Sunset On My Heart 2
Sunset Shimmer's footsteps were light as she stepped through the crowded bedroom in the heart of Sweet Apple Acres. Past Rainbow Dash face down on the bed with her butt in the air, past Fluttershy curled into a small ball inside a sleeping bag on the floor just underneath her. Past Pinkie Pie passed out on top of her own sleeping bag with her face smashed into the keys of her laptop, and past Applejack propped up against the wall beside the door with her hat lowered over her eyes. Past them all out into the hallway beyond.
She wiped her forehead with one hand once she was successfully past her sleeping friends, and turned to make her way through the darkness toward the kitchen. The snow was falling thick and fast outside the windows, though it was still delightfully warm inside, even without her old layer of fur to keep her comfortable. She couldn't help but glance toward the falling snow even as she moved through the kitchen to fix a large, steaming mug of hot cocoa in the microwave.
With her mug held carefully in both hands, she dragged one of the chairs from the table to the window and plopped down to watch the snow fall, taking a slow, cautious sip of her drink. She didn't really feel tired, she was too wound up from recent events to really relax...
"You doin' okay in here?" A concerned voice cut through the silence, coming from Applejack leaning against the kitchen entrance with a gentle smile on her lips.
"I'm... perfect, actually." Sunset flashed back a genuine smile, brushing a bit of stray hair out of her eyes. "I don't think things could have turned out better, all things considered."
"Then what're you doin' up at this time of night?"
Sunset responded with a blush. "It's silly... but I was just thinking about my mother."
"Oh yeah?" Applejack snatched a chair from the table and pulled it over to join Sunset by the window, sitting with one leg crossed over the other facing the snow. "You said you weren't very close to your family even before you left your studies and came here."
"To say the least." Sunset cradled her mug in both palms now. "My mom passed away when I was a filly... and my dad was never the same after that. He took care of me and all, but when Celestia discovered my talent for magic, told me how great I could be, I never bothered looking back again. I didn't even talk to him for years before I came here."
"It sure ain't easy, losing your parents that young. It's the kind of thing that really puts who you are to the test."
"And I failed that test spectacularly, I guess..." Sunset shook her head and turned back to the snow. "Looking back now, I wonder if she was worried about how I might turn out. If she knew what I'd become..." She lifted one hand, resting it gently against the cool pane of glass. "The last Hearth's Warming Even we spent together she said she wanted me to be more friendly with the other foals. I didn't understand... I didn't listen."
"You were a kid, Sunset. You can't blame yourself for that."
"That doesn't change anything..." Sunset's fingers clenched into a fist against the glass. "What if she was disappointed in me when she died? What if she... what if the last thing she saw in me was that monster that came out at the Fall Formal?"
"Hey, hey, come on now." She was surprised when she felt Applejack's arms wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into a gentle, but warm embrace. It was only then that Sunset felt the tears flowing down her cheeks, dripping onto the shoulders of Applejack's pajamas. Applejack had moved quickly from her chair, and was now kneeling beside her in their embrace. "Parents have a way of seeing the good in you, even if you don't see it in yourself at the time. I'm sure she knew how good you really were."
Sunset couldn't hold it in anymore. She threw her arms around Applejack's shoulders, clutching at her pajamas. "What if she didn't? What if she saw a monster in me...?"
"Then she's seen how good you are by now." Applejack's hand patted the back of her head.
"What do you mean? she's dead, Applejack..."
"Don't mean she ain't watchin'... just means she ain't watchin' from here." Applejack pulled back slightly.
"Oh... you mean..." Sunset blushed and rubbed furiously at her eyes, trying to dry them. "I've never really believed in ghosts or the afterlife or... any of that sort of thing."
"Well I sure do." Applejack pulled her chair closer to Sunset's and sat down on the edge of it, as if trying to stay within emergency hugging distance. "I've felt my own parents watchin' over me a couple times."
"Yeah?" Sunset lifted her gaze to Applejack's again. "I always wondered where your parents were. I never thought it was my place to ask..."
"It's alright." Applejack sat back in her chair. "Apple Bloom wasn't even outta diapers when it happened. They decided they wanted to go out for a date, and left the three of us with Granny Smith on the farm for the night. They were supposed to come back for us the next morning... they never did."
"What happened?"
"Car accident. Wasn't anybody's fault, really. It was just dark and drizzling rain. The police never sorted out what caused the first collision... but at some point, they got caught up in it all."
"I'm so sorry, Applejack." Sunset shook her head. "Something so pointless and random... it can't have been easy."
"It was the hardest time of my life, if you want the truth." Applejack leaned back in the chair, her arms resting calmly in her lap. "Big Macintosh was so busy learnin' to work the farm with Granny Smith, I was the one who spent most of my time watchin' Apple Bloom. For a while I was afraid she was traumatized. She didn't talk for a really long time, after the cryin' stopped. Long after she shoulda said her first word."
"You sound so calm about all of this."
"I did a lot of cryin' at the time. One day Granny Smith came to me and she said I should stop, because it was makin' my parents sad." Applejack flashed her a sad half-smile. "She said the last thing they would ever want is to be the reason I can't stop cryin'. So I worked real hard to stop cryin'. Never could make myself stop, but finally Apple Bloom made me stop."
"Apple Bloom?" Sunset raised her eyebrow curiously. "What did she do?"
"Big Macintosh was outside with Granny Smith, learnin' to work the plough. It was just me an' her on the inside. She was always kind of a calm baby. Rarely made noise, and hadn't said a single word for her entire life. But outta the corner of my eye I noticed her looking up at the window, right up at the sky. She didn't move or anything for a while, but eventually she said her first word. A word none of us had said around her for over a year... she said momma."
"Really?" Sunset shivered. "That's almost spooky..."
"Spooky?" Applejack chuckled. "I guess it sounds like somethin' out of a horror movie, sure. But ever since then I knew Granny Smith was right. They were up there, watchin' over us. Bein' proud of us..." Applejack reached a hand out to take Sunset's hand in a tight, firm grip. "Bein' proud of all of us, if I may be so bold."
Sunset's cheeks flushed hot as she lifted her palm to her cheeks to wipe away the last of her tears. "I want to believe that so badly..."
"Even if you don't believe it for her, can you believe it for us, at least? We've all been watchin' you grow too. Even if we lost our heads a bit when the Anon-a-miss fiasco was goin' on, we know how much you've grown and changed over the last year."
"Huh... has it really been less than a year since Princess Twilight came here?"
"It's been a long year, if you ask me."
"You said it. Almost glad it's over. But a new year is a new start, y'know."
Applejack flashed her a bright smile. "There you go. No sense worryin' about what you've been when you got a new start ahead of you."
"Maybe." Sunset Shimmer took a deep, steadying breath and stood from her chair, holding her now lukewarm mug of half-finished cocoa in one hand, and Applejack's hand in the other. "We should probably get to sleep. You know Pinkie Pie's going to be bouncing out of bed bright and early in the morning."
"She hasn't missed a year yet." Applejack stood with her. "Yeah, come on, let's get goin'." She turned to head to the back, but Sunset held her ground for a moment, clinging to her hand. Applejack glanced down at her hand, then up at her face confusedly. "Um, are you comin', sugarcube?"
"Yeah, I'm coming." Without thinking Sunset Shimmer pulled Applejack back and leaned forward herself, planting a soft, swift kiss on her cheek just under her eye. "Thanks for listening to me Applejack... you guys have all done so much for me, but this means... this was..."
Applejack looked stunned for a moment, then reached up to tilt the rim of her hat toward her with a soft smile. "Any time, darlin'."
Sunset placed her mug of cocoa on the kitchen counter as the two of them passed, on their way back toward Applejack's bedroom to rejoin their friends with their fingers interlocked between them. Her past was gone, and her future was never going to be certain... but at least her present wasn't so bad at all. And maybe Applejack was right, maybe somewhere out there her mom was watching now. Watching what she had done this last year, and watching what she had become now.
Yeah, she thought. She would believe that. After all, she had no reason not to believe in Applejack...
The End
Author's Note
For those who don't read the comics, the "Anon-a-miss" fiasco referenced in the story is referring to an incident in the Equestria Girls Christmas Special comic book put out by IDW in December 2014.
