Rarity tried to hype herself up in her mirror before leaving the house. The first outing as a newly single mare. Definitely a bittersweet feeling.

“Don’t cry,” Rarity told herself. “Your friends are doing something kind for you and you’re going to have a good time.”

It was indeed a very sweet gesture. How convenient her breakup happened around the anniversary of that sleepover she had with Twilight and Applejack. The princess and the farmer decided to cheer Rarity up with a girls night at Twilight's castle.

Rarity paused as she saw said castle come into view. The sight intimidated her a bit for some reason, but with a sigh, she continued forward. At the castle door, Rarity saw a note.

Hey Applejack and Rarity,

So sorry, but something came up and Celestia needed me in Canterlot. The castle is all yours, though! Spike or a guard will let you in. There’s a bottle of wine and some snacks. I should be able to say hi tomorrow morning.

Love to you both,

Twilight

Rarity wasn’t at the castle door long before Applejack joined her.

“Hi, Applejack,” Rarity greeted. “It looks like it’ll just be us this evening.”

Applejack quickly skimmed the note.

“Aw, that’s too bad. But hey, a girls night is still a girls night. Let’s head in.”

Rarity was about to knock on the door, but she noticed the most beautiful aroma.

“My goodness, the dish you brought smells delightful. I know I had other things on my mind, but I could have brought something.”

“No worries, Rares,” Applejack assured. “Funny you mention that, though. I baked this pie with the tin you got me at the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange. It may not cook pies five seconds faster, but with some elbow grease, it became a really nice tin! One of the best I have, in fact.”

Rarity laughed as she turned her head a little.

“And I wore the clip you got me that day. It’s not as fancy or detailed as the broach I wanted, but turns out that’s not what I needed in my collection.”

The mares giggled and blushed slightly at this corny, yet sweet turn of events. Rarity put a hoof to the purple diamond clip in her mane.

“How does she do it?” Rarity wondered. “How does Applejack always seem to know what I need more than I do myself sometimes? Even with small things like accessories.”

“Oh… uh… we’re still outside,” Applejack realized. “I suppose we should get settled. Wanna do the honors?”

As Spike greeted the two mares, Rarity couldn’t help but feel bad for her dragon friend.

“Hello Spike!” Rarity said. “I do hope you can also treat yourself this evening.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Spike said excitedly. “I went overboard, in fact. I’ve got enough comics and gems to last a lifetime!”

“Glad to hear it, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. “We’ll find a time for all of us to hang out together soon, yeah?”

As Applejack and Rarity walked to the room where they’d be staying, Applejack tried not to stare too much at the clip in that beautiful indigo mane.

“I truly am glad you like the clip,” Applejack said. “I give you a hard time about how much you fuss over your mane and tail, but I’d also fuss if mine were as beautiful as yours.”

“Well maybe they would be if you’d take my advice,” Rarity teased.

The apple farmer rolled her eyes playfully as they arrived at the room. Twilight left the aforementioned treats in the room for her friends to share. Applejack served the snacks and Rarity opened the wine.

“So… uh…” Applejack stammered. “We don't have to talk about it too much if you don’t want to. But be honest now… are you doin’ alright?”

Rarity finished pouring her glass and slowly looked up at Applejack. She had felt bad for lying to her friends, especially to the element of honesty. But while no breakups were easy, Rarity sometimes over exaggerated how bad she was feeling out of guilt for the stallion. Now, though, Applejack wanted an honest answer. And Rarity was ready to give it.

“We parted amicably and hadn’t been dating long,” Rarity said. “Honestly, I commend him for making me face the fact we were never going to become anything serious. Not everypony I’ve dated has had that courage.”

Applejack made a small nod of approval as she took her wine glass.

“Huh. So I don’t have anypony to pummel. Have to admit, as glad as I am that you're okay, I’m also a bit disappointed.”

Rarity appreciated the sentiment, but something was still really bothering her.

“If there's anypony you have to pummel, it's me,” she lamented. “What’s wrong with me? There was no reason this shouldn't have worked out. I was in the beginning of a nice relationship with a perfectly nice stallion. On paper, I've come so close to finding the prince I've dreamt of since I was little, yet I've somehow ended up unhappy every single time.”

The emotion of Rarity’s confession made her clip fall out of place. She smiled as she fixed it and then raised her glass to Applejack.

“To us,” she declared. “We've had our ups and downs, but I know you’ll always be there when I need you. Not to sound weird, but if you were a stallion, you'd truly be my perfect partner.”

After Applejack eagerly returned the toast, her grin quickly faded as she pulled her glass from her lips slowly. She knew Rarity was probably half joking, but Applejack couldn’t help but wonder if the other half was Rarity’s subconscious trying to tell her something.

“Who says I have to be a stallion?” Applejack asked matter of factly.

The answer to this should have been simple. Because Rarity was straight. Sure, the pursuit of finding her prince charming had been unsuccessful so far, but pursuing any dream was going to be easier said than done. She just hadn’t found the right stallion yet.

Or at least that’s what she had told herself. And sure, she would never say no if a stallion did 100% sweep her off her hooves. But so far, no stallion ever had. Every time she acted upon her crushes on stallions, for some unknown frustrating reason, she just couldn’t handle the idea of settling down and marrying them. And yet, the idea of marrying and settling down was something Rarity definitely knew she wanted. Who was she kidding?

“You knew?!” Rarity finally managed to say.

“Well, I obviously never wanted to outright assume anything. But I had my suspicions. And your comments tonight basically confirmed them.”

As trite a saying as it was, hindsight sure was 20/20 every time. It was so clear now to Rarity that what she had with Applejack went beyond normal friendship and it had been that way for a while. And neither did anything about it.

“You had feelings for me all this time and saw me date so many stallions and never said anything?” Rarity asked.

“It wasn’t easy,” Applejack admitted. “But unpacking this stuff can take time and I had to let you get there your own way.”

Rarity smirked as she scooted to be closer to the orange Earth pony and rested her head on her shoulder.

“I’m in love with my best friend who’s also a mare,” the white unicorn concluded, feeling an unexpected sense of relief after finally saying that out loud. “Certainly never saw that coming.”

Applejack giggled and stroked Rarity’s mane in response.

“Well, good things are better when they’re a rarity,” Applejack recalled.

Rarity laughed as Applejack snuggled her closer. She didn’t know if it was the wine, the high emotions, or the warm embrace, but Rarity could have fallen asleep in those strong hooves. However, the feeling sadly didn’t last long as Rarity realized the gravity of the situation.

“Oh… what do we do now?” Rarity began to stress. “Does this mean we’re dating? How should we tell other ponies? Should we tell other ponies?”

Applejack thought of these things, too. But she couldn't let that ruin a good moment.

“We can figure that out later, Sugarcube," Applejack decided. “But we can’t relive this night.”

Author's Note

Applejack knows compulsory heterosexuality when she sees it!