Applejack stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes, her sleep-mussed flaxen mane tumbling over her shoulders. "Mornin', Rainbow," she slurred, automatically pressing a sloppy kiss to the polychromatic pegasus's cheeks as she walked by. Then she did a double take. "Wait - Rainbow? What're y'all doin' up so early?"
Rainbow smirked as she returned her marefriend's bewildered muzzle. "Well, first of all, it's not early. It's almost noon."
"WHAT?!" Applejack yelped, suddenly wide awake. "Sakes alive, Ah gotta get t' work, Granny's gonna kill me -"
"Shhh!" Rainbow shoved a hoof in her mouth to stop her protests, thereby making the 'shhh' pointless, as Applejack had no choice in the matter. "It's your day off, remember? Granny and everypony else is out in the fields already. They told me to tell you not to worry about it. They're gonna take care of all your chores."
"B-but what about th' plow, are they gonna -"
"Mac told me to tell you he'd fix it today."
"An' th' -"
"Yes, the cider making equipment is going to be set up. Apple Bloom said you were gonna ask about that. She and Granny are taking care of it, so can you please chillax?" Rainbow rolled her eyes fondly. "It's your day off. Geez."
Relieved, Applejack relaxed her shoulders and sighed. "Whew. That takes a load off my mind..." her voice trailed away. "Um, what're ya doin'?"
"Making you pancakes to start your day off with a bang," Dash replied. "What does it look like?"
The blackened lumps in the pan on the stovetop looked like they might have pancakes in some past life, but now they were unrecognizably charred and burned. Applejack's mouth fell open. Rainbow, apparently, had not yet noticed that anything was wrong.
"Here," Rainbow continued, still oblivious. "Try one!" She deftly flipped one out of the pan and into Applejack's mouth.
"Blech!" Her intention to congratulate her marefriend for her effort did not stop Applejack from recoiling and making a face. She instinctively spat the pancake into the trash can and swiped her tongue around her mouth, trying futilely to get rid of the taste of carbon.
Rainbow's grin faded. "Are they horrible?" she asked in a small voice.
"Uh, well, no, it wasn't that," Applejack stammered, trying to save her Rainbow's feelings. "Ah was just, uh, a bit shocked by the strong taste, an', uh... they were awful," she lamely concluded, her honest nature finally forcing her to voice her opinion.
Rainbow groaned and switched off the stove, slumping into a chair at the dining table and burying her head in her hooves. "Great. I'm a failure."
Applejack gingerly scraped the rest of the blackened, half-formed pancakes into the trash and then came over to console her marefriend. "Now, honey, don' feel bad. It ain't yore fault, Ah shoulda taught ya how t' cook as soon as ya moved in. It was mah mistake. An' ya know what else? Ah don' give a flyin' feather how they turned out. Ya tried, an' that's all that mattered. An' Ah love ya fer that."
The pegasus lifted her head up and turned her watery-eyed gaze on Applejack. "Do you mean that?"
"As sure as shootin'." Applejack wrapped her hooves around the pegasus's warm neck and planted a kiss on her muzzle. "'Sides, Ah got backup." She pointed to the far end of the table, where there sat a basket of peaches. "Picked 'em yesterday. They're gonna be delicious."
Rainbow blinked at them. "What are those?"
Applejack eyed her incredulously. "Don' tell me y'all have never seen a peach before!"
"Well, no, I mean, yes, I have. I meant, what are those doing here? At Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Oh, darlin', didja think we only grew apples here?" She burst out laughing. "That's th' funniest thing Ah ever did hear! Why, haven't ya ever been t' the east orchard? We grow all sorts o' fruit there." She scooped up two peaches and hoofed one of them to Rainbow. "Here. Try one."
The pegasus bit into her peach and moaned with pleasure. "Mmmmmm. Tashty," she drawled. She glanced up at Applejack, her eyes softening as she took in the Earth pony's disheveled mane and ruffled chest fur. "Did I ev'r tell you how byootiful you look in the morningsh?"
"Only about ten thousand times," Applejack replied fondly. "An' Ah'll excuse ya talkin' with yore mouth full 'cause it was a compliment." She sat down in the chair next to Rainbow and rested her golden head against the pegasus's shoulder.
Rainbow swallowed her peach and wrapped her wing around Applejack's back, enfolding her into a warm embrace. "I love you, Applejack," she murmured into her mane.
Applejack hummed with contentment and entwined their hooves together. "Ah love ya too, sugarcube."