> A Weekend Farmhand for Applejack
>  by FlimFlamBros.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Thursday Night: Games Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Author's note: A reminder that these are anthro ponies, with clothing, hands, boobs and everything. I hope you enjoy!


The evening’s sky gleamed with all its majesty on that Thursday night. The stars twinkled like diamonds on the black gown of the midnight’s display for all the nocturnal animals, as well as the few ponies that managed to stay awake so late in the night. In the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, the inside living room of the farmhouse illuminated the fields with a bright yellow glow of lit lanterns and candle light. Sitting around the kitchen table were six ponies and a dragon, laughing and playing cards. Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity and Spike were all in the middle of playing a round of poker.


“Read ‘em and weep, everypony!” Spike grinned, revealing his hand. “Full house!”


“Go fish,” said Pinkie. “I don’t have any fours or twos.”


“We’re not playing Go Fish, Pinkie,” mumbled Rainbow. “This is… what is this, again?”


“Applejack Blackjack,” said Applejack. “I’ve said it a dozen times, RD.”


The cerulean pegasus rolled her eyes. “But you’ve only explained the rules, like, once.”


Twilight magically collected everyone’s cards and shuffled them while volunteering an explanation. “Everypony draws five cards, then you take one card and place it face down in the middle or pass it to the player to your right. All face down cards in the middle can be taken by any other player, except to ones who were already given a card from the player to their left. This repeats for three rounds, with players trying to forge the best hand while trying to sabotage their opponents. On the final round, everypony has to remove two cards from the game and place a third card face up in the middle, which can then be used for any and all players. The scoring is like basic poker.”


Everypony just stared at Twilight, Rainbow being completely lost and muttering, “Yeah… lots of help, there...”


“Got any eights?” Pinkie asked.


“You don’t even have any cards! And why can’t we play a regular game? What was so bad with Equestrian Conquest that we stopped playing it?!”


“Because some ruffian kept flipping the board whenever she lost a battle.” Rarity batted her eyes while giving Rainbow an unamused look. “Besides, I never really liked that game. It’s far too long.”


“Okay, I did that once!” Rainbow pouted. “Besides, Spike was cheating!”


“I wasn’t cheating!”


“No one rolls that many sixes in a row! I lost fifty troops that game!”


“And that’s all it really is, Rainbow,” Applejack argued. “A game that’s meant to be fun, that’s the whole reason we started these game nights.”


“Yeah, to have fun!” Pinkie smiled. “We should play Candy Lane!”


“I think we’re a little too old for that game,” Applejack said. “Shoot, my sister’s too old for that game. It’s probably collecting dust in the attic along with all our old foal stuff.”


“I like that game…” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s fun and easy.”


“Well, unless y’all wanna wait while I go and search the attic to find it, I suggest we think of something else to play.”


The seven friends sat in silence for a few moments trying to think of something to play, but it proved much more difficult than they would’ve thought. There were so many games to play, and yet only one night to try them all. It was quite the dilemma they faced. Finally, Twilight broke the silence.


“Well, since we already have the cards out, we could just play another card game. I say we should play something that we all know already, and would enjoy since some of us seem to have a hard time gripping to new concepts fast.”


“Go fish!” Pinkie Pie screamed again, raising her hands in the air. “Go fish! Go fish! Go fish! Go fish! Go fish!”


“Alright!” Rainbow groaned while face-palming and shaking her head. “We’ll play go fish. Is that okay with everypony else?... Or do we spend the next hour listening to Pinkie blabbering?"


"Aww... What's wrong with blabbering, Dashie?"


"I just don't want to listen to you be a loud mouth all night!"


"Well, I can think of one pony who really likes the things I do with my mouth at night! Why, last night, I was trying this thing with my tongue- "


“Excuse me, dear, but didn’t we all agree that there would be no talk of relationships or...  sex at the games table.”


“This is coming from the pony that brought her drakefriend with her…” mumbled Applejack. “If y’all are going to talk about that kind of stuff you can just leave…”


The six others looked around at one another with confusion and whispers. Spike scratched his head as he looked over to the cowpony. “Applejack, is there something wrong?” he asked. “Do you want me to leave?”


The orange mare took a deep breath. “No… It’s just that— you know what, just forget about it. Twilight, could you deal us another hand?”


Twilight stopped shuffling the cards and patted them into a nice neat pile. “Not until you tell us what’s bugging you. It’s not like you to be this sour without a good reason.”


What she was about to say was something that had been on her mind for the last couple of weeks. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, for it was an extremely stupid and trivial matter; nevertheless, it was still something that had been bugging her for a while.


“There’s nothing wrong, sugar cube,” she sighed. “It’s just that… well… To be completely honest with y’all, I’m jealous of you. Hell, I’m jealous of all of you.”


There was a long, awkward pause as everypony, including Spike, froze. Applejack was afraid that something like this was going to happen, so she tried her best to explain the situation calmly.


“Look, it’s not like I’ve stopped loving you girls…” the cowpony said, trying to keep herself together and strong. “And Spike, you know I’ll always respect the heck out of you, and I’m glad you and Rarity were able to get over whatever it was that held you two back from being together that one weekend, and I wish you both the best of luck.”


“Then, what is it?” The drake asked.


“It’s just that... well, I’m the only single mare at this table…” she finally said. “You’ve got Rarity, Pinkie has Caramel, Fluttershy’s sees Iron Will every couple of weeks, Rainbow and Thunderlane are going steady, and even Twilight has those two stallions in Canterlot that she’s never introduced us to.”


“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Spike wondered. “When are we going to meet these two fine stallions?”


“Aren’t we talking about Applejack?” Twilight said to keep everypony on the same subject. “I don’t see why my totally male coltfriends need to be dragged in this conversation.”


“Twilight’s right!” Pinkie Pie nodded her head making her poofy mane bop and billow in a cute style. “We can talk about that later.”


“Why didn’t you say something earlier, dear?” Rarity’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the new gossip. “I would’ve been more than happy to introduce you to some very nice stallions. Why, I know of a griffon that you would get along splendidly with.  Or, perhaps, you would like to talk to a donkey that I know?  Or do you like minotaurs?  I’m fairly sure we could talk Iron Will into introducing you to one of his companions.”


“I just told you that I was ashamed to admit I was jealous,” Applejack said. “I didn’t want to sound like some sad, lonely mare.  I’m not that desperate. Yet.”


“But we’re your friends,” Fluttershy whispered. “All we want is for you to be happy.”


“Fluttershy’s right,” said Spike. “Applejack, you know we all care for you like family. You shouldn’t have to be embarrassed about being single; we were all that way at one point. Then, one day, we each met that special somepony. Don’t ever think you have to be ashamed about anything around us. Heck, if you want, we can even help you find somepony.”


“If you want us to, that is…” whispered Fluttershy.


“You girls...” Spike glared daggers at Applejack. “...and drake...” He turned up the corners of his mouth, and softened his eyes. “Y’all are the best,” beamed Applejack, getting up from the table and walking over to the dragon and giving him a hug. “All of you, you’re the best friends a girl could ask for, and I feel much better getting this off my chest. Really, y’all shouldn’t worry so much about me.”


“I’m more worried about you than me,” he said, returning the hug.


“Why’s that?”


“Well, you’re crying, for one,” he said, pushing her away slightly so he could wipe away one of the tears leaking from her eyes. “You don’t have to be so sad; none of us are mad at you.”


“I’m not crying,” the cowpony sniffed. “I’ve got something in my eye, is all…”


“Applejack, relax,” Twilight said. “We’re all still friends and we’re not going to stop being friends.”


“I know! I know…” she said, heading back to her spot at the table. “Just didn’t think that y’all would take this news so well.”


“Well we could all get mad and start crying if that’d make you feel better,” said Pinkie. “APPLEJACK! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO US?!”


“Can it, Pinkie!” Rainbow ordered. “I think that’s enough talk about this. Last time I checked, we were trying to figure out a new game to play.”


“Right.” Rarity huffed and gazed around at the others. For a minute or two, she tapped her fingers in thought; then, finally poking her head back up, she claimed, “I think I know what we should play!”


Applejack scratched her head. “What’s that?”


“Who does Applejack have a crush on?” The white mare grinned. “Now that we know she wants a coltfriend, we have to find the most eligible stallion for her.” She gave a sigh. “Oh, how I’ve missed gossiping and matchmaking.”


“That’s it,” Applejack grunted, furrowing her brow and frowning heavily. “I’m gonna go get Candy Lane.” 


“Applejack, don’t go,” Fluttershy pleaded. “But… do you like anyone else? It’s okay if you don’t…”


“Yeah, come on AJ.” Rainbow stopped her with the same look she always gave whenever Applejack was being unreasonable. “Spill it! Who do ya have the hots for?”


“Guys, stop it,” Applejack demanded while staring at the table. Her orange cheeks quickly started to flush red from embarrassment. “I share some personal stuff with y’all and you’re on me like hens on chicken seeds.”


“Well, this hen wants to hear some clucking, dear,” Rarity said with a devilish smile. “You’ve always been terrible at hiding your feelings. There’s somepony else, isn’t there? Or perhaps a griffon, maybe? Are you into minotaurs, perhaps? Tell us.”


“Am I just talking to myself, or am I just spitting out hot air? ‘cause I ain’t going to talk about what stallion I like. Besides, hadn’t we already gone over that last bit!?”


“So it’s a stallion!” Rarity chimed. “Is it somepony we know?”


“Is it Time Turner?” Pinkie asked. “Or, maybe, it’s Noteworthy!”


“It ain’t either of them!” Applejack’s brow lowered in annoyance. “Please, stop interrogating me about it. Pinkie, do you want to play Go Fish?”


“Is it Big Mac?”


“That’s my brother, Pinkie! Look... If you must know, I do have a bit of a crush on a pony, but... it’s not like he even remembers me... It was a long time ago…”


“A stallion you met a long time ago…” Rarity thought to herself. “Spikey honey, who did we meet a long time ago?”


Spike rubbed his chin and said, “Well, lots of ponies, my love... but stallions that Applejack met…”


“Stop trying to figure it out,” droned Applejack, her head slamming against the table in defeat. “I met him at the gala… the year when we first met Twilight.”


“Oh yeah, I remember that.” Rainbow giggled at the remembrance. “That was the night I got to hang out with all the Wonderbolts after saving Soarin’s pie from falling to the ground… Oh my gosh! It’s Soarin’, isn’t it?!”


“N-no!” Applejack stuttered, growing even redder.


“It is!”


“Really?”


“That’s wonderful!”


“Have you tried talking to him since the gala?” Rarity asked.


Applejack blushed wildly at the truth being revealed, burying her head in her hat. “There’s been a few times when I tried to speak to him, like when we were all at Cadance’s wedding, but I couldn’t work up the nerve… Besides, he probably doesn’t even remember me. He’s got a million and a half other mares that he could be with, not to even mention Spitfire. It’s not likely he’d ever remember me.”


“That’s not true!” Rainbow said. “I’m sure he remembers you!”


“Rainbow, don’t be stupid,” she said. “He’s a big shot celebrity, and I’m just… I’m just a simple farm girl from Ponyville.”


“That doesn’t mean you don’t have a shot with him,” Rarity countered. “Next time you see him you should talk to him.”


“When am I going to see him again?”


“Well, actually…” Rainbow averted her eyes while pausing to collect her thoughts. “I wasn’t going to bug any of you guys with this, but since Applejack has a lady boner for Soarin’, we could go to the Four Flower Festival in Canterlot. I heard from Spitfire that the Wonderbolts are gonna be making an awesome entrance and chill for a bit, too.”


“Rainbow, I don’t know…” Applejack glanced around the room, nervous about the information being presented to her. “A little meet and greet isn’t enough time to start something.”


“Hey, I’m getting there,” Rainbow continued. “If you would’ve let me finished, I could’ve been able to tell you they’re doing a charity auction… and guess what they’re auctioning off?”


“Pinecones?”


“No Pinkie, they’re doing a Wonderbolt Weekend!” The cyan pony said. “They’re going to auction off the Wonderbolts for the weekend! And that includes a mister Soarin.”


“What in tarnation does that mean?”


“Remember last year at the high school when all the hoofball players and cheerleaders were doing that fundraiser and you could get one of the students to be a servant for a day?”


“I remember Apple Bloom having to do whatever Snails told her to do that day,” said Applejack. “So it’s sort of like that?”


“Basically the same thing,” smiled Rainbow. “If you win Soarin’ in the auction, you can make him do whatever you want.” She leaned in closer. “And I mean anything.”


Applejack gulped at the teasing words that began to play in her mind. Lustful fantasies of easily ordering Soarin’ to do whatever she wanted, embarrassing or not taunted her better judgement and meddled with her morality, not that a stallion like him would find anything wrong with this.


“What I think Rainbow’s trying to say,” Twilight voiced, “is that maybe if we pull some money together, we can sorta win Soarin’ for you, then see what happens from there.”


“I don’t know, girls,” groaned Applejack. “It just doesn’t seem natural, like this is supposed to work out differently. Plus I’d feel sort of guilty if we buy his time like that.”


“Well, it’s the only plan we’ve got.” Twilight looked at Applejack sternly, seemingly on Rainbow’s side and said, “So unless you can think of a better way to do this, then please, let us know so we can help.”


The farm pony couldn’t help but smile weakly at the friends around her. It was nice to have good friends like them to push and motivate her to do the things that she was reluctant to even try. “Thank y’all… You’re good friends.”


“Don’t worry about it,” Spike assured the farmgirl. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I think we should call it a night, have to be up early if we want to catch an express train to Canterlot. Rarity, are you coming?”


“Of course dear,” said the white mare, locking arms with her love. “We’ll see the rest of you girls bright and early tomorrow.”


“Alright, see you later…”


“Bye everypony!”


“Goodnight AJ.” Rainbow flashed her eyes at Applejack momentarily with a suggestive smile. “Enjoy your last night alone… You’ll be sharing it with a Wonderbolt tomorrow.”


“Alright, see you girls later,” Applejack said, waving goodbye as the last of her friends that headed out the door. When the door gently closed behind Fluttershy, she headed through the kitchen to get to her room, but noticed that the fridge light was on. Curious, she decided to get a better look and noticed a magenta mare wearing an oversized red shirt rummaging through the fridge.




	

“Never any whip cream…” Cheerilee sighed. “I must remember to put it on the list.”


“And why would I want to put that on the list, Miss Cheerilee?” Applejack whispered, causing the teacher to jump in fright.


“Oh my heaven!” She gasped. “It’s just you, Applejack. I thought everypony else was asleep.”


“I had some friends over to play some cards, what exactly are you doing in my refrigerator?” Applejack asked. “And don’t feel like you need to answer that truthfully, because I don’t actually want to know.”


“Well, after your brother and I got back from our date it was already quite dark out. I didn’t want to walk home in the dark, you see.” Cheerilee blushed while grazing her nose with a finger. “So your brother invited me to stay the night, and one thing led to another... Two hours later, I’m wearing his shirt and he’s wearing me like a hat.”


“I didn’t need to know that,” groaned Applejack. “I’d rather not have the image in my head of you two and your… hat-wearing.”


“Sorry,” Cheerilee said, laughing nervously. “It just sort of slipped out.”


“Right… Well, don’t let me keep you two from having a good night. Just try and be quiet.”


“Will do dear,” said the magenta mare. “Have a good night.”


“Night to you too.” Applejack headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room. When she got in, she fell onto her small cot, burying her head into her pillow. Her groans of weary exhaled as the day relapsed in her mind once again. Her hands wrapped themselves around her eyes to wipe away the exhaustion that started to set in thoroughly. 


All the earlier talk of Soarin’ and her little run in with Cheerilee had gotten her more aroused than usual, despite being so tired. Lifting her head from the pillow, she double checked that her door was closed and started to reach under her mattress. Ruffling her hands around in search she retrieved some of her more private things, namely her copy of last year’s March issue of Flyers Illustrated magazine. Normally, she wouldn’t bother to have such things in her possession, but this issue was special.


This was the one contained Soarin’ as the cover colt, as well with some rather provocative poses of him. Despite it not being a full-on pornography, it still remained extremely revealing. There were moments in many pages of him being shirtless, and hands acting to unzip the jeans he wore, making his whole posture keep a seductive look.


The cowpony placed the magazine to the side for a second as she made herself more comfortable, unbuttoning her shirt, though not completely taking it off. Her hand slipped coyly inside and massaged her chest fur while eyeing the stallion. Pictures of his equine being taking her to the bed and ravaging her loomed in her mind, begging her to bite her bottom lip in need of satisfaction. She then started to unbuckle her belt to shimmy her jeans down slightly to move her fingers down and play with her lower lips.


Applejack turned to her side as she opened to a particular section which might’ve been the most teasing in the whole catalog. It showed Soarin’ flying with his signature uniform on, but turned backwards to face the open sky and unzipping the front. His fur was moist from justly cruising through a cloud, and even parts of his member showed. Seeing the image clear in the moonlight from her window, Applejack sighed with a smile, loving his smirk. 


She skipped a few of the boring articles, ads and other fillers that kept the magazine from being a porno pop-up book until she found the page she was looking for. The opening of his documentary section had the pegasus grinning in a red lounge care while wearing a rather tight Wonderbolt flight suit. Though not his own, it was custom made just for this book. It left little for the imagination, but gave so much to dream of. His clinging spandex gripped and folded against every muscle of the athletic pegasus, from his broad shoulder to his modest hips and lower waist, faintly flexing his abs down his frame. Applejack could already feel herself warming up as she flipped the page over.


The new picture had her pegasus with his suit unzipped and opened, showing off all his hidden muscles. Her eyes followed down the open zipper all the way to where the zipper ended and the bulge in his pants began. She always flushed with heat when she saw his rather large and hard throbber pressed against his thigh. Even the equine ring could just barely be seen. Her head began to hurt at how close she was, though not just yet. It still seemed too early. As she allowed another finger to venture through her and open her up a tiny bit more, and ruffle her underwear, rubbing the others against the walls of her twitching and damp marehood, she huffed more frantically with desire growing.


This was all Applejack needed, that final image of Soarin’s heated thickness to take her away. Working hard to scratch that irritable itch that just wasn’t wanting to go away and imagining it was the hand of her love, she fastened the pace. Applejack whirled around her folds, trying desperately to enflame her emotions. She could feel the fire definitely burning, but wanted more. With little other option, she abandoned the magazine and rolled to her back, letting her second hand join in with the fondling of her slit. With one hand already getting things started, she let the other intrude into her wet mound, penetrating deep into herself. Applejack started to sweat, her legs clenching together and her heart-rate rising as she double teamed her folds, rotating thrusts of her two hands that worked her over.


And all she needed was Soarin’. Fantasizing about his hands tenderly playing with her and running along her belly, eventually reaching her goodies below, screwing with her buzzer and never ending the fun they could share was now like heaven to the mare. The only thing that would’ve probably been better was actually experiencing it. The cowpony knew she was dangerously close. With her panties already soaked to the brim and the pants she wore pushing herself in deeper, none of that helped prevent the inevitable. She breathed heavily as she nearly threw her head back in sheer pleasure. Her right leg even began to twitch from the sensation. With all her remaining energy, she drove her fingers as far down as she could go. 


Applejack fought the ecstasy buildup that was gathering between her open and spread legs, moans followed grunts as she stared down at her own naughty hands. The sight of her self-violated marehood was enough to send her well over the edges she’d been teetering on for a good couple of minutes. The feeling was so intense, she was forced to bury her head and muffle the sexually enthralling sounds she made. Knocking at her peak, she rolled over and lifted her flank up so her rear was mooning the ceiling. With her left hand exiting her pussy, she grabbed the hilt of her tail and pulled tightly, a secret little fetish that always sent her in a whirlwind of ecstatic pressure, similar to opening the floodgates. Her love juices trickled down her shaking legs, and with one last bite of the pillow, she pivoted her hindquarters up with eyes rolling back in ultimate relief.


Satisfied and beyond exhausted, she wiped her cum off on her chest and legs. She crawled under her covers and tossed her ruined panties under the sheets. She made sure to hide the magazine under one of her pillows and finally started to drift off into slumber, the possibility of finally meeting Soarin’ lulling her to sleep.
	
> Late Thursday Night: Initiation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	While the night was a time for most ponies to relax and drift off into the many varying realms of the dreamscape, it was also a great chance for fun and games to the many pegasi that lived among the clouds in Cloudsdale. During Celestia’s hours was no time for such behavior, but the evening was different to many, and for a lot of the flyers in Equestria, the night was just getting started. Patrons and locals of the cloud city were all taking in the nightlife with beers, shots and laughter, just as they always did after the sun went down.

In a small bar down the main street, the festivities were already under way, attracting a few passers by that didn’t necessarily mean to get caught up in the shenanigans, but didn’t mind coming in from the outside for a drink and some social company anyway. Since it was a Thursday night, it was relatively quiet in terms of customers, but was booming with actual noise. The latest track from Equestria’s favourite DJ was blaring on the radio as the eight or so ponies enjoyed their drinks and music. However, there was a few special ponies occupying the bar, namely the world famous Wonderbolts.

The squad of half a dozen loved to frequent this bar on one of the more quiet nights to relax after a show or before a tour, or sometimes to just blow off some unnecessarily collected steam. Being a near celebrity can do that to anypony. Tonight, however, was a rather special occasion for the Wonderbolts, as it was initiation night for the team’s newest member, an aqua-blue maned pegasus named Misty Fly. Said mare was just about to finish her beer in a race against her associate and opponent, Rapid-fire.

“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” Chanted the other members of the Wonderbolts as Misty slammed her mug on the table first, wiping off some foam in victory and chuckling smugly at how ticklish her muzzle was beginning to feel.

“Yeah! In your face, Rapid-fire!” laughed the blue-maned pony. “I’m the fucking champ!” Her arms shot up in triumph, and she fell backwards landing on the floor. The rest of her teammates huddled around her to see if she was alright, but Misty snapped back onto her feet and was met with more cheers from her comrades. They showered her with praise and pats on the back, as well with douses of beer. It was turning out to be a great night for the Wonderbolt.

It was all fun and games for her and the rest of the Wonderbolts, but for the two lead members of the team, it was all business. Spitfire and Soarin’; lead flyer and wing pony of the Wonderbolts were sitting at the bar and watching their new recruit downing a funnel of fizzy alcoholic cider.

Soarin’ took a sip of his drink, a Shirley Temple, as he relaxed at the bar, glancing every once in a while from the mirror across the way to his associates having what must be a blast. “Spitfire, can you tell me again why we’re doing this again?”

“Do what? You mean putting the new guy or girl through rigorous hazing and pranks?” she asked, giving her partner a strange look. “You know why, Soarin’. You’ve been through it, I’ve been through it, even Fleetfoot’s of all ponies made this seem like a breeze. Every Wonderbolt since the originals go through this. It’s, like... tradition.”

“I know that,” Sorren chuckled, still staring at the others. “But I still don’t see the point in causing possible kidney failure. Although I’ll give it to Misty Fly, she’s a chick that can hold her liquor. Not like the others on their first time.”

“Oh, falling in love, are we?”

Soarin gave a sarcastic puff. “Hardly,” he said, taking another swig. “She’s not my type.”

“Oh, don’t get all sentimental and crap on me, you old bastard. You’re too young for that sorta crap. You gotta learn to live life for the now and not the when, you know?”

Soarin laughed, not really giving her a direct eye, but glancing her way. “Who said that? Unlike you, I have standards in the ponies I bed; I don’t go around humping anything and everything with a pulse. If anything, you need to slow down before you die of pelvic trauma or something.”

“No such thing, Soarin’,” grinned Spitfire. “My stuff’s made of pure steel.”

“That doesn’t sound very pleasant, and I thought you were joking when you said you wanted to grind me to a pulp.”

The fiery-maned mare playfully shoved the stallion next to her. “Oh, shows what you know. I bet you miss me, don’t you?” She paused, thinking for a moment. “Actually, I haven’t gotten a booty call from you in about two weeks, did you finally meet somepony or have you just gone all squishy on me?”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes at how Spitfire always knew just what to say. She could always tease him to the point of blushing. It came with naturally knowing each other for as long as they did. She knew how he ticked and vice versa. Despite all possible rumors, Soarin wasn’t the opportunist Casanova ponies made him out to appear in all the sports magazines and interviews, public and private; it was just a charade, an act to please the tabloids, nothing more except a slight bother to the stallion. In reality, all Soarin’ wanted in life was to actually find that special somepony. Such was the life of a hidden romantic.

Of course, that didn’t mean that he didn’t like the screaming crowds of willing mares lined up at his door, one of the perks of being of such notoriety, but that was nothing more than lust, not love. That’s what he was still holding out for, not some random, kinky mare wanting to get into his pants and fast. Love was something that he hadn’t found yet despite the dozens of mares that he'd already slept with. Love was eluding him, clear in his view but untouchable like a silver spectre. One day, he would hopefully find that mare who would make his heart stop, only to be shocked back into restarting again with her mere kiss.

“Hello! Earth to Soarin’!” Spitfire shouted, shaking Soarin’ awake from his daydream. “Wake up!”

“Huh-what?” Soarin’ muttered, blinking a few times as he woke up. “Sorry… I was just thinking again.”

“I told you not to do that. Pretty boys shouldn’t think,” she cooed. “Don’t want to overwork that little brain of yours and blow a fuse. I need you to be in top shape for the Wonderbolt Weekend.”

“Right… because the binge drinking that we’re all doing is going to work wonders for tomorrow,” Soarin’ said sarcastically.

“It’s not that bad…”

“Fleetfoot is doing a keg stand.”

“Alright but still—“

“And I think Rapid-fire passed out.”

“Well, I suppose that’s bad, but—“

“And I think Misty has just consumed enough beer that would kill a small elephant.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re ponies and not elephants,” smiled Spitfire, getting up from the bar. “Although I guess you’re right, it’s probably time to pack it in.” She started walking over to her drunken teammates and grabbed Rapid-fire’s hand to check for his pulse. “Okay, he’s still breathing. Can somepony help me get him up?”

“I can…” burped Fleetfoot, getting her balance before stumbling over to her captain and the passed out stallion. “Ha… RF is asleep…”

“Fleetfoot, are you sure you’re okay?” Spitfire asked. “You’ve had a lot to drink tonight.”

“I’ll be fi- HIC!” She jumped a little as her wings fluttered. “Just a teensy bit tipsy, it’s not like I’m going to fly back home.”

“You better not,” Spitfire warned while giving the shaky pony a stern eye. “Now, come help me get him home,” As the leader picked up the drunken stallion and swung one of his arms over her shoulder, she assured her stumbling helper, “You can crash at my place afterwards if you’re too tired to even walk back home.”

“Oh, I’ll be crashing back at your place, Spits?” cooed Fleetfoot, batting her eyelids at her captain. “Hope you don’t mind, but I doubt that I’ll be too tired to do anything.”

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to find some way to pass the time,” grinned Spitfire as they both started dragging Rapid-fire out of the door. Just as they left, and nopony was looking, Spitfire casually felt the other barely conscious pegasus’s flanks. “I’ve got plenty of games for us to try.”

She looked back passed her sleeping lug of a friend with a blush and giggled. “Can’t wait.”

The two of them disappeared into the night to drag Rapid-fire away and, all the while both of them planning what sort of later games they’d play, leaving the rest of the Wonderbolts to fend for themselves. Most of the other members were still just sober enough to be able to walk home by themselves or in groups, but there was one mare that was in no condition to walk home by herself, or walk home at all for that matter, and she was spinning around in one of the chairs while balancing a shot glass on her muzzle.

“Misty, are you okay?” Soarin’ asked. “You seem kinda out of it.”

“Ah yeah, I’m fine,” she slurred, falling off her stool and onto the floor. “Ouch! Gravity hurts...”

“I bet it does,” muttered Soarin’ as he helped the pegasus up. “I’m taking you home. Do you remember where you live?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, her head bobbing around her neck like she was dancing, pivoting around like a acicular roller-coaster and staring at everything around her. “I live… there!” She pointed at the bar’s jukebox. “When did my house become so small… and so brightly colourful?”

“Good, you’re drunk off your ass,” sighed Soarin’ sarcastically. “You know what? I don’t live that far from here. You can sleep in my spare bedroom.”

“Oh… oh okay! Woo hoo!” Cheered the drunken mare as she raised a partly clenched fist in the air, then sent it wrapping around his neck. “I’m going to Soarin’s fucking manor!”

Soarin’ blushed a little as he scooped up the pegasus by her belt and headed out of the bar. He had only a few beers that night and though he was rather spaced apart, he could still walk straight as compared to his fumbling companion, so he felt confident that he could quickly fly home. As he walked to the streets of the late night city, he saw that the evening life was still quite alive, even though it was going on till three in the morning. He knew that it was probably a bad idea to have stayed up so late, but it was impossible to argue with Spitfire sometimes, especially when it came to things like tradition. He was going to be exhausted tomorrow, and he still had a few things to do that night, so he had little choice but to hasten his step and get back to his house for some much needed sleep.

It was a rather short flight as he had said, hardly a thirty minute journey if even that. There was something about the wind current that night that was relaxing, like when he was a kid just soaring through the air without a care in the world. He could just spread his wings and glide on an air current for hours at a time with no cares back then, no worries for the rest of his days. But, of course, that ended a long time ago. Though reminiscence was nice, it didn’t last long.

His “manor” was hardly different from any other house in Cloudsdale; when everypony can make their home out of clouds then things like size is simply a matter of choice rather than status. Soarin’ liked a bigger house because he didn’t like feeling contained, it tended to make him feel claustrophobic.

“Here we are,” he said as he landed just beyond the doors of his home. “Casa a Soarin’ in all its glory. Sorry if it’s not all you expected it to be.”

“Holy crap…” Misty said in awe, pushing through the clouds and entering into his house. “… Your place is so rad!”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes as he entered his humble abode; however, before he walked in, he noticed a large parcel waiting for him right under his mailbox. It looked like his neighbours signed off on it and left it by the door. He’d have to thank them later for that, mainly because unlike any normal package, this was a package that he was eagerly awaiting. After picking it up and following Misty inside, he inspected it a bit, just to be sure it’s the one he’d been hoping for.

His door led straight to his living room where he kept all his trophies, awards and other things he had collected over the years in his line of duty as a Wonderbolt. It had become a rather impressive collection with several honours, medals and other trinkets that came with his old military turned performer lifestyle. Sometimes, he missed the old days. In the fliers guard, there wasn’t any publicity, no spotlight, it’s not that he was camera shy, but that sense of freedom that he used to have. He could go anywhere he wanted to without fear of a pack of paparazzi following him with flash cameras and questions of the same variety every time.

At least in his house, he could enjoy what little peace he found there.

The parcel was starting to get heavy in the hand. “Misty, there’s some guest bedrooms up on the higher levels and couches more or less anywhere. Make yourself at home. I’ve got some stuff to do in the kitchen. If you need anything, just holler, but you should try and get some sleep. We’ve gotta get up in the morning to be auctioned off.” Misty didn’t even acknowledge him. She seemed hypnotized by one of his trophies on display over the cloudy fireplace. She’d be distracted by just that for a while.

He headed into his kitchen, a bit different than the rest of his house. Cloud appliances never really were able to work to his standards, but thanks to unicorn magic, he was able to get long term cloud capable forks and utensils. Functionality spells had been enchanted on most of the things in his kitchen. Last thing anypony needed was an oven falling on somepony’s head.

He placed the package down on the fluffy cloud table top and searched around for a pair of scissors, finding one and slicing away the tape on the box. Soarin’s eyes sparkled like a colt on Heartwarming morning as he lifted out one of the frozen pies out of the box. Miss Scarlet’s Applegasm Pie from the Manehatten Uptown Bakery. It seemed delicious enough, but was it the one he was looking for?

Two more pies: Apple Fritter’s Secret Recipe, from Appleloosa, and Ms. Summer Shine’s Cinnamon Apple Delight. Two more pies from two more mares, both of them being his favorite kind: apple. He got the pastries ready and set his oven. It would take about ten minutes to heat up the pies; then he could see if any of them fit the ticket. Until then… he had nothing better to do than wait.

… Or so he thought.

“Soarin’…” a lusty voice hummed. He turned to see Misty leaning on the fame the kitchen’s door. She twirled a few hanging locks of her aqua-blue mane. Her cheeks had reddened from the alcohol, and she was making her signatured swaying trot towards him. He stayed calm as she tripped into him, snuggling against his flat chest and hands slinking up his shoulders. “You know, it’s always been my dream to be a Wonderbolt… and now here I am. With you. All alone... in your manor.”

Soarin’ gulped, but kept an emotionless face. “Lucky you.”

Misty looked up at him with an evil intention, Soarin’ knew what she was thinking. He checked the time left on the oven. Nine minutes, that’s enough time to do what he needed to do. He hoisted her over his shoulder as she giggled, the impending events that were about to happen.

“Oh Soarin’,” laughed Misty. “So direct…”

“You could say that,” he said, as they ascended the staircase. Misty’s legs kept fidgeting in his grasp, making it difficult to hold her. He kicked the door open to his room, a little over dramatic considering that the doors were made of clouds like the rest of the house. Entering the room, he tossed Misty Sky onto the soft bedding of a cumulus cloud. “Comfortable?” He asked.

“You tell me…” giggled Misty, as she grabbed the ends of her shirt and started to pull it off. “You know, I’ve always had a bit of a crush on you, Soarin’... Those magazines that you posed for a few years ago…”She lustfully sighed. “It just sends me into a frenzy of temptation.”

“Well I’ve got a couple of those magazines lying around here somewhere if you feel like getting frisky with yourself.”

“I’d rather have the real thing,” she said, pulling her shirt clean off, exposing her chest, some tufts of fur in the middle of her fine-sized breasts.  She reached behind her pink laced bra to unclip it and said, “C’mon, Soarin’, let’s have some fun together.”

“Sorry,” he beamed. “Seriously, no offense, but you’re blitzed out of your mind, and it’s not right or legal to have sex with you like this.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, who knew,” Soarin’ shrugged, turning around to the forming door. “Besides, I sorta, kinda have a marefriend.”

“W-what?”

He waved goodbye to the half-naked mare. “Have a good night, Misty,” was the last thing he said to the mare that night before leaving her in the room.

The Wonderbolt chuckled to himself a little. “Sorta, kinda, maybe, possibly have a marefriend.” It was almost true in a way, when he thought about it. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. Recently, it had been getting to him, the bitter loneliness that came with the fast pace of his particular lifestyle, the single nights at the bars, even his booty calls with Spitfire seemed to have lost their spark. Just as well, it was better if they stayed friends.

By the time he got to the kitchen, he heard the oven started beeping. The pies were ready a lot faster than he had expected, or maybe his little talk with Misty had been longer than he thought. Regardless, he searched for his pie cutter, plates and his flowery oven mitts (don’t judge,) and pulled the three piping hot pies from the oven. Each smelled heavenly and looked delectable. But how did each of them taste?

“Time for Bachelorette Number One, Miss Scarlet,” he grinned, taking a pie cutter to the apple-scented pastry and placing it on a small plate, the golden goo of caramel oozed from the sides. Soarin’s mouth watered with anticipation as he took the first forkful and sampled the pie. “... Mmh... N-no, too much cinnamon.” He sighed, sliding the plate away.

“Oh, well. Onto the next one... Apple Fritter’s Secret Recipe,” he said to himself. “Pride of Appleloosa, and winner of three top pastries awards and silver medalist at the Manehatten Pie challenge.” He nodded briefly, almost confident for that heavenly and familiar taste. “Good luck, Fritter.” He took a slice of that pie and swallowed a chunk, letting the tangy flavours dance in his mouth before gulping down the sweet apples. “Dough’s the wrong density… and these aren’t the same apples. Not enough... I wanna say zing to it.”

That was two. Just as he figured, third time had to be the charm.

“Ms. Shine, you’re up,” he yawned. “Please be it…” He cut himself a piece of pie and ate it rather quickly. “Nothing… fucking hell,” the pegasus grumbled. He gathered the pies and threw them into the trash. Another batch of dead ends. It’s like Celestia was mocking him. Maybe he should just give up on this wild goose chase. After all, he had been looking for almost six years for this one perfect pie he had eaten at the Grand Galloping Gala… and the cute mare who made it.

He had always kicked himself for not getting that pony’s name, and he was a fool for thinking that she’d stay at the gala for more than a few hours. She didn’t seem like the normal crowd of Canterlot stiffs and he admired that from her. She was more of a southern charm, a hardworking attitude and freckles that could cause a heart attack, if her pies didn’t stop it, first. If only he knew her name… that’s why he had been ordering pies from every known baker in Equestria, looking for that perfect pie made by the perfect mare. But, over a hundred pies later, he had come up with nothing…

“That’s not gonna put a damper on my spirits,” he said smugly; many a mare could vouch for his persistence and stamina… but every pony was still mortal, and it was almost sunrise. He didn’t even bother going back up to his room and opted to crash on the fluffy floor, a better bed by miles, actually. He would have to try and do more searching for pies after the weekend. Until then, he could only focus on having a good time along with furtive hope that some pretty mare like her would win him tomorrow rather than the usual, crazed, ponytailed fanatic like last year. He shivered at how she took him to every girly girl store, making him carry all those boxes like a pack mule. The newspapers after that were filled to the brim with embarrassing photos of him straining his back while she led onward from store to stupid, frivolous store.

Great, now he was going to have nightmares about that, again…

Meanwhile, up the stairs and around the corner, Misty sat on the bed, some imaginary bubbles popping over her head from being so, very intoxicated. She looked over at the many magazines of Soarin’, sniffled a bit and flipped through them. As she did, she found one particular page from years ago of him, and what looked like a young, orange chick he bought pie from at the gala. What caught her eye, though, was how he circled her with red ink, and left a note next to it saying, “Searching for you, wherever you are...”

She huffed with quirky eyes, closed it in a cute fit of anger, and wondered if she was the marefriend he’d mentioned earlier. Though, she was drunk, hanging on the edge of consciousness, she wasn’t a fool. Misty made a mental note to hopefully figure out just who exactly this appealing friend of his was, just to be sure she gets him to herself. If anything, she was a bit irrational, but when one is so close to their target, only for it, or in her case, Soarin’ to be snatched up just when he’s in her sights, one can get rather moody. That’s never very good for anypony.
	
> Early Friday Morning: 80 Miles Club
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Applejack’s eyes peered open as the sun rose up. She was a little groggier than usual from her late night of fun, but still found the energy to throw her quilt off of her naked body and rolled off. One would think that after doing this for over two decades that you’d get used to it, but in truth, it was just exhausting to her. “Whoever decided that farmers should wake up at the crack of dawn was a real donkey’s ass,” she grumbled sleepily. After stretching and a yawning to get herself relatively motivated, she searched warily for a clean set of clothes, palming the ground until she found her pants and tossed them on the bed. Looking for that shirt she thought she was wearing yesterday before passing out, she wondered aloud, “Might need to hide that magazine in case Applebloom comes in here looking for my headphones…” Of course, she wouldn’t find it. She’d basically forgotten all about throwing it under her pillow last night. 

The cowpony opened her drawers and was greeted with a full supply of denim and different coloured plaid, no dresses or skirts for this mare. She grabbed a button up shirt and quickly threw it on as well as a fresh pair of panties. All that was left to do was take her belt from her old pants and picked up her favourite hat from the rack. With herself all dressed, she tipped-toed down the stairs. Apple Bloom would sleep like a rock and her brother was probably tired from last night’s hat-wearing. The only pony in this household that would be up at this absurd hour would be Granny Smith, probably making breakfast or knitting yet another sweater.

Speaking of, as she started to descend the stairs, she could hear the jazzy tunes of The Jive Cats and smelled the distinct scent of a sweet, tangy aroma being created by cooking apples coming from the kitchen. Granny Smith was downstairs happily flipping pancakes and humming to her old record player. Every three beats, she’d be seen flipping the spatula like a show gunner would with his or her Single Action Army revolver.

“Morning Granny,” said Applejack, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table. “You’re up early as usual.”

“G’morning to you, sweet pea,” grinned her elderly grandmother. “I was just about to call you and the rest of the famn damnly down for pancakes, but those two are lazier than a pig in the summer.”

Applejack laughed at her grandmother’s metaphor. “Well, let them sleep in today! We need to start bringing in the harvest in the next couple of days for Market Week. I’ll need them well rested if we’re going to pick every apple in Sweet Apple Acres, which is why I’m going to need to get the grub to go. I’ve got a lot to do today.”

This peaked the old mare’s interest. “Oh, is that so? Prepping for the harvest? Heading into town for supplies, dearie?”

“S-something like that…” With her cheeks flushing red at the real reason for her doing so, Applejack tried to hide the truth from her grandmother, something that she was terrible at doing. “I might be gone all day, though…”

“I see,” smirked Granny Smith. “So, tell me.” The wrinkled hands picked up a glass of juice and held it, swishing the liquid inside around before asking, “what’re you really doing, missy?” If there was one thing Applejack couldn’t understand, it was why she was the worst fibber in Ponyville, and why Granny Smith had the poker face of a brick wall.

Applejack heavily sighed in defeat, slouching in her chair as she did so. “Fine… Me and my friends, yeh see. We’re going on over to Canterlot for some silly waste of time that probably won’t work anyways. There, you happy?”

“I will be when you tell me the rest of the story.” The glass settled down on the wooden table. With a critical eye looking Applejack up and down, Granny Smith voiced, “Like, what exactly is this ‘waste of time’ you’re going on about.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Applejack, dear… Now, if it really was nothing; why, you wouldn’t be redder than a sunbaked tomato right about now!” Her granny smirked after relaxing in her spot a bit, flipping a couple of pancakes onto a pair of plates and sitting next to her granddaughter. If there was one thing that always amazed Applejack, it was her granny’s amazing ability to juggle a conversation with somepony else and cook with little trouble, too. “Y’all were never the best at keeping your feelings hidden without lighting up; it’s a curse for you, sure. But, it’s also a gift, too, y’know. Now, tell your old granny what’s on your mind.”

“Alright, alright, here’s the deal...” She pondered to herself a little, thinking on the best way to word her situation. “Last night, I had a little bit of an... emotional breakdown, and let it slip that I was alone, and that’s no lie, either… I haven’t had a coltfriend in… well, not since junior high. See, I’m really starting to get mighty lonesome these days, and it doesn’t help that Apple Bloom has a new boy every couple of months. Shucks! Big Mac’s practically married to Cheerilee, and… Well…”

Throughout her brief confession, Applejack had been becoming even more shaken with every word that left her lips. By then, it’d become such a thing to Granny Smith that she simply had to say, “Go on, let it out, hun.”

So, she did. Raising from her seat and planting her justly balled up fist on the hard table, Applejack stated, “I despise being single! There, I said it!”

She sat back down slowly, her palms sweating with rather random anger. They sat in silence for a minute, partly so each could think up of what to say next, but mostly to make sure the others would stay asleep. They weren’t stirring upstairs, though, so they resumed with trouble from the sudden, awkward atmosphere.

“So... it’s about a stallion, eh?” Granny smiled. “You have a coltfriend you’ve been hiding from us?”

“Not really,” mumbled Applejack, wiping her hand down her face, trying to massage her stress away. “It’s just that Rainbow and everypony else managed to talk me into going to some charity event. They say they’re hopefully gonna get me a stallion I’ve taken a liking to.”

“Well, that’s great, darling,” her grandmother said. “Truth be told, I was getting mighty worried with you. When your mother passed away; Celestia rest my daughter’s soul, I promised her that I would watch over you and your siblings, and make sure that you’re happy, and frankly sweetie, you’ve been a bit of a sauerkraut, which is why it warms my old heart that those friends of yours got your flank in gear and put that sweet smile back on your face. I know you don’t need a stallion to take care of you, none of the Apple mares ever had, but’s it’s always nice to know there’s one out there... just in case.”

Applejack’s eyes started to tear up at the kind words of her grandmother. She gave her a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks a bunch, Granny. I guess I’m just a little nervous, or something...”

“We’re always here for you, sweetie,” whispered Granny Smith. “And I love you.”

“I know that, grams.”

“Now, you need to go and hustle your bustle! You don’t wanna be late for your date.”

“Granny…” Applejack slouched down, looking away with a smirk.

“Oh, let an old horse like me have her fun!” The granny handed her a plate of pancakes. “Now, get going, and be sure to eat something on your way. Last thing your stallion needs is to see you without breakfast! Don’t mind an old hag’s ramblings, but when you don’t eat, you look skinnier than a plank of wood.”

Applejack groan sarcastically, although it was hardly as loud as the one her stomach made. She took the plate from her grandmother rather quickly. After dousing it with a fat glob of maple syrup, she headed out of the kitchen and into the crisp morning air outside the house. She took a few forkfuls of sweet pancakes as she allowed her eyes to adjust to the rising sun. One of the things that she loved about her farm life was the stellar view that she got to see every morning. She could never imagine life without it.

However, today’s view seemed abstracted, blotted even, seemingly from a shadowy dot on the horizon. She squinted to try and make out the shadowy figure that was doing a poor job sneaking closer to the house, almost as if it was coming back from something she wasn’t supposed to be going to…

“Apple Bloom,” sighed Applejack to herself, staring as her little sister crept through the treeline off the apple orchard. “She must have snuck out after her curfew again to go to some  party, or perhaps a late night visit with one of her many guy friends...” Part of the filly’s sister knew that she should go and talk to her about this, that it wasn’t good to always defy the rules of the house and act like she was an adult, even though she was barely fourteen, she wouldn’t be considered an adult for another three years. However, not only did she not have time to play mother figure with the little hellion, she didn’t want to be too hypocritical. After all, everypony was a teenager at one point. Besides, Granny Smith would give her eight kinds of hell if she was caught sneaking into the house through the kitchen.

So, she just let the teen filly have her espionage this morning while she continued to the edge of the farm. It surprised her to see that Rainbow and Fluttershy were already waiting for her at the gate. Rainbow pacing in small circles in the air as she started kicking up a small dust devil. The little twisters seemed to scare Fluttershy as she was an uncanny distance from Rainbow, and the path of the spinning winds. It was Rainbow that finally noticed Applejack coming down to the gate.

“Well, there you are! What took you so long? We’ve been waiting here forever, I even ran out of sex stories to tell Fluttershy.”

“I told you I didn’t want to listen to them!” Whimpered the yellow pegasus. “I don’t want to know what anypony does in their private time…”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “So you ready to go get boinked, AJ?”

Fluttershy seemed to flinch at the sentence. “Please stop…”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like you’ve never done it. You can’t tell me that you and Will haven’t done anything on those weekends you go out on together.” Rainbow started to hover around her shy little friend, looming down on her, flying circles around her like a hungry shark. “I mean, I guess I can see what you see in him. He’s is a successful, big guy like that, just bulging in all the right places, and I don’t mean his biceps or wallet.”

“RD, maybe you should stop,” said Applejack, pointing out the fact that Fluttershy was on the verge of tears, and her face couldn’t get any redder. “You’re scaring her.”

“What?” Rainbow asked, putting her fists on her hips. “All I wanna do is compare notes,” she said. “Lately, things between me and Thunderlane have been getting a little boring in the sack. He’s a nice guy, but I get the feeling he’s starting to slow down.”

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked, raising her eyebrow, curious about Rainbow’s situation. She knew that Rainbow and Thunderlane didn’t exactly have the most... romantic relationship in the world, and, to be frank, she was surprised that they’ve lasted this long without a speedbump. Applejack supposed that there was only so long you could go with a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship before you have to face your feelings for one another. “Have things not been working out for you?”

Rainbow gave out an ugly sigh. “Lately the sex has been… let’s say subpar at best, and since Spike and Rarity are too vanilla for me, Pinkie’s love life scares me, and Twilight won’t talk about those stallions she has in Canterlot, I thought that Fluttershy would have some suggestions that weren’t so run of the mill sex, or dungeons and chambermaids.”

Like a warning light, Fluttershy’s face lit up red. “Who told you about that?!”

Both of her friends gave her a look, Rainbow scratching her head in her state of shock. “Fluttershy… wait ,what?”

“Nothing!” Fluttershy blurted out, turning head as she started walking away and towards town. “I thought that we were getting the rest of the girls and Spike to help Applejack get Soarin’. Not about what I do in my private time with Iron Will.”

“Fair enough,” said the farm pony, looking towards Rainbow Dash. “We’ll stop prying, right?”

“Ugh, whatever.”

Applejack smiled and gave a nod. “Good, now c’mon. We need to go wake up everypony else. I think Pinkie should be up by now, and maybe Twilight, too. Now, if Spike spent the night over at Rarity’s, we’re going to need a damn foghorn to wake them up. What with her and her beauty sleep and him with his I like sleeping attitude, they’re like two sloths in a fuzzy blanket.”

“Hey, don’t rip on sleeping. Sleeping is what keeps my awesomeness levels at top velocity.” Rainbow did a backflip in the air as she said, “That’s why I take six naps a day.”

“Whatever you say, RD. I reckon I really couldn’t care less. Even if I tried.”

The three ponies walked the rest of the way into town in silence. There wasn’t much to talk about, but there was plenty for Applejack to think about, like what she would even do if when she was actually with Soarin’. Part of her wanted to think that it’d be just like any other stallion that she’d ever met in her life, but feared that in his presence she’d be reduced to a garbling school girl, like that time she first saw Soarin’ in a Wonderbolt poster in high school, and nearly fainted at the young cadet. He was the youngest flyer since Spitfire to ever pass the academy, leaving shortly after to join the elite team of fliers. He was a heartthrob then and he remained so as he aged into young adulthood. She was getting warm just thinking about it, and thought that she’d break into a sweat. Thankfully, they got to the Golden Oaks Library just as Twilight was locking the door behind her and placing the ‘closed’ up.

“Hey there, Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, fluttering over to the alicorn. “You’re up earlier than we thought.”

“I’m still up,” she yawned while adjusting her wings so they would fold into her back. It had been years since her transformation but  her flappers still liked to disobey her from time to time. “Couldn’t sleep last night. I was sending letters all night to the princesses and finally got them to leave me alone to do this.”

Rainbow’s brow busheled in confusion. “What? Why? Were you doing a friendship report or something?”

“You could say that,” mumbled Twilight. “Although, I did also talk to them about Applejack’s predicament.”

Applejack’s ears flopped down. “Twilight! That was personal!” she cried. “I didn’t want the whole world to know… Why’d you do something like that?”

“I was just trying to get some help,” she said, reaching into her large, purple purse around her shoulder. “Besides, you’re going to thank me when you see what they poofed me a few hours ago.” Twilight pulled out a small envelope from her post bag. “They sent you a little good luck money.”

“Holy horse apples,” gasped the cowpony, taking the money in her quivering hands. “How much is in here?”

“Twenty thousand bits in royal credits.”

“Twenty—Twilight, with that sorta moh-” She looked at the sealed gift, and resumed, “With… this, I could fund a workforce for the farm, and build another silo for my harvest!”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, and instead, you’re going to do something fun, and not totally lame for once in your life.”

“Silly Dashie!” Pinkie Pie laughed, jumping on her friend’s shoulders. “Applejack’s fun! She just works so much that she just seems like no fun. But, I do agree we should use these bits to buy Soarin’! That’s what the princesses would want, anyways.”

Each of Pinkie’s friend’s did a double take. Pinkie had somehow appeared out of nowhere and was acting like she had been there the entire time; even though no pony had even heard her approaching… It was ‘Pinkie’ to say the least.

“Pinkie, how long have you been standing behind Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“What’re you talking about?” The pink party pony laughed, “I’ve been here since three in the morning, playing the new ‘Manimal Crossing’ game. It’s super addictive! I’ve just finished putting a second level to my house if you guys ever want to come and visit it.”

“WHAT!?” Twilight gasped, awestricken by Pinkie’s in game accomplishment, even she hadn’t been able to get that far into the development of her own house. “That must have cost you a fortune of bells!”

“Yeah, but yesterday I caught, like, ten stringfish!”

“B-b-but they only have a one percent of them to spawn! That’s so unfair!” Twilight let out a brief growl, mumbling to herself. “Biggest thing I’ve ever got was an angelfish…”

While Twilight and Pinkie continued to bicker with one another, mostly of which consisted of Twilight complaining of Pinkie’s apparent success, the rest of their friends began to migrate away from them, since not one of them had a clue of what they were talking about, nor did they care that much. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash knew that they’d catch up later, or at least meet up with them at the train station.

Besides, they had to go wake up sleeping beauty and her ‘beasy weasty’.

It was a short walk to the Boutique, and a rather quiet one, too, since most ponies were still asleep. It was no surprise to see that there was no pony waiting for them outside.

“I suppose they’re still asleep,” sighed Applejack. “I figured as much. Reckon they’ll wake up soon?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Not likely, guys. This is Spike and Rarity we’re talking about, remember? There’s a good chance that they forgot about our plan and got to horsing around last night, and not in the good way.”

Applejack added, “Not for us, that is.”

“If we’re lucky, they’ll come around at about... noon."

“Isn’t that when the Wonderbolt Weekend starts?”

“Yeah, and by then, it’ll be too late. So, we need to do something a little more drastic.” Rainbow grinned devilishly at Fluttershy. “You thinking what I’m thinking.”

“Umm… Maybe… I don’t know, probably not.”

“Perfect, then go up there and punch through their window!”

“I’m not going to do that!”

“Oh my goddess Fluttershy, you can’t do this one thing for me?” Rainbow mumbled. “After all the times you dragged me to see the butterfly migrations or talked me into helping you out with the animal shelter, and what about that one time I went all through Cloudsdale and told them to help with the clean-up for the great geese grease clean?”

“You actually never did any of those things for me…”

“Exactly! So you can’t do this one thing for me? I thought you were my friend,” tsked Rainbow.

“Hey, not to interrupt your brilliant and cunning plan, but I think I’m just going to knock on the door,” droned Applejack. “Honestly, the things that go through your head… you always overlook the simple things.” She knocked on the door of the house a few times and waited… and waited a little bit more before trying again. After a few minutes passed with no answer, she looked back at her pegesi friends and gave a heavy sigh. “Welp... so much for the simple approach. You got any other ideas?”

“Yeah, Fluttershy can pu—“

“I’m not punching through the window!”

“Well then, I don’t know what to do!” Shouted Rainbow, throwing her hands in the air. “We’ve exhausted all possible options. I guess we’ll just have to leave them behind or something.”

“B-but they’re our friends…” whimpered Fluttershy. “We can’t leave them out of this.” She gulped, as she expanded her wings a little. With a few cautious flutters, the shy pony ascended to the upper level of the Boutique. She tapped on the window a few times and whispered, “Umm, Spike and Rarity…? It’s time to get up, but if you’re too tired, then that’s okay as well.”

“Can you see anything, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“Rarity’s curtains are in the way… All the lights are still off, too.”

“Well then knock louder!” Fluttershy glanced down at Rainbow who hovered next to Applejack.

“Rainbow, don’t be so loud,” hushed Fluttershy. “You might wake somepony up.”

The intense force of Rainbow’s face-palm echoed through the town. “That’s the whole freaking point!”

“Rainbow, shush it,” muttered Applejack. “She means the rest of Ponyville, feather head. But, I really think that we should just—“

“Spikey, do you have my bags?” Rarity’s voice called from inside. “I think everyone else is ready for us outside. I can hear Applejack and Rainbow’s voices.”

“I think they’re upstairs, but are you sure you need the bags? We’re just going for the day, it’s not like we’re staying the weekend or something.”

“But wouldn’t it be magical, darling?” She said from within the house. “I always love my trips to Canterlot! We really should think of taking a little vacation there.”

The door to Rarity’s store swung open with Spike walking out with three heavy suitcases in his one claw, two traveller’s bags in the other, and tome pins on his scaly tail. “I’ll take a look at our schedules and—oh hey guys—I’ll see what I can find, there’s lots of things to consider like when we want to go and stuff like money.”

Rarity followed closely behind the dragon, still brushing a few stray curls out of her hair. “Well, we could always stay—oh hello darlings—during this weekend. You don’t suppose that Princess Celestia would lend us one of the towers again, do you?”

Spike shook his head. “Doubtful, after our last little vacation to Canterlot, and the unfortunate death of three mattresses, I don’t think that we’ll be allowed back for a bit. Plus, I don’t think we should abandon Applejack in her time of need. We have our whole lives to vacation in Canterlot, but only this weekend to make AJ’s dreams come true.”

“Of course, dear! How silly of me...” Rarity nodded, turning to Applejack. “Oh, don’t worry about a thing, Applejack. You have Spike and my support on this. We even pooled into the PDF…” Rarity stopped for a second, almost looking like she was going to start crying for a minute. However, she managed to keep herself composed. “… But, I think that this is more important than the Pretty Dress Fund. So... here.” She handed her a small envelope, stuffed fat with bits. “So, what are we waiting for? We mustn’t be tardy. To the train station, everypony!” She and Spike picked up the pace towards the outskirts of town, their friends a bit confused, but still followed the rushing couple.

Once the train was in sight, they quickly bought their tickets to take the Friendship Express, opting to get the fastest train route available, one that would get them to the Four Flower Festival in time for the Wonderbolt Weekend. Once the conductor called, “All Aboard,” the seven of them made their way into the train and found themselves their seats, and the Train took off almost immediately afterwards.

Applejack quickly slid into the corner of a small booth, with Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy quickly taking the surrounding seats. “This is so exciting!” Pinkie smiled, constantly bouncing on the cushion of her seat, ready to spring to the ceiling at any given time. “Applejack, are you excited? I bet you’re super excited! I know I’m super excited, and I’m not even going to be doing anything! Everything is just so exciting! So, back to my first question, Applejack, are you excited? I bet you’re super excited! I know I’m super—” She was immediately cut off by Twilight’s fingers pinching her lips shut, but Pinkie kept chirping on the same thing through her clamped lips.

“I know where this is going,” Twilight groaned. “She got stuck in an infinite loop again.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, but she does have a pretty good point. How are you feeling, AJ? You ready to get boned?”

“Can you not call it that?” Applejack grumbled, sinking into her folded arms on the train’s table. Suddenly now that they were leaving for Canterlot, she was starting to get cold feet. “This is a stupid idea… Maybe I’ll just take the next train back to Ponyville once I get to the train station. I’ll reimburse you guys the money you spent, but this was just a waste of time.”

“No it’s not!” Fluttershy pepped, squeaking surprisingly loud over her friend’s chatter. She realized that all eyes were on her, so she started to turn a little red. “I mean… it’s not a waste of time. You don’t want to look back on this day and regret not going through with it, do you?” Applejack looked down. “If I didn’t muster up the courage to confront Iron Will with my feelings, I’d… I’d probably still be alone, and I don’t want you to be like that. It’s not like you to be so cowardly, Applejack. You’ll charge headfirst into a pack of timberwolves, but you’ll flee from meeting your crush?”

“Fluttershy’s right, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’ve just gotta do this, even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming. You’re doing this, Applejack, there just ain’t nothing to it.”

Sighing in defeat, the cowpony sat up from the table. She nodded in acceptance over the inevitable. She was either cursed or blessed to have friends that were being so stubborn about her happiness, although they did bring up a good point with regret. It was always hard for her to accept help from other ponies, be it with work or her love life, or hunting down a Sass Squash. No matter how hard she tried, she always forgot to ease up, and allow others to step in every once in a while. Besides, perhaps this would work out for the better after all. “Alright, you’ve convinced me, girls. I’m just a little jittery is all, and I just didn’t think this was how my day would turn out.”

“For the better, right?” Pinkie asked.

Applejack didn’t really know how to answer that. “Sure, why not?” She shrugged.

“AWESOME!” Pinkie cheered, looking out the window. “Are we there yet?”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight said. “Because we’ve been traveling for less than ten minutes!”

“So we still got a few hours before we get to Canterlot, right?” Applejack mumbled, laying her head onto the table. She pulled her cowboy hat over her eyes as she tried to get some sleep from her friends. “Why don’t y’all wake me when we get to Canterlot, Spike or Rarity aren’t the only ones that probably had a long night.”

“Speaking of… I haven’t seen either of them since we got on board,” said Twilight. “They just disappeared. I wonder where they went off too…”

“Why don’t you go look for them, if you’re so worried?”

Twilight shrugged. “Nah, I’m sure that they’ll show up eventually. They’re probably just exploring the train or something like that.”

“Or having sex in one of the train carts,” snickered Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow!” Frowned Twilight, annoyed at the fact that Rainbow simply had to insert a sex joke at any given moment. “That’s terrible! Rarity would never do something like that...”

“You’re probably right. She’s probably at the bar forcing Spike to do some wine tasting or something super gay like that.”


*****


The hallways were quiet, with no pony making a noise. This part of the train must have been off limits. Otherwise, more likely, simply not in use at the moment. It seemed strange that this whole travel cart would be vacant, but it wouldn’t be for much longer. Spike and Rarity looked around the halls, double checking to make sure that this silence wasn’t an illusion. When the coast was clear, the two stepped in and disappeared into one of the private booths.

It was a lot more roomy than they had expected, with two couches on both sides of the booth, and a collapsible table that went into the wall or floor, whichever was of most convenience. This would work well for what they were about to do. Spike made sure to lock the door behind them.

“Ah, alone at last,” he sighed, turning the dumb lock on the door. “I thought we’d never get away from the others. Thank goodness that these particular booths were completely empty… I wonder why, exactly?” He tapped his chin with a claw while pondering.

“It’s not really important, now is it, dear?” asked Rarity, taking a seat on one of the sofas and pulling out a little make-up kit from her purse. “I’m just glad we finally have a moment all to ourselves.” She started to apply a little blush to her cheeks, adding a little dab to help bring out her completion. “We definitely could have gone without that rude awakening. With Fluttershy knocking on our window, we didn’t even get to finish our… session.”

“Yeah, I wonder why she did something like that.”

Rarity giggled a little, but groaned a as she slipped a little on her mascara. “Damn!” She spat, quickly taking a white cotton ball and wiping away the black smudge on her face. “You have got to be kidding me... I swear, can this morning get any worse?”

The dragon jumped back from Rarity’s sudden hostility. It was unlike her to act this aggressively over something so insignificant, even if it was her make-up. “Whoa… Rarity, are you okay?”

“Sorry, dear,” the unicorn sighed, putting her makeup back into her purse. “It’s just that I’m a little… how would you say, wound up from this morning’s rather tiresome activities.”

“What do you... oh,” the dragon said, realizing what his mare meant. With their friends’ little interruption that morning, the two weren’t able to finish fooling around, and it was starting to get to his beloved diva’s nerves. He never liked seeing her in this much anguish, or better put, sexual frustration. It not only annoyed the hell out of him, but Rarity as well. A girl has her needs, especially somepony like Rarity, and he needed to do something about that. “Here, slide over.”

“Why, Spike?”

“Just trust me,” he grinned, taking a seat next to her. “You do trust me, right?”

“With my life, if things came to that, but I still don’t—oh my…” Her muzzle scrunched up as Spike started massaging her shoulders, not even bothering to ask. He was good at that, predicting when and where the right time may be. The only thing that can become an interference was Twilight and his other friends. As he continued his work, it was almost instantaneous how all of her stress, and all that pent up aggression just seemed to disappear, melting away like the snow on a summer mountain. While her tension seemed to be released, it only served to fuel the burning desires that began to intensify inside her. She felt nice, relaxed as if she had just stepped into a warm, bubbly bath, but without feeling warm, even with the water being the perfect temperature. Spike truly had magic in those claws of his; she couldn’t help but breathe out a moan at the touch of his nails, but it still wasn’t enough.

Spike could tell, the way her shoulders quivered from under his influence, he started to get a little more daring with his massage, venturing down from the mare’s neck and shoulders to her lower back, dragging his claws lightly down, tickling her as they went. He even caused her to arch back and coo in ecstasy for a moment. The summit of each finger crept along Rarity’s sides and eventually found their way to her chest.

The unicorn gulped as Spike’s loving hand caressed her breast. “I… Spike, this is wonderful... but, don’t you think we should slow down? Just because this cart is empty at the moment doesn’t necessarily mean somepony could walk in by accident. Why, what if this booth belongs to somepony? We could get into a lot of trouble if we’re caught!”

“I know,” Spike grinned, giving her a little nip on her neck. “And I know you just love the idea of getting caught.”

“Yes, but our friends…”

“They’re all dealing with Applejack right now. C’mon, I know you want this.” He adjusted himself on the couch a little more so she could slide into his grasp if she wanted. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have let me get this far. You want this release just as much as I do.”

It was true; her body was yearning for the dragon’s touch, and a bit more of his touch than what was already happening. Her urges were roaring for her to act, attacking the last sensible resistance of her brain before she reached back and pulled Spike’s head towards her and whispered, “You locked the door, right?”

“Of course, milady.”

“Well then,” she smiled. “I suppose we should get a little more comfortable.” Rarity led Spike’s hand to the base of her shirt. How was it that she could never say no to her dragon? Was the lust for his chiseled figure that strong, or was it his exoticness? Maybe it was how he was the embodiment of a beast, but with the heart of a gentlecolt. Whatever it was, she freed herself from her top, leaving her bare chest visible for Spike. All he could do was stare while discarding her shirt. “Silly me, forgot to put my bra on this morning.”

“Definitely,” grinned Spike. He cupped each of her breasts, feeling and massaging them before, pinching the nipples of his mistress. Spike pulled her in closer, getting a better taste of her. His slick, forked tongue flickered coyly between his lips, inviting her to play, and she naturally took the bait. The tales of tamed dragons having insatiable effects in bed, to Rarity, were utterly true. She suckled his lower lip while rubbing her hands down his back, making her way down between his belt and towards her favourite double headed dragon. The warm rods were already pulsing hard in her grip, adding some for stimulus with circular rubs from her fingers. Rarity knew it was about time she unleashed the dragon’s special gifts. She made quick work of Spike’s belt and zipper, practically tearing down his pants and boxers. quite easily. It was all worth it, though, to see his two heads bounce about, eager and ready to go.

She pushed Spike off of her and onto the floor to stood over him. With a sly twinkle in her eye, she started to slowly hitch up her skirt, working up her long, white legs until she got to her waist. Her panties were already tinted a little, something that just so happened to be predictable for Spike. She quickly discarded them loosely, looping them around her ankle and flicking them onto Spikes left ear. He brushed them off open mouthed, blankly watching, but not before taking a quick taste of her desire. She was more than ready for this, so why keep her waiting?

He leaned up, gripping her arm, and pulled the unicorn down on top of him. He eagerly, though tenderly kissed her, making small nips on the side of her neck while lightly coursing her skin with his sharp fangs. Rarity arched back in a gasp of lustful mumbles, her spine tingling from her aching yearnings for this. She had initially been mad that her friends had ruined her and Spike’s alone time so early, but she almost felt like thanking them now for this build up.

“Ready?” Spike asked.

“J-just do it…” she hummed.

Spike licked his lips and bent his head down slowly,  his mouth opening ever so slightly, to where only the fangs could be seen.  He gave her a tender nibble, not enough to break the skin, but enough to get her body quivering with excitement. With that, Spike bucked up into her, his twin rods entering forcefully through her opening. Her tightness was the greatest feeling in the world to him, a sensation he could never get sick of, not while both his knotty dicks were being copiously suctioned in by Rarity’s slit and pucker. He had so much to be thankful for, gazing up at the white, panting mare he was rutting, her quivering arms that reached out for the edge of the train seats so she could better balance herself. Each of her fine breasts bounced with every wonderful, hard thrust he gave her, shaking while still saying firm in place. He was careful not to over do it.

Spike could feel his heart racing as Rarity picked up the pace, practically hopping up and down on his pogo sticks. She was starting to groan louder, biting her lips to keep from screaming, but she could only keep it in for so long. She made a sudden, loud screech after Spike finally landed one of her more favorite spots. Rarity’s mind slowly became a mess after that. She no longer cared about being discreet, challenging the idea that somepony; anypony could walk in on them right now, near buck naked and having the time of their lives. She wanted them to envy her happiness, watch in jealousy as she took what was only hers to take, and then simply relish in the pride that she would never love another the way she loved him.

The burning only became more intense as she glared off at the closed door. Who knows how many ponies had passed by, unknowing that she was being railed behind a thin wall of wood and glass. With the thought of whoever somehow walking through the door to see Spike filling her up with his spunk crossing her mind, she nearly lost it. Her love juices were already beginning to soak out and about, so she gave Spike her amused stare; a lusty and blushing expression that translated into ‘finish me off’.

It was a good thing Spike was fluent in many languages, as in one swift movement he complied. He flipped the tables on Rarity, sitting up and pushing her onto her back. She fell gently, her arms stranded above her hair as she brushed a few loose curls out of the way. The dragon had to make little adjustment, as his members never left Rarity’s love holes. With himself on top, he could have more control, and more importantly, a lot more power.

The dragon ferociously increased his pace, ramming violently into her gap freely. It was what she loved though. While the speed may have doubled, her experience and sensation tripled at least. Gawking at his work, and almost losing focus were it not for her hand pulling at his collar, dragging him closer to her, their tongues intertwining to give Rarity that last bit of ecstasy, and to finally finish her off. Her walls squeezed against his dragon prick tightly, riding out the exhilarating high and milking him of every last drop of reptilian cum. Once her heart’s thumping began to wind down, she looked down and blushed at the mess they’d made. It was unavoidable, though. All one could say for these two was that they were a pair unlike any other. The only thing keeping the two tied together was both years of friendship, and months of ‘fuck it’ sex. Despite everyone else’s opinions, they still continued with their play time. However, they both overlooked the fact that they had left a rather large love puddle in the carpet of the train booth.

One down side was that the two were insanely messy lovers. Spike could probably cum a bucket load if trained well enough, and Rarity, though thought to be completely into stallions only eventually proved she can broaden her horizons better than others would normally dare. Still… it had been worth every moment. Spike reluctantly slipped out of Rarity’s holes, though there was nothing to see. Everything was censored by a steady flood of thick, warm jizz. Getting up and onto his knees, he helped Rarity off the floor as well. The mare was still a little dizzy from the sensational experience, but she did get up, only to have to crawl around for her discarded clothing. Spike unzipped their suitcase and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear for Rarity who was more than grateful that she had over packed.

“So…” Rarity said, after a few minutes of silence. “What exactly are we going to do about that?” She pointed at the soaked part of the carpet.

Spike scratched his head a little. It’s not like they had prepared for something like this, although in hindsight, he probably should have. He’s a dragon, after all. “No idea. We could always just say it was there when we got here. It’s not like they can directly accuse us. I mean, there aren’t any cameras in here… are there?” He looked around to satisfy his paranoia. “Yeah, we should be fine.”

Rarity sighed a little in relief. Even if she had gotten caught up in the moment, the thought of actually getting busted was terrifying. She’d be so embarrassed, she’d probably have to drop off the face of the earth. Thankfully, though, that wasn’t the case. Rarity hopped over and onto the dragon’s lap, buttoning up the last of her shirt. “Still, this was quite exhilarating. Almost makes up for our rude awakening.”

“I’ll make sure certain boundaries are established for the future,” Spike reassured her. “But let’s not worry about that right now.”

“I know…” Rarity beamed, snuggling deeper into his chest. “But, I really liked that window.”

The two sat in loving silence as they both dozed in and out of consciousness. Happy memories of a weekend years ago relapsed in their minds, the weekend when they fell so deeply in love with one another. Spike always kicked himself for not realizing it sooner, but when a girl invites you to spend the weekend at her house and insists on wearing a maid’s outfit the whole time, it’s usually an inclination that she likes you more than you think. However, he was able to find out how much she liked him several times that weekend, and several times prior. She was sweet, kind, generous, sexy as all hell, and to be honest, he couldn’t come up with a flaw if he tried. She was about as perfect as they could get.

Sometimes he felt like he didn’t deserve her, but he was glad he had her. There was something about her that was more than just a pretty face. She was very special, in more ways that she could imagine. Recently he had been told about some rather unsettling things about draconic nature, such as things about hoards of more than just gems. He did admit that from time to time, he would experience an urge like no other, but one look at Rarity would smother any and all of these primal desires. She was, after all, the Element of Generosity. It was as if that magic was rubbing off on him, so it didn’t matter whatever he felt, she was the only treasure he’d ever really need.

It was Rarity once again who broke the silence. “I really hope this works out for Applejack,” she said. “You know… I really hope that she gets to experience this kind of happiness.”

“Same here,” Spike responded, stroking her hair. “If Soarin’s half a great as you are, Applejack’s a lucky girl.” He looked out the window, noticing the increase of white, urban infrastructure. “I think we're almost here.”

“Ah, Canterlot,” sighed Rarity, getting herself ready to leave, flicking the lock open. “Such a wonderful place, we must get a trip here soon once this business with Applejack is taken care of.” The two were just about to head out of the door, when it swung open itself, the train’s police officer standing under the support beams.

“Hey folks, just letting everypony know that we’re doing…” his voiced started to trail off and his nostrils started to flair up a little. He was sniffing the air. Rarity and Spike knew exactly what was making that smell, and were doing their best to smile nonchalantly and fan away the scent with their tails. But it was to no avail. “Is that… Move over, please.” The officer pushed the terrified pony and dragon out of the way and getting his first look at their little love puddle. “What the hell is this?!”

“Officer, we can explain!” Spike begged, before getting caught off by the officer.

“Can it, dragon!” He growled, fishing for his handcuffs. “You two are under arrest for indecent exposure and copulating on public transit—GAK!”

Out of nowhere, Rarity let out a shriek, sort of like a battle cry before grabbing the officer by the neck, and pinching down on his nerves. The officer’s face shrivelled up in pain as he made a gurgling noise as his body fell motionlessly to the ground, his head landing face first into the damp spot on the floor.

Spike’s reaction was appropriate. “Holy shit you killed him!” He panicked, both claws gripping at his head. “W-why on earth would you do that? Where the hell did you learn to do that?! What the fuck is going on?!”

“Okay first of all, language!” Rarity frowned. “Second of all, he’s not dead, I just pinched a few nerves a little and caused him to fall asleep. It looks more lethal than it actually is, but I would never kill another pony, I just don’t want to get thrown into prison over something as embarrassing as indecent exposure and public copulation.”

“But where did you learn to do that?!”

“Please, stop shouting dear, and walk with me,” she said, taking him by the hand and leading him outside and off the train. “You know how my father is… paranoid?”

“Yes…”

“Well…” Rarity began, her voice sort of trailing off a bit as she tried her best to not look nervous. “He’s always been a bit eccentric, what with his imprudent and stupid theories about timberwolves that work for the government and want his ten minutes, among other things equally as silly. Well, as a child he sort of taught me how to defend myself again any agents of the crown that he thought were going to abduct me, or to fight off time stealing timberwolves… by teaching me seventy different ways to incapacitate my victims. That was method twenty-four in case you were curious.”

Spike just stared blatantly at Rarity, the cute little mare that could probably kill him with a flick of her wrist. There some strange new feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t fear, although that was there. It was more like… arousal? Was he really titillated by the idea that his marefriend could break his neck at any given time? Sat, like he pissed her off? He was getting antsy just thinking about it, but he would have to wait until later to take advantage of these newfound feelings. He could see Applejack and the rest of their friends waving them down.

“There you two are!” Applejack said. “Where the hay did you two sneak off to?”

Spike and Rarity exchanged glances, giggling in their mind and winking at their friend’s cluelessness. “Oh… just explored the train for a bit, nothing to worry about. Now, let’s get to the festival!”
	

	
> Friday Morning: Hangover
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Morning can be a dreadful time for some ponies, and that goes double for those who might spend their nights binge drinking and partying the way the Wonderbolts usually did. Misty Fly, the newest member was beginning to experience one of the worst hangovers of her entire life. Sure, she’d been smashed dead before, but not like this. Not this hard, at least. She rolled away from the sun that peered through the walls of Soarin’s manor which having the whole place be made of thinner, pure white clouds made things that much brighter. Digging her face into the soft bed in a futile attempt to shield herself away from the dangerously approaching light, she thought about how grand it would be to simply fast forward the next eight hours of her life along, for anything would’ve been better than the thorough pounding she felt against her temples. At that time, the young pegasus began to think over her drinking habits. “Mhh… Maybe I should be a bit more considerate with what I drink…” she said aloud, but she was happy about one thing, she was a Wonderbolt now. That was worth the worse hangover anypony’s ever experienced. The only thing that could’ve quite easily made it any better was if Soarin’ had actually taken her up on her offer of a better time than just sipping wine, or whatever it was she and he had.

The magazine that she had been looking through was still open at the foot of the bed, still flipped to the page of the blurry orange mare circled in red ink. Misty rolled around towards it and took another look, this time more thoroughly. Whoever he had brought attention to on that page, the only thing she could figure out was that she was orange, and she sold pies. The photo was out of focus, and it was impossible to see her face in the blurry background, considering the focus was on Prince Blueblood; which Soarin’ must have scribbled a moustache on, as well as marking out a few teeth. Blueblood was a dumbass anyways, so she didn’t really care. If anything, it got her to chuckle despite having a hangover. All she cared about was this orange girl…

She ran her hand along the red traces while mumbling, “Goddess… I can’t even get past that thought right now…” Crawling out of the bed, she adjusted what little clothing she still had left hanging from her arms and legs, and even pulled her jeans down for a second to stretch her panties up over her hips where they belong. She wanted Soarin’ to get a good look at her and see what he was missing, while he wasted his time looking for this orange girl. It was time for round two with Soarin’, and now that she was sobered up, maybe she could convince him to give her a second chance. Even a quickie before they had to go would suffice.

Unfortunately, that first step towards the door proved she was not sober enough. A quick rinsing from the sink would leave her damp for sure, but at the same time, awake enough to at least reach the knob.

When she walked into the living room, she was welcomed with the delightful sight of Soarin’ hanging from the rafter shirtless, grunting as he muttered off the last couple of sit ups from his set. There seemed to be little stopping the pegasus, too, for she could plainly see the empty bowl and motionless pill bottle sitting beside him. With a few tablets of headache medication downed and a couple of protien shakes flowing smoothly through his intensely built system, he was back to normal, or at least as normal as he could get. He noticed Misty slinking into the room practically naked. She was still on that train of thought; the one about them sleeping together, something he had hoped was just a drunken idea influenced by a crap ton of varying alcoholic beverages. It made him groan a little, that she was still trying, and so hard, too, just to sleep with him. It was almost sad. He gave her a little wave and returned to his set, counting the lifts as he did so.

“Hey there Soarin’…” Misty cooed, flying up towards him and getting all in his space. She grinned at his blatant expression. “Wanna… I don’t know, take a break from your workout? Or, maybe try a different kinda physical practice? Here, I can even help get you prepped and ready.” She reached for his shorts, trying to grab the waistband so she could yank it up. Having him upside down was too perfect for her deviant little mind.

Unfortunately for her, though, Soarin’ would have none of it. He let himself drop out of her grasp, and with a flip, landed on the floor. Then he got to work with doing a few after workout stretches to keep him limber as though nothing had happened. “Nah, don’t worry about it, I was wrapping up anyways. You should probably think about putting some clothes on as well, there’s a good chance Spitfire and the rest of the team will show up soon. You know, to make sure we all get to Canterlot on time, and you don’t want to keep the boss waiting.” Stopping for a moment, he lifted up his arm and took a whiff. To him, it was his personal musk. A natural scent primitive in its nature: to arouse the opposite sex. To Misty, it was pretty much the same thing, but to all his adoring fans and close friends, it was nothing short of a putrid, rancid horse odor. “As for me… I need to shower.”

“A shower?” Misty pondered curiously with devilish intention.

“Oh, geez,” Soarin grumbled under his breath.

“I’ll join you if you want! I could… scrub your back for you!” She leapt onto him while he faced the door, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and pressing her chest up against the base of his back. She wanted to make sure he could feel her breast massaging him, and if she got a squeeze of his pectoral out of it... “Maybe I could shampoo your wings, or clean… other areas as well. We’ll see where this adventure takes us for sure,” she flirted.

Now, in his younger years, Soarin’ probably would’ve flushed. After all, another mare to rut was like winning the national fligher’s race all over again at that time. By this point in time, however, all he could do was roll his eyes. He hated this kind of attention, the kind he got solely because he was a Wonderbolt, where the pony was uncaring and uninterested in learning about the real him, and who he is inside. The pegasus shook Misty off, trying to retreat as politely as possible. “Thanks for the offer, but my shower has a maximum capacity of one, and I wouldn’t want to exceed that. You know, in case of a bathroom fire.”

Misty raised an eyebrow, unamused. “A bathroom fire? Really?” She latched right back onto Soarin’, wrapping her arms around his waist and slipping her hands down his shorts, trying to cop a feel of his legendary length. “C’mon, let’s just do it!” she teased. “I’m horny, we’re about to be auctioned off… I’m horny.”

“I’m saying no…” Soarin’ voiced in the same tone as Misty. “And this is really starting to make me uncomfortable… and you’re not listening, are GAH!” He gave out a shrill yell, not because Misty had gotten a hold of his sack, but because through his cloudy door came the one pegasus he didn’t want to see right now, especially considering that the new recruit was wrist deep in his shorts.

“Jackpot!” Spitfire chimed, her eyes, widening as Soarin’ and Misty Fly froze in position, their faces couldn’t have been any redder. “This… is… beautiful!” She almost jumped into the air with happiness as Misty fled behind Soarin, not wanting her captain to see her naked. “So this is what you’ve been doing when you said you were busy. You were just getting busy, you magnificent bastard, you. And here I thought you were just getting squishy on me, but you were just banging the new girl! High five!” She raised her hand towards Soarin’, expecting to feel the sting of his palm impact her’s. “C’mon dude, don’t leave me hanging.”

“Spitfire, this isn’t what it looks like,” Soarin’ said with a deadpan look. He remained surprisingly calm, like this wasn’t the first time Spitfire had walked in on something like this.

Spitfire’s smile dropped. “But I want this to be what it looks like. Soarin’, don’t you ruin this for me!” She turned to Misty, who was trying to sneak away from this situation, covering her chest and sinking into one of the clouds. “Do not tell me that you passed her up. I mean, I would totally tap that!”

“Yeah, actually, I did pass that up,” Soarin’ admitted, stretching out a bit, thankful that the prying hands of Misty were scared away. “Because that is nothing more than another mare that wants to sleep with ‘Soarin’ the Wonderbolt’, and not Soarin’ the pegasus.”

Spitfire only had one response to that. “Oh my lord, you’re so gay!” She spat humorously. “I’m sorry, but you just might have a bigger vagina than I do.”

“No surprise there,” he muttered. “You do seem to have more testosterone than most stallions I know do.”

As insulting as it might’ve sounded, were it not for a slight smirk crossing Soarin’s muzzle, Spitfire might’ve been taken back. Instead, she bursted out in laughter. “You’re damn straight I do!” She gave him a Charlie horse as she walked into the kitchen. “You got anything to eat here? I’m starved!” The sounds of rummaging through his fridge indicated that she was already scavenging through his food. “Why do you have so many pies in here?”

“You know why!” Soarin’ called out, entering into the kitchen as well to find that Spitfire was already taking an arm-full of pie. “But you can help yourself, I don’t really like them anyways.”

“Why not?” Spitfire asked while she submerged a slice into her mouth. fter swallowing, she remarked, “This is pretty fucking fantastic.”

Soarin’ pushed her aside, reaching into the farthest depths of the fridge and grabbing an un-open bottle of orange juice, popping the lid and take a long drink, sighing from the refreshing citrus taste. After half of the bottle was emptied, he placed it back where he found it and offered Spitfire an explanation. “The apple slices are too sour, the crust wasn’t caramelized, and the flour was too bitter.”

“Okay, foodie,” Spitfire groaned, throwing the pie tin into the trashcan with all the other uneaten pies. “You seriously need to move on. It’s killing you, and I don’t mean that figuratively, you’re eating way too much pie. I’m surprised you’re not a colossal fatty right now.”

“I told you. I’m not stopping till I find her,” Soarin’ frowned, folding his arms together and leaning against a counter. “I… just need to know who made that pie.”

“Okay… well, let’s say hypothetically you actually do find this mare. What are you going to do, marry her?”

“I don’t know, probably not,” Soarin smiled. “After all, once I find the right company, or whatever the hell she was working for, I gotta find the mare who made those wonderful apple brown betties at Rainbow Falls a few years ago. That’s going to be a whole new headhunt all together.”

“Yeah,” Spitfire sighed. “It’d just be easier if they were just the same pony.”

“Well then I’d have to marry her.” Soarin’ chuckled. “After all, fastest way to a stallion’s heart is through his stomach.”

“Really? I always thought it was through his dick,” Spitfire winked, laughing afterwards at her own joke. Soarin’ remained unamused and just rolled his eyes, which the yellow pegasus took little offense to. After all, she was used to Soarin’s straight man persona. He’d always been a bit like this, even when he wasn’t on some wild goose chase for a pie lady. “Well anyways, I hope you find this girl, if not for you, then for my sake so I don’t have to deal with pies anymore.” She took a look at the time from the clock on the wall. “Holy pony feathers, it’s already ten? We needed to be in Canterlot thirty minutes ago!” The Wonderbolt let out a chuckle. “Oh, the sponsors are going to be pissed. You get Misty ready and I’ll round up the rest of the team. We need to double time if we want to get to Canterlot without getting chewed out at too much.” Spitfire opened her wings and dashed through the cloudy wall. “Don’t be later than you have to be!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try not to be!” Soarin’ shouted out after her. He grumbled a few thoughts under his breath about how Spitfire still acted like a child after all these years. However he couldn’t get distracted by that right now. He needed to take a shower and get the all too frisky Misty Sky ready for the Wonderbolt weekend. His bathroom was directly above him, so he just flew up through the cloudy floor and into his shower, letting his shorts fall down and around his ankles, only to be kicked away across the fluffy floor. Cloud showers were one of the few traditional appliances he kept in his home, as water would be heated by lightning and then popped open with the slightest pinch against their surface, and it would slowly drizzle out.

It was quite relaxing to have this time to himself, without somepony or another attacking him. Part of him thought that he should just tell Misty about his pilgrimage to find the pie mare, thinking that it would maybe get her off his case, but another part of him thought otherwise. If Misty was as horny for him as she seemed to be displaying, confessing that he had eyes for another might drive her to do something they would both end up regretting. On the other hand, he could just rut her. It wouldn’t be like other times, where he was looking to satisfy himself. It’d be like most times, where he had to solely pleasure the female until she just couldn’t hold onto reality, and passed out. Ever since that pact, though, as said before, he hadn’t been with anyone else. Any one because Soarin’ was known to be the type for taking a fancy towards the more exotic beings found in Equestria; griffons in particular. Still, nothing beat that orange mare, not even a fellow, green feathered flyer.

“Damn it,” he said with drizzling water running down his chest. He got thinking about that pie mare again, something he wished he could get away from for at least five minutes. Why was it so hard for him to remember her face? More importantly, why was it so hard to get her out of his mind? All he remembered was that she was orange, or a shade like it, and made the best pie in the world. If only that damn article in that magazine didn’t focus so much on that ass, Blueblood, then none of this would have been a problem, nor would he had wasted the last few years on this endeavour. And now, he had to go waste more time by going to this stupid charity event. It wasn’t so much the cause that he thought was stupid, but rather the fact that it would be three whole days he would have to waste with whoever happens to get lucky enough to win.

However, as the warm water began to wash over his coat more, and his shower cloud started to dissipate, he thought that maybe this was for the best. Spitfire was right, he was going to kill himself if he kept up like this forever. This weekend could act as a much needed vacation from his goose chase. So, he decided right then and there that this weekend, he would forget all about this pie mare and just focus on whoever bought him during the Wonderbolt Weekend.

As the final few drops of water leaked from the cloud, Soarin’ fetched a fresh towel from the rack and dried himself off, wrapping it around his waist, and snuck back into his room. Thankfully, it was vacant, and Misty was nowhere in sight. He grabbed his suitcase, which he had the hindsight to pack ahead of time, and searched his closet for a fresh uniform. It was laughable how tiny his uniforms were made. It’d probably be better fitted for a grown colt, but that was the point. It had to be a tight fit to keep his fur matted down. It was the only way the designers could increase the level of speed he needed without shaving his glorious body. After applying a little baby powder to his chest, legs and back he waddled into his tights, pulling them up his long, muscular legs, over his large, broad shoulders, and through his larger than normal wings, ending it by zipping himself with one, quick tug on the metal with a loose finger.

Looking into his mirror, he sighed at the sight of ‘Soarin’ the Wonderbolt’. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” He walked out the door, searching for Misty. Thankfully, she had some sense in her head, as she was actually dressed in her street clothes. “Hey, good. You’re ready to go, how ‘bout that… Where’s your uniform?”

“At home,” she said, twiddling her thumbs, smiling innocently. “… I don’t suppose you have a spare uniform on you? I don’t really want to have to fly all the way across town just to change.”

“Well, unless you want a guy’s uniform, you’re out of luck. Shame too, we’re running late so you’d better hurry up.” Soarin’ brushed his tail along side her as he made an attempt to exit the house. He stopped, looked back and smiled her way. “Don’t worry about it too much. I’m sure if you ask one of the other girls, they could lend you a spare. It’s not like it’d be the first time one of our members arrived for a show naked… But, uh, not for a charity auction. I don’t think that’s ever happened.” While his hand rubbed his chin in thought, remembering a few ex-Wonderbolts that did just that, he had to wonder if any of those were charity events as well. “Catch up later, okay?” He asked suddenly before taking off into the air, catching a draft in the winds and gliding around for a moment. Misty took off right behind him, following closely until they were insight of a flock of familiar pegasi, the rest of the Wonderbolts.

He flew up into line at the front of the flock, right where Spitfire was gliding, singing something to herself under her breath. “Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping… into the future…” She hummed, peeking out from the corner of her eyes. “Fly like an—oh hey Soarin’! What took you so long?” She asked, moving over a little to make room for her fellow flyer. “Did you wise up and get freaky with the new girl?”

“My god—you’re still on that, aren’t you? I told you, I’m not interested in her,” he groaned. “I was getting showered up and readying myself, you know, like you asked and all. But no, next time I’ll screw the new chick, pinkie promise.”

“Really?” Spitfire pondered, raising an eyebrow in interest. “You know if you make one, you’ll have to keep it…”

“Forever!” A voice called from seemingly nowhere.

“Yeah, forever,” Spitfire laughed. “So you better nut up and spread her soon, or at least with somepony! Hell, even if it’s with me again, I’d be happy, as long as you’re getting some action.”

“Yeah… no. I have no intention to make any promises that I’m not going to keep. So yeah... can we just keep flying?”

“Fine, fine…” sighed Spitfire, focusing back on the trail they flew across. Together they drifted in the wind current, the silence being too much for Spitfire to bare. “So… aren’t you going to ask me how my night went?”

“I hadn’t planned on it,” Soarin’ said, trying not to look at her. “What happened to just flying?” he asked. “You know, me and you, and the others-”

“Most of the female population of our group is staring at you with gaga eyes.”

Soarin’ checked the rest, and found Spitfire to be one hundred percent correct. “That may be, but I deal with that on a regular basis. Remember?”

Spitfire nodded. “Yeah, I know. But, these aren’t your fans.” She came closer to him to she could reach his ear, and whispered, “They’re your friends.” Like a stone, Soarin continued flight, letting the rest sulk over their lustrous fallacies. With her nudging him a little, tugging on his arm until he looked over to her, Spitfire pressed on about her night. “It was pretty awesome, I mean it was just me… and Fleetfoot... all alone in my manor, tipsy with a passed out Rapid-fire, and you know me. I would never pass on such a golden opportunity, I’m such a wimp when it comes to temptation.”

Soarin’ gave her a strange look, wondering what she could be talking about, but his mind was already deviating the countless things that Spitfire could do with those two in her house. Even if they weren’t drunk, Spitfire would find a way. “I’m going to guess that you’re going to tell me regardless of what I say or do, even if that’s completely ignore you while you banter on and on?.”

“Smart boy,” Spitfire smirked as she began her tale. “Well… Me and Fleet managed to get Rapid-fire back to my place, but we were pretty bored afterwards. So we tried to find things to entertain ourselves… then I got a great idea…”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes as she began her tall tale. With him being less interested in her wild stories as compared to the pony he was years ago, she did what Spitfire normally did those days and talked on with him barely listening. He did, however, become interested the more she went on.



“Spitfire… I don’t know about this,” Fleetfoot gulped while she tried her best to prevent her blushing cheeks from showing even a little. She didn’t want to feel like the odd girl out, not with her other two friends standing right there in kitchen along side her. Both mares were barely able to stand on their own two feet, and Fleetfoot just about lost her balance over what Spitfire just suggested. “I mean… it’s sort of…”

“What’s the matter, Fleet?” Spitfire grinned, slouching forward a bit towards the light-blue pegasus. “You’re not getting cold feet, are you? Because that’s not the Fleetfoot that I know. No, the Fleetfoot I know is up for anything… willing to try just about anything, too.” She traced one of her arms up with her finger, because by now, her fur was on end, nervous and enthralled by the situation. Goosebumps riddled her arm anxiously, but she was definitely interested in the little game Spitfire had recommended. However, there still remained few few hoops Spitfire needed to leap through to get her on board. Luckily for her, she did that on a regular basis. “Come on, deep down I just know you can’t resist giving it a shot.”

Spitfire wasn’t fibbing, either. The idea did certainly sound exciting, enough to even make her heart race, and just from the mere thought as well. Thinking about all the possibilities, and one mighty beat screamed “yes” in her head, but the following beat arguing with the first set of voices, Fleet chose to do what she always did. “I… guess, maybe? I’m just a little nervous. I mean, I’ve never tried this before… Are you sure you’d want to do this with an amateur like me?”

“Are you kidding?” the leader of the Wonderbolts questioned aloud, staring into Fleet’s eyes. “With you, I could mold you into my own little creation. I could teach you how to do it right, show you things and positions that would blow your mind.”

“I don’t know…” Fleetfoot muttered with an embarrassed tone of voice, looking over Spitfire’s shoulder and spying on Rapid-fire who laid unconscious on the couch. The only thing keeping the scene from feeling more romantic was that image. Spitfire looked dazzling no matter how intoxicated she truly was, but to see a snoring sleepyhead like that right behind her, with drool sliding down the cheek, there was no way she’d even be able to call this cute. He seemed fast asleep at the moment, but every now and then he would twitch involuntarily. Not only was he a killjoy, but what if he woke up in the middle of their fun? What would he think? More importantly, what would he do? “What if we wake him up?”

“We won’t wake him up,” Spitfire reassured. “Trust me…” She placed both hands on her shoulders, pulling her in slowly until their mouths almost touched. She then leaned into her ear and whispered, “You’ll never forget the fun you had this night.”

That’s was it was to Fleetfoot. The promise of fun was too much for her. With an eager mind and an inebriated body, she nodded and said, “Okay… let’s do it.”

Spitfire chuckled to herself, smiling slyly as her frisky hands reached around Fleetfoot’s waist and onto her kitchen’s drawer. “Hey, can you move your butt? You’re leaning on the knob.” Fleetfoot blushed a little, but moved aside quickly with a snicker. Spitfire opened it up and pulled out two sharpie markers. Then, she asked a very important question. “Do you want the red one, or the black one?”

“Th-the red one,” the raspy voiced Fleetfoot said, taking the marker in hand. With their weapons drawn, they snuck out of the kitchen and into the living room, lingering over Rapid-fire’s sleeping body. He looked so peaceful, so innocent. “Well… let’s do this!”

“Hell yeah,” snickered Spitfire, uncapping her sharpie. “Now… how do you spell penis again?”

*****

As Spitfire finished up her tale, Soarin’ stared dumbfounded at her. Like every other one of Spitfire’s stories, it left him sweaty under the tights, and utterly confused. “So… you drew a bunch of dicks on his face?”

“Well we did that, as well as some boobs, a few other nasty things, and we wrote every single dirty word we could think of on every inch of his body. Although, I gotta admit, we were pretty drunk at the time, so I think I might’ve signed his ass at one point.” Spitfire laughed heavily, almost crying. “Oh, he was straight up pissed when he couldn’t wash it off in the morning! Isn’t that right, Rapid-fire?” 

She looked over her shoulder to give a thumbs up to her friend, who in turn flipped her the bird. “Soarin?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Soarin’ replied.

“Never let yourself fall asleep if Spitfire hasn’t had sex with you beforehand. I might not look like this right now, smudged in black all over… had she…” He looked at Spitfire while flapping forward with a bit of anger showing. “LEFT ME ALONE!”

“Yeah, see? Pissed the hell off, it’s awesome.” Spitfire watched deviously as Fleet sank down, sorry for what she’d done by now. “I’m sure whoever wins him in the auction is going to be curious about all of that,” she said after glancing back at the path that laid before them.

“Uh-huh,” droned Soarin’. “So… that’s all you guys did last night? Draw a bunch of stupid shit on Rapid-fire?”

“You’re acting like you were expecting something else,” Spitfire beamed, winking at him. Soarin’ didn’t buy it though, and just stared at her. He knew if he stayed silent long enough, Spitfire would eventually spill everything, which she did. “I mean, we had lot’s of sex as well. Is that what you were waiting to hear?”

“Somewhat,” Soarin’ sighed cheerfully. “After all, I just loved how you were able to describe what Fleet felt, particularly better than yourself.”

Spitfire chuckled, “Yeah, well, you know. I just happen to know my girls like that.”

“I just needed to check that you were still an immature, sociopathic, pansexual and not just immature. Not that I didn’t mind the change of scenery, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t broken or anything.”

“Says the sarcastic prude with the pie fetish…” Spitfire replied smugly, sticking her tongue at him. “Whatever, at least I’m getting some. You on the other hand need to loosen up.”

“I will,” Soarin’ said. “In fact, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve decided I’m taking the whole weekend off from my mad pie chase. So, take that as you will.” He looked down towards the ground below, and to the large kingdom resting on the mountainside. Canterlot was just a few wing beats away. He took a deep breath of confidence and began his descent into the city. Soon, he would get pampered up to be displayed for thousands of screaming fans just so they could bid on his freedom. He could get snatched up by anypony from an elderly old cougar with a pegasus fetish to some big, burly stallion that wanted to make him their… he didn’t even want to go there, bad thoughts and memories. Maybe he would get lucky and have somepony normal win him this year. Some nice girl that’d just have a couple of fangasms and take him on a few dates. Personally, he just wanted this weekend to be done so he could pursue his other interests.

“I wish you the best of luck this year, Soarin’,” Spitfire said. “You know you’re probably going to get some crazy chick like last year.”

“I don’t want to think about that, Spits,” he groaned. “So… many boxes... But, yeah, I always seem to get the really psychotic ones. I remember that she had me dress up in a froo-froo dress and a curly blonde wig and talk in a Trottingham accent… real nut job, that one was.”

“Don’t you still have a restraining order against that mare?”

“I’m renewing it next month,” Soarin’ muttered. “I still get the occasional odd love letter from her written in magazine clippings. Anyways, I’m sure that this year won’t be that bad…”

“Well whatever happens, I’m sure that we’re in for a very interesting couple of games,” laughed Spitfire. With that, the Wonderbolts began their descent into the great city of Canterlot for their charity auction. None of them expected anything too special to happen that weekend, at least nothing apart from what they normally had to deal with. However, for one certain pegasus, it’d be life changing.

	
> Friday Afternoon: Four Flower Festival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Wowie!” Pinkie Pie stammered, skipping ahead of her group of friends to stare at the wonderfully florist streets of Canterlot. The city standing atop the high mountains that looked outward at the world below was in full bloom, so to say, as a magnitude of colourful flowers were scattered around every window, planted on every corner, and vined up every streetlamp. Not a single glance was met with undecorated features. Even the patrons and citizens of Canterlot were dazzled up for the occasion, wearing suits with bounties with flowers hanging loosely from the collars and handcuffs, and for the dresses, petal-like skirts. Everyone that walked by the group all looked like wandering gardens as they held their heads up high and trotted down the brick roads. “Everypony looks so pretty! And look at all these flowers!”

Rarity nodded, looking at her own outfit. It almost brought her to blush a bit. Compared to everything she and her friends currently observed, she probably looked way less detailed to the local citizens that waltzed by. “Goodness, I feel a tad underdressed. Rainbow, why didn’t you tell us this was a formal event?”

“I didn’t realize it’d be like… this,” the pegasus said, shrugging her shoulders as her hands dipped into her pocket. “I just heard on the radio was that there would be a Wonderbolt Weekend at the Four Flower Festival in Canterlot this weekend. I never heard anything about getting all gussied up and shit. I’m sure it’s not that a big deal, though. We’re not staying long, just long enough for AJ here to buy her boy toy and then get her rocks rocked, right Applejack?”

The farmpony couldn’t hear her, for at that time, her mind was someplace else. Her eyes were locked on a large, blue banner hanging from two street polls. It was an advertisement for the Flower Fun Fair, listing all the exciting games, rides and events they’d be having closest to the center of town, and the very last bullet was ‘Win a Wonderbolt’ in wavy, colorful letters. Applejack’s cheeks began to burn profusely at the thought of being so close to her secret crush, and only the worst of scenarios would running circles in her head. Celestia forbid she thought of the one good possibility, for how could she when there’s a billion likely catastrophes that could occur? It was like trying to pick up a coal from a fire. The closer she got, the hotter she became, and she couldn’t help herself from being fearful of getting too burnt. Terribly, terribly burnt beyond mental repair. The cowpony turned around and tried to run back towards the train station. Perhaps she could catch a ride back to Ponyville, and be done with this fiasco of a plan.

Of course, she was caught almost instantly by the rosy aura of Twilight’s magical grasps, lifting her up and into the air. She floated up next to the alicorn who gave her a displeased look. “And where do you think you’re going, Applejack?” she asked curiously. “You’re not getting cold feet on us, are you?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow smirked, glaring happily into her friend’s troubled eyes. “You better not be trying to bail on us, AJ. That is... unless you’re too chicken to meet hunk-dunkity Soarin’. If you want, though, I’d be more than happy to take a ride on his love boat in your place!” She laughed with a wink, grabbing Applejack’s arm by the wrist and dragging her out of Twilight’s firm clutches. “Seriously, you’re not allowed to give up now of all times. Not when we’re so close to the goal.”

“I’m n-not chicken!” Applejack frowned, pulling her arm away from Rainbow’s. If there was one thing that could triumph over her occasional fear, it was her southern pride, and a severe inability to be proven wrong, especially by Rainbow’s standards. “I just…” She tried to think of something to say before noticing a small family walking by, dressed in their colourful décor of tantalizing flowers. An imaginary light bulb clicked in her head. “I just agree with Rarity is all, you see?”

“Huh?” the fashionista wondered, looking just as confused as everypony else. “You agree with me... on what now?”

“That we’re nowhere near fancily dressed and whatnot,” the cowpony stated, not even believing the words coming out of her own mouth. Still, if this worked, then it would buy her some preparation time at the very least, and at this point, that’s all she could ask for. While looking around at her colleagues’ disgruntled expressions, she tried her best to explain her obviously false feelings. “Uh, you see, this here looks like a mighty fancy shindig… I don’t think it’d be very proper for us to go into something this ornamental without getting all ruffled and junk. Hehe...”

The rest of her friends were about to speak up in protest, but they would be deafened by the overly delightful screams of Rarity. The mare lunged at Applejack, tackling her to the harsh ground with a hug. “Ah~! Oh, this is a dream come true! You’re finally taking notice of your appearance, and what’s better, you want me to help you start your new wardrobe! Spike, I think it best if you pinch me right now,  because I simply must be dreaming!”

“Whoa there, Nelly!” Applejack groaned, trying to shake out of another one of her friend’s tightening holds. “All I said is that… well, we needed to maybe get some better clothes on, and I left my Sunday’s best at home. So—”

“Oh, I know exactly what you meant, dear,” Rarity hummed, whisking her off from the ground and down the street. “And I absolutely agree with you! We should all get new dresses for such a special occasion! Just so happens, I know of the perfect little establishment we can go to!”

Applejack tried to break free, but her friend seemed unusually strong at the moment, and she was barely able to get even an arm free. With her unheld hand, she grabbed onto Twilight’s, trying to anchor herself, but she only managed to drag Twilight along with her. To try and keep herself from getting carried away, Twilight grabbed onto Rainbow out of desperation, whom in turn snatched onto Pinkie Pie, who then grabbed onto Fluttershy for fun. Rarity carried them all like a screaming chain down the street, leaving Spike standing alone in utter confusion.

“What the hell...” the dragon muttered, slouching as he made his lonesome way down the street, following the crying line of girls. “The things I put up with… I’m always getting left behind.”

Spike made slow progress in comparison to the girls who were about halfway down the street and around the corner. Applejack was still trying to break the tether Rarity had managed to somehow string, but no matter how hard she struggled, Rarity wouldn't let go. “Rare, would you please let go of me?! For crying out loud, where are we even going?”

“Right… here!” Rarity beamed, halting right in front of a grand looking store, a white and purple clothing studio that was heavily decorated with several bushels of flowers. “My Canterlot branch should have all the things I’ll need to whip up some last minute dresses for us!”

As she gawked over possible ideas for dresses, the rest of her friends were catching their breaths from being whirled halfway around town. Rainbow was the first one to regain herself. “What…? When did you open up a second store?”

“When did I… I’ve had this store for over a year!” Rarity frowned. “I talk about it all the time.”

“Ah, so I haven’t been caring for over a year as well.”

Rarity rolled her eyes, ignoring her friend’s ignorance. “In any case… I can have us all new dresses made within the hour! Come along, darlings.” She skipped into the boutique, a small ringing noise was made as a cream coloured pony came rushing into the room from the back, her blue bob haircut bounced with each step she took. She was in such a rush that the pony nearly tripped on the carpet, but managed to regain her balance and stumble quirkily to the front desk.

“I’m so sorry if I kept you waiting,” she puffed. “Welcome to the Canterlot Boutique—Miss Rarity!”

“Hello Coco,” Rarity smiled, greeting her long-time friend and employee.

Coco Pommel practically leapt over the desk and approached her boss, bowing in respect. Her eyes sparkled like a night’s starry sky as she gazed at her boss. “What a wonderful surprise, Miss Rarity! If I knew you were coming for an inspection, why, I would have tidied the store up!” Suddenly, she froze up, her face becoming stricken with fear. Her smile went from immense happiness to tragic sadness. “I’m sorry the store’s such a mess...” The cream-coated mare brushed over the sparkling clean interior of the shop. “I-it’s unacceptable, I can feel a micro speck of dust beginning to form over the mannequins, I was slacking off and not dusting every hour like I should be. It’s been… sixty five minutes!” The poor thing broke down in tears at Rarity’s feet. “I deserve to be fired!”

“Oh, honey... No you don’t.”

“Out of a cannon and into the sun!” Coco continued to weep, hugging Rarity’s feet. “It’s all I deserve for disgracing my employer!”

“Now Coco, stop that this instant!” Rarity demanded, picking her up from the ground. “Now, listen to me. You’re not a disgrace, and you’re certainly not a failure. This store is certainly not dirty, and, why, I’d say that it’s cleaner than my own boutique back in Ponyville! So there will be no firing today, from a cannon or otherwise. You just need to calm down a little, Coco. You tend to get so, very wrapped up in the little things.” She laughed a little bit. “Trust me, I know exactly what that’s like.”

Coco wiped a few of her stray tears away from her cheeks. With a few sniffles, she was more or less composed. All that she needed was Rarity’s smile to make her feel better again. It was almost like her grin was the sun, peaking through her dark clouds of worries and restoring her happiness. “Oh thank you, Miss Rarity!” Coco nuzzled herself into Rarity’s chest, hugging her. “You’re such a wonderful and forgiving boss!”



Rarity chuckled nervously, uncomfortable about how close Coco was getting. She patted her on the head before gently pushing her away. “Well, I’m glad that we got that straightened out. Now then, I’ll need you at your top game right now.”

“Yes ma’am!” Coco said, saluting her boss and awaiting her set of orders. “Anything you want!”

“We’re heading to the Four Flower Festival,” Rarity said forwardly, turning around to acknowledge her friends. Even Spike had managed to catch up and join the girls. “But, as you may or may not have noticed, we’re a little out of line, uniform wise. Even I didn’t prepare for such a flowery décor this year. So, you and I must make, design and formally attire my  friends six new and mostly unique dresses (and one suit for Spike) before noon, today. Do you think we can do it?”

Coco looked at the store’s clock, seeing that it was almost ten in the morning. “I’m sure that with you by my side, we can get things properly situated within the hour. I know you can do it, because you’re the best there is.”

“You flatter me darling,” Rarity giggled, clapping and leading all her friends to the back room where she had a small parlour set up. “Now, first up should be the mare of the hour!” She grabbed Applejack and threw her into the middle. “Now, Applejack, tell me. What’s your favourite flower?”

“My favourite flower? I don’t know—Hey!” she gasped as Coco began unbuttoning the slightly tattered shirt she wore. “What in the hickory hell are you doing?!”

“She’s undressing you, naturally. We need to make accurate measurements after all,” Rarity said, levitating several rolls of green, yellow, brown and orange rolls of fabric their way. “It’s been so long since I’ve taken your measurements, I need to get things updated. Do try to be professional, let alone  mature about all this, Applejack. You’re the one that wanted to get all dressed up for the occasion!”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get second thoughts about it!” The cowpony snapped, pulling her plaid jacket closed. “I mean, I thought that we would just head back home, not…” she stopped mid-sentence. “What am I doing?” Applejack asked herself in her head. Rarity was bending over backwards to help her, even going as far as making a brand new dress on the spot in the hopes it would help her make Soarin’, her crush, fall in love with her. It was so generous, Applejack nearly felt sick about it. No, she had to go through this. With all that her friends were doing for her, how could she possibly be so selfish and just turn her back on them? She gulped her pride down and stood where she was, giving Coco her chance to resume what she was doing. Dresses weren’t her favourite, but maybe this one wouldn’t be so bad. “… Not… Umm, I’m not sure what flower I like the best. There’re lots of nice ones, I guess?”

“We’ll think of something—Idea~!” Rarity chimed. “A sunflower! Oh that’s perfect for you. They’re strong, beautiful, and they grow on farms! It’s like they were created to personify you, don’t you think, Coco?”

“You’re a genius, Miss Rarity,” Coco beamed. “A sunflower sound’s beautiful. Now all we need is for her to undress so I can take the measurements.”

Applejack sighed in defeat. “Fine, I guess it ain’t the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done—oh, horse apple.” The cowpony just remembered one very important detail. While dressing that morning, she had neglected to put on a certain article of clothing. “Umm… Couldn’t I just take my jacket and jeans off, isn’t that enough?”

“Well, I certainly won’t make you take your underwear off, but everything needs to go. Professionalism, darling.”

“No, Rarity…” Applejack mumbled, her cheeks blushing a little. “I mean, I can’t. I’m umm… missing something.”

It took Rarity a few moments to realize what Applejack was saying. “Oh, of course darling. Spikey, could you step outside and watch the front of the shop for a moment? Womanly matters.” Spike nodded and left the room. He knew better than to press anything that had ‘womanly matters’ involved, and his mind would jump to the worst scenarios. Once the door shut behind the dragon, things resumed. “There, all better?”

“A bit, actually,” Applejack mumbled, pulling her jacket off. “But I can undress myself, thank you kindly. I don’t need Coco’s hands all over me.”

She removed her cowboy hat and placed it by her feet as she kicked of her mud stained boots. A little fumbling with her belt, and off that went, too. She slid her jeans down her long, strong legs. They were barely at her ankles, and already, she felt utterly naked, so it was only casual that she took a long time pulling her shirt off, her perky breasts exposed for all her friends to see. At least a few of them looked just as uncomfortable as she was, Fluttershy had covered her eyes the second her pants were down, Pinkie Pie was trying to smother her smile, and even Rainbow had found a magazine to preoccupy herself from all of this. Only Twilight and Rarity seemed unphased. She figured that Rarity was used to this, to the point in which it numbed all possibility of immaturity, but Twilight was still a mystery. Perhaps she was just uncaring. In any case, Coco began rummaging her measuring tape all around Applejack while Rarity traced the floor in circles with several fabric rolls and assorted papers, writing down ideas and sketching out designs.

“Alright, Applejack, you can put your clothes back on now,” she said. “I think I’ve all the measurements that I need from you…” Rarity turned around, looking at the rest of her friends. “So, who wants to be next?”

All the girls twitched nervously in their spots, none of them wanting to be the next pony to be striped down right in front of their friends. They were all trying to avoid eye contact with one another, staring at their feet or fiddling with their manes.

“Oh buck up, ladies,” Applejack groaned. “I had to do it without a bra and have frisky hands over there…” She glanced over to Coco, giving her the stink eye. “So will one of you get up here and just get it over with?!”

With no one else offering, Twilight rolled her eyes and stepped forward, pulling off her sweater. “Fine, I guess I’ll go next.” She folded her piece of coverage and started unbuttoning her blouse to stand on the pedestal.

As she was doing this, Rainbow Dash leaned back on her chair, bobbing right under Fluttershy’s head, grinning as Fluttershy tried to avoid looking at Twilight. “This is so lame, right?” She asked. “So freaking boring it’s not even funny.”

“It’s not so bad…” Fluttershy whispered, blushing a little under her hair. “I mean, it’s a nice thing Rarity’s doing for us.”

“Yeah me neither,” Rainbow yawned, stretching out her arms and teetering into her friend’s lap. She wasn’t really paying attention to what Fluttershy was saying anymore, but to be honest, she hardly paid attention to anything anypony said about anything. “So… are you going to spill what you and Will’s willy do now?”

Fluttershy squeaked a little. “W-would you please stop going there? I thought we were done with all of this.”

“Maybe you were, but I still need to hear what you and Will do!” Rainbow grumbled, giving her friend the best doe eyes she could muster. “C’mon, Shy… I really need this.”

“But you already have a coltfriend.”

Rainbow blinked, pausing a little bit before saying, “Thunderlane’s not my coltfriend…” Fluttershy gave her a look, a curious one at that. It made Rainbow think about her situation for a moment. What was she doing with Thunderlane? They hardly ever hung out… well, except for the sex, and the occasional call to chill, which was also strange now that she thought about it. He was always the one who asked if she ever wanted to just hang out. Surprisingly enough, without expecting sex. So, that brought up a question within herself. “I mean… I don’t think he’s my coltfriend…”

“You don’t... think he is?” Fluttershy hummed questionably. “You two have been on how many dates again?”

“Depends… does sex count as a date?”

“No…”

“Then I guess zip,” Rainbow shrugged. “Why? Do you think that’s weird?”

“Don’t you think it’s the problem with your relationship?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean… it doesn’t really sound like a relationship to me, but if you think it’s a relationship, then I’m still happy for you, Rainbow Dash. I’m sure that you’ll work it out at your own pace, maybe.”

Rainbow stared at the shivering mare above her, confused by her question. “Wait… do you think that I’m doing my relationship wrong or something? Is that what you’re saying? Huh?!” She flipped around on her chair, glaring deeply into Fluttershy’s eyes, her pupils shimmering with annoyance and anger. However, after a few grunts, something rather odd happened, something that Fluttershy had seen only a few times in her life.

A tear dropped from Rainbow’s eye.

She was taken back, shocked and confused from seeing her toughest and most proud friend shed a tear. Rainbow had taken flight crashes, wall slams and occasionally various head injuries, and she never gave so much as a whimper. But to see this, this was too heartbreaking for Fluttershy to take. The timid young mare had to act fast to spare Rainbow’s humility, so she grabbed Rainbow’s arm and whisked her away into one of the changing rooms.

When she was sure that they were safe, the yellow pegasus turned to her friend. “Are you okay, Rainbow?”

“Y-yeah, yeah,” she sniffed, wiping her slightly dampened face. “I just... got some shit in my eye, or something…” She looked up at Fluttershy, her best and oldest friend. Even after all these years, she was still trying to help her with her problems. “Alright, so I may have shed a super little tear, or whatever. It doesn’t mean anything. I’m not some sort of emotionless monster. I just sort of ignore them like a regular pony, so what? I don’t need to explain myself to you, Fluttershy! Goddess, I just wanted to share some juicy details about my life, and here you are thinking I’m in love or something! Well guess what. I’m not. I don’t dream about him at night, and you best believe I don’t have some sort of secret diary where I write my thoughts about him, and I don’t like him like… like that! We’re just fuck buddies, Fluttershy!” She kicked the door of the changing room open and to the podium where Coco was taking the measurements of Twilight. “I’m next, unless you girls have a problem about that! Just make me something cool, alright?!”

Her friends were scared stiff, mainly because Rainbow practically tore off her shirt and jacket in anger, snapping her arms sideways so the very nervous Coco could take her measurements. Fluttershy ran her fingers through her hair nervously as she groaned to herself, trying to fight back her own tears that were beginning to build up in her ducts. The rest of the measurements continued with an eerie and uncomfortable silence, and with little banter to break the tension.


*****


Rarity was true to her word. With hands and magic working together in a tangent faster than lightning, the fashionista managed to make and thoroughly adorn an array of dresses plus one single suit in the time it would take most ponies to cook a measly dinner. Rarity always said she worked best under pressure, and the idea that one of her best friend’s happiness was at stake was quite the motivator. Each of her friends entered one of the changing rooms while Spike took it upon himself to change in the bathroom. Coco waited with antsy excitement for the mares to finish their preparations so she could admire her mentor’s work first hand.

Ever quick, Rainbow was the first to exit her booth. Her dress composed of more plant-like things than flowers, despite Rarity’s protest. Rainbow insisted that her dress would be composed of only the most badass things from the world of botany, as she put it. Therefore, instead of wearing colourful things such as daisies, tulips and tiger lilies, she wore a dress made of carnivorous plants and stringy weeds. A strapless blouse made to look like the jaws of a venus flytrap. The short skirt resembled the curvy bowl of a pitfall trap, and finally, she insisted on being topped with a tiny top hat with a collage of purple bristles trimmed with grey dandelions nestled away on the corner of her head.

“Damn, Rarity,” Rainbow grinned, twirling around in her carnivorous dress. “You really managed to make a dress made of flowers… well, badass!”

“They’re not flowers…” Twilight corrected, coming out of her own booth in her own gown. Her dress was much more formal looking, what with the vines of dark blue star flowers making its way down her arms and forming a fishnet-like illusion, while the rest of her dress was made with the petals of nightshades and moon flowers, as testimony to the cosmos that the tedious student within her loved to study. “They’re actually Dionaea muscipula and other carnivorous plants.”

“Could you repeat that? I don’t speak nerd.”

“It’s not nerd! It’s—“

“FOREVER!” Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs, hopping out of the dressing room in her feisty apparel of exotic and wavy flower pants. Orange, pink, and even bright shades of vibrant yellow splashed all around her body. A petal tube top of brilliant red rested nicely upon her fairly sized breasts, and one large party hat that somehow held a buffet of quality fruits such as apples, grapes, bananas, pineapples, and watermelons sat rather comfortably on her poofy mane. Her head should have been crushed under the weight, or at least turned lopsided, but this was Pinkie Pie after all. “Sorry about that, but somewhere in this wide world we live in, somepony somewhere just made a Pinkie Promise, and I needed to make sure they understand the rules.”

Twilight gave her a deadpanned stare. “I highly doubt they heard you.”

“Oh, they heard me,” the pink pony winked. “They always do!”

Pinkie and Twilight continued to argue (or in Pinkie’s case laugh and aimlessly agree) about how it was illogical that somepony somewhere could hear her screaming inside a well-insulated boutique. The two were so busy, they didn’t even notice Fluttershy slip carefully out of her own stall as though she’d fall upon setting her foot down on solid ground again. Fluttershy’s dress was by far the easiest of the dresses for Rarity to make, mainly because the butter yellow mare’s very heart and soul was nature and life. To reflect that, her dress was green as fresh grass with yellow flowers budding every which way they possibly could, within reason. From the rim of the dress to the make-up of her sleeves, she seemed one with mother equestria herself. Rarity even went and added a little bird’s nest as a hat for the animal loving dearie, which was dazzled with fresh twigs and flowers hand picked. Coco was very resourceful.

She spotted Rainbow and looked away quickly. Things were still a little heated from earlier, and Fluttershy now knew better than to try and pressher further. So, she simply shuffled next to Coco and sat next to her, hiding her face with her lush hair in silence.

That’s when Rarity made her grand entrance.

Perhaps it was a bit obvious that Rarity would go all out on her own dress. It was something that just couldn’t be helped when one already pretty much knows good and well what they want. Regardless, Rarity came out looking more beautiful than as a freshly bloomed summertime flower. Her dress was based on her floras of purple-white irises and Dragon Perennials, and unique flower resembling Spike’s own signature hues. The design was incorporated down her single sleeved dress that sprouted out at the bottom. She gave a few little twirls as she giggled to herself in a very unladylike manner, but she didn’t care much. New dresses always made her feel giddy. “Ta-da, darlings!” She chimed, giving a little pose. “Magnificent, is it not?”

Coco gave a breathy gasp, covering her mouth slightly, perhaps to keep her from sucking in all the oxygen from the room. She was mesmerized by her mentor’s sheer attractiveness. So much that her cheeks began to swell red. “Y-You look so beautiful…” Something crimson began to drip from her nose. She looked down only to realize she had somehow gotten a nosebleed. “Oh no! Not again!” she cried, trying to cover her face as she made a beeline towards the bathroom.

However, Spike, who had gotten into his rather overly flamboyant and ruffled pink tuxedo, had exited the bathroom just in time to collide with Coco, who after apologizing, locked herself into the bathroom. He was just grateful she didn’t get any of her bodily fluids anywhere on his attire. The dragon was puzzled by this, but soon forgot about it after he caught a glance at his dazzlingly dressed marefriend. “Hey there, beautiful,” he smiled, grabbing Rarity by the hip and swinging her down. “You should dress like this more often.”

“But then I’d never get any work done,” Rarity said, smiling back at him. She gave him a quick little kiss on his snout before resuming, “Besides, we made these dresses for Applejack’s sake.”

“… Where is Applejack, anyways?” The dragon wondered.

“I think she’s still getting changed,” Rarity said, looking back at the final closed stall. “Applejack, dear, are you almost done? We’re all waiting on you!”

“I’ll be just a minute, hold your horses!” the cowpony shouted from beyond the dressing room. She took a deep breath, taking one last look at her outfit and one final thought of her situation. She needed to be brave, despite all of her nerves saying otherwise. Without a second thought, she came strutting through the door with her eyes closed and her fist clenched.

And there was silence.

Her heart started beating heavily, and she peeked through one eye to see why her friends were so flabbergasted. “Well, what? Is it that bad? Cause if it is, we can just throw it out and start again…”

“Applejack,” Rarity said solemnly, taking a few steps backwards. “I know I say this a lot, but trust me when I say… that it would be a crime to destroy this dress!”

Applejack opened the rest of her eyes and caught a look at herself in one of the many mirrors surrounding the store. In the reflection, an orange farm girl turned fairy-tale princess. The front of her dress was like a sunflower, with the bright yellow petals masking her cleavage sparingly, revealing just enough to grab attention while hiding the rest to remain exquisitely tasteful. The bottom dress was long, and contained a masterfully crafted mix of denim, seeds, sunflowers and even brown burlap. Only Rarity could’ve made something like this work. To top it all off, a large droopy sunflower hung lazily from her cowboy hat, shading her face with a light shadow of mystery. Applejack could hardly even believe that it was even her looking this stunning.

She could hardly even form words as her cheeks developed a rosy pigmentation, redder than Pinkie’s tube top even. “I… Why I… I don’t even know what to…”

Rarity smiled. “There’s nothing you need to say, darling. You look absolutely ravishing. Why, if Soarin’ doesn’t fall head over heels for you then I’ll… I’ll eat my hat whole. Whole I say!”

“But you’re not wearing a hat…”

“Then I’ll make one, and then eat it. Whole! Although, I’ll have to use edible material,” Rarity said, mumbling to herself about some edible powder, golden in colour. She clapped her hands together afterwards, looking at the rest of her friends. “Well then, let’s not have any more delays, shall we? Destiny awaits us… Or, more specifically, Applejack” With that, the lead designer of the group led the party out of the store and back to the flower scented streets of Canterlot.

The walk to the actual festival itself was quite short and mostly uneventful. The alleys and ponies were all flourished in varying floras, and most of the city’s patrons were headed in the same direction, following the several signs and differentiated banners that pointed to the opening ceremonies of the Four Flower Festival.

It was then that Applejack began to wonder aloud, “What the hay is this Four Flower Festival anyways?”

Twilight looked curiously at her. “It’s sort of a celebration of new life and new beginnings. A sign that we can all begin again and start fresh with every season, that our actions aren’t ever carved in stone and can always be—“

“It’s about the great Flower Wars!” Pinkie shouted, interrupting Twilight mid-speech. “Over a thousand years ago, there was an uprising of terrible flower ponies who wanted ponies to stop eating any and all plants because that was like murder to them, even though we’re biologically wired to eat flowers since, like, forever, so the ponies waged war after war after bloody war against the flower ponies for decades until they went extinct! And that’s why every year at the anniversary of the Flower Wars, all the ponies wear flowers as sort of a middle finger to the flower ponies. At least, that’s what my sister tells me! And Maud is super smart!”

Every other being stood there in silence, unable to be sure of what to make of Pinkie’s tall tale. The idea that ponies would celebrate something like that was ludicrous at best. Most of them would have opted to just ignore Pinkie and let her have her fantasy, but for a purple unicorn, that idea would not be tolerated. “Are you kidding me? What kind of insane idea is that?! I’ve been going to the Four Flower Festival since I was a little girl, and I can tell you right now, there’s never been any inclination that there was some sort of… What? Flower War? What the heck would a Flower Pony look like, anyways? It sounds like something you just made up!”

“They look like flowers that look like ponies,” Pinkie Pie said in a matter-o-factly voice. “We’ll go to the opening ceremonies if you really want to find out. The signs say that the princesses are doing this year’s eulogy.”

“Glady.” Twilight grunted, marching off into the other direction. “You guys go on ahead, we’ll catch up with you later.”

“Bye!” Pinkie waved. “Good luck getting a Wonderbolt to fall in love with you, Applejack! I really hope that works out!” She hopped along after Twilight, and the two went to settle their disagreement. The others waved goodbye, and then continued down the bustling streets until they reached the edge of a large crowd consisting of finely dressed ponies. Beyond this seemingly endless sea of equines was a large stage where twelve mares and stallions stood in blue and yellow flight uniforms, waving to the applauding crowd. They were the Wonderbolts.
A mare then walked on stage, dressed in a gown of white lilies and roses. She adjusted the microphone a little before calling out in a pleasant tone, “Good afternoon everypony. Thank you all for attending, and welcome to this year’s Wonderbolt Weekend auction!”
	
> Friday Afternoon: Wonderbolt Weekend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Soarin’ smiled and waved at the adoring public of hypergenic fans, high profiler buyers, and borderline stalkers. It always pained him a little that he had to front his emotions like this, but he did have an image to uphold, and it would spell doom if it ever leaked out that the Wonderbolt hated doing this, although he would be completely justified, especially since he’d had more close calls than he cared to remember.

Within the crowd, Applejack’s heart nearly crawled out of her throat. She felt weak in the knees, slightly dizzy as well. It had been far too long since she had seen Soarin’, and it was a reunion too long in the making, even if only one of them knew it was a reunion. Still, she managed to mask herself in the crowd with her friends, just another flower in the garden of Wonderbolt fans.

The announcer lady beamed at the audience, flinging her hand in the air and pointed to the sky. “Now, who’s ready to get things started?” She said, the crowd booming with cheers of positive feedback. “Great! Now, the rules are the same as always,” she snapped her fingers, her white horn glowing a bit as several different flowers appeared in the air, fluttering down and landing in everypony’s hand. “Every pony will have a flower with a different number, whenever you want to make a bid, raise your flower into the air and shout out your bid, your flower will take care of the rest! Let’s keep things clean and civil, please. As always, all sales are final and only bid the bits you have in your pocket. Now let’s get this show on the role!”

The crowd once again cheered, and Applejack took a look at her flower. It was a red tulip with the number ‘53’ inscribed in the center. The flower was most likely magical in nature.

“Hey, Applejack, check it,” Rainbow giggled, showing the cowpony her daffodil. Of course Rainbow would get flower ‘69’. “Ain’t that awesome?”

“How old are you again?”

“Twenty-five and a half, bitch,” her rainbow-maned friend grinned. Rainbow took pride in the strangest things.

“Alright!” The announcer called out, waving her arms to the first Wonderbolt. “Let’s get things started with the newest Wonderbolt to make the team. Mares and gentlecolts, please give it up for Misty Sky!” The aqua-haired pegasi skipped up next to her, all while playfully waving to the crowd. “Misty, it’s great to finally meet you. Now before we get to the auction. Tell us a little bit about yourself.”

“Well,” Misty began, her voice bubbly and girly. “I grew up here, in Canterlot, and I, like, totally think parrots are like, the cutest!” She gave a wink to the audience. “And I can’t wait to see how much money we can raise for…” she drew a blank. Misty had totally forgotten what they were raising money for. “… for our, super-rad cause!” The mare beamed with a quick recovery. Everything that she had said tasted like ashes in her mouth, but Spitfire insisted that she played the bubblehead as payment for forgetting her uniform, which as it turned out was a much bigger deal than she was led to believe. However, the crowd seemed to be eating up her act, and the announcer bimbo didn’t seem to catch on that she had forgotten what charity they were raising money for.

“Yes, it is quite a worthy cause,” the announcing mare beamed. She too also avoided giving a name of an organization, as she had also forgotten what this year’s charity was, and she was glad that the featherbrained Wonderbolt didn’t notice. “So without further delays, can I get an opening bid of two-hundred bits?”

*****

Twilight and Pinkie Pie walked (and in Pinkie’s case bounced) down the cramp streets, following the many banners and signs that pointed towards the event’s grand speech. For Twilight, it seemed odd that such an important speech was taking place in the middle of the afternoon, rather than at the beginning of the event. That sort of thing just tended to bug her, like a bug bite on the crease of your back, leaving a festering, itchy boil that’s impossible to reach, and driving her onto the brink of insanity.

“This is going to be so much fun!” Pinkie cheered, her fruit hat constantly teetering on and off her head with each buoyant step she took. “I wonder if there’s going to be eulogy cake? Oh that’d be so great! I haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast.” She grabbed Twilight by the collar, pulling her in and making her stare into her wide, petrifying eyes. “Why, I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!”

The two stood there in silence as Twilight got more and more uncomfortable. Pinkie licking her lips didn’t help either.

Finally Pinkie said something. “You smell funny.”

“You’re acting funny,” Twilight droned, pushing the pink pony away. She was starting to have second thoughts about this. Thankfully the roads quickly led to their destination, a large gathering in front of the castle’s gates and into the courtyard, which for whatever reason had been walled off by a tall wooden fence, and shrouded with a strange, disorienting mist above the court. The only way to get in seemed to be through a gate that was heavily guarded by two stallions in golden armour. They got in line and Twilight once again became more and more curious about what was going on.

“Please hold still,” the guard said to the ponies ahead of them. They were quickly brushed over with a beam of magical light before the guard let them through. When it came to Twilight’s and Pinkie’s turn, the guards gave each other weird looks. “Please hold still, Princess.” He gave her and Pinkie a quick scan. “Sorry for the delay, but we’re just following procedure, you and your friend may enter.”

“Umm… thank you?” Twilight mumbled curiously, moving her way into the arena. In the courtyard, almost a hundred ponies were standing, all eager and antsy. The sky up above them seemed clear and vacant, which was curious because usually she would see the many towers and buildings of Canterlot. Instead, there was just a bright grey sky. In the back of her mind, she wondered why something as simple as a eulogy needed walls and security. “Does this all seem a little weird to you, Pinkie?”

“Everything’s weird to me, Twilight,” her friend smiled. “That’s what makes life so awesome!”

Twilight was about to say something, but her voice was deafened by the magical boom of a microphone, followed by a still silence. She turned around to see none other than Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna appear onstage in a puff of smoke and mist. Each princess wore a dark velvet dress of dark roses that clung to their curvy physique, showing off every god-like detail of their form.

Celestia was the first to speak. “My dearest subjects,” she was met with an applause almost a second after she was done talking. She gave the crowd a few moments to calm down before resuming her speech. “My dearest subjects, it is with great pride and joy that I welcome all of you to this year’s  Four Flower Festival!” The crowd once again broke into a pleasant uproar, Twilight cheering along with them. “For many years, we have gathered here in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle to reconcile in the celebration of new life and new beginnings. This festival has always been a sign that we can all begin again and start fresh with every season, that our actions aren’t ever carved in stone and can always be true to ourselves…”

Twilight began to smile. It was like listening to her parents give her the speech when she was five years old.

“… It is a holiday of grace, magic, integrity, and above all else, it symbolizes our victory against the Flower ponies in the great Flower Wars.”

Her smile dropped. “Wait what?”

Luna stepped up to the microphone, taking over for her sister, who took a step back. “Yes, we remember it well. We fought for several years against the flowery menace, and lost many lives due to a Benadryl shortage, but in the end, our biological need to eat flowers was their demise, and we personally made sure that we ate each and every last Flower pony in existence, so there would be no chance of a second uprising.”

To say that Twilight’s face was shocked was an understatement. To say that her jaw hung open was putting it lightly. To say that her hair was on the verge of bursting into flames… was accurate. Twilight had to do a double take to make sure that she was hearing this right. She definitely didn’t remember her parents telling her about any Flower War when she was a child, and she definitely didn’t remember the Princesses committing mass genocide. 

“Indeed, their flowery flesh was quite delectable and fruitful. Why in fact, I remember that their leader, a splendid blend of a rosebush and a tulip was rather tasty,” Luna continued, her lips growing tingly at the mere memory of the once leader of the Flower Pony army, and his delicious defeat at the hands of her mighty jaw and mightier appetite. The Princess of the Night began to drool, licking up her saliva before it could get past her lips. 

Celestia, noticing that her sister had become lost in the past, took over the speech. “In any case, today is a day where we rejoice, my little ponies!” The princess’s arms shot into the air with a magical yellow glow. Like a geyser, thousands of flowers erupted from her hands, and rained down upon the cheering crowd like rain. “So today I ask only one thing from each of you, eat flowers until you’ve had your fill to honour those who had given up their lives so we may do so in peace!” More flowers shot from the Sun Princess’s hands, the ponies around her snatching up the flowery treats and gobbling them up like equine piranhas. Everypony seemed to be having a great time...

Everypony but one.

Now, Twilight was a very rational mare. She believed in fact over fiction, mind over matter, and knew that all things had an answer. She knew that even the most improbable sounding  things were really just probabilities in disguise, and that it was only a matter of time before they revealed themselves as such. With this sound, rational mind of hers, Twilight knew that there were several appropriate ways to respond to this tomfoolery, mostly with a calm, polite acceptance of defeat. However, in this rare occasion, the Princess of Friendship opted for a more... basic reaction.

“What the fuck!? What the fucking fuck!?” She screamed, bedazzled, and a bit more than irritated. “Are you serious?! A Flower Pony War?!” Her screams were fallen on deaf ears however, as no pony was even acknowledging her tantrum. “This is insane! Why am I literally just finding out about this?”

Pinkie shrugged happily. “I don’t know, but it’s true.”

Twilight was about to say something in response, but found herself without a thing to say. Instead, she bowed her head in shame and shuffled through the crowd. “Come on... I want to leave now.” She continued to sulk past the gates of the event, her bouncy companion following her every move, but not before catching a few choice daisies falling from the skies. After all, it would be an insult if she didn’t eat some of them.

*****

Back at the Wonderbolt auction, things were beginning to get exciting , several of the Wonderbolts had already been auctioned off, putting on big smiles for the array of teenage girls, business men, sports enthusiast, and cougars that made up the majority of their fan base. At the moment, Rapid-fire was being torn apart in a bidding war between a pre-teen unicorn and a middle-aged mare. When the announcer declared the unicorn the winner, Rapid fire was unsettled at the loud, girlish scream that the brace-faced girl emitted, and he wondered if he would have been better off with the MILF. In any case, he waved, and scurried back to this spot in line between Fleetfoot and Soarin’, the latter of which was about to have his turn at the crowd.

He just prayed that he didn’t get a pony that was too crazy.

Applejack was in a cold sweat as the Wonderbolt made his way next to the announcing mare. The two seemed to hit it off quite well, probably because they’ve done this many time before, and the chemistry between them could only be the result of years of routine and repetition. The cowpony was thankful that her hat shaded her eyes, or else her friends would have seen how they shimmered like green dragonflies dancing around a flower, a precious flower known as Soarin’. Her hand gripped tightly on her flower as she turned to her friends, each one giving her a reassuring smile of confidence. This was it. This was her moment, the moment that everypony was waiting for, and with four words her battle began.

“Let’s start the bidding!”

It was on. Eager arms shot up into the air like cannon fire, it seemed like Soarin’ was a popular one, as was to be expected. He was, after all, the Wing Pony of the Lead Wonderbolt, and possibly one of the handsomest stallions in Equestria. There was however the surprise of exactly how popular he was. Within moments, his next bid was for eight thousand bits and going strong. Applejack barely blinked and already her dream was skyrocketing away from her, ever fading away.

It was Rainbow that finally knocked some sense into her… with a smack to the back of her head. “Hey! Wake up, AJ! What the hell are you doing?! Place a bet before somepony steals your stallion!”

She was right, in the mere seconds that it took Rainbow to say that sentence, the bidding was already breaking the double digits, and showed no sign of slowing down. She had to jump in, so she raised her flower high into the air, and shouted out, “Fifteen thousand bits—“

“Sixteen thousand bits!” Somepony shouted out almost immediately after her.

“What the—?” Applejack frowned, a little pissed that she was interrupted. “I didn’t even get to finish what I was say—“

“Seventeen thousand bits!”

That time the voice was close by. It was a familiar voice, one she had heard before, only once, but it was drilled into her memory like a cavity that would never go away. It was followed by an all too recognizable face, a mound of silky blonde hair, with a slick pair of bifocals, and a lazed, wispy, smile. Applejack gulped as she made eye contact with this known stranger, and mumbled out his name. “Trenderhoof.” Of all the ponies she never wanted to see, he was ranked at the top of the list. “Of all the days—crap!” Trenderhoof peered over in her direction. She spun around immediately, praying to all four princesses that he didn’t see her.

“Applejack?”

“Son of a bitch…” The cowpony groaned, dragging her hand down her face. She turned around, smiling widely as she politely waved at him. He was already right in front of her face, beaming at her with those big purple eyes. Most mares found them irresistible, but to her… they were just purple. “Well howdy, Trenderhoof, fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh Applejack,” he said rather nonchalantly. “It’s been far too long since I seen your wonderfully primal beauty. Such beauty that can only ever be groomed through hard work, but I should expect that from an earth pony of your caliber.”

“Ah… that’s nice… I think,” Applejack mumbled to herself, trying to figure out if what he said was a prettied-up racist comment. “Well this was great and all but I’m—”

“Thirty five thousand bits!”

“Son of a whore!” Applejack bit her lip, raising her flower into the air. “Forty thousand bits!”

Trenderhoof looked puzzled, wondering why she had voted for the auction, unless… “Applejack, I never realized that you were interested in pegasi culture. You know, I know almost everything about weather control patterns. In fact, I was the first one to interview Spitfire back when she was a rookie flyer. Perhaps we could talk more about it, maybe over some dinner?”

“Forty five thou—what?!” Her jaw dropped mid-bid, turning to Trender. As much as she disliked this asshole, she still had a hard time being mean to him, even if he was a pompous airhead. “Oh… look, Trenderhoof, I appreciate the offer and all, but it’s just… I mean I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you, but I just—”

“Sold! For Forty five and a half thousand bits!” The announcing mare screamed at the top of her lungs. “To the yellow girl in the hoodie!” She pointed somewhere in the crowd, where somepony was probably shitting themselves with happiness.

And just like that, it was over. The moment seemed long for Applejack, the word ‘Sold!’ echoing through her skull like a bell. Maybe it was a bad dream, and she would wake up from it any second. Or maybe it was for the best. What would she have done with him? What would he have said to him? No, this was bad, terrible even. Her one chance at ever seeing him again and it was whisked away… and it was all thanks to him. Oh, how she wanted to just rip his head off for distracting her. But she digressed and sighed. Applejack hung her head down in defeat, walking through the crowd and by her friends, who were all awkwardly trying to be positive about all of this. They followed her in silence, away and out of the auction area, but not before Rainbow kneed Trenderhoof in the testicles.

*****

Spitfire’s auction lasted almost thirty minutes, and alone made the most money out of all the Wonderbolts, with Fancypants dropping a small fortune for the prize that was Spitfire. Once all of that was dealt with, and many disappointed losers sulked away, The Wonderbolts were escorted to special tents where they could get acquainted with their prize. 

Soarin’ laid waiting on the ground, staring lazily at the green fabric of the tent’s roof. The worst part was just getting started as the clocked ticked ever closer to his impending hell. A large part of him wanted to run away, but that’d be unfair to the fan. It’s always about the damn fan.

There was a light coming from the doorway, somepony was about to enter the tent. He sighed, leaning up from the floor and rubbing his eyes. He looked at the figure that had walked in, a shorter pony hiding her face in the shadow of her hood. “Hey there, so I’m guessing that you’re the lucky girl that won me, right?” The pony nodded her head, keeping her eyes shaded. Her hand seemed to be shaking with excitement, or possibly anger? Soarin’ really hoped it wasn’t anger. Last thing he needed was another assassination attempt.

But no one had thrown a poisoned dart or lamp at him, so he was safe for now. “Okay then...” Soarin’ whispered under his breath. “Big smile... So, well… I’m Soarin’, but I’m guessing you already knew that.” There was an uncomfortable silence, and the Wonderbolt was twitching on the spot nervously.  Silence was never a good sign. “So…  umm, what’s your name?”

“You don’t remember me...?” The pony whispered in a frail voice, gripping the sides of her hood. “How could you forget me? After all…” She pulled off her hood, revealing her freckly yellow face, silver-braced smile, and crazy pink eyes. “I’m your number one fan!”

Soarin’s eyes widened in terror. “Holy fucking shit it’s you.” He started to back away, as the brace-faced mare started her predatorily descent upon him, her eyes flaring madly with lust. His back hit the wall of the tent, where he cursed that he didn’t fall through the linens, as there was nowhere to run. He was nothing more than a mouse cornered by a viper, and like any desperate mouse, he tried to reason with his predator. “L-listen Yellow Berry, you can’t be here! I have a restraining order against you. You’re legally not allowed to be within fifty metres from me.”

Yellow Berry laughed psychotically, forcing herself upon Soarin’, staring deeply into his eyes while breathing heavily.  Soarin’ could have easily broken free from this captor, but it was against the Gentleman's Code to ever raise a fist in aggression towards the fairer sex, even if she was crazy.  So he had no choice but to let her feel him up. Her frisky hands ran down his uniform, grouping every muscle and bulge that she could get at. She pressed her hips against his legs, chortling out a geeky moan while  she lightly grinded against his leg.

“Restraining order? Oh yeah, that thingy I had to sign in the court. But really, what are restraining orders anyways, right? They’re just words on paper! But words cannot stop my love for you! Because I love you Soarin’.” Yellow Berry pressed her muzzle against his mane, taking a deep breath. “You still smell so sexy.”

“And you’re still super crazy!” He tried to wiggle out of Yellow Berry’s grip, but to no avail. “Hey, if anyone can hear my voice, feel free to come in! Please!”

Yellow Berry let out a shrill, high-pitch laugh. “Oh don’t worry about that! All the guards are taking a nap!” She continued to chuckle as she pulled out three empty syringes. The metal needles flashed in what little light the tent offered. “Elephant tranquilizers into all of them, they won’t be bothering us… isn’t that romantic?”

“No it’s not!” Soarin’ said bluntly. before whispering, “And damn this Gentleman’s code...” Life would be so much easier if he could just... just push her off at least!

“Shh, shh, shh, my little angel!” The crazy pony shushed, the empty needles pressing gently against his neck. Soarin’ sucked in his throat as much as possible, who knew what was on those needles now. “Don’t worry about them, they’re gone now, and now it’s just you and me…” she leaned into his ear and whispered, as creepily as she possibly could have, “… and we’re going to be together forever.”

Soarin’ gulped. “Oh goddess, you’re going to put me in the dress again, aren’t you?”

*****

Not that far off, Applejack was making her way back to the train station in utter silence and remorse. She didn’t know what to feel at this moment, anger seemed too extreme, sadness too unlike her, and grief to bothersome. Perhaps she had thought that not winning him wouldn’t be this bad, considering all the doubts that she had prior to this, but with the harsh reality crashing down on her, she knew in her heart that she did want to win, and now she would have to live with this pain until next year, but that seemed unbearable now. 

Her friends walked besides and behind her, having recently joined back up with Twilight and Pinkie, who were immediately filled in on the situation. The group began trying to think of ways to cheer their friend up, but nothing was coming to mind. What did you say to your friend when their dreams were crushed? ‘Oh well, better next time’ didn’t seem appropriate, and asking her to cheer up would be redundant, as it wasn’t likely that she would do any such thing. So for the moment, they would just waltz in silence.

Or at least until Rainbow Dash said something impulsive and stupid.

“Well, you know what? Fuck it anyways,” She said aloud, the rest of her friends turning to her with anxiousness. “I’m sure he was a jerk in real life anyways, you know celebrities.”

“Rainbow, shut up,” Applejack whispered coldly. “I don’t want to hear it. I didn’t win the auction, and there ain’t shit all I can do to change that. All I want to do is go home and catch up on my chores before the day’s over.”

“Jeez AJ, you don’t have to be a dick about it,” Rainbow droned. She swooped up into the air and landing right in front of the cowpony. “And you shouldn’t be one either. So you lost? Tough titties. It’s not like you’ve never lost at something before, but you can’t just shut down like this. So be mad if you have to, but don’t be mad at us because all we did was help you. It’s that Trenderdoofus you should be yelling at.”

“I’m not mad… I’m tired, and I appreciate y’all for helping me out, but what’s done is done. If anything, I just wish I could at least say hi to him or something.”

“Well… then it’s do that.” Pinkie shrugged, bouncing onto Applejack’s shoulder and pointing over dramatically down a street. “The Wonderbolt’s tent area’s over there, maybe if we ask really nicely, they’ll let you proclaim your love for Soarin’!”

“How do you know that, darling?” Rarity asked, looking down the empty street.

Twilight groaned. “Don’t ask, I’m sure there was a war down that street or something...”

Applejack thought about it for a moment, sighing out a bit and shrugging, “Sure, what have I got to lose?”

“AWESOME!” Pinkie cheered, leaping off of her friends shoulders and landing with a cartwheel on the street. “Let’s boogey!” She took off in a mad dash down the alleyway, leaving the rest of her friends in the dust. None of them really felt the urge to go chase the pink pony, and only Rainbow would have a chance of catching up with her, so they simply took their time strolling along until the caught up with Pinkie, who was standing curiously over a stallion laying on the ground.

Twilight assumed the worse. “Pinkie, what did you do to him? Why is he laying on the ground?”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said, rather clueless to the situation as well. “I just sort of saw him like this.  Maybe he’s taking a nap.”

The young princess took a knee next to the sleeping stallion, examining him closely. After a few moments of studying, her eyes wavered a bit. “The guy’s been drugged by some sort of tranquilizer, interesting… but who would do something like this?”

She tried to think a bit more, but was almost instantaneously interrupted by Rainbow. “Hey, I got another guy over here! There seems to be about three or four of these guys, and they’re all fast asleep. What the hell’s going on here?”

“Hey, if anyone can hear my voice, feel free to come in! Please!” A voice rang through the silence. Everypony’s ears perked up at the cry for help, and they all rushed towards the source. Applejack was the first enter the tent, seeing some deranged looking yellow pony pinning another pony to the wall. Whoever the victim was, he was male and freaking out with a needle deadly close to his neck. “Oh goddess, you’re going to put me in the dress again, aren’t you?” He mumbled.

Almost on the edge of tears at that terrible memory of Yellow Berry and her dress obsession, he saw that somepony had snuck into the tent, although it was hard to see who exactly with Berry’s head in the way. He made a small, almost unnoticeable movement with his fingers, waving his potential rescuer in his direction.

“Aww… but I thought you looked super sexy in that dress,” Yellow Berry playfully snorted, almost sticking the needle into his throat. “But that’s okay, I forgive you for not thinking that way right now…”

“Oh great, I was worried you wouldn’t,” Soarin’ said sarcastically. That other pony needed to do something now.

“Besides, you’re going to be my Wonderbolt again,” She said, dragging her tongue up the side of his face, moaning and she savoured his taste. “But this time, I’m never going to let you g—”

She never got to finish her sentence, her body collapsed against the ground, the needle in her hand tumbling a safe distance away. Applejack had managed to sneak up behind this mare, hitch up her dress and deliver a kick that could shake two dozen stubborn apples off their stems. This girl would be lucky if she didn’t have a concussion. Or a skull fracture. Soarin’ took a deep breath as he collapsed onto his flank, breathing heavily. He really thought that he was a goner there, but this mystery pony had saved him. A back of slightly freckled orange fur, in a dress of browns and yellows, an interesting and risqué dress that most Canterlotians would never brave, perhaps she was an out-of-towner? In any case this mare had saved his life and his dignity.

Applejack’s roundhouse had spun her around, so her back was facing the Wonderbolt. Deep down inside she felt a little better after kicking that mare. She always found bucking apples a great way to get her mood up and release stress, and the same principle apparently applied to the back of that mare’s head.

After a few seconds, Soarin’ got back onto his feet, stretching a little bit before approaching his savour, and placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Whew! Thanks a lot ma’am, you really saved my hide there.”

The touch of Soarin’s hand triggered the cowpony’s hardened reflexes, as she was still in attack mode. With one swift movement she grabbed his hand, gave it a painful turn, and spun around herself. She was about to crush his wrist like a rotten apple and follow it up with a toss over her shoulder, but she became paralyzed when she saw who it was.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she stood there, dumbfounded and redder than a tomato, captivated into a trance of his eye. She never realized it till now, but his eyes were the same shade of green as hers. A small, compulsive part of her squealed that this was a sign that they were meant to be, and she wanted to believe it. It was a few awkward and heavily blushed seconds later that Applejack even remembered that she was on the verge of snapping Soarin’s wrist in two.

“S-s-sorry!” She gulped, letting go of the Wonderbolt. “I-I-I wasn’t aware that I was crushing your hand… heh, heh…” Applejack started to dew up a little, to say that she was a little nervous would be an understatement. Her first time seeing Soarin’ since forever and she couldn’t stop stuttering…

Soarin’ tried chuckling a little to lighten the mood, although right now he felt like he just went out of the frying pan and into the fire. At least this girl seemed sane… er. “Don’t worry about it, Miss. A sore wrist would be the least of my worries if she got a hold of me.” He pointed down at Yellow Berry, who was still knocked out. “You probably saw how crazy she is…”

“Uh-huh, yeah,” Applejack quickly blurted out, her eyes glued to her feet, not wanting to get sucked into his gaze again. “Well, I-I just heard somepony calling for help… s-so I figured I’d come… help.” She smiled timidly, backing away slowly. “So uh… nice meeting y’all! Take care and brush your teeth!” She turned around immediately, not wanting to face him anymore. ”Brush your teeth? What the hell’s ‘matter with you, girl? Ugh, whatever. Just put one foot in front of the other and get out of here. You said your ‘hi’… you can be content with that.”

As Soarin’ watched Applejack do the weirdest and slowest walk towards the exit, he found himself thinking of his situation. The way the Wonderbolt weekend worked was that once you win a bid, you payment is mandatory and immediate. After that you’re allowed into the area for a background check, to make sure you’re not on the blacklist; which Yellow Berry was. It was probably then that she drugged everypony and launched her scheme to kidnap him. However, with security awakening soon, and no way in hell he was going to go with Berry. That pretty much meant that his weekend was now free to do with as he pleased. He’d be able to actually work on his mad quest for the Pie Mare again! He really should thank this mare for that alone…

But on the other hand, if it wasn’t for her, he probably would be locked in a box on his way to Trottingham to be ridiculed in a dress and collar. In a way, he owed this weekend to that girl, and as much as it pained him, it was the right thing to do. “Hey, Miss.” He called out, stopping Applejack in her tracks.

“Y-yes?” The nervous cowpony said, her back still turned to him. There was no way she could survive another dive into the big, green eyes of his. 

“Well, I was just thinking…” Every inch of his being was telling him not to do this, that he had just won the lottery and was ripping up the winning ticket. Yet, it still seemed like the right thing to do. “I should probably pay you back for what you did for me, and since it looks like my weekend just opened up…” 

Was Applejack hearing this right? There was no way this was really happening, right? She had just come in to say hi, nothing more, and nothing less. It wasn’t possible that he was thinking of offering her that. Her, a total stranger to him!

“I was wondering if you maybe…” He was biting his lips, trying to eat his mouth so he wouldn’t go through with this. It would be three whole days lost in his search, three days that his mystery pie mare could get farther and farther away from him. Yet when he looked at this farmfilly, he couldn’t help but get this strange vibe off of her... a vibe... that he had forgotten something. In any case, a Wonderbolt always repays his debts. So it was with great force of mind, and a lot of willpower that Soarin’ spoke the sentence that would change both his, and Applejack’s lives. “... You’d consider me being your Wonderbolt for the weekend.”
	
	
> Friday Evening: Way Back Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There was a dead silence as Applejack stared blatantly in front of her, out into the streets of Canterlot. She scratched her ear a little, making sure that she had heard Soarin’ right. Had he really just said what she thought he said? There was no way that that could ever happen, no, not in a thousand years. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her, right?

“Well?” Soarin’ wondered. The mare seemed strangely petrified by the question. “Is that all right with you? I understand that this is a lot to take in all at once, but still, it’s the least I could do after you saved my life. I mean, I guess it is a little sudden, and I’d understand if you’d—”

“She’d love to!” Rarity screamed, bursting from behind the tent and scaring both her friend and the Wonderbolt half to death. As it would happen, she and the rest of the girls (with the further addition of Spike) were all hiding behind the tent eavesdropping, and while they had planned on not getting involved in the matter, apparently Rarity thought it was time to intervene.  “I mean, I’m sure she would be more than grateful to accept your offer.”

Soarin’ was somewhat confused by the sudden appearance of Rarity, a mare who seemed vaguely familiar and caused his lower jaw to hurt. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met… were you another one of the auctioneers? Cause I don’t seem to remember you.”

“Oh heavens no, darling,” Rarity giggled. She was a little thankful that Soarin’ had forgotten about their brief encounter at the Young Flyers competition many years ago. “I’m just one of Applejack’s dear old friends who came down for... moral support.” She spun the nearly petrified Applejack around, and wrapped her arms around the orange mare, pleasantly presenting  the cowpony to Soarin’. “You see, Applejack here—”

“Was about to leave!” Applejack cut in. She shook Rarity’s arm off of her and dragged her out of the tent. “Would y’all excuse us for a second? Thank you kindly.” With that, she pulled the folds down and whispered into her friend’s ear. “What in tarnation are you doing? You’re ruining everything!”

Rarity looked unamused. In her mind, she hadn’t done anything wrong and Applejack was just being crazy. “Oh, is that so? Because what I saw was something different. Why, if I hadn’t intervened when I did, you would have blown it.”

Even Rainbow, who was leaning on a street post not too far away, nodded. “Not to agree with Rarity, but yeah, you were blowing it big time.”

“Yeah well…” The cowpony muttered, biting her lip. “I’m… hell, I’m nervous.”

“It’s okay to be a bit nervous, Applejack,” Twilight said, trying her best to reassure her friend. “Just remember that it’s all in your head. And even better, he’s already offering to come with you. That’s the hardest part already done.”

Applejack thought about it for a minute. Twilight was right about that. Soarin’ did offer this to her. Maybe she was over thinking this, she seemed to be doing that a lot as of late. The mare took a deep breath. “I can do this…” she said to herself. “I can do this… it’s all in my head. All I got to do is say yes… easy enough, right?” With a mouth full of confidence, she stormed into the tent where Soarin’ was waiting. She made sure her eyes were shut so she wouldn’t get distracted again, and at the top of her lungs, shouted, “I accept!”

Soarin’ flinched a little from her scream, but he was more or less happy that she said yes. Although a part of him wished she had declined. It did mean he would really have to wait until the end of the weekend before he could resume his search. “Well… that’s good. A little loud maybe, but good all the same.”

“Oh… sorry,” Applejack gulped. Perhaps she had come on a little strong. She already felt like she was making a terrible impression. There was a little pause where neither of them talked, but finally somepony from outside came inside.

Pinkie leap-frogged over Applejack and bounced into the arms of Soarin’ who instinctively caught her in his arms. “Awesome! You’re coming with us! You probably don’t remember me, but I’m Pinkie Pie! I was cheering on Rainbow and a few other fliers from Ponyville at Rainbow Falls! Do you remember, do ya, do ya, do ya?”

“Huh? Umm…” The Wonderbolt wondered. “Sorry… I can’t say that I do. I have a real crappy memory.”

Pinkie made a little pouty face. “Aw, that’s too bad! Cause we remember you! Mister crashes at the sight of cute cheerleaders.” She stuck her tongue out playfully at him, and she flipped out of his hands. “And speaking of remembering, do you remember—”

“Pinkie, please!” Twilight shouted, magically pulling a zipper across the pink mare’s face. “He’s a Wonderbolt, I’m sure that he has better things to think about.” The princess laughed nervously, pulling Pinkie away from everyone else. “Listen Pinkie, we can’t let him know about our plan. Do you have any idea how weird that could be? Applejack has to be the one who tells him, okay?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” She smiled, seemingly indifferent about the situation.

Soarin’ seemed really confused why a princess was here, but today seemed like it was going to be one of those days. “All right then… I guess we better get going,” he turned to Applejack and smiled. It was the first real chance he got to look at her without her trying to turn away or something. She was the most wonderful shade of orange, with the biggest green eyes he’d ever seen, and small little clusters of freckles under her eyes. However, as he took a moment to familiarize himself with his new patron, he couldn’t help but get a strange sense of déjà vu. What was weirder, his stomach started growling, and he had felt fine a few moments ago. He just shrugged it off as a weird coincidence. “So… Applejack, was it?”

“Ye-yeah…” she said, not ever looking him straight in the eye. “It’s Applejack.”

“Would you like to get going?” Soarin’ asked.

“Uh… yeah, sure…” Applejack muttered, turning away from Soarin’ and towards her friends. “Come on, y’all! Let’s get going.” She practically ran off out the door. She had no idea why she wanted to get away from Soarin’ all of a sudden, or why her feelings and emotions were acting all crazy. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, Spike… let’s go!” She began pushing them away, while the rest of them followed.

Soarin’, who was still rather confused about what the heck was happening and why there were so many mares and a dragon all of a sudden. But in the midst of all this confusion he did recognize a rainbow-haired girl/possible former stalker. “Rainbow, it’s nice to see a familiar face. It’s been a long time.”

“Too long,” Rainbow smirked. “How’s things been?”

“Well, today I’ve almost been raped… twice. So pretty normal I suppose,” he shrugged. He and Rainbow lagged behind the rest of the group so they could talk in private. “So your friend… she seems nice, but is she always this nervous?”

Rainbow didn’t know what to say. If she said that this wasn’t her normal behaviour, he would get suspicious about why she was acting this way. “Uh, sure! Yeah, Applejack’s just a nervous nelly!” She scratched the back of her mane anxiously. She really didn’t want to mess this up for AJ, and while she thought that it would be easier to just up and tell him that she liked him, apparently Twilight thought otherwise, and it would be better to just to follow her orders, unless she wanted to invoke the wrath of an OCD princess. “But she’s really great if you get to know her.”

“She does seem nice enough,” Soarin’ admitted. “Kind of cute too… So anyways, what’s new in your life Rainbow.”

“Oh you know… this and that…” Soarin’ and Rainbow continued to reminisce, about Rainbow’s time in the Wonderbolt reserves, her work with the weather ponies. She even mentioned her love life with Thunderlane to him, admittingly in all to great of detail. Eventually they got back to the train station.

Soarin’ walked over to the payphones. “Excuse me for a second; I need to make a quick call.”

“Sure thing,” Twilight said. “But don’t take too long, the train’s leaving in fifteen minutes.” She waved at him as he got out of earshot. After which, she turned to Applejack. “So, what’s your next move, Applejack? Do you have a plan?”

“Oh yes!” Rarity squealed. “You simply have to fill us in. Seriously, don’t skimp out on any details.” 

“What makes you think I even have a plan?” The cowpony asked. “At what point during this entire trip have I shown any sign that I know what the hay I’m doing? So as much as I hate to say it, I’m open for suggestions.” She knew she would regret those words the second they came out of her mouth...

And when Rarity squealed happily, she knew she was right. “Darling, that’s wonderful!” The starry-eyed fashionista hugged the cowpony, practically lifting her up with delight. “And as it just so happens, I have a wonderful idea. Girls, huddle up. We need to strategize.” The girls, which also included Spike, bunched together, as they all carefully listened to Rarity’s plan.

Not that far away at the very same moment, Soarin’ was having his own conversation with Spitfire over a payphone.

“So that crazy girl from last time tried to abduct you?” Spitfire laughed, her voice was unpleasantly shrill over the static of the landline. Soarin’ tried to death stare through the phone, but alas, phones didn’t work that way. “That’s too funny! Goddess I wish I could see that…”

“I’m glad my almost abduction is humorous to you…” Soarin’ groaned. “Anyways, can you just tell tell everypony that I’m fine, and will be with some girl named Applejack for the weekend.”

“Sure thing, Soaring,” Spitfire teased, using one of her many nicknames that Soarin’ hated. “Where are you and miss Apple Bottom going to?”

“Applejack”

“I know what I said.”

He rolled his eyes before checking over his shoulder to see what gate he was leaving through. “Some place called Ponyville.”

“Ponyville…” Spitfire started to think over that name as it rang familiar memories. “I think I’ve been there once for some lake thingy. Met the Dash-Attack and some big-boobed cutie. If I recall it’s a multicultural town, lots of… variety.” Soarin’ had a feeling she had winked at him through the phone, and was glad that phones didn’t work that way. “But other than that, it’s pretty normal, so you should be safe. Though knowing your luck, you’ll probably get run over by a tractor, or abducted by Rainbow Dash!” There was more cackling from Spitfire’s side of the line. She was enjoying this far to much.

“Yeah, well it shouldn’t be too bad. Speaking of, I actually ran into Rainbow Dash. Turns out this Applejack girl is her friend or something,”

“Ooo~ I smell a threesome~!” Spitfire sang.

“Not very likely~” Soarin’ groaned in a mocking impression. “She’s got a boyfriend now, wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“Really? Huh, I always thought she was gay.”

“... Why?”

“I… I don’t know,” The lead Wonderbolt muttered causelessly. “Maybe it’s the hair... Anyways, just remember to take your vitamins, wear a condom, and stretch before you do her. I hear earth ponies like it rough.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Soarin’ sighed. A whistle in the background signaled that the train was about to depart, and that he needed to wrap this up. “That’s my train. I’ll call you later.”

“Not likely,” Spitfire said. “Fancypants and his wife are taking me on their vacation to some lake. I won’t have any service for the whole damn weekend.”

“You poor thing,” He said sarcastically. “I’ll weep for you.”

“Spare me, Soarin’. Anyways, see you in three days… oh and one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Have fun, muffin!” With that, the phone clicked and Spitfire’s voice was replaced with the dial drone. Soarin’ hung up the phone, running his hands through his mane. He was sure he was in for plenty of fun this weekend.

He headed back to the girls, who were already boarding the train. Pinkie waved at him over and he got on the train as well. She was probably trying to get him to follow him.

“Hey, over here!” She pepped, hopping down the cramp hallways of the train cart. “We’re all in back of the train. Follow me and we’ll be there in a jiffy!”

Soarin’ shrugged and followed the bouncing pink mare. She seemed really excited about getting to their booth that she sped up, hopping at a faster pace until she was leaping bounds ahead of him. “Hey, wait up!” He called out, not wanting to break his comfortable walking pace. But it was too late; Pinkie had disappeared down the hall. The Wonderbolt sighed, but continued to kind of follow her.

As he went to open the door to the next cart, it suddenly shot open, and Applejack came flying out, crashing into Soarin’ and knocking them both down with her on top.

This of course was no mere coincidence. In fact, it was all part of Rarity’s ingenious plan. Pinkie had purposely gone faster than Soarin’ to signal the girls that he was coming. After that, Applejack would wait until the last moment and walk through the door and bump into Soarin’, perhaps having him catch her in his hands. However, that’s where things went slightly off book in an otherwise perfect plan. Applejack had mistook bump with tackle and well… crashed into him.

Still, it was only a minor hiccup, and Applejack was on top of him now, staring blissfully into the Wonderbolt’s eyes. She could feel the warmth coming from his chest, and the steady beat of his heart as he looked right back at her. Her fingers curled up against his shirt, and she wondered if he would mind if she ripped off his shirt and got a look underneath. It took every inch of her willpower to not buckle under the pressure and just kiss him there on the spot. But somehow, she resisted and shot back up, blushing like a mad mare.

“Sorry! Didn’t see you there, partner!” She apologized, rubbing the back of her head nervously. This was a stupid idea. Rarity was just trying to embarrass her with her soap opera tomfoolery. Although it was nice while it lasted. “I should really watch where I’m going.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Soarin’ said, brushing himself off as he got up. He didn’t know if he should be mad that he got knocked over, or impressed that this girl could do that. “You’d be surprised how much that happens to me.” He beamed, although deep in his mind he was reliving some of the most horrible moments of his life. “You’re not the first girl to accidently fall on top of me. I’ll even give you credit for not trying to grab my junk like most of them.”

I could have grabbed his little stallion while I was down there?! Applejack stressed in her mind, wallowing at a missed opportunity. “Dang it!” She covered her mouth, realizing she had said that last part out loud like a giant fool. “I mean… heh, I guess I’ll know for next time, right?” Know for next time? Are you mad, girl? He already probably thinks you’re some sort of strange country pervert now!

Yeah… already having lots of fun. Soarin’ muttered in his thoughts. Still, she had shown more restraint than most mares did around him, and she was just trying to lighten the mood up. There was a good chance that one of her friends had told her to do this, considering how uncomfortable she was right now, which meant it fell to him to trying and ease her up a bit. “I’ll hold you to it,” he said as a little flirtatiously. She was cute after all, and only kind of crazy. He could handle kind of crazy. Regardless, it did seem to calm her down a little, if not turn her a slightly lighter shade of red. “Tell you what, this booth is free. You and I can hang in here if you want.” He turned down to the empty hallway. “If that’s all right with the rest of you.” One by one, each of Applejack’s friends poked their head from several different booths, whispering to themselves before nodding in agreement and disappearing again. Soarin’ looked back at AJ. “Shall we?”

“Ah-huh…” Applejack mumbled, following the Wonderbolt into the train booth and closing the door.

The second they heard the ‘click’ of the lock, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight and Spike all fled their hiding places and slowly crept up on Soarin’ and Applejack’s booth. Twilight pressed her ear up against the door while Rarity and Rainbow wrestled each other to see who would peek through the key hole. Pinkie Pie just stood there smiling to herself while Fluttershy and Spike wondered if their friends understood the words ‘boundaries’ or ‘privacy’.

“I can’t hear anything,” Twilight said in a dead whisper. “Can you two see anything?”

“I would if Rainbow would let me see…” Rarity muttered.

Rainbow frowned at her friend before looking back into the hole. “I think they’re just sitting there… staring at each other.”

“That’s kind of boring,” Pinkie said. “We should go inside and intervene! That always works!”

“Pinkie, keep your voice down,” Spike shushed. “We don’t want them to hear us. I think that we should just leave them alone, right Rarity?”

“Yes, in just a second, dear,” Rarity muttered, not really hearing Spike. “C’mon, Applejack, make your move… or at least do something.”

“Maybe we should give them some space…” Fluttershy said quietly. “We should respect their privacy and leave them alone.”

“I agree with Fluttershy,” Spike said. His three peeping friends looked back at him but they collectively sighed as they nodded in agreement. It was for the best anyways. If this was going to work, they’d have to give the two some space, and let Applejack handle it.

That being said, Applejack was having enough trouble handling her words. Being alone with Soarin’ was ten times worse than she thought it would be, not that being alone with Soarin’ was bad, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.

All right, Applejack, think, she thought to herself. He’s a Wonderbolt sure, but that don’t make him different than any other guy you’ve talked to. He’s just flesh and bones. Perfectly scrumptious meat I’d like to bone… Girl, quit that! You’re going to say something stupid again. She looked up briefly, noticing that Soarin’ was staring at her, waiting for her to actually say something. Okay, so we need to say something. Ask him about being a Wonderbolt, ask him about his hobbies or something. Just don’t ask him something stupid.

“So what did you have for breakfast this morning?” She asked, immediately regretting what could have been the stupidest thing anyone could ask a pony they hardly knew.

Soarin’ was wondering the same thing, but he was just happy that she actually spoke in a full sentence. “Well, I sort of skipped out on breakfast to be honest. I just had some orange juice to be honest.”

“Ah well…” Applejack mumbled, trying to think of a way to follow up on that. She didn’t think it would be this hard to hold a conversation. “… Once we get back to the farm, we’ll get something in you.”

“You live on a farm? That’s interesting.”

“It is?” Applejack wondered. She never really thought of the farm life as all that glamorous. But even if he was just trying to keep the conversation going, he really did look like he was interested. “Huh? Well I’m sure it’s mighty stale in comparison to a Wonderbolt’s life. To always be traveling and seeing the world. I bet it’s exciting.” She gave herself a mental hi-five for speaking an entire paragraph without stuttering or saying something embarrassing. Although she had almost screamed out that she touches herself to pictures of him three times in the last three minutes.

“It’s nice sure,” Soarin’ nodded, thinking about his life. “But sometimes it’s a little much. Plus all the crazy fans that come with fame… and I think I got the worst of it. You never hear stories of Spitfire or Fleetfoot getting locked in some thirty-something unicorn’s meat locker because she’s having a mid-life crisis, or get sold on the black market for a new carriage, or buried alive because a girl thinks she can grow more of you... No, all that crap gets flipped on yours truly.” Soarin’ stopped himself. “Sorry, didn’t mean to unload all of that on you.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Applejack said. “I don’t mind listening…” It sure beat the living daylight out of talking myself…

“Really?” Soarin’ asked. This was perplexing. In all of his years as a Wonderbolt, not once has a fan actually given a crap about his problem and actually listened. Most would just stare googly eyed at him while picturing him naked, or they just wouldn’t listen at all. But this girl… she seemed to be honest about it, and her kind smile just clarified that. That smile… why did he have the strangest feeling that he should be remembering something right now? “I have to be honest with you, Applejack. You’re a breath of fresh air from my other fans.”

“I—really?”

“Yeah, in fact, I could say that you’re probably one of the first ponies to actually listen to me outside of Spitfire, and that girl’s a sociopath so she hardly counts. Most ponies just look at me like I’m some giant piece of candy to suck on.”

He had to say that, didn’t he? Applejack groaned in her thoughts. Now all she could think about was what parts of him were the sweetest, and what parts she could wrap her mouth around. She even had to adjust herself a little, her dress wasn’t getting any cooler. “Well you know me… I’m a giver—listener! I’m a listener…”

“Hate to say, I don’t know you, Applejack,” Soarin’ sighed. “But who knows what’ll happen this weekend. I mean, what do you have planned for us anyways?”

“Planned?!” She thought, panicking as she remembered she was supposed to have one of those. “Well… I guess you and I could… umm…” She bit her lips, trying to think of a proper way to end that sentence that wasn’t ‘fuck, hump, or screw’. “You… and I… can work on the farm together!”

The pegasus raised an eyebrow. “Work on the farm? So I’d be like your farmhand for the weekend?”

“Yeah something like that I suppose…” Applejack said quietly.

Soarin’ couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I take it back, you’re out of your mind.”

“Huh?”

“You were at the auction, right?”

“Yes…?” Applejack wondered. What was he getting at?

“So you were going to spend thousands of bits for me to plow fields and tend crops for a weekend? Does that not sound a little crazy to you? Not the bad kind of crazy though, just sort of a ‘really?’ kind of crazy.”

“Yeah… I suppose I am,” She said, biting her lip a little in embarrassment. She looked out the window, and she could already see Ponyville on the golden horizon. It looked like the sun was going down, and Applejack sighed a little over a lost day of work, although the day was hardly a lost at all. She was sitting in a booth with a Wonderbolt, a Wonderbolt that was bound and willing to do anything she wanted, no matter how abstract or humiliating. And the best she could think of was getting another farmhand… she hoped she would get over these nerves eventually and tell him how she truly felt, but that could take a little while.

“So that’s Ponyville, huh?” Soarin’ asked, tilting his head slightly with curiosity. “It looks very peaceful.”

The farm pony had to hold back her laugh. Ponyville was anything but peaceful. “Yeah… it’s a real sleepy hollow.” She knocked on the wooden door frame as she walked out, and prayed that no headless horse would attack tonight. “Well, we better get a hustle on; I want to get back to the acre before dark. Timberwolves are more active this time of year.”

“Cool, cool,” Soarin’ nodded, but soon afterward shook his head. “Wait, Timberwolves?”

“Don’t worry, in the off chance we do get attacked, just kick them in the face,” she said casually. Kicking things was sort of normal behaviour for her, and she enjoyed it immensely. It never occurred to her that maybe other ponies wouldn’t see her approach to wild animal attacks so nonchalantly. “It works every time.”

“You really are out of your mind,” Soarin’ said in a tone that was between impressed and terrified. He followed Applejack out of the booth and joined back up with the rest of her friends. Fluttershy was stunned by how late it had gotten, saying that she needed to get back home for bed. Twilight also parted ways quickly, yawning as she walked back to her home. She had been up for almost two days now, and the princess needed her shut-eye. Rainbow waved goodbye to Soarin’, saying that she would come and say hi sometime tomorrow before taking off into the sky. Pinkie followed them for a while before heading off to Caramel’s house, and finally Rarity and Spike said their goodnights once they got to Rarity’s Boutique.

“Goodnight, you two!” Rarity waved as she and Spike disappeared past the door, leaving Applejack and Soarin’ alone in the street.

Applejack shifted nervously on the spot. “So ah… I suppose you’ll be wanting to check into a motel or something? We got some nice little motels here in town, I’m sure they’ll be to your liking.”

“Eager to get rid of me, eh?” Soarin’ asked playfully. “I don’t think you still understand the whole ‘Wonderbolt Weekend’ thing. I’m yours until Monday morning. Until then, I’ve got to do pretty much anything you say. Just as long as it isn’t illegal… I don’t want to be sent to the moon.”

“So… you want to come and stay at my place?” Applejack said cautiously.

“I don’t know… do I?” Soarin’ teased.

“Uh… Yes?”

“Great, then lead the way,” The Wonderbolt chuckled. This girl… she was something else, but probably his favourite winner of the auction in years, and she wasn’t even the true winner. He did wish she wouldn’t look away from him so much, it wasn’t like he was going to bite or spit acid in her face. It was this sort of anti-social behaviour that lead to a very quiet and awkward walk down a dusty old path. Thankfully, no Timberwolves or Headless Horses attacked them as they walked through the Farm’s old tin gate.

Soarin’ would be ashamed to admit that this was the first time he had actually been on a farm, and the first thing that came to mind was that it just smelt awful. His nose was adapted to the crisp breeze of clouds and air, but this was the smell of… poop, like some crazy pony had thought it’d be a great idea to just spread that (literal) shit everywhere. He thought that he was going to pass out, but he kept on his feet, as the ground was most likely covered in fecal matter.

Applejack took a whiff and thought, Huh, Macintosh must have fertilized the west field and gave it no more thought. She was used to the foul odours of manure, and it hardly even fazed her. It did however, come to her attention that not everypony in presence had her nose of steel. “Oh, don’t worry about the smell, wind‘ll blow it away from the house, always does. You won’t smell it once we get past the tomato patch.”

Sure enough, Soarin’ could breathe again, and was more than happy to leave that smell behind him. He just prayed that it would be gone before he woke up tomorrow and had to go work in the… fields. “So I guess we’ll be doing a lot of plowing together, huh?”

“Wh-wh-what?!” The orange pony shrieked. Had he really just said what she thought he said? No wait… she thought, he probably meant the fields, not each other. Pity really. “Oh, no. We’ll just be doing some bucking—damn it! Apple bucking! We’ll be knocking apples off the trees. Carrot Top takes care of the fields and vegetables.”

Soarin’ laughed. “You’re too funny, you know that?”

“Heh, yeah… freaking hilarious,” she grumbled to herself as she approached her house. A few of the lights were still on in the kitchen, and she heard Apple Bloom and Granny Smith arguing over something, and Granny was winning. “Oh this’ll be fun.” She pushed open the door, calling out, “Granny, I’m home!”

“And another thing missy—Oh come on in, sweet pea!” Granny called, temporarily taking on a sweet tone before harshly whispering, “Don’t think this gets you off the hook, youngin’. Now go wash up for dinner.” There was a groan from the pre-teen, and the sound of stomping. It was overall a great first impression for Soarin’.

The pegasus looked around the room. It had a very southern flair to it, with almost everything looking old and hand-carved from wood. Pictures of what he could only assume were past family members hung from the wall, freshly dusted. The smell of cedar and apples that seemed to scent the room was a godsend compared to the crap in the air outside. But the best thing that he noticed had to be the bubbling of pots, and the cackling of food. It had just occurred to him that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, and that was just juice. He hoped he was invited to dinner. Applejack had been fairly normal so far, but that could change in a heartbeat.

Applejack noticed Soarin’s drooling, and she started to smirk a little. “You hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Well, then we better get you fed, shouldn’t we?” She led him to the kitchen, where Granny Smith was just setting down a basket of freshly baked bread. “Hey Granny, hope we’re not too late.”

“Just in time, dearie,” The old mare said. She squinted her eyes at the stallion next to her granddaughter, and she gave him a toothy grin. “Well, well, well… hello there stranger. Applejack, aren’t you going to introduce me to your strapping young friend?”

“Soarin’, ma’am,” he said, reaching out a hand for her to shake.

But the old girl would have none of that. “Fiddlesticks, put that paw away and come here so old granny can get a feel.” Granny took Soarin’ in for a big bear hug, but to the Wonderbolt, it felt suspiciously like her hands were trying to grab his ass. But she looked like she was in her eighties, so he let it slide, although he did give a little yelp when he felt a pinch on his cheek. “Mmm, nice and firm! Just how I like ‘em! Now let’s get some food in you! I’ll get you a plate.” She left the dining room to fetch another plate, returning almost as soon she had left and set a place for Soarin’ right at the head of the table. “You can sit in Macintosh’s seat.”

“Where is Big Mac anyways?” Applejack wondered. She knew that Apple Bloom was kicking around somewhere, but she hadn’t heard a peep about her brother, although that wasn’t too unusual for him.

“Oh, him and that school teacher ran off for the weekend,” Granny mumbled. “They were going on about some house on a lake somewhere or somewhat. I tell you, that Cheerilee is a bad influence on him. Ever since they started bumping ugly he’s been down on his back rather than down on the ranch.”

Soarin’ thought about that for a second. He remembered Spitfire mentioning something about a lake, and thought it would be funny if it was the same one. However, he was having a hard time thinking of anything over the smell of what he could only imagine was creamy gravy, apples and carrots. He took a seat where his place was set, and Granny scooped up a ladle full of the soup and broke him up a stick of bread. “This. Looks. Fantastic.”

“Well dig in you two, I’m just going to check on the little hellion,” Granny cursed a few things under her breath in a growl before leaving the dining room.

Applejack helped herself to three scoops of the soup, filling her bowl to the rim. She was in her own world now. All the stress of that day, all the scares and heart ache had vanished. There was only Granny Smith’s Friday Special, with all the trimmings of love and roasted apples. She forsook her spoon, and started pounding back the bowl. Small strands of soup leaked past her cheeks and down her neck, but it wasn’t anything that a good sleeve wipe couldn’t fix. Within seconds her bowl was empty and she was going for seconds while cramming half a loaf of bread down her throat.

The Wonderbolt watched in amazement. He had heard of racial stereotypes about earth ponies and their monstrous appetites, but he had always thought they weren’t true. This mare was making him rethink that as she went for her third bowl. Maybe this was some sort of special way to eat the soup… but then why did they give them spoons? He decided to give it a try, lifting the rim of the bowl to his lips, sucking back the sweet, creamy liquid and small chunks of fried fruit and veggies. It went smoothly down his throat like a delicious waterfall, filling him up with a warm yumminess. Now he could see why Applejack was horsing it down so fast. He went for another bowl, but Applejack had a similar idea. The two touched hands briefly, before she retracted hers back.

“Beg yer pardon,” she apologized, covering her blushing face.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Soarin’ said. “You can have some more if you want, it’s not like we’re running… holy crap.” He looked down the large stew pot. It could have easily held over twenty litres of soup, and from the crusting sides of soup drying against the inner walls of the pot, it had. However, there was barely a puddle of soup left in it. “You ate all of it?”

“Sorry about that. But most of the time I’m competing against my brother for this. The big lug will practically drink it from the pot.” Applejack chuckled a little. “But you’re right, should probably try and leave a little for Granny and Apple Bloom. Speaking of which… where is my sister? Don’t think you’ve had the pleasure to meet her.” She dragged on those last words, her little sister was anything but a pleasure nowadays.

“Dag blast goo!” They heard Granny shout from the other room. “I’m going to tan that filly’s hide!”

Applejack’s ears flopped down. “Oh great… Apple Bloom probably snuck out again. Damn that girl…”

“Huh?” Soarin’ wondered. “Oh… well are we going to go looking for her?”

The cowpony shook her head. “This is something she’s made a habit of. She’s probably ran off to one of her friend’s house.” Just as she finished that sentence, the phone started to ring. “See? That’s probably one of her friends now. I’ll let Granny get it.” She gave a long yawn, and she looked at the clock, it was already teetering at ten o’ clock. “… We should probably think of hitting the hay. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Applejack started to head out of the room and up the stairs.

The pegasus agreed. Now that she had mentioned it, he was already fighting to keep his eyes open as he followed Applejack.

When they got to Macintosh’s room, Applejack opened the door. “Since my brother’s out of town for the time being, you can sleep in his room. I think there’s some fresh sheets in the closet… you’ll want them.” She recalled Cheerilee’s and Mac’s hat-wearing, and probably knew that it would be messy. “So… yeah, sleep tight! Wake you up later!” She started heading to her room, but Soarin’ stopped her.

“Wait… you mean we’re sleeping in different rooms?” He asked, looking really confused. “Usually me and the winner sleep in the same bed… or at least that’s what they make me do.”

Applejack stopped cold in her tracks. “Wh-what?!”

“Yeah, I mean literally every mare and stallion that has ever won me has done that. I’ve always sort of saw it as a tradition.”

This had to be a dream, or she was hearing him wrong. In all her life, she never thought Soarin’ would actually expect them to sleep together! Life was making it so easy for her, all she had to do was say yes and he’d hop into her bed, probably naked if commanded it. So it came as a shock to all when she said, “Nah, it’s okay! See you tomorrow!” And walked away.

Now, while Soarin’ stood there a little dumbfounded by what just happened, Applejack was doing her best not to explode. You pear-eating moron! YOU JUST BLEW A SURE THING! You could have had Soarin’ naked in your room. Ugh, now you’ll be stuck with this thought all night… so much for sleep.

She flopped down on her bed, screaming and banging her head into her pillow. “Stupid, stupid, stupid… Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” She rolled onto her back, staring at the door. It was unlikely, but there was a small chance that Soarin’ could walk in on her. It was… exciting. That mixed with his willingness to jump into bed with her, and peppered with his actual presence was making a sinfully delicious concoction in her mind. She tossed her hat to the side of the room, and got up for a second, slipping out of the dress she had been stuck in all day. It felt nice to finally be free of the constriction of clothing, even her panties got dropped to the ground as she leapt back onto her bed, completely naked. She undid the bands in her tail and mane, letting her blonde hair spread across her bed. She might have been nude, but she still felt so warm.

A thought came to mind. Would she risk fooling around with herself? Goddess knew she could use the release, but with Soarin’ so close by, she worried what he would think if he heard? Would he think it would be weird? Should she invite him to watch? Too many questions she had and not enough answer!

“No…” she said to herself. “Not this time. I’m not chickening out this time!” She shot up from her bed and got onto her feet. With a heavily beating heart, she tiptoed to the door. It was rather impulsive but she had a plan. She was going to check the hall if the coast was clear, sneak up to Soarin’s room, and invite him back to hers. It was perfect, and she was sure that Soarin’ would hop on board, so to speak. She went to open the door, to check if the coast was clear, but it wasn’t…

Cause Soarin’ was standing right outside her room.

The pegasus looked like he was about to knock on her door, but he was stunned, his eyes dangerously drifting downwards. It was only natural that he would look at her body. The large, natural breasts, firm with perky, dark nipples, her abs from working the fields, powerful and smooth, leading down to her quivering, if not slightly damp nether region. He felt himself getting a little stiff under the belt, and got a strange urge to swoop her up and throw her back on the bed as he took her. It never occurred to him to wonder why she was naked to begin with.

“I just wanted to let you know… there’s no clean sheets…” He mumbled, still wide eyed. “But I can see you’re everything—I mean boob—I mean you’re busty—busy!” He turned around. He couldn’t talk with Applejack distracting him.

The cowpony was also at a loss of words. Copious amounts of embarrassment were flowing through her. She even felt a tear building up in her eye. That’s when she finally popped, and slammed the door on him, letting out a high-pitch scream as she locked the deadbolt and ran to bed and wrapped herself in her blanket.

“He saw me naked! He saw me naked!” She trembled, feeling strangely violated. “He saw me naked… he saw me naked…” Her breathing got a little more rapid as several thoughts ran through her head. However, one of them stood out among the rest. “He saw me naked…” She said in a calmer voice, trying to remember what had happened. Soarin’ had been staring, which was of course any stallion worth his pride would do, but he had lost his calm demeanor. Now, he may have been just startled, but he was also nervous, and she could have sworn he saw a bit of red in his cheeks. Suddenly, she felt much less sullied, and more… proud. “He saw me naked…” She smiled, closing her eyes.

And he liked it.
	
	
	
> Saturday Morning: Farm Work
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Morning crept up all too quickly on the Apple house. It’s something that seemed to happen when your entire family insists on waking up at the crack of dawn, and normally was meant with groans and dark sacks under a pony’s eyes. This morning however, was met with good cheer and smiles. Applejack practically hopped out of bed, giving a long yawn as she greeted the rising sun.

There were a lot of things for her to be happy about today. For starters, it was looking to be the perfect day for apple bucking, not a cloud in the sky, and a steady breeze to keep them cool while out in the orchard. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The real reason she was happy was because of Soarin’. The Wonderbolt was probably sound asleep in the other room, but if she was lucky he would have had some pleasant dreams. Dreams about their little run in that night. Applejack knew that she had a few lustful thoughts about it last night, but today she had a goal: make her dream come true, and keep Soarin’ on the defensive. She had been a nervous wreck yesterday, but now she was back in her comfort zone, and the edge had been taken off.

As the farm pony got ready for a day of work, Soarin’ was still fast asleep. Last night had been… interesting for him. It had taken him a bit to actually fall asleep, what with the smell of sex on his sheets and the image of that cowpony firmly indented in his memory. It was strange… it wasn’t like him to be caught off guard like that. Yesterday in general had been a wild ride, but this earth pony, Applejack, was far too much of a wildcard for him to predict. Maybe that’s why he found himself so vulnerable, and strangely happy for this surprise.

He saw the sun peak through the window, and he winced away from it. All he wanted was a few more minutes alone with his thoughts, just another moment to think of naked orange mares.

But life would have none of that. There was a loud knock on the door and he shot up. “I’m awake!” He shouted, bunching up his blanket to cover his morning thoughts. He’d rather not have to deal with that right now. “Just give me a second to get some clothes on!”

Applejack, who was standing on the other side of the door, couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Aw, but that doesn’t sound very fair, partner. You know, considering you got a front row view of my ranch.” She turned the knob of the door extra slowly, so Soarin’ could hear the creaks of the old door. “I think you owe me a quick look, don’t you think?”

Soarin’ started to search through his bag with quick haste, but suddenly realized something. All he had packed with him was a toothbrush, some clean underwear and a spare Wonderbolt costume. It had never occurred to him to pack something more casual. He could hear the door slowly creak open, and that sent him into a frenzied panic. “Umm, little problem Applejack!”

“Relax, Soarin’ I’m just kidding around,” Applejack said through the door. Maybe she had come on a little too strong and spooked him. She didn’t want to become another tragic memory for the Wonderbolt. “Y’all can forget about what happened last night, it was a… a flook.”

“That’s not really what I was talking about, AJ, can I call you AJ?” He asked, not waiting for her to answer. “Well anyways, as it turns out I forgot to pack some regular clothes…”

“Really?” Applejack wondered. “Is that so…” I guess that means you’ll have to apple buck naked… stop it Applejack. Get him some clothes. You’re not a purvey monster… unfortunately. “Well, if you want, you can borrow some of Mac’s clothes… though his shirts may be a few sizes big.”

Soarin’ didn’t know what she meant by that until he opened the closet. Last night he had done a bit of digging through it looking for sheets, and he thought that the shirts were blankets, but they were… XXX… possibly XL shirts. Was Applejack’s brother a titan? Still he had to wear something, and his manager would kill him if he got his Wonderbolt costume dirty so he tried to wear the giant’s clothing.

Applejack, waited impatiently for Soarin’ to get ready. “I hope you’re not just stalling in there, I plan on breaking you in today… with work! Not... fuck,” she muttered that last part under her breath. However, she was right; it was getting close to seven-thirty. It was time to take matters into her own hands. She was going in.

When she swung open the door, she was met with… a strange site. Soarin’ looked like a little kid playing dress up with adult clothes. Mac’s giant shirt draped over his arms, giving him sloppy sleeves, and the denim jeans he wore were scrunched, bunched, and rolled up so he wouldn’t trip over them, and he had to wear his belt to keep them from falling off. Soarin’ looked unamused as Applejack tried to hide her laughter, but the cowpony eventually gave in.

“That’s a great look for you!” She laughed. “I should call Rarity and tell her I found this year’s new look.”

Soarin’ kept his tired death stare. “Laugh it up, toots, but I’m not getting any work done like this.” He flopped his arms up, the sleeves flapping about as he did so. “So what’s your plan, Applejack?”

She started to think a bit about what to do. As funny as it was, farm work required suitable attire and work duds that fit. It took a moment, but she knew of a few old suits of clothes that might fit him. “I’ll be right back.” She said somewhat solemnly before walking down to the end of the hall. She reached up to the string that dangled down from the ceiling and pulled it down, a large cloud of dense dust as she released the attic door and the folding ladder. She climbed up it, fanning away the year old dust before flicking on an old light. It had been awhile since she came up here, and she wasn’t too happy to be back, especially for the reasons she had now.

Boxes upon boxes were piled up against useless antiques and Apple family heirlooms, each one shrouded with cobwebs and dust. She headed to a particular pile of boxes, and wiped away some dust to see the faded label on the box.

Wolf River Apple… her father.

It had been years since Granny Smith had decided to store away all her folks old stuff. It had been too painful for the family to be constantly reminded about Wolf River and her mother, Maigold. So they gathered all their clothing, possessions, and even any pictures of them and hid them away in the attic. However, Applejack would sometimes come up here from time to time when she was younger. As she got older though, she came to terms that her parents were gone, and was able to move on with her life as she was sure her parents would want.

Still, it always made her a little teary to think about it for too long. It was for that reason that she quickly grabbed a pair of her father’s old work jeans, a few shirts, and a belt from the box and headed back down the ladder. After resetting the attic back to normal, she headed back to her brother’s room where Soarin’ was still trying to hitch up some pants that were too big for him, and Applejack threw the clothes at him. “Here you go; these should fit you real nicely.”

The pegasus took a few looks at the shirt; they seemed more regular pony sized. “Thanks, AJ. Can I call you AJ? You never answered that for me,” He asked as he let his baggy pants drop to his ankles, catching the cowpony a little off guard. Her eyes widened as she got a good look at the athlete’s strong, muscular legs, and cursed her brother’s giant shirt of skirting what she really wanted to sneak a peek of. She turned around, not letting Soarin’ see her blush.

“You can call me anything you want, sugar cube,” she gulped, getting a little sweaty under her collar. Damn this heat. “Now hustle up and get dressed, we got a big day ahead of us.”

“Sure, sure,” Soarin’ said, not paying Applejack much mind. He was just thankful that he had some clothes that fit. He gave a loud yawn as he pulled up his work jeans. He was more tired than he thought. Why did he have to sleep on a mattress that reeked up bodily fluids? Which of course did not help his thoughts either… that and it just smelt awful. He probably would have been better off on the floor or in the hallway.

“Hey, y’all almost done up there?” Applejack shouted from downstairs. “Your breakfast is about to be forfeited.”

“Coming!” The pegasus shouted back, hopping down the stairs as he zipped up his pants. Down in the kitchen, Applejack was already shoveling down pancakes and drinking out of the syrup bottle. Granny Smith was in the kitchen, washing some dishes as she hummed to her record player. “Wow… hungry, huh?”

“Hmm?” Applejack mumbled, wiping away some crumbs from her mouth, her cheeks puffed up with breakfast. “Well, got to fuel up for the work day, since my brother isn’t here we’ll have to go at it extra hard.” She nearly choked on her breakfast. “Working that is!” Why does everything sound dirty this week?

“I see… well, did you save me some pancakes?” He asked, looking at the bare table where plates of delicious fluffy pancakes once stood. Now all that was left were pitiful displays of empty plates. “Is your grandmother making more?”

“Oh… crap,” the cowpony muttered. “I… don’t think so,” Applejack blushed a little, looking down at her plate in shame. “Must have gotten carried away. Like I said last night, I usually have to scrap with my brother for food, and well without him…”

“Her appetite goes to the wind!” Granny shouted from the kitchen. “That girl’s got the stomach of a fully grown stallion I tell you what. But don’t worry sugar pea, I put aside a plate for you.” She walked into the dining room with a plate of food. “I had a feeling this one would be a problem without somepony to compete with food with.”

Soarin’ scratched his head, a little confused by the way food was distributed in this household, and wondered if they had ever heard of portions and sharing… but he was too busy chowing down on his breakfast. Within seconds, he was full, and ready to go.

“You about done?” Applejack asked. “Cause we’re running late as it is.”

Soarin’ sighed; it was about time that life got difficult for him. Still, it had been nice while it lasted. But farm work couldn’t be that bad… right? “Well, show me what I have to do. I think you said something about apple bucking?”

“Yeah, just follow me to the orchard and I’ll show you the ropes,” Applejack said, waving goodbye to her grandmother. “See y’all at lunch, Granny.”

“Goodbye, love,” Her grandmother whistled to them. “Now you take it easy on the city slicker, don’t need him broken on the first day!” She chuckled a little to herself as she started to put some of the plates away. “Lunch will be at the usual time, now go buck some apples!”

The farm filly just rolled her eyes, and headed out into the fresh morning air. She took a deep breath, and sighed. Nothing like a sunny day to get you ready for work. Since it was Saturday, she would do the southwest orchard first, which was good considering it was also one of the smaller groups of trees she had to do, and would be a great place to train the newbie. “All right, Soarin’ so basically here in Sweet Apple Acres, we buck apples.”

“Yeah, can I just say…” Soarin’ interrupted, raising his hand. “… that every time you say buck apples it makes it sound like we’re going to have sex with them.”

Applejack stopped on the spot, breaking out into a cold sweat. “Wh-what… no! Why would you ever make that connection?!”

The Wonderbolt just shrugged. “I don’t know… maybe that’s how you add its flavour?”

“Have… sex with the apples?” Her mind was in a state of shock. Never in all of her life had she even considered having sex with the apples. Apples were for eating, not for… that. “No, when I say bucking, I mean we’re going to knock them down from the tree.”

“Knock them down?” Soarin’ asked. “How?”

“… With our feet.” Applejack said, answering his question as if it were obvious. “How else would we do it?”

“Oh I don’t know… pick them by hand?”

The cowpony couldn’t help but laugh. “Ha! That’s a hoot! Picking apples by hand… we’d be here till the end of time. But nah, I should probably show you the proper way to pick apples.”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes, sighing a little. Still, it was nice to see Applejack gain some confidence. “Sure thing, teach away. I’m all eyes and ears.”

“Right,” she nodded, walking up to a nearby tree. She placed her right boot on the base. “Now, the first thing y’all want to do is stretch out your legs like so…” she leaned into her leg, gripping the base of her heel, she felt a familiar burn in the back of her thigh, and her leg becoming limber.

Soarin’ was also feeling a little bit of a burn. This girl had some flexibility to go with those muscular legs of hers. His jaw dropped a little as she forced her leg up, her foot soaring past her head. How she got it up that high, with her jeans clinging tightly against her thighs, possibly on the verge of ripping, or at least they were in the pegasus’s mind. How this girl had confidence issues he’d never know.

The idea that her little stretching act was erotic would fly over Applejack’s head, and as she finished up her second leg she was felt ready to go. “OK, now that we’re all limbered up we can start kicking the trees. Now, the trick is to hit with your whole foot at about waist height, if you don’t you might stub a toe.” She reared up and picked her spot on the trunk. She stalled for a second to aim, and then unleashed the full power of her kick, hitting it with a thunderous blow that shook the foundation of the tree. Apples rained down from the branches, falling to the ground. “See? Ain’t anything to it.”

Soarin’ watched with interest. It definitely looked amazing, and a unique twist on a traditional technique. But he gave a little smirk. “Sure, how hard can it be? You just kicked a tree.”

Applejack gave him the stink-eye. She didn’t care how much she was in love with him, nopony ever insulted her applebucking. “Just kicking a tree? Okay, Mr. Celebrity, let’s see you knock all the apples off that tree over there.” She pointed a little away, it was one of the smaller trees in this field, and barely had half a dozen apples on it. “Take that little one over there, so y’all don’t give yourself a boo-boo. Wouldn’t want to ruin your pedicure.”

The Wonderbolt just stared back at her. “I’m a highly trained athlete, a military veteran, and one of the fastest of the Wonderbolts to ever live. I’m pretty sure I can kick some apples off a tree.”

“Well we ain’t going to find out with you chatting away,” the cowpony said, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Heh, I just hope I don’t break the tree in half when I’m done with it,” Soarin’ said, staring down the tree. He limbered up a little, not doing any sort of exotic stretching like AJ was, but enough to loosen up the ligaments in his legs. This tree was going down. He readied himself and spread his wings, and, with one quick dashed straight into the tree at a breakneck speed. At the last moment, he reared up his boot and slammed against the trunk of the tree with all of his might.

It was silent for all but a second, before Soarin’ fell to the ground screaming and clutching his foot, which was throbbing with an unbearable pain.

Over his howls of agony though, Applejack couldn’t help but laugh. No one ever took what she did for a living seriously at first, but when it came to actually kicking the tree, most would break their toes or sprain their ankles, a price they had to pay for their ignorance. “Woo we! Well at least something fell, eh, Soarin’?” She chortled, almost collapsing over herself as the pegasus rolled around on the ground. He didn’t seem to think it was that funny, and the cowpony figured she should at least figure out if he was hurt. “All right, chicken bone, quit your squealing and let me take a look at it.” She leaned down next to him and started to take off his boot.

His foot seemed fine, too fine in fact. Applejack had never realized how beautiful the Wonderbolt’s feet were. Clean, smooth, toenails well-trimmed, she wondered if these big blue feet were ticklish or not. Maybe just a quick scratch…

“Well how does it look?” Soarin’ asked, wondering why she was just staring at his foot. Did this mare have a foot fetish? “It hurts a lot, is it broken? I swear to the goddess if it’s broken…”

“Huh?” Applejack mumbled absentmindedly, not fully hearing what Soarin’ had said. “Uh… nope, I think you’ll be fine.” She let go of his foot, brushing her hands off and turning around. “Yeah, well, now you know to take this seriously, apple bucking is legitimate work. So show it some respect, all right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Soarin’ nodded, slipping his boot back on. He made sure to be tender with his foot, but after putting a little weight on it, he realized that maybe he had overreacted to his pain. Not that it was unusual for him to do that. Still, he had found a newfound respect for the art of apple bucking, and was more determined now than ever to take this tree down. “Okay… round two…” he said with a grin.

*****

As the hours clicked away at the sun, the day grew hotter, and once that great ball of fire found its way to the center of the sky, the terrible heat was at its worst. Applejack took off her hat, having to wipe off the many beads of sweat off her brow. She looked back behind her and smiled at the mounds of apples piled in several baskets. She had made great time despite having to teach Soarin how to buck apples, and it was looking like she was even going to make her quota.

That didn’t make it any less warm out, and she was drenched in sweat. “Have to stop wearing these things in the summer…” she muttered, trying out air out her flannel jacket. However, since she wasn’t wearing anything underneath this, she unbuttoned it as much as she could from the top, and tied the bottom of the shirt up in a knot. “Much better…” she thought aloud. “That’s better… should get some water too… Hey Soarin’! Water break?” She called out. However, Soarin’ had disappeared. “Soarin’? Where’d you get too?”

She started to wander down the orchard, looking for her temporary farmhand. Eventually, she heard some grunting from behind some bushes, and when she went to investigate, she found Soarin’ working away at an apple tree, although he had stopped suddenly, panting and out of breath. Soarin’ had eventually gotten the hang of the apple bucking method, but it was still taking him six to seven kicks to knock all the apples off the branches. Still, that hadn’t weakened his motivation. However, as he stood there, he started to reach for his collar, and with a heavy grunt, he began to pull off his work shirt.

The Wonderbolt had no idea that Applejack was watching, so he didn’t see her eyes widened at his shiny, sweaty body. Those familiar lustful thoughts were creeping back into her mind. She had always feared that the pictures in the magazines she read were photo-shopped or fake, but after seeing his budding six-pack in the sun she was a believer. She imagined how hard they would be, and how they would feel against her body, the two of them just rubbing their sweaty bodies together, making love while the sun beats down against their backs, only heating up their desires of their lust-filled frenzy.

She soon became lost in her thoughts as Soarin’ gave the trunk of the tree a mighty kick. Only about half the apples came falling down, but she hardly noticed that. No, she was far too committed to just sucking on his eye candy. However, when she went to lean in, she must have put too much pressure on the stick she was leaning on, as it gave out from under her with a snap, and she yelped while crashing into the bushes.

Soarin’s ears perked up from the sudden noise of snapping twigs and looked towards the bushes. He wasn’t that surprised to see Applejack crawl out of them, cursing under her breath. He had to hide some of his laughter, but he also wondered if she was spying on him. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time somepony stared at him in secret, but it felt a little different with Applejack. More… innocent. Of course if he could read her mind, it’d be anything but innocent.

Still, he should help her up. “You need a hand there?” He asked with still a little laughter in his voice. “Or do you want me to pretend I didn’t see you?”

“The latter actually,” Applejack mumbled with embarrassment. “I must have slipped on some mud or something.”

“Uh-huh, sure,” Soarin’ said, rolling his eyes. “And I’m a Princess. I know you were spying on me, but don’t think too much into it, I get that a lot.”

“I-I-I wasn’t spying on you!”

The pegasus just gave her a stare. “You’re an awful liar, you know that? You face gets all red when you don’t tell the truth.”

That just made Applejack even redder. She pulled her hat down to cover her face and spat. “Okay (OK) fine, maybe my eyes lingered a bit in your general direction, but that don’t mean I was spying on you. It just means you got in the way of my looking, is all.”

“Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, Applejack,” he yawned, giving a mighty stretch backwards while flexing his wings open. He saw in the corner crack of her Stenson that she was peeking at him. Give you something to picture later while you sleep he thought to himself. His stomach gave a rather loud growl, and Soarin’ realized just how hungry he was. “So… when’s lunch?”

“Lunch? Oh! Right! Yeah, that’s why I came over here…” She started to drift away.

“Before you decided to spy on me?”

“I thought we agreed you were just invading my vision?” The cowpony said with a huff.

“We agreed on something,” Soarin’ chuckled. “But whatever, lunch time! And I am starving.” He jumped behind Applejack and waited for her to lead the way. It took her longer than he hoped to understand what he was doing, but eventually they got moving.

As they were walking, Soarin’ couldn’t help but find himself staring down south a little, at Applejack’s curvy round flank. He could just picture it in his mind, the last piece of the puzzle, and the only place he hadn’t seen of her naked. That encounter really had drilled itself into his mind, and now all he could do was strip her with his mind, picturing her cute orange rear, big red cutie marks, bouncing up and down as he pounded into her. He wanted to take a fistful and squeeze it, wondering if she’d squeak pleasantly or moan succulently. He wanted to count her shivers as he drove her to climax, how many times he could leave her begging for more or—THONK!

“Ow! My nose!” Soarin’ whined, rubbing his snout.

Applejack turned around, a little confused. “Soarin’ did… did you just run into a tree?”

“Yes Jackie, I did,” he mumbled in a sad whimper. His nose was throbbing but it probably hurt less than he thought. “There are a lot of trees around here, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh really?” Applejack asked, a sly grin creeping on her face. It was her turn to have a little fun. “Oh really… sure you weren’t staring somewhere else?”

“Yeah, pretty sure.”

“Ah-huh… you were distracted by something weren’t you?” She wondered coyly, giving her rear a little shake. “Or was I just in the way of where you were looking?”

Soarin’ shrugged. Unlike Applejack, he was a good liar. “Just had something on my mind, that’s all.”

“Oh, did you now? You know you’re a terrible liar, your wings poof up when you lie.”

He would never admit it, but Soarin’ had just realized that his wings were fully erect. Perhaps he had gotten a little too into his thoughts. Normally he’d never think about doing that so badly. Well, that wasn’t true, he did sometimes get that way when he thought about that Pie Mare. But why was he thinking about that with Applejack…?

Soarin’ hadn’t said anything in a while, and Applejack marched forward proudly. She knew she got him, and it felt good. “That’s what I thought. So anyways… what do you want for lunch?”

The Wonderbolt thought for a moment. “Eh, I’m in the mood for anything.”

“OK then,” smiled the cowpony. “Then do I have a treat for you. Why don’t I whip up some of my famous apple pie!”

“Pie huh…” He asked, chuckling in his mind. “Sure, that sounds nice. But I should warn you, when it comes to pie. I’m sort of a stick in the mud. I had a slice of pie years ago, and I’ve never had anything quite as good since. So don’t take it personally if I don’t get a boner or something.”

“Best pie ever, eh?” Applejack asked, her heart racing a little. There was no way it was her pie he was talking about? “And uh… where did you eat this pie exactly, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Grand Galloping Gala a few years ago,” he said. “There was…” he stopped himself a little. Applejack was a nice girl, and he didn’t want to ruin the mood with his wild goose chase. “Actually, don’t worry about it. It’s the past.”

“Oh…” Applejack said, a little disappointed. “Well, who knows? Keep an open mind when you taste my pie.” She needed to keep a positive attitude if she was going to do this. There was the possibility that she was this ‘pie mare’ of his, but there was the chance that she wasn’t. This was her chance to prove herself. If she was going to win Soarin’ over, she was going to take the fast track through his stomach and straight to his heart. She was going to have to make the best pie of her entire life.
	
	
> Saturday Afternoon: Rainfall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do you see him?” 

“I can’t with your giant butt in the way…”

“My butt’s not big!” Apple Bloom huffed, shoving her friend away. She did, however, move out of the way for her friends. “Anyways, can you see him? “

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nudged through the bushes that they were hiding in, peeking through the bristle and leaves to spy on a very special pony, a tall, blue pegasus walking with Applejack, the two most likely returning from working in the apple field. 

“Oh mama…” Scootaloo drooled. “He’s even hotter in person.”

“You know, I never really understood what makes Soarin’ so hot,” Sweetie Belle asked herself. “I mean… he’s good looking and all, but he’s had to have slept with a hundred girls by now.”

“Yeah, but he’s still so dreamy…” the wide eyed orange filly sighed. Taking a small moment away from her daydream she turned to Apple Bloom. “So tell me again… why does your sister have hotty, hot, super hunk following her around? Did she win him in an auction?”

“Actually yeah, I think,” Apple Bloom said. “I think she went to that Wonderbolt Weekend thing in Canterlot or something. I wasn’t really around to get the details.”

“Maybe that’s because you’re never home anymore,” Sweetie Belle whispered. 

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” She said, trying to change the subject. “So Soarin’ here, that’s cool…”

“I’m going to talk to him.” Scootaloo grinned. “Or maybe take a squeeze of that ass.” The young pegasus got up from her hiding spot, and started to creep around the brush and leaves. When she got close enough to him, she made her move, extending a clamping hand and grabbing the firmness of his buttocks. 

Soarin’ gave a little yelp as he fluttered a little into the air from his… grabber? “Yikes! Whoa, hey there!”

“What was that?” Applejack asked, turning around and seeing her sister’s friend grabbing her crush’s rear. She was struck with a tinge of anger, but a lot more jealously. How was she able to do something so gutsy, yet remain so calm? “Now what in the hay do you think you’re doing?!” She demanded, her face growing red. “Well?”

Scootaloo, wide-eyed, was about to answer Applejack, but her wings started to twitch, and she did the best that she could to take off. Although even as a young mare, she still had a problem getting up into the air, and with the density of the trees, she got caught up in the branches. “Crap…” She moaned, struggling to get free. “Look! Please don’t be mad at me, Soarin’! I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.”

“That’s fine, kid,” Soarin’ sighed. “This ain’t the first time somepony’s tried to grab my flank, and I’m sure it ain’t the last.” He flew up to the tree, and gently landed on one of the bigger branches. The Wonderbolt turned to the forest and smiled. “The rest of you can come out now as well.”

One by one, the guilty heads of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle emerged from the bushes, their heads bowed down a little in shame for their actions, although Soarin’ seemed indifferent, cheerful even. He knew when something was just done in good fun, even if it did leave his buttocks a tad sore. Even so, Sweetie Belle immediately cracked under the pressure, however much their actually was. “We’re sorry, Mr. Soarin’! We didn’t mean to do it. I wasn’t even totally on board with this idea! I don’t even see what’s so attractive about you.” She bit her tongue. “Not that you’re not attractive! But I’m just not into pegesi.” She blushed nervously, mentally face-slapping herself. “Not that there’s anything wrong with pegesi but—”

“Sweetie Belle…” Apple Bloom sighed, snapping her friend’s lips shut. “Just… just stop talking.” When Sweetie nodded, she let the unicorn’s lips free. She looked up, and was caught in the terrible glare of her older sister. The young mare knew she was in the crap now, and fleeing seemed like the most logical thing to do. “Well… this was nice and all, but we should be going! Got to uh… find our cutie marks!” She grabbed Sweetie Belle and started running away.

“But we got our cutie marks years ago!” The oblivious white unicorn replied, but was whisked away. Applejack took a deep breath, calming her riled up nerves before turning around and continuing to the house. Sometimes she thought that her sister and her friends got more air-headed every day, Apple Bloom especially. That girl had some issues.

Soarin’ noticed Applejack was leaving and was about to follow, but first he lifted up one of the branches that Scootaloo was struggling to free herself. The orange filly yelped, tumbling to the ground landing with a thud. “Ow…” she groaned, her small wings tangled up with sticks and leaves. The Wonderbolt hung upside down from the branch for a moment before flipping down and landing on his feet. Scootaloo looked up with a mix of awe and fear at the pegasus who’s exterior she had just recently grabbed, and closed her eyes in fear of the worst. But as the moments passed and nothing bad happened, she peeked through one of her eyes, and was greeted with not an angry Soarin’, but a grinning one.

Soarin’ offered her a hand. “I told you, don’t sweat it,” she said. “Just next time you want to grab my ass, buy me dinner first.” 

“So… cool…” the pegasus blabbered in her dreamlike state, taking the Wonderbolt’s hand. He helped her get back on her feet, and they just stood there for a few seconds before Scootaloo blurted out, “Do you want to go out for dinner?”

Soarin’s raised an eyebrow, impressed by her boldness. “Sorry, but I’m Applejack’s for the weekend.” He noticed how Scootaloo head dropped at his answer, so he placed a hand on her shoulder, brushing up against her cheek. “Hey, but I’m sure there’s some lucky guy out there that wants to go to out with you.”

“Is it you?”

“It’s not me,” he said bluntly. “I’m probably a decade older than you, and I’d rather not go to jail… But don’t worry about it, just keep looking. You’ll find your Wonderbolt.” With that he took off, as Applejack had gotten quite far ahead of him, and left the young pegasus with a lot to process.

When he did catch up to the cowpony, she was cursing something under her breath. “Dang blast it… stupid sister and her friends…”

Soarin’ fluttered up to her, flying circles around her, and reminding her of a certain friend of hers. “Hey, so that was interesting. Was that yellow one was your sister, eh?” He asked, and Applejack nodded. “She’s cute, and her friends are pretty funny. The orange one’s got a killer squeeze.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t talk about that,” The orange pony scowled with a tinge of anger in her voice. “If that’d be OK with you.”

“Jealous, are we?” Soarin’ chuckled. “If it makes you feel better I talked to her a bit. Hopefully I got through to her and she’ll leave me alone… or at least be less aggressive. You know she kind of reminded me a bit of Rainbow Dash.”

“How so?” Applejack asked, gulping the second the words pushed through her lips. “Actually, I’d rather not know.”

The pegasus couldn’t help but smile. “Relax, I meant in terms of attitude and mannerism. Rainbow never touched my ass.”

She didn’t say anything, but Applejack was praising Celestia’s name in her head upon hearing those words. In any case, she could see the house from the treeline, and the sizzling smoke coming from the chimney indicated that something was cooking in the kitchen. The scent of freshly roasted vegetables and fruit lingered in the cowpony’s nostrils, making her hungrier, but she couldn’t let her stomach get in the way of her mission. She got a kick in her step, running ahead of Soarin’, turning around and saying, “You wait here, I’m going to get us some lunch,” she said before leaving him in the distance and popping into the kitchen, where her grandmother was busy humming to one of her many old songs from her younger days. 

The old matriarch glanced over to the swinging door, and gave a wrinkly grin to her granddaughter. “Howdy there, sweet pea, how’s the new fella working out?”

“Granny, I need to make a pie!” Applejack shouted, not even waiting for Granny to answer. She ran straight past her grandmother and to the fridge. She sorted through the insides, picking up eggs, milk, and all the other necessary ingredients to make pie. “I know it’s a little last minute, but you think you could clear the kitchen for a bit? I just really, really, need to do this.”

Granny Smith looked at her with a confused sense of awe. “Now why in the hay-diddly-heavens would you need to make an apple pie right this moment?”

“Because!” Her granddaughter barked, taking a brief moment to check and see if Soarin’ was still out of earshot. He was so she continued. “He wants my pie!”

Granny’s eyed widened in appal. “Beg your pardon?”

“I… Shoot!” She slapped herself in the face. “I meant he’s had a taste of my pie before and now I want to give him another taste.”

“… Just what did you two get up to in the fields? You know we have a harvest sale coming up.”

Applejack’s eyes twitched, she was getting sick of all these innuendos. So she took a deep breath and tried to calmly explain everything. “Soarin’ bought one of my applepies at the Grand Galloping Gala, and if I can make a pie, a food pie, as I apparently need to clarify, I think he’ll remember me if I can just trigger his memory with a tasty dessert. Do you understand now?”

Her grandmother stood there in silence, slowly deducting what Applejack had said. Eventually she tossed her hands up and headed into the living room. “All right, you don’t have to get all technical about it. I’ll get out of your hair. Just if you two start bumping ugly, keep your voices down! I don’t need to hear you two sinning.” She gave a creaky, old-pony crackle as she waddled out on her walker, leaving the unamused Applejack alone in the kitchen.

The apple pony only hesitated for a second before she started swirling and whirling around, fishing hanging mixing bowls from their racks, plucking out a wooden spoon and a knife, and began mixing all the ingredients for the pie crust, getting a fluffy white pile of dough in front of her. She started to beat on it for a second, rolling it out until it had a nice consistency. As she was doing that, her foot had kicked the heat dial of the oven to high, to preheat it. The dough was then stretched across a pie tin that she filled it with apples, and brushed it up with cinnamon before adding the sugar, and mixing up the insides. It was part of her family’s secret recipe. Most ponies would mix the apples with lemon juice, sugar and flour in a separate bowl, the apples would mix them up in the pie crust with care and delicacy. They would also omit the lemon juice as lemons were a terrible and sour incarnation of evil. The Apple family would use a special apple like juice, which wasn’t like apple juice, but was made from a special part of the apple when it’s still unripe. It was sour like lemons, but not nearly as disgusting in the mind of Applejack. 

After that, she would place the pie crust over the pie, and braze it with an egg before putting it in the oven. Now… she waited for it to cook.

Applejack took a look out the window to see what Soarin’ was up to. The Wonderbolt was still waiting for her, keeping himself busy by doing some sort of wing exercises. He grabbed the ends of each of his wings and pulled down on them, making them stretch out their entire lengths. The cowpony was surprised by just how big they could become. They looked so strong, yet soft. She wondered how they would feel, engulfing her entire body in a fluffy, feathery heaven, and at the core was her muscly, kind-hearted stallion, the god of that heaven. She closed her eyes to imagine it. In her mind, they locked eyes as he held her tight, her hand caressing down his bare chest, his pushing up against her back. They venture lower, and she nips against his neck, which she imagines tastes like crisp rainwater before making her way to his lips, the lips she longs to feel against her own. He would lower her down on top of him, and he’d keep her snuggled in his wings where she was warm, and safe.

She was so lost in thought, she almost didn’t realize that her nostrils were filling up with smoke. “Oh hell! The pie!” She shrieked, turning around to see that there was already a thin trail of black smoke leaking through the cracks of the oven. In a frizzled panic, she swung open the door to the oven, praying with all her might that the pie was at least salvageable. “Oh thank goodness…” What she saw was lifesaving. The pie was unharmed, in fact it was a perfect shade of golden brown. The smoke had been coming from a piece of batter that had dripped onto the floor of the oven, and had burned into a small withered black crust. 

Getting her oven mitts on, she carefully pulled the pie out, took a deep whiff of its enticing aroma, and placed it on the window seal to cool off as she got a container to pack it in to. However, as Applejack dug through her cupboards for something to put the pie in, somepony else had gotten a smell of the pie at the window. 

Soarin’ knew the smell of pie all too well. A sweet fragrance of apple and cinnamon that drove the senses wild, and nulled the brain until it was the only thing on his mind. There had been pies that drove him batty, others that had made him drool, others that even caused his wings to spring open at inappropriate times. The smell of this pie however, made this heart race a little, and his palms sweat in the most eerie way, as if his body was deprived of this smell. It made his head hurt a little thinking about it, but he forgot what Applejack had told him and flew up to the house, perching next to the window sill. He stared at the pie, just sitting there… so delicious looking, but he had been deceived before. The curse that this pie mare had put on him almost brought a tear to his eye, knowing that he’d never taste a pie as good as the one at the gala for the rest of his life. 

But looking at the rear of the girl in the kitchen, cursing a little under her breath as she tried to find a bowl or something, it made him feel like shit that her pie was going to come up short. Such a shame too, It looked rather tasty, but it was going up against something impossible. It was then that he decided that no matter what this pie tasted like, no matter how much cinnamon she forgot to add, or how sour or pungent the apples were, he would tell her that her pie was perfect, to spare a nice girl’s feelings.

“This smells good,” Soarin’ said, spooking the orange mare and causing her to hit her head on top of the cupboard that she was head deep in. “Shit! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

Applejack stumbled out of the cupboard, rubbing her head and putting her hat back on. It stung a little, but it wasn’t anything serious. “Yeah… don’t you worry about me, it was nothing. It’s not the first time I’ve hit my head. I mean…” She thought for a moment. That one actually didn’t sound dirty, which was strange given her track record as of recently. “You know what? Forget about it.” She blushed a little, and found herself brushing a few strands of hair away from her face. That’s when she noticed him idling over her pie. He must have smelt it all the way across the field. Impressive. Hopefully he’d like the taste better than the smell. “I was thinking that we could take this into the fields, maybe have a little picnic.”

“A picnic, eh?” The Wonderbolt asked, smugly leaning up against the window frame, and looking up into clear blue sky. “You know, the weather is going to change in about twenty minutes. Going to be pouring rain like nopony’s business.”

“Ah, horse apples,” the cowpony muttered. “There’s not a cloud in the sky! And the weather patrol hasn’t given out any notice for a rainstorm.” She snatched the pie up from under his nose, grinning at him. “Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were just trying to get to this pie faster. Now come on, Granny made us lunch, and it’ll just take me a sec to wrap it all up.” She grabbed the pot of roasted vegetables that her grandmother had started cooking and placed it in a yellow basket with the pie on top to keep it warm, tucking it away under a picnic blanket. “Alright then, let’s head out…” she hustled around to the door where Soarin’ was waiting for her, and she playfully hip bumped him as she passed him. “We wouldn’t want some rain to ruin out picnic.”

“You’re going to eat those words…” Soarin’ sighed mockingly. 

“Mister, the only thing we’re going to be eating is what’s in this basket,” Apple droned with a shit-eating smile. “I don’t know why you’re trying to weasel out of this, but stop. Last time I checked, you were my Wonderbolt for the weekend.”

“Hey, I got no problem getting soaked,” he shrugged. They walked down the path through the orchard, all the while Soarin’ kept his eyes to the sky. After about five minutes of walking, they had found a nice spot for their lunch, and Soarin’ had found a few stray clouds in the sky. He had pointed them to Applejack, but she was still convinced that there wasn’t going to be any rain today. 

They took only a few more minutes to lay the blanket down, and set up the still warm crockpot of food. Applejack got out a few bowls and spoons and spooned up a serving for both her and Soarin’. The few clouds in the distance were starting to loom a little over them as they dug into the main course of lunch. As they feasted on cooked carrots and apples, the shade of the trees began to merge with the darkening light. Both ponies looked up from their meals to see an ugly grey cloud blocking out the sun.

And only one thought came to Applejack’s mind. “Crap…” She said, feeling the first drop of rain strike her on the nose. “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” With each ‘crap she said, another raindrop came down, and before she knew it, it became a drizzle, and then a shower, until it finally erupted into a full blown storm. Her hat darkened and flopped under all the allotted rain, puddles forming up and around the rim before trickling off the side. Her corduroy was also getting soaked with the chilled rain, leaking through the fabric and clinging to her braless chest. She got up from the muddy ground to stare up at the sky, her tears mixing up with the rainwater to the point that you couldn’t tell which was which. “Goddess damn it!” She stomped around in the mud as she looked back to her pie. It had been sitting in the rain for a bit now, and was already getting soggy. “It’s ruined…” she sniffed.

Soarin’ wiped his wet mane out of his eyes and looked at the pie, the once appetizing looking pasty now an unpalatable mess of dough and apple. Although he was a little bummed that the pie was ruined, Applejack seemed completely distraught over it. A strange reaction, considering that he was the only one that got so dramatic over the death of a pastry. “Hey, don’t worry too much about it, Applejack. It’s just a pie…”

“It was more than just a pie!” The mare cried. Big, salty tears forming around her eyes as she turned around, facing her back towards the stallion she loved. She didn’t want him to see her cry. She hated crying, it was girlish and stupid, and should be reserved for actual tragedies, not over a pie. Even so, she was tearing up and she needed to tell him why. He deserved to know, but she didn’t know what to say or how to say it, but it was something that needed to be say. “It’s just… I…” Her fist clenched up and her throat felt numbed and clogged. Her eyes were glued to her feet as she turned around and stared at the mud beneath her. The rain was running down her back now, but she could hardly care that she was soaked to the bone. “I… I need to tell you something… and it’s really important, so don’t freak out when y’all here it.” Her bottom lip was trembling, and it was a miracle that she wasn’t stuttering. “When you said you had a pie at the Gala—”

“Applejack, stop talking.”

She flinched a little at Soarin’s sudden interruption. Had she already said something to offend him? No, that was impossible, she hadn’t even said anything. That’s when she felt the Wonderbolt’s cold fingers on her chin, slowly lifting her face up. Soarin’ was just as wet as she was, with his shirt sticking to his body, and his dark mane still getting in the way of his green eyes, the eyes that matched hers in not only colour, but intensity. She watched his other hand rise up, and she saw that he had a piece of the pie in it, and it had a large bite in it. He dropped it onto the ground, where it got lost in a mud puddle.

“Sorry, but I had a bite of it anyways,” he said, taking a step closer to her, his and her heart racing in tangent. The pegasus took the hat off the cowpony, an act that would normally end with somepony losing an arm, but at the moment, Applejack was too stunned to move. “I have to say, I remember that Gala pie like I ate it yesterday, and it’s carnival of flavour. Every bit of it being perfectly… scrumptious, and I sometimes dream the taste again.” Applejack’s unprotected mane was becoming undone, the water unraveling her golden locks, and Soarin’ had to brush a few strands of hair to the side. “I… took a taste of your pie out of curiosity, and it was very good. However… there was one thing, just one thing that was keeping it from being perfect.”

Applejack felt like she was going to die. “What was it…?” she barely squeaked out. 

Soarin’ leaned closer to her, their lips just millimetres from touching when he whispered. “It was soaked in rainwater.”

He placed his lips against hers with a kiss, and Applejack blacked out for a moment. She wasn’t sure if what was happening was real or fantasy, but it was happening. When she opened her eyes, she was still there and so was Soarin’, lip locked in the pouring rain. She felt the gentle motion of his lips caressing hers. The moments ticked by, and her bones went numb, and her arms slacked by her side as she lost all control of her limbs, and she became putty in Soarin’s hands. 

Soarin’ braced the orange pony, wrapping an arm around her back, and cradling her head with the other, and he never wanted to let go because he had found her. The pie mare had been her all along, right in front of him all weekend. Suddenly his memory was so clear, like a veil had been lifted from his eyes, and he could see again. The blonde hair as gold as honey, the cute little freckles on each of her cheeks… he broke the kiss for a moment, for each of them to catch their breath. “I’ve been looking for you for so long…”

“You… you have?” 

“Every day… since the gala…” The stallion smiled. “I’ve been looking for the mare that made the best pie in the world. I’ve ordered thousands of pie, and possibly gave myself diabetes, but I never stopped looking for you. After the Gala I tried to find you but you must have left… I still kick myself for not taking down your name.”

Applejack’s eyes shimmered. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. There was no way that, against all odds, Soarin’ was looking for… for her. “I’ve… I’ve got a confession of my own. Since that night…” She took a deep breath as she prepared to admit her deepest secret. “I’ve been in love with you…”

There was a moment of silence before Soarin’ started to giggle a little. “Well… shit. Who would have thought? I just can’t believe that I could forget somepony like you… no, not those eyes…” 

“The eyes… that are as green as mine…” The cowpony cooed, forcefully pushing herself onto Soarin’ mouth. She had been waiting years for this, she wasn’t waiting another second. Her hands began to pull at the buttons of her shirt, practically ripping the buttons off, and discarding the garment to the murky ground and exposing her breast to the elements. She pressed them against Soarin’s chest, her heart pounding as the thunder roared above them. 

Soarin’s hand found one of AJ’s orange mounds, and his fingers intertwined with the hardening nipple. His eyes clenched tighter, he was afraid to open them and see that this was all a dream and he’d rather linger in it if it was one. He managed to get his own shirt off somehow, tossing it to the mud where it was lost in the brown waters. It wasn’t important anymore, and it wasn’t like he was going to need it. He pulled the farmpony closer to him, but the ground was much more slippery than he had thought, and when Applejack kicked her leg up, she accidently knocked them into the mud.

They landed with a splat, with hundreds of dirty little drops raining down on Applejack’s back. She never mind getting dirty, so why would she care now? The cowpony slowly crawled up her pegasus lover, brushing his filthy mane out of his face. Reality was slowly starting to come back to her, a beautiful reality, but it became clear that they both had taken their shirts off. In public. In the rain.

“Ah… as much as I’m loving this right now, don’t you reckon we should… you know, go inside?” She asked nervously. “I mean… it’s pouring mighty hard right now.”

The Wonderbolt grinned, grabbing the farm filly by the waist and flipping on top of her. The filthy ground sunk into her mane and fur, and splashing up into little beads on top of her chest. “Don’t worry,” he smiled, his large wings fluttering and blocking the rain. “I’ll keep you dry.” 

He laid another kiss on her lips, cradling her head out of the mud. Her mane was sticky and tough like straw since being covered with mud, and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world. Still, parts of him were getting antsy, and he stood up briefly, sliding off of Applejack’s waist, but only so he could start undoing her belt buckle. 

The farmpony stared lustfully, her legs squirming in excitement, and she gladly wiggled out of her jeans, letting her panty bottom sink into the formed mire. She reached down in between her legs and under her underwear, dabbing a finger amidst her clove and emitting a few sinful moans. She wanted to get a little warmed up before the main event.

But Soarin’ would have none of that. He quickly yanked down the mare’s final strip of defense, and exposing her succulent, orange mound. The earth pony winced in a rare sense of shock, having the same feeling of being walked in on while changing. But that moment soon passed as the Wonderbolt lowered his head down to her nether region. He took a strong whiff of her scent, a mix of desire and rainwater, before placing his rough tongue between her lower lips, and grazing slowly up her slit. 

“Fuck!” was the first word that came to Applejack’s mind, and also the first that shoved past her mouth, back arching into the air and legs clamping down on Soarin’s head. Never in a million years of touching herself would she be able to simulate such a shock of true euphoria. The way his tongue danced between her legs like a flag in the wind, massaging each and every nerve within her. Her hips started to move involuntarily, grinding against Soarin’s head like her bedpost. 

Soarin’ slickly caressed the orange mare’s inners, mopping up every drop of trickling cum from between her folds. He could feel her tightening up, becoming vexed with exhilaration. He himself could feel his own member stiffening within the compounds of his jeans. He gripped Applejack’s sides, and shoved his muzzle against her clitoris, practically buzzing in her screaming orgasm. The mare let out a shrilled caw, kicking herself up and letting the mud fly off her back as she rode the sensation, eventually riding it down, and with it a few of her senses returned. 

She took a few moments to catch her breath, lying lustfully in the rainy afterglow. Her heart was running a mile a minute, but all she could think about was how fantastic that had been and how well worth the wait was. 

“Everything you ever hoped for?” Soarin’ asked, a big, cum-covered grin on his face. “Or did the magazines over exaggerate me?”

“That was… I can’t even describe…” She muttered happily, rolling in the mud and getting on her hands and knees. “Y’all definitely exceeded them magazines. But now it’s time for me to return your kindness.”

Applejack pounced on the unaware stallion, pinning him down in the mud. Soarin’ would never admit it, but he was overpowered by the strong earth pony. She looked down on him like a hungry animal and grabbed the edge of his pants, and with a feat of her strength, ripped the jeans clean off his body. 

“These were just getting in the way,” she said coyly, snaking her way down his chest. She was like a completely different mare, like something had awoken inside of her, a horny predator on the hunt for one thing. Her teeth flashed into a smile while she hovered over the Wonderbolt’s bobbing prick and slowly stuck out her tongue and dragged it up the length of his member. It tasted tangy and a tad like rainwater, but it still the greatest taste in the world for her. 

Soarin’ just laid there and let Applejack to her work, stroking his phallus with her lip, gargling it down and enveloping it whole. It tickled the back of her throat, but she endured, and barraged it with constant bobbing, sneaking in a few hand twists while massaging his balls. Soarin’ felt himself building up, earth ponies were always good with their hands and Applejack wasn’t the exception. His heart started racing, and with a few final sucks from the cowpony, he arched up, grabbing the back of the mare’s head and pulling it up, and releasing himself into the crisp air, adding another fluid into the puddles.

He dropped back into the mud, taking a moment to catch his breath. Applejack crawled over him, forcing herself back onto her feet. It was a miracle that she could stand right now, but her need to find somewhere dry outweighed the aching in her legs. She found a big apple tree not too far away that was shaded from the rain and crawled down to the dry ground. The moment of hot passion had passed and now reality was crashing down on her like… well, like cold rain. 

She started to shiver a little, huddling into a little ball with her back to the trunk of the tree. “Damn… should have kept the clothes dry…” She looked out into the flooded mud patch, her clothes had long since drowned in that brown sea. It figured that she’d freeze to death naked in an apple field after finally getting some.

“You look cold.”

Applejack looked up, Soarin’ was standing in front of her, the rainwater dripping down his muscles and wings. He hardly seemed bothered by it. “Nah, just a little chilled…” she lied, trying to act tough. “You don’t seem cold.”

“When you live on top of the clouds, you learn to get used to it,” he shrugged, getting down and taking a seat next to her. “But you… don’t live in the clouds.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” she shivered. 

“Uh-huh…” Soarin’ muttered. “Has anyone told you you’re a terrible liar?” Soarin’ scooched over a bit towards the mare, and extended one of his wings and wrapping it over Applejack. She jumped a little from the touch of his feathers, but soon felt the warm dry wings envelop her like a blanket. She had no choice but to snuggle up into his chest, resting her head on the corner of his chest and shoulder. “You don’t have to act so tough, you know.”

The orange mare rolled her eyes. “What? You don’t like tough gals?”

“I love tough girls,” Soarin’ said. “But just because you can tear my jeans off with one hand, doesn’t mean you’re not still pony.” He started lazily stroking her blonde mane. “It’s fine to be a little… well, girly. I mean I’m girly all the time! I’ve been kidnapped more times than I care to remember, and never been able to put up a fight. Meanwhile, you’re kicking ass and saving me. If anything…” he beamed. “I’m the damn damsel. So you can at least be my charming princess.”

Applejack couldn’t help but laugh. “That don’t make a lick of sense… but you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

The two sighed heavily as they watched the rain fall in peace.

> Saturday Evening: The Barn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Applejack eyes fluttered a little as she gave a yawn and a stretch. Soarin’ and she had started to drift off a little after their recent activity, and before they knew it the rain had started to pass. No longer a downpour, the apple trees dewed up and dripped with rainwater. The orange pony snuggled up a little more to the Pegasus, wrapping her arms around his chest and resting her head there as well. She listened to the steady beat of his heart, lulling her back into a heavy-eyed state.

Soarin’ adjusted himself, his fingers coursing through the cowpony’s straw-yellow mane, breaking and splitting it up from the dirt. She didn’t seem to mind, and even seemed to purr as he did so. The Pegasus pushed her a little closer to him, letting her legs intertwine with his. The dirt on their bodies was trying to dry up and crack off. They both knew that they would eventually have to shower off.

If only they could stay like this forever though.

He turned to her and was about to say something, but before he could do so, he heard some rustling coming from behind them. He turned his neck to try and see what it could have been. “Did you hear that?” He asked.

“It’s probably just a squirrel,” she said, turning his head back, smiling lustfully at the stallion. “The orchard’s full of critters.”

“Yes, well… we are naked in the middle of said orchard,” Soarin’ mumbled, slowly losing focus as he became hypnotized in those big, half-lidded green eyes. “We don’t… yeah, you’re probably right.” He pressed his lips against hers, forgetting all about that strange sound as he became more occupied with other things.

Although it would be a grave error on their part, as the sound in the bushes slowly made its way closer to them, lost and confused,  searching for something.

“Oh it must be here somewhere,” Fluttershy whispered to herself, her eyes glued to the muddy grass by her feet. “Oh where could that poor, injured, screaming animal be?”

During the rainstorm, Fluttershy had been sitting in her kitchen preparing all her critter friend’s meals for the afternoon when she had heard a large amount of loud screaming coming from Sweet Apple Acres. She had feared it was some poor little animal that got swept up in the rain, and was possibly lost or hurt… She had immediately grabbed her yellow raincoat and gone running into the storm, looking for whatever caused that noise.

And she was about to stumble upon it.

At first she didn’t see them, walking right passed the couple who were too busy with each other to notice. However, in her search she did hear the sound of mumbling, and turned around to see Applejack and Soarin’… going at it… naked… in the middle of the forest… NAKED.

She reacted appropriately… with a loud, high pitch scream that shook the earth around them. She quickly covered her eyes as the two of them nearly jumped a foot in the air, covering themselves and screaming back at her.

“What in the damn hickory hell are you doing here?!” Applejack shrieked, her arms cupping her breasts and her tail whipping around her hips, making a very makeshift skirt.

“I thought I heard an animal screaming in the woods during the storm!” Fluttershy cried, still petrified with fear and embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to walk in on the two of you… Oh, why does this sort of thing keep happening to me?!”

“What is she talking about it?” Soarin’ wondered, looking to Applejack for council. The looks she gave him said it was a long story, and that there were more important things to deal with at the moment. “Well anyways… Fluttershy, right? I’m sure that poor animal is still somewhere out there cold and afraid. So why don’t you go and help it out and just pretend that you never saw this.” He started rubbing the back of his head. “Pretty please?”

Without looking at them, she nodded her head. “I want to forget about this as soon as possible. I’ve walked in no enough of my friends for one lifetime.” She started running blindly in a random direction, which meant she didn’t see the tree that she ran into. “Ouch!” She groaned, falling into the mud, clutching her hurt nose. “Now I’m all muddy…”

Applejack and Soarin’ gave each other looks, the kind of look that said ‘Really?’ before they both went to help the poor mare up. Fluttershy kept her eyes closed the whole time.

“OK, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. “You’re facing away from us. Now just mosey on home cause I’m pretty sure those screams were… uhh,” she turned a little red. “Let’s just say the animal’s all better now.”

“Oh, did you find the poor thing?” Fluttershy wondered, clearly not getting it. “How bad was it…? Oh no, it doesn’t need stitches now, does it?”

“No, it’s just a little cold…” the cowpony muttered, turning even redder. She pushed her away, and Fluttershy cautiously tiptoed away from them back into the forest, and away from the two naked lovers. Applejack sighed, looking through the mud for some clothing. Her shirt, jeans and underwear were long gone, but thankfully her hat had survived the storm, and despite being soaked through it was fine. All it needed was a good blow dry. She pulled back a few of her loose hairs and put her hat back on. Even though she was fully nude, it made her feel a lot less naked.

That, however, didn’t make up for the fact that they were naked.

“Well…” Soarin’ said, after a few minutes of awkward silence. “Should… we head back to the barn… preferably taking a more… secretive route? No offense, but the last thing I need is another news reporter blackmailing me with a bunch of nudes of me walking out of a forest.”

Applejack laughed. “You say that like it’s happened before…”

The Wonderbolt gave her a serious look, and shuddered. “I never joke about things like that. Spitfire spiked my drink one night a few years back and the next thing I knew I woke up staring at the morning sky, fully nude with a three hundred pound mountain lion spooning against me. I managed to pry myself away from the cat, but before I could find my pants, some ginger-locked mare with a camera and an itchy trigger finger snaps a picture of my junk…”

The orange mare was bewildered. “Dang…” she muttered. Applejack looked down to her feet, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he had to do to get out of that mess… as well as a violent urge to beat the living crap out of this ‘ginger-locked’ girl. “So, considering I never seen a naked picture of you, how did you get around that one?”

“A two-thousand bit bribe and I had to let her touch my butt,” Soarin’ sighed, still remembering how pinchy she was. “Long story short, never look away from your drink when Spitfire’s around. So that’s why later that day I gathered a few spiders and hid them in her room. A little fun fact, Spitfire: Terrified of spiders.”

“You’re pulling my leg.”

“No it’s true,” he grinned. “She sees a spider and that proud, sex-crazed demeanor of hers gets changed into a frightened little girl. It’s the one thing that I can always use against her if she ever goes too far with her fun.” He started to laugh.

“Yeah… FUN.” Applejack said bitterly. “Ever had any fun with her?”

“Are we getting jealous?” Soarin’ smirked. “I’m sure you’ve slept with other stallions. But you don’t have to worry about Spitfire. She’s a great friend and all, and yes, I’ll admit that a few times we had fun, but she’s also a complete psychopath and I haven’t held any sexual feelings towards her since she tried to sell me to a San Palomino princess for cider money.”

Applejack was again, bewildered. “You know, you should write a book about all the crazy things that have happened to you.”

The Pegasus snorted. “Please, I could probably write a series.”

“Well still, It’s nice to know a bit more about you,” the cowpony grinned. “And nice to know that your friends won’t try anything if we’re…” she paused for a moment. There were a few words she wanted to say, but she felt tight lipped and scared. The two of them had made out in the middle of a rainstorm, in the mud. They had tasted one another, she knew the gentle drag of his rough tongue against her folds, and yet she still couldn’t ask if he wanted to be with her. Maybe it was because they were from different worlds, or perhaps because he was Soarin’, and could get any mare he wanted.

No… she had to stop thinking like that and say what she had to say. She took a deep breath, and put a hand on his shoulder. “I mean… what are we doing?”

“What do you mean?” He asked. “We’re walking back to the farmhouse.”

“No, I mean…” She was really starting to turn red now. “You and me. What are we now?”

“Well…” Soarin’ grinned, wrapping his arm around Applejack’s waist and pulling her towards him. “Let’s see. You’ve had a crush on me since the Grand Galloping Gala, I’ve been looking for you since then as well. We finally find one another due to some of the most bizarre circumstances I’ve ever seen, and less than two days later we’re stripping down and making out in the rain. So… I don’t know, what are we?”

The cowpony sighed with relief, snuggling closer to him as they walked. “That’s good to know.” From there, the two snuck through the trees. Thankfully, no ponies were there to see them. They ducked into the large barn, which was thankfully vacant, even the cows were out for pasture. Applejack walked to the hose, unhooking it and turning it on, letting loose a spray of cold water. She let it pour down the brink of her chest. She gave a little shiver, but it felt nice to have the mud get washed off her chest. “You want some?” She asked with a smirk, turning the hose on him and getting him wet, even cranking up the water pressure.

“Yikes, that’s cold!” Soarin’ jumped away from the water.

But Applejack wouldn’t let him get away with that, she kept him in her sights. “Oh what’s the matter, cowboy? I thought you pegasi were impervious to the cold?”

“Cold weather!” He yelled, ruffling up his feathers and trying to block the water with his hands. “I said nothing about liking being shot at with a stream of ice water!”

“So glad you told me that,” Applejack grinned, walking towards him with the full blast of the hose in hand. Wherever he tried to run, she kept the blast on him. “Aww, the big, strong Wonderbolt is afraid of getting wet?”

“Yes!” He cried, now scrambling on the ground. He crawled away from the water, and blindly reached for something to defend himself with. Luckily, Soarin’ found something to fight back with. There were a large amount of bottles lying around in this stall. Bottles of bubble bath and shampoo. “This has to be a porno or something…” he muttered to himself, grabbing a bottle and popping it open. Soarin’ turned around and squirted it onto her.

Applejack winced, her guard breaking for a second as she was covered in thick, gooey globs of shampoo. It was Soarin’s chance to counter attack, grabbing a few more bottles and zipping to the faucet of the hose, not only to turn it off but to change the water flow to another hose, a hose in his possession. With the tables turned, the Pegasus started his assault on the earth pony. She withered under the unrelenting blow of Soarin’s hose, trying to block the stream of cold water with her hands.

“Aww, what’s the matter?” The Wonderbolt gawked cheekily. “The big, tough, farm girl afraid of getting wet?” He pressed on full blast on the hose, nearly knocking Applejack off her feet. “I thought Earth Ponies were supposed to be hard as nails?”

“I’ll show you hard as nails,” Applejack cursed pleasantly under her breath. She tried to navigate around the water, but she was enjoying it too much, it was the right amount of cold to take her breath away slightly that she dropped her guard and let the water wash down on her. Grabbing her own breasts, she started to wash herself off, scrubbing the soap into her fur and cleaning off the mud. She cooed and let the water hit her back. “Hey, if you still got that soap bottle, why don’t you give this gal a scrub down?”

“What happened to showing me your nails?” Soarin’ asked, stepping forward with caution. “Is this some sort of trap?”

“Why don’t you find out?” The cowpony egged-on, wiggling her butt. “But could you hurry up? I’m just such a dirty girl…” She shot the stallion with big, puppy dog eyes, something that was strangely out of character for her.

However, Soarin’ didn’t know that, and his hormones took control as he approached the mare with lustful intention. He placed the hose nozzle in his teeth, and emptied half a bottle of soap into his hand, and slapped it onto the farmpony’s rump, causing her to give a little yelp. Soarin’ then reached around her, securing his grip on her by grabbing her around the waist. He pressed up close to the mare, rubbing the soap all around the left half of her body, letting the suds build up and wash over her.

Applejack started panting, her chest thrusting up against the restraints of Soarin’s arm. She lightly wrapped around his arm, pushing his arm closer to her. She didn’t want him to ever let go, and the tingling rod she felt poking her flank said the same thing. She grinned, adjusting herself slightly so Soarin’s hard member was hot-dogged between her buns. She didn’t want to hurt the little fella after all.

“You know what I love about you?” Applejack asked, looking behind her into the pegesi’s eyes.

“What?”

“You’re too trusting of beautiful mares,” she said wickedly, tightening her grip on the stallion, and with one swift movement, throwing him onto the hay-layered ground. Applejack pinned him down, sitting right on top of him. Her wet, slippery thighs slid easily on top of Soarin’s chest, and she grabbed both of his arms, making sure he couldn’t escape. “Well now…” She said lustfully, leaning down towards him with half-lidded bedroom eyes. “Looks like I’m winning again.”

“I thought you didn’t lie?” Soarin’ asked, not making any attempt to escape. “Isn’t that sort of your thing?”

“I never told a lie,” she chuckled. “I just egged you on to find out if I was tricking you. And would you look at that? I was…” Applejack fell down on top of him, her wet, soapy breasts squishing and sliding up and down his chest, massaging them against his pectorals and abs. She slid up to him, cradling his face and slowly planted a firm kiss onto his lips. She just wanted to lay there with him in the barn forever.

“Well, well…” A brittle, old voice chuckled from behind them. “I suppose this is what passes for hard work now?”

Applejack’s blood turned ice cold. She creaked her head around, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw her old Granny Smith leaning against the open barn door. The Apple matriarch gave her granddaughter an unamused look, and just stared daggers at her.

“G-G-Granny!” Applejack shrieked, jumping up and covering herself as best she could. “It’s-it’s not what you think! I was…”

“I don’t want to hear it, youngling,” Granny Smith said, reaching over to the towels they use to dry the cows off and tossed her granddaughter one. “And cover yourself in front of your elders! You look like a damn fool!”

“Y-Yes ma’am,” Applejack gulped, tying the towel around her. “Sorry, Granny…”

Soarin’ had cupped his groin, and was starting to get a little cold. “Umm… can I get a towel too?”

“I ain’t your elder!” The green mare snapped, stomping her walker on the ground. “I have half a mind to tan your behind. In fact, get your rump over here so I can paint you red.” She had a wicked twinkle in her eye… the kind of glare that would give onlookers a sick rolling in their stomachs, and a shudder down their spines.

The Wonderbolt was confused as to what to do. On the one hand, he didn’t want to disobey Applejack’s grandmother, but what she would do to him… He had his share of older women, but this mare probably knew the princess in prep school! Even he hadn’t been with a fossil, and he liked it that way. “Umm… isn’t there another way I can make this up to you?” He said in a cold sweat. “I’m really sorry for what I did with Applejack, it was wrong and disrespectful, and you must know that I respect her as a mare and am not just using her for her body.”

“Yes, cause that’s going to help…” Applejack muttered to herself.

Granny Smith started to smile a bit, tilting her head back as she started to laugh. “The heck I care about that! You and my Applejack are adults! I’m just mighty tick that you woke me up from my nap with your sinning!” She kept laughing her throaty chuckle. “Applejack, I thought I told you if you were going to hump the feather-pony, you’d keep the noise to a respectful level.”

The cowpony felt like she wanted to die. “Please don’t say hump…”

“Now then!” Granny Smith said, turning around. “If you two could wrap this up soon, dinner’s almost on the table.” The elder pony slowly walked out the door, shutting the barn behind her.

The two naked lovers both gave a heavy sigh, with the pegasus looking at Applejack. “Well… that was interesting… should… we finish up?” Soarin’ asked hopefully.

“Forget, the mood’s gone…” Applejack sighed.

“Yeah, your grandmother can be a real ball buster.”

Soarin’ and Applejack both looked confused from the sudden intrusion of the voice, a voice that Applejack was familiar with. She looked up to the second landing of the barn, and saw two hay piles shift and rumble as two heads popped out. The first she easily recognized as Rainbow Dash, and the second she had to think about, but the blueish-white mane and charcoal fur gave him away as Thunderlane.

“WHAT IN TARNATIONS ARE YOU DOING IN MY BARN?!” Applejack screamed, jumping in front of Soarin’ so her lecherous friend couldn’t spy on his good.

“What do you think?” Rainbow asked coolly. “We’re fucking, porking, and everything in-between.”

“In my barn?!” The farmpony continued to roar.

“Uh, yeah?” Rainbow said, as if it weren’t a big deal. “Me and Thunderlane like to bump it in here all the time.”

“This isn’t the first time?! How often do you guys do it in my barn? And WHY ARE YOU DOING IT IN MY BARN?!”

“Well…” Thunderlane said, thinking hard about it. “Me and Dash were starting to get bored of our regular routine, so we started getting creative, and one thing led to another…” He started to laugh nervously. “And the rest is history.”

“… You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, this ain’t a damn hotel! I have livestock in here! I keep my produce in here! Oh goddess…” Applejack looked like she was going to have a heart attack. “Please tell me you haven’t had sex near the apples.”

“Of course not… well…” Rainbow started to blush. “There was this one time we took a few apples and Thunder gave them some his special glaze, and another time we rubbed them between my legs before eating them, but none of those ever got mixed into the ones you sell.”

“But hey, million bit idea, Sex Apples!” Thunderlane said.

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!”

“Hey easy! Don’t get so mad at us,” Rainbow said. “We’re not the only ones that do it in here. Hell, we’re not even the only ones doing it in here now.” The multi-coloured mare leaned over the rafting and hung her head upside down, pointing to a closed cow stall. “Rarity and Spike have been going at it since before we’ve gotten here. And yes, we know you two were there, we just didn’t say anything cause we’re awesome like that.”

All eyes were directed at the stall where Rainbow had been pointing. There was a dead silence before finally, after some time, Rarity and Spike slowly peeked up from the stall. Rarity seemed to be wearing a cowbell around her neck, and had a patch of black makeup on her left eye, making her look somewhat like a cow. Spike had similar makeup on as well, only his markings were green instead of black.

“Before you say anything darling…” Rarity said cautiously. “I think it’s wonderful that you and Soarin’ are together.”

“Oh don’t try and sweet talk your way out of this!” Rainbow shouted.

“I wouldn’t have to if you had just kept your mouth shut!” Rarity scowled back. “Why did you have to make a remark? We could have all gotten out of here with our dignity if you’d just hadn’t said anything.”

“Yeah, what gives?” Spike asked.

“You guys took the good spot! We wanted the stalls, it’s got privacy, benches, and milk… it’s like a room in a sex motel.”

“Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you had reservations,” Rarity said sarcastically. “But we were here first.”

Rainbow scowled. “Yeah, so now you have to pay the consequences, also, and I can’t believe nopony’s asked this yet, why are you two dressed up like cows?”

Rarity turned a little red and was about to answer the pony, when all of a sudden there was a loud bang of shotgun fire. Everypony jumped as Applejack cocked another shot of her 12 gauge, the nozzle smoking a little from her shot fired. “OK, now listen y’all, I have had it up to HERE with all your bullshit today!” Her hand shot up to make her point. “I haven’t the slightest idea in hell why my barn seems like the perfect place to fornicate, but if everypony doesn’t get out of here in the next twenty second, then I’m going to start blowing kneecaps away!”

Her friends eyes widened, they weren’t sure if Applejack was being serious or not, but they didn’t want to take that chance. Their friend did seem pretty high strung at the moment, and maybe wasn’t thinking straight. So without even taking a moment to gather their clothes, Spike and Rarity jumped over the door of the stall and ran into the orchard, with Thunderlane and Rainbow flying right behind them.

When the barn was empty, the farmpony’s breathing got a little less frantic, and she dropped the gun onto the floor. Soarin’ had taken a few steps back when she had first pulled the shotgun from a nearby barrel, but was now slowly inching closer to grab the gun and pull it away from the frazzled earth pony.

“Oh don’t be sissy toeing around me, I wasn’t going to shoot them,” Applejack said bluntly. “The gun’s filled with blanks, it’s meant for scaring intruders away. You’d think I’d keep a loaded gun just lying around the barn?”

“Still that was… intense,” He said, picking up the gun and tossing it aside. “You think they’ll be OK—” He was cut off when Applejack grabbed him by the back of the neck and shoved her tongue down his throat. He was caught a little off guard, even more surprised now than when Applejack had fired the gun, but he just went with it, his own tongue dancing with hers in a slimy and erotic dance of the senses.

When she was finished, Applejack pulled away, her hand dragging down his shoulder and into his hand, grabbing it as he dragged him out of the barn. “C’mon, we’re already late for dinner as it is.”

*****

Meanwhile, running and flying through the cover of the forest, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane were making a break for their individual homes.

“Maybe we should go back for our clothes?” Spike asked, jumping over a fallen tree trunk. “I’d rather not have to walk around town naked.”

“And you think I do?” Rarity muttered. “The thought of getting caught is a turn on, but actually getting caught was the most embarrassing moment of my life! Do you think I really want to add onto that? I might just die!”

“Maybe we can hit up Fluttershy’s house and snag some clothes,” Rainbow said, doing her best to weave through the trees. “They might be hemp sweaters and bell bottom jeans, but it’s better than parading down town in our birthday suits, right?”

Rarity took a moment to think about that, and suddenly took a sharp right towards town. “Spike, I think we can run fast enough through the alleys to remain hidden,” She grabbed her drake by the wrist and dragged him against his will towards town.

“Are you freaking serious?!” Rainbow shouted, still flying straight as she looked to her running friends. “You’d really rather go into town naked than wear Flutter’s clothing?”

“I will not dress like that!” Rarity hollered back. “Those are what my mother wears and I refuse to dress like her! I’d rather walk on all fours on a leash like a dog through town than where something from the…” She shuddered. “From the 70’s.”

Thunderlane gave her a strange look. “That girl has issues.”

“Tell me about it—oh crap!” Rainbow muttered, before coming to a screeching halt. She hadn’t been looking where she was going, and wasn’t able to avoid the pony walking right in her way. She crashed into the mare, with Thunderlane slowing down and seeing if they were OK. “Damn… sorry lady, didn’t see you there.”

“Oh… that’s OK,” The timid voice of Fluttershy mumbled as she got up from the ground, brushing herself off before looking up. “I didn’t mean to get in you—OH COME ON!” She shrieked, gasping at the sight of her naked friend, trying to turn around, only to see that Thunderlane was standing there naked as well. He gave her a little embarrassed wave before the yellow mare screamed, turning around once again. Rainbow Dash hadn’t moved in the three second she had looked away from her, and found herself staring at Rainbow’s naked body once again, so she span around… this went on for about five minutes before Fluttershy finally screamed herself into unconsciousness, falling flat on her face into the mud.

Rainbow and Thunderlane just stood there, looking confused. Eventually, the two of them grabbed the unconscious mare and lifted her up carefully, carrying her home.

Fluttershy kept mumbling only one thing while she slumbered. “Why… always… me…?”
	
	
> Saturday Night: The One you've been Waiting For
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Applejack waltzed over towards the barn, freezing and irritated by the cooling night air. It seemed like this whole day had gone by in a blur, and the second day of her contract with Soarin’ was dwindling. She only had Sunday night left now, and that was a pain that lingered in her heart. It was something that she didn’t want to think about what would happen after the weekend? She knew that the Wonderbolt would have to go back to work, and she wouldn’t be able to follow. Even though Soarin’ had said they were more than a fling, there was still a small part of her brain that teased the idea of him forgetting her and moving on with his carefree bachelor lifestyle.

As they entered the house, she was immediately warmed up, and headed upstairs with Soarin’. “Better go get changed and head to the dinner table,” She said, heading to her room. “Granny’s probably on her last nerve with us, and we don’t want to be tardy.”

“Just wondering what I should change into…” The pegasus said, remembering that he really didn’t have any changes of clothes, other than his Wonderbolt outfit.

“Just take a look in your room, feather-boy,” Applejack said. “Knowing Granny, she probably had the hindsight to lay some fresh clothes given our… situation.” The cowpony open the door, and sure enough, a change of clothes were laying on her bed. “See what I mean?” She called from beyond her room. “I’ve got a change right here. I’m sure you’ve got something in your room as well.”

Soarin’ sighed. “Sure hope so,” he said as he started to walk to his guest bedroom.

However just as he was about to enter his room, he heard a creak behind him. “Hey Soarin’, think fast!”

“Huh?” The Wonderbolt asked, turning around to be greeted by a flash, mildly blinding him for a moment. He knew what kind of flash that was… the worst kind of flash, a flash that haunted his nightmares and made his life a living hell. A camera flash.

“Jackpot,” Apple Bloom snickered as the photo on her camera popped out. She snatched it up, giving it a few waves as the black box on the picture coloured itself, revealing a shocked blue pegasus, fully naked and exposed to the world. “A legit nude of Soarin’ the Wonderbolt. I’m sure the media would love to get a hold of this.”

“Ah great…” Soarin’ groaned, smacking his palm and into his face. How could he be so stupid? Letting his guard down in a house with a horny teenager? What the hell was he thinking? “OK kid, you got me. I’m sure that all your little friends are going to revel at this little nude you’ve got, but if you could rip that up for me, that’d be really swell of you.”

The young filly laughed to herself. “Please, do you think I’m just going to do something like that for free?” She shook her head. “No… I want something in return.”

“Blackmail, wonderful,” the pegasus said sarcastically. “What do you want? Money? A date? Do you want me to do something degrading and soul-shattering?” He knew very well what the filly probably wanted, as this wasn’t his first run in with a mare with a camera. “So what do I have to do to get that picture back?”

“Oh, it’s right simple what I want from you, Soarin’,” The young mare smiled deviously, looking at her sister’s room. A small part of her wished that she could have been there to see this. “I want you to spend the night with me to make my sister jealous.”

“Wow,” was all the Wonderbolt could think of saying. “That’s… how old are you again?”

“I’m old enough,” the crimson-haired filly said, batting her eyes while leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. “So, do we have a deal?”

“Of course not,” Soarin’s said, rather shockingly.

“W-What?” Apple Bloom stuttered, taken aback by what Soarin’ had just said. “D-do you have any idea what you’re saying?” She held up the picture in front of her. “I’m not bluffing to get what I want. I WILL send this into every paper and magazine in Equestria if I have to.”

“Then go right ahead, I don’t care,” Soarin’ shrugged.

Apple Bloom couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But I thought this was your worst fear! I’ve heard rumors and stories about how you’ve never wanted a naked picture of you shown to the public, and that you’d go to any lengths to prevent something like that from happening.”

The Wonderbolt started to snicker a little. “Well… that all was true. For the longest time I didn’t want the whole world to see my junk but now it doesn’t really matter anymore. Do you want to know why?” The stunned and wordless response from Apple Bloom was all the blessing he needed to continue. “It’s because I wanted the first time your sister saw me naked to be in person, not in a photo.” 

He sighed deeply. “I had no idea who your sister was, or if she’d even share my feelings on the matter, but just in case I didn’t want her to think I was some man-whore who went around dangling it all for the world to see. Unfortunately, that just made every paparazzi try even harder to get that money shot from me. So I’ve done everything in my power to keep that from getting out. In total, it’s cost me three million bits, fifteen unwilling dates, and a LOT of butt touching… but now that your sister and I are together, I don’t need to worry about that. So go nuts.” He turned around and was about to enter his room, but stopped for a moment. “Besides, your sister’s seen me naked plenty of times!” He laughed to himself. It felt good to finally not have to worry about things like that, even though he’d still try not to make it a habit.

Soarin’ was about to enter his room when he heard the door crack from across the room. Applejack teary head poked out from her room. She had just been about to put her clothes on when she heard Soarin’ and Apple Bloom’s conversation. The cowpony was about to intervene when she heard her sister’s proposal, but that’s when Soarin’ started his confession… and moved her heart. So much that she had to open the door.

“Y’all… y’all really did that for me?” She asked hesitantly. “You didn’t even know who I was? It… it cost you so much.”

Soarin’ nodded, smiling. “True, but I think it was worth it. You’re worth it.”

“Oh… well,” the orange mare started to say, but she was hesitant in finishing. “Much appreciated!” She slammed the door behind her, her heart racing and her breath growing heavy. “My stars…” She whispered, sliding down the wood of her door. He went through all of that pain and hardship for her… without even knowing anything about her. His complete faith in finding her and his willingness to preserve his decency were just small testament of his love for her…

She blushed, clutching her bare breast as her legs curled up. Her other hand started to fiddle with her long, blonde mane, twisting it nervously and staring out the window. The stars were in full bloom tonight, quite beautiful actually. It got her thinking a little… how was she going to make this a night as beautiful as the stallion she love?

She got up, and peeked through the crack in her door. She was just able to catch Soarin’ leaving his room, now fully clothed and heading down for dinner. The farm mare waited and listened until she knew Soarin’ was down the stairs before tiptoeing out of her room and sneaking into his room. She had an idea for her Wonderbolt…

*****

“Applejack, get your caboose into gear!” Granny Smith hollered up the stairs from the kitchen. “Dinner’s getting cold, and I can’t keep fighting off the wolves for you!”

Apple Bloom and Soarin’ were already sitting down at the table, doing their best to keep themselves from indulging in the feast that laid before them. Bread, gravy, meatballs, cream covered carrots and roasted apple slices and cinnamon apple pies… The pegasus was salivating just thinking about it. It was hard for him to not just pile up his plate of delicious food and just pig out.

Finally, Applejack, now fully dressed in her regular attire, was hopping down the stairs and practically crashed into her seat. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, I had to deal with something upstairs. So what’s for dinner?”

“What’s in front of you, missy,” Granny Smith said, taking a seat down in her chair at the end of the table. “I hope you and the pegasus cleaned up after work. And that barn better be spotless when I go and check up on it.”

“I highly doubt that…” Applejack mumbled under her breath.

“What was that, missy?”

“Nothing, ma’am,” the cowpony said, serving herself up a plate of food. “I’ll hose it all down in the morning, if it doesn’t meet the princess’s standards.” She took a moment to pour some gravy on her meatballs. “And speaking of the barn, I think we may want to invest in a lock. Today I found some unwanted critters messing around in the hay.” She gave a shivering shudder, knowing full well she’d have to throw away half the hay and possibly the apples.

Granny Smith gave a small snort. “Well, maybe you should just make some noise and scare them all awake.”

Apple Bloom was a little confused as to what they were talking about, and decided to snuggle up a little to Soarin’, who in turn slid his chair away from her. The young filly frowned a little, slumping onto the table as she poked her food.

“Apple Bloom, don’t just poke at your dinner and eat it,” Granny Smith said. “It’s going to get cold.”

“Whatever…” she groaned, not really paying attention. “I’m not really that hungry.” She got up and started heading out of the room. “I’m heading out, don’t wait up.”

“You get your little butt back in your seat until dinner’s done. For the love of the princess we have a dinner guest,”The apple matriarch said. “Show some respect, child.”

“Oh, and like this house shows me respect,” Apple Bloom groaned. “So why should I show it to you?” She continued to leave the house.

“Now don’t you dare turn your back to—” They all heard the door slam shut, and Granny Smith looked steaming mad. “The nerve on that child! I’ll kill her, Applejack. Bless my heart and pardon my sins I’ll hang her out to dry if she doesn’t change that attitude of hers.”

“The nerve on that kid…” Applejack grumbled. “Where in Equestria did she get this angst?”

Soarin’ got up from the table. “Excuse me, I need to use the washroom. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He started heading towards the bathroom, but instead of entering the bathroom, he took a corner and entered the kitchen and exited through the back door. He then took off into the air, scoping around and finally spotting the young yellow filly running down the path towards town. The Wonderbolt swooped down and realized that Apple Bloom was crying. Soarin’ dove down in front of her, fluttering a little before landing. “Hey Apple Bloom.”

“Leave me alone…” She said harshly..”

“I can see that, but that doesn’t excuse you from the way that you acted at dinner.”

Apple Bloom turned her head away in a huff. “Like you care. You don’t even know me.”

Soarin’ nodded. “I know that… but I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” He took a seat on a fallen log and patted the spot next to him. “Come on, if you can’t talk to the stallion you tried blackmailing into sleeping with you, then who the hell can you talk to?”

Apple Bloom gave a groan and sat next to the Wonderbolt. “Fine… but I’m not talking to you, just so you know.”

“That’s fine,” Soarin’ said. “I don’t mind sitting here and looking at the stars. It’s a very pretty night tonight, don’t you think?”

“Sure…” Apple Bloom said coldly. “You know that I can leave whenever I want, right?”

“I know,” he nodded. “But you’re still sitting here, and that makes me think that you do want to talk about it.”

Apple Bloom blushed a little. “Yeah well… it’s not like you’d understand.”

“Give me a shot,” Soarin’ offered.

“I’m… I’m depressed. This whole thing is depressing,” Apple Bloom muttered to herself. “I’m just really… lonely.”

“Lonely? A pretty little thing like you?” Soarin’ smirked. “Impossible.”

“Well it’s true…” Apple Bloom said, her head hanging down. “It wasn’t so bad when it was just Sweetie Belle with Button Mash, but Scootaloo just got asked out on a date by Rumble and now I’m starting to feel like a third or fifth wheel when hanging out with them.”

“Is that why you’re acting out so much?” Soarin’ asked, and Apple Bloom gave him a nod. “And it must suck that your sister brings home somepony like me, plus I hear your brother’s got a thing with a school teacher.”

“It feels like I’m the only pony alive that doesn’t have a coltfriend…” The young mare said begrudgingly. “I mean, even that bitch Tiara is going steady… granted it’s with Silver Spoon surprise there—”

“Am I supposed to know who these ponies are?” Soarin’ asked.

“No just… venting a little,” Apple Bloom took a deep breath. “It actually feels really nice to get this all out in the open, even if it’s to a complete stranger.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Soarin’ said. “And I don’t plan on being too much of a stranger.”

“Yeah… you make my sister happy… Sorry for trying to blackmail you into sleeping with me.”

Soarin’ laughed. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re not the first to do that, and you probably won’t be the last.” He scrunched up the young mare’s hair a little. “And there’s nothing wrong with being single. It just means you have more time to find that special somepony of yours. So never give up, Apple Bloom.” He got up from the log. “Now come on, your family’s three kinds of pissed and you owe them a big apology.”

“I guess I do…” She moaned. “This is going to suck ass, ain’t it?” Soarin’ nodded, not reassuring her confidence in the matter. “Ah crap… Well, we should get this over with.” And with that, the two of them slowly walked back to the farmhouse. When they got onto the porch, Apple Bloom looked to Soarin’. “Thank you again for listening.”

“Anytime kid,” Soarin’ said, opening the door for her. “Now, time to face the music.”

With a weak smile, Apple Bloom walked into the house and into the kitchen. Granny Smith was just cleaning up the rest of dinner when she saw her granddaughter enter the kitchen. “Well look who came back? I hope you’re still ain’t hungry, cause I’m just about finished cleaning up.”

“That’s fine…” Apple Bloom said. “Look… I was acting really immature tonight… and lately, I’ve been just feeling really down in the dumps, and I took it out on my family when I know I shouldn’t have done so. I know it doesn’t really fix everything I’ve done, but I’m really sorry I’ve been such a brat.”

Granny Smith crossed her arms and stared at her granddaughter before walking into the kitchen, returning shortly with a plate of food. “Eat up, girl,” she said warmly.

“Thanks Granny…” Apple Bloom said, getting a little teary eyed as she hugged her grandmother. “And I mean it, I’m really sorry.”

“I know you are, sweetie,” Smith said, patting the young mare on the back. “And I love you, Apple Bloom. Now eat up and get to bed, we’re all working tomorrow.”

“OK, Granny,” The young mare nodded, breaking from the hug and sitting at the table to eat her dinner.

With his work done, Soarin’ left the kitchen with a stretch. It had been a long day, and it was fair to say that he put in more work hours than he had in a while. Now, all he really wanted to do was hit the hay and go to sleep.

“Hey there Wonderbolt,” Applejack grinned. She had been waiting by the stairs for him. “I think I might be losing my hearing, because I could have sworn that the little hellion came here and apologized. Are y’all sure you went to the bathroom?” She asked smugly.

“What can I say? I put the ‘Wonder’ in Wonderbolt,” Soarin’ sighed sarcastically.

“Heh… well, thanks for saving the day, Soarin’,” She gave a loud yawn. “Well… better go and get some sleep! It’s another day in the field for us.” She scurried up the stairs and entered her room, closing it right after.

“… Goodnight?” Soarin’ asked, a little confused. He had thought that something else was going to go down, but maybe she was all sexed out for the day. He shrugged, assuming that there was good enough reason why they would sleep in different room tonight. So he headed to his room, yawning as he started to take off his clothes. However, before he was able to pull off his boxers, he noticed a small note on his bed. He picked up said note and skimmed over it.

My room. Now.

-Applejack 

“Well, who am I to ignore a request?” The Wonderbolt grinned, turning around and heading back into the hallway and to Applejack’s door. He gave it a little knock and waited for an answer. When there was no answer, he slowly turned the handle and realized the door was unlocked. He creaked the door open a little. “Applejack… you there?” He opened the door a little more and saw that the room was empty. “Applejack?” He walked into her bedroom, and suddenly the door slammed shut behind him.

“Hey there, feather-boy,” Applejack said lustfully. She had been hiding behind the door when Soarin’ entered the room.

“Holy crap…” Soarin’ gasped, turning around and seeing Applejack in her new attire. Her old clothes she had worn during dinner were in puddles around her ankles, revealing something else underneath. Applejack had snuck into Soarin’s room and stole one of his Wonderbolt outfit, and was now wearing it. The fabric clung tightly to her aroused body, her firm nipples scratching against the fabric. She wagged her tail a little and started to back the pegasus towards her bed. “It’s a shame earth ponies can’t be Wonderbolts…”

“I take it you like the outfit?” Applejack grinned, pushing him onto the bed. “I didn’t realize how tight these things were.” She turned around, letting him get a full view of her as she tugged on her outfit around her flank, stretching it as far as she could before letting go and snapping back against her cheeks, sending a light sting throughout her body. She turned back around, hopping onto the bed and on top of Soarin’. “I don’t know how you can wear these things all the time, they’re mighty tight.”

“It’s so they’re light, and aerodynamic,” Soarin’ grinned. He placed his hands on her hips, and slowly slid his one hand down her side, and in between her legs. The fabric of the outfit offered little protection from his mischievous fingers, which started to slowly feel around her lips, slipping right between the two folds. Applejack bit her lips to stop from moaning as she slowly lowered herself on top of his fingers, moving her hips in tangent with him. She lowered her chest, so her rack dangled in Soarin’s face as he leaned in forward, grabbing the front zipper of the outfit with his teeth and zipping it down, freeing her large mounds.

Applejack sighed in relief. As thrilling as this all was, her boobs were feeling kind of cramped in that suit, and it was nice to have them out again. Plus, it gave Soarin’ something else to play with. And play with them he did, instantly digging his face into her two luscious mounds, his rough tongue dragging and lapping around his two new plaything. He favoured the left breast, nibbling lightly on the teat, and sucking heavily on it. His own hands stopped massaging Applejack’s nether region, and started pulling his boxers down.

The cowpony adjusted herself a little, positioning herself on top of Soarin’s waist. She dragged a finger on her wet breast, he had really gone to town on it, not that she mind, but her right boob was feeling a little neglected. In any case, it was finally time to get to the main event. The thing that they were both craving to do, and despite getting intimate twice so far… have yet to do.

She slowly peeled herself out of the suit, having to stretch it far out in order to get it off. It snapped against her waist as she finally got the sleeves off, and with it the hard point. She rolled onto her back and trundled down the rest of her outfit, making sure to keep her legs sticking straight into the air and her tail down, letting Soarin’ get the full view of her lower areas. With the pants finally going past her legs, she let her legs fall down, and she spread them as far as she could. It was practically rolling up the red carpet.

She blushed, her heart racing as Soarin’ leered down on her. She had never felt so exposed before, so vulnerable. They were over the covers, but she never felt so hot. She reached up and grabbed Soarin’ pulling him down onto her. No more teasing and playing around. It was time for the real deal. “R-Ready cowboy?”

“I’ve been ready for years,” Soarin’ smiled, getting himself into position. “Just tell me how you want it.”

Applejack turned even redder. She would probably just be happy with him finally getting into her, but… “Well, I…” Suddenly, her mind was drawing a blank. “Ah crap!” Had she really forgotten how she liked it? Had it really been that long?! “I… I forget?”

Soarin’ gave her a look. “You forget? How the heck do you forget something like that? It’s like riding a bike.”

“Well it’s been awhile since I’ve ridden a bike, OK!?” The orange mare said in a fluster. “Sorry I’m not jumping on every bike I see, so I’m a little out of practice!”

“Hey, hey!” The pegasus gulped. “It’s OK, it uh…” He tried to think of something to calm her down. “It just gives us a chance to rediscover ourselves. So why don’t we take things nice and slow, and go from there?”

Applejack nodded. This was acceptable.

“Good,” Soarin’ said, nodding as he grabbed his prick, pressing it against Applejack’s eager, moist folds. They looked at each other, and with a nod, the Wonderbolt pressed into the mare. Applejack’s seized up from the intense first thrust, and letting out a girlish squeak. She clawed at her bedsheets and nearly ripped them from the mattress. In that second her breathing intensified, but eventually her nerves relaxed, and she could just enjoy herself.

When he started to pull out a bit, it was like he was taking her breath with it, and when he pressed back in, she was hit with a tidal wave of pleasure and mind-numbing joy. She found herself becoming whimsical, getting lost in a maze of emotion and the rhythm of their soaked privates smacking against each other. The mare found herself grabbing her right boob, and squeezing it so she could feel something along with the ecstasy being pounded into her mound, to distract her so this wonderfulness could last longer.

Soarin’ though, had other plans. He thrust into Applejack, pressing in as deeply as he could, not only to hear that fanciful coo of hers, but so he could keep his balance as he rolled onto his back, letting AJ be on top. The orange mare nearly flopped over from the sudden change of position, her mind was hardly there anymore, lost in the dream they were sharing. She stared at him, eyes lusty and half-lidded as he raised two fingers to her chin and up to her mouth. She instinctively opened her mouth and began to suck on his two little digits as if they were his cock, flapping and wrapping her tongue around and through the two fingers. Once they were nice and lubed up, Soarin’ pulled them out, much to Applejack’s dismay, even getting a little pouty face from her. It was cute, but he wanted to see her face after this…He placed the two wet finger against her flank, sliding down into the crease and easily into her iliac ring.

“Ah crap!” Applejack’s eyes shot open as she yelped that. The sudden penetration of her rear was… sudden as Soarin’s fingers dug deeper into her, each inch bringing a new stimulation. What was once causing her a bit of confusion and shock soon turned to wonder, a wonder as to why he didn’t use more fingers. Applejack could add this to her list of dirty little secrets. But since she was getting a new one, perhaps she could spill an old one. “Soarin’… my tail…”

“You’re tail?” He asked. “Do you not like this?”

“No, I love it but…” She wagged her tail over to her side. “I don’t think that I can hold out much longer. But I want to end this right. So when I tell you, I want you to pull on my tail with all you’ve got.” She placed her hands on the core of Soarin’s stomach. “Think you can handle that?”

Soarin’ grabbed the end of her blonde tail and nodded.

It was Applejack’s turn to control the pace, and she was ready to turn up the speed. She started bobbing up and down on the stallion’s stiff member, and each sinfully delicious smack on their groin was like a bicycle pump pumping them close to explosion. Soarin’ watched as her firm tits bounced with each thrust, wiggling around uncontrollably in a hypnotizing manner of mammary glands. Thing were starting to get to much, and the pegasus felt himself peaking. “Applejack I’m—”

“Pull it now, Soarin’!” The farmpony screamed at the top of her lungs. She too was on the verge of climax and all she needed to do was open the floodgates. Without any regrets, the two gave everything they had in those final moments, with Soarin’ bucking up into Applejack, jamming his fingers deeply into her anus, and pulling as hard as he could on the mare’s tail. For a split moment, all Applejack could see were stars as she was caught in a tornado of a wonderful fucking, the sensation of something new, and the delightful sting of something familiar. Soarin’s load overflowed into Applejack, with plenty of gunk squirting around the base of his member. The mare’s cum flowed down the pegasi, soaking into his fur and dripping off onto the bedsheet.

It took them a few moments, but the two finally came down from their high, and the two collapsed onto the bedspread.

“That… was… the… greatest…” Applejack panted, her thoughts finally coming back to her in a less cluttered fashion.

“Sex… I’ve… ever… had…” Soarin’ said with a heavy breath, turning to Applejack and flashing her with a smile. “With you.”

Despite being exhausted, Applejack managed to give him a blunt stare. “You dick…” She said before laughing. “You’re lucky I love you, or I’d kick your ass for saying that.”

“Oh, so now you love me?” Soarin’ asked, snuggling up to the cowpony.

“I…” Applejack turned a little red, but she knew that it wasn’t a lie, or something to get embarrassed over. “Yes… I love you.”

“Well that’s good,” Soarin’ said, giving the mare a kiss on the forehead. “Cause I love you too.”
	
	
> Sunday Morning: Planning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Applejack rolled a little in her sleep. Normally her hand would fling against her pillow, but this morning her hand smacked against something a bit stiffer. The orange mare slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw what her hand laid on. Soarin’ was still sound asleep, still tired from last night’s activities, snoozing away. His chest slowly raised and lowered with his breathing, cradling her hand as she slowly woke up.

Last night seemed like an eternity ago, but he was still there in bed with her, so at least it was real. Applejack slid her arm across his chest, snuggling up against his arm and shoulder. His body was strangely cool, like a melting ice cube warming up against her body. It only made her cling tighter to the pegasus, wanting to share her warmth with him.

Little to her knowledge, Soarin’ was awake as well, just resting his eyes as he let the cowpony burrow herself against his side. Her body felt like it was steaming warm, and it was nice against his fur. He decided to roll over a little, shocking the farm mare a little and wrapping his arm around her, placing it on her shoulder. He leaned in and gave her a quick, but sweet, kiss on her nose.

“Morning, Jackie,” Soarin’ said gingerly, giving a long yawn.

“Morning, Cowboy,” Applejack said, reaching to his head and taking off the cowboy hat that somehow ended up on his head. “I’ll be taking this back, though.”

“How on earth did that happen?” the pegasus wondered. “Last night was such a blur, and I only remember the good details.”

“Well…” the orange mare grinned, pressing herself closer to the stallion. “Y’all were the good details.” She sighed, all the orange mare wanted to do was lay in bed all day next to this stallion, and she would have if it weren’t for the all the work that needed to be done today. So with a reluctant yawn, the mare slowly got up and crawled out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Soarin’ asked.

“We got a big day’s work ahead of us, partner,” Applejack said, bending down to her drawers and grabbing some fresh underwear. “We spent a good chunk of yesterday fooling around, and I don’t regret it for a second.” She started pulling up her panties. “That being said, I still have a farm to run, and only one more day of you to pull the plow.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, totally,” Soarin’ said, not really paying attention, his mind far too lost in the performance of Applejack’s changing, pulling those red panties up her long, muscular legs, the fabric pressing up on her firm, luscious apple bottom. He had gotten really good at his fake listening. “That all sounds great, really.”

Applejack gave him a dirty look. “You didn’t hear a damn thing I said, did you?”

OK, his fake listening needed some work. “What? No, I heard what you said.”

“Really?” Applejack asked, disbelievingly. “What did I say?”

“You… said…” the pegasus said, dragging his words trying to think of what she could have said. “Uh… things… about apples.”

“Apples.” The orange mare said bluntly.

“Yes.” Soarin’ said with confidence. “Apples. Because this is an apple farm, and we need to get apples.”

“Uh huh…” Applejack chuckled, throwing a shirt on. “Well, you’re half right, flyboy. Since I only got one more day with you, I need to put you to work.”

“Or, or…” the Wonderbolt suggested. “We could, and bear with me now…” He took a deep breath. “We could not do that, and instead we could do something more…” He got up and walked over to the farm mare. “We could do something a bit more fun.”

Applejack grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Now there ain’t nothing in the world that’d make me happier than that, but work is work and we’re still shorthanded.” She could tell that he was getting a bit mopey, so she decided to put an offer on the table. “So tell you what, Soarin’. If we get everything done today, we can spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want. How does that sound?”

Soarin’ sprang onto his feet, grabbing his discarded boxer shorts from the ground and hopping into them, his right foot getting stuck in the wrong hole, and he started to struggle, hopping on one foot as he tried to remedy this situation. “Well, what are you waiting for? We have work to do.”

The farm mare chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Granny was right, men are too easy to manipulate.” She went to her dresser and started to rummaging through her clothes. Within moments, she was all dressed up, picking up her jeans from the floor. “I’ll meet you downstairs for breakfast.” With that, she walked out of her room and started to bounce her way down the steps. She was definitely in a giddy mood this fine morning. Colours seem brighter, smells more scented, and life more wonderful. She entered the kitchen humming. Apple Bloom was already there, the young filly giving a loud yawn as she was eating a bowl of cereal. “Howdy y’all.” She said to the young mare.

“Oh goddess she’s happy…” Apple Bloom grumbled, her heavy eyes barely able to keep themselves open.

“Well of course I’m happy, Apple Bloom,” Applejack beamed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s not that you’re happy, AJ, it’s why you are that has me steamed like a strainer of carrots.”

“Huh?” She asked as she poured herself a glass of juice. “What in the hay are you talking about? Did you not sleep well?”

Her younger sister gave her a dead look into her eyes, a face of grimace and a severe lack of sleep. “Oh no sis,” she said with blunt sarcasm. “I love being woken up in the middle of the damn night from my sister hollering as she’s getting stuffed by her bought boy toy.” She plastered on a big smile. “And I really love hearing you scream ‘pull on it, now!’ or whatever the hell that means at the top of your lungs. Honestly, I don’t want to know.” Her fake smile dropped quickly. “And I thought Big Mac and Cheerilee were bad.”

Applejack, upon hearing this, turned redder than a sunburnt tomato. “Oh… ah… y’all heard that?”

“Yes I heard that!” Apple Bloom snapped. “My room is right across from yours! How in the hell wasn’t I supposed to hear it?” She let her head slam her head down on the table. “Now would you please let me just die both mentally and physically? It’d be much appreciated.”

“Geez… I ah…” the orange farm mare muttered, still completely flushed. “I think that I’ll… I’ll go and do the same.” She took a seat next to her sister and laid her head on the table, staring blankly into the vast void of the kitchen.

It was around this time that Soarin’ had started to make his way down the stairs, and saw the two Apple girls slumped over in a near comatose state of mind. “Umm… morning everypony?” He asked cautiously. It was strange, last time he had seen Applejack she was so full of life and now she looked completely drained of life. “Everything cool down here or did somepony—oh goddess your grandmother didn’t die, did she?” He started running his fingers through his mane nervously. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Ok uh… don’t really know what to say or do about this…”

“Granny ain’t dead you dolt,” Apple Bloom muttered. “But I’m dead… on the inside…”

“My baby sister heard us having sex last night…” Applejack whispered hauntingly. “She heard… every nasty detail, every sinful moan, every degrading cry and scream as we slammed into one another like—“

“Not helping the suicidal thoughts, AJ,” her little sister groaned.

“Sorry… it’s strange that we didn’t feel this way with Macintosh…”

“Oh I felt it,” Bloom droned. “How would you feel if your teacher for nearly a decade starts appearing at your house, sneaking out of your brother’s room, half-naked, because she and he been humping. Then you have to look at her during class and try not to picture her like that, like you haven’t seen her creeping off at five in the morning, smelling like sweat and bacon grease for whatever Celestia forsaken reason and now she’s teaching your math. The smacking of the ruler stick against her palm mimicking a noise heard that previous night, save for the lustful caws for more—“

“Kay, got it!” Soarin’ interrupted. Now he was starting to feel like taking a dirt nap. “Clearly you guys need to either soundproof your rooms or learn volume control. It’s nothing worth killing yourselves over, right? It’s just sex. It’s natural, we’re all going to do it, and we just have to accept that, all right ladies?” They each gave him a half-hearted nod as they kept the side of their heads planted firmly on the table. “Wonderful, now what’s for breakfast?”

“There is none yet…” Apple Bloom moaned. “Granny’s not up and I’m not in the mood to make anything except a coffin.”

“Same here, sugar cube,” Applejack sighed. “Y’all just have to make something yourself.”

The pegasus looked at the farm mare with confusion. “And would you believe me if I said that I sort of… didn’t know how to do that?” He started to smile nervously as the two girls looked at him like he was some sort of idiot. Which, to be frank they had every right to think. The need to make breakfast, or cook anything never really came up. His mother had made all his meals when he was a child, and when he left to join the Wonderbolts he lived off of restaurants and cafeteria food and there was no need to cook once you were a celebrity and had some of the greatest chefs in Equestria cook for you. “Right then… Applejack could you scoot over a bit?”

*****

Sundays… it was the one day that Granny Smith let herself sleep in a little. As the years wore on that old work horse she realized it was perfectly fine for her to take a little time off here and there during the day. Of course she couldn’t let those young whippersnappers go out on their own yet, not with their hormones at the helms and that new, feathered super-model or whatever Applejack and brought home. Oh, if only she could be young again, she’d show that pretty-boy the time of his life… but alas, her creaking hips and swollen bunions would say otherwise.

It was getting close to seven in the morning, which meant that she had slept in plenty. It was a small battle for her to get herself up from her covers and stretch her weary arms out. She took her time getting dressed and grabbed her trusty walker as she made her way out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen where she expected to see her dear and beloved grandchildren full of life and working on breakfast…

What she got were three fully grown ponies with their heads on the table and their thumbs (metaphorically) up their asses. The green matriarch of the apple clan lifted her walker a few inches from the ground so she could slam it back down. “Now what in the crab-apple hay is going on in here? You all look deader than your grandfather’s last tooth, Celestia rest his soul. Now what has you all down in the manure?”

“I heard Applejack having sex…” Apple Bloom muttered.

“Apple Bloom heard me having sex…” Applejack moaned.

“I’m incapable of providing for myself…” Soarin’ whimpered.

“Oh hog’s spit!” Granny Smith frowned. “Quit your bellyaching. All of you! It’s damn despicable to even look at your three in this sorry state.” Her grandchildren and guest just gave a half-hearted sigh, refusing to move. “Dang it, if y’all don’t stop this nonsense then I’m going to get that looker from the senior centre and we can all listen to me have sex.”

The widening of the three’s eyes were simultaneously as their minds shattered like glass upon picturing the elderly mare doing the deed with another old pony. They all shot up at attendance, looking either pale or green.

“You know it’s perfectly fine that my sister is in love and wants to have a relationship. Same with Big Macintosh,” Apple Bloom said quickly, clutching her mouth shut as she tried to choke down her vomit.

“And I need to respect my family and not be so loud, or move to a different location for my love-making,” Applejack muttered with haste as she felt her throat tighten.

“I can eat a chair, right?” Soarin’ laughed nervously. “I’ll eat whatever I can find as long as I don’t ever have to hear or see that. Please, for the love of everything sacred never let me see that!”

Granny Smith gave the lot of them a rather displeasing stare. “Well it’s nice to know how you younglings feel about my happiness. Almost makes me not want to cook y’all your breakfast. But I’ll do it anyways out of respect for our houseguest.”

Soarin’ sighed. “Thank you,” he said. He could continue to be a giant man-child!

“Thank nothing, young buck,” the old green mare chuckled. “We got a lot of work to do today and I can’t have you fainting on me.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Soarin’ said, readjusting himself at the table. “Although to be frank… I already got all the motivation in the world,” He looked lovingly to Applejack, who tried to hide her face in embarrassment.”

Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes. “And… we’re back to the sex talk.”

“That wasn’t sex talk.”

“It sounded like sex talk, Soarin’.”

“Well it wasn’t,” the Wonderbolt muttered. “I really do just want to make your sister happy.”

“Of course you do… with your penis,” the young mare groaned.

“Enough, Bloom!” Applejack groaned. Although in all this madness there was a good point to be made. There was no place on this farm for them to get any real privacy, not in the house, not in the fields, not even in the barn. If she and Soarin’ were to spend any real, no-hold bars time together then she would need to find them a place where they wouldn’t be bothered by family or onlookers. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she would have to do a bit of leg work to pull this off. She got up from her seat. “Excuse me, but I got to run into town. I just realized that there’s some errands I need to run.”

“On a Sunday?” Granny Smith wondered.

“They’re new errands,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry but we have Soarin’ here to cover for me, so it’s going to be fine.” She started heading out the door, turning around and waving goodbye to everypony. “Later y’all! And Soarin’ remember our deal!”

The cowpony stepped out of the house and started to make her way down the path to the front gate leading out of the farm. All the while she was making a mental grocery list of what she was going to need to make this night extra special. The first stop… Rarity’s place so she could actually figure out what the hell would make this night extra special. She wanted to do something daring and out of character, really taking the pegasus by surprised. That meant doing girly stuff and that was completely foreign to the country mare.

As she neared the gate, she noticed that there were two figures lingering by the front gate, two ponies that she didn’t recognize. It was a stallion and a mare, both pegasi and shades of blue, with the mare having a watery mane and the stallion a darker one.

Not to be impolite, she greeted them. “Well howdy there,” she said with a smile. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

The mare peered down her sunglasses and just stared at her for a few moments. “Just browsing the area. You know you look familiar.”

“Ah well, you know…” Applejack chuckled. “I just have one of those faces I guess.” Plus being a former Element of Harmony and constant saviour of Equestria would do that to you as well. “Well, I have to head out but if you have any questions about produce you can head up to the house. My granny will be more than happy to help you folks out.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” the mare said, smiling a little as she watched Applejack continue into town. When she was sure she was out of earshot she gave a sigh. It was just as she had feared, this mare was definitely the same from Soarin’s magazines. Misty Sky was glad that she had tracked down that sexy hunk of meat Soarin’. He and her had unfinished business to take care of in the sack.

“So we found the guy, Misty,” the other stallion trembled. “He’s here. Can we please go back to Cloudsdale?”

“Not yet, idiot,” the mare muttered. “Goddess you can be so annoying sometimes, Cumulous.”

“H-Hey! You really shouldn’t be talking to me like that!” The stallion gulped. “I-I bought you at the auction! You’re supposed to do what I tell you, not the other way around. This whole weekend has been a total bust.”

Misty was hardly listening to his rambles. She was just glad that the pony that had won her that weekend was a total pushover and a pansy. She had humoured him for a couple of hours on Friday but after that she had made it her mission to track down Soarin’. After hearing about his little fiasco with that crazed stalker and how he was now somepony else’s Wonderbolt for the weekend, she had spent most of Saturday tracking him down to this little piss stain of a town off the base of Canterlot.

The Wonderbolt knew that Applejack was the mare Soarin’ was looking for, if not for Soarin’s terrible little memory habit he would have probably found her years ago. With luck Misty hoped that he hadn’t realized this yet. Knowing him the second he found out would be the second things got… complicated. And she’d have to resort to plan B.

But for now, she would put on her winning smile, walk up to that tear-down of a house and be the perfect bubbly angel the world saw her as.

*****

Applejack’s knuckles slammed down on the Carousel Boutique’s door for the third time. She had been knocking for nearly twenty minutes and there still was no response. Normally she would have walked away and assume she wasn’t home but sadly she could see the lights on in the upstairs room and the sound of furniture being knocked around. They were home, but Applejack had come at a bad time, a time that seemed to be more frequent than not nowadays.

“Rarity! Put your damn pants back on and open the door! We need to talk!” She yelled, getting a few strange looks from the townsfolk that walked by. The farm mare smiled nervously and waved to them as they made their way by.

Another couple of minutes passed before the door finally unlocked and cracked open ever so slightly. Applejack could barely make out the gleam of Rarity’s blue iris. “Hello Applejack… have I mentioned that Spike and I are terribly sorry for the other day in the barn?”

“Can it, Rare,” the cowpony droned, not wanting to remember that terribly embarrassing encounter for all of them. “Are you and Spike decent? I have to talk to y’all.”

“I… you’re not going to shoot us, are you?” Rarity wondered. “Because I think we’ve been through enough. We ran all through the town naked so I think we’ve been sufficiently punished.”

“I’m not here to talk about that, Rarity, I need to ask you…” She took a deep breath. “For… romantic advice.”

The door burst open as Rarity squealed with high-pitch delight. The unicorn grabbed her friend and yanked her inside, catching her in a massive bear hug and squeezed the life out of her. “It’s finally happening! You’re in love and you want me to plan the wedding!” She continued to spin and giggle, lost in her fantasy world. “I knew you and Soarin’ would tie the knot, but I never imagined it’d be so quickly!”

“I think you’re getting the wrong idea, Rare!” Applejack groaned, trying to wiggle out of Rarity’s grasp. “I ain’t getting married, I just want some advice on how to be… a little more feminine for Soarin’.”

“That’s even better!” the white mare screamed with joy. “Somepony pinch me, for I must be dreaming!”

“I’ll do more than that if you don’t let go of me…”

“Oh, terribly sorry, dear,” Rarity said, realizing that she had nearly broken her friend in two. “I think I just got a little excited.”

“You think?!” Applejack snapped as she was freed. “You know for a unicorn you’re surprisingly strong—oh come on, Rarity!” The farm mare rolled her eyes as she saw what Rarity was wearing. “I thought you said you were decent?”

“I am,” Rarity frowned, looking down herself. True she was just in her underwear and an open pink bathrobe but if it was just them girls then she didn’t see the issue. “I’m more covered than I would be in a bikini.”

“That’s not the—you know what? Forget it…” Applejack muttered. She didn’t have time for this. “Where’s Spike, anyways?”

“Oh, he’s resting upstairs,” Rarity giggled. “I think he might be a little sore from last night’s… umm, activities.”

“Save it, please…” the farm mare said. “I don’t need to hear about any of that, I just want to ask you for some advice about how to be a bit more… girly.” She turned a bit red on that last word.

“Applejack,” Rarity asked. “I know that I got caught up in the moment back there but you’re not… you’re not changing yourself for Soarin’, are you?”

The orange mare stared bluntly at her. “Rarity, do I really strike you as the type of mare who changes herself for a fella? We already learnt that lesson, remember?”

“I try to forget,” Rarity groaned. “So then what brought on this sudden desire to experiment with makeup and diamonds?”

“I…” Applejack bit her lip a little. “I really want to surprise him tonight. It’s our last night together and I want it to be really special. Give him a grand farewell, you know?”

“I see…” Rarity said. “Well… I think that’s wonderful. But let’s not go overboard now shall we? If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right. Now the first thing that we need to do is get you cleaned up, because no offense but you smell like a barn animal.”

“Excuse me?” Applejack asked, a little irritated. 

“I said no offence.”

“That doesn’t mean you can just say whatever the hell you want and get away with it,” the farm mare grumbled. “But fine, I guess I did skip the shower this morning... what else?”

“Well, I’m going to have to make you a dress,” the white mare said. “Nothing too extravagant of course, we’re going to keep things simple but I really want to play up the country flair look. It’s so hard to find a good reason to do so and your little romantic conquest is just the excuse I’ve been waiting for!” The unicorn clapped her hands giddily. “Oh, I’m so excited! This is like a dream come true!”

“Yeah... a dream...” Applejack muttered. She was really starting to regret requesting the help of her fashionista friend. “Is that all? Please tell me that’s all.”

“Oh heavens darling...” Rarity grinned. “We haven’t even gotten started.”
> Sunday Afternoon: Clash of Mares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	This weekend had been a rollercoaster for Applejack. Within a short amount of time she had gone from spilling her secret love to her friends, to going on a spontaneous trip to Canterlot to bid on said secret love and winning him over, making him work on the farm, followed by them getting naked on the farm and finally consummating their love. So she just had to wonder how she ended up in her current position: Standing in the middle of Rarity’s studio while her eccentric friend giggled and poked the ends of needles into her side while making her a dress… Or at least she thought it was something like a dress. Somewhere along the way the fashionista had gotten random and sudden spouts of inspiration for her date night gown and each time Rarity had needed to start from scratch.

Of course, for Rarity, starting from scratch meant really starting from scratch, and whenever she had a newer and better idea, she ripped whatever she had tacked onto Applejack and started over. The farm mare, like most mares, wasn’t exactly thrilled with having her clothes torn off repeatedly and without warning, and wasn’t quite sure if Rarity was trying to help or just make her blush.

“No, this isn’t right either!” Rarity mumbled, as she slammed her head on the rising, her arm reaching up and grabbing the edge of the half-finished dress that the cowpony was wearing and gave it a good tug, whipping it off of Applejack and causing her to flinch again, her leg shooting up instinctively to cover her lower half.

“For crying out loud, Rarity!” Applejack frowned. “If you’re gonna keep restarting can you at least let me take off the damn dress?! I feel mighty violated with you keep ripping my clothes off…” She paused. “Never thought I’d say that to a mare.”

“I just keep getting better ideas, Applejack,” Rarity mumbled. “For a split second I can see the outline and stitching patterns of your dream dress in my mind but by the time I get my magic and fingers working then it fades away and then I make this abomination that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.”

The farm mare rolled her eyes, although she had asked for this. She should have known something like this was going to happen when she asked Rarity for help, but she didn’t have any other options of friends who knew fashion inside and out… well, maybe Fluttershy but she had already dug her own grave on this one and now she had to suck it up and let the dirt fall on her face.

“I recall y’all saying something about keeping it simple and so far…” She motioned her hand towards the large pile of scrapped clothing and fabrics. “We’ve tried on everything save the kitchen sink.”

“Yes!” The white mare screamed. “The sink! The most important appliance in bathroom and kitchen. It’ll really make you stand out and radiate your importance!” She cackled a little, getting up and heading towards the bathroom. “I’ll be right back! I just have to figure out how to use a wrench and take it off.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Applejack hollered, running after her and grabbing her collar. “I have no idea how you’re going to turn a sink into a dress and to be frank I don’t want to know. So for the love of Celestia keep it simple! Like I don’t know…” She looked around the room and was overwhelmed by just how many different kinds of fabrics her friend had. Rolls of clothes in more colours than she would have imagined, with just as many patterns. It was giving her a headache so she just randomly grabbed the closest fabric roll she could reach. “… Like how about this? It’s yellow and polka-dotty. That’s cute… right?” She asked, she honestly had no idea if she was right. To her it was just yellow… with red dots on it.

“Applejack, darling…” Rarity sighed with pity. Sometimes she envied the simplicity of her friend, thinking that she could just grab any piece of linen and call it cute. “There’s an art and a process to picking out fabric for a dress and this, Applejack… this…” She laughed a little, looking at the sheet of polka-dot the farm mare had pulled. “This…” she gave it another look, really taking a moment to piece a design in her head. “This… is actually really cute.” Then… it came to her. “Idea~!” She chimed, grabbing the end of the roll and wrapping it around her like a holiday present. “Sometimes I think you secretly desire to be more like me!”

“Doubt it,” Applejack mumbled as she squirmed in her bindings. “And what the hell are you doing to me?”

“Why… creating darling!” the unicorn snickered, her eyes flashing sinisterly as she levitated two giant scissors and had them weave through the fabric surrounding Applejack. The orange mare winced as the scissors cut around her and she was afraid to work. She didn’t want to watch her skin be snipped off by her psychotic friend.

However when she opened her eyes she saw that she wasn’t cut into ribbons but rather draped in the yellow cloth and was being frequently sewn on by several needles operating by magic. Applejack was amazed to say the least. “Wow…”

“I know, I do good work don’t I, Applejack?” Rarity grinned as she finished the last couple of stitches of her dress. “And when properly motivated, I can make fabulousness out of thin air.” She snapped her fingers to prove a point. “And voila! It’s done. What do you think, darling?”

Rarity held up a mirror to show Applejack what she looked like now. The orange mare was surprised to see just how… wonderful she looked. She had to give the white mare credit, when it came to making the perfect dress, there was no pony who did it better. The dress was simple, nothing thrilling, nothing risqué, just a simple summer dress of yellow with red dots.

“You were right in the end, Applejack,” Rarity smiled. “Keep things simple, and you look absolutely beautiful.”

“I do… don’t I?” The farm mare said, blushing a bit as she gave a few turns of her dress. “Thanks a lot for this Rarity. You really came through for me.”

“Think nothing of it, dear,” the fashionista smiled, clapping her hands together. “Well, now that we got that out of the way, let’s deal with that crow’s nest you call hair.”

The orange mare slowly turned her head towards her friend, her gaze glared viciously at Rarity. “Y’all ain’t touching my hair, and I’m gonna forget you called it a crow’s nest.”

Rarity’s lips curled into her mouth in fear. “Well then… forget I said anything.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Applejack sighed. “I just like my hair the way it is, and I have a lot of errands to run before tonight. So I’m going to bag this little get-up up and head to Sugar Cube Corner. I need to talk to Pinkie about a few things and I need to hurry up, who knows what kind of crap is happening right now without my supervision.”

*****

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, two ponies stood at the front door of the large farmhouse. Misty Sky and Cumulus had been ringing the doorbell for nearly twenty minutes and there was still no answer.

Misty Sky grumbled as her button pressing became nearly punching the wooden frame of the door. “Damn it all! Where the hell is everypony?!” The pegasus started to shake the doorknob rapidly as if to jiggle it open. “Stupid lock. Cumulus, break the door down.”

“What?! I’m not going to do that!”

“Then you are beyond useless,” she grumbled, slamming on the door one more time. “Where the hell are they?”

“Maybe they’re not home?” Cumulus suggested, cowering a little under the intimidating Wonderbolt. “We could maybe try back later tomorrow, you know… when you’re not under contract to do whatever I ask?”

“Yeah, yeah, this is more important,” the mare garbled, not really paying attention to what he was saying. “Just be glad that you were allowed to even come along.”

“Yeah… cause I really needed to get my money’s worth,” he muttered.

Misty Sky started to flap her wings and soar into the air. “Maybe they’re just not in the house, it is the middle of the day after all and they’re like… I don’t know ditch diggers or something.”

“Farmers.”

“Same thing,” the Wonderbolt said. “Wait… I think I see them now. Over here!” She took off with the stallion begrudgingly  followed behind her.

The two pegasi soared overhead, overcasting the small group of ponies in the small clearing of the apple orchard. Upon closer examination they saw that it was an elderly green earth mare sitting on a lawn chair with a much younger girl next to her. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were relaxing in the sun and enjoying the day while sipping their respective glasses of iced tea. They barely even noticed the two flying ponies land behind them.

“Huh… we got visitors, Granny,” Apple Bloom said, flicking her sunglasses a little to peer at the two pegasi. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, y’all. We’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Why? What are you doing?” Cumulus asked, scratching his head. “Cause it just seems like you’re staring at… oh.”

He and Misty both saw what the two earth mares were so absorbed in. For whatever reason, Soarin’ was in the midst of chopping down an old withering apple tree with an axe. He had worked up quite a sweat and was toweling himself off with his shirt, discarding it once it was soaked through and leaving him shirtless. The two mares let out a pleasant hum from this revelation, clanking their glasses together in celebration of the hunky stallion stripping.

“Oh wow…” Misty Sky trembled lustfully, slowly walking to the side of the lawn chair and taking a seat next to it, her eyes never breaking from the hard working stallion. “What a lovely view.”

“Best view in all of Ponyville!” Granny Smith chuckled. “Now what brings you two younglings to our orchard?”

“Hmm?” Misty hummed, not really paying attention anymore. “We’re just here for something or something… why are we here again?”

“To get Soarin’,” Cumulus deadpanned, noticing that there was no one actually listening to him anymore. They were all too enthralled with the Wonderbolt and his work. “But you don’t seem to really give a crap about that anymore.”

“We’ll get him…” Misty smiled. “I just want to… sit and wait for a bit. We’re in no rush after all.”

This piqued Apple Bloom’s interest. “Wait a second… y’all are here for Mr. Soarin’? I thought Applejack got him for the whole weekend?” Misty Sky didn’t even pay her a glance. “Hey, lady! I’m talking to you!”

Her voice rang a little loud, loud enough that Soarin’ could hear the disturbance in the back of his ear. Whatever those two were getting all riled up about, he doubted that it couldn’t be any better than chore detail. Chore detail that just so happened to line up perfectly with their break. He of course knew what the two little minxes were up to and there was little point in fighting it. He’d let the two soak up his eye candy as long as neither of them made any actual advances. At the moment, he turned his head around to see what had gotten them all chatty and what he saw made him drop his axe.

“Fuck…” he gulped, seeing Misty Sky waving at him cheerfully. “Just freaking wonderful.” He politely waved back. “Hey… what are you doing here?” He asked.

“We came to pick you up, sweetie!” Misty beamed, getting up from the ground. “I guess Spitfire didn’t get a hold of you but we’re all being called back a little early to practice for our next show. We need to head back to Cloudsdale ASAP!”

“An early practice?” Soarin’ wondered. “That doesn’t sound like Spitfire at all…”

“Well it sounded like her voice on the phone, so let’s get going, sweetheart,” the female Wonderbolt said.

“Now wait just a dang minute here!” Granny Smith growled, her shaky bones lifting herself up and to her walker as she stormed; to an extent, towards Misty Sky. “My granddaughter was promised a Wonderbolt for the whole weekend, and that means we ain’t giving him back until Monday morning, and maybe not even then!”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Well, let’s just say my eldest granddaughter and the feather boy over there have become infatuated with one another.” She snickered a little to herself. “They’re as thick as thieves and just as sinful.”

“Say what now?” The female Wonderbolt gasped, taken back by this newfound discovery. She had feared that something like this would happen. Misty had waited too long to confront Soarin’ again and now… now she had to make things awkward and resort to drastic measures. She took a deep breath and let out a girlish and bubbly whine. She started to shed dramatic tears and shake her head. “Oh Soarin’, you beast! How could you do this to me? Me! The mare you proclaimed your love to!”

“WHAT?!” Soarin’ wheezed, nearly choking on his own breath. “What do you mean—“

“Don’t try and weasel yourself out of this, you lecherous tramp!” Misty fake cried. It was a shame that she would have to destroy Soarin’s reputation with this family, but it was this orange mare’s fault for falling in love with the stallion she already claimed. All was fair in love and war, and this was a war of love, so the Apples should count themselves lucky she was just using her innocent girl act and none of her military training. “I can’t believe that I gave my heart to such a fiend! I’m such an idiot!”

Apple Bloom and Granny Smith both looked to Soarin’, there gazes going from playful and flirtatious to disappointed and vengeful. They had fallen for Misty’s little act, and how could they not? Misty made a living making ponies think she was the bubbly, innocent new member of the Wonderbolts. Her crocodile tears had bite to it and her teeth were sunk in deep.

“I knew it!” Granny Smith roared, stomping towards the pegasus stallion. “I knew nothing good would come from a no-good, city-slicker, feather-boy like you! Never trust a creature who migrates, that’s what my granddaddy always said!” The elderly mare tried to strike Soarin’ with her walker but missed. “Hold still so I can tan your hide!”

“Look, you got it all wrong!” Soarin’ said, sidestepping her attacks. “Misty is lying, cause I’m just realizing just how psychotic she actually is.” He turned to her. “Seriously! What is it about me that brings the crazy out of every pony?”

“I can think of a few reasons…” Apple Bloom growled. “And to think you had me fooled that you cared about my sister.”

“I do care about your sister!” Soarin’ tried to explain. “I love her, Apple Bloom! She’s literally all I could think about for the last couple of years! Do you have any idea how much pie I ate? Do you know how high my blood sugar is thanks to eating all of said pies?”

“Lies, all lies!” Misty moaned, mentally laughing at the success of her little act. “He’s a monster and yet… I still love him!”

“Misty, if you think there’s even a slight chance that I’d think of ever being with you after this then you’re even more delusional than I gave you credit for,” Soarin’ groaned. “C’mon… you, other pegasus that’s been quiet this whole time! Back me up on this.”

“I’m…” Cumulus started to say. “I’m staying out of this.”

“Son of a bitch…” Soarin’ whispered to himself. This was bad… if Misty had her way, he’d be kicked off the farm and probably banned from ever coming back. If he didn’t get this under control... he may never get to see Applejack again. That thought alone was punishing enough. If only she was here, then maybe she could get a hold on the situation and talk some sense into her family.

*****

“Well that was total hell…” Applejack muttered to herself, her new dress tucked in a bag under her arm as she headed across town. She should have known that anything involving Rarity would take a fortnight to deal with and now she was late for the rest of her errands. She still had to swing by Sugar Cube Corner and talk to Rainbow about a favour she owed her.

Even now she could see the sun beginning to sink down past midday, and soon the afternoon would over. She had to get everything ready for tonight or else her big send-off would fail. Thankfully, the bakery wasn’t that far away from the boutique.

Applejack saw the gingerbread building in the close distance and picked up her pace a little. Strangely enough, there were some of her friends sitting outside on the front steps near the patio area and tables. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were seated there, each of them with a fat stack of sugary treats spread before them. The two seemed to be eagerly shoveling them down as fast as possible, chocolate and cream smearing on their already custard and jelly stained faces.

If it was just Pinkie Pie eating the desserts, Applejack would have understood that. Pinkie ate a LOT, her appetite rivaled her own, but seeing Fluttershy eating just as quickly had the farm mare worried. She slowly began her descent upon them and got a better look at her two friends, and was shocked to see that they were… crying? Why on earth were they crying? Between the bites of cakes and strudel the two mares were wiping away their tears and nearly choking on their cries. Applejack almost didn’t want to engage, but it pained her to see them in such a terrible state and she slowly walked up to them.

“Uh… howdy,” The orange mare said, forcing a smile and giving a little wave. “What has you two in a fit?”

Pinkie sniffed a little, looking at Applejack and rubbing her eyes with her icing soaked sleeve. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead broke down, slamming her head into her food with a squishy splash. The cowpony could still hear the muffled crying from within the pies and cakes, and two steady puddles of tears grew around the plate.

Fluttershy was hardly any better. Her yellow face was a Neapolitan mess of creams and fudge, hardly any colour other than dark brown or white was visible. The more she tried to clean her face off with her messy sleeves, the bigger the smudges got on her face. It was clear that something tragic had happened to both of them. The question now was what.

“Girls, c’mon, calm down,” Applejack asked, not quite sure what the best course of action would be. She was afraid to even touch them, in fear of losing a finger. “Take some deep breaths, guys. I can’t help y’all if you keep weeping like willow trees. Now what happened?”

“We’re such idiots!” Pinkie cried, lifting her head out from an apple pie.

“We were so stupid!” Fluttershy added, wrapping her face in her arms. “I can’t believe that we were so naïve and… and…” she couldn’t even finish talking, the words apparently too painful to speak.

Of course this didn’t help Applejack in the slightest.

“Ok. What in the hell happened?” The orange mare finally demanded.

“They were two-timed and lied to, that’s what happened,” somepony said from the doorway. Rainbow Dash was walking out from Sugar Cube Corner carrying more food, most likely for Pinkie and Fluttershy. “Turns out that Caramel has been sleeping around and Iron Will is still married. They just found out a few hours ago.”

“I-I-I f-f-found a l-l-locket in Cara-amel’s bed and thought it was for m-me,” Pinkie sniffed, her tears making her voice tremble something fierce. “S-so I wore i-i-i-it to work, and Flitter came in and said it was h-hers, and I-I checked t-the locket… and it was hers!” Her tears intensified. “It’s not her fault, Caramel told her I broke up with him and-and…” She couldn’t keep it together anymore. Her poor friend let it all out and started crying again.

“Oh hell…” Applejack gulped. It shamed her to be related to such scum, even if it was quite distant. “Rainbow, I’m assuming we’re going to have to break his skull now, right?”

Surprisingly, her friend shook her head. “No can do. I can’t be part of another assault and battery. The PCD aren’t going to look the other way again.”

“Huh?”

“But don’t worry, I got some guys on it right now,” Rainbow said wickedly, rubbing her hands evilly together. “Your cousin will be getting a lesson in respect really soon.”

“What do you mean by lesson?” Applejack had to ask. “I mean, he’s an asshole but you’re not going to kill him, are you?”

“Don’t worry about it, AJ,” Rainbow said. “And if you think that’s bad, wait until you hear what I have for our minotaur friend.”

“He said he left his wife for me…” Fluttershy moped. “I felt terrible when I first heard but I let myself feel happy when I was with him anyways. I thought I loved him and he loved me but… but…” she crammed more chocolate down her gullet. “I was just his mistress! I never would have stayed with him if I knew he was still a married steer! I swear! I’m not like that.”

“Oh honey, we know you’re not…” Applejack said, turning to Rainbow. “So what’s the plan for Iron Will?”

“Well I had to send the big guns to deal with him,” the cyan mare admitted. “A physically enhanced cocktail of muscle and loud noises I like to call Bulk Biceps.”

“Again, I’d like to remind you that neither of these guys deserve to die.”

“Yes they do…” Fluttershy of all ponies muttered, spitting out a bit of cake as she said so.

This scared Applejack a little. “OK… well, y’all have my support on this of course as long as Rainbow keeps the bloodshed to a minimum. I was originally here to ask you guys for a favour but clearly this ain’t the time or place to be doing such things.”

“Why, what do you need?” Rainbow asked. “Just because their love lives crapped out on them doesn’t mean ours didn’t.”

“Well, I wanted to talk to Pinkie about one of her… ‘Special’ orders of cupcakes but that seems to be out of the question now.”

“Oh… y-y-you mean a c-c-c-cumcake?” Pinkie wept. “Th-that’s so sw-sweet of you… were they for S-Soarin’?” the farm pony nodded and the pink pony wiped her face with her messy sleeve. “S-sure we can do that fo-for you. Just empty this cup of soda and masturbate into it.”

“Like I said, neither time nor place!” Applejack panicked, waving her hands no. “I can skip them for now!”

“Wait, you were actually going to order a cumcake?” Rainbow chuckled. “You’re so weird.”

“Oh, like y’all haven’t done it miss’s rubs her snatch on my produce!” The orange mare barked back. “Speaking of, I’m going to need your house for the night.”

“Say what now?” the pegasus wondered. “Why the hell would I give you my house?”

“Because there’s too many ponies in mine,” the cowpony grumbled, shuddering at that morning’s conversation. “And you still live alone, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s irrelevant since there’s no way you’re using my house to release what I can only imagine is a decade of sexual frustration all over my nice rugs and cloud floor.”

Applejack placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Rainbow. You’ve been screwing in my barn for who knows how long. That’s my home so the way I see it, you owe me.”

“Well by that logic half of Ponyville owes you one, and I don’t see you bugging them.”

“That’s what—wait what the hell are you talking about?!” Applejack gasped, her eyes dilating as she looked around the streets. Tons of ponies… everywhere, some of which had made love in her barn… “How do you even…”

“Me and Caramel used to go there all the time!” Pinkie Pie sobbed.

“Iron Will and I used the milking machine to milk ourselves!” Fluttershy cried out.

The orange mare didn’t have anything to say to her friends… apparently her barn was the best place in the world to fuck. To think how she actually used to… touch things in there, and it was clear that she was going to have to burn the whole place to the ground to sterilize it. But that was a Monday chore.

“Just give me the damn key to your place and make sure I don’t fall through the floor, Rainbow.”

Her tomboyish friend sighed and rolled her eyes, but there was no point arguing with Applejack right now, she liked the current state of her bone structure. “I’ll fly by and drop it off after I get the floors tempered. I’m sure Soarin’ hunky pants can fly you up. But this makes us even.”

“Sugar cube, we ain’t even close to being even,” Applejack groaned. “But thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah… just try to clean up after yourself. At least me and Thunderlane gave you that courtesy,” Rainbow said.

“Yeah… courtesy…” Applejack growled quickly before turning sympathetically towards Pinkie and Fluttershy. “As for you two,, I do hope you get well soon. Come by anytime if y’all need a shoulder to cry on.”

The two looked up to her and smiled weakly. Deep down they were hurt, but they also knew that they would get better with time. It just really, really, sucked right now and the two mares needed a little pity to get over it. They waved goodbye to Applejack as she started heading off back to the farm. Not knowing the surprise that would be waiting there for her.

*****

Speaking of, back at Sweet Apple Acres, Soarin’ was up to his neck in pig manure. Almost quite literally as the surprisingly strong matriarch of the Apple clan was dragging the pegasus to the pig pen, her words being ‘If you’re going to be a piece of shit, you might as well be covered in it.’

“Don’t you think you can reconsider this?” Soarin’ asked hopefully, making no attempt to break free for the gentleman’s code prevented him from doing so. Still, he really didn’t feel like taking a bath in pig shit. “Even if I told you for the millionth time that I have never slept with Misty once in my life!”

“Hush it!” Granny Smith hissed, still not letting go of his wrist. “Damn pigeon pony playboys… breaking that poor girl’s heart. Well I ain’t letting that happen to my granddaughter! You’re going to eat pig dung then you’re getting kicked off my farm! And if I ever see you again I’ll ring your head full of lead!”

“Seriously please—wait, you mean eat like in throw me in, right?”

The elderly green mare leered at him, the kind of terrible and psychotic stare that spoke a single word very loudly.

“Oh shit…” He looked out into the distance, praying to see Applejack or some form of help to come and save him… any day now… please? He looked to the rest of his on looking audience. Apple Bloom, who was so mad that she could barely look at him in the eyes, that Cumulus guy who was beyond useless and whipped by Misty, and the evil bitch herself, who was still keeping up the broken-hearted teenage girl act, even though Soarin’ knew deep down she was nothing but a fiend.

Misty Sky sniffed a little, wiping a crocodile tear from her eye. “He deserves worse, Miss Smith, but I still have to take him away. If there’s any mercy that you can show him, please do so for this poor girl’s heart!” Last thing she wanted was to bang Soarin’ while he smelt like a hillbilly.

Granny Smith gnarled in frustration as she let go of Soarin’. “Fine! Just take him and make him leave my damn farm!”

“Of course, ma’am,” Misty said, fluttering up to Soarin’ and grabbing his arm. “Come along, sweetie. We have practice in an hour.”

“No we don’t!” Soarin’ said, refusing to open his wings even as Misty and Cumulus started to take off. Code be damned, he wasn’t going to lose Applejack, not after all he went through to find her. “And I’m not leaving!”

The female Wonderbolt was a little surprised by this. She knew that Soarin’s code of ethics to never oppose the fairer sex was something he prided himself on and never in a million years would she think he’d break that code and refuse to leave.

“Please Soarin’,” the mare moaned, shooting her biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes to the stallion. “If you come nicely, I’ll still love you.”

“Let me make something perfectly clear…” Soarin’ frowned, whisking his wrist free from Misty. “I do not love you! I’m in love with Applejack!”

That last sentence echoed throughout the orchard several time, the wind mimicking ‘I’m in love with Applejack’ over and over again. To be honest, Soarin’ thought it felt pretty good to get that out in the open. It was something he felt even before he knew Applejack was Applejack. This proud yet timid, strong and fragile, wonderful mare opened her heart to him, the wonderful mare from the Grand Galloping Gala.

“Y’all really mean that?”

Soarin’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing that sweet, southern drawl behind him. Applejack was staring at them, probably a tad confused as of what was going on. However, she didn’t care about that, all she could manage to think was that Soarin’ loved her. He loved her so much he had to scream it out to this random mare.

“What in the hay is going on here?” The orange mare asked, addressing the elephant in the room. “Who are these guys? And why does it look like they’re in the middle of abducting y’all?”

“Oh sis!” Apple Bloom cried, running to her big sister and hugging her. “It’s terrible. Turns out Soarin’ is nothing but a womanizing prick trying to make you his latest conquest.”

“Huh?” The cowpony muttered, confused as all hell. “Y’all need to explain yourselves cause I’m right confused.”

“He’s nothing but a liar and a cheat, AJ,” Granny Smith grumbled. “He’s been lying right to your face and softening you up with pretty words and such. The damn stallion’s been sleeping around on you.”

Applejack looked at the Wonderbolt with a strange look and then back at the rest of her family and the new guests. “Are y’all being serious?”

Misty Sky nodded her head, sniffling a little. “It’s true. Soarin’s has been my boyfriend for quite some time and then I find out that he’s seeing another mare behind my back! It has left me completely heartbroken! Not that I blame you of course, how could you have known?”

The farm mare gave Soarin’ a bit of a look before turning back to Misty. “Well… if that ain’t the biggest load of horse crap I’ve ever heard.”

“Of course it is—wait what?” Misty asked, her dramatic act coming to a screeching halt.

“I’m saying you’re lying,” Applejack said plainly.

“I-if only that were true!” The female Wonderbolt stuttered. “Poor thing, she’s in denial.”

“The only one in denial here is you, missy,” Applejack muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ve seen this little shindig before. Hell I’m friends with a girl who does the same thing, but at least Rarity is somewhat convincing when she spools her little dramatic tales.” She looked to the rest of the family. “I can’t see how y’all fell for it either. Mighty shameful if you ask me.”

“I’m not lying!” Misty snapped, for a brief moment breaking her fragile victim charade. “He’s a scumbag and a liar and he’s coming back with me this instant!”

“If he’s a scumbag then why do y’all want him back so badly?” The cowpony asked. “You see the little holes in your story? So what’s this all really about?”

Misty was in a panic. She tried to speak up, retort something to the earth pony’s logic but she came up short. Anger was quickly festering up inside of her, this damn mare had been a problem since day one! And she wasn’t going to let some inbred farm hick keep her from getting what she wanted, and if she wouldn’t give him to her, Misty would just have to take him by force.

She looked to Soarin and gave the stallion an evil, diabolical smile. “Fine then… you want the truth? I want Soarin’. I want to screw the hottest Wonderbolt since Wind Rider until his thing falls off.” She took a step towards the mare. “Honest to Celestia you can have him back once I get my rocks off a couple of times, but if you don’t get out of my way this instant I’m going to shove that freckly little face of your back into the dirt where it belongs.”

Applejack scowled at her. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that and let y’all think your next move very carefully.”

“Oh, like I’m afraid of some hillbilly dirt pony. Do you know who I even am? I’m Misty Sky of the Wonderbolts! Graduated top of my class in the academy with over four years of guard service. I could break your neck and you’d be too stupid to realize it. So why don’t you make this easier for both of us and stand aside while I take what’s mine.”

Soarin’ took a deep breath. He really did not like where this was going. Misty wasn’t spewing crap either, all that training was true, she’d never get to become a Wonderbolt without it, and the last thing he wanted to see was AJ hurt. But at the same time, he didn’t want to give Misty what she wanted. He had finally found happiness and he wasn’t going to lose it, even for a second. It was time now… time to break the gentleman’s code.

“You ain’t taking him nowhere,” Applejack growled, placing a hand in front of Soarin’ and stopping him. “I ain’t gonna let you pressure him into doing something stupid. But if you want to get physical than I can more than oblige.” The farm mare cracked her knuckles. “Missy, I’m going to break you in like a free ranging mustang.

Apple Bloom leaned into her grandmother. “That sounded a lot dirtier considering we’re all equines.”

Misty Sky spat onto the ground and took another step forward. Her eyes were locked on her opponent, and she was beginning to plan her assault pattern. She smiled a little, it had been so long since she had found herself in a combat scenario. Being a Wonderbolt really strayed away from all the war and violence, and she would unleash all that pent up violence on this stupid earth pony. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She said, raising her fists up. “And don’t blame me when they have to graft your skull back together.”
> Sunday Evening: Broken Girls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



The two mares stared down at one another. Sparks could almost be seen flickering between their eyes as they sized one-another up. Each mare took slow breaths, waiting to see who would make the first move. Applejack fingers were twitching, like she was getting ready to pull the trigger on a gun. It irritated her a little that Misty seemed to be so calm, and it was slowly dawning on her who exactly she was fighting. She was a pegasus, naturally she wouldn’t be as strong as her, but she’d be quick and nimble, all she had to do was land one good hit and it would all be over.

Misty cracked her knuckles a little. It was time to get things started, and for this apple bumpkin to see how utterly she had fucked up. Her wings flashed open as she zoomed around and behind Applejack. She would get her in a headlock and choke her out. However, the earth pony’s reflexes were quick, and instead of grabbing the orange mare’s neck, she ended up blocking her high kick. Even with both arms taking the blow, she felt her bones rattle and crack under the force of the strike. She had fought earth ponies before and their natural strength was always something to look out for, but this mare had a kick like a culverin.

“Bloody hell…” the pegasus hissed, fluttering off and putting some distance between them. “Are you on horse pills or something?”

“Nah, I just been kicking trees out of their roots since I was eleven,” the farm mare smirked. “What? Did I shake a few things loose?”

Her legs were dangerous, that much could be said. She’d have to just stay above them. In an instant she burst forward again, hovering a few feet in the air as she smashed into Applejack face with her cranium like a javelin. Misty’s head was ringing but she also heard a satisfying crunch of something breaking. Applejack fell to the ground with Misty on top of her.

“Not so tough on your back, are you dirt mare?” The pegasus yelled as she began a relentless barrage of strikes to the farm mare’s face. AJ kept her guard up for most of it but a few blows managed to break through her arms.

With a snarl of roars, Applejack flicked her legs up and caught her foe by the neck. From there, it was filly’s play to throw Misty off of her and get back to her feet. She was a lot faster than she had thought, and she was regretting listening to Twilight and resolving issues with Rainbow with words rather than violence like a sensible pony. At least then she would have been more prepared to fight a military grade pegesus. She would have to keep her senses sharp if she was going to beat her.

“Just one good hit… just one good hit,” Applejack kept saying to herself. The orange mare started running toward Misty before she could get back onto her feet and drove her knee into her stomach. The powerful blow, nearly punctured the pegasus and broke half of her ribs as Applejack stumbled back to the ground. She watched with sick delight as Misty screamed in agony while clutching her stomach. “Just one good hit,” she repeated.

However, despite how much pain she was in, Misty rolled onto her knees and back to her feet. “You think…” she coughed a little, spitting up a bit of blood. “Think I can’t take a hit?”

“You shouldn’t even be standing…”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me!” She zoomed to the cowpony as she was getting up and kicked her in the side of the head. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to work to get to where I am today?” she said on top of her back and grabbed her hair and started pulling it. “How much I’ve sacrificed and gave up for this dream to become a Wonderbolt? To be famous? To sleep with Soarin’?!” She shoved her face back into the dirt. “There is nothing I won’t do to get what I want!”

“Well then that makes two of us,” Applejack spat, a bunch of dirt had gotten into her mouth and it was grinding between her teeth. “I’m willing to make sacrifices too!” She took a deep breath and butted against her attacker. The back of the earth mare’s head rammed into Misty’s chin, her hand still clutched with AJ’s blonde hair so when she was knocked off, the orange mare felt the terrible sting of getting a tad balder. Thankfully most of the hair had slipped out of her fingers but there still were a few golden locks in the pegasus grasp. “And you think you know me? I’m not some damn bimbo looking for some tail, I’m in this for the long haul! I’ve been dreaming of the day when me and Soarin’ could be together and I’ll eat my hat if I let some pegasus bitch ruin that for me!”

With that, she grabbed the Wonderbolt by the face and picked her up, giving her a few good hooks to the jaw, dazing her for a moment. Applejack pushed her off of her before delivering one final blow to finish this up. Her leg wound up and span around in a devastatingly powerful roundhouse, strong enough to slice a fully grown oak in half. But her kicked missed, hitting nothing but air as Misty ducked underneath it and attempted to tackle Applejack to the ground. How was she able to keep fighting with her injuries?

Applejack was quite immovable though, Misty hadn’t been able to gain any momentum to attack her this time and it left her vulnerable. The farm mare grabbed the Wonderbolt’s wings and started to pull on them. As she expected, it caused the pegasus to be thrown into a panic and she let go of the earth pony to shake free and get some air. Applejack saw this coming and grabbed her by her floating ankle before Misty could get too high in the air and slammed her back down to earth. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, AJ kicked her while she was down, and made preparations to dig her foot in her face.

Misty reached around the ground desperately, clawing up a fistful of dirt and flinging it into Applejack’s face. It was a dirty trick but it worked like a charm. The cowpony coughed a little while trying to get the dirt out of her eyes, and she didn’t see the pegasus coming. The Wonderbolt continued with her dirty tactics and dug her teeth deep into Applejack’s arm like a feral animal. She was getting tired, and that meant she was getting desperate. The beast was out now, with snarling fangs and sharpened claws, and said claws dug into Applejack’s skin, and then to her face. The farm mare covered herself with her hand and she could feel them being slashed at, like she was trying to tunnel her way through her flesh.

All Applejack wanted to do was rough her up a little for running her mouth and trying to steal her stallion, but Misty had completely lost it. She was out for blood now, and no move was too low for the crazed mare. “I’m going to kill you!” Misty roared in a way that almost didn’t sound normal. “I’ll gut you like the fucking pig you are!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Within a split second Applejack felt the pegasus lifted off of her, and peeking through her watery, irritated eyes she saw Soarin’ standing over her, Misty Sky squirming in his grasp. The stallion had her by the neck. “This isn’t the battlefield, Misty! And I can’t stand by and watch you kill the love of my life.”

Applejack coughed a little. “Soarin’ I had it under control. Y’all shouldn’t have stepped in.”

“Really?” Soarin’ said in a new tone of voice. Not playful or jokey it was dead serious. His smile had disappeared, leaving a stern look of a stallion that had seen the horrors of war and murder firsthand. His other hand reached to something that was in Misty’s hands. It was something short and shined like silver. Applejack was half blind but even she could noticed the gleam of the knife the blue mare had clutched in her fist. “I must be losing my edge. I didn’t notice she was concealing a knife in the back of her jeans. If I hadn’t stepped in when I did you would be breathing through a new hole in your neck.” He flicked his wrist, twisting Misty Sky’s own wrist, causing her to scream and drop her weapon.

The cowpony rubbed her eyes, looking up at the knife that would have ended her life. Her heart dropped in her chest as she looked with horror at the sharpened killing tool. Soarin’ had saved her life… she would be dead right now choking on her own blood if he wasn’t there, watching over her, protecting her. ‘I know you don’t need a stallion to take care of you, none of the Apple mares ever had, but it’s always nice to know there’s one just in case.’ The words her grandmother had spoken to her before she had left on this little adventure crept back into her head. How right Granny Smith was in that moment.

Soarin’ threw Misty to the ground, the mare coughing a bit as she was able to breathe again. She glared up to Soarin’, gritting her teeth with anger. Soarin’ just sighed. “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done. A little catfight I can look away from but a knife? You’ve just committed career suicide, Misty. First thing Monday morning I’ll see to it you’re relieved from duty and thrown in prison where you belong.”

“Prison huh?” Misty groaned, still lying on the ground. “And I guess conjugal visits are out of the question?” She laughed a bit, clearing her throat as she slowly started to pull herself up onto her knees as Soarin’ got closer. “So you’re really choosing that hick over me, huh?” There was no answer from the stallion, but his silence spoke loudly. “Well fine…” She said, looking up to the stallion she had once worshipped. “But I think you were right about one thing.”

“And what was that?” Soarin’ asked.

“You’re losing your edge,” the blue mare whispered as she lunged at him, having pulled out a second knife hidden in her boot. He hadn’t seen her pull it out when she was getting up. The blade drilled through the air and was aimed right for his heart and Soarin’ was still startled. She would have hit her target if it had not been for some outside intervention. Misty Sky went skyrocketing sideways as a large foot collided with the side of her head. While Soarin’ hadn’t seen the knife, Applejack did and when the orange mare had gotten herself composed again she pounded that last nail in Misty’s coffin.

Misty Sky’s head slammed into a tree trunk and smashed into it with a hard thunk. She laid there motionlessly, blood trickling from both of her ears. Granny Smith wobbled over to the downed mare bent down, seemingly listening to her before turning to the rest of the group. “Well she’s still breathing, I reckon that’s a good thing. All life is precious and all that hooey.”

Applejack gave a small sigh of relief. “Well that’s good. She’s a bitch but I ain’t stooping to her level. Is somepony going to call the PPD?”

“I dialed them the second I saw that knife,” Apple Bloom said, running to Soarin’ and Applejack and giving both of them a big hug. “I’m just so glad that you two are all right!” She cried, squeezing her sister and her sister’s boyfriend closely to her. “I hope they throw that mare into Tartarus for what she’s done.”

“I think that might be a bit extreme,” Soarin’ said, his tone becoming more playful again. “I mean, she’s no Tirek.”

“She tried to kill my sister and her boyfriend! She’s a million times worse than Tirek.” Tears were rolling down her face as she continued to sob uncontrollably with no end in sight. Applejack tried to comfort the mare but there seemed to be little they could do to calm her down. At least the two were alive to fail in calming down the young mare, and not bleeding to death in the mud.

A few minutes later, when everything and everypony finally calmed down, Applejack and Soarin’ had another issue to address. They turned to Cumulus, who had just stood there looking terrified this whole time in silence. The two had a few questions for this pegasus.

“How much of this did you know, kid?” Soarin’ asked. “Did you know that something like this could happen?”

“Look man, I’ve had a pretty crappy weekend,” the dark stallion said, a tinge of fear in his voice. “I paid good money for this mare and all she did was boss me around and drag me all the way here for you. She didn’t do anything I said like I was promised and wouldn’t shut up about either of you. I knew that she had planned on getting you by any means necessary, but I didn’t think she was going to kill somepony over it!”

Everyone turned to AJ, the pony lie detector. “He ain’t fibbing from what I can tell. I think he’s just a dumbass that’s lacking a backbone and got ripped off because of it.”

“Still… you’re probably going to want to tell the same thing to the police once they get here… ah! Speak of the devil,” Applejack said, seeing the flashing lights of red and blue pull up at the gate of the orchard. “Ok, let’s get this unpleasant business finished.”

It didn’t take too long to explain everything to the cops once they got up to the ranch house. Everypony told the truth in great detail as to the exact events that transpired that evening. An ambulance was called to pick up the unconscious Wonderbolt, she would be sent to the hospital to have her wounds treated but the primary analysis said that she had several broken bones and torn muscles, the worst of which was the fact that her skull had actually split in two, and that she was even lucky to be alive. It was however on that account that something unexpected happened.

“What the hell do you mean you’re taking me in?!” Applejack roared as the officer placed extra strength handcuffs around her wrists. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You nearly killed a mare, and you openly admitted to provoking and accepting the fight. That’s attempted murder of the second degree and assault charges.”

“But she was protecting me!” Soarin’ said. “Or did you not hear the whole ‘Misty tried to stab me and her bit’?”

The police officer sighed. “Look sir, I’m just doing my job. To be completely honest, there’s outstanding testimony that Miss Sky here is in the wrong but the fact remains that Applejack did agree to the fight, which is illegal in Ponyville. Unless you can pay her bail she’ll be spending the night in the drunk tank.”

Soarin’ growled. This was such horse shit as he reached into his pants and pulled out his wallet, grabbing a wad of bits and shoving it in the cop’s face. “Here, that’s about two thousand bits in bills. Now let her go.”

The cop looked at the money and back at Soarin’, raising an eyebrow. “Sir, are you trying to bribe me?”

“What? No! It’s Applejack’s bail money!”

“Then why are you giving it to me?”

“So you can take it to the police station,” Soarin’ said bluntly.

“So you are trying to bribe me,” the police officer said angrily, pulling out his handcuffs. “Sir, you are under arrest for attempting to bribe an officer of the law. Hold out your hands.”

“WHAT?!” Soarin’ screamed, his eye twitching a little. “I wasn’t bribing you!”

“Sir, calm down and stop resisting arrest!” the cop shouted. “I won’t ask you again.”

“I am calm!” the pegasus yelled, resulting him in getting a swift Taser strike to the stomach. The pegasus fell to the ground in spasms, barely able to form a full sentence as the whole world went black for the stallion.

*****

When Soarin’ woke up again he wasn’t on the farm anymore. He was lying on a cold concrete floor that felt like it hadn’t been cleaned in over a decade. Above him was a crappy light that buzzed like a hornet nest and gave off a white glare. He pulled himself up a bit and noticed that he was in a prison cell. The cold steel bars surrounded him with black rust and he staggered to the front of the bars.

“Well look who’s finally up.” A voice spoke from behind him. He turned around to see Applejack lying down on the bench. It looked like they were the only two ponies in the jail cell. “You got knocked out pretty good. I thought you pegasi types could take a little shock, what handling lightning bolts and all that.”

“Not the same thing…” He groaned, feeling his sore still bare chest. They couldn’t even throw him something to cover himself up. “So what the hell is up with those cops? Are they morons or something?”

Applejack shook her head, pulling her hat up from her eyes. “Nah, they’re just… bored. Something like this hardly ever happens around here and the police didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sure somepony will be down here tomorrow first thing to get us out and clear this mess up.”

“Tomorrow? Why not right now?”

“Take a look around, cowboy,” Applejack said, making a motion around the room. There wasn’t a single pony in the station. “It’s nighttime, and all the ponies went home.”

“Really? There’s not even a night shift or something? A janitor… anypony?”

“This is the PPD, Soarin’,” Applejack muttered. “Unlike most police departments… I’m learning that they’re dumber than a stack of soggy straw. I kind of realize now why Mayor Mare had always asked me and the rest of the girls to solve every crisis that rolls into town.”

“Damn, that’s incompetent…” Soarin’ said, scratching his head. “So… we’re really stuck in here for the night?”

Applejack smiled a little, getting up from her bench and walking to the bars of the cell. “Doubt it,” she said before turning sideways and sticking her arm through it. The orange mare then proceeded to squeeze through the bars. It was a snug fit about halfway through because of her boobs but once she pushed past the bars she was successfully on the other side of the jail cell. “Bars are too wide, this jail cell couldn’t hold anypony.”

“Wow… just wow…” The Wonderbolt said surprisingly. “These are the worst cops I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah, they really are,” the cowpony said, grabbing the jailer’s key loop from the hook on the wall. She went to the door of the jail cell and unlocked it for the stallion. “Well, we just performed a prison break, can scratch that off the bucket list.”

“Yeah… do you think that they’d understand if we left some bail money and a note?”

“Nah… they’d just think a ghost left it there or something, or think it was a bribe,” the orange mare sighed. “We’re not actually going to leave the police station, Soarin’. I just wanted to get some coffee while we wait for morning so we can get bail properly.” She walked to the break room of the police station and started to warm up some coffee. Applejack gave a little displeasing moan. This wasn’t how she expected her last night with Soarin’ to go, getting in a huge fight with a Wonderbolt, being arrested, and having shitty cop coffee for dinner. It nearly brought a tear to her eye.

“Hey,” Soarin’ said, knocking on the door from outside the break room. “Everything cool in here, Jackie?” He said. “You seem a little upset.”

“Of course I’m upset!” Applejack said with a shrilled laugh that nearly sounded like crying. “This whole day has been one big twister in the pig pin. We nearly died today, Soarin’… like I’ve fought against diabolical monsters and dictators and I was always a bit scared… but I never felt like I was going to die. But today… holy crap. We almost died!”

“Yeah, it’s a shitty feeling, isn’t it?” Soarin’ said.

“Oh right… military pony,” Applejack said, feeling a little embarrassed. “You’ve probably been shot and slashed at more times than you care to remember.”

“Yeah, and that’s just from the crazy fans,” Soarin’ said, smiling. “But I’ve learned it’s not healthy to linger on it too much. Just be happy that we’re still alive, and not afraid that we nearly got stabbed by a crazy chick.” He looked at the earth pony, but she still didn’t seem to be convinced. “Hey, look at me.” He said, taking a step closer to Applejack who turned her head. She really did look like she was going to cry. “It’s going to be OK. I ain’t going to let anything hurt you know. There’s no way in hell I’m finding another mare like you in this world. So you dying is not something I’m ever going to let happen.” He placed his hands on each of her shoulders, pulling her in closer, making her look into his eyes. “You got it?”

Applejack got lost in those green irises of his. She felt less tense, and her breathing was starting to slow down and go back to normal. “You know…” The mare said, sniffling a bit. “I don’t need somepony to protect me.”

“I know that,” the blue pegasus nodded. “You’re a hero of Equestria, you kick down trees for a living, there’s probably nothing you can’t do. But I’m still going to be there regardless of how you feel on the matter. So you can be stubborn about it or you can just accept that I care about you and won’t let you fall to harm—“

“You can’t promise that, Soarin’,” Applejack sniffed. “Nopony can.”

“Oh come on, Jackie!” The Wonderbolt snapped at her, lightly placing his hands on both of her shoulders. “That’s not fair. Sure maybe it’s not true, but damn it I’m going to try and make it true. It doesn’t even make any sense that you’re so spooked all of a sudden…” That’s when it dawned on him. “Applejack, what is this really about?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way in hell you didn’t think you were going to die when you fought all those gods and monsters. A knife swipe might have you scared but you’re a strong mare. There’s something else bothering you, so what is it?”

Applejack bit her lips, refusing to admit what was really on her mind. “It’s nothing… just something stupid.”

“Nothing you do is stupid,” Soarin’ said. “So please, tell me so I can help you.”

The orange mare let out a long, pitiful sigh. “Fine… you want the truth? I’m terrified that I was nearly stabbed by some winged nut job, but I’m more upset that well… this is how it all ends for us.” She turned her head a little, not wanting to look Soarin’ in the eyes. “I had a big night planned for the two of us to give you a proper send off, and then Misty comes in and fucks it all up! Because this is it after tonight. You’re going back to the Wonderbolts where we’ll maybe keep in touch but what happens if you find some new piece of tail and forget about that farm girl from that one weekend? I just wouldn’t want this to be the way this ends.”

“Wow…” Soarin’ said. He could not believe what he was hearing. “That… has to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, Applejack.” The mare gave him a weird look, not thrilled to have been called an idiot. “Sorry… but it’s true, or have you already forgotten all the stuff I’ve done to try and find you? Do you really think after years of searching I’m just going to let you go? Hell no! I’m sorry but we’re stuck together until the day we die… I mean not in a creepy way!” He had to mention. “I mean if you really want to break up I’m not going to resent you for it—but I mean I don’t want that to happen… although maybe it’s not really my place to say—“

“Soarin’.”

“There’s certain laws that we both have to respect as well if we were to get married one day—“

“Soarin’.”

“And I’m pretty adventurous, but I’d rather not jam anything up my butt so if that’s a deal breaker then—”

“Soarin’!” Applejack yelled. “Just shut up, you big moron.” The farm pony closed the gap between him and her, pressing their lips up against one another. She felt his arms wrap around the small of her back, pushing her ever closer until she was pressed up against him. It was a short kiss, but it did get him to stop yammering. “You don’t have to explain yourself for me. I get it. The two of us, it was fated that we’d end up meeting after all those years, and for the record, you’re the one stuck with me.”

“We’re stuck with each other,” Soarin’ smiled, giving the orange mare a quick peck on her forehead. He glanced over at the clock ticking away on the wall, sighing when he saw that the night was already reaching its conclusion. In a few hours it would be Monday, and this weekend that felt like a year in a fortnight would be over. He would have to leave and start working on a schedule so he could visit Applejack as often as possible, and of course try and talk to the higher ups to downplay his Casanova factor now that he was a taken stallion. Last thing he wanted was his new marefriend getting jealous over a misunderstanding and putting some poor girl in the hospital…

Applejack gave a loud yawn and a stretch. She felt like she had barely gotten any sleep this weekend. A fair assumption when half of it was spent lying awake procrastinating and the other half between Soarin’s legs. “Well I don’t know about you, but I think I’m ready to get some well needed shuteye. Should we got back to the cell?”

“Aww? Already,” the pegasus moped. “I’m not even sleepy yet.”

“Doesn’t matter because I am, cowboy,” Applejack said. “I think my body finally just hit the wall.”

“Fine,” Soarin’ said, rolling his eyes playfully. There was probably no winning with her this exhausted. Besides, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world for them to get some sleep.

And with that, Applejack and Soarin’ walked back to their cell, passing through the stupidly spaced bars and took a seat on the tiny and rather uncomfortable bed. Tonight wouldn’t be the finale that they were hoping for, no last big ho-rah between the two of them, but perhaps they found something better than sex. They found comfort in one another, safety in each other’s arms. A pony they could trust with anything, even their life. They found true love.
	
> Monday Morning: Goodbye for Now
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Soarin’s sleep was short but well deserved. The second he closed his eyes it was as if he was taking the entire weight of the whole weekend off of his back. He felt a hundred pounds lighter, like he could walk on clouds—err, water? Damn, being nearly weightless when it came to surfaces made it difficult for the Pegasus to come up with a proper simile. He was happy, plain and simple, no need for him to bust a brain cell trying to think of something clever.

Even while asleep he could feel her cuddled up in his arms. Applejack’s fur was warm against his own coat. If he dared peek open an eye, he imagined he’d be greeted with the most wonderful sight in Equestria. Sleeping Applejack, nothing could compare to it, really. The big, tough gal snoozing so innocently by his side, showing off a cute and adorable side that rarely surfaced in the wake of others, a side of hers where she let her guard down and relaxed.

Anypony who knew Applejack and could witness such a thing would probably become flustered with laughter and perhaps a tad bit of embarrassment for her, but the first pony that early morning wasn’t a pony that knew Applejack that well, or perhaps even at all other than a glance for two in a newspaper article. This pony did however, know Soarin’ quite well.

“Aww, aren’t you just freaking adorable, Clipper.”

That name… that terrible, haunting name from his past… there were only a handful of ponies that knew that blasted stain on his life, and from the tone of the voice, it was the vixen witch he called a best friend. Soarin’ stirred awake, groaning angrily under his breath as he opened his eyes, being greeted by a yellow mare with a mane like a forest fire.

“Spitfire…” Soarin’ yawned, staring blankly at the Pegasus with soggy eyes. “Are you really here, or did is this all just a bad dream?”

“Ha, ha, you’re hysterical. We both know this isn’t a dream,” Spitfire grinned. “If this was a dream, I’d be naked and you’d be—“

“Hey, easy!” Soarin’ snapped, his hands covering up Applejack’s ears as he hushed Spitfire. “Can we not have this conversation right now? And for the record, if I’ve ever had a dream of you, it’d be to lock you away from the rest of the world to stop your sexual corruption.”

The yellow mare gave a fake, sarcastic gasp. “Are you implying that I’m a deviant? Because I prefer to be called a free-spirit…. Or slut. Take your pick. But on a semi-serious note, why all shushy-shushy with earth chick? Did you…” Upon muttering those words her voice trailed off and she froze. Her mind slowly started to piece the situation before her. Soarin’ was in a jail cell (irrelevant but worth rounding back to) with a girl, a rather cute girl if you dug the country look. Soarin’…. Girl… Soarin’… Girl…

Bit by bit, Spitfire’s eyes widened, her mouth opened up into a wide grin. Her wings started to unfold as her excitement finally hit its peak as she shot both of her arms up in victory, screaming at the top of her lungs:

“YOU GOT LAID!!”

This sudden outburst of noise was enough to shake the room. Small objects sitting on top of the many police desks rattled a little, a few of them even falling over. The noise was also enough to jumpstart Applejack out of her slumber, the orange mare shooting upwards and swinging at the air in front of her as if she was being attacked.

“What in the hickory hell is going on?!” The now wired awake AJ panicked, looking around the room for the culprit. “When I get… oh…” she started to calm down. She wasn’t being attacked at the moment, but she was still in the jail cell. “Right, we’re still here.”

Spitfire’s arms shot out from between the bars and grabbed Applejack by the shoulders, pulling her in for a big hug, or as much of a hug as she could muster. “Thank Celestia and her big sunny ass, you orange son of a bitch! I didn’t think anypony could get Soarin’ out of his stupid abstinence pledge. I mean you must give some killer head or have magic lady bits—say you two ain’t exclusive right? Because if you could get the prude master over here to rock some rocks then what do you think you could do for me?”

Applejack didn’t have a single clue about what Spitfire was talking about. She had been awake for less than seven seconds and she was already being forced into a hug from a crazy pony that wanted to have sex with her. All she really could muster up was a confused, “W-what?”

“Seriously, Spits I—”

“I swallow.”

“Oh my goddess,” Soarin’ facepalmed, dragging his hand across his face. It was like talking to a horny three-year old. “What I was saying is…” He waited for Spitfire to say something cheeky, but she thankfully stayed quiet, or quiet enough for him to speak. “… I don’t see how even you, with your never ending libido and sex cravings could still be hungry for mere mortals. I mean, you spent the weekend with a billionaire couple in the middle of the forest in a cabin. You cannot tell me that you didn’t find a way to turn that into a three day sex-a-thon…”

Soarin’ waited for Spitfire’s comeback. She would laugh a bit, say something snarky or maybe an innuendo, but instead he was greeted with silence. The flame-haired mare’s smile faltered, sagging and going limp as a tear—an actual pony tear, leaked through her eye.

The blue Pegasus was stunned. Soarin’ had known Spits nearly his whole life, and ever since she lost her virginity he had only ever seen her this sad three times before. Once when her pet toucan flew away, again when her father passed away, and a third time during her medical leave three years ago where she got kneed in the vagina and couldn’t have sex for three days.

“Holy shit…” Soarin’ gasped, covering his mouth with legit horror. “You… you haven’t had sex in over seventy two hours, have you?”

“IT WAS HORRIBLE!” Spitfire shouted. “What was worse was that it wasn’t just Fancy and Fleur, oh hell no. No, there was another couple there so I was like ‘Aww yeah! I smell a five-way,’ BUT THEY WERE ALL PRUDES! They were like ‘Ooh, I like having a platonic relationship with my gentleman lover’ and the other bitch was like ‘Something, something, something, French,’ and the guys weren’t any help! And everyone kept fighting and having sex around me—oh sweet Luna’s tits they had a lot of sex. Not with me of course! No I just had to fucking listen to it. It was porn radio, Soarin’ and it DOES. NOT. WORK FOR ME! I had to actually masturbate for the first time in fuck knows how long, and I think I did it wrong because I’m still horny! So YES! I haven’t had sex in over three days and it’s causing me to be very, very, eccentric!” By the end of that little speech, she was panting. Spitfire was getting all hot and bothered again, and was squeezing Applejack closer to her by the second. With one of her sweaty inhales, Spitfire let out a pleasurable groan. “Goddess… you smell so good.” She moaned into AJ’s ear. “Babe, do me a favour and reach down the front of my pants. Mama needs it bad.”

Applejack looked like she was in the grasp of a serial killer, looking even more terrified than when she was about to die yesterday. Her head slowly turned to Soarin’ for some answers. “Soarin’… who is this mare that just asked me to finger her?”

“That’s Spitfire…” Soarin’ sighed. “And sadly, you’re not the first pony she’s asked to do that. Although she’s going to be very disappointed to find out that we’re a couple!” He made sure to yell that last part out quite loudly, so even Spitfire could hear it.

“Sure, kick me while a girl’s down, real nice of you,” the yellow Pegasus complained, letting go of Applejack. For all her depravity, Spitfire would never sleep with a taken stallion or mare without a blessing from the other. “Monogamy, my only weakness.”

The orange mare dusted herself off a bit, straightening her clothes a bit. “So… this is Spitfire? I think this is the first time we’ve been formally introduced. Though Soarin’ has told me quite a tale about you.”

“Nothing good, I hope,” Spitfire said, taking a little bow, proud of her depravity. “But the honour’s all mine. I mean it’s not every day you meet the girl that was able to pull Clipper here out of his slump. Don’t know if you know this, but he’s been obsessing over some pie bitch he met at the G.G.G. like forever ago. He was honestly becoming kind of a prick.”

“Pie bitch, huh?” Applejack grinned. “Y’all can just call me Applejack or AJ. Pie bitch has a bit of a nasty ring to it.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Spitfire gasped. “What? No… seriously?! You’re the—DAMN!” She turned to her partner, wide-eyed with disbelief. “HA! You lucky ass. Well, all in all I’m happy for you, Soarin’, especially if it means you’ll stop being so damn mopey and sentimental and I can get my buddy back. Now come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“But…” Applejack started to wonder, poking her head through the bars of the cell. “There aren’t any police officers around now that I take a moment to look around.” It was true, the station was just as barren and lifeless as it was that night, save for Spitfire. “Where are all the cops?”

“Oh, there’s a sign out front saying they don’t start work until ten or something. Seriously, I just came from a town full of whack jobs but these are some seriously terrible pigs.” The yellow Pegasus reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys. “Prison break!” She said enthusiastically, unlocking the door and swinging it open. “Come on, if the sign’s correct we only have two hours to make our getaway, and if you really are Applejack, then your brother is waiting for us outside.”

“My brothers back?” Applejack asked.

Spitfire shook her head eagerly. “Oh yes, and can I just say that I pity you. If that guy was my brother, I’d have sinned him so hard his mane would be white.”

Applejack cringed at that thought. Thinking about her brother in that way was enough to trigger her gag reflex, and stop her in her tracks as she tried to throw up that terrible image of her and Macintosh going at it.

“Like seriously, girl, his dick is like the size of my forearm, and the way they were going at it, I have no idea how Cheerilee hasn’t been split down the middle, or at least been put into a wheelchair.” She laughed as the farm mare continued to wallow in misery. “She might be the luckiest mare in Equestria!”

“Spits, please stop—”

“I swallow.”

“And I’ve got to stop using your name in shorthand,” the aggravated stallion muttered. “But please stop mentioning incest and her brother’s dick size? For me? For at least twenty minutes.”

The mare took a heavy breath and sighed. “Fine, but don’t say I never do anything for you.”

The three of them headed out of the empty police station, with Soarin’ taking a quick moment to leave some cash at the front counter and a quick note that explained the situation, and would most likely be ignored anyways. They stepped out into the town streets, being eight in the morning on a Monday meant that many ponies were already up and going on their daily lives. Kids were heading to school, shops were opening up, and others were jogging or walking around town. Waiting under an old tree by the police station stood a couple, a massive red stallion, and a busty purple mare.

Upon seeing her big brother, Applejack waved and ran over to the large clydesdale. The way she acted, it looked like she hadn’t seen him in years, just a small testament to their kinship.

“Hey, Mac,” She said, giving her brother a quick hug. “Cheerilee. Hope y’all had a nice weekend. Granny Smith is still pissed to all hell that you went on that little vacation and we’re way behind on picking apples. So I hope you’re ready to bust your hump today.”

Big Mac gave a slow nod, smiling a little as he bellowed. “Eeyup.”

“Good, cause I’ve had a crazy weekend myself—oh! Speaking of…” She waved over Soarin’, who looked like he had turned into stone, to meet her brother. “I got somepony you’ll want to meet.”

Soarin’ could see that he was being summoned, but his legs refused to move. Applejack was a tall mare, standing over six feet tall, but this brother of hers… he really earned the ‘Big’ in his name. The tips of AJ’s ears barely scaled up to the red stallion’s pecs, and each looked like they could rival steel in hardness, and Applejack wanted him to go near this thing?

Well, he was going to have to meet the brother eventually… no time like the present. The Wonderbolt shuffled over to the giant pony. “H-hi… I’m Soarin’—”

“Big Macintosh,” AJ’s brother said, slowly extending his gigantic hand to him. Soarin’ placed his far more mortal hand in its clutches and shook it. He could only imagine that to Mac, it was like shaking hands with a kitten.

“Nice to meet you…” Soarin’ gulped. He had faced down a lot in his life. Wars, dragons, murderous mares… but THIS would forever be the single most terrifying moment of his life. Shaking the hand of the stallion who probably took shits bigger than him.

“A pleasure,” Macintosh said sternly, his voice was like a subsonic boom. “So… you’re sleeping with my sister?”

“MAC!” Applejack frowned.

“Please don’t eat my heart…” Soarin’ whispered under his nervous smile.

“I’m just trying to make conversation,” Macintosh said, his grip on Soarin’s hand becoming more and more crushing. “As your big brother, it’s my job to make sure any fellas you meet aren’t following their own agendas. For all I know he’ll knock you up and run awaAAAHHH!”

Suddenly the behemoth of a stallion let go of the pegasus and crippled over backwards, his head leaning far down past his body and his ear pinched between the firm grip of Cheerilee’s fingers. The school teacher let out a disappointing groan. “I’m terribly sorry for that, Soarin’. He may seem like a grizzly bear but he’s more like a teddy bear. He just forgets his manners, isn’t that right dear?”

There was a twist on Mac’s ear as he wallowed in pain. “E-Eeyup!”

“Good, now stop scaring your sister’s coltfriend and play nice. Can I trust you to do that while I’m gone?” The clydesdale nodded obediently and the magenta mare let him free. “Thank you dear,” she beamed while walking off. “I wish we could catch up but I have a class to teach in less than an hour. But we will catch up, AJ. Tootles!” She said before walking out of earshot and towards the schoolhouse. Her weekend was over, and while it was a story in itself, would have to wait for another time. There was an algebra test first period that day.

“Damn…” Spitfire said, watching the schoolteacher walk off. “What I would do to that ass.” There was a loud huff from Macintosh who glared at her. “Relax big guy I was just joking.”

“This was my whole weekend…” Mac sighed, turning to Applejack, who almost immediately flicked him on the nose. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Cheerilee can’t be the only one who gets to put you in place,” she said with a deadpanned stare. “You might be her new bitch, but you’ll always be my mine.” Applejack wrapped her arm around Soarin’, pulling him close as she laughed. “Just like Soarin’ here is my new bitch.”

“Can I be your bitch too?” Spitfire asked. “Once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“I’ll pass,” AJ groaned.

“Well fuck you too,” the yellow mare muttered frustratingly. “Soarin’, grab your shit and let’s get out of here. We have practice in like two hours and we still have to pick up Misty Sky and Fleetfoot.”

“Yeah, I have to tell you something about that…”

“Save it for later, Soarin’,” Spitfire said, opening her wings and taking flight. “I’m going to fly around town and see if anypony wants some strange, but meet me at the road leading out of town in half an hour, so no dog-fucking around, you got it?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Soarin’ sighed, rolling his eyes as Spitfire took off.

Applejack frowned a little, watching the Pegasus fly away in a blast of black smoke. “I don’t know how I feel about you hanging around with that mare.” She said as she started to walk towards home.

“You can’t be serious,” The Wonderbolt grumbled, “Spitfire is many things, but she’d never go out knowingly with another stallion. If anything, you should be happy that she’s going to be around me all the time. Even if I ever had the tiniest little inkling to cheat on you, which I’d NEVER do, I wouldn’t because Spitfire would break my back and make me suck my own pecker.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Only a little, that’s the messed up part,” Soarin’ shuddered as they approached Sweet Apple Acres. Even though he had only spent the weekend at the farmhouse, it felt like more of a home to him than his sky mansion ever did, and he was going to miss it and everything about it. The open warm skies, the forest of trees, the shit-smelling fields, and of course the family that had been such kind hosts to him. He wondered how they would fair in his absence. It was almost laughable how he somehow forgot that he wasn’t actually a member of their family for a moment, but he was treated just as if him and Applejack were siblings—OK, incest, need to avoid that… like they were lifelong friends, that works.

Big Mac opened the front door. “I’m heading to the fields,” he said, glaring at Soarin’. “Don’t you try anything funny with my sister.”

Soarin’ nodded his head nervously as he bolted into the house and away from that monster of a stallion. It was a good thing that Macintosh hadn’t been there all weekend, or else things probably would have been a lot different, more likely than not he’d probably wouldn’t have had any relations with Applejack that whole weekend, maybe he wouldn’t even have found out that AJ was the pie mare from the Grand Galloping Gala.

It must have been fate.

Just like it was fate that the weekend would end and he would have to get back to his boring life as a pro-athlete/celebrity. Well, maybe not boring but it paled in comparison to this weekend. He dragged his feet up the stairs, every step clinging to the wood like a magnet so he could stay here forever. It was a fight to pry open the door to his room under the weight of his own reluctance.

The mare at his side helped him put his clothes away, or what little he had with him. She also seemed to be taking her sweet time while helping him pack. The same thoughts he was having were also running through the farm girl’s mind. She didn’t want this to be over, not yet. The two of them still had so much to learn about one another. The bones were there, but she wanted to know every aspect of who he was when he wasn’t Soarin’ the Wonderbolt.

“This sucks…” Soarin’ groaned. “I wonder what Spitfire would think if I said that I wanted to take an early retirement.”

“I think you’ve got a good while until then, sugar cube,” Applejack said, folding up Soarin’s Wonderbolt uniform. “And don’t worry about the clothes, you can keep them if you’d like. Give you something to remember me by.”

“Thanks, but there’s no way I’m forgetting about you again,” Soarin’ smiled. “And you better mail me some of those pies of yours, it’s all I’ve been thinking about since Saturday.”

“Maybe this time I can keep the rainwater out of it,” Applejack replied, closing his suitcase. “Well… I guess that’s the last of it. You going to go and meet up with Spitfire now?”

“Yeah… I guess I should,” he said, standing there in the middle of the room looking at Applejack. She stood there as well, staring back at him.

“Well, she did give you thirty minutes…” Applejack said.

“And it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if I was a little late…” Soarin’ replied.

Within a moment they were on each other. Their bodies slammed into one another, tugging at each other’s clothing, pulling one another closer while their lips wrestled passionately. This would be the last time they would be able to do this, and damn it they were going to make the best of it. They wasted no time tearing into each other’s clothing, the buttons on AJ’s shirt nearly popping off from the way the Wonderbolt forcefully ripped the front open.

Applejack shimmied her jacket off and started to pull up on her undershirt. Being thrown in jail she hadn’t had the opportunity to change her clothes, and it felt wonderful in its own way to be rid of them. While Soarin’ worked on getting himself undressed she started undoing her belt, letting her jeans and panties hit her ankles before jumping onto her bed. There wouldn’t be any time for foreplay, they were on the clock after all. She laid on her back, rubbing her tits gently with her legs wide open.

He was clear for landing as he pulled down his pants and briefs, crawling onto the bed over AJ. Their lips met once again while his free hand gave his half-limp member a few motivational strokes to peak its interest.

“Since we’re in a bit of a rush, I guess now would be time to show you a little pegasus trick,” he panted, nestling his cock between her legs.

“Trick? What are you going to do? Pull a rabbit out of my ass?”

“No, but that would be interesting,” Soarin’ muttered, pushing slowly between Applejack’s walls, inching his length in bit by bit. “Just… brace yourself.”

“For wha—oh my stars!” Applejack gasped. Feeling something utterly fantastic inside her. It rattled her senses, and the farm mare’s mind wasn’t able to comprehend what was happening to her. She wanted to look but her eyes were starting to roll to the back of her skull. AJ’s mind grew blank while Soarin’ continued to thrust and fuck her. Each time he pressed into her, she felt like she would lose it. Soarin’s dick was impressive, but there was no way that she could ever imagine it could somehow feel this good. There had to be a trick to it, but she was too out of it to figure it out.

The Wonderbolt picked up the pace, his hips working like a piston pounding down on Applejack. He strained back, trying to ignore the pain growing in his pelvis. This little move of his took a lot of concentration and stamina, as well as a bit of pain tolerance. It was a move that forwent his own pleasure in order to maximize his partner’s, and he wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. Although from the look of Applejack’s sex-face she wouldn’t be able to last much longer either. It did show a tolerance in herself. Girls in the past that he used this technique on usually came in a minute or two. Applejack, even though having becoming nothing more than a lust-minded, groaning, pile of flesh and tits had still held out longer than any girl in the past.

Soarin’ gave one final thrust, flexing his hips and keeping his dick pressed inside of her, and focused his last remaining energy into pulling Applejack over the edge, and she came crashing gown. Applejack gave a loud, high-pitch squeal as her voice cracked, her drawl even disappearing into a girly cry of pure ecstasy. He sadly, would be denied this pleasure, as the Pegasus didn’t even have the energy to cum anymore, and instead slipped out of her gripping twat and roll to the side of the bed. He would be fine once given a few minutes to catch his breath, but the idea of flying home wasn’t going to be fun.

Applejack just laid there, waiting for the stars to stop flying around her head. “What…” She mumbled, her mind starting to remember how to form words. “What… what did you do and why in tarnation haven’t you’ve been doing that all along?”

“You never pull up the big guns right off the bat,” Soarin’ panted, his head rolling over to look at Applejack. “If I did this the first time we made love, then you wouldn’t have anything to look forward to.”

“And what is this, anyways?” Applejack asked. “Cause I’d really like to know and send a bushel of apples to whoever taught you that.”

“Learnt it from an old friend, not giving you his name,” The Pegasus said. “But look down at my crotch and I’ll show you. Just don’t blink or anything because I’m already spent.” Both of her green eyes were locked on his bobbing prick, standing tall and proud with pent up desire. Soarin’ started to groan a little as if he was trying to force something to happen, and for a brief second, Applejack saw what had brought her so much joy. His cock started to rattle very quickly, causing a fuzzy blur for a moment before Soarin’ gasped and his dick fell limp.

“It… You can vibrate your dick?!”

“For a bit, yeah…” Soarin yawned. “But it takes a lot out of me, I can’t even cum myself after doing it, so I only did it for girls I cared about, and now only for you. But please, let’s make this a more seasonal thing, like… happy birthday! Here’s my vibrating penis.”

“Oh sugar cube…” Applejack grinned, rolling to her side and playfully brushing his mane a little. “That’s not going to work for me. Y’all need to get on some sort of regimen because I ain’t going back to normal sex after that. I finally have a leg up on Rarity! She loves bragging about Spike’s big dragon cock, but I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her my coltfriend’s dick is part vibrator!” She started rubbing her hands wickedly. “That’ll show miss prissy butt who’s boss!”

“Yeah… I’m sure she’ll be super upset,” Soarin’ yawned. “Holy crap I just want to lay here forever…”

“Me too, feather boy,” Applejack sighed. “So when do y’all think you’ll be able to visit me again?”

“As soon as possible,” Soarin’ said, rolling out of the bed to put his clothes back on. “I guess this time it really is till next time.” His smile started to falter. “I’m really going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too,” Applejack said, her smile fading away as well. “But you got a job to do and so do I. These apples aren’t going to buck themselves.”

“Oh I’m sure that they could make a contraption that—”

“NO!” AJ snapped. “I mean… there’s more heart in the way we do it.”

“Yeah you’re probably right,” Soarin’ said, doing up his belt and grabbing his suitcase. He walked over to AJ and pressed his lips against hers once last time, savouring its sweet taste and locking it into his memory. “I’ll see you soon, Jackie.”

“You better,” Applejack said back, leaning forward as Soarin’ pulled his head away. She’d get up and walk out with him, but her legs weren’t working right now and she was far too comfy at the moment. Instead she watched from her bed as the Wonderbolt walked to her window and opened it up. He looked back at her one more time and smiled before taking off to go and meet Spitfire again.

Applejack watched him from the window for as long as she could before he disappeared behind some clouds and sighed. Her legs still were sore and she doubted she could walk properly, let alone kick apples off a tree. Instead though, she rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself halfway off her bed. Her hand reached and searched for something she stuffed up in her bedsprings and pulled out a small leather book and a pen. Dragging herself back on the mattress, she opened the journal and flipped passed some old diary entries and went to a blank page. She readied her pen and wrote a title at the top of the page.
‘My future wedding.’
> Epilogue: 18 Years Later… On a Saturday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



The loud crow of a rooster cut through the silent morning at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack rolled on her pillow, burying her face into it. All the orange mare wanted to do was sleep for just five more minutes. It was Saturday after all, and she got to sleep in on Saturdays. Her ears rang as the rooster gave another croaky caw. Maybe they would have rooster for dinner tonight.

She waited in the silence for the rooster to give another call. Maybe it was telepathic and didn’t want to get eaten, but the animal didn’t crow again. She sighed, rolling again underneath her thick blanket. It was autumn now, and it was getting colder every night. Thank the goddess she had someone to keep her warm for nearly two decades. Soarin’ was out cold as usual, and it would take nothing short of a large explosion to wake him up. She envied his ability to sleep through all the animal noises on the farm, and nearly everything else.

But there was one sure-fire way to get him awake. As she pressed her body up against his, she threw her leg over his hips and climbed on top of him. Soarin’ normally slept without a shirt, and last night was no exception. The farm mare found herself playing with them a little, letting her fingertips become tantalized by the chiseled bumps. Time had been kind to the stallion, although the work she put him through on the farm probably didn’t hurt. A minute or two later she remembered what she was doing and leaned down to Soarin’ and kissed him.

A second later she felt his lips part slightly and kiss her back. Soarin’s eyes opened slowly as they parted. “Morning, friendly,” he said.

“Morning to you too,” the farm mare yawned, nuzzling her nose against his cheek playfully before collapsing on top of him. “I don’t know why I woke you up…”

“Probably because you were bored… or hungry… maybe horny?” Soarin’ asked, listing the first few things that came to mind. “Or maybe you just wanted to wake me up on the only day we’re allowed to sleep in to torture me by sleep depravity, you wicked, wicked, woman.”

“Hmm, guess I’m found out,” she hummed, closing her eyes as she felt around blindly for the stallion’s hand. When she found it, she grasped it, their fingers curling up tightly around one another. “Nah, I’m just awake because that damn rooster wouldn’t stop its gawking.”

“And here I was hoping that you were horny,” Soarin’ sighed.

“Well can’t I be both?” the orange mare grinned, her hand beginning to slide down the stallion’s stomach to his boxers. “I mean, now that you suggest it…”

Before she could get any farther, there was a loud knock at the door. She was about to ask who it was, but the door swung open anyways. While Applejack wondered why they even bothered to knock, a small, speedy blur flapped its way into the room and onto their bed. There was a hard thud on Applejacks back as the intruder decided to land on her back, squishing her into Soarin’.

Applejack looked over her shoulder painfully, seeing the little tyke bouncing on her back. A young Pegasus, no older than five, was staring wide-eyed at the farm mare. She rocked back and forth on her rear end, rolling backwards as she stumbled a bit and brushed some of her dark golden locks out of her emerald green eyes.

“Ginger Gold Apple, what are you doing up so early?” Soarin’ asked, letting Applejack roll off of him as he leaned across the bed and picked up the young foal, giving her a big kiss on her forehead. “Are your brothers up?” She shook her head. “Your sister?” Again, she nodded no. “So what’s the big emergency that couldn’t wait another hour or two?”

“I’m hungry,” the little pony beamed. “Can you make me some pancakes?”

“Can you wait maybe about twenty minutes?” Soarin’ asked. Applejack had been very persuasive earlier and he wouldn’t mind grasping that golden opportunity. “Then Mommy and I will make you all the pancakes you can eat.”

“OK!” Ginger said excitedly, jumping off the bed with a flurry of flaps from her little wings. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes!” She stumbled a little on her landing but she soon took off into the hallway, thankfully closing the door behind her.

The second he heard the door click shut, Soarin’ flipped over on top of Applejack. “Quickly, we only have twenty minutes!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “You know she’s going to come back in thirty seconds? Kid has no sense of time.”

“You’re right…” Soarin’ thought. “Better skip the foreplay.”

“Cool it, cowboy,” Applejack grinned. “Keep it holstered for now. We got kids to feed.”

Soarin’ groaned, rolling off of AJ and out of bed. “Remind me why we decided to have kids again?”

“Because somepony has a hard time keeping it in his pants…” Applejack teased.

“Hey, I got you a diamond ring, the least you can do is put out a little,” the Pegasus said. “If anything, we’re both to blame for this.”

“I’ll agree to that,” Applejack smiled, looking at her left ring finger where a golden band with a big, fat diamond had sat for nearly twenty years. It reminded her of the greatest decision she had ever made in her life.

There was a loud knock on the door as another one of her decisions made herself known. “Mommy, Daddy! It’s been twenty minutes! Can I have pancakes now?” Ginger Gold shouted from the other side of the door.

“Go wake up your siblings and we’ll be down in a minute, sugar cube!” Applejack called through the door as she threw on an old shirt. She heard the skittering of feet running away from the door. At least their youngest never had problems listening. “C’mon, we better hurry up. Now that I think about it, it’s going to get really late in the day soon.”

“Remember when time didn’t seem to move so fast?” Soarin’ asked as he slipped out of his boxers and put on some proper pajama pants. “Before everything seemed to take forever, but now you snap your fingers and the day is gone.”

“Aww, now don’t get all methodical on me,” the farm mare muttered now dressed enough to leave her room. “Don’t take too long, featherboy.” She said, swinging her door open and slipping out of their room. Applejack took a silent yawn and stretch as she slowly made her way down the hallway. As she did, other doors started to open up as well. The first belonged to her oldest, and the still asleep teenager shuffled out of her room in a bathrobe. Her daughter had a coat as white as the clouds, and a messy mane as violently dark as a red gala. Small clusters of brown freckles littered her nose, and her sleepy eyes cracked open, her green orbs glistening a little as she noticed her mother.

“Morning, Ma…” She muttered in a similar accent to her mother’s and zombie walked to the bathroom. “You making breakfast?”

“Your sister wants pancakes, Snow,” Applejack said, walking past her eldest. “Was mighty keen on it too, so be down in five, OK?”

“Fine,” the young white mare yawned, trying to open the door to the bathroom, but it was locked. “Oh for… Aerial! Come on! Hurry up in there, I got to brush my teeth!”

There was some laughing from within the bathroom, and somepony inside flushed the toilet. “Sorry, can’t hear you, sis! I’m dropping logs!”

Snow Apple let out a whiny growl, banging on the door louder. “You’re so gross! Ma, why can’t we get another bathroom? There’s like a dozen ponies that live here and we’re all sharing one bathroom!”

“Because we share things in this family, but if you have an emergency, you can use your father’s and mine,” Applejack suggested. Her daughter looked like she was going to continue arguing about this, but instead she just turned around and walked back into her room, slamming the door shut. Applejack sighed. “Seventeen-year olds…” She mumbled to herself, heading down the stairs and to the kitchen.

She already had a few ponies waiting for her at the breakfast table. Ginger Gold was waiting eagerly for her breakfast to be served, and next to her was another young foal who was quite hungry as well. Boom was Ginger’s twin brother, though not identical. While Ginger was yellow with blonde locks, Boom was a dirty brown with a dark mane like his father’s. Where the young filly was a Pegasus, Boom was an earth pony. They were both, however, equally energetic and excitable.

“Pancakes!” Boom yelled, he was always a bit of a projector. “You’re making pancakes, right Ma?”

Applejack nodded while bending down and reaching into the cupboards for the pancake mix. “Do y’all think you can give me a hand and grab the milk and eggs? The more you help Ma the faster I can get breakfast going.”

“OK!” The twins said in unison, both making a beeline to the fridge. Ginger carefully fluttered a little off the floor to reach the milk from the top rack of the fridge. She passed down the milk jug to her brother before grabbing the eggs. The two of them handed the ingredients to their mother, rushing back to their seats right after.

As Applejack began to make the pancakes, her other son made his way down the stairs. Aerial Ace, her fourteen-year old, waddled down to join the rest of the waking family. Her eldest son was almost a spitting image of his father, a light blue Pegasus with an oily black mane. They would be twins if it weren’t for the fact that his face was littered with white freckles, making it look like he landed face-first in a can of white paint, and it splattered all over him. Even under his shirt, he had white buildups of pearly spots. Of course this morning he wasn’t wearing a shirt, much to his mother’s displeasure.

“Finished harassing your sister, Ace?” Applejack asked, not even looking over her shoulder while talking to him. “Cause if that’s so, you can mosey on back to your room and put on a shirt. You know the rule, no shirt, no shorts, no breakfast.”

“Aww, c’mon Ma,” Aerial moaned. “I’m tired.”

“And I’m tired of having this argument,” the farm mare said bluntly. “So why don’t we skip the argument and jump straight the part where I threaten to take my shirt off and you go—”

“Ah, goddess, fine!” the young stallion winced, not wanting to picture his mother without any degree of clothing while he marched back up the stairs, passing Snow Apple while he ascended.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Applejack said, greeting her daughter as she poured some of the pancake mix into a frying pan. “Take a seat, breakfast will be ready soon.”

“My breath smells terrible…” The white mare muttered as she took her seat, folding her arms on the table and resting her head in them. “Aerial hid my toothbrush again.”

“Oh for—That kid…” Applejack groaned. “Well, I’m sure you’ll live without brushing your teeth once.”

“But I like having clean teeth…” Snow said, her tongue rummaging around her jaw. “I can already feel yesterday’s dinner griming up and turning into gum rot.”

“Eww!” Ginger spat, sticking her tongue out in disgust. “You have cootie mouth.”

“Ah! Stay away from me!” Boom cried, shuffling his seat away from his older sister. “I don’t want to get infected.”

“Kids!” Applejack snapped. “Enough. No pony has a cootie mouth, so y’all can shut up and stop dragging your seats on the hardwood.” She flipped the last of the pancakes in her pan and plated it. Once there was a steamy, warm stack of flapjacks on the saucer, the farm mare brought the plate over and set it on the table just as Soarin’ made his way down to the breakfast table, followed by Aerial. “Just in time, boys, get them while they’re hot!”

“Mm, looks great, Jackie,” Soarin’ said, leaning over to his wife and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, looks great, Ma,” Aerial Ace said, taking his seat and grabbing nearly a quarter of the stack for himself.

“Save some for the rest of us, pig,” Snow Apple said, grabbing, surprisingly, even more than her brother. “We all have to eat.”

“Ahem…” Applejack frowned, leering down at her two oldest. “Do you mind?”

“Sorry, Ma…” the two said, each scraping the top stack of their pancakes back to the original stack.

Applejack smiled, taking two forks and giving a pancake to each of the twins before dividing the rest of the pancakes between her and her husband. Her family started to dig in as she just took a moment to watch them. It was hard to imagine sometimes how she had fought so hard to unknowingly avoid this. She sometimes wanted to take that time traveling spell Twilight would go on about and punch her 18 year younger self in the jaw for being such an idiot. Still, everything worked out in the end. Through the good and bad times Soarin’ had stuck with her and her him. They made compromises and sacrifices for one another, and the results were four wonderful children.

She poured some syrup on her pancakes and took a bite. Life, just like these syrup soaked delights, was sweet.