For Better or For Worse

by Hireath

Chapter 2

With the coin she found on the floor, Applejack placed it into the slot and grabbed the phone. As she dialed, she rested her head on the cool metal cover surrounding it. She could care less about the amount of ponies who touched it, she just wanted to sooth her throbbing head.

Letting the phone ring, she let her mind wander until her fearful thoughts caught up with her. How was she going to tell her family? The idea of her relatives being disappointed and angry at her made her squirm. That and the fact that she stayed a whole night without them knowing made her panic, too. When she was finished with this phone call, she promised herself, she would get back to the farm right away.

Finally, a familiar voice answered the phone which got her hopes rising a little. She knew that she could always depend on a friend to understand her situation. Oh who was she kidding?

-What?!- the raspy voice shrieked on the other line.

-You've eloped?-

"Ah know, Ah know," she spat out, "It's awful, Rainbow, Ah don't know what to do.
Ah drank so much last night and Ah don't remember a thing."

-You got married? Is this legit?-

"Ah got the ring, the license, the photo, the certificate, everythin'," she listed, pulling on her ponytail absentmindedly, "What am Ah suppose to do? What am Ah suppose to tell the folks back at home now? How do Ah tell them about the weddin' when Ah get back?"

-What are you gonna tell them when you get back period?-, Rainbow countered, -They've been worried sick! They're going to every pony's house looking for you! They are having search parties for you!-

"Really? They've been doin' all that?" Taking a deep breath, Applejack cleared her throat. "Ah feel so bad."

-Well, they love you, AJ. And you need to get back here as soon as possible. I had to cover your flank by saying that fans found Soarin and that it's not that uncommon for stars to stay in hotels until the hysteria dies down.-"But there were no fans that-"-Hold up! It just hit me.- Rainbow barked -You and Soarin? You two are married now?

-"Yes."-So you go on your first official date with the guy and you guys do probably some of the dumbest things you can do in Las Pegas. Stupid. All of this is just stupid. I can't believe you guys! How can both of you be so stupid?-

"RD, you're not makin' me feel any better."

-How do you think I feel when my best friend from foal hood and my closest teammate who I consider to be almost a brother gets wasted and has an impulsive marriage? I'm gonna be just a little bit disappointed I would think. You're lucky you didn't get hurt, walking around like that. And staying overnight without anypony knowing? Both parties for you two have been panicking, they've even called the police to get in on this.-

"Please, Ah feel terrible as it is. Ah didn't want any of this, Ah'm in the worst situation of my life."

-You got that right, sister! All of this is foolish and stupid and dumb and careless and- -

"Can you lower yer voice a smudge? Ah feel like my ear's startin' to bleed."

-Drink some coffee and get home, pronto.-

"Wait, Rainbow?" Applejack called out, twirling the phone line,

"Are ya mad at me?" She heard a sigh on the other line

.-No. Well, maybe a little, but that'll die down. I was just scared out of my mind. I didn't want to even think about two ponies who I love to just disappear like that. And when I heard the reason why, I don't know. I just lost it. It's just such a silly reason to get all of us worked up over nothing, you know? Well, not nothing, but something as stupid as what you guys did.-

"Ah do, and Ah can see your point of view. Ah don't know what to do know, though. About the marriage."

-Have you talked to Soarin about it?-"No, when Ah woke up an hour ago, he was still asleep."

-So…let me get this straight. Right now you're outside of your hotel on the sidewalk by the streets using a payphone and Soarin, who may have woken up by now and is disoriented due to the alcohol the night prior, may or may not still be in the room with evidence of a drunk wedding. You're gone.-

Applejack stood for a moment, her eyes growing wide."Ah gotta go," she announced, starting to place the phone back on the receiver when she heard Rainbow telling her to wait, "What is it?"
-How was the wedding night?- she suggestively asked before Applejack hung up the phone irritably.

………………………………............

Making her way into the hotel room, the colt caught the corner of her eye. He was still sleeping and she rushed over to him quietly. Normally she was not the type to be star-struck and treat celebrity ponies any different than non-famous ponies but seeing him as he was dawned on her odd. Because she had become so accustomed to all the years of hearing about him and seeing his professional pictures, she reminded herself that he too was an equal to her, a pony that woke up in the mornings looking like everypony else. Rubbing his shoulder, the colt rolled from his side onto his back to face her with his eyes still shut. He looked so vulnerable, so peaceful. As she whispered his name, she shook him slightly hastier. Exposing his green orbs, he knitted his eyebrows while he pushed himself to a sitting position.

"A-are we in a hotel room?" he queried after a long silence while searing the room, "And what are those mirrors doing on the ceiling?" Before she could answer his primary question, he rubbed his temples and groaned. "Oh Luna…"

"Here, Ah've got somethin' important to talk to ya about," she informed him, handing him a cup of coffee, "It's about last night."

"W-w-what happened?" he probed with his eyes growing wide.

"Ah'm unable to determine exactly what happened but Ah've got an idea," she explained, noticing the confused look on his face. She gave him the marriage papers along with the photo and waited for him to finish observing them. "Ah woke up in this room with ya earlier to find an earrin' right in the middle of my ear. At first Ah freaked out, especially after lookin' at the placement of the thing. And then Ah saw these things in yer hooves and, well, Ah put two and two together and-"

"We've eloped?" he blurted out. By the expression on his face, Applejack could tell that he did not believe his own words coming out of his mouth. "Holy…we eloped."

"Yeah. Ah talked to Rainbow a few minutes ago and she said that everypony's lookin' fer us. We should get back to Ponyville as soon as possible."

"What did Rainbow say?" Applejack hesitated."We got enough things to worry about right now."

"I-I don't remember a thing," he stammered."Neither do Ah. Well, Ah do remember that we had a nice dinner." They exchanged small smiles and quickly broke their glances. "I may know somepony who can tell us what happened."

……………………………..

"So you two came running into the cart, giggling like maniacs," the driver told them as he secured his harness, "Obviously you two had some drinks. I could smell the alcohol from here. Soarin, you said something about how your date dared you to marry her-"

"So this is all mah fault," she spat out.

"At first I tried to talk you to out of it, but you kept on insisting on it. You even said you were going to fire me if I don't take you. You swore you weren't going to lose the game and break a dare. You always were a competitive one."

"I'm sorry, Phil," Soarin apologized."I still refused so you took Applejack and flew her over to the Chapel of Love. It was the nearest place. It was actually a romantic moment between the two of you now that I think about it. Flying over the crowds."

"Ah could've been dropped, are ya crazy?"

"You were the one who made the dare!" Soarin shot back.

"I tried to catch up to you guys but it was extremely crowded. By time I got there, you two were outside with pierced ears and papers. After the two of you barfed up your dinners in the bushes, I took you guys to the nearest hotel. Both of you were completely passed out in the back seats and I didn't want to take you home that way."

"Oh Soarin," Applejack moaned, burying her face in her hooves, "Ah just wanna go home." Soarin nodded to his driver who started the cart.

"Thank you for everything, Phil," he called out, "Seriously, thanks bro."

"No problemo!"

"What are we going to do?" Soarin asked Applejack.

"We can't stay married," she declared, facing him, "My word, in less than two days Ah'm gonna be a wife filin' for divorce."

"Can't we get a…uh…what's it called again?" he wondered out loud, "An…annulment. Yeah, that's what it's called. We can get an annulment."

"What's that?"

"It's like the same thing as a divorce only it's for short-term marriages. So after we get one, we wouldn't be divorced we'd just be single again. I think that sounds less messy. It'd be like it never happened." Applejack studied him for a moment.

"How d'ya know this?"He gave a shrug.

"I'm in the entertainment industry. I hear about this stuff a lot." He let out a nervous chuckle. "Just never thought it'd apply to me."

"Me neither."

"Look, I-I can get my lawyer into this and we can work it out, OK? It'll be smooth sailing."

"Smooth," Applejack mumbled to herself, peering out the window, "Here comes my barn." The driver halted and opened the door for her. As she climbed out, she turned back to Soarin and gave a timid grin then kissed her right on her lips.

."I'll talk to you soon, alright?" he promised."Ya better," she teased with her face falling acting like nothing ever happened, "Take care."

Quickly, she took off her earring and rubbed her ear. There was no way her family could find out. After he said his farewell to her, she dragged her hooves towards the farm, dreading the array of reactions from the residents. Suddenly, she remembered Rainbow Dash's words during their phone conversation. Perhaps they believed her friend and they were not so worried about her as she thought they would have been. Opening the door, she let it swing open and was instantly greeted by her family members.

"Oh Applejack, we've been calling everywhere fer ya!" Applebloom cried out, wrapping her arms around her older sister's legs, "Ah'm so happy yer safe!" The young filly stood back and her face turned stern. "Don't ya ever do that again!"

"Ah won't, Ah promise," she told her, turning to Big Macintosh.

"Why didn't ya call?" his low voice grumbled. His tone still had a calmness to it but his eyes blazed fury.

"A-Ah sorry, Ah should have."

"Darn right ya should've. What were ya thinkin'? Stayin' overnight in some other city with some colt without callin' us or anythin'?"

"Ah can't tell ya how sorry Ah-"

"Is that Applejack?" a voice called out. The elderly mare stepped out from the kitchen and found the orange equestrian standing by the door. Applejack could not help but notice her grandmother's deteriorating condition. Gray hairs flew all over the place as her eyes showed red veins that touched her peach irises. She trotted up to her and embraced the country pony. "Ah was so worried 'bout ya."

"Ah know, Granny Smith, Ah know," Applejack said with her voice cracking.

"Yer friend Rainbow Dash told us that fans fled for ya guys and that y'all had to stay in a hotel room," Granny Smith explained into Applejack's hair. Her grip grew tighter. "Ah didn't hear at all from ya." Abruptly, she pulled back and glared at her granddaughter.

"Don't you ever pull somethin' as stupid as you did last night, ya hear me? Ah thought Ah raised a responsible filly but Ah've been proven otherwise." Her chin began to quiver and Applejack's body grew weak with guilt.

"Ah'm so sorry," she whispered, "Ah didn't mean to scare everypony."

"Ya had us worried sick!" Granny exclaimed, "And Ah gotta few choice words fer yer date as well! In fact, Ah don't want to see him 'round here again! Ah can't trust him no more. Ah gave him one chance and he blew it."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, get tah work," she demanded, walking towards the kitchen again. Applebloom let out a small whistle and went upstairs as Big Macintosh escorted Applejack to the backyard.

"Big Mac, Ah'm so sorry. Ah so, so sorry-"
"Y'know, words start to lose their meanin' when they're repeated constantly," her brother interjected as he handed her a basket, "Now, back to the routine."

…………………………..

The next afternoon, when completing the first group of trees to buck, Applejack let herself inside the kitchen. Tension were still high but she hoped that by the end of the week, everything would be normal again. The only thing that occupied her mind now was whether or not she was going to tell them about the marriage she was going to annul. As the phone rang, she reached for it and took it off the receiver to answer it.

-Hey Applejack, baby, how're doing?- the voice on the other line greeted. It sounded foreign to her yet the dispatcher obviously knew who she was.

"Ah think Ah'm gonna hang-up now," she droned, starting to tug it away from her ear.

-Allow me to introduce myself- the voice continued, -I'm Top Boss, the Wonderbolt's manager. I believe we've never met before but I am aware that you have some Wonderbolt friends.-

"Y-yeah, I'm friends with Rainbow Dash," she replied, lowering her voice, "Look, ah can't talk right now."

-I have a feeling you have another friend here, too, a pony more than friends- Applejack's shoulders dropped.

"W-what d'ya mean?"

-I'll get straight to the point: I know about the marriage. Between you and Soarin. I got the info and deets and all that jazz.- Anger swelled in Applejack's chest.

"Who else did Soarin tell?" she snapped.

-No worries, he didn't tell nopony nothing.- Applejack swore that somewhere in Ponyville, Twilight cringed at the poor grammar he was using.

"Then how didja find out?"

-That's what I want us to talk about over lunch someday. You, me, and Soarin at the restaurant of your choice. I'll tell you guys everything and what I have planned.-

"Wait, planned?"

-You got it. What's the time and place?- She paused for a moment to get her thoughts together. It would have to be someplace reliable, someplace that her grandmother would allow her to go to.

"Alright, y'know the little café next to the market place?"

-I know exactly where you're talking about.-

"We'll meet there. In the morning. At nine."

-Nine o'clock AM. Got it. We'll be there on the dot.-

"Now what are we gonna talk about? And what d'ya mean ya got somethin' planned?" The other line was quiet for a moment.

-Well, if I tell you over the phone, I might scare you away.-

Comments

[Shadic Midnight Blitzer]

Oof for AJ! She did not expect to get in this mess!

Good story so far!