As Twilight suspected, running away from a pursuing Applejack was utterly useless. She attempted to teleport, but only managed to cover a distance of a few feet due to lack of concentration. She was laughing when she wasn't panting, as she was not used to the physical exertion. Applejack covered that small distance in a matter of second, and suddenly Twilight felt herself tumbling.

"Woah!" the purple mare yelped as she fell to the ground.

"Gotcha," Applejack said, retrieving her stolen property. She sat on Twilight's back as the purple unicorn was trapped beneath her. "Y'know, for a librarian, you ain't so slow," Applejack said between pants.

Twilight laughed shortly between her own pants of exhaustion. "Thanks, I guess," she said, "The Iron Pony. It helped with running."

Applejack nodded in thought, wiping sweat from her brow. "Oh yeah," she confirmed, "you did say somethin' 'bout having a few books on runnin', didn't ya?"

"Yes!" Twilight blurted out, "I did." Suddenly realizing the position she was in, she furrowed her bros and rolled sideways in an attempt to throw Applejack off of her back. With a yelp of protest and surprise, the orange farm pony went tumbling off of Twilight's back, much to her satisfaction.

"Heh, you're a regular buckin' bronco," Applejack commented as she shook the dirt from her hat and placed it atop her head.

Twilight stood up and grinned smugly. "Maybe it should have been me in that Iron Pony contest?" the purple unicorn commented kiddingly.

"Yeah I might just have some competition in my next rodeo," Applejack replied with a short laugh.

"Anyway, you wanted to talk about my new job?" Twilight said, jumping to the next topic as she smiled at the orange mare.

"Ah. Yeah. I wanted to ask you somethin'.. What was it?" Applejack said, rubbing the back of her head in thought as she stared at the ground.

"Did you want to kno-" Twilight began, only to jump at Applejack's sudden outburst of "I GOT IT!"

"I wanted to ask if any of the other girls were gonna show up to help ya? You mentioned 'em earlier, so I was wonderin'," Applejack stated with slight pride tinging her voice at having remembered.

"Oh! Yes, I believe Pinkie said she'd like to help me, and Rarity offered to as well," Twilight replied, nodding.

"Wouldn't Pinkie be busy.. Well, bein' Pinkie?" Applejack asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well now that you mention it, she is probably in charge of setting up the festival," Twilight said, her nerves beginning to turn against her. She had a sinking feeling of dread again, though she tried her best not to show it. She still had Rarity, after all.

"Rarity might not even show to the festival. If she does, though, she might be attendin' to the clothing and all. You know how she is," Applejack said, unaware of just how low she was dropping Twilight's confidence.

"Well.. I suppose," Twilight said, a frown appearing on her face in worry.

"But hey," Applejack said, possibly catching on to Twilight's sudden mood-swing, "Maybe Rainbow can help ya out?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, she'd be tending to the weather, I think. And Fluttershy is too timid to handle the stress of the job. That leaves.. You and me," she said, commencing to grind her teeth together.

"Hey, don't worry! You and I can do it together! We'll be a regular duo!" Applejack said, laying an arm around Twilight's shoulders. Twilight felt oddly comfortable under the orange mare's touch, but still a thought made itself evident to her.

This was going to be disastrous.