Applejack woke up and started her day just like every other. She brushed her hair and tied it up, giving her parents a kiss as she left her room. She made breakfast and helped clean the dishes. Then she made her way out to check the fields to make sure she could feed her own family. Finally, as the sun made its way over the trees, Applejack was ready to buck.
Bucking was most definitely Applejack’s favorite chore. She got a good amount of activity which always felt good. But what she really liked the most was the repetition. Buck the tree, collect apples, dump them in the cart, repeat. It allowed her to move and think and go over her thoughts in her mind. Thoughts like, How am I gonna talk with Rarity now? Or Spa days are going to be weird from now on.
She dumped a bucket of apples into her cart. “Why’d i have to go and do a stupid thing like tell her about my feelings?” She tossed the bucket under the next tree. “Twernt no reason to go and tell her. We were already past having...we were moved on already.” She dumped a bucket of apples into her cart. “Besides, I knew she wasn’t interested anyway.” Applejack’s body slumped against the side of the cart. “I saw it in her eyes when she woke up in my hooves.”
As she straightened up to get back to work, her thoughts drifted back to the time she and Rarity got caught in the storm. They had known each other their whole lives, having grown up together, but they barely knew each other before Twilight came to town. They didn’t hate each other, but they definitely didn’t see eye to eye on pretty much anything. Rarity was always so prim and proper and Applejack never saw much reason to make as much of a fuss. That was pretty much it, honestly. Just two different opinions that tended to stay away from each other.
It wasn’t until recently that Applejack really figured out why Rarity’s fussing had bothered her so much. It wasn’t so much that she was fussy about things that didn’t matter. That was harmless. But it reminded her of the time she spent away from her family. The time when she should have been with them the most. The time she made the biggest mistake of her life. She should’ve never left, but she thought being a City Pony would help. Maybe all the excitement would take the pain away. That obviously didn’t work and being away from her family only made it hurt more. Sure her family forgave her, but it took her a long time to forgive herself for it.
But when she forgave herself, she was finally able to see Rarity for who she really was. A mare that cared deeply about others. In everything she did, she was trying to bring out the best in those around her. That’s when she finally started growing closer to her. They started going to the spa together. They would get lunch when they weren’t too busy. Applejack found herself really looking forward to their time together. She found herself enjoying her laugh. She found herself staring into her eyes more often. But it still took her a while to realize what she was feeling.
That happened when that Trenderhoof fella was in town. When she had to snap Rarity out of her crazy idea of making the party a poor imitation of a hoedown. Even Applejack knew making that event a hoedown was a bad idea. Not to mention that it was mildly insulting. She bucked the tree a bit harder at the memory. But getting her to snap out of it, stepping fully into her world to become Apple Jewel. That made it click for Applejack.
When Rarity finally snapped out of it and became herself again, Applejack completely understood why her friend was so focused on finery. The fuss she made about the dress was endearing now, not annoying.The fact that Rarity was mature enough to be thankful for Applejack going to those lengths. Those all cemented Rarity as her best friend at that point in time. Rarity learned to be herself no matter what and they came away from the Ponyville Day Celebration even closer than they ever had been. And Applejack realized she was in love with Rarity.
But with Rarity being into stallions, Applejack didn’t feel any need to share her discovery about herself. There was no reason to talk to Rarity about her feelings if they were never gonna be returned. So why did she tell Rarity yesterday? Why bring it up after all these years? Applejack bucked the tree.
She dumped the buckets in her cart and sighed. The sun was directly overhead and it felt warm on her fur despite the cool breeze of autumn. She hitched herself up and pulled the cart to the barn. She was done with her section for the day and started planning to get ahead with the bucking. If they could keep up this pace, they might be able to clear the orchard in less than a week. It had been a few years since that happened.
She crested the last little hill and caught sight of the barn. It gave her a boost of energy that helped her start trotting a bit faster with her cart. She could worry about her personal life after the harvest. She had a farm to run and a family to provide for. In fact, she was just gonna forget about the whole thing. It didn't matter, since nothing was gonna happen anyway. They could just go back to ignoring it like they were doing. They could go back to just being friends.
Then Applejack saw a white unicorn and all her conclusions got gummed up.