Apples'n'Wrenches

Apples N’ Wrenches

By The Write Bros.

Chapter 4: Party Foal

Around five pm there was a soft tap on the front door of the repair shop. Normally costumers would be able to just walk in, so there was no need to knock. Hammerplank however, had decided to close the shop early for personal reasons.

“Nut can you get that? Tell ‘em we’re closed for today ‘n we’ll be open again tomorrow around nine.” Ficks said as he tightened a bolt on Scootaloo’s scooter. After days of putting it off, he had finally found the time to get around to it. He could hear Nut open the door from the other room, and heard a familiar voice talking with his brother. Before he knew it, Nut was trotting back into the room.

“Hey Ficks, it’s your marefriend!” Ficks put his wrench down and gave him a solemn look.

“I told you before Nut, Applejack and I ain’t like that!”

“I never said it was Applejack.” He was grinning mischievously.

“Well who else would ya be talkin’ about?”

He continued to pester him, “Oh so she is your marefriend?”

Ficks glared at his little brother. “No no that’s not what I- Ugh, never mind ya nosy little colt.” He gently shoved his brother aside and trotted to the front door. Sure enough, Applejack was standing there. She tilted her head and cracked a friendly smile.

“Hey Ficks!”

“‘Jack? Hey, what’s goin’ on?” He gestured for her to come inside. She obliged to his request, and took a seat on the couch in the lobby.

“I came to make sure yer still goin’ to the party.” she said, removing her hat, “You are still goin’ right?”

Party..? He thought. “Wait, do you mean that party ‘what’s her name’ was talkin’ about? Pinkie Pie?” Ficks asked, completely befuddled.

“Yup that’s the one. Only the best party thrower in all of Equestria.”

“I didn’t think she was actually bein’ serious ‘bout the whole thing.”

“Pinkie isn’t serious about a lot of things, but when it comes to parties, she’s all business...”

“I figured.” Ficks replied, “I’m guessing I have to go too.”

“Yeah, when Pinkie throws a party and invites you... you’d do best to show up.” Applejack said, harshly remembering the last party related incident with her friend.

“Well I guess I’d do best to not refuse then, so what time should I be there?”

“I’d show up at 6 since that’s when she’ll be expectin’ ya, but I got somethin’ ta’ ask ya’.” She got up from the couch and walked over to him.

“Yeah?”

“I heard today was a might eventful at school, and it had a lil’ somethin’ ta’ do with a certain ferret.”

Ficks put a hoof over his face in shame. It was truly amazing how news got around this town so fast. “How’d ya figure that?”

“What can I say? Applebloom ain’t never been too good about keeping secrets.”

“Ah I see now.” Ficks grimaced at her confession, “Yeah, Oddball manged to sneak into Nut’s bookbag apparently... Darndest thing; sneaky little fella.”

“Hey it wasn’t all his fault” Nut proclaimed loudly, “Those fillies nearly destroyed the school!” He had overheard the discussion and was now attempting to preserve his pet’s clear conscience. Ficks looked at him with an unimpressed look.

“Yeah, but who left his bookbag unattended and let him sneak into there in the first place?”

“Hey! You said you weren’t mad at me about it.”

“I still ain’t mad but don’t think yer bein’ dismissed from this ‘lil skirmish either.”

Nut gruffed a little hmmph and stormed back up the stairs to most likely go pout in his room. Ficks turned back to Applejack, rolling his eyes. She shrugged at him.
“The things I have to deal with... but he is a ‘lil right. Those three fillies were a slight cause in this whole mishap. But you didn’t punish Applebloom too badly or nuthin’ right?”

“Nah, she’s done worse” Applejack confessed, “So this is nothin’. At least the school is still standin.”

“Yeah that’s true. Well I’m glad we didn’t get her into trouble.”

“Trust me...” she said with regret, “It takes a lot more than a ferret to get that filly into trouble...”

“Yeah she’s a peculiar one at that. Well anyway thanks for remindin’ me ‘bout the party. I can’t believe I’d almost forgotten ‘bout it.”

“I find it pretty hard to believe you’d forget all about yer own party Ficks.” Applejack looked at him intently, which made Ficks a little nervous.

“Well I uh... I didn’t know if you were still comin’ to the party or not.” he said shyly.

“Ficks you know me. Not even all the apple trees in Equestria would keep me from comin’ to your party. After all... you’re my friend.” Once again their gazes met. Her emerald eyes shined with a hint that she meant every word that she had spoken. As he looked at her, Ficks could feel his heart beating a little faster. This feeling was beginning to occur more and more every time he saw her. It felt like parasprites were in his stomach. His lips felt dry, he couldn’t even open his mouth to respond. All he could do was just stand there and smile stupidly at her.

“Get a barn you two!” Nut shouted from the stairs. His outburst broke Ficks from his trance.

“That’s enough outta you!” he shouted back. Nut scurried up the stairs with Oddball in tow. He could hear him giggling all the way up to his room. Applejack chuckled along with him.

“Oh that ‘lil brother of yers, he really is the cutest. But obviously not as cute as you...”

“Listen I’m tellin’ ya I really have no idea what he’s talkin’ ab- wait... what?” Ficks did a double take and shook his head to make sure he’d heard correctly, “What was that last part?”

She only gave him another smile and turned around to leave. She put her hat back on and opened the front door of the shop.

“Nothin’ Ficks... I’ll see you at the party.”

She walked out the door, leaving Ficks slightly dazed and confused. At the same time his heart was doing backflips in his chest. Did I hear her right? Did she say...? Nah couldn’t have he thought dismissively. He wallked up the stairs and entered Nuttanbolts room. He was sitting on his bed playing with Oddball who was jumping off his pillow and doing somersaults on the sheets. When he saw Ficks enter the room, Nut merely gave him a sly smile.

“You make this too easy.”

“I honestly have no idea where you get that sense of humor from, you sure as heck didn’t get it from me.” Ficks said as he sat down next to him on the bed.

“Yeah, well I have no idea why you don’t just ask her out already. You obviously like her.”

“Oh hush up will ya? Geez, yer startin’ ta sound like Uncle ‘Plank. Anyway, what would you know ‘bout who I like and don’t like? Yer just a colt after all. Okay? I’m tellin’ ya, we’re just friends.” he said defensively.

“Yeah you keep tellin’ yourself that bro.” Nut said as he smirked at him. Ficks was a little annoyed that his little brother wouldn’t drop the whole idea of him and Applejack, but at the same time he couldn’t really blame him. Ficks himself couldn’t honestly tell what he was to her right now. He wanted to be friends with her, that was just fine with him. But the way she smiled at him, the way she spoke to him, and the way he would look at her. It all felt like so much more to him. Nut started waving a hoof in front of his brothers face. Ficks remained unfazed.

“Helloooo, anybody in there?” Nut asked. He started knocking his hoof rapidly across Ficks’ head.

Ficks finally shook his head and looked at him, “Wha? Oh... sorry, anyway come on. We’re leavin’ for the party.” Ficks said as he got up and walked out of the room.

“You mean I can come with?” Nut put Oddball down and gave his brother a puzzled look.

“Well of course you can Nut, why wouldn’t I have my own ‘lil brother come to my party?”

“Well, yeah that makes sense.” Nut said happily as he jumped down and followed him out of the room. Before he could get to the stairs however, Ficks put a hoof out and stopped him.

“The ferret stays...” He pointed towards Oddball who was poking his head out of the doorway. Nut quickly rushed back to his room and shooed the ferret into his bed.

“Sorry little guy, but we can’t afford any more trouble from you... just not today at least. We can cause more mischief some other day. Only this time, we won’t cause it at school.” Nut whispered as he tucked the ferret under a blanket. Oddball looked up and stared at him intently as if to comply that he understood what he had said. With that, Nuttanbolt quickly refilled his water dish and left the room. This time he made sure Oddball didn’t follow him out before shutting the door.

The two of them began walking towards the front door when Nut stopped and looked back up the stairs.

“Do you think Uncle ‘Plank might want to come along?”

“Nah, I checked on the ole coot awhile ago. He’s fast asleep. I swear that stallion is spendin’ most’a his days nappin’ instead a running the shop like he’s supposed to. No wonder he asked me to close the shop early...” Ficks said as he rolled his eyes.

After making sure all the lights in the shop were turned off, they both trotted out the door. Ficks donned his hat and shut the door quietly so the bell wouldn’t chime loudly. Without further delay, they made their way towards Sugar Cube Corner.

***

When they had arrived, Ficks could already hear sounds emanating from the first floor. Music and muffled laughter could be heard from behind the door. Before Ficks even had a chance to knock, the door swung open. Behind it was Pinkie Pie, wearing a large party hat.

She made a huge grin and began hopping excitedly around Ficks. “Hey! You made it I didn’t think you’d actually make it in time because you were like a minute late and I started getting worried that you wouldn’t come because I threw this party just for you afterall and I was preparing this all morning-”

“Wait you were up all mornin’ gettin’ this party ready?” Ficks interrupted. Pinkie stopped jumping for a moment and stared at Ficks intently.

“Well duh... I always get up early to throw a party! Well actually I always get up early, in fact I don’t even really sleep.” She began giggling loudly. Ficks took a few steps back, slightly disturbed by her burst of energy. Thankfully Applejack appeared behind her to greet Ficks and Nuttanbolt.

“Aw come on fellas, don’t tell me you ain’t accustomed to Pinkie’s hospitality yet?” she said as Pinke dashed off to do Celestia knows what.

“Honestly ‘Jack... I don’t think I ever will.” Ficks said with a slight chuckle.

“Bro... who the heck was that?” Nut asked in confusion.

“I’m sure you’ll get to meet her sometime tonight.” Ficks said with concern.

“Yeah it does take some gettin’ used to...” Applejack said in agreement, “but what are ya waitin’ for? Come on in, Everypony’s waitin’ for ya!”

She gestured for the two brothers to follow her inside. The interior of Sugar Cube Corner looked completely different from the last time that Ficks had been there. The ceiling was littered with streamers and decorations to the point where the actual ceiling was barely visible. Balloons were scattered around, bumping around randomly in tied up bunches. Several tables were set up with a vast assortment of confectioneries, pastries, hors d’oevures, and other edible delicacies. Several punch bowls sat on the far end of the table which contained most likely several different flavors. A phonograph sat on one of the tables, playing a simple but uplifting and melodic tune. Whether this was one of Pinkie’s simpler parties or one of her more elaborate ones, Ficks could tell she had taken extreme measures to prepare all of it. Then he saw something that caught his eye. Among the streamers on the ceiling, hung a long white banner that stretched across the ceiling from wall to wall. In bright gold letters were the words, Welcome Home Ficks. He was completely surprised by this addition to an already amazing presentation.

“Whaa? What is that?” he stammered. Applejack walked up next to him and gave him a friendly nudge.

“A little something I came up with myself. Just thought it might make the evening real special. Since after all... you said this was home to you.”

Ficks felt his heart lift again. He didn’t know what to say. He could feel a smile form over his face. All of this and even Applejack contributed in such a small yet caring way.

“‘Jack I can’t belie-”

“Hey everypony, the party guest is finally here!” Pinkie shouted, as she shoved Ficks forward. When he was placed into the center of the room he finally saw who all of the other guests were. His smile dispersed from his face. Ficks felt immediate discomfort when they all stared back at him. From left to right stood Applejack’s friends, the very same ones he had helped out the day before.

“Oh... well hello there Ficksitup. It’s nice to see you again.” Twilight said, looking up from a book she had been reading, unsurprisingly.

“My my, isn’t this quite the coincidence?” Rarity added.

“...Oh hello again. Glad you could make it...” Fluttershy said shyly from behind one of her friends.

“Hey what’s up? Name’s Rainbow Dash.” said a bright blue pegasus who was standing next to Fluttershy. Her rainbow mane made her stand out among her friends immensely. Ficks stared at her curiously. Applejack had never mentioned her before. He wondered why.

“Nice to meetcha, but um... why do ya’ll seem surprised to see me here? Didn’t Pinkie tell ya that this was a party for me?” Ficks asked everypony, “And what about the banner? I’m sure that was a dead giveaway.”

Everypony looked up at the banner hanging ominously over their heads.

“Oh well.... would you look at that. We didn’t even see that hanging there.” Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

“Well, even with the banner as a hint we thought that this was just another one of Pinkie Pie’s random parties, we were never told that you were the...guest of honor.” Rarity said. To Ficks, her tone seemed to suggest that if she had known the party was for him, she might have not considered coming. He suddenly remembered why he wasn’t comfortable around her in the first place. That attitude of hers...

“Oh but we’re still happy to be here... after all, we love going to Pinkie’s parties...” Fluttershy chimed in. Ficks knew she was just trying to be nice but he still felt like a mutual feeling of longing to be anywhere but here was among everypony, even him.

Suddenly, a party horn sounded, making a loud squeak throughout the room; to which everypony turned their heads. Pinkie burst out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cupcakes on her head and a big grin on her face.

“I brought the cupcakes! NOW it’s a party!” she yelled. With that, the awkward moment was broken and everypony resumed what they had been doing. Ficks was relieved that Pinkie had once again saved him from complete discomfort. However he still hoped he would be able to leave a little early to avoid any further skirmishes. Nuttanbolt ran over to Pinkie Pie to eagerly accept her generous offer of baked goods. Ficks let him run off and decided to move towards the far corner of the room. The party had already gotten off to a rather rotten start, at least to him it did. Applejack spotted him in the corner and trotted over to him. She gave him a concerned look.

“Ficks? What’s wrong?”

He looked up at her and managed a phony smile, “It’s... It’s nothin’...”

She looked at him, unimpressed, “I know that ain’t true Ficks. You never really were good at lyin’ to me. Now go on, tell me what’s wrong.” Applejack asked forcefully.

Ficks sighed then whispered to her; as if the others could hear him anyway. “Truth is ‘Jack... I don’t really wanna be here, nopony wants to be here. I’m pretty sure some of ‘em still don’t like me too. I mean you can just see it in their faces.” He hung his head pathetically.

“Oh, horseapples Ficksitup, yer only havin’ issues with everypony ‘cause yer lookin’ at it that way! What makes you think anypony here thinks that way about you?” she asked in a somewhat authoritative tone.

“Pardon?” He knew she could be forceful sometimes but never like this.

“You heard me, yer makin’ a big fuss ‘bout everything that happened yesterday. That stuff’s all behind ya now. That balcony was bound to break eventually. Who cares what Rarity’s sayin’- half the time it’s all nonsense anyway. ‘N believe me... that table was beyond fixin’. There’s no reason for ya to be makin’ yerself feel like a big sap. You made some mistakes yesterday, that’s all!”

Undeniably, she was right, and Ficks knew it too. He had been so worried about how everypony felt about him that he’d forgotten that he was here to have a good time.

“Well... I... I’ve never really been to something like this; what do I even do?” Ficks asked.

“Take the bull by the horns, Ficks. It’s your party afterall, get out there and have some fun. Come on, let’s dance.” She said. She grabbed his hoof and started dragging him towards the center of the room where everypony else had gathered. Ficks tried to resist but she wouldn’t let go.

“Wait, wait a minute ‘Jack. I can- I don’t even know how to dance!”

“Come on sugarcube! Ya’ won’t know unless ya try!”

When she called him that, how could he possibly resist? They reached the center of the main room where everypony else was dancing. They made some space for him and Applejack. Music was blasting from the phonograph at full volume now. The song was now fast paced and jazzy. Pinkie was jumping up and down in unison with the beat.

“Yeah! I told you this was my jam!” she cried out as she began to bounce faster. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash danced next to each other, giggling loudly while Twilight and Rarity attempted to make conversation through all the noise.

Applejack finally let go of Ficks’ hoof and began dancing as well. Ficks just stood there awkwardly, scratching his head. She moved next to him and bumped into him with her flank.

“Come on Ficks, ya just gotta move yer legs! Go for it!” she yelled to him and continued dancing. Ficks started blushing. He shook his head and tried his best to move. Finally he started tapping his feet. Eventually he got the feel of the music and began to sway back and forth. He gradually began to feel his legs loosen up and soon he was grooving in his own goofy way. He didn’t care. For the first time since he had gotten here, he was finally having a good time. They continued to dance together. He moved next to Applejack and tried to dance next to her. Unfortunately their steps didn’t match up so they ended up bumping into each other again. When they did, they both started laughing.

A few minutes later they both retreated to the table where the punch bowl were set up. Ficks leaned against the table panting heavily with a few beads of sweat hanging on his forehead.

“Phew, I’m tellin’ ya. Not even all the work I’ve done in my life coulda’ prepared me for that.” He gulped down some punch greedily. Applejack chuckled at him attempting to cool himself off.

“Gotta’ say Sugarcube. Ya didn’t do too bad for yer first time.”

“Really? I thought I could barely keep up. Yer way better at it than me ‘Jack.”

“Yeah that may be so... but that’s only cuz I’ve had practice.”

The two chuckled together. Ficks remained quiet for a moment before he started up again.

“Hey ‘Jack?”

“Yeah sugarcube?”

“Thanks a lot... I really needed that. I feel much better.” He gave her another smile. She returned the smile with her own and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“No problem Ficks.”

The two of them continued to sit there watching the others enjoy themselves before Ficks asked another question.

“What should we do now?”

“Hmm... I know. How ‘bout ya get reacquainted with everypony again. I’m sure they’ll all be in a much more talkative mood now that they’re havin’ a good time.” Applejack suggested. Ficks thought for a moment then nodded to her.

“Guess it can’t hurt to try... But what about you?”

“Go on ahead Ficks. I’ll letcha chat without me botherin’ ya. Besides you can’t have me all to yerself. At least not now...” Ficks raised an eyebrow. Was she teasing him again? He could never tell for the life of him when she was joking or not. She turned around and walked away, leaving him to decide on his next motive.

Alright... Who do I talk to first..? He thought as he scanned the room; Pinkie was playing pin the tail on the pony, with Fluttershy; he decided to not interrupt their game and continued searching. Rainbowdash was sitting down and talking with Nuttanbolt. Well he’s certainly the social pony tonight. Ficks thought. He figured he would be. Nut had that adorable charm to him that even Ficks couldn’t deny was an advantage he had over him. In the distance he saw Twilight in the back of the room by the kitchen. She was using the magic from her horn to hold a quill and was writing on a piece of parchment.

“Well, guess I might as well start somewhere...” Ficks said to himself as he trotted over to her. He approached her slowly to see what she was writing. As it turned out, she seemed to be a writing a letter that looked similar to the one he had received from her the other day. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked.

Twilight jumped at the sound of his voice. “Oh, Ficksitup! Sorry you startled me, but uh... hey how’s it going?” she asked awkwardly as she picked up the parchment that she had dropped.

“Sorry bout’ that. I didn’t mean to scare ya. I was just curious as to what ya were doin’ all by yourself over here.”

“Oh this? Well if you must know, I’m writing a letter to Princess Celestia.”

“A letter? Right now? Why are ya writin’ her a letter, at a party of all times?”

“Well I sort of have to keep her updated on all the different things I do or learn here in Ponyville. I meant to write her one earlier, but I sort of... got sidetracked. I’m writing it now so I don’t forget again.”

“Updates? What do ya mean?” Ficks was becoming more puzzled by all of this.

“Well that’s sort of the whole reason I’m here in Ponyville right now. Princess Celestia sent me here to learn the importance of friendship and interacting with other ponies. So when I learn something new, I let her know. Since I’m still her student, I guess this is kind of homework to put it one way.” she elaborated.

“Wait she sent you here to learn about... friendship? How does that even work? Doesn’t it just come natural to ya when ya make new friends?”

Twilight gave him a rather disgruntled look. “It’s not that easy for me... Truth is, I’m not very good at making friends. When I was studying in Canterlot, I was spending more time in the library reading instead of making friends with the other students there.”

“But what about all the friends you’ve made here? Looks to me like you get along just fine with them.”

Twilight hung her head low. “Even they are difficult to get along with all the time. Sooner or later, I always just want to go back to the library and be by myself. It’s just who I am I guess. I’m more comfortable with being alone than being with friends all the time. I’ve tried reading tons of books on friendship and having fun and all sorts of other things, but none of them have been able to help me.”

This was a side of Twilight that Ficks had never seen before. Before she had seemed like somepony who knew everything there was to know. From stars and apparently... fixing roofs, he thought she was the most knowledgeable pony that he’d ever met. Now he realized that even someone like her had her quirks.

“Ya know Twilight... not everything can be found in a book. Sometimes ya just gotta get out there and do things from experience. N’ for the record, I’d say you’ve done a pretty fine job makin’ friends.” Ficks said to her with enthusiasm. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Thanks Ficks, you know... you’re not such a bad stallion yourself. In fact I’d say you’re pretty clever.” Ficks smiled at that. The first compliment of the night from somepony else beside Applejack. “Also...” she added, “... I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that. I know that you are smart stallion. I shouldn’t have insulted your intelligence. I realize now that it was my fault that the balcony got wrecked even more and that you got hurt.”

Ficks put a hoof up to stop her. “Woah, now hold on Twilight; that wasn’t your fault. I let my pride get the better’a myself, and me gettin’ hurt was all on my accord. I should be the one apologizin’ for breakin’ yer balcony, I also ain’t chargin’ for the damage I did. Wouldn’t be right.”

“Really? You would do that? I should at least pay for the first reparations shouldn’t I?”

“Last I recall, I never got the chance to make any reparations. I was too busy countin’ clouds on my back. Bruise still hurts too...” he said as he rubbed the side of his flank.

“Well yeah I guess that’s true. I’m just glad you weren’t more seriously injured. But still there must be something I can do to make it up to you.”

“I assure ya, Twilight. There won’t be any need for that.”

She thought for a moment. Suddenly her eyes lit up with excitement at the thought of an idea.

“I know! Ficks, how about I mention you in my letter to Princess Celestia? I’m sure she would love to hear about you. I could tell her all about how you’ve been helping my friends. It would be great. What do you say?”

Ficks was shocked at the idea. “You’d do that? I mean I’ve never even seen Princess Celestia before let alone talked to her, and now you want to tell her all about me in a letter? I don’t know...” he said with a hint of doubt. Why would the ruler of Equestria care to hear about him? After all he was just a simple repair pony.

“It’s alright. I won’t say anything if you don’t want me to.” she said, sounding a bit let down. Ficks looked at her and then sighed.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I mean if it’ll help with yer whole friendship studyin’ thing then by all means, have at it.”

Twilight smiled again. “Thank you Ficks. I’ll be sure to put in a really good word for you. I’ll be sure to have Spike send this as soon as possible.”

“Spike? Who’s that?”

“Oh right. Sorry, I can’t believe I never told you about him. Spike is my assistant at the library. He helps me with all the chores and mails the letters I write to Princess Celestia. I’ll be sure to introduce you to him when you come over to fix the balcony. He would have come with tonight but he’s staying home, sick. He ate too many jewels the other day. Poor thing, I told him it was unhealthy to eat that much in one sitting. But he just wouldn’t listen.”

“Wait. He... Eats jewels?” Ficks asked.

“Yes! Dragons adore jewels.” Twilight said quite plainly.

Dragons!? Ficks thought. He’d heard stories about dragons from old mare’s tales in Manehattan and if any of them were true, he couldn’t imagine why Twilight would have one as an assistant.

“You mean ta’ tell me that you’ve got a dragon livin’ here in ponyville?” Ficks asked in a somewhat nervous manner.

“Yes. He’s just a kid though. Is something wrong?” she asked, puzzled.

“What? No, I’m uh... just fine. Yeah I’m all good.” Ficks said as she smiled weakly.

“Well okay then. Anyway it was good talking to you again Ficks. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got to finish this letter.”

She wandered back over to where her letter was and began writing again. With that Ficks assumed that their conversation was over and continued on his way. As the party progressed he looked around to see what everypony else was doing. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were now playing a different party game than before. Nuttanbolt was still with Rainbowdash. He was sitting down with Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo. He didn’t even know that the Crusaders were here. He never saw them when he had arrived. The three of them were sitting in front of Rainbowdash who was telling some sort of story. As Ficks walked by he could hear bits of her story; something about getting her cutie mark and sonic rainbooms. Scootaloo was staring in awe, nudging Nuttanbolt at the same time.

“See! I told you she was awesome.” she exclaimed at Nut loudly. Rainbowdash grinned at all the attention she was getting.

Well at least he’s still havin’ a good time. Ficks thought. He started looking for Applejack. He finally found her but she was busy scolding Applebloom for something again. That filly just couldn’t seem to keep out of trouble if she tried.

It seemed that everypony was occupied at the moment. There was only one pony who didn’t seem to be present. Ficks started looking around for a certain white unicorn but to no avail. With that he decided to see if he couldn’t find something to snack on at the food table. As he started to trot that way, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and sure enough, the very unicorn he had been looking for was staring right at him.

“Miss Rarity?” Ficks asked weakly.

“Please Ficksitup, just call me Rarity. No need to be so formal. We’ve already met now, so there’s no use for that.” she adressed authoritively.

Ficks was a little taken aback but he continued to listen to her anyway. “Well... um okay then, Rarity. Was there something ya wanted to tell me?”

She brushed her mane back then took a deep breath. Collecting her words she finally continued.

“As a matter of fact, yes. I did want to discuss something with you, if you’ll hear me out.”

“Uh sure, go ahead.”

“Well, first off I just wanted to thank you again for fixing my sewing machine the other day. You’ll be happy to hear that I was able to finish all of my dresses and get them shipped out to my clients.”

“Yeah, glad to hear it...” Ficks said rather coldly. He was starting to walk away, but Rarity yelped from behind.

“W-wait! There’s something else I wanted to say.” she said. Her tone had changed immensely. Before she had sounded all high and mighty, now she sounded... desperate.

“What is it?” Ficks asked. He was growing impatient. Whatever it was this mare wanted to say, why didn’t she just say it?

“It’s just that well... I... I wanted to say...” she shut her eyes then forced out the last few words, “... I’m sorry.”

Ficks’ ears pricked up in suprise. “What’d ya say?”

Rarity cleared her throat again. “I’m telling you that I am sorry. I realize that I was being rather rude the other day. I mean it’s not that I wanted to be rude, it’s just that you looked so filthy and I jus-” Ficks raised an eyebrow. Was this mare really apologizing? If she was, she really wasn’t doing a good job. “Wait no, that’s not what I meant! I meant that I just need to have a clean work environment and you were- oh who am I foaling? I’m sorry I called you a dirty stallion and kicked you out of my shop!” she finally cried out hysterically.

“Wait. You called me a dirty stallion?” Ficks asked, now taken aback instead of comforted by her apology.

“Who me? No I would never call you a dirty stallion... at least not to your face. I mean, yes. I might have have called you that after you left, but please I didn’t mean it. At all! I was just so stressed out and I’m not accustomed to having stallions act with such kindness.” She sounded like she was about to start crying or something. As much as Ficks wanted to walk away from how annoyed he was by her confessions, for her sake, he stayed put.

“You say yer not used to stallions actin’ kind with ya. Did something happen that makes ya think so harshly about ‘em?” Ficks asked with curiousity. Rarity bit her lip when she realized that she had said too much.

“Well... let’s just say something happened between me and a stallion, who I thought was supposed to be extraordinary. Turns out he was a complete let down. I’d rather not bring it up again.”

“Life can be disappointin’ sometimes. You learn to deal with it...” Ficks said coldly. Rarity looked at him with somber eyes. Thankfully, no tears were welling up in them.

“But that’s not fair. I never did anything to deserve to be treated this way. I was nothing but generous to that schmuck of a stallion. Just as I have been nothing but generous to y-” Ficks gave her another unimpressed look. Rarity groaned in defeat. She knew she wasn’t fooling him, “Okay okay... I was wrong. I was anything but generous to you that day but that is now why I also wished to speak with you. I would like to... if you’ll allow me to... let me make it up to you somehow. Let me express my kindness and generosity towards you.”

Ficks put a hoof over his face. Oh great, now this one wants to make it up to me too. What in the hay could she possibly offer? He thought, now agitated.

“You want to make it up to me? I don’t mean to be rude or nuthin’ Rarity but I really don’t see what else you could possibly do for me since we obviously lead such busy lives.” he said with a hint of sarcasm. Rarity stood there, thinking for a moment. She had a look on her face that made her look overly stumped. She really had no idea how she could make up for her rudeness to this stallion. What could she offer? The only things she knew about were fashion and keeping her mane well kept. Unless...

“What about your mane?” she finally asked.

“What about it?” Ficks replied, now once again annoyed at the sudden change in subject.

“Well... I mean. Look at it. It’s clearly... unkempt. I assume you’ve never done anything with it before have you?”

“No I really have no reason to. I just let it grow out. Since I’m a stallion after all why would I have any reason to do anything with it?”

Rarity realized her plan was starting to fold on itself. She had to step it up.

“Well I’m merely trying to say that... well, it just has so much potential. I’m willing to bet after a stop at the salon or somewhere else, you could have a completely new look. A handsome stallion like yourself wouldn’t want to waste that kind of potential would you?”

Ficks didn’t think he couldn’t get anymore annoyed with this mare. Now she was pushing it. First she had insulted him the other day, and now she was trying to suck up to him. Still he thought for a moment. His mane was getting a bit out of hoof for even himself to handle. He constantly found himself brushing his mane out of his eyes when he was working and in the mornings, his mane looked like the storm of the century had blown through it. Perhaps it was time for a little trim. Plus this mare was making as much effort as she could to make amends for her previous behavior. The offering was starting to not sound like such a bad idea.

“Well I suppose it wouldn’t hurt...” Ficks said. Rarity’s eyes lit up gracefully.

“Oh, I knew you couldn’t refuse such a surpassing offer such as this. I’ll set up an appointment at one of the best places I know. Once they’re done with you, you’ll look absolutely ama-”

“Rarity, please! Just a trim, alright? I don’t need nothin’ fancy. I appreciate the offer, but please, don’t over do it.”

Rarity gave him a doubtful expression and then sighed loudly.

“Oh very well then, I’ll set up an appointment and have them do something modest. But at least let them do something. I can’t just have you getting a boring old trim. You should at least let them make it a little... oh how would I put it... trendy!” she pestered. She wasn’t about to let him off that easy.

Ficks sighed with fatigue, “Ugh, alright fine whatever. Do what you like, but nuthin’ fancy. Also it can’t be this week since I’m gonna loaded with work.”

Rarity gave herself a little cheer. “Yes of course, whenever the time is fitting for you. I’ll make the appointment as you see fit. I’m so glad you decided to accept my offer. I’m sure we’ll get along much better now.”

“Yeah... I can hardly wait.” Ficks groaned with heavy sarcasm. Rarity looked over her shoulder to see if anypony else was within close range before she turned around again.

“Oh yes, Ficks. There is one last thing I wanted to ask you...” she said in a very serious tone.

“Yeah alright what is it?” Ficks asked hoping she would leave after this.

“Tell me, and be completely honest... Are you and Applejack da-”

“WATER BALLOON FIGHT!” Pinkie Pie shouted from out of nowhere. Suddenly a water balloon came sailing from out of the blue and hit Rarity square in the face. It immediately burst open, spilling water all over her face and mane. Rarity spun around and glared, water dripping from her now drooping mane.

“PINKIE! How dare you! Oooooh when I get my hooves on you, you’re going to be sorry...” she yelled. With that she took off after Pinkie who was hopping away giggling the whole time.

Ficks watched them run off to some other part of the room, completely bewildered. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. I thought she’d never leave. Thanks Pinkie, I owe ya again. Ficks thought, chuckling. He made his way to the front door and stepped outside, in desperate need of some fresh air. The night air was cool and crisp which comforted Ficks greatly. The moon was shining brightly which gave off a luminescent glow on the ground.

Ficks sat down, leaning against the wall of the shop. He looked up at the stars thinking to himself. I wonder if Twilight’ll let me borrow one of them star-books. Maybe I can learn all them names that she was talkin’ ‘bout the other d- His thoughts were broken when he heard somepony approaching from the side. He quickly turned his head to see who it was.

Applejack came walking up from outside of the store. She smiled at him, though she looked pretty worn out as well. She took a seat next to Ficks, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Well you certainly look like ya had yerself a good time.” she said cheerfully. Ficks took his hat off and placed it on the ground next to him. He brushed his mane back and stretched to relieve some of the tension in his back.

“Yeah you could say that. I was able to talk a few of the girls again. You were right, I did get along better with them this time.” He lied of course since he really didn’t feel like explaining his conversation with Rarity. He had a feeling that Applejack knew he didn’t favor her at the moment. So he didn’t want to make it worse.

“That’s great Ficks. See, I told ya you’d get along better with ‘em tonight. You doubted me... but I told ya.”

“Alright alright. No need to rub it in, geez.” She smiled again and removed her hat as well. Her mane fell gently to her side as she turned her head. Ficks stared curiously at her mane. The red ribbons that held them down at the end made her mane bob back and forth as she scratched her head. She noticed that he was staring at her.

“What is it Ficks?”

He quickly snapped into attention, “Oh nothin’. It’s just that you never told me why you’re always wearin’ those things in your mane all the time. Well... then again I guess I never asked either.”

She chuckled. “Well I wear ‘em so my mane doesn’t get everywhere in my face when I’m workin’ on the acres. I guess I kinda got comfortable with the look so I just keep it that way all the time now.”

“I see. Well I guess that was an obvious answer. I don’t know why I even asked. I suppose it’s just that I’ve never seen your mane any other way.” He chuckled lightly at his own dumb curiosity.

She smiled at him again. “Well if you want to see my mane without em, why don’t ya help me for a sec’ here. They’re coming loose anyway so I need to re-tie them again.”

Ficks gulped nervously. “Oh... uh... okay. What do ya need me to do?”

“Just pull the ribbons loose and they should come undone on their own.”

“Right...sure. No problem.” Ficks nervously leaned closer to her. He reached behind her head. As his face brushed past her mane, he could smell a scent of apples in her hair. The aroma was almost intoxicating to him. With his teeth, he lightly tugged on the ribbons in her mane. They slowly came undone and fell to the ground. Applejack shook her mane loose, letting it fall gently around her face. Ficks backed up again to look at her. What he saw made his stomach twist in knots.

She looked at him shyly and asked, “Well? How’s it look now?”

Ficks couldn’t even find the means to think straight. She looked completely different to him. Her mane rested around her shoulders and would sway every time she turned her head. From the glow of the moonlight, it seemed to shine like golden threads. Her emerald eyes peered from underneath her bangs that hung loosely over her forehead. He was at a complete loss for words.

“Well?”

Ficks felt a lump in his throat. He felt like his whole body was heating up for no reason. Finally he mustered up enough sense to speak. “Uh it’s just... wow. You look... great. Like I mean, really great.”

Applejack blushed a little. “Oh now yer just sayin’ that sugarcube.”

“No I mean it. You look... amazing.” His head was spinning. He wanted to say she looked beautiful but he didn’t nearly have enough courage to tell her. She smiled again.

“Well thanks Ficks.” she folded up the ribbons and placed them in her hat, “Maybe I’ll keep it this way every now and then” He couldn’t help but smile at that. He wouldn’t mind one bit if she did that.

The two of them snickered together before falling silent again. He looked up at the night sky again for what felt like several minutes before he spoke again. “Ya know ‘Jack... I’m really glad that you were here to help me out tonight. I know it sounds like nothing but I mean it. I’m really glad you came.”

“I already told ya Ficks. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Yeah I know that, but I’m still happy that you did.”

“Well sugarcube... I’m glad that you came back to Ponyville after all those years. I know it don’t seem like much either, but I’m really glad you came back.”

Ficks looked at her and gave a faint smile. “I told ya ‘Jack. I made a promise I’d come back. So I wouldn’t miss this for the world either...”

She leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. Ficks’ eyes widened and his face turned as red as a tomato. She sighed and then smiled.

“That makes me happy Ficks. I’m glad you kept your promise to me...”

For a moment, Ficks continued to let her sit there resting her head against him. He was so nervous. His heart was beating so hard that his chest hurt. But this moment felt so right to him. A part of him wished they could stay like this forever.

“‘Jack... there’s something I wanted to say.” he finally said, breaking the silence.

“What is it sugarcube?” She looked up at him eagerly.

“I just... I wanted to apologize for what I said the other day.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we were at Fluttershy’s and I said that I never needed any friends when I was young. I didn’t mean that. I did need a friend back then. And you were the filly who became the best friend I could ever have. I never meant to upset ya. I was just confused that night and I didn’t know what I was talkin’ about and I-” She put a hoof to his mouth.

“I don’t care about that Ficks. I know you never meant it. I just care that you’re here now... with me.” She stared at him, not once looking away. Ficks gazed deeply into her eyes.

“‘Jack I-”

“Stop talkin’ sugarcube.”

She leaned in and placed her lips to his without hesitation. It happened so fast that he didn’t even have time to react. She closed her eyes and leaned against him even more. Ficks thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. His eyes widened with shock. Was this really happening? She kept her lips firmly pressed to his, not once moving away. After that, everything seemed like a dream. There wasn’t any way to fight it. He felt a rush of exhilaration flowing through him. He finally shut his eyes and pressed against her as well, embracing the warm touch of her body against his. For the first time in his life, Ficks felt complete and utter bliss. It had been ten years since he had seen her. Ten years of waiting for something good to finally happen to him, and now... it was one of the greatest moments of his life. Nothing could ruin this moment now. Nothing.

“WHO WANTS CAKE?” Pinkie Pie shouted from the front door. The two of them immediately pulled away from each other. Both of their faces had turned bright red. Pinkie saw the two of them sitting on the ground outside and giggled. “Oh silly. What are you doing sitting in the dirt? You’re supposed to be inside having fu- wait a minute!”

They stared at her nervously. She glared suspiciously at them with big eyes. “What Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked with hesitation.

“There’s something not right here...” Ficks and Applejack both looked at each other, fearing the worst. Finally Pinkie shouted out, “Where’s your hats?”

They both exhaled happily. “Oh... uh right here. Yeah... found my hat” Ficks said. He picked his hat up off the ground and laughed nervously. Pinkie stared at him, squinting with a serious expression, then grinned at him.

“Okie dokie lokie!” She took off back into the shop, squealing and giggling. Ficks then looked at the ground and sighed with relief. If she had seen what they were doing, he might have died from embarrassment. Applejack quickly got up and placed her hat back on her head. She didn’t put her ribbons back in, so her mane still fell loosely against her shoulders. She looked down at Ficks and smiled at him. They were both still blushing. She leaned down and planted another kiss on his cheek.

“Come on Ficks. Let’s not keep ‘em waitin’.”

Ficks got up, rubbing his cheek. His face had turned bright red again. He nervously put his hat back on and walked over to Applejack. He smiled at her with his heart beating slow but steady again. She winked at him and trotted inside. The moment had ended almost as soon as it had begun, but he didn’t feel a single ounce of regret that it had happened. Ficks turned around and looked up at the night sky one last time. A huge grin appeared over his face and he chuckled to himself. With that, he trotted into Sugar Cube Corner and reunited with his guests.