Arc sits on the couch in a nice button down shirt and khakis. Applejack walks downstairs in very much the same. Standing before him, she puts her hands on her hips and smiles nervously.
“How’s this?”
Arc nods approvingly as he stands up. “You look pretty good in that.”
Applejack grins. “Really?!”
“Would I lie to you?”
Applejack chuckles. “It probably wouldn’t work too well, I suppose. Element of Honesty, and all.”
“Ready to get moving?”
“Sure. Uh… where are we going though?”
Arc chuckles as stands. “I know a place a ways away with really good food. That is, if you don’t mind a bit of a drive.”
“That’d be fine. It’ll give me more time to work up an appetite.”
Arc grabs his keys. “Then let’s get going.”
The pair head out the door and get in the Jeep. As Arc turns down the road he speaks.
“I think you’ll like where we’re going. It’s a pizza place run by an old friend of my family.”
“Roberto’s?”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “You know about that?”
“Scootaloo told us about it. Said you took Hammer’s sister there to get her to help you.”
“Yeah. Um… did she tell you the rest of that story?”
“You mean the blackmail part?”
Arc sighs. “It sounds bad, I know. But…”
Applejack interrupts him. “I understand what you were trying to do then, Arc. While yes it does sound a bit… sketchy, especially when you forced her to go places with you, I’m sure you gave the matter a lot of thought before implementing that course of action.”
Arc sighs.” Not really.”
“Huh?”
“In truth, it was just the first thing that popped into my head. You know I didn’t hurt her or force her into any really bad situations, though.”
“Yeah, well… things like that just don’t sit the best with me. But Hammer’s safe with us now and everything turned out okay, I suppose.”
“She was actually just fine with what I did too. That actually came as a bit of a surprise to me.”
“Hammer’s really dedicated to you, yes. But I think that might not be the best thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“That her level of loyalty may be clouding her judgement.”
Arc nods. “I suppose she does have some tunnel vision issues.”
“Agreed. But let me put it this way, Arc. Let’s say you were trying to help me and decided to coerce Apple Bloom into assisting you with your plans. While I’d be glad that you were trying to help me, I’d also be pretty upset about you making her do something against her will.”
Arc sighs. “You’re right. What I did wasn’t exactly something the Hero of Light should be doing.”
Applejack puts a hand on his arm. “Look, all I’m saying is that you really shouldn’t do things like that in the future. It’s a really slippery slope, after all. A little deception here, a lie there and before you know it the situation’s gotten out of hoof… hand.”
“I’ll do my best to avoid things like that from now on.”
Applejack smiles. That’s all I ask.
Sometime later they arrive at Roberto’s Pizza. Entering, Arc leads Applejack up to the counter where a hostess greets them.
“Welcome. Table for two?”
“Actually I have the private dining room reserved.”
“Alright. Right this way please.”
Escorting the pair to the room, she opens the door for them and steps aside.
“Everything is ready. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make you’re dining experience more enjoyable.”
“Thanks.”
They enter and close the door behind them. Arc leads Applejack over to the table and pulls out her chair.
“Here we are. Dinner for two.”
Applejack smiles nervously as she sits down. “Th-thank you.”
Pouring her a glass of water, Arc uses his magic to levitate a large pizza pan over to them. Applejack looks to him, concerned.
“Um… there ain’t any animal flesh on here, is there?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nope. Just dough, mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce. I hope that’s okay.”
Applejack appears relieved. “That sounds just fine.”
“Can I serve you one slice or two?”
“Just one please.”
Using the spatula, Arc puts a single large slice on her plate before doing the same for himself. As he sits down he returns the pan to the warming tray with a spell before picking up a salad bowl nearby.
“Salad?”
Applejack nods. “Sure.”
Serving them both, he sets the bowl down as Applejack reaches for her fork. She looks the pizza over carefully.
“Not really sure how to go about this.”
“Oh?”
“How do humans eat pizza? Do we have to cut it up first?”
Arc shakes his head. “No, you just pick it up. Like this.”
Doing so, Arc blows on it for a few moments before taking a small bite.
“Just have to be a bit careful not to burn the roof of your mouth.”
“So… I just kinda… put my ho… hand under it?”
“Yes. Just be sure to support it with your fingers spread out or it’ll droop.”
Nodding, Applejack picks up her pizza. Carefully looking it over for a few moments, she takes a small bite. Smiling, she takes a few more and chews quickly before speaking.
“It’s great!”
Arc chuckles. “Better than the kind I made?”
“Well… yeah. Sorry, just being honest.”
“I agree. Roberto’s been making pizza his whole life though and has a perfected recipe to work from.”
Applejack smiles anxiously. “Not to say your pizza back home wasn’t good, Arc. It’s just… different.”
“Maybe someday I’ll get around to tweaking it properly.”
“Another thing to add to the retirement bucket list?”
Arc laughs. “Yup!”
“Think I could help?”
“Sure. The more the merrier.”
“I’ll probably be doing most of the cooking for the herd. After all, the others aren’t much for such things.”
“While I’m not a master chef I do know my way around the kitchen too. So you and I will probably be spending a lot of time in there together.”
“I’d like that, I think. Well… when you’re not off fighting for Equestria, I mean.”
“Hopefully that’s more or less behind us. I really don’t like having to do that sort of thing.”
“Me either. After all, it’s dangerous!”
“No arguments there. That and I’d much rather be with you and the others raising Dinky, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”
Applejack giggles. “That wouldn’t be as exciting though.”
Arc shrugs. “True. But it would be just as rewarding.”
“So you’re really planning to go through with the whole retirement thing?”
“I am, yes.”
“Can I ask why?”
“Because I want to be a full time father and husband.”
“But don’t you like the excitement and thrills of your job?”
“I suppose so. However it’s not fair for me to marry all of you while still travelling the world as the Hero of Light.”
“How so?”
“Think about it. I barely have time for you and the others as it stands. How much less would I be able to give as a husband to so many mares?”
“We just don’t want to hold you back from that lifestyle if that’s what you enjoy though.”
“Thanks, but my mind’s made up on this.”
Applejack smiles. “That’s… really encouraging.”
“It is?”
“You’re willing to give up so much power and influence to be there for the others and I.”
“I want to settle down and raise a family. And I can’t do that running all over the place as the Hero of Light.”
“A family. You mean foals?”
“Yeah.”
Applejack looks away nervously as she toys with her hair. “Sorry, but I… I don’t really know if I’m ready to commit to that. I know what I said to you on the Observation Deck a while back and all, but…”
Arc interrupts. “That’s fine. To be Honest with you, at this point neither am I.”
“But you said…”
“Yes, I do want foals. But I want to be one-hundred percent sure the relationship, or relationships in this case, are really something we all want to happen before taking the big step of trying to have kids together.”
“Good! I… I was kinda worried about that.”
“Scared?”
Applejack nods. “Yeah. Well… I… I know I do want a family at some point in the future, of course. But at the same time I’m not ready for one yet. Apple Bloom still needs her big sister, after all.”
“It’s fine. We all need to get to know one another first anyways. Which is why I’m insisting on a long engagement and dates like this one.”
“All of us have a lot of growing to do, after all. Emotionally, I mean. Not physically.”
“So why don’t we do that now?”
“Do what?”
Arc pulls the pizza pan to himself. “Get to know each other.”
Applejack appears skittish as he puts a fresh slice of pizza on her plate. “What do you want to know?”
Arc shrugs as he puts the pan back. “Just general knowledge, I suppose. Why don’t you start with telling me what you like?”
“That’s easy. Apples!”
Arc chuckles. “I mean other than food.”
“Oh… uh… I like working hard.”
“That much we’ve all seen from you, Applejack. But right now I’d like to learn things about you so as to understand what makes you tick.”
“I don’t really know what to say though.”
“Well… how about your hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”
Arc nods. “Yeah. What do you do other than work?”
“But there’s always work to be done.”
“What if you had a day off?”
Applejack raises an eyebrow. “With no work?”
“Right. Say you could do anything else. What would it be?”
“Well… I guess I’d… spend some time with the others.”
“Doing what?”
“Whatever they wanted to do.”
“Anything else?”
“Other than that, I’d probably spend the day in the kitchen trying to improve on some old family recipes.”
Arc grins. “So you enjoy cooking?”
Applejack nods. “Love it actually.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s just so nice watching someone eat something I made. Making others happy makes me happy.”
“Is that why you’d just go along with what the others wanted to do?”
Applejack shrugs. “I dunno. Guess I never really thought about it before.”
“Like going to the spa with Rarity?”
“She told you about that, huh?”
“It did come up in conversation, yes. I’m told you spent a lot of the day trying to help fix things for others.”
“But I enjoy it!”
“And that’s fine, Applejack. However I believe you need to think more about yourself sometimes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember earlier when you told me how you were originally going to stay with Granny Smith while the others went to Canterlot?”
“What about it?”
“Is that really what you wanted to do?”
“Kinda.”
“Kinda?”
Applejack sighs. “Part of me wanted to stay by her side, yes. But another part wanted to join my friends in helping run the country along with Twilight. And as you know I couldn’t exactly do both.”
“Then there was the time those two con-artists came to town peddling a cure-all tonic.”
Applejack groans. “Flim and Flam?”
“I’m told you found out they were just using apple juice for the tonic and wanted to tell the truth about it.”
“Right. But at the same time I didn’t want to take the joy everyone was getting from believing they could do things thanks to the tonic.”
“So you wanted to make everyone feel better about themselves?”
“Something like that.”
“And then there was the time you tried to harvest all the apples in the orchard by yourself.”
Applejack sighs. “That didn’t go so well.”
“From what I heard, no. But why did you do that?”
“Partially to prove to everyone that I could do it myself. That I wasn’t a little filly anymore.”
“But that wasn’t the whole reason, was it?”
Applejack shakes her head. “No. In truth, I… I didn’t want to put anyone out.”
“You mean that you didn’t want to take them away from their own tasks?”
“Right. We’re all fully grown mares with our own jobs and responsibilities. If they were to help me I’d be putting them behind schedule. At least that’s what I told myself at the time.”
“But you did eventually give in and ask for help.”
“Right. However not until I realized that there was no possible way I could do the job on my own.”
Arc sighs. “I understand.”
Applejack appears surprised. “You do?”
“Yes. Remember I’m also a workaholic whom has trouble asking others for help.”
“But I don’t work THAT hard!”
Arc narrows his eyes and looks at her silently for a time. Eventually Applejack bows her head and nods.
“Alright, alright… maybe I do work too hard. But that’s only because there’s so much to do and not much time.”
“I’m not blaming you for being who you are, Applejack. But, like you, I had to admit that I had a problem before anything would change.”
“Is it really a problem though?”
“I would say so, yes. Think about it this way. Let’s say that I just worked and worked for years at a time as the Hero of Light. Eventually I’d become more distant from you, the others, and Dinky. Eventually so much that the feelings we have for one another could fade.”
“You think that could happen to me?”
“Could be. Now then, you owe it to them AND yourself to sometimes put the brakes on things and take some time for yourself.”
“That’s not going to be easy.”
“I suppose not. But look at it this way. I had to take time out of my schedule to make this date happen, as did you. How does that make you feel?”
“Really good actually. It shows that I’m important to you.”
“Right. We’re spending quality time alone to get to know one another better. After all, we need to figure out if this relationship is something we want to take to the next level.”
“Next level?”
Arc nods. “That means moving along in the relationship. Going from friends to dating, that is.”
“But aren’t we already dating?”
“Kinda, I suppose. However there’s more levels to a relationship to get to.”
“Like what?”
“Well… from dating we would move onto becoming a couple. That means that we’re publicly seeing each other. In a normal relationship that would mean it would be inappropriate for either of us to see others romantically.”
“But that isn’t the case for us though, right?”
“Correct. Since it’s a herd that complicates things, as I’m supposed to be doing the same to the others.”
“So let’s say we get to the couple’s level. What’s next?”
“After that would be what’s known as the ‘serious relationship’ category. It’s when you’ve been dating the same person for a long time and know them really well.
Applejack appears suddenly nervous. “Does it involve… you know…?”
“Intimacy?”
Applejack blushes. “Yes.”
“It can, yes. Some couples move in together at that point and start cohabitating. Sharing possessions, food, and money with one another.”
“So it’s kinda like being married?”
“Sorta. The next stage would be engagement which, as you know, is just the time you spend figuring out the important details of life after you get married. Where to live, if you’re going to have kids, who’s going to do what, and so on.”
“And after that is marriage?”
“Right. But any step could last any amount of time as well as remain there.”
“Remain?”
“Not all couples decide to get married, after all. Some just stop at, for example, being a couple. They cohabitate and share things, of course. But at the same time they don’t have any interest in getting married.”
“That doesn’t sound like something I’d be interested in.”
“Me either. But we all do what we believe is best.”
“Right. I want to get married at some point though. Even if it’s along with other mares, of course.”
“That’s what I want too. After we all figure out what we want, that is.”
Applejack smiles at him. “I like that about you, Arc. Always so Honest with us. Putting things right out there.”
“I do that to try and avoid complications later.”
“Oh?”
“Let’s say, just for the sake of an example mind you, that all of us just went ahead and got married without figuring things out first. We’d all be wanting to do our own thing and go in different directions in the relationship. It’d probably end in a number of screaming matches between everyone.”
Applejack shudders. “Or at the very least a big fight.”
“No one would win either. It’d probably lead to some serious talks, something we should have done before getting married, or some of you leaving me and the others.”
Applejack sighs. “I’d hate to see that happen to any of us. After all, I really like you AND the others.”
“Yeah. I can’t imagine you six especially splitting up.”
“Thanks for taking these precautions, Arc.”
Arc grins as he levitates the pizza pan back over to them. “What kind of future husband would I be if I did anything else?”
Sometime later they leave the restaurant and start the drive back to the house. Applejack turns to him and smiles.
“Thanks for dinner, Arc. It was great.”
“You’re welcome.”
Applejack grins. “Next time I’ll treat you to dinner.”
Arc chuckles. “Sure thing. And I’ll try to volunteer more information about myself.”
“Huh?”
“Looking back at this evening, we didn’t really talk much about our inner-selves. Something we really should be doing if this herd idea is going to work.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Pulling into the driveway just as the streetlights turn on, Arc and Applejack get out of the Jeep and enter the house together. Turning on the kitchen light, he closes and locks the door behind them.
“Well, this date certainly didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
“Me either. I thought we’d get a bit to eat at a local Canterlot restaurant and maybe find a nice park to take a walk in… or something.”
“Guess Celestia had different plans though, what with her so-called science experiment.”
Applejack smiles at him. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll be sure to give her a glowing report.”
“Thanks.”
“Just being honest. And as long as I am… I need to tell you something, Arc.”
“What is it?”
“Even if it didn’t go the way you had envisioned, I really enjoyed our talk tonight. And I wanted to thank you for helping put my mind at ease.”
“Second thoughts?”
“Not exactly. I was just feeling a bit… overwhelmed at the idea of a herd.”
“If you don’t want to join it, I completely understand, Applejack.”
“Oh, I do! But… it’s just really hard to think of us being something more than just friends.”
“We can take this as slow as you want. After all, rushing things won’t help anyone.”
“Thanks, sugarcube. I think I’ll take you up on that slow moving bit.”
Arc motions toward the stairs. “Well then, why don’t we head upstairs and get changed?”
Applejack nods and looks down at her clothes. “Good idea. Wouldn’t want Princess Celestia to think I was ungrateful for that dress.”
Leading the way upstairs, they part ways and head to their respective rooms. Emerging sometime later Arc grins as he looks over Applejack.
“You really do look nice in that dress.”
Applejack giggles. “And you look amazing in your outfit too.”
Arc leads Applejack down the stairs to the Living room before looking to his ring.
“Well, I suppose we’d better report back to Canterlot.”
“Yes. Enough of a good thing.”
Reaching for his ring, Arc pulls out the Rainbow of Light and looks it over before turning back to Applejack.
“Here we go.”
Channeling his magic into the pendant, Arc holds it out and waits for the portal to open. However nothing happens. Applejack raises an eyebrow.
“Um… I’m assuming something was supposed to happen.”
Arc nods as he shakes the pendant. “A portal was supposed to open.”
Thinking for a moment, he snaps his fingers.
“I just must be doing something wrong. Let me ask.”
Taking a deep breath, Arc speaks.
“Grandpa, can you hear me?”
Again silence reigns in the room. Applejack looks to the pendant.
“Why don’t you just try again?”
“I guess so.”
Doing as suggested, Arc meets with the same failure. Frowning, he calls out again.
“Grandpa. I need some advice here.”
Sighing as the hologram doesn’t appear he turns back to Applejack.
“Guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”
“What’s that?”
“Have someone summon us back with the Crystal Mirror.”
Reaching for his earring, Arc speaks.
“Arc to Sunburst.”
Nothing happens as Arc tries again.
“Arc to Lemon Hearts. Arc to... Canterlot? Anyone out there?”
Silence ensues. Applejack appears suddenly nervous.
“What’s going on, Arc?”
“I’m not sure. No one’s answering me.”
Applejack gasps. “Are we... are we stuck here?!”
“Kinda. But don’t worry. As soon as morning arrives, and we’re not back yet, I’m sure Twilight and our friends will start a search party.”
“But they don’t know we’re here on Earth! Remember, they thought Celestia was just sending us on a simple date!”
“True. But when they don’t hear from us I’m sure Twilight’s first reaction will be to ask Celestia if she knows where we went.”
“Do you think she’ll tell her though?”
“Probably. At least as soon as Twilight becomes frantic, that is.”
“You’re probably right. But what should we do in the meantime?”
“Nothing more to be done tonight. Might as well head to bed.”
Applejack blushes heavily. “B-bed?!”
“You can take the Guest Room if you want.”
“Oh. I thought you meant… us getting in bed together.”
“Not if you’re not ready for that.”
Applejack appears relieved. “Thanks. I… I’m sorry, but that’s just too much right now.”
“No reason to apologize. Now then, how about I walk you to your room?”
Applejack nods sleepily. “That’d be nice. I didn’t realize just how tired I was until now.”
“This way.”
Leading Applejack up the stairs again, they walk into the bedroom together. Arc opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt before turning to his friend.
I think you’ll find this to be a bit more comfortable than a dress for sleeping.”
Applejack nods as she accepts the clothes. “Thanks. Wouldn’t want to wrinkle these.”
“Now then, I’ll be just down the hall if you need something. You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“Come get me if you need anything.”
Applejack nods as he leaves the room. Closing the door behind him, Applejack changes into the new clothes, turns off the lights, and lies down to stare at the ceiling. Sighing, she mutters to herself.
“This just doesn’t make any sense. Why can’t we get home? Or call for someone at the very least.”
She yawns and rolls over.
“Well, I’m sure eventually Twilight will figure out what happened and come for us.”