Teaching a Sister the Birds and the Bees

It was the morning after Winter Wrap-up. After spending the entire day making bird's nests, Rarity wasn't really in the mood to start with her next task. Still, a promise was a promise, and if she waited too long things might start to get damaged.

She was currently standing in the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a tree-house somewhat hidden among the vast lands of Sweet Apple Acres, with all sorts of cleaning tools at the ready. As was the case after every Winter Wrap-up, or any heavy rainstorm for that matter, the water from the molten snow had a habit of seeping between the cracks and gaps of the clubhouse, threatening to cause mould to grow on the wooden boards and walls if not tended to.

Of course, Rarity wished that she wasn't the only one currently standing inside said clubhouse. The Crusaders had been called by the map a few days ago for a mission somewhere near the Kirin, of all places, and they were afraid that they might not return in time to clean the place themselves, before the infection has taken root. Having spend the majority of their late foalhood here, and some years now in their adulthood, they have grown rather attached to Applejack's old treehouse, so needing to replace just about any part of the old place would break their hearts.

Rarity, as per her element, naturally offered to do the caretaking in their place if they were too occupied, as she was sure that it wouldn't take more then two hours or so if her fellow elements gave a helping hoof. Emphasis on the "if" part here, because as it turns out, all of them had their own issues that the previous day caused. Rainbow had to chase and deal with a rogue cyclone, Applejack needed to tend to the trees that had cracked from the sudden change of temperature, Fluttershy was getting overwhelmed in her sanctuary by all the animals that came out of hibernation, Twilight had her own problems as her crystal castle also didn't like the temperature change, and Pinkie needed to do… Pinkie stuff.

So, with a bit of a heavy sigh, Rarity simply resigned herself to the task before her, and began.

• Some time later-

Knock knock went the front entrance door, pulling Rarity out of the trance-like state of mind she had sunk into after an hour or so. Pulling herself up from her sitting position on the floor, she wondered who would come to a place like this. Perhaps another foal, needing help to understand their newly-gained cutiemark? Or perhaps, somepony who- "Rarity, can you open up? It's been nearly six hours, and I sure as heck didn't see you bring any food or drinks in here!" She suddenly heard a familiar voice shout out.

Oh goodness, has it been that long already?, Rarity wondered, a thought confirmed by a look at a near-ancient standing clock that she had spend a good while on to make it look spotless again.

Wiping some sweat from her brow, she put aside the brush and bucket, and trotted to the front door. Opening it, she found Applejack waiting outside, a tray of apples and a bottle of water balancing on her back.

"Ah, there ya are." she said, entering the clubhouse. Going straight to the main hall, she set the apples and water down on the table, meanwhile looking around to admire Rarity's work who was following behind. "Phew. I must say, Rares, when I heard that you were the one to clean up our sisters' clubhouse after Winter Wrap-up, I was kinda underestimating just how thorough you would be."

Rarity raised brow at that, while she was munching on a desperately deserved apple she had already picked up. Catching her look, Applejack was quick to correct herself. "I mean, eh, sure, I was expecting the place to look like it had before, but... To be honest, it's like I'm standing in my own treehouse again, back when it was first build by my old horse. I mean, back before the girls made all those changes to make the place look like it's today, if that makes sense?"

A bit more happy with that, Rarity nodded and continued eating. Applejack continued walking around a bit more, appreciating the shine and polish the clubhouse had gotten. After Rarity had finished her apple to the core, she took a sip of water and looked outside. There, she saw Big Mac and Granny Smith still walking around, inspecting each and every tree one by one. Applejack had already told her about the phenomenon of frost crack, and how it could influence the tree's ability to bear fruit, but she was still impressed by the dedication the Apple Family could bring up when it came to tending to their trees.

"So, how far are you getting along then, Rares?" Applejack asked while taking some water herself, getting Rarity's attention back.

The unicorn pondered for a bit, taking a few looks around the room before nodding to herself, satisfied. "Almost done, actually. The walls took the longest, of course, and I had some trouble getting a closer look at the ceiling here and there, but it all went well in the end, I think. Just a bit more work on the floor here, and some of the doorframes in the other rooms, and I should be all set."

Applejack chuckled. "Really now, Rares. If you needed a ladder or something to reach the ceiling, you could have just come and ask, we've got plenty lying around on the farm. Actually, I'm pretty sure there should be one around here as well, you didn't find one?"

Rarity shook her head. "I didn't find one, no, so it might have been misplaced. And I didn't want to bother you and the Apples, as you had your own work as well. Not that I really needed to, mind. The purple box was sturdy enough to stand on, so it worked out well enough."

Applejack was finishing the last of the water she had taken, until she suddenly started coughing near the end of Rarity's last sentence. The unicorn directly looked at her with concern.

"Applejack, dear, are you quite alright?" She asked, noticing that the orange mare was suddenly sporting a fierce blush.

Oh no, did she catch a cold? She was dressed rather lightly in the past week, come to think of it, even before Winter-Wrap Up... Rarity wondered, unsure if she should bring it up to the prideful mare who always boasted about her constitution.

Applejack took a short while to sort out her coughing, before looking at Rarity again.

"Ah, eh... sorry about that, think I drank a bit too fast there, heh... You, uh, mentioned a purple box?" Applejack asked, blush still going strong.

Rarity cocked her head. "It was in one of the closets upstairs, yes. Almost missed it too, actually, hidden as it was under all those other boxes. And it's a good thing I noticed as well, besides serving as a step-up, what with how dirty the box itself was. So that got a thorough cleaning as well, in and out. I put everything back in, of course, so you don't need to worry about that."

"You put..." Applejack began, but didn't finish the sentence, seemingly shocked.

"Applejack, dear, is something the matter?" Rarity asked, unsure what was going on.

The orange mare looked to the side, brows heavily furrowed, seemingly thinking about something, before looking back.

"I, eh... well, sorry, Rares, I should have known that, ah..." Applejack trailed off again, looking to the side again.

Rarity wanted to speak up, but Aj cut her off. "So I take it you're okay with it, then? With, you know... what was in that box? Those... 'toys'?'"

The unicorn was taken aback by the sudden question, until she suddenly realized the real 'problem' Applejack was hinting at, and let out a small, refined laugh.

"Oh, Applejack, dear, come now. Of course I am, I was a filly too, though a long time ago. I might not have particularly cared for it back then, but if those girls had a good time with it, and did so safely, who am I to judge them?"

Applejack's eyes shot up at that in clear surprise, before she rubbed her neck and laughed awkwardly, the blush returning in force. "Ah, I... yeah, you're right, I guess. I mean, I can't judge them either, as I too had, uh... experienced that stuff when I was younger, I guess."

Rarity nodded at that. "Hmm. Still, I'll have to talk with them later about it, because this simply won't do."

Applejack suddenly looked at her. "Wait, what? What's wrong?"

"The box, Applejack, I already told you. It was so dirty, I still get the shivers just thinking about it. Even if the toys inside were clean enough, storing them inside such a dirty thing can be too dangerous, especially considering their purpose. Oh Celestia, just imagine if they had gotten an infection or the like while playing, I wouldn't have been able to bear it!" Rarity answered, finishing with a huff.

Applejack softly whistled in response, before tipping her hat. "Well, I guess that makes you twice the mare I am, Rares... not that I ever doubted that. I agree, you're right, but *that* conversation would have been a bit too, heh, embarrassing, even for me."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly, Applejack, I really don't see what the big deal is. It's just a simple matt-"

Before Rarity could finish her sentence, both mares were spooked by a sudden loud voice ringing in from outside.

"Dangnabbit Applejack, how much longer are you gonna stay up there, huh? We've still got over seven acres to go through before nightfall!"

Walking over to the window, Rarity could see the old but still very sprightly mare waving her walking stick at the treehouse a few trees away, a sight she couldn't help but smile at.

The orange mare sighed. "Well, you heard her Rares, work calls. Will ya be fine here for the rest?"

Rarity turned around, nodding. "Yes, yes. I'm almost done, like I said. I'll return the tools back to the barn when I'm done."

"Alright", Applejack said, moving towards the exit, "Once you're done, there's some Apple Cider in the kitchen, if you want some. We'll likely be out in the field for the rest of day, so if I don't see you again, till next time. Oh, and once you've had that... discussion with the girls, we should meet up again. I'm very curious how that went indeed."

"Mmh, all right, until next time." Rarity said, waving her friend goodbye. The mention of that delicious Apple Cider did perk her up somewhat. And with that, she returned her focus to the task at hand, determined to not miss a single crack or spot, and fell into her cleaning trance again.