The rays from the afternoon sun beat down on the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, hitting the apples that hung in the rows of trees, giving them a luscious red shine. The heat also beat down, warming the jean jacket-clad back of the teenaged farm girl in the orchard who was currently pushing a wheelbarrow of gardening tools towards the big red barn at the edge of the large farm. Straightening up, she lowered the wheelbarrow before letting go. Letting out a breath, she removed her jacket, revealing the fitted plain white t-shirt that clung to her body. Raising her right hand, she wiped the sweat off her brow before adjusting her brown stetson on her head to keep the sun out of her face.

"Damn, it's hot out here. Glad I got my chores done early." Placing her jacket on top of the wheelbarrow, she began to push again, walking into the barn. Once inside, she made her way to the back of the barn, relishing in the slightly cooler temperature. Setting the wheelbarrow down in the corner, she moved her jacket onto the handles, and began to unload the tools to their assigned spot along the back wall of the barn. Just as she finished, she heard a call coming from the other side of another door located on the side of the barn leading into her house.

"Applejack! Granny Smith says lunch is reeeaaadyyy!" Applejack rolled her eyes as she listened to footsteps moving closer to the door. That's ma sister for ya. That Apple Bloom can never use her inside voice. She smiled slightly at the thought as she made her way towards the door. When she reached the door, she saw the handle turn, and the door fly open, revealing the entrance hall of her house, and a smaller girl, pink bow bouncing in her red hair with her excited movements. Applejack's smile grew wider as she looked at the flushed face her restless little sister. At least she'senjoying herself. Apple Bloom began to jump in place as she waited for her sister. "Applejack, hurry! Granny made apple cobbler for dessert!"

Applejack let out a small chuckle as she stepped into the hallway. "Cool your jets little sis, I gotta wash up first. Go find your brother and I'll be up in a sec." Giving her sister another quick smile, Applejack turned, heading further down the hallway. She stopped suddenly, startled as Apple Bloom ran off in the other direction, yelling as she made her way upstairs.

"Biiiiiiig Maaaaaaaaaaccc!"

—

"Whhhoooeeee Granny, that was the best darn cobbler yet! I can never get mine to come out like that!"

Placing her fork down on the plate in front of her, Applejack let out a satisfied sigh as she leaned back in her chair, placing both hands on her stomach. She watched her grandmother laugh as she rose from her seat and picked up her plate. "Don't you fret yerself youngin'. Gettin' a cobbler as fine as that takes years o' practice." Giving Applejack a wink, she walked out of the dining room and into the kitchen. Applejack smiled at the response, then gave a nod of thanks as her older brother, Big Macintosh, came in from the kitchen with gloved hands, and collected the plates in front of her and where Apple Bloom used to be.

As her brother walked back into the kitchen, she felt her phone buzz in the left pocket of her jeans, before hearing a bright three bell tone, indicating which friend was trying to contact her. Reaching her left hand into her pocket, she felt the familiar, slim, hard applewood shell case surrounding her phone and pulled it out. Unlocking her phone, She went to her messages.

"We are having a band session in the studio across from the café. Please bring your bass this time, darling;) –Rarity"

Applejack blushed to herself as she recalled the memory being referred to. She had finished her chores later than expected, and in her rush to get to the studio, had forgotten her bass guitar at home. After being chastised by her best friend, Rarity, she was forced to play the triangle as punishment. Not only did Applejack find it mind-numbingly boring, the entire practice consisted of improvised triangle solos, to the great amusement of her friends. Looking at the text once more she shook her head and smiled slightly before replying.

"-_- Thanks Rare. You know, you don't need to put your name at the end of every text. I know it's you."

"Well excuuuuse me for adding a little flourish to my messages. ;p –RARITY"

"Silly me. I forgot 'simple'and 'Rarity'don'texactly go together. –APPLEJACK"

"I believe you mean JACQULINE ;) Now get a move on. –RARITY"

Applejack read the last message and smiled to herself, half regretting giving her fashionista of a best friend access to that bit of information. As she made her way upstairs, she wondered for the millionth time how she managed to stay friends with Rarity. Their first meeting wasn't the best. They were randomly paired up in middle school for an English assignment. Apparently, reading Shakespeare with a southern dialect was less than pleasant to the ears. Rarity had tried to correct Applejack's speech, leading to a huge fight that took up most of the night and left them each with a barely passing grade a few days later. They didn't talk to each other again until a few weeks later, when Rarity had come to the farm to buy some vegetables in order to make dinner for her and her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. Granny Smith had told Applejack to be 'a proper Apple' and keep Rarity company until she and Big Macintosh prepared Rarity's order. Taking Rarity upstairs to her room, the farm girl watched, slightly annoyed, as Rarity gingerly entered the room first and took a seat at the edge of Applejack's bed. Following after her, Applejack walked the short distance to her computer table beside the bed. Dragging out the computer chair, she sat backwards, straddling the chair and resting her head on her arms, earning a criticizing look from the girl in front of her.

After several fruitless attempts at maintaining a conversation, Applejack finally asked her why she came without her parents to pick up such a big order. She was watching Rarity and noticed that she tensed at the mention of her parents. At first, it seemed like she was going to avoid the topic, but then her eyes met with Applejack's. That was the first time Applejack had ever made eye contact with the tiny girl. It was a few seconds, but as Applejack stared into her sapphire eyes, she had felt time stretch on. Finally, Rarity sighed, and Applejack listened intently as she described her frivolous parents, and their dismissive behaviour towards her and her younger sister. By the end, Rarity's eyes had begun to water,and without thinking, Applejack had jumped up from her seat and sat down beside her. Placing an arm around her, she had comforted Rarity as she began to sob into the green striped shirt Applejack had on. Once Rarity had calmed down, Applejack had told her that she could come to her about anything.

Since then, she had found a friend in Rarity. Aside from the misunderstanding caused by Sunset Shimmer last year, they had grown closer, and Applejack soon found that the fashionista would cross her mind more than she would like to admit. Through the years, there were times when Rarity would call Applejack out to the park by Canterlot High in the middle of the night, furious at the most recent fight with her parents, then quickly breaking down into tears as soon as Applejack arrived with open arms. Applejack felt a growing sense of wanting to protect Rarity, to keep her from crying, and to make her smile. The feeling grew and changed, resulting in...

Applejack stopped herself. She didn't want to finish the thought. Instead, she entered her room and grabbed the bag holding her bass from beside her bed.

Walking out of her room, she looked across the hall and noticed Apple Bloom's door was ajar. Taking a quick peek inside, she smiled as she saw Apple Bloom curled up amongst the cushions of her bay window, asleep; a book abandoned on the floor. Aww. Well, after using so much energy, it's no wonder she gets plum tuckered and needs a nap every day. Stepping back outside, she quietly closed the door before making her way back downstairs. Stepping into the kitchen, she quickly told her brother that she was off to go practice. Opening the front door of her house she smiled, welcoming the warmth from the sun now that she didn't have to work in it, and adjusted the bag holding her bass on her back before beginning her walk down the path into the city.

—

Walking through the front doors of the studio, Applejack was greeted to a small entrance area with a front desk, currently unoccupied, and a long hallway with several doors. Walking towards the table, she noticed the sign-in sheet at the corner of the desk. Scanning the sheet, she quickly found 'Rainbooms' next to 'Studio 7,' and made her way down the hallway. She found the room and turned the knob, opening the door.

"-Worst! Possible! Thing!" Startled by the sudden outburst, Applejack stopped as she walked into the room, and took in the scene in front of her as the door closed behind her. Directly in front of her stood two of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, both holding their guitars. Rainbow Dash had a hand to her face and was shaking her head. Sunset Shimmer had her eyes to the ceiling. To the right, her newest friend, Twilight Sparkle, was standing against the wall, clumsily holding a keytar, which actually belonged to Rarity, with her left hand, and adjusting her glasses with her right hand. She looked nervous as she looked past Applejack. Her attention was on the girl to the left of Applejack, along the wall by the door. There, Rarity was lying face up across three cushioned chairs. Her left arm dangled off the chairs, while her right arm was across her face. "Why me!? Whyyyy MEEEEEE!?"

Rainbow Dash lifted her head and noticed Applejack standing at the door. Waving a hand and pointing towards Rarity, she spoke, annoyance obvious in her voice. "AJ do something! We've been trying to get her to stop, but she won't shut up!"

As soon as she heard 'AJ', Rarity had moved her arm from over her eyes. Seeing the country girl at the door, she quickly sat up and moved to the chair closest to the entrance. Reaching out an arm, she grabbed and pulled at the bottom of Applejack's t-shirt. By the time Applejack looked down, Rarity had pulled her closer, and now had her arms around her waist and her face on her stomach. It happened so suddenly; Applejack couldn't help the blush that quickly passed across her face.

Shaking her head to clear it, Applejack took one last look around the room. "What in tarnation is going on!?"Applejack asked over Rarity's tearless sobs. She turned her attention back to the others and hadn't realized the she had placed one hand on Rarity's back out of habit. Sunset Shimmer ran a hand down her face and sighed before speaking.

"We were starting to set-up, and Rarity began to complain about the heat. We sent Twilight down to ask the attendant at the front if he could turn on the AC for this studio room. Twilight came back and told us that he left to turn it on, but it would be around 15 minutes before the room begins to cool down. Then Rarity went off."

Applejack raised an eyebrow and looked at Sunset Shimmer while trying to keep a straight face. Seriously? Well, that's Rarity for ya. She thought. A small thing like this, and she goes all 'drama queen' on us. She turned her attention to Twilight, who was shifting uncomfortably. Twilight looked down at her shoes before speaking.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know she would be so upset, but the guy at the front-"

Shaking her head to cut her off, Applejack smiled at Twilight before speaking. "Don't worry a thing, is just Rarity being…well, Rarity. You'll get used to it." Giving one more reassuring smile, she watched Twilight relax slightly, before finally turning her attention to the girl who still had a hold around her waist. "Come on Rarity, why are ya being like this? Twilight did say the AC was comin' on."

Without moving off of Applejack, Rarity shook her head. "But it's sooooo hoooooot! I feel like I am going suffocate in this tiny room!" Tightening her grip, she began to whimper again.

And they say I'm stubborn. Moving her hands to Rarity's shoulder, Applejack gently pushed Rarity until she reluctantly let go of her waist and was sitting upright. Kneeling so she was eye level with her pouting best friend, Applejack gave her an exasperated look. "Rare, think about it for a sec. The guy at the front said fifteen minutes. I reckon this whole scene of yours took at least ten minutes." She ignored the glare as she continued."By the time Pinkie and Fluttershy get here, the fifteen minutes will be up. That's five minutes, Sugar. Five minutes. Is that really so bad?"

Applejack watched as Rarity opened her mouth and knew that she was about to protest. Right before she began to speak, several clunking sounds came from the ceiling as the fans began to spin. Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the vent located high on the back wall and watched as two blue streamers attached to it began to move, indicating that air was blowing out of the vent. Applejack looked back at Rarity and smiled as Rarity's face lit up at the sight. Turning back to Applejack, Rarity looked into her eyes and gave a cheeky smile before she spoke. "I guess five minutes isn't so bad." Standing up, Applejack gave Rarity a pat on her head before walking towards the others.

—

'…we're better than ever.'

As the last of the notes from the band rang out, Twilight began to clap from one of the chairs that Rarity had previously occupied. Her eyes were lit with wonder and amazement as she watched everyone's ponytails shorten, their highlights disappear, and their ears form back to normal. Fluttershy began to blush at Twilight's clapping and attempted to hide her face with her tambourine.

As they began to pack up for the evening, Rarity turned to Twilight. "Twilight, darling, are you absolutely sure you wouldn't like to join us? The new songs Rainbow and Fluttershy wrote have parts you could sing, and we could definitely use a voice like yours in the band." Twilight blinked as she looked at Rarity. It took a moment to realize that they had heard 'her' singing from the other Twilight who had visited their world. After moving to Canterlot High School, she was abruptly introduced to the other Twilight who seemingly jumped out the Canterlot Statue. Once she had recovered from passing out, the others had given her a quick recap on the adventures they had gone through during the year in addition to the Friendship Games.

Since then, Twilight was warmly welcomed, and she found herself truly enjoying her new life and friends. Just like Sunset Shimmer once had, she still felt like she had a lot to learn and was content with watching the girls interacting with one another. She always found herself picking up on a lot of things. Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she gave Rarity a smile before responding. "Thanks Rarity, but I'm really okay with watching you girls. I love watching you play, especially when you all...um, 'pony up'."

Rainbow Dash spoke up as she began to coil her guitar cable. "How do you know you won't 'pony up' too? I mean, you did come in contact with magic, and you are Twilight Sparkle after all."

Twilight gave a slightly shaken look as she thought back to the Friendship Games. She knew that there was something that was still left in her after she had become Midnight Sparkle, but she felt like she wasn't ready to address it. "Yeah, but I'm not a princess or anything. And I'm definitely no expert in friendship either."

Fluttershy, who was helping Rainbow Dash disconnect the amps, spoke just loud enough to be heard. "Um, I think you're a great friend, Twilight. And if you really don't want to sing, we won't force you, but we will always have a spot in the band for you."

Twilight gave her a grateful smile before glancing over at Applejack. She had long since put her bass and other equipment away and was now helping Rarity return the microphones back to their starting position. She noticed one of the mic stands wasn't completely lowered as Applejack went to pick it up, and it shifted down, pinching the palm of her left hand below her index finger. Applejack pulled away quickly and winced, being careful not to cry out and draw attention to herself. Twilight quickly shifted her eyes, hoping that Applejack didn't notice her watching.

After stacking the last of the studio drums in to the storage room, Pinkie Pie, who was unusually quiet, stuck her head out of the room and looked around at everyone with a huge smile on her face. "You know what would be perfect after an awesome practice?" Pinkie asked, drawing all eyes toward her. "SLUMBER PARTY AT MY HOUSE!" As she said this, she came out of the room, threw her hands up, and streamers appeared around the studio, seemingly out of thin air.

"The hell, Pinkie!?" Sunset cried, "We just cleaned the place up!" She blew on a streamer hanging on her head and watched it float to the ground.

"That's why I used streamers! Duh, confetti would be really messy." Everyone watched as the party girl looked around at the streamers for a moment, before picking up the end of one and started rolling it. As if by magic, all the other streamers seemed to be connected by the one in her hand as they all moved toward her, forming a baseball sized ball in her hand at the end. Twilight watched in amazement as everyone else just rolled their eyes.

Sunset began to smile absently as she thought about her plans for tonight. She shook her head before speaking. "I'd love to Pinkie, but my neighbours are heading out tonight, and I promised I'd watch their kids. I'm like their big sister; It's pretty awesome."

"Same here darling," Rarity added. "I must get home to Sweetie Belle. I highly doubt that she would be able to survive the night on her own." Just as she said this, Rarity's phone buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she read the message, and an angry frown, that didn't go unnoticed by Applejack, flashed across her face. Clearing her throat, she waited a beat before she spoke again. "Well, it seems that Sweetie Belle is having a sleepover of her own." Looking atApplejack, she continued. "She and Apple Bloom went to Scootaloo's. That opens up my night, I guess."

After everyone else confirmed that they could make it, they all picked up their respective belongings and headed for the door. Once outside, Applejack watched as Rarity smiled at the cooler breeze of the evening. After saying goodbye to Sunset Shimmer, the others made their way home to get their things before heading to Pinkie's house. As Applejack walked home, she made a mental note to pack proper pyjamas instead of the onesie her Aunt Orange had given her for her birthday last year.