I arrived at the café that Flutters told me to meet her at. I wore my light wash, bootcut jeans, a red long-sleeve top with apples embroidered on the cuffs (my favourite top), and, of course, Tallulah, my hat. The café looked gorgeous—lots of flowers and greenery—very fluttershy-y. I gazed around the café for a second until I spotted, quite easily, Fluttershy. With her bright blush hair, she would be easy to pick out of a crowd.
I ran up to her with genuine excitement, embracing her in a hug.
"Flutters, it's been so long!"
"I know! It's so good to see you! I've ordered us some coffee; I hope that's ok."
"That's dandy Flutters, thank you. So, what's going on with you? How have you been and all?" I said, sitting down opposite Fluttershy.
"I've been just wonderful, Apples! I am still doing my veterinary internship, which I absolutely love." Fluttershy beamed with a smile. She could speak all day and all night about the animals she cares for at the vets. This made Applejack smile too.
"I bet you do, that sounds right up your alley!"
"What about you? How's life treating you on the farm?"
"Everything's fine at Sweet Apple Acres, always has been. I'm just lucky I never get bored of it."
"That's what I was thinking. What's it like to be in Canterlot?"
"I'll admit, it sure is a strange change of scenery being surrounded by high rises and high streets as opposed to the wheelbarrows and watering cans I'm used to."
"And you're not worried about anything else?"
I sensed a slight change of pace from Fluttershy. Clearly, she was trying to bring something up that she didn't want to say outright herself.
Before I could reply, our coffees arrived and were placed delicately in front of us both as we thanked the waiter.
"Uh, no. I don't think so. Should I be worried about something?" I answered, sipping on my coffee.
"Well. . .you know. . ."
"What is it, Flutters?"
"Rainbow and Sunset still live in the same neighbourhood. You're not worried about bumping into them?"
I can't say I'm surprised Fluttershy brought them up. Even though it was four years ago, she probably held even more of a grudge over them than I did, especially over Rainbow Dash. She's the kindest girl you'll ever meet, Fluttershy, but if you manage to find your way into her bad books, there's very little chance of you getting out of them; both Rainbow and Sunset have fallen guilty. It's hard to tell sometimes whether Fluttershy is more scared of the two or purely angry with them; I think it changes from time to time.
"Well, you still live here. How often do you see them around?" I managed to dodge her question. I'm not even sure if I could've given her a clear answer anyway.
"Not too often, I guess. I did see them last week though; they were picking up pizzas from a restaurant not too far from here."
I stopped mid-sip of my coffee, placing it back down in front of me. Did Flutters just say they were picking up pizzas? As in. . .together they were picking up pizzas?
"Together?"
"Mhm." Fluttershy nods. "I imagine they were eating in that night. Sunset has been staying at Rainbows for a while now. Didn't you know?"
No, I did not know this. . . A visible angered confusion appeared on my face, Fluttershy noticed.
"Apples, are you okay?"
No, I was not okay. But why? I haven't seen or even spoken to Rainbow in years; why is this news affecting me this much? Why is it affecting me at all?
"Yeah, yeah, I'm. . .you don't by any chance know if they're. . .you know. . .together"
'Oh, for pete's sake! Why did I ask that? Why do I care? I don't. I don't care. . .' I immediately thought.
"No, no, they're just friends, from what Pinkies told me. I think Sunset might still be with Flash."
'Huh, like that'll last. . .' I thought. Sunset was always into Twilight; everyone in the group knew it. I guess they just never formed a close enough relationship to admit their feelings for each other, Twilight being so focused on her studies and all.
"And Dash? What's going on with her?" I spat out quicker than I could think about what it was I just said.
"Umm, I'm honestly not too sure."
An internal sigh ran through me.
"I'm surprised you want to know, seeing how awfully she treated you and your family the last time you saw her. I mean, what a horrible thing to do to someone and to not even properly apologise for it. . ."
A slightly awkward silence ensued before, once again, my mouth spoke for me before my head had any time to think.
"I mean, the girls did apologise, in their own way. And everything's fine now, ain't it? Rainbow even offered to pay for the repairs."
Before I could think about what I had just said, Fluttershy responded, as if a part of me was speaking through her.
"You're not seriously standing up for her, are you? What she did was simply unforgivable!"
"I don't know. Holding a grudge for so long seems like more effort than it's worth."
Fluttershy looks at me as if I had just calculated the longest mathematical formula known to man. Inside, I was feeling just as confused by my words as she was. It felt as though I had two voices instead of one, one telling me to forgive Rainbow and Sunset, while the other wanted to continue with its resentment towards them. I just didn't know where this new second voice had come from. I wouldn't say I hated Rainbow Dash after about a week of the incident; in fact, as the months went by, I actually began to miss her a bit. . .
"I didn't think you'd feel this way, Applejack. I thought you hated Rainbow Dash for what she did to you, especially since you two were so close."
"Don't get me wrong, I still ain't tickled pink by what she and Sunset did, and I'll never forget what Rainbow did to Discord."
A frown grew on Fluttershy's face. The memories clearly flood back for her. I placed my hand on Flutter's arm.
"Hey, don't worry, that's behind you now. You and Discord are happy, and that's all that matters." I say in comfort. Fluttershy smiled up at me.
"I know, I'll be alright." Fluttershy said as a sudden burst of muted excitement washed over her.
"Ooh! I almost forgot to ask you! Tonight, Pinkie and Cheese are hosting the opening of a new club downtown. I know clubbing isn't exactly your thing, but it sure would be nice to have you there. I think Rarity is coming as well! What do you think?
Pinkie and Fluttershy are the only two to bridge the gap between our two groups. Most of what I hear about Dash and the others is through Fluttershy, and I can imagine it works the same way for Dash and Pinkie. I was always fond of Pinkie; very few people weren't, but she was also really close to both Sunset and Rainbow, so when I stopped talking to them, not talking to Pinkie was just a sacrifice I happened to have made.
"I'd love to Shy, but I'm doing a catering job tonight. I'm pretty sure the job is downtown though, so maybe I'll get a chance to sneak off once I've finished and meet y'all at this club."
"Oh, don't worry then, Apples; I wouldn't want you rushing around everywhere. You already work so hard! We can always do something another time."
A waiter approached our table with a notepad.
"Are we ready to order over here?"
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The evening quickly approached. I have spent all day preparing an array of food and drinks to be set up around the bar of what seemingly looked like a disco or something. I haven't actually seen the owners or hosts of the event yet. I was told by Big Mac that they would both be busy for the day but show up to greet me once the event starts, which for me is only a few minutes away.
A few minutes later, groups of people started trickling in; more and more people filled the space as the edm playing only grew louder and louder in volume. Before I knew it, the disco, party, or whatever it was, was in full swing. Luckily for me, the hosts brought in a small team of people to assist me for the evening, so other than making sure the staff know what they're meant to be doing, I could pretty much lay back and enjoy myself.
"APPLEJACK!"
I heard a yell from across the room. This yell was excitable and enthusiastic, and the person yelling it had to be full of energy, as my name could be heard clearly over the incredibly loud music.
I stood up straight from my previous leaning position against the wall, searching in place for the voice.
"APPLEJACK, WHERE ARE YOU?!" The voice seemed to be drawing closer to my direction.
"I-I'm over here!" I yelled back, in flustered confusion.
Soon enough, I saw a frizzy, bright pink mane of hair approach me from the crowd. All at once, I realised what had happened.
Within seconds of me spotting her, a squealing Pinkie Pie lifted me up into a tight hug.
'Fuck. . .' I thought to myself briefly. There it is, that same anxious feeling washing over me, seeing old friends from years past. But hey, it's Pinkie Pie; I had no bad blood with her, no loose ends, or anything, so it's all good. I reciprocated her embrace.
"Jackie! I'm so glad you came! I wasn't sure if it was going to be you or Big Mac who was gonna come because I sent a letter out to him a few weeks ago asking him to send you instead of him to Canterlot so I could see you for the grand opening, but he didn't reply back, so I wasn't like 1000% sure if it was going to be you or him coming, but then Fluttershy told me that you met up with her for breakfast this morning, and that means Big Mac let you come so I could see you and everyone else could see you, and that makes me really, really, really happy!" Pinkie says in her usual slow, calm, and relaxed tone. (lol)
It took me a second to digest at her excitable pace since I've been out of practice talking to Pinkie for a while.
"Pinkie! It's so good to see you! I can't believe you planned all this--"
Something Pinkie said stopped my train of thought.
"Wait, did you say everyone else?" Gears started turning rapidly in my head.
"Of course, silly! This is a huge event! I wanted the whole gang to be here!"
Before I could say anything, I found myself being dragged by Pinkie across the entire club floor, my arm firmly in her tight grip.
"Uhh, Pinkie, when you say the whole group. . .who exactly are you talking about?" Luckily for me, the shakiness in my voice was being covered by the journey of shoving and dragging across the club Pinkie was taking me on.
"I mean EVERYONE!" Pinkie gleefully said as we arrived at our destination, towards the back of the club. Stood there were Fluttershy and Rarity. A huge relief filled my body; thank god it was only those two.
"Hmm, gimme a sec!" Pinkie rushed off towards the back door of the club, leaving me alone with Fluttershy and Rarity, who were both quick to embrace me in a group hug. They both look incredibly uneasy, exchanging broken glances at each other and then at me, as if they need to tell me something important.
"Darling, I want you to take a deep breath," Rarity said to me, concerned.
My relieved grin quickly shifted to a face of concern.
"What do you mean?"
"W-We didn't know they were coming; we didn't know you'd be here either, for that matter. . ." Rarity continues.
"IM BACKKK!" Pinkie yells from the back, still out of the three girls' sight.
"Stay with us, Apples; you'll be ok. . ." Fluttershy attempted to reassure me. At that exact moment, everything clicked, my intestines gathered in knots.
I knew exactly what Pinkie was getting. . .or, I guess I should say, who. . .
The tension in the room was suddenly incredibly thick and noticeable, as all three of our apprehensive eyes fixed onto the now-in-sight Pinkie Pie and, soon enough, Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer. . .
A/N
Sorry that this chapter dragged on for so long! Might go back and edit later because over 2000 words is a bit mad. . .