It was a bright afternoon with clear blue skies. There were a few clouds hovering lazily over Sweet Apple Acres, casting their shadows on the apple trees below and providing some shade for the group of ponies and hybrids gathering apples into their saddle-baskets. However, there was one cloud looming suspiciously low to the ground, its movements unnatural only to a trained pegasus’s eye.
“Prism, get us closer,” the cloud whispered. “I can’t hear a darn thing this high up.”
“We are already the lowest cloud. Any lower and we’d risk getting snagged in a tree.”
“I know my family’s trees. Just park it over there and don’t move.”
“Ouch! Watch where you’re stepping!”
“Quit yelping,” Api hushed Prism indefinitely. Her head then popped out of the edge of cloud, scanning the movements and trying to pick up on the chatter of the herd below them. Echo’s own head slowly revealed itself from cloud, wearing her usual quiet observing stare. Pixel’s head then popped out above Api’s, her blissful face clearly showing her enjoyment of being airborne.
“You make a good sky fort Prism,” Pixel told the pegasus whose head she was also stepping on.
“Don’t get too used to it,” grunted the rainbow maned colt.
Pixel ignored the pegasus colt’s protest and shifted her attention to their commander in chief, “I get how you got Prism to fly us, catching him and Star bathing and all, but how did Annie and Candy get pulled into this operation?”
“Annie came with T, you know how inseparable those two are. Candy just like playing match-making.” Api explained briefly, not wanting to be too distracted from monitoring the situation below.
“Looks like Claire’s moving in with Candy,” Echo commented. All three pairs of eyes instantly locked onto the lavender hybrid closing in on the sky blue alicorn like a stalking predator, a blue pony with pink mane flanking in from the other side.
“Hey, Lance,” Claire greeted her old friend fondly.
“Hey, Claire.” Lance’s tone did not have the same enthusiasm as apples surrounded in his magic aura levitated into his basket.
“Hi Prince Valiant!” Candy’s sudden exuberant greeting startled the work-focused prince.
“Woah, um hi..... Candy.”
“So what're you up to?” Claire continued the conversation innocently.
“Ahhh, just getting apples like you guys,” replied Lance. He had an eyebrow raised suspiciously at her for asking the obvious. Claire would never ask something so…mundane.
“Cool, cool.... So you have a special someone yet?” Claire was certainly not wasting any time getting to the point.
“Ugh. No. Still looking.” More apples began floating into the basket.
“Really? Interesting. You know, I have a friend who might be interested in a handsome prince such as yourself.” Claire lifted her right claw and looked at it nonchalantly while Candy gasped and squeaked lightly.
“Hah, who wouldn't be? Who's this friend of yours?” A matter-of-fact tone heavily present in the prince’s reply.
“Oh, just a friend. She's a friend of yours, too. She's around your age, and she's close by……” Claire trailed off while looking at him from the corners of her eyes.
“Ooooh, um Claire, don't get me wrong, you're really pretty but I'm just not into girls like you. I mean—“
“What? NO! I'm not talking about me, smart one! I've got a prince of my own,” Claire interrupted unladylike. “And what's wrong with me?” interrogated the hybrid, a threatening claw popping at the sky blue chest.
“She's talking about Red June,” Candy interjected to keep things on track.
“Red June?” Lance’s head turned over shoulder to look at the mulberry mare. He barely got a glance before a pair of blue hoofs turned his head back to face the front.
“Wait, don't look!” insisted Candy.
“Um, okay?” agreed the prince.
“Yes. Red June.” Claire regained her position in the conversation.
“I think we're just friends though,” reasoned Lance.
“You're obviously not "just friends". You guys send heart felt letters to each other all the time talking about your feelings and all that junk. I certainly don't get letters like that from you and we're pretty good friends.” Claire countered easily with her wit.
“ Well…ummmmm…” stammered Lance. “Wait, how do you even know about that?”
“Hey. Stop trying to change the subject.” She was not going to relent until she got her answers.
“You love her don't 'cha? Right? You should ask her out!” Candy chipped in with her own insight.
“Way to be subtle, Candy,” groaned the hybrid.
“Well, yeah I guess I love her but as a good friend, y'know? Besides, I don't think me being a prince and her being a farmer will work.”
“Please don't tell me you're that shallow.” Claire shot Lance a questioning look. Above them, both Pixel and Echo had to hold back Api from dive bombing onto the prince’s head. Royalty or not, the little apple would not have her cousin insulted like that.
“No, of course not! I meant that we're just too different,” defended Lance as he grinned sheepishly at the hybrid’s gaze. “We're like from two different worlds. I think she's better off with a really nice guy here in Ponyville and I'm better off with a girl used to high society and all that.”
“Oh yeah, because that's worked out so”—Claire rolled her eyes—“well for you before.”
“Hey. Don't go there,” snarled Lance with his grin turned upside down.
“I'm just kidding, Lance. But seriously it hasn't worked for you yet,” stressed the apologetic hybrid. “At all,” she added.
“Just give it a shot! Go ask June out on a date!” encouraged Candy.
“ Hmmmm......” Lance glanced back thoughtfully.
Pixel and Echo felt that it was finally safe to release their friend. Api for the most part had cooled down after hearing the prince’s later explanation. If he indeed turned out to be a selfish jerk that thought nothing of her cousin, Api had the alternative plan of grabbing Prism’s ear’s and steering him into a crash-landing on top of the prince.
“Hey, I think Annie’s gonna talk to June now,” Pixel noted as she pointed a hoof at the others gather under a nearby tree. The cloud they were on manoeuvred over above the other set of ponies. True enough, a cream unicorn with green light mane spoke up just as they got within earshot.
“So. June. Claire tells me your man's in town.”
“What?”
“Prince Valiant, over there.” Annie lifted a hoof in the general direction of the other three further down the orchard, with some help from the green hybrid behind her. “Assuming he's over there.”
“Oh, he's just an old friend of mine,” giggled June. “Claire introduced us a long time ago.”
“Just friends? I hear you guys send love letters to each other all the time,” teased Annie.
“They're just letters,” shrugged June. “And who'd you hear that from?
“Claire,” replied the unicorn as she continued to stare blankly into the space in front of her.
“How does she know about that?” June’s cheeks were beginning to show a darker shade of red.
“So, do you love him?” Annie dragged the word love to emphasize on it.
“Oh, no. He's very sweet but—”
“Do you find him attractive?” Annie interjected again, not letting June have an inch of control over where the conversation was going.
“W-wha?” June was at a lost for words. “I-I dunno.”
“Hm, seems it wasn't even a question. It's so obvious you do! Who wouldn't? Just look at him.” Annie paused for a moment, thinking about something. “Are you looking at him?”
“Yeah, I—”
“Look at him, so nice and tall, flowy blue hair, his—”
“Um, Annie? Aren't you bli—” June was silenced when a hoof pressed down on her nose.
“Shh, don't speak..." There was an awkward pause as Annie's hoof felt around what it was touching. "My hoof is on your nose isn't it?”
“Mmhm.”
“Just pretend I put it on your lips,” requested Annie.
“Okay,” giggled June.
“Where was I? Oh yeah. His flowy blue mane, his gorgeous brown eyes....”
“He has blue eyes, Annie”
“Hey, I'm blind. Don't have much to go off of. His gorgeous blue eyes, his well-toned muscles hidden under his armour......”
“He's not wearing any armour,” smiled June.
“What? Even better! Check out those big, big muscles and firm pl—”
“Okay, Anthea! I think that's enough about my cousin,” blurted Starburst who was seated on the tree’s branch.
“My bad,” apologized Annie.
“Anyways, June, if you like the guy, you should just go talk to him," Golden Delicious finally found an opening in the conversation he was comfortable to butt in at. "You two have barely talked since he came by. Go ahead and take some time off. You've been workin' hard lately” he continued.
“I know. I'm just used to writing stuff in letters. Not sure how I'd do talking to him face to face....” admitted June.
“You can do it!” cheered Annie. “He seems like a nice guy”
“Hmmm.....” June mused thoughtfully as she looked over at the sky blue alicorn gathering apples into his saddle-basket.
The low hanging cloud raised slowly higher into the air. There was the sound of three hoofs slapping together and a small victory cheer erupted from inside the cloud. “I’d say operation RedHeart was a success!” Api declared.
“Great. Now can I drop you fillies off? You’re really heavy,” whined Prism.