Golden Oaks Library: a center of learning, an oasis of knowledge. The library has served Ponyville for as long as most ponies can remember, but it wasn’t until recently that it became a popular gathering place. Though there were times that the librarian would rather be left alone, she was always more than happy to lend a scholarly hoof.
And so it was that our tangerine heroine found herself in need of a little help. It was a lazy summer day, not much needed seeing to. The air was hot and a little more humid than usual; the pegasi were shifting things around in preparation for the rainy season. Few ponies ventured outside to brave the sun and humidity, the few that did were hurrying to other places, anxious to get out of the heat. As Applejack passed Sugarcube Corner, she caught a glimpse of a crowded interior and the sounds of a delighted Pinkie Pie. She could go for a nice bowl of ice cream but the commotion of the confectionary ultimately turned her away. The farm filly was out walking in an attempt to clear her head, but the heat and lack of something to do were clouding things up even more. The events of the past year occupied almost the whole of her attention and shadows of old things crept behind her.
As she had left her hooves to decide where to go for themselves, she didn’t notice where she was until she nearly walked into the book-emblazoned sign. Blinking slowly at the door, she came to a conclusion. Namely that the library was a much better, and cooler, place to sort out her thoughts. She pushed open the door, taking in the smells of sweet tree sap underneath the dry scent of paper and ink.The interior of the library brought a smile to her lips and her thoughts seemed to clear almost of their own accord.
The librarian herself emerged from the cellar just as the farm filly shut the door. “Hello, Applejack! What brings you in today?”
“Oh, nothin’ in particular, just out fer a walk and wandered over here.”
She could have been mistaken, but AJ thought she saw a slight flicker of disappointment fly across Twilight’s face. “Okay then. I was just reorganizing a few of my shelves, um, if you need anything, I’ll be around.” She turned back to the other room with several books floating in her magical grasp.
For a moment, her own problems disappeared as she watched her friend go about her task. It had taken awhile for Applejack to figure out the reclusive unicorn; she may be open hearted but she could clam up when she wanted. It was the little things that told her something bothered the other mare. A slight shift in her gaze, the overly cheerful tone of her voice, the clearly scientific tomes she was attempting to shove into the Fiction section of her shelf. Applejack looked around and noticed a missing piece to the library.
“Uh, where’s Spike, sugarcube?”
“Hm?” Twilight said, pausing in her glare at the shelf. “Oh, he’s out helping Rarity gather gems. I think.” She tried once again to shove the large books onto the shelf, sticking her tongue out in concentration.
Applejack approached the unicorn cautiously and tried to put just the right amount of friendly concern in her voice. “Uh, yah alright there, Twilight? You seem a bit... out a’sorts.”
“What makes you think that?” she replied in the same out-of-place tone as before.
“Well, on account that yer tryin’ ta put a big ol’ book on chemistry in the Fiction section.” AJ laid a hoof on one of the mare’s purple shoulders.
“What?” Twilight turned the book over and inspected the cover. She tsked at it. “That wasn’t what I meant to pick up at all.” She continued to mumble under her breath as she glared at the other books she had brought from the basement.
Applejack gave her a worried look. As she studied her distraught friend, a glint of blue caught her eye. On the desk next to the window, sat a number of books, the covers and pages of which seemed rather strange. She ambled over to the desk, unnoticed by Twilight, and put her hooves up on the polished surface. Papers were strewn over it, each one full of neat, flowing script. A few of the books lay open so she nosed through a few pages. None of it made any sense at all. Applejack was no lay-pony, but she would still rather read in Cutieform if she could help it. There were lots of big words all over some pages and on others, complicated diagrams showing circles, angles and spheres dominated the thick paper.
The book that had originally caught her eye was obviously quite important. The front was covered in an ultra-marine blue silk and embossed with silver. The corner mounts boasted little rubies that seemed to glow in the sunlight. The title read; Celestial Arts: Scrying for the Everyday Mage. The workpony knit her brow at the tome and turned over another book, this one dressed in red satin, to read its title. Time and Spectra: Everything You Thought You Knew About Time but Were Too Afraid to Actually Test. She slid a golden book, quite worn with age, out from under a pile of loose sheafs. The Starswirl Papers Vol. 14: Harmony and Time Travel. She didn’t like the looks of all this.
“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack said over her shoulder. The studious unicorn sat on the floor, staring at the bookshelf. The books that once floated in clouds of magic were strewn around her, as if she had forgotten them. “Twilight?”
The unicorn blinked. “Hm?” she said, turning to Applejack.
“Are you alright, sugarcube? Somethin’s been botherin’ yah. You ain’t yerself.” She cocked her head to the side, indicating the books on the desk. “An’ what’s all this about?”
All of a sudden, the other mare looked extremely tired. Her shoulders sagged, the corners of her mouth drooped, her ears laid back and her eyes lowered. The transformation made Applejack take a step forward. “It’s alright, Twilight... yah don’t have ta say anythin’ if yah don’t want ta.”
“It’s okay, Applejack,” she sighed. “I’m... studying. I’m trying to figure out a way to look into the future but... as far as anypony knows, that’s impossible.” She droned out her explanation in a way that made it sound like her failure to do the impossible sealed the fate of a loved one.
“Why would you want ta see the future? Ah mean, everypony’d love to know what’s comin’ next but...”
Twilight shook her head. “I can’t stop thinking about it...”
“What, the future?”
“Yes... and the door.”
AJ sat next to Twilight, gently moving a book out of the way and directing her full attention to the purple unicorn.
“King Sombra’s door showed me my greatest fear. I know it was just a trick but... I can’t shake the feeling that there’s truth behind it. I’ll be moving on to the next phase of my studies... and I-I’m so afraid that I’ll make another mistake. I need to know what’s coming, Applejack.” She turned to the tangerine pony, desperation and fear evident in her features. “I put Spike in terrible danger. I put the entire Crystal Empire at risk, all because I didn’t think ahead. I should’ve known that Sombra had more traps, that he wouldn’t just leave the Crystal Heart at the top of that tower. What if I can’t do whatever it is the Princesses are preparing me for? How am I supposed to prepare without knowing what’s going to happen?”
Applejack smiled at her friend. “Twilight, there ain’t nothin’ you can’t do when yah put yer mind to it. Listen, Ah know it’s hard ta be where yah are. You’ve got responsibilities, an’ the Princess expects a lot of yah. Ah know what it’s like, havin’ others depend on yah. An’ Ah want yah ta know, there ain’t any other pony Ah trust more than you.” She put a foreleg around Twilight’s hunched shoulders. “Yah ever think that maybe the Princess trusts yah too? That all of us trust yah? Ah’ll tell yah a little secret Ah’ve learned from the apple trees. It ain’t any kinda guarantee that the sun’ll keep risin’, as far as they know. An’ the weather ain’t gonna be nice forever. They know less than Ah do about what’s gonna happen, but they keep growin’ and they try their best to make apples.”
Twilight gave a dry chuckle. “But Applejack, they’re plants, that’s all they know how to do.”
AJ nodded. “Yer right, sugarcube. But the way Ah see it, feelin’s are a lot like plants. If yah plant the right seeds, they’ll grow, an’ keep growin’ ‘til something changes. Yah can’t let these seeds a’ doubt take root, Twilight. Ah got faith in yah, and so do the Princesses. Yer friends are with yah. Don’t yah think yah oughtta have a little faith in yerself? If yah do what needs doin’ now, the future’ll take care of itself.”
Some of the tension left Twilight’s shoulders and her expression brightened. The wonders a smile could do for a face demonstrated themselves before the tangerine mare’s eyes. “Thank you, Applejack. It feels good to know I have friends like you.”
“Aw shucks Twilight, Ah’m the one who’s lucky.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well if it weren’t fer you, Ah’d never have gotten ta know the other gals. An’ there’s no place I’d rather be right now than here with you.”
As the words left her mouth, she was surprised at how true they were.
