"Applejack, when Jason wakes up, I need you to keep him awake as long as you can." Celestia ordered, all pretenses of serenity and peace giving way to a leader giving orders. "A blow like that is sure to leave a concussion. If he falls asleep within twenty-four hours, chances are he won't wake up."

And so, Applejack had been idly talking about nothing for the last three hours, nudging and shifting against the grumpy bound human incessantly. He'd been getting increasingly frustrated with her annoyances, she could tell, but she just plowed on. "An' that's how Ponyville was made!"

The human looked at her with as flat an expression as his mangled face could muster, his good eye twitching slightly. After a moment, he clenched his fist, his thumb extending outward. "Cool story pony."

Applejack didn't need to be the element of honesty to sense the insincerity of his compliment, but she forced a grin anyway. "Eyup! An' that ain't the half of it, I ever tell ya that mah great granpappy tried flirtin' with Princess Celestia?" She gave a clearly forced laugh, trailing off when Jason's head tilted back in a massive yawn.

Gah! Land sakes, there's gotta be somethin...somethin, somethin...c'mon AJ, think!
-----

Why wouldn't this pony let me sleep? Ever since I woke up I'd been absolutely exhausted, drifting half out of consciousness whenever Applejack took a break from talking. After another bout of random prattling, I gave perhaps the most impressive yawn of my life. Stone floors are a lot more comfortable than I gave them credit for... I closed my eye, content to sleep through the mare's incessant jabbering. Just as I got comfortable and started to drift off, I felt Applejack move against me. Annoying, but I was far too tired to care. I focused on falling asleep, and sure enough OW THAT WAS MY FUCKING EAR! I yelped and jerked my head up, hitting Applejack's muzzle and sending her to her rump. "The fuck?! You bit me!"

"Du headbudded muh node!"

"You bit my ear!"

"DU HEADBUDDED MUH NODE!"

"YOU BIT MY FUCKING EAR! What the Hell is wrong with you, haven't you done enough?!" I spat, glaring up at her with my one eye. Immediately, she deflated and lowered her head. "...Dorry."

I rolled my eyes—incredibly painful, had to remember not to do that—and sighed. "Just...just stop talking, alright? I'm sorry I hurt you." Oddly enough, I meant it. I actually felt like a piece of shit for a minute there. Then again, she IS the only pony who ever showed me any kindness...however unwanted it was. I grimaced. I wanted to hate her so bad. She hurt me just like Rainbow did. I wanted to want to choke her out.

"You have no idea how much I want to hate you..." I grumbled. "You hurt me just like Rainbow did. AND you stopped me from ending it all. You stuck me in a barn on a bale of hay. Do you know how demeaning that was?" I looked up at her. "You were my favorite, you know. Back in my world...back in my world, we had a television show about you girls." I sniffed, closing my eye. "Followed you from when you found the Elements to defeating Tirek...God I loved that show. The characters were amazing. You girls were amazing. But you were always my favorite." I coughed, my throat tightening. "Y-you were the reason I came here. Just you. I spec...I specifically requested Ponyville so I could meet you." I took a shuddering breath, "Celestia originally wanted me to stay in Canterlot so she could get the ponies used to me. I didn't listen." I chuckled lightly. "I wanted to meet you right away. I came running off that train like a bat outta Hell..." I sighed, curling in on myself slightly. "I could not have been any dumber than I was that day."

I closed my eye tight as I could. I was not going to cry in front of Applejack. I'd already lost it, I wasn't going to make myself look any more pathetic than I already was. And then the first tear dropped.

Mother fucker...

I took a deep breath, shaky and halting as it was, and tried to keep my composure as best I could. Despite my best efforts however, I couldn't hold back the breathy whimper that escaped my throat. "I just wanna go back to seeing you like I used to!" I said, louder than I expected, and far whinier. "I don't want to think about what happened, I just want things to go back to normal..." I tried to continue, but my next words came out as an unintelligible sob. "I just want to go home...I want to be able to look at you, and-and-and not fear for my life!" I knew I sounded like a child, but there was nothing I could do about it now. "I want my Applejack back...the one I came her for!"

I lost myself to massive, blubbering sobs. I pushed my face into the floor, trying to hide as much of it as I could.
-----

Applejack was stunned. Absolutely flabbergasted. Struck dumb. The hulking, towering creature she'd tried (and failed apparently) to nurse back to health, that had snapped and almost strangled her best friend, was curled into a ball, crying his eyes out. His words, somewhat slurred by his condition, were nonetheless clearly understood.

Apparently, he came here willingly three years ago. And he knew her and her friends.

And she was his favorite. Applejack would've hid behind her hat if she hadn't left it out in the hall—she had to go get it later—it was possibly the most foolish, stupid, embarassing, flattering things anyone had ever said to her. She sighed, pressing a hoof to her forehead. What the hay kinda idiot did Ah get stuck with? The farm-pony stretched out beside Jason, half against him and half on top, forelegs resting over his torso.

"Ya really are jes' the biggest idjit Ah've seen..." She mumbled, eyelids drooping slightly. "Ah am yer Applejack."

No response.

Applejack lightly prodded Jason, to the same result. "Jason?" She stood, pushing him onto his back. His good eye was closed, his face slack. He didn't move a muscle, beyond slow, shallow breaths.

A lump of ice formed in Applejack's chest. "Jason!!

Author's Notes:

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL