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

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

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

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

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

“How old are you again?”

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

Finally Pinkie said something. “You smell funny.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Her smile dropped. “Wait what?”

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

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

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

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

Everypony but one.

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

“Let’s start the bidding!”

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

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

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

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

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

“Seventeen thousand bits!”

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

“Applejack?”

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

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

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

“Thirty five thousand bits!”

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Author's Note

Lol, you all thought I was dead. Shows what you know XD

Nah, but this did take a while to get done, and for that, I apologize.
This time around, I was left to do the edits, as real life prevented Art Inspired from helping, so there may be some mistakes here and there (as well as a lack of Arty's magic), but I think it's still readable, even if these tired eyes missed something. Just leave a comment and I'll fix it when I get a chance. Though I'd prefer if you didn't go TOO grammar Nazi on me.

And you can't be too mad at me... I mean... they've finally met! And it only took 5 chapter!