Strange Bedfellows

The day had been busy—far too busy for Rarity’s tastes, in fact. Customers had been pouring through the door for hours, demanding that the fashonista craft them exquisite dresses and suits for what was said to be the greatest Grand Galloping Gala that had ever been hosted in the history of Equestria! It had done wonders for Rarity’s sales—her dresses had grown immensely in popularity since last year’s Gala, though she and her friends made fools of themselves—but it was doing nothing for the unicorn’s stress levels. On top of everything else, it was raining heavily, and showed no signs of stopping.

Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle, had remained at her side all throughout the day, constantly offering her help and fetching items for her. While the foal was helping, her constant shouting was doing nothing for Rarity’s stress levels, either.

“Sis, sis!” she cried, trotting all around the inside of the boutique, “Do you need anything else? I can still go and get that silk from the back, if you need it! I promise I won’t get it dirty like the last roll!” Rarity shook her head, her glowing horn bobbing a little as she manipulated a pin through the fabric before her.

“No, no, Sweetie,” she said, “That’s quite alright—I’m in control of the situation here, I assure you.” When the little unicorn pouted, her older sister sighed. “Sweetie, please, I do greatly appreciate your help, but if you stay around here when there is nothing I need help with, then all you will do is bore yourself. Go back to mother and father’s house; if I need you, I will call you back in.” When her little sister smiled and nodded, Rarity did as well, sending the foal on her way.

A few more uninterrupted minutes went by, and Rarity was nearly done with her latest creation when a knock came at the door. Irritated, the unicorn gently placed her needle back on her little table and trotted over, calling through the door.

“Who is it?” she called in a singsong voice. She was surprised when Applejack’s voice responded.

“It’s me, AJ!” she said, “Lemme in, Rarity.” Complying, the designer opened the door, allowing Applejack to trot past her, hooves muddy from the wet ground outside. Rarity balked at the mess.

“Applejack!” she cried, “Were you raised in a barn? Goodness gracious, please wipe your hooves off!” The earth pony glared at Rarity, but walked back over to the front door, scuffling her hooves back and forth on the welcome mat.

“Matter-of-fact,” AJ said, her tone indignant, “I was partly raised in a barn, so I’d appreciate it if ya kept comments like that to yourself.” The unicorn shook her head.

“I apologize if I have offended you, but I simply do not appreciate mud on the floors of my boutique. Now, was there something you needed, Applejack? I’m just finishing up the last of my dress orders.” The orange pony raised an eyebrow.

“Dress orders? Why’re you having to make dresses?” Rarity smiled happily, raising a hoof to showcase her many new clothing items.

“Not just dresses, Applejack!” she said, her tone quite proud, “I’m also making tuxedos, suits, and ballgowns! They’re all being made for ponies attending the upcoming Gala!” The orange earth pony chuckled, shaking her head.

“I’m sure I don’t know what in the hay all that is supposed to mean, Rarity, but I am glad you’re getting so much business. Sweet Apple Acres has been gettin’ ready for the Gala, too. We’re churning out more pies, fritters, and bushels of apples than I think I’ve ever seen!” Rarity raised an eyebrow, levitating over a bolt of silk.

“Applejack, I’d have thought the Apple Family would be less than interested in attending the Gala this year, considering the terrible sales figures you had last year.” Applejack nodded.

“Yeah, we didn’t do too good last year, but this year, we’re consulting directly with the Princess, and she told us we’re gonna get pick of the litter when it comes time for the Gala!” Rarity cocked her head.

“’Pick of the litter?’ Oh, Applejack, I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean.” The farmer nodded.

“Thought that’d be the case. Basically, it means we’re gonna be providin’ all the grub at this year’s Gala, which means ponies there ain’t gonna have much choice but to eat what we’re sellin’.” The farmer chuckled. “Not that that means we’re gonna get lazy, mind you. It just means Celestia’s payin’ us to cook up everything we got.”

Rarity nodded, smiling. “Well, I am ever so glad to hear that things are going swimmingly for you, dear Applejack. But, if you will excuse me, I must return to working on my outfits. There’s plenty of time, but, as you know, I am never comfortable unless I’m working or being pampered.” The designer gave an airy laugh.

“But that’s just the thing, sugarcube,” Applejack said, nodding towards the door, “I came to grab ya for Twilight’s sleepover. Don’t ya remember when we planned it out? It was three weeks ago!” The unicorn gasped.

“Oh my! How could I have forgotten Twilight was having her sleepover today? Oh, how silly of me!” Rarity began hurriedly putting things away, stopping only for a moment to open the curtains of a window, which had been closed all day. The evening sun, orange and fading fast, peeked over the horizon at the pair of ponies. “Oh, it’s nearly dark! How upset she must be with me!”

Applejack rolled her eyes, trotting over to assist Rarity with her clean-up. “Don’t get your hair all in a twist, Rarity,” she said, “Twi’s sleepover don’t begin for another hour or so; I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t forgotten, that’s all.” The white pony breathed a sigh of relief, her pacing slowing down a little.

“That makes me feel a little better,” she said, lifting a few things onto their shelves, “but you could have told me that sooner and saved me the panic.”

Applejack shrugged and said simply, “Sorry. Didn’t come to mind, I suppose.”

Rarity’s brows knitted together in a frown, but she didn’t respond, instead putting the finishing touches on her clean-up job. “That is alright, I suppose,” she said when she was finished, “but do try to start off with the most important things next time. It saves both time and energy.” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Right,” she said, “in any case, it looks like you’re about finished here, so I’m gonna head on over to Twilight’s. She’ll be happy if we arrive early, knowing her. I’ll see you there.” With that, she turned and left, the door swinging shut behind her.

“Right, right,” Rarity said, watching Applejack go. When the earth pony was gone, the unicorn huffed and trotted over to a mirror. Applejack could be so rude sometimes! Barging in unexpectedly, forgetting to mention Twilight’s sleepover immediately—that pony simply did not know what it meant to have class!

For as long as they had been friends, there had been no small amount of vitriol between the two—Rarity was always too clean, well-kempt, and prissy for Applejack, and Applejack had always been far too willing to lay down and roll around in the dirt, too willing to get her hooves dirty, for Rarity’s taste.

But, even with all of their differences, Rarity and Applejack managed to coexist happily enough; they mostly stayed out of each other’s way, preferring the company of other ponies to each other. Rarity would have her spa days with Fluttershy, Applejack would get into little pow-wows and, in Rarity’s opinion, brutish competitions with Rainbow Dash, and they’d continued to pretend that Twilight’s first sleepover had cured them of their distaste for each other.

Which, of course, it hadn’t. The two ponies still fought nearly every time they saw each other—today had been tame in comparison to past scrapes they had gotten into. Rarity shuddered at the thought of Applejack smearing mud in her hair again. But things were happy, the sun was going down on Ponyville, and soon, the stars would illuminate a night of fun for all over at Twilight’s house—even with Applejack there, Rarity was greatly looking forward to it.

When finally her hair was coiffed to her sky-high standards of perfection, Rarity smiled, levitating over a scarf; even with the sun out, it was still winter, after all, and one had to keep warm and fashionable until it was time for the annual Winter Wrap-Up which she loved so much.

“Oh, Rarity!” she cried, admiring herself, “You always did have an eye for fashion, you lovely mare!” She giggled and, horn lighting up, swung the door open. Bracing herself against a shiver, Rarity stepped out into the chilly night air, the door closing with a click behind her.

As much fun as she tended to have at these things, the amount of tension between herself and Applejack made them quite stressful as well, oftentimes. Applejack always wanted to participate in something uncouth and brutish, like a pillow fight or—ugh—‘wrasslin’’, as she liked to call it; the white unicorn wanted no part of such things. She never could understand the pony’s brutish ways, and she didn’t much care to, either.

Tonight, however, promised to be extra fun—or so Rarity could dimly recall Twilight saying. The purple mare had said that she wanted Applejack and Rarity to help her practice a few spells she was trying to learn. It was an unusual request—normally Twilight was the sort of pony who preferred to practice her spells on her own. Why she would need the help of two other ponies was beyond Rarity, but because she asked, Rarity was of course willing to lend a hoof.

Rarity, lost in her thoughts, soon found herself at the entrance of the library. A cold breeze blew through her mane, and she shivered, quickly giving the door a few raps. A few moments passed in silence, but soon she heard muffled voices from within, and the door locks clicked, allowing the wooden slab to swing open, revealing Twilight’s smiling face.

“Rarity!” she said, stepping aside to usher the white unicorn in, “You made it! And you’re early, even!” Rarity tucked an errant bit of her mane back over her shoulder, smiling as she walked past Twilight.

“Naturally,” she said, “while there is such a thing as being fashionably late for parties, I would have felt just awful if I would have shown up late, darling.” Spying Applejack, who had obviously only arrived a few minutes ago—she was still hanging up her hat and getting settled in—Rarity waved. “Applejack, so good to see you again!”

The orange pony looked up from where she was arranging pillows and grinned, sitting down on one. “Why, Rarity! Good to see you again, too! Ah wondered where you were.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between the two ponies.

“I think I’m lost,” she said, “Did you two meet up before you came over here?” Rarity nodded.

“Applejack was kind enough to stop by my boutique and remind me of the sleepover; I’ve been very busy making dresses for the Gala—and not only for us this time—and I’m afraid I simply lost track of time, not to mention forgetting about your party. I’m terribly sorry, Twilight.” The purple unicorn shook her head, smiling.

“It’s no problem, Rarity,” she said, levitating a book onto the stack of pillows Applejack had laid out for her, “What matters is that you’re here now, and we can get started on our fun! I put Spike to bed an hour or so ago, so we could be ready.” Rarity had to giggle at her friend; even after a year, and several sleepovers, the purple mare wasn’t accustomed to having guests over. She was a lot better about it now than she had been, but the naivety was still very much there.

“I been looking forward to this, actually,” came Applejack’s voice, “Sweet Apple Acres has been real hard at work making apple treats for the Gala. It’s gonna be nice to just relax with y’all for a bit.” Twilight wasn’t the only one who had changed; Applejack had, just as Rarity had, realized that work wasn’t everything, and that your friends were always there to take the edge off when you needed them.

And Applejack was not lying when she said the Apple family had been hard at work. For the last few weeks, Granny Smith had constantly been in the kitchen, baking trademark Sweet Apple Pies and Apple Crumbles for the Gala. Big Mac had been out in the fields with Applejack every day, helping her blast through the trees in anticipation of the treats they would be used to make. Even Apple Bloom had been helping out—no doubt because she thought it would help earn her cutie mark—by bringing lemonade out to the applebuckers and helping Granny Smith with her cooking.

Or at least, that’s what Rarity had heard from the earth pony. In fact, it seemed everypony she knew was terribly busy preparing for the Gala. Pinkie had been busily planning how “the best part in Equestria” would play out this year, and apparently hoping it would really be more like a party this time. Rainbow Dash had been practicing a routine for the Wonderbolts (how anypony could fail to be accepted so many times and yet continue to try baffled Rarity, but if it made Dash happy, she was happy), and Fluttershy would be providing the music this year, so her animal chorus was quite occupied as well, and her along with them.

“So, Twilight,” Applejack’s voice broke Rarity from her thoughts, “What’s all this about you needin’ Rarity and me to help you practice a spell? What kinda spell is it?” The purple unicorn smiled.

“I was wondering when you might ask me that!” she said, magically flipping through the books he had set down earlier, “It’s actually something I discovered in this book.” When both ponies cocked an eyebrow, Twilight elaborated. “It’s a small-scale teleportation spell. Should be pretty useful for getting myself and you guys around town when we need to get somewhere fast.”

“Uh, Twilight?” interrupted Applejack, “Beg pardon, but can’t you already teleport around? You were doin’ it when I was having trouble with the apples that first year you came to town.” Twilight nodded.

“Yes, Applejack, but that spell only carries me—and only me—a very short distance. This spell is a lot more powerful by comparison, and I think my magic has developed enough to handle it. It should be able to effectively cover the entire town, as far as ‘where can it take us’ is concerned.” Seemingly satisfied, Applejack sat back.

“Twilight, I don’t mean to sound, err…unconfident in your abilities,” Rarity said, peering at what she could see of the book, “but I have heard that such spells are incredibly difficult to even attempt, let alone use correctly. I have heard, well…stories about what can happen when a spell like this is cast incorrectly.” Twilight shook her head.

“Rarity, I’ve been tirelessly practicing my magic for the past year, under Princess Celestia’s guidance. If I wasn’t able to do this spell, she would have told me so in the last response I got from her.” When Rarity gave her a confused look, she continued, “I already cleared this with her. She’s totally confident in me. All I need you two to do is concentrate, and allow me to concentrate as well.” Rarity still wasn’t exactly comfortable with the whole thing, but she nodded.

“Very well, Twilight. If the Princess herself trusts in your magical abilities, then so do I. Just tell us what to do.” Applejack nodded in agreement, standing next to Rarity.

“I just need you two to stay right there while I charge the spell,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on the book as her horn began to glow steadily. Rarity bit her lip, turning to whisper to Applejack.

“Applejack,” she said, “are you sure this a good idea, I mean, I don’t want to sound like a wet blanket, or a bad friend, but if something goes wrong…” she gulped. Applejack smiled reassuringly.

“Rarity, there ain’t nothing to be afraid of. Twilight’s Princess Celestia’s number-one student and, like she said, the Princess told her she could pull it off. I’m bettin’ everything’s gonna be just fine. Don’t be fussy about it.” Rarity huffed, her tone now low but harsh as the sparks flying from Twilight’s horn grew in intensity.

“I am not being huffy!” she hissed, “I am just worried about my own well-being! I realize that, being raised like an animal, your instincts for self-preservation might be stunted, but I am not going to-”

“Aw, shut it!” Applejack hissed back, “You’re gonna upset Twilight if she hears you. And for your information, animals have better instincts than ponies do, so don’t go shootin’ your mouth off half-cocked.” Rarity’s eyes were ablaze with anger now, and she began to shout.

“Applejack, you are such an insufferable ingrate!” she cried, not noticing the magical glow around herself and her enemy, “I swear, if you were the last pony I had to count on, I would rather do everything on my own!” The earth pony was equally livid, and responded in kind.

“Well you’re just a fuddy-duddy fussybritches!” she yelled, butting heads with the unicorn, careful to avoid the sharp horn, “And as far as bein’ dependable goes, I got more responsibility in my right hoof than you do in your whole darn body!”

The shouting match continued for a few minutes, unnoticed by Twilight; all of her concentration was being poured into her horn, trying to think of a place to send the two ponies. But something felt wrong; her horn was sparking unusually, and her mind was getting scrambled. This wasn’t good.

The two ponies stopped shouting for a moment, merely growling at each other, heads squished together. Finally, they both spoke up at the same time. “Well, you’re just an immature little-”

And then they were both gone, leaving only slight scorch marks on the ground.

Spike walked down from the loft of the library and, seeing the scene—Twilight gaping at the floor where her two friends used to be arguing—groggily rubbed at his eyes, saying in his best admonishing voice,

“I knew Rarity was right!” Twilight looked up at him, bewildered, and he chuckled a little, raising a stubby arm up to stretch out. “I’ll get looking for a book. Rarity’s in trouble, and you’d better get her back to me! What even happened? The spell was supposed to be small-scale!”

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. “I guess that, when the spell activated, it sent them where I was thinking of…but it worked too well.”

Spike raised eyebrow. “Where were you thinking of, Twilight?”

The unicorn sighed. “Anywhere but here.”

Meanwhile, in a distant land, far across the mountains of Equestria, beyond the muddy Foggy Bottom Bog, and even past the capital city of Canterlot, Applejack and Rarity were just realizing what had happened.

Neither one knew exactly where they were at. It looked like a massive, dusty expanse of desert, with the sun dimly cutting through the layers of sand in the air. There was almost nothing around for miles, save lonely cacti. The earth beneath the two ponies’ hooves was cracked and worn by the lack of rain and constant sand blowing around. In the distance, mist-cloaked mountaintops peered down at the pair of ponies forbiddingly.

“Uh, Rarity?” Applejack asked, her voice abnormally meek, “You, uh…wouldn’t happen to know where we are, wouldja?” Rarity was silent for a few minutes, but finally responded,

“No. No idea at all, Applejack.” Her mind felt as empty as the desert around them.

“I reckon this means you were right,” she said, “‘bout Twilight and all. Nice goin’, Ah guess.” Rarity’s tone remained even as she responded.

“Thank you. I thought this might happen.”

With that, everything around the pair settled into deathly silence, save the sound of the wind whistling through the air and the sand.