Sum times, it's easier to pretend everythin'll be okay..

Monday morning came around faster than Applejack was ready for. Her body ached and she felt hollow inside. The sun had yet to rise, and the cool autumn air promised to deflect any warmth it could offer. Her muscles were more sore than she remembered in a long time, and slipping out of bed seemed harder than it had since she was just a filly. Stumbling down the stairs in a dead stupor, she managed to grunt a weak "y'huh" when Granny Smith greeted her for breakfast. She couldn't remember the food she was eating, only that she had eaten it.

Standing before her first tree, she could feel every muscle in her legs screaming for more rest. She tightened her flank, her hind legs flexing as she prepared to strike. The pain grew steadily as she set her front hooves. Thwack. The usual sound of apples falling into buckets rung in her ears. Lifting them up, the mare carried the buckets to her wheelbarrel, her back straining against the weight. After dumping them in, she moved on to the next tree. As the sun rose higher into the sky, the work alleviated the aches and pains, limbering her muscles up. Her coat began to glisten softly with sweat and the grogginess lifted slowly. Before lunch she was feeling more relaxed, the only tension in her body the result of her preparing to hit the tree.

Applebloom worked quietly near by, picking up any apples that may have fallen before they could be plucked. The wind blew gently, the cold air mocking the sun. Rustling in the leaves of the trees and the work of bucking trees helped keep Applejack's mind clear. By the time lunch rolled around, she felt refreshed, her muscles loose and flexible. A cyan streak rushed past the tree ceiling of the orchard, bringing a flash of Saturday night. Shaking her head, the orange mare pulled the wheelbarrel towards the barn and unloaded the apples in the proper pile with the other red apples.

"So, how'd it go?" Without even turning around, Applejack could tell Rainbow Dash was smiling through the sentence. The pegasus floated in air, her wings beating softly to stay aloft. Her mane was less straight than usual, and her tail seemed to have more tangles than Applejack could remember ever seeing before.

"Wha'da ya mean?" Pushing past, she hoped Rainbow Dash would get the point and drop it before the conversation went any further.

"Don't give me that. The rest of the town might not know, but I watched you leave with Rarity. You CAN'T tell me nothing happened." She was practically begging for more, her eyes shifting to a glazed over pleading expression. She held her hooves out in incredulity and frowned. It looked to Applejack almost like she wanted more than just gossip material.

"Nothing happened."

"Baloney. So what, after a kiss like that, you just went back to her place and slept? Horsefeathers." She seemed visibly upset, far more invested than Applejack felt was appropriate.

"Yup, tha's what I'm sayin. Now, if'n ya don't mind, ah need ta go eat 'for it's to late." They had neared the house, and Dash was left without any other recourse.

"Rarity told me what happened." She smirked as Applejack's head snapped back. "She was a mess this s'morning, and I was modeling a dress for her to finish paying off that debt. It didn't take much to get her to let it slip, and after that, I made her tell me the rest." Applejack relaxed a bit. The idea that it wasn't on purpose made the exposition somehow easier for her, like it wasn't so much a betrayal as more a fact of life that can't be avoided. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about you and Rarity. I get it. But I want to hear the details."

"Why? That's weird Dash. You need something ta think about later?" The insult came without thinking, and Applejack wished she could pull it back before it even came out. The statement left Rainbow Dash visibly hurt, but she shook it off and simply frowned at her. "Ah'm sorry Dash, it's jus been a lil difficult."

"No, it's fine. I know that's what everpony thinks already. Oh, look at Dash, she's such a pervert. Look at Dash, she'll sleep with anypony. Just didn't think you, of all the ponies in this town, would be the one to say it to me first. And no, I didn't want it for that." The hurt pegasus lifted higher, getting ready to fly off.

"Rainbow, you know ah didn't mean it. Ah... Ah jus ain't good with stuff like this. It ain't so easy, bein' told yer a mistake by a friend. And I couldn't tell ya anything anyway. Ah don't remember." This seemed to peek the mare's interest, though she turned, a mix of hurt and empathy crossing her face.

"A mistake? Rarity didn't say anything about that." The hurt faded quickly as she landed next to Applejack and placed her hoof around the nape of her neck.

"Wha'did she say?"

"Jus' that you two were drunk, and you slept together, and then you agreed it was best if it never happened again."

"Ah... Oh." The mare stared at the ground, unsure why this hurt her more than being told she was a mistake. The dirt beneath her was slowly being speckled by moist, dark brown dots. It took her a few moments to realize they were tears, rolling off her snout. "Tha's wha she told ya? Well, it's probably fer tha best. 'Cept it doesn't feel like it is."

The pegasus pulled her closer, into a gentle hug. They stood in near silence, only the soft, quiet sound of Applejack's sniffling and the ambient noise of the orchard to be heard. Eventually the orange mare pulled away. "Thanks, Rainbow. Ah... Ah need to be alone fer awhile though." Her words seemed to hurt Rainbow Dash more than her insult, and it surprised her.

"I get it. But don't let you're stubbornness keep you from getting the help you need." She flew away at that, Applejack glancing after her.

Author's Note

Finals are over for the semester, and I've got an idea of where this story is headed now, so expect a few more to come out before the end of the year. As always, I'd love to here suggestions and criticism. Thanks guys.