The Orange Apple and the Bookworm

by Some Person


Chapter 3

"After that," Applejack explained the next afternoon as she sat in Rarity's boutique, "we made plans for another date, hugged, and that was it."
Rarity started to squeal as she clutched the cushion in her forelegs. "This is all so exciting! I'm so happy that things went well for you, Applejack!"
"Aw shucks. It ain't that excitin'."
"Au contraire, dear. From the sound of it, you both hit it off rather well! Albeit slow and awkward, but who says first dates are perfect, hm?"
Applejack shifted in her seat. "Ah'm just hopin' for the best at this point."
"Now, what's the idea for this second date of yours?"
"Ah'm gonna take 'em to the farm and teach 'em some rodeo tricks."
"I see," Rarity commented as she rested her hoof on her chin. "It helps him see another aspect of your life, and it even lets you see how willing he is to adapt outside of his comfort zone. A solid plan for a second date." She started to drink her tea, but then her gaze shifted away. "Though it does concern me as to how long he kept you waiting."
"It wasn't that bad."
"An hour and a half, Applejack? If it were me, I'd have left after ten minutes."
Applejack shrugged. "Ah'm just glad they showed up, period." She paused to take a bite of her biscuit, then looked back up to see Rarity staring at her with an unmoving glare. "What?"
"Are you really just glad he showed up?" Rarity asked as she placed her teacup on the table. "That date was very important to you, and he arrived far later than even the most fashionable of ponies dare arrive at their soirees."
"Ah..." Applejack clenched her teeth and folded her ears back. "Okay fine, ah wish they would'a shown up sooner, but what's the harm?"
"The harm is this," Rarity shot back, sitting up straight. "By you not clearly laying out your feelings, this tells him that it's perfectly okay for him to be late again. He gets caught up in something and realizes he'll be late to a future date. But it's all okay, because he knows you'll just be glad he arrived, period. Who's to say he'll stop there, though? If nothing happens at all, he could start to become less pressed to arrive to your dates on time. Will it still be just okay if he shows up then?"
Applejack groaned. "Whaddya want me to say, Rarity? That if the date doesn't happen exactly on the dot, ah'm s'posed to dump her on the spot?"
Rarity raised an eyebrow as she and Applejack stared tensely at each other. She then shook her head. "That's not it, Applejack. What I'm saying is that you need to make it clear that something like this should never happen again."
"Believe me, they were mighty sorry for what happened."
Rarity began drinking more tea. "That might be so, but this is still a matter of you making your feelings vocal. I know you aren't the type to take abuse sitting down, but you have been known to keep your mouth shut on more than one occasion."
Applejack huffed once, directing her attention towards the floor.
"All that aside," Rarity continued, "I'm still glad you and him had a good time together."
Slowly, Applejack allowed a small smile on her face. "Thanks, Rarity. For everythin', ah mean. Bein' around to listen to all this. Just... havin' an ear is really nice."
"Think nothing of it, Applejack," Rarity replied with a smile. She took one more drink of her tea. "Now, I hate to cut this chat short, but there are some additional designs that need my attention."
Applejack nodded. "Ah understand. Thanks again."
"Just keep doing what you're doing. Although..." Rarity turned her gaze away and put a hoof to her chin. Her face suddenly lit up. "Wait right here, dear." She quickly ran up the stairs, but before Applejack had an opportunity to sit around, she was already back with a plastic bottle. "Take this," she instructed, holding it before her.
Applejack grasped the bottle, being hardly larger than her hoof, and briefly studied it. "Uh... thanks for the..."
"Shampoo. It’s orange scented."
Now Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Just wash your hair with it before he shows up. He might like it."
"The, uh... the gesture's appreciated; but ah don't think it'll be noticed after bein' sweaty."
"I'm just saying, you should try it."
Applejack looked at the bottle, lightly rocking her head back and forth. "Ah'll think 'bout it," she responded, placing the bottle underneath her hat.
"Fair enough. Now then, I must end our discussion here, for now."
"See ya 'round then." Applejack walked towards the door and raised her hoof to open the door when she heard Rarity behind her.
"One last thing," she called out. When Applejack's attention was focused on her, Rarity flicked her hoof and stated, "I do hope I'll get to meet this pony one day. She sounds quite charming."
Applejack chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. "Maybe one day." She turned to open the door, but suddenly froze, her eyes growing wide. She quickly turned back around. "Uh... what did you say?"
"I said I hope to meet this pony one day. He sounds quite charming."
Applejack stared silently for a moment before laughing briefly. "Y-yeah, that's what ah thought." She slowly turned around and made her way outside the Boutique. She stood still for a moment, then huffed once before heading back towards Sweet Apple Acres.

**********

The next morning, Applejack was in the middle of her apple orchard, examining a batch of saplings. She hummed with delight as she took notes of the growths she spotted on each of the young plants. Her train of thought was interrupted, however, when she heard hoofsteps approaching from her right. She glanced up, only to be surprised to see Twilight Sparkle approaching. "Twilight? What are you doin' here?"
"I was waiting at the library for this rodeo practice to take place," Twilight explained, "but then I realized we never established a time. I thought it would be better if I came here to find out when that would be. Big Macintosh told me you'd be out here, so I decided to head your way." Applejack silently stared in response, which made her briefly look around the orchard. "Is this a bad time?"
Applejack quickly shook her head. "N-no, just... gimme a sec." She turned around and started patting her cheeks several times, gradually increasing how hard she hit. After a moment, she turned to face Twilight. "Sorry... ah just had to check somethin' is all. Ah'm actually almost done here, so you can just wait under the shade for now."
"I'll do that then." Twilight walked to the left of the saplings and sat underneath a looming apple tree. As Applejack resumed her task, Twilight started taking in the vast range of the orchard itself. "All these trees," she commented. "How do you keep up with them?"
"When you've worked this farm as long as ah have, it just becomes second nature. Labor of love, really."
"And how long have you been working on the farm? Five years? Seven?"
"Twelve."
Twilight craned her neck back, blinking oddly. "That long? And you're..."
"Twenty-three."
"That's a pretty young age to have started out, wouldn't you say?"
"Ah s'pose."
Twilight looked around the orchard again. "So how did your parents start you off?"
Applejack froze momentarily before resuming her inspection. "They didn't have any say in the matter."
"Why not?"
Applejack's shoulders slightly dipped. "That was... that was 'round the time they passed on."
Twilight folded her ears back and curled her forelegs in. "Oh... I'm sorry."
"You don’t need to be. It happened a long time ago."
Both mares were quiet for a time until Twilight asked, "Was it difficult?"
Applejack turned around. "Difficult?"
"Well... having to run this whole farm without your parents... I mean." Twilight focused on the dirt below her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. I'll just be quiet."
"No, it's fine." Applejack walked towards the shade Twilight was sitting beneath and sat herself down next to her. She leaned against the tree trunk and sighed. "It sure wasn't easy," she began, looking at the sky. "Tryin' to juggle school, farmwork, and raisin' Apple Bloom took a lot outta me. There were mostly good days, then some bad days, and a few downright awful days. Sometimes ah'd just get so frustrated at everythin' that ah'd start cryin' and blamin' the world for givin’ me such an awful situation."
Applejack smiled. "But look at me now; workin' as long as ah have here. The farm’s doin’ great, ah have wonderful friends, and Apple Bloom’s turnin’ into a fine filly." She looked up, towards the premature apples on the branches. "It's like... when ah work in the orchard, they're still ‘round, y'know?"
Twilight bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Applejack looked at her friend. "Aw, you don't gotta be like that. Ah’ve had ponies givin’ me their sympathies for years now. You don’t need to do that too. 'Sides, you went off to Princess Celestia's school when you were young, right? Bet you didn't get to see your folks that much, huh?"
"Yes... but I still got letters and occasional visits from my parents, you..."
Applejack crossed her forelegs, looking back at the sky. "You know... ah still hear from 'em. Ah like to think they're in the trees, in the soil, in the air... all 'round us. So... they're not really gone. Sometimes ah’ll admit, ah miss ‘em somethin’ fierce, but then I start to remember what ah’ve got with me, and ah don't feel lonely when ah think 'bout that."
Twilight stared at Applejack for a moment before quickly turning away, wiping her eye with a hoof.
Applejack sat upright. "Hey, somethin' wrong?"
The librarian turned back around, showing a pair of shimmering eyes and twitching lips. "I... um. Hearing what you said made me think about my family, and..." She clenched her teeth. "I just don't know what I would've done in your position."
"Hey... this is a mighty heavy topic,” Applejack remarked, quickly reaching her left foreleg around Twilight's shoulder. “Ah'm pretty much done checkin' out these saplin's if you wanna learn some rodeo moves. Whaddya say?"
Twilight sniffled once before allowing herself to smile. "I don’t mind."
"C'mon, ah'll show you where ah practice." Applejack led Twilight to a large clearing across from the orchard. Within the area was equipment for several tasks: stakes for throwing horseshoes, a winding dirt course with tracks upon tracks of hoofprints imprinted into the earth below, bales of hay seemingly tossed towards a target, and several hurdles placed over mud pits. Amongst this area, both mares walked towards a small brown shed with white doors.
"Ah'll be back in a sec," Applejack stated before going inside. Twilight patiently waited and looked around the immediate area until her friend reappeared with two large ropes draped over her neck. "C'mon," she began, "let's head over to the hay bales. They'll be perfect for this." Once they had reached their destination, Applejack grabbed one of the ropes and set it next to her hooves.
"Now, when it comes to makin' a good lasso, you gotta make sure you got the right knot. Ah'll do this slowly so you can see how it's done." She unwound the rope and laid it out in front of her. "First, you gotta make an overhoof knot, like so." Applejack loosely looped the end of her rope. "Now we gotta tie a tight overhoof knot at the end to act as a 'stopper', and then bring that end through one side of the first knot." She did so methodically, noticing Twilight concentrating on the rope. "Next, we gotta tighten this loose knot and pull the stopper knot up tight." As she did this, Twilight squinted her eyes and held her hoof to her mouth. "Finally, all you gotta do is feed the main line of the rope through this open part of the knot, and you've got yourself a lasso." She left her finished rope on the floor and walked towards Twilight, who took the rope off of Applejack's shoulders. "Need me to repeat any of that?"
Twilight looked at the wound up rope once more and used her magic to lift it in the air. "So... it's something like this?" In that moment, Twilight effortlessly wound the rope into a ready-to-use lasso.
Applejack stood stupefied for a moment before replying "Y-yeah, that's right. How did you get it so fast?"
"It's a Honda knot. I learned it and many other types of knots after one bored day in the library."
"Guess ah shouldn't be too surprised. But now comes the fun part: throwin' your lasso." Applejack picked up the rope and walked closer to the bales of hay, now being only a stone's throw away. She dropped the rope back on the floor and turned to Twilight. "So this is how it works; first, you gotta grab a lotta rope in your mouth. More than you think, 'cause you need it to fly. Make sure the end of your rope is near the back of your jaw, that's important. Once you get some loops of rope, you start swingin' it around a few times to get uh... muh..."
"Momentum?"
"Yeah, momentum! So you get that, and once you got a lot of it, you let most of what's in your mouth go. Don't throw it yet though, this is where the back end of the rope comes in. Usin' the part of the rope still in your teeth, you start steadyin' yourself while spinnin' the lasso real good. As soon as you've got everythin' set up, you thrust your head in the direction you wanna throw. If you've done everythin' right, you should catch what you're aimin' for. It'll be just like this." Applejack then took the lasso rope in her mouth and demonstrated her steps. After tossing her rope, it landed perfectly around the bale of hay. She turned to Twilight as she adjusted her hat. "Now it's your turn. See if you can do it."
Twilight looked at the rope, blinking a few times. "Okay..." she eventually responded. She grabbed a few loops of rope, then looked at Applejack, who nodded once. She began twirling the rope several times, but as she went to let the bulk of the rope out, she released too much and sent it into the sky. It briefly flew a few feet towards the sky before falling down in a messy pile.
"It's okay," Applejack assured. "Practice makes perfect, right?"
Twilight forced away her frown and replied, "Yeah, practice." She then started over, only for her attempt to end with her releasing too much rope, again. She repeated this process several times, ending with various results, ranging from the lasso flying off, or being tossed far away from its target. Twilight was huffing as she grimaced and stared at the rope, holding it with her magic. "Am I missing something?" she asked.
Applejack shook her head. "Like ah said, it takes practice is all."
Twilight refocused her attention on the rope, groaning loudly.
"Hey now, no need to get worked up, you just..." Applejack looked at the magically-gripped rope and back to Twilight. Suddenly her face lit up. "Try throwin' it again, but this time, think of what ah did, and use your magic."
Twilight looked at the rope, then back to Applejack. "Alright." She started to twirl the rope, then gave the head of the lasso momentum, and finally released. This time, the loop was a few inches away from the bale. Her expression became slack-jawed as she uttered, "I... almost got that."
"Had a feelin' that would work better for you," Applejack informed her with a smile. "Now see if you can get it to catch."
Twilight licked her lips and focused on the bale of hay. She spun the lasso several times in the air and tossed it, which then landed neatly around the hay. "I did it!" she rejoiced as she did a small hop.
"You're a natural, Twilight. Then again, shouldn't be surprisin’."
"So... now what do I do?"
"Well, normally, this would be the part when you pull in what you've caught, but there ain't no need here." Applejack walked to the bale of hay and lifted the loop of rope away, carrying it towards Twilight. "Now, how about you give it some more tries, just to be sure you got it.” The next few lasso throws went off without a hitch, each toss sailing onto the bale of hay. “Alright, ah think that’s enough of that,” Applejack informed as she walked to the rope and picked it up. “You sure make this look easy."
Twilight smiled. "Well, I did have a good teacher."
"Aw, c'mon now," Applejack stammered as a faint shade of red appeared on her cheeks and she lightly kicked dust off the ground. "It was just the basic how-to."
"Any chance I could try a moving target?"
Applejack chuckled. "Slow it down a little. A movin' target's a lot more difficult to hit than one standin' in place."
“Can you hit a moving target?”
“You betcha!”
“Think you can do it right now?”
“Alright, just gimme a sec.” Applejack looked around the area. “Ah dunno what we got ‘round here that we can use as a movin’ target. The cows don’t like bein’ targets, and sometimes they just stand still on purpose.” She continued to look around until her gaze settled on Twilight. She paused for a moment before asking, “Ah bet you can teleport real fast, can’t you?”
“I… guess?” Twilight answered with a shrug.
“Then how ‘bout ah try to catch you?”
“Come again?”
“You know, just appear around me, and ah’ll try to catch you.”
“Now that would be impressive to see. How often do you want me teleporting?” Twilight asked as she spaced herself away.
“Just often enough that it’s a challenge. Hay, ah’ll see if ah can get you on the first try.”
“That confident, huh? Well, If you’re sure.”
“Start whenever you’re ready.”
Twilight nodded once and began appearing in different spots, never remaining in the same spot for more than a second, all while Applejack had picked up her lasso and had been spinning it in the air. Her eyes darted around the few times Twilight appeared in her line of sight. When her target appeared slightly to the left, she tossed her rope. Unfortunately, Twilight vanished again, and the rope fell flat on the floor.
Applejack’s ears flattened as she blew at a strand of hair in front of her eyes. “Well, shoot.”
Twilight walked towards her from behind. “Well… at least you were pretty close!”
“Yeah, ah guess, but…” She briefly stared at the floor before turning back to Twilight. “Let’s give this another try. Ah feel like ah can get the next one for sure.”
“Alright.” Once more, Twilight stood a small distance away from Applejack and then began teleporting. Applejack started swinging her lasso, and after a moment, tossed it. The rope nearly made its mark, but fell short, as Twilight teleported again before it could make contact.
Applejack stomped her hoof on the floor. “Ah almost had that!”
“It’s okay, Applejack,” Twilight began from behind. “I’m sure hitting a teleporting target is harder than a moving target. If you’d like, I can just run around you instead, and—”
“No, just… one more try. Please, Twilight?”
Twilight briefly stared at Applejack before replying, “Alright, one more.”
Applejack smiled and readied her lasso again. The process began once more, and Applejack then closed her eyes, while still spinning the rope. After a few teleports, her eyes shot open, and she saw Twilight disappear from the spot in front of her. She tossed the rope behind and to the left of her. Twilight started to appear there, which made Applejack grin triumphantly. On instinct, she gave the rope a hefty pull. Twilight had barely noticed the rope before she found herself swept off her hooves.
Applejack smirked, but her triumph was short lived, as Twilight hit the ground and held the back of her neck and groaned. She quickly ran towards her friend. "Ah'm sorry, ah'm sorry!" Applejack exclaimed. "A-ah didn't mean for you to—"
"It's okay..." Twilight grunted as she sat herself up. “How did you figure that out?”
“Ah was just thinkin’ of how you’d appear behind me after each time right in front of me,” Applejack explained. “So ah took a bit of a guess and tossed my rope there.” She looked over her friend. “Does your back hurt?”
"It’s not so ba—" Twilight twitched and hissed as she tried moving her neck. “Okay, it does kind of hurt.”
"Hang on, lemme get that for you." Applejack ran behind Twilight and placed her hooves on her back.
"What are you do-o-o-o..." Twilight's words never came to light, as Applejack began firmly pressing her hooves onto the base of her neck. She slumped her shoulders and closed her eyes.
"Sometimes Big Mac pulls a muscle out in the fields. Ah learned how to do some massagin’ for those times." After a few moments of pressing, Applejack backed away. "That should be better."
Twilight stood upright and twisted her neck a couple of times, then nodded. "Way better... that was great!"
Applejack smiled and shrugged, but then she sat on her haunches and looked away. “Sorry for that. Ah got carried away.”
“Oh, it’s alright. I’ve gotten caught up in my interests before. Besides, my neck feels good again, so no harm done!”
“Ah’m glad for that,” Applejack replied. She walked closer to Twilight, noticing a patch of brown on her cheek. "Hang on, you got a smudge on your face. Lemme get that too."
Twilight stood still as her friend began brushing the dirt away. First, her attention was focused on Applejack's hoof, but that was soon overtaken by the blaring realization that Applejack was a mere inch or two away at this point. She stood still and stared silently at her.
"There, that's..." Applejack stopped rubbing, but kept her hoof on Twilight's cheek. She noticed her gaze and started to stare back at those purple eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and started to slowly rub Twilight's cheek once more. She then reached her hoof slightly up and brushed some wayward strands of hair out of Twilight's eyes, which made the librarian tremble. "Twilight," Applejack croaked, "would you—"
A sudden round of barking was heard, breaking her attention away to look at Winona, who was running up to her. "H-hey there, Winona," Applejack quaked as she shakily approached and began petting her pet. "What brings you on out here?"
"There you are!"
Applejack looked up to see Apple Bloom approaching as well. "Ah had a feelin' Winona would help me find you." She looked behind Applejack. "What's Twilight doin' here?"
"She's, uh..." Applejack turned around to see Twilight staring at the ground, mouth agape, so she loudly cleared her throat.
"Huh? What?" Twilight looked around until her attention was focused on the Apple sisters. "W-were we done, or..."
"Actually, whatever it is y'all are doin', it'd be good if you are done," Apple Bloom informed. "Granny sent me out here to get you, sis. Said we got a really big order to fill."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "How big?"
"Remember that fiftieth anniversary for the Treasure couple in Manehattan?"
"That is kinda big."
"...This order's bigger’n that."
"Okay, that's really big." Applejack looked at Twilight and gritted her teeth. "Just... tell Granny Smith ah'll be in, in a few minutes. Ah'm gonna see Twilight off."
"Alright see ya soon, AJ. And see ya later, Twilight. C'mon, Winona." Apple Bloom trotted away, with Winona following close behind her.
Applejack walked over to Twilight. "Sorry 'bout that," she added. "Wish we could keep this goin', but—"
"No, it's f-fine," Twilight replied with a shake of her head. "I understand."
"Ah'll walk you to the front." Both mares headed away from the makeshift arena and towards the farm's entrance. As they walked, they took a few off glances at each other, but walked in silence for a time.
Finally, Twilight took the initiative. "I… I still want to apologize for the movies.”
Applejack almost replied, but stopped herself.
“It wasn’t fair to you to leave you waiting there for so long. I’m actually surprised you waited as long as you did. But I promise, I won’t let something like that ever happen again.”
“To be honest, ah did have some things ah wanted to say ‘bout that.” She paused and shot a smile. “But ah know you well enough to know that what happened was an honest mistake.”
Twilight smiled. After another minute of walking, she remarked, “You did great, you know?" Applejack raised another brow, so she continued. "I mean... helping so much with managing the business, working the farm, and raising Apple Bloom. You did a great job balancing it all, and you still do."
Applejack's ears folded and her cheeks turned red as she tried to stifle her grin. "Ah like to think that, but hearin' those words from somepony else sure is nice."
Twilight focused on the apple trees for a moment. "But you still can't come out to her, or any of your family?" she asked, turning back to Applejack.
This made the pony in question stop for a moment. She turned away. "Like ah said; as much as ah wanna, ah gotta wait 'til it's safe. If ah got kicked out, ah..." Applejack shook her head. "Ah wouldn't have anythin'."
"I understand. I was just curious." Before Twilight could take another step, they had both reached the exit towards Ponyville. "Well... I guess this is where I head off."
"Yeah, looks like it." Applejack and Twilight stood in place, shuffling their hooves and glancing in various directions. "So, uh..." Applejack straightened up and started to rub the back of her neck. "Have you... have you given any more thought 'bout... us?"
Twilight glanced to the side before turning away. She took a moment to stare at the town buildings, then nodded and turned back towards Applejack. "I have. I think I have a much better idea now." Her friend now stood at full attention, slightly trembling. "But... I need to be absolutely sure, so... one more date. How does that sound?"
Applejack started to relax, leading to her grinning. "One more? Ah can handle that. Anythin' you have in mind?"
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, then her face lit up. "There's going to be a Starswirl the Bearded exhibit in the National Museum of Equestrian History in Canterlot. One that's supposed to go into great detail over Starswirl's teachings and philosophies!"
"Canterlot, y'say?" Applejack asked as she slightly backed away.
"Yep! I visit the museum once in a while, but this sort of exhibit really makes me want to go again! There could be new information uncovered that nopony has ever known about him before. I could find a goldmine of information there, or better yet, there could..." Twilight noticed Applejack looking away and biting her lower lip. "You know," she began again, her enthusiasm dipping. "We can... we can do something else. Canterlot's far away, and it's more convenient to do something in town, right? We can just... um..." She started to bite her hoof as she wracked her brain for an idea.
"Y'know what?" Applejack inquired, fetching Twilight's attention. "Let's do it."
"R-really?"
"Yeah, checkin' out a museum could be a nice change of pace! Ah’ll swing by your place before we head to Canterlot."
Twilight grinned. "Alright! The Museum next week then! It’s an all day event, but the evening would work better for me. Come to the library at 4pm so we have enough time to make it there."
"4pm. Canterlot museum. Guess ah'll see ya then?"
"Yep! Goodbye, Applejack!"
As Twilight began walking away, Applejack felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and her heart beating on her chest. She took a deep breath and called out, "Twilight, wait up!" She ran towards her target and stopped just short of her. She sat herself down and gripped her trembling side. "Ah... ah was wonderin' if... if you'd... uh..."
Twilight tilted her head. "Applejack, are you okay?"
"Ah'm—a'hm—ah'm fine... it's just..." Applejack paused to take a breath. "This is a lot harder to ask than ah thought."
"What is it?"
Applejack gritted her teeth, inhaled sharply through her nostrils, and asked, "Twilight... would you mind if... ah... k-k-kissed you?"
Twilight's eyes grew wide and she sat herself down, herself trembling quite evidently, and blushing furiously. "K-k-k-k-kiss? Um... uh... I-I... I... shouldn't be surprised, but... I-I-I..."
Applejack smiled softly and shook her head. "Ah s'pose it's a bit too soon to ask somethin' like that?"
Twilight hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Figured it couldn't hurt to at least ask..." she glanced up at Twilight, who was quickly switching her attention from object to object. Applejack slowed down her breathing and then asked, "Would it be too much to ask for a hug?"
Twilight stared for a moment, but then allowed herself a smile and a nod. "That, I can do." She walked forward and hugged Applejack. As she breathed through her nose, however, an acidic scent shot into her system. She sniffed a few more times, which made her friend pull away.
"Is... somethin' wrong?"
"Did you put something in your mane? It smells like oranges."
Applejack smiled sheepishly. "Oh, that. Ah just... ah was given some shampoo as a sort of gift, and thought ah'd try it out." She gripped her mane. "Do you like it?"
Twilight nodded. "It smells very nice on you." She then tensed up and took a step back. "N-not that you don’t normally smell nice or anything," she blurted. "And t-that’s not to say I know what you smell like, it’s just, it— it happened to stand out, is all."
"That so?" Applejack chuckled. "Ah'll be sure to remember that."
Twilight turned away to hide trembling. "So... I guess that's it for today then," she quickly noted. "I'll just get going now. See you around, Applejack!" She galloped away from the farm.
Applejack stood and watched Twilight until she was out of sight. She took a grip of her mane and took a deep inhale. "Oranges... that mare works wonders, ah tell you."