>"So you thought you'd sneak around until you just happen to find me with my tongue down his throat?"
>People are starting to stare. On a good day, people would still be staring, because it's the Elements of Harmony and a pink skinned alien thing. But now an Element of Harmony was having a row with a weird ape thing with thumbs.
"I shouldn't have-"
>"My my, Anon, sneaking around behind her back? Well I know I'm no expert on romance, but isn't that what you thought she was doing?" Discord chimes in.
>Why did you involve him? Some sort of death wish?
"Yes, but I wasn't cheating-"
>"Well me neither!"
>Celestia and Luna were looking over. How did it go this poorly this... Discord, right, that's how.
"Okay, but all I had was your word."
>"You didn't even have that, because you didn't even have the nerve to ask me, straight on, what was going on!" AJ replied.
>You try to reply quietly, to coax the conversation back to Canterlot party approved volumes.
"Well even if I had your word, I didn't have any proof, all I knew was that you weren't in heat anymore-"
>AJ stepped forward and jabbed a hoof into your chest. "If you're honestly going to tell me that my word isn't good enough, Anon, then you have been highly mistaken about me. And I've been highly mistaken about you for the past fifteen years."
>She turns and stalks off.
>You do a quick check around the party. Gossiping nobles, displeased looks on royalty. Discord almost breaking a rib trying not to laugh at you, glares from your close friends. That covered all the bases.
>You run after Applejack.
>Damn these ponies and their quadrupedal speed.
>You're all the way back to the suites before you catch up to AJ as she tears off what little she was wearing to the banquet.
"Alright, okay," catching your breath. "Sure I fucked up!"
>You two had the tower to yourselves, why hold back?
"But I wish you'd just once, maybe once, just lie to me a little."
>She turns from Rarity's over-sized luggage.
>"You want some lies from me? I'm having a great night an' this has been one of the better weeks in mah life. My marriage is going really well. How's that?"
"How about when you get sad that I can't give you a foal, you just lie to me, instead of throwing it in my face when I can't do a damn thing about it!"
>"What the hay does this have to do with anything?" she demands.
"I don't know! But I'm pissed about it. I'm pissed that whenever we get into an argument, you start on top of this massive, towering mountain of righteousness, and I have to start every argument down at the bottom with the rest of the world! How dare I suspect you of cheating on me? You're Applejack! You're infallible! All you did was disappear a few days after saying you really wanted foals, and the next time I see you, you're not in heat. And damn me for not knowing your magical-fucking-sisterhood-of-Rainbows powers could do that. You're Applejack! Of course you're the exception to mare biology! Clearly I should have doubted medical fact when faced with the possibility that AJ broke her word."
>"Or ya could've just acted like an adult and had the nerve to look me in the eye, ask me if I had cheated on you, and then trust me when I said no!" she shoots back. "But no, it's okay for you to stoop down to any means to catch me in a lie. You've just been trying and failing for seventeen years."
"Do you know how nice it would be to not be the only liar in this relationship? Huh? Do you have any idea what it's like being married to a fucking saint!? I can't go to anyone to complain about you. Unless I literally take a train out of town, go to Manehatten, and find some pony who's never met you!"
>"I don't seem to be able to rustle up a lot of sympathy for ya Anon. Not like I lied about myself before we got married! You signed up for this!"
"And you signed up for the no-foals option, but apparently you're allowed to be upset about that!"
>Silence.
>You sit down in a chair near the door and drop your face into your hands. Your blood is pounding in your head, and you can feel the headache coming. You take a moment to think.
>What's the end game here? Are you trying to work through this, or are you trying to justify ending your relationship?
>You didn't know. Of course you wanted to stay with Applejack, you married her. You wanted the rest of your life with her. But you wanted to feel like equal partners, not like you were trying to measure up to her insanely high bar.
>"You should go," she says.
"No, AJ, wait-"
>"I ain't ending us, I'm just ending this. I don't even want to think anymore."
>You get up from the chair.
"AJ."
>"I'll see you back at home."