Not sure why this isn't working for you. I can resolve without using FQDN.
❯ ping ap
PING ap.internal (10.10.2.4) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from ap (10.10.2.4): icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=0.562 ms
64 bytes from ap (10.10.2.4): icmp_seq=2 ttl=63 time=0.443 ms
❯ ping ap
PING ap.internal (10.10.2.4) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from ap (10.10.2.4): icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=0.562 ms
64 bytes from ap (10.10.2.4): icmp_seq=2 ttl=63 time=0.443 ms
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