Author's Note

I know there's a ton of awful plot holes and bad pacing.
Story's still kinda cute, though.

Ch. 5 - Stirring Up The School

Aria murmurs something and turns over. The morning has come and even through her thick curtains, the sun annoys her. She blinks and pats around herself, searching for something in her messy bed. No mountain of muscle present. Her eyes snap open, pain instantly rushes in and she has to close them to avoid the light. She didn't dream up all of yesterday, did she?

She takes a deep breath and groans audibly while running her hands down her body. She isn't wearing much. She hears a little noise and her eyes snap open again. She looks around in a daze to find a heavenly sight. Applejack. He is sitting on her desk-chair, dressed only in his underwear and observing her closely. Watching her sleep? She cannot decide if it is really cute or just creepy. Perhaps both. He has many things on his mind.

She sits up, crosses her legs and stretches her upper body. Not entirely attempting to move seductively, not entirely avoiding it either. Applejack huffs some manner of delight and remains still and quiet as he watches her. He lets her soften up her tight little body for a moment before speaking.

"Y'all're quite the heavy sleeper. I opted 'gainst walkin' outta here, seein' on how y'all like ya door locked... So I've been havin' my fun jus' watchin' y'all sleep."

Aria's eye twitches slightly but she puts on a cute little smile. Did he figure some more stuff out or is he simply being courteous? Does not really matter right now. The door remains locked and the eye-candy is seated in her chair. She takes another deep breath and shuffles to get out of bed.

"What time is it?"

Applejack does not take his eyes off her as he answers.

"Well, we're definitely not up with the rooster. Should'a been in class a few hours ago, I reckon."

Aria raises a brow but afterwards simply breaks into a soft chuckle. He either has some kind of impenetrable defence or he is still blissfully unaware of her actual intentions. Whatever those were... Are... Whatever. She stands up and takes a staggering step. Looking around the room, she scans about for an outfit. She needs something just flashy enough. This is where she shows off Applejack as hers. Parade him around with no certain concern for it herself. Adagio will probably attempt to play it off but pretty much everyone else in school will be very inquisitive. If she pulls it off proper, she should be in with all of Applejack's dorky friends by the end of the day.

While she is tearing through her piles of discarded clothing and closet alike, a little light goes up for her. She had sex last night, hot, sticky sex. She needs a shower. She turns to Applejack while quickly slipping into a zip-up hoodie.

"We're going to get even later, I need to freshen up... Feel free to help yourself to whatever in the kitchen."

Applejack raises a brow but says nothing. He observes her movements closely as she saunters over to the door. She looks back to him and blows a kiss as she unlocks the door and exits the room. The last she sees of him is that he rises to follow her. He's still only clad in underwear, if Adagio was around, she'd have a heart-attack. Or an aneurysm.

Aria quickly makes her way over to the bathroom. She casts one last glance back before slipping in. Applejack is slowly lumbering towards the kitchen. She feels a brief pang of disappointment but waves it off. He probably needs to eat something anyway, can't work all that muscle without fuel. She decides on being as quick as possible. Just as much as she would love to stay in and do nothing all day, prancing around school playing the new couple is simply too alluring. She turns the shower on and undresses while it warms up. She takes a good long look at herself in the mirror. Smudged make-up and even messier hair than last night. She still looks good. She gives herself a smug grin and turns to step into the shower.

The warm water splatters over her like extra-pleasant rain. Within seconds her tight little body is glistening. She closes her eyes and exhales in delight. She runs her hands up and down her body for a moment, slowly massaging the night's stiffness out of her muscles. Her hand wanders to her crotch. Grabbing her package fills her head with memories of last night. She cannot help but to touch herself.

Right in the middle of getting herself excited, she is interrupted by a noise. The door? She does not have any time to think or react before the shower-curtain is pulled aside. She brushes water and hair out of her face. Once she can see, her entire field of vision is taken up by a muscular, orange torso. She is about to speak but does not as Applejack steps into the shower. He towers above her in the cramped space, looking even larger than usual.

Aria observes as the silent behemoth gets increasingly moist in the far-too-low waterfall of the shower. She slowly reaches out and places both hands against his chest while looking up, not entirely unhindered by the stream of water. Before she can do anything more, he has embraced her with both his arms. He leans down and kisses the top of her head and then leans in for a kiss on the lips. She accepts the kiss with a certain hunger, not wasting any time with getting her tongue involved. It is almost like he felt her lust bubbling up. Or was it simply his plan all along? He is a little sly, isn't he? Perhaps he is the one full of surprises.

Her train of thought grinds to a halt as she feels his hands on her behind. She does not give up the kiss, she simply does what she can to deepen it while pressing her wet body against his huge frame. She is excited. She cannot recall ever having someone come in and join her in a shower. At least not for as long as she can recently remember. She does not want to be naked around her sisters and has had little to no reason to invite someone else into such an intimate place. With Applejack, all boundaries and defences have been either wilfully removed or torn down.

She pulls back and takes a deep breath before brushing water and hair out of her face again. She looks up to Applejack the best she can and finds him with a calm smile.

"I was thinkin' I'd hurry y'all along... Although it'd seem I've done nothin' but slow ya down."

He moves a little and reaches out for something behind her. When his touch returns to her, it is with a cold slipperiness.

"So I figured I'd take matters into my own hands..."

As he speaks, the extremely slight cold of his hands turns into warm bubbles. He lathers the soap over her back and behind with a seemingly trained precision. Before long, his enormous hands are flying everywhere. He touches her more all over while soaping her up than he did during sex. Perhaps her body is a bit more familiar now. Maybe the shower-scene has got him going, or... She lets her thoughts spill away with the running water as he gets a bit frisky. She breathes in deep and grits her teeth for a second as he brushes his hands over her erection. He is still very reluctant touching her like so but it seems he is challenging himself time and time again. This time, the slow start has a purpose. He is cleaning her, getting half a decent shower himself and has free reign to grab and feel her tight, wet shapes. He very obviously enjoys her expertly sculpted body. Perhaps some part, if not most of his mind still sees her as fully female. She has no issues with that, he has proven himself in more ways than one.

That is, proven himself to be one hell of a gentleman and interesting sex-partner as well as all around rather... Tricky. He is a tough nut to crack. Who would have thought that there could be such sly intelligence behind that charming smile and mountain of muscle. She shudders under his touch and brushes up against him. She notices his half-mast, held by his underwear that he inconveniently wore into the shower. He grips her by the shoulders and turns her around, a bit forcefully. Aria looks over her shoulder to him with pouted lips and a bit of fake offense. She enjoys his commanding moments, as long as they are short. He gets physical instead of babbling and she appreciates that. On the other end of the same rope, he is real good with following orders. She closes her eyes and lets out a long exhale sprinkled with pleasure as he runs his hands down her flat chest and tight stomach. Applejack stops at her hips and leans down a bit to embrace her with his entire muscle-bound frame for a moment. The water covers her completely and gives him a good soak as well. The warm water and the gentle, muscular embrace creates its own little sphere of existence. She just stands there, head in the clouds and mind at ease as he washes her.

What feels like far too short of an eternity later, his hands have caressed every curve of her body. The soap washes off in the cascade of water and the cleansing is complete. Applejack turns off the water and Aria blinks hers eyes open as the blinding water dissipates. She turns and gives Applejack's chest a quick lick before flashing him a wicked grin. She exits the shower with very smooth, accentuated movements. Applejack watches in silence as she grabs a towel and starts patting herself down. He is obviously enjoying the show. Aria does a little spin and wraps herself in the towel before getting another for her hair. As she busies herself with getting dry, Applejack quickly wrings out the wet parts of his hair, runs his hands down his body a few times and steps out of the shower. Apparently, that is as dry and done as he gets. He bends down and gives Aria's neck a quick peck of his lips while exiting the bathroom. Her attention snaps to him and they exchange smiles before he disappears back to her room, leaving a wet trail. Aria takes a deep breath, closes the bathroom-door and focuses on herself. Freshen up, get ready. Daydream a bit about whatever naughty shenanigans she can get up to later.

When done in the bathroom, Aria quickly makes her way back to her room. If only Adagio could experience all this prancing about without any shame. Aria smirks for herself as she thinks about facing Adagio in public, an equal-level battlefield, with Applejack by her side... She shudders in anticipation. She stops in the doorway to her room. Applejack has managed to get into his pants and boots. It is Aria's time to enjoy the show for a short moment as Applejack puts on his shirt. When done, he looks up and finds her standing close, hands behind her back and a bit leaned forward for optimal oogling. He smiles for her.

"Ain't courteous to ask a lady to hurry up, so I'll go wait for y'all in the kitchen. Perhaps we'll only add an hour or two to our current delay."

His smile turns into a grin as he rises. Aria huffs. He can poke fun all he wants, they are already almost that late... Oh, wait. She breathes in for some retort but Applejack has already left the room. She shrugs it off and starts tearing around the room for an outfit once more.

She goes for a fairly casual outfit. As casual as it gets with her wardrobe. Pants and a thin top, boots and a cropped denim vest. A dazzling array of purple, turquoise and aquamarine. Perhaps not as side-by-side with Applejack's outfit as last night but she cannot become a shadow to him, she will be in the center of attention and he will be her spotlight. At least to a certain crowd. She exchanges a few expressions with herself in the mirror as she puts on her make-up. Evil smirk, apathy, annoyance, disgust. She nails them all. She is perfect.

A slow blink of long, sculpted eyelashes and she is ready. She rises and checks herself one last time before leaving. Well out in the common area, she finds Applejack standing leaned against a wall. As she appears, he sparks alive. He steps over to her.

"Lookin' like the apple orchard after a soft summer rain. Lil' miss delicious."

She gives him an uninterested stare for a second, then lets a sickly-sweet smile slowly creep onto her face.

"Keep that thought, cowboy. Now, let's go."

She sweeps past him and tugs a little at his shirt. She meant to go for his collar but it was a bit of a stretch to reach. Was it not for her purposeful stride, she would look like a child pawing at an adult. Applejack follows along in either case. His calm, handsome smile ever present on his face.

Exiting the building and finding the way to Applejack's truck does not take long. Applejack yet again opens the door for Aria and helps her into the enormous vehicle. A short drive later and they roll onto the school grounds gloriously late. The area around the school itself is bustling with activity, students going here and there or simply sitting around outside in the lovely weather. Applejack navigates the maze-like parking lot like it is his own farmyard and finds a good spot. Curious eyes watch as he exits the car and stay on him as he goes to open the other door. Aria makes a grand entrance by hanging around Applejack's neck with both arms.

The curious eyes that observe go wide. Butterscotch scrambles to his feet and quickly stuffs his bunny into his backpack. He stumbles and then sprints into the school, he has to find someone, anyone to tell. He never thought it would happen, he had even dismissed it after his hasty retreat when Aria approached initially. Now, it has become pretty clear that Applejack and Aria are an item. All of that overnight. Is that how those things go? Butterscotch almost slams into Elusive because of his thoughtful sprint. The stylish, purple-haired young man gracefully grabs his featherweight friend. A swift manouvre to avoid disaster. Once slowed down and out of his mental fog, Butterscotch squeaks. Elusive raises a brow and sighs while shaking his head slowly.

"Well, this is either really good or absolutely awful, so let's hear it."

Butterscotch blinks a multitude of times while catching his breath. As he calms down, Elusive drags him off to the side, you know, just so they don't cause a scene.

"Applejack..."

Butterscotch starts. Elusive sighs again. This could take ages. Mercifully, Butterscotch soon continues.

"He's... With... Aria Blaze."

He nearly whispers the words. Elusive rolls his eyes and throws his arms in the air.

"You already told us!"

Butterscotch shrinks and looks to the side. He manages to stammer out a few more words.

"No... Just now... Arrived... Together, hugging..."

Elusive's eyes go wide. That's quite the tasty morsel of easy gossip. How very unlike the cowboy to take such strides. Something is fishy and he very much wishes to know what.

"Well, we should definitely tell Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz... I'm not really certain about Bubble Berry but he will probably hear it anyway... So we'll have a lot of good input, won't we?"

Butterscotch shrinks some more and just mouths out words in response. Elusive grabs him by the wrist and pulls him along in search for the others.

Aria strides through the halls, arm-in-arm with Applejack. She is leading with purpose, more or less pulling him along. They may not be much of a spectacle but they sure do turn a lot of heads. Applejack is actually a bit shy for the extra attention but takes it in stride. Aria on the other hand just ignores all the faceless crowd around her. She is on target for something beyond. Have to find Adagio, even Sonata is fine. Or any of the Rainbooms for that matter. In fact, any of the Rainbooms would probably provide further progress. Finding one on his lonesome is unusual, so she has to count on luck... Or, well, count on Applejack to make luck for her. She slows down and looks up to Applejack as she hangs a bit on him instead of pulling. He meets her eyes and puts on a questioning face. She bats her eyelashes at him with an innocent expression.

"So... What's our plan, cowboy?"

Aria puts extra pressure on the word "plan". She presses herself up against him and looks deep into his eyes. Applejack gives her a little smirk as he grips her slim waist with both his gargantuan hands.

"Well, I gotta get to class. Meet y'all out front after?"

Aria chews on her lip in thought for a moment. She does not like separating from him. Although at the same time, nothing of this is going to work if they are attached at the hip. She sighs and reaches up to touch his face. Just as her fingers find their mark, he lifts her. She lets out an embarrassingly loud yelp but is soon silenced by a kiss. She melts onto his lips and embraces him best she can. Things stir inside of her. The red-hot spark that has been present lately fights wildly with the annoyance she feels in Applejack no longer being completely wrapped around her finger. She will have to remind him who is boss later. In a hot and steamy way. Then again, he does not seem to have any issues with showing their little thing off. Their kiss lasts for quite some time in the middle of the stream of students hurrying along the corridors.

Applejack breaks the kiss and puts Aria down, a sugar-sweet, handsome smile on his face. Aria looks to the side and lets her fingers trickle down his chest.

"Front steps, as soon as you can..."

She looks up, dramatic sadness on her face. He is captured by her eyes for a moment as her expression changes. A flash of cruel malice fills her vision and a sharp smirk creeps onto her face. She somehow manages to slither out of his grip and takes a step back.

"Don't keep me waiting too long, I might lose interest..."

Applejack raises a brow and nods once. His calm smile unwavering.

"Don't y'all go frettin' now, sweet, mysterious lil' Aria Blaze. Ain't many hours an' I'll be achin' the same as y'all."

With those words, he takes a backwards step, gives her a last glance and then turns. There is no direct hurry in his steps as he leaves but with his long stride, he is soon gone. Aria stands still and silent for a while, just watching him leave. It is first when he disappears she notices there is a little audience gathered, gawking at her. She stretches and gives them all a dismissive sneer. Time to go see who she can get a hold of to pass the time.

--

Dusk Shine sighs deeply and rubs his temples with both hands. Watching Elusive prance around like the crownless king of gossip and having Butterscotch being absolutely desperate to escape is not his idea of a good study-hour. Just as Elusive is pressuring Butterscotch to tell Dusk Shine whatever details he missed the first three rundowns of the current predicament, the door opens. The three boys freeze for a moment, is it Applejack? Is he carrying Aria Blaze slung over his shoulder?

Rainbow Blitz enters the room with hurried steps and a wild look in his eyes. He scans the room to find out who is there and then quickly makes his way over to the ones present. He speaks as he approaches, hurried words in a cracking voice.

"Guys! Where's Applejack?!"

Elusive shines up and digs his nails into Butterscotch's shoulder. Apparently he is enjoying making the shy one talk about this subject. Butterscotch winces and Dusk Shine rolls his eyes before focusing back on his reading and writing. Rainbow comes to a stop and leans with his hands against the back of a chair.

"I have it on good authority that he just made out with Aria Blaze in front of basically the whole school."

Dusk mutters something and does not look up. Elusive squeezes Butterscotch's shoulder and the pink-haired boy seems to finally have had enough. He wrenches himself away from Elusive's dainty grip and rather dexterously lunges for his backpack before hastily leaving. Rainbow watches him go.

"What's up with him? I mean, he's even more jittery than usual..."

Dusk mutters again while Elusive glares after Butterscotch. His toy left. What a bummer. The purple-haired young man turns his attention to Rainbow Blitz.

"He's been like that since Aria approached Applejack and him yesterday... He just told us those two showed up for school together today. Hours late."

Rainbow shrugs.

"So you mean Scotch is upset because Applejack is playing hide-the-cucumber with one of the bitch-queens?"

Dusk looks up, sighs and shakes his head.

"No, Rainbow. Butterscotch is upset because Applejack is acting strange and whatever it is between those two, it is happening far too quickly."

Rainbow looks unimpressed.

"Dude, Applejack just needs some action. He's all work and no play and have you seen the size of his-"

Dusk Shine slams a book shut to silence Rainbow Blitz. Elusive looks offended at being startled along with the rainbow-haired ruffian. Dusk takes charge of the conversation again.

"We have to... I don't know. Have a meeting. First we'll see what Bubble Berry has been doing, he's been missing almost all day..."

The boys nod in unison. Their mystery-problems quota has just increased a few levels.

--

Butterscotch hurries down the near-empty corridor. More or less everyone is in class. He needs to find Applejack. No, she could be there. She cannot be around when he talks to Applejack. That is extremely crucial. Scotch glances around nervously. He could go wait by Applejack's truck or even by the farm. No guarantees she won't be attached to him when he shows up though. Scotch chews his lower lip in mild panic, his mind running rampant as he makes his way, yet again. This time, his head-in-the-clouds walk is not interrupted by a steady hand, it ends in a crash.

Butterscotch looks up from the floor after falling on his behind. He blinks rapidly a few times at who he ran into. She gives him a death-glare and colour instantly leaves his face, no, his entire body. He stammers some excuse while desperately attempting to get up. He stops mid-motion as she holds out a hand for him. He examines her outstretched digits and trails his gaze up her arm, to her face. He dares not meet her gaze but casts a brief glance. Aria. Well, he is not just now realising it, he knew full well when the crash initially happened. It is just mind-boggling to him that he ran into her in the first place. The helping hand does not help with clearing anything up.

She looks annoyed. She wiggles her fingers for him to get a move-on. He takes one last deep breath and raises a trembling hand. She smirks evilly and wraps her slender fingers around his. A surprisingly strong and quick tug later, he is on his feet. She is a little bit shorter than him but makes up for it with being menacing and scary. She seems all too gleeful with having him in this position. He starts attempting to excuse himself and move away. She is having none of it. She pushes against him, sending him into an uncomfortable backwards paddle. Before long, his back slams into a closed locker.

Aria stays close, holding on to him. She observes him with flashing eyes and a sinister smile.

"You..."

She leans in close. Butterscotch holds his breath and his watering eyes are locked to the side. She continues.

"You don't have to be a stranger. I'm with Applejack now. We'll be... Good friends."

She forces a smile. Butterscotch does not even look at her. Her words cut like a blazing blade. He has to say something, anything. He is caught, she is close. He finally focuses on her, a desperate attempt to get out of the situation.

"No... No. You are... There's something wrong with you."

Butterscotch falls silent just as he hears his own words. His panicked eyes flits back and forth over her face. First she looks troubled. Then she looks annoyed. Then, scariest of all, she smiles.

"You say "no". I guess that's okay. I'm just gonna make sure... Make sure you say "yes" next time."

One of her slender hands takes a firm grip of his shirt's collar and she begins to drag him along.

"Let's go get better acquainted."