“Thank you so much for inviting me to come with you to the fair, Rarity,” Fluttershy merrily chirped as she stepped onto the train platform.

“Think nothing of it, dear! After I found myself with an extra ticket in my possession, I couldn’t think of any pony I’d rather bring than you,” Rarity said with a smile.

It wasn’t a lie. Technically.

It’s not like speculated ulterior motives would hold up in a court of law, anyway.

“I hope Pinkie will be okay watching my animal friends for me while I’m gone… they can be a hooful sometimes, but I told them all to be on their best behavior,” Fluttershy rambled.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, dear,” Rarity said as she scanned the quaint town of Appleloosa. The fair was well under way already, as evidenced by the many tents and booths that lined the streets, to say nothing of the myriad ponies swamping them. Finding Applejack in this crowd wouldn’t be easy.

“I heard there was going to be a petting zoo, and if it’s alright with you, I’d like to stop by and see the local fauna. Last time we were here we didn’t really get that much time to look around, and…”

Rarity raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the sun and squinted. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had come down the previous afternoon, and by now they could be anywhere in town. Of course, this wasn’t the first time she had to find Applejack amidst a massive crowd, and she had a secret technique that was perfect for this situation.

Find the stetson, find Applejack.

Rarity grinned as her eyes locked on the familiar brown hat bobbing up and down among the sea of ponies. “This way,” she called to Fluttershy as she took off at a gallop toward the crowd.

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy squeaked from somewhere behind her. Rarity didn’t chance a look back, instead keeping her eyes locked on the leather beacon. Bobbing and weaving through the crowd, she closed in on her target and prepared her best ‘funny seeing you here!’ face.

The sea of ponies parted and Rarity saw the brown hat sitting atop a blonde mane.

Gotcha.

“Applejack, is that y–”

The mare turned around with a blank look in her blue eyes.

Blue. Rarity’s face fell.

“Uh, I think you’ve mistaken me for somepony else, sorry,” she said, and continued on her way.

Rarity blushed furiously as she caught her breath. It hadn’t occurred to her that Appleloosa, being a frontier town, would have more than one pony wearing the iconic hat.

That was okay, though; Just meant it would take a little more effort to find her. Rarity looked around as she tried to think of the best place to find Applejack. If she knew her ex – and she most certainly did – the first place she would look for her at a town fair would be…

“Oh my, I’m sorry Rarity,” Fluttershy panted as she stepped up beside her. “We got separated for a moment there. There’s an awful lot of ponies here, and…”

Rarity shook her head. “It’s fine, dear,” she mumbled. “I was just thinking about what we should go see first.”

Fluttershy smiled politely. “Oh, well, if it’s alright with you, I still really like to see the petting–”

“Why don’t we visit the game booths?” Rarity interrupted.

Fluttershy quirked an eyebrow. “Umm… You want to visit the game booths?”

“Of course,” Rarity said with a laugh. “Is that so strange?”

“Umm… A little, but–”

Rarity shook her head. “Whatever, let’s go.”

Fluttershy watched Rarity turn and sprint off again and sighed. “Okay,” she muttered as she followed behind.

“Ooh, this one looks like fun,” Fluttershy said as she stepped up to a stall where ponies were rolling small rubber balls towards small holes in a board in an attempt to move a mechanical rabbit forward along a racetrack. Rarity rolled her eyes.

Applejack wasn’t at the game booths.

“And look at the prizes,” Fluttershy said as she pointed to a large plush carrot hanging on a hook at the back of the stall. “I bet Angel would love that.”

Rarity tapped a hoof to her chin. Of course Applejack wasn’t at the game stalls on Day Two. She was here with Rainbow Dash, of all ponies. Rarity would’ve been surprised if the first words out of that arrogant feather brain’s mouth weren’t ‘Hey, I bet I can beat you at like, all the games they have here.’ Applejack wouldn’t take a challenge like that lying down; They would have proceeded right here and played games for hours, probably, until…

“Would you like to play this game with me, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked, meekly tapping her shoulder.

Rarity shook her head. “No, actually, I’m quite famished. We should go find something to eat.”

Fluttershy glanced back to the game stall, and then back to Rarity. “Umm… But I thought you wanted to play games?”

Rarity laughed. “Fluttershy, there will be plenty of time for games later.”

“Oh… okay,” Fluttershy said slowly and fell in step behind Rarity once more.

“I thought the hostess at the last place looked like a very nice pony, didn’t you, Rarity?”

“What?” Rarity asked, furrowing her brow.

“Umm… Nothing, Rarity,” Fluttershy said with a sigh.

Rarity stopped walking and looked back to her companion. “And what was that about?”

Fluttershy shrunk back and hid her face behind her mane. “It’s just… You said you were famished, right? And we’ve been to almost every food vendor in town now, and none of them were good enough, you said, and that’s fine because I don’t want to force you to eat somewhere you don’t like, but it’s been almost an hour now and the sun’s going to go down soon and we’ve barely even done anything at the fair…”

Rarity rolled her tongue across her teeth. Perhaps this wasn’t very fair to her Fluttershy… But she had to find Applejack. If she didn’t, this whole trip would have been for naught. Didn’t Fluttershy understand that?

Well, maybe she didn’t, since Rarity hadn’t exactly told her that, but… Rarity shook her head. This was too important.

Rarity glanced over her shoulder at The Greasy Spittoon. It was the last tavern in town that they hadn’t already checked. If Applejack wasn’t here, she’d just give up; That was fair, right?

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, you’re right,” Rarity deflated with a sigh. “Let’s just go eat, and then, we’ll… What was it you said you wanted to see? The petting zoo?”

Fluttershy shifted her weight from hoof to hoof and nodded. “If you don’t mind…”

Rarity bit her lip. Fluttershy would understand, though. When Rarity explained it all, she would understand.

She had to.

Rarity sat on a hay bale with her chin resting on a hoof as she idly petted a small sheep that had apparently taken a liking to her. Fluttershy was off frolicking with a group of piglets last Rarity had checked, which was good; At least one of them had found something worthwhile on this trip.

“Rarity?”

Rarity jerked her head around to look behind her.

“Rarity, it is you!”

Rarity rubbed her eyes. Applejack stood just on the other side of the petting zoo’s fence with a smile. “Oh, uh, hello Applejack,” she said, smiling back.

“What’re you doin’ out here?” Applejack asked as she hopped over the fence and sat down next to her on the hay bale, then squinted as she looked into Rarity’s eyes. “Yer not stalkin’ me, are ya?”

Rarity jumped to her hooves. “N–No, of course not! I was just–”

Applejack laughed and slapped her knee. “I’m just messin’ with ya, Rarity! Gosh, you should see yer face right now, yer red as an apple!”

Rarity nervously forced a chuckle. “Yes, right, of course…”

“So, what’re ya doin’ down here, Rares?” Applejack asked as she stretched her fetlocks.

“Oh, well, I mentioned to Fluttershy that you had told me about the fair when we were at the spa, and she wanted to come see it. I think she’s been feeling a little pent up as of late. Anyway, I couldn’t very well let her come down here alone, so here I am,” Rarity finished with a flip of her mane and a smile.

It wasn’t a lie. Technically.

“Well, that’s awful nice of you, Rares. Me an’ Rainbow have been havin’ one hay of a time, I gotta say.”

Rarity grimaced inwardly. “Well, that’s… great,” she said. “Speaking of, if you don’t mind me asking, where is Rainbow Dash?”

Applejack snickered. “Oh, she’s off refillin’ ‘er cider mug. I’m sure she’ll be catchin’ up in a few minutes.”

Rarity nodded. “I’m glad you’re having fun,” she muttered.

“So, Fluttershy’s here?” Applejack asked.after a brief silence.

“Yes, she’s over there, with the piglets,” Rarity said, gesturing her hoof in a vague direction.

“That’s nice. There’s somethin’ for everypony here, I tell ya.”

Rarity nodded again. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know where to begin.

It was strange for Rarity, not knowing what to say. Of course she knew what she wanted to say; She wanted to say ’Applejack, I’m sorry,’ or ’Applejack, please take me back, or even ’Applejack, I know I’ve ruined just about everything at this point, but how could you just move on? With her of all ponies?’

But none of those things would help.

“So, what about you, then?” Applejack asked, breaking Rarity out of her thoughts.

“Pardon?” Rarity asked.

Applejack shifted to make eye contact with Rarity. “You havin’ a good time?”

Rarity looked into Applejack’s beautiful green eyes and felt an overwhelming sense of contentment. It had been so long since they’d actually talked.

“Yes,” Rarity said, feeling the corners of her mouth curl upward involuntarily. “Of course I am.”

“Wonderful,” Applejack said, and went back to reviewing their surroundings.

The moment was gone too quickly. Rarity turned back to her hooves, stealing glances at Applejack out of the corner of her eye. She had that smirk again; That tiny, self-satisfied smirk that meant everything was right in her world. Rarity never had been able to decide if she loved or loathed that smirk.

“Oh, here’s an idea,” Applejack began as she turned back to Rarity, “there’s a fireworks show tonight that me an’ RD were gonna go check out. You and Flutters should join us. And before ya ask, yes, we got a blanket, so ya won’t have to sit in the dirt or nothin’,” she finished with a wink.

She loathed it. Universally loathed it, she decided.

“That sounds wonderful,” she heard herself say before she thought too much about it.

“Great,” Applejack said.

Rarity rolled her tongue across her teeth. In truth, she wasn’t 100% certain that was such a great idea. Fireworks were romantic. Would she really be okay with sitting a few short feet from the love of her life as she no doubt snuggled and whispered with another pony? Snuggles and whispers that, a few short weeks ago, would have been with her?

Rarity shook her head. It wasn’t ideal, no, but she had to do it.

“Hey, remember the Ponyville Fair last year?” Applejack asked idly.

The framed picture of her and Applejack at the Ponyville Fair last Spring; Sent flying into the wall.

Rarity coughed. “Yes, I… I do,” she said.

Applejack sighed as she leaned back on the haybale and closed her eyes.

Rarity paused. “... What about it?”

“I dunno,” Applejack shrugged. “Just thinkin’ about it, I guess.” She giggled slightly. “Topical, or somethin’.”

Rarity’s breath hitched in her throat. “Topical, yes.”

If she had to, Rarity was pretty sure she could find a spell to fix the broken frame. And if it really came down to it, there was no way Twilight didn’t already know one. She didn’t have to tell her what the frame was for, just that it was terribly important to her that it be fixed. Right away. With no questions asked.

Twilight would understand. Of course she would.

… But did that even matter at this point? Rarity wanted to kick herself in the face harder than she could even imagine.

It was a farce of a question, of course. Did she remember the Ponyvlle Fair… How could Applejack even ask that?

Ponyville held its annual Fair every Spring as far back as Rarity could remember. When she was young, her parents took her every year. Then Sweetie Belle came along and she became her sister’s chaperone. More recently, it had become a yearly outing for her and her friends.

And more recently than that, it had become a yearly date for Rarity and Applejack.

Of course there was the picture from the broken frame, but there was much more than that to remember. Applejack had finally coaxed her into riding a roller coaster, for example; ‘These little fair rides aren’t that intense,’ she’d promised. ‘They can’t put in all the loops and spins ‘cos they gotta be able to break ‘em down an’ set ‘em back up. C’mon, it’ll be fun!’

And of course, Applejack had held her hair back in the moments after the ride ended when Rarity found herself expelling the funnel cake they’d previously shared. ‘Okay, maybe they’re a little more intense than I’d thought,’ Applejack had admitted.

She didn’t even complain later when they’d made out in the picture booth.

The picture wasn’t even the only souvenir of the trip, Rarity quickly realized. Like any good fair, Ponyville’s had plenty of games, and with games came prizes. Applejack had spent nearly 30 bits at a clearly rigged darts game in order to win her a teddy bear.

‘Applejack, you could have simply bought me a teddy bear, and spent barely half that many bits,’ Rarity had teased her..

‘I know, but I wanted to win it for ya,’ Applejack had replied.

‘I don’t see what difference it makes,’ Rarity had said with a roll of her eyes.

‘Because anypony could just go buy a teddy bear, right? But I actually had to work for this, it’s more special because of it.’

Rarity felt the beginnings of tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Nothin’ against Ponyville, but I think this is nicer,” Applejack said with a yawn.

“Really?” Rarity asked, quickly rubbing the water from her eyes and hoping that Applejack wouldn’t notice.

“Well, not so much the fair, but… I dunno, there’s just somethin’ about the frontier that I love. Like, look at the sky,” she said, pointing a hoof.

Rarity glanced up briefly. “It’s nice,” she said.

Applejack rolled her eyes and laughed. “Come on Rares, actually look at it.”

Rarity felt Applejack grab her shoulders and pull her back onto the hay bale so that she was laying next to her. “Okay, I’m looking at it!” Rarity laughed as she tried to glare disapprovingly at Applejack.

“No you’re not, you’re lookin’ at me,” Applejack grinned cheekily.

Rarity fumed as she looked up at the sky. Perhaps if she furrowed her brow enough, Applejack wouldn’t notice the shade of her cheeks. It was a stupid hope, but she couldn’t convince herself it wasn’t worth a try. “Fine, what am I supposed to be looking at?”

“The stars, Rares,” Applejack said as if it was obvious.

Rarity blinked. “They’re very nice,” she said uncertainly.

Applejack laughed. “Come ON Rarity, really look at them. I mean, ya can’t see nearly this many stars back in Ponyville, what with all the light pollution. And Ponyville’s just a small town, right? A short trot to Canterlot and the sky’s completely dark!”

Rarity smiled. Applejack was right, of course; The city had a way of removing a pony from nature to the point where they could forget nature was even still out there.

“Anyway, that’s what I’m gettin’ at,” Applejack said. “We let ourselves get so wrapped up in the wonders of the modern world, right? But this kind of beauty, ya just can’t find it back in civilization. And it’s a shame, yanno?”

Rarity winced. “I know all too well,” she said, doing all she could to convince herself she was still talking about the sky. “Applejack, I…”

“Applejack, how lovely to see you,” Fluttershy said as she floated over from deeper in the zoo.

“Fluttershy, hey!” Applejack laughed as she stood to give the pegasus a hug. “How’re ya doin?”

Rarity dragged her hooves down her face.

“Oh, I’m wonderful,” Fluttershy said happily, “thank you for asking. How’re you?”

“I’m great,” Applejack replied. “Me an’ Rares were just talkin ‘bout how there’s gonna be some fireworks in a little bit, and you two should join me an’ RD to see ‘em.”

“That sounds like fun,” Fluttershy agreed.

“Speaking of, I’d better go figure out where she got off to. Shouldn’t take quite this long to refill a cider mug,” she said with a chuckle. “You two wanna meet us over by the quad?” Applejack pointed toward the outskirts of the fair. “We’ll bring the blanket.”

“Okay, see you there,” Fluttershy said.

“Yes, see you there, Applejack,” Rarity confirmed with a nod.

Applejack tipped her hat and hopped back over the fence.

“That was nice of Applejack to invite us to the fireworks, wasn’t it, Rarity?” Fluttershy said idly as they walked towards the quad.

“Yes, it was,” Rarity replied, believing for the first time that night that this whole situation was going to work out alright. She didn’t know exactly how she knew, but there was simply something about the conversation she’d had with Applejack that was… reassuring.

Applejack hadn’t forgotten her after all. She’d gotten herself awfully worked up about the whole situation. Embarrassingly so, in fact. But it was okay. Applejack still cared about her. Enough to sit on a hay bale for twenty minutes and talk about the stars.

Rarity wasn’t sure what that meant, but she knew it definitely meant something.

“Hey, Rarity! Fluttershy! Over here,” Applejack called from a short distance away. Rarity and Fluttershy trotted over to join her at a large checkered blanket already set up.

“Lovely spot you picked, darling,” Rarity said as she looked around. Assuming the fireworks would be going off on the opposite side of the quad from the fair, which she felt was safe, they would have a wonderful view.

“Thank ya kindly,” Applejack said with a nod.

“Isn’t Rainbow supposed to be here? Where is she?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Where do ya think she is?”

“You poniesh talking about me over there?” Rainbow’s slightly slurred voice sounded behind them. Rarity turned to look and saw the pegasus wobbling toward them. “Oh, hey Raridee, hey Fluttersh… Fluttershy.”

“Rainbow… I’m cuttin’ you off after this mug,” Applejack said as she guided her marefriend to the blanket.

“You’re not my mom,” Rainbow spat back.

“You’ll thank me in the mornin’,” Applejack replied.

“... I have to go,” Rarity said suddenly.

Applejack looked up. “What? Why?”

“Is everything alright, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

“Everything’s fine, I just… I need to go,” she said, and quickly trotted away.

Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged a look. “Fluttershy, is she okay?”

Fluttershy furrowed her brow. “She seemed… I’ll go check on her.”

Applejack nodded. “Thanks, ‘Shy.”

Rainbow snickered as she took the teddy bear off her back and placed it on the blanket next to her. “What’s up with Rares? She see somepony wearing last year’s trends?”

“I… I dunno,” Applejack said as she watched Fluttershy take off after her.

Above them, the skies erupted in light and color as the fireworks show began.