Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
“Thank you again for suggesting this, Applejack,” said Rarity, taking a sip from her wine glass. “It’s a lovely way to commemorate our two month anniversary.”
“Really, Rarity, y’ don’t need t’ keep thankin’ me,” Applejack replied with a small smile. “It’s th’ least Ah could do.”
The two ponies were in a restaurant (a relatively new one called The Garden), sitting across from one another in a corner booth. The restaurant itself was fairly crowded, but the secluded position and construction of their seat afforded the pair a significant measure of privacy. Between that and the softness with which both spoke, they may as well have been in an entirely different building. The lighting was soft, but managed not to be dim.
“But it’s so very generous of you,” Rarity persisted, setting her glass magically down and leaning forward slightly. “I know that places like this aren’t something you find appealing, so I appreciate the gesture that much more.”
“Yer welcome. Now can we please stop with all the back an’ forth?” The earth pony shook her head and chuckled under her breath. “Ah’ll end up gettin’ dizzy if this goes on much longer.”
“As you wish,” Rarity said, taking another sip of wine. She sloshed the dark red liquid around in its glass before setting it down on the table again. The unicorn stole a quick glance at Applejack before pointedly looking off to the side at nothing. She looked back quickly, only to see the earth pony giving her an unamused look from her side of the booth. This process repeated itself twice more before Rarity finally spoke.
“Yes, Applejack? Whatever is the matter?”
The orange mare sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look, Rarity, y’ clearly have somethin’ more y’ wanna say, so jus’ go on an’ say it.”
Rarity lifted a forehoof to her chest dramatically. “Why, I am perfectly unaware of what you mean, Applejack. Whatever could lead you to believe to the contrary, I simply cannot imagi-”
“Rarity.”
“You dressed up!” Rarity squealed, dropping all pretense and hugging her forelegs up against her chest. “It took months, but you actually, truly dressed up for me!”
Applejack was wearing a black dress shirt with vertical stripes of dark grey. Rarity, excused from shame, ran her eyes over it, taking in every detail. “It’s so elegantly simple! And it provides such a beautiful contrast to your coat and mane - just one simple shirt, and you look like a completely new mare!”
Applejack raised a single eyebrow.
Rarity blushed. “I mean that in the best possible way, of course. And the way you left the top buttons and cuffs undone - oh, magnificent! It’s formal, yet so informal! I could not have designed it better myself,” she finished, putting a hoof on the table to emphasize her sincerity.
Unbeknownst to the unicorn, Applejack sighed inwardly with relief. The buttons had been absolute murder to get done properly, even with help from her brother and sister. She had left the collar and cuffs undone out of a shortage of time and patience rather than to make any fashion statement.
“Ah’m glad y’ like it Rarity - Ah jus’ figured Ah’d return the favour, since yer always dressin’ up all fancy-like whenever we do stuff.”
“Oh, pshaw, you mean little old things like this?” Rarity said in response, idly running a hoof over the front of her dress. It was a deep black garment that slunk about Rarity’s chest and down around her body, kept in check by two slender straps running over her shoulders. The dress had a barely-perceptible gradient pattern that just teased into a deep burgundy at the hem. “I didn’t even make this for the occasion, Applejack.”
“Rarity, Ah have literally seen y’ make mud look good.”
Rarity blushed. “Be that as it may, I was simply pressed for time, and this was the most agreeable thing I could find on such short notice.” She levitated her wine glass to her mouth.
Ignoring the fact that “short notice” for Rarity probably meant two or three hours of preening and trying things on, Applejack instead noticed how she looked subtly tired. “Rough work week?” Applejack asked.
Rarity rolled her eyes in exasperation before gulping down the rest of her drink and thumping the glass to the table. “Oh, you have no idea - Fancy Pants and Hoity Toity both scheduled these absolutely massive shows on the same day this week, and I had to make an entirely separate line for each one! I must have used more than a square kilometre of fabric!”
Applejack bit back giggles, one hoof over her mouth to conceal an impish grin.
“What?”
“Oh, nuthin’, Rarity, Ah’m sure all that sewin’ an’ magic-usin’ must a’ taken a lot outta ya. Very physically demandin’ an’ such.”
Rarity glowered at the mare across from her as she levitated over the wine bottle (a ‘99 Château Cheval) and refilled her glass. “Alright, fine,” she pouted delicately, replacing the bottle in its ice bath, “how was your week then, Applejack?”
“Oh, y’know: manual labour, three squares a day, sustainin’ the town’s major source a’ apples an’ agriculture, the usual.” Applejack shrugged, taking a sip of hard cider from her mug and barely managing to contain her laughter. “Same ol’, same ol’.”
Rarity was stonefaced for a moment before smiling seductively. She leaned forward across the table and half-closed her eyes. “Well, I must say I’m impressed with you, Applejack, but there is one field you neglected to plough for the entire week-”
“Them! We’re with them!” cried a familiar voice from across the room. Two heads, one orange and one white, turned to see the source of the noise. Near the restaurant’s entrance was a commotion of sorts: the maître d’ - a well-dressed earth pony with slick hair and an expertly curled moustache - stood by the door, and had presumably been greeting customers as usual until that moment.
A bright blue pegasus was hovering slightly off the ground in front of the maître d’s lectern, pointing towards Rarity and Applejack. Upon seeing the two of them look over at her, Rainbow Dash waved and flew over, nearly upending several tables.
“Hey guys! What’s up?” she panted, hovering.
“Um, we were-” began Rarity.
“Oh yeah? That’s cool,” Dash interrupted. “You guys know me, right?”
“Well, yeah-” Applejack started to say.
“Cool!” said Dash, turning back towards the entrance. The earth pony was still standing at the lectern, becoming increasingly indignant. “Yeah, we’re with these guys!” the pegasus called across the restaurant, earning a half-dozen annoyed glances. The maître d’ remained stock still for a moment, then simply rubbed a hoof tiredly into his forehead and made a dismissive gesture. Despite the restaurant’s glamour, it seemed he was not paid enough to deal with stuff like this.
Dash turned back to the two ponies in the booth, who still weren’t quite sure what precisely was going on. “Thanks for this - can you believe this place needed a reservation? We’ll be back in a flash!” She turned and trotted smugly across the restaurant to the main doors.
Silence followed, Applejack and Rarity staring at Dash’s retreating form. It was a small eternity before Applejack spoke.
“. . . What jus’ happened?”
Rarity sat back thoughtfully, then looked across at Applejack. “If I understood that correctly, I believe we’re going to have unexpected guests.”
Applejack stared for a moment. She started to react with anger, but ultimately just slumped in her seat and let her neck go limp. She shook her head slowly, chin rustling across the fabric of her shirt. “That pony, Ah swear . . .”
“What’s the matter, Applejack?”
Applejack sighed frustratedly. “Here we are, havin’ a nice evenin’, and along she comes, jus’ bargin’ right on in! S’just like her, too.” She looked up at Rarity. “Ain’tcha upset? Y’ prob’ly put more inta’ this week than Ah did - Ah know it ain’t easy bein’ creative for a livin’.”
“Applejack, darling, you just need a different perspective on the matter,” Rarity said with a small smile. “This simply isn’t worth getting worked up about - Rainbow and her accomplice will be a bother, to be certain, but we . . .”
Rarity paused and leaned close to Applejack, lowering her eyelids to half mast again. “have the entire night ahead of us,” she finished with a purr. Underneath the table, Applejack felt one of the unicorn’s rear hooves slide up one of her legs. She shivered.
Rarity made a persuasive argument.
Applejack pointedly cleared her throat and sat up. “Well, Ah suppose Ah c’n grin an’ bear it, when y’ put it like that.”
Rarity smiled knowingly and allowed herself to regain her posture. She took a sip of wine and glanced out into the space of the restaurant. “Speaking of which, where are those two? And for that matter, who did Rainbow Dash bring-”
There followed the silence of one who is accustomed never to being at a loss for words being at a loss for words.
“Uh, Rarity? What is it? Did y’ see who Rainbow-” Applejack’s words caught in her throat when she saw what Rarity had seen.
Rainbow Dash was walking towards them across the restaurant’s expanse with her date by her side. What surprised Applejack and Rarity was not her date’s gender (female) or her race (gryphon), but the fact that they recognized her. They recognized her quite well, in fact.
“Rarity, Applejack,” began Rainbow Dash, “this is Gilda-”
“Yeah, we’ve met,” Applejack said flatly.
Rainbow Dash looked confused for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Oh, right, yeah. Gilda has been to Ponyville before. It’s been so long I forgot.”
“Hi.” Gilda’s inflection managed to make the greeting into something akin to a curse. Both she and Rainbow Dash wore nothing in the way of clothes in spite of the upscale venue, a fact which Rarity forced herself to ignore with a not insignificant amount of effort.
Gilda herself seemed unchanged, at least in any capacity that Applejack could detect. Her feathers were no doubt configured differently, and she had likely undergone at least one shedding and moulting cycle since her stay in Ponyville, of course, but Gilda as a whole was remarkably similar to how Applejack remembered her.
“Rainbow Dash, why doncha help me get some chairs?” said Applejack, standing.
“But you’re in a booth-”
“Rainbow Dash, why doncha help me get some chairs?” said Applejack through gritted teeth, jerking her head pointedly towards an unoccupied table a few metres away.
“Alright, fine. Jeez,” Rainbow Dash relented, following Applejack over. Their short journey was a silent one, the telltale signs of stress visible in the way Applejack carried herself - her shoulders a tad hunched, her neck muscles bunched up.
Rainbow Dash broke the silence upon reaching the table. “So we just need two, then?”
“What the hell’s this?” asked Applejack. Rainbow looked at her as though the orange pony had sprouted a second head before she answered.
“. . . They’re chairs? We were getting some for-”
“Not that!” Applejack nearly growled in frustration. “Ah mean what the hell’s the big idea bringin’ Gilda t’ a place like this?”
“I wanted to show her a good time. That a crime now?”
“Rainbow, yer idea’ve a good time is bad bars an’ worse booze.”
“Hey, they’re respected drinking establishments!”
“Th’ ones y’ dragged me to were all holes in th’ wall.”
Rainbow Dash recoiled at this, mouth slightly agape. She took a moment to collect herself before settling and looking away and downward. When Dash did not speak, Applejack sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose - she continued the conversation after telling herself to calm down.
“Look, Rainbow, this thing with Gilda,” Applejack began earnestly. She paused slightly, choosing her words with care. “It doesn’t have anythin’ t’ do with us, does it?”
Dash’s expression was unreadable. “Us?” she asked.
Applejack sighed. “Y’know, us.”
“You made it clear to me that there wasn’t any ‘us’ anymore,” said Dash, grabbing a chair and dragging it forcefully back to the booth where Rarity and Gilda awaited. Applejack reached out a hoof to stop her, but Dash had moved too far away.
Applejack stayed as she was for a moment - one hoof raised, eyes wide and watchful of Dash - before sighing and drooping her head.
Oh, Rainbow.
Applejack took a chair from the table and dragged it to the booth as Dash had done. Rarity and Gilda were seated, and their conversation separated itself from the hubbub of the restaurant as she drew nearer.
“. . . take it gryphon society is not terribly fixated upon clothing, then?”
“You take it right. I don’t even see how ponies can care so much.”
“. . . I must admit, I don’t quite understand.”
“You walk around naked most of the time - why would you care so much about something you barely use? How do you even manage to stay in business?”
Fortunately - so thought Applejack, anyway - she and Dash arrived back at the table before the conversation could continue further. Rarity gave her date a grateful nod and took a small drink of her wine, while Gilda looked boredly up at the ponies and chairs.
“Well,” said Applejack, sliding her chair up beside Rainbow Dash’s and forcing a grin, “now that everypon- Ah mean everyone is here, Ah s’pose we oughta order somethin’.” She looked over at Gilda, who was reclining against the wall in the booth, occupying the bench half with her body and half with one leonine leg.
“Gilda, if Ah may?”
Gilda looked back blankly. Applejack cleared her throat and gestured to the chair she had brought over.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, you can sit there,” said Gilda, idly inspecting her talons.
Applejack was stunned into silence for a moment. She forced herself to be patient, then took a deep breath.
It’s like Rarity said - Ah got th’ whole night ahead a’ me. Ain’t no point in makin’ it bad fer m’self.
“Actually,” Applejack said, voice intentionally even, “Ah was kinda hopin’ Ah could have m’ own seat back.”
Gilda glanced hostilely up at the orange pony before replying. “I didn’t see your name written on it.”
Rainbow Dash leaned forward beseechingly, interrupting before Applejack had a chance to get angry. “C’mon, G - please?”
Gilda looked at Dash for a second, then gave a derisive snort and moved sulkily to the chair that Applejack had presented. Applejack moved into the spot Gilda had vacated, brushing a couple of loose feathers from the seat.
Seeing they were all seated, a waiter arrived and presented them with menus. The ponies each spent a couple minutes reviewing the food the restaurant had to offer before making a decision - Rarity opted for a garden salad, Applejack for a plate of hearty poutine, and Rainbow Dash for borscht. Gilda was surprised that there were hamburgers and hotdogs on the menu, but just rolled her eyes when the waiter explained that they were merely synthesized. She settled for a “hamburger.”
Rarity and Applejack were fine with their current drinks, and Dash was content with water. Gilda ordered beer.
After the waiter had left them, Rarity announced that she had to use the little fillies’ room and would be back shortly. While standing, her eyes lingered on Applejack for a heartbeat longer than either Dash or Gilda. Applejack gave her a slight nod, then made an excuse for herself and followed Rarity to the washroom. It was empty except for the two ponies.
“I gather,” said Rarity from in front of the washroom’s mirror, producing a purse and levitating a spring-loaded makeup compact out of it, “that there was something of significance said between you and Rainbow Dash while you were gathering seating?”
“Y’ could hear us from that far away?” asked Applejack.
“No, but I was able to decipher your body language. You and Dash are not the subtlest of ponies.” Rarity paused for a moment, applying a masterful stroke of mascara to her eyelashes.
“Significance,” Applejack sighed in response. “Yeah, y’ could say that.” She was silent for a moment, then spoke. “See, it’s like this: back b’fore you an’ Ah, well, y’know.” Rarity blushed slightly at the memory. “Back b’fore that happened, Rainbow and Ah were together.”
Applejack paused, gaging Rarity’s reaction. Rarity, now facing her, simply nodded. “It makes sense, the way you two were at each other’s throats during the Running of the Leaves. You seemed too aggressive for normal competition, and a past tryst certainly explains that.”
It was the orange pony’s turn to blush. Rarity’s eyes widened. “You don’t seriously mean to tell me that what happened there was during . . .”
“Our relationship was mostly good, but it had rocky spells - the Runnin’ happened durin’ one o’ those spells. It worked out in the end, you all saw that, but . . .” Applejack’s voice trailed off and she looked down awkwardly. “It didn’t last long after.”
“But you seemed so happy at the end there.”
“An’ we were, but the Runnin’ got me t’ thinkin’. That point, we’d been havin’ more an’ more fights over smaller an’ smaller things. Ah think havin’ you girls there t’ see it was what got the idea in m’ head that maybe couples - even couples like me an’ her - oughta not fight s’ much.”
“Couples like you?” asked Rarity, tilting her head slightly in confusion. “Whatever do you mean?”
“What we had - if’n we had anythin’, mind - was mostly physical. We’d have coffee ‘r somethin’ else every so often, polite as how-do-you-do, but that was it. Mostentimes, it was jus’ a blur a’ colours and a whole lotta hollerin’.”
Rarity blushed intensely, levitating a fan from her purse and fanning herself with it. She produced an ahem, which caused Applejack to look up curiously. The earth pony merely rolled her eyes at Rarity’s actions, then continued. “Ah talked t’ her about it a few days a’ hard thinkin’ after the Runnin’. She took it well enough, but . . . Ah dunno, it’s always seemed t’ me that there was some part a’ her that never quite let go.”
Rarity, blush receding, folded up the fan and set it on the counter next to her other accoutrements. She spoke, travelling down a logical path. “And you think that with Gilda being here, it’s connected to your . . . history?”
Applejack sighed. “Ah hope Ah’m wrong, but chances ain’t lookin’ good fer that.”
Rarity stood pensively for a minute, hoof thoughtfully on chin. At length, she spoke. “I think our best course of action here is not to do anything.”
Applejack stared.
“Please, Applejack, let me explain: I’ve seen this sort of thing happen before, and it’s never pleasant.”
“All the more reason we oughta do somethin’, ain’t it?”
“Would that the world were that straightforward. Applejack, put yourself in Rainbow Dash’s hooves - would you appreciate your friends sticking their noses into your business like that? Especially about something so personal?”
“. . . Ah s’pose not.”
“Precisely. We can’t tell Rainbow Dash how her heart works - we can only support her through the trials it brings, and be there to help her when she needs it.”
Applejack was silent. Then: “Ah don’t like it.”
Rarity put one foreleg around her in a hug, nuzzling softly at her neck. “Nopony in her right mind does.”
Applejack returned the hug, and they stayed there for a few moments, breaking away with great reluctance. Applejack left the washroom and trotted back to their booth, Rarity following a second later. They arrived to see Gilda and Rainbow Dash occupying one bench - Applejack’s bench - with Dash on the outside, chairs gone. Applejack protested Gilda’s smug look only by sighing and rolling her eyes before sitting next to Rarity, across from Dash.
Their food arrived shortly thereafter, and the four ate in relative peace, thanks mostly to Gilda’s silence. Whenever she felt like answering a question, it was either “yes”, “no”, or a noncommittal grunt. The four managed to get through the main course with a cheery performance from Rainbow Dash, but there were signs of stress beneath her front: subtle cracks in her voice, or laughing too hard at a joke that wasn’t meant to be laughed at. More than once, Rarity and Applejack shared a concerned glance while Dash preoccupied herself with being upbeat.
Gilda’s announcement came just after they had finished eating.
“I need a smoke.”
Rarity and Applejack sat in their seats dumbly, the phrase too foreign to be immediately comprehended.
“Could you repeat that, darling?” asked Rarity.
“I said, I need a smoke. I’ll be back in a minute,” Gilda groused, standing up and nearly pushing Rainbow Dash onto her rump moving out of the booth. She turned and stalked down a dimly lit nearby hallway. The ponies could see glass doors at the end of it that led out to a small patio, which was currently not in use.
Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly at her friends. “She’s just a little antsy from all the closed ceilings and stuff. I’ll talk to her.” She trotted after Gilda.
Freed from social obligations, Applejack rested her head on the table and sighed with her entire body. “Does it ever get any easier watchin’ stuff like this?”
Rarity sighed as well, though not to the same extent. “Not in my experience, no,” she said quietly.
Applejack sat back up and put a foreleg around Rarity, drawing her close. Rarity rested her head on Applejack’s strong shoulder in return. The unicorn exhaled, closing her eyes restfully. “How long do y’ s’pose it’ll take?” asked Applejack, pushing her muzzle into Rarity’s mane and taking a breath of its lavender scent.
Rarity’s face shifted slightly, to an expression of discomfort. “Some instances, it happens very quickly, others it requires more time for the individual in question to realize-”
A muffled yell came from the hallway, causing the entwined lovers to jump in their seats. Applejack peered around the booth and down the dim corridor, straining her eyes to see beyond the glass. She caught a glimpse of sudden, upward movement, then stillness. She looked back at Rarity, worried.
“Go,” said Rarity.
Applejack went, galloping down the hallway before shoving the glass doors aside and staggering out into the night. “Rainbow Dash?” she called. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow!”
“Over here,” croaked a voice to Applejack’s left. Startled, the earth pony looked down and saw Dash sitting sullenly in the dark, beside the light shining through the glass. She sat against the exterior of the building, forelegs gripping her hind legs to her chest. The dimness played tricks on Applejack’s eyes, and she could only make out Dash’s colours as nothing more than shades of grey and black.
Applejack was quiet for a minute, waiting for Rainbow Dash to talk. She remained silent, so Applejack slid the door quietly shut and sat down on Dash’s right, half in the light and half in the dark.
For a while, the two just sat there, until Dash finally found it within herself to say something. “Gilda-” her voice cracked, and she swallowed before starting anew. “Gilda left. She said . . . she said a lot, most of it about how I’d changed, or something.”
“Rainbow . . .” breathed Applejack.
“I guess she was right. I mean, I don’t know what I saw in her the first time, so that means I must have changed, right?” Dash looked over at Applejack. Unable to contain herself, Applejack wrapped Dash up in a hug. She felt Rainbow Dash bury her muzzle into her shoulder and the wetness of tears stain her shirt. She didn’t care.
At length, Rainbow Dash removed her muzzle from the wet spot on Applejack’s shirt and just rested it on her shoulder. She stayed there for a moment, then pressed the side of her nose into the earth pony’s neck. Applejack felt this a bit odd, but remained silent. It was not until she felt hot breath on her ear that she objected.
“Applejack . . .” Rainbow Dash whispered, the words playing out over the velvet of Applejack’s left ear.
“Rainbow, no-”
Rainbow Dash ground her lips into Applejack’s ear, heedless of the earth pony’s protests.
“Rainbow-”
Dash’s lips found Applejack’s cheek, then her mouth.
“Rain- mmph!”
oh gods it was so soft she tasted like apples why had it been so long she had missed it
“Rainbow!” cried Applejack, pushing the pegasus away. She skittered away to her hooves, spitting and cursing mildly and wiping at her mouth and face with her shirt sleeve. Rainbow Dash remained where she was, bewildered.
“Applejack, what-”
“Hell’s bells, wouldya stand up for Pete’s sake?” exclaimed the earth pony, exasperated. Rainbow Dash complied, lifting herself slowly to her hooves.
“Applejack, I thought . . .”
“Y’ thought what, precisely? Y’ thought that a hug meant we were all hunky-dory? Y’ thought that bein’ friends meant we were lovers?”
“I-I . . . I . . .” Rainbow Dash stammered, tears welling in her eyes. Applejack noticed, and her face instantly softened.
“Oh, Rainbow, Ah didn’t mean . . .” The earth pony sighed frustratedly, rubbing her brow with a fetlock. “Ah didn’t mean it t’ sound so harsh.”
“T-then what did you mean?”
“Ah meant . . . Look. Ah got somethin’ t’ say Ah think y’ need t’ hear said, alright?”
Dash nodded, sniffing back the wetness in her eyes.
“Rainbow, we’re friends, good friends - real good friends. Heck, Ah’d go so far as t’ say we love each other - but that’s all we’ve ever been: friends.”
“But we . . .”
“Ah know, but just ‘cause two ponies do that don’t mean they’re in love - not proper love.”
Rainbow Dash was quiet. She stepped forward a bit, and Applejack tensed up, subconsciously preparing to fend off another grope. She needn’t have bothered. “And what you and Rarity have, that’s proper love?”
Applejack looked inside the restaurant, where Rarity was making every appearance of being completely uninvolved and entirely uninterested in what Dash and Applejack were saying. Had Applejack not known better, she might have believed it.
Applejack noticed the way the light reflected off her eyes, and the way her mane bounced ever so lightly whenever Rarity moved her head. She noticed the subtle play of muscle and skin that occurred when Rarity moved her legs, and the way that she seemed to be perfectly matched to the elements and colours around her, though “matched” was far too crude a term and the room’s colours did not in the least complement her own.
The room was graced by her presence, and Applejack felt that something similar could be said about her own heart.
“When Ah’m with Rarity, Ah feel . . . Ah dunno how t’ say it, like . . . like everythin’s warm, an’ all the bad things in life are just a bit easier t’ take. It feels like th’ world’s just more right.” Applejack’s mouth curved into a soft smile. “Like Ah could make it through anythin’ as long as Ah knew she’d be there for me on th’ other side.”
She turned to Rainbow Dash to see if what she said had taken root. It evidently had not, for Dash was looking back at her confusedly. “I don’t get it. We had a lot of good times, didn’t we?”
Applejack just looked back, a tinge of disappointment on her features. “We did, but . . .” she trailed off, unable to articulate her emotions. She looked around, thinking, and spied a small patio table off to her side. “Here, let’s sit down,” the earth pony said, moving over to one of the padded wooden chairs. Dash followed, sitting across from her.
When they were both seated, Applejack spoke. “Dash, it’s like this-”
“Look,” said Dash, a bit more sourly than she had meant, “I know you’re just going to tell me what you told me the last time we had this conversation.” Applejack winced. “How ‘what we had was just physical, it wasn’t a healthy relationship’ - what I want to know is why what you and Rarity have is so much better than what we had.”
Her voice cracked, and Applejack could tell that Dash was fighting back a lot of impulses. She was right, though - she deserved a proper explanation, no matter how painful that might be to hear.
Applejack exhaled, then glanced over at Rarity’s form behind the glass doors. She was silent for a moment, then looked back at Dash. “Rainbow Dash, how many times did we just talk when we were together? Actually talk.”
“We talked plenty,” Dash said in response, but Applejack was already shaking her head.
“Ah don’t mean pillow talk, or work talk, or talk with other ponies - how many times did we talk, just for the sake a’ talkin’?”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply, but could not. She closed her mouth and fell silent.
“An’ that’s precisely what Ah mean. We did plenty a’ stuff, but we never did stuff together.”
“But we had sex! How much more ‘together’ can you get?” Dash interrupted.
Applejack just looked at her. “Rainbow, sex ain’t love,” she stated plainly. “An’ it especially ain’t love when half the time only one pony really wants t’ do it.”
Rainbow Dash looked back, hurt. “W- . . . w-what?”
“Oh, no, Ah didn’t mean-” Applejack paused, looking for the right words. “What Ah mean t’ say is that we mostly only did stuff so that we could end up havin’ a roll in the hay. Now, Ah like a good roll in the hay as much as the next pony, but love is more than that.”
“Which brings us back to you and R-Rarity,” Dash said, voice cracking again.
“Yeah, we did get a bit sidetracked. But y’ see what Ah’m sayin’ about us, right? Ah made m’self clear about that?”
Dash sat sullenly, but eventually responded. “Yeah, I guess . . .”
“Okay, good,” said Applejack, breathing a mental sigh of relief. “With Rarity, we’re physical, yeah, but there’s more to it than that - and it’s not just that we happen t’ do stuff when we’re not in bed, it’s that we actually like spendin’ time together.”
Dash reacted silently, sitting back in her seat and crossing her forelegs sulkily over her belly.
Applejack looked at her, a little disappointed, but continued. “Jus’ last week, Rarity and Ah were at an art museum up in Canterlot.”
Dash snorted in disbelief. “An art museum? In Canterlot? Are you for real?”
Applejack ignored the interruption. “Truth be told, Ah though it’d jus’ be one a’ those things that Rarity liked, and that Ah’d just have t’ get through it.” She paused. “But it wasn’t like that.”
Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow. She leaned forward, forelegs uncrossed and petulance forgotten. Applejack chuckled. “Ah know, right? But the museum was havin’ an exhibit on landscapes, and dang if they weren’t beautiful.”
The pegasus across from her eyed Applejack warily. “Beautiful? That’s it?”
Applejack shook her head. “Not even close. Rarity was familiar with the artist’s work, so we talked a lot about each piece. Now, granted,” the earth pony said, smiling, “most of what Ah said was what the museum displays said, but it was incredible, learnin’ about all this stuff that Ah never woulda known about otherwise. We spent hours there, until the museum closed, just talkin’.” The earth pony leaned back and looked up, a dreamy half-smile playing across her features.
“And?”
Applejack looked back across at Rainbow, somewhat startled by the insistence of her tone. “And we had a nice dinner an’ took the late train back t’ Ponyville.”
“. . . What, that’s it?”
Applejack decided not to mention how the two of them had shared a blanket on the train back to Ponyville, or how Rarity had fallen asleep against her chest halfway there, or how adorable the unicorn looked when she was snoring.
“Not every good story has t’ end with wakin’ up the neighbours in the middle a’ the night. Y’ can be just as happy sittin’ together on a train goin’ home.”
Rainbow Dash looked down at the table. She was quiet for a very long time. The silence stretched on, emphasized by the occasional chirp of a cricket, and Applejack grew increasingly unable to bear the uncertainty. After what seemed like hours, she could stand it no more.
“Am Ah makin’ sense?” she ventured.
“Yeah, you’re making sense,” Dash said after a moment. She looked up at Applejack, smiling a little. Her smile was contagious, and the orange pony felt herself smiling back after a few seconds. “Thanks for the explanation, AJ. I . . . I think I understand now.”
“So, y’ see what Ah mean, then? About Rarity, about us?” said Applejack.
“Yeah, I do, or at least I’m pretty sure I do - I get the feeling that this can’t be completely put into words. Thanks, Applejack,” she said. She meant it. “I think I’m gonna head home now. Tell Rarity I said goodnight.”
“Y’ sure?” asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash just nodded calmly.
“Don’t worry mom, I’ll fly straight home,” she said sarcastically before becoming serious. “But really, don’t worry. I’m just going to go home - I have a lot of thinking to do.”
The two ponies gave a final hug before Dash flew away. Applejack watched her leave, then turned back to the restaurant and walked back inside to her table. Rarity was waiting there for her, one hoof tapping anxiously against the floor. There was a new, empty wine bottle on the table next to her.
The two ponies paid their bills, knowing that Dash would reimburse them in a day or two. They walked home slowly, Applejack explaining what had happened on the patio, Rarity resting her head on Applejack’s shoulder. When the earth mare had finally finished, the two found themselves in a very quiet, empty street just before Rarity’s boutique and house.
Rarity sighed contentedly from underneath Applejack’s chin, eyes closed in relaxation. “All things considered, that was probably the best resolution we could have hoped for.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t pleasant, lettin’ it happen like that, but Ah think it’ll work out in the long run.”
“Mmm,” agreed Rarity as they reached her front door. She reluctantly opened her eyes one at a time and confronted the reality of their location. The unicorn looked over and up at Applejack.
“Well, here we are.”
“Yup.”
“My house.”
“Yup.”
“. . . Help me inside?”
“Sure.”
They walked inside, still together.
“Sweetie Belle is away with our parents, you know. It will be so dreadfully lonely in here. If only there were somepony who could keep me company throughout the terrible night.”
“Ah dunno,” Applejack lied. Badly. “Ah got a pretty full day ahead a’ me tomorrow. Can’t be up all night chasin’ away ghosts.”
“Oh?” purred Rarity, arching an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“Yup,” the earth pony drawled, “lotsa hard work an’ th’ like. Prob’ly gonna be all sweaty an’ such by the time Ah’m done with it all - buckin’ some apples, sowin’ some oats, ploughin’ the occasional field.” There was suddenly a weight upon her back, and Applejack turned to see Rarity leaning dramatically against her, one hoof laid against her alabaster forehead.
“Oh woe is me!” lamented the unicorn, “even the description of such beastly acts has left me utterly without strength! I cannot fathom how I shall ever trek to my bedroom on this night!”
Applejack grinned. “Oh, Ah’d be happy t’ take ya, Ma’am.”
Rarity gasped haughtily, locking eyes with the mare next to her. “Impossible! Such scandal!”
“Up t’ yer room, Ah mean.”
Rarity gasped again. “You would do such a thing? For moi?”
“‘Course Ah would. It’d be a pleasure, in fact.” Before the earth pony had finished speaking, Rarity had swooned her way onto Applejack’s strong back, rubbing herself against the broad surface far more than necessary. There was a final squirming that sent shivers down all of Applejack’s limbs, and Rarity came to a stop. She straddled the earth pony, rear legs around muscled midsection and forelegs around broad chest.
“I trust you know where the bedroom is?” Rarity whispered into Applejack’s ear, nibbling the tip of it as she spoke.
“It’s been too long - Ah might need some directions.”
Rarity grinned and leaned closer.
“Giddyup.”
Neither Applejack nor Rarity got much sleep that night, and both were very tired and quite sore during their work the next day.
Neither one complained, though.
