Chapter 2: Game
(Rarity’s boutique)
Applejack thought herself to be a pretty charming gal. Hardworking, honest and downright stunning in her own way. But ever since she had that talk with Rainbow and Pinkie, she began to wonder.
Was she really not that appealing to people’s eyes? Was her country fashion not really attracting the city folks? Granny kept saying that she was the prettiest apple in the tree and she believed her. But now… thinking about it, she might just be saying that to be nice.
But none of that mattered now. What mattered was the play. It was plainly obvious that neither she nor Rainbow Dash had much experience when it came to seducing boys. In fact, the closest thing she had to a reference were those cheesy romantic movies she watched back when she was younger. The plot was sub-par and the lines were down right atrocious.
No. She needed an edge over this game. And the only one she knew who could help her was her best friend.
“No.”
Applejack blinked, shocked by the answer that came from her friend. “Eh? What now?”
“No, darling. I refuse to cooperate or support you in this game of yours.”
“How did you…?”
“Pinkie told me.” Darn tattletale! “She regaled me about this whole tie-breaker between you and Rainbow Dash and I have to put my foot down.”
“Oh come on Rarity! You’re my only hope!”
“As pleasing as it is to hear that. I must decline. I refuse to be a part of this bizarre love triangle of yours. And Flash of all people? I don’t know what you two are thinking, but that little stunt of yours is just a disaster waiting to happen. Besides, I am still quite busy preparing a few dresses for the Spring Dance.”
Dang it. There goes her edge.
“Ok fine. I won’t force you. But can you at least answer a few questions for me?”
Rarity lazily gave her a glance and nodded. “Very well. I suppose I have the time to spare.”
Applejack removed her hat, holding them by the edges, cheeks turning red. “Do you think I have… any appeal, at all?” Her friend froze. “I mean… do I have that thing that makes people look at me? Cuz… right now I’m feeling a bit insecure.”
“Darling. Why ever would you think that?”
“Pinkie and Rainbow told me.”
Rarity rose from her seat, grabbing her friend. “Darling. You have plenty of appeal. Those who say otherwise are simply jealous.”
“Yeah. But how do I get people to look at me like how they look at you. I mean… have you seen the guys who look at you.”
“Oh of course I do.” The fashionista brushed the side of her hair, grinning giddily. “It’s the reason why I make myself this pretty. What’s the point of putting all this effort on yourself if no one’s around to see it?”
“Well… how do I do that? How do I make myself more… appealing?” Applejack put on a puppy dog pout with sparkly eyes to boot. “Please Rare? Help me on this? I wanna… feel like you do.”
“Ahuhuhu!” She let out the cheekiest laugh ever, which soon began to unravel her tightknit rule. “Well… I suppose I could… WAIT!” She yelled out loud as if to bring herself back to the right state of mind. “Ooooh. You’re good Applejack. Real good. But it’ll take more than your cunning to win this lady over.”
Dang it. For a moment there she thought she got her.
“Can you at least give me some tips?”
“Sorry. But like I said, I refuse to be a part of this game. And there is nothing you can say that will change my mind.” With that last notion she returned to her seat and back to her work.
Applejack sighed. This was gonna be a lot trickier than usual. But she can’t back out now. She needs this edge and Rarity is her sure golden ticket to winning this bet. She’s gonna have to make a little sacrifice.
“Alright Rarity. You win.” She muttered. “If you help me in this, I promise you that I’ll… help model for your next pageant show.”
The sewing machine stopped as the girl working turned back, eyes widened. “You’d… model… for me?”
“I’ll even let you…” Applejack cringed. “… design my dress for the Spring Dance.”
Rarity gleed out of her chair and teleported to her side. “Let’s get to work!”
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The next thing Applejack knew she was sitting on a chair standing in front of a projector screen with Sweetie Belle dimming the lights for effect. Rarity would return a minute later dressed in a teacher’s outfit, with librarian glasses to complete the act.
“Ahem. Attention class.” Professor Rarity began whipping a crop on the screen. “Welcome to Rarity’s class of Seduction 101. By the time you finish this class, you will become acquainted with seducing and attraction the attention of others through… physical appeal.”
“Uh… Rarity. Is all of this really necessary?”
“SILENCE!” Her crop snapped at the desk silencing the only student in attendance. “Ahem. First things first. What do you know about Flash Sentry?”
“Uh… well he likes music… so…”
“WRONG!” The teacher exclaimed. “Lesson number 1. Know your mark.” The screen flipped to a headshot of Flash Sentry who looked… for a lack of a better term, pretty hot. With his casual smile, glimmering eyes, you’d think he was just that kid next door that you had a crush on. “The first thing you should know, before applying any kind of change to your appearance, is to know who you are trying to appeal. Observe. This is your target. Flash Sentry. At a first glance you’d think that he is just your average run-of-the-mill rocker boy with a flair for music. With that mediocre Yankee fashion, guitar and shrivel bedhead you’d believe that this is all there is to know about him.” Her crop fell. “Don’t you agree?”
“Uh… yeah?”
“WRONG!!!” Rarity’s voice boomed as her planted her face right next to Applejack. “There’s more to a person than what you can see on the surface!” The clipped changed to another picture of the boy, this time cuddling his pet dog, Bananas. He admittedly looked kinda cute and harmless. “Behold, the upper crust of Flash Sentry. Other than his love of rock music, he’s also a fan of animals! In particularly, his pet dog!” The clipped changed to him reading comics. “He’s also a lover of arts, poetry and figurines!”
“Really?”
“He also apparently likes cheesy romantic films. Huh… that’s new.” Rarity pulled out a folder, glancing curiously at its content. “And it also says here that he lives in Uptown in a mansion. Oooh! Hillside property too.”
Applejack tilted her head in question. “Wait a second. How do you know all of this?”
“Pinkie sent me his file.” She answered plainly.
“She has a file on Flash?”
“Pinkie has a file on everyone.” That was… rather disturbing. “But enough about that. The point is that we have an advantage. Now. Observe. Flash Sentry is a unique case when it comes to women.”
“He does?”
“No interruptions!” Rarity whipped her crop again much to her friend’s horror. “Look here. Over his school years in CHS, Flash Sentry has had a total of four love interests.” Four? Since when? “The obvious ones will be of course, Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight Sparkle from the alternate world. The other is Lyra and Octavia.”
“Seriously?”
“According to Pinkie’s notes, he and Lyra had a fling of sorts before they came to CHS. And Octavia seemed quite interested on the notion of getting together with him. Hmm… quite a scandal if I do say so myself.” She let out a cough. “Anyway. From the list, other than music of course, what do these four girls have in common?”
Applejack gave it a thought. She hardly knew Lyra or Octavia. Those two were pretty much opposite of one another. The same goes with Sunset and Twilight. Other than their Equestrian origin and affinity to magic, they were two sides of the same coin.”
“Well… take away the music… they… got nothing.”
“Exactly!” Rarity cheered. “Well done Applejack.” She wasn’t sure why but she’ll take any praise she can get at this point. “You are precisely right. None of these girls have anything in common other than their love for music. Their fashion, attire, hairstyle, attitude! All of them different in every possible way. That can only mean one thing.”
“Flash likes people who likes music?”
“Possibly. But no. It means that his taste… is diverse!” That… made some sense. “It means his taste can change from form to form. Like a connoisseur tasting different wines and then spitting them out in a bucket.”
“Eww…” Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue in disgust.
“Are you even old enough to drink wine?”
“Not important. What is important is to find out what kind of wine he likes the most? Does he like them sweet like Lyra? Mysterious like Octavia? Clear crystal like Twilight or bursting with flavor like Sunset. And seeing as we only have two weeks to prep, we will have to go directly to the source!”
“Uh… what now?”
“Quickly! To the CHS log book!”