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/ Ch.7 Farm Ponies And New Feelings / Story: Aero's Amorous Adventures / by StormHoof32 /-/

Aero's ear twitched as the ray's of the sun shined into the bedchambers, reflecting of the crystalline walls and managing to shine directly into his close eye's. After trying and failing to stay asleep, he opened his eye's slowly, rubbing the sleep from them as he looked around. Luna was no longer by his side however. Yawning, Aero hopped out of the bed and headed for toward the bathroom where found a towel sitting on the counter along with a few varying soaps and a note. Curious, Aero picked up the note.

Dearest Aero,

I apologize for not being there when you awake, however there was something I had to check into regarding Twilight. If you wish, take some time to get to know Ponyville and it's inhabitants. Many of them are friendly and would make great friends.

with love, Luna.

He smiled and blushed slightly at the memories of the night before. Deciding to do as she had said in the note, Aero hopped into the shower and began to clean himself. When he was finished he dried off and set to work preening his wings. Some of his feathers had gotten slightly misaligned during his sleep. Once he was satisfied with his wings, he gave a few quick flaps before he made his way out of the castle. Had he not paid attention when Twilight had given them the tour, he definitely would have gotten lost.

Outside the sun was casting it's warm rays across the town. He smiled and closed his eye's as he allowed the warmth to seep into his coat before he headed off in a random direction. He didn't really know where he was going but he eventually found himself at the edge of a rather large orchard. He could see apple trees for miles, all covered with some of the most delicious apples he had ever seen. However he was much more interested in the sound he was hearing. Somewhere within the orchard he could hear a resounding thunk that seemed to carry on the breeze. Curious he followed the fence in front of him until he came to a large iron arch with a picture of an apple at the top.

Aero shrugged and walked through, heading towards the big red barn, where an elderly mare was sitting in a rocking chair, snoozing in the morning sun. Not wanting to bother anypony, Aero turned to where he could clearly hear the sound and headed in that direction. After a minute or so of walking he found an orange mare wearing a Stetson as she reared her back legs and struck the tree. Aero watched in awe as a cascade of apples fell into baskets laid out beneath the tree. This was obviously what was making the sound. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a large red stallion spoke from next to him.

"Need somethin?" he asked. The stallion was a good six hooves taller than Aero and cast a large shadow over the colt as he turned to look up at him.

"U-um, n-no. I was j-just looking around b-because I heard a loud noice." Aero responded, being as truthful as possible as he did not want to anger the stallion. "U-Uh, m-my name is Aero."

Even after introducing himself, the stallion simply stood there and watched him with a critical eye. That was until the orange mare who was bucking the tree's came over. "Howdy there partner. I see y'all met Big Mac." she said as she motioned a hoof toward the stallion. "What's your name sugarcube?"

"Um, Aero." He said as he looked back at Big Mac. It was fitting name.

"Well Aero it's a mighty pleasure to meet ya, I'm Applejack. I take it your new in town?" she asked.

"Um, j-just visiting with L-Luna for the celebration." he stuttered.

"Come on now I'll have none of that stutterin. So your here with the princess huh? Well I hope your hungry, cuz the apple family will be providin the food for the Celebration." She said with a rather proud smile. However at that moment, Aero's stomach decided it was tired of being ignored. It wanted food, and it hadn't gotten any food. Thus it released a loud grumble that made Aero turn red in embarrassment. "Speakin of food, ya sound mighty hungry, why not come have taste of some good ole Apple home cookin."

"Um. Ok." Aero replied, still embarrassed that his own stomach was even capable of making such a loud sound. He followed after as Applejack led him back to the barn where the elderly mare was still snoozing. "That there is Granny Smith, she's the Matron of our little family here. I'd introduce ya to Apple Bloom, but she's already left to play with her friends." She explained before walking up and tapping Granny Smith on the shoulder. "Granny, wake up, we got a new colt here visitin with the Princess."

Granny Smith snorted awake as she blinked a few times. She squinted as she looked down at Aero, almost as if she was straining to get a better look. "Well now, ain't ya adorable." she said before looking up at Applejack. "He looks thin Applejack, ya better get him somethin to eat."

However before Applejack could even respond she was once again snoozing in the sunlight. Aero had to wonder just how old she was to be able to go back to sleep so quickly. Applejack just shook her head and gave a chuckle before opening the door. She held the door as Aero walked in, followed by Big Mac as he headed up the stairs. He turned and looked back at Aero before he moved out of site and the sound of a door closing was heard.

"Ya ain't gotta worry none about him. He's a big softy once ya get to know him." Applejack said as she led him into the kitchen/dining room. The table in the middle of the dining area was well worn and looked quite aged. It seemed as though it had been around for many many years. Noticing where Aero was looking Applejack gave another chuckle. "That there table has been in my family for generations. It was a hoof-made gift from our grandfather to Granny." she said as she looked at it with a fondness that could only come from one who was close with their family.

"Wow." Aero replied. "That's cool."

"Your darn tootin. Now have you ever had an apple fritter?" she asked.

"Um yeah. My mom gets them from time to time. But I usually only get to eat them for dessert." He explained. His mom would usually bring home a box of twelve. And her only rule was that he could have one as long as he ate all of his dinner. The only thing that stopped him from eating them anyway was that she would count them each day to make sure he only ate one per night. It was something she had to make sure of when it came to not being able to home often.

"Lemme rephrase that. Have you ever had an Apple Family apple fritter." She said as she smirked and placed a plate with perhaps the most delicious looking fritter Aero had ever laid eye's on. He shook his head before leaning down and taking a bite. The taste of fresh apple and sugar exploded on his tongue as he chewed, savoring it as much as possible before he swallowed and immediately dove in for another. It was quite possibly the best thing he had ever tasted, and had there been more than one, he would have eaten until he got sick. Applejack simple laughed as he chowed down. Soon there was nothing but crumbs left and a colt with a dopey grin on his face.

"I guarantee you won't find a better fritter in all of Equestria." she said, her chest swelling slightly with pride. "And if ya do, I'll eat my hat."

At that Aero started giggling. The thought of somepony eating a hat had to be one of the funniest things he had ever heard. His giggle eventually turned into a full blown laughing fit as Applejack joined him. The morning had only just begun and Aero could tell he was going to have a great day. As his laughter died down he thought of Luna and what she was doing. He hoped she was having as great a morning as he was.

Luna sat with Twilight in her personal library as the studious princess went from shelf to shelf searching for books on different types of Celebrations. Today she was going to talk to Luna about how she wanted the Celebration to look, feel, and sound. If there was one thing Twilight was thorough in, it was planning. However Luna simply watched her. She had seen the looks Twilight had been giving her and Aero when they had first showed up. She could easily see the underlying curiosity there. Twilight was obviously curious about their herd, and that gave Luna an idea.

"So Twilight, What do you think of Aero?" she asked, causing the alicorn to stumble slightly as she turned to Luna with a faint blush.

"Well, h-he's cute." she replied as she tried her hardest to keep her blush under control.

"Just cute? I'd say by the looks you've given him, and myself at that that you think he's a bit more than just 'cute'." Luna said as she watched Twilight's blush grow even more. "I'd even go as far as to say you're interested in him."

At that Twilight's blush came out in full force as her wings sprung out, giving her away immediately. "W-well...I...he..."

Luna simple laughed as she walked over to where Twilight was standing. She draped a wing over her as she leaned down and whispered into Twilight's ear. "Why don't I show you just how wonderful he is."

Twilight's stutter got immediately worse at the implication of what Luna had said. "I-I don't k-know if I'm r-ready for that." She said as her ear twitched with Luna's breath. Luna smiled as she moved back to give her some space to breath.

"It needn't be now, if that is what you wish." She replied. She could definitely tell that Twilight was harboring feelings for the young colt. And because of that, she'd let her go about it at her own pace. "The offer shall stand for as long as you wish."

"Um. thanks." Twilight said sheepishly as she tried in vain to get her wings to comply. "C-can we please talk about the Celebration now?"

"Of course. I'd be more than pleased to discuss the Celebration." Luna said as they both sat at the table, as a stack of twenty or so books were levitated and placed on the edge. As they got into their discussions of the festivities, Twilight began to calm down, her wings now resting on her back once more as she got lost in the planning. It was a side of Twilight that Luna was quite proud of. She smiled as she too got lost in the planning, thinking of Aero and whether or not he was having fun meeting the citizens of Ponyville. As that thought crossed her mind, she began to think of a plan to tell Aero of his new growing foal. She smiled wistfully once more before moving her hoof to her abdomen.