Of all the worst possible things that could happen, this was the.

Worst.

Possible.

THING!

That was the thought going through Rarity’s mind at the moment. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She was just about ready to faint on the couch again. This was worse than facing monstrous she-demons or taking on manipulative sirens. It was so, so much worse than those things. The problem she was facing was tremendous.

There was nothing to watch on TV.

To many, this wouldn’t seem like a big issue. But for a teenager, especially one as overdramatic as Rarity, it really did feel like the worst possible thing.

For the thousandth time that day, Rarity bemoaned the fact that all her favorite drama shows were in between seasons around this time of year. After yet another loud sigh, Rarity began the dreaded tradition of going through every television channel until she finally came across something that could keep her interest. Remote in hand, she started channel surfing.

*Tomorrow’s weather calls for…*

*…a flyball to right centerfield, up…*

*…next is Apple Bloom and…*

*…frankly my dear, I don’t give a…*

*…dam has been repaired and the flood waters receded. Full story on the 9o’clock news.*

Rarity paused for a moment as her brain caught up with what she had heard a few channels back.

“Did I just hear…? No, that’s not possible. How could that be so?” Rarity muttered to herself. “But still…just to be sure…”

The fashionista turned back a few channels. Much to her shock, her ears did not deceive her. Nor did her eyes. Right there on screen was her little sister’s best friend Apple Bloom dancing with an orange-skinned boy. Rarity’s mind went into overdrive as her eyes observed this dance.

‘Is that really Sweetie Belle’s friend, Apple Bloom? Dancing? On TV? Why is Sweetie Belle’s friend Apple Bloom dancing on TV?!’

Rarity decided she needed to get to the bottom of this. To that end, she called the one person who would know about this.

“SWEETIE BELLE! SWEETIE BELLE, COME HERE!” Rarity yelled.

“What is it, Rarity? I haven’t done anything.” Sweetie Belle called from upstairs.

“Just come down here at once!”

“Can it wait? I haven’t finished my homework yet.”

“Well, that’s what you get for putting it off until Sunday night. But never mind that! You can finish it later! You really must come see this! Quickly! Quickly!”

Sweetie Belle sighed as she made her way down the stairs to where her sister was waiting in the family’s living room.

“Alright. I’m here. Now what did you want me to-WHAT THE?!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes locked upon the screen and went wide when she realized that Apple Bloom was on that screen dancing.

“Is that…Apple Bloom? Dancing? On TV? Why is Apple Bloom dancing on TV?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked.

“I was hoping you knew the answer to that.” Rarity replied.

“I-I have no idea! She hasn’t said anything about this. Sure, we’ve called and texted a few times since she went to Manehattan. But she never mentioned that she was going to be on TV. I don’t think she’s told Scootaloo, either. She would’ve told me if Apple Bloom told her anything about that! What show even is this?”

“I’m not certain. I was just channel surfing when I came across this. I called you down as soon as I was sure of what I was seeing.”

“Why don’t we watch the rest of the show and see what we can find out?”

“Wonderful idea, darling.”

The two sisters settled on the couch and watched the remainder of Apple Bloom’s dance, as well as the resulting judges’ scores.

“Honestly, I thought that was a perfectly marvelous dance. It deserved at least one 8 from those judges.” Rarity commented.

“So, this is some kind of contest show? Where people dance for judges?” Sweetie Belle wondered aloud.

“It would appear so, darling. I only wonder what the rules are, what the other competitors are like, and what sort of prizes await the winner.”

“Prizes?”

“Oh yes, Sweetie Belle. Shows like this always have some sort of prize for the winner. Most often, it is a large sum of money. As well as some lingering fame, depending on how popular the show itself is. I’ll confess, I don’t typically watch these kinds of shows, so I don’t know if this one is very popular or not.”

“Well, what I want to know is who this ‘Tender Taps’ guy is. How did Apple Bloom meet him? How did they get to be dance partners? How did they get to be on TV?”

“All marvelous questions. Perhaps sometime soon you could call Apple Bloom and ask her personally. Just be sure to tell me everything she says. I’m dying to know.”

“Alright. I’ll call her after school tomorrow. Until then, let’s watch the rest of the show.”

They watched the rest of the show in relative silence. A few other pairs of dancers went, and at the end, the ones with the lowest score were eliminated.

“Well, at least Apple Bloom is safe for another week.” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Indeed. I’m quite glad to have a new show to watch on Sunday evening. And I hope you’ll watch it with me.” Rarity added.

“Of course! I can’t wait to see how she does next week!”

“Nor can I. But until then, we best prepare for school tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll want to tell Scootaloo all about what you just learned when you see her. And I’ll be doing the same with all of my friends.”

The next day, Sweetie Belle and Rarity did just that. As soon as Sweetie Belle saw Scootaloo, she relayed what she had seen on TV last night. Scootaloo was just as shocked as Sweetie was. The two then started telling everyone that would listen that their friend was on TV. Rarity was hardly any better. The instant she walked into homeroom, she told those sitting around her of what she saw the previous night. Then they started telling people, and then they started telling people. By lunch, nearly everyone at Canterlot High knew that someone from their school was on TV.

“Boy, talk about a crazy rumor.” Sunset Shimmer said as she sat at her usual lunch table with her friends. “Someone at school was on TV last night? I wonder who it was, or what show they were on.”

“I can answer both questions, darling.” Rarity said as she took her seat.

“You can? How is it that you know?” Fluttershy asked.

“Because I saw it with my own two eyes. I’m also the one that let the school know of what I saw.”

“Wait, you started this crazy rumor?” Rainbow Dash chimed in.

“I did no such thing. It is not a rumor. As I just told Fluttershy, I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“Well, who was it? Don’t leave us in suspense!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

“It was Applejack’s little sister, Apple Bloom! And she was on a dancing competition show called Dance the Night Away.”

“Really? So that’s what she’s been doing since she went to Manehattan. Well, good for her.” Sunset commented.

“How the heck did she get to be on TV?” Rainbow wondered.

“I admit, I’m not sure about that. I just so happened upon the show last night. Sweetie Belle said she would call her friend after school for those details and share them with me.”

“Or we could ask Applejack. She’s bound to know.” Pinkie said.

“Ah’m bound to know what?”

The rest of the girls looked up and saw Applejack take her seat at the table.

“Sorry Ah’m late. Lunch line was longer than usual. Anyway, what is it y’all want to know about?” Applejack asked.

“It’s about your sister.” Rarity responded.

Applejack’s demeanor suddenly went ice cold. And the air around her seemed to be following suit.

“What about her?” Applejack growled out.

“Rarity says she’s the one that everyone’s talking about. The one that was on TV last night.” Rainbow answered.

“Yeah? What show was it? Manehattan’s Most Wanted?”

“Now, now Applejack. Surely you can’t still be mad at her.” Fluttershy commented.

“Well, Ah am.”

“Come on, AJ. All that happened almost a year ago. You need to forgive and forget already. Rainbow Dash forgave Scootaloo. Rarity forgave Sweetie Belle. Besides, nothing good ever came from keeping on being grumpy for so long.” Pinkie added.

“Don’t matter to me how long ago it happened. It still happened. And Ah’m still peeved she and those durn little varmints she calls friends would do somethin’ like that to me. To us.”

“Well, one, the whole reason they did that was because they thought we were ignoring them when we shouldn’t have. So you’re probably just making her feel worse.” Rainbow said.

“Two, I’ll thank you not to refer to my sister in that manner ever again. Or her friends.” Rarity added, clearly irritated.

“And three, I was the one they were initially targeting, and I forgave them. Besides, they served all their punishments already. What is holding on to your anger going to accomplish? Nothing good, I promise you that.” Sunset finished.

“Look, Ah care about you girls, and see you as friends, but it ain’t really your business how Ah treat my kin. ‘Sides, if she pulled a nasty stunt like that once, she’s liable to do it again.”

“But…”

“Y’know what? Ah feel like eatin’ by myself today.”

With that, Applejack took her tray and moved to a different table.

“Oh dear. I really hoped that she would be over this by now.” Fluttershy commented.

“Yeah. Isn’t that how it always works? Being separated from someone makes you realize how much you miss them? What is it they always say in those movies? ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’?” Pinkie wondered.

“Unfortunately, this is not one of those stories, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity sighed.

“I mean, I know AJ can be stubborn, but this is pushing it. Pushing yourself past the breaking point without asking for help is one thing, but destroying a relationship with your sibling over one mistake? Even if it was a big mistake, she still came clean and faced the music.” Rainbow added.

“Now I just feel bad we didn’t do more to help Applejack and her sister before Apple Bloom left.” Fluttershy said sadly.

“Well, maybe it’s not too late. We may not have done enough to help before, but better late than never, right? Now that we know just how deep the hole Applejack’s dug herself out of stubbornness is, we can finally pull her out of that hole and make things right with her sister. I think we just weren’t reaching deep enough to pull her out before. Not to mention Applejack wouldn’t put down the shovel. Anyway, once we help her get over her problem, we can have a great big watch party next Sunday for Apple Bloom’s dancing show!” Pinkie suggested.

The others agreed to this plan and began going over ways to reconcile the Apple sisters.

“So what should we do to start?” Fluttershy wondered.

“I’ll start by researching the show Apple Bloom is on. I’ll also gather any information on her I can from Sweetie Belle. Perhaps hearing her side of the story will help.” Rarity said.

“I’ll talk with Granny Smith. Maybe she knows why Applejack still won’t talk to her sister.” Sunset offered.

“Let me try getting Big Mac’s take on all this. He owes me a favor anyway after what happened that time the Apple family visited the Rock Farm.” Pinkie stated.

“Flutters and I can try talking AJ down. She’s known me the longest and Fluttershy has a way with calming down stubborn creatures.” Rainbow Dash concluded.

“I suppose I could try and do that.” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Alright, let’s do it!” Sunset cheered.

Author's Note

Definitely not my longest chapter, or my most interesting. But I can promise you all right now that there won't be very many of these interludes. And the ones I do have planned are going to be significantly longer than this. In fact, I can, with the utmost confidence, say that this is the shortest chapter of this story I will put out.

Anyway, stay tuned next time as we return to our regularly scheduled programing, with Tender Taps and Apple Bloom doing yet another dance. Until then, hope you found at least a little enjoyment in this one. Adios!