Breakfast.
"Perfect!" Rarity chirped as she inspected the final dress "Thank you so much for helping me like this, Applejack". "Aww! It's nothin'" the earth pony replied, blushing. "Oh, but it isn't! You have no idea how much this helps; using a ponyquin gives me a good idea of how a dress looks, but being able to see how it looks on a real Pony makes such a difference. Even if this is the thirteenth time I've made this dress" Rarity said with a smile. The garment in question was a replica of Applejack's gala dress which joined the other eleven, as well as a dozen replicas of each of the other five dresses Rarity had designed for the gala, in a large box addressed to Hoity Toity's shop in Canterlot. With a few quick flourishes of magic the box was sealed and ready for shipping "There" she sighed as she admired her work "I was worried I wouldn't finish in time, but I've finally finished! My first prestigious order! Now all that's left is to give it to the mailmare to deliver tomorrow" As she said this the unicorn smiled at the package and stroked it as if were a kitten.
Applejack smiled at the Unicorn's display "I'm happy for you Rare" she said as she joined her friend "The others are too" "Thank you Applejack" Rarity replied, glancing upward "Oh goodness. Is that really the time?" she asked "I'm sorry for keeping you here so late Applejack. It's far too late to send you home now, would you like to stay here tonight?". Applejack shrugged "Sure, if it's not too much trouble" "Oh, not at all" Rarity replied "My guest room is just down the hall, I always keep it ready in case I have unexpected guests." The pale mare ushered her friend into the hallway "The room is right at the end, over there. I apologise for not being a better hostess, but I should be going to bed right away; I need to wake up early tomorrow, the mailmare will be here to pick the order up at 8:30" "Don't worry sugarcube, I understand" the Earth Pony replied with a wry grin "Sweet Dreams"
The next morning Rarity was curled up in her bed, the warm sunlight brushed against her face, causing her eyes to flutter open. As her mind began to wake up she was presented with a dilemma; on the one hoof she felt refreshed and well rested, more than she had in days, and she certainly didn't feel the need to sleep any longer. But on the other hoof after two weeks of non-stop work and exertion, she didn't especially want to leave her comfortable bed and moment of relaxation "Well....A few more minutes couldn't hurt" she decided, snuggling into her blankets "But only a few minutes". As the unicorn settled into a comfortable position she became aware of a sweet smell in the air "Strange, where could that be coming from?" she wondered.
Her question was soon answered as the door to her bedroom opened and Applejack stepped in carrying a tray "Oh good! You're awake" the orange mare said with a smile as she walked over to the bed and set the tray in front of Rarity "I made you something". Rarity regarded the tray in front of her the way one might regard an old, favoured, childhood toy; after having gone for a while without giving it a thought, now that she was faced with it she wondered how she ever managed to be without it for so long. She distinctly remembered having a sandwich and a nap at some point in the past few days but everything bout the past week seemed so fuzzy now...."Are those....Sweet carrot pancakes?". Applejack replied with a nod as the Unicorn sampled her treat "They're perfect! How did you know these are my favourite?" she asked. "You....uh....sort of told me. When I walked by your room earlier you were mutterin' in your sleep, cider season's still a while off but I figured the pancakes would be doable" the orange mare replied with a wink. Rarity's pale cheeks went bright red from embarrassment, which she attempted to hide beneath her blankets. Applejack chuckled "Hey now, it's nothin' worth getting embarrassed over" "Yes it is~" Rarity whined "It's bad enough to occasionally have the carrot pancake dream, let alone speak during it and having somepony hear it" Applejack seriously doubted that the dream was as infrequent as her friend made it up to be, considering she had given it a title like "The carrot pancake dream", but decided not to embarrass her further and let the issue drop. "Whatever you say, sugarcube. Still it's good you had it today, since I was able to make you breakfast in bed....or I guess it's more like lunch in bed, since it's already 11:30"
"11:30!?" Rarity squealed in horror "Oh nonononono! Now the only way I can have the order delivered on time is if I drop it off myself! Let's see, if I start getting ready now, I should be able to-" "Hold on Sugarcube" Applejack said "Before you go working yourself up, I already took care of sending your order" "You....you did?" the pale mare asked in a stunned whisper, Applejack nodded "Yep. You looked pretty tired last night and I'm used to getting up at dawn, so I was awake already and thought I'd take care of your package so you could get a little more sleep". "Thank you" Rarity replied quietly before a small smile crept across her face "Goodness. First you agree to model for me, and now you've taken care of sending my order off and made my favourite pancakes for me; you've done more to celebrate my first important order than I have" she laughed. "I didn't think of it that way, but I guess I have" the Earth Pony said "Though really I just wanted to apologise to you" "Apologise?" "Uh-huh, for the...."other" dresses. I mean, I know I wasn't the only one who's guilty and you said you forgave us, but I just feel bad about what happened. I know how much your work means to you and we nearly ruined it because we didn't think about what you wanted. And even though it all turned out alright, I can't help thinking we should have noticed how you felt, especially after what happened when Twilight got the tickets. We all should have noticed you weren't happy with those dresses, I should have noticed....So I wanted to do something for you to help make up for it, at least a little"
"Oh Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed, touched by the earth pony's sentiment "Thank you so much! That was so thoughtful of you, you didn't have do all of this...." Her speech trailed off as she turned to Applejack, looking at the orange mare caused her to notice something different about her; Rarity had always considered Applejack pretty, even when they were fillies she had wanted to just once get her hooves on her blonde mane or introduce her to her good friend the makeup kit and bring some of Applejack's potential to the surface. But looking at her this time was different, perhaps it was that Rarity felt the best she had in days which made everything seem as refreshed as she felt, or the thoughtfulness the earth pony was displaying causing the unicorn to see her in a new light, or maybe it had always been there and she was only seeing it now, but there was a sunny glow to her that she had never seen in her before. Looking at her Rarity didn't see the hidden potential she had before, in that moment Applejack truely shined with her potential there for all to see.
"Sugarcube, are you alright?" the earth pony in question asked "You just spaced out there". Rarity nodded "I'm fine, I just noticed something....wonderful"
*****
This may be a bit odd, it doesn't really seem to be shippy until closer to the end and there's also a point that looks like it's more "Rarity x pancakes", I wanted to do a few stories that connect to each other and the actual series (especially since I'm a bit reluctant to post shipping in an actual story). The next one is supposed to tie into the season 1 finale if anyone wants to help me write these a bit faster
Next prompt: Class.