Applejack felt herself swing around to face Rainbow Dash, trying and steadily failing not to explode at the one girl who made her feel special, then and there.
"Ah told ya, Dash, it just ain't gonna happen!"
"Please! Applejack, just listen-"
"I'm done listenin' to you! You make all these promises, talk all this talk, and where are you when I need ya?!"
"I told you- this was important-"
"So important you can't even tell me what it was?!"
Rainbow looked up at Applejack, and the sadness in her eyes was all the confirmation she needed.
She scoffed.
"If ah didn't know any better, ahd think you were cheatin' on me."
"Wha- I would never! How could-"
"Look, RD, somethin's gotta give! You gotta tell me what you've been doin'!"
"I- I can't, but please, Apples, I-"
"Don't you dare 'Apples' me!"
"I need you!"
Applejack froze. Rainbow almost never got emotional, and this was a clear sign that she was really sorry about how she'd been acting recently.
"I need you more than anything, AJ, please, you've just gotta-"
But AJ shook her head. It was one too many times. Some part of her knew she'd regret it, but the heat of the moment caught her as she unlocked her pickup and swung into the drivers seat.
"Yeah, well,"
She felt the bitterness rising in her throat, the anger hot on her tongue.
"Maybe ah don't need you anymore."
She pulled the door shut, and, before Rainbow could get in another word, took off down the road. Her brain was screaming at her, and it kicked and pulled and shouted as she saw Rainbow sink to her knees in the mirror.
She hated herself for it. She'd cut out the best thing to ever happen to her, because she'd been unwilling to trust her, unable to trust her loyalty. Rainbow was the gods-darned avatar of Loyalty! How could she not trust that?!
She groaned and picked up her phone, noting dimly the time on the display reading [3:13]. She had missed messages from Sunset Shimmer and Rarity, the only two who seemed to still be willing to message AJ in the group split that had resulted from their breakup. Fluttershy supporting Rainbow made complete sense, and she could see why Pinkie Pie did, too. Twilight Sparkle had surprised her by supporting Rainbow, and after that Sunset had made herself a neutral party, and constantly insisted that both sides had a point. Rarity was the only one who had supported Applejack fully.
She sighed again, admitting defeat and pulling on a jacket and her Stetson hat before making her way downstairs, grabbing an apple from the kitchen and pushing her way outside. The air was warm, and there was a soft breeze that pushed at her hair lightly and left a heavenly touch on her cheek. She reached a hand to it, cupping at her cheek as though she expected someone else's hand to be there. Slowly, she pulled her hand away and took a bite from the apple.
Wind-chimes sounded from the barn, and AJ could hear the rustle of the apple trees in the breeze. It was, by all definition, a perfect early summer morning. But Applejack only felt lonely, setting off on a loop around the orchard she had walked on so many evenings with another girl, pointing out stars in the endless sky. She'd known that Rainbow knew them all, but whenever the girl had asked her to show her the stars, Applejack refused to refuse her request.
She groaned at herself as she took another bite from the apple. She'd come out here to escape her ex, not find herself missing her even more! She was truly a lost cause.
She felt anger rising and let out a scream as she hurled the half-eaten apple at the heavens, watching it sail into the sky before beginning to drop. She watched it fall before sinking to her knees, sobbing.
A month.
It had been a month.
She heard that Rainbow was doing fine, that she wasn't upset anymore, but AJ was still sorely hung up on the blue-skinned, rainbow-haired athlete.
The walk home was somehow even quieter, her screams having scared away the cicadas and fireflies that usually occupied the farms nightlife, but as she took off her boots, she found herself unable to go back to bed. So, instead, she sat on the sofa and waited. And waited, and prayed, and hoped, and pleaded, no, begged, for something.
Waiting for a call that would never come.
So some part of her snapped.
[3:42] A: Hey, Rainbow.
[3:42] A: Can we talk?
[3:43] A: About us?
Some part of herself was surprised she wasn't already a blocked number, another surprised that she'd broken so easily, another annoyed that she would even dream of disturbing her ex at this time of night-
RD: ...
The bubbles. The dreaded typing bubbles. A tiny flicker of hope. Rainbow was still awake, she was typing, they could-
The bubbles, and with it, Applejack's hope, dissapeared. She nodded, as though Rainbow could see her. Then she tipped her head back, pulled her hat down, and cried. She cried for what she'd lost. She cried for what she'd never had. She cried for what could have been, what she'd thrown away in a minute of anger over something she shouldn't have cared about. She didn't know how long she was there for, before there was a knock at the door.
Surprised, AJ stood up, and opened it slowly at first, but then the door opened fully. Because there, stood in front of her, was Rainbow Dash, sporting a nervous, uncertain grin she wore when she was uncomfortable.
"Hey."
"Hey."
Silence. Applejack cursed herself.
"C-"
Rainbow hesitated.
"Can you show me the stars?"
They walked through the orchard in silence, Applejack not actually bothering to point out the constellations in the dark sky. Rainbow wasn't studying her, so there was no reason to. She knew she had to say something, but she didn't know how to start, until, eventually, she just did.
"So, uh, ah... ah just wanted to say ahm really, truly sorry. Ah, ah never wanted that. Any of that. Any of this."
Rainbow nodded.
"Look, Dash, ah realised, ah should've just said it then. Maybe it would've helped. Ah need you too, Dash. Ah love ya. Ah just, just can't-"
Rainbow grabbed Applejack's arm in silence, a faraway look on her face as she took a deep breath. Then she pointed at the sky.
"Orion."
She traced.
"The big dipper."
She listed, until eventually every constellation Applejack had shown her lay traced into the sky by a blue finger. Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, and she saw her own tears reflected in watery pink pools that looked up at her with sadness, confusion, hope and... longing?
She spoke, and Applejack found herself unable to do anything but listen.
"I'm sorry too. I should have told you what I was doing. I was getting more distant because I was helping Fluttershy more. She was, uh, going through a rough patch at home. Needed somewhere else to be and a shoulder to cry on."
Understanding erupted across AJ's brain. They all knew Fluttershy's dad could be a creep, and if it had escalated then Rainbow was naturally the first Fluttershy would turn to.
"She made me promise to not tell anyone, but I should have been more honest with you."
"N- No, you didn't need to be. Ah shoulda trusted you."
They smiled bittersweet smiles.
"Rainbow?"
"Mm?"
"C- can we try again?"
The blue girl looked at her for a moment.
Then she leaned forward, placed her arms around Applejack, and lifted her head.
Applejack would swear it was the best kiss she ever had.
There was nothing special about it, just Rainbow's lips lightly grazing her own, followed by reciprocaion, pulling her in close, heat spreading from the contact like a wildfire. Reciprocation, allowing AJ in further, letting her in closer. Reciprocation, and Applejack's heart began to mend.
She was no longer waiting for a call that would never come.
Because she had the real thing in her arms, and that was worth more than anything.
Author's Note
[Note copied from archive]
Okay so I can't lie I wrote this in about 30 minutes instead of sleeping while on about 3 hours of sleep, so this could very well be complete and utter SHIT plus I don't normally write fluff? So I'll try and edit any mistakes out later but if it's bad uh
please don't sue me ig
Anyway if you enjoyed please check out some of my other works, I would really appreciate it.
Love you all, make sure you sleep GOODNIGHT
