The Eyes of the Beholder

by BrinnyTheBrave

Chapter 11

"Yo! AJ!" Blitz sped through the town. He may have been the fastest flier, but on land, AJ could easily outrun him, and Blitz was always envious of that. Finally he caught up to his friend, tackling him to the ground.

"Get off me!" AJ snapped.

"Calm your mane. I just wanna talk!" Blitz said, meaning every word of it.

"About." The huge orange stallion grunted under Blitz.

"Well, about what happened back there. So… you like stallions huh?" Blitz said, in a non-taunting way. Apple Jack felt shy now. Rainbow Blitz jumped off the orange brony's back and helped him off the ground. Apple Jack scuffed the ground with a fore hoof, his ears pinned back in shame.

"Ah was in total denial of it first. But yeah." He simply said.

"Well hey. There's no problem with that." Blitz comforted. "In fact, I do too."

"What?" AJ's ears perked. "But Ah thought ya were with Sora?"

"I am-- or was. I was only really into her just because she's a Wonderbolt."

"Wow Blitz, that was a flank move on your part." The farmer said. He wasn't trying to be mean, he was an honest pony.

"I know. I probably hurt her. But I always had a preference for stallions." He sighed.

"When did ya know you liked em, if ya don't mind me asking?"

"When I had some fun with Dusk."

If Apple Jack was drinking right now he would have spat his drink out dramatically. His eyes widened.

"Dusk?!! OUR Dusk?!"

"Yeah." Blitz said. "AJ, the male to female ratio in Equestria is 4 to 1. With hormones and all, you can't be all that surprised that stallions around these parts have some fun with each other?" Blitz chuckled.

"Ah… Ah guess not." AJ paused. "So… so now what?" He asked.

"What do you mean."

"Well. Ah… Ah always had visions of kissin' Elusive. But Ah always had a thing for you in particular." AJ said, his cheeks turning crimson.

"Oh… well. You're a pretty fine stallion yourself. I'll be honest. I'm attracted to you, but I don't know about romantically yet."

"Yet?" AJ's ears perked again.

"I'm willing to try a relationship with you, if you are too." Blitz said. Now it was his turn to blush. Apple Jack smiled back at the cyan stallion.

***

"Is that the last of everything?" Barbara asked glumly as she finished shelving the new shipment of spell books. Dusk sighed. She had lost the sparkle in her eyes ever since the dance. Dusk had also felt betrayed by Elusive's actions. Not only did his best friend break Barbara, but he also lied straight to Dusk's face.

"Yeah… Barbs?"

"I'm gonna go take a walk. You remember what happened the last time I trapped myself in this castle for days."

Dusk smiled sadly.

***

Ponyville was quiet today, which gave Barbara an opportunity to take in her surroundings and time to think. She wasn't in the mood for gemstone muffins. She certainly wasn't in the mood for the Boutique, and the farm was probably a bad idea. She hadn't seen Butterscotch in a while, and he always had comforting words, so she decided to visit her old quiet pegasus friend.

After some walking, she made it to the shy stallion's cottage. She raised a claw to knock. Slowly the door creaked open.

"H-hello?" The pink maned pegasus said. He looked down. "Oh, h-hi there Barbara. Come in!" Barbara followed her friend inside. "Can I offer you some tea?"

"No thanks, Butterscotch. I just needed a peaceful place away from all the… craziness, and you are always a comforting friend." The dragoness said.

"Something wrong?" Butterscotch asked, concerned for the little dragon.

"Well. Nothing's been right since the dance. The group is all broken up. Elusive won't even speak to me either, and it's… it's all my fault!" Barbara sniffled.

"There, there." Butterscotch pulled her in for a wing hug. "Elusive may have been in the wrong, but I know he never meant to hurt you, Barbara." The gentle stallion's whispering soothed Barbara.

"H-how do you know?" She asked.

"He told me. He's been beating himself up over what happened. True, he was fond of Regal Splendour, but he never used you or intended for any of this to happen. And the moment he realized he loved you you were all he went on about. I'm not saying this just because I'm his friend, Barbara, I'm saying it because it's the truth. He told me and I heard him go on about it when I helped him in the shop."

"So… so what do I d--"

The door swinging open cut Barbara off. Her eyes widened as the very stallion they were speaking of walked through the door, looking frantic and out of breath.

"Butterscotch!! There you are dear boy. I need help. I have so many orders for the Canterlot Spring Fling and I'm. OVERWORKED!!!! I don't know how it happened, but Regal Splendour must have spread the word about my vests from the Hearth's dance. Now every stallion from Canterlot wants one from my line! I--" he froze as he realized Butterscotch was not alone. "B-Barbara… oh dear, I. I came at a bad time…"

"No!!!" Barbara jumped up. "Don't leave, Elusive. I… we need to talk! This has been going on for way too long."

"I-I'll just… be in the kitchen preparing Angelica's lunch." Butterscotch flew off, giving them some space.

"So… " Elusive scuffed the ground.

"So." Barbara hung her head.

"Right then. I'll start. Barbara, I never wanted this. I never used you, but I hurt you deeply. I loved… love you! I, as Rainbow Blitz would say, 'bucked up'. If you wish for us to never be romantically involved again, I… understand. I'm sorry, truly."

There was silence for a moment.

"Elusive. I forgive you."

"You do?"

"Of course, silly! You're my best friend! But… I say we try dating for real this time." Barbara said.

"I… of course, dearest." Elusive smiled. "Also…" he leaned in and kissed her, not just on the cheek, but this time on her scaly lips, for real. They stayed like that for a few minutes until they parted, their faces covered with blush.

Author's Note:

Alright that's it ^^ Hope you all thought that was a fitting ending, if not, tell me what you liked or disliked about the story and thanks for giving it a read :)

Comments

[TheWorstDiscord]

No comments? On a complete story? Wha... Oh. Wait. It was posted today, and this is the first comment... Shit! You're ruining it Dark say something useful! Um um Looks interesting! Imma read it. Right now.

[TheWorstDiscord]

Well. That entire gay thing, while there's nothing wrong with it, came out of no where. Though I suppose you were hinting at it by them teasing each other about it and being sensitive about it, eh sort of forced though.

The 'Elusive used Barbara' thing still confuses me a bit though. I'm just not clear on exactly how he used her.

The story was nice. I liked it. It may have chapters that could really be condensed into about four to six, a few continuity errors but aside from that it flows pretty well for a first multi-chapter story.
And also I found the use of Brony instead of pony to be endearing

[BrinnyTheBrave]

6873915 Wow! I didn't expect to get comments and likes so soon! XD Thank you for giving my story an R & R.

Lovely start. Just go easy on the exclams, on is enough my man./quote]
Heh yeah, I just am not sure how else to convey excitement.

On his way back to the farm, AJ started to develop a strange unexplainable emotion welling up inside of him.
"Began feeling" would better in place of started to develop, in this particular sentence.
Ahgoing for the old saved my life crush aye? You sly dog you./quote]
Hmm alright I'll make a mental note of that for next time :) Yep I was trying to reference the episode where Applejack saved Spike from the Timber Wolves.

Hmm confusing. Earlier in the story it had said that Barbara had come home to "Eat their usual supper and tell Dusk the good news" I had assumed that meant she was telling him that Elusive had asked her to the dance but I guess not... Good chapter anyways, even though I think AJ's moving a little too fast I think it makes him more in character.

I do realize there are a lot of… ahem, 'plot holes' in this story, so to speak XD That is what the good news was, you're right :) thank you

[quote
Wouldn't everbody already know that Barb liked elusive? Or have the events of the show not happened?

Yes, ponies would probably know, I am guessing they would not care? I mean, no one seemed to bat an eye much when Spike was being obvious with Rarity.

Mm Barbara, always with a flare for the dramatic./quote]
XD I think she is hanging around Elusive too much, no?

If Aj was giving her the silent treatment how would she know if she had been locking herself in her room for weeks? But agin even though I think Applejack would rush into asking someone he liked over with I don't think he would be so obsessively sure already.
What do you say we get out of this stinking castle for a day and go to sugar cube corner?
I think stuffy would make more sense, stinking sounds more like an actual insult./quote]

Hmm I see what you mean, yeah. I guess I didn't make it clear. What happened was Barbara kept going to visit and check up on him, but he kept saying he was busy and couldn't see her right now, so she became depressed and blamed it on herself, not wanting to talk to anybody anymore.

Awe, so adorable.
Flaring war? That sound bad ass... Can I have that? I really want to make acharacter called flaring war now /quote]
XD Sure if anyone asks say you got the idea from me hehe

But... Dusk knows why Applejack's been distant, unless he assume Aj got over it and that something else is bothering him... Hmmm. Confusing./quote]
That's why. He assumed his friend would be over it and that Barbara was over thinking things ^^

[I don't think Mares and Gentle-stallions needs to be switched... But whatever floats your boat quote]
I felt like switching it to match to the gender bent world a bit better :)

That was... Unexpected, and a little cliché.
So Elusive does like Barb? But used her in a way that's a little unclear... And Applejack kissed him in the middle of a fight? This has gotten really weird with a lot of things coming way out of left field./quote]
I probably should have added some sort of AppleDash tag in this, yeah, but I wanted it to be a surprise too. AJ is a good pony, and I wanted him to get a happy ending in all of this, even if it wasn't with Barbs like he wanted. And this was part of the reason why he was giving her (but mostly everyone in general) the silent treatment. He was confused and frustrated about liking stallions.

The story was nice. I liked it. It may have chapters that could really be condensed into about four to six, a few continuity errors but aside from that it flows pretty well for a first multi-chapter story.
And also I found the use of Brony instead of pony to be endearing/quote]
He never meant to use her, but things got carried away when the VIPs showed up. He didn't mean any of it and loved Barbara.

Thank you so much for giving my story a read and offering tips and ways to improve. I will keep these points in mind for the next story