Love Bites

chapter 18: i will wait for the next time you want me

chapter photo creds: @tcn1205 on tumblr
title from moon song by phoebe bridgers

________________

June 1954

Applejack, even before she became literally ageless, already had trouble with clothing styles. Growing up on a farm, all her clothes were made for practicality, not for show.

It wasn't until Rarity noticed that Applejack was still wearing 20s style clothing in the 30s, that she had to re-evaluate the way she dressed. It was only because of Rarity that Applejack was able to keep up with the changing fashion of the time, but now that she was gone, that task was the last thing on Applejack's mind.

Four years after Rarity departed for Paris, Applejack received a strange package. It wasn't just one package, but six. After hauling them into her apartment, she ripped one open only to find dozens of newly made clothes: different kinds of pants, shirts, and jackets that all fit the style of the decade. At the very bottom of the last box, there was a note.

AJ,

Please, I beg of you. Switch out your wardrobe for these clothes. I don't want you to stick out like a sore thumb over there.

All my love,
Rarity

The message made Applejack roll her eyes, but she smiled nonetheless. Even after four years, she could still hear Rarity's voice clear in her ears. She'd get a letter from the other woman every few months, mostly just updates about her life in Paris. From what she read, Rarity was thriving over there. She was working at a well renowned boutique, and last she heard, Rarity enrolled herself in school.

Applejack wrote back as often as she could, but recently found out that most of her own letters paled in comparison to Rarity's. Her life, unlike her wife's, was relatively boring. If she wasn't out killing vampires, she was stuck behind a desk at the Order's Headquarters. If she wasn't doing either of those things, she was sulking at home on the couch.

So the letters dwindled down from once a month, to every few months, to a couple times a year. Her and Rarity hadn't broken up, but whatever relationship remained certainly made it feel like they had.

But like always, Applejack found that she was too busy to find the time to worry about it.

___________________

May 1960

The soul bond had given Applejack a plethora of useful abilities: she was stronger, more agile, and a hell of a lot harder to kill. The bond also stopped her body from becoming impaired easily, so she rarely became dizzy or fatigued.

What she didn't expect to come from that was the lack of her ability to get drunk.

Applejack went to the local bar more often these days, but she found that no matter how long she was there, and no matter how much she drank, she couldn't even get tipsy. Tonight was one of those nights after a long day at work that she desperately needed some sort of reprieve. It was one of those nights where she wished she could just get drunk.

"Anybody sitting here?"

Applejack lifts her head from where she was staring down into her half finished glass of whiskey, only to find a striking young woman a few paces away. She had bright red hair and dark eyes and she was gesturing to the open barstool next to Applejack.

She shakes her head. "All yours."

The woman slides onto the stool and waves the bartender over. "I'll have whatever she's having. Oh, and make that two."