“Ah wanted tah thank yah again fer helpin’ out today,” Said Apple Bloom.

“It was nothing,” Said Rumble, “I had nothing better to do until our date.”

Rumble and Apple Bloom were just outside of Ponyville on their way to Sugarcube Corner for their date. Along the way, the young couple made casual conversation and pointed out any wildlife they noticed. Apple Bloom thought it was adorable how Rumble was fascinated with anything from Dear grazing on the side of the dirt road to Woodpeckers whittling away at trees. It was to be expected however, Rumble had spent his entire life in urban centers and never had the chance to see much wildlife. Even now, the house where he, his brother, and the two mares Rumble lived with, was deep within Ponyville, away from anywhere one would usually see most of the plants or animals.

The young mare and stallion spent most of the time walking from the edge of Ponyville in a pleasant silence, simply enjoying each other’s company as they walked through the quiet town. The construction crews hired by Noblesse Oblige and the Ponyville Town Council usually waited until the afternoon to work so they didn’t bother anypony who was still asleep, so the pleasant silence persisted through active construction sites and any buildings that were being remodeled. The only thing that broke the quiet was the sounds of the young couple breathing, their walking and that of anypony awake at this hour, and what few animals were in town.

Apple Bloom and Rumble finally made their way to Sugarcube Corner. The couple were about to enter the building when Rumble started chuckling, “What’s so funny?” Asked Apple Bloom.

Rumble needed a moment to regain his composure before he could speak, “I’m sorry,” He said, “But no matter how many times I see this place, I just can’t believe that someone made a giant gingerbread house in the middle of town!”

Apple Bloom stood there and thought about Rumble had just said. She didn’t think it was too strange, but Sugarcube Corner had been like this as far back as she could remember. Now that she thought about it though, it was a tad silly. There were houses and places of business in this part of town, and then there was this colorful gingerbread house. It wouldn’t matter where Sugarcube Corner was, it would look weird no matter what.

Apple Bloom tried to keep down her mirth, only to make herself laugh even harder. The young couple entered the building giggling. The customer bell at the top of the door sounded alerting Mrs. Cake, who was at the counter this morning, to their presence. Mrs. Cake let the two get ahold of themselves as she bottle-fed Pound Cake, but she didn’t notice the small pink balloon Pony floating behind her.

“How can I help you girls today?” Asked Mrs. Cake.

Apple Bloom giggled at Mrs. Cake’s mistake as Rumble gave her an amused look, “I am a colt ma’am,” Replied Rumble.

Mrs. Cake immediately noticed that Rumble’s voice was too deep to belong to a filly, “Oh, I’m so sorry dearie,” Said Mrs. Cake with a blush, “How can I help you two today?”

The young couple adopted slight blushes on their faces as Apple Bloom spoke up, “We’re actually here on a date Mrs. Cake.”

“Oooh, good for you,” Said Mrs. Cake, “What can I get you?”

“Actually, I think Pinkie Pie said she’d handle it,” Rumble had just noticed the balloon Pony slowly floating over to Mrs. Cake, “Do you usually make balloon animals here?”

“What?” Asked Mrs. Cake as she turned her head to see where Rumble was looking.

The balloon Pony popped the moment Mrs. Cake looked at it, somehow summoning Pinkie Pie in its place. Mrs. Cake yelled in surprise and reflexively threw Pound Cake into the air as Pinkie landed with a small thud. Mrs. Cake looked up in horror as she realized she had just thrown her baby, only to see him fluttering down towards his mother. Right, remembered Mrs. Cake he has wings.

“Just let me take care of these two Teacup,” Said Pinkie Pie using Mrs. Cake maiden name, “You look like you could use a break anyways.”

Mrs. Cake, still pale from accidently throwing her baby, only nodded in agreement and headed with Pound Cake on her shoulder.

“If you two will follow me,” Said Pinkie Pie excitedly, “I’ll take you to your table.”

The two foals followed Pinkie as she hopped around the counter and towards the tables. Apple Bloom and Rumble looked to each other as Pinkie Pie started to lead them past all of the tables and further into the establishment. The two had never been back here before and the doors to this section of Sugarcube Corner were locked shut, until recently it seems.

Pinkie Pie reached the door to the unknown part of the bakery. Rumble, being a Pegasus was more perceptive than his Earth Pony marefriend, was the only one of the pair who noticed that a small part of the door had something written on it. Pinkie Pie however, opened the door too quickly for Rumble to completely read what was written on the door. He could only read the first letter of the label. How many relevant words start with ‘v’ pondered Rumble? While his extra studying session with Twilight and Ms. Cheerilee had helped Rumble’s lacking vocabulary, he was still found wanting in that regard.

The room was dark; the only light being provided was from the next room curtesy of the open door. That light was quickly occluded as Pinkie slammed the door shut, just fast enough to keep the young couple from piecing together what the room was with their limited sight.

The two heard hooves behind them in the darkness, Pinkie Pie going for the light switch? Guessed Apple Bloom. But now why is she going through so much trouble? Wondered the yellow Earth Pony. It was too obvious to be a surprise party, but then why keep the two in the dark? Both figuratively and literally.

Pinkie Pie flipped the nearby light switch and the young couple was blinded by the sudden flash of light. The two took time to blink and regain their sight before they looked around. “Tada♪” Said Pinkie Pie with her forelegs stretched out as her party cannon fired in the background. Pinkie Pie had lead Apple Bloom and Rumble into a very nice looking room. Though there were very few chairs and tables compared to main serving area, but the chairs were cushioned with fine velvet and silk and were made with excellent craftsmanship. The room was painted a royal red color with golden trimming, the two couldn’t tell if it was just painted really well or if the trim was actually gilded. While most of the light in the room came from the chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, the walls had candles mounted on them that glowed brightly as they burned. Were Rarity present, she would comment that this room alone could give any restaurant in Canterlot or Manehatten a run for their bits before gushing about the much finer details that no one else likely would notice otherwise.

“Sooooooo,” Started Pinkie Pie with an almost predatory smile, “What do you think?”

“Pinkie,” Said Apple Bloom short on breath with eyes full of wonder, “What is all’a this?”

Pinkie giggled before speaking, “This was the breakroom before Mr. and Mrs. Cake moved it into the spare room upstairs but now this this the new Sugarcube Corner V.I.P. and Investor Section!”

“What?” Asked Rumble. Pretty much everypony from Ponyville was used to Pinkie’s quick tongued way of speaking and could understand her as though she breathed in between sentences, of course, Rumble was not from Ponyville.

“Basically, it’s a room just fer Ponies who have invested in Sugarcube Corner and anypony they make a ‘V.I.P.’ Said Apple Bloom.

“You understood her?” Asked Rumble.

“Your table,” Interrupted Pinkie as she grabbed the two lovers, “Is riiiiii- “Pinkie raced over to one of the tables as she dragged out the word, “iiiiight, here.” She placed the duo in front of their table as their eyes spun in their skulls.

The two regained their senses and sat down, “Pinkie Pie, we appreciate this, but what did we do to become V.I.P.s?” Asked Rumble.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Said Pinkie Pie with a normal paced voice, remembering that Rumble couldn’t understand her usual way of speaking just yet, “Apple Bloom founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders: a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping Ponies earn their Cutie Marks while motivating themselves and others to try tons’ of new activities. Their ‘Crusades’ have helped six different foals of varying ages earn their Cutie Marks. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, also fixed all of the relationships, platonic or otherwise, in Ponyville after being blackmailed into ruining them in the first place. And that’s before we consider that her sister has saved Equestria multiple times and that her family is one of our most important suppliers.”

Rumble blinked a few times with a blank look in his eyes as he processed all of the information that was just given to him. While he understood every word that Pinkie Pie had spoken, it was still a lot to take in at once.

“You did all of that?” Rumble finally spoke up.

Apple Bloom blushed at her coltfriend’s amazed stare. It was bad enough that somepony was looking at her in awe at her achievements, even worse when it was her date.

“Ah-ah didn’t do any of that by mahself,” Defended Apple Bloom, “Ah founded the CMC with mah friends, and those Ponies earned their own Cutie Marks.”

“But how did you ‘fix all of the relationships in Ponyville?’” Asked Rumble quoting Pinkie Pie.

“We got blackmailed by Diamond Tiara to write embarrassin’ stories ‘bout everypony in Ponyville. Eventually we realized how wrong we were to do those things, so in our last article: we revealed ourselves as Gabby Gums ‘nd explained that we were bein’ blackmailed.”

“Wow, that must have been difficult,” Said Rumble, “Did everypony just forgive you three?”

“Well, the Ponies here are pretty easy goin’,” Said Apple Bloom.

“We very well couldn’t hold it against them since they were being forced into it,” Explained Pinkie Pie, “Enough about that, I think I’ll give you two lovebirds desert to start off.”

Pinkie reached under the table and brought a tray full of cookies which she set in the middle of the table. These cookies were clearly made for this occasion as they were cut out and iced for the event. In the center of the tray were two Pony cookies nuzzling each other, their icing clearing depicting them as Apple Bloom and Rumble, complete with Rumble’s wings and Apple Bloom’s bow. There was an outer circle of cookies that were shaped like hearts and birds, who knows how long Pinkie Pie has been planning to use that joke.

What caught the couple’s attention however, was Pinkie Pie’s biggest joke. There was an inner circle of cookies that were shaped like swaddled foals and baby carriages, some of the foals even had tiny cookie wings sticking out of their swaddles.

“Pinkie Pie!” Yelled Apple Bloom with a furious blush on her face as Pinkie Pie ran through the side door that lead into the kitchen, laughing at their expense. Apple Bloom’s attention was caught by a loud crunching noise. She turned to look at her date to see that Rumble had picked up one of the foal cookies and bit into its wing.

Rumble hummed in delight as he chewed and swallowed, “Our eldest is extra crunchy.”

Though the two were still blushing from Pinkie’s joke, neither could resist laughing at Rumble’s silliness.

Berry Punch had barely touched her tea since Twilight had started explaining to her what Ruby was going through. Spike, who Twilight invited to stay since it applied to him as well, was also silent as he thought about what having powers similar to the mad Unicorn king Sombra meant for him.

“So,” Berry finally spoke up a few minutes after Twilight had stopped talking, “My daughter has these ‘powers’ because she’s afraid of being replaced by her father?”

Twilight didn’t know a whole lot about the relationship between Ruby’s parents except that she had never actually met her biological father, but she didn’t need to be a mind reader to know how Berry felt about him now.

“She-she,” Berry was brought to tears, “She never said anything about it to me. How could I let her think that I’d do something like that?”

Twilight quickly put her hoof on Berry’s in a comforting way, “It’s not your fault,” Assured Twilight, “Fears are rarely rational. I doubt Ruby knew she had such fears until her recent experience.”

“Wha-what do you mean?” Asked Berry as she wiped away some of her tears.

“When I was under Sombra’s illusions,” Started Twilight, “I was shown an illusion of Celestia disowning me. I had faced two gods at that point and have five friends that I love more than anything, and of course there’s Spike, I don’t even remember a time without him! I also have an irrational fear of snakes, but instead of facing insane gods, losing my friends or family, my greatest fear of all is still disappointing my teacher.”

Berry looked down in thought. While she was still upset that her only child had suffered so much that it had given her some horrible powers that defy logic, this new information made her feel better.

A thought occurred to Berry as she thought about what this could mean for her daughter, “Oh Twilight, I’ve noticed something strange about Ruby since her nightmare.”

Twilight put down her teacup, “What is it?”

“Ruby has been acting ‘happier’ as of late,” Said Berry.

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Berry swallowed as she thought about a better way to explain what she meant, “It’s like a weight has been lifted off of Ruby, and while she has definitely happier overall, she’s been ‘darker.’”

Twilight was now not only confused, but worried, “Excuse me?”

“It’s like there’s an ominous or foreboding aura around Ruby, but she’s more jovial than I’ve ever seen her,” Explained Berry, “Just last night, she stepped on a glass bottle by accident and she laughed it off. She still felt pain, but she thought it was funny how clumsy she was, despite how much it hurt, and that’s just one example.”

Twilight looked down in thought with a worried expression. Though Twilight didn’t know Berry as well as her friends did, she knew Ruby fairly well. She would usually come in with the other Crusaders while researching something for their Crusades or would come in to research other skills that didn’t earn them Cutie Marks, but were still interested in anyways. Twilight didn’t like the way she felt when she used Dark Magic, hence why she hadn’t used it since the Crystal Empire, she had no idea what practicing Dark Magic could do to one’s mind.

Eventually, Twilight decided what she wanted to do about the situation, “Berry, do you know where Ruby is now?”

“Hey Dinky,” Called out Ruby, “Do you have any idea where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are?”

Ruby, Dinky, and a few mailponies, were in the breakroom of the Ponyville Postal Office. Ruby would usually visit Dinky at the post office since they both happened to have the same break hours. With her magic, Dinky was a godsend when it came to organizing the mail. No forgetting where you set specific letters, no shifting through stacks of envelopes, no accidently knocking over said stacks and spending agonizing amounts of time picking them all up. Everypony at the post office joked that Dinky picked up more from Twilight than skills and knowledge, and it was true. Dinky was obsessed with organization, and got very upset when she found something in the place or couldn’t find something where it belonged.

Everypony had their off days every once in a while, and Dinky was no exception. However, Dinky had many reasons to be distracted recently. It had nothing to do with stress, or colts, or the mundane worries everypony succumbed to occasionally. No, Dinky had an unusual reason to be out of the game, but she couldn’t tell if it was a bad thing or not.

“Not really, why?” Replied the gray Unicorn.

Ruby had acted ‘strangely’ recently. That wasn’t a fair statement, yet Dinky knew of no other words to describe it.

“I tried looking for them before coming here,” Explained Ruby, “But I couldn’t find them. With Apple Bloom on her date with Rumble, those two could be anywhere.”

Dinky couldn’t help but glance at the saddle bag Ruby had started wearing recently. Ruby had started carrying the book she checked out at the palace library with her, and Dinky didn’t know what to make of it. Ruby had become obsessed with that book, yet had results that one would not expect from such a sinister looking spell book. Shortly after getting that book, Ruby seemed to be more free. It was like Ruby had a weight pulling her down, one that no one, not even Ruby, knew she had, and reading that spooky book shattered the chains.

“So no Crusades today?” Asked Dinky. Dinky had known Ruby long enough to know what she was thinking with so few word cues.

“Oh well,” Ruby said with a sigh, “It has been a while since we spent time together, you know, one on one.”

Dinky had to stifle a laugh at Ruby’s comment. It was true, since joining the CMC, the two of them hadn’t spent any time by themselves. Though, Ruby wouldn’t usually put things in quite that way.

The few times that Dinky had tried to read the book, her mind had either screamed at her to stop or the weird text had hurt her eyes. The book had apparently helped Ruby with problems that no one knew she had, but anything that hurt people whenever they looked at the damn thing, simply could not be good.

Dinky was going to have to take some time off to talk to Twilight about the book, namely the bizarre symbol on its front.

“I know!” Said Ruby excitedly, “We can go study magic together.”

Perfect thought Dinky, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” This was a perfect opportunity to seek out Twilight.

“Dinky! Ruby! Are you two in here!?” Yelled a familiar orange Pegasus.

“Geez Scootaloo,” Said Sweetie Belle, “Could you yell any louder? I don’t think they heard you in Yakyakistan.”

Dinky’s left eye twitched slightly. The one time I don’t want to see them. “Hey girls, what’s up?” Dinky had perfected the art of faking cheer after years of helping her mom and aunt deal with upset customers who didn’t understand how the mailing system worked.

“We were looking for something to do while we waited for Apple Bloom and Rumble to finish their date,” Explained Scootaloo.

“We could think of jokes to make at their expense in the meantime,” Suggested Ruby cheerfully.

“Well obviously,” Said Sweetie Belle, “But do you really want to sit around talking all day?”

Everypony in the room stood where they were and just stared at Sweetie Belle, “What?” Asked the white Unicorn.

“That’s something I would say Sweetie Belle,” Explained Scootaloo.

Everypony laughed as Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, “I like to have fun to,” She replied.

“Does anypony actually know how long those two will be out?” Asked Dinky.

“If they aren’t done by noon, I say we bother them until they go Crusading with us,” Suggested Scootaloo.

“Wow. That’s just wrong,” Said Rumble.

“Yeah, but she made up fer it and we’re all friends now,” Assured Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom was telling Rumble about her cousin Babs’ first time in Ponyville and how she bullied the Crusaders mercilessly. While Rumble was still visibly bothered by the fact somepony could be so mean to their family, especially since she was being bullied herself, he kept his thoughts to himself.

Apple Bloom and Rumble had finished their lunch date and Rumble was politely walking Apple Bloom home. Pinkie Pie had behaved herself after leaving the foal themed cookies at their table and somehow knew just what young lovers loved to eat, even though one of them hadn’t even been in Ponyville for more than a few weeks.

The two of them continued to talk along the way as they found each other’s company more than pleasant. They had thought about looking for their Crusader friends, but Apple Bloom had more chores she needed to do at home and Rumble was still exhausted from doing more physical labor than ever before in his life, on top of walking from Sweet Apple Acers to Sugarcube Corner and back.

Fortunately for Rumble, none of the work he had done today needed the use of his wings, meaning he could easily fly home and take a well needed nap. Hopefully, he’d be awake soon enough to spend some more time with his friends.

The pair was now at the gate to Sweet Apple Acers, meaning it was time to depart. The both of them turned their heads to the other to say goodbye, blushing slightly when their eyes meet.

“Ah-ah had a good time today,” Said Apple Bloom, “Thanks fer takin’ me out.”

“I had fun too,” Assured the young stallion, “I’m going to go home and sleep for a little bit, hopefully I’ll be awake before sunset.”

Apple Bloom giggled at that. For Apple Bloom, the work done at the farm this morning was merely part of the long list of chores she and her family did every morning. For Rumble however, this was probably the most he had ever worked himself in his entire life. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but notice that Rumble was leaning on her on the way to and from Sugarcube Corner, she doubted her new coltfriend would have been able to make without rest or collapse otherwise.

“But before I go,” Said Rumble, catching Apple Bloom’s attention, “I don’t suppose you’d like to do this again soon, would you?”

Apple Bloom and Rumble could feel the heat in their cheeks intensifying as their identical blushes deepened, “Next week would be great if there ain’t anythin’ urgent at the farm,” Answered Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom leaned over to Rumble and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before breaking into a gallop through the gate of her family’s farm. While Rumble was literally left in a cloud of his fillyfriend’s dust, he didn’t mind. He was distracted by the embarrassment and euphoria coursing through his body. He was only brought out of his state of mind because in his joy, he forgot to keep the concentration that was keeping him standing.

“Oof!” Rumble feel roughly to the dirt road. He got up quickly and looked around to see if anypony, namely Apple Bloom, had seen him collapse. Assured that no one saw him fall, Rumble took to the sky and headed towards his family’s house in Ponyville.

Apple Bloom slammed the door to the farmhouse behind her, her face still adopting her brother’s coloration. Apple Bloom gave a happy sigh as she thought about the day she just had with her new coltfriend and the possibility of enjoying it again so soon.

Apple Bloom’s daydream was cut short by the familiar cackling of her grandmother. Apple Bloom swiveled her head to the right to see that Granny Smith had moved her favorite rocking chair next to one of the windows, meaning she probably saw the short exchange between herself and Rumble. That old snake! thought Apple Bloom.

“So, ah take it you ‘nd Rumble had yerselves a good time then?” Asked Granny Smith.

“Y-yeah,” Answered the significantly younger mare, “He even asked me out again fer next week, provided that Ah ain’t needed ah’course.”

“Ya probably won’t be,” Answered Granny Smith, “Between yer older siblins ‘nd myself, we got most everythin’ covered here on the homefront. Course yer help is nice havin’.”

“Is Aj and Big Mac out werkin’?” Asked Apple Bloom, somewhat concerned that her what her sister might be doing.

“Nah, Big Mac just went up to go git yer sister,” Replied the lime green mare.

“Really?” Asked Apple Bloom in confusion. Her sister easily Big Mac’s equal in regards to stamina, and she usually didn’t stop working until her body couldn’t handle any more labor without rest. Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac has had to carry Applejack to the farmhouse from the orchards so she could get a decent rest.

“Yer friends spilled the beans on yer date with Rumble,” Answered Granny Smith, her voice and expression going plain, “’nd we had tah… restrain Jackie so she didn’t go and do somethin’ stupid.”

Apple Bloom couldn’t help but facehoof, “Fer Celestia’s sake, Ah’m goin’ tah kill those two, next time ah see ‘em.”

“First things first, we should probably eat lunch, assure Aj that nothin’ bad happened on yer date, then catch up on today’s chores,” Instructed Granny Smith.

“Ah’ll go and set the table then,” Said Apple Bloom as she left and headed into the kitchen.

Granny Smith had to stop and watch Apple Bloom for a moment before following her. Granny had been slowly teaching Apple Bloom how to preform house chores, file taxes, and other things that she herself had taken care of for generations of Apples. It greatly pleased Granny Smith that her youngest was growing up a good bit faster than her older siblings, after all, not she would be around forever.

Granny forced herself out of her somewhat morbid train of thought as she heard Applejack rush past her now that she was free of her bindings. Granny chuckled as she overheard the embarrassing stream of questions spewing from Aj’s mouth as she joined her two granddaughters in the kitchen and started making food for the whole family.

Author's Notes:

Hey look at that! I'm not dead! I apologize to anyone who was eagerly awaiting for the next chapter to be posted, but I couldn't even work on it until recently. I had planned to get one or two chapters at the least posted over Thanksgiving break, but I got sick and could hardly articulate thought. But unless I get sick again, I should be able to update some what regularly until January.

I would like to thank everyone who has waited patiently and has read my story up to this point. Please feel free to point out any spelling errors or plot inconsistencies I have made thus far. I would also appreciate any thoughts, feelings, or constructive criticisms you, the readers, have to offer.