//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds // by Caineachu //------------------------------// With the hinges making a loud whine, Applejack slowly closed the front door of the cabin before she leaned back against it, sliding down to sit on the floor. She had no idea where that guy came from. She hadn't heard him come in, so it was probably while she was crying upstairs. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she sighed. "Stupid, weak...what was I thinkin' breaking down like that..." She leaned her head back against the wood, closing her eyes. Her skull still hurt from when it hit the door, and her joints ached from the fight, even more apparent now that adrenaline wasn't coursing through her entire body. She didn't want to move from this spot, but she knew she should at least relocate to a chair or a couch or something of the sort. Still, as the minutes dragged on, she just sat on the floor. She realized then that a rather bad smell was coming from somewhere in the house. A few seconds later, after the smell attacked her nostrils a bit further, she realized that it was her own body that smelled. It was a strange mixture of sweat, caked-on dirt and dried blood on her boot, and now that she noticed it, she almost gagged. She barely hesitated in tugging her boots off, her feet rejoicing at the cool air that touched them. Applejack sat a while longer before she moved again, taking off her shirt as well. She was now just in her dirty, torn jeans and the many strips of medical tape and gauze that she had wrapped around her torso and chest. She didn't feel like taking them off and redoing them later on, so she just left them where they were. The cooling afternoon air around her felt good on the now-exposed short fur covering her body, and she rested her head against the door again, closing her eyes. As the minutes stretched into an hour, she was still sitting on the floor. The sun had gone down a while ago already, and she had barely moved from her spot. With a sigh, she got back on her feet with a groan, stretching until her back cracked. Brushing some hair out of her face with a hand, she slowly headed into the kitchen, reaching out to twist the knobs next to the faucet. She wasn't surprised when no water came out, but she was still frustrated. "Can't the damn Universe give me a break?" She sighed, rubbing her face with a hand as she turned and headed into the living room, flopping down onto the couch. She slowly loosened the holster on her hip and placed it and her revolver down onto the coffee table in front of her. She leaned her head back, her eyes tracing over the markings of the wood on the ceiling as she stared upwards, her body exhausted but her mind still wide awake. When she ran out of lines to look at, she closed her eyes, her body relaxing slightly. Until she heard footsteps outside the cabin. Her eyes shot open, and she almost jumped off of the couch, her hand gripping the revolver as she slid it from its holster, moving to crouch down beneath one of the front windows. The footsteps stopped, and she thought she heard them shuffling before she heard a voice, a girl's voice. "Is anyone in there?" It sounded so, so familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it. She heard a soft knock on the front door, followed by an inquisitive "hello?" on the other side. Applejack took a deep breath, her own voice responding back. "You best not try anything if'n I open that door, ya hear?" There was a long pause. "...Applejack? Is that you?" Applejack's heart froze in her chest, and her eyes widened. She was slowly starting to put the details together as she quickly stood up, opening the front door wide. She barely held back a gasp, her gun almost slipping from her grip as she looked at the person with light blue fur and a baseball bat in her hand that was standing on her doorstep. "...Rainbow?" ---------- Out of all the things Rainbow Dash expected to see as the door of the small cabin opened up, her orange-colored best friend standing there with only bandages and pants on and a revolver in her hand wasn't one of them. She had rarely seen her with anything besides her usually farming getup on in the past, so this completely took her by surprise. She could barely process the new information she was currently receiving, and her stunned silence just made it easier for her to be pulled into a giant bear hug by the ex-apple farmer. "Oh, Dash, it really IS you! I didn't think I'd ever see any of ya again!" Rainbow could feel the hug tighten a little as Applejack held her close, and even through the sweat and dirt that she smelled, she also detected a familiar hint of apples stuck on her friend's fur. She finally just dropped the bat she was holding and wrapped her own arms around her friend, still not entirely convinced that this was really happening. Her hands clenched at the wrappings around Applejack's torso, and her heart thudded hard against her chest, and she wagered that her friend could feel every beat. "...yeah, right back at you, AJ." The hug went on for a few seconds more before Applejack leaned back, smiling wide, even as tears brimmed at her eyes. Rainbow's heart ached a little as she looked back at those emerald eyes, so many emotions expressed simply through her gaze. "Well, come on in, don't be a stranger." She turned and walked inside before Rainbow bent down to pick up her bat and followed, closing the door behind her. It was pretty dark in the house at the moment, but she could still make out where Applejack went, and she walked after her into the living room, depositing her backpack next to her friend's on one of the chairs. She placed her bat on the coffee table after Applejack set her revolver down onto it and plopped onto the couch, her orange friend doing the same next to her. "I still can't believe you're really here, Dash. I was so convinced I'd never see hide nor hair of ya ever again, after all that's happened in the last few years." "Yeah...it's been some pretty rough shit." She turned to face Applejack as she wiped at her eyes, facing her as well. "What've you been doin' this whole time?" Rainbow leaned back into the couch, looking forward again. "It's a long story, AJ. I'd have to fill you in about years of things that happened." Rainbow could almost sense the hesitation in Applejack. She figured she might've made it seem like she didn't want to talk about it, which was partially true, but it was mostly because she was so tired. Still, the apple farmer spoke up, a hand moving to rest on Rainbow's shoulder. "I got all night to listen, sugarcube." That was enough incentive. Rainbow took a deep breath, turning to partially face her friend. "Well, I guess we'd have to go back a bit..."