"So lemme get this straight. Solaria was levitating yer friend's leg up against the ceiling?" I asked Twilight before taking a swig from my bottle of cider.
"Yeah. It was really strange, though," Twilight replied.
"How so?" I asked.
"Because the entire time that Solaria had gotten a hold of Kerfuffle's prosthetic, I couldn't use my magic," Twilight replied.
Sunset then chimed in, "We're hypothesizing that she only 'borrows' - for lack of a better term - magic for short periods of time."
"Well, has Gleaming shown any magic abilities yet?"
Sunset and Twilight looked at each other and simultaneously let out a nervous chuckle.
"She has, hasn't she?" I asked.
"Yeah. She's developed the ability to teleport objects," answered Sunset with a weak smile.
Before I could ask them anything else, I got yanked by the back of my collar away from Sunset and Twilight.
"Rares! What in the hay was that for?" I asked, stunned by her actions.
"Don't. Play. Stupid," Rarity shot back, obviously angry at me about something. "You know good and well what that was for."
I scratched the back of my head as I tried thinking of what she was getting at. "Uhhhh...not really," I said.
"That…" she growled as she grabbed me by my jaw and turned my head toward the sofa, "...is why I dragged you over here by your collar."
I shook free of her tight grip and looked her in her deep blue eyes. "So what? It's just Rainbow Dash."
Within seconds of my statement, I felt a sharp stinging pain across my left cheek, accompanied by a temporary loss of sight. "Applejack! The rest of the girls and I are fed up with your attitude toward poor Rainbow Dash," she scolded. "Each of us has asked you politely to hear her out and apologize for how you've been treating her."
I raised an eyebrow as I fired back at her, "Y'all want me to apologize to that whore-"
Another sharp pain and loss of sight caught me off guard a second time before I could finish my sentence.
"Watch! Your! Mouth!" she shouted. "Rainbow Dash is your friend-"
"Hogwash! She ain't no friend of mine," I interrupted. "Ah told you what she did. That label fits her perfectly."
"Applejack, so help me…"
"Ah ain't gonna apologize," I insisted. "And that's final!"
"Final, huh?"
"Yeah, final."
"Well then, I've got a proposition for you," Rarity said.
"Uh-huh?"
With her left hand on her hip, she poked me in the chest with her right hand and said, "Either you apologize for your actions now or you will find all of your belongings at the farm tonight."
I stared at her facial expression and I could tell that she wasn't bluffing. Her narrowed eyes seemed to burn a hole straight through me as I continued to stand there like a fool.
"A'ight, fine. I'll do it," I said. "But only because I don't wanna lose another girlfriend."
Rarity let out an annoyed groan and walked off with a huff.
Ah can't believe that Ah'm about to do this, I thought as I slowly walked toward my ex. When I got to within about two feet from the couch, I stopped as my feet refused to move any further. Actually, Ah ain't gonna do this, I decided. Romance be damned.
I spun around and walked back toward Sunset and Twilight who had begun to chat up Rarity.
"Well, that was quick," Rarity said sarcastically.
"Uh, yeah. She really wasn't in the mood to talk," I said, cringing internally at the lie.
Rarity began shaking her right hand as the look in her eyes went from annoyed to furious. "Darlings, I would like to apologize ahead of time for this," she snapped.
"Apologize for what?" Twilight asked.
I knew it was coming and for some reason, I failed to react. Rarity's hand made contact with my face so hard that the sound could probably have been heard in Baltimare.
"Applejack you have to the count of three to get your thick-headed body over to Rainbow Dash and apologize."
"Why in hell should Ah?" I asked angrily, picking myself off the floor.
"Because Rainbow is leaving for boot camp tomorrow morning," Sunset chimed in.
"Wait! What? Boot camp?" I asked. "What are y'all talking about?"
Rarity spun me around and forcefully shoved me back in the direction of Rainbow Dash. "Maybe you should ask her yourself."
"A'ight, a'ight. Ah'm going," I complained.
My feet felt like lead as I made the trek to Rainbow Dash's presence. She's the one that cheated and Ah'm being made to apologize? What kinda malarkey is this? Just before reaching the sofa, I turned and saw Rarity make a telephone gesture. Whelp, here goes nuthin’, I thought as I stood next to her.
"Uh, hiya, Dash," I said nervously.
"Only my friends call me 'Dash', Applejack," she shot back deliberately without looking at me. "You stopped being my friend the instant you began bad-mouthing me on social media."
I nervously rubbed my left arm as I made my reply. "Fair enough. So, um, y'all mind if Ah sit down?"
"Do whatever you want," she told me angrily. "It'll make it easier for you to call me a 'rainbow-haired whore' or 'soccer slut' or whatever today's insult happens to be."
I let out a huge sigh as I prepared to do what had to be done. "Listen, Rainbow Dash. Ah didn't come over here to fight."
"Really? Then why did you come over?"
"Ah came over to listen to yer side of what happened and to…" I lowered the volume of my voice, "...apologize."
"Seriously? It's been nearly six months and now you want to listen to my side of the story?" Rainbow shouted, spinning around to face me. "Do you have any clue what kind of emotional torment I've been through? I carry around the guilt of betraying my girlfriend every freakin' day. In addition to that, all the name-calling - whether on social media or to my face - feels like a dagger has been plunged through my heart."
"Ah...Ah'm sorry-"
"Oh I'm sure you are. I had a lapse in judgment on my birthday which you happen to witness. That was the only time I slept with anyone else besides you." She took a moment to wipe a small tear that had formed in her eye. "You had every right to break up with me. But everything else after that was uncalled for."
"Okay. Ah get it. Ah was outta line for mah behavior," I admitted. "What would y'all have done if ya caught me doing some chick on the same day y'all were planning to propose?"
"Me? I would've thrown you out of the house and called it quits. But I still would've at least listened to your side of the story," she replied.
"Well, Ah'm listening now," I told her. "What happened that day?"
"Before I tell you what happened, why do you suddenly want to know my side of it? It's because I'm leaving tomorrow, ain't it?" Rainbow asked.
I slowly nodded my head in silence as I stared at the floor.
"And I suppose you'll also wanna know why I enlisted?"
I nodded again.
"Alright fine," she said. "First off, the whole thing wasn't my idea. Okay? Lightning Dust had been pressuring me for weeks. In the showers after practice and games, she would flirt with me and rub her <censored> while winking at me.
"I eventually gave in just to get her to knock it off. I knew that you couldn't get off work on my birthday, so I agreed to <censored> her while you were at work. It was also agreed that it was a one-time fling.
"I let her borrow some of my clothes and we drove back there in my car so keep any suspicions to a minimum. Against my advice, she undressed just inside the front door and it escalated from there. We had only been going at it for about ten minutes before you surprised us by coming home early."
I then saw how much her decision had been eating at her as tears filled her eyes.
"Applejack, there is nothing I can say or do to make up for betraying you. The day after we broke up, I quit the soccer team and began picking up double shifts at work to pay for the rest of my tuition."
"Y'all quit?! Why?"
"Be-because I was so upset with myself and I…" She trailed off as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing loudly.
Unsure of what to say or do, I let my instinct take over and pulled her into a hug. Ah really did hurt her worse than Ah thought, I said to myself as she returned the hug and cried into my shoulder. "Ah'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash," was the only thing I could say.
"Why did you do those things, Applejack? I said I was sorry," Rainbow asked, her voice muffled.
"Because...Ah was angry," I replied. "And hurt."
Rather than say anything, she resumed crying into me. I leaned in and rested my chin on her shoulder while patting her back. But something happened when I did that. I began to cry as well. All the anger and hurt began to melt away with the tears rolling down my cheeks. I realized that I still had feelings for her and I was about to lose one of my closest friends for the next two years.
"Dashie, Ah mean, Rainbow Dash, Ah hope y'all will forgive me for all the torment Ah've put ya through," I whispered in her ear.
"I...I forgive you, AJ," she whispered back.
We both sat there, crying in each other's arms as all the pain, anger, and feelings of betrayal from both of us washed away with our tears. I don't know how much time had passed before we stopped bawling, but it was definitely a significant amount.
"So why did y'all enlist in the...uh, where ya off to?"
"I'm going into the Air Force," Rainbow said as we subconsciously held each other's hands.
"It had to do with me, didn't it?" I asked softly.
She nodded her head. "Yeah. A lot. The emotional state I was in from all of your jabs had me calling the suicide prevention hotline almost on a daily basis. The last time I called it, the person I spoke with suggested a change of scenery. So I looked at my options and decided to enlist since I was guaranteed to be away from you," she explained.
"No matter how many times Ah say Ah'm sorry, it ain't gonna be enough to make up for mah actions. And Ah'm really sorry that Ah'm running y'all off to join the military," I said as we both stood up.
Rainbow gave me another hug and a friendly kiss on the cheek. "I know, AJ." I looked in eyes and saw something I hadn't seen in a long time. Before I got a chance to say anything, she continued, "I'm not sure if this will help the healing process but I wanted to let you know that…" she paused to wipe her misty eyes. "...that I never stopped loving you and - as your Dashie - that I want you to be happy."
"Thanks, Dashie," I said with a smile.