Apple bloom set down a weighty bucket of apples onto the pile. Her yellow fingers grew orange blisters to reveal all the tiresome work she had put into carrying buckets. She yawned expressively, her eyebags turning increasingly grey by the second.
“Alright, I’m heading in for the night” She exclaimed, the twang in her voice replaced with squeaks. She stumbled out of the barn, through the rain, and into the house. Once her younger sister left, Applejack untied her ponytail and rested on a haybale, sighing at the thought of having to finish up piling the last buckets. Big Mac was out of town visiting Sugar Belle and Granny Smith was fast asleep, so it was just her this evening. Applejack set her cowboy hat down next to her. She looked outside the window to hear the pitter patter of heavy rain against the roof. The dirt outside turned into a muddy ocean under the rainwater. The pitter patter increased it almost sounded like banging, or more likely, it was banging, specifically something banging on her barn door.
Applejack opened the barn door to find a soaked Rarity carrying the ends of her black, now dirt brown, stilettos.
“Thank you” She breathed a sigh of relief. Her indigo blowout lost its voluminosity in the rain.
“You don’t know the day I’ve had”
“Well, you aren’t calling me darlin’ so I guess it’s pretty bad.”
Rarity glared at her, mascara driving from her lower eyelashes. It was the kind of face that said ‘don’t joke with me’.
Applejack took the hint and backed off the jokes for the current situation. She unbuttoned her plaid, green flannel to reveal a white tank top underneath. She aired her garment out before wrapping it around rarity’s drenched shoulders. Rarity didn’t want to admit that Applejack was tender sometimes, as it would also admit that someone as Frugal as Applejack could be compassionate. Nevertheless, her face couldn’t help flushing at Applejack's thoughtful gesture.
“The storms’ pretty bad out there,” Applejack said, attempting to tie rarity's stomach length hair into a bun before undoing it out of insecurity. “I don’t know if I did this right.”
“Here, let me,” Rarity held her hand out for the hair tie. Her knuckles revealed bruises from her endless knocking outside the barn.
“No, it’s fine. You can’t do anything with your calloused fingers.”
“Applejack!” Rarity, in a fit of irritation, turned to face the taller woman. That was until she toppled backward onto the floorboard after realising how close their faces were. Applejack reacted by stumbling to help her startled friend.
“Agh, sorry.” Applejack held her hand out for assistance. “I just wanted to be helpful.”
“I can do it myself.” rarity declared, climbing to her feet. Unlike Applejack, rarity tied her hair up with ease, with only the twist of a wrist. She sunk into the hay bale; her somber face made applejack want to comfort the poor woman.
“I don’t suppose you’ve even been in a design slump before, have you?” Rarity asked.
“No,” Applejack replied, sitting beside her. “But there have been days where I wanted to do nothin’ if that makes you feel better.”
“As I suspected, Applejack is a perfect, hard worker.”
Applejack chuckled; she had never been called perfect in her life. In Fact, she thought she was far from it. “If I designed frilly dresses my entire life, I would absolutely need a break.” Applejack added. “Hey that’s what you need, a break.”
“Are you certain?” Rarity sat up to face her companion.
“Yeah, if you ever feel like taking a break, tell me.” She smiled. “I’d do anything for you.”
Rarity hugged the taller woman, arms wrapped loosely around her neck.
“Woah hey-”
“Thank you Applejack. I’ve never received such words of kindness.”
For anyone else, Applejack would have awkwardly sat there until the moment but Rarity was different. She didn’t know why but there was something so charming about this moment that she didn’t want to spoil. Rarity let go, and hid her face once she realised she shedded tears.
“Oh goodness, I’m crying.” She let out a nervous laugh.
Applejack grabbed Rarity's chin and brought it to her face.
“What are you-”
“You look pretty when you cry.” She interrupted, softly letting go of the pale woman's face. She then realised what she had done and apologized awkwardly.
“No, I look a mess.” She argued, angling her head away from the cowboy.
“No, trust me. You look mighty fine.”
“Well, you should have seen me before the storm.” Rarity commented, still angling her head away from Applejack. “I looked much more pleasing in the afternoon.” This time she faced applejack. Ruined mascara and all.
Applejack placed her hands on Rarities shoulders. “You’ve got a lovely personality too so I don’t see how you could ever be ugly.”
“Applejack, why are you so charming?” Rarity questioned.
“I Dunno. Maybe it's...” Applejack paused as she met eyes with her friend. She slurred for a bit before stuttering a word she had forgotten to say halfway through.
“Applejack?”
“Oh sorry. I don’t know what is going on with me right now. Earlier, I was cooler than apple juice. Now I’m sitting here mixing my sentences up.”
Applejack cleared her throat. Reaching for her hat that she had previously set down, hoping it would give her some clarity.
“Ah, found my hat.” Applejack coughed. “I’ll go get you a blanket, I’m sure there's somewhere around this barn. Applejack began to stand up before Rarity pulled her arm back down indicating her to sit.
“Is there something wrong?”
Rarity took a deep breath in and another out before placing her lips onto Applejacks’. She leaned in so close, Applejack had to hold her arms behind her in order not to fall backwards. She let go and sat up straight to see how Applejack took the kiss.
Applejack's hat fell onto her face, covering her red-hot face. Rarity moved it to the side to reveal a stunned applejack.
“Oh dear, did I make a mistake?” Rarity panicked, Placing the cowboy hat back onto Applejack’s head. “I went too far, didn’t I?” She sobbed, Head in her hands. Out of all the terrible things that happened today, Rarity thought that this was the worst of them.
Applejack didn’t say anything, she only grabbed Rarity’s wrists and pulled her in for another kiss.