//------------------------------//
// The Unexpected Invitation 
// Story: Welcome to Ponyville! 
// by CharcoalShift 
//------------------------------//

Charcoal's face began to flush up a bit. There was no hiding it; he had a huge crush on Applejack. It was hard to say why, but he was drawn towards the southern style mare. He tried to act clever. 

"What gave it away?” 

AppleBloom looks at him "Well I see you fawnin' over mah sister when she isn't lookin'. I also see my sister sittin' quite close to you while you were workin' on our oven." Charcoal didn't quite pay attention to what Applejack was doing while he worked. Then again, he barely pays attention to anything else while he works on some type of machinery. "If anything, ah think my sister likes you too."

Charcoal's ears perked up and his face is now a bright red. He could only hope that this was true, but one could only assume. "W-well one can only wait till the time comes..." Charcoal stutters. 

"Yeah" AppleBloom giggles a bit "But ya best be careful, Big Mac is keepin' an eye on you". He almost forgot that they had a big brother, and knowing how big brothers are, he'll do what he can to protect his younger sisters. Even with all that said and done, Charcoal is still dumbfounded by what AppleBloom told him and left him in a trance for the rest of the day.
Hours have passed and he already began working on the machine. He took most of the parts out and moves the rest of the parts that were needed in the spots they were supposed to go. Applejack came in with new sets of pieces for the machine. 

"Here you go sugarcube. I hope these little gadgets and gizmos will be enough to fix this here machine" she said. Charcoal looks at the parts and taps his chin with his hoof 

"I hope so too, though I feel like something's off". Applejack leaned against him, cheek to cheek 

"ah'm sure everythin' will turn out well". Charcoal blushed and his mind went blank. 

After placing the parts in the machine, he sits there, covered in grease, sweat, and oil. He cleans off his hooves and leaves the barn, letting the oil set and the tightened pieces loosen up a bit fir the night. He knocks on the door and AppleBloom answers the door. 

"Hey there Mr. Charcoal, you done with that machine?" she said. 

He nods "Yeah, but I got to give it a test run tomorrow to make sure everything runs well." 

"Well why not spend the night here?" she said with an excited smile. 

"U-uh, w-well" he said a bit hesitantly. 

"Well shoot, you at least gotta wash up. You're not going home all dirty like that are you?”

Charcoal normally goes home this way; it was a common thing for him. But he didn't mind taking AppleBloom up on her offer. He walks in with her and she announces it to the other Apple members. 

"Mr. Charcoal is here to spend the night!” 

"Well that's great" Applejack says. Big Mac stays silent, and Granny Apple is out cold as usual. AppleBloom leads Charcoal to the bathroom and hands him a fresh towel. With the door shut behind him, Charcoal looks at the bath tub. He feels an uncomfortable stir in his stomach and mixed thoughts go through his head as he begins to remove his vest.