"So you didn't see anypony go into, or come out of, The Everfree Forest either?"

"Sorry, Shining," Applejack said as she bucked one of the trees. "Can't say I have. Did ya try asking Fluttershy?"

"I asked her first." Shining Armor's horn glowed as he lifted one of the baskets of apples. "She hadn't seen anything. Said she would ask her animals if they had and get back to me." Moving the filled basket over toward Spike, he then set an empty one under the tree.

"Well I think I see her comin' now," the orange mare stated. "Maybe she's got some good news."

Sure enough, there was the yellow pegasus walking along the path that to Sweet Apple Acres. She had her saddlebags on and a white rabbit was hopping along by her side as she approached.

Shining Armor heard the kick of the Applejack bucking the apple tree. Once again his horn glowed as he moved the full basket and grabbed an empty. As he did, he noticed Spike rooting through one of the full ones.

"Spike, what are you doing?"

"I'm hungry," the young dragon responded. "We've been so busy I missed snack time."

"Well... If Applejack doesn't mind you having one..."

"It's fine," the mare said, not even breaking her pace.

"Alright," Shining said, "but a small one. It is almost lunch time."

Spike resumed going through the apples, tossing several aside. Shining Armor watched a moment before giving a shake of his head. Getting up, he walked over to meet Fluttershy.

"Hello Fluttershy. Did you find anything else out?"

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy answered, "but no. I've asked every animal that I could, but none of them saw a near The Everfree Forest. Sorry."

"Well thanks for trying," Shining said before letting out a groan. "This is really weird. I kind of wish there was a pony that lived in The Everfree I could talk to or something."

Fluttershy let out a small "uhm..' sound, but before she could say anything more, a massive belch came from Spike, getting the attention of the three ponies. As he did, a burst of green fire shot out from the dragon's mouth and into the air. The flame shifted to smoke, then swirled in on itself and popped into a scroll.

"A letter from Princess Celestia," Shining said excitedly. "Maybe it's a response to the one from earlier."

Spike reached out and grabbed the scroll. With a flick of the claw, he broke the seal. The small dragon cleared her throat and unfurled the scroll.

"Hear ye, hear ye," he read. "Her grand royal highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala, to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot on the twenty-first day of..." Getting annoyed, he started to skip through.

"Yada-yada..."

"Ah. Cordially extends an invitation to Shining Armor, plus one guest."

"The Grand Galloping Gala!" Applejack and Fluttershy both shouted out. The pair nearly knocked Shining Armor over as they moved to Spike, looking at the invitation. The dragon let out a grumble as he was pressed between the two mares. Shifting and twisting, he yanked himself free and fell backward. When his back hit the ground, he let out another burp, causing two gold tickets to appear in the air above him. Shining reached out with his magic and grabbed them.

"You two seem very excited at the idea of going," he said as he drew the tickets to him.

"You kidding?" Applejack said loudly. "I'd love to go. Land's sake. If I had an apple stand set up, ponies'd be trying our tasty vittles til the cows came home. Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up around here.

"We could replace that saggy ol' roof. And Big Macintosh could replace that saggy ol' plow. And Granny Smith could replace that saggy ol' hip. Why, I'd give my left hind leg to go to that Gala."

Shining Armor gave a twitch of his ear as he stared at the orange pony. As selfish as it was, he found himself a little disappointed. When Applejack had expressed an interest in going to the Gala, he thought she would want to go as his date. Turned out it was more for business reasons. It was understandable where she was coming from, but he still felt a little disappointed.

"What about you Fluttershy?" he said as he turned to the pegasus. "I mean an event with lots of ponies, dancing and interaction with a large group you haven't met? Doesn't really sound like something you'd be interested in."

"No," Fluttershy said until Angel tapped at her with one of his large hind feet. "I mean.. yes... Or, actually, kind of. You see, it's not so much The Grand Galloping Gala, as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the Gala, and that night alone, will they all be in bloom.

"And that's just the flora. Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and gibbons, oh my. Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz! With Blue Jays, and Red Jays and Green Jays. Pink Jays and Pink Flamingos."

"Okay," Shining Armor said, "That makes sense." He looked at the two mares, then at the two tickets. With only one extra, he could only take one of them with him.

He wanted to take Applejack... but... he did not want to disappoint Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was so quiet and subdued that seeing her excited about anything was somewhat surprising. On the other hoof, Applejack did have a valid point about how much she could use the bits to help fix and upgrade the farm.

Why was he finding this a hard choice?

"Well," he finally said, "I think Spike and I are going to get some lunch. I'll see you two later. Come on Spike." Reaching out with his magic, he put Spike on his back and started walking down road. The stallion started picking up the pace as he went, feeling an itch on the back of his head and two pairs of eyes watched him go.