Author's Note

Here's another chapter for y'all! I hope you like it! Sorry if this took longer than usual!

An Evening To Remember

Pinkie pie was setting up a small table, a couple of other ponies helping her with it. Applejack and Rainbow had been put in charge of the drinks and food. Though, with all the apples around, it wasn’t exactly that hard to whip up a few batches of cider. Fluttershy and Rarity had both been put in charge of decorations. Rarity was creating such decorations, and Fluttershy—with the help of some animals, were placing them all around the trees and wherever they could. Luckily for Rigdon and Twilight, they were both put on organization duties.

They both had their checklists in hand. Or, rather Rigdon did while Twilight had hers suspended in magic. That did get him to ponder for a moment. For other ponies, did they write with their mouths? How would they even get it to look legible? His brain continued to process this question, repeatedly trying to give him an answer that would make some sort of sense. Before he could come up with a real answer, he was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. He looked to his right, finding Twilight giving him a look that one can only describe as a disappointed teacher. “Rigdon, focus! We’ve got a lot of stuff to do,” She said with a slightly excited tone.

He rolled his eyes slightly at her words. Sure, he does love organization, but there’s a fine line between being prepared—and being paranoid. “Twilight, could you take it slow for a little bit? Maybe take the time to enjoy everything?” He threw a question at her. Twilight let the words hit her mind for a moment, letting it process for a moment. She then looked back up and gave a small shake of her head. This caused him to roll his eyes once more. Twilight, catching onto the sass, quickly slapped her clipboard against his leg. “Hey! Watch it!” He called out. He brought his clipboard down onto her, a small whack being heard as he hit her side.

Twilight let out a small ‘Eep!’ as he playfully assaulted her with his paper holder. Rigdon tried to hold in his laughter, but he couldn’t do it forever. He let out a small bellow of laughter, causing Twilight to look up, embarrassment flashing across her face. Her expression soon turned to one of annoyance. Her magic slowly lifted up her board as she took a firm step towards Rigdon. He opened his eyes, only to find Twilight lowered in a stance. She pawed at the ground, reading herself for a gallop. “I’m gonna get you back for that,” She growled out. Rigdon’s eyes went wide as he sensed the danger. He quickly dropped his things and ran off.

“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, COPPERS!” He yelped out as he continued to run, gandering the attention of everypony else in the process. Twilight broke out into a full blown gallop, a burst of speed allowing her to get right on his heels. Rigdon turned his head back as he ran. Twilight had a gigantic smile on her face. Seems like she actually liked this playfulness as much as he did. Twilight continued to gain on him, her magic slowly bringing up the clipboard to whack at him. Rigdon brought his weight back, causing him to stop on a dime. He then peeled left, a soft whoosh calling out as the only thing that Twilight slapped was the air that was now in front of her.

Time seemed to slow down as she looked over to him, a look of bewilderment plastered onto her face. Rigdon returned that look with a smug expression, gently curling all of his fingers up and down in a wave. Twilight turned her head forward, her eyes widening as she found herself face to face with oak. Her face kissed the tree, causing her to quickly stumble back before falling down. The crowd let out a couple gasps as this happened. “Ow…” She mumbled out, blood beginning to drip down her nose. Rigdon practically freaked out at her getting hurt. To say that he was acting overprotective is an understatement.

He darted over towards one of the tables, quickly yanking off a paper towel from it. He then rapidly made his way back towards Twilight, beginning to apologize profusely to her. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Twilight! I didn’t think you were going to hit that tree!” He murmured out. Twilight closed her eyes as she lifted her hoof up, gently massaging the side of her head.

“It’s okay! I’m the one that was chasing you,” She slowly opened her eyes. You can say that it was some sort of… karma…” Her voice slowly trailed off as Rigdon turned her head so she was facing him. Her eyes slowly locked onto him, her nose quickly scrunching up as Rigdon began to drag the paper towel against her muzzle. He hummed a small tune, continuing to wipe the blood from her face. He continued to wipe her down, only stopping to examine her work. A small blush appeared on her face as Rigdon pulled off.

“There we go! No more blood. It’s the least I could do,” He would say. Twilight sat there silently, still gawking at Rigdon. His eyebrows furrowed slightly at her silent staring. He slowly raised his hand, giving a couple of snaps from his fingers. “Hey, Twilight, are you alright? You’re sort of staring at nothing.” He pulled his hand back down. Twilight’s eyes gave a couple of rapid blinks and glances as she was pulled out from her thoughts. She quickly stood up, lowering her head in the process.

“Eyup! Just fine! I should really go check on how Fluttershy and Rarity are doing with those decorations!” Twilight exclaimed, not even caring to take a breath in between her words. Rigdon watched with confusion as she quickly trotted over to the two, who of course seemed to be giggling. Be it on Earth or whatever this planet was, it was all the same. He could never really understand how women worked. He turned around, his hand reaching up and scratching his head. He then walked over towards the drinks, grabbing one of the uniform mugs.

He lifted the cup up to his lips, letting copious amounts of cider run down his throat as he guzzled the beverage. Once about half way through, he stopped and took a big gasp. Besides the fact that there’s a surprisingly good amount of cider in the mug, this was one of the best cider’s he’s ever tasted! It was sweet, yet it wasn’t overpowering the slight tartness and appley flavor of the fruit it was derived from. “Man, that’s really good,” He complimented. He looked over to see Rainbow dash staring at him, her eyes portraying a sly attitude.

“Dude, you should’ve seen the look on her face! She’s totally into you!” Rainbow butted in her opinion on the situation. This earned her a whack from Applejack. “Ow! What the heck was that for, AJ?” She whined as she rubbed her foreleg. Applejack popped her hat up a bit.

“Rainbow, it ain’t our business to be putting our noses in matters like these. B’sides, ah don’t want you spreading something that might end up doin’ more harm than good,” She scolded her. Rainbow gave a small scoff, giving her eyes a quick roll. She walked over to the mugs, quickly picking one up and began to chug. “Rainbow, can you stop drinking all the cider? There ain’t gonna be any left for anypony else.”

Rainbow gave a small snort as she finished the drink. She then placed the mug back down onto the table. Applejack walked over and began to refill the mug. Rigdon processed what Rainbow had said. Was she just joking? He couldn’t tell at this point. He walked over to the table, finishing off his mug of cider before placing the cup down. He looked over to Applejack, a slightly nervous and worried expression on his face. “Hey, Applejack? Is Rainbow… right about all that?” He questioned her. Applejack let the cider foam up a bit before placing it down, letting a small sigh escape her as she did.

“It ain’t my place to say what is the truth, and what isn’t. Honestly, I ain’t a pony who knows a whole awful lot about that kind of thing. Though, what I can say is that Twilight cares for you a lot, and I can tell you do too,” She grabbed the mug he had set down, now filling that one up with cider as well. “She was mighty worried when you didn’t follow her into that tunnel earlier today. I honestly thought she was gonna flood the tunnels with how much of the waterworks she was letting lose.” She let out a small chuckle. “What I’m saying is to just keep an open mind. Y’all are both really good friends. I’d hate to see you both act weird towards each other because of some possibility.”

Rigdon let her words sink into his mind. Applejack reminded him of his mom teaching him some valuable lessons when he was younger. He gave a small nod, taking her words to heart. “Yeah… Thanks for the advice, AJ.” He thanked her. She gave a small nod and a tip of her hat before returning towards the concessions.

………

“W-What?! Are you crazy, Rarity? I can’t ask that! We’re just friends,” Twilight called out. She was taken aback by the suggestion of asking Rigdon out to get lunch together. Rarity gave a small snicker at her embarrassment.

“Oh, I’m sure it will be alright, darling! I bet he would love to have an evening out with you. After All, I never did say that you had to ask him out on a date. You just have to ask him to have lunch together: An evening between friends,” She explained to her. Twilight, of course, still disapproved of her whole idea of asking him out. Twilight paced around slightly, before stopping and doing it in place. Fluttershy gave a reassuring smile as she attempted to curve Twilight’s anxiety.

“U-Uhm… Twilight, I’m sure it’s going to be fine. I think that you shouldn’t ask him out or anything just yet—just spend some time with him! You have this entire evening with him, so just… uhm… party with him! I-If you want to, that is.” She offered Twilight. Rarity gave a small nod, agreeing with Fluttershy’s notion.

“B-But what if I mess up? What If I say something wrong and he ends up hating me?” Twilight asked the both of them, her ears folding back a little. Rarity scoffed at such words. She took a couple of steps forward, quickly raising her hoof and placing it on her side.

“That’s nonsense, Twilight! I’m sure that he’s going to have a blast doing stuff with you! You just need to be yourself. I’m certain everything else will come naturally.” She slowly removed her hoof from her side, now planting it back onto the ground. Twilight took a couple deep breaths in and out, her anxiety slowly becoming more manageable.

“Alright! Alright…I’ll do it! I’ll ask to hang out with him sometime later today.” She lifted her hoof to her muzzle, thinking about talking points. A small bulb would click in her head. “Gosh, I forgot! I can talk to him about space! He did tell me he was an engineer,” She then wiggled side to side, a soft ‘Eeeee!’ leaving her lips as she did so. She then stopped, her eyes falling onto her friends. Everypony was silent for a moment, before the three of them would burst out with laughter.

“Hahaha! I’ll just help you gals finish up these decorations first; Then I’ll tell Pinkie that everything’s ready.” A wide smile was fixated on her face as her magic engulfed one of the ribbons. She began to tie it, albeit a bit sloppily, before putting it up. Rarity had no problem tidying it up and putting the last touches on them. Twilight then moved onto the next ribbon, Rarity quickly following suit to make sure it all looked nice and uniform.

………

The party had been going on for about half an hour and was now in full swing. Pinkie, of course, had declared everything on with a blast of her cannon. Rigdon had quickly picked off one of the many ciders. Everypony seemed to be having a great time. Dancing, socializing, playing; Everything was going off without a hitch. He found himself gravitating towards the ‘Bobbing for apples’ section in games. Rainbow and Applejack seemed to have acquired a crowd during their little challenge to see who was the fastest apple bobber in all of Ponyville.

“How’s your leg doing, Rigdon?” A voice would call out to him. He looked over to his right, now finding Twilight at his side. He gave a small nod, thinking about the words to describe the state of it. He took a quick swig from his mug.

“Well, I guess I’d say it's as annoying as getting a small cut from a branch,” He answered her question. Twilight gave a solemn nod, the both of them now standing there in relative silence. Well, it was only for a moment since Twilight once again asked him another question.

“How’s the party so far?” She lifted her own mug, quickly taking a couple of shallow sips. Rigdon looked back over to her.

“Well, I’ve been socializing with a lot of people… erm.. Ponies. God, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to saying that,” He stopped for a moment. “But that’s besides the point. I got into a four-way drinking contest between Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, and myself. I honestly don’t know why I thought I could keep up with them,” He let out a chuckle. “Anyways, how’s everything been treating you?”

“Whuh?” Twilight croaked out, a dumbfounded expression appearing on her face. She wasn’t really expecting him to put her in the spotlight like this. A blush ran across her face. “O-Oh! Nothing much has really happened. I’ve mostly been talking with Rarity and Fluttershy about some problems,” She left her answer a bit vague, letting Rigdon have his mind interpret what that even meant. Rigdon raised a brow as he wondered what type of problem would even stump her to the point where she needed advice from her friends.

“What problems? I’d love to be a help with whatever you need..” He swished his mug back and forth, the liquid crashing against the sides violently—like waves in a storm. Twilight quickly interjected, her voice raising a bit at his offer to help.

“NO!” She yelped out. She quickly lifted her hoof to cover her lips. Luckily, everypony was too busy cheering on the competition and didn’t exactly pay much attention to what happened. Twilight slowly placed her hoof down, a worried expression paused on her face. Rigdon was now extremely curious about all of this. “It’s just something between mares… I don’t think you’d really understand.” She spoke much softer now. Rigdon scoffed softly, taking another sip from his drink.

“Well, you at least got that right…” He would call out to her. Twilight stood there in silence, her mind quickly racing with thoughts.

‘C’mon, Twilight! Get it together! It’s not some date! Stop acting like a school filly. You’re just here to hang out with him! Now work up the courage and just ask!’

Twilight looked over to Rigdon, her lip quivering slightly as she thought up the words to say to him. “Hey, Rigdon? I wanted to know if you’d like to hang out? Y’know, talk about your profession?” She questioned, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.

“Oh yeah, that sounds great! I was honestly getting a little bored of everything here. I mean, I wasn’t really ever a party kind of guy anyways,” He accepted her offer. Twilight’s eyes began to practically sparkle as she began to freak out in her mind.

‘Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!’

She kept her composure on the outside, except for the big smile that was now shown across her face. “Here, follow me! I know a great spot for observing,” She called out as she broke off from Rigdon with a fast trot. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” Rigdon gave a small gasp, his legs slowly growing to the speed of a piston. He quickly ran after his best friend.

“Hey, that’s cheating! You didn’t even say that this was a race!” He yelled out to her. Twilight craned her head to the side, her eyes meeting with his as they ran. She stuck her tongue out, quickly blowing a playful raspberry. “Oh now you’re gonna get it.” He pumped his arms faster, his pace slowly growing as he gained on her. Twilight soon pulled up onto a hill, quickly parking herself under a tree. Rigdon let out hot breaths, his legs slowly carrying him up the hill. Once he got up to the top, he stopped and bent over, his hands resting against his knees.

“A-Alright, now you’re really go-” He was cut off by the shushing of Twilight. He furrowed his brows angrily. He took a couple of steps forward, quickly opening his mouth to say something, but of course was cut off but her once again, this time it being her own voice spouting out one word.

“Look,” She pointed her hoof off towards the horizon, his eyes widening as he was hammered by the beauty of nature.

The orange light from the sun blended against the cool, deep red-orange horizon, creating a brilliant gradient of colors. The orange hued sun comforted the landscape with its orange rays, leaving its impression on Twilight, as well as him. He slowly walked forward, his mouth agape at the sight. The sun has never failed to impress him with its brilliant evening watercolor paintings. He slowly dragged himself closer to the lone apple tree that overlooked the orchard, now finding his seat next to her. “My god… this is so beautiful,” He called out softly.

“You’re beautiful…” Twilight mumbled out softly. This caused Rigdon to sharply turn his head over towards the mare, his voice now resembling a confused goose.

“Heh?” He squinted. Twilight stared up at him, giving a confused look as well. Or, at least one that didn’t show her guilt.

“What?” She questioned, causing Rigdon to return to his normal voice and methods of communication.

“Uh… can you go back and say what you just said a couple seconds ago?” He questioned Twilight. Of course, she wasn’t going to give him an inch on this subject. She decided to play the oldest trick in the book—dumb.

“Say what a couple seconds ago?” She gave him a puzzled expression.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you just said something under your breath. Can you just run that by me again?” Rigdon pointed at her accusingly. But, his actions didn’t deter her.

“How can I say it again if I never even said it in the first place?” She scoffed out, a hint of slyness in her voice.

“Damn it Twilight, I heard you-” Rigdon quickly caught himself, sighing as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ugh, whatever… Just forget about it.” He turned back to the sunset. Twilight gave a triumphant smile as she sat there. Silence quickly fell over them. What carpooled along with the silence, was a small hint of awkwardness. Birds continued to sing their songs out to the vast expanses of trees that laid before them. Taking a deep breath, Rigdon began to speak his mind. “Hey, Twi?…” He trailed off, giving a quick nickname for her.

Twilight could feel her stomach in her chest. Her heart continued to beat in a cosmic rhythm, vibrating its song throughout her entire body. She felt herself slowly grow nervous by the second, before side-eyeing him. “Uh-huh?” She gave her response to him.

“I just… god…” He would look down, his hand reaching up and gripping his hair. He let out a relaxed breath, now gaining the confidence to say what he needed. “Look, Twilight, I just wanted to say that… I’m sorry for tricking you into leaving me back in Ponyville.”

Twilight looked at him, a confused look on her face. Was he really eating himself up over this? She reached her hoof over to him, firmly placing it onto his shoulder. Like with any other contact with hooves, Rigdon swore he could feel a soft grip against his shoulder. “It’s alright, Rigdon! I know that you were only doing that to keep me safe; And I’m glad you were that worried about my well being. What’re friends for?” She gave a reassuring grin. Though, this did little to curve Rigdon away from the grasp of guilt.

“I know, but… Applejack told me what went on in the tunnels. If I had known what your reaction would’ve been I… I would’ve gone with you. Instead, I needlessly made you go on without me, which only hurt you more. I should've been with you.” He would say in a flat voice, his voice only wavering with small hints of sadness from the guilt weighing on his shoulders. Twilight couldn’t say anything. She was shocked by the thoughts that he had shared with her. She quickly lunged forward at him, now wrapping her hooves around him. They were now both locked in a hug.

“It’s okay… I forgive you… I forgive you for everything. I know that it was hard for you to do that, but… I think it was the right thing. If I had stayed when you got hurt, I don’t know what I would’ve done. For all we know, I would’ve just been focused on your wound so much, It would’ve put both of our lives in jeopardy,” She mumbled out softly. He hoof gently ran up and down his back. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you…”

Rigdon slowly reached his arms around, firmly grasping Twilight in place. She felt so warm and soft… It was just so comforting. He slowly rested his face against her mane, his grip on her back slowly tightening. He didn’t want to let go. Though, that didn’t really stop him from cracking a joke or two. “Well, you’ll have to look for a new study buddy if I did die,” He let out a small snort. This earned a quick giggle from Twilight.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.” She pulled herself off of him. He slowly sat herself at his side once more. Her eyes were fixated on the scenery, the sun slowly drifting downwards to its resting place beyond the horizon. “Rigdon?” She said blankly, not even turning to face him. Rigdon looked over to her.

“Yeah?…” He replied to her. Twilight paused for a moment, her head hanging down. She then slowly lifted her head back up, her eyes once again staring deep into the sky.

“Do you think you’ll ever settle down with someone here?” She questioned him. Her question had caught him off guard!

“What, like finding my other half?” He questioned, which drew out a quick nod from Twilight. He sat there for a moment, dragging his thumb across his chin as he became lost in thought. “Honestly, I don’t… exactly know. I do want to go home, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I know that ponies here are sapient, but… I just don’t know if I could ever open up to the feeling of dating something that looks like, back at home, an animal,” He gave Twilight an answer. Twilight’s early seemingly drooped. She could feel hear heart sink from her heart, all the way to the deepest parts of her stomach.

“O-Oh… That makes sense,” She mumbled off slightly as Rigdon gave his speech. Rigdon slowly looked back on everything that’s happened so far. Soon enough, Applejack’s words began to echo in his mind.

‘What I’m saying is to just keep an open mind.’

“But… I guess it would be unfair if I didn’t try to make an effort… If I do find someone that is just… that amazing—I guess I could try to pursue something romantic. I don’t know how it’ll work out but…” He reached up, gently placing his hand against his heart. Twilight perked up at his words. Her heart fluttered back to life as it was given new hope. Her gaze became softer as she stared at him. Her voice had also picked up on that soft tone.

“Well, I hope you end up finding that mare. I know that you’d make them extremely happy… If you don’t bore them with your data first.” She joked around, gently hitting her hoof against his arm. Rigdon let out a small chuckle at her words.

“Yeah yeah, let’s just get to the stories of my past. The night’s young, after all.” His words caused Twilight to quickly lay in front of him, her hooves propping her head up so she could look at him. She was at full attention. He then cleared his throat before beginning to recall a story. “Alright, so I had a week to complete this task, right?”