Honey

by Linkinshire

Life is the Flower...

... for which Love is the Honey

Applejack is cooking up a storm, whistling a tune as she trots merrily around the kitchen with a cheerful bounce in her step. Rarity isn't the most talented of chefs, despite her horror towards her little sister. It's a fact which had bemused Applejack to no end when she found out that Rarity can tell thirty different wines apart from smell alone but she doesn't know the difference between parsley and basil.

Kind of hypocritical of her to chide her sister so regularly when the only meal she can make flawlessly is a Caesar salad.

And so Applejack cooks. She loves cooking and if Rarity were around at the minute, she'd be drilling some basic lessons into the unicorn so that she could better feed herself. As it is, Rarity is pacing upstairs in her creativity room, working to improve what she has called, 'a crime upon the eyes, a stain upon my fashion repertoire, the bane of my worldly existence' and many more things that she'd dubbed the dress with a hoof to her forehead in mid-swoon. Applejack smiles at the thought. She's such a drama mare. It wasn't near as bad as she was making it out to be.

Applejack knows better than to say that though. Rarity will likely just give her the look that suggests that she leave the vicinity very quickly because she just didn't 'understand the woes of a seamstress'.

So instead of sitting and drawing wrath upon herself, she's cooking dinner.

“AGH! NOTHING'S WORKING!”

Applejack stops dead then looks up at the roof above her head. It's quiet again... ominously so.

“Don't you dare, Applejack. Don't ya' even think 'bout goin' up there...” She's thinking it though. “No... Ya' ain't gon' do it... No...”

Her hooves betray her and she finds herself heading up the stairs towards what can only be her doom. Rarity doesn't like to be interrupted when she's working. Rarity really doesn't like to be interrupted when she's working.

“Ya' can stop now. There ain't no obligation, she's probably fine jus'... stop walkin' and everything will be good...” Her hooves continue to ignore her. Her heart seems to have a direct line to the traitorous limbs... “Ya' gon' die, Applejack... Stop... Stop before it's too late...”

She knocks on the door at the top of the stairs then blinks at herself.

“Okay... Fine... Now ya' die. That's nice. Ah didn't even get see Bloom get 'er cutie mark but that's just-” The door swings open. “Rarity!” She greets with a nervous smile. The mare looks... annoyed. So annoyed that Applejack's a little afraid that she might melt under the scowl burrowing into her eyeballs.

She's still pretty even when she's scowling.

“Applejack... Whatever it is... I don't have time for it. If I don't get this order finished then...” She trails off and she sighs softly and her eyes lower. She suddenly looks much less frustrated and much more tired. Applejack frowns at the sight.

“What's wrong, Rares?” She asks gently, wary of stepping into the room but her hooves itching to wrap around the alabaster mare.

“I-... It needs to be perfect...” Rarity says then she steps back and leaves the door wide to allow Applejack to enter. She steps in cautiously, glancing around at the mess but she doesn't comment. Rarity is clearly very upset about something. Applejack steps up to the dress and gazes at it thoughtfully. It seems kind of... dark for Rarity. It doesn't look like a dress for anything... fun or happy. It's still stunningly beautiful, all of Rarity's creations are but this one is... different.

“It's a beauty, sugar cube. What's got ya' so upset?” Applejack questions coaxingly and Rarity sighs again then steps up to the earth pony and into a waiting embrace. She leans into Applejack's chest, burying her face into her blond, hay and earth scented mane. She'd once said that she found it reassuring.

Applejack nuzzles her gently.

“The dress... It makes me want to cry...”

Applejack's frown deepens.

“Why, Rares? It's a gem. It's clear see how much care you've taken an' it pays off,” She returns and Rarity shakes her head slightly.

“Not the dress itself,” She says then she looks to it. “More... what it's for,” She adds and Applejack hesitates a moment, stroking Rarity's soft purple mane soothingly.

“What's it for, Rares?”

“A funeral.”

“You've made them before, haven't ya'?” Applejack murmurs.

“Yes...” Rarity confirms then she releases a shuddering breath, her eyes closing. “But I've never been asked to make one for a mother for their child's funeral...”

“Aw, Rares...” Applejack holds the other mare closer then places a kiss to her temple, a heavy pang in her chest. “Why didn't ya' say sooner?”

“... It's silly of me.”

“Naw... It's jus' tha' beautiful an' generous heart o' yours,” Applejack replies with a small, sad smile as she rests their foreheads together and holds Rarity's gaze. Her eyes are glazed with tears and sharp with sadness. “The dress is beautiful, Rares...”

“It's too sad... but I can't bear to think of making it happy,” Rarity explains and Applejack pauses for a moment, looking to the dress. It deepens the ache in her chest to know that a suffering mare will be wearing that soon...

“Ah say...” Applejack begins, looking back to Rarity and she smiles a tad. “...we go downstairs... and eat dinner and drink wine and talk a while... then we'll come back here and take a good long look at this gem you've made... and Ah'll tell ya' a million reasons why you doin' this is testament to how givin' ya' are.”

Rarity gazes back at Applejack for a moment then smiles. The tears that had threatened to fall are gone.

“That sounds lovely...”

And so they head downstairs and Applejack attempts to teach Rarity how to properly crack an egg and earns herself yolk down her back for her trouble. Rarity's stifled laughter almost made the slimy sensation worth it.

Almost...

When they return to the dress, Applejack merely stands and watches, flashing encouraging smiles or sneaking kisses whenever Rarity's expression starts to fall. She isn't particularly into fashion... Well, actually it practically bores her to tears so she can't help on that front but if she can keep her diamond in the rough smiling as she's working then that's good enough for her.

Rarity makes some adjustments, she sews some small emeralds onto the collar of the dress. She uses mostly green. The young filly that had died had the most adorable wild green mane.

“I've never seen anypony pull off green so well,” She says as she sews and there is a sting in her gaze... but only for a moment then she smiles fondly. “I saw her often at the hospital when I went to fetch my medicine for my migraines... She was such a charming filly,” She continues and Applejack steps up beside her and sits down next to her, entwining their tails. “You'd have liked her, Applejack... She had such a sweet tooth. She really loved your Zap apple jam...”

“Oh, yeah?” Applejack says gently.

“Mmhm. She was usually eating it when I saw her... Tended to get the stuff everywhere and...” Rarity trails off, gazing at nothing then she smiles, a gleam in her eyes. “She was such a darling...”

“Did ya' know 'er name?” Applejack asks and Rarity looks to her.

“Honeycomb...” She replies, her voice barely above a whisper and she rests her head on Applejack's shoulder and continues to sew and for a while, neither of them say anything. They don't really need to...

Applejack stretches and her back clicks. She sighs in relief then gazes at Rarity a moment. She's sleeping... sat up. How she does that is... baffling but then she's likely worn herself out with all the stress and upset from earlier.

Applejack smiles then carefully lifts the unicorn onto her back. It's easy. She weighs next to nothing really. Her head rests on Applejack's shoulder, gentle snores escaping her... Applejack kisses her cheek.

She even snores pretty.

Applejack has been made aware numerous times by her dearest that she 'snores like a hydra with a blocked nose'. Applejack rolls her eyes to herself as she heads out but smiles again despite the thought. Hell, she isn't elegant and she wouldn't want to be... That's Rarity's job.

The earth pony heads into the lavish bedroom of the unicorn along her back and is greeted by the scent of flowers and the kind of tidy and cleanliness that used to make her feel very out of place in that room. She merely walks on in though and pulls the covers back on the bed then gently places Rarity beneath them before she climbs in beside her and scoots close to her, wrapping a hoof around her waist and nuzzling the back of her neck.

“G'night, sugarcube...” She whispers and she slowly begins to drift away.

“Applejack?”

“Mm?”

“I was just wondering...”

“Uh huh...?”

“... How would you feel about having a foal?”

Applejack's eyes dart open and she is met by bright soft eyes and a smile.

“Wut?” She blurts and Rarity kisses her nose gently.

“Glad you agree. It's a wonderful idea.”

“Huh? Rares, Ah'm confused. What did Ah agree too?”

“Go to sleep, darling.”

“But-”

“Shhh...” Rarity interrupts, resting a hoof over Applejack's lips and she snuggles closer. Applejack stares into the gloom for a while.

“... But we'll never agree on a name.”

“We'll compromise, darling.”

Applejack pouts then nuzzles the unicorn, sighing softly.

“... Did ya' plan this?” She asks.

“Oddly enough... No,” Rarity replies and it is the warm sincerity in her voice that leaves Applejack smiling, more and more of her easing into the idea with each passing moment as Rarity breathes gently into her.

“Y'know... It actually sounds kinda nice...” She concedes gently and Rarity lifts her head to kiss her softly before she adjusts the blanket around them.

“It does, doesn't it?”
...

They've been sat there for a good hour now. They've been sat there for that same good hour every single day for the past four weeks, bickering across the table, drinking tea, flipping through newspapers and poking listlessly through books in an effort to find what they're looking for. Applejack's patience is nearing it's end and Rarity seems to be determined to make the whole thing as difficult as possible.

Applejack blinks, staring across the table at Rarity's tea. She drinks Oolong, imported and far too fancy for Applejack's taste... She drinks it with honey.

“Ah've got an idea...” Applejack murmurs and the idea has just struck her and she can't shift it now. It's embedded itself firmly in her mind. She can't get rid of the sudden thought that this one could be the one... The one that clicks, that they can agree on. It'll mean something to them both, something beyond it being an apple name, something more than that...

She looks up to Rarity and the mare is silent, gazing at her in anticipation. She can tell that this one is going to be something special.

Applejack smiles more every second that she thinks about it.

“What?” Rarity presses and Applejack takes an alabaster hoof in both of her own and holds the stunning eyes of her sugarcube for a moment longer before she takes a deep breath.

“... Honeycrisp...” She says gently and Rarity blinks. Applejack can see her make the connection to the filly that sourced this brilliant idea all those weeks ago.

“Honeycrisp...” She repeats in a murmur. Applejack waits anxiously, fighting the urge to fidget in her seat as she watches Rarity think. Then a smile forms across her lips and Applejack grins warmly. They've got it. “Honeycrisp...” Rarity says again and her eyes shine. “It's perfect.”

Yes... Yes, it is...

Author's Note:

I love this pairing. :)

Feedback is, as always, appreciated.

Comments

[Dusty Sage]

I admit I didn't love this pairing, but you've made it a lot more believable.

[EquesTRON]

They've been sat there for a good hour now. They've been sat there for that same good hour every single day for the past four weeks

This is why writing in present tense is generally a bad idea; it leads to awkward and grammatically-incorrect constructions like "They've been sat" whenever the author suddenly finds that they need to describe something in the past tense, but can't switch away from present-tense verbs to do it.

My advice? Consider rewriting this whole thing in 3rd-person past tense. Present-tense narrative really only works well for a character's inner thoughts, dream sequences and hallucinations, and so on. (It can sometimes work as first-person narrative, but again, it has to be handled carefully to keep it from going off the rails.) Past-tense narrative reads much more naturally to most readers, and won't require you to resort to awkward constructions like "they've been sat."

(An' consider cuttin' back on th' coffee.)
(What?)
(Yeah, then y'all won't be so tense.)
(*sigh* Say goodnight, Applejack.)
(G'night, Applejack.)