Gone Clubbin'
Unexpected Confessions
Chapter Twenty Seven
Gone Clubbin’
Applejack stared at the bar, trying to decide if another mug of lousy, watered-down cider was worth the exorbitant twenty bits the club was charging for it. In any other situation, she wouldn’t have given their sorry excuse for a drink a second thought, but the club was hot, and she’d been sitting against the back wall for a while now. She had decided to give in and buy another mug when Pinkie suddenly shot by, barely sparing her a glance and a frantic wave before disappearing into the bathroom. After staring in confusion for a moment, she hopped down from her seat and followed the pink pony.
When she got into the bathroom, Applejack found Pinkie sitting in the middle of the cramped room, her head hanging low. “What in tarnation is goin’ on, sugarcube?” She sat down next to the other mare, waiting for a response, but Pinkie only slumped lower. “Y’all looked like you were havin’ a great time out there. Heck, ya had Twi dancin’, laughin’, and everythin’. What happened?”
“I…” Pinkie began, her voice wavering. “I’m not good enough for her. She’ll be happier with you, so… you should go out there and apologize. Then, maybe you can finish the date with her.” She sniffed, wiping a hoof across her nose. “I think she’d like that.”
“No can do, sugarcube.” Applejack wrapped a foreleg around her friend’s back. “You started this thing, and yer gonna finish it. ‘Sides, why in Equestria would you think that yer not good enough fer Twi’?”
“She…” Pinkie leaned against the other mare, but kept her eyes glued to the floor. “She said that she didn’t think she would ever really get over you. So, if she loves you that much, then the two of you should be together.” Before Applejack could respond, the door to the bathroom opened. They both looked up to see Twilight standing in the doorway.
“Applejack, why are you—” Twilight trailed off as she got a better look at the mares sitting on the floor of the bathroom. “Pinkie? What— I don’t—” She let out a frustrated grunt, stamping a hoof. “What’s going on here?”
“I was… just leaving.” Pinkie murmured, her voice barely audible above the music seeping through the walls. She finally looked up from the floor, tears glistening in her eyes. “You should… be with Applejack. It’ll make you happier than being with me, and I just want you to be the happiest you can be… even if it’s not with me.”
“But Pinkie… I am happy.” Twilight smiled and walked across the room, sitting on Pinkie’s free side. “I’m having a great time, really.”
“No.” Pinkie shook her head, her mane starting to fall. “I can tell when ponies are really happy, and you’re only kind of happy.” She went back to gazing at the floor, pawing at the corner of a loose tile. “You’ll be really happy with Applejack, and that’s all I want, so…” She started to stand, pushing herself up from under the farmer’s leg. “I’ll just—”
“Oh no ya don’t.” Applejack pulled the morose mare back down, holding her firmly in place. “This here’s your rodeo, sugarcube. Ah had mah shot, and Ah blew it, so it’s up to you to make Twi happy now.”
“Shouldn’t I get a say in this, since I’m the one you’re both worried about?” Twilight asked, smirking to belie the harsh tone of her voice. She laid a foreleg across Pinkie’s back and leaned in, nuzzling into her friend’s cheek. “Pinkie, I am hav—” She stopped, pulling away and spitting strands of pink mane out of her mouth. Well, so much for the mood. Good going, Twilight. Nevertheless, she pressed onward, lifting Pinkie’s chin to look into her eyes. “I am having fun, and—while it’s too early to make any sort of long-term projection with confidence—I am happy with you.” Pinkie smiled and leaned over, wrapping a foreleg around the unicorn and squeezing her in a brief hug.
“Though—” Twilight shifted her attention to Applejack once the embrace was over. “—what did you mean you ‘blew it’? I mean, no offense, but you seemed really… disinterested during our date. You barely paid attention, then you called me…” She looked away, her ears folding back. “I just got the impression you wanted to be there with… someone else.”
“Yeah… about that…” Applejack stood up and walked around to stand in front of Twilight, but the unicorn didn’t face her. “Ah was outta sorts yesterday, and by rights Ah prolly shouldn’ta gone out with ya. Ah needed time to get mah head right before Ah could give ya fair chance, but Ah didn’t, and fer what it’s worth… Ah’m sorry.” The other mare finally glanced up at her, but only for a second before looking away again. “Ah thought Ah was finally gettin’ over Dash, but after what happened with her and Rarity at the hospital… Ah guess Ah was havin’ trouble lettin’ go.”
Applejack sat down and grabbed one of Twilight’s hooves, holding it between her own. The unicorn tensed for a moment, but didn’t pull away. “Ah really did have fun yesterday. A whole heck of a lot more’n Ah thought Ah would, bein’ honest. And now…” She shot a sidelong glance at Pinkie, who gave her a slight nod. She half-expected her next words to get stuck in her her throat, to ruin her chances of salvaging anything with Twilight. But instead, they flowed easily, and words she couldn’t even have imagined saying a week ago rolled off her tongue as naturally as breathing. “Ah feel like we really coulda had somethin’, if’n Ah hadn’t been such a danged fool.”
She let the hoof drop, regretfully, standing before Twilight could form a response. She walked over to Pinkie and threw a foreleg around her, pulling the other mare into a hug. Her emotions roiled in her gut, and she knew that she needed to leave quickly or risk losing her composure. Lifting her mouth to the other mares ear, she whispered. “Make her happy, sugar. She deserves more smiles. Just… make her happy.” With that she turned and headed for the door, trying to reach it quickly while her vision started to blur.
“No!” Twilight shouted, the single word echoing through the confined bathroom. “No, no, no!” She repeated, stamping her hooves with each iteration. “This isn’t— why does— you girls— Ugh!” She finally let out a frustrated groan, her mind racing through thoughts too quickly for her mouth to keep up. After pausing for a deep breath, she looked back and forth between her friends, who were staring back at her in shock with their eyes glued to her horn. It took her a moment to realize that she’d subconsciously been amplifying her voice, and that the mirrors were still rattling from her outburst. Dismissing the spell, she tried again at a more reasonable volume. “This isn’t fair, to you girls or to me. No matter what, somepony gets hurt… but I’m not going to sit here and watch you two try and make yourselves miserable to make me happy.”
Standing up, She walked over to Applejack and threw a foreleg over her withers. “You’re not going anywhere, Applejack.” She looked back to Pinkie, who was trying give them a tearful smile. Twilight grabbed her date with her magic and brought her closer, draping her other foreleg across Pinkie’s withers. “And neither are you. Now, we’re going to go back out there and all have fun together. We’re not going to worry about who’s with who, or who would make whom happiest. It’s just going to be all three of us, hanging out together as friends.” She gave both mares a squeeze and dropped back onto all fours. Moving forward, she pulled open the door back out to the club. “So, shall we?”
Pinkie immediately trotted through the door, her normal exuberance back in full force, but Applejack looked unsure. After a few seconds of deliberation, she smirked and reached behind herself. She pulled the hair ties out of her mane, and shook her head until it was hanging around her face, before doing the same with her tail. “Screw it all, We’ll figure it out later.” She walked up next to the unicorn and gave her a friendly swat on the flank. “Let’s go, sugarcube.”
Twilight stammered a little while she watched Applejack disappear through the door, completely stunned by what just happened. Just when she thought she’d bought herself some time to think it through by suggesting they simply spend some time together as friends, Applejack ruined it by being so… sexy. First, by taking her hair down, then she had… She blushed a furious red and mumbled something to the tune of ‘stupid earth ponies’ before following her friends out of the bathroom and back into the roiling wave of sound that was the main floor.
After a cursory glance across the dance floor, she made her way back to the booth she and Pinkie had been sharing. When it came into view, she saw that Applejack and Pinkie were sitting across from each other, already chatting amicably like nothing had happened. She glanced back and forth between them. She didn’t want to play favorites, but it would be difficult to be completely fair if she sat next to one of them. Once she entered the bubble around their table, she cleared her throat to get their attention. “Ahem! Um, girls, do you think that maybe you could…” She waved a hoof off to the side. “Sit on the same side?”
Applejack looked at the unicorn curiously, but Pinkie simply shrugged. “Okay. Whee!” She lifted her forelegs and slid off of her seat, disappearing below the table. An instant later, she reappeared on the other side next to Applejack, and she reached back across the table for her drink. “Yoink! Ooh, do you want anything to drink, Applejack?”
“Ah’m not really sure.” Applejack spared one last glance at Twilight as she got into the booth before turning to Pinkie. She leaned back a bit when she saw the baker’s face closer to her own than she would have liked. “Ah tried their cider, but it ain’t very good, and Ah ain’t too keen on them frou-frou mixed drinks.”
“But there are all kinds of super yummy things you can get, Applejack!” As if to prove her point, Pinkie took a long pull from her mudslide, letting out a contented sigh. Afterward, she put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm… ooh! I think I know just what you need.” She bounded off to the bar, and Applejack chuckled to herself in amusement while Twilight could only look between them in ever growing confusion.
"I don't understand..." Twilight leaned forward and rested her chin on a hoof. "You two were practically in tears in the bathroom trying to give up for each other... How are you both suddenly okay?"
"Ain't much sense frettin' 'bout it now. We tried, it didn't work, and you stepped in to keep us from bein' even bigger fools. So, Ah figure fer now we might as well just take a load off.” Applejack leaned against the back of the booth, laying her foreleg along the top. She watched Pinkie talking animatedly with the bartender for a moment and smiled. “Ah gotta say, Pinkie’s always pretty happy, but it’s a different kind of happiness ‘round you, Twi’.” She reached up and brushed a stray lock of mane behind her ear, smiling warmly at the unicorn.
Twilight could only stare, dumbfounded, for a moment before blushing and looking down at her drink. “R-really? I, um, h-hadn’t noticed.” She quickly floated her daiquiri up and took a long, slow drink, trying to will the heat in her cheeks away.
Applejack chuckled and gave the other mare a knowing look. “Whatever you say, sugarcube.” She looked over her shoulder, watching the writhing sea of ponies out on the dance floor. While she pony-watched for a bit, she considered asking Twilight to go out onto the floor for a bit, until her gaze fell upon a couple doing some things that weren’t typically done in public, much less the middle of a crowded dance floor. She whipped her head back around to stare at the table, her mane following a second later and slapping her in the face. After a few seconds spitting it out and brushing it back behind her ears, she looked across the table to see Twilight giggling into a hoof. “Ah told ya Ah wanted to chop it all off, and if’n yer not careful, Ah just might.”
Twilight immediately stopped giggling, biting her lip to try and keep quiet. It worked, but not for long, and soon she devolved into another fit of giggles, accompanied by Applejack this time. Shortly thereafter, Pinkie reentered the sound dampened bubble, laughing to herself as well. “Pinkie, what’s so—” Twilight trailed off as one last round of giggles rolled through her. “What’s so funny?”
“I don’t know.” Pinkie shrugged, sliding into the booth and setting another mudslide next to her nearly empty one. “But both of you were laughing, so I figured I would just join in.” She broke into giggles again, snorting a few times before they finally subsided. She leaned over, placing a tumbler of liquid in front of Applejack. “Here you go!”
“Say, uh, Pinkie…” Applejack picked up the tumbler that had been placed in front of her. Brown liquid—whiskey, by the smell of it—sloshed around some ice cubes. “When ya said you were gettin’ me a drink, Ah thought ya meant a mixed drink like y’all’s.”
“I did!” Pinkie replied, pausing to slurp down the last of her first mudslide in a big gulp. After finishing it and licking her lips, she turned back to the mare next to her. “That one is called ‘The Three Wiseponies.’” Picking up her empty glass, she tossed it out of the booth, where it landed safely on the tray of a passing waitress.
Applejack eyed the glass warily, eventually taking an experimental sip. Sure enough, the harsh bite of alcohol burned down her throat, causing her to start coughing and her eyes to water. “Sugarcube, this is straight up whiskey.”
“Well, yeah!” Pinkie giggled, as if the other mare had stated that water was wet. “But it’s three different kinds of whiskey all mixed together!” She took a long drink from her new mudslide, nearly a third of the drink vanishing up the straw. When she finally sat back up, she gave another sigh of enjoyment, though she wavered a little trying to sit up straight.
Applejack stared down at her drink for a moment, then shrugged and took another sip. She sucked in a breath as the almost burning warmth traveled down her throat again. “Well, Ah always did love a good whiskey. It’ll do. But fer now…” She put her glass down and gestured toward the dance floor. “Y’all got any more dancin’ left in ya?”
“Oh, no.” Twilight shook her head, keeping her gaze pinned to the table. “I don’t think I could do any more dancing.” She quickly looked up, panicking. “N-not that I didn’t have fun, Pinkie, it’s just… I’d rather not risk making a fool of myself if I can help it.” She lifted her drink and went to take a sip, only to realize that it was empty.
“Don’t worry, Twilight, I’ll have another one sent over.” Pinkie took one more pull from her mudslide, then linked a foreleg through Applejack’s. “Come on, Applejack, let’s go show these ponies how to dance!” She whisked the farmer off to the dance floor, causing her hat to fly off in the process. Twilight caught it with her magic before it could fall, then floated it over and placed it on her head, giggling to herself.
Along the way, Pinkie stopped and talked to a waitress, pantomiming something and pointing back toward the booth before continuing out to the edge of the dance floor. She immediately broke out into her own brand of erratic dancing again, leaving her partner to flounder for a couple seconds until she found the beat.
Twilight could only watch, mesmerized at the scene playing out before her. As Applejack began to sway and move with the music, Pinkie slowed down and made her own movements compliment her partner’s. The unicorn stared while they moved together, her mind racing in a dozen different directions. She jumped when the waitress came by and dropped off another daiquiri, but quickly went back to watching her friends after taking a sip. Pinkie and Applejack watched each other, their mouths sporting matching grins. They slowly moved closer together, their shoulders and flanks brushing against each other. They broke out into laughter, leaning against one another to keep from falling over.
After a time, the song ended, and they made their way back toward the booth. It was only then that Twilight realized she’d been staring at them the entire time. She quickly fixed her gaze on the table, praying that her friends wouldn’t notice the blush threatening to set her face on fire. Glancing around, she saw Applejack’s drink across the table and grinned. She pulled it over to herself and waited. She kept her eyes down until she heard her friends reenter the sound dampened bubble, the last bouts of their laughter still fading away, then she looked up, pushing her hat up a little. “Howdy, partner.” She picked up the glass of whiskey and took a sip, only to immediately cough it back up.
The earth ponies burst into laughter again, much to Twilight’s embarrassment. “Well howdy do, cowgirl,” Applejack joked, “Ya look like ya need a little more practice before handlin’ one of those.”
Twilight hid behind her own drink, taking sips to both cool her throat and calm her nerves. She shot Applejack what she hoped was a withering look, but the farmpony simply chuckled. She lifted the hat with her magic so that she could return its proper owner. “Here.” She mumbled, floating it across the table and gently lowering it onto Applejack’s head.
“Thank ya kindly, sugar.” Applejack ran a hoof along the rim of her hat, before pulling it off and twirling it on her hoof. She plopped it back down on Twilight’s head with a smirk, pulling her drink back across the table. “But why don’t ya hold onto it for me fer now. It looks cute on ya.” Twilight didn’t respond, but instead focused all her energy on the drink in front of her, treating it like a shield that could protect her from further embarrassment.
Applejack grabbed her drink and downed most of the liquid in one fell swoop. She leant back and lifted her glass, shaking it in the direction of the bar, where the bartender gave her a quick nod. “Ah gotta say, Twi, Ah’m mighty glad ya talked me into stayin’.” She swirled the remaining bit of her drink around for a moment, then tossed it back as well. “Not that ya gave me much of a choice.” Chuckling to herself, she looked up to see the unicorn staring at the table. “Twi? Ya doin’ okay over there, sugar?”
“Hmm?” Twilight looked up, blinking for a few seconds when Applejack’s hat fell forward and covered her eyes. She pushed it back up, letting her hoof rest on the hat for a second. “Oh, y-yes. I’m, um, fine. Just... trying to figure out how you and Pinkie can just... change like that.”
“It’s easy!” Pinkie giggled and bounced in her seat. “We just have fun!”
“Eeyup.” Applejack nodded in agreement. “Ya gotta be able to go with the flow. Sure, it ain’t over, but that don’t mean that it should ruin everythin’ tonight.”
Twilight nodded as well, though she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure how the earth ponies had done it. Her thoughts still raced in a hundred different directions, each one trying to escape her head. She couldn’t focus on any one line long enough to glean anything useful from it, save for the subjects: the two gorgeous mares across from her. That particular thought made her breath catch in her throat, sending the drink currently in her mouth down the wrong pipe. She immediately coughed it back up, earning her a concerned look from Applejack and a barely contained giggle from Pinkie. Chuckling nervously, she tried to play it off. “Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t be trying to breath and drink at the same time…” She tried to take another drink, only to find her glass was empty, and a sizeable spill on the table. “Oops…” She quickly rounded up the spilled liquid in a cup of magic and dumped it back into her empty glass. “Well, I think I’ve had enough for tonight, anyway.”
“But, we still have drinks!” Pinkie waved a hoof to indicate their empty glasses, knocking over her own in the process.
Twilight looked down at her glass again, wondering what the baker was talking about. “No… only Applejack ordered a new one, ours are empty, Pinkie.”
“Not for long!” Pinkie singsonged, clapping her hooves together. Before the unicorn could respond, the waitress lowered a tray onto the edge of the table that had a new drink for all three of them. Pinkie giggled and took a drink, followed soon by Applejack.
Twilight could only stare at her new daiquiri for a second, trying to figure out why the waitress had brought her a new one. “Excuse me, miss, but I didn’t…” It was too late, and the mare was already gone, lost to the deafening roar of music. “order… this.”
“I know. I did.” Pinkie paused to lick a stray bit of whipped cream from the tip of her nose. “When I went to get Applejack’s drink, I told them to just bring us all new drinks if one of us ordered one.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, sugarcube.” Applejack took a swig of her own drink. “It’s here, so ya might as well enjoy it. ‘Sides, one more little drink won’t hurt none. Ain’t like any of us gotta fly home or nothin’.” She held her glass up over the middle of the table, and Pinkie did the same, leaning forward to keep her lips wrapped around the straw.
Smiling, Twilight lifted her own glass, clinking it against her friends’ drinks before taking a long sip. Their conversation shifted to the upcoming Running of the Leaves. Applejack offered to keep training Twilight, and she accepted, opting not to disclose that her initial interest hadn’t been her primary goal. Their drinks slowly emptied while they talked, and before long all three were empty again.
“Alright, I think it’s time we headed home.” Twilight slid to the edge of the booth, having some difficulty sitting upright without swaying a little. Her mind was still running in countless different directions, but she found it easier to ignore her rampant thoughts as the mind-numbing haze of alcohol settled over her.
“Awww…” Pinkie slumped down. “But… what about more dancing?” She stuck her head out of the bubble, nearly falling out of the booth in the process. When she pulled herself back in, she was already wiggling to the beat. “Ooh, I love this song! Come on, girls.” She tried to hop down from the booth, but her hoof slipped and she started to fall. “Whee!” Before she could fall too far, Applejack grabbed onto her foreleg and pulled her back.
“Ah think Twi’s right, sugarcube. It’s time we hit the road. Now, come on.” Applejack helped the other mare down out of the booth gently, following her down afterward. Once they were on the floor, Pinkie went to take a step and pitched forward, but the farmer caught her again and easily lifted the drunken mare up onto her back. “Ya comin’, Twi?”
“Yes, just… one second.” Twilight closed her eyes in concentration, scrunching her nose up. She gathered energy to herself and tried to summon her magic. It didn’t obey her immediately as it usually did, but instead arrived sluggishly. Her horn flared to life for a few seconds while she anchored the sound bubble to herself, allowing it to follow them out of the club. “There we go.” She hopped down from the booth, but kept going once she landed, taking several small steps to steady herself.
Applejack smirked and looked the unicorn up and down, noting a slight blush on her face. “Ah ain’t gonna haveta carry you too, am Ah?” She rolled her shoulders to shift Pinkie a little lower on her back. Though, for her part, Pinkie was wiggling around and waving her hooves in the air in time to the music.
“No no. I’m fine.” To prove her point, Twilight took a few steps in a mostly-straight line. “See? Now, um… where’s the exit?” She looked along the walls for some sign of the exit, but all she saw was flashing lights.
“Come on, sugar.” Applejack turned and headed for the door weaving among ponies while Pinkie kept dancing on her back. She silently thanked Twilight for bringing their bubble with them since she wasn’t keen on subjecting herself to the deafening music again. After a few minutes, they reached the door leading outside, though it took her another couple minutes to maneuver through it with Pinkie’s flailing. Once she finally made it outside, she waited for the unicorn to join them. “Well, Ah suppose it’d be easiest to drop Pinkie off on the way to the library.”
Twilight dismissed the sound bubble, then opened her mouth to agree. However, she realized that she didn’t want the night to end yet. They were having fun, so why did it have to stop? “Well, what if we just go back to the library and hang out a little more?” She looked off toward the west, but the movement caused her hat to fall forward, obscuring her vision. When she pushed it back up, she saw that the horizon was still painted in reds and oranges by the setting sun. “It’s still pretty early. There’s no reason we can’t spend a little more time together.”
“Ah don’t know…” Applejack looked at the sunset, then off in the direction of the farm. “Ah got a lotta chores lined up fer tomorrow. Ah should prolly—”
“Come on, AJ! It’ll be fun!” Pinkie replied from the farmer’s back. “Lesssss go!” She tried to run, forgetting that she wasn’t on the ground, so her hooves simply waved through the air for a few moments before she realized she wasn’t getting anywhere. Rolling to the side, she landed on her hooves and leaned against Applejack, trying in vain to push the other mare. “Wow, AJ, you’re like a rock!” She squinted and looked at the farmpony suspiciously. “You’re not secretly Tom in one of my Applejack costumes, are you?”
“No, Ah just—” Applejack froze when Pinkie’s last sentence hit her. “You got a costume of me?”
“Hehe. No, silly.” Pinkie went back to trying to push Applejack down the street. “Only Fluttershy and Rarity.”
“You… why…” Applejack shook her head and resolved to forget the last thirty seconds had ever happened. She looked off toward the farm again, then down at the baker, who was looking back up at her and pouting while still trying to push her to the library. She heaved a sigh and pushed Pinkie away, lifting her up onto her hooves again. “Alright, fine. Ah suppose a little more fun couldn’t hurt. But, sugarcube…” She looked down at the mare still trying futilely to move her. “The library’s thataway.” She pointed behind Pinkie, in the direction opposite the one that the pink pony was trying to push her.
“Well… less go!” Pinkie bounded off in the direction Applejack had pointed, tripping and falling every third or fourth bounce. “Less all go to—Oof!—the lib… libar… leb—Oof!—to the house-tree!”
Applejack walked up to where the baker was struggling back to her hooves, shaking her head and chuckling to herself. “Come here, sugarcube.” Once again, she lifted Pinkie, tossing the drunken mare onto her back. Pinkie immediately used her new perch to burst into song, belting out a heavily slurred and off key rendition of “You Gotta Share, You Gotta Care.”
“Well, Ah’m glad to hear yer havin’ fun tonight, Twi.” Applejack began the trek back to the library, pausing for a second to let the unicorn catch up. A few windows in nearby houses lit up as they passed by, but they barely noticed. “Ah gotta admit, after last night, Ah was worried that Ah mighta messed things up too bad to fix.” Twilight didn’t answer for a moment, and Applejack was ready to kick herself for messing up again by bringing it up.
“Yeah.” Twilight smiled and looked over her shoulder at the receding club. It might have been her imagination, but for a moment she thought she could still feel the bass reverberating through her chest. “I didn’t think I’d be able to relax and have fun somewhere so crowded and… I suppose ‘noisy’ doesn’t do it justice… but I did.” She shuddered. “I still can’t believe Pinkie got me to dance.”
Applejack chuckled, then grunted as one of Pinkie’s flailing limbs glanced off of her head. She shot a glare over her shoulder, but the mare on her back was too engrossed in her singing to notice. “Yeah, but at least it was a fair sight better than when we went up to Canterlot and that garden party fer yer birthday.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Twilight shook her head, but perked up after a second. “Wait, you saw us dancing?” The farmer nodded and a rush of color flooded her cheeks. “Oh Celestia, I didn’t think that anypony would be paying attention to us.”
“It’s alright, Twi. You were havin’ fun out there. It was nice to see.” Applejack took a quick side step to keep Pinkie from falling off of her back after a particularly forceful bout of thrashing.
“I guess,” Twilight admitted after a moment. “It couldn’t have been as good as you two though, you girls at least knew what you were doing. I was just... flailing a little, but you two were… beautiful out there.”
“Aw heck…” Applejack waved off Twilight’s words, blushing. “That was mostly Pinkie. She’ll get up in yer face if’n ya don’t stop her. Girl ain’t got much concern for personal space.”
Twilight giggled and glanced back at the hammered pony on Applejack’s back. “She never does, does she? At first it was annoying, but now... I kind of like it about her.” She stumbled when she hit a bump in the road, and couldn’t stop herself from falling against Applejack’s side. “Sorry.” She quickly pulled herself back upright, leaving some space between them and reached up to adjust the hat still perched on her head.
Applejack smirked and stepped closer so that their coats brushed as they walked. “Don’t be.” They smiled at each other for a moment before Pinkie readjusted herself to be laying across both of their backs. Somewhere along the way she had switched to another song and had just arrived at a point which something in her mind insisted had to be sung at full volume.
“AND I~ love to see you SMILE SMILE SMILE!~”
Applejack merely chuckled, but Twilight reflexively put a sound dampening spell around Pinkie’s mouth, temporarily confusing the earth pony. It prompted her to try and sing even louder, going blue in the face. They rounded a corner that brought the library into view, and they picked up their pace a little while Pinkie finally exhausted her lungs and hung between them, breathing heavily. Twilight quickly unlocked and opened the front door with her magic, then slipped out from under Pinkie, deciding that the door wasn’t wide enough to fit all of them at once.
“Well…” Applejack slid the drunken mare off of her back and onto a bean bag. “Here we are… what’d ya wanna do now, sugarcube?”
“Umm…” Twilight closed the door and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. In simply enjoying Applejack’s company, she had completely forgotten to plan out what they would do once they got back to the library. “I… don’t really know.”
Before either of them could offer up an idea, Pinkie was flying through the air at them, the bean bag clenched in her hooves. “PILLOW FIGHT!!!” She landed and swung the bag, wobbling on her rear hooves.
Applejack, being the most athletic out of the three of them, dodged easily. Twilight’s reaction speed, however, was slowed by the alcohol running through her system, and the unicorn ended up with a face full of bean bag. “Pinkie!” She shook her head to clear it. “That’s not a pillow!” She looked cross, but only for a moment, after which she smiled and lit up her horn, floating a procession of pillows down from both her bedroom and the hallway closet. They came to rest, hovering around her like a flock of fluffy bloodhounds, who were only waiting for her order to attack. “But these are.” She grinned and sent several pillows after each mare.
Applejack dodged the first and second pillows, but the third caught her in the side of the head. “Oh, it’s on now, sugar.” She flicked all three pillows into the air with her tail and sent them back to their owner. She watched the pillows sail through the air, straight at Twilight who made no attempt to get out of the way. After about a second, Applejack found out why; her projectiles slowed and hung around Twilight, to be used as weapons once more. “No offense, sugarcube, but that’s just cheatin’.” She glanced over at Pinkie, who was just rolling on the floor, hugging the pillows the unicorn had hit her with while giggling uncontrollably.
Twilight looked up at her army of pillows and sighed, realizing the farmer was right. She dropped her magic and slid one of the pillows over to Applejack, grabbing one in her mouth. “Youw on.” She waited for the other mare to pick up her weapon, then charged.
Applejack waited, intending to sidestep and swat Twilight’s rear when she charged past. Twilight smiled devilishly just before she disappeared in a flash of light, and an instant later Applejack felt a swat on her own rump. She turned to see the unicorn standing behind her, grinning triumphantly before disappearing again.
“Pinkie? Ah could use some backup, sugarcube.” Applejack slowly made her way over to where she had last seen Pinkie, keeping watch for any sign of Twilight. As she turned to keep scanning the room, she got a faceful of pillow, only catching a glimpse of her assailant before she was gone again. She tried to follow Twilight as she teleported all over the library. Normally, Twilight’s spellcasting would have been too fast for her, but with the lightly buzzed state the unicorn was operating in, Applejack could make out a pattern.
The next time Twilight jumped forward, aiming for Applejack’s back, she found that the farmpony wasn’t there when she came out of her teleportation spell. She blinked in confusion for a second, then felt a strike on her rump. She turned to see Applejack behind her, grinning cheekily. She tried another quick jump, but Applejack was too quick for her, sidestepping at the last possible second and swatting her on the rump each time.
Eventually, she gave up and dropped the pillow. “You win,” she panted. Teleporting like that had taken more out of her than she thought it would have.
“Thank ya kindly, sugar.” Applejack reached over and reclaimed her hat, planting it back on its familiar spot. “Ya got predictable. Put up a good fight, though. Keep it in mind fer the future.” She winked and chuckled as the unicorn’s cheeks darkened.
With the pillow fight over, Twilight’s legs trembled and she felt like she could fall over just like that. Still, since they were in the library she had to play hostess, which made the next step looking for ‘Sleepovers 101’.
She quickly located the tome, but Applejack stopped her, pointing at the loudly snoring third pony in the room. Pinkie was stretched out on the pillows she had been attacked with, a gigantic smile plastered all over her face, punctuated by her snores which managed to play a little melody of their own.
“Ah reckon it’s about time we got to bed.” Applejack stretched and yawned. Now that they were done playing, she realized just how tired she was. She quickly gathered up most of the loose pillows and piled them on her back. “Where do ya want these, sugar?”
“Oh, here, let me get those.” Twilight once again picked up all of the pillows in her magic, carrying them with her over to the hallway closet she’d pulled them from. “You weren’t planning on going back to the farm, were you? It seems kind of silly, given how late it is. You’re more than welcome to sleep here.”
“Actually, Ah kinda was…” Applejack looked at the clock and then out the window, where night had full settled. “Like Ah said, Ah got a good deal of chores lined up tomorrow, and even with an early start, it’s still gonna take me most of the day to get ‘em done.”
“Sorry, Applejack, but I can’t allow you to do that. You’re gonna sleep here tonight.” While she was in the closet, Twilight searched for sheets to put on the guest bed, but couldn’t find any. She belatedly remembered that they were in the laundry room after Spike had used them to help make a ‘pillow fort’ and had gotten ice cream all over them.
Rejoining her friends in the main room, she gently lifted Pinkie and her pillows with a cushion of magic, carefully levitating them ahead of her up the stairs. Halfway up, the sleeping earth pony let out an extra loud snore and rolled over, forcing Twilight to adjust and reorient her magic to keep her from falling. Once they made it into the room, she tucked Pinkie in, letting out a relieved sigh. It took more concentration than normal to cast magic, and sustaining any spells was tiring her out quickly. After sizing up the bed, removing the amount of room Pinkie was taking up by sprawling out, she realized that all three of them wouldn’t fit.
Applejack stepped up next to the unicorn and glanced at the bed, frowning at how little room was left. “Well, Ah’ll take the couch, then. Night, sugarcube.” She turned and headed back for the door.
“No, wait.” Twilight trotted over and held the farmer back with a hoof. She’d been about to suggest that she sleep on the couch herself, but hearing Applejack say it first made her want to find a way for all of them to fit in the bed. “I’m sure we’ll be all be fine.” She made her way over to the bed and gently climbed in, trying not to wake Pinkie. Though, based on the amount of snoring she’d been doing on the way up, it was doubtful anything short of a buffalo stampede would wake her up. She carefully prodded and rolled Pinkie onto her side, then nestled in behind her, leaving plenty of room. She looked back to Applejack and patted the spot behind her.
Applejack slowly walked over to the bed while some small part of her mind kept insisting that she should go sleep on the couch. She climbed into the bed, causing the springs to groan under the strain, and snuggled up behind Twilight, wrapping a foreleg around the unicorn’s barrel. “Goodnight, Twi.”
“Goodnight, Applejack.”
Pinkie wiggled around, pressing herself back against Twilight. “Nighty... night...” She mumbled.
Twilight laid her head on the pillow and tried to go to sleep, but her mind refused to let her rest. Almost all of her disparate thoughts had calmed down, but one kept tugging at her attention, a vague feeling that she couldn’t immediately place. She tried not to think about how she could feel the rise and fall of Pinkie’s chest, or Applejack’s breath just grazing the back of her neck. But the harder she tried not to think about being sandwiched between the two of them, the more it consumed her. After a few minutes, Applejack’s breathing grew slow and even, leaving Twilight alone and wide awake. She briefly considered trying to extricate herself from between them and going downstairs to sleep on the couch, but as soon as she tried to move, Pinkie wiggled backwards and Applejack gave her a light squeeze with her foreleg. The feeling came back, stronger this time. It was... warm.
She yawned, growing more relaxed as she watched them sleep. This seemed so different than the heat she felt when she thought about Applejack. That had seemed like an all encompassing passion, a raging inferno of hormones. But here and now, she just felt comfortable, safe… loved.
Well, maybe it's too early for that word. But it felt like a good word. They just seemed to mesh well together. Maybe this wouldn't have worked for Twilight and Applejack, or even Pinkie and Twilight. But three seemed very stable. This appealed to her from a design standpoint. A stool with three legs didn't wobble.
Pinkie yawned, leaving Twilight to follow suit. This needed more study, and field testing.
And notes. Lots of notes.
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The second half finds one flavor of love...
Yet will these bonds be swapped so easily?
I hope all will end well.
Awaiting further releases.
D'awwwwwws. good end of the chapter.
Unless one leg is shorter than the others, or one is longer than the others.
3891934 Even then, it wouldn't really wobble, it would just rest at an angle where the seat/surface wasn't level with the floor.
Nice chapter. They seem to handle the whole love thing much better then Rares, Flutters and Dashie. Pretty much expected this.
AJ and Twi are normally the most rational ponies of the Mane6 and Pinkie is always enthusiastic about potential fun.^^
Huh... Now I wonder what on earth will happen next!!!
Have All the d'aawws!
Twilight sure hit upon that solution quickly.
And it's hard to imagine Pinkie will be particularly opposed to it. That just leaves Applejack. And she just crawled into a bed with her romantic interest and romantic "rival". 
Field testing you say?
Go on...
cdn.makeagif.com/media/2-03-2014/tFCJgU.gif
As they say, good things come in threes. Happy field testing Twi.
Well, what do you know, they got the drama out of the way surprisingly quickly! Maybe it will be back to the status quo in the morning, but for now it feels like we have actually made some progress. Although, if we are ultimately left with these two trios, it will feel a little odd that it comprises every one of the supposedly unrequited crushes with which we began except
->
.
Seriously, though, this was adorable.
3891934 Explanation of why a three legged stool can't wobble but a four legged stool can:
A lovely little chapter. This happens to be my OT3, and damn if you didn't do it justice. The three if them were just the right amount of goofy and fun together while still being able to have serious stuff in their talks. Looking forward to more of this, although FlariDash is cool too.
Now we just need Dashie and AJ to hook up, everyone to forgive them, and Pinkie to suggest a herd. I give it 3 chapters before the herding commences.
I'm gonna keep a mental note on those costumes Pinkie has... I just have this feeling they are going to be brought up again. I could also just be overthinking things.
3894364
Too complicated. Hell, even three is complex. Plus if AJ and Dash hook up into a serious relationship while Dash is with her girls and AJ's with hers, the whole story turns into wish-fulfillment rather than a story on the ins and outs of complex relationships. Trying to balance intimate love and attention between two other people is already a nightmare, get a 'herd' together and people get left out here or there, fall through the cracks now and then.
Much preferable to have the two trinogamous relationships. If the two relationships are down for a little swinging, that's one thing - but one massive relationship would just destroy things. AJ's more or less the steady rock of the group, let's let her move past her feelings for Dash by concentrating on this new development.
3893431 Might I ask why? What is it about polyamorous relationships that you don't like?
Commence read.
Things panned out nicely.
Cute ending.
So we had :
+
And then we had :
Now we have :
+
So make this happen :
3893407
Honestly I got the point when 3892038 commented...
But thanks for the more detailed explanation, I'm sure someone found it interesting.
3895926
That would seem to be the pattern, wouldn't it?
But mathematical patterns can be tricky to correctly identify...
3896520
Now, just imagine is that was the last posted chapter, instead of having another 16 ahead.
3896220
static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110412235025/uncyclopedia/images/1/15/Capt._Obvious.jpg
Sorry, I really couldn't help myself. And really, how often is there an opportunity to bust out mathematical proof that a stool won't wobble?
This was cute. I quite liked the stool thing at the end, and the chapter overall felt pretty natural in its progression. The speed that things are going is still a bit quick, but its more believable than I'd have expected. The whole "Just hang out as friends" scenario helped that alot.
Those were some incredibly creepy undertones.
3901934 Or just Pinkie being Pinkie. Either one.
Pinkie being drunk and the world didn't end? I guess we were lucky this time.
(Also, Pinkie is a lightweight. Much more so than she have any right to be.)
3902502 Not necessarily. Pinkie had more drinks (4) than either Twilight (3) or AJ (2). Plus, those sweet mixed drinks can be deceptively strong.
Yay new chapter!!
Aaaaaaaand now I gotta wait (a month?) for the next one.
Oh well, better to take awhile and make the chapters good rather then rushing them,
even If it does take about a month.
Love the story so far
3904269 Actually...
It will probably be a while more than my usual month-ish before the next chapter. I'm currently working on an entry for the AppleDashLight group's ongoing contest. The deadline for entries is March 1, so I'll definitely be done by then... I'm just not sure if I'll be done any sooner.
That being said, while it will be a while until the next chapter for UC
), I'll be putting out an entire new start-to-finish story in the mean time. 
(
3902611 Well, I was speaking more in the line of her being more lightweight than her metabolism would allow. I have a metabolism comparable (just barely) to Pinkie, and I have to chug a whole bottle of vodka (or something of that strength) to even get a little tipsy. Her body would simply break down alcohol efficiently enough to keep her from becoming drunk.
But on the other hand, this is Pinkie we are speaking off. It could just be Pinkie being Pinkie (act drunk, get free carry rides by AJ. Such a devious plan!).
this is just so awesome as soon as i finish reading the chapters leading up to this it updates
That was a great
I look forward to the equasions that are sprouting up 
I wish I didn't have to wait longer than a month 
I WANT MOAR SOON 
If that is alright with you 
Awww! A Twinkie Pie sandwhich!
so delicious.
Although the long wait makes me sad
I am glad you are working on a new story, and from what I seen from your writing so far, I know that it will be of quality!
Well, either way, I cant wait to read whatever you post next
^ fits the Twi/jack thing pretty damn well.
This is good and all... but it's literally just a retread of the Rarity-Rainbow-Fluttershy thing. Is it too much to hope you'll reach a definitive pairing or just cop out and make another threeway relationship?
3964215 How is all three of them being together a 'cop-out'? Just because Rarity, Dash, and Shy found that they can all be happy together means that it can't work out the same for Twilight, AJ, and Pinkie? Why does one of the three of them have to end up alone and heartbroken?
3964533 because there's more than six ponies in the entirety of Equestria, you don't have to keep it in the mane 6. But it's your story, do whatever you want.
3964595 Okay, but I just don't understand why you feel that the relationship status of one group somehow precludes the others from reaching the same status if it will make them happy.
If Pinkie, AJ, and Twilight had all gotten together beforehand, would that mean that Rarity, Fluttershy, and Dash could no longer be together?
3964639 Well no considering the entire premise of your story was built around Rainbow-Rarity-Fluttershy, the others look more like an afterthought. It's just unimaginative to do the same thing.
Personally I like the direction this is going but suddenly there isn't any more conflict.
Either the story is coming to its eventual end or those fights I've been waiting for are about to erupt and the drama kicks in strong. 
Patiently observing, Jahk.
im so conflicted, should i read this or not?!
4031945 Do you have problems with ships that involve Fluttershy and Dash, but not with each other (eg. Flarity, AppleDash)? If so, then I wouldn't recommend it. If not, then I'd say give it a shot (but I am a little biased in the matter).
Also, a word of warning if you do read it. The quality of the early chapters (1-6) isn't quite up to snuff with the later ones because I hadn't yet met my wonderful pre-readers/editors. That's not to say that they're bad, just that they're not quite as good as the later ones.
You could always just read the first couple chapters to decide if you like the premise/characterization/etc., then decide if you want to read the rest.
4033193 i dont like the other ships, but i think i'm gonna try this. not tonight though... tomorrow?
Poly is best ship