//------------------------------// // Part Four // Story: Twisting Between the Sheets // by HoofBitingActionOverload //------------------------------// Rarity sat down and then stood up again. She looked at the clock and winced. Applejack was late. She took a deep breath and imagined herself one hour after their dinner together. One hour after the most important night of her life, when everything would be pleasant and sweet again. One hour after Applejack realized how wrong she’d been about Rarity. One hour after Rarity could finally toss away each and every one of her silly romance stories once and for all. They would smile to each other, curled together on the couch, whispering sweet nothings into one another’s ears. She sighed and walked to the mirror again, just to make sure. She bounced her curls and smiled. She frowned. It wasn’t perfect, and it needed to be perfect. Where had she left that brush? Somepony knocked. Rarity cantered to the door, paused for a brief moment to collect herself, and opened it. Applejack smiled. “Hey, Rarity. You ready to go?” Rarity closely examined the mare before her. “Applejack, is that you?” “Who else would it be?” Applejack’s face soured, green eyes clouding. “Never mind. You ready to go?” “Yes,” Rarity answered quickly, trotting out of her house. Applejack nodded and they fell in step together, walking up the street. Applejack trotted in a hurry, nearly running. Rarity could only assume that she was very hungry for some sandwiches. Rarity sniffed. The air smelled wet and cool, and the ground shone dully under what little light was left. The clouds had finally broken, and moonlight bounced off Applejack’s flank and tail. The Sandwich Shack was already in sight, worryingly close to Rarity’s home. She needed to say something, anything to get started on the right hoof. She cleared her throat loudly. “Yeah?” Applejack asked, turning her head. “Yes…” Rarity tried to scratch her neck, forgetting that she was walking and tripping over her hooves. Her face flushed as she steadied herself. “Uh, do you know why the skeleton went to the movie theater alone?” she tried, for lack of anything else to say. Applejack slowed down and chuckled. “Let me guess. Was it because he had nobody to go with?” “You’ve heard it before?” Applejack laughed beautifully. “I think Pinkie’s told me that one at least a dozen times.” “Oh,” Rarity said, trotting up to the door of the Sandwich Shack, an indistinct building among the houses of Ponyville with an even less distinct menu. Rarity almost laughed at the thought that it would be the stage for her greatest triumph. She regretted that it couldn’t be somewhere more appropriate, but desperate times and the rest. Applejack stopped in front of the door. “Why was the cucumber havin’ a bad day?” “I don’t know,” Rarity said, brushing her mane to the side like she’d practiced. Applejack grinned. “Because it was in a pickle.” It wasn’t funny, but Rarity couldn’t think of anything to do but laugh. “That’s terrible, and it doesn’t even make any sense.” “Mm hmm. Granny you used to say it a lot,” Applejack replied, opening the door and stepping aside with an absurd little bow. “After you.” Rarity nodded to her and, in spite of her vow to never enter any establishment with the word ‘shack’ in its name, walked inside. __________________________________________________ Rarity smiled and nodded along with Applejack’s blinking, happy eyes. The sweet smell of her half-eaten honey and azalea sandwich on the table drifted up to her snout, a house specialty. Her hooves were warm on the tabletop. “You should have seen the poor little guy!” Applejack laughed, her own sandwich turning over in her open mouth. “They had him wrapped up with some kind of slingshot tied to his tongue.” “Oh no,” Rarity said, covering her amusement with a hoof. It was going so, so perfectly. So much more so than she ever could have thought possible. It was really happening. “He wasn’t hurt, was he?” “Nah,” Applejack replied, waving a hoof in the air. “He’s fine. I can’t say the same for Fluttershy’s chickens though. Those girls almost burnt the coop to the ground. I told them they had to help her around her cottage for the rest of the week.” “But whatever does any of that have to have to with fire eating? And why in all of Equestria would they ever want such a silly talent anyway?” Applejack shrugged as she took another bite of her sandwich. “Beats me, but you know how those girls are.” “Well, it certainly sounds like Sweetie Belle.” Rarity smiled and took a sip of her water. “Mm hmm,” Applejack mumbled over her food. “I swear, sometimes I don’t think they’ll ever figure it out.” Rarity shook her head. “No, I’m sure Apple Bloom will find her own soon. She’s a very bright filly.” Applejack nodded. “They all are.” Rarity opened her mouth and closed it again when the waitress arrived. “Everything good here?” the waitress asked, pouring dingy water into Rarity’s glass. With an off white bar top lined by spinning stools, and booths that overlooked wide, smudged windows, the Sandwich Shack was the closest thing Ponyville had to a true diner. Tonight though, Rarity thought it looked beautiful. Rarity cleared her throat. “Thank you, I think we are fine.” The waitress lifted her pitcher, a permanently smart aleck smirk pasted onto her face. “You two gonna be having any dessert tonight? We’re serving blueberry pie tonight. Chef’s favorite.” Rarity lifted her hoof to refuse. “Oh, come on,” Applejack interrupted. “A perfect end to a perfect night, huh?” “Well…” When she put it like that. “I suppose I could eat a slice of blueberry pie, if you really don’t mind.” Applejack patted her stomach and laughed. “Mind? I’d mind if we didn’t. Send it over.” “Alright then, that’ll be right out.” The waitress squiggled on her notepad, smiled, and walked away. Applejack pushed her empty plate away, scratching it over the table top. “I’m surprised, Rarity. I didn’t think you liked this place.” Rarity flipped one of her curls. “I think it’s lovely.” “Really?” “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Applejack chuckled and shrugged. “I don’t know. This just doesn’t seem up to your, eh, standards.” “Maybe,” Rarity said with a smirk. “But I believe I have demonstrated on a number of occasions that I am more than willing to get my hooves dirty. Especially when it comes to the ponies I care about.” She laid her hoof on Applejack’s. Rarity’s skin tickled at the touch. Applejack’s leg went rigid while Rarity pretended not to notice. Applejack coughed and shifted in her seat. “Sugarcube…” She pulled her hoof away and laid it in her lap. “Sugarcube,” she tried again, “what exactly are you hopin’ to get out of tonight?” Rarity blinked and coughed, her hoof now lying alone on the table. “I don’t know what you mean.” Applejack sighed. “You said this would be a dinner between friends. I told you already I don’t have any feelings for you.” Rarity coughed again. “Maybe not now, but if given—” A blueberry pie collapsed, clattering on the table between them. “Here it is!” the wretchedly happy waitress announced, laying two more empty plates on the table. “Need anything else?” “No thank you,” Rarity replied with her best smile. Blood pounding down her legs, she waited for the waiter to move on before continuing. “Maybe not now, but if given some more time and thought, I think you’ll disc—” “No!” Applejack said, loud enough to draw the attention of every other pony in the restaurant. “But we’ve been having such a nice time together…” Applejack sighed. “Rarity, look, I don’t wanna be mean, but I suspect I’m goin’ to be anyway, so I might as well get it over with quick.” She took a deep breath, and Rarity stopped breathing. “You were right. How could I ever like a pony like you?” Rarity looked down. The blueberry pie was getting cold. “You’re uppity and clean and blow more time fixin’ your mane in the morning than I spend eatin’ breakfast. You spend all day making things showy and pretty, and I couldn’t care less about how anything or anypony looked.” Applejack’s face softened. “That’s what I like about you. It’s what makes you Rarity, and I wouldn’t have you any other way. As a friend. But I don’t want to be with you, not like that. There’s just no common ground.” Applejack smiled. “I think I get it now. I remember when I moved to Manehattan and I wanted to be somepony else, someplace else, someplace better. I can accept your apology now. If I could do this any other way, I would. I want you to be happy. But neither of us would be happy if we were together. It wouldn’t work. Do you understand what I’m sayin’? I’m not tryin’ to hurt you. Do you understand?” Rarity tried to nod, but cried instead. Pitiful, shaking sobs rippled and popped in her chest. Applejack walked around the booth and laid a hoof over her neck, like a fire alighting on Rarity’s skin. “Yes,” she finally managed. “I understand.” Applejack stroked her withers, up and down, up and down, saying, “I’m sorry.” “What’s wrong with me?” Rarity asked. “No, no,” Applejack murmured. “Nothi—” “Yes,” Rarity cried. “Something is. I was so sure about this. First Blueblood and now you. What am I doing wrong? Why can’t I ever get this right?” Applejack remained silent for so long, Rarity worried that she had left, except for the warmth pressed against her side. “I think,” Applejack said, slowly rolling her jaw back and forth, “I think your problem is that you don’t see things how they are, but how you want them to be. You’re livin’ in your fantasies and you’re even willing to pay mares to keep them alive because you know they aren’t real.” Rarity flinched. “It doesn’t make any sense,” Applejack continued. “You’re a beautiful, wonderful, and hardworking pony. If you would pay more attention, you would see that there are a ton of ponies who already like you for you. But you keep ignorin’ them in place of me and ponies like Blueblood, ponies who you never could have been with. If you would just give one of those other ponies a chance—” A bright white flash of light to the side caught Applejack’s words. “What are you doin’ here?” Applejack asked, her voice and leg stiffening around Rarity’s neck. Rarity looked up to see Sugar Sweet, appearing from nowhere, march up to Applejack and raise her leg into the air. After a single confusing moment, she brought her hoof down hard across Applejack’s face, leaving behind a ringing slap that stilled the entire restaurant. Rarity felt Applejack’s breathing go heavy and her leg shake. Applejack slowly turned to Sugar Sweet, the mark on her cheek burning red. “You don’t ever touch me again,” she said, her voice deathly low. “No, you don’t ever make her cry again,” Sugar Sweet replied, ignoring Applejack‘s glare and not shrinking away. “I’m being honest with her,” Applejack said, her voice like ice. “Something you’ll never do.” “Rarity, what are you doing?” Sugar Sweet asked, turning to Rarity. “She, like, doesn’t even want you. But I do!” Applejack tightened her hold on Rarity. “All you want is her money.” “How would you know? Rarity, you’re crying right now. I never ever made you cry.” “What?!” Applejack said, rising in her seat. “All of this, everything, this is your doin’. If you’d just left her alone, none of this would have happened.” Sugar Sweet turned away from Applejack. “Rarity, you know that isn’t true, right? Like, please come with me. Why are you even with her?” Applejack huffed. “She’s not goin’ anywhere with you.” Sugar Sweet ignored her, her face hardening. “Rarity? Please?” Rarity turned away from them both, staring out the dark window. "I... I don't know what's right anymore..." “It's okay, you don't have to say anything to her,” Applejack said with a gentle nuzzle before turning back to Sugar Sweet. "You’ve got your answer." Rarity heard Sugar Sweet sniff, saying, “You really are stupid”, the sound of running hooves, and the door swinging open. She watched Sugar Sweet run out and around a corner, out of sight. Watching the mare leave, a confusing sadness overtook her, and she couldn’t understand why. Maybe it was because she never had a chance to answer Sugar Sweet's question. She was seized by a sudden impulse to go running out after her, but she had no idea what she would do if she actually caught her or what her answer even was, yes or no. Rarity stopped crying, her heart wholly and completely broken. She ignored the confused and concerned looks of the ponies in the booth behind them while sounds of life slowly returned to the small restaurant. “Are you alright?” Applejack asked, leaning forward. “I’m fine,” Rarity said, curtly. “Do you wanna go home now?” “No,” Rarity answered. “I’d like to eat that pie. And I’d like for you to go back to your side of the table.” “Oh, sorry.” Applejack awkwardly tumbled out of the seat and back around. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Rarity floated the knife into the air and brought it swiftly down into the soft pie crust, tearing it to pieces. Her mouth and eyes watered. “Absolutely.” __________________________________________________ Rarity chewed her pie lazily, enjoying it fully, cold and sweet. She ate two slices. She felt like she deserved it. She’d always liked blueberries, and she wondered why she didn’t eat them more often. Applejack distractedly poked at her own slice, occasionally carrying one of her pokes up to her mouth. Rarity took her time. One by one, the few other ponies remaining in the Sandwich Shack left, leaving behind piled plates for the tired waitress to take away, grumbling back to the kitchen. It started to rain, tap, tap, tapping on the roof and trailing down the grubby windows. When the waitress informed them that she would soon be closing up, Applejack and Rarity stood and smiled at each other. Applejack tried to pay, but Rarity insisted. It was only fair. She let Applejack take the pie home. After all, she’d eaten two slices, and that was fair too. Applejack asked her if she wanted her to walk her home, if she’d brought an umbrella, and if she was okay. Rarity nodded and said no, no, and yes. At the entrance, they hugged and said goodbye, and Applejack pushed through the squeaky door. Rarity followed her out onto the misty street. They said their goodbyes again, and Rarity looked away as soon as she could. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt cool, refreshing rain trickle down her face, so she walked slowly. Applejack didn’t want her. There was no longer any possible way for her to pretend or fool herself into thinking otherwise. Applejack, in ruthlessly plain words, hadn’t left any room for doubt, explaining just how little chance there remained, or had ever been. She hadn’t even given her a chance. She couldn't think of any pain worse, and she realized that she'd inflicted that same pain on another pony, maybe more than one. She wandered the empty, fog-ridden streets of Ponyville, enjoying a lack of purpose or obligation. Her mane, slick and dripping, stuck to her face and neck. She smiled as she jumped in puddles like a filly, her nose turned up and wondering at starry breaks in the wet clouds. Applejack didn’t want her. But she had said to find a pony who liked Rarity for who she was. But Rarity could only think of one other pony who fit, and Applejack certainly wouldn’t approve. As if Applejack had anymore say in the matter, she thought bitterly, stomping in another puddle. When she accidently reached her home, she carelessly trotted up the steps and into her bathroom, not bothering to worry about spoiling the carpet. She was planning to buy a new one soon, after all. She scrubbed her head and coat with a towel. When she was a little less wet, she found Opalescence, sat her down on the couch, and groomed the cat’s fur. She wanted something nice to look at. She brushed and brushed until the cat hissed and swiped her away. She looked at her empty bed. Applejack hadn’t even given her the courtesy of a chance, and now she had to spend another night alone. They could have been happy together. Rarity believed—no, knew it for an absolute certainty. But once again, her plans had been dashed against the rocks. First the boorish Blueblood, and now the ignorant Applejack. No, Rarity did not understand how Applejack could simply toss her aside for such a silly reason. And Sugar Sweet... it was as if Rarity and Applejack had traded places. She was to Sugar Sweet as Applejack was to her. She felt sorry for the other mare. She hadn’t given her any chance either. But if everypony deserved a chance, and Applejack had given her one, how could anyone have given Sugar Sweet hers? Or if she had given Sugar Sweet a chance, how could she have ever gotten one from Applejack? She shook her head slumped her face down into the mattress. Nothing made sense anymore. She just wanted someone to be with. Was that so terrible a crime that she deserved such punishment? Perhaps I should simply swear off love forever, she thought with a groan, like the terrible vice that it is. She couldn’t think of anything else to do, so she went to sleep. Acutely aware of her empty bed, she twisted alone under the hot sheets. She gritted her teeth, tired and sweating. She scowled her hardest at the pillows, but sleep never came. All she wanted was someone to sleep beside her. Nothing more.