"So, you went on a date, everything was perfect, and you two fell in love," Little Green declared, staring up with wide eyed wonder.
With a chuckle, Applejack ruffled her daughter's mane.
"Sorry, sugar cube," she said, "but I'm afraid things weren't quite that simple." Her smile got a little smaller as she looked back, remembering those days as best she could. "See, we were supposed to go out that Saturday, but I ended up getting called away on a friendship emergency."
"After, The Wonderbolts had a show in The Changeling Kingdom," Soarin added. He then chuckled. "Loved it so much, they decided to create their own team."
"Then there was some trouble in Appleloosa we had to help with," Applejack said. Her brow furrowed. "Think somethin' else came up after that. Sometimes it gets a bit hard to remember all the dangers the girls and I have dealt with over the years." She gave a shake of her head and returned her attention to her daughter. "Point is, it took somethin' like a month or so before we were able to actually go on a proper date."
"And that did not go well," Soarin stated. "I mean, I don't know if I would could call it the worst date I've been on, but it sure went pretty badly."
"To be fair," Applejack pointed out, "none of it was our fault."
"What happened?" Little Green asked.
"Well..."
*****
It was Ponyville's Fall Harvest Festival. One of the many celebrations that Ponyville had, and one of the few that pre-dated the arrival of Pinkie Pie. While not a traditional among the Apple families, it was something that many of the farm ponies celebrated: taking joy in a successful harvest of plentiful crops. While not simply a farming community, the tradition stuck around as the town grew, until becoming more like a carnival than an actual harvest celebration.
It seemed like the perfect place for a first date. There was food, games, rides, and a casual air to the whole thing that made it feel calm and relaxed.
Something both of them could use. Both Applejack and Soarin had gone on dates before, with the former having a few and the latter quite a number since his celebrity (none of which never seemed to go that well since many were more for said celebrity than for him as an individual).
"That's something you might have to deal with, someday," Soarin explained to Little Green. "If you ever become famous for doing something, there's a chance ponies will want to hang around you just to get some fame by association."
For some reason though, this seemed different. Both of them felt like teens who were about to go on their first date ever. Soarin had been so distracted he had caused more than one near incident at flight training, and had reminded the others why he was nicknamed "Clipper." Applejack wound up going to her friends for tips and advice on dating, which she quickly regretted between Twilight's graphs and charts (and a test) and Rarity's near endless suggestions almost all of which came straight out of romance novels.
When the time came for the two of them to meet at the farm's gate, the two of them were feeling extremely nervous.
A tension that broke as soon as Applejack got of Soarin and burst into laughter, pointing a hoof.
"What?" Soarin asked, tilting his head. "What's so funny?"
"Y-y-yo-your mane," Applejack managed to snort out.
A small blush form on the stallion's face as he looked away, wings fluttering at his side. Reaching up with a hoof, he ran it through the shining and slicked back mane.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "I thought I looked good."
"Ya look like your gonna try and sell me beach front property in Appleloosa or something," Applejack said, still snickering. "Come here." Moving closer, she reached out and started ruffling his mane. It was incredibly greasy and slimy, like it had been made of slugs: a result of the fact that Soarin and used an entire container of hair gel on it.
When she was done, it did not quite look the way it used to, but it was close.
"Guess that's as good as it's gonna get without a proper wash," she stated. "Much as I appreciate you tryin' to look nice for me, it just ain't you." She leaned in close, almost pressing their noses together.
Realizing what she was doing, the mare pulled back, blushing slightly.
"So, you ready to go?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah," Soarin said, blushing a bit himself at how close they had been. "Y... you look nice by the way."
"Thanks."
Although she had not gone as far as Soarin -- or as Rarity would have liked -- Applejack had worked to look a little nicer than usual for their date. Mostly, that had meant she had been extra thorough in brushing her mane and tail, and tying them up in powder blue ribbons instead of her normal red hair bands. There was also a little -- just a little -- bit of make-up, at Rarity's insistence.
The two of them made their way toward Ponyville, and the carnival it was holding for the celebration. As they went, the two of them made small talk. While being laughed at was normally a bad way to start a date, it did seem to break the tension between them and help them relax.
Once they reached the festival, the first place they went to was an apple treat stand. Since Applejack actually had a date, it was Apple Bloom and Babs running it. Fortunately, things seemed to be going well: nothing had burned down, and Apple Bloom was not trying to lie, trick, threaten, or intimidate ponies into buying from them. So, it was going better than some of the earlier times.
After that, the couple headed over to an area where several games had been set up, including a test your strength game.
"No!" the stallion running the game said as he saw Applejack approaching. "I'm sorry, miss, but you are no longer allowed to play this game."
"What?" Soarin asked as he stepped forward. "Why not?"
"Nopony who breaks the game is allowed to play it again," the stallion explained.
"Oh, come on," Applejack said. "It wasn't that bad."
"It broke a window at the top of town hall. One of the employees ended up with a concussion."
"Wait, really?" Soarin asked, ears perking up.
"Yes," the game running stallion confirmed. "Which is nothing compared to what her brother did. Broke the entire thing in two."
"Okay, okay," Applejack huffed out. "Ya made your point. We'll go play somethin' else."
The something else ended up being a milk bottle toss. Soarin wanted to play it so he could show off his throwing talent. Something that he did not get to use very often in his daily life. Plus, it was part of dating, right? The stallion had to try and win some prize for the mare at something like this?
Paying his bit, he got three balls. Taking the first, he pulled back and threw. As intended, the ball hit the bottom row, but only the top most fell down. Grabbing the second, Soarin reared up on his hind legs as he pulled back, putting his entire body into it. Again, it hit the bottom row, knocking down the top and middle, but the bottom stood remaining.
A snort of frustration escaped the pegasus stallion as he glared at the game. Grabbing the last ball, his wings flared out as he reared up, pulling his foreleg back as far as he could manage. With hard flap, he threw himself forward, putting everything he had into it as he launched the ball forward.
There was an thundering clank as the ball hit the metallic bottles. The first and second rows were knocked off, falling from the platform and onto the ground. One of the bottom bottles fell as well, rolling to the side as another moved and wobbled.
But one... one stood in place, completely unaffected.
And that was enough to count as a failure since all the bottles had to be knocked over.
"Hold on a second, here," Applejack said as she hopped over the counter. "Somethin' ain't right about this."
"Ma'am!" the mare running the game called out. "You can't be back here!"
Ignoring the mare, Applejack walked over to the bottles and took a hold of the one still standing. She tried to pick it up, which was not as easy as it should have been. It held to the stand before suddenly coming loose with a jerk, causing her to almost loose balance. The bottle felt heavy, way too much to be empty.
Setting it back down, there was a thump as it suddenly snapped down into place on the stand.
So, not only was the thing weighted, but there was a magnet somewhere.
After having more than a few choice words for the game runner (most of which were not appropriate for fillies like Little Green to hear), and making sure that the proper authorities would learn of this, Applejack took one of the prizes and left. Soarin could not help but grin as he joined her.
The couple grabbed some funnel cakes and lemonade, then decided to try one more game. In this case, balloon darts. Applejack managed to pop two, and Soarin got all three. Between the two of them, it was enough for a pretty decent prize: a stuffed toy of some creature called a bushwoolie.
"Still have it too," Applejack stated. "Sits on the top shelf of our closet."
"Facing the wall and often with the door closed," Soarin added. "That thing creeps me out."
Next they headed for the Ferris wheel, figuring they had enough time before catching some of the shows (Sweetie Belle was singing and Scootaloo had a set of scooter stunts planned). This was actually something new for Soarin. He had seen them before, but never actually been on one. As a pegasus, it never really appealed to him since he could fly as high as he liked and stay there for hours. No real point in sitting in something just to go in a big circle.
Turns out it would be the only time he ever got one.
"What's that noise?" he asked as his ears picked up. "It sounded like metal groaning."
"This thing can't be safe. I mean they only use it a few times a year before breaking it apart and putting it back in storage."
"Please don't rock the seat. I don't want to fall out."
His forelegs gripped the bar in front of him, squeezing it for all he was worth.
"Look out!" a voice shouted.
A hissing noise filled the air as something came flying toward the Ferris wheel, leaving a trail of smoke and colorful sparks in its wake. It turned out to be high explosive fireworks, which hit the wheel right at the support.
BOOM!
While a pretty shade of blue, the explosion also managed to damage something. With an ear-piercing groan, the entire structure shook. There were sparks as metal sheered, the wheel ripping from its supports and rolling down the street.
"Welp," Applejack sighed as she wiggled out of her seat, "guess we oughta start savin' folks before this thing crashes."
*****
"That didn't happen!" Little Green declared, scowling up at her parents.
"'fraid so," Applejack assured her. "Fortunately, we got some help and were able to get everypony off without any serious injuries. Couple of houses got smashed though."
"And I am never getting onto one of those death traps ever again," Soarin declared.
Lips pursed, the pegasus filly furrowed her brow as she considered this. They were banned from one game, found another was cheating, and had a near death experience.
"So... after all that..." she said slowly, "you still went on another date?"
"Yeah," Applejack assured her. "Like I said, none of that was our fault." She grinned and moved closer to Soarin, leaning against him. "'sides, once things did go bad, your dad did pretty well handling a crisis. May have been a bit edgy about the wheel, but he kept calm and took command of the pegasi when things went bad."
Leaning back, Soarin gave Applejack a kiss on the cheek.
"None of the other dates were as bad," he said, "but none of them are as memorable either."
"So, when did you propose?" Little Green asked. "And how? And--"
Soarin held up a hoof.
"Actually, I think that's enough story time for now," he stated.
"What? But...but...."
"I know you're interested," the stallion said softly, "and it has been fun, but I need to get back to my work." He tilted, looking the filly over. "Besides, weren't you about to go somewhere, seeing as you have your saddle bags with you?"
Blinking, Little Green turned around and looked at her side. Sure enough, there was her saddle bag.
"Oh, right. I was going to take the book back to the library."
"Well you go do that, and go spend some time with your friends," Soarin stated. "I should have this all finished up late this afternoon." He grinned. "Then, not only can we tell you about how your mom proposed, but show you where as well."
"Really?" Little Green asked, ears perking up.
"Yeah," Applejack assured her. "If you haven't seen it already, it's more than time that you should."
"Okay," the filly shouted as she turned to run for the door. Her wings gave a flap of excitement as she headed out the house and toward town.
Applejack's smile wavered as she looked at the doorway.
"You okay?" Soarin asked. "You know, if you don't feel up to telling her--"
"No," Applejack cut in. "It's okay. I'm fine. I can tell her."
Wrapping a wing around her, Soarin leaned in and gave her another kiss.