The level of joy and wonder I felt the next late afternoon is hard to put into words. I was overcome with every positive feeling imaginable, and keep in mind I was sitting at desk up in our bedroom trying to do a little financial management for the farm (even though all of my thoughts were about Applejack). At this point in the day, she wasn’t next to me; she was spending the last part of the day with her best friends before they had a sleep over at Twilight’s. She was in my heart, however, and I plan on letting her stay there forever.

We didn't get around to telling the family the night, but it didn't matter. My relationship with the family was as strong as could be. In my heart, I didn't doubt the positive reaction they would provide us upon learning of the newest Apple family member. I knew they'd be ready for it; there isn't a stronger connection then the one this family shares, not just between Applejack and I, but all six of us, Granny, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Winona all included (and as we can see from earlier chapters, I'm making progress in my friendships with the townsponies as well). I am admittedly a little nervous; I guess it's just that the subject makes me blush just to think about. I love Applejack so much that these kind of thoughts- spending the rest of my life with her, raising a foal with only the purest mother, young though she may be, who desired out of selflessness and love to be a mother and wife- I just can't describe what flows in and out of my heart.  

Come on, AJ, focus. Financial priorities here... I sat at the desk with a pencil in hand, and Winona resting at the side of my chair, who looks almost as cute as Applejack when she sleeps, her chin rested atop her hooves. I reached down and gave her a gentle pet as I smiled in my own day-dreams, going back and fourth between my imagination and the work I was trying to accomplish. Ok let's see, we've got four-hundred trees in the south field, we're looking at roughly a hundred to a hundred fifty sellable apples in each tree. Having a hand is perfect for writing things down, so this is the perfect work for me, and I love being able to help the family and farm this way- that is, sorting out all the numbers and what not behind running a farm.

Applejack and the other family members will probably tell you they're not the best with numbers and math. That might be true, but it isn't her fault, you see she never really received proper schooling because of the status of the farm growing up, especially with all the work that needed to be done around the farm with her parents gone (Apple Bloom, thankfully, gets to go to school). Don't think for one second that somehow makes her inferior. Just the opposite, I noticed from day one her commitment to her family and her love for what she does, with zero complaining. Honestly, I find myself more infatuated and moved with admiration by her simple love and charm then with anyone else I've ever met, including the smart ones who could go to school and what not.  

Anyway, I ran through the numbers in my head about sales figures. So we've got all in all roughly four-hundred bushels in the south field. We're selling the bushels at eight bits this year, which means we should have thirty-two thousand bits of productivity from the south field. In my heart I knew it was only a matter of time before I could hear her sweet voice in my head, reliving the moment we said goodbye to each other before she left for her sleepover. "Aw, look at you, so cute in yer new boots! You be havin' a good time while ah'm gone now, ya hear?"

I immediately leaned back and stared with a wide, dreamy smile out the window and beyond the hills of the farm. It was not the usual blue sky; partly to mostly cloudy as the town prepared for a storm all night tonight, the result of a rare rain that the weather ponies missed. Nevertheless, the sun managed to peak through some of the clouds and shine rays down on the back side of the green hills, but the most lovely green I could see were the bright, happy eyes of Applejack in my own imagination.

The country pony was all I could think about, and as I sat there, I pictured myself hugging her and embracing her tightly, meditating on how overwhelmingly adorable she was, from her personality to her appearance. In the back of my mind was the joyful secret we shared, visions of myself holding my own son or daughter in my arms, with Applejack's head on my shoulder. I was so happy, yet at the same time, I was suddenly suffering some separation anxiety. I clutched my heart. Leave her alone, for Pete's sake... this is her night with her friends, and you weren't wanted. I've got to let her do this. I groaned to myself, longing to see her. Well... I don't think she'd mind  if- in fact, she'd probably love it if I just met her one last time for the day... I sighed to myself as I realized I was going to talk myself into going and seeing her.

Giving into my desire, I kicked back the chair and hopped over Winona, who woke up immediately with excitement, and made my way out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

"Stay here girl! I'll be back, I promise, I'm just gonna go say hi to Applejack real quick," I said, as though she could understand me. She barked in protest; I swear, she certainly understands what's going on most of the time. I smiled and gave in. "Alright, come on," I said, as I walked swiftly out the farmhouse front door. I walked fast out through the front gate and down the dirt road leading into town, just to get one final glance at Applejack before I returned to the farm for the night without her, which I confess was really the only reason for leaving the farm at that moment.

Just a quick hug or something to satisfy my heart, then I'll go back to the farm. I realized that for the first part of this trip, it must be the first time some townsponies had ever seen me without Applejack. Nevertheless, I got into social-event mode as I made my way into the friendly streets of Ponyville with Winona loyally at my side. It was late evening, so the streets were not as maybe not as crowded as they usually are at midday, but there was still quite a commune. A bit of a rush with the expected storm, I suppose.

"Lovely banjo-playing the other night, AJ!" said the voice of Cheerilee from across the street, who was doing some after-school shopping in the market.

"Sounded good the other night, AJ," called the voice of a stallion from another corner.

"What's this, AJ without his love?" teased the voice of another young mare from somewhere in the crowd.

I smiled and waved embarrassingly at as many ponies that complimented me as I could, and there was not a single trace of anything but friendliness and smiles in all of the greetings. It seemed the villainous ponies of my awful dream were nowhere in sight, and I could feel a light entering me, as it seemed I had won the friendship of almost all the ponies in town, which meant, of course, a positive reflection on Applejack. I smiled warmly. Looks like they're used to me, the human. Whether my foal had two legs or four, at that moment I certainly expected them to be fine with either, all the while holding a very positive opinion of Applejack, and never doubting her purity, nor the commitment of he whom she chose to be her husband. I hadn't forgot why I'd come down here, though, and my eyes searched diligently for my heart's ever-longing and crush. Where are you?

At that moment, I saw out of the corner of my eye a flash of many colors of what had to be a group of six ponies just down the street, and sure enough, my heart leapt for joy as I had caught sight of the elements of harmony, which meant Applejack, and a humble smile grew across my face. There they were, standing in a circle and exchanging friendly laughs and conversation, there she was, standing out like the moon amongst stars in beauty and liveliness. Hello Applejack!

I was suddenly so happy that it was almost beyond what I could take as I admired her through the crowd with a soft heart, and I clutched my heart once more, encouraging her to find me through the crowd. I waited in anticipation, and sure enough, she caught me over her shoulder, and when my eyes found hers, her face lit up with a rapturous smile, and she breathed life into me as I smiled blushingly and attempted to hide myself in embarrassment.

She trotted from her group of friends, who watched her all the way to me with smug smiles, but we didn't care. I couldn't hear them anyway amongst the bustle of the street. I ran up and met her halfway and held her outstretched forelegs in my hands as she kissed me on the cheek as Winona barked happily around us.

"Howdy sugarcube! Funny runnin' into you here," she said, as she lowered her hooves the ground and instead raised one for a hug. "How is mah' hubby doin'? Ah'm glad ya found me, ah' was just thinkin' about ya."

"Oh, he's much better now, I assure you," I said, as I took in the warmth of our embrace and tightly hugged her. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist."  She chuckled adorably, and was about to say something but was interrupted.

"Come on, Applejack!" called Rainbow Dash. Applejack looked over her shoulder with concern.

"Twilight's gettin' suspicious," she said, with sincerity but no real angst as she stared into me.

"Suspicious?" I said, looking over at Twilight, whose greatest fear I just happened to know. "Well there's only one thing to do," I said with a serious look.

"Ah' know, ah' know," she assured with a sigh.

"Yeah, send her to magic kindergarten," I whispered as I broke into a smile, looking back at Applejack. She immediately broke out into laughter as she drew herself near, and of course I started laughing too as we both looked back at the group of friends, who were still watching us.

"Applejack! Come on, we're heading over to Twilight's now!" cried Rainbow once more.

"We'll be waiting," I said, referring to Winona and me, as Applejack gave me one more quick hug and then withdrew herself. She walked backwards slowly, loving with me with her stare, then turned around trotted to her group of friends. I stood there and watched them briefly as they headed down the street, and Applejack turned her head around once again for one last smile, and the both of us blushed. The experience reminded me of an instance in my very first testimony; it happened just after our wedding, Applejack and I were watching each other through the crowd. At that point we had the thrill of loving in secret, and it seemed I couldn't love her any more if I tried. Yet as she, whose angelic purity inspires happiness just looking at, moved away from me,  I was every bit as enchanted as I was the first time. How am I so lucky?

I turned around and slowly started back down the street, Winona close behind, having been revived by my country princess. I shot one last glance over my shoulder, but they had moved on. In the first testimony, if you recall, a series of dramatic events- including an attack on Applejack - followed shortly after our meeting in town square, and I remembered it well. However, with the other elements - and especially Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn princess- she was in great care, and that's ignoring the fact that Applejack is more than capable of taking care of herself. Even a powerful villain like Trixie wouldn't dare cross Applejack in the company of Twilight. Instead, I had to reassure myself that it would only be eighteen hours until I saw her again. I would have to wait patiently for her. If there's anyone I could wait for, it's her. Besides, I still had the rest of the fam, and thinking of which I looked down at our beloved Winona, who wagged her tail and panted along happily.

"Look's like it's just you and me tonight," I said to her, who sleeps at the end of our bed. She barked in seeming approval, and I gazed up at the crowd in front of me and took a deep breath of fresh air, perfectly content with the world around me and what was to come. And perfectly content to be a human amongst ponies. A country boy with a country wife.

I'd hoped to fall asleep earlier then I usually do that night, because I wanted to be asleep when the thunder started. I admit it; even in my inevitably adventurous life, I'm still a little afraid of thunderstorms. Well, intense thunderstorms. Usually I have Applejack beside me, who comforts me, but that was obviously not an option tonight. Looks like I'm just gonna have to be tough... like a father should be.

Before heading up into the bedroom, I sat around the fire and bonded with Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom whilst we listened to Granny Smith tell us a most-fascinating story about her late husband's (who can be called, technically, my grandfather) first rodeo in Canterlot and his subsequent meeting of Granny Smith herself. I left the bedroom door open so I didn't feel quite so alone, and I walked over to the window and slipped off my shoes and shirt, leaving my jeans on. Winona hopped up on the foot of the bed, watching her master with care. I love dogs so much, especially Winona. I bent over and placed both hands on her head, and rubbed her ears widely, to which she blissfully closed her eyes and enjoyed. opened the window and stuck my head out; the sky overhead was dark but starless. The smell of rain and the farm filled the air, by far the best air I've ever inhaled. I love the smell of rain, even if I'm not the biggest fan of storms.

A distant bolt of lightning lit up the valley. I wonder what you're up to, Applejack. I sure hope you're enjoying your girls' night out. In my heart I could sense that she was having a good time with her friends, which was deeply pleasing to me. At the same time, I could almost feel as though she missed me a little bit, which, in a way was actually kind of comforting since I missed her also. But ultimately, I was just relieved that she was enjoying her time with her friends. Friendship thrives on honesty, loyalty, laughter, generosity, kindness, and magic. She's an agent of all of those. Things I should hope to grow in my own life and raise a foal to do the same.

I took one more long inhale, letting the moist air flow through my nostrils. There was a slight rumble of thunder which surprised me caused me to jump, and I immediately brought myself back in and closed the window.

"Well, time to go sleep," I said to Winona with an nervous smile. It won't be that bad. It's just a storm. I hopped into bed and pulled up the covers. Winona is no fan of storms either, and I could see she was starting to shake a little bit too. "Hey, it's alrig-" before I could finish, a much closer flash of lightning and louder thunder shook the house, and the both of us jumped with fear, except Winona jumping straight into my arms. After a short pause, with the both of us shaking, I looked at her and said "Uh, maybe you sleep up here with me, girl," and set her down right beside me, and laid back down so my back was resting snuggly against hers. I pulled the covers up and blew out the candle on the bedside. It seems adventure had come to me this night after all. This is the kind of adventure I can handle. The adventure that isn't overly threatening to the well-being of Applejack and I.

Just as I closed my eyes, the rain came down in torrents and the wind howled outside, with flashes of light every few seconds and rumbles of thunder that shook the house. I laid there in silence, with Winona and I comforting each as best we could. This is gonna be a long night without you, Applejack.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was calm, but pitch black still; I was shocked to see that it was only about one o'clock. The storm had gone on for hours on end, and it took me long enough to fall asleep, yet when I finally did fall asleep, I find myself up again now that the storm had passed. I shut my eyes attempting to fall right back asleep, but I decided a breath fresh air might suit me better, so I walked to the window and opened it up once more. The air was heavy with moisture, and the sky was starless still. In the distance I could see what looked like more storms, as flashes of lightning lit up the far side of the valley where they came in from last time. Not again... Well, we made it through the first one.

I got back in bed and nestled myself up in the covers once more, nuzzling up besides the collie, who was seemingly sleeping soundly. I pondered to myself what Applejack was doing at this point. Hopefully sleeping, if not playing games or something fun. I was really missing her, but I just had to power through it. She'll be back in the morning, she'll be back in the mourning...  Just as I felt my mind easing back into sleep mode, a most peculiar noise challenged my resting and put me at a loss of explanation; the unmistakable noise, at one in the mourning, of the barn door being slammed shut.