Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p71E8-C9mHhpHXdAbAIeoBm8ECPPcY9XYIOwm-yQ0q4/edit?usp=sharing

Another particularly slow day ended in the Crystal Empire. Applejack was the last to go home from the berry plantation, even though she had barely spent any time there in the first place. It could have been a fine day for her. The weather was always great, the co-workers always nice and even Caramel started to get used to his responsibilities and chores, often working together with her. Applejack never had any trouble with her boss either. But it had been ages since the last time she could solely focus on the job she relished. Applejack was a farm worker, not a politician or organizer. Yet, that is what she had to focus on the most. Her chances to work on the fields became increasingly more rare. So, today again, she could only work on the plantation for a few hours before having to spend the rest of the day at the palace. Until sundown, she had a lot of paperwork to do, orders to give out and things to organize, only finding time to talk to Spring Sapling as she passed the plantation on her way home. Those were her new responsibilities now. She didn’t mind it too much. Sweet Apple Acres, too, had needed a lot of planning to schedule the many tasks, chores and events properly. But this part of her job had always been the slowest and most tedious.

The orange mare felt mentally drained from staring at so many letters and documents when she finally arrived back home. This was more exhausting to her than hours of hard physical labor. The only plans she had left for the day were to get Babs something to eat and then going to bed. But as she opened the door to her little crystal house, she could see that the teenage filly was resting her head on the table, surrounded by countless notes and maps. She was breathing slowly and did not look up to see who entered. Once again, Babs had worked far too hard and eventually just fell asleep in the middle of it. Applejack had mixed feelings about this sight. She smiled a bit, happy to see that she was so dedicated and could find a way to distract herself. But she also felt sad and sorry that she had to. After all, Babs was still just a teenager. She shouldn’t have to work this hard. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about cooking dinner anymore, Applejack thought to herself.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, the orange mare walked up to her last living family member, lifted her onto her back and carried her upstairs to bed. Babs was so tuckered out that she didn’t notice any of this and slept through the whole transportation. Applejack quietly closed the door behind her, went back downstairs and started to put away the notes. She had to be careful not to confound the way Babs put them down. She would get angry having to reconstruct the task she had been working on. Applejack knew that feeling just too well. There was nothing more annoying than when the janitor had moved some important document around in the meeting room of the palace and she had to find it again first. The reapers really should pay more attention to these things, she figured. If they already scan the janitor twice, once while coming and once while leaving, to see if he is actually a pony or skin-walker demon and also to make sure he wouldn’t smuggle out any intelligence, they could also watch where he puts the documents.

Suddenly, the orange mare stopped. She gasped a bit and her eyes went wide open. Slowly, her front leg lowered to the table, carefully picking up a picture. It was a family photo from their last Apple Family Reunion, years ago. Everypony was still alive back then. Applebloom, Granny Smith, Big Mac, aunt and uncle Orange, Apple Strudel, Auntie Applesauce and so many more. They were all there, right on the picture. The oldest and the youngest. The closest and the farthest away.

Applejack spent minutes sitting on the floor and staring at the image with a slightly open mouth. She still knew all of them. She still remembered all names. Everytime she focused a face, countless memories popped up. She could still hear their voices, still remembered what they liked to talk about, still had the most important moments with all of them in her mind. Tears began to form in her eyes and not much later, she started crying. Her first teardrop landed on the picture, which she quickly wiped away. Such a precious memory must not be tainted. She placed the picture back on the table, looking at it for a few moments more before closing her eyes, resting her forehead on the table and sobbing quietly. She figured that this must have been how Babs had fallen asleep.

But she wouldn’t get the chance to follow her example. After some time, she heard knocking at the door. The surprise helped her to catch herself again, wiping the tears out of her face and walking over to the door. Once opened, she could see an light brown stallion with dark brown mane looking at her with a worried expression.

“Caramel? What brings ya here at this hour?” Applejack wondered.

“Sometimes, I have the feeling that me losing things is a matter of destiny,” the stallion started. “On my way home, I lost my key. I managed to find it again, but that brought me over here. I heard you crying so I thought I’d better check on you.”

“Aww. Ya’re so sweet, Sugarcube,” the orange mare stated with a little smile and hugged her friend. “Well… truth is Ah could use a little company right now. Come on in.”

For a while, it was silent again. Applejack figured she should give her guest something to drink, so she picked up two cups and a jug of Crystal Empire Nectar she had been brewing herself. Smiles were exchanged as Caramel sat down on the opposite end of the table and Applejack filled the cups. Both drank a few sips before silence and worry eventually became too uncomfortable for Caramel to bear it anymore.

“So… is there anything you want to talk about?” he wondered.

The orange mare let out a sigh and let her ears hang down, then she moved the picture over to Caramel so he could see it better.

“It’s nothin’, really. Ah just had one of those moments where Ah remembered all the friends and family Ah had lost,” she spoke in a sad tone while he was still analyzing the picture.

“Applejack… After all you told me about what you have been through… It’s horrible…” Caramel commented, placing his left front leg on hers and holding her gently. “Of all ponies in the whole wide world, you are the one who least deserved all of this. I can only imagine what kind of burden this must be for you.”

“Ya’d be surprised how much ya can handle when there are some real good friends around to help ya cope with it. Ah wouldn’t even be here anymore if it wasn’t for them. But Ah reckon Ah still act tougher than Ah really am. They had to set out for a pretty big journey. It’s gonna be months before Ah see them again and Ah already miss them so much… Told them Ah’d be fine while they were gone. Turns out that’s not fully the case… Ah just hate bein’ alone these days…” Applejack explained.

“But you are not alone, Applejack. You got Babs… and you got me,” the light brown stallion stated.

“True… But still. Ah wished Ah could have somepony by mah side. It gets pretty lonely in that big palace, all by mahself,” the orange mare replied.

Caramel did not reply to this. He stared down into his cup, remaining silent. By sheer random, Philomina decided to pay them a visit. The phoenix landed by the window, instantly catching their attention due to the bright light she emits. She had become a very rare encounter these days, constantly being busy with scanning the empire from above and paying all sorts of creatures a visit. She seemed to be most interested in foals, though, as she could mostly be seen playing with them during the day. As with all of her encounters, this one was short as well. Seeing that only Applejack was actually interested in her and Caramel kept on staring into his cup, she not much later decided to fly away again, leaving behind the same uncomfortable silence as before. Slowly, Applejack as well started to get confused what he was pondering so much about. Nearly half a minute passed before Caramel spoke up again.

“Well… I may not be able to follow you into the meeting room, but I can wait for you outside. We already spend a lot of time together at work and in our freetime. But I know what you mean with ‘having somepony by your side’,” he stated, still staring into his cup.

Again, it became silent. There were things she could only solve herself, Applejack thought to herself. But she did appreciated his efforts. Suddenly, Caramel finished his cup and got up. She thought he would tell her goodnight now and get on his way home.

“Can I ask you for a favor?” Caramel requested, looking a bit shy.

“What is it?” Applejack wanted to know.

“I… I’m kind of having trouble saying this. So, uhm… Could you maybe just close your eyes for a moment?” he requested.

A puzzling request to the orange mare. She gave him a short confused look, but then shrugged and shut her eyes. Mere seconds later, they went wide open again in surprise. She saw Caramel not even inches in front of her face. He was blushing a bit while he placed his lips on hers. Before she could even realize herself what was happening, he already withdrew and turned his head aside sheepishly and with a strong blush on his cheeks.

Applejack stared at him with an expression of shock and fluster. She did not expect this of him, not even after all the time they spent together. To her, it always seemed like he was still mourning for Sassaflash. Maybe he still was, but he seemed to have decided to move on. Eventually, he regained enough courage to comment on his action.

“I’m sorry… I know this is a bit sudden. I planned to tell you for a while now, but it never felt like the right time. You have been the best that happened to me in years. I completely understand how lonely you must feel. Ever since Sassa died, I had been all alone. I just couldn’t find any reason to keep going anymore. If it weren’t for you… I don’t even know what I would have done. I know, I’m a nopony and nothing special at all. I keep losing and forgetting a lot of things. But I just wanted to let you know that I… I really, really care about you. It hurts so much to see you so sad… I just want you to be happy,” he explained.

Gradually, Applejack’s expression relaxed again. She even gained a smile and tears of joy gathered in her eyes, which she wiped away before they could start flowing.

“Ya’re a really sweet guy, Caramel. A real, real good stallion… and don’t get me wrong, Ah like ya a lot too. But… Ah swore to mahself to not look for a partner before this war’s over. Ah wouldn’t be able to handle another such loss if somethin’ happened, ya know? But Ah’ll tell ya that: Should we both somehow make it through alive, Ah’ll come back to ya. How does that sound?” Applejack wanted to know.

Caramel let his ears hang down and lowered his glance to the floor. Clearly, he was deeply disappointed.

“Oh… okay…” was all he could say in response.

“Ah’m sorry, Sugarcube. Under any other circumstance, Ah would have said ‘yes’ straight away. But that ain’t a ‘no’ either. Let’s just give it some time, see how things look after The Red Day,” Applejack explained.

Caramel needed a moment to regain himself after this rejection, but he eventually started smiling again.

“Well, as I said. I just wanted to let you know how I feel. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know. You have been there for me, so I want to be there for you, too,” he spoke.

“Sure thing, Caramel. Thanks for bein’ honest to me. Ah appreciate it,” Applejack replied.

They both sat together for a little longer, sipping nectar. Only few conversations were held before Caramel finished and got up.

“Well, see you tomorrow,” Caramel spoke.

“Before ya go… Ah just need to make sure. Ya do understand mah reasons, right?” the orange mare wanted to make sure.

“Yes, don’t worry. These are difficult times. Nopony knows if we’ll both still be alive tomorrow, let alone after The Red Day. But I take you by your word, Applejack. Should we make it through, I expect of you to come back to me about that topic,” Caramel assured.

“Ya’re important to me, Caramel. Ah’m known for mah honesty and especially with such important things, Ah wouldn’t think up lies,” the orange mare replied.

“Okay. Good night,” the stallion repeated shortly.

“See ya, Sugarcube. Good night,” Applejack replied.

A short embrace followed, then Caramel got on his way. Applejack went upstairs to check on Babs. She was still sleeping soundly, having gotten into a more relaxed position now. Then the orange mare went straight to bed herself. She felt a bit guilty for rejecting Caramel like that, but this just wasn’t a good time to start new romances, she figured. If they would not both come out alive, it would completely emotionally destroy the one of them who would. But at least, she could fall asleep with a smile on her face that night. It was a good feeling to know that somepony was out there who loved her.