//------------------------------//
// 61. Rile - by The 8-Bit Flame Princess 
// Story: RariJack - The Compilation of Prompts 
// by Titanium Dragon 
//------------------------------//


The 8-Bit Flame Princess



Rile






"Applejack, could you at least try and brush your mane for once?" Rarity said, wincing as Applejack glared at her - the look had been known to make mountains quiver.

"Not all of us have the opportunity to make ourselves look real pretty now, Rarity," Applejack said stubbornly, standing up from where she'd been sitting on the couch and going to look out the window. Rarity tossed her own mane.

"Well, you've got the time now, haven't you?" she asked. "Let me do your hair, darling. Just the once."

The corners of Applejack's mouth lifted into a small smile. "Are you meanin' to tell me the whole darn reason you asked me over here today was so you could braid my hair like a filly?"

Rarity scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous ... that was only 25% of the reason."

"And what was the other 75%?"

"Never mind, dear. Now, may I do your hair or not?"

Applejack sighed. Rarity was going to keep pestering her if she didn't give in, and there was no way in Equestria she wanted to hear Rarity whine at her.

"Fine." She sighed again.

Rarity squealed in excitement. "Oh, you won't regret this, dear. Trust me!"

"Just get it over with, plea - hey!" AJ complained as Rarity yanked her over to sit on her haunches beside the coach, and undid her hair ties with magic.

"Now, just sit still," she commanded. Applejack could almost feel Rarity looming above her while sitting on the couch, brandishing all her hair products. It made her feel very small very suddenly for some reason. Rarity had always seemed larger than life, larger than small-town living. She was as large as life in Canterlot, bigger and bustling and brighter and just more than anything Applejack knew. She was overwhelming.

A sharp tug on her hair brought her out of her thoughts.

"Could you try and be a little more gentle?" Applejack asked.

"Could you stop fidgeting? It's very distracting," Rarity said, but she said it fondly, and Applejack found she didn't mind complying and had no retort to make.

They spent time in comfortable silence, Rarity's brush combing through Applejack's blonde mane, easing out the tangles and frizz. It hurt at first, but soon, as rarity continued her efforts, it grew softer and softer until running a brush through AJ's mane was almost like running it through water.

"Like melted down gold," Rarity muttered.

"Did you say something, sugarcube?"

"No, no, I ... Nothing. Stay still," Rarity said, applying a gel to smooth down her mane. Applejack shivered slightly. "Done."

"That's it?" Applejack was shocked; she had expected something like this to take longer for some reason.

"Darling, it was half an hour. I wasn't expecting it to take that long myself," Rarity commented, as if she had read her mind. Applejack really didn't believe it had been that long. How could it have been that long, when all she did was spend it in silence with Rarity? She thought she'd have felt time drag on by in an event like that.

"Well, don't you want to see how it looks?" Rarity didn't wait for a response but simply dragged Applejack over to the full length mirror hanging on the wall.

Applejack stared at herself. It seemed as if Rarity had barely done anything, but there was a huge difference in her appearance. Her mane was loose and hanging down in soft waves like sunbeams. She stared at herself in shock for a minute.

"What do you think? Don't you look simply stunning?" Rarity said. She was feeling particularly proud of her work for some reason.

"Ah guess," Applejack said. "Do you think I look pretty?" she asked. Suddenly, it was of the utmost importance that Rarity answered this, and she didn't know why. It left an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

There was silence for a minute. Rarity blinked. "You look wonderful now, dear," she said.

"So what about the other times?"

"I-I'm not sure what you mean, Applejack," Rarity stammered.

Applejack snorted. "Of course ya don't. All you fancy people like is style. As soon as that goes away, you don't see anything."

Rarity tensed. "That is a ridiculous notion to make!" she exclaimed. "Applejack, you know I am nothing like any of those Canterlot ponies in this regard. I wouldn't be that type of pony ever, especially to you!"

"Then just say that I'm pretty!" Applejack yelled at her, blood rushing to her face. She stared Rarity down for a moment, and then turned away. She couldn't believe she was getting upset about something so small, but for some reason it mattered to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know why.

"I think it's time I took my leave of absence. Goodbye, Rarity," Applejack said coldly, placing her hat on top of her hair and then leaving, taking extra care to slam the door.

Rarity winced. "Oh dear," she said to herself, staring at the red hair ties AJ had left behind, lying limply on the ground like flattened rose petals. "Oh dear," she repeated. "I think I've made a very big mistake."





Next prompt: Wooer