buckyouup | 014 Bushels ❦ [Action for Mahogany]

[Applejack has been quiet for the last few days. Hardly in the mood to talk, the southerner has been taking advantage of the warmer weather to get in some training. Never wanting to sit still, she takes every opportunity to run or fight or do something, but outside of her pokemon, she insists on being alone. She has to keep herself busy. So she doesn't think. So she isn't reminded.

One year. One whole year. And that's just the time she remembers. That's not counting the time she's been here before. She hasn't seen her family, her home, her orchard, in a year. She knows that time works strange here, that for her, time isn't moving back home, but that doesn't quite translate to her emotions. To her, she's spent a whole year of her life chasing strange animals while her family and her farm is without her. Stuck in some strange land, located who knows how far away from home. If she was never brought here, what would she have experienced at home? Would this year's haul be a good one? Did Apple Bloom get her cutie mark? She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think at all.

If you happen to be wandering in a secluded part of town, you may notice Applejack training. She may be running laps, or doing sit-ups, or training her pokemon, but one thing is instantly noticeable: she looks like shit. Her clothes are torn and her body is dirty and covered in scrapes and bruises. She looks like she hasn't slept in days. She doesn't want to. She dreams of home.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'll sleep when I'm done fightin' my way home.

_{[She huffs out a sigh and gets off the bike.]}

Then let's head back to the hotel already so you can get some sleep, jeez.

_{[... Yeah guess who completely misinterpreted what AJ meant as 'home'.]}

I don't mean a hotel, Sugarcube. I'm goin' home.

_{[... oh.]

[Immediately, Heather's expression becomes a little bit more guarded. Not because she expects to be fielding any particular aggression from AJ, but because this... is slightly more sensitive territory than she anticipated.]}

... AJ, you know we can't control when or if we go home.

That's just not how this place works.

There's gotta be a way. I'll become so strong that I can whup whatever or whoever is keepin' us here.

... I used to think the same thing.

Then help me, Sugarcube. I'll find a way t'get us all out of here.

_{[Heather sighs and gives Applejack a long look before sliding down off the bike.]}

That's the thing, AJ. I don't want to get out of here. Not anymore. This is home now.

Not just because I can't go back-- because I WON'T go back. Unless I'm dragged kicking and screaming.

But that's beside the issue.

No amount of training is gonna get you what you want. Not this kind of want. _{[She pauses to swallow because, really, she's not one to talk. She might not be trying to get HOME but she's just as guilty of the sort of faulty 'If I get stronger the bad things won't happen' logic Applejack is operating under. But this isn't really the best time for her to start second-guessing whether or not this makes her a hypocrite.]}

And neither will not letting yourself sleep, unless hallucinating that you've gone home is what you're after.

[Sigh.]

At this rate? Even that'd be an improvement.

You know, there's ways to induce hallucinations that don't involve wandering around town in the cold at night while sleep deprived.

_{[DON'T WORRY SHE'S NOT GOING TO TRY AND GET APPLEJACK INTO DRUGS she's just saying.]}

I know that.

[She huffs. Really, Heather, what kind of girl do you take her for?]

I just... haven't seen my family in a year, now.

_{[Her expression softens again at that. She steps over and slings an arm around the pony-turned-human's shoulders.]}

Yeah.

I know.

It's rough.

_{[That's something she learned herself, ironically before she ever came here.]}

C'mon. You're staying in the main inn, right? Let's walk.

_{[Because they're obviously not gonna get anything done in this gym.]}

...Y'got that right.

[She partially braces herself against Heather, and walks slowly.]

_{[The slow pace doesn't bother her-- it's not like there's any particular hurry. It's already late, after all.]

[Her breath puffs in front of her as they exit the gym and head back out onto the open streets.]}

The thing to remember is that this isn't permanent. Chances are you're not gonna be here forever-- no one is. And when you go back, it's just like when you left. You might not even remember you left. And you won't have missed anything at all.

_{[Such a thought is upsetting-- heartwrenching even, to her-- but in AJ's case, she figures it's a comfort.]}

I know how... awful it is to miss your family. Believe me.

But they'll still be there when you get home. Whenever that happens.

You got me?

I know. Time works weird here. I know that nothin's changin' back home, but I just can't shake the feelin' that I'm missin' everything. It's been such a long time.

Longest I've gone seein' my sister's face since she was born, I reckon.

_{[A sigh.]}

I know.

And it feels like it'll never get better.

Been there.

But killing yourself to get back quicker isn't the way to go, and not just because it won't actually work. Okay?

But I gotta do somethin', don't I? I can't just sit here pretendin' everything is okay.

Well sure.

You gotta live your life.

_{[She pauses, mulling over her words for a moment, before giving AJ's shoulder a bit of a jostle.]}

I mean, c'mon. Imagine if you went back tomorrow and you didn't have any stories to tell about your trip aside from 'Well I spent all this time being a moping insomniac'?

Sorry, that just ain't somethin' I'm used to. Before comin' here, my family was my life.

Yeah. It was that way for me too, for most of my life. _{[Even if her family had consisted of just one person.]}

But we all gotta adapt.

... Besides. You never know.

Your family might show up here one day, too.

As happy as I'd be t'see 'em, I'd never want them t'get stuck here too.

_{[She falls silent for a moment or so as they walk on. She knows, intellectually, that MOST PEOPLE LOVE THEIR HOME. The literal PLACE they live, not just the people in it.]

[But damn if it isn't hard to wrap her head around.]}

... Would it really be so bad?

...I suppose there's worse places t'end up.

[She sighs.]

There's much worse places to end up.

And that's a fact.

_{[Her voice is surprisingly flat when she says it. But then she sighs, too.]}

Sorry.

I know that doesn't really mean much when you'd rather not be here to begin with.

[Her expression softens. It had never occurred to her that someone might prefer this world. It might be her stubbornness, but she could never want to be anywhere but her world. Still, she couldn't particularly complain about this one, outside of these ridiculous bodies.]

N-no, I'm the one that should be sorry. I'd never realized...

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