An ever present, silent sentinel, the sun stood watch high over the land of Equestria. Should it choose to, it could surveil all below it, from the emerald edges of the everfree forest to the sapphire glittering of the western sea. Possibly the last place the sun would choose to set its gaze is also, oddly enough, one of the places that most feels its presence. It was there, on the dusty, yellow dirt roads of Appleoosa, that two ponies walked together as silently as the sun above them.
Each had their own reasons for their silence.
One of them was a mare who's heart had been broken before. The avatar of honesty, she could be trusted to be truthful with her thoughts and feelings, and all she wanted was somepony that she could trust. Perhaps she wanted it too badly though. Everypony she had exposed her heart to had taken a piece of it, leaving nothing in return. The sad thing, at least from Applejack's perspective was that it never came as a surprise. After all was said and done, she had seen it coming, every single time. Even if she forced herself to try and ignore it.
She had tried to confine her feelings to friendships and family, but found herself unable to. Right now, she was waiting, hoping for the stallion beside her to give her a reason to justify the risk of opening up her feelings again. Either that, or to prove that this was a bad idea and should not have been attempted in the first place.
The stallion was silent, partly because he had nothing to say, partly because he was afraid to say anything at all. Every date he had ever been on had ended badly. And that was if he worked up the courage to talk to the mare in the first place. He had long ago lost count of the unrequited crushes and the times he had let his nerves get the better of him.
As they walked aimlessly through the sleepy, sun-kissed, or rather, sun-baked town, he realized he was doing it once again. He was letting his apprehensions about the situation get in the way. He had to start a conversation quickly or he would come across as shy and introverted. Well, maybe just a little more shy and introverted than he had already come across as.
After thinking for a bit, he finally settled on a nice, neutral conversion starter. "So, Applejack, what happened to your cousin?"
"Braeburn? He had a run in with some bandits." Applejack noticed that Soarin' was trying to play it safe with his choice of topics, but she didn't mind. She was just glad he was talking.
Soarin' caught himself mid-nod. It was one of his nervous habits to nod rather than respond when spoken to, but he wanted to change that. "Why would the bandits do that to him?"
"They didn't," Applejack said, "he did that to himself when he went and blew up the hotel." She was happy that they were having a conversation, but she wasn't quite happy with the way it was going. She wanted to know more about this blue stallion, and his choice of subject matter was hardly conducive to such a goal. She let out a light chuckle and tried to steer their chat in a more personal direction. "Ain't all bad though, he got a new friend outta the deal. She had to go to Canterlot to provide evidence against the bandits, but Ah hear they've been writin' back an' forth." Applejack looked over so she could see his reaction before continuing. "Judgin' by the way Braeburn was talkin' 'bout her, Ah'm pretty sure the two of 'em have got a thing for each other."
Soarin's reaction was rather disappointing, he kept his eyes leveled on the path ahead of him and slowly nodded. "That's nice."
Applejack let out a sigh. "Ah s'pose it is, Sugarcube."
"Why does she call me Sugarcube?" Soarin' thought to himself. He liked the idea of it, but it made him wonder if he should try to come up with a nickname for her. A few possibilities ran through his head. Things like, "Sugarbunch" or "Applecube." When his mind suggested "Jack," he decided that that he should just abandon the endeavor altogether. He didn't really want to though, he felt that he really had a chance to become at least a tiny bit more familiar with the orange mare and he didn't want it to slip through his feathers.
"Sugarcube?"
Applejack was, in his mind, one of the nicest mares he'd met in a long while. They also seemed to have a lot in common, younger siblings that depended on them, physically stressful jobs, and a single article of clothing that held significance to them and nopony else.
"Sugarcube?"
Soarin' wondered why he couldn't come up with a nickname, it should be easy, right? You just think about the other pony and pick something that suits them. Soarin' has a few friends that he calls by a nickname. There's Spits, Doc, Blue, Ziggy, although, Ziggy is more of a barely tolerated, and largely avoided, acquaintance.
"Streetlight."
"What?" Soarin' looked up in time to see the streetlight in all its rusty glory, but not in time to avoid it.
"KLAAAANNNGGG!" The hollow crash of head on metal resounded throughout the town and would have drawn stares had there been anypony present to do so.
"You all right, Sugarcube?" Applejack stood over the prone form of her current interest, staring down in concern. He would be a romantic interest, but she was still slightly undecided about that point.
"I'll let you know as soon as my head stops ringing." Soarin' tried to rub away the pain in his snout and forehead, but was still left with a decent ache. He would have to pay more attention next time. "Thank you for trying to warn me, A.J." It took Soarin' a moment to realize that he had finally come up with a nickname for the pretty farmer. It only took him a few seconds to mentally kick himself over how long he had managed to overlook such a glaringly obvious moniker.
"I s'pose all pegasi have got hard heads," AJ muttered to herself, marvelling at his speedy recovery from such a solid impact. "Um, Sugarcube, yer still on the ground."
"Yes I am," he said with a sigh. "So it begins." First he loses his dignity, then he'll embarrass himself further. Next thing you know, he'll find some way to insult her without meaning to and everything will go downhill from there. It's a script, one he had played out too many times, and Soarin' was sure, one written by a power who enjoyed a good, cruel laugh.
Applejack looked down at Soarin' as he stared blankly into the sky. The stallion had merely seemed sad before, but now, he seemed sad and depressed. For some reason that even she didn't know, that made Applejack angry. "Get up." Soarin' looked over at her but made no move to get to his feet. She stomped a hoof to make her point. "Ah said, get up." Soarin' rolled over onto his hooves and stood up, bringing him face to face with Applejack. "Do you dislike me?"
Of all the questions she could have asked, this was one Soarin' never expected to hear, usually, it was his dates that came to dislike him. "No, w-why would you ask that?"
Applejack told him why in no uncertain terms. "Yer actin' like ya don't want ta be 'round me, and it's startin' ta tick me off!" Soarin' opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off. "I don't want another hollow apology, I want ya ta tell me what's wrong!" She let her shoulders slump with a sigh and shook her head, planting her gaze on a rock near her hooves. It was a small, dirty, greyish-yellow rock, not much bigger than an appleseed. Probably a weathered chip of limestone that had once been much larger and brighter. "Ah knew this was a bad idea. W-we should call this off while we can still be friendly 'bout it."
Soarin's gaze had found a rock of its own to focus on, but he kicked it away and forced himself to look at the mare he had inadvertently hurt. "No." He swallowed loudly before continuing. "I'm sorry, Applejack, and that apology isn't hollow, but I'm scared. I'm scared things will end up like they always do when I get close to somepony, with you never wanting to see me again." He forced himself forward and put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up. Tears, being fought back, were visible in her emerald eyes. "I don't want that to happen again." He had to fight the urge to withdraw, the urge to run and hide, and let things sort themselves out without him. He knew that he had to sort this out or things would never change. "I like you. I don't know you well enough to say anything more than that, but I feel like we have a chance and I am terrified of messing that up."
Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder before pulling him into a hug. "Ah'm sorry, Sugarcube." She let go of him and took a step back. "Ah shouldn't a' lost my temper at ya. It ain't yer fault that ya've got a bad hist'ry with romance."
"Eh," Soarin' winced slightly, "it kind of is."
Applejack shrugged. "Ah'll give ya that. But Ah'll tell ya, with the hist'ry Ah've got, you'd have to do somethin' pretty drastic ta scare me off." She paused for a moment to come up with a ridiculous example of something a stallion should never do on a date. "Somethin' like kissin' another mare while Ah'm at the table with ya." She started to chuckle at the absurdity of her hypothetical situation, but the laughter quickly died when she saw Soarin' cringe. "Oh, don't tell me-"
Soarin' put his hooves up in a placating gesture. "It wasn't by choice," he said quickly, "I would never do something like that on purpose."
Applejack put a hoof to her face as she shook her head. She should have seen that coming. "Fine, as bad as some a' the stallions in mah life've been, I won't hold who ya kiss against ya. So long as yer honest an' tell me 'bout it."
Soarin' nodded and quickly spouted off a list of names. "Spitfire, Colgate, Crest, Lemon Drop, Sunny Skies, Mint Tea, Parmesan Panini, Pillow Top, Inky Mane, Winter Grey, Summer Brightness, Fleur-de-lis, and princess Luna."
Applejack groaned loudly, that was much more than she wanted to know. "Ah didn't mean ya had ta- Wait, princess Luna?"
Soarin' shrugged. "Her and spitfire are the only ponies I've dated that I'm still on friendly terms with."
Applejack knew she would probably regret her next question, but she asked it anyway. "How many ponies have ya dated?"
Soarin' chewed his lip as he counted them out in his head. Applejack did not see this as a good sign, nor the fact he was taking quite a while to do it. He scratched his head with a hoof. "Including you? A hundred and thirty-seven. Two hundred and fifty-four if you count every time it didn't even get as far as the first date."
The blunt manner in which he said that shocked Applejack nearly as much as the sheer number. But, it did make her feel a little better about her own failures in that department. After all, her number was only about half as high as his. "Ah think we're gonna get along just fine, Sugarcube." She started walking again, still trying to wrap her head around that number. Well, that and how somepony like Soarin' ever managed to get a date with Luna.
"Say that after dinner," he said, following her. At first, he trailed along behind her, as was customary for him. But, when he noticed, he silently cursed himself and hurried ahead to walk side-by-side with Applejack. "There's a reason I've never had a second date."
She stopped. Walking, thinking, everything, just stopped as she processed this new information. Slowly, her gears started going again. "So, that hundred an' thirty-seven dates, that was a hundred and thirty-seven first dates?"
Again, Soarin' caught himself in the middle of nodding. "Yes."
"Whoa, Nelly! No wonder he thinks he's gonna mess things up." Applejack started walking again. "Ah tell ya what, Sugarcube, whatever happens today, how's about we do this again t'morrow? That way, ya don't have to worry about anythin'."
"Really?" Soarin' couldn't believe his ears. He was happy that Applejack was giving him such a generous chance, but he was sure that she just sealed the fate of tonight's date. He rushed to catch up with her and fell into step beside her. "Thank you, I mean, um, that's- That's really nice of you, and, uh-"
"You like grilled cheese?"
"Huh?!" Of all the bizarre subject changes Soarin' had ever heard, that one took the cake, or pie, or insert sugary pastry of your choice here. He shook his head and decided that he had to confirm what he heard. "Did you just say grilled cheese?"
"Yyup, like the sandwich?" Applejack stopped and pointed to a faded wooden sign. The olive green paint was cracked and peeling but the words, "The Two-bit Tow-bar, Saloon and Restaurant," were still legible. "Can't say much for the rest of the menu, but this place right here makes the most dee-licious grilled cheese Ah've ever had."
The crossed out saloon part of the sign worried Soarin', since he had no happy memories of any bar he ever visited. But if Applejack wanted to eat there, then he'll make it happen. "Then it looks like our dinner plans are back on," said Soarin'. Then, with an uncharacteristic burst of confidence, he offered a hoof, "care to join me for a meal?"
"Ah reckon Ah would." Applejack took the offered hoof and they started off towards the saloon restaurant, walking hoof-in-hoof.
They made it about three steps before they fell flat on their faces.
Applejack was the first one to untangle herself and make it to her hooves. "Sorry, Sugarcube." She helped Soarin' to his hooves and they started walking normally. "It's kinda hard ta walk with just three hooves."
"It's not your fault." Soarin' used his wings to dust off his flight goggles as they walked. "It was kind of stupid for me to suggest it."
Applejack let out a little chuckle. "Well, Ah'll be sure ta make a stupid suggestion too, so ya don't feel left out."
As it turns out, Applejack had already made her stupid suggestion, in the form of the restaurant where they now sat at a table, awaiting their meal.
"Ah don't know why saloon was crossed out," Applejack whispered to the stallion sharing the table with her, "everypony but us has got a bottle, and Ah bet ya it ain't cider."
Soarin' nodded and looked around the dark, smoky room. He was the only pegasus present, and Applejack was the only mare. Most of the other ponies were staring at them, making Soarin' feel even more self-conscious than usual. The only ponies that weren't staring weren't doing much of anything other than sleeping off the effects of whatever intoxicant they had chosen to imbibe. After completing his quick survey of the room, Soarin' leaned over so Applejack would be the only one able to hear him. "How about we make that meal to go?"
"That sounds like a mighty good idea, Sugarcube. Ah'll go get it." Applejack pushed away from the table and headed for the kitchen, leaving Soarin' alone in a room full of drunken ponies.
"Hurry back," said Soarin' with a nervous chuckle. No sooner had the farmer left, the atmosphere in the dim saloon took on a palpable change. To Soarin', it seemed like the temperature dropped a good twenty degrees. The sudden chill put him on the defensive and his ear twitched as he heard hoofsteps behind him. When a hoof descended on his shoulder, it took everything he had not to scream like a little filly. Though, Soarin' was pretty sure little fillies scream like him, rather than the other way around.
A hoof descended on his other shoulder and a gravelly voice spoke in his ear, carrying with it the pungent smell of a drink that was more alcohol than common sense. "Well Ah never thought Ah'd see th'day, an Apple and a pegasus. What would Granny Smith say?"
A tinny, wiry voice on his other side joined in the conversation. "She had her heart broken by one a' ya once. See, he jest couldn't stay in one place long enough."
"Ah, shaddup." said a nasally voice from underneath an empty table, "she almost married a unicorn, she don't care. No offense, Keys."
"None taken," said a unicorn who appeared to be napping on a piano in the corner, "ya no good louts pay mah rent, Ah ain't 'bout to complain none. But if ya start a fight, keep mah piana out of it." He waved a hoof and let it drop limply. "Have fun."
"A fight?!" Soarin' didn't like the sound of that. There had to be a peaceful way out of this, he had gotten into a barfight before and he had no desire to repeat the experience.
He was saved by the reappearance of Applejack, toting a makeshift saddle bag made from an old table cloth. "Am Ah interruptin' somethin'?" She made her way over to the table where Soarin' was "talking" to two ponies.
"Not at all," said the wiry voice to Soarin's right.
"And, might Ah say, yer lookin' mighty pretty mizz Applejack," said the deeper voice on the left, "as always."
"Shove it, Gumbo," Applejack slid the table out of the way so Soarin' could get out of his chair despite the two ponies behind him, "you an' yer brother've caused us a lot a' trouble with yer prospectin' so don't ya start talkin' sweet now." She turned towards the door without taking her eyes off them. "Let's go, Sugarcube."
Soarin' offered no hesitation as he got up and moved to Applejack's side. "Thank you!" Soarin' took the chance to look back at the two ponies who were behind him.
The two earth ponies were obviously brothers, their coats were the same dusty color, their manes were the same tawny shade, and they were wearing matching, yellow plaid shirts. They were almost comically different though, one of them, Soarin' was guessing Gumbo, was heavyset and had his mane straight and neatly trimmed. The other was lanky and let his wavy mane fall long on either side of his face.
"Ahh, yer no fun." Gumbo grabbed a nearby bottle and was about to take a swig from it when he caught a wiff of the hotsauce contained within. He wrinkled his nose and set the bottle down. "Ah guess we know who's wearin' what at the weddin'."
Applejack groaned in disgust as she headed for the door. She was stopped by Gumbo's brother calling after her. "Before ya go, Ah have jest one question." He trotted up to Applejack as she turned around and let out a snort. "That unicorn ya had a thing for, Frost, was it?"
"Yeah." Applejack's glare went unnoticed by the earth pony. He also failed to notice the way she tensed up at the sound that name.
"He had ice magic, right? Snow, cold temperatures, stuff like that?"
"Yeah." Applejack ground out her response much like she was grinding her hoof into the floor. Her muzzle was twisted into a scowl.
The lanky earth pony still took no notice of Applejack's irritation as he paced back and forth in front of her. "So, Ah've jest gotta know," he came to a stop in front of her, "how'd ya still manage ta get burned?"
"CRACK!!"
Before anypony could register what happened, the earth pony fell to the floor, the clatter of misplaced teeth sounding a sharp counterpoint to the dull thud of unconscious body. All eyes focused on Applejack. Her hoof was still raised, but her look of anger was replaced with one of, "oh, horseapples. Did Ah just do that?"
Her confusion was soon cut short by panic as she was shoved from behind. The sound of breaking glass filled her ears as she tripped over the pony she just knocked out. She crashed to the floor, but quickly got up and turned around. She let out a gasp at what she saw. What she saw was Soarin', amber liquor tinged with red dripping from his mane, facing down a buffalo. The dark brown shards littering floor told her that Soarin' had been hit by a bottle. One, she realized, that had been meant for her.
"Tough runt," grunted the large creature.
Soarin' let out a snort. "I guess Pegasi just have hard heads." He looked like a parasprite trying to face down a dragon, but he wasn't a parasprite that would back down. To the surprise of all present, when the Buffalo reached for another bottle, Soarin' headbutted the bulkier being.
The attack was entirely ineffective in and of itself, but the Buffalo flinched and that split second of surprise was all Soarin' needed. He stretched out his wing and took hold of the same bottle his opponent was reaching for. With a swift stroke of his highly trained wing, he wrecked the bottle against the side of the buffalo's head. The Buffalo was dazed, but still standing when Soarin' reared up and grabbed hold of the creature's horns. Soarin' twisted and flapped his wings to put the buffalo off balance and provide enough momentum to slam him into the nearest wall. Soarin' delivered a swift kick to the large creatures gut, causing him to toss his head in an attempt to strike back at his smaller tormentor. Soarin' dodged the attack and leapt into the air. The buffalo looked around for him, but Soarin' stayed out of sight until the buffalo's head passed over a table. At that moment, the pegasus flew into a powered dive, coming down on the buffalo's head and sending it through the timeworn wood of the table to the floor below. The buffalo didn't get up.
Applejack watched as Soarin' stepped of the buffalo's head and through the splintered debris that was strewn about. She had seen a lot of fights, even participated in a few, but she had only ever seen one fight like that before. When she was younger, during zap apple season, an injured timberwolf had been set upon by a manticore. The situation looked one-sided, but the ensuing clash ended with the timberwolf walking away. The fight was dirty, one born of desperation and the overwhelming desire to survive despite all circumstances. Soarin' fought like a cornered animal.
There was a light scraping noise as somepony moved and stood up from their chair. Soarin' spun and shoved a hoof in that pony's direction. "You have three seconds to sit down, or I get SERIOUS!!!"
"One!"
Everypony looked at each other, fear in their faces as they contemplated the pegasus' order.
"Two!"
Everypony who wasn't already sitting plopped down as quickly as they could.
Where the count of three should have been, there was only a sudden gust of wind as a weathered old Stetson drifted slowly to the now empty floor.
Lines. That's all Applejack could see, lines of color. But her eyes stung when she tried to look, so she closed them against the biting wind she felt. She felt something else, a pair of hooves wrapped tightly around her. She heard something as well, she thought it was a voice, but couldn't be sure over the sound of wind in her ears.
She didn't like this, she had no control over what was happening and she couldn't even open her eyes to see it.
She didn't know how long it was before the wind started to die down, but as soon as it did, she became aware of one particular sound. A heavy, labored breathing above her. She tried opening her eyes again, the wind was unpleasant and still stung, but it was bearable. The lines were gone, replaced by the familiar scenery of the Appleoosan desert. They weren't very high up, but Applejack saw that they were descending. And at a pace a little faster than she was comfortable with.
"Applejack," she heard Soarin's voice from above her. Something about the way it sounded worried her. "I'm sorry."
"It's not yer fault, Sugarcube," Applejack told him. "It's mine," she added to herself. She let her temper get the better of her and dragged him along for the ride. "That was mighty heroic of ya to-WHA-!" She let out a yelp as she felt his grip slip. "Sugarcube, what's goin' on?!"
Soarin' did his best to tighten his hold on her, but there was no avoiding what was about to happen. "We're gonna crash." As they approached the ground, Soarin' did his best to drop Applejack gently on a clear patch of ground.
As her hooves came into contact with the ground, her rodeo instincts kicked in and she rolled to dissipate her momentum. After coming to a stop, she got up and checked herself, finding no serious injuries.
The same could not be said for Soarin'. The combination of injuries and exertion had dulled his movements, leaving him unable react in time to lessen the impact of his crash. He came down hard and skidded through a rocky patch of ground.
Applejack rushed to his side, fearing the worst. She found him mostly intact, save for multiple cuts and bruises. He tried to stand up but was too shaky and ended up collapsing. Then Applejack saw something she hadn't before. His shoulder was torn open from point to wither and bleeding badly. He tried to stand again. This time, Applejack caught him before he fell. He leaned heavily against her, shivering in pain and shock. His ragged breathing worried her. If he suffered some sort of internal injury in that crash, she had no way to help him.
But she couldn't worry about that now, she had to focus on how she can help him. "Come on, Sugarcube," Applejack said gently, "let's get ya ta shade." She slowly guided the wither-wrung pegasus to the shade of a large boulder not far from where he had crashed. She paid very close attention to make sure he didn't put too much weight on his injured side. Once Soarin' was laying in the shade, Applejack tore off her checkercloth saddlebags and got to work digging through them.
The food was mashed, but she set it aside for later. There were also two water bottles and some napkins. She used some of the water to wet some of the napkins. "This is gonna sting, Sugarcube. Try ta relax."
"AAAUGGH!!" Pain ripped through Soarin's shoulder at the touch of the drenched linen.
"Soarin'?" Applejack pulled her hoof away from his shoulder. "You ok?" She had to clean out the wound, but she didn't want to cause him any more pain.
Soarin' panted to catch his breath, cold sweat clinging to his face. "G-get it over with!"
She hesitated. "Ya sure?"
"Applejack, I trust you." Soarin' clenched his teeth. He knew this had to happen, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. "Do what you have to do!" With a wince, Applejack dug into the wound, clearing out dirt and pieces of rock. "AAARRGGGHH!!"
Applejack paused slightly before continuing her treatment. "Ah'm sorry," she whispered. Soarin' couldn't hear her over the sound of his own screaming. "Ah'm so sorry."