With the late hour and quiet of the midnight streets, two teenage girls let their fingers lace together in a show of affection. In a setting still so public, it was all they would allow themselves.

“Do you really think Rainbow Dash will show up tomorrow at your property just to complain, darling?” Rarity inquired as she and Applejack headed towards her home.

“Dash? Naw. She knows Ah’ll make good on mah threat of makin’ her muck cow pies outta the barn—we ain’t talked in almost two years, but the Dash Ah remember hates work.” Green eyes glanced around the deserted neighborhood streets, before she brought the hand in hers up to her lips, kissing the knuckles. “So Ah don’t hafta be home til tomorrow afternoon.” The gesture of affection was over almost before Rarity could register it had occurred, but it still caused a fluttery sensation in her stomach.

“Well…Mother and Father are still away on their vacation until the end of the month, and your brother took Sweetie and your sister and Scootaloo back to your house for their sleepover,” the designer practically purred, voice hushed against the silence of the night. “Which means we have the house to ourselves…” There was hope and promise in her tone, a question asked without words in a subtle song and dance between the pair.

Applejack chuckled, releasing her companion’s hand to curl the arm around her shoulders, something Rarity was more than willing to lean into. She was tired—not sleepy, but worn out in a way that she had never been before, even in her most frenzied creative outburst or the worst deadline crunches—and having the firm body next to her taking even a few moments to support her helped. “Then Ah guess Ah’m all yers til mornin’, Rares.” Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper, laced with emotion, “Didn’ get much chance ta tell ya how beautiful ya looked tonight, an’ how much Ah enjoyed havin’ ya as mah date, even if we didn’ get the chance ta dance, what with magic’n’she-demons an’ all.”

Blue eyes glittered under the light of the street lamp, and forgoing appearances, Rarity leaned even more into the farmer’s embrace, exhaling a happy sound that couldn’t fairly be called a sigh. “As if I would entertain attending with anyone other than the lady knight who carries my favor,” she murmured with affection and playfulness.

“Ain’t no one else’s ‘favor’ Ah’d rather have.” They climbed the stairs to the well lit front porch, the door opening easily with the jingle of keys.
Rarity had barely locked the door behind them before she found herself in a tight embrace, lips crushing against hers in a way that felt like desperation. She was used to the occasional displays of passion, displays that were like Applejack herself: strong, firm, and earnest, with her emotions plainly written on her face and intentions communicated through everywhere their bodies touched. This moment was different than the multitudes they’d shared before, with Applejack holding her almost painfully tight, her body tense and unyielding as she sought something from her partner. The keys fell to the floor so Rarity’s own arms could find purchase on well defined shoulders and in thick blonde hair when her knees went weak. When they parted, both were panting, and she could see painful knowledge and old fear in her lover’s eyes, a specter she thought she’d helped the farmer banish long ago. “Applejack…?” She questioned, slim fingers gently brushing the freckled cheek.

“Almost lost ya tonight,” was the response, lips tracing along her throat in featherlight kisses. “We almost died. Shoulda died, jumpin’ in the way like that. Ah’ve heard yer life flashes afore yer eyes, but Rares…all Ah could think was that Ah’d missed one last chance ta tell ya how much Ah love ya.” Applejack met her gaze, leaning in for another kiss, this one sweeter, more emotional, but no less needy.

“You wouldn’t have lost me, anymore than I would have lost you, my love,” she pointed out a minute later. “We both jumped in to protect Twilight. Had it gone badly, we would have traversed the unknown together. Which…is the way I prefer it—’Whither thou goest’ as it were.” Rarity moved as close to Applejack’s warmth as she could get, pressing them tightly together, her own feelings seeping into her voice, the perfectly cultivated accent wavering. “I cannot bear to think of my life without you—I love you beyond measure, and a world without you in it would be gray and lifeless.”

“However…we are alive and unharmed.” She brushed blonde bangs back tenderly. “I’m right here, Applejack.” She took one of the farmer’s work calloused hands, moving back just enough to place the palm against her skin so her lover could feel the racing beat of her heart. “See?”

“Yeah…M’sorry, Rares. I just don’ wanna lose ya. Yer too damned important ta me…” Applejack tightened her grip, just holding them together for a few minutes.

“Darling,” The designer tried gently after some time. “Why don’t we take this upstairs? We can get out of these clothes and into bed—” She squeaked in surprise as she was scooped up, bridal style, Applejack carrying her up the stairs as if she weighed nothing at all.

“Yer wish is mah command,” came the teasing response.

In truth, Rarity was grateful for the assistance—the weariness that had settled in her bones was making her long for a long soak in her tub or perhaps a full day of pampering herself at the spa. She wasn’t even sure why it was she was so worn—she had felt fine during and even after the dance. She hadn’t started to feel this way until after the five girls had split up to go their separate ways.

Applejack set her down gently on the bed, hands that had been holding her now starting to help her out of her dress. When her hands rose to help, her lover pushed them down gently. “Let me, Rares. Couldn’ touch ya all evenin’ an’ this helps…” Green eyes glinted with the hint of uncharacteristic moisture, and Rarity relented without her usual protest because of that more than anything else. It didn’t stop her from returning the favor a few minutes later, or from tugging the blonde down onto the mattress with her, overcome with the need to feel skin against skin, an affirmation without words that they were both still truly, gloriously, amazingly alive.

---

Much later, when the sun was peeking over the horizon and the two lovers had napped away the afterglow, they found their usual pillow talk replaced by conversation of a much more serious note.

“Ah reckon school’s gonna be a right mess fer a time. Magic bein’ real, a fight with a demon, pony princesses from another dimension…not somethin’ ya kin just…get over.” Lazy fingers traced idle patterns on alabaster skin.

“That’s not the part that concerns me, darling.” When Applejack raised an eyebrow in silent urging for her to continue, Rarity did so with a sigh. “My concern is what happens if and when authorities come asking questions…Questions that we do not want them to have the real answers to, questions that could make things uncomfortable for the two of us, for the other girls, and most certainly for Sunset Shimmer—while I still am hesitant to trust her ‘change of heart’ fully, I have no desire for her to be taken away by nebulous organizations filled with men in black suits. Even though many of our classmates were…ensorcelled by her mind-control, a large number witnessed her transformation and then saw all of us as magical pony-eared girls. We…may need to do some form of damage control on Monday.”

Blonde brows furrowed, their owner mulling over the matter for a time before she spoke. “…Ah’d not thought ‘bout that, but yer right, Rares. Might need ta call an emergency meetin’ with us an’ the girls. Ah’ve got an idea, but we’d need all of us ta do it. Ah’m thinkin’ we use a bit of that reawakened Wondercolt pride an’ teenage rebellion against authority ta our advantage.”

Blue eyes lit up with understanding. “Ooooh. I see where you’re going with this…and with our status, and Twilight’s status after last night…Very clever, darling.” She kissed her lover’s cheek. “Then that just leaves the matter of Sunset Shimmer and what to do about her. If this this ‘change’ is nothing but an act, I’m inclined to let her twist in the wind…” There was a long pause, as Rarity changed her position to a more comfortable one. “…but Twilight seemed to think she was sincere in her remorse, and delivered her into our hands. I don’t know if she would have just left like that if she didn’t believe we would follow through with her request.”

“Or left Sunset Shimmer here.” Applejack was still frowning, clearly deep in thought, and it was Rarity’s turn to arch an eyebrow at her. “See, Ah been thinkin’ ‘bout it. How did Sunset Shimmer know ‘bout the portal an’ the pony world an’ the magic crown in the first place? But then Ah remembered Sunset didn’ show up at school til we were in seventh grade, an’ Ah can’t remember ever seein’ her folks. More’n that, some’a the things she an’ Twilight said last night…”

It clicked, all at once. “…You think she’s a native of the same world as Twilight Sparkle.” So many incongruities started jumping out of Rarity’s memory, things about Sunset that didn’t add up. “…my heavens…that would explain a great deal. But to leave her here, instead of taking her back to the other world…?”

“Ah’m thinkin’ mebbe strandin’ her here mighta been the better option. Ya heard Twi—that crown was hers, property of a Princess an’ a major defense of her world. If someone here had stolen somethin’ like that, it’d be jail time fer sure. Mebbe worse—lotsa places execute fer treason. An’ thats not even considerin’ she tried ta murder a Princess.” Applejack rubbed her face. “…Ah dunno what they do fer legal systems over there in Magic Pony Land, but Twilight seemed ta wanna help her. She wanted us ta help her. Ah know she was a right bitch, but…up until this week, all she was was a high school mean girl, Rares, an’ iffin Ah’m honest, not even the worst of them in the world. She did bad stuff, but Ah wouldn’ say she deserves life in a cell or gettin’ strung up fer it.”

Rarity nodded, sighing deeply. “She also showed up in middle school. If your suggestion is correct, that means she may well have been the magical pony equivalent of a pre-teen runaway that learned how to be human in what is possibly the most emotionally corrosive environment in human society. Even if she wasn’t that nice to begin with, I’m certain that it didn’t help.” She stared at her wall for a minute. “But if she doesn’t want to change, Applejack, we cant make her change.”

A thoughtful sound vibrated Applejack’s chest. “Eyup.”

“…You have a plan, don’t you?”

“Eeeeyup.”

“’Whither thou goest,’ then….”

Next Chapter: Chapter Two: Vulnerable Estimated time remaining: 58 Hours, 43 Minutes