Applejack was concerned. She’d gotten word from her sister’s friend, Sweetie Belle, that something strange was happening in the south field. Apparently Sweetie had heard what sounded like something growling from what looked like a cave made from old dead apple trees that Big Mac had knocked down last year. She trotted towards the ‘cave’ after dark, because if this ‘animal’ was something dangerous, it was probably nocturnal.
She hadn’t wanted to disturb the new Deputy, not until she knew what was happening after all. “This is our land, so I’ll check on it myself.” Applejack thought. She walked slowly up to it, hearing only silence within, and she poked her head inside. She lit the lantern she had in her jaw and shone it around. What she saw inside made her almost drop the lantern in shock.
Inside the ‘cave’ was what looked like a set of saddlebags, along with a dirty blanket, a ragged pillow, and odd cans of food and water. She turned her head and then saw something that truly surprised her. Sitting on a small makeshift shelf was a set of four perfect reproductions of the Crowns of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. She mumbled a few choice words before packing everything up and carefully packing them away into the saddlebags. Noticing a small pad of note paper, she wrote a note and left it in place of everything else as she trotted back to the house with the bags, pillow and blanket.
==================
Around four thirty am the next morning, before Celestia even raised the sun, Applejack was waiting on the front porch of the Apple family farm house. She sipped from a cup of strong tea as she patiently waited for her ‘visitor’ that she expected any time soon.
She smiled into her cup as a pure white stallion with a pink nose landed and walked up to her looking like he was ashamed of something.
“Good morning, Miss Applejack.” Moonbeam Starlight said softly, not looking her in the eyes.
“Good morning Deputy. Care ta explain why I found ya belongings in a ‘cave’ on my land?” Applejack asked sternly.
“It’s a long story, Miss Applejack.” Moonbeam said with a sigh.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m awake then.” Applejack said with a glare.
Moonbeam gulped and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
Applejack sighed. “Okay, how many times have I gots ta tell ya, no ‘Miss’ or ‘ma’am’; I’m either Applejack if’n ya want ta be formal, or A.J. if’n ya want to be friendly.”
“Alright A.J.,” Moonbeam sighed, “provided you call me Moony, that’s what my friends used to call me.”
Applejack nodded with a small smile. “Alright, Moony, come up here on the porch and tell me why ya’s livin’ like that.”
Moonbeam nodded and walked up to sit near her. “It was just after the ‘incident’.”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I remember, and so does my friend Rainbow Dash. She still can’t look ya in tha eyes if’n I remember.”
Moonbeam nodded with a blush. “Yeah, the less said about that the better.”
“So what did you ‘accidently’ take from her house?” Applejack asked in a curious tone.
“A ‘surrogate for a stallion’...” Moonbeam said with a blush that turned him as pink as his nose.
“Oh...” Was all Applejack said as her own blush took hold.
“Anyway,” Moony said as he ploughed on, “I was flying to work and as I passed the Mayor’s office, I heard them talking about how much damage the town took, and...”
“You was a eaves dropping?” Applejack asked in surprise.
“Nope,” Moony said in a firm tone, “Pegasi have great hearing, A.J.”
Applejack nodded as she remembered how good Dash’s hearing was. “Sorry, please continue.”
Moony nodded. “Well she was talking about fining your family for the damage, and also making you pay to repair everything because it was your sister and her friends who bought the Timber Wolf to town.”
Applejack looked confused. “But we never got a fine and such...”
Moony blushed deeply as he looked at his hooves. “Yeah, well...”
“Moony, what did ya do?” Applejack asked sternly.
Moonbeam gave a sigh. “I paid for it. I couldn’t let you and your family suffer for something dumb I did, and that was stealing your hat as a prank.”
Applejack sat silently for a long time as she mulled this over. Sitting next to her was the stallion she’d called so many horrible things over the past week, and yet he’d paid good bits to make sure her family didn’t suffer because of his mistake. She eventually looked at him and spoke gently. “I thank ya fer that Moony, but where’d ya get tha bits?”
Moonbeam didn’t say anything. He just turned away from her gaze.
“Moony, if’n ya don’t tell me where ya got those bits from, I’m gonna do somethin’ I hate doing...” She then turned a huge blubbery sad face on him with watery eyes.
Moonbeam tried to look away but everywhere he looked, those watery eyes seemed to be there. Eventually he gave up with a sigh. “A.J., those eyes...”
“Yup, they work every time according ta my sister.” Applejack said with a slight giggle. “Now, tell me.”
Moonbeam sighed softly. “I got them from my mom; well, her estate when she died. I was going buy a house here, but some things are more important.”
Applejack was stunned and she had to pick her jaw up off the porch. “How much?”
“Ninety-eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty-seven bits...” Moonbeam said in an almost whisper.
Applejack was silent but stood, kissing him gently on the cheek before looking at his eyes. “Y’all wait here for a second.” She said in a neutral tone before walking into the house. She returned shortly with her hat and proceeded to thwap him with it several times.
“Tha kiss was fer being such a gentlecolt and doing that fer my family, and these,” she thwapped him twice more for good measure, “are fer being so darn dumb and using ya money to do it without talking to us afore ya did it.” She put her hat back on her head.
“Sheesh A.J...” Moonbeam said with a slight laugh as he rubbed a hoof across the back of his head where she had hit him.
“So how much have ya got left?” Applejack asked him with a small smile.
“About twelve hundred bits...” Moonbeam said with another blush.
“Consarnit!” Applejack growled out. Once she’d calmed down she looked at him, a hoof on her hat, and smiled a little as she saw him cower under his wings. “Okay, so that’s tha reason ya were living where ya was. So did any in my family know ya were there?”
Moonbeam gave a slight gulp before nodding. “I don’t want to get a fellow stallion in trouble...” He then gave a squeak as he realised what he said and put a hoof up to his mouth to silence anything more.
That was all Applejack needed to hear. She drew in a breath and then yelled in a fair approximation of the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’: “MACINTOSH JONATHAN APPLE; GET YER FUZZY RUMP OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!” She didn’t care if the bellow woke everypony else, she wanted to sort this out.
With the sound of scrambling heavy hooves, Big Mac was soon on the porch. “What ya want?” When he saw his sister pointing a hoof at the cowering Moonbeam he took in the situation instantly. He was not a dumb pony, despite what a lot thought, and what helped his assessment was the glare his sister was giving him. “Oh...”
“Yeah, ‘oh’...” Applejack said with a glare that could melt stone. “Care ta explain why ya didn’t tell me we had a pony in need of help and ya didn’t say nothing?”
Big Mac gave a gulp before speaking up. “Well A.J., he asked me not ta; said it was his own mistake so he’d stallion up and fix it himself.” Mac said in his slow rumble.
“That’s all well an’ good but ya still should have told me...” Applejack said firmly before thwapping Big Mac several more times with her hat.
“I ‘Pinkie Promised’ him.” Big Mac said plainly.
Applejack glared at Big Mac as she placed her hat back on her head. “I know ya can’t break one o’ those, from personal experience...” She gave a sigh and turned back to Moonbeam. “Ya need a dark room?”
Moonbeam nodded as he slid his dark glasses down over his eyes as the sun started to rise. “Yes A.J., that’s why the...”
“That hovel,” Applejack said with a growl, “is outta bounds fer ya. We have a workers cottage and ya will be livin’ in there.” She pointed off to a small cottage next to the eastern side of the main compound. “It has dark blinds and such, and I’ll take ya over now.” As she went inside to grab his stuff she heard him talking to Big Mac.
“Your sister is scary.” Moonbeam said.
“Eeyup.” Was all Big Mac said in reply.
==================
Tempest walked off the train a little later than she normally would have a few weeks before. It was around five thirty pm and she had to rush as the coffee shop she enjoyed would close in thirty minutes. She quickly trotted to the cafe and was surprised to see that they had a notice up that the cafe would remain open until eight pm from now on. She raised an eyebrow at that but took her usual seat.
“Hi Tempest,” Freshly Brewed said with her usual cheerful smile, “your usual order?”
Tempest looked up with a smile at the mare. “Yes please, F.B., and a couple of apple fritters please?”
Freshly Brewed smiled and nodded as she moved away.
“Hey F.B., why the extended hours?” Tempest asked.
“Oh that’s easy.” Freshly Brewed said with a giggle, “Stick around for about an hour or so and you’ll see why.” She moved off into the main part of the cafe.
Tempest was enjoying her second coffee when she noticed Moonbeam fly in and come to a running landing, walking into the cafe while pulling out a thermos flask. She saw him hand over the thermos to Freshly Brewed, who pointed at Tempest, and then she saw Moonbeam come trotting over to her.
“Do you mind if I sit with you, Miss Tempest?” Moonbeam said with a gentle smile.
It took a few moments for the fluttering butterflies in Tempest’s stomach to settle before she trusted herself to speak. “Sure, please?” Tempest said in a slightly scared tone but she coughed to cover it.
Moonbeam nodded and sat opposite her just as Freshly Brewed came up to him and placed a cup of black coffee down in front of him and whispered something in his ear before walking away. “Seems that the coffee machine needs cleaning, so I’m going to be here for a little while.” Moonbeam said before taking a sip of his coffee and smiling at it.
The two of them sat chatting together, and Tempest couldn’t remember what they chatted about but she had a warm happy feeling. Once his thermos was handed to him Moonbeam bid his fair wells and rose into the air giving Tempest a view of his perfect body as he moved off. Once he was out of sight she let out a whimper and placed a hoof on her forehead as she closed her eyes.
“Now you know why I’m staying open late.” Freshly Brewed said with a knowing giggle.
“Mm-hmm.” Was all Tempest trusted herself to say.
Freshly Brewed sat in the chair recently vacated by Moonbeam. “Want to know a secret?”
Tempest nodded and opened her eyes. “Sure...”
“That stallion has never dated, let alone taken a mare, and that’s from A.J.” Freshly Brewed said with a smirk.
“That is almost a crime...” Tempest burst out before placing a hoof over her own mouth to silence anything else.
Freshly Brewed nodded. “If I wasn’t happily married, I’d be like sixty percent of the single mare population in Ponyville in trying to ‘cure’ that ‘affliction’.”
Tempest gave a strange whimper and bapped her head on the table once, much to the amusement of Freshly Brewed. “I better get going; I want to speak to the Apples and also to Twilight...” Tempest lifted her head and slid the usual cost for her coffee to Freshly Brewed.
“Have a good night, hun. See you next week?” Freshly Brewed said as she pocketed the bits.
“Maybe sooner...” Tempest said half to herself as she trotted off towards the Apple farm. She failed to hear the giggle Freshly Brewed gave as she did.
Around ten minutes later she heard her name called and looked above her to see Moonbeam hurrying towards her. When the stallion landed he walked up to her, and he seemed to be blushing. Tempest felt her heart skipping beats and pounding at the same time.
“Miss Tempest, erm, are you, erm, doing anything next Friday night?” Moonbeam asked hesitantly.
“No... Erm... Not that I know of, why?” Tempest said with a slight squeak in her voice.
“Well, the Apples are having a hoedown that night, and I thought... Erm... It’s okay to say no... But if you’d like... Erm... Would you like to come with me to it?” Moonbeam asked with his own squeak.
Tempest gulped deeply and blushed. “Are you... Are you asking me on a date?” She asked with surprise in her voice.
Moonbeam nodded hesitantly. “It’s okay if you say no; a beautiful mare like you probably gets asked out all the time.”
“No!” Tempest said firmly and then softened her voice. “No, it’s fine, and I’d love to go to it with you.”
Moonbeam moved to her and hugged her warmly, giving her cheek a nuzzle, before speaking in a more relaxed tone. “Thanks for this chance, Miss Tempest. I’ll meet you at the station at six on Friday; no need to get dressed up, it’s supposed to be a relaxed thing.” He took off again to return to his patrol.
Tempest stood frozen for a long while before giving a scared squeak and running back towards Ponyville. “To Tartarus with the Apples, I need to find out what’s wrong with my body.” She headed immediately to Ponyville Medical Centre.
An hour later Tempest raced into Twilight’s reading room with a frazzled Spike in her wake. “Twilight, I need you, it’s an emergency!” She yelled as she came to a halt, falling dejectedly to the floor and hugging Twilight’s foreleg and looking up at her with pitiful eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked in confusion.
“Something terrible has happened!” Tempest seemed to almost wail.
“What is it? Timber Wolves? Diamond Dogs on the warpath?” Twilight asked with concern.
“Worse!” Tempest sobbed out.
“What’s worse than that? Don’t tell me The Storm King is still alive?” Twilight asked in a panic.
“Worse... Oh Celestia... Much worse! I think I’m in love... I’ve been asked out on a date... And... And... I don’t know how to daaaaaaannnnnnnnnncccccccccceeeeeeeeee!!!” Tempest said with a wail and hid her face beneath her hooves.
Twilight felt confusion strike her like a wet duck to the face. “Huh?”
“I need your help, Twilight! I have less than a week to learn how to be a romantic mare, what to do on a date, and how to dance.” Tempest said between sobs.
Twilight smiled softly and raised her friend back up. “Well, lucky for you I am the Sister-In-Law to the Alicorn of Love, and I’ll teach you what she taught me... Spike... Send a letter to Cadance; see if she can send a few pointers.” Twilight said with a smile to her dragon assistant before turning back to Tempest. “Now, let’s start with dancing.”
===============
Shortly after, a panicked Cadence raced into Shining Armour’s office. “Shiny Love, we need an intervention, right now!”
“Oh, come on honey, how bad can it be?” Shining Armour said with a slight laugh from behind his desk. He was used to his wife’s ‘out of left field’ moods by now.
“A mare has gone to Twilight for dating advice...” She said in a concerned tone.
“Oh honey, I’m sure it will be okay,” Shining said as he rose and walked around to his wife, cuddling her, “I mean, she had you as a foalsitter, and I’m sure you passed on a lot of your wisdom to her.”
“No. you don’t get it!” Cadence said with a dirty look. “That’s not what we need the intervention for: she’s asked Twilight for DANCE lessons too.”
Shining Armour blanched at this news, no mean feat for a white unicorn, and quickly called out for his assistant to ready the Royal train for immediate transportation to Ponyville with the new high speed locomotive to pull it. “We should be there in six hours; hopefully not too much damage has been done by then.” Cadence nodded and raced from the room to ready herself, their daughter Flurry and even to grab some of Shiny’s essentials.