Arizona was in a cheerful mood after spending time with Clyde. He helped her get signed up for the Rodeo. The pony handling the tent was a grumpy jerk who looked hungover and angry with his life. Thankfully, Clyde straightened out the pony and got her on the list.
After that, Clyde asked to see her lasso skills by doing a practice run for the roping event. While she was confident, Clyde proved to be crafty in dodging her throws. Eventually, he showed her some tricks and tips, which proved very useful. After some more practice runs, Arizona had got her skills down and lowered her times.
And best of all, she got to spend more time with Clyde. Every time she managed to rope him and tie him up, she would catch a quick sniff of his scent. She felt practically like a hussy heifer but couldn’t resist the opportunity. And it was worth it, as his scent was wonderfully masculine and intoxicating.
She wasn’t caught and continued to practice with Clyde. They also practiced barrel weaving since it would be one of the first events. It was perfect until a pony came by and interrupted them. Arizona wanted to continue spending time with Clyde, but she could tell the pony needed Clyde for something.
Arizona sighed and thought, ”Oh, it was nice while it lasted. I wonder what kind of relationship that pony has with Clyde?”
The young heifer briefly wondered if Applejack was Clyde’s marefriend. She had shortly noticed the mare appeared irritated when practicing with Clyde. Arionza had learned while fighting the Predators that paying extra close attention to your side view was important. As Applejack approached the pen, Arizona saw the mare briefly stare at her.
And it wasn’t a flattering look at all. Arizona quickly shrugged it off as nothing and just her imagination.
”Naw, she couldn’t have been his marefriend. She was probably irritated her friend was helping out a fellow competitor. Yeah, that has to be it; she’s threatened by me. I still feel bad about her parents, though.”
None of that mattered to Arizona as she needed to learn how to cook with her Ma. Arizona had asked Clyde to come by her Aunt’s house in the evening to give him a gift. She had planned on baking him a treat to take home as thanks for his help and kindness. The young cow looked around town and took in the sights along the way home.
Another train rolled in and unloaded its passengers and cargo, presumably for the Rodeo. A more diverse group of creatures left the train and dispersed among the town, making it more packed than yesterday. That meant shops would be busier, and Arizona hoped her mother and Aunt had plenty of baking supplies. Shopping would be a more significant chore than necessary if they needed to purchase more.
It was times like this Arizona had wished she had her own money. Salt blocks were still the currency of Foenum, with Bits used for major group purchases, usually import and export trade. Arizona had a couple of salt blocks in her saddlebag, but she knew her parents would disapprove of trading them for Bits unless necessary. She snorted in frustration as she walked back home and wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking.
As she lamented being unable to buy stuff alone, she ran into a creature. She fell backwards and sat on her rump while shaking her head and getting her bearings. Standing before Arizona was her dad, who sported an expression of being caught red-hoofed. The cow got back up and said, “Pa! I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I thought you’d be back home talking with Dakota.”
Looking around and sweating, Texas came up with a lie and said, “Yeah, well...I needed to take a walk and see the town. Besides, he’s busy taking care of your Aunt. She wasn’t feeling well after breakfast and was resting when I left. Did you get signed up?”
Arizona ignored her dad’s out-of-character behavior and smiled and answered, “I sure did, Pa! Clyde helped me out. Some pony was being a rump, but Clyde straightened him out. He also let me practice ropin’ on him.”
That caught Texas’ attention, and he quickly focused on his daughter’s statement. Arizona innocently smiled as if she said nothing wrong, but her smile quickly evaporated when her dad asked, “Practice ropin’? You better start explanin’, missy.”
She snapped out of her memories of spending time with Clyde and realized what she had said. Arizona sheepishly smiled and said, “I mean, he helped me train for the Ropin’ event. I had to catch him with my lasso, tie him up, and get timed. That’s all.”
As she nervously smiled at her Pa, Texas stared into her daughter’s eyes.
“I see...” said Texas. “So you were the one doing the ropin’? And not him?”
Arizona quickly nodded while starting to sweat. Texas continued, “And how’d you do?”
Arizona regained her confidence and bragged, “I got 13.34 seconds! He said I was a natural and that these slowpokes ain’t gonna know what hit’em!”
Texas stared at his daughter for five seconds, trying his best to see if her confidence would falter. Satisfied his daughter was telling the truth, Texas smiled and said, “Darn right, they ain’t gonna know what hit’em! That’s my girl!”
Arizona sighed in relief that her dad was satisfied nothing improper had happened. Despite being Champion of the Prairie and facing many dangerous opponents, a father was still a father. Arizona spotted something just as she was about to continue talking about the Rodeo. Her father had salt granules on his chin, which were tall tale signs of him being at the bar.
Arizona asked her father, “Pa, why do you have salt on your face?”
Texas tried to think of a reasonable response but knew he was caught. He sighed and said, “You caught me. Your Aunt was feeling under the weather, and your mother was taking care of her with your Uncle's help. So I went out to the watering hole with nothing to do. Please don’t tell your mother.”
Arizona smiled and realized she had a golden opportunity. She knew her dad had some Bits and wanted to look nice for Clyde this evening. Rubbing her front hooves together, Arizona asked, “Well, I could keep quiet if you do me a favor.”
Texas raised an eyebrow and asked, “A favor? Now just what that might be?”
Looking at an equine clothing store nearby, Arizona asked, “There’s something I wanna get for this evening. I don’t ask much, but I’d mighty appreciate it, Pa.”
Texas looked at the store and sighed, “Okay, Arizona. You win but don’t go crazy on the Bits, ya hear?”
The young cow beamed and said, “Thanks, Pa! I promise I’ll keep your secret. Are you going back to the watering hole?”
The massive bull looked at the bar across the street and said, “I think I’ll waste some time for a few more hours but only to get a sasparilla. If I come back smellin’ like a whiskey barrel, your Ma will chew me out. You don’t stay out too long. I’m certain your mother will need your help with dinner tonight.”
The young cow clapped her hooves and said, “Thanks, Pa! I’m going to go home right after I get what I want. Have fun!”
She nuzzled her father before trotting into the store. Texas shook his head and started making his way toward the bar. He sighed before saying to himself, “So my daughter has takin’ a fancy to that Clyde feller. Makes sense she wants to cook and get all prettied up. She had to grow up at some point...I need a drink.”
The old but tough bull made his way towards the “Salt Block” bar, with many creatures making way for the lamenting father. He hoped to get a decent shot of whiskey and play a few rounds of poker before going home. His daughter was growing into a fine lady cow, and he could do nothing.
Except there was one thing, and he thought to himself, ”If he does take a fancy to her and wants to court her while we are here, then Clyde better be the best damn gentleman in the world. Or else I’m gonna have a talkin’ with him, and I’ll be all out of words.”
Texas got himself a shot of whiskey, and a sasparilla to drown out his sorrows. He could only hope his daughter didn’t go overboard with whatever she had planned this evening.
Applejack enjoyed seeing the look on Clyde’s face when she kicked the striker plate. Despite the weight being heavier than normal, it sailed upwards toward the bell and rang out loud. Clyde’s jaw dropped that Applejack had passed with flying colors so easily, and she loved every second of it.
The man shook his head and said, “Well...dang. Ah guess you don’t really need much practice for that. Ah have no doubt you’ll do fine for the lightweight division for the kickin’ event. You might even be able to advance to the midweight.”
That made the mare smile as she was confident she’d be going away with at least one blue ribbon and the money associated with it.
”And if Ah could at least get a healthy helping of a human hubby to go along with it, this whole trip would be worth it.”
As she walked over to Clyde, the country mare asked, “Wanna get it set up for midweight? Or should Ah just move on to something else?”
Clyde pondered for a moment before deciding to go with a different route. He picked up the high striker and set it aside before saying, “Nah, Ah think you’ll blow the kickin’ out of the watering hole. You got the lightweight division locked down. Ah haven’t seen that many impressive folks running for this event, so Ah think the barrel weaving practice will do you good.”
The mare nodded as the man set up a few empty barrels in order. The pattern was slightly different and more difficult than she was expecting. Considering this was an international rodeo, the difficulty was to be expected. Applejack narrowed her eyes at the pattern that Clyde had set up and resolved to impress him.
After Clyde got out of the way, he grabbed a stopwatch. Resetting the timer, he motioned for the mare to take her position. Applejack did so and set aside her stetson. She didn’t want any wind to drag her time down, and she knew her hat would likely do so. She correctly guessed her decision as Clyde said, “That’s smart. This competition will be measured in hundredths. You don’t need nothing draggin’ your time down.”
She smiled before stretching her legs and pawing the ground in anticipation of Clyde’s signal. After getting ready, Applejack said, “Ah’m ready!”
Clyde held up the watch and said the rules out loud, “You got one minute to complete the barrel weave race. The first event will be a straight run. The next runs will be a set pattern, and if you get it wrong, it will result in a “no-run.” You’ll get one redo but only one redo for your entire event. The penalty for kickin’ a barrel is 7 seconds.”
Applejack’s jaw dropped as she heard the penalty. Normal penalties were 5 seconds for hitting a barrel, but 7 was a big deal. With how competitive the other creatures would be, Applejack had very little room for error. She complained by saying, “Land sakes! A 7-second penalty?! That’s just plain harsh.”
Clyde shrugged his shoulders and said, “What can Ah say, ma’am? Those are the rules; Ah didn’t make them. The Equestrian Rodeo Association did since it’s international, and they want clear winners this time. Ah think you’ll do fine, Applejack. You got this.”
With a wink and handsome smile, Applejack blushed at the confidence-building compliment from Clyde. She shook her worries away and said, “Okay, Ah’m ready!”
Clyde said with a click on the timer, “GO!”.
Applejack took off with all of her energy and ran through the barrels flawlessly. After she reached the end, Clyde stopped the timer. Applejack walked over to Clyde and saw the timer. He smiled as he said, “Congrats, 12.323. The average is 24.234. You blew right through that, no problem.”
She jumped in the air and shouted, “Yee-haw!” before taking her stetson back. Applejack looked at Clyde, who was resetting the clock. The sun shone at the right angle to show his handsome cowboy looks. Applejack knew she had to take a chance with him and asked, “So Clyde, what are you doing this evening?”
”Please say nothing! Please let what Arizona said about seeing him this evening mean nothing.”
The mare got her answer as he replied, “Ah got to pick up something later. Arizona said she has something for me to pick up. Not sure what it is, figured it’s a thank-you gift for helping her Aunt, Daisy-Jo.”
Applejack’s ears perked up the mention of Daisy-Jo, as she remembered the dairy cow used to live at a farm down the road of Sweet Apple Acres. She was one of several cows that were spooked by a snake sighting and nearly trampled Ponyville.
”Huh, she must have moved here then. Explains why I haven’t seen her in a long while.”
“What a coincidence; Ah know Daisy-Jo from when she lived in Ponyville. So that Arizona is her niece? Small world, ain’t it?”
Clyde nodded as he set the watch back in his pocket and said, “It would seem like it. Ah helped her and her husband out with a few jobs before. They kept telling me they’d make something for me one day, but since she’s having a youngin’ of her own, the baby comes before me. As it should.”
This was even more news for Applejack; hearing Daisy-Jo having a baby brought up another thought. And that thought was foals.
”Ah wonder what he thinks of foals...would he even want to be a father someday? Can’t marry no partner without having youngins, whether natural or adopted.”
She tried her best to ask the man about babies carefully and said, “Oh, she has a calf on the way, huh? What do you think about that? Babies an all?”
Applejack face hooved herself and mentally scolded herself.
”Smooth move AJ. Now you have gone and done make yourself look all-”
She didn’t get to finish her thought as he answered, “Ah think babies are wonderful. Hard work? Sure, but then again, anything worthwhile is never easy. Back where Ah’m from, mah sister had a few babies, and Ah helped watch them occasionally. It’s like holding pure innocence and a certain feeling that Ah can’t quite describe. Maybe one day, that’ll be my baby in my arms. But hey, it will happen if it’s meant to, Ah suppose.”
The country mare’s butterflies in her tummy were now in overdrive. Applejack got her answer and knew she had to try and win him over by any means necessary. Clyde had just made himself a prime candidate for being her husband, and he didn’t even know it. The country mare smiled as she said, “Ah don’t think Ah could have said it any better. Ah agree with you; babies are a miracle. Ah hope to have my own someday, too.”
The two just smiled and stared at each other before breaking eye contact. The man and the mare blushed before Clyde adjusted his hat and said, “Well, if that’s all, Ah gotta go set up bullmore pens and talk to the officials. Work never ends, you know.”
Just as he was leaving, Applejack asked, “If you’re free sometime, Ah’d like to make you some supper.”
The man stopped and turned around, hearing the word “supper.” She smiled, knowing she had gotten his attention. Applejack continued, “You know, to give thanks for helping me out and all.”
He grinned and said, “Now, that would be nice. Ah still got to pick up whatever it is from Arizona, but Ah’ll be free after that. Is 7 pm too late for you?”
She shook her head and replied, “Nope. That’s around the time my cousin and Ah usually eat. So I guess you'll be over tonight?"
He nodded and replied, “Sure will. See you tonight, Applejack.”
He tipped his hat toward the mare as he left the bullpen. The mare stared at the man’s plot and enjoyed the view as he confidently walked away. Applejack threw her hat in the air and cheered that she had scored a dinner date with Clyde. After grabbing her hat, she ran off to the general store to grab a few things. She wanted to cook a meal fit for a cowboy and look nice for him.
Usually, she wasn’t one for getting fancied up, but this was the occasion, if there was one.
”Ah’ll pick up a nice perfume, better than that lame desert rose one. Then get me a nice set of clothes and make him one heck of a mean meal! Ah might as well get my mane all clean and prettied up too. Ah’m gonna get mah girliness on!”
The mare was on a mission, and nothing was going to get in her way of winning Clyde over. Arizona or not, she was going make him a meal and win his heart, one way or another. She had no clue how hard that would be as Applejack ran off into town.
The day was far from over.