The Orange Apple and the Bookworm

by Some Person

Chapter 6

Twilight woke up to the sound of a knocking hoof ringing in her head. She struggled to open her eyes and sat up in her bed, taking in the sunshine around her. She then yawned and stretched her joints as she peered at her clock, which read 10:27am. She dragged herself out from under her covers. She heard another knock from her front door. As she trudged along the floor, she thought, Things sure did run late, last night. As she continued walking, her eyelids weighed less and less. Last... night... She started to blush, then giggled as she swayed while reflecting on the previous night's events.

More knocking came from her front door, just in time to snap her from her stupor and prevent her from tumbling down the stairs. "One second!" Twilight called out as she carefully made her way downstairs and opened the front door. "Oh, hello, Fluttershy!" she greeted as the very pony stood outside her door.

Spike hopped off Fluttershy's back and proceeded inside. "Thanks for bringing me over," he said as he stepped past Twilight.

The librarian kept looking at Spike walk by before she gasped and groaned, placing a hoof on her face. "Fluttershy, I am so sorry—”

"Oh, it's no trouble! I actually had a feeling you were busy when you didn't show up, so I thought I'd bring Spike here myself."

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I didn't think I'd sleep in so late."

"Don't worry; it's fine. I didn't have anything else to do."

"Do you want coffee or juice or anything? I can make some real quick."

"That's okay. We'll have time for that at brunch."

"Right, at..." She paused as her face blanked. "Brunch?"

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Did you forget?"

"W-what?! No! I wouldn't forget the brunch!"

"Okay..." Fluttershy replied with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I'll see you then!" she added as she walked away.

"Yep! I'll see you at..." She stood still, wracking her brain as Fluttershy turned around.

"The Nectar Cafe at 11:30."

"Right! Nectar Cafe, 11:30. I'll be there!"

Fluttershy smiled and continued to walk away.

Twilight shut the door and heaved a heavy sigh. "Spike!" she called out, "Did I ever make plans for brunch today?"

He walked towards her desk and pulled out a magenta book. He flipped through the pages for a while before pointing to a page. "Yeah, it's written right here."

"That's odd, why don't I remember it?"

"It was last Wednesday or Thursday, I think. I went down into the study to mention it to you, but you loudly told me you were busy and said 'Okay fine whatever, just write it in.'"

"Oh..." Twilight bit her lip. "That’s kind of familiar now... I guess I'm going to brunch then."

**********

Twilight approached the open-air Nectar Cafe on the east side of Ponyville. At one table near the entrance, she could spot three ponies: one yellow, one pink, and one white, who all sat with one seat separating each other. At least they're easy to spot. She approached her friends, Pinkie Pie being the first to spot her.

"Hiya, Twilight!" she greeted with an enthusiastic wave of her hoof. This brought Fluttershy and Rarity's attention around to her, and they both greeted her accordingly.

“Hi, girls! How have you been?" Twilight asked, while taking a seat between Fluttershy and Rarity and looking over one of the menus placed at each seat.

"Oh, it's been marvelous, dear!" Rarity beamed. "I had my spa treatment yesterday, and now I feel lighter than air!"

"That's good to hear," Twilight‘s eyes then drifted towards Pinkie Pie. Her friend was eyeing her from across the table, rubbing her chin with her hoof. She turned around and saw nothing of importance behind her. "Is... something wrong, Pinkie?" she asked, turning back towards the table.

Pinkie Pie tilted her head back and stated, "Did something good happen to you, Twilight?"

Her ears twitched and she tensed up. "W-what do you mean?"

"You just look, well... happier than usual."

She inched back in her seat as Fluttershy and Rarity started to study her. "Uh, I-I don't know what you're talking about. I've just been... going about life! That's all."

Pinkie Pie continued to stare before she shrugged. "Long as you're feeling happy and not sad, that's what counts!"

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash quickly touched down close to where they were. She quickly ran towards them. "Sorry I'm late," she quickly apologized. "Did you guys already order?"

"Not yet," Fluttershy informed. "You're not late, actually. You're a little early."

Rainbow stared at her fellow pegasus. "Huh?"

"We haven’t done anything yet. You’re right on time!"

With an agape mouth, Rainbow asked, "But the brunch was for eleven o' clock, right?"

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie Pie, who shrugged. "No, it was 11:30. Maybe you heard the time wrong?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "I was told eleven," she hissed as she directed her gaze at Rarity.

"And if I had told you 11:30, you would've shown up late," Rarity huffed. "Given your attendance record, I figured giving you an earlier time wouldn’t make you tardy, for once."

"I could'a slept longer, y'know."

"And you will sleep longer on one of the many clouds in Ponyville. You nap in them every day."

"Girls, please!" Fluttershy pleaded. "We're here now, so how about we enjoy our brunch together, okay?"

Rainbow Dash huffed once before taking the seat between Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "Fine, but I'm remembering this for later." She stretched her wings. "So are we ready to go, then?"

"We're still waiting on Applejack."

Twilight felt her heart bang against her chest.

Rainbow tilted her head to the side, her eyes now wide. "Wait... I'm here before Applejack? Thought she'd be one of the first ones here. Guess we’ll just chill until then."

"You won't have to wait long!" Pinkie remarked, pointing behind Twilight.

"Howdy y'all!"

As Twilight turned around, time stood still. The morning light seemed to shine off her girlfriend as she approached. That smile of hers leaving butterflies in Twilight's stomach.

"Hope y'all haven't been waitin' long," she added as she approached the seat between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. "Worked up quite the appetite, and ah sure can't wait for some good eatin'!" Before she passed Twilight, for just an instant, she looked down at her lover and gave her a warm smile.

"Nah, hasn't been too long," Rainbow commented.

"Well ah'll be, Rainbow, you're on time!"

Rainbow Dash scowled. "Oh, come on, I'm not that bad with time!"

Everypony laughed. At least, everypony except Twilight, whose gaze was still fixed on Applejack. She quickly brought herself back to reality and shook her head. Come on, Twilight. You'll hardly keep it a secret if you're as obvious as this! She cleared her throat. "How about we call that waiter over?"

Rarity raised her hoof and shortly after, a waiter approached and took down their orders and eventually came back with plates of food for everypony.

Various topics came up between the table, but all the while, Twilight would glance over at Applejack, who would occasionally do the same. Whenever their eyes met, they started to smile before focusing their attention elsewhere.

"Oh yeah, Twilight, I've been meaning to ask," Rainbow began, which garnered the librarian's attention. "How did your date go?"

She felt her heart drop into her stomach and Applejack froze. Everypony's eyes were focused on her.

"You went on a date?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "That must be why you're so happy today!"

Fluttershy's face started to redden. "Oh my, Twilight. If that was why you wanted me to watch Spike for the night, you could've told me.

"Wait wait wait wait. It was you and the guy, alone? In your house?" Rainbow added, leaning in closer as her eyes grew wider. "C'mon, Twilight, we need details!"

Twilight's could feel her face grow boiling hot, and her mind was racing at a mile a minute. She started stammering and wrapped her forelegs around herself.

"Now, now, dears," Rarity interjected. "Twilight's love life is her business, and hers alone. If she doesn't want to share it, then it's up to her." She then turned towards Twilight, her eyes shining like the gemstones adorned on her haunches. "However, if you do wish to discuss it, I would love to hear the details!"

"What was he like, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Her ears were folded back at this point and she had slightly backed away. Of course this topic would've come up now! Why couldn't it have waited until sometime later? What should I do? Then she looked at Applejack, who looked away before giving a small smile and a shrug, along with a nod. Twilight finally managed to loosen up. "S-so... he, uh..." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "He... showed up yesterday afternoon..." She then discussed the events of the date, all while changing Applejack's gender and leaving out her altercation with the bigot. Everypony remained silent the entire time, listening intently to her tale as she slowly started to ease up.

"After I asked him that, he..." Twilight began replaying last night's events in her mind; The way her heart raced after that burning question, how much pressure was released once she'd kissed Applejack, and the soothing touch of their forelegs around each other. "He... kissed me."

While Pinkie Pie let out a cheer, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were grinning bigger than anypony realistically should, and Fluttershy covered her face as she started to giggle.

"I'm so proud of you, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed as she pranced around the table to hug her friend.

"Yeah, you did pretty good!" Rainbow Dash added. "I'm actually kinda surprised."

"I'm also proud of you, Twilight!" Rarity chimed in. She then used her magic to lift up her glass of water. "I propose a toast; to Twilight!"

Everypony lifted up their glasses in their respective ways and repeated, "To Twilight!" as they brought their glasses together and drank their drinks.

"Hey, uh..." Rainbow tapped on the table. "If I can be honest here, Twilight..." she looked at her friend, expectantly.

"Go for it," she replied.

"Well... I kinda always thought..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "Y'know what, I shouldn't say it. Forget I brought anything up."

"You can say it, it's alright."

"No, I really don't think it'll be."

"You can be honest with me, really."

Rainbow looked at her friends, who were now focused on her. She sighed, "Well, alright. I just..." she dragged a hoof in a circle on the table. "I've been thinking about it, and... I kinda thought you'd wanna... I dunno… date somepony smarter."

Everypony seemed to draw back slightly.

"H-hey! I said I shouldn't say it, but you all wanted to hear it so badly!" Rainbow stammered. "It's not my fault." She then turned to Twilight. "And I don't mean it in a rude way, I just kinda thought... you'd wanna get with somepony smart so you could talk about... smart things... or whatever."

Twilight relaxed. "I... suppose..."

"B-but forget about that. If this guy makes you happy, then that's what’s important."

Things were quiet at the table until Applejack broke the ice, stating, "Hey, ah'm gonna go to the bathroom. Ah'll be right back. Don't have 'em clear my plate yet." As she started to walk towards the restaurant, she looked at Twilight and slightly jerked her head towards the restroom before continuing her walk.

Twilight looked in her direction for a minute before turning back to her friends. It'd be too weird to leave now. I'll just wait a minute. She engaged in a small bit of further discussion before excusing herself and leaving for the bathroom. She looked around, her girlfriend still unseen, and pushed open the door.

As she walked inside, she heard, "You sure know how to keep a girl waitin'."

She looked to her right and saw Applejack waiting near the sinks.

"Sorry," Twilight muttered with a sheepish grin.

"You don't gotta worry about keepin’ quiet," Applejack stated with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Nopony else is here, ah checked."

"Oh, alright," she replied, her volume returning to normal. "I thought it would be weird if I just left the same time as you."

"Ah getcha. And lemme tell you, there ain't many ways to gimme a heart attack, but you sure managed to find one."

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized as her ears folded back. "I freaked out too, until I realized what I'd told Rainbow before."

"So you told Rainbow, huh?"

Twilight nodded. "I was... kind of lost in terms of how actual dates are supposed to go. She was willing to help me out with some things."

"Speakin' of her... that little thought of hers was... somethin', to say the least."

"Are you upset?"

"As if!" Applejack scoffed. "If she knew who she was talkin' 'bout, ah'd have four convincin' points to bring up to her," she added as she tapped her hooves on the floor. She then raised an eyebrow. "But why Rainbow Dash of all ponies? She ain't the sort ah'd see knowin' much 'bout dates."

“I actually went to Rarity first, but she said she couldn't help me."

"She what now?"

"She said she was really busy."

Applejack stared before hesitantly replying, "Uh huh."

"Is... something wrong?" Twilight asked, taking her turn to raise and eyebrow.

"Rarity's been helpin' me out for a while now. She couldn't have been too busy."

Twilight's mouth scrunched slightly as her gaze wandered. "Do you... think she knows about us?"

Applejack shrugged. "Ah dunno. She could’ve though, bein’ as smart as she is."

"Should we keep this a secret from the others?"

After hesitating, Applejack replied, “Ah was thinkin’ of leavin’ that up to you.”

Twilight looked away. “When Rainbow asked me about the date, and you nodded, was that your way of saying it’s my choice?”

“Yeah,” she responded. “This is all new to you, and ah thought takin’ things at your pace would be better.”

“But would you want to tell the others?”

Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat. “Ah dunno yet. They’re great friends, don’t get me wrong… Ah just don’t know if it’s time yet.”

Twilight tapped her hoof on the floor. “If you’re not ready, then I won’t say anything.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I want you to be comfortable with when we tell the others.”

Applejack smiled before moving closer to her girlfriend and nuzzling her. She said, "Thank you, Twilight. One day, ah promise.”

“I can wait.”

The apple farmer then pulled back and stared slyly at Twilight. “So you enjoyed the night that much, huh?"

Twilight's cheeks began burning and she smiled. "It was... a really great night. And I'm glad I got to spend it with you..."

Applejack smiled, and replied, “Ah’m glad.” She then sighed and said, "Alright, ah should head back before they start wonderin' what’s up."

"Okay," Twilight replied. "Oh, wait. I'm a little curious." Applejack tilted her head to the side. "What did you go see Rarity for, anyway? Seems like you've had the whole dating aspect down for a while now."

Quickly, Applejack's smile faded in place of a scrunch of her lips. "That... is a story for another time. Ah'll tell you 'bout it later." Twilight raised an eyebrow and slightly smiled. "Later, ah swear."

"I'm holding you to that."

Applejack made her way towards the door, but then stopped. "Hang on, first things first." She turned around, walked up to Twilight, placed a hoof on her cheek, and then planted a kiss on her lips.

The librarian briefly tensed up before relaxing into the affectionate gesture. As they pulled away, she could feel a warm puff of air on her lips, and they looked deep into each other's eyes.

"Ah've been wantin' to do that since ah saw you earlier." She slowly pulled away. "Ah'll see you back at the table."

"Okay," Twilight blissfully replied.

Applejack waved and then headed out the door.

Twilight stood still before touching her cheek. She then started to giggle and pranced around. Maybe this will go better than I thought! I haven't been this happy in so long! She took a decent breath and then proceeded out of the bathroom.

**********

"See you later!" Pinkie Pie cried as she hopped away from the Cafe.

"Bye, everypony," Fluttershy added. "We should do this again sometime!"

Pinkie Pie gasped and quickly ran back to her friends. "We totally can do this again sometime! When should it be?"

"We don't have to figure it out now, Pinkie," Rainbow replied with an amused smile. "We'll just try to get a time when nopony's busy."

"Then I shall keep everypony updated!"

"You do that, then."

"Just be sure to let me know well in advance," Rarity stated.

"It's a plan!" Pinkie Pie then hopped away once more.

"Oh, Twilight," Fluttershy remarked. "Congratulations again, on your boyfriend!" She walked over and hugged the bashful librarian.

"Yeah, good job, Twilight!" Rainbow added. "Lemme know if he gives you any trouble, though. I can be real good at solving problems," she informed, as she hit her hooves together.

"Y-you don't have to worry about that," Twilight replied with a shake of her hoof.

"Oh, by the way." Rainbow moved up to Twilight, pulled her away from the others, and started muttering in her ear. "So if you and this guy get real serious, and you wanna maybe start bumping some uglies. Let me know, and I'll give you some pointers."

Twilight started to blush as she clenched her teeth together. "Is that supposed to be some sort of double entendre?"

Rainbow stared back, blankly. "Double what?"

She let out a huff of air. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash," Twilight groaned, "but I think I'll be fine in that department."

"Fine, huh?" Rainbow replied as she lifted herself up and floated on her back. "You can be fine if you want, but if you hear some of my stories, I can take you from fine to really good."

"I mean I have books on the subject!"

"...Books?"

"Yes, books!"

Rainbow Dash started to chortle.

"What?"

"I mean; books are okay and all. But there are some things you just can't learn from a book."

"What she means to say is," Rarity chimed in, "if you have any questions about that regard, feel free to ask any of us."

"...Us?" Rainbow snickered.

Rarity scrunched her lips. "Don't you start this, Rainbow Dash! I'll have you know that I have worthwhile experiences under my belt!"

"Not as good as mine, I bet," Rainbow muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'I bet.'"

Rarity and Rainbow stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Really, dear," Rarity began, redirecting her attention towards Twilight. "Don't be shy if you have any questions!" she added with a wink. "Now I'm afraid I simply must be going. Ciao!" She then walked back towards her Boutique.

"Yeah, see you later, Twilight," Rainbow added. "I gotta go get back some sleep that somepony stole from me."

"Alright, you go do that," Twilight chuckled.

"Oh, and sorry about making things awkward earlier."

"It's okay, no harm done."

"We've gotta talk more later. See ya!" Rainbow Dash then took off into the sky.

"That was, um," Fluttershy murmured, attracting Twilight's attention, "an... interesting conversation." She started to chuckle.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Hey, I wonder if you’ve got any fun stories under your belt."

Fluttershy remained smiling, but her face grew red and she started to shake.

"Fluttershy?"

"Oh! Listen to that!" she quickly cried. "I can hear the animals' cries for food!" Without another word, she quickly flew away from the area.

Twilight stared at the direction her friend took off in, and then started to chuckle. "And everything's still normal. Would you look at that."

"Mind if ah walk you home?"

She turned around to see Applejack standing and smiling at her.

"I'd be delighted," Twilight answered happily. She started to walk alongside her girlfriend through town. She started to brush against her, but Applejack quickly pulled away. She looked up at her.

"S-sorry," Applejack began. "It's just..."

Twilight looked around at the ponies in town. "Oh... right." She looked at Applejack again and saw her looking crestfallen. "No, I-I get it. I'm fine with this."

Applejack continued looking away before glancing back at Twilight. "You sure?"

"Yes. I said I’d wait until you’re ready."

The farmer slowly started to smile. "Alright then."

As things began quieting down between both mares, Twilight thought more on the conversation between her friends. She could feel her cheeks burning. I... guess this would be something to talk about. One day or another. "Hey, Applejack?" she started, turned away. "Do you... have much experience?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow and then started to smirk. “Bit of a personal topic after bein’ together so soon, eh?”

Twilight could feel her face burning hotter and hotter.

"Sorry, ah’m just teasin’ ya." She continued walking on and studied the nearby houses. “If that’s somethin’ you wanna talk ‘bout… we can do that later… hash out the details ‘n all.”

“N-no. It’s fine. It’s way too early to talk about something like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She took a deep breath and looked at her girlfriend. "I'm sure."

Applejack nodded. After a minute, she then asked, "So what do you do for fun?" Twilight looked up at her. "Ah mean, we've already gone and done stuff together, and you've come over to my place while ah was workin' which was... well... both work and fun. Ah wanna do somethin' that you wanna do."

Twilight's gaze floated to the upper right. "I... read books..." As hard as she tried to think up another answer, nothing would come to mind. I'm really lame, aren't I...

"Then why don't we do that?"

Twilight looked up with wide eyes. "You... want to read with me?"

Applejack shrugged. "If it's what you like to do, then why not?"

Twilight started to smile. "Well... in that case, I've got multiple copies of a few books that we could look at together! We could read them over, then discuss the plot, analyze what thought the authors put into their stories, so many things we could do!"

"That sounds fine by me," Applejack replied with a smile.

"Great! What's a good time?"

"Ah don't have much goin' on after four tomorrow."

"Me neither! We'll plan for that time, then!" Next thing Twilight knew, she looked forward and the library was already before them. "I guess... this is where we end things for now?"

"Yeah." Applejack looked into Twilight's eyes. She sighed and remarked, "Ah want to kiss you so badly right now."

The librarian blushed and giggled. "I wouldn't mind that..." They continued to stare at each other for a bit longer before she piped up with, "I suppose we'll have to save that for later, then."

"Yeah..."

"But... maybe a hug will do?"

Applejack laughed. "Of course it will." She leaned over and embraced her girlfriend, both ponies lingering in that position before pulling away. "Guess ah'll see you at four, tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting," Twilight responded with a gentle smile. She watched as Applejack walked away and towards her farm. She walked inside her home, leaned against the door, and sighed wistfully as she slid onto the floor. It's amazing what one pony can do...

"Uh... are you okay, Twilight?"

She snapped out of her stupor and looked upstairs, where Spike was peering down from. "Y-yes! I'm fine!"

He then shrugged and walked out of sight.

"Wait, Spike, keep schedule clear after four tomorrow."

He reappeared with Twilight's planner in his hands. He looked through to the pages before answering with, "Will do. What’s going on?"

Twilight smiled. "I've got some important plans around then."

Comments

[OmniFox]

Apparently Applejack wants an oral discussion on Twilight's plot.

[raw666]

Great job with the story, hope you keep up the good work.

[Silver_Lined_Sky]

The whole "awkward about homosexuality" trope is a bit grating, but the story's continues to be well worth reading, in my opinion.

[Oddish]

Yay for the update!

[Satto Kez]

YAY! An update! I love this story!
Hope to see another one soon!

[Alicon_moonstar]

I absolutely love this story cant wait for the next chapter