An End

by Root Head

An End

It was autumn, early in the school year. Senior year — things would be different soon. But not yet. For now, just for a few more months, things would stay the same. Some people — Dash, Twilight, all the ambitious students — were bored out of their minds waiting for the last year to end. In their eyes, life was about to begin.

But Fluttershy didn't have such lofty dreams. She kept a smile on her face for her friends, but she truly didn't know what her future held. Maybe she could be a veterinarian, or work at an animal shelter, or something. Her prospects weren't really what bothered her; it was her friends. Soon college would claim its due and split them apart. Twilight would go somewhere to study science; Rainbow would go somewhere else for sports; Rarity would certainly move to the big city as soon as she could; and who knew where Pinkie would end up.

She could hardly begrudge her friends for having lives of their own, and she didn't. But it would be sad to be alone. No friends — just like when she was little.

She was coming of age, and all she could feel was fear and sadness. The thoughts clung to her every time she spent time with friends; a stinging, pre-emptive loneliness.

So, when the bell rang and her last class ended — as all the familiar faces she'd grown up with flooded out of the school and dispersed — she didn't head home. Instead, she turned in the opposite direction and walked to the edge of town. The forest was dense; a lot of students were afraid of it. Timid Fluttershy, however, had begun to find it comforting. There were a lot of animals out there, after all. That's what she told Dash when the athlete asked about her little walks.

But there was more to it than that. Sure, the animals were nice. And the plants — the evergreens that surrounded and swaddled — were nice too. But the main draw of the forest was the way time seemed to stop whenever she let herself get lost in it. Mornings passed into afternoons that faded into evenings, all so nebulous and streamlined that it felt like no time had passed at all. Fluttershy could dwell in that space outside of life forever.

Today, however, she decided on another course; as the branches grew thick around her, she eventually found it — the burnt tree that marked the start of her trail. She'd found it only a month ago, while she was out wandering, and it had quickly become a favorite trail for her on her more contemplative days.

The terrain grew steeper as she followed her cairns, and she knew she was close to it. One last bend and she was there.

But when she rounded the corner she found someone she had not expected — Applejack.

The farm girl was sitting on a large rock, staring out at the view Fluttershy had hoped to claim. The hilly outcropping looked out over the forest; endless green spread in every direction, clarifying nature’s impossible vastness. If one looked closely, they could just make out the distant rooftops of Ponyville. Beyond it all the horizon slowly dimmed.

Not wanting to disturb the serene woman, Fluttershy considered turning around. But she had set her heart on coming here and the idea of heading back into town made her heart ache. She already knew her other friends would be busy — studying, sports, work — and the thought of sitting alone in her cottage just felt too lonely right now. Maybe Applejack wouldn't mind?

"U-uh, Jackie?" Fluttershy tried to alert Applejack to her presence as she stepped closer, but her voice was so quiet the other girl didn't seem to notice. She tried again. "A-applejack?"

"Oh! Hey Sugarcube. What are y'all doin' out here?" Applejack asked the timid girl.

"Oh, uh, just going for a walk..."

"Well y'all can sit down if you want." Applejack scooted to one side of the flat rock on which she rested, and patted the other half with a strong hand.

Fluttershy smiled and quickly accepted the offer, taking a seat next to Applejack. But the makeshift bench was a bit small for two people, and despite Fluttershy's best efforts her side pressed against Applejack's. She didn't mind at all, of course, but it was probably annoying for the farmer.

"Uh, I can go if you wanted to be alone. I don't want to bother you," Fluttershy quietly said.

"Naw, I don't mind the company none. I was feelin' a mite lonely anyway," Applejack replied.

"O—oh really?”

Applejack just nodded; casting her gaze out over the treetops – taking in the view. Fluttershy took it in as well; that was the reason she’d come out here, after all.

The sun was just beginning to set, tinting the horizon with the subtlest hues of evening – a beautiful yet melancholy gradient of soft pink and deep orange. The trees, all covered in autumn leaves, seemed to almost fade into the sky. Overhead, a flock of birds flitted through the air – quite possibly leaving for the winter.

It was one of the most beautiful evenings Fluttershy had ever experienced, and it did nothing to ease her heart.

Fluttershy took a deep breath of the crisp air, trying desperately to hold onto the moment – trying to absorb every sight and feeling before they faded away. Everything was fleeting – it was all going too fast. She sighed.

"What's got ya out here sugarcube? This is pretty far into the forest for jus' a walk.”

"Uh, well..." Fluttershy considered brushing Applejack off the same way she did the others — just say she was enjoying nature and leave it at that. She didn't want to burden anybody with her feelings. But out here — in the chilly autumn wind under a darkening sky, with Applejack pressed warmly against her — she felt like maybe the farmgirl would understand. At length Fluttershy finished her sentence, "I guess I've been feeling lonely, too."

Applejack paused for a moment, a look of concern on her face. Never particularly wordy – never too sure what to say – she instead opted to simply wrap an arm around Fluttershy as a comforting gesture. From the way the girl relaxed into her, it seemed to work. After a while, Fluttershy spoke again without needing any prompting.

"I-I'm just scared about the future. Everybody's leaving soon…”

Applejack turned towards Fluttershy and asked, “Ya mean fer college?”

Fluttershy nodded before continuing, “I know it’s selfish. But Rainbow Dash has been with me since I was a little girl, and now she's moving across the country. And Twilight's probably leaving, and Rarity, a-and I'm just gonna be left here."

“Ain’t nothing selfish about missing your friends, sugarcube. Ah’ve been feelin’ the same way, to be honest with you.”

Applejack wished she could offer a solution – some way to keep everyone happy and together. But there was nothing to be done for it. Life moved on and people drifted apart. So instead, she offered the only comfort she could be sure of.

"Ah don’t know what yer doin’ after school, Shy, but ah’ll always be here. Between the farm an’ my family, ah ain’t leaving anytime soon."

Fluttershy, a little teary-eyed after laying out her fears, found a weak smile. It was comforting to know that somebody would stay. At least she wouldn't be the only one left — all alone in the town she'd grown up in. But she was still worried.

“Will we still be f-friends if the others all leave? We don’t really hang out that much… j-just the two of us, I mean.”

“Well, maybe we should spend more time together – if ya’ll want to, a’course.”

“I’d like that, Jackie,” Fluttershy said, a sincere smile finally gracing her face. “Uh, if you don’t mind, I mean.”

“I wouldn’t’ve offered if I did, Shy,” Applejack said, and couldn’t help an amused smile from spreading across her face. Fluttershy was too cute sometimes.

Without another word, both girls turned their attention back to the sunset, Applejack’s arm still wrapped around Fluttershy, and their bodies still pressed together.

Finally feeling calmer, Fluttershy slowly inhaled and lazily exhaled the cool evening air. The day was gone – the year was dying and her youth was fleeting – and a certain sadness would always linger in her because of all that. But she wasn’t alone and she wouldn’t be alone. Applejack was by her side and that wouldn’t change.

As the sky darkened and the stars began to come out, Fluttershy began to feel sleepy. Letting out a quiet yawn, she laid her head on her friend’s shoulder. Briefly Fluttershy worried she might be overstepping some boundary. But a second later, Applejack leaned her head against Fluttershy’s, her cheek pressed into the timid girl’s soft, pink hair.

Wrapped in a strong embrace, breathing the scent of apples as a few stray blonde hairs tickled her face, Fluttershy found herself, for the first time in a long time, perfectly content. As the very last remnants of light faded from the sky, she felt completely and utterly at peace.