“Crystal!” Rarity exuberantly galloped across the courtyard towards her friend. She skidded to a halt in front of her, then reared up and kicked her front legs excitedly. “You’ll never guess what’s happened!”
Crystal’s eyes were downcast and her snout dour on Rarity’s approach, but she forced a smile for her friend. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Oh, dear,” Rarity said as she came back down on all four hooves. “Is something the matter?”
Crystal shook her head. “Nah, forget about it. What’s eatin’ you?”
For just a second, Rarity scowled. It was not the first time she’d seen Crystal downtrodden, but she never liked to talk about it. The feeling passed quickly, however, and Rarity supposed today would likely not be the breakthrough. Besides, her news was too important to stall. “MY CUTIE MARK CAME IN!” she shouted.
At once, Crystal’s mood lifted. Her eyes shot open as wide as they could. “Whoa, really?! Mine too!”
Rarity gasped. “Truly?! You must show me!”
“I….” Crystal lowered her head. “No, not really. I just thought that’d be cool. We could have been Cutie Mark sisters or something.”
“Oh, Crystal.” Rarity reached out with a hoof and pulled her into a hug. “You’ll get there. Just give it time.” She grinned. “Do you want to see mine?”
Crystal nodded. “Of course!”
Rarity spun a half-circle so that Crystal could see the three gems dotting her flank. “It’s gorgeous,” Crystal whispered, stepping forward towards her. “How’d you get it?”
Rarity giggled. “Did you see that rainbow flashing across the sky?” she asked. Crystal nodded, so she continued. “Well, it hit this rock with enough force to split it open. Inside I saw the most beautiful, sparkling gems. They were amazing, Crystal. I’ve never seen anything so majestic. I want to share that beauty with Equestria. After school today, I’m going back to try and collect as many of the gems as I can. Will you help me?”
“I’d be happy to.”
The early morning calm over Sweet Apple Acres was interrupted by the sound of a familiar knock at the front door. Bright Mac, a large yellow stallion with a red mane, stood up from the breakfast table to answer it. Applejack plunged her teeth into the flapjacks on the table in front of her to conceal her grin from her family as the door opened.
“Good morning, Mr. Mac,” said a light brown colt about Applejack’s age. His eyes were concealed behind his bushy mane, but his smile was as long as a cat’s tail as he asked, “Is Applejack up?”
Bright Mac returned the lad’s smile warmly, answering, “You kiddin’? That little filly rises with the sun. Come in and sit a spell, Sound Stage. We’re sittin’ down to breakfast and there’s plenty to go around.”
“Thanks, Mr. Mac!” Sound Stage answered. He stepped inside and trotted over to the table, where he sat down next to Applejack, separated only by the width of two hooves. Applejack flashed a welcoming smile to Sound Stage while her father returned to the table.
Across the table sat Applejack’s mother, a gold-maned mare by the name of Buttercup. She spoke softly and sweetly as she greeted the colt, “You’re right on time, Sound Stage. Applejack’s about to tell us about her trip to Manehattan.”
“Ain’t a lot to tell,” Applejack admitted sadly. “I just ain’t cut out for fancy socializin’ and tiny supper plates with nary a bite on ‘em. Life like that takes a special pony, and I ain’t it.”
“That don’t make you any less special, my little sugarcube,” Buttercup assured her. “From the tiniest workin’ pony to the Princess herself, we each got our role to play to keep Equestria runnin’, and each of us is special in her own way.”
Bright Mac added, “You listen to your mama, Applejack. Life’s got a funny way about it. You worry too much about what you’re ‘meant to’ and ‘s’posed to’ and you might miss somethin’ special right before your eyes.” He shared a quick glance with his wife, then added, “Speakin’ of, don’t you got somethin’ to show your friend?”
“Mmph?” Sound Stage looked up from the flapjack he was halfway through munching.
Applejack’s eyes shot open. “That’s right! Look what I got!” She leapt up from the table and stuck out her hind leg, showing off the mark of three red apples emblazoned on her hide.
Sound Stage grinned, taking in the vision before him. “Well, it’s about time,” he teased. “What’s it mean?”
Big Mac leaned over and scruffed his sister’s mane. “It means our little Applejack is a farm pony through and through. No more silly ideas about runnin’ off to rub hooves with cityslickers don’t know nothin’ about a hard day’s work. Ain’t that right, Applejack?”
“Uh, sure,” Applejack agreed hesitantly. “Got my head twisted on right now.”
“Your parents cared a lot about you, didn’t they?” Rarity asked against the backdrop of thundering rain outside. The sun had gone down, leaving the library lit only by the warm glow of the fireplace.
Applejack nodded. “We were their whole world, Big Mac and me. They loved us more than the farm itself, I reckon.”
Applejack nestled herself into the warmth of the comforter on her bed. Her covers were pulled up tight around her, with only her forelegs sticking out from the knees alongside her head. Buttercup tucked the comforter into the bed just like she did every night. Applejack always cherished this feeling; like a mother’s hug that lasted for hours.
Buttercup moved to lower herself from the bed, but Applejack’s voice stopped her. “Hey, mama? Why do I have to go to sleep?”
“We all do,” she answered. “Everypony in Equestria goes to bed when Princess Celestia lowers the sun and raises the moon.”
Curiously, Applejack turned her head to the side. “Yeah, but why? If we all gotta sleep when the moon comes up, why can’t the Princess just leave it where it lies?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Buttercup admitted. Applejack started to pout, but Buttercup stuck a hoof under her chin and tilted it back up. “Sometimes, you just got to take matters on faith. The Princess is wise and noble beyond anypony’s reason. She loves Equestria as much as your mama loves you, and it’s to us to trust in her to guide us.”
Applejack smiled. “Do you think I could ever be a princess?”
Buttercup leaned her head down and gave Applejack a light kiss on the forehead. “You can be whatever you set your mind to, but don’t go thinkin’ you got to spend your life reachin’ for the stars to be important. Each of us does our part for Equestria, right down to the smallest ladybug, and the kingdom shines brighter for it.”
Buttercup brushed the side of her daughter’s face with her hoof. “Your family loves you. Your mama loves you. You do your part, you serve your princess, you work hard, and one day, those stars might just come down and find you.” She gave her daughter another peck on the forehead before lowering her front half down off the bed. “Sleep tight, my little sugarcube.”
“Mama loved me and Big Mac with all she had,” Applejack admitted. She hastily added, “And Apple Bloom, but she didn’t come along ‘til later and I don’t reckon she even remembers them much. She never got a lot of years with them.”
“You were fortunate,” Rarity said. She corrected herself with, “I mean, you’re not now, don’t get me wrong, but you were then. My parents rarely had time for me, and I’m sure you remember Crystal’s…mess….”
Rarity knocked on the front door of a small house, nestled between the Hay Burger and a row of residential housing. To her right, a wall with a window extended. Underneath it sat a flowerbed that had gone conspicuously unused.
A few seconds later, the door opened. Inside stood a light blue mare, weary eyes cutting a sharp angle down at her. Every time Rarity met Empty Chalice, she was struck by how perfectly she looked like an older Crystal. From her mane down to the shape of her hooves, every facet of her seemed reminiscent of Rarity’s friend. She was uncertain what, if anything, Crystal had actually gotten from her father, save for one subtle difference: the horn conspicuously missing from Crystal’s forehead.
“Rarity! What a pleasure to see you.” Empty led Rarity inside. The filly smiled as politely as she could muster, but there was something about the toothy grin on Empty’s face and the cold, embittered gaze of her eyes that made her feel as though she were being sized up by a hungry Timberwolf.
In the living room, a gray pegasus stallion reclined on a long, red sofa. The morning edition of the Ponyville Gazette lay open on the table. He made no motion to acknowledge Rarity’s presence and simply remained fixed on the latest news.
Rarity followed Empty through a tight hallway to a small bedroom. She never stopped being surprised by the size of the Chalice home; it looked to be only half the size of her own, and that was with the roughest of visual estimates.
As Rarity followed Empty into the bedroom at the end of the hall, she saw her friend in a corner with an assortment of gemstones from the geode she and Crystal had harvested together. Crystal had them separated by color and scooted them across the floor with her hoof, assembling them into patterns of colors. She’d woven a pattern of emeralds, sapphires, and one ruby as a centerpiece that Rarity felt looked positively--
“CRYSTAL.” Empty’s voice filled the room, prompting her daughter to jump to her hooves with a start. The pattern was scattered by the errant motion, its beauty lost to formless chaos. “Your talented friend is here to see you. Quit playing with those useless rocks and try to pay attention. You might learn something.”
Empty turned her attention back to Rarity. In her sweetest voice, she asked, “Will you be staying for dinner, Rarity?”
“I’ll have to ask my parents,” Rarity said noncommittally.
“You do that.” With those words, Empty left the room and closed the door with her magic. Rarity stared at the door for a few seconds, trying to make sense of the bad feeling she got whenever she came here. She shook it off, then turned back to her friend, who was now trying to piece back together the pattern on the floor.
“Forget what she said,” Rarity told Crystal as she crossed the small room. “I thought your design looked positively radiant.”
Crystal didn’t look up at Rarity, but she could see her friend relax at the compliment. “Thanks,” Crystal replied. “I’ve been working all morning on it.” She’d replaced the ruby at the center and had begun to move the sapphires and emeralds back into place, but seemed stuck.
Rarity reached over to one of the sapphires, sliding it over beside the ruby. “I believe you had this here,” she said.
“You’re right, I did.” Crystal slid an emerald into place just beside it. “And I think this was here….”
“Go talk to her,” Rarity urged.
“Are you crazy?!” Crystal hissed back at her. “You go talk to her!”
“Darling, it’s your cute-ceañera. You invite her.”
“But you’re the one hosting it,” Crystal insisted frantically. “It, uh…it wouldn’t be polite.”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake….”
Across the schoolyard, Applejack sat back on her hind legs, clutching a red dodgeball between her front hooves. She passed it across to Sound Stage, who in turn passed it over to a colt on his left. Altogether, there were three colts and two fillies in the group, each taking turns throwing the ball from one to another.
“Excuse me,” Rarity said from behind Applejack.
“Mm?” Applejack turned to look just as the ball came her way. It struck her right in the side of her head, toppling her precarious upright balance and knocking her flat onto her back. Immediately, the other ponies began laughing. “Nope, don’t nopony rush to help me up, now!” Applejack shot at them in mock anger.
Rarity gasped as Applejack flailed her legs and rolled over onto her side. “Oh, my, I am dreadfully sorry!”
“It happens,” Applejack assured her. “Somethin’ I can help you with, miss…?”
“Rarity,” she answered.
“Please to meet you, Rarity. I’m Applejack. So what can I do you for?”
Rarity shot a glance back across the schoolyard. She was dismayed to see Crystal peeking around a tree. She sighed, then turned her attention back to Applejack. “My friend thinks you’re cool and would love for you to attend her cute-ceañera. It’s going to be this Saturday at noon over in the park.”
“Uh…” Applejack blinked a couple times. She looked around Rarity to try and see the pony hiding around the tree, but whoever it was pulled their head in as soon as they realized she was looking for them. Tentatively, she answered, “I don’t see why not.”
“Marvelous. We will see you then.”
With Rarity’s departure, Applejack turned back to the group, who had resumed tossing the ball without her. She held up her hooves to signal she was ready to return to play and before long the ball was headed her way.
“So, that was weird,” commented Three Point, the other filly.
“Are you actually going to go?” One of the other colts asked.
Applejack shrugged. “Don’t see no harm in it.” She tossed the ball to Three Point. “A pony only gets a cute-ceañera once in her life. Wouldn’t feel right sayin’ no to it.”
“Better watch yourself,” Three Point said with a wry grin. “She might have invited you because she thinks you’re cute.”
Applejack blushed. “You’re jokin’, right?”
Another colt laughed. “Wouldn’t want to make your Special Somepony jealous.”
Applejack and Sound Stage shared a quick glance. They’d known each other for years, but had never gone anywhere past the friendship boundary. Still, there was a certain closeness that had never quite been lost on their friends, and there were times when she wondered what could be. Still, the accusation was unfounded and unwarranted for multiple reasons. Her eyes snapped to a sharp glare at the offending colt. “Oh hush, y’all. She’s a filly. That’d just be weird.”
“I could see it,” Sound Stage added.
“You mean you’d pay to see it,” the colt next to him corrected. Sound Stage laughed and gave his friend a hoofbump.
Applejack lowered herself back down onto her front hooves. “Well, don’t hold your breath ‘cause that ain’t never happenin’. Why don’t y’all get this out of your systems before class starts.” She left the circle and trotted off towards the stairs in front of the schoolhouse.
Sound Stage called after her, “You still coming by for dinner tonight?”
“Wouldn’t miss it!” Applejack shouted back.
----------
Applejack trotted up the steps towards the park square. From a distance, she could see streamers hung between tree branches. A long table sat in the middle of the square with a pink cloth on it and a modest number of presents set out. She had no idea what to bring, so she’d made a few apple pies for her present. She carried them in a basket clutched in her teeth.
As she drew closer, she saw ponies adorned with party hats and horns. Many of the underclass colts and fillies seemed to be in attendance, which made her feel even more awkward; she’d be at least a year or two separated from everypony else, making her the oldest pony present apart from the adults.
And speaking of the adults, there was one mare watching the proceedings like a hawk. She stood large and imposing with a perpetual scowl glued to her face and a cutie mark shaped like a clipboard and pen. Once she noticed Applejack approaching, she moved immediately to intercept.
“May I help you?” the mare asked, a sharp tone in her voice indicating she wasn’t actually looking for an answer to the question, but an explanation.
Applejack put down the basket and asked, “Is this the cute-ceañera?” She cursed herself internally for not remembering to ask for the name of the pony whose event she was attending.
The mare’s eyes ran over Applejack’s forehead, then down to her sides. There was something uncomfortable about this scrutiny that she hadn’t quite experienced before. “How exactly do you know my daughter?” the mare inquired, not actually answering Applejack’s question. “You seem a little old to be one of her classmates.”
“Well, I--”
“Applejack!” From out of nowhere, Rarity cantered up to greet her. “I am ever so glad you made it!” Sliding between Applejack and the mare, she looked up and explained, “The three of us have been discussing an idea for a business venture. Crystal had a lovely idea for, uh…” She shot a quick glance at the basket at Applejack’s hooves. “…for pies. To sell. At school.”
“Did she?” The mare glanced to Applejack, who quickly nodded.
“Eeyup. We’re sellin’ pies, us and Cymbal.”
Rarity hissed, “Crystal.”
“Crystal. Us and Crystal.”
“Hmm.” The mare’s features softened as she considered, and she even managed what Applejack thought might actually be a smile in some distant reality where nightmares wore the faces of ponykind. “Well, if you’re willing to vouch for her, Rarity, then that is all I require.”
The mare moved on, taking slow and careful steps around the perimeter of the celebration. Her eyes scanned the party as she walked. Applejack stared transfixed, trying to make sense of the hostility she’d received and the uncomfortable way in which the mare had regarded her features.
“You must excuse Mrs. Chalice,” Rarity apologized to Applejack. “She’s…she can be….” She let out a sigh. “She’s rough around her edges, yes, but I assure you that Crystal can be quite a lovely friend if you just give her the chance.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Crystal tell her to come over here and give me the third degree?”
“Of course not.”
Applejack shrugged. “No reason to hold it against her, then. So where is she?”
“Right this way.”
Applejack picked up her basket and followed Rarity towards the table. She set it down next to the presents, then glanced over to Rarity for directions. Rarity shook her head in the direction of a set of ponies running through the grass several yards away. “The filly clutching the flag in her teeth, that’s her,” she said.
“Okay.” Applejack looked out to the park and saw Crystal narrowly dodge another filly.
“Well? Go on. She’ll be absolutely thrilled to see you.”
“…ain’t you going to introduce us?” Applejack asked.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Please, darling, she already knows who you are. Go say hi to her. I promise you’ll make her day just by being here. Oh, and do try to smile.”
Applejack forced the biggest smile she could muster to hide her awkwardness, then stepped out towards the group. Crystal had now taken off in pursuit of the filly who’d managed to separate her from the flag, but lagged behind the group. As Applejack approached, she could more clearly see the cutie mark on Crystal’s flank. A gaudy string of colorful gems decorated her backside, looking remarkably similar to a similar string she wore around her neck.
“Hey, come back!” Crystal shouted playfully. The lead filly took a turn and hurdled a bush, prompting the group to come back around. Applejack thought about calling out to announce herself, but she hardly knew what to say.
Howdy, y’all, I’m a special important pony of some kind so I wanted us to take a moment and just bask in my presence. Ain’t I just the greatest thing since sliced bread?
“Oh come now,” Rarity said with a laugh. “It could hardly have been so terrible.”
Applejack stood up defensively, demanding, “You ever been to a party for somepony you’ve never even met?”
“Darling, I work in the fashion industry. I attend a party for somepony I’ve never met every other week.”
Applejack drooped, looking for an answer to that. “Well…this was different.”
Applejack didn’t have long to try and think of an approach. After a couple minutes of watching the group, a white colt managed to get the flag in his teeth and come running back her way. She steeled her nerves, took a breath, and waited with her phony smile.
It didn’t take long for Crystal to come racing along the outside of the pack. “Get him!” she shouted to the front. “Avenge my hon--” She stopped suddenly, eyes locked on Applejack. She broke away from the group and slowed to a halt. Her breathing picked up as her eyes scanned over Applejack, as though making sure she was real. With wonder in her voice, she said, “You…you made it. You actually came.”
“Eeyup. I’m Applejack. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Crystal stepped forward, smiling widely. “My name is Crystal. Crystal Chalice. I, um…I like your freckles.”
Applejack blinked. “My freckles?”
“Yeah, they’re really pretty.”
Applejack blushed. “Uh, thanks?” She heard her mother’s voice in the back of her mind.
“Be certain to pay back a compliment when you get one, Applejack. A kind gesture should always be repaid in kindness. Unless the pony giving it is being a jerk about it. That happens sometimes.”
She didn’t think Crystal was being a jerk, so she looked for something to say. Her eyes seized on Crystal’s neck. “That little trinket of yours is mighty nice lookin’. You make that yourself?” she asked. The answer was obvious enough, of course; the necklace was imprinted on Crystal’s Cutie Mark. Still, it warranted asking.
“Oh, yes, it’s just a little something I put together,” Crystal said. She batted her eyes in a way that made Applejack feel uneasy. “Come with me, there’s punch over by the concessions.”
Applejack followed Crystal, inquiring, “So, you always been in Ponyville?”
“Oh, no, my mom made us come here two years ago. We used to live in Manehattan.”
“Well, how’re you likin’ Ponyville?”
Crystal stopped walking, looking down. “It’s small,” she admitted. “There’s not a lot to do, either.”
“Maybe not compared to one of your big fancy cities, but our little town’s got a beatin’ heart to it if you know where to look. You ever been out to Sweet Apple Acres?”
Curious, Crystal shook her head and started walking again. “I’ve heard about it a few times, but we’ve never gone out there. My dad says we’ll get around to it and my mom just shudders whenever I ask about it.”
“Why don’t you and Rarity come out some time, then?” Applejack asked. “Sure as shootin’, your mom will let you go if she’s there.”
“Wait.” Crystal stopped again. “You know the ponies at Sweet Apple Acres?”
Applejack laughed. “Sugarcube, I live at Sweet Apple Acres. It’s my family’s farm and we all work it together. I even brought you some of our finest cinnamon apple pies. Made ‘em myself, so I reckon you’re going to love ‘em.”
“Reckon.” Crystal giggled.
“Somethin’ funny?”
The filly smiled in that way that made Applejack uncomfortable again. “You talk funny,” she explained. “I like it.”
“She adored you from the start,” Rarity said with a distant smile.
“I noticed,” Applejack admitted. “She wasn’t subtle about it. Never did quite figure out what her mama’s beef with me was, though.”
“It wasn’t personal,” Rarity explained.
“Sure felt personal. She loved the dickens out of you.”
“Yes, well, that couldn’t be helped,” Rarity said. “I believe she saw something of herself in me.”
“Yeah, a horn,” Applejack grumbled.
Rarity stood up abruptly, a look of shock crossing her face. “I beg your pardon?”
“What? You can’t tell me you never noticed that. She treated me and Crystal like we had apple blight, but she all but adopted you!”
“Perhaps that’s because I actually listened when she was trying to teach us something,” Rarity fired back.
Empty Chalice looked down her snout at the three fillies in her living room. “Have you decided upon a name for this venture of yours?” she asked.
Crystal and Rarity exchanged glances. Rarity gave her friend an encouraging nod, so Crystal explained, “We were thinking of calling it ‘Crystal Rarities’.” She gestured to Rarity. “Rarity found a cave that’s full of gems, so we thought we could use some of them.” Her hoof went up reflexively to her necklace. “She can make clothes using the gems and I’ll make necklaces. I want to try and learn how to make horn rings, wingclips, earrings--”
Empty interrupted her daughter. “You can’t sell a desire to learn. Get the skill down, demonstrate it, then market. Until you know, stick to necklaces.”
Crystal lowered her head. “Yes’m.”
“And you,” Empty added, her eyes settling on Applejack. “What exactly do you intend to contribute to Crystal Rarities?”
“Caterin’?” Applejack suggested weakly.
Empty stared daggers into Applejack for a few seconds before she responded. “You intend to produce a catered clothing line?” She lifted a hoof, placing it under her chin as she considered. “Dinner and a fashion show. Ponies could come in for a bite to eat and leave with a new look. It’s bold, to be sure. No guarantee of success, but little competition in that particular combination of fields.”
Rarity stepped forward. “I thought we could start small and try to make some sales around the school. We could expand from there and perhaps try to open up a shop in town someday.”
“That is an excellent business plan,” Empty replied with a warm smile. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Rarity. Of course, you will need to put a plan in place to manage your cost to revenue ratio, but….”
As Empty spoke, Applejack suddenly felt a sharp jolt in her hind leg. She glanced over at Crystal who grinned at her mischievously. Feigning attentiveness, Applejack lightly kicked Crystal in the side as soon as Empty’s eyes weren’t on her.
Empty droned on, saying something about market value, but Applejack was busy tensing for Crystal’s next kick, which came not longer after her own. She wasn’t sure if Rarity noticed--
“I was throttling both of you in my mind,” Rarity said cheerily.
--but she quickly found herself enjoying the back and forth. A kick here, a kick there, and before long, Crystal was being hoist into the sky by magic. Wait, what?
“CRYSTAL CHALICE!” Empty roared as her daughter floated under her power. “We are discussing your future. You could at least show me the courtesy of pretending that you care about what becomes of you.”
“We already have a plan,” Crystal offered in her defense.
“A plan is not a business strategy. There is a lot that you need to learn if you want to make your enterprise work. I am trying to teach you how to run--”
“What, like how you ran Dad’s? We wouldn’t even be in this stupid town if you hadn’t--” Crystal stopped suddenly. She stuck a hoof to her mouth, as though recognizing that she’d crossed a line.
Applejack and Rarity exchanged uncertain glances as the room’s temperature abruptly dropped several degrees. With as fake a mask of civility as Applejack had ever seen, Empty Chalice looked down at the two fillies and said, “Would you please excuse yourselves? I need to speak with my daughter alone.”
“Of course,” Rarity answered. She tapped Applejack on the shoulder and took a step away towards the front door. Applejack lingered for a few seconds, trading panicked looks with Crystal, before she turned and followed Rarity.
As soon as the front door clicked, Applejack gulped. “She’s gonna kill her.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” replied the unicorn. “Mrs. Chalice would never lift a hoof against Crystal. She loves her dearly.”
“Rarity, I know what a mama’s love looks like. What Mrs. Chalice has ain’t it.”
“I still think you were both too harsh on her,” Rarity said in the dim of the library.
“You’re loopy,” Applejack replied. “That mare was a sharp set of chompers away from bein’ Nightmare Moon herself. I was sure she was going to murder the poor filly.”
“She was quite prickly, certainly, but was I wrong?” Rarity asked. “Did she ever lift a hoof against Crystal?”
“Well, no, but there’s other kinds of hurt than just hittin’ a pony. You ever hear a single kind word from her wasn’t directed at you?”
“Well, no, granted….”
Applejack sighed. She folded her front hooves, one over the other, and looked into the fire. “I just never could get my head around what was eatin’ her so bad.”
“You never asked.” Rarity looked at the window at the pouring rain. “The Chalices used to be a prominent name in furniture sales up in Manehattan. The way I understand it, business had begun to plummet by the time Empty married into the family. She’d tried to rescue the family business with her talent for risk assessment, but nopony would listen to her because she was just her husband’s wife.”
Rarity closed her eyes as she continued. “The reality of their situation is that the Chalices came to Ponyville because they could afford it. Empty was carrying the weight of the family’s failure on her back for years.”
Applejack swallowed. Her tone dipped but the bitterness still burned in her voice as she replied, “Well, that’s real sad and all, but it don’t excuse the way she treated her kin. There ain’t no colt or filly alive deserves to be tore down by her own mama like Crystal was.”
“You know,” Rarity mused aloud. “A thought occurs to me. Crystal Chalice, Serendipity, Octavia Melody, um…that one mare with the tie…who else….”
“Yeah, I got a lot of exes,” Applejack said, following the train of thought. “What’re you gettin’ at?”
“I was just thinking, you seem to have developed something of a type. While their actual social status may differ, everypony I’ve ever heard of you being with seems to have come from an upper class background. You have dated exclusively among the elite, the prospective elite, and the temporarily embarrassed elite. That’s very strange for such a down to earth pony.”
“That ain’t true,” Applejack replied. “What about Sound Stage?”
Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Darling, mistakes made out of obligation hardly count as dates.”
“Thanks for havin’ me over, Mr. Mac,” Sound Stage said to Applejack’s father as she walked him to the front door. “Supper was delicious!”
Bright Mac put a hoof around the colt and scruffed his mane. “You know you’re always welcome ‘round these parts, Sound Stage. You’re practically family.” Sound Stage laughed and struggled to escape Bright Mac’s grip, to no avail. “Besides, you should be thankin’ Buttercup. Her cookin’s like a little slice of the sun itself shinin’ down on you.”
A giggle came from the kitchen as Buttercup crossed the threshold in the living room. “Leave the poor colt alone, sugar,” she said. Bright Mac released Sound Stage at her urging. Looking at Applejack, she suggested, “Why don’t you walk your friend out? It will give you some time to be alone.”
Applejack blushed. “Yes’m. C’mon, Sound Stage, I’ll walk you to the gate.”
As soon as they were off the porch, Sound Stage asked teasingly, “So how are your filly friends?”
Applejack playfully punched Sound Stage in the shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you to quit with that?”
“Hey, we’re all wondering which one you’re gonna pick as your special somepony. I’m just the only one still asking.”
Applejack snickered. “You’re just jealous I’m hangin’ out with ponies prettier than you.”
“Yep, that must be it,” Sound Stage agreed with a chuckle. He stopped walking suddenly. In a more somber voice, he said, “Hey, Applejack? I like what you did with your mane.”
“What, this?” Applejack blushed as she reached a hoof up, touching her left twin tail. Teasingly, she explained, “Me and my two special someponies had a slumber party a couple nights ago. Crystal thought it’d be fun to play with my mane and then Rarity decided to ‘fix’ it. I’m thinkin’ on keepin’ it like this, least for a while.”
“It looks great on you,” Sound Stage told her.
Applejack slugged him again. “Oh, come off it. What’s got you so sappy all of a sudden?”
Sound Stage rubbed his shoulder. “I’ve just been thinking lately. You’re pretty and strong and stuff, Applejack, and we’ve been friends a long time, and I’m just…look, I got a really important question I need to ask you. Now, this is serious, so I need you to promise not to laugh or make fun of me for it.”
Applejack cocked her head to the side. “Okay, you’re freakin’ me out now. What’s eatin’ you all of a sudden?”
“I mean it, Applejack. You got to promise.”
She nodded. “Alright, I promise.”
Sound Stage took a deep breath. “Okay. Look. Applejack…do you want to make out?”
“Truly, the words of a poet the likes of which Equestria has never known,” Rarity sniped.
The barn door barely had time to close before Sound Stage was upon Applejack. She dropped backwards onto a pile of hay, bracing herself for his advance. She’d spent years thinking about this moment, knowing it would come eventually and wondering if she’d be ready.
She thought she’d be more excited for it. Sound Stage liked her and she thought he was a fine enough colt. She’d run through this moment a thousand times in her imagination and every time she pictured it, she’d seen herself as aggressive and sultry and hungry for affection. But now she was here and she just felt uncomfortable.
“I guess we should start?” Sound Stage asked.
Applejack swallowed. “Eeyup.”
“Okay.” Sound Stage remained in place, two hooves’ length from Applejack. His eyes scanned across her body before coming back to her face. “I, uh…I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Eeyup.” Applejack closed her eyes and waited for Sound Stage, still trying to make sense of herself. The anticipation she’d expected was replaced by apprehension as her old friend stepped towards her. A churning in her gut urged her to stand up, to walk away, to say it was a joke or a game or--
Suddenly his lips were upon hers. His front hoof came down on the other side of her neck, pressing her down against the hay with his chest as he kissed her. Years of wondering, of teasing, of planning her future, all had led her to this fateful moment and it was…well, it wasn’t bad, she could at least say that.
Then she felt his tongue slide inside her mouth and it was bad. It was really bad. Despite having known it was coming and even agreeing to it, she felt strangely violated by the intrusion. She pushed at him with her front hooves, separating their lips. As soon as her snout was free, she told him, “Stop, stop.”
“What’s wrong?” Sound Stage asked with eyes full of concern.
She tried to put words to what she was feeling, but nothing quite sounded right. After a few seconds, she started to feel embarrassed. “I don’t know. Forget it, let’s keep goin’.”
Sound Stage leaned back in and kissed her. Once more, Applejack was overwhelmed with feelings of discomfort, as if milk was curdling in her stomach. After only a few seconds, she pushed him back again. “Nope, I-I can’t do this,” she stammered.
Sound Stage gave a huff of frustration as Applejack pushed him back. “What is it this time?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Applejack confessed. “Somethin’ just don’t feel right.”
“Are you kidding?” Sound Stage asked. “Nothing’s ever felt so right. This is meant to be, Applejack. You know it, I know it, even your parents know it.” Applejack winced at the mention of her family. She could already feel her father’s disapproval at her; she knew he adored Sound Stage.
“Look, I don’t know what it is,” she said, standing up out of the hay. “It just ain’t right. Maybe you’re doin’ it wrong.”
“Making out isn’t heart surgery! You just follow your feelings.”
“That so? Well, my feelings are tellin’ me I don’t want to be doin’ this.” She shook her head. “Look, just go home and we’ll sort things out in the morn’, alright?”
“You can’t kick me out,” Sound Stage insisted. He reached out a hoof for her, but she smacked it aside.
“Hey, back off!” she told him.
“You said we could make out! You know how long I’ve been waiting for this?!”
“I’ve been waitin’ too!” Applejack shouted back at him. “But somethin’ don’t feel right. I ain’t sayin’ never, Sound Stage, but I need time to think about what’s goin’ on with me.” The hairs on Applejack’s neck bristled. She unconsciously steadied her hooves, bracing for a fight. She’d wrassled with Sound Stage since they were little. To date, he’d never beaten her, and she wasn’t about to let that streak break now if push came to shove.
“So, what?” he asked. “All those years we spent together, that was for nothing?! I was, what, wasting my time?”
Sound Stage’s voice struck Applejack harder than his hooves could have. “You think our friendship was a waste of time?”
“Hey, don’t twist my words,” Sound Stage shouted. “You know what I meant!”
“He meant our friendship was a waste of time,” Applejack explained bitterly.
Rarity nodded. “I gathered. I wish I could say you were the only pony with such a tale but it would seem none of us quite holds a monopoly on unpleasant retaliations when expectations go awry.”
With anger and hurt competing behind her fierce eyes, Applejack answered, “What I know is you’ve said a lot of things tonight I hope to Celestia you don’t mean. You leave now before I have to make you, I might not even hold ‘em against you tomorrow.”
Sound Stage looked at the door, then back at Applejack as if considering his options. “Fine. Tell your fillies I said hi.” With those parting words, he turned towards the door.
At the word “fillies”, Applejack felt a pang of hurt tinged with guilt strike her heart. She stepped forward, calling after her friend, “Hey, Sound Stage? You’re my best friend. You know that, right?”
“Whatever,” he grumbled as he loped out into the cold night air.
As soon as Sound Stage was gone, Applejack sat down hard. She looked down at the hay where she had lain and wondered what was wrong with her. How had everything--
Rarity interjected, “I’m going to cut you off there because we actually talked about this later. The point is, under no definition of romance does that disaster of an encounter qualify as having dated somepony. Ergo, Sound Stage is not the trend killer you’re attempting to use him as. May we now talk about why you consistently chase after ponies from an upper-class background and then turn around and dump them at the first opportunity?”
Applejack jerked up at the accusation. “I do not ‘dump them at the first opportunity’!”
Rarity sighed. “You’re right, I apologize. That was a harsh choice of words.”
Applejack looked at the fireplace. The fire was beginning to burn dim. The flames no longer leapt from the wood; only smoldering cinders now lit the room. “I’m gonna get more wood. I think I might have seen a few teabags over in Spike’s cubby, if you want to grab those.”
Rarity frowned. “I would be delighted, but don’t think you’re off the hook for answering the question.”
Applejack stood up, taking a look around the dark library. She stepped over to the table and cast her eyes under it, but even squinting in the dark, she was sure she could see no wood under it. She traipsed over by the stairs, eyes scanning between the bookshelves but finding nothing but paper.
“Having trouble?” Rarity asked. “I should imagine you know every inch of this library by now.”
“Twilight usually magics up the fire,” Applejack confessed. “You ever try to keep track of where a unicorn’s pluckin’ things from?”
Rarity narrowed her eyes. “No,” she answered snidely. “I confess, it has forever been a mystery to me.”
Applejack shot her eyes upstairs into the pitch black bedchamber. “I hope she don’t keep it up there.”
“Here, let me help,” Rarity offered. She closed her eyes and within a few seconds, a brilliant white light began to beam from her horn, lighting up the room.
“Huh. Y’know, I forget you can do that spell too,” Applejack admitted.
“It’s true, I am no Twilight Sparkle when it comes to magic but I can handle a basic lighting spell.”
With the light from Rarity’s horn illuminating the library, Applejack resumed her search in the main chamber. She shot a brief glance up at the bookshelves and joked, “Heh, speakin’ of, we might not need the lumber. Which books do you think Twilight considers least important?”
Rarity rolled her eyes as she levitated the teapot from Spike’s kitchen cubby. “I’m fairly certain she would consider that question a dealbreaker were you not already separated.”
Applejack laughed. “You’re darn tootin’, she would.” Applejack hesitated, shooting a glance up at the blacked out bedroom. “You think she’s doin’ okay?”
Bluntly, Rarity answered, “Well, you broke her heart into a million pieces while all of her friends betrayed her. So, no. She is not doing okay. If she were okay, she would be right here with us and we would all be eating marshmallows and gossiping.”
“You’d be gossiping.”
“Granted, but I’d still have you at marshmallows.”
Applejack nodded her head, conceding that point. “I do love me a good s’more.” She sighed, drifting back towards the fireplace. “I feel helpless, Rarity. Twilight’s out there and she’s hurtin’ somethin’ fierce ‘cause of what I did.”
Rarity reached out a hoof and placed it gently on Applejack’s shoulder. “I know. Believe me, I feel the same way. But she’s with Princess Celestia now. There’s no better place to be. We must have faith in the princess; surely, she would know better than anypony how to take care of her most treasured student.”
The room was lit by an assortment of bright and colorful lights, flashing on and off in rhythm. The sound of a deep, pounding bass turned up to deafening volumes filled the air, coaxed through giant speakers by DJ PON-3. Twilight was sure there was supposed to be some music in there somewhere, but she was too busy staving off panic impulses to try and make sense of it.
Out in the center of the room was a large stage with a variety of mares and stallions gyrating under the noise. The flashing lights made it impossible for Twilight to recognize any of them or even fix her eyes to any one pony for long. Against the far wall was a bar that seemed to be swarming with ponies.
“WHY ARE WE HERE?!” Twilight shouted over the pulsing music.
Beside her, Princess Celestia gave her best smile and answered, “We’re helping you get over Applejack.” Twilight had no idea how Celestia managed to speak so calmly and yet so audibly against the roaring noise.
“HOW?!”
“Why, it’s called a rebound. Trust me, you’ll love it.” She descended the small staircase leading into the club and started towards the bar.
“WHAT?!”
With Twilight chasing after her, Princess Celestia began to look over the crowd of ponies. “Now, you prefer mares so that’s going to make this a bit more challenging--”
“I DO NOT ‘PREFER MARES’!!!” Twilight shouted. Every time she had to make that correction, she found herself becoming more and more agitated.
“Oooo,” the princess trilled. “There’s a mare with a blonde mane over by the bar that looks to be around your age. You like blondes, right? Would you like to give it a try?”
“I’M GOING BACK TO THE CASTLE!!!”
Finally, behind the stairs, Applejack discovered a small closet holding the library’s stock of lumber. Lifting three logs with one of her forelegs, she stumbled back towards the fireplace and laid them out. Rarity dimmed her lighting spell and floated the teapot as well as a teabag she’d scavenged.
As Applejack set the first log into the fireplace, Rarity asked, “So. You’ve had ample time to consider. Upper class ponies. Why?”
Applejack sighed. She watched the embers start to take root in the log. “I ever tell you the story of how I got my Cutie Mark?”
“Sonic rainboom,” Rarity answered. “That’s how we all got ours. We’ve talked about this.”
“Right, but before that I was tryin’ to make my life in the big city of Manehattan.” Applejack sat down on her haunches, still watching the fire try to catch. She leaned in and blew on the log, helping the fire to spread. “I always thought there was somethin’ romantic about the city. It was a marvel of a life and it tickled my fancy since I was a foal.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised, Applejack. I can’t for the life of me imagine you living in the city.”
“It was a dream,” Applejack confessed. “I gave it a shot and it was like a summer monsoon with no hill to climb, let me tell you. Downright hated the reality of it, but I guess some part of me never quite fell out of love with the fancy. I reckon some part of me’s always been yearnin’ for that, waitin’ for some sophisticated city mare to come sweep me off my hooves.”
With the fire settling, Rarity stepped forward and set the teapot in place. “Have you ever considered that perhaps Manehattan was simply the wrong city for you? Each part of Equestria has its own culture. What’s considered the height of couture in Manehattan can easily be passé in Whinneapolis or Las Pegasus.”
Applejack shook her head. “Nah, I got my roots here at Sweet Apple Acres and I couldn’t be happier. City livin’ just ain’t the life I want. I just…I reckon what I’m lookin’ for is….”
Rarity sat down, looking Applejack in the eyes. “You want a little piece of the city to come to you. The best parts, the parts that represent the dreams you had when you were a filly, without all the expectations that come with it.”
Applejack nodded. “That might be it.”
“I think I’m beginning to understand,” Rarity admitted. “Although honestly, I’m a little surprised that after all the years we’ve known each other, you’ve never been interested in me. Not that I would want you to be, of course, but I admit to a feeling of dejection at having apparently never been sophisticated enough for your refined palette.”
“Eheh,” Applejack chuckled, glancing away. “About that….”
“She sure is somethin’, ain’t she?” Applejack asked Crystal. The two fillies sat in the grass just outside the schoolhouse, eyes fixed on Rarity. Forty feet away, she pranced forward in front of a crowd of ponies, showing off her new dress.
“Yeah,” Crystal agreed. “That’s pretty much the consensus. Everypony loves Rarity.”
Applejack watched Rarity throw her mane over shoulder and flick her tail, twirling the skirt of her dress. “There’s a grace about her. Like a…like a fancy…two-hooved….”
“Words letting you down?” Crystal asked wryly.
“Just an off day,” Applejack assured her.
“I’m sure. What’s that you’ve got there?” Crystal pointed with a hoof at a small metal contraption sitting at the base of Applejack’s hooves. It looked like a birdcage but with nearly all of the bars removed. Three metal bases arranged in a vertical column. The third base was broken on two sides and appeared lopsided in its place and the structural wire on one side was bent nearly in half, causing the column to double over.
“Huh?” Applejack asked, snapping out of her funk. “Oh, I found this while I was out the other day. It’s a display carousel. You put pies and pastries on it. I know that bit about caterin’ your shop is just a bit of white lyin’ we’re tellin’ your mama, but when I saw this, I thought it might be somethin’ I could give you to lend a hoof.”
Crystal raised an eyebrow. “What would I do with a broken display for pastries?”
“It’s a fixer-upper,” Applejack explained. “I’m gonna knock the bases out and bend the wire back in, then add a few more wires crosswise and maybe dangle some hooks from it.”
“…okay?”
“It’s for your doodads. Your necklaces and rings and stuff. Rarity’s a unicorn so I don’t think she gets how easy she’s got it when it comes to transport, but you’re an earth pony like me. You don’t get to just float a case or rack wherever you go, but you put all your pretty fixin’s on here and you can lift it.” She demonstrated by biting down on a small ring at the top of the carousel and lifting her head, raising it with her.
Applejack set the broken carousel back on the ground, where it promptly fell over. “Like I said, it needs work, but this’ll let you cart your goods around with you wherever you go.”
Crystal nodded her head, looking over the broken possession. “Okay, I think I’m starting to see it.” She looked up at her friend’s face and smiled. “Thank you, Applejack. I’m sure I’ll love it once it’s finished.”
“I’m sure you will,” Applejack answered her, returning her smile. “Just give me a couple days to--oh! There’s my friends. I gotta go. Watch the carousel?” She scooted the device over to Crystal, who nodded in agreement.
Applejack cantered across the courtyard to catch up to her peers. “Mornin’, y’all!” she greeted them cheerily. Sound Stage was the first to acknowledge her arrival, but there was something cold in his eyes as he watched her approach.
Three Point followed his gaze. She said quickly to the others, “I’ll handle this,” then split off to intercept Applejack. The three colts kept walking, refusing to so much as look at Applejack.
“What’s goin’--”
“You have a lot of nerve,” Three Point growled at Applejack.
“I do?” Applejack stared confused at the rage burning in Three Point’s eyes. She’d never seen any of her group so upset before and certainly not with her.
“Sound Stage told us everything. You know, just because you have your thing for fillies doesn’t give you the right to play with a nice colt’s heart like that.”
Applejack took Three Point’s words like a slap in the face. She didn’t know what to say. “Beg pardon?” she stammered out as her mind wrestled with what her ears had just heard.
“You heard me,” Three Point replied. “What gives you the right to lead him on like that?”
“I did not--”
“Whatever. Why don’t you just go play with your fillies. Sound Stage is going to be busy with his real friends for a while.” With that, Three Point turned and cantered off to catch up to the rest of the group, leaving a dumbstruck Applejack to try and make sense of what had just transpired.
“She actually blamed you for what happened?” Rarity asked.
“I told you that already,” Applejack replied.
“Yes, but I never got the full story. I was under the impression that you and Sound Stage just had some manner of falling out. To actually hold it against you that you didn’t--”
“I know. You don’t have to tell me.” Applejack sighed. “It all started as a harmless joke the group was havin’ at my expense. Just a bit of fun, didn’t mean nothin’. But it must have meant somethin’ to him, ‘cause after that day, they got a lot more mean about it.”
“That’s why you started spending more time with us?”
Applejack nodded. “Y’all weren’t makin’ me feel like I should be ashamed for choices I never even made.”
“About that,” Rarity inquired. “I’ve never been quite clear on all that nonsense. Were they angry with you for liking mares or for rejecting Sound Stage?”
“Both, I reckon.” Applejack nudged her cup closer to Rarity, who levitated the teapot and filled it for her. “The whole filly thing started as a joke, I thought. My friends were just horsin’ around. No harm in it. But after what happened with Sound Stage, it turned right cruel. Don’t know if they actually believed it or not, but them sayin’ it cut deep enough.”
“Is it that bad?” Crystal asked. She sat at a bench in the park as Applejack paced back and forth.
“No, it’s worse!” Applejack shouted. “They’re telling everypony I like fillies!”
Crystal traced a hoof around the wood grain of the table. Tentatively, she asked, “…do you?”
Applejack stopped pacing and turned on her in an instant. “Of course, I don’t! What kind of question is that?!”
Crystal grimaced and quickly lowered her head. “I’m sorry,” she answered quickly. “I just thought that maybe--”
“Nothin’ doin’,” Applejack replied, shaking her head. Her body convulsed, as though the mere suggestion had caused a full body shudder. “Look, I ain’t gonna be one to judge nopony for how they want to live their life. They want to throw their lives away chasin’ the wrong kind of pony, that’s up to them. But I got an obligation and a responsibility to my family to uphold; I can’t go off chasin’ after some froo-froo nonsense.”
“Oh,” Crystal replied, her eyes cast down towards the table she was seated at.
“No, what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna find me a good, strong stallion worthy of the Apple name, I’m gonna marry him, and we’re gonna raise our bushel of foals like a proper pony does. That’s what it means to be an Apple.”
“Irony, thy name is--”
Applejack abruptly cut Rarity off. “I’d appreciate if you don’t make fun of this.”
The humor dropped from Rarity’s face instantly. Sincerely, she responded, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was still a sensitive matter for you.”
Applejack took a deep breath. “Look, comin’ to terms with what I am, that’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. You don’t know what it feels like, knowin’ you carry the whole family legacy on your back and you ain’t never gonna give nothin’ back. I’m a dead branch, Rarity. Ain’t no fruit’s ever gonna fall from my leaves.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Rarity offered in consolation. “I mean, there are some ways, surely….”
“Ain’t none I’m ever gonna like.”
Rarity reached out a comforting hoof and placed it on top of Applejack’s. “I’m sorry. I never realized you felt this way. You certainly do nothing to show it.”
“There’s a lot I don’t show,” Applejack answered gruffly.
“Does your family know? I mean, your grandmother and siblings must, of course, but--”
“Nopony outside them, no.” Applejack sighed. “I know I’m gonna have to tell ‘em one of these days, but I always thought I could wait until I had somepony I was sure on. I thought it might go over easier if I can introduce them to somepony they’re sure to love just as much as I do.”
“I see.” Rarity closed her eyes, mulling over the hardest question she’d yet to ask tonight. She knew that if she said it wrong, she might risk shattering the emotionally honest moment they were having. She’d spent so long trying to get Twilight out of her shell; it was only now she could see that the Applejack she knew was shut just as tightly in one of her own.
Bracing herself for the potential response, Rarity chose her phrasing and spoke. “Do you resent Twilight for loving you?”
Applejack was on her hooves in a second. “Of course, I don’t! What kind of question is that?!”
“But you do resent yourself for loving her.”
“I….” Applejack had no answer to that. The words cut deep into parts of her she’d spent years trying to bury. How quick had she been to cut and run since Twilight had come along? How many times had she considered breaking it off? How many times had she found herself staring at the escape hatch, wondering if her problems were simply unsolvable? Or worse, when there was no problem at all; only the overbearing knowledge that Twilight was getting closer and closer to those places she kept so tightly locked inside.
“Truth be told,” Applejack started slowly. “Twilight scares me more than I’ve ever been in my life. You ever hear the story of the pony with the fake wings who flew too close to the sun?”
Rarity laughed. “Darling, I’ve been that pony.”
“Oh, right. Well, Twilight read that to me once, and it’s as good an explanation as any. When I’m with her, it feels like the stars themselves have come right to me. They’re just more beautiful and amazin’ the closer that they come, but I can’t help wonderin’ when it’s gonna be too much. I’m caught up in their grace, but I’m also waitin’ for my wings to melt. Ain’t no pony gets to fly so close for so long as I have.”
“You were with her for quite a long time,” Rarity acknowledged. “At least by your standards.”
With a hint of bitterness, Applejack asked, “You lose your bid on the bettin’ pool?”
Rarity lowered her head, a touch of shame crossing her face. “You knew about that?”
“Town likes to gossip.”
Rarity nodded. “I certainly can’t argue with that. But you should know, I never bid. Not on Twilight. It just seemed heartless. Not that it matters, I suppose; she still feels betrayed all the same because I never warned her about you.”
Outside the library, a bolt of lightning split the sky, briefly lighting up the town through the window. The rain poured as hard as it ever had. Applejack blinked in the dim light of the room; the fire had returned to smoldering once more. She looked down at the tea kettle; she and Rarity had emptied it some time ago.
“Look,” the farmy pony said. “It’s getting late and I don’t think the storm’s lettin’ up. This looks like a good spot to take a break.”
Rarity nodded. “I believe you’re right. We should consider finding sleeping spaces for tonight.”
“Here, let me show you were Twilight kept the guest bed.”
After snuffing out the fire, Applejack and Rarity climbed to the bedroom under the light of the unicorn’s horn. Applejack rolled out the spare mattress from their slumber party so many moons ago. She and Rarity laid it out on the second floor, just under Twilight’s bed alcove.
“This will do for me,” Rarity said, stepping up onto the mattress. “You should take the bed upstairs.”
Applejack looked nervously to the stairs leading up to the bedroom. Twilight’s absence was palpable even in the dark; there was a coldness that seemed to emanate from every corner of the room. “Are you sure?” she asked carefully.
Rarity nodded. “Of course. I could never dream of taking it. Much like our conversation tonight, that bed is full of memories. However, these ones aren’t mine to share.”
Applejack closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them, she could see Rarity still standing in front of her, watching her with eyes full of concern for a dear friend. Applejack reached out a hoof, holding it in front of her. Rarity seemed initially put off by the gesture but, with a grimace and a shaky hoof, reached out and tapped Applejack’s hoof with her own.
“Thanks, Rares,” Applejack said.
“Do not thank me yet,” Rarity answered. “We still have more to discuss.” She let out a yawn, then started picking through the blankets and pillow she’d pulled from the closet. “Goodnight, Applejack.”
“Goodnight.” Applejack climbed the stairs to the bed she’d shared so many times with Twilight. Even in the dark, she knew every step. She climbed into the sheets and the bed, so many times too small for the two of them, now felt a size too large for her to bear. In her eyes, Twilight’s phantom began to play across the black void of the room. She lay in Applejack’s hooves, her head pressed against her side, then her back, then her chest.
When Applejack closed her eyes, Twilight was there. They were laughing over some goofy story or another. They were picnicking on their special hill together. She could hear Twilight’s voice whispering sweetly into her ear in nights long past. “Your cardiovascular system must be very well developed in order to sustain your prominent musculature,” she would say in what Applejack assumed was supposed to be a compliment.
The bed even smelled like Twilight. Every sense she had was assaulted by the wraith of what might have been as Applejack drifted away into a night that no longer belonged to her. In the dark, when she was sure Rarity must be asleep down below, Applejack put her pillow over her head to muffle the sound and for the second night in a row, she cried.