Soft Spot

Chapters

Chapter 1: Breakfast at Applejack's
Chapter 2: The Cider House Fools
Chapter 3: 28 Muffins Later
Chapter 4
Epilogue

Chapter 1: Breakfast at Applejack's

Rarity funneled magic into her sewing machine, the needle bouncing up and down as it stitched together two pieces of particularly beautiful, soft fabric. A dress-like shape was beginning to form as swath after swath was added and stitched down.

And yet, Rarity didn’t look relieved as the dress came to fruition. Instead, she simply looked tired and worn. Her hair was frayed and the bags under her eyes turned darker as the night wore on. Rarity let out a heavy sigh as she finished the somewhat simple dress. Floating it in front of herself to look it over, she found it free from errors and folded it telekinetically, setting it aside inside of a box with many similar styled dresses.

She glanced at her schedule - it was loaded with deadlines and due dates, of which she’d only crossed off a small portion of.

One down. Dozens to go.

Rarity set to work on cutting fabric for the next outfit.

) ( ) ( ) (

“Oh. Applejack.”

“Ah... hey there, Sugarcube.” Applejack smiled wide and leaned forward, setting the basket she was holding in her mouth on the doorstep. “Jus’ wanted to come by an’ check on ya. A couple of us were kinda worried ‘bout ya when ya didn’t show up at the park with Opal earlier...”

Rarity shut her eyes, silently berating herself in her head. She’d completely forgotten about the little event her and her friends went to on a weekly basis - they’d bring their pets and let them play with each other, and everyone had a good time. Worked to an extreme, the days blended together after a while. “Oh! I’m sorry, Applejack. I didn’t intend to worry anypony. I’ve just been so... so busy.”

“Ah, yeah, I noticed.” Applejack glanced around Rarity’s side, looking into the boutique. Which, at the moment, was a complete wreck.

“Yes... sorry about that, as well. I haven’t had any time to clean. But, ah, please.” Rarity shook her head and stepped back, allowing Applejack to enter. “You’re welcome to come in.”

“Yeah, sure. If ya don’t think I’d be a bother.” Applejack bent down and lifted the basket she’d brought with her, following along behind Rarity as she entered.

“Oh, darling, you know that none of you are ever a bother here.” Rarity took a curious glance behind her, eyes landing on the basket in Applejack’s mouth. “What’s that you brought with you, hm?”

“Well, Ah figured ya’d be wantin’ somethin’ ta maybe give ya break or... somethin’... so I fried ya up some apple fritters.” Applejack smiled wide and set the basket down on the boutique’s front counter, pushing it closer to Rarity with her nose.

“...Apple fritters?” Rarity immediately broke her attention away from any sort of work involving dresses, turning towards the basket and trotting over to it with an excited bounce in her step.

“Yeah. I figured ya’d like ‘em.” Applejack wasn’t able to finish the sentence before Rarity had torn the cloth from the top of the basket, exposing the fritters to the boutique air, and stuffed one in her mouth telekinetically. “Ya know. Considerin’.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes as she stared at Applejack, glowering as she finished off the first of the fritters. “What’s that supposed to mean, hm?” She angrily floated and bit into another.

“Er, nothin’! Ah didn’t mean that. ‘S nothin’, don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“You mean my weight, don’t you?”

Applejack gulped. She’d been meaning to tread around that social landmine, only to stumble and trip right over it. “Rarity, that ain’ what Ah meant. An’ ya know that. Those were y’all’s words, not mine. Don’t... don’t start doin’ this.”

Rarity huffed and plopped her widened rear down on the boutique floor as she bit into another fritter. There was really no hiding it - the pearly white unicorn had put on weight recently. A good deal of it ended up in her hind quarters, and most of the city had noticed the fashionista piling on pounds. Her flanks widened considerably, her already generously curved rear legs becoming more so. Her stomach, too, was more pronounced - what used to be a slim, easily covered belly was now poking out below Rarity, rounded and bouncing the slightest bit between her legs as she walked.

Even still, she couldn’t help it. While some ponies turned to alcohol or drugs to solve their stress, Rarity turned to food. She was, as she learned, a stress eater. And a fairly severe one, judging by how fast she’d ballooned up.

“No, maybe not. But it’s what you were thinking.” Another fritter quickly found its way from the basket and to Rarity’s mouth.

“It is not what Ah was thinkin’. Not at all.” Applejack shook her head, walking next to the pudgy unicorn. She lowered herself down onto her haunches, sitting next to Rarity. “Ah jus’ wanted to do somethin’ nice fer ya. Ah know ya been busy with work an’ all, an’ Ah jus’ figured ya could use a friend. Someone ta lean on while yer stressed.” Applejack shrugged. “Ah mean, Ah know we’ve had our differences. Even an argument - or a hundred - before. But yer still a friend.”

Rarity pawed at the floor with a hoof for a few moments before she let out a heavy sigh, biting into another fritter. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t bite your head off like that.” Rarity nodded, leaning to her side to press against Applejack. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And I do appreciate the treats, despite me being on a diet... or, supposed to be on one.”

Applejack smiled as the unicorn leaned against her, feeling Rarity’s pudgy side squish against her. Feeling brave, she raised a foreleg up and wrapped it around Rarity’s shoulders, hugging her in closer. “Diet? Bah. Ya don’ need one.”

Rarity scoffed, wrapping another fritter in magic. “I don’t? Please, Applejack, you don’t need to lie to me. I know I could use one.”

Applejack snickered. “Yer bein’ hard on ya’self. Yer fine.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, turning to glance at the orange pony to her side. “You are saying that to make me feel better. Which is fine... I’ll take it. I can use the cheering up.” Rarity shrugged, biting into yet another fritter. She’d lost count, and couldn’t see from where she was sitting how many were in the basket. Rarity had little doubt that she wouldn’t devour them all, no matter the number.

“Now, why would ya go an think Ah’m jus’ sayin’ that?” Applejack leaned farther against the unicorn, squeezing her into the foreleg hug harder. “Ah’m bein’ honest. Yer way too hard on yaself, Rares.”

Rarity stuffed the rest of the fritter into her mouth, tugging another one out of the basket with her magic. “I am not too hard on myself, I am just honest. I can’t exactly go out looking like...” She huffed, jabbing herself in the soft flank with a hoof. “Like this.”

“Why?”

“W-well, because!” She gulped down a bite of the fritter, pausing for a moment. “Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because, it’s... ah...”

“...It’s...?”

Rarity dropped her eyebrows, growling to herself as she finished off the fritter and scooted her back hooves to the sides, giving her growing stomach a bit more room to hold the next treat that was being floated up already. “I hate it when you’re right, you know that?”

“Ah’m jus’ sayin’, Rarity, there ain’ nothin’ wrong with bein’ a bit... fuller figure, ya know?” Applejack shrugged, giving the pudgy unicorn a squeeze with her leg. “Yer still just as pretty as ya were. Ain’ nopony gonna tell ya otherwise.”

“I can think of one,” Rarity said, grumbling to herself as she dropped her head slightly, the comments a particular Rainbow Dash had made running through her mind again. Though it was meant in light hearted fun, the unicorn had taken it very, very personally and run off, cheeks wet with tears. Nobody saw her for over a day afterwards.

“Rainbow Dash didn’ mean it like that. She didn’ know it was such a soft spot fer ya.” Applejack nodded. “Honest ta Celestia, Rarity, the poor girl was a wreck when ya stomped off cryin’ after her comment. She’s been meanin’ ta come by an’ apologize, but I told ‘er tah jus’ give ya some space fer a bit.”

Rarity sighed, dropping her head farther. Regret knocked any kind of anger out of her, Rarity’s face softening from its contorted, frustrated visage. “Gah. I’ll have to talk to her later, then. She came around to the boutique earlier today... I shut the blinds in her face. I figured she was coming to taunt me more.”

“She ain’t doin’ nothin’ like that, naw. But, hey.” Applejack gave Rarity a nudge. Rarity picked her head up, looking over. “Now, don’ take this the wrong way... but if ya really bothered by ya weight and want some help with it... why don’ ya come by the farm sometime? We’ll set ya ta work ‘round there, buckin’ trees or somethin’.”

Rarity chuckled a bit at the offer, shaking her head as she magically fed herself another fritter. “You want me to work? On a farm?” Rarity raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Applejack. “Come, now. I’d get... dirty and sweaty.”

“Well, yeah. Ya would. But, ya keep gripin’ about yer weight... we’d knock those pounds offa ya real quick like!” Applejack nodded.

“But what about the others? Everyone will make fun.” Rarity pouted, lower lip sticking out farther as she took a bite. “Having let myself... go like this is bad enough. But everyone watching me try to work on a farm? Just... ugh.”

“Ain’t nopony else ta watch.” Applejack nodded, smiling wide. “‘Cos they’re all off sellin’. Gonna be gone fer a few days, at least. It’d be just us, an’ ya know I ain’ gonna make fun of nothin’.”

“Well... that does sound better.” Rarity gave a little shrug as she floated another fritter her way, biting into it. Rarity briefly wondered how many there were in the basket - she was starting to feel pretty full... but they were just divine. “Alright. I’ll come over tomorrow. Early morning. I’ll help, I can use the exercise.”

Applejack smiled wide and nodded! “Alrigh’, Rares! Ah figured you’d be up fer it. I’m lookin’ forward to it, then! This’ll be fun!”

Rarity nodded, shuffling herself backwards to release herself from Applejack’s foreleg hug. “Yes, I think it will be. We don’t spend nearly enough time together, Applejack. You’re a good pony.” Rarity, now standing, snuck her snout into the basket and snagged another of the fritters even as her swollen middle swayed from the motion. She was hit with conflicting emotions about this being the last in the basket, but it didn’t stop her from wolfing it down.

“Aw, thank ya much, Rarity. Ya are too. Anyway,” Applejack said, standing herself up and giving a tip of her hat. “I’ll be seein’ ya bright and early tomorrow.”

) ( ) ( ) (

“Rarity! Good! I was hopin’ ya’d come by right around now.”

Rarity’s nose was already being flooded by the scents of an absolutely amazing meal. Her head was pushed into the doorway, nose pointed up and sniffing at the air. It took a moment for Rarity to realize that she was pushing Applejack farther and farther to the side to catch the whiff, stopping and pulling herself out of the door with a slight amount of red rising up in her cheeks. “Ah...”

“Heh, it’s alright!” Applejack smiled wide, showing a genuine nonchalance. “There’s plenty fer you, too.”

“Oh, good!” Rarity stepped forward, pushing herself into the doorway again. This time, however, Applejack stepped to the side and allowed the squishy unicorn to enter, snickering to herself as she followed her nose straight into the kitchen.

“Hungry, huh?” Applejack asked, following right behind Rarity as she was led around by the aroma.

“Well, I didn’t eat breakfast. I figured we’d just have a few apples, but... well, this is much better than I expected! What... what is that smell, anyway?”

“Why don’ ya see for yerself?” Applejack snickered again, pushing a hoof against the door leading to the Apple family dining room, exposing the breakfast feast to Rarity.

“By Celestia,” Rarity said, eyes widening in response to the table loaded with calorie-laden food being revealed right in front of her eyes. As if in a trance, Rarity stepped forward towards the food, eyes flicking back and forth over everything that was waiting the pair.

There was probably enough food laid out across the table to feed the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres - but the amount didn’t concern Rarity (after all, it never did, until she had eaten far too much and was berating herself for it). Begging with her eyes, Rarity turned around to glance at Applejack. “May I?”

“Aw, of course, sugarcube!” Applejack gave a wide smile, nodding in response along with her words. “Dig right in! It’s here for eatin’, go right on.”

Letting out a happy squeal, Rarity trotted right up to the table. A soft magical glow gripped one of the empty plates set out alongside the meal, levitating it up as her telekinesis gripped food next. In a flurry of magic, the plate Rarity held was quickly filled with a slight bit of everything - in no time at all, it was loaded down by pancakes, waffles, french toast, several spoonfuls of scrambled eggs and last, but not least, a very generous helping of hash browns.

She floated her literal mountain of food down to the table, the plate resting with a heavy thump on the wood. Eager to dig in, Rarity plopped herself down on the ground by the table, flanks first. Finally seated, Rarity floated her utensils up into the air, fork stabbing and knife cutting into her first target: the pancakes.

Ready to devour, Rarity floated the fork loaded with more than a mouthful of pancakes up to her open mouth... only to pause. She froze in place as her eyes glanced down at the plate in front of her. Pancakes, french toast, waffles, eggs, hashbrowns...

No apples. Not a thing on her plate, on Sweet Apple Acres, prepared by Applejack herself, had apples in it. There weren’t even any on the table.

“...There somethin’ wrong, Rarity?”

“Are you feeling okay?” Rarity asked, her eyes glancing up from her food for the first time since she entered the home. “There’s... no apples. In anything.”

Applejack laughed, grabbing a plate with her mouth and setting it down before speaking. “Rarity, just ‘cos I wanted somethin’ that ain’t got apples in it don’t mean anything is wrong. I eat them all day long, sometimes I want a break from them.” She gave a wink, jerking a hoof towards a jug sitting on the table as she mouthed a spatula to serve herself some pancakes. “Though, try the syrup.”

Rarity cooed as she gripped the heavy jug in her magic, drizzling a healthy coating of it onto the pancakes speared by her fork before levitating the food - finally! - into her mouth. Almost instantly, Rarity’s eyes rolled up, moaning as the strong, yet delicious, flavor rolled over her tongue and coated her mouth. “Apple cinnamon...”

“Hehe... yup.” Applejack let a sly grin pass over her mouth as she finished serving her own - and much smaller - plate. “Of course I was gonna have somethin’ with apples in it. I mean... come on. It’s me we’re talkin’ about.”

“I knew you were up to something,” Rarity replied, giggling to herself the slightest bit as she turned the jug of apple-y maple syrup almost entirely upside down, drenching everything on her plate in the sugary topping. Nothing on her plate was spared in the attack - every last bit of food in front of her getting drenched in the onslaught of sweet.

Her plate looking more like a pool for breakfast foods than a meal, she finally turned the jug upright and set it aside.

“Gosh, Rares. Want some pancakes with your syrup?” Applejack teased, grinning as she pulled the much lighter jug towards herself, gripping it between both her hooves to turn it over on its side, drizzling her own food with a much lighter application.

“Quiet, you. It’s your fault for making it so delicious.” With a grin, she forked another large bit of the slightly soggy pancakes into her mouth, eliciting the same moan the first mouthful did.

“Glad you like it,” Applejack said, lowering her head down to munch on her own food at a much more reasonable pace than Rarity had.

Rarity was a unicorn on a mission - or so it seemed as she rapidly devoured the plate in front of her. While still managing to keep herself completely clear of gluttonous debris, she piled forks high with the heavy breakfast before eagerly stuffing them into her mouth. To keep from coming across uncouth, each mouthful was met with a dab of a napkin across her lips even as her cheeks bulged from her pace.

In a record pace, the pancakes had fallen before Rarity’s enlarged appetite, every last one of the syrup bathed breakfast cakes having disappeared into Rarity’s stomach. Her hind legs already began shuffling out to the sides to make room for the incoming food as her glowing utensils attacked and sliced into the french toast, next.

Applejack stared ahead with a raised eyebrow, slowly eating at her own plate. She remained silent, mostly out of awe from watching her usually picky friend simply plowing through breakfast like she hadn’t seen food in a week. A small chuckle rose up as her friend knocked over the tower of french toast like it was nothing, turning her attention onto the defenseless pile of eggs resting where the pancakes had taken up space before.

Half way through the eggs, Rarity’s breakfast onslaught paused briefly. Reaching a front hoof down lower, she pawed lightly at her stomach. Her belly had expanded enough to push her back legs even farther apart, the bloated paunch dangerously close to resting on the ground. She stifled a small, dainty burp with the hoof, turning away from Applejack with a blush on her cheeks, rubbing at her lips with the napkin again. “Ah... sorry.”

“Sorry?” Applejack asked with a mouthful of eggs, a small chunk of yellow spraying from her mouth when she did so. Catching herself before she made an even bigger mess, she swallowed before speaking again. “Fer what?”

“I’m... this...” Rarity huffed, shaking her head, curled mane bobbing along with the motion.
Her hoof set itself back on the ground with a clop. “I’m behaving so... rude. Like... like a glutton.”

“Oh.” Applejack tried to keep the smile she felt rising up off of her face, but she was powerless to prevent it. The corners of her mouth pulled up, and she couldn’t help but giggle. “Ya ain’t behaving rudely, Rares. Eatin’ this much of my food? It’s a compliment, really. Ah mean, we both know yer usually a pretty picky eater, so... I’m kinda impressed - and flattered - that ya like my cookin’ so much.”

“A... complement?” Rarity mulled the idea over in her mind several times, bouncing the thought side to side. Exploiting the revelation to further her own goals, - in this case, more delicious breakfast food - she latched onto the idea. “Well, if you are taking it that way... I was worried I was offending you.”

“Offendin’... oh, Ah know you know me better than that!” Applejack laughed out loud, pounding a hoof lightly against the table as she did. After only a few seconds of Applejack’s mirth, Rarity found the frown on her face being flipped upside down, and quickly found herself giggling right alongside her friend. “Yer gonna have to try a lot harder than liking my food to offend me, Rarity.”

“You’re right. I do. I... was being silly.” Fears dispersed, Rarity focused her attention back onto the cooling food on her plate. Too much longer and the waffles would start to fall apart from the syrup bath they were submerged in, and that would be a simply tragic waste of food. Rarity’s fork once again found itself loaded with a barrage of breakfast foods, aiming for her mouth which was eagerly accepting more.

“Thank you, by the way,” Rarity said between bites of eggs.

“Hm?” Applejack pulled her glance up from her own plate, setting her eyes back on Rarity. “What for?”

“Just... all of this,” Rarity said, waving a hoof at the bountiful breakfast laid out in front of them. Between sentences, Rarity managed to finish the eggs as well, gulping down the last of them before her fork speared the soggy waffles. “And, you know... being there.”

“Aw, shucks, Rares. It ain’t nothin’.” Applejack shrugged as she bit into another of her own waffles. Lacking magic - and so the use of utensils - she gulped it down one bite at a time before she spoke again. “Yer a friend. This is what friends do. Yer stressed... I don’t mind helpin’ blow off some of that steam.”

Rarity nodded, the big smile remaining plastered across her face as she gobbled up the waffles. Her gorging finally slowing down, she only nudged with her fork at the remaining food on her plate: the hash browns. Having devoured, so far, everything else, even Rarity was feeling full.

Slouching forward a small bit, Rarity cringed as she felt the lower swell of her overfed stomach nudging the floor beneath her. She knew she’d already eaten far more than she should - hay, she’d eaten far too much after the first few pancakes - but the remaining hash browns, coated in the simply divine apple cinnamon syrup called to her. Though her stomach protested being filled farther, Rarity found herself forking the chopped potatoes into her mouth.

Applejack wasn’t complaining. She’d finished her own meal minutes ago, and was staring silently at the mare across the table, stifling her giggles as she watched Rarity’s own battle of the bulge take place in her head.

The tall pile of hash browns fell quickly before Rarity’s seemingly unending hunger. With a groan, Rarity forked the last bit of the potatoes into her mouth, slumping forward fully after they were swallowed. Plate clean, Rarity’s chin rested against the table as her stomach rested against the ground, the bloated belly stuffed to its maximum.

“...Full?” Applejack asked, teasing Rarity.

“Ergh. Stuffed,” Rarity barely edged out, shutting her mouth immediately after to keep an uncouth burp from rising up out of her overfed stomach.

“Heh. Kinda figured.” Applejack stood and grabbed her own empty plate in her mouth, walking around the table to set it atop of Rarity’s syrup bathed dish. She couldn’t help but steal a glance down at Rarity’s stomach as it came into view, quickly pulling away her gaze before she had a chance to notice she was staring.

Applejack nudged at Rarity’s flank as she stacked the dishes higher. “We’ll get to the apple buckin’ soon, Ah gotta get these dishes washed up first. Couch is out in the livin’ room, take a breather. Much more comfortable than the table.”

Too full to even muster a response, Rarity pushed herself to her hooves. From a standing position, her belly still had quite a bit of room before it hit the ground, but she was bloated enough for it to give her problems while walking. She took careful steps forward. Each step with her back legs gave her stomach an uncomfortable nudge.

Applejack bit her bottom lip as she stood in the dining room, Rarity’s pudgy flank swaying with an exaggerated arc as she attempted to walk without jostling her enlarged stomach too much. As the pudgy unicorn broke her line of sight entering another room, Applejack caught herself and couldn’t help but smile, glancing at the empty plates.

Everything was going according to plan.

Chapter 2: The Cider House Fools

Applejack sat across the living room from Rarity, eyes fixed on the unicorn’s body. Her breakfast feast had left her in something of a coma; Rarity hadn’t managed to stay awake for very long once she laid herself out on the couch. Applejack couldn’t pass up the opportunity to steal a glance at her pudgy friend, taking in the sight of Rarity’s widened form. Her gaze wandered all over - belly, flanks, legs... everything.

Applejack sat in place with a dumb look of pure joy on her face: jaw slack, eyes wide with curiosity as she took in all of Rarity sprawled out on her couch. Though disappointed, Applejack had positioned herself so Rarity’s more private areas were obscured by tail and legs - were Rarity to awaken, she could explain away sitting here, but not having her eyes locked on plot.

Applejack’s jaw tightened back up, closing as her mind wandered to fantasy. Her teeth bit at her lower lip as the thought of reaching out and just being able to touch Rarity’s delicious, soft flank rolled through her head. That has got to feel good, Applejack thought, welling up every last bit of self control to keep from pouncing Rarity right then and there.

The thoughts weren’t even anything suggestive wandering through her mind. No, all she wanted was a touch. Just a brush with a hoof, maybe even just half a second of laying her head on Rarity’s flank. It looked so soft, so delicate and so cuddleable - like a cold pillow lying on your bed after a long, hard day of work. She was sure that Rarity’s agonizingly well kept coat only made it softer, as well. By Celestia, it probably even smelled amazing.

She could get away with this. She could totally get away with it. Just a touch. That’s all, then it’s back to chores while she sleeps.

WHUMP.

The loud sound of something colliding against her door snapped Applejack right out of any fantasies she was indulging in, head whipping toward the entrance faster than a her lasso at a rodeo. Her expression soured as she heard Rarity stirring from her sleep just after the abrupt sound, eyes narrowing as a much more reasonable knock echoed from her door.

“What was that?” Rarity asked, eyes still half lidded from her sleep. Her forelegs pawed at the sofa’s cushions, attempting to push herself back over onto her hooves. Eyes fully open, she glanced at Applejack who, in the aftershock of such a sudden sound, was still sitting a little too close to Rarity’s resting place, hoof raised and pointed towards her flank. “And what are you doing?”

Applejack jerked her glance back towards Rarity, realising that this was perhaps a bit too close to be sitting without appearing creepy. “Uh... n-nothin’!” Applejack dodged, mustering up the biggest smile she could manage. “I was just... uh... ya know, Ah should probably go get that.” Applejack immediately rose to her hooves, trotting away before Rarity could prod any further with her questions.

Applejack fiddled with the lock on the door, mouthing and nosing them open before nudging open the top half of the door to peer at whoever had needed their attention so badly - Rainbow Dash’s eyes locked with her own, but flicked to the side and focused on Rarity a moment later.

“I knew she’d be here!” Rainbow Dash yelled, grinning wide with pride as her assumptions were proven correct.

“Well, hello to you too, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, tilting her head to the side. “Can Ah help ya with somethin’?”

“Actually, I was looking for Rarity. I stopped by her boutique earlier and she was really not there this time. So, I couldn’t help but wonder where she was.” Rainbow Dash grinned, looking at Rarity again. “And I thought - ‘oh, I know’!” Dash’s forelegs threw themselves into the air, faking surprise. “Probably with Applejack.”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow, glancing between Rainbow Dash and Applejack with mild suspicion. “Why would you think I was here?” Rarity asked, her gaze finally resting on Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, Applejack didn’t tell you?” Rainbow Dash’s smile visibly melted right off of her face as she turned her look toward Applejack. Her eyes narrowed - it was probably subconscious, but it was just enough for Rarity and Applejack to notice, the latter looking none too pleased. “Well, see, Applejack here kind of has a t-”

Rainbow Dash’s speech was cut off - whatever it was she was trying to say would now have to go through Applejack’s hoof first, and all that was coming out was a few very angry, very muffled grunts.

Rainbow Dash swatted the hoof out of her mouth, backing a step away from the door as her wings rose up to the sides. She lowered herself closer to the ground, hind legs bending as her forelegs stretched out, looking ready to pounce. “How long are you going to keep this up, Applejack? This... this isn’t fair!”

“Rainbow Dash, Ah think ya need to take a step back and really think about what yer doin’, here.” Applejack’s expression didn’t budge, her stubbornness not wavering in the least, despite Rainbow’s intimidating stance. “This ain’t the time, nor the place for this. Ah really think ya need to jus’ go home.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, nostrils flaring as her temper rose even higher. The next few moments were tense - nopony moved. Rainbow Dash visibly shook with anger, Applejack stood strong in the doorway and Rarity kept off to the side, eyes wide as she glanced between the two of them. She didn’t dare say anything, lest she anger either of them further.

After what felt to the trio to be an eternity, Rainbow Dash snorted once more and spun around on her hooves, turning away from the door. She kicked off of the ground, wings flaring out to their full span as she took off into the air. Rainbow Dash yelled something back at them - Rarity couldn’t make out what it was.

Applejack let out a massive sigh, dropping down from her leaning position on the door with a clop of her hooves. “By Celestia, that girl has a temper.” She ducked her head, looking up at Rarity as she turned around. “Ah’m mighty sorry ya had to see that, Rares.”

“It’s... all right, Applejack.” Rarity nodded, reassuring her friend. Now that the tension was over, Rarity quickly realized that she was still sporting a rather nasty case of bed-mane. Her face cringed and her horn glowed, eyes focusing onto what she could see of her mane to try and sort the mess out. “Though... I do have a number of questions after your little altercation, there, that I couldn’t help but overhear.”

“Yeah. Kinda expected ya would...” Applejack raised a hoof and rubbed at the back of her head, eyes facing toward the ground.

“She sounded like she was trying to inform me of... something. It looked like you didn’t want her to,” Rarity said, voice friendly despite the accusing nature of the words. “Do you know what she was talking about?”

“Yeah, Ah do. But... don’t, Rares. She’s twistin’ it around and makin’ it into somethin’ it ain’t. She’s... misunderstandin’ a lot of things.” Applejack nodded, glancing up at Rarity. Seeing that she was still focused on cleaning up her mane, Applejack kept her head held high for the moment.

“Well... what was it, then? That she wanted me to know?”

“Rarity... that ain’t... she’s a little crazy right now, that’s all. I thought she was comin’ over to apologize, ‘s why I let her talk at all.” Applejack let out another sigh, pushing the bottom half of the door open. “But, come on. We’ve gotta get started on these trees or we ain’t never gonna finish gettin’ them apples down. We can talk later.”

Rarity grumbled at the answer she was given, but ultimately decided not to prod any further. What happened was likely a personal problem, and she just happened to be there.

But, on the other hand, Rainbow Dash did seem to be specifically talking to her, at some points...

“Rarity! Come on, girl, sun’s burnin’! We gotta get movin.”

“Right!” Rarity snapped herself out of her thoughts, trotting up alongside Applejack next to the door. “Let’s get to it.”

“Atta girl!”

) ( ) ( ) (

“...I don’t think it’s working.” Rarity glanced up at the tree behind her - what she thought was a mighty buck in reality did not throw even a single apple from the tree.

“‘Cause yer not buckin’ hard enough. Watch, scoot over.” Applejack nudged Rarity’s flank with her own, bumping her aside so she could line her hind legs up with the tree. Rearing up on her forelegs, she released a strong kick, slamming her hooves into the trunk and sending apples tumbling down into the buckets below. A single apple remained in the tree, wondering where everyone else went.

“See? That’s all there is to it!”

Rarity huffed and furrowed her brow. Despite multiple attempts, she’d yet to get even one apple to fall. “Of course that’s all there is to it for you! You are a professional!”

“Hey, hey! Calm down, Rares. It’s alright, yer new to this. You’ll get it. Come on, give it another shot.”

Eyebrows wrinkled, Rarity lined herself up in front of a new tree. She glanced to Applejack for encouragement, who gave a nod of approval in response. With a bit of difficulty, Rarity managed to fully lift her rear legs off the ground - a first - and threw them against the tree’s trunk. Several apples tumbled out of the branches and into the baskets below. It was nothing like an Applejack kick, but it was an improvement.

“Yes!” Rarity cheered, stomping her hooves rapidly out of excitement as soon as she realized that at long last she’d managed to buck an apple tree with some success. “I got a few, at least!”

“Yeah, there ya go!” Applejack cheered right along with her, grinning wide at her pudgy friend. “I’m mighty proud of ya, Rarity. Never thought Ah’d see ya excited about farm work.”

“Oh, me neither, Applejack! But I have to admit, this is exhilarating once it works!” Rarity giggled and turned her head towards the baskets under the tree. “Ha! Take that, apples!” She barked at the fruit.

“Heh... alright. Yer gettin’ the hang of it, Rares. Ah’m gonna let ya have this part of the orchard to yaself, alright?” Applejack said, waving a hoof around the surrounding trees. “Not too many fer a beginner, but enough ta give ya a work out.”

“Alright. Got it!” Rarity nodded enthusiastically. “Will you be somewhere around here?”

“Sure will!” Applejack nodded in response. “Jus’ around the corner. Give me a holler if ya need anything, alright?”

“Of course!”

) ( ) ( ) (

The sound of a loud bell ringing through the trees startled Rarity awake. She immediately felt her hooves ache something fierce - even faster, she noticed that the sun had almost disappeared behind the trees surrounding her.

Still in a bit of a daze from her rest, she attempted to locate the bell from behind her squinted eyelids. Between rings, she heard a faint version of Applejack’s voice calling from the barn the day had started in.

She winced as she stood and put weight down on her back hooves - so much bucking on such dainty, well-mannered hooves was tough work. After only a few trees she’d elected to simply cheat and harvest the apples with magic; after all, Applejack wasn’t around to stop her from doing it, being in her own section of the orchard.

This left her with plenty of time left over to do as she liked. Time which Rarity had chosen to fill with snacking on apples and - apparently - falling asleep.

She didn’t even remember dozing off, but she sure remembered those amazing, sweet apples. She’d devoured a good number of them (though she’d lost count around eight or so) and that craving hadn’t passed. A quick look of her surroundings alerted her to the fact that all the baskets of apples she’d harvested were gone. A blush teased at her cheeks, knowing that meant she was caught napping.

The bell rang again, and Rarity realized that she was still standing in the orchard just staring at the empty ground. She broke out into a trot, wincing with each step her back hooves took.

Reaching the barn after a short walk, Rarity found the door wide open and, not wanting to keep anypony waiting any longer, she went inside, panting slightly from the jog back to the home.

“Well, howdy, Rarity!” Applejack was more than eager to welcome Rarity back on her return, smiling wide. “‘What’s that bell’, right? It’s the dinner bell!”

“Dinner... bell?” Rarity asked, words parted by panting.

“Well, yeah! When everyone is out in the orchard, how else is little ol’ Granny Smith gonna get all’a us to come back?” Applejack nodded. “Dinner bell, that’s how.”

Rarity scrunched her nose at the idea of being called around by a bell like a wild animal - but it was part of the Apple family’s home and lifestyle, so she suppressed the urge to say exactly that. “So, does that mean d-”

“Hay yeah it means dinner! Come on, Rares, it’s gettin’ cold!” Applejack didn’t even give her a chance to respond - as soon as her sentence was finished, she spun around and trotted back into the kitchen, leaving Rarity alone with no company but her appetite.

Naturally, it did not take Rarity long to come to her senses. The idea of dinner (especially considering she missed lunch due to napping) had Rarity just about galloping into the kitchen right behind Applejack, nose raised to the air as she attempted to catch a whiff of anything she could. She could pick up scents, that was for sure, but exactly what still evaded her.

It did not take long, however, for Rarity to discover exactly what was awaiting the pair. With her rushed step, she poked her head into the kitchen and immediately widened her eyes at the sight waiting for her on the table.

A spread of food far more than the either of them could ever eat was set up in all its glory. From Rarity’s position at the doorway, she could spot all kinds of foods. Potato fries, bowls loaded with leafy greens, all sorts of pastas, and a treat that caught Rarity’s eye in particular - a large plate of several kinds of apple delicacies: fritters, tarts, cupcakes and muffins, each lovingly hoofcrafted and doused with sugar.

Eyes wide and pleading, Rarity turned to glance at Applejack beside her, who was standing in place with a massive smile on her face. She was downright proud of her ability to crank out so much food in such short little time with so few guests. It was enough to give Rarity the slightest twinge of suspicion - there had to be more behind that smile - but the food laid out in front of her was distracting enough to make her disregard it instantly.

Rarity trotted up to the dinner table, a large plate being wrapped in her magic as soon as it was within range. She disregarded the salad, opting instead to beginher meal with much more satisfying food: within seconds, her plate was loaded high with the potato fries and a small mountain of pasta, every inch topped with tomato sauce, cheese and butter.

Scrunching her eyebrows as she concentrated on the somewhat complicated move, her telekinesis gripped a cheese grater and a block of cheese. The grater floated in a circle around Mt. Pasta, raining down heavenly shreds of stringy cheese on top of the already loaded plate, weighing it down even more with delicious country food.

Rarity snapped her head up as soon as she heard a giggle coming from Applejack. Concentration lost, the block of cheese and the metal grater fell to the sides and landed on the table. “What?”

“Wow, Rares, calm down!” Applejack tried to stop the flow of snickers coming from her snout with a hoof, but couldn’t. She was enjoying the show just far too much. “I’m jus’ glad ya like my cookin’ so much. Would have hated ta have you come all this way to help me on the farm, only to not like the food.”

Still defensive, Rarity stuck her nose up in the air as she levitated her plate to her side of the table and set it down with a heavy thump. “I only have such a large plate because I napped through lunch.”

“Did’ja?” Applejack teased with a smirk on her face as she grabbed a plate of her own between her teeth, setting it down to dish herself out some of the dinner. “‘Cause something ate a bunch of apples out of yer baskets, an’, well, left all’a the apple cores sittin’ around ya, so...” Applejack tossed a small wink Rarity’s way, lifting a spoon with her mouth to scoop some of the pasta onto her own plate.

“W-well!” Rarity stuttered as she attempted to tape together a defense in her mind, only for it to fall apart faster than Twilight after missing a Friendship Report. “...Well, I couldn’t help it. They’re absolutely divine apples, Applejack.”

“Well, o’course they are!” Applejack giggled again, dropping the pasta spoon back into the bowl before she nosed a fritter onto her plate. “After all, it is my job ta make good apples. Wouldn’t be in business very long iffin’ they weren’t good!”

“Yes, true!” Rarity nodded, any guilt washed away by her friend’s words. No longer worried, Rarity plunged her utensils into the food, wrapping a large wad of pasta around her fork before she hovered it to her mouth. “I was afraid that you’d be upset by my snacking. Didn’t know if you were trying to reach a quota or anything of the sort.”

“Oh, naw. Jus’ gotta get ‘em down. Besides, that’s what apples are for! Eatin’! Ah don’t mind.” Applejack nodded, then widened her eyes. “Oh, an’ for drinkin’! An’ speakin’ of drinkin’...”

Applejack trotted away from the table and toward the other side of the kitchen. She bit onto a small, visibly perspiring chest and tugged it towards the dinner table, setting it off to the side. With a quick swipe, she knocked the latch open and tossed the top off of its hinges, revealing its contents: a very well stocked ice box, complete with over a dozen long neck cider bottles. With a wide smile, Applejack bit the lid of one of the bottles, sliding it out of the ice and in front of Rarity.

“Special brew cider. This is the strong stuff... had a bit of it lyin’ around the storeroom when I went lookin’ fer stuff ta make fer dinner, figured that I’d share some of it.”

Rarity swallowed the huge mouthful of fries she’d stuffed into her muzzle while Applejack was pulling the chest, wiping the grease off her mouth with a napkin as she eyed the bottle. “Special brew, hm? Well, I very much appreciate it, Applejack. Let’s see, then...” Focusing her magic, she bent and popped the lid off, a small mist of cider spritzing from the open container.

Rarity floated the bottle up into the air and tipped it back, taking a sip from it. The moment it hit her tongue she cringed, but swallowed it nonetheless. She coughed as soon as the bottle pulled back, wiping at her lip with a napkin again. “That... that is strong, Applejack,” Rarity said, wiping a tear from her eye. “...But I do have to admit that it is a fine drink.”

“Aw, shucks! Ah’m glad! Brewed it mahself!” Applejack said, smile widening even farther than it had been all night. “Drink up! Ya deserve it after all the hard work an’ all.”

“Oh! ...Right! Hard work, of course!” Rarity levitates up the bottle. “To hard work and a delectable dinner, then?”

Applejack pulled a bottle out of the ice chest with her teeth, holding the lid against the table edge with a hoof. Her other hoof slammed down on top, popping off the lid as she scrambled to catch the bottle before it hit the ground. Watching all of this, Rarity was suddenly very thankful for her magic - otherwise, there was simply far too much physical labor involved in opening bottles.

Applejack was skilled at bottle opening, however, and caught the bottle before a drop was spilt and any glass was broken. Rarity scooped up another large mouthful of pasta while her friend readied her cider, before clinking the rims of their bottles together and taking long drinks. “To hard work and food, yee haw!”

Applejack downed the entire bottle in one breath - Rarity had to cut herself off after a few good gulps, turning the bottle right side up and panting as she did so. She was far from a heavy drinker, that was clear, and even less experienced with drinking out of a glass bottle.

Applejack, on the other hand, was already pulling out a second bottle for herself. She popped the lid off and sipped at it, before opening a third and sliding it next to Rarity’s still half full bottle.

Rarity cocked an eyebrow, looking at the two bottles as another forkful of pasta was levitated to her mouth. “Another? I really shouldn’t, Applejack. I’ve got to get back to the boutique - there’s still a lot of work to do.”

“An’ there’s a lot of work to do here, too, but yer not gonna see me not drinkin’.” Applejack nodded and clamped the bottle between both hooves, tipping it back and taking a drink. “An’ besides, if ya want, jus’ stay here fer the night and go home in the morning.”

“I’d have to admit that is a bit tempting,” Rarity said, scooping up several fries in her magic. “But I can’t help but think I’d just be in the way.”

“Oh, horseapples! Yer welcome here any day, Rarity.” Applejack took another long swig from her cider bottle, almost finishing the second off. “An’ besides, yer already experienced with nappin’ here on my couch and the orchard.”

Rarity huffed and glared at Applejack. “Those were extenuating circumstances! The couch was because of how early I had to get up to make it all the way out here, and the orchard was because, well, I was working hard!”

Applejack laughed, already reaching for a third bottle out of the ice chest. “Ah’m just teasin’, Rarity! No reason to get all defensive. Farm’s plenty big enough fer a few unicorns to lay around. Besides, the magic kind of comes in handy sometimes.”

“Well, of course it does,” Rarity said, floating another hoofful of fries to her mouth to be devoured like the others. “After all, things like this pasta would be just dreadful if I couldn’t use utensils.”

Applejack’s head tilted to the side as she pulled back from her plate with a mouthful of pasta, snout covered in the red sauce that topped it. She nudged her nose against a napkin on the table, but really only succeeded in smearing it around. “Why’s that?”

“Missed a spot, darling,” Rarity said, pointing at her own unmussed snout, before drawing her hoof in a circle around her face. “Well, several spots. And that’s exactly why.” Rarity chomped down another several bites of her pasta, finally beginning to make a dent in the massive pile sitting in front of her. Forkfuls were interspersed with sips of her cider, first bottle now empty.

“Eh, so it’s a little messy.” Applejack shrugged, going in for another bite. “‘S still good.”

“Can’t argue with that.” The tower of pasta stood absolutely no chance against Rarity’s hunger mounting a full attack. The pair of forks levitated by magic spun one after another, each collecting strands of spaghetti into a neat, tidy ball which was floated into her mouth. A third magical field lifted a napkin into the air, a fourth continued to deliver sips of cider, and a fifth floated fries up several at a time.

Applejack, having no magical powers of her own, found herself somewhat impressed by Rarity’s skill. It was rare to see a unicorn levitating more than one thing at a time - yet here Rarity was with two sharp pieces of metal and a glass bottle, each one hovering directly next to her face, all without injury. Even more impressive was how Rarity managed to keep herself completely free of any debris, coat completely spotless of sauce or cheese.

A bottle of cider inside the ice chest began to glow, finding itself lifted up and out of the collection and floated before the unicorn. Rarity’s now empty second bottle was placed aside, the third opening. As the alcohol dulled her senses, Applejack noticed Rarity taking bigger and bigger drinks of the booze - what were dainty sips before were now full gulps as she became accustomed to the harsh flavor.

“Tell ya what,” Applejack said. “If ya end up not goin’ home, Ah’ll come over to the boutique tomorrow and help ya get yer work done.”

Rarity paused for just a moment, eyes looking up from the plate of pasta. “You... would help me make dresses?” She stuffed another bundle of fries into her mouth before letting out a quiet chuckle. “I thought you didn’t like doing ‘girly’ things, Applejack.”

“And Ah thought you didn’t like doin’ ‘hard labor’, Rarity, but you’ve been hangin’ around the farm buckin’ trees for an entire day.” Applejack grinned at her own comment, grabbing a napkin in her hoof to try and wipe some of the sauce from her face.

Rarity shrugged and made an exaggerated frown as she stuffed another two forkfuls of pasta into her mouth, finishing off her bottle of cider before levitating another out of the ice chest. “Fair enough,” Rarity finally answered. “I suppose you do have a point. Applejack, you are more than welcome to come to the boutique tomorrow and assist me, though I’ll have to find you something to do. Somewhat difficult to run a magic-powered sewing machine with no magic.”

“Aw, shoot, Ah’ll find somethin’ ta do, Ah’m sure.” Applejack’s face was now clear from sauce, except for the slight red stain that latched onto the coat around her muzzle. Face and plate clean, she nosed her empty dish to the side and glanced at what remained on Rarity’s own dinner plate. “Heh, don’t fill up too much on pasta, now. Still plenty of dessert, too!”

“Right, of course! Don’t... fill up too much.” Rarity smiled wide, yet Applejack detected hesitation in the grin. She didn’t push the subject, and Rarity continued her pasta feast, forks revving up and spinning to collect more spaghetti. Little remained on her plate - where the proud pile of pony pasta stood before now sat a decimated hill.

Gulps of cider snuck in between bites of the remaining pasta and fries, and it wasn’t long before a fifth bottle was finding itself levitated in Rarity’s magic fields. The large mixing bowl where the pasta originated remained roughly half full with spaghetti, but Rarity made no motion to refill her portions already in front of her. With a final swirl of a fork and a stifled burp from Rarity, the last piece of pasta disappeared into her distended stomach.

Rarity stared at her empty plate for a long moment, silently remaining still. The utensils she attacked her meal with found themselves returning to the table, the napkin made one last pass over her lips and the now empty bottle of cider floated over to sit with the rest. Applejack caught Rarity’s eyes flick towards the towering dessert tray, but without fail they jerked back to the empty, sauce stained plate.

“Er... somethin’ the matter, Rarity?” Applejack asked, head tilting to the side.

“What? No. Nothing.” Rarity’s speech became short and quick, as if she were trying to avoid answering. She let out a sigh as her horn ignited with magic, a fritter floating from the tray and to her mouth. She ate, taking big bites from the treat, but it was no longer a glee-filled devouring like her feast moments ago - this was slow, sad, almost defeated looking.

“...Somethin’s botherin’ ya, Rares. What’s goin’ on?” Applejack rose to her hooves. There was a short sway in her stance as she caught her balance - she may not have had as much cider, but there was significantly less food in her stomach to absorb the alcohol, and its effects on her were noticeable. Without another misstep, she trotted around to the other side of the table and plopped down next to her puffy friend. “Come on, don’t gotta hide nothin’.”

Applejack caught the slight glare of a tear welling up in Rarity’s eye, but it was whisked away by a hoof before it was able to escape. “I’m fine,” she said, stuffing the rest of the fritter into her muzzle. She swallowed, followed by a short sniffle.

“Are you... yer cryin’, aren’t you?” Applejack leaned in, inching herself closer to Rarity.

“No! No, I am not crying.” The force behind her words squeezed out another tear, this one managing to make a break for it and roll down her cheek before she caught it with a very precisely levitated napkin. The same napkin dabbed at her lips before she telekinetically grabbed onto a particularly large cupcake, topped with cinnamon swirls and a slice of apple. As large as it was, it didn’t stand a chance against Rarity - four bites, and it was gone.

“Fine. Ya aren’t crying.” Applejack frowned, reaching a hoof across the table to drag the dessert tray closer. “But yer still pretty clearly bothered by somethin’.”

Rarity bit her lower lip, turning her head to look at Applejack. As soon as their eyes met, she glanced away for a brief moment before looking back up to her friend. “I’ve just... gone and made a pig out of myself, haven’t I? I’m not even... trying, anymore. I just eat anything you put in front of me.”

“Yeah, and?” Applejack cracked a tiny smile, the corners of her mouth teasing their way up. “Ah told ya this mornin’, Ah like it when people appreciate my cookin’.”

“This is farther than ‘appreciating’, Applejack!” Rarity’s frown deepened and her ears pinned back. Her lip quivered and larger, sincere tears built up in her eyes before tumbling down her cheeks. She sniffled and tried to inhale, finding her breath getting caught in her throat. “I-I’m just a huge... glutton! It’s disgusting!”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Applejack said, immediately reaching out with a foreleg to wrap around Rarity’s shoulders. She tugged her in close, feeling Rarity’s side squish against her own in the hug. There were no complaints. “Now, what has gotten into ya? Ya were havin’ a great day, weren’t ya? Ah was.”

“No, Applejack, I am not having a great day!” Rarity yelled, voice rising as the flow of tears became wider, dripping onto the ground when they met at her chin. The flood gates were fully opened - she was full on bawling. “Just... look at me! I’m not Rarity anymore! I’m just a big... fat... MARSHMALLOW!”

Applejack’s mind reeled, attempting to swim through the alcohol flowing through her and latch onto something to diffuse the situation. Rarity’s condition was rapidly dwindling, and though she was still stuffing treats into her mouth - Applejack noticed a large piece of pie being eaten between sobs - this was not how she had wanted the night to end.

“But... Ah like marshmallows!” Rarity did not even have a chance to respond before Applejack regretted every word. Even tipsy, she was able to realize just how absolutely absurd the line sounded, but only after it had escaped her mouth.

“You... huh?” Rarity blinked, still sniffling loudly as she turned her head to look at Applejack once more. Her face wore more confusion than it did shock or fear, though Applejack was very happy to see it at least temporarily stopped the crying, reverting her back to her on-the-edge state.

“Ah... uh... what Ah mean is, just ‘cuz ya put on a few pounds don’t mean ya aren’t as pretty as ya ever were, sugar cube.” Applejack nodded, impressing even herself with how smooth that came out. “I-In fact, maybe ya look even prettier!” The impressed feeling faded - too far.

Rarity sniffled once more, yet Applejack could see the beginnings of a smile appearing on Rarity’s face. The corners of her mouth teased upwards, though she tried her hardest to suppress her grin. Though the tears were sincere, Applejack knew she was dealing with Rarity and expected the drama. “M...maybe? Maybe I look prettier? W-what is that supposed to mean?”

Applejack huffed loudly, reaching with her other foreleg to knock a cupcake off of the tray and onto the table in front of Rarity. As soon as it entered her line of sight, it was wrapped in a magical glow and floated to her mouth where it was devoured. Rarity was back. “Yer right. There is no maybe.”

“Ya are prettier.”

Rarity nearly squealed with delight at the compliment, a small squeak rising up out of her. Whatever her true feelings about the situation were, she was not about to deny herself the satisfaction of being buttered up with compliments. She couldn’t hold back the smile any longer, and it broke out across her face. “Oh, you are just saying that!”

“No, Rarity! Ah ain’t ‘just sayin’ that,’” Applejack said, attempting to mimic Rarity’s voice with the last few words. She raised a hoof up - swaying slightly as she attempted to balance herself, using Rarity as a support - and nudged a few more treats off of the tray. Another cupcake, the remainder of the apple pie and several apple tarts slid across the table and came to a stop in front of Rarity.

Applejack couldn’t help but smile along with her as she felt Rarity’s back legs inching out to the side. She’d seen this several times, now, and knew it meant that she was making room for more. Much more.

Her guess immediately proved to be correct - as soon as she felt the legs moving, both the cupcake and one of the tarts were floated into the air, wrapped in a magical glow that slowly shrank in size as they were eaten in tandem. She bit at each one after the other, chomping bites off back and forth. The treats were devoured in no time at all. She may have been full of pasta and fries, but there was always room for dessert.

“I think it’s the alcohol talking, personally,” Rarity said. She was teasing at this point - Applejack couldn’t determine whether or not she was actually accepting the compliments or just humoring her, but either way she was happy to see the tears disappear. It stung more than she was willing to admit to see Rarity cry like that. It was true, Rarity was as famous for her dramatic pouty faces as she was for her dresses, but there was more to it than that.

Applejack couldn’t help but giggle as she watched the slices of pie disappear one by one. Still holding Rarity in the hug, she used her other hoof to push the whole pie closer - less time floating meant more time eating. Not a whole lot of it remained as it was, only about half of it was still in the tin, the rest having found its home in Rarity’s belly. “Pft, ain’t the alcohol, sugarcube. It’s true! I ain’t the element of honesty fer nothin’, after all!”

“A convincing argument,” Rarity responded, a little surprised at her ability to still form words that long with as much cider as she’d consumed. “I suppose I have no choice but to take your word for it,” she finished, though Applejack could still notice the smallest waver in her voice.

Applejack only snickered, going as far as leaning her head against Rarity’s shoulder as she continued to plow through the pie in record time. Drunk as she was, she considered reaching down and poking - or even being brave and rubbing - Rarity’s overfed stomach, but decided that might be going a bit too far too soon. She backed off, opting to rest there instead.

The pie was gone, and Rarity sat proud as she floated small chunks of remaining crumbs up and out of the tin and into her mouth. As always, the napkin was not far behind and, though quite sticky and stained from all the smears of sauce and pie filling it had collected, it wiped her lips clean of gluttonous debris.

“Still hungry?”

“No,” Rarity answered with honesty. “But there’s still more to go, isn’t there? After all, it would be just rude to not try a little of everything... wouldn’t it?” Rarity asked, her feeble attempt at justifying eating more being humorous to Applejack.

Applejack smirked and nodded. “Uh... well, Ah wouldn’t call it rude, but at the same time, Ah’m not gonna say no.”

Rarity squeaked with delight at the reassuring words, leaning forward slightly to move her horn within range of her next selected treat - a delicious looking pan of apple cobbler. She felt her stomach nudge against the floor as she leaned, but ignored it. That cobbler was going to be devoured, and she wasn’t going to let something as silly as stomach capacity get in the way.

Rarity’s first attempt to get cobbler into her mouth ended in a mess. Her magic gripped a good lump of it and floated it into the air. Levitation, however, was not so good at keeping something so viscous together and the runny parts of the cobbler dripped along the table and floor as the wad was carried to her mouth. By the time she was able to wrap her lips around it, it was almost all gone.

Rarity was not one to be defeated so easily, however. She opted for a plan B - she scanned the table with her eyes and caught onto a large serving spoon. She assumed it was for the spaghetti, but now it was for cobbler as neither of them had used it previously. The massive spoon quickly found itself submerged into the sticky dessert, lifted up into the air.

Rarity slurped happily, guzzling down the jellified parts of the sugary treat before licking the apple chunks and graham cracker crumbs out of the bottom of the spoon. She didn’t slow down in the least - even as her stomach filled out to accommodate the far too large dessert. Her belly expanded far enough to rub against the ground as she sat, just a hair, but she noticed.

Even still, there was room. She may have been on the verge of stuffed, but she was determined to finish the cobbler. It was taunting her, now - she was not about to leave it half eaten. The spoon buzzed through the air, moving so fast it appeared as a glowing blur to Applejack, though she mostly chalked that up to the alcohol.

Applejack’s eyes followed the spoon as it transported mouthful after mouthful of cobbler from the table to Rarity’s mouth. She bit her lip as she watched - she’d never admit it when sober, but watching Rarity binge like this was really something else. The desire to reach out and nuzzle into that taut stomach was nearly overwhelming, but she just barely managed to keep her cool.

There was a brief struggle, but Rarity had managed to swallow the last bit of cobbler. She was tempted to start scraping the bottom of the tray it was contained in, but she knew her limits - she was stuffed. Her stomach was taut as a drum. Even as she shifted her back legs out farther to accommodate her new girth, her belly remained in place, only squishing slightly against the ground.

“Full?”

Rarity opened her mouth to talk, immediately shutting it to keep from releasing the burp that was threatening to erupt out of her. Raising a hoof up, she paused for a moment before speaking. “Full does not even... begin to cover it.”

“Ah take it yer not gonna go back to the boutique tonight, huh?”

“No. No I am not.” Rarity leaned herself forward, chin resting on the table. Her eyes drooped shut - the combination of being incredibly overfed and the alcohol was making it dangerously hard to stay awake. She felt her head droop to the side and her horn clink against something, but it didn’t matter - she probably just knocked over an empty cider bottle.

“Uh, Rares?” She felt a nudge at her side, strong enough to wake her out of her drowsy state for just a moment.

“Hmm?” Rarity opened her eyes again, looking over at Applejack.

“Yer horn’s ‘bout two apples deep into that pasta, there.”

“It’s what?” Rarity jerked her head off of the table, hooking several strands of spaghetti with her horn and sending them flying across the room. They landed with a wet slap against the walls and floor, and Rarity cringed with her whole body as the sensation of cooling sauce overwhelmed her horn. “Ah! It’s going to stain!” Rarity cried out, frantically looking around for something to wipe it off with.

“Hold on! Ah got this!” Applejack attempted twice to stand up - the first was a miserable failure which resulted in her stumbling over her own forelegs and bumping the ground with her chin. She eventually made it to her hooves and picked herself up on her hind legs, forelegs landing on the tabletop.

She, too, searched for something to use to wipe the sauce off, finally tossing several forks aside to grab at a tablecloth with her hooves. She shoved her left foreleg against Rarity’s shoulder, using her as a support to prop herself up to horn level. With her remaining foreleg she hooked the towel and pressed it against Rarity’s horn, rubbing into it with her hoof.

Pain shot down her horn and jabbed Rarity in the skull, causing her to immediately jerk her head to the side. “Ow! Applejack! No!” She lifted a leg up to paw at Applejack’s chest, softly trying to nudge her away. “Don’t use your hooves! It’s far too sensitive to be ramming those rough things against it!”

Applejack grunted, unsure how to take her hooves being called ‘rough.’ On one hoof, it could have been an insult - on the other, well, she did have a point. “Fine! What else can Ah...” Applejack jerked her head side to side as she searched for something softer to rub Rarity’s horn down with.

“Applejack, please! Quickly! It’s going to staiiiiiin!” Rarity’s front hooves clopped up and down against the wooden floor, the unicorn clearly growing frantic even with the calming effects of alcohol.

“Ah... Ah got it!” Applejack’s face lit up like a spark as an idea popped into her slurred thoughts. Without wasting a moment longer, Applejack opened her mouth and drew her tongue from the bottom of Rarity’s horn to the tip, leaving a wet trail of saliva where the sauce used to be.

“APPLEJACK!” Rarity yelled, shivering under Applejack’s embrace. “What do you think you are doing?!”

“Ah’m cleanin’ off yer horn, Rares! Just hold on, Ah’ll save ya!”

“Yes, but don’t do t- ahhhaha...” Rarity’s voice caught in her throat as Applejack’s tongue wrapped back around her horn, the limb shooting signals of pleasure straight down her spine, arcing out across her entire body. She shuddered, again, her forelegs almost sliding out from under her as the sensation spread.

Rarity shivered, hooves clicking against the ground as they vibrated against the wooden planks beneath her. There wasn’t anywhere for her to go - not that she wanted to move, really. Applejack had quite the grip on her, forelegs wrapped around her neck as her head bobbed up and down, slurping up the tomato sauce from every last inch of her horn.

A brief pause opened itself up as Applejack pulled her head back from Rarity’s, the earth pony giggling to herself. Rarity could feel a drop of saliva roll down the tip of her slick horn, meeting with the rest of the moisture at the top of her soaked horn base. She let out a shuddered breath, still feeling the effects of Applejack’s touch.

“Gosh, Rares, you sure got a lot of sauce on there,” Applejack said, leaning farther against Rarity. Rarity felt Applejack’s hot breath blow across her damp horn as she inspected, the cooling sensation rolling down her shoulders as she kept perfectly still. “Gonna take me some time to get it all off! It’s all in that... spiral thingy.”

“That ‘spiral thingy’ is a f- Ahh! Applejack, come on!” Rarity’s explanation halted right in its tracks as she found her horn engulfed in Applejack’s mouth once more. Rarity couldn’t help but be impressed by Applejack’s drunken dexterity - not once had she felt a tooth or the back of her throat against her horn, something that most experienced ponies couldn’t do sober.

The idea that perhaps Applejack was experienced with this and this was very much intentional briefly popped into her train of thought. It was steamrolled flat by another rolling wave of pure pleasure as Applejack’s tongue ran itself along the spiral ridge that fluted Rarity’s horn. Her horn barred any thoughts about anything but itself from entering her mind.

A low moan escaped Rarity’s chest as her horn activated, the hard shaft beginning to radiate heat as Applejack continued to assault with her mouth. It’s warmth teased along the entire length and across Rarity’s scalp, heating everything as it crawled along. Rarity felt the node responsible for unicorn magic swelling at the base of her horn, pressure inside her head beginning to build.

Applejack pulled back for a brief time and in the heat of the moment, Rarity nearly cried out as she felt her horn be released from the confines of Applejack’s mouth. She bit her bottom lip, sealing in the sound before she embarrassed herself. “Why’s yer horn doin’ that?” Applejack asked, staring at the faint glow surrounding it. Rarity felt her face light up red when she glanced up behind her, accidentally meeting eyes with Applejack.

“Don’ matter, keep doin’ it. It’s bright enough to see the spots Ah missed!” Rarity cringed at the announcement, tensing up as she felt the warm sheath of Applejack’s mouth slide back over her horn once more. Applejack had managed to take the entire length into her mouth - Rarity felt her lips and tongue teasing at the top of her scalp where a build up of pasta sauce still remained.

Rarity felt a pull at her horn. She didn’t know what Applejack was doing up there by actually sucking on her horn, but she was not about to stop her. A small moan escaped her lips, Rarity slumping forward against the table and resting her chin against it. She was about to lose control - she felt the release of a tiny spark of magic escaping her horn. It trickled out and dripped along the shaft for a very short moment before it was caught up somewhere along its path by Applejack’s tongue.

Sparks sputtered from her horn’s tip, sparkling against the back of Applejack’s throat. Rarity expected to feel cold air blowing over her horn as Applejack recoiled in shock or disgust, but was instead pleasantly surprised to feel the moist grip of her mouth remain latched around her horn. Nothing in the world mattered to Rarity in that moment except her horn and the sweet release of magiculation. Her eyes fluttered shut and she stopped attempting to hide her pleasure. Excited moans escaped her own mouth as Applejack’s head bobbed up and down, slathering her scalp in more saliva, drenching her horn and forehead.

One last wave of pleasure rolled through Rarity’s body and she clenched her jaw, biting down hard to prevent herself from screaming out as her horn finally exploded with built up pressure, pure, concentrated magic spewing forth from the tip. It took just a second for Applejack’s mouth to fill with the sticky, brightly glowing goo, which she reflexively swallowed as it slammed against the back of her throat. Given Applejack’s position over Rarity, gravity pulled a good amount of the magiculate downward. Rarity felt large globs of it dripping against the top of her head as Applejack jerked her mouth off of her horn.

Caught completely off guard, Applejack stumbled backward as Rarity’s horn sputtered out. Immediately, she let go of Rarity’s shoulders and landed back on her own hooves, nearly choking on the glittery goo that remained in her mouth before she coughed, spraying the floor with a spattering of magiculate which quickly dissipated into the air, rising and blowing away in flakes.

No longer being held up by Applejack, Rarity’s legs gave out after a brief struggle. Rarity swayed like a small branch in a stiff breeze before toppling over onto her side, overfed stomach spreading out across the floor a small amount as its contents shifted. Every once in awhile a leg would kick out, spasms of pleasure from her horn still shooting through her body. A small spark would fly from her horn intermittently.

Rarity was completely and utterly spent. The combination of alcohol, physical labor, far too much food and the attention that was just slathered onto her horn was overwhelming to her stressed body. She attempted to will her eyes open, to no avail - she was done, asleep right there on the kitchen floor.

Chapter 3: 28 Muffins Later

For the first time in her life, Rarity regretted not drinking more the night before.

Sure, she had a headache and her mouth was dry - but she remembered everything.Every last detail. The look of shock on Applejack’s face when it was over, the whines of pleasure, the magiculate getting everywhere... it was downright embarrassing, and she felt awful about the whole thing.

And there was no way she was going to be here, taking up all of Applejack’s sofa when she woke up. On the other hoof, she wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to get out of the farmhouse without waking her up. Creaky, wooden floors covered the floor, and she wasn’t exactly the lightest thing on four hooves anymore.

To her delight, on the other hoof, the sounds of rain falling outside covered the home in a soft noise that would be just enough to mask her escape... she hoped.

Rarity winced as she very carefully reached out a hoof, setting it down on wooden plank closest to the sofa. As expected, it whined as weight was applied, causing Rarity to pull her hoof back onto the couch with the rest of her. She shot a look up toward the stairs leading to Applejack’s room, staying quiet - she didn’t hear anything and assumed Applejack hadn’t woken up.

“Alright, I’ve got this,” Rarity whispered to herself. “Slow... and steady.” Drawing in and holding a breath, Rarity planted her hoof onto the floor again. It creaked, but she slowly pulled the rest of her body off of the sofa until all four hooves were planted on the ground. She silently cheered; the first step of her escape was complete.

Rarity trotted over to the door as quietly as an overweight unicorn could - which wasn’t very. Still, it wasn’t loud enough to wake Applejack, and right now that was all Rarity was concerned about. A magic glow wrapped around her saddlebags as they were lifted and dropped onto her flanks. Rarity squirmed under their weight, trying to reposition them so they would stay in place, but they didn’t fit quite as well as the day before.

Rarity cringed as she stepped up to the door, already upset by the concept of stepping out into the rain. She’d been funneling magic into her mane for almost the entirety of the day before, trying to keep it in place - and it was still a ragged mess by her standards. But rain? That would take hours to fix.

She tossed the lock open with a brief flick of magic, nose bumping against the door to swing it open. The humidity of the outside air hit her face like a wet towel, causing her to whine. Oh, she could already just feel her mane’s curls unfolding and the ends of her hair splitting!

She stepped out of the farmhouse, closing the door behind her. A few raindrops pelted her back, the cold water stinging her skin - but she immediately realized that she was not getting rained on nearly as much as the ground around her was. She squinted and looked up into the air, finding a small empty patch in the clouds where she could see into the dawn sky directly above herself. In fact, she noticed the entire path leading away from Sweet Apple Acres was clear from rain, a trail of empty sky snaking through the storm.

She’d never known the pegasus weather ponies to carve intricate patterns in their work to appease grounded ponies before, but she wasn’t about to argue. Glad that she would neither have to get soaking wet or, arguably worse, run home, she set off down the path, able to breathe normally after her escape.

) ( ) ( ) (

“Rarity, we need to talk.”

She heard the clop of hooves landing on the ground behind her, spotting Rainbow Dash as she turned around. She hadn’t yet made it into Ponyville, still on the outskirts and standing on the road that lead from Sweet Apple Acres. She wondered how Dash had found her out here - the sun hadn’t even risen yet.

Rarity felt her heart speed up and her stomach drop - their last meeting hadn’t been on good terms, and Rainbow Dash looked downright angry. Rarity took a step backwards, frowning at the pegasus in front of her. “What about, Dash?”

“I think you know exactly what about,” Rainbow Dash said as she took a threatening step forward. There was quite the scowl on her face and she made absolutely no effort to hide her anger. Something had ruffled her feathers.

“Rainbow Dash, I haven’t a clue what you’re so upset about, but I can assure you that it was not of my doing,” Rarity said, taking another step backward before she turned on her hooves, back now facing Dash.

Rainbow Dash growled and flared out her wings, giving them one hard pump. She launched forward, head down, butting Rarity in the flank with the top of her head. Rarity yelped as they collided, stumbling forward a few steps before whipping around and shooting a glare of her own at the assaulting pegasus. “Watch it, Dash!” Rarity warned.

“No! I’m not just letting you walk away from me - not now!” Rainbow Dash stood with her wings flared out to the side, only a nose away from Rarity’s face. She was close and angry, and Rarity couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated.

Rarity narrowed her eyes, staring into Dash’s. “All right, fine. What is it then, hm? Just say it, if it’s got you this worked up! What is your problem?”

“You’re my problem, Rarity! You’re... exploiting Applejack! You know exactly what you are doing!” Rainbow Dash’s voice rose. Rarity folded her ears down as she became louder, but stood strong.

“I am doing no such thing! Have you been watching us? Is that what this is?” Rarity snorted, narrowing her eyes farther. “I’ll have you know that what happened between us last night was simply a miscommunication!”

“Not that! This!” Dash yelled, moving a hoof to jab at the air pointing at Rarity’s belly, still slightly swollen from her massive dinner binge the night before. Her saddlebags helped to hide this slightly, but it was still apparent. “You... you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

Rarity blinked, turning her head to see what Dash was pointing towards. A small blush teased at her cheeks as she realized it was her stomach that the pegasus was attempting to draw attention to. “W-what do you mean by that? What are you implying, Dash? Just say it.”

“You,” she said, pulling her hoof around to prod Rarity in the chest. “Are doing this,” she said, hoof returning to jabbing at the air towards her belly. “On purpose.”

"You mean... that's absurd!" Rarity turned her head to glance at her rounded stomach, before looking back to Dash. "Why in Tartarus would I intentionally start packing on weight until I looked like a... like a big..." Rarity swallowed hard, unable to squeeze out the word.' "...Like this!"

"Like what? 'Fabulous'?" Dash shouted, making 'air quotes' with the tips of her wings. "Come off it, Rarity! You ALWAYS look great, no matter what, and you know it! You gained every single pound on purpose, and you made sure it went all in the right places. Every curve was planned, wasn't it?"

"B... but why would I ever do that, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity looked astonished by the accusation - eyes widened, mouth just a touch agape.

“To take Applejack away from me!” Dash shouted, stomping a hoof against the ground as her wings flared out again. The source of her agitation was becoming obvious - Rarity took another tentative step backward away from her.

“Now what would ever give you that idea? How would that even help me in that endeavour? Not that I am, of course!” Rarity yelled in return, raising her voice out of sheer frustration. “There was nothing to our meeting. I was just helping on the fa-”

“Oh, cut it out, Rarity!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “I saw the flash from the windows from a thousand feet in the air! I saw the cider bottles, and I saw you sprawled out on the floor, and Applejack’s mouth filled with... you know what. Glitter.” Dash practically spat the last word, saying it as if it were a horrible curse.

Rarity felt her face heating up at the mention of last night’s indiscretions, which her pearly white coat did little to hide. “T-that isn’t fair! You don’t understand!”

“Oh, I understand it all, Rarity!” She stamped a hoof again. “And... and I don’t know how you found out, but you did. And you’re using it! You know Applejack likes bigger mares.”

"She... what?" Rarity's expression went completely blank. Her mind cranked to put together the information it was just fed, and things suddenly fell into place as she worked it over in her thoughts. The mass amounts of food, being left alone in the orchard, the heavy cider. The compliments on her appetite, the praise that was laid on her as she gorged herself. The comments about her beauty, the drunken attention that was lavished onto her... Applejack had been intentionally hitting every one of her buttons.

Rarity didn't notice, but her expression soured as she realised what was going on. Wordlessly, her brow creased and her mouth set into a firm line that tugged at her dimples.

As Rarity's expression became fouler, Rainbow Dash's heart sank lower. She'd realized her mistake a sentence too late.

"She does, does she?" Rarity asked, though her voice came out more as a growl than the posh voice she normally used. She was angry - and even in the pre-sunrise glow, Dash could plainly see.

"T-that's... it's... oh, no." Rainbow Dash's stomach was in a knot as she realized how badly she’d blown it - blown Applejack’s trust, and with it, her chances to win her back. Dash mumbled something to herself as she took a step backwards, her wings dropping to her side.

With a firm beat of her wings, Rainbow Dash rocketed into the air and blazed a path straight up, disappearing behind the stormy clouds above. A small hole punched through the gray, and she was gone, leaving Rarity alone. With an angry stomp in her step, she turned and continued toward her boutique.

) ( ) ( ) (

Rarity spent most of the morning staring at her door, fixing it with an angry glare despite its inanimate nature.

She had work to do. Lots of work. In fact, there was a half-finished dress currently sitting on the sewing machine, calling to her. Her calendar was marked with red bars, symbolizing late commissions and dresses. She’d made a little progress on a couple of orders, but not enough to catch up - especially with her day off yesterday.

Even still, she knew that Applejack was going to come by. It would be awkward; she knew that Applejack would remember what happened last night, but she was also aware that she was not going to break a promise. It just wasn’t possible.

Sure enough, the door cracked open, pausing before it was pushed open fully. The bell above the door jingled and Rarity was ready, frustrated stare immediately laying itself on Applejack as soon as she came within view.

Applejack blinked a few times, the stare making her feel a little uncomfortable. Her saddlebags bulged with something and she held a basket in her teeth. Standing just inside the boutique, she set the basket down on the ground and tilted her head. “Iffin’ yer riled up about last night...”

“No, that’s not it.” Rarity cleared her throat. “...Well, not entirely, anyway.”

“O... okay,” Applejack said, confusion evident in her voice. “Ah jus’ wanted to say, Ah didn’t know that thing there with yer horn... didn’t know that was a thing.”

Rarity huffed, eyes narrowing as she stared at Applejack. “That isn’t what I meant either.” Her glare tilted downward to the basket, which found itself wrapped in a magical glow as it floated towards her. “I had a talk with Rainbow Dash this morning.”

Applejack sighed, shaking her head as she stepped off to the side of the door, doubling over to bite at and unbuckle her saddlebags, sliding them off of her flanks and onto the ground with a heavy thud. “Ya did, did ya? That mare ain’t thinkin’ straight, Ah told ya that.”

“Mmhmm. Yes, well, after our little chat, I don’t think she’s the only one ‘not thinking straight.’” The napkin set atop the basket was torn off in a flurry of magic, revealing the small pile of apple cinnamon muffins below. Rarity took a very angry bite out of the top treat after magicking it to her mouth. “I don’t like it when a pony takes advantage of me, Applejack.”

“...What?” Applejack sat on the floor of the boutique, a clearly confused look crossing over her face. “Who’s takin’ advantage of ya, Rares?”

“Don’t call me that,” Rarity snapped, taking another bite from the muffin. “And I think you full well know what I am talking about. All the food, ‘helping’ on the farm...? You never actually needed help on the farm, did you, Applejack?”

“Now, hold on jus’ a minute, here...” Applejack paused. “Y’all were a big help on the farm.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure I was - after all, what would you have ever done with all that pasta if I weren’t there to eat it all, hm?” Rarity grumbled, though neither was sure who her anger was directed towards.

“Rarity, Ah...” Applejack sighed, looking down at the floor. “Alright, maybe Ah haven’t been entirely honest with ya.”

Rarity stuffed the last of the first muffin into her mouth, chewing it roughly as she stared Applejack down. She swallowed before speaking. “I already know that. In fact, I think that’s the first time you’ve actually been honest about this whole situation.”

“T-that ain’t fair!” Applejack said, voice raising a bit higher than she had intended. Her head shot back up, but as soon as she met eyes with Rarity her gaze lowered again. “Ah... wasn’t lyin’ when Ah told ya that yer still beautiful an’ all last night. Maybe Ah was drunk, but that was not a lie. Was bein’ completely honest.”

Rarity’s expression softened at Applejack’s words, but she quickly returned to her angry glare just as fast as it disappeared. “Oh, I am not letting you flatter me to get your way two days in a row.” Another muffin found itself floating in the air, headed straight for her mouth.

“Ah ain’t tryin’ ta flatter you!” Applejack replied, head lifting up and staying up. “Ah was bein’ sincere! Yeah, drunk, but still honest. Maybe even a little forward, yeah, Ah’ll give ya that.”

Applejack let out another heavy sigh, hoof scuffing at the floor before she started talking again. “Rarity, Ah’m the Element of Honesty, but yer right. Ah’ve been all kinds of secretive an’ all... The truth is, Rares,” Applejack said, pausing for a moment to see if she’d be snapped at again. “Ah’ve just always been... scared of talkin’ to ya.”

“Scared...?” Rarity blinked, turning her head to the side. It wasn’t intentional, but her hardened glare fell from her face as Applejack spoke - Applejack’s admission stung. “Why would you ever be scared of talking to me, Applejack? We’re such good friends... In fact, I think how close we are makes this whole situation even harder.”

“Yeah, Ah know.” Applejack chuckled, reaching up to swipe her hat off of her head and set it on the floor. “Ah feel ya on that one. It’s just... Ah dunno, Rares. You’re so... you know... fancy.”

“Sophisticated,” Rarity offered. “And fashionable,” she added.

Applejack nodded quickly. “Yeah, that! An’, ya know, Ah mean... Ah ain’t.” They both chuckled, and a pair of small smiles cut through a little of the tension in the air. “Honestly, it’s always been a little... intimidatin’. Ah kinda figured Ah’d never have a chance with ya.”

“...Chance?” Rarity raised an eyebrow, biting into the muffin again. “As in...?”

“Yeah,” Applejack said. “Yeah, chance as in a date chance.” Applejack swallowed hard as she released that information, keeping her eyes locked on Rarity to gauge her reaction. She only gave a small nod and kept quiet, hiding any further emotion with another bite of muffin.

“An’... well, Ah didn’t really think we had a lot in common.” Applejack shrugged. “An’ opposites attract an’ all, but there’s gotta be somethin’ there. Past couple’a weeks, though, Ah’ve been noticin’ that, well, we kinda do! You an’ me, Rares … we’re the hardest-workin’ mares in Ponyville, and that’s sayin’ somethin’. Shore, you make dresses, Ah grow apples, but that don’t matter. When you’ve got a job to do, you git’er done, no matter how big it is. Shoot, Ah seen you: bigger a job is, the more you’re chompin’ at the bit to tear into it. Ah admire that, Rares; Ah admire the hay outta that.”

Rarity blinked. Despite her protests about being complimented into submission, she had to admit that Applejack was good at it. This was no hollow flattery, though, and now, it wasn’t just hard cider and a late night speaking.

"You jus' seemed so ... unapproachable. So ... carefully-cultivated, like a fancy garden, you know?” Applejack swallowed. “But when ya got so stressed out, an' put on a few pounds..."

Rarity snorted, eyes ice cold again. "... suddenly I was flawed? An acceptable target? Imperfect?" She felt tears welling up, and fought them back with a few solid blinks, wiping a hoof across her eyes.

"No! Stop puttin' words in my mouth!” Applejack wasn’t holding back; her eyes were wet with the tears Rarity wouldn’t show. “That's not what Ah mean at all! You were ... you were ... real. Honest." Applejack took a deep breath. "Sugarcube, don't take this the wrong way ... but before, you were always kinda … artificial, you know? Ah hate to say it, but ... phoney."

Applejack looked like she’d just said the most awful, insulting word in her vocabulary. She rushed on, continuing before Rarity had a chance to argue.

"But you let that slip, an' you thought it made you less than perfect. You thought it made you less than you. An' Ah... Ah wanted to tell you … to show you ... that you were still beautiful. More beautiful, even. That if you pushed past all the fake an' the frou-frou an' the fashion, by gum, an' jus' let yourself be Rarity ... that you'd be more Rarity than ever."

The two sat staring at each other. The half-eaten muffin floated in the air, forgotten.

"Well, I'm certainly more Rarity than ever. Quite a bit more," Rarity said, breaking the silence as she grinned a tender, teary smile. She laughed with a sound that could have been a giggle or could have been a sob - neither was sure, but Applejack giggled along with her anyway.

“Ah wouldn’t put it that way, but... well, yeah.” Applejack chuckled, reaching up with a hoof to dab at the tears still in her eyes, though no more came. “An’ Rares, Ah am just so sorry that Ah didn’t come clean about this all earlier. Ah really should’a.”

“It’s fine,” Rarity said, the muffin floating in the air suddenly catching her attention again as she bit into it between words. “Though, if you’re apologizing, I suppose that I should too.” She rolled a hoof around in the air as she chewed, pointing at her horn. “I... probably should have warned you about... you know.”

“...Would’a appreciated a warnin’, yeah.” Applejack snickered and ducked her head, a blush teasing at her cheeks. “That really caught me by surprise, lemme tell ya.”

“Oh, I’m sure it did,” Rarity said, a red tinge appearing on her cheeks as well. “You know what else was surprising? Getting stopped in the middle of the street by Rainbow Dash - I think I mentioned that to you.”

Applejack swallowed hard - even after coming clean about everything, not knowing exactly what her angry ex had said was still nerve wracking. “Yeah... Ah bet that was a shocker. What exactly did she go on about, anyway?”

“Mm, well,” Rarity said, lifting another muffin into the air as she bit into it. The basket’s population was dwindling already. “Judging by the look on her face when she told me, I think she assumed I already knew... so I have to admit that I feel a bit guilty about knowing. She told me that you’re, well... into bigger mares.”

Applejack bit her lip and retreated slightly, eyes falling towards the ground out of sheer embarrassment before they snapped back up to Rarity. “...Well, Ah mean... yeah.” Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, snickering to herself once. “Ah’ve only told ya that yer prettier now that you’re bigger like... five times, now, kinda thought ya were catchin’ on. It don’t bother ya, does it?”

Rarity floated the muffin closer, taking another big bite out of it as if for emphasis before speaking. “Well, no. You’re free to like what you like, Applejack, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t. I may not share your... preferences, but I’m not going to be bothered by them.” Rarity shrugged. “If anything, it’s cute.”

“Aw, shucks, Rares,” Applejack said, scuffing a hoof against the floor as she looked away, head turning to the side to attempt to hide her raging blush. “Honestly, Ah always thought it was kinda weird...”

“There’s plenty worse. Besides, the big, strong farmpony falling for a... larger fashionista? Almost something out of a good book, really.” Rarity chuckled, biting into the muffin before levitating the last one out of the basket. “Anyway, how could I hold that against you when you were so gracious with the... horn... problem. Call it even, hm?”

“Sounds fair to me,” Applejack said, blush beginning to fade after Rarity’s reassuring words.

“Now, then, I believe you tossed around the word ‘date’ earlier in this conversation, didn’t you?” Rarity took another bite out of the last muffin before continuing. “You weren’t just saying that to calm me down, were you? Exploiting my hopelessly romantic side?” Though her words were tough, the big grin on her face - at least, what could be seen of it around muffin - betrayed her true emotions: she was just teasing.

“Aw, now, Rares, ya know Ah’d never do that,” Applejack said, swiping her hat onto her hoof and placing it back on her head. “Ah was bein’ serious! Ah mean, if ya wouldn’t mind bein’ seen out in some fancy place with me at yer side an’ all...”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle, shaking her head as the last bit of muffin disappeared into her mouth. “Oh, darling, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being seen with you. You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit... tell you what,” Rarity said, gesturing with a hoof at her overloaded calendar. “If we knock enough of my overdue things off the list and get them delivered before they are late, I’ve got tonight free. How’s that sound?”

“Aw, shucks, Rares,” Applejack said, looking down at the ground before flicking her gaze back up to Rarity, scuffing the floor with a hoof. “Yer not just sayin’ that ta make me happy, are ya?”

“Now, why ever would I do that?” Rarity asked, chuckling as she did. She stood up, moving to the other side of the room to begin setting up the next dress for stitching, levitating fabric patterns into the air in groups as she looked them over, attempting to determine the correct one. “I’d like a date with someone who understands me as much as you do. Truth be told, it’s been a long while since I’ve been on a date I actually enjoyed. You sound like I’m doing you a favor.”

“Ya sure do know how ta make a mare happy, is all I’m sayin’.” Applejack gave a snicker of her own as she pushed herself up to all four hooves, trotting deeper into the boutique. “Now, then. Ya mentioned deliveries. Let’s get to ‘em.”

) ( ) ( ) ( ) (

The unicorn mare’s eyes widened as soon as the door opened to see Applejack standing on her porch, delivery in mouth.

“By Celestia, what are you doing to it?”

Applejack looked down at the hastily wrapped package in her mouth. She attempted to speak but could only make muffled groans as her mouth was full of wrapping paper and fabric.

“Ah! No, stop doing that!” The mare’s horn began to glow, wrapping the dress in a magical aura which immediately tugged the clothing out of Applejack’s mouth.

Applejack simply stood in place, jaw still slack as she watched the mare pull the dress right up to her eyes, staring daggers at the area where Applejack had bitten it. “‘M sorry, just deliverin’...”

“Well, perhaps you should find a way that isn’t covering my dress in bite marks and drool!” Before Applejack had a chance to respond, the unicorn had taken a step back into her home and slammed the door shut in her face.

With a huff, Applejack turned on her hooves and started back onto the streets. Most of the deliveries had gone the exact same way. As it turns out, Ponyville’s high class - Applejack giggled at the thought of such a thing - was particularly picky about the way their clothing was handled, and very few were alright with the idea of teeth being used as a transport.

There wasn’t any time to wrap the dresses in appropriate packaging - though typically, Rarity had made sure to box, tape, decorate, wrap and tie a bow around each and every individual piece of clothing, time didn’t allow it. Each dress was hastily wrapped in fancy rice paper and tied with a particularly frilly piece of ribbon, and that would have to do.

Her saddle bags were growing very light, and her pre-planned path through Ponyville had led her right across Sugarcube Corner, as she intended. Even from outside, the air was filled with the scents of all kinds of desserts - specifically, Applejack noticed the heavy scent of chocolate hanging in the air this day. She allowed herself a break, veering off her delivery path and nosing open the door to the bakery.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie belted out immediately upon hearing the small chime from her door opening. She was nose deep in an oven, hoofmitts slid over her forelegs as she reached in and grabbed a pan between her hooves. “What can I g- Oh, Applejack!”

Applejack smiled wide as Pinkie turned and recognized her, giving a curt nod. “Howdy, there. How’s things?”

“Oh, we’re doing great!” Pinkie nodded, placing the hot pan down on the counter, allowing it to begin cooling before she started to frost it.

“Er, we?” Applejack questioned, looking around the bakery’s lobby for any other ponies around, only to spot absolutely nobody but them in the area.

“Yeah, we! I’m teaching Fluttershy how to bake! She’s right...” Pinkie said, turning to look around the bakery for Fluttershy, only to come up as empty as Applejack. “...Huh, actually, I don’t know where she ran off to! She was right here...” Pinkie ducked low to begin checking under the countertops, flattening herself onto the floor to peer under the oven. “Fluttershy! Oh, Fluttershy! Where’d you go?”

“Ah’m... sure she’s around here somewhere, just not under the oven,” Applejack said. “Anyway, Pinkie, Ah’m here ta discuss somethin’ with ya, actually.”

“Oh! Okay!” Pinkie immediately shot back up to her hooves, standing straight up. “What’s up?”

“Well, Ah know about how ya’ll rent out Sugarcube Corner fer parties, sometimes, and Ah was wonderin’ if ma-”

Pinkie let out a long, shreiking gasp as she leaned farther across the countertop. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates, jaw slack. Applejack couldn’t help but feel just a little weirded out as she was regarded in such a manner. “Are you...” Pinkie said, voice barely above a whisper before she exploded with the last few words: “having a party?!”

Applejack stumbled backward at Pinkie’s shouting, clamping a hoof down on her head to keep her hat from blowing away in the wake of her voice. “Well, Ah wouldn’t really call it a p-...” Applejack clamped her teeth down on her tounge to keep herself from saying anything else - she knew that if she told Pinkie it was a date rather than a party, she’d never be able to get her to leave them alone over it. Her intentions would have been only the best, of course, but she was not looking for the full-blown invite-all-of-Ponyville-party that Pinkie would have thrown for their date.

“...Uh. Yep. Ah’m throwin’ a party. Fer... Uh...”

“Oh, it’s okay, Applejack! You don’t have to tell me!” Pinkie giggled. “Lots of ponies throw private parties, and I don’t say a word! Now, normally, I have to charge enough to make up for what I’d lose for closing for the evening. But for you,” Pinkie said, an even bigger grin appearing on her face. “Just base cost! So, let’s say... forty bits and we’re even.”

“Jus’ forty? Oh, Ah got that!” Applejack turned in place, reaching the saddlebags at her side with her mouth. She grabbed a small sack inside her bag with her teeth, pulling it out and placing it on the countertop. Slowly, she counted out the golden coins one at a time by mouth, eventually making it to forty as she closed and replaced the bag.

“One, two, three,” Pinkie counted out loud. After getting to “seven” she just became impatient and swiped a foreleg over the counter, spilling the bits into a bag. “Forty. Good enough, I trust you, Applejack!”

Applejack chuckled. “Fair enough. What time ya’ll close, then?”

“Well, now, probably around seven!” Pinkie ducked under the counter, biting onto a key held on a hook, lifting it up and dropping it on the countertop. “Here’s the key! You’ll need it to get in - but the whoooooole place is yours after that! Even the Cakes are out of town, visiting relatives! Okay?”

“Got it!” Applejack latched onto the key with her own mouth, turning around to drop it in her bags along with the few remaining dresses. “Thanks a lot, Pinkie! Sure means a lot to me. Have a good rest of your day!” Applejack turned toward the door, headed out.

“Yeah, you too, AJ!” She tapped her chin with a hoof as Applejack exited. “Hm. I wonder who she’s having a party for... oh well, doesn’t matter. Hey, Fluttershy! Where’d you go?!”

) ( ) ( ) ( ) (

Applejack nosed open the door to Carousel Boutique, letting loose a heavy, but satisfied, sigh as she stepped inside. The bell above the door jingled as she entered. From the plies of neatly folded and wrapped packages stacked around, it looked like Rarity had made a huge dent in her backlog. That wasn’t all Rarity had made a dent in, either - Applejack caught Rarity with her snout in one of the saddlebags she’d left here just out of the corner of her eye, which the unicorn quickly corrected by pulling her nose out, an apple clamped between her jaws.

Rarity glanced between the apple and the saddlebag on the floor, before gripping the fruit in a layer of magic and smiling. “Oh, hello, Applejack! I take it all your deliveries are finished, hm?” She paused, then added, “I hope you don’t mind, but I had a little snack while you were gone. After all, I assume the saddlebags crammed full of treats weren’t all for you...”

“Oh, naw, of course not!” Applejack snickered to herself as she dropped the empty delivery saddlebags to the ground, picking them up with her mouth and hanging them up in the appropriate spot. “Ah mean... if ya want everything in ‘em, it’s yers.”

The bags that Applejack had brought that morning had, as Rarity expected, been full of all manner of treats and desserts. Absolutely no expense was spared, it seems, as there was a little bit of everything in the bags before Rarity decided to start in on it. Cupcakes, fritters, pound cake, tarts, even a few plain apples - as was usual for the Apple family, it was all apple flavored, with a few spatterings of cinnamon and vanilla flavored items.

All that remained now were the apples.

“So! Anyway, I was thinking while you were gone,” Rarity said, turning around and trotting back towards the store’s counter. Applejack’s eyes were latched onto her friend’s engorged middle, swaying much lower than it was when she left. Snacking the entire day had left quite an outward dent on the unicorn’s belly, and Applejack couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret at missing what she was sure was an astounding show of gluttony. After all, those were no small saddlebags. “I had an idea for a location for our date.”

“Yeah,” Applejack answered, but it wasn’t really an answer; she was far too distracted to really mull over a true response. Her eyes remained latched on her friend’s body - that low, swaying belly that rounded out between her back legs. Rarity threw her hips side to side as she walked, teasing her earth pony friend with an agonizingly attractive display. Applejack knew she was being taunted... and she loved it.

“It’s a fairly new place that just opened up very recently, and I wanted to go see what all the rage was about. Everyone is raving about it, you know,” Rarity said, her slow canter finally ending with her behind the front desk of the boutique, breaking Applejack’s line of sight on her rear end. “Would you like to go?”

Applejack’s eyes snapped up to Rarity’s face as soon as her body was out of sight. She’d stopped to find Rarity simply staring at her, head slightly tilted as she waited for an answer, but the question had completely evaded the distracted pony. “Uh... sure!” She replied.

“Great!” Rarity grinned wide, which let Applejack start breathing again, suddenly realizing she was holding her breath in hopes that she wasn’t going to offend her by giving a wrong answer. “That’s... great! Oh, I’ve been so looking forward to this... I haven’t been on a nice date at a fancy restaurant in... MONTHS!” Rarity let out a small squeal as she turned around, purple curls bobbing in the air as she did.

“F...fancy restaurant?” Applejack asked. She already didn’t like the sounds of this, silently kicking herself for being so easily manipulated into distraction to the point of completely forgetting to even mention her reservation at Sugarcube Corner.

“Of course, a fancy restaurant! Oh, I’ve heard just the most amazing things about their Fillydelphian cuisine, Applejack... I think you’re going to love it just as much as I do,” Rarity said, trotting side to side as she urged dress supplies into their respective storage containers with magic.

“Jus’ how fancy are we talkin’?” Applejack inquired, images of her spending the next hour with makeup pads being slapped against her cheeks and hair curlers being lodged into her mane rushing through her mind’s eye.

“Exactly as fancy as you’re hoping it isn’t,” Rarity said with a big smile. “But, come on. It’ll be fun. Us two, all dressed up, looking just fabulous. Out on the town, the two best looking in the room... Trust me on this one, Applejack.” She paused for a moment, gauging Applejack’s reaction. Just as she began to speak, Rarity started again. “And besides. I’ve spent the past two days eating your favorite things. I think one evening we go somewhere I like is more than a fair trade.”

Applejack couldn’t argue with Rarity’s logic - and her comments about them both being the best looking in the room were fairly flattering. Perhaps one night, dressing up wouldn’t be so bad. “Oh... all right.”

“Yes!” Rarity squealed out of pure delight again, front hooves clipping against the ground in an excited trot. “This is going to be an absolute blast!”

Chapter 4

“Aw, now, Rares, this just ain’t right,” Applejack said, using a hoof to poke at the curler wrapped in her mane. Several of them littered her head, and Rarity was currently busy magicking a large number of them into Applejack’s tail, as well. She didn’t protest at first - she hadn’t complained at anything Rarity had done to “make her fabulous,” as Rarity put it, but now that she saw herself in the mirror... the line had to be drawn somewhere.

“But, darling,” Rarity cooed, her focus still entirely on her date’s tail. “You simply cannot just trot around town with your beautiful mane tied up into a messy ponytail like you always do.” She gave a tug on one of the curlers wrapped in Applejack’s tail, causing her to wince slightly at the pain. “You have a wonderful mane and tail. I can’t do blonde. You can. You should be proud of it.”

“Yeah, but... curlers? Rarity, that just ain’t me.” Applejack interfered for the first time, looping a hoof around one of the curlers in her mane before unraveling it, her mane flopping in a loose strand at the side of her head. “Ah let ya polish my hooves. Ah let ya brush my coat. Ah let ya ‘plump my eyelashes’ - Ah don’ even know what that means - an’ Ah let ya comb my mane... But curlin’? Naw. Ah’m willin’ ta keep it down, though.”

Rarity gave a tiny little grumble - but Applejack did have a point. She’d conceded many times during her impromptu makeover, and it was only fair if she allowed her date to have some control over her looks. All of the hair curlers were gripped in a magical glow at the same time, slowly and delicately unrolling themselves before being deposited in their storage container. “Fine, fine, no mane or tail curling.” A comb was instead clutched in Rarity’s magical aura, which began to stroke Applejack’s mane, brushing out the minor curls that were imprinted in the strands.

Rarity took a step back and admired her work - she’d truly gone all out on Applejack. Every individual strand of mane, tail and coat was brushed into a perfect place, golden locks of mane splayed across her head, around her ears and down her neck, hanging down in perfectly straight lines and soft to the touch. Her hooves shined, the lights in the boutique gleaming off the rounded ends. The air was thick with the scents of many perfumes, each one having been spritzed in front of Applejack’s nose for a test sniff before they settled on one: naturally, it was a blend of vanilla and apple scents that finally won her over.

The only thing that was missing was the dress, and Rarity had just the thing.

“Huh.” Applejack stood still in front of the mirror, regarding herself with a turn of her head as she stared at the reflection. Her flowing mane bobbed slightly with the movement. Applejack moved a hoof to stroke along a lock. “Ah gotta admit, Rares, Ah am kinda likin’ this look. A shame it’d get too much in the way on the farm.”

“A shame indeed,” Rarity responded, a touch of genuine disappointment in her voice. “Now, then. While you were gone making deliveries, I made a few adjustments to your bridesmare’s dress, if that’s all right with you.”

“‘Course it is. Yer the tailor, not me. Ah ain’t gonna complain.”

“Well, alright. Because I know that you are going to appreciate the changes, if not love them.” With a soft glow from her horn, the dress used those months ago at the royal wedding lifted off of the mannequin it was settled on, floating it’s way over toward the pair. It hung in the air between the two, and Applejack fixed it with a confused glance.

“...Ah can tell it’s different, but I cain’t tell exactly how,” Applejack said, checking again as she looked over it.

“Oh, it’s all fairly subtle. A change in line here, a little embellishment there,” Rarity explained, floating it back behind Applejack’s head and unfastening its buttons and buckles with telekenisis, preparing to slip it over Applejack’s body. “For the most part, the dress itself is the same. I tweaked the collar, adding a few extra gathers of fabric over the chest for a more daring d’ecolletage, and that pale blue lace just had to go! It clashed horribly with the rest of it … that is, once I removed the biggest faux pas.”

Applejack eyed Rarity curiously. “What else did ya go an’ remove? Ah thought it was fine.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t noticed! The wreath is gone, darling. It was fine for the wedding, when we were all wearing them, but hardly appropriate dinner wear! I know how much you love your hat, so you can keep it on, now. I hope you didn’t think I was going to drag you all over Ponyville wearing that silly wreath!”

“Aw, I didn’t think it was that silly.” A forced grin spread across Applejack’s face, and a bead of sweat appeared on her brow.

Rarity huffed and dabbed at Applejack’s nose with a hoof as the dress lowered itself down onto Applejack’s back. The fabric wrapped around as it was buckled into place, broad silken ribbons sliding under and across the mare’s barrel to keep the breezy, multi-layered skirts in place. “Hush, you. I know you hated it. It wasn’t your hat, so there’s no way you liked it. ...And it isn’t like I didn’t see you sneak it on during the ceremony, you know.”

Applejack blushed. She was convinced Rarity hadn’t noticed her slip it on during the ceremony. “...Ya noticed that, huh?”

“Darling, I was standing directly next to you at the ceremony, you realise.” Rarity chuckled as she stepped around to Applejack’s back, eyes darting up and down the dress. Occasionally, a piece of the fabric would be consumed in a magical glow and tugged, shifting the dress slightly. “I couldn’t help but notice it. It’s quite large, you know.”

“‘Tain’t that big,” Applejack muttered.

“Oh, it is. But that’s all right, it has … ‘character.’” Rarity trotted over to the rack near the door to retrieve the hat in question, then stopped, and blinked. This wasn’t the familiar, battered leather work hat that was as much a part of Applejack’s head as her mane was. It was the same cut and color, but it was a velvety suede, chased with intricate, embossed designs that centered around a pair of bright red apples on the upturned brim.

“Why … this is the hat I made for you last year for the Gala!”

Applejack grinned. “It sure is. I swung by Sweet Apple Acres while I was out makin’ deliveries an’ swapped it out. I didn’t expect you to spring this fancy dress-up on me, but by golly, if I was gonna take you out on a date, I was gonna wear my best hat.”

“That … that is so sweet,” Rarity stammered, sincerely touched. She levitated the hat from its hook, and set it down at a jaunty angle on Applejack’s carefully-combed coiffure. She took a trot in a circle around Applejack, clicking her tongue. “Aha! I know just the thing that will pull this all together.”

The unicorn nosed open a large wooden case next to her workbench, and the sky-blue glow of her magic gently enveloped a necklace of gold filigree, set with an apple-shaped ruby in the center. “Ah, here we go. Just the thing!”

Applejack gaped as it settled around her neck. “Buckin’ hay, Rarity! Where did you lay hooves on my Element of Harmony?”

Rarity giggled. “It’s costume jewelry, darling! I’ve had my favorite jeweler crafting the full set for months now. I keep him well-stocked with gems, and he does a few pieces for me now and then in return. The originals are such lovely pieces; it’s a tragedy to keep them locked in a vault until disaster strikes.” She winked. “Besides, we’re three for three on not getting to them when we needed them the most; having a set of decoys around might give us an edge the next time.”

Applejack laughed. “Dang, girl, you got a sneaky streak!”

Rarity grinned. “One does one’s best.” How odd -- and flattering -- to hear Applejack, of all ponies, make that sound like a compliment!

She gave her date one final assessment. Alas, even with the apple necklace anchoring it, that hat still didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the ensemble … but without it, she just didn’t look like herself. And besides … to hear Applejack describe the chapeau that Rarity herself had designed as her “best” hat … the unicorn was not going to say a word against it now.

“All right. Well, you’re ready to go. Let me just get my dress over here, now,” Rarity said, her horn glowing as an ensemble on a mannequin of its own took off, floating along until it rested in the air directly above her flanks.

“That ain’t yer bridesmare dress,” Applejack observed, obvious as ever.

“No, darling, that seems to have shrunk in the wash,” Rarity teased. “I don’t know what could have happened to it. This was one of my commissions … or it was, anyway. It was intended for a Canterlot matron of some … substance, but her measurements kept changing, and I had to keep letting it out, until finally … there wasn’t any fabric left to let out, and I had to start over from scratch. Her loss is my gain, though.” She smiled impishly. “ … Or perhaps I should say, her gain is my gain? I tried it on this morning, and it fits perfectly.”

Once the lace trim had been discarded (really, what had she been thinking?), Applejack’s dress had the clean, crisp lines of a classical statue. Rarity’s was the polar opposite, full of lacy designs and flouncy fabrics that both downplayed and flattered the lushness of her new physique, and tastefully adorned with the glittering gems that were her trademark. Where Applejack’s dress was open and airy, mostly skirt, Rarity’s had a full blouse and bodice; instead of the simple belt of the bridesmaid outfits, the skirt attached to the bodice with a clever arrangement of hooks and eyes. For a mare of fuller figure, a single strap might dig uncomfortably into her tender belly; the bodice clevery distributed the support around the whole of the barrel and belly, evening out the stresses.

The ensemble separated into three pieces: blouse, bodice, and skirt, each suspended in the sky-blue radiance of the unicorn’s magic. Rarity sat up on her haunches and let the blouse slip over her head, wriggling her forelegs into the sleeves. She dropped back to all fours, letting the bodice settle across her back. It fastened together with a double row of gemstone buttons, each the shape and hue of the sapphires in her cutie mark; with one side already neatly secured, the other, caught again in the magical glow, wrapped around her barrel ...

… and stopped short.

Rarity quickly realised she was in a bit of a bind - literally. Her eyes cracked open as she shot a look behind her, checking to make sure that nothing was caught, that the fabric hadn’t creased or twisted somehow … but no. Everything was in order, everything was perfectly aligned.

It fit perfectly this morning … but that was two large saddlebags of pastries ago.

A blush washed over her cheeks as she tried once more to wrap the bodice around her bulging barrel - it wasn’t going to go, not without some help. Her magic strained itself to try and pull the fabric around her soft belly, and, just as she was about to pull a magic muscle, she finally felt the first button slip into its loop, followed by another, and then another.

Rarity let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding. Her belly sagged lower at the release of air, causing the seams to creak dangerously. She’d squeezed into the bodice, all right, but she felt like ten pounds of marshmallow stuffed into a five-pound bag.

With a short pant - the magic used to clench the belt shut was no small amount - she turned her attention to the skirt still waiting patiently above her. Perhaps it had dropped a few inches while her concentration was elsewhere, but no matter. It floated southbound until she felt the bustle seat itself, the waves of lacy fabric flowing over the ample curves of her flanks and rump. With the bodice secure (for certain values of “secure”), the skirt required only a few extra tugs to fasten it into place.

She turned around, finally dressed, to find Applejack nearly eating her bottom lip. The voyeuristic mare was caught, red hoofed, staring intently at Rarity’s swaying middle as it was crammed into the dress. Her back legs were edging closer together, tail just barely swaying to the side.

Applejack turned redder than her namesake as their eyes locked, averting her gaze and suddenly finding whatever bits of fabric littered the floor to be the most fascinating thing in the room.

“Oh, darling,” Rarity said, disguising her own embarrassment behind a facade of deliberate coyness. “I didn’t quite mean to give you a show like that... not that you should have been staring at a lady getting dressed, anyway!”

“Ah wasn’t starin’!” Applejack shouted, still staring at the floor between her hooves. She glanced up and cleared her throat. She paused and tacked on, “really!”

“Of course you weren’t.” Rarity patted Applejack’s hat as she walked past her, trotting towards the door. “Well, if you’re done studying the floorboards, darling, we’ve got a date to go on. Are you ready?”

Applejack’s mood brightened at the change of subject, trotting over to Rarity’s side. “Yeah! Of course. Let’s get goin’, then.”

“One more thing,” Rarity said as her horn lit up, levitating a small box from one of the tables near the door. She flipped the lid open telekinetically, pulling out a small tube of bright, candy apple red lipstick and a powder puff, already covered in a payload of gray-pink blush - both of which were making a straight line for Applejack’s face.

Applejack cocked her head to the side and fixed a stare onto Rarity. She got the hint, and with a huff and a flip of her mane, the make-up found its rightful place back in the box. “Well, can’t blame a mare for trying. Off we go!”

) ( ) ( ) (

Applejack’s eyes dragged along the menu in front of her, awkwardly gripped between her two forelegs as she tried to read it. Every few moments, she would pick up a word that she was familiar with - sandwich she knew, and she also recognized soup. Most everything else was baffling to the farm pony. She was almost certain that most of the menu was in a different language.

The entire dining room had Applejack on edge - she couldn’t help but think she didn’t belong as she looked around. This was truly the height of fine dining in Ponyville, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that it just wasn’t the place for a farmpony. The tables had lace running along the ends of the cloths, there were shined, crystal plates set on the tables prior to arrival, gaudy chandileers studded with expensive jewels covered the ceiling... and if the scenery wasn’t enough, there were utensils laid out for each of them. Applejack sighed.

The rest of the clientele was likewise just as bothersome. The majority of those in the room were unicorns, and unquestionably high class. There wasn't a pony in the room who wasn't dressed just as exquisitely as they were. A few pegasai were scattered around the room, using their wings as another vessel for gaudy jewelry and clothing lace; they even sat on seats made of clouds. And as Applejack had expected, there was only one earth pony - her.

"...Rares,” Applejack said, finally growing frustrated with the menu. “Ah don't speak fancy. What's a horse devours?"

"Hors dourves, darling. Not 'horse devours'. That was me at dinner last night. Just pick anything, I'm sure it's fine,” Rarity said, her own menu daintily gripped in a light magic field. Applejack attempted to turn a page on the menu, only to drop it and have it shut closed in front of her. It wasn’t very often that she was jealous of a unicorn’s magic, but this was one of those times.

“...Ah’ll jus’ get whatever you get, Rarity,” Applejack said, pushing the menu towards the end of the table.

“Oh, now, where’s the fun in that?” Rarity asked, dipping the menu slightly so she’s able to look over it. “If you do that, we can’t try each other’s entree!”

“...Ya’ll jus’ wanna eat whatever Ah order, don’ ya?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow, returning her glance.

“Applejack!” Rarity feigned a gasp, holding a hoof to her chest. “How could you accuse a lady of such a thing! Even if it’s true. Which it is. Regardless!”

Applejack could only chuckle in response, giving a short shake of her head. "Ah ain't complanin'. Get what ya wan'."

Acknowledging their menus being dropped, the waiter returned, notepad and quill being held in the air with a faint orange glow. He addressed Rarity entirely, disregarding even the slightest glance at Applejack. "Ready to order, Madame?"

"I am, yes. I believe I will have the seared brussel sprout platter, with the pureed sweet potato side dish and a glass - no, make it a bottle - of your finest Marelot wine. Vintage, please. We'll say... 13 years, at least. Yes, that sounds delightful!" Rarity finally finished, clapping her hooves together in front of her on the table, plenty pleased with her order.

The waiter scribbled down each detail, horn glowing as he thrust the quill across the page. With a short nod, he turned his attention towards Applejack. Rarity's gaze followed, landing on her date who seemed to be almost sweating bullets at the prospect of ordering "fancy" food.

"Uh," Applejack said, stalling. Pleading eyes found their way towards Rarity, locking with hers.

"Darling," Rarity started, bailing Applejack out. "You seemed to enjoy the steamed hay cakes with the blueberry drizzle the last time we were out. Why not try the ones they have here?"

Applejack latched onto the verbal lifesaver she was thrown, turning her gaze back up to the waiter. "Yep! That sounds jus' wonderful. Ah'll have one'a them."

The waiter hastily scribbled down the order, and bowed his head. "Very well. I will return shortly with your meals and wine." Tucking the quill and notepad away in his apron, he trotted off.

"Thanks fer the save there, Rares," Applejack admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Think nothing of it, dear. You're out of your element here," Rarity said, gesturing around the room with a hoof, before pointing it at herself. "On the contrary, I'm absolutely in the center of mine. Think nothing of it. I want you to enjoy this date as much as I do, and flopping around on your order, well... that wouldn't be very enjoyable, I don't think."

"Not at all," Applejack agreed, eyes flicking down towards the table. "But... what's a 'hay cake', anyway?"

"Oh! It's... well, it's a little ball of hay," Rarity explains, making a ball shape out of the air in front of her with a hoof. "And they pop it in a steamer so it's nice and moist - ends up tasting more like pasta than anything - and they coat it in a simply divine syurp... it's kind of like maple syrup, but made with sugar and berries rather than tree sap, and... ooohhh." A shudder ran through Rarity, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

Applejack chuckled. "Relax, Rares. It's just fancy hay rolled up into a ball."

"But it isn't just hay, Applejack! Why, it's simply amazing the amount of effort the chef has to put into crafting them. I mean, you know how brittle hay is - you're around it constantly, you work on a farm. Now imagine trying to wrap it into a ball shape," Rarity said, pausing for effect. "Without breaking it into a useless mess."

"Ya know, Rares, Ah never would'a taken you fer such a chef," Applejack quipped, her chin finding its way to set between her forehooves as she stared at Rarity.

"Well, I'm not," Rarity admits. "I can cook enough to survive, but that's about it... even still, though, I know enough to get a little excited when I see something particularly exquisite. It's a very delicate process, hay balls. It's something I can appreciate, is all."

Applejack's eyes wandered lower on Rarity's body, though she couldn't see much thanks to the table. "Ah can tell. Ya seem to 'appreciate' food pr- mmf!" One of the daisies used as a centerpiece on the table stuffed itself into Applejack's mouth, the faint blue glow disappearing as it hit its mark.

"I meant the difficulty in the in the actual craft," Rarity said, voice level and nonchalant as if she wasn't the one responsible for the flower in her date's face. "Not the flavor. ...Though, let's not lie, I also adore the taste."

Applejack chewed and swallowed - though it was just for decoration, it was as tasty a daisy as she'd ever had. Were it a more casual restaurant, she might have just eaten the rest out of the vase and disregarded her meal. "Ya'll know I'm jus' teasin', anyway."

"But of course! I know you didn't mean it like that," Rarity said. "...But still."

Applejack opened her mouth to question that, only to be distracted by the food being delivered to their table. The waiter was an impressive showman, able to loft both plates, along with the wine bottle and glasses, all together, floating them through the dining room. Their entrees found themselves placed in front of their respective mare, the wine glasses being placed at either end and the bottle of Marelot placed in the center.

Rarity’s expression was one of pure glee as she spotted the stallion with their meals before he ever reached the table, an excited click of her hooves as a reaction. The delight on her face fell off faster than Berry Punch falling off the wagon, Applejack noticed, as soon as the plate was placed in front of her. It couldn’t have been the aroma - it was delicious, even she could tell that from the other side of the table. The buttery scent of the pan-fried greens was easily identified, just barely browned around the edges. Likewise, the sweet potato bowl to the side of the leafy entree looked downright amazing - just the right shade of orange and exactly the precise texture.

"Can I get either of you anything else?" The waiter asked, glancing between the two.

Applejack shook her head. Rarity opened her mouth as if to say something, but then shut it as she decided not to. "Quite fine, thank you."

With a nod, the waiter trotted off towards another table. Applejack tiled her head as she looked over across the table at Rarity. "All right, somethin's buggin' ya. What's goin' on? Yer normally chompin' at the bit ta dig in when ya got food in front of ya."

"Oh. It's... nothing." Rarity forced a smile as she tore her glare away from the plate in front of her, glancing back up at Applejack. “Really.”

“Ain’t nothin’,” Applejack said, turning to fidget with a fork as she attempted to grab it between her two hooves. That wasn’t going well, and she wasn’t quite sure how to even use a fork to not only pick up, but eat food.

“It’s a non-issue.” Rarity levitated the wine bottle off of the table. With it having already been uncorked by the waiter, she filled both glasses with the fine dinner wine, setting the bottle back on the table.

“If it’s botherin’ ya, it ain’t a non-issue.” Applejack’s hooves slipped with the handle of the fork between them, the metal utensil clattering against her plate. She swiped a foreleg out to try and catch it, only to knock it off the table completely, the fork landing and clanking against the wooden floor uselessly. Applejack snorted, glaring at it as it lay on the floor.

Rarity huffed. After a moment of trying to justify an argument, she came to the conclusion that she really couldn’t put up a defense against her point. “Fine. It’s just that... I expected it to be... more, is all.”

“More what?” Applejack glanced at the knife, as if she were going to attempt to use that, instead. She decided against it. The fork ended up poorly enough, she didn’t need a repeat performance with something she could injure herself with.

“...More,” Rarity said, emphasizing. “More in general. I’ve grown a bit accustomed to the dinners at the boutique and, well, your place.” Rarity pouted slightly, levitating the fork as it sliced one of the sprouts in half with its edge before leading it into her mouth. She chewed. “I mean, it’s good. It’s really good. There’s just not a whole lot of it.”

“Well, you could always get more! Ah’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting ya seconds, or even dessert.” Applejack leaned into her plate, finally giving up on her ability to use a utensil. She nudged one of two hayballs closer, rolling it across the plate and through the blueberry syrup, coating the fried nugget of hay in the dark blue topping. She bit into it, crunching it in half and rolled it across her tongue before chewing on it. “...Damn, this is pretty good,” she admitted, mouth still full.

Rarity shook her head, forking the other half of the sprout into her mouth. On the other hoof, she made sure to not speak with her mouth otherwise occupied. “Please, Applejack. With portions this size I’d have to mortgage the boutique before I ordered enough to be full.”

Applejack chortled, catching herself mid-bite with another hayball in her mouth. “You ain’t kiddin’.”

Rarity’s spoon floated through the air, landing in the depths of the orange mashed potatoes. It was almost as if it were a foals size bowl, which Rarity simply couldn’t grasp the concept of - as gourmet as they were, it was still just mashed potatoes. Perhaps prepared by a master chef, but when it came down to it, it was a bowl of potatoes. It was nearly criminal how small it was.

The spoon took out nearly a quarter of the bowl in one swoop. Granted, it was a heaping spoonful, which caused Rarity’s cheeks to bulge as she ate it, but the issue was still the same.

“Welp, Ah’m done.” Rarity glanced across the table to spot Applejack’s plate completely void of food - not even a drop of syrup remained. Rarity silently kicked herself for not spotting Applejack licking her plate and chiding her to stop, and secretly hoped that nopony else had noticed, either.

Rarity’s fork jabbed for another brussel sprout, only to clink against the plate. There weren’t any left, her plate as barren as Applejack’s, and it took only a matter of seconds for the minute potato bowl to be emptied.

Rarity took a heaving breath in, forcing it out all at once. Dejected, she hung her head forward.

“...Maybe dessert’ll fill ya up,” Applejack said, quick to cheer Rarity up.

Rarity’s expression remained unchanged. Her lonely spoon clinked against the empty potato bowl again, as if there would suddenly be some that she missed - there wasn’t. “And do you actually think the desserts will be any larger than what we just had? Because I don’t.”

Applejack cringed slightly at the point. She couldn’t argue with her logic, there wasn’t a reason in Equestria to expect the desserts to be any better proportioned, or any lower in price. It would be quite the bill for them to pack Rarity with desserts here.

The key in Applejack’s saddlebag felt a bit heavier as she recalled exactly where it was seated in her pockets. A sly grin spread across her face as she glanced up at Rarity, her lips stuck out in a heavy pout as she stared, depressed, at her empty dish. “...Ah got an idea. Why don’ we just stop by Sugarcube Corner?”

Rarity gave an annoyed huff, eyes slightly narrowed as she jerked her gaze up to Rarity. “This time of night? They’re closed, Applejack! They couldn’t possibly be open right now.”

Applejack’s grin only grew wider and wider as she shook her head, braids bobbing in the air as she turned around and tugged at the buckle on her saddlebag with her teeth, opening it up. She dug her snout into it, teeth biting down on a small golden key with a pink cupcake charm, pulling it out of the bag as she set it on the table between them. “They don’t gotta be open. Ah made arrangements.”

Applejack had never seen Rarity throw bits at a waiter, but there was always a first time for everything.

) ( ) ( ) (

“Applejack, just give it to me,” Rarity said, not-so patiently waiting for the door to Sugarcube Corner to be unlocked.

Applejack fumbled around with the key, standing upright on her hind legs as she attempted to hold the key between her hooves, insert it into the lock, and turn it. She was no acrobat, however, and so standing up caused her to sway heavily to each side, more than once having to be propped up by Rarity standing at her side and allowing her flank to be used as a crutch.

“Hmph. Fine.” Applejack admitted defeat, retreating to four hooves. The key dangled uselessly around her ankle as she held her foreleg out to Rarity.

In a matter of seconds, the door was open once the one with magic was allowed to take a shot at it, the door opening up into the dark, closed bakery. The warm, inviting scent of fresh baked goods was overwhelming - and though the entire area around the building smelled the same, the inside was an entirely new level of delightful.

Standing in the doorway as the sweet, sugary and sometimes even spicy scents of the bakery flooded her nose, Applejack’s own stomach growled despite her recent dinner - and suddenly, she had a newfound respect for Pinkie’s self control.

“Well... this is gonna be somethin’, ain’t it, Rares?” Applejack looked over to her side for Rarity’s response, only to find her date gone, already disappearing into the bakery’s dark depths. “W- hey! Wait up!”

“You cannot possibly expect me to be patient when you bring me here for a date, can you?” Rarity giggled from inside, the empty bakery now populated by both of them. Applejack fumbled around for the light switch from inside, flicking on the lights to illuminate the path towards the “party room,” finding the door on the other side of the bakery.

Applejack looped an foreleg around Rarity’s withers, tugging her away from a cake on the counter she’d nearly taken a bite out of, stopping her just short of an incredibly sugary mouthful. Rarity whined, scrabbling her hooves against the floor to pull herself closer to it, but Applejack’s leg won that fight. “Hold yer horses, Rarity! Ain’t ours, gotta head to the room Ah actually rented.”

“Tease,” Rarity quipped, finally relenting and turning her attention away from the first sugary treat her eyes laid on. “Where’s my dessert, then?”

“Yers? Ah’m pretty sure it’s mine an’ I’m jus’ lettin’ ya eat it.” Applejack tossed a quick wink towards Rarity, unwrapping her foreleg from around Rarity’s back before nudging her with a flank towards the door near the back of the bakery. Applejack’s heart fluttered slightly as she felt Rarity’s flank give in, squishing slightly as they touched. “Back that’a way.”

Applejack’s sentence didn’t even end before the door was gripped in a magical glow, swinging open fast enough to make the doorway creak as it strained to keep itself attached to its hinges. “Come on, Applejack,” Rarity said, already trotting towards the now open door. “It’s uncouth to keep your date waiting.”

“Yeah... alrigh’, Ah’m comin’,” Applejack said, allowing Rarity to lead the way for entirely selfish reasons - Rarity’s dress left a lot to the imagination, but the view was still enough to bother with. “...Ya’ll go on in.”

Far too distracted, Applejack hadn’t noticed Rarity stopping halfway through the door, her nose bumping against Rarity’s rump before she could stop herself. She shook her head, tendrils of blonde mane whipping around, before she turned her head to get a look at what had caused Rarity to freeze in place.

The look on Rarity’s face was absolutely unmistakable: pure, unadulterated gluttonous glee was plastered across her perfectly styled features, the biggest grin Applejack had seen on a unicorn attached to her mouth.

It was easy to see why when she peeked ahead into the room - a full dessert banquet was sitting out for them on the table. Applejack quickly realised she was at ‘fault’ for this though she was sure neither pony present would complain; Pinkie’s invading questions earlier in the day hadn’t been because she wanted to invite herself, it was so she could plan on how much to bake. A party full of ponies would need much more snacks and desserts than just two mares on a date... or so was Pinkie’s thought process.

Applejack had an inkling otherwise.

The long table had six seats, three on each side, though Applejack knew only two would be getting used. Even still, desserts enough to fill six and then some were waiting. A chocolate fountain, including little bits of snacks speared on toothpicks for dipping, several varieties of pies and cakes, a large bowl of yellow pudding and even a few more ‘exotic’ things: a tray of semlor and a long swiss roll adorned either end of the table... though the fountain was the most attention-getting of all that was there.

Rarity’s eyes locked onto the chocolate fountain immediately as soon as her eyes scanned over it. As if her hooves took on a life of her own, the gluttonous unicorn was walking towards it with a hungry look in her eyes. Applejack was right behind her.

Before she even reached a seat, an assortment of treats-on-sticks were in the air, a blue glow surrounding each one. Marshmallows, strawberries and even graham crackers were all on the menu, each one finding themselves submerged completely in the liquid chocolate. “So this... this is all ours?” Rarity asked, plopping her rear down on one of the plush cushions running along the table, the cocoa covered strawberry floating to her mouth and being picked off of the small wooden stick.

“That’s right,” Applejack said, finding her seat next to Rarity almost immediately.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier, darling?” The marshmallow was magically squished against the chocolate coated graham cracker, forming an impromptu s’more which was funneled into Rarity’s mouth. “Honestly,” she said after chewing and swallowing, “I wouldn’t have wasted our time at the fancier place.”

“Ah wanted ya’ll ta like the date as much as Ah did, ‘s all.” Applejack gave a small shrug, leaning over to the side against Rarity as more of the treats were coated in liquid dessert and funneled into her mouth. A small moan escaped Rarity with each snack - the strawberries in particular forcing the biggest result. Seems she’d found a favorite already. “Ah mean, Ah had Sugarcube Corner rented out before ya mentioned goin’ out somewhere all special... but Ah reckoned tha fancy place was more yer style... so Ah just kinda kept quiet.”

“More my style?” Rarity gave a hearty laugh, pausing her consumption for just a moment as she turned to plant a kiss on Applejack’s nose. Almost immediately, Applejack’s eyes crossed to glance at the spot on her snout she was just kissed, a blush flushing across her cheeks as she spotted the kiss-shaped chocolate stain on her face. “That’s adorable, darling. You don’t think that having a nice, quiet evening alone in a bakery would have been more fun?”

“W-well,” Applejack stuttered out, tongue lashing out to run across her nose. “Ah wanted ta go to the bakery, but it’s yer date as much as it is mine, so...”

“Fair enough,” Rarity agreed, three of the toothpick speared strawberries floating and submerging into the chocolate at the same time, the fruit having caught her attention in particular. “Perhaps it is a good thing dinner ended the way it did. Had we left there satisfied, we might not have ever arrived here, hm?” Rarity licked her lips clean of chocolate before becoming coated in it again as she tugged the strawberries off of the sticks, discarding the wooden picks to the side.

“That’s a good way of lookin’ at it,” Applejack agreed, nodding her head towards one of the floating desserts. “Lemme snag one of those.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity did as she was asked and launched one of the glowing treats towards Applejack, who snapped it out of the air by her teeth, careful to avoid sucking down the stick as well. “I don’t have to worry about you trying to eat the rest of my desserts, do I?”

“Yer desserts? Huh... interestin’ thing ta call a table full of food that Ah bought.” Realising that the fountain’s dipping treats were rapidly dwindling, she reached out with a hoof to drag a different dessert closer.

“Pft. If you want, you can have them all and I won’t eat a single one of them - after all, they’re apparently all yours, hmm?” As the last strawberry disappeared down her throat, Rarity stuck out her lower lip and hung her head slightly, despite the menagerie of desserts in front of her.

“...Now, hold on, let’s not get too hasty, here,” Applejack said, playing into her teasing. “Ah didn’t say nothin’ about ya’ll not bein’ allowed ta eat it. ‘Cause, Ah mean... there’s shore a lot here an’ Ah’m still pretty full from dinner.” She slid the pie off of the table and onto a hoof, holding it out towards Rarity.

“Really?” Rarity said, genuinely surprised. “You are? Something tells me that’s only a half truth... but I won’t complain.” Rarity levitated a pair of forks from the table, sinking them both into the pie that Applejack held. “More for me. You may have been satisfied by that meager showing at the diner - but me, oh no.”

“Exactly.” Applejack kept the treat held on one of her hooves, careful to balance it so the forks could scoop out pieces without it falling as her other hoof grabbed a pie farther down the line.

A sort of assembly line formed in their mechanical movements - though it was truly more of a disassembly line with Rarity at the end of it. Each time a treat was nearing its end, Applejack switched to one hoof and leaned across the table, sliding a dessert across the flat surface, tossed the empty container, and replaced it with something new. The two were silent, other than the pie tins scraping across the table, a few delighted giggles from Rarity and a muffled little moan from Applejack. Her actions spoke much louder than her words, the poor earth pony squirming hard as she simply locked her eyes on her marefriend’s binging.

Applejack shot a voyeuristic glance down at Rarity’s abdomen, biting her lip as her eyes took in the scene before her. The bodice that Rarity had re-fashioned for herself was snug to begin with, hugging her newfound curves rather closely, but her recent spoils had forced them to a new extreme - the buttons were pulled tight as they could ever be, to the point that little gaps of white belly were visible between the growing holes. There was soon to be a wardrobe malfunction, and Applejack couldn’t be happier.

Grabbing for another pie, Applejack realised that her supply had run dry. The six pies that had been served up were all gone, confirmed by a quick mental count of the empty tins at her side. With a silent gulp, she launched out a hoof to drag one of the multi-slice single layer cakes closer, depositing a particularly chocolatey cake into her hoof, offering it up to Rarity.

“My, you’re rather enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rarity teased as she floated a fork into the cake, a tendril of gooey fudge following for a few inches, breaking off just before Rarity’s mouth. “I haven’t seen you this excited for... a while, Applejack.”

“Maybe a little,” Applejack lied, not bothering to make eye contact with Rarity before she answered.

It only took a few more forkfuls for the show to begin - despite all the effort and struggle it took to get the buttons latched together, they came apart far easier. The button around the widest part of Rarity’s stomach was the first to fly off, pinging against the wooden floor and off somewhere under the table that neither would ever find again. Applejack nearly dropped the cake, much to Rarity’s dismay, but she quickly regained her composure even though she nearly drew blood with how hard she had to bite on her own face to keep from losing control.

“Well, I didn’t think that was going to last very long,” Rarity admitted, a twinge of red flushing over her cheeks as she reached down with a hoof to dab at the now exposed patch of belly flesh.

“T-the buttons?” Applejack glanced up at Rarity for just a moment, before her eyes darted right back to the revealed skin, the sight just too much for her to ignore.

“Of course. I mean, they were hard enough to get on,” Rarity reminds her, grinning wickedly as she slowly raises up another bite of cake to her mouth, tounge wrapping around the prongs of the fork as she sucked in the treat as seductively as possible.

By the time the large cake was devoured completely, three of the four buttons had been demolished, a much wider patch of white coat now visible between the parted edges of the fabric. Applejack’s rear legs had subconsciously wrapped themselves around the pillow beneath her, the excitement of the scene in front of her nearly too much for her to handle without reaching below with her spare hoof.

Rarity squirmed in place, eyes drifting over all that remained on the table before she glanced back at Applejack. “...I think I’m going to need a bigger hoof here, Applejack.”

Applejack blinked, tilting her head. She managed to tear her gaze away from Rarity’s gut long enough to answer. “How so?”

“Well, you seem to have no qualms with feeding me,” Rarity says, tossing a wink in Applejack’s direction, who only gave a little squirm in response. “Why don’t we make that a little bit easier for us both?”

Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but Rarity was already in motion. Admittedly, it was a slow motion - she wasn’t in any rush, careful to not knock her stomach the wrong way and end up with most of her dinner on the floor, but she slowly and surely maneuvered her girth to where she was able to flip herself onto her side and, with a quick nudge of a hoof against the table, onto her back.

Applejack looped her forelegs around Rarity’s, and with a grunt was able to pull her backwards. She was heavy, but not heavy enough to be stuck in place with some farmpony elbow grease. Applejack’s rear legs spread to accommodate the width of Rarity’s hips, the unicorn leaning back against Applejack’s belly and chest to remain cradled in her date’s embrace.

Applejack held herself sitting up, back straight, her head just above Rarity’s. She leaned in and nuzzled between her ears, a big smile playing across her face as she finally had her date right where she wanted, and still with so many treats to go as well. Applejack’s hoof drifted south, just barely brushing against Rarity’s exposed alabaster belly - as gentle a touch as Applejack could manage, careful not to jostle her full stomach too much at risk of making her nauseous.

“Well,” Rarity said, head tilting upwards as she leaned into the nuzzles being applied to her ears, one of the tips flicking out of subconscious delight. “This is new. Never took you for a cuddler, Applejack.”

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking her head as she brushed her nose against the base of Rarity’s horn. “Ah got a gentle side too. Ah never took you fer a pony who could take out this much of Sugarcube Corner, either.” Applejack reached out, stretching a foreleg across the table as far as she could to hook a hoof around the tray of semla, pulling it closer and trying her hardest to not move Rarity too much as she did. She slid the tray off of the table, placing it on one hoof which she held above Rarity’s head, her other foreleg scooping out one of the pastries and holding it in front of Rarity.

Without so much as a hint of argument, Rarity leaned forward and snapped the cream and pudding filled treat off of Applejack’s hoof, licking her lip to clear it of the powdered sugar and whipped cream that topped the dessert before the second was placed in front of her. “Fair enough,” Rarity admitted, leaning her head back to rest against Applejack’s chest and neck as she ate the second of the delicious foreign desserts. “And besides, there’s still so much left! I’ve made not even a dent yet. There’s still all the semlor, the swiss roll, the hoof-ful of cakes, the fountain... because trust me, darling, I am not leaving that melted chocolate here to just go to waste.”

“Semlor?” Applejack waited for her to finish her list before she interrupted, holding out a third of the small pastry. “That’s what these things are? Huh... never heard of ‘em.”

“No... no, darling,” Rarity chided, waving a hoof in the air as she snapped another semla off of her hoof. “Semlor is the plural. An individual one is a semla,” she said, placing emphasis on the foreign word.

“Whatever. Equestrian never was mah strong point in school,” Applejack admitted, scooping the last of the pastery out of the tray before tossing it aside to sit with the empty pie tins.

“Well, that’s not a very good excuse. Semla isn’t even an Equestrian word, you see - it’s actually... On second thought,” Rarity said, pausing for a moment. “I’m not in a place to lecture you on language.”

“Huh?” Applejack said, attention turning towards the back of Rarity’s head. She struggled to catch up to the conversation, having automatically tuned out and focused on a treat on the other side of the table once the lesson on non-Equestrian languages sparked. “...Right.” Applejack leaned into the table, pressing her side against it as she strained herself to reach for the white, chocolate flaked cake on the other side of the table. Her hoof scraped against the wooden surface, not yet hitting the cake’s edge.

Rarity’s horn glowed as she helped out without moving a muscle, the cake in question (along with the rest that were on the table) slid towards Applejack’s hoof, putting it just in reach of the magic-less pony, who happily scooped it up into her hoof and set it in front of Rarity. “...Thanks.”

“Oh, darling,” Rarity chirped, waving a hoof in the air. “Anytime.”

Applejack glanced side to side, attempting to devise a way for her to get the cake from the plate to Rarity’s mouth. She reached for the fork before deciding against that - she had no way to hold it with only one hoof, and even with two it was a challenge. The spoons and knives ran into the exact same issue, so she used the only tool she had available to her - her hoof.

“Don’t you even think about that,” Rarity yelped. Applejack almost made it, too - but she found her progress blocked by Rarity’s own foreleg. “I spent almost an hour working on your hooves. I am not having even one ruined by frosting.” Her nose lowering from its skyward-pointed direction, she turned to face the delightful treat in front of her. It was a level of delicate neither had seen from Pinkie before - the cake truly looked like it was made of clouds. White frosting covered its exterior, little flecks of curled white chocolate shavings coated nearly every inch of it, save for the fluffy, puffed frosting surrounding where the dessert met the plate.

It’s glorious visage was destroyed by Rarity’s mouth, however, much to Applejack’s surprise. She didn’t have much time to react at all before Rarity was nose deep into the cake’s inner workings, chomping pieces off left, right and center. She was stunned, truly, to see her fashionista friend digging in like an earth pony might - nose first, no utensils or magic.

“Don’t be so surprised, dear,” Rarity teased, a little giggle rising up out of her. Applejack hadn’t noticed how tense she had grown as Rarity devoured the cake literally out of her hoof - a passionate tension that was growing all the hotter as she lacked a way to stimulate herself into serenity with her date blocking her lower regions. She sincerely hoped that the dampness she could feel growing was simply a feeling and not a true representation. “I could levitate a fork, but then... you seem to be enjoying actually feeding me, aren’t you?”

Applejack let out a shuddering whine as she nodded, wrapping her spare foreleg around Rarity’s chest, hugging her against her firm belly and legs harder. Her rear legs curled defensively around Rarity’s barrel, fetlocks wrapping around the lower swell of Rarity’s stomach. “Ah have to admit that Ah am.”

“Good. I can tell.”

Applejack immediately flushed red, heat washing over her face and neck like she was submerged into a hot bath rather forcefully. There were several connotations that such few words could hold - and she could only hope it was the right one. “Heheh,” Applejack forced out. “Ah bet.”

Rarity dug her snout in for a second pass at the cake, snarfing down bite after bite and covering her nose and muzzle in more than a little bit of frosting. Each bite was met with a lick across her lips to clean her face of the dismembered dessert’s remains, before it was met with another smear across the freshly cleaned areas.

Applejack’s hooves grew farther apart as Rarity devoured the treat, each bite ending up in her rapidly swelling stomach. The buttons had long since disappeared, leaving her belly with all the room it could possibly take up - though Applejack noticed her legs made no dent in the usually soft flesh of Rarity’s gut. What was previously soft and pliable was now taut and firm, a testament to just how much she’d managed to pack away. Not a lot was still spread across the table, Rarity having eaten a true majority of the treats left, but even with all the encouragement she could muster Applejack had doubts about her ability to finish.

Rarity put up a good fight, though, plowing through the rest of the cautiously crafted cake. Her tongue lashed out to lick across the bottom of the tray, as well, an act of gluttony that carried the already off guard Applejack way into “shocked” territory.

“Y-ya’ll want another? There’s still a few more left,” Applejack said, hoof already reaching out towards the aforementioned treat to loop it in.

“No,” Rarity responded, shaking her head side to side before eventually dropping it against Applejack’s chest. Her rear legs pulled inward, soft thighs rubbing and curling around what she could of her overfed stomach. “I think... that’s quite enough.” She pressed a hoof against her mouth, stifling the rising burp before it embarrassed her by being any louder. “What about you, though?”

Applejack tilted her head to the side at the question, distracted enough to not notice the forkful of cake floating towards her. Still fully in control of her magic despite the hazy lull of overextended gluttony, she smeared a small dab of chocolate frosting across Applejack’s nose. She blinked just once before she leaned in and wiped it off on Rarity’s horn.

Applejack followed up with a lick to the spot she’d just dirtied with cake frosting - a lick that caused Rarity to jump a few inches into the air, shaking her head rapidly. “Oh, no,” Rarity demanded, head swinging side to side as she attempted to dodge any further licks to her horn. “Absolutely not. We are not doing that again.” Rarity struggled to flip herself over onto her side and roll away from Applejack, finding herself to be more like a turtle stuck on its back than a pony.

With a short nudge from her still curled leg, Applejack gave Rarity the helping hoof she needed to get her back onto her side and out of her grasp, only to find her jumping right back into it. Rarity’s forehooves clapped against the ground on either side of Applejack’s hips, her eyes staring straight up towards her own. A devious, almost dirty look played across those glassy, blue eyes as her head ducked just slightly lower. Her back legs were still pointed out to the side, belly too large for her to roll over onto it and lay flat. “But, you know... I could still go for dessert.”

“D-Dessert? Rares, ya just ate half’a Sugarcube Corner.” Applejack kept her eyes locked with Rarity’s - the innuendo had gone clear over her head, even as Rarity teased her with a lick across her lips, implying even further.

“I don’t mean cake, Applejack. I’ve eaten enough of that,” Rarity said, her back leg sliding over what it could reach of her distended stomach, intentionally dragging it slowly up and down for emphasis.

“Well, Ah mean... there’s still the fountain,” Applejack said, propping herself up with a hoof to point at what remained of the fountain. “Ah ain’t too sure what yer really gettin’ at h- oooooooooooohhh...”

The feeling of Rarity’s tongue on her most sensitive, underattended area instantly cut off her thoughts and destroyed any attempt to put together a sentence, stopping her mid-explanation. The shock of the absolute sudden and highly sexual action taken by Rarity was overwhelming, the surprise clearly played out across Applejack’s face with a contorted grin.

“Are you okay up there?” Rarity asked, pulling her mouth away for just a moment to glance up at Applejack, a grin of her stuck to her mouth. Her lips glistened in the light of the private room, shining bright as candles reflected.

“Y-yeah,” Applejack stuttered, just barely able to form the word before giving a quick nod and an insistent, slight roll of her hips. “Ah probably deserve it,” Applejack admitted, tossing her head back and allowing her braided mane to brush against the ground. “But don’t ya dare stop there, Rarity.”

“Oh, I had no intention of doing such a thing! I’m not cruel, Applejack.” Rarity lifted a hoof to brush aside the skirt Applejack was still wearing, but it was more for Applejack’s benefit than her own - at least now, the one on the receiving end had a little bit of a warning with her view unobstructed.

Applejack braced herself against the ground as she saw Rarity’s head duck lower, rear hooves digging into the floorboards hard to keep herself from kicking wildly. Rarity’s tongue made another pass, teasing her tounge over Applejack’s soft, but now quite firm teats, teasing at the little nubs of stiffened flesh.

A small, rolling bead of aroused moisture formed along Applejack’s eager slit, caught by Rarity’s snout before it made it too far. The sensation of her warm nose against her snatch was unbearable, her back legs twitching as she felt a shudder roll through her. The anticipation mounted, and she lost her ability to put together a coherant thought or action - Applejack settled for a moan and a roll of her hips, hiking her yearning mound towards Rarity’s muzzle as it passed by on it’s trip towards her nipple again.

Rarity dodged with a wicked grin, pulling her head back and evading the mare’s sex by a hair. She glanced up at Applejack’s red, blushing face, countering her lusty, eager gaze with a seductive one of her own. “Applejack! So impatient... there’s nothing wrong with a little foreplay, you know.”

“We’ve had foreplay!” Applejack shouted in response, cringing slightly as she realised how loud that accidently came out. She turned it back a notch, her forelegs slipping slightly as she allowed herself to lie back farther. “A-all’a that eatin’ was foreplay! An’ the diner, an’ the breakfast at the farm, an’... Ah dunno!”

“Mm. Well, I hadn’t considered that... In that case,” Rarity says, aiming her snout downward and locking onto her target. “I suppose you’ve been plenty patient.”

Rarity plunged herself into the flower before her, nose digging into the ready and waiting mound. It was, perhaps, a bit rougher than she had intended, but the loud, strained moan that lasted for entirely too long make it clear to the both of them that there was absolutely no displeasure on either end.

Applejack’s rear hooves slipped on the hard wooden floor, the limb going flying before extending fully, the shudders and involuntary muscle tensions proved to be too much for her to rein in. Rarity, most likely out of fear of losing a few teeth should a hoof go the wrong direction, responded immediately and clamped her forelegs around Applejack’s rear. There was no backing out now - they were locked in place, neither wishing the fun to end.

Rarity’s tongue skillfully slipped past and across Applejack’s lips, the spicy taste and scent of mare blasting more than one of her senses. A hoof rose, planting itself along Applejack’s inner thigh, and she immediately felt the result. A tug of skin parted her nethers, allowing Rarity to plunge herself even deeper. The entirety of her muzzle was buried, now, her eyes shutting to keep clean of any fluids.

Applejack’s slit clenched once, another wide moan stretching across her vocal cords as she pounded a foreleg against the ground. Pressure was building, pleasure was mounting, and emotions were rising, her lips squeezing around Rarity’s muzzle again as she felt the tongue licking deeper than she’d imagined she could get. Applejack’s mind briefly wandered to just where Rarity had learned tricks like this, but the feeling of Rarity turning her head sideways and stretching her sex even wider with an open mouth caused that thought to explode out the other end and get lost among all the other half-thoughts she’d gone through over the evening.

Applejack’s lower body rocked with a spasm again, the mare letting out a throaty groan as she felt the impending orgasm rising within her. Another clench, this one squeezing Rarity’s snout nearly shut, before finally she wasn’t able to cling on any longer. Applejack slumped back fully against the ground, head bumping against the floor just lightly as her forelegs gave out, vision going blind as she climaxed.

Rarity slowly pulled her muzzle out, snout and cheeks now coated in her marefriend’s juices, a heavy gush having signaled to her that she was finished. She gave a flighty giggle, wiping at her nose and mouth with a fetlock before she swallowed and looked up. Applejack was still for a few moments before her chest began to rise and fall again, coming to as she cracked her eyes open and glanced down at Rarity.

“...Gonna be hard explanin’ why these cushions are so damn sticky,” Applejack said, the sweat from their adventure still beading across her brow.

“That’s why we’re taking them to the boutique and burning them,” Rarity returned, ducking her head down between Applejack’s legs yet again. Applejack braced for a second round, too exhausted to fight back, but let out a heavy sigh of relief when she realised that Rarity was simply cleaning her face off on one of the cushions under them.

“Yeah, heh.” Applejack slumped back against the floor, still reveling in her sexual glee. Her orgasm had passed, but the sense of relief and extreme pleasure still tingled all over her body. She fought falling asleep, her eyes drooping as she reclined. “Sounds like a plan.”

Epilogue

Rainbow Dash and Spike shared a heavy, dejected sigh as they glanced across the donut bar at their respective lost loves. Rarity was more than happy stuffing donuts into her mouth, talking about this or that while Applejack just sat, head in hoof, staring dreamily at her partner's ability to constantly devour sweets at a pace that never seemed to slow. Applejack, too, hadn’t gotten away with her appearance unchanged - she’d taken a liking to having her mane braided now that she had the assistance of a unicorn to make it a million times easier.

"Well," Rainbow Dash reasoned, head resting on the bar top. "At least they look pretty happy."

"Yeah," Spike responded, taking a small bite out of the purple frosted donut he held in his hand. "They do. And I guess that's what matters, right? Twilight always told me that if you love something, let it free, and if it feels the same it will come back." He stopped mid-bite, then added, "I don't know if that applies to ponies, though."

"The whole... well, I mean, look at her," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing weakly with a hoof at Rarity. "I didn't expect that, though."

"Oh, me neither," Spike said. "When I started leaving snacks on her porch, I neverexpected that."

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment to process the information she was just given, turning her head to glare at Spike out of the corner of her eye. "You did... what?"

"Well," Spike said, popping the last of his donut into his mouth before brushing his claws off. "Wheff Rawrit shtarded taw-" Spike held a claw up, chewing and swallowing before continuing. "Sorry. Anyway. When Rarity started to kinda hole up in her Boutique to work on dresses, well, I kinda missed her. So, I thought, hey, what's something she can do while she's working on dresses? Eat! I kept stopping at Sugarcube Corner and then leaving treats on her door step so I didn't bother her."

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed as she stared hard at Spike, her expression slowly turning sour. Spike was the reason why Rarity started stress eating? Spike was the reason she lost Applejack to Rarity? Her teeth began to grind together at the revelation, ears folding back against her head as she prepared to lunge at the adolescent dragon.

A sharp giggle from the table across from them broke Dash’s anger immediately. The glare fell from her face as she turned, seeing Rarity and Applejack both laughing mirthfully at something that must have been exchanged between the two. Dash sighed, head returning to the table chin first. “That was nice of you,” Rainbow admitted. “I can tell she liked it.” Her voice had just a twinge of sarcastic anger in it, but not enough to be readily apparent.

“Hey, whatever happened between you and Applejack, anyway? Twilight told me not to ask, but I kind of heard you guys arguing over it one day, and... well, I’m kinda curious.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, giving a small shrug. “You ever, like... had somepony who you were too much alike with? And it ended up getting really frustrating?”

Spike cocked his head and glanced away. Okay, Dash thought. I guess not.

“Whatever. That’s basically what happened between me and Applejack. We were both too competitive. Too strong. Too stubborn... those are all great traits, but we constantly tried to one-up one another. All the time.” Rainbow Dash gave a small roll of her shoulders. “...aaaaand, we both wanted to be on top. That got awkward really quick.”

“On top?” Spike questioned, head tilting even farther. “What, like you guys were wrestling or something?”

Rainbow gave a short chuckle, turning to look at Spike with one side of her mouth up turned in a grin. “That’s a question for Twilight, little guy. I’m sure she’d appreciate that one.”

“Oh,” Spike asked, before grabbing another donut and greedily shoving it into his mouth. “Okay.”