They call her love, love, love, love, love.  
She is love,  
And she is all I need.
 
%%
 
Applejack and Rarity always butted heads, even as friends. They were both stubborn and raised in very different worlds. Over the years, as their friendship grew stronger, so too did their understanding of each other. The tension lessened over time, although there was still the occasional squabble here and there. The heat of an argument would always lead to the best makeup, they’d later agree.
 
The relationship began casually. They decided one evening, talking late into the night over apple cider, to give things a try and see where it went.
 
Well, the first year or so ended up being quite rocky, just as their friendship had once started. Being in closer proximity meant learning each other all over again. Living with the other was quite different than just spending the night, and the two mares found their arguments were reaching an all time high. But hell was yet to break loose.
 
The Running of the Leaves had just wrapped up. Celestia’s sun had blessed the Apples with a wonderful harvest that year. AJ’s pockets were lined with bits from selling product. To celebrate, she invited Rarity on a trip, just the two of them, to Las Pegasus. It would be their first romantic holiday ever. Rarity eagerly agreed.
 
It was all the little things. It always is. The resentment had been building for a while, but the added stress of being so far from home didn’t help.
 
Rarity with her too many bags, with an unspoken assumption in the air that AJ would carry them all. Her long lashes batting at the pretty hotel service mare in a way AJ thought was reserved for her. A charming smile at a waitress that lasted just a little too long for AJ’s liking.
 
Applejack’s loud, crass laugh, and her hooting and hollering while they were at a show. Her ugly need to prove herself when they walked along the strip and stumbled across a “test your strength” booth. The messy way she got ready for bed at night; toothpaste cap left off, spit in the sink, hair left in the brush and in the drain.
 
They had both had it. If you asked either of them now, they couldn’t tell you what the exact thing was that set it off, but it was their biggest blowout to date.
 
The two request separate rooms, and spend the last day of their trip trying to focus on anything but each other. Applejack in particular, finds herself at the hotel bar after the fight, drowning her sorrows in liquor. Later into the evening, she ends up in a drunken one night stand with a familiar face, taking all of her frustrations out on the poor stallion. Rarity spends the night holed up in her room, cheeks streaked with mascara and drowning her sorrows in ice cream. In the process, both mares realize how much they truly love the other and, just how foolish they’ve been. AJ, especially, feels incredibly ashamed over her actions.
 
They make up the next day, both regretting the words that had been said. They promise to try harder for each other and take the long train ride back home. AJ feels too guilty to admit anything to Rares just yet, but being the Element of Honesty, it eats at her.
 
That is, until she’s forced to come clean.
 
About a month or so after that ill-fated vacation, Applejack starts waking up with terrible morning sickness. She knows right away what the problem is.
 
Another fight ensues over the events that led up to the pregnancy, but AJ and Rarity come away from it promising to raise the baby together. The next few months are some of the richest of their relationship.
 
This scene depicts late into Applejack’s last trimester. She’s handled the entire pregnancy up to now with grace, but it’s gotten difficult to move around at this point. While grateful to not be on bed rest, she’s upset that she can’t help out around the farm. She misses feeling fulfilled after a hard day’s work. To top it off, her hormonal brain is telling her she’s gross and fat. She breaks down one day while trying to get through the kitchen doorway. She’s already a big girl, but now… let’s just say being so round in such a small, traditional farmhouse doesn’t go well. She wants this all to be over. She wants to go back to normal. She hates her body and she hates herself for getting into this mess. Between sobs, she asks Rarity how she could even bear to forgive her like she did, much less stand to look at her.
 
Rarity springs to action. She sets out to get her girlfriend to see her as she does; to remind her just how beautiful she is. She orders lots of flowers and special fabrics, like some beautiful dip-dyed chiffons in AJ’s favorite colors. (Don’t ask me how red dyes over green so vividly. It’s magic, just go with it lmao)
 
With the help of their friends, the fabrics are draped and the flowers are arranged. Rarity lets Pinkie add “a few” balloons and streamers, as long as they match the theme. Within a couple of hours, the area where the apple orchard meets the pears is turned into a rustic setting that looks like something out of a fairytale. Rarity brings AJ there, surprising her with a maternity photo shoot session with Photo Finish, as well as a promise to never leave her side. She seals that promise with a ring on a chain, confessing that she’s never been happier than the past months they’ve spent together. The hatchet has long since been buried, and she reassures AJ that mistakes happen, but the family they’re about to start together is anything but a mistake.
 
A couple of days go by, and little Peachy is brought into the world. She is named for both her coat color and for Applejack’s gritted-teeth response of, “oh, just fucking peachy,” when asked how she was doing while in labor. It’s love at first sight when they hold their daughter.
 
When the photos come back, Applejack thanks Rarity profusely. She may have felt self-conscious doing the shoot, but she was glad Rarity pushed her because she admits she didn’t actually look half bad, and she now has pictures of one of their happiest moments together.
 
%%
 
It’s 4:30 AM and I’m sooooo over writinggggg
 
it always sounds better in my head lmao but anyway, enjoy??
 
(hehe AJ’s wearing violets for them sapphic vibes baby)
 
%%
 
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