A side story to 'Final Boss: Sweetie Belle'. Find out what happened between Spike and Applebloom during that Friday Night Sweetie and Button went on their date.
Sweetie and Button were going on a date that night, a date planned out by Sweetie, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. This is what happened away from the pair that night, as Applebloom, Scootaloo, Spike, and friends arrange and run their makeshift restaurant; and, see what happened the rest of the Friday night with them.
Note: I don't think you'll need to read the other to get this one, but fair warning, as this is connected to that other story, this does contain SpikeBloom and SweetieMash/ButtonBelle.
"No! I have better things to do on my Friday night than help Sweetie Belle with her date." Spike remarked as he continued to place books back onto their rightful places on the shelves.
Spike had been diligently working to finish organizing the books around the library, as per the request of Twilight, so he could meet up with some of his guy friends later for a fun evening of bad movies, games, and junk food. The task was made much easier since he had grown to be almost the size of a full grown stallion in the last couple of years.
Then the Cutie Mark Crusaders came by requesting his help. The trio went directly to the new library after they left school, immediately seeked out the young drake's help, and explained what they were trying to do. The plan was that the three of them had converted the barn to a makeshift restaurant area for Sweetie and Button's date later that evening, which admittingly surprised Spike for more than one reason.
"Come on, Spike! What could possibly be more important than helping out Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked
"Plenty." he quickly remarked, "Aside from reorganizing these books, I still need to go back into town and buy some ink and parchment for Twilight, pick up my order from Sugarcube Corner, and then I'm suppose to meet up with Snips, Snails, and Pip to go to Rumble's place for movies and pizza."
"I can understand the first two, but seriously, you're just gonna hang out with the guys?! It'd be WAY more helpful if you just helped us."
"True, but it wouldn't be as fun, and I won't get a chance to hang out with my friends."
"Hey! We're yer friends too ya know." Applebloom rang in.
"True, but I'm closer friends with the guys than you three." Spike stated. "Besides, almost nine out of ten times I've helped you girls out, something always happens which makes me regret it later."
"Oh yeah?" Scootaloo challenged. "Tell us one occasion that happened."
"Well, last time, I almost broke my leg with that ridiculous idea you had with Pinkie's Party Cannon. I just consider myself lucky that as a dragon I'm built sturdy."
"Hey, it was our first time with a cannon, you can't blame us for setting the air pressure too high."
"Before that, was the Everfree tree sap incident. You, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle accidentally ended up almost glued to my tail and my right leg because you touched some blue tree sap that acts like rubbery super glue, and threatened to harden to an almost crystal-like texture."
"Oh, it wasn't that bad. I mean, Sweetie, Applebloom, and myself usually got our selves covered in tree sap years ago." Scootaloo stated with an embarrassed grin, remembering that one was specifically her fault.
"We had to get Zecora's help just to find a solvent to get us loose, and the formula she made was almost like acid." Spike stated angrily, his frills flaring out. "That was why she didn't want to use it on us till we were back in Ponyville, and near a flowing river, so we could wash the stuff off of us once we got unstuck."
The trio of young mares turned their attention away from Spike, looking everywhere but where the young dragon's direction.
"Shall I proceed with what happened before that?" He asked crossing his arms. "I'll give you a hint, it happened a year ago on Nightmare Night, and involved Scootaloo's scooter, Roseluck's stand, and about ten pounds worth of chocolate fondue."
"I actually forgot about that one." Sweetie stated as she nervously scratched the side of her head.
"Ya made yer point, Spike." Applebloom embarrassingly admitted. "If ya really refusin' ta help us out, then that's fine. We ain't gonna blame ya. This time though, Ah can promise ya that there ain't a way anythin' bad is gonna happen t' ya this time."
Spike didn't say anything but raised a brow, interested in how Applebloom would plan to keep that promise.
"We just need ya ta help put everythin' tah-gether ta make it all fancy."
"And what makes you three think I know how to make anything fancy?"
"Well, you did use to live in Canterlot." Sweetie Belle stated.
"Yeah, especially in the castle since you were Twilight's assistant while she was a student at Princess Celestia's school, right?" Scootaloo added.
"Hm..., point taken."
"So will ya do it?" Applebloom asked.
Spike hesitated for a moment before saying, "I dunno. What makes you so sure you can keep that promise?"
"It won't take much, ya just need ta be there fer an hour or so, and ya can leave. Nothin' bad can happen in an hour."
"We'll even pay you." Sweetie rang in.
"Pay me?!" He asked in a surprised tone.
Sweetie then used her magic to take out a medium-sized bit bag from her saddlebag and gave it to Spike.
Spike accepted it with a surprised look on his face, before it changed to a look of shock. Inside the bit bag were three sapphires and two rubies.
"Where did you-?"
"Rarity gave them to me to use on some of the dress designs I try to do once in a while; but, I decided to use them for this instead." Sweetie explained. "I know you like gemstones, Spike."
"All five of those are yours to keep, you just have to help us." Scootaloo stated.
"Please, Spike, we really need yer help with this." Applebloom begged.
Spike didn't say anything as he looked at the gems he was now holding, then gave a loud sigh, "I'm going to regret doing this, I just know I will."
"So you'll help?" Sweetie excitedly asked, a wide grin, which were shared by Applebloom and Scootaloo, on her face.
"Yeah, I'll help. Mind you, I'm going to make sure you keep that promise that nothing bad will happen. Understood?"
"We understand." All three replied back almost simultaneously.
To help speed up the process, Applebloom and Scootaloo went out to tend to Spike's other duties for the day, while Spike and Sweetie Belle worked to finish organizing all the books. Initially, Spike was hesitant to let Sweetie Belle assist him, mostly since she didn't understand the particular parameters of Twilight's organization, but with a little of careful instruction Sweetie was able to be of great help to Spike. Once everything was completed, all four made the trip to Sweet Apple Acres, where the Crusaders already had a few things prepared.
For the most part, a majority had already been set up: the main Apple Family barn was already cleaned up, the make-shift table, which was a large wooden tub, was already set up, and bales of hay stacked on the sides to block out the usual farm animal stalls and tools as well as act as make-shift walls. At the house, There were already clean pots and pans, as well as some fresh vegetables and other ingredients on the table, ready for use in what Spike could assume would be pasta.
Overall, the girls seemed to have what they needed; though, it was still a far cry from the 'fancy' restaurant they were aiming for. Considering the barn is probably where it mattered the most, Spike poured all his focus in and around the area of the barn, and immediately started advising and barking orders to the Crusaders to help improve the overall feel of the barn. The addition of having a tablecloth over the table and a candle, as well as some extra decorations were among the improvements he had suggested. He also suggested having another source of light on in the barn; while the girls' idea of using moonlight to lighten up the area was a good idea and rather romantic, it might make any unlit areas unnerving and may take away from the intended atmosphere. Fortunately, some Hearths Warming lights, not too dim yet not bright enough to take away from their goal, were easily found among the supplies around the barn.
At the moment, Applebloom was trying to position a large-potted plant in a way that didn't bother her, while Spike was sweeping away bits of hay they had inadvertently knocked off the bales when they were working to hang the Hearths Warming lights. He was also mildly concerned that he occasionally heard the sound of light snoring as he worked, but since Applebloom didn't seem to react to the sound, and he couldn't quite find the source, he assumed it was just his ears playing tricks on him.
Spike let out a silent sigh as he looked out towards the orchard, taking note of the sun's position before determining it's been more than an hour since he started helping the girls out. Since Applebloom did say about an hour, and it's been more than an hour, he decided to see if he could finish what he was doing then leave. Maybe with some luck he'll still have time to get to Rumble's home to enjoy some pizza and games.
He then turned to look at Applebloom, seeing her still trying to figure out what to do with that plant. He sighed and said, "The plant's fine, Applebloom. It was fine ten minutes ago, and it's fine now."
"Ya sure...? Somethin' about it just don't feel right ta me." She remarked as she cocked her head to side.
"Yes, I'm sure."
Applebloom still didn't seem convinced though as she continued to stare at the plant and contemplate what seemed off.
Spike sighed audibly as he rolled his eyes, before giving the plant a look over. He couldn't quite say what kind of plant it was, though he could hazard a guess that it was a green corn plant, and a rather tall one at that. It looked to be in fairly good health, save for a couple of dead leaves that still clung to the lower part of the stem on the plant.
After a moment of silence, Spike gave a mischievous smirk as he figured out what may finally get Applebloom to leave that plant alone. "Hey, I think I know what's wrong with it."
"What?" she asked without tearing her attention away from the plant, before seeing a green glow from the corner of her eye and feeling the increase of temperature in the direction of the glow, resulting in her jumping away in surprise.
Spike had let out a thin stream of his fire breath, thin enough to properly clip off and burn away two of the dead leaves of the plant without igniting more of the plant or risk burning down the barn.
"A trim." he remarked, before immediately dropping the broom and using his arms to protect himself as Applebloom ran over to him and started trying to hit his head with her front hooves.
"You stupid reptile! Were yah tryin' ta burn me?!" Applebloom shouted.
"No, of course not."
"Then what's the matter about jus' tellin' me!? Ya got a mouth and ya can talk!"
Spike didn't reply, but he did chuckle at Applebloom's attempts to hit him, thankful that his scales easily protected him from most injuries. Granted of course that he could still feel the points Applebloom hit him.
"If ya weren't mah friend, and ah wouldn't get in trouble, ah'd shove yer head into a tree." She gave one last strike with both her hooves, knocking Spike right onto his tail.
"Ow." He merely remarked, as Applebloom turned so she wasn't look at him anymore. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry Applebloom. I didn't mean it." He apologized with a chuckle.
She didn't show any signs of acknowledging his apology.
"Since everything seemed to be in order now, and it's been more than an hour, I'm thinking of going now."
"Fine, git."
"Before I go though, mind if I ask you something that's been bugging me since I got here?"
She turned to look at him from over her shoulder, clearly still upset about almost getting burned.
"How did you convince the rest of your family to agree to this?"
Applebloom's eyes widened and she looked away from him.
"I know you paid me for my services to help, but how did you convince your family to go along with this? The usage of several decorative pieces from your home, the space within the barn, and of course use of personal supplies to make the dinner, which I'm assuming you probably meant to be free of charge since it's for Sweetie Belle and you're helping her out. I know it's family and all and your probably free to use the stuff here within reason, and I'm sure your family isn't against you helping out a friend, but still, how did you convince them?"
"They, uh..." Applebloom hesitated for a moment before continuing. "They don't actually know ah'm doin' this?"
"They don't?" He asked with a surprised expression, "But, how?"
"Ah, uh, forgot ta tell 'em." she admitted as she turned to look at him again, offering a nervous grin, "Granny and Big Mac are actually out o' town in Appleloosa, helpin' Cousin Braeburn with the orchard there."
"And, Applejack...?"
Applebloom took a brief glance outside, looking to see where the sun was to guess the current time, then looked back at Spike, "Probably comin' back from the market soon."
Before Spike could guess how much trouble he probably was in now as an accomplice to all of this, they both heard somepony clear their throat. Looking to see who it was, they saw Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo at the door of the barn. Applejack had a very unamused expression on her face, Rarity and Twilight looked confused, and Scootaloo and Sweetie looked nervous.
Applebloom forced a nervous laugh, "H-howdy, Sis."
"Hey, Twilight, Rarity..." Spike's greeting drifted a bit before nervously settling on the final name. "Applejack."
"Howdy, Applebloom. Howdy, Spike." she replied back, "Ah'd ask what was goin' on 'ere, but we already got Sweetie Belle ta tell us what ya'll were doin' ta the barn."
Sweetie nervously grinned.
"What ah wanna know is why did ah have ta hear it from Sweetie Belle, rather than from you, Applebloom?"
"Ah, uh... plum forgot ta tell ya." she responded with a sheepish grin.
Applejack sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "How did ya forget ta ask about turnin' the family barn into a restaurant?" she paused to let Applebloom reply, but when she didn't, "Yer lucky Big Mac ain't here right now, or ah'd make sure ya'd be grounded fer a week."
Her ears flattened against her head.
"Finish what yer doin' Applebloom, then I want ya washed up, and ready ta eat dinner in an hour and a half from now." Applejack stated pushing the Apple cart into the barn.
"Huh? What about-?"
"The date? Ah'm sure some fancy froo-froo restaurant will be open in town somewhere."
"But, Applejack!"
"But, nothin'." She replied firmly, then relaxed. "Sis, ah know ya wanted ta help, and ah can't be angry at'cha fer that, but ah just don't think we have enough supply ta be pretendin' ta be a restaurant. What were ya goin' ta serve? We ain't got much ingredients left other than fer the two of us till Big Mac and Granny comes back, and somepony can do a little grocery shoppin'."
The expression on Applebloom's face seemed to show that this was another oversight. Part of her almost ready to just agree, but another part still searching for a way to make this happen.
Twilight took notice, taking sympathy towards Applebloom. "Applejack, if that's all it takes, then I wouldn't mind finding some ingredients back at the castle you could use."
"Ah really don't want ta impose, Twi'light."
"It'd be no trouble at all, Applejack."
"Please, Applejack, we've been tryin' ta work on this fer a week now." Applebloom begged.
"Wait, ya three have been workin' this out fer a week? So why am I just hearin' about this now?"
Applebloom nervously shrugged.
"We wanted something that wouldn't be too costly." Scootaloo rang in, "And, we figured making it happen ourselves would be the best way to go about it."
"We wanted ta make it nice fer Sweetie's date."
"I'll vouch for them, Applejack." Spike rang in, "They asked me to help, and I can say they already had a lot done when I got here. They even paid me to help them make everything look nice."
"How much did they pay you, Spike?" Twilight asked, a genuine curious look on the faces of the three older mares.
Spike hesitate for a brief moment, "How much is three sapphires and two rubies?"
"Three sapphires and two rubies?! Where did you three find those?" Twilight asked.
"From me, correct?" Rarity asked as she looked at Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie nodded, "From the gems you gave me to use. I decided to just give them to Spike for helping us. We really needed to make everything look fancy."
Applejack remained silent to let it sink in, then turned to Twilight, silently asking what she thought about all this.
"I think you should, Applejack. If what Spike is saying is true, then I believe all the work they've put into this should be allowed some chance to be rewarded."
Applejack then looked towards Rarity.
"As much it pains me to say so, darling, I think we should allow them to hold Sweetie's date here at the, ugh..." Rarity's voice lowered to a quiet shudder. "barn."
"Ah guess that's it then." Applejack admitted.
"We can hold the date here?" Sweetie asked with a wide hopeful smile on her face.
Applejack chuckled, "Eeyep, ya can hold yer date 'ere at the barn."
The three younger mares gave a cheer and hugged.
"Still though, ya won't be able ta do a restaurant." Applejack stated with a smirk, "A' least not without some help."
"Yer willin' ta help out, Sis?"
"Granny Smith will have mah tail if ya make a mess around here, Applebloom. 'Sides, with ya forgettin' a couple of things, ya probably would appreciate the extra hoof with yer plan."
"We'll help too." Twilight voiced in, to which Rarity gave a nod of affirmation.
"Same here with me." Spike stated.
"But ya already did." Applebloom stated.
"Yeah, but I vouched for you, and after hearing you've been planning this stuff out for a while now, I'm willing to give ya a helping claw." He smirked, "Maybe in the kitchen, I do have good cooking skills."
"Whoa there, sugarcube, if we're usin' the kitchen here at Sweet Apple Acres, it's gonna be me that's working in the kitchen." Applejack stated.
"Allow him to at least help, Applejack." Twilight rang in, "I can personally say he does knows his way around a kitchen."
"Still the one makin' sure ya eat right, Twilight?" she asked with a smirk, to which the alicorn blushed in embarassment.
"What the hay. I'll help too." They heard a voice ring out above them.
The bunch looked up towards the voice, finding Rainbow Dash, who was lazily hanging the front half of her body over the edge from the roof of the barn.
"Oh, that's where the snoring was coming from. I guess I should've figured it was Rainbow Dash." Spike muttered to himself.
"Rainbow Dash? What in Equestria are doing up there?" Twilight asked.
"I was napping." She replied back.
"Consarnit, Rainbow! Why are ya always sleepin' around the farm fer?" Applejack asked.
"What can I say, it's kinda comfortable sleeping around here."
Rarity then looked back at her sister and her friends, "Well, it would appear you have quite the amount of help now, Sweetie."
Sweetie nodded, and looked at everyone around them, and said, "Thank you." a huge happy smile plastered on her face.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Scootaloo cheered just before the group started devising on what they needed to get done in preparation for Sweetie and Button's date.
They were rather short on time, shorter than either one were comfortable with, but somehow they managed to prepare everything in time. In the short amount of time between agreeing to help out and 7pm that evening the bunch had managed to restructure the Crusaders' initial plan and refine it to a point that the Crusaders felt it almost their 'restaurant' wasn't their idea anymore, in a good way though.
Applejack along with Spike, had expanded the initial menu to an impressive selection of dishes to choose from, as well as create an actual menu that Sweetie and Button could be given at their table. Any ingredients that the Apples didn't readily have, were generously provided by Twilight and Rarity. Applejack also assisted in bringing up a barrel of cider the family had kept in storage for personal use, allowing them to use it for the occasion.
Rainbow, under the advisement of the others, ensured the skies would be clear that night and dispersed any cloud that threatened to drift into the skies over Ponyville. After that though, she was asked to help Twilight with what she was doing for her part, with the agreement of having several mugs of cider as payment.
Twilight, aside from providing much needed extra ingredients, had also sent a detailed request to Princess Luna, telling her about the date and how it would be greatly appreciated if she could take the special request of making the night sky really beautiful that night. It didn't take long to get a reply back as Luna mentioned it seemed oddly unfair to do so just for a single pair of ponies, but did wholeheartedly agreed to put the extra effort in to making the night sky really shine that night.
"Ah just can't believe it." Applebloom remarked outloud, "This is even better than we originally planned it ta be."
"Yeah! And, these awesome outfits Rarity put together for us are so cool. Betcha we could even be mistaken as real waiters." Scootaloo agreed, mentioning the waiter outfits that Rarity had put together for the two of them for her part, other than the dress Sweetie had requested from her in advance anyway.
"Yeah, cool, but why couldn't she help us more?" Rainbow complaining about how Rarity was allowed to just make the clothes and was completely done with her part.
"That's because making the uniforms for Scootaloo and Applebloom in the short time we had before the time of the date was tiresome and she asked to rest." Twilight remarked without really looking away from the checklist she made of what they possibly needed, "Rainbow, last item on the list: 'spinach'."
"Yeah, got it right over here, Twilight." she replied in a slightly annoyed tone, before taking another big gulp of her cider.
"Okay, that should be everything we'll need. Everything except maybe the cider." Twilight remarked as she rolled up the checklist after checking it for the up-teenth time, before looking over at Rainbow Dash.
"Hey! I did not drink all of it." Rainbow shouted defensively.
"No, but ya sure drank quite a bit of it." Applejack remarked with a smirk, to which Rainbow scowled at her for, then turned her attention towards Twilight, "Don't ya go worryin' about the cider. After watchin' Rainbow put away her fifth mug, Bloom and Ah went ta get another barrel from the cellar. We put it just outside the barn where they wanted ta put it."
"Are you sure about that, Applejack? Using up two barrels?" Twilight asked with some concern, knowing this is tapping into the Apple Family's reserves, "Also, why put the barrel there?"
"'Bloom said it's ta make it easier fer her and Scootaloo ta give Sweetie an' her date their drinks. Ah don' think those two can polish off a barrel on their lonesome, so it ain't too much trouble." she replied as she looked back at Rainbow Dash.
At that moment, Spike walked back into the kitchen, wearing a chefs coat and hat.
"How do I look?" he asked everypony present.
"Lookin' good there, Spike." Rainbow remarked.
"Like yer ready to start cookin'." Applejack stated with a chuckle as Twilight took a moment to properly adjust Spike's hat so it sat perfectly centered on his head.
"Cool! Did Miss Rarity make that for you?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, yes, but it's nothing new really. She made this for me last year."
"Spike asked Rarity to make that for him to replace the apron he wore when he was younger." Twilight explained.
"Wait, you mean that pink one with the heart on it?" Rainbow asked, before breaking into laughter when Twilight nodded.
Spike crossed his arms and turned his head away as he growled, "Why did you have to mention that?"
The others giggled or laughed at his reaction.
"Ya don't need ta be sour about it, Spike, it did look good on ya then." Applebloom remarked.
"Don't worry about it, Spike, that was back then when you were a baby dragon. There's nothing wrong with looking cute when you were that young." Twilight reassured.
"Yeah...well...Being 'cute' isn't exactly the best description if you're a guy." He stated.
After another moment to allow the others to further giggle at Spike's old choice of cooking-wear, they quickly got themselves organized and ready to prepare whatever meal Sweetie and Button would order.
"Oh, right, Twilight, I wanted to ask you if you could cast 'Number 25' on me." Spike stated.
"Spike, you'll get hair in the food." Twilight remarked.
"Hair?" the others asked simultaneously.
"How different is that from whenever a pony cooks? I mean you're all covered in fur." he rebutted.
Twilight paused to think about his question before saying, "I suppose in a way that is a fair argument, but remember facial hair is thick compared to pony fur. Shedding our natural coats is restricted to when the seasons shift from the colder winter to the warmer summer, and even then it's to a minimum thanks to regular grooming and proper coat care."
"It's gonna be just for a couple hours. Just until 11 tonight at best. What are the chances I'm going to 'shed' any of that in the span of a couple of hours."
"Okay, fine, I'll do it." Twilight conceded with an amused smirk, "But, if they complain about any hairs in the food, you'll know who is to blame." She started charging her horn.
Spike merely smiled as he let Twilight cast the spell just above his lip, producing a familiar mustache just above the dragon's upper lip. While not as refined as a professional chef, the slightly smaller size in comparison to his adolescent body did give him a slightly more distinguished appearance.
"Whoa! I forgot you knew how to do that, Twilight." Rainbow exclaimed as she took to the air and hovered near Spike to have a better look.
"Cool! You look like a real chef now." Scootaloo stated, as Applebloom decided to do the same as Rainbow and have a closer look, a slight shine of amazement clear in her eyes.
"A mite bit strange ta be seein' it on a dragon, but ah gotta admit it don't look half bad." Applejack remarked.
"Can you do that for me, too?" Scootaloo asked as she looked towards Twilight, with a kind of hopeful shine in her eyes.
"But, Scootaloo, you're a mare. Mares don't usually have facial hair, at least not naturally." Twilight stated with a raised brow.
"Oh come on, please, it'll be awesome."
"Just give it to her, Twilight." Rainbow said as she landed next to Scootaloo, "Might look good with the outfit. It could be good for a laugh at the very least."
Twilight rolled her eyes and shot both pegasi an unamused expression, "Are you sure, Scootaloo?"
"Positive." she responded with an enthusiastic nod.
"Okay..." Twilight muttered as she cast the spell again, giving Scootaloo what she wanted as a slightly thinner and raggedy version of Spike's mustache appeared on her face.
"Aw, yeah!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she flared her wings and struck a pose, "How do I look?"
"Ya look right strange, that's fer sure." Applebloom replied honestly as she giggled at her friend's appearance.
Spike seemed to agree with Applebloom as he placed a hand on his mouth to resist laughing.
"Well, as I said: Mares don't usually have facial hair." Twilight replied, as Applejack agreed with a nod.
"Don't let them get you down, squirt." Rainbow stated, "I think it looks good on ya."
Honestly Scootaloo wasn't bothered by the others. Okay, it did bother her a little, and part of her was saying that maybe this wasn't such a great idea afterall, but another part disagreed. The other part was telling her that it is weird, it's weird for a mare to have a mustache, but it's her mustache, and that made it cool by default; and, with Rainbow's support on the matter, it was twice as cool to Scootaloo, and that was more than enough reason to keep it, at least for now.
"You should get one too, Applebloom." Scootaloo remarked.
"Ah'll pass on that. Ah'm content wit' how ah look."
"It's not like it's gonna be permanent." Scootaloo then had a moment of realization, and looked at Twilight, "This isn't permanent, is it?"
Twilight shook her head, "Just let me know later when you want me to cast the counter spell that will remove it; or, you can visit the local barber to trim it off."
"See, it isn't permanent. Besides, makes us look more waiter-like if you ask me."
Applebloom gave her friend another look over before silently agreeing, while strange, it did appear to compliment the outfit to a certain degree. She then looked at her sister.
"This here is yer rodeo, Sis. If yer fine doin' it, even if ya are a mare, ah'll support ya."
She then looked towards Twilight, "It does help wit' the look...A'right, ah'll give it a go."
Twilight didn't say anything as she granted Applebloom her wish and gave the younger earth pony mare a red-colored mustache that was shorter than Spike's and had a slight curl to it, especially at the end.
"Kinda itches mah nose a bit." Applebloom remarked.
"You'll get use to it." Spike stated with a smirk.
With all the initial preparations complete, the group organized themselves into roles that they felt comfortable doing: Spike taking the role as the head chef since he was able to argue with Applejack that he had more experience in the kitchen than she did, Applejack as the sous-chef, and Twilight and Rainbow helping prepare the ingredients. Applebloom and Scootaloo already planned to act as the waiters -waitresses, technically- though they decidedly divided their jobs: Applebloom would be the one to seat them and serve them their drinks and appetizer, while Scootaloo will act as their primary server and will take their order and eventually bring them their food.
All that was missing now were the two ponies of the hour: Sweetie Belle and Button Mash. Thankfully, Sweetie left for Button's home a little earlier, so any wait time would hopefully be short.
"Ah dunno how other ponies do it, this t'ing is makin' my nose itch." Applebloom complained as she tried smoothening away some stray hairs as the two sat on the porch, looking for any signs of Sweetie Belle or Button Mash.
"You can probably ask Twilight to just take it off if it's bothering you that much." Scootaloo remarked as she scratched her nose.
"Probably worth considerin'." She said before noticing a tiny, faint glowing...something moving on the path towards the farm, "Hol' on, is that them?"
"Where...?"
"Ya see that bit of light right there movin'." she then pointed.
Scootaloo squinted and leaned her head forward to see better. It took a second, and it was almost hard to see, but she finally found the light, "I-I think....Yeah, that's them." she remarked just as the pair entered the property.
"No time ta ask Twilight now."
"Okay, I'll go tell the others. Get them seated like we planned." She then turned and entered the house.
Applebloom took a moment to make sure her mane and clothes looked good, and didn't have any soil on it, before proceeding to approach Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
As Sweetie and Button reached the barn, they stopped, just as the girls had planned till Applebloom arrived to seat the two of them. Upon noticing her earth pony friend, Sweetie's eyes widened in surprise before she blinked a few times to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her; but, when the mustache didn't disappear and became more obvious it was real, Sweetie couldn't resist giggling at her friend.
Once Applebloom was standing beside the young couple, she opened her mouth to say something, before pausing when she noticed that Button Mash didn't seem to notice her just yet. The young stallion's mouth was agape and a shocked expression was clear on his face as he regarded the interior of the barn, which Applebloom took as a compliment to all the work they had done to prepare.
Applebloom cleared her throat loud enough to snap Button out of his trance, "A table fer two?" she asked politely and gestured with a forehoof.
Sweetie merely nodded before proceeding to the table.
Button though seemed to be staring at Applebloom with a mixture of confusion and surprise.
Applebloom shot him a confused look and asked, "What...?"
"You have a mustache." He replied back.
"The mustache is startin' ta sound like a bad idea." Applebloom thought to herself as she looked at the fuzzy bit of hair below her nose. Well, she chose to go with it, no use complaining now. She looked back at him and said, "So...?"
"Why do you have a moustache...?" He asked in a surprised tone.
"Cause ah'm the waiter of this here building, and fancy waiters have a moustache."
"But you're a mare, you're not suppose to have a mustache! In fact it looks weird. Almost as if you're were a filly playing with Nightmare Night costumes."
Applebloom scoffed at the statement, then noticed the pickaxe-shaped pin on Button's collar, the source of the little light she saw earlier, "Yer the one ta talk, why ya wearin' that there pin? I was able ta see ya before ya even stepped on ta the property cause that pin was glowin'. That don't seem very mature ta me at t'all."
Button Mash glared at her, but didn't say anything other than a groan before going further into the barn and taking a seat. As soon as both ponies were seated, Applebloom turned to leave, soon to be replaced with Scootaloo.
Applebloom let out a sigh as she went to the barrel of cider she and Applejack pulled out for Sweetie and Button, and grabbed a empty, sealed glass bottle that she had cleaned just for the occasion. Knowing that she would give them their drinks soon, she worked quickly to fill the bottle with some cider, pop the cork back into place, find the two clean mugs they had set aside, and place it onto a tray.
It seemed to be just in the nick of time too, as she was almost startled when she heard Scootaloo loudly shout, "Hey, Applebloom, we need two glasses of cider over here."
"Ya dont need to shout!" she stated loudly, carrying the tray back into the barn. -----------------------------------------
As time passed, and the moon was now higher in the night sky, everything seemed to be going well. Everything seemed to be going as planned, except for the food. Other than a large plate of buttermilk biscuits Applebloom gave them for an appetizer, the young couple had yet to actually eat.
"Watch it!...Behind you, Applejack." Spike rang out as he passed behind both Twilight and Applejack to get to the stove.
"Is Rainbow Dash back, yet?" Twilight asked as she kneaded some fresh dough.
"Enope." Applejack replied back.
"Back!" they finally heard the cyan pegasus announce as she arrived back through the back door carrying a picnic basket.
"Thank goodness, we were waiting for you for almost an hour, Rainbow Dash." Twilight remarked.
"What took ya so long?" Applejack asked.
"Sorry, I got stopped by somepony from the Weather Factory, and it was kinda hard looking through Twilight's spice cabinet and fridge." She replied, as she placed the basket down on the counter top.
"How did you have a hard time looking through Twilight's spice cabinet?" Spike asked, "Everything is labeled AND it's alphabetized."
"Yeah, that would've been nice to know beforehoof."
"How did you not notice it was alphabetized? It starts with 'Allspice, grounded' and ends with 'Thyme'."
"It doesn't matter, we have what we needed." Twilight rang in, "Still though, did you grab the feta cheese, like we asked?"
"Yep, got it right here." Rainbow replied as she pulled out a platic container labled 'Feta cheese' on it.
"Good, at least we got the right one this time."
"Yeah, how did you not notice that, Twilight?"
"That wasn't me. It was you who was suppose to be packing the ingredients, remember?"
"Twilight, yer talkin' to the mare who didn't notice yer ingredients were labeled." Applejack reminded her.
"Hey!"
"Come on, you guys can fight about that later, we have to finish their orders, I think they've waited long enough." Spike firmly stated before gathering the ingredients for the creamy feta sauce that goes with Button's order.
"He's right, it's been more than an hour since they made their order, and even more since they arrived." Twilight agreed, "If this was a real restaurant, there's a good chance they would've left by now."
"Ah'd agree wit ya, Twilight. Were those two at least given somethin' ta nibble on?" Applejack asked.
"Applebloom gave them some biscuits earlier, but it's been a while now." Spike replied.
Applejack nodded, "Good ta hear. Come on, let's get workin'."
"Actually, I have to go." Rainbow voiced in, "Remember how I just said that somepony from the Weather Factory came looking for me? Apparently, since I'm the weather manager whenever it's the off-season for the Bolts, I'm in trouble since Thunderlane decided to play hooky for three days straight without my notice."
"How did ya miss seein' Thunderlane fer three days?"
"Easy: Cloudkicker. Apparently, Raindrops lost a bet to Cloudkicker, and she asked Raindrops to do Thunderlane's share of work while I was busy monitoring some new recruits to the weather team; and, all to make sure her coltfriend was available to hang out with after she finished her shift. Now, thanks to those two idiots, I'm in trouble because I'm the one who signed off his shift hours for those three days."
"You really should've been more attentive about such matters, Rainbow." Twilight scolded as she used her magic to carefully slice the dough into several long strips, "Though to be fair, it wasn't exactly your fault given you were personally overseeing the weather team's newest members. In that respect, that was really immature of Thunderlane."
"Tell me about it!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flared her wings in anger and banged her hoof onto the counter, accidentally stomping a bag of garlic powder that was sitting there, causing it to explode out of the opening that was facing Twilight.
"AHH! My eyes!" She exclaimed as some of the powder got on her eyes, instinctively shaking her head before trying to rub at her tightly shut eyes.
"Oh, horseapples! I'm so sorry, Twilight." she apologized right away and was about to attempt helping the purple alicorn, but was stopped by Applejack.
"For pony sake, Rainbow, can't ya be more careful?!" Applejack angrily asked.
"I-I-"
Applejack sighed, "Twilight, ah'm sure ya remember where ya can find the bathroom. Go see if ya can wash off some of that garlic powder."
Twilight agreed and slowly tried making her way upstairs to the bathroom through squinted and watery eyes.
"And you," Applejack turned to face Rainbow, she then sighed and calmly said, "go on home an' git yer rest. Ah think we'll be able ta manage without ya. Just get some shut-eye so ya can get this business with Thunderlane straightened out, then maybe we can worry about ya gettin' spice all over Twilight's face."
"Right...I'll see ya girls." Then took her leave.
Applejack watched Rainbow leave out the front door before turning her attention towards the bag of spilled garlic powder, then towards the clock. "This is goin' about as well as tryin' ta tame a rampagin' hydra." she turned her attention towards Twilight, who was still climbing the stairs, "Ya don't mind if ah go help Twilight out, do ya, Spike?"
"Sure, I promise I won't burn your kitchen down while you're gone."
"Don'tcha even kid about that one, Sugarcube." Applejack remarked in a scolding tone before turning to help Twilight.
As soon as he was alone, Spike gave an exasperated sigh, then decided to take a break himself. He really needed a moment to relax his nerves, and pulled off his chef's hat before resting his head on an area of the counter top that didn't have anything on it.
He heard the front door open followed by Applebloom entering the kitchen, "Where'd Miss Twilight and Applejack go?" she asked as she took a seat at the dining table.
"There...was an incident with the garlic powder and it got in Twilight's eyes. Applejack is helping Twilight wash the stuff out in the bathroom upstairs."
"Do ah even wanna ask how that happened?"
"Probably not."
"Well, what about you? Ya lookin' a bit tired there, Spike." She asked gesturing towards the fact Spike was resting his head on the counter top.
"It's just this date thing. It's becoming more of a pain in my spines than it's worth in my opinion."
"Do ya wanna tell me about it? Might help ya feel better." She suggested, getting out of her chair at the table to take a seat next to the drake.
Spike regarded her from the corner of his eye before saying, "I'm sure you don't want to waste your time listening to me complain. Also, don't you have better things to do than sit around the kitchen?"
"Ah got some time, ah ain't doin' much. Sweetie and Button's cups were just filled, and seein' how things are here, there ain't much fer me ta give 'em right now."
Spike remained silent as Applebloom sat down next to him with her back resting against the counter.
"So ya gonna talk, or am ah just gonna have ta go and see if the trees are better company?"
Spike remained silent as Applebloom patiently waited for him to talk, eventually he figured that he might as well, he'd be able to vent off some of the frustration at least. "I'm just tired. We may have managed to pull off all the stops you three had in mind for the restaurant thing, and helped improve on it, but when it came to actually preparing the food, it's been one problem after the other."
Applebloom didn't say anything, but gave him a look as if saying, "Go on."
"First off, despite Twilight's detailed list and her having checked that list several times over, we were short a couple of ingredients, then Applejack nearly dropped an entire batch of marinara sauce, luckily most of it stayed in the pot, and then just now, Twilight got a face full of garlic powder because Rainbow stomped her hoof down on the counter because she didn't notice it at first."
"Why did she go an' stomp her hoof for?"
"She was upset because she just found out she's being held responsible for Thunderlane shirking off his duties for the weather team."
Applebloom shot him a curious look, "Isn't Thunderlane the weather manager?"
"Only when Rainbow Dash is on tour or doing Wonderbolt stuff at the Academy." Spike remarked, "To be honest though, Rainbow Dash does a better job at it."
"Eyep." She agreed, "Ah ain't mean any offense to Rumble's brother o' course, but Rainbow does get the job down hours faster than Thunderlane."
Spike chuckled, "Of course she does, Rainbow always makes sure the job get's done within an hour, if not within a minute."
Applebloom smiled, "Feelin' better?"
"Yeah, I feel better now. Thanks for listening, Applebloom."
"T'was no problem at all." She then pointed at the sauce he was cooking, "Ya might wanna get back ta that now."
"Yeah..., I really should." He agreed, putting his chef's hat back on.
"Smells really good, by the way." Then turned leave, to go see Scootaloo was done chatting with Rainbow and could continue what conversation they were talking about previously.
Spike didn't say anything but watched her go. He then turned his attention back towards his work, hopeful that the worse of tonight's “distractions” had passed.
"Finally! It took us longer than I think it should've, but we finally finished cooking Sweetie and Button's meals." Spike stated as he and the others patiently awaited Scootaloo to come back, then let out an exhausted sigh.
They had finally finished Sweetie and Button's food, and had set it up on a tray, ready for Scootaloo to take to them. All they had to do was wait for her to return from checking in on the couple and have her deliver it to them.
"Took the words right outta mah mouth." Applejack agreed as she took a seat at the dining table.
"All issues and distractions aside, I'm just glad we managed to pull it off." Twilight remarked, "We just have to remember, it's only our part that's done, Applebloom and Scootaloo still need to play their part until Sweetie Belle and Button Mash finish their dinner and leave."
"We understand." Applebloom rang in, "Scootaloo an' I know we're still workin' till then."
"Well, it ain't like the two of ya are gonna be waitin' on 'em hoof an' wing. Once Scootaloo comes back, an' finishes givin' Sweetie and Button their dinners, all of us should enjoy a bit of dinner ourselves." Applejack remarked, patting her stomach as if to further express her words.
"Agreed." Twilight rang out before turning her attention towards Spike, "Do we have any leftover sauce or pasta noodles from Sweetie and Button's orders, Spike?"
"You mean, after Scootaloo practically dropped their food earlier?" Spike asked while rolling his eyes, "We still have plenty, especially on the marinara sauce since we had to cook way more than needed after Applejack accidentally put more spices into the mix than normal. Unfortunately, we probably only have enough for one medium serving of the feta sauce."
"I can't believe this!" Scootaloo shouted as she came stomping into the homestead and taking a seat at the table.
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"Get this. Button Mash and Sweetie just left!"
"What?!"
"Yeah, I was going to the barn like you guys wanted me to do and check on them, when I saw Button come out with his saddlebag followed by Sweetie Belle. I asked them what was up and then Button said, 'You took too long. You girls did a good job with everything, but it's getting late. Bye.'." Scootaloo stated in a mocking tone, and crossed her hooves over her chest, "Didn't even get to tell them their food was done." she grumbled.
The others all looked at each other, before Twilight asked, "They...didn't fight did they?"
"No..." Scootaloo replied in annoyance, though it was with considerably less frustration than earlier, "After Button's little explanation, I saw Sweetie mouth 'Sorry' to me before rushing off to catch up with Button. So, if I had to guess, they probably just got tired of waiting and decided to leave."
"Well, that's a gosh darn waste." Applejack remarked as she looked at the tray of food that had been intended for Sweetie and Button.
"So all this has been for nothing then." Spike stated as he let out a frustrated sigh.
"Not entirely. I'm guessing the two of 'em at least appreciated the effort or the...uh, ambiance -Yeah, I think that's the word for it- to at least leave a tip." Scootaloo remarked.
"Really?"
"Yeah, after they left, I got annoyed that we put so much to make this happen for them to just leave, so I went into the barn to get a drink from the bottle we left for them. It looked like they took that with them and a few apples as well from what I can tell, but it looked like they at least paid for it. I found about 14 bits left on their table."
"Can't say ah would've charged 'em that much fer a few apples and a bottle of cider, but ah suppose ah appreciate that they left somethin'." Applejack stated.
"Especially considering we left them hungry for a long period of time." Twilight added.
After a moment of silence, Scootaloo got back up and turned towards the door, "Whatever. I'm going home. I'll see you all later."
"Wait!" Applebloom rang out, causing the young pegasus to stop and look towards her friend, "Before ya go, ya might as well get a bite to eat."
"We do have the leftover pasta and sauces, on top of Sweetie and Button's food that they left behind." Twilight explained.
As if that was the words her body was waiting to hear, they heard Scootaloo's stomach grumble. Scootaloo gave a nervous chuckle at that, and said, "Sure, I guess it would be bad if we let all this food go to waste."
It only took a few moments for them to decide amongst themselves who would eat what, and for Twilight to cast the counter-spell to remove the mustash from Spike, Applebloom, and Scootaloo's faces. It was decided that Applejack and Twilight would get to eat the feta sauce, as both took interest in trying it out, and Applebloom and Scootaloo seemed to prefer the marinara sauce. Spike, since he was the chef, didn't question the decision considering with a little effort he could probably replicate the feta sauce anyway.
Spike decided to eat his food near the barn, mostly to enjoy the extra work that Twilight, Rainbow, and Princess Luna had put in to make the night sky beautiful that night; but, it was also because he really wanted to eat while enjoying the starry night sky. Being Twilight's assistant typically left him little chance to eat under the night sky, and he didn't really have that chance either when he visited the Princesses in Canterlot as it was a formality that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had to eat their meals in their main dining hall, and to that extent, any guests of their's also had to adhere to this rule. Not that it seemed to stop either Princesses from occasionally eating a quick snack outside the dining hall though.
Spike quietly sat with his back against the barn door, occasionally taking a small bite of his meal. Usually he would have just tipped the plate near his mouth and used a fork to shovel the food into his awaiting jaws without much care for his table manners or appearances, especially since he was alone and out of sight of anypony, but there was just something about being out under a perfect night sky that seemed to urge him to do otherwise, to take the time to properly savor his meal in the tranquility of the night.
"Spike...?" he heard Applebloom call out before she turned the corner to see him in front of the barn, "Oh, there ya are."
As he looked at her, he noticed that she had a plate of spaghetti sitting on top of her head. He'd never quite understood how ponies seemingly have this innate ability to balance stuff on their heads; and, if he was honest with himself, he doesn't think he would ever understand how they do it.
"You were looking for me?"
"Ah saw ya come out a few minutes ago. Ah was thinkin' ah'd give ya some company." She explained as she carefully placed the food on the ground next to his, "Hope ya don't mind."
He shook his head, "I just figured I'd enjoy the clear night while I ate. After all the extra work the Twilight, Rainbow, and your sister put in to helping, figured it would be a waste to not take a chance and enjoy it, even if it was just for Sweetie and Button's date."
Applebloom nodded as she took a seat next to him, "Ah understand ya."
The two sat in silence for a moment before Spike asked, "So...um, where's Scootaloo. I thought you would've at least hung out with her while you two ate."
"Scootaloo already headed home. She quickly ate her food before leavin'." She then gave a short chuckle, "Ah hope Miss Rarity doesn't find out Scootaloo got spaghetti sauce all over her outfit."
"As long as Scootaloo get's that outfit into some water before it permanantly stains, I think Rarity might forgive her." Spike remarked with a snicker.
As the time went by, Spike and Applebloom continued to enjoy their food and each other's company as they simply talked and laughed at the stories the other had to tell. During the middle of one of their conversations, Applebloom left for a moment to grab the two of them something to drink since neither of the two had come out without a drink. The barrel of cider they had put aside for Sweetie and Button's date was the obvious choice for Applebloom to pour their drinks from, as it was close and at the very least they can ensure it wouldn't go to waste; and, Applebloom would periodically get up to refresh their drinks when their mugs were empty. Aside from one point when Twilight had come out to check on them, the duo had been left alone to their own devices.
It was now getting late, and if either had to guess, it was probably a little past midnight.
"Ah think ah can see Twilight through the window in the living room. Ah think she might be sleepin'." Applebloom remarked.
The young earth pony mare was currently looking towards the house, with her back turned to Spike, who was still seated on the ground.
"I guess that explains why Twilight hasn't come out yet since we last saw her. What about your sister? Where's Applejack?"
"Ah can't see her, but ah think she's in her room. Ah can see the light on in her bedroom."
"Do you think she's probably still awake? I mean, it's gotta be past midnight by now." He stated before taking another gulp of his cider.
"Ah wouldn't be surprised if she is, but ah wouldn't be surprised either if she's sleepin' in her room. Settin' up all this wasn't as easy as the Crusaders or I thought it would be." She replied as she turned back around and took a seat next to Spike again, "Even with all the help ya'll gave us."
"To be fair, we didn't exactly have the experience or the level of coordination a professional restaurant staff would have. But at least you tried, and it was a pretty good attempt if I may say so." He remarked and shot her a toothy grin, to which she just returned with a quick giggle, "Just do me and the others a favor and don't try doing the same for you or Scootaloo when you girls ask somepony out. Just find a nice restaurant to go to, with a real experienced staff."
"Ah doubt Scootaloo would be the one ta go askin' a pony out fer a date, she'd probably think it is 'uncool' fer her ta be the one ta do the askin' out. As fer me, Ah wouldn't mind bein' on date like this: no big fancy restaurant, and no need ta know those fancy rules about which fork o' spoon ta use, just me an' my special somepony eatin' good food and enjoyin' a clear, bright night."
"Yeah, and I get to be infuriated again at the lack of coordination between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as we try serving you and your date food." he chuckled.
"If yer gonna be like that, ah won't go askin' you for yer help then."
"Good, it'll save me from the problems later." he joked before drinking what's left of his cider.
Applebloom snorted in his direction before relaxing again and took a couple more gulps of her drink as the two fell into another silence. Both looking out towards the moonlit orchard. Their food had long since finished, as the two were just enjoying the rest of the night before they had to sleep and go their separate ways. While neither were saying so, both were having a fun time just hanging out together and talking.
Applebloom quickly drank what was left of her drink before giving a light belch, being proper enough to cover her mouth with a hoof.
"Ya want s'more cider? Cause ah'm thinkin' of gettin' a refill fer mahself."
"Yes, please, I wouldn't mind a little bit more."
Applebloom merely nodded in acknowledgement before getting up and picking both their mugs up. It didn't take too long for her to refresh their mugs of cider, though Applebloom did notice that the barrel seemed rather easy to almost knock down as she filled it, probably running low on cider now.
"Thanks, Applebloom." Spike said, as he accepted his mug back from her.
Applebloom silently sat back down, automatically scooting closer to Spike without much of a thought, close enough that both could almost feel the body heat of the other next to them. As both took a sip of their drinks, neither showed any signs that they had noticed they were now seated closer to each other.
"The cider tastes pretty good." Spike complimented, smacking his lips a little bit on the lingering taste of the cider, "It does taste a little different though, not in a bad way, but in a good way. Did you or your family change the recipe for this batch?"
Applebloom shook her head, "Nope, this here is the same cider we always serve. It was the same as last years batch too, and ah know you drank some o' that."
"It tastes different though. Are you sure?"
"As certain as yer a purple dragon." She stated firmly, "Though...Ah do admit, yer right about the taste, it does taste a might bit different from the usual."
"We can probably ask Applejack a bit later." He stated before taking a big gulp of his drink.
Applebloom nodded in agreement before doing the same as well, "So...um, what about you? Think ya'll would like havin' a date on a night like this one?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Cause ya got me ta tell ya 'bout how ah wouldn't mind havin' a date like Sweetie and Button did, now it's yer turn ta talk. It's only fair, right? Ya think ya'd do a date like this one?"
Spike looked at her, noticing the interested look in her eyes when she looked back at him, then sighed "That's easy: no. I wouldn't take my date on something like Sweetie Belle's and Button's date tonight. I mean, no offense to you or your family, but I don't think it'd make for a good impression if I took my date out to your barn to eat dinner with."
"What if she was okay with it? Ah know ya got a crush on Sweetie's sister, Miss Rarity, and ah've seen her come by every now and again." She remarked, earning a surprised look from Spike.
"Okay, two things: One, Rarity doesn't really like getting dirty, she avoids it as often as she can, so I very much doubt she'd be okay having a romantic dinner in a barn. Secondly, how do you know that?!"
"Sweetie told me. She said yer always swoonin' over her."
"I don't...I mean...." He blushed and sighed, "Also, I kinda got over my crush on Rarity a couple years ago."
"Really...?"
"Yeah, I just kinda got older and the whole 'madly in love with her' thing just seemed to die down." He explained, "Which is actually fine with the both of us. Over the years, Rarity never really showed too much interest in me anyway, and always looked to stallions as potential love interests. Still, she and I do have a strong bond, and I still come visit to help her as often as I can."
Applebloom merely nodded in acknowledgement before taking a few sips of her drink. His answer somewhat making her heart beat harder in her chest, though she merely excused the feeling. There was a long moment of silence before Applebloom asked, "So that don't bother you at all...? Ah mean losin' yer crush and all?"
"Like I said, I got over it." Spike replied calmly, "Still, I'll admit, it did hurt a little. Felt like I wasted precious time and energy, only to land back at the beginning."
"Hm..." Applebloom then looked at her drink, swishing the drink around briefly in thought.
"Now it's my turn." Spike looked at her, "You got somepony you've had a crush on?"
"What...?!" She asked, blushing as she looked at Spike.
"You know mine, now I wanna hear about yours? It's only fair, right?" He remarked as he gave a smirk.
"Ah-ah...Ah don't have ta tell you."
"Well, that doesn't seem fair."
"Ya can't go askin' a mare if she's gone an' had feelin's fer somepony before."
"Still doesn't seem fair to me."
"It don't gotta be fair."
Spike scoffed and turned his attention back to the scene in front of them, "Fine, have it your way, then."
A long moment of silence past between the two, as Spike kept his view facing forward, while Applebloom stared at him from the corner of her eye. Something about his expression had changed, and it was making the young mare feel bad. She didn't quite understand it, but somehow she felt like it was wrong she didn't answer when Spike had told her, and it would only remedy itself if she spoke. Finally, after a bit of thought and giving a loud, frustrated sigh, she conceded and answered.
"It's Snails."
"Pardon?" He asked, turning only half way to look at her.
"Snails. Ah had tiny crush on Snails some years back."
"Wow..., I never would've guessed you liked Snails."
"Unlike ya'll, ah knew how ta hide mah feelin's. Ah just sorta liked him really. Not too much of our class had thought too much of 'im, especially since he didn't seem like he'd be the type you'd readily rely on when ya needed somethin' done; but, he jus' had this sort of charm about him that ah found like-able."
Spike remained silent for a moment, not quite understanding why he would hesitate in speaking, before turning to fully look at her again, "Well, if it's any consolation, I know for a fact he's still single. So if you want-"
"Thank ya kindly, but ya don't gotta worry about it." She interrupted him, "Like ya asked: 'Who did ah use ta have a crush on?' Well, there's yer answer. Ah use ta have a crush on Snails."
"What changed your feelings for him?"
"Like ya'll, ah grew outta it." She remarked with a shrug, "He nevah seemed ta take interest in me, and after a while, ah started ta thinkin' that maybe he ain't the one fer me."
"Well, at least you didn't get found out. If what you told me is true, then my crush isn't as big a secret as I thought it was. Thanks for sharing with me by the way."
"Think nothin' of it, just glad ya trusted me ta explain how it is." She then offered a friendly smile to him, which he seemed to return, and lightly elbowed him.
Spike then looked up at the sky, by now a small number of stray clouds had started coming into the area, but the sky was still quite a sight to behold. The ambient temperature had also dropped by this time of the night to a mild chill that wasn't discomforting, but it wasn't comfortable either, especially once a light breeze blew by.
Applebloom shivered as the breeze blew by, her fur fluffing up slightly in response. Feeling the slight source of warmth just beside her, she didn't think much of it and attempted to scoot closer to the source only to feel her flank bump up against the source, which was Spike's leg.
Both looked to each other, noting just how close they had gotten, particularly how their hind legs seemed to be touching now, before Applebloom immediately apologized, "Sorry, a-ah didn't mean ta bump ya, Spike." and scooted away from him.
Spike let out a nervous chuckle as he blushed, "Don't worry about it."
He then watched as Applebloom give another shiver as another breeze blew by.
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"What?"
"Are you cold? I just saw you shiver."
Applebloom seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, the cool air's havin' an affect on me."
"Do you want to go inside? It's probably warmer in there."
Again, she hesitated before shaking her head, "Ah'm fine. Ah wanna stay out 'ere with ya fer a bit longer."
He remained quiet for a time, before gingerly scooting closer to her, "Here, m-maybe this will help." He then scooted closer to her till their sides were in contact again. Part of him was telling him that doing this was a terrible idea, and he should apologize and widen the gap between them once again, but the other part argued that sitting that closely to his friend was rather...pleasant.
"S-Spike..., what are ya doin'?!" Applebloom exclaimed, though she made no attempt to move, with a bright blush.
"Helping you stay warm. Applejack would be furious if she found out I was to blame for you getting sick." He explained, a blush burning his cheeks as well.
"Yer makin' it sound like ah'm a lil' kid." She grumbled silently, but accepted the explanation.
The two then fell into silence once again, back to admiring the beauty of the scenery around them, as well as the comfortable warmth that came from their contact. At some point, Applebloom seemed to be dissatisfied with the amount of warmth, and pressed herself up closer to the drake. Only a nearly-unseen eye contact at the very edge of their visions being the only confirmation that Spike was okay with her action.
Both knew the level of contact they were currently having surpassed what would be acceptable to a pair that were 'just friends', but chose not to dwell on the matter, as the action felt right to them at the moment. Just as Applebloom was feeling her eyelids getting heavy, and threatened to fall asleep, she heard Spike give an audible yawn.
"Gettin' sleepy?"
He nodded, "It's getting late. I was probably suppose to be sleeping over an hour ago now." Then pulled away from Applebloom's side and got up, before stretching out all of his limbs, "I think I better go wake Twilight up so the two of us can get going."
Applebloom already missed the warm contact they had been sharing and responded with, "Oh..., alright then..." Incidentally sounding little more sullen than she would've liked, which wasn't lost to the young drake.
"What's wrong? You sound sad all of a sudden."
"I...I dunno." She paused before giving another shiver, looking right at him, "Ah suppose it's cause...cause it was startin' ta feel...nice."
Spike didn't say anything, but he did seem to agree as he smiled shyly and a blush painted his muzzle again.
"I guess I can say that I agree with you, it did feel totally nice; however, we can easily hang out again in the future."
Applebloom remained silent as her ears pinned back and she looked directly at Spike with a sad expression on her face. While Spike was indeed correct, there was just something that seemed to pull at her, telling her it wouldn't be the same.
Spike seemed to share the same thoughts as well as, as he thought about when they could possibly just hang out again and noting that what he pictured in his head seemed less interesting as a whole.
The two of them remained still, unmoving from their current positions as the two stared right at the other. Applebloom even more so as her mind commanded that she keep her eyes glued to the drake's face, allowing her to really notice much of Spike's facial features, including how the moonlight was shining in just the right way to properly accentuate how mature he had gotten since they first met.
After several minutes of stillness between the two, and Applebloom's gawking, a single thought seem to register to the young mare and it brought a new, vibrant blush that rivaled her brother Big Macintosh's red coat in color to appear on her face. Was she...Was she becoming attracted to Spike? Did she just fall in love with her dragon friend? At first she tried excusing the idea, reasoning how ridiculous the idea of her and Spike, together. It was almost laughable to even think of it; but, slowly her mind started reminding her of Spike's qualities such as his loyalty to his friends and his strength, and slowly started to accept the possibility. The longer she thought about it, the more it made her heart soar at the idea of her and Spike, which brought a happy smile on the young mare's face.
"A-Applebloom?"
She then looked at her friend in finality, got up, and proceeded to position herself so Spike was between her and the barn.
"Uh, Applebloom...?" He asked in an uneasy tone, quickly becoming nervous about not only her change in attitude, but how he could not read the looks she gave him.
She slowly approached him, making sure to keep eye contact with him. Eventually, she had him with his back against the barn, and a mere few inches between them. She then pushed her head forward so the very tip of her muzzle made contact with the scales on his chest.
"Applebloom?! W-what are you doing...?!" He silently exclaimed, stunned by her actions.
She remained undeterred as she took a step forward, and proceeded to nuzzle against his scales, before moving up to nuzzle at his collar bone. The effect appeared to be immediate as Applebloom felt a jolt go down her spine to her tail, causing her tail to slowly whip from one side to the other. Emboldened by the fact her actions have yet to be rebuked, she began nuzzling around his neck.
Spike's breathing became jagged at the rather intimate contact, especially as the nuzzling Applebloom was giving him seem to add to the warmth that Applebloom renewed once her chest came in contact with his, and pushed away the thoughts of trying to get her to stop or pushing her away.
Again, building off of that, Applebloom pressed even more into him so she could properly nuzzle the underside of Spike's chin. He seemed to respond in kind by leaning his head back for her. With one last confidence boost at his reaction, Applebloom pursed her lips and closed her eyes as she gently kissed Spike just below his lower lip. Pulling away, she slowly opened her eyes to see herself staring directly into the dragon's emerald ones, which carried a look of shock, confusion, and a glimmer of hope behind them.
Hesitating briefly to allow his brain to process what just happened, Spike suddenly found himself mentally at war. With Applebloom giving him a peck, he found himself questioning: What now? Did she actually feel that way towards him? Did HE feel that way towards her? and What in tartarus were they gonna tell the others if he did feel the same? Looking right into her eyes though, he could practically see the hopeful look in her eyes, hoping for a return of her feelings.
Honestly, he didn't know how to answer any of those questions at the moment, but he knew one thing for sure. He felt happy, undisputably happy at the thought of having somepony like Applebloom being his special somepony. The side of his lips tugged into a gentle smile as he leaned his head and gently nuzzled the top and sides of Applebloom's head.
Applebloom lightly giggled as she thought about their situation and current position. They were chest to chest with one another while Spike was affectionately nuzzling her. She reveled in the contact a moment longer before finally pulling her head back just enough to allow her to look directly at him once again and asked, "Spike..., ya mind if ah pretend this was...was, ya know..., a date?"
Spike hesitated to answer, but found little reason to dislike the idea. Wrapping his arms around the young mare, he replied back by giving her a gentle peck on her cheek.