"Ah'm in a heap o'trouble, sis."

Big Macintosh had the decency to blush a little as he heaped the tatty old doll onto the kitchen table, although it wasn't noticeable under his crimson hair to anyone who didn't know him well. Applejack certainly did, though, and was willing to let her big brother explain the doll with the loose button eyes before asking questions.

"This belongs to Miz Sparkle. It's her doll from all the kerfuffle six weeks ago."

Applejack couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Big Macintosh, y'all oughta know better than to hold onto somepony else’s property for so long! There was a spell or some such on the old thing. Twilight knows she was wrong to cast it on her doll but she's been lookin' for it ever since. Ah was gonna visit her later today anyhow, if you want me to take it?"

Big Macintosh looked at his sister, and slowly shook his head, eyes pleading.

"So y'don't want me to take it over. You're gonna take it yourself? 'Cause if you are you better not be thinking Ah'm gonna catch you up for the work you'll be missin' on the south fields."

Big Macintosh shook his head again, faster, desperate not to have to spell it out.

"Big Macintosh, if Ah didn't know better Ah'd think you were wantin' to keep that old thing for yourself! Y'know it belongs to Twilight, right? 'Cause-"

"Of course Ah know who it belongs to, sis. S'why Ah took it in th' first place. So's Ah could be th' one to return it."

Applejack took a few seconds to stare at her brother before responding, in case she was wrong. The signs were there for anyone who knew the big stallion, though. He was looking everywhere except into his sister's eyes, and he was starting to rub his forelegs together like a colt who'd been caught in the pantry. Big Macintosh was nervous, and not just nervous; he was embarrassed about it.

Applejack decided to go with the good ol' Apple family standby and just confront the truth head on. Whether it was a bad case of powdery mildew across the entire western front, a broken beam in the barn or a pie that Granny'd plum forgotten to put sugar in, there wasn't much that was made better by waiting to talk about it.

"Big Macintosh, were you lookin' for an excuse to talk to Twilight?"

Big Macintosh finally returned her gaze. Before he answered, he stood up straight and took a deep breath, ready for and fully expecting an argument.

"Eeyup."

Applejack didn't blink. Big Macintosh realised, all of a sudden, that his tongue was far too large in his mouth. Applejack's response was measured; Big Macintosh knew there was a shouting match to be had, if he put a hoof wrong, but it wasn't absolutely certain yet.

"Less'n three months ago Ah remember you were this nervous, and it was because you were asking me if it was alright for you to go courtin' Fluttershy! Now you be honest with me, Big Macintosh, have you got yourself an answer from her yet? 'Cause Ah'm not about to let my big brother go messing my friends about, y'hear?"

Big Macintosh looked away for a second, hanging his head a little under Applejack's stare. He could feel his words stumble over his teeth like they always did when he was nervous or worried, even if his stammer was mostly under control these days.

"N-Now, don't be thinking that. Miz Fluttershy was awful nice t'me. But she w-weren't interested in me as a gentlecolt caller and she was kind enough not to pretend anythin’ different."

Applejack started for a second, suddenly indignant. What was wrong with Big Macintosh that Fluttershy would just shut him down like that? She'd spoken to Fluttershy before about the sort of pony she'd be interested in, and Big Macintosh seemed to fit the bill just so; reliable, hard-working, honest and gentle with both Applebloom and the parade of critters Fluttershy always had wandering through her place. Applejack didn't exactly consider herself qualified to judge the desirability of any stallion, let alone her big brother, but she'd always figured Fluttershy'd be a good match for him.

Horsefeathers, Applejack thought, Fluttershy'd be lucky to have her brother as a gentlecolt caller! He'd been running the farm since Applejack could remember, sitting up until late in the night balancing books with his ridiculously tiny reading glasses perched at the end of his nose. He could do stuff with finances Applejack could barely understand, haggle with the suppliers and apple traders like nopony's business, and he'd even spent a week and a half reading those ridiculous romance novels Rarity had said Fluttershy was so fond of so he'd have something to talk about with her! Applejack resolved herself to have a conversation with Fluttershy as soon as possible before she let her chance with Big Macintosh slip away.

Not that she had anything against Twilight as a potential suitor for Big Macintosh, Applejack quickly reminded herself. She was a studious pony alright, reliable in her own way, and Big Macintosh could sure lose himself in a book the same way she kept seeing Twilight disappear into one, so they weren't necessarily a bad fit. It's just that Applejack had always assumed, she realised, that Fluttershy would be invited into the Apple family sooner rather than later. She was good with animals, and that'd be real useful for sure, but it was more than that.

Applejack had always appreciated her brother's taciturn nature, letting her speak her full mind before responding, even when she was a little filly and had been prattling on about nothing. She'd not realised at the time it was a terrible stammer of her brother's that had contributed so much to his quiet nature. She'd just liked that he let her finish her piece. Even now, the rest of her friends spoke too quickly for her liking. Fluttershy would let her finish saying everything she wanted to say before she'd say anything in response, and that response would always show she'd really taken the time to listen. With Fluttershy it was more her consideration for the speaker than anything else that prevented her from butting in, but in any case whenever Applejack had spoken to Fluttershy it felt safe. It felt like she was speaking with family.

Big Macintosh saw Applejack set her face into a determined grin, and internally braced himself. That face meant he was about to hear a plan that he'd have no hope of changing. Worse than that, it usually meant that Applejack had decided - again - to go off and do something instead of waiting to find out everything that was going on.

"Well, don't go trying to open another door before we're certain this one is closed, y'hear? Ah'm gonna go and have a talk with Fluttershy this afternoon about our chickens anyhow, so Ah figure Ah can make sure y'all have got your apples in a row before you go talking to anypony else."

Big Macintosh felt his heart sink. Applejack bringing this all up with Fluttershy was the last thing he wanted. Fluttershy’d been honest enough with him about the hows and whys of why they wouldn’t exactly work as a couple and he didn’t exactly want Applejack dragging a rake through it, if only because he knew it’d make the nervous little pegasus feel even more awkward than usual. One look at his sister’s face, however, told him it was a done deal. He sighed, and gently lifted the battered doll from the table.

“You do what y’think best, sis. Could you at least take Miz Smartypants here with you? Ah was gonna ask Miz Fluttershy if she could find the time to spruce her up some, re-attach the eye and whatnot.”

Applejack sighed and roughly took the doll, jamming her into a saddlebag and making Big Macintosh wince.

“Whatever you say, big brother. But this is as a favour to Twilight and not for any other reason. Ah’ll make sure Ah bring it back so’s you can be the one to return it, but if Ah know Fluttershy, which Ah do, then y’all will be returning it as Twilight’s friend’s brother and nothin’ more. Ah’m sure Fluttershy was just too nervous to say anything to you before!”

Applejack shot a wide grin at her brother for a second before turning and cantering out of the door, off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. Big Macintosh stared after her sadly for a couple of seconds before sighing and following her outside, looking for a moment in the direction of the town proper before heading off to the south fields. From the farmhouse, he could just see the top of the library tree peaking above the rest of the buildings. With a quiet smile on his face, Big Macintosh walked off to the south fields, ready for a good, long, distracting day of work.

-------

As she pounded down the road towards the town, Applejack was starting to have misgivings about taking the doll with her to Fluttershy’s place. She knew she was no good in a protracted lie and it was bound to slip out that Big Macintosh had been holding on to the thing. If she was going to convince Fluttershy that Big Macintosh was a viable suitor after all, then she couldn’t be having anything on her that might cast misgivings on his affections; like hanging on to some other pony’s prized personal possessions.

She slowed down her running as she looked back at the raggedy old doll in her saddlebags and thought about it. What she needed to do was drop it off with somepony else, somepony who could fix her up as good as Fluttershy would be able to do with her crazy knowledge of sewing- Rarity! She’d have to dance around the truth a little and say she just found it in the house, otherwise Rarity’d just let on to Fluttershy about it at one of their frou-frou spa sessions, but that wasn’t really a lie. She had found out about it in the house, at any rate.

Applejack changed direction and headed into town towards Carousel Boutique, pulling the doll out of her saddlebags as she cantered up to the door and knocked on it loudly with her front hooves. It wasn’t long before a slightly harassed-looking Rarity answered.

“Applejack! You’re a sight for sore- isn’t Applebloom with you?”

“Hmr?” Applejack mumbled around the doll. “Uh fort thut she-”

“Dear, I absolutely cannot hear you around that- that thing you’re carrying around. Do wipe your feet, come in and put it down, but if it was supposed to be an article of clothing I’m afraid it’s beyond even my talent to rescue.”

Applejack quickly stamped the dust off her hooves and walked into the boutique, depositing Miss Smartypants on a nearby table.

“Sorry about that, sugarcube. Ah was gonna say Ah thought your sister and Scootaloo were meeting Applebloom up at Sweet Apple Acres. That’s what Applebloom’s been flappin’ her jaw about in any case.”

Rarity’s eye twitched for a moment, and she spoke through gritted teeth.

“So Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo have been waiting here - playing in my boutique - when they could have been using all that energy to, say, walk over to your farm? Well, no time like the present.”

Rarity turned to her stairs and shouted up.

“Girls, stop whatever little projects you’re working on! Applebloom’s waiting for you at Sweet Apple Acres!”

Upstairs, the noise reached a crescendo moments before Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pounded down the stairs. Rarity turned back to Applejack and looked at the slumped old doll on her table for a second, before raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Oh, this ol’ thing? It’s Twilight’s doll from that whole mess a few weeks back. Ah, uh, Ah found it up at the farm and Ah wondered if maybe you could try fixing it up some before Ah give it back. Ah’d be real appreciative, Rarity, Ah know it’s not the sort of thing you usually do.”

Rarity sighed and magically lifted the doll to a work table in the corner.

“I will give it my very best, Applejack, but I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out. Why didn’t you just give it back to Twilight straight away?”

Before Applejack could answer, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo started firing off their own questions, each jostling in front of the other for Applejack’s attention as they spoke.

“Why did you keep the doll for so long?”

“Yeah, why? Were you playing with it? It’s really old.”

“How come you want it all fixed up? Are you gonna give it to her as a present?”

“You can’t give someone something that’s already theirs as a present!”

“That’s why she’s having it all fixed!”

Applejack finally found a way into the conversation by pushing the two foals away from each other.

“Now, girls, there’s no reason to argue over it. Sweetie Belle’s right, Ah’m getting it fixed up for her as kind of a present. Now Applebloom is waitin’ on you both, so-”

“Why are you getting her a present?”

Both girls chimed in at once, joined by Rarity who was looking up quizzically from an extremely critical examination of Miss Smartypants and starting to thread a needle. Applejack hated being the centre of attention when she couldn’t just tell the truth, and she could feel a blush starting on her ears and working its way down across her face.

“Because- Because sometimes it’s nice to get somepony a present when y’care about - when they’re your friend, d’ye hear? Rarity, I gotta go. Girls, Applebloom’s waiting for you both at the farm.”

Applejack quickly backed out of the door and took a moment to clear her head. She hated lying, even doing anything that was close to lying, and she knew full well she was no good at it. As she looked out towards Fluttershy’s cottage, she felt her belly rumbling. Deciding that that particular conversation was going to be tricky enough without an empty stomach distracting her, she headed into town with the intent of grabbing a quick sandwich before carrying on with her day.

Back at the boutique, Rarity and the girls stared at the door for a second. Suddenly, Rarity put everything together. Applejack was incredibly nervous about asking Rarity to repair the doll, so it must have meant a lot to her that it was in its best possible shape before handing it back to Twilight. And since Applejack didn’t normally care at all about the little things, that must mean...

“Oooooooh!” Rarity squealed to herself. “Oh, I shall simply have to outdo myself! This has got to be absolutely perfect for Applejack.”

“Don’t you mean for Twilight? It’s her doll,” Sweetie Belle asked, breaking Rarity’s reverie.

She smiled at Sweetie Belle before carefully framing her answer; her little sister was, of course, still a stranger to complicated affairs of the heart. After all, it took a pony with true sophistication to understand this delicate a matter with such crystal clear intuition.

“Yes, Sweetie, for Twilight too. It’s just very important to Applejack to be able to hand over something nice as a gift.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stared at Rarity blankly.

“Why?” they asked in unison.

“That’s not important, dears. Now off you go, Applebloom’s waiting!” she said in that cheery tone of voice that Sweetie Belle knew meant they were now intruding on her big sister’s work.

“Okay, fine. Come on, Scootaloo!”

The two fillies walked out of the door and started out towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“What was that all about?” asked Scootaloo.

“I dunno. Let’s go ask Applebloom! I bet she knows why Applejack was so nervous!” Sweetie Belle said, breaking into a canter. Scootaloo quickly sped up to follow her, and they both started giggling as they began an impromptu race towards the farm.

-------

Big Macintosh enjoyed physical labour; the repetitive nature of a task never bored him. He usually found it freed up his mind, allowing him to almost unconsciously get on with the job at hand, and he hadn’t expected his work in the south fields replacing the old fence to be any different. But then, he hadn’t expected Applebloom to be following him around for the past hour, first making everything take twice as long by “helpin’ make sure you use th’right nail each time!”, then shouting instructions at him in case her cutie mark would appear for “organizin’ a labor force!”. For the past twenty minutes, though, she’d found a far more odious game to play, and Big Macintosh had resigned himself to one heck of a headache later.

“Is it... Fluttershy?” Applebloom asked excitedly, suddenly popping up in his left ear.

“Nnnope,” Big Macintosh answered. He moved the beam into place, bit a nail and jammed it in where he’d need it. He grabbed the mallet in his teeth, took careful aim and-

“Is it Rainbow Dash? ‘Cause that don’t seem like it’d work out,” Applebloom asked again, bouncing up in front of Big Macintosh so suddenly he dropped the mallet. He sighed and answered before picking it up again.

“Nnnope.” Big Macintosh swung the mallet into the nail once, driving it firmly into the beam and the post both, before dropping the mallet and fetching another nail from the bag he’d brought with him.

“Is it Derpy Hooves?” Applebloom asked happily, jumping around behind Big Macintosh.

Big Macintosh dropped the nail, swung his head around and bit the bouncing Applebloom’s big pink bow for a second, leaving her swinging from his mouth. Just as suddenly he let go, depositing her on her rump. He leaned down to speak to her face to face.

“Now whut have Ah told you about that nickname?” he said quietly. Applebloom cringed. There wasn’t much that’d make her brother angry, but this was one of the few things that could do it consistently.

“Ah meant Ditzy Doo! Ah did! Ah didn’t mean to say- to use the mean name. ‘m sorry,” Applebloom blurted. Big Macintosh gave her a good, long look before grabbing another nail and putting it in place.

“Is it Ditzy Doo, though? Y’see her at speech therapy all th’time,” Applebloom asked, running and fetching the mallet for her brother. Big Macintosh sighed. It was turning into an extremely long afternoon.

“Nnnope.” Big Macintosh took the mallet and swung at the fence again, pinning the beam firmly in place with a single satisfying ‘thunk’. Even with the distractions, it’d only take him another half an hour to finish the job. Maybe, he thought, he could go into town early, visit the library before meeting up with Ditzy for their group speech session. Even if he could barely get a word out, Twilight always seemed so pleased to see-

“Are y’ SURE it isn’t Fluttershy? ‘Cause Applejack said that she was practic’ly part of the family, so Ah thought that-”

Applebloom was prevented from finishing by the sounds of a small, mobile fight rolling over the hill, from the direction of the farm house. The dust up seemed to include equal parts Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, a blue scooter and accusations of cheating until Big Macintosh walked calmly over and pushed them apart with his nose.

“You can’t use a scooter in a race! It’s supposed to be a RACE!” Sweetie Belle was shouting.

“Yes I can! You never said I couldn’t!” Scootaloo screamed back. Big Macintosh took a deep breath - it looked like getting these two on talking terms again was going to take up the rest of his afternoon. There goes the library, he thought. He was about to start the long, laborious process of mediating the argument when Applebloom interrupted him.

“Girls, knock it off! Ah’ve got a great plan for our crusadin’ today!” Applebloom proudly announced from atop Big Macintosh’s head. Before she’d even finished speaking, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were side by side in front of Big Macintosh, looking up at Applebloom with excited eyes, their argument totally forgotten.

“Ooooh, what’s the plan?”

“Yeah, tell us tell us tell us!”

“Ah’ll tell y’all in a second,” Applebloom said, before bouncing to the ground and turning around to face Big Macintosh.

“But it’s a secret, Big Macintosh, so you’re gonna have to finish the fence without me. Ah’m sorry but it’s important!” Applebloom said with an extremely serious expression on her face. Very carefully, and without allowing any expression of confused relief to creep onto his face, Big Macintosh walked back to the fence and continued his work, pleased to sink back into pleasant thoughts of the filly at the library.

“So here’s mah plan for our crusadin’ today! Except y’gotta keep it real quiet otherwise Big Macintosh’ll hear,” Applebloom whispered, leaning her head in towards her almost awestruck friends. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle started, interrupting loudly.

“Oh! I just remembered! Applebloom, do you know why Applejack was so nervous this morning? She had that old doll of Twilight’s we fought over, and she wanted Rarity to fix it, except she kept on looking at her hooves and she wouldn’t answer any of our questions.”

Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle dismissively. “Of course Ah know why! That’s where Ah got mah plan for today’s crusadin’! We’re gonna be matchmakers!”

“Matchmakers?” Scootaloo wrinkled up her nose in confusion. “You mean we gotta make matches? Like, fire matches?”

“We don’t even know what the bit that catches fire is made from,” admitted Sweetie Belle, rubbing her legs together in embarrassment. “Applebloom, I don’t think-”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong! Ah mean we’re gonna help other ponies find their one true love!” Applebloom explained excitedly.

“Oh!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with a huge grin. “That’s so romantic! I bet that would give you a great cutie mark!”

Scootaloo’s expression was a lot less animated. She sat down in the field and fixed her fellow crusaders with a blunt look.

“That sounds so sappy! Who would even want a cutie mark for making ponies get all lovey-dovey with each other?” she said, looking thoroughly dejected at the idea of an afternoon wasted.

“Well...” Applebloom looked up for a second, thinking hard about what might get her friend excited about her great idea.

“Oh! Ah know! You can fix up Rainbow Dash with someone! That’s sure to work!”

Scootaloo perked up a little at that. Rainbow Dash was really pretty, after all, so it couldn’t be that hard getting her matched up with someone. And then she could tell Rainbow Dash that she helped fix her up, and Dash would be so happy that she’d teach her how to do the Super Speed Strut! And the Buccaneer Blaze! And even how to do a Sonic Rainboom! Yes!

“Okay, I’m in! So what do we have to do to matchmake?”

“Well, first we have to decide who we’re gonna match up with who, but we’ve got insider knowledge.” Applebloom smirked. “Applejack’s been hiding that ol’ doll in the barn for weeks now! I didn’t say anything cause Ah thought maybe she’d make me keep it or somethin’. But if today she’s gettin’ it fixed for Twilight, then it must mean she’s almost ready to ask her on a date!” Applebloom pronounced triumphantly.

“Well, if she’s gonna ask her out anyway then how do we do any matchmaking?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“That’s easy! We just go and make sure Twilight’s interested in Applejack!” Scootaloo blurted out. “R-right?”

“Exactly!” Applebloom grinned at both her friends. “But y’all have got to fix ponies up too. Sweetie Belle, can you think of anyone who you could fix up Rarity with?”

Sweetie Belle sat and thought for a moment, trying to work out if her sister had recently mentioned any pony more than often, or in a particularly dreamy way.

“Well, there is ONE pony she might want to get all snuggled up with,” Sweetie Belle said, almost thinking out loud. “She made her a costume for Nightmare Night and then she made herself a matching costume. But she couldn’t go out ‘cause Mom and Daddy were goin’ to Nightmare Karaoke and they needed someone to sit and watch the house, ‘cause Daddy said somepony might throw eggs at it. She was really grumpy about it too, and her costume didn’t really make much sense on its own for a unicorn and ponies kept asking her about it and she kept saying how it was the worst possible night!”

Applebloom and Scootaloo didn’t look particularly impressed. Sweetie Belle looked at them quizzically, cocking her head to one side.

“Your sister says that all the time, Sweetie Belle. She said it last week when we tried Cutie Mark Crusader Chimney Sweeps, remember?” Applebloom said.

“I don’t need to remember,” muttered Scootaloo, kicking at one of her ears and depositing a small pile of soot on the ground.

Sweetie Belle stamped her foot, putting on her most determined expression. “I know she can be a bit dramatic, but she was really upset! She was so upset she got QUIET about it for a whole day!”

Applebloom and Scootaloo were stunned into silence. They’d managed to make Rarity pretty mad over the last few months - Cutie Mark Crusader Basement Builders and the Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Designer Talent Agency sprang to mind - but they’d never managed to upset her so much she’d actually gone quiet.

“So there!” Sweetie Belle said, clearly quite pleased with herself. “We gotta get Rarity and Rainbow Dash together. That covers you too, Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo thought for a second. Rainbow Dash was really pretty, and Rarity was really pretty too, so she couldn’t see any problems with the idea.

“Alright!” she said. “We got a plan!”

“Okay, this’ll get us our cutie marks for sure!” said Applebloom. “And while we’re doin’ all that we should fix up Big Macintosh and Fluttershy too, ‘cause everypony knows that’s just a matter o’time and they’re just too nervous to speak to each other. Even Granny Smith said so.”

“Well, yeah, obviously.”

“Rarity’s even already made them a tuxedo and a big frilly dress that she keeps in the back of the cupboard.”

“Okay then - all together now!” Applebloom shouted, all discretion lost.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MATCHMAKERS!” they yelled together, before Scootaloo grabbed her scooter and the three of them disappeared in the general direction of Ponyville proper.

At the fence, Big Macintosh looked up from his work for a second, the mental image of him presenting Twilight with a first edition of ‘Starswirl the Bearded’s Compiled Research’ slowly disappearing from his mind. Had somepony shouted something at him? A little unsure, he returned to finishing off the fence, but couldn’t quite shake the nagging feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong indeed.