The Transfer And The Farmgirl

by TheGathering

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Equestria Girls, Violence, Crossover, Hunger Games, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity, Applejack, Alternate Universe, Human, Other, Romance, Drama
Length: 7079

When strong nerd meets strong farm hand…

Starts right before Equestria Girls, and lasts through the movie.

With the tension around the fall formal going on, the arrival of a new transfer student couldn’t have been any more worse or well-timed.

Enter Cato Hadley. Blonde, Tall, Strong, and a handsome nerd. A High Scoring Student in Panem City’s District Two High School before his family moved to Canterlot and he transferred into Canterlot High. When he arrives at Canterlot High, he finds himself thrust into a school with students unlike anything he’s ever seen before and quickly finds himself at both the center of it all and as an outcast, due to his looks and actions.

Meet Applejack. Beautiful, Honest, Hard-working. Driven from her friends by Sunset Shimmer’s doing, she tries to get on in life while her heart still hurts from the supposed betrayal of her former friends. When a new transfer student comes into Canterlot High, she’s indifferent to him. But as Twilight comes into the picture and the new transfer student dedicates himself to helping Twilight get her crown back, her whole world changes again, to the point where she might be starting to fall in love with a brutal, bloody nerd.

The monstrous nerd and the hard-working farm girl. Is it possible that a single decision to save the many can make them realize their true feelings toward each other?

Hunger Games x Equestria Girls Crossover
Cato x Applejack

Part of the Equestria Games series.

Published 2021-07-24 22:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-07-28 15:44:59 UTC

Cato I - New School, New Beginnings

Author's Note

Welcome to this little neato crossover of Hunger Games and Equestria Girls. Here, a slightly different version of the EG Movie plays out as shown through different POVs, though mostly seen through the eyes of the brutal bloody tribute turned transfer student, Cato. In case you’re wondering why part of his final words from the first HG Film are in this chapter, there’s a stunt Cato pulls towards the end of this that will really change everything and everyone around him forever..

Cato I - New School, New Beginnings

”Not that it matters.”

The world turns white around me as I’m vaporized.

My eyes shoot open, darting around as I breathe heavily, only to realize that I’m still in the car, next to my dad as we’re about to roll into the drop off line for car poolers at Canterlot High.

’Your first day here, Cato. Make your family proud’ I thought to myself as the car rolls up and stops at the appropriate spot.

“Okay, Cato. I’ll see you after school. Make sure you go to the front office” says my father as I get out of the car.

I look back at him. “Will do, Father” I reply.

Turning my head back and staring up at the entrance to Canterlot High, my mind takes it all in, noting how completely different the building looks compared to District 2 High, my old school. It honestly felt like I was on a different planet, just that it looked and felt so different. I had honestly been staring at it too long because the sound of another student begging for someone to stop it filled the air. Turning around, I see two shorter and smaller kids ganging up on a blonde haired girl wearing a hat like a cowboy, calling her names and such. I scowled, knowing how much bullying wasn’t even given any form of non-toleration back in District 2 High, where it was practically tolerated by the staff. Back in District 2 High, unless you had something to put yourself in the adults’ good graces, you were as just as vulnerable to being a victim of bullying yourself as the other kids in school. Either way, I was taught in my family that bullying isn’t allowed, so since no one else was helping the poor girl, I decided to step in, sneaking up behind the two without actually trying to be stealthy since they were too busy calling the blonde haired girl names. When they both turned around and found me staring down at them with an angry face, I swear to you the color practically drained from their faces, and they skedaddled like prey fleeing from the predator.

I watched them run away and scoffed. ’Serves them right’ I thought to myself and turned around only to see the girl I saved already walking up the steps into the building.

“I saved her from the bullies and she doesn’t even thank me. Ah, well, must be teenage hormones.”

Stunned as well as disappointed, I made my way up the stairs and into the building. From there, I went to the front office so that I could get my schedule. Then, it was off to my classes, where I had to introduce myself in every single one, which if you’re me, is a bit nerve-wracking due to the fact that you inherit your family’s trait for good looks, yet you also like some peace and quiet to yourself because you’re a musical history and military history nerd.

The reactions of the students to me were mixed for the most part, and then there was the girl I had saved from the bullies this morning, which to my astonishment, was in 5 of my 7 classes, and even shared the same lunch with me. Not that I was considering lucky… no, I was far from it, but it was rather surprising.

At lunch, I sat by myself, eating my food and trying to think about that girl, who at the point in time, I still had not learned the name of. My thoughts of her, however, were interrupted by the touch of a finger tapping me on the shoulder. Glancing to my left, I came face to face with a red and yellow haired girl, sporting a smirking face that almost immediately, showed me the distinct aura of trouble. I couldn’t help but gulp because I knew at that point, that she didn’t come here in good intentions.

“So, you’re the new transfer student Cato Hadley, right?” she asked me, to which I gave her an emotional less nod.

“I have a word of advice for you: stay away from Applejack.”

“Who?”

I didn’t know who she meant by Applejack, but clearly, I made it seem like I was playing dumb and she got a little tense.

“That blonde haired girl you chased my lackeys, Snips and Snails, away from this morning outside school.”

As much as I wanted to go into an admiring her name moment, the way she talked about Applejack made me a little angry.

“Okay, Queen-Bee..” I spat.

“Tell me why in the world I should stay away from a person who was being bullied by your lackeys.”

She gave a devious chuckle, that couldn’t mean anything good.

“She lied to Rainbow Dash that the school bake sale was one day in order to get the softball team to attend, only for her to pull the rug out from under their feet and say that the bake sale was actually on a different day.”

If she expected me to gasp and believe her, all she got was me glaring hard and angry at her in response. Although a small part of me wanted to believe her, much to my chagrin, after what I saw this morning, I couldn’t believe her, since I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did. Hadley’s didn’t lie or do stuff like that, it had no place in my family.

“What’s to stop me from calling foul and accusing you of having something to do with it?” I asked her, catching her off-guard and attracting the interest of other students in the cafeteria.

“She did it to Rainbow, not me. So, would you rather tank your chances by hanging around a nobody like her or..?” she started, but I cut her off in mid sentence by banging my fist onto the table after crushing the hotdog I was holding with my raw fury. Okay, now I was mad.

“First of all, Applejack isn’t a ‘nobody.’ She’s a somebody, and you’re not going to hurt her or anyone else you’re bullying in this school. Got it?” I said defiantly.

She got up, and cackled as she walked off.

“Remember Cato, you’re going to regret the day you decided to mess with Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset Shimmer… so that was the bitch’s name. Well Sunset, let’s see how you handle Hadley-Brand Defiance.

Needless to say though, my actions in the cafeteria practically turned me into an outlier amongst the students, which to be fair, I didn’t mind. It was the fact that standing up to the school bully on my first day here put me in this situation that pissed me off. All I knew at this point was, I wasn’t going to stop until Sunset was finished and Applejack didn’t have to be bullied anymore.

Cato II - Kindness Of A Nerd

After what I had witnessed on the first day, it was clear to me that there was a very serious problem here at Canterlot High that, in many ways, resembled District 2 High. The major difference here was that there seemed to be a single main bully here whereas at District 2, it was a case of the stronger prey on the weak. It was also evident that the adults here had mostly no idea of what was going on at all, much to my disgust. But, it really didn’t deter my outlook on the situation in the slightest. Things had to change, and to hell with it, I was going to make that change.

As to how one can walk down a hallway while everyone’s staring at you whispering how you’re going to suffer at the hands of that Shimmer bitch and not feel despair, I’m just that headstrong. As I round a corner though.. speak of the devil. Right in front of me, is that Sunset girl, who’s bullying a girl with pink hair while the two minions I scared off earlier snicker and wait by her side. Walking towards them, I see one turn and gulp when they see me. The other one turns and goes pale, and both quickly scatter. Sunset yells at the two before realizing what scared them of.

“So.. you again..” she says, the evil smirking face showing again.

“I don’t know what’s your god-damn problem, Sunset, but leave the pink haired girl alone” I said, growling angrily.

“Really? Does this idiotic piece of crap Hadley think he can actually make me?”

I snapped when she basically called me, a Hadley, a piece of crap. I slammed my fist into the nearest locker, practically snapping it off it hinges and leaving a big sized dent into it with the force of my fist slamming into it. Sunset’s eyes go from smug to shocked, and she quickly retreats. I sigh though, since I’m going to have to pay for the broken locker door. But, it was worth it and also typical, since calling a Hadley stupid is a sure fire way to get me or any of my family members pissed off at you. Either way, it had worked. Sunset had stopped her bullying, for the moment.

The pink haired girl looked at me with a sort of scared face. I sighed again. “Sorry about that. It runs in the family that calling us crap basically is an anger button” I explain, and she nods.

“Duly noted. I’m Fluttershy.”

“Cato. Cato Hadley.”

“You have to be out of your mind, doing that. The rule is here that anyone that opposes Sunset Shimmer will have their life made miserable.”

I scoff at that, annoyed.

“The thing is about the Hadley family, we don’t back down when we see people doing mean things to other people. We either put a stop to it or endure having ourselves dragged through the mud if we can’t. So having my life ruined by a red and yellow haired bitch, please.”

She gasped, but knew I was serious. She didn’t leave my side as we walked to our next class.

I had to stay behind after school let out for the day to pay for the damaged locker door, and after that was done, I was on my way home.

The next day only brought proof of what that bitch could do to other people. Right as I walked in, someone shoved a phone into my face and went on about how stupid this girl named Twilight Sparkle was. But as I looked at the picture, I saw something different. She wasn’t acting stupid, it was like she was trying to adapt to life in this world, as if she had come from another world. I pushed the kid’s phone out of the way and headed off to class with one thing ringing through my heads.

I had to find Twilight Sparkle, because I’m sure for certain this was Sunset’s doing.

In the end, the sound of arguing from outside the building after class had ended that day while I was walking through the halls trying to find Twilight led me to her standing on the soccer field, with Fluttershy, Applejack, and two other girls, with pink and purple hair respectively, all arguing at each other as Twilight watched. She gasped the moment she saw me, probably because she probably wasn’t used to seeing massive, hulking teens who had been using weapons in training back in District 2 High. The other girls turned, and had mixed reactions. Fluttershy just waved and smiled, Applejack just sighed and turned away, the purple hair girl stared as well as the pink haired one. Finally, Twilight spoke. “I’m guessing you’re the one that Fluttershy and Applejack spoke about. Cato, right?” she asked.

“Yeah. That be me. Twilight Sparkle?” I replied.

She nodded. Then, the other girls somehow got back to arguing at each other’s throats, the scenarios talked about somehow felt like things Sunset would do, which only made me growl. Finally, I had enough and snapped.

“For Heaven’s Sake! No one knows you better than yourself. If the one you’re accusing says they haven’t sent that message and knows in their heart that they didn’t, then there’s obviously a third party involved, which probably means that queen of insults Sunset Shimmer.”

That outburst did the trick. They stopped arguing and apologized to each other. As they did, Twilight came over. “You have a way with words” she said, observantly. I just shrugged.

“I’m a Hadley. My family has a trait for getting the desired effect realized with our words.”

Flash I/Cato 2.5 - Joining Forces

I decided to do a little digging on Sunset-Bitch’s past by asking people what they knew about her social life at school the next day, after first letting loose at the dummies in my basement using my sword to cut them all to pieces, and then having to explain to my parents why I broke the locker door. Needless to say, they didn’t offer me much aside from what I already knew about her. What they did tell me though, was that she dated a boy named Flash Sentry for a while and then broke up with him. That surprised me, since I wasn’t the type to think that Sunset would actually get a boyfriend to increase her popularity. Man, was I wrong on that front.

Either way, it seemed to me that I would have to track down this Flash Sentry and ask him about it myself. So that’s what I did when class ended that day.

It took me a while walking around the place, but I finally managed to find Flash looking through his locker on the second floor even though everyone else had already left the building.

Looking up at me, Flash immediately understood exactly who he was dealing with. “I’m guessing your Cato?” he asked. I nodded.

“Honestly, you’re probably the first one I’ve ever seen try to stand up to Sunset Shimmer and somehow not have your life ruined because of it.”

“Guess I’m just lucky.”

“Lucky? More like blessed.”

“Anyways, you dated Sunset right?”

“Yeah I did, for a while, until she dumped me. To be fair, by that time, I had already seen her show her true colors, so basically she just pre-empted me in breaking up.”

“Wow. That’s insane. Anyways, I was thinking. You and I help Twilight Sparkle win the Fall Formal Crown?”

He looked at me like I was insane, before nodding.

“I mean, that girl is cool, but if it’s for making sure this school finally gets rid of Sunset Shimmer, hell to the yes, bro!”

Long story short, I fully got him on board with what I was planning. What I didn’t realize at the time was Applejack had been watching me talk to Flash.

Author's Note

Short Chapter, but you can see the emotional tension around Cato and Applejack forming right here.

Cato III - Causes Worth Fighting For

To say that like I was asking for Sunset Shimmer to try to do something to hurt Twilight’s chances of winning was a massive understatement. I really wanted her to just try something, especially since I had managed to get Flash to join the cause. I mean, you are taking on the school’s biggest bully, so even though I am a intimidating walking mass of muscle, I decided to play it smart and get someone that knows Sunset better than any other student besides Sunset that’s also not on her side as an ally. Like, I’m many things, but plain stupid isn’t one of them, despite those moments that Clove remembers. Anyway, tomorrow would start my plan to help Twilight get the crown, even if I was acting dumb about the fact that since Twilight was from another world, the crown obviously meant something more to her and probably Sunset as well than to practically everyone else in the building, aside from me, that is. While the girls were over at Rarity’s place, I stayed up all night in the basement, literally trying to determine what Sunset’s next move would be when she sees what the girls are trying to do. In the end, before I fell asleep at 4:00 am, I figured she was probably going to do some sort of faked disqualification move. Little did I realize how close to the truth I would come.

Another day.. time to put the plan into action.

Honestly, I could not have expected what I would see the following day. Like, seriously, the stunt the girls pulled in the Cafeteria.. back in District 2 High, we would call that shit hilarious.. no joke. It honestly took all I had not to burst out laughing in there, and unfortunately for me, Applejack noticed me trying and looked away, obviously a bit bummed out. My mood went from laughter to instant regret. I facepalmed myself.

Cato, you idiot. Get a hold of yourself.

Failure tirade over, I just watched for the rest of the song. I will admit, the tune was catchy.. to this day, if I even remember part of it, the whole song will repeat over and over in my fucking brain. But anyway, it had the desired effect, which again, I honestly admit, I don’t think my words could do that. It’s one thing saying something so obvious that it restores friendships, but it’s another trying to sway the opinion of a school that without the campaigning is going to vote in favor of the bully just to make sure the status quo is maintained, even though that status quo sucks. I know, I know, that’s just Hadley family defiance speaking up again, but let’s be honest, it’s basically par for the course as to what my entire family to a man and woman would be saying about this situation.

After school had left out, I put little voice recorders in concealed spots that would be almost impossible to spot, just in case, and for further measure, took a picture of each of the spots with my phone to know where to collect them before class started the next day. As to why I was doing this, let’s just say, I had a gut feeling that Sunset was planning something. And sure enough, while I was sitting in the basement, listening to the audio feed, one of them picked up something about Sunset. Or rather, her talking to those two imbeciles Snips and Snails about destroying the Fall Formal decorations and framing Twilight for it. My blood boiled hard, like real hard.

That fucking bitch. Seriously, she was willing to stoop that low, like low to the point that some in District 2 High were willing to go sometimes. I’m not saying who, but they’ve stooped that low, and before you say anything, Clove was not one of them, and neither was I.

Either way, I looked at the recorder and thought to myself.

Guess spending $250 dollars of my 15th Birthday money on this wasn’t wasted money after all.

Cato IV - Averting Shutdown

Walking into the school early the next day way ahead of everyone else except the adults, through a unused secret passageway that I had accidentally discovered while looking for Flash the other day, I collected all of my cameras and deposited them into my backpack. Dodging the adults in the building, I may my way back to the secret passage and outside the building to wait for the school day to start. While doing so, I took a little jog around the school to see where the Fall Formal Decorations were and since I decided to bring my custom built camera with 10 - minute wait before snapping photo options built in along with a tripod for it, when I got around to the gym and saw them, I decided to set something up. Noticing a small rise of ground in the hedges close to the road, I set up the tripod on the small rise with the camera setup on top of the tripod, at the exact height I wanted it to be. Then, I wired it up to take at least 20 shots of the gym per every 50 - minute period of the day, from 7:38 am to 2:23 pm, which would be sent to my phone while I was in class, from which a simple swipe of a setting would turn the system off. Sounds complicated, right? Well yeah, but there’s a reason I spent half of my free time in District 2 High in the library while the other half was spent training with swords.

Like the voice recorders setup last night, the camera came in handy when I decided to check the feed three periods in, during lunch. Sure enough, there was two photos of Snips and Snails trashing the decorations, with Sunset watching gleefully. I smirked and chuckled to myself, knowing that Sunset was really underestimating me. Thus, it was a simple task, via hacking, to then connect myself to the library printer so I could then print the photos and place them in my backpack. At least that was the plan until Flash ran into me just as I got out of the library.

“Twilight just got called down to Vice Principal Luna’s office about destroying the Fall Formal Decorations!”

I sighed, and then handed him the photos. He was stunned.

“Cato, how in the world did you get these?”

I told him to hurry on and said, “I’ll explain later.”

Needless to say, when Flash then came running at me after class in the parking lot after I got the camera and tripod picked up and was about to start my motorcycle and head home, what he said to me basically confirmed my suspicions about Twilight.

“Okay, your insane strat saved Twilight, but when they talked about moving Fall Formal to tomorrow, she ran out of there screaming No at the top of her lungs.”

I wasn’t wasting another second, so I told Flash, “Get on the bike, now.”

He did, and in a matter of seconds, we were off, heading for Twilight’s place.

Cato V - Nightmare Realized

Needless to say, we succeeded. The Fall Formal would be held tonight, and despite me bringing my best outfit to the thing, I wasn’t going with anyone. Me being at the Fall Formal, at this point, was just me being there to support my friends, pure and simple. Partway through the proceedings, however, I slipped out of the gym to go to the bathroom. And trust me, if I had known Sunset had figured out that I was the one who took those photos and had Snips and Snails waiting in the boy’s restroom with a kitchen knife and a baseball bat to ambush me, I would have gone to a different restroom. But I didn’t, so as soon as the door closed behind me, I received a blow to the head and was knocked out.

While I was unconscious, Twilight won the crown, only to be interrupted by Snips and Snails taking Spike hostage, and leading them to Sunset. In the ensuing chaos, Applejack noticed I was gone and according to Pinkie afterwards, actually had a panic attack when she had that realization. In response, Flash offered to go look for me. In their haste to get to Spike, Snips and Snails had forgotten to close the door after they opened it to make sure the smell of blood wouldn’t stink up the boy’s restroom, so it was rather easy for Flash to find me.

“Cato!”

”Cato, wake up!”

I came to, my face feeling like somebody had stuck a bunch of cactus needles into it. It hurt so much. To make matters worse, I was now dressed in some crappy outfit and my fall formal outfit was nowhere to be seen. (In case you’re wondering what state Cato’s face in, it’s the way he looks during the 74th Hunger Games Finale, slashed and bleeding. His outfit now just so happens to be the outfit he wears in the arena.)

“What the hell happened?” Flash asked me.

“I-I don’t know. I got hit in the head from behind after I got in here. What’s happening?”

“Snips and Snails kidnapped Spike. They’re leading Twilight and the others to Sunset. I think Sunset is going to try to trade Spike for the crown.”

I didn’t need anymore of Flash’s words to motivate me. In an instant, I was up on my feet, telling Flash this.

“Let’s go then.”

He went on ahead, and I only stopped for a second after I saw my fall formal outfit torn up beyond repair in the restroom trash can.

“Ah man. That was my favorite.”

Then, it was back to running.

When we got outside, it was a nightmare realized scenario. Sunset had just gotten her hands on the crown and me and Flash both watched as her, Snips, and Snails transformed into demons. Twilight and her friends were knocked down to the ground by an energy wave Sunset’s transformation emitted, and it seemed like they couldn’t bring themselves to fight her. Then, Sunset blew the front door of the school to pieces. Since me and Flash had come out of a side door, we weren’t at risk much.

“This is bad. What are we gonna do?”

I looked around. Then I saw the demonized Snails, watching Twilight and her friends to make sure they didn’t get up, and I had an idea, an idea so crazy that it just might work.

“You go the long way and help Twilight and her friends” I told Flash.

“What are you going to do?”

As I started running toward Snails, my only reply was this.

“Probably the craziest stunt I have ever pulled.”

Cato VI - The Comeback King

Author's Note

Here we go, Cato’s nearly suicidal stunt that might just save everyone. Let’s see if his stunt gets the girl or not..

Cato VI - The Comeback King

Running towards the demonized Snails, I grabbed him and put in a choke-hold, not a total one though since he was lighter and skinnier than myself.

“Hey! Let me go!” he yelled, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Demonic Shimmer” I yelled, to irritate Sunset. “Shoot me.”

Everyone else not demonized looked at me like I had lost my mind and had gone nuts, but I knew what I was doing. I was providing a distraction for Flash to help Twilight and her friends, who at the moment, looked at me with faces of fear, especially Applejack, whose facial expression was enough to break my heart. But, I kept up the facade I was playing, as the demon came closer.

“You heard me. Go on. Shoot. And we both go down and you win.”

She had a ball of magic charged up, ready to attack, yet she hesitated, not wanting to destroy one of her own minions even if it meant I would die. It was what I was counting on, to help keep her distracted.

“Go on. I’m… dead anyway.”

The sounds of my voice were causing tear drops to fill the eyes of some of the other girls, who felt that I had gone insane and making a worthless sacrifice.

“I always was, right? But.. I didn’t know that till now.”

She was still hesitating, just like I wanted her to. How long that would last though, before I either died or Flash got Twilight and her friends to use their magic to stop her, was the question.

“How’s that?! Is that what you want?! Huh?! Huh… No, Na Na Na..” I taunted her, a bit crazed.

“I can still do this. Oh, I can still do this. One more kill. Aside from being academically perfect, it’s the only thing I know how to do. Bringing pride to my family and my school.”

I gave her some pleading looks, as to beg her to continue falling for my ruse, but she looked like she about had enough. She prepared to send her attack at me.

“Not that it matters now.”

She wound it up, and as she was in the process of throwing it, she was hit by combined beams of magic. I smiled happily as she groaned and writhed helplessly, feeling herself being defeated.

Flash, you magnificent ace. Just in time.

Sunset saw me smile and realized the truth.

“You faked me out?!” she screamed in agony.

“Yes I did, and you fell for it” I replied, as everyone else just stared at the scene in awe.

“While you may have the crown Sunset, you lack the most important magic of all: the magic of friendship” Twilight said decisively, as Sunset Shimmer, Snips, and Snails turned back to normal. “You will never be able to rule Equestria like that. By doing all of this, you’ve shown everyone the kind of person you really are.”

I released Snails, and was going to revel and enjoy watching Sunset beg for forgiveness, but then I heard Applejack’s voice.

“Cato! CATO!” she screamed, rushing over and hugging me tightly while crying into my chest. I petted her head and hugged her back as she continued to cry.

“You.. dumby!” she sobbed. “Y-you had me worried sick! I was actually thinking that you were actually trying to get yourself killed! Don’t do that ever again!”

My heart ached and throbbed in pain at her words, because she was right. In giving her a chance to survive, I had unintentionally toyed with her feelings for me, something that I now partially hated myself for, and something that I didn’t realize till now she even had.

“Jackie, I’m so sorry. I had to do what I had to do, to give you and the others a chance to defeat Sunset. I swear to god, I’ll never do that again” I apologized, tears running down my face. In case you were wondering, Jackie was the nickname I had made for her.

She looked up at me, a bit of fear and sadness still in her eyes. Then, she blushed and looked away. “If.. you had died, I.. don’t know what I was going to do. Gee whiskers, I would have probably been a nervous wreck if the boy I fell in love with died after pulling a potentially life-ending distraction like that..”

She paused, and realized what had said, and turned full on embarrassed. I was stunned.

Are you kidding me? Applejack is in love with me? I just couldn’t believe it. The same girl I had saved from being bullied had fallen in love with me, the nerd who had practically put his life on the line to save her and the others.

Eventually, she turned to look back up at my face. “C-Cato, what I just said, I meant it. When you were doing that practically stupid and effective distraction, it made me realize who I really wanted to spend this night with. That person was.. y-you. So, even t-though this is practically last second, to tarnation, I’m gonna do it.”

There was a moment of tension between us as she gathered her courage.

“Dance with me, Cato Hadley?” she said as clear as she could be, and at that moment, that’s when I realized something. That standing right in front of me was the person my heart wanted so much, so there was no way in hell I was going to toy with her feelings again right here.

I don’t know what came over me, but I leaned in and kissed her right on the lips. She gasped in shock, but eventually kissed back. To those talking about sparks and nuclear explosions going off inside you when you’re kissing the girl your heart wants, that was child’s play. I was feeling the Big Bang that started the universe times ten inside me kissing Applejack. It was like I was in a dream, it seemed so surreal that I was kissing the girl that I had stood up for while she was a victim of bullying. We pulled away and just gazed into each other’s eyes, not wanting to look away. For a moment, it was just us, like nothing else existed.

The sound of cheering, clapping, and whistling brought the two of us back to reality. Applejack blushed and just shyly slipped her hand into mine.

“Way to go, Cato!” shouted Bulk Biceps, while Flash just gave a smile and a thumbs up. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down, fist pumping the air. Rarity looked on approvingly, while Fluttershy gave us a smile. Rainbow Dash was just running back and forth, cheering. Twilight and Spike both smiled while they dealt with Sunset.

I felt like I was on top of the world, as I walked back inside, holding hands with Applejack.

“So, guess this makes you my girlfriend?” I asked as we walked back in, first to the school nurse to get my bloody face cleaned up, and then to the dance floor. She blushed, and nodded.

“Yes it does, partner.”

Cato VII - Dance Of A Lifetime

They say prom nights can be magical. Dancing with my lovely girlfriend Applejack that night though, leads me to call bull on that. It wasn’t magical. It was possibly goddamn fairytale awesome. Nothing can even possibly compare to actually dancing your heart out with the girl you fell in love with, even if you did have to put someone in a headlock to give her and her friends the chance to stop a demonic bully. Was I proud of myself for doing that? Not as much as you expect me to, but would I do it again if I got sent back in time to that moment? Yes.

I mean, honestly, it seemed like it was a dream. That due to a single choice to put someone in a headlock and act like you were insane and were just asking to get yourself killed would get you to dance with the girl of your dreams not as a friend, but as a girlfriend. There were so many ways I could describe it as well, but deep down inside, it was like, and was, as if God answered my prayers.

Applejack was a good dancer for a country girl, and for me, an incredibly beautiful and sexy one at that. The way she moved her hips, moved that flawless body of hers around, I was entranced by it. It just made that barrier of ice I normally had around my heart due to my time at District 2 High melt away and encase it in a ring of fire that made me feel on top of the world. I mean, Clove can dance, don’t get me wrong, but right now, she ain’t got nothing on Jackie. That much was true.

There’s a lot of things that can be swirling around in people’s heads after a Fall Formal. Some people be like wanting to hang out with their friends, others are wondering what the future holds for them. Walking out with Jackie holding my hand, the only thing going through my head was how I’m going to have to explain to my parents that I nearly got myself killed saving the school, had my best formal outfit trashed for good by two no good kids who also messed my face up as well so I have to buy a new one, and that now, due to my actions, the girl I saved from being bullied fell in love with me. And as for my face, it still hurt a bit, but nothing really too serious, easily treatable. That still implied taking it easy and avoiding contact sports though, which knowing me and that I wasn’t doing any contact sports at the time, wasn’t a big deal. Either way, it felt nice to learn on the TV that Snips and Snails had been arrested for assaulting me. That’s two guys I really didn’t want to see around Canterlot High again off the streets. As for Sunset, she really took a hard fall, so hard that she changed herself completely, becoming Applejack’s friend and all.

At this point in time, I was still a little wary of Sunset, because well.. the obvious. But, for now, I had succeeded in bringing peace to Canterlot High for the time being.

Epilogue - Girl Of My Dreams

It was a few days before my injuries sustained at Snips and Snails’ hands healed, but after which, I felt like I was back to operating at full capacity again. Jackie came over to my place everyday to check up on me, and make out with me in my room while I was healing. Like seriously, making out with her is like being on Cloud 9. It’s that good.

That crazy stunt I pulled on the night of the Fall Formal sent my social status soaring to levels that I couldn’t believe myself. With just a single action, I had gone from outcast to basically the school’s Golden Boy, which as you might expect since I am a nerd, did come with some downsides. Honestly, I just wanted to be alone or with Jackie, her friends, or Flash. I seriously was not really wanting to hang out with other students that I didn’t know that literally took every outside of class opportunity to ask me to hang out with them. It was nuts.

Jackie and I, we became the golden couple of Canterlot High, which again, came with downsides. But still, for a guy like me to win over a girl like Jackie with a rather insane stunt in an attempt to save everyone from a bully turned demonic monster, everyone could tell that there was something serious between us, at least in their eyes.

Eventually, though, I had to endure the old awkward “meet the boyfriend/girlfriend’s family” ritual when Jackie’s grandmother invited my family over to her farmstead for dinner. Long story short, it was a truly awkward experience. Jogging out from the house following Jackie’s instructions before she had slipped outside earlier after finishing dinner while I was still chomping down corn, I crossed a field and came to a rather odd looking shack in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees on all sides practically concealing the shack. There, inside, on a floor covered with towels all knitted together, sat Jackie, giving me a teasing look.

“I’m guessing this is our quiet spot, then?” I asked her.

She nodded seductively. I grinned, then sat down next to her, and hugged and kissed her. As we made out in the darkness of the night, with only a lantern nearby to light the place, I thought back to how I used to say to people that I didn’t have a dream girl that I would dream about at night.

Now, though, I think it’s safe to say that I found my dream girl.

Flash II/Cato 4.5 - The Truth Comes Out

It was only about maybe a few miles to where Twilight was staying from Canterlot High, but those few miles may as well have felt like eternity. Finally, I was going to find out if my inference about Twilight being from another world was right or not. That was on the one hand, however. On the other hand, there was Applejack. Weird, I know. But, I wonder how she was going to take it with knowing that there existed another version of her in an alternate world. For me, honestly, for comparison, I honestly didn’t know how I was going to face that, it just weighed a ton on my brain.

While we are on the subject of Applejack for now, let me just make one thing clear. There’s something about that girl that just makes feel warm inside me, and I don’t know what it is. Like, god damn. She is melting the ice around my heart like a flamethrower. Back in District 2 High, I kinda just built a wall of ice around my heart since like everyone was trying to date me for my looks and I didn’t want any part of that. Clove can back me up on this, because she was there for many of those moments. And yet, here I am, in another school, and a girl I’m trying to save from bullying is making my heart flutter like I’ve never felt before. Even as I park the motorcycle in the driveway, there were still so many emotions flowing through my head. Cato, focus. Keep your head in the game.

That was what my mind was trying to tell me. In reality, every single time I saw Applejack was only making it harder and harder for me to keep focusing.

Long story short, I was right all along about it, though Pinkie rather beat me to the punch of getting to the truth because she just started blurting it out right as me and Flash walked in. Then comes the surprise that her dog, Spike, is actually a dragon to convince the others who were skeptical. I did not see that part coming.

Either way, turns out that if we didn’t get the crown for Twilight by this evening, she was going to be trapped on this earth for thirty moons, as she said. To be honest, I didn’t know if she was referring to full moons or half moons, but you know the drill. That doesn’t fucking matter here.

The only thing that did matter to me now was first taking Flash home, going to my house to get my outfit for the Fall Formal, biking back to Flash’s place to pick him up, and then back to Canterlot High to help Twilight and the others make this Fall Formal happen tonight.