"What can ah get ya?" The bartender, a rugged yellowish man, slapped a hand on the counter. His blue eyes looking at the newcomer.
"Howdy pardner, ah'm thinking whiskey." Applejack plopped down in front of the bartender. She waited for him to grab her drink before saying what she had come for. "Y'all seen a shady guy here recently? Dark skin, dirty white hair, always wears a pair of shades? Ah've got business with him."
"Business ya say? Ah know yer kind, always bringin' in trouble. Either ya bring in bits or im gonna have to throw ya out. It ain't personal." A scowl was fixed on his face, looking ugly, as he plopped down a glass and a whiskey bottle. Applejack looked at the label; Kirameki and shrugged, thinking it could not hurt. She sighed and threw a few coins on the countertop, tipped her hat to the bartender, cocked back her head, and downed the drink.
"That's the good stuff. Alright 'tender, have it yer way." The woman got up and walked slowly and purposefully to the door. Her hat tipped low, shielding her eyes. Before anybody in the bar could blink, Applejack threw herself to the floor, drew a revolver, and fired. On the other end, another woman, dressed in ragged clothes and an old stetson, flipped a table over and ducked behind it.
"Truce!" Applejack paused, something about that voice that sounds familiar. She stopped firing but still kept the gun aimed, allowing the strange woman to get up. The ex-farmer gasped when the unknown woman took off her hat with a small grin.
"Well shoot me twice and throw mah corpse off a barn, Sunset what in tarnation are ya doin' here?" The two girls quickly hugged then stood back, letting Applejack look at her old friend in full. Her clothes were ratty but still holding in place, and that hat looked like it's been in the sun for too long. Applejack could hear the other patrons sigh in relief from the ceasefire, but she didn't pay any attention to them.
"Just taking it all in, you know. How's life out here in the Outback?" Sunset stretched, smiling easily despite the fact, Applejack almost shot her.
"Ah'm doin' fine and dandy but ya didn't answer mah question. Sunset, what are ya doin' out here? Are ya expectin' me to come back home? Back to where it all happened? Ah haven't seen one of y'all since the fire, and if YA THINK, that AH can go back and FACE 'EM, then yer plain wrong. Sorry fer wastin' yer time." Applejack tipped her stetson and marched out the door.
"I know who did it." Sunset whispered, but it was enough. Within a minute, the two were sitting in the bar with whiskey in front of them.
"Who?" Applejack stared at Sunset with such intensity that the lesser person would've wilted under. "Dammit Sunset, WHO?"
"Sure AJ, but hear me out first." Sunset paused, allowing Applejack to think for a second. Then she nodded. "Good. Do you remember school? The exams, studying, homework. Kind of weird to say, but I've missed it."
"What's this gotta do wit..." Applejack tried to interrupt.
"Do you remember our friends? The fun times we had, fighting magic and having sleepovers. Going to the movies and exploring Equestria. Those were the days, ey?"
"Of course ah remember mah friends! Why woul..." Applejack's eyes turned hard when she once again got cut off.
"Honesty was always your thing, wasn't it Applejack? Then tell me, why is it that you seem to be doing the opposite?" Sunset leaned in, staring straight at the green eyes of the ex-farmer.
"Ah'm not! Ah'm doin' completely fine by mahself. Don't need no help from nobody. Ah'm fine and dandy by mah lonesome, huntin' that bastard that. TOOK. MAH. FAMILY!" Applejack panted hard, face flushed from that burst of anger. She felt a pat on her shoulder, causing her to whirl around with her fists raised. Sunset didn't even flinch when Applejack's fist flew past her, straight into a wall with a thud.
"Good thing we don't have magic anymore. So AJ, when did this downward spiral start? I have had experience with this sort of thing."
"Ah have no idea what yer blabberin' about. So, leave me alone or tell me that bastard's name so ah can grind him up." Applejack sat down, eyes straight on Sunset. The two sat there, eyes trained on each other, neither willing to break. Then Sunset fainted.
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"Well ah'm mighty sorry there Sunset. Guess ah forgot about me shootin' ya. Ah hope ya can forgive me." Applejack had a slight blush in her cheeks, giving the just-awaked Sunset a clear indication that the ex-farmer was embarrassed about shooting her earlier.
Applejack sat down in a chair near the bed, Sunset was lying on. The former explained to the latter that the bullet just grazed her skin, but it's going to leave a scar. Sunset didn't mind.
"AJ, before you go. Do you really want to do this? Abandon your morals and go kill a person. A living, breathing person who walks the same Earth as us? I'm just saying that there are more ways to go about this and this quest of vengeance has taken you away from home for more than three years! Did you know that Fluttershy killed someone? Outright murder! Thankfully the lawyer made it seem she did it because of self-defence." Sunset ranted, leaving her breathless but no less intense.
Applejack just sat there, confused, and conflicted as she processed her words. Rolling them over and over again in her head, making sure Sunset said what she did. The ex-farmer opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, but then the nurse came in saying that Sunset needed her rest for tomorrow. Applejack tilted her hat and got prepared to leave and said to Sunset that she'd visit tomorrow.
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Applejack stood in front of the Shimmer Hospital, appropriate considering its patient. The girl pulled her stetson to her chest, took a deep breath, and walked in. She played words in her head before stepping into Sunset's room. "Sorry Sunset, ya were right. Ah wasn't thinkin' and...Sunset?"
There lying on the bed that contained her friend the day prior, now lay a phone. A quick look through it brought Applejack to tears. Something she hasn't felt in a real long time.
"Are you alright?" Applejack whirled around, tears still in her eyes, to find a concerned nurse.
"Ah'm doing just fine! No, better then fine!" The girl smiled.
And that smile? That smile was the most honest gesture anyone could make.
Author's Note
Hoped you liked this latest instalment to The Hobo series. It's getting less and less mysterious...or is it just getting more and more mysterious. Who knows?
