Applejack took one last, longing hug, making sure it was not too long-lasting to reveal its nature as longing. She pulled away, adjusted her hat, and let out a breath and gave it one last try. “Sure wish you could stay longer.”
The girl she was sad to let go, ever graceful, backed up. “Me too,” Twilight Sparkle admitted. “But I have responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to. Its citizens need me.” Applejack sighed, certain that the emotion would be concealed in the group disappointment. The object of her disappointment caught on to her friends’ reactions and said cheerily, “But now I can go through the portal whenever I need to! This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye 'til next time.” Each of the Rainbooms took a bit of comfort in that. Twilight turned to her dog-dragon and said “Ready?”
Applejack didn’t want to watch the result of the little assistant’s affirmative. Once again, Twilight Sparkle stepped into the portal and away from her life. The six Rainbooms stood silently, watching the portal as it eventually gave a flicker of motion and a quick shine. Rainbow Dash, ever the self-appointed leader, stepped up and poked the stone gingerly, then firmly. The slab did not give.
“Well,” the rainbow-haired girl said, “That’s that. I guess it’s back to normal for us.”
“It’s a pity the Princess couldn’t join us for the make-up concert,” whined Rarity. “I had such a wonderful outfit planned that would have looked simply marvelous on her.”
Applejack chuckled. Rarity seemed more concerned with the fashion statements of the band, though the girl did play the piano well and easily adapted to keyboard and keytar. Normally she would give Rarity some guff for this, but for one she was trying to be more supportive of her bandmates’ varying drives in joining a band.
The fact that she also was trying not to blush as various images of just what the fashionista could do with Twilight also held her tongue. Applejack’s mind wandered to the Fall Formal, both to what Rarity wound up doing with Twilight’s very attractive shoulderless dress with inviting ruffles that seemed to open the skirt and to their fashion-forward friend’s insistence that Applejack’s own skirt be short. With that sort of eye for feminine allure, avant-garde style, and willingness to let show as much as society would accept for a high school aged girl, she could do wonders with Twilight’s body indeed.
She shook her head and forced herself to stop. Such thoughts were fruitless. Twilight was from a different world. Heck, she was actually a pony! Applejack was familiar with equines from farm living, and despite Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash’s giggling and pointing at certain aspects of her family’s stallions, there was nothing that could even remotely attract her to a horse. Twilight, on the other hand, was definitely able to bypass any qualms about inter-species relationships, but there too was a problem: among the humans, she was clearly into Flash Sentry. So it was a bust all around.
Her friends, who had been in conversation for a while now, turned to her. Fluttershy spoke up (at least for her) and asked, “What do you think, Applejack?”
Stop thinking about her bust!
Rainbow Dash waved her hand in front of Applejack’s eyes. “Hello! Earth to Applejack!”
“Sorry girls,” Applejack said, shaking her head, “What was the question?”
“We want make sure that we have a new song!” said Pinkie Pie, bubbly as ever. “A song about Twi~light!” she sang.
Sunset Shimmer nodded. “We’re each going to write something, then we’ll see what we have and try to use the best bits.”
Rarity gave a pointed look to Rainbow Dash. “That way,” she said, “someone isn’t taking up the spotlight on songs that are only hers.”
“Hey, that’s why I came up with the idea!”
Applejack nodded. “Alright, then. I’ll do my best and get you all a good song for Twi.”
With the group in agreement, they planned their next meet-up, said their goodbyes-‘til-next-time to each other, and headed home.
That night, Applejack lay in bed, pencil in her mouth, notebook in her hand, thinking of the best way to put into words how she felt about Twilight Sparkle. It was easy enough to get ideas, but words – especially ones that rhymed and had a cadence to them – were hard to come up with. She looked around the room, searching for inspiration. Her eyes finally fell on a horse toy lying on its side on a shelf of her favorite childhood playthings. She rose and picked it up, finding the knight in armor still attached. She remembered the knight, how she wanted a real knight to come and sweep her off her feet like a princess. Now, her knight was a princess... and the steed, for that matter. It was like Twilight was the complete fairy tale, rolled into one.
That started her pencil. How do all those stories start, she thought. It’s always “Once upon a time.” Good enough. Now, what did she love most about the knight as a child? Looking it over, she saw the banner held high by the knight’s lance. The knight’s colors, the symbol of all he was. Everyone had their own motif around Canterlot High School: Applejack had apples, Fluttershy favored butterflies, Dash had Rainbows. Twilight was granted the same by her portal (Rarity had nearly fainted at the idea that she had stepped into a portal naked), a star surrounded by five stars, which Twilight called her “cutie mark.” The stars, she said, represented her friends back in Equestria, the ones like Applejack and her friends. She had gathered these five souls together twice now, like
“Stars align!” Applejack exclaimed. “Once upon a time, you made my stars align… shoot, with a cadence like that Dash’s going to try to rap. Slow it down…” It only took Applejack a moment to come up with something to add to the lyrics: as she normally found, the best solution was the honest one.
“Once upon a time, you came into my world and made the stars align.” It was a great addition; from the start, all of CHS would be able to tell that the song was about their friend from “out of town.” Applejack thought of Flash Sentry, how he might enjoy the song. She wasn’t sure if he could tell that they shared similar feelings for Twilight Sparkle, but questions about her always seemed to be directed at Applejack. “I wonder if he can see the signs?” Applejack wondered aloud as she read over the first verse again. Come to think of it... signs - align - time… worked pretty well in Applejack’s mind. She added to her sheet, “Now I can see the signs.”
Words flowing readily now, Applejack turned back to the knight on the steed. What was it about Twilight that fulfilled her desire to be swept away by a knight in armor? These stories were often about damsels in distress. Applejack worked hard on her farm, and it had made the girl tough. Rarely did Applejack ever find herself to be a distressed damsel. More often, she found herself being the knight that rescued her friends when they needed it. Few problems ever found her needing rescue.
The magical part about Twilight, though, was that after Sunset Shimmer had arrived, Applejack and her friends were in a constant state of needing rescue for years, and it was more than just Sunset’s old ways leading up to an eventual attempt at brainwashing and world domination. The Rainbooms were only truly themselves when they were together. They thrived on the friendship they shared, and Twilight was able to bring them back to that after years of losing that. Twilight had rode in and picked them all up onto her steed. But it wasn’t a mire or battle that she had picked them up from. She had picked them up from the sadness and melancholy of separation.
“We were down,” Applejack said aloud, trying to get a feel for the line forming in her head. “You pick me up… when I get down… so I can ride off with you into the sunset.” Ugh. Too many words, not to mention the last thing the band needed at this point was a potentially confusing use of their new member’s name. Applejack gnawed on her pencil more. “You pick me up when I get down so… I can… what?”
Again, perhaps the best way to go was to be honest and literal. Applejack considered what she was now actually doing. Moping was not going to make a great song. Yearn did not rhyme. No, this was about the best time, the highlights. The times when they were united by a literal magic of friendship, hovering in the air, transformed to be near equine, and-
“Shining,” Applejack exhaled. “Shining like the Rainbooms were actually rainbows themselves.” It was a good word to sum up the whole experience. Applejack felt radiant around Twilight, and together the girls had all actually shined. Dash would like the rainbows part, and Applejack was in a happy enough mood with the tone of the song so far that stroking the ego of the blue-skinned girl who brought the band together would be worth it to get the song into their rotation.
So far, so good, Applejack thought, yawning. It was late, and sleep was calling to her. It was a good stopping point. She set down the notebook carefully in her backpack, and before making her way into bed, she picked up the knight toy and placed it on her nightstand, right where she could stare at it into the night.
“Good night, Sir-Princess-Twilight,” she said, and kissed both the knight and the horse before turning off her light.
Unfortunately the next day was a school day; and for Applejack, it went by at a seemingly sluggish pace. All she could think of was the song in her heart, waiting to come out, but not finding the next words to make her emotions into something performable. Math was little more than tapping her pencil against the blank space in her notebook as if it were a magic wand that could make the right words appear by contact. Science was barely saved with watching Rainbow Dash paired with the gray-skinned girl who had played a saw at the Battle of the Bands trying to do experiments. History was right out. Lunch saw the farm-girl practically sweating over her notebook, barely touching her food as she tried to express herself.
Fluttershy was the first to sit near her. “What’s wrong, Applejack?”
“Nothin’,” she responded tersely.
“It seems like something is-”
“No ‘Shy, that is the problem. I’m trying to write a song for Twilight and I’ve got nothing.”
Rarity made her presence known behind them. “Well, you have something there!”
Rainbow Dash bounded next to them, “Oh! Let me see!”
Before Applejack could protest, a pair of blue hands snatched up her notebook. The three girls leaned in and smiled.
“Oh my…” said Fluttershy, blushing.
“Wow, AJ, I didn’t…” Rainbow Dash started in a teasing tone.
“Girls!” snapped Rarity. She gained her composure and handed the notebook back to Applejack. “It is a very good first verse, darling, and I’m sure we can all appreciate your work and not dwell about your feelings.”
“So when are you moving to Equestria to live with your girlfriend?” said Pinkie Pie, who apparently had materialized out of thin air carrying two lunch trays laden with sweets. Rarity found the palm of her hand to be a perfect cradle for her head, Fluttershy sank down to check under the table for anything but what was going on, and Rainbow Dash guffawed.
“Pinkie!” Applejack admonished. “It’s not like that. Sure, I like Twilight. Maybe even lover her, for my own part. It’s definitely a solid crush that I wish I could expand beyond just a few days at a time while trying to destroy a supervillain. But right now, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. I’m mostly just happy that I have y’all, safe after all we’ve been through.” She pulled Fluttershy into a hug to lift her up. “Ya’ know, that’s really what I love about Twilight Sparkle the most. She gave me back my friends. I don’t think I would leave y’all even to be with her, not until I get my fill of you after the years I’ve lost.”
“Maybe you should write about that,” suggested Fluttershy.
“Yeah,” said Rainbow, “give us a shout-out too.”
Applejack considered the idea a moment. “I can give it a shot,” she conceded, taking pencil to paper. “Let’s see. ‘Friends, you are in my life…’ ‘Again’ would be nice, life sounds enough like the others to fit the scheme. ‘And I’m not going to leave you.’ ‘I’m not going to leave your… side.’” Applejack nodded contently at the rhyme. “Needs a bit more. ‘And you can trust-’ no- ‘And you can count on me to be there by your side.’”
“Oooh! Good one,” Pinkie cheered.
Sunset Shimmer made her way over to where the Rainbooms were sitting. “Hey girls, sorry I’m late, what are you up to? And… is that the lunch tray I asked you to get for me?” The last part was more directed to Pinkie Pie, so she was the one to answer.
“We’re looking at what Applejack has for her Twilight song! And yes!”
Sunset sat down, and after a few moments of scrunching her face as if she was concentrating on transmuting her lunch tray, she started with the cake. “That’s really cool,” she said between bites, “I’ve already tried too, but all I’ve got are just bits that sounded like Fluttershy’s song that I sang with you all.”
“Oh? Was it too catchy? I’m sorry.” Fluttershy squeaked.
“No, that’s good, both of you,” praised Applejack. “If I’m going write about our friendship, and how Twilight brought us back together, I should write about that moment.”
Pinkie nearly jumped across the table. “You mean when we all sang together and our song became a giant rainbow horse?”
“I’m sure that there’s a better way to put it than that,” said Rarity, rolling her eyes.
“Is that even what happened?” asked Rainbow Dash, skeptically.
“Yes,” Sunset confirmed. “That was a magical creature formed from our song. It was as if our music-”
“-Came to life,” Applejack finished. She wrote another line in the notebook, “And that should bring us back to a ‘pick me up so I can shine’ line.”
“Except we actually flew on our magic,” Rainbow reminded.
“So what? We weren’t picked up? What’s it called when you’re flying?”
“Lift,” commented Fluttershy.
“So Twilight wasn’t picking us up. We sang our song to lift us up… so we could shine.”
Rainbow Dash picked up on it, “Shine like rainbows…” she sang, testing a melody.
“Nah, not yet,” Applejack said. “I like what Sunset was saying, I actually want to reference what Fluttershy’s song was saying.” Lunch was wrapping up, so she said, “I want to hear that song again, if you don’t mind.”
“We were going to practice it tonight anyway,” said Rainbow Dash. “We’ll get it in first thing, then try to help you jam out the rest of the song.”
Applejack nodded and packed up. “Sheesh, I barely even ate any of my lunch. At least I’m not alone-” she stopped startled as she looked over to Sunset.
“What?” she asked, following Applejack’s shocked eyes to her empty tray. “Oh! Well, ponies can survive on sweets alone, so… it was kind of natural.”
“Must be nice to be a magical pony…” began Rarity as they walked out of the lunchroom.
With a clear plan in place, Applejack’s afternoon went by much easier. She was able to actually focus on her classes through the final hour, notebook secure in her backpack. Anticipation gave energy in the place of the fog of her writer’s block (though, she admitted to herself, the words had come along in the space of a day, so there was little to complain about). Finally the Rainbooms set up their practice.
“Alright,” Sunset Shimmer said, “without Twilight, this falls to me and Rainbow to start the singing. Rarity, you’ll have to pick up a little in the keytar to make up for Vinyl’s effects.”
“Got it!” affirmed Rainbow Dash.
“One-two-three!” Pinkie Pie counted in, and started the rolling drumwork.
Applejack played her parts when it came to her, but she was focusing on the lyrics. Remembering this, Sunset turned to her and made sure that she was able to hear everything distinctly. They worked through the song, Magic of Friendship filling the air, until at the last chorus, Applejack felt a surge of power and had a moment of clarity.
“Got the music in our hearts, we’re here to blow this thing apart, and together we will never be afraid of the dark!”
Music in hearts, thought Applejack. Afraid of the dark… no, shining in the dark… turning on in the dark… igniting…
“Hey, AJ,” said Rainbow as the band died down mid-chorus. “We kind of need you here still for the crescendo.”
“Let her think, Rainbow,” Rarity pleaded.
“No, no, it’s good. Crescendo! Rainbow! Something that rhymes with those that is like shine…”
“Glow?” Sunset tried.
“BINGO!” said Applejack, to Pinkie Pie’s amusement. “The song… the sound (yes, can’t copy too much) that we hear in our hearts makes a crescendo, and the light that ignites in the dark, it makes us all glow!”
“And shine like rainbows!” Rainbow and Sunset sang, much to the former’s surprise that the latter had picked up on her tune. “Shine like rainbows!” Now it was their turn to be shocked, as the other Rainbooms added their voice, with a nice rising harmony.
Smiling, Pinkie Pie drummed in a slow, steady beat, and Applejack strummed a little tune on her bass. Rainbow picked up the tune and mimicked it with an electric guitar twist.
“Once upon a time, you came into my world and made the stars align…” sang Applejack, thinking of her princess-knight.
Rarity, seeing the love in her friend’s eyes, let her know by picking up the next line “Now I can see the signs! You pick me up when I get down so I can shine…”
The Rainbooms sang together, trying some variations of the tune on their own instruments, “Shine like rainbows! Shine like rainbows!”
Rainbow Dash had made her way to Applejack’s notebook, and picked up the song as a lead singer. “Friends, you are in my life, and you can count on me to be there by your side…”
Not to be outdone, Sunset threw her own twist on the next line, “And when the music comes alive we sing our songs to lift us up so we can shine…”
So they came to the new addition to the chorus, singing it together. They sang it several times through, with Applejack finally cutting off the music. Friendship magic crackled around them.
“I guess that means it’s a good song,” said Rainbow.
“I like repeating the chorus at the end,” said Applejack, “but it needs something in between.”
Rarity nodded in agreement. “Think you could write a bridge, dear?”
Before Applejack could answer, thunder rolled in the distance. “Shoot, maybe after I get home before our back road gets too muddy.” They nodded in understanding, and packed their instruments. The six girls made their way to the parking lot and parted ways quickly. Applejack found that Mac had come by to give her a lift.
“Hey Mac,” Applejack said, buckling up in the passenger’s seat. “Have a good day?”
“Eeyup.”
They drove in silence for a while.
“You?” the elder sibling asked.
“Yeah, the girls and I had a good practice.”
Big Mac briefly turned his eyes to his sister, looked her up and down, and said, “Enope.”
Applejack blushed. “Okay, it was a great practice. I wrote a song, and the girls liked it.”
Big Mac shook his head.
Applejack was almost apple red. “I wrote a song for… someone I love.”
Big Mac chuckled.
“Had me figured all along, big bro?”
“Eeyup.”
They rode along quietly from there, the first few drops of rain accentuating the dark clouds and thunder in the distance. By the time they reached the Apple Family homestead, the rain was coming down steady. Big Mac parked near the front.
“I’m gonna’ take the truck down to the garage and check to make sure the horses are in the barn,” said Big Mac. “You’d better get inside or Granny’ll give me an earful.”
“’K,” said Applejack, and hopped out of the truck. Mac drove off, but Applejack stayed out in the rain, letting the cool water run down the sides of her face. She sighed.
“I’m never going to get the chance. You’re a pony princess and I’m a farm girl. Even if you look here for someone to love, you’ve got a crush, and on a guy, and he likes you back mighty strong.”
For a moment, the sun broke through and warmed Applejack.
“But I have made something beautiful for you. And I’m mighty proud of that. And I think you’ll be, too.”
From the situation, from the sunlight, from nowhere, from her heart, Applejack sang: “Together we stand as the rain begins to fall, and holdin’ our heads up high as the sun shines through it all.”
She smiled as the words rolled through her head again and again. It was her bridge. Somehow, without even trying, she had come to her bridge. She repeated it to herself a few times to ensure she would be able to write them, and then chuckled as she walked in to keep her notebook dry.
“Heh, musical friendship magic. It’s a nice bridge. Thanks, Twi.”