Roads of Life

by PonyWrites

Chapter 14 - Magnets

Rainbow Dash sighed as she braced herself to enter her girlfriend’s farmhouse. Deep down she knew it would come to this. Except she didn’t. She thought it would work out. Applejack would fall in love and… they’d be happy. That old cliche, but perhaps that’s all it was. Tired, old, unrealistic. But then why did everyone want it? Well, there was no point in dragging it out any longer.

She opened the door. Applejack was reading a trashy lesbian romance without any pleasure, her eyes scanning over it like a type-writer. She looked up from the pages, “Hey babe.”

“Hey.” Rainbow sighed.

“What’s up?”

“We… we need to talk. About us.” Applejack neatly folded the book and set it down, giving Rainbow her full attention.

“Well. OK.”

Rainbow sat down in the chair opposite her girlfriend. “It feels like nothing’s changed. Yeah, sure we go on dates. We kiss and that’s fun. But in nearly seven months now, we’ve never had sex. Ironically since I’ve started dating you this is the longest dry spell I’ve ever had.”

“I just… don’t feel comfortable.”

“Why the hell not?! Do you not love me?”

“No I do but…”

Rainbow shouted “Then what’s the problem? I know this is probably hilarious coming from me, but sex is what happens when two people love each other!”

“Could you just calm down?”

“No! I can’t possibly be calm, because at this point you’ve broken my heart into so many pieces all that’s left is dust!”

“Well maybe if ya weren’t so obsessed with me we wouldn’t have this problem!”

“Oh, so that’s it! I’m just a creep that texts you and kisses you and loves you and buys you chocolate and gives you back rubs! I’m just your personal fucking handbag because you think that if you love me back you’ll just be feeding some goddamn mental disorder! Well, let me tell you at this point it’s all your fault!”

“Oh, everything’s my fault now is it? Well, listen here missy! If you weren’t such a flaming dyke, I’d go out in public with you more! If you could just go five seconds without having to announce how big of a faggot you are to everyone we could have a nice date, but it’s literally in your hair!”

Rainbow took a step back. Applejack had lied to her. “You told me… You were fine with holding hands, and it never seemed to bother you. And this is my natural hair color! I can’t just fucking change that!”

“Well could you at least try to not wear a metaphorical pin that screams ‘I lick pussy’ everywhere we go?”

“You’re… you’re ashamed of me! What the fuck has changed? We were best friends in high school, even after I came out?”

“Yeah but now word has spread around town and I’m haemorrhaging business like sand and a sieve!”

“Well I don’t get why anyone would want to buy your mouldy old apples anyway!”

Applejack gasped and clutched her throat, only to remember it was her metaphorical jugular that was just stabbed. “Get. Out.”

Rainbow Dash took exactly one one-millionth of a millisecond too long to move. “I SAID GET OUT.” Rainbow skilfully dodged the trashy erotica thrown at her, then the coasters, except the last one hit her in the ankle. A coffee mug flew by her head and smashed against the door frame. She slammed the door behind her and heard another thud. No time to waste she bolted for her car and started the engine, flinging dirt as she drove away.

Rainbow numbly walked from her car to her room. She didn’t remember the act of moving her feet. Or even the drive. She just felt empty, like her heart had been torn to shreds by a griffin. She collapsed on her bed but found she couldn’t cry. If time even passed, Rainbow wasn’t sure. But eventually the door opened. With black voids of pupils she looked at the intruder. It was her sister.

“You OK?” She asked.

“The fuck does it look like?”

“What happened?”

“Applejack and I had a fight. I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”

“Well what was the fight about?” Scootaloo was increasingly growing tired of trying to get information out of people.

“We haven’t… had sex. Or been a normal couple by any means. I told her how I felt and ended up being target practice.”

“There are other girls. Or guys I guess. It’s not the end of the world.”

“You can’t understand!” Rainbow turned away, clutching a pillow. Scootaloo pressed her palm to her face and approached the bed.

“You’ll thank me for this later.” She raised her right hand and delivered a mighty slap to Rainbow’s face, causing her to yelp. “Get the hell over it!” Rainbow balled her fist but then remembered the promise she made to herself.

“Leave me alone.”

“Fine. Dinner’s ready by the way.” Scootaloo closed the door. Rainbow didn’t move. Time passed. How much? Rainbow couldn’t tell.

The door opened again. “It’s fucking midnight, have you even moved?” A voice said. Scootaloo.

“Go away.”

Scootaloo huffed. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this.” The girl climbed on the bed and swung a leg around Rainbow’s prone figure, straddling her stomach. “Um… what are you doing?”

“Something that should have been done a long time ago.” Scootaloo giggled and smirked playfully. Suffice it to say this was quite confusing for Rainbow, who would bang anything that consented. Since Scootaloo was 16 and her hips were grinding just a little it sure as hell seemed like it. Her hand's started moving toward her sister's hips, guided by uncontrollable force.

All at once the young girl’s face turned hard and she raised her hand. She thwacked Rainbow so hard it sounded like a bullwhip. And again, and again, and again. “She!” THWACK “doesn’t” THWACK “Love!” THWACK “YOU” THWACK “So get over it.” Scootaloo gave one final hit for good measure.

Between sobs Rainbow managed to reply “That’s easy for you to say.”

“You don’t need someone in your life to make you feel complete. Oh it helps not to be alone. Sweetie always pulled me out of my deepest pits. But your relationship wasn’t healthy. And sometimes you have to know when to cut it off.”

“But… what am I supposed to do without her?”

“Anything you want. And I’m sure, along the way, you’ll find another girl. Or boy since you like that gross stuff.” Scootaloo chuckled. “What about Sunset?”

“She’s… nobody’s heard from her except seeing her face on the news. At this rate she’ll be president by next term.”

“I’m not sure if I should be terrified or glad…”

“Tell me about it.”

“So, Rainbow, what were your plans tomorrow.”

“Well I was going to see a movie with Applejack.”

“Well then go to the movie alone.”

“What if I hate it and only went to see it because she wanted to?”

“Then I’ll personally drag you to the spa and get you a pedicure.”

“No! Anything! I’ll go to the movie, just… anything but that!”

“Just remember, I keep my promises.” Scootaloo got off of her sister with a clean motion. “Good night.” Rainbow heard her mumble something about a soap opera before the door closed.

So it came to pass that Rainbow went to see a movie. Applejack had wanted to see some American Pastoral garbage while Rainbow wanted to see Tarantino's gritty new action masterpiece The Manehattan Six. So she bought tickets to that instead. And she enjoyed it, watching with awe at the bloody gore violence that characterized his films. Scootaloo was right. She didn’t need anyone to feel complete, or to have fun. But still she thought about what Applejack would have to say about the film. She almost sent her a text asking her about her day, but then remembered the fight and how they both had their hearts ripped out. She slid her phone back in her pocket.

Then, as she walked back (The theater was closed and she appreciated the open air more anyway), she considered doing something even stupider. Her finger hovered over Gilda’s contact information, waiting to be pressed and then automatically dialed. But then she remembered what she did to Fluttershy, her feelings, and Pinkie. She began to wonder why she did those things in the first place, and desperately wanted to avoid becoming that.

She finished walking back home and crawled on her bed, trying to memorize the ceiling. The door opened, and she didn’t need to look to know it was her increasingly androgynous sister.

“So how was it?”

“What’s the point in having fun if you don’t share it with someone?”

“Did you enjoy the movie?”

“Yeah, but… It’s like I can’t share it with anyone. Talk about it, yada yada…”

“Well, here. Tell me about it. What did you go see.”

Rainbow started to give a synopsis of the movie, and after a few sentences she got up and sat on the bed. The longer it went on the more she enjoyed it, making wild gestures and recalling awesome action scenes. Scootaloo smiled and watched, adding “That’s so awesome!” or something similar. She had already seen it before but Rainbow didn’t need to know that, and her enthusiasm seemed to brighten up her sister.

“See, you don’t need Applejack. From the sound of it you had a great time by yourself.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“I know this is ironic but I have a date. I’ll see you when I get home… If I get home. But remember, if you’re not having fun by yourself how can you expect to have fun with other people.”

“When did you become the mentor?” Rainbow chuckled.

“I don’t know… Guess I read a lot of books.”

Rainbow sat in silence for a time. Hours ticked by. Maybe Scootaloo was right. The only way she used to have fun was with other people. If she was playing sports, it was other’s admiring her glory. Her frequent, often one off, dates with the Student Body were obvious enough. She needed someone. Her friends helped a lot but as the world’s horniest bisexual she needed somebody in her bed.

The weight of her life had crashed down on her like a ceiling fan, breaking her like a thin sheet of glass. But now she could see all the pieces.

She mumbled “maybe I should see Scootaloo’s therapist,” at one a.m., noting that her sister was still not back. Technically speaking, Scootaloo was living Rainbow’s fantasy of a harem to dote on her and service her, bend to her whims, etc. But she couldn’t think of anybody, the faceless members of her fantasies attractive and yet unknown. She wanted a deep connection with a lot of people, but she couldn’t even manage one. She hadn’t found anybody she was capable of loving. Any extended period of time seemed to dissolve all interest and commonality. She drove people away. Was it… was it her fault? Even thinking about the question scared her. She slept, deeply but uneasily. Her nightmares of voids seemed to entrap her. There was nothing…

Applejack wasn’t feeling much of anything. She wasn’t angry. Not sad. Just… sort of nothing. She lay awake in bed. She had chores to do but couldn’t find the motivation to move a muscle. Did she even like girls? Nobody particularly caught her fancy. Rainbow Dash was kind of cute but she was such a jerk. Other girls didn’t seem to do it for her. She couldn’t stand to be around Rarity’s uppity attitude for too long, though she did appreciate the company occasionally. Fluttershy was just another wreck of emotions, worse than Dash. She was afraid of her own shadow and had arms like toothpicks. That wouldn't work either.

She turned back to thinking about boys. They always seemed to want to change her, like there was something wrong with her dream of being a farmer. Dream bigger, they said. Leave it behind. Maybe if she just cloned herself. Oh who was she kidding. She couldn’t stand living with a pig-headed gruff goat whose solution was to punch the problem. She had already tried it. Rainbow Dash was just like her, after all. Wreck and all. The nature of the wounds were different, but the effect the same. They both had a void that needed filling and neither could produce the substance to fill it.

The Apple sisters sat at the breakfast table. Applejack had already been up since sunrise, which is to say she didn’t really sleep. She nursed her third cup of coffee as her little sister made a bowl of cereal. The younger sat down at the table, quietly respectful of Applejack’s headache. “Can I ask you something?” the older one said.

“Yeah, sure.”

“How… when… did you realize your relationship with Scootaloo was more than just attraction?”

“So you want to know what love is?” Nobody said anything for a beat. “Sorry, easy line. Well, we’ve been best friends forever so I guess as horny teenagers it was easy to take it more romantically. But even being in love is more than friends having sex. You can’t stop thinking about how they’re doing. Even the second after they close the door is too long. When I first started dating Rumble we really seemed to hit it off. He made me feel like dancing. Scootaloo inspires me to keep moving forward. Sweetie… is indescribable. She’s soft and clean and gentle and everything the other two and I aren’t, but she still makes me feel like I’m the most beautiful person on the earth. I guess it’s putting the other person before yourself. And no, it doesn’t get harder with three people, weirdly enough.”

Applejack thought for a time. Well, she had her answer, clear as day. Now she just had to do something about it.