"Big Mac's about done moving the extra tables into the barn, I think," Applebloom said as she hauled a stack of plates though the kitchen door. She watched Applejack wash the same dish three times before piling more onto the dirty stack on the counter. "Rain's finally startin' to come down, too."

"Reckon she'd be fine with that, now that everypony else is good and gone," Applejack said. She looked at the bowl in her hooves with surprise before setting it aside and starting on another dirty one. "Granny never did care for those sappy clichés. 'Bad enough somepony up and died without the weather chimin' in on it,' she always said."

Applebloom scrunched up her nose and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't remember her ever saying anything like that."

"Yeah, well..."

Quiet fell over the kitchen, punctuated by the clatter of kitchen wares and the patter of rain outside. Applejack washed, and sometimes rewashed, dishes, while Applebloom took to putting the clean ones away. The sisters carried on like this until Big Mac burst through the door, half soaked in rain and half in cold sweat, clenching a letter in his teeth.

Applebloom jumped at the sudden noise and nearly dropped her stack of extra clean plates. "What in Sam Hill are you doin' burstin' through the door like that?!"

Bic Mac's ears twitched and he danced anxiously in place. His eyes darted between his sisters and his mouth remained stubbornly useless.

"Baby's coming early?" Applejack asked, barely looking over from her remaining workload in the sink.

Big Mac's head raced up and down.

"Go on then. You can still make it before the kiddo comes. I'll be alright here, don't you worry."

The two mares were swept up in a lightning fast but vice tight hug before their brother bolted out the door toward Our Town.

"You mean 'we', right?" Applebloom asked after a moment. "I'm here too, you know."

Applejack sighed. "'Course you are. For now. You'll be goin' on back to Canterlot before too long, though." AJ tugged on the brim of her hat. "World keeps on turnin', tragedy or not, and you'll be in for a mess if you miss too much school."

"I could take a semester off." Applebloom moved in to nuzzle her sister. "Figure it wouldn't hurt to take a little break. Especially with our new nephew on the way. I could split the time between the farm and the bakery."

"Yeah, well..." Applejack returned the nuzzle. "Maybe you've got a point there. Would be nice having some company, and those two might need an extra set of hooves until they get used to things."

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll—"

"—Why don't you check around outside and make sure Big Mac got everything put away before the rain up and ruins something?"

Applebloom's eyes narrowed at her sister for a moment before she headed out the door into the rain. "Fine, I'll finish up out there."

Applejack slumped into a chair, laid her head down on the kitchen table, then listened to the sound of an empty house.

She'd have to get used to it, sooner or later.