The Journey

“Ow, jeez!” Applebloom yelped as another pin poked her in the forehoof, Rarity just rolled her eyes.

“You know, Dear, if you held still this wouldn't be so painful,” She explained, looking over the red material. “Are you sure you don't want me to splash some yellow in this? It'd compliment your colour very nicely.”

“Ah already told you Ah'm cosplaying,” Applebloom responded, showing her the plastic, replica phaser in her hoof. “It needs ta look like it's from tha show, books, movie, posters and such. Ah don't think tha Organisation would look too kindly at all their security teams turnin' up in stripes or polka dots!”

“Okay dear, please calm down. I'm not familiar with Space Wars.”

“Space Trek! It's Space Trek! How many times do Ah hafta say it?!” She interrupted, causing Rarity to stop and let out a stressed sigh.

“I'm sorry dear, I get the two mixed up,” Applebloom flinched at Rarity's expression.

“Aw jeez, Ah'm sorry Miss Rarity,” She said, guiltily. “Ah'm just all nervous an' stuff.”

Rarity lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “What's there to be nervous about? It's just a fair, right?”

“It's a convention not a fair,” Applebloom clarified before she answered. “An' what's there not ta be nervous about? It'll be mah first time goin', an' mah first time cosplayin'! What if everypony laughs at me cause Ah forgot which side of tha shirt tha badge is supposed ta go on?!”

“Dear, who cares what everypony else thinks?” Rarity replied, trying to calm down the filly. “You're acting just like you did when you were worried about your cutie mark. Even if they did laugh at you, I'm sure you'll make friends with one or two of them.”

Applebloom cast a glance at her cutie mark and sighed a little. Looking at it did calm her down a bit, but if everyone did laugh at her would she find ponies who'd stand up for her like Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?

Rarity noticed her and smiled gently. “Besides you're going with Twilight and Spike, right? I'm sure they'll stick up for you.”

Applebloom felt a small blush rise to her cheeks at the thought of the purple dragon and she let out a quiet, nervous giggle. She almost forgot that this was also a date.

However, now that the thought was there, she suddenly got worried. Was Spike going to be cosplaying? Would he mind if she did if he didn't? Would he be embarressed by her?

She felt the need to rush out and check to make sure Spike did have a costume, but she was still here with Rarity and her costume was almost done. It was a little late to worry about it now and she'd feel bad if she didn't wear it when Rarity worked so hard on it.

With a final blue glow, Rarity fastened the badge/pin of the Organisation onto the left of the shirt. “There. All finished!” Rarity announced, allowing Applebloom to look in the mirror.

Applebloom just had to smile. She looked as if she had just walked off the set of the show. Her red shirt had the same black collar and ended just at the end of her barrel, slightly over her flank, partially obscuring her cutie mark. The red was slightly darker than her mane, but not by much, and her bow was still in it's usual spot. But it gave off the effect she wanted.

Just as she was finished admiring herself, a knock came at the door. “It's open!” Rarity called.

Spike entered the room, bringing in a little wagon of gems with him. “Hey Rarity, here are the gems you needed.”

“Ah thank you Dear, I'll just go get my spares and sort out the trades,” The fashionista replied. Once she left the room, Spike was suddenly aware of Applebloom since she nuzzled her head into the side of his.

“Howdy Spike,” She grinned, noticing Spike chuckle and wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“Hey Bloomy, how's it going?” She giggled a little, still adjusting to his new nickname for her, and stepped back to allow him to see her fully.

“Ah'm doin' great, Ah just got mah costume ready fer tomorrow! What do ya think?” She asked, standing on her rear legs and spinning on the spot, showing him the whole red shirt...which seemed more like a red short dress now that she thought about it.

Spike blinked, speechless about how good it looked on her, complimenting her golden-yellow fur nicely and almost matching her ruby-red mane. Applebloom noticed this once she got back on all fours and suddenly got nervous, looking down at the ground and blushing.

For the last three days she had to stay with Spike and Twilight in the library since her termites had escaped and eaten most of her house which Mac and AJ had set about rebuilding. And on the first of these days, Spike had asked her if she'd like to be his date for the convention and she had eagerly said yes.

Now everyone knew they were dating and couldn't stop teasing them about it. Which, in turn, made them a little self-conscious whenever it came to flirting or complimenting each-other or being intimate. Especially around other ponies. The most they'd do is a hug or, at times, a kiss on the cheek.

“Um...You look great Bloomy,” He finally replied, rubbing his arm nervously. “Like you're just about to go kick some butt.”

“Or get vaporized?” Applebloom joked, trying to get past the nerves a little.

He chuckled a bit before answering. “Never, who'd want to fry a pretty filly like you?” He replied, causing her face to light up again.

Jeez, Ah can never take a compliment without lightin' up like a firework, can Ah? “Aw shucks, with such a tough fella like you with me? They'd be crazy ta try!” She teased back, trying her hardest to be flirty.

It seemed to work since Spike's face grew a little on the red side, grinning stupidly. “Course...I can't think of anything,” He replied, shrugging and motioning over with his claw. “There's just too much to compliment, I can't pick one!”

Applebloom ducked, her face now resembling her mane and shirt, giggling madly, not at all caring how oddly worded his sentence was. “Yer too sweet fer ya own good, ya know that right?” She said, pressing the side of her face into his again, in a futile attempt to stop him from noticing her blush.

Spike smiled back, turning her to face him. “Don't have to be sweet when stating facts,” He teased, tucking a bit of her mane behind her ear for her, causing her to look down, shyly.

Before anything else happened, they heard squealing and turned to see Rarity's eyes shining like she'd just thought up a new idea for a clothing range. “Oh you two are just so cute!”

The two scrambled away from each other, blushing madly. “Uh...See ya at tha library Spike!” Applebloom exclaimed, running out of the shop/house in panic. Spike sighed and slapped a hand over his face.

“Sorry for interrupting, Spikey,” Rarity said, suddenly feeling kind of ashamed of her behaviour. “I just...Well...”

“It's okay Rarity,” Spike answered, turning towards his cart of gems. “Wouldn't be the first time we were interrupted before I got the nerve to kiss her.”

“This has happened before?” She asked, using a quick spell to lay out a set of citrine and amethysts in front of him, causing him to lick his lips.

“Yeah. Actually you'd be the sixth. Behind Twilight, AJ, Scootaloo, Ditzy and Diamond Tiara,” Spike recalled, getting a little chuckle out of him. “It's still weird seeing her and Bloomy on good terms.”

Rarity suddenly used her magic to fetch a ruby from her shelf and place it into his claws. “Oh Dear, that's even worse! Please, take this as an apology!”

“Rarity it's fine. I'll just try again when we're alone,” Spike answered, before looking over the ruby, noticing how much it shined and how much it reminded him of a certain pony's mane. “O-or, maybe...I could ask if...well, since I know you like making stuff, if you could...?”

Rarity swiped the gem back and nodded, grinning knowingly. “It'll be done by tonight.”

“There you are, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed in relief while Applebloom popped her head over the pile of suitcases. “I was wondering where you were.”

“Sorry, Rarity needed a pincushion!” Spike replied, dragging his wagon filled with citrine and amethysts rather than the sapphires that were there previously. But, on top of them all, was a red shirt with the Organisation logo on.

Applebloom's eyes lit up as she rushed over to look at it. “Ya got a red-shirt!” She cheered, taking in the details. Spike chuckled and picked it up to put it on, showing Applebloom how it looked.

“Yup, figured if you were gonna be vaporized, I might as well join you!” He grinned, Twilight rolling hers eyes and leaving the room.

“You two are such geeks,” She teased them.

“Takes one to know one!” Spike replied, sticking his tongue out at her, causing Applebloom to giggle at how childish he was being.

After she was gone, Spike turned to Applebloom. “So what did you want to do first while we're there?”

Applebloom smiled and reached into her mane, bringing out a rolled up piece of paper. “Well Ah was thinking about maybe goin' ta A.K. Yearling's speech about the new movie and what her character's species are like!”

“A.K. Yearling's gonna be in the next movie?!” Spike asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Ah know! It's so cool! Ah heard Rainbow's going to be seein' it fer that reason alone,” Applebloom explained, before shaking her head. “Then after that, she's gonna be showing a teaser trailer fer it! Then Ah was thinkin' we could wander round, lookin' at the stands, then try and git Iron Will's autograph!”

“Line'll probably be quite big. We are talking about Captain Piccow here,” Spike analysed, causing Applebloom to nod.

“Ah know, but since the next couple of things were gonna be lectures about tha theory of space travel and other stuff they already wrote books about, Ah figured we could give those a pass,” She explained, clearly having thought about this for quite some time.

She caught his teasing smile and rose an eyebrow. “What?”

“You're cute when you act like Twilight,” He said, causing her face to redden.

“...shut up,” She shot back, half-heartedly punching his arm.

Spike rubbed his arm, grinning. “Well at least ya made a schedule,” He said, putting a thinking claw to his chin. “If it were left to me, chances are, we'd be wandering around with no real goal.”

Applebloom rolled her eyes at his laziness, but still smiled, fondly. “Jus' make sure you stay awake fer tha one lecture Ah want ta be there fer. At four they're finally gonna explain what multimodal reflection sorting is and what it's used fer!”

“I'm sure it'll be obvious once it's explained to us,” Spike theorised, before the realization came to him. “Oh heck, we are geeks!”

“Ah've started ta wear it like a badge of honour!” Applebloom smiled, patting him on the back. That's when she smelled something and started to, more audibly, sniff the air. “Do you smell smoke?”

“My pie!” They heard Twilight cry out from the kitchen, before a plumb of black smoke filled the library.

Spike sighed, removing his shirt, grabbing his coat, and opening the door. “I'll go get some take-out food.”

Applebloom shifted anxiously next to Spike while Twilight slept on the seat opposite to them. The three of them were on the quiet carriage of the train riding up to Canterlot where they were going to get settled at the hotel and explore the city, before the convention started the next day.

Spike noticed her fidgeting and asked in a hushed, concerned voice. “Are you okay, Bloomy?”

She turned back and nodded. “Ah'm okay, Ah just really don't like most trains. They're overpriced, underfunded, dirty and slow.”

He rose an eyebrow, not knowing this about her. “Well...yeah, okay. I guess the usual ones are.”

The Pony Express is the train everyone usually gets, but unfortunately it doesn't run on Sundays, so they had to get Blueblood Rails. “So...uh, what helps you-”

“Welcome aboard Blueblood Rails, this is the quiet carriage so remember to keep the noise down while on this carriage.”

“There is only one reason this quiet carriage isn't quiet and it's that, stupid announcement being repeated over an' over,” Applebloom vented, but calmed slightly when Spike took her hoof in his claw and squeezed it.

“It's okay Bloomy, but seriously is there anything that helps calm you down?” Applebloom nodded up at the over-carriage.

“Ah usually listen ta some music on my iPony...” She trailed off when she noticed an annoyed looking blue Unicorn. She mouthed an apology to him, to which he nodded and turned away while Spike got up on the table between them and Twilight to rummage around in the over-carriage.

“This it?” He asked, as quietly as possible as he held up a silver, rectangle with a pair of ear buds hanging out of it. She smiled and nodded as he hopped down.

“Thanks,” She said, offering him one of the ear buds. “Want ta listen with me?”

Spike took the ear bud and nodded. “What've you got?”

“Sapphire Shores, Pony-Tones, some Metallicolt...”

“That's...quite a selection,” Spike commented, noting the vast difference in musical genres. Applebloom shrugged.

“So longs as it sounds good, I'll listen,” She said, stopping at one of her favourite artists. “Johnny Colt?”

Spike's lit up. “Oh cool, I love Johnny Colt,” He cringed at his volume and mouthed his own apology to the same Unicorn who had looked at them earlier, who rolled his eyes and turned away.

Applebloom played the song and rested her head against his shoulder, causing his cheeks to flare up. “Thanks Spike,” She said, nuzzling into him a little more.

Spike smiled and let his head fall on top of her surprisingly soft mane. “No problem.”

Spike jolted awake after a couple of hours at the sounds of Twilight's loud yawn. “Jeez Twilight, you want to get us kicked off the carriage?”

Twilight blinked before settling her gaze down on the little dragon. “Sorry, guess I jus-” She started, before noticing her assistant's current situation and her confused face took on a much more, adoring look. “D'aww.”

Spike was about to ask before he felt Applebloom nuzzling herself further into his shoulder, letting out a little snort/snore.

He blushed in embarrassment and moved his arm to gently nudge her awake. “You two are so adorable.”

“Yeah, we've heard it before, thanks,” Spike muttered as Applebloom pried her eyes open. “You awake?”

“Unfortunately,” She groaned, looking out of the window. “How much longer until we get there?”

Twilight looked at the train times on the list she had bought from the station. “Says here we should have-”

“Welcome aboard Blueblood Rails, this is the quiet carriage so remember to keep the noise down while on this carriage.”

“-As I was saying, it says we should have been there twenty minutes ago,” Twilight finished as quietly as she could.

Before anyone else could say something, a dark blue Earth Pony in a red uniform approached. “Excuse me.”

“Sorry sir,” Twilight immediately said, recognising him as one of the train workers. “I'll try to keep my voice down.”

“...Well that's fine,” The train announcer said, before nodding to Applebloom's iPony. “But I came over here to tell you that that can't be used on the quiet carriage.”

Applebloom rolled her eyes. “Oh Ah didn't realise it was the quiet carriage.”

Spike and Twilight turned to her in surprise, while the train pony merely rose an eyebrow. “Didn't you hear all the announcements?”

Applebloom blinked, but then smiled and asked, sarcastically. “Ah don't know, was twenty-seven all of them?”

The train pony tilted his head. “Well why are you using your walk-pony if you heard them?”

“Ah had ta drown the stupid things out somehow!” She answered, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Cause those things are tha equivalent of me, walking up ta everypony in here with a trombone!”

“Look you can't use your walk-pony-”

“It's an iPony, Ah don't know anyone who still has a walk-pony!”

“-Fine you can't use your iPony here. You can use it in any of the other carriages, or in the vestibules,” He explained, Twilight and Spike both turned to each other and tilted their heads, while Applebloom grunted.

“Can Ah just ask, what in tarnation a vestibule is?! Cause it sounds like a heck of a place ta have such a grand term!” She inquired while the train pony motioned towards the door to the carriage.

“It's the spaces between the carriages,” A sudden look of realisation washed over her and she turned to look at what he was pointing at.

“Oh tha vestibules!” She clarified, waving a hoof towards it in a grandiose fashion. “Tha cold, rancid areas where ponies who paid fer no seat, git to stand around outside a stinking, unusable bathroom!”

She felt Spike lay a hand on her shoulder and took a deep breath to clam herself down. “Ah'm sorry. Ah'm sure Ah'm being a little harsh. Ah bet tha vestibules look breath-taking at sunset,” She continued to the wide-eyed train pony. “Ah mean it's breath-taking now, but that's because the toilet has actually leaked and spilled everywhere!”

“Um...I er...”

“Attention passengers, we have now arrived in Canterlot, please make sure you have all your personal belongings with you when leaving the train.”

Twilight grinned, sheepishly, as she quickly used her magic to pick up all of their bags, while Spike nudged Applebloom, who was still staring down the train pony.

She nodded, taking a deep breath and got up from her seat. “You got off easy, this time...” She said, walked to the exit with Spike, while continuing to glare at the train pony.

Once Twilight had stepped off and the doors shut behind the three, the train pony took of his uniform and threw it onto the table. “I quit, I'm done! That's the third time this week!”

“Jeez, Applebloom! He was only doing his job, you didn't need to say all of that!” Twilight scolded the little pony as soon as they were out of the train station.

Applebloom sighed, and looked down in shame. “Ah know, Twi, Ah didn't mean to.”

“Go easy on her Twilight, you have to admit it was really bad in there,” Spike piqued up, laying a hand on Applebloom's shoulder. “I mean, I was this close to telling the guy to shove off, myself.”

“Well still, he was right. You aren't allowed to listen to music on the quiet carriage,” Twilight continued, using a wing to motion to her ears. “It doesn't matter if you have ear-buds, other ponies can still hear it-”

“If they had been bitten by a radioactive bunny rabbit,” Spike whispered to Applebloom, who giggled. Twilight shot Spike a stern glare, which he took notice of. “Look, the only reason we were listening to it in the first place was because Applebloom gets stressed on trains.”

Twilight blinked at this new bit of information and turned to the filly in concern. “Oh you didn't tell me that, if you had we could've taken my balloon-”

“She's scared of heights.”

“Or I could've teleported us-”

“Ah don't trust displacement spells.”

“Would you object to a royal chariot?” Twilight asked. Spike lowered his eyes in a deadpan expression.

“No, but you would've.”

It took Twilight a couple of seconds to remember that, yes, she's the one that said no to the chariot because she wanted to keep a low profile. “Oh yeah.”

“Look, Ah'm already gonna hafta let AJ know about this so can we just go ta the hotel and enjoy the week-end please?” Applebloom asked, putting on her best puppy-dog eyes to Twilight, who flinched and smiled.

“Alright, sure. Hotel's this way,” Twilight said, motioning her head down a, somewhat, busy looking road.

Once they got to the hotel and started unpacking the things they'll be needing for the day.

Applebloom, herself, was just fixing up her mane as the stress of the train ride, bumping into several ponies on the street and sleeping/nuzzling Spike on the train caused her mane to get a little messy. Right now she was looking over two identical looking pink bows as Spike came in. “Hey Bloomy, you...”

Applebloom turned to him, raising an eyebrow at him. “Um, you okay there Spike?”

Spike blinked, before shaking his head. “Sorry it's just...I've never seen you without your bow in.”

Applebloom quickly caught a look in the mirror, noticing that her mane was now flowing a lot more wildly, hanging over both her shoulders and, if it weren't tucked behind her ears, would probably cover one of her eyes, much like how Fluttershy's mane does.

She gasped and quickly scooped it back to start tying the left bow in. “Oh jeez, sorry Spike just give me a second to tame it and Ah'll be out in a bit.”

Spike swallowed, trying to fight the blush off his face. “It's fine, really. I kinda like it like that...”

Applebloom dropped her bow and mane in surprise, turning to him. “R-really?”

Spike nodded, shyly. “I...I've always liked mares with long manes,” He explained, fidgeting with his fingers.

Applebloom paused, looking down at her bow for a moment, before tying it up into her mane with practised ease. “Well...Shucks Ah...” She stuttered, unsure what to say in response.

Luckily she didn't have to say anything as Twilight came in. “C'mon you two, we have to go before the lunch time rush starts!”

“Coming!” The both said, finally able to break the awkward silence, running out the door from underneath her left wing, almost causing her to topple over.

“...Those two are so awkward!” Twilight muttered to herself, grinning.

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