# A Delicate Balance

## by JapaneseTeeth

### The Ecstasy

It doesn’t feel real. I know that it happened. I know that Applejack turned the whole world around and asked me the question I had so much difficulty asking. And I answered. I still don’t know how I found the words to answer. But I did. Somehow, I did. I gave her the answer I wanted from her. I know it happened, but I can still barely believe it.

But as all several souls contain

Mixture of things, they know not what,

Love these mix'd souls doth mix again

And makes both one, each this and that.

A single violet transplant,

The strength, the colour, and the size,

(All which before was poor and scant)

Redoubles still, and multiplies.

When love with one another so

Interinanimates two souls,

That abler soul, which thence doth flow,

Defects of loneliness controls.

We then, who are this new soul, know

Of what we are compos'd and made,

For th' atomies of which we grow

Are souls, whom no change can invade.

-- The Ecstasy,

John Donne

Twilight and Applejack were giggling madly as they stumbled through the front door of the library. Between the excited energy and the sugar rush from the gigantic ice cream sundae they had shared, they barely made it to the sofa before collapsing onto it. At a lull in their laughter, they heard a sudden rustle from upstairs. The bedroom door popped open and Spike scurried out.

“Twilight!” He scampered down the stairs, coming dangerously close to tripping over his own feet. “How did it—” He paused as he saw Twilight and Applejack nuzzling. “I guess that means things went well, huh?”

“It went wonderfully, Spike.”

“That’s great! Congratulations!” He reached the bottom of the stairs, and for the first time noticed the ring on Twilight’s horn. “Wait a second. Where did that come from?”

“Oh, that little thing?” Applejack chuckled. “I gave her that.”

“Well, it’s really nice,” Spike said. Then the realization struck. “Wait, you mean that you, that she—”

“Yeah, Applejack beat me to the punch,” Twilight said, a smile on her face. “Not that I mind, obviously.”

“So, what happened?!” Spike asked excitedly. “Did she surprise you at the restaurant? Was the ring inside a piece of cake? No, she might have swallowed it if that happened.”

“No, no, nothing like that. We…” Twilight paused. “You know what? We’re going to be telling this story a lot in the next few days, aren’t we?”

“Most likely,” Applejack answered. “There’s my family, all our friends, Bon Bon and Lyra, Cheerilee, the Cakes, lots of townsponies.”

Twilight thought for a minute. “You know what? How about we wait? First thing tomorrow, we can invite everypony over here and tell them all at once.”

“Makin’ it a party, huh?” Applejack smiled and kissed Twilight. “Works for me. Gives us a bit more time to ourselves, right?”

“That too.” Twilight winked. “You should probably get back to bed, Spike. It’s past your bedtime. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about everything tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it’ll probably be a long day, too. Once Pinkie starts the party, it’s never going to end. I’ll probably have to deliver invitations to everybody.” He yawned and started up the stairs. “And really, the last thing I want to do is to listen to you two being all lovey-dovey. I’ll congratulate you for real tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Oh, it certainly is!” Twilight said. “Goodnight, Spike!”

“And then we realized that when I hugged her—”

“It was more of a tackle, really,” Applejack added.

“A tackle-hug?!” Pinkie gasped and hopped up and down on the couch. “Brilliant!”

“Hush, dear.” Rarity grabbed Pinkie and sat her down. “You’ll make the couch sag.”

“So when I tackle-hugged her, I realized that I had knocked the ring out of her hooves.”

“You mean you couldn’t even magic-grab it first?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh, please, Dash!” Rarity shook her head. “I’m quite sure that she had other things on her mind than a ring.” She turned back to Twilight and Applejack, a dead serious look on her face. “You did find it, didn’t you?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Nope. We went out and bought another one that she’s wearin’ now. Of course we found it! It was still in the box and all. Not exactly a needle in a haystack.” She thought for a moment. “Don’t know what a needle would even be doin’ in a haystack anyway. But yeah, we found it right away.”

“Well, I for one think you made a wonderful choice,” Rarity said as she examined the ring. “This jewel is exquisite!”

Applejack shrugged. “I just imagined Twilight wearin’ it, and that’s the one I thought looked best.”

“The necklace Twilight picked for you is really pretty too,” Fluttershy added.

“Yeah, it looks just like an apple!” Granny Smith said. “Funny how that worked out, what with her bein’ named ‘Applejack’ and livin’ on an apple orchard.”

“Granny, I think Twilight did that on purpose,” Big Macintosh said.

“Huh?” Granny rubbed at her ear. “What do dolphins have to do with anything?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Yeah, yeah, the jewelry is nice and all. When are you two actually getting hitched?”

“We haven’t even been engaged for a day, Rainbow Dash.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “You really think we’d have all that figured out already?”

“We’re still just letting the fact sink in,” Twilight said, “so obviously we haven’t set a date yet. We’re still trying to figure out who to tell next! We’ve got plenty of time to figure out all the specifics. Right now we’re just enjoying it. Don’t worry, as soon as we start thinking about that, we’ll be sure to let you know.”

“So what are you doing now, then?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. “You’ve gotta have something planned.”

“Well, once we’re done here, we’ll probably start spreading the word to everypony else,” Twilight said. “And then after that I’ll start sending out announcements! I have to write to tell my family about it. And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, of course.”

Applejack chuckled. “I never thought that I’d be sendin’ a marriage announcement to a princess.”

“Um, that’s actually two princesses,” Fluttershy said. “Three if you count Cadance. And a prince, if you count Shining Armor.”

“And I gotta go and let everypony in my family know. Startin’ with Apple Bloom, of course.”

Rarity gasped. “You haven’t told your sister yet? Why not?”

“She’s supposed to be havin’ a study session with Scootaloo and your sister this mornin’ to get their math grades up, and I don’t wanna distract her. They got a test comin’ up. Besides, It’s kind of a big change, and I just wanna talk to her about it.”

“And give her some of the cake!” Pinkie pointed at the enormous three-tiered “CONGRATULATIONS!” cake that sat on the library table. Pinkie had taken the liberty of dramatizing the proposal in icing form. Unfortunately, her initial depiction of the scene was less than accurate, and she had spent most of the story with a palette of frosting making corrections. “Because there’s a lot of it and Mr. Cake says I’m not allowed to eat the extra!”

“Nachos are done!” Spike announced as he emerged from the kitchen with a gigantic bowl of cheese and chips.

“Nachos and cake.” Rarity shook her head. “What sort of marriage announcement has nachos and cake?”

“It’s not an announcement, it’s a party!” Pinkie bounded over to the table.

“I am gettin’ hungry,” Applejack said as she stood. “We haven’t had breakfast yet. Guess cake and nachos are as good as anything.”

Twilight nodded. “Sounds good to me! This is a celebration, after all!”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh said. Then he began to trot towards the door.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash called after him. “Where’re you going?!”

He looked back over his shoulder. “Gettin’ the cider.”

Rainbow Dash licked her lips. “Great! It’s not a party without cider!”

The next day, Twilight found herself at her desk. The mad rush of adrenaline that had accompanied the proposal had finally worn off, and after a day spent celebrating, they had to come down to brass tacks. For Twilight, that meant making a checklist, and the first item on it was “send announcements.” Even though it had been accidental, she could still recall the sting of being left out of the loop when Shining Armor had gotten engaged. Nopony she knew would go through that.

“...Love, Twiley,” Twilight dictated. “Okay, that takes care of Mom and Dad! Who’s next?”

“The only names left on the list are the Princesses,” Spike answered as he rolled up the scroll and put a seal on it. “Are you going to combine those letters, or send them separately?”

“I think I’ll just send them one letter addressed to both of them. We’ve spent enough time writing letters.”

“You’re telling me.” Spike cracked his knuckles. “You think they’re going to be surprised at the news?”

“I don’t know. They might be surprised that it happened so soon, but Celestia probably assumed we would get engaged sooner or later.”

“Well, yeah.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Everypony knew it was probably going to happen eventually. If they’ve been keeping up with your letters at all, I doubt you’ll catch them off guard. If anything, they’ll wonder what took you so long.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“You think they’ll send you another cheese wheel?” Spike asked as he readied another scroll and a quill.

“I hope not. We’re still trying to figure out what to do with the last one. It’s good cheese, but it’s way more than Applejack and I can eat.”

“Knock knock!” came a familiar voice. Applejack poked her head through the door. “You get all your letters written yet?”

“Got one more,” Twilight answered. She stretched as she stood up, and greeted Applejack with a kiss on the cheek. “What about you?”

“Heh, I’m only about half done. I got a lot of relatives to write to. I’m just takin’ a break at the moment. Just finished off the Apploosa group. Gonna tackle the Manehattan group next.”

“Have you talked to Apple Bloom yet?”

Applejack shook her head. “No. That’s actually why I came by now. I want you to be there when I tell her. It just feels like something we should do together, you know?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. You did say it was like I was becoming part of the family, right?”

“Exactly! I think it’ll help it sink in a bit more if it’s both of us rather than just me. Besides, I could use the moral support.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “You think she won’t take it well?”

Applejack shrugged. “I got no idea. That’s the problem. She might be real happy, she might freak out ‘cause she thinks you’re stealin’ me or something.” She glanced at the clock. “She’s gonna be comin’ home in half an hour or so.”

“It shouldn’t take me that long to finish. Why don’t you grab a bite to eat while I get this letter done, and then we’ll head back to your place?”

“Sounds good,” Applejack said as she headed back to the kitchen. “I was so busy with all those letters that all I had for lunch was an apple muffin.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of cake and nachos left over from this morning,” Twilight said. “And I think I have some casserole in the fridge. Feel free to grab anything you want.”

“Don’t take any of the stuff with my name on, though,” Spike added. “I mean, I’d love to share, but I don’t think you’d want any of it. You might break your teeth.”

“Gotcha. See you in a few, Twilight.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

“So, you gotta go talk to Apple Bloom, huh?” Spike asked. “Any idea what you’re gonna say?”

“Nope. But I’m going to let Applejack take the lead, anyway. If I have anything to add I’m sure I’ll think of it. Now, let’s get this letter started. I wouldn’t want to make Applejack wait.” She cleared her throat. “Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna…”

“How you feelin’, Twilight?” Applejack asked as they trotted toward Sweet Apple Acres. “You aren’t nervous about talkin’ to my sister, are you?”

“Actually, I’m feeling pretty good,” Twilight answered. “Honestly, I was more nervous about writing to my parents. There was just so much I wanted to say to them! Oh, and I invited them to come and visit. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“That’s fine. After all the help you gave Apple Bloom it wouldn’t be fair not to spend a bit of time with your family. Besides, I’m sorta marryin’ in to your family, so I ought to get to know them better anyway.” She thought for a moment. “Come to think of it, your sister-in-law is a Princess! It’s almost like I’m marryin’ into royalty.”

Twilight chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. Just because my family is from Canterlot doesn’t make us royalty.”

“I know, but still. I’m just a farmer.” She shook her head. “It still boggles me that Princess Celestia is goin’ to get an announcement about me.”

“Yes, you’re just a farmer,” Twilight said with a grin. “A farmer who’s helped save the world how many times now?”

“Okay, okay, I get the point. I still think it’s a bit crazy, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“You think Apple Bloom is going to be surprised?” Twilight asked.

“I have no clue. She might be totally dumbfounded, but then again she might just shrug and wonder why we made such a big deal out of it.”

“Are you worried about what you’re going to say?”

“A little bit, I guess.” Applejack shrugged. “But we’re close enough that I have a pretty good idea of how to do this. As soon as I decided to propose to you, it wasn’t very long before I started thinkin’ about how I’d give her the news.”

“Well, you’re about to find out how it goes.” Twilight nodded towards the CMC clubhouse. The three fillies were lined up on the porch, attempting to construct… something. It involved a copious number of 2-by-4s and lots of rope.

“Hey, Applejack! Twilight!” Sweetie Belle waved. “How do you like our new rope swing?!”

“Oh, is that what that is?” Applejack asked, trying to figure out what part of the contraption one was meant to swing on. “I thought you had a test comin’ up.”

“It’s… for math!” Scootaloo said, gesturing at the “swing.” “You know. Like, momentum and stuff.”

“Right,” Applejack just shook her head. They’d been cramming all day. They needed a break.

“I told you to let me draw up some plans first,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “You guys tried to install the thing upside down!”

“Why didn’t you say so before?” Scootaloo responded. “It would’ve saved us hours!”

“Uh, I hate to interrupt,” Applejack said, “but I gotta talk to Apple Bloom about something back at the house. It won’t take long.”

“Okay, be right there.” Apple Bloom turned to her friends. “I’ll be right back. You two can start unhookin’ that thing so we can put it back on right.”

“So… what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Apple Bloom said. There was a hint of suspicion in her voice. When Applejack went and sat her down on the sofa to talk, it usually meant that either something big was going on, or she was in trouble. As Apple Bloom couldn’t think of anything she had done in the past week or so that would result in punishment, it was probably the first one. And since it wasn’t just Applejack who sat next to her, she could hazard a guess at what they wanted to talk about.

Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, Twilight and I have been goin’ out for quite a while now.”

“Um, yeah. I know that already.”

“Let me finish. We’ve been goin’ out for a while, so it’s only natural that things changed between us a bit. I don’t wanna beat around the bush here, so I’m just gonna come right out and say it.” She grinned widely. “We’re gettin’ married!”

Apple Bloom stared at her sister, then blinked. “Married?”

“Yup. I popped the question to her last night.”

Twilight nodded and slipped the ring onto her horn. Apple Bloom could only stare. Then she grinned.

“That’s great!” She jumped off the couch and started hopping around the living room in small circles. “It’s like I’m gettin’ another sister! This is amazing!”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Applejack said, trying not to let her sigh of relief be too audible.

“I gotta go tell everypony!” Apple Bloom gasped as she made for the door.

“Wait just a second!” Applejack grabbed her sister’s tail and pulled her back. “Let me finish. I’m real glad that you’re happy for us, but I just want to make sure you understand what’s goin’ on. Things are gonna change a bit.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom’s ears drooped a little.

“Twilight and I are gonna be spendin’ even more time together as we get ready for the wedding and such, and as unfortunate as it is, it means I may not be able to spend as much time with you as I have been. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be your sister, and I’ll always be there when you need me, but it’s not gonna be like it used to. I still love you, and I still want to spend as much time with you as I can, but, well, Twilight’s gonna be my wife. She’s gonna be part of the family, and that means… well… Oh, horseapples. I thought I could figure out a way to say it.”

“So you’re…” Apple Bloom’s lip quivered. “I mean, I know she’s your very special somepony and all, but does that really mean you’ve gotta leave?”

“Leavin’? Who said anything about leavin’?” Applejack shook her head. “It’s not like I’ll be leavin’ town or anything. I’m just sayin’ that Twilight and I share somethin’ that we don’t share with anypony else. And even though you’re my sister, that includes you. Not because I don’t love you anymore or anything, but… I’m not sure how to say it. I guess when you get a bit older and start gettin’ feelings for other ponies you’ll know what I mean. It’s just that…” she sighed. “Twilight, could you help me out?”

“Apple Bloom,” Twilight said softly. “I just want you to know that I’m not trying to steal your sister from you or anything like that. But I do love her, and we’re going to start a new life together. You’ll still be part of both our lives, but it might not be quite the same part that you are now. You’ll always be her sister —and my sister-in-law too, I guess— but that means things between you might change a bit.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was tryin’ to say,” Applejack said with a nod. “Things are changin’, Apple Bloom. Thing is, you’re changin’, too.” She gave Apple Bloom a playful nudge. “I know you’ll be able to handle me not hoverin’ over your shoulder all the time, right?”

“Of course!” Apple Bloom nodded. “I’ve always been able to handle that,” she added under her breath.

“Good. If I’m not around to keep an eye on you, it means you gotta be responsible for yourself, okay? But if you ever got anything you want to talk about, you know that you can always come find me. I’m always gonna be your sister and nothing is ever gonna change that.” She patted Apple Bloom on the back. “Now get back out there before Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo bust a hole in your clubhouse or something.”

“Sure thing!” She hopped off the couch and made for the door. Halfway out, she stopped. “Oh! Congratulations! Can’t forget that. Bye!”

Applejack finally relaxed as she watched her go. “Whew. That went… alright, I guess. I kinda lost track of what I was sayin’, there.”

“I think she understood,” Twilight said. “Although, I just realized something.”

“What?”

“Are you free this afternoon?”

“I can make time,” Applejack said. “Why?”

“I need to talk to Spike. And you should be there too.”

“‘Course I can do that. Let’s get goin’.”

Spike yawned and stretched as he woke up from his nap. The house was still quiet. Applejack and Twilight must not have returned yet. He rolled out of bed. It was the first time since last night that he had a moment to himself. He knew it wouldn’t last long, and he wanted to make the most of it. Five minutes later he was in the kitchen, making himself a “lunch” out of waffles, ice cream, eggs, garlic, chili sauce, and powdered rubies. Hopefully he could finish and eat it before Twilight and Applejack returned. There weren’t many ponies who could handle the smell. Fortunately for him, he was halfway through his bizarre meal before the front door opened.

“What in tarnation is that smell?” he heard Applejack say.

“Spike must be cooking,” came Twilight’s voice.

A moment later Twilight poked her head into the kitchen. She wore a pair of goggles and had a handkerchief pressed over her muzzle.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike said, looking up from his food. The bowl bubbled ominously. “How’d the talk with Apple Bloom go?”

“It went fine,” Twilight answered. “Spike, what have I told you about making that stuff inside?”

“Well, I can’t do it outside. Last time I tried, Rarity complained that it made all of her laundry smell.”

“True,” Twilight conceded. “Just… give me some warning next time.” She blinked. “My eyes are burning. When you’re done eating that thing, would you mind coming upstairs? Applejack and I want to talk to you about something.”

“Sure thing.” He made sure to keep smiling, even though he had hoped to have the rest of the day to himself after spending the morning writing letters. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long. Just in case it would, he took his time finishing his lunch and cleaning up after himself. Then he sighed and headed upstairs.

Twilight and Applejack were still wearing their protective gear, even though as far as Spike was concerned, the smell wasn’t really that strong. Ponies had oversensitive noses.

“You wanted to talk to me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said. She motioned for him to take a seat. “It’s about Applejack and I.”

“I thought so,” Spike said. He couldn’t imagine that Twilight was thinking of anything else at the moment. “What about you two?”

“Well, that’s actually what I was going to ask you,” she answered. “I know we’ve talked about this a little bit, but I realized I haven’t really gotten your thoughts on everything that’s going on. This affects you as much as anyone else, and I want to know how you feel about it.”

“Oh.” Spike scratched at his spines. He hadn’t really had much of a chance to think it over; at least not for the past day. He had been too occupied taking dictation all morning to really process anything, and he had taken a nap as soon as they finished up. And when he woke up, the engagement had taken a backseat to his stomach. Still, ever since he had found out that Twilight had planned to propose, the matter had crept into his mind a few times, no matter how little he wanted to think about it. “Well, I’m happy for you, obviously,” he said.

“Well, we knew that!” Applejack said. “We wanted to know how you feel. You must have been thinkin’ about what all this means for you.”

“Oh.” A few thoughts sprang to mind, but he couldn’t think of any way to put those thoughts into words. “What it means for me, huh?”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay with everything,” Twilight said gently. “I mean, things will change, sure, but you’ll always be my number one assistant. Nothing is going to change that.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Twilight would want me helpin’ her with her research,” Applejack added. “I don’t know the first thing about any of that, and my writin’ is… less than neat.”

Spike smiled and relaxed a little. He hadn’t believed for a moment that Twilight would fire him, but it felt good to hear her say it. “As long as I have job security, I don’t have too much to worry about,” he said.

“No, no you don’t,” Twilight said, smiling.

Spike nodded. Then a thought popped into his head. One that had occasionally drifted through, but now felt heavy and immediate. “I guess I should start looking for my own place, huh?”

Twilight and Applejack shared a wide-eyed glance.

“Uh, Spike,” Applejack said carefully, “just ‘cause we’re gettin’ married doesn’t mean that I’m tryin’ to boot you out. I could never take your place as Twilight’s research assistant, and I’d never want to. You’ve got no reason to go anywhere. I’m not about to throw you out of your own house!”

“I know that!” Spike said indignantly. “But let’s face it, even you’re fine with having me around I’m still going to be a bit of a third wheel.”

“What’s wrong with a third wheel?” Applejack asked. “I mean, it’s good to have an extra wheel in case one breaks.”

“No, that’s…” He wasn’t sure whether Applejack was genuinely confused or just stretching the metaphor. “It’s a figure of speech. I’m just saying that even if you say that it’s okay for me to stay, it’s still going to be awkward. You two are going to need your space. Besides, think about it. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff on my own lately. I’ve been running the library by myself, making my own food, cleaning, sometimes I even do the laundry!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, obviously thinking about Spike’s last foray into laundering. “You filled the entire basement with soap suds!”

“Only once!” Spike retorted. “I’m just saying that I think if I really needed to, I’d be able to live on my own. I know I’d still have a lot of things to learn, but I think I could do it. It’s not that I don’t like living here. It’s pretty great. And I’m sure not going to stop helping with your research, but I mean… well, I don’t have to live here to do that.”

Twilight was silent. Applejack was also silent, though her silence somehow felt more awkward.

“I mean, not that I’m planning on moving out any time soon,” Spike added hurriedly. “I haven’t been out apartment hunting or anything. It’s just the first thing that popped into my head. I don’t want to leave. It’s just, you know, with the two of you being together, I’m not sure where I’d fit.”

“Spike, you always have a place here,” Twilight said. Then she smiled. “I just want to make sure you know that. This is your home for as long as you want to stay here.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“Good.” She put a hoof on his shoulder. “Is there anything else you’ve been thinking about?”

“Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything. It’s been kinda crazy lately, and I’m pretty sure my brain can’t absorb everything as quickly as yours can.”

“Heh, I know what that’s like,” Applejack added.

“Well, if there’s ever anything you feel like you need to talk to us about, you can. You know that, right?”

“Of course. I don’t need you to tell me that.” He held up a claw as if he were a filly scout. “If I ever have some issue about the nature of my existence, you’ll be the first ponies I come to!”

“Great,” Twilight said. “You have anything to add, Applejack?”

“Yeah, I just wanna say that you can come and talk to me, too. I know we’ve never really spent the kind of time together that you and Twilight have, but even so I care about you a whole bunch. The last thing I want is to make you feel unwelcome in your own home.”

“Don’t worry, Applejack,” Spike said with a dismissive wave of his claw. “I’ll be fine. You two should be able to spend time with each other without having to worry about me.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Spike.” Twilight smiled warmly and patted him on the head. “We’ve got a bunch of other ponies to go talk to, so we’ll give you some time for yourself. You’ve earned it after helping me with all those letters this morning.”

“Thanks!” Spike nodded proudly, glad that his work was being recognized.

“Though I do want you to open some windows,” Twilight added as she walked out the door. “That smell is making my nose run.”

Spike sighed as he watched them go. “I swear, there’s something wrong with your noses.”

The bell above the door of the chocolate shop gave a ding as Twilight and Applejack stepped through the door. Twilight opened her mouth to greet her employer, but didn’t get the chance.

“Congratulations!” Lyra seemingly dropped out of the air between Applejack and Twilight, catching them both in a massive hug.

“So I guess you heard?” Applejack said with a chuckle. “I told Twilight that we should tell my sister last.”

“It was Pinkie Pie, actually,” Bon Bon said. She rolled her eyes. “Lyra, let go of them. You’ll hurt somepony like that.”

Lyra released them and addressed Twilight. “What happened? You went to all that trouble planning everything and she managed to propose first?! How did she get away with that?”

“Wait a minute, you two were in on this?” Applejack asked. Then she smacked herself on the forehead. “So that’s why she played my favorite song while we were at dinner.”

“I’ll have you know I did hours of extra practice to make sure it was perfect!” Lyra patted herself on the chest.

“Don’t give her too much credit,” Bon Bon said. “I told her that if her playing wasn’t satisfactory she would have to take over Twilight’s inventory duty.”

“Well, I thought she did a great job,” Applejack said.

“Thank you!” Lyra grabbed Applejack in another hug. “You saved me!”

Twilight grabbed Lyra’s tail with her telekinesis and peeled her off of her fiancée. “Yes, and now I have to do it.”

“Oh.” Applejack raised her eyebrow. “Well, in that case…”

“She enjoys doing inventory!” Lyra protested. “You know it!”

“So how did the evening go?” Bon Bon finally emerged from behind the counter. “I just know that Lyra is dying to hear all about it, and she’s not going to accomplish a thing today until she hears the whole story.”

Lyra sniffed. “What, like you don’t want to hear the story?”

Bon Bon shrugged. “I am more interested in what will result from the proposal than how it came about.”

“But you are interested a little, right?” Lyra nudged Bon Bon with her elbow.

“I suppose so,” Bon Bon admitted. “Let’s hear it.”

Twilight turned to Applejack. “You want to start, or should I?”

“It was real nice of Bon Bon to give us all these chocolates,” Applejack said as she and Twilight left the boutique.

“It’s like Lyra says, she’s really a big softie,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Do you want to take them home with you, or do you think they’d be safer at my house?”

“Hmmm… hungry dragon versus hungry siblings. That’s a tough one.”

Twilight giggled some more at the mental image of the Apple Family challenging Spike to an eating contest. “I don’t know. You’ve seen how much Spike can put away.”

“You know,” Applejack said, “if you’d move to Sweet Apple Acres, we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

“No, but then I’d have to worry about finding someplace to store all my books.” Another image popped into her mind, this one of the Apple Family House with a massive library wing protruding from the back. “Or maybe you could move into the library! We’ve got plenty of space.”

“Ha! Find a spell that’ll turn it into a giant apple tree and get back to me,” Applejack said, laughing. “Wonder what it would be like livin’ inside of an apple tree.”

“Probably the same as living inside any other tree, only it would probably smell nicer.” Twilight shrugged. “As long as Spike doesn’t kill it with the smell of his chili sauce.”

“You could find a spell for that, too.”

“Believe me, I’ve looked!” Twilight shook her head. “Spike’s cooking is very… resilient. The library will probably still be spicy when I get home.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Oh, this is nothing. The last time Spike made this, he melted my best pot. And the sink. And he burned a big hole in the floor.”

Realization dawned on Applejack’s face. “So that’s what that patch on your kitchen floor is.”

“But seriously, what are we going to do about the chocolate?” Twilight said. The sun was beginning to set, and as much as she enjoyed Applejack’s company, it would be nice to have some time to collect her thoughts. “Do you want to take them?”

“Nah, you’ll have an easier time keepin’ them away from Spike than I would keepin’ them away from Apple Bloom and Granny.”

“Granny steals your food?”

Applejack nodded. “Even if I tell her to stay out of the chocolates, she’ll forget about it and wonder whose they are. And Apple Bloom has a way of findin’ sweets no matter where I hide them.”

“Alright, I’ll keep them safe until lunch tomorrow.’ Twilight took the box from Applejack’s back. It felt lighter than she expected. They had been nibbling on them all afternoon, and apparently they had eaten quite a few of them.

“I’ll make sure I bring some good sandwiches, okay?”

They kissed, lingering on each others’ lips just long enough to enjoy it, but not so long that they got looks from the other ponies on the street.

Twilight smiled. “I just want you to know that the past two days have been the best two days of my life.”

“Same here,” Applejack smiled. “Here’s hopin’ it just gets better from here.”