Chapter 6 – A Heated Family Get-Together

In the middle of the day, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang are leisurely flying toward Sweet Apple Acres where they have been invited to a family dinner this evening. Tagging along with the Pegasus couple is Rainbow’s Number One Fan, Scootaloo, whose tiny wings flap mightily to keep up with her idol as they fly a few feet off the ground.

“How are you holding up, Scootaloo?” Ford asks with concern when he looks back. “Do you want us to slow down for you?”

“She’s fine, Ford!” Rainbow reassures with a bold grin before winking at the orange filly. “She’s getting better with each passing day! Right, Scoots?”

Through soft pants, she responds back to not disappoint her role model with a confident smile, “Don’t mind me! I can do this all day long!”

But her bold claim didn’t hold up for long when her fluttering wings lose speed as she steadily descends toward the ground. From noticing this, Rainbow makes a swift dive toward Scoots and safely catches the purple-haired filly with her back.

With the smaller Pegasus saddled to the blue mare, Scootaloo concedes tiresomely with a sheepish smile, “Well… maybe not the entire day at least.”

“Why don’t you take a break, champ?” Rainbow insists with a proud smile. “You’ve earned it.”

“Thanks again for allowing me to come with you guys for dinner at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“No problem, Scootaloo.” Rainbow grins warmly. “Anything for my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister, Rainbow.” she points it out with an amusing smile.

“All more the reason why you are still my favorite.” the mare responds with a witty grin.

Then, Ford adds, “Plus, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will be there tonight, so we can’t have the Cutie Mark Crusaders without all three of them.”

“I think you mean former Cutie Mark Crusader.” Rainbow corrects her husband with an all-knowing smirk.

The adult Pegasi and Scootaloo look at her orange flank as it bears her Cutie Mark that she earned nearly a year ago. It displays a red wheel that's similar to the one from her scooter as it's lit ablaze with light purple fire that matches with her mane. This Cutie Mark not only reflects her incredible talent from riding on her scooter, but also her promising skills when it comes to mechanical repairs.

“Doesn’t matter.” the stallion shrugs with a smile before winking at Scootaloo. “Once a Crusader, always a Crusader! Am I right?”

“Right!” she confirms cheerfully. Next, she turns back to her big sister and asks with a curious smile, “So Rainbow Dash… what it’s like having a baby?”

From pondering on that question, she answers with an earnest smile, “Well I’m not gonna lie to you. It kind of sucks that I have to be more careful when it comes to flying now, but there are some perks in the process. For example, and you can eat as much ice cream as you want!”

As Scootaloo licks her chops from that appealing thought, Ford rebukes his wife with a sharp smirk, “Hey now! Don’t give her any ideas!”

Then, she leans closer to Scootaloo’s ear and whispers to her with a clever smirk stretching across her face, “And tasking your husband into anything you want isn’t that bad either.”

While that earns Rainbow a barely suppressed giggle from the smiling filly, Ford is able to hear that sly comment and states with a smirk of his own, “Yeah… and how is that different before you became pregnant again?”

Leaving her husband’s smart remark aside, Rainbow finishes her statement with bold grin before leaning her head and lightly nuzzling her smiling stallion, “But in the end, it’ll be totally worth it.”

“So once the foal is born, will that make me an aunt someday?” Scootaloo asks in anticipation.

With a hearty chuckle, Rainbow answers while playfully rubbing the smiling filly’s purple hair, “It sure will, Scoots.”

“Cool!”

Inside the kitchen of Sweet Apple Acres’ main house, several mares are at work with their individual responsibilities for tonight’s dinner. Granny Smith’s the self-appointed head chef and matriarch of the Apple Family, pulls out her famed apple pie from the oven, which is just baked to perfection. Satisfied over the completion of her signature dessert, the spunky, elder mare leaves it aside on the edge of an opened window to let it cool off for a while. Then, she turns her attention to one of her helpers to see how things are going from her end.

“How them taters coming along, Rainbow?”

Once she places the peeler onto the cutting board with her mouth, Rainbow Dash salutes to her commander-in-chief and answers with a proud grin, “Gotten the peeling all taken care of, Granny Smith!”

Granny leans forward to examine the younger mare’s work. On the large cutting board, there are nearly a dozen of perfectly skinless potatoes with tons of leftover peels left aside.

With an approving smile, she praises Dash’s handiwork, “Woo-doggy! You certainly live up to your speed, Rainbow! Now let’s see if you’re just as fast into slicin’ them up as you are into peelin’ them!”

“You got it, boss!” she complies with a smile before she grabs the chef’s knife nearby by and begins the slicing process.

Along with Rainbow Dash, Granny also enlists the aid of Rarity and Fluttershy, two of the newest members of the Apple Family. With Rainbow being tasked with the scalloped potatoes, Rarity is working on tonight’s salad by mixing up the dressing in a jar first while Fluttershy prepares the butternut squashes by first spreading butter on the halves. As Granny Smith is preoccupied from shucking the corn, Rainbow resumes the conversation with her two friends.

“So girls, about what we were talking... are you two in or what?”

“Oh absolutely!” Rarity answers gleefully. “It will most assuredly be a marvelous surprise gift for his birthday party!”

Fluttershy agrees as well, “Yes, I think he will certainly love it!”

Then, Rainbow leans closer to the purple-haired Unicorn and stammers with a mild blush on her face, “And uhh… Rarity… about my other idea… you’ll keep this under wraps, won’t you?”

With a soft giggle to herself, Rarity guarantees it with a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, darling. I Pinkie Promise to never reveal this to anypony! It will be our little secret and no one else’s! Besides, it will be disgraceful of me to reveal something like that from one of my dear customers.”

“Good.” Dash nods with a grin.

Then Rarity adds cheerfully, “Oh course, I will need you to come in every once in a while so I can get the measurements just right.”

Despite being reluctant on that suggestion, Rainbow gives in with a heavy groan, “Sigh… fine. I’ll stop on by whenever I get the chance.”

“Oh, is it another surprise gift for Ford?” Fluttershy asks with a curious smile.

Uneasily, Rainbow answers with her eyes drifting away from her Pegasus friend, “You… could say that, Fluttershy.”

“May I ask on what it might be?”

Persistently, Rarity pleads to Rainbow with big, blue eyes and a wide smile, “Well… should I tell her then?”

With a deadpan sigh, Rainbow permits the seamstress, “Alright. If you must.”

Eagerly, Rarity steps right next to Fluttershy and whispers for a great length of time into her ear. Once the Unicorn finishes her plan for Rainbow’s next surprise gift, Fluttershy blushes like mad as she briefly takes all of this in.

“O-o-oh! Oh my!” the timid mare exclaims with a flushed smile.

“But make sure you don’t tell this to anypony else, alright?” Rainbow Dash implores to a great extent in hopes to secure this semi-embarrassing surprise from her husband and the rest of their friends.

“Oh, I won’t! I Pinkie Promise!” Fluttershy ensures before she timidly asks in an embarrassing blush. “But umm… if you have the time… could you… let me know on how it turns out? I… would like to consider that idea for myself someday.”

Rarity and Rainbow are quite surprise by what their dear Fluttershy has in mind in a potential future as the two silently stare with large eyes at their yellow Pegasus friend while Fluttershy bashfully hides her flushed face with her long, pink hair. In the midst of their awkward pause, Granny Smith kindly gets their attention to get them back on track with their cooking duties.

“Girls, Ah don’t mean to interrupt your chit-chat, but Ah do have a dinner to run here.”

“Oh, sorry!” Fluttershy apologizes humbly.

“Right away, Granny!” Rarity acknowledges in a sweet tone.

“On it!” Rainbow salutes once more.

From that reminder, the three mares immediately resume their respective chores before Applejack hurriedly enters the kitchen.

“Alright! Ah’m here!”

“Applejack! Where have you been?” Rarity warmly greets her fiancée with a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry, sugarcube. Had to uhh… put on the finishing touches over something Ah was working on.” AJ explains in a slightly edgy tone before subtly clearing her throat and displaying a big smile. “But anyway, Ah’m here now and ready to help!”

“Aww… thank ya kindly, Applejack…” Granny Smith replies sweetly to her eldest granddaughter. “…but we’ve already got enough help to feed an entire platoon here.”

With droppy ears, Applejack lets a nearly childish whine, “But… Ah always help out when it comes to dinnertime.”

“Oh sorry, dearie, but this here kitchen is packed enough as it is.” Granny explains while she gets the water boiling in her large cooking pot for the corn she just shucked.

Unwilling to stand still and do nothing, the Applejack looks around the kitchen and asks her grandmother and friends if they are in need of any assist from her, “You sure y’all don’t need any help? Anything whatsoever?”

“Nnnope.” Granny answers simply once she brings the ears of shucked corn closer to the pot of boiling water.

“Sorry, darling.” Rarity apologizes with a sweet smile as she begins to toss the salad with the proper utensils thanks to her levitating magic.

“I’m good as well.” Fluttershy states with a soft smile while she sprinkles brown sugar on the butternut squashes.

“Yep, same here.” Rainbow agrees as she carries on with slicing the potatoes.

AJ walks over to Rainbow’s side to observe her process on the scalloped potatoes. With a firm grip of her mouth, the blue Pegasus steadily cuts the potatoes into reasonably sized slices. During her observation, Applejack determinedly offers her assistance to her rainbow-haired friend, “You know, Ah can show ya on how to cut those taters a lil' faster, RD.”

Dash gently places the knife aside and thinks about it before she casually replies back to her, “Hmm… no thanks. I’m good from here.”

But Applejack becomes persistent as she tries to switch places with Rainbow. “But yer cuttin’ them too thick! Here, let me show you how it’s done!”

“No I’m not!” Rainbow Dash retorts as she pushes the orange Earth Pony away from her before she calls out to Granny Smith in an adorably childish whine, “Granny~! Applejack won’t leave me be~!”

“Now now, sugarcube.” Granny intervenes as she directs Applejack in a playful manner. “Rainbow can take care of things from here. Why dontcha go on into the living room and play with the colts and fillies, hmm?”

As Granny Smith gently shoves her reluctant granddaughter toward the living room, Rainbow comically waves her Earth Pony friend off with a teasing smile, “Yeah, us mares got it cover from here. Go on and be with the rest of the boys.”

AJ stops in her tracks briefly before she sharply turns her head toward her grinning friend and snaps back at her, “Hey, yer more tomboyish than Ah am!”

“True, but at least I’m the one who got to wear a dress on my wedding day.” she replies with a clever smirk and her wiggling eyebrows.

But before the fuming Applejack is able to come up with a comeback for that remark, Rarity walks up to the orange mare and says to her kindly, “Oh darling, I know what you can do for us!”

“Yes?” Applejack responds with a growing smile.

“Could you bring these refreshments out into the living room for me please?” the Unicorn asks sweetly as she levitates a carrying tray with an iced pitcher of apple juice, several empty glasses, and straws. “I completely forgot to bring out the drinks they asked for.”

A bit disappointed by a simple task, she nevertheless complies with a tiny smile, “Sure thing, sugarcube.”

With the drinks saddled to the Earth Pony’s back, Rarity rewards her noble sweetheart with a kiss before saying to her with gratitude, “Thank you, dear!”

While displaying an uneasy blush on her face, Applejack replies, “Anytime… dear.”

As Applejack is about to leave the kitchen with the drinks firmly secured, she hears Rainbow Dash calling out her name, “Hey, AJ!”

Once the cowpony turns around, she sees Rainbow grinning like a hyena as she sharply waves her foreleg like she was cracking a whip as she replicates its sound, “Whpish!”

From figuring out the subtle meaning, AJ growls under her breath before stomping out of the kitchen. After Dash snickers to herself from her own clever joke, she hears somepony getting her attention where Granny Smith is giving her the stink eye for her recent shenanigan.

“Ahem! Sugar, while yer doing a mighty fine job here, Ah expect you to focus more on yer cookin’ than on teasin’ my granddaughter like that.”

Feeling ashamed for her own actions, Rainbow droops her head low and apologizes in a remorseful tone, “Oh… sorry, Granny.”

Satisfied over Rainbow’s earnest apology, Granny shifts into a warm, motherly smile before she reassures the younger mare, “That’s alright, dearie.” Then, the eldest mare pulls Rainbow in a one-foreleg hug and suggests to her with a wink and a smile, “Now what’d ya say we grate some cheese and pop this bad boy into the oven, hmm?”

With a broad smile, Dash salutes to Equestria’s coolest grandma with renewed enthusiasm, “Yes, ma’am!”

From entering the living room, Applejack approaches the ponies in the center as they are playing a friendly board game. The board game itself is an entire map of Equestria with many colorful game pieces resembling train pieces stretching across the various, well-known cities, including Canterlot, Manehatten, Baltimare, Appleloosa, and Ponyville.

On one side of the board game are the two stallions, Ford Mustang and Big Macintosh. And on the other side are the three fillies, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. Like Scootaloo, her two friends also have their own Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle’s Cutie Mark is a two-colored bell that matches her pink-and-violet mane with a small, black musical note next to it that symbolizes her musical talent as a singer. And as for Apple Bloom, her Cutie Mark displays a tiny apple seed that sprouts a lovely, pinkish-white flower, which signifies her potion-making skills corresponding with her farming.

Once she draws near to the ponies in the middle of their game, Applejack slides the tray onto a table nearby and offers each of the players a glass of fresh apple juice. Once Mustang receives his, he greets the orange mare with a grateful smile, “Hey AJ. Thanks for the drinks.”

“No problem, sugarcube.” she responds pleasantly.

“Ah’m kinda surprised to see ya out here, sis.” says Big Macintosh. “Usually you would be helpin’ out in the kitchen like always.”

“Don’t remind me.” Applejack groans lightly to herself before she shifts into a more pleasant smile. “So… whatcha y’all playin’ right now?”

“‘Train Tracks!’” Apple Bloom answers cheerfully. “It’s a really fun game!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo chimes in. “It’s where each of us is a hotshot tycoon that is trying to build as many tracks on the map of Equestria with matching colored cards and train pieces!”

“Mm-hmm!” Sweetie Belle confirms with a grinning nod. “And you can also earn extra points by completing destination cards or having the longest, continuously connected set of routes. The one with the most points by the end of game wins!”

“That’s nice.” says Applejack. “So who’s winning so far?”

“Well Ford is leading ahead of us…” Sweetie Belle replies. “…but Apple Bloom is doing pretty well for herself.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac affirms simply with pride over his little sister.

“Too bad it will be the last turn for this round.” Ford points it with a confident grin. “And I have the longest route on the map right now.”

Scootaloo is still deciding on what do with her last turn before she asks the blue stallion in a demanding tone, “Hey, how are you so good at this? You’ve said that you’ve never played this game before!”

Ford reflects back to his days as a human being where one of his favorite board games is similar to Equestria’s counterpart, but he doesn’t bother to share that secret with the players as he replies with a sly smirk that’s similar to his wife’s boastful nature, “I guess I’m just that good when it comes to games in general.”

“Hmph!” Scootaloo grumps over Ford’s teasing response before she folds her remaining cards, which signifies the end of her last turn.

Next to the orange filly, Sweetie Belle places her some of her train cars to claim one of the colored routes, which earns her a few points for her final turn. Lastly, it’s left to Apple Bloom to make her move.

“Okay, it’s your turn, Apple Bloom.” Ford states to her with a winning grin.

All eyes are turned to the red-haired filly as an impassive Apple Bloom silently looks over her remaining cards. Then, her gaze looks up to meet with Ford’s as a broad, devious smile stretches across her muzzle. With Mustang ponders on what the remaining player is scheming, the grinning Earth Pony lays down her remaining cards for all to see: five cards that depict a red train car on each of them and a rainbow-colored wild card with a gold locomotive that allows the player to pick any color to match with. As the bewildered ponies stare at the displayed cards, Apple Bloom places six of her train pieces onto a red-colored route with six slots on it.

Once the game pieces align up with claimed route’s slots, Apple Bloom boldly declares her final, decisive move to the stunned spectators, “Ha! Read them and weep!”

As the rest of the ponies carry on with the speechlessness, Scootaloo is the first to break out of that silence as she exclaims with an impressive smile, “No way! She just merged both separate routes into one!”

Shocked by Scootaloo’s announcement, the other ponies examine the Apple Bloom’s latest ploy carefully. While Ford’s continuous route stretches right in the middle of the map from one side of Equestria to the other, Apple Bloom manages to connect her western and eastern routes with the last route she just claimed. Now her newly formed, unbroken route extends from nearly all sides of Equestria, except the south side.

“And by the looks of it, Apple Bloom now has the longest route in the game!” Sweetie Belle beams just the same as her Pegasus friend.

From forgetting about the last player’s once-divided routes, he jokingly smacks his face with a fore hoof and smiles in mocking disbelief, “Auugh! She got me good!”

“Eeyup!” Big Mac confirms with broad smile after he calculates the final scores with a notepad nearby. “And from tallyin' it up all together, Apple Bloom’s the winner!”

“YEE-HAW!” Apple Bloom hollers in triumphant over her first victory.

“Nice comeback there, AB!” Applejack congratulates her with a proud smile.

‘Yeah! Well played, Apple Bloom!” Ford commends to the winner as they exchange a courteous hoofshake.

“Thanks!” the little filly responds from the praises she’s receiving before asking her big sister, “Hey sis, do ya wanna play with us?”

“Ah don’t see why not.” AJ shrugs with a smile before sitting down next to adults.

As they clear the board to reset the next game, Ford asks the farmpony next to him, “So AJ… how’s the wedding coming along?”

“It’s… going well as it is.” she answers in slight hesitance.

Mustang is surprise to hear the lack of enthusiasm from AJ’s voice. But before he can think of way to question her properly about that, Apple Bloom has something she wants to ask from her big sister.

“Hey Applejack, I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Shoot, AB. Whatcha need?”

“Well… if you and Rarity are gettin’ married, what does that make me and Sweetie Belle then?”

“Yeah, does that make us family to each other as well?” Sweetie asks with equal curiosity as her Earth Pony friend.

Applejack gently taps her chin with a fore hoof while thinking of a proper answer to the inquisitive fillies. “Well let’s see, Sweetie Belle… if I’m marrying your sister, then that would make you my sister-in-law, right? So in a way, you two will practically be sisters-in-laws with one and another.”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle gasps with joy. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agrees in the same manner. “I’ll not only gain Rarity as a sister-in-law, but Sweetie Belle as well!”

“Which means we’ll get to be each other’s sister!”

As the two bounce up and down with excitement, Scootaloo slumps in disappointment, “Ooooh… I wish you girls were my sisters too.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cease their merriment before the latter approaches the discouraged Pegasus with a reassuring pat on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t feel too bad, Scootaloo.”

“Yeah, you’ll always be a sister to us no matter what.” Apple Bloom adds with a smile which manages to cheer Scootaloo up.

Then, Ford jumps in the conversation and says to Scoots, “Actually, if Applejack’s correct, than you should be a sister to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as well.”

“What makes you say that, Ford?”

“Well first off, you have Rainbow Dash as your big sister. And since I’m married to her, that means you’re my sister-in-law.”

“Right… but how does that make me a sister to my two best friends?” she tilts her head in slight confusion.

Apple Bloom gasps with a bright smile and verifies something to the Pegasi, “Ah think Ah get it! It’s because yer already part of this family, right Ford?”

“That’s right!” he nods with a pleased smile before turning his attention back to Scootaloo. “So technically speaking, you’re already Apple Bloom’s sister. And once Rarity is married into this family…”

“Then all three of us will finally get to be sisters together!” she concludes with a smile as big as her friends’.

The adults take great joy and amusement over the fillies’ delight on their newfound sisterhoods as the founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders engage in a big group hug and proclaim out loud, “YAAAAY!!”

With everything ready, the ponies gather in the dining room and sit in their proper seats before they serve their plates with the following dishes: roasted butternut squashes that are glazed in brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, succulent corn on the cob, fluffy dinner rolls, cheesy, scalloped potatoes, and an elegant apple and spinach salad.

With everypony set, they dig right in on this wonderful dinner. As they are eating, Rainbow Dahs take a keen interest on her husband’s reaction as he dives right into his scalloped potatoes first. As she has anticipated with a sly smile, Ford moans in pure bliss from savoring the extraordinarily cheesy flavor from one of his favorite dishes.

“Mmm! These scalloped potatoes are as delicious as ever, Granny Smith!” he graciously compliments the family’s matriarch.

“D’aww… yer as sweet as ever!” she responds warmly before giving credit to the one truly responsible for that delectable dish. “But you should lay yer sweet-talking to yer wife for doing such a rootin’-tootin’ job on that casserole right there!”

With wide-eyed surprise, he turns to Rainbow where she blushes right away from his astonished gaze as he breaks into an impressive smile. “Really?”

“Eeyup!” elderly, green mare confirms with a sharp nod and a grin. “She may be a bit of a whippersnapper, but she sure can whip them taters lickety-split!”

From this realization, Ford pulls Rainbow in with a strong wing and tenderly embraces her while offering his praise, “Oh, Dashie! I’m so proud of you! I knew that you’ll be a talented chef in no time at all!”

With a huge smirk, she couldn’t help but be proud over her latest, culinary accomplishment as she shows off for a bit in mocking smugness, “Well, all it needed was just a dash of awesomeness, and who better to spice things up than yours truly!”

“Heh, I thought they tasted even better than ever!” he chuckles with a clever smirk as he leans forward to award his proud wife with soft yet affectionate kiss.

After that, Rainbow giggles spontaneously while she snuggles with her husband, which earned her a few chuckles from Rarity and Applejack. From hearing the AJ’s snickering closest to her, Dash turns her head sharply to glare at the grinning Earth Pony before orange Earth Pony states slyly, “Never thought Ah would see RD acting this girly before.”

In response, Rainbow simply sticks out her tongue at the amused farmpony before Rarity playfully scolds her counterpart, “Now now, Applejack. Behave. I think it’s nice to see Rainbow Dash being honest with herself without putting on such a huge show in front of it. Especially when it’s so rare to see her acting this cute right now!”

This sly response causes nearly everypony in the room to giggle at once while Rainbow’s face turns beet red before she crosses her forelegs and dismisses that claim in an adorably pouty manner, “Hey, I’m not cute! I’m awesome!”

“I have to disagree, Rainbow. You are pretty cute when you need to be." Ford casually says with an amusing grin before the flustered Rainbow Dash glares at her smiling husband. "Why, I still remember this one picture your father once showed me where you were pretending to be a cute, little kitty and--!”

But his reminiscing is cut off short when he feels a very sharp kick to his left hindquarter. There, he subtly winces in pain while trying his best to prevent himself from making a scene in front of the bewildered guests, excluding Rainbow Dash as she resumes her meal with a mockingly innocent smile.

Once most of his pain has subsided, he turns to his left and glares at his wife as she continues to eat her dinner with surprising chivalry while looking at him with a devious grin. Then, his frown gradually flips into a small smile as he makes a witty comment to her, “Well… you’re certainly as feisty as a cat, that’s for sure.”

A while later, as most of them are nearly finished with their dinner, Rarity then asks her blue Pegasus friend, “So… how’s the little darling doing so far, Rainbow?”

“Well enough as it is.” Rainbow answers with a satisfied smile as she runs her hoof across her slightly curvy belly. “If the little tyke is able to speak right now, he or she would definitely say ‘thanks’ for the awesome meal you’ve provided for us, Granny.”

“Oh shucks, honey! Think nothing of it!” the Apple matriarch says with a comforting grin, “Anything you need from the family, you come runnin’ toward us and we’ll be there for ya!”

“Oh! I almost forget!” Rarity gasps in a cheerful tone, “I have been receiving several replies back from our guests, and they seem to be okay with the change of plans in mind!”

“Wait… what change of plans?” Applejack pauses from her meal.

“That our wedding will now take place in Sweet Apple Acres this season!” the seamstress announces gleefully.

“Now wait just a daggone minute!” Applejack gripes so suddenly before anyone else can express their joy over this news. “When did this happen all of a sudden? Ah thought you wanted us to get married in Canterlot like you always dreamed of!”

“Well… I had a chance in heart recently, so I wanted use to get married right here instead!” Rarity answers nonchalantly.

“But that was my suggestion when we first decided on where we should get married! So why did you change yer mind like that without consulting with me first?!”

Rarity is a bit startled and perplexed by AJ’s sudden frustration, so she explains herself in a timid voice, “I… wanted to surprise you, darling. Do you not like it?”

“It’s not Ah don’t like it! Ah just… can’t believe that you didn’t consider my idea in the first place!”

The local fashion designer could verify the amount of hurt coming from her fiancée’s response, so she apologizes in a very modest manner, “You’re right, I didn’t give much thought to your original idea, and for that I’m sorry. But please believe me that I am only thinking on what’s best for you.”

But to everyone else’s surprise, Applejack didn’t calm down one bit as she retorts in a sarcastic, scornful tone, “Oh, you mean like how you were deciding on what we should wear for our wedding… or what we should eat for our reception… or where we should go for our honeymoon?! Were you really thinking on what’s best for me or were you actually thinking on what’s best for you instead?!”

From AJ’s harsh words, Rarity begins to fume gradually as she glares at the equally angry farmpony. Their staring contest is so intense that everypony else in the room is feeling the sizzling heat that’s coming from those two.

So, in a vain attempt to divert it to something, Ford intervenes as he speaks up with an awkward smile, “Hey, maybe we should change the subject into something else, hmm? Let’s see… Oh, Fluttershy! Sweetie Belle told me that you are taking her under your wing in your musical group! What was called again…? 'Pony Tones', right?”

Getting the hint from him, Fluttershy follows along with his plan, “O-oh! Yes, of course! She’s doing such a wonderful job, aren’t you Sweetie?”

But before Sweetie Belle can reply, Rarity carries out her retort in a furious tone towards Applejack, “How dare you consider me on being so self-absorbed like that! I’m the one who was willing to move in with you and your family! I’m the one who’s making all of these important decisions here regarding with our wedding!”

“Right, decisions that you don’t bother to share or bring me along apparently!” Applejack replies in an apparent grump.

“Apple Bloom! How’s Zecora doing by the way?” Ford quickly asks to the Earth Pony filly. “I've heard that you’re doing very well as her assistant!”

But once again, the two arguing ponies pay no attention to what’s around them as Rarity ridicules in a sarcastic manner, “Well maybe if somepony wasn’t so busy on the farm everyday and would bother to accompany me every once in a while, then I wouldn’t have to make all of these decisions by myself! And while we are on the subject, Applejack… where were you when Granny Smith requested us for help in tonight’s dinner, hmm?”

Applejack halts her anger for the moment as she shifts into a state of immense surprise while everypony else stare at the speechless farmpony before she explains herself uncomfortably, “Ah was… workin' on something, alright?”

“Oh really?” Rarity questions her suspicious fiancée as she raises a skeptical eybrow. “Care to elaborate with us, Applejack?”

With her eyes unable to look at her doubtful partner, Applejack remains firm as she answers in discomfort, “Ah… Ah can’t say anything at this point.”

“And why not?”

“Just… because, okay?!” she snaps out loud. “Can we just drop it already?!”

“Unacceptable!” The Unicorn snaps right back before she makes her demand. “Applejack, you will tell me on what you are hiding from me this instant, or you won’t set one hoof into our bedroom this evening!”

“Oh, so just because you share my bedroom, means you get to claim like it’s your own room, huh?! Well you know what?! That’s fine by me!” Applejack grumps mightily before she storms out of the dining room and heads toward the front door. “Ah’d rather be buckin' some apple trees all-night long than havin' to put up with you for one whole night!”

Furious as ever, Rarity exclaims to the departing mare, “Well if you love apple trees so much, then why don’t you just marry one already?!”

“Maybe Ah will! At least unlike a certain fashion diva, they’ll actually listen to me!”

And with a firm slam from the door, the ponies winch from such a loud racket. Then, all eyes are turn toward Rarity as they wait for her reaction. At first, it looks like she’s about to blow her fuse, but instead, she is on the break of tears as she does her best to compose her before excusing herself from the table.

“Ahem. Excuse me everypony. I… think I will turn in early this evening.”

As soon as she is out of sight from everyone else, Rarity gallops up the staircase while weeping heavily over her recent heartbreak. Soon the sobbing is cut short from the rest of the ponies to hear once the distraught seamstress shuts the door to her room. The dining table is filled with dead, uncomfortable silence as guests are unable to touch another bite of their food for the moment.

Author's Notes:

Again, writing an argument can be challenging sometimes, especially if you don't want to "antagonize" one person/pony over the other such as for Applejack and Rarity's case. Of course, with how those two bicker in the show, it should be natural for me to write that out.