Applejack was not a part of the group sent to try and restore the magic box that had started this, nor was she a part of the rescue for Crystal Prep Sunset. Instead, she was going to take Fluttershy, puppy Sunset (or "Sunset Snoopy" as Applejack liked to think of her), and Aria Blaze to her farm to see about the actual horse Sunset Shimmer.
Before doing that, however, their little group were going to make a little stop off at Principal Celestia's. The idea was that the unicorn Sunset Shimmer would be helpful with the horse one, sort of like assistance for Fluttershy. Plus, having another equine around might help keep the horse calmer.
As they drove, Applejack glanced over at Aria. The former siren had offered to come along, saying she liked horses and had not seen one in a while. Applejack still did not like or trust any of them, but Aria was the one that she could tolerate the most. Adagio was the mastermind, which meant that she was always plotting, scheming or looking for an angle. Sonata acted very child-like and naive, but after spending a lot of time around Pinkie Pie, Applejack was well aware that there was more going on that Sonata showed. Aria, however, was pretty straight forward. Yes, there was probably more going on than on the surface, but she seemed a pretty blunt person, preferring to take things straight on when she could. It by no means meant that Applejack liked the girl all things considered, but it was more along the lines of distrusting her the least.
If Aria double-crossed them, it would be to their faces.
Applejack's gaze flicked to Aria's wristbands before returning to the road.
"Mind if I ask you a personal question?" she asked.
"Yes," Aria answered. "You can ask, doesn't mean I'll answer."
Applejack took a deep breath, choosing to just straight out ask.
"Adagio told me that the wristbands weren't just decorative," she said. "That they were hidin' scars of some kind."
Aria turned to look at Applejack, raising an eyebrow.
"And you want to know if it's true, and what the story is behind them."
Applejack shifted, looking away as best she could. It had been her idea, but now things felt kind of awkward.
Aria smirked, shifting to turn toward Applejack. There was a pair of metallic snaps as she undid the buttons on her studded bracelet. She then held up her bare arm. A pair of scars in the form of raw, glistening pink encircled it in two different spots, just narrower than the bracelet she had been wearing.
"There," Aria said before putting the bracelet back on. "And yes, I have another set on my other wrist too."
"Can I asked what happened?"
Aria did not answer right away. She looked down at her arm, adjusting the accessory.
"After being here for so long, we got pretty used to humans," Aria stated. "None of us have a strict sexuality, but Adagio would call herself straight, and I'm basically a lesbian." She smirked. "Not a big deal back home, but it became such a 'horrible' thing around here."
A huff escaped her as a bitter "ha."
"Like, fifty or sixty years ago," she continued, "there was this girl." Sitting back, looking out the window and up at the sky. "Can't quite remember her name now, but she was cute, shy, kind of like..." She pointed a thumb towards the back.
"Caught her checking me out a couple times, and I thought she would be fun. One of those people that was very button up and quiet in front of everyone, but gets very loud and wild when you get them alone." Aria turned toward Fluttershy and smirked. "Bet you and Rainbow know what that's like."
There was a small squeak from the back, followed by silence. Applejack shifted, looking into the rear-view to see a very blushing Fluttershy hiding behind a confused looking puppy Sunset.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.
"It was a one time thing," Fluttershy blurted out, face getting redder. "We were kind of curious and..." The rest was lost as she got quieter, talking more and more into the back of the dog's head.
Aria let out a chuckle as she set back into her seat.
"So, with a little coercion, we started hanging out," Aria said. "Then we started dating, although not 'officially.'" She rolled her eyes. "As far as everyone else was concerned, we were just two girls who were friends. Eventually, one thing did lead to another and.."
She held up a hand, two fingers up to create a V, then stuck her tongue out,flicking it back and forth at the intersection. She then held up her other hand, making another V, and smacked the two V's together, humping them against each other. Each time she thrust them together, Aria let out a small grunt of pleasure. Finally, she let her hands drop, letting out a sigh of exhausted pleasure.
"Was that really necessary?" Applejack asked, staring out the window and trying to ignore the heat of her cheeks.
Rarity probably would have fainted at the sight.
"No," Aria admitted with a grin, "but it was fun, made my point, and made you uncomfortable."
The grin disappeared as she turned to look out the side window, squishing down in her seat and crossing her arms.
"It didn't last long. Some people found out about us, and weren't to happy about it. They decided that it was my fault. I was some sort of lesbian predator that tempted this poor, innocent, naive girl into 'such atrocious behavior.'"
She suddenly turned back to Applejack.
"At that time, homosexuality was seen as a mental disorder!" With the last two words, Aria tilted her head to one side, eyes wide and grinning larger than Pinkie Pie. "So guess who got sent to the insane asylum!" She suddenly turned flipped her head to the other shoulder, bringing up a finger to press against the upward cheek.
The grin faded as her hand dropped again.
"They didn't really care about making us 'better' though. It was mostly just a way to keep certain people out of the way when they couldn't just be arrested, and torture them a little under the guise of 'making them better.'" She held up an arm. "These? They're from electro-shock therapy. They strap you down, stick electrodes to your head, and then: BKZZZZT! Raw electricity right through your skull. Your entire body tenses and jerks, pulling at the straps with all your might. Tends to cause them to dig into it your skin until you're raw and bleeding. Even our healing abilities couldn't keep up with it. So by the time it was all over, I was left with scars from where their straps had cut into me again and and again and again."
Applejack decided not to follow up the conversation any further.
Fluttershy, however, had other ideas. Having unbuckled her seat belt, she lunged across the seat, wrapping her arms around Aria in a hug.
"Oh you poor thing!" she cried out, eyes wide and filled with tears.
"Let go of me," Aria growled.
"No one should have to go through that."
"I don't want to be hugged."
"You're so brave."
"I'm not afraid to hit you, girly."
"You'll never have to go through anything like that again."
"I'm well aware of that," Aria stated. "Now, let me go."
But Fluttershy did not let go, and Aria did not punch her like she had threatened. Instead, they stayed like that, with Fluttershy hugging Aria, and Aria Blaze not actively participating in it, but not resisting it either.
Applejack thought it was actually kind of cute. A small chuckle escaped her as she imagined Aria blushing and telling Fluttershy, "It's not like I actually like you or anything... Baka!"
"What's so funny?" Aria asked, turning her glare to Applejack.
"Nothin'," Applejack answered, looking away. She let out a small cough. "Just tsundere in my throat."
Aria's eyes narrowed, but she did not say anything about what Applejack said. If she had caught it at all.
Arriving at Celestia's house, something caught Applejack's eye.
"Is that a burn mark?"
Getting out of the car, the four of them headed back toward the road to get a better look. Applejack crouched down, running a finger along the black mark on the cement.
"It's in the grass as well," puppy Sunset pointed out. Sure enough, there was indeed a line of black cutting through the lush green of the grass.
"Looks like it goes all the way around the house," Aria pointed out.
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked.
"Suppose there's only one way to find out," Applejack replied. Getting up, she made her way toward the front door.