Earlier that day...

Applejack had gotten up at her usual time, got ready for work, and had herself a simple breakfast. She had more difficulty than usual getting up, since you kept her up all night. It bothered her to no end. It was like you...burrowed your way into her head. It was something she wanted NOT to happen, but it happened nonetheless.

She went out to work that day without her usual gusto in completing farm tasks and rather than talk with Big Mac when they were carrying apples to the cellar like they usually did, she refused to talk to him. Big Mac knew something was up, but he respected that Applejack didn't want to talk about it. He figured, however, that it had something to do with you. He was going to have to ask about it later when the timing was right...

Applejack's head was overflowing with thoughts about last night still. Again, she wondered if you had the gall to apologize today. Last night, all her thinking about the issue made her feel bitter. As stated earlier, she wasn't in the mood to talk, and that being said, she certainly didn't want to talk to you. Last night, she eventually reasoned with herself that you didn't like her at all because of what she said to you, and she figured that if you're judging her by something she said, then you aren't worth her. She still had her pride, after all...

This morning, she was taking buckets filled with apples and hauling them to the tractor to sell at the market. They sold apples by the bushel or individually (individual apples kept in buckets), so that's why they loaded bushels last time. As she loaded the buckets in, she was mentally talking to herself...

I sure hope I don't see his face today...

But what if he wants to apologize?

No! He shouldn't be allowed to, he had no right to-

She stopped herself there...she listened to how irrational she was sounding. You didn't do anything to prompt her to not forgive you if you apologized. She needed to know why she was thinking the way she was...

Now...why in tarnation do I care so much about what he thinks about me?

Because you like 'im.

I don't like 'im!

Then explain why yer more riled up than a rattlesnake with Tabasco in his eye...

Well I-...

She kept on thinking, but no other explanations presented themselves. She didn't want to admit to herself that she liked you, oh no. That would be both ridiculous and wrong. She didn't like you...she..couldn't like you. It would only lead to her heart being broken, she knew. Still, she also knew that it's next to impossible to completely ignore one's feelings for another. She had never actually fallen in love before, since falling in love is more than just a schoolgirl's crush, and she wanted to avoid that as much as she could. She had heard horror stories from her friends at school telling her how awful it was to have their heart broken by their significant other. Now, Applejack was a nice and understanding girl, but when her friends had a recent break-up...she tried to stay away from them as far as possible. Why?

Because.

They.

Would.

Never.

Shut.

The.

Hell.

UP!

ABOUT!

IT!

...At least...not for a long time. Applejack didn't want to be like her friends in regards to that. She wanted to stay her old self, the self she knew and loved very well. Level headed and stress free. Unfortunately for her...you were making it very hard for her to be stress free...or level headed for that matter, considering how out of it she was as of last night. (and frankly, how she still is...)

But enough of that. Applejack had done enough for now and was now ready to meet her friend Rarity. Earlier, Applebloom had invited her two friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over. Rarity overheard Big Macintosh discussing it with Sweetie Belle's father and asked if she could tag along to see her friend as well. Both Big Mac and Sweetie Belle were okay with it and Applebloom certainly would not mind. Rarity should be on her way now, Applejack figured. She was going to go wait by the front door. Heck, maybe they'd even make cider together today. It'd be fine as long as...he wasn't involved... Then again, she knew he would be, being the not-so-hired city boy and all...

Meanwhile at the front door, Applebloom was waiting for her two friends. You were there with her, since she INSISTED that you meet them as soon as possible. With nothing else to do, you sort of just sat there twiddling your thumbs out of boredom. You weren't bored for long as an elegant white sedan soon came into view. Applebloom hopped up and down excitedly and bolted for the car that just stopped near your location.

"SCOOTALOO! SCOOT-SCOOTALOO!" Applebloom sang cheerfully as the car door opened.

Is that her...name? You ponder quietly to yourself. Then again, there's a girl named Applejack and another named Applebloom, so you guess weird names are like...customary here. Besides, they're just names anyway...

Out of the door stepped a small girl who was a bit shorter than Applebloom. She was wearing tom-boyish cargo shorts that were like yours, but smaller and baggier. She had an orange shirt that said "I'm NOT a chicken" on it. It had a chicken with a red slash going through it at the center. You figured she was the stereotypical tomboy.

"Hey Applebloom!"

Gosh, she even sounded the part.

"Hey Scootaloo! Check out this cool guy that's helping us on the farm this summer!" Applebloom eagerly pointed to you.

Scootaloo put a hand to her chin and looked you over inquisitively. It's almost as if she's checking to see if you're REALLY cool or not...

"Yeah, he seems cool enough." She closed her eyes, folded her arms, and nodded.

Looks like she was...

The elegant white sedan drove away and soon following it was an orange Volkswagen. Funny, you've never seen an orange Volkswagen in a long time... Unusual car, it is. You loved to play the game where you punched your friend's arm every time you saw a Volkswagen. You didn't like the way they looked, and thought that whoever bought them either wanted to scare their children, or they were trollin'. (Who DOESN'T want to drive around knowing that somewhere, because of your car, people are currently punching each other. That's like...free chaos! Goody goody!)

That train of thought aside, it was indeed an orange...Volkswagen that pulled up and the doors opened. First, a small girl about Applebloom's size walked out. She wore a simple white dress made for a child about her age and had on small bedazzles shoes. Seemed like a stereotypical girly girl to you. You wondered if Scootaloo and this new girl fought a lot.

"Hey Sweetie Belle! Is Rarity here too?" Applebloom chimed.

Meh, two more odd names...

"Yeah!" The girl known as Sweetie Belle said in a rather high pitched voice. "Rarity's here, she's-"

"Right here dears~" A feminine voice with an English accent piped up. The owner of the voice stepped out of the car and...woah...

This girl looked...fabulous. (For lack of a better term.) She was decked out in all kinds of trinkets, accessories, and the like. She wore jeans that had 3 diamond patterns stitched on to each hip and the legs flared out at the end, accentuating her voluptuous hips, and she had on a white shirt with a heart (made of small blue gems) on it. She had cherry red lipstick, curly luxurious hair, and nearly flawless skin. (Obviously make up was involved.) Her eyes were Sapphire blue and her hair was...Navy Blue? What the...

You know what? I'm going to say it now. This town is weird...

Ha! It's funny because she was looking good up until you got to the hair...

Shut up, brain...

Mentally ripping yourself back to reality, you see that she's now a few feet away from you and seems to be...examining you? You dunno. She has an eyebrow raised, her chin covered by her hand, and her eyes are traveling up and down your outfit.

"My my, I heard my friend Applejack had a bit of a problem at the farm but I never expected for her to mean this...

You rolled your eyes.

"Who are you exactly?" You ask.

"Oh dear, where are my manners! They call me...Rarity!" She flared out her dainty arms for dramatic effect, causing you to roll your eyes again. "I design dresses over at the neighboring city just down that road." She pointed down the road they came from.

Wait, a city down the road! I'm saved! Oh wait...

When you looked down the road, there was no city in sight.

...Blast!

"Is Rarity really your name?" You ask, not caring if it's rude or not.

Oh of course not darling, that's a ridiculous name! She cracked a small grin.

Inside, your mind was swirling with the rage of irony.

"My real name is..." She continued.

~*INSERT CONVENIENTLY PASSING MAC TRUCK WITH IT'S HORN BLARING TO DROWN OUT ANYTHING SHE'S SAYING AS IT PASSES BY*~

Umad? :3

"...but please darling, just Rarity will do."

Nodding dumbly, you decide to just go with it and find Applejack. You really really wanna apologize now. Why? You were afraid AJ invited this girl over as punishment...

"Girls! Now that you're all here, I gots somethin' to tell y'all! C'mere! You too Rarity!" Applebloom hopped up and down excitedly and winked at you...

Gods no...

After meeting them all, you really didn't think this unlikely team would help your situation with Applejack at all. Then again, there's no changing Applebloom's mind. You saw the girls discussing something and occasionally...giggling? A lot of the giggling was coming from Rarity, actually...

Soon they all nodded simultaneously and approached you.

...Gods no...

Rarity spoke up first. "My my my~ Applejack hasn't really ever had a gent take her fancy yet, so good news is, that it will make your first time kissing all the more special!"

Then Sweetie Belle spoke. "Don't worry! Me and Rarity will have you and Applejack kissing under the moonlit sky by um...nightfall! Yeah! nightfall!" She grinned innocently.

"Hey girls, do you know what this means?" Scootaloo seemed to be stifling a scream.

"SPECIAL TALENT BRIGADE: MATCHMAKERS!" They all called out in unison.

...GODS NOOooOOOoOooOooo!

This is probably going to end terribly. They will probably want to tell Applejack about your feelings towards her, resulting in her rejecting you and pushing you away. Not to mention, you don't want to kiss her yet! Although the idea sounds nice... NO NO NO! This is sure to end in disaster! You have to stop them!

"And just what do you plan to do?" Well... you had to at least know what they planned to do first.

Rarity put her hand on your shoulder, fixated you with a gaze of intense seriousness, and spoke to you in a voice that was all business. "I've known Applejack for years now, and so when it comes to what she likes and dislikes, you can call me a sort of expert!" She then pointed to your outfit. "And it will certainly be hard to impress her with...that attire...

"Hey, what's wrong with my outfit!" You snapped, quickly getting annoyed with her.

"Oh nothing really..." She trailed off.

You were two seconds from exploding.

"...I mean, it just will not capture her attention, is all." She finished with a nervous smile.

"Who said I wanted to capture her attention?" You sat down under the shaded porch. "All I want to do right now is apologize."

"For what? Your messy attire?"

You shot her a death glare.

"Oh I'm just joking. But really, what would you be apologizing for, hmmm?" She rested her chin on her outstretched hands and leaned forward to listen. By now, the three young girls were out in the yard playing tag. They couldn't start without Rarity, and so they were just waiting for you two to stop talking.

You sighed and told her the entire story about the previous night. As you told it, you saw Rarity appear to be in deep thought. You figured that she was just trying to come up with ways to ultimately lead up to you two 'kissing under the moonlit sky' as they put it. Gee, the more you thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Regardless, it was far too soon to be thinking about that.

Rarity put her finger to her chin and looked around for a bit. Then she snapped her fingers. "I-deeeaaa~" She sang.

...Well that's a bad sign...

"Alrighty, what's the brilliant idea?" You decided to humor her.

"You and Applejack are making cider today right?" She sounded like she was getting somewhere.

"Uh...yeah what about that?" You were a bit curious now, it didn't seem like they were going to outright TELL Applejack how you felt about her anymore...

"Since I shall be helping make the cider, I think me and the little ones are more than capable of convincing her that you aren't a bad guy and that you really miss seeing her smile. Upon hearing this, she will see the romantic side in you and practically jump your bones! It's the perfect plan!~" Rarity's eyes lit up with this plan, she must be very proud of it.

You on the other hand...

"Hold it, although that sounds like a good idea, but..."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow up, interested on why you had such dis-contempt for her perfect plan.

You ran your fingers through your hair and began explaining. "First of all, I doubt Applejack will actually be helping with the cider, seeing as how she doesn't wanna see me today judging by that look she gave me..."

"Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle will make sure she's helping us make the cider."

"Regardless of whether she does or not, the look she gave me earlier would make a tiger release it's bowels out of fear."

Rarity shuddered at your unusual remark..."Erm...you don't say?" She grinned nervously. "...Well, Applejack and I are very close, therefore I can convince her to at least give you a chance." She gave a warm smile.

Now it seemed like she was honestly trying to help you instead of try to board the gossip train. You had an improved opinion of her now, she's nice really, if not a little intrusive...

"...You really think you can do that for me?" You gave her a small smile back, happy to see if you can make amends with Applejack after all.

"Of course darling, it's what I do!" She tousled your hair. Why does everyone do that!

Just then, Applejack came into view. She took a look at Rarity tousling your hair and stopped for a bit, as if she was trying to figure you what to make of this situation. After a few seconds of her having a completely blank face, she shook her head quickly and snapped back to reality.

"Oh, hello Applejack~" Rarity sang in her English accent. Admittedly you liked English accents, but Applejack's was far cuter; especially when she laughed...

Focus man. Applejack's about to respond...

"Howdy Rarity." She then looked at your direction and sighed. "And howdy umm...boy."

"What happened to 'City boy.'" You asked jokingly.

"City boy, whatever..." She face palmed.

"Big Macintosh tells me we get to spice the cider today!~ Oh joy, it's always my favorite part!" Rarity jumped up and down a little, most likely more excited about getting you and Applejack together than the cider spicing in question.

"Eeyup, we sure as sugar do." Applejack had faked enthusiasm in her voice and sounded absolutely exhausted. Even Rarity could tell. You knew by the look in Rarity's eyes that she was concerned for her southern friend.

"Applejack, are you alright?" Rarity put her hand on her chin inquisitively.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine. Don't you worry 'bout me, I'm finer than one of them...fancy tipped hairbrushes ya got..." You could tell she was lying, Rarity could tell she was lying. Neither of you said anything, however.

"R-right. Well shouldn't we be going? I'm sure the little ones would love to help us." Rarity placed a hand behind her head nervously and glanced about.

"Huh? OH! Oh yeah, let's...go..." Applejack sighed and walked off towards the cellar.

As Applejack quickly walked ahead, Rarity turned her gaze to you and whispered. "Judging by how I know exactly how a woman's mind works and based off of the story you told me about last night, I'd say you've kept her up all night. I think the poor girl likes you!" She gave you a smile that showed empathy for her friend's plight yet happiness since her potential feelings for you might serve her well later.

The words echoed in your head...

The poor girl likes you...

The poor girl likes you...

The poor girl likes you...

...And you liked her back...

Authors note: It's done, it's still kinda short and I apologize with all my apples. Bear with me though, these are what you would call the 'Catalyst Chapters.' You know, the ones where things really start to change. Anyways, just know that I love all the attention this fic is getting and I look forward to your reviews, suggestions, messages, critiques, ect.

~Jex, OUT! ^.^