Chapter 7: A Tall Hot Glass of Applejack and Brothers Who Just Won’t Shut Up
Twilight Sparkle walked home slowly, Fluttershy’s words still echoing through her head. Applejack... She balances me out? It was a compelling thought. But...But...It didn’t quite seem...logical. Not internally logical. It didn’t necessarily explain why she was acting like this so unexpectedly. The suddenness of these feelings--the physical attraction to another mare along with the urge to act upon it--was completely unlike Twilight’s normal nature and it was troubling to consider that an intelligent mare could be so blindsided by... Well, I don’t know what this is, thought Twilight frowning.
Could this be...biological in nature? Pheromones or hormones or something like that? It was possible. Ponies in ages past had to deal with biological embarrassments like the estrous cycle. Of course, no modern ponies had to worry about her hormones running away with her intellect. But it would explain things.
The truly confusing thing here was deciding what she wanted. That kiss had felt wonderful. It’s not like she could complain about the way she felt like she was walking on clouds. But she definitely did not like the way her reason had pretty much completely departed her when she smelled Applejack’s...glorious...silky...golden...What was I going on about? Twilight shook her head, trying to clear it of the remembered scent of her friend. The day was almost over and she had--once again--completely overshot the Library as she lost herself in thought. She found herself in front of the saccharine door of Sugar Cube Corner and gave a mental shrug. Why not? I could do with a bite to eat anyway.
Just as she was entering, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were leaving. They smiled huge cheesy grins at her and Sweetie fluttered her eyelashes dreamily. “Hi Twilight!” Apple Bloom said brightly, “Didja like th’ weather we had this mornin’?”
“Uh, yes!” Twilight said, taken aback by the attention of the Crusaders. “But wasn’t it supposed to rain today?”
Scoots and Sweetie giggled, and Apple Bloom’s smile widened, “Yeah, I think it was supposed to rain. Those durn weather ponies musta’ mixed it all up. So... did you an’ my sister get to plant th’ saplin’ I gave ya?”
Twilight blushed hugely, but tried to play it off by coughing and clearing her throat. “Erm, no... We didn’t really get to planting anything today. With one thing and another... we kinda forgot about it.”
Apple Bloom looked disappointed, but seemed to brighten up at a thought. “Oh, that’s okay. Um... me n’ the girls’re gonna, uh, go try an’ see if we can earn our, uh, leaf collectin’ cutie marks! Bye!”
The Crusaders left in a hurry, though Twilight could swear she heard Scootaloo say, “Leaf collecting? Soooo lame!”
She opened the door and walked in to be greeted by an enthusiastic Pinkie hug. “I saw you walking outside and you looked so deep in thought and I said to myself, I said, ‘Pinkie, there’s a pony that could certainly use a really big hug,’ and so then I said back to myself, ‘Pinkie, that’s a totally awesome idea,’ and I said, ‘I know, right!?’ And I got so excited when you walked into the bakery that I couldn’t even contain myself anymore andnowyou’rehereandIgaveyouareallybighugandit’sgreatisnt’it?!” Twilight was gasping for breath as Pinkie’s hug tightened more and more throughout her seemingly breathless tirade.
“Need...Air!” Twilight managed to croak as Pinkie continued more or less without stopping.
“Oops!” Her flow of words abruptly stopped and she let Twilight go, smiling widely.
Twilight smiled back weakly and caught her breath. “It’s okay Pinkie, but not everypony can speak without the need for air.”
Pinkie’s grin widened and the pink pony skipped around the counter of the bakery. “So, what can I get for ya, Twilight? You look like you might be in the mood for a--” her bright blue eyes suddenly narrowed and she leapt back over the counter and sniffed at Twilight’s mane.
Taken aback, Twilight flinched and tried to retreat from Pinkie’s questing nose, “Gah! Pinkie! What are you doing?!”
Pinkie stopped sniffing and retreated, a smile spreading on her lips again. She waggled her eyebrows in what Twilight could only assume was a suggestive manner as she walked back around the counter. “Hmmmm... I bet you want apple fritters.” Twilight just stared at her. “No? How about an apple muffin?” Twilight began to shuffle a little uncomfortably, “Or an apple puff, maybe some apple cobbler, with a side of spiced apples covered in apple cinnamon syrup and a tall glass of applejack. Though I should warn you, the Cakes don’t stock applejack--this is a family establishment after all!”
Twilight felt a headache coming on. If even Pinkie can tell what’s going on, why is it so confusing to me?! She sighed and replied, “YES. Okay?! I’d love to have a tall, hot, glass of Applejack. With apple turnovers and apple puffs and...and... apples! Give all the apples to Twilight! Why not?! I mean, she just kissed Applejack, so she must really need to eat a bunch of apples!” Twilight felt a little wild around the edges and was about to continue, but something about Pinkie’s expression stopped her.
The normally effusive pink party pony had a look of deep concern on her face. It was...bizarre. Pinkie walked slowly around the bakery counter again, all traces of her normal smile absent. Even her poofy mane seemed to be flattening out a little. “Twilight,” Pinkie said, seriously, “you don’t sound like you’d love apples. You sound like you’re mad at apples.” She scrunched up her face, her eyebrows meeting in a puzzled expression, “But that doesn’t make much sense! Apples are awesome!”
Twilight sighed and closed her eyes. That headache that had been threatening before was coming on full force now. She rubbed at her temples in a vain gesture to ward it off. “Pinkie...” She started, her voice strained with exasperation.
“But that’s not really the problem, is it?” Pinkie was being unusually perceptive today. Or something. Twilight was not in the mood for it, but Pinkie didn’t really appear to notice her irritation. “There’s something else going on here...” Pinkie peered at Twilight, one eye squinted shut and the other bulging out of its socket in an attempt to examine her lavender friend more closely. Twilight shrunk back from the scrutiny, not sure if she was more disturbed by Pinkie’s anatomical gymnastics or the pink pony’s unusually poignant observations.
“Pinkie,” Twilight tried again. The pink mare sniffed Twilight and then opened her eyes wide.
“You aren’t angry at apples,” Pinkie said, a smile growing on her lips, “you really really like apples!” Then she frowned again, “Or at least, inside-Twilight likes apples. It seems like outside-Twilight isn’t really too sure about apples.”
Twilight opened her mouth to refute Pinkie’s words, but nothing came out. She couldn’t really lie to herself. She closed her mouth and just nodded. A small smile tugged at one side of her mouth, “Yeah, pretty much... But I could just be suffering from narcotics withdrawal!” The hope seemed faint, though.
Pinkie giggled, “Silly, there’s no need to chase the dragon! You’ve got Spike! Besides,” she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, “doesn’t it feel good to be in looo-”
Twilight grabbed a cupcake from one of the displays and shoved it into Pinkie’s mouth before she could finish her sentence. Pinkie munched on it happily, apparently not bothered at being gagged with a cupcake. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. I... I kissed Applejack. There. I said it--”
“Again!” Pinkie chimed in, swallowing the cupcake.
“--again.” Twilight sighed, “So why do I feel so... conflicted? Shouldn’t I feel good about all this?”
Pinkie grabbed another cupcake from the display and munched on it thoughtfully. After about a half-second’s thought, she nodded decisively. “Yes, yes you should feel good about all this... But!” She held up a hoof to forestall Twilight’s response, “You’re also muzzy-wuzzy in the noggin. You’ve never felt chocolate-frosting-and-sprinkles-on-chocolate-cake about any of your friends before, you’ve only felt cream-cheese-icing-and-red-velvet-cake about us. So it’s perfectly understandable for you to get brain-burps about everything. I mean, if you’ve only ever had red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, then suddenly tasted the wonderosity of chocolate cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles, you’d be super confused and maybe even a little angry that you’d never had chocolate cake before!”
Twilight thought about her friend’s words. If she parsed the baked-goods metaphors right...Then basically...How about that, Twilight thought, she’s right! The small smile which had been tugging at one corner of her mouth now grew into a full smile. “Wow, Pinkie! I guess I hadn’t really thought of it like that before!”
Pinkie giggled again and gave Twilight another hug, this one much less vice-like than the last. “Of course I am, silly-billy! Now, how’s about you get yourself a nice big cinnamon roll and a coffee and go back to the library. It’s getting late and Mr. and Mrs. Cake will want me to start closing up shop pretty soon. Unless... you want to have a closing-the-shop-and-celebrating-cake-party?!” She started bouncing as she retrieved a cinnamon bun and poured a measure of coffee into a paper cup and handed them to Twilight, talking all the while, “Ooh! It’ll be so great! We’ll have streamers and confetti and cake--of course we’ll have cake!-- and punch and music and Gummy will wanna DJ the whole thing but I don’t know where we’re going to find go-go dancers at this late in the season and I don’t know, Twilight, but I think that a pudding pool might be a little underwhelming for this degree of party--” Twilight took the proffered coffee and bun and slowly started backing out of the bakery.
Before she took two steps, Pinkie suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide in sudden memory. “Oh! Wait! There’s something I have to give you! Hang on a second...” She bounced around the bakery’s counter and rummaged around. A rubber chicken, a fake mustache, a top hat, a fish bowl with a set of dentures in it all were tossed aside as Pinkie searched for...whatever it was she had remembered. Finally, after tossing aside what looked to be a marble bust of a rather surprised manticore, Pinkie said, “Ah ha!” And re-emerged holding a purple envelope in her mouth. “Thish ish f’r yoo!”
Twilight took the envelope from Pinkie with her magic and eyed it a little nervously. It was fine paper and smelled slightly of lavender. She turned it over. There was a red lipstick lip-print on the back. Immediately, Twilight blushed. “Who, ah, who’s it um... who’s it from?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking only a little.
“It’s from Apple--” Pinkie started to say, but was cut off by Twilight’s gasp. Suddenly, the lavender unicorn was saying goodbye and thank you and all but rushing out of the bakery. Nonplussed, Pinkie finished what she was going to say, “--bloom!” Then she shrugged to herself and began sweeping up the bakery, singing her Sweeping Up the Bakery song.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief when she got out of the bakery and stepped out into the chill evening. It was...well, it was Twilight; the sun had only just sunk to the horizon and the first stars had yet to appear, though Celestia’s Eye twinkled in its usual place just above the treetops of the Everfree forest to the north. The envelope in Twilight’s magic seemed to be brighter than it really was, though it could have just been a trick of perception. Twilight smiled at the night sky, feeling a blush heating her lips as the star seemed to wink at her. The star seemed to be saying, “I know who wrote that letter!”. She took a sip of her coffee and started to walk home where she could savor opening the letter in the privacy of her own room.
~*.*~
Applejack adjusted the wedge she had strapped to her back hoof and sighted behind herself carefully. She tensed her muscles, then snapped out a kick. The section of hickory log cracked with a hollow thunk and two neat halves toppled down. Applejack took a moment and positioned the next log and then prepared to split it. She was just about to launch another kick when she was interrupted by a cough. Startled, she let the kick go the slightest bit wide and, instead of splitting the log, her kick stopped cold and sent a tingling, numbing pain shooting all the way up her leg to settle into her lower back. “Consarn the dad-blamed hoof-smellin’ wrong end of a son-of-a-frog!” She howled, hopping on three legs and waving her deadened leg in the air.
Big Mac looked truly startled at this truly impressive display of cussin, deciding that the letter Pinkie had given him to give his sister might ought to wait a bit’. “Welp,” he said slowly, “I reckon I’d better come back when y’all’ve calmed down a mite...”
Applejack shot him a withering glare and flopped down on her haunches, rubbing at her bad leg with a hoof. “Sorry,” she grumbled. “Don’t tell Granny.”
Big Mac chuckled and shook his head. He cocked an eyebrow at the woodpile. It was stacked twice as tall as him and thirty feet long. The logs for chopping were almost all gone. “Rough day?” He asked.
Applejack sighed and slipped the splitting wedge off her hoof. Feeling was beginning to return to her leg in shooting little spears of hot pain. Grimacing, she shook her head. “I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.”
Big Mac cocked his eyebrow again. His sister couldn’t lie, deceive, dissemble, or kid herself or anypony worth a bent bit and they both knew it. The fact that she would even try was evidence of something serious. He waited for her to realize what she said. When he saw her blushing from her neck to the tips of her ears, he knew it wouldn’t be much longer. Three... he thought laconically, Two... aaaaaaannnd... “I’m sorry Big Mac,” Applejack muttered. One.
He nodded wordlessly and sat down next to his little sister, looking out over the orchard. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was truly magnificent as the vermilion on the horizon blended into bloody crimson and soft lavender. A few stray clouds the weather ponies had missed scudded around on a breeze high overhead and the smell of woodsmoke from the town spiced the air with a subtle accent that was redolent of autumn. He breathed in deeply, loving every second of it. Big Mac nuzzled the top of his sister’s head and asked, “Wanna talk about it?”
Applejack shook her head again, then surprised herself by speaking anyway. “Yeah, I think I do.” Big Mac just nodded for her to continue. “It’s... well, it ain’t nothin’ I’ve ever dealt with before. I...” She trailed off, suddenly lost in a physical memory of Twilight’s lips, fleeting and soft on her own. She shook her head, breaking back into the present. “Well... let’s just say you ain’t the only one suddenly jugglin’ a mare o’ many surprises.”
Big Mac paused at that. “Mare?” He chewed thoughtfully on his ever-present stalk of hay. Then shrugged with his eyebrows and nuzzled his sister again, “Congratulations.”
“Oh don’t get all sappy on me now, Big Mac! It ain’t all sunshine and roses.” She rushed on, “Now don’t interrupt me! You know I hate it when you get all chatty and don’t let me get a word in edgewise.
“It was sudden and all unexpected. And I don’t think even she knew it was comin’... Course, she coulda’ been plannin’ the whole thing... But that ain’t like her! She likes her plans an’ her schedules somethin’ fierce and no mistake, but she ain’t never shown even the slightest interest in me before!” Applejack glared out at the sunset, not really seeing it.
“Twilight?” Big Mac knew the answer, but it would help his sister to say her name, he knew.
“Huh?” Applejack glanced up at him and blushed again, “Yeah... Twilight. How’d y’know?”
“Lucky guess.”
Applejack half smiled, then scowled. “O’course, it’d never work. We’re nothin’ alike. I mean, she’s Celestia’s star student an’ I’m just an apple farmer in a hick small town out in the middle o’ nowhere. ‘Sides, it ain’t like she’d know what hard work was if it came up an’ bit her on the flank!”
“Nice flanks though.” He smiled as Applejack’s blush rushed back and intensified. Gotcha, he thought smugly.
“You keep your dirty hooves to yourself! Or at least keep ‘em t’ Pinkie,” amended Applejack, then another thought struck her. “An’ Lyra I guess...”
Big Mac chuckled softly and shook his head. “I’m sure you’re right,” he said calmly.
“Now just hold on a second!” Applejack snapped, “How would you know anything about what would and wouldn’t work between me an’ Twi? It ain’t every pony who can say they got Princess Celestia as a mentor! And she stays up for days studyin’ those books o’ hers livin’ on just take out an’ coffee and--and she’s saved Equestria at least twice! An’ Ponyville at least a dozen other times!”
Big Mac raised his eyebrow again, switching his stalk of hay to the other side of his mouth. “Ayup.”
“Don’t get smart with me, Big Mac! I mean it! Why, if me n’ Twilight wanna make a go of it, you can... you can, uh... you can just shut yer big fat yap!” Applejack stood up, only limping a little bit on her hoof and narrowed her eyes at her brother. “And you can take those doubts o’ yours all the way on down t’ Tartarus!”
Big Mac shook his head, his expression carefully neutral. “Y’got me there,” he said, his tone absolutely flat.
Applejack huffed and nodded, managing to keep her stern expression for a whole five seconds before she broke down laughing. “All right, all right!” She groaned, “I’m a lovesick little filly! I can be th’ big mare an’ admit it... Though you’d better not go blabbin’ it all over town, y’great big gossip!”
Big Mac rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching his neck. “You know me,” he said, “just achin’ to spread rumors.” He laughed softly and began walking to the farmhouse.
“Big Mac,” Applejack called after him. The big earth pony paused, looking back over his shoulder, “Thanks,” she said softly, “fer listenin’.”
Big Mac just nodded. He smiled then and pulled a red envelope out from his yoke and gave it to Applejack. “Pinkie gave me this for you,” he explained, “said it was from a filly who really hoped you’d fall in love.” He turned and walked to the farmhouse, humming one of Pinkie’s songs under his breath and smiling ever so slightly as he went. Applejack watched him go, one hoof toying with the red envelope in front of her, glad that Big Mac had remained silent for once when she had blushed from tail to snout when he’d given her the letter.
~*.*~
Earlier that day...
Apple Bloom eyed the finished letter critically. She looked at her two friends doubtfully and raised a skeptical eyebrow at Rarity. “I don’t think my sister’d say, ‘Yew make mah bosom heave, O Violaceous Vixen.’ It don’t sound nothin’ like ‘er!” She wrinkled her nose at the letter in front of her, “And I don’t even know what a ‘marehood’ is. Is it like a rash? ‘Cuz when I get a rash, it gets all hot an’ bothered like you wrote here.”
Rarity blushed and whisked the letter away, “Nonsense! This is perfect. Twilight Sparkle will just know it’s from her dear Applejack and it will ignite a passion for the ages! Their love will rival that of Cleopcloptra and Marc Antpony!” She fanned herself with the letter. How did it get so warm in this room all of a sudden?
Scoots scrunched up her face, trying to make out the dense wording of the second letter, “Okay, yeah, but what’s ‘the quantum string theory of our hearts’ got anything to do with kissin’?”
Sweetie shrugged, but her loyalty to her sister compelled her to defend her. “Look you two, you both said you didn’t know anything about love letters. And we all know that my big sister knows all about romance, right?” Reluctantly, the other two Crusaders nodded. “So,” Sweetie continued, “let’s give it a shot! I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”
Dead silence rang out in Rarity’s inspiration room as that little bomb dropped. Scoots flinched a little. Apple Bloom’s eyes twitched nervously around the room, seeking the exits. Even Sweetie looked mildly shocked at her words. “Well now you’ve gone an’ done it,” Apple Bloom said quietly.
Scoots backed away from the little group slowly. Suddenly, she dove into a small mountain of throw pillows that Rarity had arranged on one of the fainting couches arranged artfully around the room. She peeked out from her pillow fort and then firmly shut her eyes. “Girls!” Rarity snapped peevishly, “Really! Now come come. I’ve given you more than enough of my valuable time to help you bring Applejack and Twilight Sparkle together. I simply must get back to my work; the day is beginning to wear on. Now, take the letters,” she picked them both up with her magical aura and folded them, placing them into envelopes.
“And remember,” she said, smiling as she applied a generous helping of lipstick to her lips and placed a kiss on the back of each of the envelopes, leaving a large red lip-print, and floated them over to Sweetie Belle, “The purple envelope goes to Applejack and the red one goes to Twilight! Now go spread the magic of love!” With that, the alabaster fashionista shooed the Crusaders out of her inspiration room and out into the hall.
Scoots, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle each looked at each other with mounting trepidation. The doom that Sweetie’s last sentence had prophesied still hanging over their heads. Scoots forced a laugh, “Ha. Heh. Right, guys... Let’s go spread the magic of love!”
Apple Bloom laughed uneasily, and nodded her head, her pink ribbon bobbing along. “Sure thing, Scoots!” Even to her ears, her cheerfulness sounded more like desperation, “Magic o’ love!”
Sweetie winced at Scootaloo’s laugh and nervously fumbled with the letters. I really put my hoof in it, she thought miserably. What can I do? Her mind raced, trying to figure out the best way to lift the palpable sense of dread which now hung over all of their heads. Suddenly, it came to her. “Sugar Cube Corner!” Her shout even startled her, to say nothing of Scoots, who had somehow managed to zip up into the rafters and Apple Bloom, who had covered herself with Sweetie’s poofy tail. “Aw, c’mon guys!” Sweetie wheedled, “Forget about...what I said. Let’s go get a cupcake or something from Pinkie Pie! My sister gave me my allowance from mom and dad yesterday, so it’ll be my treat!”
Scoots didn’t so much land as crash as she tried to fly back down from her perch, but in her defense, her wings were flapping the whole time. Apple Bloom sheepishly got out from under Sweetie’s tail, her cheeks colored with a blush of embarrassment. Scoots looked a lot less frightened than she had mere seconds ago and even Apple Bloom didn’t seem quite so nervous any more. “Yeah,” Scoots said, a smile growing, “as long as you’re buyin’, I’m sooo there!”
Relieved, Sweetie held out one small hoof. The other two Crusaders put their hooves in and, as one, they yelled, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS... AWAAAAAAY!” Sweetie made sure that the letters were gripped firmly in her mouth as they sped out of the boutique and down the street.
~*.*~
A few minutes later, the Crusaders were seated at a table in the bakery amid the late lunch crowd, mugs full of steaming hot chocolate and marshmallows in front of them while Pinkie Pie heaped a platter full of cookies, pastries, and cupcakes in front of them. “So Crusaders,” Pinkie said smiling broadly, “have you gotten your extreme sports entomology cutie marks yet?”
Scoots shook her head, “Nah, we gave up on that last week. Cockroaches are really bad at snowboarding, and you’d think water bugs’d be good at white-water rafting, but noooooo.”
“We’re getting our matchmaker cutie marks instead!” Sweetie piped in, a chocolatey mustache on her upper lip as she put down her mug.
“Matchmaking!” Pinkie’s eyes widened, “But you shouldn’t be playing with fire!”
Apple Bloom giggled and took a bit of a chocolate-on-chocolate cookie, “Huh-uh,” she said around a mouthful of cookie, “No, we’re tryin’ to help my sister n’ Twilight fall in love!”
Pinkie laughed delightedly, “Ooh! That sounds like soooo much fun! They’d be sooo perfect for each other! And I’d be able to throw a party for them when they finally got around to telling the rest of us! Ooh! Ooh! How can I help?!”
Sweetie Belle and Scoots exchanged a shrug and Apple Bloom looked thoughtful. Then she brightened up and said, “I know! You can give these here love letters to Twilight and Applejack! Yeah!”
“Good idea!” Sweetie Belle said. “Then we wouldn’t have to do it!”
“Ooh, I can so totally do that!” Pinkie said, bouncing in place. Apple Bloom took the letters from Sweetie and gave them to Pinkie.
“Remember,” said Apple Bloom, “the purple one goes to Twilight and the red one goes to my sister.” Then she stopped, a puzzled little frown on her face, “...Or maybe it’s the other way around?”
“Nah,” said Scoots airily, picking up a snickerdoodle and eating it in one bite, “You got it right the first time. See, ‘cuz Twilight’s purple right? And Applejack’s got red apples for her cutie mark, so of course she gets the red envelope!”
“I don’t know...” Sweetie Belle hedged, “I think it’s the other way around.”
Pinkie snatched the envelopes and bounced back around the counter, calling as she went, “Purple to Twilight and Red to Applejack! Got it! You can count on me! Yessirree bob! That’s a funny thing to say. I mean, who’s named Bob? What a weird name! I mean, what kinda cutie mark would a Bob have? Maybe a plum! Or a fish hook! Ewwww... what pony fishes? How would a pony even hold the rod and reel...” She trailed off as she fumbled with the letters behind the counter. Her eyes, though, had gotten very wide and a huge smile was growing on her face as she looked at the entrance of the bakery.
The Crusaders all stared at her in surprise. Pinkie never trailed off mid-ramble. Apple Bloom sighed and pointed to the entrance to the bakery. There stood her brother, Big Mac. He looked more than a little awkward standing half in and half out of the bakery with a big dopey grin on his normally stoic face. He walked into the bakery and Pinkie bounced out to greet him, throwing her forehooves around his neck and giving him a hug. She also planted several kisses on his cheeks and Apple Bloom could swear her big brother actually blushed--and she knew it had to have been a big blush if she could see it through his red coat.
Scoots was busy making gagging motions and Sweetie was blushing prettily and giggling. Apple Bloom was more inclined to agree with Scoots, but kept her mouth shut. She was happy for her brother, but at the same time, it was weird to see Big Mac acting so... so...coltish. Then Apple Bloom got an idea. She could use this little situation to her--and more importantly, her sister’s--advantage! She hopped down out of her seat and approached the two ponies.
Big Mac and Pinkie didn’t notice her right away. They didn’t notice her clearing her throat either. It was only through a concerted climbing effort with some truly athletic gymnastics that she was able to lever their faces apart long enough for the two besotted ponies to notice her. She dropped off her brother’s back and onto the floor with a squeak and eyed Big Mac askance. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Of course, Pinkie was completely oblivious. “Ahem!” Apple Bloom cleared her throat again, just for good measure. “Pinkie, could you get the red envelope we gave you a second ago? I think my big brother’d be the perfect pony t’be my messenger-colt!” Pinkie gave a cheerful nod and bounced back behind the counter.
Big Mac blinked at her in confusion. “It’s a letter,” Apple Bloom explained patiently, “for Applejack. You’re gonna give it to her when you see her next.”
Big Mac raised an eyebrow. Apple Bloom averted her eyes from his searching gaze. She scuffed her hoof on the floor, “Who’s it from?” She desperately searched for inspiration, “Uh, well... It-it’s from...” Suddenly, it came to her: the perfect answer to a rather awkward question that was completely true without being the whole truth, “It’s from a filly who really hopes she’s in love!” Big Mac’s other eyebrow joined the first high up on his forehead. “Trust me,” Apple Bloom said, “She’ll know who it’s from!”
Pinkie returned with the red envelope and gave it to Big Mac. She also had yet another tray full of pastries and sweets which she set out in on an empty table for Big Mac. “There we go!” She said cheerfully. “It’s my treat!”
The Crusaders stayed for a long time, enjoying the baked goods and hot chocolate. Eventually, Big Mac left and the shop slowly emptied out. Pinkie came up to them and said, a little sadly, “Sorry, fillies, but I gotta start cleanin’ the shop for closin’ time now... But you can come back tomorrow reeeeeeeeally early and hang out again!”
Scoots looked surprised at the time and said she had to get back home for dinner. The Crusaders thanked Pinkie and all trooped out of Sugar Cube Corner, talking and giggling to each other.
~*.*~