Twilight sat in her room in from of her mirror going over her mental checklist for the fifth time since she started. It had been just over a week since their talk with Applejack in the Apple Family’s kitchen. Tonight was to be her and Applejack’s first official date together.
Let's see, bath, check. Brush out mane and tail, check.
She placed her brush back onto her dresser, picking up her perfume bottle and lightly spraying herself.
Perfume, check. Now to see how Spike is doing on lunch.
She placed her perfume bottle back onto the dresser as she got up and headed for the door. Opening the door, she was immediately hit with the wonderful smells of freshly cooked food.
Making her way downstairs, she entered the kitchen, seeing the library's resident dragon standing in front of the stove wearing his usual apron.
"Hey, Twilight." Spike addressed her without turning from the stove. "Lunch is almost ready. Did you finish prepping for your date with Applejack?" He asked laying a plate of food in front of her.
"Yes, I have everything prepared, all I have left is to double check my preparations before I leave."
She eyed the plate in front of her, inhaling the wonderful smells of the stir fried vegetables. It was a simple meal, but somehow her number one assistant managed to make everything tasted amazing.
"This smells wonderful." She said as she dug in, Spike beamed with pride at the compliment.
"So do you really think you can pull this off?" Spike asked.
"Pull what off?" Twilight asked with her mouth half full.
"This whole thing with you, Rainbow, and Applejack." He said with a concerned look.
“You make it sound as if this is some kind of science experiment. Relationships take time and trust to build and even under the best circumstances they don’t always work out. What we’re trying to do hasn’t been done for a long time, but I’m going to try my best to make sure that Applejack doesn’t feel like a third wheel whenever she is with Rainbow and myself.” She finished, nodding happily.
“Well, whatever you wanna call it, I hope it works out, I don’t want to see you a wreck like you were when Applejack first refused you.” He stood there, wringing his apron in his hands, pointedly looking elsewhere.
“Aww, Spike,” She started, picking him up with her magic and bringing him beside her before wrapping him in a hug. “I’m happy you care about me, but don’t worry about this, I’m sure it will work out for the best.” She said, nuzzling his cheek.
“Okay,” He said, gently pushing away from her. “if you say so.” He finished before returning to the sink to finish the dishes he had been working on, leaving Twilight to finish her meal in peace.
The ponyville park was surprisingly empty when Twilight arrived. She saw a few foals playing, but not the bustling crowd she had expected to find on such a lovely afternoon. It was warm, but not unbearably hot and the few clouds in the sky provided patches of shade on the ground.
Spotting a large tree, she made her way over to it, before setting down her picnic basket. Opening the lid, she pulled out the blanked and used her magic to settle it on the grass perfectly. She sat the basket in the middle to keep the blanket from blowing away, should a particularly strong breeze come by. It wasn’t windy, but one could never be too prepared. She mentally patted herself on the back as she scanned the park for signs of the pony she was supposed to be meeting.
“Howdy, Twi.” A voice behind her called, startling her. She turned around seeing Applejack walking up to her from the one direction she wasn’t looking at. She made her way over and gave her a quick hug before setting her own small basket beside the one already on the blanket.
“Hey, Applejack! Ready for our picnic?”
“Sure as sugar.” She said, removing the cloth that was covering her basket, revealing a freshly baked pie and two bottles of cider.
“Ooh, that looks delicious.” Twilight exclaimed, opening her basket to reveal a dandelion salad and some sandwiches.
Using her magic, she set out two plates, placing a sandwich on each as well as portioning out part of the salad on each one. She also pulled out the two bottles of cider from Applejack’s basket and opened both before setting a bottle in front of each of them. As they both settled down, Applejack placed her hat beside her on the blanket, before taking a bite out of her sandwich.
“So how’s things been going for you on the farm?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence.
“Pretty good, I reckon. We’re a mite busy, getting everything ready for this year’s Applebuck Season.” She replied in between bites.
“Oh yeah, I remember how exhausted you got a few years back trying to do it all by yourself.” Twilight teased. Applejack blushed at the embarrassing memory
“It won’t be quite so bad this time around. I got Big Mac to help me now and Apple Bloom is big enough to help out a bit too.”
“Well thats great. I’d hate to see you so worn down like that again.”
“It’s okay, Twi. I’ve learned my lesson.”
They returned to silence for a while, finishing up their respective meals before Twilight pulled out the pie, and cut out a sizeable piece for each of them with her magic, both of them starting in on the delectable dessert.
“Wow Applejack, this is delicious!” The Apple Family pie recipe never failed to amaze her. Even though this was probably her hundredth time tasting it, it always seemed to taste better than the last time.
Applejack simply nodded in thanks, her mouth stuffed with pie. About halfway through her piece, Twilight stopped eating and poked at it a few times, an unsure expression on her face. This fact was not lost on Applejack, who watched her for a few moments, waiting for her to says something. When Twilight remained silent, she chose to speak up instead.
“Something wrong, Twi?” Her question apparently snapped Twilight out of whatever she had been thinking, her head snapping back up as she looked at Applejack.
“What?”
“I asked if something was wrong, sugarcube. Looked like something was eatin ya up.”
“Well there is one thing I need to talk to you about. Earlier this week, I was talking with Rainbow, and we think that it’s time we started to make our relationship public. I know Rainbow and myself have been together a lot longer than the three of us have been, but its going to get harder to keep it a secret with all three of us together.”
Applejack looked conflicted. “Well I have to admit that I’ve thought about it some, I’m just not sure what everypony would think of this. It ain’t exactly normal.”
“I know it’s scary to just come out with something like this, but Ponyville is full of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met, especially our friends. I know they’ll be understanding and supportive of us.” She chuckled to herself for a moment, causing Applejack to raise an eyebrow as to what she thought was funny about all of this. “At least it won’t be the strangest thing that this town has seen.” She said with a laugh.
Applejack still looked hesitant.
“How about this. Why don’t we start by just telling our friends? We don’t have to go public to the entire town yet if you aren’t ready, but we should at least keep our friend’s in the loop.”
Applejack seemed to relax a little bit. “I guess so. I did already tell Rarity a bit about this.” Twilight looked surprised. “I talked with her a bit after that first night when I walked in on you and Rainbow, but she doesn’t know about the three of us being together.” A smirk grew on her face. “Won’t that be a shocker for her when she finds out.”
They both shared a laugh, each commenting their interpretation of the fashionista’s over dramatic reaction. As they finished up the last of their dessert and drinks, Twilight started to pack everything back up, making sure to wrap up the rest of the pie so it could be saved for later. They both stood up, stretching various muscles and hearing joints pop.
“So what’re we doing now?” Applejack asked as she watched Twilight return the blanket to its proper place.
“Actually…” Twilight nervously tapped her front hooves together. “Honestly I couldn’t come up with something that both of us would be interesting in.” She finished, hanging her head.
“Aww, that’s okay, Twi. We are in a park, I’m sure we can find something to do, even if we just spend some time walking around, enjoying each other’s company.” She said, nuzzling the purple alicorn.
Twilight visibly relaxed, closing her eyes as she enjoyed her close proximity with Applejack. “Sure, that sounds nice.” Twilight picked up the picnic basket in her magic, only to have Applejack grab ahold and pull it from her.
“That’ll be enough of that.” Applejack said playfully. “You’ve been using that fancy magic of yours to do everything so far, I’m carrying the basket.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle. The two fell into stride together, walking at a leisurely pace along the path. The sky overhead was clear blue, dotted with a few clouds. Applejack looked up at it and whistled.
“It sure is a nice day.”
“Oh I’m sure that’s just Rainbow making sure everything’s perfect for our date.” Twilight smiled. “Dating a weatherpony does have its perks. It is a beautiful day though.”
“Not as beautiful as you.” Applejack said, not missing a beat. Twilight’s face heated up and her wings started to raise a bit on their own.
“Um… Thanks?” Twilight responded, not entirely sure how to respond. She looked down, trying to avoid Applejack’s gaze. She fluffed her wings a bit, trying to settle them again.
Applejack blanched, realizing she had said that out loud. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She mentally kicked herself for the slip up.
“No. It’s okay. I’m just not used to hearing stuff like that. Usually when Rainbow compliments me, it’s following something about herself so it kind of loses the meaning. It’s kind of nice hearing it without all the other stuff.” She said, looking at Applejack with a smile.
She looked down, blushing. “You’re beautiful too.” She mumbled.
“Shoot, now you’re just saying it. Sure I can be if I get all frou-froued up, but I’m nothing special without it.” She said, looking a little down. Twilight stopped walking and it took her a few seconds to realize this and turn back to look at her.
“That is not true! You’re a beautiful mare, even without all that fancy stuff! You know what I see every time I look at you? A mare who’s dedicated her life to her work, It doesn’t make you any less attractive just because you don’t go around like Rarity, making sure you look your best at all times of the day.” She moved closer and gave a loving nuzzle to the stunned Applejack. “Thats one of the things I like about you.”
“Ya really think that?” Applejack asked with an earnest expression. Twilight bit her bottom lip for a moment, looking like she was deciding something before moving in and kissing her firmly on the lips.
“Yes, I do.” She replied as she broke the kiss.
Applejack stood there for a moment looking stunned, then a wide smile broke out across her face.
“Thank ya, Twi. You just made my day.” She pulled the princess into a hug, making sure not to spill her cargo. After a few moments, they separated and continued walking.
As they walked, Applejack took in the sights of the park surrounding them. The compliments from Twilight had been a major confidence boost, and she was feeling giddy. As they walked around a bend in the path, she saw something that made her eyes light up.
“Hey, Twi. I think I found us something we can do.” A smile on her face as she started off the path. Twilight gave her a questioning look, but followed the farm mare none the less. They stopped in front of a long strip of bare dirt with vertical poles at either end. Pieces of wood surrounded the poles on three sides, leaving the side facing the opposite pole open.
“What is this?” Twilight asked confusedly.
“A horseshoe pit.” Applejack responded, setting the basket on the grass nearby.
“Um… Okay?” Twilight was beyond confused now, but waited for an explanation from her companion.
“It’s a game, Twi.” Applejack started as she moved over behind one of the poles that had a set of horseshoes sitting next to it.
Twilight watched as Applejack deftly kicked one of the shoes, causing it to pop up in the air, before catching it in her mouth. She then proceeded to toss it towards the opposite pole. It hit dead on, spinning several times around the pole before falling to the ground.
“How do you play?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued at the prospect of learning something new.
“Well, we each take two shoes, and ya try and get em to land on the pole at the opposite end. Ya score points based on how your throws land, and first one to twenty one points wins.”
“How does the scoring system work? You said it depends on where it lands?”
“If it lands close to the pole, it gets ya one point, if you get it to lean against the pole, it counts as two points.” She nodded to the shoe she had previously thrown. “If you get it around the pole, like that one there, it’s worth three points.” Twilight nodded as she took it all in. She moved in closer and picked up one of the shoes with her magic, Applejack knocked it back down a moment later.
“No magic, Twi. Keeps it fair and all.”
Leaning down, she picked up the shoe in her teeth, before taking aim and giving it a hefty toss. She watched proudly as it sailed through the air, coming down and landing with a thump about halfway between the two poles. Applejack chuckled a little and Twilight gave her a glare.
“Harder than it looks, isn’t it Twi.”
“Hey, it was my first time. I’m sure I’ll the next one.” Applejack kicked another shoe over to her.
“Let’s see it, princess.” Applejack goaded.
Twilight let out a huff, picking up the second shoe. She studied the angle the last one had flow and adjusted her aim. Giving a mighty heave, she watched as the shoe soared through the air. It landed about three feet from the pole, tumbling across the ground before coming to rest atop the shoe that was wrapped around the pole with a soft ‘clink’.
“Woohoo!” Twilight cheered.
“Alright, alright. Setting down now. Go ahead and throw this last one and we can get a real game started.”
Twilight nodded, picking up the last shoe and giving it a toss. This time she managed to get it all the way to the other end, the shoe coming to rest just a few inches from the pole. She gave another cheer, and they made their way towards the opposite end to start the real game.
“Ya ready to get your flank whooped, Twi?” Applejack teased playfully.
“Oh you’re on!” Twilight laughed, and the game began.
A couple of hours later, both ponies were exhausted. Twilight rubbed her neck with a hoof, the strange use of her neck having made it sore. While Applejack had dominated their first few games, Twilight quickly caught on and became formidable competition, even winning some of their last games.
“Boy howdy, ya sure did pick that up quick.” Applejack said as she fanned herself with her hat.
“I didn’t become Celestia’s prized…” She paused, twisting her neck around, trying to relieve some tension. “student by being a slow learner.” She quipped. Applejack noticed her awkward movements and moved over to help her.
“Lemme get that for ya.” She said, rubbing her hooves along Twilight’s neck. Twilight moaned in relief as she felt the pain start to fade along with the tension.
“Oh, that feels wonderful.” She leaned her head down, giving Applejack full access to her neck. Applejack’s wonderful hooves seemed to hit all the right areas, making everything feel better. After a few moments she stood back up.
“Thank you, Applejack, that feels much better.”
“No problem, Twi.”
The two walked back through the park to Mane Street, the point where Applejack would have to turn to head towards Sweet Apple Acres.
“Do you want to come over for dinner?” Twilight asked, not wanting their date to end.
“Aww, shucks. I’d love to, Twi, but I gotta get back to the farm and finish up the chores I put off from this morning. Think we can do this again sometime soon? I had a lot of fun, and it was nice spending time with ya, just the two of us.”
“Sure, we can do that.” Twilight said with a smile. It faltered a moment later and she pawed the ground nervously with a hoof.
“Something wrong?” Applejack asked.
“No. It’s just… Well… It’s the end of the date…” She trailed off, mumbling to herself.
Applejack caught on to what she was trying to say. Using her hoof, she pulled Twilight’s head towards her. Twilight was momentarily confused, before she felt a pair of lips press into hers. She closed her eyes and pressed back into the kiss, never wanting it to end. After a few moments, they broke apart, each breathing heavily as they shared a loving look.
“Well, I’d best be going. Take care, Twi.” Applejack said as she turned and started walking towards the farm.
Twilight could tell that there was a little more bounce in her steps than there usually was, and she smiled at the knowledge that she was the reason behind it. Turning the opposite way, she started to head home, eager to tell Rainbow all about how well things had gone today.