Twilight's choice: Of Apples and Rainbows

Chapters

The day is here, so don't blow it.
Thinking and doing
If you won't, I will. ~EDITED~

The day is here, so don't blow it.

It was morning in Equestria as Twilight Sparkle made her way to Sweet Apple acres. There was a slight chill to the air, but the sun was doing a fine job at warming her fur and the land around her.

She stopped along the way and leaned herself against a fence post, and took a breath to steady herself. Today was not the day to get cold hooves. Twilight had been keeping a secret for a long while and she planned to let it out. It had taken her weeks to decide on which of her crushes she would confess her feelings to. But upon realizing that she couldn't properly decide between them, She went with the choice she was sure wouldn't laugh in her face if she were to be rejected.

"Okay." She muttered. "Don't blow this, Sparkle. It could be your last chance..."

She was suddenly taken aback as she realized that this could very well ruin their friendship if it didn't go smoothly..

"But I'm getting ahead of myself here." she thought sternly, propping her self back up and away from the fence post as she started again towards the house. Though the sun was still making it's slow steady climb upwards, it could still be felt as it warmed her fur and the air around her. It was nice to be alive that morning walking among the apple trees. The smell of the crisp autumn leaves clung to the air all around her and made her feel peaceful again.

Step one: "Ask Applejack to attend a picnic." She recited thoughtfully, Taking a step up and onto the porch.

She was nervous now, as she studied the front door. More than half of her resolve for the scheme ahead left her in one fell swoop. She hadn't realized just how hard it would be to simply trot on over and knock on the door. Just how many times had she knocked on that old door with no problem what so ever? But now, with what she had planned. The old farmhouse door may as well have had a creature of the Everfree hidden behind it.

She stood there frozen in place, staring at the door. Her mind was abuzz with frantic thoughts. Some of them urged her forward, while others begged her to flee.

Not that any of these thoughts made a difference. Just as she was beginning to think that fleeing and trying again some other time seemed like a good option, it was taken from her.

A dog had begun to bark on the other side of the door; just as she was began to register what this meant, AJ's voice could be heard as she approached the door.

"Consarnit, Winona. Quit yer yappin, Ah said I was comin."

“Oh no, Oh no, Oh no! What do I do? Do I run? What if she sees me before I get away?” Twilight panicked Immediately the image of Aj calling after her as she flew towards home came to mind. How would she explain herself? Surely Aj would expect somepony like Rainbow to pull a ding-dong-ditch prank. But from herself?

No, AJ would never buy that excuse.

“That's it! I can just tell her that Rainbow put me up to-”

It was too late now. The door had opened and there she still stood, staring at the door with a rather serious expression that she wasn't entirely aware of.

"Uh... You okay there, Sugarcube?" Aj asked as she saw Twilight's face.

Suddenly Twilight jumped up in the air. In a motion that was not unlike something Pinkie could be seen doing.

"Just great." She half yelled. "Why do you ask?"

"Cuz you were havin a starin contest with the front of my house, Darlin." Applejack replied as she raised an eyebrow. "Is.. uh.. everything okay with the princess?" Aj probed, thinking about the last time she had seen Twilight this stressed out. She did NOT wish to have another go at what happened last time Twilight had been stressed about something.

No, no, no, everything's thing's fine." She answered as her voice returned back to its normal tone.

Applejack expression became visibly relieved at this and she took another step out of the door towards her friend. "That's good to hear. You were lookin mighty anxious there for a moment."

"I. Uh. Yeah I guess I was." Twilight admitted, a shy quiver returning to her voice.

The two were silent for a moment as Applejack regarded the young Alicorn. Something was obviously amiss with Twilight. Something that she was finding hard to talk about.

Aj looked around the porch, waiting for Twilight to go on. But when nothing came. She became even more curious. Just what had Twilight come here to say... or do?

"Would you like to come on in for some iced tea or somethin?"

"No." Twilight replied quickly. "I just came to-" She hesitated again. "Come on, Sparkle. It's not that hard. Just say, 'will you go on a picnic with me?' I mean if you can't do this, how in sweet Celestia's name are you going to do the most important step?"

"I.. Just wanted to ask-.."

"Ask?"

"You to go on a picnic with me!" Finished Twilight, almost shouting as the word came tumbling out of her mouth and into the air around her.

Applejack's widened in surprise. Out of all the things Twilight could have said. This could not have been further from her mind if sompony had written it down and had gotten Celestia to banish it to the moon.

"Is... That it?" Asked Applejack, confusion just barely audible in her voice.

Twilight's cheeks glowed a fierce crimson as she looked down at her hooves. "Well, yeah, it is."

"Then why were ya bein all shy for, Twi? You know you can ask me anything."

At this Twilight brightened. Looking back up to Applejack again smiled with a blush still showing on her lavender cheeks. "Does that mean you'll come?"

"Well.. Ah've been mighty busy recently with-" Aj began, but stopped as soon as she saw Twilight’s smile drop to a lonesome frown. "But Ah suppose I could make some time."

"No, I wouldn't want to take you away from your work. We could do it another time when you're not so busy."

With that Twilight began to back away and towards the porch steps. But she was stopped as Aj put a hoof over her shoulder. A blush spread across her face again as her eyes widened at the sudden closeness of the orange mare.

"Now, Sugarcube. If Ah say that Ah can make some time, Ah can make some time. Whats got you so worked up anyhow?"

"I was just worried about whether you would be able to come or not, I mean. I've... sorta been planning this.. for a while." Twilight's blush intensified as she accidently revealed more than she wanted. It was just so hard to keep herself from answering honestly when Applejack was involved.

It was hard for Aj to beleive that this was what had Twilight so worked up. Whatever was going on around this picnic must have been very important to Twilight, decided Applejack firmly to herself. Though thinking back on the last few weeks. She hadn't exactly seen much of her friends with how busy she had been on the farm. Could Twilight be worried that they might not be friends anymore? Or at the very least, growing apart? If that was the case, she would just have to make some more time to spend with her friends. And it would begin by making time to go on Twilight's picnic.

Her mind was already on what dish she would bring when Twilight spoke again. "So what do you think about tomorrow afternoon?"

Wasn't that rather soon? Though it wasn't too soon she supposed. "Why sure thing, Twilight. Ah just hope ah have time to cook somethin."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary." Twilight insisted quickly. "I was going to cook some things."

"Why, Twilight, Ah didn't know you could cook." Applejack said with a surprised smile on her face.

Twilight gave Aj a small laugh. "Well, golden oak library had quite the collection of cook books in stock. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I started looking at them."

Applejack gave a knowing nod.

"Besides." Twilight added. "It's much more cost effective to cook your own food. Can't be spending all my money on takeout."

"Aw shoot, Ah didn't know you had to worry about that kinda thing since becomin a princess and all."

"Well of course I still have to pay for things." Answered Twilight with a pleasant chuckle. "Plus I'm still living on the salary from running the Golden oak- Or. Well." Twilight grimaced as she corrected heself. "Crystal library, now. I mean, just because I got a castle here in town now. It doesn't mean I got some fancy new job in politics."

Applejack hadn't thought about it before. But now that Twilight mentioned it, it made sense. Afterall, Mayor Mare was still in a job. It wasn't really clear what Twilight's status as Princess had changed. Unless of course you considered the map and the quests it had been asigning to her and her friends.

But they weren't exactly paid for the jobs they did for the map. Or at least not in bits.

"So.." Twilight began, stepping away from Aj. "Where do you want to meet up tomorrow?"

"Ah guess we can meet at the castle, Twi." Applejack answered.

"How does five o'clock in the afternoon sound?"

"Sounds alright to me."

Twilight nodded happily. "Alright then, I guess I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I need to be getting back to the castle anyways. Last time I left Spike alone for too long, I came back and found him playing Gummiezilla on the map of Equestria."

They both bursted into laughter.

"Aww, poor lil fella." Commented Aj as she wiped a stray tear from her eye.

With that the two mares said their goodbyes, and with flash of purple magic. Twilight teleported to the edge of the yard and trotted very fast back towards ponyville with a huge grin plastered on her face.

Applejack watched her friend go with a thoughtfull expression playing on her honest features.

"Ah guess I could whip up some apple fritters for tomorrow. It would be a shame to go to a picnic and not bring anythin." Applejack decided as she watched the purple pony make her way down the dirt road. But why was she still standing there? For some reason she couldn't take her eyes away.

She was beginning to get an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, it told her something was going to change soon. She shook her head. "Ah must be spendin too much time around Pinkie and her 'Pinkie sense' talk."She thought with a hearty laugh.

Finally when Twilight had disappeared around a bend in the road. She turned around and went back into the house to send Applebloom off to school.

Meanwhile at the edge of ponyville, Twilight could only think one thing. It seemed to almost ring with every hoof step she made. Even the bird song in the trees around her seemed to declare it proudly to the sky.

"Step one: complete."

~~*~~

The castle kitchen was a mess of cook books. They covered almost every available surface aside from the counter to the side of their big cast iron stove. Which was a mess of different cooking apparatus. Dirtied mixing bowls, Sauté pans, and an assortment of different ingredients cluttered the area in what would have been a chef's worse nightmare.

Though Twilight had been so insistent about cooking the meal for the picnic. She had almost no idea what she would cook for it. Every plan she had made for it was quickly dismissed in favor of another food item.

Her first menu had almost been exclusively apple related foods. But then it occurred to her that it might have been a bit short sighted. Just because Applejack lived and worked on an apple farm, didn't mean she would want to eat nothing but apple foods.

After that it had been next to impossible for her to decide on anything.

Spike sat at the low lying kitchen table. A bored expression plastered across his face.

A bowl of apple dumplings sat in front of him. One of Twilight's failed dishes that had gone directly to him.

"You know, Twilight." Spike called out, giving his food a few idle jabs with his fork. "I don't think it really matters what you cook. AJ is gonna like whatever you make because you cooked it. You know, the thought's what counts and all that jazz."

"I'm sure you're right, Spike. But I can't not worry about it. You know how I am about things." Murmured Twilight softly.

She was currently looking over a book titled. 'The many Mares of Equestria: A guide to dating the three types'.

Twilight held the tome, in front of her with her magic. It was open to the section on Earth Pony mares. According to the book, the sure fire way to an earth pony's heart was through her stomach. And though she was slightly worried that the books general discription might ring false. Taking the advice of a book lightly was still against her better nature. "Besides. thought Twilight briskly . "Even if it's not true of all Earth ponies. It's certainly true of the Apple family.

"Ugh!" Twilight groaned, snapping the booking closed and sitting it down on the table with Spike. "I just don't know what to cook!"

"Just cook something simple." Said Spike, popping a dumpling into his mouth with a small clawed hand.

"Simple? Are you nuts?" Said Twilight with an exasperated huff.

When she had pictured the meal, it had been anything but simple. The picnic in her minds eye had been completely decked out. And the Applejack featured had gushed at her cooking prowess.

"Gosh, Twilight." Said dream Applejack with flirtatious, half lidded eyes. "Ah've never met a pony with two special talents before. Best Cheff, and best Spell Pony!"

"Well." Continued Spike, ignoring Twilight's outburst. "You know how country ponies like comfort food. How about you go for something savory?"

"Uh... Hmm. You might have a point there, Spike."

She thought it over for a few minutes. The first savory food that came to mind was sautéd mushrooms. Such a simple food but with such beautifully complex flavors with a savory and conforting taste. Her mouth watered slightly just thinking about that last time she'd had them.

She went for the piles of cook books. Looking through them until she found the right one. And then with a bit of her magic, she pulled out and began flipping through it untill she found it. A series of mushroom themed dishes.

She skimmed through the chapter until one recipe caught her eye, one for stuffed mushrooms. It was the thing she was looking for, and it was perfect.

Setting the book down. She took up her parchment and quill and wrote it down along with the name of the book and page number that held the recipe.

looking up from her list in the making. She glanced over in Spike's direction, who had gone back to eating. She felt bad for how she had acted, after all, Spike had been trying to help her. And she had snapped at him.

No matter how worried she was over this, it was no reason to treat Spike like that.

"Spike... About how I acted-"

Spike waved a dismissive hand at her. "No worries, Twi. I understand."

"Thank you, Spike." whispered Twilight as she ran a hoof over Spike's frilled head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Spike flustered covering his grin.

~~*~~

It was 1:30 in the afternoon of the same day when Twilight finished off her menu for the picnic. But finding that she was missing a few key ingridients, she ended up heading back out into town once more. A small draw string pouch full of bits jingled daintily in her saddle bag as she trotter cheerfully in the cool fall air.

It would be some weeks before the running of the leaves, so the trees in ponyville were still filled to busting with foliage of of deep reds and golds.

Growing up in Canterlot, Twilight had never really been able to properly appreciate the beauty that nature could hold. Though she hadn't been completly kept in the dark.

Canterlot did have trees which were grown for decorative purposes, and there were places like the Canterlot royal gardens. Though she hadn't exactly made the time to visit those kinds of places while she'd lived there. The wild grown trees of ponyville and it's surounding forrests were almost as much apart of the town as the houses were. And it only took something as small as a quick trot to the local open air market to have the time to enjoy them.

Spike sat riding on top of Twilight's saddle bags. It was always nice to go out on a trot with Twilight like this. As she went, Spike raised his face and breathed in the smell of fall leaves. It was wonderful.

They made their way in silence. Simply enjoying each others company as other ponies made their own way through town on their own business. Life as uasual.

But Twilight could still feel the buzz of her plan. It ran through her legs and hooves like electric and gave her hoof steps an energetic bounce.

She made her rounds about the market place, Stopping at each produce stand. It was four stops until she found one selling muchrooms, and another two until she found the mushrooms she needed.

It was a goat running the stand. With a soft brown coat and horns that curled around his face.

"Hello." Called Twilight with a smile. "I couldn't help but see you were selling mushrooms. You wouldn't happen to have portabella in stock, would you?"

He nodded. "Sure do, just harvested this morning, Princess."

"T-that's good then," stuttered Twilight, "I wonder who he is, I've never seen him around before. "could I get five or six of them, please?"

"That'll be ten bits." The goat informed, and then he gathered the mushrooms into a burlap sack.

Using her magic, she levitated the cloth pouch out of her saddle bag and paid him. "Thank you."

She said her goodbyes, and Spike waved at him as they trotted away. There were only a few more things on her list that she needed and she couldn't wait to actually start cooking.

She hadn't gone very far until a familiar pink ball of fur was trotting beside her. "Hey, Twilight! Hello Spike, whatcha two doin in town!?"

"Oh, hello, Pinkie," she said giving the pink pony a playful shove with her hoof. "We were was just doing some grocery shopping."

“Yeah." Spike piped in. "We're cooking food for a pic-" Twilight quickly grabbed Spike in her magic and floated him up and onto the ground before he could finish.

"No need to bore Pinkie with our chores, Spike."

"For Celestia's sake! Didn't I tell him to keep quiet about that?"

"Oh really!? what's the food ya lookin for?"

"Just some che-"

"Kumquat's?" asked Pinkie excitedly.

"Kumquat's? No, the next thing on my list is-"

"No. No. No, let me guess." Cried Pinkie, rubbing her chin and taking on a serious expression.

Which made Spike chuckle in delight.

"At least someone is enjoying himself." Thought Twilight.

"It's alright, Pinkie. I can just tell you-"

"That's it! I know what it is! But you need to go to Sugarcube corner for that, Silly. What are ya doin all the way over here, Twilight?"

Twilight face hoofed. "Pinkie Pie, the next thing on my list is cheese. Why would Sugarcube corner have that?"

"Duh, Twilight." Said Pinkie, who stuck out her tongue. "Ya ever heard of cheese cake?"

"Pinkie." Said Twilight firmly. "I don't think we're talking-"

"Of course we're not talking, silly." said Pinkie, cutting Twilight off. "We're walking to Sugarcube corner."

Pinkie wasn't walking now. She was bouncing off into another direction. Twilight stood and gaped after her. "Well, I could pick up a cake for me and Applejack to share.."

~~*~~

As Pinkie Pie and Twilight made their way to Sugarcube corner, Applejack was hard at work on the farm.

The weather was perfect for it today, not too hot and not too cold. But in spite of that there were beads of sweat forming on Aj forehead and along her neck.

Taking a moment to take a much needed break, she observed her surroundings. She was working the east orchards today and was far enough out that the house could not be seen through the trees. When she was done here, her and Big Mac would have to come back here and gather the apple baskets into their wagon to be brought back to the main barn. "These apples". Applejack thought. "Should be half way to manehatten by this time tomorrow."

She would have to work extra hard tomorrow and today if she didn't want to look as though she was trying to shirk her duties by going to that picnic with Twilight.

Not that anypony in her family had said anything like that when she'd brought it up.

But she couldn't help but feel that they were thinking of it that way. She was afraid that Big Macintosh, who didn't seem to have much of a social life. Or at least none that she had observed, might not understanding of the need to make sure Twilight was okay.

Twilight may as well have been an Apple herself at this point, with the way Applejack felt about her.

Though the same could be said for the rest of her friends, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was different though. She wouldn't dare admit it aloud, but she had been coping with a crush on the young Alicorn. Since well before she had even made the transformation.

She wouldn't dare tell her how she felt. Every time it crossed her mind, all she could imagine is Twilight rejecting her.

And now she was going on a picnic with her. Her stomach erupted with butterflies when she thought about it.

"Look at me gettin butterflies! It ain't even a date. Just. A. Get. Together. Between. Friends." AJ thought, forcing herself to except what she knew was simple fact. As the element of Honesty she refused to tell herself what seemed to be such obvious lies. but for some reason she couldn't keep her mind from wonder back to it.

She groaned loudly. Twilight is a princess now, there's no way she could be with... Somepony like me. Ah mean, who's ta say Twilight even likes mares like that? It hurt Applejack to think it, but it was true. Even if Twilight didn't care about titles, and Celestia knew she didn't. She just couldn't ignore it herself.

What could she offer Twilight other than a home on her farm. And that wasn't really hers to give. Half of it belonged to Big Mac. And both Aj and Big Mac were set on making it the same for Applebloom when she came of age.

Even if the little filly didn't choose to work with apples farming. She would always have a home to come back to at Sweet Apple Acres if her older siblings had anything to say about it.

I suppose if that were ta happen I could just live in the cast-

She cut herself off, even in her wildest dreams she knew that a castle was no place she wanted to live. The castle that Twilight was living in now was far too big to have the warm and inviting feel that her home here on the farm had.

She hadn't told Twilight this, but visiting her castle had never felt like going into a somepony's house. The feeling it gave her was more akin to stepping inside an office building, or a museum. Not a place somepony was living and making a home in.

To be honest, she felt sorry for Twilight.

She knew that losing her Treehouse had been hard on Twilight, and though she seemed fine now. She couldn't help but feel that the decoration her and the girl's had helped make out of Golden Oaks roots might not have been enough to make it a true home.

But that smile it had put on Twilight's beautiful face... That face.. Applejack lost her train of thought as she pictured it. And for a moment she felt that even a wet old cave would make a good home if only she could be lucky enough wake up to that each morning.

She shook her head to clear it and trotted over to where eight baskets sat and grabbed the last two empty ones and brought them over to a nearby tree. With a bit of good ole fashioned earth pony magic. She coaxed the apples into falling where she wanted and she reared up and gave the tree a buck to end all bucks.

The apples fell, each and every one landing in the baskets.

She groaned as she righted herself. But she was happy. Work would take her mind off of her Twilight troubles. Work could always be counted upon to relieve her stress when she had it.

She cursed, "Pony feathers! I need ta get more baskets."

She wasn't looking forward to the time trotting back for more baskets would give her to think about the upcoming day.

Thinking and doing

Twilight had found the perfect cake for the picnic: a cheesecake, baked golden brown and topped with a pile of deep purple black berries, their juices soaking in the cheesecake’s thick meat. She had more often than not eaten the type of instant cheesecake that needs to be put in the fridge, but she knew it didn't even begin to compare to a cheesecake made from scratch.

Plus the cake was simply too perfect. The yellowish cake reminded her so much of Applejack’s mane, and the black berries were of course her... on top.

Yet again that day she felt her face go bright hot with another blush.

Twilight shook her head to clear it of any more incriminating thoughts. Turning towards her home with the cake and the cheese in tow, she headed back to the castle to do some cooking.

~~~*~~~

"Hello? Twilight? Are you there?"

There was a loud thud as the large crystal door of Twilight's castle slammed closed behind her. Rainbow took a wide sweeping gaze at the entrance hall; the grandness of the young alicorn's new home never ceased to amaze her. Sure the old tree house had been cute, but this was the kind of thing royalty should live in.

She trotted down the hall, her hoofsteps sending tapping sounds echoing faintly around the room. Taking a second, she popped into the map room. Twilight had come to be known for poring over the thing from time to time-but she wasn't there.

Sliding out of the room, she headed across the hall to the steps. Stopping at the foot of the stairs, she called up, "Twilight? You home?" Without waiting for an answer, she clambered up the stairs.

Twilight was probably busy reading some book the Sun Princess had sent-Celestia was always sending some new book, especially since Twilight had lost her library.

The castle library was a maze of bookshelves that filled the whole of the second floor. Books of every shape, size and color filled the wooden structures. The shelves were all separated into sections labeled with large, colorful rectangles of paper. The sections for magic and science had the most space dedicated to them, spilling into other rooms at some areas. Rainbow paid no attention as she trotted quickly by them, down each shelf, checking to see if Twilight or Spike were anywhere to be found, as she made her way to the study-Twilight had an impressive looking office on this floor that she used as her private study zone.

Arriving at the door, she pushed it open with her hoof and trotted in. The room was small, but had an enormous ceiling that went up several feet. The place was brightly lit by natural light from three large windows at the far end of the room.

Rainbow whistled when she saw the desk, it was stacked high with books.

The egg head must be studying something. Wonder what..

Rainbow trotted over to the desk and sat on her haunches, then picked up a book with her hooves.

It was a romance novel.

She looked at the stack-They were all romance novels.

"What the buc—"

~~~*~~~

Back down in the entrance hall, the big double doors flew open. Spike and Twilight had returned.

Using her magic, she lifted Spike into the air and onto the ground. "Could you take these bags to the kitchen? I'm going to head up stairs and grab AJ's wine for the picnic." Spike looked surprised for a moment, but didn't say anything. Nodding his head, he took the bags from Twilight's back, heading across the hall and through a door at the end.

Using her magic again, she floated her saddlebags off of her back and over onto a hook. Then, with an excited gait, she trotted up the stairs.

~~~*~~~

Rainbow trotted down the hall, heading towards a specific room in the castle. Twilight's bedroom was the only other place she could think to look for her. She might be in bed after an all night study binge. If Twilight wasn't there then she would know that she was out in town somewhere.

It's totally not creepy, Rainbow thought to herself. I'm just checking, and then I'll be right out.

Arriving at the door, she gently pushed it open, as quietly as she could, and peeked around the edge of the door into the room;The bed was made and the room was vacant.

She sighed in relief-Twilight wasn't home. But still, something nagged at her.

Acting on her instincts, she sauntered in, snapping her head around to look at the door as if Twilight might be back at any moment. But all was still, and this calmed Rainbow down.

Turning, she looked around the room. It was unsurprisingly filled with books. There was a single shelf filled, but most of the books were piled in the far corner.

Spike must not keep check of this as well he did now that he has his own room.

The young dragon had always been in charge of making sure Twilight didn't move the whole library up to her room in a series of study binges.

Rainbow turned to leave the room when she heard a familiar voice just down the hall. Thrown into a panic, she glanced around the room, her mind blank. She had just enough time to duck and slide under the bed as Twilight came into the room. Rainbow watched as Twilight's purple hooves trotted past the bed and to the night stand.

Don't look under the bed, don't look under the bed, don't look under the bed...

Rainbow felt a bead of sweat form on her brow.

~~~*~~~

It was a pretty amber color even in the dim side table drawer.

Wrapping it in her magic, she floated the bottle of vintage apple wine into the light. It was a gift from Applejack for her first Hearth Warming's Eve in Ponyville. She had never had an opportunity to open it before now, but with the plans she had, this seemed like an excellent opportunity to open it.

With a tender hoof, she wiped the dust from the bottle's label. It was one of the few items that had survived the blast that destroyed her home, though it hadn't gone completely unscathed. There was a slight chip in the bottle's top that had exposed more of the cork.

With a happy skip to her step, she almost ran out of the room, with the bottle following closely behind her.

~~~*~~~

As soon as Rainbow was sure that Twilight wasn't coming back, she bolted from out from under the bed and fled to the window. Flinging it open, she flew outside side. After she'd flown some distance away, she let herself land on a cloud where she collapsed in a hyperventilating mess.

That could have been a disaster.

She laid there for several more minutes before she was ready to go down again. At least this time, Twilight was home.

Flying back down to the castle entrance, she flung open the door and called out for Twilight. She had no reason to feel ashamed.After all, Twilight didn't know a thing.

~~~*~~~

"Twilight!? You home?"

Rainbow's call echoed down to the kitchen. Twilight had just gotten back down here and was currently looking over a cookbook titled; 'When Life Gives You pastries.' Spike was the first to react. Running over to the base of the stairs, he called up, "We're down here!"

Rainbow bounded down the stairs, taking them two by two and almost knocking Spike down as she came into the room. "Hey Twilight, I've been looking all over for you."

Twilight got up from the table and trotted over to meet Rainbow.

Well this sure is a surprise, I wonder what she wants.

"So, what’s going on? You finished 'Lord of the Parasprites' already?"

"What? Oh, no, I haven't had a chance to start it yet..." Rainbow blushed, Twilight had given her that book a few weeks ago with a glowing review and she had intended to read it-but it had just gathered dust at her house since.

Hope that doesn't ruin my chances..

Twilight frowned, "Well, that's okay I guess. Just tell me what you think when you start,"

The two were silent for a moment.

"Is that all..?"

"No! It's not, I came over here to tell you something,"

Wow, this is harder than I thought it was gonna be.

"Something?" Twilight cocked her head curiously.

No other way, I'm gonna have to do it fast, like a Band-Aid.

Taking a deep breath of air, Rainbow let the words pour out of her like water. "I love you and I think that we should go on a date sometime!"

~~~*~~~

Almost thirty minutes earlier at Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith, Big Mac and Applejack had got the wagon filled with baskets and has retired back to the main barn. They were waiting for the sales associates from Manehatten to come and pick them up for transport now and had decided to take a small lunch break outside the barn. "What's gotten your tail in twist, lil’ filly?"

"Uh, wha?" Applejack looked up from her hayburger at Granny.

"Now don't give me that, something’s been eatin’ at ya all day and I wanna hear it."

She couldn't speak for a moment. Granny had seen right through her, or perhaps her mood was more obvious than she had realized.

"Granny, can ah ask you a question?"

"Shoot, Applejack, ‘course ya can."

"Well, if there was a pony you liked, but that pony was like really high status,what would you do?"

Granny Smith took a moment to think about the answer for a moment, rubbing her chin with a hoof as she did.

"Well ah'm not one to be givin’ a hoot ‘bout status. If ah liked a nice stallion, ah suppose ah'd just come out and tell ‘em." She was quiet for a moment longer, then a knowing smile spread across her face. "Why don't you go on and head to the castle and see Twilight. See if she wants any help cookin for that lil’ get together you youngins are havin’ tomorrow."

"But Granny-"

The old mare cut off AJ's argument with a wave of her hoof. "Now back in my day, when our elders gave us a break from our chores we said thank you and went on our happy way.... AJ, you've been workin’ yourself hard for this family, you go sort yourself out."

Applejack didn't say another word, she got up and headed out of the barn, but before she left, Granny Smith called out after her,"Good luck, Kiddo!"

Applejack couldn't form a complete thought for several minutes and she was already walking into town when that one thought popped into her mind, it was so final that she let it repeat a few times.

Ah'm really doin’ this.

~~~*~~~

Rainbow let the words hang there for a few moments, her eyes squeezed shut. After a few moments though, she realized that Twilight hadn't said anything, with her stomach in knots. She opened her eyes to look at her. Twilight eyes were wide with shock, her mouth had dropped and now she was wide eyes and gaping.

Just as Twilight was about to speak, the kitchen door flew open again to reveal an orange farm pony. "Ah love ya too, Twilight!"

Both Twilight and Rainbow turned their head to look at Applejack as the orange mare cantered into the room. "Ah've loved ya since the moment ah laid eyes on ya. Ah didn't think ah could do high society, that you being a princess made it impossible... but now I'm going for it. Whoever you want to be with is fine by me."

All was silent in the room, even Spike seemed to be holding his breath just as Rainbow and Applejack were-waiting to hear just who Twilight would choose.

"I- Well... I guess.." Twilight's voice broke off there, her eyes still opened wide, still not quite believing what had just happened.

"You pick me, right?"

"Rainbow! Let Twilight talk for herself!"

"Oh, you're just sayin’ that because you think she's gonna pick you."

"No. ah'm sayin that cuz I wanna hear what she has ta say."

"I thought you didn't want to date Twilight!"

"Ah never said that and you know it!"

"Stop it both of you!" Cried Twilight, stepping between the two mares.

Twilight facehoofed and moved to stand between the two mares. For some reason watching them bicker like that had calmed her down enough to think. She might as well have been solving a friendship problem now.

"I can't give you two answers right now. I never thought that this would happen, to be honest, I didn't even think it was possible for two of my crushes to like me back!"

The room fell silent again. Rainbow was first to recover.

"Wait, you have a crush on both of us? Then who are you gonna date?"

"I... I don't know Rainbow. I'll have to gather some data... and then..."

"Why don't you go all go on a date and have Twilight choose after?" came Spike’s unexpected response.

The three mares all whirled around to look at Spike. From the looks on their faces, they'd forgotten he was even in the room.

"Ah agree with Spike. It only fair we give Twilight time ta think this through... unless you're afraid of losin’."

Rainbow was onto Applejack in a flash, her nose pressed into Applejack's, trying to stare her down. "You're on, AJ."

They turned to look at Twilight.

"So, what do you think?"

"Well... since I already have something planned with Applejack tomorrow, I guess she'll go first." She went with the plan-she had no idea how she would ever choose, but at least it was a plan. "I... need to, um, go check something! I'll see you two on our dates." With a flash of purple magic, Twilight was gone.

"Wait! She didn't say when our date was gonna be!" Rainbow shouted.

"Chill, Rainbow, it should be the day after the one with Applejack. I'll make sure Twilight knows."

"Well... alright."

With the departure of Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack left as well, making their ways home again.

~~~*~~~

Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, a bright flash had woken Gummy up from his mid-afternoon nap as pony landed loudly onto the floor of Pinkie's bedroom. It had been the first place Twilight had thought to go.

I'm such a coward... this is what I wanted right?...

It is. It's exactly what I wanted, Twilight realized. Far, far too much of what I wanted...

If you won't, I will. ~EDITED~

The dried autumn leaves crackled under Applejack's hooves as she made her way back towards the house.

She tried as hard as she could to keep her mind off Twilight, and she soon succeeded. Looking up at the trees as she walked, she made mental notes on what parts of the east orchard she should take priority on next.

Suddenly, from behind her, there was a quick whoosh that went over her and through the trees.

She swiftly turned around. "Who's there!?"

But there was nothing to be seen.

After several moments of silence, she decided that it must have just been a particularly strong gust wind, and started trotting towards home at a slightly faster pace than before.

She had stepped no more than ten steps before there was another gust of wind, followed by a black blur, that went over her head and disappeared into the trees.

"H-Hello!?"

Nothing answered her call. The orchard was silent, save for the sound of the breeze rustling through the trees.

"Rainbow!?" she called sternly. "If that's you, you better come out now and apologize!"

It was bad enough that the blue pegasus seemed to think of her orchards as her own personal napping grounds, but pranks were something that Applejack simply wouldn’t stand for. She stood still, waiting for a response.

But Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

Whatever that thing was, it had gone as quickly as it had appeared.

Turning again towards home, she began another fast pace.

A resounding boom sounded somewhere above the trees.

Applejack didn't turn around to ask questions this time. She ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, swerving this way and that way, dodging trees as she went.

Her lungs were burning in her chest from exertion, but still she kept going, pushing herself to go faster, and faster. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't going to get her without a fight.

But with flight on its side, it had the advantage.

It flew up and over to orange mare, landing some distance in front of her on the ground.

Applejack skidded to a halt by jamming her hooves into the soil and pulling up grass and dirt as she slid along.

It was equine in shape, draped head to hoof in dark fabric that billowed slightly in the breeze.

It walked forward towards her, taking its time in to approach her.

Applejack watched in horror as it raised a clothed hoof slowly. It looked as if it was going to point at her, but instead it swiped it's hoof over it's face, pulling back a mask to reveal a laughing and perfectly harmless Rainbow Dash.

"Applejack— sweet Celestia!” Rainbow took a moment to try and contain her laughter. "You should've seen your face then!”

"Rainbow!" scolded Applejack. "It ain't even close to Nightmare Night! What the hay are ya doin’!?"

"Come on,AJ," Rainbow whined. "You would have been expecting it on Nightmare Night!"

Applejack fumed, and with a beastly growl, turned to aim a buck in Rainbow's direction, but she swiftly avoided her kick by flying into the air.

"Get down here and fight me like a mare!" Applejack called.

"Damn, AJ just ‘cause Twilight roped you into a date doesn't mean you gotta take your... sexual frustrations out on me," Rainbow cooed with a grin.

Applejack's eyes widened in shock. "How in Tartarus do you even know about that!?" asked AJ. "And it ain't no date!"

"I was on top your porch taking a sun nap," she replied, landing in a nearby tree.

"You... why were you on my house?"

"The leaves were blocking my sun. Sleeping in the shade is too cold this time of year," replied Rainbow with a shrug.

"And you think that makes eavesdropping okay!?"

"First of all, AJ. I wasn't eavesdropping. I was just happened to hear what you two were talking about."

Applejack ran a hoof over her tired face. "Rainbow, if y'all overhear something without telling us, that means you're eavesdropping."

"Yeah, I know, It's not my fault you two were talking where I could hear it, but you and Twilight are going on a date! Why do you wanna keep that secret?"

"I said it ain't no date! We're just going on a picnic!" Replied AJ curtly, ignoring Rainbow's first remark.

Applejack was becoming very annoyed about where this conversation was going. She should be giving Rainbow a lecture, not being drilled with these sorts of accusations.

"So what are you going to tell Twilight?"

"What do you mean? Ah don't need ta tell Twilight anythang."

"Are you blind? Cause Twilight seems to think it is going to be a date, even if you don't think so."

Applejack was madder than she had felt in a long time. What right did Rainbow have to to fill her with false hope?

Screaming as loud she could this time, she repeated "IT AIN'T NO DATE."

Rainbow was unaffected by Applejacks temper. In fact, the disbelieving expression was suddenly replaced with a wide grin. "So, that means that Twi's still on the market, eh? Thanks, AJ!"

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah," continued Rainbow in a casual tone, "I was kinda sad when I heard what I heard this morning. But if you don't plan on going out with Twilight, I guess it means I still have time to make my move."

Applejack was speechless. "Y-You mean that you... th-that you have feelings for Twi?" Applejack stuttered. All the anger had gone from her now;she just sounded hollow.

"Are you sure you don't have feelings for her?" Rainbow asked, her tone changing to one of concern.

AJ felt tears sting the backs of her large emerald eyes. She wanted to be honest—to finally admit her impossible crush to somepony. But all she managed to do was turn around and run off towards the house again. She left Rainbow with one final word on the subject, yelling over her shoulder as she fled.

"Ya don't even know if she likes mares!"

Rainbow watched her go, and raised an eyebrow at the suspicious behavior.

"I'm... going to go find Twilight."

~~*~~

The bell over the door of Sugarcube Corner tinkled cheerfully as Pinkie and Twilight walked in. Though she had things she needed to attend to, she was still relieved as the air of the oven-heated bakery wrapped around her, sapping the chill of the autumn cold from her body and leaving her feeling warm and content. Spike ran past them both, pressing his little face against the glass of a nearby display case and eyeing a gem-encrusted cupcake on the shelf.

Displayed inside were icings of all flavors—coffee, fondant, caramel, candy canes, peppermint, fresh baked breads, warm gooey chocolate. The smells of all these treats permeated the entire building, making Twilight feel light headed and hungry. She couldn't fathom how Pinkie lived in such a place without plumping up like a balloon. She must burn all those calories just by being Pinkie, Twilight thought mildly as she pictured the way the pink pony seemed to bounce from place to place. Pinkie was always running around, she might even need the extra calories to keep it up.

"Hello, girls," Mrs Cake greeted, stepping up to the counter. "Back so soon, Pinkie? You’ve still got another fifteen minutes on your break, dear."

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot to get lunch!" Pinkie shouted, jumping into the air.

"No worries, dear. Just run back into the kitchen and make yourself a sandwich. I don’t think you'll have much time to get anything else."

Pinkie looked back and forth between the kitchen and Twilight for moment.

"Go on, Pinkie," Twilight cooed, "we can always hang out another time."

The pink mare nodded, jerking her head up and down in a fast motion, before running to the back of the store. As she went, she called out over her shoulder, "I won't be long, just gonna grab a quick bite."

Twilight giggled and she knew she wouldn't need to wait for her. Pinkie would probably be back to say goodbye before she even picked out a cake. She called upon her magic, and grabbed five bits out from her saddlebag and floated them over to Spike, who was still eyeing a certain gem-encrusted confection. "Here you go, Spike. Buy yourself a small treat to snack on."

Spike gave her a huge grin. "Thanks, Twilight!" He took the bits and ran over to Mrs. Cake. He didn't even need to tell her what he wanted; the moment she had the bits she cantered over to the the cupcake Spike had been eyeing and got it for him.

Twilight took a moment to survey all of the cakes on display. She wasn't really sure which cake to get. Trotting down the display case, she gave each a critical eye. Twilight wanted it to be just the right one...

"So, what brings you to Sugarcube corner, Twilight?"

Twilight looked up at Mrs. Cake, who was giving her a warm smile. "Oh, I was just doing some shopping in town when I ran into Pinkie. I thought I'd..." Twilight trailed off.

"Let me guess," Mrs Cake sighed, rolling her eyes. "Pinkie tricked you into following her here."

Twilight laughed. "Yeah, kinda. You know what? She said I could buy cheese here. I think she thought I meant creme cheese, now that I think about it."

Mrs Cake became more alert. "What kind of cheese do you need, dear?"

"Mozzarella," Twilight stated in surprise. "Don't tell me you really sel-"

"Well no, dearie. We don't normally sell the cheese by itself. But we do use it sometimes in our breads. Cheese sticks are a popular lunch time order here. I could sell you some if you wanted. We order ours in from Manehatten, you know."

Twilight beamed, happy that she had followed Pinkie here. But she was a little weirded out.

Pinkie sense truly was a force to be reckoned with.

"That would be wonderful."

~~~*~~~

Meanwhile, high in the clouds above Ponyville, Rainbow was flying quickly towards the castle on the other end of the small town. She was filled with happiness. Though she was still not sure whether or not Applejack had feelings for Twilight. She wasn't about to go easy on her just because she, the farm mare, was too shy. No, that didn't fit Applejack at all. If she was anything, it was not shy.

Rainbow honestly couldn't understand why Applejack was so blind to Twilight's obvious feelings.

Maybe she really doesn't have feelings for Twilight.

Well, whether or not Applejack had feelings for Twilight, if she wasn't going to act on them Rainbow would.How long had it been now since she had gotten these feelings for the purple mare? It had been when she had started teaching Twilight how to fly.

Thinking back on those flying lessons, she let herself get lost in the memories.

They were out in a huge field not far from Sweet Apple Acres, and Twilight was flapping her wings like a maniac.

"You're putting too much into your wing strokes," Rainbow called out. "You're gonna tire yourself out before we get any practice done. Try doing longer, slower strokes."

Twilight did as she was told and for a brief moment she began to sink. A panicked look crossed her face,but Rainbow was there and called out for her to keep it up. In another moment her flying had stabilized. "Rainbow! Look, I did it!" Twilight cheered.

The blue Pegasus blushed. Was she really just noticing how cute Twilight was now?

Rainbow flew down and told Twilight to fly down to her, just the way her own mother had done when she was learning to fly. Her heart swelled like an over-inflated balloon as the memories came to surface. Twilight's own eager expression reminded her of summers past.

Twilight took on a serious expression, her eyes trained on Rainbow Dash. Flapping her wings a little harder, she pushed herself forward. Flying down was always easier than flying up, which was why Rainbow had started from down here, but she hadn't expected Twilight to have trouble with this. She watched as Twilight flew straight over her by mistake. In her own surprise, she lost control and began to fall.

Just as Twilight was about it hit the ground, Rainbow had flown down and caught her. "Don't worry, Twilight, I'll always be there to catch you."

Snapping herself out of her day dream, Rainbow flew down to the castle entrance. What she overheard this morning had made her realize something. She had realized that she might not be able to wait forever. That Twilight, no matter how big of an egghead she was, could end up falling for somepony other than her. And from what she had heard, it seemed that it had been the case here. The only bright side was that Applejack didn't like Twilight back. If she had, Rainbow might have backed off.

After all, Twilight liked Applejack. It was hardly her place to say who Twilight should be with. And it wouldn't be very loyal to if she were to try and steal Twilight from one of her best friends,but Applejack had made it clear that it wasn't a date, so with that piece of information Rainbow had decided to confess her feeling to Twilight now and hope for the best.

Perhaps she could even be a shoulder to cry on when Applejack let Twilight down, but she would make sure Twilight knew her feelings before she went on the picnic.

She half suspected that Applejack had lied to her earlier, well, not so much lied as avoided her questions. If Applejack did have feelings for Twilight, she had turned this into a competition by not being honest about it.

All was fair in love and war after all,and their rivalry hadn't exactly been a secret. The only difference this time was that it was over a mare and not sports or some other pointless thing they did for fun. For once, Rainbow was competing for something that mattered, something more important than even the Wonderbolts.

What was more loyal than than competing for the mare you loved? Rainbow couldn't think of anything.

Trotting up to the door, Rainbow gave it a loud knock with her hoof and waited. After several moments there was no answer. She had never bothered to knock before. Not here, and not back when she had lived in the tree house. She lived in a public library, so most ponies just trotted on in. Though she had to admit she hadn't seen too many ponies visiting the new library here at the castle.

They must be not be in a part of the castle where they can hear the door.

She face hoofed. She had been so focused on not going through the window that she'd forgotten! Reaching out her hoof, she pushed the great door open and went inside.