Apple Loader

by shortskirtsandexplosions

P

"Are you comfortable, Rarity?" Twilight Sparkle asked pleasantly as she trotted across the library, hovering a stack of books. "Or would you like another pillow?"

"Erm... n-no thank you, Twilight." Rarity lay back on a mountain of cushions, her bandaged leg propped up on a coffee table as she stared dully out a sunlit window. "I'm quite relaxed, really."

"Are you sure?" Twilight paused in shelving tomes, her wings twitching as she blinked with concern. "You seem preoccupied."

"Mmmm... I cannot help it."

"I invited you over for some tea and poetry, b-but if you're not feeling up for it, then I won't be offended!" Twilight smiled sweetly. "You're still having to rest and recover, after all—"

"No, Twilight, I'm very glad to be here." Rarity turned her head towards Twilight with a reassuring grin. "Your company is most rewarding."

"Then what's wrong, Rarity? You can tell me." Twilight trotted over and rested a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Are... Are y-you still steamed up over what Sweetie Belle did?"

"Oh, good gracious, no!" Rarity blinked. "Well, maybe a little, but that's not the issue at hoof—"

"I hope you're not punishing her too hard." Twilight's cheeks reddened slightly. "After all, the whole thing's kinda sorta my fault..."

"Your fault?!"

"Well, it was here in this library that the girls first saw me perform the 'Come to Life' spell." Twilight rubbed one forelimb with the other, bashfully. "And I've been encouraging Sweetie to use her magic more, but only with the best interests in their talents—"

"Twilight, darling, I admire what you have been doing for Sweetie and her friends." Rarity chuckled airily. "Surely, it keeps them from engaging in random and self-destructive 'crusader' antics." A beat. Rarity glared daggers at the floor. "Most of the time."

Twilight winced. "Yeahhhh..."

Spike waddled in the background, carrying a stack of books. "Is it true that Sweetie Belle made the sewing machine climb up the wall to get to you?"

"Nnnngh..." Rarity face-hoofed. "I'd rather not recall. That afternoon forever exists only in nightmares."

Twilight frowned at Spike, then gazed on Rarity once more. "Is that it, then?" She squeezed the mare's shoulder. "You're reliving that horrible afternoon in your head?"

"Twilight, it wasn't entirely horrible. After all, Applejack's heroic intervention far outshone any sense of calamity."

"Yes..." Twilight smiled. "She really was a life-saver, huh?"

"Now and forever."

"Then what's troubling you, Rarity? If I may ask?"

"She's just cheesed that Applejack isn't warming up to her 'thank you' gift," Spike said with a yawn.

"Spiiiiike!" Twilight frowned. "I'm asking Rarity, not you!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh what's the use?!" Rarity slumped back on her cushions, wailing melodramatically to the wooden ceiling. "He's right! He's right! Applejack hates it! She loathes the gift I gave her!"

"What?! No!" Twilight shook her head. "Don't say that, Rarity!"

"But it's truuuuuu-uuuu-uuue!"

"You know Applejack!" Twilight smiled nervously. "She just... uh... isn't so great at accepting change! Believe me." She cleared her throat, flexing and unflexing her wings. "I know the feeling first-hoof."

"Mmmmfnnngh... you're right..."

"Of course I'm right!"

"Ugh!" Rarity tossed her head, frowning. "Honestly! Why does Applejack have to be the absolute worst pony to buy presents for?!"

Twilight giggled. "Well, you just explained it to yourself with one word: 'Honestly!'" She smirked. "Usually, giving gifts is a way of appeasing one another, but that doesn't quite work with Applejack, now does it? That mare just..." Twilight waved her hoof. "...prefers that we be ourselves around her. That's enough compensation on its own!"

"Twilight, darling, for me to be myself with Applejack—I have to give!" Rarity gazed up at Twilight with a pouty face. "It's the best way I can express who and what I am!"

Twilight nodded. "But as important as it is for you to give gifts, it's just not the same for Applejack to receive them! I know you were looking forward to giving her the Apple Lancer—"

"Apple Loader."

"R-right... ahem..." Twilight leaned hear head to the side. "But sometimes you just have to accept the fact that friends aren't always going to be on board for what you surprise them with! Why, if I had a bit for every time I chose to refund a teddy bear that Moondancer gave me back in Canterlot—"

Spike shuffled by, droning: "You'd have a fortune to pay me for all the awkward trips I made to the department store for you."

"Spiiiiike..."

"Nnngh..." Rarity sat up, wincing from her leg. "Perhaps you're right, Twilight." A sigh. "Perhaps this Apple Loader gift was... m-more about me than it was about Applejack."

"Awwwww..." Twilight's ears folded. "Rarity..."

Rarity tilted her nose up proudly. "It's just that I am truly, truly greatful for all Applejack has done to protect the likes of us, and this last occasion at Carousel Boutique takes the cake—so to speak." Rarity gazed at Twilight with glossy eyes. "I j-just wish that my good qualities could do for her what hers have done for me."

"Hmmmm..." Twilight tapped her fuzzy chin, then smiled. "How about this?" She gripped Rarity's shoulders. "If you're really that concerned about Applejack and the gift you gave her, let's just be upfront with her about it! After all, that's what Applejack appreciates the most! Simple, honest-to-goddess honesty!"

Rarity fidgeted. "Well..."

"I'll go with you!"

"Go with me? Where?"

"To Sweet Apple Acres!" Twilight stood up straight with a grin. "We'll stop on by and talk to Applejack!"

Rarity blinked. She smiled. "Alright, Twilight." She struggled to get up, accepting a helping hoof from Twilight. "Once again, you've proven to be the most cool-headed of us all."

"Actually, the blood vessels in my head maintain themselves at a constant temperature of thirty-seven degrees celsius!"

"Hmmmm..." Rarity sighed out the side of her muzzle. "I rest my case."

"Spiiiike!"

"Huh?"

"We're going to Sweet Apple Acres! Come along! You're Rarity's wheels!"

"...Huh?"

Comments

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Poor Spike, forever a cart puller.

Also, I'm very curious to see what happened to Rarity in the first place.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[Aatxe360]

Apple Lancer

It now has a name!

[Themaskedferret]

*Grins* This should be interesting...I wonder what Aj's calling it.

[FireheartThePone]

"Actually, the blood vessels in my head maintain themselves at a constant temperature of thirty-seven degrees celsius!"

Of course you'd know that...