Chapter 32: The Rumpy Road Home
Applejack wound up taking the overnight train back to Ponyville, mostly because she couldn’t look Shining Armor in the eyes. She stepped into the private car she’d gotten and looked around; two beds, a lantern, and that was about it. Oh, and the whole place smelled like stale laundry.
Not like she’d expected a lot for ten bits anyway.
“Sit down,” she told Sketchy, gesturing at one of the beds as she sat down on the other. “It’s about time we had a long talk.”
Sketchy sat down opposite her. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Well,” she said after a moment, “I guess I should start with why I think Big Mac told you to go to the Crystal Empire.” She tried, and failed, to look him in the eyes. “Uh, you know what sarcasm is, right?”
“Yes,” Sketchy said. “It’s when an individual says something that is the opposite of their actual thoughts, though I’ve never been very good at detecting it.”
“I noticed,” Applejack muttered. “Anyway, Mac was likely being sarcastic. He thought you and I had, uh …” She cleared her throat. “Well, I was feeling a bit down when I got home the night before, and he thought I wouldn’t want to see you and told you to go away. He never meant for you to literally go to the Crystal Empire looking for me.”
Sketchy sagged a little, eyes drifting to the floor. “Oh. I thought I was getting better at reading tones.”
“You are,” Applejack said quickly, “but you can’t expect to get perfect overnight.”
“I suppose not,” Sketchy said, but he still didn’t look up.
Applejack chewed on the inside of her cheek. She hated to see him so being so hard on himself. “Why’d you come all the way to the Empire to look for me, anyway?”
“I …” Sketchy sighed. “It was just a stupid thought.”
She took his hoof in hers. “What thought?”
Sketchy stared at her hooves in surprise for a moment. “I- never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“Sketchy,” Applejack said, “just tell me.”
He seemed to shrink down into his mattress a little. “I was going to suggest using the apartment in Canterlot for overnight business trips, rather than moving there full-time.” He slowly but firmly pulled his hoof away from hers. “As I said, it doesn’t matter. I thought our date my last evening in Ponyville had been wonderful for both of us, and so I went to your house to suggest a way that we could continue to see each other daily, and I went to the Crystal Empire because I didn’t want to give up on that thought, but I must have misunderstood something if you were upset when you got home from our last date.”
Applejack’s heart leaped in her chest. “No, I had a lot of fun with you, but …” There was no helping it. She took a deep breath. Time to fess up. “But I couldn’t help being sad that you were leaving in the morning.” Her cheeks were burning, but she pressed on. “I wanted you to stay.”
That made Sketchy look up, and for the first time she could recall, his eyes locked on hers. “You did?”
She swallowed. “Y-yeah.” Her eyes fell. “I didn’t want to say anything. I mean, it’s so selfish of me, asking you to stay in a small town when you could be making tons more money in Canterlot.”
“I hoped you would ask me,” Sketchy said quietly. “Every time moving to Canterlot came up, I hoped you would ask me to stay, but you never did.”
Applejack’s shoulders hunched. “I’m sorry.”
Sketchy was silent for a long moment. “Could you ask me to stay?”
“What?” Applejack looked up, just as Sketchy looked down.
“No one has ever asked me to stay somewhere with them,” Sketchy said, his voice wistful. “I just thought it would be nice to hear.”
“What about all the money you’d miss out on?” Applejack asked.
“I’m already making more than I ever believed I would,” Sketchy said. “Besides, your company is more than worth the trade-off.”
Warmth flooded through Applejack. She didn’t know why tears were running down her cheeks. “Really?”
“Yes,” Sketchy said. His ears folded back. “So, will you ask? Please?”
Applejack moved over to his bed and pulled him into a tight hug. “Sketchy, will you stay with me in Ponyville?”
A shuddering laugh escaped him at the same time that tears appeared in his eyes. “Yes,” he whispered. Then he hugged her back. Hard.
It was almost perfect. Almost. There was still one thing Applejack had been putting off far too long. She took a deep breath. “Is it okay if I kiss you?”
“… Yes.”
And so she did. Then it was perfect.
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thanks for the update, so sweet
9077019
You don't really see Shiny get shipped out much, mostly because of Cadance. (On the other hand, Cadance is the Alicorn Princess of Love, so of course she not only gets shipped all over, but she does loads of her own shipping.)
Edit: Well, and Shining x Twilight, but... eh.
9077019
Oh my god the name is too perfect not to!
Well this made things a whole lot easier for Sketchy to follow what is being said, and to feel appreciated. Being asked for his company alone is very meaningful for someone who had little friends. I still thing he shouldn't leave out staying staying in Canterlot if he can at least stay there until he has enough of a reputation and contentions with illustration offices to hire him consistently so that he doesn't have to stay there anymore, might take a few years but it can be done. In the mean whine he could visit her every two weeks or so, Still I wonder what did what the griffin meant by everygriffin know who sketchy it, was it just his weird fixations on buts or were there more rumors surrounding him? What was his life like back there?
Aww. The feels...
What a great ending!
It still reads incomplete?
9076961
Utterly wusstistical!
Great job!
DAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
Don’t update again today, I went all out and used the biggest font, I will have no where to go from here.
Wonderful, simply wonderful!
Is sketchy gonna be getting a real ip close look at AJs butt now?
9076148
Once more for fun.
9076965
9076973
Sounds fair, lol.
9077020
I've gotten to that point at times myself.
9077027
Yeah, that one's not my cup of tea either, or rather, my cup of spiced chai yerba mate.
9077029
9077030
This bit was inspired by the episode where Maud is doing standup and it was somehow hilarious.
9077043
I wonder how many dozens of immature jokes I've crammed into this story, but that one is still a favorite for some reason.
9077103
You'll see a bit more of them working out details in the next chapter, and every griffon knew Sketchy mostly because he was the only pony in the city. It made him stand out a lot.
9077120
One more chapter to go.
9077139
Sounds fair.
9077140
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
9077143
Sorry, there's still one chapter to go for today. Expect it in a few hours.
9077154
I guess this counts as a double homicide.
9077157
He'll definitely get a feel for it.
9077158
I've always enjoyed funny understatements in stories.
9077169
Very.
MY PAIN IS OVER! YEEEEEESSSSS IM SO HAPPY GAAAAAH
Excuse me...I gonna need to get out and scream as loud as I can: "YES!"
...
I'm back! Neighborhood is gonna love me...!
And I'm not crying! I just had the urgent desire to cut some onions!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words so.....
i.pinimg.com/originals/8d/e8/fa/8de8fa975e8505374a5d798637db7033.jpg
daww, finally. this is real nice
9077205
Your mad. Utterly mad!!!
You know you post alot of good chapters in rapid succession, you be crazy. Though i don't mind since i do like reading this story.
Wow.
So is the story basically over, or are we going to run through the official dating phase and all that jazz? 
I'm sure Rarity already has their wedding planned 3 times over. 
9077197
Well it felt like there was more to it from the way he was saying it.
This started out as a goofy, suggestive fun fic, but now...
Now it’s become a great romance story, and an adorable one at that. Didn’t know when I started this it would get this good.
http://gph.is/1a7RlDR
Alrighty. This is great
so
this is NOT ZE END IS IT?
Augh, this is great! As someone who likes Applejack the most and wants to do his own romance with her, this is a great read. I enjoy seeing all the flusteredness and awkward moments and can relate to the sometimes blunt and poorly timed comments with sketchy, and to be honest, I'm taking some notes. Again, the levels of adorable is outstanding here and is slowly killing me; can't wait for the next one!
9085236
I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much, and good luck on your own story!
Oh man, this story got real heartwarming real fast.
It's funny, considering that when I first spotted this story I was like "Well, this looks like either clickbait that I'll hate or a dumb story that I'll get a few chuckles out of." And it looked like the latter. And it got progressively better and the execution of the jokes got funnier and funnier.
But so help me, the shift into a genuinely engaging romantic comedy really works. I have to admit, when I got to the end of this chapter, I actually had a bit of a lump in my throat.
Well done. Well done you beautiful, ass-obsessed bastard, you.
9101808
Oddly enough, the story went through a similar process as I was writing it. I started with a dumb idea that I figured I could wring a few chapters of jokes out of, then the story just kept going, and going, and suddenly I'd written this weird romance fic full of butt jokes. So like I said in the first chapter, I have no explanation, but I also have no regrets.
9103418
And we love it whole heartedly
And it was glorious
So he Does love her!
Kermit Flail!
Yaaaaay! Now they can share their butts with each other!