A Weird Life

Humming to herself, Applejack made her way up the path to the family barn with the near-empty market cart in tow and jingling saddle bags filled with new bits. It had been a pretty good day at the market for Applejack, with most of the pastries being sold off, along with half the apples.

Applejack noticed a distinct lack of Big Mac and Scott as she pulled the cart into the barn. After unhitching herself and setting down her saddlebags, she exited the barn to see if she had missed them on the way in. Not spotting them outside, she walked into the house.

“Big Mac! Scott! Ya in here!?” called out Applejack from in the doorway. Big Mac cleared his throat in response. Applejack looked to her immediate left to see Big Mac sitting on the couch scowling back while he rubbed his ear with a hoof. Applejack laughed nervously. “Oops, sorry big brother,” she said. “Ya know where Scott is?”

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac.

Applejack stared back happily while he returned to the book he had been reading. As time dragged on, Applejack’s happy look slowly deflated to one of awkwardness. “So, he’s where? Exactly?”

Without looking up from the book, Mac swept a hoof in a broad generalization of the house, and the barn, and the orchard.

“Gee. Thanks.”

“Eeyup,” he said. While he was able to use the book to hide his smug smile, the book did nothing to hide the smugness in his voice. Applejack scowled back at him as she walked further into the house to look for Scott.

Meanwhile, Scott leaned back in the wooden tub with his arms resting on the edges. The warm water soaked to his bones as soap suds floated around on the water like tiny icebergs in the ocean. He lazily moved his legs, never breaking the surface, to shift underwater currents to watch the suds move about in response. Sinking a little lower, he let his arms fall into the water with a splash. As he looked to the ceiling to rest his head on the edge of the tub, he closed his eyes and sighed in contentment.

Scott had few, if any, luxuries in this world; most of the things that he had arrived with were near useless in Equestria, like the laptop that couldn't be charged. So bath time was about as close to a luxury as he got, and that made it his time. A knock at the door snapped him from his reprieve.

“Scott?” asked Applejack.

“Yo.”

“Ya mind if Ah come in?”

“I'm in the tub. But yeah, it's fine,” Scott said, not moving.

Scott's German grandfather, along with his prior military service— that the ponies didn't know about— had wrecked his sense of modesty. He wasn't about to water gardens while going full-commando like Granddad, and he still preferred privacy most of the time. Nevertheless though, Scott gave as few fucks as possible in regards to how clothed he was when ponies were around, unless it was Applebloom. If Applejack wanted to try to look at his junk through dirty water with soap and suds in it, she could knock herself out.

Applejack had learned that rather than try to understand the do's-and-don’ts of human etiquette, it was is easier to just knock every time. Scott may have been fairly open by American standards, but by Equus standards he was a bit of a prude.

The door opened halfway and Applejack slipped into the room, closing it behind herself. Walking over, she stopped at Scott's side just within arms’ reach of the tub. “Ya enjoyin' yerself there?”

“Just listening to nothing.”

“Wha' cha mean?”

“Well.” Opening his eyes, Scott rose up enough that his shoulders were level with his arms as they returned to the edge of the tub. “Back home there's always some kind of background noise. Cooling fans for electronics, air conditioning, little electric motors.”

“Well tha' sounds plum awful.”

Scott just waved it off. “You don't really notice it till it's gone, like during a power outage. I was just enjoying the quiet in here.”

“Scott. It's like this everywhere,” Applejack said with a flat look.

“Yeah, and it kind of unnerves me too when I'm just sitting around the house doing nothing. This is one of the only times it really doesn't,” Scott said. He looked forward, away from AJ, for a few seconds before continuing. “It’s weird, you think after three months I'd be used to it by now.” Scott gave a single humorless laugh. “Funny how that works.”

Scott felt a hoof pat his shoulder before resting there. Scott looked out the corner of his eye to see Applejack looking back with concern and a sympathetic smile. “Aw, don't worry about me, cowgirl,” Scott said, reaching across his chest to pat the hoof on his shoulder, then giving it a firm squeeze. “I'm a pretty tough bastard. I'll be fine.”

His actions said more to AJ than his words did, though. So with a small nod, Applejack pulled her hoof back.

Scott fidgeted a bit, having become self conscious, before turning to face Applejack. “Now why'd you come in here? Or did you just want to check out my dee and bee's?” Scott asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Scott thought Twilight was the queen of the deadpan face; Applejack, however, may have just claimed the crown with the look she was giving him. “I was gonna ask you if you want to go to Rare's, but I'll tell her yer busy fiddlin' yerself.  I'm sure she'll understand,” said Applejack in a tone to match her face.

Scott snickered. “She said it was okay to stop over?”

“Nah, Ah thought Ah'd pull ya past her place so ya could just imagine what it'd be like if she did,” Applejack said.

Scott laughed heartily. “Smart-ass,” he said. He scooped a mound of soap bubbles and threw— as good as you can throw bubbles— them at Applejack, who laughed while blocking with a hoof.

“Scott, that right there is the biggest case of 'pot calling the kettle black' Ah ever did hear,” Applejack said while shaking the bubbles off her hoof.

“Yeah yeah, enough of your racist pots. Get out so I can get ready,” Scott said, making a shooing motion with his hand.

Applejack rolled her eyes as she left the bathroom.

Scott reached down beneath the water to remove the drain plug and empty the tub. As the water drained, Scott dried off what he could while standing in the water before stepping out to finish the rest. He started fishing clothes out of one of the piles of clothes on the floor, putting them on as he went.

There were two piles of clothes on the floor. One was the clothes he had been wearing all day, the cargo pants, tee-shirt, boxers, socks, and shoes, the only set of clothes from his world. He had never been so happy to have passed out fully clothed in his life, especially when it came to the shoes. The others Scott hated with a fiery passion. Rarity had made them in a rush without Scott's input and with various pieces of fabric she had lying around, so they were meant to be temporary. At the time, she had been slammed with orders and backorders. The end result was a lot of different colors in a patchwork design that looked like they came out of an 80s ballroom party.

Fully dressed in the clothes from Rarity, Scott scooped up the smelly clothes and walked to his room, where he stuffed them, minus the shoes, into a pillow case. Setting the shoes off to the side of the room, Scott slung the impromptu bag over his shoulder and left the room barefoot. Without concrete, pavement, and gravel areas, Scott found he really didn't need shoes all that much; so he saved his shoes as much as possible by not wearing them.

Upon exiting the house, Scott spied Applejack hitched up to a four-wheeled wagon with a tarp covering the back half. As Scott walked over, he threw the bag toward the wagon with an underhand swing. The bag soared through the air to come up a few feet short of the wagon. Applejack gave Scott a knowing grin. “Shut up,” he said while picking up the bag.

“Ah didn't say nothin',” Applejack replied innocently while Scott climbed into the wagon.

Scott sat in the wagon against a front corner with his back to the side. With Scott settled, AJ started pulling the wagon along. The minutes ticked by as they went, Scott watched the scenery slowly drift by at Applejack's walking pace.

The only sounds were birds chirping their little melodies as they flew by, along with the wagon as it rattled over bumps and the creak of wooden wheels rolling along on the dirt path. Scott was a tad bored and would remain that way for the next half-hour or so trip to Ponyville.

He looked over at Applejack and considered trying to strike up a conversation. “Meh, better to just leave her be. Puts up with me enough as is.” With that thought, he returned to watching the scenery roll by, while he allowed his mind to wander.

When Applejack spied Ponyville up ahead, she looked back to make sure Scott was covered. What she saw instead was that he was looking off to the side, lost in his own little world.

“Hey, Scott,” Applejack said. When Scott glanced over to her, she jerked her head forward. He looked ahead to see Ponyville a pair of football fields away.

Scott reached for the loose end of the tarp at the back and pulled it over as he ducked down. A couple seconds of adjustment and the tarp covered the whole top of the wagon.

Scott reached behind himself to grab an apple out of one of the baskets of them that were in the back of the wagon, used as cover in case someone wondered what Applejack was pulling. Gradually the sounds of a small town became more pronounced. The clop of the ponies’ hooves against the ground, the sounds of conversation, foals laughing as they scampered by. All of it was the soundtrack to Scott's world of darkness as the wagon bumped along.

Eventually, Scott felt the wagon come to a stop just after he finished the apple. Tossing the core into a corner, Scott waited for the all-clear signal. Applejack unhitched herself from the wagon behind Rarity's boutique. She scanned the area in a 'totally not suspicious at all' manner, before walking over to Rarity's backdoor. Knocking on the door, she waited while continuing to survey the area. Rarity opened the door without greeting or fanfare, as she too glanced around while stepping outside. Applejack returned to the wagon and knocked on the side that faced the house three times, to which Scott returned in kind. With that, AJ pulled back the tarp while Scott, with the pillowcase, smoothly hopped over the side then jogged into the house, followed by AJ and Rarity walking in.

“Darlings, so good of you to stop by,” Rarity said, after closing the door.

“Hey, Rarity,” said Scott. Glancing around, he took in the fairly spartan kitchen: teal and blue made up the colors, round table for four, standard kitchen appliances. Scott had been to Rarity's only once nearly three months ago, and he hadn't ventured beyond the storefront. Scott half-expected the kitchen to be as gaudy as what he had seen in the storefront.

“Howdy, Rarity,” greeted Applejack. “Where's Twilight?”

“I'm in here!” Twilight called out from the front room.

“Sprinkler, that you in there?” Scott asked happily. Twilight poked her head around the door to level a withering glare at Scott who returned a wide, toothy grin.

“Don't call me Sprinkler,” said Twilight.

“Whatever you say, Highlight Spackle,” he said with a shrug.

Twilight's horn enveloped in a purple glow as she stepped into the doorway. From out behind the doorway a large, obviously heavy tome with a clasp floated in front herself. She began to menacingly toss the ancient-looking tome into the air, the glow around the book cutting out as it spun through the air, only to reappear around it on the descent.

Rarity stood off to the side, shifting her weight side to side while looking back and forth between the two. “Now now, you two,” she said. “Twilight what say we put the book down, hmm?” Rarity didn't care if Twilight started beating Scott silly with ancient knowledge. What she did care about was Twilight chasing him throughout her house while swinging a book that looked like it could be used in demolition work.

Scott the whole time had been intently watching the book. “You wouldn’t hit me would you, Spackle?” he asked.

Twilight stopped tossing the book as she took a step forward.

“Twilight Sparkle! Your name is Twilight Sparkle!” he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around his head. Twilight stopped her advance before giving a curt nod and returning behind the doorway with the book following.

Scott and Rarity visibly relaxed with an exhale. From behind himself, Scott heard the unmistakable sound of someone trying not to laugh.

“Wow,” said Applejack. “Ah can't wait ta tell Big Mac what a pussy ya are.”

Scott half turned to glare at Applejack. “Keep laughing. See how long you live.”

“I'm guessing she'll live a long time given what I’ve just seen,” said Rarity. While Scott looked at her in surprise, Applejack gave up on trying to contain her laughter.

“So these clothes...” he said, walking toward the front room with the tattered remains of his ego.

Applejack and Twilight were playing cards to pass the time, while Scott stood on a raised platform in his boxers trying his hardest to stand still as Rarity worked. She walked clockwise and counter-clockwise around the platform. A cloth measuring tape levitated through the air  in a blue glow to match the one around her horn. Rarity the whole while scribbled in a little notebook as she went.

“You've been at this for a half-hour. How much longer is this going to take?” he asked. It had really only been fifteen at most.

“I just wanted to make sure I got your measurements just right. After all, your physique is fairly unique,” said Rarity. She looked over her notebook with the odd flip of a page here and there. Scott sighed. “Well... yes I should be able to make do with this. You can step down now.”

“Oh, thank you, Jesus,” he said, as he stepped off the platform. He walked over to his clothes to put them on. After putting his pants on, Scott walked over to where Applejack and Twilight were playing as he slipped his shirt on. Standing behind Twilight, he looked over her shoulder at her cards. “Oooh, full house, nice.”

“Ah fold,” Applejack said.

Twilight's cards tumbled to the table when the magical grip holding them vanished with a pop. She turned to glare at the smug-looking human behind her. Scott patted Twilight on the head a few times till, in a burst of motion, Twilight made several swipes over her head in the same manner one would to chase off a fly. Both Scott and Applejack chuckled.

“Scott I've got some designs I'd like you to take a look at, if you would,” said Rarity. Walking up to Scott, she levitated a few drawings to him. Scott took them from her as he sat down at the table with AJ and Twilight.

“Deal me in?” he asked.

Twilight smiled back with a nod and began to shuffle the cards. While Twilight dealt, he shuffled through the handful of drawings. Most looked like tuxes or something you would go to the clubs in: multiple colors in creative patterns and stitching. A couple really stuck out: one looked like it was out of a Shakespearean play, and another reminded him of an over-the-top anime cos-play costume, complete with goggles. The designs were less than to his liking.

With a grimace, he turned to Rarity, who had been waiting patiently. “Rarity, these ain't gonna work. Take a look in that pillow case over there,” he said while pointing off to the side.

Rarity raised an eyebrow before turning to the pillow case crumpled up on the floor. Reaching out with her magic, she levitated it over to herself, where she dumped the contents out and floating each garment up off the floor. She inspected with a careful eye what she was about to spend a substantial amount of time making. “Durable material, crude but rugged seams, simple though incredibly uniform stitching,” she thought. “It’s just so… unsophisticated and plain.”

“That's what I want,” said Scott, as he rearranged his cards.

“What about my designs? I worked really hard on those,” Rarity whined, giving her best pout and puppy-eyes. She really did not want to spend her time making something so utilitarian.

Scott turned his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye with indifference before returning to the card game. “I'm sure there are some guys from my world that would love a snazzy suit or colorful designer shirts. But that kind of guy, I am not. So no.”

“Don’t you want to look nice?” she pleaded. “What if you want to go out on the town?” The three card players all slowly turned to glare at Rarity with incredulous looks.

“What?” asked Rarity.

“Okay, ignoring the glaring problem with that question,” he groaned while Twilight and Applejack returned to their cards. “Those clothes right there are what I wear on a night on the town.”

“But–”

“Also I'm working on a farm, so I need practical, not fancy.”

“He's gotta point, Rares,” Applejack said without looking up from her cards.

“An entire fashion-minded race that wears clothes all the time, and I get their Applejack,” Rarity 'humphed' with an upturn of her nose. “Very well. Do you have any preference in colors?”

“Pants should be tan or grey. The boxers? I don't really care. Shirts? Autumn colors. Oh, and some work gloves would be nice,” Scott said while making a show of his hands.

“Well, at least it shouldn't take long. You might as well stay till I finish.”

“That's up to AJ, really.”

“Ah don't mind. Besides, didn't ya have sum things ya wanted ta try fer gettin' Scott here home, Twilight?” AJ asked. Her smile grew when Scott immediately perked up with a snap of his head in her direction. Rarity meanwhile had begun her work.

“Yeah?” he turned to Twilight with a big grin. “What'd you got for me, Sparkles?”

“Well, I wanted to take a blood sample and try this brain scan spell I just read about,” said Twilight. Scott's look of joy turned to one of confusion.

“How is a fucking blood sample supposed to help me get home?” he thought, but decided against voicing that question because the brain scan was setting off way more alarms. “Brain scan spell?”

“It'll run through your memories and should be able to show us any memories you might have forgotten or can't remember during whatever it was that brought you here,” she said.

“A mind-reading spell.” Scott thought. “No.”

“What? What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“You are not using magic on my mind. No,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked with a frown.

“I’ve always had a fear of magic. At home it was irrational. Here, it's completely rational,” he said jokingly. He was completely unaware that Twilight had taking his previous wording personal.

“No, it's still irrational.”

“Your face is irrational.”

“That doesn't make any sense.”

“Like I'm going to listen about what makes sense from someone with an irrational face,” he said, oblivious to the fact he was skating on thin ice.

“Applejack,” she said. She nearly growled the name out as she faced Applejack with a scowl and pointed a hoof at Scott.

Applejack had tuned out the moment Twilight started explaining the spell. Rarity meanwhile had become absorbed in her work. As a result, neither were picking up on Twilight's deteriorating mood.

“Scott, stop bein' an ass,” Applejack said in a disinterested tone. Applejack's indifference was not helping Twilight's mood.

“You can tell me what to do when you start putting out,” he said.

Applejack calmly raised an eyebrow at Scott. “Tell ya what. Ah'll start puttin' out when ya git sumthin' between yer legs worth gettin' excited about,” Applejack said. Scott barked out a laugh while Twilight continued to glower.

“Okay two points. One, that was a good one.” he said while pointing a finger at AJ. Rolling his wrist, he switched to pointing at Twilight with his thumb. “And two, she started it.”

“You know what? Fuck you!” Twilight yelled. She jumped to her hooves, her wings shot out in an aggressive display. Everyone else leaned back with wide eyes at her outburst.

“Twilight—”

“No! I'm sick of this asshole always running his mouth!” Twilight said, cutting off Rarity.

“Hey! I’m just trying to make light of this fucked-up-beyond-all-reason situation I’m in!” he said with a furrowed brow.

“Trying to make light?!” she asked. “You don't take anything seriously, ever!”

“I'm not taking shit seriously now because eventually my life is going to get super-fucking-complicated, regardless of whether I go home or not,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, genuinely curious, though still pretty peeved.

“If I'm stuck here, I'm hopefully not going to be stuck on the farm the rest of my life, no offence Jackie, so I'm going to have to go through the whole being introduced to everyone. Then I gotta deal with learning a whole new culture and all that that implies. Not to mention learn new skills, because everything I ever learned means about jack and shit here.”

“And if you get home?” Twilight asked. That was the question that the girls really wanted to know; they could figure what it would be like if he stayed, but they had a hard time figuring why going home would be hard.

“The worst part of that is going to be explaining where I've been the last three-plus months without sounding like a goddamn lunatic and being locked up. You can bet telling everyone 'I was with magical, talking ponies' is going to fill that bill nicely. Plus I had a government job with clearance, so you can be damn sure the government's going to want an explanation. My apartment's gone and my bank account was probably wiped out to cover my debts. I might have been declared dead, so everything I had got divided among family, and I'll have to deal with being declared 'un-dead'. Granted, most of that stuff's short-term… ish… but still, that doesn't change the fact I've got a grade-A clusterfuck or a category five shitstorm to look forward to.

“But right now? Right now I don't have to worry about shit. I just get up. Work the farm. Screw around with Mac. Go to sleep. Everything else is out of my hands and I can't do dick about. So fuck it, I'm kicking back while I can.” As soon as Scott finished, he realized how much of a self-centered prick he had just made himself sound. Mostly because he was being a self-centered prick.

“Meanwhile we all get to worry and work to send you back, while you sit back and relax. Nice,” Twilight said. With that, Twilight turned around where she stomped over to and up Rarity's stairs.

The girls and Scott were silent as they listened to Twilight through the ceiling make her way through the hall above them; they all collectively winced when Twilight slammed a door.

An uncomfortable silence filled the house as the three sat there. The only sound was Scott rapping his cards on the table. Applejack and Rarity were at a loss as to what to do. Applejack felt a little guilty for not having noticed the fact her friend was getting upset. Rarity felt a little guilty for not having tried harder to stop the fight once it got going.

Scott wasn't entirely sure what he had done to get her so upset in the first place, truth be told. He had ribbed Twilight way worse than what he had just done, so he figured this had either been the breaking point after building over time or it was something else.

“Go upstairs and talk to Twilight or sit down here and let Twilight cool off on her own.” he thought. “Probably better to let her cool off on her own.”

As if able to read his mind, Applejack poked his arm. “Ya should go talk to her an’ apologize.”

“Nah, better to let her cool off a little,” he said.

“Ah know her better than you, so git,” said Applejack with a harder poke.

Scott grumbled as he stood. “Okay, okay, I’m gitting.”

Twilight sat up on Rarity's bed when she heard the door opening. The sound that followed was not the clopping sound of hooves that she had expected, but the muted thumps of feet crossing the bedroom.

Twilight didn't acknowledge Scott when he paused beside the bed.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked.

Twilight merely shrugged in response.

Scott curled and uncurled his fingers as he hesitated. After a moment he slowly sat next to Twilight. The two sat there staring out the window across them while awkward silence filled the room; Scott, meanwhile, occasionally stole a glance at Twilight, who remained impassive.

“Nice weather today,” Scott said.

“The weather ponies really outdid themselves,” said Twilight without any real emotion.

“God, I suck at this. Sparkles, I'm sorry—”

“Scott, are you scared of me?” Twilight asked, unable to look him in the eyes. Scott's mouth closed with an audible click. For a good fifteen seconds, neither made a sound.

“What makes you think that?” he asked.

“You got really defensive when I brought up the spell, and it’s not the first time you’ve done that around me either.”

“Is that why you got mad?” Twilight nodded in response. “That wasn’t what was going on, Sparkles. I, and the rest of my kind for that matter, get really shitty at the idea of someone poking around in our memories.”

“Really?” she asked, looking over at him.

“No one can do it, read minds I mean, so our minds have become an untouchable sort of safe haven, kind of.”

Twilight hummed to herself in thought. “I never really thought of it like that,” she said as she stared at the floor.

Reading minds was as illegal as murder in Equestria. Reading memories, legally, was like sex: if the parties involved were willing, fine; if it was forced, it was a different story. Twilight was fascinated by the fact Scott considered reading memories and minds one and the same. She wanted to ask more questions about it, though it would have to wait.

“So you’re not afraid of me?” she asked, she looked back at him with hope.

“I wouldn’t say ‘afraid’ per se…” he said. Scott could feel the words leaving his mouth; had they been tangible, he would have grabbed them to keep them from getting away.

“But why? I'd never hurt you. Don't you trust me?” she asked. He winced internally at the hurt in Twilight's voice.

“Yeah, I trust you.” It was a weird moment for Scott as he realized he wasn't just trying to placate Twilight, that he had really meant what he said. “But it's not an issue of trust.”

“What do you mean?”

“Twilight, you got to understand, nothing like you exists in my world. In any capacity. You can levitate a couple dozen tons, you can fucking teleport, and to top it all off, you're the pseudo-daughter of an immortal god-queen who makes the sun her personal bitch,” he said. “It's all just a bit much.” It was hard for Twilight to resist correcting Scott’s depiction of Celestia.

“Oh.” Twilight stared down at her hooves. “Is that why you don’t like me?”

“Now when the hell did I say I didn't like you?” he asked, furrowing his brow.

“You tease me all the time, Scott.”

“For Christ's sake, just because you're a little intimidating doesn't mean I don't like you. Hell, I give you a hard time because I like you,” he said.

Twilight stared blankly at Scott for a quick minute before she scrunched her face up in distaste. “What are you? A nine-year old that doesn't know how to express his feelings?”

“No, I’m ten. So you better tell the school they got a new student,” he said. Twilight merely rolled her eyes, but her small smile told him she still thought it was at least a little funny.

“Well, you'd be head of the class in drinking, swearing, and being a stupid dick,” she said, to which Scott shrugged.

“So, honor roll?” he said, earning a small giggle from Twilight. Scott smiled, glad to see her spirits lifting. “Seriously though, regardless what happens, I'll always be really thankful to you. For everything you've done.”

“I know, Scott,” she said. “That doesn’t really change the fact you’re… well, an ass sometimes.”

“I don’t mean to be. I’ve just got…”— with a tired sigh he rubbed the bridge of his nose —“You’re right, I’ll work on it, okay?”

“He’s bottling things up. Again,” she thought as she nodded with a look of unease. “Scott, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Don’t give me that, Scott. Anypony with a set of working eyes can see you are anything but fine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Scott had had this fight with Twilight before and wasn't about go through another round of it. Twilight could be really persistent when she thought she was right— which was most of the time. He popped up from the bed, deciding the issue was settled. “Sorry about making you mad downstairs, all right?”

Twilight frowned at him as she subconsciously flicked her tail at his blatant change of the subject. In the end, though, Twilight just couldn’t bring herself to push for what was sure to be another fight. She sighed in defeat before nodding her head. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.”

“Come on, any longer up here and the others are liable to think I’m putting the moves on you.”

Hopping off the bed, she walked with Scott out of the room. “I’d say you’re being ridiculous, but Rarity already thinks you’re sleeping with Applejack.”

“Are you serious?” Scott asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. “That girl is ate up.”

Any other comments regarding that topic remained unsaid as they reached the top of the stairs.

Downstairs, Twilight and Scott told the other two they had made up. It was wordlessly agreed that the blood sample was fine; however, the mind scan spell was never brought up again. Whatever concerns Scott had about the blood sample he kept to himself in an effort to not start any problems after Twilight’s outburst. The three returned to the card game as Rarity worked the hours away. The whole while, Applejack and Twilight talked about this and that. Scott kept quiet by and large, other than the odd question or comment, due mostly to the fact that he had little to no idea what they were talking about.

A couple hours later, Twilight bid them all farewell as she left; after which Rarity went upstairs to retrieve a thicker and sturdier thread. Scott sprawled out on the couch, planning on taking a nap.

“Move over, ya big galoot,” said Applejack, having decided a nap looked like a good idea. Scott pulled his legs into the fetal position to make room for her. “That ain’t gonna work, partner.”

“What? Why?” he asked.

“The sun’ll be in muh eyes,” she said. The problem was that most of the couch was covered in sunlight let in by Rarity’s special, thin curtains that blocked the view, while still letting light pass through. Scott grumbled as he grabbed the pillow he was using, then shuffled to the other side of the couch. Applejack smiled, hopped up onto the couch, and settled in perpendicular to him. Scott then set the pillow on her back and laid his head on the pillow while she curled up on his side.

Applejack looked back at him with a raised brow. “What are ya doin’?” she asked.

Scott didn’t bother opening his eyes to respond. “Either I lay on you so I don’t have the sun in my face, or you can enjoy the floor.”

Applejack gave a slight shrug before she removed her hat and set it on the floor. Just as she laid her head down, she caught the sound of soft snores coming from Scott. Lifting her head up, she looked back at Scott, who was already out like a light. “How does he do that?” Applejack gave a small shake of her head as she laid it back down between her front hooves and closed her eyes while Scott's head rose and fell with her steady breathing.

Five minutes later, Rarity returned with the thread to be greeted with the sight of Scott using Applejack as a pillow as they slept on the couch together.

“D’aww,” Rarity cooed. “That’s so sweet.” Rarity placed the thread at her workspace.

Reaching into a nearby drawer, she pulled out a Polaroid camera that she used when dealing with long distance customers; she would take a picture of the outfit, send it to the customer so they could give her input, that sort of thing. Right now, however, Rarity was finding it a different use. “A little friendly blackmail never hurt anypony,” Rarity said with a snap of the camera’s shutter. She placed the film and camera back in the drawer before returning to her work.

An hour and a half later Rarity finished. After waking Scott and Applejack, Rarity showed off to Scott the end results. L.L. Bean would have been proud… or sued. Scott thank Rarity for the clothes and after a round of goodbye’s and come-any-time’s, Applejack and Rarity provided over watch while Scott returned to the wagon. Hitched up the wagon Applejack began the trek back to Sweet Apple Acres.