Notes:

DeviantArt – Source

It had been a long day.

Of course, they were ALL long days; running an entire farm was a fairly demanding job, after all. But today had been particularly draining for Applejack, the kind of day where things had been not just busy, but fairly unpleasant too. A good chunk of the day's apples had turned up rotten, the cellar had been completely wrecked thanks to a loose shelf that had dominoed with just about everything else down there when it had fallen, and worst of all she'd been forced to give Apple Bloom a hard talking to after she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders almost managed to accidentally tear down the new barn house during one of their little schemes.

After all that, it was a wonder the Earth Pony had made it into the barn before collapsing for a bit of fitful rest.

That was where she was when Rarity found her.

It was a bit of a surprise for Applejack when she felt that silky-soft body lying down next to her own, gently nuzzling against her. Surprise, however, quickly gave way to understanding when she opened her eyes and saw the look of Rarity's face. Her fashion-minded friend was smiling contentedly now, but the Earth Pony could still see the creases of exhaustion underneath those closed eyes, could feel the worn-out pace of her breath. She knew that not too long ago smiling was probably the last thing Rarity had felt like doing.

She'd had a long day too. So she had decided to seek out the company of a Pony who knew exactly what that felt like.

And having the comfort of that company…having that understanding to share…well, Applejack couldn't keep from smiling herself at that.

So together they laid, and together they were content.

Story is artist's.