The following day was another clear one for which, many a year ago, Applejack might have thanked Princess Celestia. Of course, those days were long gone. Twilight was now the one in charge of both the sun and the moon, and Celestia was enjoying retirement with Luna in… Well, Applejack couldn’t quite remember, but she’d bet apples to pears that it was someplace warm. Warmer than here, at any rate.
As Rainbow had promised, the scroll Applejack had pulled from her parents’ tree had opened that morning without resistance; the magic around the clasp simply fading without fanfare. Once she’d unfurled it, she’d been a little surprised to find only the riddle inside, expecting Rainbow to have written another note. It would have been very like her to leave something teasing, but instead, the scroll held only one line.
‘Friendship is magic, that much is certain; your next clue is sewn, but isn’t a curtain.’
Applejack read the line for what seemed the umpteenth time as she stopped on the road just at the edge of Ponyville. She looked up from the paper to her destination; the aptly named Carousel Boutique. So called because of its uncanny likeness to the foal’s ride, albeit a lot taller and more ornate, with sculptures of ponies and decorative pillars adorning both stories of its exterior.
“Rainbow, darlin’,” Applejack chuckled to herself as she tucked the scroll back into her hat. “Y’all better have some hard ones for later, ‘cos this is too easy.” With that, she shrugged her coat into a more comfortable position, and made her way into the boutique.
The inside of Carousel Boutique had changed very little over the years. The carpet was a little more worn, the drapes adorning the walls a little more faded, the wood of the display stage was a little smoother, its paint looking slightly more aged, but it had otherwise remained completely the same. The same dress forms stood dotted around the shop, some fitted with the latest designs, others simply holding works in progress. The same rows of clothes on hangers were stored on the same racks to the side. The same shelves stood against the walls, filled with rolls of fabric and spools of thread, all organised to a method of the owner’s liking. The row of makeover stations was still there, wash tubs standing ready and mirrors reflecting light back into the shop, making the whole room seem brighter and larger at once.
Indeed, if it wasn’t for the fact that she regularly visited, Applejack might have believed the shop stood frozen in time.
The bell above the door tinkled merrily as she stepped through, causing Rarity to look up from the dressform she’d been fussing over. The unicorn looked over the top of her red glasses briefly before breaking into a warm smile.
“Applejack, darling, good morning!” she greeted, trotting over and giving the earth mare a hug. “How are you?”
“Just fine, Rarity,” replied Applejack, returning the hug. She caught the faint scent of lilacs as the unicorn’s purple mane pressed against her face, apparently her choice of perfume for the day. “How are you and Sweetie Belle doin’?”
“We’re just wonderful, dear. Although, I could do with a break. The pre-Hearth’s Warming rush is always quite stressful. Always a new order to fill, or new customer through the door. I hardly get a moment to myself. Good thing today is a Sunday, or I’d never get any peace.” Rarity seemed to catch herself, looking slightly embarrassed. “Oh, but listen to me rambling, where are my manners? What can I help you with this morning, Applejack?” Reaching into her hat, Applejack pulled out the scroll with the riddle on it.
“Seems my marefriend is up to a little somethin’,” she said, passing the paper to Rarity. The unicorn unfurled it in her magic--both the scroll and her horn glowing blue--her mouth curving into another smile as she read the contents. “I’m pretty sure that note says the next clue is here,” the farmer continued, taking back the note as Rarity returned it. “Can’t think what else she might mean.”
“You’re quite right,” Rarity agreed, primping her coiffed mane slightly with a hoof. “The next clue is here, though Rainbow made me promise not to help you find it. All I can say is it’s in this room… somewhere.”
“Wait, you’re in on this, too?!” Applejack exclaimed in surprise. Then she remembered the letter, specifically the part where Rainbow had mentioned getting a friend to help her. “Oh, so you’re the one helping her with the riddles and them dang magic clasps.”
“Oh, pff,” Rarity scoffed. “You flatter me, darling, but I don’t really have a head for riddles, and I most certainly don’t have the magical skill to create timed locks.”
“I never said they was timed.” Applejack grinned at apparently catching out the unicorn.
“Ah, so you didn’t,” conceded Rarity, having the good grace to appear slightly sheepish. Her ears flattened for a moment before returning to their normal upright position. “Well, I shan’t be letting slip any more little titbits. That’s all you get.” The unicorn returned to the dress form she’d been working at when Applejack arrived, fussing over the dress mounted on it.
“So if it ain’t you that did the magic locks and the riddles, I’m guessin’ it must’ve been Twilight,” Applejack mused. “Who else has Rainbow got on this game of hers?” Rarity just shook her head.
“Ah-ah, darling, that would be telling,” was all she said, flashing her an affected smile and assuming the airs to go with it. It was an air Applejack was all too familiar with. Not only had it caused her mild irritation many times over the years, but she also knew it meant Rarity was dead set on not telling her anything.
Resigning herself to searching alone, Applejack simply turned and regarded the shop interior. The next clue was hidden in here… somewhere. The note had said it was ‘sewn, but not a curtain’, so the rolls of fabrics were out, as were the spindles. The obvious choice was any of the dresses on display in the shop, but it could be anypony’s guess which one. Not one of them looked like something Rainbow Dash would wear or think was “cool”. Perhaps it was something closer to what she herself would wear?
Applejack paced around the shop, inspecting various dresses that didn’t seem too ornate or over the top, and even a few that she thought Rainbow might be cajoled into wearing, if only after some serious bartering… and maybe a bribe or two. None of them seemed to have anything stuffed in them, or sticking out of them, or anything that seemed out of place.
Frustrated, the farmer sat on her haunches in the middle of the shop floor. While she might not have made the riddles particularly hard--or, Twilight hadn’t, as Applejack suspected--it appeared Rainbow had a knack for hiding things, after all. At least in this case. Applejack huffed and took another look over the shop, taking in everything made of fabric that could possibly be the right answer, but nothing jumped out at her.
The note explicitly excluded the curtains, the drapes were an unlikely candidate and she hadn’t bothered checking the shelves full of rolls and spindles, but she could see from here there was nothing extra in any of the cubby holes. So what in Equestria could it-
As Applejack’s view returned to Rarity, her hoof struck her forehead in annoyance at herself. Right there, in the middle of the shop with Rarity happily working on it, was one of Rainbow Dash’s dresses. She just hadn’t recognised it because the unicorn had been stood in front of it when she’d walked in, and then Applejack had had her back to it the rest of the time.
Walking over, Applejack glowered at the dress. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rarity glance up at her, but the seamstress offered no commentary, simply concentrating on her work pinning various points of fabric. Her magic glowed around each pin as it settled into place.
“Y’all gotta be kiddin’ me,” Applejack stated flatly.
“I couldn’t possibly say, darling,” was Rarity’s only response, although a small smirk had taken up residence on her lips. Applejack chose to ignore it, simply shaking her head.
“I must be goin’ blind in my old age to miss this sittin’ here.” The earth mare regarded the dress for a moment. “Huh. Ain’t this the dress you made Rainbow for Princess Cadance’s wedding?”
“Similar style, yes, but not the same one. Rainbow still has that. This is just an idea I’m toying with, as it were.”
“Thought you said you were busy?”
“Well, I’m not so busy I can’t spend a little time on personal projects, dear.” Rarity gave Applejack a look over her glasses that seemed to convey both that the farmer should stop asking questions, and that she had other things she should be doing. Applejack relented.
“Right,” she said, turning her attention to the dress.
On closer inspection, the similarity to the dress Rainbow had worn to the princess’ wedding was mostly superficial. It had the same colour layout and a similar form, but was obviously designed to exaggerate the figure of the pony underneath, billowing out much farther and arching over the rump much higher. The same golden girth belt was present, and the hem had the same voluminous clouds lining it, but the dress as a whole trailed much further back, obviously intended for some grandiose function or other. Draped over the back, partially covering the rainbow was a thin sheet of golden material, lending a small degree of elegance to the whole ensemble.
Somehow, Applejack wasn’t sure she could envision Rainbow wearing such a thing, despite the copycat colour scheme. Which probably meant it wasn’t for her. Huffing slightly, Applejack started inspecting the dress a bit closer, doing her best to stay out of Rarity’s way.
There wasn’t much to go over, the piece being one of the unicorn’s simpler works. At first she tried to lift the golden part to look under it, but when her efforts started to dislodge the pins holding it in place, a very pointed cough from Rarity made her stop. It didn’t seem likely there was anything there, anyway, as there were no obvious lumps underneath it.
Instead, Applejack turned her attention to the hemline. Scanning slowly along the white silk, she peered carefully into the cloud-like structures Rarity had built along the edge of the dress, looking for anything out of place. Sure, a scroll should stand out obviously against the fabric, but the “clouds” were so voluminous, it would be easy to hide something from the casual observer. The fancy pins Rarity had stuck into everything weren’t helping, either, as they all had ribbons hanging off of them; most of which were, annoyingly, red.
Applejack did a full circle of the dress, coming around right back to where she’d started with no luck. Frustrated, she stomped a hoof. It had to be here! Of all the places Rainbow could have hidden something, a dress that matched her name was the most perfect!
“Is everything okay, Applejack?” Rarity asked, her tone amused. The dress shifted slightly as she adjusted something.
“Just fine, thank you,” the farmer replied, without looking up. Determined, she started searching the dress again, going even slower than before. She started where the belt met the dress form’s barrel, moving slowly down to the hem and then along it. As she moved closer to the back, she finally spied it.
Hidden amongst the silk right where the hem met the ground, she spotted the edge of the scroll peeking out. Directly above it was one of Rarity’s pins, a red ribbon dangling from it. It must have been hiding the scroll until Rarity had adjusted the dress. With a triumphant flourish, Applejack pulled the scroll from its hiding place.
“Got you, you little varmint!” she exclaimed, satisfaction filling her voice.
“Very well done, dear,” Rarity said, amused. “And only five minutes slower than Rainbow guessed.”
“Say what now?”
“Oh, nothing Applejack,” giggled the seamstress, her mirth wiping ten years from her appearance. “Just a little jest from your marefriend. So what does the scroll say?” Applejack shook her head. Not even here, and Rainbow was finding ways to tease her. She undid the ribbon and unfurled the scroll. Just like the one from the tree, it bore only the riddle, clearly carefully written by Rainbow. She spoke aloud as she read the contents:
““Love can be found, some believe it is set; but here it began, where a date was bet.””
“Cryptic,” was all Rarity said. After a moment’s thought, Applejack shook her head again.
“Not to me. She really needs to come up with better riddles.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“The first part don’t mean anythin’, it’s just fluff,” explained Applejack. “The second part is the important bit. Me and Rainbow’s first date came out of a bet.”
“A what?!” Rarity exclaimed, a genuine look of mild horror on her face.
“You didn’t know?” Applejack laughed. “Yeah, our relationship didn’t get started because one of us asked the other out, we started datin’ ‘cos Rainbow won a bet.”
“B-B-But… why?” was all Rarity could manage. Applejack shrugged.
“I dunno, seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“Applejack, romance is supposed to be just that! Romantic! Not left to chance on a… a silly wager! What in Equestria would possess either of you to do such a thing?!” The unicorn seemed honestly horrified at the idea, borderline angry, even. Not that Applejack was in the least bit surprised. Rarity spent far too much time with her head in those tawdry stories of hers, than actually out dating.
“Tell you what,” the farmer said after a moment’s consideration. “I know exactly where this clue leads, so why don’t you take a walk with me and I’ll tell you all about it? It’ll only be a few minutes,” she added when Rarity seemed to hesitate.
“Alright,” she said, albeit with a reserved tone. “I guess I can spend a few minutes away from the shop. Just let me grab a scarf.”
Both ponies were out the door a minute later, Applejack leading them through Ponyville’s streets to their destination. Rarity seemed to calm down quickly from her previous agitation, and it didn’t take her long to apparently guess where they were going.
“We’re headed towards the market, aren’t we?” she enquired. Applejack nodded.
“Eeyup. Ain’t the most “romantic” of places, as you might think of it, but it’s where me and Rainbow would see most of each other before we started datin’. She’d usually drop by and buy a couple of apples, spend some time talkin’, then head off again.”
“Sounds like she was looking for reasons to spend time with you,” Rarity said, a hint of a tease in her voice. It was something Applejack hadn’t considered before, but now that she thought about it, it definitely made sense.
“I guess you might be right about that,” she agreed. “But that ain’t the important part.”
“Do tell, darling.”
“Well, y’all remember Cadance’s weddin’?”
“How could I forget? That day was certainly rather… interesting.”
“Yeah, well I’m specifically thinkin’ after the part with all the bugs. That little after party we had in Twilight’s room with the barrel of cider that Pinkie Pie somehow managed to lay her hooves on?”
“Ah yes, that was quite the little soirèe we had, wasn’t it? Definitely something best left in our younger days, though, don’t you think?” Rarity’s tone was reminiscent, but it still caused Applejack to snort laughter.
“I dunno about you, Rarity, but I can still put ‘em away,” she chortled, amused at the unicorn’s admission to her tolerance level. “Anyway, I don’t remember fallin’ asleep that night, but I sure as hay remember wakin’ up. Me and Rainbow were curled up together on Twilight’s bed, real close like. And her wing was draped over me, which, I’m sure y’all know what that means to a pegasus.”
“Oh my… They only do that to somepony they feel close to.”
“Yeah, exactly. My stirrin’ woke her up, and she played it off, of course, but things weren’t quite the same between us after that. There was always somethin’…” Applejack trailed off, uncertain how to phrase what she was thinking.
“Unspoken?” Rarity finished for her.
“That works.”
The pair emerged into Ponyville’s market square. Being a Sunday, it was not as busy as it might have been, but there were still a few stalls open selling this and that, with ponies meandering between them and chatting quietly. Applejack’s own stall stood on the other side of the square, empty and silent, the farmer having long sold her stock of apples and apple-based goods before the winter set in.
“So what does this all have to do with a bet?” Rarity asked as the pair trotted across the square.
“Well, things went on as normal for a few weeks, until one day Rainbow decided to tag along while I was haulin’ a cart-load of apples down to the market. Most of the time, she just droned on about flyin’ this, and Wonderbolts that, but it’s a long trek from the farm to here so I was glad of the company.”
The two of them arrived at Applejack’s stall, but the farmer made no move to search it just yet. Instead, she just stared wistfully at the canvas-shrouded frame as she recalled her tale.
“By the time we got here, she was ramblin’ on about some rumour or other about some Wonderbolt datin’ a recruit or somethin’, I don’t exactly remember. Wasn’t payin’ much attention at the time. What did get my attention was when she said she reckoned I didn’t go on dates with anypony.”
“What? Why would she say that?” Rarity seemed taken aback.
“Well,” Applejack responded, looking over at the unicorn. “By her reckonin’, she’d never seen me even look twice at anypony. And the fact that I still hadn’t said anything about that mornin’ in Canterlot, by her logic, meant that I must be afraid of datin’.”
“And of course, she was the champion of doing so?”
“Naturally,” Applejack chuckled. “When I protested, she challenged me. Said I was too scared to go on a date even with her. Told me, and I quote:” The farmer cleared her throat and put on her best Rainbow Dash impression. “I bet you fifty bits you’re too chicken to go on a date with me”. So I called her bluff. The look on her face was priceless when I made her pay up that evenin’.”
“Applejack! You didn’t!” Rarity’s tone was both laughing and scandalised.
“You bet I did! Easiest fifty bits I ever made. I wasn’t about to be called chicken and let her get away with it!” Applejack shook her head, smiling. “But don’t go gettin’ your tail in a twist, Rarity. I spent all those bits on other dates with her. A pretty good investment on her part, I’d say.”
So saying, she stepped into the stall and started searching. Not that there was much to search, really. Just the corners where the canvas met the ground, and under the counter, both of which were equally bare.
“I can’t believe that you and Rainbow Dash’s relationship is all because she called you chicken,” Rarity said from the other side. “That’s just so… so…”
“Like us?” Applejack finished for her without looking over. She couldn’t see any sign of the next clue in here, maybe it was around the back? She walked out and around the stall. Nope, nothing here, either. Just grit and and a lone, blue feather weighed down with a rock. So Rainbow had definitely been here…
“Well, when you put it like that, I guess so,” finished the unicorn. “I suppose I was just expecting something more like Big Mac and Sugar Belle. Any luck, dear?” she added as Applejack rounded the corner. The farmer just held up the feather, turning to look at the stall once more.
“Found this,” she answered simply. “And I don’t think she left it here by accident.”
“How can you tell?” In response, Applejack turned the feather over.
“For one, it was under a rock.”
“Ah.”
“And two, see how the shaft’s broken, and the vane’s all messed up? This is one she’s pulled out preenin’, I bet.”
“My, Applejack, I didn’t know you knew so much about feathers,” Rarity teased. Applejack rolled her eyes, used to the occasional teasing from her friends by now. Ever since she and Rainbow had started dating, her increasing knowledge of pegasi habits had opened up the occasional avenue for some well-meaning barbs from her friends. She didn’t mind too much, but it did get old sometimes.
“Yeah, well, when you date a pegasus as long as I have, you pick up a few things,” she replied, matter-of-factly.
“Clearly. So where is the clue?”
“That I can’t figure out. It ain’t inside, and it ain’t outside. At least, on the ground…” Applejack trailed off as she looked up at the roof of the stall. “Tell me she didn’t,” she finally said, resigned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rarity follow her gaze.
“Yes, I’m afraid she probably did, darling,” the unicorn concurred, clearly arriving at the same conclusion. Applejack sighed.
“Dagnabbit, Rainbow. Not everypony can fly, you know.”
Walking back inside the stall, the earth mare looked up at the ceiling formed by the canvas. Sure enough, there was a small, scroll sized dark spot in the daylight that filtered through. Standing on her hind legs, Applejack reached up, but couldn’t quite touch where the scroll was sitting. If she couldn’t reach it normally, she wasn’t going to be able to buck it, either. Falling back onto all fours, she turned to Rarity, who had been watching her from the other side of the counter.
“Can’t reach it,” she said, shaking her head and gesturing upwards. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but d’you think you could…?”
“Of course. Think nothing of it, dear.” So saying, Rarity’s horn lit up. The roof of the stall was enveloped in the same blue glow, and with a “whump”, the whole ceiling suddenly bellowed out and then settled back. Applejack watched as the scroll fell past her vision to land with an audible “paff” on the ground outside. Stepping out, she scooped it up and tried the ribbon, but the clasp held firm, glowing the same colour as the day before.
“Locked, I assume?” asked Rarity, amused.
“Yeah,” Applejack acknowledged with a sigh. “Had to try, but I ain’t gonna know what’s in here until tomorrow mornin’.”
“Yes, I rather think you aren’t breaking that, neither with might nor magic. It looked like a powerful spell.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it’s just by lookin’ that you know that,” Applejack stated flatly, more than a little skeptical.
“Applejack, darling, I’m certain I have no idea what you mean,” Rarity responded sweetly, with a smile to match. “Now, this has been a delightful distraction, I’ll admit, but you have your clue now, and I really must get back to working on my dresses. Do make sure to tell me how everything works out, though, I’m rather excited to know. Ta-ta!”
With a wave and a flick of her tail, Rarity turned and trotted back the way they came, leaving behind an Applejack rather confused at her sudden departure. Excited? Why would Rarity be excited about all this? Rainbow had dreamed this all up for her, so what part of this could Rarity possibly be interested in?
Applejack looked down at the new scroll.
“Just what in the hay have I got myself into?”