# A Delicate Balance

## by JapaneseTeeth

### Community

So much to do! So much to do! I have to figure out what to wear for our date, how much money to bring along, and I have to get everything out of the way so I won't be distracted when we go out! I'm already nearly behind on my friendship reports! If I don't get another one written soon there will only be one left in my buffer! I know that Princess Celestia said I don't have to follow any specific schedule, but if I don't get at least one written every two weeks, I feel like I'm being so lazy. I can't let this get in the way of my studies. Maybe I can write a friendship report about this! I'm sure being a very special somepony must have something to do with friendship. Besides, I should really let Celestia know what's going on. I should probably write a letter to my family, too, while I'm at it. I wonder what they'll think about all of this.

Good we must love, and must hate ill,

For ill is ill, and good good still ;

But there are things indifferent,

Which we may neither hate, nor love,

But one, and then another prove,

As we shall find our fancy bent.

—Community,

John Donne

This particular morning, Applejack used up several more gallons of water than she normally did. She hated to be wasteful, but other thoughts pushed that concern out of her head. She was barely aware of the faucet's flowing as she stared into the mirror. There was no way this wasn’t gonna be awkward. Or least no way that wouldn't be awkward for her. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to see what would happen.

Apple Bloom had been happy enough about the whole thing, but it was pretty obvious that once she got out of the house, half the town would know all about it before lunch. Granny Smith could go anywhichway. There wasn’t any good reason for her to dislike it, but most of the time her reactions weren’t really tied to what was actually going on, so there was no telling what she’d do. It could be anything from tears of joy to a heart attack. Big Macintosh... he was a mystery, too. Her mind jumped back to the time she had gotten a Hearts and Hooves Day card. She couldn't remember who had given it to her, but she could vaguely recall that Big Macintosh had gone to talk to them after school that day. Whoever the card-giver was, they hadn't followed up.

She glared at her reflection and shook her head. Big Macintosh knew Twilight really well. He couldn't possibly have anything against her. He probably didn't have anything against the mysterious card-giver either; he was most likely just checking up on them, like a big brother should do. Even back then he’d been abnormally stocky, so the secret admirer had probably just suffered some inadvertent intimidation. No way would Big Macintosh intentionally scare anypony off. Especially not Twilight. If anything he’d probably just say “Eeyup” and that would be the end of it.

A knock on the door caused her to jump. Big Macintosh’s voice sounded from the other side. “Applejack, are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'll be down in a minute.” She splashed her face. The cold slap on her cheeks sent a shiver through her entire body. She took a deep breath and turned the faucet off. “Just get it out there, Applejack. It ain't gonna be that bad.” She adjusted her latest hat, and headed towards the kitchen.

Apple Bloom fidgeted in her seat, making occasional grabs at the stack of muffins on the table. Granny Smith was occupied by smacking Apple Bloom's hooves away from the muffins. Big Macintosh stood by the stove, his attention dominated by a pancake sizzling on a massive griddle. Apple Bloom’s eyes caught a view of her sister, and lit up. Her abnormally toothy grin told Applejack that she remembered everything from last night. Applejack gave up the hope that this would be a normal breakfast.

“Good mornin', Applejack,” Granny chirped in an all-too-cheerful-for-this-early-in-the-morning manner.

“Mornin', Granny. What's for breakfast?”

“Pancakes,” Big Macintosh announced as he placed a massive stack of them at the center of the table.

“Sounds good.” She took her seat and tried not to think about how she had to act natural. Maybe Big Macintosh didn't care enough to bring it up. Apple Bloom wiggled excitedly in her chair, her stare threatening to bore a hole in Applejack's head. Applejack almost wanted her sister to ask; it would save her the trouble of having to broach the subject herself.

Apple Bloom winked at her. Applejack immediately regretted her previous thought. It would have been so much easier to bring it up in the way that she wanted. She wanted to backpedal, but there was nowhere to go.

“So, Applejack, where were you last night? You didn't come back until real late.”

“Oh, that.” She managed to fake a chuckle. Best to get it over with. “I suppose I should tell all of you about what's goin' on.” She cleared her throat. “I...uh...y'all know Twilight Sparkle, right?”

“Eeyup.”

“That purple unicorn?” Granny Smith made her “thinking hard” face. “Of course.”

Apple Bloom just nodded manically.

“Well, I'm...we're kinda goin' out now. You know, like a couple.” She paused. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were looking at her. Just looking. It wasn't even a stare. At least a stare would have told her that they were surprised. She wasn't even sure that they had heard her. “A few days ago she told me that she wanted us to go out, so I thought about it for a bit, and last night I went and talked to her for a while and I decided that I'd give it a try. So then we went back to the, uh, the library, and” —she noticed her brother raise an eyebrow— “the rest of our friends were waiting there and they had a little party for us. So...yeah, we're kind of a thing now.”

For a distressingly long moment, the only responses she got were long, blank stares. Then Big Macintosh smiled.

“Congratulations, Applejack.”

“My little filly is finally growin' up!” Granny hopped out of her seat with surprising agility and began to ruffle Applejack's mane. “Y'all make each other happy, y'hear?”

“Okay, Granny.” Applejack smiled as she prodded her grandmother back to her seat. “I'm gonna do my best to make this whole thing work. I'm just happy y'all seem so happy about it.”

“Why wouldn't we be happy for you?” Big Macintosh asked. He patted Applejack on the back, nearly knocking her out of her chair. “Twilight is a good pony.”

“Now, if your brother would find somepony to settle down with...” Granny Smith cast a beady eye in Big Macintosh's direction. Even though he was already red, his cheeks grew a little redder. “Really, don't you think it's about time for you to find a special somepony of your own?”

Applejack chuckled, genuinely this time. She wasn't one to pass up a chance to poke fun at her brother, and even with the matter out in the open, she'd rather not have to field a bunch of questions about it. “I'm sure there's somepony in town you'd get along with real well. You just gotta get out and actually meet 'em. Maybe you could get Pinkie to set you up on a blind date or something.”

“Or you could find somepony and go on a double date with Applejack and Twilight!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Although that might be kinda weird because the three of you already know each other real well, so that might be awkward if it was some random pony...” The gears in her head clunked for a moment. “Oh, I know! You could ask Miss Cheerilee to go with you! She already knows Twilight, so it wouldn't be awkward!”

“I don't know about that, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said. “After what happened last year, it might be a bit weird. Wouldn't it, Big Mac?”

“I suppose.” Big Macintosh somehow turned even more red. “Why don't you eat? The pancakes are gonna get cold.”

“Fine by me!” Apple Bloom watched intently as her brother began to divvy out the food. Within seconds she lost interest and turned her attention to her sister. “What are you and Twilight gonna do now? Are you gonna get married? Are you gonna—”

“Whoa, simmer down, there, sis,” Applejack said. “You're getting' a bit ahead here. We ain't takin' things that quick. All we got planned now is a date for this evening. After that we're gonna just take things as they come. Although knowin' Twilight she'll probably have everything all planned out.”

“The date is tonight?” Big Macintosh asked.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

“Weren't you going to harvest the northwest field?”

“Oh, horseapples.” Applejack put a hoof to her forehead. “I totally forgot about that. I was so worked up over Twilight that it totally slipped my mind. Maybe I should try to reschedule.”

“Nah.” Big Macintosh shook his head. “I'll take care of it.”

“You sure?”

“Of course he's sure!” Apple Bloom interrupted. “This is your first date, after all. You can't go changin' it around now!”

“So you're tellin' me that two days ago you didn't even know what a crush is, and now you're suddenly an expert on datin'?” Applejack watched Apple Bloom scrunch up her face in response. “You're right, though. I don't wanna go and mess up Twilight's schedule unless I can't help it. You sure you can handle all that, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

“Okay, then. I guess I better start on these.” She began to fill her plate with pancakes. “I got a lot of work to do today before I go out on that date.”

“Date?” Granny Smith blinked a few times and tilted her head. “Date with who?”

“Dear Princess Celestia, it is my great pleasure to inform you that my relationships with my friends are as strong as ever. In fact, in one case, our friendship has developed into something entirely new. I trust you remember Applejack, the element of honesty. As of last night, she is now officially my very special somepony.” She turned to Spike, who was scratching away at a parchment. “Does that sound good to you? Or is that jumping into it too quickly? Maybe I should ease her into it a bit more.”

“Well, it's certainly better than the last draft,” Spike grumbled. “That one went on way too long. It took you forever just to get to the bit where you told Applejack how you felt.”

“I don't know; it still just seems a bit wrong to me.” Twilight glanced over Spike's shoulder and scanned the words. “I mean, of course she'd remember Applejack! I've already written a bunch of other letters about her after all. I really should find a better way to phrase that.”

“If you're going to do another draft, can I at least have a bit of a break first?” Spike's claw crackled as he flexed it. “I've written like four drafts of this letter, plus all those friendship reports you had to catch up on. My claws are about to fall off.”

“Oh! I'm sorry. Of course you can take a break. I'll get back to work on my polymorph spell practice. I've been slacking off on that a bit anyway. Why don't you grab a snack while you're at it?”

“Alright!” He tossed the quill over his shoulder and headed towards the kitchen. “I've still got like half a cake in the icebox.”

Twilight took a seat at a back table, the one furthest from all the distractions of the rest of the library. There were still a few books stacked on it. She had no idea how long it had been since she had opened them. The situation with Applejack had turned the whole world upside down, and for a while she had nearly lost track of which way was up. But now everything seemed to be sliding back into place. Before long, she'd have everything back on schedule, but now Applejack would be a part of it. Things would be back to normal, only now it would be a new and different normal. Twilight blew the layer of dust off of her book and opened it to just the right page. She smiled. She could already tell she was going to like the new normal.

Fluttershy paced in a tight triangle, from the kitchen counter, to the window, to her sofa, and back to the counter. Each step wobbled a bit, as if her joints were loose.

“I know I should be happy for them. I guess I am. No, I know I am. They're both really good ponies, and they'll definitely make each other happy, and that's what really matters, even if I don't get to spend as much time with them. It's not like they'll move out of Ponyville or anything just because they're going out now. Although I suppose they might move away eventually. I would miss them both so much if that happened. But it would be okay, I guess. As long as they're happy together. It would be terrible if I tried to butt into their relationship. What do you think, Angel?”

Angel's ear, which had only been half-listening, twitched. Fluttershy had been rambling in a similar fashion for the past half hour. Angel was usually forgiving; he had long since grown used to her idiosyncrasies. Unfortunately, that understanding only went as far as his patience lasted, which wasn't wasn't very long, especially when he was hungry. Fluttershy had started on his lunch, but her little digression had distracted her and his sandwich sat half-finished on the counter. He cleared his throat and rolled his eyes in the direction of his food.

“You're right, I shouldn't worry about it so much.” Fluttershy sat at the table, completely ignoring the sandwich. “It's like Rainbow Dash said. They just got together so of course they'll be thinking about it a lot. I need to give them some time to get used to it. Maybe after a week or two they'll start getting sick of each other and it won't work out, and then—” She shook her head and attempted to slap herself on the cheek. What she actually did was prod herself gently. “No, I shouldn't say that. It would make both of them so sad if that happened. They should definitely stay together. Maybe they could just spend a little less time together is all.”

She rubbed her hooves together. “I don't know what to do, though. I don't want to interrupt them or anything, but I feel like they're starting to slip away. What should I do, Angel?”

He shrugged. In reality he could think of a couple different things, but Fluttershy probably wouldn't do any of them even if he could adequately explain them. Finding a solution was easy. Finding a solution that would work for Fluttershy, not so much. And to make matters worse, his hunger was starting to affect his ability to think. He pantomimed eating a sandwich.

“That's it, Angel!” Fluttershy snatched him up and squeezed. “I should go over to Twilight's for lunch! She has a date with Applejack for this evening, so she probably wouldn't be eating lunch with her! Twilight would never do something so redundant. I should make some sandwiches and take them over. She's probably been working hard all morning, and this way she won't have to cook!”

Fluttershy darted back over to the counter. “Oh, right.” She smiled sheepishly as she regarded the lettuce-and-carrot sandwich she had neglected to complete. “I guess I should finish your lunch before I go.”

He nodded satisfactorily. It had been a rather roundabout way of getting to the point, but at least now she was actually doing something. All the rambling in the world wouldn't get her anywhere.

Pinkie wanted to be bouncing. It wasn't that she was too fidgety and impatient to sit still... well, it kind of was. Sitting still was usually boring, but that wasn't the whole reason. At least a little bit of her perpetual jitters came from the fact that she had somehow been stuck with a disproportionate amount of energy. Maybe she was born with it, or maybe she had spent her pre-cutie mark years repressing it and was still working off all the excess she had stored up. Whatever the case, she couldn't deny that the energy was there, and she couldn't just not use it for anything. That would be lazy.

She groaned. Sooner or later she'd have to figure out a more efficient way to reload her new and improved Party Cannon Mark 2: Son of Party Cannon, one that didn't require her to reset every single one of the surprisingly numerous components individually and that could be done while bouncing. Re-rolling the streamers alone took forever. Maybe even five-ever. It was totally worth it, though. She had been saving it for a special occasion, and this was like the most special occasion EVER. Well, not quite ever, but still pretty special. It wasn't every day that two of her best friends started going out. And they were so adorable together, too!

Pinkie closed her eyes for a second and conjured up the image of Applejack gently placing her prized hat upon Twilight's head. So. Cute. Sure, Pinkie's memory of the event involved soft lighting, sparkles, a few floating ♥’s, and a string quartet in the background, but the important part wasn't that far off.

She couldn't wait to see how their first date would go. Well, could wait. She had to. She'd been friends with Twilight long enough to know that her schedule wasn't going to change. It was more that she didn't want to wait, and didn't know quite what to do with herself in the meantime. Except that she did; she could fix up the party cannon, which was what she was doing right now. Yup, everything had worked out.

The only thing left to do was to remember the name of that restaurant where they would be having dinner. She pulled her head out of the cannon's bore with a pop and noted that she also needed to redesign the thing so that reloading didn't require her to risk getting blasted in the face. As she filed the note to herself in an imaginary set of file cabinets, she quickly flipped through the imaginary rolodex where she stored her knowledge of everypony's birthdays and mentally inserted a new section for anniversaries. She turned her mental attention to her not-actually-there desk and started shuffling through it looking for the restaurant Rarity had recommended. It was nowhere to be found. Apparently Rarity had never mentioned the name of the place while Pinkie was in earshot. Pinkie groaned, turned out the imaginary lights in her imaginary office, and returned to the real world.

She'd have to ferret the information out of Rarity somehow. And she had thought that resetting the Party Cannon was a pain in the rump...

Apple Bloom eyed the clock as the hands ticked agonizingly slowly towards recess. She had been so anxious to tell Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle what was going on that she had sabotaged her own effort to get to school on time. Two-thirds of the way to the schoolhouse, she had realized that she didn't have her books, her homework, or her lunch. By the time she had recovered them, school was already in session and she had a tardy mark on the attendance sheet.

She did her best to focus on whatever it was Cheerilee was attempting to teach. It had something to do with numbers, so it was probably math, or maybe history. It didn't really matter. Her priorities at the moment weren't exactly geared towards absorbing information. It was obviously more important that she thought of the best, most effective way to break the news to her friends. Then the bell rang, and she instantly forgot those plans as she scurried towards them.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo said. “What happened to you this morni—”

“No time for that! I've got some really awesome news for you!”

“Really, what is it?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Did you figure out how to build that slide into the side of the clubhouse?”

“Nope. Well, yeah, I did, but it'll cost a bunch, so I gotta figure out somethin' else. But that's not what I was gonna tell you about.” She waved her companions to come closer. They leaned in. “My sister is goin' out with Twilight!”

“Really!?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's voices melded together.

“Yup! They officially became very special someponies last night. Pinkie Pie threw a party for them and everything!” She leaned in closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “They even kissed!”

Both her friends inhaled sharply.

“They must be really serious about it,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “I wonder if Rarity knows about it.”

“I'm pretty sure she does,” Apple Bloom said. “Rarity was probably at Pinkie's party. I don't think Pinkie would have a party for them without inviting their other friends.”

Scootaloo scratched her head. “Wow, I never realized that they were quite that close.”

“Me neither.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “It was kinda sudden. Like a few days ago Twilight showed up and a few days later they were a couple.”

“Sooo... what are they doing now that they're together?”

“I dunno.” Apple Bloom shrugged again. “Typical very special somepony stuff, I guess.”

“What exactly is 'very special somepony stuff', anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean, there's kissing, I guess, but other than that what kind of stuff do very special someponies do?”

“Uh...” Apple Bloom thought for a moment. “Well, they're going on a date tonight. That's a very special somepony thing, isn't it? Dressin' up all fancy and eatin' expensive food.”

“I guess...” Scootaloo said. “But that sounds kinda boring. I mean, getting all dressed up is really annoying. If you're gonna go out to eat, why would you need to be all fancy about it?”

“Rarity says that it's all about 'romantic gestures',” Sweetie Belle offered. “Stuff like giving each other flowers and jewelry and things like that.”

“Eh, that doesn't sound all that great, either.” Scootaloo paused long enough to stick out her tongue. “I don't see what's so awesome about having to get dressed up and buying each other boring flowers. If somepony is gonna give me something, I'd want something cool, like a comic book or candy. But spending that much on a plant or a shiny rock? Bleh.”

“Maybe some ponies like that kind of stuff,” Sweetie Belle said with a shrug. “I know Rarity would be really happy if somepony gave her a really big gem or something.”

“Hmmm...” Apple Bloom tapped on her chin. “I dunno, when I was talkin' to Applejack about it, I got the idea that she cared more about just spendin' time with Twilight more than anythin' else. Maybe that's the important part of being a very special somepony.”

“But you don't have to be a couple to do that,” Scootaloo snorted. “We spend a ton of time together, and I'm pretty sure we're not very special someponies or anything.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Apple Bloom sighed. “I should ask Big Macintosh about it. He probably knows all about that stuff.”

“It's okay if you don't get it.” Sweetie Belle patted Apple Bloom on the head. “As long as they're happy, it doesn't really matter.”

Fluttershy lifted up a hoof to knock on the library door, and then lowered it. It was the fourth time she had done that. After the second attempt she had actually turned away and taken a few steps before reconsidering and making another attempt. She bit her lip and raised and lowered her hoof again. Her eyes darted up and down the street, and she took a faltering step away from the door.

From his perch on her back, Angel groaned an if-you-want-to-get-it-done-you-have-to-do-it-yourself groan, and hopped off her back.

“Angel, where are you go—”

He raised his back leg, gave the library door three solid thumps, and scurried into the bushes under the window.

“No, Angel, don't—” Fluttershy took a step after him, but her progress was stalled by the creak of the door.

She spun back around to see the door half-open. “Um, hello, Spike.”

“Hey, Fluttershy. What's up?”

“I, uh, I was just... um... what did I come over here for...?”

From his hiding place in the bush, Angel shook his head. He darted out from the bush and gave Fluttershy's saddlebag a tug.

“Oh, right.” She cleared her throat. “I just thought that Twilight might be busy trying to catch up on her work, so I brought some sandwiches over. Unless you already ate, of course.”

“Nah, Twilight's in work mode.” Spike stepped into the library and waved for Fluttershy to follow him. “I'm pretty sure she has a spell to turn her stomach off or something, because she hasn't eaten anything all day. If she doesn't want them, I'll eat them.”

“Oh, okay.” She sauntered over to the table and began to unload her saddlebags.

“Hey, Twilight, Fluttershy is here!”

“Really?” Twilight poked her head out of her room. “Fluttershy! It's so nice to see you!”

“It is?” Fluttershy allowed herself a smile.

“Of course, I really needed somepony to talk to. Just give me a moment here.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy took her seat at the table. Maybe she'd finally be able to spend a bit of time with Twilight. It felt like months since they had a real conversation that didn't involve Applejack in some way. “I'm glad that you feel that way, because—”

“Which one of these dresses do you think would be better for my date tonight?” Twilight emerged from her room, two dresses hovering next to her. “I mean, I really like this one...” She held out a plain yellow dress. “It's really comfortable and I never really cared much about frills. But then again...” Twilight brought up the other dress, a longer, sky blue one with shimmering silver trim. “...I think that one might be a bit too plain. Rarity says that the Mon Cher Restaurant is really fancy, and this dress is definitely fancier. Do you think it's a better fit? I really really really want to look my best tonight!

“Oh...uh...” Fluttershy's eyes darted back and forth between the two dresses. “I don't know, what do you think, Spike?”

“I have no idea. She's asked me like five times already.” He began to dig through Fluttershy's saddlebags. “What kind of sandwiches did you bring?”

“Um, a few asparagus and a few daisy.”

Spike sniffed the bag and wrinkled his nose. “Eh, think I'll pass. Never been a big fan of asparagus.”

“Come on, Fluttershy, I need an answer!” Twilight telekinetically shoved the dresses in Fluttershy's direction. “My date is in...” She looked at the clock. “Less than five hours! And I still don't know what to wear!”

“I really don't know...” Fluttershy took a step back; the dresses were so close that she felt smothered. “Why don't you take a little break for a bit and eat something while I, uh, think about it a little.”

“I guess you're right.” Twilight hung the two dresses on one of her bookshelves and took a seat at the table. “I just need everything to be perfect. Applejack deserves that much, don't you think?”

Fluttershy gave Twilight a sandwich. The unicorn had such a wide smile on her face that the top of her head was in danger of popping off. Fluttershy stared quietly into her bag for a long moment as she searched for something relevant to say.

“So, how has your day been so far?” she asked.

“Busy. I've kinda been neglecting my studies.” Twilight's smile became uneven for a moment as she scratched her head. “For the last few days, I've spent almost all my time thinking about what to do about Applejack. I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. It's so tough to focus, though.” She clapped her hooves. “I'm just so excited about tonight! I've never even been on a date before! Have you ever been on one?”

Fluttershy could feel her cheeks lighting up as she shook her head. “Um, no.”

“I see.” Twilight slumped in her seat. “I should have known.” The phrase hung uncomfortably in the air for a distressingly long moment. “Uh, not that anypony wouldn't want to go on a date with you or anything! You just...you know...don't really seem like the uh, the dating type.” There was another awkward moment of silence. Twilight sighed and took a bite of her sandwich.

“You're right, though.” Fluttershy's cheeks blushed so hard that they started to hurt. “I'm not really...that type.”

There was a third moment of silence, longer than the first two combined. “This is a really good sandwich,” Twilight said.

“Thank you. I got the bread fresh from the bakery this morning and grew the asparagus myself.”

“Well, it's delicious. I haven't had such a nice sandwich in a long time.”

“I don't know why not.” Spike unceremoniously kicked the kitchen door open and emerged carrying at least one of every food item in the refrigerator. “I thought that Applejack taught you how to make sandwiches. I bet you could make like the best sandwich ever.”

Fluttershy gave Spike a confused glance. “Applejack taught her how to make a sandwich?”

“You mean you didn't hear about that? For some reason Twilight thought that if she acted like she had no clue what she was doing, Applejack would like her more, so she pretended to not know how to make a sandwich.”

“Spike, how do you know that?” Twilight shot him a glare, which he ignored. “You weren't around when that happened.”

“Rainbow Dash told me.” He dumped his pile of food on the table. “It was hilarious! You should really ask her about it, Fluttershy. She even did voices and everything!” His voice switched into a falsetto. “'Oh Applejack, I accidentally put the bread in the middle of the sandwich instead of the outside! Can you help me!?' 'Of course ah can help ya Twalat! Y'all just gotta turn it insahd out!”

Spike paused. Both ponies were staring at him. Fluttershy had tilted her head slightly in befuddlement. Twilight's brow was furrowed, and her eyes were shooting daggers in Spike's direction. He shrugged.

“It's funnier when she does it.” He snorted and began to busy himself stacking his various edibles on a slice of bread.

“I have to admit the sandwich thing wasn't my finest moment,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I feel so dumb. I went to all that trouble trying to get Applejack to like me when she already did. I should've just told her, but I felt like I couldn't. I know it was stupid, but I was just scared of what she was going to do. Has that ever happened to you? When you have something that you really need to say, but you can't bring yourself to say it?”

Fluttershy's eyes were glued to her sandwich. If she looked up, Twilight would be able to see the blush. “Yes,” she mumbled, just loud enough for Twilight to hear. “All the time.”

“Isn't it so terrible? I'm so happy that I finally got the courage to talk to Applejack about it! I still can't believe that we're actually going on a date!” She squeaked happily and took another bite.

“Well, I'm glad that you got all that worked out.” She watched Twilight chew for a moment. Of course the date would be the first thing on Twilight's mind. Maybe once Twilight had said everything she had to say about it, they could move onto something more typical. “So, since you've fallen behind, is there anything that I could help you with? You know, helping dust the shelves or anything?”

“No, no, Spike has all of that covered.” She patted the dragon on the head. “He's been very industrious.”

“You bet. I had to find something to do while Twilight was freaking out.” He carefully balanced a second slice of bread atop his precarious stack of food. “She had enough stuff to worry about.”

“And you did an excellent job.” Twilight gently ruffled his spines. “Thanks again for that. Oh, I know what you can help me with!”

“You do?”

“Can you help me do my mane?” Twilight flicked the edge of her hair. “I want to get it fixed up really nice.”

“Um, I suppose I could, but I don't know much about mane styling.” Fluttershy mumbled. “Besides, don't you have a spell or something you could do for that?”

“I do have one or two mane styling spells, but I wanted to do something special! I can't just go with one of my usual styles because it's—”

“Your first date, we know.” Spike interrupted. “That's like the fifth time you've brought it up. I thought you said you were going to stop worrying about it so you could actually get stuff done.”

“It's easier said than done, Spike. I just haven't been able to think about anything else!”

“I see.” Fluttershy couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Twilight, so she watched Spike as he attempted to pick up his gigantic sandwich and bite into it without losing the contents. “But isn't it... I mean, isn't it important that you keep up to date on your studies and things? Not that you're being a bad student or anything.”

“It certainly is,” Twilight said with a solemn nod. “I'd never intentionally neglect my magic practice or my letters to Celestia, but at the same time… I don't know, I feel like this is just as important. Maybe even more. I mean, it's a big step for me, getting into a relationship with somepony. My entire life is going to be different after this and I really need to get it right! Although when I really think about it, it almost fits into my studies anyway.”

“It does?” Fluttershy turned her eyes to Twilight. Twilight just smiled.

“The reason I came to Ponyville in the first place was to learn more about friendship. And this whole thing with Applejack... it almost feels like I'm right on the edge of taking our friendship further. Like I've discovered a whole new type of friendship! It's hard to explain, but spending time with Applejack is just different somehow.”

“Oh,” was all Fluttershy could say. “I didn't realize that.”

“I didn't realize it at first either. At first I was terrified that that it was going to mess everything up. I had all these special feelings for Applejack, and I thought it would make me a bad friend to the rest of you! But you've all been so supportive that I realized I can't let that get in my way.” Twilight reached out and put her hoof on top of Fluttershy's. “I really have to thank you again for being there for me. You really don't know how much it means.”

Fluttershy drew her hoof out from under Twilight's and stared at it for a moment. “You're welcome.”

“And thanks for the sandwich, too. It was delicious!”

“You're welcome,” Fluttershy said again, not sure how else to respond. “Oh!” She jumped in her seat as Spike released an enormous belch.

“Excuse me.” Spike leaned back in his chair and pushed his now-empty plate away. “That was good!” He rested his claws on his stomach. “Aren't you going to eat anything, Fluttershy?”

“Huh, me?”

“Yeah, didn't you say that you came over here for lunch?” Twilight asked. “Or did you eat before you came over?”

“What, no, I uh...I'm fine. I can wait until I get home. I brought the food for you after all—”

“No, no, no, it's fine! I have plenty of stuff in the fridge for you to choose from. What would you like?”

“I... uh... it doesn't matter...” She couldn't bring herself to turn down Twilight's hospitality. “What do you have?”

“Well, a few days ago Mr. Cake brought over some vegetable stew. It was Pinkie's turn to make dinner and well, she got the ratios right, but the quantity horribly wrong. Mrs. Cake says they’ll be eating it for months if they don’t give it away.”

“Pinkie made it?” Fluttershy couldn't keep the incredulity out of her voice.

“Yeah, I was a bit wary of it too, but it's actually really good. I guess she actually followed the recipe properly. Well, aside from making way too much of it. Spike, would you mind getting a bowl of stew for Fluttershy?”

“Sure thing, Twilight.” He sprang up, collected the dishes, and headed for the kitchen.

“While you eat, I'm going to go and see if I can finish up some of my studying, and when you're done you can help me pick a dress out and fix up my mane, okay? Sound like a good plan?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded weakly. “That certainly is a plan.”

“Great! Don't feel like you have to rush your meal or anything. We have plenty of time.” She hopped out of her seat and began to half-trot, half-bounce towards her study table.

“Um, Twilight?”

“Yes?” She looked back over her shoulder.

“I, uh, I think you should wear the blue dress. I really like the trim.”

Twilight glanced at the dresses and nodded. “I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“Okay, that should just about do it!” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs in satisfaction. She hated to brag, but... okay, she kinda did like to brag. This was totally the best obstacle course she'd put together in a long time. Half a dozen spinning clouds, a spring cloud, and a slalom, followed by a zigzag of cloud rings. “If I got all the distances right, I should be able to do this in thirty-eight seconds, easy.”

She alighted on her takeoff cloud and began to stretch her wings. Last time she had put this particular set of obstacles together, she had scored forty point thirty-three seconds. After all the work she had put into tightening her turning radius, shaving off two seconds would be no problem. The joints in her wings popped. She took her stance, tightening her limbs like springs.

“Three...two...one...”

Rainbow Dash turned into a blue blur with a prismatic afterimage. She banked towards the first spinning cloud. She’d do four loops around each; at this speed, it would be enough to get them going. She held tight to the cloud, the tip of her pinion a hair's breadth away from it. One...two...three...four! As she came out of the last loop, she let her momentum carry her. At the last possible moment, she splayed her wings, spinning around back-first into her bounce cloud. For a half a moment she savored the spongy feel of the cloud against her wings. Then she focused her eyes back on the sky and blasted upwards. Next up were the slalom posts. Start going left. It'll put you in position for the first ring. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Perfect. Not so much as a graze. She leaned into her turn, racing for the first ring, counting down as she threaded her way through them. Six to go...five...four...three...tw--O W!

Her left wingtip exploded. Or at least it felt like it. She knew in a moment what had actually happened. She had clipped the edge of a ring. Odd. She hadn't made that mistake in years. She had centered herself perfectly. The ring must have drifted out of—

Rainbow Dash's thoughts were interrupted by a tree.

“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”

The pegasus groaned, turned herself right side up, and poked her head out of the leaves. Apple Bloom stood at the base of the tree, surrounded by an assortment of baskets. “I'm fine.” She shimmied down to a wide branch and settled on it. “I think...” She inspected the tip of her wing. “Yeah, it's nothing I can't just walk off. I was running an obstacle course and one of the rings must have drifted off course. It's been years since that happened last.”

“Really? Were you just not payin' attention?”

“No!” Rainbow Dash bristled. “I was totally paying attention! It's just that usually when I do rings, I have your sister tie them down for me so they don't float around so much. I haven't used free-floating rings for so long that I just forgot how much they move around. That's all. It caught me off guard.”

“So, you just weren't payin' attention.”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes. “Well, fine, if you want to put it that way. If you try doing something you haven't done in a long time you're obviously not gonna get it perfect. Once I get used to it I'll totally break my record! I bet that if I had made it, I would've gotten under thirty-seven seconds!”

“Is that good?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Of course it's good! Spitfire can run that course in thirty-five point four seconds! I don't know if I can do the spinners as quick as she can, but I can totally make up for it on the slalom! And rings, if they stay put. Don't worry, I'll totally beat that record, though. Just gotta get back in the swing of things.”

“Applejack helped you train a lot, huh?”

“Yeah, on occasion. Usually she times me, or helps me figure out new launch methods.”

“Like that giant slingshot?”

“Right.” Rainbow Dash lounged against the tree trunk. “Guess I'll have to keep up on my own now, though. What with her hooking up with Twilight she probably won't have as much time to help me out. I guess I'll manage, though. How's she doing, anyway?”

“She's doin' alright, I guess.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “She told us all about it this mornin' at breakfast and after that I haven't seen her much. She said she had to get all her work out of the way so she'd be able to get to the date on time.”

“Heh, Twilight's already starting to rub off on her. She doesn't have a big checklist, does she?”

“I don't think so...”

“Well, that's good. Maybe she can get Twilight not to worry about her schedule so much. She really needs to learn how to quit thinking so much and just do stuff. You wouldn't believe how long she was dragging her hooves telling your sister that she liked her. In fact, you tell Applejack that sometime this week she needs to just show up at the library and take Twilight out to lunch or something.”

“Okay.” Apple Bloom giggled. “I'll try to remember to tell her if I get the chance. And... uh... can I ask you a question about somethin'?”

“Well, you already asked a couple questions, but sure, go ahead.”

“I was just wonderin', what's the big deal with goin' on dates and everythin'? Is just hangin' out not good enough or what? What makes a couple of very special someponies so different from regular old friends?”

“Oh. I was hoping you'd ask to see some of my sweet maneuvers. Uh...” She turned her gaze to the sky. “Yeah, I don't really know.”

“You don't know!?” Apple Bloom stomped her hooves. “But you're a grown up pony! You should know all about this stuff!”

“Just because I'm older doesn't mean I know anything about all those romantic things. I think it's just that some ponies have a different sort of... thing with each other. Like they like spending time with each other so much that they want to make it special somehow... by getting dressed up and eating fancy food, I guess? I don't really see why you'd want to do that, but hey, if they enjoy it...” She shrugged. “What are you doing out here anyway? Don't you have crusading to do or something?”

“I came right home after school to get my homework done quick ‘cause Applejack was going to help me with my apple buckin'. Thing is, we made that plan before the whole Twilight thing, so she's inside gettin' ready for her date now. Scootaloo is still workin' on her homework, and Sweetie Belle is over at Rarity's, so I figured I might as well get some practicin' in, even if Applejack isn't helpin' me.” She looked sheepishly at the cluster of baskets under the tree, which contained roughly half a dozen apples. “It's not goin' so well.”

Rainbow Dash craned her neck to get a look at the baskets. “Well, you've got some apples in there. You look like you're doing pretty well to me.”

“Uh, actually you knocked most of those out of the tree when you crashed. I only knocked like three of them down by myself.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip for a moment. “Eh, I'm sure you'll figure it out real quick. I mean, Big Macintosh and Applejack are two of the strongest ponies in town, so I'm sure you'll be able to knock those apples right out once you grow a bit more. Unless they somehow got all muscle genes, but I don't think genetics work like that. I dunno, you'd have to ask Twilight. I wouldn't sweat it though. It took me months to figure out how to do the Buccaneer Blaze without faceplanting into the ground at the end of it.”

“Really?” Apple Blooms ears perked up.

“Yeah, even somepony as awesome as me has to practice. How do you think I got so cool in the first place?” She crossed her forelegs and nodded once. “Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it. I gotta relearn how to compensate for the shifting rings. Tell AJ I said hello.”

“Sure thing, Rainbow Dash.”

“Cool, see you later.” Rainbow Dash flipped off the branch and took to the sky.

Rarity gently drew a swath of purple cloth through the sewing machine, keeping one eye on the needle, and one eye on her sister. Everything would be fine as long as Sweetie Belle didn't move from her current position (the center of the floor, as far away from everything else as she could possibly be) or touch anything at all. Neglecting the cloth would at worst require her to resew the hemline, and she had sewn so many that her body practically performed the necessary movements automatically. Neglecting to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, would result in utter chaos and the rest of the day spent repairing the damage.

The sewing machine clacked. Rarity refocused her sewing-oriented eye on the bobbin, which was now empty. “Oh my, I suppose I ought to get more thread.”

“I'll get it!” Sweetie Belle began to scurry towards one of the cabinets.

“NO!” Rarity leaped over the sewing machine and pinned her sister's tail to the floor with her magic. “That will not be necessary. I am using a very special kind of thread, after all.” She opened a cabinet, one across the room from Sweetie Belle. “Maybe you could tell me about your day at school. Did you have a test or anything?”

“Nope, not today.” Suddenly her eyes lit up. “Oh, I did hear something really cool, though!”

“Oh, really?” Rarity tried her best to sound enthusiastic as she re-threaded the sewing machine. “What happened?”

“Well, you probably know about it already?”

“I do?” Rarity looked up from the machine. “And what would that be?”

“According to Apple Bloom, Applejack and Twilight are very special someponies now! They had a party last night and everything! Weren't you there?”

“Of course I was!” Rarity raised her head. “In fact, I'll have you know that I played an important role in getting them together.”

Sweetie Belle gasped. “You did?”

Rarity cleared her throat and assumed a slightly-more-dignified-than-usual pose. “Yes, I did. Now, don't go spreading this around, but I was actually the first pony to hear about it.”

“Really?”

Rarity nodded. “In fact, I was the first pony to realize that there might be something between them. I was visiting the library, and Twilight was in the midst of an emotional crisis. So we talked for a bit, and I realized that the root of the problem was the development of romantic feelings for Applejack. So I brought it to her attention, and it was that conversation which motivated her to pursue her feelings.”

“So they're going out because of you?” There was a note of admiration in Sweetie Belle's voice. Rarity did not fail to notice it.

“I suppose you could say that.” Rarity flicked the end of her mane before sitting back down at the sewing machine.

“That's so cool! I can't wait to tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!”

“If you must.” Rarity shrugged. Maybe it would get her sister out of the shop before she inadvertently broke something.

“Okay, I'll see you later, then!”

Rarity released a silent sigh of relief as Sweetie Belle dashed for the door. The sigh turned to a gasp as she noticed as pink blur just outside the window. “Watch out!”

Sweetie Belle stopped just short enough to avoid being slammed in the face by the door as Pinkie burst through it. The bell above the door dinged sharply once as it flew off its hook, and then dinged several more times as it bounced along the floor before coming to rest on a pile of fabric scraps.

“Hey, Rarity!” Pinkie chirped. “I have a question for you!”

“Pinkie, how many times to I have to tell you to open the door slowly like a normal pony!” Rarity snatched up the bell. “If you break the bell, I'll have you pay for a new one.”

“Nah, I'll just make a new one for you,” Pinkie said, waving a dismissive hoof.

“Pinkie, I realize that I seldom give you enough credit, but I'm quite sure you don't know much about bellmaking. Nor do I believe that you have access to the materials necessary to do so. Unless you've somehow constructed a foundry in Sugarcube Corner.”

“I'd just make it out of sugar. Then if you got hungry and didn't have any food, you could eat the bell! What flavor do you want it? Strawberry? Or if you can't decide, it could be tutti-frutti!”

“I'm just fine with my current bell, thank you.” Rarity snorted as she returned the bell to its hook above the door. “Sweetie Belle, why don't you run along. You have more interesting things to do than hang around here.”

“Okay! Goodbye, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle waved and scampered out the door. Rarity closed the door gently behind her. At least she wouldn't have to put up with both Pinkie Pie and her sister simultaneously. Her nerves probably couldn't take that particular combination.

“So, Pinkie...” Rarity eyed her cautiously, like a rubber band that was about to snap. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I... uh...” Her eyes rotated independently of each other for a moment as she jumped back into her imaginary office to consult her imaginary secretary.

“What was it I came over here for again?”

Her mental secretary, who was of course, herself with her hair in a bun and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, shook her head. “I didn't have the name of the restaurant where Twilight and Applejack are going on their date anywhere in my files, so you had to get it from somewhere.”

“Oh right.” Pinkie said silently to herself. Her eyes screwed back into position and refocused on Rarity, who was staring in her direction.

“Um, are you feeling alright?” she asked.

“Of course, why?”

“Well, you just sort of... stopped for a moment, and your eyes went quite... askew.”

“Oh, that.” Pinkie waggled a hoof. “I was just trying to remember why I came over here.”

“And did you remember?”

“Yup! I wanted to get the name of that restaurant you suggested to Twilight and Applejack so I can see how their date goes!”

“Really.”

“Yeah! I've been following this ever since I heard about Twilight, and I want to see what happens now that they're officially together! The only problem is that yesterday during the party I was too busy eating the cake and I didn't hear the name of the place, so I came here to get it!” She grinned and turned her ear towards Rarity and waited.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “What, you expect me to just tell you?”

Pinkie squinted for a moment before breaking into a wide smile. “This is a trick question, isn't it? I love those! Like if somebody says 'I am telling a lie', are they really? I'm still not sure exactly what the answer is, so I just say that the answer is 'Yope', because that's like saying both 'yes' and 'nope' at the same time!”

“Pinkie...”

“Or maybe it's like one of those questions where there is an answer, but it's something really weird that you wouldn't have thought of. Like if Applejack has a basket with six apples in it, and six ponies each get one apple, but the basket still has one apple in it somehow. How can that be? And then it turns out that—”

“Pinkie!” Rarity stomped her hoof. The sharp click snapped Pinkie to attention.

“Huh?”

“It is not a trick question,” Rarity said. “I will not tell where they will be dining. I fail to see how it is any of your business.”

“But how am I supposed to see how well their date goes if I don't know where it is!?”

Rarity half-grunted, half-sighed. “You be patient and ask one of them about it the next day like a normal pony.”

“But I'm not a normal pony.”

“No, that's...” Rarity's eye twitched. “What I mean is that the whole point of a couple going on a date is to make it a special occasion. To spend time with each other. Just each other.”

“I wasn't going to like sit at their table or anything!” Pinkie protested. “Even I know that would be rude! I'd get my own table.”

“That's not the point.” Rarity put a foreleg over Pinkie's shoulder. “Pinkie, romance is a very private thing. The very thing that separates it from regular friendship is...” She thought for a moment. “...a sense of exclusivity. It's their first real night out with each other as a couple. I believe that it merits a degree of privacy. Being their friend doesn't give you the right to insert yourself into their relationship whenever you please.”

“Hmph.” Pinkie wriggled out of Rarity's grip and plopped herself down on the floor. “That's no fun.”

“They aren't about fun for you.” Rarity fought to keep her annoyance out of her voice. “It's for Twilight and Applejack to enjoy. If you want to have fun yourself... I don't know, build a festivity bomb or play with the Cake twins or something. Maybe take Gummy on a walk.”

“Sooooooo....you aren't going to tell me?”

“No. And while we're at it, I want you to promise me that you won't pester the two of them.” She glared at Pinkie with as much intensity as she could muster. “It's their first date, and I don't want you tagging along. So you're going to promise me that you won't be following, spying on, watching, or trailing them. Can you do that? Promise me that you'll wait until tomorrow before bothering them about it.”

“Do I have to?” Pinkie sounded not unlike a child being told to clean their room.

“Yes, you do.” Rarity sounded not unlike a parent telling a child to clean their room.

“Fine, I promise.”

Rarity's eyes narrowed. “Do you Pinkie Promise?”

Pinkie's jaw wobbled for a moment as she tried to force a response out. “I... I Pinkie Promise.”

“Good!” Rarity's glare instantly flipped into a grin. She spun around and strode back to her sewing machine. “Is there anything I can do for you while you're here?”

Pinkie thought for a moment. “Do you know anything about artillery?”

“Artillery?” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “No. No, I do not.”

“Oh well.” Pinkie sighed. “I'll figure something out. See you later, Rarity.”

“Goodbye!” Rarity waved after her. For a brief moment she considered the implications of Pinkie's parting question, and immediately decided she'd rather not know. She pressed her hoof against the sewing machine pedal, and it hummed to life. She chuckled to herself, thinking of the enormous bullet that Applejack and Twilight had unknowingly dodged. I don't know what they'd do without me.

To any outside observer, Scootaloo was surprisingly focused on her math homework. If one truly looked closely, one would notice that the paper itself didn't actually contain any information other than Scootaloo's name. It wasn't because she couldn't do the math problems; there weren't that many, and they weren’t that difficult. Nor was it because she didn't want to do the math problems; it sure beat having to write an essay. No, at the moment her studies were neglected because her mind was currently dedicated to something else.

What was the big deal? Sure, Apple Bloom was totally excited that her sister had a very special somepony now. The Apple Family was always real close, after all. But did it really mean that she couldn't talk about anything else for the rest of the day? It had been fun and interesting for maybe as long as their lunchtime had lasted, but after that she had thought they'd go back to their same old crusader stuff.

Nope.

The subject of the day was locked, and every conceivable aspect of the issue would be explored in depth. How did they get together? Where would they go on their date? What would they wear? How many dates would they have to go on before they got married (that's how it works, right?) ? What would they name their kids? Could they even have kids?

They had gotten bogged down at that point. They knew that you needed a mare if you wanted a foal; none of them had ever heard of a stallion having one, but that was the extent of their knowledge of the issue. Apple Bloom was rather adamant that you had to have a stallion for some reason, but wasn't exactly sure why. Sweetie Belle thought that since Twilight had spells for pretty much everything else, she probably had a spell for that. She even turned Applejack into a stallion that one time. If they needed a stallion that badly for whatever reason, she could do that. Apple Bloom was quick to remind her that it was just Big Macintosh with an extra coat of paint, and even if they didn't know exactly what you needed the stallion for, swapping out Applejack for Big Macintosh probably wasn't going to work.

Scootaloo just wondered why they were worrying so much about it.

Sweetie Belle had retorted that just because she hadn’t actually cast the spell didn't mean that it was impossible; Twilight must have gotten the idea somehow. If there was anypony who could make a spell that could do that, it would be Twilight. She could make a spell to do anything. Fortunately for Scootaloo, that had diverted them into the idea getting Twilight to make a do-your-homework-instantly spell and that had promptly started an argument over whether said spell would count as cheating. Unfortunately, they had only got that far before school bell interrupted them and sent them back to class.

Scootaloo had spent the rest of the day thinking the question over. She had constructed a fairly complex argument that if you could create a spell to do your homework, you must have known how to do it, so you must have already known the material anyway. She couldn't wait to explain it to them. Sweetie Belle had been adamant that if you didn't physically write down the answers yourself, it didn't count, and it wasn't every day that Scootaloo managed to come out on the top of a verbal sparring match.

She never got the chance. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting near each other. By the time she had reached them, they were already back to talking about how amazing Twilight and Applejack's impending date was going to be. Sweetie Belle couldn't wait to tell Rarity about it, and Apple Bloom wanted to get right back home to help her sister get ready.

Scootaloo sighed. Crusading was no fun on her own. Hopefully the novelty of the situation would wear off soon, and they could get back to hanging out like they always did.

“It's just a date. What's so great about that?”

“Applejack, are you almost done in there?” Apple Bloom pounded on her sister's bedroom door. “You gotta get goin'!”

“I know! I'll be down in a minute. Just wait for me in the kitchen, okay?”

“Okay!” Apple Bloom bounced down the stairs and into the kitchen, where her brother and grandmother were preparing dinner. “She'll be right down!” She scurried over to Big Macintosh and poked him in the side. “Isn't it exciting?”

Big Macintosh nodded. “Eeyup.” He returned to stirring the massive pot of soup that sat on the stove. She prodded him again.

“Do you think her date is going to go well?”

“Eeyup.”

“Have you ever been on a date before?”

Big Macintosh stopped stirring, standing still as a statue for a moment. “...Eeyup.”

“Really!? With who?”

He slowly turned his head to face her. “Your teacher.”

“Miss Cheerilee? Oh, you're just talking about that whole thing from Hearts and Hooves Day last year, aren't you? I already knew about that.”

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh began to nod with uncommon enthusiasm.

Apple Bloom allowed herself a smirk. Big Macintosh was an even worse liar than Applejack. She could feel the heat radiating out of his face. “Or was there some other time? You went on a date with her after the whole thing with the Love Poison, didn't you!? How did it go?”

Big Macintosh's ears twitched. “It went fine.”

“Are you going to go on another date with her!?”

“Maybe.” He snorted and thrust a hoof toward the stairs. “Applejack is comin' down.”

Apple Bloom spun around to see her sister descending the staircase, clad in an earthy brown and green gown. “Applejack, you look great!”

“Do I, now?” She took the stairs slowly, keeping an eye on the hem of her dress. “I feel a bit ridiculous-lookin', what with the braids and whatnot.” She flicked one of the knots of hair that now framed her face. “I don't know much about what's stylish, but I'm pretty sure they aren't really popular now.”

“Braids are always in style!” Granny crowed. “When I was your age all the fillies wore their manes like that! Y'all need a bonnet though. Nopony appreciates a good bonnet anymore.”

“So I don't look too weird?”

“Nah, you look real pretty!” Apple Bloom said. “I don't think I've ever seen you wear lipstick before.”

“I don't think I ever have worn lipstick before.” Applejack said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “I kinda feel like a clown with all this stuff on my face. I think I might have overdone it a bit.”

“I doubt Twilight would care,” Big Macintosh said with a smile. “Have a nice time.”

“I sure hope I do.”

“Of course you will!” Apple Bloom scurried behind her sister and gave her a shove towards the door. “Now get goin'! You don't wanna be late!”

Granny Smith waved after her. “Y'all have a great time now, y'hear!”

A moment later Applejack found herself outside on the doorstep, the door slamming shut behind her. She turned back and yelled at the door.

“No need to be so pushy, Apple Bloom!” She shook her head. It was too late for that. “I'll see y'all later. Have a nice night.” She sighed, and lowered her voice so only she could hear it. “You're gonna have a good time. Now get goin'. Twilight is waitin' for you.”

She took a deep breath and took a shaky step towards town.