originally written by: sacredheart99

being reworked by: wildechris68 (me)

Chapter One: Honesty in your Lies

"Alright then, my turn. If each of you could have the perfect boyfriend, what would he be like?" Twilight asked, taking a bite of her apple.

"He'd be tall, rich and stylish. He'd have soft and very clean blonde hair nice and groomed, and beautiful amethyst eyes, that'd be my dream man" Rarity sighed dreamily, twirling a lock of her hair with her fingers.

"He'd be super-fast and totally cool, and he could play soccer like a champ! I mean, he'd have to have an epic hairdo like blue but one side's shaved, and he'd definitely have to have eyes like mine" Rainbow said.

"Mah dream man ain't have to be real fancy, just honest with me, but if y'all are fantasisin' bout yer dream boy… mine would have tah have dark hair, long dark hair and beautiful blue eyes like the summer sky" Applejack said, resting her chin on her hands.

"Ooh! Ooh! My dream boyfriend" Pinkie giggled "would have to have crazy hair and pretty aqua eyes! And he'd have to be able to bake a good cake!"

"Umm… my… my boyfriend, if I ever get one, that is… um… he'd have to have, I'm not insisting he should be the way I want him to… but if I had to pick, not to be rude… he would have nice hazelnut brown hair and green eyes like soft new grass," Fluttershy squeaked, feeling her cheeks colour.

Twilight laughed "They all sound very interesting, but I'm not one to judge a book by its cover" she joked, nobody on the table getting it, not even Pinkie. The nerdy girl perked up upon hearing somebody laugh directly behind her, and turned to see a young man smiling "Hey, great joke. You're a bookworm, right? I mean, I get picked on a lot for it but I love a good book or two!"

She laughed "I know how you feel. Oh, what's your favourite book?" she asked, swivelling around to face the young man. He thought "I'd have to say…"

"Equestrian Studies by Marethur Colt" they said together, jinxing, then laughing it off.

She smiled and he did too "Oh by the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

"Crafty Blue, it's nice to meet you Twi, if you don't mind me calling you that" he said.

"Oh no it's ok, my friends call me that all the time" she said, gesturing to the five other girls seated at the table, who waved back. He nodded, adjusting his fuchsia beanie and neckerchief "Cool, nice to meet you girls. Hey Twi, would you be willing to hang out later with me?"

Twilight looked to her friends and back to Crafty "Sure, when abouts?"

"After school, if that's ok," he said, brushing a lock of his blonde hair from his face. She nodded but quickly remembered something important "Uh sorry Crafty, but I promised the girls we'd hang out after school" Twilight added in, shrugging apologetically. He seemed upset "Oh… ok then…" and turned back around.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's ok," he said, taking a bite out of his sandwich and chewing slowly. She felt rude for declining such a nice young man's request, but she had promised her friends and friends came first to her. She finished her food and as the bell went, they all went to their classes.

All but one student, who sat and finished his sandwich, singing quietly to himself.

"This day is going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small…"

Grabbing her books from her locker, the blonde apple farmer stuffed them into her bag and began her walk to the door, when she bumped into someone. "Aw gosh ah'm so sorry ma'am! I wasn't looking where ah was going. Are you alright?" the person asked.

She opened her eyes and nearly passed out. There stood a young man, tanned skin and dark hair in a loose ponytail, wearing a dusty red flannelette and jeans that obviously had been worn during tough labour. His most breathtaking feature was his eyes bluer than Applejack had ever seen.

"Ah'm ok… it was mah fault, I wasn't looking where I was goin'. It ain't yer fault hon," she said, her cheeks warming at a surprising rate. He smiled and she felt a fluttery feeling in her gut, as he helped her to her feet and picked up her books. "Sure? Alright then, but be careful ya hear?"

She smiled at him and he smiled back "So um… what's yer name?"

"A-Applejack, and yers?" she said.

"Golden Cider, I'm new here. It's real nice to meet ya AJ, maybe ah could buy ya a drink later to say sorry properly, like my mama taught me" he said with a smile. "Really? Well I'd be flattered but…"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, as the flood of students rushed out the doors at the bell. She found herself wrapped in his arms protectively, and her cheeks heated up like a wildfire, his too. He laughed awkwardly and let her go "Sorry, but ah had to. You alright?" he asked.

"Sure am," she said, gripping her upper arm shyly. She looked up into his blue eyes and felt all her worries melt away, all troubles and all fears wash into nothingness. From sky blue to shimmering green, but she didn't notice it at all. As she became dizzy and her green eyes pulsed with energy being stolen, Cider began to sing to himself.

"But instead of staying fake, their love I shall take, the magic crown shall make me rule over all".