Rarity hiccupped as she put down her cider mug, a small bubble escaping her mouth and popping in the air in front of her face. Blushing, she scanned her surroundings to see if anypony had noticed; Applejack was lying on her back on a hay bale, making whooshing motions with her forelegs; Rainbow Dash slapped her knee enthusiastically as she laughed at a joke Pinkie Pie told; Twilight and Fluttershy were dancing enthusiastically – albeit sluggishly – in the center of the room in such a fashion that Rarity found herself wondering if Twilight wasn’t giving an impromptu lesson in the finer points of public embarrassment.

Most importantly, though, no one had seen her hiccup. Rarity gave a sigh of relief immediately before she felt the cider coursing through her system. Realizing she had some business to attend to, Rarity silently excused herself from Applejack’s barn and made her way over to the farmhouse.

The night air was crisp and chilly, and Rarity had to admit that she was excited to get her fall fashions back out, not to mention winter being right around the corner. She’d gotten no less than ten new pairs of boots on shopping trips over the summer, and it was driving her positively mad that she had to wait so long to finally get to show them off.

Of course, there was another perk to come with the winter; Applejack, her marefriend, had agreed to let her help ‘winterize’ the barn, as she called it, and Rarity had plans for it; Oh such plans she had. By the time she was done, she was sure nopony would even recognize the dilapidated old building, as it would be transformed into the most beautiful barn this side of Canterlot.

Having completed her mission to the little filly’s room, Rarity left the farm house and made her way back to the barn. Of course, winter would mean some other things she was much less looking forward to; Applejack would  track snow all over her nice carpets, as she did every winter. Applejack would come over and snuggle up close to Rarity under her quilt, and then sneeze just as Rarity was about to fall asleep, as she did every time she caught a cold due to her insistence on working even on the most blustery of days. Applejack would refuse to wear proper winter attire while escorting her to the annual New Year’s Ball in Canterlot, just as she would for every other important social occasion of every season.

Rarity shook her head. She’d long ago given up on trying to change Applejack; After all, if Applejack was not so thoroughly inconsiderate and irritating in so many aspects of life, she wouldn’t be Applejack, and she wouldn’t be the pony Rarity loved. It was hard sometimes, sure, but Rarity went to bed each night knowing she had the most dedicated marefriend in all of Equestria, a pony who would do anything for her when push came to shove, and for whom she herself would do anything in return; even if it meant getting her hooves a little dirty.

Rarity reached the barn and opened the door with a burst of magic, entering quickly and closing it behind her.

“And then Rarity said ‘But Applejack, I want to be the little spoon. I like it when you hold me in your big, strong legs.’ It was, honest to goodness, the most adorable thing.”

Rarity froze. She turned to look over at the hay bale and saw all of her friends gathered around in a semicircle, positively enraptured as Applejack drunkenly regaled them with the tale of two nights past. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie laughed uproariously. Even Twilight and Fluttershy were giggling obnoxiously into their hooves… And at the center of it, Applejack was laughing as well.

Laughing at her.

Rarity felt a hot wave of anger sweep across her mind. Taking a deep breath, she strode over to the hay bale to have a word with her marefriend.

“Welcome back, my little marshmallow!” Applejack shouted as she threw her hooves around her, nuzzling her nose into the crook of Rarity’s neck. Rarity pulled her off the hay bale and set her on her hooves with a stern look.

“Applejack, I need to have a quick chat with you.”

Applejack’s eyes drifted apart for a moment before refocusing to look into Rarity’s. She blinked, and then appeared to finally process her statement. She chuckled and turned back to the rest of the group for a moment. “Uh oh, looks like the missus is cross with me. I better go see what she wants.”

Rarity ground her teeth as she led Applejack over to the side of the open room.

“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, lazily bumping her flank into Rarity’s.

Rarity harrumphed and put on her best ‘This is serious’ face. “Applejack, I do not appreciate you telling stories like that to our friends.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Oh c’mon Rares, would you loosen up a bit? It was cute, and I just want them all to know how much I love ya.”

Rarity took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. “That is not the point. The fact is, what we do in our private time is our own business, and it is none of theirs.”

Applejack had the nerve to giggle in response. “Are you actually mad about this?”

“Yes, Applejack, I am!” Rarity said, voice rising slightly. Rarity noticed with displeasure that their friends over by the hay bale were all staring at them. They were trying to hide it, of course, but they were doing a very poor job of it. Perhaps she should have gone outside to have this conversation…

“That’s your problem, Rares! You take everything too seriously!” Applejack said, her posture straightening as her own voice raised to match.

“Well I think it is you who does not take things seriously enough!” Rarity said, pressing her forehead into Applejack’s.

To Rarity’s surprise, Applejack backed up, but did not lower her voice. “Rarity, this is dumb. Let’s go back to the party.”

“It is not dumb!” Rarity yelled back. Her friends might have been trying to hide their stares before, but by now they had dropped all pretense of not paying attention. So be it, Rarity thought, let them all see what it is I have to deal with every day. “You don’t respect me, or my wishes! It costs you precisely nothing to keep such stories to yourself, you know how much it means to me that you do, and yet you don’t care!”

Applejack regarded Rarity with a look of shock. She stood there for a moment, jaw hanging open, lips trembling, and gaze slowly falling to the floor before she leaned back and fell onto her rump. Rarity scowled at her across the silence for several long moments before Applejack finally spoke up. “... I’m sorry, Rares. I didn’t realize you felt that way. I… You know I respect you. I love you more than… Umm… I’m a little drunk to be comin’ up with metaforks–”

“–CoughcoughMetaphorscough–”

Rarity ignored Twilight’s interruption as Applejack continued, “–but you know I love ya, and I hold nothin’ but the upmost–”

“–CoughcoughUtmostcough–”

“–respect for ya. I didn’t mean t’make ya upset, I just… I love ya so much, and sometimes I can’t keep it all in. I’m sorry.”

Rarity sighed as Applejack finished. “It’s alright… I suppose I understand, it must be hard to hold in your love for a pony as wonderful as myself.” Rarity smiled as Applejack chuckled, then reached out a hoof to help her marefriend up. Applejack accepted the help and got back to her hooves, then moved in to pull Rarity into a hug.

“Thanks, Rares. I promise, no more embarrassin’ stories.”

Rarity ran her hooves through Applejack’s mane and squeezed her tight. “It’s alright. Let’s just get back to the party.”

“Alright,” Applejack said.

Rarity noticed her friends all look away as she started walking back towards them, feigning conversation with each other in an attempt to cover up their eavesdropping. Rarity decided to let it slide as she scooped up her mug from earlier and headed to the keg.

“Besides,” Applejack giggled as Rarity opened the spigot and filled her mug, “It’s not like I told them about the time Sweetie Belle found your ‘toy box’ under the bed–”

Rarity’s face turned crimson in a flash as she dropped her mug and turned to stare wide eyed at Applejack, cider spilling out onto the floor.

“–and asked us how you play with a ‘PulseMaster5000’!” Applejack rolled onto her back laughing, completely oblivious to the five ponies staring at her. She continued laughing as tears began to spring from her eyes, deep hearty guffaws ringing out around the whole barn.

Rarity’s whole face burned red. Slowly Applejack’s laughter began to grow quieter. She wiped her tears away and opened her eyes to see her friends all looking at her through the last vestiges of her chuckling. “Uh… why’s everypony lookin’ at me?” she asked. Receiving nothing but more stares as an answer, she suddenly slammed her hooves to her muzzle and gasped. “Oh no… Did I think that out loud?”

It took nary a moment for Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to join Applejack on the floor, supplying a new round of ecstatic laughter. Fluttershy immediately attempted to hide behind her mane, but Rarity could see her blushing almost as much as she was. Twilight gave a confused expression for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization and she joined Fluttershy in a contest to see who could shrink out of existence first.

Applejack saw all this and turned to look at Rarity, face pale as she’d ever seen it. “Uh… Oops.”

“Wow Rarity,” Rainbow interjected between bursts of laughter, “is AJ not putting out yet? I can’t believe you’d need that much relief!”

“OOPS!?” Rarity shrieked, leaping at her marefriend and pushing her muzzle right in front of her face. “OOPS!? That is it, Applejack, I am done with this!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean ta say that, it just slipped out!” Applejack looked positively stricken as she slumped back into the floor, rubbing her hooves together.

“I don’t care! You never mean it, and yet you always find some new way to humiliate me!” Rarity yelled before drawing back and stomping away toward the barn door.

“Rares, wait!” Applejack called as she scrambled to get up to her hooves again, stumbling as she did. “Please, I’m really sorry!”

“Sometimes sorry isn’t good enough!” Rarity called back as she reached the door and flung it open with her magic, taking a step outside.

Applejack chased after her with all the coordination her drunken hooves could muster. As she reached the doorway she tripped again and fell flat on her face. Picking herself back up, she saw Rarity making her way down the hill at a brisk pace. Applejack charged forward again, catching up to her in seconds.

“Please, Rarity, you gotta forgive me,” she pleaded.

“I have ‘got’ to do no such thing, Applejack,” Rarity said without so much as turning her head.

“Where are you going?” Applejack asked through the lump in her throat.

“I’m going home,” Rarity said as she stopped and slowly turned to see Applejack standing, looking at her in much the same way she looked at the menu at a Prench Cafe. Rarity looked directly into her eyes and leveled her voice as best she could. “I recommend that you do not follow me,” she said, and turned her back on her marefriend, leaving her standing out in the cold air of the orchard and trotting quickly up the path back to town.

Applejack awoke the following morning with what felt like the fangs of a timber wolf attempting to gnaw their way out of her head. “Celestia can raise and lower the sun at will, but she can’t put a durn dimmer switch on the thing…?” she groggily complained as she rolled away from the beams of light coming in through her window. Applejack didn’t like being asleep past dawn, but if there was ever a morning she was glad to be caught up on all the farm work, it was this one.

Applejack slowly crawled out of bed as she remembered the events of the previous night. Again she’d managed to do something stupid to offend Rarity, and again she was in the dog house for it. She heaved a heavy sigh as she made her way across her room to the door, each creak of the floor boards testing the upper limits of her considerable tolerance for pain.

The smell of food wafting up from the kitchen was enough to turn Applejack’s stomach as she crossed the hallway to the washroom. With any luck Big Mac would have started a pot of coffee by now, and there’d be some left for her by the time she got out of the shower.

Applejack glanced over to the mirror as she turned the knobs of the shower, the water hissing to life and bringing a soothing blanket of steam to the room with it. Applejack regarded her reflection with exhaustion. Her mane was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot with deep circles under them, and her fur was full of dirt and individual hairs that had been bent against the grain. It would take a lot of work to make herself look presentable, but she’d do it. For Rarity.

Applejack sighed again as she stepped into the shower, letting the hot water roll over her face and back. She grabbed a bar of soap and rubbed it between her hooves, and began to run the sudsy brick over her face. “Stupid Applejack, ya just can’t keep yer mouth shut,” she chastised herself through her headache. The worst part was that she couldn’t even write this off as a stupid mistake, not really; It was more of a systemic issue by now. A cycle, at least; She’d say something stupid to upset Rarity, Rarity would run home in a huff, Applejack would go buy flowers and apologize in the morning, and Rarity would forgive her. If nothing else, at least it was predictable… Applejack knew what she had to do, and she would do it, just like she always did. For Rarity.

Applejack stepped out of the shower and dried off with a towel before taking extra care to brush out her mane and coat and donning her hat to head down the stairs.

To her great relief, there was indeed a pot of coffee, and it was even still warm. She poured herself a mug and a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table while she took alternating sips. Slowly her headache began to subside, but between the dehydration of her hangover and the stress of having hurt Rarity again, she still felt more or less like death warmed over. She silently thanked Celestia that nopony else seemed to be in the farm house. Applebloom must have been at school, she thought, and Granny was probably asleep in her rocker on the porch. No doubt Big Macintosh was already out in the field looking for something to accomplish with his day, Applejack would have been happy to join him if she didn’t have to deal with her own problems.

Applejack let her forehead hit the table as she continued to think about it. On the plus side, she’d bought enough bouquets at Roseluck’s flower stand recently that her punch card was filled, meaning she’d be able to get this one for free; On the down side, she’d bought enough bouquets at Roseluck’s flower stand recently that her punch card was filled, meaning she’d be able to get this one for free.

Applejack lifted her head enough to let it fall and produce a satisfying thwack, which she immediately regretted as it summoned back the last vestiges of her headache. She downed the rest of her beverages and made her way to the farmhouse’s back door, quickly trotting toward the town.

Applejack panted heavily as she reached the front door of Carousel Boutique, pulling the bouquet of purple hyacinths into her hooves so she could breathe easier. She felt a mite irritated that Roseluck said hello after handing her the bouquet, but she begrudgingly had to accept that it was a fair assumption by now. She checked her mane in the window of the boutique one last time before summoning up her courage and knocking on the door.

Applejack waited in silence as she tried to figure out what she’d say. In all honesty, it would probably wind up being the same thing she always said. ’Listen Rares, I’m really sorry. I know I’ve been sayin’ that a lot lately, but I really mean it. I messed up, and I feel plum awful about it. I promise I’ll be better in the future. I love you more’n anything, please forgive me?’ Applejack sighed as she ran over the words in her mind. It was a simple script, a sort of catch-all, but at least it always worked.

That knowledge did nothing to quell her anxiety as the door opened and she saw Rarity standing in the doorway in a plain white robe, looking at her with tired eyes unhidden by make up or even false eyelashes; If Applejack didn’t know better, she would have thought Rarity had just rolled out of bed. Every other time Applejack had come over to go through this old song and dance, Rarity had made sure she was ritualistically perfect.

Applejack did her best to shake the looming feeling of dread out of her mind as she picked the flowers back up and stared into them. “Listen Rares, I’m–”

“Just come inside, Applejack,” Rarity interrupted her. Applejack looked up to see Rarity already turning away from the door and blinked.

“I… You’re not even gonna let me finish?” She asked.

“No, because I already know what you’re going to say. Now come in and close the door, you’re letting all the warm air out,” Rarity groused as she made her way to the table.

Applejack swallowed hard as she complied with Rarity’s directions, still nervously clutching the bouquet. The door softly shut behind her, she followed Rarity to the table. Rarity was already sitting down, a pair of filled tea cups in front of her. “Sit,” she said, motioning to a chair across from herself, and levitating one of the tea cups to the indicated seat.

Applejack shifted her weight back and forth as she made a decision between trying to offer the flowers to Rarity again or following her direction. “Er… I got ya these, Rare. I –”

“Yes, purple hyacinths, because you’re sorry. I know,” Rarity said in an exasperated voice bereft of the grandeur she usually applied to such a sentiment as she rubbed her temples. Applejack cringed. It wasn’t like Rarity to just brush off her apologies like this; Usually she milked them for all they were worth, like she was competing against her record to see how many times she could get Applejack to say ‘I love you’ in one sitting.

This, though, was something entirely different, Applejack noted as Rarity pulled the flowers from her grip with her telekinesis, setting them into a pre-watered vase at the center of the table. Her excuse for lingering now gone, Applejack made her way over to the chair Rarity had indicated and sat, pulling it in to the table with a small screech.

Applejack was already feeling off balance during this visit, but when Rarity passed up a perfect opportunity to lecture her on how rude it was to scratch a friend’s floors with one’s chair, she almost broke out in a cold sweat.

“Applejack, we need to talk.”

Applejack gulped. She might not have been the most genre-savvy pony in Equestria, but even she had seen enough sappy movies to know what those words typically meant. Convinced she was simply reading too far into it, Applejack opted for a joke to lighten the mood. “Well, ain’t that what we’re doin’ now?” She chuckled, but quickly stopped when Rarity made no effort to acknowledge it, instead continuing to massage her temples.

“Please, Applejack, just… don’t.” Rarity sighed, finally opening her eyes and lowering her hooves. “This isn’t working.”

Applejack’s eyes widened as the color drained from her face. Surely there was still a reasonable, non-devastating reason for those words to come out of Rarity’s mouth. “What do you mean?”

“This. All of this. Us, I guess. It’s not working anymore,” Rarity said as she looked up at the ceiling.

“You–” Applejack’s voice cracked, and she coughed into her hoof before trying again as she felt a stinging at the corners of her eyes. “–You’re saying you want to–”

“I’m saying I want to break up, Applejack. I’m done,” Rarity said, now averting her gaze to the doorway as she took a sip of tea.

Applejack froze. She couldn’t have heard right… She just couldn’t have. “No, you don’t mean that,” she muttered, though she wasn’t sure which of them she was trying to convince.

“Please, do not insult me by telling me what I do or do not mean,” Rarity said with a stern glare.

Applejack shrunk back in her chair, suddenly feeling very short of breath. She would have to remember to tell Twilight that looks, in fact, could not kill, as if they were capable of such, she would surely have died right then and there. Rarity seemed to notice, as she softened her expression immediately, taking on a pained countenance of her own. “I’m sorry… This isn’t easy. I’m no happier about it than you are, I assure you.”

“Why? Why now?” Applejack choked out as many words as she could, sniffling sharply as tears began to force their way to the surface.

“If anything, the question should be ‘why not sooner?’ This has been a long time coming,” Rarity sighed again before sipping her tea.

“No, it hasn’t!” Applejack yelled as she leaned forward on the table. “You don’t have to do this, Rarity, please. Please, just give me one more chance, I–”

“One more chance? Applejack, I’ve given you at least fifty ‘one more chance’s already! I’m tired of playing this game, aren’t you?” Rarity said, matching Applejack’s posture.

“That’s not fair,” Applejack protested, “we don’t fight that often!”

“Really? You do realize it took you no less than ten apologies before you found out that one did not bring red roses to say ‘I’m sorry’, do you not?”

Applejack shrunk back again, feeling like she’d just been suckerpunched. “I know, but it’s gotten better... Hasn’t it?”

“It has not gotten better! We’ve done this almost every week since we started together. Clearly, something’s wrong in this picture.” Rarity scowled across the table as Applejack deflated, slumping back into her chair.

“Not every week,” she breathed meekly as she stared at her hooves.

“Really? Well let’s see then. There was last week at La Verde–”

“I didn’t know mango salsa was that expensive,” Applejack muttered under her breath, but Rarity pressed on.

“–the week before that at the art gallery–”

“Expressionism is just an excuse not to learn to paint proper…” Applejack said, trying her best to phase through her chair to the floor.

“–Or, there’s the week before that in Baltimare, when you told the host of the benefit that his hat looked like ‘a cat went and puked on his head’!? Do you know how long it’ll be before I am invited back there?” Rarity shook her head.

Applejack winced. She didn’t even bother trying to defend herself for that one.

“I love you, Applejack, but you… Ugh!” Rarity slammed her hooves on the table with a frustrated yell. “I just can’t do it anymore! You don’t fit my life.”

Applejack stared at her hooves. She’d been through this a hundred times; She said something stupid to offend Rarity. Rarity ran home in a huff. Applejack bought her flowers and apologized to her the next morning.

Rarity didn’t forgive her.

Applejack took a deep breath, fighting back the tears trying to force their way to the surface. “You really mean this? It’s… It’s–” She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“It’s over,” Rarity finished for her with a deafening finality.

Applejack slumped even further into her chair, still not looking up at Rarity. “... I still love you, though.”

Applejack couldn’t see it, but she could hear Rarity’s face softening. A moment of silence passed before she heard hooves meet floor, and Rarity walked around to the her side of the table.

“I… I still love you too, Applejack. I care about you more than any other pony in the world. I just… I need things to be simpler. You can understand that, can’t you?” Rarity paused, and Applejack nodded with a sniffle, still refusing to look up. “Everything between us is always so complicated, though. Can you honestly tell me you’re happy with things the way they are?”

Applejack sniffled, finally raising her eyes enough to look into Rarity’s. All she saw was pain. “No,” she said on an unvoiced sob.

“Love is a terrible reason to be unhappy,” Rarity said, breaking her gaze away to the floor.

Applejack closed her eyes. Silence stretched out between them, dragging on from seconds to minutes to what had begun to feel like hours, though she knew that was just a trick of her mind. She tried to stop herself from thinking, from remembering, from regretting, but it was impossible. She remembered the thrill of the first time she worked up the nerve to flirt with Rarity, coming home from the Crystal Empire; She remembered their first kiss, after a long night of fixing the boutique after the fateful ‘Cutie Mark Swap’; She remembered the first time she said ‘I love you, Rarity,’’ and the bright little glow behind her eyes when she said ‘I love you too, Applejack.’

Applejack shook her head. Nearly two years of love, and Rarity was just throwing it away. Maybe she wasn’t happy, and maybe Applejack wasn’t happy either, but an Apple never just threw in the towel when the going got tough; an Apple fought tooth and nail for what was right, for what they knew was the truth.

Applejack loved Rarity, and Rarity loved Applejack; That was the truth. That was what mattered.

However, if Applejack had learned anything from her friends these last few years, she’d learned that sometimes brute force wasn’t enough to solve a problem. Sometimes, unnatural as it seemed, a tactical retreat held the same value as one hundred victories.

Unwilling to let the silence continue any longer, Applejack coughed, clearing her throat of the mucus threatening to close it up. “We’re still gonna be friends… right? I still need you, Rarity. I need you in my life.”

“I dearly hope so, Applejack,” Rarity said, her voice soft.

Applejack nodded. Of course they’d still be friends. She attempted to smile through her tears, but she wasn’t sure if she really succeeded. “Well, I guess… that’s that, then,” she said, her voice shuddering slightly as she got out of her chair. She sniffled loudly and took a step toward the door before she felt Rarity’s hooves wrapping around her neck.

“It’s for the best,” she heard the other mare say.

“Yeah… for the best.” Applejack nodded weakly. She couldn’t help but feel it was unfair of Rarity to hug her right now, to press herself close and allow Applejack to take comfort in what was about to be taken away forever. She wanted to wrap her own hooves around Rarity in turn, to hold on and never let go, but her hooves stayed rooted firmly in place. Rarity squeezed her neck tight before releasing her and taking a step away.

When Rarity did nothing more than stare down at the floor, Applejack closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “So… I guess I’ll see ya ‘round then,” Applejack muttered.

“Yes, you’ll… see me around,” Rarity agreed.

“Okay then,” Applejack said as she strode toward the door. Every fiber of her being wanted to take one last look back, but she knew she’d regret it if she did. “G’bye, Rarity,” she said as she opened the door and closed it behind her.

“... Good bye, Applejack,” Rarity said to the empty room, the knot in her stomach slowly – ever so slowly – untwisting.