To Cure a Broken Heart

The sudden screams coming from outside the farmhouse nearly made Sunset fall off the bed she was offered for the night—which was a bit of an understatement as she actually did end up falling straight onto the floor.

She sat up, looking around before jumping up and looking out the window. Braeburn, and his group were seemingly back, but there was one issue… it was just Meadow Song. Sunset wasn’t even sure what time it was. Midnight, one in the morning, it all looked the same to her.

It didn’t keep Sunset from running down the stairs and out of the farmhouse, watching as Applejack, Big Mac, and a few others came to his aid. “What’s going on? Sunset asked, but they ignored her.

Applejack stepped forward, shaking his shoulders slightly, “Meadow Song, talk to me. What happened? Was it the Rainboom Raiders? Where’s Braeburn? Where’s the rest of them?”

"Rainboom Raiders?" Sunset mumbled, but Meadow Song's shudders silenced her.

“I watched it rip them apart.”

“Watched what?” Applejack asked, "Watched what, Meadow Song?"

“The monster.”

“The—the lion?” Sunset mumbled, but that served as a mistake as Applejack slowly turned her head towards her.

She slammed her into the house, ignoring how the paneling dug into Sunset’s spine. “What the fuck do you mean: lion? Answer me! You fucking knew?! You put them in a fucking trap, that was your plan all along wasn’t it? Wasn’t it!?”

“No–no I—I would never!”

“Alright, that’s enough.” a voice spoke up behind her, but that didn’t keep Applejack from punching Sunset to the ground.

“You better be gone by tomorrow, because I swear the next time I fucking see you, you’re dead. You hear me? You crossed the fucking line.” Applejack stepped back, but immediately glared at the man who spoke up, “Don’t even try to defend her. I’m the leader of this gang, I say what goes and what doesn’t. Ever since your fucking slip-up with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, you’re lucky I even keep you around.”

When Applejack did finally storm off, the man bent down to help Sunset up. “Easy, you’re fine.” he mumbled as Sunset tried to squirm him off of her. Noting her now bloody nose, he led Sunset into the farmhouse before sitting her down at the table.

Sunset’s vision was blurry, that much was obvious. As it finally cleared out, Sunset finally realized who was helping her. Her eyes widened slightly, and her hand instinctively pressed against his body.

“Flash?”

“There you go.” he laughed, realizing she finally realized who he was, “How are you feeling?”

Sunset rubbed her nose and the side of her face where Applejack hit her, “Like shit.”

“I don’t doubt it, she hit you pretty hard.”

“The fuck is her deal…? Ever since I got here everyone’s been—”

“Wanting to kill you?” Flash nodded, “Yeah that’s normal with them. Don’t take it personally… things have just been pretty rough since we left the gym.”

“The gym? That was long time ago…” Sunset winced as Flash pressed a cold compress on her eye. “Why are they acting like that, then? What happened in that gym that was so fucking bad?”

Flash sighed, “It’s complicated.”

“So what? You’re not gonna tell me till five fucking weeks later?”

“We have more to worry about than the stupid shit we’ve—I’ve done. Just… get some rest and I’ll see if we can get something for us in the morning.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed, “Woah woah—who said I was gonna let you tag along?”

“Just to The Canterlot Mall and we’ll go our separate ways. Please.”

Sunset sighed before standing up, “Fine… but I’d like to do something before we go.”

“It’s a bad idea.” Flash responded as Sunset headed towards the door, already knowing what her plan was.

Sunset ignored him, continuing outside in the dark cool air and making her way towards the lake where Applejack was sitting. The silence was killing her… creating an eerie and tense atmosphere worse than the infected swarm.

“I’m sorry about what happened.” Sunset began, keeping her voice quiet and calm. “I should have told you what was there… but I guess I was too excited to see you again that it completely slipped my mind.” She let out a small chuckle, but cleared her throat thereafter. She shook her head, “That’s not an excuse… obviously… if I had told you or them, maybe they’d have come back together.”

“What did it look like?” Applejack’s voice mimicked Sunset’s: calm, collected, but opposite to Sunset, her voice carried a hint of aggression which masked her sorrow.

“The lion?” When silence pursued, Sunset assumed that’s what she meant. “I don’t know. All I saw was its paw… and I didn’t want to stick around and find out.”

Applejack adjusted how she was sitting, taking a short glance back at Sunset before fiddling with a rock on the shoreline of the lake. “He said it wasn’t a lion. Said it was some… creature of sorts. It killed Hayseed and injured Apple Fritter, so they huddled down in a freezer to tend to her wounds. Meadow Song said she started speaking in tongues and killed Braeburn in a panic… so he killed her.” Applejack threw the rock against the water, leading Sunset's eyes to follow the projectile as it skimmed across the surface.

Sunset’s brows furrowed at the new information, “What do you mean creature? Is it like the Dazzlings?” Since the first few days of the infection starting, Sunset ended up scratching off the whole “magic” reasoning, but things seemed a bit more complicated now to completely rule it out. Although magic probably wouldn't create blood-thirsty, flesh-ripping zombies than it would people caught in a controlled haze... similar to what the Dazzlings were doing, or even the whole Changeling situation back in Equestria.

“Meadow Song wouldn’t give me any more details, but otherwise I’d say no.” At Applejack’s reply, Sunset nodded, allowing the silence to take over again. Sunset slowly approached before sitting beside her. “Sorry I punched you.”

Sunset glanced over at her before shrugging, watching as the dark sky slowly turned red from the sunrise. “Don’t be. Sometimes I deserve it.” When she looked back at her, her eyes met Applejacks.

“Yeah, well that time you didn’t.” Applejack sighed, breaking eye contact before adding, “So you’re heading back to the city then… what for?”

“When I got separated from you guys, I ran into Principal Celestia. She helped me out of the school… but when we promised to stick together, she left me.”

“Bitch.”

“Huh? N-no she—” Sunset sighed, trying to elaborate, “She left because she wanted to find a cure… at least I think that’s what she was trying to do. Said she couldn’t handle seeing all these people die. She wanted to help. Promised she’d come find me when she had the chance but obviously she never did.”

“Maybe she’s dead.” Sunset kept quiet after Applejack’s blunt response, not wanting to deny nor accept that possibility. “I suppose you’ll need some supplies then.” Applejack stood up, putting her hand out to help Sunset up. “Come on. Friends stick together, right?”