consciousness to fully take you.

_________

What greeted you in your first waking moments, as you blinked away the last few tendrils of sleep, was a sight that you were all too accustomed to.

“Ugh, I should really put a coat of paint on that at some point… or maybe a ceiling fan at the least.”

Above you lay the same sight that you always woke up to since you purchased your home. A simple roof … strong, sturdy, well insulated to keep out the rain and other bothersome elements. It was of sound construction, composed of wooden boards supported by a wooden beam that ran the center of the room. You had to admit though there was a certain charm to the natural look of bare wood.

Yes, it was charming, simple, and yet effective. Built to last many years and give those that dwelled beneath it a place to call home. And, a place to create memories with those they choose to spend the rest of their lives together with.

“Dang it… I’m doing it again.” You said as you rose to a sitting position in your bed and rubbed the back of your neck before giving it a quick rotation to pop it and work out some kinks.

It was true, it always fascinated you just how capable these ponies were. But if you were truly honest with yourself, a well built roof was not the sight you hoped to wake-up to each morning. At least, it hadn’t been for a couple of months now.

No, you only started to think of the roof like that when you dreamt of her. It was rather odd, yet…

A conflicted smile took hold of your face as you pushed back the covers and swung your feet around to dangle off the edge of the bed. The cold wooden floor greeted you as coldly as cold floors often did. But that did little to damper the small feeling of happiness that dared to well up inside of you.

You dreamt of her again. You had dreamt of her with an increasing, and rather confusing, frequency over the past two or three months.

But you couldn’t help it though. And as you began to think about the mare in question, you couldn’t help but ask yourself…Why would you want to?

To say Applejack was beautiful would have been a great disservice to her, for in your eyes, she was way beyond gorgeous. And not just physically, but in character as well.

That flicker of an image from your dream suddenly became firmly implanted at the forefront of your mind. Her emerald eyes always seemed to shine a bit more when she looked at you, and her smile always seemed to grow a bit wider and more welcoming, approachable... inviting. You could talk to her for hours on end, and that was something you really loved about her. She was never afraid to speak her mind and she was smarter than most gave her credit for. Most often than not, you had whittled away an evening after work talking to her while sitting next to her, enjoying her company and warm closeness as she tended to lean against you.

These of course, where just a few of the things you loved about Applejack. But the thing that caught your attention first, and stood at the top of your list, was that she always tried to do her best to help out her family and friends… and even help out a strange creature like yourself.

You could never thank her enough for that. When you first started trying to get your life going again in this new world you had found yourself in, Applejack was one of the first ponies who openly offered to lend you a…

Your train of thought had suddenly come to an abrupt stop as it impacted an all too clear obstacle on the tracks.

“…hoof.” The word left your lips as you raised your hands to look at them and wiggled your fingers. “She gave me a helping hoof…”

You kept on looking at your hands as you ran through everything you had just thought about.

For a few minutes there, in your mind, it had all sounded so natural… so simple… so plausible. But as always, you had come to realize that it was all so frail and hinged on one simple truth.

“She’s a pony... you know that, right?” You asked yourself in all too familiar defeated tone of voice as you leaned back and supported yourself with your arms behind you on your bed.

“And you know you’re human, right? It would never work… It shouldn’t work… It can’t work…”

The simple truth was that you and her were completely different species.

Heck, you weren’t even sure if you were from the same dimension. At least, Twilight wasn’t completely sure about that, and you had decided not to participate in any more of her test after you had to re-grow 60% of your hair. And not all of it was from your head.

No, it was plain and simple… You were a human, and she was a pony.

“Oh son of a…”

And as you looked at the clock next to your bed and jumped out, scrambling to get your work clothes on, you suddenly remembered that Applejack was also your boss and you were about an hour late for work.

Yup, pony or not, you were sure to win some hearts with that punctuality.

Author's Note

So I have made some editing and tried to fix some of the spelling issues that jumped out at me, or were mentioned. I can't believe I didn't notice that "feather" typo. Hmm, maybe I should write something with Rainbow Dash at a later point.

Disclaimer - All characters presented in this work of fiction are owned by their respective creators and owners. In short, all the wubs go to Hasbro.