The park of the town of Canterlot was, as one would expect, quite busy on bright and sunny weekends. And today was no exception. This vast swathe of green grass and healthy-looking trees on the edge of the town was currently abuzz with activity from those looking to visit it on their spare day, with some engaging in simple hanging out with their friends, while others instead elected to do a little exercise by jogging through the place. However, amidst all the activities and enjoyment this place was seeing, there was one face here that was instead a look of seriousness and concern. That was the face of Applejack, who was currently walking alongside a row of hedges, keeping herself low to the ground as she did so. Every few steps, she would slowly look above the line of those hedges, looking out to whatever was on the other side.
"Come on now...where are ya?"
Eventually, and during a point where she wasn't looking where she was going, she found herself bumping into somebody unexpectedly. Immediately, both she and this other person were knocked backwards, causing Applejack to tumble into the grass below.
"Argh! Shoot!" the young farmer exclaimed.
Then realisation crossed her face as she took in what had happened, and after adjusting her hat somewhat, she started to lean forward to whoever she'd bumped into.
"Oh! Ah'm sorry Miss...Rarity?!"
Sure enough, it was indeed Applejack's fashionista friend who now sat upon the ground before her. After sweeping aside some of her purple hair, Rarity looked to her colleague with a disapproving frown.
"I trust you have a good reason for knocking me over, Jacqueline?"
Scratching the back of her head in a nervous manner, Applejack started to reply.
"Well...the thing is..."
Then, understanding dawned on her, and she frowned right back.
"Hey, wait a minute! Why are y'all doin here?"
Instantly, Rarity's expression became one of embarrassment.
"Oh! Well...I was just...enjoying the lovely weather?"
If there was one thing Applejack knew how to do, it was spot a lie, and so, after placing her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrow, she stared at Rarity intensely. As for the latter, she found that she couldn't look her friend in the eye, which, naturally, eventually caused her to let out an exasperated grunt.
"Ugh! Fine! I'm here to keep an eye on my sister!"
Hearing that, Applejack smirked slightly, gesturing to herself with her thumb.
"Same."
Folding her arms, Rarity seemed surprised by this.
"Really?"
Sighing, Applejack nodded.
"Yeah. Started talkin bout this boy a while back. Tender Taps. Little dancin fella."
Rarity nodded right back.
"Yes...Sweetie's taken an interest in a young lad too. Button, I think his name was."
Applejack opened her mouth to speak, only to be kept from doing so when, all of a sudden, a loud and familiar voice called out to the pair of them.
"Would you two mind? We're trying to watch them!"
Both Applejack and Rarity turned, seeing, to their surprise, that it was none other that Rainbow Dash, looking to them with a degree of annoyance in her expression. But this was not the end of the surprises for the two girls, as just beyond the young athlete was Flash Sentry, who regarded them with a small smile.
"Afternoon, you two."
Applejack tipped her hat to the boy, before then taking a kneeling position next to Rainbow, as did Rarity, with the latter looking to her colleague with some interest.
"I take it you're here for the same reasons?"
Rainbow nodded.
"Yep. Seems Scoots, decided to go out with this little punk. Rumbler."
"Rumble," Flash corrected.
"Whatever!" Rainbow replied.
Turning, Rainbow squinted her eyes as she looked over the hedge.
"Just look at him over there!"
At first, both Rarity and Applejack looked to one another with confusion. Then, realisation came to them, and they immediately turned in unison to look over the hedge. Sure enough, they saw their quarry. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were indeed there, far-away and sitting on top of a hill together. And, as they also knew, they were not alone. For each girl was sitting with their respective date, Tender, Button and Rumble. All six of them were sitting together on what appeared to be a picnic cloth, complete with a few snacks and drinks. Their shoes were all to one side of the cloth right now, and they were all talking to each other. Unfortunately, from this distance, none of their siblings could hear them, much to Rainbow's irritation.
"Can anyone hear them?"
The others all shook their heads, and Applejack turned to Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.
"Yer lookin pretty defensive, Rainbow. Y'all only just figured out Scoots is yer sister, ya know."
Rainbow looked to her and frowned.
"Hey! A sister is still a sister! Besides, Scoots has always looked up to me, and I always look out for my fans!"
All three of the others, including Flash, rolled their eyes to this. And speaking of whom, it was now the boy's turn to add his voice to matters.
"Well, for what it's worth, they seem to be having a nice time."
Rainbow snorted to this.
"Yeah, sure they are! Just watch, Bro. Any minute now, those boys are gonna make some kind of move on our girls. And we'll be there when it happens."
But, in contrast to what Rainbow might have expected, Flash just looked to her with a blank expression.
"Did...did you just call me Bro?"
Hearing that, Rainbow sighed.
"Yeah...doesn't sound right for us, does it?"
Flash shook his head.
"Sister-spying now, sibling-related nicknames later."
The two nodded in agreement, before then turning their eyes once more to their mutual sister, all while being oblivious to the fact that Rarity and Applejack had become rather amused with that little exchange of theirs. But, the time eventually came when even they looked over to the Crusaders, with Rarity in particular speaking up on the matter.
"I must confess...the boys look rather...frozen."
With all eyes turning to the boys in question, they saw that Rarity was not wrong. All three of the Crusaders' dates seemed to be more than a little nervous about being there. Tender was blushing fiercely whenever he even looked at Apple Bloom, Button was twiddling his thumbs and only occasionally glancing up to Sweetie Belle, and as for Rumble, his mouth was shut so tight when Scootaloo was speaking to him that he looked utterly incapable of talking back to her. Seeing that, Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Sheesh, it's like those kids have never seen a girl before."
Turning to his sister, Flash frowned slightly.
"Come on, Rainbow. Remember how I was when I first started dating Sunset all those years ago? I was pretty nervous too. Plus, those boys are much younger, so it makes sense that they wouldn't know what to do."
Rainbow looked right back to him.
"Yeah, sure. But it's not gonna be much of a date for our girls if their boyfriends aren't even able to open their mouths."
Applejack turned to her with narrowed eyes.
"They ain't their boyfriends, Rainbow!"
Rarity, upon hearing that, looked to her friend with some incredulity.
"Not to put too fine a point on it, Applejack, but this is a date. And besides, isn't this the second time your sister has seen this boy? I'd say that makes it rather official, wouldn't you?"
For a time, Applejack opened her mouth to speak, only to find, to her annoyance, that she couldn't find a proper response, leading to her grunting in irritation.
"Hmph! Ah hate it when yer right!"
Rarity took that little moment to wear an appropriately victorious expression, before then directing her gaze yet again to her own sister.
"Well, for what it's worth, I hope things work out well between them. If nothing else, they do look rather adorable together."
Rainbow chuckled to that.
"Yeah. Besides..."
A smirk crossed her face as she addressed the others.
"...from the looks of things, I'd say it's pretty obvious who's wearing the pants in those relationships."
There was a round of laughter from that, even from Applejack, who had relaxed a little bit from all of this. But, when the laughter died down, and they turned once more to the boys and girls on the hill, it was then Flash's turn to speak up.
"So...which do you think will get kissed first?"
Instantly, all three of the girls beside him looked to him with widened eyes, then, moments afterwards, turned to one another. At first, there was a degree of uncertainty about the question, but then, as time went on, Rainbow cracked a smile, chuckling slightly.
"Well, I'm pretty sure Scoots is the most take-charge one there."
Rarity looked to her with a small frown.
"Perhaps...but I assure you, Sweetie is the most romantically-inclined. Surely she already has some plan in mind to ensure a truly wonderful kiss at the end of this."
But Applejack then shook her head.
"Nah! Bloom is an Apple, remember? When Apples get themselves a feller they like, movin forward ain't too far behind."
The three girls stared at each other, looking rather annoyed at the implications their counterparts had laid there. However, before any of them said anything else, they were interrupted by Flash, who spoke up again.
"Although...I guess there's also the chance that the girls could kiss them at the same time?"
The girls looked to him, incredulity plastered all over their faces.
"Oh, Flash, I highly doubt that such a thing would..." Rarity began.
But, she did not finish. For she, along with Applejack and Rainbow, suddenly noticed that Flash had not actually been looking to them as he'd said that. Instead, he was keeping his eyes squarely on what lay over the hedge. Realisation came for all of them, and their heads snapped in the direction of the hill. There, to their utter shock, they saw that all three of their sisters, as if of one mind, leaned forward to their respective dates and, at the same time, gave them quick-but-sweet-looking kisses on their cheeks. Instantly, all three boys looked as if their faces had turned as red as tomatoes, and they appeared to be even more frozen than they were before, prompting quite a few giggles on the part of the Crusaders. As for their older siblings, they simply stared in surprise at this, before slowly looking to each other.
"Well...that happened," Flash remarked.
The girls nodded. Then, after a few moments of simply not knowing what to say, Rainbow, in her usual way, returned to her earlier smirk.
"Hehe, what did I say? Those girls? The know what they want."
In spite of herself, Rarity started to smile herself.
"Yes...so it would seem."
Applejack too smiled, adjusting her hat slightly before adding her voice to things.
"Eyup...seems like it."
Turning to the girls, Flash spoke softly.
"So...do we leave them to it?"
There was silence for a time, after which, the girls nodded in unison, before looking back to the boy accompanying them.
"Yeah...I'd say this date doesn't really need us watching it."
For a while, Applejack nodded in agreement. Then, after a short moment, her expression changed, becoming more thoughtful before, at the end, becoming one of concern.
"Although...ah never said anythin, but...Bloom has kinda been gettin her datin advice from...someone else?"
The others looked to her with confusion.
"Oh? Who?" Rarity asked.
Applejack scratched the back of her head in a nervous manner, before then speaking in a tone that was very much a hesitant one.
"Um...Adagio?"
Immediately, all three of the faces looking to her seemed as if they'd lost some of their colour, and after glancing to each other with concerned expressions, it was Flash who spoke the final words.
"On second thoughts...maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on them...just in case."
