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The halls of Canterlot high had grown more crowded since a certain siren trio tried to use its students to take over the world. The student body’s newfound fellowship manifested itself in the cacophony of sound surrounding Applejack as she made her way to the cafeteria. Students leaving the school shouted their farewells, the slap of high-fives and the ringing of laughter filled the building at the end of the day.
Even as Applejack entered the cafeteria she hadn’t been freed of excessive noise. Lunch ladies stacking clanging metal trays and dishes clinking in the full sink bounced around the now empty concrete room. Before she had time to complain silently to herself, Applejack spotted what she was searching for
“Yoo! Over here! I thought you would be heading home to watch Apple Bloom right about now,” Pinkie Pie’s curls bounced with the rest of her and she bounded up from her seat, leaving her batter (presumably for cupcakes) and the other members of the baking club along with it.
Applejack wished she could be babysitting her sister right about now. Wow, that is something she never thought she would say. Hell, she’d be willing to babysit every one of her little sister’s friends if it meant she didn’t have to go through the embarrassment of apologizing for something shitty she’d done.
Applejack and rarity don’t fight. No matter how much applejack teases rarity or how loudly she whines about it, they don’t get into real arguments. Out of their friend group Rarity understands Applejack the most. Twilight is always saying something nerdy that Applejack doesn’t know how to interpret, Rainbow Dash is too competitive for her own good. The only interest Applejack and Fluttershy have somewhat in common is their love for animals, but she only ever wants to sit quietly with her forest friends. Applejack can appreciate Pinkie’s zeal, but she can definitely be too much at times.
Like now, jumping and twirling around Applejack as she repeats in a sing-song voice “Whatcha dooooin’ whatcha dooooooin’ whatcha dooooooin’ what are you staying at stinky school for?”
And Applejack had gotten lost in thought, tuned Pinkie out, but she still had something to ask the giggling girl that had settled in front of her.
Applejack had zoned back in by now, determined to complete her mission. “I was lookin’ for you, I need to get a hold of rarity, ya seen her?”
She can tell from the way Pinkie pauses before replying that the nonchalant laugh Applejack attempted to add to the end of her sentence did not come off as natural. Whoops!
“Uhh she said she would be designing some costumes for the play all week, its kiiiiinda been stressing her out” The pink girl goes back to stirring her batter, stopping only to lick the spoon. “She’s definitely hanging out in the costume shop in the auditorium.”
Of course, how could AJ have forgotten? Rarity had been rambling about getting these costumes just right for days. She guesses it's just the stress getting to her. “Alrighty, thanks mighty Pinkie.” And off she goes, giving Pinkie Pie a wave and smile as she exits, though said girl seems too immersed in her intense batter stirring to care.
Okay Applejack, this is it. She can do this… she's just gonna.. Walk right up to her Rarity and confess what’s been on her mind. Right.
The walk to the auditorium is quiet, most students having already left, and those who stay for clubs or sports having already gotten to the places they’re meant to be. The silence gives AJ ample time to sit with her thoughts.
Would Rarity want an apology? She definitely deserves one, in all honesty Applejack was a huge jerk to her throughout the battle of the bands. But is AJ gonna make this worse than it already is? Knowing her she’s probably reading into it, making it about herself.
By the time Applejack reaches the door to the costume shop she’s just about psyched herself out. But even if she can’t deliver her speech, she has to admit she really wants to see Rarity.
The door to the costume shop opens quietly and slowly, AJ scolds herself for not knocking, but stops before she can rap gently on the door. Rarity is bent at the waist over her work desk, stiff arms holding her up. papers filled with sketches of fantastical costumes fill the space, mannequins and wig stands litter the confined room, Rarity in the center of it all, her sloping side profile dramatically lit by a single overhead light. Her glasses rest on the tip of her straight nose, even from this angle Applejack can tell she has a thoughtful expression, chewing on her lip and scanning the table seemingly for a fresh idea.
Maybe it’s the light coming from outside that alerts her, or perhaps she can simply sense Applejack’s presence, Rarity tilts her head toward the door without moving her eyes from her most recent design.
“Yes dear, come, come, don’t just stand there.” Applejack is pulled in by her friend’s voice, she opens the door fully to stand in what little space is left in the room, fidgeting with her skirt. “Close the door, would you, before you let all the good ideas out.”
AJ knows that isn’t quite how that works, but she leans her arm against the door until she hears it click shut anyway. Now it’s really getting awkward, just standing there visibly nervous all the while Rarity hasn’t lifted her head. She stays leaning over her work, is she mumbling to herself? Once AJ can tell she’s not going to get away with interrupting the designer without a cause, she mentally hoists herself up and prepares her next words, wiping her hands on her skirt to dry them.
"ya'know, about what I said before..." applejack could hear the tremble in her own voice. Despite the extensive amount of time she had spent preparing her apology her palms grew clammy, and the sight of rarity's furrowed brow and squinted indigo eyes as she at last looks over her shoulder made her breath catch and the speech she had meticulously reworded over and over jumbled in her throat.
"Well, what is it darling I haven't got all day?" rarity turned from the sketch she had been designing to fully face the blonde. There was no bite in her tone despite how deserved it would've been.
Applejack didn't want it to happen this way, didn't want to feel small and guilty, and sure as hell didn't want her best friend to be staring at her with that look. The one she saved for high profile designers judging her flawless work. Applejack could deal with an angry rarity, she was prepared to be yelled at, but this? the nervous expression displayed on her best friend's face, almost scared, this was severely off-putting. This was the kind of look that made applejack want to shrink into a ball and sink into the floor.
After what felt like an eternity just standing there, Applejack continued her trainwreck of an apology. “I… I just.. I guess I just realized I never apologized fully for the shitty stuff I said at the finals. Actually basically the whole battle of the bands.” Applejack looked back up from the spot on the floor she had made friends with to meet Rarity’s eyes once more. Her blue eyeshadow shimmered beneath the dim overhead lights, shifting when she broke eye contact to look off at some wig on its stand.
“Yes, well. We both said some uncouth things. It’s not as if what you said was all that untrue. I do make us look kind of ridiculous at times..” and now those eyes are back on Applejack’s, scanning for a reaction. Her pristinely manicured fingers brush her hair behind her ear, then travel down the length of her smooth curls, twirling the ends over and over. She looks beautiful.
Applejack snaps out of her trance, once again meeting her best friend’s eyes. She furrows her brow and steps forward, taking Rarity’s hand from where it’s been smoothing her violet hair and holding it between them. “Rarity, stop talkin’ nonsense, you know everything I said was bullshit. The Dazzlings forced us to fight, made us all say terrible things to breed anger.” Before she’s realized it Applejack has closed much of the distance between the two girls, one hand gripping the desk Rarity’s been working on top of and the other still holding her hand, only tighter. Somehow their fingers have interlaced and Rarity finds herself held between her freckled friend and her desk.
Now it’s Rarity’s turn to trip over her words. “Well- but.. So then why is there any need to apologize, AJ? If everything you said was a lie then I don’t need you to pity me” She turns her head, a subtle pink tinges her ears and cheeks, she still has that worried look plastered on her face. Her perfect face. “Honestly, don’t think that I’ve been sitting here fretting over some mean lies you told me. They were lies. They were, really.”
“Of course they were lies, Rarity, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have been hurtful. I know what it’s like to have people ridicule somethin’ you’re passionate about. It ain’t fun and I would never want to hurt you, even by accident.” With every word Applejack leans a little closer to emphasize just how sincere she’s being. By the time she’s finished she’s practically whispering into Rarity’s ear.
Now the soft blush on Rarity’s cheeks has turned to a full flush, Applejack wonders if she's somehow embarrassed the girl. Rarity hasn’t moved from her spot a centimeter, Applejack can barely tell she’s breathing, the gap between them mere inches.
Reluctantly, Applejack lets go of the designer’s hand, opting instead to gently grab the other girl’s jaw, her glossed lips parted, the only sign she was still breathing. As AJ guides her to face each other Rarity’s wide eyes blink quickly, her mascaraed lashes fluttering in an unintentionally adorable way. She takes in Applejack’s intense expression, silently eyeing every defined feature of the strong girl currently pinning her to a work desk. Every part of Applejack was strong to Rarity, not just her lean, toned muscles, or her honest green eyes, but her determination, her endless care for her friends, the way she makes Rarity feel like she always has someone even when she’s been tweaking a gown for days and begins to doubt herself Applejack never does.
“Did I say somethin’? Crap, I’m really sorry, the last thing I wanna do is creep you out!” The taller girl suddenly backs away, leaving Rarity stuck in place and confused. Has she gone too far this time? Said too much that she can’t take back. God, if Rarity thinks AJ is weird she might go die in a hole. She takes a step back, turning towards the door.
But before AJ has the chance to apologize any more than she already has or even bolt out of the costume shop, Rarity in one swift movement springs from leaning on the desk and takes hold of Applejack, one arm on the small of the Blonde’s back and the other threaded into the hair on the nape of her neck.
Oh my god is this happening?
The room has grown fuzzy, like a background completely fading away, all that Applejack cares about is how her best friend’s(?) soft hands feel against her own warm skin
Something inside her is buzzing, or is it something in the air?
These thoughts race through her mind at a million miles a second, she’s surely hallucinating, Pinkie Pie has 100% drugged her and this is all a fever dream she will mourn when she wakes up. That’s all this is.
Until it’s not.
Rarity’s oh so soft lips crash into Applejack’s incessantly, like a kid with an almond mom who’s just had their first candy bar. Rarity takes like her pricey lipgloss mixed with the fruity gum she must have spit out minutes before. AJ isn’t wasting this moment, despite how clouded her mind is, her lips seem to move on their own, moving against the shorter girl’s, who has snaked her arm from AJ’s back to her collarbone, using her for support as she leans on the tips of her toes to reach the freckled girl comfortably.
It ends just as quickly as it came on, Rarity nearly hyperventilating, but managing to puff out a yelp “Don’t. Don’t go AJ, please.” And her sweet mouth turns down at the corners, her face shifting into a pout. Applejack has to turn that frown upside down any way she can.
Applejack mirrors Rarity’s hands, holding her face and using the hand resting on Rarity’s chest to maneuver the two sideways, using the weight of her body to press the pale girl to the door of the costume shop, creating a soft thud that is amplified by the small space.
When did AJ get so bold? Just 15 minutes ago she was a nervous wreck, hoping not to fight with her best friend- or is she something more now?
AJ’s breathing heavy out of her nose, trying to match Rarity’s desperation, the temperature in the tiny enclosed room has to have risen twenty degrees. Why else would Applejack’s chest feel on fire, her shirt beginning to cling to her back nearly as tight as the flushed girl in front of her clings to her arms, her hips, her face?
There’s no space for words, every short-lived break from connecting the girls filled with rushed panting, shuffling to keep from knocking over any of Rarity’s elegant wigs or flowing pinned fabrics.
The feverish hands roaming Applejack’s torso still on her hips, Rarity pulls away from AJ’s lips, pink and parted, her chest rising and falling in time with Rarity’s own. The accessorized girl allows her gaze to follow the trail of AJ’s blush, landing on her bared neck.
The gentle hum of actors reciting their lines in the auditorium just outside the door holding her weight is lost on Rarity. She’s choosing instead to focus on the light patch of freckles adorning Applejack’s collarbone.
Rarity can’t believe it’s taken this long for the tension between them to finally amount to something. She doesn’t know whether she should feel scared or hopeful, doesn’t know how much of her feelings AJ reciprocates, but that isn’t what matters right now.
All she cares about is pressing her lips to Applejack’s, feeling the reality beneath her. Squeezing her palm to AJ’s, locking their fingers and nudging into the crook of her neck.
They fall into each other, embracing in a long hug.
Rarity doesn’t register how long they’ve been slouched against each other, breathing in unison. She’s shut her eyes tight, trying to focus on the warm hand rubbing circles on her back. She would like it very much if the two never left this room, this position, stayed fused together until the sun exploded the earth.
Applejack isn’t quite satisfied with that ending, though. She clears her throat and sighs deeply, releasing any tension that had still remained in her body. “If.. if you don’t want anyone else to know about this I get it.” Her hands are still making monotonous motions on Rarity’s back, moving like a machine to distract from the fact her thoughts are running haywire.
Rarity has to have noticed the pained look in AJ’s eyes as she lingers on the carefully handstitched hem of the other girl’s blouse, because she almost immediately straightens, whisper shouting at her crush
“Applejack! How can you be so dense, honestly I have poured my heart out to you more than enough times for any sane person to suspect something more was going on.” And AJ reaches up to smooth the strand of hair that Rarity had bumped out of place.
Now the eye contact between them had made itself palpable.
After a long, yearning pause, “Oh.. well when you say it out loud I do feel kinda stupid.”
Seconds pass around them, Rarity’s wide eyes roam Applejack’s embarrassed face. “Kind of?” A dainty hand tangles through the base of Applejack’s braid, leading their lips back together, gentler this time, passionate. Rarity relaxes once more, tilting her head and moving against the orange girl.
Applejack takes hold of her crush’s other hand, separating and bringing them in between the two.
She opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by an eager chime
“I don’t want to stay friends. I don’t want this to be a secret or- or a one time thing,” and now she's gesturing aimlessly, still holding AJ’s hands “I think I want to be your girlfriend.”
She doesn’t seem nervous anymore, her gleaming eyes are firmly locked on Applejack’s, she’s in too deep now.
Applejack takes in a quick breath, she can’t help the smile that grows on her face, crinkling her eyes and nose as she replies, maybe a bit too loudly “I think I want that too... Like kinda a lot…”
Now Rarity lets out a snort, a gasp and a chuckle all in rapid succession, dropping AJ’s hands to have her own fly over her mouth. She can’t contain her giggling.
Applejack starts laughing as well, she takes Rarity’s wrists, moves her hands and captures her mouth in a final, sweet kiss.
She’s not sure what the next step is, but she also isn’t sure either of them care.