Reconciliations

by Soufriere

Applejack

The sun hung low in the sky as Sunset Shimmer stood at her stove attempting to create a fancy dish out of the few ingredients she had that could combine with instant noodles and vegetable broth without being disgusting. She sighed at the knowledge that Canterville is not an easy place to live if one is simultaneously a vegetarian and liquid-asset poor.

Briefly she glanced down at the makeshift cloth bracelet covering the fading scars on her wrist.

She had hoped to finish eating before her current former future possible friend showed up, but her cooking was interrupted two seconds before she could boil the noodles by a knock at her door. Based on the knocking-style – firm and slow – and the fact that the visitor bothered to knock at all, she figured there was only one person out of the four possibilities it could be.

“It’s open!” Sunset called out.

The door opened and, as expected, in walked Applejack, clearly just off of some sort of manual labour. Her clothes had random dirt patches on them, as did her hat. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, but its frazzled state suggested it could do with some upkeep.

Applejack looked at her feet for a second, then removed her boots and set them by the door. She then took off her hat, holding it out to hang it on the coat-rack. Finding no coat-rack or hook of any sort, she shrugged and plopped the hat back on her head.

Sunset turned off the stove, a gas range whose installation was probably not up to code, and greeted her visitor: “Hello, Applejack.”

Applejack stood, arms crossed, in front of Sunset’s couch – the only piece of furniture she owned besides her bed and the disused cable spool she found behind a dumpster that she repurposed as a table.

“Howdy,” Applejack replied in her thick rural accent, uncharacteristically terse.

Sunset could nearly feel the tension in the air as Applejack seemed miffed about something. Worried she might have offended her visitor somehow, she trod toward Applejack delicately, which only seemed to annoy the girl even more, as did inviting her to take a seat on the couch.

She shut her eyes in a desperate attempt to gather up the courage to find the words to break the ice. After one more deep breath, Sunset decided to attempt an indirect approach.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sunset.

Applejack studied Sunset from head to toe, scratching her chin for a moment, then grabbed Sunset’s left arm and rolled up the sleeve, revealing fading scars on the underside of the wrist and forearm. Sunset’s eyes widened like a coyote five microseconds away from being hit by a bus. She attempted to pull away, but Applejack had much too strong a grip.

“What is this?!” Applejack demanded.

Sunset frowned, her head drooping; she refused to answer. Applejack asked again, but again Sunset averted her eyes and would not speak. Finally, Applejack grabbed Sunset’s cheeks and forced them to make eye contact. Sunset realized then that Applejack’s expression was softer than she expected. Concerned, almost sad.

“You know what it is,” Sunset answered with a sigh.

Applejack pursed her lips, unsure whether she should be angry or consoling or both or neither. “Why?” she asked.

“I think you can guess,” Sunset said. “Um, how did you even know to look there?”

“If you’re thinkin’ Rarity sold ya out, she didn’t,” Applejack reassured her. “As ta how I knew ta check your arm, well, ya ain’t the first person I’ve known who’s got issues. It ain’t hard ta connect the dots when a girl disappears for weeks right after the entire school made fun of ‘er and then we hear you’re ‘sick’, and Rarity was actin’ real cagey ‘bout the whole thing.”

“Well, it’s not something I want to broadcast,” Sunset said forlornly.

Applejack had kept her hands in position on either side of Sunset’s face, but her grip began to soften as did her expression and her voice. “Why’d ya think ya couldn’t talk to us?” she asked.

Sunset blinked. “I… all the awful things I did to you over three years. I broke up your friendship with Rainbow Dash for a laugh. You all have every reason to hate me just as much as the rest of the school does. I assumed you were only being nice to me because Twilight told you to.”

Applejack lowered her arms as she considered this, and nodded. “Cain’t lie. That is why we took ya in at first. But we got used to havin’ ya around – an’ not just fer help on homework – an’ realized Twi was right about ya; you’re a good gal deep down.”

Sunset resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at the compliment she did not believe, but still managed a mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“When ya disappeared,” Applejack continued, ignoring her, “we didn’t think much of it at first; there was a stomach bug goin’ ‘round school. After a couple days, we all got worried, but we were split over what to do. Pinkie wanted to go find ya immediately, of course. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy thought it’d be best to let ya be. I wasn’t sure what to think, and Rarity stayed quiet. But it didn’t matter since none of us knew where ya lived and yer phone wasn’t workin’.”

“It hasn’t worked in months. I didn’t see the point of paying my bill if there was no one to talk to,” Sunset admitted with a shrug, causing Applejack to raise an eyebrow.

“Sure,” Applejack said, not entirely on-board with Sunset’s reasoning. “Anyways, weren’t long after, we find out Rarity did some detective work on ‘er own an’ found ya… well, you know what happened next better’n I do; she wouldn’t tell us much. When she gave us the all-clear to come see ya, I figured it was about time. Not sure why she made us wait ‘til we couldn’t all come here together.”

“That… was my idea,” said Sunset as quietly as possible. “I didn’t think I could handle all four of you at once. Also, I wanted to hear all of you out individually, since I hurt you each individually.”

“Sugarplum, it ain’t a good idea to think that way,” Applejack said. “You know better’n anyone ya can’t change the past. Besides, I wasn’t really one of yer main targets, so I ain’t got no over-big grudge against ya.”

“Well, that makes me feel a little better,” Sunset admitted with a sigh, preferring not to think about time travel spells for the moment.

“You owned up to what ya did an’ apologized, an’ yer tryin’ ta be a better person. That’s all anyone can ask of ya,” Applejack concluded with that air of certainty she often used, as she placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

The left side of Sunset’s mouth twitched, clearly attempting to form a smile. Applejack realized it and shot a wide grin in return.

“Atta girl. Now, I’m sorry ta cut it short but I gotta skedaddle on home an’ help put food on my family. You’re comin’ to class tomorrow, right? We’ll all be waitin’ for ya.”

Sunset scratched her head as she shuffled her feet slightly. “It’s more likely now than it was this morning. That’s the best answer I can give. Just… don’t be too upset if I don’t show, okay?”

“Fair enough,” admitted Applejack before tipping her hat, turning on her heels, and ambling out the door.

A few minutes later, after Sunset remembered to lock the door, she lay down on her couch, kicking off her boots, staring across the bare ‘table’ to her television, an old secondhand model served only by an aerial which made the whole setup look like a throwback to decades earlier. She fumbled around the cushions for the remote. Not finding it, and not feeling like turning on the set manually, she stretched out with a relieved sigh as she stared at the black screen, then her white ceiling..

“That went okay,” she said to no one.

Comments

[jwizard]

Equestria's parallel world is obviously not our human world. Unless you're on the other side of the planet, analog broadcasting doesn't work. Especially in the states; it's all digital now.

[ponyponipon3]

See, much better!
After this, Ponk & Shy should be a breeze

Also:

Now, I gotta skedaddle on home an’ help put food on my family.

AJ plannin a food fight?

[Soufriere]

8031647 - I wanted to mention this when you first commented, but I didn't. *ahem* They make television aerials capable of picking up digital broadcasts from the traditional over-the-air networks, since not everyone can afford (or wants) cable or satellite. So, that was not a mistake or oversight on my part.

8036110 - An ancient gag referencing an infamous quote by George W Bush. Because I'm an old fart, and it fit AJ.

[randome284]

This went very well, possibly better than Dash's meeting. It's very interesting seeing everything about Sunset.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Heartwarming.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The door opened and, as expected, in walked Applejack, clearly just off of some sort of manual labour. Her clothes had random dirt patches on them, as did her hat. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, but its frazzled state suggested it could do with some upkeep.

Her hair is always in a ponytail.

Applejack studied Sunset from head to toe, scratching her chin for a moment, then grabbed Sunset’s left arm and rolled up the sleeve, revealing fading scars on the underside of the wrist and forearm. Sunset’s eyes widened like a coyote five microseconds away from being hit by a bus. She attempted to pull away, but Applejack had much too strong a grip.

Ho how did you know sunset was hiding that!?!?!? 😦

Applejack lowered her arms as she considered this, and nodded. “Cain’t lie. That is why we took ya in at first. But we got used to havin’ ya around – an’ not just fer help on homework – an’ realized Twi was right about ya; you’re a good gal deep down.”

That's the applejack we know and love.

“You owned up to what ya did an’ apologized, an’ yer tryin’ ta be a better person. That’s all anyone can ask of ya,” Applejack concluded with that air of certainty she often used, as she placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

Yep, all she can do is try.