After dinner, Applejack wandered down to Twilight's library to hang out with her friends. She knocked on the door, but there was no response. She knocked a little harder, the bashed on it. "Twilight? Spike? Let me in!" She called.
A moment later, the door was pulled open, she was yanked in, and the door was slammed shut as she heard several locks clicking into place. "Don't yell, or he might show up!" Spike hissed, drawing the curtains shut again.
"Who might show up?" Applejack asked, astonished at the young dragon's behaviour.
"Prince Blueblood." He spat disgustedly.
Suddenly, his irritation made much more sense. Not only had Blueblood messed with Rarity at the Gala, more recently he'd attempted to win over Rainbow Dash, which ended rather messily, which gave him a second big black cross. The finishing blow for Spike condemning him was Blueblood trying to con Twilight into being his pseudo-servant. Now, Spike had a try-and-stop-me attitude with an attack-on-sight code for Celestial and Luna's nephew.
"Ah." She said awkwardly. After a pause, she asked him where Twilight was.
"Oh, she's up in her room, talking to the others. Feel free to go on up." He smiled.
She nodded. "Thanks, Spike." She walked towards the stairs, noting with slight apprehension the various booby traps he had set up around the library. She made her way up to Twilight's room and knocked before walking in.
"Oh, hi, Applejack. How's it going?" Rainbow asked cheerfully from on top of Twilight's wardrobe, clearly in a launch position.
The earth pony just shook her head. "I ain't even gonna ask. But do I need a bomb shelter?"
Rainbow laughed. "Nah, just move over near Pinkie, will ya?"
Applejack scooted closer to Pinkie Pie, wondering what madness she'd walked in on.
"Anyways, like I was saying, I was flying around, popping clouds, when guess who I see swaggering along the pathway towards Fluttershy's house? None other than Bluebutt himself, that's who!" She said, wrinkling her nose. "Now, I'm not gonna let that creep get anywhere near Fluttershy, am I?"
Twilight nodded. "No way. If he puts so much as one hoof in Fluttershy's meadow, he is officially a target. Right, guys?" She glanced around at the other five ponies.
"Exactly. So, I gave him a little bit of a blow-by to send him spinning." Rainbow smirked, swooping down around the room before landing next to Pinkie Pie.
"He ended up outside the library." Spike told them as he walked in, plopping down in between Rarity and Twilight on her bed. "I gave him a good swipe, and he literally flew off. I think he landed somewhere in the forest."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Impressive hit, Spike." She told him.
He grinned dopily. "Thanks, Rarity." He said, gazing adoringly at her.
Something ticked into place in Applejack's mind. "What colour is Blueblood's mane?" She asked slowly. "What does he look like?"
"Sort of a dark yellow. He's got a white coat, and he's a unicorn, remember?" Rainbow knocked on her head.
She swatted the Pegasus away, eyes wide. "Cutie mark?"
"Eh, I think it's a yellow four point star with a blue four point star on top of it. Something like that, anyway." Twilight shrugged.
Applejack stood very still and stared off into space. "No way... that's not possible that he could be so..." She muttered.
They all stared at her. "Applejack..." Rarity started gently. "What happened? What did he do?"
"He helped me pick up my apples." She said, looking up, a confused expression on her face. "He was actually nice. He offered to pull the cart for me, and even when I said I could handle it, he took it off me anyways to save me some of the work. We were chatting about rabbits stealing apples, for crying out loud!"
"Are you sure you were talking to Blueblood?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"Yeah, now I think about it, his voice was more relaxed, less fancy an' all, but it was him I was talking to. I'm certain!" Applejack started pacing back and forward. "But why would he be so nice to me?! And he introduced himself as 'BB'. I get that being his initials, but why use them and not his real name?"
She stopped and glanced at her friends. "Excuse me- I think I need to get some fresh air." She managed to say to them before running out the door, one thought circling in her brain.
I gotta find Blueblood, I gotta find Blueblood, I gotta find Blueblood...