The Princess Apprentice (PM for invite)

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields was both bemused and motivated by Rainbow Dash’s positive reactions to his tales of R.E.A grunt mischief. Most ponies are usually dismissive of the stories of such antics, believing them to be nothing more than tomfoolery of immature, younger stallions that preferred to still occasionally act like colts. Even Purple Haze appeared uninterested in his lighter stories with the force, preferring stories of adventure and danger, which sadly were lacking. The ruddy maned stallion rolled his eyes when Dash mentioned she insisted she must hear a rendition of the mustache song, but was agreeable none the less, “Weel ance we gie back tae mah place, Ah promise! Certainly nae gonnae sin' it haur! Ah hae tae admit, Ah still dae min' it.” Memorized more like it, which wasn’t an uncommon"accomplishment" among the recruits.

What really kept Carrot going though wasn’t Dash’s enjoyment of his tales, but her unwavering support through the audience’s jeers and Hard Rock’s barbs. Even if her cheering was only in short bursts between her bites of the jambalaya, a meal he felt was only mildly spicy, it was still enough, even as the ruddy maned stallion took his first tentative, small bites of the delicious course set before him. Carrot listened attentively as Dash’s regaled her own prankster stories from her days in the weather academy, imagining a room where desks and seats made of hardened cloud. The story itself wasn’t all that good, but he smiled and hung on to the details none the less, as it helped him slowly work his way through the tremendous meal before him, well that and he just enjoyed looking upon her large cerise eyes and her enthusiastic, yet adorable smile.

Hard Rock’s cooking indeed was as amazing as claimed by the locals, it rivaled anything his sister had in her repertoire for sure, even exceeding it, but she was still a filly with no formal training as a cook, yet. Unfortunately while his mouth was more than willing, his stomach protested every gulp with a mighty, and barely containable, rumble.

Carrot’s stomach wouldn’t have any of it though. It grew exponentially more difficult to swallow each bite, and the audience was growing both more harsh and impatient with their heckling. “What’s the matter jabronie? Hard Rock thought a big, tough stallion like you would be able to handle a three course meal, maybe next time you visit the restaurant of the Greatest, hard Rock and make sure you get the little foal’s meal for your wee, little weak tummy!” The old wrestler’s taunts only pushed Carrot further; he so desperately wanted to show the old stallion off. It was frustrating; such a meal normally would be a piece of cake, ugh.. Great, now he was thinking of heavy cake; it was simply too much and his stomach informed Carrot of its refusal to endure this farce any longer.

There was no way Carrot was going to be sick in front of everypony, certainly not in front the princess, and certainly not in front of Dash. As much as he hated doing it and how bad it may have looked, Carrot pushed the plate away with his forehooves and bolted out the side door without so much as a word. Hard Rock smiled and gloated in another victory as Carrot unceremoniously left the restaurant, “Well it looks like another roody-poo Jabroni failed the meet the challenge set forth by the Great One! Ponyville, he couldn't stomach what Hard Rock was cooking!”

[Bramble Rose]

Carrot Fields might not have been enjoying his meal - but Rainbow Dash sure was! Swapping stories, a bit of competition, and let's face it - really good food. As long as one ignored the scent still lingering from Carrot's attempt ...

Still, she let out a groan of disappointment as Carrot got *that look* on his face and darted out of the restaurant, leaning back and sighing in disappointment. But Hard Rock's particular choice of taunt was a little bit ... odd ... and she just couldn't resist a counter-taunt on Carrot's behalf, as she took to the air, leaving behind her half-finished dinner, and headed for the door - for once, slower than Carrot. "I dunno, Hard Rock, I don't think it says much for you and your restaurant if your food is that inedible!" She gave an impish grin and a wave, and then darted out the door.

Carrot was not far away, bent over amidst the bushes. Dash floated up behind him, taking hold of his mass of curly red mane and pulling it away, ignoring the nasty acidic stench floating up from the bushes there. "Aw, tough luck, Carrot! That would have been awesome if you had won! But at least you gave it your best! I'm sure you impressed the princess even so!" She grinned a little lopsidedly, trying to support him even if ... well, it must be the sick smell coming from the bushes, because her stomach felt a little queasy as she tried to encourage him. And her next words, "Next time, you'll do better!" might be considered a little ominous.

​

[SteelEagle]

Twilight loved her friends deeply and counted Carrot among them now, but he acted odd. So did Rainbow for that matter. They were both standing in front of a large crowd of strangers who were begging for Carrot to fail to satisfy the requirements of the challenge, being stared down into tiny bits by the fiery gaze of Hard Rock and his team of cooks that ran around fulfilling orders in the madhouse that was the restaurant at the moment. Yet despite the massive crowd baying for blood and Hard Rock roaring his approval and or disapproval time and time again, both Rainbow Dash and Carrot Fields were speaking loudly and proudly about their various pranks pulled either in the REA or in weather camps. It was a stunning display of absolutely discarding the notion of public decency and shame with casual words and waves of the hoof. It was obvious why.

They were so wrapped up in the possibilities and histories that swirled around two lovers like the evergreen mists of time wrapped around the hard stone of space. They were wrapped up in each other's words as vines wrapped and subdued their prey in the deep Everfree, so did their words subdue the mind of the other. They were consumed in each other's eyes as surely as Twilight had been consumed by her work. There was no doubting that they loved one another and that the love they shared acted as a shield. All he could see was her and all she could see was him. Sure, maybe as a friend they saw Twilight and Rainbow sure did, but the crowd were simple cardboard cutouts. The food came and Twiight sheepishly huddled her twelve plates of food off to the side, snogging on them relentlessly as she listened to the crowd. The hunger was eternal. As was their love.

Eventualy though, Carrot had to give in to the demands of his non Alicorn hunger and ran off. The crowd cheered and dash followed her coltfriend, snarking off as she did so. Twilight couldn't blame Dash but at the same time, this was something carrot had chosen. Probably becase of Dash, but the case could be made this was a self-inflicted wound. All Hard Rock had done was play his character, do his job, and make some good food. And all the crowd had done was play the crowd. Every bit of twilight wanted to snap off a few remarks aimed at Hard Rock, but the words died when her brain intervened. It wasn't Hard Rock's fault. Twilight levitated some to go bags an filled it with her extra food. She smiled and bowed.

“Thank you for the food and...err, show, Hard Rock,” Twilight said politely. To her surprise, Hard Rock returned the bow.

“It was Hard Rock's pleasure to entertain Her Majesty! Now, the people's chef is going to GIVE EVERYPONY WHAT THEY WANT- FREE SANDWICHES!” He bellowed out to the roar of the crowd. Twilight slinked off and out of the restaurant. She soon met Carrot and Dash next to the bush, carry out bags in tow.

“You did your best, Carrot. That's all we can ask you to do!” Twilight comforted her friend, wary of getting too close. She had a royal hunger but not a royal gag reflex!

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields managed to quickly find a small secluded group of bushes among an obscuring canopy of pines out behind the restaurant with nopony around; it was his first stroke of real luck the whole day so far. At least he wasn’t too sick from the meal; it felt like he gave up more charcoal than anything else. Still, charcoal was supposed to make your stomach feel better, not worse! It always helped when his mom gave him some for his upset stomach as a colt. Carrot sighed, couldn’t even get charcoal right…

He almost turned around in shock when he felt the suddenly pulling back of his long, wavy, ruddy mane until he heard Dash’s voice as she attempted to console him. No way was Carrot willing to turn around to face her, as much as would have wanted to, not in this condition, looking like this. All he managed to mumble was a correction, “thanks, but Ah didn’t try an' win fur th' princess.” He wanted to confess why he went through such a ridiculous contest completely unaware and unprepared, but not now, not when he looked like this.

If things weren’t embarrassing enough,Twilight also decided to check up on him. Great, noo tois bonnie mares can look upon me bein' sick. What made the situation even more embarrassing was that Twilight was royalty, and his R.E.A. training screamed at him for looking so unacceptable in front of the alicorn princess, who deserved the utmost respect and courtesy from a member of her majesty’s militia, even former militia. You couldn't take the R.E.A training out of the pony.... At least he could have a little dignity and apologize even if he couldn’t bring himself to look at her, “I’m sorry yer highness fur mah condition in yer presence; Ah hope ye will be forgife me fur nae facin' ye..”

What to do now though? He wasn’t about to leave with them, not looking like he did; he had to clean up first, but it wasn’t fair to ask them to wait for him either, as he was sure they had other plans for the evening. “Ye tois go ahead; Ah said Ah woods pay fur dinnae sae when Ah clean up, i’ll gang back in an' pay an' catch up wi' ye tois. thanks fur comin' wi' me tae th' restaurant at least; it was fun.” At first wasn’t sure if he was being entirely truthful about the fun part, but looking back it wasn't that bad, Dash's unwavering support and presence sure made the bruises and sickness more or less worth it. Of course having Twilight helped too; he didn't have any particular feelings for her other than a general fondness and respect but she sure was cute! Still, he felt a little humiliated by how it all came down in the end, and if just went back to him home alone, it was perhaps for the best.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how to respond to Carrot... she supposed he was embarrassed by losing - after all, who wouldn't be? And he was probably also embarrassed by his crush on the Princess, so he didn't want to talk about it. That was fine, she didn't want to talk about it, either... Not that there was anything wrong with it, just she was a daredevil, not some filly who talked about nothing but relationships.

"Hey, no worries! I got pie, and we had fun! Here ya go!" She pulled out a couple bits and tossed them to Carrot as he started to head back inside. "For my part of the bill! We'll wait for ya here!"

She waited for the door to close behind Carrot, then headed over by Twilight. "Hey, Twi ... soooo ... what do you think of him?" she asked, being as totally casual as possible, though her stomach was churning. Twilight better not break his heart! "He's pretty cool, right? And nerdy. You should hear him go on and on about stars and stuff."

​

[SteelEagle]

Carrot was brave in his own way, as needless as it was. The quaking in his voice did not match his strong words, which spoke to a lifetime of service stiffening the back of an otherwise embarrassed pony. He offered his apologies to the Princess to compound the needlessness of it all, Poor stallion. Well, at the very least he maintained what bearings he could. It was important in an otherwise less than stellar situation. Keeping your head held high even when it felt like sinking into the ground was an important feature of a strong pony that allowed the strong to maintain themselves despite the privations of an unkind world. Of course, relaying his apology to her was unneeded, as was his declaration of payment. By virtue of her position, Twilight was the richest mare in Ponyville. No way was he paying for her food.

“You don't have to apologize to me for your condition, Carrot. If I can hold Applejack's mane while she lets loose into a bucket after some drunken debauchery, I can deal with this. It's fine, honestly. I'll be paying for my own food, by the way. Maybe you're used to dates who can't, but I can pay readily. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you sure you're going to make it okay? I'd hate to think that you got sick trying to impress Rainbow Dash,” Twilight whispered softly, rubbing his mane in worry before she nodded and allowed him to leave. He was a big colt who could take of himself- if he wanted her help she'd be there, but she wasn't going to follow him every step of the way. In any case, she took a few steps back and soon found Rainbow Dash sidling up next to her.

Oh my Gosh, was she really already at this stage? If she was already seeking her friends' approval, Rainbiow Dash must have been involved with Carrot somewhat deeply. That was the only explanation Twilight could conjure up, Rainbow trying to uphold all that was good ad righteous about her coltfriend so that her friends could like him as much as she did. Well, maybe not AS much since Twilight didn't want to date Carrot, but if Rainbow got approval from her friends it'd make pursuing the relationship even easier for her. Twilight wasn't going to get in the way of that. In fact, she was going to encourage it.

“Oh, really? That's nice to hear,” which Twilight knew, seeing as Applejack had told her everything about their camping trip, “which is good, since there are some really nice views of the sky from the clouds. Speaking of, did you see how competitive he can be? I know I wouldn't have challenged Hard Rock like that. How did that strike you? Very fetching quality, right?” Twilight asked expectantly, already imagining what dress to wear to the wedding.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields took the two bits Dash gave him without a word and walked back inside to pay for the deal, he wasn't actually going to use the coinage to help pay but planned to somehow sneak those two bits back to her without noticing, at least until it was too late. All of this just to impress a mare, he wondered if she had even noticed? The princess noticed, she whispered as much to him, but that didn't necessarily mean Dash had any realization. Besides he was sure that he was subtle in what he was trying to do anyway, perhaps too subtle?

As he entered inside, Hard Rock was just finishing chatting it up with some of the customers, no doubt joshing about his recent victory or past glory, in either case at least he was in a fine mood. "Sae uhh, hoo much fur th' meals?"

Hard Rock turned and smiled broadly, "don't worry about that. It's on the house! Not because you won of course; how could you possibly beat Hard rock anyway? Just because that was the most entertainment Hard rock had in a good long time! Besides we're always willing to for guests of royalty!"

Hard Rock wrapped one of his immense fore hooves around the ruddy maned carrot farmer's shoulders, "so, just between us, which one of your two mare friends were you trying to impress?"

Carrot's eyes widened; was it that obvious he was going through all of that for her? Well there was no point in denying it, "Weel umm, Dash, th' blue pegasus, 'er nam is Dash, och wait Ah jist said 'at."

Hard Rock lead out a hardy laugh, "her?! Oh ho ho ho! She's a regular you know! Always trying to win Hard Rock's challenge and failing miserably! In fact you actually did better then she did! She never finishes off her own cooking in round three, no wonder she was so supportive, she was proud of you!" The huge red stallion gave Carrot a playful punch in the shoulder, "not that you were going to win mind you."

Carrot let out a smile and a weak laugh of his own, "Ah dornt hink she noticed thoogh; she probably jist wanted tae win.."

Hard Rock slapped Carrot right on the back of his mane playfully, although it felt more like a crushing blow after the afternoon the poor farmer stallion had. "Pfft, what are you talking about? Of course she noticed! Sure she wanted to win, but more importantly she wanted *you* to win because she likes you! That isn't important now, the real question Hard Rock has for you is 'when are you taking up the real challenge'?

Carrot looked confused, "real challenge?"

Hard Rock playfully rolled his eyes, "coming right out and telling her that you like her, by giving her a big passionate kiss of course! Just telling a mare like Rainbow Dash isn't good enough, you have come right out and *show* her how much you're interested!" Before Carrot could protest the idea, the large ruddy stallion shoved several mint leaves into his mouth, "here, chew a bit on these before washing out; can't kiss your mare without cleaning up from your little accident first!"

Carrot wasn't going to complain about or not take advantage of the opportunity to at least clean up. However after he finished with the leaves and water, he just couldn't help but ask, partly out of genuine curiosity and partly out of shock, "Wa ur ye daein' thes?"

Hard Rock looked surprised by the gray stallion's question, "what else in life is as worthy as this? Do you think you are not worthy enough for her?"

Carrot tired to retort but didn't even get more out other than "well.."

"It doesn't matter what you think!" The huge red stallion bellowed, "it only matters what *she* thinks!"

Carrot looked dumbfounded, even if part of him wanted to hoof stomp with glee over getting one of the famous wrestler's catch phrases. "Sae gang reit up an' teel 'er an' 'en kiss 'er? Ah uh, Ah guess 'at coods wark, either 'at ur Ah get slugged an' princess Twilecht calls some royal guard tae haul me aff tae th' local prison.."

Ol' hard Rock just smiled, "Carrot! The greatest rewards in life are only won by great risk and great effort! You don't pin somepony to the mat by asking politely if they'd please lay down! You don't win a race by politely gesturing 'You first!' Do you want to win her heart?! Then risk your own! Can you hear what Hard Rock is saying?"

Yes, yes Carrot could! He just smiled back without saying another word before walking back out the door with his saddle bag, knowing what had to be done, he hoped.

Hard Rock smiled with confidence, "that's the way!" After the door classed though and Carrot couldn't possibly hear him, the red stallion leaned over to his assistant chef and whispered, "mix up a heartbreak special, just in case, would ya?"

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash felt her stomach churn again as she watched Twilight murmur softly to Carrot, her hoof rubbing in his mane. Urgh. She must be too close to that sick-up. She spread her wings and flitted a little further away from that area.

Well, at least she didn't need to worry about Twilight rejecting him. She looked like she was probably liking him, too. Good. He should be happy. She blinked in surprise at Twilight's response to her. "Well, yeah. I guess. I mean, sure is! Why wouldn't he be competitive? Why wouldn't *everypony*? But I didn't realize that you realized that!"

She frowned as she tried to figure out what she'd just said. Did that make sense? Ah, who cares, move on. Quick, change topic.

Her brain blanked. She rubbed awkwardly at the back of her mane. "Sooo... ohyeah! The Derby! It's so exciting. I'm being assigned my official reservist uniform. Which is similar to the main uniforms, except that there's some small alterations..." She started going into the details of color and cut, in a precise manner which would have done Rarity proud, gabbing away about Wonderbolts til Carrot came back out.

"Ah, Carrot! Awesome." He had a weird look on his face, he looked like he was smiling, but he also looked a little tense. "You OK? He didn't give you too hard of a time in there, did he? I can always go back in there and ..." She slammed one hoof into the other suggestively, but finished it off with, "Give him a good stern trash-talking! If you need me to? Though I was surprised when I heard you trash talking during the wrestling match! I've never seen that side of you before! That was pretty awesome!"

​

[SteelEagle]

It was nice to see that Rainbow Dash was so familiar with what she was looking for and saw it so clearly in Carrot that it didn't come as a shock to her. One of the most important things about a relationship she was told was ensuring that both sides saw in the other what they were desiring, or at least something so close to what the heart longed for that the small differences could be smoothed over. Love was a powerful armor again\st inequity but you had to temper it with expectations and desires true and hearty or you would be found wanting in the crucible. Dash knew what she wanted and what she wanted was what Carrot offered. They were going to be so cute together!

"Oh, I keep myself well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of everypony I consider close to me," Twilight added affectionately, assuring Dash that carrot met Twilight's standards if Rainbow worried about such things. Now she had to make sure that Carrot was all squared away.

He returned not as strung up by his own feelings of shame when he returned, a good sign that despite Rainbow Dash's possible protests that everything had gone well enough. She was a little worried by what Hard Rock was going to say to him in the post-competition glow but she supposed it was only natural it would be a friendly chat. Sort of. Of course it could all turn out he was just putting a friendly face on for the adoring crowd of Rainbow Dash, but all in all she was happy the day was going as well as it was. Almost as happy as she was to hear more about Rainbow's career taking that big next step. She knew that the Wonderbolts thought very highly of Rainbow- almost as highly as Rainbow thought of herself- but it took most recruits years and years to get as far as she was. It wouldn't be too long until she was flying with the main team.

Then the subject of the match come up, though not before Rainbow Dash promised to defend the honor of her love. It was very adorable.

“Yeah, it was something else, Carrot. I didn't think you had that much bluster in you! What else do you want to do? Can't say I feel tired yet. Have anything in mind?” Twilight asked, trotting alongside her friend and inspecting him closely for signs of any further illness.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields quickly trotted out to the two lovely mares, breath all minty fresh. He managed to catch only the tail end of their conversation; hearing about Dash describing her new reserve Wonderbolt’s uniform in detail. It was so cool that he knew a Wonderbolt personally; a Wonderbolt! It didn’t matter to him that she was a reservist; they were all elite in his eyes! Of course, the young stallion couldn’t help but imagine her in the outfit through a salacious lens, it gave him a larger than normal smile.

He mentally refocused from his little fantasy in response the Dash’s question, “Och, nae, he didn’t gezz a hard time at aw! He’s cool ance ye gie tae know heem, but hoo cooldn’t he? It’s hard Rock!” Carrot blushed a little and rubbed the back of his mane as he was aft to do whenever he was nervous or shy, “he Jist uh, wanted tae gezz advice, that’s aw!” His blush only increased when the rainbow maned pegasus complimented him on his ability to ‘trash talk’. Sure, Carrot was shy around the mares he found bonnie, but that didn’t remotely mean he was shy all of the time! He was an R.E.A. enlisted veteran after all; being among other boisterous grunts out in remote outposts taught one how to give as good as they got verbally, not to mention the old adage of ‘put up or shut up’. That specific type of trashing talking though came from an earlier time. “Heh, weel when Ah was a colt back in grammar skale, mah friends an' Ah back in Fet Loch, we waur big wrestlin' fans, sae we aye hud these silly backyard toornament ‘fights’, an' bein' pro-wrestlin', we ay coorse hud tae hae uir best one liners!”

Carrot bowed his head politely when Twilight gave him a similar comment. It did make him feel as good as Dash’s adulations, but the stallion found it difficult to be informal around royalty, no matter how casual the situation, no matter how adorkably cute she was, “Thenk ye Princess Twilecht!” There, that was informal right? He didn’t use her full name! Of course her question was what brought him back to why he came back out here in the first place; there was one more thing he wanted to do! Needed to do!

Carrot turned back to Dash and came up within a foot or her, “Yeah, sae umm dash.. ye know, uh, ye weel, ye uhh wannagoootonadatesometime?” C’mon dumbtail, what was that?! That was pa-the-tic! Remember what Hard Rock said?! Be bold! Forward! Risk your heart pony; she’s worth it right? Right?

Right!

Carrot straightened up and looked right into her pretty indigo eyes, “Er, weel whit Ah mean is… och Luna above, lit me shaw ye!” He knew if he thought it over for even a second, it would never happen, so without any hesitation or waiting for a response, the ruddy maned stallion took Dash in his hooves, dipped her like a tango dancer would, and placed one firm kiss right on her lips. He held her and the kiss for a couple seconds before releasing her muzzle and pulling her back up in his forelegs, “Rainbaw Dash, woods ye loch tae gang it wi' me sometime?!”

Oh Luna above, I did it! Now please, please don’t buck me!

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash rocked back, wings flared out, as she found Carrot's lips pressed to hers. Her brain scrambled desperately to catch up. What was he doing?! Was this some sort of joke? Was it a prank? A dare? She was literally swept off her hooves, the pegasus pony floating upside down as he kissed her, too stunned and surprised to do anything.

But ... he was so nervous! And ... but ... what about Twilight?! She was a princess! And he lived right next door to Applejack! They had so much in common! And he'd met Rarity, and Rarity was so much prettier than she was! Rarity had stallions falling at her feet all the time! She didn't understand!

And the kiss was over already! He put her back on the ground, where she stood there staring blankly at him, still trying to catch up with the sudden mental shift. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. There was Carrot, his red mane all mussed and curly and frizzy, and that nervous little smile on his face... and he'd ... asked her out? But ... he ...

.... didn't he?

Slowly, it dawned on her that he actually meant it. A half-smile quirked at one corner of her mouth, then went away, as she stared at him in open-mouthed surprise. Then another half-smile, at the other half of her mouth, and that one stayed there... her wings were still flared in shock. She floated up a half-inch off the ground, then another, and then the half-smile grew into a full-grown grin, and her eyes lit up as she realized this was really, actually happening!

It was just like how she knew it would happen! Except he wasn't a pegasus, and they didn't have adventures, and he was kinda an egghead... but he'd just suddenly surprised her with a kiss! And she'd fly into him and knock him back into a cloud and they'd float on a cloud kissing in the sunset, except it'd have to be knocking him onto the grass, and kissing in front of all those ponies looking out of the window of the restaurant, and in front of Twilight, and then she'd be getting teased forever for being such a silly twitterpated filly ...

She made herself land again, though her heart was racing wildly, and that giddy smile just didn't seem to want to leave her face, but she did her best to stay cool. Her cheeks were flushing crimson as she tried to respond with maximum offhoofedness, "Uh, sure. That sounds good! Or fine. It's fine. Could be fun! Whatever. Yeah!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Twilight was a lover of romance novels. Not to the level of Rarity or even Fluttershy who were the masters of the art. Twilight simply loved the idea of love, and loved that love could have the billowing clouds of a storm masking the raging emotions above. When it broke and shattered the peace below with loud, clamoring declarations. Actions spoke louder than words no matter how breathlessly delivered those words were. It was the one great law in the world of love and Twilight was a mare concerned with the great laws of this world. When Twilight saw the pieces come together and finally start their play, she let out a loud, impish glee of excitement.

Carrot was suddenly aggressive, swinging Dash as if they were at a dance hall, planting a kiss, and then rushing out his request for a date as if his time was limited. It was adorably awkward yet shockingly self-confident, as such moves often were. Dash replied the only way she knew how, at first looking dumbstruck and flabbergasted. Slowly that smile crept on, bit by bit, inch by inch, until it was wide and dumb and as happy as could be. Then she tried to play it off incredibly casually, even if the excessive attempt at it played right into the truth of the matter. You couldn't deny the joy played on their faces, the awkwardness from Carrot or the fillyish glee from Rainbow. Twilight was happy she could share in the moment.

She fluttered above the ground, hooves in front of her face as she tried and failed to hide her blush and her smile. “ohmygoshmhmygoshohmygosh!” Twilight muttered loudly into her hooves, clasping them together in excitement before landing next to the pair. So many things to discuss but was she really supposed to be around as they discussed them? It seemed untoward just a bit for her to be there for such talks, but her mind was so overwhelmed with the burden of needing to know that she just had to ask all the questions. All of them.

"This is so great! I knew from the moment I saw you two together that this would happen! When did you know, Carrot? Rainbow? What do you see in one another? This is amazing! Haha, I can't believe I was right this quickly!” Twilight couldn't help but blurt out her thoughts at a rapid pace, excitedly prancing about.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields watched with both worry that he may have stepped over a few boundaries and pride that he was willing to take such a bold, forward risk in letting Dash know exactly how he felt. Dash was hard to read, as she only appeared to be in shock from his unexpected move at first. At least she wasn’t mad, and there was no forehoof forthcoming to meet him on the snout. As her initial expression of surprise evolved into a smile, the huge pit in his stomach became less overwhelming, turned out Hard Rock was right after all! All the ruddy maned stallion could do though was meet her smile with a blushed, dorky looking grin of his own; somehow it felt more appropriate than any words he could say, besides how could mere words add any to what he just did. The only question was, what would she say?

Dash’s response wasn’t entirely unexpected. Over the time he got to know her, she often would work to publicly portray a nonchalant coolness about anything that she liked, Wonderbolts and Daring Do being exceptions. As casual as she made her answer, what was important is that she said yes. Carrot rubbed the back of his mane while still blushing and smiling like a twitterpated colt unsure how to respond himself, realizing he hadn't thought ahead about what they would actually do for a date if she agreed. “Och! Hey, great! Loch uhh, mebbe we can hang an' stuff thes weekend an' gang tae th' wee Wonderbolts fan faire they're havin' in toon, hang it together, grab somethin' tae eat tay.” It sounded good for a first date, causal, something they both would get a kick out of and... Carrot mentally facehoofed, why would she want to go to a Wonderbolt faire, she is a Wonderbolt! Sure, reserve, but still. Gah, dumbtail!

Carrot had been so focused on the moment that he had forgotten all about Twilight Sparkle’s presence during it. The fact she didn’t intervene with her alicorn powers and haul him to jail meant that the lavender princess was at least alright with what just happened. So everything went better than expected, that is until Twilight got right between and started to ask the most awkward and honestly intrusive questions about he and Dash’s feelings before Carrot even had a chance to offer an alternate date location.

At first Carrot didn’t know how to react, the questions were personal, but she was a friend, well at least Dash’s friend, BFF really. More importantly, to him at least, is that she was a princess. Ponies revere their princesses, but those who went through R.E.A. training, that reverence was drilled into them to a much higher degree. It wasn’t that the soldiers worshiped royalty, just taught that they were worthy of loyalty and adulation; it was a position only the most special of ponies could hope to merit. As much, he was also taught to always be there to serve any request a princess may have, and although he was no longer obliged to, he just couldn't let go of that lesson. “Uhh, weel, umm, yer royal highness, uh, Ah mean Twilecht, Princess Twilecht, Ah umm, guess Ah knew frae uir adventure umm, sneak- er gettin' intae an' hangin' out at Daringcon.” Carrot turned to Dash, looking even some shy for answering, “Ah uh, hud a lot ay fin wi' ye thaur an' aw, ye waur sae adventuroos, bold, an' weel, bonnie.”

The awkward of answering the princess’ question only grew as he noticed the ponies watching out the windows from the restaurant, even Hard Rock couldn’t help but stand at the back entrance way and watch to see if his advice paid off.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but let out a delighted *squee!* at the suggestion of the Wonderbolts Fan Faire. ignoring Twilight slowly growing to critical excitement levels in the background, she cried out, "Yeah! That sounds awesome!" Then her ears drooped. "Oh. Except I'm kinda working the Fan Faire." Her hoof shuffled at the ground as she explained, "I got this thing I'm doing about explaining how to become a recruit, and then I'm kinda running the collectables' auction ..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. Then her ears perked up. "OH! But we could go to Wonderbolts show afterwards!" Her ears drooped again. "Oh, wait. Except that's in Cloudsdale... and you can't, um ..." She cleared her throat awkwardly.

She desperately needed something to distract fromt he awkwardness. Twilight suddenly jumping onto them both and asking embarassing questions was the exact OPPOSITE of that. Especially with everypony watching them! She shrunk down a bit, her tail tucking between her hind legs, her ears flat against her head. "Twiiiiiliiiight!" she groaned through gritted teeth, "Not now!" Twilight was a loss, just bouncing around in oblivious glee. Dash grabbed Carrot's hoof and gestured with her head towards the road back towards Carrot's farm. "Comon, let's get going. She's going to be like this for a bit..."

​

[SteelEagle]

It was incredible! The seeds of romance planted based not on some grand meeting of the minds, but of nerdish hearts screaming in ethereal delight over such silly matters. Truly the very essence of romance and love was found in the shared pecularities of the flesh, soul, mind and heart and it was on display most affectionately and acutely in the couple before Twilight. If you could earnestly share of yourself the things most absurdly mocked or derided by others and find within them a companionship and bond, then the whole experience could go so much easier. According to Staffer's treatise, “The Aspects of Many-Layered Love According to the Principles of Moot's Philosophy of the Mind Revisted: How Love Works in the Aetheral Plane's Physical Manifestation of Chemical Balances of the Mind and Heart” one of the innumerable signs was if you could sense the intermingling of two ponies' auras, aetheral flows co-habitating the same space. And she could sense that, an impish little prod here or there graciously received by the other, hearts and magi combining sweetly and simply. Friendship was magic. Love was simply a more bombastic form of friendship, and the associated proddings were likewise more dramatic.

Almost as dramatic as their actions. Now they were holding hooves! Clear sign of affection! They were checking all the boxes quickly and it was only a matter of time before they got married, as such love went. Twilight Sparkle technically was an officiator who could marry them. Even before she was a Princess she had the necessary legal requirements to marry two ponies. The main difference as a Princess was that she had the necessary pull to announce it, perform the ceremony, and put it in the national registry. Of course a wedding for a pegasus and an earth pony was somewhat difficult. Pegasi traditions were as one could guess based in the clouds and earth ponies were ground-bound. She'd have to study Pale's “Equestrian Wedding Do's and Dont's: Traditions from Seaddle to Fillydelphia and Beyond” to get a better idea of what she should do. It was going to be grand! Dash groaned and seemed to imply Twilight needed to stop. Stop what twilight wasn't sure, but she nodded her head anyway. Carrot had answered enough. Of course, there was the matter of their next DATE. When and where? Dash wanted something to do with the Bolts, but she was both a member and Carrot an Earth pony. This got Twilight talking.

“I could always cast a spell to give him wings and the ability to stand on clouds! I was still learning it when I used it on Rarity. I'm pretty sure Carrot would be fine. And then you could go see Rainbow Dash's show and hang out with her afterward!” Twilight rubbed her hooves together anxiously, hovering close to the two with an impish sense of glee.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot’s teeth gritted as ideas came and fell, a frustration of planning at this delicate moment, along with the added reminder of his one great limitation when it came to spending time with the pegasus - He couldn’t fly. But he had already risked his heart mere moments ago – he wasn’t about to give up now! “Oh, well that’s alright, I’m sure the Wonderbolts will do a show in a place I can be at, and hey, you’ll know all their appearances ahead of time, so that’ll make it easier!” He could still barely get over the fact that she was one now, even if Dash would say she was “just a reserve member”, as if that mattered to him. He gave an encouraging smile, “maybe Ah can e'en help ye at th' fair, ur at leest keep ye company an' gie encooragement.Yoo’d hae yer very own cheerleader stallion!” It didn’t sound much like a date, but it couldn’t hurt – they’d get to spend time together and hopefully still have a bit of fun; if she liked the idea.

He was perfectly happy to follow Dash’s suggestion and head back home, overly-excited princess or not, and gave the pegasus a smile and a nod. But the world seemed to tilt sideways a bit when Twilight broke away from her giddy inner-monologue and mentioned something about him being able to stand on clouds and maybe wings? Carrot stopped dead in his tracks and looked back with awe, “wait, ye, ye can dae 'at?! er, Ah mean, yer can dae 'at, yer highness??” Celestia above, he could be up among the pegasi, even just for a moment??

Since he was a colt, he’d wanted to be a pegasus. He’d wanted to fly under his own power. Nightmare Nights were the one time of the year when tiny little Carrot had worn his cardboard wings without fear of being made fun of. The airships of the REA had been awesome, but it hadn’t been the same thing. And he’d long since given up that dream as the foalish navel-gazing of a silly colt. To have it suddenly resurrected, so suddenly and out of the blue – and after a day like today? He felt decidedly off-balanced with the rush of terrifying hope.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash let out a soft, "Uhhhhh..." at Twilight's suggestion, obviously not as excited as Carrot at the concept. She knew exactly what Twilight was talking about, of course ... but from her memory, that wings spell had been put into the definite 'no' category.

"Are you ... sure about that, Twilight? I mean, last time you tried that wing spell, we found out that those wings weren't all that ... sturdy ... the cloud walk spell worked pretty good! But going back to those wings just seems like asking for trouble. I don't want Carrot to find himself a mile up in the sky, and suddenly his wings disappear!" She gestured with her hoof, making a 'neeeerrrrroooooowwwwww' sound as her hoof dived towards the ground, and then threw her hooves up. "Ka-bam!"

"But if you use that cloud walk spell, yeah! I can totally get him there! He just hops on a cloud and *zoom!* I can push him there lickety-split!" She glances over at Carrot, nervous that he might insist on the wings anyway...

​

[SteelEagle]

Now Twilight was caught between a rock and a hard place. More accurately, she was caught between somepony who could fly and somepony who could not. Even more accurately, she was caught between two lovers and if there was one thing she learned from some of Rarity's romance novels it was that in most cases that was a deliriously awkward position to be in, so she better be prepared to lend a hoof to the coupling. The way Carrot's face lit up with awe at the thought of getting a pair of wings was charming and a little curious, even if also partially undone by Rainbow's wariness at the thought. She had good reason to be. Her first foray into the granting of wings had been a little imperfectly don, to say it kindly. She was still learning how to cast it and the wings she gave Rarity were not the sort of wings that could stand up to the life of a pegasi. Even if she hadn't flown up high into the sky her wings would have eventually burned up, the fibers in her butterfly wings unable to handle such sunlight whether magnified briefly or over a period of time. Making mistakes was an essential part of learning and she had certainly made quite the mistake and endeavored to learn more about it, should she ever have need for such a spell again.

Which she didn't personally after she became an alicorn, though it did help her along in terms of making the spell more effective. She had already mastered the simple form of the aetheral transference that allowed an astrally projected limb to manifest physically painfully and had done a great deal to limit what had been a nearly excessive amount of energy she had drained from herself in the process previously. Becoming an alicorn had given her a significant boost in total ability and power and through this she had been able to master a great deal of spells that had eluded either mastery or knowledge of beforehoof. And while she wouldn't say she had mastered giving non-pegasi wings totally, she had sent Spike flying around at night often enough to believe she had more than enough of a grasp on the concept to do the job well and sate whatever desire was lurking behind Carrot's eyes, as awestruck and dumbfounded with the curiosity she knew so well taking up any space logic could reside. And then he could be around Dash during her shows and they wouldn't have to feel awkward about bringing him up in the sky with them. There was also a far chance he would have normal looking wings and not the butterfly wings, which would fit the image better anyway.

But for now she would let the issue rest easily, alongside her mind which was racing at a thousand miles an hour. And come to think of it she had been so excited about the possibilities inherent in both the spell and the adorable couple that she was hovering a few feet off the ground. Regaining complete composure, Twilight landed gently, one hoof to her chest as she cleared her throat.

“Oh, of course. We could simply do that. Just a cloudwalking spell. That is much easier,” Twilight said with a blush. It was true, quite true. Re-arranging the aural inflection around the hooves and body of a pony was easier than the physical manifestation of an astrally projected limb. But just because she said that now didn't mean she couldn't arrange a special surprise later. Maybe Twilight could give him wings in secret and help him train so when he went to visit Dash they could do whatever it was those two ponies would do together intimately. Knowing Rainbow Dash, probably Daring Do ad Wonderbolt stories involving her and now probably Carrot. The height of romance!

“So, I'll do that when its time. I guess...uhh...you two want to be alone for now, right?” Twilight asked expectantly, her mind momentarily back in that mode again.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields could barely believe it - The two mares were discussing how to have him fly! Or at least be up in the clouds like a pegasus … and they were serious, too! Not just frivolously throwing ideas into the wind. This was so cool! Although, he admittedly soured on the actual ‘wings’ idea after Dash’s colorful explanation of what might happen, but the cloud walking sounded viable! “Mebbe Ah can visit Cloodsdale an' we can see th' Wonderbolts thaur!! Weel, er, Ah mean Ah woods be watchin', ye woods be a part ay it efter aw - but Ah coods cheer ye oan! Hae a sign an' everythin'! Yer ain cheerleader!” It sounded good, even if he might be getting ahead of himself; one step at a time, Carrot!

But then he realized that in the excitement of the idea of taking him to the clouds, he had forgotten to actually answer a direct question from the princess! “Och! but, nae, um, nae! ye don’t hae tae lae, yer highness! er Twilecht, princess Twilecht, ma’am!” He thought he had used up about all of his daring just asking Dash out in so bold a manner, it would be wrong to suddenly assume they were suddenly a couple, or even on some kind of date. It be rude for him to try and send a pony who was in essence, his guest, especially royalty! “I mean, thes isn’t … Mah sister woods kill me if ye cam ower an' she didn’t gie a chance tae meit ye! Shoods we heed back?”

[Bramble Rose]

Dash let out a rude noise at Twilight's suggestion they leave, her rolling eyes saying more than any words that she didn't think that was at all necessary. There was still the REST of the miniatures to show Twilight, after all! Instead, she grinned at Carrot. "I'm actually not on the roster for the next Cloudsdale show - I'm up for the show *after* that, over in Canterlot. And even then, I mostly have to show up and play donkey, no offense," She waved her hoof to a passing donkey on the road.

​

"None taken," he said, plodding along and hauling his wagon unconcerned.

"Unless a couple of main Wonderbolts get hurt, not that I want them to, but that's the only way I'd actually fly is if they ran out of full-fledged Wonderbolts. At least, fly as a Wonderbolt. And even then they might just cancel it instead of letting the less-trained reserves handle things. It's nothing special, what I'm doing," she said modestly, though her huge and energetic grin said otherwise. "Just gotta make sure the sky stays clear, put some of the props in place for their skill runs, make sure the stormcloud trail cannisters are primed, craft the cloud rings for the slalom, y'know. The grunt work. Gotta know everything about the show before they trust me to fly it."

Even with her dismissive attitude, her grin just kept getting bigger and bigger. Working. With the Wonderbolts! Even if she never got any further than this, to be so close to the best of the best! And she WAS going further! The energy just built up inside of her till couldn't contain it. "OHmigoshohmigosh, I'm going to be setting up for a Wonderbolts Show!" She zoomed up into the air and ran through several loop-de-loops and barrel rolls to burn off her excess energy, ending up far back down the road. She put her head down, poured on the speed, and flew back up the road in her patented Supersonic Strut, just to slow down as she came up alongside her friends again, lifting up to float at their side as usual.

"But if you wanna show up anyway wearing your cute little plaid skirt to play cheerleader, hey, I don't mind!" she said wryly, a smirk on her face as she kicked Carrot playfully in the shoulder with one forehoof. "Either way, we should totally use the cloudwalk spell so we can go to next week's Cloudsdale show together!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Carrot did have the right type of body for a good cheerleader. The key was good musculature in the legs and hips with a fair amount of repetitive stress durability in the joints and good stamina, all of which was part and parcel of any good athlete or member of the Royal Equestrian Army. Only pegasi cheerleaders could really get away with being more lithe as they had less concern with ground impact. Also, she had spent entirely too much time listening to a few old 'friends' when she had made her most recent trip to Canterlot and head learned more than everything there was to know regarding cheerleading. It was very sweet how open he was to cheering her on and supporting her, even if the response was less than ideal in some ways. Her consistent downplaying of her role was odd, if not necessarily all that weird. Anypony who had that competitive fire like she had would see anything less than a first team position, top of the card billing, as a significantly lesser role.

Not anything to be all that proud about even has thousands upon thousands of talented flyers broke themselves and their hopes annually in an attempt to join. Being among the select few was something less than ideal when there were still an elite few positioned above you, even if Rainbow's stonewalling of her excitement didn't stop it from eventually bursting fourth in a great cascading wave of joy. Now that was the Rainbow Dash she was waiting to see! Hyper attempt at professionalism Dash was less tenable than excited Dash because at least the second Dash-type was more like the pony she considered a close friend. The other type was an alien. A friendly alien she enjoyed, but alien nonetheless. Another likely friendly alien was this little filly sister of Carrot's who would make rich the earth with Carrot's body if Twilight did not meet her. Not to mention the figures they had to see still. Well, she didn't want to see Carrot dead just yet.

“The life of a subject in my hoof...I guess I can go and meet her and see some more figures, but...” a schedule appeared and she started muttering as a quill and erase fluid danced around, “hmmm cancel the class, study session, move the meeting, summon the genie for research at a later date, carry this over, study session, introspection, another meeting, open house, study session, taxation reports, study session, enter portal...hmm...” it all vanished in a fash and she smiled wide, “Well, my afternoon is still really tightly booked but I can still do this! Let's go!”

[brianblackberry]

For Carrot Fields it didn’t matter that Rainbow Dash spent the Wonderbolt tours doing scut work setting up props for the starting roster, what was important, indeed the only thing that mattered, was that she was in, she was a Wonderbolt, officially! He could have reminded her of that, but as she talked more and more about what she actually did on the show circuit, it was obvious to all that she was just as excited, indeed more so, to be part of the most elite flying corps in Equestia. All he could do is smile broadly as she expressed her true feeling through a little areal show of her own, one good enough that it elicited a few hoofstomps from the nearby patrons.

“Weel 'at still soonds quite a bit cooler than whit ye start it daein' as a recruit fur th' R.E.A. troost me; nopony is ever canty abit K.P.. duty, ur havin' tae dig aw th' latrines. whit can ye expect thocht, we weren’t nae Wonderbolts!” Carrot laughed, having to start at the bottom rank as an enlisted member carried very few perks, but he was still glad he did his duty, and hey, it helped paid for his farm!

When Dash suggested he could cheer for her in what she called a skirt, he just sighed and rolled his eyes in mock protest, he knew she was just teasing, plus she was just so cute, so how could he really be mad? “It’s called a kilt, an' it is pony wear fur stallions ay Fet Loch! it’s a prood tradition representin' family! if ye hink it’ll help thocht, i’ll wear it fur ye th' next time yoo’re scheduled tae be in a shaw, cheerin' fur ye!” Sounds like that would be possibly the Canterlot show, or more likely, sometime much later, but he was determined at least to keep his promise.

Carrot was almost as elated that the princess agreed to visit his home again so his sister can meet her. Hopefully Purple will just be proper and not tell any embarrassing stories or make jokes at his expense, as she was apt to do whenever the opportunity presented itself, at least in his mind. “Thanks yer high- er Twilecht, Princess Twilecht. Ah promise it’ll only be a moment ay yer time, but uh, yoo’re welcome tae stay as lang as ye loch ay coorse!” Carrot rubbed the back of his head with his hood, no matter how informal and friendly she was, the purple alicorn was still royalty! No time to doddle though, he started to walk in the direction of his farm; won’t his sister be surprised!

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash snickered at Carrot's flustered defense of his kilt. "Sure 'n I don' know that," she said in a horrible Highlands faux-accent, "What with Cirrus McCloud on my poster there!" She let out her squeaky, snorting giggle, rolling over once in mid-air, but not actually dropping out of the sky this time around. "Yeah, you can wear your kilt anytime you like, Carrot! I won't mind a bit!"

Then she draped one hoof over Twilight's shoulders, chuckling at her schedules. "Glad your friends still rate an afternoon of your time, yer Highness!" she said brightly, teasingly. "Just be careful you don't get papercuts juggling those schedules!" She grinned as the farm hove into view up ahead. "OK, so I already showed you my figure of myself, which - how cool is *that*?" she squeaked. "I have an official figure! Anyway, anyway ... I also have a few of Caballeron's thugs painted up, and Carrot offered to let me paint up a bunch of harem mare figures he had. I'm using different colors for each of them. Almost done with those."

​

Purple Haze was feeling that, despite the short notice, this feast was really pulling together nicely! There were several dishes she would have preferred for a royal luncheon, but they took at least overnight preparation to do properly ... but it would have to do. She had a hearty breakfast pie topped with a carrot-whip, and full of carrots and potatoes, peppers and onions, and entirely too much butter and cream to be healthy, but just enough to make your tastebuds sing with joy. There was the sweet carrot soup, with kale and watercress, diced tomatoes and a touch of Itailian spices. There was the crepes, which were a thin, pale orange, delicate batter wrapped around a cinnamon-flavored cottage cheese and topped with crumbles of brown sugar, nuts, and raisins. And, of course, her signature garlic-roasted carrots, and a great big fresh batch of her fruit-and-veggie juice. It didn't go *together* as well, but it was her best dishes that she could whip up at a moment's notice! And the crepes were pretty fancy! So! She stepped outside towards the workshop, just to see that the three of them were already outside. Why were they coming back from the road? Carrot hadn't taken the princess to go fetch the mail, had he?! Ah well. She raised her head, and in her politest, most imitation-ponyville accent, she called out, "Luncheon is served, at yer convenience!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Papercuts? Twilight would die a thousand deaths before she got another papercut. She only ever had one. She was just a filly when she was packed to the brim with research material to look over. She was so absorbed in theorems that she didn't pay attention to how she was levitating one book and turning the page of another. She had ended up giving herself the most horrendous papercut in the long and bloody history of papercuts, sent into a howling fit of pain that was assuaged by the hugs of her mother and some rather intense snuggling action near the fire. She tended to levitate her reading material most of the time anyway, so Dash's worry was unfounded. Unless it was a joke which Twilight started to think it was, in which case it was simply funny.

“I'll always make time for my friends,” Twilight replied earnestly as she trotted along with Carrot before her eyes took on a more mischievous glare, “though sometimes I try and fit more into my schedule when somepony is so caught up in weather duties or working on her tricks that she misses certain engagements,” Twilight finished with a wink. Rainbow herself had a busy schedule so she no doubt knew the importance of proper time management. It just so happened that there was nopony in the world who was better at time management than Twilight...and very few, if any, who had schedules so dizzily complex as her's either. They balanced out well, which was perfect considering otherwise she' be too bored or overwhelmed to be the Twilight ponies knew and tolerated.

They soon were near the Carrot home. It was always exciting to make your way to meet a new pony. At the start of the day it had been to get to know Carrot Fields a bit better. Now it would be his sister, who by all accounts had the cooking skill needed to impress a Canterlot-trained palette. Twilight had sated most of her hunger with junk food but she would have no problem finding room for anything served to her. After all, her diet of nearly eight thousand calories afforded her many options. “We have however many moments of time your sister need. Don't feel that you have to pressure her on my account, Carrot,” Twilight said as the trio approached the door.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields smiled warmly at Dash's comments about his cultural dress; finally a mare outside of Fet Loch that honestly appreciated the kilt! Truly she was somepony special. Her compliments more than made up for the stallion Wonderbolt picture of McCloud she stuck up in his workshop among his many beautiful mares of the elite team. Truth be told, he wasn't really upset she did that either as it was a sign that she made herself more at home hanging out with him even if they were just friends at the time.

He couldn't help but blush a little bit and kept his head down as Dash mentioned to the princess about his rather extensive collection of harem mare figurines from Daring Do and the Desert of Doom. It was as worrisome to him what Twilight Sparkle may think as it was when Dash first came across the models a few weeks back. Even if this day had really about him and Dash connecting, he still wanted to leave the princess with a good impression, she was royalty after, plus she was one of Dash's best friends.

Fortunately it appeared Twilight was more interested in friendly banter with her friend, maybe she didn't mind such figurines, after all Dash didn't. That only lead to the natural though in the young stallion's head of Dash and Twilight dressed as harem mares now, which only served to intensify his blushing as he followed them back to his farm.

Before his thoughts could wander even deeper into the realm of stallion fantasies regarding the pair Carrot heard the familiar voice of his sister as they approached the house. At least that saved him the trouble of having to look for her, but his joy turned to concern when his filly sister announced that she made lunch, hopefully it was just a small, informal lunch originally meant for himself and Purple, it would be easier to turn down. "Heeey purple, Ah shoods hae mentioned 'at Ah was gonnae out fur lunch but Ah wasnae sure if ye waur e'en haem, sorry abit 'at, but we awreddy ate. Ah hope ye didne make anythin' large at aw, as we can jist save them fur leftovers." He smiled, hoping it wasn't a big deal, after all she likely just made some hayburgers or something simple like that, right?

He almost forgot to introduce her to their royal guest! "Och! purple, thes is 'er highness, Princess Twilecht Sparkle ay th' Friendship Rainbaw Kingdom!" Carrot turned and gave a respectful bow in Twilight's direction, "Yer majesty, thes wee filly is mah baby sister Purple Haze, Ah hink she made some snacks if ye ur still hungry, but we baith understand if ye ur foo efter th' lunch at Hard Rock's!"