Trixie sighed and smacked her dry lips around the puddle of drool on her pillow; as her tongue ran up and down the roof of her mouth, she licked back the faint traces of musk left there, and blearily smiled.

Lovers really are like fine wine, she thought. They improve with age.

She pressed her thighs together and let out a moan at the little twinge of pain in her rump, echoed by a duller one deep in her pussy. Trixie giggled into the coverlet. Oh, what a pounding she'd taken last night! She really should send the pony who'd taught her that sheathing protection spell a thank-you note---if only she remembered her name. What was it again? Sunny Shiver? Oh well.

Rolling over to her right, she stuck out a foreleg and swept it around. "Mmm. G'morning, pookie."

She knew from experience that Flam was a restless sleeper, and often ended up splayed against the far wall. Edging over, Trixie pressed her snout forward to nuzzle against his neck.

All she found was empty bedsheets.

"...Pookie?"

A quick up-and-down fumble didn't find anything, so she flicked her tail backwards, feeling around in case he'd rolled right over her in the night. Nothing.

"Wh... Flam?" Sitting upright, she blinked and wiped the matted mane out of her eyes. The golden light of the morning was streaming in between the slats of her shutters, but all they illuminated were the dust motes hanging in the air.

She was alone.

"Flam?" she said, now with alarm in her voice. "Flam, where are you?"

There were a few stray red hairs on the pillow next to her, so last night was no dream---and yet, he was nowhere to be found. Trixie leapt off her cot and flung her closet open.

"Flam? Flam!" she cried as she frantically threw outfits over her shoulder. "This isn't funny!"

Her closet emptied, she slumped down on her haunches, a desperate hot squeezing starting at the back of her throat.

"...Flam?"

He left you.

A sharp whine choked out of her throat, and Trixie pressed her hooves against her eyes.

You spread your legs for him, and he left you.

"Nooo..." she whispered.

What did you expect? That he'd stay? Ha, that he LOVED you?

"NO!" she screamed against the floorboards. Her tears were gushing out in thick rivulets.

He left you. That's what you deserve, after all.

"NO! No, no, no!"

They all left you, didn't they?

With a feral cry, she grabbed the bedside lantern and smashed it against the wall, scattering the startled fireflies. "STOP IT!"

EVERYPONY ALWAYS LEAVES YOU.

"NO!" she howled as she pounded her hooves on the wardrobe door. "NO! NO! SHUT UP! I---"

"Trixie?"

Whirling around, she felt her mouth fly open, choking on the ball of bile and snot in her throat. That voice had come from outside her head. "Wha-a-a-...?!"

"Is everything alright?" Flam asked, closing the caravan door behind him.

She just stared at him for a few panting breaths.

He was levitating two bags, one significantly heavier than the other; he placed the smaller one down on her bedside table, eyeing her up and down, and hesitantly said "I, er, brought you some breakfast."

When that didn't get an answer, he added "...You like hash browns, right?"

She was suddenly up in his face, her hooves flying as she volleyed slaps and punches back and forth; he'd had just a second to defend himself, but managed to throw her off him with a burst of magic.

"For Celestia's sake, Trixie!" he shouted. "A simple 'no thank you' would do!"

"YOU ABANDONED ME!" she shrieked from her sprawled-out position on the floor. Blindly she began to squirm around as Flam tried to get his forelegs around her, tears stinging and blurring her vision.

"YOU LEFT ME! YOU LEFT ME! HOW COULD YOU---"

"Stop!"

Her thin ribs pulsed in and out against his hooves, and for a few minutes Trixie could barely see; it wasn't until he'd placed a gentle kiss against her cheek that the cluttering fog in her mind began to dissipate.

Her words came out in pieces: "W-w-w-what? W-w-why?"

"Trixie, what in Equestria is the matter with you?!" he said. His hooves were gripping painfully at her shoulders, but she barely felt it.

"You c-came back...?" she said weakly.

"Of course I came back!" He released her, and again she flopped down on her haunches. Without breaking eye contact, Flam opened the smaller bag he'd been carrying and brought out a grease-soaked cardboard box. "I... These are for you. You do want breakfast, right?"

His forelegs flew up in defense when she came barreling at him again, but this time she wasn't fighting; smooshing her cheek against his shoulder, she began bawling, clutching him tightly.

"You c-came back for me," she sobbed. "You didn't l-leave..."

Flam kissed her temple, tossing the bag to the side. "Why would I leave you, sugarplum?"

"E-everypony leaves me..." she whimpered into his shirt. Flam brought a hoof up to stroke her mane, which had gone wild and stringy; he was glad she couldn't see the look of bewilderment on his face.

"Well, I didn't. And I won't."

He let her weep for a few more minutes, alternating between rocking her back and forth and petting her mane; when she seemed to have most of the crying out of her system, he whispered "Remember what you told me last night, Trixie?"

"Which part?"

"The part about the Wonderbolts. Their show was ten a.m.---you remember telling me that?"

After a second of silence, she mumbled "Mm-hmm..."

"And you said that would be the best time for me to go gather my things. Remember, sugarplum?"

"Mmm..."

"That's all I did. Well, that and swipe some of the free breakfast." He put the frog of his hoof on her shivering spine. "Besides, I left my clothes hanging on the back of the door---didn't you notice?"

He could feel her flush in embarrassment.

"You know I wouldn't just up and leave you, right?"

Trixie shifted a little so that she was facing away from his neck. "You did once before, pookie."

Just as she predicted, he stiffened up. "That time I had a damn good reason, Trixie."

She could feel him begin to pull away, so she quickly clapped her forelegs around his shoulders and pulled him in tighter. "No!" she said. "No, don't!"

"Don't what?"

She didn't answer. Instead she moved her muzzle from his shoulder to his neck, and planted a little peck against his hide.

"Trixie...?"

His question turned into a moan when she started nibbling on his ear. Her hoof had found his cutie mark, and he shuddered involuntarily at the surge of pleasure.

"Let's not fight," she said quietly. "I-I just got you back, and I... I don't want to fight."

Flam glanced over her head at the torn-up caravan; it looked like a hurricane had blown through her wardrobe. How much of a hissyfit did she have? I was only gone for ten minutes!

"Alright," he said with a touch of hesitation. He'd always known that Trixie's screws were a little loose, and for the most part, he found it endearing... but now was not the time to ask her what exactly was going on in the maelstrom she called a mind. "Er... you'll feel better once you get some food in you. Why don't---"

"It can wait!" The hug turned from soft to nearly bone-crushing. "Flam?"

"Yes?"

The hooves on his cutie marks circled around to grasp his ass, and Trixie leaned back just enough to look him in the eyes; she usually had a guarded look about her, but now her gaze had a raw, piercing vulnerability to it. "First, will you... will you make love to me?"

He swept a lock of hair off her sweaty cheek, smiled, and kissed her on the nose. "Of course, sugarplum."

"P-please..." she murmured as the hoof on her shoulder pushed her backwards.

Then her back was against the sheets, and when she opened her mouth to speak again, a raspy brush of whiskers gently quieted her voice; moaning, she let her lips slip open and took in his tongue.

"Mmm-mph!" She squeezed her eyes shut again. She had morning breath, and he tasted like stale coffee, but neither of them seemed to mind.

They were both fumbling, and yet they fell into the dance they'd practiced so well. Flam's tongue went up along her jawline and into her ear, and Trixie kicked up her hindlegs, gasping. The softer coats on their bellies were rubbing together, and it only took a few more nips, thrusts, and bites before they were both ready, her wet lips winking against his shaft.

He jerked his hips back, and she pulled forward; their tails twined together as he made a few clumsy ramming motions, one, two, three, there!---and she almost yodeled when he sunk inside her.

"Ow!"

Oops. Flam always seemed to forget that Trixie's pussy was an outie, that she needed to have the curtains parted before the show. After a hurried apology, he reared back, reached down with a hooftip, and pulled apart her big, pouty labia. When he slid back in, her crinkly lips were trembling against his sheath, sucking and pulling.

"Aah..." She put her chin against his shoulder and cried out, arching her back. "P-Pookie, please...!"

A firefly landed by the base of his horn, and Flam flicked it away. As much as he was trying to concentrate, he couldn't help but notice the smashed lantern out of the corner of his eye. Had it been an oil lantern, Trixie's fit of pique could have ended in disaster. And this hadn't been the first time he'd caught her talking to herself...

Take my word, brother. She's certifiable.

"Argh!"

Trixie stopped sucking his neck. "What? Did that hurt?"

"No," he said curtly, looking off to the side. Of all the times for Flim's warning to pop back into his head!

She brushed a hooftip against his face, and he realized he'd stopped thrusting. "It's nothing," he said as he went back to moving against her body. "Just a firefly."

Her tail curled against his leg, and as she slid it higher, Trixie petted his cheek soothingly. "Shh. Just focus on me. On us."

"I'm sorry, I---!"

His voice pinched off suddenly when something light and feathery fluttered against his dock. It was the very tip of her tail; she began to giggle at the look on his face when she tickled it against his balls, and then higher, playing teasing circles around his ass.

"Nnng!" Flam's pelvis rammed forward, and he grit his teeth as his member began to throb inside her.

"You like that?" she purred.

"I..." He wasn't sure. That had been a no-go zone for him for as long as he could remember. Then again, Trixie had let down her own barrier just the night before... "O-o-kay," he stammered.

He sighed, his tense shoulders unkotting, when he realized she wasn't intending to penetrate. He began timing the jerking of his hips to her circling, and to his astonishment, the caressing against his ass was making his tail rise like a mare's.

"Ah! Trixie!" He sunk his teeth into the side of her throat, his tail swishing over his back, and started sucking up a hickey. His lips curled up in a half-smile when he remembered how smugly she used to trot around, her mane up in a bun to show off her mottled neck. She was one of the few fillies he'd known who chose to wear 'slut' as a badge of honour.

Flam grabbed her ankle, leaned back, and swung her around onto her side; ignoring her squeak of protest, he jammed himself back inside, and landed his hoof in a solid SLAP against her flank. Trixie jittered, her head lolling back.

"Yes!" she shouted. "Again!"

This time the swat landed on her cutie mark, and she let out a long, strained squeal. Flam reached behind him and grabbed her tail, winding it around his foreleg and yanking up sharply as the third slap came down on the side of her teat.

"Oh, oh, oooohhh!" She hooked her ankles around him in a vice grip, half-gasping and half-laughing as his pounding picked up speed, slamming the head of the cot against the wall. She could tell by the creaking of the wood that the whole caravan was rocking. Thank Celestia she'd had the wheels replaced!

A hot, moist breath washed over her forehead, and she opened one eye just in time to see her horn disappear into Flam's mouth. Everything in her body clenched up, which drew a satisfied grunt out of him, and Trixie went still, trying her hardest not to jab forward. She could feel every ridge on the roof of his mouth, every little bump and fissure on his tongue as he sucked up and down, teeth catching gently on each twist of the spiral.

"FUCK!" she screamed into the pillow. "Ah, fuck! Suck me, Flam!"

Her body kept moving, but his didn't. When his mouth left her horn, her eyes opened again, and she was shocked to see him scowling down at her.

"Please don't say that again," he said.

"What? Why not?" She deliberately winked as hard as she could, and grinned when his face contorted in lust. "Trixie likes it when you suck her horn."

He held a hoof up. "Just...don't. Okay?"

"Oh, fine, you crybaby," she said with a playful pout. "But... will you go back to su---I mean, using your mouth on me? Hm?"

Flam leaned in again, and Trixie keened happily. The flat of his tongue dragged along the base, and he gingerly began nibbling up the side, little rivulets of drool sliding down into her mane. She took his hoof between her own and guided it down her belly, between her puffy teats, and finally on top of her clit. Despite her preference for unicorn lovers, Trixie always loved the rough, gritty feeling of keratin and fetlocks against her pearl... especially if the hoof was Flam's.

She smiled, relishing the feeling of his cock, something she'd sorely missed all those years. He wasn't her first, but he'd been her best.

"Ah-AHH!"

His short, startled moan came just a few seconds before he did, and even though she twitched her hips back to try to dislodge him, his flare kept them locked together until the first few jets shot out; squirming around, Trixie grimaced at the feeling of his prick softening inside her, still burbling at the tip. Flam's whole body had gone into a spasm, and when he finally collapsed on top of her, he was too blissed out to notice her frown.

"Oh, baby," he panted. "That was amazing. Was it good for you?"

"NO."

Well, that got his attention. "Huh?"

Folding her forelegs, she looked away and sniffed "Trixie didn't get the chance to finish. And besides"---she smacked his shoulder---"You came inside me, you fucking moron! I told you not to do that!"

"I..." He looked down at where their stifles were touching. "I did? I didn't mean to, I just---"

He yelped when she grabbed his mane, and was too startled to resist when she roughly shoved him down the bed. "Trixie doesn't want to hear it! Get to work!"

"What---?!"

But it was too late; he was already face-to-face with her pussy. It winked, and a trickle of cum slid out. He gulped.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Er, sugarplum?" he said nervously. "It's... full of..."

"It's yours, isn't it?" She pushed on his head again, making sure to put some extra pressure on his horn. "C'mon!"

Hesitantly, he pressed his snout forward and sniffed. There was the bleachy smell of semen, but Trixie's spicy arousal overwhelmed it. He poked just under her clit with the tip of his tongue, and, satisfied that she still tasted more like a mare than a stallion, let it slip a little lower. Getting this kind of mouthful was new to him, but he wasn't the kind of lover to leave a mare in need.

"Mmm..." Trixie spread her legs wider when Flam pressed his face forward, the hairs of his moustache bristling against her pussy. His hot breath swept across her lips, and with less reluctance than she'd expected, he pushed his tongue inside her.

The fact that he was willing to taste them both mixed together, to do that for her, turned her on more than she could have imagined. All it took was a few lashings of his tongue and she'd turned to putty, mewling and crying out, her horn spluttering erratically. With one final cry, a spurt of magic shot from the tip, and her muscles coiled up as she came. She could vaguely feel Flam flinching as she squirted, but he stayed in place, riding out her orgasm until the last few spasms died out.

He finally pried himself free and wiped his fetlocks across his face a few times. It hadn't been unpleasant per se, but he did wonder what that said about him. Oh well... he'd made Trixie happy again. That's what counted, right?

Snuggling up to her, he smiled and whispered a few sweet nothings into her ear, soothing her with kisses. He kind of regretted having signed out of the hotel---they were both matted and sticky, and a nice hot shower would do a world of good. That widened his grin. It had been quite awhile since they'd shared a shower.

A prickle of magic brushed down his side as Trixie pulled the sheets up, tucking him in next to her. For a few lovely minutes they simply lay there, enjoying the afterglow.

"So..." she said with a contented yawn. "When did you want to leave?"

"Now that I have all our affairs in order, we can leave whenever we want." He stretched out and draped a foreleg around her. "I could use a nap, to be honest. I'm not used to waking up this early."

Trixie smirked. "Well, it was either get up for ten o'clock, or get caught red-hooved."

He stroked her mane. "I'm glad I took your advice. If the Wonderbolts had caught me, I'm pretty sure I'd be flayed alive."

"Wait a minute." She rolled over, leaning against his barrel. "Nopony was guarding the room?"

"No, why?"

She put a hooftip to her chin. "Spitfire said something last night about this whole mess being a formal investigation."

Flam chuckled. "She was probably just blowing smoke up your ass."

"No no, she sounded serious." Trixie's eyes wandered to the bags Flam had brought in earlier. "If she wasn't bullshitting, wouldn't she have sent somepony else to investigate while she and the rest of the Wonderbolts were busy? Royal Guards, perhaps?"

"Hm. That's a good point." He sat up straight and idly wiped away the wetness on his moustache. "In any case, we'd better get out of here before they come back."

Rolling out of her embrace, he got to his hooves and began to get dressed. "We'll hook the caravan up to the back of the Squeezy. I'll show you how it works---"

"Wait."

He glanced over his shoulder, still buttoning his shirt. "Hm?"

She propped her chin up on a hoof. "Trixie needs to know something first."

"What is it, sugarplum?"

Trixie drew a deep breath, and released it shakily.

"...Do you love me?"

"It wasn't jes' that he didn't know where it was," Applejack went on. "He didn't even know what it was!"

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope. He had never even heard of a clitoris! He thought it was the name of some kinda disease!" She laughed, raising a hoof into the air in front of her and making some jabbing motions. "So I had to turn the light on, grab his hoof, and put it right on top of it. Then he started mashin' it like he was playin' a game a' Whack-A-Mole."

"That doesn't sound like a very good first time."

She sighed and shook her head. "You said it! Most boring ninety-four seconds of my life."

"Alright, stop." Flim grunted as he adjusted the harness, but his smile didn't break. "I'll believe the poor colt was clumsy and inexperienced, but you couldn't possibly have been counting the whole time."

"Hey! There was a reason the fillies called him 'The Fastest Gun in the West'!" One of the pies had begun to slide off the top, and she flicked it back in place with a swish of her tail. "I thought he could make it to two minutes. I really did. An', bless him, he tried, but..."

Applejack paused when she noticed his horn come to life; as discretely as she could, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed a few fuzzy green orbs floating around the wheel hubs. Apparently he needed a little more oomph than she did when it came to dragging something heavy.

He's never done an honest day's work in his life.

She quickly shook that thought out of her head. It was unfair. He wasn't built to do the kind of work she prided herself on, and that wasn't his fault.

"Well, I hope your love life was all up from there."

"Fer the most part." She briefly considered trotting back behind the cart so she could push, but decided that would probably embarrass him more than help. "So... what about you?"

"What about me?"

She grinned, nudging him a little. "C'mon, you know what I meant. What about yer first time?"

His face went beet-red from the tips of his ears right down to his neck. "Oh, no no no no no. I am not telling you that story."

"Aw, c'mon! I jes' told you mine!"

"No. No way. It's far too embarrassing."

That made her elbow his ribs. "Oh, really? Was she a hooker?"

"What?!" Flim scowled at her. "No! Jeez, give me some credit!"

"Related t'you somehow?"

"Oh, Celestia, no."

"Old enough t'be yer mother?"

"NO!"

"Well what's t'be embarrassed about then?"

He let out as melodramatic a sigh as he could, his shoulders slumping under the harness. "Fine. I suppose if I tell you that story, I won't have to tell you the one about how I got kicked out of high school."

"Kicked out of---?" Now she had to put a hoof over her mouth to keep from cackling. "You did it with a teacher?!"

His snout crinkled up, and she was sure he was imagining the most hideous teacher he'd ever had. "One, that's disgusting, and two---stop guessing! I'll tell you already!"

"Well, shoot, sugarcube. After that kinda intro, I'm all ears!"

"Don't get your hopes up. It's not as exciting as it sounds. I..."

Applejack watched in interest as he raised a hoof to his forehead to wipe off a bead of sweat. "I... Okay. Look. I was dating the headmaster's kid..."

"Oh?"

"In secret."

"What?" Applejack paused long enough to take her canteen out of the cart, and chugged down a couple of swallows. Even though it was a hot day, she knew she had to be careful with the liquid intake; lasting the three hours at the market without a break was getting increasingly difficult. It sure had been decent of Mrs. Cake to cover for her last week, after those unwise four cups of apple juice. The memory made her wince, and she passed the canteen to Flim. "Why wouldja keep it a secret?"

He took a few gulps himself, and tossed it back in the cart. "Think, Applejack. Somepony from a good, upstanding family... and me?"

She nodded. "Okay, good point."

Flim chuckled, his ears pinned back in embarrassment. He was speaking more slowly than usual, as if he was choosing his words very carefully. "And we, er, we... had our first time in the headmaster's office. On his desk."

That made her snort with laughter. "Y'ain't kiddin'?"

"I wish I could say I was."

"Flim, yer a smart pony. Why wouldja do somethin' as dumb as that?"

"Because I was a seventeen-year-old iiiiidiot," he said, looking up at the sky. "We both hated the headmaster, and we wanted to give him a literal 'fuck you'. He was supposed to be giving a speech, and I thought it would be funny if he came back to find his desk covered in ass-prints and puddles."

"I can't say that's a kind thing of her t'do to her own father, but..." An unpleasant memory washed over her---the first and only time she'd screamed 'I hate you!' at her own Pa. Thank Celestia the horrible preteen years were far behind her. "I-I s'pose everypony has their reasons."

Luckily, he hadn't noticed the twinge of emotion on her face. "Indeed."

"How did he figure out it was you?" She noticed a smile forming on his face, and it encouraged one of her own. "Didja sign yer masterpiece or somethin'?"

"No. Turns out the moron had forgotten his notes. He'd left them in his desk."

"Ha!"

Applejack slapped a hoof on her lips, but it didn't hold back the giggles. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry fer laughin', but---"

"No, go ahead and laugh." For the first time since she'd known him, his grin looked almost sheepish. "It is a little funny, in retrospect. You see, once I reached the point of no return---and you know how much of a yeller I am---guess who came waltzing in."

"Bahaha---Aw, Sisters, what did he do?!"

By this point, Flim was laughing, too. "Well, as we were frantically trying to disentagle ourselves, he started screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm pretty sure I said something incredibly clever, like 'Sir, this isn't what it looks like!' ...As if there wasn't evidence everywhere. I think some was in my mane by that point." He brought a hoof up to the back of his head and made a jerking motion. "Then he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and threw me out into the hall, followed by most of my, er, stained uniform..."

"An' you ran like Cerberus was snappin' at yer heels," she finished for him.

"As best as I could with a limp," he said, and didn't even try to suppress a snigger. "Applejack, be glad that your genitals are internal. It's extremely uncomfortable going a full gallop while you're unsheathed."

"A limp? She musta rode you like a rodeo bull!"

"And do you want to know what else that bastard did?" he went on over her. "He actually had the nerve to send the cleaning bill to our apartment." Flim shook his head, grinning through his blush. "That was one of the most awkward conversations I've ever had with my sister. Actually, come to think of it, I think I'm technically still grounded."

"Aw, Flim, I gotta say, that really takes the cake," she guffawed. After a couple of steps his shadow fell away from hers, and when she looked back over her shoulder, she saw he'd paused to wipe the sweat off his neck. Trotting back to him, she added "I thought I'd heard the worst cherry-poppin' stories out there, but that one gets the prize."

He finished swigging from the canteen and cocked an eyebrow at her. "I wasn't aware it was a competition."

"Y'wanna know who took second place?"

"Of course."

She took a sip of her own, and pulled the kerchief out of Flim's aura. As she wiped her forehead, she said "A... relation a'mine got real scared that he got his 'special lady' pregnant."

"And...?"

"She was a mule."

They both laughed, and Applejack gave him an affectionate nuzzle. "Okay, sugarcube. It's yer turn t'ask a question."

"Let me think." With a heave, Flim got the cart rolling again. "Hm... Oh! I have one."

"Go ahead."

"Applejack, er... how much do you remember from our first night together?"

She glanced away as her face got hot. "Enough."

"Are you telling me to stop, or are you saying you do have some memories?"

"The latter," she said through gritted teeth, "But don't push it."

"Do you, er..." She could tell by the quivering muscles around his mouth that he was really trying hard to repress a grin. "Do you remember telling me I was the best you ever had?"

Oh, damnation. She knew that would come back to haunt her! "Y'fishin' fer compliments or somethin'?!"

"Please just answer the question."

When her head snapped back up she had a hot retort on her lips, but it faded when she saw him looking down at her not with any smugness, but with... almost a look of vulnerability.

"I..." Even though she'd just had a drink, her throat felt scratchy. She just knew he was baiting her somehow. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, you were. Are."

She jumped when he patted her rump with his tail. His usual smile had returned, but it seemed to be tempered a little. "Oh, sweetheart," he said, his eyes shining with what looked like lust, "You're one in a million."

"Thanks...?" She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but decided it best to leave it be. It was a compliment, after all.

"It's your turn."

Applejack just trotted along in silence for a minute, thinking. They had started with the basic questions---when they were born (Flim, unsurprisingly, was a Gemini), their favourite books, foods they liked and hated, and so on---but the subject had quickly turned to sex. They had also agreed at the outset that they were both allowed one 'out', one question that they could refuse to answer. Despite his earlier reluctance, Flim hadn't taken the opportunity to do so when she'd asked him about his first time, so... "What happened between you an' the headmaster's daughter after he caught y'all together?"

There was a shift in his eyes as they glazed over, but it was gone after a moment. "I wish I could say it ended well, but... it didn't. We were forbidden from seeing each other after that. And we couldn't even see each other in school since I got expelled."

"Y'said you were seventeen," she mused. "That's almost a legal adult. Couldn't you jes' wait 'til you were old enough, and then run off together?"

Flim frowned, but he didn't seem to be angry. "I hate to tell you this, Applejack, but love doesn't actually conquer all."

"You loved her?"

"I thought I did." He must have seen her opening her mouth, because he quickly added "Is it my turn to ask something yet?"

"Sure."

"How did your parents die?"

Applejack came to such an abrupt stop she nearly tripped over her own hooves. Without bothering to look at him, she flatly said "No."

"What?"

"I said no," she replied, kicking a clump of dirt off the path. She still wasn't making eye contact. "That's my 'out'. I ain't gonna answer that, no way."

"That bad?"

"Ask me somethin' else!" she snapped.

He was staring at her, but not at her pinched-up face; he'd heard her grunt in discomfort, and watched, amazed, as the side of her belly rippled with movement. It seemed to distort outward, just slightly, and then a tiny crescent-shaped bump appeared. It slid downward, and then disappeared back into the abyss inside. It took him a few breaths to realize it must have been the underside of a hoof. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Have you ever been in love?"

She looked up from the ground in surprise. "Huh?"

"Have you ever been in love?" he repeated, still peering at her midsection.

"Uh... no. Not really." Applejack bit her lip as she thought over her past relationships. None had lasted longer than a few months. "I got kinda stupid-crazy over a couple a'colts when I was younger, but... that was jes' me bein' a teenager. Nothin' serious."

"It's kind of sad to think that Granny never has, either."

She jabbed her hooftip at him. "Hey. Jes' because she never really loved her husband doesn't mean she's never been in love."

After a moment, he nodded. "Well, I suppose that's true."

"My turn, now." She deftly flipped her hat off her head, and picked the photo-sleeve out of the brim. She still couldn't figure out what she found so haunting about it. "Tell me about yer sister."

A sharp snort caught her attention. Flim's ears had folded down against his head. "She's a mean, conniving old harpy. What else do you want to know?"

"She... uh... couldn'ta been that bad," she said cautiously as she replaced the photos. "I mean, she did take care a'you, right?"

"Yes, but as grudgingly as possible!" He brought a hoof to his face to rub at his shiner, and Applejack had to bite her tongue. She'd told him three times already to stop poking it. "Do you want to know how we found out we were hemophiliacs?"

"Uh---" It hadn't occured to her that Flam would have the same problem, but Flim just kept talking:

"I came running to the kitchen because I'd heard yelling, and I saw her pick Flam up and throw him against the fucking wall. He broke a tooth, and on the way to the hospital she told me I'd better say he fell out of a tree, or I'd get it." He underlined that point by making a slapping gesture in front of his face.

"Why would she do somethin' like that?!"

"I don't know. Probably because he was crying too much."

Applejack cocked her head. "'Cryin' too much'?"

He shot her an irritated look. "Toddlers cry, Applejack. That's what they do."

"Oh! He was jes' a foal when that happened?" She tried to touch his shoulder, but he picked up his pace. "I... I'm so sorry, I---"

"Don't. I don't need your pity."

She could feel her lips thinning to a line. "Boy, if I ever meet her, I'm gonna give her a piece a'my mind! She---"

"I don't need your crusading, either." He stopped walking, placing a hoof in the air behind him to keep the cart from rolling up against him. His head drooped, and his ears flopped over, concealing his eyes from her; when she leaned in to nuzzle him, he said in a quieter voice "I don't really blame her, you know. She was just a kid herself."

"That's no excuse! I hadta help raise Apple Bloom when I was younger, an' I'd never, ever do that t'her! Or any other foal fer that matter!"

"You wouldn't," he said as he raised his head again, "But you weren't a fourteen-year-old filly raising twins on your own. And she was probably still grieving over... our mother." He scratched under the harness. "That would make anypony resentful, don't you think?"

"I..." No wonder the filly in his photograph had such old, sad eyes. "I think we should get a move on. I'm runnin' late."

He cracked a small smile. "And I should get back to breaking rocks or making licence plates or whatever else the Warden has planned for me."

"Y'know, ya really gotta stop callin' him that," she said, without even trying to hide her grin.

He swept his tail over her flank. "Give me one good reason!"

"I'll give ya two." She gave him an answering sweep, and smiled wider when she felt his tail briefly entangle with hers. "One, because I said so, and two---I stopped callin' you 'stringbean', didn't I?"

"You know... I didn't actually mind that nickname as much as I let on."

She held up a foreleg to stop him. "Hey."

"What?"

Motioning at the bend in the road, she said "Just 'round that curve is Ponyville. Want me to take over from here?"

"That's probably for the best." Flim ducked his head down, and slid out from under the harness. "I'm kind of allergic to pitchforks and torches."

Applejack went to pick it up, but he beat her to it. As he carefully eased it down on her shoulders, she said "So... you'll be back here at noon, right?"

"Of course."

As she watched him stretch the kinks out of his neck and shoulders, she took her hat off, and again pulled out the photos. "Flim?"

"Mm-hm?"

"C'mere." She closed the space between them, and placed a gentle, closed-mouth kiss on his lips; at the same time, she slid the sleeve into his breast pocket. She gave it a little pat as she pulled back, but didn't return his smile. "Don't make me regret that, y'hear?"

He glanced down at his pocket, then back up at her. "I already told you you could trust me, sweetheart."

He put a foreleg around her neck and pulled her in for another kiss, this time with just a bit of tongue. When she stepped back, she had a trace of his saliva clinging to her lower lip. "I'll see ya come noon, then."

The cart groaned and creaked when she began trotting away, but she could still hear the soft patter of his hooves on the dirt road. She had a lot to think about, but above every other thought in her mind rang her Ma's advice:

Don't ever look back.

Author's Notes:

Finally! An illustrated chapter! WOO!