Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash are Dating and Everypony Freaks Out

by BlackM

An eventful evening

Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash are Dating and Everypony Freaks Out

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An eventful evening
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“He should be in this house,” a little filly stated.

Without another word, Flitter knocked on the door and waited for a response, tapping her hoof impatiently. The colt she had been looking for was in this house, or so the filly next to her had told her. She fondly remembered the Gabby Gums incident from several months ago, because a picture of her had been taken during a ‘private’ session of hers during that time. Fortunately, the photos were never published and the culprits had apologized, but she never did figure out who took the photos, until now.

Knowing that it had been a photographer at the local school, Flitter interrogated some random fillies, hoping to fish a lead. Luckily she did, in the form of a filly named Noi, who claimed to know the photographer and where he lived. Flitter hadn’t told her why she was looking for the particular colt, but she was here for something other than the pictures.

Although, it’d be great if she could get them back.

The door opened to reveal a light blue colt with a darker shade mane. At first he was indifferent at the sight of the filly, but upon seeing the adult, he closed the door in fear. Some sounds could be heard from the inside like glass breaking and screeching wood among muffled shouts.

“Huh, that was weird,” Noi claimed, “Shady only does that when I come at him with a straw.”

“He’s the kid who takes photos for the school?” Flitter asked, Noi nodded.

As the noise within began to quiet down, the adult pegasus fluttered and made her way around the house. She knew the sound of ponies making an escape when she heard it, and she wasn’t about to let the colt get away. Coming around to the other side of the house, she found not one, but three colts attempting to make a break for it. One apparently snagged on something inside the house, though, because the other two were helping to pull him out.

As amusing as it looked, Flitter couldn’t let these ponies get away. So, she alerted her presence with a blunt cough. “Ahem!”

At this, the colts helping out the lanky unicorn froze and stared at the pegasus, left with nowhere else to run to. Before they could make any daring escape, and she’d rather not chase a bunch of foals today, Flitter had to clarify why she was here.

“I hear one of you kids has a camera,” she stated, eyeing the blue colt, “I’m here because I want to borrow it.”

“Y-You are?” the yellow unicorn colt, known as Snails, said.

“Oh, what a relief,” the pudgy unicorn with thick eyebrows, Snips, said, “We thought you were here because-”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a picture of me, would you?” Flitter interrupted.

Again, the colts froze.

“Hey, is she talking about that one where she’s hugging herself?” Noi asked.

Fortunately for Flitter, the colts weren’t sexually aware of the exact context of the picture that had been taken of her. Or maybe they were, as it wasn’t featured in the newspaper when the Foal Free Press was all the rage. All she knew was that one of them had kept it, and perhaps other pictures of other mares.

She might score big today.

“Is it true? Do you have a photo like that?” Flitter asked again, demonstrating her authority through tone, “Speak up now, and I’ll go easy on you.”

“Pipsqueak has it!” Shady instantly declared, pointing to the house.

“Th-that’s not true!” a young voice called from within, “I was just holding it when she came!”

By now, Snails had managed to free himself from whatever had snagged on him in the room, and fell to the floor with a thud.

“Alright, listen,” the pegasus mare said, “I’m not gonna tell on you guys.”

“Y-you’re not?” Snips asked.

“On one condition,” she couldn’t help but smirk at how easy this had been, “You let me borrow the camera for today, and give me all the pictures you took.”

“All of them?” Shady asked. At this question, a skinny buck toothed pegasus peeked from the window, having a small feather for a cutie mark.

“Yes, all of them,” she repeated, “Little colts like you shouldn’t be in possession of such raunchy pictures. So cough ‘em up.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Noi said with a smile.

Snips and Snails looked at each other and nodded in reluctance. Pipsqueak looked guilty, sneaking glances at Flitter, while Shady looked a bit disappointed. Featherweight hovered out of the window with several photos in hoof and gave them to Flitter, avoiding eye contact altogether.

“Huh, aren’t you related to Asteroid?” Flitter asked, noting how familiar the colt looked. Featherweight nodded, Flitter chuckled, “Maybe he needs to give you some of his protein bars, because you are skinny.”

“He’s really light too,” Snails commented, “Sometimes we like to play a game called Toss the Featherweight with him.”

Flitter chuckled again, “I can only imagine what kind of game that is,” she said as Featherweight looked nervous.

The pegasus mare took a moment to sift through the photos she got, but was rather surprised at what she was looking at. While there were indeed a few mares in suggestive positions, there was also captured moments of other strange oddities, the likes of griffons in walking food costumes, a pony in scuba gear underwater, a ballet featuring buffalo, a strange purple pony in what looked like the Canterlot Gardens, and Cerberus rubbing his back against the dirt by the gates of Tartarus.

Confused and amazed, Flitter slowly asked, “Kid…you took these photos?”

“Oh, uhh,” Shady said, embarrassed, “Actually Featherweight took those. He was the photographer when the Foal Free Press became popular.”

“And how come you didn’t print these?” the mare asked, bewildered.

“He took those right before the Ponyville branch was cut,” Pipsqueak explained, arms hung over the window, “They couldn’t be printed, so Featherweight kept them.”

“Wow kid, it looks like photography should be working for you,” Flitter said, visually impressed.

“He’s the editor now. I’m the photographer,” Shady proclaimed proudly, feeling more comfortable as Flitter lightened up.

“Right, right. You know what? I’ll let you keep some of these,” the pegasus said, to the delight of the colts, “Just because I’m nice like that. I still want to borrow the camera, though.”

“Oh, of course,” Shady then turned to Pipsqueak, “Mind getting the camera for me?”

Seconds later, Pipsqueak returned with Shady’s camera, which Flitter happily received.

“Alright, this worked out better than I thought,” the pegasus mused, then became serious, “Now, I want you foals to understand. If any of you take any more pictures like this,” Flitter held up a photo of a stallion in a banana suit with maracas in hoof, “I’ll personally hunt you down and make you regret it.”

The colts stared at the photo, confused as to why Flitter would prohibit taking pictures in whatever context there was to the one she was holding. Even Noi was lost as to what was so bad about ponies in fruit suits. Noticing their confusion, Flitter checked the picture in hoof and realized her mistake.

“Oh, uhh,” a quick shuffle of the photos and, “I meant this one.”

“Ohhh,” all the foals expressed at once in clarity.

“I mean it!” Flitter suddenly shouted to make up for the lack of emphasis in her previous threat, “If I hear somepony take a picture of me in a private moment, so help me I’ll-!”

“Are we done here?” Noi interrupted, to the relief of the colts, then turned to the blue colt, “Shady, we’re supposed to meet with Dinky soon at the playground.”

“Oh, uhh, right,” Shady said, slightly embarrassed. He then trotted towards the pegasus mare before him, “Umm, you might wanna be careful with that. It belongs to the school, and it doesn’t have a lot of film left.”

“Oh, uhh,” Flitter looked at the camera in her hoof, “Can’t I just get more?”

The colt shrugged, “You could try. We order our film from Manehattan, not sure if they sell any around here, though.”

“Well, thanks, I guess,” she said. Flitter then quickly ran through the pictures, picking out the ones she didn’t want to keep. She gave the colts back just about all the photos except for any with mares in risky positions; something that Snips openly missed.

“So uhh, when will you give it back?” Shady asked, “Because I got a curfew and…”

“Tomorrow,” Flitter answered bluntly, then turned around, “Thanks for the camera.”

Before she could leave, Featherweight spoke up, “Uh, miss. What do you plan to use that camera for?”

A bit surprised that she was questioned, she turned back to say, “For something called shut your mouth before I tell your parents about the photos you took.”

Featherweight received a light tap on the head from Snails, who looked a bit upset, “Featherweight! Don’t talk so much!”

“Yeah, we don’t wanna get in trouble because of your big mouth,” Snips punctuated.

“You did take the pictures, after all,” Shady pointed out.

Flitter rolled her eyes playfully and took off without a goodbye. The foals watched her go until she was out of sight.

“She’s seems fun,” Noi stated.

“I was really hoping she’d let us keep that picture of her,” the blue colt said in disdain.

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Now what could she be planning?
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She tapped the door three times before nervously retreating. Reliving the suspenseful trek to finding Rainbow Dash wasn’t enjoyable, but she knew it was necessary. Rainbow needed to know about Flitter’s plans, just as Tank warned, but Fluttershy had no idea about how to confess to Rainbow Dash after that. She was slightly worried that she’d never get the chance, which gave her mixed feelings of relief and despair. Oh how she wanted it to be over already…

Finally, Rarity answered the door, except she was shorter, had green spines, and wasn’t a unicorn, or a pony of any sort. In fact, she looked more like a baby dragon she knew. Oh, it was just Spike.

“Oh, it’s just Fluttershy,” the little dragon said a bit openly, then greeted, “Heya Fluttershy!”

“Ohh, um, hello Spike,” the pegasus returned, beginning to fidget in place from anxiety.

“What’cha need? Rarity’s kind of busy at the moment,” Spike explained, pointing back within the shop.

Before she could ask about Rainbow Dash, Rarity called out from inside, “Is that Fluttershy? Spike, be a dear and bring her in.”

Spike did as he was told and stepped aside, allowing the pegasus to walk in. The dragon closed the door and Fluttershy saw that the unicorn was indeed busy. She was just beginning to weave together fabrics for a dress, as orange and golden rolls floated about along with scissors, rulers, pins, and a pencil.

“Oh, maybe this is a bad time,” Fluttershy said as she softly backed to the door.

“Not at all, dear,” Rarity said from her position, “Spike’s been such a helpful little dragon that I am at the calmest peak of my zone. I can spare some attention for you, Fluttershy. Just tell me what you need, and Spikey Wikey will assist you to the best of his abilities.”

Fluttershy was a bit flattered, Spike more so, but still couldn’t shake off her nervousness. Here she was in Rarity’s shop, where Rainbow Dash was supposed to be, and although she couldn’t see if she was here presently, there was the chance that she’d pop in out of nowhere at her convenience. Rainbow Dash has a knack for doing that.

“Umm,” she started, “Well, uh, is Rainbow Dash here? Twilight said she would be.”

“Oh, her?” Spike said as he carried a basket of ribbons to Rarity, “Nah she just left about an hour ago.”

“What?!” Fluttershy said in shock. Had she really just missed her again? “To where?”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” Rarity calmly answered from her spot as she took the basket of ribbons from Spike, “Back to her coltfriend.”

“Ohhh…” the pegasus said sadly as she slumped to the floor.

If Rainbow Dash was with Big Macintosh right now, then there was no way she’d have the confidence to make her confession. Sure, she could still warn her about Flitter’s plans, but telling Dash her true feelings was the whole reason she left her house. She supposed she could at least make the effort, maybe catch her while she and Mac were apart, pour her heart out to her, and maybe Rainbow Dash will return her feelings…

But that was just wishful thinking.

In the midst of her self pity, she almost didn’t hear somepony knocking on the door. It was when Rarity called for Spike to get it that she snapped out of her thoughts. Another visitor, so soon? Who could it be?

Spike opened the door and found two fillies waiting there, “Oh, hello. Can I help you?”

“Is miss Rarity home?” a pink filly with a purple mane asked, wearing a tiara made of diamonds on her head, “We have something to tell her about Sweetie Belle.”

“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked as she looked back, some objects descending as a result of her redirected attention, “Did something happen to her?”

Spike stepped back to allow the two fillies to enter. Both Rarity and Fluttershy then recognized them as those rich foals that would bother the Cutie Mark Crusaders at school. Now, Rarity would normally take anything they said with a grain of salt, but if Sweetie Belle was concerned, she couldn’t risk not giving them an ear, however incriminating what they had to say could be.

“Miss Rarity,” the silver one spoke, “Do you know where Sweetie Belle is?”

“Well, she’s supposed to be at school, I think…” Rarity angled her head upward in thought, “No wait, did they have school today?”

“She’s with the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Diamond Tiara said with an eye roll, “And, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think she’s getting herself into trouble again.”

The unicorn sighed in annoyance, “Again? What’s she doing this time?”

“We saw her sneaking into-” Silver Spoon tried to say, but a nudge from her friend quickly corrected her, “I mean, breaking into Twilight’s library, along with her friends.”

Both Fluttershy and Rarity gasped in shock. Rarity was simply surprised that her sister was committing her legitimately first criminal offense, but Fluttershy was much more worried about the safety of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Only she and Spike knew what awaited them in the library if neither he nor Twilight was there.

“Sweetie Belle? My darling little sister, breaking and entering?” Rarity sounded off in dramatic despair, “…again?”

“We saw it with our own eyes,” Diamond Tiara said smugly, “We thought you should know first before alerting the authorities.”

“Oh, that troublesome little foal,” Rarity pronounced as she looked over her work still in progress, “I guess the dress will just have to wait…”

Seeing her distress, and knowing that Twilight might not return to the library for another hour, Fluttershy spoke, “Oh, uhh, maybe I could go in your place.”

“You will?” Rarity looked pleased, then curious, “Wait, why do you want to go fetch my sister?”

Fluttershy itched at the floor, “Umm, you see, Twilight left the library a while ago and…”

“What? And nopony’s there in charge?” Spike suddenly spoke up, then shook his head in disappointment, “I should probably go too.”

“Wait, I don’t understand,” the unicorn said in all curiosity, “What is it about her library?”

“Oh, it’s nothing wrong with the library,” Spike explained.

“…it’s who she leaves in charge if Spike isn’t there,” Fluttershy finished.

Rarity’s confused stare earned a small cough from Spike.

“Let’s just say,” he started, “Owlowiscious takes his job seriously.”

The unicorn still didn’t understand, but decided that it wasn’t that important to know.

“Well then…I suppose you should be on your way,” she announced, “Wouldn’t want Sweetie Belle to get into any more trouble.”

“Oh, uhh,” Spike spoke up a little bashfully, “You wouldn’t mind me leaving?”

The unicorn simply smiled and placed a hoof on the little dragon’s head, “Aww, of course I would mind. But you have your own duties to tend to and you can’t let me get in your way. And that’s what makes you such a responsible, and dependable, little assistant.”

Rarity pronounced each syllable of that last bit with a rub on the head, and Spike blushed at them, “Aw shucks, you don’t have to be so nice.”

Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara was silently chuckling at the baby dragon’s behavior. She knew he didn’t have a chance in Tartarus with her, but it was so amusing seeing him take up the role of a loyal servant. How pathetic. Silver Spoon, on the other hoof, found the gesture to be sweet and caring, and silently chuckled for reasons different from her friend.

Then something came to Fluttershy’s mind, “Oh, Rarity. What should I do with Sweetie Belle?”

By now, all of Rarity’s focus on her dress had disappeared, and the objects were carefully placed on the ground in a neat line, “Oh, uhh,” she thought of a reasonable objective for Fluttershy to do in her place, “First see if she’s doing anything that might harm herself or get her into trouble. If you think she’ll be fine with her friends, then leave her be. Otherwise, bring her back to me, please.”

Fluttershy nodded, but Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to like this plan.

“Wait, but, she’s breaking into Twilight’s house,” she pointed out, “Of course it’s going to get her into trouble.”

“Darling, we’re used to it by now,” Rarity explained, “And personally I’m tired of having to explain to her what’s right from wrong. And even if I did, any sense of morality will be thrown out the window if she’s sure it’ll get her her cutie mark.”

“Isn’t that kind of irresponsible?” Silver Spoon pointed out.

Rarity chuckled heartily, “Who am I to speak of dispelling right and wrong for the sake of a cutie mark? Being reckless is the quickest way to discover your own true talents. Why, I, myself, spent two days on my lonesome to get my cutie mark when I was your age.”

“And everypony thought I perished when I got mine,” Fluttershy chimed in, with no hint of sadness or remorse as she spoke, “It took me a week to be able to fly strong enough to return to Cloudsdale, and even longer to actually go back.”

Diamond Tiara gave Silver Spoon a confused look, but her friend looked like she was pondering the very subject as well.

“Umm,” she spoke up, “I burned myself a few times getting mine.”

“Nobody cares, Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara whispered.

“But you do have a point,” Silver Spoon looked down in sadness, “I do wish she’d realize her special talent soon,” Rarity said as she placed a hoof to her head, “I always have to share the blame whenever Sweetie Belle and her friends destroy something.”

“You don’t say?” Diamond Tiara said as she rubbed her hooves together maliciously.

“Sooo,” having spent a reasonable enough time staying quiet as everypony else talked, Spike spoke up, “Are we going now?”

“Oh, yes. We should hurry,” Fluttershy said as she took flight, “Sorry for taking your time, Rarity.”

The unicorn shook her head, “No, no, it’s fine. Thank you for picking up Sweetie Belle for me.”

“It’s no problem at all,” she then turned to Spike, who was waiting at the door, “I’ll see you all at the party later.”

With some farewell nods and waves, both Fluttershy and Spike left the Carousel Boutique. The only ponies left now were Rarity, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon, the pinker one was hoping to make a quick leave. The adult resumed her work and attempted to regain her zen, almost ignoring the presence of the fillies altogether, even as one approached her.

“Excuse me, miss Rarity?” Silver Spoon spoke up.

“Please, refer to me as Lady Rarity if you wish to address me formally,” Rarity said proudly from her spot.

“Right, Lady Rarity,” the filly corrected, “I was wondering if we could watch you work?”

Apparently this was not something Diamond Tiara was planning. Turning back from the door, she trotted silently towards her friend so as to not disturb Rarity’s peace.

“What?” she asked in a hushed whisper, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Silver Spoon was confused, “What? Don’t you want to watch Rarity work?”

The pink filly ignored her, “We have some more important things to do.”

“Like?” the gray filly asked.

“Like, well,” she tried to think of something, “If we hurry, we could get to the Cutie Mark Crusaders before that pony and dragon get to the library,” Diamond Tiara explained.

Silver Spoon merely stared blankly at her friend, “And that would achieve…what, exactly?”

“I don’t know,” her friend replied angrily, “But it’d be worth it to get those blank flanks into even more trouble than they are now.”

“You do know I can hear you, right?” Rarity said suddenly, her words piercing through their discussion like an arrow.

“Wh-what?! I wasn’t saying anything,” Diamond Tiara was quick to defend, “S-Silver Spoon said it, not me!”

Before Silver Spoon could retaliate, Rarity spoke up, “Now, now, there’s no need to point hooves. In fact, I’d like the both of you to stay behind and watch me work, at the request of Silver Spoon.”

The gray filly beamed, but the pink one was distressed, “What? But, I have things to do! I, uhh, I need to dress for…the party!”

The unicorn chuckled, “No worries, I can loan you something for the party. I’m sure Sweetie Belle won’t mind you wearing her dresses.”

Diamond Tiara was reasonably confused. Sweetie Belle’s older sister, offering her the chance to wear something belonging to a filly she loved to bully? Was she even aware of the possibility that she’d ruin it first chance she got?

No wait. Perhaps she knew that she and her friend idolized Rarity for her work. On one hoof, she’d be in possession of perhaps a favorite dress of one of her enemies, and she’d maybe even look better in it than Sweetie Belle; she did have the charm. She could imagine outshining all the other fillies in a dress that wasn’t even hers…but that would lead to the problem. On the other hoof, if they find out it was actually Sweetie Belles, she might be called a thief, or a poser. And what if it got dirty, or stained? Sweetie Belle would never forgive her, not that she would for even wearing her dress, but she’d be eternally despised. And Rarity! Rarity would hate her forever!

She couldn’t escape this trap of Rarity’s. She could try, but Rarity would get her eventually.

It was at this moment that Diamond Tiara realized Rarity was the perfect pony to idolize.

Exhaling a deep breathe, she gave in, “Okay…I’ll wear the thing.”

She could feel the unicorn smile as she spoke, “Excellent. Now, please remain quiet as I work.”

Both fillies watched the unicorn’s magic work, one with eagerness, the other with misery. Rarity’s handiwork was truly remarkable to witness, Diamond Tiara had to admit. The way the fabrics zoomed about, colors flowing and aligning to map the vision of a dress, tools shifting in place to do their jobs as they came, it was mesmerizing. Everything within Rarity’s magical grasp moved as if it were a single unit. Perhaps Silver Spoon was right in wanting to watch.

Speaking of whom, something also came to mind.

“Oh, um, Lady Rarity?” she dared to speak, “I know you wanted us to keep quiet while you worked…”

“Yes, I believe I said that,” Rarity said, maintaining her focus.

“But I was wondering, if you knew those ponies outside,” she asked innocently.

“What ponies?” she did not turn her head nor move her eyes as she asked.

“The ones looking at us from the window.”

All three ponies immediately looked to the largest window in the room, only to see two objects, orange and blue, blur out of sight.

“Crap, she almost saw us,” Carrot Top murmured, body flat against the wall.

“Told you we should’ve left as soon as Fluttershy did,” Minuette shot at the earth pony.

“How did she see us anyway?” the orange pony asked as she wiped her forehead, “I have three degrees in the art of stealth.”

“You mean the cereal cut out card Lyra sold you for eight bits?” Minuette said with a raised brow.

“What? It looked legit enough,” she retorted.

“Even if it was real, I don’t think your bright orange color would do you any good when it comes to being invisible,” the unicorn insulted.

Carrot Top scoffed, “I’d like to see you disappear in plain sight in the fall.”

“Oooh, neat,” Minuette said sarcastically, “You have a superpower that only works for one season of the year.”

“At least I can become invisible. I don’t see you casting any invisibility spells with that horn of yours,” Carrot Top taunted.

“Ahem,” Rarity coughed.

Both ponies gasped at the sudden arrival of the unicorn, appearing right before them.

“If I could be so bold as to intervene,” she stated calmly, “May I ask what you two are doing spying on me and two fillies?”

Minuette glared at the earth pony, as it was her fault that they had loitered around after Fluttershy left. Feeling both pairs of eyes of her, Carrot Top tapped her hooves nervously.

“I, uhh, wanted to see how my dress was coming along,” she said through short breaths.

Rarity nodded understandably, “A mischievous notion, but I’m afraid I do not like being spied on.”

All of a sudden, the unicorn shouted at her window.

“Don’t you dare trample over my throw pillows, Diamond Tiara! And exiting a home through the windows is an uncouth thing to do!”

A faint groan could be heard from within as Rarity returned her attention to the two ponies.

“As I was saying. Even under normal circumstances, I do not like ponies seeing my dresses while they’re still a work in progress, with the exception of those two fillies, of course,” Rarity said calmly, “So please don’t do this again, or I’ll have to take away your discount, Carrot Top.”

“Oh, right,” the earth pony replied dejectedly, ears flattened and shoulder slumped, “Yeah, I get it.”

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dress to work on and two fillies to look after. Bye!” the unicorn said as she went back inside her house.

The two ponies watched as Rarity magically closed the curtains of her shop, including the one they were spying through. With their investigations cut short, and no chance of a casual reencounter until the party, Minuette and Carrot Top left the grounds of the Carousel Boutique.

“Well, that accomplished so much,” the blue unicorn said sarcastically.

“Did Rarity look alright to you?” the orange pony asked as they walked.

With their original mission coming back to mind, Minuette abandoned her sass and spoke, “Well, she did seem extra fond of Fluttershy…”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Carrot Top asked.

“Don’t you remember?” the unicorn spoke back, “Fluttershy’s first friend was Rarity, when she moved to Ponyville. They spent such a long time together, and they still go out to the spa.”

“Wait, are you implying that…?” Carrot Top started.

“And think about it. Isn’t Rainbow Dash supposed to be a close friend of Fluttershy?” Minuette asked, “Could it be that she’s finally realized her true feelings for her?”

After a second or so, Carrot Top burst out laughing.

“For a second there, I thought…I thought you were serious,” she said as she wiped a tear, “Almost like you actually thought Rainbow Dash was upset with Fluttershy.”

The unicorn growled, “But it makes sense!”

“Yeah, right. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash? I just don’t see it,” Carrot Top said with a laugh, “Now, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, what a relationship!”

“Is the reason you can’t see sense in what I’m telling you because you still prefer Dash with Aj?” Minuette accused.

Carrot Top hummed a bit before answering, “…maybe!”

The unicorn just rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Let’s go and report back to the others, see what they found.”

The two ponies picked up their pace towards town, on the lookout for other members of their mission.

“But just so you know, AppleDash is the best relationship,” Carrot Top jabbed.

“Oh, now you’re making names for them?” Minuette jabbed back, “Well then…FlutterDash all the way!”

---
Are these ponies serious?
---

“Okay Pinkie, what next?”

After about ten minutes of searching Ponyville, Twilight quickly put together that Pinkie Pie was still in Sweet Apple Acres, preparing for the party. It was actually a mystery as to why she wasn’t finished yet, as she had started working at noon. In fact, why was Twilight spending her energy helping the pink pony decorate for the party when she had something important to tell her?

“Now just tiiiiiiieeeee thheeeee baaaaalloooooonnss…to the corners of the roof!” Pinkie Pie explained, shaking randomly.

Twilight did as instructed, levitating a group of balloons, dividing them evenly, and tying them to the four corners of the barn’s rooftop. As it turns out, Pinkie Pie was actually a bit behind with the exterior decorations, and her unexpected shaking from the Pinkie Sense wasn’t helping either. She couldn’t hold onto a ladder for the life of her, rather literally, and balloons would just fly out of her grasp when it happened. As the day was beginning to draw to a close, they got more frequent, and then she’d never get done before the party.

So, as a result, whatever Twilight had to say, it had to wait until the decorations were all finished.

“Ok, all done,” Twilight said to the pink pony, “Now what?”

“Last but not least,” Pinkie said, but then shook fiercely for a good twelve seconds; Twilight was counting. When she finished, she resumed her sentence, “We gotta set up the banner for the party.”

The unicorn nodded and took a look around, only to find that said banner was missing, “Uhh, and where would that be?”

Pinkie scanned the setting, looking for the banner, and when she realized it was nowhere to be found, she gasped and convulsed at the same time, “Iiiiiii foooooorrr-…got! I must’ve left it at my party shack!”

Fearing that they’d have to spend time looking for a banner, Twilight inquired, “Don’t you have banners stashed all over Ponyville, in case of emergencies?”

Pinkie hummed for a moment in thought, “I do, but they’re for anniversaries,” and then Pinkie started shaking again.

Twilight rolled her eyes, rather ironically, “That’s good enough. Where do you keep them stashed around here?”

The pink pony hadn’t stopped shaking, “Iiiiinnn thaaaaaatt baaaaarreeelll.”

Turning to an inconspicuous group of barrels lined up by the barn, Twilight grabbed them all and inspected each one until she found the one that weighed differently from the others. Opening it revealed a stuffed cloth, the banner Pinkie hid in here. Putting aside the other barrels, Twilight took it out and spread it onto the ground, revealing the huge letters and patterns decorating the word ‘Happy Anniversary’. Actually, it was a very big banner, wider than any face of the barn.

This was a problem.

“Pinkie, did you have to make them so big?” the unicorn asked as she scanned over the banner to estimate its size. It definitely wouldn’t fit on any of the barn’s walls.

“I didn’t make it. I bought it,” the pink pony defended, looking over the banner as well.

Twilight groaned a bit, “Well, I was thinking this banner could do with some remodeling anyway for the party. An illusion spell can rearrange the words for the party, but it won’t fix the size of the thing.”

Pinkie was shaking again as she spoke, “Caaaan’t yoooouuuu shhhoooorrrtteeenn iiiittt?”

The unicorn tapped her chin, “Well, I can try. Threading objects is more of Rarity’s special, but I’m gonna need to focus.”

“Gooooo aaaaheeeaaaaddd,” the pink pony said as she finally stopped.

As Twilight got to work with the huge banner, another pony was arriving at the barn, unaware of what was going on.

“Whoa nelly!” Applejack said out loud as she finally saw what had become of her barn, “What’s goin’ on here?”

“Shh!” Pinkie was quick to silence, “Twilight’s trying to focus.”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Applejack apologized as she looked to the unicorn, “What’s she doin’?”

“We needed a banner for the party, but I forgot to bring one from my party-” before the cowgirl could pity herself for falling victim to another word tsunami from Pinkie, the pink pony started shaking midway through her explanation, “shhhaaaack soooo Twiiiiliiiiight’ssss heeeellllpiiiing meeee ooouuutt wiiiith ooonneee oooff myyyy eeemmmeeerrgeeeencccccyyy baaaannnnnerrrrssss.”

Applejack watched as the pink pony continue to shake violently before she finally stopped. Pinkie looked clearly exhausted from her shaking as she didn’t even have the energy to stand afterwards.

“Pinkie, you alright?” Applejack asked worriedly, “You look plum tuckered out.”

“I’m fine,” she said to ease concerns, “I’ve never had this Pinkie Sense go on for this long before.”

“That’s the doozy one, right?” she asked, “Is somethin’ gonna happen soon?”

Pinkie nodded, “And it’s gonna happen right here,” she pointed to the spot they were standing on, “During the party.”

“Party?!” the cowgirl said, surprised, “…why am I learnin’ of this now? We’re havin’ a party?”

“Didn’t Big Macintosh tell you?” the pink pony asked.

“Well, no. But then again, Ah’ve been workin’ in the fields all day,” she said with a hoof to her chin.

Pinkie laughed, “Oh, poor AJ. Left out of the fic for so long because you’re so uninteresting,” she said as she placed an arm around her friend.

“…wait, what?”

“Oh!” she suddenly said, “That means you haven’t received your invitation!”

Again, Applejack was confused, “Why would Ah need an invitation for a party at mah own farm?”

“Pssh, duh, for clearance,” the pink pony said with a dismissive hoof, “Also, we wouldn’t want changelings invading our parties again, now do we?”

Not sure if what she heard had any merit, Applejack simply agreed, “Uhh, makes sense, Ah guess.”

Out of nowhere, Pinkie pulled out three invitations and handed them over the Applejack, “Here ya go. One’s for you, the other two are for Mac and Dashie.”

Applejack looked at the invitations oddly as she took them, “Ok, I get the invitations, but…why do mah brother an’ RD need invitations if it’s their party?”

Pinkie quaked again as she answered, “Chhaaaaaaanggeliiiiings.”

Suddenly, a rectangular shadow flew overhead, and both Applejack and Pinkie watched as Twilight lifted the banner with her magic and tied it to the barn’s wall. The banner had done away with the words ‘happy anniversary’ and now read as ‘Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash are dating all of a sudden’. The colors and patterns otherwise remained the same.

Applejack took the moment to look over what had become of her barn and pondered over the thought of having another party here. The last party they had was for when Apple Bloom returned from Appleloosa, but even then, it was mildly decorated for the occasion. Now the building looked more like a clown’s house what with its balloons held upright, streamers flowing all around, a giant banner, holes in the wall, the weathervane replaced with an image of Scootaloo…

Hold on…

“What the?!” Applejack exclaimed, “What happened to the barn?!”

Her magic done, Twilight finally noticed her friend’s presence, “Oh, hello Applejack. All done working?”

“N-Not quite,” Applejack said as she walked up to what the walls had become, eyes held onto the barn, “Ah came by to fetch some barrels for some end-of-day apple buckin’…” she eyed the damage remorsefully, “What in Celestia’s sun did y’all do to mah walls?”

Looking to see that Pinkie was still shaking, Twilight explained, “Well, some stuff happened, and Pinkie made some, err, windows for the party.”

As the shock receded, anger took its place, “Windows? Ya call these things windows?!”

Pinkie stopped shaking and responded, “Big Macintosh was okay with them. He just says I need to pay him back for the wood and paint.”

Hearing this, Applejack started to calm down, “He was? Well, Ah guess that’s okay. As long as yer payin’ for it…”

“I don’t know where I’m going to get the money yet,” the pink pony said before shaking again, “Buuuutt Iiii’llll fiiiguuuurrree ssssoooommethiiiiingg ooouuuuttt sssooooonnn.”

Now that was a problem. If Pinkie couldn’t pay the Apples back in time before summer, there’ll be preservation issues with their stock already inside the barn. Knowing her brother, he’d give her a time limit, but she couldn’t trust Pinkie with money, in all forms. This party might be a bit troublesome…

And that’s when she had an idea.

“Oh, Pinkie,” the cowgirl said as she approached the pony, “Ah think Ah know a way that can help out the both of us.”

Pinkie Pie was still a quivering mess when she was asked, “Ssssooorrryyy, whhaaaat waaasss thaaaat?”

Twilight had just finished putting the finishing touches on the banner and double checking the longevity of her spell and turned to the two, “Sorry AJ, but Pinkie can’t exactly hear you while she’s jittering like that.”

“Oh, darn it,” the earth pony cursed, “Ah wanted to ask her somethin’ important, before the party.”

“Yeah, me too,” the unicorn said sympathetically, “Why do you think I’m helping out? Pinkie wants this whole place prepared, and her shaking’s been getting in the way. Even if she wasn’t stuttering around, she’d be too busy setting everything up for any questions.”

“Oh. So, we just have to ask her when she isn’t jittery?” Applejack questioned, “’Cuz it looks to me that you two already have everythin’ set up ‘round here.”

“Maybe. But it’s up to Pinkie when we’re actually done,” Twilight finished as they both looked at the convulsing Pinkie Pie, “…when she stops shaking.”

The two mares waited for the pink one to stop shaking, which should happen any moment now…

…

…

Any moment now…

…

---
The time to party is drawing near…
---

“Ooohoohoohoo. Oh, Gummy. You are a humorous fellow, you are,” Owlowiscious hooted.

After having chased down and incapacitating the three intruders, Owlowiscious was very wary of any more ponies that would dare infiltrate the library while his master and her assistant were out. In the midst of his anxiety, he had almost attacked Gummy, and after recuperating from an almost ambush, the two were now having a friendly discussion.

“You are right. Fillies nowadays simply have no respect for a pony’s home or business,” he said while taking the occasional glace at the windows, “Or perhaps ponies do not expect such fierce security in such a peaceful abode, I cannot blame them.”

“…” Gummy said.

“Not really, I do not feel guilt for the miscreant I first dealt with,” Owlowiscious said with a raised beak, “Although, I think we are due to have a deposit box installed, so that nopony would be foolish enough as to return a book well after midnight.”

“…” Gummy jabbed.

“I’m insulted, Gummy. You make it sound as if I enjoy my job,” the owl took a glance at the three foals bound and gagged and out cold on the floor, “Though, I don’t see a reason as to why I shouldn’t.”

“…” Gummy teased.

“Well, I had to earn my place beside Master Twilight,” Owlowiscious said as he brushed his wing against himself, “The Element of Magic shouldn’t have to settle for less.”

“…” Gummy noted.

“I suppose you’re right. But I’d rather be treated as an intelligent individual, and thankfully Master Twilight does just that,” the owl paused for a bit, “…though, the occasional pat on the head and ruffle of my feathers is a unique luxury of the title ‘pet’.”

“…” Gummy poked.

“Whooo’s to say you don’t enjoy it as well?” he returned.

The owl laughed, although it wasn’t clear if the alligator was laughing along as well, since the only motion he made was blinking, asymmetrically.

“Hooo, anyhoo,” Owlowiscious said as he finished laughing, “I suppose you didn’t just come by for a chat, did you?”

“…” Gummy revealed.

“Oh my, a party, you say?” the owl said with a wing to his beak, “I’m not sure. I might be needed here at the library…”

“…” Gummy said persuasively.

“Master Twilight will be attending a different one tonight?” Owlowiscious asked, “But that means my presence here is even more urgently required. When is this party of yours due?”

“…” Gummy answered.

“Hmm, not good,” the owl looked down in thought, “If Lady Rarity will be away from her own house for the duration of the party, the library will also need to be guarded during that timeframe. Oh, this is very inconvenient for me.”

“…” Gummy pointed out.

“Hm? Oh, you have a point,” Owlowiscious looked up in thought, “If this party is as eventful as you say it is, a good portion of Ponyville’s population will be primarily preoccupied with it. Nopony will need the library in that time, but it also offers an opportunity to those who would dare invade it.”

“…” Gummy inquired.

“I already have three culprits seized as proof,” Owlowiscious gestured to the unconscious bodies on the floor, “You should know that I cannot simply abandon my post with the possibility of the library being robbed. Master Twilight would never forgive me for my irresponsibility.”

“…” Gummy suggested.

“…What do you take me for? I’m not saying that I don’t know how to set a trap, but doing so to leave the fate of the library for a party?” Owlowiscious looked insulted, “As the occasional servant to Master Twilight, I cannot disregard such a risk for a little personal enjoyment. And quite frankly, I cannot believe you would even-”

“…” Gummy interrupted, “…”

“…yes, you are right…” the owl looked down in shame, “At least Master Twilight is giving time for her friends. And yes, even she sacrifices for a bit of enjoyment…”

“…” Gummy questioned further.

“I suppose…I could go to the party…” Owlowiscious said nervously, “I’ll probably have to leave early.”

“…” Gummy said positively.

“Yes. We’ll see how it goes for me. I suppose it couldn’t hurt too much,” the owl beamed.

There was a faint noise in the direction of the balcony, and both owl and crocodile turned their attention towards it.

“Oh my, it appears we have more intruders,” Owlowiscious stated.

“…” Gummy said.

“No, it’s fine. You are a busy…reptilian, after all,” the owl said.

“…” Gummy declared.

Owlowiscious nodded, “Yes, until then. Farewell.”

The predator floated up to the highest bookshelf and perched himself there. He waited until the intruder boldly pressed the balcony windows open, pushing aside the curtains he had closed. From the last intrusion, he was expecting more fillies, but to his surprise, it was a very friendly face he knew.

“Owlowiscious?” Fluttershy announced as she peered into the dark library, “Are you in here?”

Not wanting to leave her unanswered, the owl swooped from his perch and landed on the floor before her.

“Oh! There you are!” Fluttershy greeted as she stepped within and gave the owl a pat on the head, “Owlowiscious, be a dear and turn on the lights. Spike’s here, so you are relieved of duty for the moment.”

The bird hooted and flew off somewhere. Fluttershy meanwhile fluttered from the second floor to the library’s main door and opened it. Waiting on the other side was Spike, and the lights finally came back on as he walked within.

“Phew,” Spike said with relief, “Finally good to be back in here. I almost miss this place since I left in the mor-huWHAAAA!”

Spike’s screech was because he had seen what had become of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, bound, gagged, and out cold because of a certain owl. Both dragon and pegasus were quick to aid the fillies as Owlowiscious returned to his roost.

“Geez, Owlowiscious, you couldn’t have gone easy on them?” Spike said, glancing at the owl as he undid the ropes.

The owl simply hooted, and Spike pretended it was a story he probably still wouldn’t have believed in.

“Wake up, Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy said gently as she undid her gag, “You really shouldn’t be breaking and entering libraries, especially ones guarded by ferocious owls.”

“Mrmm,” the unicorn filly groaned, “What happened?”

As the others came to, Scootaloo spoke out loud, “Gyah! How many times are we going to be knocked out like this?”

As the memories of their break in came back, Apple Bloom jumped, “Ahh! What about the monster?!”

At the mention of the shadowy creature that overtook them, all three fillies straightened themselves up as they stood, “Ahh! Where is it?! What happened to us?!” Scootaloo asked, frightened.

Spike looked to Fluttershy and shook his head lightly, telling her that it was better that they didn’t know. The fillies weren’t likely to believe that an owl had subdued them, and it would also teach the Cutie Mark Crusaders to not break into other ponies houses when they weren’t home.

“We’re not sure,” Fluttershy finally said, “We just found you like this.”

Sweetie Belle picked up the rope and rags that had held them, “Tied up?”

“Umm,” Spike quickly forged a tale, “It was probably…the Shadow Napper!”

“The Shadow Napper?” Apple Bloom repeated.

Fluttershy caught onto what Spike was trying to do and helped out, “Y-Yes. It’s a terrifying creature that makes no noise, and likes to kidnap naughty foals that do bad things.”

“You three are lucky we caught you before the Shadow Napper hauled you off to who knows where,” Spike explained with an ominous wave of his claws.

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shuddered at the thought of abduction, except for Scootaloo. She was also terrified, but her fear was subdued through logical thinking.

“Wait a minute, wouldn’t the Shadow Napper have taken ponies like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon already?” the filly thought.

At this, the other two foals regained their senses.

“Yeah, she’s got a point,” Apple Bloom said, “What’s up with that?”

“Uhh,” Spike tried to, but couldn’t think of a reasonable defense to their claim.

“It’s because…” Fluttershy, however, decided to wing it, “…They pay the Shadow Napper to not kidnap them?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at the adult in disbelief.

“I mean, think about it!” Spike said in support, “Why do you think there are so many spoiled brats in the world?”

It seemed to work.

“Ah guess that makes sense,” Apple Bloom said thoughtfully.

“Man, I hate it when the rich can just buy their way out of trouble,” Scootaloo said with a stomp.

“At least ponies like those aren’t in charge of the world,” Sweetie Belle commented optimistically.

Fluttershy and Spike gave a nervous look at each other.

“…so!” the pegasus mare spoke up, “I should be leaving now. Spike, do you think you’ll be okay with these three?”

Before Spike could protest, the fillies did it first, “Wait! Where’s Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked, looking around the now lit library, “We came here because we were looking for her.”

“Oh, she’s already back at Sweet Apple Acres,” Spike answered, “But…why did you three think she’d be in a library of all places?”

The question flew over their heads, however, as the fillies realized that they failed their mission, “She’s back there already? Aww…” Apple Bloom said sadly.

“We had an important message from Big Macintosh for her,” Scootaloo said glumly, “Now that she’s there, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“We spent a lot of time and effort looking for her,” Sweetie Belle added, “Now it’s all gone to waste.”

Seeing how miserable the fillies were, Fluttershy decided to try and bring their spirits back up.

“Oh, uhh, you know, I also have an important message for Rainbow Dash as well,” the pegasus said with a grin, “If you want to, you can come and help me.”

“Please say yes,” Spike quickly pleaded.

It seemed to do the trick, as that familiar shine in their eyes returned, “We can? Of course we will!” Apple Bloom said as she sprung to her hooves.

“This has got to be it! This has to be our special talent!” Scootaloo exclaimed happily, also getting to her hooves.

“Even though we’re supposed to be Relationship Rescuers, I think we can also be…” Sweetie Belle stated as the other fillies took a deep breathe.

“CUTIE MARK-”

“HOOT!”

The four ponies and dragon turned to a displeased owl still perched on his roost. Owlowiscious brought a talon to his beak and made a shushing noise, reminding them that they were still in a library.

The fillies decided to whisper it out instead, “…cutie mark crusaders messengers, yay.”

“Thanks for that,” Spike said with a thumbs up to the owl.

“So, what did you want us to tell Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo eagerly asked Fluttershy.

“Oh, I thought you wanted to come with me and we could tell her together,” the adult replied.

“Huh? But that isn’t the same thing as bein’ a messenger, is it?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t think so,” Sweetie Belle said, “I mean, messengers are usually one or two ponies.”

“So, what does that make four ponies with a message to deliver?” the apple filly asked.

“Ooh! Maybe a barbershop quartet?” Spike suggested, “Some of the shops in Canterlot still have ponies like those around to advertise their sales.”

Knowing that at least one of the filly’s undiscovered talent was singing, Fluttershy was fond of the idea, “Oh, that sounds lovely!”

“No, it sounds stupid,” Scootaloo was quick to reject, “None of us are good at singing. And besides, I’m pretty sure messengers don’t sing.”

Ironically, Sweetie Belle was tapping her chin, processing what little sense Scootaloo was making, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Anyway,” Apple Bloom was quick to resume, “We should probably get goin’. That message you got for Rainbow Dash is important, right?”

“Oh, yes. Very important,” Fluttershy said with a nod.

“Then let’s go!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, “I don’t want to be in this library any longer.”

The fillies subconsciously agreed with the unicorn, given their close encounter with the Shadow Napper.

“Phew,” Spike said as he wiped his forehead, relieved that he wouldn’t have to babysit any foals, “Take care, you guys. And try not to break into any more houses, ok?”

“Don’t count on it,” Scootaloo replied casually, “Especially if it might get us our cutie marks.”

“See you later at the party tonight, Spike,” Fluttershy said as she guided the fillies out of the library.

“See you there,” the baby dragon waved back until finally, the library door closed behind them. The sound of the scootsmobile revving up could be heard, along with it driving away until it faded into noiselessness.

Spike took a deep breathe and observed the now quiet library. It was just him and Owlowiscious left, and he was certain the others were busy. He didn’t know what Twilight was up to, but he just hoped it wasn’t anything serious. Pinkie was probably doing something Pinkie-like today, although it was weird how he hadn’t seen her all day. Rarity was still busy with the dress, and Rainbow Dash was now at the farm, along with Applejack most likely.

It was about two hours left until the party, and that meant about two hours of free time all to himself. What should he do?

“Hey Owlowiscious,” Spike suddenly inquired, “Wanna play Skull Fillies?”

The owl simply hooted in response.

He smirked as he waltzed into the kitchen with Owlowiscious following behind, “I’m gonna beat ya this time.”

---
It’s all coming together…
---

After a long afternoon of wandering Ponyville, conversing and flirting with each other, Braeburn and Red Tongue had decided to stop by a nearby shop for something to eat. Red Tongue had before her a since empty bowl of soup, while Braeburn had a few leaves and the cauliflower stem, all that was left of a cauliflower feast. It had been an hour since they finished their meals, having spent the majority of their time chatting, and it looked like they weren’t going to stop anytime soon. Neither pony had a shortage of tales to tell.

“And then Ah said to her, ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!’,” the apple stallion said with a wide grin.

Red Tongue howled in laughter as Braeburn chuckled. There weren’t many ponies around in the street at this time of day, so nopony in particular seemed to mind them or their loud noises.

“That, was probably the most appropriate time to say that ever,” Red Tongue said, catching her breathe.

The stallion smirked, “As serious as the situation was, Ah jus’ couldn’t help but find it funny.”

Red Tongue had calmed down now, and leaned forward, supporting herself on her elbows, “Sounds like Appleloosa is a very exciting place. There’s always something going on over there.”

Braeburn dismissed her claims with a wave of her hoof, “Nah, it’s only like that sometimes. Nothin’ beats Ponyville when it comes to excitement.”

The pegasus nodded, “Tell me about it. This place has seen wyverns and a dragon once.”

“Ah heard. But Ah should probably be thankful,” the stallion said, leaning forward on one elbow, “Appleloosa’s still young; we can’t afford the likes of Ursa Minors and gods of chaos runnin’ amok in our town.”

Red Tongue let one arm fall, “I like that about you, Braeburn. You only have the best interest of things important to you in mind, and you aren’t afraid to show how proud you are of it.”

The stallion shrugged bashfully, “Well, that’s how we Apples roll. We stand firmly by the most important things in our lives. Ah sometimes revel a bit in the opposite gender though.”

“Now that’s one thing I can stand firmly by,” Red Tongue agreed, “And you are quickly becoming my favorite stallion ever.”

Braeburn chuckled in response, “You’re already the best mare Ah’ve ever met.”

While both ponies were happily indulged in each others company, they were not aware of the malicious eyes spying on them from the window of the store. Both mares eyed the pegasus vindictively, which was rude of them considering the two were their customers.

“How is it that the pegasi get all the hot ponies?” Rose said in disdain, hiding behind a small bushel of, well, roses.

“Why are they all so selfish? Can’t they leave some for us?” Lily said with a similar tone, in a similar hiding spot next to Rose.

Both Braeburn and Red Tongue had yet to notice these two ponies spying on them for the past hour, having been so occupied with talking to each other. It was hard to believe they’d be so oblivious to the bright manes sticking out from the pots of flowers lined up on the windowsill only meters away from their location.

“Maybe if you two weren’t so picky, you’d at least have a coltfriend of a respectable stature,” Daisy teased as she placed some stocks in her cart.

“Don’t you get involved in this, Daisy,” Rose shot back, “We’re mourning our losses over here. There’s no need for you to talk to us about coltfriend advice.”

“I’m not trying to advise you anything,” the earth pony replied, “But I would like it if you two stopped spying on our customers and helped me out with this food cart.”

“Why are you taking it out again?” Lily asked, not moving from her spot.

With a sigh, Daisy explained, “Pinkie invited a lot of ponies to the party. And you know what that means. Lots of ponies will be there, which means lots of potential customers.”

“So, you’re going to go sell our stuff, on the Apples farm?” Lily figured out, then scoffed, “That’s dangerous business.”

Daisy scoffed back, “It’s just a business opportunity, not an arena. And even if it was a bad idea, a bit of risk might pay off. Speaking of which, we could do with a bit of money this month, if only you two were helping me,” she stressed the last sentence.

“Uh, yeah we got more important things to worry about,” Rose declared, then punctuated with, “Stallions.”

“He’s not going to just get up and trot over here,” the pink and green pony said, placing the last of the flowers in her cart, “Why are you even staked out, anyway?”

“Because sooner or later, that pegasus is going to leave his side,” Lily answered, “And when she does, we’re going to swoop down and steal him away.”

“Like vultures?” Daisy asked.

“More like hawks, but yeah,” Rose corrected.

As the two ponies continued to eye the couple, Daisy simply sighed and trotted away, muttering things like how they were still in business.

While Braeburn and Red Tongue continued to converse obliviously, another group in the area had gathered. It was a formation of mares that had also convened to watch the apple pony go about his business with the lucky pegasus, but when they all realized who they were, they actually began to talk about official business. It was almost impossible to stray from the gossip surrounding Braeburn and what’s-her-name, but with the party drawing close, they found it within themselves to make the discussion.

“I’m telling you girls, Rainbow Dash actually has a crush on one of her friends,” Minuette tried to explain, “I believe that Fluttershy and Rarity are in cahoots with each other, and Rainbow learned about it today!”

Carrot Top scoffed and chuckled laxly, disregarding Minuette’s claims with a wanton wave of her hoof, “Oh Mini, you and you’re love triangles. We all know she’s truly jealous of Applejack.”

Lyra stopped sipping from her hayshake and spoke up, “Wait, I thought it was obvious she had a thing with Pinkie Pie.”

“Obvious? This is the first I heard of it,” a blue earth pony by the name of Linky said, “What makes you think that?”

“Well, the two of them really like pulling pranks together,” Lyra stated as if it were common knowledge, “Don’t you remember? That one time with the party for what’s-her-beak? Grizelda?”

“Lyra, that was a year ago,” a purple and gold pegasus, known as Cloud Kicker, spoke up, “And it only happened once, when that griffon came around?”

“Oh!” the orange earth pony suddenly shot up, “Kicker! Do that face again! That funny face you made!”

“No,” Cloud Kicker was quick to shut out.

“Please?” Carrot Top persisted.

“No! Ugh,” the pegasus angrily folded her arms, “I swear, you make one face in this town, and it’s the only thing ponies remember you by.”

“What’s going on inn this thread?!” Ditzy Do suddenly asked as she flopped onto the table from the sky.

The clumsy pegasus looked amongst her new company, wearing what appeared to be a traffic cone on her head. Other than that, she didn’t look too out of the ordinary.

“Oh, hey Ditzy,” Minuette greeted as Lyra was thankful that she was quick to grab her shake before it could’ve been knocked away, “Need something?”

“Just looking around to sea if I mist anypony,” she said as she rolled onto her back, “The party’s in about two ours, and I gotta make shore everypony’s invited.”

“Oh yeah, the party,” Linky said, “Yeah Pinkie gave me mine a while ago.”

“I didn’t get one,” Lyra pointed out. Suddenly, Ditzy threw a letter in her direction. Lyra caught the envelope with her magic, but then her haysake began to leak from her cup through a horizontal line, indicating it had been sliced through cleanly, “My shake!”

“Sorry about that,” the screwy eyed pony apologized as she got on all fours, “They always due that when I hand them out.”

“Ditzy, get your butt out of my face,” Cloud Kicker exclaimed from behind.

“Oopsie,” she apologized further as she took to the sky, “Sorry for causing such a mess.”

Carrot Top shook her head, “Nah, it’s fine. You just can’t help it, that’s all.”

“So does everypony else here have their invites, or are we going to have more of Ditzy’s bubbles in our faces?” Minuette asked.

With a resounding nod from everypony at the table, save for Lyra who was mourning the loss of her drink, Ditzy Do beamed.

“Aisle see you all later at the party, then,” the pegasus said as she flew off, right into the sign of a shop. She hovered back and shook her head, only to smack into the sign again attempting to take off the second time. Frustrated, she pushed until the board was torn off from the building and was carried off by the pegasus. The board and her traffic cone helmet fell as she flew away, landing on two separate unfortunate ponies in the distance.

“…looks like the Quills ‘n’ Sofa shop won’t have any customers anytime soon,” Linky joked.

“What were we talking about now?” Cloud Kicker asked, “Oh yeah, funny faces. No, Carrot Top.”

The orange pony frowned and slumped a bit as she was denied before she had the chance to ask again.

“Why can’t you just take a picture for her?” the blue unicorn pointed out.

“Why would I wanna do that?” the pegasus returned negatively.

“So that she’d stop asking?” Minuette did have a point.

“Even if I did agree to that, I don’t have a camera with me,” Cloud Kicker stated, “And I’m pretty sure none of us has a camera right-”

“Hey Flitter!” Lyra suddenly spoke up.

In the middle of the road stood the silvery blue and green pegasus with her noticeable pink bow, and a camera in hoof. Before Flitter could make an attempt to flee, Lyra grabbed her tail with her magic, without permission, and dragged the poor thing to their table.

“Neat camera. Can we use it?” the unicorn ignorantly asked.

Flitter was more upset with being dragged against her will than Lyra’s insensitivity, “What the hay was that for?! Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“That is a neat camera,” Carrot Top asked, ignoring the pony’s disdain, “Where’d you get it?”

“Uhh, from that skinny bone kid, Feather something, I think,” Flitter quickly answered.

“What are you doing with that thing anyway?” Minuette asked.

“Oh, uhh,” the pegasus wondered if there was any harm in revealing parts of her plan to these strangers, “I was hoping to get some secret shots of a pony.”

“What for?” the green unicorn asked, then realized a possible answer to that question, “Ohh, is it somepony who’s gonna be at the party later tonight?”

“Ahh…” that was almost spot on, “Yes?” she answered nervously.

“Ooh!” Minuette chirped, “You should take some pictures of Rainbow Dash with Fluttershy!”

That was almost exactly what she was going to do, “What? Why Fluttershy?”

Carrot Top rolled her eyes before speaking up, “Mini here thinks Rainbow is secretly in lesbians with Fluttershy, and thinks something might go down at the party later tonight.”

“They are?” Flitter exclaimed. It was just like she theorized, except it couldn’t be that other pegasus, “But, that can’t be right. I saw her earlier today sharing a shower with that unicorn.”

Cloud Kicker was quick to react, “Unicorn? White coat, purple swirly mane, Rarity?”

That was probably her name, “Uhh, yeah, I thin-”

“You actually saw that?!” the other pegasus nearly shouted, going nose to nose with her, “When?! Where?! Did anything sexual happen?!”

“Whoa, Kicker,” the orange earth pony said as she tried to ground the pegasus to the table, “Calm your feathers, girl. I’m sure what Flitter saw was actually her and Applejack,” she turned to the other pegasus with a skeptic face, “Right?”

With Cloud Kicker a comfortable distance away, Flitter shook her head, “Nope, it was Rarity all right. Saw it with my own eyes.”

Cloud Kicker leapt into the sky as if she was about to explode with joy, but then paused before any noise could be made. She looked back down with a straight face and asked, “Wait, do you have proof?”

Again, Flitter shook her head, “No. Why do you think I got myself this thing?”

As she held it, her hoof accidentally touched the button on the camera, letting loose a sudden flash that surprised everypony at the table. Cloud Kicker let herself fall to the table, rubbing the flash out of her eyes.

“Aw crap, I did it again,” the pegasus cursed as she shook the camera, “What’s-his-name told me that there’s not a lot of film left in it, so I gotta be careful with how I take these shots.”

“Oh, so, no kooky Cloud Kicker face, then?” Carrot Top whined.

“Aw, what the- You gave it a name?” the pegasus angrily replied with closed eyes.

“Yeah, sorry no,” Flitter answered, “This is strictly for use at the party, where I’m going to catch Rainbow Dash in the act with Rarity, and prove once and for all that Mac and Dash are not really dating.”

“Are you sure you’re not confusing Rarity for Twilight?” Linky asked, “I mean, they both have purple manes, and have horns, and-”

“It was at the Carousel Boo something, alright?!” Flitter angrily confirmed, “Ugh, I’m trying to tell you all that something’s for real, but you all would rather believe in your own fantasies. What’s up with that anyway?”

“If we don’t see it, we don’t believe it,” Lyra simply stated, sucking her straw only to realize the cup was still empty.

“And besides, Rainbow Dash and Twilight make much more sense than Rainbow and Rarity,” Linky said proudly.

“Oh buck you,” Cloud Kicker shot, her eyesight restored, “Rarity would be better than Twilight for her. At least she’s not as compulsive as the bookworm.”

“What makes you think Rainbow Dash needs something in another pony?” Lyra spoke up, throwing away her cup carelessly behind her, “She would obviously prefer somepony who can provide consistent fun, like Pinkie!”

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have several years of friendship supporting them!” Minuette joined in, “None of your imaginary theories have any foundation.”

“Fillies!” Carrot Top spoke up, “I think you’re all forgetting that Applejack and Rainbow Dash is the best relationship?” she said as she leaned back with hooves behind her head, “End of discussion.”

Eventually, the entire table devolved into a silly argument over which friend of Rainbow Dash was a much more fitting love interest for her, all forgetting about Flitter. Speaking of whom, she could’ve walked away and resumed her business, but instead, she decided to try and speak her mind, hoping to leave with something.

“Shut up!” the pegasus shouted, silencing the others, “You’re all senselessly bickering over things you don’t have the right to argue about! I mean, she’s a real pony, for Celestia’s sake. How would you,” she pointed at Carrot Top and Linky, “like it if ponies thought you looked cute together just because you’re a frequent customer?!”

Both earth ponies looked at each other as the others looked back and forth at them and the pegasus. This stare-off lasted for four seconds before everypony minus Flitter burst out in a laughing fit. Flitter had to wait five seconds before anypony could regain their breath.

“That…that is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” Carrot Top said with a wipe of her tear, “Everypony is aware that I like stallions, unicorn stallions, I might add.”

“Yeah, and everypony knows we’re just friends,” Linky said, having finished drying her eyes, “Besides, I already have my eyes on another colt. Nopony would think that we would be infatuated with the other.”

Flitter just looked at the ponies as if they were out of their minds.

“That…isn’t what I was trying to say at all,” she said in vain.

“Celestia almighty, imagine the innuendo they could make with you too?” Lyra spoke up, the others either chuckling or shivering in response.

It was at this point Flitter decided to ditch these strange ponies and move on with her plans. She silently backed away from the table and turned around. She only came here to see if there were any shops that could provide her with an extra reel of film, but the technology was still relatively new as none of the shops around had any in stock. Besides, she probably didn’t know how to replace it anyway.

“Oh no, it might give you an air embolism,” she heard Carrot Top say, “My aunt says thick plastic wrappings is the way to go.”

That was more than she needed to hear. With a flap, Flitter took off back to her cloud home by the edge of town.

She had an important call to make.

---
What have we done?
---

“Thank you for your time,” Thunderlane stated happily.

“It’s no problem at all,” Cheerilee replied, “The students always appreciate a new foal in the class.”

It was an hour until closing time for the school, but Cheerilee always had time to assess the programs of a future student. Doors of the faculty were locking up for the day by the school’s janitor Mr. Mops, who was waiting outside of the classroom so that it too would be locked up for the day. Thunderlane brought his little brother here to look over what sorts of things Rumble would be learning for his first school year. He was eager to start his education and spending time with the other foals; Thunderlane was just eager to get him started so that he’d have more time for himself. Not that Rumble was a nuisance or anything, but with school to occupy him, he’d have more time to spend with pretty mares.

Like the attractive school teacher he was with.

The ponies were now outside of the school, having crossed the floor that was destroyed from today’s earlier events; it was a floor buffer accident according to Cheerilee. Mr. Mops was checking the rooms before he would lock them up for the night, and the jingle of keys could be heard behind them.

“Hey Rumble,” the adult suddenly said, “Why don’t you go and play over there?”

The little pegasus looked to see a few foals playing with a tetherball in the school’s playground, still lingering around despite their classes having ended nearly an hour ago.

“But…what if they don’t like me?” Rumble asked nervously.

“Nonsense!” Cheerilee was quick to dismiss, “All of my students adore one another, and they’re always up for making friends!”

“Besides, you’ll never know if they like you if you don’t at least try to talk to them,” Thunderlane insisted, giving him a little enthusiastic push, “I believe in you.”

Shaking off his nerves, Rumble nodded, “I guess I can try…”

As the little foal fluttered off towards the other kids, Thunderlane waited until he was out of earshot so that he could get to work.

“He’s such a sweet thing,” Cheerilee spoke first, however, “To be honest, I was a bit concerned that being raised by his brother would cause some…well, compatibility problems with other foals.”

Instead of being insulted, the pegasus scoffed, “I’m an older brother first, a teenager second.”

Cheerilee giggled, “That’s such an admirable quality.”

Thunderlane blushed a bit, “Speaking of admirable…you wouldn’t happen to be seeing anypony right now, are you?”

At this, the teacher stood there, shocked. It was typical that a stallion would come to that question in a discussion, but that wasn’t what surprised her. It was more like she forgot for the moment that he was still a single stallion, with a genuine interest in mares. Knowing that he raised his brother like a responsible guardian allowed her to forget that tidbit.

“Oh, no, not really,” Cheerilee answered after recovering, “But I’m not really looking for anypony to date right now.”

“Aww, really?” the pegasus said, disappointed, “Why not?”

The earth pony sighed, “Some things happened with another stallion in the past. Stuff like Love Poison, property damage, falling into pits, that kind of stuff.”

At this, Thunderlane was more sympathetic of the earth pony than he was saddened, “Ow, I know that feeling, when a date goes horribly wrong like that.”

“It wasn’t really a date. It kind of happened because of a certain group of fillies,” Cheerilee stated as they passed by a crater made in the shape of a filly, with a charred floor buffer half buried right next to it.

“You mean the Cutie Mark Crusomethings?” Thunderlane asked, “Yeah, they can be a bit of a bother.”

He looked over to where his little brother was, who was now partaking in a tetherball game with the other foals still around.

“Speaking of which, they go to this school, right?” he asked, Cheerilee nodded, “Well, little Rumble over there has a crush on one of them.”

“Oh? Is it Scootaloo?” Cheerilee was quick to guess, Thunderlane simply tapped his nose with his hoof, confirming her answer, “Aww, how adorable.”

“I know, right? Poor kid can’t hide it very well, either,” the pegasus said.

Cheerilee chuckled, “I suppose he has difficulty accepting it as well,” she said with a delighted sigh, “Oh, how precious young love is.”

“Yeah. And I was thinking,” Thunderlane spoke up, “Any chance you might help them out?”

Surprisingly, Cheerilee shook her head, “Sorry, Thunderlane, but I can’t do that. You need to let these things sort themselves out. It’s not right to interfere.”

The stallion simply chuckled, “If you say so. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to tease him about it.”

“It’s like you said, you’re an older brother first, a teenager second,” the earth pony said with a passionate smile.

The two took a moment to stop walking and look at each other. In Thunderlane’s experience, he hadn’t met a mare with such a tender side for foals. He preferred those that didn’t hold onto such parenting responsibilities so tightly; they were usually very strict. But here, chatting with Cheerilee, something about her was very relatable in a sense. Maybe it was the fact that he had raised Rumble independently, something the mare could also sympathize with; sharing her teachings with so many different foals at once. If that was the case, it was a foreign experience; Rumble hardly played a part in getting him mares. And while it was a popular belief that mares admired a gentle father figure, all the fillies he’d been with weren’t looking to make foals.

In Cheerilee’s case, she rarely encountered stallions that had an equal love for kids as they did mares. While she did enjoy the occasional stud, none of them ever wanted to linger around, and something was usually missing in those meet ups. It was at this moment that Cheerilee realized what exactly was missing in all the stallions she dated. She loved children, she respected children, and no other stallion before Thunderlane reflected that in her.

Was this what she had been waiting for?

“Hey, uhh,” Thunderlane started, nervous all of a sudden, “Are you sure you aren’t interested in dating? We could go out for coffee some time, or…”

“I, uhh,” Cheerilee was nervous as well, “I’m not sure either. I mean, it’s been quite a while since I’ve gone out.”

“It’s never too late to get back in the game,” the pegasus said positively before shyly looking away, “Maybe I could…you know…if you have some free time next Thursday…”

“Hay everypony! Am eye interrupting anything?!”

From the sky above crashed a gray pegasus with a blonde mane. The two ponies backed up from the sudden appearance of the pony and watched as she tried to pull her face out of the dirt. After a second or so, the pegasus was successful, and revealed herself to be the infamous screwy eyed pony named Ditzy Do.

“Oh, hey Derpy,” Thunderlane said with a tone of disappointment, “What brings you here?”

The pony turned to Cheerilee, some dirt still clinging to her nose, “I just came by to see if ewe two got your invitations yet.”

“Oh right, for the party,” the earth pony said carefully, “Pinkie came by earlier to give me mine.”

“I never got one,” as soon as Thunderlane said that, Derpy threw an invitation at him. Seeing the spinning paper coming at him, he ducked, and managed to evade the attack at the cost of an inch of his hair. The envelope landed in the bark of a distant tree, wedged several centimeters deep.

“I think that’s everypony now,” Derpy said thoughtfully, then noticed a group of foals in the distance, “Oh, excuse me.”

And like that, Derpy fumbled her way away from the two ponies. Cheerilee was a bit concerned about leaving the kids alone with her while Thunderlane was inspecting his new haircut.

“So, uhh,” the pegasus said when he finished, “What do you say?”

“Oh, uhh,” Cheerilee wasn’t entirely sure of what to say, “I’ll have to think about it.”

“Well, ok then,” Thunderlane said awkwardly, “No pressure or anything, heh.”

Meanwhile, back with the foals…

“HIIYAH!”

Rumble was enjoying himself with his new friends. In the group was another colt, a light blue one by the name of Shady Daze. He was a shy individual but was easy to excite. The other two foals were fillies, one was a unicorn by the name of Dinky, and the other was a yellow one named Noi. Dinky was a bit strange for a foal her age but she was otherwise friendly. Noi, on the other hoof…

“Ooof! Not so hard!”

She liked to take things to eccentric levels. She was always quick to escalate situations for the sake of fun. It was very reckless, but then again such an attitude was expected to develop, having a sister like Carrot Top.

“You’re an earth pony. You shouldn’t complain so much,” Noi beamed, ignorant to Shady’s pain.

Shady rolled his eyes and knocked back the tetherball in Noi’s direction. The filly braced herself as the ball struck her directly in the face, then casually caught it before it could swing back.

“Hah. I almoth felth thomething that thime,” Noi said, sniffing a bit, “Alright Rumble, you’re next.”

The pegasus nodded and fluttered a few inches off the ground. Noi chucked the ball upward like a volley ball and struck it the same way in his direction. The pegasus colt let the ball hit him in the chest and was pushed back a few feet, then clutched the ball before it could get away.

“Nice one Noi,” Rumble said as he descended back to the ground with the ball in hoof, “So, who’s next now?”

The game they were playing was called deathball, and it was not to be taken likely…for foals, that is. The gist of it was to hit the ball as hard as you could at another pony and the receiving end has to endure the hit. This goes on until somepony misses or gives up. Naturally, an adult would be concerned over the legitimacy of foals playing such a harsh game, but that’s the thing. They were foals. By the time the ball made its ascension towards the target, the force would wane and result in a harmless tap against the filly or colt. Not to mention, no foal would be strong enough to actually cause any serious damage.

Adults, on the other hoof…

“Hey kids!” Derpy announced herself, “Hey Dinky! What’cha playing?”

“Derpy!” Dinky said cheerfully, “We’re playing deathball. It’s fun!”

“Anything with the word ‘death’ in it has to be fun,” Noi stated as if it were obvious.

“Oooh, how do you play?” Derpy asked.

“Like this,” Rumble said suddenly, “Dinky, think fast!”

Rumble struck the ball in Dinky’s direction, but he wasn’t as strong as Noi or Shady would be, as they were earth pony foals. When it hit Dinky in one side of her face, she giggled and caught the ball with her magic.

“You’re not very strong, are you Rumble?” Dinky teased.

Rumble blushed, “I guess not. Wing power doesn’t exactly translate to arm power.”

“Ooh, can I try?” Derpy asked, eyeing the tetherball with one eye while the other admired the pole.

“Sure,” Dinky said naively.

The other foals subconsciously stepped back as the pegasus received the ball. Even they knew it wasn’t a smart thing to do to give Derpy a tetherball, especially if the objective was to hit another pony with it.

“Umm, maybe you should just hit something else instead of one of us,” Shady nervously suggested, “I mean, you’re a grown up and all…in some respect of the word.”

“What are you, chicken?” Noi taunted.

“I’m gonna have to go with Shady on this one,” Rumble spoke up, “I mean, you hit the hardest out of all of us, Noi. Can you imagine how hard Der-, I mean, Ditzy would hit?”

The filly rolled her eyes, “Fine then. Derpy, hit me.”

“Okay!”

Noi straightened herself on her forelegs in preparation for the attack while Derpy sized up the ball with her exceptional eyes. The two colts looked at each other nervously while Dinky seemed indifferent to the possibility of somepony getting hurt. Eventually, Derpy decided she had her mark, and let fly the tetherball.

…

…only for it to completely miss Noi, hit the pole instead, and rebounded right into Shady’s face.

“OW!” the colt cried.

The other foals quickly came to the colt’s aid and tried to get a good look at his face to see the damage. The cry of pain brought the attention of the other two adults nearby, and they rushed over to the scene of the crime in concern.

“What happened?!” Cheerilee cried, then threw a sharp look to the other pegasus, “Ditzy, what did you do?!”

The pegasus quickly shrugged with an apologetic face, “I…I just don’t know what went wrong!”

“Oh, my nothe,” Shady cried.

“Stand back, lemme see kid,” Thunderlane said as the other foals backed off.

The adult pegasus knelt down to get a closer look at what happened to the colt. His muzzle was bruised but there where no signs of bleeding.

“What happened?!” Cheerilee shouted angrily at Derpy, who was now grounded and at the mercy of the enraged teacher.

“The foals were playing deathball and I wanted to play,” Derpy explained, feeling bad for what she did, “But I missed…”

“D-deathball?!” the teacher repeated, nearly fuming, “That must be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

“It doesn’t look like anything serious,” Thunderlane announced as he helped the colt up, “Pretty sure he’s gonna be ok, as long as he gets some ice on it.”

Shady fumbled with his mouth for a bit, as if he was chewing something. Suddenly there was a build up of liquid and he had to spit, to the disgust of the foals and interest to one. Turns out Thunderlane had missed something; the colt was, in fact, bleeding. Adding to that, there was something white in the blood and spit.

“…ith that my tooth?” Shady asked.

“I think it is…” Rumble confirmed.

“It looks like a baby tooth,” Dinky said a bit too happily.

The ponies stared at the tooth for a while before Cheerilee turned angrily to the visually impaired pegasus.

“Ditzy, I would advise you to leave, right now, and take your foal with you,” she warned.

“Actually, I’m not her daughter or anything,” Dinky spoke up.

“Doesn’t matter,” Cheerilee said with a hoof to her muzzle, “Just…please leave before you break any more pony’s teeth.”

Saddened, Derpy motioned for Dinky to come to her, and the two began to walk away from the schoolyard.

Once the two were out of earshot, the unicorn filly spoke up, in an attempt to cheer up the pegasus, “Aw, Derpy, don’t feel bad. It was an accident. And Noi was asking for it anyway.”

“I can’t help it,” Derpy replied, “I hurt a little foal, and that wasn’t ok.”

“But you always hurt ponies, not intentionally at least,” Dinky pointed out.

“It’s not like that,” the pegasus said sadly, “Every time I go out into Ponyville, I break somepony’s things, or I hurt a pony on accident. I know that everypony’s gotten used to it and doesn’t hold it against me, but when I do break something that nopony would forgive me for, I feel like I should feel bad for all of the things I’ve done.”

Dinky felt sad too, but knew better than to hold on to the feeling, “But Derpy, I know Shady isn’t going to hold this against you. Cheerilee, maybe, but it won’t be permanent.”

“I still want to do something to make it up to them, though,” Derpy said as she looked down in thought, “But I’m no good at anything.”

“Of course you are,” Dinky said positively, “And the most important thing about apologizing to somepony is that it’s the thought that counts.”

As she let her…filly of some affiliation’s words sink in, Derpy was slowly coming to realize what she could do to make up for all the accidents she had done. Her spirits were beginning to lift as a plan was spurring in motion in her head. It was very convenient for her that there would be a party later today.

“Dinky, you’re a genius,” Derpy said lovingly as she ruffled the filly’s mane, “Sometimes, I wish you were my daughter.”

Dinky giggled as her hoof left her mane, “One of these days, we’ll find out exactly how I’m related to you.”

Back to the other ponies, Cheerilee and Thunderlane were discussing the urgency of Shady’s condition.

“Thunderlane, you go and take Shady back to his house,” Cheerilee commanded, “Get his mother to look at his tooth.”

“Uhh, I kind of don’t know where that is,” the pegasus replied nervously.

“I’m sure Shady knows where it is, right?” the earth pony asked, receiving a muffled nod from the colt.

“Wait, what about me?” Noi spoke up, “I want to ride Thunderlame-I mean, Thunderlane, too!”

“Oh, well, if it isn’t too much trouble…” Cheerilee said as she looked to the pegasus stallion.

“Easy peasy,” he replied confidently, “I gave Rumble rides all the time when he was still a yearling. Right little guy?”

The foal nodded enthusiastically as Noi silently cheered for herself.

Mildly stressed, the teacher sighed in relief, “Thank you, Thunderlane. I’m so glad you’re good with kids.”

Feeling bashful, the stallion replied, “Well, I guess you could say that, if my special talent wasn’t already thunderbolts, I’d be taking care of kids.”

“I thmell nothing but metal,” Shady commented as he tried to snort.

“You should probably get going,” Cheerilee forwarded.

“Good idea,” Thunderlane said as he knelt down for the colt and filly to climb on, the latter of which did so excitedly, “I’ll, uh, see you at the party?”

“Definitely,” the teacher said with a wink.

“Great then, See you later,” the stallion said as he spread his wings.

“Bye, Cheerilee!” Noi waved, with Shady weakly copying.

“See you next week!” Rumble waved along with them.

With a slightly struggled liftoff, Thunderlane carried the kids into the air with Rumble tagging along shortly behind. Cheerilee watched as the two pegasi flew beyond the tree line towards Ponyville and out of sight. She sighed forlornly as she slowly walked away from the school, leaving it for good for the day. It was about an hour and a half or so before the party, and she had plenty of time to waste before then, if she was to meet Thunderlane there.

Maybe she could do with a date…

---
Let’s hope the CMC don’t interfere…
---

With one last kick, the last of the water had been drained from the clouds and flowed into the earth below. With no more moisture holding it together, the cloud slowly dissipated into oblivion. Fortunately, it was the last bit the pegasus needed, as they had just finished with this line of plowed dirt. That meant that the squash fields had been completely reworked into a corn field, due for harvest in the fall later this year.

“You sure AJ won’t mind that we used corn pods instead of pea seeds?” Rainbow Dash inquired as she landed on the ground.

Big Macintosh chuckled, “She may be the boss, but when it comes to harvests other than apples, she can’t keep track of ‘em for the life of her.”

The pegasus chuckled, “Heh, that silly pony.”

Big Macintosh walked over to the remaining pods in the cart, with a dirty plow stowed away in the back. With their work done here, he hitched himself to the cart and began to pull it back to the farm.

“So, anything we gotta do next?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered by his side.

The red stallion hummed to himself in thought as he pulled the cart, “Other than weedin’ out dry spots, Ah think that’s it for t’day.”

“Spot checks? Pfft,” the pegasus scoffed, “I can do that in-”

“Ten seconds flat?” the stallion interrupted with a tease.

“…what, you want me to do it faster?” she challenged.

“As long as it gets us more time to ourselves after, sure,” he said with a smile.

“You’re on,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

Big Macintosh chuckled as well before the both of them fell into silence. Aside from the flapping of wings and the creaking wheels of the cart, there was no other noise in the air. This distant section of the farm was rather quiet throughout the day, and it was also a hotspot for fireflies. It wouldn’t be another hour until the crows started calling forth the night as the sun set, so this peaceful air would be short lived.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breathe and exhaled it satisfyingly, “I’m so glad to be here with you, after all that’s happened today.”

Big Macintosh chuckled in response, “To be honest, I kinda missed you today.”

With a girlish squeak, the pegasus landed and gave the stallion a one armed hug, “Aww, you big lug. You actually missed me?”

The stallion pretended to be sad in reply, “You were jus’ gone for so long, Ah thought you had forgotten about me.”

In shock that was half pretend, Rainbow Dash hugged her coltfriend with both arms and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, “I’d never forget about you, Big Mac. You’re on my mind everyday.”

He smiled warmly in response, “Ah believe ya. Ah’m sure you were just distracted, is all.”

“Tell me about it,” the pegasus replied with an eye roll as she let go of him, “I’d rather forget most of what happened today and just spend the rest of it with you.”

Big Macintosh beamed, followed by a perverted chuckle, “Ya know, now that we’re officially datin’, you can spend more than just the day with me.”

Dash replied with an even more perverted giggle, “Does the morning count as day?”

“Not in mah book,” the stallion replied wittily.

A few more seconds of silence passed before Dash took to the skies again. The stallion silently watched her as he continued hauling the cart at an undeterred pace. Big Macintosh had always preferred the tranquility these fields had to offer, and liked spending his working time alone, but when he and Rainbow Dash became an item, he feared those opportunities would be lost to him. He couldn’t be more wrong. The pegasus respected his need for silence and calmness, and was always happy to hear him speak his mind whenever a thought came up. He would always return the favor, providing an ear for her to rant about the day or any event she had been a part of, as it cured the repetitiveness of working that would sometimes plague him.

They had perfect synergy with each other, and this was something they both knew well.

“Hey, about that party…” Rainbow Dash spoke up. She looked to him slightly concerned, “Are you really ok with it?”

The nightmare that is Pinkie Pie came to mind, but it wasn’t something she needed to know, “Yeah, of course. Ah mean, you made a point, it was somethin’ that everypony needed to know about anyway.”

“Well, yeah, but…” pieces of the day so far replayed themselves in her head, and she realized what exactly Mac might’ve been concerned about earlier when Pinkie forwarded the party to them, “A party today might not be the best idea.”

“What? Now ya don’t want a party?” the stallion asked, “Well, Ah’d agree with ya, but…Pinkie’s dressed up our barn like an orphan’s birthday cake, an’ Ah wouldn’t wanna hafta cancel it.”

“Wait, you’re saying you want to go through with the party just because it’s already set up?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

“Not really,” he was quick to reply, “You should see the place. Cleanin’ it all up is gonna be a nightmare, so we might as well go through with it. All that work can be done afterwards.”

“Oh,” typical Apple family cheapness, “Well, I guess Pinkie wouldn’t like it very much either if we just called it quits after all that work she put into it.”

Noticing that his fillyfriend still looked concerned, he spoke to console her, “If yer still worried about the party, don’t forget that me an’ AJ are gonna keep track of everypony. Along with Pinkie too, Ah guess.”

“Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash asked worriedly, “I have a bad feeling about this…”

The stallion smiled, “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. You got the entire Apple family on your side tonight.”

Rainbow Dash let out a huge sigh of relief, “Thanks Mac, I needed that.”

Big Macintosh simply nodded and continued to walk in silence. It was a few minutes or so until they came upon a particular spot. Nearby, there was a tree with a lopped off branch that had since been grown in. Months ago, the two noticed how the formation looked like that of an apple, which somehow led to a long discussion about Apple family history and the impact of weather manipulation. This tree was the landmark to a spot that was very special to both ponies.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said softly, “This is where we shared our first kiss.”

Macintosh chuckled, “Eeyup.”

The pegasus let out another perverted giggle, “This was also the place where we did ‘that’.”

If Macintosh was blushing, it couldn’t be seen, either because his red coat would’ve hidden it, or because he looked away, “There’s no need bringin’ that up,” he said with a nervous laugh.

“What are you ashamed about?” the pegasus teased, “You’re the one that pinned me to the tree and-”

“Ah was in heat, or somethin’,” the stallion quickly made an excuse, but couldn’t hold back his chuckles.

Rainbow Dash was having difficulty holding back her laughter as well, “Can stallions even get that?”

“It sure felt like it,” he replied, trying to pull his smile down.

“It definitely felt like it,” the pegasus said, intentionally lustfully.

Big Macintosh simply rolled his eyes and maintained his pace with Rainbow Dash falling behind a bit.

“Speaking of legs,” she spoke up once more, “Isn’t it weird that you haven’t bucked any tree at all today?”

“Really? Nah,” the stallion replied, “Ah’m pretty sure Ah bucked somethin’ today…”

“Not yet, anyway,” the pegasus let herself say.

The stallion chuckled again and turned to his fillyfriend, “What’s the matter, though? Concerned?”

Rainbow Dash playfully shrugged her shoulders, “Ha ha, got me there. I just don’t want you losing those glorious legs of yours to misuse.”

Big Macintosh looked back to his hind legs and smiled at the pegasus, “We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we? But Ah can count on you to keep them in shape.”

It was her turn to laugh off the sexual innuendos Macintosh was telling her.

“Yeah, that is true,” Rainbow Dash said as nonchalantly as she could, “But nothing beats seeing them in action.”

Macintosh couldn’t help but put on a prideful smile. Now that he thought about it, he never did buck any trees for their apples today. He wrecked a few trees, certainly, but he did that for their lumber. The trees were still developing for Applebuck Season that was due for late summer, and any trees that needed apple bucking were few and far between. Applejack was handling those, all Big Macintosh had to be concerned about was the heavy stuff like plowing and pulling heavy carts. Maybe he could buck a tree for good measure.

Seeing a lone tree that was empty of apples, Big Macintosh stopped to unhitch himself from the cart. Rainbow Dash said nothing and simply watched as the red stallion calmly walked over to the tree, gave her a seductive look, and delivered a single legged buck to the tree.

Realizing what he was doing, Rainbow exaggerated her satisfaction. “Oh Mac,” she said with a shoddy swoon, “Oh yeah, do it again.”

Macintosh’s smile widened as he bucked the tree a little harder.

“Oooh Mac, you’re soooo strong,” the pegasus said, throwing her body in different overly expressive directions.

The stallion kept bucking the tree a little harder with each reaction Rainbow Dash gave.

“Ohhhh, you’re a monster Mac!” Rainbow said, her voice growing with false ecstasy, “Ahhh!”

Eventually Mac started using two hooves and inexplicably bucked harder the stronger her reactions were. He was actually bucking the tree with way more force than needed for apple bucking, and, in the excitement, they hadn’t noticed the cracks growing on the tree.

“Mac! Maaac!” she continued to shrill.

Finally, something did erupt.

Both ponies realized something was amiss when the sound of wood breaking lingered for more than a second. Before either of them could process what was happening, the tree was already touching down on the earth, its fresh inner wood exposed before them.

Neither of them said anything for the moment. They just eyed the fallen tree as if it were a work of art, a very offensive work of art. A quick look around confirmed that nopony else was around to witness the crime, especially, Celestia forbid, Applejack. Once the reality of the situation settled in, Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

“…pop goes the wood,” she nearly whispered.

A second later, and both ponies were a pile of laughing fits on the ground. Several more seconds later, both ponies were on their hooves to assess the damage.

“Should we…should we take it to the barn?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nah. Ah don’t feel like carryin’ another tree this late in the day,” Big Macintosh simply replied.

“Well, we can’t just leave it here,” the pegasus stated, “What’ll AJ do if she finds it?”

Without a word, Big Macintosh walked up to the tree and cleared any splinters still clinging to the tree and trunk. He analyzed the wounds before coming to a conclusion.

“Ah’m gonna need your help for this,” he said, “Hold on to a branch or somethin’.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t question him and did as she was told. With their combined efforts, the two of them lifted the tree and slowly aligned it back to the trunk, matching the zigzag wound line almost perfectly. The shoddy repair was almost seamless, save for a few notches where the stallion struck the tree.

“Ok, so, are we going to glue it or…?” the pegasus asked as she landed back to the ground.

“Nah. We’re gonna dig this tree out and clear out its roots when AJ ain’t lookin’,” Big Macintosh answered, “She won’t be none the wiser.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said with a nod, “When are we going to pull off this daring escapade?”

“Soon. Not today, though,” the stallion replied as he walked back to the cart and hitched himself to it, “We got ourselves a party to get ready for.”

“Eeyup,” Rainbow Dash said, earning a playful glare from the stallion, “By the way, that was your fault, just so you know.”

“Well, you’re the one who wanted to see mah legs in action,” he replied as he pulled the cart.

“Well, I blame your sexy legs,” the pegasus retorted.

“Ah blame your sexy mouth,” Macintosh shot back.

“You love this mouth,” she simply said.

“Eeyup, Ah do,” he said with a smile.

---
That part served no purpose at all to the story…

Buck you, that part was adorable.

No, it committed nothing to the story at all.

Not everything can be crazy out of control chaos fun, you know.

I beg to differ, we’ve been doing okay so far with just that.

Well, it doesn’t hurt to pay the characters in the title some special attention, does it?

Well, no, but we-

Butts are for pooping!

Enough! We are dragging on the story as it is!

Fine. But we are not editing that part out.

Fine then…

…stick in your butt…

What was that?!

You have eyes, just read it over!

Ugh…
---

The day was drawing to a close as the sun was slowly losing its light, evident by the reddening of the sky above. In about an hour, the sun would be on its way to twilight, and the day would end within that time. For some, it meant the time to party was imminent, as just about every pony had received their invitation. For others, like Fluttershy, it was a reminder that she should already be finished with her task at hoof.

As soon as they left the library, Scootaloo had requested for them to slow down, as her wings were exhausted from driving the scootsmobile all day. While Fluttershy wasn’t one to complain about another’s ability of flight, especially Scootaloo’s, she couldn’t deny the poor filly a break. So, here they were, Scootaloo tugging the scootsmobile by hoof as her friends trotted by her side, taking their time as they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres through town.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were falling behind, though.

“So, wait a minute, lemme get this straight,” Apple Bloom whispered, “You think we should be the only ones to deliver Fluttershy’s message?”

Scootaloo nodded with a determined look on her face, “I’m absolutely certain that this is it. This has to be our special talent.”

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle said, looking unsure, “It seems like a lot of effort, just to keep her away from Rainbow Dash.”

“Remember, it’s for the cutie marks!” the pegasus filly had every right to be smug about that line.

The unicorn filly pouted, “But do we really have to get in her way to do that? Fluttershy hasn’t done anything bad to us.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom spoke up, but kept her voice out of earshot of the pegasus they were following, “She even saved us from a cockatrice before. It just wouldn’t be right!”

“Shh! Keep it down!” Scootaloo hushed, then continued, “I don’t like it either, but this is different. We didn’t even get a chance to get our cutie marks in message delivery, and we’re not going to lose it this time!”

“Wait, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle spoke up, “Didn’t you already try delivering a message before?”

“Yeah, when you tried to stop Granny from comin’ to our school,” the apple filly added.

Scootaloo was quiet for a while, recollecting the event.

“Err, that was different. That was a telegram, not a message,” she justified hesitantly, “Besides, it wasn’t a real message anyway.”

They were quiet afterwards, for a little bit anyway.

The four ponies were now treading through the market streets of Ponyville, the last part of town before reaching the stretch of space between them and the farm’s borders. At this time and hour, there weren’t many ponies that stayed from the afternoon rush; those that did were either closing shop or mingling with friends. Any idle chatter was faint, giving the street a gentle air of quietness. There was a noticeable string of giggles and chuckles coming from a particular table, however, belonging to a mare and stallion couple. The group didn’t pay them much attention, at least until they got closer…

“Braeburn? Braeburn!” the apple filly shouted out and waved her hoof, “Over here!”

Looking to see one of his favorite cousins closing in, the apple stallion greeted them jovially, “Apple Bloom! What are the odds of seein’ you here, an’ with your friends?”

“Braeburn, Ah didn’t know you were visitin’!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she trotted to his side. The stallion gave her a friendly hug, then the two parted so that Apple Bloom could ask, “What are you doin’ in Ponyville?”

Braeburn shrugged his shoulders laxly, “Well, we just finished our own summer harvest, and now the trees got all summer to grow. Ah thought Ah’d come by to see how mah favorite relatives were doin’.”

While Fluttershy and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders neared, Red Tongue looked over the filly and said, “Braeburn, I thought you said you didn’t have any foals. Did you lie to me?”

The pegasus was just teasing, and Braeburn knew it, although, one bush in particular seemed to rattle. The stallion chuckled, “Nah, she’s just mah little cousin,” he then directed her attention to the group, “Red Tongue, this here’s Apple Bloom,” he pointed at the red haired filly, “And her friends,” he motioned to the other two fillies.

“I’m Scootaloo!” the orange filly quickly announced.

“And I’m Sweetie Belle!” the unicorn sung.

Before the three could announce the title of their union, Braeburn continued, “And that there’s Fluttershy, Ah believe. She’s a friend of AJ’s.”

“H-Hello,” the pegasus greeted shyly. She had met Braeburn before already, but under different circumstances that didn’t call upon her reclusive nature. Red Tongue, on the other hoof, was a new face, at least, that’s what she thought at first. When she got a better look at the pegasus, she was starting to look familiar. Had they met before?

“My name is Red Tongue,” the orange pegasus replied, “I’m a weather pony from Manehattan, and I got the week off so I decided to come to Ponyville for a bit.”

“A weather pony, from Manehattan?” Fluttershy repeated, to the curiosity of the foals, “That’s weird, I could’ve sworn I’ve seen you from around here. You look familiar…”

“I do?” the other pegasus questioned. While Red Tongue was used to having ponies recognize her from somewhere in her casual look, she didn’t want the attention in this situation.

“Yeah. I think I saw you in a magazine once…” the pink maned pegasus said, uncertain.

“Huh, how weird,” she hoped to appear calm and casual enough so that she didn’t blow her cover. Magazines and posters could only show so much, so there was no way she’d be recognized as she was now. But now that she thought of it, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head, like she too had met Fluttershy before. Is that what she was talking about?

“Anyhoo,” with the conversation quickly going nowhere, Braeburn decided to speak up, “Where are you gals goin’?”

“We’re on our way back to Sweet Apple Acres!” the little pegasus stated proudly.

“With an important message for Rainbow Dash!” Sweetie Belle revealed.

“Rainbow Dash, huh?” Red Tongue noted thoughtfully, “I heard a lot about her.”

“Oh yes, she’s one of my friends,” Fluttershy stated, bashfully playing with her hair in mention of the colorful pegasus she had a crush on, “In fact, we’re actually kind of in a hurry…”

As shy as she was, Fluttershy wanted to bring up the importance of their quest to the farm, and had been waiting for an opportunity to do so. She was worried that meeting up with Apple Bloom’s cousin would’ve taken them forever, but thankfully, it seemed like it’d be wrapping up any moment now.

And the sooner they got there, the better.

“Oh, then don’t mind us,” Braeburn said as he resumed a comfortable position in his seat, “We’d hate to get in your way.”

Fluttershy sighed and turned around to lead the fillies back to their journey, but then Apple Bloom chimed.

“Are you comin’ to the party later?” she asked hopefully.

“O’course!” the stallion replied with a ruffle of the filly’s hair, “Ah’d never pass the chance to tease that big brother of yours ‘bout his fillyfriend. Ah imagine so many fillies must be very jealous right now.”

“You’re darn right!” a bush of flowers a few feet away shouted.

The ponies paid the voice literally two seconds of thought before Red Tongue chuckled, “Ponyville must be quite a town to have so many fillies put so much importance into stallions.”

“Why do you think Ah came here to relax?” Braeburn joked, followed by a distressed groan, either from the flower bush or Fluttershy, as it sounded like the conversation wasn’t over yet.

Red Tongue chuckled in return, “Well, it’s a good thing I got to you before they did. You’re not like other stallions I’ve met before.”

Braeburn dismissed her praise with a wave of her hoof, “Pssh, that can’t be true. Ah’m sure there are other stallions out there that’d make better company than me.”

Red Tongue returned his skepticism, “Fat chance. If I had a list of stallions, you’d be…”

The orange maned pegasus let the question fall unfinished as she was reminded of something incredibly urgent. Red Tongue replayed the mental note in her head several times, her panic multiplying with each relay.

“A list…oh horseapples!” she cursed, despite the presence of fillies before her. She hopped backwards out of her chair, letting it fall as she looked left and right in panic, “I completely forgot!”

“Red Tongue, what’s wrong?” Braeburn asked in concern, getting up from his own seat.

“I, uh, I totally forgot something, um,” the pegasus was at a lost for words at how she would explain herself right now, expressing her disdain by trotting in place, “Braeburn, I’m really sorry, but I have something to do, like, right now.”

The stallion looked disappointed, “Oh, how long will you be?”

Red Tongue sucked in her teeth before answering, “I don’t know. I let myself get carried away with the time and…” she let the sentence fall again as she failed to form a complete excuse, “…I’m sorry that I have to leave so abruptly.”

Braeburn was a bit lost. Was she ditching him? “If you wanted to just get up an’ go, you could’ve just said so.”

Red Tongue was quick to shake her head, “No, it’s not like that, Braeburn. I mean, you’re one of the nicest, funniest stallions I’ve ever met in a long time, and I’d love to do nothing more than spend hours with you.”

“Not like you already haven’t!” the flowers shouted, and were promptly ignored.

“But…I have a sort of…responsibility to fulfill,” Red Tongue said with difficulty, “I can’t tell you what it is yet.”

There was a visible unease in the stallion’s features, “…you’ll tell me soon, right?”

“If you’re willing to wait for me,” she replied, then lowered her head nervously, “…Will you?”

“Of course,” Braeburn quickly answered, “Ah’d wait an eternity for you.”

“Cheeeeesy!” the flowers shouted again.

It was admittedly cheesy, but Red Tongue still smiled, “I promise, I’ll come back soon. I swear on my Wonderb- I mean…job.”

Without hesitation, the pegasus pulled Braeburn in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The stallion was shocked, but before he could say anything, she lifted off into the sky, and then hovered for a bit as she scanned the area. Finding what she was looking for, the pegasus zoomed in that direction at frighteningly fast speeds, almost as fast as Rainbow Dash.

Once it was calm and quiet again, the orange pegasus filly spoke first, “What was that all about?”

“I thought it was really sweet,” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Wow Braeburn, Ah’ve never seen you act like that before,” Apple Bloom said to her cousin.

Braeburn sighed despondently but put on a smile for the sake of the filly, “To be honest, Ah don’t think Ah ever acted like that either. That mare sure is something.”

“Is she a special something?” the unicorn filly asked brightly.

Braeburn sighed a bit happier in response, “Very special. The most special mare Ah think Ah’ll ever meet.”

“Oh come oooon!” a voice shouted, this time coming from a pink and yellow earth pony who sprouted from the bushes. Shortly after that outburst, a rose maned mare poked out from the other bush and dragged her back in.

“Oh, that is a lovely thing to say and all,” Fluttershy was careful not to sound insensitive, but hesitantly continued, “Umm, but I wouldn’t want to bother you at this time, I mean, I know how it feels like to develop these feelings and all, so I understand how it feels, but-”

“Just say it already,” Scootaloo said abruptly and impatiently.

“Oh, I just wanted to say that I would like for us to get going as soon as possible,” she quickly worded, then looked to Braeburn, “Um, would you like to come with us?”

To her surprise, he shook his head, “Nah, Ah’ll go on mah own time. Ah’d like to stay here for a little while longer.”

“Well, if that’s what you want,” Fluttershy then turned to the fillies, “Well? Are we ready to go?”

“Duh!” the pegasus filly replied, having never left her scooter, “I’m always ready to go!”

Apple Bloom trotted back to the fillies’ side, “Ah suppose. Ah’ll see ya at the party, Braeburn.”

“Yep, can’t wait,” the stallion replied with half of his usual excitement.

The scootsmobile started up, to Fluttershy’s delighted surprise, as they resumed their journey towards the farm with hopefully a bit more speed than previously. The ponies spared a moment to wave goodbye to the apple stallion who waved back and watched them go. With nothing else to do, he sat back down in his seat at the table all by himself, his thoughts occupied with that wonderful pegasus mare he was just talking to minutes ago. It wasn’t long until his company was occupied by two other ponies, and the ones that did so broke the record by thirteen seconds.

“Hi!” two mares quickly greeted as they freely took the chairs opposite of him.

The stallion was surprised and afraid at the same time, as the sudden arrival of these mares broke his train of thought.

“Uhh, hello?” Braeburn nervously replied.

“Ahahahah! You’re so funny!” one mare, Lily, was even quicker in replying, though did a poor job at pretending to know the context of the conversation was.

“So tell us about yourself!” the other mare, Rose was her name, quickly said, “You live in Appleloosa, with lot’s of buffalo there, you’re the head Apple clan member of the town, you started it about year ago, and what else?”

“Uhh, that’s…really everythin’ there is about me,” Braeburn was hesitant to say.

“Oh, Braeburn, you charmer you!” Lily said for some reason, “How does Friday at eight sound?”

“Wait, what?” he replied in confusion.

“Back off!” Rose said, pushing Lily aside for emphasis, “I already told you I was going to ask him first!”

“Sucks to be you then,” Lily said as she pushed back, knocking Rose out of her chair, “He already said yes.”

“Ah did?”

“Now he did!” she said enthusiastically, “You need to be quicker than that, next time.”

“You hardly said anything to him!” Rose shot back.

It was at this point that Braeburn decided that a minute to loiter around was enough time for him to spend. He silently got up from his seat and backed away from the arguing ponies before bolting it in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. It was a minute of arguing before the two ponies realized that the handsome stallion had already left.

Once the stallion reached the border of the town, he slowed to a relaxed trot as he’d prefer the company of himself rather than Fluttershy’s group just up ahead. He preferred to keep his mind clear for the moment, especially away from mares that blindly spoke to him with no regard to his interests.

It wasn’t like the stallion to just up and leave two mares that pined for his attention; he actually really enjoyed it when mares opened themselves up to him. The problem was, there was one mare that he would rather have occupying his attention, and that was Red Tongue. There was something about that pegasus that Braeburn…well, missed was the closest word he could describe it with. He couldn’t get her out of his mind, even when two other mares took her place. He knew there was something special about her.

He just hoped it was right to place his trust in her as well.

---
Maybe those ponies will be so distracted with him to cause trouble…here’s hoping…
---

“Oooh, I like this flavor!” Archer said positively, mouth half full with candy.

It was closing time at Bonbon’s candy shop, and yet the shop was still full of sugar hungry foals of all shapes and sizes, rather literally. Among Archer’s company were Snips and Snails, along with Pipsqueak and a portly colt known better as Truffle Shuffle. As Bonbon herself was tending to the shop in preparation of her departure for the party, Twist was handing out samples of her creations that she learned to make under Bonbon’s tutelage. The results were resoundingly positive.

“Thankth!” Twist said happily, “I wath wondering how blueberry and peppermint would tathe together.”

“It’s sweet and tingly,” Snails said in response to the flavors he was experiencing.

“It’s like sucking down on frozen blueberries,” Snips commented, Pipsqueak nodding in agreement.

Truffle Shuffle mouthed an additional compliment, but had trouble forming words with his own mouth stuffed with candy. He’d take them out to speak better, but he was adamant about holding it in. It wasn’t like he had a sanitary way of holding the candies in order for him to speak clearly, so he would wait until all the candy was sucked down to oblivion.

“Ah thankth,” Twist said bashfully, “You’re all too kind.”

Suddenly, the door bell chimed, signaling another customer had entered the store. Bonbon wasn’t expecting any pony else aside from Twist’s friends, so she looked to see who the new pony was. Or rather, were.

“There you are, Archer,” a blue stallion said, “I thought you’d be here.”

“Oh, hey big bro,” the little filly greeted enthusiastically, then looked to his other company, “And Caramel.”

“Hey there, sharpshooter,” the stallion greeted, then quickly did so for the others as he traveled in the store owner’s direction, “Short stuff, tall kid, the fat one, big eyebrows, err, Twisty. Hey there, Bonbon.”

“Oh hello Caramel,” the candy maker said a little unenthusiastically. It wasn’t that she was unhappy to see the guy, it was the consequences of being seen with him by Lyra of all ponies.

“Just thought I’d drop by before closing time and all,” Caramel said as casually as he could, knowing he was on a time limit.

While it was common for Blues and Caramel to tag along with each other, the former doing so to keep Caramel out of trouble, this time, the two stallions were here at the shop for different reasons, a rarity in itself. Blues was here to fetch his little sister so that they could freshen up a bit before the party. Caramel was simply here because Lyra was not. He knew she wouldn’t be, because of the fact that the unicorn had ditched him while they were cleaning up her mess in Sugar Cube Corner. If Lyra didn’t know where he was, it provided the perfect opportunity to make his move on the sweet mare before him.

That was all based on a chance, and it seemed to pay off.

“Hey there, mither,” Twist greeted, “Want to try out thome of my thweetth? Bonbon helped me make them.”

The filly’s lisp warned him of a possible error in the candy’s creation, giving him images of saliva spitting everywhere over an open pot. He would’ve declined, but if he wanted to win Bonbon’s favor in any form, he’d have to agree to it.

“Uh, sure kid!” the stallion answered as he took a candy cane that he would probably regret putting in his mouth. Almost hesitantly, he put the straight end in while pushing away unclean thoughts as hard as he could, hoping that Bonbon was watching and admiring. To his surprise, the candy cane was actually very good, “Hey, this isn’t bad.”

“Glad you like it,” Twist said with a beam, “It’th blueberry and peppermint.”

“It’s sweet and tingly,” Caramel commented, balancing the stick like a sprig of wheat.

“Hey, that’s what I said,” Snails spoke up.

Caramel turned to the colt and smirked, “Well, great minds think alike then.”

Snails took it as a compliment and smiled. Blues, however, couldn’t hold back a snicker, though whether for Snails’ or Caramel’s sake, he couldn’t say.

“Anyways, Bonbon,” the stallion said as he turned to the mare, “You know that the party’s in less than an hour, right?”

“Yep, that’s why I’m closing up shop,” she fiddled a bit with the cashier, “Are either of you going to buy anything before I put this away?”

Caramel shook his head, “Nah, we’re just here for a bit,” then he fiddled with his hoof, “Any particular reason you’re going?”

As Bonbon came back from putting the machine away, she let out a sigh, “Well, Lyra’s going, and somepony’s gotta be there to keep that mare under control.”

At the mention of the unicorn, Caramel scoffed, “I know, right? She can be too forward with things.”

“Exactly! She doesn’t stop to think about how she might affect other ponies,” Bonbon said, relieved, “I suppose you say all those things because you and her don’t get along very well.”

He shrugged in response, “I guess you could say that,” he then leaned in, “I was just wondering. Maybe you’d like somepony to keep you company while we’re at the party?”

The mare knew when she was being asked out, but held back solely because of the issues she would encounter with Lyra, “Well, I don’t know. Keeping Lyra out of trouble is time consuming enough as it is.”

“Tell me about it,” Caramel almost muttered, “But what if she was occupied, in a way that didn’t put other ponies in danger?”

Bonbon scoffed, “If you can do that, I’ll date you in a heartbeat.”

Caramel was shocked, almost dropping the candy cane from his mouth. He didn’t think he’d have that much luck with her, “R-Really?”

“Emphasis on ‘if’,” she quickly added in, placing a hoof on his lips over the candy, “If I don’t have to worry about Lyra for tonight, I’d be eternally grateful.”

As her hoof left his lips, which he was already missing, he couldn’t hold back a smile, “W-Well then, you can count on-”

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” a unicorn shouted as she kicked the door open, sending the bell ringing wildly.

While every other pony in the store was frightened, Bonbon was simply frustrated, “Lyra, for Celestia’s sake, don’t kick my door open! You’ll break the bell!”

Instead of feeling sorry, Lyra marched right past Blues and the foals and shoved herself between Caramel and Bonbon.

“I should’ve known you’d try something slimy,” the unicorn said with a jab to his chest, “And sliminess is your specialty, because it’s in your name, too.”

Caramel simply glared back with a smile, “Lyra, a thorn in my side, and a hoof in my chest, as always. You always like touching me like this?”

At the suggestion, she quickly retrieved her hoof and pretended it didn’t happen, “Just what do you think you’re doing, visiting my friend of your own free will, as if she’s a free mare?”

“I kind of am, Lyra,” Bonbon threw in, but was ignored.

“You’re not her keeper, you know,” Caramel challenged as he leaned forward. She leaned forward as well, and the two were now nose to nose in an attempt to size up each other. Lyra haphazardly thought about taking the candy cane away with her own mouth, but the fact that it had his saliva on it was…a lot less unsettling than she thought, but still uncomfortable. So she settled for avoiding it at all costs, “In fact, if I didn’t know any better, you’re probably just getting in the way because you want me for yourself.”

“H-hardly,” she had no idea why she stuttered, neither did Caramel, “My standards haven’t lowered enough to date a pony like you.”

The stallion smirked in reply, “What’s wrong? Too good for my sweet stuff?” he momentarily taunted by flicking the candy cane in his mouth.

“Okay!” Blues shouted as he dragged Caramel away from the unicorn, “You’re getting a bit too adult here, Caramel!”

“He wishes his stuff was sweet enough to be edible!” Lyra shouted back, then took a moment to think that line over, “Well, technically-”

“That’s enough out of you too!” Bonbon shouted as well as she pulled at Lyra’s tail, then muffled through it, “There are children present!”

The two ponies resisted but remained silent as they stared each other down. The foals nervously looked back and forth between the two bickering adults, unsure of what to make of this scene. Finally, Blues spoke up.

“You know what?” he said as he let go of his friend, “I want the both of you to take it outside, far away from this place, and say nothing until we can’t hear you two. Got it?”

“That goes for you too, Lyra,” Bonbon warned then let go of the unicorn’s tail.

Without even waiting for a cooperative agreement to their demands, Blues went over and opened the door for the two to make their leave. The two ponies reluctantly made their way out of the shop, obediently staying quiet, but not looking away from each other. Once the two were well out the door, Blues closed it behind them. They were still within earshot, so Caramel and Lyra resorted to making silly faces as they paced their way away from the shop.

“I’m really sorry for that,” Blues apologized as he turned to the store owner, “It normally doesn’t get that bad.”

“Same here,” Bonbon returned, sighing mournfully as she placed an elbow to the counter.

“Well, that was very unsettling,” Pipsqueak finally spoke up, “Do ponies normally talk like that?”

“Only those two,” Blues answered, then smirked, “But don’t let it worry you. It just means they like each other.”

“Whoa, really?” Snails chimed, almost looking excited, “So, if two ponies fight, they like each other?”

“Well, it depends on the ponies,” Bonbon tiredly answered, “Those two have been at it since Lyra rejected him.”

“Bonbon, I got a question,” the blue stallion suddenly spoke up, “Why don’t you just go out with him already?”

“Because then Lyra won’t shut up about it,” she answered, not moving from her spot, “She’d probably try to sabotage the date first, if not kill the guy, before we even go out. She’s just a lot of trouble.”

“I see. And why are you…?” the stallion continued.

“Long story. She saved my life once,” the mare nonchalantly answered, “High school, obesity, self harm, I just owe her, ok?”

Blues simply nodded and left the subject at that.

“Well, it’s getting late. I only came here to pick up Archer,” he said as he looked down at his sister, “Ready to go?”

“Almost,” she said as she turned to Twist, “Do you have any more of those candy canes?”

The filly shook her head, “Nope. Thorry. Truffle ate the reth.”

The other foals glanced at him, who shied back in response, with half the amount of candy remaining in his mouth.

“Aww, well,” Archer said as she brightened up, “Maybe tomorrow then, after school.”

Twist nodded, “I’ll make thome ethpecially for you.”

The blue filly nodded, then turned to her brother, “Ok, ready to go.”

“Blues, mind taking the other foals too?” Bonbon chimed before he was about to leave, “The shop’s closing and all.”

“Oh, of course,” he nodded, then looked down to the remaining fillies and colts in the shop, “Come along now. Bonbon’s got a busy schedule.”

As the ponies started filing out of the door, which Blues held for them, Bonbon stopped Twist from leaving the counter.

“Not you, Twist,” she said, “I’d like for you to stay a bit longer.”

Twist was a bit confused, but stayed put regardless. She waved over to the foals and shouted, “I’m thaying behind! I’ll thee you all at the party!”

“See you later then, Twist!” Pipsqueak shouted back as he waved, the others doing the same.

Once the door finally closed, Twist turned to the adult and asked, “Tho, what are we going to do, Bonbon?”

With a smirk, Bonbon said, “You’ve been with me for a few weeks, right?”

“Uhh,” Twist took a moment to count the time in her head, “I think tho.”

“Good. Now, I think it’s time to teach you a lesson in running a market,” she said as she started walking towards the back.

“You mean…” Twist said with an air of anxiety.

“The party’s in less than an hour,” Bonbon said as she opened the door, “Tonight, you are going to make your first sale.”

---
How weird is it for the foals to be the most mature ones here…
---

“I’m gonna get ya this time…no. No nonononoNOOO! Argh, C’mon!” Spike shouted, resisting the urge to throw the controller away with all his might. He then pointed an accusing claw at the owl, “Quit using the same moves over and over like that!”

The owl hooted naughtily as his talons rested awkwardly on a controller pad. The owl and baby dragon sat in front of a TV in the kitchen, with the screen displaying a results screen, showing that Owlowiscious had seventeen wins to Spike’s zero.

One would think that the library kitchen was an odd place to put a TV, but it was due to Spike’s tendency to play video games for extended periods of time. The bedroom was out of the question, since he shared that room with Twilight Sparkle, and the foyer was excluded since it was the place were visitors lounged around to read and have tea. So the TV had to be set somewhere else, and the kitchen was the only other option aside from the bathroom. It was the best place to set the TV, as it turns out, as having a weather report and news delivered while eating breakfast was an invaluable luxury.

“How did you get so good at this game already?” Spike grumbled as the video game started the match once more, “We only got this game last week.”

Owlowiscious sounded off a snide hoot as the fight began.

“I bet you’ve been sneaking in practices late at night,” the dragon poked. The owl said nothing in reply as the game was underway but he could feel Owlowiscious smiling guiltily.

After Spike inevitably lost the first round, there was a knock on the door. Reluctantly pausing their game, Spike got up to get it, but the knocking continued in quick succession. Somepony was certainly impatient.

“Hello?” the little dragon asked as he opened the door, revealing a very orange and yellow pegasus mare.

“Oh, hi, umm,” she replied as her hind hoof fidgeted, “Twilight isn’t home?”

“No, she’s been out for a while,” Spike said with a subtle tone of annoyance, “How do you know her?”

She stopped fidgeting and thought of an excuse, “Uhh, how don’t I know her?”

It worked, “Good point. Well, I can still help out with whatever it is you need.”

The baby dragon stepped back and the mare freely trotted in, “I need something very specific, and I was hoping Twilight would help.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” the little dragon closed the door, “Do you want to wait for…” then he looked down in thought, “Actually, the library’s going to be closing early in a bit, because we’re going to a party.”

“Yeah, I’m in a hurry as well,” Red Tongue said as her legs fidgeted again, “And I can’t wait that long. What I need is a list of stallions.”

Spike knew that item all too well, “Oh! That old thing? Of course we have it.”

Red Tongue brightened up, “Where is it?”

Spike was about to answer, until he realized that he was gone from the library since giving that list to Twilight. The only other assistant the unicorn had at the time was her pet owl.

“Owlowiscious, do you know where Twilight left that list at?” the dragon questioned out loud.

The owl flew in from the kitchen and looked around the foyer, trying to remember which cabinet had it. When he saw it, he flew towards it, fetched the giant scroll, and brought it down towards the pegasus and dragon.

“Oh, thanks so much,” Red Tongue said in relief as she reached out for it, “I thought-”

But then Owlowiscious took it back, Spike stepping in, “Hold on now, this sort of thing isn’t just something you can borrow.”

Confused for a moment, Red Tongue leaned forward, “I do not have time to apply for a library card. I just need the list for a little bit.”

Spike shook his head, “That’s the thing. This scroll isn’t a registered item in the library’s stock. Technically, it’s a property of the owner, Twilight, and you can’t borrow it until she’s written it down into the library’s stock.”

Red Tongue blinked as she realized what she had to do, “So, you’re telling me I just have to go and ask Twilight to borrow this?”

Both Spike and Owlowiscious nodded.

“Even though I can do the same thing for everything else in the library?”

“Well, yeah. Pretty much,” Spike then placed a claw on his chin, “But I don’t think Twilight would ever put something controversial like this up for grabs in the library.”

Owlowiscious then let out a hoot, as if he was agreeing with Spike.

Looking tired, Red Tongue sighed, “Alright, I didn’t want to have to do this but…” she then pulled out a blue wallet from who knows where, “…I need you to make an exception.”

Spike took the wallet and opened it, expecting money. Instead what he found was a Wonderbolts license, along with an ID. His jaw dropped.

“Wait, you’re a Wonderbolt?” he said as he looked up, then compared the photo to the pony herself, “But, you look kind of different.”

The mare chuckled lightly, “Well, most ponies recognize me with my mane upright,” Spitfire stated, pointing to her mane combed down, “Also helps that nopony has ever seen my real cutie mark. Good thing too, because I needed to be incognito for this mission.”

But then the dragon got curious, “Wait, then what’s a Wonderbolt doing in Ponyville? And why would you need something like this?” he pointed to the thick scroll, which Owlowiscious had to balance on the floor as he was getting tired of holding it.

Even with her identity revealed, Spitfire reeled back nervously, “It’s kind of private…let’s just say that that list of yours makes my mission a whole lot easier.”

Spike and Owlowiscious looked at each other, both of them figuring out the reason themselves, “If you really wanted a stallion to date, you don’t have to hide it,” Spike said, Owlowiscious nodding in agreement.

“It’s not for me!” the mare shouted back, almost offended, “It’s for Prin-… gah, forget it. Just give me the scroll, ok?”

The two assistants stepped back still, despite the pegasus revealing her identity to earn their trust, “Sorry. Wonderbolt or not, we still can’t just give you this scroll. It belongs to Twilight,” Spike said, the owl nodding in agreement.

Growing frustrated, Spitfire leaned further, “Then give me the scroll so I can go ask her.”

“How do I know you won’t just fly off with it?” Spike accused, “Twilight will have my scales if I let that happen.”

“I’m not leaving this library without that list,” Spitfire demanded.

“This is going to be a long night, then,” the dragon returned.

At this, Owlowiscious became a little nervous at the idea of staying in the library all night, especially if he had to watch over these two. Neither one knew when Twilight would be back, nor where she was, and the owl simply didn’t have the time to watch the situation play out. Instead, Owlowiscious dropped the list in Spike’s hands, roosted on a desk nearby, and pointed with a wing towards the door, punctuated with a hoot.

The little dragon seemed to catch on to what the bird was suggesting, and looked at the clock. It was less than half an hour before seven, and the party would be starting soon.

“You know what?” he said as he looked to the orange pegasus, “Let’s make a deal. Come with me to the party, and we can ask Twilight together. I need to leave soon anyway if I’m going to make it.”

She figured that this was the best she was going to get and nodded, “I can deal with that. But I need the list real soon, before the end of the day at least.”

Spike shrugged his shoulders, “It shouldn’t take that long,” he then turned to Owlowscious, “Thanks. I guess we’re not going to finish our game then.”

Owlowiscious simply hooted coolly.

“Oh come on, I could’ve totally beaten you this time,” instead of pursuing the argument any further, Spike sighed, “Think you can handle the library by yourself, without putting any foals at risk?”

The owl replied with a simple hoot.

“I hope so. Be sure to put the games away, ok?”

Owlowiscious hooted a bit more positively.

“Good,” he turned to Spitfire, “Let’s get going then.”

As Spike led the way to the door, Spitfire watched as the owl flew to the kitchen and turned off a game console.

“Wait a minute, the owl can play games?” she asked as she followed the dragon out the door.

“Among other things,” Spike replied as he closed the door and locked it.

“And what did you mean by ‘putting foals at risk’?” she continued as they both started walking away.

“You don’t want to know.”

---
Why does she need the list so badly?
---

The barn was almost ready for the party. Despite some major distractions and increasing frequency of shivering, Pinkie Pie was almost finished decorating the entire place. Any tasks she couldn’t do because of her constant jittering were covered by her two great friends Twilight and Applejack, and the two of them were all too happy to be of assistance. In the middle of applying some finishing touches, a pair of ponies had entered the vicinity.

“Sweet Celestia,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “You weren’t kidding, this place is decorated like an orphan’s birthday cake.”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied, “But Ah don’t remember the place bein’ this fancied up.”

Upon hearing the arrival of the ponies, both Twilight and Applejack turned to greet them, the former gazing at the pegasus a bit warily.

“Well, it’s about time you two finished,” Applejack said, “Took a while to plow them fields, didn’cha?”

“Ah guess you could say, we did a bit more than that,” the red stallion was feeling very humorous today.

Twilight’s half smile scowled for a bit before Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Don’t be so vague about it. You ripped that grass a new one.”

“Well, you made it easier to pull,” he replied with a calm smile.

“You were digging at it a bit too happily, you know?” Rainbow said with a playful elbow.

“Can ya blame me? We had to make quick work of it,” his smile widened the more they spoke.

“Well, you sure took your time coming,” the pegasus said, finding it harder to restrain her laughter.

By now, the other two ponies present were fighting back the mental images of the couple based on the horrifyingly vague details they were given. While Twilight had been reduced to a statue from shock, Applejack’s face had twisted like a Picasso painting. It was at this point that the cowgirl had to intervene.

“S’cuse me, what in Celestia’s sun-” running their words through her mind involuntarily, Applejack shook her head of the images that resurfaced, “Okay, I don’t care if you two rut around out in the field in the middle o’ work, but for Celestia’s sake, keep it to yerselves!”

Twilight didn’t need to hide her frown anymore as Applejack had the same expression. A second passed before Rainbow and Big Macintosh burst out laughing.

“We… we were just saying we finished scouting and pulling out dry spots of grass,” the pegasus revealed when she had the chance to breath.

The stallion took a deep breath in order to speak clearly, “You shoulda seen the looks on your faces, like y’all found half a worm in yer apple.”

Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and adopted a mischievous tone, “But…” she started as she trotted merrily towards the farmhouse with Big Macintosh trailing nearby, “If you say it’s okay to do that kind of stuff, we will. We’ll try to stay out of the open fields, though.”

“Yeah, thanks for understandin’, sis,” Big Macintosh said as he passed by the two.

By the time she realized what had just happened, Applejack shook her head and called for them, “Now wait just a gosh darn-” but they were already inside the barn, and it was a bad idea to go after them shouting considering Granny Smith was still asleep, and she still needed to ask Pinkie for something.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked when she regained her bearings.

“Crafty ponies,” Applejack muttered, then spoke up, “Ah’m gonna have to talk to them later.”

Looking back to the still shivering pink pony, Twilight asked, “What do you need to ask Pinkie about anyway?”

Looking back to Pinkie Pie, then the barn, she turned to Twilight and answered, “Well, Pinkie’s earned a bit of a debt from the farm, and Ah don’t think she can pool it in before it’s due.”

The unicorn took a moment to think over Applejack’s words. It was easy to believe Pinkie had money issues, since nopony knew where she spent all of her earnings. Presumably she used it to buy and or make all of her party supplies and contraptions, and given that Pinkie used up her expendable supplies just about every day, such thoughts were justified.

“Yeah, me neither,” Twilight replied.

“So, Ah was thinkin’ that Ah could lighten her load a bit,” the cowgirl continued, “If we’re really doin’ this party, it’s gonna attract ponies who might take the opportunity to sell their foods ‘round here.”

“Ohh, I get what you’re trying to do,” Twilight said with a little delight, “You want to ask Pinkie if you can charge those ponies a little fee for the rights to sell on your property.”

“Well, yeah. Pretty much that,” Applejack confirmed, “But ah don’t want to do such a thing to her party without askin’ permission first. And the sooner Ah get my answer, the sooner Ah can go an’ prepare our own sales.”

Typically, it was a much more honest subject than what Twilight wanted to talk to Pinkie Pie about. Rather than return the favor, though, she decided to help out her friend.

“But…you can already do that,” the unicorn stated.

“Say wha?” Applejack replied.

“Well, yeah. It is your property, after all,” Twilight explained, “As the rightful owner to Sweet Apple Acres, you are legally allowed a portion of other producer’s profits in exchange for setting up a vendor and the right to sell on your grounds.”

Applejack stared for a few seconds before shaking her head, “Ah’m jus’ learnin’ of this now? Applesauce, all those times we held birthday parties an’ weddin’s, we coulda gotten in on some o’ that?”

At the mention of weddings, Twilight’s ears perked up, “Weddings? Ponies have been married here before?”

As far as she knew, every other pony living on the farm wasn’t currently married, or had been in Granny Smith’s case. That may have been what she was talking about, but it wasn’t very likely that Applejack was born at the time.

She nodded in response, “Eyup, ponies sometimes want to get hitched on our farm, an’ we let ‘em, wit’ a price. We charge extra for caterin’, but most o’ the time other ponies come ‘round to sell their own food,” she looked down in pity as she recounted the dozens of weddings they held in the past years.

“Well, now you know, at least,” the unicorn replied with a smile.

The cowgirl nodded with a tip of her hat in agreement, “Yeah, thanks for that,” she then looked back to the farm, “Well, better get started on those treats. The barn ain’t gonna repair itself.”

“Good luck,” Twilight said as Applejack turned back towards the house.

With the earth pony gone, it was now just her and Pinkie Pie. Thankfully, she had spent much more time shaking than talking, so the pony was a bit more tolerable today than most other days. Of course, she was a little worried at what the Pinkie Sense was predicting, since she never shook this much, and for this long. Even more unsettling, it was due to happen tonight, during the party. It was no coincidence it had something to do with Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash going out, but what exactly could come of it that set the Pinkie Sense on the fritz?

Eventually, Pinkie Pie had stopped shaking for the meantime, and promptly slumped on the ground, exhausted from quaking so much. Now that an opportunity was present, the unicorn approached her.

“Urghh, I kinda wish the prediction would pass already,” the pink pony moaned as she looked up from the ground. She sounded almost sick.

“As unique as your ability is, I can only imagine how much of an inconvenience it can be sometimes,” Twilight said as she helped her up.

Pinkie giggled in response, “Almost makes me wish it really was all an elaborate joke to mess with you back then,” she said with a tired smile.

The unicorn giggled back, “Imagine that, even Pinkie’s exhausted from being Pinkie Pie.”

Said pony responded with a loud “HAH!” and left it at that since she didn’t have the breath to laugh.

With that over and done with, Twilight spoke up, “So, are we all set for the party?”

“We should be,” Pinkie responded, her energy slowly returning, “What time is it now?”

Twilight summoned a pocket watch from whatever magic dimension she had stored it in and looked at the time, “It’s about six fifty.”

“Great!” Pinkie said with a hop, “Come help me double check everything, will ya?”

Twilight beamed; this was her specialty, “Absolutely. Let me get a quill and checklist ready…”

---
Ten minutes left…
---

Cloud Chaser was almost ready for the party now. All she had to do was wait for the hairspray to set before going out into the open air. After that long bout with Thunderlane, her mane needed another application of the hairspray, and she needed to look her best if she was going to go another round with a lucky stallion at the party later tonight. Maintaining her mane was a lot of effort, but it emphasized her lifestyle perfectly; it was a beacon to other stallions, signaling that she was always game for a good time. And she enjoyed it.

And then, there was a knock on the door. The pegasus thought it was Thunderlane, coming to escort her to the party like the good ‘friend’ that he was. Not wanting to keep him waiting, Cloud Chaser opened the door, only to find her twin sister waiting instead.

“Oh. Hey Flitter, where have you been?” Cloud Chaser said as she stepped aside to let her into the house.

“Out,” the pegasus simply replied as she looked around the house.

Cloud Chaser knew better than to question Flitter when she was being intently vague. It meant she was not in the mood to be interrogated, evident by her hasty scanning of their abode. Despite this, Cloud Chaser couldn’t help but draw her eyes to the camera that hung around her sister’s neck.

“Uhh, when did you get a camera?” she asked, “You didn’t steal it, did you?”

“No, I’m borrowing it,” Flitter replied as she looked around the corner of the living room, “Why do you think I would steal a camera?”

“Well, you steal things when you’re in a bad mood,” Cloud Chaser pointed out, “Like that one filly’s birth certificate from the hospital. I’m still expecting you to give it back, too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, giving up the search in the living room and looking through the halls, “Hey, do we still have the number of those ponies we called for Thunderlane’s birthday?”

“Oh, check on the fridge, it should be with the others,” her sister replied, and watched her go into the kitchen. Whatever it is that had gotten into Flitter today, it made Cloud Chaser uneasy. She had a tendency to do drastic things when she was upset, and while it was rare, the consequences could be dire, “Umm, Flitter. You coming to the party?”

“Of course. I just need to get a few things…” she said with a mischievous smirk on her face.

---
Nine minutes left…
---

“Oh, darling, the dress suits you perfectly,” Rarity exclaimed as she stepped back from the filly.

Diamond Tiara could only agree with her so much at the moment. The purple and white scheme of the dress accentuated her own similar colors. It was rather ironic that the owner of this dress was one of the fillies she liked to bully often, but because of her relationship to Rarity, she mercifully picked on Sweetie Belle the least. It was even more ironic that she was wearing her dress put on her by the fashionista herself, but to Diamond Tiara, the dress represented a prison, or a torture chamber to be exact.

She’d be wearing it to a party soon. And if the dress was ruined in any way, she’d suffer consequences worse than the time she had to hop over pails of water wearing bunny ears.

“You really bring the white out in it,” Silver Spoon added onto Rarity’s comments.

Despite the situation she was in, Diamond Tiara found it in her to respond to the praise she was receiving, “Well, I guess it does go well with my tiara, does it not? I look even more like a princess with it on.”

Rarity chuckled, though it sounded forced, “Alright girls, that’s enough for now. We have a party to go to.”

At this, Diamond Tiara’s pride turned to dread, knowing what awaited her at the party, “Umm, don’t you think we should take some time to get ready? I mean, I’m not the only one who should get to look as pretty as I do.”

Rarity chuckled again, a little forced as well, “Well dear, a quick application of make up shouldn’t take us long,” she said as a small block box levitated in from a nearby dresser, “A little blush, some eye shadow, and a quick comb over, and I should be all set for the party.”

As Rarity brought out the delicate tools, Diamond Tiara thought of a way to stall a bit longer. Her fear greatened when she saw that Rarity was almost done with her make up, applying blush, eye shadow, and combing her mane all at once with her magic.

And then an idea struck her. Silver Spoon got her into this mess anyway, so…

“Uhh, Lady Rarity?” the pink filly spoke up, “Silver Spoon wanted some make up tips from you.”

“I do?” she asked in response, then corrected herself after a convincing elbow to her side, “I mean, I do! You have such a lovely shade of blue for your eye shadow.”

The unicorn knew this was just another attempt to stall for time, but she couldn’t help but feel admired for her work. After all, make up was more than just face painting and sparkles.

“Well, I’m glad you appreciate it Silver Spoon,” Rarity said, letting a bit of vanity showing, “Would you like for me to find a color for you?”

“Would I?” Silver Spoon said, hooves together and stars in her eyes.

As they spoke, Diamond Tiara breathed a small sigh of relief.

‘Just a little longer,’ she thought.

---
Eight minutes left…
---

The little filly checked under the nearby potted plant to assure that the key was there. Content, Ruby locked the door to their house and walked away in the direction of the farm.

“What’s that drunk up to?” the pinkish filly thought out loud, saying it as if it was a common title than an accursed name.

Looking around, she saw that other ponies where also on their way to the farm. Ruby recognized one foal in particular and went to approach him.

“Hey Featherweight,” she called out as she trotted towards the skinny colt, “Going to the party too?”

The lanky pegasus nodded in reply.

“That’s nice. Have you seen my mom anywhere?” she asked, not in the least bit worried.

Featherweight shook his head.

“Just wondering. If she hasn’t broken anything yet, that’s good,” she said as she looked forward, “She’ll definitely be at the party, though.”

As they walked down the path towards the farm, they spotted a colt and his mother leaving their own house. The two foals recognized them, one of them a blue colt with a bandage around his mouth.

“Shady, what happened to you?” Ruby asked as they approached.

“Ditzy happened to him,” his mother, Linky, replied, “He’s okay now, just with one less tooth.”

“Oh! You finally lost your baby tooth?” the unicorn filly asked.

Shady nodded in reply. He was still capable of speaking, it would just come out as a mumbling mess due to the band and cotton in his mouth.

“He still wants to go to the party after all that,” Linky said, “He doesn’t want to miss out on the chance to hang out with his friends.”

“That’d be us,” Ruby beamed while Featherweight smiled, “You think it’d be okay if he walked with us to the farm?”

“Of course!” Linky smiled, “I have some ponies to meet with before the party anyway. Keep him away from tetherballs, will you?”

“Yes ma’am,” the unicorn filly replied, Featherweight giving a salute.

“You’re such good foals. Take care now,” she said as she walked towards another house.

With Shady left in their care, the unicorn looked between the two colts she was now with.

“So,” Ruby started, turning to the blue colt, “You can’t talk, huh?”

Shady nodded with a hum.

“And you,” she turned to Featherweight, “You don’t like talking, right?”

Featherweight replied with a bashful shrug.

Ruby then looked forward and took a deep breath, “Peace and quiet. My favorite noise.”

And so, the three foals resumed their way towards the apple farm for the impending party.

---
Seven minutes left…
---

“Really? A party, right now?” Angel said from his miniature newspaper.

“…” Gummy repeated.

Folding the paper, Angel set it down on the table, “What’s the occasion?”

“…” Gummy answered.

“Right, because we don’t get to have one that often,” the bunny said, placing a paw on his chin, “Opal’s place, right?”

“…” Gummy confirmed.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I think she’s still mad about that whole fat thing,” Angel said thoughtfully, taking a moment to check his phone.

“…” Gummy said as bluntly as he could.

Angel scoffed, “Yeah she would,” then he put the phone away, “Will Tank be there at least? I’ll need a shield.”

“…” Gummy said rather proudly.

“That’s smart. The guy takes a while with everything,” he said before taking a sip from his cappuccino, “At least you remembered to notify him first this time.”

“…” Gummy said as he recalled the memory.

“He wouldn’t let us live it down for weeks,” Angel said, and then a DING went off in the room, “Oh, one sec.”

The bunny got up from his sofa and hopped over to the microwave. He opened it to reveal a piping hot bowl of oatmeal with tiny apple slices and a pinch of cinnamon decorating the top. He carefully removed the bowl from the microwave and placed it on the nearby table, closing the door with his foot.

“So anyways,” he continued as he sat back down on his sofa, “Yeah, I’ll go. Should I bring a movie?”

“…” Gummy stated.

“It won’t be a bootleg this time, ok?” Angel said, slightly annoyed, “How was I supposed to know the rat would let the camera slip during the whole premier?”

“…” Gummy joked.

The bunny rolled his eyes, “I’ll pick something out from my bluray library.”

“…” Gummy said, satisfied.

“See you at the party,” Angel said, as he started making quick work of his expertly prepared oatmeal.

---
Six minutes left…
---

“Derpy! Did you leave yet?” an orange mare called out from below.

Within a few seconds, a filly unicorn came out from the second story apartment in response. Dinky looked down to see the familiar faces of Carrot Top and Noi greeting her.

“Oh. Hey you two!” she greeted with a wave, “We’re about to leave right now. Derpy’s just getting some stuff together.”

“Noi told me about what happened,” Carrot Top said with a bit of worry, “I know how she gets when she gets ponies hurt, so I came by to check on her.”

Dinky smiled at how much her friend cared, “Nothing to worry about! Derpy’s feeling better than ever!”

“Huh,” Carrot Top uttered, “Maybe it’s having a reverse effect on her now. That’s bad.”

“What’s she doing?” Noi called out.

Before Dinky could answer, Derpy exited from her door to reveal a wagon with a table cloth hiding its contents. It was just an ordinary red wagon, so she couldn’t just tow it into the sky. Even if she could, she wasn’t very good at handling things in the air.

“It’s a secret!” Derpy exclaimed as Dinky went to lock the door.

“You’re not planning to hurt more ponies for your entertainment, are you?” the orange mare asked.

“Not today!” the pegasus said with a silly smile.

Carrot Top breathed a sigh of relief as Noi eyed the wagon excitedly.

“You two going to the party right now?” Dinky asked, coming back.

“Yeah, we just had to stop by,” Noi replied.

“Want to come with us?” Carrot Top asked.

“Of coarse!” Derpy exclaimed as she carefully trotted down the steps, Dinky following shortly after.

When she came down without burning anything, Noi approached her with a bright look on her face, “What’s in the wagon? Is it a surprise?”

Derpy shook her head and said, “Nope it’s a…uhh,” but she let the answer fall as she realized that the filly was right, “Oh. I guess it is a surprise.”

“Let’s hope it’s what it actually is instead of,” Carrot Top then shivered at a memory, “Gasoline or something.”

“Nah. They took out everything combustible from our house after that,” Dinky replied.

“Let’s go to the party now!” Noi spoke up, shaking her front hooves in the air excitedly, “I want to see the surprise!”

“Good idea,” Carrot Top said, “Would you like to join us?”

With a nod from both ponies, Derpy and Dinky made their way to the farm with the farmer and eccentric filly.

---
Five minutes left…
---

“There you are. Of course you’d be on your way already,” Linky stated, joining the crowd.

“We’re on a mission, after all,” Lyra said as if it was obvious, “This party is a big opportunity for us.”

“I’m supposed to be sleeping early for work tomorrow,” Cloud Kicker said openly as she hovered nearby, “But the safety of RariBow is a little bit more important right now.”

“You know that’s not real, right?” Minuette commented, “RainbowShy is a much more realistic relationship than whatever you just called your thing.”

“I thought it was FlutterDash?” Lyra said to the blue unicorn.

“Oh. I thought RainbowShy sounded better,” she said with a shrug.

Cloud Kicker simply laughed in response, “Keep dreaming, Mini. RariBow actually has a possibility of being real, unlike her and that yellow one.”

“Are you girls still arguing over thought?” Linky spoke up, bringing the attention to her, “As a marriage counselor, I can tell you that TwiDash is a much more concrete relationship than those other ones you all mentioned.”

At this, the three mares simply stared at the light blue pony.

“TwiDash?” Lyra spoke up, “Sounds lazy.”

“I think TwiBow sounds better,” Cloud Kicker commented.

“Ooh! Let’s call it RainbowSpark!” Minuette chimed.

At this, the other mares nodded in agreement at the name. A little annoyed, Linky spoke up.

“I don’t care what it’s called. I’ll call it however I want,” the mare said, shutting them up, “What I’m trying to say is that my opinion is better than yours, and you should all realize it now.”

“Whoa, watch out everypony,” Cloud Kicker pretended to be taken back, “We got a badass over here.”

“Don’t sound like one, Linky,” Lyra said with an intentional roll of her eyes, “We’re all entitled to our thoughts, but you don’t need to go and act like yours is superior.”

The light blue mare twitched in response, “But, that’s exactly what you were doing just now!”

“Learn to take in a bit of subtlety,” Minuette responded.

“But my job is analyzing and fixing relationships,” Linky exclaimed, “Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Linky, you’re doing it wrong,” Cloud Kicker noted, “That thing you do when you’re talking, it’s wrong.”

“I think she’s trying to say that you don’t need to put so much effort into subjective matters anyway,” Lyra said, “No point in trying to prove something that nopony knows about yet.”

Linky said nothing as they trotted on in the crowd on their way to the party. The crowd itself was steadily growing the closer they got to the farm, and one had to wonder just how many ponies Pinkie invited for this one. The easier question would be, who didn’t she invite?

Eventually, somepony broke the silence, “Anyway, RainbowShy is a much more likely relationship, and let me tell you why you’re wrong,” Minuette said to Cloud Kicker.

“Bring it!” she replied, as every pony else in the surrounding area began to distance themselves from the group.

---
Four minutes left…
---

Blues didn’t expect to find himself in charge with a bunch of foals. Not that he didn’t mind, it was just an occupation he wasn’t expecting. After that embarrassing incident in Bonbon’s shop, he was more than happy to escort the kids somewhere else. However, he hadn’t seen Caramel again since then, and he was getting a bit worried.

His worry had to wait, though. As they neared the farm, one of the colts recognized a nearby stallion.

“Heyyy,” Snips said with a slight hum, “That guy looks kinda familiar.”

When the foals turned to look, Archer seemed to recognize him as well.

“That’s Braeburn!” she exclaimed, the stallion looking in their direction in response, “I didn’t know he was in Ponyville!”

“Wait, you know him?” Blues asked curiously.

“He lives in Appleloosa. We were there, remember?” Archer explained.

Blues didn’t remember a lot of ponies, but he definitely remembered the festivities he took part in that week.

“Ohhh, now I do,” he said and turned to the other stallion, “You know my little sister?”

“Oh, howdy,” Braeburn replied, “You must be the pony she spoke a lot about.”

Feeling bashful, Blues mumbled a bit to his sister, “Archer, what have I told you about telling ponies about me?”

“Oh, sorry,” she replied, then brightened up, “But I couldn’t help it! Braeburn’s such a cool pony!”

“Yeah!” Snips chimed in support, “He’s a best friend of the buffalo!”

“Wait, you went to Appleloosa too?” Blues asked the short unicorn.

He nodded in response, “We have a relative over there who told us about the ceremonies. The only bad part about it was that Snails couldn’t come with us.”

“They said I was too much trouble to look after,” the tall unicorn said with droopy ears.

“I know that feel,” Blues muttered with an involuntary roll of his eyes.

“So tell me, Bluey,” Braeburn spoke up, then toned his enthusiasm down, “Uh, I can call you that, right?”

“No,” the stallion replied flatly.

“Alrighty then, you takin’ care of these foals tonight, Bluenotes?” he asked.

The blue stallion groaned a bit at his other supposed nickname, “Just until they get to the party. I’m going to be a bit busy with other important things while I’m there. And don’t call me Bluenotes, please.”

The apple stallion hummed for a bit, “Okay then, Jazzy,” the other stallion groaned a little more, “Anythin’ fancy you in particular? It’s a mare, innit?”

Blues’ eyes widened at this, even though it’s not what he had in mind.

“It is, innit!” Braeburn said, noticing his reaction.

Archer giggled, “He always gets like this, especially when Pin-”

Not wanting to deal with this, Blues said quickly and desperately, “I’ll give everypony who shuts up about this five bits.”

Archer was quick to capitalize on this, “Make it ten in my case!”

“Seven.”

“Deal!”

The blue stallion breathed a sigh of relief as Archer relished in her extra funds she would be receiving soon. A few moments of silence and Braeburn found it safe enough to talk, but a foal beat him to it.

“Mr. Noteworthy,” Pipsqueak spoke up, “Isn’t it bad for you to hide your feelings like that?”

“It’s not something ponies need to be concerned about,” Blues simply replied, “The less they know, the better. And call me Blues in the company of others.”

“But mister,” Pipsqueak persisted, “They’re only trying to help. It’s clear that you wouldn’t ever act on your own accord without help, and the sooner you act, the better it will be for you.”

Instead of taking the advice of a colt, a yearling even, to heart, the blue stallion simply replied, “You’re not getting your five bits if you keep that up.”

At this, Pipsqueak decided to drop the subject, for now.

“Eh, wouldn’t it make more sense to double his share?” Snips spoke up.

“You shut up too or you’re not getting any,” Blues repeated, Snips complaining in response.

Now that it was safe to speak, Braeburn did so, “Anyways, you don’t mind if Ah tag along for the meantime, right?”

Since leaving for the farm, mares have been silently trailing him. As he made his small talk with the blue stallion, he noticed that the other mares had distanced themselves a bit. Perhaps it had something to do with the way he was getting friendly with Blues. Whatever it was, he had to keep this stallion company for his own good, and let those mares keep thinking whatever they were thinking.

“Eh, sure,” Blues replied, “Tell me a bit about Appleloosa. Archer doesn’t talk much about it.”

“Absolutely,” the apple stallion replied cheerfully.

---
Three minutes left…
---

“You’re falling behind, Rick,” Spitfire called out to the baby dragon.

“Gimme a break, I have short legs,” Spike called back, “And my name’s Spike.”

The pegasus simply rolled her eyes in response. They had just left the edge of town, and they were closing in on the border of the farm. Spitfire was anxious to get there as soon as possible, not only to fulfill her mission, but also to meet with Braeburn again before departing. They’d have been there by now had the mare gave the dragon a ride, but Spike was adamant about not needing help.

“Just let me carry you on my back. I doubt you’re heavy,” the pegasus mare said, leaning downward for emphasis.

“No way,” the baby dragon returned, carrying the scroll with difficulty, “You’re probably just going to kidnap me, or trick me into making off with the scroll.”

Spitfire groaned and stood straight up, waiting for Spike to make up the distance between them. The baby dragon couldn’t possibly tote the huge scroll all the way to the farm, yet that’s what he was doing.

“You know, if you’d just let me-”

“No!” Spike interrupted, “I carried this thing all the way from Town Hall to the library, I can carry it to the…whoa…whoaaa!”

The dragon stuttered a bit as his balance was slightly off. He teetered on his feet for a bit as Spitfire watched in amusement before he righted himself. Spike then straightened himself up to salvage any semblance of professionalism he had before leaving his bed this morning.

Noticing Spitfire’s smirk, he coughed, “Uhh, like I said, I can carry it to the farm, by myself, with no help.”

The pegasus chuckled, “Well, let’s hope you don’t collapse before we get there then,” she then turned around, “Now come on, we’re literally running out of daylight.”

Spike sighed and balanced the scroll in his arms again, “Yes, ma’am.”

---
Two minutes left…
---

Slowly trotting into the kitchen, she looked to see her granddaughter carefully breaking eggs into a bowl. Having woken up properly from her nap, she set out to see what the end of the day could bring to her. She found most of the house empty, along with the sound of pipes running; somepony was using the shower. A shower at this time of day, she understood, but she didn’t quite get why Applejack was running back and forth between bowls of batter and boiling pots. It seemed like an awful lot of trouble for dinner later on.

“What in the hay are you doin’ here?” Granny spoke.

Applejack turned to see her grandma looking at the sudden mess in the kitchen, “Oh, evenin’ Granny. Just gettin’ some cookin’ done for the party.”

“Party?” her memory was occasionally cloudy, but at least she remembered that from earlier, “Oh, that one. An’ you’re cookin’ because…?”

Recalling the little headache from earlier, she sighed, “Pinkie installed some ‘windows’ in the barn. Now we gotta work up some bits to fix them.”

Instead of being upset like Applejack had been, Granny smiled, “Ahh, we needed some windows in that stuffy ol’ barn.”

A little confused, Applejack stuttered, “N-no, Granny. It don’t need windows. It’s a barn.”

Her common sense was also a bit hazy today, “…oh, right.”

Recalling that there was a party going on, and for who, Granny Smith couldn’t stay upset. She trotted up to her working daughter and gave her a surprise hug from the side, “Ah’m proud of ya, AJ.”

She wasn’t sure why she was being congratulated, but she took it, “Uhh, thanks. Ah guess. It ain’t easy, though.”

“Ah understand,” she smiled, “It can be a bit of a hoofful, Ah should know.”

Cooking wasn’t that hard, admittedly, but Granny Smith had taught her just about everything when it came to working in the kitchen, “Well, Ah could always use some advice whenever you can give me any.”

“Ohh, trust me, when the time comes, you’ll get it,” she patted her shoulders and turned away, “Don’t let anythin’ come between you two, no matter what they say.”

Applejack wasn’t sure who she was referring to, but it could be Granny Smith uttering nonsense once again, “Ah’ll keep that in mind.”

The elder pony left the kitchen to let her granddaughter work. A few seconds passed before Granny Smith came back to the kitchen, looking very confused.

“Why did Ah jus’ see Rainbow Dash come out of our shower with Big Mac?”

---
One minute left…
---

“Inspiring wall paint, check,” Twilight said, finishing the last item on the list, “Well, that just about covers everything.”

“Phew, good,” Pinkie exhaled, “I can’t believe that took ten whole minutes!”

Twilight smirked, “You’re the one who decorated everything.”

“Well, duh! I’m in charge of this party,” the pink pony exclaimed proudly, “All of my parties have to be the best.”

Looking back to the barn, Twilight looked over all of the decorations and colors covering the whole thing. The barn was barely recognizable under all of that party.

“But I don’t see why this party is any different,” Twilight stated.

Pinkie Pie just shrugged, “I just had a lot more time for this one than I normally did. I usually put party stuff everywhere until it’s actually time to party.”

Twilight sighed in relief. Now that the decorating had been officially completed, she could get on with what she came here for.

“Ok, Pinkie. Now there’s one last thing we have to cover before the party starts,” the unicorn said.

Before she could start, however, somepony tapped on her shoulder. She turned to see a pony couple, one holding an invitation in his hoof.

“Are we early for the party?” a brown and black stallion asked, a pink and yellow mare next to him, both of them with cherries for cutie marks.

Twilight looked past them to see a growing line of ponies here for the party. Since each one had been given an invitation, they’d be needed to confirm their presence, which meant nopony got in without showing it. That also meant that, if Flitter wanted to put her plan into motion, she wasn’t getting through her and Pinkie Pie.

Perfect.

“Uhh, you were saying?” Pinkie chimed, hoping to deal with any last minute tasks before she started shaking again.

“Oh, right,” Twilight replied, turning back to the pink mare, “We need to keep track of everypony with invitations, to make sure everypony invited got in.”

“Oh! Good idea!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Good thing the party’s about to start, and just about everypony’s here now.”

The unicorn nodded, and then turned to the pair and the growing line behind them, “Alright everypony. Please present your invitations before entering the barn.”

She summoned her spontaneous clock, tracking the movements of the arms down to the second.

“The party will start in…six seconds,” Twilight said as she watched the needle inch closer to seven o’ clock, “Five, four, three, two…one!”

---
And so it begans, the greatest party Ponyville will ever see. What are we to expect from such a gathering of colorful and unique characters? Though we have seen scuffles and mishaps, it is safe to assume that nothing will go wrong tonight. Yes, no matter how insane things get, they cannot possibly escalate to unreal situations. Absolutely nothing will go wrong tonight, that can be accounted for.

Comments

[Zemious]

Aw, that feel when you know its coming to an end, as all good things do.

Very good chapter. Even though the fic is about Mac n' Rainbow. I feel you shine when you're writing about the background/ minor characters. Spitfires inclusion should be interesting.

Also 30k? Woowhee, can you really top that?

[Linkonpark100]

I wanna go to this party!

[Sound Wave]

Dis is gunna be gewd

I loved the bucking part XD

[Poco]

30k words? nice. Didn't expect Spitfire, and from what she said, it can be expected that a wild Princess will appear. Probably Luna. This party is gonna be crazy.

[Infinite Carnage]

forums.playfire.com/_proxy/?url=http%3A%2F%2Foyster.ignimgs.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwww.ign.com%2F3732%2F2011%2F04%2FSo-it-begins-the-great-shitstorm-of-our-time-268x300.jpg&hmac=2a9239e1a70a4f80646295e694bc5997
I feel that this picture will help sum up whats ahead

[Toxxicate]

This is like an in depth look at how bat-shit crazy the fandom is.

[cs95]

Good chapter. And damn 30k words!

[Rainbow87dash]

The pegasus chuckled, “Heh, that silly pony.”

Strange I was just listening to that song

[youtube=inaOz64_Q5k]

[djthomp]

This is going to be the most epic party ever.

I really love the occasional MacDash parts of this. Nice to see that being open about their relationship is already paying off for them.

[Larger Seagull]

Would I be accurate in my conclusion that this misunderstanding is the fault of Rarity and Twilight.

Love how you poked fun at certain Dashshipping pairs. Whilst I do enjoy some stories regarding these pairs, it's still hilarious to see ponified versions of debates Bronies will often have.

Noticed a couple mistakes in one section.

“What’s going on inn this thread?!” Ditzy Doo suddenly asked as she flopped onto the table from the sky.

The clumsy pegasus looked amongst her new company, wearing what appeared to be a traffic cone on her head. Other than that, she didn’t look too out of the ordinary.

“Oh, hey Ditzy,” Minuette greeted as Lyra was thankful that she was quick to grab her shake before it could’ve been knocked away, “Need something?”

“Just looking around to sea if I mist anypony,” she said as she rolled onto her back, “The party’s in about two hours, and I gotta make shore everypony’s invited.”

“Oh yeah, the party,” Linky said, “Yeah Pinkie gave me mine a while ago.”

“I didn’t get one,” Lyra pointed out. Suddenly, Ditzy threw a letter in her direction. Lyra caught the envelope with her magic, but then her haysake began to leak from her cup through a horizontal line, indicating it had been sliced through cleanly, “My shake!”

“Sorry about that,” the screwy eyed pony apologized as she got on all fours, “They always due that when I hand them out.”

“Ditzy, get your butt out of my face,” Cloud Kicker exclaimed from behind.

“Oopsie,” she apologized further as she took to the sky, “Sorry for causing such a mess.”

Carrot Top shook her head, “Nah, it’s fine. You just can’t help it, that’s all.”

“So does everypony else here have their invites, or are we going to have more of Ditzy’s bubbles in our faces?” Minuette asked.

With a resounding nod from everypony at the table, save for Lyra who was mourning the loss of her drink, Ditzy Doo beamed.

“Aisle see you all later at the party, then,” the pegasus said as she flew off, right into the sign of a shop.

Missing letters are green and misused words are red

[Deltathewolf]

Oh please, everyone knows RainbowTom is the most likely pair.

-Delta-

[Verbose Soubriquet]

And now I support Thunderlane/Cheerilee.
Seriously, that was the best part of this chapter.

[Jake8765]

Oh Celestia, what did RD and Big Mac do in the shower?

[BlackM]

1848312 All I can say is that the next chapter is expected to have even more words than this one.

1848459 Any excuse to be with ponies is good enough.

1848646 Good for us, bad for them.

1848749 Who knows what she's trying to accomplish.

1848839 The image breaks for me, but I agree with the url.

1849018 I can certainly say that that wasn't intentional.

1849681 Dare me to do more?

1850422 It's Applejack second name, after all.

1850498 It was cute to write.

1850500 Let's be honest, this fic is ripe with satire. As for the errors, I don't understand what you're showing to me. It looks fine.

1851657 *insert hardness pun here*

1851789 That was made before I discovered Thundarity. And now I'm conflicted.

1857648 Read Fun to get a good idea.

Thanks for all the comments, guys. You'll be seeing a new chapter some time later. Don't know when.

Until then.

[Rainbow87dash]

So her name is Applejack silly pony?

[Zweiterversuch]

Dude....I freaking love you.
This fic is a master piece! One of the best, if not the best fic of it's kind here.
I don't know what I should give you...sparkly eyes, moustaches, laughing dashies...
They all just don't express my feelings right now, so I'll give you:

An evangelion motorcycle. Please print it out and play with it to your hearts content.

bimg1.mlstatic.com/gilera-vc200r-deportiva-eva-01-evangelion_MLA-F-2824347997_062012.jpg

[Larger Seagull]

1857952
My bad. Perhaps, it would be better if I actually stated what the corrections should be

“What’s going on inn this thread?!” Ditzy Do suddenly asked as she flopped onto the table from the sky.
Inn should be in and there are supposed to be two "o"s in Doo
“Just looking around to sea if I mist anypony,” she said as she rolled onto her back, “The party’s in about two ours, and I gotta make shore everypony’s invited.”
Sea should be see, mist should be missed, ours should be hours, shore should be sure
Lyra caught the envelope with her magic, but then her haysake began to leak from her cup through a horizontal line
Unless Lyra is Japanese, haysake should be hayshake
“They always due that when I hand them out.”
Due should be do
Ditzy Do beamed.
There should be to "o"s in Doo
"Aisle see you all later at the party, then,” the pegasus said as she flew off, right into the sign of a shop.
Aisle should be I'll

[Verbose Soubriquet]

1857952
Spike might have something to say about that.
But then again, according to this fandom, two characters in the same scene together equals shipping.

[Toxxicate]

1859186
Dude, I think you missed the point completely. Ditzy's dialogue is riddled with puns and mistakes. It's intentional to accentuate her derpyness.

But I'll give you props on the haysake one. Even I missed that.

[BlackM]

1860181 1859186 Toxxicate gets it. But, uhh, I totally missed the hayshake typo. We learned something from this.

Fun fact, Derpy/Ditzy's dialogue problem was going to be poked at during her scene with Pinkie, where she corrects her on one word's proper spelling, even though they're homophones. I had meant to include this, but I forgot and I just remembered it now. Is it too late to make the joke? I hope not.

1857984 Sure why not.

1859033 I will once I get more ink for my printer.

1860140 That's just begging to be parodied.

[Larger Seagull]

1860348 1860181
Ah, I see. Well thanks for clearing that up

With how quickly this misunderstanding was cleared up, one can only hope the ones involving RD and BM will be cleared up as quickly at the party

No, it's not to late to put more 4th wall jokes. It never is when Pinkie's involved.

[Flare]

You glourious bastard, this is one of the best things i have ever read, I love how you get like the whole population of ponyville into this fic and everypony ads some kind of hillarity to it. GLOURIOUS JUST GLOURIOUS

[LightningDust]

Here's my opinion on this particular story...

24.media.tumblr.com/d8b8b9c2e0d9628c4ec74832e701cf63/tumblr_mh3g2ttH4N1s3k5tfo1_500.png

[BlackM]

2008825 I don't get it.

[LightningDust]

2009821 It's a Spongebob reference, no big deal.

[BlackM]

2158267 The things are written in pencil. Everything else is marked by color.

As for the white crayon, they're not as smart as we give them credit for.

[RadBunny]

"Is every adult here a child at heart?"
Sums up my feelings about the characters in the fic....seems a bit too....off the wall. Still well-written and amusing, just not my slice of cake. The other RD&Mac fic you wrote seems to be more to my liking.
and a bit too focused on sex....'shrug'

Still amusing nonetheless!
-Radbunny.

[SwaZ_BlackouT]

dat last chapter has to be the longest chapter on the website and maybe on earth

[Rainbow87dash]

This needs 10cc's of update, stat!

[dynamite_rave]

Hey, curious if this story will be updated? Over a year? Wow. How can you leave this story with that kinda cliffhanger?

[BlackM]

3792048 A year? What are you talking abou-

I may have let time slip away from me. Hold on, let me get my time machine warmed up.

[dynamite_rave]

3793291 Haha. I hope you pick this up! I finally got all the way through it in one setting and thought: Man, this is actually really hilarious, I hope I can see the end of thi-- wait, WTF, there's no end!? INCOMPLETE? OVER A YEAR? AW-COMEON.

... please finish this?

[BlackM]

3793307 It is definitely in my list of things I need to do, but I just haven't had the time too. Things are rough on my end, and if I try to rush it in my current state, it'll be in poor condition compared to the rest of the story.

A little time is the best thing you can give me for now.

[dynamite_rave]

3793337 I look forward to reading it when you do! I'm just glad to see you're still alive. Sadly I have so much fan fiction that I've been watching over the past 2 years that fall off the planet because the authors get bored of ponies or what not. I wouldn't care if it wasn't SO DANG GOOD. I almost prefer some of the fan fiction stories to the episodes depending on who writes them and what the story is. It's the excuse I can give my wife about not 'reading enough books' in the real world. ;)

Good luck to you. I'll keep it on my watch list.

[Bronzedragon]

I'm cleaning out the stories that I have been keeping track of starting with the oldest. Could you please tell me if this story is still active?

[ROBCakeran53]

I must say, this has been quite the enjoyable read. It's so sad to see that it hasn't updated in so long, but well, compared to my track record it's fairly normal.

I'll follow it, in the hopeful chance that it one day comes back to life. Your writing and characterization is well put together, as well as entertaining.