Of Apples and Marshmallows

by Twilight-the-Pony


Manners

“No, Applejack. You need to walk gracefully,” Rarity held her head high, her eyes almost closed, putting one hoof in front of another in a very calculated manner. “It’s all in the movement. See?”

Applejack shook her head upon seeing Rarity walk around like a stereotypical high-class snob.

“Oh, come on, Applejack,” Rarity sighed. “It’s just for a few hours... My parents are coming tomorrow, and I want the first impressions to be absolutely perfect!”

Applejack shook her head again. “I ain’t doin’ fancy. Why can’t I just be... You know... Me?”

“Please, Applejack? I’m afraid, that my parents might not be as accepting about these kind of... relationships as our friends are.”

Applejack stared at Rarity for a few seconds before lightly nodding. She took a step towards the unicorn, slightly bumping muzzles. “I promise I’ll try my best, Rares. But you’ll have to show me everything again...”

“Huh? But I’ve just showed—”

“Erm... I was kinda distracted by your flank, so I didn’t pay much of attention to what you wanted to show me.”

Rarity’s face flared up like a red carpet on fire within a heartbeat. “You’re incorrigible, Applejack,” she responded with a sickly sweet voice.

“Nah,” Applejack shrugged. “I like pies more.”

“But that doesn’t— Hmph. Look Applejack. Just watch me how I walk.”

“Mhm.”

“Applejack?”

“Yes?”

“Please stop staring at my flank...”

~*~*~

“Now, Applejack, do you remember everything that I’ve told you?” Rarity nervously shifted her hooves as the sound of a chariot approached.

Applejack nodded with heavy heart, putting her trusty hat onto the one of the mannequins in Rarity’s work room. “I will miss you, friend.”

She turned around, quickly breathed some air onto her hoof to take a quick whiff of it. It smelled minty fresh with a hint of Rarity’s perfume, which put a smile on her face, now determined more than ever before to make an ever-lasting impression on Rarity’s parents. This is not something that Applejack would do for herself, not even in a million years. But she would do it for her. She would do that for them.

Rarity flinched as the doors from the chariot now slammed shut, making her start sweating with anticipation and excitement as the list of possible reactions rushed through her mind, and with each scenario that she analyzed, she was getting more and more uncomfortable and anxious, now almost at the brink of running away instead of facing her parents with the news.

She could only faintly hear the yell of “Look out!” from the outside before a hoofball shattered the window, hitting a nearby mannequin and knock it off to the ground.

Rarity stood in the middle of the room looking in shock at the front door as they flew open, swiping the shards of glass from the path.

First to enter was Rarity’s dad; his shirt was now torn and dirty, his sombrero ruined. Close behind followed her mom with a ton of dirt on her face, her mane in a big mess. The last through the door was bouncing Sweetie Belle with specs of dirt all over herself.

“I told you that I can play hoofball as well!” Sweetie exclaimed. “O hey sis!”

“I—”

Applejack trotted in the most lady-like manner she could muster. "G-good evening," she said, successfully hiding her accent.

"Oh! You didn't say that you have visitors Rarity,” harshly interjected her father... “Why don’t you introduce us to this charming young lady?”

“I—”

“The name is Applejack,” she introduced herself with a slight bow, completely failing to hide her accent this time around, causing her to put a hoof over her mouth.

"Applejack? Oh; Rarity told us a whole lot about you in her letters, but she never told us where you’re from... Let me guess... Canterlot?”

“Hay, no. Sweet Apple Acres!”

“Sweet Apple Acres? The biggest farm in Ponyville and home of the Zap Apple Jam?”

“Yesire.”

“My grandpa told me about that when I was a filly. He also told me that Apples aren’t really into fancy things...”

“Well... you see... I... um... Rarity...” Applejack started to sweat and nervously look around for some sort of encouragement to speak her mind.

“What's that?”

“I um.... would like to... um... ask your permission to... m...“

“M?”

“mrglbh,” Applejack muttered unintelligibly.

“A what?”

“Oh I know!” Sweetie Belle squeaked as she managed to catch a part of the conversation. “Applejack wants to marry Rarity! I’ve overheard them talking about it when I was playing hide and seek with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”

Applejack’s face was now redder than a ripe tomato in a red-hot furnace on the hot summer day. If there was a chance, Applejack would melt into the ground or run away, if her legs would carry her.

“Rarity!” her mother demanded from the still-shocked unicorn upon hearing Sweetie Belle’s slip of the mouth. “Is this how we raised you?”

But Rarity couldn’t do much more than just close her mouth and hang her head. She had more than a fair share of surprises for one single day. She wanted nothing else than a warm hug from her marefriend, telling her that everything is going to be all right or that this is just a very bad dream and that she’ll wake up in their luxury bed with warm and loving breaths from a sleeping mare on her neck.

But none of those came to be.

Rarity’s mother snorted again, snapping her out of her reverie. “Well?”

“But I—”

“Is this how we raised you? We have been here for ten minutes, find out without your help that you want to get married with a mare and all you do is just stand here with your mouth open and not even introduce her to us? Where are your manners, daughter?”

“But I— We— I’ve just—”

“Well? Are you going to introduce us to her or not?”

Yet another realization, that the proper introduction of her marefriend, even with unfortunate sequence of events that occurred, was far more important than the fact, that she dated a mare, made Rarity grin and collapse to the floor a moment later.

“Such manners.”

~*~*~

Rarity could feel soft taps of a hoof on her muzzle as she slowly opened her eyes, a crimson filly unicorn in front of her eyes coming into a focus.

“Good morning Silver Streak,” she spoke softly as she gazed into the eyes of the filly, making the tapping stop.

“Hey, mom! Can I go play outside with some fillies?”

“Sure. But introduce yourself politely first.”

“Sure, mom!” the filly ran towards the entrance of the Boutique, expelling a loud burp half way out.

“Silver Streak! Manners!” Rarity shouted behind the distancing filly.

“She sure is an Apple,” Applejack snickered as she wrapped her hooves around Rarity.

“Mmmm. I’ve forgotten how a week off feels. Maybe we should have one of those more often?”

“Nah. There’s too much to do.”

“You’re right,” Rarity smiled as she turned towards her wife, stealing a kiss from the mare in front of her. “So let’s make the best of it.”

~*~*~

“Rarity? Are you okay?” Applejack asked the mare that was still lying on the floor.

Rarity nodded slightly as Applejack helped her back onto her hooves. “Mom? Dad? I have to tell you something...”

“But we already know everything Rarity,” her mom interjected. “You would like to get married to a great-granddaughter of the founders of Ponyville. And we have nothing against that.”

“I‘m pregnant.”