The sun was beginning to set by the time Rarity was ahoof in the streets. As wonderful as it had been to play with Sweetie Belle like that, she was anxious to find Applejack and tell her the good news. If she hurried, she might still make it to Sweet Apple Acres before sundown. As she galloped through Ponyville, however, she found herself becoming winded very quickly. Finally, she was forced to stop at the town fountain, sitting down on her haunches to catch her breath.
“Whew!...My goodness!...I don’t usually...usually run that fast...Gracious, I’m out of shape…Perhaps I need to lose...just a little weight…”
“Whatever you wanna do’s fine with me, Rare..”
Rarity looked up in delighted surprise. That voice could only belong to one pony! Sure enough, there she was, her body gilded beautifully by the orange-golden glow of the setting sun: her smiling Applejack.
“Applejack! Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”
“So am I!” said Applejack. “Ah’ve got great news!”
“Me too!”
“They said yes!”
This exclamation came from both mares at the exact same time. Both stared at each other for a second, then both faces split into identical, gleeful smiles.
“You mean yer folks-” began Applejack.
“Yes!” finished Rarity. “And Granny Smith and Big Macintosh?”
“Eeyup!”
“Oh, Applejack!!”
With a delighted squeal, Rarity launched herself at the farm pony, throwing her forelegs around her so hard her hind legs left the ground. Anypony of average physical strength might have crumpled under Rarity’s increased weight, but Applejack, with that applebucking muscle that never failed her, supported her easily, hugging her in return and planting a lick on her muzzle for good measure. Rarity responded with a kiss right on the freckles.
“I’m so happy…” the demure unicorn murmured, her eyes growing wet with happy tears.
“Me too, Rare...me too…” said Applejack, pressing her cheek against Rarity’s.
“Whoa, is this a bad time?”
Both mares froze, eyes snapping wide open. They looked up, and saw a cloud hanging high over their heads. Peering over its fluffy brim was Rainbow Dash, her rose-colored eyes wide as she stared down at the two.
“Rainbow Dash!” spluttered Rarity, her pearl-white cheeks turning a brilliant magenta. “How long have you been there?”
“Eh, all afternoon,” Rainbow shrugged. “I was-”
“Nappin’?” Applejack supplied, raising an eyebrow.
“Lucky guess,” said Rainbow, with a snort.
She rolled off the cloud and floated down towards the pair, stretching and yawning as she did so. Applejack and Rarity could hear the crack of her joints.
“I woke up when I heard Rarity shouting your name, AJ,” she went on. “I’ll admit, I wondered what was going on, but I never guessed it’d be anything like this.”
Applejack winced slightly at the emphasis on the word ‘this’. However, rather than looking abashed, she seemed to grow more defiant. Gently releasing Rarity, she tugged the brim of her hat and glared pugnaciously up at the blue pegasus.
“You got a problem with that, Rainbow Dash?” she asked, in a deadly voice.
“What, me?” asked Rainbow, a playful smirk playing across her muzzle. “Why would I?”
“You obviously think it’s funny,” Applejack retorted. “Ah won’t have ya laughin’ about me an’ Rarity, y’hear?!”
Rainbow looked genuinely alarmed at this. It wasn’t often that she heard Applejack this angry. Sure, they bantered with each other when they raced or competed, but that was just fun. This, however...AJ was serious.
“Whoa, whoa, AJ, calm down,” she said, holding up her hooves in a placating way. “I wasn’t making fun of you or anything. I just…”
“Just what?” asked Applejack, still glaring.
“I just...well, I never realized you had such a soft side,” said Rainbow, the grin back on her face.
Applejack raised her eyebrows slightly. On the one hoof, she was glad that her being with Rarity wasn’t what was so funny. On the other hoof, the svelte pegasus was still making fun of her.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. “Ah ain’t got a heart of stone, you know that. If anythin’, Ah could say the same for you with Scootaloo.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“That’s different. Stuff with me and Scoot, or you with Apple Bloom, or Rares with Sweetie Belle, that’s sister stuff. I had no idea you’d been in the market for a special somepony.”
Applejack’s cheeks flushed slightly. Rarity didn’t say it, but the farm mare looked quite adorable when she was embarrassed; the way her freckles stood out against the red of her cheeks reminded her of two chubby little strawberries.
“It’s a long story,” said Applejack, ‘but Ah ain’t ashamed to say it: Rarity and Ah are special someponies.”
She threw a foreleg around Rarity’s withers, then waited, possibly for Rainbow to start jeering at her now that it was out in the open. A few seconds passed, then Rainbow smiled in a genuine way.
“Hey, that’s cool with me,” she said. “Congrats.”
Applejack and Rarity stared. This wasn't the reaction the former had been expecting.
“So, yer OK with Rarity and me bein...?" she began.
“Sure, why wouldn't I be?” asked Rainbow. “If you thought it'd be the whole the ‘two mares’ thing, lemme give ya a news flash: you two aren’t the first. I had a couple friends back in flight camp, both mares, who ended up going out with each other when they got older. Got along like peaches and cream from the start.”
Applejack’s expression softened considerably, and Rarity smiled with relief. Hearing Rainbow Dash being so breezy about a topic like this was very reassuring.
“And besides,” Rainbow added, “I thought something was going on between you two. I just didn’t realize what it was at the time.”
“Have we really been that obvious?” asked Rarity, sighing.
“Obvious about what?”
Rarity felt like she was going to have a heart attack. That was another voice she recognized: innocent, curious, and polite. Lo and behold, Fluttershy came trotting up, followed closely by Twilight and Pinkie Pie, the latter bouncing along as was her usual custom. Applejack looked similarly flummoxed.
“Hiya!” said Pinkie. “Funny running into you girls here! I was just telling Twilight and Fluttershy, since I ran into them while out walking, ‘wouldn’t it be hilarious if Dashie, AJ, and Rarity met up with us too? That’d be a wild coinky-dink!’ And here you are, and it is a wild coinky-dink!”
She grinned squeakily, as Twilight rolled her eyes.
“What’s going on?” asked Fluttershy. “We thought we heard you and Rainbow Dash arguing, Applejack. Did you two have another Iron Pony competition without telling us?”
“Heh, nah, nothing like that,” said Rainbow Dash. “Though if we had, AJ’d still be the one doing all the yelling, cuz I’ve been training to whoop her rump without needing my wings.”
“Well, at least you’ve learned t’ stop cheatin’,” said Applejack, with a playful grin, and Rainbow shot her a sharp look.
“They were talking about AJ and Rarity being special someponies!” said Pinkie.
Fluttershy’s mouth fell open, her pupils reduced to two sea-green dots of shock. Once again, Rarity felt as if her heart would fail, so casually did Pinkie throw that out there. As much as she loved the plump Earth pony as a friend, her knack for being bluntly truthful when no one expected it could be very discomforting, to say the least.
Pinkie, meanwhile, looked cheerfully from the flushed Rarity and Applejack, to the grinning Rainbow Dash, to the stunned Fluttershy, then to an exasperated Twilight. Her smile faltered.
“Whaaat?” she asked, innocently. “...Ohhh, was I supposed to let them say it? Oopsie.”
“It’s all right, Pinkie,” said Applejack, wearily. “That cat’s pretty much out of the bag already.”
Pinkie gasped.
“You put Opal in a bag? Why would you do that?! I mean, I know she’s not a very nice kitty, but-”
“Never mind, Pinkie,” said Rarity, forcefully.
Even though she spoke to Pinkie, her eyes were on Fluttershy. The slender pegasus still looked at a complete loss for words. Her eyes were roving from Rarity to Applejack and back again. Rarity waited on tenterhooks for her to finally say something, anything…
Then, at last, Fluttershy’s face broke into a wide, adorable smile, her eyes growing wide.
“Oh, how wonderful!” she gushed. “I knew you two were close as friends, but this...Oh, you’re just perfect for each other! Congratulations!”
She rushed forward and threw her hooves around both of them. Rarity’s eyes grew watery again as she happily nuzzled her pegasus friend, and Applejack grinned as she patted her on the back.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” she said. “That means a lot.”
“Hey, don’t leave me out!” said Pinkie. “Where hugs and cuddles and nuzzles abound, Pinkie Pie will join at the speed of sound!”
She thereby threw herself in, making a four-way group hug, and nearly toppling everypony with the force of her embrace. Rainbow and Twilight exchanged amused smiles, then the hug-party broke up, turning to face the lavender alicorn.
“You knew already, didn’t you, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“Mm-hmm,” said Twilight. “A little birdy, er, dragon, told me.”
It took, perhaps, two seconds for the meaning of this to sink in. After that, Rarity’s eyes widened, a little gasp escaping her.
“Spikey-wikey knows too?”
“Yes, he does,” said Twilight, her voice taking on a slightly colder edge. “He said Sweetie Belle ran into him yesterday and told him what happened down at the pond.”
A subtle, yet perceptible chill seemed to settle upon the group of six at this. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked askance at each other pensively, and even Pinkie’s expression became noticeable subdued.
“Oh,” was all Applejack had to say, an awkward look on her face.
Rarity, however, looked blank.
“What are all of you so worried about?” she asked.
Twilight looked as though she couldn’t believe her ears.
“What are we so worried about?” she repeated. “Rarity, this is Spike we’re talking about. Spike!”
“Yes, Twilight, I am fully aware that you said he’d found out,” said Rarity, sounding both impatient and uncomprehending. “I suppose it was only natural for Sweetie Belle to blab, excitable little scamp that she is, but she never told my parents until I said it myself.”
Twilight clapped a hoof to her temple in exasperation. She couldn’t believe Rarity was being so dense! Usually it was Pinkie or, rarely, Fluttershy who needed further explanation.
“Rarity…” she said, in the tone of one trying desperately not to lose their temper, “don’t you remember about Spike’s...you know?”
“His…” Rarity began, confused.
Then, her eyes went very round. The answer seemed to have hit home at last.
“Ohhhh,” she said.
Twilight nodded grimly. However, to her indignation, and to everypony else’s surprise, Rarity actually smiled.
“Oh, come now, Twilight,” she said. “You can’t honestly be suggesting what I think you are. It was just a silly foalhood crush. We all go through them when we’re younger, and then simply move on after a time. Spikey-poo and I have always been friends. Surely he knows that.”
Her amusement, however, died away as she saw the expressions on her friends’ faces. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie looked disbelievingly back at her. Applejack looked slightly exasperated, but Twilight looked furious, an icy glint in her amethyst-colored eyes.
“What?” asked Rarity, discomforted.
“I knew you never took his crush on you seriously,” said Twilight, in a low and dangerous voice, “but I never realized it was this bad. You think he never meant it, did you? That it was never serious?”
Rarity said nothing. She really did not like where Twilight was going with this.
“Do you know what Spike did when he came home yesterday?” Twilight asked.
Rarity shook her head, half-dreading the answer, which could not be good.
“He was trudging back, looking like his heart had been stomped into jelly,” said Twilight. “I’d never seen him so miserable. He tried to shut himself up in his room, but I managed to get in to talk with him. He was really broken up, Rarity. He wants to be happy for the two of you, but he’s hurt about you completely ignoring his crush like that. He feels the least you could have done was tell him yourself, even if you did think it was something so ‘silly’...”
Rarity took a step back, mouth open, everypony’s eyes on her. Twilight wasn’t shouting, but the soft, cold tone of her voice was just as bad, if not worse. She felt as if each hurtful word was being hurled at her like a throwing knife, sticking into her barrel, making the happiness that had been filling her moments ago leak out.
“...Like his heart had been stomped into jelly…”
“...Never seen him so miserable…”
“...Really broken up…”
“...Completely ignoring his crush like that…”
“...Twilight…” she said, finally, in a soft, anguished voice. “I...I never meant to...you know I would never mean to hurt my little Spikey-poo…I never thought it would hurt him that badly...”
Twilight’s glare softened a fraction, and she sighed.
“I know,” she said. “But it did. He’s been holed up in his room since yesterday.”
Rarity put her hoof to her mouth, a tear running down her cheek. How could she have been so thoughtless? She knew Spike had been fascinated with her, wanted to be close to her, but never thought that desire was this serious...How could she have let this happen?...
“...What can I do, Twilight?” she asked.
“Go talk to him,” said Twilight, glad to see Rarity was giving the situation what it merited. “Talk it out, put the matter to rest.”
Rarity swallowed.
“Talk to him?” she repeated, hesitantly.
“Yes,” said Twilight, seriously. “Only you can sort this out with him.”
Rarity bit her lip, looking uncomfortable. Twilight crossed over, making her recoil slightly, as though worried she might hit her. However, Twilight merely put a foreleg around her withers, pulling her into a gentle hug.
“I’m not trying to ruin your happiness,” she assured her. “I really am happy for you and Applejack, but if you two are going to be an item, you have to resolve this issue with Spike. He really wants to talk it out with you. He won’t be fully happy again until you do.”
Rarity wiped at her eyes, sniffling. She didn’t want Spike to suffer on her account. There was only one thing for it…
“...All right, Twilight. I’ll speak with Spike. I owe him that.”
Twilight nodded, with a small smile.
“Good,” she said. “You and Applejack can come back to the castle with me, then.”
“Me too?” asked Applejack, in slight surprise.
“Yes,” said Twilight. “You should be there too, AJ. Spike will want to congratulate you.”
Applejack grinned halfheartedly.
“Excuse us, then, girls,” said Twilight.
“You got it,” said Rainbow, seriously.
“Good luck,” said Fluttershy.
Pinkie, quite unlike her usual self, said nothing. She seemed to understand how serious the situation was, and would not disturb it with her normal buoyancy. The three watched as Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity turned around, and made their way toward Twilight’s castle, the latter taking the rear, her legs feeling like lead...