Country Mouse, City Mouse: A Love Story

by Jade Ring

10

The two girls peeked over the edge of the loft in which they were hiding. Twenty feet below, two three year old girls toddled along, looking this way and that.

“Are we safe up here?” Rarity asked, her voice a low whisper.

Applejack nodded, causing her father’s Stetson, stolen from the hat rack while he took his afternoon nap, to tilt haphazardly. “Mama tanned Apple Bloom’s hide the last time she tried to climb up here.”

The two friends watched as their respective little sisters gave one last look around the barn, gave each other a shrug, and wandered back into the July sunshine.

Rarity and Applejack finally relaxed, sighing in relief and collapsing back against the tall stacks of hay that filled the loft. “And I thought havin’ one sibling was irritatin.’” The orange girl muttered.

Rarity giggled as she pulled a stray bit of straw from her hair. “At least this one’s another girl. Imagine if you had to deal with two boys.” She stuck out her tongue in obvious distaste. “I honestly don’t understand how you can put up with the one you have.”

Applejack laughed and resumed her game of tossing her Pa’s hat as high as she was able and catching it on her head on the way down. “Mac’s not bad. I mean, him bein’ my brother makes him a mite more tolerable than Time Turner or Sandalwood.”

Rarity gasped as Applejack’s words sparked in her brain. “Oh! I completely forgot to tell you!”

“Tell me what?”

“Last week, Derpy pulled me aside and told me she thought Time Turner was cute!”

Applejack gaped at her. “You mean she likes him? Like, like-likes him?”

Rarity nodded frantically. She made a dramatic show of looking around before lowering her voice to an unnecessarily conspiratorially whisper. “She even said that she wanted to kiss him.”

Applejack stared at her best friend in shock. Someone actually wanted to kiss Time Turner? Time Turner?! The lanky math-obsessed boy’s image filled her head and she shuddered. “Derpy ain’t the only one. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy have been getting’ all giggly around the boys, too.” She again returned to her game of toss-the-hat. “I just don’t get it. Y’know, my Mama actually told me the other day that I was gonna start lookin’ at boys like that real soon?”

“Blech.” Rarity shook her head in disbelief. “Boys are just so… ugh.” She racked her brain for the best term. “Uncouth.”

“Bless you.”

“What?”

“You sneezed.”

Rarity bit back her reply and instead stuck out her hand. “Let’s make a promise, shall we?”

Applejack caught the hat and placed it back on her head in one swift motion. “What kind of promise?”

“That we’ll never ever entertain such silly ideas as kissing boys.”

Applejack grinned. “Yeah! We don’t need no gross boys. Not now, not ever.” She looked at her own palm, spat into it, and held it out.

Rarity’s own hand retracted a bit as she pursed her lips. “Ugh… mustwe?”

“Yes.” Applejack glared at her solemnly, her voice grave. “It ain’t for real unless ya spit. I saw Mac and his friends do it.”

Rarity considered carefully. Mac was two years older than they were. His worldly knowledge surely exceeded their own. If this was truly how older people sealed their deals, then it was simply unavoidable. She slowly brought her own palm to her mouth, hesitated, then daintily spit. The hard part done, she returned her hand to the original position.

The two girls clasped their damp palms together and shook. Once, twice, three times. The pact sealed, they quickly released their grip on the other and wiped their respective hands off on their shirts.

Applejack peeked over the edge of the loft, checking to ensure their sisters had not returned. “Ya wanna head to the club house? Granny found some of her old dolls in the attic.”

Rarity sniffed as she tossed her hair in imitation of the models she watched on television. “I’m sure their fashion is woefully out of date.”

The pair giggled as they started for the ladder. They were just about to start down when they heard footsteps approaching the barn. They froze, sure that their pursuers had returned with back-up of the adult variety, ready to force them to include the young children in their games. Quick as a flash, they bolted back to their hiding place and peered back over the ledge to watch.

Instead of their annoying younger siblings, it was Macintosh Apple who strolled into the barn, a barrel of apples perched on his already broadening shoulders. He lowered the barrel to the ground and removed his shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from his face.

Applejack rolled her eyes as she made to climb down once again. “C’mon, it’s just Mac. He won’t rat us out to…” She trailed off when she noticed that Rarity wasn’t moving.

The pale girl was frozen as she looked at the older boy, the slightest hint of a blush in her cheeks. She took in his tall frame, his developing muscles, the way the air made his short hair bounce slightly…

“Rares?” Applejack waved her hand in the other girls face. “What are you…?” She followed Rarity’s line of sight and finally saw what she was looking at. She exhaled irritably and snapped her fingers in Rarity’s face. “Hey!”

Rarity looked at her sharply, as though she’d just come out of a trance or deep sleep. “What?” She wilted beneath her best friend’s glare and smiled in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Applejack just shook her head as she started down the ladder.

As Rarity made to follow, she strained her neck in the hopes at catching another peek at the eldest Apple sibling. Confusion raced through her mind at the sudden on-rush of feelings when she’d looked down on him. How could she possibly explain to Applejack that, pact or no pact, she was still very fond of apples?

And Mac, she was just beginning to realize, was a very cute Apple.