A FARM PONY'S RISE TO FAME

Showtime followed Applebloom, Babs and Silver Spoon up to the apartments. When he saw what the apartments look like, he gawked in horror.

“Y-You live here?”, he stuttered slightly.

“Yeah, ya see, we don't have much now, but it's a roof over our heads”, Applebloom replied.

Showtime continued to look around, seemingly horror-struck.

“No, no, no! This will not do! I can't have Fillydelphia's newest star living in this... this.. scrapheap of an apartment!”, Showtime exclaimed, still horrified.

“Finally! Somepony agrees with me!”, Silver Spoon chimed in upon hearing this, much to Applebloom's slight annoyance.

“Well, it's not like she's rich or anythin'”, Babs replied with a similarly annoyed look at the stallion.

“By the time I'm done with her, she will be”, Showtime answered confidently. “Now then, if you'll follow me, Applebloom, we'll accommodate you with some more... appropriate living quarters”, he said, starting to usher the farm filly out of the door.

“What about Babs and Silver Spoon, can they come too?”, Applebloom asked, looking behind herself to see her fillyfriend and the silver-furred filly, who simply stood in place at the moment.

Showtime stopped ushering the farm filly to look back at the two. His face was adorned with a slight cringe.

“S-Sure”, he replied uneasily.

“Whoo-hoo! Finally getting out of this place!”, Silver Spoon said excitedly, following Applebloom and Showtime downstairs.

However, just as they were about to leave, they saw Swift walking in.

“Oh hey, fillies. Goin' out?”, Swift asked curiously.

“Actually, um, Showtime is gettin' us a place somewhere else, so Ah guess we're leavin'. Thanks for everythin', though!”, Applebloom said with a chipper smile, just before Showtime ushered her past him without giving him a chance to respond.

“See ya later, alligator!”, Silver Spoon said snootily, prancing past the colt without so much as a passing glance.

Babs, however, stopped in her tracks.

“Guess you're really movin' up in the world, ain't ya?”, Swift remarked with a warm smile at the city filly, who rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile.

“Applebloom is, really. I'm just comin' along for the ride, I guess. But really, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have even had this happen to us, so thanks a lot”, Babs replied, extending a hoof out.

“If you're ever in the neighborhood, look us up", the colt said, shaking the hoof. "I'm sure my dad would love to chat with you three again sometime. I know I will”, he added, placing the hoof back on the ground together with Babs.

“Hurry up, Babs!", Silver Spoon shouted impatiently from within the doorway. "This carriage isn't going to hang around forever, and it looks like this Showtime guy isn't willing to wait around, either!”, she added before closing the door behind her.

“Guess you better you get goin'”, Swift remarked.

He turned around, walked to the door, and opened it for Babs. She walked past him and to the carriage outside, giving him a passing glance as she entered it.

When the carriage started moving, Applebloom's head could be seen popping out of the right window.

“Thanks again for everythin', Swift!”, she shouted and waved to him before ducking her head back in the carriage.

“Good luck!”, Swift shouted back just before the carriage made a left turn and left his sight.

No more than thirty minutes later, the three fillies found themselves standing outside what looked to be the best building in the entire city. Or at least that's how it looked to them compared to the apartment complex they were staying in previously.

Showtime motioned for the three to follow him inside and then lead them to the elevator. As it was raising from the ground, the fillies noticed that the opposite wall is made of glass, allowing them to see what is on the other side; by the time it came to a halt, the fillies' mouths were hanging wide open in shock and awe, seeing what seemed to be the entire city down below them.

However, if the sight they just saw in the elevator impressed them, then the room they entered afterwards took the cake, tray, and crumbs.

“Wow! Ah'm gonna be stayin' here?!”, Applebloom asked incredulously when Showtime opened the door to what she assumed was her room.

“There is around the clock room-service", the stallion spoke up, "and feel free to order anything your heart desires from your own personal butler, who is a mere bell-ring away. And do not worry about cleaning up any messes you may happen to make, thanks to our in-suite household chore service”, he said as the three followed him into the room.

The fillies looked around themselves, taking in their surroundings and almost unable to believe what they were seeing. The room consisted of marble floors and leather furniture, with fluffy pillows on each piece of furniture in the room.

“This suite always has three bedrooms, so you all can have the privacy you want”, Showtime remarked while opening the door to one of the rooms.

The room consisted of a king-sized bed with an end table on each side, a small lamp on each end table, a walk-in closet to the left side of the room, a projector which looked as if it was embedded into the wall just behind the bed (yet didn't look unsightly in any way at all), and to top it all off, a small refrigerator sat in the upper right corner of the room.

“Now this is what I'm talking about!”, Silver Spoon exclaimed, hopping onto the bed and letting out a content sigh.

“Ah guess Silver Spoon's claimin' this room”, Applebloom remarked with a smirk.

“So it seems...”, Showtime remarked with a less than enthused expression. “Each room is an exact duplicate of the other, so there is no need to worry about not getting something you wanted out of the last room you saw”, he continued before leaving the room and motioning for the two to follow him. “We have two other rooms for each of you here as well”, he added with a smile.

Babs and Applebloom exchanged curious looks at one another before it clicked with them. They hadn't told him they were a couple yet.

“Um, Mr. Showtime. Ah don't think the other room will be necessary”, Applebloom pointed out.

Showtime turned to look at the two with a confused expression. However, the statement set in when he noticed that the two were standing next to each other with their tails intertwining.

“Oh... Oh! I uh, see... ahem, well then”, he spoke up with a nervous expression before quickly opening the door for them. “Make yourselves at home”, he said, motioning for the two to walk into the bedroom.

“Oh, I'm sure we will”, Babs remarked with a coy smirk at her lover, who caught on quickly and smirked back.

“Y-Yes, I'm sure you will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go back to the music company and fill out some paperwork. I'll be back tomorrow to speak with Applebloom about her new career”, Showtime replied, walking past the two and quickly leaving the suite.

“How about we celebrate your most recent success?”, Babs suggested with a smirk, hopping onto the bed and motioning for her lover to join.

“Mmm, what do ya have in mind?”, Applebloom asked in response, though she already knew was what on her lover's mind.

“I was thinkin' of a movie, some late night dinner, and to top it all off, makin' you scream my name for the next two hours”, Babs replied when Applebloom jumped on the bed.

“Ah was thinkin' we skip the movie and the late night dinner and get to makin' me scream your name for the next two hours”, the farm filly suggested, wrapping her hooves around her lover and starting to make out with her.

“I like how you think. Say, is this room soundproof?”, Babs asked between kisses, her front hooves running along Applebloom's mane.

“Ah hope so, or Silver Spoon's gonna be gettin' an earful in the next few minutes”, Applebloom replied with a smirk.

Babs then stopped kissing her and began to lower herself down on the farm filly, stopping just in front of her prize; Applebloom allowed her tail to flop limply to the side and she spread her legs wide, giving her lover full access to her moistening slit.

Over the past year, the two fillies had become much more experienced in their love-making. And while they were no longer as innocent as they once were, each and every time the two began to make love - like they were now - it always felt just like the first time for them.

The city filly put a hoof on her lover's mound and gently spread the farm filly's lips. She extended her tongue and began to run her tongue on Applebloom's labia, earning a sharp moan from the farm filly when the latter felt the combination of warmth from her lover's tongue and the cold air from having her labia exposed in such a fashion. Babs then dipped her tongue inside her lover's quickly moistening love-tunnel and allowed her lips to clasp around her tongue, swirling it around the inside. This caused Applebloom to arch up and place her two front hooves on her lover's head, pushing it down as if to ask her to go deeper while Babs continued her tongue-work.

“Oh Babs... Babs! Deeper Babs, Oh Luna, yes, deeper!”, Applebloom moaned out, getting louder with each time she said her lover's name.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

“Hey fillies, guess what? This place has-Holy Luna!”, Silver Spoon gasped in surprise, causing the two love-making fillies to snap their heads in her direction. A crimson red blush decorated everypony's faces.

“We're kind of busy here, Silver Spoon!”, Babs shouted with a glare at the silver-furred filly.

The latter was still staring blankly at the two before her senses seemed to catch up with her.

“I can see that”, she said, though her voice was a higher pitch than normal.

“Close the consarned door!”, Applebloom ordered angrily when the shock of her embarrassment finally worn off.

Silver Spoon stood there a few moments longer before a grin washed over her face.

“Can I watch?”

“No!!!”, both fillies denied simultaneously, grabbing whatever they could and starting to throw things at the perverted filly.

Silver Spoon managed to dodge a few, only to receive a brush to the skull, which resulted in her being knocked on her back and holding her forehead. Babs then quickly walked up to the door and gave her one last glare before slamming the door shut.

“My head!", Silver Spoon winced, standing to her all fours and rubbing her head. "That's gonna hurt in the morning... but it was so worth it to make those blank-flanks squirm!”, she remarked to herself with a devious grin. “I can't wait to tell...”, she began to say, only for her voice to falter and her devious expression almost instantly falling to one of sadness. “Diamond Tiara...”, she finally finished, her ears flattening down and her tail hanging limply at her hindquarters.

She slumped her way back to her bedroom, only giving a depressed sigh before closing the door and then hopping onto the bed. She reached for her saddlebag and pulled a photo out of it; it featured Diamond Tiara and herself in a loving hug. She looked at it for a moment before holding it close to her chest and slowly drifting off to sleep.

A loud knocking on the door stirred the farm filly. She sat up next to Babs, who still had her hooves around her waist - a result of when the two fell asleep after managing to regain the mood and continue their love-making.

“Who is it?”, Babs asked drowsily, stirring herself after yet another pounding on the door.

“Ah'll go check”, Applebloom said sleepily, sluggishly jumping off the bed and making her way to the door. She opened it to reveal Showtime's smiling face.

“Good morning! Slept well I hope”, the stallion greeted with a smile and let himself in.

“Well, actually--”

“Great! Because we have a full day ahead ourselves!", Showtime said, cutting off the filly before she could finish. "I've arranged for your first recording at ten, then we need to go meet with press at twelve, after that we'll need to pay a stop by the market to get you some threads, so that you look presentable for your performance at three, and then there's the autograph signing after that.”

“Say wha?”, Applebloom replied sluggishly.

Her brain still wasn't awake yet, not to mention she spent longer making love to Babs than she had intended, so the poor filly was running low on sleep. Showtime noticed this and looked at her.

“Hmm, looks like you could use a little pick-me-up. No problem, we'll just pay a quick stop to the coffee shop on the way to your first recording!”, he concluded enthusiastically, starting to usher the filly out the door, despite the fact she barely knew what was going on. He then closed the door behind them.

“Applebloom?”, Babs called out sleepily, walking into the living room of their suite and looking around in confusion.

With a cup of coffee now in her system, the farm filly was wide awake and bushy-tailed as the carriage ran along the streets of Fillydephia.

“I just sang last night for the first time, how can ya be makin' all these arrangements when Ah ain't even famous yet?”, Applebloom asked the stallion curiously when the carriage made a turn.

“Word travels fast in this city, Applebloom. I wasn't the only pony to see your performance last night, ya know”, Showtime replied wisely just as the carriage came to a halt. “Ah, here we are! The recording studio!”, he exclaimed joyfully.

However, now that Applebloom was wide awake, she was able to fully realize what today was.

“Uh, Mr. Showtime. Ah am gonna be able to get home at a decent time today, right?”, she asked uncertainly, jumping out of the carriage and following the stallion into the building.

“Probably not, but I don't see why that's an issue. You're going to be famous before the day's out!”, Showtime replied enthusiastically, both stopping in front of a door inside the building.

“Well, ya see, today is a special day for me and Babs. It's our anniversary from when we started datin' and Ah really don't wanna miss it. So if ya could maybe scratch one or two of those little appoints of yours, so Ah could get back to Babs at a decent time, Ah would be mighty grateful”, Applebloom said, to which Showtime turned to look at her.

“Ah, I see. Ya know, I had a fillyfriend too and wouldn't ya know it, I had to miss our anniversary too”, he replied, a seemingly genuine saddened expression adorning his face for a moment. He then rose a hoof as if he was some kind of colt-scout. “True story. Now let's get to recording, we have a busy day!”, he exclaimed joyfully and began to usher the filly inside the room.

“But, but, Ah really don't wanna miss this day. Can't ya--”

“Ya know what you were just saying?", the stallion asked, cutting her off. "Let's put a pin in it, right here, so we won't forget it, and we'll come back to it later”, he said, making a motion as if he was pinning something into some invisible surface.

He then resumed ushering Applebloom into the recording room. The filly kept protesting for a few moments longer, but eventually gave up, at least for the time being.

“What in tarnation do ya mean ya still haven't found her?!”, Applejack roared to the police pony. The latter was keeping his cool, despite the fact that the farm pony looked ready to buck him like one of her apple trees.

“We've been looking as hard as we can, Applejack, but without any information to go on aside from what you have told us, we're struggling to pull up anything concrete", the police pony replied, looking through his papers. "Not to mention, it's only been a day since you filed the report. Plus, there's the matter of Filthy Rich having a pull on the majority of the police staff.”

“Why in tarnation would that varmint be yankin' half the consarned police department?”, Applejack inquired with a confused expression.

“To look for his niece. She's gone missing as well”, the police pony replied simply before resuming looking through his paperwork.

“Silver Spoon's gone missin' too? What in tarnation is goin' on here?”, Applejack asked aloud, sitting in place with a thoughtful expression for a moment before leaving the police department and heading back for Apple Acres.

“It's only been a day, youngin'. They ain't gonna find 'em that quick”, Granny Smith remarked when her granddaughter walked through the front door and past her. “Where in tarnation are ya goin'?”

“Ah'm recheckin' Applebloom's room. Ah might have overlooked somethin'”, the farm pony replied, walking upstairs and into her little sister's room. It looked just the same as it had the day before, but she was going to search extra carefully this time.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had shown up.

“So you haven't seen or heard from her for a whole day?”, the orange pegasus asked with a worried expression.

Granny Smith nodded in response.

“We think they might have run off together”, she said, “since Babs' momma and poppa didn't see eye-to-eye with her datin' Applebloom. Ya don't know anythin' bout this by chance, do ya?”, she inquired, eyeing the two.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle put on the best poker faces they could muster and shook their heads, feigning ignorance.

“So they did run off without us!", Scootaloo exclaimed after Granny Smith had closed the door and the two walked away from the house. "They are so gonna get it when they get back!”

“Calm down, Scootaloo, I think they had a good reason for leaving us behind”, Sweetie Belle replied, defending her fellow crusaders.

“Oh yeah? Like what?”, Scootaloo retorted with a glare at the unicorn filly.

“Well, I checked the train schedule and it turns out that the midnight train leaves exactly at twelve-midnight on the weekends, not twelve-thirty. So maybe they learned of the new time and it was too late to tell us”, Sweetie Belle explained calmly, the two continuing to walk to the outer parts of Apple Acres and nearing the town.

“Maybe”, the pegasus replied. She didn't seem all that convinced, but the statement did manage to calm her.

Applebloom hopped into the carriage an hour later and quickly took another swig of her cup of coffee. Showtime jumped into the carriage as well and motioned for it to move to their next destination.

“Ah almost didn't remember all the words from the song Ah sung last night”, she remarked nervously, turning her gaze to Showtime.

“Don't worry about it. Sure, you goofed up a few times, but you remembered all the lines in time, so we didn't fall behind schedule”, the stallion replied with a supportive wink at the filly.

“The glares from the recordin' staff didn't help me remember any better”, Applebloom remarked dismally, recalling their aggravated groans and glares towards her each time she forgot a line to her song.

“That's the music business for ya, Applebloom. Though when you perform tonight, let's try not to forget our lines, shall we?”, Showtime replied with a less than supportive look at the farm filly, who simply nodded in response.

The next stop, as Applebloom assumed, was what Showtime was referring to as the press. She had no idea what he meant by that, though. For all she knew, it could be some kind of a reporter pony standing in front of her and writing down each and every word she spoke.

She wasn't too far off either, but this was a lot more than a simple reporter pony writing down what she said. It became clear to her when she stepped into the next building from Showtime's list of things to do today. When she followed him inside, they were greeted by non-other than a mare who wore a black dress with small diamonds stitched into the hem, a black and white stripped blouse, and black sunglasses with pink lenses.

“Ah, so dis is the filly whom I, Photo Finish, must make look beautiful in time for her interview?”, Photo Finish inquired when Showtime stopped just in front of her.

“Yes. Do you think it's possible? She does after all have a robust country look to her and it might be hard to get rid of that”, Showtime remarked, glancing at the farm filly.

“But Ah like mah look. What's wrong with it?”, Applebloom asked, feeling offended by the fact that Showtime had more or less insulted her looks.

Photo Finish then looked over the filly with what she assumed to be an examining stare, placing a hoof on her chin. Applebloom couldn't tell, since her eyes were hidden behind the pink lenses of her sunglasses.

“I've got it! Come, come!”, Photo Finish exclaimed suddenly, at which point the filly was ushered into another room by two female ponies, who she had no idea were behind her 'till now.

“First things first, the bow... must go!”, Photo Finish said dramatically.

At this, one of the mares yanked the bow off her head, allowing the farm filly's mane to drop down at the side of her neck.

“But Ah like mah bow! Applejack gave it to me for mah tenth birthday!”, Applebloom protested, though the mares and Photo Finish seemed to ignore her as they tossed it to the table on the side.

Then they immediately began to assault her with make-up, different dresses, outfits, and accessories. This went on for good twenty minutes until Photo Finish made a gesture for the mares to stop.

“Ah! Peerrrr-fect! Now you look like... a star!”, she said dramatically with a hoof kissing gesture.

The farm filly looked into the mirror and saw a complete stranger staring back at her, or at least that's how it seemed to her at first. Her mane had been styled so that it was flat and long, but wrapped around the front of her neck in a fluid fashion. Her cheeks had been touched up with a light pink blush, her eyelids had been layered in mascara, and her eyelashes had been curled in such a fashion that they looked silly to the farm filly. She also wore a dark red dress, which seemed to run along her body all the way to her tail, but it didn't ride on her flank at all.

“Ah look plum ridiculous!”, Applebloom blurted out suddenly, looking back at Photo Finish and the two mares with an annoyed glare.

“Maybe where you come from, but in this city ponies will think you look beautiful”, Showtime's voice spoke up, snapping Applebloom's gaze to him as he walked into the room. “And not a moment too soon. The interview is in ten minutes.”

One of the mares picked up the bow and was about to toss it into the trashcan when Applebloom's face suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Ya toss that bow away and Ah'll walk out of this building and never come back”, she said with a glare at the mare.

The mare looked at Showtime, who sighed in response.

“Make sure it's kept in a safe place for her to pick up after the interview”, the stallion replied finally after a tense silence, much to Applebloom's relief.

“What are you doing?”, Silver Spoon asked curiously when Babs walked about the suite as if she was looking for something. The city filly came back with a two candles, which she sat down carefully on the table.

“Today is me and Applebloom's anniversary from when we started dating. I want to surprise her with a candlelight dinner when she gets back”, Babs replied with a smile.

She then turned around and walked towards the door, pressing a button which rang a bell. The door opened, revealing a well-dressed stallion.

“Yes?”, the butler asked in a prim and proper tone.

“Can you order some of your best food and have it delivered up here around...”, Babs began to say, but trailed off as she didn't know exactly when her fillyfriend would be back. “Five o’clock?”, she finished finally, deciding that Applebloom would surely be back by then.

“Of course, madam”, the butler replied.

He was about to leave, only for Silver Spoon to halt him in his tracks by standing in front of him.

“While you're at it, could you bring up a deluxe daisy salad for me as soon as you can?”, she asked in a prim and proper tone.

“Of course, Madam”, the butler replied, walking past her and closing the door behind him.

“A deluxe daisy sandwich?”, Babs inquired with a curious look.

“Just because you're going to starve yourself 'till your fillyfriend gets back, doesn't mean I have to”, Silver Spoon replied snootily.

She then turned around, sat down on the couch, and pressed a button on the side. It caused a small white flat paper flap to come down and a motion movie to be displayed on it from the projector, just behind the couch in the wall.

Babs simply let out a sigh in response to this statement and left the spoiled filly to her movie. She then continued making preparations for her and Applebloom's anniversary dinner.

“What the hay is wrong with me statin' that Ah'm datin a filly?!”, Applebloom exclaimed with a glare at Showtime as the carriage pulled away from the building.

“Two reasons: one, it's better for your public image if your fans think you're a single, and two, lesbian relationships don't go over well in the public eye. Too much controversy, you see”, Showtime explained when the carriage made a left turn.

It was well into the midday now and the farm filly's thoughts once again reverted back to her lover, who was most likely waiting expectantly for her right now.

“So about what Ah said earlier this mornin'...”, she began, looking at Showtime and expecting him to know what she was talking about.

“This morning?”, the stallion replied in confusion.

“Ya forgot already? Ah asked ya if ya could scratch off one of your little appointments for me so Ah can spend mah anniversary with Babs!”, Applebloom reminded with a glare at the stallion.

“Oh, that”, Showtime replied as if the topic was not important. “I'm afraid we won't be able to. Too much to do and it's far too late to back out of any of my arrangements now. Perhaps if you had asked me to earlier this morning--”

“Ah did!”, Applebloom erupted angrily, cutting off the stallion mid-sentence.

“Really? Well, perhaps you should have pressed the matter more and maybe I could--”

“Ah tried, but then you did some consarned little motion and talkin' about some kind of pin of some sorts, and pushed me into the buckin' recordin' studio!”, the farm filly roared, clearly becoming pissed off by this point.

“Now, now, no need to swear. I understand that you're upset and you know what? You have my deepest sympathies, but we can't change anything, now, can we?”, Showtime asked, looking at her calmly.

“Ah guess not”, Applebloom replied, looking out of the carriage window and giving an aggravated sigh.

“Tell ya what”, Showtime said after a few moments, “after your performance, we'll see if we can cut the autograph session short by a half hour. How's that sound?”

Applebloom snapped her gaze back at him with a hopeful expression.

“Really?!”, she asked joyfully.

“Like I said, we'll see”, Showtime replied with a smile.

Author's Note

Proof read by zutheskunk