Crossing the Line

Finally ready for a wonderful date, Rarity had finished her makeup, hair, and wardrobe just in time.  Noteworthy would be here any minute, and her expectations for the evening were high.  Once he arrived, he and Rarity would walk down to a new restaurant that had opened down the street, Noteworthy occasionally commenting on how beautiful Rarity was as they went along.  They would have a delightful dinner, engaging in conversation over his many musical talents and Rarity's own gift with designing wonderfully original garments.  Perhaps he would even sing her a few bars of an improvised song, inspired by the violet haired beauty herself?  That would be fantastic!  By the end of the evening, Noteworthy would walk Rarity up to her doorstep, the two would kiss under the moonlight, neither wanting to part, but both knowing they must not rush things.

It was going to be perfect!

As if on cue, a knock came from the door, and Rarity rushed to open it at first, but caught herself and slowed down, not wanting to seem desperate.  When she reached the door, it wasn't exactly who she had expected.

“Hey Rarity,”  Applejack's tone wasn't exactly cheerful, but  Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were at her side, so she tried her best to keep her greeting friendly.  Now that she recalled, Sweetie Belle had gone off to play with her friends, but it had been so quiet Rarity had forgotten all about that.

“Rarity!  Can I spend the night at Applebloom's house? Please?”  Sweetie Belle was beaming, and Rarity glanced at Applejack, who was now looking at the ground rather than at Rarity.  “Applejack said it was okay, and Scootaloo is staying too.  Please, can I?”

“Of course you can,”  Rarity forced a smile, and the three girls cheered, then darted passed her into the house.  Rarity looked confused.

“Why are they coming in here?”

“Sweetie Belle needs somethin' to change into Ah guess.  Beats me why the other two went in.”

“I see.”

“Yep.”

Silence.  Applejack was avoiding eye contact, and Rarity couldn't be feeling more terrible.  Finally, Applejack looked up, and seemed like she wanted to say something, but before she could, the three girls had come running back to the front door.  Sweetie Belle had a bag of what she needed for the sleepover, and she and Applebloom were apparently trying to catch Scootaloo.  Applejack took the opportunity to leave.

“Well, I'll see ya around, Rare.  C'mon gals,” She had driven over from Sweet Apple Acres, and her worn out pick-up was parked in front of the house.  She started towards it, and the three girls stopped their game of tag and started to argue over who would be doomed to sit in the middle of them.

“Applejack, wait.”  Rarity started towards her friend, who had obediently stopped and turned around.  “I don't mind.  Your crush, or you being who you are.  It's all fine with me.”

It was quiet, save for the girls climbing into the car, unaware of the suddenly heavy moment between the two women.  Applejack was hanging her head, and didn't seem like she was going to say anything, so Rarity spoke again.

“It doesn't mean anything has to change.”

With an annoyed exhale, Applejack turned back towards her car, confusing Rarity.  She expected Applejack would be glad to hear that they could still be friends.  She didn't want to leave things like this, so instead of letting her go, she jogged up to Applejack and grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Apple-”

Applejack had suddenly turned around, and Rarity stumbled forward, though Applejack caught her, then dropped her hands back at her sides.  The two were pressed together, and neither of them made any move to back away.  Instead, Rarity simply looked up at the slightly taller woman who was glaring at her.

“Ya don't know what it's like to be rejected, do ya?”  Applejack snapped.  Rarity felt like the natural reaction would be to back away, but instead found herself  very focused on how close their faces were, and how little distance there was between her and Applejack's lips. “Ah bet ya always get whoever ya want.”

She was so close, and Rarity caught the scent of apples once again, though it was much stronger than the garment she had shoved under her bed this afternoon.  Was that how Applejack smelled naturally?  She wondered if her lips would taste like apples.  The thought was tempting...

“Ah just wanna be left alone. For... a while.”  Applejack went back towards her car, leaving Rarity to almost lose her footing.  She hadn't realized she was leaning against her.

Rarity felt weak in the knees as she watched the truck disappear down the road, and hardly noticed as a different car pulled up behind her, taking up the spot where Applejack's truck had been.

“If it isn't the beautiful Rarity!”

Rarity quickly straightened up and turned to greet Noteworthy, trying to appear as cool headed as she could.  She had forgotten, this was going to be her perfect date. Noteworthy would be charming, the dinner would be divine, and most importantly, she would forget all about Applejack.

Noteworthy's outfit was a bit casual, but he was a musician after all, and they were the types to go against the grain.  He wore an expensive-looking leather jacket over a black shirt and a pair of tight fitting white-washed jeans, and his hair was styled up in a fauxhawk.

The walk over to the restaurant went according to plan, save for a few small details.  Noteworthy was supposed to tell Rarity how gorgeous she was, and the two would get lost in each other's eyes.  Well, he almost accomplished it; he looked Rarity over, and happily deemed her “sexy as hell.”  It was close enough, and Rarity wasn't about to complain at a simple change in wording.

The restaurant had wonderful service and delicious food, but the conversation over dinner had taken a turn for the worse.  It started with him sprinkling compliments here and there, using adjectives like “hot” and “fine”, which Rarity didn't particularly enjoy to start with, but as they were waiting on the server to return with a check, his advances became a bit more blatant.

“You look so hot in that dress, I can't wait to rip it off you tonight.”  With that said, he placed a hand on Rarity's thigh beneath the table.

“Pardon?”  Rarity was a bit stunned at first, but managed to compose herself and remove his hand.

“I said, I can't wait to rip off that dress, and-”

“Yes, that's what I thought you said.”  Rarity should have seen this coming, after all of his word choices.  “Noteworthy, darling, this is our first date. We hardly know each other...”  Notworthy raised an eyebrow, not quite grasping what she was saying, so Rarity made it simpler.  “I'm not sleeping with you tonight.”

To her surprise, Noteworthy laughed.  “Playing hard to get, are we?”

“No, I am not playing.  I would suggest finding a more... floozy date if that is all you're interested in.”  Rarity picked up her wine glass and took a casual sip, and when she glanced up at her date, he seemed to have finally gotten the message.

“You can't be serious.  You're going to turn down one of the greatest up-and-coming musical talents-”

“Let me stop you right there, because I'm really not interested in hearing the rest of your conceited speech regarding your wounded pride.”  She swirled the wine in her glass, then raised it to her lips and finished it off.

After the bill had been paid, which Noteworthy demanded be split so Rarity would have to pay for her half, they walked back to Rarity's house in silence.  He reached his car, she reached her front door, and she was entirely prepared to part ways with the obnoxious musician.  The encounter with Applejack  only hours before was still fresh in her mind.  She had really wanted to kiss her... really wanted to kiss her.  And now she had just rejected a handsome, wealthy, ambitious man.  She heard his car turn on behind her, the headlights shining on her house as he started to pull out of the driveway.

Rarity suddenly turned and marched over to the car, which had stopped moving at the sight of her approach.  Noteworthy rolled down his window.  “What do you want?”

Rarity hesitated, then finally said, “I changed my mind.  You should come inside.”

As usual, Applejack awoke as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon.  An alarm wasn't necessary, or any sort of wake-up call, since she had been waking up at this time for years and her body now did it out of habit.  An early start was healthy, after all, and there was always plenty to do with the extra hours in the day.

Once she was up, Applejack began to dress in one of her typical work outfits.  Jeans, a pair of worn boots, and a button-up shirt she threw on over a tank top, though she didn't bother actually doing up the buttons.  She moved on to tying back her hair, and as she did, her mind started to wander.  She tried to prevent it, but it wasn't long before she started to think about Rarity.  Applejack didn't know why she was being such a child about this, pouting and hiding out on her farm.  Couldn't she handle a rejection like an adult?  She needed to accept it for what it was, and move on.  In fact, she felt an apology was in order for the way she had acted, and she could tell Rarity that she did still want to be friends.  That would be the mature thing to do, and in the end, it would all be for the best.

Applejack grabbed her hat off of her bed post and started down the hallway, quietly making her way past Applebloom's room, not wanting to wake the girls.  Breakfast, an hour or two of work, then she'd go swallow her pride and give Rarity the apology she deserved.

Rarity hadn't slept at all, and by the time it was morning, she was still awake.  Mentally exhausted, but awake.  She felt as if she had committed some sort of betrayal, and her conscience wasn't letting it be.  Of course she hadn't done anything wrong, she wasn't committed to anyone at the moment... but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her otherwise.  She felt awful, and finally decided around seven that it was time to take a shower, and try to wash away the miserable feeling.  Once she was up and headed to the bathroom, she didn't look back at the snoring man in her bed.

It wasn't like her to have a fling, but she had wanted to prove to herself she was still interested in men... and only men.  She knew Noteworthy wasn't the optimal choice, but last night, she didn't have any options.  Besides, did it really matter who it was with when it was a purely physical relationship?  He had condoms, she had to convince herself she was straight... it was a practically perfect match.

As she washed her hair, she corrected her thoughts.  It wasn't perfect, not even close.  She recalled how Applejack had picked her up days before, and had asked Noteworthy to do the same.  He couldn't, and wouldn't even attempt it, using the excuse, “I'm a musician, not a body builder.”  He was a sloppy kisser, a selfish lover, and his endurance was pathetic.  It was all over before Rarity knew it, and she was disappointed, yet a part of her was a little relieved.

Who was she trying to fool here?  She knew she was attracted to Applejack in every sense of the word.  Her personality, her physique, her cute little southern accent, the whole package.  And the feelings seemed to be mutual, so why couldn't they be together? She wished it was as simple as that.

People would talk, it would ruin her image, she could kiss her Canterlot social life goodbye, her clients would disappear, and basically, her world would fall apart.

Rarity got out of the shower and toweled off, and when she stepped back into her room, she was glad to see Noteworthy had left.  She had made it clear last night that it was a one night stand, and it seemed fitting that he leave without a proper goodbye.

She dressed, did her hair in the bathroom, then walked over to the vanity dresser in her room to do her makeup.  She quickly noticed though, Noteworthy's shirt was there, on the dresser, where it had been carelessly thrown the night before.  She knew he wouldn't leave without his shirt... so, was he downstairs?  Fixing breakfast maybe.  That was odd, but Rarity didn't check right away, wanting to finish her daily routine of hair, clothing and makeup.  She did work a bit faster than usual though.

When she was done, Rarity headed to the kitchen, noting the leather jacket that was still in the hallway from the night before. Once she was downstairs, she saw Noteworthy sitting at the kitchen table, holding a bag of frozen peas to his left eye.  He was shirtless, and looked rather miserable.

“Hey...”  It was a feeble greeting, and seemed to be all he wanted to say.  Nonetheless, Rarity gave him a curious look, and he lowered the bag from his face.  She gasped.

“What in the world happened to you??”

He put the bag back, covering up his hideously bruised eye.

“Some bitchy cowgirl punched me in the face.”