Chapter 1
The lakehouse was close enough to the shores of Lake Everfree that Applejack could almost make out the docks she and her friends had built (and built, and built, and built) five years ago. They were a black shadow in the moonlight reflecting off the still waters.
She leaned back against the arm of the wooden bench that sat on the lakehouse’s back porch, listening to the muffled strains of dance music still filtering through the screen door. Fluttering over the door was Pinkie’s banner, decorated with the girl’s usual lack of restraint; bright metallic paint read ‘Congrats/Sorry For Your Breakup.’
She heard the door bang open, and she didn’t even need to turn and look to know who it was. Nobody else burst through a door like Rainbow Dash. She heard the footsteps on the wooden porch come to a stop, then the entire bench lurched as Rainbow flopped into it.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself. How’s the party?”
“Winding down. Pinkie and Flutters are out cold, and Rarity went to bed twenty minutes ago.”
“What about Sunset and Twi?”
“They’re dancing.”
The amusement was thick in Dash’s voice, enough that Applejack turned to look at her. Her old friend was smirking, her eyebrows raised and her eyes dancing with repressed laughter.
“Dancing?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow finally let out a chuckle. “The kind of dancing where you couldn’t even squeeze sunlight between ‘em.”
“Oh!” Applejack didn’t feel like laughing, but she smiled anyways. “Guess all it took was a little cider to grease the wheels between those two.”
“Right?” Rainbow cackled. “Like, we knew they were a thing before they did. Speaking of booze, though…” Applejack just noticed that she was carrying a pair of beers in her hand. She nodded gratefully, taking one. “Um, got an opener?”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Course I do, sugarcube.” It was her own design; part of the Sweet Apple Acres merchandise campaign that was just taking off online. Local foodies had ‘discovered’ their cider, and rocketed the independent orchard into the strange realm of ‘hipster cred’ territory, whatever that meant. Either way, at least they were in the black, now. She reached over and popped open Dash’s bottle, then her own, and turned to face the lake once again, sipping slowly at her beer.
“Didjya have fun?” Applejack asked into the silence that followed, then flinched. “Sorry. I know it’s your party and all, but Pinkie sometimes doesn’t know when to celebrate somethin’, and when to just let it go.”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Rainbow waved a hand idly. “I’m not sad or depressed or anything, if that’s what you’re asking. Honestly? A party with my best buds is just what I needed. Sure was nice for Luna and Celestia to loan us their lakehouse, though.”
“I never even asked how it happened. You know, with you and...” she trailed off before she said his name, ignoring the boiling fury that bubbled up.
“Really?” Rainbow sighed. “I guess it’s kinda a cool story, mostly cuz I got a new friend out of it. Not a very long story, though.” Applejack turned back to Dash, who was leaning back on the bench with her eyes closed. “You know Soarin was cheating on me, right? Well, I found out cuz his side piece found out she was the side piece. She caught him texting me, and didn’t buy whatever bullshit he tried to feed her. So she did a little research and reached out to me, spilled the whole thing. We’re friends on Insta, now. Her name’s Spitfire. Gonna hang out a bit; turns out she’s almost as big into sports as I am.” She took a long pull of her beer.
“Guess Soarin had a type, then,” Applejack said, just in time to catch Rainbow with her mouth full. Rainbow snorted laughter, coughing and spitting her beer onto the dirt ground in front of the porch.
“Damnit, AJ! You made me spit my beer,” Rainbow complained, gasping for breath. Applejack smirked, and Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“I’m just glad you’re away from the creep,” Applejack said, reaching out her beer. “To dumpin’ bad boyfriends.” Rainbow clinked her bottle against hers, and they both drank.
In the silence, Applejack listened to the distant water of the lake lapping against the beach. The night insects were just starting to make themselves known, calling out their cheerful chirps into the darkness.
“Can I ask you something?” Dash’s voice cut through the stillness like one of Pinkie’s party poppers.
“Sure, RD.”
“What did you think of him? Soarin, I mean? At the beginning, before things went…”
“You mean before you found out he was a two-timin’ son-of-a-”
“Yeah. Back then.”
Applejack opened her mouth. Two years of watching Dash date the annoyingly handsome jerk. Watching how happy she was at first. How much fun they had. She remembered years of smiles. The light in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. She remembered how she sounded. The light flush on her blue cheeks when Soarin touched her.
The burning, twisting, angry, boiling stab of jealousy each time.
“I dunno, sugarcube,” she lied.
“Bullshit, AJ,” Rainbow’s feet hit the porch, and she stood, moving so she was facing Applejack. “You knew he was a jerk, from the beginning, didn’t you? You were just being too nice to say so.”
“N-no, I…”
“C’mon, AJ. It’s not like you need to protect my feelings or anything,” Dash scoffed, peering deeply into Applejack’s eyes. She glanced down and away.. “It’s over between him and me.”
“Do we have to talk about this?” Applejack wanted to hide. It was so stupid. She wasn’t some dumb teenager any longer. They were adults. She could just have a normal mature conversation with her best friend, right?
Right?
“I mean, if you don’t wanna,” Rainbow moved away slightly, her eyes suspicious, and Applejack gulped. She could almost see Granny’s disapproving look, the way her lips would twist in disappointment whenever Applejack was avoiding the truth.
“It wasn’t cuz of him,” she whispered, and turned away, back towards the lakehouse. She didn’t want Rainbow seeing her face, now. “I had no idea he was a jerk.”
“Really? But you would always get this look when he and I were together. Like you’d bitten an apple with a worm in it, or something.”
There was no way she’d been that obvious. Applejack’s heart pounded loudly in her ears. “You’re crazy, Dash. Imaginin’ things.”
“Nope. I’m not as dumb as I was back in High School, AJ. I actually notice things now.”
Damnit. She did her best to assemble a smirk, and glanced at Dash. “So you’re trying to say you’re all grown up, now? Yeah, right. You’re gonna be a kid forever, Dash.”
“Hey! I’m way more mature than I was all those years ago,” Dash shot back. “Mature enough to know when you’re changing the subject.”
Applejack opened her mouth to say something. Anything. Another distraction. Another subject. Another… anything.
“It wasn’t cuz of him,” she repeated. “It was cuz of me. I was jealous.”
“You wanted Soarin?” Dash snorted incredulously. “Woah. Glad I could jump in front of that bullet for ya, at least.”
“Dash, you idjit.” Her face was hot. Uncomfortably hot. “I wasn’t jealous of you. I was jealous of him.”
Rainbow gaped, her mouth hung open in an expression that would have been a lot funnier in different circumstances. She blinked a few times, and slowly closed her mouth.
“Huh.”
“Huh? That’s all you gotta say?” Applejack’s voice suddenly flooded with anger. She didn’t even know where it came from. “I come out to you, and all you can tell me is ‘huh’? Damnit, Rainbow, I hated Soarin because he was braver than me! Faster than me! Smarter than me! He saw somethin’ in you and snatched you up before I… before I could…” She was blabbering, she knew it. Applejack took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. “Forget it. I’ll go. Sorry. You don’t…”
“Wait. AJ, you…?” Rainbow reached out to grab Applejack’s shoulder, but Applejack flinched away. “You… me?”
Applejack almost laughed. Rainbow had never been the most articulate of girls. “Yeah, you. Always you. From the beginning. I was just too much of a damned coward to open my mouth. Then it was too late.”
“I never knew.”
“Guess you’re not really as observant as you thought, huh?”
“Hey!” Rainbow punched her lightly on the shoulder. “Gimme some credit, AJ. I noticed something.”
“Yeah, I guess you did.” The silence fell again. This time it was oppressive. Heavy and thick. Applejack suddenly needed some space. Some fresh air. Applejack stepped down from the porch, heading towards the lake.
“Um. Ever think about starting over?” Rainbow asked suddenly. Applejack glanced back. It was dark enough that she couldn’t see much of Rainbow’s expression. “You know. Trying things out? Us? Just to see? If we could…”
“It’s not… too late?”
“Too late?” Rainbow scoffed. “Nah. Never too late to do things the right way.”
Applejack’s heart pounded again, this time for a different reason. She glanced towards the lake, then back at Rainbow.
“We could talk about it, I guess. Wanna go for a walk? Around the lake?”
“Sure.” Rainbow hopped down from the porch, darting up alongside Applejack with her usual speed. “I’d like that.”
Applejack nodded, and side by side, the two of them set off along the shoreline of Lake Everfree. It was still dark in the moonlight, but when Rainbow slipped her warm hand inside Applejack’s, she felt like she had all the light she needed.