“G-good evening, Princess Celestia.”
Arc looks at the figure before him for a long moment. Eventually Celestia steps forward and clears her throat loudly.
“Ahem!”
Arc jumps slightly at the sound of her voice. “Huh?”
“Is something wrong?”
“I… I don’t…”
“Come now. You should greet your date.”
Arc takes a deep breath. Looking at them in the dim light for a few moments he eventually finds his voice.
“A-Applejack? Is… is that really you?!”
Nodding, she steps forward silently. Leaving the shadows cast by the tree’s massive frame, Applejack steps out onto the path. As the weak light from the setting sun hits her, it confirms what Arc thought. Applejack, now a young human woman, stands before him on two legs nervously.
“G-good evening, Princess Celestia.”
Celestia nods cordially. “And good evening to you too, my dear. I’m glad to see you holding up.”
Arc frowns. “Holding…?”
“The air is a bit cool this evening.”
Applejack nods. “I’m fine.”
She turns to Arc for a moment before looking away nervously.
“Do… do I look okay?”
“Y-yeah. Great actually.”
Celestia clears her throat as she steps between the pair. “Now then, I’ve taken the liberty of organizing something very special for you two tonight.”
Applejack appears surprised. “You… you have?”
“Oh yes. After all, I want this to be a proper test.”
Arc narrows his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”
“For you two to have absolute freedom of movement in a very… special environment.”
Applejack speaks up. “I don’t understand, your highness. You said you planned something, but that we’re supposed to just do whatever.”
Arc nods skeptically. “Yeah. Which is it?”
Celestia smiles warmly. “Both, actually. But before we do anything else I need to go over the ground rules.”
Applejack tilts her head to one side, confused. “There are rules?”
“Of course, my dear. This is an experiment, after all.”
Arc groans. “Fine. What are they?”
“First of all, both of you are free to do whatever comes naturally.
She turns to Arc and frowns before continuing.
“During this experiment literally anything goes. Assuming you have consent, of course.”
Arc rolls his eyes. “You apparently have a very low opinion of me.”
“Second… you may have as long or short a date as you wish.”
Applejack grins. “No time limit. Got it.”
“Third… the experiment is over when you return here.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “You mean Canterlot Castle?”
“I mean exactly what I said I meant. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Applejack appears confused. “That’s pretty specific.”
Arc frowns. “Agreed. What exactly are you up to?”
Celestia waves a hoof dismissively before looking to Arc. “All will be understood in due time. But first I need your help.”
“My help?”
Celestia smiles. “Well, both of you actually.”
Applejack grimaces. “With what?”
“A very special spell.”
Arc sighs. “What do we have to do?”
“First, both of you close your eyes.”
Applejack shrugs. “Well… alright.”
She does so as Arc frowns. Celestia rolls her eyes.
“I said both of you.”
“Remember our earlier conversation?”
“Yes. And you have my word that you will not be harmed.”
Applejack opens one eye and looks to him. “I know you’re a bit skittish about this, Arc. So… how about I take your hand?”
“Well… okay.”
Reaching out, Arc carefully takes Applejack’s hand in his as he closes his eyes. Celestia’s horn glows brightly, eventually filling the entire garden with light brighter than day. A loud ‘pop’ is heard before everything is suddenly silent for a few moments. The sound of birdsong fills the air as a warm breeze washes over Arc’s face. Opening his eyes he looks around for a few moments before gasping.
“What the…?! Applejack!”
She opens her eyes and looks around, dumbfounded.
“Where… are we?”
“This is… this is my house back on Earth!”
“What?! But… but how?!”
“I have no idea! Sunburst dismantled the S.P.E.A.R. a long time ago! This shouldn’t be possible!”
Applejack looks around nervously. “Does that mean there’s no way home for us?!”
Arc shakes his head as he reaches for his ring. “Not to worry. I have a way home thanks to Cherry’s pendant.”
Pulling out the Rainbow of Light, he holds it up and looks to Applejack.
“I’ll have us back to Equestria before you can say…”
Applejack gasps. “WAIT!!!”
“What is it?”
“That thing’ll take us back to the castle, right?!”
“Back to Equestria at least. Why?”
“Don’t you get it?! That’ll end the date!”
Arc clenches a fist angrily. “Celestia. Very clever of her. We go back now and the date will be over.”
“You think she was trying to get you to do just that?”
“Maybe. But I don’t think Twilight would have been satisfied with a test that short.”
Applejack chuckles nervously. “Yeah. Not enough data.”
Arc turns to Applejack and sighs. “I know this must be a lot to take in all at once. So if you want to head back home and forget this whole thing…”
Applejack interrupts him. “Nah. Let’s just go with it.”
“Go with what?”
“I said I’d go out with you. So let’s go out.”
“Okay. What do you want to do?”
“Anything you’d like.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Well… not sure exactly what you’d enjoy here on Earth.”
“How about a walk?”
“A walk?”
Applejack grins. “Sure. I’d love to see the countryside of another world.”
“How about a drive in the country then?”
“What’s a… ‘drive’?”
“I’ll show you.”
Taking Applejack’s arm, he leads her toward the garage door. Pulling his keys from the magic ring Arc pushes a button. The door slowly begins to open revealing the Jeep. Applejack gasps.
“So this is the steel wagon Dinky was telling us about!”
“I guess you could call it that. It’s known as a Jeep though.”
“And we can go see things in this, right?!”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Walking Applejack over to the passenger side, he opens the door for her. After helping her in and buckling the young woman in (safety first) Arc heads for the driver’s seat. Starting the vehicle he pulls out of the driveway slowly. Applejack grins as they turn onto the road.
“This is amazing!”
“It’ll take some time to get to the country. Even though we’re on the edge of town it’s a lot bigger than Ponyville.”
“I got all day, Arc!”
Driving, they soon leave the pavement. The buildings behind them give way to fields of wildflowers and pastures. Applejack’s face is glued to the windows as they continue along.
“These pastures are just so… so BIG!”
“Everything on Earth is bigger than what you’re used to. Trees, crops, buildings…”
“Ponies!”
Arc nods. “Yes, them too I suppose.”
Applejack shakes her head. “No, no! PONIES!!!”
She points a finger to a barn some distance back from the road. A fenced in area holds numerous horses. Spotting the Jeep, they start galloping along the fence next to the road. Applejack watches intently.
“So fast!”
“Longer legs and stronger muscles will do that.”
“Is that their top speed?!”
Arc grins. “Nah, they can go a lot faster. And so can we.”
Pressing his foot down, the vehicle accelerates. The horses do the same and keep pace. Applejack laughs heartily as she calls out to them.
“YEE HAW! “
Arc chuckles as the horses slow as they approach the fence at the edge of the property line and stop. Applejack grabs his arm.
“Can we go back and do that again?!”
“Sure, if you want to. But we’re actually on the way to a very special place.”
“Oh? Where?”
“An apple orchard.”
Applejack gasps happily. “Like we have back home?”
“Not exactly. You still interested?”
“Sure!”
She turns around and yells at the horses in the distance.
“See you fellas later!”
They continue driving for some time. Eventually Arc points.
“There it is.”
Applejack’s eyes light up as they turn off the main road and down a dirt path. Rows and rows of apple trees stand there silently as Arc pulls up to an old driveway and parks off to one side. Opening their doors the smells of the old orchard fill their nostrils. Arc motions with a wave of his hand as he turns to Applejack.
“I give you… an apple orchard.”
Applejack grins as she walks toward a tree and looks up. “It’s HUGE!”
Her foot hits a soft spot in the dirt and sinks. Unprepared, Applejack falls to the ground as Arc hurries over to her.
“Applejack! You okay?!”
Applejack nods as Arc helps her up. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.”
Frowning, she lifts her dress a bit to expose a pair of high heel shoes.
“Darn human hooves.”
“They’re called feet. And it’s the shoes that did it.”
“It’s like walking on pegs!”
Arc frowns. “Why’d Celestia give you those things?! You’re not used to walking on your hind legs, much less with things like that!”
Applejack shrugs. “No idea. But I didn’t want to question her.”
Gasping, Applejack suddenly starts looking all around her. Arc appears confused.
“You drop something?”
“I didn’t get this dress dirty, did I?!”
“Doesn’t look like it, no.”
“Are you sure?! Look around the back for me, will you?!”
Stepping around her, Arc looks at the back of Applejack’s dress for a few moments before turning to her.
“All good back here.”
Applejack breathes a sigh of relief. “Good! This dress looks REALLY expensive, and all. I don’t want to bring it back to the princess in anything other than perfect condition!”
Arc sighs as he watches Applejack carefully step back onto the driveway. I wish you had some better footwear.
“At least something without the pegs would be nice.”
As she takes another step, Applejack suddenly yelps as her eyes grow wide. Turning, she falls against the hood of the Jeep. Arc steps forward and takes her arm to help steady her.
“What happened?!”
Applejack gasps. “I… I dunno. Think maybe I stepped in something again.”
Lifting her dress slightly, she frowns.
“What the…?”
“Something wrong, Applejack?”
“Take a look!”
Bending down, Arc looks at her feet.
“That’s… strange.”
“What is it?”
“Your heels are gone.”
“Say what?”
“I mean you have on regular dress slippers now.”
Applejack gasps. “How… did you do that?”
“Wasn’t me.”
Applejack takes a few steps. “That’s a lot easier to walk on.”
“At least it worked out.”
“Yeah. Say, is it okay for us to be here?”
“At the orchard?”
Applejack nods. “Right. We didn’t go up to the house and say ‘hi’ or nothing.”
“There’s no one there.”
“Oh? Off at work?”
Arc shakes his head. “Not exactly. You see, that mansion up the road has been empty for quite some time. The last surviving member of their family died a number of years ago.”
Applejack looks suddenly nervous. “Of what?!”
“Natural causes. She was eighty-nine, after all.”
“Oh… okay. So she’d be okay with us being here?”
“Sure. It was kinda a thing when I was a kid. At harvest time she would invite everyone from town to come and harvest whatever they wanted. Free of charge.”
“Nopony to pick em?”
“I heard that she used to hire laborers in the past. But that was decades ago.”
Reaching out a hand, Arc pulls an apple from the tree to himself with his magic. Holding it out to Applejack he smiles.
“Wanna try one?”
“Sure!”
Accepting the fruit, she takes a big bite. Chewing it, she swallows and looks at the apple.
“Kinda tart.”
Arc chuckles. “They’re usually used to make pies. I’ve always liked their tart flavor though as-is. You?”
“Actually, yeah. It’s definitely different from what we grow back home though.”
“They’re a lot sweeter.”
“I’m told that’s why they named it ‘Sweet Apple Acres’. Always thought that was kinda weird though.”
Chuckling, she holds up her apple and grins.
“After all, whoever heard of an apple the wasn’t sweet?”
“Yes, well… we do have sweet apples here on Earth. But nothing quite like yours from what I’ve tasted.”
Applejack looks around. “Do they have any other kinds here?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nah. All the trees here are the same species.”
“Could we try another orchard?”
“This is the only one in the area.”
“Darn!”
“But if you really want to, we could head to the grocery store. They have a bunch of different kinds of apples. Well, all kinds of different foods.”
“That does sound nice. But aren’t we supposed to be on a date.”
“I suppose so. However Celestia did say we could do whatever we wanted without a time limit.”
“Well, I’m sure there has to be somewhere else you’d rather go than shopping.”
“Nah. If you’re that interested in apples, I’ll buy you one of every kind they have.”
“Alright then. But only if you’re sure.”
Nodding, Arc leads Applejack back to the Jeep. Buckling up, he turns to her.
“Hey, um…”
“Something wrong, Arc?”
“Kinda. Sorry, but would you mind if we made a bit of a detour?”
“Sure. I just want to see whatever it is you want to show me.”
Arc sighs as he puts the Jeep in reverse. “Yeah…”