Collide

by KitsuneRisu

The End

Weather on the plains was funny.

For the most of it, populated areas had weather that was monitored and controlled by the Pegasus committee, and as a result, problems were kept to a minimum.

But the Pegasi didn't fly this far out to the middle of nowhere, where the ground grew dry, thirsty, and cracked from the lack of moisture.

It was only due to rogue clouds like these – which were more common than one would think – that the plains got any rain at all. They flew around roughshod and unguided, being pushed around only by the wind. It was only when they flew close enough to a settlement to cause alarm, would the weather Pegasi take care of it.

The cloud had only just made a pass, but already, the ground was once again dry and crumbly under Applejack's hooves.

The soil sucked it up, and drank heavily of it, happy to be refreshed after weeks of naked sun.

Applejack hoped that their disappearance had been noticed by the ponies on the train, although it was rather unlikely. Once their tickets were punched, for the most, there was no further monitoring required. They certainly didn't take care to note who had got off the train. At the very least, she had hoped Rarity's insane amount of luggage would have caused some heads to turn at the Ponyville station, and hopefully somepony'd remember and wonder why all that luggage wasn't there at Dodge.

But it was a stretch, and a humble bunch of wishful thinking.

If she remembered correctly, the next train from Ponyville to Dodge was in two days, which meant at the very least, it would take two days for her friends to realise something was wrong and come looking.

Twilight would probably ask the questions, investigate what might have happened, and come to the conclusion that they had dropped off the train during the breakdown.

Pinkie would spur the others into action, eventually zeroing into the most logical choice of what to do accompanied by shouts and screams.

And Rainbow and Fluttershy would scour the area and spot them from a mile away…

That was the most likely scenario. Perhaps she was wrong and some help was on the way right now, but she had to prepare for the worst.

The cloud that was circling the perimeter of the town didn't make it any better. It was never safe to be out during a thunderstorm, and this one was as ferocious as they came. It crawled along the outer rim, displaying its teeth, ready to jump back in at any time and endanger anyone foolish enough to stand beneath.

It was for that reason that Applejack gathered as many plants and fruit as she could, stuffing her bags full of nourishing flora, and carried them back to the hut. By that time the sun had already made its way across the sky and it was long past mid-day.

To be fair, she had taken as much time as she could afford; she was still feeling the after-effects of yesterday's altercation. Applejack was one who wasn't that easy to anger, but was also one who found it hard to return from her voyages into extreme temper. It was a mix of her in-built stubbornness and an unwillingness to forgive herself for her own behaviour – it simply troubled her in a vicious circle in which her own annoyance at herself caused everything around her to set her off more easily than it normally would.

But the ever-present looming of the cloud had meant she needed to cut her breather short and return to the hut.

And it was time to face down her dread and head back to Rarity.

Somehow Applejack knew that there was going to be something waiting for her when she returned. Somehow she knew that she was going to have to face a truth that she didn't want to. Or was that 'couldn't'? Was there a difference anymore?

It'd been so long that it was hard to tell.

But each step became harder than the last, and that look upon her face showed all the more signs of struggle as the tiny little house loomed into view.

As she approached, she almost considered staying outside.

And as she entered, her heart sank.

Her heart sank at the gorgeous sight that unfolded before her.

Her heart sank at the candle that sat, lit, in the middle of the boxes in the center – except that they were now a table, weren't they? What with the white linen sheet stretched across the top.

Her heart sank at the two trunks that she had placed against either wall, except now they were beds, covered with layers of random clothing and topped with a small throw pillow each. Sure, they would be a squeeze, but they were definitely far more comfortable than the floor.

Her heart sank at the watertight building. In a pinch, Rarity was just as good at repairs as Applejack was. After all, mending clothing was far more technical than mending a hole in the wall, and the only reason why Rarity didn't do it more often was just because she didn't want to get her hooves dirty.

The candle flickered as the cloud billowed above, like a rushing wave travelling across the sky, plunging the day into night.

And immediately it brought the rain, which stayed outside.

And behind it all was the pony for whom her heart sank the most. She stood there, perfect as ever, in a frilled dress, studded with black stones and bordered with fancy lace. It was a glossy gossamer thing, and showed off Rarity's assets perfectly in compliment.

Applejack finally remembered to breathe.

"Well, Applejack," Rarity trilled triumphantly, "what do you think?"

"Oh, Rarity," Applejack whispered sadly, "why'd ya have ta do this…"

The sound of rain, at first sounding like paper being torn, but then later billowing up into a low-toned static, tore through the hut, as the candle flicked in the gently-moving air.

Damn it.

Damn it!

Teeth grinded against teeth while Applejack's brow furrowed into channels of stress and frustration.

"Applejack." Rarity pressed forward. She could see Applejack's reaction clearly, but she had come too far, and sacrificed too much. "I need to tell you something."

Applejack shook her head, frowning at her companion.

"I- I have made a gift for you, and…" Rarity said, her voice losing confidence by the second. Her sultry wavering tones degraded into pale shambles of their former self, and she ended up sounding like a choking bird.

A small package, wrapped up in spotted paper and tied with a huge bow was lowered to the space between them.

Applejack pushed it away.

"Rarity... please," Applejack said, her throat closing up. "I'm beggin' ya. Don't. I know what yer gonna say and I'm… I'm beggin' ya."

"I have to!" Rarity yelled, throwing the package down onto the table.

"No ya don't!" Applejack shouted back. "I know what this is about and… please! I'm askin' ya for both of our sakes, please don't say it!"

"Applejack," Rarity stated, drawing in her last breath and holding firm, her tone dropping to a harsh vocal imprint that echoed in the rain.

"Rarity…" Applejack sighed. She was beaten.

"Applejack, I love you."

The words rang in her ears, and she shut her eyes up tight, but even then, the flickering candle kept throwing shadows at her from out of the corners. She placed a hoof across her face in a vain attempt to stop her head from splitting open.

"Please, say something," Rarity asked, ragged breathing passing over dry lips. "Please."

But all that came to reply her was the water flowing off the roof.

"Please," she repeated. "Please!"

"What do you want me to say?" screamed Applejack, lifting her head and staring so deeply at Rarity that she jerked her head back in shock. "You think you can just say things like that and… and what? What were you even tryin' to do?"

"I…" Rarity muttered, in shock.

"Did you really think this was the best time?" Applejack kept yelling. "After all the manure you put us through? After all you did?"

"Applejack, please," Rarity begged, desperation creeping around the edges of her tone.

"No!" Applejack shouted. "Don't give me that! There ain't anythin' you can say, anythin', that's gonna explain yourself!"

"But I know you have feelings for me too, Applejack!" Rarity pleaded. "I just wanted it to be special for when I–"

"I had feelings, Rarity! I don't anymore!"

Above, a shot of thunder careened through the hut, charging the air with a flash of light and shaking the foundations of the building.

Rarity blinked, not fully recognizing the depth of what Applejack had said until she said it again.

"I… I don't love you anymore, Rarity," Applejack said, lowering her voice in a pale defeat. They were the words that both of them didn't want to have been put out. Even Applejack, for declaring it suddenly made them more real than all the times she had said it to herself in her head.

At least while they existed in her mind, they could still be denied by some part of her deep down. But now, they were out, heard, and real.

"I don't love you anymore," Applejack whispered, her eyes feeling heavy.

Rarity's head began travelling. The ever-present smile that she usually put on had long gone, and all that was left was her roaming eyes and shaking hoof, as it came up to her mane almost instinctively to push it out of her face. But even then, all it did was to upset it, as the strands of her hair came loose to fly free and out of control.

"Why?" Rarity asked the floor, meekly.

"Because you ain't the pony who I fell in love with no more," Applejack explained, shaking her head.

Rarity didn't say another word, sufficing herself to keep staring at that one spot on the floorboards.

"I don't know who you are anymore, and you don't know who I am," Applejack continued. "And that's the length and breadth of it."

"Of course I know you!" Rarity cried. "And surely you know me! We've known each other for years, Applejack, how could it be any different?"

"Yeah… that just proves that you don't at all. I've been payin' attention. I know you knew I fancied you back then, but over these last few months, you didn't notice that I stopped, did ya?

"Used to be you were just a prissy fashion queen with a bit of a haughty streak. We all knew you were just actin' like that. Now? You changed, Rarity. Changed into… something I don't recognize at all."

Once again, Rarity kept looking down. She knew exactly what Applejack was talking about. But yet, as the thought travelled through her mind and to her lips, she found herself saying something completely different.

"I haven't changed…" Rarity declared, softly.

"Stop it, Rarity. Just… stop it." Applejack sighed, face scrunched up. "That's just the thing. All this… stuff you say. All these things you do. If you knew me at all you'd know I don't care for none of these things. I hate all your runnin' around and evasion and all your pointless talk.

"I hate how you ain't never sorry for a thing you did in your life. I hate all your fakeness, Rarity. That ain't what I like about a pony. And it occurred to me you ain't gonna like a pony who ain't your kind neither. You ain't even apologized for strandin' us out here. In fact, you ain't even offered up a simple explanation as to why you were so plumb stupid as to leave the train in th' first place!"

"I did it for you!" Rarity suddenly burst out, her turn to let loose frustrations. Applejack didn't even flinch. She was too tired to. "I did it for you¸ okay?"

"How was any of this for me?" Applejack cried out in frustration.

"I wanted this to be perfect! I just wanted it to go perfectly for you! My mane was upset in the train and I needed a mirror! There weren't any on the train so I left! How was I to know that the train would be fixed so fast?"

"How were you to know? That ain't even the point! The point is you don't go runnin' off! Do you even have a single considerate bone left in your body?"

Rarity stamped the ground in frustration. But to whom the frustration was for was unclear.

"I don't care about your mane, Rarity. I don't care about all of… of this!" Applejack gestured to the room. "I don't care about make-up or dresses or how nice the room is. I don't care that you have a fancy present in nice wrappin'! It don't suddenly make things better! You just can't act the way you want all the time and expect other ponies to be okay with it later!"

"I…" Rarity muttered.

Say you're sorry.

Admit you're wrong.

"… I don't act like that," Rarity defied, a small tear running down her face.

"That's it." Applejack shook her head. "I can't take this anymore. Rarity, I'm sorry. But there ain't ever gonna be anything between us. You ain't the same pony no more."

Suddenly, panic returned, as another thundering crash rocked the skies above.

It was the same panic that threw Rarity every time she felt in danger. It was the same panic that controlled her. But this time it swung her in the opposite direction.

"No! Applejack! Please! O- okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright? Please, just give me… give me another chance, Applejack. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving the train. I'm sorry for how I acted," Rarity begged, franticly, stuttering over uncontrollable breaths. She pushed past the table unsteadily, bumping into it as she approached Applejack.

Applejack moved away.

"Please! I'm sorry!"

"And you think I can believe that?" Applejack huffed, walking back around to the other side of the table and facing away.

"No, no, I am… I can be who you want me to be. Just tell me what it is, Applejack. I can…"

"No, you can't," Applejack spat out. "You can't just be who I want you to be! You either are or you ain't, and you ain't! You can be whoever you wanna be right now. It doesn't matter anymore. Just be the one who shows up their friends at the most important competition of their lives. Just be the one who steals gems away from baby dragons. Be the one who chases away her own sister. Your own sister, Rarity!

"You know who I fell in love with? It was that pony long ago who stayed up all night makin' dresses for the six of us just because she was kind enough t' do it. And now, you can't even make Twilight a birthday present because you're so wrapped up in your own business, and you didn't even have the guts to tell the truth about it!

"It's pretty obvious t' the rest of us who you wanna be, and… you know what? The one I fell in love with is gone. So you know what, I just don't care no more."

When Rarity looked back up, her heart couldn't help but clench at the sight of Applejack wiping streaks of tears away from her eyes. It was the truth that hurt the most. And through those tears did Rarity realise that nothing Applejack said had been easy.

And therefore it had been nothing but the truth.

You're useless. Once again, failing at everything. Causing problems because of your greed and your selfishness. It's no wonder that you aren't loved. She probably never loved you in the first place.

Rarity shook her head, clenching her eyes tight to drive away the phantoms. But she couldn't hide behind a laugh any longer. The smiles just wouldn't come out.

Yeah, that's right. Little Rarity, all alone, as usual. Useless filly. Never once could you stand by yourself. Why not just pretend like nothing's wrong, like you always do? Why not just indulge in yourself like you always do? That always makes you feel better, doesn't it?

Hiding. That's all it had ever been about. Each disgraceful action leading to the next, all in an attempt to hide.

Look, see how you broke her heart? Look at what you've done.

Applejack stood there, trying to keep a brave face, but with every blink she gave, more and more tears ran down, and those tears told the whole story.

How are you ever going to get out of this one? Rarity, you selfish, selfish…

Rarity took a step back, not understanding what she was doing.

And then she swung around, wrenching the door open without a second's thought. Her mind had emptied itself from everything except the words that kept shouting at her, and Rarity tore through the wind and the rain, pushing out into the fall and disappearing into the darkness, all in but a flash.

"Rarity!" Applejack gasped, turning around at the sound and scrabbling towards the door. She winced as she came down hard upon her injured ankle again, but flew out the opening in an effort to keep up.

And for the second time in those two days, she was on the chase for her friend, who had taken off without a single word of warning.

Each drop hit so hard that it hurt, especially the ones that pelted her in the face and the eyes. The scattered dust got into her nose and throat, and the damp only made it harder to rid it from her face.

She pulled her ragged Stetson down a bit more, but the brim was already wavering in the wind, and the rain poured through the hole, and while it could keep a bit of the wet out of her eyes, it wouldn't help her if she was struck by lightning.

The bolts came every few seconds. Not all of them hit the ground; most of them were content jumping around inside of their host. But one might, at any time, and they were likely to hit the tallest thing standing up on the flat, flat plains.

"Rarity!" Applejack shouted again, over the storm, as the howling pushed both her words and her body aside effortlessly.

But she had to walk. She had to press on. The cold of the night helped to relieve some pressure off her swollen leg, but it still prevented her from running at full speed. All of her strength was put into fighting back the storm.

And she trudged onward, not bothering to yell any longer.

There weren't many places to run off to in this settlement, and most of them were incredibly dangerous indeed. But with a limited number of choices, Applejack made a guess and pushed toward the pond.

Like a world shrouded in veils, the darkness only lifted in a small area around Applejack. Everything else was impossible to see past a certain distance, but as she approached her destination, a familiar ghostly figure was revealed by the side of the pond, soaking wet and immobile.

Applejack stopped for a moment; a foolish gesture driven by instinct.

And suddenly did Rarity move, swiftly, and viciously. Applejack saw her silhouette grab at the lapels of her dress and tear at it, pulling as much as she could, and even using her magic to finally rip it off her back. It was no easy feat, especially now that it had been drenched right through.

She threw it to the ground and stamped on it, yelling inaudible threats against the horrid thing, before finally flinging it into the pond where it was swallowed by the bubbling darkness.

Her hair fell over, plastered to her head in strands that stuck together, and in the frequent explosions that came from above, Applejack saw her rub at her face, hard, fast, as if she were trying to claw it off. She held her hooves to her head, and finally lay it down at the water's edge, curled up in a weak, pathetic ball.

The thunder that crashed shocked Applejack back to life.

She blinked, as the image finally cleared in her mind, and she tore forward again, pressing past the curtain of rainfall and landing on top of Rarity's back.

She had to. Keeping low was important, and it was the only way her voice could penetrate the insulation of weather.

"Get off me!" Rarity screamed, struggling and slipping along the bank into the pond.

"Rarity! You have t' come back! Ya gotta get outta this storm!" Applejack pleaded, curling a leg around her neck and yanking her out of the water.

The ground ran with mud.

"Just leave me!" Rarity wailed, too far lost in her emotions to make any sense. "I have nothing left! Let me be!"

"Yer gonna die out here, Rarity!"

"S- so be it!"

"Rarity! Come back and let's talk about it, alright? Please!"

A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, followed by a rumbling that was directly overhead. It shook the ground and caused Applejack to duck out of terror.

"Rarity!"

"N-no! You hate me!" she sobbed, lowering her head back into her legs.

There was no time. There was no argument. Applejack, fighting against her injured leg, fighting against the struggling form of Rarity, hefted her up onto her back, where she lay there like a stuffed doll, finally giving up her resistance and letting Applejack have her way.

And step by agonizing step, she carried Rarity back to the hut.

Applejack deposited her onto the ground, roughly, panting from lack of breath and lack of air. She could have drowned on the way back with how heavy the rain was, and it was only through an absolute stroke of luck that they weren't injured by lightning on the way home.

All Rarity could do was cover her head, sopping and wet, with her front legs and curl up into a ball.

Applejack too, dropped to her knees to take that chance to rest, where she landed heavily behind Rarity.

For a moment, all she could see was the un-rhythmic rise and fall of Rarity's shoulders as she breathed.

The open door had put out the candle while they were gone, and they both lay there in the darkness, neither speaking nor moving.

But she had to be the one, didn't she?

She had to take the first step. It was the right thing to do. The honourable thing to do.

At least Applejack knew how to follow through when she felt guilty.

"Listen, Rarity," Applejack finally said, after a few moments of gathering up her confidence, "I'm sorry about what I said just now. I guess I was just angry."

The puddles of water that flowed off their bodies drained down the floorboards.

"I mean… I was really mad, Rarity. Not on purpose, but… I'm really confused too. I really did use to have feelings, and it just hurt when I had to hear those words comin' from ya. I… I just reacted badly. I just wish…"

Applejack cut herself off. There wasn't anything she could really say at this point. Nothing she said would change anything.

I mean, what could she wish for? That Rarity had said it earlier? And then what? They'd have gotten together and it would have hurt even more that she'd change in front of her.

What else? She could wish that Rarity hadn't changed this much, but in the end, she just had, and that was the end of that.

Wishes were just that. Wishes.

They never came true, and you can't change the nature of a pony.

The voice that came after that short pause of silence came as a surprise in how different it sounded.

There wasn't a sing-song quality to it. There were no melodic chirps or accentuations. There was just Rarity, weak, sad, and thoroughly lost to herself.

"I know," the voice said, from the shadowy figure that lay just in front of Applejack.

It was Applejack's turn to deny a response.

"I know I've been changing," said the voice, with a level of purity; stripped of all farce. "That's why I needed you so badly."

"Me?" Applejack asked.

"Yes. I... I suppose it's silly now, to think about it."

"But?"

"But you were always the one I wanted to be."

"You wanted to be me?"

"In a way, I suppose."

"I don't… understand, I'm sorry."

Rarity shifted slightly, pushing her face a bit deeper into her legs. It made her a bit more muffled, but no less honest.

"It's why I like you so much, Applejack," she said, the tears in her voice apparent. "I- I just… you were always everything I wasn't. I couldn't… I just knew…"

Applejack looked toward her hooves, guiltily. She wasn't sure why.

"Oh, A- Applejack, I'm so so- sorry," Rarity sobbed. "I've been an ab… absolute beast."

"Naw, you… you haven't," Applejack replied, answering from her heart instead of her mind.

"Yes, I have. I know I have. I've always known. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's… it's okay."

"I thought… I felt comfortable."

Applejack pondered on this for a while, the moments passing before she finally decided to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"With you, Applejack. I felt comfortable with you. Only when I was around you I felt… brave. I felt confident. Because you were. Because of how truthful you are. I need you, Applejack. You're kind… and loving… and everything I wish I could be again.

"I know I made such a mess of things. I know this is all my fault. But… I needed tonight to go perfectly. Because if it didn't…"

"What, Rarity? What would happen?"

"I mean… what do I do now? Without you… I don't think I can ever improve."

"Rarity… that… that ain't a good reason to love somepony. Don't you get that? You can't just love me because I'm somepony you want to be. It's more than that. It's about understandin' the one you wanna be with. It's about knowin' the one you love. Pretendin' just ain't good enough. And that's why it ain't gonna work out."

"I don't know who I am anymore, Applejack. I don't know the pony I'm turning into. And without you… what do I do now?"

"You just… get better. You don't need me for that. Like I said, that ain't the reason why two ponies should get together. We'll help you. All of us will. But… maybe a relationship just ain't gonna work out."

The hiss of rain continued to shower over the roof, and there in the near-pitch darkness, they both fought back the cold.

"But I still want it," Rarity said, sadly. "I still want it."

"Why, Rarity?"

"I… I don't know."

The door creaked, fighting back the wind.

"Rarity?" Applejack asked, after a pause.

"Yes?"

"Can I see your face?"

"W…why?"

"I just want to. Please. Let me just look at you for a while."

Rarity didn't stir. She didn't move to reveal herself, but didn't oppose Applejack when she gently lay a hoof on her shoulder and rolled her around.

Her pale, white face, now free from makeup, looked away from Applejack, eyes averted in some kind of shame. Her mane pressed flat against the sides of her face due to the wetness, and she looked not one iota less plain than any other pony to be found anywhere in Ponyville.

Applejack bit her lip.

Rarity blinked, a long blink, her eyes remaining shut for a few seconds before they fluttered open again to reveal her perfect eyes, unframed by false lashes or her traditional blue mascara.

A stone was cast down Applejack's throat, and it landed neatly upon her heart. It weighed it down with a thousand tons, and once again she found herself wishing for things that wouldn't happen.

The pale, white beautiful face turned, saddened, burying itself once again behind a cage of legs.

Why, Applejack would have asked.

Because I can't bear for you to see me this way, Rarity would have replied.

No words were said. None were needed. The actions and the sentiment were clear.

Applejack knew that Rarity still didn't get it.

It was that mascara-free face, those pure eyes and that innocent expression that Applejack wanted most of all, and it was those things that Rarity thought she hated.

It was that one instinctual need to hide that part of herself away. In that, Applejack knew that the Rarity she loved would always be hidden.

"Is there really nothing between us?" Rarity tried, one last time, muffled words through tear-stained flesh.

One last time did she attempt.

One last time did she ask.

And one last time did Applejack shake her head.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I just don't think you know who I am."

Rarity nodded, no longer troubled by it. She'd hit that point where she just wanted to confirm it again, and she didn't feel burdened by the answer.

"Then… we should get some rest," Rarity said, pushing herself up to her hooves. "I… I prepared a bed for you. You may use it as you wish."

The Unicorn walked to her own trunk, full of dresses and shirts and padding that stood in for a mattress. It was rather spacious, and Rarity found no trouble in huddling up against the far side, burying her head in the swathes of cloth.

Applejack just stood there watching. Looking at Rarity as she climbed in, thinking of things as she huddled up with herself.

Theirs were two lives set apart. It was a strange sort of circumstance that caused them to miss each other coming down opposite directions on the same road. Perhaps if she had been part of Rarity's life a little earlier… or perhaps if Rarity hadn't changed…

Maybe they might have collided.

Applejack wasn't against the idea.

She would have loved to be in love once more.

But if Rarity only wanted her because of arbitrary reasons… that wasn't real. There wasn't anything about this that was real. Not the mistake that caused the mess to this 'room' they were in. Not the presentation given earlier to the kerchief that Rarity had tied around her ankle.

Everything was dressed in fraudulence and fakery.

And just as Applejack had said earlier, there was one truth that she believed in. You can't change the nature of a pony.

Rarity had gone too far, and lost too much. The burden of herself had warped her into who she was now, and there was no going back.

This truth was what hurt Applejack the most.

And she wished. She wished.

She wished for some trace. She wished for some sign.

It was Applejack's turn to reach for the answers she already knew.

Not a single trace of the old Rarity was left. Not a single piece remained.

Oh, but how I wish there were.

At her hooves lay the present that Rarity had given, in its obscenely bright wrapping paper and its gaudy bow.

Applejack kicked at it.

At the very least… maybe.

She picked it up and put it on the table, the soft paper rustling as she placed it there and stared at it.

Well… it was the thought that counted, Applejack supposed.

She dug into the package, tearing off the paper, and taking full view of what Rarity had given her.

And for a minute, the rain took over her world.

"Applejack?" Rarity asked, in the darkness, the showers from above cascading down.

"W-wh-ut?" Applejack replied.

"Are you crying?"

"N- no, y'-y'-y'idiot! I-I ain't cry… uh…"

She couldn't finish her sentence.

She'd already taken the necessary few steps toward Rarity, and without even thinking, pushed her roughly aside, forcing herself onto the narrow bed.

And she threw her legs around her friend, as silent tears fell upon Rarity’s cheek.

"What's wrong?" Rarity whispered, laying there in the darkness, too stunned to move.

"I… I made a wish," Applejack burst out tearfully, burying her face into Rarity's shoulder, her words intermingling with heartfelt sobs that came from the deepest part of her heart.

On the floor lay the hat that Rarity had made. It was a plain, simple hat, in brown leather, exactly like what Applejack wore, and exactly how she liked it. It was a full replacement of the worn-down, old, tattered hat that she currently had, and not a single thing was changed in the design.

You couldn't change the nature of a pony.

Not at all.

And perhaps Rarity hadn't.

And in that, Applejack held Rarity tighter, sniffing, and soon Rarity joined in too, not even needing a reason why.

Together they lay, shaking and shuddering, and crying over laughs, not speaking a word, but each completely understanding what they were trying to say.

And in each other's embrace they stayed, until the tears finally ended.

The speck turned into a tiny bit of blue, and that tiny bit of blue turned into a Rainbow Dash. Her multicoloured trail was easily recognizable, and before she even reached the town, Applejack and Rarity had already seen her.

Rainbow must have seen them too, as she slowed and banked down, flying past houses with finesse and depositing herself straight onto the dirt right in front of the pair.

"There you are!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We've been looking for you for ages! Lady Jubilee told us you never arrived, and the train ponies didn't remember ever seeing you two leave the train! So Twilight checked out the train roster, and guess what? She noticed your train broke down and figured something must have happened!"

Applejack quirked an eyebrow, smiling to herself.

"A- and!" Dash went on, landing next to Rarity and Applejack. That's weird. Rarity was wearing Applejack's hat. She never did that.

"And then Pinkie started yelling about finding you because you might be starving or dead or…"

"Sounds 'bout right," Applejack chuckled, giving Rarity a kind of glance, who responded with a titter of her own.

"And so Fluttershy and I took off and headed to find you! I hit the skies and well… I saw you from the ridges down south!"

"Where's Fluttershy?" Applejack smiled.

Rainbow returned that with a frown. "Um… I don't know! I lost her three miles ago!"

Applejack laughed.

Those were her friends, alright, and she loved every single one of them. She knew them so well, and she could always tell exactly how things were going to turn out.

And the one that she knew least of all?

Well, that was a whole new adventure, just waiting to happen.

Rarity beamed.

"So… are you guys okay?" Rainbow asked. They seemed to be far happier than she would have thought, having been stuck together in the desert for three and a half days.

"We're just fine, Rainbow. We got a lot of luggage to ship outta here, but we're fine."

"Oooh, yes, and that nasty old cloud over there has been tormenting us to no end!" Rarity chipped in.

Same old Rarity. With her perfect hair and her made up face.

But she nodded that made up face to Applejack, who looked back with a new kind of outlook.

Rarity was who she was. In the end, they'd talked about it a bit more, and it was unfair for Applejack to completely strip Rarity of everything that made up who she was. But all that Applejack required was for Rarity to realise who she was… where it counted.

Besides, if Applejack had to tell the truth, under less stressful situations, that playfully poised side of Rarity wasn't all too bad. It was a little bit… alluring, sometimes, and maybe Applejack could get used to it in small portions.

But in the end, it was still Rarity on the inside whom she loved, and she was going to stand by her to make sure that she never lost track again.

Applejack leaned into Rarity for a moment, taking in a breath as her smell filled her mind.

"Uh… what's going on?" Rainbow asked. "Am I… missing something here?"

"We have a lot t' tell you," Applejack said.

"And I have a lot I need to say." Rarity nodded, humbly.

"But th' two of us?" Applejack mentioned cryptically, to an ever-more-confused Rainbow, giving her a wink and a smile.

"I think we're gonna be just fine."