The girls quietly left, trying their best not to let anypony hear them. Once they were a safe distance away, Applejack groaned and buried her face in her hooves. "Ah really didn't need ta see that!"
Sugar Shock gave the farm pony a comforting pat on the back. "It could be worse." she said. "I've seen worse. At least you didn't walk in on your sibling and his marefriend fu-"
Applejack brought her hooves up to her ears and shouted, "LALALALALA! Ah'm not listenin'!"
Hazelnut Latte turned bright red as she glared at her twin. "I thought I heard something."
"I didn't need to see you and your marefriend doing that." Sugar Shock said with a frown. She shuddered and added, "Mine eyes have seen things that I cannot unsee..."
"Has anything like this happened to you, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Nope." Twilight replied. "My parents always taught me the value of knocking."
Applejack looked at the other girls, one at a time. She then said, "Ah need y'all to promise me somethin'."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Ah need y'all to promise that what we seen stays between us." Applejack said solumnly. "We can't tell nopony, especially Granny Smith."
"Why can't your grandmother know?" Hazelnut Latte asked.
"She's kind of... traditional." Applejack explained. "Lady Garden has been a widow fer less than two years. It wouldn't be proper fer her ta move on so quickly."
"Applejack, we're talking about someone who smokes cigars and can spit a distance of up to twenty feet." Hazelnut Latte deadpanned.
"She's traditional about matters of romance." Applejack said. "She thinks that five years is an appropriate time fer mournin'. She doesn't believe in divorce 'less there's repeated cheatin' involved. She-"
Applejack paused awkwardly. In a soft, gentle voice, Fluttershy asked, "Is she one of those ponies who believes that marriage is between a mare and a stallion?"
"Yeah." Applejack said. "She ain't the type ta be mean about it, but she'll voice her disapproval in private. I ain't closely acquainted with Onda Rocks, but ah know that it took her five years ta convince Granny Smith to stop tryin' ta set her up with a bunch 'o stallions, includin' Big Mac. Now she just comments every now an' then 'bout how it's a shame that a pretty mare like Onda is wastin' herself on another mare. Everypony knows that the zony has a special somepony, but nopony knows who that special somepony is."
"Forever a mystery!" Pikie Pie exclaimed at the top of her voice.
The sound of surprised voices coming from inside the house could be heard. Shortly afterwards, it was followed by the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Moments later, Lady Garden and Big Macintosh stuck their heads out the door. Applejack turned to Pinkie and snapped, "Gosh darnit, Pinkie what did ya hafta do that for?"
Pinkie Pie giggled. "Sorry!"
There was an awkward silence before the blue-maned mare said, "Ya saw us, didn't ya?"
Applejack paused for a moment before replying, "Yeah."
"We won't tell anypony!" Twilight reassured the couple.
"'Preciate that." Big Macintosh said.
"How long has this been going on?" Applejack asked.
"'Bout two weeks." Lady Garden replied.
"To be honest, it's not that surprising to see you and Big Mac together, Lady Garden." Twilight admitted.
"Y'all can call me Firefly Flicker." The blue-maned mare said. "Really an' truthfully, I ain't been Lady Garden in almost two years."
Applejack nodded. "If the two of ya are happy, ah kin give ya mah blessin'. You an' Mac are thirty-four years old. Yer adults. Ya can make yer own decisions."
"'Preciate it." Big Macintosh said with a nod.
"Yer the best, Applejack." Firefly Flicker grinned broadly.
"If it's settled, let's get some apple pie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
The rest of the group nodded. "Ah'll git the hard cider out, too." Applejack said with a smerk. "Ain't every day that yer brother finally realizes that his best friend o' twenty-six years is his special somepony."
Big Macintosh and Firefly Flicker both blushed vividly but still smiled. It seemed like for the forseeable future, things would go just fine.
oooooooooooooooooooo
The Next Day
It was a lovely morning and Hazelnut Latte and Sugar Shock were both at work. Fortunately, Cocoa Jinx could still hang out with her good friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The minty green unicorn smiled and said, "You're really going to let me into your club?"
"You'd definitely make a good Crusader." Scootaloo affirmed.
"If you find your Cutie Mark before we do, you can help us find ours!" Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
The trio of fillies looked over at the two older mares that were supposed to be keeping an eye on them. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were deep in an argument about who was better, Beethoofen or Mozheart. No one had expected the rainbow-maned pegasus to be into classical music. It turns out that Rainbow Dash's dad had made her take piano lessons as a filly and she had gotten pretty good at it. Still, no matter how much anypony pleaded, she would not play for them. Sweetie Belle turned to Cocoa Jinx and asked, "Have you tried getting your Cutie Mark in playing the piano?"
"I tried back in San Franciscolt, but I was never any good at it." Cocoa Jinx admitted.
"Maybe it has something to do with magic?" Scootaloo suggested. "I mean, you are a unicorn."
"Do you think I should try something?" Cocoa Jinx asked.
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle said with a grin. "Try to cast a spell."
"I'm not really good at picking up magic, but I can try." Cocoa Jinx said.
The unicorn filly closed her eyes and concentrated, trying her best to cast a spell. Her horn glowed with a green aura, trying to draw upon her pool of magic. A dozen yards away, Reverend Bookburner, who was following a rather annoyed Onda Rocks, suddenly tripped over a cobblestone and fell on his face. The glow on Cocoa Jinx's horn faded as she opened her eyes. She shook her head and said, "Nothing happened."
"Try again." Sweetie Belle suggested.
Once again, Cocoa Jinx attempted to cast a spell. Lyra Heartstrings, who was about twenty feet away, stopped and looked at the ground. She used her magic to pick up a bit that she had found on the ground. She put it in her money bag before heading off to find Bon Bon. Cocoa Jinx frowned and said, "Nothing happened."
"Keep trying." Scootaloo said supportively. "Something is bound to happen!"
Cocoa Jinx tried yet again to cast a spell. Across the street from the cafe where they were seated with their milkshakes, someone dumped their bath water out the second floor window, drenching Caramel, who was on the street below the window. Cocoa Jinx let out a frustrated growl. "Why isn't anything happening?"
"Maybe it's a subtle thing?" Sweetie Belle said. "I mean, sometimes special talents are subtle."
For the fourth time, Cocoa Jinx made another attempt. In Doctor Whooves' nearby house, an explosion blasted the inhabitant out the door, sending him flying into Ditzy Doo. They were tangled with each other and when they separated, they were nose to nose. "Well, that just happened." the Doctor said awkwardly.
"Yeah." Ditzy giggled. "Are you hurt?"
"No." the Doctor replied. "I need to clean up a mess, though."
"Maybe I could help you?" Ditzy suggested.
"You don't need to, but I'd appreciate it." the scientist pony said with a smile.
"Well, let's go, then!" Ditzy said, returning the grin.
It was then that the two seemed to realize that they were almost nose to nose. The Doctor cleared his throat, "Say, Ditzy." he said.
"What is it?" Ditzy asked.
"After we finish cleaning up, would you like to stay a bit for tea?" the earth pony asked.
Ditzy smiled and replied, "I would love that."
The Doctor took a step back and grinned broadly. "I look forward to having tea and a good conversation with a mare as beautifu- ah, intelligent as yourself."
Ditzy turned away, blushing. "I'm not really that smart. You're the smart one. Good looks and brains."
The scientist frowned and said, "Don't put yourself down, Ditzy. I've met Dead Beat and I can assure you that Dinky doesn't get her intellect from him!"
Ditzy, still blushing, said, "If you say so. Now, let's go clean up and have that tea."
The pegasus mare turned to head for the earth pony's house. "It's a date, then!" the Doctor exlaimed. "To the house! Allons-y!"
The three fillies were oblivious to the potential beginnings of a romance that had happened nearby. "Still nothing?" Scootaloo questioned.
"Still nothing." Cocoa Jinx affirmed. "I'll give it one more try."
Thirty seconds later, a nearby unicorn stallion, who was scraping something off of a piece of paper that he had bought at the general store at the moment Cocoa Jinx tried to cast a spell spell suddenly shouted, "I won!"
"What did you win?" a pegasus stallion sitting next to him asked.
"It's a winning card!" the unicorn exclaimed. "I just won 500 bits!"
The three fillies couldn't help but overhear this. "Good for him." Scootaloo said.
"If it was me, I'd spend it on candy." Sweetie Belle said.
"Too bad we're too young to buy lottery cards." Cocoa Jinx said with a sigh. "I don't think I'll win, though. I can't cast a spell right, so I probably won't be able to pick out the right card, either."
"Want to give it another try?" Scootaloo asked.
"One more try." Cocoa Jinx agreed.
Giving it one last try for the day, the mint-green filly attempted to cast a spell. A few feet away, a black cat crossed Mr. Cakes' path. Seconds later, he was struck by an errant bolt of lightning. Thankfully, he was not severely injured. A weather pony who was working nearby shouted, "Sorry!"
"Hey, Cocoa Jinx." Sweetie Belle said. "Wouldn't it be interesting if your special talent was causing other ponies' luck to change?"
Cocoa Jinx scoffed and said, "Yeah, like that's possible!"
"Well, we could see if one of us can get a Cutie Mark in not getting brain freeze." Scootaloo suggested.
"Cutie Mark Crusader not-getting-brain freeze adventure!" the three fillies exclaimed at the same time.
The trio tried to slurp down their milkshakes as quickly as they could. When they were finished, they brought their hooves to their faces with groans of pain. Nearby, Rainbow Dash shook her head and said, "Kids."
"They could be trying worse things." Rarity said with a smile. "Remember Ditzy Doo's older brother, Doobie Doo?"
"It's hard to get a job with a pot leaf as your Cutie Mark." Rainbow Dash agreed. "Then he opened that head shop in Canterlot. Not that I've been there. I've heard from a second-hoof source."
"Let me guess." Rarity said. "It was Tree Hugger, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash replied. "It was Tree Hugger. I'm pretty sure that she's more marijuana than pony by now."
"If that wasn't physically impossible, I'd have to agree with you." Rarity said with a nod.
Rarity glanced over her shoulder before turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash. "So, Ditzy Doo and the Doctor, then? How long do you think it will be before they officially become an item?"
"Oh, that depends." Rainbow Dash said with a broad grin. "How much are you willing to bet?"