The Autumn Festival
Chapter 25
“Nothing to the left…nothing to the right…nothing behind me…above and below is clear. Looks like a clear shot to the house.” Rainbow readied herself to make a dash for the farm house. Making one last check for safety, she bolted from her hiding spot in an apple tree. She breathed a sigh of relief as she made it to the farm house in one piece. ‘Maybe things are finally starting to look up for me,’ she thought to herself.
This past week had been complete hell for Rainbow. Everything that had happened to her came rushing back as she looked at herself. It all started when Pinkie had invited her over for a sleepover. She woke up to find her mane and tail dyed pink, the same pink as Fluttershy’s, and her coat had been dyed lime green with purple polka dots. Pinkie, while finding it hilarious, claimed to have no idea what had happened. Knowing that Pinkie isn’t one to lie about her pranks, she believed her. The next day she woke up from a nap to find herself in a catapult. Before she could figure out what was going on the catapult launched her into a giant cream pie that was mounted on the side of a building. She was pretty sure Pinkie had something to do with that one. After that she opened the door to her house and got blasted by a big cloud of itching powder. The next day she had gotten a surprise package from a secret admirer while she was at the library with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. Upon opening it, she found it to be packed full of dildos of all shapes, sizes, and species. She wasn’t exactly successful in convincing them that she didn’t order them. Oh, let’s not forget the snare trap that landed her in a vat of pudding.
She knew somepony was out to get her, but she didn’t know who. She had yet to be pranked today, and she planned on keeping it that way. She had scouted out every move she had made that day. She had managed to spot two pranks waiting for her so far on her way to the farm house alone. With a smile on her face she knocked on the door. It opened and a cream pie flew out; hitting her in the face. Wiping the cream out of her eyes, she fell to her belly. “Okay, that’s it. I give up. You win mystery pony.”
She heard hoofsteps coming from inside the house; stopping right in front of her. She looked up to see AJ looking down at her wearing the biggest shit eating grin she had ever seen. “Oh Rainbow, hello. How are you doing this fine day?”
“Y-y-you?”
“Me? Me what?” he asked holding the grin.
“You were the one doing this to me?”
AJ let out an over dramatic gasp. “Moi? How could you blame all these horrible things on me?” He feigned ignorance for as long as he possibly could before his laughter consumed him.
Rainbow continued to stare at him in disbelief. “Why would you do all that?! What did I do to you to deserve this week of hell?!”
AJ stopped laughing. It was his turn to look at Rainbow in disbelief. “You’re joking, right?” Rainbow just stared at him. “You really don’t remember? You don’t remember that little…’prank’ you pulled on me two weeks ago? All the torment I endured in such a short amount of time; just so you could get a laugh? Well I do. I knew I had to get you back, and all our friends were more than happy to help.”
“What?”
“The hair was simple enough. All I had to do was convince Pinkie to have a sleepover. Me and Rarity did the rest.
********************
AJ waited at the outside door to Pinkie’s room. He was waiting for Rarity. She was the only pony qualified to help him with this task. She was bringing the ‘supplies’ and the knowhow to pull off this prank. He took one last look at himself to make sure he was ready. He was wearing a black, skin tight sneaking suit to blend in with the darkness, and he had a bottle of sleeping pills in case his target happened to wake up. He finally heard the sound of somepony coming up behind him. “Alright Rarity, are you ready to…?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
AJ stared at Rarity with a blank stare. “You’re going to be wearing…that?”
Rarity was wearing an extravagant outfit complete with gemstones, and sequins. “Of course. Even when doing something so brutish a lady must look her best.”
AJ sighed. “Well, as long as they’re asleep I guess it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
********************
“It’s a good thing you’re such a heavy sleeper. Rarity wasn’t exactly the stealthiest pony around, but her work speaks for itself. As for the others, Pinkie was a big help. Who knew she had catapult stashed in her closet, or that she could even fit one in there in the first place. And all those dildos may have set me back a bit, but you’re reaction was SOOOO worth it.” AJ looked at Rainbow with an awkward stare. “Just…don’t ask where I got them, or who I had to ask. Don’t think she would appreciate that tidbit of information getting out.”
“So…so this was all some sort of twisted revenge?!” Rainbow asked; the anger seeping into her voice. “All because we pranked you?”
“Well…yes and no. It wasn’t because you pranked me. I welcome your pranks. Things like that help spice up the day. It’s how you did it, and the fact that you didn’t even feel sorry after hearing what we went through.” He leaned down so his head was close to hers. “You’ll think twice before pulling a prank like that again, right?”
Rainbow tried to find something to say; anything to try to turn this in her favor. She couldn’t think of a single thing. She lowered her head in defeat and sighed. “You win. I won’t do something like that again.”
AJ’s smile turned a lot friendlier in an instant. “That’s what I wanted to hear!” His horn flared to life as he grabbed a towel that was sitting next to the door, and floated it over to Rainbow. “Go get cleaned up. Afterwards we’ll go to Rarity to see if she can do something about that dye.”
********************
“Are you sure I need to practice this Twilight? It looks like I got it down pretty well,” AJ asked. He and Twilight were once again in the park practicing magic. Instead of trying something new, she had suggested he work on what he knew.
“Sometimes it’s best to practice what you know,” Twilight said matter of factly. “Besides, there’s still a lot of things you haven’t tried yet. All you’ve done is launch fireworks into the air. You should try to pull off something different.”
AJ looked at Twilight with a confused look. “Like what? And how would I even do something like that?”
Twilight stopped for a moment to think. Then her eyes lit up as it hit her. “Remember back to Trixie’s show. She was able to make all sorts of shapes with her fireworks. She was even able to write things in the air.”
“But how would I even do those things?”
He noticed Twilight deflate slightly. “That’s…where things get complicated. You see, I’ve never tried this type of magic before,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I assume you just will it to do stuff like that.”
AJ looked at Twilight with an unsure look. “You really think it’s something as simple as willing the explosions to look different?”
“It couldn’t hurt to try.” Twilight thought for a second. “Let’s try something simple. Try to make a star.”
AJ was still unsure about this. He sighed. “Alright. I guess we’ll never know unless we try.” AJ began to concentrate. His horn began to glow as an orb quickly grew at the tip. He fired the orb into the air where it exploded. AJ looked at the shape and winced. It was a star. It was horribly misshapen, and an abomination on pony kind, but it was definitely a star.
“Umm, well, it was good for a first try,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. “Buuut I think it would be a good idea to practice it a bit more.”
“Yea. Sounds like a plan.” And practice AJ did. He tried to make a star over, and over again. Each time it got better, and better. Even Twilight joined in. The spell didn’t come as easily to her as it did AJ, but she eventually got it. Once he was happy with the shape, he tried controlling the color of the explosions.
“And what do we have here? Practicing for the Autumn Festival are we?” came a voice from behind them.
They turned around to see Mayor Mare smiling at them. “Oh hello Ms. Mayor. No, we’re just practicing some magic right now.”
Ms. Mayor’s smile dropped a bit. “Oh, that’s a pity. A fireworks display would be a nice inclusion this year.”
AJ looked between the two mares; the confusion clear on his face. “What’s the Autumn Festival?”
Twilight looked back to AJ. “Oh that’s right; you’ve never been here for this. The Autumn Festival is held on the first day of autumn to celebrate the new season. There’s games, music, plenty of food, and then there’s the talent show. That’s always my favorite part. It takes place in a couple of weeks, and I’ve been given the honor to plan everything.”
“Hmm, sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. Can’t wait,” he said with a smile. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try something a little harder this time.” His horn lit up as he began to cast the spell again.
Twilight watched as AJ fired the orb into the air. It exploded into a star again, but this one had six points instead of five. Then an idea came to her. “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” AJ asked as his horn lit up again.
Twilight turned to the mayor. “Mayor, you’re going to get your fireworks display; courtesy of AJ.”
“Say what now!?” In his shock, he forgot to release the energy from his horn, causing it to explode on him once again.
The mayor’s face lit up. “Oh that’s wonderful! He can close out the festival. How does that sound?”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll fit it into the plans as soon as I get home.”
The mayor and Twilight spoke for a little while longer about the festival. The entire time AJ just sat there gawking at Twilight; his coat and mane still covered in burnt hair. “Well, it sounds like I left the festival in good hooves this year. I’ll see you later Twilight.” Ms. Mayor turned to leave. “And AJ,” she turned her head to AJ. “I can’t wait to see your display.”
Twilight waved goodbye as Ms. Mayor walked away. She turned to AJ and saw him gawking at her. “What?”
“Twilight, what the hell?!”
Twilight backed up a couple steps. “What? What did I do?”
“Why did you volunteer me like that?!”
Twilight’s surprised expression changed to a smile. “Oh that. Well, I thought that since you seem to know what you’re doing now, you would have no problem with a simple show like this.”
“A simple show?!” AJ looked a little horrified. “Twilight, I don’t know if you know this or not, but when put under pressure like this I tend to crack. I don't do well under pressure.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. You still have two weeks until the festival. That’s plenty of time to think of a routine.”
AJ shook his head. “I…I don’t know Twilight. This is going to be a lot of work. I already have a lot to do around the farm right now. Not to mention that the girls and I are going crusading this weekend.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about Applejack,” Twilight said as she waved her hoof dismissively. “She absolutely loves this festival. If she hears you’re planning a show for it she’ll probably give you all the free time you need to practice. The crusaders could probably help you think of some ideas.” She could see that AJ was still apprehensive about this. “Think of this as a test of your abilities. If you can pull this off, we’ll consider you a master of fireworks magic and move onto something else.”
AJ thought for a minute. He really didn’t want to do this. This was a lot to put on somepony who was still relatively new to magic, but then again this would be a favor to Twilight. Twilight’s done so much for him since he first arrived in Equestria. This is the least he could do for her. He let out a sigh. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Great! Why don’t you go and start practicing. I’ll go work on the schedule.” With that, Twilight was gone.
AJ stared at Twilight as she trotted in the direction of the library. He plopped down onto his haunches with a thud as what he just did started to sink in. “Oh fuck me. What did I just get myself into?”
********************
AJ and Ditzy were sitting together on a cliff; the waves of the sea crashing into the rocks below them. The sun was shining brightly, and a nice picnic lay out in front of them. A nice breeze blew past them; carrying the sent of Ditzy’s floral perfume to AJ’s nostrils. They looked at each other and smiled as they scooted closer. Once they were next to each other, Ditzy rested her head on AJ’s shoulder. “Today has been just perfect,” she said with a contented sigh.
“Mmhm.” For the longest time the two of them sat there enjoying the company of the other. They stared ahead; watching the sea. At one point they even saw some dolphins swimming by. They had stopped and started jumping out of the water. It was almost like they were giving the two ponies a free show.
After awhile AJ pulled his head away. Confused, Ditzy lifted her head and looked at him. He was staring at her with a warm smile. “Is something wrong?”
AJ shook his head. “Ditzy…I’ve had such a wonderful time with you today. I never thought I could be this happy. Nopony else has ever made me feel like this.” He looked at Ditzy who was now smiling back at him. “W-what I’m trying to say is…”
He was interrupted as Ditzy put a hoof on his lips. “No need to say anything.” She pulled her hoof away to reveal a smile on AJ’s face. They embraced in a big hug. They stared into each other’s eyes. Closing their eyes; they started to lean forward. Closer, and closer they got until…
Knock
Knock
Knock
********************
AJ’s eyes shot open. Seeing the blur that was the ceiling of his room in front of him and not the amber eyed pegasus angered him. “DAMNIT!!!”
“Did Ah interrupt somethin’?” Big Mac asked as he poked his head into the room; the confusion clear on his face.
AJ sat up rubbing his eyes. His brows were still furrowed in anger. “Only the best dream I’ve had in years.” He floated his glasses onto his head. “Why can’t more dreams be like that?”
Not knowing what AJ was talking about Big Mac just shrugged. “So, ya goin’ ta practice more t’day?” As Twilight had suspected, Applejack was more than happy to give AJ the two weeks off to make sure he had plenty of time to work on his show.
AJ got out of bed and stretched his limbs. “Nope.” He stopped his train of thought for a moment. “Well, maybe. It all depends really. The girls and I are going crusading today. If I do get to practice, it won’t be till later today.”
Big Mac just nodded in understanding. “Well, Ah’ll see ya downstairs.”
********************
“Coming!” called out Sunny Delight as she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door to see AJ standing there. She noticed that he was wearing his crusader cape. “Hey. From what you’re wearing, I assume you’re here for Scootaloo?”
“Yup. She’s a little late, and I was voluntold to come see if maybe something was wrong.”
Sunny facehoofed. “Of course she’s late. We get her a clock and she never uses it. It really wouldn’t surprise me if it was still in the box.” She shook her head. “Come on in.”
She led AJ through the house. As they got to the hallway that held Scootaloo’s room, loud music could be heard coming from one of the rooms. “Is that…Swan Lake?” asked AJ.
Sunny sighed. “Yes. It’s one of her favorites. I’ve told her to turn the music down hundreds of times, but she just won’t listen.” She turned to look at AJ. “You look surprised at this.”
“It’s just not the type of music I expected Scootaloo to like.”
“She’s full of surprises.” She stopped and knocked on one of the doors. “Scootaloo! You got a visitor!” There was no answer. Sunny knocked again. “Scootaloo?!” No answer. “That’s it, I’m coming in,” she groaned out.
AJ’s jaw dropped when Sunny opened the door. Scootaloo, the tomboy of the group, the filly who looks up to Rainbow Dash and strives to be everything Rainbow is, was dressed in pink ballet leotard and tights, and was dancing like a ballerina around her room. Her eyes were closed and a slight smile was on her face as her body moved, and flowed perfectly to the music. She was dead to the world. The only thing in her world at this moment was the sound of the music coursing through the speakers. As the music came to an end, so did her dancing. She sat there in her finishing pose for a few seconds, reveling in the feeling of euphoria. Then she heard the sound of somepony applauding. She opened her eyes to see not only her mom, but AJ standing in the door. She felt her face heat up immensely in embarrassment as she started at them in shock
“Scootaloo, that was amazing!” AJ said as he continued to applaud.
“W-w-what are you doing here?” Scootaloo asked.
“You’re late for your little play date with your friends,” Sunny said; a smile on her face.
“W-what?” Scootaloo looked at the clock, which was surprisingly up and working, on her dresser. Sure enough she was about 40 minutes late. “Oh crap!” She ran over and pushed AJ and her mom out the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.” She proceeded to slam the door.
********************
About ten minutes later Scootaloo finally exited her bedroom and met AJ in living room. “Hey, you ready?” Scootaloo gave a sheepish nod. “Alright then, let’s get going.”
“Don’t be out too late Scootaloo,” Sunny said from the kitchen.
“Don’t worry Sunny, I’ll have her back on time.” With that AJ and Scootaloo left the house. They were walking for about ten minutes when AJ realized just how quiet Scootaloo was being. He stopped and turned to look at the filly. “Everything alright Scoots?”
Scootaloo started shifting around uncomfortably. “Umm, could you not tell the others about what you saw?”
“What I saw?” AJ thought for a second. “Oh, you mean your dancing?”
Scootaloo tensed up. She looked around to make sure nopony had heard AJ say that. “Not so loud!” she hissed. “They can’t know about this. They’d just make fun of me.”
“Whaaaat? Scoot’s, nopony would make fun of you if they found out you liked dancing. Especially if they saw how good you were.” He saw the look of desperation on Scootaloo’s face and sighed. “Alright, I won’t tell anypony. Now come on, they probably think I got lost or something.” He chuckled a bit as he started walking again; Scootaloo following behind him. After a few steps he stopped again. “Wait a minute. I have an idea.” He turned back to the orange filly. “You know the Autumn Festival that’s coming up?”
“Yea, of course I know of it. Why?”
“Well, then you’d know of the about the talent show.”
Scootaloo clearly looked confused. “What are you…” Her eyes opened wide as the realization of what AJ was saying hit her. “Y-you’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?” AJ’s smile told it all. “No!”
“Come on Scoots. You looked great back there. I’m sure everypony would agree with me if they saw you.”
“Nonononono! I can’t dance! Not while everypony’s watching.”
“Just think about it. Auditions for the talent show are in a couple of days. You don’t need to make the decision at this time. Now come on, we need to hurry up and get to Carousel Boutique.”
********************
It was time for the talent show auditions. There was one more week until the festival. Twilight, Cheerilee, and Blues where the judges, and couldn’t wait to get started. “Well, are you two ready to begin?” Twilight asked the other two judges.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Blues said as he looked at the giant crowd that came to show their talents.
“Oh this will be so fun,” Cheerilee added.
“Then let’s begin.” Twilight turned to the crowd. “Could the first pony please come up on stage? We’re ready for you now!”
********************
The auditions have been going on for about two hours now. Looking back at the group of ponies, Twilight could see that they were almost at the end. She also noticed AJ sitting off to the side looking pretty disappointed. ‘I wonder what he’s doing,’ she thought to herself. She looked to the other two judges. “I’ll be right back guys.” She walked over to AJ who has yet to notice her. “And just what are you doing here mister?”
“Huh?” AJ turned to see Twilight smirking at him. “Oh, hey.”
“Shouldn’t you be practicing for the show? You looked pretty nervous the other day.”
AJ sighed. “That’s the thing; I’ve been practicing every chance I get. Even skipped out on sleeping one night cause I was determined to get something right. I’m feeling pretty drained right now. Giving myself the day off to recoup.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s probably for the best. Trust me, you don’t want to exhaust yourself too much.”
“And besides, I’m in kind of a rut right now. I’m having trouble thinking of what I should do for the finale. I’ve been trying to think for a couple of days now and I got nothing. I thought maybe coming here and watching the auditions would help clear my mind. No such luck.”
Twilight noticed AJ look around again. It was like he was looking for somepony specific. “Something tells me that’s not the only reason you’re here, is it?”
“Heh, that obvious?” Twilight nodded. AJ sighed as he looked back into the dwindling crowd. “I was kinda hoping to see Scootaloo here today.”
“Why’s that?”
“Cause that little filly can…”
“WAAAAAIT!!!” came a voice from the distance. The two of them looked over to see Scootaloo careening straight at them on her scooter. “WAAAAAIT!!!” She stopped herself inches away from AJ and Twilight. She had her saddle bags on, and was breathing heavily. “I…I want to…audition.”
“Scoot’s, you made it!” AJ said with a bright smile on his face.
“I…I’m not too late, am I?” Scootaloo asked.
Twilight smiled. “Not at all. The auditions go till four. You still have two more hours before we stop allowing anymore ponies.” Twilight looked back over to the stage. “Will you need anything Scootaloo? Music, props, anything?”
Scootaloo smiled as she patted her bags. “Nope, I got everything I need right here.”
“Great! I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do.”
AJ looked back to Scootaloo with a smile. “So, you’re going through with it?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I thought about it a lot over the last couple of days, and I want to do this.”
“Good to hear.”
“Well, I should go get in line then. See you later,” Scootaloo said as she ran over to get in line.
“THERE you are,” came another familiar voice.
Turning around AJ saw Ditzy floating above them. The smile on his face only grew. “Hey Ditzy.”
“I’ve been looking for you. I thought you’d be practicing again.”
AJ shook his head. “Not today. Feeling pretty tired so I thought I’d take the day off.”
“That sounds like an excuse to be lazy,” Ditzy said with a giggle. “Well, that works out anyway. I wanted to ask if you could foalsit Dinky again tonight.”
AJ nodded. “Sure, I’d be happy to. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Carrot, Sparkler, and I were going to go out for a night of fun, and I needed somepony to look after Dinky.”
“Alright, good enough for me.” AJ turned to Twilight. “Hey Twilight, think you could come over later and let me know if Scoot’s gets in?”
Twilight smiled. “Of course. Speaking of the talent auditions, I should be getting back. See you later.”
********************
“I’ll get it!” AJ called out as somepony knocked on the door to Carrot’s house. He smiled when he saw Twilight standing there. “Hey Twilight. Is it that late already?” he asked as he looked at the clock on the wall. Ditzy and the others hadn’t left yet, but that didn’t keep AJ from playing with Dinky.
“Mmhm, time sure flies.”
“Okay, let’s cut to the chase. How did Scootaloo…”
“Scootaloo was amazing!” Twilight said interrupting AJ. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen somepony dance so well! She’s definitely in the show.”
“Yes! I knew she could do it,” AJ said with a bright smile on his face.
“Who’s at the door?” Ditzy asked as she came up behind AJ. “Oh, hello again Twilight.”
“Hello Ditzy.”
Ditzy turned to AJ. “Well, we’re going to be leaving now. Come on you two, I want to get good seats for the movie this time!”
“We’re coming! Jeeze, you act like we always get bad seats or something,” Carrot said as she and Sparkler came to the door.
“Yea, it only happened that once. Besides, the seats weren’t that bad,” Sparkler added.
“You didn’t have to sit behind Bulk Biceps,” Ditzy deadpanned. “I didn’t even know they made pegasi that big…or that smelly.”
“Yea, yea, we get it. Lets go,” Carrot said with a giggle. Her and Sparkler walked past AJ and Twilight.
Ditzy looked to AJ again. “Thanks again for doing this.” She leaned over and kissed AJ on the cheek before following the others. “See you later tonight!”
Twilight watched the three of them leave. She then turned to AJ who had a dreamy smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and giggled as she turned to leave herself. “Twilight?”
Twilight stopped and turned to AJ. “Yes?”
“Forget what I said earlier. I know what I’m going to do for the finale.”
"That's great! Can't wait to see it."
AJ closed the door with a smile and called out to Dinky. "Dinky, i'm going to need your help with something."
********************
It was the night before the festival, and AJ was practicing even harder than before. If he wasn’t sleeping, eating, or going to the bathroom, he was out practicing. He refused to tell anypony what he was working on, and even when one certain little farm filly tried to follow him she was met with a blind fold and a ride back to the farm. Applejack and Twilight were becoming worried about him. Neither of them wanted to see him push himself to exhaustion just for the show.
Seeing as how it was the night before the festival, Applejack wasn’t going to let him stay up all night this time. She knew where his little practice area was. It was a secluded area on the outskirts of the farm where almost nopony went. Once she got to the clearing she saw AJ sitting there. “Alright sugarcube. Ah know you want this ta be perfect, but it’s th’ night before th’ festival an' yer goin’ ta get some sleep if Ah have ta force ya.” She didn’t get an answer. AJ just continued to sit there, staring into the night sky. She walked up next to him. “Did ya hear me?” AJ finally turned to Applejack. He wore an exhausted smile on his face. He had big, dark bags under his eyes. “Whoa, you okay?”
“I did it Applejack.”
“Did what?”
“I finally did it. I mastered the finale.” The smile on his face grew. “It took me most of the week, but I finally did it.”
Applejack smiled. “Well that’s great sugarcube, but now it’s time fer ya ta get some sleep. Come on.” Applejack got up and started walking back to the house. That is, until she realized that AJ wasn’t following. “Ain’t ya comin’?”
“Too tired. Can’t stand.”
Applejack facehoofed. “Oh fer th’ love of…”
********************
This was it. The Autumn Festival was on. Everypony in Ponyville was attending this event. Like Twilight had said, there were tons of games for all ages. The stage that would later hold the talent show was being used for the various musicians of Ponyville to show what they can do. At the moment Lyra and Fiddlesticks were playing a duet while Blues was waiting in line to play a wicked solo on his sax. There was also more food stands than necessary, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. That just meant there would be plenty of choices.
Over at the Sweet Apple Acres stand, Big Mac and Applejack were having a bit of an argument. “Applejack, you know Ah can handle th’ stand by mahself, so why don’t ya go an’ have some fun. Ah’m sure Rarity would love ta spend some time with ya t’day.”
“Me an’ Rarity already talked about this. We’d meet up durin’ th’ talent show an’ spend th’ rest of th’ night t’gether.” As always, Applejack was being stubborn as a mule. “Why don’t ya go have some fun fer once.”
Big Mac’s brows furrowed slightly. “Hey, Ah have fun…sometimes.”
“Doin’ th’ taxes don’t count as fun.”
“Shush you!”
“Besides, you have yet ta ask out Fluttershy. Ah’m sure she would love fer ya ta sweep’er off’er hooves tonight.” An eep from besides them grabbed their attention. They both looked over to see Fluttershy standing there; the blush clear on her face. “Oh uhhh, hey there Fluttershy!” Applejack looked over to Big Mac who was glaring at her with a blush on his face. “What? She was bound ta find out sooner or later.”
“Ah wanted ta tell’er when Ah was ready!” Big Mac said, still glaring at his sister.
“Y-you really like me Big Mac?” came Fluttershy’s timid voice.
The glare dropped from Big Mac’s face as he turned to Fluttershy. He stared into her teal eyes, before turning away in embarrassment. Applejack rolled her eyes and got behind Big Mac, pushing him over to Fluttershy. “Get over there ya big lug.”
Now that they were face to face Big Mac had no excuse not to look at her. They both shuffled their hooves on the ground as they sat there in silence. “S-so you do like me?”
Big Mac sat there for a few seconds before shyly nodding. “Ah have fer a long time now. Ah’ve just been too afraid ta ask. Ah didn’t know if you'd like me back.”
The two of them just sat there for a minute in complete silence. Then something unexpected happened. Fluttershy suddenly jumped forward, wrapping her legs around Big Mac’s neck as she kissed him on the lips. His eyes grew wide at the unexpected contact. After a few seconds Fluttershy broke the kiss; falling back to her hooves. “Ponies are always telling me that I need to be more assertive. D-did I do good Applejack?”
“Ya did just fine sugarcube,” Applejack said with a smile on her face. “Now go an’ have some fun ya love birds.”
The expression on Big Mac’s face was still one of shock. It slowly fell to a contented smile. “Eeyup.”
********************
It was about time for the talent show to start. In about two hours the sun would go down, and it would be time for the fireworks display. Everypony started gathering around the stage as the participants all went to the special tent set up for them in back. AJ, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Ditzy, and Dinky had managed to secure a spot up front for everypony to sit. Applejack and Rarity were the first to arrive, followed by Twilight and Caramel a few minutes later. “I’m surprised to see you here. I expected you to be getting ready for you’re big show,” Twilight said to AJ.
“I’d rather not think about it right now,” AJ said with a sigh. “The more I think about it the more time I’ll have to find something wrong with it, and I’ll start panicking because it’s not perfect, and then I’ll have to call it off, and then everypony will be disappointed, and then…”
“Okay, I get it,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Besides, if I left now I’d miss Scootaloo in the talent show.”
“Ah still can’t believe Scootaloo didn’t tell us she was performin’ before now!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“Yea, we could have helped her set everything up!” added Sweetie Belle.
“Trust me when I say that this is something she needed to do herself,” AJ said smiling at the two fillies. “She’ll do fine. I just hope I could say the same for myself.” His mood had immediately changed.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” came a soft voice from behind them. They turned to see Fluttershy and Big Mac walking up to them.
“Yea. You’ve been working so hard for this. You’ll be fine,” Ditzy said, patting him on the back.
“I wish I held you’re enthusiasm about this,” AJ said. “I’m just really nervous. If everything doesn't go just right…” AJ stopped himself with a sigh. “It just needs to go perfect, okay.”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t go perfect. You practiced your flank off. Trust me, I would know,” Rainbow said as she landed next to the rest of the group. She looked around for a moment. “Where’s Pinkie?”
“Hello and welcome everypony!” Pinkie said as she stood up on the stage.
“She’s the announcer for the talent show,” Twilight said with a giggle.
“Pinkie Pie here with my co-announcer Spike!” Pinkie pointed over to behind the curtain as the baby dragon ran on stage.
“Hey everypony! I hope you’ve had fun so far today, I know I have,” Spike said with a wink down to Apple Bloom; causing her to blush.
“If you weren’t having fun before, you sure will now!” Pinkie said. “We have a great lineup for you all today!”
“You bet we do Pinkie! Why don’t we get things started?” Spike stopped as the crowd cheered. “Up first we have Snips and Snails doing a magic show!”
********************
The Talent show was great. Everypony did such a great job. Some of them messed up slightly, but they were able to recover from it. Even Snips and Snails were able to make something of their magic show this time. “Wow! Ah think this show’s been th’ best yet!” Applejack said as Carrot Top left the stage.
“I have to agree darling. Everypony must have worked really hard this year,” added Rarity.
“I just hope Linky will be okay,” Twilight said. “She looked like she was limping offstage.”
“Wasn’t she great everypony? Give Carrot Top another round of applause!” Spike said as he came back on stage. The crowd erupted in applause.
“Alright everypony, we have one more pony here who’s ready to show her stuff. Give it up for Scootalooooo!”
All the stage lights went black. With the quickly darkening sky it made everything dark. Suddenly a spotlight lit up to reveal Scootaloo sitting center stage wearing her ballet outfit. Shortly after music began to play. As AJ expected it was Swan Lake. As the music started to steadily build, Scootaloo got up from her prone position and started to dance. As AJ had seen before, Scootaloo was perfect. Every movement, every sway, matched perfectly with the music. Scootaloo and the music were one. All too soon the music came to an end. As the music did, so did Scootaloo. She sat there in her ending position just waiting for a reaction. Then she heard it. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. She stood up and bowed to the crowd before walking off stage.
As soon as Scootaloo got off stage, she was tackled to the ground by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “That was amazing Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said as she and Sweetie Belle hugged her to death.
“Yea! We never knew you could dance so good!” squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“You did great Scoots,” AJ said as he came up to the group of fillies.
Scootaloo extracted her from the hug of death and smiled; a light blush on her face. “Thanks everypony.”
As AJ smiled down at the filly, he noticed something odd. “Hey Scoot’s, what’s that?” he asked in confusion as he pointed at her flank.
“What’s what?” She followed his hoof to her flank when she noticed it. She could see a flash of light from under the leotard. Gasping, she slipped out of the leotard as quickly as she could. There it was. On her flank, a silhouette of a pony in a ballet outfit doing a pirouette. Tears of happiness started rolling down her cheeks as a smile grew on her face.
“Scootaloo, ya got yer cutie mark! Ya got yer cutie mark!” Apple Bloom shouted. Apple Bloom and Sweetie once again wrapped Scootaloo in a big hug.
AJ smiled down at the three fillies. They were so happy. ‘Good for you Scoot’s. Good for you.’
“Remember to stick around everypony! I hope you like fireworks, I sure do!” came Pinkie’s voice from the stage.
AJ’s thoughts were interrupted when somepony tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back to see Twilight smiling at him. “Hey, you should go get ready. It’s almost time.”
“You’re right.” AJ let out a sigh. “Here’s hoping everything goes alright.” As AJ walked through the crowd, he walked past Ditzy, Dinky, and Carrot Top who were all talking. He noticed Dinky start looking at him. He looked to make sure Ditzy wasn’t looking before giving Dinky a small nod.
Dinky nodded back enthusiastically and got her mom’s attention. “Come on mommy! We have to get a good spot!”
********************
Everypony quickly gathered outside of Ponyville. For safety Twilight had the fireworks display held just outside of town. Ditzy, Dinky, and all of AJ’s friends were on top of a hill for the best view of the show. “I’m not complaining about the seating arrangements, but why were you so eager to get here Dinky?” asked Ditzy.
“You’ll see!” Dinky said with a giggle.
“I can’t wait! Can you wait? Cause I sure can’t! It’s going to be like boom, woosh, crack, bang, boom, explode!” Pinkie cheered as she bounced around the hill.
“Just settle down Pinkie, it hasn’t even started yet jeeze,” Rainbow said. She was getting dizzy just watching Pinkie bounce in circles. “Where’s Twilight anyway?”
“See fer yerself,” Applejack said as she pointed out into the distance. Two silhouettes could be seen in the distance. The only light source was a small lantern placed next to them.
"She must be giving the dear a pep talk. He looked so nervous earlier,” said Rarity.
“He’s had more than enough practice. He’ll be fine,” said Applejack. She noticed one of the silhouettes in the distance start to move. Shortly after Twilight joined the group. “How’s he doin’?”
“Nervous, to say the least,” Twilight said as she sat down. “He keeps worrying that it won’t be just perfect.”
“Since when was he so worried about perfection?” asked Rainbow.
“Give him a break Rainbow. This is the first time he’s done something this big. He just wants this to…” Twilight was interrupted by the sound of the first firework firing into the sky. Oohs and aahs could be heard throughout the crowd as it exploded in the air. “Well, let’s see how he does.”
********************
So far the show went off without a hitch. Some of the things AJ had managed to pull off were nothing short of amazing. He managed to make cutie marks, ponies dancing and playing, he even managed to replicate a Sonic Rainboom; that was Rainbow’s favorite part hooves down. Though all good things must come to an end. It was just about time for the finale and everypony was wondering what AJ had in store for them.
‘Alright, what’s he going to do,’ Twilight thought to herself.
Everything was dark for a short time. After about a minute a bright pink orb could be seen near the ground. It kept growing bigger and brighter until it was finally fired into the air. The orb split in half, splitting off from each other as they flew into the air. They left a pink trail of magic behind as they flew. Once they reached a certain point the two orbs curved around and met once more, forming a giant heart in the air. Another orb was fired into the air. It flew up until it was right in the middle of the heart where it exploded. Instead of a multi-color explosion, words were formed. Ditzy couldn’t help but gasp as she put her hooves to her mouth. There, framed in the heart, were the words ‘I LOVE YOU DITZY.’ More orbs were fired into the air, surrounding the heart on both sides with Ditzy’s cutie mark. Around those more multi-colored explosions were set loose framing the entire picture.
After about a minute of explosions in the air, everything went quiet. The crowd cheered wildly at the display. It was definitely a great way to end this years Autumn Festival. “Oh, that was so romantic!” swooned Rarity
“It sure was,” added Twilight. They both looked over to Ditzy who was still sitting there in shock. “Ditzy?”
Ditzy suddenly took off into the air, flying towards AJ. Everypony got up to follow her. Ditzy got there before them. When they got there, she was sitting on the ground looking down with a smile on her face. She was watching AJ as he slept. “The show must have tired him out,” whispered Twilight.
“Ah think he deserves a nice rest after a show like that,” added Applejack.
“Let’s get’im home,” Big Mac said. Applejack helped get AJ onto his back. Before leaving he gave Fluttershy one last kiss for the night.
“Carrot?” Ditzy asked.
Carrot turned to Ditzy. “What’s up?”
“Could you take Dinky home for me? I don’t think I’ll be coming home tonight. That is, if that’s alright with you two,” she said as she turned to the Apples.
Applejack and Big Mac looked at Ditzy then to each other. Big Mac just shrugged before continuing to walk. “We’re fine with it,” said Applejack.
Smiling Ditzy gave Dinky a hug and a goodnights kiss before following the two Earth ponies.
********************
AJ was awoken slowly by the rays of the sun shining through his window. After a big yawn, he rubbed his eyes. As he slowly opened his eyes, the sight in front of him made him smile. Ditzy was lying next to him in the bed, a soft smile on her face. “Good morning.”
As his mind started to wake up, one thought came to his head. “I…I’m not dreaming, am I?”
Ditzy giggled a little bit before leaning forward, kissing him on the lips. “No, you’re not.” As the two of them embraced, neither of them noticed AJ’s flanks begin to glow. Three explosions appeared, one red, one yellow, one green. In the middle, a heart was visible.
****************************************
((OK, a bit of news here. First things first, Sparknanator has started an epic reading of The Mystery of a New World on his YouTube. Here’s the link to the first part if you’re interested.
Second, If you’re a gearhead, I have a fic for you to try out. Greasebrony here on Fimficton has a fic called Three Equestrians and an Engineer. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should, because the car stuff just flew right over my head, but if you’re into that kinda stuff, give it a read.
Third, here’s a pic of AJ’s cutie mark.
Fourth, and this is the most important message of them all.
My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust))
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I haven't lost the game for about a year damn you.
So much D'aww!
534021
lol have not lost in 2 days for me.
wow didn't expect scoot to get a dancing cutie mark
Hey Fanthrose got a question about this sentence.
“Yup. She’s a little late, and I was voluntold to come see if maybe something was wrong.”
534097 It's a nice way of saying that you were forced to do something. You weren't volunteered to go, you were voluntold to.
Celestia Dammit- i was doing so good until you made me lose the game
You sir are a troll
Now for the story...Its about time those 2 got together, I've been waiting this long for it
Awesome. Just all around awesome.
Bravo!
534106
ah
ty and p.s. decided to read whole thing over and have done nothing productive just ask scoots and applebloom.
"Hey guys have i done anything productive today?"
forums.playfire.com/_proxy/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.ponibooru.org%2F_images%2F06ae5fcb67987702b2310d8a67e0cb8a%2F129759%2520-%2520animated%2520apple_bloom%2520nope%2520scootaloo.gif&hmac=0d0f4baf4a05da81de9b64a71e580e96
534161 XD
534175
Always does my heart good to make someone smile
Ah horsefeathers... Ditzy made me lose the game...
Great chapter! At first I thought AJ was going to propose, but I think what you did was a lot more romantic. Great job!
All of this Daaaaawwww. I hope you realize you owe me a new heart.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT WAS GREAT!!!
Where do I even begin?
When Rainbow got a box of dildos all I could think of was "the dick in the box" song.
she deserved every horrible prank and considering she wasn't maimed or killed she should be kissing his ass.
-----
Scootaloo finding out her special talent was dancing, was extremely d'awww and heartwarming I don't know maybe it's because I'm biased.
Everything that lead up to the festival was great and the fact that the protagonist finally manned up and confessed his feeling and combined it was explosions. It's like Micheal Bay if Micheal Bay had a soul. I called it when AJ's mark was firework related. This is still the best Human in Equestria fic without a doubt. I mean look at it, there is comedy, sadness, joy, character development, romance, action, people...err ponied kicking their asses kicked and faces punched in, and explosions. I wish I could track and favorite this fic all over again.
Your next fic could be a clop fic where the reanimated corpse of Randy "Macho Man" savage hooks up with the reanimated corpse of Rainbow dash from Cupcakes and I'd read it, dude you have talent.
Lessons:
Don't fuck with AJ.(Rainbow Dash)
The answer to your problems are explosions and friendship(AJ)
One word sums up this chapter, "D'awww"
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m356smsrsO1r4pwt8o1_500.gif
and
27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0u556Vb7H1qbsjqno1_500.gif
Peace Out.
Much like Guinness this fic is
img.hsmagazine.net/2011/10/guinness-brilliant.jpg
D'aaaaawwww'd so hard.
Well done on making everyone lose the game. I can't wait for the rage comments and thank you for the shout out.
534263 Dude what is with you and savage?
534333
I like old school wrestling , plus it's usually the ultimate warrior I make fun of and plus Savage died in Ft. Lauderdale. I just love the insanity of the old promos from the WWF.
534350 I'll give you that one, WWF was a lot more fun in those days.
I am "The Game" leader.
If you have to ask what "The Game" is then you have already lost.
If you talk about "The Game" then you have already lost.
You do not play "The Game" because it plays you.
If you mention "The Game" in any other method than to explain these simple rules, then you have lost.
2 Cutie Mark Crusaders down, 2 to go,or is Dinky one too. I can't remember....
This chapter = Romantic Comedy with the beginning being AJ pretending to be an
Awww Aj and Ditzy are a cute couple :3 they should be canon
534161
we use that term in Boy Scouts, but i haven't heard it anywhere else.
*looks at thumbs up and starts pressing it until thumbs broken* totally worth it
awesome.
because i do not use my brain, i therefore cannot loose th' game.
FUUUUUUUUUUU I haven't lost the game in a year now and now I did
besides that It was AWESOME I cant wait to see what happens with AJ and Ditzy
Did you know that there are certain syllables that the human vocal chords can't produce one after another? Don't belive me? It is physically impossible for a human to pronounce the words "eye", "laws", "dug", and "aim" in rapid succesion. I dare you to try it if you think I am lying!
img17.imageshack.us/img17/5552/00001byspeccysyd4qscf21.gif
Also you fail! rule 1 of the game, no talking about the game!
534563
However, I counter everyone thusly:
imgs.xkcd.com/comics/anti_mind_virus.png
534681 thank you I'm finally free
534947
Glad I could help!
534681 I counter your counter.
media.makeadare.com/img/0ecd49fd0/image_418127d188.jpg
535048
No thanks, I'll just re-visit the escape page.
535136 How about some dishwasher to go with that?
is isnt the climax is it
this will go of for a lot longer right
535290 It's still going on, This is just the chapter when AJ FINALLY admitted his love for Ditzy
535303YAY
Usually when I hear descriptions of cutie marks that have a heart shape or something in addition to displaying the pony's talent, it sounds really cheesy, but that picture of AJ with his cutie mark looked surprisingly natural and a lot less cliche than I had envisioned. Awesome chapter!
535433 You can thank Lady K for that. when she was drawing it she asked me what it looked like. my original design for it was a pink, stylized heart surrounding three explosions. She had a different idea that we agreed to try. I think her idea was better, wouldn't you say?
535444 Definitely! The pink stylized heart would have been cringe-worthy, but this is much better, more subtle but with the same emotional meaning.
Grrrr...
That's the seventeenth time I lost the game today...
Amazing update so much D'aww
That last picture... -_-
ALSO! YOU'RE = YOU ARE! YOUR = POSSESIVE!
My inner grammer nazi is killing me right now. When you use you're, read it out loud as "you are." If it sounds wierd, it probably isn't the right version of it.
Yeaaaaaaaaa.
Sumupmyfeelingsforthechapter.
Please tell me that 'Horse Power' is the name for the beffy pegasus in 'Hurricane Fluttershy'..... Better than 'Snowflake', and much better than 'Roid Rage', 'Benchpress' or 'Beffcake'
THE GAME???? FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU......
537947 Yes that is supposed to be that really muscular pegasus. I have NO idea where they got Snowflake for him, but yea.