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                   A Swig of the Finest                    
                     -by Harvey Mason-                     
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                   A Swig of the Finest                    
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A Swig of the Finest
“Ah still don’t get why ya need to spend a whole day at a spa just to get your hooves done.”
Applejack groaned at the steadily setting sun, its cascading beams reminding her of a single fact:
“Big Mac’s gonna tan my hide.”
“Oh, Applejack, you work too hard to begin with!” Rarity scolded. “If you don’t get a day off every now and again, you’re going to explode. You’d be no more help to Big Mac as a pile of mush, now would you?”
Applejack shrugged and looked glumly to her dazzling hooves. “They do like a might pretty though, don’t they?”
Rarity grinned. “I daresay that I haven’t seen finer in all my life.”
“Even your own?” Applejack asked with a sidelong glance.
“Don’t get greedy now.” Rarity glared.
For the briefest of moments, each mirrored the other’s miffed expression.
“Don’t believe Ah’ve ever seen ya keep your trap shut this long,” Applejack observed.
Rarity immediately burst out in a fit of giggles. “Yes, and that glare would’ve lasted all day if you hadn’t gone and ruined it.” She turned her nose up in a superior way before starting down the path from Ponyville’s beauty salon.
“Ah don’t believe Ah ever thanked ya properly.” Applejack coughed, shifting her glance down. “Ya know, for your generosity these last few weeks.”
“I had a feeling you’d come around sooner or later,” Rarity replied brightly. “Spas aren’t the legal equivalent of whipping, I assure you.”
“Well, what can Ah say?” Applejack asked helplessly. “Ah’m a…a…”
“Prissy pony?” Rarity suggested, grinning.
It was Applejack’s turn to glare. “Don’t you go pushin’ it now.”
“Oh, come now… it wasn’t all that bad, was it?” Rarity asked.
“No.” Applejack sighed. “Ah suppose it wasn’t at that. I just wouldn’t like to admit to the rest of the gals that I like spa days…”
“My lips are sealed,” Rarity assured her with a wink. “Now, I hate to cut our visit so short, but I have an appointment at the hospital I must be getting to.”
Applejack raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, goodness.” Rarity chuckled. “Don’t worry for a moment; it’s just a routine check-up.”
Applejack lowered her head and sighed. “Well, how about Ah walk ya there?” she asked after a moment. “Ah think I owe ya at least that much for treating me.”
Rarity reached up and patted Applejack on the back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Now, mind tellin’ me why the spa needs to import mud from foreign countries?”
* * *
Rarity sat with her hooves outstretched, examining their gleaming tips with a satisfied sigh.
What a way to ruin a perfectly good day… waiting in the hospital for three hours.  
She clicked her tongue impatiently and tapped her hooves on the examination table in a steady rhythm, glancing around at the numerous medical lockers strewn about the room.
Gray and white. Rarity sighed and shook her head. What a brilliant way to make patients feel at ease…  
Her loathing was cut short as the door opposite the examination table swung open. A clipboard floated into the room first, followed quickly by its owner as he stepped through.
“Good afternoon, Doctor Stable.” Rarity smiled and turned on the examination table.
Doctor Stable swallowed before nodding slowly. “Good afternoon, Rarity. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long.”
“Well, don’t make the wait any longer. How many months do I have?” Rarity teased.
“Why don’t you have a seat?” the doctor asked, gesturing to a chair to the left of the examination table. “There’s no need for you to sit there anymore.”
“Of course.” Rarity leapt gracefully from the table and set herself down in the indicated chair. “Now, how exactly do my results look?”
As Doctor Stable’s horn glowed, a second chair drifted across the room and set itself down across from her. “Rarity, have you done any traveling in recent months?”
Rarity looked up at the ceiling. “I of course went to Canterlot for the royal wedding, and also during Twilight Sparkle’s birthday.”
Doctor Stable shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. Have you visited any foreign countries?”
“Not to be rude, doctor, but would you mind getting to the point?”
Stable sighed and set his clipboard atop the examination table. “There are certain conditions that are few and far between in Equestria because of their source. The substances and environments that cause them aren’t found anywhere in this country.”
Rarity nodded as she narrowed her eyes at the doctor. “Meaning?”
Stable looked down at the floor and tapped his hooves on the side of his chair. “How familiar are you with a toxin called detrimentin?”
Rarity shook her head. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it.”
“That would make sense,” Stable agreed. “I myself have never seen a case of it. In fact, I believe there are only four documented cases of infections in Equestria. It’s present in many swamps throughout the country Suteria.”
“I don’t understand,” Rarity said. “How in the world could I have acquired this?”
“That’s why your examination took so long,” Stable explained. “We were positively stumped; we were convinced the test was a false positive, so we ran it multiple times.” He sighed. “In all honesty, I’m still not sure how this could have happened. Unless you traveled to Suteria recently and smothered yourself with mud—“
“Mud?” Rarity broke in. “You’re saying this toxin is present in mud?”
“Yes, the mud in many of the country’s swamps,” Stable nodded.
Rarity glanced down at her pampered body and took a deep breath. “Oh dear…”
* * *
“You are going to positively adore this, Applejack,” Rarity had assured her friend earlier that day, reclining in the tub as the nearby spa-ponies affixed cucumber slices to her eyes. “Considering how much you love to get dirty…”
Applejack smiled. “Mud’s fine by me. But wouldn’t it be just as easy to go roll around in the rain?”
“Oh, heavens no…” Rarity shuddered. “This mud is imported directly from a sacred pool in a far-off country. It’s said to possess powerful healing and rejuvenating abilities.”
“Whatever ya say, Rarity,” Applejack shrugged. “So long as it’s mud.”
* * *
“That would have done it.” Stable nodded as Rarity concluded her short explanation. “I suppose the spa is typically more careful, but all it takes is one faulty test strip…”
He fell silent, staring off into space.
“Well, the name sounds ominous enough.” Rarity chuckled and played the word over in her mind. “Detrimentin… well, I suppose I should receive a shot of some kind?”
Stable shook his head.
Rarity rolled her jaw around. “Well, I suppose I can live with whatever effects it has until they wear off. What should I expect? Drowsiness? Nausea? So long as it’s nothing that will keep me from my work for too long—“
“It’s fatal.”
Absolute silence claimed the room as Stable’s words slipped from his mouth. Rarity’s eyes were wide and her mouth ajar as she stared at the physician.
“What did you say?” she whispered finally.
“The nature of this illness makes it… difficult to find a cure for.” Stable focused his attention fiercely on the gleaming silver locker behind the examination table. “Suterian natives avoid contaminated areas like the plague, and those unlucky enough to be infected are dead before—“
Stable let out a tiny gasp before clamping his mouth shut.
Rarity’s heart raced as she held a hoof to her mouth. “Doctor, what length of time are you referring to?”
Stable remained silent.
“Years?”
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Months?” Rarity asked, her eyes widening further as a note of desperation crept into her voice.
Stable remained silent.
“Weeks?” Rarity asked, her tone positively pleading.
Stable looked up and met Rarity’s gaze. “Singular.”
Rarity fell back in her chair and looked to the ceiling. “One week,” she mouthed as a shiver worked its way through her body. Her shock was cut short, however, as a second realization wormed its way into her mind. “If somepony else had been with me at the time, would they…”
Stable nodded. “Yes. If it’s any consolation, it will be completely painless. Detrimentin is a powerful sedative, meaning at some point this next week, you’ll simply… fall asleep.”
“Fall asleep… and never wake up,” Rarity said quietly.
“Yes… Rarity, if there’s anything we can do, anything at all—”
“No.” Rarity glanced to the door, her voice suddenly distant. “No, that’s quite alright.”
Stable glanced at her with a curious tilt of his head. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Oh course.” Rarity smiled. “Why on earth wouldn’t I?”
He turned his head back to the floor. “Most ponies... well, most ponies would react differently to being told they were—“
“Precisely,” Rarity said, her smile unfaltering. “Most ponies. I understand completely. I have…” She gulped before nodding resolutely. “I have one week.”
“What are you going to do?” Stable asked after a long pause.
Rarity stood from her seat and strode to the door. “I’m going to be absolutely certain that this week is memorable for somepony.”
She sighed as the image of a field of trees played through her mind. “Somepony very special.”
* * *
“…and the fence on the edge of the first section needs to be repainted,” Applejack said, rubbing her eyes in the candlelight. “Winona keeps running into it when it gets dark.”
Big Mac nodded, scribbling a note on his paperwork set atop the Apple dinner table. “Where’d you go this afternoon?”
“Huh?” Applejack said absently, not looking up from her notes.
“You were gone all this morning while Apple Bloom and I repainted the barn,” Big Mac said pointedly. “It’s not like you just dropped off the face of the planet.”
“Ah was… out with a friend,” Applejack said, taking a pen in her mouth.
“Rarity, eh?” Big Mac grinned. “That explains why you smelled like perfume when you got back today.”
“Just mind your own business,” Applejack told him, the pen slipping from her mouth.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with havin’ friends,” Big Mac said, his grin widening. “But isn’t that the third time you’ve gone somewhere with her this week?”
“Like ya said, there’s nothin’ wrong with havin’ friends.”
The sound of the crackling fire grew louder as silence fell between them. Applejack took a moment to shuffle the papers around on her desk the sound of a knock at the door came bursting through the air.
Applejack shook her head and looked at the clock hanging above the hearth. Its big hand rested squarely on the numeral “X.”
“Who in Equestria could be callin’ at this hour?” Applejack muttered as she leapt toward the entrance.
She laid a hoof on the knob and swung the door wide. Before her, a familiar purple mane and coat of white fur shone in the moonlight.
“Rarity?” Applejack said, rearing back. “What brings ya here so late?”
“Good evening, Applejack.” Rarity grinned up at her. “I know it’s not exactly early—“
“What tipped you off?” Applejack chuckled and gestured to the rising moon.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Of course. What I mean to ask is, how would you like to go for a quick bite to eat? We can’t let our newfound tolerance of one another go to waste,” she said with a wink.
“Uh…” Applejack turned and glanced over her shoulder. Back the den, Big Mac sat hunched over his paperwork; his body remained immobile, save for an apparent fit of shivers and an apparent giggle.
“Ah’d love to,” Applejack whispered, gesturing for Rarity to remain quiet. She stepped lightly across the threshold and closed the door quickly behind her. “Not that Ah’m unhappy, but Ah certainly didn’t expect this.”
“What use is there in being two of the most successful business-mares in Ponyville if we never put the profits to use?” Rarity asked, gesturing down the path from the home.
“Ah suppose you’re right at that,” Applejack agreed, trotting alongside her.
“Besides, the nightlife at this particular restaurant is something nopony should miss. Now, how did Big Macintosh take your leaving this morning?”
“Gosh, what could he say?” Applejack chuckled. “Ah’ve been workin’ that farm day in and day out for the better part of ten years now. Like ya said, I’ll explode if I don’t take a day off every now and again.”
“That’s the spirit.” Rarity grinned. “Though I don’t know if he’ll handle this second outing quite as well.”
“If he can string enough words together to gripe about it.” Applejack punched Rarity lightly in the shoulder.
“Quite…” Rarity fell silent and turned her head to the multitude of trees rustling in the evening wind.
“Somethin’s the matter, isn’t it?”Applejack prodded after a moment of silence.
“What?” Rarity shook herself from the daze and looked up to Applejack. “No, not at all.”
Applejack groaned. “Come on, sugarcube. We’ve been friends plenty long now; Ah can tell when there’s somethin’ amiss.”
“It’s the boutique,” Rarity replied, frowning as a tiny pang of guilt gripped her. “I’m beginning to wonder if it’s time I pass it on.”
Applejack’s eyes widened; she turned her gaze to the trees lining the road as the light of Ponyville’s streetlamps found its way onto the pathway. “Wow…” She cleared her throat. “Wow, Ah never really expected…”
Applejack took a deep breath and turned back to her. “What made ya decide this? Ah would’ve thought you’d rather die than let that place go.”
Even as Applejack chuckled, Rarity’s lower lip trembled ever-so-slightly. “I’ve realized that what we have is so fragile. We might be perfectly happy and carefree one day, and the next, we may be lying cold on our beds.”
“Love your positive attitude,” Applejack teased as they passed dark shop windows and locked doors, taking a right turn at Ponyville Fountain. At the end of the street, flaming gas lamps marked the entrance of one of the last open restaurants in the town.
“I think that conversation is best saved for dinner,” Rarity said, trotting up the steps and laying a hoof on the ornate doorknob.
“Don’t think Ah’m gonna just let this go,” Applejack said, treating her to a stern glare.
“Not at all.” Rarity gestured inside as she pulled the door open.
Applejack shrugged and stepped inside. Rarity repressed as laugh as she noted Applejack’s reaction to the building’s decoration.
“Yes, it’s a bit… pink,” Rarity admitted. “But the fare here is—“
“Ah can deal with the color,” Applejack said, squinting into the dim building. “But I thought that night restaurants were supposed to be brighter than the outside.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Rarity assured her. She stepped up to the podium standing next to the door and rang the bell on its surface.
A pure-white stallion came rushing from the curtain behind the podium. “Pardon me for the wait, we—Rarity!”
The stallion grinned and pulled at the neckline of his tuxedo. “We weren’t expecting you to be here tonight.”
“Neither were we,” Applejack snickered.
Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes at Applejack. “Quite… nevertheless, we’ll need a table for two, if you’d be so kind as to accommodate us.”
“Of course.” The host nodded and took two menus in his mouth. He gestured for Rarity and Applejack to follow before turning toward the dining room.
“Now, please don’t concern yourself with the prices,” Rarity requested as they followed behind the host. “I assure you that nothing is too expensive for tonight.”
Applejack laughed and sat at the table for two, nodding her thanks to the host as he set the menus down. “Gosh, how expensive can it be?”
Rarity took her seat and looked expectantly at Applejack as she lifted the menu open. Applejack’s grin fell rapidly as her eyes scanned back and forth along the pages.
“Uh…” Applejack gulped, laying her menu down and pointing to one of the items. “That is a period on that price, right?”
Rarity squinted at the item in question. “Oh, heavens no,” she said matter-of-factly. “That’s a comma.”
Applejack shook her head, meeting Rarity’s gaze. “Sugarcube, Ah can’t possibly—“
“Don’t concern yourself with the prices,” Rarity repeated firmly.
Applejack sighed helplessly. “If ya say so… but I owe you one.”
Rarity shook her head as the corners of her mouth curved upward. “Not at chance.”
“Have you made a drink selection?”
Rarity and Applejack looked up from their menus abruptly and were reintroduced to the sight of the stallion who had seated them.
“Shorthanded tonight, are you Cibo?” Rarity asked. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you fill both these positions.”
“Quite shorthanded,” Cibo replied, a note of bitterness creeping into his voice. “But you needn’t concern yourself with my problems. What can I serve you?”
“A bottle of your finest Zinfandel,” Rarity replied, looking back to Applejack.
Cibo nodded and rushed from the table. Applejack tapped one of her hooves on the floor.
“Ya come here pretty often, don’t ya” Applejack asked.
Rarity spun her menu in a circle on the table. “Rarely with anypony else,” she said quietly, focusing intensely on the menu.
“You?” Applejack raised her eyebrows. “You’ve got dozens of stallions breakin’ down your door day and night. Not to mention Spike…” She winked.
“Oh, don’t get me started on them.” Rarity huffed. “Those stallions are no more fit to be husbands than I’m fit to run a mare-a-thon.”
“Well, maybe it’s not of my business, but maybe it’s time you started lookin’ for somepony in a different way?” Applejack suggested, shrugging.
Rarity set her hooves flat on the table and peered at Applejack with the most curious expression. “That very thought had crossed my mind lately.
Applejack smiled and lifted her menu from the table, flicking through its pages far too quickly to be taking the information in. “Don’t think Ah forgot what you said about the boutique,” she said without looking up.
“Oh, yes,” Rarity whispered. “I’ve realized… what would happen to my business, were I no longer here? I’ve spent my entire life nurturing it and nurturing it into what it is now…”
“What about Sweetie Belle?” Applejack asked after a moment of silence.
Rarity stared down at the table as Cibo returned, laying a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table.
“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity repeated as the waiter removed the cork from the bottle and poured generously into each glass.
Applejack reached for her glass and took a large gulp. “Sure. She seems interested enough in fashion that she might want to take over someday.”
Someday… Rarity clenched her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. “I’m not so sure. You might not know this, but my mother and father aren’t the most… cultured ponies.”
“Were they the ones who tried to eat the fake fruit at my apple stand?” Applejack chuckled. “Well, what does that have to do with Sweetie Belle?”
“I’m concerned that she might have attained that same personality from my parents,” Rarity mumbled.
“What, that she might not be cultured enough to run the place?”
Rarity nodded, yet a hint of guilt remained painted on her face.
Applejack shook her head. “Ah still think she’d do a good job. Ya might not have seen it, but that little filly has creativity comin’ out the ears. Ah’ve watched her when she plays with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”
Rarity pursed her lips. “Have you?”
“She looks up to ya.”
Rarity looked up, meeting Applejack’s gaze and tilting her head.
“She thinks of ya like a celebrity,” Applejack explained. “A god, even. She told me when she ran away before the Sisterhooves Social. For all the times she’s fought with ya and wished ya away, she’d be crushed if ya weren’t around anymore.”
Rarity clenched her fore-hooves under the table and fought the trembling in her lip. “She said that?”
Applejack nodded. “Ah may be pryin’ a bit, but I’ll say this: you and Sweetie Belle are different. There’s no changin’ that, so ya might as well live with it. That doesn’t mean that she’ll be any worse at runnin’ the business, though. All she really wants is for ya to trust her.”
Rarity ran her hoof around the edge of her wine glass. “But I do trust her.”
“Then maybe ya ought to put your bits where your mouth is.”
Rarity lifted her glass from the table and drained it in one gulp. “I might just do that.”
“Now, if ya don’t mind my asking, where did this sudden fear of death come from anyhow?”
Rarity levitated the wine bottle from the table and refilled their glasses. “Don’t you ever concern yourself with mortality, Applejack?”
“Mortality?” Applejack laughed. “Ah don’t even wanna think about that. As far as Ah’m concerned, Ah have fifty or sixty years before Ah need to worry about it. It’s not like I’m gonna die next week, right?”
Rarity froze in the middle of waving Cibo to their table. She gulped audibly as their water approached. “Yes… yes, what a silly notion.”
“Ah think you’re havin’ a midlife-crisis early, Rarity,” Applejack said, stroking her chin.
“Yes.” Rarity nodded absently. “I’m certain that’s it.”
“Now, are we gonna eat, or what? So long as ya won’t have a heart-attack from seein’ the bill, that guava salad…”
* * *
“One chime at night usually means one o’clock, doesn’t it?”
Applejack grinned sheepishly at Rarity as they trotted up the path to Rarity’s boutique. “You got it. We’re lucky we haven’t got any parents to yell at us for bein’ out past curfew.”
Rarity giggled. “Oh my… curfew. Most of my curfew violations had something to do with—“ she held a hoof to her mouth as a hiccup escaped her lips.” —alcohol and a stallion, if memory serves.”
“Well, you’ve got one those here.” Applejack winked and nudged her. “Need me to fill the other position?”
Even as Rarity gave a carefree laugh and shrugged Applejack away, her heart rate increased.
“Just jokin’. After all, what would everypony in town say?”
“Now that is a simply fascinating question that we must discuss. But for the time being, my bed beckons.” Rarity laid a hoof across her forehead and stumbled dramatically as the pair reached the boutique’s door. “Applejack, I was curious. If you’re not busy—“
“Way ahead of ya.” Applejack clapped her on the back. “But not tomorrow. Big Mac’s probably on the verge of a stroke, and if Ah miss one more day of work, Ah’ll never hear the end of it. How does the day after sound?”
“Oh…” Rarity’s frowned and shuffled her hooves.
“Hey, cheer up!” Applejack encouraged. “We’ve got all the time in the world for stuff like this.”
Rarity’s face brightened as she opened her door. “I take it the destination is your choice this time?”
“You’ve got that right,” Applejack grinned. “If I can do prissy stuff, you can sure as shoot handle a bit of my lifestyle. Deal?” she asked, extending a hoof.
Rarity gripped the appendage and shook firmly. “Deal.”
She stepped through the door and slammed it shut behind her, rubbing her eyes as she stumbled to the staircase. Wavering back and forth, she gripped the banister and ascended the stairs with her head bowed.
Opening the door at the top of the stairs, she stumbled into her bedroom. Her drooping eyes passed over the canopy-bed as she entered.
No… no, not yet.
She strode past the bed and to the ornate desk sitting at the end of the room. Her horn aglow, she extracted a piece of parchment and quill from one of its drawers.
Levitating the bottle in front of her vision, she clenched her eyes as teardrops pelted the floor. Even through the tears, her sister’s face played through Rarity’s mind.
She took a deep breath as her quill danced back and forth across the page. “The last will and testament of…”
* * *
“I have a sneaking feeling that whatever you’ve planned doesn’t involve ‘frou-frou’ activity,” Rarity surmised as she and Applejack strolled down Ponyville’s main street.
Applejack chucked. “It’s not gonna be Zinfandel and thousand-bit salads, if that’s what ya mean.”
Rarity feigned a disappointed expression. “Well, I suppose I was hoping…”
They shared a laugh as Rarity caught Applejack’s eye.
“So, do you intend to tell me where we’re going?” Rarity asked, glancing down the alleys and side-streets.
“Just hold your horses; we’ll be there in just a second,” Applejack assured her. “Ah’ll tell ya this, though: Ah’ve been comin’ here a few times a week for the better part of the last few years.”
“Your own version of the restaurant I took you to, I take it? Rarity suggested.
Applejack shrugged. “If ya wanna call it that, but without the fancy wine and posh ponies. Oh, here we go!”
Applejack pointed to a building on the left side of their path. Rarity glanced at the structure, clearly perplexed by its simplicity.
“Pound ‘Em,” Rarity read from the sign above the swinging doors. “I don’t understand… what’s so special about this place?”
“It’s what goes on inside that makes it special.” Applejack smiled and motioned toward the door.
Side by side, they pushed through the entrance door and into a spacious room, filled to the brim with wooden tables and roaring patrons.
Rarity nudged Applejack and chuckled. “Somepony should give them a singing lesson or two.”
Applejack nodded. “But ya get used to it after a while.”
She indicated the bar at the far end of the room with a wave of her hoof. Rarity and Applejack took their seats on the center stools.
“Applejack!” a voice bellowed from the end of the bar.
“Well, Ah’ll be,” Applejack whispered as a pure-white unicorn trotted from behind one of the bar’s corners.
“I was starting to wonder when you’d show up again,” the bartender told her. “Been busy at the farm lately?”
Applejack threw her hooves in the air helplessly. “As it ever is. Rarity, this is Life Water, a long time friend of mine.”
Rarity nodded in his direction. “It’s a pleasure.”
“Well, what’re we having tonight?” Life Water asked. “No offense, but she doesn’t look like a hard-drinker.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Right, Rarity?” Applejack gave her friend a gentle nudge.
“Oh, of course,” Rarity nodded, scrunching her face in concentration. “I’ll have a… glass of White Zin—“
Applejack burst into a fit of giggles as Life Water raised his eyebrows. “Don’t even finish that sentence, sugarcube.” She turned back to the bartender. “That’ll be two Equestrian Wagon Bombs, and open a tab; Ah doubt the first one will knock even her out.”
Life Water nodded as several bottles flew from the wall and poured themselves into a martini mixer. “You’ve got it, AJ.”
“Most of our outings are going to include alcohol, aren’t they?” Rarity cast Applejack a sidelong glance.
“Haven’t ya ever just wanted to do somethin’ crazy? To just take a shot at somethin’ and not worry about the consequences, or what anypony else is gonna think of ya?”
“Every day of my life,” Rarity whispered.
After a moment of furious mixing, Life Water set two sizeable mugs on the counter and nodded at the pair. Rarity stared at her mug in piercing scrutiny, poking it as if it might jump up and attack at any moment.
“What’s in this, exactly?” she asked.
Applejack grinned and placed a hoof through the mug’s handle. “It’s probably better if ya don’t know.”
Rarity put on her most convincing expression of determination and followed Applejack’s lead. Applejack raised her glass, stroking her chin with her free hoof.
“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked.
Applejack stared at her without blinking. “What’re we gonna drink to?”
“Drink to?” Rarity raised her eyebrows. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Ya know, a toast,” Applejack said. “Somethin’ we’re about to honor by gettin’ absolutely plastered.”
Each stared down at her drink in silence.
“How about this?” Applejack raised her glass. “To good health.”
Rarity froze for the briefest moment before nodding. “Sure. To good health!”
They smashed the mugs together with a loud ‘thunk.’ Gingerly, Rarity brought the mug to her lips and took the tiniest sip.
“What?” Rarity asked after a brief coughing fit. “Aren’t you going to drink as well?”
Applejack shook her head. “Looks like Ah gotta teach ya how to chug properly, too. Just do what I do.”
She pressed her lips against the mug and turned it on end, draining the liquid into her mouth in a single torrent. With one massive swallow, Applejack slammed the mug on the bar.
“Keep ‘em comin’!” Applejack said, wavering slightly in her seat as she waved her hoof in a circular motion. “Alright, Rarity, your turn. Bottom’s up!”
Rarity nodded, inhaling deeply and gluing her lips to the rim of the mug. She tilted the glass slowly upward, gulping down on the bitter alcohol with all her might.
“This is going to turn bad very quickly.” Rarity burped and set her mug beside Applejack’s. “Yet I don’t particularly care right now.
“And that’s what Ah like to hear.” Applejack laid a fore-hoof across Rarity’s shoulders and motioned to Life Water. “Well, don’t take all day!”
Rarity and Applejack raised their glasses simultaneously as Life Water refilled them, each suppressing a fit of giggles as they looked into one another’s eyes.
“What are we going to drink to this time?” Rarity asked, steadying herself with her free hoof.
“Let’s just drink to good health again,” Applejack giggled.
Rarity nodded and turned her glass upside down, Applejack following right after her.
“Ah, yeah.” Applejack grinned, her eyes drooping as she set the mug back down. “This is one of those places where I don’t have to worry if somepony will see me.”
Rarity frowned and set her mug back beside Applejack’s. “You’re talking about the spa, aren’t you?”
Applejack sighed, her head bobbing up and down. “Is it wrong that Ah feel embarrassed about goin’ to that place?”
“Well, do you enjoy it?”
“Ah guess Ah do.”
Rarity smiled and placed her hoof over Applejack’s. “Then whatever is the problem?”
Applejack closed her eyes. “Ya remember that story Ah told the Cutie Mark Crusaders, about when Ah went to Canterlot to stay with my family out there?”
Rarity nodded.
“It was great at first, but then Ah started to realize how… wrong it felt. Treatin’ other ponies badly, just because they didn’t have bits comin’ out the back end. The way all those rich ponies acted… it just left a bad taste in my mouth about ‘em.”
Rarity turned away as Still Water two new mugs in front of them. “So… you believe that by admitting you like makeovers and spa days, you’ll be like those ponies?”
“Ah guess so.” Applejack placed her head on the counter and sighed. “It sounds stupid; I know. It’s just that… all those years ago, my brain made the connection between prissy and rude, and Ah haven’t been able to shake it since.”
Rarity turned back to Applejack, pushing one of the mugs toward her. “Applejack, do you believe I’m like those ponies?”
Applejack looked up from the table, aghast. “Oh, goodness no! You’re nothin’ like them. Ah mean, you’re the Element of Generosity, for goodness sake. You’re… what Ah mean is…”
“You’re great,” Applejack mumbled. “You’re really great.”
Rarity smiled, nodding enthusiastically. “So, just because I enjoy being ‘prissy’… that doesn’t make me a rude pony?”
“Of course not,” Applejack said, staring into her mug. “I really—“
“So, shouldn’t the same apply to you?”
Applejack propped her head with one hoof, tracing a ring around the edge of her mug with the other. “Of course it should… Ah’m just afraid of what everypony will think. Big Mac, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom… everypony sees me as this big, strong tom-stallion. What’ll they think if I suddenly go all frou-frou on them?”
“Those who truly love you won’t care.” Rarity shook her head. “If that’s truly who you are… a pony who loves spa days and getting dirty on a farm, anypony who truly cares about you will embrace it. No matter what you choose to be or what you choose to do.”
Applejack met Rarity’s gaze. “No matter what?”
“No matter what,” Rarity repeated.
Applejack lifted her mug from the counter a third time. “Ah think this should just about do it. Besides, there’s somethin’ Ah’d like to do before we go home.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Rarity said, lifting her glass to meet Applejack’s. “Not that this is a complaint, but I haven’t been able to see clearly for fifteen minutes.”
They nodded at one another and drained their glasses simultaneously. Applejack tossed a bag of bits onto the counter and leapt from her seat, swaying dangerously as she reached the floor.
“Keep the change, buddy!” she bellowed to Life Water. “S’not like Ah’m gonna need it pretty soon.”
Rarity felt her heart skip a beat as Applejack spoke her last sentence. She stumbled through the door and down the stairs onto the street, stopping for a moment as she attempted to keep her balance. “Darling… what did you mean by that?”
Applejack wavered back and forth as she trotted toward the town center, Rarity in tow. “By what now?”
“I won’t need it pretty soon,” Rarity repeated. “What did you mean?”
“Oh, that?” Applejack chuckled. “Just a little inside joke. Don’t worry your pretty little head.”
Rarity cleared her throat and fell silent, yet her eyes remained frozen in a piercing expression.
“Ya ever have somethin’ special you desperately wanted to do, but couldn’t? Somethin’ inhibition said you weren’t allowed to do?” Applejack asked as they neared the town’s central fountain.
“Certainly,” Rarity mumbled, doing her best not to focus on Applejack’s tail as it swished back and forth in the evening breeze.
“Well, here’s one of mine.”
Applejack came to a halt directly in front of the fountain and stood stock-still.
“Every day Ah come into town, Ah look up at that fountain and think about what it means.” Applejack sighed and took a step closer. “It’s so simple, yet it means so much. It’s about our heritage here in Ponyville, about our ancestors… about everything we live for.
“That’s what my somethin’ special is,” Applejack said, laying her fore-hooves on the edge of the fountain, looking into the ripple surface of the water. “It’s simple, yet it means a lot to me.”
Without another word, she leapt into the water and waded to the fountain’s center. Grinning, she turned back toward Rarity with an expectant expression.
“All my life, Ah’ve been tellin’ myself that Ah live without carin’ what anypony else thinks,” Applejack shouted. “But you just made me realize Ah’ve been lyin’ to myself that whole time. Now Ah understand. Anypony who really cares won’t worry about my decisions. They’ll love me for what Ah choose to do.”
Rarity stood at the edge of the fountain, mouth agape.
“Well?” Applejack asked, gesturing broadly. “Are ya gonna join me?”
Rarity snapped back to the moment, nodding resolutely. Without a hint of hesitation, she leapt over the edge of the fountain and splashed through the water toward Applejack.
“Ah went to the spa with ya two days ago,” Applejack said over the sound of the gushing water. “Ah enjoyed that. And as much as Ah’ve kicked and screamed about it in the past, Ah’ve always enjoyed stuff like it.
“Ah’m Applejack,” she whispered. “I’m a pony who loves spas and a good, hard day’s work on a filthy farm.”
“And no matter what, I truly don’t care,” Rarity winked.
“And Ah’m never gonna be afraid to share my true feelings again,” Applejack promised. “Sometimes, ya just need to take a shot, right? Not care what anypony else thinks?”
They stood still as statues, gazing into each other’s eyes as the moonlight beamed down and filtered through the crashing water. Applejack took a step toward Rarity, their soaked manes glinting in the evening light.
“I think I share your feelings in that, Applejack.” Rarity’s mouth curved into a tiny smile. “I truly should stop caring what might go wrong. I simply need to… take a shot, as it were.”
Applejack smiled sadly. “Ya need to leave, don’t you?”
“Only for the moment, darling,” Rarity assured her. “I believe there are a few important… errands I need to take care of.”
“Somethin’ tells me that your errands start with a ‘Sweetie’ and end with a ‘Belle’,” Applejack chuckled.
“Maybe they do and maybe they don’t.” Rarity turned her nose up. “We’ll simply have to see.”
Applejack rushed forward as Rarity turned to leave, locking her in a bone-crushing embrace.
“Ah can’t thank ya enough, sugarcube. Not bein’ who I was has been killin’ me my entire life. Ah just can’t believe it took me this long to realize the truth.”
Rarity shook her head. “You had the truth all along, Applejack; all you needed was something to push you in the right direction.”
“And the same goes for you and Sweetie Belle, doesn’t it?”
Rarity turned her head to the star-strewn sky and sighed. “It really does, doesn’t it?”
“At the risk of drivin’ ya insane, would ya like to—“
“Way ahead of you,” Rarity giggled, her thoughts drifting two nights back. “But I believe I have some business to take care of myself. Besides, we may end up at each other’s throats if we’re together every day.”
“Alright then, two days from now. Meet me at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres at seven o’clock. Oh, and bring a blanket.”
“A blanket?” Rarity’s eyes widened. “Whatever for?”
“Oh, no reason.” Applejack grinned. “No reason at all.”
* * *
Rarity pushed through the door of her boutique and stumbled into the darkness beyond. She cleared her throat and steadied herself on the coat-rack nearby.
“Rarity?” a voice murmured.
Rarity took a step toward the center of the room, nearly stumbling over a blanket as she walked. “Sweetie Belle?” Rarity chuckled and stared down at the lump with a loving smile. “What are you doing down here, sweetheart?”
Sweetie Belle yawned and stretched as she stood. “I tried waiting up for you, but I fell asleep a while ago.”
Rarity nodded. “So I see. But why?”
Sweetie Belle frowned. “You’ve been acting so weird lately; I wanted to see what you’ve been up to when you go out.”
“You could have asked, darling,” Rarity said with a light laugh.
“You always tell me to mind my own business when I do,” Sweetie Belle mumbled as she looked away.
Rarity’s mind leapt back to the events of the previous days.
She looks up to me.  
“Come sit with me for a minute, darling.”
Sweetie Belle nodded and followed behind Rarity as she strode to the edge of the boutique.
“Sweetie Belle…” Rarity took a deep breath as she sat down. “I’ve never treated you as well as I should have. I… I haven’t treated you like a sister should, and I need to make things right before it’s too late.”
Sweetie Belle’s expression morphed to one of confusion and horror. “Too late? What do you mean ‘too late’?”
Rarity gulped and stroked her sister’s cheek. “I have something to tell you, darling,” she said as a tear slid down her cheek. “and I have a very special question to ask.”
* * *
“Just wait ‘til we get to the top,” Applejack said, looking forward in reminiscence. “This is one of my favorite places in Ponyville.”
Rarity huffed, tugging at the weight of her saddlebags and forcing herself further up the hill. “On this particular mountain? Ponyville has dozens. Couldn’t we have picked any of them?”
“Sure, we could have. But none of them are quite as amazin’ as this. It was somethin’ Big Mac showed me a number of years ago.”
Rarity slipped on a protruding rock and stumbled several feet back down the incline. “I certainly hope you’re right.”
Applejack smiled, turning and extending a hoof to her. “Come on, now. We can’t have ya passin’ out before we even get there.”
Rarity smiled gratefully, taking Applejack’s hoof and returning to a standing position.
“Come on,” Applejack encouraged. “It’s only a bit farther.”
Rarity nodded, steeling her resolve. Supporting her weigh on Applejack’s hoof, she launched herself up the remaining stretch the hill, landing on a high plateau as she galloped.
“Now…” She took a deep breath. “What’s so remarkable about this particular mountain?”
Applejack smiled. “Turn around.”
Rarity cast Applejack a curious glance before making an about-face. As she stepped to the edge of the plateau, her bewilderment turned to wonder.
She looked down on the town from thousands of feet above, her mouth curving into a massive smile as she watched ponies the size of ants mill about the scene. The massive lakes of the city glinted in the light of the sun as it set over Ponyville’s westernmost hills.
“It’s incredible,” Rarity whispered, turning back to Applejack. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“It’s a private place,” Applejack replied, laying on the grass and propping herself up on her fore-hooves. “Ah wanted to share it with somepony really special.”
Rarity’s face glowed as she sat next to Applejack. “I’ve never felt more honored. And I see now why you asked me to bring a blanket,” she noted, grinning.
She extracted a large cotton blanket from her saddlebag, magically suspending it in the air before allowing it to drift to the grass.
“Guess ya are reliable from time to time,” Applejack teased as she stood and trotted to the blanket.
“Please don’t have a heart attack, but I also took a bit of initiative.” Rarity reached into her other saddlebag and extracted a bottle of blood-red wine. She laid it on the grass in front of Applejack.
Applejack stared at the label without blinking. “Petrus Pomerol… Ah suppose Ah shouldn’t—“
“Concern yourself with the price,” Rarity completed with a sly grin, “and you’re absolutely right.”
“Well, where are the glasses?”
Rarity stared out to the setting sun, her smile unfaltering as she removed the cork from the bottle. She took a massive draught and held the wine out to Applejack. “What are a few germs between the best of friends?”
“Chuggin’ the most expensive wine in the world straight from the bottle, eh?” Applejack laughed. “Maybe ya have learned from me.”
“A swig of the finest to complete the finest week I’ve ever had.”
“Who would’ve thought that when you practically hog-tied me and dragged me to the spa that first time a couple of week ago, it would lead to… this.” Applejack gave a contented sigh and handed the bottle back to Rarity.
Rarity turned the bottle upward, displaying a lopsided smile. “We’ve never been all that different, have we darling?”
Applejack stared down at the blanket, brushing the grass with her rear hooves. “That’s just one of the things I’ve realized lately.”
Rarity stared at Applejack’s features as they shined in the gentle sunlight. “Darling… are you wearing makeup?”
Applejack flinched, her hoof shooting up to cover the left side of her face. “Ah’m... eh…”
“You look beautiful,” Rarity whispered reverently, laying a hoof on Applejack’s and forcing it downward. “You look absolutely beautiful, darling. Remember? Those who truly love you won’t care what you choose to do.”
Applejack locked eyes with Rarity. “So you… you…” She gulped. “Care?”
Rarity’s face fell almost imperceptibly. “Of course I care.”
Taking another swig of wine, Applejack passed the bottle to her friend.
“Applejack…” Rarity said quietly, her heart racing as she swirled the remaining liquid around in the bottle. “If, hypothetically, you might be faced with your last chance to make a dream come true… mind you, a dream you only just realized you had, but had been lurking under the surface for a long time and…”
Rarity cleared her throat as she looked away.
“No regrets,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on Rarity’s cheek and meeting her face to face. “That’s my new lease on life. If it isn’t what you thought it was, the embarrassment will fade away after a while. But it’ll be torture if you have to spend every day, wonderin’—”
The valley fell into absolute silence as Rarity lunged forward, pressing their lips fiercely together. Applejack let out a muffled cry and tensed her extremities before falling completely at ease. The two collapsed onto the blanket, their lips never parting as Applejack laid a hoof across midsection and pulled her close.
Rarity finally broke the kiss; her eyes remained closed as her lips trembled.
“All this time,” Rarity whispered, allowing her eyes to drift open. “All this time spent fighting these feelings, agonizing over them… and it was as simple as that.”
“All this time spent thinking Ah was terrible for thinkin’ these thoughts about you… that Ah was wrong for feelin’ this way, and I’ve never felt so right in my life.”
Rarity’s eyes drifted back to the sun as it touched the peaks of Ponyville’s highest mountains. “Applejack… I need to tell you something.”
Applejack leaned forward, grinning as the tips of their noses connected. “This has something to do with detrimentin, I take it?”
Rarity began to tremble as Applejack spoke, tears sparkling in her eyes as Applejack stroked her stomach. “You… you knew?”
Applejack nodded. “Since the day after we went to that restaurant. Ya were actin’ so strange that I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a checkup myself. I waited a few hours, and… well, ya know the rest.”
Rarity’s tears broke into a full sob. “Applejack, please forgive me. I had no idea. I never would have… if I had only listened when you said you didn’t want to go, you might…”
Rarity’s body shook as she obscured her face, shaking Applejack’s comforting hoof away.
“Shh,” Applejack whispered. “Ya don’t need to say you’re sorry.”
Rarity uncovered her face and met Applejack’s gaze. “If I hadn’t been so insistent, we might both still live to see another week.”
Applejack let a tear fall from her own eye as she stroked Rarity’s mane. “Look at everythin’ that’s happened this week, sugarcube. For the first time in my life, Ah’m not afraid of bein’ who Ah really am. Look at what’s happened between you and Sweetie Belle; what you did means so much to her. All the years she’s spent tryin’ to please you now mean somethin’ in her mind. Can’t ya see? None of that would have happened if not for this.”
Rarity shook her head. “I’ve taken you away from Apple Bloom, from Big Macintosh, from Granny Smith… from everypony in Ponyville, all because I didn’t listen. You should have lived to a ripe old age.”
"What would Ah have done?” Applejack asked, leaning still forward until their legs brushed together. “Ah would've spent my entire life denying the pony I really am. Ah would have kept my feelings locked away, all because Ah was afraid of what other ponies would think of me.”
“You should be furious at me,” Rarity said. “I’ve killed you.”
“No, sugarcube. Ya saved me. I’d rather spend one week knowin’ somepony loves me than spend my entire life wonderin’. The love was always there; all Ah needed was somepony to convince me to be what Ah am. And all that time, she was there, just waitin’ for me.
“Ah’ve always loved ya, Rarity,” Applejack whispered. “And now I can finally say it without fear. Ah can say it because of what you’ve did.”
Rarity leaned into Applejack, intertwining their legs and leaning her head into Applejack’s chest. “And I’ve always loved you.”
Applejack closed her eyes and embraced her. “Ah have my closure. Ah’ve spent time with my family, and you’ve spent time with Sweetie Belle. Ah could die five minutes from now, or tomorrow, or the day after that and it wouldn’t matter.” She took Rarity’s hoof and held it tight. “Whatever comes next, right now, at this moment… Ah have this.”
They looked into each other’s eyes as Applejack rolled on top of Rarity. Applejack leaned toward her and locked their lips into a second kiss, thrusting her hips into Rarity’s and holding as close as their bodies would allow.
Rarity’s heart raced as she slid her fore-hooves down Applejack’s body, finally coming to rest at her flank. Painfully slowly, she traced a path along Applejack’s stomach, the farm-mare’s radiant heat beckoning her hoof inward.
Her eyes clenched shut, Rarity followed the pathway of the heat, stroking the epicenter with a gentleness befitting her personality. Lost in the oblivion of the embrace, she felt a vague satisfaction as Applejack shivered and thrust her moist slit back and forth across Rarity’s hoof.
Applejack let out a series of muffled cries, her shivers becoming progressively more pronounced and the thrust of her hips across Rarity’s appendage ever-more fierce. Following her lead, Applejack placed a hoof between Rarity’s legs, tracing a hoof around her clitoris.
“No,” Rarity whispered, nibbling on Applejack’s neck. “Not yet.”
Applejack obeyed, removing her hoof and caressing Rarity’s flank. Their juices intermingled as Rarity continued to rub along Applejack’s slit, the heat of the area intensifying with each additional stroke. Applejack breath came in short gasps as Rarity rolled atop her, planting a trail of kisses down Applejack’s stomach.
“My turn,” Rarity said in a low voice as she neared the pink opening. Even as she spoke, Applejack arched her back in response to the new sensation.
“Your turn?” Applejack murmured, chuckling. “Ah haven’t done a darn thing yet.”
“And that’s how it’s going to stay for now,” Rarity whispered as her muzzle reached the source of Applejack’s heat. “My my, dear… am I really that good?” Rarity asked as her tongue danced across Applejack’s dripping mare-hood, lapping up the juices as though they were fine wine.
“Six years of waitin’,” Applejack managed as a new wave of shivers overtook her body, “and this is worth every second.”
“Then let’s not keep you waiting any longer,” Rarity said greedily, her tongue finally penetrating Applejack’s vulva.
Applejack let a renewed set of screams pierce the air as she thrashed about in ecstasy, gripping a lock of Rarity’s mane and pulling it with all her might. Rarity buried her face further in Applejack’s nether-region, gripping her new partner’s flank with both hooves as her invading tongue penetrated further.
“Don’t… stop…” Applejack only barely managed to utter as her eyes took a glazed look. Sweat dripped down her body as she pressed Rarity’s face even further toward her target. Applejack gritted her teeth and let out a piercing scream, the spasms of her body failing to deter Rarity as Applejack’s juices spurted from her opening.
Rarity’s mouth remained locked on Applejack’s slit as the liquid flowed, greedily gulping at every drop. Finally, she retraced her kisses’ previous pathway back up Applejack’s body as her orgasm came to a close.
Rarity pressed her lips against Applejack’s, retracting a moment later. “Worth the wait?” she asked.
Applejack held up a hoof, a dumbfounded smile playing about her lips. “Ah’m sorry, did ya say something? Ah think I just died and went to heaven.”
“I’m no amateur,” Rarity whispered in a husky voice as she laid her head against Applejack’s chest.
“Don’t think Ah forgot about you,” Applejack said, reclaiming her position on top of the unicorn and forcing her downward.
“Let’s see if you measure up,” Rarity said, pulling Applejack into a kiss.
Applejack allowed her hooves to wander once again down Rarity’s body as their tongues connected, exchanging the taste of Applejack’s love. She placed her first hoof in its familiar resting place between Rarity’s legs, swirling about the soaked location in a circular motion.
Applejack felt Rarity bite down on her lower lip as she increased the pace of her stroking, rubbing along Rarity’s button with her second hoof. As moonlight illuminated the scene, Rarity’s tail snaked its way up Applejack’s rear, lightly caressing a familiar space between her legs.
Both Rarity and Applejack gasped as they neared their climax. Applejack increased her pace further, her hooves almost a blur as they raced back and forth across Rarity’s lower-lips.
Rarity finally broke their kiss, holding a hoof to her forehead and arching her back as her body was filled to bursting with ecstasy. Though half blinded by pleasure, the tip of her tail continued to dance back and forth across Applejack’s own pleasure center.
Simultaneously, their screams of pure pleasure shattered the air. Night birds from the surrounding trees were sent scurrying from their hiding place as the lovers’ cries mingled in the air.
A smug smirk decorating her face, Applejack rolled off of Rarity and onto the picnic blanket, panting with all her might. “So, was Ah as good as you?”
“Don’t… push it,” Rarity said between gasping breaths, grinning at Applejack and chuckling. “Though, if my count is right, that was… two for you, and only one for me.”
“Ah owe you one tomorrow morning then.” Applejack smiled. As she scanned the empty plateau, her eyes fell upon the wine bottle standing at the edge of the blanket. “Who would’ve thought, eh?” Applejack asked, taking the bottle in hoof and taking a swig. “One moment, you’re faced with the reality of death… the next, ya have a pony that loves you for who you are.”
“That loves you with all her heart.” Rarity wrapped a hoof around Applejack and drew her close. “That will always love you.”
“Ah used to be terrified of death,” Applejack whispered, closing her eyes as she leaned into Rarity. “But now Ah don’t have to be.”
Rarity smiled, closing her eyes and snuggling closer. “Because now you’ve truly lived without regrets?”
Applejack shook her head, taking the unused half of the blanket and throwing it over them. “No… because you’ll be there with me.”
Rarity’s smiled as her eyes sparkled with tears. “I love you, Applejack.”
Applejack shifted under the blanket, draping her arms across Rarity. “Ah love you too. Always.”
With a deep sigh, Applejack fell still in Rarity’s hooves.
“Darling?” Rarity whispered as a powerful exhaustion gripped her body. She brushed her lover’s mane aside. Placing a hoof under Applejack’s nose, no sensation but the cool night breeze registered in her mind.
A small smile touching her lips, Rarity’s fading vision drifted to the wine bottle, still cradled in Applejack’s stiff hooves.
Removing the bottle as gently as she would a filly, Rarity pressed the neck to her lips and drained its contents.
A swig of the finest, she mused, to complete the finest life I could have lived.
She draped a hoof over Applejack’s chest and closed her eyes.
“I’ll be with you soon, darling.” She let out a deep sigh.
“Always.”
"To live an entire life behind a facade is to die the slowest, most painful death imaginable."