//------------------------------//
// A Fortunate Argument 
// Story: A Fortunate Argument 
// by StripyFlash 
//------------------------------//


A Fortunate Argument


“Tha' makes two-hundred an' sixty-thre',” Applejack panted, having just finished her day bucking apple trees. It'd been exhaustive work and had taken her hours – though, she was proud of her results, as always. She sighed quietly, looking at the buckets of apples she'd harvested, and thought back for a moment. It was so much easier when all her friends had gotten together to help her collect the apples – and she pondered why they didn't help her more often.
Rarity had also just finished her day of work. Having worked overtime to finish the final touches on the latest dress she was designing, she tied the last thread in place with the subtle grace of magic, before slumping down tiredly. “There... it looks... perfect,” she said to herself unconvincingly, eyeing the finished product in a scrutinising manner. “I could still make... a few changes here and there, however...”
Both of the mares had had stressful, laborious days. It was late noon, and it appeared the sun would begin to set soon, bathing the entire valley in a twilight glow. At this time, Applejack had made it home, deciding to hit the sack early due to how hard she'd worked during the day. An idea that seemed to humour her crossed her mind for a moment – what if Rarity was to work as an apple-bucker for a day?
She pondered the consequences for a while, chortling quietly to herself, before falling into a deep sleep. The next day when Applejack arose, she found herself asking the same question again – she'd always seen Rarity's job of 'fashion-designing' to be a breeze, and the fact Applejack seemed to be the hardest working of all her friends irritated her somewhat. It might be an interesting experiment to let Rarity try apple-bucking for a change, she told herself.
Applejack decided she'd do just that – ask Rarity to work as her replacement for the day, just for curiosity's sake. She approached Rarity's boutique before politely knocking on the door with her hoof. “Eh... Rarity? Y'there?” she called out, waiting patiently. Before long, Rarity opened the door, peering at Applejack bewilderedly, still wearing her morning gown.
“Mh... oh! Applejack. What a pleasant surprise. What might you be doing here?” she asked with genuine surprise, having not expected her friend to come over in the slightest.
“I was lookin' ta ask you a question, Rariteh. A mighty funneh question, I must admit – bu', would you be interested in havin' a go at apple-buckin' fer a day down at Sweet Apple Acres?” Applejack questioned sincerely, giving her a trustworthy smirk.
“Oh, my. Work at Sweet Apple Acres, you say? That is a slightly... odd request, I must confess. However, I would be interested – if this is to help you, of course. But I have to ask, why me?” Rarity asked, peering at her friend curiously as she puzzled over her approaching her like this.
“Uh... well...” Applejack began, before pausing. She didn't want to tell her the truth about how she felt about Rarity's job and offend her friend, though Applejack never lied. “I jus' think your job is... kinda... slightly... underwhelmin', is all. Ah jus' can't see you workin' at a place like Sweet Apple Acres,”
Rarity blinked confoundedly at Applejack for a moment, before glaring slightly, obviously somewhat angered by her statement. “Hmph. This is what this is about then, is it? You think my job doesn't take effort? Well, I'll show you! I'll gladly take upon your request and I'll complete a full shift working at Sweet Apple Acres!” she exclaimed, feeling the need to defend herself.
“I'm sorreh, Rarity. I didun' mean to offend ya. Ya gotta understand what hard work it is at Sweet Apple Acres, tho'. An' here's the deal – ya can't use magic either,” Applejack exposited, blushing slightly from the embarrassment of unintentionally insulting her.
“Magic?! Who said I was going to use magic? I'll do it with ease, no magic required!” Rarity claimed, still clearly quite agitated by Applejack's assumption. “	Let us waste no time then, hm? I have a quota of apple-bucking to fulfil!”
“Uh, righty-ho then. Jus' follow me an' all and I'll show ya where ta get started,” Applejack said with a slight shrug, before trotting off to lead Rarity back to Sweet Apple Acres. Before long, they were out in the apple fields, surrounded by an abundance of apple trees that were fresh for harvesting – and more important, apple-bucking.
“Righ'. Ya know what ta do then, with yer hooves an' all?” Applejack questioned Rarity – though, she went unanswered as Rarity stepped up to one of the trees. She turned around, before rearing up – asking herself how hard this whole apple-bucking thing really could be – before kicking the tree with all her strength with her hind legs. Rarity suddenly fell to the floor screaming and whining in a noticeably high-pitched and annoying fashion, while Applejack rushed to her side with her mouth agape.
“Rarity! Ya okay?!” Applejack exclaimed with shock, looking over her body for any signs of injury.
“I think I... chipped my hoof...” Rarity quietly murmured. “That's a hoof manicure wasted!” Applejack peered at her quizzically for a moment, before snorting at her.
“Y'serious? I thought ya had actually hurt yerself...” Applejack said, eyeing Rarity up and down a few times, frowning.
“I chipped a hoof! It's far worse than that!” Rarity fussed, looking at the tiny chip on her hoof with unadulterated terror. Applejack moved over to her squirming friend, slowly helping her back onto all four hooves.
“No offense Rarity – but I though' ya wer' gonna take this seriously.” Applejack asked with disbelief at her friend's hasty failure.
“I... I am taking this seriously! Don't you see? I chipped a hoof!” Rarity whined further, looking at Applejack pleadingly, craving for sympathy.
“Look, uh... mayb' ya can wear som' galoshes. Tha'll help ya not chip yer hooves,” Applejack told Rarity, giving her a condescending look. She went and fetched Rarity a pair of rather dull olive-green galoshes, passing them over to her.
“You expect me to wear these? Look at them! They would clash with my fah-bulous mane!” Rarity moaned, looking completely distressed.
“Oh, come ON! Ya complainin' about the darn colour o' tha' galoshes now?! Are ya out of your mind? Just wear tha' darn things!” Applejack shouted in a sudden outburst, stupefied that her friend could act so petty. Rarity gave Applejack a cold stare, slowly taking the galoshes from her before slipping them on, one by one in complete silence.
“All right then... here we go again,” Rarity said bluntly before rearing up against the tree again, kicking the tree once more with both hooves. A meagre three apples tumbled into the buckets below, the weak blow having obviously not delivered remotely enough force to earn a full harvest. “Wa-hah-hey! How was that?!” Rarity exclaimed in excitement.
“Er... ya onleh got thre'. Mah sister coul' do better than tha', an' she's just a filly.” Applejack explained, clearly unimpressed with Rarity's somewhat pathetic efforts.
“Gah, I've just about had it with this! I know – how's this for an idea? Why don't you come back to my boutique and try designing a fashionable dress, hm?!” Rarity vented, glowering at Applejack.
“Y'think I can't make a stupid darn dress? Tha's foal's play! Yeah, I'll do it!” Applejack replied furiously, just as insistent as Rarity was to get her point across. Rarity made a rather irritated 'hmph' sound before leading Applejack back to her boutique, taking her to the inspiration room.
The 'inspiration room' was an absolute chaotic mess – random pieces of fabric were scattered here and there, pony mannequins wearing half-finished dresses littered the area and a vivid array of colours could be seen in every corner. “Here we are! Now, all you need to do is come up with a dress that's even a fraction as impressive as any of mine!” Rarity rather boastfully commanded.
“Look at this mess! An' ya say workin' at a farm is messy. Anyhow – this'll be jus' as easy as buckin' apples, despite the fact ya couldn't even do tha'!” Applejack claimed, before moving up to one of the pre-prepared easels, taking a pencil and looking at the pony template figure that was already drawn onto the paper. Applejack suddenly took to scribbling over the paper, methodically stroking it with the pencil here and there, which went on for a good half hour.
“Well then, is it finished?” Rarity asked inquisitively, before moving up to the easel to look at Applejack's finished result. “And just what is that?! You can't possibly be serious!” she gasped, followed by a short guffaw. The 'design' truly was rather abysmal – it looked as if a foal had drawn it, with no sense or foresight to the illustration whatsoever.
“Ah, shuttit! Ya can't respect a tru' piece of art, can ya? Jus' let me make it an' you'll see how good it is!” Applejack furiously defended her design, staring at Rarity for a moment. Rarity gave a simple tut, rolling her eyes.
“As you please, then,” she simply resigned, allowing Applejack to begin working on a real version of the dress with the abundance of material strewn about the floor. Another half hour later – Applejack had finalised the finished product.
“Well? Whaddya think, eh? Not half-bad, is it?” Applejack said with a smirk, folding her hooves, obviously quite impressed with her efforts. Rarity stared at it for a while, raising one eyebrow in a perplexed fashion, her mouth agape as she eyed the abomination of a dress up and down.
“It's... a disaster! It's just so... awful! How did you even...?” Rarity stuttered, being almost lost for words. Applejack looked at her in a smug way, convinced that Rarity was just putting it on.
“Yer jus' sayin' that. Yer jealous of it, ain't ya?” Applejack said, admiring the supposed beauty of her creation.
“No, not at all! I'm mortified by it! You've created one of the worst pieces of 'fashion' I've ever had the trauma of witnessing! It is an insult to the greatest designers of our time...!” Rarity began to furiously bellow at Applejack, enraged by her apparent ignorance to her passion. 
“Ya don't like it?! Well, fine! Not like yer designs are any better, are they? Remember that time Pinkie an' Dash stained yer dress with a red paint bomb? Well, I personalleh think it was a grea' improvement! Not to mention, ya can't apple-buck fer diddleh-squat!” Applejack responded to Rarity's anger with her own. Rarity was taken aback, her eye twitching with seething hatred.
“You know... I think it'd be better if you just leave, Applejack. Leave, and don't come back,” Rarity said in a cold, austere tone. Applejack simply glared at her for a while, before shaking her head and leaving as she'd been asked. Rarity slumped down to her hooves, loathe to have argued with one of her closest friends, feeling slightly nauseous from their heated debate.
Applejack arrived home, feeling quite awful herself. She settled down to one of Granny Smith's scrumptious apple pies, eating it slowly and awkwardly, her appetite dulled by her nagging fear that she'd seriously upset Rarity. Each bite was hard for her to swallow, despite her love of apples. After only half-eating the pie, Applejack hung her head dejectedly, before going to spend some time resting at the crest of a hill beside a rather idyllic and shade-providing tree.
Meanwhile, Rarity also mulled over what had happened, feeling quite dreadful about it. She prepared herself a mug of hot tea, though it did nothing to calm her nerves which had come on end as of recently, Rarity being uncertain as to whether she was to blame, Applejack was to blame, or if they were both equally responsible. Early night-time soon grew upon Equestria, darkness gradually beginning to envelop the the valley.
Rarity had thought over their argument for some time, and decided that she had to apologise to Applejack. To help ease the awkwardness, she decided to bring two of the apples that she'd bucked earlier, stuffing them into a tiny hamper, hoping that it would cheer Applejack up. She made her way to Sweet Apple Acres after a short walk, quickly noticing Applejack alone by the tree.
She made her way up the relatively low hill, proceeding to lay beside Applejack, giving her a sympathetic look. Applejack eyed Rarity with no real discernible emotion, although she seemed somewhat puzzled by her appearance. “Applejack...?” Rarity finally managed to sum up the will to ask, obviously quite nervous as to how she would react.
“Rarity? What ar' ya doin' here at this time ah night?” Applejack replied, seemingly ignoring their earlier fall out for the moment.
“I thought I'd come and say... sorry. For upsetting you. I know you tried hard to design an appealing dress, and I-” Rarity had began, but was soon cut off.
“Nah, it should be me apologisin'. I was the one who came up wit' this stupid idea... it was kinda obvious it wasn't gonna work, I just felt like I had ta prove somethin',” Applejack expressed, hanging her head as she talked in a quiet, sheepish tone.
“I don't blame you, Applejack. I think neither of us understood how much effort goes into either of our jobs, and, well... I guess we took that for granted. I'm sorry, Applejack. I truly am,” Rarity said with utmost sincerity, looking at Applejack with an expression of complete empathy.
“I'm really sorry too, Rariteh... I really am. We jus' went an' made a big ol' stupid mistake, an' it was silly from the beginning! I shoulda known better,” Applejack admit, looking at Rarity and smiling weakly at her apparent forgiveness.
“I brought us a couple of the apples I bucked. I know I barely managed to knock any down, but I thought maybe you'd like one to cheer you up,” Rarity told Applejack, beginning to smile at her also as they found themselves on even ground once more.
“Thanks, Rariteh. I actually woul' quite like that,” Applejack said with a slight nod, lifting the cover of the small basket up with her hoof, taking one of the bucked apples out from it. She took a bite out of it, savouring the taste for a moment, rather touched by her friend's generosity. Rarity took the other apple, levitating it with her magic, beginning to chew on her apple also.
“It's quite a... serene place, Sweet Apple Acres, isn't it? At night, it just seems so... tranquil,” Rarity said quietly, looking around at their surroundings thoughtfully. Her words resonated the truth – at night, Apple Acres was still and peaceful, and barely a sound could be heard, the farm's luscious fields of trees making it quite a picturesque scene. 
“Mh, I suppose ya coul' say tha'. This here tree is where I go to when I wanna be alone... jus' gives me comfort knowin' tha', I guess,” Applejack confessed to her friend, nudging against her affectionately as she lay beside her. “I lov' it when it's all quiet lik' this...”
“So do I, Applejack. There's a certain sensation to just... simple silence, that nothing can really match,” Rarity agreed, nudging back against Applejack in return, smirking slightly. Applejack chortled somewhat as they leant against each other, feeling surprisingly comforted by her friend who merely hours ago she'd been shouting at.
“I really regret bein' so obnoxious to ya earlier, Rarity. Ya can be such a sweet pony at times like this... ya makin' me feel bad,” Applejack joked, being quite earnest with the mare, finding herself undeniably appreciative of Rarity's cuddling.
“Just as much as I do. You're quite the lovely pony yourself, don't you know, Applejack?” Rarity admitted, feeling quite passionate about the orange mare. She looked at Applejack for a moment, Applejack returning her gaze before moving to gently nuzzle her, wishing to show her affection.
“That's nice o' ya to say, Rariteh,” Applejack said, returning the nuzzle, gradually finishing off her apple. Rarity finished with hers' also, proceeding to lie on her side, continuing to gaze at Applejack. She brought her hoof down, beginning to gently caress the other mare's mane, enjoying it's bizarrely coarse yet silky texture.
“I do mean it though. I have to say... you're quite the special pony, wouldn't you agree?” Rarity rather suddenly asked, smirking at her.
“Eh? Special? How so?” Applejack replied curiously, looking up at Rarity.
“I mean, you're quite...” Rarity began, before being cut short for a moment. She seemed to be lost for words, as she had to think about what she was trying to say for a moment – realising that her affection was perhaps something quite complicated. “Quite... cute, I suppose. And kind, and... well, honest,”
“You're uh... ratha'... pretty, as well! I've always quit' liked ya Rarity, despite yer funny quirks,” Applejack confided in her friend, grinning at her.
“And, if I really think about it, you're the first pony I'd go to for support, because I know you'd always be there for me – just like how we both wanted to apologise about our petty little argument we had earlier...” Rarity said with a gentle nod, her smile widening as she confessed more and more simple truths to her friend. The moon light shined upon the pair, the tranquillity of the place never once fading.
“Now, I like everypony else an' all... but I got ta say, even I've always had a special sorta trust in ya. That kinda special connection doesn't happen easily with me, but ya just ar' like that for me,” Applejack slowly admitted, rubbing her cheek against Rarity's softly.
“Mhm, I've always seen you as almost a role model of sorts. Though, that isn't how I feel about you... I suppose I feel about you in a way far more... intimate,” Rarity quietly confessed, looking at her with earnest eyes.
“Intimate, y'say? Ar' you tryin' to suggest somethin', Rarity?” Applejack asked in a genuinely perplexed way.
“I suppose I do sort of, well... love you, in some... well, most respects,” Rarity rather awkwardly admit to Applejack, blushing immensely as the conversation suddenly went dead silent. Applejack blinked for a moment, allowing it to sink in.
“I guess I... sorta... lov' ya too, Rarity,” Applejack finally managed to say, moving closer to her as she nuzzled against her snout once more.
“I... uh, oh my. I feel a little bit flustered now,” Rarity said, her blush intensifying even more, a little surprised that Applejack seemed okay with what she said. She gave a soft chuckle, before moving down to lightly peck Applejack on the cheek. Applejack turned on her side, draping one hoof over Rarity, hugging her closely.
“Didn't... really... think ya'd be lik' this, Rarity,” Applejack said with a slight nod, moving to nuzzle Rarity further. She played with Rarity's spiral-like mane, slowly and softly tracing around it's carefully perfected twirls and spins, making sure not to ruin it at all or to displace her manestyle.
“I can't say I really thought you would be either, Applejack. Oh, by the way... that comment you made about the dress that got paint bombed – did you really mean it?” Rarity asked with sudden intrigue.
“Eh? Nah, dun' be silly!” Applejack quickly retorted, trying to ensure she didn't disappoint the mare she had new found love in.
“Oh, really? Because I sort of thought the bold red kind of worked as perhaps an alternate palette...” Rarity explained to her.
“Wait... ya do? Uh, well, sur', it kinda worked, yeah!” Applejack quickly exclaimed, her opinion having shifted almost immediately.
“Hmm. I'll have to make a mental note on that. Anyhow, where were we?” Rarity said, before returning to gazing lovingly into Applejack's eyes. Applejack snickered slightly at Rarity's sudden outburst, squeezing her.
“Ya jus' confessed ya got a thing for an earth-poneh,” Applejack said with a chuckle, bumping Rarity on the snout playfully with her hoof. Rarity grinned at her in response, cuddling up closely to Applejack before closing her eyes.
“Good night, Applejack. I love you...” Rarity whispered faintly, slowly beginning to doze off.
“An' I love ya too, Rarity,” Applejack returned, closing her eyes as well – both ponies gradually falling asleep in each other's embrace under the lone tree in a rather romantic fashion, the full moon illuminating both of them in a luminescent, pearly white sheen.