The last few days had been frustrating for Applejack, to say the least.  It started out simply enough - she had to put a bit of extra oomph into her applebucking, she had to reach a bit higher to get to those top shelves, she had to lift her hooves a bit extra to rustle Apple Bloom's mane.  The first two she had chalked up to exhaustion; it had been a particularly rough season at Sweet Apple Acres.  And Apple Bloom had been shooting up like a weed recently - of course her height would surprise Applejack once in a while, wouldn't it?  She had worried a bit about the exhaustion cutting in on her ability to work, but quickly put those thoughts out of her mind.

But when she awoke to what felt like a Princess-sized bed on the second day and her hat wouldn't stay on her head, she began to put two and two together.  She was shrinking!  After waking up the house in the shock of this revelation, she made the trip to Twilight Sparkle's treehouse in town.  She insisted on going alone; the farm shouldn't shut down just because she was having a little trouble, right?  Apple Bloom had snickered a bit at that line, but a stern look from her still-bigger sister shut her right back up.

It was still early enough that not many ponies were out and about in Ponyville.  This was good, because the last thing Applejack needed right now were ponies holding her up with questions.  The sooner she figured this out and got it over with, the sooner she could get back to work.  One or two early risers wandered the streets, however, and their questioning stares made Applejack feel even smaller.

Luckily enough, Twilight was one of those early risers.  She was out in the market, looking a bit confused.

"You know the market's not open on Thursdays, don't ya, Twi?"  Applejack greeted her friend.

"Oh, hello, Applejack!  I'm usually not up this early, so I--" Twilight's explanation was cut short as she found herself adjusting her line of sight several inches lower than where she was used to having it.  "Goodness, Applejack; what happened to you?"

"Well, sugar, I was hoping you could tell me," Applejack replied, with a look down at her body.  Seeing the ground that much closer than normal made her snap her eyes back up to Twilight.  "I think this all started yesterday, but by golly, I just can't figure out what caused it!"

"Well, that is quite the puzzle," Twilight mused.  "Let's hurry back to my treehouse and see if we can't figure this out."

"That was my plan, Twi-- and just what's so funny?"  Applejack snorted at her friend's smirk.

"Oh, nothing, sorry.  I'm just not used to seeing the top of your head, is all.  What with you normally wearing that hat and being taller and everything."  Twilight cleared her throat.  "AHEM - but it's not funny.  We should get going."  Twilight trotted off towards her house, leaving Applejack to follow.

"Spike, brew some tea!"  Twilight ordered, throwing the front door open with a loud THUD.  "Two cups, please!  Three if you want some!"  Applejack entered the house, closing the door behind her.  Looking around the large main room of the library, she was awed at what a difference the few inches she'd lost made here.  The room always felt spacious before, but now it was like an enormous cavern, lined on all sides by large tomes holding all the knowledge of the world inside.  She shook her head - she was letting this whole thing get to her mind, and that was no good.  Gotta keep a good head on your shoulders, no matter how small those shoulders may be.

Twilight busied herself looking for the books she needed, a soft "aha" escaping her lips with every correct book.  Applejack sat herself at the low table in the middle of the room and waited for the tea.  She frowned; the table came up to her chin.  As Applejack scoured the room for pillows and cushions and anything to give her a bit of height, Spike returned with the fresh tea.  He stared at Applejack for a bit and shrugged.  "Look, it's been a long week, and I don't even wanna know.  Good luck with whatever this is - I'm going back to bed."

"Good night, Spike!" Twilight called up the stairs, flanked on both sides by several books held aloft by magic.  "Applejack, will you follow me downstairs?  I've got some tests I'd like to run, if you're okay with that."

"What about our tea?" Applejack asked.

"Tea?  What tea?  Now come downstairs, please!"  Once again, Twilight trotted on ahead of Applejack, disappearing down the staircase between two bookshelves.  Applejack took a quick sip of the tea - Spike had worked hard to prepare it, after all - and followed Twilight.

She had been up and down these stairs several times since meeting Twilight and never thought much of it.  But the lights were higher, casting an eerie glow on the sloping hall, and the length between stairs was longer and awkward to climb easily.  And was it her, or were the stairs getting even bigger as she went down?  A lump rose in her throat, and she had to fight a bit to swallow it back.

Twilight's tests took most of the day.  Many of them included several large machines, obviously designed for ponies larger than Applejack.  The machines seemed to grow bigger and more elaborate as the day drew on, and Applejack grew tired of them.  The worst test of all, though, involved a dose of poison joke.  One of Twilight's earlier theories was that this might be some kind of drawn-out poison joke reaction, but as Applejack quickly shrank down to almost nothing after biting into a leaf, Twilight ruled that out.  Luckily, she had had a dose of antidote prepared beforehand.  Applejack was relieved to be her old size again, but then she remembered:  this wasn't her old size at all!

"I'm sorry, Applejack, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong!"  Twilight cried, having exhausted all her tricks and experiments.  "I mean, I even tried a straight growth spell on you, and that barely worked!"  She collapsed on the floor, almost in tears at how totally she had failed her friend.

"Oh, that's okay, Twi," Applejack consoled, slipping herself out of the harness of the last contraption she was strapped into.  It wasn't too difficult - she was a bit smaller now than when Twilight had hooked her in.  "I can't be mad at ya.  I still got no idea what's happenin', either, so we're about even.  I should probably just head home for the night."  Applejack began the long ascent back to the first floor of the house.

Twilight picked herself up off the floor and gallopped after her friend.  "Oh, oh wait!  At least let me walk you home!  I can place an invisibility field on you so nobody stares!  At least let me do that much for you."

Applejack turned at the top of the stairs and watched her friend catch up, momentarily treasuring the ability to look down at her friend.  She was planning on declining Twilight's offer and just toughing out the journey on her own, but When Twilight had finally caught up, Applejack noticed with a tinge of despair just how small she was.  Her head only came up about to Twilight's shoulder.  Ponyville wasn't exactly a large town, and a small horse looking exactly like Applejack would definitely raise some eyebrows, especially this early in the evening, with the whole town out on the streets.  Applejack swallowed her pride.  "Yeah, Twi, I think that'd be nice."


****


Twilight cast the invisibility spell and set out for Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack at her side. They couldn't exactly make conversation on the way - Twilight would appear to be talking to herself.  So the two walked along in silence, Twilight making smaller strides than normal so as not to inconvenience her friend.  The slow journey left Applejack with a lot of time to think.  She dreaded coming home and being able to stare Apple Bloom even in the eyes.  And what was she going to do for the farm now?  She couldn't buck trees in this condition, and who knew where and when this would stop!  How long would she be able to help in the house without becoming a nuisance?  That was the worst part of this whole thing, really.  Applejack prided herself on being tough - being able to take whatever lemons life threw at her and press them into the most delicious lemonade possible.  But letting her family down?  And over something she had absolutely no control over?  That was terrifying to her.

It was a bit out of town when Twilight heard a small sobbing coming from beside her.  After checking to make sure nobody was around, Twilight lifted the invisibility spell to find Applejack, tears streaming from her eyes.  Twilight bent down and embraced her friend, wrapping her up in her legs and wings.  "Shh, Applejack, it's alright.  I know this is scary, but it's not that bad."

"That's easy for you to say!" Applejack cried, choking back her tears and hugging Twilght back.  "Your life's gonna go on just fine, and you won't have ponies starin' at ya everywhere you go for the rest of your life!"

"You might be surprised," Twilight chuckled.  "But it's all going to be fine, you'll see!  I had Twilight send an urgent letter off to Princess Celestia while I was running all those tests today.  And if Princess Celestia can't fix your problem, well, maybe it's not something that needs to be fixed."

"How can you say that?  I'm letting down the farm bein' like this, and my family--"

"Your family?"  Twilight pulled Applejack away, holding her at arm's length.  Her eyes met Applejack's, making sure that what she was about to say wasn't brushed aside.  "Applejack, your family is the closest, most caring group of ponies I have ever seen in my whole life.  Do you honestly think that your family will think less of you, will love you any less, because of this little problem you're going through?"

Applejack looked up into Twilight's big purple eyes, holding her gaze for a time as she thought.

"Would you think any less of them if any of them were going through this?  Applejack, I promise you - your family loves you no matter who you are or what you can do."  Twilight crossed her chest with one hoof and placed it over her eye.

The gesture made Applejack giggle a bit, in spite of herself.  "I know, I know, you're right.  But that doesn't exactly help me figure all of this out, does it?"

Twilight frowned and stood up.  "Well, no, not really.  But that's something we'll find out together."  She began to walk back to Sweet Apple Acres.  "I'm not going to abandon you in this, Applejack - you have my word."

Applejack jogged to catch back up with her friend, the tears clearing up.  "Your word as a princess?"

"No; my word as a friend."


****


The explanation to the Apple family went smoothly, thanks mostly to Twilight.  She was definitely more composed than Applejack was.  Granny Smith and Apple Bloom both had a lot of questions, few of which Twilight had concrete answers to, but by the end of the talk, everyone had a concrete understanding of Applejack's situation.  When Twilight left for the evening, promising an early return in the morning, Applejack left the room without a word, pulling herself up the stairs to her room.  Her family watched as she ascended, knowing that she'd never have let them help her up.

"Well, I suppose we'd all best be off to bed, too."  Granny Smith said from her chair, wiping a tear from her face.  "Ain't no sense in worrying ourselves to death over somethin' we can't help with."

"sigh - Eeyup...." Big Mac replied, his eyes glued to the ceiling, as if he was trying to see into Applejack's room from below.

As Apple Bloom passed her sister's room on her way to her own bed, she heard some tiny grunts. She tried to ignore them and just go to her room, but she couldn't.  She burst open the door to Applejack's room to find her older sister, now a good bit shorter than her, trying and failing to scale her bed.

"Get outta here, Apple Bloom!"  Applejack was fuming.  "I can do this much for myself, at least!  Just get on to bed, alright?  If I got to, I'll just sleep on the floor."

A stern look crossed Apple Bloom's face.  "No way, sis!  You're gettin' a good night's sleep tonight, whether you want to or not!"  She took her sister in her hooves and placed her on the bed, climbing in after her and tugging the sheets over both of them.  "Now, let's just get some sleep, alright?"  Apple Bloom held her sister close to her chest.

At first, Applejack resented the gesture, feeling like a tiny teddy bear.  But soon enough, she fell asleep to the sound of her little sister's heartbeat.

Applejack dreamed that night of giant ponies.  Friends and family, all going about their lives without her, nearly trampling her with their every step, not hearing when she cried for them to stop.  The thunderous roar of pony hooves frightened her, and she ran.  She ran and ran, not caring where she ended up, as long as it was away from those hooves.

She ran so long and so hard, that she smacked right into a large blue tree.  Looking up, she saw that it wasn't a tree at all, but the hoof of another gigantic pony - Princess Luna.

Luna looked down at the tiny orange pony with a compassionate smile.  "Greetings to you, Applejack," she called, in a voice that was as quiet as it was sweet.  "How does this day find you?"

Applejack fell on her haunches trying to look up into the princess's eyes.  "Take a look at me, Your Majesty - how do you think my day's been?"

Luna eased herself down to Applejack's level, resting on her legs.  "I am looking at you.  You appear to be very short, but then, most ponies do to my sister and I.  But this does not answer my question, Applejack."

Applejack rose back to her feet and cocked her head.  "What kinda game are you playin' at, Ma'am?"

Luna responded to Applejack's accusations with a smile.  "There are no games here, my little pony.  Only a friendly conversation, if you would care to indulge an old princess like myself."

Applejack continued to stare incredulously.  "I must be dreamin'."

"Well of course you are dreaming!  I came to you as soon as my sister received the letter your friend sent.  My sister is consulting her great library, scouring its wisdom to find the cure to your predicament, but I prefer a more direct approach.  I believe that, if any pony can appreciate a direct approach to problem-solving, it is you.  Am I not correct?"

"Well yeah, I suppose."

Luna beamed.  "I do enjoy being right in these matters.  Now please, make yourself more comfortable and tell me what is troubling you.  You cannot hide anything from me, so you might as well "get it off of your chest", as it were."

Applejack looked down at herself and back to the monumental blue pony before her.  "Come on, Princess.  I'll give you one guess to what's troublin' me."

"But Applejack, you have been this small before, have you not?  I recall the report Twilight Sparkle made about your group's encounter with the poison joke weed in the Everfree Forest.  But that time, you were not troubled - you went out and faced your problem head-on!  Why can you not do the same now?"

"Because, I--"  Applejack started.  "I don't know - everythin' just feels wrong.  At least back then, I knew what the problem was and how to fix it, even if I ended up bein' completely wrong about it."  She began to pace back and forth.  "But it was easy - it was a simple problem, I knew who's fault it was, and I knew what had to be done to make it stop.  And I wasn't alone, neither."

"And you believe you are alone now?"

"Well, yeah!  Do you see any other ponies this tiny around here?"  Applejack yelled.

Luna closed her eyes.  "No, but I do see your sister laying in your bed with you.  She clutches you close to her breast.  And more than that, I see her dreams.  She dreams tonight of you, standing proud and tall, teaching her how to harvest apples.  You are very much her big sister, Applejack.  I know you worry that they consider you as lesser than they are, and that you believe you can be nothing but a burden to them now, but this is not the case.  You are only as small as you feel."

Applejack stopped her pacing and looked straight at Luna.  "Well, Your Majesty, I appreciate the thought, and honestly, I do feel a lot better about all this.  I know my family still loves me, and I know life'll go on someway or another.  Shoot, I'll probably even be able to find a way to help out with the chores - I'm pretty resourceful.  But this cryptic mumbo-jumbo ain't gonna help me get any bigger, is it?  Don't you have some kind of magic potion or spell or something that can change me back?"

Luna opened her eyes and smiled back at Applejack.  "Who said anything about 'cryptic mumbo-jumbo'?"  Before Applejack could question her further, Luna brought her front hooves together with a loud CLAP, waking Applejack from her dream.

Applejack felt her sister's hooves still wrapped tightly around her, but something felt different.  Apple Bloom's hooves now didn't quite make it all the way around her torso.  Applejack turned around, facing her snoring sister and measuring up.  From hooves to head, Applejack was still shorter than her sister, but not by nearly as much anymore.  She smiled, hugging Apple Bloom back just as tightly as she'd been held before.  "Maybe I am only as small as I feel."  She drifted back off to sleep, knowing that tomorrow wouldn't be as frightening as she'd thought it would.