Every sunday is the same.
I got up early, I feed Gummy, I check the babies and go downstairs to meet Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Every sunday they protest but I always manage to convince them to take a day off. It´s their day, the one day when they don´t need to worry about the store or the babies. Their special time. I send them off and sit behind the counter, ready to take on any client.
Every sunday is the same for other ponies too. They all have their own little routines. At eight o'clock, every week the same time, Twilight walks through the door. Before she finish saying good day I have an order of baked goods ready.
"Take care on the Everfree, Twilight!" I said as she leaves.
"How did you know I was going to the Everfree?" she asks.
"Because it´s sunday, silly." she blushes and leaves, promising to send my regards to Zecora.
A little later, Applejack comes to the store to give me cooking lessons. I really don't need them, it´s not like I don't know how to bake. I´m a pretty good baker, a few accidents aside. But she still insists on helping me after I sent them an order of burnt cupcakes.
We spend the entire day trying different recipes, playing around. That´s mostly me, Applejack usually doesn't like when I goof around. She looks at me with this stern look while dough falls from her mane. I try not to laugh and before I can say sorry, my face ends up covered in dough too. We have fun, so much fun.
But we also have quiet moments. When we are stirring or watching the oven, those are the moments when I stay quiet and just look at Applejack. I've never looked at her before. Really look at her. I watch her as she gather the ingredients, I watch her as she explain things, I watch her humming while preparing the dough. I keep watching at her.
I never noticed how green her eyes are, almost emerald like. Never noticed she has precisely sixteen freckles, seven on her right cheek, nine on the left. Never realized before that she snorts a little when trying to say "gateau" and I can't help but laugh and she gets mad at me but I can't avoid it.
I can't stop looking at her.
****
Every sunday I wait for Applejack.
I wait the entire week just for this moment, just for us to be alone. To have our time. My stomach feels weird waiting for her, like when I just ate a whole bunch of baked bads. Is this how the others feel? Is this how Mr. and Mrs. Cake feel every week, knowing they have an entire day just for themselves? Is this why Twilight blushes every time I tell her to be safe when going to the Everfree, even when every week we do the same routine?
That´s the word. Routine. This is our routine.
Our sunday routine.
****
She didn´t come.
It´s sunday and she isn't here. Why she isn't here? Everything was going according to our routine. Getting up, the Cakes, Twilight; but not Applejack. She hasn't come yet. Why? What´s different?
I saw her yesterday when I visited Fluttershy, she was there delivering some apples. She was fine. But now she isn't here. What if she is sick? What if she is hurt? What if something happened to her while she was coming here? Or what if she doesn't want to come anymore? What if I said something bad or did something wrong last week? What if I made a mistake so bad she gave up on me or maybe I make fun of her again and she took it the wrong way?
Apple Bloom comes later and tells me Applejack is busy fixing the barn. So she isn't mad at me, she just couldn't make it. That´s all.
This was our time of the week but today it won't happen.
****
She didn´t come again.
It´s been three weeks and she hasn´t come. She keeps sending Apple Bloom with instructions but she doesn´t come. We still see each other during the week but we're not alone. We're with the other girls so it´s not the same.
I can't take it anymore. I run to her house, demanding an explanation.
"Why did you stop coming, Applejack? Why don't you want to see me again?"
"It's not you Pinkie. It´s just...I´m scared." she says and I'm so shocked that I can´t talk. "I´m scared of being alone with you because, when I'm with you, I feel something in here. On my chest, something I've never felt before. I've no problems when the others girls are around but when it´s just the two of us, I...I don't know, it just feels hot. And I don't know what to do!"
I know what to do. I've know for weeks but never dared to.
I kiss her and when our lips touch, everything disappears. Her heat, the weird feeling on my stomach, everything is gone.
It's just us.
*****
Every sunday is different.
It means something different for every couple. For the Cakes, sunday is a day without pressure or troubles, just a day to be together. For Twilight and Zecora, sunday is a quiet day when they share a cup of tea and a good book.
And for me and Applejack is a day of noise. Of playing with the babies, of making a mess at the kitchen, a day for the two of us to play as we want. We don't have a routine, not anymore. We can be together anytime we want but we chose sundays, not because we needed an excuse, that wasn't necessary anymore; but because on this day we discovered how we really feel.
And so every sunday is different because everyday I discover something new with the one pony I love the most.
