“Rainbow, is there a chance I can talk you out of this?”
The pegasus grinned devilishly. “No way, Twi. She messed up my schedule, so we get to mess up hers. It’s only fair.” Pranking ideas were already filling her head. As Rainbow Dash figured, if pranks came in colors, magic added a whole new spectrum.
Twilight sighed. “You know she’s just going to get mad at us for doing this.” She countered, still hoping she could convince Rainbow Dash to do something more productive with the day.
Rainbow finished packing the last of her supplies into her saddlebag. It was best to always be prepared when pranking. You never know what opportunities might arise. “Don’t worry, it’s not like we are gonna keep her from getting anything done. I just want to have a few laughs at her expense, and maybe see if we can get her past feeling so awkward with her date.”
Twilight had packed more practical items. Mostly food, but she also made sure to bring her standard note-taking equipment. She had never pranked anypony before. It was only proper that she take notes on the experience, just in case it turned out to be worth doing again.
“So, this isn’t completely about revenge?” Twilight asked, one brow raised to form an expression of curiosity.
“Nah, pranking isn’t about making somepony feel bad. Besides, AJ wouldn’t know romance if it bucked her in the teeth. She’s gonna need some help getting through all that awkwardness if she wants a shot at a second date.”
Twilight smiled. “Okay, so our main objective is to engineer situations that will help Applejack and Thunderlane progress through the earliest stages of romantic infatuation?”
Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight as she processed the overly complicated sentence. “Uh, sure.” Even if Rainbow’s vocabulary was better than it had ever been, she still had trouble understanding some of Twilight’s more complex sentences.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Rainbow placed a hoof to her chin, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Uh, we really just need to work with whatever situation we find. I don’t know exactly what AJ has planned, so we’ll just go with the flow.”
“What?” Twilight balked. “We can’t just go over there without a plan. I’ll go get a quill and parchment, we can write up a checklist before we head over.”
Rainbow grabbed Twilight before she could make it upstairs. “Twi, no. We need to get there early, before AJ gets up. We don’t have the time to make a checklist. Besides, I think a little spontaneity will do you some good.” She then began the slow process of dragging the unicorn outside, away from the temptation of her quills and parchment. It was a struggle, and there was more than a bit of arguing, but somehow, in her panic, Twilight had forgotten that she could have just grabbed her supplies with her magic.
This might be harder than I thought. Rainbow admitted. She hadn’t been planning on wasting fifteen minutes just to get Twilight out the door, never mind the ten more minutes it took to convince her that it was perfectly normal not to have a checklist for pranking. I hope we can still find a good spot without AJ noticing us.
The prankster and her rookie-in-training arrived at the Sweet Apple Acres before sunrise, Rainbow had made up for some lost time by carrying Twilight by flight instead of walking. The pegasus sent a likely unnecessary thanks to Celestia that Applejack wasn’t already out in the orchards.
Okay, just need to find a good hiding spot. Rainbow thought as she scanned the area for something that wasn’t a tree. Ah, there we go. She spotted a rather large patch of shrubbery and made her descent.
“Rainbow, how do you know Applejack is even going to be in this area?” Twilight asked as Rainbow touched down in the patch of vegetation.
Rainbow giggled as she positioned herself within one of the bushes. “Oh, that’s easy. She likes to clear the orchards in a very specific pattern.”
Twilight joined Rainbow Dash in the bush. “I take it you learned this from your habit of napping in her trees?”
“Hey, those things are comfy, especially with a pillow and blanket.” Rainbow countered.
Twilight giggled. “As opposed to a cloud?”
“Random weather clouds don’t support pillows. You have to work the clouds a certain way, or have them enchanted before they can support solid objects.”
“I know that, Rainbow.” Twilight replied in a small huff. “I’ve studied pegasi culture, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just keep it down. AJ’ll be out here soon. I bet Thunderlane is trying to sleep in, so we lucked out, but that won’t matter if you give us away before we can start pulling pranks. Remember, the number one rule of pranking is that the target must not know you’re there.”
Twilight immediately fetched her quill and notepad and scribbled down the mentioned rule.
Rainbow quietly groaned as she planted her hoof to her face.
It wasn’t long before the sun finally peeked over the horizon, and with it came a rather irritated farmer and her temporary assistant. It was a fairly late start for Applejack, but she was hoping that the extra set of hooves would help make up for the delay. She led him from the farmhouse out into the eastern field. “Okay, first I’m gonna need to show you how to buck properly. It’ll take ya a few tries before ya get results, so don’t get too down when ya muck up at first.”
Thunderlane watched carefully as Applejack approached the first tree of the day. She reared up and shot her hind legs out. The resulting thump practically echoed around him. Moments later, the loose apples fell out of the trees right into the perfectly placed buckets below.
Applejack grinned smugly. “That’s how it’s done.”
“Uh, wow.” It was all Thunderlane could manage to say. It was a display of brute force and practiced control the likes of which he had never seen, at least not so closely. Somehow, the whole thing had been more exciting than he had expected. Big Macintosh had told him that the best way to learn was to watch and try to mimic what he saw. Maybe not in so many words, but still, he had watched. He took in the sight of Applejack’s muscles flexing as her legs pounded against the tree’s trunk. It was everything he had imagined it to be.
Applejack looked to Thunderlane, hoping to judge his reaction. What she saw was quite surprising. “Hey, why are you about to take off?”
“Huh?”
Applejack narrowed her gaze. “Don’t you ‘huh’ me, mister. I see you got those wings up like you’re gonna take off.”
Thunderlane immediately became aware that his wings had flared out. “Ack, shit!” He fumbled briefly as he forced his traitorous appendages back to a resting position. “No, I wasn’t going anywhere-”
“Then what was it you were doin’?”
Thunderlane felt his face flush. Oh this is just great. “Y-you see, um, when pegasi get excited...”
Applejack’s expression quickly brightened. “Oh, well why didn’t you just say so.” She walked over and gave him a solid smack on his back, coaxing him towards a tree. “Didn’t think you were so eager to try apple-buckin’.”
Thunderlane sighed in relief.
“Ya know, the more I think about it, that whole ‘gettin’ excited’ thing makes sense. RD’s wings are always poppin’ up like that around Twilight...” The farmer’s visage contorted slightly, hints of irritation showing through.
Crap, I think she just figured-
Applejack walked over to the stallion, her eyes fixed on his. “You weren’t excited about apple-buckin’, were ya?”
I’d be excited to buck your... NO! Bad brain. Don’t say that out loud! “Um, I might have been paying attention to something else...”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, but she had a fair idea what was going on. There weren’t too many reasons for a pegasi’s wings to flare out like that. And considering Applejack’s current expression, she probably just figured out what Thunderlane had been staring at. Rainbow nearly burst out laughing when she saw Applejack smack the poor stallion on the head. Rainbow calmed herself then leaned over and whispered her plan to Twilight. Twilight envisioned the scenario and was swiftly forced to stifle her laughter. Okay, this may be more fun than I thought.
She watched intently as Applejack provided a few more demonstrations, during which Thunderlane appeared unable to control his wings, before setting him up for his first attempt. He fidgeted a bit, probably checking his positioning, before he reared his hind legs into the air, ready to prove himself to his crush.
Snap!
A sudden cascade of fruit assaulted him. One lucky apple planted itself on the pegasus’ head causing him lose his balance and tumble forward.
The pranksters did their best to stay as quiet as possible while trying to let as much laughing out of their systems as they could manage.
Applejack, however, was under no such restrictions. She fell to the ground laughing.
Thunderlane lay on his back, embarrassment sinking in. Once the laughter had ceased he stood back up and dusted himself off.
“Okay, don’t fret too much. That was just some bad luck.” Applejack tried to console the pegasus, but nearly burst out laughing again. That didn’t have quite the effect she had been hoping for. “Hey, just give it another try. I need to see if you’ve got a curse or somethin’.”
Thunderlane grumbled quietly as he repositioned himself. He reared up once more, pausing to make sure nothing fell on him. When nothing happened, he shot his hind legs out. There was a solid thump... then nothing. No apples at all. He sighed dejectedly.
“Hmm, that’s odd.” Applejack narrowed her eyes as she cast a scrutinizing gaze at the tree, taking note that there were many ripe apples still dangling in the branches. “That might not have been perfect, but you had a good bit of force there. Somethin’ should’a come out that tree.”
The farmer shooed the pegasus out of her way. Applejack took her position and gave the tree a solid buck. Once again, nothing. The farmer glared angrily at the tree. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She reared up and tried again, only to produce the same result. That’s it! It’s a matter of pride now, isn’t it, Woodington. You’re gonna give me them apples or I’ll break your trunk.
Thus began the not-so-epic battle of Applejack and Woodington. After several minutes of constant bucking, the tree finally succumbed, releasing its bounty into the buckets below.
Little did the frustrated farmer suspect that magic had been the culprit. Had she known, she might have found the two pranksters rolling around with stifled laughter in the patch of nearby shrubs.
She turned her irritated glare at Thunderlane. “You won’t tell a single soul about this.” She growled.
She hadn’t even need to say anything, that glare had told him all he needed to know. But when those venom-coated words assaulted his ears, Thunderlane felt a chill run through his spine. He swiftly nodded in agreement like a scared little foal.
The farmer sighed. She hadn’t expected the day to be so frustrating. She hadn’t even been working for an hour and already she wanted to call it quits. She could only hope that things would go smoother as the day progressed.
“I have to admit, Rainbow, this has been a lot more fun than I thought it would be.” Twilight took a bite from her flower-filled sandwich.
Rainbow smiled widely. “Yeah, I knew you’d like it. Good call on bringing some lunch by the way. Totally slipped my mind.”
The pair sat on a red and white checkered blanket. They had chosen to take their lunch break on the opposite side of the farm from where Applejack was working. With a few hills, a ton of trees, and some building between them, there was no way they’d get caught.
Twilight finished her meal, taking a moment to clean the crumbs from her mouth with a small cloth. “So, have any more ideas?”
Rainbow nodded excitedly. “Of course. I was thinking that since there’s a bunch of clouds hanging around today, I could slip up there and casually make some rain over them. If it goes well, we might be able to get them to take shelter.” Rainbow replied with her usual confidence.
“How is that funny?”
“It’s not, really. But anypony who knows about farmers and romance knows that most farmers are more likely to get romantic if they are in a barn.”
Twilight looked at the pegasus incredulously, “Rainbow, that makes no sense. There’s nothing romantic about a barn.”
“You just don’t know farmers very well then. Watch and learn.” The cyan pegasus shot upwards into the sky and proceeded to sneakily maneuver the numerous clouds that had conveniently found themselves placed over Sweet Apple Acres. Being the local weather boss had some perks after all.
It took nearly half an hour before the clouds had all been gathered together. Covertly moving so many clouds wasn’t easy. If she moved too fast, her natural rainbow trail would give her away. That and she had to make it seem like the wind was moving the clouds, not a pegasus.
Applejack looked at the sky with a frown. She had been noticing the sky around her farm slowly filling up with clouds over the last half-hour. I guess taking this fella away really did muss up RD’s weather plan.
Applejack flinched at the sudden cold sensation on her nose. Glancing back to the sky, she noticed the darkening clouds. “Oh for pete’s sake. Rain? Seriously?” Applejack growled. It was beginning to seem like the day had conspired against her. It was just one thing after another that kept her from getting anything accomplished. “Alright, let’s get inside. It’s a bad idea to try and buck apples in the rain, too easy to slip.” She motioned for Thunderlane to follow her.
The closest building was the barn, so Applejack decided that they could dry off a bit in there. She hoped, desperately, that the rain would let up soon, but she wasn’t about to hold her breath for it.
Thankfully, she tended to keep a few towels in the barn, just in case something needed to be cleaned up. They also provided an adequate method of drying off in the event of unexpected rain. She watched carefully as Thunderlane worked the towel to dry himself.
Hmm, he really ain’t half-bad lookin’. He’s got some good muscles on him. She briefly allowed her mind to trail off before shaking the deviant thoughts from her head. Dang it, I don’t know him that well yet. Still, at least he doesn’t seem to mind apple buckin’.
“Hey, Applejack?”
The sudden words broke her train of thought. “What?”
The pegasus turned his gaze to the ground. “I know this wasn’t exactly the kind of day you’d had in mind...”
“Ahh, don’t fret too much about it. You tried, and that’s all I was really lookin’ for anyway.” She took a seat a little ways from the barn door. “If you want, maybe we could have lunch tomorrow.”
His expression brightened his wings flaring with excitement. “Sure!”
Applejack chuckled at his response. “Might wanna calm down a bit there. It’s just a date, I’m not promisin’ anything more than that.”
Thunderlane took a moment to retract his wings before taking a seat next to her. He leaned into her. Their coats were still a bit wet, so the feeling wasn’t as warm as either had expected, but it was nice all the same. “I know, but it’s not every day the mare you’ve been pining over asks you out.”
Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at that. “You ever gonna tell me about that crush of yours?” She couldn’t see it, but she had a feeling he was blushing.
“It’s...” He fumbled to find the right words. “Um... not a short story.”
Applejack looked outside, the rain continued to pour down. “I think we’ve got time.” She leaned her head over to rest it on his shoulder. She felt his small gasp at the unexpected touch.
“Alright, I guess it won’t hurt to tell you.”
Unbeknownst to the Applejack and Thunderlane, two pairs of eyes watched on expectantly through one of the barn’s windows.
“See, Twi, I told you barns make farmers romantic.” Rainbow whispered.
“Fine, you win that one.” The unicorn was always reluctant to let Rainbow win bets or arguments. Okay, it wasn’t in her best interest to let Rainbow win anything. Every time she did, there was at least a week of bragging to look forward to. It had been cute the first time, but after a few days it had just grown into a mild annoyance.
“So, we should probably leave them alone now.” Rainbow spoke up.
Twilight gazed up. Rainbow sure made an impressively large rainstorm. The giant gray cloud covered the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow’s right, it would be best if we got home as soon as possible.
“So, how did you like your first day of pranking, Twi?”
The pair was trotting towards the main road back to town when a devious idea wormed into Twilight’s mind. “Oh, it was a lot of fun. I’ll never forget the first rule of pranking.”
Rainbow never saw it coming. Not the devious grin, nor the glow of Twilight’s horn, or even the ball of water that found its mark on the back of her head. The pegasus had no idea what was happening until the sudden impact made her slip, leaving her face down in the mud.
Something that felt like a big water balloon had drenched her head; quite an accomplishment given the rain had already done that. Behind her, Twilight was laughing. That maniacal cackling cut through the sound of the rain and stabbed her right in the pride. This was an act of war.
Rainbow stood up and wiped the mud from her face. “Game on.” She leapt forward, tackling Twilight to the ground, splashing mud everywhere. “Nice try, Twilight, but you didn’t think I’d let you get away with that, did you?”
Twilight grinned, “Like you can stop me.” Her horn flared with magic as a glob of mud struck Rainbow’s side.
The game quickly turned into a contest to see who could get the other dirtier. Balls of mud flew through the air, occasionally striking their target. Twilight had an unfair advantage with her magic, so Rainbow quickly found herself losing the game. It wasn’t long before cries of surrender were issued.
Thankfully, the same ball of water that started the fight, proved an efficient way to remove most of the mud. After a few quick ‘baths’ the two ponies continued their trek back to Ponyville.
The trip was not without further deceit, however. The moment they reached a grassy area, Rainbow tackled Twilight to the ground.
It was much harder to wrestle in the rain, everything was much more slippery making good footing and proper grabs and pins very difficult.
Twilight managed to flip Rainbow onto her back. The unicorn rolled over to place herself on top, only to slip and land face down in the grass on the other side of her opponent. Rainbow stumbled momentarily as she rose to continue the assault. The brief delay was enough time for Twilight to find her footing and face the pegasus.
They eyed each other briefly before Twilight lunged forward. She crashed right into her target, but was unable to make the pegasus budge. Rainbow threw her forelegs around Twilight’s neck, and forced her to the ground. She quickly positioned herself over the unicorn, desperately hoping that her footing would be more stable this time.
Twilight reached up with her own forelegs and pushed as hard as she could against Rainbow’s chest. The pegasus lurched up onto her hind legs, her wings flared out for balance, but it was too late. Twilight swiveled her hips into Rainbow’s hind leg, toppling her once more.
The unicorn used the momentum to roll onto her hooves. Rainbow was briefly stunned by the sudden fall and Twilight took the opening. She perched herself on top of her foe, and pressed down to pin the pegasus’ front hooves between their bellies. She wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck and pulled her head close. Their lips met.
It wasn’t the most comfortable place, but neither pony seemed to care as they pressed deeper into the embrace.
They had no idea how much they would regret staying out in the rain.
“Achoo!” Twilight let out a massive sneeze. Her magic flared and the book she was reading vanished in a purple flash.
“Ugh, not again.” Spike groaned. “I’ll see if I can find where it ended up.” He begrudgingly headed downstairs.
“Being sick really sucks for you, Twi.” Rainbow remarked.
“Yeah and you can’t fly, so I think we’re about even.” Twilight snapped back.
“Don’t remind me.” Rainbow grumbled.
Twilight groaned, “Forget it, I’m going to try to sleep some more.” The unicorn rolled over, pulling the covers up as she placed her head on the pillow.
“Guess I should try to sleep too.” Rainbow slipped under the covers and snuggled up to Twilight.
Meanwhile, Spike searched high and low for the missing book. After several minutes of searching, he was beginning to wonder if the book had ended up outside the library this time. It was a definite possibility; Twilight had a pretty long range with her teleportation spell.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted his search. Spike grumbled at the disturbance as he made his way to the front door. He swung the door open to find Pinkie Pie standing there with a book stuck in her mane.
“Hey, Spike, were you looking for this?” She asked as she hoofed the formerly missing book to him.
He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. “Yeah, how did you... Pinkie Sense?”
“Nah, I’ve just seen Twilight reading that recently and figured it had to be hers. Besides, who else teleports books into my mane?” She replied happily, as if it was a regular occurrence.
Spike already knew better than to answer, rather he knew he wouldn’t get a proper answer. Some things were best left unasked when Pinkie was involved.
“Hey, how’s Twilight doing? Is she sick or just experimenting this time?”
“Oh, her and Rainbow Dash are both sick. They stayed out in the rainstorm over Sweet Apple Acres yesterday.” No matter how many times they had explained it to him, Spike just couldn’t understand why they had been out in the rain for so long.
“Both of them?!” Pinkie exclaimed, her face was suddenly mere inches from Spike’s.
“Uh, yeah.” He replied, shoving her back a bit.
Pinkie frowned, “You must be so busy taking care of them all by yourself. How are you going to get all your chores done on time?”
Spike’s expression fell. He had completely forgotten about his daily chores. It was bad enough that he had to drop everything nearly every time Twilight sneezed. But with everything else he had to do to check on them, it was taking up most of his time. Even if she was sick, he knew Twilight would be grumpy if he didn’t stay on top of his chores.
“Actually, I have no idea. Taking care of those two is eating up all of my time.” Spike answered, sounding mildly depressed.
Pinkie giggled, “Don’t be silly, Spike. You can’t eat time.”
The young dragon stared blankly at the pink mare, not entirely sure if she was being serious. Suddenly, a pink hoof patted him on the head.
“Don’t you worry one teensy weensy bit, Spike. We can take care of Twilight and Dashie for you so you can get all those super-important chores done.” Pinkie chimed happily.
Spike’s expression lit up. “Thanks, Pinkie. Remind me to make you some cookies later to make it up to you.”
The pink mare’s eyes widened, “Ooo, can you make your freshly-baked-homemade-triple-decker-nut-crazy-vanilla-creme cookies!?”
“Sure thing. I’ll even make you a double batch.”
Spike found himself swept up in a hug. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” Pinkie exclaimed before suddenly rushing off upstairs.
Spike shut the door and began to plan out the order in which he would tackle his chores when a realization hit. “Wait... ‘we’?” He thought about it for a moment before dismissing it as a simple slip of the tongue; Pinkie was known to mix up words all the time.
Pinkie arrived in Twilight’s room to find her two friends sick and in bed. What she hadn’t expected was for them to be in the same bed. A quick glance informed her that Twilight was still being a lazy-pants and not getting her guest bed fixed. “You should really get that bed fixed, Twilight.”
Twilight sighed. “Hi, Pinkie. If you need a book, just ask Spike.”
Twilight sure sounded grumpy, but then who wouldn’t be grumpy if they were sick? Pinkie knew right away that this was a job for her! Twilight, and probably Dashie, needed cheering up. “Don’t worry girls, we’re here to help take care of you today.” She bounced over next to the bed, hoping her enthusiasm would spread via that osmososomose thing Twilight had mentioned once during a rant about leaves. Pinkie always enjoyed when Twilight went into super science mode. She learned all kinds of neat words from those rants.
“Spike is already taking care of us, Pinkie. We-” Twilight retorted before a sudden knocking on her window broke her train of thought.
Pinkie’s eyes lit up, “Ohmygoshhe’shere!” She exclaimed, rushing to open the window.
“Who’s here?”
“My helper, silly.” Pinkie giggled as a blue pegasus stallion flew into the room. “I already said we are going to take care of you today so Spikey can get his chores done so you won’t be super mad at him for slacking off.”
Twilight groaned. She really didn’t have the energy to deal with Pinkie today. “That isn’t what you said.”
The pegasus laughed at her retort. “Don’t be so harsh, you probably just weren’t listening well enough.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. She already didn’t like him. A few quick glances revealed his coat to be a lighter shade than Rainbow Dash’s, while his mane and tail were a dark navy-blue. The stallion turned to face Pinkie, giving her a clear view of his cutie mark; wings on a yellow bolt of lightning. “Wait, are you-”
“Keep it down, Twi.” Rainbow Dash interjected. “I’m trying to sleep like you told me to.”
The pegasus stallion’s ears perked up as Rainbow spoke. He looked towards the bed. He was just barely able to make out a pile of multicolored hair behind the grumpy unicorn. “Hey, is that you, Rainbow Dash?” He asked eagerly.
Rainbow’s eyes shot open as she bolted upright. She knew that voice. Now that she was awake, there was no mistaking it! She turned her head to find the Wonderbolt, Soarin, standing next to Pinkie Pie. “Soarin!” She exclaimed before descending into a nervous fit of ramblings about her appearance.
“Wow, I didn’t think she was the type to care that much about how she looks?” Soarin remarked, one brow raised in curiosity.
Twilight sighed as the pegasus leapt out of bed and over to the mirror to begin the hopeless battle of trying not to look sick. “My bet, is that she doesn’t want a Wonderbolt to see her looking so ill.” The unicorn replied.
Soarin chuckled, “Hey, no worries, Dash. I'm not here for an official visit. No need to dress up.”
Rainbow froze momentarily as her mind sluggishly processed the information. She visibly relaxed as she released a huge sigh. A keen ear could have detected the mix of relief and disappointment. She promptly trotted back over to the bed and propped herself up with her front legs resting on Twilight’s back as she stared at Soarin and Pinkie.
“Comfy?” Twilight snapped.
“Yeah, you're soft enough.” Rainbow absently replied.
“Wow, I thought she was kidding.” Soarin spoke as he watched Rainbow claim her perch.
Rainbow eyed him curiously. “What?”
“Oh, I didn’t actually think you two were an item. Looks like I was wrong.” A sly grin encroached on his happy smile.
“Told ya!” Pinkie exclaimed happily as she bounced in place.
Soarin rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, just promise you’ll let me hear the end of it, Sweetie Pie. I promise I won’t second guess you about your friends again.”
Rainbow blinked a few times before her brow furrowed. “What’d you just call her?”
Pinkie saw right away that Rainbow was confused. Of course she wouldn’t know, Pinkie hadn’t told her yet. Only Rarity and Fluttershy had been lucky enough to find out so far. She grinned, “Sweetie Pie.” She replied. “It’s his nickname for me. Isn’t it the cutest thing?” Pinkie leaned over to nuzzle the stallion’s neck.
“Uh, this is new...” Was all Twilight could manage to say. Rainbow Dash was struck utterly silent.
“I want to introduce you two to Soarin, my new coltfriend!”
Twilight shook her head, certainly this was a joke. Where could Pinkie Pie, of all ponies, find the time to court a Wonderbolt?
Rainbow snapped out of her silent streak. “Buh, what?” Her face scrunched in confusion.
Pinkie giggled slightly, “Wow, you two look just like Rarity and Fluttershy when I told them.” What a coincidence! Suddenly, Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder if Applejack would make the same expression.
“How and when?” Rainbow asked.
The newly announced couple nodded in unison.
“So, it all started about a month or two after the disaster-gala. I’d gotten this amazing apple pie there and I totally forgot to get the name of the mare that sold it to me. So, I started asking around and Fancy Stache-”.
“Fancy Pants.” Pinkie interjected.
“Right, him. So, Fancy Guy, said it was probably a vendor that came in from Ponyville, since that’s where the closest apple farm to Canterlot is.”
“And then he-”
“Hey, this is my part!” Soarin exclaimed, frowning at Pinkie.
Pinkie replied by pantomiming zipping her mouth shut. Soarin smiled briefly before continuing.
“So, I came to Ponyville and started asking around for Applehat, cause, ya’know, she sells apples and has that neat hat.”
“You’re terrible with names aren’t you?” Twilight quipped.
“Totally.”
Neither Twilight nor Rainbow had expected him to admit it so readily. Odder still was the goofy grin he wore, almost like he was proud of his inability to remember names.
“So, anyway, I ran into Sweetie here and she knew who I was talking about.”
“You don’t actually remember her first name do you?” Rainbow asked flatly. She had remembered him being a bit eccentric at the gala, but she hadn’t expected him to be quite this laid-back.
“Well... uh...” He replied before biting his lower lip. He swiftly shifted gears, reverting his face to a smile, as he wrapped a foreleg over Pinkie. “If she answers to ‘Sweetie’, that’s good enough for me.”
Pinkie giggled, leaning in to nuzzle him once more. “Isn’t he just the cutest?”
Twilight could already feel the beginnings of a migraine. Sweet Celestia, these two were practically made for each other... Oh no... What if they have foals together? Twilight’s mind immediately went into a panic. The only thing she could think about was possible contingency spells that could help keep her sanity in check. Alright, no problem. I’ll just have to learn that silencing spell I’ve been putting off learning these last few months.
Rainbow caught a glance of Twilight’s nervously twitching eyes. Not the time to panic over this, Twi. She reached a hoof over and bonked the distracted unicorn on the head, snapping her back to reality. Rainbow leaned over to whisper to her, “You should probably pay attention to this. I don’t know if I’ll be able to interpret any of this without you.”
Twilight blushed, “Oh, sorry.”
Meanwhile, Soarin was continuing his story, oblivious to his audience’s antics. “And that was when I finally introduced myself to Applehat-”
“Applejack.”
“Right, Applesnack. So, she made me a few more pies and they were sooooo good.” He paused as thoughts of those delicious pies came back to him. He could practically taste the sweet treats as his tongue fell out of his mouth. A sudden series of nudges and pokes from Pinkie snapped him out of his reverie. “So, then Sweetie and I got to talking about stuff and she said that I totally had to come back to Ponyville again-”
“Wait. Pinkie, how come you didn’t tell me when Soarin came to town?” Rainbow interjected. “You know how I am about the Wonderbolts.”
Pinkie laughed, much to Rainbow’s confusion. “Yeah, but I also know how you are with Twilight. I figured you’d rather spend time with her than just follow Soarin around to look for a pie.”
Rainbow shrunk back a bit. As much as she had been disappointed to think she’d missed out on a chance to hang out with one of her idols, the idea of just finding a pie for him to eat was hardly how she would have wanted to spend time with him. She was also mildly disappointed that Pinkie seemed to know her better than she knew herself in that moment.
“So that’s basically, how we met.” Soarin spoke, finishing his story with a smile.
Twilight nodded, “So then how did you two end up dating?”
“Oh, that’s a fun story” The couple replied in unison. They turned to each other and broke out laughing.
Twilight mentally groaned. She was already getting a bad feeling about this.
“So, the Bolts have been super busy lately. We’ve had a ton of back-to-back performances scheduled, so we had all planned to make this week a big vacation for the whole team. I wrote Sweetie a letter a while back telling her about it so she could make plans to be free.”
“And then he came down here on Sunday, when you two were busy with the Princesses.” Pinkie added.
Soarin cocked a brow, turning his head, “Wait, the Princesses were here on Sunday?”
“Yes, they were, but how did you know that, Pinkie?” Twilight replied.
“Oh, that’s easy. It was-”
“I swear, if you say you have a Pinkie Sense combo for that-”
“Don’t be silly, Twilight.” Pinkie giggled, “Spike told me. He said it was something super duper important and for me to make sure I didn’t have any surprise parties planned for you two that day.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Rainbow remarked casually.
Twilight scowled briefly. I told Spike not to tell anypony. I’ll have to talk to him about it later.
“Anyway,” Soarin continued, “I asked Sweetie where we could go to have some fun.”
“And we went over to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack would makes us some more of her awesome pies.”
“So, we got to the park and there were all kinds of ponies playing games and stuff.”
“But when we got there Big Mac said that AJ was out on a date. A date! Can you believe it!?” Pinkie exclaimed, hopping a short distance forward for emphasis. “I mean, I thought she left that party all alone. How could she not tell me she found a date?” Pinkie’s expression shifted to a very disappointed looking frown.
“So I turned to Sweetie and asked her if she wanted to play a game and she jabbed me in the ribs and shouted ‘Tag! You’re it!’ before dashing away.” Soarin’s eyes flared with excitement as he recounted his game of tag with Pinkie.
“I mean, how can I throw her a ‘congratulations on finding a date’ party if she doesn’t tell me she found a date?” Pinkie continued to ramble.
Are they even talking about the same thing? Twilight pondered as she tried to keep up with the rapid back-and-forth retelling of what seemed to be two entirely different stories.
“So, being as fast as I am, I thought I’d give her a fair chance and not start off flying. I took off on hoof and chased her all over the place.” The tone of excitement in Soarin’s voice escalated.
“Anyway, so we decided to go see if we could find Applejack and tag along with her. We trotted off back to town and started asking around, cause Big Mac had no idea where AJ was going on her date. It was time for reconnaissance, Pinkie Pie Style!” The pinkie mare’s eyes flared to life at her exclamation. She was really immersing herself in the story.
“After a few minutes of chasing her, I realized I wasn’t actually gaining any ground on her. Crazy, right? But seriously, she pretty quick. It was time to kick things into high gear. I took off flying and it looked like I’d be able to catch her.”
“And then we went asking around at all the good places for a date, but all we ever heard was that we had just missed her. It was so crazy. I mean, they were all over town. It must have been like the most amazing date ever and they just didn’t want to let it end or something.”
“So, right as I was about to catch her, she just suddenly turned around and hopped right over me! I’ve never seen an earth pony with that kind of reaction time. So I had to come back around and start chasing her again, which is harder than you think. Even when I was flying I could barely gain ground on her.”
“And after spending like all day or something looking for her we gave up and decided to wait for her at Sweet Apple Acres. We headed back over to the farm and somehow ended up talking with Granny Smith. I’m not really sure what happened, but I recall asking about pies, and there were tons of pies, cause you know she’s an amazing baker, right?”
“So after I got reoriented, I couldn’t spot her anywhere! She turned our game from tag into hide-and-seek. It was so crafty, but I was up for the challenge. I took off and started checking all the trees and bushes around the park.”
“And we started talking about how he’s been totally burned out on all those stuffy social events in Cloudsdale and Canterlot. Turns out he’s not much of the party type, so much as he’s the par-tay type of pony. And I totally knew how he felt, cause the Gala was sooo boring and stuffy; it wasn’t even a real party.”
“And no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find her anywhere. How hard could it be to find a bright pink mare in a green park?”
“That’s when I told him he should spend some more time with me, cause I know what a real party is. It’s all about having fun with your friends.”
“I decided to take a break, and sit under a tree for a bit while I formulated a strategy. Suddenly, she ambushed me and fell right on top of me! I could have sworn I checked that tree at least five times, but there she was.”
Suddenly, the couple began talking in unison. “And that was when I stared into his/her eyes. They were so beautiful. And I said ‘wanna go out sometime?’ and he/she said ‘Sure.’ And that’s how we started dating!” They finished their story with an excited burst before realizing that they had once again been talking in unison. The pair began laughing at the silly coincidence.
“Twi?” Rainbow spoke up through the laughter.
“What?”
“Did you understand any of that?”
“Unless they were talking about two entirely separate events, no.”
“Were they?”
“No clue.”
Pinkie suddenly bounced over to the bed. Her voice took on a motherly tone, “Okie dokie loki, you two. Story time is over, and it’s time for sick fillies to get some rest.”
“And what if we aren’t tired?” Rainbow asked.
“Then you need some soup!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Hey, Spike is the fridge stocked!”
“Yes!” Spike shouted back.
“Alright, you two wait here while I make something yummy for those grumbling tummies.” Pinkie hopped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Well, I am kind of hungry.” Twilight remarked.
Soarin suddenly found himself alone with the sick mares. Rather than standing in idle silence, he decided to strike up a conversation. One topic immediately sprung to mind. “So, how long have you two been together?”
Twilight was caught off guard by the sudden question. “Oh, er, about seven months now.” She fumbled to force out the right words. Being sick and hungry was not helping her think very well.
“Cool. Still, I know a few guys who are gonna be disappointed to hear about that.”
That was a pretty rude remark... “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow snapped.
Soarin quickly realized his mistake, “Oh, no, not like that. I mean I know a few stallions on the team who were keeping their eyes on you, Dash.”
“W-what?” Rainbow couldn’t help but blush at the news.
“Hey, don’t act too surprised.” Soarin replied. “You gotta admit, a mare that can do a sonic rainboom on command is definitely worth a Bolt’s time. Besides, you’re rather good-looking as it is.” His eyes quickly shifted to the doorway. “Just don’t tell Sweetie I said that.”
“Be that as it may, I’d appreciate it if you could tell your teammates that she’s off the market.” Twilight remarked with a matter-of-fact tone.
“Of course. It wouldn’t look good if the press found out a Bolt was chasing an attached pony.”
“D-do, you really mean that?” Rainbow asked, her voice quavering slightly.
Soarin gave her a confused look. “Uh, yeah. It’s pretty bad for our image to be seen trying to steal somepony’s partner.”
“No, I mean do you really think I’m pretty?” Dash replied. Immediately she noticed Twilight’s glare.
Soarin stood silent, not quite certain how to respond. He had meant that remark as a simple compliment, even if it was true. “Uh, no offense, Dash, but why does it matter what I think of your looks?”
Rainbow slid back off of her perched position over Twilight. She averted her gaze, “I guess it doesn’t. It’s... just not something I expected to hear from one of my idols.”
“Yeah, sure. Look, I’m gonna go help Sweetie with that soup.” He replied, a slight edge of nervousness in his voice, as he slipped out of the room.
Twilight turned over to face Rainbow Dash. She may have been confused and a bit upset, but she did her best not to sound angry. “Rainbow, what was that about?”
Rainbow kept her gaze averted. “J-Just what I said. It’s not every day your idol tells you that you look good.”
Twilight noticed that Rainbow wasn’t looking at her. It wasn’t a sign that she liked. “Rainbow-”
Rainbow Dash immediately interrupted her, “Hey, how would you feel if Celestia said you looked pretty?” She snapped.
Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash incredulously, “Uh, I’d feel a bit creeped out.”
Rainbow thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah, I guess that would be kind of awkward.”
“Considering she’s like a second mother to me, yes, yes it would.” Twilight continued to watch her partner as they sat in silence, hoping to see something that would clue her in to Rainbow’s mood. Oh, Rainbow... why are you still trying to hide your feelings from me? I wish she’d just tell me what was bothering her.
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Pinkie Pie bearing two bowls of fresh soup. “Here you go!” Pinkie happily exclaimed. “I just followed Spike’s recipe book. Good thing too, cause I don’t actually know much about soups. Cupcakes on the other hoof, oh boy can I tell you about those?”
Twilight and Rainbow took the soup and set to work on it immediately.
“Well, can I?” Pinkie asked.
Twilight shot the pink mare a strange look. “Can you what?”
“Tell you about cupcakes, duh.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine, go ahead.” She hoped that eventually Pinkie’s babbling would descend into the realm of white noise and help her fall asleep after she finished the soup.
The rest of the day was relatively unexciting. Pinkie and Soarin stuck around for most of the day, either talking with Twilight or Rainbow about things, or playing a few games to pass the time while the two sick mares took a nap. More than once they found themselves kissing and hugging. Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly quiet when doing so, much to the chagrin of Twilight. Rainbow proved to be a much heavier sleeper.
Oh, and Spike got his chores done.
Eventually, Pinkie and Soarin bid their farewells and went home for the night. They didn’t want to be up too late. There was still most of a week to spend together and the pair seemed adamant on wanting to get an early start for the next day.
Twilight awoke the next day to the sound of Spike receiving a letter. Thankfully, she felt much better today. It seemed that whatever she and Rainbow had come down with was a fairly temporary illness. Good thing too, she had a lot to make up for after missing a full day.
She grabbed the letter with her magic and unfurled it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
We hope you are doing well, it has been a while since your last letter and your father and I are a bit worried about you. I know this is sudden, but today was the only chance we have to come and visit. We should be arriving by train this afternoon. Your brother will be coming with us. Again, sorry for the lack of notice. Can’t wait to catch up with all that you’ve been doing recently. I hope you’ve found a nice stallion. Your brother is being very resistant about giving me some grandfoals, so it would be wonderful if you could help out with that.
Love,
Mom
Twilight blanched. “Oh, right... I forgot to send that letter telling them about Rainbow.”
“You sent who a letter about me?” Rainbow groggily rose from the bed. She stretched a few times before walking over to Twilight to see what she was reading.
After finishing the letter, Rainbow looked to Twilight. “So, I’m guessing that came in this morning?”
“Yeah, just a minute ago.”
“Any idea how you’re going to break it to your mother?”
“No.”