//------------------------------// // 66. Learning - by Twilight-the-pony // Story: RariJack - The Compilation of Prompts // by Titanium Dragon //------------------------------// Twilight-the-pony Learning Another day, another fruitless day behind her books. A familiar everyday grinding, that she heard from everypony, that is supposed to help later in life. Applejack snorted. "This is pointless," she muttered to nopony. "How is this gonna help me with mah applebucking?" She sighed and moved her books away from her. "Bah. This is boring... But Ah still have time..." A knock on the wooden door resounded throughout Applejack's room. "Applejack?" A familiar voice sounded. "When yer done with studying, there are still plenty of apples that need to be bucked, an' every pair hooves will come handy." "Ah hear ya, big brother. Gimme a minute or two," Applejack replied with a smile. Yes! Freedom! she thought. ~*~*~ In the morning, the school’s bell rang, making Rarity cover her ears and groan. “Oh, sweet Celestia. Make it stop!” Applejack chuckled. “Rough night?” “I was studying until early morning,” Rarity replied. “I only had about four hours of sleep, and it’s not even close to be good enough for my beauty.” She looked up to see a cheerful pony in front of her. “On the other hoof, you look well rested,” she continued with a hint of jealousy. “Well... Uh... Ah... Er...” Rarity’s ears perked and her eyes opened wide. “Applejack? You... did study, right?” “Of course Ah did!” “Mhm,” Rarity replied in unconvinced tone. “Applejack, you know that everypony knows when you’re lying, right?” “Ah’m not lying!” Applejack cried in her defence. “Ah studied!” “Mmh. For how long?” Applejack muttered something unintelligible in her response. Suddenly, the wooden floor became much more interesting than her friend’s face. “Can you please repeat that? I didn’t catch it.” “F-five minutes,” Applejack repeated herself with a whisper, but loud enough for Rarity to catch it. “Applejack!” she said with a commanding voice. “Exam is tomorrow, and you barely opened a book! This is your last chance to pass!” “Ah don’t really care. This whole school is stup—” Rarity stomped her hoof, “Applejack!” Her tone was intimidating, but void of threat. “Look; I don’t want to sound like Miss Velvet, but school is important.” Applejack snorted. “Sure it is...” “It really is, Applejack,” Rarity replied in a soothing voice. “You would be surprised how many times things that you deem meaningless come handy. For instance, calculating an angle to cut the fabric just the right way so it fits into—” “Ah get it, Ah get it,” Applejack grumbled. “Ah’ll study.” Rarity smiled. “I can help you with study, if you want me to.” “Ah’m fine!” Applejack paused for a moment and tapped her muzzle with her hoof. “Ah might need some help here and there, though.” ~*~*~ The door to Applejack’s room opened with a squeak, revealing its interior. Rarity couldn’t help herself but to open her mouth and stare in disbelief. When she was a filly she saw the statue of Discord in one of her classes’ excursion in the Canterlot Gardens. She heard about the legends, how he literally turned entire Equestria upside down, but she never thought that she would ever witness such chaos. Discarded paper and books were lying all over the room, Applejack’s bed was not made, and Rarity could swear that she could see something out of this world chewing on a pile of something she couldn’t identify that very moment. “And?” Applejack asked her friend. “What do you think?” Rarity flinched as somepony would poke her with a red hot needle. “Rares? You okay?” “I-I-” Rarity paused for a moment in an attempt to calm herself down. “How can you find anything in here?” “Simple,” Applejack replied. “Ah know where everything is. For instance...” She scratched her mane. “Now where did Ah put that book? Ah was certain that... Hm...” “You mean this one?” Rarity pulled out a book under the bed in the glow of her magic. “Yeah,” Applejack replied. “Ah’d look there next.” Rarity sighed. “We should clean this up before anything else.” “Why?” “This is going to be a very long night,” Rarity muttered to herself. ~*~*~ Hours later, when the room was in satisfactory state for Rarity, the pair sat on the freshly-covered bed, each grabbing their book without a fear that a monster, that later turned out to be Applejack’s new dog Winona, who gnawed on her tail, would jump out of the shadows and eat them. An hour later, Applejack raised her head and looked at Rarity. “Ah’m doomed.” “What is wrong, Applejack?” “Ah won’t be able to learn everything by tomorrow. It’s just too much.” “Nonsense, Applejack. You don’t need to know everything... Just, you know, well enough.” Applejack smacked her head against her book as a sign of disapproval. “What’s giving you the most trouble?” Applejack groaned, her head still on the book. “Anatomy.” “Really?” She chuckled. “That’s the easiest subject ever!” Applejack tilted her head. “Don’t believe me, I see. Look, it’s simple!” Rarity poked Applejack’s chest, making her flinch. “Be still,” she commanded softly. “This here is a heart,” she said while drawing the general shape of the heart on her friend’s chest. "It's divided into four parts... This here is the left ventricle, and just above it is the atrium. Same on this side... The left atrium is connected to the aorta which goes... Applejack? Are you listening?" But instead of a vocal answer, Applejack replied with soft snores. Her muzzle was tainted softly red, and her lips emitted blissful grin. Rarity chuckled. "Miss Sleepyhead?" she asked with a little more than a whisper. "Are you still alive?" Another peaceful exhale. “Applejack?” Rarity waited for a few moments, but again, her question bore no response. She looked at the muzzle of her sleeping friend and smiled. I wonder how it feels... Out of curiosity, she closed her eyes and pushed her muzzle forward. What felt like long minutes later, the muzzles touched, jolt of electricity surging through her entire body. She opened her eyes, just to see her own reflection in her friend’s emerald eyes. In shock, Rarity almost fell off the bed, her face flush bright red. “I-I’m sorry, Applejack! I really don’t know what came over me... I just—” “How was it?” Rarity blinked. Out of all possible questions, this wasn’t the one she expected. She expected a scowl or silence treatment, but a genuinely a curious question? She paused for a moment to calm herself down and to find words that would describe what she felt. “It was... absolutely wonderful. I never thought that I—” Her words were cut off by a soft brush of the orange muzzle, shortly followed by a passionate kiss. “Applejack?” she muttered through the locked lips. The kiss broke. “Hm?” “Exams? Study?” Applejack blinked and hit her face with her hoof. “Rares?” “Hm?” “Can ya stay here tonight?” “I don’t have much choice, do I?” Rarity smiled and leaned her head on the orange shoulder. “For more than one reason.” She rubbed her muzzle against Applejack’s. “Now where we? Oh, yes. The heart.” She started to draw shapes on the orange chest again, but this time Applejack had no intention to succumb to her tiredness again; she had no reason to do so. All the boring lessons became immensely interesting and every line that Rarity drew on her chest became alive. Applejack smiled. This would be a very long night for both of them, but neither would complain. ~*~*~ “Applejack? Can I talk to you for a moment?” “Yes, Miss Velvet?” Applejack and Rarity stopped. “I was watching you throughout the entire exam, and...” She sifted through the set of parchments that were left by the students, until she stumbled on Applejack’s. “Ah, here we go. Let’s see...” Velvet Melody picked up a red marker and looked at Applejack’s exam carefully, half-muttering unintelligibly. “Is there something wrong, Miss Velvet?” Applejack asked in a concerned voice. “Not at all, Applejack.” She smiled. “As a matter of fact, most of the answers were correct and not to mention, needlessly detailed. I’m quite impressed.” “Miss Velvet?” “Considering the test exam from last week, I was sure you would fail. How did you manage to—” Applejack nuzzled the inpatient Rarity affectionately. “I see,” Velvet Melody mused. “So, now that the school is done with, what are my favorite students going to do?” Applejack groaned and yawned. “Sleep. We had been up all night. Can we go now, Miss Velvet?” She nudged Rarity. “Hey, Rares? You okay there?” “Mhm.” Next prompt: Diamond