Poison Kiss

I stand on Rarity's welcome mat and wipe the mud off my hooves. I knock on her door. Rarity opens the door and gives me a frantic stare. "Do you need anything? I'm very busy I'm on my way to a Ball." Rarity says. She's wearing a fancy dress and lipstick. It must be a special occasion.

"Ah was wonderin' if you could help me." I say.

"With what?" She says.

"My cutie mark, it's gone." I say. I turn to the side and show her my empty flank. She stares at it in astonishment. I hate looking at my blank flank. Now I remember how it felt to be the last pony in my school to get a cutie mark.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Twilight is, do ya? She wasn't at the library." I say.

"I don't know. What happened? How did your cutie mark disappear?" Rarity asks.

"Ah was workin at Sweet Apple Acres and Apple Bloom and ah were arguin' and suddenly I was thinkin' about something Rainbow Dash said to me and then I turned around. It was gone." I say.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" She asks.

"You seem busy. I'll come back later." I say.

"I was just going to ask Fluttershy to go to the ball with me but her bunny got sick so she couldn't go. I have an extra ticket and I don't know what to do with it. I guess I'll just throw it away. Maybe I won't go. I don't know that many people going anyway." She says.

"Rarity, Ah got it! If ah do something ah don't like to do I'll miss being at home and then mah cutie mark will come back." I say. Rarity smiles from ear to ear.

"You're going to go to the ball? First you'll need a makeover." She says levitating beauty products all around me. I gag. What have I done? She has me try on eighteen different dresses and she says she doesn't like them on me. Too poofy, too plain, too glittery, too short, too many ribbons, too bad. I just thought I was going to put on any old dress and leave.

"That green dress might fit." I say pointing to the corner.

"Perfect! Try it on." She says. She puts pink and blue flowers in my braided main.

"What do you think?" I ask.

"Applejack… You look stunning." She says taking off my hat.

"Do ya really think so?" I ask. She nods. " Well, good cause this is the last time I'm getting a makeover." We laugh in unison. A carriage stops in front of Rarity's house. We trot inside.

"What did Rainbow Dash say to you?" She asks

"She said that I've spent my whole life kicking trees and putting them in a basket. If I keep living like that I won't amount to anything. I know she just said that because she was mad about the picnic." I say.

"That must have really hurt your feelings." She says.

"No, it's just a matter of time." I mutter.

"It must get lonely sometimes. Big Mac is a man of a few words and Apple Bloom is a lot younger than you. You probably miss talking to people your age. It doesn't mean you're not going to amount to anything." She says. The carridge stops in front of a big fancy castle. People are waltzing and wearing elegant outfits. When they dance they look like they're floating on air. It's all so intimidating. The dinner table has two forks one big fork and one little fork.

"Rarity, which fork do I use?" I whisper.

"The little one is for salads." She says. A stallion brings a plate of food with toothpicks sticking out of them. I use a big fork to scoop a ton of them on my plate.

"That's not the food that's the orderves. You don't eat the orderves with a fork." Rarity says holding in laughter. Another stallion walks behind Rarity and taps her shoulder. He has a brown coat and a gold main with white streiks. He has a cutie mark of three piano keys. His eyes are light blue. Rarity turns around and smiles. "Tunesong you're here!" She says.

"I'm so happy to see you. You look great." He says.

"Who is that?" I ask.

"That's Tunesong. He plays piano for the fashion shows." She says.

"Why didn't Fluttershy come today?" He asks.

"Her rabbit got sick." Rarity says.

"Would you like to dance?" He asks. Rarity's face turns red. She nods and takes him by the hoof. I guess that means she won't be eating her orderves. I watch Tunesong spin Rarity around and around. They're talking all mushy gushy and dancing to the slow songs. He pulls a flower out of his shirt and puts it in her hair. She kisses him on the cheek. I get distracted by the crystal chandler. It makes my face look all distorted.

"Applejack! Guess what? He loves me!" She shrieks hopping up and down.I give her a high hoof. She told me how much of a great time she had the whole way home.