Apples and Sunsets

by VitalSpark

June / Applejack

Applejack looked at her reflection in the glass pane of the door. Of all the days to get a spot, why today? Why not last week, or tomorrow? Why today of all days?

Her reflection suddenly disappeared as the door swung open and a customer emerged from the shop. Applejack stood to the side to let the irritated-looking man past, before going back to studying herself in the glass. She fixed up her hair and straightened her hat.

Where was Sunset? Applejack looked at her watch; Sunset was only running three minutes late, so she supposed she shouldn't be so impatient.

Applejack looked back at her reflection. She wondered why she was making such an effort. She wouldn't normally wear an outfit like this. It wasn't like she had to impress Sunset — they were just friends after all. Perhaps it was because Sunset looked so… beautiful, that Applejack felt she needed to look good beside her.

"Hey!" came a voice from behind her.

Applejack turned around. "Sunset! You're here!" She smiled.

Sunset hugged Applejack briefly. "Sorry, I'm late."

Applejack returned the greeting, putting her arms around Sunset's back. "Were you? I hadn't noticed."

"Too busy staring at your own reflection?" Sunset chuckled, breaking away from the hug.

Applejack scowled.

Sunset smiled. "I'm just kidding!" She looked around. "Are we waiting for anybody else?"

Applejack shook her head. "No, it's just the two of us again. Come on… we'll be late for the film."

* * *

"Are you kidding me?! That was awesome!" Sunset gushed, depositing her empty popcorn container into the waste recepticle.

Applejack followed her out of the theatre, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light of the cinema's brightly illuminated lobby. "I just… I just didn't get it. Was it a dream in the end or not?"

Sunset sighed. "That's the whole point. It was supposed to be ambiguous."

"Gah! I was staring at that darned spinning top, trying to figure it out, and now you're telling me there was no answer?!" Applejack clenched her fists.

Sunset laughed and put her arm around Applejack's shoulders. "That's life though, right? There aren't always easy answers."

Applejack finally relaxed. She glanced at her watch. "Hey, it's still pretty early. Fancy going for a coffee or something before we head back home?"

"Sure." Sunset took her arm back to hold the door open for Applejack. "Do you know a good place near here?"

* * *

Sunset sat down and placed two mugs of steaming coffee on the table. Applejack picked one up and blew on it before taking a tentative sip.

Sunset gulped her coffee casually. "You're right. This is good coffee."

Applejack raised her eyebrows at Sunset's ability to drink such hot liquid. But she was a magical unicorn from another dimension, so maybe it made sense. "Yeah, I've been here a few times before with… with Caramel."

"How are things with him? Had much chance to see each other?" Sunset enquired, drinking some more.

Applejack shook her head. "I know it's crazy, him living next door to me. But our farms are both so big, we actually live pretty far apart. We really don't get much of a chance to see each other."

Sunset drained the last of her coffee. "But you talk online still?"

"Of course. We spoke… let me think… on Wednesday? Wednesday… has it really been three days? We used to talk all the… no, I shouldn't bother you with this."

Sunset put her cup down. "No, it's okay. You know you can talk to me about anything, right? You know you can trust me now, don't you?" She rested her hand on Applejack's.

Applejack enjoyed the feeling of Sunset's warm hand on hers, but pulled away. "I know… it's not that… it's just… it feels like a… I don't know. Can we talk about something else?"

Sunset shrugged. "Sure. Have you heard Rainbow's talking about starting a band?"

"You should join," Applejack said, smiling. "I've listened to that recording of you on guitar so… many… times. You're so good."

"Oh, I'm not really all that good." Sunset blushed slightly. She certainly didn't think herself good enough for Applejack to have listened to more than once — she was sure that Applejack must just be saying that to make her feel better. "And, after everything that's happened, I don't know if I want to draw that much attention to myself anyway."

Applejack looked at Sunset sympathetically. "You know, everybody's forgiven you for… the incident."

"I'm not so sure." Sunset leaned back in her chair. "Not everybody's quite as understanding as you and the girls."

* * *

Applejack sighed as she closed the door behind her and put her keys on the small side table in the hall. She could hear Apple Bloom singing along to her karaoke game in the next room, and smell Granny's cooking coming from the kitchen.

Her phone beeped as it connected to the farm house's WiFi, and she took it out of her pocket, scrolling through the notifications. There were a few unread messages from Caramel dated a couple of hours ago. She should probably reply, but she didn't feel like it right now. It could wait until after she'd eaten.

She followed her nose and found a plate of food on the big kitchen table. Three other empty plates were arranged around the table. "Hmph," Applejack said to nobody in particular, "seems I'm late home for dinner."

"Eeyup," came a voice from behind her.

Applejack looked around to see her big brother in the doorway. "Big Mac, didn't see you there. Sorry, I just… we went out for a coffee after the cinema, and I kinda lost track of the time."

"That's okay." Big Mac pulled out Applejack's chair. She sat down and he sat in a chair beside her. "So, how was the film?"

"I don't know," Applejack said, stuffing a potato into her mouth. "Sunset liked it," she mumbled with her mouth full.

"Mmhmm." Big Mac nodded. He paused a moment. "And… errr… how's Fluttershy?"

Applejack looked at her brother. "She's fine as far as I know, but she didn't come today. Busy with her animals, I think."

"Oh." Big Mac looked away.

"Not going to ask about Rainbow, or Rarity, or Pinkie? Just Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, watching for his reaction. A slight blush came to his freckled cheeks. She chuckled. "I'm just messin' with ya."

Big Mac rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, they didn't come either. It was just me and Sunset."

"Okay." Big Mac started to stand up but then stopped. "Wait… you mean Sunset Shimmer?!"

"Eeyup!" Applejack answered, imitating her brother's tone teasingly.

Big Mac furrowed his eyebrows. "Sunset almost-destroyed-the-school Shimmer?"

Applejack put on a less playful tone. "Yeah."

"Sunset tried-to-mind-control-the-entire-student-body Shimmer?"

Applejack put down her knife and fork. "She's not like that anymore. She's changed."

"Nope!" Big Mac said, standing up. "Someone like that doesn't change."

"But…" Applejack started.

"Nope! You're not seeing her again."

Applejack stood up and looked him in the eye. "Hold on a minute, Mackintosh. Since when do you get to make these kind of decisions for me?"

"Fine!" Big Mac said. "I'll talk to Granny."

But Applejack didn't wait for that. She ran out of the room and up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her. She dived onto her bed, tears welling in her eyes.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She put the device and its unanswered messages on her bedside table and buried her head in her pillow.

Comments

[Feather Flyer]

INCEPTION! They were talking about inception! I loved that movie!!!!!

[Ggunsailor]

Aw, come on, Big Mac.

[Aatxe360]

Applejack crying because Big Mac said 'nope?' Not buying it. Still reading on.

[Fluttertreetop]

Eh, it wasn't worth crying for, AJ.

Meh, still gonna read this, though.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

How mean of Big Mac to upset his sister