Chapter 15: True Feelings?
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Dear Cadance,

Rainbow Dash is recovering very well from that night. It took a few days before she could get herself out of bed, but Applejack was with her every day and was very supportive. The entire Apple family, actually. Big Mac and Applebloom picked up many of Applejack's duties so that she could spend more time with Rainbow Dash. The two of them became much closer from this and actually began to date about a month ago. I've never seen either of them this happy in their lives and I could not possibly be happier for them.

I've been very nervous about talking to Twilight about what we've been discussing. I mean, I know she will not react against me about how I truly feel, but I do not want to hurt her. As I said, I care just as much for her as I do for the rest of my friends and I do not want her to think that our time together has not been special to me. I really do not want to hurt her, but I know the longer I wait the worse it will be.

We have a date planned tonight. I will tell her then and I will let you know how it goes.

Your Friend,
Fluttershy

Applejack was a fast pony. Arguably the fastest in Ponyville, if Rainbow Dash would keep her wings folded and stick to her hooves. Unfortunately, speed didn't mean diddly-squat when chasing a pony you lost sight of. Applejack didn't see where Rarity had gone, just the general direction. Unfortunately, the general direction led her into town. If Rarity had run into Whitetail Wood then Applejack would have been able to find her lickety-split. A mare like Rarity wouldn't get fifty yards in the forest before giving up or tripping and falling in the mud and Applejack would find her in minutes. In town? Rarity could have gone anywhere.

The upside to the issue was that Rarity made quite a fuss when she was upset, and an upset Rarity running through town was certain to attract attention. The first pony Applejack asked was able to point her down a road where another pony was able to give her further directions. The trail of observers who had watched the famous fashionista pass by wailing her woes pointed Applejack all through town until she was approaching Carousel Boutique.

"Well, ah guess ah shouldn't be surprised she ran home," Applejack muttered to herself as she knocked her hoof against the purple door. "Rare-" She was calling her friend's name as a courtesy before the door was opened. A unicorn stood on the other side of the threshold, but it wasn't Rarity.

"Hey Applejack," Twilight said, stepping aside and nodding her head to say that she should come in.

"Well howdy Twilight," Applejack said, "Is Rarity here? She seemed mighty-"

"Upset?" Twilight completed the sentence, turning it into a question. Applejack nodded and Twilight nodded in answer to Rarity's presence. "She's in the back," she added. Once Applejack was in, Twilight shut the door and both walked across the main room to a curtain that separated the main shop from the work area that Rarity spent most of her time when actually designing an repairing dresses and other miscellaneous attire.

Applejack found her friend laying across a familiar long red couch that she tended to drape herself over whenever she had one of her 'meltdowns' for one upsetting situation or another. Usually they were more overreactions that the rest of their group of friends just rolled their eyes at.

Today seemed a little different; instead of loud, theatrical wails of anguish, Rarity was laying down with her back facing them, her face hidden against the back of the red cushions. Her sobbing was audible, but not exaggerated. It was genuine, and that's what worried Applejack the most. The last time she'd heard one of her friends genuinely cry it had been Rainbow Dash during the days following the final confrontation with Gilda. She did not like to hear her friends cry like this.

"She's been like this for almost ten minutes," Twilight said quietly as they watched Rarity cry from the door. "She nearly trampled over me in the road. I caught up to her and got her to come home. She walked back to her couch and laid down and...I've been waiting for her to calm down."

"She say anythin'?" Applejack asked in a whisper.

"Not yet," Twilight said, "I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go home and get a book on how to comfort someone whose sad, but I don't want to leave her here alone."

"Y'all don't need a book for that," Applejack said, rolling her eyes but giving Twilight a humored smile until another loud sob attracted their attention back to Rarity's back. They both frowned again. "We just gotta calm her down, see what's wrong, then cheer her up."

"Really? That sounds simple," Twilight said.

"Sure does," Applejack said, knowing it wasn't going to be simple at all.

"Okay, so, how do we calm her down?" Twilight asked.

"Whelp, when ahm feelin' down, and ah mean really down, ah usually do mah thing where ah jus' go sit in the barn and cry and try not to talk to no one, but a big ol' hug from Mac or Applebloom or Dashie always cheers me up. Makes me cry a lot more for a lil' bit, but its like gettin' poison from a wound; squeeze it all out real quick so it don't get in there and make ya sick."

"That makes sense," Twilight said, "Let's test your theory." She walked around Applejack and into the workroom. Applejack followed her up to the couch where Rarity lay despondent. They shared a glance before Twilight lifted her hoof and gently tapped Rarity on the shoulder.

"Rarity, I-" she began.

"My sister is evil!" Rarity wailed, her voice rising to the high pitched cry that her friends recognized. At that moment, both of them ceased to greatly worry about her and were able to calm themselves somewhat. If she was okay enough to whine, then she wasn't in any terrible situation, but still; her earlier sobs had been genuine and they knew they were not clear of the danger zone just yet.

"What's wrong Rarity?" Twilight asked. Rarity sat up, sniffling, and turned to face her friends. Applejack climbed on the sofa and sat next to her. Twilight did the same on rarity's other side and the two reached their hooves around her; Applejack over her shoulders and Twilight across her back.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity cried, leaning against Twilight's shoulder as the purple mare gently rubbed her back. "She...she...she..."

"Hey!" A voice called, interrupting Rarity. All three of them looked to the entrance to the workshop and saw a blue pegasus looking confused and worried. "Scoots and I won...we were looking for you two and your sisters but Berry Punch said that you had all run off when the race started...something wrong?" she finished with the question she knew the answer too. Applejack and Twilight were comforting a highly upset and slightly disheveled Rarity; something was, indeed, amiss.

"What'd she do sugarcube?" Applejack asked, now worrying that Sweetie Belle was in some kind of trouble. Did something happen to her? Did she do something dangerous?

"She...she c-called me a...a...a lesbian!" Rarity yelled, her sadness tinged with anger, "In public! Can you believe that?" She slammed her hooves into the couch and let out a grunt of frustration even as tears continued to run down her face.

As if on some cue that Rarity couldn't see, both Applejack and Twilight removed their hooves from her. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped for a second, but then her wings began to flare, along with her nostrils, while her eyes narrowed.

"So..." Twilight began, her cheeks flushed a little and her eyes shifting from amusement to irritation. She could not decide if Sweetie Belle calling Rarity out- since it was about time somepony did- was funny, or if Rarity's reaction was abhorrent, "That's...a...bad...thing?"

As soon as Rarity heard the question she took in a sharp gasp. She had just insulted all of her friends, she realized. Twilight, a long standing fillyfooler who was quite open and quite proud of her orientation, Applejack, the one who had only come to the realization after drastic events had forced Rainbow Dash into her care for a short time, and Rainbow Dash, the pony who had repressed her feelings and coped with them throughout her teen years with promiscuity that led to recent past problems, and her only solace recently was in Applejack's hooves.

"I...I didn't mean-"

"Can it!" Rainbow Dash barked. Applejack was up and by Rainbow Dash before the multicolored maned mare could get off another wood, putting a hoof on the back o fhe rneck and stroking her mane.

"Calm down sugar," she said softly, "Rarity's a might upset. Ahm sure she didn't mean it like it sounded."

"Quite...quite right," Rarity said with a nod, trying for a moment to regain composure but now that the sudden fear of hurting her friends was gone, the pain of her argument with Sweetie Belle on what was the one day of the year she ever really felt close to her sister returned and she started crying again. Twilight went back to patting Rarity's back since she was the only one directly beside her now, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash came closer. Even Dash's temper was subdued by Rarity's sorrow and her wings folded back up.

"Can you tell us more?" Twilight asked, "Like..why Sweetie Belle would say that?"

"Yeah, ah don' t mean ta pry,' Applejack said, "but ah heard a whole mess of shoutin' from you two. Twern't no idle comment from yer sister that got you all worked up."

"Oh where to begin!" Rarity said, "So much happened today!"

"Well, start from when you and Sweetie first met up," Rainbow Dash suggested, "It couldn't have been more than, what, two hours ago? Whenever I left; you seemed like you were in a good mood then."

Rarity sniffled a bit and used her magic to levitate a box of tissues from a nearby dresser over to her. She drew one square of paper from the box and blew her nose in it before tossing it over the back of the sofa she was on.

"After Rainbow left," Rarity began, "Sweetie Belle came and reminded me of the time. I had lost track of it while-"

"Staring at my flank," Rainbow Dash muttered aside to Applejack, earning her a rough elbow in the ribs from the blonde pony.

"-working on the dress design that Rainbow Dash was helping me with. Fortunately, we still had the better half of an hour to arrive at the Sisterhooves Social so we took our time and walked. She seemed in high spirits so I inquired as to her plans following the competition and she mentioned wanting to meet somepony. Jokingly, I implied that she was interested in somepony and she denied it as a child oft would do in such a situation. I coaxed more out of her and found that her interest was in Octavia!"

"Octavia?" Rainbow Dash asked, her face skewed a bit in disbelief.

"Octavia...as in the musician?" Twilight asked.

"Well, can't say that ahm too surprised," Applejack said quietly, more to Rainbow Dash and Twilight than in trying to interrupt Rarity. The white unicorn had ceased sobbing and speaking for the moment as her friends spoke because she was hoping they would back her up in her decision to put an end to it. "The way Applebloom's been talkin' bout how busy Sweetie is since she got her cutie mark, always goin' off with Octavia 'n Vinyl Scratch." Applejack lifted one hoof in a shrugging gesture, as if to convey that she was not concerned. "She's still a youngun. A harmless foalhood crush ain't much to worry 'bout."

"Not much to worry about!?" Rarity asked, aghast, "That is how I felt at first, but then Sweetie told me that they had been making out!" Her friends all took on shocked expressions and Rarity inwardly smiled smugly. Take that Octavia! Rarity thought while wiping her eyes dry with her hooves.

"Okay, now that ain't alright." Applejack said.

"I know," Rarity said, "But no need to worry. I went to Octavia directly and ensured an end to it. I pointed out the error of her ways and told her in no uncertain terms that if she made any attempt to pursue the illegal activity I would take all forms of action against her."
"Don't blame you there," Rainbow Dash said.

"The nerve of that woman...seducing my little sister like that," Rarity said, more anger in her voice than anguish now. She got off of the sofa and walked out of the room. The other three shared a glance then followed her. Rarity went to the kitchen and her horn flared with a light blue magical essence.

The refrigerator door opened as she walked past and a bottle of wine floated out. She took a seat at the kitchen table and rested her chin on it. A cabinet opened and a wine glass floated over to sit on the table right in front of her. The bottle opened and tilted, and while Rarity poured she asked her friends "Would any of you like a glass?" Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all shook their heads. Rarity shrugged and set the bottle down, lifting the glass with her magic and taking a large sip.

"So...are you okay Rarity?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Okay?" Rarity asked in return, taking another sip of wine, "Of course i'm okay! My sister was being molested by Octavia and accuses me, of all ponies, to be a fillyfooler! As if I would ever even consider getting intimate with a mare. It's so disgus-"

"Hold onto that thought Rare," Rainbow Dash said as she reached over and yanked the glass of wine out of the light blue field that held it in front of the alabaster mare. Once she had control of it she flung its contents into Rarity's face.

Rarity had realized what she was about to say the moment Rainbow Dash interrupted her and was opening her mouth to apologize when Rainbow Dash had emptied the contents of her wine glass into her face. She coughed and spluttered and wiped at her eyes, opening them just in time to see an orange hoof inches from her face. It was caught in a purple aura that Rarity knew was Twilight's magic.

"Twilight, lemme go," Applejack said through gritted teeth while glaring straight into Rarity's eyes. Rarity could see the rage and pain in her gaze but could not bring herself to look away. A part of her was terrified of what she would see; matching expressions of mingled hate and anguish on Twilight and Rainbow Dash's face.

"I'm I'm s-so sorry!" Rarity hastily said, taking a few steps back from the furious Applejack. She looked from Applejack to Rainbow Dash to Twilight and, as expected, she saw pain and hate on their faces; Rainbow Dash looking like she wanted to attack Rarity and Twilight appearing on the verge of tears. Rarity's ear's dropped "Really! I did not mean a word of it! It...it was the wine...a-and my mother. My mother was terribly homophobic and...and...and..."

"Oh save it," Rainbow Dash said bitterly. Applejack lowered her hoof after Twilight released her magic and none of them looked happy, but they seemed a little less mad. "So you and Sweetie got in a fight because of Octavia, basically." Rainbow Dash said, to clear things up and try to distract herself from her urge to slap Rarity for what she had been about to say.

"Y-yes," Rarity said. "I was trying to tell her that it was wrong, what Octavia was doing, and she just went off on me!"

"I agree with your sentiments about Octavia," Twilight said, "I think we all do," Rainbow Dash and Applejack each nodded. "But you need to understand that this might be Sweetie Belle's first crush; she won't really know what she's feeling and how to deal with it."

"I know," Rarity said with a sigh, slumping down onto the floor and resting her face on her hoof, "I just did not want her to be as disappointed as I was when I had my first crush." No one in the room noticed Applejack tense up a little at that statement. "I mean...first crushes never last, and they never blossom into true love. I do not wish for Sweetie to lose her innocence to the first pony she has an eye for."

"So..." Applejack said, "Yer sayin' that no first crush...so not even mah first crush...can't ever come back 'n love me?"

"Hmph, its highly unlikely," said without looking up. She didn't see the tears forming in Applejack's eyes, and when she looked up to the sound of the farm horse running out of the kitchen she was too late to see anything but her friend's tail whipping around the door to the kitchen.

"Applejack wait!" Rainbow Dash called, flying out of the kitchen behind Applejack, leaving Rarity and Twilight there.

"Wow..." Twilight said, "Not a reaction typical of Applejack. I wonder who her first crush was...' she thought.

Rarity looked at Twilight for a moment as she mentioned the question, and that was when she made the connection in her head. Rarity had been Applejack's first crush; and Applejack hearing Rarity's verbal abuse towards lesbianism and stating that it was unlikely her crush would reciprocate her feelings must have been far more difficult to listen to than Rarity could imagine. She suddenly felt lower than low and went back to the table. She needed a drink now.

"Rarity?" Twilight asked as she watched her friend go back to the table.

"Twilight, I'm sorry about what I said," Rarity said in a voice and with the body language of utter defeat, "But right now I need a bit of time alone...to think."

"Okay,' Twilight said. Normally she might argue such a point since she did not like leaving her friends in such a fragile state, but Twilight was still a little upset about what had been said earlier. She quietly left.

"Life would be so much easier if everypony could just choose to be straight." Rarity muttered, her stomach churning a little. She felt terrible.

A half hour passed as she stewed in her own self-misery and regret and then there was a knock at the door to the boutique. Rarity ignored it the first few times, but when the knocking persisted she got up. "Ungh! Who could possibly be here?" she asked herself.