014 Bushels ❦ [Action for Mahogany]

[buckyouup]

[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.]

Comments

[foolishwren]

_{[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.

[buckyouup]

[Sigh.]

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

[foolishwren]

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.]}

[buckyouup]

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.

[foolishwren]

_{[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.]}

[buckyouup]

...Y'got that right.

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

[foolishwren]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

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?

[buckyouup]

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.

[foolishwren]

_{[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?

[buckyouup]

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

[foolishwren]

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'?

[buckyouup]

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

[foolishwren]

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.

[buckyouup]

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

[foolishwren]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

... Would it really be so bad?

[sitdownbecider]

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

[She sighs.]

[foolishwren]

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.

[buckyouup]

[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...

[foolishwren]

Nah. You shouldn't be sorry.

<sub>[Heather knows that she's something of an exception.]

[Most people get homesick. It's pretty natural. But Heather...well, even if you stripped away all the horrors she's experienced back home, the simple truth is that there never really was a home. Not really. Most of her childhood in this life had been spent moving from place to place, each one more dismal than the last.]

[And the previous childhood... well, let's not even get into that.]</sub>

It's not your fault you have a good life that you're missing out on right now, AJ.

It's normal to wanna go back to it when you end up somewhere else.

[sitdownbecider]

Yeah, maybe.

[She really doesn't know what to say.]

But, I suppose there ain't nothin' wrong with not wantin' t'go home, either. Some folks just got stuff they don't wanna see again.

[She could never feel that way herself, but she's seen enough insanity to understand why someone would want to run off and not come back.]

[foolishwren]

Yeah.

_{[That's all she has to say about that, apparently. They're coming up on the hotel now.]}

What floor are you on? My folks and I are on the second.

[buckyouup]

I'm on the third.

[She sighs.]

But y'don't have t'carry me all the way up there. Let me sit down for a minute an' I'll be able t'make it on my own.

[foolishwren]

All right, all right.

You're home free to do whatever once we get inside.

_{[She shoulders the doors open and steps in. It's late, so while the hotel is obviously still OPEN, the lights are a little dim and the guy behind the main desk looks a little drowsy.]}

[sitdownbecider]

[Once inside, she staggers her way to a chair and sits down. Mm, cushion.]

Thanks, Sugarcube. I owe you.

[foolishwren]

Nah, you don't.

Just take it easy, okay?

We can't make anything come faster by wearing ourselves out.