Ah don't mean to pry, but...
I tapped my foot nervously as I waited for Applejack in the food court. When she had texted me earlier about meeting up to talk about something, she had specified a time, which had passed about ten minutes ago. I knew she worked a job here in the winters, but her running late was an oddity.
I spied the blonde a few moments later, still dressed in her smoothie bar shirt and bearing a pair of her concoctions. She slid one to me and sat down.
"Howdy," she said as she slumped in her chair.
"AJ," I started before her hand was raised.
"Ah need a moment, sugar cube," she said, face showing the bliss of someone having been on their feet for longer than they wish in uncomfortable shoes. I knew the feeling, from having worn geta sandals in one of my old jobs before I had started helping on the farm last summer.
"Rough day?" I asked, sipping the berries and orange flavored drink in front of me.
"Ah don't wanna talk about it," she said, sitting up again. "It'll only drag it out longer."
I nodded. "Ok, then," I said uncertainly. "What'd you need to talk about?"
She shifted a little uncertainly. "How serious are you and Twilight?"
I blinked. "What?"
"When ya'll two left, you were just friends," she said, sipping her drink. "Now you're tighter than a trussed hog. What happened over there?"
My mind started working again, but I think I skipped second gear. "We just...connected," I said. "I'm not sure when or how, but I think I might have had a thing for her already, and she was already hung up on me before we left."
"Ah thought she was with the Timber fella?"
"They broke it off just before school started," I said, stirring my straw around in my drink. "He wasn't ready to leave the park and she wasn't ready for a long distance relationship."
"Are you sure it's her you're sweet on and not the other Twilight?" she asked, the look in her eyes going pointed. "Ah care an awful lot about the both of ya, so Ah don't want either of you hurt 'cause of this."
I looked at her before laughing a little. "That's what this is about?"
She looked a little uncomfortable. "It's not funny," she grumped. "Ah'm serious!"
"I know," I said, wiping away the tears that had formed. "That's why it's funny."
She frowned, but before she could speak I leaned forward slightly.
"I know it's her and not the Princess because of a handful of very important bits of evidence," I said, tugging my pendant out from under the collar of my sweater. "First, I saw her emotions on the subject, so I know what she feels is genuine, if buried a little."
I ticked off a finger, keeping count. "Also, at the Games, when she siphoned my magic from me, it was through the gateway to Equestria, and I think it linked us somewhat," I frowned. "I'm not entirely sure how, but when we're close and our emotions are similar, we can feel each other's feelings. I can sense her, and especially her love, which is reflecting and feeding off of mine. I don't feel that with Princess Twilight."
AJ chewed on her bottom lip. "Ah suppose that makes sense," she said, tone indicating that it didn't. "But don't get me wrong, Ah'm not trying to pry..."
"You're just looking out for your friends," I finished for her. I reached out and took her hand, keeping firm control over my new magic. "And I appreciate it, I really do."
She drained her smoothie and sighed with relief. "So," she said as she leaned back again. "What's it like?"
"Pardon?"
"Having someone you actually do care about," the farmer continued. "Ah know you and Flash weren't serious, and you've mended that fence, but Ah don't think I've ever seen you with someone you had feelings for."
"It's nice," I murmured, smiling. "And she's markedly different from the Princess. She's truly a different person. She's a little more willing to be heard, a little snarkier too."
"Sounds like you're describing you," AJ smirked.
"Could be," I said. "I've noticed in the last couple weeks that I am a little more analytical serious than I used to be. Maybe we're just rubbing off on each other? I don't know."
"So she's just nice, then?"
I saw the hidden trap and smirked back.
"She's not just nice," I said. "She's sweet, smart, and funny in ways that I can appreciate now. She's also curious about me without working past the predjudices that the rest of you had to deal with, so she gets to see the me I am, not the me I was." I tilted my head. "She's also pretty cute for a bookworm, if you haven't noticed."
"Ah've noticed," Applejack said. "Ah think we all have."
"Also..." I started, then hesitated.
"What?"
"I have nightmares," I said. "About the past and how I treated you guys. Sometimes it's just a voice taunting me, sometimes I'm still the bully." I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears at bay. When I opened them again, AJ had taken my hand and was smiling supportively.
"When we're together," I said. "They don't seem to happen, at least the couple of times she's stayed over. I don't know why, but I sleep better now."
The farmer stood and tossed her cup away in a recycling bin. "Well, that's what Ah needed to hear," she said. "The honest truth about things. Ah'm happy for ya, Ah really am." She hugged me as I rose as well.
I held her for a moment. "You know you'll be the one I turn to for advice, right?" I asked. "I know you'd be upfront with me, no matter what."
"Sure as shootin'," she said, patting me on the shoulder before glancing at her watch. "Ah'd best get going, my break is just about up."
"This was your lunch break?" I said, suddenly feeling a little guilty. "This could have waited, AJ."
"Naw, just an extra break since Ah'm doin' double duty today," she said. "Manager gave me an extra twenty minutes to rest my feet." She glanced at the sneakers she was wearing. "Things aren't near as comfortable as my boots."
"You've probably not broken them in properly yet," I said as I walked with her back to the smoothie bar. "Call Rarity and she can give you some help on that. She helped me redo those geta sandals I had to wear when I worked at the sushi bar."
"Ah never did understand why you worked there," she admitted as she stepped behind the counter and put on an apron. "Ah know you're a vegetarian."
"They were hiring and I needed money," I shrugged. "But it never sat well with me, so I wasn't sad when they closed. I actually think I threw out the sandals."
"Not the rest of the uniform?"
"Are you crazy?" I asked, tossing my hair back and imitating Rarity's indignation.
"I looked hot in that yukata. I kept that baby."
Laughter echoed in the corridor of the mall.
