“Aw, now, Rares, this just ain’t right,” Applejack said, using a hoof to poke at the curler wrapped in her mane. Several of them littered her head, and Rarity was currently busy magicking a large number of them into Applejack’s tail, as well. She didn’t protest at first - she hadn’t complained at anything Rarity had done to “make her fabulous,” as Rarity put it, but now that she saw herself in the mirror... the line had to be drawn somewhere.

“But, darling,” Rarity cooed, her focus still entirely on her date’s tail. “You simply cannot just trot around town with your beautiful mane tied up into a messy ponytail like you always do.” She gave a tug on one of the curlers wrapped in Applejack’s tail, causing her to wince slightly at the pain. “You have a wonderful mane and tail. I can’t do blonde. You can. You should be proud of it.”

“Yeah, but... curlers? Rarity, that just ain’t me.” Applejack interfered for the first time, looping a hoof around one of the curlers in her mane before unraveling it, her mane flopping in a loose strand at the side of her head. “Ah let ya polish my hooves. Ah let ya brush my coat. Ah let ya ‘plump my eyelashes’ - Ah don’ even know what that means - an’ Ah let ya comb my mane... But curlin’? Naw. Ah’m willin’ ta keep it down, though.”

Rarity gave a tiny little grumble - but Applejack did have a point. She’d conceded many times during her impromptu makeover, and it was only fair if she allowed her date to have some control over her looks. All of the hair curlers were gripped in a magical glow at the same time, slowly and delicately unrolling themselves before being deposited in their storage container. “Fine, fine, no mane or tail curling.” A comb was instead clutched in Rarity’s magical aura, which began to stroke Applejack’s mane, brushing out the minor curls that were imprinted in the strands.

Rarity took a step back and admired her work - she’d truly gone all out on Applejack. Every individual strand of mane, tail and coat was brushed into a perfect place, golden locks of mane splayed across her head, around her ears and down her neck, hanging down in perfectly straight lines and soft to the touch. Her hooves shined, the lights in the boutique gleaming off the rounded ends. The air was thick with the scents of many perfumes, each one having been spritzed in front of Applejack’s nose for a test sniff before they settled on one: naturally, it was a blend of vanilla and apple scents that finally won her over.

The only thing that was missing was the dress, and Rarity had just the thing.

“Huh.” Applejack stood still in front of the mirror, regarding herself with a turn of her head as she stared at the reflection. Her flowing mane bobbed slightly with the movement. Applejack moved a hoof to stroke along a lock. “Ah gotta admit, Rares, Ah am kinda likin’ this look. A shame it’d get too much in the way on the farm.”

“A shame indeed,” Rarity responded, a touch of genuine disappointment in her voice. “Now, then. While you were gone making deliveries, I made a few adjustments to your bridesmare’s dress, if that’s all right with you.”

“‘Course it is. Yer the tailor, not me. Ah ain’t gonna complain.”

“Well, alright. Because I know that you are going to appreciate the changes, if not love them.” With a soft glow from her horn, the dress used those months ago at the royal wedding lifted off of the mannequin it was settled on, floating it’s way over toward the pair. It hung in the air between the two, and Applejack fixed it with a confused glance.

“...Ah can tell it’s different, but I cain’t tell exactly how,” Applejack said, checking again as she looked over it.

“Oh, it’s all fairly subtle. A change in line here, a little embellishment there,” Rarity explained, floating it back behind Applejack’s head and unfastening its buttons and buckles with telekenisis, preparing to slip it over Applejack’s body. “For the most part, the dress itself is the same. I tweaked the collar, adding a few extra gathers of fabric over the chest for a more daring d’ecolletage, and that pale blue lace just had to go! It clashed horribly with the rest of it … that is, once I removed the biggest faux pas.”

Applejack eyed Rarity curiously. “What else did ya go an’ remove? Ah thought it was fine.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t noticed! The wreath is gone, darling. It was fine for the wedding, when we were all wearing them, but hardly appropriate dinner wear! I know how much you love your hat, so you can keep it on, now. I hope you didn’t think I was going to drag you all over Ponyville wearing that silly wreath!”

“Aw, I didn’t think it was that silly.” A forced grin spread across Applejack’s face, and a bead of sweat appeared on her brow.

Rarity huffed and dabbed at Applejack’s nose with a hoof as the dress lowered itself down onto Applejack’s back. The fabric wrapped around as it was buckled into place, broad silken ribbons sliding under and across the mare’s barrel to keep the breezy, multi-layered skirts in place. “Hush, you. I know you hated it. It wasn’t your hat, so there’s no way you liked it. ...And it isn’t like I didn’t see you sneak it on during the ceremony, you know.”

Applejack blushed. She was convinced Rarity hadn’t noticed her slip it on during the ceremony. “...Ya noticed that, huh?”

“Darling, I was standing directly next to you at the ceremony, you realise.” Rarity chuckled as she stepped around to Applejack’s back, eyes darting up and down the dress. Occasionally, a piece of the fabric would be consumed in a magical glow and tugged, shifting the dress slightly. “I couldn’t help but notice it. It’s quite large, you know.”

“‘Tain’t that big,” Applejack muttered.

“Oh, it is. But that’s all right, it has … ‘character.’” Rarity trotted over to the rack near the door to retrieve the hat in question, then stopped, and blinked. This wasn’t the familiar, battered leather work hat that was as much a part of Applejack’s head as her mane was. It was the same cut and color, but it was a velvety suede, chased with intricate, embossed designs that centered around a pair of bright red apples on the upturned brim.

“Why … this is the hat I made for you last year for the Gala!”

Applejack grinned. “It sure is. I swung by Sweet Apple Acres while I was out makin’ deliveries an’ swapped it out. I didn’t expect you to spring this fancy dress-up on me, but by golly, if I was gonna take you out on a date, I was gonna wear my best hat.”

“That … that is so sweet,” Rarity stammered, sincerely touched. She levitated the hat from its hook, and set it down at a jaunty angle on Applejack’s carefully-combed coiffure. She took a trot in a circle around Applejack, clicking her tongue. “Aha! I know just the thing that will pull this all together.”

The unicorn nosed open a large wooden case next to her workbench, and the sky-blue glow of her magic gently enveloped a necklace of gold filigree, set with an apple-shaped ruby in the center. “Ah, here we go. Just the thing!”

Applejack gaped as it settled around her neck. “Buckin’ hay, Rarity! Where did you lay hooves on my Element of Harmony?”

Rarity giggled. “It’s costume jewelry, darling! I’ve had my favorite jeweler crafting the full set for months now. I keep him well-stocked with gems, and he does a few pieces for me now and then in return. The originals are such lovely pieces; it’s a tragedy to keep them locked in a vault until disaster strikes.” She winked. “Besides, we’re three for three on not getting to them when we needed them the most; having a set of decoys around might give us an edge the next time.”

Applejack laughed. “Dang, girl, you got a sneaky streak!”

Rarity grinned. “One does one’s best.” How odd -- and flattering -- to hear Applejack, of all ponies, make that sound like a compliment!

She gave her date one final assessment. Alas, even with the apple necklace anchoring it, that hat still didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the ensemble … but without it, she just didn’t look like herself. And besides … to hear Applejack describe the chapeau that Rarity herself had designed as her “best” hat … the unicorn was not going to say a word against it now.

“All right. Well, you’re ready to go. Let me just get my dress over here, now,” Rarity said, her horn glowing as an ensemble on a mannequin of its own took off, floating along until it rested in the air directly above her flanks.

“That ain’t yer bridesmare dress,” Applejack observed, obvious as ever.

“No, darling, that seems to have shrunk in the wash,” Rarity teased. “I don’t know what could have happened to it. This was one of my commissions … or it was, anyway. It was intended for a Canterlot matron of some … substance, but her measurements kept changing, and I had to keep letting it out, until finally … there wasn’t any fabric left to let out, and I had to start over from scratch. Her loss is my gain, though.” She smiled impishly. “ … Or perhaps I should say, her gain is my gain? I tried it on this morning, and it fits perfectly.”

Once the lace trim had been discarded (really, what had she been thinking?), Applejack’s dress had the clean, crisp lines of a classical statue. Rarity’s was the polar opposite, full of lacy designs and flouncy fabrics that both downplayed and flattered the lushness of her new physique, and tastefully adorned with the glittering gems that were her trademark. Where Applejack’s dress was open and airy, mostly skirt, Rarity’s had a full blouse and bodice; instead of the simple belt of the bridesmaid outfits, the skirt attached to the bodice with a clever arrangement of hooks and eyes. For a mare of fuller figure, a single strap might dig uncomfortably into her tender belly; the bodice clevery distributed the support around the whole of the barrel and belly, evening out the stresses.

The ensemble separated into three pieces: blouse, bodice, and skirt, each suspended in the sky-blue radiance of the unicorn’s magic. Rarity sat up on her haunches and let the blouse slip over her head, wriggling her forelegs into the sleeves. She dropped back to all fours, letting the bodice settle across her back. It fastened together with a double row of gemstone buttons, each the shape and hue of the sapphires in her cutie mark; with one side already neatly secured, the other, caught again in the magical glow, wrapped around her barrel ...

… and stopped short.

Rarity quickly realised she was in a bit of a bind - literally. Her eyes cracked open as she shot a look behind her, checking to make sure that nothing was caught, that the fabric hadn’t creased or twisted somehow … but no. Everything was in order, everything was perfectly aligned.

It fit perfectly this morning … but that was two large saddlebags of pastries ago.

A blush washed over her cheeks as she tried once more to wrap the bodice around her bulging barrel - it wasn’t going to go, not without some help. Her magic strained itself to try and pull the fabric around her soft belly, and, just as she was about to pull a magic muscle, she finally felt the first button slip into its loop, followed by another, and then another.

Rarity let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding. Her belly sagged lower at the release of air, causing the seams to creak dangerously. She’d squeezed into the bodice, all right, but she felt like ten pounds of marshmallow stuffed into a five-pound bag.

With a short pant - the magic used to clench the belt shut was no small amount - she turned her attention to the skirt still waiting patiently above her. Perhaps it had dropped a few inches while her concentration was elsewhere, but no matter. It floated southbound until she felt the bustle seat itself, the waves of lacy fabric flowing over the ample curves of her flanks and rump. With the bodice secure (for certain values of “secure”), the skirt required only a few extra tugs to fasten it into place.

She turned around, finally dressed, to find Applejack nearly eating her bottom lip. The voyeuristic mare was caught, red hoofed, staring intently at Rarity’s swaying middle as it was crammed into the dress. Her back legs were edging closer together, tail just barely swaying to the side.

Applejack turned redder than her namesake as their eyes locked, averting her gaze and suddenly finding whatever bits of fabric littered the floor to be the most fascinating thing in the room.

“Oh, darling,” Rarity said, disguising her own embarrassment behind a facade of deliberate coyness. “I didn’t quite mean to give you a show like that... not that you should have been staring at a lady getting dressed, anyway!”

“Ah wasn’t starin’!” Applejack shouted, still staring at the floor between her hooves. She glanced up and cleared her throat. She paused and tacked on, “really!”

“Of course you weren’t.” Rarity patted Applejack’s hat as she walked past her, trotting towards the door. “Well, if you’re done studying the floorboards, darling, we’ve got a date to go on. Are you ready?”

Applejack’s mood brightened at the change of subject, trotting over to Rarity’s side. “Yeah! Of course. Let’s get goin’, then.”

“One more thing,” Rarity said as her horn lit up, levitating a small box from one of the tables near the door. She flipped the lid open telekinetically, pulling out a small tube of bright, candy apple red lipstick and a powder puff, already covered in a payload of gray-pink blush - both of which were making a straight line for Applejack’s face.

Applejack cocked her head to the side and fixed a stare onto Rarity. She got the hint, and with a huff and a flip of her mane, the make-up found its rightful place back in the box. “Well, can’t blame a mare for trying. Off we go!”

Applejack’s eyes dragged along the menu in front of her, awkwardly gripped between her two forelegs as she tried to read it. Every few moments, she would pick up a word that she was familiar with - sandwich she knew, and she also recognized soup. Most everything else was baffling to the farm pony. She was almost certain that most of the menu was in a different language.

The entire dining room had Applejack on edge - she couldn’t help but think she didn’t belong as she looked around. This was truly the height of fine dining in Ponyville, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that it just wasn’t the place for a farmpony. The tables had lace running along the ends of the cloths, there were shined, crystal plates set on the tables prior to arrival, gaudy chandileers studded with expensive jewels covered the ceiling... and if the scenery wasn’t enough, there were utensils laid out for each of them. Applejack sighed.

The rest of the clientele was likewise just as bothersome. The majority of those in the room were unicorns, and unquestionably high class. There wasn't a pony in the room who wasn't dressed just as exquisitely as they were. A few pegasai were scattered around the room, using their wings as another vessel for gaudy jewelry and clothing lace; they even sat on seats made of clouds. And as Applejack had expected, there was only one earth pony - her.

"...Rares,” Applejack said, finally growing frustrated with the menu. “Ah don't speak fancy. What's a horse devours?"

"Hors dourves, darling. Not 'horse devours'. That was me at dinner last night. Just pick anything, I'm sure it's fine,” Rarity said, her own menu daintily gripped in a light magic field. Applejack attempted to turn a page on the menu, only to drop it and have it shut closed in front of her. It wasn’t very often that she was jealous of a unicorn’s magic, but this was one of those times.

“...Ah’ll jus’ get whatever you get, Rarity,” Applejack said, pushing the menu towards the end of the table.

“Oh, now, where’s the fun in that?” Rarity asked, dipping the menu slightly so she’s able to look over it. “If you do that, we can’t try each other’s entree!”

“...Ya’ll jus’ wanna eat whatever Ah order, don’ ya?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow, returning her glance.

“Applejack!” Rarity feigned a gasp, holding a hoof to her chest. “How could you accuse a lady of such a thing! Even if it’s true. Which it is. Regardless!”

Applejack could only chuckle in response, giving a short shake of her head. "Ah ain't complanin'. Get what ya wan'."

Acknowledging their menus being dropped, the waiter returned, notepad and quill being held in the air with a faint orange glow. He addressed Rarity entirely, disregarding even the slightest glance at Applejack. "Ready to order, Madame?"

"I am, yes. I believe I will have the seared brussel sprout platter, with the pureed sweet potato side dish and a glass - no, make it a bottle - of your finest Marelot wine. Vintage, please. We'll say... 13 years, at least. Yes, that sounds delightful!" Rarity finally finished, clapping her hooves together in front of her on the table, plenty pleased with her order.

The waiter scribbled down each detail, horn glowing as he thrust the quill across the page. With a short nod, he turned his attention towards Applejack. Rarity's gaze followed, landing on her date who seemed to be almost sweating bullets at the prospect of ordering "fancy" food.

"Uh," Applejack said, stalling. Pleading eyes found their way towards Rarity, locking with hers.

"Darling," Rarity started, bailing Applejack out. "You seemed to enjoy the steamed hay cakes with the blueberry drizzle the last time we were out. Why not try the ones they have here?"

Applejack latched onto the verbal lifesaver she was thrown, turning her gaze back up to the waiter. "Yep! That sounds jus' wonderful. Ah'll have one'a them."

The waiter hastily scribbled down the order, and bowed his head. "Very well. I will return shortly with your meals and wine." Tucking the quill and notepad away in his apron, he trotted off.

"Thanks fer the save there, Rares," Applejack admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Think nothing of it, dear. You're out of your element here," Rarity said, gesturing around the room with a hoof, before pointing it at herself. "On the contrary, I'm absolutely in the center of mine. Think nothing of it. I want you to enjoy this date as much as I do, and flopping around on your order, well... that wouldn't be very enjoyable, I don't think."

"Not at all," Applejack agreed, eyes flicking down towards the table. "But... what's a 'hay cake', anyway?"

"Oh! It's... well, it's a little ball of hay," Rarity explains, making a ball shape out of the air in front of her with a hoof. "And they pop it in a steamer so it's nice and moist - ends up tasting more like pasta than anything - and they coat it in a simply divine syurp... it's kind of like maple syrup, but made with sugar and berries rather than tree sap, and... ooohhh." A shudder ran through Rarity, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

Applejack chuckled. "Relax, Rares. It's just fancy hay rolled up into a ball."

"But it isn't just hay, Applejack! Why, it's simply amazing the amount of effort the chef has to put into crafting them. I mean, you know how brittle hay is - you're around it constantly, you work on a farm. Now imagine trying to wrap it into a ball shape," Rarity said, pausing for effect. "Without breaking it into a useless mess."

"Ya know, Rares, Ah never would'a taken you fer such a chef," Applejack quipped, her chin finding its way to set between her forehooves as she stared at Rarity.

"Well, I'm not," Rarity admits. "I can cook enough to survive, but that's about it... even still, though, I know enough to get a little excited when I see something particularly exquisite. It's a very delicate process, hay balls. It's something I can appreciate, is all."

Applejack's eyes wandered lower on Rarity's body, though she couldn't see much thanks to the table. "Ah can tell. Ya seem to 'appreciate' food pr- mmf!" One of the daisies used as a centerpiece on the table stuffed itself into Applejack's mouth, the faint blue glow disappearing as it hit its mark.

"I meant the difficulty in the in the actual craft," Rarity said, voice level and nonchalant as if she wasn't the one responsible for the flower in her date's face. "Not the flavor. ...Though, let's not lie, I also adore the taste."

Applejack chewed and swallowed - though it was just for decoration, it was as tasty a daisy as she'd ever had. Were it a more casual restaurant, she might have just eaten the rest out of the vase and disregarded her meal. "Ya'll know I'm jus' teasin', anyway."

"But of course! I know you didn't mean it like that," Rarity said. "...But still."

Applejack opened her mouth to question that, only to be distracted by the food being delivered to their table. The waiter was an impressive showman, able to loft both plates, along with the wine bottle and glasses, all together, floating them through the dining room. Their entrees found themselves placed in front of their respective mare, the wine glasses being placed at either end and the bottle of Marelot placed in the center.

Rarity’s expression was one of pure glee as she spotted the stallion with their meals before he ever reached the table, an excited click of her hooves as a reaction. The delight on her face fell off faster than Berry Punch falling off the wagon, Applejack noticed, as soon as the plate was placed in front of her. It couldn’t have been the aroma - it was delicious, even she could tell that from the other side of the table. The buttery scent of the pan-fried greens was easily identified, just barely browned around the edges. Likewise, the sweet potato bowl to the side of the leafy entree looked downright amazing - just the right shade of orange and exactly the precise texture.

"Can I get either of you anything else?" The waiter asked, glancing between the two.

Applejack shook her head. Rarity opened her mouth as if to say something, but then shut it as she decided not to. "Quite fine, thank you."

With a nod, the waiter trotted off towards another table. Applejack tiled her head as she looked over across the table at Rarity. "All right, somethin's buggin' ya. What's goin' on? Yer normally chompin' at the bit ta dig in when ya got food in front of ya."

"Oh. It's... nothing." Rarity forced a smile as she tore her glare away from the plate in front of her, glancing back up at Applejack. “Really.”

“Ain’t nothin’,” Applejack said, turning to fidget with a fork as she attempted to grab it between her two hooves. That wasn’t going well, and she wasn’t quite sure how to even use a fork to not only pick up, but eat food.

“It’s a non-issue.” Rarity levitated the wine bottle off of the table. With it having already been uncorked by the waiter, she filled both glasses with the fine dinner wine, setting the bottle back on the table.

“If it’s botherin’ ya, it ain’t a non-issue.” Applejack’s hooves slipped with the handle of the fork between them, the metal utensil clattering against her plate. She swiped a foreleg out to try and catch it, only to knock it off the table completely, the fork landing and clanking against the wooden floor uselessly. Applejack snorted, glaring at it as it lay on the floor.

Rarity huffed. After a moment of trying to justify an argument, she came to the conclusion that she really couldn’t put up a defense against her point. “Fine. It’s just that... I expected it to be... more, is all.”

“More what?” Applejack glanced at the knife, as if she were going to attempt to use that, instead. She decided against it. The fork ended up poorly enough, she didn’t need a repeat performance with something she could injure herself with.

“...More,” Rarity said, emphasizing. “More in general. I’ve grown a bit accustomed to the dinners at the boutique and, well, your place.” Rarity pouted slightly, levitating the fork as it sliced one of the sprouts in half with its edge before leading it into her mouth. She chewed. “I mean, it’s good. It’s really good. There’s just not a whole lot of it.”

“Well, you could always get more! Ah’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting ya seconds, or even dessert.” Applejack leaned into her plate, finally giving up on her ability to use a utensil. She nudged one of two hayballs closer, rolling it across the plate and through the blueberry syrup, coating the fried nugget of hay in the dark blue topping. She bit into it, crunching it in half and rolled it across her tongue before chewing on it. “...Damn, this is pretty good,” she admitted, mouth still full.

Rarity shook her head, forking the other half of the sprout into her mouth. On the other hoof, she made sure to not speak with her mouth otherwise occupied. “Please, Applejack. With portions this size I’d have to mortgage the boutique before I ordered enough to be full.”

Applejack chortled, catching herself mid-bite with another hayball in her mouth. “You ain’t kiddin’.”

Rarity’s spoon floated through the air, landing in the depths of the orange mashed potatoes. It was almost as if it were a foals size bowl, which Rarity simply couldn’t grasp the concept of - as gourmet as they were, it was still just mashed potatoes. Perhaps prepared by a master chef, but when it came down to it, it was a bowl of potatoes. It was nearly criminal how small it was.

The spoon took out nearly a quarter of the bowl in one swoop. Granted, it was a heaping spoonful, which caused Rarity’s cheeks to bulge as she ate it, but the issue was still the same.

“Welp, Ah’m done.” Rarity glanced across the table to spot Applejack’s plate completely void of food - not even a drop of syrup remained. Rarity silently kicked herself for not spotting Applejack licking her plate and chiding her to stop, and secretly hoped that nopony else had noticed, either.

Rarity’s fork jabbed for another brussel sprout, only to clink against the plate. There weren’t any left, her plate as barren as Applejack’s, and it took only a matter of seconds for the minute potato bowl to be emptied.

Rarity took a heaving breath in, forcing it out all at once. Dejected, she hung her head forward.

“...Maybe dessert’ll fill ya up,” Applejack said, quick to cheer Rarity up.

Rarity’s expression remained unchanged. Her lonely spoon clinked against the empty potato bowl again, as if there would suddenly be some that she missed - there wasn’t. “And do you actually think the desserts will be any larger than what we just had? Because I don’t.”

Applejack cringed slightly at the point. She couldn’t argue with her logic, there wasn’t a reason in Equestria to expect the desserts to be any better proportioned, or any lower in price. It would be quite the bill for them to pack Rarity with desserts here.

The key in Applejack’s saddlebag felt a bit heavier as she recalled exactly where it was seated in her pockets. A sly grin spread across her face as she glanced up at Rarity, her lips stuck out in a heavy pout as she stared, depressed, at her empty dish. “...Ah got an idea. Why don’ we just stop by Sugarcube Corner?”

Rarity gave an annoyed huff, eyes slightly narrowed as she jerked her gaze up to Rarity. “This time of night? They’re closed, Applejack! They couldn’t possibly be open right now.”

Applejack’s grin only grew wider and wider as she shook her head, braids bobbing in the air as she turned around and tugged at the buckle on her saddlebag with her teeth, opening it up. She dug her snout into it, teeth biting down on a small golden key with a pink cupcake charm, pulling it out of the bag as she set it on the table between them. “They don’t gotta be open. Ah made arrangements.”

Applejack had never seen Rarity throw bits at a waiter, but there was always a first time for everything.

“Applejack, just give it to me,” Rarity said, not-so patiently waiting for the door to Sugarcube Corner to be unlocked.

Applejack fumbled around with the key, standing upright on her hind legs as she attempted to hold the key between her hooves, insert it into the lock, and turn it. She was no acrobat, however, and so standing up caused her to sway heavily to each side, more than once having to be propped up by Rarity standing at her side and allowing her flank to be used as a crutch.

“Hmph. Fine.” Applejack admitted defeat, retreating to four hooves. The key dangled uselessly around her ankle as she held her foreleg out to Rarity.

In a matter of seconds, the door was open once the one with magic was allowed to take a shot at it, the door opening up into the dark, closed bakery. The warm, inviting scent of fresh baked goods was overwhelming - and though the entire area around the building smelled the same, the inside was an entirely new level of delightful.

Standing in the doorway as the sweet, sugary and sometimes even spicy scents of the bakery flooded her nose, Applejack’s own stomach growled despite her recent dinner - and suddenly, she had a newfound respect for Pinkie’s self control.

“Well... this is gonna be somethin’, ain’t it, Rares?” Applejack looked over to her side for Rarity’s response, only to find her date gone, already disappearing into the bakery’s dark depths. “W- hey! Wait up!”

“You cannot possibly expect me to be patient when you bring me here for a date, can you?” Rarity giggled from inside, the empty bakery now populated by both of them. Applejack fumbled around for the light switch from inside, flicking on the lights to illuminate the path towards the “party room,” finding the door on the other side of the bakery.

Applejack looped an foreleg around Rarity’s withers, tugging her away from a cake on the counter she’d nearly taken a bite out of, stopping her just short of an incredibly sugary mouthful. Rarity whined, scrabbling her hooves against the floor to pull herself closer to it, but Applejack’s leg won that fight. “Hold yer horses, Rarity! Ain’t ours, gotta head to the room Ah actually rented.”

“Tease,” Rarity quipped, finally relenting and turning her attention away from the first sugary treat her eyes laid on. “Where’s my dessert, then?”

“Yers? Ah’m pretty sure it’s mine an’ I’m jus’ lettin’ ya eat it.” Applejack tossed a quick wink towards Rarity, unwrapping her foreleg from around Rarity’s back before nudging her with a flank towards the door near the back of the bakery. Applejack’s heart fluttered slightly as she felt Rarity’s flank give in, squishing slightly as they touched. “Back that’a way.”

Applejack’s sentence didn’t even end before the door was gripped in a magical glow, swinging open fast enough to make the doorway creak as it strained to keep itself attached to its hinges. “Come on, Applejack,” Rarity said, already trotting towards the now open door. “It’s uncouth to keep your date waiting.”

“Yeah... alrigh’, Ah’m comin’,” Applejack said, allowing Rarity to lead the way for entirely selfish reasons - Rarity’s dress left a lot to the imagination, but the view was still enough to bother with. “...Ya’ll go on in.”

Far too distracted, Applejack hadn’t noticed Rarity stopping halfway through the door, her nose bumping against Rarity’s rump before she could stop herself. She shook her head, tendrils of blonde mane whipping around, before she turned her head to get a look at what had caused Rarity to freeze in place.

The look on Rarity’s face was absolutely unmistakable: pure, unadulterated gluttonous glee was plastered across her perfectly styled features, the biggest grin Applejack had seen on a unicorn attached to her mouth.

It was easy to see why when she peeked ahead into the room - a full dessert banquet was sitting out for them on the table. Applejack quickly realised she was at ‘fault’ for this though she was sure neither pony present would complain; Pinkie’s invading questions earlier in the day hadn’t been because she wanted to invite herself, it was so she could plan on how much to bake. A party full of ponies would need much more snacks and desserts than just two mares on a date... or so was Pinkie’s thought process.

Applejack had an inkling otherwise.

The long table had six seats, three on each side, though Applejack knew only two would be getting used. Even still, desserts enough to fill six and then some were waiting. A chocolate fountain, including little bits of snacks speared on toothpicks for dipping, several varieties of pies and cakes, a large bowl of yellow pudding and even a few more ‘exotic’ things: a tray of semlor and a long swiss roll adorned either end of the table... though the fountain was the most attention-getting of all that was there.

Rarity’s eyes locked onto the chocolate fountain immediately as soon as her eyes scanned over it. As if her hooves took on a life of her own, the gluttonous unicorn was walking towards it with a hungry look in her eyes. Applejack was right behind her.

Before she even reached a seat, an assortment of treats-on-sticks were in the air, a blue glow surrounding each one. Marshmallows, strawberries and even graham crackers were all on the menu, each one finding themselves submerged completely in the liquid chocolate. “So this... this is all ours?” Rarity asked, plopping her rear down on one of the plush cushions running along the table, the cocoa covered strawberry floating to her mouth and being picked off of the small wooden stick.

“That’s right,” Applejack said, finding her seat next to Rarity almost immediately.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier, darling?” The marshmallow was magically squished against the chocolate coated graham cracker, forming an impromptu s’more which was funneled into Rarity’s mouth. “Honestly,” she said after chewing and swallowing, “I wouldn’t have wasted our time at the fancier place.”

“Ah wanted ya’ll ta like the date as much as Ah did, ‘s all.” Applejack gave a small shrug, leaning over to the side against Rarity as more of the treats were coated in liquid dessert and funneled into her mouth. A small moan escaped Rarity with each snack - the strawberries in particular forcing the biggest result. Seems she’d found a favorite already. “Ah mean, Ah had Sugarcube Corner rented out before ya mentioned goin’ out somewhere all special... but Ah reckoned tha fancy place was more yer style... so Ah just kinda kept quiet.”

“More my style?” Rarity gave a hearty laugh, pausing her consumption for just a moment as she turned to plant a kiss on Applejack’s nose. Almost immediately, Applejack’s eyes crossed to glance at the spot on her snout she was just kissed, a blush flushing across her cheeks as she spotted the kiss-shaped chocolate stain on her face. “That’s adorable, darling. You don’t think that having a nice, quiet evening alone in a bakery would have been more fun?”

“W-well,” Applejack stuttered out, tongue lashing out to run across her nose. “Ah wanted ta go to the bakery, but it’s yer date as much as it is mine, so...”

“Fair enough,” Rarity agreed, three of the toothpick speared strawberries floating and submerging into the chocolate at the same time, the fruit having caught her attention in particular. “Perhaps it is a good thing dinner ended the way it did. Had we left there satisfied, we might not have ever arrived here, hm?” Rarity licked her lips clean of chocolate before becoming coated in it again as she tugged the strawberries off of the sticks, discarding the wooden picks to the side.

“That’s a good way of lookin’ at it,” Applejack agreed, nodding her head towards one of the floating desserts. “Lemme snag one of those.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity did as she was asked and launched one of the glowing treats towards Applejack, who snapped it out of the air by her teeth, careful to avoid sucking down the stick as well. “I don’t have to worry about you trying to eat the rest of my desserts, do I?”

“Yer desserts? Huh... interestin’ thing ta call a table full of food that Ah bought.” Realising that the fountain’s dipping treats were rapidly dwindling, she reached out with a hoof to drag a different dessert closer.

“Pft. If you want, you can have them all and I won’t eat a single one of them - after all, they’re apparently all yours, hmm?” As the last strawberry disappeared down her throat, Rarity stuck out her lower lip and hung her head slightly, despite the menagerie of desserts in front of her.

“...Now, hold on, let’s not get too hasty, here,” Applejack said, playing into her teasing. “Ah didn’t say nothin’ about ya’ll not bein’ allowed ta eat it. ‘Cause, Ah mean... there’s shore a lot here an’ Ah’m still pretty full from dinner.” She slid the pie off of the table and onto a hoof, holding it out towards Rarity.

“Really?” Rarity said, genuinely surprised. “You are? Something tells me that’s only a half truth... but I won’t complain.” Rarity levitated a pair of forks from the table, sinking them both into the pie that Applejack held. “More for me. You may have been satisfied by that meager showing at the diner - but me, oh no.”

“Exactly.” Applejack kept the treat held on one of her hooves, careful to balance it so the forks could scoop out pieces without it falling as her other hoof grabbed a pie farther down the line.

A sort of assembly line formed in their mechanical movements - though it was truly more of a disassembly line with Rarity at the end of it. Each time a treat was nearing its end, Applejack switched to one hoof and leaned across the table, sliding a dessert across the flat surface, tossed the empty container, and replaced it with something new. The two were silent, other than the pie tins scraping across the table, a few delighted giggles from Rarity and a muffled little moan from Applejack. Her actions spoke much louder than her words, the poor earth pony squirming hard as she simply locked her eyes on her marefriend’s binging.

Applejack shot a voyeuristic glance down at Rarity’s abdomen, biting her lip as her eyes took in the scene before her. The bodice that Rarity had re-fashioned for herself was snug to begin with, hugging her newfound curves rather closely, but her recent spoils had forced them to a new extreme - the buttons were pulled tight as they could ever be, to the point that little gaps of white belly were visible between the growing holes. There was soon to be a wardrobe malfunction, and Applejack couldn’t be happier.

Grabbing for another pie, Applejack realised that her supply had run dry. The six pies that had been served up were all gone, confirmed by a quick mental count of the empty tins at her side. With a silent gulp, she launched out a hoof to drag one of the multi-slice single layer cakes closer, depositing a particularly chocolatey cake into her hoof, offering it up to Rarity.

“My, you’re rather enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rarity teased as she floated a fork into the cake, a tendril of gooey fudge following for a few inches, breaking off just before Rarity’s mouth. “I haven’t seen you this excited for... a while, Applejack.”

“Maybe a little,” Applejack lied, not bothering to make eye contact with Rarity before she answered.

It only took a few more forkfuls for the show to begin - despite all the effort and struggle it took to get the buttons latched together, they came apart far easier. The button around the widest part of Rarity’s stomach was the first to fly off, pinging against the wooden floor and off somewhere under the table that neither would ever find again. Applejack nearly dropped the cake, much to Rarity’s dismay, but she quickly regained her composure even though she nearly drew blood with how hard she had to bite on her own face to keep from losing control.

“Well, I didn’t think that was going to last very long,” Rarity admitted, a twinge of red flushing over her cheeks as she reached down with a hoof to dab at the now exposed patch of belly flesh.

“T-the buttons?” Applejack glanced up at Rarity for just a moment, before her eyes darted right back to the revealed skin, the sight just too much for her to ignore.

“Of course. I mean, they were hard enough to get on,” Rarity reminds her, grinning wickedly as she slowly raises up another bite of cake to her mouth, tounge wrapping around the prongs of the fork as she sucked in the treat as seductively as possible.

By the time the large cake was devoured completely, three of the four buttons had been demolished, a much wider patch of white coat now visible between the parted edges of the fabric. Applejack’s rear legs had subconsciously wrapped themselves around the pillow beneath her, the excitement of the scene in front of her nearly too much for her to handle without reaching below with her spare hoof.

Rarity squirmed in place, eyes drifting over all that remained on the table before she glanced back at Applejack. “...I think I’m going to need a bigger hoof here, Applejack.”

Applejack blinked, tilting her head. She managed to tear her gaze away from Rarity’s gut long enough to answer. “How so?”

“Well, you seem to have no qualms with feeding me,” Rarity says, tossing a wink in Applejack’s direction, who only gave a little squirm in response. “Why don’t we make that a little bit easier for us both?”

Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but Rarity was already in motion. Admittedly, it was a slow motion - she wasn’t in any rush, careful to not knock her stomach the wrong way and end up with most of her dinner on the floor, but she slowly and surely maneuvered her girth to where she was able to flip herself onto her side and, with a quick nudge of a hoof against the table, onto her back.

Applejack looped her forelegs around Rarity’s, and with a grunt was able to pull her backwards. She was heavy, but not heavy enough to be stuck in place with some farmpony elbow grease. Applejack’s rear legs spread to accommodate the width of Rarity’s hips, the unicorn leaning back against Applejack’s belly and chest to remain cradled in her date’s embrace.

Applejack held herself sitting up, back straight, her head just above Rarity’s. She leaned in and nuzzled between her ears, a big smile playing across her face as she finally had her date right where she wanted, and still with so many treats to go as well. Applejack’s hoof drifted south, just barely brushing against Rarity’s exposed alabaster belly - as gentle a touch as Applejack could manage, careful not to jostle her full stomach too much at risk of making her nauseous.

“Well,” Rarity said, head tilting upwards as she leaned into the nuzzles being applied to her ears, one of the tips flicking out of subconscious delight. “This is new. Never took you for a cuddler, Applejack.”

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking her head as she brushed her nose against the base of Rarity’s horn. “Ah got a gentle side too. Ah never took you fer a pony who could take out this much of Sugarcube Corner, either.” Applejack reached out, stretching a foreleg across the table as far as she could to hook a hoof around the tray of semla, pulling it closer and trying her hardest to not move Rarity too much as she did. She slid the tray off of the table, placing it on one hoof which she held above Rarity’s head, her other foreleg scooping out one of the pastries and holding it in front of Rarity.

Without so much as a hint of argument, Rarity leaned forward and snapped the cream and pudding filled treat off of Applejack’s hoof, licking her lip to clear it of the powdered sugar and whipped cream that topped the dessert before the second was placed in front of her. “Fair enough,” Rarity admitted, leaning her head back to rest against Applejack’s chest and neck as she ate the second of the delicious foreign desserts. “And besides, there’s still so much left! I’ve made not even a dent yet. There’s still all the semlor, the swiss roll, the hoof-ful of cakes, the fountain... because trust me, darling, I am not leaving that melted chocolate here to just go to waste.”

“Semlor?” Applejack waited for her to finish her list before she interrupted, holding out a third of the small pastry. “That’s what these things are? Huh... never heard of ‘em.”

“No... no, darling,” Rarity chided, waving a hoof in the air as she snapped another semla off of her hoof. “Semlor is the plural. An individual one is a semla,” she said, placing emphasis on the foreign word.

“Whatever. Equestrian never was mah strong point in school,” Applejack admitted, scooping the last of the pastery out of the tray before tossing it aside to sit with the empty pie tins.

“Well, that’s not a very good excuse. Semla isn’t even an Equestrian word, you see - it’s actually... On second thought,” Rarity said, pausing for a moment. “I’m not in a place to lecture you on language.”

“Huh?” Applejack said, attention turning towards the back of Rarity’s head. She struggled to catch up to the conversation, having automatically tuned out and focused on a treat on the other side of the table once the lesson on non-Equestrian languages sparked. “...Right.” Applejack leaned into the table, pressing her side against it as she strained herself to reach for the white, chocolate flaked cake on the other side of the table. Her hoof scraped against the wooden surface, not yet hitting the cake’s edge.

Rarity’s horn glowed as she helped out without moving a muscle, the cake in question (along with the rest that were on the table) slid towards Applejack’s hoof, putting it just in reach of the magic-less pony, who happily scooped it up into her hoof and set it in front of Rarity. “...Thanks.”

“Oh, darling,” Rarity chirped, waving a hoof in the air. “Anytime.”

Applejack glanced side to side, attempting to devise a way for her to get the cake from the plate to Rarity’s mouth. She reached for the fork before deciding against that - she had no way to hold it with only one hoof, and even with two it was a challenge. The spoons and knives ran into the exact same issue, so she used the only tool she had available to her - her hoof.

“Don’t you even think about that,” Rarity yelped. Applejack almost made it, too - but she found her progress blocked by Rarity’s own foreleg. “I spent almost an hour working on your hooves. I am not having even one ruined by frosting.” Her nose lowering from its skyward-pointed direction, she turned to face the delightful treat in front of her. It was a level of delicate neither had seen from Pinkie before - the cake truly looked like it was made of clouds. White frosting covered its exterior, little flecks of curled white chocolate shavings coated nearly every inch of it, save for the fluffy, puffed frosting surrounding where the dessert met the plate.

It’s glorious visage was destroyed by Rarity’s mouth, however, much to Applejack’s surprise. She didn’t have much time to react at all before Rarity was nose deep into the cake’s inner workings, chomping pieces off left, right and center. She was stunned, truly, to see her fashionista friend digging in like an earth pony might - nose first, no utensils or magic.

“Don’t be so surprised, dear,” Rarity teased, a little giggle rising up out of her. Applejack hadn’t noticed how tense she had grown as Rarity devoured the cake literally out of her hoof - a passionate tension that was growing all the hotter as she lacked a way to stimulate herself into serenity with her date blocking her lower regions. She sincerely hoped that the dampness she could feel growing was simply a feeling and not a true representation. “I could levitate a fork, but then... you seem to be enjoying actually feeding me, aren’t you?”

Applejack let out a shuddering whine as she nodded, wrapping her spare foreleg around Rarity’s chest, hugging her against her firm belly and legs harder. Her rear legs curled defensively around Rarity’s barrel, fetlocks wrapping around the lower swell of Rarity’s stomach. “Ah have to admit that Ah am.”

“Good. I can tell.”

Applejack immediately flushed red, heat washing over her face and neck like she was submerged into a hot bath rather forcefully. There were several connotations that such few words could hold - and she could only hope it was the right one. “Heheh,” Applejack forced out. “Ah bet.”

Rarity dug her snout in for a second pass at the cake, snarfing down bite after bite and covering her nose and muzzle in more than a little bit of frosting. Each bite was met with a lick across her lips to clean her face of the dismembered dessert’s remains, before it was met with another smear across the freshly cleaned areas.

Applejack’s hooves grew farther apart as Rarity devoured the treat, each bite ending up in her rapidly swelling stomach. The buttons had long since disappeared, leaving her belly with all the room it could possibly take up - though Applejack noticed her legs made no dent in the usually soft flesh of Rarity’s gut. What was previously soft and pliable was now taut and firm, a testament to just how much she’d managed to pack away. Not a lot was still spread across the table, Rarity having eaten a true majority of the treats left, but even with all the encouragement she could muster Applejack had doubts about her ability to finish.

Rarity put up a good fight, though, plowing through the rest of the cautiously crafted cake. Her tongue lashed out to lick across the bottom of the tray, as well, an act of gluttony that carried the already off guard Applejack way into “shocked” territory.

“Y-ya’ll want another? There’s still a few more left,” Applejack said, hoof already reaching out towards the aforementioned treat to loop it in.

“No,” Rarity responded, shaking her head side to side before eventually dropping it against Applejack’s chest. Her rear legs pulled inward, soft thighs rubbing and curling around what she could of her overfed stomach. “I think... that’s quite enough.” She pressed a hoof against her mouth, stifling the rising burp before it embarrassed her by being any louder. “What about you, though?”

Applejack tilted her head to the side at the question, distracted enough to not notice the forkful of cake floating towards her. Still fully in control of her magic despite the hazy lull of overextended gluttony, she smeared a small dab of chocolate frosting across Applejack’s nose. She blinked just once before she leaned in and wiped it off on Rarity’s horn.

Applejack followed up with a lick to the spot she’d just dirtied with cake frosting - a lick that caused Rarity to jump a few inches into the air, shaking her head rapidly. “Oh, no,” Rarity demanded, head swinging side to side as she attempted to dodge any further licks to her horn. “Absolutely not. We are not doing that again.” Rarity struggled to flip herself over onto her side and roll away from Applejack, finding herself to be more like a turtle stuck on its back than a pony.

With a short nudge from her still curled leg, Applejack gave Rarity the helping hoof she needed to get her back onto her side and out of her grasp, only to find her jumping right back into it. Rarity’s forehooves clapped against the ground on either side of Applejack’s hips, her eyes staring straight up towards her own. A devious, almost dirty look played across those glassy, blue eyes as her head ducked just slightly lower. Her back legs were still pointed out to the side, belly too large for her to roll over onto it and lay flat. “But, you know... I could still go for dessert.”

“D-Dessert? Rares, ya just ate half’a Sugarcube Corner.” Applejack kept her eyes locked with Rarity’s - the innuendo had gone clear over her head, even as Rarity teased her with a lick across her lips, implying even further.

“I don’t mean cake, Applejack. I’ve eaten enough of that,” Rarity said, her back leg sliding over what it could reach of her distended stomach, intentionally dragging it slowly up and down for emphasis.

“Well, Ah mean... there’s still the fountain,” Applejack said, propping herself up with a hoof to point at what remained of the fountain. “Ah ain’t too sure what yer really gettin’ at h- oooooooooooohhh...”

The feeling of Rarity’s tongue on her most sensitive, underattended area instantly cut off her thoughts and destroyed any attempt to put together a sentence, stopping her mid-explanation. The shock of the absolute sudden and highly sexual action taken by Rarity was overwhelming, the surprise clearly played out across Applejack’s face with a contorted grin.

“Are you okay up there?” Rarity asked, pulling her mouth away for just a moment to glance up at Applejack, a grin of her stuck to her mouth. Her lips glistened in the light of the private room, shining bright as candles reflected.

“Y-yeah,” Applejack stuttered, just barely able to form the word before giving a quick nod and an insistent, slight roll of her hips. “Ah probably deserve it,” Applejack admitted, tossing her head back and allowing her braided mane to brush against the ground. “But don’t ya dare stop there, Rarity.”

“Oh, I had no intention of doing such a thing! I’m not cruel, Applejack.” Rarity lifted a hoof to brush aside the skirt Applejack was still wearing, but it was more for Applejack’s benefit than her own - at least now, the one on the receiving end had a little bit of a warning with her view unobstructed.

Applejack braced herself against the ground as she saw Rarity’s head duck lower, rear hooves digging into the floorboards hard to keep herself from kicking wildly. Rarity’s tongue made another pass, teasing her tounge over Applejack’s soft, but now quite firm teats, teasing at the little nubs of stiffened flesh.

A small, rolling bead of aroused moisture formed along Applejack’s eager slit, caught by Rarity’s snout before it made it too far. The sensation of her warm nose against her snatch was unbearable, her back legs twitching as she felt a shudder roll through her. The anticipation mounted, and she lost her ability to put together a coherant thought or action - Applejack settled for a moan and a roll of her hips, hiking her yearning mound towards Rarity’s muzzle as it passed by on it’s trip towards her nipple again.

Rarity dodged with a wicked grin, pulling her head back and evading the mare’s sex by a hair. She glanced up at Applejack’s red, blushing face, countering her lusty, eager gaze with a seductive one of her own. “Applejack! So impatient... there’s nothing wrong with a little foreplay, you know.”

“We’ve had foreplay!” Applejack shouted in response, cringing slightly as she realised how loud that accidently came out. She turned it back a notch, her forelegs slipping slightly as she allowed herself to lie back farther. “A-all’a that eatin’ was foreplay! An’ the diner, an’ the breakfast at the farm, an’... Ah dunno!”

“Mm. Well, I hadn’t considered that... In that case,” Rarity says, aiming her snout downward and locking onto her target. “I suppose you’ve been plenty patient.”

Rarity plunged herself into the flower before her, nose digging into the ready and waiting mound. It was, perhaps, a bit rougher than she had intended, but the loud, strained moan that lasted for entirely too long make it clear to the both of them that there was absolutely no displeasure on either end.

Applejack’s rear hooves slipped on the hard wooden floor, the limb going flying before extending fully, the shudders and involuntary muscle tensions proved to be too much for her to rein in. Rarity, most likely out of fear of losing a few teeth should a hoof go the wrong direction, responded immediately and clamped her forelegs around Applejack’s rear. There was no backing out now - they were locked in place, neither wishing the fun to end.

Rarity’s tongue skillfully slipped past and across Applejack’s lips, the spicy taste and scent of mare blasting more than one of her senses. A hoof rose, planting itself along Applejack’s inner thigh, and she immediately felt the result. A tug of skin parted her nethers, allowing Rarity to plunge herself even deeper. The entirety of her muzzle was buried, now, her eyes shutting to keep clean of any fluids.

Applejack’s slit clenched once, another wide moan stretching across her vocal cords as she pounded a foreleg against the ground. Pressure was building, pleasure was mounting, and emotions were rising, her lips squeezing around Rarity’s muzzle again as she felt the tongue licking deeper than she’d imagined she could get. Applejack’s mind briefly wandered to just where Rarity had learned tricks like this, but the feeling of Rarity turning her head sideways and stretching her sex even wider with an open mouth caused that thought to explode out the other end and get lost among all the other half-thoughts she’d gone through over the evening.

Applejack’s lower body rocked with a spasm again, the mare letting out a throaty groan as she felt the impending orgasm rising within her. Another clench, this one squeezing Rarity’s snout nearly shut, before finally she wasn’t able to cling on any longer. Applejack slumped back fully against the ground, head bumping against the floor just lightly as her forelegs gave out, vision going blind as she climaxed.

Rarity slowly pulled her muzzle out, snout and cheeks now coated in her marefriend’s juices, a heavy gush having signaled to her that she was finished. She gave a flighty giggle, wiping at her nose and mouth with a fetlock before she swallowed and looked up. Applejack was still for a few moments before her chest began to rise and fall again, coming to as she cracked her eyes open and glanced down at Rarity.

“...Gonna be hard explanin’ why these cushions are so damn sticky,” Applejack said, the sweat from their adventure still beading across her brow.

“That’s why we’re taking them to the boutique and burning them,” Rarity returned, ducking her head down between Applejack’s legs yet again. Applejack braced for a second round, too exhausted to fight back, but let out a heavy sigh of relief when she realised that Rarity was simply cleaning her face off on one of the cushions under them.

“Yeah, heh.” Applejack slumped back against the floor, still reveling in her sexual glee. Her orgasm had passed, but the sense of relief and extreme pleasure still tingled all over her body. She fought falling asleep, her eyes drooping as she reclined. “Sounds like a plan.”