//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Sun of My Heart 2: Love's Flames // by BlueSun52 //------------------------------// Shipping the Apple - Part 3 Applejack sighed as she laid in her bed. It was early Saturday morning and she dreaded the day it would come. A few days ago, she agreed to go out with Thunderlane because of a bet that she made with Rarity. Because of that bet, Thunderlane had unexpectedly asked her out and she had no choice but to go along with it. She cursed herself for even making the bet in the first place. When she had thought about it, it was clearly a trap from the beginning, and she shouldn’t have fallen for it. Luckily for her she made the person responsible pay dearly for it, which she was happy about. Applejack gave up trying to stay in bed all day trying to come up with an excuse to not go with Thunderlane. As much as she hated to go on a date she didn’t want to go to, she wasn’t going to just leave Thunderlane like that. After all, they have been good friends and she didn’t want to make him feel bad about the whole thing. As far as she could tell, he was just as forced into this as she was. She got out of bed and changed out of her pajamas. She looked through all the outfits that she had while wearing her green bra and panties with red laces. She experimented with her outfits for a moment, which she got from seeing Rarity trying out new outfits every time she and her friends went out to the mall or some other store. Finally she picked out her outfit and put it on. She wore a blue plaid shirt with blue jeans along with her usual boots. She grabbed her stetson and placed it over her head. She looked in the mirror for a moment before she smiled at herself. ‘Ah might not be into this whole dating thing, but at least Ah can still pull off a good look,’ she thought to herself. ‘Ah just hope Thunderlane understands that Ah’m not going to put on those outfits that other country girls like to. Ah like to keep all of my privates covered as best Ah can. Ah don’t need to show off my ‘assets’ as Rarity puts it to impress a guy.’ After examining herself, Applejack left her room and went downstairs to help Granny Smith get breakfast ready for the family. When breakfast was ready and the family had gathered around to eat, Apple Bloom looked over to Applejack with a sly smile. “So big sis, are ya ready for your big date with Thunderlane today?” Apple Bloom asked with a grin. Applejack groaned. “It’s not a date. We’re just going out together as friends,” Applejack replied. “So don’t get any ideas.” “Oh Applejack, there’s no need to get nervous,” Granny Smith said. “It’s perfectly normal for a young girl like ya to go out with a guy.” “Ah’m not going on a date with Thunderlane!” Applejack insisted. “Ah explained to you that it was because of a bet that Soul set up with the others, and because of that, Ah’m going to wherever he’s taking me and missin’ out on some much needed work around here.” “Um, Ah hate to put ya on the spot, Applejack, but we don’t really have that much to do around here,” Big Mac said. “The animals are being taken care of, the fields are in good condition and all the apple trees are being picked by all the workers that Granny Smith hired. It’s been a simple summer actually.” “Because Ah’ve been keeping it that way,” Applejack stated. “Ah make sure everyone gets the job done and Ah do most of work around here anyway.” Big Mac rolled his eyes. “And one day of not doing any of it wouldn’t damper all that,” he said. “It’s okay to take just one day to yourself.” “But Ah also can’t get tied up in a relationship either. There’s still school work Ah have to fini-” “Ah’m pretty sure ya can date someone and still have good grades,” Apple Bloom said. “Sweetie Bell tells me that she caught her sister and her boyfriend actually studying together while they were making out.” Applejack blinked. “Wait, they really do that?” she asked herself. “That was just a random comment Ah made. Anyways, and there’s always the farm that-” “Oh, don’t get started on that,” Granny Smith. “Your pappy and mother helped out on the farm and they still had time to make ya three.” Everyone in the room blushed. “Now stop making excuses and just have a nice time with the fella. Who knows? Maybe you might end up liking him,” Granny Smith said. “Now let’s enjoy breakfast and see where the day takes us.” Applejack let out a sigh and covered her face. “This is gonna be a long day,” she said to herself. “And stop putting your elbows on the table. It’s bad manners,” Granny Smith said. Applejack stood in front of the mall entrance as she waited on Thunderlane. She had arrived a bit early hoping to get it over with and that it would be a short date. She had nothing against Thunderlane, but he did have a reputation of being a bit of show-off like Rainbow Dash. She wished that she wasn’t doing this and was back home doing work on the farm which she loved to do, but she was still determined to get this bet out of the way and act like it never happened. She leaned against the wall of the building as she waited until she heard a motorcycle approaching. Thunderlane was driving the motorcycle with his sunglasses on and pulled it to a stop, coming up towards the edge of the sidewalk. He looked up at Applejack with a smile and removed his glasses. “Hey there, pretty lady. Are you ready to go on the best date ever?” Thunderlane asked cooly. Applejack rolled her eyes at his comment, though she liked being called pretty. “Yes, Ah’m ready, but let me make a couple things clear about all this,” she said. “One: We’re not going to call this a date. As far as Ah can tell, it’s just us going as friends together.” “Alright, I’m cool with that.” “And two: You try anything funny, the next thing you’ll be seeing is my fist to your face. And then later, Big Mac’s.” Thunderlane gulped. “G-Got it,” he said nervously. “I guess since we’re going to be doing this, I should probably tell you who set me up for this.” “Oh, don’t worry about that. Ah made Soul pay for that already,” Applejack said. “What? I thought it was all Rarity’s idea?” Thunderlane asked. “If I remember right, Soul was just along for the ride.” Applejack had a blank expression for a moment before she cringed as she remembered what she did to Soul at the mall. ‘Oh boy, am Ah going to get it when Aunt Dawn and Granny Smith hear about this,’ she thought to herself. ‘Great, now Ah have to suck it up to Soul just to get him to accept my apology.’ “Anyway, wanna get going?” Thunderlane asked. “Wait, Ah thought we were just doing something at the mall?” Applejack asked confusedly. “Nope, I just wanted to meet up here. There’s somewhere else better I thought you would like. I can give you a ride there,” Thunderlane explained. “Unless, you prefer to just drive your truck there?” Applejack thought about it for a moment and decided to just humor Thunderlane for the time. “Alright, Ah’ll play along,” she said. “Better make it worth it.” “Trust me, it’ll be worth it,” Thunderlane assured. Applejack jumped on the back of Thunderlane’s motorcycle and wrapped her arms around him. He revved up the bike and drove it up the street. After driving around town, Thunderlane and Applejack were near the edge of town and up ahead of them was a carnival. Just as Applejack was still holding onto her hat, she saw the carnival and had a surprised look on her. Thunderlane slowed down his bike and parked it. He then looked back at Applejack. “Here we are. What do you think?” he asked. “Huh, a carnival. Ah really didn’t expect that,” Applejack commented. “Well, I thought it would be the best choice for our first dat-” Thunderlane was about to finish when Applejack gave him a glare. “I mean eh, our first social gathering of just the two of us.” “Do ya always make an effort to impress girls likes this?” Applejack asked. “Only the ones I like….. or fear, whichever comes first,” Thunderlane joked. Applejack giggled. “Ah hoped Ah’m on the like list,” she commented. “Don’t worry, you are,” Thunderlane said. “Yeah, you did threatened to beat me up if I tried anything, but I don’t blame you. Not that many trustworthy guys nowadays.” “Ah do trust ya, Thunderlane. That was just for insurance,” Applejack said. “So, ya wanna head on in now?” “Of course, want me to lead the way?” Thunderlane asked as he held out his arm. Applejack smiled. “Since ya asked nicely,” she replied. Applejack wrapped her arm around Thunderlane’s arm and the two walked into the carnival. Unknow to Applejack, Rarity and a few of the others were following them in individual rides. Clyde drove his car with Rarity in the passenger seat with Rivet and Rainbow Dash, Swift drove his mom’s car while Pinkie sat in the passenger seat with Fluttershy and Night in the back, and Soul was driving his motorcycle with Sunset wrapping her arms around him. Everyone got out of their cars and motorcycle and huddled together. “Alright, everyone has their walkies with them that Twilight gave us, right?” Rarity asked the group. “Got mine,” Rainbow Dash said. “Me too,” Swift said. “I have mine,” Night said. “I’m carrying it for Soul because he almost lost it on the way here,” Sunset commented. “One time. I almost lost it one time on the way here,” Soul said. “I didn’t know it was going to be a long ride here and it barely fell out of my pocket.” “Barely? It pretty much fell right out of there and we almost got into a wreck because of it,” Sunset said. “You’re just lucky that I have good reflexes.” “Which, by the way, I am very impressed by,” Soul commented. “Can we please focus?” Rarity asked. “Now, what we’re going to be doing is making sure that Applejack’s date goes so well that she would love to go out with Thunderlane some more, and hopefully they’ll be a couple from then on.” “I’m still against this,” Night commented. “And I’m still mad at you for putting me in the closet.” “I thought it was necessary since you were planning on telling Applejack,” Rarity retorted. “Was it also necessary to leave me there for the whole night!?” Night angrily countered. “It wasn’t my fault for that. Soul was supposed to go back and get you,” Rarity pointed out. “Yeah, tell the guy who had a concussion after being thrown into a trash can and spun around the mall to go after one of his friends who you locked up in the closet,” Soul commented. “I don’t see any flaws in that whatsoever. I don’t know why you didn’t send Clyde to do it.” “I needed him.” “What, to have another make-out session? Rainbow is right, you do need more hobbies.” “Finally, someone agrees with me,” Rainbow Dash commented. “Shut up!” Rarity snapped. “Nice come back, Rarity,” Soul chuckled. “You shut up too!” “WHAA!” Soul slightly winced back at Rarity’s retort. “Anyways, just keep a close eye on them and make sure everything goes well. Radio me about their progress.” “What if we get lost?” Pinkie asked. “That’s why we’re going here as couples. We can cover more ground that way and notify the others where they are and where the two are heading,” Rarity explained. “And I’ll give out advice and how to make sure this goes how we need it to go. Does anyone else have any questions?” “Yeah, can we have fun here too?” Soul asked. “I’ve never gone out with Sunny here to a carnival and-” “No, we’re here to make sure that Applejack’s date goes where we need it to go!” Rarity replied. “No goofing off while we’re here. That goes double for you, Pinkie.” “Oh, come on! Don’t call me out like that!” Pinkie said. “And that goes triple for you, Clyde.” “Wait, what?” “I need you to keep your urges together and stay focused,” Rarity said. “I know that you want some of these lips, but we need to stay focused for Applejack.” ‘I’m pretty sure I’m not the one with the biggest urges in the relationship,’ Clyde thought to himself. “Whatever you say.” “Good, now everyone let’s head in and cover some areas,” Rarity said. Everyone made their way towards the entrance of the carnival while Soul and Sunset walked along behind them. Sunset looked at Soul with a raised brow. “Are we planning to ditch this the moment we get in?” she asked. “Yep,” Soul simply replied. “I don’t want to end up in a trash can again.” “Okay. I have no problem with that,” Sunset said. “What do you wanna do first then?” “I was thinking we can go on the ferris wheel. You know if by chance we end up at the very top and the ride breaks down for a moment, we can totally make out,” Soul explained. “..... Soul, I’m pretty sure we’ll be making out the whole time while it works,” Sunset pointed out. “And the rides are constantly checked on. What makes you think that the ride would break down when we get to the top?” “I just have that kind of luck,” Soul replied. Sunset rolled her eyes. Thunderlane and Applejack were walking around the carnival as they looked at all the rides and games that it had to offer. As they were walking around, Pinkie and Swift were closely watching them. Pinkie was wearing only a moustache and thick fake glasses as her disguise. Swift looked over to Pinkie with a raised brow. “Um, why are you wearing those again?” Swift asked. “Duh, to keep Applejack from finding out,” Pinkie answered. “I don’t know why you’re not wearing anything to disguise yourself.” “Pinkie, I can still tell that’s you,” Swift commented. “Of course you can, you just saw me put on my disguise.” “I know, but that’s not what I meant. Applejack could still tell that it’s you,” Swift pointed out. “Really? How?” Swift’s eyes were half-lid as he looked over at Pinkie. She still had her fuzzy pink hair like she always did and was wearing her usual outfit. Swift placed a hand over his face and let out a sigh. “I don’t even know where to start,” Swift commented. “Pinkie, Swift, can you hear me?” Rarity’s voice called out. Swift reached into his pockets and pulled out the walkie. “Yeah, we’re here,” he replied. “Do you see Applejack and Thunderlane anywhere?” Rarity asked. “Yep, they’re right in front of us,” Swift said. “We don’t see anything wrong yet so it looks like it's going good.” “Good, keep me posted,” Rarity said. “Will do.” “Oh! Swifty, look!” Pinkie pointed. Swift looked at what Pinkie was pointing at and saw a building. There was a sign that said “House of Mirrors” on it. “We should go and check it out real quick!” Pinkie chimed. “I don’t know. Shouldn’t we be keeping an eye on Applejack and Thunderlane?” Swift asked. “We’ll be in and out in no time,” Pinkie said. “And look, they’re standing there and looking around. They might leave just as we get back.” Swift looked at Applejack and Thunderlane for a moment before looking back at Pinkie and smiling. “Okay, we’ll go in and check it out,” he said. “Woo hoo!” Pinkie grabbed Swift by the arm and pulled him into the mirror house. Applejack and Thunderlane were looking around the carnival as they were deciding what they should do. “What do you wanna do first?” Thunderlane asked. “Ah prefer we do all the rides first,” Applejack replied. “That way, we don’t get sick because of all the food we’ll be eating and most of the games here are stuff ya have to carry around.” “That sounds like a good idea,” Thunderlane said. The two left for the rides while Pinkie and Swift were still in the mirror house. Pinkie was looking at a mirror that was standing still while she was still moving. Swift looked at the mirror with a confused look. Time had passed by and Thunderlane and Applejack were standing in line for one of the rides. While they were waiting, Night and Fluttershy were watching from a bench that was far off. Night had a bored expression on him as he leaned down to rest his head in his hands while Fluttershy hummed a tone to herself as she was texting a friend. “Hey, who you are texting?” Night asked. “I’m texting a good friend of mine when I went to the last Butterfly Migration,” Fluttershy replied. “Her name is Tree Hugger and she really loves nature like I do. We met there and we started talking about our interests in nature. One thing led to another and we became fast friends.” “I’m glad that you made a friend that has the same interests as you,” Night said. He looked around the carnival for a moment before seeing one of the spinning rides that twirled around in circles. “You know, since Applejack and Thunderlane are waiting in line, how about we go and get on that ride for a moment?” Fluttershy looked over to the ride that Night was looking at and glanced back in worry. “Um, shouldn’t we be more focused on watching Applejack?” she asked. “Plus, I think it’s scary.” “Don’t worry about it. It’s safe,” Night said. “Come on, we’ll give it one go and be back to watching Applejack as she forcibly goes on a date.” “W-Well, I guess I can give it try,” Fluttershy said. “Will they let us hold hands in there?” “I think they let you,” Night replied. “O-Okay then.” Night took Fluttershy’s hand and the made their way off, unaware of Applejack's and Thunderlane’s conversation. “Mmmmm, the ride here is taking too long. Maybe we should go to another ride or something,” Applejack suggested. “That might be a good idea,” Thunderlane said. “Wanna try out some of the food right now? We’ve pretty much ridden everything anyway.” “Alright, Ah’m getting hungry anyway,” Applejack said. “So, what do ya do for y’all spare time?” “I like to keep myself busy all the time. You know, keeping my bike clean and tinkering with it. I guess pretty much anything really,” Thunderlane replied. “I guess you can say I’m kinda a workaholic too since I always keep myself busy at my job at the theaters.” “Hehe, yeah, Ah know what ya mean. Ah always keep myself busy at the farm, wither there’s something to do or not. Ah’ll always find something to do there,” Applejack said. “But Ah do find time to be with my friends whenever they want me to tag along or go out to somewhere.” “Pretty much the same for me. Whenever any of my friends wants me to come over, I’ll pretty much be ready to go,” Thunderlane said. “Tell you the truth, I thought that we didn’t have much in common, but the more I spend time with you, the more I realize that we do.” Applejack scratched the back of her head and smiled. “Ah hate to admit, but I felt the same thing too about you until after a while,” she admitted. “Maybe this isn’t going to be so bad.” Thunderlane smiled at Applejack while she blushed slightly as the two walked. As they walked, they were unaware that Rainbow Dash and Rivet were nearby as Rainbow Dash was playing one of the dart balloon games nearby and was winning at it. She carefully aimed her dart at one of the balloons and threw at it. The balloon popped as the dart landed on it and Rainbow Dash air pumped in victory. “HA! I knew I could beat this game in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, what do I get?” “You can choose from one of the bigger prizes here,” the counter worker replied. “Awesome, I’ll take the Zapp one,” Rainbow Dash said. “Here you go miss.” The worker gave Rainbow Dash the Power Girl Zapp plush doll. Rainbow Dash held the doll in her arms and looked at Rivet with a toothy smile. “Woo hoo! I got the Zapp doll!” Rainbow Dash chimed. “I wonder what else I could get here?” “Shouldn’t we be watching out for Applejack and Thunderlane?” Rivet asked. “What, and listen to Miss I-Suck-Too-Much-Clyde-Lips? No thanks. If she thinks we’re all going to miss out here at the carnival with only two weeks before school, she can forget it,” Rainbow Dash said. “So stop worrying about her and Applejack and let’s have some fun!” “I don’t know-” “If you do this, I’ll give you a special reward tonight,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at Rivet with bedroom eyes. Rivet pursed his lips as he blushed. “..... So, what do you wanna do next?” he asked. Rainbow Dash looking around for a moment until she saw a booth that was selling apple cider. Her eyes widened with joy and stars appeared when she saw one of the most awesomest drinks in the world. “I have to have some of those!” she said as she ran over to the booth with Rivet following behind her. On the other side of the carnival, Rarity was trying to get a hold of some of the others as she either got a somewhat unsatisfactory answer or was completely ignored. “Swift, Pinkie, are you there?” Rarity asked with her walkie. “Oh uh, hey Rarity,” Swift answered. “We’re um, we lost sight of Applejack and Thunderlane. There was a um large crowd that we got caught in and we somehow ended up at the mirror house for….. Pinkie, how long have we been here?” “I think about an hour.” “Yeah, about an hour,” Swift added. Rarity slapped herself in the forehead. “Alright, let’s try someone else,” she said to herself as Clyde’s rolled. “Night and Fluttershy, are you there?” She didn’t get any response as there was only static. “Rainbow Dash, Rivet, please tell me you’re on here?” There was no response and she only heard more static. “Oh, for crying out- Sunset! Are you and Soul there!?” “Huh, what? Oh um, hey Rarity, what do you need?” Soul asked. “Soul, please tell me you know where Applejack and Thunderlane are?” “Um, give me a moment,” Soul replied. There was a long pause as Rarity waited for Soul to answer her. After a few moments, Rarity could hear the walkie being turned on. “Yeah, I think I see them near some of the carnival games on the east side. You can’t miss them, there’s not that many people over there,” Soul replied. “Good, stay on them and tell me everything you-” “Yeah, that’s the problem. Sunny and I are…. kinda in a jam right now.” “What do you mean?” “Well, we uh, decided to find them in the ferris wheel so we could keep track. But we had a little problem.” “The ferris wheel just broke down for a moment and we’re stuck up here,” Sunset said. “Now we can’t go anywhere.” “Look at the bright side.” “What bright side!?” “We’re at the very top and the sun is setting,” Soul pointed out. “Isn’t that very romantic?” “.....Well, it kinda is,” Sunset admitted. All of a sudden, Rarity heard smacking noises on her walkie. “Wait, what’s going on?” she asked into the walkie. After she realized what was going on, she let out groan and turned off her walkie. “That is so annoying! Who in heavens would just make out while something like this is going on?” ‘I can think of two people who do that,’ Clyde thought to himself. ‘Wow, I’m beginning to think that Dash is right. We do need more hobbies.’ “Come along, Clyde. Looks like we have to make sure that everything- Oh my goodness, is that a love tunnel?” Clyde pursed his lips as he looked ahead to see the love tunnel ride. “Yeah, it is. But didn’t you say that we need to keep an eye on Applejack?” he asked. “Y-Yes, we should focus on that…. Just as soon as we go on one ride together,” Rarity said as she grabbed Clyde’s hand. “Let’s hurry before the line gets too long.” Clyde smiled. “Of course,” he said before he went along with Rarity towards the ride. Just as Rarity and Clyde were getting in line, on the other side of the carnival, Thunderlane and Applejack were walking around as she was carrying a small stuffed bear. Thunderlane won it for her when he played one of the stall games that had the player throw a baseball at some bottles. As the two walked around, Thunderlane looked at his phone for a moment and saw that it was getting late. “Wow, we’ve been out here for hours,” Thunderlane commented. “I didn’t think we’d be out here that long.” “Well, it is a big carnival and there is a lot of folks that came here. And those lines for the rides took forever just to get to,” Applejack explained. “But yeah, time did fly by fast.” “So, do you wanna head back to the mall? I’m guessing you’re tired of all this just like I am,” Thunderlane said. “Yeah, Ah am. Ah’m ready to head back home,” Applejack replied. “Alright, let’s go,” Thunderlane said. After that, Thunderlane and Applejack left the carnival unbeknown to the others, who still were having fun at the carnival. After waiting for a long while, Soul and Sunset finally climbed out of the ferris wheel cabin and walked out while Soul straightened out his jacket and Sunset patted her skirt. “Well, that’s what I call an intense make out,” Soul commented. “Nothing like kissing the one you love while being up several dozen feet in the air to make the experience more passionate.” Sunset giggled. “It really was exciting, I’ll admit,” she said. “But can you at least have been a little less handsy?” “Sorry, I was a little too into the kissing,” Soul replied. “But you could have stopped it, you know.” “Well…… Okay, fine. Maybe I wanted you to be a little handsy,” Sunset admitted as she crossed her arms and blushed. “But don’t think that means you can do what you want with me.” “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything that you wouldn’t like,” Soul said. “Besides, there’s still other things I can do with you anyway.” “Oh yeah, like what?” Sunset asked in a sultry tone. “Maybe, something like this,” Soul said. He leaned to Sunset and kissed her passionately for a moment. Just as the two had stopped their kiss, Soul noticed both Night and Fluttershy walking up towards them as they were shaking constantly with terrified looks. “What the heck happen to you two?” “We went on one of those spinning rides. A corn dog bone got trapped in the controls and we were in there for about four hours,” Night answered. “Since when did corn dogs have bones!?” “So you guys pretty much dipped out of this spy thing, did you?” Soul asked. “I don’t blame you. This whole thing was dumb anyway.” “Tell me about it,” Rainbow Dash said as she and Rivet were walking up to the group. Rainbow Dash was only holding her Zapp doll while Rivet was holding on to all of the other prizes that she had won from the games and was having difficulty hold them. “I think this whole dating idea was a bad idea from the start. I don’t know why we did this in the first place.” “Hey guys,” Swift said as he and Pinkie walked up to the group. “I’m going to guess you guys got caught up in all of this too, right?” “Yeah, pretty much,” Rivet said. “I think it’s clear that we don’t really like to spy on people while we’re at a carnival. Too much temptation.” “You think Clyde and Rarity were able to keep themselves under control?” Soul asked. On cue, they saw Clyde and Rarity coming out of the end of the love tunnel and watched them walk out of the boat. While the two were gazing into each other's eyes, they stopped to realize that they were being watched by the others as most of them had sly smiles on their faces. Rarity blushed and cleared her throat. “Well, I suppose we didn’t find Applejack and Thunderlane in there,” she said. “And I’m disappointed in all of you! We were supposed to make something magical happen, but you all gave in to your self desires and-” “Rarity, we know that you just went into the love tunnel just to make out with Clyde,” Rainbow Dash said. “There’s no need to act like it’s entirely our fault….. Although, it’s mostly your fault that we ended up here anyway.” Rarity glared at Rainbow Dash for a moment before she took a breath. “Alright, do we know where Applejack and Thunderlane are now?” she asked. “I think I saw them leave already,” Swift said. “It has been hours. You think they had a good time?” “Yeah, I bet they had a good time, and I think I know what Applejack is going to say to Thunderlane,” Soul said. “What, do you think she’ll ask Thunderlane out for another date?” Rarity asked with anticipation. It was getting near dark as the sun was beginning to disappear from sight and the stars could be seen in the coming night sky. The parking lot was almost completely empty except for a few cars and Applejack’s pickup. Thunderlane drove his bike up close to the pickup and parked next to it. Applejack climbed off the bike and stretched for a moment before looking back to Thunderlane with a smile. “That turned out better than Ah expected,” Applejack commented. “Ah kinda thought all our friends would be spying on us or something.” Thunderlane let out a chuckle. “Yeah, I thought the same, but I didn’t see any of them,” he said. “Maybe they did but we just didn’t see them.” “Or maybe they got too caught up with everything that was going on at the carnival,” Applejack said as she laughed. “Anyways, Ah really had fun today with ya.” “Glad to hear it,” Thunderlane said. There was a long awkward pause between the two. Thunderlane rubbed the back of his head and broke the silence. “So…. You wanna try going out again? Without being forced into it this time?” Applejack giggled at the joke and thought about it. She did have a lot in common with Thunderlane and he was a sweet guy winning her the teddy bear. But she contemplated having to go back to school soon and all the farm work she had to do. Was she ready to start giving dating a shot? Did she really have the time to do so the whole time during her high school years and just was making excuses? After she went over everything that had happened and what possible outcomes it would have, she looked up at Thunderlane with a sad smile. “Ah’m sorry, Thunderlane. Ah do like ya but…. Ah still don’t think Ah’m ready to give dating a shot yet,” she said. Thunderlane smiled and let out a chuckle. “Alright, had to try anyway. I did have a lot of fun with you,” he said. “How about we just hang out as friends from here on, you know? Not put any labels on anything between us.” “Ah think Ah like that idea,” Applejack said. “No hard feelings?” “No hard feelings,” Thunderlane replied. “I kinda expected it anyway.” Applejack giggled. “Yeah, Ah bet ya did,” she said. “Well, see ya later.” “Later.” Thunderlane revved up his bike and drove off. Applejack watched as Thunderlane drove off until he disappeared from sight. She let out a relieved sigh and smiled at her decision. “Ah don’t know if Ah’ll ever meet the right guy for me,” she said. “But when the time comes, it’ll be me that makes the choice. No one else makes it for me.” Applejack climbed into her pickup truck and drove back towards her home, confident and satisfied with her choice. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE ISN’T GOING TO DO THIS ANYMORE!?” Rarity screamed at Soul as she wrapped her hands around his throat. “WHY WOULDN’T SHE!?” “Can’t…. breathe!” Soul said as Rarity choked him. “Would you let go of my boyfriend!?” Sunset said. She grabbed Rarity’s hand and made her let go of Soul and slightly pushed her away from him. “Sheesh, he just told you no and you’re trying to kill him!” “And he’s telling me that all of our efforts were fruitless!” Rarity retorted. “Days of planning and all the trouble we had to go through.” “I think Night and Soul were the ones that received the worst of all this,” Rivet commented. “You know, you locking Night in a closet at the cafe and Soul being thrown into a trash bin and tossed around in the mall. Unless of course, we’re also counting Night and Fluttershy being trapped in the spizler.” “Alright, I’ll admit that I may have gone a little overboard with this,” Rarity admitted. “A little?” “SHUT UP!” Rarity yelled at Rivet. She covered her mouth quickly and blushed from her outburst. “I’m sorry. That was uncouth of me to do.” “That’s okay,” Rivet said. “You did invest a lot of time into this after all.” “So Soul, what makes you think that Applejack wouldn’t go along with this?” Clyde asked. “I mean, they did have a good time and everything. Why would she not go out with Thunderlane again?” “Because it wasn’t her choice to begin with,” Soul answered. “I mean, we did force her to go out with Thunderlane and she just hates to be forced into something she doesn't like. She always wants to do things her way. I just didn’t think about all this until we got here.” “Why didn’t you say anything until now?” Swift asked. “I wanted to see how Rarity would react to this. It was funny,” Soul replied as he chuckled. “Plus this whole thing was bad from the start anyway. Why we all did this is a mystery to me.” “Yeah, it’s almost like a certain author was writing down all of this just so he could have Applejack finally have someone in the story, but some of his fellow authors that made their own stories about us didn’t like where the story was heading because the whole thing seemed forced and the author began to see that and wasn’t liking it either, so, he decided to go along with it until he got to where Applejack and Thunderlane are saying goodbye and having her say that still doesn't feel like she's ready and makes her a powerful character because she wants it to be her choice of who she wants to go out with,” Pinkie explained. “....... Okay. Pinkie, seriously, what the hell are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked. It was the next day and Rarity was at her home sleeping peacefully in her bed. She heard the doorbell ring and ignored it as her parents would more than likely get it while she tried to stay asleep. Just as she thought she was about to go back to sleep, she heard some footsteps coming her way and believed that the door was opening. She let out a huff as she got up to see who it was. “Sweetie Belle, how many times must I tell you to just leave the mail outside of-” Rarity stopped when she saw that it was Applejack standing at the doorway. “Applejack!? W-What you doing here?” “Ah thought Ah would come by and give you something,” Applejack replied. “You know, something to make sure ya never trick me into going out again by force.” Rarity sat up in her bed and waved her hands in a worried manner. “Applejack, please! I’m sure we can just talk about this in a proper way without resorting to childish-” “Would ya relax? Ah’m not going to do anything too bad,” Applejack said. “Then…. What are you going to do?” “Give you this,” Applejack said as she pulled out a bottle of shampoo from her bag. “It’s-” “Oh my goodness! Is that some of Sapphire Shores’ famous shampoo!?” Rarity asked with awe. “But they only sell them in small quantities at a time and they cost so much. How did you get it?” “Granny Smith used to be friends with her when they were little,” Applejack replied. “She would send in a few of these every now and again. She pretty much has at least a whole crate full of them now.” “How come you never gave me any of them?” Rarity asked. “I’ve talked about having them for so long and you had a crate full of them!” “That’s because Granny doesn't like to share the shampoo so much,” Applejack answered. “But Ah convinced her to give me a couple of them and Ah’m willing to give them to ya if ya never ever ever make me go on a date unless Ah want to.” “Yes! Yes! I promise that I will never force you to go on dates anymore,” Rarity swore. “I Pinkie Promise it as well!” “Good. Here ya go.” Applejack handed the shampoo over to Rarity and she squealed with excitement. “Oh! I must try this out now!” Rarity said. “I’ll be a while, if you don’t mind.” “That’s okay, Ah’m on my way out anyway,” Applejack said as she exited the room. “Hope ya enjoy the shampoo.” As soon as Applejack left the room, Rarity quickly removed her clothes, ran over to the bathroom, and closed the door. Applejack heard the shower being started and a devious smile appeared on her face as she walked down the hallway. After some time had passed in the shower, Rarity slid her shower door open and reached over to grab her towel. After she used it to wipe herself, she casually walked over to the mirror with the fog still over it while she wrapped her towel around her body. She was singing a small tune to herself as she wiped away the fog off the mirror. At first she was smiling with delight as she was excited to see how her hair would look. Then it turned into a blank expression for a moment before her eyes shrank with horror and she let out a scream of terror. Rarity’s once glorious purple hair was now a bright color of green—a color she most despised with a passion. Her eyes were streaming with tears and she slowly lowered herself on the ground. “WHY APPLEJACK!? WWWHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?”