Rarity opened her eyes, and was instantly hit with a litany of blending and complementary colors, all at once.
Had a storm just passed? Had Rainbow Dash snuck into her house again?
No, she thought, shaking her head, I'd know if that were the case since we all installed speed traps around our houses after the Applejack's Diary Incident. Oh, wait, yes, that's it! I had Applejack over today! And we—
She sat bolt upright, her eyes now wide awake, to clearly see the last sight she ever dared hope against hope to see.
"Oh. My. Goodness."
Their all-day project, the new dressing room Applejack had been building—under Rarity’s world-class supervision, of course—was actually finished. As in, finished finished. Everything was painted, the fabric was cut, the samples organized, the flowers—there were flowers! Flowers and themed decorations oh gosh this place suddenly had it all.
It looked up to par with all of the magazines and websites Rarity had scoured, and even the fantastic, grandiose images she’d had swimming through her imagination all month! Applejack, darling that she was, must have finished it while Rarity was...
While Rarity was asleep.
Rarity jumped out of bed, and rushed out of the room. "Applejack!" she said, calling as she strode through her house. "Are you still here?"
"Sure am, sugar," she heard Applejack reply.
Following Applejack’s voice, Rarity encountered her in the living room, lying propped on one of the plush recliners, phone in one hand, and a satisfied grin on her face.
"There you are." Applejack chuckled. "Didn’t wanna wake ya’. Guess the cat’s out of the bag now, though."
Rarity nodded wordlessly. Applejack got up, and they both walked back into the dressing room. "So, whatcha think?" Applejack asked. "Pass muster?"
Rarity slowly walked through, looking around, craning her neck once more to marvel at the perfect paint, the impeccably placed fabrics and creative decorations. "Well, if your aim was to overload my senses and utterly destroy my expectations, then you certainly got your wish! This is... darling, your work on the school play stage already impressed enough to land you this project in the first place, but this is absolutely astounding."
Applejack’s hand quickly found the back of her head. "Shucks, Rarity," she said, her cheeks pinking. "T’ain’t nothin’ one can’t do when they don’t bust up their hand barely into the proceedings." She snorted.
"I always felt quite bad about that," Rarity said, then sighed. "Not to mention this."
Applejack tilted her head. "Come again?"
Rarity walked back to Applejack, before speaking again, her voice now contrite and submissive. She looked down at the floor, with clasped hands. It was only right. "I’m so sorry, Applejack. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Wha..." Applejack’s jaw dropped. "What in the world for?"
"Because I’ve been absolutely dreadful about all this," Rarity said, gesturing around herself. "Look at all of this impeccable work! Bad enough I coerced you into doing it all for free, but then I couldn’t even be bothered to stay awake long enough to appreciate it! Apologizing is the least I should be doing, is it not?"
"Uh-uh!" Applejack shook her head fervently, sweeping her arm about the room. "Ain’t no apologizin’ gonna happen here, hon. In fact, I find it downright insultin’ you’d even try!"
Rarity gasped. "What do you mean?"
Applejack chuckled and rolled her eyes. "For starters, sugar, you didn’t ‘coerce’ nothin’." She counted on her fingers. "You asked nicely. Then I said, ‘sure thing, sounds fun’, then you asked to pay, I said your money was no good to me, you tried to get into a philosophical discussion about the nature of legal tender, I said I wasn’t havin’ it, you pouted, we set a date. That’s how it went." She flashed Rarity a sly smile. "Eight easy steps, no muss, no fuss."
"Well, I-I mean," Rarity mock-sputtered, "s-sure, if you want to look at technicals , but—"
"But nothin’! Yeah, Rarity, I did it for free, and let you watch half of it, and sleep through the rest. Tweren’t no accident I did that, neither."
Applejack stepped in front of Rarity, her smile now sincere as she stared into Rarity's eyes. It occurred to Rarity that Applejack had never really done that before, which was a shame in retrospect as they were surprisingly reassuring to look back into. Also, green—that inspiring, photogenic, natural shade of green that was almost impossible to get in fabric form.
Rarity made a promise to herself, then and there, to pull whatever strings were necessary to obtain them. Because Applejack was clearly able to sell anyone on their beauty without having to try.
So distracted was she by Applejack's gaze, that she didn't notice Applejack clasp her hands—and had Rarity not been there to film it, she never would have guessed that Applejack had just come off of a hard day of building, given how smooth and warm they felt.
In other words, this girl was just full of surprises today. Idly, Rarity wondered how many more Applejack possessed. She looked up from her hands, matching Applejack's smile. "No accident, you say?" she asked, her voice light and lilting.
"Mm-hmm. And I’d do it exactly this way, all over again," Applejack said, "‘cause it’s stuff I like doin’. It's in my power to do, it keeps my skills up, and... well, it’s for someone I care about. Which mean it ain’t no skin off of me."
Applejack squeezed Rarity's hands with a gentleness that was less surprising given all of the precise measurements Rarity had seen her take today, but which was welcome all the same. "Ain’t that what generosity is?"
This time, both girls' cheeks tinted. "Y-Yes, that is basically the gist," Rarity managed. "I-It's just that, it's, you know, my schtick. I'm not used to it being used on me."
"Well, here's your chance to practice. ‘Sides, I got a pretty sweet video out of the deal, which’ll help me whenever I need a refresher, and anyone else out there online who wants to learn how to do this for the first time. We just gave the world who knows how many new dressing rooms."
Those were the words Rarity needed. "Beautifying the world, one step at a time," she said, finally relaxing. "I approve—and officially feel better. Much obliged, Applejack."
"Sure thing, sugar." Applejack nodded heartily. "So, wanna go celebrate at my house? Granny Smith called me an hour ago to say she was making a batch of apple pies. We get there quick, we can grab one all to ourselves, and we've got a mountain of vanilla ice cream in the freezer." She stepped in close, whispering in Rarity's ear. "And I know today's your cheat day, so I ain't lettin' you back out easy, either."
Warmth flushed through Rarity, and she giggled reflexively. "Oh, come now, darling, you know I'd never miss out on your apple pie, regardless. It's a treasure."
"Oh! Well, uh, thank you kindly," Applejack said, leading Rarity towards the door.
"Simply stating facts." As Rarity turned out the lights, she took one last look at the room. "You know, you did an excellent job picking out the fabric samples. Construction may be your calling, but we may make a fashionista out of you yet."
"Yeah. About that." Applejack brought up her phone, showing Rarity several pictures that were instantly recognized from the fashion magazines and websites that had inspired the dressing room project in the first place. Several bits of them matched the decorations in Rarity's room.
"Oh," Rarity said. "Well, that solves that, I suppose."
"I'm uh, real good at followin' blueprints. Creativity in the moment is all your deal. But it was a nice try." Applejack smiled. "Come on, let's get movin' before the pie gets cold."
The two walked out together, hand in hand.
