Chapter 1 - The Farmer
Mid February, 1004 A.D. (After Discord)
The life of a farmer is a simple one; rise with the sun, care for the farm animals, buck apples or at least care for the trees during the off seasons. Most ponies of the Apple Family enjoyed this kind of life (with a few exceptions) and Applejack was no different, the farm being her whole life and livelihood; until a prissy, fussy fashionista blew into her life along with five other ponies (and a dragon).
That Summer Sun Celebration changed a lot of things in town, the first being that the lavender unicorn, who led the five newly made friends, would be staying in Ponyville. The second was that Applejack became more social aside from the usual help she provided around town, having actual friends and even best friends compared to close acquaintances.
This also meant that Applejack would run into the most socially up-to-date unicorn in town very often, who's task in life seemed to be making Applejack's life not so simple; from eating to clothing, everything the farmer did was 'wrong' and 'uncouth'.
It got so bad that Applejack was more than willing to call off their friendship, anything to get back to the simple life she craved. Just as it was almost all over, a storm came through; a physical one made by the weather team and following shortly afterwards was a storm of understanding as the two opposite ponies were forced to take shelter with the residential librarian.
It was at this by the book sleepover that the farmer found understanding of the fashionista and the start of their friendship on the mend. It was a chance to see some of why the gray-white unicorn acted like she did, though it didn't explain everything. Since then, the orange earth pony has been trying to slowly understand the unicorn and took every opportunity she could to try and unravel the mystery that was commonly known as 'Rarity'.
The orange earth pony found that she wanted to understand even more and took every chance to do so; one such chance to see the fashion pony at work arrived when Twilight said how she wanted Rarity to look at an old dress of hers for the upcoming Gala.
Applejack had been working the apple stand when the chance to see the clothes designer at work came so the orange mare had to close the stand early and push it to rest next to the boutique for safe keeping.
As the two friends walked into the empty front lobby, Applejack took a moment to look at some of the dresses on display, trying to understand how they would be useful to workers.
They searched the ground floor and couldn't find the gray-white pony. Just as they were starting to get worried, they heard the pony in question upstairs, talking to herself about her latest creation.
“I guess she wouldn't mind if we went upstairs to find her, she must not have heard the bell chime.” Twilight looked at Applejack with a brow raised, as though to ask if her assumption was correct.
“Ah reck' so; shop sign said it was 'open',” Applejack eyed the stairs for a moment before leading the way up. While they weren't sure which door held the fashionista, they heard the meow from a room to their right and stared at the closed door.
“Do you think we should knock?” Twilight whispered as she flicked an ear to the door to see if that was indeed where the other unicorn was located.
“Shoot. 'Course we should knock, it's only polite.” Before Twilight could make a move the orange farmer proceeded to knock soundly on the door followed almost immediately by opening said door with a bang-squeak.
“Howdy Rarity!” Applejack began to call only to be shushed by the residential library.
“Shh! Can't you see Rarity's trying to concentrate?” Twilight noticed the magical aura and knew that for finer magical feats more concentration was needed and therefor silence was required. As the two mares stepped further inside, the farm pony couldn't help but look at the mess in the room before them.
(And she's fussy with me when Ah make ah mess with anythin'. Ah wonder what she calls this here mess then...)
Applejack couldn't remain silent for long as more questions popped into her mind concerning the gray-white unicorn and she just had to peek at what was being created.
“What do ya think she's makin'?” Applejack half-whispered to the book-wise unicorn, not recognizing the creation due to current state of progress.
“Looks like a dress.” Twilight whispered back slightly curious as to what kind of dress Rarity was making this time; knowing that most of her friend's designs were very unique and interesting.
“... That makes sense, since this is a dressmaker's shop.” Applejack felt a little silly for not having thought about this before; seeing the unicorn at work had distracted her thoughts with how much the fashionista was focusing and being rather serious for a change. She also noticed how Rarity seemed to grow frustrated and within a moment the gray-white unicorn turned sharply around to face her two friends.
“Is there something I can help you with?” Rarity asked with a tense grin.
As Twilight described what she originally came for, Applejack watched with a growing smile at a side of Rarity that she didn't see all that often; generosity but with her usual fussiness.
After a moment of discussion (and subsequent agreement on the part of the lavender mare), Rarity turned to Applejack with an expectant look.
“Let me guess Applejack; you don't want a new dress too?”Applejack was surprised; she wanted to see what this big fuss was about with the unicorn's work, not to get a dress that she was unlikely to ever wear.
“Shucks, Ah was just going tah go in mah work duds.” The farm pony noticed the fashionista flinch and shake both a hoof and her head no at the thought.
After more 'discussion', Applejack saw how much being properly dressed meant to the gray-white mare and agreed for it to be 'spruced up'.
Just as Applejack and Twilight were about to leave, a blue blur crashed through the roof and into nearby dress-forms and materials.
As Rainbow Dash was excusing her crash Applejack gazed up at the roof in thought.
(That won't be easy fer Rarity tah fix. Does she even own tools? I could fix it fer her, as payback fer makin' me ah dress....)
The earth pony snapped out of her thoughts when the dress maker exclaimed 'ideeaaahh!' rather loudly. As the gray-white unicorn explained her new idea, Applejack couldn't help but feel that Rarity was getting in over her head with work and became concerned on her behalf.
“Sooo, all you have to do is make a different stunning, original, amazing outfit for... One, two, three, four, five -plus yourself- six ponies? And lickety split?” Applejack stood close to the unicorn trying to see if it would be a problem or not; the farm pony had learned the hard way about making promises she couldn't keep and didn't want anyone else to learn the hard way about keeping their word when they couldn't.
“Ohoho Ahhahahapplejahahack.” At the sound of her name being said while the unicorn laughed in a dismissive manner made the orange mare raised a disbelieving brow.
“You make it sound as if it's going to be hard! It shall be no problem at all, the fashion show shall be in a week's time; giving me plenty of time to make the dresses, just you wait and see!” Rarity reassured her friends before shooing them out so she could get to work.
Just before the unicorn shut the Boutique door in order to focus on her new task, Applejack raised a hoof to get her attention.
“Would you want me tah fix yer roof fer ya?” Rarity blinked as she came out of her daze of dress ideas as she remembered the new sunroof that she now had.
“Oh, dear, I do suppose that it would hinder dressmaking. Are you sure you wouldn't mind doing that darling?” Rarity looked to the cowpony with a hoof on her chin in thought as Applejack shrugged.
“That's why Ah offered mah help. Do ya have any tools? Hammer, nails and such?” Applejack settled her hat more firmly on her head as she began to make a mental list of supplies she would need.
“What's a hammer?” Rarity gave the farm pony a blank look as Applejack just shook her head in disbelief.
“Never mind. Ah'll be back in half an hour and Ah'll start on that there roof befor' ya get too much nature inside.” Applejack tipped her hat before turning away to get her apple stand and returning home to gather the needed supplies.
Rarity went back to work, planning out her latest designs and getting lost once more in the land of fashion.
Big Mac was a little surprised to see his sister back so soon from the market and flicked an inquisitive ear to her as the orange mare emptied out the stand to be put away.
“Rarity has ah hole in her roof an' Ah offered tah fix it. It was ah slow day of sales anyways.” Applejack wasn't sure why she felt the need to explain herself though Big Mac didn't seem to notice anything odd as he gave a small nod before heading out to the fields once more.
Once the orange mare put away the stand and remaining apples as well as all the bits she earned, the farm pony loaded a cart up with two by fours, nails and extra shingles as well as the tool box. Once everything was loaded up, she quickly trotted back to the Boutique and got started on the work without checking in with the gray-white unicorn.
Rarity had been back into the creating zone and didn't notice the earth pony until the sounds of hammering came from her roof.
“Urgh, what is that dreadful noise!?” Rarity daintily stomped her way outside to find the source of the commotion, annoyed at being disrupted from her work. She searched the surrounding area when another set of banging drew her attention to the roof.
“Applejaaack!” The whine caught the work pony's attention and Applejack paused in her work to look down at the unicorn who wore a frown-pout.
“Why are you making that dreadful noise? It makes it hard to hear myself think!” Applejack raised her brows in surprise before replying slowly to be sure the unicorn would understand.
“Ah'm fixin' the roof, like Ah offered and ya wanted; Ah have tah make some noise in order tah fix it.” Rarity only stood below and blinked up at the farmer blankly before turning pensive.
“I see. Could you possibly be a bit quieter? Oh and I think some other spots were leaky, could you be a dear and fix those as well? And you will be painting that drab brown to match the rest of the roof right?” Applejack rolled her eyes at the sudden extra work, though since she was on the roof with the sun blazing behind her the unicorn couldn't see it.
“Alright, Ah'll check them spots too. An' paint it all, ya just gottah remember that it'll mean some noise, ya hear?” Applejack wiped at her brow as she waited for a response.
“Oh, of course darling.” Rarity waved a hoof to the earth pony as she thought to herself about the helping-hoof the farm pony was giving her.
(It must be dreadfully hot up there and she's helping me with those nasty leaks as well as the big hole... I've got it! I'll make as both a fantastic meal in thanks! Now to make sure she doesn't leave right away afterwards...)
“Oh Applejack!” Rarity called up to the orange mare once more as Applejack felt a moment of irritation; at this rate she'll never get it all done!
“Yeah?”
“Darling, be a dear and stop in once you're done would you?” Rarity waited for the nod of agreement before heading back inside.
As the farm pony got back to work, she couldn't help but wonder even more at how the fashionista thought about things. She had spotted some of the 'leaks' and had it not been looked at sooner it would have become a problem, making the farm mare wonder if Rarity had ever considered the fact of maintenance of any kind.
(Ah jus' don't know 'bout that mare. Sometimes she's so fixated on them details it would drive a fox insane but then there's times when she don't mind messes or things that need fixin'... Hang on a cotton pickin' moment. Is that her singin'?)
Applejack leaned closer to the almost filled in hole and confirmed her suspicions; the gray-white unicorn was singing to herself about dressmaking. The orange earth pony spent a few minutes just listening until Rarity got to the farmer's dress and how much care she was putting into it.
After a few moments of shock at how far the dressmaker was going for all of them, Applejack returned to work with a blush on her face that she tried to blame on the blazing sun.
The whole roof repair took up the remainder of the afternoon; and once finished Applejack breathed a sigh of relief at being off of the roof at last; the sun had gotten warm as she sat on shingles that redirected the light and heat to her as she worked.
(Best go see what Rarity wants befor' Ah go back on home...)
“Rarity? Ah'm done with yer roof! Rarity?” Applejack called into the rather silent Boutique, eying the stairs that she now knew led to the dressmaker's workroom.
“Over here darling!” Applejack's head snapped to her left as she heard the response and found a wonderful scent leading her to the kitchen where she found the gray-white mare putting together a supper for two.
“Ah, there you are, Applejack. Please freshen up before we begin.” Rarity said with a small hoof wave to the nearby bathroom as she set the plates and utensils down.
Applejack just stood there and stared at the food, table and unicorn in turn before she was able to make it past the confusion to voice it.
“What? What's all this fer? Why'd Ah have tah go clean up?” Rarity huffed; she thought she had been clear.
“It's my way to thank you for fixing my roof; I've made a meal for the both of us. But one mustn't come to the dinner table all dirty and sweaty; there's soap and towels in there as well and please be prompt but thorough.” Rarity pointed towards the bathroom once more as Applejack raised a brow at the explanation.
“Well, that's mighty kind of ya. Ah'll ju' go, er, 'freshin' up'.”
“Thank you dear.” Rarity continued to make last minute touches as Applejack went in search of the bathroom.
After trying a few doors the farm pony found the fanciest bathroom she's ever seen; a large porcelain tub with removable shower feature, large sink with medicine cabinet hanging above it and three extra shelves along the wall which were filled with various types of shampoos, soaps and conditioners.
Considering each bottle had a different scent to it, the bathroom only smelled of cleanliness, taking it easy on Applejack's nose as she washed her hooves, freshened up and dried off; though she couldn't do much for her mane since it was rather thick and would take longer to dry, especially if she put it back into the ponytail.
Once that was all done and the farmer smelled fresher in general, Applejack trotted back out to find what was at first a simple dinner had turned fancier. Applejack sighed in weariness as Rarity waved her over to a nearby chair; as soon as the orange mare was seated Rarity had a napkin placed around her neck as the pony's hat was levitated to the nearby hat stand.
“Hey, what's goin' on Rarity!? Why'd ya take mah hat?” Applejack put both fore-hooves onto the table as she sat up farther in annoyance.
Rarity merely tittered at the tone of voice and sat across from the farm pony.
“Darling, it's simply impolite to wear one's hat at the dinner table; and I dare say that to prevent further mess one should always wear a napkin when one is about to eat.” After another sigh and eye roll at further complications Applejack settled back down into her seat. The orange mare couldn't help but dwell on how even a simple thing like having a meal could turn so very complicated when it came to the gray-white unicorn.
After another round of 'thank you's were shared for both the meal and fixing the roof, Applejack returned to the farm to finish what chores she could before nightfall; which wasn't much since Rarity had turned their meal into a rather fancy one with multiple courses and proper etiquette.
To make up for lost time, the farm pony stayed at Sweet Apple Acres for the next few days catching up on her chores.
Two days later Rarity called everyone to her Boutique to unveil her 'latest masterpieces'. As soon as Applejack saw her duds, she felt confusion and annoyance at the dress.
(How the hay are them mah 'new' duds? That there skirt wouldn't help even if it rained. Best not let on 'bout it, wouldn't want Miss Frou-Frou tah throw ah fit.)
While the friends tried and failed to assure the fashioista, Rarity felt a moment of panic; at the start, a week from the fashion show seemed like an easy goal to strive for, now three days later and forced with revising all five dresses, it no longer seemed as easy.
It also didn't help when it felt like her friends were trying to make it harder on her concerning their dresses, which wasn't true aside from a certain farm pony who wasn't going to budge on simplicity and usefulness of her duds.
While Applejack knew Rarity spend a lot of time on their dresses, she was annoyed and amazed at how the gray-white unicorn could take simple things and make them complicated. So in an effort to get the fashionista to see the simpler side of things, Applejack strived to make her duds as basic and useful as possible.
At the unveiling of their 'new' new dresses, the farmer thought she succeeded.
The 'dress' was exactly what she asked for and was very simple; Applejack couldn't tell however if Rarity realized this or not as she seemed a bit annoyed and stressed, though it may have been that the fashion show was that evening and now some fancy fashion critic would be going as well. The five friends were sure that the fashionista's designs were going to be appreciated and felt that nothing could go wrong.
(How could it have gone so wrong? Everthin' was nice an' simple... Maybe it was that Hoity-Toity feller? Maybe he prefers everythin' tah be complicated? Maybe that's why Rarity seemed worried befor' th' show... Well, Ah better go check on her; who knows, that pony might have locked herself away never tah never be seen again...)
(Ah can't belive tha' pony! She did lock herself away, never tah come out again. Ah'd better tell th' others...)
Applejack gathered her friends and told them of how she had been sent away by the distressed unicorn. It was two days after the 'fashion show' and while Applejack would admit it hadn't gone so well, it was nothing to lock oneself up over. They had a group meeting (minus a certain gray-white unicorn) and agreed; if Rarity didn't come out within two days, they would take action!
They weren't sure what action but still, everyone felt better after a plan had been made.
Applejack kept an ear and eye out for the unicorn in hopes that she would come to her senses, growing slowly more concerned with each passing hour (not that she was counting or taking extra trips into town just to check).
Soon enough it was the second day and Rarity still hadn't come out. The farmer thought that the hardest heads came from the Apple family, but the fashionishta was giving them a run for their money.
Applejack woke up and rushed through her morning chores that day before gathering her friends and heading into the Boutique, which looked just as it did before this whole mess started. Together the five friends trekked upstairs to find the bedroom locked and Rarity sprouting nonsense about how she didn't know what ponies wallowed in.
(What kinds of things goes on in that there head o' hers, Ah'll never know... The only one tha' makes less sense than her is Pinkie Pie... How in tarnations is she gonnah tah be ah crazy cat lady when she won't even come out of her room...? What's Twi' lookin' at?)
“I have an idea!” Twilight whispered to her friends as she beckoned them to the door leading to the inspiration room.
“In here is an unfinished dress; I bet that it's Rarity's Gala dress and it would be a nice surprise if we finished it for her. Maybe enough that she feels better about this whole mess. Does anyone know anything about making dresses?”
“Ooh, I love surprises!” Twilight rolled her eyes at the hyper mare's comment and slight bouncing before looking at all the others who mostly shook their heads no.
“I.. uhm... know about dresses...” Fluttershy ducked her head as everypony looked at her.
“Aww yeah! Fluttershy's our mare!” Rainbow Dash threw her fore-leg around the timid mare's neck and gave her a shake.
“I'll make sure she has all the supplies she'll need for the dress too! Nopony is as fast as me; I'll get it in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow boasted as she volunteered her services while the others nodded along.
“That's nice an' all, but Ah'm worried fer her business. It's no good fer anypony tah have somepony goin' round sayin' tha' ya don't know what'cha doin'.” Applejack stated while looking at Twilight who put a hoof to her chin in thought.
“Alright, here's the plan. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, you two are to work on the dress and help get the supplies. Applejack and I will go and visit Canterlot when you're almost done and convince Hoity-Toity to come back and give Rarity another shot.”
“Oh, oh! Me, me, what about me?!”
“Yes Pinkie Pie, you can do something too. Uhm, you can set up a 'congratulations' party for Rarity when it's all over.” Pinkie Pie bounced in place with a gleeful whisper-shout while Twilight looked on with a soft smile.
Within moments Twilight used her magic to manipulate the locked door so they could get into Rarity's inspiration room, and took both the dress and the plans in order to finish it. Once they had it in hoof they separated either to do their parts or to do chores until their part came.
Applejack tried not to imagine the state of the unicorn was in for the two and a half days that it took for Fluttershy to finish the job; when the pale-yellow mare knew it wouldn't have been much longer she had Rainbow Dash alert Applejack and Twilight who then went to Canterlot in search of the Fashion Critic.
Using both Twilight's and Spike's connections to Canterlot and the nobles that resided there, they were able to track down the snobbish pony shortly.
It was another matter entirely to convince him to revisit the smaller town however. Twilight handled most of the discussion since Applejack didn't have the patience to deal with a pony who lived simply to make things more complicated.
After a few hours of 'discussion' the dark bluish-gray earth pony agreed to give Rarity one last try. Luckily Twilight had a plan to get the fashion unicorn out of her room in order to convince her to try once more.
Fluttershy lured Opalescence out of the house and into the tree, but did too good a job at keeping her calm; the white cat wouldn't make any sound that would alert the sulking mare of her cat's location. Rainbow dash grew impatient after a few minutes of gentle coaxing from the animal care-taker and shook the limb that the prissy cat was sitting on roughly, causing her to yowl in fear and annoyance.
As Fluttershy gently scolded Rainbow Dash who merely shrugged it off with a simple 'it worked didn't it?', everyone else watched as Rarity burst out of her home and 'saved' her cat.
The gray-white unicorn was rather surprised at how her friends tried to help and even got another chance to impress Hoity-Toity; which meant that she would have to pull out all the stops and use all her magic to make it visually appealing.
When it was all over, Rarity was so drained from using so much magic as well as several days spent wallowing that she promptly fainted from exhaustion after getting the noble's seal of approval. Hoity-Toity thought it was from joy and made sure to leave a note expressing his desires for the dresses, but her friends remained behind to be sure of the cause.
After several hours, during which the fashionista's friends became more concerned about what caused the fainting spell, the unicorn slowly woke up. Rarity explained what caused the exhaustion and requested her friends' help with making the dresses, realizing that she had indeed taken more than she could handle. The others were thrilled to help as well as do something to make up for all the trouble they caused and with the direction of the dressmaker, started to get the basic work done.
Applejack was both pleased and saddened by what the unicorn had learned; she had hoped to prevent the unicorn from overworking herself much like how the farm pony did during applebuck season, but at least Rarity had also learned about taking on too much work as well as relying on friends to help.
Now to make sure the gray-white didn't have the kind of trouble that she couldn't handle...
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So after the end of your Octa Scratch story, you dare make a Rari-Jack one!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much
!
My only real complaint is that you use "the gray white unicorn" to describe Rarity way too often. I started counting at one point but it became too much of a hassle. Other than that, I'm liking this story so far.
What's up with this?
Hoity Toity looks like this!
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130809021351/mlp-gameloft/images/3/37/Hoity_Toity.png