98. [Action for Saffron City, backdated to Friday]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's funny, because these sorts of weekends have come to be ones that Heather dreads, clear memories or no. She doesn't remember much of them when they roll around, but she remembers enough, and usually what she remembers is bad.]

[So yeah, she's sort of been walking on eggshells, waiting for this to happen.]

[BUT... between all the craziness going down throughout November... bundling over to Kanto with the rest of her family to cheer Crow on during the Tournament, spending Thanksgiving in the packed-to-bursting household of a grumpy FBI agent and the enormously large family unit he seems to have somehow gathered (despite... being himself) ...]

[It drives weird dreamy weekends filled with amnesia and horror and the Koolaid Man bursting through the wall out of the mind, a little!]

[.... Which is why, yeah, uh, she's out taking Cooj for a nighttime walk on Friday night, and doesn't quite notice anything's up yet.]

[Or the pink bunny following her around.]</sub>





[OOC: Tags may be horrendously slow due to NaNo, but I had to hiatus-break at least a LITTLE for 4th Wall! Robbie the Rabbit will be lingering in the background of any given thread, but feel free to throw anything at Heather and not bother with the spooky pink bunny chillin over there.]

Comments

[foolishwren]

<sub>[--that is DEFINITELY not a Ponyta.]

[At first Heather recoils-- not that it's a particularly alarming sight, she just doesn't want to be crashed INTO-- ... and then she realizes that it's talking. ... It's talking to HER, and also it has a HAT. What?]</sub>

...

.... AJ?

<sub>[Whoa. WHOA.]

[Okay she knew Applejack was a pony, but. WHOA.]

[She stumbles backwards a little at the little headbutt, bringing her hands down to rest on top of Applejack's head automatically. Live with a bunch of quadrupeds long enough and it becomes a reflex-- she's a bit bigger than Cujo.]</sub>

Holy crud, AJ, you're- .... you're TINY!

_{[LOOK AT YOU.]}

[rodeopony]

[Applejack's head jerks back, and she frowns up at Heather.]

Now just who are you callin' tiny? Now I ain't Big Macintosh, but I'll have you know I'm no delicate little filly from Manehattan, either.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[SH AJ ONLY SQUEE NOW.]

[The way Heather bends down with a great big grin, moving her hands to her knees, makes it pretty obvious that it wasn't meant to be an insult.]</sub>

Dude, you're like-- ... aw!

_{[Sorry Applejack you are a precious creature and not even survival horror protagonists are immune to the cute.]}

It's been WAY too long.

[rodeopony]

[Applejack is pretty sure she's never been called 'aw' before, but whatever, she'll take it. She leans into the hug, any and all annoyance at the 'tiny' comment happily cast aside. Were Heather any shorter, she'd attempt to toss one foreleg over into a hug, but instead she just leans in for more nuzzles.]

Really has, sugarcube. How've you been?

[foolishwren]

_{[At least now, Heather has a good frame of reference for all those happy nuzzles she'd gotten from Applejack in the past. They had seemed DAMN weird coming from a human, but from a very literal pony? Not so much.]}

EH, been better, but I gotta say, you sure are a sight for sore eyes.

<sub>[CLOSE FRIENDS BEING TORN AWAY. UNWANTED PAST ENEMIES RETURNING. TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS BEING DAMAGED POTENTIALLY BEYOND REPAIR. HORRIFIC MUTATIONS. It's been a rough year for Heather.]

[But that's part of what makes it so heart-achingly nice to get to see her old friends again.]</sub>

[rodeopony]

[Heather gets a giant green wink.]

Aw shucks, Heather, so are you! Things've been pretty hectic back in Ponyville lately, but we're managin'. [She breaks away a bit, putting a little bit of distance between them so she doesn't have to crane her head to speak.] What about you?

[foolishwren]

_{[She grins broadly, although it fades just slightly at the question. Because mannn... now that she MENTIONS it.]}

I've been... pretty good! I mean... well, actually...

_{[... APPLEJACK YOU'RE GOOD AT FRIEND STUFF, RIGHT?]}

I've been dealing with a bit of a thing. With one of my friends.

_[ADVICE?]

[rodeopony]

A 'thing'? That ain't real specific, sugarcube.

[THE FOREMOST FRIENDSHIP EXPERT. Her ears are pricked, a sure sign she's paying close attention. She wants to help.]

[foolishwren]

... Aahah... I guess it's not, is it.

_{[HEATHER'S BEEN PRETTY BAD ABOUT THAT LATELY. ... And all the time. But mostly lately.]}

OKAY. So. Uh.

_[Whoof.]

I kind of had a bit of a fight with a friend. Or more accurately, I did something that they thought was REALLY bad, and like... the reasons I had are way too weird to explain.

But now we're kinda...

_{[She lifts her hand and does that teetery 'ehhhhh' motion.]}

You've got tons of friends, you must deal with drama all the TIME. What would you do?