Applejack woke up the next morning still wrapped in Twilight's forelegs. Now feeling rejuvenated, she untangled herself from her wife as fast as she could without waking her. Standing at the side of the bed, she wondered what to do next. Should she just go home? Go and do her chores? Or should she wait for her to get up?
In the end, she decided to wait, and to cook breakfast again. She went down to the kitchen, only to find Spike already there, cooking up the meal she had intended to make.
"Hey, g'mornin', Spike."
"Oh, hey, Applejack," Spike said with a weak smile. He looked like he hadn’t slept well, which considering what happened last night, wasn’t surprising. "I was just cooking something up. Is there anything you'd like?"
"I'm fine with whatever you're makin', thanks," she said. "You got a paper?"
"It's on the table," Spike said, returning to his work. Applejack took the paper and began reading, resulting in three minutes of silence before Spike finally spoke.
"Did... did the rings make you... you know," he said, a blush forming on his cheeks.
Applejack blushed again. "N-no, no... we didn't..."
"Does that mean I can sleep in the bedroom tonight?" he said, with a surprising level of hope.
"I don't know. You'll hafta ask Twi," she said. "Why are you so anxious? I thought ya'd be happy gettin' your own room..."
"If I wanted my own room, I could have had it years ago," Spike said, cutting the cowpony off so abruptly that she almost went slack-jawed at the vehemence. Spike took a deep breath and continued. "I'm going to live for a long time. A very long time. I'll have hundreds of years to have my own room. I'm only going to get about a hundred of spending time with Twilight. I..."
Suddenly the dragon blushed, realizing what he was saying and feeling like it was the wussiest thing ever. Applejack smiled sympathetically. "I understand, Spike. Twi's your family, and you're afraid of losin' her."
"Yeah," he said, turning back to the meal he was making, clearly not wanting to talk anymore.
"If you ever wanna talk 'bout anythin', Spike, you can talk to me," Applejack said. She got no answer. She lifted the paper and kept reading.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash woke up in a blissful state. They kissed, hugged, ate breakfast, and kissed some more before it was time for Rainbow Dash to get going.
"I'll go get Tank and bring him here for the day," she was saying as she was leaving, "then I've got to get to work. I'll be here around 5 and we can go out to eat. Sound good?"
"Yes, very much," she said. "Um, where do you want to go?"
She shrugged. "Why don't you pick?" She gave her marefriend a kiss on the lips. "I'll be right back."
"Okay. Um, could you stop by the library for me and pick up a book I ordered?"
"No problem. Which one?"
"Just tell Twilight I sent you and she'll know. Now, I think it's time to let Angel out."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, remember: get a backbone. You don't have to put up with all that." She flew off before she could answer.
Fluttershy went to the back and found Angel's cage, hanging from a tree branch. The bunny inside the cage saw Fluttershy coming and made a point to turn his head and pretend not to notice her.
"Are you ready to come out of the cage?" Fluttershy asked.
Angel made no move.
"Oh, okay then. I'll leave you in there if you want."
Widening his eyes, Angel turned to Fluttershy and stretched his arms as far out of the cage as they would go.
"Oh, you do want out. Okay." She let him out, and he jumped and kissed the ground.
"Now, you be a good boy, okay? And come on, I have breakfast waiting."
Fluttershy went inside, but Angel just stood there, thinking. Right then, he made a decision.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would be broken up by the end of the week. They made a big mistake messing with Angel Bunny. A very big mistake.
Breakfast passed rather uneventfully, and it was time for what Applejack and Twilight had been waiting for. It was time to remove the rings.
"Put your foreleg on the table there," she instructed. Applejack did so, the ring glimmering in the sunlight shining through the window.
"So... whatcha gonna do, Twi?"
"It's just a spell, it shouldn't hurt at all."
"Wait... shouldn't? You not absolutely sure?"
"Applejack, magic is unpredictable and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Why, I could crush something just by lifting it."
"...But you've lifted me before..."
"In the heat of a battle. Don't worry, there's only a .000001% chance of it happening from levitation."
"And what's the chance of something like that happening here?"
"It depends on the skill level, but for me... .01%."
"Well, I don't know about..."
Twilight, sensing what was coming, decided to cast the spell rather than wait for her to continue having doubts. Holding her foreleg down, she cast the spell, hitting the band with a bolt of magic.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the metal began to shimmer, as if it were moving. Then, several points in the metal went down, forming into what appeared to be engraved words.
NICE TRY
"Oh come on!" Twilight yelled, casting the spell again.
YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT
"Get off!" Twilight cast again.
NOT HAPPENING
"Come on!" Twilight cast again.
XP
"It ain't workin', Twi," Applejack said at last. "Whoever made these knew what they were doing."
BRILLIANT DEDUCTION, STARSWIRL
"Aw, great, not only didn't you get it off, you gave it an attitude!"
"I've never heard of this happening before," Twilight said in amazement. "But I'll get it off."
I LIKE A CHALLENGE
"Oh shut up," Twilight mumbled.
Spike, who had been watching this whole scene and trying to suppress his giggles, suddenly burped up a scroll with the Royal Insignia on it.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Twilight said. "Maybe the Princess has found something.
Taking the scroll, Spike cleared his throat and began reading.
"My Faithful Student,
I have received your letter and the evidence you presented. I cannot blame you for wanting to investigate this yourself, it is quite the predicament. Before you begin, however, I request an audience with you to discuss a few things. I wish for both you and Applejack to be in Canterlot at sunset today, and we will talk.
Your Most Loving Teacher,
Celestia.
“Sunset, huh?” Applejack said. “Looks like we’ll be stayin’ overnight.”
“Actually,” Twilight shifted. “I was going to ask you to pack the bags for a few days.”
That perked both Applejack and Spike up. “Huh? What’s going on?”
“I’ve completed my list of suspects,” Twilight explained, “but it’s going to be a while. They live across the four corners of Equestria. With a good chariot, we can visit about one a day, but it would still take nearly a week.”
“So I better go pack.”
Twilight nodded. “Spike, could you go make me and Applejack some travel snacks? You don’t have to do any of your other chores today.”
“Sure,” Spike said. Applejack noted there wasn’t the excitement in his voice that Apple Bloom had when she was dismissed from chores for the day.
As he dashed off to the kitchen, Applejack began to follow. “Well, I guess I better...”
She was cut off by Twilight teleporting in front of her. “Not until you and I have a talk.”
The cowpony tensed up. “There ain’t nothin’ ta talk about,” she said, trying to get to the door again, only to be once again blocked by a teleporting Twilight.
“That’s a double negative, which means there is something to talk about. Now tell me.”
“Twi, quit it! Move!”
“Please, tell me? Is it upsetting you that I’m correcting you all the time?”
“No, now move!”
“Not until you talk to me.”
Applejack tried to run behind her friend, only to be flipped up and deposited on her back. “I’m not having another repeat of Applebuck Season. Now tell me what’s wrong, or I’m going to get rough.”
“It ain’t any of your business! Now let me go!” she tried to get up, but magic encased her hooves and forced them back on the ground, pinning her.
“Fine, I’m getting rough,” Twilight said, standing on top of her. “Tell me!”
“Twi, let me go!” Applejack yelled, thrashing against her bonds.
“You want it rough! You want it rough! I’ll... give... you...”
Twilight trailed off because she saw, at that moment, something that Applejack was seeing now, too.
Namely, Rainbow Dash in the window, looking at them with shrunken irises and a slack jaw.
Twilight looked at her pinned wife, then back at Rainbow Dash. As she lifted the magic, she said, in a small voice, “This isn’t what it looks like...”
Rainbow Dash hit the ground laughing as the two mare blushed furiously. “It ain’t like that!” Applejack fumed, while Twilight just stood there, embarrassed.. “It was...”
“I know, I know,” Rainbow Dash said, between breaths. “Believe me, I know what’s going on.”
Both mares blinked. “You do?”
“Oh yeah.” Then her voice got sultry. “You were a bad pony, and Twilight had to...”
Rainbow Dash had to fly up to avoid Applejack’s hoof, which was difficult because she was laughing so hard. Applejack debated jumping up to get her, but decided against it and simply went for the door. “I’m gunna go get packed,” she said, tensely.
“Aw, going on your honeymoon?” Rainbow Dash teased.
“No!” she fumed. “We’re gunna find out who did this to us!” She walked out of the room, leaving a laughing Rainbow Dash and an embarrassed Twilight.
The unicorn turned to the pegasus. “Thanks a lot, Rainbow Dash. I had nearly gotten her to talk!”
“Well, hey, sorry if I blocked...”
“Not like that! I mean, something’s bothering Applejack!”
Suddenly Rainbow Dash got serious. “What do you mean?”
Twilight sighed. “Something’s bothering her... she brought it up at the party, and I’ve been trying to talk to her about it. But with everything that happened...”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Believe me, I’ve known Applejack for years. She always bottles stuff up instead of talking to anypony. It’s a miracle you got through to her during Applebuck Season.”
She sighed. “Well, she’s going to be stuck with me for a few days... I mean, even if we weren’t going on a trip, we’d have to-” She cut herself off when she realized what she was about to confess.
“Have to what?”
“...The rings,” she admitted. “They make us... sleep... in the same bed.”
Silence.
The laughter. A lot of it. While Twilight stood there embarrassed.
Rarity moaned from under the covers as memories of last night started to come back to her.
Then she froze.
Please no, please no, please no...
She opened her eyes.
“Morning again,” Blueblood said.
“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity was out of bed in an instant. “How could you let this happen again?”
"Why am I getting all the blame here? You're the one who decided to get drunk again, even though you knew what happened the last time."
"Well..." she trailed off. "I suppose I was expecting you to actually be a gentlecolt this time! I guess I was wrong."
“Don't be so hard on yourself. I was as drunk as you were last night,” he explained getting up. “But relax, I’m sure we didn’t do anything. There isn’t enough alcohol in the world to make me bed an unconscious mare.”
“I... I can’t believe this!” she screeched. “How can you be so calm about this?”
“Because getting all loopy about something in the past solves nothing,” he muttered, levitating a robe onto himself. “Just relax. We didn’t do anything, so there nothing to worry about. We’ll drop...” He looked like he was about to vomit. “We’ll drop...” again. “...We’ll drop... alcohol,” he gave a big heave of relief as if he just had to do something particularly strenuous. “And this won’t happen again. Nothing to worry about, right?”
“I suppose...” Rarity sighed.
"There you go. Now, onto business. Are those dresses coming along fine?"
"Yes. I already had some ideas, they're drawn out. I think I can get the bases for all of them finished today."
“That’s my girl,” Blueblood said, giving a playful smack to the flank.
Rarity responded with a very not-playful hoof to the face, sending him to the floor.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..."
"Rainbow..."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..."
"Rainbow..."
"Hahaha..."
"Rainbow!"
"Wh-what?" the pegasus managed to choke out.
"Is there any reason you're here other than to torment me?"
"Y-yeah... Fluttershy needs a book she ordered."
Mumbling, Twilight levitated the tome in question, one on rabbit anatomy, and thrusted it into her friend's stomach, causing her to "oof" a bit. "There. Now, if you're done tormenting me, why don't you see if you can get anything out of Applejack?"
That actually got Rainbow Dash to be quiet. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You're her best friend..."
"I don't know, I think you're her best friend. Not because you married her," she added quickly, noticing the unicorn's glare.
"Then... why?"
"Well," she rubbed the back of her head. "You two are pretty close... you seem to trust her more than us..."
"That's not true! I love all of you equally! You're all my friends, I..."
"Twilight, please don't flip out," Rainbow Dash said again. "Listen, it's okay. I love everypony in our group too... but I obviously love Fluttershy more. I can hang out with Applejack and Pinkie easier than I can hang out with Rarity. We just click better with others. It's fine."
"Well..." she took a few more deep breaths, remembering Cadance's calming techniques. "What makes you think I'm Applejack's best friend? We don't have a lot in common."
Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? You two are both total buzzkills."
Twilight looked offended. "We are not!"
"Oh please. You're all always, 'we need to get back on track’, ‘stop bickering and fighting’, ‘Rainbow Dash, put me down and stop flying so fast'." Her voice took on a mocking, high-pitched tone. "It's annoying."
"I don't sound anything like that," Twilight said indignantly.
"Whatever, but you two are always hanging around each other. You always give her the big assignments whenever the Princess has us to do something important."
"Well, I can count on her... no offense, Rainbow Dash, but the rest of you can be... irresponsible."
"I understand. But that's my point. You and Applejack click. You talk to each other and spend more time together than with anypony else..."
Twilight stopped and thought. It was true, she realized. All this time, she had been gravitating toward Applejack and not even realizing it.
"...Do you think you could talk to her, anyway? See if you can find out what's wrong?"
"Sure, I'll hit her up when I'm on break," she promised.
"We're leaving for Canterlot this afternoon, so try and get back here quick."
"In Canterlot? Are you going to see the Princess about all this? Man, I wish I could be a fly on the wall during that."
"Gee, thanks," Twilight said dryly. "Could you try to get something out of her before we leave? I'm really worried about her."
"Alright, I'll see if I can figure anything out. Are you sure this is a thing, and you're not just overreacting?"
"I'm sure. Applejack's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what."
Rarity sat in one chair, huffing. Blueblood sat in the other, a hoofkerchief covered in blood at his muzzle. Celestia sat behind her desk, looking at both angrily.
"Could you both act like full-grown ponies?" she said sternly. "Blueblood, I know I can't stop you from bedding mares the way you do, and honestly I wish you'd show more class, but I want you to at least act like a gentlecolt around ponies who've made it clear they have no interest in you."
"Yes, Auntie," Blueblood said, actually sounding apologetic and ashamed.
"And Rarity," she said, equally as sternly. "I understand your anger, but considering that it was attacking him that got you in this mess, I would have hoped you could keep it in check. You're a public figure, I count on you to maintain a positive image. I do my best to keep the ponyrazzi out of Ponyville, I make it easy for you not to be involved in scandals, but you need to put forth the effort. Understand?"
"...Yes," she sighed.
"Good. The both of you are forbidden from any more alcohol consumption until the mission is over, understand?"
"Yes," they both replied in monotone.
"Good. Now then, I trust the mission is going well?"
In response, Blueblood removed the bloody hoofkerchief from his muzzle and stood. "The tabloids think we’re dating from what I can tell,” he muttered. “I’m not sure how the Elite are going to respond to this, given her behavior at the Gala.”
“My behavior?” Rarity protested, only to be shushed by a glare from Celestia that said she didn’t particularly care about that semantic. “Yes, well, the dresses are coming along nicely.”
“Then today you’ll attend your first class on how to spot a changeling imposter,” Celestia continued. “Remember, no more alcohol. This is important. And one final thing.”
“Yes?” they both asked in unison.
“I want no contact with Twilight when she’s in town tonight.”
That got a surprised look out of them. She went on. “I’ve hurt Twilight enough by not being able to stop the changelings. If she finds out about this, she’ll want to try and help out. I don’t wish to give her that burden, especially with her current... predicament.”
All three snickered, but regained their composure.
“This is not Twilight’s burden. Let her be, understand?”
They both nodded.