Chapter 11 - Truths and Lies

“…Applebloom? What’re you doing here?”

“Ah should be askin’ HER the same thing!” the mare points her hoof accusingly at Scoots.

“Applebloom, I… I’m here with Anon, that’s all it is. We’re just… eating,” she turns to her friend, chewing on a bite of her sandwich.

“Yeah, but you’re…”

“We’re -what-, Applebloom? What’s so wrong with that?” she asks, a bit more harshness in her voice.

“Whoa, now, let’s all just calm down here.” Seriously, you can feel the angry vibes seething from both of them right now, the best thing to do in this situation is stop whatever sort of conflict could break out between them…

“Let’s all just take a deep breath, and-”

“No, Anon. This needs to be said,” Scootaloo interrupts you before you can make your point. She finishes her bite, sets her sandwich down, and stands up, turning to look at Applebloom.

“Applebloom, we’re friends, best of friends, even,” Scootaloo begins with a smile. “We’ve both been through a lot together. School, dances, bullies… and I remember all of us sticking together throughout all of it. You, me, and Sweetie Belle.”

Her smile falls to a more serious expression now, as well as her tone of voice. “I also know how you get when things never happen the way you want them to. It’s not a pretty sight, for anyone involved,” she sighs, “Especially when it comes to romantic things.”

Applebloom starts to chime in, but Scootaloo continues unabated. “And despite all of that, we’ve still remained friends, but…” she looks down, before returning with renewed vigor, “But if you’re going to scream and throw a fit every time I’m seen with Anon like this, I don’t think I’ll be able to put up with it!”

Applebloom’s brow furrows, and she takes a step forward. “Scootaloo, yer mah best friend too, an’ I know how YOU get when things don’t go yer way,” Applebloom mimics Scootaloo’s tone of voice.

“Ah remember when YOU were at th’ graduation party, all alone sittin’ there, an’ Anon here came up t’ ya. That look in yer eye… it’s th’ same look ah have, ah know it is! Which means…” she grunts, stamping her hoof again, “That yer gonna do everythin’ in yer power t’ make sure ya get what you want!”

Any semblance of calmness in the situation has gone out the window at this point. Scootaloo lunges forward at the mare, tackling and knocking her onto her back. “That’s not true, I’m not like that!” Scootaloo yelps angrily, raising a hoof up, ready to strike Applebloom.

You need to intervene. NOW.

“That’s enough, out of both of you!”

Your tone gets their attention, and you quickly rush over to pull Scoots off of the earth pony, who gets up and stares angrily at you, small tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “If only… if only mah sis didn’t get t’ ya first, Anon! Then maybe ah would’ve had a chance!”

THAT DOES IT.

You set Scoots down, and look between both of them. “Is THAT what you think? Really?”

“Um…well, yeah!” Applebloom replies, “That’s why she’s bein’ all mean t’ ya and stuff!”

You let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing your brow. “You really are clueless, aren’t you…” You look to them again, your expression not showing any sort of concern for the situation at this point. “Do you even KNOW why she and I aren’t together right now?”

“Well… no, not really…” Applebloom’s tone shrinks a bit.

“Didn’t she, y’know…” Scoots chimes in, “Try t’ force herself on ya?”

“In a way, yes. But that’s not the reason we split up. Do you want to know why?”

They both nod their heads slowly in unison.

“Then let me tell you why…”

I’ve been in Equestria for most of my teenage life, so I was just then going through the changes into a man.
I was a young teenager when I first met Applejack, and she really knocked me off my feet when we did.

“Aah!” Applejack cries out in surprise, “What the heck are ya?!”

She spins around and rears up, kicking you in the chest and sending you back quite a few feet, knocking you down onto your butt.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“Oh…” she gasps out in surprise, approaching you. “Sorry ‘bout that… um… lemme make it up to ya? C’mon,” she gestures for you to follow her. “Would a nice, home-cooked meal make up for it?”

“Well, I guess-”

“Great! Here, ah’ll help ya,” she says, getting up right next to you. “Hop on mah back, ya prob’ly ain’t in no shape fer walkin’, huh?”

You gingerly lower yourself down onto her back, before she begins a slow trot down the road to the farm in the distance.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Name’s Applejack, what’s yours?”

“Anon…”

She chuckles. “Anon, huh? That’s a weird name…”

The two of us quickly became best friends; we had so much in common back then.
She loved hard work, I loved pushing my athletic limits, and, of course, both of us had our love for apples.
But there was one moment, and it hadn’t become apparent to me until later, where she had revealed that she liked me more than just a friend…

“Hey, Anon?”

“Yeah? Sup?”

“D’ya think we’ll be like this forever?”

The two of you are lying out by one of the apple trees, staring up at the night sky through the branches.

“What do you mean?”

“Jus’ the two of us. Y’know, hangin’ out like this, night sky bright up there, not a care in the world?”

You chuckle, sighing a bit, letting the cool breeze brush lightly against your face.

“I dunno, AJ. We got our whole lives ahead of us, no telling what could happen.”

She sighs in response back to you, before smacking the trunk of the tree, causing an apple to fall into her hoof. “Well, no matter what,” she says, taking a bite of the fruit, “Ah know we’ll always remember this.”

“Yeah…”

You close your eyes for a moment, breathing in deep…

And then you let out the girliest yelp you can manage when an apple smacks you right in the nose.

“Ouch!”

Applejack lets out a loud, uncontrollable laugh, before turning to look at you.

“Never change, Anon,” she says, giggling a bit before rubbing the welt lightly with her hoof.

And for the longest time, we stayed like that.
We were like brother and sister. It was almost impossible to see one without the other.
I was… happy. I can only hope she was happy too.
Given that she was the one to make the first move, I like to think she was.

“Anon?”

“Yeah?”

“Ah…” she begins, but pauses for a moment.

“You…?”

“Ah… think ah like you,” she quickly spits out, before covering her mouth with her hooves.

“Oh, that’s… great? I like you too.”

“No, no, not like that!” she shakes her head before getting into your face. “Ah mean, ah LIKE like you. Like, more than just like…”

“Wait, there’s a second like? When did this happen?”

“Oh, you big idiot!” she exclaims, before pushing you down to the ground, pinning you under her. “Ah mean LOVE!”

…Oh.

At first it was a bit weird, being in a romantic relationship with my best friend.
Though, as far as I was concerned, everything was going fairly well.
She was smiling, I was smiling, and while we didn’t nearly roughhouse as much as we had when we were younger, I enjoyed spending time with her.
But… the rest of her family wouldn’t be having it; something about not wanting her to “make a stupid decision and be involved with anything romantic with that alien”.
I still don’t see why they were so apprehensive, but that’s… behind me, now.

Applejack comes to you, wrapping her hooves around your waist and burying her face in your stomach. “It’s not fair!” she cries, and you can feel the wet tears start to sink into your shirt.

“AJ? What’s wrong, what’s the matter?”

“They…” she begins, wiping her eyes and looking up at you, “Mah family won’t give us their blessing on our love!”

Your eyes widen. What?! Why wouldn’t they?

“They… they told me t’ either break it off with ya, or… or they’d disown me!” The tears begin flowing once again. “Ah… ah dunno what t’ do, Anon…”

You cradle her head against you, letting her cry all of her sorrows away, whispering softly to help calm her down.

“Shhh… it’s okay, I’m here… let it all out…”

“Anon, what… what’re we gonna do?” she asks, and you both sit down on the grass of the orchard. “Ah want t’ be with you, but…”

You raise your hands once again to cradle her head lightly, tilting it to look into your eyes.

“AJ. I love you too, more than anything in all of Equestria…”

You plant a kiss on her forehead, smiling reassuringly to her.

“But I know how much your life here is more important.”

“B-but Anon, ah don’ wanna just break things off with ya. I love you!”

You place a finger lightly to her lips, silencing her.

“I know. But your family is more important to you. They need you. Certainly a lot more than you need me.”

You smile, kissing her snout.

“I’ve known you for too long to know that.”

“But… what will you do?” she asks.

“You can’t love me if I give you a reason not to.”

Her eyes go wide. “Wh… wha?”

“She wanted nothing to do with me after that. I was just some alien to her now, one that she believed played with her heart to further his own selfishness.”

“What… happened? Between the two of you?” Scoots asks.

“I had lied to her. A big one, one I had been keeping for a long time.”

“What was it…?” Applebloom’s eyes were wide; what could have made her sister hate him so much after she had been in love with him?

“It doesn’t matter now. It was from a long time ago.”

“B-but it does!” Applebloom exclaims, pushing the issue further. “Ah gotta know! What was it that made mah sister hate you so much…?”

You shake your head. “Maybe one day she’ll tell you. But for now I doubt she’d want to even make mention of it.” Walking over, you begin to pack up your things, before slinging it over your shoulder. “I had a lot of fun out here today, Scoots. Hope we can do this again sometime, before fall comes and it’s cold as the Crystal Empire.”

And with that final quip, you make your way down the trail back to town.

Mulling it over in your head, you sigh. “Applejack, despite what I said all those years ago, I still gotta hand it to ya.”

You turn, looking at the barn up on the hill, and smile.

“That was the best damn meal I’d ever tasted.”

End Chapter 11

Author's Note

A bit heavier this time around, but I hope it's worth it. Getting a bit more insight into Applejack and Anon's past interactions, as well as fleshing out Anon's character a bit more. He's not just your typical jock; he's a bit dense, but he can be loving and know when a situation is getting out of hand...