In which a pony is upset; a room is painted; and we discover the purpose of friends and of sisters
It's good to have a confidant. When Applejack had a problem, she usually confided in Granny Smith. That old lady might seem like a daft old coot to most people. In fact, she probably was a daft old coot. But she always listened, and somehow always seemed to know the right thing to say.
Granny hadn't had an easy life. When her daughter and son-in-law had died so tragically, she'd stepped up to look after their three kids. She'd had nobody to help her, and she'd never asked for charity. Life was hard, and whatever money they made from the apple farm, most of it usually ended up paying the casual labourers they employed to tend to the orchards, and pick, sort, and crate the apples. There weren't a lot of profits left over, but at least it kept the farm going, paid the mortgage, and gave them a roof over their heads.
Once Big Mac had graduated school, he'd taken a bigger role, and they didn't need to spend as much on employing labourers. Yet still, the family never seemed to have much money. The big supermarkets kept driving down the wholesale price of apples. Great for consumers, but not so good for farmers. It was a buyer's market.
Applejack had big plans to turn the business around. Even if they couldn't make money selling apples, there was good money to be made in apple products. Apple cider, apple fritters, apple strudel... there were dozens of delicious products that could be made with apples and sold at a big markup. Between harvests, the farm could even be rented out as a venue for events — parties, fashion shows, and so on. But Granny wouldn't hear of Applejack taking on any of these ideas until she'd finished school.
Granny was right. Of course she was right — she was always right. And that's why Applejack almost always went to her for advice. But sometimes, the problem she needed advice for was a little too close for home. Sometimes the problem was family.
And that's why Applejack was happy to have found a confidant like Sunset Shimmer. Sunset seemed to have experience way beyond that which you'd expect from a teenage high-school girl. Of course, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset herself had explained to Applejack and the others how Sunset was really more than a decade older than any of them. Pinkie seemed to understand it instinctively, but Applejack had trouble wrapping her head around the idea.
When Applejack's little sister Apple Bloom seemed depressed, it was to Sunset that Applejack turned for advice.
They sat in a corner booth at Sugarcube Corner, Applejack sipping at a bottle of cider, Sunset drinking a strawberry milkshake through a straw, and them both sharing a blueberry muffin. Sunset outlined her understanding of the problem. "So Apple Bloom gets depressed because your family doesn't have as much money as most of her friends' families?"
"Ah-huh." Applejack nodded.
Sunset continued, "And she's sick of ending up with all your hand-me-downs?"
"Yes, but why should we buy new stuff when she can have the clothes I don't wear anymore?" Applejack interjected.
Sunset ignored the interruption. "And she has to sleep in a tiny little box room with barely enough floor space for her bed?"
"We don't really have any place else."
Sunset took another sip of her milkshake. She chewed on the straw as she thought about the problem.
"Any ideas then?" Applejack prompted.
Sunset smiled. "Well, if you can't get Apple Bloom anything new, we can at least spruce up some of her old stuff."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's redecorate her room! Turn that drab box room into something more exciting for a young teen. We won't be able to make it any bigger, but I bet Rarity would have some great ideas for how to make it look bigger."
"You know, that's actually not such a bad idea."
Sunset mocked a hurt look. "And you expected a bad one?"
* * *
Two nights later, Sunset Shimmer knocked at the farmhouse door. Applejack answered.
"Everything clear?" Sunset whispered.
"It's OK, she left hours ago."
Sunset let out a sigh of relief. Applejack stepped aside, allowing Sunset, who was carrying four small pots of paint, into the house.
Rarity had given them some advice on decorating to make a room look bigger and more airy. Although she hadn't wanted to get her hands dirty with any of the manual labour, she was contributing to the project in her own way. She was back at her own house, sewing a new set of bedclothes in Apple Bloom's favourite colours. On top of that, she'd allowed Sweetie Belle to host a sleepover at their house for her two best friends, conveniently getting Apple Bloom out of the way. Applejack and Sunset both knew how those three girls could be when they were together, so having them all at her house, while her parents were away for the week, would be no small task for Rarity!
Sunset had never been to the Apple farm before. She hadn't been to many of her friends' houses actually. If they needed a place to hang out after school, they usually went to Pinkie's. It was only one block's walk from school, and conveniently located next door to Sugarcube Corner, the girls' favourite café. Of course, Pinkie's place was kind of spooky backing onto a quarry, but Sunset had fought epic magical battles on both sides of the good–evil divide, and little could faze her.
Applejack showed Sunset to the room. It was already empty, and Applejack had laid plastic sheets on the floor. There were an assortment of brushes and rollers arranged on an upturned crate. Sunset chose a small one, and used its handle to lever the lids off the paint tins. There were two tins of red paint, one of yellow, and one of pink; all Apple Bloom's favourite colours.
Applejack smiled. "Tell me again, how in tarnation you happened to have exactly the right colours!"
"I was redecorating my own apartment a few months ago, and I still had some spare paint." Sunset gestured at her clothes. "Red, yellow, and pink are kind of my signature colours."
Applejack nodded. It had never struck her before how similar Sunset's choice of colours was to her sister's. "Shall we get started then?"
Sunset started on the wall by the door, painting it yellow. Applejack took the wall to the left of that, using red. It was hard work, but enjoyable. The girls listened to music on the radio, chatting over the songs they weren't interested in.
Applejack removed her hat to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Instead of returning it to her head, she hung it on a banister in the hallway. Sunset hadn't often seen Applejack without her trademark Stetson hat. Her long, blonde hair shone, and Sunset thought Applejack could actually scrub up pretty well if she made an effort. A real jewel.
Sunset, whose wall was smaller than Applejack's, finished first, and got started on the wall opposite it, which contained the room's only window. She was starting to feel sweaty too now, so took off her leather jacket, hanging it on a hook in the hallway. "Phew!" she sighed, returning to the half-painted room. "This room is a lot bigger than I'd expected."
Applejack called over her shoulder, still painting. "I suppose it just looks that way, sugarcube, seeing as how it's empty and all. Once this place is full of all of Apple Bloom's stuff, it'll look a whole lot smaller!"
Applejack finished her wall soon after that and turned around to admire their handiwork so far. The wall behind her was a dark red — almost exactly the same colour as Apple Bloom's hair. One wall adjacent to it was a bright sunny yellow, and Sunset was still working on the other wall opposite that, painting it a matching yellow. Applejack admired the shape of Sunset's body — she wished that she could get away with wearing such revealing clothing, but Granny would never approve of it — Granny Smith liked practical dress. Still, Sunset showed that it was possible to dress beautifully without being impractical.
Applejack looked at her paint tin — completely empty. It was lucky Sunset had brought a second tin of red paint. She crossed the floor to the final unpainted wall, picking up the other tin on the way. Dipping her brush into the paint, she noticed something. "Hold on, Sunset! This tin isn't leftover paint — it's brand new!"
Sunset blushed. She knew she couldn't lie to Applejack. "I picked it up on the way here. I didn't think we'd have enough red."
Applejack took out her purse. "How much do I owe you?"
Sunset shook her head. "Put your money away. It was nothing. Really. It's a gift."
Applejack was insistent. "The Apples do not take charity."
"I meant it," Sunset said. "It's a gift. That's what friends are for, right?"
"OK," Applejack said hesitantly. She put her purse back in her pocket. "Thanks, honey." She put her arms around her friend, and hugged her. Applejack sniffed, suppressing the tears brimming in her eyes. "Now, what are we doing standing around here when there's painting to be doing?!" She turned back to the wall so Sunset wouldn't see the emotion in her face.
It wasn't long before all four walls were painted. The ceiling wasn't in such a bad condition, and could remain as it was. Sunset wondered what Apple Bloom even disliked about the room. It wasn't anywhere near as dingy as Applejack had described it. During the day, that window must have let in quite a bit of light.
The next step was the door frame and window frame, which the girls would be painting in hot pink to contrast with the yellow walls which they were set into. Applejack hoped that her sister would like this shade of pink. She knew Apple Bloom had plenty of ribbons that colour, and she always wore them in her hair, so she must have at least liked it a bit.
Soon they were finished. Applejack and Sunset looked around, admiring the outcome.
"You think it will need a second coat?" Applejack asked.
Sunset shook her head. "No, it says on the tin that you only need one coat. You might want to take a look in the morning when the sun's up, and see if there are any little bits we missed, but I think it should be OK. My room was."
"Well, thanks for your help, sugarcube. You go home now. I'll move Apple Bloom's things into the room in the morning, once the paint's dry."
"Give me a call if you need a hand," Sunset offered.
Sunset picked up her coat, made her own way out, hopped onto her motorcycle, and cruised home.
* * *
Applejack took a final look around the room before heading to bed. "Well," she said to nobody in particular, "I'm going to miss that old room. But Apple Bloom will appreciate it more than me. And that's what sisters are for, right?"
Author's Note
If you were hoping that this story would actually, you know, have Apple Bloom in it, I'm sorry if you feel cheated. I have written a few stories that feature her though — Run, Preening Scoots, and Diamond Tiara, Alicorn Princess.
