SteelEagle

Valen wasn't prone to moments of indecisiveness and discomfort when he had knowledge of how to complete a task. It just wasn't his nature; once a problem could be solved, he would have no reason to fear it. But this was slightly different, as the sheer number of gems he had to collect in order to please Miss Rarity was quite high. He took a large gulp and tried to steel himself, yet that failed. He would have to try something else. "How many times have you done it this year? Who usually comes with you? I mean, I've heard of this baby dragon named Spike but that's all I know of him. And what of your other friends? I've only been here so long and, well, I'm not the greatest at socializing, Miss Rarity," He said, trotting up the hill with only the starting hint of strain. He wasn't a physical specimen by any stretch and it would show sooner or later. "I'm sorry if I seem nosy, Miss Rarity. I just find it fascinating, is all."

Caramel smiled as he laid out the options. At the very least, if nothing else could be said, he certainly had some stories he could share. Any fears of hers about being bored were being put to rest purely through his summaries. Just as she was about to answer, the food arrived in all of its delicious glory, the plates being laid out accordingly. She studied her meal with a fine eye- it would be adequate, the waiter refilling her glass of water and bowing away. Adequate, if not stunning. She motioned for her date to partake in the deliciousness arrayed in front of them. "Well, I think I'll listen to both stories, starting with your trip out west. Always wanted to go there, so this better be good!" Caramel said half-jokingly, eating the hay fries with abandon.

She had taken notice of the unusual color of his mane from the first time she had seen him, and was more than pleased when she found out it was natural rather than age. She wouldn't have judged him harshly had be been an elderly stallion but she didn't really find the thought of having to spend her days restricted due to her love. The fact he used to travel alot was exciting- the stories he could tell were likely able to dwarf hers. She allowed him to finish before smiling. "I'd like to hear about some of those places you traveled to, Muggo'. I've always had a sincere desire to travel the breadth of Equestria but have found the constraints of my work too demanding to do so. And I am sorry to hear of your mother's passing. I am lucky enough to still have mine, but it hasn't been the same since they left," Caramel replied, then smiled. "Old boy, eh? That's a charming nickname."

The next patch of gems glowed, the action still somewhat of a shock to Valen. It was unnerving to see something below the surface glow with such perfect and precise clarity, the gems underneath as clear as if they were sitting behind a window. He unhooked the wagon and trotted over, digging the shovel in and with a grunt forcing it down into the dirt. He repeated the motion a few times and then with another grunt, plied the shovel upwards and fell on his flank, the dirt being tossed every which way. The gems were lazily pulled up from their spots and after a moment, Valen got up, dusted them off, and placed them in the wagon. He took a huge breath, this gem unit being of a greater difficulty than the last, Luckily, he had been listening to Rarity speak, which made the entire experience far more rewarding. "Yes, that sleepover! Applejack told me all bout that incident when I told her I was to spend the day with you, Miss Rarity. I can...see how both of you could have had such difficulty getting along, truth be told," Valen said, his voice trailing off a little as he decided to not open the can of worms any further. He looked back the gems and with a dumb realization, gave a strange and confused look. "And Miss Rarity, how many gems do you usually try to collect in any given hunt?"

Snowy could be a relatively silly pony, but Pathfinder couldn't blame her for the outcome here. It was a pretty simple and common error for a first time adventure to believe that each and every trap had only a single point of sneakiness to it and once conquered, the trap followed. She had been a victim of that line of thought more than a few times, a lesson re-learned many, many times. So dspite the fact that Snowy had more or less taken a shower of cold water wasn't her fault. It was still pretty funny. Pathfinder laughed. "Well, at least you've taken a shower today. Very nice look there, Snow-Snow," Pathfinder said sweetly as she ruffled the businessmare's damp mane. Pathfinder resolved to help her date with that issue after this trap. For the time being though she was content with solving the riddle of the puzzle in front of her, being more comfortable with solving this mystery than dealing with anypony's mane. Pathfinder gazed down at the tiles, bathed in light. So there was more to it than just the patterns on the tiles, as one could expect. The design of the trap was forgiving but sneaky, which gave Pathfinder a thrill otherwise left for a real trap. Red and Blue lights went horizontally- the first row was red, the second blue, pattern repeated until the end. Pathfinder nodded. "It's red circles, Snowy. Gotta avoid blue ones. Ya ready, Snowy Snowy Mc...Snowy?"

"Ya just sit thar and keep on lookin' pretty, Applejack. Then when somepony comes up and pays ya for a bushel o' more of apples, ya kiss 'em!" Apple Bloom replied while fixing up the banner above the stall. It was a simple little painting of Applejack smiling next to some apples, no real different from their normal banner except for the addition of Applejack. She had spent all night painting it and she was plum tuckered out afterwards, but she thought it looked pretty good. It at least didn't look like some sort of weird deformed pony, unlike her first three attempts. The banner fluttered easily in the breeze, cooling down an otherwise hot day. Perfect weather really as far as anypony was concerned. She was mighty proud of her sister for finally seeing reason. It hadn't taken long for her to crack, though in classic Applejack fashion the closer she was to cracking the more unnerved she became and louder her proclamations of displeasure. But for all her stubbornness, the idea was so strongly supported by the other members of the family for a myriad of reasons that she was whittled down and eventually caved in. It then became a matter of working on the specifics, and seeing her older sister a little uncomfortable was in some ways delicious. She was always so incredibly focused and stable that seeing her unsure and puttering about was heartwarming. It was nice to know that even a really big and strong pony like her big sister wasn't some sort of perfect pony, even if she was as close as one could get as far as Apple Bloom was concerned. Once they had worked out the details, it became all about working to set it all up. They had to pull the stand out all the way to the front, and once they did that, Apple Bloom had to help fix a few of the panels. Then they had to get all the apples together and pull them up to the stall, which took more than a few hours. By the time they had done all this it had taken up most of the afternoon and so they had decided to do it the next day. Apple Bloom was a little disappointed but that gave her the time she needed to make this just the best money makin', kiss givin', apple vanishin' event ever! She had started drawing the banner and after a few attempts had achieved success. She then copied the successful banner onto a small piece of paper and wrote down the time it started as well as the offer- "Buy a bushel of apples of get yourself a free kiss by Ponyville's prettiest, nicest, strongest, and bestest mare, Applejack!"- and then snuck off of the farm very late at night. Breaking into the Foal Free Press office had been easy enough since it wasn't like it was locked, and when she squeezed her way out an hour later, she pulled behind her around five-hundred copies of the offer. If she had been given more time she would have loved to make some more and advertise all the way in Canterlot since she was sure then they could have sold the apples at an even higher price, but alas, she had to be content with blanketing Ponyville with the advertisements. She tucked them under doors, threw them through open windows, used her hammer to nail them onto doors and noticeboards, and let a few fall off onto the ground here and there as well. It had taken a few hours but eventually she had ensured that one couldn't take a gander at nearly any part of the town that anypony gave two apples about without seeing Applejack's smiling face and apples and something about kisses. Tuckered out, Apple Bloom had trotted home and managed to get a few hours of sleep before she was forced awake by that darn rooster. After that it had been coaxing Applejack out of the house and to the stall as well as last minute repairs and finishes. Apple Bloom had just finished the banner and fell to the ground, stretching herself, when a thought popped into her head. "Oh! Ah can't believe ah almost forgot!" She squealed before galloping back to the farm house. A few minutes later, she came back with a bullhorn attached to a harness dangling in front of her face. She took her place in front of the stall and cleared her throat before yelling into the bullhorn. "YEEEEEEHAW! SWEET APPLE ACRES WELCOMES YA TO THA FIRST ANNUAL APPLE KISS!"

This is just a test to see if this works. If this works I can do this more often. However, because then I ca because then I can post.

Hooftington, eh? She'd never had the pleasure of visiting that city, but she knew of the accent. Now that she knew that was where he was from, it made a lot more sense. She could put a name behind the accent and a pony behind the accent and it made him a far more agreeable date. More personable. She knew all about his experience with Applejack and how out of place she seemed in that emerging town. That was made all the more comical when one understood the Apple Family was responsible for the existence of Ponyville in the first place. While everypony else aside from the Apple family seemingly started to become more cosmopolitan in speech, but Apples were Apples and no amount of influence outside the family would change them. They were stubborn that way, something she admired. "Born and raised, happy to say. It's been great to me, wouldn't change a single factor in my life because of it. Do you live with any of your family? Any help with the Prancing Pony?"

The Everfree no longer held the same amount of terror for her as it once did, though she was smart enough to know not to head deep into it. But when she wanted to just take a nice stroll through nature, there were worse places to go than the very edge of the Everfree, which had a layer of somewhat safe woods. It was a nice place to get lost, or so the farm filly thought. If you knew the woods, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal! Just don't fight any of the wild animals and steer clear of it after night and you would be fine. Apple Bloom was in the midst of a relaxing walk through the woods. She had plum forgotten where she was, but that was fine by her. You didn't go anywhere new unless you were lost, but somewhat shattering her merry little trot was the sound of some filly cryin'. That didn't sit right by her. She picked up her gentle trot and within moments was in a clearing- and nearby was a somewhat startling image. The normally calm and collected if a bit nasty Silver Spoon was disheveled and crying, her ribbon and glasses missing. "'ey, Silver Spoon. It's Apple Bloom! Whatcha doin' out 'ere in woods? Why're ya cryin'?" She asked, cantering close to her classmate.

Apple Bloom's ears lined up against her head as Applejack tore down her idea. She really thought her sister was the smartest, bestest mare in all of ponykind and to see her recoil at her suggestion like that stung a bit. It didn't make much sense as to why she was so against it, since it would raise money and sell apples and wasn't that the whole point? But if Applejack was against it, and was against it this much, that had to mean that Apple Bloom had says something just plain dumb. She was about to apologize for saying something so stupid when Granny and her Uncle shot back with pearls of age-worn wisdom. They were old, ancient even, like older than some statues she had seen. Why, if they agreed with her, she knew she had to be right, because nopony that old could be so wrong, and when two agreed, that meant her idea must have been really awesome! But Applejack wasn't just some sort of easily lead filly who was going to kowtow to such demands without some solid planning. And while Apple Bloom wasn't the greatest planner in all of Equestria, she had enough competency when it was the equivalent of learning to spell her own name. "Yeah! You c'uld make lotsa bits and we ca' sell all 'em apples! Ah reckon that if ya offer a kiss, a free kiss at that, for the first one-hund'ed ponies who buy at leas' one bushel o' apples, then we c'uld attract so man' ponies that ah bet we'll hafta start turnin' them away 'cuz we have no more apples!" Apple Bloom shoot off excitedly, jumping up and down as she imagined a line of ponies longer than cider season. That'd be a lot of bits and then they wouldn't have apples go to waste! Yay!

Dirt never tasted good, something he had come to realize only earlier that day. It hadn't been something he had ever believed he would have to actually learn through experience, but it was what it was. He tried to hold onto that kernel of knowledge as his mouth filled with dirt from his motion. Rear in air and face in dirt, he zig-zagged on the ground until he felt himself run up against something warm and fuzzy. Valen brought his tattered head up and woozily inspected the creature before him. It was brown and white with a red collar, four legs and a tail At first he thought it was his great uncle Navel, but after a few seconds of looking deep into the form before him, he thought it looked more like a dog. Valen loved dogs! They were loyal and kind, fun to play with and able to interact with you in just about any manner you pleased. He was overjoyed to see the mutt in front of him and leapt at Winona with all the abandon a foal could muster. "AWWW YOU'RE A CUTE PUPPEH DOG!" He yelled outrageously loud, his hearing fluctuating but tending towards the near deaf due to the dirt that was just slowly starting to filter out. "I'M GOING TO NAME YOU JERRY."

As he spoke, Caramel tried to pin his accent's origination down and found her answers lacking. She'd have to be blunt in trying to pry that from him. As he continued talking, Caramel found herself starting to pin down the exact building he may be speaking of, having visited that branch of the post office at some point. It was one of the rattier areas of the district, but that was just fine. She was a farm girl who knew the signs of true destitution and the area where the Prancing Pony was located wasn't bad at all. Someponies just liked to exaggerate, and they tended to be the ones living in some sort of high society gated community. Their opinion was void. The prancing pony was likely fine and dandy, and she had resolved herself to visiting it. "I'll take grilled dandy lions and a side of hay fries, thank you," She told the waiter, handing her menu to him and then eying up her date. "Yes, you should come by. I've tried to entice customers into visiting the farm by lowering the cost of a bushel by twenty percent if you pick it up yourself. It...well, to be honest, it isn't entirely just to be nice. I save that much plus a little more by not having to ship it! It can get hectic sometimes, especially during shipping, but it is a relatively small farm. Three capable mares are enough. Really, Tiny Apple Valley is more like the shipping and financial nerve center of the family rather than the fully dedicated farms like Sweet Apple Acres," She blathered on, catching herself being boring with a smile. She coughed to clear her throat and laughed. "Oh, sometimes this mare..." She shook her head and sipped her water, "So, where is your family originally from? I'm having some difficulty placing your accent."

He knew all about Rarity's excellence in her business affairs as well as the long reach of her high-quality fashions. Still, it was amazing to think that the very gems he was collecting were not only going to be made into her fashions, but were destined to go all the way around Equestria! It filled his heart with a sliver of pride to know that he was part of this. Maybe Applejack wouldn't have looked at it that way but then again Valen believed she looked at any sort of clothing with the same amount of distaste. Valen smiled as he hitched the wagon back to himself, wiggling until he felt the wagon snug against him. He could feel small beads of sweat forming, which was something he had grown accustomed to on the farm. If anything, he was feeling much better than he had any reason to feel, mostly because gems were always mighty pretty and he was around someone who knew how to use them. "Miss Rarity, I believe we are ready to move on. I also have a question about fashion, if you wouldn't mind," Valen said as he grunted and got behind Rarity. "Well, two. First off, how do you decide what stitch to use? I'm always at a loss when i try to imitate your work and I find it highly frustrating. Your stitches are simply sublime. Also, how did you first meet Applejack?" Valen asked, mind trying to compute how a farm gal and a fashionista could mix.

Sprouts of water were one of the least dangerous possibilities in the entire world of adventuring to have been shooting out at the conclusion of a failed trap. As the sprouts opened up, Pathfinder jumped back- after all, the trap was already activated! Still, small streams of water cracked against her form as she jumped back towards the start location. The pain was there, but miniscule in her experience. After the sprouts vanished into the wall, she looked at what she had stepped on- a half-circle. The experience was a good one. Snowy had made her move and while both were wet, they had learned well enough. Besides, if she could have flown then this trap would have been easy peezy. She felt no sense of implied danger by a ground trap tagging her. It was a ground trap. She was a pegasi. DUH. "Well Snowy, we know half-circles and triangles are bad news. If this was a real ruin, we'd have loose rocks and stuff to use to throw on the ground to see what happens. That's what I'd do if my wings were broken and I had to go on the ground. But since this place is just so freakin' fake, there aren't any rocks to use! Darn!...oooh, lemme see your tail, Snowy," Pathfinder demanded rather than asked, grabbing Snowy's tail and flipping her around until her rear faced the trap. She then whipped the tail harmlessly against one of the half-circles, and soon the sprouts came out. "Awesome! We can use our tails! We hafta whip them kinda hard, but this way we can test them out without putting our faces out there to get all wet. Our tails are wet and heavy enough to do it, Snowy!"

Caramel was happy to allow foals from out of the area visit the farm. Not only did she think it important for foals of all types and persuasion to understand the workings of farms, but it would also make for excellent PR. 'Local Farm Family Plays Host to Schoolfoals" had an excellent ring to it and she was in no position to disabuse them of the notion it was purely for the purposes of teaching. The advertisement down below? Purely coincidental. Still, the foals deserved a good time and she knew that she could be entirely too dry and uninteresting for foals. That would be a better fit for Bumpkin, who despite being a young mare seemed to have the energy and personality of a much younger filly. So she had consigned herself to working on financial paperwork for the day, occasionally glancing outside of her window to keep tabs on the field trip. Then she realized that she had failed to get from her sister some obscure piece of information relating to the total amount of braeburns sold in the past two weeks compared to the number bucked and the number of trees producing those apples. Without that, her data was incomplete. That was not appropriate. Sighing to nopony but herself, she got up and trotted downstairs, back out to the farm, and towards the barn from where she heard a whole gaggle of voices. She eventually poked her way in and saw that the entire class had arrived. A moment of panic given to a smile, though at that moment as foals asked simple questions. Rather than introduce herself, she decided the best way to sandwich herself in for a second was to take charge and answer a question. If anything, she was a stockpile of information. "We can see many, many stars out here, but I imagine fewer than you may think. We live close to a very big city, which means we tend to see fewer stars. It is still very, very pretty at night. And we also do not have any cows as this farm is too small," Caramel answered with as much sweetness as she could muster, which made her a little uncomfortable. But not as uncomfortable as Apple Bloom, who stood amongst the fillies and colts in class silently for the longest time.It wasn't because she was ashamed of Tiny Apple Valley or her extended family, nor because she had fallen asleep on the way over and was still waking up, her mane feeling sort of tangled. As much as she loved Apple Bumpkin, she was a little embarrassed about how excited she was to be around Cheerilee. Apple Bloom had said plenty of nice things about her to Bumpkin but...well...Apple Bloom was feeling just a tiny bit embarrassed. She swore to herself that she wouldn't ever feel that way after she brought Granny- well, more like tried to ensure she didn't show up but she did anyway- to Family Appreciation Day and she blew everyone's tails away, but she couldn't help it! Everypony in her class was gonna think she was some sort of teacher's pet. Or that her cousin was a little insane. She didn't like either one of those options! That made answering Remington's question a bit more attractive, more comfortable. "Nah Remmy, it ain't like back at Sweet Apple Acres wher' we have som' sheep. Place's just too small!" She squeaked from near the back, feeling victorious. "Very good, Apple Bloom. That is right. We have no sheep. We only have limited space and animals like sheep take up large tracts of land. There is a sheep farm nearby, however. We can sometimes...uhh, smell it. Anyway, Bumpkin, do you have your...itinerary for this all set? Also, do you have the figured for the Braeburns...?" She asked, her voice lowering as she asked her sister for the figures, not wanting to be dragged for too much longer along for the ride.

The train ride from Fillydelphia would have been horrible had it not been for her sister's boundless energy keeping her enthusiasm level enough to sustain her for the length of the trip. Even then, it had nearly waned before they arrived- and Sweet Apple Acres proved to be just the salve she needed as they entered the limits of the finest orchard in the family. Speaking of them, she had seen none until they were at the picnic tables, which were lavishly decorated with all manner of treats that she had every intention of partaking in. The first family member that she had seen was Red Delicious. A fine young stallion, she had seen him more often than many of the rest as they had grown up in the same city. She was proud of him for striking out in the Solstice Heights, which was a wise place for a farm to place itself. And then out came his adorable sparrow, Bushwhack. "Well hello there Red! It's been a while, how are you doing? And how is your-" She began before a certain ball of fuzzy energy exploded on her head. Apple Bloom's eternal bounce transferred into a near bottomless well of energy as she spotted from the apex of her leaps into the sky the trickling of her relatives into the farm. She raced down to where she thought they would all mingle, where one could find all the delicious food all prepped and ready for consumption: The picnic area where the tables were set up! As she breached the tree line around the picnic area, she had three relatives to speak with hug! "Caramel!" Apple Bloom, jumping from her spot and flying through the air until she landed with all four legs wrapped around Caramel's head. She kissed her square on the top of the head and then did another small jump onto Red Delicious. "Reddy! Ah ain't seen ya since ah'was jus' a lil' filly!" She said, hugging him across the neck and petting Bushwhack on the head with one of her back hooves before placing herself soundly on his back and using him as a base from which to launch herself at Apple Bumpkin. "BUMPKIN!" She said as she flew through the air and landing on Bumpkin, assaulting her briefly with kisses and a hug. "Ah'was just' startin' to get worried y'all were gonna miss it al'!" She said, snuggling her favorite distant relative. Just then, the sound of a tuba shot out across the farm. There was plenty of time for her to play with Bumpkin later, but for now, she had more relatives to meet. She galloped off, giggling and laughing somewhat manically as she did so. She ran down the length of the farm until she came upon Applejack and the whole gang of relatives that had just arrived. She jumped right in front of Golden Delicious and then leapt up at him, hugging him in one swift motion. "Golden! Ah ain't seen ya in forever!" She belted as she affectionately squeezed his neck before letting go and dropping down to the ground, head twisting around as Mr. AAAAAAPPLELOOSA made himself known, Braeburn's voice carrying out. He'd make one heck of a mighty fine announcer! She trotted over to him and slid on her hooves, a pile of dust choking the air between them. When it cleared, a bright eyed and bushy tailed filly sitting on her hindquarters staring up at Braeburn with all of the intensity of a thousand adorable suns. "BRAEBURN! Mah sister tol' me all about them buffalo and that big 'ol fight y'all had. Is everythin' 'lright up there? Why, I'm sure it is and all since you're here, ah guess mah mind's all fuzzled 'cause of all the excitement and all but ah was real' worried about y'all out there in that desert an' ah'm just so glad ta see ya!" She said, jumping up and assaulting her cousin with kisses for a second before locating her sister and rushing over to her. She stood in front of her sister and started stamping her front hooves one at a time in place, eyes closed with a wide smile. "THE FAMILY'S ARRIVIN'! THE FAMILY'S ARRIVIN APPLEJACK! YAAAAAY!" She joyously declared before taking a few deep breaths, nearly having run herself ragged and stamping the ground in front of her in applause with abandon., She then immediately went back to talkin'. "Red Delicious an' Apple Bumpkin and Caramel Apple, all three of 'em are right smack near the picnic tables! And ah can swore I hurd Great Uncle Strudel's tuba cacklin' about!"

Applejack could be a silly pony sometimes. Well, probably most of the time, though maybe she took herself so seriously sometimes she couldn't see it. Why else would she feel the need to so- what was the phrase- passive aggressively threaten Apple Bloom when she very well knew that Apple Bloom considered Applejack's intended intimidation glint more comical than anything? Ah, she sure was a simple pony. Still, Apple Bloom had no intention of messing this meeting up and could only agree with Applejack saying how horrible it'd be if she messed this all up, even if Applejack was being a silly pony about it. But then again, her silliness is why Apple Bloom loved her! Big sis, big silly. Even sillier was when she got all flustered when Apple Bloom got her attention focused on the stallion who seemingly had some sorta affection for her. That was just like Applejack; when flustered or taken off-guard, put the focus back on Bloom. Plus, this was different than before. She wasn't sneakin' around or writing about somepony's deepest secrets. She just found it all a little funny and what sorta guest would she be if she ignored whatever it was her host was saying! Mighty unkind of Applejack to suggest that she should be shuttin' off around the big ponies just so they could commence with saying all manner of embarrassing things. Applejack finally kowtowed to Apple Bloom's adorably delivered demands, but just as Apple Bloom opened her mouth to screech out her delight, she was silenced by Applejack's right hoof. Apple Bloom briefly imagined having to do it all by herself without any tools and decided it was best for her not to give Applejack any reason to act on her threats. As the Apples moved to imbibe the delicious drink, Apple Bloom could still do little other than consider how she may best make herself useful so as to get some extra brownie points- that way, maybe any future disaster of her own making would be countered by accumulated good will. It made sense to her! Plus, this juice was delicious. She readily took her portion and when Applejack looked in the sky, quickly took a sip of hers as well and belched. It was just too good! Purple rattled off some the ingredients, and it made sense that of course it was her own doing. Purple and her brother may have had a funny accent and all, but they weren't dummies and if Purple could make something like this, well then, that had to mean she was smart and this was her special talent! What would that sort of cutie mark look like? A juice box? A glass? Did it have a certain color to it, or was it just any juice? She wished she had a juice cutie mark because if she did, she could make the very best apple juice to go along with her sister's awesome baking and then they could be the best sister food duo in all of Equestria! Maybe she was getting ahead of herself, smiling broadly as she gulped down the last drop of the delicious juice. Purple Haze didn't have a juice cutie mark. That meant this was through hard work and skill! Yep, she was proud to be Purple's friend. "Why, that's som' of tha best juice I eva have had befor'! Maybe c'uld use some more apples, but ah figur' this is almost as good as apple juice!" She exclaimed, burping once more as Carrot Fields started trotting away to go fetch the other dishes. She needed to earn those brownie points and what better way than helping her host? "Wait up, ah wanna help!" Apple Bloom said joyously, neighing for effect and galloping to help Carrot Fields, leaving behind her crisp and delicious apple pie.

Caramel smiled as the pair took their menus and scoured them for something delicious, while keeping her ear to her date. It wasn't all that uncommon for some to perhaps not realize to what family she belonged, seeing as she lacked the trademarks that would identify her, like a well-bred rustic accent or the ability to make apple metaphors off-hand with such ease as to be somewhat terrifying. She took no insult as she gave it thought, and as her date made up for his lack of knowledge. Now it was her turn to be impressed, and she took note of his position. So he took in some of her produce for his bar? Good to know her produce could be used for everything from a filly-friendly treat to something less wholesome. She had less compunction about such things, the sheer variety her little apples never failing to amaze as long as one allowed it to be so. "It sounds fun. Besides, you get to deal with your customers on a more personal level. I'm often sending a hundred bushels to the city and seeing it distributed on paper and little more. Where is the Prancing Pony, to be exact? I've been to the docks a few times and can not recall it," She said, sipping her water and laying down her menu, having mentally checked off her selection.

"BEEEEEP NO. We need a gimmick." That wasn't exactly what Apple Bloom heard, but as Applejack had started speaking Uncle Strudel's musical talents were slowly rininging in her eyes. Everything was still a devlishly piercing buzz as Applejack's mouth hole continued flapping. In order to make out the words, Apple Bloom had to really, really concentrate. "Hay! Granny? You could do that dancing routine you know to draw in business! Do you think you could do that?" She had to wait a second to put it together and by the time she had, her beloved, aged granny had galloped upstairs and Apple Bloom's eyes shot back and ears flattened. Before she could get back downstairs, Apple Bloom had dove underneath the table. She loved her granny and was sure in her younger years, her dancin' had won her all sorts of attention from ponyfolk. Now, between the tattered clothes and elderly form, it was scary. Not only because of how it looked, the youngest Apple thought to herself as Granny returned and started her dancing, but also because of- "CHARLIE HORSE! CHARLIE HORSE!" "Fear not, mein sister! I remember vhat to do vhen dis happens to you!" "Ah, thanks Strudel, maybe if'n I had a week er two to work out all the kinks..." - That, Apple Bloom wincing as it went down. If it wasn't for her great uncle, it would have been up to Applejack or Big Mac seeing as how Apple Bloom wasn't well renown for her accuracy. Big Mac and Applejack may have been too strong, and that was almost as bad as being inaccurate when you were kicking other mares and stallions for some wise, sage-like purpose. Apple Bloom had learned that lesson a few times. "Fraulien Apple Bloom, do YOU have a vay to sell all dees extra apples quickly?" Her great uncle brought her out of her mental stupor, which had afforded her no real ideas. She shook her head like a snowglobe. "Uhh...." Her mind raced, tracing over any workable paths to success. Suddenly, two different pieces of information- what some school filly had said regarding a relation in the Trottingham Fair and her intense focus on Applejack's lips to gauge what she had been saying- closed ranks together and coalesced. "Applejack can kiss some ponies!" She blurted out, leaping off of her seat in excitement of finally having a nice idea. It was really nice and she was sure everypony would approve of her amazing idea, and then they would treat her like a big pony! Maybe she'd even get an Apple Sellin' cutie mark! "It's jus' like a kissin' booth at a fair! One o' mah friends had a cuz of a cuz who had some kissin' booth at th' Trottinham Fair, where somepony would pay for a kiss, like five bits or somethin' ah don't really know, and they'd get a lil' peck on the cheek. Everypony loves Applejack and ah'm sure if we offered some kisses' and told everypony that its real 'portant for 'em to come by and support us, we could sell all dem apples!"

Best pony represent!

"I see what you mean. It is unnaturally quiet, even for these lands... Usually there are at least a little more wildlife sounds. It does seem quite still," Valen nodded his head along with her, feeling a slight twinge of worry eat at him. It would have been simply dreadful if on his first expedition some unfortunate happenstance took place, though that had in some ways become a running theme with him. First day on the farm, he had suffered a chipped tooth and bruised his entire body and likely suffered some sort of brain damage. First winter-wrap up, and he had run into poison joke, a grumpy bear, and likely suffered some brain damage. Now out here was the possibility of running into some diamond dogs and, if his luck held up, suffering some more brain damage. The fact he still had a brain was something he was thankful for, though maybe the brain itself considered it a cruel and unusual existence. Rarity asked for Valen to stop and he did so, reaching over and gripping the shovel with his mouth right as her horn glowed. A pony got used to the glow of a unicorn's horn, but for Valen the memory of his first unicorn horn glow experience played over and over again. His uncle had been playing with him as a foal and he lifted the little Valen up with his horn. Valen loved getting held and tossed up and down and all manner of sillyness, but the horn glow had scared the little one. That small tinge of fear had stayed with him, as it stayed with most foals of his caliber, until they were able to socialize with unicorns in school and learned what they were all about. The glow of a unicorn's horn became magical to that, and so was Rarity's horn glow; magical, entrancing. Still a little scary. A small collection of gems appeared underneath the ground and Rarity exclaimed and trotted over. Within a moment, Valen was on the case as he cantered about to the location with shovel in mouth. He threw it so it stuck into the ground, then jumped on the top of the steel blade, which made it sink into the ground. He then pushed down with all the strength he could muster with his two top hooves on the top of the handle and it went down some more. He did this two actions, jiggling it about at times, until with a grunt out came a collection of multiple pretty gems. Taking out the small magicfiber towel, he gently wiped each one clean in an action that took a full minute and placed them on the wagon. "I guess maybe it is quiet even for the wilderness, but I meant purely as someone used to a more...chaotic environment, I suppose would be a polite way of terming it. Even on Sweet Apple Acres you have other ponies about, Ponyville is a town, and I've grown up all my life in Manehattan. This much silence is...deafening!" The young Valen said as he made sure each gem was safe, beaming with pride by the end. "Ha, well, that was certainly different. Very pretty gems, Miss Rarity. What orders do they fill?"

"Ah, ya can call me Muggo' if ya want." Muggo' it'd be then. The name was truly secondary to the pony, though Caramel had to say that a name like Muggo' Ale was, if nothing else, very unique. She could only guess at the stallion's profession with a name like that, though those guesses were well-educated. "Muggo' it is then," She replied with a smile. "Ya look good." She looked at herself, somewhat taken aback by the comment. Maybe she did look good or maybe he was just flattering her, but she was still stymied either way by his words. She did not know proper date protocol, but was it right to be just that forward? She didn't know whether she was flattered or offended and settled on a slight manner of confused unease, though being a mare of her business stature she knew well not to let it show. "Well, thank you for such kind words. You look rather fetching yourself, Muggo'," She settled on that phrasing as being just nice enough to return the praise. "So, yer from around here? What is it that ya do for a livin'?" Before she could stammer out some sort of shocked response detailing how she was stunned he did not know of the Apple family, the Maitre D' escorted them to their seats, Caramel leading the way as Muggo' pulled the move of a gentlecolt. This time allowed for her to formulate a more coherent and polite response as they took their seats. "I run and operate Tiny Apple Valley outside of this fair city with the help of my two sisters. We are part of the larger Apple Family network of farms and orchards that provide Equestria with more than seventy percent of her apples and around ten percent of all other fruits combined. Yourself?" She asked in a friendly manner, sipping the restaurant supplied mug of water as the menus were handed out.

Apple Bloom loved her sister something fierce, of this there was no doubt. It was only because of this that she could tolerate the high levels of extreme and at times overwhelming nerdiness she could exhibit in the privacy of sister on sister fun. Whatever game this was, Applejack's old writing on the box and rule cards and hoof-built pieces told Apple Bloom that it wasn't originally Apple Settler Ponies. Apple Bloom loved Apple settlin' as much as any other pony, but sometimes it was like her big sis' entire life revolved around apples! Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, her sister the dice. Well, the point was to have fun and her sister sure did love her some Apple Settler Ponies. Even if Apple Bloom believed Applejack's understanding of her likely custom rules was nebulous, and even if Apple Bloom didn't know what that word meant, this would be fun. "Well, o' COURSE I love playin' this here game, sis!" Apple Bloom shot back as she grabbed the dice and rolled with her tail, getting a four. "Ah, shoot, doesn't look like ah'm gonna stand much o' a chance 'ere, Applejack," She said before giving a laugh. Truth be told, she had forgotten the rules something fierce and looked at the pieces with a slight aura of confusion. Had she made any modifications since last time? Bits to Celestia, Apple Bloom wouldn't know and it wouldn't be the first time that her big sister had done it. Apple Bloom didn't know whether to admit to some sort of stunned amusement or sadness. Well, worse things she could be doing in her spare time, like going to a salt bar. "Ah can't seem ta remember some of th' rules for tha game, been a spell since'a've played," Apple Bloom said with a small manner of shame. She didn't necessarily like making her big sister repeat the rules almost every session, but she had been caught with her figurative pelt off a few times due to some new twist and didn't want to get her sis all riled up. It was funny, but only in a twenty-percent sorta way. Well, more like fifty, but she wasn't going to let that show.

For all of the crusadin' and problem solving, or making, Apple Bloom found herself involved in on a near daily basis, she wasn't much help here. She had no real business sense and in all honesty she didn't even know what a business sense was supposed to mean. Was it like touch and smell only different? She'd been told it was just being smart when it came to running a business and supposed that made enough sense, but then why call it a business sense? No one said the Apples had great farming sense despite the fact they were the finest orchard folk and farmers this side of Equestria. Or maybe she was just tired and her brain was jump-starting off on the wrong level of power. She was jolted awake by her great uncle's tuba and yodeling, the sound of which sent shivers down not to her spine, but soul. She loved her great uncle but she felt as if this early morning attack on her hearing was something mighty personal. She sent her hooves to her ears ad through this motion tried to squeeze her head off. Anything was better than death by tuba. However, maybe her brain was firing off randomly or perhaps she smashed her filly brain together hard enough for it to start working, but as soon as the tuba assault ended, the filly jumped up. "Ah got it!" She exclaimed, beaming with pride. "We sell eve'y bushel for one bit!" She said, feeling incredibly intelligent. After all, that would get them bits they were being denied. Sure it was a huge discount and sure that meant they were losing money, loads of it, on every barrel, but gosh darn it was better than zero bits and spoiled apples! She mentally patted herself on the back only to realize that she was doing it in the physical dimension as well.

"Hello there." Caramel turned around to confront the stallion, and soon saw a green stallion with the cutest cap. was this her date? Could have been worse. She wasn't a fan of the mane, but such things, if a real issue, could be solved. He looked well enough beyond that, strong and strapping. "I'm goin' to go out on a pier here and guess yer Caramel Apple, eh?" the stallion asked, his voice inflection that of a port-raised pony. She had dealt with enough of them to notice the way the words were fast and clipped, almost like a farm pony but with more blunt force. "Muggo' Ale, a pleasure to be meetin' ya." Caramel did a short head bow and extended her hoof for a shake. "You are quite right, Muggo' Ale. Caramel Apple, here for the date. And the pleasure is all mine, Ale," She said with a smile as the areas around them thinned of crowds who were slowly getting seated. She took a deep breath- meeting new ponies was not her strong suit, especially in a faux romantic setting.