Awww Applesauce!

Applejack rolled her eyes at her little sister and their cousin. Apple Bloom and Babs Seed had been exchanging stories of their crusader adventures all day. The trek to the Equestrian Country Fair was long but the two fillies seemed to never run out of things to say. Apple Bloom was telling Babs about a colt she and her friends had helped overcome his fear of riding a bike. Applejack understood full well that some ponies had odd fears but to her, one of rising a bike was pretty silly.

"That is darn silly Apple Bloom, you mean ta tell me his biggest fear was ride'n a bike?" Applejack chimed in.

Apple Bloom stopped talking and looked at her sister with a stern expression. "It's scary for some ponies! I was pretty scared when I first rode one," snapped the filly.

"You were much younger than this fella yer describ'n," replied Applejack.

Babs's eyes got wide as she sat back and watched the two sisters quibble. Apple Bloom puffed out her cheeks and Applejack's brow furrowed as they stared each other down for a second.

"You been making snide remarks all day!" complained Apple Bloom.

"Ah just been express'n my opinion. It just seems to me that several of the ponies you helped had... well they had petty problems," replied Applejack.

"You sure there ain't something else bothering ya?" asked Babs. She immediately regretted opening her mouth.

"I tell ya I'm fine! Just tired of..." replied Applejack before being cut off.

"Tired of us talking!" snapped Apple Bloom.

"No! Well, maybe a bit... I mean," stammered Applejack in response.

Granny Smith's head suddenly popped up from behind the mountain of stuff packed in the cart Big Mac was pulling ahead of them. "Y'all quit yer whining! We're nearly there and we're all hot and tired," she scolded them. Applejack and Apple Bloom stared each other down a second longer before they both sighed and looked away.

The last stretch of the trip was quiet, much to Applejacks relief. The two fillies had gone to sleep on the softest part of the cart Applejack was pulling. The peace gave Applejack time to think finally. The country fair always came around when she was fresh outa being in heat. Her hormones were still elevated and she was flustered a great deal more than normal this year. Her cousin Braeburn had introduced her to a stallion friend of his a week ago and she had been fantasizing about him ever since. Things were not helped by that fact that he was going to be with Braeburn at the fair, and she could not wait to see him -she was even planning ways to get him alone in the back of her mind.

'Ah, he is darn handsome!' Applejack thought to herself. She pictured the stallion in her mind. He was a strong and silent type of pony. Applejack had met many interesting characters in her life but he was an intriguing one. He had a grey-brown coat and deep green colored mane and tail. He sported a stout mustache which complimented the no bull shit attitude his resting expression displayed. He was frank, capable, and independent; he also lived off the land on a small farm of his own in the mountains.

Lost in her thoughts Applejack had not noticed their arrival until the lights of the fair lit up in the distance with the dimming sunlight. She glanced behind her to check on the fillies. They were both still sound asleep, curled up next to one another. Applejacks expression softened and her ears turned back some.

'They sure are cute right now,' she thought to herself.

Moments later Big Mac and Granny's cart stopped and Applejack moved up beside them. When she got to their vantage point she saw why they had halted. Up ahead was a nice clearing by the side of the road. She knew what they were thinking as they observed the spot and the fading sun.

"Reckon we should make camp then," Big Mac spoke up, which took Applejack a bit off guard.

Applejack glanced at her brother with an odd expression before nodding in agreement with him. They headed down to the clearing and unpacked their tents. Applejack helped Granny set up the tents while Big Mac gathered wood and started a fire. They let the fillies sleep until the camp was prepared and supper was done. Once they had all eaten a quick meal, they crawled into their sleeping bags and went to sleep.

The next morning the sun shone brightly across the growing fairgrounds. They could see the stand and camps becoming alive from their vantage on the mountain path. Applejack was feeling less stressed but more anxious. She wanted to arrive at the fairgrounds sooner rather than later. The others watched her with wide eyes as she hurried around the camp packing things with a seemingly unbreakable determination. The few times Big Mac tried to help his task got quickly swept up into her hustle and he was shoved to the side.

Big Mac approached Granny Smith and shrugged at her. "What's got her in a tizzy," he asked.

"I'm suppose'n she wants to get to their fairgrounds while there are still good spots to make camp," Granny replied with a shrug of her own.

Minutes after they had awoken and eaten Applejack had their entire camp packed and the carts loaded ready to go. As the others loaded themselves into the carts Applejack noticed her sister's cutiemark, which made her think about how she had acted towards her sister's crusader work the day before. Her eyes lowered as she pictured the wall of happy pony pictures in her sister's clubhouse.

"Apple Bloom," Applejack said ash she stopped her sister from jumping into he cart with Babs.

Apple Bloom gave her sister a confused look before responding. "Uh, yea, sis?"

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I was not in the best'a moods, Ah know your crusader work has helped a lot'a ponies and ah am proud of you," Applejack told her.

Apple Bloom began to blush and look at the ground. "It's alright Applejack," she replied.

The two hugged for a moment. Applejack walked to the front of the cart and fixed the harness around her midsection. Apple Bloom hopped into the cart next to Babs who was giving her a crude smirk. Apple Bloom turned redder and shoved Babs gently by hitting her in the shoulder.

The last leg of their journey went by easily and rather quickly, much to Apple Jacks relief. When they arrived at the fairground they found they had been beaten to the prime spots for camp, but they had many decent places to choose from still. In the end, they chose a location that was a close distance to the food stand and the bathrooms. Granny Smith had insisted on the spot for their camp.

Applejack and Big Mac worked together to set up camp. The others had taken off to wander around the fair before it opened. Applejack held the center tent post in a place where Big Mac had dug a hole. Big Mac filled the hole in around the post with dirt and rocks to keep it steady in place. They repeated this for the other two tents as well. Once the posts were firmly in place they both retrieved the canvas tent sacks and began unrolling the tents. Once all three were unrolled and spread flat near their respective posts they were set to raise them. Applejack used a rod with a hook to lift the center of the tent into place over the post while Big Mac pulled the edges out around it. Next, they both place the four inner corner posts int place to raise the walls off the ground. They repeated this for each tent and then split the last portion of set up between them.

Once camp was set up Applejack decided to go exploring too. She loved wandering around the fair, and she was also anxious to find her cousin Braeburn and his handsome friend. Her wishes were answered after an hour of looking around. She saw Braeburn and his friend sitting at their camp.

"Well howdy Applejack!" her cousin Braeburn blurted out upon seeing her approach.

"Howdy cousin, this is a fine location, when did y'all roll in?" asked Applejack.

"Oh last evening, maybe six'o clock," replied Braeburn.

Braeburn pulled out a seat for Applejack at their table. She sat down and shyly nodded at Pine Forest, Braeburns friend. Forest gave a very subtle nod in return before offering her a glass oh whiskey with his forehoof. She smiled and accepted the drink; it was a very smooth liquor and she had no problems downing the shot.

"This is what I make," said Pine Forest as he poured another shot for each of them.

"It's very smooth," replied Applejack. She took the second shot and downed it in sync with Pine Forest.

Applejack, Braeburn, and Pine Forest talked for a few hours. They discussed their farms and the differences in running them. They discuss the events they intended to participate in during the fair.

During their discussion, Pine Forest and Braeburn were unpacking a few things still on their cart. Applejacks plan to get Pine Forest alone seemed to come together when she saw the contents of a trunk spill out. Pine Forest had been dragging it to the tent when a rock had caused it to turn over. Before her on the ground was a fancy golden dragon costume. With was adorned with lava red spikes and bright orange eyes. Applejack knew full well the only reason he would have such a thing in his trunk; the singles and swingers costume party. It was held every night in a large tent just outside the fairgrounds, though Applejack had never attended it herself.

Seeing that costume made her reconsider. Getting him alone in costume was ideal in many ways. She could remain anonymous yet still get her way.

Applejack spent the evening with them until they were all good and drunk. The sun was no longer in the sky and the activities of the camps had died down around them. Braeburn had passed out in his chair. Pine Forest said his goodnight and turned in for rest. Applejack stumbled off towards her camp, lost in a warm and dreamlike state of mind.

Applejack wondered about stumbling into recently built wood fences and bumping into tents. The glow of the moon was so bright she could see everything but her hooves would not listen to her. The fairgrounds had grown twice as large with tents, rides, and stands since their arrival. A few times she passed other Ponies out walking in the moonlight, some drunk like her, all of them in high spirits and full of happiness.

'Ah sure do love the fair,' she thought to herself as she stopped to rest and stare at the shades of blue and purple that the world around her had taken on in the moon's silver-blue glow. Without realizing it she slowly lowered herself into a laying position next to a fence near a chocolate banana stand. Within seconds she was sound asleep, dreaming about Pine Forest at the costume meet in a drunken haze.

A couple of minutes passed and then two fillies breaking their curfew happened across Applejack in her drunken slumber. Apple Bloom and Babs looked at each other. Apple Bloom smacked her forehoof on her head and turned to her sister.

"Something like this always happens. She comes to this fair and turns into a whole other pony! She gets all competitive, and stays out all night drinking, and..." Apple Bloom began to complain before Babs cut her off.

"It's fine! It's fine Apple Bloom. Ah seen mah parents the same way several times ya know? We should get back to camp anyway, Granny Smith is already gonna be mad at our staying out later than she told us to," Babs interjected.

"Yea, ok, I'll let Big Mac know where to find ma sis," replied Apple Bloom with a long sigh.

The two fillies then wandered off back to their camp. After a scolding from Granny Smith, they were able to inform their elder Ponies of Applejacks state and location. Big Mac could be heard mumbling in frustration as he fixed up a cart and set out down the road in the middle of the night to retrieve his sister.