Stone Mane awoke in the back of the cart. Bleary eyed he looked around. In the front of the cart was Granny Smith who was asleep with a blanket over her. Looking to his right he saw Applebloom was lying under the same blanket as he was.

"We'll be back at Sweet Apple Acres soon." Said a soft voice. Looking to his left he saw Applejack walking alongside the cart. The colt nodded his head and laid it back down on the cart floor.

A short time later Stone Mane felt the cart turn off the main road and head down the access road to Apple family farm. As it did he started to hear a steady, squeaking sound from beneath him. The sound continued until the cart came to a halt in front of the farmhouse. AJ came around to the back of the cart and lowered the back gate. Then with the colt's help she pulled out the folding steps and set them up. With that accomplished she woke up Applebloom and Granny.

Applebloom yawned and exited the cart. Stone Mane stayed and helped Granny out then he exited himself. Applejack came over to him.

"Stone Mane, the carts left bearing sounds like its a going bad on us, and we're going ta need tomorrow fer more than just getting ya ta train station. So Big Mac and I are going ta take a look at it fer turning in. Applebloom and ya should hit the hay right away. Mac and I will be in once we're done. Ya git a good night's sleep and I'll see ya in the morning. Okay?"

Applebloom who'd been listening nodded her head and yawned again. "Okay sis. Come on Stone Mane let's git ready fer bed."

Following Granny Smith up the steps of the farmhouse they paused for a moment as the old matriarch lit a lantern and then led them into the house. Once she'd lit an oil lamp in each of their rooms she wished them a good night and retired to her room.

The colt removed his dark brown vest, white linen collar, and black bow tie. Then grabbing his toothbrush he headed off to the bathroom. As he was brushing his teeth he could hear Applebloom removing her dress as she also prepared for bed. As he finished up he could hear her muttering and complaining about something.

He'd just reentered his room when the filly called out.

"Stone Mane. Could ya help me with something?"

Depositing his toothbrush on the nightstand he trotted over to the filly's room.

"Sure Applebloom. What do you need help with......"

The colt's voice trailed off. Sitting on a stool in front of him was Applebloom in a corset of deep maroon red like the dress she'd been wearing. She had her back to him. Looking over her shoulder she spoke to him.

"Can ya git the knot loose on this thing? My sister tied some weird knot in it and I can't git undone. Granny's gone ta sleep and sis is playing with bearing grease in the barn at the moment. Could ya see if ya can untie this thing fer me?"

The colt just stared at her for a moment then slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

With slow deliberate steps he approached her. Gingerly he started examining the knot with a front hoof. After a couple of seconds he spoke.

"Um, yeah. Here's the problem. Part of the knot is bunched up where the fabric meets. Uh, let me see if I can get this free." Through all this Applebloom sat very still on the stool.

After some more examination Stone Mane found a solution. "Okay, let's see if this does it."

Reaching out he grabbed one end of the cords holding it together with his teeth and gave it a tug . The knot resisted his initial attempt. Rearing up he placed both his front hoofs on Applebloom's back. With another tug the knot came loose and the filly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woo! I can breathe again!" She closed her eyes and slowly flexed her back and sighed. "Oh, yeah! I can move again! That feels good! Thanks fer the help."

She looked back at the colt who was still reared up with his front hooves on her back. He was looking down at her silently with a beet red face. "Um, Stone Mane are ya okay?"

After a couple of seconds the colt responded in a high pitched, squeaky voice. "I'm fine! Glad to help! I need to get ready for bed now! Goodnightseeyouinthemorning!"

The colt then bolted out of the room leaving a somewhat confused filly behind. "Um goodnight ta ya as well." Applebloom then brushed her mane and tail before extinguishing the oil lamp and crawling into bed.

Stone Mane had also extinguished his lamp and was laying in his bed and staring up at the darkened ceiling. He was tired and he knew he needed to be up early if he was to make it to station in time, but he found his heart pounding and his mind filled with a million odd thoughts and images. Sleep would take a while to come this evening.