"AJ! I'm home!"

It startled Twilight how quickly Applejack's demeanor soured at the twin sounds of Apple Bloom's voice and Winona's barks of greeting. Her fingers gripped the rim of the kitchen table so tightly that Twilight worried she'd break it to pieces. She wondered if the sisters were angry with one another, but when Apple Bloom bounded to where Twilight and Applejack sat, Applejack greeted her warmly.

"You're home early," said Applejack, looping her arm around Apple Bloom's waist. 

"Sorry about that." Apple Bloom squeezed her sister before pulling away. "Woulda called, but my phone shit the bed."

"Hey – watch your mouth. You're in the presence of royalty."

Giggling, Apple Bloom clapped her hands over her mouth, and winked at Twilight. The sisters hadn't fallen out; that was a relief. So then what was eating Applejack?

"What'd y'all get up to?" Applejack said. She was still smiling, but there was a tension in her eye that Twilight didn't understand.

"Shoppin'. Rarity'd have kittens if she saw the boutiques in Baltimare."

"Didn't know that was your thing."

"It... really ain't," said Apple Bloom Twilight heard the front door close, though Winona's barking could still be heard, all the way in the kitchen. "But I don't mind."

From the kitchen's doorway came a phlegmy sigh. "Dangit, A.B., that dog could'a taken a leg off'a me!" 

Twilight turned toward the speaker: a stocky man in flannel and jeans, crowned with a rawhide hat and carrying a pair of shopping bags. His rough stubble wasn't so much salt and pepper as it was salt and cayenne – a familiar shade of red that matched the ponytail dangling from the back of his hat.

Twilight looked toward the sisters. Apple Bloom's hands were laced behind her back, her lips pursed. Applejack was gripping the table again, gazing away from the door.

"Sorry, Pa," Apple Bloom said. 

Applejack's fingers clenched. The table creaked. 

Just like that, Twilight understood why Winona had been barking.

Apple Bloom excused herself, muttering about taking Winona upstairs. She pecked Applejack's cheek and left, pausing long enough to half-heartedly hug the man in the doorway.

"Sorry for droppin' in like this," the man said sheepishly. "I would'a kept her the whole day, but we maxed out my card in Baltimare..."

Applejack snorted. Her lips moved subtly, forming inaudible words.

"Yer granny around?" the man continued, with a nervous smile.

"Nope."

"...Yer brother?"

"Nope."

"Well. Sorry I missed 'em." His eyes found Twilight, and he set his bags down, sticking out a meaty hand in greeting. Twilight shook it, her dainty purple hand lost in the man's calloused grip.

"We ain't met, I think – I'm Bright McIntosh. Call me Mac."

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight tucked her hand into her lap. "You must be Applejack's––"

"Somethin' else you needed?" Applejack interrupted sharply, without looking.

Her vehemence made Mac step back, though he remained smiling. "Was hopin' fer a howdy."

Applejack's nostrils flared as she set a venomous gaze upon Mac. "[i]Howdy.[/i]"

At that, Mac's smile finally withered. "I, uh... got a long drive back to Baltimare. Tell A.B. I'll be outside, if she wants to say bye." With that, he sighed, dipped his hat at Twilight, and left with his shoulders slumped.

Applejack waited until the front door shut to speak. "Sorry you had to see that, Twi. Didn't know he'd show up, or I wouldn'ta had you over.'"

"Don't apologize," Twilight said softly. "I'm sorry if I saw something I shouldn't have."

"Ain't no secret. Jus' something I try to keep away from my friends." Applejack glanced at the bags and scoffed. "Surprised he didn't ask for gas money."

Not knowing what to say, Twilight gripped her hands together.

"Ma passed when I was a little girl," said Applejack. "[i]He[/i] walked out on us after. A.B. was little when it happened; she don't remember it none. So, when he came crawlin' back, she was willin' to give him a shot. But far as I'm concerned, my Ma an' Pa are both dead."

"I understand," said Twilight.

Applejack gave her a long, searching look. "The other Applejack, the pony one. This how it is for her, too?"

Twilight thought of a pair of trees, embracing eternally, and the bittersweet glint in [i]her[/i] Applejack's eye whenever she spoke of her father.

"Yeah. It's like this for her, too."

Applejack's lips twitched. She tugged her hat over her eyes. 

Outside, a truck's engine sputtered and coughed as tires crunched in the dirt.