//------------------------------// // September / Applejack // Story: Apples and Sunsets // by VitalSpark //------------------------------// Applejack stood at the door and braced herself for a moment. She pushed the door open and stepped into the corridor. It was the first day back at school after the summer holidays, and she was feeling apprehensive about seeing Sunset again. She hadn't heard from the girl since that night a few weeks ago when she'd seen her outside her window. Big Mac and Granny had at least been reasonable and acknowledged that Applejack would have to see Sunset within school, but they'd maintained that Applejack must have no contact with her outside school hours. She's downloaded her schedules a week ago, so already knew where she had to go, and headed straight for her maths class, eager to avoid running into someone on the way. She was in the middle class for maths, and Sunset was in the top class for — well — almost everything, so Applejack should at least be able to avoid Sunset for their first class of the day. But why do I want to avoid her? Applejack asked herself. She was my best friend — no, is my best friend — and I've barely seen her in weeks. The classroom was empty and she chose a seat at the far end, away from the door and waited for the other students and the teacher to arrive. * * * Applejack emerged from the classroom an hour later, irritated by the amount of homework Mr Smooze had set for them. It's only our first day back. Couldn't he go easy on us? She took her phone out of her pocket and started thumbing through her messages as she walked along. There were a couple from Caramel. I can read them later. Not watching where she was going, she walked straight into someone. "Ow!" came a familiar voice. Applejack looked up and saw she'd smacked into Sunset Shimmer. "Oh… umm… sorry, Sunset," she said nervously. "I… I didn't see you there." Sunset smiled slightly. "It's okay, AJ. It's… it's nice to see you. I've missed you." Applejack put her phone away in her pocket. "I've missed you too." She thought for a moment. Should I ask her about the thing with the heart? "I… I better get to my next class." "It's good to see you again." Applejack nodded and hurried down the corridor, making an effort to appear to be in more of a rush than she really was. * * * "Pass the apple sauce," Applejack said. Pinkie slid the jar along the cafeteria table. "Who eats apple sauce on hotdogs?" she asked. "I quite agree," Rarity added, cutting her hotdog with a knife and fork. "I don't quite understand why the school even provides it." Applejack smiled. "Because we give them a gosh darn decent price." She moved her sausage to one side and spooned a big dollop into her bun, spreading it with the back of the spoon. She replaced the sausage and lifted the hotdog to her mouth to take a bite. "I… I suppose if apple sauce goes with pork chops, then it should go well with other pork products, like sausages," Fluttershy suggested. "Pfft! What would you know… you're a vegan!" Rainbow scoffed, biting into her own hotdog. She stopped chewing half-way through her mouthful and used the hotdog to gesture behind Applejack. Applejack turned around and saw her: Sunset Shimmer. She'd just paid for her lunch and was carrying her lunch towards their table. She stopped suddenly, looking at Applejack, then changed direction, sitting down beside Trixie. Applejack watched for a moment before turning back to the other girls. "Well, that was awkward," Rainbow said, having finally finished chewing her food. "I hope Sunset makes friends with Trixie," Rarity said. "She's not so bad, really. A trifle over-dramatic perhaps." Four pairs of eyes looked at Rarity. "What?" Applejack took another bite of her hotdog, and turned around to look at Sunset again. She seemed to be chatting to Trixie. Applejack wondered what they were talking about. "Applejack? Applejack?! Earth to Applejack! Come in!" Applejack heard the voice and turned back around. "What, Rainbow?!" She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting staring at Sunset, tuned out of whatever conversation the girls had been having. "Sheesh, AJ," Rainbow sighed, "I was asking if you were still up for playing bass in the band." "Yeah, sure. Bass." Applejack turned around, her eyes seeking out the table where Sunset had been sitting with Trixie, but their seats were empty now. She mentally cursed Rainbow Dash for making her take her eyes off Sunset. She scanned the room, and caught her leaving the room with Trixie. Should I go after her? Applejack put her hotdog down on her plate and stood up. Almost in a trance, she headed towards the door. Pinkie's voice came over her shoulder. "Hey, if you're not eating that, can I have it? … Applejack? Applejack?! … I'm having it." Applejack pushed past Cloudy Kicks and some of Rainbow's other friends from the soccer team and hurried through the cafeteria door and out into the hallway. She spotted Sunset not too far ahead waving goodbye to Trixie. She rushed to catch up. "Sunset!" she called, skidding on the floor. Sunset spun around. Her face instantly lit up when she saw Applejack. "AJ!" she said happily, but just a moment later she took on a more serious demeanour. "What is it, Applejack?" "I… I just… you know, you don't have to sit at another table, you know. At lunch. You can sit with us if you want. I… I won't try to talk to you if you don't want me to." Sunset looked at the floor and kicked her heels. "Of course I want to talk to you, but I… I just… can't. I don't want to get you in trouble." "They won't find out though… my family. And even if they did… well, we go to the same school, don't we? We're bound to run into each other from time to time. They have to accept that," Applejack pleaded, her eyes wide open. "Of course, but there's a difference between running into you in a class, and choosing to sit together at lunch, isn't there?" "I understand," Applejack sighed, closing her eyes. The pair stood in silence for a few moments before Applejack looked back towards Sunset. "You know this whole situation is completely fucked up." Sunset laughed, the smile returning to her face. "That it is, AJ. That it is." Applejack shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. "So…" "So…" I love you. "I guess I'll see you around… when I run into you from time to time." Sunset nodded. "From time to time. I guess." I love you too. * * * Applejack pulled another sheet of toilet paper from the dispenser and used it to wipe her eyes. She heard a door swing open. "AJ?" came the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash. Applejack said nothing. "AJ? Are you in here?" Applejack's eyes shot to the lock on the door. I remembered. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. BANG! Suddenly there was a pounding on the door to her stall. "Applejack, I know you're in there. Open up!" Applejack stiffened up. "But… how? How did you know?" "Open up and I'll tell you," Rainbow bargained. "Fine!" Applejack stood up and unlocked the door, stepping out of the stall. "You know, people in the bathroom sometimes want a bit of privacy." Rainbow dismissed the notion. "Pfft! Whatever." "So how did you know I was in here?" Applejack asked. "Boots." Rainbow pointed at Applejack's boots. "Nobody else in school wears boots like that. I saw 'em under the stall door." Applejack rolled her eyes. She'd made a rookie mistake. "So, why are you determined to harass me in the bathroom?" "Because I'm worried about you, AJ. We're all worried. The way you ran off at lunch. And you've clearly been in here crying." Applejack wiped her eyes again, but said nothing. "You're crying over her again, aren't you? Shimmer." Applejack looked away. "I thought… I thought I'd got over her. But now I realize how stupid that idea was. I could put her out of my mind when she wasn't around, but now she's around again, isn't she? And I can't stop thinking about her." Rainbow nodded. "I'm going to see her every day, aren't I?" Applejack turned back to Rainbow. "Yeah." "I don't know how I'm going to deal with that. Tell me, Rainbow, how am I going to deal with that? How am I going to be able to see her every day but not be able to… to… to just talk to her… like friends?" "I don't know," Rainbow answered honestly, "but I know with your friends around you, you'll make it somehow." * * * "Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution," Rainbow Dash sang. "Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be." She stopped playing her guitar. "No… no… that wasn't right. You're being too loud on the backing vocals, Fluttershy… they're supposed to be… you know… backing, not lead… you know, the clue really is in the name; and AJ, you really screwed up th—" Rainbow Dash's head turned when she heard the squeaky door open. "Hi guys," Sunset said from the doorway. "Mind if I sit in?" "You want to join the band?" Rainbow asked. She looked uneasily towards Applejack. "No, I didn't say that," Sunset asked. "But I can sit in with you, maybe help out a little, without being in the band, right?" "I guess." Rainbow shrugged. "But what I mean is," Sunset continued, walking over to stand by the piano, "if anybody asked you whether I was in your band, you could honestly say 'no', couldn't you. Because I'm not in your band. I'm just sitting… in this room… while your band happens to be here." Rainbow's eyebrows narrowed. "Yeah…?" Applejack understood what Sunset was trying to say. "Sounds good enough for me." Sunset turned to Applejack. "AJ, I didn't see you there. But it's always nice to run into you." She paused. "From time to time." The band's latest non-member hopped up to sit on the edge of Rarity's baby grand piano. The smile returned to Applejack's face. "From time to time."