Chapter 1
It was a bright and shining day in the small town of Ponyville. Class for the younger ponies has just let out and the little colts and fillies hurry home to play. Everypony was going about their days as planned. Vinyl was working on a new track, Bon Bon was preparing a fresh batch of sweets, and Rarity was working on a new design for her next line of fabulous new dresses. She was just about to have a stroke of genius when Applejack burst into the Carousel Boutique.
“Alright! Ah know it's your fault!” Applejack yelled as she violently pointed her hoof at Rarity.
“Applejack!” Rarity yelled back, looking away from her designs. “Even if I knew what you were talking about, now is not the time!” Rarity turned back to her designs, giving Applejack the cold shoulder.
Applejack stormed over behind Rarity and spun her around, getting into her face. “Ah know it was you that has been teaching Applebloom about fashion! Now all she talks about is threads and fabrics! No sister of ma' own is gonna be making dresses!”
Rarity stopped looking at her designs and giggled. “Oh darling, is that all? First of all, she came to me, I didn't come to her. Of course I was ecstatic and said yes almost immediately,” Rarity turned and faced towards Applejack. “Secondly, at least one person in your family should know a little something about fashion. Besides, you know perfectly well how fast out sister take up new projects and ideas, so if you really are that worried, I can almost guarantee you that this phase won't last long.”
Applejack squints her eyes angrily, “Listen, if she doesn't snap out of this phase soon, it'll be your flank!” She stomped her hoof and turned around, stopping before she could decide whether to leave or stay.
“Oh come now, Applejack. What could be so bad about this!” Rarity started walking towards her aggravated friend, stomping aggressively on the way over. “I mean Celestia forbid if she designs an amazing dress and fins that she likes it!”
Applejack drops her head and sighs heavily. “Ah want Applebloom to do as she pleases, but I don't want you pushin' your fashion on her. If she chooses to make dresses in the future, so be it. But that's her decision, not yours.”
Rarity eased up a bit seeing that her friend was in actual distress right now. She walked over and put her hoof over Applejack's shoulder. “Applejack, I understand. I can assure you that I haven't pushed her to do anything. She came in here with Sweetie Belle and they both asked to have a little lesson. They come to me on their own time, and I teach them only if they're willing.”
Applejack lifts her head and raises the front of her hat. “As long as she was willin' to learn on her OWN initiative, ah guess she can continue learning.”
“That's good to hear. An older sister should always be supportive of her younger sister.” Rarity removed her hoof from Applejack and pointed it towards the window. “In fact, you can even ask her yourself. I see her running here right now with Sweetie and Scootaloo.” Applejack turned towards the window and watched as her sister ran towards the front of the Boutique with her friends by her side. She takes a step towards the door but suddenly takes a step back as the door is thrown open, mere inches from her face.
“Hi Rarity!” Yelled Sweetie Belle as she rushed into her sisters home. “Applebloom and I are ready for our next lesson, and Scootaloo asked if she could join us today,” Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder at Applejack. “Oh, hey Applejack! What are you doing here?”
Applejack adjusts her hat and looks over at the white filly. “Ah was uh, just here to say hi is all.”
“Oh, okay then!” Sweetie Belle turned back towards her sister. “So what will we learn about today! Will we continue our sewing from yesterday or are we going to start something new! I just can't-” Sweetie Belle was interrupted by a white hoof over her mouth.
“Now Sweetie,” Rarity said with a stern but playful look on her face. “You know the rules. After you finish your homework, we can start today's lesson.”
Applebloom calls from the base of the stairs, Scootaloo by her side. “C'mon Sweetie Belle! Let's finish our homework quick!”
“Alright, I'm coming!” Sweetie Belle runs up the stairs towards her friends. “By Applejack!”
Applejack tilts her hat at Sweetie before she disappears at the top of the stairs. She turns back to Rarity and removes her hat. “What are ya teachin' here anyhow?”
“Oh?” Rarity raised an eye at Applejack. “I thought you didn't like this whole fashion thing?”
“Applejack rubs the back of her neck with her hoof. “A-Ah don't. Ah was just wantin' to know what you're teachin' ma sister.”
“Well then, why don't you come up for our next lesson?” Rarity went into another room to go grab some supplies. “They will be done in a few minutes, why don't you make yourself at home.” Rarity paused for a moment. “Actually, don't. You live on a farm. Make yourself at MY home.”
“Applejack opens her mouth as if she was about to say something but stopped herself. She closes her mouth and walks over to a couch, setting her hat on the end table before sitting on a plush cushion.
“Rarity walks out of the room and drops her materials as she sees Applejack on on the cushion. “Applejack! That's not a cushion for you to sit on! Get up and move it gently to the side first!”
Applejack looks down and lifts herself off the cushion before setting it to the side. “Sorry 'bout that.”
“”Hm,” Rarity remarks. “No arguing? No questioning why you can't sit on something that is usually meant for sitting?” Rarity walks over and sits next to Applejack. “What's wrong dear?”
“Oh, it's nothin' really, i'm just sure it's made of some fancy fabric that took a while to make.” Applejack responded with a mellow tone in her voice.
“Applejack, we've known one another for quite some time. I know when something's wrong.” Rarity put her hoof around her troubled friend. “What's REALLY going on?”
“Well, ah guess i'm still a little worried about ma sister. I wanna see her follow in the family's footsteps but ah also want her to choose her own path.” Applejacks head drops slowly as she closes her eyes and sighs softly.
“Oh Applejack,” Rarity said hugging her friend. “Even if she finds a talent in something not in the family business, she will most certainly still help and be with the family. After all, if I learned one thing from the Apple family ponies, it's that family is the most important thing.”
Applejack smiles lightly and continues to look down, trying to hide the smile from Rarity.
“Well I see that your feeling better,” Rarity said nudging her friend. “I'll go see if they're ready. That is, if you still want to learn.”
“Ah reckon that ah could stay a bit,” Applejack said as she lifted her head, showing Rarity the smile.
“Perfect!” Rarity exclaimed with a smile. “I'll go get my stuff and see if the girls are ready.” Rarity hopped off the couch, scooped up her materials and trotted up stairs. Applejack sat quietly, still smiling lightly. She reaches over and grabs her hat and sets it back on her head. Applejack gets off the couch, making sure not to mess up any of the fancy pillows, and follows Rarity up the stairs.
She opens up the door and sees Rarity immersed in her teachings. She also noticed how much her sister and her friends are enjoying the lesson. Applejack slowly closes the door and heads back downstairs and out of the Boutique. She trots along a gravel path and through the green grass, the thought of her sister on her mind. She didn't care much of the fashion anymore, but she couldn't get how important Applebloom was to her. She wanted to see her blossom but she didn't want to hold her back from happiness.
Rarity's assurance helped a little bit, but deep down, Applejack already knew that Applebloom was drifting farther away from the Apple family. She was spending more and more time away from the farm. As she walked down the beaten path near her farm, she stopped under the branches of a lush oak tree. She sat in the shade and assured herself Applebloom would be happy with whatever path she chose.
Applejack looked up at the sky and tried to forget her worries. After a few deep breaths and some self reassurance, she got back up and trotted back to the farm.
Upon her arrival, she was surprised to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders running about. As she approached the barn, Applebloom ran up to her side and hugged her sister. Applejack smiled at her sister. “Hey there sis, what are y'all doin' here? What about Rarity's lesson?”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came running up beside each other, Scootaloo wearing a hat similar to Applejack's. Sweetie Belle smiled and said “We already finished it! Rarity taught us how to make cowboy hats then brought us here!” Applejack smiled and before she could reply, Rarity approached her from the barn.
“I also told them that you would be willing to teach them a thing or two about the farm life,” rarity said stopping at applejack and turning to the fillies. “They thought it was just as good of an idea as me teaching them about fashion.” Rarity smiled at her friend and watched the Crusaders run around wildly, waiting for their new teacher to start.
Applejack turned to Rarity who was still focused on the fillies and smiled. “What'd you do all this for?”
Rarity turned her attention to Applejack, who still had a smile stretched across her face. “Well I couldn't just watch two sisters separate like that.” Rarity smiled and hugged her friend, reassuring her friend that she cared.
So for the rest of the afternoon, Applejack taught the fillies about the different aspects of farm life. When she got to the part of the lesson about different types of trees, she was going to keep on talking if she didn't notice that the fillies were about to fall asleep. She checked the time and noticed that she had been teaching for hours.
Rarity took Sweetie Belle home, Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo, and Applejack took Applebloom up to her room. As she watched her sister asleep in her bed, all of her worries went away. She backed out of the room, closed the door, and happily went to bed.