Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Bearing the Weather

Standing atop the railing that overlooked the haunting facility, Cynical Storm gazed over the dark and recently cleaned facility. The chains that hung from the creaking ceiling and sparkled like fangs in the darkness, with the glowing red lights of the various machines becoming their eyes.

'What a splendid new playground I have! I can't wait to share it!' Cynical thought to himself as his smile slithered from ear to ear. 'I just have sooooo many possible playmates, I can't choose!'

"Lost in thought, Cynical?" A pony called out from the dark. He was a light green Pegasus, with a sharp mane style that often hung from one side. His mane and eyes were the same shade of green, just a few shades or so darker then his coat. An average looking pony to say the least, but the peculiar thing about him was his cutie mark. A toaster that appeared to be made out of wood, and on fire! Which is where the pony drew his new name from.

"Well well well, if it isn't WoodenToaster!" The words seemed to slither out of Cynical's mouth as he turned, his black and green eyes turning and focusing on the new arrival. "I'm glad you could join us. But I'm afraid the party isn't quite ready yet."

WoodenToaster castually strolled up to stand beside the black eyed Pegasus and looked out into the factory that he was so familiar with. "It's been a long time. But it looks like I've finally been reunited with my greatest masterpiece!"

"Do you think you can get it up and running?" Cynical asked, peaking at WoodenToaster from the side.

Almost seeming insulted, Wooden turned sharply to the side and narrowed his eyes at Cynical for a moment before cracking a smile. "My friend, I will get it up and running better then ever! But first, we need to flush out it's gears and pipes."

A light clicked on in Cynical's head. "Ah! How about we start the machine up to run a big, nasty, almost out of control, rain storm! That should clean it right out!"

Thinking it over for a moment, Wooden's smile began to grow. "After it cleans out the Rainbow factory, the storm would make it's way to the nearest town and cause quite a bit of trouble."

"Don't worry, the nearest town is Ponyville, some backwater place nopony really cares about" Cynical reassured the mad scientist, lying about it all.

"Eh, good enough for me!" Wooden said as he jumped down from the railing and began messing with his machine. Hitting various buttons, flipping certain switches, twisting a few pressure gages.

"Besides" Cynical muttered to himself as he joined his new 'friend' down on the factory's floor. "If anypony asks, we could always blame gremlins. They've been causing a little bit of trouble in Cloudsdale recently."

The horrible machines began to breath to life in the sound of turning gears, rattling chains, whistles, hoots, and electric charges that brought them to life. One bad storm coming up....

(https://youtu.be/SJMizrTFiFo)

"It's going to be great, Granny!" Applejack said as she raced around the living room late that night, gathering various items for her camping trip. "Just me, Sunny, the elements and no distractions!"

"Yep" Granny said as she sat back in her rocker, trying to catch a light nap before bed. But each time she started to feel the gentle touch of sleep, her eldest granddaughter woke her up with her packing.

The yellow unicorn in question had gone with Apple Bloom and Big Mac to catch some fireflies out in the field, since he had time to pack this morning while Applejack met with her friends to discuss who would look over the castle while Twilight was away. Amazingly, Rarity insisted on the first watch, despite her built work schedule. With the Grand Galloping Gala as well as the Crystal Ball both right around the corner, the fashionista had quite a bit of work to do. But Rarity insisted on taking he first few nights. Especially since Twilight's castle was big enough for her to work on multiple projects, store them, then when she wasn't working, Rarity could go off and relax several rooms away if she wanted. Applejack didn't care who took the first watch so long as she could have a few days to work on her 'spending quality time with Sunny' plan.

"Ah gotta say" Applejack started to pat herself on the back as she leaned up against a well stuffed back pack. "Rarity surprised me with the idea. Ah told her Sunny and th' guys went campin' and had a hoot of ah good time, even making ah friend too! So she thought if he and ah could get some alone time, that would give him ah chance ta get ta know th' real me. Not just th' me who works on the farm or sleeps in th' room next ta his."

Bobbing her head, Granny just agreed to whatever Appljack was going on about. "Hmmmm... yeah.... sure...."

"Oh it will be a hoot of ah great time too!" Applejack continued as she packed her bag full of stuff. "Ah'm pulling out all th' stops! We'll start things off with ah early mornin' hike, ah'll cook us up some breakfast while he sets up camp. Then we'll take ah dip in th' lake, ah could also meet his friend, Epsy. After ah good long day of swimmin' an showin' off mah nature survival skills, we'll sit down around the campfire. We'll tell stories, ah'll teach him ah few campfire songs. Then, right as we're 'bout ta call it ah night, we'll just sit there, in th' dark, and look up at th' stars..."

Applejack was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Granny had fallen fast asleep or hear her siblings or Sunny enter the house. They weren't present for most of what Applejack had said, but Sunny took great interest in hearing the last bit of Appljack's list of fun things on her camping to do list.

"That all sounds like a real hoot of ah good time, Applejack" Sunny commented with a grin as he put several jars containing fireflies in front of her. "And ah grabbed these for you. Big Mac and Apple Bloom told me we just release them later. And ah wanted ya'll ta be able to join us."

Trying her best to play things off as calmly as she could, wondering how long Sunny and the others had been standing there, Applejack just forced a small laugh as she looked around nervously. Her siblings just smiled and held back their own natural giggles from their sister's awkwardness. "A-sure! That sounds great! Thank ya, Sunny."

Taking the jar in hoof, Applejack looked though the jar, past the fireflies, and directly at the yellow stallion in the other side. Despite his image being slightly warped by the jar's shape, he still was so captivating. Applejack wanted nothing more then to tell that happy go lucky, sunshine in his pocket pony how she really felt about him. But something she had never felt before was keeping her from behind honest with him about her true feelings.

Her fear of rejection.

Looking back at the orange, freckled mare, Sunny felt something. Not the usual feelings he normally felt being around Applejack, but... something else. Something like he knew she was... afraid. That was it, he felt she was afraid of something. But what? What could somepony as brave strong as Applejack be afraid of?

"We better let them critters go" Granny said, waking up from her slumber with a little yawn.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Apple Bloom said as she and Big Mac rushed out the front door, Quickly followed by Sunny, who held the door open for Applejack and Granny.

Once outside, the small herd of Apples made their way down the dirt road to the archway at the edge of the farm, then one by one, they began to set the fireflies free from the jars. Big Mac amazingly beat Apple Bloom to opening his jar first. As the fireflies flew free from their jars, it looked almost as if the Apple family were releasing more stars into Luna's night sky.

Applejack and Sunny sat close by each other, watching the fireflies scatter and shine. It had been a long time since Applejack and her siblings caught and released the glowing bugs, and Sunny had never in all his life ever done it. Looking away from the fireflies and to each other, they both simultaneously smiled at one another. It was truly a magical moment that neither one of them would forget.

"Hey look!" Apple Bloom shouted as she pointed her hoof to the sky.

Looking away from each other, Applejack and Sunny liked to the sky where Apple Bloom was pointing to see the amazing sight of a shooting star!

"Make ah wish!" Big Mac said then closed his eyes and silently made his wish.

Apple Bloom and Granny did the same, closing their eyes and saying in their minds the wishes they hoped would come true.

Closing his eyes, Sunny thought for a moment what he would want the most. Peaking one eye open and looking around, he came up with a wish that he said in his mind as well.

Applejack, on the other hoof, didn't need any time to think about what she wished the most for. Looking back over at the yellow unicorn sitting next to her, then back at the falling star as it was nearly out of sight, the orange farm pony made her wish. 'Please... please let him like me as much as ah like him....'

As the falling star disappeared into the distance and the fireflies traveled back to their homes, the Apple family made their way back to the farm house. Granny paused for a moment to look back into the sky, narrowing her eyes in the direction of Cloudsdale. The elderly farm pony rubbed her chin as she continued to focus her eyes and narrow her sight on the blurred image in the distance.

"Everything alright, Granny?"Applejack asked her grandmother, looking at the green mare with slight concern.

"Ah got ah funny feelin' ah storm's ah comin'" Granny said as she turned her attention back to her eldest granddaughter.

"Are ya sure?" Applejack didn't want to believe her grandmother was right, but Granny normals had a 6th sense about these sorts of things. "Ah mean, th' weather report for the week said-"

"Somethin' ain't right 'bout it" Granny said as she once again looked off into the distance. Seeing the worry she was bringing to Applejack, Granny just chucked to herself and walked past the orange farm pony. "Oh ah wouldn't worry nothin' 'bout it now. Go on an' get some rest. Ya'll have ah busy day tomorrow, what with all ya' have planned, don'cha?"

"Ah guess yer right..." Reluctantly, Applejack walked back into the farm house to go over we list of supplies again, thinking two things. 1)She hoped there would be no storm and everything would go smoothly tomorrow. And 2) Twilight would be proud at her diligence with the list she had made and her dedication to it.

That night, Applejack found it hard to get to sleep, but was finally able to drift off into a sound slumber. She began dreaming about her and Sunny, sitting by a campfire, her playing her guitar, and him just gazing deep into her eyes. Without knowing it, the two of them began to slowly lean in closer and closer to each other as Applejack stopped playing. The only thing mattering to either of them were each other. But just as she could almost feel his lips grace hers, the orange farm mare was awaken from her gentle slumber by a loud crack of thunder!

Falling out of bed, Applejack took a moment to fully wake up. When she did, she walked over to her bedroom window and looked out of it. Her heart sank as she saw heavy rain, violent winds, and dark clouds just on the other side of her window. 'Ah guess that means no camping trip today...'

Shaking her head clear of her disappointment, Applejack began to go into full farm protector mode. With a storm this violent, she had to secure several things and get the animals to safety. Luckily most of the apples that were ready for bucking had already been harvested and safely stored in the barn. But Applejack would need to bring in the pigs, cows, and maybe even the chickens into the barn. The storm looked like it might blow away their coop.

As Applejack struggled to quickly throw on her galoshes and rain slicker, she heard fumbaling around in the room next to her and Sunny bursts into her room moments later, already dressed in his rain ready attire.

"Th' storm came outa nowhere!" The yellow unicorn said as he helped Applejack get the last of her big rubber boots on.

"We need ta get th' animals inta th' barn" Applejack stated, walking with him out of her room. "Where's Big Mac?"

"Out cold" Sunny informed Applejack. "I really can't wake him up."

"Ugh, anytime he hears rain, his mind says 'it's ah day we don't do much farm work' and th' lug sleeps in" Applejack clarified with slight frustration. "Ain't no way ta wake him up now. Looks like it's just you and me, partner."

"I'm ok with that" Sunny said with a smile, shooting Applejack a quick glance before looking strait ahead as they raced to the front door.

The look Applejack received would normally make her stomach flutter like it was full of butterflies, but as she also reached the front door and peered out into the storm, the orange mare knew now was not the time for that. The storm was indeed violent, large branches from trees, chunks of roof shingles, and other various debris began flying through the air!

"What in th' hay was th' Weather Factory thinking? Makin' ah storm this big!" Sunny screamed over the roaring wind and falling water.

"Ah don't know, but if ah know Rainbow, she and th' others are probably tryin' ta get this under control as we speak!" Applejack replied as she looked all around the farm. It was going to be a heck of a mess to clean up later, but right now, the livestock were the biggest concern. "Go get th' cows into th' barn! Ah'll grab th' pigs!"

"Shouldn't we work together?" Sunny asked nervously, not wanting to leave Applejack alone to face the storm.

"No time! Them critters need ta get ta safety!" Applejack called out before jumping right into the rain, shooting off towards the pig pen.

A small half smile cracked across Sunny's face as he watched the mare leap right into battle with no fear. 'What ah mare...'

But he also knew it wasn't the time for that, and began fighting against the wind and rain, steadily making his way towards the area where the cows were normally kept. After pressing his way through the mud, his boots sinking deeper and deeper into the soaked earth, Sunny finally reached the cow's pen. They all were frantic, scared, and soaked by the rain. As lightning flashed across the sky, the cows began to panic further and started trying to tackle the fence that caged them in.

Just as the cows were about to break free, a voice deep within Sunny, a loud and commanding voice that seemed to even overpower the cries of the cows and howling of the wind.

"GOOD MILK BEARING COWS OF SWEET APPLE ACRES!!!" Sunny's thundering voice echoed loud enough to where Applejack gathering the scared pigs could hear him. "FOLLOW ME TO SAFETY! OBEY MY COMMAND, AND NO HARM SHALL COME TO YOU OR YOURS!!! YOU HAVE MY WORD!!!"

The thunderous voice seemed to calm and relax the cows, as if the voice itself were a tool used by royals throughout the ages to silence and stop whole wars, riots, and battles to lead the listeners to a better state of peace. Following Sunny's orders, the cows began to follow the yellow unicorn across the muddy field and into the safety of the barn. Once all were securely inside, Sunny looked back, happy to see Applejack bringing with her a large group of frightened, waddling pigs. As the pigs joined the cows, Sunny met Applejack with a high-hoof.

"Nice work, partner" Sunny said with a grin.

"'Not time fer celebration yet" Applejack noted as her smile faded and her eyes turned towards the chicken coop. "Ah have no idea how we can get all them chickens into th' barn without them being pulled off by th' wind..."

An idea came to mind for Sunny. "Ah think ah know. But Ah'm gunna need yer help."

"What ya got partner?" Applejack asked immediately, seeing the cogs inside Sunny's head working. She knew he had something up his sleeve, and was starting to like it when he did.

Back at the barn, Apple Bloom was finally woken up by the loud sound of thunder that rattled her windows. Immediately, the filly still in her pajamas, ran down the stairs and out to the front porch. She looked around in horror as the storm continued to rage on.

"What in th' hay?!" Apple Bloom asked as she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Ah know, it's a wold one" Granny said as she sat back in we rocker and gazed out into th' storm.

"Granny, where are Applejack and Big Mac?" Apple Bloom asked as she began throwing of her pjs, ready to hop in and save the farm animals, thinking just as her sister did.

"Yer brother is sleeping harder then ah grizzly bear in th' middle of winter" Granny said as she rolled her eyes, amazed her grandson could sleep in all this ruckus. But her eyes looked strait ahead as a small smile broke out across her wrinkly muzzle. "Yer sister, on th' later hoof, is workin' with Sunny ta get things under control..."

Raising a shaky green hoof, Granny pointed out into the storm where the silhouette of two ponies could be made out just barley in the vertical rain. As Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes on the image, the sight became more and more clear. Sunny was walking with one hoof wrapped around Applejack's back, his eyes closed and his horn glowing bright green as he focused on keeping his concentration. While he did so, Applejack continued to press on, her eyes focused on the barn ahead as a strong smile shinned on her muzzle. Just above the two, floating in a green bubble of Sunny's magical aura, was the entire chicken coop with all the chickens, nests, and eggs floating safely inside. Sunny could lift that much weight without harming anything inside, but he had to fully concentrate on it, so he put all the walking and directing to Applejack, who in turn, also carried half his body weight on her back.

"Ah gotta say, those two work better together then ah ever expected 'em to" Granny said with a slight chuckle before getting up and stretching her back. "Come on, Apple Bloom. Ain't nothin' we can do now 'cept get some breakfast and hot cider ready fer when they's all done."

"Ok, Granny" Apple Bloom started to follow her grandmother but paused pick up her pajamas. When she did, she got one last glance of the two ponies working together to carry the chickens to safety. She smiled, then made her way towards the kitchen.

After all the animals were secure, with Winona keeping an eye on them in the barn, Applejack and Sunny made their way back to the house, smiling and laughing all the way. Once there, they took off their muddy boots and rain slickers, setting them securely on the front porch. The two smelled the delicious scent in the air and were about to make their way into the kitchen when Granny shot them a hard stare and told them to go wash up. Letting Applejack use the shower first, Sunny waited in the hallway, meeting Big Mac as he exited his room. The wonderful smell of a hot breakfast woke him up finally. The big red stallion made his way downstairs only to be filled in by the events by Granny and Apple Bloom. From the sound of it, Big Mac felt guilty for sleeping through the whole thing. As Sunny started to think of a way to take some of the guilt off of his friend, the bathroom door opened. Steam steadily escaped the room as Applejack came casually trotting out in a light green bathrobe.

She mumbled something to Sunny, but Sunny couldn't really understand what she was saying. He was too entranced by the wonderful image of Applejack with her mane glowing wet and freely down. It was a wonderful sight he had never seen before. Both that she looked bad with her mane tied with a ribbon, but when her golden mane flowed freely, combined with her sparkaling emeralf green eyes, she was truly a breath taking sight. 'Wow... she's so... so beautiful...'

"You ok, Sugar cube?" Applejack's voice, now coming in clear, shook Sunny free from his intense starring and brought him back to reality.

"Ugh, y-yeah, what did you say?" Sunny tried to recover, hoping he didn't seem weird or creepy to Applejack.

"Ah said, yer up" Applejack said as she moved aside, allowing Sunny to enter the bathroom. "And feel free ta use Big Mac's Bathrobe. He probably won't mind."

"Thank you" Sunny said as he forced himself to look away from Applejack and enter into the bathroom to get all cleaned up.

As Applejack descended the stairs and made it into the kitchen, she was greeted by the warm scent of a hardy and large breakfast. Sitting down at the table next to her little sister, Applejack took in image of the whole spread. "Golly! This all looks great."

"Well you two deserve it" Granny said as she poured Applejack a tall glass of warm apple cider. "Ah watched you two work ta keep th' farm critters safe and put them up in th' barn."

"It was so cool!" Apple Bloom spoke up, wearing a milk mustache.

"Ah'm awful sorry 'bout not wakin' up ta help" Big Mac said as his head slightly sunk.

"It's ah'll right, Big Mac" Applejack said as she playfully hit her big brother on the shoulder. The orange farm pony's eyes then darted to the window to see the storm didn't appear to be letting up. Her heart sank as she realized what that would mean.

"Hey now, what's got you down, Applejack?" Granny asked as she put a gentle but firm hoof on her oldest granddaughter.

"Our camping trip..." the orange farm pony said as she fought back her emotions. "Guess we'll have ta postpone it... ah just wanted ta spend some time with Sunny, ya know, not workin'. Like what his other friends do. They all get ta joke with him, go places outside of Ponyville, and have wonderful adventures. Ah kinda just wanted us ta have one of them adventures too..."

"I think today was quite an adventure in itself" Sunny's voice rang as he entered the kitchen, wearing a darker green bathrobe, taking the seat across from Applejack. As he looked up at the orange mare across from him, he shot her his signature smile.

"Yer right, though, Applejack" Sunny said as he poured himself a glass of warm cider. "We don't get out of Ponyville tagether much, but that don't mean we don't have our own adventures here. 'Sides, when this storm clears, and we get everything back under control, we can go on that trip. It ain't like Ah'm goin' anywhere."

Hearing him say that put Appeljack's mind and emotions at ease. Suddenly, despite the chaotic storm outside her house, Applejack's world was once again at peace. Not knowing what really to say, Applejack just raised her glass and held it up to Sunny. "Ah'll hold ya to that."

Smiling back, Sunny raised his own glass and lightly hit it against Applejack's. "Ya better."

"Ain't no pony's goin' nowhere" Granny cleared we throat. "Apple Bloom and ah worked hard on this breakfast, now ya'll are gunna eat it!"

Laughing at Granny's comment, Everypony began to dig in. They all laughed, joked and told stories about other times when they had to run around and get things under control around the farm. Sunny took in every story, enjoying the light hearted humor, while Applejack took in the look of his smiling muzzle and the light in his eyes. He was unlike anypony she had ever met before. Not saying he was better, but something about him made her, well, happy. At peace with herself. I. More like, she had found a piece of herself that she didn't know she was missing. And like nothing bad could ever happen when he was around.

Later, after a long breakfast that somewhat fed into lunch time, Rainbow Dash swung by to check on the Apples to make sure everything was alright. When she saw that they were just fine, the cyan colored mare told them she and the other members of the weather team were attempting to clear the storm up, even calling in special storm chasers from Cloudsdale and Manehatten to help with the storm. Rainbow then shot the farm ponies a quick salute before flying off to join the others at attacking the storm.

Once the dishes were done and every household chore was complete, the Apple family found themselves board out of their gored.

"Applejack, Ah'm sooooo board!" Apple Bloom said as she hung upside down off the couch.

"Why don't ya go an' clean up yer room?" Applejack suggested, just staring out the window, wishing Sunny didn't lock himself up in his room again.

"Ah already did that" Apple Bloom said with a sigh, then added before Applejack could suggest it. "And got all mah homework for th' week done."

Sighing in defeat, Applejack tried to think of something she and her little sister could do when Sunny and Big Mac appeared, both with smiles on their muzzles.

"Ah'm ah little worried ta ask what you two have been doin" Applejack raised a brow at the two stallions.

"Well, ah was gunna get some readin' done...." Sunny started to say.

"Eh'yep" Big Mac added.

"But Big Mac said he saw you two just loafin' around an' had a great idea" Sunny's smile became more and more cocky as he continued.

"Eh'yep" Big Mac repeated himself.

"Big Mac then asked fer mah help on somethin' and ah agreed" Sunny concluded.

"Eh'yep" Big Mac said his infamous catchphrase once more.

Applejack and Apple Bloom paused and looked strait at the two stallions, still confused but silent for a good long moment.

"And?..." Applejack finally broke the silence.

"We got ah surprise for ya'll" Big Mac said, then he and Sunny began leading the girls down into the cellar.

As the two ladies followed the stallion's down into the cellar, they were amazed by what they saw! All around were various stations of games! There was an area for bobbing for apples, one corner had a dart board set up, another corner had horse shoe toss, a little ways from that had a card table set up with several decks of cards and poker chips, next to that were squares drawn on the ground and a ball for four square.

"What in the transition?" Applejack said as she and Apple Bloom explored the area.

"It was mainly Big Mac's idea" Sunny admitted, appearing out of the corner of Applejack's eye.

As Everypony turned to the big red farm stallion, he just smiled and bowed his head a little. "Ah hated ta see ya'll so board. Thought we could have some fun, even though we're stuck inside."

Surprised by her brother's reasoning, Applejack didn't know what to think at first. But after a moment of looking around again, she walked over and playfully punched Big Mac again on the shoulder. "Good call, Big Mac. Let's play!"

That was all Sunny and Apple Bloom needed. The fist thing they went to was the four Square area. All four began playing, not even really keeping score, just enjoying it. After that, Big Mac and Applejack went to play some darts awhile Apple Bloom challenged Sunny to bobbing for Apples. The yellow unicorn wasn't very good at it, but the little yellow filly was able to give him some pointers. Half way through, Granny awake from her nap and joined them all for a couple rounds of poker, teaching them how the ponies up in Los Pegasus played at the tables, and how to get the most bits from the poker tables. Sunny was amazed at how many different kinds of poker there were, and more amazed that Granny not only knew them all, but that she also new tips and tricks to them all.

"Ah spent quite some time with mah cousins in Los Pegasus" she explained with a toothy grin. "Even dated ah feller who ran ah few casinos. He taught me ah trick or two. Never would have guessed that ah'd almost clean him out. We didn't really last long."

After that, things started to wind down. Applejack went upstairs to get dinner ready while Big Mac and Sunny cleaned things up in the cellar and put things back to the way they were. As the mares cooked, Applejack looked outside to see the wild storm was clearing up, leaving only a slight trickle of the rain. That earned a half smiled from the orange mare as she set the table for her and her family.

Dinner went rather smoothly, and after things were cleaned up, Apple Bloom was found passed out asleep, tuckered out by all the indoor fun of the day. Big Mac offered to tuck her into bed, and carried his little sister on his back and up the stairs into her room. A huge yawn erupted from Granny as she bid Everypony else good night as well. It was at that time that Sunny looked outside and noticed the rain had stopped.

"Ah think ah'll go check on them critters in th' barn" Sunny said as he stepped out into the porch.

As he finished putting his goulashes and rain slicker back on, Sunny noticed he wasn't alone on the porch. Applejack had joined him in gearing up in their muddy and still slightly damp rain gear.

"Ya don't have ta join me" Sunny said with a half grin. "Ah can check on th' critters mah self."

"Ah know ya can" Applejack replied as she finished tying her rain slicker on. "But we started this tagether, seems right we end it tagether."

Chuckling a little to himself, Sunny knew it would be an easier thing to move all of the trees in the orchard two inches to the left then it would be to change Applejack's mind. "Well, ah wouldn't mind the company."

Trying to come off smooth, Sunny threw his rain slicker up into the air, it landing perfectly on him. He quickly tied the strings around his neck and started to walk off the porch when Applejack tugged on the back of his slicker. As Sunny turned around, he was met face to face with Applejack. Their faces were inches apart as they seemed lost in each other's green eyes. It took her a moment, but Applejack began to lean forward into Sunny. The yellow unicorn began to turn red, but tried to keep his composure as best he could, closing his eyes and puckering his lips.

But several seconds of him just puckering his lips, he decided to open his eyes. That's when Sunny noticed that Applejack had leaned in and was actually fixing his slicker's collar. Before Applejack noticed him, Sunny quickly puckered his loops and opened his eyes wide open, trying to divert them by looking into the night sky.

"There" Applejack said as she pulled back and looked at her work. "Lookin' good there, slick."

"You talking to me or the slicker?" Sunny smiled and played the whole thing off.

"Wouldn't you like ta know" Applejack teased as she casually trotted past Sunny, jumping off the front steps and into the mud, sinking a few inches. But she quickly recovered and started walking towards the barn, a small, smug smile on her own muzzle as she ignored Sunny for a moment to empower her tease.

Sunny only watched in amazement as the orange farm mare he had grown rather fond of walk away with a playful spring in her step. 'Was she...? Was she flirting with me?'

Pausing for a moment when she realized that he wasn't following her, Applejack looked back and wondered if her efforts were in vein. 'Did mah flirtin not work?'

Her answer came moments later when Sunny, mimicking her jump, followed quickly behind her with a smile on his muzzle. He started to run past her, but managed to spit out "race ya there!"

It shocked Applejack, but she realized that he was actually flirting back! He was flirting back with her! Did he know 'she' had been flirting with him? She shook off her thoughts and put in her most competitive face. "Oh, ya'll 'bout ta get schooled in mud racin'!"

The two started bouncing and running around harder in the mud, kicking more of the wet ground up and getting coated in it worse then before. They would both need to get washed up again, maybe even using the hose outside first before taking another shower, but it was worth it. This was a good first date to both of them. The rain didn't ruin the day, it just changed the way yet shared it.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I know I said this in a previous chapter and credited them before, but I'll say it again; I do not own, note did I create the character known as Wooden Toaster nor the concept of 'the Rainbow Factory'. The character and place in this particular fim fic is a parody off the ones previously made, and are not going to operate the same (still trying to keep this pretty PG).

But I hope you enjoy it moments the less.