//------------------------------// // 6 - The Heat Bathing Applejack in Sweat // Story: Rarity Reads a Trashy Romance Novel // by vamparity //------------------------------// Applejack lifted her eyes, lazily. She was sprawled out over her bed, a hoof extending off the side, the sheets having been pushed off of her during her sleep. She scratched her head and tried to smooth her hair into place around her pillow, enjoying the rare luxury of sleeping in. She stopped her brushing and moved to her side with her ears raised. She heard the creaks of floorboards signal someone was walking up the steps. She listened for the distinct sound of the long board at the start of the hallway as it whined under somepony's weight. The hoofsteps stopped in front of her door. Her ear flicked in mild surprise. She heard a dainty knock. "Are you decent?" "Huh?" she smacked her lips, processing the voice. "Rarity?" The door opened and the fashion pony made her presence known, noisily, causing Applejack to pull her ears back in slight discomfort. Rarity quickly made it to the side of the bed to observe what was laid bare before her. She raised an eyebrow and smirked; what a scandalous pose, she thought. Applejack grabbed her sheets and pulled them over her suddenly exposed feeling body. With a hot mix of emotions warring in her head, she fumbled for words: "What in, why are, what the hay, you crazy mare!" "Good morning, darling," Rarity gave a predatory grin. She moved a hoof to touch the side of the bed, letting her mind wander to the scene that she had read last night. With a blush, her hoof promptly retreated, but not before Applejack noticed and shot up, sitting against the headboard of her bed. Rarity enjoyed a few moments of silence between them, failing spectacularly to keep her mind from wandering all over Applejack. Applejack could feel Rarity's thoughts on her and she tensed up, her own mind racing on how to get out of her house alive. "Whatever it was, I'm sorry, Rares! For real, I mean it." "What are you talking about, you silly pony?" Rarity softened her gaze. "I came to ask you a favor." "Well, okay," Applejack lowered her hooves and the edge of the sheets that they were holding, exposing more of her body. "What do you need?" "Oh, darling, it's dreadful!" She put a hoof across her face, and the other sneaked its way onto Applejack's exposed barrel, lightly shaking her. "Absolutely the worst thing to happen to me! I had to come as quickly as I could. Sorry for seeing you so early, but this could not wait!" "There, there, sugarcube," Applejack hesitantly placed a hoof over the one touching her and gave a cautious smile, rubbing it, hoping Rarity would be too upset and full of dramatics to notice. "Just tell me what I need to do to help." She enjoyed the soft and warm feel of her hoof on the other mare's hoof. "I'm afraid my plumbing is broke! My kitchen is all wet and I don't know what to do!" Rarity swallowed, pushing past her nerves. "I will now faint. Please catch me." "Please what now?" Before Applejack knew it, Rarity was laying on top of her stomach, her arms limp and legs hanging off the bed. She could feel the pleasant heat from the mare, along with a few of her curves, thin sheets being all that separated them. She swallowed long and hard. "Rarity?" No response, save for the heavy movements of her chest and nostrils. She watched her chest rise and fall, one of her hoofs still lying limply over her eyes. Rarity laid there for what felt like an eternity. She could not force herself to rise, and with each breath, noticed her second fainting couch did not force her to rise, either. Instead, she felt strong hoofs slowly embrace her. She calmed her breathing, and neither pony dared move for another eternity. Rarity felt light headed, as if she were a school filly again, doing something new and absolutely, irreversibly foalish. "Hey AJ, hey Rarity! Did y'all spend the night together?" Apple Bloom appeared at the door. Rarity's eyes shot open and she was back on her hooves facing away from the bed. "Oh, dear me, I must have fainted. I merely came to wake your sister and ask for her help today to fix my pipes." Apple Bloom stared at her. "Okay, makes sense to me." They could hear the creaks of the floorboards as she left. With a few fake and nervous laughs, Rarity turned to Applejack. "So then, will you assist me with my plumbing needs?" Applejack swallowed, hard. "Sure thing. When should I be there?" Rarity thought for a moment. "After you've finished whatever you need to do, darling. But try not to keep a lady waiting too long." "Okay," the word came out like molasses in Applejack's mouth. "Okay, then. It's a date." The sounds of floorboards followed Rarity out of the house. Applejack got up, and took a long shower. --- After eating breakfast and explaining the morning excitement to her grandmother who would not stop making snide comments and implications about it, Applejack found herself outside in another beautiful day. The sky was clear and blue, the sun was hot, and the ground solid and ready for her. She rummaged through the barn for a hoe. Today she was going to rough up some dirt to plant a tiny garden for some cooking herbs. Finding it, she came back outside to be assaulted by the sun's light. She used a hoof for shade, looking up. What a beautiful day, she thought, but Luna bless it if she was not already feeling the heat. "Beautiful day, is it not?" Applejack turned in disbelief. There stood Rarity, wearing her oversized hat and sunglasses, hovering a few items behind her. "What are you doing here?" "Why, Applejack," Rarity pouted, "My kitchen is such a mess and I felt so miserable that I could not wait at home alone. I hope you don't mind my company." "Nah, if you want to hang out some, it's alright," Applejack smiled, wiping her brow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to work on my little garden over there for a bit and then I'll be all yours. Make yourself at home, sugarcube." "With pleasure," said Rarity. She watched Applejack give her one last reassuring smile before walking away to a small patch of empty ground, using the hoe to mark out a rectangle. Satisfied, Applejack looked up to give Rarity another smile and nod before focusing on her task in earnest. The apple farmer looked very cute, Rarity thought, as she used her mouth to hold her tool and rough up the ground. Rarity gazed over Sweet Apple Acres. The fields of trees and rolling hills in the distance were picturesque and begged to be painted. She let go of a sigh, longing for a canvas. Not today, she thought. She walked under the shade of a nearby apple tree. She looked back at Applejack, to catch her pretending not to have been looking at her first. She placed a folding chair she had been carrying and sat in it. She lowered a book into her hooves and a folded fan into her lap. A glass of water with melting chunks of ice clinked about as she put it into the chair's cup holder. She lifted her book and opened it, pretending to read and not to spy on Applejack through the hidden safety of her sunglasses. The heat was bathing Applejack in sweat. Her blonde hair looked magnificent regardless of the conditions affecting it, somehow, but Rarity noticed a few odd lengths of hair pasted on her neck in sticky strands. What a dirty pony, she thought. She took in the dirt and her surroundings through her nose, curious as to what it would smell like, to find it very pleasing in an oddly familiar way. She looked back at Applejack, watching her muscles work the tool and the ground with keen interest. The heat was quite overwhelming, even under the shade, she realized. Flicking open her fan, she used her magic to give herself a small breeze. She continued her strictly artistic study of Applejack, and the many specific parts of Applejack, for several moments and for purely artistic reasons, taking the occasional sip of water to cool off. It was extremely hot. She could think of things to paint on a canvas. Why did she not think to do this before? How many times has Applejack toiled in solitude without a single pony to admire her efforts? She took another sip of water and continued to fan herself. Did Applejack ever watch her toil over a dress? She couldn't remember. Just like Applejack, she was probably too focused on her work to have noticed. There was that one time Applejack had been magically given her cutie mark of diamonds, and she had tried to make a few dresses. Rarity felt a deep longing--how she wished she had taken a picture of that orange flank with her mark! She still had the dresses, somewhere, safely hidden. She looked down at her book. It wasn't the book she had been reading about Fair Desire and Wicked Strike. She refused to finish that one. She simply couldn't. Instead, it was another one she had read several months ago, decidedly more adult and trashy in nature. She gave it a soft pat. It was also where she got the idea to invite Applejack over to fix her plumbing--the perfect, most cliché thing she could possibly contrive. She felt as if she would die in anticipation. It was all so liberating! This time, she wouldn't wait for some stallion to romance her off her hooves. She'd do it herself. She was both beautiful and brilliant. She took another slow sip of water, taking interest in how Applejack's bushy tail swung around as she worked the fertile earth. Soon, she thought, I will be that fertile soil. She giggled at her juvenile thoughts. Soon, Applejack… --- "Huh, what?" Rarity woke with an unladylike snort. Applejack had her hoof on her shoulder. She was sitting. It smelled of apples. "You fell asleep there, partner," Applejack smiled. "Oh… I'm terribly sorry." "I guess I was working so hard that it wore you out too, huh?" You can say that again, Rarity thought. "Well, uh, I can take a look at your pipes now," Applejack's grin widened, "Seeing as you can't wait and are clearly in a hurry. Or, I could take a shower as I'm sure as sugar I smell awful." Rarity sniffed, taking in a mixture of scents: some unpleasant, like wet dirt and caked sweat, but others not altogether so bad, like a potent mixture of herbs, that she supposed had been planted, and apples, so many apples, and oddly an orange or two, that she swore she could smell their juicy and mushy center as if they were against her face. "Uh, Rares, you okay?" "Quite." "You might want to let go. I wasn't kidding about needing a shower." "Hm?" Rarity wondered for a moment before realizing she was hugging Applejack's waist. "Oh! I'm so embarrassed and sorry!" She quickly let go and rose from the chair, folding it and packing the rest of her items away. "I suppose I must have been, uh… dreaming," she kicked herself mentally, knowing she was on a fast moving cart without brakes as she spoke. "I was dreaming and not awake. How improper and forward of me. I am so, so very sorry." "Shoot, it was only a hug," Applejack offered, with a soft smile. "We do it all the time between us best friends, right? No harm done." Applejack looked so happy and pleased with herself, Rarity thought. That silly pony! She thought she could get away with such innocent remarks, thinking the subtext would fly over Rarity's pretty little head. It was not only a hug. It was not something they did all the time with just anyone. And she was harming them both--it was not lost on her that with each wild action of hers, which threw established protocols of courtship to the wind, it had the potential to irreparably destroy their friendship. "You may take that shower," Rarity commanded, "And this time, you will properly dry yourself before meeting me at my boutique." "Why dry myself if I might get wet helping you?" "Do my ears deceive me, or is Applejack giving me sass?" "No, my lady, I would never dare ponder the thought." "Good, then. I will see you at my door." "Looking forward to it." "As am I." "You said it was a date?" "I can't recall. Call it what you will." "Do you want to eat, afterward?" "That would be lovely, yes." "And you're not mad at me, or anything? This isn't a prank?" "Goodbye, Applejack." Rarity sped through the small talk and goodbyes. She had to get home and get ready. "See you soon!"