"Hmm...all these ones look good. Better check the part of the orchard over there," Applejack stated as she trotted through the many apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres: searching for any trees that may not be in the best of health. She had just approached an intersecting path when she became startled by the sudden passing of a flustered Sweetie Belle, whom sped by her without even taking notice of the mare. "Ah wonder where she's runnin' off to in such a hurry," Applejack continued walking as she kept her eyes on Sweetie Belle, and unfortunately it was this action that prevented her from taking notice of the forthcoming Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, whose swift pace hindered their ability to stop themselves quickly enough upon their sighting of Applejack, and the two fillies promptly plowed into Applejack, and after a short tumble, the three of them ended up in a pony pile-up.
Though dazed at first, Applejack quickly became sore at the two fillies, "What in tarnation do you two think yer doin', tearn' through Sweet Apple Acres like that??" Applejack asked irately as she pulled herself out from under the two overturned fillies.
"Sorry, sis, but we havta catch up tuh Sweetie Belle!"
"Yeah! We need to tell her that she's wrong about how she thinks we feel about Lester!"
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got up to pursue Sweetie Belle forthwith, but Applejack stuck her leg out in front of the fillies to stop them. "Hold on a minute there—who is this Lester fella yer talkin' about?" Both fillies knew their promise to keep Lester a secret, but clearly there were more important things to worry about at the moment.
Scootaloo began the explanation, but started off a bit too quickly, "He's our mascot that Sweetie Belle got a while ago and she'd been spending every day with him since then, but now he—"
"Woah, woah!" Applejack interjected, cutting Scootaloo off. "Just hold on, there! Tell it all to me a bit slower."
So, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo spent several minutes explaining to Applejack the whole story about Lester: how they both met, how much Sweetie loved Lester, and how Sweetie Belle reacted to the bad news just minutes beforehoof.
"Sounds like she doesn't want tuh believe he's really gone," said Applejack.
"Yeah, and she thinks we're lying because we didn't like Lester."
"But we always liked him! He was a really cool mascot!"
"Well, it seems that she won't believe any word comin' out of the mouths of you two right now."
"What are we supposed tuh do??" Apple Bloom asked in fret.
"The only thing tuh do now is find Sweetie Belle," Applejack turned around and started walking down the path Sweetie Belle had taken, with the fillies following after. "...and show her the truth about you two—and about Lester."
After leaving Sweet Apple Acres, the three ponies began combing all of Ponyville for the distressed filly and her deceased pet. Knowing she would still not want anypony else to find out about Lester, they checked every vacant area in Ponyville: every alley, every bridge, every doghouse(though that was Scootaloo's idea)—until finally they had located her in the field where the pony-pet playdates take place. Watching from behind the bushes, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo watched Sweetie belle, who was, having her own pony-pet playdate—which was a very sad sight to witness.
As opposed to the critical levels of sadness and torment she was suffering through before, Sweetie Belle was now happy and upbeat as she "played" with Lester. She was laughing and having as good a time as any other that she shared with her porcupine pet, doing all the fun things the pair had done together in the past, such as hopping around, tumbling in the grass, and catching Lester after throwing him up into the air, with Lester lifeless and unmoving all the while.
"Oh, dear...that poor filly," said Applejack, expressing her sorrow for Sweetie Belle.
"What's she doin' Applejack? She's playin' with Lester like he's not...wait, is he not...?"
"No, he most certainly is; but she doesn't want tuh believe Lester's gone, so she's actin' like nothin' ever happened. That's why she's playin' with him and actin' like everything's normal."
"That's bad, right?"
"Yes it is, Scootaloo. A pony can't lie to themselves like that—no matter how hard it is for them to handle the truth."
"Are we gonna havta be the ones to tell her that?" Apple Bloom inquired.
"Well, she's obviously not goin' tuh tell herself anytime soon, so we don't have any choice. We can't let this go on any longer," and with that, Applejack marched out of the shrubbery towards the troubled filly, fully set on making things right.
At first, Sweetie Belle did not notice Applejack and her friends coming towards her, due to her being preoccupied by Lester, but once they had gotten close enough to Sweetie, she turned her head towards them, and, astonishingly, was not angry or upset at all. "Oh, hey guys!" she greeted heartily. "Lester and me are just playing! Isn't that right, Lester?" she smiled as she held Lester close to her face, the mammal's body still completely static, with Sweetie Belle seemingly oblivious to her pet's departure from this world. "He must still be too tired to say anything right now, but I know he's happy to see you, too! Aren't you, Lester?" she said as she nuzzled her snout against his.
While Sweetie was looking to be as happy as ever, the other ponies watched, feeling completely nonplussed by this behavior. Why did she not get upset by the sight of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? And why was she even happy to see them?
"It's like she completely forgot what happened earlier."
"No...she didn't forget," said Applejack. "She's just doin' what she's been doin' this whole time: actin' like everything's normal."
"What does that have to do with when she got mad at us before?"
"Well, since she wants to believe that Lester's still alive, she's also pretendin' that what you two told her earlier never happened, 'n' that's why she's bein' as nice and friendly to y'all as she always has before."
"It's so great playing with Lester!" Sweetie blurted out. "We're best friends forever and ever!" she hugged the porcupine mightily, and was forthwith pricked by his many needles. "Upp! There I go getting myself poked by Lester again! I never do learn, do I?" she chuckled before hugging Lester again, albeit avoiding his needles this time.
"She's gettin' worse..." Applejack stated, more upset than she was before.
"Well, what do we do?"
"What we came here tuh do: put a stop do this once and for all," even though Applejack knew this wouldn't be a simple task, it was for the good of this one little filly, and Applejack wouldn't allow her to live in this state of denial forevermore.