Applejack was sitting on the front porch of her dear cousin's house, thinking about how she was going to help him with his orchard, not to mention, take care of him. But mostly she was thinking about what happened there with the Flim Flam brothers, particularly with Flim.
What happened back there? she thought. Was he actually flirting with me? Or was he just trying to let my guard down so I just give in to his tricks?
This has been bugging her ever since she and Braeburn returned from the tent. Ever since Braeburn asked her why she blushed, she began wondering: why did she?
"What are ya thinkin' about, couz?"
Applejack jumped when she heard a random voice come from behind her. It took her a moment to realize that it was just Braeburn. She put her hoof on her chest, turning her head to look at her cousin.
"Braeburn! Ya scared me! Ya got ta be careful!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, I'm sorry," he responded, his hooves up in the air, as if in surrender. "Ah was jus' wondering what ya were thinking about."
What could she say? 'Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about Flim Skim.' No! She couldn't! If she did, he may automatically think that she had feelings for the unicorn, which she certainly didn't. She dicided to ignore his question and try talking about something else.
"What were ya even doing out of the house? Ya know ya can't walk on that hoof of yours for a few weeks."
"Ah jus' wanted to see what all the fuss was about in the town. Besides, ah was bored staying in the house all day. Ah needed ta do something productive," Braeburn explained.
Applejack rolled her eyes. She got up from the front porch and extended her hoof to help Braeburn off it as well. She then put him against her for support as they began to go back inside the house. She gently laid him on the couch, his left hoof being elevated by a few pillows the end it.
"Now, try ta stay off that hoof, Braeburn. Or else, ya'll make it worse."
He groaned in response.
"Don't worry. If ya need anything, jus' call me."
"Uh, AJ?" said he.
"Yes? Do you need something, couz?"
"Actually, ah do. Could you please go an' buy some things I need? Ah was supposed ta go grocery shopping some time this week," he explained.
"Sure, ah'll go an' get ya your groceries. Where's the list?"
"It's over there on the kitchen counter," he told her, pointing with his right hoof.
She went to the counter to find a page full of food and supplies listed on it... a full page. This didn't bother though, she's used to going out shopping. Usually it was either herself or Big MacIntosh who did the shopping. Other times it would be Granny Smith and Apple Bloom.
"All right, then. Ah'll be back later with the stuff you need. Jus' don't leave the house. Try to read a book or something."
"Oh! But reading is boring!" he complained.
"Hey, who doesn't like to read a bang-up tale from time to time?" she asked.
Braeburn raised his right hoof.
AJ rolled her eyes, putting on her saddlebag before going off to the market.
Flim was wondering about what happened back in the tent earlier today. Mostly, he was thinking about what Flam had asked him.
Did I really flirt with her? he asked himself. I'm pretty sure I was just being a nice guy. I didn't want to cause anymore trouble to her family. Especially her extended family.
The young unicorn's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when his older brother sat next to him on his bed.
"What seems to be the problem, brother?" Flam asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you've been sitting here with your hooves against your cheeks for the past 15 minutes," he told him.
"Oh, was I?"
Flam nodded his head.
"Sorry. Nothing's wrong... I was just thinking about today," he admitted.
"Yes, speaking of what happened today: why'd you do it?" the oldest of the two asked.
"I just didn't want to end up hurting another one of Applejack's family."
"What are you talking about? That stallion wasn't going to do anything stupid."
"What makes you think he wouldn't? Applejack said he got hurt by playing some silly game with some buffalos. If he drank our so-called 'tonic' and went back to what he was doing, he could've ended up in a full body cast! Do you not remember what Granny Smith attempted to do after she drank it? She jumped off a six story high-dive and almost got herself killed - KILLED!" he ranted to Flam.
Flam was taken aback by his brother's sudden outburst. Was he trying to defend the Apple family? He gave him a bewildered look.
"I don't understand," he said.
Flim scoffed at his brother. Of course he doesn't understand, he thought. He got up from the bed and began to head towards the door.
"Where are you going?" he asked him.
The mustacheless unicorn put his hoof on the door knob. He took a deep breath before answering.
"I'm going to get some fresh air," he responded bluntly before leaving his brother... dumbfounded.
Applejack had just arrived to the market, her saddlebag brought with her. She looked at the list her cousin had written down.
Alright, now. Let's see... new pie pan. The orange country mare was just about to walk toward the pie pan booth when she suddenly bumped into somepony, both of them falling on the ground. Not mention her hat falling off as well.
"Very sorry about that, young filly," the myserious pony apologized. At least now she knew it was a stallion.
"No, no. It's quite all right," she responded. She suddenly heard a gasp from the stallion in front of her. She forgotten to see whom it was she bumped into.
"Applejack?" the mysterious stallion asked all surprised.
Wait, a minute! I know that voice, she thought. She looked across from her to see that it was none other than Flim Skim.
"Flim?!"
The pale unicorn got up quickly, extending his hoof to help her off the ground. She noticed that he seemed kind of embarrassed.
"I am very sorry, Applejack. I didn't realize it was you that I bumped into. I'm so used to seeing you with your hat," he explained.
It was then that the Country earth pony realized she was missing her hat. She looked over to see that it was about a yard away from her.
"It must've fell off when ah bumped into ya," she told him.
"Well, then, here. Let me get it for you."
"Oh, no, Flim, that's quite alright. Ya don't have ta," she said to the unicorn.
"Please, Applejack, I insist."
Before she could respond, the pale salespony horn was starting to be surrounded by a green aura. Her stetson hat being surrounded as well. The hat began floating towards her in a gentle manner. It was only a few seconds before it was placed back on her head.
"There you go, my dear," Flim said giving her a soft smile. For some reason, the Earth pony couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Uh, Th-thanks. A-ah better be going now," she stuttered.
"Wait! Uh, Applejack, where are you going?" he asked.
She didn't answer for a second. "Well, since Braeburn has a broken hoof, he asked me to get some groceries for him."
"Well, maybe I can help you?"
She stopped in her tracks. Help me? Why does he want to help me? she asked herself. For that matter, why does he even care?
"Ya want ta help me? But why?" she asked him both curiously and suspiciously.
"Well, there seems to be a lot of items on that list and, well, I thought a mare like yourself would want somepony to help you carry at least half. Besides, I think it would be thoughtful if you had some company."
"Well... Big Mac an' ah would always go get the groceries together, but since he's busy back at the Apple Farm... I guess... why not?" she accepted.
"Great!"
"Jus' one condition: don't try ta smooth talk any of the ponies at the market," she told him.
"Deal."
The mare gave him a sly smile before they started trotting toward the market. Then a thought came to her.
"Flim?"
"Yes?"
"Where's Flam? Shouldn't he be with you?"
"Oh, him? I kind of went off on him back where we're staying. So, I left him.
"Ya went off on him? Why? What was it about?" she asked him.
Flim couldn't tell the mare he secretly loved that the reason he went off on his brother was because of her and her family. So he decided to tell her something simple.
"Oh, it's not that important. Besides, I'm not really comfortable talking about it." He wasn't lying about that.
"If ya say so."
The two of them then started to get everything that was on the list.