"Ah swear, this is the last time Ah give Apple Bloom cookies before dinner..." Applejack asserted, her forelegs currently sunk within the confinements of the water. Frowning, she threw her weight into the plate currently grasped in her hoof, attempting to scrub away the muck and grime left from the filly's overexcited eating. Sighing as she finished, she let go of the plate and watched as it sank into the depths below. She stopped as her mind drifted to nothingness, her task now complete.

She shook her head as the water in the sink began to drift down the drain. Giving a casual look, she looked over the contents before her. The plates were stacked neatly, the glasses of water were clean as whistles, and the forks and knives were already packed back into their respective drawers. Applejack hummed, unsure if she was actually finished. She thought that it would've taken a lot longer than that, and at that moment she shut her eyes, dipped her head to the ground and rested her forelegs on the counter, issuing a long breath that deserved to be free.

Slowly lifting her eyes back open, she gazed upward and looked to the outside, past the glass window that waited to be covered with its yellow curtains. Her expression softened as she gave another sigh, her chin falling to the wooden counter with a soft thud. She let her eyes fall shut and rested with her thoughts. Green eyes came out once more, and Applejack began to watch the outside. Luna's moon was full that night, and boy had the lunar Princess been busy.

Applejack knew that stars were always out, but, somehow, someway, they felt extra special tonight. They appeared brighter, almost shinier as they sat in the dark blue sky, the light of the moon casting a white glow that radiated for miles and miles around it, reflecting onto the dirt, the grass, the Earth underneath it. Applejack couldn't help but crack a smile, but it died down as quickly as it had come, her gaze drifting from the pleasant sights to the grave reminder: the farm.

The trees, the mud, the dirt, the hills and the apples and the barn and the corral and the house and the tool shed and the cellar. All of it.

It would be gone soon, and it was entirely her fault.

She quickly wiped something forming in her eye. Her family was asleep, but even she didn't want to see tears tonight. She had to be strong, and maybe, just maybe, she could pull it off. There had to be some way. There just had to be some way. The powers that were couldn't just do that to her, no sir-ree.

Still staring outside, she gave out a shaky breath and whispered a few select words to the outside world, before she fell back to the ground, turned, and began to walk out of the kitchen. It was at that very moment that she heard a rustling from the wilderness, and so she stopped and listened. The noise was simply gone.

Blinking, she shrugged in a half-hearted manner and raised a hoof.

Another noise.

She turned her head, scanning the kitchen.

And it was at that moment that the barn door to the right of the sink swung open, creaking audibly as it deposited a familiar blue stallion, who held his head as he fell to the ground, his mud-covered body splattering the floor in his wake. Groaning, he breathed in heavily and wrapped a hoof around one of his forelegs, and that was when Applejack noticed the dark color of red matting his fur. Her eyes widened, and she stuttered.

"...D-Delirious..?"

The stallion in question suddenly looked up at her, and her breath caught in her throat as he struggled to look at her with one eye, a black formation having swollen it to an almost unrecognizable pulp. She practically flew to his side as he swore under his breath.

"Shit.."

"Delirious, are you okay?" Applejack asked, her heart pounding. Thinking quickly, she went to the sink and started it up, putting a towel underneath the torrent of water as she looked back at him. He gave a dramatic groan as he struggled to get up, a shaky hoof reaching toward the nearby green table. Tutting, she decided that the towel was good and sprinted back to Delirious, falling to the floor and beginning to dab his eye through the hole in his mask.

He gave an obvious growl of annoyance, but sat still and opted on breathing. Or more like wheezing, he corrected, touching his ribs with a hoof as he lay there. He knew what question was coming, and he began to think something up as he saw Applejack glaring at him. Suddenly, he winced, the wound in his foreleg now making itself more noticeable.

Applejack didn't seem to notice as she continued to dab at his swollen eye. "How'd this happen," she stopped, looking him square in the eyes with a concerned look, "huh?"

Delirious sucked in a breath, then let it out before replying with a shrug, "It's- it's a uh... a... fight."

She shook her head disbelievingly, resuming her work as she spoke, "An' just how did this quote-unquote fight start, hm?" She frowned as he flinched, her towel touching a sensitive area of his face, "Somepony say somethin' they regret? You ain't gonna be payin' nopony's hospital bill, are you?"

Delirious chuckled, but cringed almost immediately, a rib or two not agreeing with his action. He looked back up at her with his right eye and smiled, "No, nothin' like that. He was an asshole, but not that much of an asshole."

"Fella had a name, or didja kick his flank before ya had the chance ta ask?"

"Qui- uh, no. Actually." Delirious stuck a tongue against his cheek, "Doesn't really matter anymore though. He's long gone now."

"Ya didn't- oh. Hospital?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Guess that's the word..." He grimaced as Applejack pulled the towel from his eye, the pain now resonant once more. Giving a wheezy laugh, he asked, "Hey, you done with my eye?"

"Ah doubt Ah could do much else for it." Lifting his chin, she strained her eyes, "Looks swollen as hay ta me. How hard he hit ya? Musta been some kinda body builder with that kinda arm." He gave her no response, and so she returned to the sink to wet the towel once more, continuing, "Ah guess Ah could keep that towel on there for a while longer, but Ah'm not sure how much help it'll be..." Finished with her task, she turned and found Delirious.

Her face fell as she took in his full form, his body currently resting against the table in a slumped position and his left hoof currently grasping at his right. The mask was faced to the ground, battered and scratched like the face beneath it which, like the rest of his body, was covered in mud, grime, and marks that told stories of beat-downs. His wings were mussed up and missing a few feathers. His mane and tail were fussed over entirely, almost as if he had been asleep in a pile of static-filled blankets for an eternity at most. His chest rose and fell slowly, carefully, as if every breath was his last. His hooves were completely brown and slick with residue from something she couldn't quite recognize.

She felt her heart broke, and she let out a long, shaky breath as her head turned toward the drawer to her right. Opening it up quickly, she found the first-aid kit and threw it open as well. Retrieving the gauze, she scanned for a brief second before finding and grabbing the alcohol as well. Nodding to herself, she about-faced and arrived at Delirious' side once more. He looked up at her, his eye appearing dead and hollow.

He croaked, "You notice the arm just now?" She ignored him, instead glaring at his joking at this time. Delirious gave a short laugh, "Took you long enough-"

"Shut up Sugarcube, and let me see your leg," Applejack demanded, the gauze currently on the floor as she reached for the rubbing alcohol. Sighing, Delirious complied, sliding his hoof from the wound and praying she wouldn't freak.

Needless to say, she freaked super hard.

Without a word, she raised a hoof to her mouth at the ungodly gash in his leg. She didn't want to think about it for long, and she quickly gulped a lump down her throat and found her towel. Pouring a small amount of alcohol onto it, she began to dab at it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Thankfully, it began to work as his skin started to bubble up. She didn't need to look up at him to see that he was gritting his teeth in pain.

"Oh c'mon now, y'all get shot 'bout fifteen times a day. Y'all have gotta be used to this by now-"

"When I'm getting shot, I'm usually already dead a second later. Never really used this... alcohol shit."

"Well," Applejack began, looking up at him with a small smile, "worst part ain't over yet." She leaned toward his wounded leg, eyes squinting as she made sure it was okay for now. Nodding, she blew a breath and got up, trotting over to the first-aid kit again. Reaching inside, she heard Delirious wheeze.

"Worst part?"

Delirious opened his mouth as Applejack shone a bright object in the light of the kitchen.

A needle. Smirking, the mare brought out a spool of thread alongside it.

"Fuck me..."

"Maybe later, Sugarcube," Applejack said nonchalantly, walking back to him.

His eyes widened as he gave a slight jump and a raised brow, "Wh- what?"

"Nothin', Delirious. Now, hang on a second," Applejack replied with a chuckle, getting down to the floor. Placing the needle in her mouth, she grabbed hold of the thread with both hooves and daintily began to put it through the eye. Delirious watched, unimpressed. The mare furrowed her brow, shaking her head at nothing in particular as she adjusted her grip.

"Need help-"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Delirious rolled his eye, beckoning a hoof his way. Applejack regarded the appendage thoughtfully, carefully, before sighing with annoyance and giving him the thread. Leaning her head toward him, she bore witness as he easily threaded the needle and tied it, though how he did so was out of her line of sight. Satisfied, she spat the needle into a hoof and nodded her head toward his leg. Delirous grit his teeth and growled, but ultimately let the mare look at it.

The gash was no longer bleeding, thankfully, but it needed to be stitched up immediately. Tapping her tongue against the inside of her lower lip, she looked at Delirious and gave a smile, to which he smiled back. Sucking in a breath, she spoke sincerely, "So, uh..."

"Yeah..?" Delirious asked, his head facing the now-closed door he had come in from.

"...ta put it bluntly, Sugarcube? This is gonna suck."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know."

She placed the needle over his skin and said simply, "'kay." She stabbed. Delirious cringed heavily, but kept his cool in front of the mare as she began her work. The sounds of her thread zipping, she asked, "So, how'd this happen, huh?" Not looking his way, she continued, "That... asshole of a stallion have some kinda ninja sword on 'im?"

Delirious waggled his eyebrows in surprise at her swear, but he was able to reply, "Nah. This was uh.. this wasn't that guy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, one of his, uh... goons, I guess. While I took the other guy out, he came from the left and slashed me with a fucking piece of glass." He laughed heartily, and looked at Applejack, who stopped what she was doing and looked at him in kind. "I guess you could call him a glasshole."

"You're funny Delirious, ya know that?"

Delirious grinned at her, "Yeah-"

"Then shut the fuck up an' sit still."

Delirious lost his breath as he lost his shit as well, taking every measure possible not to burst out laughing. Applejack smirked from ear-to-ear, content with what she had said. Resuming her work, the room was silent for what seemed like hours with nothing but the distant calls of wildlife and the wind sounding out from the outside. The faucet dripped a drop of water from time to time, and the barn door still creaked in the breeze, but everything was overall peaceful as Applejack tended to Delirious' wound.

It was awhile before Applejack stopped, her gaze fixated on the half-stitched gash. Snorting out of her nose, she spoke softly, "Listen Sugarcube, Ah'm... sorry about mah brother... at lunch today. He was outta line-"

"It's fine, Applejack."

She looked up at him, but he stared vacantly ahead of him.

She frowned, "Sugarube, it ain't fine. He shouldn't've said a single word right then. He had no right ta-" She froze as the mask slowly turned to look at her, the tired stallion underneath currently looking at her with a likewise tired right eye. The single blue eye gazed at her longingly, before Delirious spoke kindly.

"Everything is okay."

Applejack blinked, "Delirious, it's-"

"You'll do good, okay? You won't lose the farm."

"Now Delirious, y'all can't know that."

"Yeah," he began. The mask frowned...

...but then the mask slowly raised, and then the mask found itself face-first on the wooden floor with a clatter. Applejack looked from the mask, then back to its owner. Her expression froze as Delirious smiled at her, a tooth or two missing and his nose bloodied beyond belief. His face was scratched, as if a dozen or so cats watched catnip get flung on him and then immediately pounced. He tilted his head and finished, "I can." Slowly, he tapped her with his wounded leg. "From what I know about you, you're one kickass g-" he sucked in a swift, almost unnoticeable breath, "mare... and you can do this." He leaned forward and spoke softer, "Be okay, okay?"

Applejack stared him straight in the eye for a brief second before she went back to work without a word. Doing so with incredible speeds, she tied a knot, finished, and reached for her gauze. Extending it, she wrapped it around his leg three times, dropped the leftover roll, suddenly threw herself onto him, pulled him into a tight hug, and buried her head into his shoulder as she smiled through clenched eyes.

One leg out of commission for the time being, Delirious raised the surviving leg and wrapped it around the mare's back, breathing in heavily. He heard a sniffle from the mare, and he gripped her tighter as she teared up.

Wiping her eyes with a hoof, she grinned and spoke shakily, "Thank you, Delirious. Thank you." Delirious gave a soft hum in response.

And the two sat simply for minutes of their lives, enjoying each other's company.

It was a long while before something broke the happiness, and that something was the creaking coming from the living room's staircase. Noticing this, Applejack suddenly let go of Delirious, getting up from the floor. Her ears went up as they caught a call.

"Applejack?"

The mare smiled, "Yeah, Apple Bloom?"

"Ah can't sleep. Ah know Ah'm a big filly an' all but..."

Applejack chuckled as she went to the living room's threshold, placing a hoof against the wall as she leaned out to regard her sister, "Don't worry, Ah'll be right up Apple Bloom. Just gotta finish somethin' down here first, alright?"

Delirious couldn't see, but he could tell that the filly nodded as Applejack looked back at Delirious with a grin. She walked over to him, but stopped as he scrambled to his hooves and gave her a brave expression. She shook her head as she rolled her eyes, then advanced toward him again and bent over to pick something up from the ground. Delirious expected it to be her first-aid kit, but the mare's hoof came back up with his mask.

Applejack smirked, and raised it over his head. Delirious sat calmly, allowing the mare to put it on him. As the final piece slid over his face, he let out a long breath of satisfaction, then watched as the mare stared at him for a brief few seconds. Finally, she flung herself against him again, her hooves holding a death grip around him as her head found its prior spot on his shoulder. She hummed thoughtfully before raising her nose to his ear, whispering.

"Don't die on me, okay?"

Delirious nodded almost too quickly, "I won't."

Applejack gave her own nod, "Okay," and released him. Stepping back, she slid a hoof across the other foreleg and asked, "Y'all gonna be alright gettin' back to the barn?"

Delirious simply shut his eye and acknowledged it. Applejack, satisfied, walked backward out of the kitchen, a large grin on her face. Sliding a hoof down the entrance's wall as she passed, she said softly, "Okay, good night," and walked away.

The sounds of her new conversation with Apple Bloom reverberating from the living room, Delirious sighed with content and bent over, collecting the first-aid supplies and placing them back into the kit. Shutting it, he turned tail and placed it back into the drawer. Closing it, he looked to his right and began to stroll out the door, making sure it was properly locked. There he stood still, dipping his head to the ground.

His gaze drew left, and found the massive burlap sack sitting against the wall. He stared at it for awhile before he frowned, nodding. Picking it up, he grunted at its weight, raised a hoof, and began to trot toward the barn, intent on finally getting some sleep.

Author's Notes:

Chapter names. Find it.