“They’re going to need me for two weeks this time,” Buttercup told the family. “There’s a treatment in Vanhoover that they want me to try. Big Mac, are you sure you can handle the farm while we’re gone?”
“Of course I can,” Big Mac answered. “You just worry about gettin’ right.”
“We’ll take care of it, Mama,” Applejack added.
Buttercup dabbed Applejack’s nose with a hoof. “Homework first.”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Good.” Buttercup gave her a smile, but there was a sadness to it that sent a chill down Applejack’s spine. “We leave in the mornin’. Y’all be good while we’re gone.”
Applejack knew she shouldn’t, but her heart tugged at her. Eavesdropping hadn’t worked out so well for her before, but she needed to know. With lights out, she lurked just outside her parents’ bedroom, listening with her ear to the crack under the door.
“This will be it,” she could hear her father say. “I know it. This is going to be the last time.”
Her mother answered with, “You said that the last time, Bright Mac. I don’t know how many more ‘last times’ this family can take. Big Mac’s already hurtin’ from all we’re puttin’ him through, and Applejack’s goin’ through a very rough time in her life. She needs her mama to be here.”
“She needs her mama to be--” Bright Mac stopped himself. Applejack could hear him sigh. Then, in a somber tone, he said, “I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” Buttercup replied. “This is hard for everypony. But we’ve already tried so many things. It might be time to talk about--”
“No. Not now, not ever.”
“Bright Mac, please. We need to figure out what’s going to happen when I’m--”
“That won’t happen. We’ll find somethin’. Or we’ll think of somethin’. We always do.”
Applejack heard her mother give a heavy sigh. She found herself just as unconvinced. The more she listened, the more the fear in her heart began to grow.
“You win,” Buttercup said, though she certainly didn’t sound like she meant it. “There’s just no tryin’ to talk sense at you right now. I’ll try this treatment. But if we come home and the farm’s in such a state again, then that’s the last time.”
“It won’t be,” Bright Mac assured her. “Big Mac knows what he’s doin’ now. He’s got a good handle on it.”
“I mean it,” Buttercup said more sternly. “The family needs us. The farm needs us. I ain’t about to let Big Mac work himself to death for my sake.”
“I know you do. Just try and have hope. It’ll work out. You’ll see.”
Applejack pulled her ear from the door, regretting that she’d listened in the first place. Rather than putting her mind at ease, she was now more afraid than ever. She slumped back to her room, trying to think of anything she could do, but feeling more helpless with every second.
“So,” Rarity said, walking her daily route to school in the morning. “I was thinking of a blue trim on beige, but I’m worried that your amulet won’t quite pop the way it should. That emerald contrasts nicely against beige but it’s going to melt into the blue.”
After a few seconds, Crystal replied, “You’re right, I see the problem. Maybe we could try a different gem? What about ruby?”
“Do you have a ruby amulet?”
Crystal shook her head. “No, but I can make one. We’ve still got some rubies back at your place. Give me a few hours in the workshop at school and I can--oh!” Crystal cut herself off, looking ahead.
“That would be excellent, thank you. Now about our little project with the rose scarf, I thought--”
“I’ll see you later, Rarity,” Crystal said.
“But we still need to talk about--”
Crystal cantered ahead, tossing back only a brief glance and an apologetic, “It’s Applejack. I gotta go.”
Rarity groaned. “Very well.” Once her friend was out of earshot, she muttered to herself, “I shall endeavor to capture a moment of your time elsewhere. Again.”
A good night’s sleep had done nothing to help Applejack work out a plan. The family was stretched thin enough as it was, and her mom’s words still hung in her mind. If she gave up on the treatments--
“Hey, stranger.” Crystal’s voice shook Applejack out of her funk.
“Mornin’, Sugarcube,” Applejack greeted her. Her words were accompanied by a quick peck on the lips.
“Something troubling you?”
Applejack sighed. “We’re havin’ some troubles back home,” she admitted.
“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that,” Crystal told her. She gave Applejack a nuzzle on her neck. “I’m sure you’ll work it out, though. Your family’s cool like that.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said with zero conviction. “Reckon we are.”
“Anyways, you would not believe what my mom said to me last night. She is the worst.”
Applejack forced a sad smile as she listened. “Eeyup. She surely is.”
Crystal huffed. “She wants me to read this dumb book about market trends, but Rarity’s already read it! Twice! I’m telling you, anything in that book that’s worth knowing, she can explain. We already decided she’d be the business face for Crystal Rarities.”
Rarity raised a hoof. “I should interject that she, in fact, decided that I would be the business face for Crystal Rarities. I tried on several occasions to get her to pay attention to Empty Chalice’s lessons, but she had the attention span of a fruit fly.”
Crystal continued. “I tried telling my mom that, but then she just got mad at me. She said I need to ‘take more responsibility for your future’, whatever that means. I mean, I already got my Cutie Mark. It’s not like we don’t already know what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life. I’m set.”
“Crystal….”
“It’s like my dad used to tell me. Life provides. You just got to stay out of its way and let it take care of you. Every hurdle is just life’s way of pushing you to where you got to be. I mean, I thought getting stuck here was awful.” Crystal batted her eyes at Applejack. “But that was just life’s way of pushing me to you.”
Applejack smiled. There was something about Crystal that often made her feel lighter than air. It was like her cares washed away when she was around. But this time, something else jabbed at her heart. Crystal had said that life provides, but the farm was falling apart around her.
Could she really stand to wait? With her--
“Hey! Are you listening?”
Applejack blinked her eyes. Crystal had apparently still been talking when she’d drifted off. “Beg pardon, Sugar. I had a lot on my mind.”
“It happens. Come on, what’s bothering you so much?”
Applejack sighed. The words were hard to form, but if anypony was going to understand her, it’d probably be her special somepony. “It’s tough to say,” she admitted. “I think my ma--”
“Oh, we’re here!” Crystal shouted. The schoolhouse lay before them, ready for the new day. “I have to go. We’ll talk later, okay?” Before Applejack could answer, Crystal galloped off across the yard.
“Sure,” Applejack muttered. “Later.”
After school, Applejack saw Big Mac straining to pull the plow across the field. The farm had a lot of acreage that needed plowing before planting season came. Her brother was strong enough, but there was only one of him, and he had to work without breaks to get everything done.
Trotting up into the field, Applejack asked, “Can I lend you a hoof?”
Big Mac stopped heaving the plow. He sat on the spot, looking to Applejack. “You done your homework?” he answered her.
“Not yet but it won’t take--”
Big Mac sighed, then stood back up. “Get your homework done. Mama said.”
“Big Mac, I can--”
“Mama said,” Big Mac sternly reiterated. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then started to pull the plow again. As she watched him go, Applejack recognized how much of an emotional toll these events must be taking on him as well. She gave her brother a somber look and watched him tug the plow for a few seconds, then trotted inside.
Applejack tried to focus on her work, but her mind kept drifting back outside. What should have taken three hours wound up taking five, all because she couldn’t stop thinking about Big Mac working himself to death trying to do the work of three ponies.
The next day, straight after school, she asked him to let her help. And once again, he told her to go do her homework. “When you were young, you got a dream to be more than this,” Big Mac told her. “Now that’s Mama’s dream for you too, and I ain’t about to let you let her down.”
Wednesday, she went straight inside. She took out her schoolbooks and flipped her math text open to the assigned pages. For half an hour, she just stared at the paper, her mind refusing to focus on schoolwork.
“If we come home and the farm’s in such a state again, then that’s the last time.”
Applejack’s grades were amazing. Mr. Sketch had said as much. She tested well, her homework wasn’t perfect but she general got most of the work right, and her attendance record was perfect. That afforded her a little bit of wiggle room, didn’t it?
She glanced out the window and saw her brother gasping for breath, seated up against the very plow he’d been trying to pull. Big Mac was at his limit. He had been for weeks. Looking down at her schoolbooks, she made a choice.
“Let me have a turn at that,” Applejack said as she cantered out to the field.
“Your homework done?” Big Mac asked.
“Eeyup. Tonight’s was easier than slidin’ off a greased log. Reckon I might just be too smart for it,” Applejack said with a grin.
“Good enough for me,” her brother replied. With what strength he could muster, he climbed out of the plowing harness. “Don’t hurt yourself, now.”
“Worry about yourself. I can handle a hunk of metal.” Applejack pushed her neck through the yoke. She took a deep breath, grit her teeth, and pulled. The familiar weight of the plow settled on her shoulders and she pushed with all four of her legs to get it moving. At her age, she wasn’t as strong as her brother, but she also wasn’t as tired.
Big Mac followed Applejack for the better part of an hour, taking advantage of the chance to relax his muscles. She gave him the time, knowing he needed the rest. After half an hour, she asked him, “You know I got this, right? I reckon there’s some other chores need doin’ tonight. Leave the plowin’ to me.”
Big Mac answered her with a nod, then trotted off to work. Applejack smiled to herself. She knew her muscles would be sore in the morning, but she also knew it’d be worth it. Big Mac still had work to do, but he could give his legs and shoulders a break, and that would mean all the difference in the world.
The next few hours were strenuous physical labor, and when the sun went down, there was still much to do. By the time Applejack made it into bed, she was ready to drop from exhaustion. And yet, as she lay still on her mattress and felt the soreness begin to seep out of her bones, she felt more satisfied than she had in weeks.
She felt like she was doing something. There was a clear tangible effect to her labor, and that made it worthwhile to her.
Thursday and Friday passed in much the same fashion. Applejack spent time with Crystal at school, then rushed home afterwards and made up a story about her homework to justify getting out to the farm faster. Soon enough, she was seeing results. The plowing was getting done, the trees were getting taken care of, and Big Mac had even managed to apply some pesticides to the infestation.
But it wasn’t enough. The weekend came and went, and Applejack knew they only had another week before her parents came home. Her mother had said the farm couldn’t be in a state when she got back. Better than expected was still a far cry from good. She needed to do more.
“Hey, are you okay?” Crystal asked her. It was Tuesday morning, and they were walking to school as they usually did.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“Good, because I wanted to know what you think about Friday.”
“Uh…Friday?”
Crystal stopped walking and stared at her flatly. “Friday. You and me. Doing something romantic rather than just walking to school and saying hi to each other from time to time. You were listening, weren’t you?”
“Oh, uh, of course. Friday. You could come over and--”
“Applejack,” Crystal said patiently. “I adore your family. I do. But your family isn’t my Special Somepony. I’m talking about doing something other than dinners with Granny and watching you break your back with Big Mac. We need to go out and do…I don’t know. Whatever passes for painting this town red. Maybe a light shade of fuchsia?”
“I reckon that’d be okay,” Applejack said noncommittally. Inside, she began to panic. If Crystal wanted Friday night to herself, that’d be one less night she could help Big Mac. Her parents would be home next week; the farm needed to be in top shape.
“What, just okay?” Crystal asked. “You don’t want to go out with me?”
“No! I just…I need to figure out what to wear, is all.” Applejack grinned widely.
Crystal’s eyes scrutinized Applejack carefully. “You’re sure that’s it?”
“Eeyup. Just…wardrobe jitters!” Applejack giggled nervously, trying to sell her lie.
Crystal shook her head. She gave Applejack a peck on the cheek, adding, “Stay weird, Applejack. I’d better get going if I don’t want to be late for class. I’ll see you Friday.” Crystal galloped off towards the schoolhouse, leaving Applejack to silently panic.
The thought crossed her mind--not for the first time, but now it seemed more tempting than ever. If she was going to lose a Friday, she needed to find more time elsewhere, and elsewhere meant now. As soon as Crystal was out of sight, Applejack turned around and started off back to the farm.
With grades like hers, she could stand to miss a couple of days, right?
“Applejack? What are you doin’ home?” Applejack had been pulling the plow for an hour and a half when Big Mac noticed her. She’d hoped the east orchard would keep him busy long enough not to notice, but she was mistaken.
“Teacher inservice day!” she shouted quickly. “School’s closed, so I thought I’d help out.”
“That right?” Big Mac asked skeptically.
“Eeyup. Sorry I didn’t mention. Just found out today. You should have seen my face when I got to school and nopony was there; made a tomato look right pale, I did.”
“That right?” Big Mac asked.
Applejack laid a hoof over her heart. “Mare in the Moon come and strike me down if that ain’t the honest truth.”
“Hmm.” Big Mac took a few seconds, seeming to consider her words very carefully. But then he shrugged. “Reckon that’s fair, then. Go on and keep at the plowin’. Gives me a chance to get to work on the caterpillars.”
“We still got caterpillars?” Applejack asked.
“Ain’t had the time to get at them. Granny’s mixed up her formula but that don’t do nopony no good if we can’t spread it.”
“You need a hoof? I ain’t learned that step yet.”
Big Mac scruffed Applejack’s mane. “Not today. You get to plowin’. That’s your project for as long as I have you. We get that done, then we can talk about you learnin’ new things.”
“Right.” Applejack grinned. “Bet I finish before you do.”
Big Mac laughed. “I’d like to see you try, sapling.”
“Sapling?!” Big Mac’s words gave Applejack renewed strength, pressing her to start pulling again. “You just wait. Tomorrow morn, we’ll be havin’ flapjacks and you won’t get any ‘cause of all them words you gotta eat first.”
“Well, now that’s a challenge. See you at supper.” With that, Big Mac trotted off towards the south orchard. As soon as he was gone, Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. She’d managed to buy an entire day, and she didn’t want to waste a second of it.
And waste she did not. By Monday’s end, the field was looking pretty good. There was still a lot of work to do, but she felt more sure than ever that she could pull this off.
The next day in class, Applejack had a bit of explaining to do over her absence. “I wasn’t feelin’ too good,” she explained to Mr. Sketch. “Came down with…uh…cattywampus.”
“Cattywampus,” Mr. Sketch repeated. Applejack cursed herself the moment the word was out of her snout.
“Yeah. It’s rare. Makes your whole face go blaaaagh.” Applejack stuck out her tongue, turned her head sideways, and crossed her eyes. “And the vomitin’. So much vomitin’. Buckets of vomit left and right!”
“Well, that certainly sounds awful,” Mr. Sketch replied. Applejack couldn’t help but hint the tone of suspicion in his voice.
“Oh, it is. And the mucus!”
“That’s quite enough. Do you have a note from your parents to corroborate your statement?”
Applejack hoped her wince wasn’t too visible. “I did, but it got eaten by…uh…all the mucus.”
“Of course it did.” Mr. Sketch cleared his throat. “Well, at least you’re feeling better today, so this won’t be too much of a black mark on your record.”
“Great! I should be fine! But I hear it sometimes flares back up…somewhere around Thursday….”
Flatly, Mr. Sketch asked, “Does it?”
Applejack grinned innocently.
“I see you’ve perfected your con artistry over the years,” Rarity remarked.
“Hey, I said I’m a liar. Never claimed to be any good at it.”
Thursday, Applejack skipped out on her classes once more. The plowing had finished up Tuesday, which meant one week until they could start planting. Big Mac had three buckets of Granny Smith’s caterpillar solution and was hard at work when she returned.
Slyly hiding herself in the pig pen, Applejack studied Big Mac carefully. She watched him spreading the solution on the leaves and branches, trying to get a feel for the motions. Then, when he stepped away to take a break, she struck. Grasping one bucket’s handle in her teeth, she bolted for the far side of the farm.
She found a tree that was far enough from Big Mac that she was sure he wouldn’t notice her. She dropped the bucket there, then returned to the barn. Slipping around past the windows to avoid Granny Smith’s notice, Applejack entered the barn and came out a short time later with a ladder. She brought it back to her position and then set to work.
Applejack put the best effort she could in, coating the trees one by one in the same way Big Mac did. After a few hours, she moved close enough that she worried Big Mac might see her, so she left her bucket and carted her ladder back to the barn. With Big Mac moving deeper into the orchard, she came back around to the pigpen and set about getting them fed.
So she worked, finding chores to get done where Big Mac wasn’t. Once the sun rolled around to time for her to come home, she became less shy about being seen. She worked until supper, then after her meal, she was right back out with him. When she went to bed that night, she was exhausted as ever, but she also felt proud of herself.
“Applejack? Are you with me?” Applejack looked up from her plate, glancing across the table at Crystal’s worried face.
“Pardon,” Applejack said quietly. In truth, she wasn’t. She’d been miles away helping Big Mac with the infestation. “Mama’s comin’ home tomorrow and I’m worried.”
“I know what you mean,” Crystal said. “My mom’s been going out of town a lot lately. She won’t say what it’s about. I’ve tried asking but she’s just like, ‘Rargh, focus on your future, Crystal!’ Like I’m not already doing that.”
Applejack gave a weak chuckle. “Sounds like you got it rough.”
“You have no idea.” Carefully gripping a fork in the joint of her hoof, she lifted the fettuccine noodles from her plate. She seemed to struggle with the utensil, but after a few seconds, she was able to get the noodles to her snout. “Ha!” She celebrated herself upon swallowing. “Got it in one try this time. They really need to do something to make these tools more hoof-friendly.”
Applejack took a glance around the establishment. Crystal had insisted on taking the train into Canterlot to find something less…”rustic” had been her choice of words, but the way she said it made Applejack swear she meant it as a curse word.
All around her, Applejack saw forks and spoons moving by way of glowing horns. The other patrons made it look so easy, Applejack was sure they weren’t even thinking about the awkward shape of the tools. Looking back to Crystal, she suggested, “I don’t think this place was made with earth ponies in mind.”
“Well, that’s stupid,” Crystal said gruffly. “They should have thought about this!”
“I don’t reckon they get a lot of earth ponies up here,” Applejack explained. “That don’t mean it can’t be earth pony friendly, mind.” To demonstrate, she lifted her own order. A bowl of soup rest between her forelegs, which rose easily enough to her lips.
“I’ll try to remember that,” Crystal replied. “Everything in Manehattan is earth pony friendly. It’s like a whole city built just for us.”
Applejack smiled at the twinkle in Crystal’s eye. “You really miss it, don’t you?”
“Are you kidding? Manehattan’s my home. It’s where I can feel like I actually belong.”
“I never felt quite right there. I tried to belong, but I just ain’t fit for that kind of livin’. It don’t suit me.”
“It doesn’t suit anypony,” Crystal insisted. “That’s what makes it great. Everypony belongs in Manehattan because nopony belongs there. You get to just be you. Ponies leave you alone. They aren’t poking their noses into your business every five minutes. You don’t have to explain yourself or try to act like you can fit in. You want to be angry? Be angry! Everypony’s angry, so nopony cares!”
Crystal sighed. “One of these days, I’m taking you and Rarity and I’m going to show you girls the real Manehattan experience.”
“You’ve said that before,” Applejack joked.
“I know, but I mean it this time. You need to see what I see, so you can love the city like I love it. Nopony judges you there. I mean, they do, but everypony’s judging you all the time so it just kinda blurs into this background noise. It doesn’t mean anything there. Not like Ponyville, where everypony seems to think that everypony’s business is their business.”
“This about me and Three Point?” Applejack asked.
“It’s not fair the way they treat you. Any of them. Even my mom just sees you as this big threat to my future.”
Applejack blinked. She hadn’t heard anything about that before. “Beg pardon?”
“Oh, she’s all smiles and politeness when you’re around, but she hates you.”
Applejack winced, remembering her past encounters with Empty Chalice. “That’s her idea of smiles and politeness?”
Crystal laughed. “You should see her when she’s really mad.”
“I’ll bet. So how is Rarity, anyway?”
As soon as the words had left Applejack’s snout, it seemed as if the room dropped twenty degrees. “Why?” Crystal asked, seeming to bristle from the question.
“I don’t get to see much of her lately,” Applejack admitted. “Not since our morning walk to school became…well, our morning walk. She doin’ okay?”
“She’s fine,” Crystal said brusquely.
“You two still workin’ on--”
“Can we just not?” Crystal asked quickly. “Not everything has to be about Rarity all the time! We’re supposed to be having a nice dinner and--” Crystal caught herself, breathing heavily into her alfredo. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly.
“You okay?” Applejack asked.
“I’m fine,” Crystal answered too quickly. “Rarity’s fine too. We’re great.”
“Was there somethin’ goin’ on between you two?” Applejack asked. “In those last couple months, Crystal seemed right snappish about you.”
Rarity shook her head. One hoof had unconsciously gone to her chest, cradling her heart as she listened to Applejack recount the story. “I honestly never knew she felt this way. She was nothing but nice to me, and I was always there to help her. I thought of us as sisters.”
“She didn’t seem to.”
“I’m realizing that,” Rarity said. Her eyes drifted to the wall, her mind searching through the pages of memory seeking answers. “Did she say anything else?”
“Nah, once we got away from you, I tried to keep the topic away. Rest of the date went by fine. I’m sure you don’t want the details of us makin’ out on the train comin’ home.”
“Thank you. So what happened with your mother? You were absent more days than just those two.”
Applejack nodded. “Mama was so impressed by the job she thought Big Mac had done, she agreed to keep doin’ the treatments. I kept sneaking away to help keep up the farm. Thought I was bein’ so clever, but then….
“APPLEJACK!” Big Mac roared over the east orchard. Applejack all but jumped out of her skin, tumbling from her ladder and landing roughly on the dirt below. “What in tarnation do you think you’re doin’?!”
“Oh, uh….” Applejack scrambled to get back to her hooves, her mind racing for an answer. “It’s, uh, it’s a--”
“Now don’t you give me no talk ‘bout inservice days or the teacher bein’ sick or--”
“It’s the truth!” Applejack insisted.
“Then why’d I just get back from talkin’ to your teacher ‘bout you skippin’ days?”
As the blood drained from her face, Applejack struggled to come up with something clever to say. Something that would really knock Big Mac on his rump, something would make him feel guilty for ever doubting her. Gathering up her nerve, she let fly her masterstroke. “…you wha?”
“Mr. Sketch had to come all the way out here to tell us you’ve been lyin’ up a twister of a storm. You ain’t doin’ your homework, you’re missin’ more classes than you’re goin’ to, and your grades are spiralin’ out of control!”
“I’m tryin’ to help!” Applejack insisted. “You can’t do this by yourself; you need me!”
“I need you studyin’! You’re supposed to go make somethin’ of yourself!”
“Since when do you care?!” Applejack shouted. “You been puttin’ down my schoolin’ since you heard about it! You said there’s more important things and you’re right!” Through heaving breaths, Applejack struggled to quiet herself. After a few seconds, she quietly added, “Gettin’ Mama right is what’s important now.”
“This ain’t what Mama wants for you,” Big Mac said bluntly.
“Mama needs to live. Ain’t nothin’ matters more than that. My grades will be fine. What’s a couple days off?”
“No, Applejack, they won’t.” Big Mac looked Applejack straight in the eyes as he spoke. “That’s what Mr. Sketch came to talk about. You’ve missed too many days these last weeks. He’s talkin’ about failin’ you.”
“What?” Applejack took a step back, the weight of her brother’s words dawning on her mind. “He can’t do that,” she said quietly. “He can’t.”
“He can and will. You gotta fix this, Applejack. It’d break Mama’s heart, you failin’ now.”
“You can’t do this!” Applejack shouted at her teacher from the confines of his office.
“I assure you, this is something well within my ability to do,” Mr. Sketch replied.
“What about all that stuff you said about me graduatin’ early and goin’ on to a fancy school?!”
“If you were to do so, this would be your year to do it. But that was contingent on you maintaining proper attendance and keeping your grades high, which you have utterly failed to do for almost a moon. What I can’t do is understand what could compel you to so thoroughly sabotage your future when it is nearly at hoof.”
“I didn’t--” Applejack started, but Mr. Sketch silenced her with a hard glare and a raised hoof.
“All you needed to do was stick it out for the next few moons and then you would be free to pursue your dreams. Now, if you keep on this road you’re paving for yourself, you will be lucky to even graduate on time with the rest of your class.”
“You gotta listen to me,” Applejack told him. “It’s my Mama, she’s--”
“Every student has excuses. I assure you, whatever you have, I’ve already heard it. Life, Applejack, does not remain still and wait for you to get over whatever it is you think is more important. Your future is already two hooves out the door. You can busy yourself with excuses and let it walk away or you can do what it takes to salvage what’s left of it.”
“And what’s that?”
“Attend class, Applejack. Get your homework done. Study for your tests. Turn this trainwreck of a life you’ve begun to make for yourself around and get back on the right course.”
“But what about--”
“Whatever trifles you are wrestling with, I assure you that nopony cares. They care about results. You are the product of your actions, not the sum of your beliefs. Your hopes, your fears, these are things that only have value for what they drive you to do. Do not give me reasons, Applejack. Give me results. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” Applejack said quietly. “Yeah, I reckon I do.”
“Good. Now, get to--”
“Mr. Sketch?” Applejack stood as tall as she could. “My family means more to me than anythin’ you’ve got to teach. This future you’re offerin’ don’t amount to a hill of beans next to Mama!”
“Applejack, think very carefully about--”
“I know what my future’s supposed to be,” Applejack said, storming out the door. “It’s the one where Mama’s still with us, and a musty codger like you ain’t a part of that.” She never heard what he said next; she kicked the door shut on her way out and kept right on trotting.
“You did what?!” Big Mac was furious at the news.
“Don’t tell Mama,” she said. “Please, Big Mac, this has to be between you and me.”
“You’re out of your mind! She’s gonna find out, and she’s gonna be heartbroken when she learns of it.”
“She don’t got to,” Applejack insisted. “Please, let me handle this. I can go back when she’s better. He probably won’t remember anyway; he’s practically dust. But you gotta let me help and don’t tell Mama about this.”
“This ain’t a good idea,” Big Mac told her.
“I know it ain’t, but it’s the best I got. Mama said she’d stop the treatments if you can’t take care of the farm!”
Big Mac stepped back, struck by Applejack’s words. “She said that?” he asked.
“She truly did,” Applejack insisted.
“This ain’t another of your lies?”
“I swear on the Princess herself, it’s the honest truth. You gotta help me hide this or we’re gonna lose her.”
“But what about your schoolin’?”
“Please, Big Mac,” Applejack pleaded. “There ain’t nothin’ they got to teach me that’s more important than Mama. You’re the one keeps sayin’ ideas can’t plow a field. Well, I don’t got the ideas that can save her. Ain’t nopony in Ponyville does. But I can plow this field, you just let me.”
Applejack took a moment and closed her eyes, trying to get herself under control. She hated how vulnerable she felt at this moment. She hated how much she’d been forced to open up to get through to her brother. She could hear Mr. Sketch’s voice still ringing in her ears.
“You are the product of your actions, not the sum of your beliefs.”
This was her action. The only action that mattered. She would save her mother, and then everything else would fall into place.
“Alright,” Big Mac whispered finally. “Alright, you win. I’ll help you. But I’m doin’ this for Mama.”
“You and me both,” Applejack whispered in agreement. She stepped in and gave her brother a hug, thanking him for helping her.
Two weeks had passed since Applejack stopped coming to school. Rarity was sure that Crystal hadn’t noticed, but she certainly had. Applejack always turned up at the corner where she usually did, and Crystal kept leaving Rarity to go walk with her instead. Rarity missed walking as a group, but she understood Crystal’s desire to have a bit of time alone with her special somepony.
Still, Rarity couldn’t help but notice Applejack’s absences from the schoolyard. “Is something going on with her?” she had tried to ask Crystal once during their walk.
“Who, Applejack? Nah, she’s doing fine,” Crystal had told her. “I mean, sometimes I catch her kinda zoning out, but it’s nothing to worry about. She’s just really busy, I think.”
“You think?” Rarity asked.
“It’s not a problem,” Crystal said sternly. “Really, don’t worry about it.”
“Then where does she go every day? She’s never in the schoolyard.”
Crystal scoffed. “I wouldn’t be either. You’ve seen how her classmates treat her, right? She’s not welcome in the schoolyard because of those jerks.”
Rarity sighed. “Perhaps that’s it.”
“It is. Trust me, it’s idiots like Three Point and Sound Stage that made it so she can’t hang out with us at school anymore.” Crystal fumed for a few seconds, but then she seemed to notice the look of concern on Rarity’s face, because she quickly cooled her expression.
“Anyways,” Crystal said, changing topics. “You had some new designs you wanted to show me, right? We should hook up after school. My Spring Rings are going really well and I’ve gotten a lot of questions about your Daffodelight.”
Rarity nodded. “Oh, yes, absolutely. Honestly, it’s been a nightmare trying to get two minutes with you lately.”
“I’m sorry about that. It’s just…Applejack, you know.”
“I know,” Rarity said sadly. She’d been expecting her time with Crystal to decline when she’d gotten together with Applejack, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite so absolute. “Still, it’ll be good to have some time to talk. I wanted to go over--”
“Oh!” Crystal shouted. “There she is!” Before Rarity could say anything, Crystal was already trotting across the road. “I’ll see you tonight!” she called back.
Rarity sighed. “Sure. Tonight.”
It happened that afternoon. Rarity and Crystal were at lunch having preliminary discussions about their ideas for a new line when the unwelcome voice of Three Point pierced the air. “So I told her, ‘We’re not having a moment. You’re a creep, Applejack,’ and walked away.”
“Nice,” Sound Stage laughed. “Sounds like you really put her in her place.”
Rarity could feel the anger rising off of Crystal. “Crystal, don’t,” she whispered, but her urgings went unheeded.
“Hey!” Crystal shouted, marching across the field. “You think that’s funny?!”
“Hmm?” Three Point looked up. “Oh, hey, it’s AJ’s special somefilly. I figured you’d be off dodging classes with her. She shared a grin with Sound Stage before adding, “Guess she found a new filly.”
“Shut up!” Crystal shouted. “You don’t know what you’re--”
“Kid, what’s your angle here?” Three Point chuckled. “You think you’re going to say a bunch of mean words to me and I’m going to beg forgiveness?”
Rarity tried to push in front of Crystal, urging her backwards. “Crystal, please, let’s just go.”
“Listen to your friend,” Three Point warned. “I’m going to say what I want to say, so maybe grow up and deal with it.”
“You’re right, Applejack’s probably running around on her anyway,” Sound Stage added.
That incensed Rarity, who whirled on the older ponies. “You take that back!” she shouted. “Applejack’s a--”
“Hey, looks like you struck a nerve,” Three Point said with a laugh. “I bet it’s her. Applejack’s playing with the both of--”
That’s when it happened. Rarity only saw the movement out of the corner of her eye, but its effects were unmistakable. Crystal kicked at the ground with her hoof, spraying up rocks and dirt into Three Point’s face. The world seemed to move in slow motion from that point forward. Rarity felt as much as saw Three Point roaring to her hooves and flowing into Crystal in one swift motion.
What followed was a blur of violence that only ended with the arrival of Mr. Sketch. “What is going on here?!” the teacher demanded, shaking Rarity out of her paralyzed funk. Crystal lay on her back, pinned beneath the older pony. Three Point managed to get one last shot in, slamming her hoof down into Crystal’s face, just before the teacher showed up.
Three Point pulled herself off Crystal. Turning to face her teacher, she jerked a single hoof at the smaller pony on the ground and shoted, “This little psychopath attacked me!”
Crystal lay in a pile of sobs and bruises. Her legs and head had tucked in defensively under the hits Three Point had pelted her with. Broken pieces of her necklace had scattered into the grass, glinting in the midday sun.
Mr. Sketch looked to Three Point’s friends, who had sidled up to support her. Then to Rarity, who laid a gentle hoof by Crystal’s cheek. “Rarity,” he called out. “Is this true?”
Rarity said nothing. Her mind was still struggling to process what had happened. Crystal seemed to accept her hoof, weeping into it. She set her left hoof down behind Crystal’s head, embracing her friend as best she could. Her eyes scanned the ground for the pieces of the broken necklace buried in the grass.
“Rarity!” Mr. Sketch called again, more forcefully than before.
She didn’t know what to say. What could she say? Her instinct was to protect her friend, but there was no denying that Crystal had started the fight. “They were saying awful things,” she offered weakly. “And then…then she….”
“I see,” Mr. Sketch replied. “Can you stand?” he asked Crystal directly.
“I don’t know,” Crystal whispered. Her pink hair drifted into her mouth as she spoke, but she didn’t even seem to notice.
“I want you to try.”
“You can use me for support,” Rarity offered.
Three Point cleared her throat. “Do I need to do anything or can I go?”
Without so much as a glance, Mr. Sketch answered, “You may go. We’re going to have a talk about this incident later.”
“Yes, sir,” Three Point answered and for the first time, Rarity thought she heard a hint of apprehension in her voice.
“Of course, I don’t know that anything ever came of it,” Rarity admitted. “I’d love to say that Three Point got her comeuppance after you left, but so far as I know, she graduated and left Ponyville shortly after. Whatever trouble she got into, it was nothing severe.”
“She’s playin’ basketball for the Whinneapolis Windigos,” Applejack explained. “I hear she’s pretty good.”
“Hmph,” Rarity grumbled. “That hardly seems fair after everything she put you through.”
“No, it don’t, but it ain’t up to us. Life moves on after school ends. I don’t think of her much these days. I got my own life, just as she’s got hers.”
“Time heals all wounds?” Rarity asked.
Applejack shook her head. “Ain’t about time. It’s about movin’ on. Years since, I got pretty good at puttin’ folk behind me and movin’ forward with my life.” She took a deep breath. “Ain’t proud to admit, but I shed a lot of tears since then. I don’t got none for Three Point. Maybe someday, but I ain’t there yet.”
Rarity fell silent. She had nothing more to add to that. Applejack’s broken friendship wasn’t the one she’d meant to ask about, but she could feel the weight of it looming over events still to be discussed.
As if reading her mind, Applejack asked, “How’d Crystal’s mama take the news?”
“FIGHTING?!” Empty Chalice roared in the confines of Mr. Sketch’s office. “That is absolutely unacceptable!”
Rarity sat next to Crystal by the door. She ran a hoof along her friend’s back, trying to comfort her. Crystal’s terror resonated in the air. She clutched a small bag to her chest, holding as many shards of her necklace as Rarity had been able to locate.
Mr. Sketch explained, “As I understand, the other pony was insulting Crystal’s friend and so she took it upon herself to lash out in violence. Ordinarily, punitive action would be my first instinct, but given the circumstances, I believe she has already learned a valuable lesson about rash action.”
Empty Chalice turned her head to look at her daughter, and Rarity saw in her eyes a blazing fury she’d never seen before. She informed the teacher, “Regardless of what the school decides to do, I assure you that this behavior will be rectified. I did not raise my daughter to be a thug.”
“She didn’t mean to,” Rarity offered in Crystal’s defense.
Empty Chalice ignored her, saying only to Mr. Sketch, “Thank you for taking care of her. I will be taking my daughter home now. This will not happen again, I promise you that.” She opened the door with a glow of magic, and as she walked out, she called, “Come along, Crystal.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rarity,” Crystal said sadly. Still clutching the bag, she obediently stood and followed her mother, despite the limp in her right hind leg.
With the sun just touching the horizon, Applejack knocked at Crystal’s door. She was met as usual by Empty Chalice. Something immediately felt off, however. Empty typically had a thinly-faked politeness to her when Applejack arrived, but this time there was only a cold dismissal coming from her.
“Mornin’, Mrs. Chalice,” Applejack greeted her. “May I--”
“No, Applejack, you may not,” Empty Chalice answered. Stepping outside, she closed the door with her magic. “In fact, I think it would be best if you had no further contact with my daughter at all. In a few days’ time, that will not prove difficult.”
Applejack was struck by the bluntness of Empty Chalice’s words. “What are you--”
“We are returning to Manehattan. I thought it best to wait for Crystal to finish school first, but clearly that was a mistake.”
“What?!” Applejack shouted. “You can’t do that!”
“It was always going to happen. The family business is back on its hooves, thanks in no small part to my efforts. There is much Crystal still needs to learn in order to fill the role I intend for her, and it is clear to me now that keeping her in Ponyville was a mistake. The damage you have already done to her future must be stemmed.”
Applejack stepped back, reeling from Empty’s words. “You can’t,” she repeated. “What about her business? What about Crystal Rarities?!”
Empty stepped forward, filling the space. “Although my daughter shares your…condition…I have always tried to instill in her a sense of work ethic and business sense. Now, she will have to learn how to cope when circumstances beyond her control force her to start over. It is a valuable lesson and one that I wish I could have learned at her age.”
“No,” Applejack said weakly.
“Listen to me, Applejack. I know my daughter has certain affections for you--”
“You know about that?!”
“A mother always knows. It’s quaint, I suppose, but Crystal needs more than that. She has a bright future ahead of her. You can’t expect her to throw away that potential for you.”
Applejack quivered under the force of Empty Chalice’s glare. “She wouldn’t be throwin’ it away,” she suggested. “She could--”
“She could what? Spend the rest of her life in this dismal little town? Marry you and wither away as a housewife? She is a Chalice; she was born for more than wallowing in mediocrity. She deserves better than to watch her hopes and dreams burn away when this little business venture of hers inevitably fails.”
“You don’t know that it’ll fail.”
Empty Chalice rolled her eyes. “Rarity is very talented and I’m certain she has quite a successful future ahead of her, but a two-pony startup for clothing design? In a town this size? That was never going to work out, and having to watch their business collapse would have been demoralizing to them both.”
Empty Chalice looked off over Applejack, her eyes drifting to the distant shadow of Canterlot. “This is for the best,” she added. “Rarity is very talented but she’s a dreamer. Her ambitions are simply outmatched by her station in life. She can learn from this and try her luck in Canterlot. There are plenty of companies that would be thrilled to hire on a designer such as her. She can take a decade or two to hone her craft and her business sense, and then try again someday.”
Applejack sat down hard. The reality was beginning to sink in for her. Empty Chalice meant this; she’d already considered how it would affect everypony and no argument Applejack made was going to change her mind. “You can’t,” she reiterated helplessly.
“I can and am. This is happening, Applejack. Crystal’s future is back on track, and you aren’t going to stop it.” With her magic, she opened the front door and trotted back inside, leaving Applejack alone outside in the waning sunlight.
After a few minutes, Applejack stood and began to tread slowly towards home. After a few steps, her confidence began to return. Her mind was hard at work coming up with ideas. This was a curveball she hadn’t expected to come at her, but she was still high on confidence from her plan to save her mother. This was her time, she was taking charge, and nopony, not Mr. Sketch, not Empty Chalice, was going to keep her from what she wanted out of life.
She and Rarity might be able to sneak Crystal away. They could shelter her and protect her. She could live in the barn loft if Applejack’s parents agreed to it. They could say she’s a distant Apple cousin.
Or they could fight Empty on this. They could push back and keep her from taking Crystal. Somehow. Perhaps Crystal could make an appeal for emancipation, and then she could choose whether she stayed in Ponyville or not. Or maybe--
There was something strange about the atmosphere at Sweet Apple Acres when she arrived. Big Mac wasn’t out in the field like she expected him to be. There was no sign of Granny Smith or Apple Bloom. Her parents weren’t supposed to be home for another week, but the illumination in the living room suggested something was happening.
Applejack broke into a gallop, crossing the farm as quick as she could. She skidded to a stop when she arrived at the front, pushing through the door to see Bright Mac seated on his haunches in the middle of the room. “Daddy!” she shouted and threw herself forward, embracing her father.
“Applejack,” Granny Smith said carefully. Her voice broke with sorrow, but Applejack didn’t notice at first.
“You’re home!” Applejack shouted. “How’d it go? They finally fix what broke in Mama? Where is she?”
“Applejack,” Big Mac said slowly, but again she barely heard it.
Applejack took a look around the room, but Buttercup was nowhere to be found. “Mama?” She called out to the kitchen, but there was no answer.
“Applejack,” Bright Mac said firmly, and this time, she listened. “Sit down. We got some things we need to talk about.”
“What?” In that moment, realization began to cross Applejack’s mind. “Where’s Mama?” she asked. The way her father’s face dropped was answer enough, but it was an answer she wasn’t ready to accept. “Granny?” she asked quickly. “Granny, where’s Mama?”
“Applejack, I’m sorry,” Granny said.
“No! No, I don’t want to hear that!” She shouted. Panic swept through her heart, slipping into her voice as she shouted, “She’s okay! She’s supposed to be okay, she has to be okay, she’s--” Before Applejack could get another word out, her brother stepped forward and wrapped her up in his forelegs.
There, she cried. Openly, brazenly, and without fear or reservation, she cried.
For the next two days, the family mourned. Crying fits and hugs became the standard as each member struggled with how to cope in Buttercup’s absence. Granny Smith was a tough old bat, but even she seemed visibly shaken by the loss. She never cried in front of the family, but Applejack was certain she was feeling it, and there was a solemn distance in her eyes whenever talk came around to Buttercup.
It was at supper on the second day that Bright Mac said to Applejack, “Tomorrow, you gotta get back to school.”
“Mmm?” Applejack looked up from her soup bowl.
“I know you been missin’ days since her passin’. We all need time. But you gotta start goin’ to classes again.”
“I….” Applejack looked down at her soup bowl, watching the future drifting away. It almost seemed out of reach now, as though that was somepony else’s life she’d just been borrowing. “I don’t know that I can,” she admitted.
“You have to try. That was your mama’s dream for you. More than anything, she wanted you to have the kind of life you used to dream about. She would have given anything to help you reach those stars you dreamt of.”
From her spot at the supper table, Applejack began to weep. She couldn’t find any words to explain herself. A deep sense of shame crept through her as she struggled to speak.
Then she was wrapped up in her father’s forelegs. “It’s okay, sugarcube,” he whispered to her. “It’ll be okay.” But it wouldn’t be. How could it? She’d gambled everything on a thin hope, and nothing had changed.
The next day, Applejack returned to the Ponyville Schoolhouse. She caught Mr. Sketch just outside the building early that morning, before the first class had been taken in. “Mr. Sketch?” she called out to him.
“Applejack?” Mr. Sketch turned to look at her. She imagined she looked a mess; she’d spent another night crying. “What brings you here? I thought you’d made a choice of what your future should be. I was to understand that you wouldn’t be returning.”
“I said a lot of things,” Applejack admitted. “I know that and I’m sorry. I know I missed a lot of classes. I’m willin’ to put in the work to make it up, though. And I’m sorry I called you a musty codger.”
Mr. Sketch took a deep breath. “Applejack--”
“Just give me a list of assignments! All the work I missed. I’ll do it this weekend, I promise. I won’t quit until it’s done.”
“Applejack!” Mr. Sketch shouted, catching her attention. Applejack quieted so that he could speak. “I have already spoken with the school board. There have been concerns for years that your presence at this school has a disruptive effect on the other students. However, your academic excellence more than made up for it.”
“That,” Mr. Sketch asserted, “has changed. Your academics had fallen substantially even before the incident between us, and yet your influence on this school remains as disruptive as ever. Now, I have tried to guide you as best I could, but the reality cannot be denied.”
Applejack’s eyes widened with trepidation as she realized what was coming. “Mr. Sketch, please, if you’ll let me explain--”
“Quiet. Consider this the final lesson I have to teach you, Applejack, and it’s one you would do well to remember. There are always consequences for the choices you make. You are expelled.”
Applejack spent the rest of the day and night alone in her room. She didn’t speak to anypony. She didn’t even come down for supper. Everything had gone so terribly wrong, and now here she was. Without her mother. Without Crystal. Without a future. She had never felt so alone as she did in this moment.
Late that night, she was awoken by a tapping sound at the window. Her body felt completely drained of energy, so she ignored it, but then another tap came. Then another. At the sixth tap, Applejack found the strength to get up. Out her window, she saw a light blue pony with pink hair on the lawn chucking rocks up.
Crystal.
That was all she needed. She slipped downstairs and out onto the front lawn. “Crystal!” she shouted exuberantly. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“I snuck out,” Crystal whispered.
“Let’s get away from the house a bit,” Applejack suggested. “Ponies are sleeping.” As they walked, Applejack asked, “What happened? I thought your mama was takin’ you away?”
“She is!” Crystal said urgently. “I need your help. We have to figure out what we’re going to do.”
Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. “You don’t want to go to Manehattan?”
“Of course I want to go to Manehattan! That’s not the point.” Crystal nuzzled Applejack’s neck. “I don’t want to leave you. We need to work out a plan. You said you’re going to graduate early, right? Maybe you could get into a Manehattan university and we could meet up.”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Applejack admitted.
“Why not? I mean, it’s worth a--”
“I got expelled today, Crystal,” Applejack told her. She could see Crystal’s hopes sink at the news.
“How?! Why?!”
“That don’t--what happened to your necklace?” Applejack noticed that Crystal’s neck was uncharacteristically bare.
Crystal reflectively put a hoof up to her neck, where she used to fiddle with the gems. “It broke,” she said noncommittally. “That’s not important. If you can’t come to Manehattan, maybe I could stay here. I mean, it’d just be until Crystal Rarities gets off the ground, but it’d be something.”
Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but in the back of her mind, fresh wounds began to stir.
There are always consequences for the choices you make.
She was born for more than wallowing in mediocrity.
“Maybe I could stay here,” Crystal suggested. “You aren’t using the barn loft. We could put a ladder here. I can get a mattress up there. It’ll work.”
“Crystal, that ain’t gonna work. Your mama’s just gonna find you. This is the first place she’ll look.”
“Then we run away!” Crystal shouted frantically. “We can just go somewhere. You and me. We’ll just leave Ponyville tonight and then….”
“Then what?” Applejack asked. “Where are we gonna go? What are we supposed to do when we get there?!”
“I don’t know, but it has to be better than this,” Crystal assured her.
“Crystal--”
Tears began to well up in Crystal’s eyes as she spoke. “We have to do something, Applejack. I’m not going to let her take you away from me. We can fight this! We can!”
“Crystal, listen.” She took a deep breath, which came up as a sniffle. Was she crying? She’d done it so much these last couple of days, she barely even noticed anymore.
“No,” Crystal whispered, as if already knowing what Applejack was about to say.
“Look, you got a bright future ahead of you. You’re finally goin’ home like you always wanted. You got a lot of talent, no matter what your mama says, and you’re about to have a whole lot of opportunity to use it. You stay here, that gets squanded. You get to go places and I know you’re gonna do some amazin’ things. I ain’t about to be what holds you back from shinin’ as bright as you deserve.”
“…it’s because I’m not Rarity, isn’t it?” Crystal asked.
Applejack was taken aback by the accusation. “What kind of question is that?!”
“I see you looking at her. I get it. Everypony loves Rarity. She’s beautiful, she’s talented, she’s smart and graceful, she’s just perfect!” Crystal sobbed. “I’m not perfect.”
“This ain’t about Rares,” Applejack insisted. “This is about you and me, and we ain’t gonna work together. You gotta see that.”
Crystal took a step back from Applejack, shaking her head. “You don’t mean that. You can’t. You’re supposed to help me. You’re supposed to support me and take care of me!” She choked on her tears, then added, “We’re supposed to be a team, you and me! We’re meant for each other, don’t you see that?!”
“I’m sorry, Crystal, but we ain’t. It’s over.”
Rarity sat in silence as Applejack finished her story. There was so much she had never expected, so many different facets to Applejack’s life she’d never conceived. Once she was done, Rarity whispered, “I never knew.”
“Well, now you do,” Applejack said. “That was the last time I saw Crystal. Next I knew, you were howlin’ at me in the mud.”
“Yes,” Rarity admitted sheepishly. “About that….”
“She can’t do this!” Rarity shrieked. She stood at the door to Crystal’s bedroom, watching her best friend pack her belongings. Crystal periodically stopped to weep into her belongings; Rarity hadn’t gotten the full story, but she knew something more was wrong. “We have to fight this, Crystal! We can--”
“It doesn’t matter,” Crystal sobbed. “Applejack doesn’t want to be with me anyway.”
Rarity was stunned by this information. “That can’t be right. She adores you!”
“She said it to me herself!” Crystal shouted. “She said we’re through. She said I should go.”
“Oh, Crystal,” Rarity said sadly. She stepped forward to reach out to her friend, but Crystal whirled on her.
“Stay away from me!” she shouted. “This is all your fault!”
“Crystal, please,” Rarity begged. “Let me talk to your mother, maybe she’ll see reason now that she’s had a few days.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Crystal said. She refused to turn and look at Rarity, keeping her attention fixed on the suitcase lying on her bed.
“Yes, it does matter!” Rarity insisted. “I’m sorry about Applejack, but I need you, Crystal. What am I to do without you?! What about our friendship?” She levitated Crystal’s jewelry carousel, floating it out to her. “And what about our plans? I can’t run Crystal Rarities without you.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Crystal shouted. She lashed out with a hoof, striking the carousel. It flew across the room from the impact and struck the wall, landing on the ground with a strong dent where she’d hit it. “I’m never coming back to this stupid hick town again!”
“Crystal, please--"
“Leave me alone, Rarity! Take that stupid thing and go.”
Rarity levitated the carousel, looking it over. “Are you certain? We could still--”
“GET OUT!” Crystal roared at her.
That was the last time Rarity ever spoke to Crystal Chalice. She made it out the front door, not saying a word to Empty Chalice, and made it a block down the street with the carousel when she broke down.
“Losing her was devastating,” Rarity admitted. “I never knew what had happened to you, though. All I knew was that you dumped her when she needed you the most. I never realized….”
“You never asked,” Applejack replied.
“No, I suppose I didn’t.” Rarity stood, thinking aloud. “All these years, I blamed you. It was your fault, I was sure. You ripped out Crystal’s heart and hit mine by proxy. For the longest time, I hated you. But I think I learned something tonight.”
Rarity stepped out towards the barn door, looking up at the glint of sun coming in through the loft opening. “The reality, I think, is that you wouldn’t fight for Crystal. But she, in turn, wouldn’t fight for me. I never meant enough to her to be worth fighting for if she couldn’t be with you. And you didn’t mean enough to me to try and understand your side. You were going through so much, and all I did was add to it.”
Rarity approached Applejack, her eyes stained by regret. “We each failed each other, Applejack. All of us so focused on our own hurt, we couldn’t even see what the other felt. And I…I spent years adding to yours, judging you without even trying to understand. I’ve been no better than Three Point. I’m sorry, Applejack. I really, truly am.”
“I…” Applejack stumbled for what to say. “Can I…I mean, you said--”
Rarity smiled warmly. “Yes, Applejack. Now, you may apologize to me.”
“I’m sorry, Rares. I never thought of how losin’ Crystal would have hurt you. I’ve been angry since you tried pickin’ a fight while we were still mournin’ Mama. I’m sorry for tearin’ her away from you.”
Rarity stepped forward and embraced Applejack, letting her own tears stain her cheek. “I accept your apology,” she said. When she stepped back, she could see Applejack’s eyes were closed. She felt her friend gulp, swallowing down her feelings once more.
Applejack looked up to Rarity and told her, “And I’m sorry for doin’ the same with Twilight.”
“Don’t be. You’re not the one who drove her away. But I do have to ask something: are you certain that this is what you want?”
“I don’t know,” Applejack admitted. “I mean…no, it ain’t what I want. It’s never been what I wanted, Rares. When I step aside, it’s ‘cause I know she’ll do better without me there.”
“Will she? Applejack, you’re one of us. We’ve all helped Twilight to get to where she is today, and we’ve learned so much from it. You and I have been through this before, and our friendships were the price we paid for our failures.”
“You and I patched things up,” Applejack suggested.
“No, we didn’t. Let’s not pretend that what we have now is in any way a continuation of what came before. We’re both here for Twilight. We tolerated each other on her behalf and, yes, over time we started to become friends. But it’s not what we had then. It never will be. Those days of three friends planning their future together are gone.”
The distant sound of giggling prompted Rarity to open the barn door. In the distance, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo could be seen chasing after a kite. Rarity watched the fillies play, letting herself float on the wings of nostalgia.
Applejack stepped down from the hay, drawn by the sound of laughter. She took a seat beside Rarity. “Look at them,” she said to her friend. “You think they’re gonna turn out like us?”
Rarity thought for a second before responding. “Perhaps not. They have something we didn’t; they can learn from our mistakes. But that’s only true if we stop making them first.”
Applejack sighed. “Apple Bloom’s scared. She loves Twi. She’s already come ‘round to seein’ her as a sister. She don’t want to lose her.”
“With what your family’s been through, I certainly can’t blame her. What I can’t understand is why she should have to.” Rarity stopped, thinking to herself. She glanced over to the hay pile, where she’d left her saddlebags.
“I have something for you,” Rarity said, levitating Applejack’s broach from her bag. “Well, it’s technically already yours, but I’ve been meaning to return it.” She floated the broach out to Applejack, but was careful to let it fall open, revealing its three emerald apples for her to see.
“I forgot you had this,” Applejack said, voice raised with wonder as she gazed at the precious jewel. Applejack reached out for it, but Rarity pulled it away.
“Stop. This comes with a condition. I want you to take a moment to look at it. Really, truly look at it. Then I will give it back to you, and when I do, I want you to remember how you felt on that day when you first showed it to me.”
Applejack lowered her hoof. She stared transfixed at the broach, which Rarity slowly rotated in front of her. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes, and she felt.
“I know what she’s doing, you know,” Twilight said grumpily. She lay on her guest bed, holding a small white rabbit between her hooves. The rabbit held a carrot in its own paws, and it couldn’t be happier. Streamers and balloons decorated the room, while a tub of ice cream lay half-eaten on the bedstand table.
“It’s obvious. She’s trying to bait me into talking to her about my friends. She thinks tricking me into thinking about how much they care about me and how much they’ve tried to help me will make me open up and forgive them. It’s not going to work.”
The rabbit responded with a twitch of its nose. It turned its head sideways and twitched its nose again. Even angry though she was, Twilight had to admit it was adorable.
“Yes, you’re very cute,” she conceded. “But it’s still not going to work. As soon as she gets back with that new ice cream tub, I’ll tell her. I see right through her.”
The rabbit replied by nibbling on its carrot, eliciting a reluctant, “D’aww,” from Twilight.
“You know, Fluttershy has a rabbit who looks just like you. You’re a lot fluffier than him, though. He doesn’t like being picked up, either.”
Outside the door, Princess Celestia listened to Twilight’s one-sided conversation, then shot a proud grin at Spike and began to walk away. The little dragon raced to keep up with her long strides.
“Aren’t we going in?” Spike asked.
“Nope. Now, we just need to give her time. General Hops-a-Lot should give her a chance to get out some of her frustrations.”
“I don’t understand,” Spike said. “Don’t you think you were laying it on a bit thick earlier? She’s bound to figure out what you’re up to.”
“Of course, she is. Spike, I’ve been responsible for Twilight since you were a hatchling. She is a very intelligent filly, but she has certain special needs. She’s always been very defensive. She closes herself off too easily, except when she has a chance to be right about something.”
“Wait, that’s what all this is about?”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Twilight is never more comfortable than when she gets to feel like she’s the smartest pony in a room. You don’t teach Twilight Sparkle by telling her things she doesn’t want to hear. You do it by giving her a nudge in the right direction and letting her devise what you wanted her to learn for herself. How do you think I convinced her to stay in Ponyville?”
Spike’s jaw fell open. “You…you convinced….”
Princess Celestia giggled. “Oh, Spike. You still have much to learn.”
“I’m realizing that.”
Celestia opened a door to a side hall, leading Spike through. “Just give her some time, and she’ll be back on her hooves before you know it. All we have to do now is keep her away from unpleasant surprises like--”
A royal guard came down the hall, escorting a familiar orange pony in a brown hat. Spike could swear the temperature dropped twenty degrees when the Princess laid eyes on her. There was an unmistakable anger in her voice when she spoke, as much to herself as addressing the visitor.
“Applejack.”