Applejack placed the last dirty plate into the sink, thinking over the past half hour.
Needless to say, lunch was an awkward affair. Granny Smith had taken Apple Bloom up to her room, probably to punish or dress her down for being so clueless, leaving Applejack to eat all alone.
It was a damn shame too. Applejack was actually looking forward to eating with Sunset, even if it’d probably be quiet and somewhat awkward.
She picked up what would’ve been Sunsets lunch: a surprisingly delicious looking vegetable sandwich with hard boiled eggs. Applejack figured it’d be a waste to throw it out, so might as well give it to the pigs.
As she walked outside, she stopped when she saw Sunset's car still parked in the driveway. The cowgirl briefly worried Sunset had been so angry she forgot her car, but that fear was disproven when she saw Sunset sitting in the driver's seat.
‘What in the hay is she still doing here?’ Applejack thought. It had been half an hour since she left, so either she came back for some reason or she was having car trouble and was too stubborn to call for help.
Applejack looked to the side, trying to decide if she should brave going over and talking to the red head. She took a deep breath, then began walking to Sunset's car.
Sunset didn’t seem to notice her when Applejack stopped next to the door, just glaring forward intensely.
Applejack gingerly tapped her knuckles on the window, Sunset's head snapping toward her. The window rolled down, revealing Sunset's annoyed expression. “Yeah?”
“Ah’m surprised yer still here.” Applejack said simply. “Yah having car trouble or somethin’?”
“No, I’m not having car trouble.” Sunset scoffed. “I just… I wanted to leave, really I did, but when I was about to start the car, I thought about your sister's face.”
“My sister's face?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at Sunset's confusing explanation.
“I made her cry.” Sunset elaborated further. “And I guess I feel guilty. I’ve been trying to tell myself she deserved it after the stunt she pulled, but I just… it doesn’t feel right you know? Making a kid cry.”
Applejack just stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say and too afraid she might get Sunset angry again. Her eyes lit up when she remembered she was carrying Sunsets lunch. “Oh! Hey, Ah have yer lunch. Yah uh…” Applejack cleared her throat, not sure how Sunset was going to react. “Still want to eat together?”
Sunset merely stared at her for a moment before exhaling in annoyance and unlocking the car. “Fine.”
Applejack decided not to push this admittedly small win and went to the passenger side door. She opened it and climbed into the car, handing Sunset her lunch before sitting down and closing the door.
Sunset greedily ate her lunch, starving after working around the farm all day. “... Ah’m Sorry about Apple Bloom.” Applejack finally said.
Sunset merely scoffed and set her lunch down. “Really? That’s what you’re apologizing for?”
Applejack gave Sunset an annoyed look but sighed in defeat. “And for letting her manipulate the both of us into meeting, Ah shoulda known better than to think yah’d go to her to volunteer.”
Sunset merely hummed in response, Applejack not sure if Sunset has accepted her apology or not.
“... But Ah think Ah wanted it to be real.” Sunset turned to her with an inquisitive look, wordlessly urging her to continue. “Ah think that’s why it was so easy for her to lie to me. Ah knew deep down she was up to something, but the idea of you willingly trying to seek me out… it was a dream come true.”
Sunset stared at her quietly. “And why would that be?” She tensed, thinking Applejack was going to bring up Sunset forgiving her.
“Just the idea that yer no longer my friend, that yah’ll probably never be my friend again, and that it’s all my fault… It hurts.” Applejack hugged herself and looked away. “Ah miss yah.”
Sunset's eyes widened in surprise, a long silence falling between the two girls. “I… never stopped… being your friend.”
It was Applejack's turn to give Sunset an inquisitive look. “What do yah mean?”
“Exactly that.” Sunset shrugged. “Yes, I’m angry with you and I need space, but I never stopped being friends with you.”
Applejack looked surprised. “Really? A-Ah thought yah hated me.”
“I don’t hate you.” Sunset groaned. “I’m not happy with you or anything, but it would take a lot for me to hate you.”
“How… do yah feel?” Applejack tilted her head. “And not just about me, about everything that’s happened.”
Sunset took a deep breath and exhaled, struggling to find the right words. “I feel… angry, hurt, betrayed, insecure, paranoid, lonely... It’s hard to really explain how I feel in a way that makes sense, it’s just a… torrent of negative emotions… oh, and I also feel a bit stupid for feeling so strongly about what happened.”
“What?” Applejack recoiled lightly. “Why do yah feel stupid? Yer justified to feel that way.”
“Well, think about it.” Sunset turned to Applejack. “Why should I feel this bad because people I knew for three months threw me away like trash?” Applejack winced at that. “Why should it bother me that the whole school hated me? I never gave a damn about their opinion before. The old me never would’ve sat around feeling sorry for herself or make snippy comments, she’d get off her ass and do something about it. Hell, nobody would’ve even thought about crossing old me in the first place.”
“The old yah was also a vicious bully who used and abused everyone around her.” Applejack said with a frown.
“She also wouldn’t have gotten hurt…” Sunset whispered to herself. “Listen, I’m not saying I want to go back to who I used to be. She was petty, spiteful, shortsighted, cruel, and lonely. I’d rather have you lie to me again about being your family than be like her.”
Applejacks frown deepened. It was one thing to berate herself for being a liar, another for Sunset to give a backhanded comment. But the farm girl drew the line with being accused of lying about something to her face. “Ah didn’t lie to yah!” She said stubbornly. “Ah meant what Ah said.”
Sunset gave a bitter laugh. “Is that so?”
“Yah know, it hurt when Ah thought yah stabbed us in the back like that.” Applejack added. “Ah had just called yah family, and yah immediately started posting our secrets online. Felt like it didn’t mean shit to yah, made me question whether any of it was real to yah.”
“Yet you still talk to the person responsible.” Sunset pointed out angrily. “Didn’t do that with me.”
“Not at first. Ah didn’t talk to Bloom for a solid week after what happened, even after her numerous apologies. Got so bad Mac and Granny forced us to talk, practically locked us in a room together… still haven’t forgiven her by the way.” Applejack gave a frustrated sigh. “If yah came to me and fessed that yah were Anon and begged for my forgiveness, Ah would’ve given it to yah, even if yah had an awful reason for doing it. Cause that’s what family does.”
Sunset didn’t say anything, only staring forward. “Let me ask you a very fair question.” Applejack gestured for her to continue. “Say Anon-A-Miss happened the exact same way: Piggly Wiggly comes out, Rarity’s closet of shame is leaked, everything. Except Dash is framed instead of me.” Sunset looked Applejack dead in the eye. “Would you have thought it was her if she had the pictures on her phone?”
Applejack sat there with a dumb look on her face, staring back at Sunset quietly for a full minute. “... No.” her body slumped in defeat. “Ah wouldn’t have.”
Sunset smiled triumphantly, quickly turning away to hide the tears welling in her eyes. A part of her hoped Applejack would have said yes, to know she wasn’t singled out. “Aren’t you supposed to trust your family? You would’ve trusted Dash, I would’ve trusted my brother despite the evidence. So, am I really your family?”
Applejack perked up. ‘Sunset has a brother?’ She thought. She wanted to know more, but knew it was rude to change the subject so suddenly. “Ah… Ah guess not.” Applejack instinctively reached for her Stetson, only to remember she had left it in the house. It devastated the cow girl to really acknowledge she really did lie to Sunset, not just to berate herself when she felt down. “But Sunset, yah have to understand-”
“No.” Sunset growled, looking back at Applejack as tears began pouring down her face. “I don't have to understand anything.” She pointed an accusatory finger at Applejack. “You did a lot of talking during Anon-A-Miss, so now it’s your turn to sit back and listen.”
Applejack opened her mouth to argue but quickly closed it. Perhaps letting Sunset vent would give her further insight. “Alright.”
“Do you have any idea, any idea at all, how much it hurt when you girls confronted me? How devastated I was to learn how easy it was for all of you to think the worst of me? How every day sucked just a little bit more as the whole school turned against me? It feels like nothing I did since the Formal mattered to you, any of you.” She turned to Applejack, shaking. “You promised Twilight you’d be there for me, and I thought the worst was behind us after the Sirens, that I had proven myself. If it was anyone else, you would’ve fought tooth and nail to prove they were innocent. So I have one question:” Sunset's anger seemed to dissipate drastically. “Why me?”
“Ah couldn’t right tell yah.” Applejack herself started getting teary eyed. “Ah could sit here all day giving yah excuses or try to defend myself, but Ah’m not going to do that.” She gently grabbed Sunset's hands. “Sunset, Ah was a horrible friend to yah. I refused to hear yah out and abandoned yah when yah needed me. And Ah will spend the rest of my life making it up to yah if Ah have to.” She squeezed Sunsets hands. “And Ah will prove to yah that yer my family, no matter how long it takes.”
Sunset broke down, tears falling freely and her body convulsing as she sobbed. “I-I don’t know if I can trust you.” She said with difficulty.
“Yah can.” Applejack wrapped Sunset in a tight hug. “Cause Ah promise never to lie to yah again.”