//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: She was there all along // by Thunder Light //------------------------------// After a few hours of driving, occasional discussion and listening to the local radio, you slowly start to feel tired after driving for hours on end without taking any short breaks as the road is mostly consisted of light turns and occasional mountain climb. But with no cruise control on board, you had to maintain the same speed manually. Unfortunately, this took a major toll on your foot as it slowly becomes more and more sore while making you feel more uncomfortable as if you were sitting in an awkward position while trying to keep still as possible. “You seem to be a little tired,” Applejack says. “Yeah, it’s not that easy than I thought, I knew it easy to drive, but continuously for hours without getting bored isn’t what I had in mind,” you replied. You make a left on a junction after exiting the highway and onto a rural road leading towards the town which is not for another hundred kilometers. “We only have about an hour left before we arrive, are you sure you can handle it,” she asks while looking at you with concern. “I should be alright, it’s just that, driving for hours without doing anything much makes me feel more bored than I ever was,” you say. “By the way, why are we travelling along this road?” she asked while looking at your map. “Kate lives by the coast near a small town which it’s pretty far from any nearby cities that I know of. There aren’t many towns around here so we have to make use of our supplies carefully, but we’re gonna past a lot of farms and nature reserves along the way.” “Strange, why would Kate moves all the way from any cities. She didn't tell anyone either for some reason, do you have any ideas?” “Nope, she just told me that she would be moving and that's it,” you say as another moment of calmness return while Applejack changes the radio channel before she leans back on her seat and enjoys the scenery. You were busily paying attention to the sound of your phone giving direction, as you drive through the countryside. The car continues to roll along the smooth open highway with little disturbance. With the humming and the sound of tires, you look ahead see the vast amounts of open fields that would stretch for miles on ends with no buildings nor trees around on sight as the road continues into the distance towards a small patch of dark green beyond the hill. “Continue going straight for another 20 kilometers” your phone spoke. “Well, this is gonna be fun,” you say while being sarcastic. “Keep it up ya almost there,” Applejack gives some encouragement as you drive pass a sign indicating that the next rest stop is not for awhile which make you groan while Applejack laughs to your struggle. But then all of the sudden, the engine starts to rumble and cough as the car shakes back and forth, causing your car to travel more slowly as if it was running on empty. A warning light appears above your speedometer as smoke starts to slowly appear in front of you. You check your mirrors for any cars nearby before you quickly switch gears to neutral, allowing the car to glide safely. You slowly pull over  while applying the brake gently till the car slowly come to a halt. The clutter of the engine begins to slowly go silent as you turn the key to have the engine is shut off immediately. “Here we go again,” Applejack sighed as Applejack hops out of your car while you pull a switch to unlock the car's hood. “At least I didn’t do anything this time,” you say as you hop out. Applejack lifts up the hood while locking the support rod into place before you both inspect the damages done to your car. “Well, doesn’t seem too serious this time. Might have been the battery or the engine this time,” Applejack says. “Want me to take care of it?” you asked. “I think you deserve a break this time. I’ll fix ya car up in no time,” Applejack says. “Alright,” you say as you head back to your seat, while Applejack heads around back to grab her tools that she always carry around. You then adjusted your seat to lean more into a reclined position before you leaned back and look toward the sky before your mind begins to wonder. ----- It was a nice summer day at Canterlot High, and with final exams coming up, you did whatever you can to prepare as much as possible on the remaining subjects you got left. Even though you already blitz through the harder ones earlier, you still have one last test to worry about, advanced mechanical engineering. Unfortunately, you were one of the last group of students to have their last test at the end of the day as many have already done theirs earlier in the day as most would probably be hanging out with their friends by now, or would be finishing off assignments. You manage to write down most of the key notes in time as the library was about to close for the day as people have already begun making their way out the door. You see Applejack walked in just as you finished up writing the final part of your notes before closing up all the books left open and stacking them back in place in order for shelving. “How did you go?” you asked as she comes towards you. “It wasn’t that hard, I have been studying well before the test came,” she smirked while looking at you with confidence. “At least you're done while I have another one to go,” you chuckled and Applejack gave you nudge on your shoulder while you carry your belonging along with the books you already borrowed earlier. “Aren’t the test about engineering?” she asked as you both walked out towards your locker. “Yep, it’s not gonna be easy this time, not many I heard have pass this one, but I’m ready for it,” you said. The two of you walked towards the main foyer before heading up the stairs when you feel someone grab you from behind. “Hiya sugar,”  you turned around to find the source until you spot your girlfriend as she let go of you. “How is it going Kate?” you asked as Applejack turns around to see what was going on before she leaves the two of you alone. “Not so much... but I got something to tell you,” she said. “What is it?” you asked as she looks behind to see if Applejack has left out of sight. “I’m moving away in a few weeks,” she stop and looks at you as your mind went puzzled to the sudden news. “Wait, what….why?” you said before she holds your hands you weren’t hoping for something bad to happen, but you already start to get the feeling that it would make you struggle through your final exam. “I have to, but I can’t tell you why,” she said while still looking you in the eye as you admired her beautiful light blue eyes. “But why not, you can tell me anything?” she starts to get uncomfortable as her tone is turning more into sadness. “I just can’t say….it’s something really important that I have to do and I can’t let you know about what I’m doing,” she said before looking away from you. “Will I see you again?” you asked with hope. “Maybe not for a long time, but I’m afraid I won’t see you at all.” she looks back at you, “I won’t be at school for the rest of the year.” “Kate it’s time to go” you hear a voice nearby, but you felt like you know this person before. “I gotta go, I text you when I get back home,” she lets go of you before she runs down the stair as you watched her heading towards the front entrance before she stops by the door and make eye contact with you before disappearing out the door. You stood there frozen like a statue as your mind is still trying gather some information as you continue to stare off into the distance. “Why...why is this happening. She would never take off like that till….”  A sudden noise disturbs you from your thoughts and your mind was placed back into reality. “Now where’s Kate going?” you turn to see Applejack leaning on the railing, looking at you as you continue climbing up and head towards your lockers. “I don’t know,” you say as you look back outside before continuing to your locker. Applejack later followed you once you manage to climb up without dropping a single book. Although your locker was given at random on your first day, you somehow manage to get one right next to Applejack’s. You never expected in at first until you felt pretty lucky later on as the chances of getting something like that is rare. You arrived at your locker while Applejack goes beside you to unlock hers. You turn the lock to the right combination while balancing a bunch of books on one arm before you quickly open the door and placed all your belongings neatly. Applejack’s opened hers while giggling to your struggle which you find it rather cute despite the times you both spent together. “What do you like about her?” she asked as she grabs her books. “I don’t know, I just felt like we had a connection since she ask me out for the first time,” you stop to think about it more before saying, “she does have nice brown hair and her hand were soft when you touch them and she…. well uh....” you were running out of ideas until Applejack spoke. “Really,” she looks at you with a raised eyebrow, “it’s that all you could think of her?” “How can I even describe her,” you shrugged while smiling nervously as Applejack gives you a serious look before the bell starts to ring loudly as students start to head to class. “Well, I hope you do well in your test,” she closes her locker and you do the same as you before you both head to class through the mass crowd of students before you suddenly hear a voice in your head... ------------- “Hello, anybody in there,” Applejack say your name while waving her hand in front of you before you were brought back to reality and  giving yourself a little shake to get your mind right back to normal state. “Sorry I was having a flashback,” you pull the lever to set your seat back into an upright position. “Ya sure did,” she chuckles and you only react with rolling eyes as you insert the car keys into the slot before giving it a turn. “The car should be back up and running. I also made some adjustment to the engine to help ease out the noise it has been making since we brought it,” she says as the engine comes on. The car started off as expected, but it has now gone quieter than you gotten used to. The engine now continues to hum its tune more smoothly like a normal sedan and no longer make any truck like noises anymore. “Wow, I’m impressed, you really are amazing,” you say as you see a faint shade of pink forming on Applejack cheeks. “Nah, it was a simple job,” she says while looking away. “That wasn’t a simple job Applejack, seriously, I read a lot of books about mechanics and you just pulled off something I couldn’t do in a day, you're truly amazing Applejack” you say as she looks back at you while making eye-contact. “You really think so,” Applejack says as she blush even harder and you feel some heat forming on your cheeks. “Yes,” you say. Applejack continues to smile while you admire her bright emerald eyes as you both continue to stare at each other before Applejack start to slowly lean towards you as you remain still in your seat. “Uhhh Applejack,” you say as she stops as she begin to realize what she was doing. “Oh, sorry,” she moves away quickly to her side and looks away, which made both of you blush even harder. You realise that you had left the engine on for too long and the sun was already starting to set over the horizon, you pull your seatbelts over and Applejack do the same before looking back out the window. You look over at Applejack but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by you as you switch your gear to drive and turning off the parking brake, before you slowly start driving again. You start to question yourself over the recent event. You felt like something was going on between the two of you, you wouldn't believe it at first, but it was something special that you didn't know all along. You never felt anything like this before, even though you had been with Kate for only a year, you still never had any strong connection or feelings for her. Yet you said yes way back then cause you thought she would be the one for you, but you still haven’t found anything so far. You start to question yourself even further, “Could Applejack be having feelings for me, is Kate truly the one I should be falling in love?” you think as you continue to drive along the highway. “No, it can’t be possible could it, how could my best friend would have feelings for me?” You pass a sign showing that you're only about 10 mins from your destination as you begin to drive through the winding roads of the countryside. “I might wait and see,” you say in your thought.