Two days later, Sunshine and I trotted into the foyer of the castle, both of us bearing a pack with some lunches in them and headed over to the park. Sunshine looked nervous, but it was a nervousness brought on by excitement. We were due to meet Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres for a lunch with everyone's pet. We had agreed to fill in for Princess Twilight and Rarity who had been called away to Manehatten and Fluttershy had offered to show Sunshine around town while I met with my sisters again to finalize things regarding the house.

"This is so beautiful," she said, gazing around the outermost orchards of the Apple family land. "Not even AJ's farm on the other side is this green and vibrant."

"No cars here to pollute the air," I looked around, looking for the turnoff to the field Applejack had specified. "Not even all that many steam powered contrivances when you think about it. And Earth ponies have a magic that connects them to the land, making them stronger and the crops they grow more hardy and resilient."

"But how does she harvest all these apples? I don't see any ladders or anything like that."

"It's called apple bucking, sugar cube," came the warm drawl from just ahead. Applejack stepped out from around a tree, leaning against it and adjusting her ever-present hat. "I can show you later if you have a hankering for it."

"We'll think on it," I said, trotting up. "We're not running late, are we?"

"Nah, I just wanted to meet you here as sometimes the lower forty can be confusing, especially the first time out." She turned and gestured for us to follow. "Right this way."

She led us down a twisting path that opened up into a large field dotted with wildflowers. A large blanket was already spread out and so far Fluttershy and Pinkie were already chatting, the pink pony bouncing in place in her excitement. Rainbow was giving a tortoise's shell a buffing with a cloth while a dog ran up to Applejack and started darting around the three of us.

"Settle down, Winona," the farmer said with a smile. "We're all here now so go sit down."

The collie gave a bark and dashed back to the picnic blanket, sitting obediently off to one side. I trotted up and levitated my pack off and brought out my contribution to the picnic, some berry cobblers made earlier in the morning. Twilight produced a pitcher of tea and some glasses.

"Oh, dear," Fluttershy whispered, seeing the teacups. "I didn't know you were bringing tea too, Sunshine." She glanced down slightly.

"Don't worry about it, 'Shy," the mare replied. "You can never have too much tea."

"So, I hear you two are sticking around for another couple of days," Rainbow Dash said, dropping down and snatching up a sandwich. "You have any awesome plans?" she asked with a leading tone to her voice.

"I have a feeling you have a suggestion, RD?" I deadpanned.

"Only one of the most awesome shows on this side of Canterlot!" She started drifting up as her wings flapped in her excitement. "The Wonderbolts are doing a charity event in Ponyville the day after tomorrow!"

"Did you find out if you were going to be in the show too, Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy.

"Nah, just the main roster. Us rookies are going to be handling the donations and making sure everything gets set up." She dropped back to the ground, training her gaze on myself and Twilight. "You two should totally stop by."

"I don't know," Twilight said with a straight face. "I mean, catching an event in the town that we're staying in seems like it might be a tough task."

Rainbow blinked before cracking a smile. "Great!"

I took a bite out of a cucumber sandwich, chewing quickly. "So, what else can we do while we're here? I'm a bit out of touch with the entertainment scene."

"Well, RaRa is performing for the Wonderbolt show, so that's a bonus," Applejack said. "Anything new on that, Pinkie?"

"Nope! Everything is set up and all she asked for was some of your apples in the dressing room." The party pony shook her mane and sighed in contentment. "So much easier without that nasty-pants manager."

I sensed a story but decided to cut to the chase. "RaRa?"

"The Countess Coloratura," Pinkie said, rearing up and striking a regal pose. "She's a mega-popular singer that Applejack went to summer camp with when they were fillies and she came to do a concert to support the school and reconnected with AJ and she's totally awesome and tough to get scheduled."

I frowned, mentally adding commas and separating the sentences. Pinkie always tended to speak in run-ons when excited. I saw Twilight tilt her head and chew on her lip thoughtfully out of the corner of my eye.

"Bit for your thoughts?" I whispered to her as Rainbow Dash asked Pinkie a question about the concert.

"I was thinking it might be nice to see a concert with you," she said shyly. "But I don't want to push things."

"I don't think asking to see a show with a friend is pushing anything," I said, give her a steady look. "We both have gone to events with the girls back home with no undertones."

She glanced down briefly, a flush coming up her face. "Yeah, but this is different," she said. "This is a once in a lifetime event and who knows if there will be another chance." I wasn't sure if she was referring to the show or not.

"Twi," I said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Let's enjoy the picnic first, huh?"

"You are a bad influence on me," she replied, turning towards Pinkie as the pony offered out a plate of cupcakes.

I laughed, not caring that the gathered ponies were looking at me in confusion.