> Honest Empathy
>  by Craine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Honest Empathy



By Craine


If Sunset Shimmer was honest with herself, she didn’t exactly hate wearing gloves.

Gloves had their uses; kept her hands warm, simplified heavy lifting, an invaluable accessory in the fashion business, if Rarity had her say.

But they certainly got on her nerves.

After a whole school week, Sunset had finally conquered the habit of pulling and pawing at the little red abominations just to cool her hands. 

She’d even started forgetting she had them on most times. They also kept her magic at bay.

That last part was a precaution; a grueling, five-day commitment courtesy of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s… letter? Warning? Warning. 

Five whole days she’d avoided skin-to-skin contact. She’d watched her friends’ magic evolve and change someway or another. Which wasn’t nearly as bad as the princess of Friendship made it sound.

Par for the course, Sunset often thought with a smile.

Applejack missing an entire school week, however? That is why Sunset Shimmer found herself walking through the grassy, dirt-scented, fields of Sweet Apple Acres--of her own volition--for the first time since her freshman year. 

Applejack never missed a day. Ever. Considering the three hours she tended the farm before school, and the six hours after school, this had always impressed Sunset Shimmer.

Yet, Applejack seemed unreachable throughout the week. At first, it was treated as a one-time deal. Second day, she was presumed to have slept in--except she’d never slept in before. On day three, the first call was made. Day four, six calls were made. Day five?

Day five is when Rarity began to worry.

Rarity cornered Sunset with those eyes, and just begged her to get answers. 

A wise request; with a mere touch, Sunset could grant that request.

It wasn’t that Sunset refused--quite the opposite. But she'd informed Rarity and the others of Princess Twilight's warning. Using her magic was a risk. A calculated risk, even for Applejack's sake. 

Sunset would've happily let Rainbow Dash drag Applejack back to Canterlot High by the hair, if a brawl could've been avoided.

Rainbow really wanted her sparring buddy back.

Instead, Sunset took it upon herself to do the deed. It was a promise. An oath to Rarity.

By schools end, Sunset pulled up her brown denim shorts, gripped her backpack strong over her shoulder, pulled her red gloves tightly between her digits and marched out of Canterlot High School with a promise to keep:

To bring Applejack back.

Sunset just knew something was wrong. But Applejack, according to the others, was known for her thick head. If she hadn’t already asked for help, then she’d likely not. At all. They all seemed rather miffed about it in some way or another. But not Sunset. She very much admired that side of the farmgirl.

Applejack was strong. Perhaps the strongest creature Sunset had ever met, and not just for her own special brand of magic. When it rained or snowed, Applejack was there. When sick and tired, Applejack was there. When the world needed saving, by the gods, Applejack was there. Everyday. Every single time.

Even when Sunset first hopped through that portal.

Sunset had to stop, as she often did, to linger on the memory. It wasn’t a particularly happy memory, but it was usually strong enough to stop her dead in her tracks, even when she wasn’t moving. It even proved quite distracting in class sometimes.

Oh, the stares that sometimes lingered on Applejack when they'd share a class together.

Sunset could never forget...

The shelter, the hospitality, the hay... food, that is… All courtesy of the Apple Family. Truly, if Applejack hadn’t found her on that cold, stormy night, she would’ve likely been dead.

And Sunset never did thank her for that.

Amber-colored fingers ran along her fiery hair. Her eyes skimmed the sun kissed apple trees, and settled onto the humble red farmhouse, fenced livestock and… the barn. Oh, the barn. Memories, sweet as nectar.

“Come on, filly,” she muttered. “Why are you hesitating.”

Sunset had no reason to hesitate. Fear, or no fear, she would have the answers she sought. Even if she had to tackle Applejack to the ground, pull off those gloves and touch her within an inch of her life.

But it’s never that simple, is it?

Princess Twilight specifically warned Sunset against using her powers until this mysterious change was properly dissected. And if there was anything Sunset learned in the events leading up to this moment, it was patience. And humility. And tact. And that pissing off Applejack was a different kind of stupid.

Sunset had to consider her friends’ warnings. If Applejack insisted on keeping this a one-pony show, Sunset wouldn’t argue. Normally. Now, however, she had a promise to keep.

But still...

What if Applejack had a perfectly legit reason for her absence? Was this a problem only Applejack could solve? Would Sunset trigger an even bigger change by flagrantly disregarding Princess Twilight’s warning? What if Applejack didn’t want Sunset to interfere?

What if Applejack became angry with her…?

Sunset shuddered at the thought. She had first seen an angry Applejack in Freshman Year. That was also the first and only time Sunset had been punched in the eye. Not that she didn’t deserve it; Fluttershy was just… so weak and helpless. Perfect pray for the old Sunset Shimmer.

Who was utterly dead and gone to the world. Never coming back. Could never go back.

Sunset clapped her now-reddening face and blinked hard. “Mnm! Pony the hell up,” she said to herself. “You’re no stranger to risky business.”

Applejack was loved to death, and all she’d given back was a cold shoulder. It was stupid and selfish. Whether she liked it or not, Applejack would let Sunset Shimmer be the friend she needed to be. The friend she was destined to be.

Princess Twilight would understand, because she would just have to.

A sudden breeze gently washed over Sunset, cooling the sweat on her bare legs and face. She gave the bottom of her tight yellow shirt a firm tug, gripped the straps of her backpack and put one foot after the other. She had to be strong. Strong like Princess Twilight. Strong like Applejack. Strong… like her father.

A loud crack echoed through the apple orchard. With a jump, Sunset’s eyes riveted to the source just as a poor tree relinquished all its fruit to the hungry straw baskets below. All but one. 

There’s always just one, isn’t there? One little dickens that stands firm. A rebel that shouts and thrashes against destiny and sticks out above their ilk.

Sunset was proud of that brave little apple. It took guts to strike out on one’s own. It’s what separated the weak from the strong, the braves from the cowards. 

But above all else, it granted the freedom of independence… and the terror of being alone. 

Sunset knew a thing or two about that.

“You go get yours, little rebel,” Sunset muttered with a lopsided grin.

Another hardy kick struck the tree trunk, and the last brave little apple fell, missed the baskets and rolled into a dirty puddle: courtesy of yesterday’s heavy rain. 

Sunset chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”

A sharp, ‘Dagnabit,’ found Sunset’s ears. She’d recognize that country drawl anywhere; like the kindness shown to her that stormy night, Sunset would never forget it. Turquoise eyes swept the east orchard. Then the west orchard. No sign of Applejack. 

No, it was just Sunset, the rolling hills, the trees, the grass, the bright blue sky, the pathetic conforming apples, one brave little apple she considered rescuing from that puddle and… someone she didn’t recognize.

At least she was pretty sure she didn’t recognize them. She would’ve remembered meeting someone in Sweet Apple Acres so… thick? No, that wasn’t the word. Structured? Yes, that's the one. She’d also never seen anyone kick a tree that hard.

A tad unconventional, more suited for earth ponies back in Equestria. But better that then on a ladder, picking by hand.

Sunset slowed to another stop, and instinctively hid behind an apple tree. She squinted at the new farmhand. From her current distance, Sunset could make out a sharp physique. Quite sharp for a human female, actually. 

Brown boots. Tight blue skirt. Green and white T-shirt, though a tad small, only covering her chest and shoulders. Maybe Applejack let her borrow some clothes? Made sense. Sunset doubted any mall or clothing shop sold women’s outfits in that size.

This new gal was huge.

Sunset found herself leaning into the tree, and consciously forced her eyes closed to stop staring. She couldn’t recall the last time she just… stared at someone. 

“Wow…” she exhaled. She refocused. “Down, girl. Introductions later. First thing’s first.”

With that, Sunset steeled herself, stepped from that apple tree, pulled her gloves tight again and continued for the farmhouse. 

Sunset watched the new farmhand intently. A pair of three full apple baskets were stacked side by side. She crouched and lifted the clearly-back-breaking load with complete ease. 

A steady breath hissed through Sunset’s nostrils. Her eyes had a shamefully hard time leaving the backside that flexed with effort.

“Oh, my God…” Sunset bit down on her wrist, and wished she could mentally will the blood from running through her entire face. “Later, Sunset. Later.”

Huge and strong? No wonder the Apples hired her.

As Sunset got closer, the apple baskets were carried to a nearby red truck. Undoubtedly Big Macintosh’s. The baskets were placed on the truck bed. A sturdy slap on the tail light, a clipped nod from, what Sunset could now see, the blonde farmhand, a friendly wave from the driver’s side and the truck peeled out toward the farmhouse.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile.

The last poor fool to touch Big Mac’s truck had, as Applejack put it, 'a stern talking to', and literally transferred schools the following week. But this brave new gal just slapped that same truck’s behind. Sunset wanted to meet her. She just seemed so… strong.

And Sunset loved strength. 

Power always found ways to just… make her want. To reach for greater heights. To challenge. To conquer and aspire. To fail and succeed. To lead and follow those who thought the same. To grow.

The blonde stranger lifted her diamond-cut arms, giving her back and buns a mighty stretch, stiffened calves like cannons ready to fire. Sunset really, really wanted to meet this gal.

Dust from the truck’s exit settled, and Sunset noticed Applebloom in its place. The former unicorn stopped walking again, this time to see exactly why the junior Wondercolt was absolutely scowling up at the help.

Guess you’re not welcomed by everybody, huh, Muscles? Sunset thought with a smirk.

A metal pail in one hand, and a pitchfork slung over the opposite shoulder dropped Sunset's smirk like a rock. A child, plus a sharp tool, plus a deadly scowl was a recipe for disaster.

The new gal threw an upturned palm to the much smaller girl. She hesitated at first, but Applebloom practically shoved the pitchfork’s handle onto the waiting hand.

Tool now slung over a muscled shoulder, the new gal threw a pointing finger at the farm house. 

A firm, “Off ya git,” made Sunset’s heart shutter with… Was that anger? If it was, then this would be an eventful Friday afternoon.

Applebloom’s scowl slowly fell. Sunset recognized the look that replaced it. She’d seen it a number of times when her and her two friends sat in detention for their antics. And not because Sunset herself had joined them in said detention.

Not exclusively, anyway.

“I… I-I’m sor--”

“We’ll talk later. Now, git, I said.”

Applebloom muttered a soft, “Yes, ma’am.”

Head hung low with hands tucked to her back, Applebloom kicked up some dust as she turned toward the house.

“What the Hell was that?” Sunset muttered as Applebloom skulked away, metal pail bouncing against her backside.

Sunset watched, with now pointed interest, as the new, not-so-hot-anymore gal, turned the other direction and entered the barn.

As the barn door closed, Sunset stared at her own black boots. Then at the retreating Applebloom. Then at the farmhouse, where Applejack surely waited. Then at the barn. Now, Sunset had more than one option.

Option one: Stop Applebloom, and comfort the poor thing.

Option two: Grab Applejack from the house and have a calm discussion about the help.

Option three: March right in that barn, and give that sleek, muscly jerk, who had the guile, the gall and the gumption to sound even a little like Applejack, a piece of her mind.

Her eyes narrowed on the barn. Surely, if Applejack was home all week, she‘d still be there. And it wasn’t like either heroine was short on time. Sunset just needed a few minutes anyway, and it was back to magical-mystery mishaps.

TGIF, Sunset thought as she jogged to her target.

One does not simply mess with the Apple Family. If Sunset was honest with herself--and she’d push anyone who refuted that off a bridge--she could've proudly called herself an Apple. Given recent developments, anyway.

She arrived at the door, but stopped just short of pushing it open. She hovered an ear just above the wood and closed her eyes.

Sunset’s ears twitched at the muffled grunts, and the pointed metal jabbing at hay. Hard grunting. Frustrated grunting.

“Shucks. Why is this happenin’ to me,” the voice that was definitely not Applejack’s said. “Oh, sugarcube… I’m so sorry.”

Sunset felt her brow curl upward. Not because this imposter was daring enough to use the Apples’ exclusive countryisms, but because Sunset remembered that, just like anyone else, this new gal had a right to anger, and a right to express it.

Maybe she’s just… really pent up, Sunset thought. She must really need a friend right now.

Now that she thought of it, the exchange between Applebloom and this new gal wasn’t uncommon. Older relatives often asserted dominance over the young, especially when making a point. Sunset thought back to the pitchfork and snorted at the pun.

The Apple Family was, indeed, quite vast. Should Sunset have been surprised to hear another Honest Apple say ‘Sugarcube?’ Perhaps it wasn’t uncommon for some family members to be remarkably similar. 

Maybe that’s why Applejack had been absent all week--training the newbie. Maybe this new gal was going through a tough time too. That could’ve explained her presence on the farm to begin with. From what Sunset knew, working up a great sweat absolutely killed stress. Yes, a great sweat. Sweat surely worked up with all that grunting... 

So hot… I’d love to be her friend. We could exchange names and shake hands… and I’d learn everything about her with a single touch. Maybe another touch. And another...

Her eyes shot open, and teeth found her wrist again.

“Bad,” Sunset whispered through a mouthful of wrist. “Focus. No touching. No magic. Not yet.”

If this wasn’t done right then and there, Sunset would’ve driven herself crazy. And, knowing her luck, Applejack might’ve stumbled upon Sunset driving herself crazy. The Element of Empathy huffed, and pushed herself through the barn door.

She saw exactly what she’d expected to see: Hay. Hay on the floor. Hay along the walls. Hay wedged between the joists. Hay stacked in neat bundles along the farthest wall. Hay. Hay everywhere. Grainy, delicious, nutritious hay.

Sunset shook her head. Focus

She found source of the grunts, eyes narrowed on exactly what she’d expected to see: Muscle. Muscles coiling and constricting beneath firm, slightly-tanned skin. Muscles flexing with every thrust of pitchfork into hay, shifting and bunching with every hoist of that hay. Muscled arms, legs and back. Shimmering in stray cracks of sunlight. Covered in sweat, dirt and... and hay.

I! HATE! SUMMER!

Sunset had had enough. She came here to put this jerk in her place, and make her apologize to Applejack’s little sister. Because that’s what a strong friend did.

Eyes narrowed, Sunset pulled her red gloves tight, set her backpack beside the only exit and firmly shut the door behind her. The pitchfork dropped to the floor.

“Huh?” came the startled voice of...

“Applejack???”

Sunset squashed the fleeting dread of being stuck in another reality, if only to keep herself sane.

“S-S-Sunset?” Applejack stuttered out. “What are... I mean, I wasn’t expectin’… uh… D’aw, nuts and shoes.” 

Sunset, for her part, faded in and out of consciousness with every step forward. She stopped, face-to-chest as Applejack put a step more between them.

“Applejack…” Sunset whispered out of reflex. “What… what in the world happened to you?”

Applejack kept her lips sealed shut with a  questionable amount of effort. But she spoke, fear slowly etching into her face.

“I-I don’t know, I woke one day and… this.” The farmer could barely hide the disgust from her voice as she gestured to herself.

Sunset's roaming, wandering, desecrating, pillaging, awestruck eyes finally settled on the sheening washboard of muscle that was Applejack’s abdomen.

Why am I here again?

“Sunset!”

Said pony-turned-hormone-crazed-teenage girl sputtered and blinked when two shredded forearms blocked her view.

“Don’t stare like that…” Applejack muttered, now all too fascinated with barn wall.

Sunset Shimmer hadn’t thought of herself as a bad friend for a respectable number of moons. Now, she knew she’d have to start from square one.

“Oh!” Sunset shrieked, head whipped away. “I-I’m sorry, Applejack. I just… You’re just so...”

“Look!" Applejack’s tightly shut eyes relaxed, and she lowered her arms from those rock-hard abs. “Just… drop it, okay, sugar?”

Sunset shot constant glances at the amazonian spectacle. “I really don’t want to.” She slapped a hand over her mouth.

Now what the Hell was that?! The former unicorn thought.

Mouth still covered, Sunset dared to look up at Applejack’s eyes, and just knew she’d said something stupid.

“Reckon y’all got some questions, then?”

Sunset caught the tone, and lowered the hand over her mouth, staring back up into her friend's bemused face.

“Some of them… were already answered.” Sunset dared to glance downward. Then again, just for good measure.

“Quit it.”

“Sorry!”

An oddly Equestrian snort left Applejack’s nostrils. She turned on her heel, picked up her pitchfork, sauntered to another hay pile--farthest away from Sunset--and resumed her work.

If Sunset Shimmer was honest with herself, she’d say…

Actually, Sunset didn’t know what to call herself anymore. 

She was no stranger to identity crisis, being a former pony, and all that. But this was the fourth time she’d discovered a trait that brutally maimed her self definition. An arrogant unicorn reject? No more. A villainous zealot? No more. An honest-to-God-she-demon? No more.

That was all good, she knew, but could she really call herself a caring, empathetic friend if she just couldn’t stop staring? 

No, because there was another name for that: Shameless voyeur. 

“Where have you been, AJ?”

Applejack paused her work with a thrust into innocent, bystanding hay.

Sunset hadn't meant that. Not as tersely as it sounded, anyway. She’d learned a thing or two about tact since her reformation--which was surely Rarity’s influence. Sunset had learned that invasive questions, a tactful friend did not ask.

She came here to get answers. Speaking the truth and exposing one’s intentions was necessary for that, but something was different. Every time Sunset spoke she felt… bold. Strong. Strong enough to shove away all doubts and fears just long enough to say exactly what she thought.

That was the furthest thing from tactful.

“None o’ yer dagum business.”

Not that Applejack was very tactful herself. 

Sunset dared to smirk at discovering something else in common with this tall sculpture of hard, swollen, glistening, sweaty, amazing…

Sunset closed her eyes.

“I know.”

She heard a brief rustle of that sweet hay, and opened her eyes. Applejack was staring at her.

“We all had to stop Rainbow Dash from flying down here and dragging you back by your hair.” Her smirk graduated into a smile when Applejack snorted. “Just… Why? Why have you stopped coming to school?”

And there it was again: that terrified, purse-lipped face. Sunset’s smile was replaced by concern. 

“I understand if you’d rather not say,” she said, daring to step closer. “But, please, I have to know if… if you’re still with us--”

“Yes!” Applejack shouted in desperation, taking her own step forward. “Y-yeah, of course I’m still with y’all. You’re my family. I can’t imagine what it’d be like without… If you hadn’t...”

A knot unraveled in Sunset’s stomach. She stepped forward again, releasing a breath she didn’t know she held.

“Then why, AJ? Whatever it is, whatever problem is keeping you away from us, we can solve it. Right here. Right now. You and me.” Sunset stepped closer.

To her relief, Applejack didn’t move or look away. She stood stout, eyes locked onto hers. Sunset stopped half-an-arm’s length from Applejack, the scent of apples, musk, dirt and glorious hay swimming in her head. The scent of home.

“I... I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” Sunset leaned forward, gloved hands raised up and ready to comfort her friend. “Just talk to m--”

“No, don't--!” Applejack jerked back with a stumble. “Don’t touch me.”

The last three words were only a murmur, but Sunset felt it like a punch in her throat. She coiled back a little, light fists curled to her chest. A very pony-ish habit thought to be broken by Freshman year’s end.

Applejack’s eyes widened, then hardened in near-perfect succession. “I’m sorry, sugarcube, but this ain’t a problem we can just magic away. Not this time.”

“You don’t know that,” Sunset insisted. She tried and failed to ignore the persistent, fear-murdering jolt she felt with every word. “Just tell me what this is about”

Sunset hadn’t meant to raise her voice, though merely raised an octave or two. She was getting caught in the moment, and she knew it. She needed to breathe. Nice, full, steady breaths.

“The truth hurts, Sunset,” Applejack offered, turning back to the pitchfork stabbed in the hay. “And that’s about all I got. Now if that’s it, chores gotta get done.”

A deeply rooted primal instinct from prehistoric ancestry? Maybe it was an old habit from her ‘bad girl’ days. Or she likely just hated being blown off when making a point. But when Applejack turned her back on Sunset, all of those reasons sharpened into a spear that jammed into her chest and spun her insides around.

“Do not--!” Sunset bit her wrist again, wide eyes apologetic and cautious. She lowered her arm and said, “Please don’t turn away from me. I… really hate that.”

Sunset didn’t mean to say that either. What is happening to me?

Applejack kept her back turned, only acknowledging Sunset with a slightly turned head. “If it’ll get ya outta my hair, I’ll take it.”

Sunset’s expression crashed and burned into a cauterizing scowl. “Ugh! You’re such a jerk, sometimes!”

Applejack spun around, stunned eyes on Sunset, who’d just raised a fist over her mouth. Silence swiftly and utterly killed the already-dead grass that littered the barn.

If Sunset Shimmer was honest with herself--and she’d throw herself into a speeding train before she doubted that--she didn’t mean what she’d just blurted out.

Except she absolutely did. Because she felt that damning jolt right as her vocal cords did their job.

This couldn’t be happening. This was all wrong. This wasn’t why Sunset was here. This made no sense!

Until it did.

“Of course.”

Applejack offered a slight tilt of her head. With closed eyes, Sunset took several breaths. Calm, chest-cooling breaths. In the nose, out the mouth. Nice and steady. She opened her eyes with determination that actually made Applejack shiver and tense.

“Applejack,” Sunset began. “This thing you’re going through. You’re not alone. And I think I know what it is, but,” she gently tugged at the fingers of her forgotten red gloves, “I need to be sure.”

Emerald eyes widened.

“The answer is ‘no,’ Pony Girl.”

Sunset’s eye twitched at the old nickname that once made her grin like an idiot.

“I wasn’t asking.” She resisted the urge to bite her wrist. The now-welcomed jolt of honesty vaporized the guilt that followed.

Sunset pulled off her gloves and dropped them at her boots. Applejack’s frown tightened the former unicorn’s chest, and another, more powerful jolt spurred her on.

“The magic I brought here from Equestria--the magic that chose us to wield it--is changing, Applejack. Again. It’s changing, and I have no idea what to do. It’s happened in my home world and it’s happening here. Princess Twilight warned me not to use my powers, but…” Sunset trailed off.

Applejack held her frown, hands now on her firm, wide hips.

“All I know is that I can’t figure this out alone, and neither can you. Please, Applejack.”

One hand fell, and dangled from Applejack’s waist. “What part of, ‘don’t touch me,’ don’t ya get?”

Sunset felt her own face screw up with pain and rejection. A certain cauterizing scowl burned right through it.

“None of it. Why are you running from this? You don’t run from anything!”

Applejack marched right up to Sunset and cocked her hip. “Ever wonder in that fat noggin o’ yours, if any of us were ready for this magic? ‘Cause I’m havin’ doubts.”

There’s no way Applejack meant that. How often had they saved the world. Was the same girl really under all that muscle?

“I didn’t ask for this so-called magic. Didn’t want to wake up lookin’ like this.” Applejack allowed a single decibel to slip her tone, and Sunset caught it. “And all it’s done this week is prove how dangerous it is. That’s why I…”

Sunset’s scowl cracked. “Why you what?” She tried to ask at least a little gently, but she failed oh, so spectacularly.

Applejack bit the corner of her lip. “Please, just get your backpack and go, Sunset. I don’t wanna hurt you too.”

That struck a very unused, dusty old chord deep within the slippery chasms of Sunset Shimmer’s soul. A chord not so vigorously struck since Princess Celestia personally forbade her from the power she sought as a filly.

She felt threatened.

This wasn’t Applejack. It wasn’t Sunset either. It wasn’t them. This couldn’t be the work of the Friendship forging power she’d grown to love. It wasn’t magic. Wasn’t Harmony. There had to be another explanation.

Sunset’s eyes took another trailblazing stroll over Applejack’s augmented body. She felt the jolt, and let her heart talk for her.

“For somebody so hot, you’re sure are stupid.”

Sunset saw the furious blush and acted. She reached out and grabbed Applejack’s wrist. Before she could marvel how little her hand wrapped around that gigantic joint, it was slapped away.

“I said, no!

“What?! What is it?! What are you afraid I’ll find?!” Sunset saw that pathetic tight-lipped expression again. “Tell me the truth, Applejack. Now!”

“I’M MOVIN’ TO MANEHATTEN!”

Silence.

Dimly, it occurred to Sunset, that her neck would be stiff the following morning, but she continued gawking up at the freckled face gawking back down at her.

Applejack recovered first. “I… I can’t stay here. Not as I am now.”

Those words snapped Sunset out of her apparent trance. “You’re not leaving,” she said, a shallow breath fighting the choke in her throat.

Applejack took several steps back. She cocked her hip and crossed muscled arms beneath her modest bust, head turned aside.

“See for yerself.”

Applejack gestured her eyes toward the barn door behind Sunset. She turned and saw exactly what she expected to see.

Red-painted wood, lots of hay and the exit. Nothing out of the ordina--

“That bag looks really full.” Sunset muttered.

“Yup. Train leaves tomorrow,” Applejack said.

Sunset ignored the urge to pull out her phone, order tickets to Neighagra Falls, leave the farm, see her friends off, get to said location, climb the highest peak by hand and scream when she realized, far too late, that her backpack was against Applejack’s.

She turned back to her friend. Hands laced and brought to her lips, Sunset took a slow breath.

“But you’re totally missing the train on purpose, aren’t you?” 

Applejack’s flat expression mimicked her guest’s.

Sunset lowered her hands and managed to draw upon deeply rooted strength and willpower to summon, from the aether, upon this very plane of existence, the absolute worst fake smile she could imagine. With the hopeful tone of voice to go with it.

“Good. I thought so,” Sunset said, hands on her hips. “You really had me goin’ there, AJ.”

Applejack’s flat expression remained.

“‘Cause, I mean, it’s not like you’d leave us or anything, right? You’re not that dense.” Sunset shuddered and caressed a stinging pain on her temple. “Lying hurts right now.”

Applejack’s flat brow inclined, eyes narrowing. She struggled to keep her head turned away.

“It’s not like you didn’t realize, in all your homegrown, down-to-earth whimsy, that maybe, oh I don’t know--I don’t think about it often--WE NEED YOU, or anything. Like that. Heh.” Sunset’s award-winning, totally-not-fake smile fell after that chuckle. Whether from boredom or literal exhaustion from keeping it up, was unknown. Or cared for.

“I get it, alright?” Applejack drawled, arms tightening beneath her bosom.

Sunset crossed her much-smaller arms as well. “I don’t think you do. Because you’re actually leaving, aren’t you.” She received only silence. “Aren’t you?!”

Applejack closed her eyes. Then turned her back on Sunset. The farmer walked right back to her hay pile, took the pitch fork and began working again.

“Go home, Sunset.”

Sunset’s  still-twisted organs were given a good, healthy spin. The visage of a heartbroken child replaced Sunset’s flat glare. Then her eyebrows fell like asteroids as a not-so-oddly Equestrian snort accompanied her new scowl.

Eyes and face grew intolerably hot. Sunset looked around the barn, eyes narrowing at the possibilities. Thankfully, she’d leave the surrounding hedge clippers, pickaxes, and shovels out of this. A colorful photo caught her eye.

As Applejack ignored her like the bulbous, inconsiderate, totally-not-hot gorilla she was, Sunset stomped over to the two backpacks side by side. She glared lasers at Applejack’s. Sunset grit her teeth when it didn’t burn away. She snatched the chromatic picture from the front net-pocket. She glanced at it.

Then she stopped, and actually looked at it.

It was one of many photos they’d taken at Equestria Land Theme Park. Mostly everyone in that picture resolved to being silly and happy. A smile foolishly waged war on the totalitarian scowl that dominated Sunset’s face. That smile met a crushing retaliation as she saw Applejack and Rarity. Hands held. Exclusive gazes shared between them, and only them.

Sunset turned the photo flipside, and that persistent smile gave one last struggle when she read the scribbles.

‘How it should be…’

Applejack was leaving Rarity. Leaving them all. And she wanted to remember them while times were at their very best?

Applejack didn’t deserve them.

She deserved pain.

The same pain she was causing Sunset.

She stood, picture gently pinched between a trembling thumb and index finger. She turned around, and grit her teeth at the skull that her glare couldn’t melt. She fully embraced the now-all-powerful jolt of honesty gallivanting its merry way through her twisted organs. It filled her. Overtook her. And she let it.

“Rarity’s too good for you.”

A distant cough, a hard scrape of metal against wood, and Applejack’s work sputtered to a halt. Sunset Shimmer couldn’t help but smirk as that blonde head lifted.

“What’cha just say to me, sugar?”

Sunset lost her nerve, hesitating with a nibbled bottom lip. That same planet-busting jolt savagely torched all her fears.

“You heard me. Someone like you? You don’t deserve her.”

Back still turned, Applejack reached down, grabbed a strand of hay, stood up straight and started chewing the hay between her molars.

“Now I know why Rarity gave you a second chance; she didn’t know you were a coward.”

“Stop. Talkin’.”

Sunset could hear the teeth grinding together. She felt her legs start to shake, and couldn’t will it away.

“Like you said, sugar,” Sunset mocked with narrowed eyes, “the truth hurts.”

A deft twirl. A raised, muscled arm. And finally, a pitchfork jammed inside the floor. Not at the floor, not against the floor. Inside the floor.

A numbing tremble wracked through Sunset’s entire being, eyes slowly widening as she just realized the solid concrete beneath all that hay. 

Oh… was Sunset’s only available thought.

Applejack turned to her guest, leaning off a bent leg and onto the rigidly-standing pitchfork.

“So ya meant all that...” Applejack drawled, calmly spinning the hay in her mouth.

Sunset’s voice caught in her throat. The sudden blood-freezing terror waged a valiant war against the galaxy-destroying jolts of honesty that slaughtered its fellow waves of fear.

To Sunset’s distress, the latter of the two prevailed. Again.

“Every last word.”

Sunset instinctively searched for exits that--she certainly knew--didn’t exist. Her own muscles cracked and tensed when Applejack started towards her. Steady pace. Lengthy, confident strides. Lidded green eyes framed with a calm frown.

Sunset wasn’t afraid. Not of the change in their magic. Not of Applejack--especially not Applejack. She feared nothing.

Because Sunset Shimmer was honest with herself. Always.

Slim, amber-colored legs willed themselves alive, and backtracked away from the much larger, more defined legs of the approaching Applejack. Sunset’s frowning eyes locked solid onto the green fireballs piercing down at her.

Sunset’s back hit the wooden wall. Applejack reached up and lowered the lockbar on the door beside them. The farmer leaned against the wall, elbow resting on the obstructive wood overhead. hay rolled between grinding molars.

Sunset wasn’t afraid. The quickened, shallow breaths meant only nervous excitement--yes, she was nervous-cited. The sweat on her brow was from the heat blasting off the tactless dolt who was much, much too close. The numbing shake in her legs was from the considerable walk to Sweet Apple Acres.

She wasn’t afraid of her lung-crushing gaze. Not of her dark, sunlight-blotting shadow. Or the single, errant drop of sweat slithering from beneath that much-too-tight shirt, passed it’s ilk, right down those chiseled, iron-breaking abs--

Snapped fingers riveted Sunset’s eyes to Applejack’s free hand. That hand pointed upward. Sunset got the hint. But she only looked back up because she wanted to, not because she obeyed Applejack. She frowned again to prove a point.

“I asked ya to leave before we even got here, ya know,” Applejack said, voice low. Quiet and strong. “You were on thin ice before, Missy. But now…”

In absolutely no way would Sunset allow herself to gulp. She opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it.

“Now, if I were you,” Applejack continued, “I’d keep my eyes above the nose, my mouth shut and hands to myself. I’d also be a mite afraid right about now.”

Against her better judgement, Sunset spoke. “I am...” she exhaled before her brain caught up. “I am afraid.”

Anyone else would’ve thought she was mocking them. But a scrutinizing pause from Applejack confirmed otherwise. Sunset’s eyes narrowed. Honesty-bound or no, she couldn’t believe those words left her. Sunset Shimmer was not that weak... 

She just wasn’t.

“Good,” Applejack said, her powerful gaze held firm. “Y’all want the truth? Wanna know why I was gonna leave without tellin’ any o’ you gals?”

Applejack took the chewed hay out of her mouth. Sunset’s eyes followed that same piece of hay until it reached her own dry, amber lips. 

“Then yer gonna shut up and listen. Understand?”

Sunset gulped. But only because of the overpowering scent of musk, dirt and wonderful hay. Suddenly, skipping lunch that day seemed pretty dumb. She couldn’t very well be defiant on an empty stomach, which happily growled like a timberwolf.

“Say yes...”

That wasn’t a request.

Sunset pointedly ignored the heat swimming through her face. “I-I… Yes, I understand.”

She blinked at a sudden push. Her tongue sour and sweetened both at once. Then her eyes closed as repressed urges boiled to the surface. Three gentle chomps, and the hay was engulfed. Rolled along her tongue, slipped over her teeth. Savored.

Sunset looked back up at the suffocating farmer.

“I woke up Monday morning just like this. Got the extra strength to go with it, FYI. You know, case ya ever think about bringing Rarity up again.”

Sunset swallowed the hay in a totally natural, not-nervous-at-all fashion. Applejack quietly inhaled through her nose. The cool jetstream of air that followed wafted Sunset’s hair, then cooled her from face to sweat-soaked, yellow-shirted belly.

Her friend’s breath smelled like apple cinnamon. Sunset hated cinnamon. Always soured her nostrils, and made it look like she was blushing. Which she totally wasn’t.

Now a little more calm, Applejack’s crushing gaze softened a bit.

“When I talk, I tell the truth. Same as normal, but this is different.”

Sunset just listened.

“First thing in my head flies out. Never any time to think or stop it, long as I’m talkin’. I say somethin stupid and I can’t take it back.”

Sunset Shimmer immediately thought of Applebloom. Then remembered the odd strokes of bravery she’d felt earlier. 

Applejack’s frown was now gone, stoicism reigning once again as she said, “It ain’t really new. Heck, I start pipin’ under the collar, suddenly I blow a gasket and tell my lady she ain’t special and…”

Sunset softened her own look, blush fading a bit. Applejack pushed off the door and stood up straight, though still quite close. Sunset dared not move a muscle.

“I’m like that all the time now. I screwed things up with Rares, sayin’ what I felt. Yeah, I know she forgave me, but what if… what if I do it again?”

Sunset’s head tilted a bit, bright sympathetic eyes peering up into Applejack’s.

“What if I hurt somebody else? What if I hurt y’all like I hurt… Aw, Applebloom.”

Applejack’s stature weakened. She brought a caressing palm to her face. With her opposite hand beneath her elbow, the farmgirl stumbled back, head slowly shaking.

Sunset shivered at the sudden cool breeze of AJ’s retreat. Her heart lurched at the taller girls pained face.

“A-Applejack, listen…” Sunset gently offered. “ This change with you--with us--this may not be a bad thing. Think of the good that comes with it.”

“Good…? Good. For cryin’ out loud, I called my baby sister useless! Is that what good magic does?!” Applejack’s shouts fell to shivering murmurs. “Is that… what a good sister does?”

Sunset’s felt the shackles of terror rattle and crack as she stepped forward, face-to-chest once more.

“No, Applejack,” she offered gently. “It’s not your fault. The magic I brought here has--”

“Gah! Exactly!” Applejack shouted again, tossing her hand up. “This is all your fault!”

Sunset both felt and heard the echoing crack deep in her own chest. She tried to feel angry, even to crack a frown, which utterly failed.

“I… I know. That’s why you have to let me fix this. Give me a chance to figure this out. Please... don’t push me away.”

Applejack distanced herself again. “I ain’t tryin’ to, sugarcube. But I can’t risk it. What if yer magic changed for the worse too? What if ya saw things… I ain’t ready for ya to see just yet?”

Sunset stopped mid-step, hesitation written on her face. She thought she knew why she had to disobey Princess Twilight, and use her powers. The magic has affected her friends. This clearly included Applejack. But now, Sunset wasn’t sure she wanted to know why.

No. She’d come too far now. She was already halfway there. She now understood why Applejack missed so many days of school. Why she avoided every single attempt to contact her up till now.

But that alone wouldn’t keep her where she belonged.

Sunset stepped up again. She took a long calming breath. She extended an upturned hand to Applejack.

“Let’s find out. Together.”

Sunset felt the seventh knot unravel in her chest, as Applejack hesitated. She could hardly believe her friend was considering.

Applejack looked ready to reach out, but stopped with her lower lip caught between her teeth. “What if I screw this up…? I can’t screw this up. Not again. Not with you. You’re the reason I’m closer to my girls than ever before.”

“You mess up, you can hate me for it,” Sunset affirmed with a smile. “Because I didn’t bring you together... Princess Twilight did.”

Sunset felt an even tighter knot unravel after several taut pulls. She hadn’t admit that in a long time. And it was… freeing.

“How do you do it, Sunset?” Applejack marveled. “Changin’ worlds, changin’ homes, lives? Making everything yours... How are you so strong?”

Sunset’s heart sang with both gratitude and pain. “That’s sweet of you to say, but… I’m not strong. I just don’t want to lose you.”

Sunset resisted the urge to reach out and grab AJ’s now-approaching hand. She needed time, time to make her own choice. Like Princess Twilight once gave to her. Like she herself had given the other Twilight.

Applejack jerked her hand away, trying to replace her sorrow with a smile.

“And… ya won’t lose me.”

Sunset’s brow raised heavenward. Applejack noticed, and averted her eyes with the smile that tried so desperately to exist.

“I-I leave for Manehatten tomorrow, Sunset. Tickets are bought. Hotel’s bought. Decision is already made. I… promise I’ll come visit now and then.”

Sunset’s world cracked and shattered into a lifeless gray husk. 

And with that, a new contender in the raging war for Sunset Shimmer’s mind exploded into the fray. A mighty contender. A fierce contender. A once-sleeping overlord that saw many conquests, and sailed Sunset through her High School dictatorship. A savage beast that drank the tears of whomever it conquered. A tyrant that was all but destroyed by the righteous blade of Harmony long ago. 

The torrential jolts of honesty shuddered apart. The crippling waves of fear receded. The pleasant rush of companionship burned away. In their place… stood Wrath. 

And it’s presence was deceptively quiet.

“B-but don’t you worry none, “Applejack continued. “I just need… time is all. I gotta figure a way around all this… this.”

Sunset suppressed her forest-burning scowl remarkably well.

“Hey, Rarity,” Sunset said, gaining a raised eyebrow from Applejack. “Oh, nothing, my day’s going great. Totally ready for the weekend. Huh? Applejack? Right, I did promise you I’d bring her back, didn’t I? Funny story, so, she’s moving to Manehatten. Not that she’s a total flake who runs away from all her problems, mind you. Manehatten’s probably a great place. She’d fit right in with those friendless, flighty, snobs.”

Sunset barely started her last sentence before her nostrils were assaulted by that musky, sweaty, dirty, grassy scent. Applejack stood over her again, eyes both very shocked and very angry.

Sunset’s scowl slowly came to be. “Oh, Rarity, she said she’d visit, sure, but she said a lot of things. Made us believe a lot of it too. Maybe she’ll finally pony up and talk to you when she’s hundreds of miles away. Or, you know… maybe she’ll hide. Forever. Like a coward.”

Sunset’s eyes met the rage in her friend’s in stride.

She crossed her arms. “So, AJ… Think Rarity’ll buy that when I return empty-handed?”

Applejack grit her teeth. “I think you should choose yer next words reeeeeeeal careful-like.”

Rational thought became a casualty of Sunset’s inner war.

“Great advice. Turns out, I have three words just for you!” Sunset shoved forward against that lean, stony flesh, satisfied at how far back the farmer stumbled. “Screw you, Applejack!”

The utter, complete, all-encompassing shudder that quaked in Applejack’s body would’ve been any sane person’s que to run.

“You think you’re so tough, don’t you?! Well, you’re not!” Sunset roared. “The Applejack I know is the strongest there is! You?! Hah! I’ve no idea who the Hell YOU are!”

Applejack took a breath, but found it impossible to exhale through anything but a huffing growl.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Sunset…”

Sunset closed the distance between them. Another errant stumble from Applejack made the former unicorn feel… strong. Stronger than Princess Twilight, and a thousand times stronger than Applejack. Her father would’ve been proud.

“How else could anypony get through to you?!” Sunset shouted, ignoring her exclusive Equestrian phrase. “Do you even realize what this’ll do to us?! TO RARITY?!”

A clenched fist. Loud, crackling knuckles.

“Pretty sure I told ya not to mention--”

“You’re tearing us apart! Don’t you get it?! By doing this, you’re killing us!”

Applejack stomped a booted foot, muscles coiling beneath trembling flesh. “Oh, and I guess yer just so gosh-darn innocent, ain’t ya! A perfect lil angel, right?!”

Sunset hesitated. There was blood in the water, and Applejack took a step forward.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Applejack! I--”

“You couldn’t get to my girls without hackin’ their phones and sendin’ all sorts o’ nonsense! Ya know why, Sunset?!”

To her credit, Sunset didn’t stumble back. She stood rigid as steel. Her face mere single-digit inches from all that muscle. Turquoise eyes burrowed deeply into furious emerald green.

“Ya know why you couldn’t make the cut in Equestria?! Ya know why you’d be dead right now if not for me?!”

Sunset’s ears deafened. A keening buzz and AJ’s infuriating voice were all that assured Sunset that she was still sane. If, that is, she remembered what that word meant anymore. 

And if she was honest with herself… she didn’t.

“It’s ‘cause yer so dagum stupid, ya can’t see I’m trying to save us! Heck, y’all didn’t know the first thing about friendship before Twilight! Hah! Before me, for that matter! Not that ya ever showed a lick o’ gratitude! I’ve seen us fall apart, even after you, Sunset. I WON’T be responsible for that!”

“I’m only gonna say this once…” Sunset breathed, fists shaking. “Don’t bring up my past again. Ever.”

Applejack’s hands found her own hips, and she blew a loose blonde lock from her eye.

“Whatchya gonna do if I don’t stop, sugar?” Applejack asked with a deliberate pause. “Huh? I’m all ears.”

Sunset grit her teeth, eyelids trembling further and further open.

“Oh, right… Ya can’t do squat. Like ya couldn’t back then.”

“Shut up, Applejack.”

“Ya made Fluttershy cry when y’all met Freshman Year, and I made ya pay for it. Then ya split us all up and bullied Fluttershy ever since. ‘Cause you were too weak to hurt me any other way. And ya know what, sugar?” Applejack bent down, her face now level with Sunset’s. “Ya still are.”

Sunset’s mouth worked silently.

“Now turn that taut little behind around, and walk away, ya hear? ‘Fore I gives y’all another shiner.”

A sharp, echoing clap retorted that.

Sunset’s vision swam back to her eyes as the red faded. Breath ragged through her clenched teeth, she drank in the image before her.

She lowered her outstretched arm just as warning bells rang in her head. In her chest. In her core. Everywhere. Most of her pony senses had all but vanished when she finally mastered her human form, but imminent, life-ending danger was something she’d never forgotten.

Not when she defended her wounded father from an Ursa Major in her fillyhood.

Not when she first stood up to, and challenged Princess Celestia’s authority.

And certainly not when the tooth-bearing, wide-eyed face she’d just slapped turned to her.

A thrust palm. Dull chest pain. A breathless howl. A swift breeze. And finally, a deep, shuddering *crash* from the barn door.

Sunset landed her rump. She slumped on her side, groaning at the sharp pain dancing along her entire back.

She raised herself on shaky arms, to stand on her feet, to run back over there and tear Applejack apart. Instead, she fell back to her side, a single arm keeping her torso steady. Hands curled into loose fists, Sunset lifted her shocked and terrified stare to Applejack’s own.

“What did I… Sugarcube… I-I didn’t mean…”

Sunset’s eyes dilated, a warm dampness stinging and collecting in them. For a while, the two just stared. Applejack tried and failed a hideous number of times to speak. Then, she did.

“I… I-I-I told ya, Sunset!” the frazzled blond shouted. “I told ya to hit the road! Said I didn’t wanna hurt, ya, but yer so darn stubborn, you can’t leave well enough alone!”

The subtle sting in huge turquoise eyes ignited, and Sunset knew the tear’s she’d held back finally fell.

Applejack jerked back, eyes growing in shocked realization.

“Sunset, don’t…” Applejack murmured. Then her eyes hardened. “Just… Just get on outta here! Go, before I--! Before I hurt you again…”

The same organ-twisting pike in Sunset Shimmer’s chest invited all four of its relatives to join it. With a sharp gasp, the tear-stricken girl caressed her heart’s remains with a hoof… fist… Whatever. Her legs refused to move.

“Ya got corn in yer ears, girl?! Off ya git!” Sunset flinched at those words. “GO!”

Among thousands, and thousands of images sifting behind her broken eyes, Sunset was vaguely aware that half of them were utterly impossible. So she settled on the best one of all. The one that delivered sweet, bloody revenge.

Her eyebrows scrunched together, her teeth clenched and her shaky muscles hardened.

“Fine!” Sunset shouted back. The rational part of her mind packed its bags and moved back to Equestria. And it showed.

Sunset scrambled to all fours, heels of her fists pressed hard to hay-bedded concrete. Her knees set wide apart. Her scowl could’ve surely evaporated an entire ocean if she looked at one.

One spell. That’s it. That’s all it would’ve taken to tear open this muscle-bound moron, and strangle her with her own entrails. One spell to split that hideous blond moptop open, and shove the contents down the owner’s throat. One spell to bend every limb in their unintended direction, and yank them outward with enough force to move entire buildings.

One spell.

“NGH! Come on! Come on!”

Just one easy, simple, plain-as-Celestia’s-day spell and… and why wasn’t her HORN working?!

A sharp spark pricked at Sunset’s forehead. With tightly shut eyes, and a tiny shout, the former unicorn fell back, sitting on her knees. She opened her eyes, and realized she was still in that barn.

Oh, the barn. Horrible memories. Bitter as blood.

“S-Sunset?”

Applejack’s detestable, disgusting voice assaulted the ears. Sunset frowned, but the twin tear streams and huge dilated eyes did nothing for it.

“FINE, APPLEJACK!” the weak and powerless Sunset shouted. “FINE!”

Sunset skittered to her backpack, forgetting entirely to stand on two feet like a normal pony… person… Whatever. It didn’t matter. She didn’t know who or what she was, and it didn’t matter. Sunset Shimmer was nothing now. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t a good friend. And she had to get out of there. She needed to be alone.

She deserved to be alone.

She clutched at her backpack, slammed her back against the still-locked barn door, curled her arms and legs around her property and cried. She just sat there and cried. The only thing making her futilely wipe away her nonstop tears, was the horrified stare from…

Applejack was still there…

“Oh, no,” the farmgirl whispered. “What have I done?”

Applejack approached with a wide, urgent gait.

Sunset felt those cruel pikes dance and jump up and down her chest, and a new wave of terror gained the upper hand in the raging war for her mind.

Her arms shot to her side, and she scrambled to her knees, pushing at the barn door in vain.

“Sunset, wait!”

Sunset grunted and whined and gasped at every failed attempt to open the door. Then she saw the lockbar. And her waist was snatched up before she could finish lifting it.

“No!” Sunset kicked and hollered. “Let me outta here! I hate this BARN! I HATE YOU!”

“I’m sorry, sugar! I’m so, so sorry!”

Sunset thrashed, and Sunset cursed. But Applejack knelt to the ground and took the smaller girl with her. Muscled arms constricted the whipping flails. A strong jerk left. A strong jerk right. A loose curse here. A kick to the dirt there.

All while the words, ‘I’m sorry,’ quietly peppered Sunset’s ear.

The struggles weakened, then twitched, then clung to life, then died. And all that remained was a scream-crying girl, and endless apologies crumbling into mute, convulsive sobs.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blue sky, Bright sun. Singing birds. And the occasion ‘moo,’ or ‘oink.’ Sometimes both. 

Nobody passing by could ever tell the explosive screams and curses that racked Sweet Apple Acres, and threw very sharp, pointy rocks into that blanket of peace. There was also crying. That was important. 

But, like every disturbance, it faded like the tide. The flesh-melting energy blasting out of a certain red barn had calmed, and receded back inside. To the source. And there, in the hay, Sunset Shimmer sat with a dead, thousand-yard stare. The only thing that confirmed any life signs were slow, infrequent breaths.

The truth hurts. A lot.

Like the dull pain in her chest from where Applejack had pushed her. The sore throat from all the scream-crying. The stinging eyes from every shed tear. There was far too much of that for either party’s liking, really. 

But, at least the pain reminded Sunset Shimmer she was still alive.

Or still breathing, anyway… Sunset thought with her best empty, crumbling, husk of a smile.

The color was gone. The red wood barn faded and dulled. The hay, once glorious and temping, lay well and truly dead--bold yellow now splattered with gray. The thin cracks of sunlight bleeding through the barn did little for Sunset. For all she cared, the light was dead.

The Magic was dead.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Magic didn’t belong in this world. In this world, Magic never stayed the same, or safe, or stable, or kept her friends together. It turned Twilight into a aether-raving nutjob. It made Fluttershy hypersensitive to all manner of sentient and non-sentient life. Rainbow Dash’s knowledge of the human body and all it limits became… disturbingly accurate. Pinkie Pie actually went mad with omniscience. Probably. Rarity’s augmented attention to detail could instantly tell her if two cockroaches mated behind her refrigerator within a three-day timespan.

Then there was Applejack.

Sunset glance down at the powerful arms squeezing around her own. A second glance confirmed the muscled legs lain on either of her sides. She knew what Magic had done to Applejack too. Not that she was certain. It wasn’t like Applejack would let Sunset touch her anyway.

Sunset used to think best friends did that sort of thing: touch, feel and understand one another. If she was honest with herself, she still believed that.

Which only meant one thing.

“We’re still friends, Sunset”

Liar. No they weren’t. Sunset now understood full well what Applejack truly thought of her. Applejack thought she was weak. Applejack thought she was better and stronger than her. Applejack…!

Applejack was right.

“I was wrong… and I’m so sorry.”

Never. She would never forgive Applejack. Not because she was leaving them, or even because she was wrong.

But because Applejack was right.

Sunset Shimmer was weak. The filly who couldn’t cauterize her father’s Ursa wound in time--weak. The snide rebel who got herself expelled from a school made for unicorns just like her--weak. The sniveling worm that accepted a friendly hand and took refuge in this very barn for twenty-three days--weak.

The arrogant snake who turned Applejack’s friends against each other. That was the weakest of them all.

“I forgive you.” That deep, quiet voice began to shake. “God, knows I do.”

But Sunset didn’t deserve forgiveness. Not from Princess Twilight. Not from Princess Celestia. And least of all from Applejack. They were… perfect. Applejack was perfect. She didn’t need some weakling telling her how to handle her issues. Applejack could have ruled Manehatten if she actually tried. She was independent, self-sufficient, adaptable, charismatic--all the qualities Sunset once believed they shared.

Like being honest with oneself.

Sunset sealed her lips shut. She couldn’t afford to speak, or risk actually saying that.

There was a beat of silence where Sunset didn’t think. A rarity not often enjoyed by active minds. But peaceful silence didn’t come to her. One snort from behind later, Sunset noticed the cheek resting against her bare neck.

Such a small, unnoticeable thing.

Another snort, followed by soft laughter. “‘Perfect?’ You gettin’ sweet on me, Pony Girl?”

Sunset stopped breathing.

Several knots that unraveled from this altercation tied themselves back up. Her half-shocked, half-dead eyes brush over the strong arms holding her still. A tiny grunt. A feather-light struggle in the farmer’s grip. Then, merciful release.

Sunset leaned forward, then turned and swiveled to face the larger girl. One gazing up. One blushing down. Sunset stared for a while longer, respecting AJ’s wishes not to be touched.
She just… needed to be close. She sat upon her knees, between Applejacks legs. Every breath wafting down her nose and mouth confirmed the distance.

Sunset whispered… “How did you know what I was feeling?”

Green eyes slowly brightened. Applejack waded through her hesitation. “Hard not to hear you talkin’ about it. Considerin’, you know… how close we are. Right now. I think.” Her already prominent blush darkened.

“Applejack…” Sunset slowly breathed. “I didn’t say anything.”

Applejack fell silent. Sunset fell silent. They both raised a hand and glanced at them. Then at each other’s. Their eyes met again.

“How much… how much did you hear?” Sunset whispered again.

Applejack blinked again, still processing all this.

“I… You really said nothin’ the last few minutes?” Applejack questioned, an errant sweat bead rolling down her neck.

Sunset slowly shook her head, eyes never leaving the fargirl’s. “Not a word.”

“But… what does that mean? I-I heard everything and… Sugar, you ain’t weak. Please know I didn’t mean it. I didn’t…”

Sunset’s eyes lidded. She wasn’t sure she believed that. But…

“I need to be sure,” Sunset murmured. “But… I won’t do anything you don’t allow me to. I’m… I’m sorry I tried to force it.”

Applejack’s face fell, if only a little. “Oh, sugar… It’s okay.”

“Can I? You’ll… let me?”

It felt strange asking permission for something like this, but Sunset deemed it necessary. Rightfully so, as Applejack seemed to hesitate again. But like before, the blond farmgirl waded through it--this time, with a smile.

Sunset brushed a feathery touch along Applejack’s muscled forearm.

A golden shock flashed in her eyes. She pulled away, and gawked at Applejack, who gawked right back.

“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked in wonder.

“I think… I think…”

Sunset let her impulses slip for just a second. She took her friend’s hand into two of her own, and placed that large, calloused palm unto her cheek.

“My magic… this is amazing...” Sunset smiled. “Tell me exactly what I’m thinking.”

Sunset had to admit; It felt good to give Applejack orders.

“Oh, yeah? Well don’t you go gettin’ used to it, missy,” Applejack said with a wry smirk.

Sunset’s eyes widened. She didn’t want Applejack to catch that.

“Is that right? And what did y’all want me to catch?”

Sunset lightly threw the palm back to its owner’s lap. “Okay, not fair.”

Applejack snorted. “Howdy, Pot. Y’all met Kettle? Great friend o’ mine--we go way back.”

The barn gently echoed of laughter for short, precious moments. Then it stopped, and the two girls resumed staring at one another.

“How…?” Applejack asked, the wonderment returned to her voice.

“I don’t know, but…” Sunset tucked her own hair behind an ear, “this is the first time I’ve used my power since the change.”

Applejack’s eyes flickered, and she leaned forward, only a little. “Are you afraid?”

Sunset didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she smiled ruefully.

“Terrified…” Applejack smiled back as Sunset’s eyes fell to her own hands. “Even before the change--when I first learned how to control it--I never touched anypon… anybody for more than a few seconds.”

Sunset raised her eyes up to Applejack’s. She met that freckled blush with a microscopic smile.

“Must’ve ate at ya somethin’ fierce... Layers, covers, all sorts o’ shades. So much to see… but ya just couldn’t. There are some things you know you ain’t meant to see...”

Sunset’s eyes softened as she leaned forward as well. “Applejack? How… how much of me did you…?”

Applejack offered her own sad smile. “Enough to know I was wrong. So wrong… Green eyes were gently cast groundward. “Sugar, I’m so sorry for what I said.” Sunset’s smile returned. “The magic you brought here: it gave me somethin’ to fight for, somethin’ else to live for. Findin’ you that rainy night was the best thing I ever did… I-I didn’t mean to push you away. Figuratively and… literally.”

Sunset blushed. It was stupid to blush, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“And I’m sorry I called you a coward. Every challenge and change? Taking it all head-on, with that smile of yours? Not that ‘roughing it’ at Camp Everfree was intelligent, by any stretch, but you make it work, somehow.”

Applejack snorted. “Yeah. Say… I ever tell you when I wrestled a bear away from one of my campfires?”

Sunset’s eyes widened then flattened with a knowing smirk. “You totally just made that up.”

Applejack’s own smirk appeared, an eyebrow raising.

“No…”

“Mm-hm.”

“You didn’t…”

“I sure did.”

“A bear?”

“It wanted the berries I spent three hours pickin’. What would you have done?”

Sunset thought for a minute. Then they both answered simultaneously, “Ran like a bitch.” 

More laughter echoed from the barn. Sunset recovered first, and took the liberty of doing something dumb. She raked her eyes roughly, clinically and shamelessly over the entwined coils of muscle before her, stopping at those head-turning abs.

Now, Sunset couldn’t get Applejack bear-wrestling as a profession out of her head.

“You may be pushy, aggressive and mean, but you sure as Hell are no coward.”

“You know? I can’t tell if that’s a compliment,” Applejack grinned.

“It isn’t… It’s a cold, hard fact.”

The two remained silent for minutes after that, just staring. Sunset regained enough sense to correct herself; she wasn’t looking above the nose. At all.

“Quit it.” Applejack teased.

“S-sorry…” Sunset blushed, hands now resting on her own bare thighs. “Truth is, I’ve never really seen… anyone look this way in person. I didn’t know I’d tolerate it so much.”

Applejack snorted again. “Tolerate… So that’s what we’re callin’ it now.”

Sunset shook her head with her own grin, glanced one last time at her new obsession then reconnected eyes with her friend.

“I’m glad you found me that day, Applejack.” The farmgirl smiled. “It was so cold. And I was so angry. And you… You stood over me, soaked with just as much rain, and just lifted me to my feet and smiled. You taught me how to walk on two legs. Caught me whenever I stumbled. I… I hated that.”

Applejack just listened.

“I hated that I didn’t know anything anymore. That I needed to relearn an entire world again. And that I had to learn all of it from someone who didn’t even know magic, and… I hated you so much.

Applejack said nothing.

“I stayed in the barn--away from the actual house--because I couldn’t stand the sight of you. Your family, your work. How you just… did it with no complaints. You’d visit me every morning and every night just to say hello. Sometimes with breakfast or dinner. I… hated that you were so nice to me when I didn’t even deserve it.”

Sunset noticed Applejack’s hands reach forward, but they stopped and remained on the farmer’s own slightly parted thighs.

“Still can’t believe it took me four days to notice how ya survived.”

Sunset smiled and said, “In your defense, humans don’t really eat hay. Totally fooled you into thinking I was a normal teenage girl.” Her brow flattened. “Until you saw me eating it.”

Applejack closed her eyes at the memory. “Always jumpy when the horses neighed. Always eatin’ hay. Always on all fours. Always runnin into doors… Huh. Would make one catchy tune.”

A fire started in Sunset’s face, brow furrowing. “First off, that wasn’t my fault. I’m a unicorn. I was born to run into doors--I--er--what the--TO OPEN DOORS WITH MAGIC! I… I wasn’t used to a lot without it.”

The Element of Empathy rolled her eyes at her comrad’s hearty laughter, a deeper red staining her face.

Sunset cleared her throat. “Second, that would make a horrible song. Unlike… one song I can recall.”

Green eyes gaped wide. Amber lips curled sharply.

“And you know what song I’m talking about. Don’t you, Applejack.” In truth, not even Sunset could remember hearing her own voice that low.

Applejack jerked back in horror. “Don’t you dare!”

Sunset’s torso fell into a rhythmic series of bounces, and she sang,

“Who’s a silly pony?
“You’re a silly pony.
“Who is?
“You is, Applejack!

“Bumpin’ into gates
“And knockin’ over fences.
“Who is?
“You is, Applejack!”

Sunset crumbled into uncontrollable laughter as Applejack sputtered apart.

“Ah, come on, now--I, that is--Pa sang it ‘fore I could crawl--and.. And--!”

Applejack slumped with a narrow frown as Sunset laughed and laughed. “And it stuck with the family ever since. Priceless.”

Her laughter stopped. Applejack stared at her like she’d grown an extra set of eyebrows.

“W-what?” Sunset meeped.

“I… never told ya that,” Applejack said--to Sunset’s relief--without anger; more with surprise than anything else. “I never told anyone that.”

Sunset paused. Then she looked down, and saw her very ungloved hand over Applejack’s. Sunset gently pulled away, averting her gaze for only a second or two. Eyes locked once more.

“Reckon ya still got some questions,” Applejack murmured.

Turquoise eyes were piercing, searching those emerald gems for her own answer.

“I don’t know.”

Applejack was silent.

“This change. This… thing that happening to us. I think I really am afraid of it.”

Applejack smirked. “Well, you were awful assertive about the matter before.”

Sunset averted her eyes and said, “That was before I knew the sakes.” She looked back up at her now-concerned friend. “Before I knew what the magic did to you.”

Applejack gulped when Sunset placed both her hands on Applejack’s, and--subsequently--her thighs.

“The second I stepped in this barn today, I felt it. It was so gentle at first but, like… Okay, imagine your lungs in a blender, but with blades made of cotton--”

“--It’s already too late.”

Sunset smiled as she stuffed a chuckle. “It scared me to death. Every time I spoke to you… I was strong. Like I could do anything, and I guess my mouth agreed. I spoke everything I thought, and… and I knew I’d hurt you too.”

Applejack offered a sad smile.

“I was scared, Applejack, because I don’t like to lose. I hate it when I don’t get my way. And you denied me. Over and over again. I thought I was being strong by pushing back at you. But I was so caught up, I got angry and just blew up. With every horrible thing I thought of you. Because I thought… you didn’t wanna be with me anymore… Us. Anymore. I meant...”

Sunset didn’t notice the stray lock of fiery hair before Applejack tucked it back behind her ear.

“Do you have any idea… what you do to me, Applejack?” the former pupil asked.

Applejack simply stared, mouth dry and slightly hung open. Sunset smiled, voice lowered to a whisper.

“Embrace it. Own what you are--what you can do. You can bring out the truest part of people. The truest part of me. All while wholly accepting who you are.” Sunset blushed when she didn’t allow it. “I… I love that about you.”

“And I think I understand yours too.” Applejack said. Sunset brightened with surprise. “You touch people, ya get it. Now they can do the same with you. Neat.”

The farmer’s eyes narrowed with amusement at Sunset’s lidded glare. Applejack deserved that glare for killing the moment. But the glare receded to a fond grin.

“Sweet Celestia, that’s what I hate about you. You’re just... so simple.”

A short, deep chuckle. Then Applejack’s face dimpled as it spread into the farthest, widest grin Sunset had ever seen on her. “Born and raised, hon.”

Sunset sighed at the pleasant wave a images dunking passed one another in her mind. Born and raised… She certainly was.

A loving mother and father, taken before their time. A supportive grandmother, the living breathing history book of the once-small town of Canterlot City. A brother and sister who’d pull mountains over rivers for her. All for nothing in return. But Applejack returned anyway. She always did.

She always gave before she took. Worked before she rested, assuming the latter ever came. She loved before she hated. Everything Sunset wished she could do--wished she could be. Perhaps… she was already there.

If Applejack was with her.. Sunset could be strong. And so could every single one of their friends.

They needed Applejack.

Sunset needed Applejack.

She’s so darn cute… Ugh! Come on, AJ. Think o’ Rarity.

Sunset once again suffered the paradoxical sensation of stopping while she wasn’t moving. Wide eyes looked up. The eyes looking down widened soon after.

“Did… I just think that out loud?”

Sunset responded with a nervous giggle, fingers twiddling with a bacon-colored lock of hair.

“You… think I’m cute?”

A sudden cold bit at Sunset when Applejack shot herself a full arm’s length back, hands on her friend’s slender shoulders.

“Whoa, nelly…”

An odd silence filled the barn. Different. Not bad. Not awkward. Not even good, really. Just different. Sunset’s eyes trailed from Applejack’s wrists all the way to her powerful shoulders. Then her modest bust. Then, at last, above the nose.

“I had no idea…” Sunset whispered. “Wow… It’s like I’m meeting you for the first time. So many surprises.”

Applejack cursed under her breath, and scrambled to her booted feet.

“Now I’ve gone and… Shucks!”

Sunset’s instincts began taking hold. Instincts that she thought would remain buried for a long time. Instincts that defied and shouted against human biology. Desires she’d forsaken until she’d found her first mutual friend in Princess Twilight Sparkle. To love and be loved. To be close. Praised and celebrated. All things humans could biologically survive without.

Things as important to a pony, as water to a fish.

She shot to her feet, a cold despair clawing at her with every step the farmgirl put between them.

“Applejack?”

“I screwed up, Sunset,” Applejack said quietly. “I… You weren’t supposed to know that.”

A terrible sense of deja vu made Sunset hesitate. But quickly found no more reason to hesitate.

“That’s what you were hiding?” Sunset already knew the answer. “Well… Yeah? Yeah. I know. It’s no big deal that I know, right?”

Sunset’s hands curled into fists against her chest. She wilted at her blonde comrade’s menacing glare.

“You know damn well the answer.”

Sunset flinched at the curse. Applejack almost never cursed. But the former unicorn didn’t deny she knew the answer. If only because she well and truly couldn’t.

“I...  I don’t wanna get between you and Rarity. Please believe me. I just… want to know more? I guess?” Sunset smoothed another pesky bacon strip out from her eye. “I don’t know.”

Applejack searched the ground for a response, but conceded that with a tired huff.

“Ain’t nothin’ more to talk about, Sunset.”

“Please don’t do that,” Sunset pleaded, taking a bold step forward. “Don’t shut me out. Not again. Not now...”

Applejack stood her ground. “Gah, Sunset… We were rarin’ for than just ‘talkin.’ You know it, and I know it. Let’s just… forget this ever happened.”

“You mean forget we ever met?” Sunset’s voice stung with the tremble of oncoming sobs. “Because that’s honestly what you expect me to do, huh?”

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, no… No, that ain’t--”

“Well, jokes on you! I can’t,” Sunset’s lips trembled and her slow-recovering will started to break again. “Hey, while we’re at it, how about we forget everything we learned today and get on with our lives. That what you want, Applejack?”

“Sugar, ya got it all wro--”

“Or maybe you just can’t stand being around us! Around ME! That’s why, isn’t it?!”

“Sunset--”

“Am I still too weak for you?!”

“No, that ain’t it!”

“WHAT IS IT, THEN?!”

“IT’S ALWAYS BEEN THERE!”

Both girls stumbled to a stop. Blinking eyes trapped by one another’s, the two heroes took a moment to gather the situation. Applejack caught her breath. A resigned sigh escaped her, eyes falling again.

“It’s… always been there,” Applejack repeated, her tone somber. “First time I saw you, I… Shoot, I just knew you were special. You were like a newborn baby. And I watched you grow up in a matter o’ days.”

Sunset barely recovered from her shock.

“First time I saw ya eat hay, I don’t even think y’all know how long just… sat there and watched.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, yet blushed all the same.

“Third day you were here--land sakes--I never heard anybody so interested in a farm. So many questions…”

Sunset smiled. “I still wonder how tractors work. It’s, like, so much for so little.”

Applejack smiled for a fraction of a second. “ Yeah…”

Sunset’s face fell, her heart aching with Applejack.

“You had ambition. I saw it. I knew you were never gonna stay. ‘Least… that’s what I reckoned at first.”

Sunset took a tentative step forward. They were so close now…

“When you first got down n’ dirty with us on the field, you were so earnest. I could tell ya hated it, but ya just… did it. Just like any Honest Apple. And it was all for… for… what was it again?”

Sunset pressed her fingers together. “Science.”

Applejack snorted with a slowly shaking head. “For science… Curse it all if I didn’t miss you to death when you left. I always meant to say what you do to me, girl. But I was just too late. It’s… too late.”

Sunset dared to touch her comrade’s hand. To her astonishment, Applejack didn’t pull away.

“When you first became Fall Formal Princess... somethin’ changed. And that’s when I knew for sure it couldn’t work... It’s too late for us, now. I got Rarity… Had Rarity.”

Sunset didn’t bother holding her tears back. They flowed as freely as the anguish and torment she felt from Applejack.

“Manehatten is my next stop. I think it’s time I showed Aunt and Uncle Orange how sellin’ produce is really done.”

The fact that Applejack tried to smile only made this worse. And Sunset had suffered quite enough.

Something had to give. And so it did.

Sunset stood on her tiptoes, lifted slightly off Applejack’s shoulders and kissed her. A simple, unmoving, lip-to-lip kiss. Sunset pulled away with a light smack, breath shallow, eyes lidded. Tears falling down two gentle streams off her face.

“Don’t go…” It was merely a whisper. But those words punched the air like gunfire. “Don’t go…”

Eyes that simply couldn’t un-widen locked on Sunset’s. Applejack gave a single, strangled sputter. She looked as if she’d speak, but never did. Her head and body swayed, like her soul was pulled in three different directions.

Applejack blinked, and her lungs inflated to life.

“You kissed me…” Applejack muttered. “And… and I…”

“You liked it…” Sunset finished for her.

Sunset took a daring step, fully aware that her instincts had taken control: she placed her hands just below Applejack’s chest. Her fingers tingled with a numbing buzz, a pleasant combo to the smooth, hardened flesh kneaded between them.

Then she saw it.

At first, she wasn’t sure what to make of it. But when image after image bled in and out of existence, Sunset pieced it together very quickly. Perhaps too quickly. With tiny gasps, giggles and a blush so red it put the entire barn to shame, Sunset marveled at three-years-worth of unsatisfied fantasies. All involving her.

And she was quite sure her legs couldn’t bend that far back.

“Oh… Applejack,” Sunset cooed, a new type of boldness tearing through her chest. “I… I had no idea you felt this way.”

Applejack took both smaller hands into her own, holding them tightly. “This is why you shouldn’t have come. I… we can’t do this Sunset. What would I tell Rarity?”

Sunset simply throw herself forward, her slim waist pressing firm into Applejack’s skirted loins.

“You tell her the truth,” Sunset breathed, eyes capturing Applejack’s.

Sunset knew it wasn’t that simple, but she didn’t care.

“How?” Applejack whispered back. Her hips gave a soft, earnest buck.

Sunset huffed as her hips returned the gesture with a more insistant buck.

“We’ll figure it out.” It was a horrible answer. Sunset’s eyes widened as she felt Applejack start to pull away. “Nonononono. Don’t go. Please, don’t go.”

Sunset’s arms latched around Applejack’s waist, hips rocking smoothly against her.

A pitiful, breathless groan escaped the farmgirls lips. “Dagnabit, girl,” she huffed, hips now dancing with Sunset’s “You drive me crazy.”

Sunset’s fingers dug into the small of Applejack’s back, hips grinding harder. “You can hate me. I don’t care. I’m weak without you. Nothing without you. Please don’t leave me... Applejack, Don’t g--”

Applejack swooped down and kissed her.

For the longest three seconds of her entire life, Sunset couldn’t decide how to respond. Then her instincts reminded her who was in charge. So she kissed back. Vigorously.

It was an awkward, stumbling dance of rocking hips and smacking lips. Every buck steadily grew stronger, punctuated with a gasp or a groan. Even a growl or two made it in there.

Sunset felt a tug at her shirt, then a breezy chill on her sweat-covered belly. She broke the kiss with a light gasp and another wet smack.

“Holy horse-apples...”

In a heartbeat, Sunset was out of Applejack’s still-extended arms. The farmer’s eyes lifted with shock and trepidation.

“Sunset? Sugar, I’m… I’m sorry. That was too fast, wasn’t it?”

Sunset still faced her friend, still looked at her, even, but she didn’t answer. She turned around completely, thumb nibbled between her teeth.

“This was a mistake. We shouldn’t have… uh…”

Applejack completely stopped when Sunset slowly turned back to her. The pupils of her eyes her big and black as ever. But the fire in them?

That was another story entirely.

Sunset allow on her face, a razor-sharp, predatory grin. “I mean… Holy horse-apples…”

Applejack completely stopped moving. But only for a few seconds. Doubts melted away. Fears were shoved aside. And the pure, honest truth exploded from eyes of turquoise and emerald.

A smirk crept along Applejack’s lips. She raised her arms just a little, offering herself and all her muscled glory. “Alright... Come on, then.”

Sunset let her eyes wander and pillage like the shameless voyeur she was. She squared her feet, smile growing as her friend challenged her. Like always.

Sunset Shimmer sprinted back to Applejack and pounced.

The chaos that followed, rocked that little corner of Sweet Apple Acres to its core. Amber legs hoisted and slung around a waist. Sweat-dampened clothes pawed at, pulled and peeled off. Blonde and fiery hair squeezed and pulled by greedy fingers. Slender and robust muscle kneaded and caressed.

Tongues lashing for control.

A firm backside crashing against a wall. A neat stack of tools, oh so beautifully knock over. A handmade workbench thrown aside… likely destroyed on impact. And through it all, the raspy growls, grunts and shouts that could’ve painted a picture for any wandering bystander.

The only semblance of peace came when Applejack leaned her extended arms atop a haystack. She stared down at the sweating bare thighs hooked around her wrists. Spread as wide as those huge arms would keep them….

Applejack’s eyes wandered upward, passed the vulnerable, brown-clad loins, passed the slim belly that shivered and sweat at the attention, passed the plum-sized bust, cradled by a red, half-strapped bra.

And finally, to the lidded turquoise eyes that watch her the whole time.

Deep breaths intermingled as the two stared at each other.

“Yer gonna help me unpack.”

Sunset nodded.

“Yer gonna help me get my room back together.”

Another nod, this time with a growing smile.

“Yer gonna help me clean this barn after I’m finished doin’ everything to ya.”

Sunset nodded harder and whispered, “Yes…”

“And tomorrow mornin’, you,” Applejack captured those smiling lips into a quick kiss, “are gonna help me tell Rarity what’s about to happen. I won’t hide this from her. Understand?”

Sunset’s smile receded only a little. But she returned the kiss in kind.

“Yes, Applejack.”

Sunset shivered and huffed, staring at every suckling kiss that trailed down her body.

Her eyes slowly brightened. Breath quickened. Muscles tightened. And she pushed gently against the blonde head ready to eat her alive on that haystack.

“W-wait a minu… We have to… Applejack, I…”

Breathless, incoherent stutters met with hearty, teasing laughter.

“Still havin’ doubts?”

The question seemed like a platitude if anything else. At least, it seemed that way with the kisses peppered along Sunset’s inner thighs.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, but I ha-ha-ha-haow! Oh, my God… Quit it.” Sunset pushed harder against that naughty blonde head. “I have to say this.”

Applejack stopped and looked earnestly at Sunset.

“This… This is everything.” Sunset didn’t even know what those words meant. But she had to get them out. “My thoughts. My fears. My hopes. My present… My past. It’s all here. Everything you ever wanted to know.”

Applejack fell into a stare. Listening. Eyes flickering with empathy.

“The light. And the darkness. So much darkness,” Sunset paused, smoothing a blonde strand from the eyes clued up at her. “I always felt safe when I used my powers, Applejack. I could look at someone and actually see them, but…”

“But now I can see you.”

Sunset fell silent, eyes still lidded.

“Yes… This is everything, Applejack. Everything I never told you or anyone else. What I lost, how horrible I was afterward. How I saw the world. Everything.”

Applejack seemed to finally understand as her eyes brightened.

“And it’s yours. Are you sure you’re ready for me?”

If Sunset Shimmer was honest with herself, she’d believe she sounded very intimidating. The wrists keeping her legs pried open confirmed this when they tensed, never mind the very real doubts she felt from the contact alone.

But the unphased grin that followed sent that confidence into a tailspin.

“Depends on what’cha say next.”

With that, Applejack raised her hands, and placed them opposite of the still-very spread thighs. No more contact. No more empathy. It was just the barn, the heat, the sweat, the bodies so close yet so far.

And there was the hay, of course. Hay that was so symbolically offered to a shocked Sunset’s lips. Her eyes crossed to stare at it, then straightened to stare at Applejack.

“What… what do you wanna hear?” Sunset cooed.

“The first thing that comes to your mind.”

Sunset honestly had thousands of things enter her mind. Not that she could focus on them. Because she couldn’t focus on anything… but Applejack. Applejack Apple. Her savior. Her keeper. Her best friend. Strength incarnate.

And Sunset loved strength.

“Thank you, Applejack. For taking care of me.”

The farmgirl’s lips slowly curled into a smile.

Sunset dunked forward, engulfing the entire blade of hay.

Emerald eyes twitched and widened, as an eager little mouth left her now-damp thumb with suckling pop. A few seconds of chewing. Then a loud gulp.

“Now shut up… and take what’s yours,” Sunset whispered.

Applejack tossed that restricting hand from her head, ripped those brown shorts apart and dived into a well earned feast.

Back arched and head thrown aside, Sunset Shimmer’s screams echoed throughout the entire orchard.