The play was a success. Everything worked out. Well, except when the sun of the play was broken and Celestia had to improvise. But the rest was perfect. And Twilight Sparkle knew that everything was perfect. Nothing was wrong. Everything was perfect. She was smiling nervously.
……
Who was she trying to fool? There was something that bothered her. And it wasn’t because the fake sun had broken and Celestia had to improvise. It was because she didn’t hear Applejack. Applejack was telling her to tell the truth about how Twilight felt about Celestia’s acting. But not. She decided to hide it from her former mentor. Because she was afraid to disappoint and hurt the feelings of her former mentor. But little did she know that doing so ended up hurting more Celestia than telling Celestia the truth. But she was lucky that Celestia forgave her. When Celestia left the play after it exploded, Twilight was even thinking that Celestia would avoid her forever. But lucky that didn’t happen. And as said before, she was lucky that Celestia forgave her. Because Celestia was a benevolent ruler, not a tyrant. Just thinking that one day Celestia would become a tyrant made her feel fear and sadness at the same time.
Well, back to the subject. She felt sorry for not listening to Applejack. Because after all, Applejack was the element of honesty. Applejack was doing nothing but telling her the truth. To hide what you think about somepony is to be false. Just thinking that she was false made her feel sorry. She always considered herself a good friend. Would Applejack forgive her? She knew she would understand if Applejack didn’t want to forgive her. Because after all, she wasn’t honest with the princess. Without further ado, she flew to Sweet Apple Acres. It was already night, she knew she shouldn’t do it now. But if Twilight went to her castle to sleep, she knew she couldn’t sleep. And she didn’t want to sleep before talking to Applejack. She needed to get that weight off her chest.
Applejack and her family were having dinner. They could not deny that the food was good. It was almost dawn, but they were not to blame. Because the play was long. The play was from 6 pm to 8 pm. Suddenly Applejack heard a knock at the door. Applejack stood up, “I answer, Granny Smith”
Granny Smith, smiling, said, “You can answer it, Applejack”
Applejack walked to the door and was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle, “Twilight, what the hell are you doing here? It’s about nine o’clock at night”
Twilight Sparkle was looking sadly at Applejack, “Applejack, we need to talk.”
“I’m having dinner now, Twilight. Could you wait for me?” said Applejack.
“Oh. Okay. Is it okay if I come in?” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Of course, sugarcube. If you want, we can go under an apple tree so you can tell me what you bother you about”, replied Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle though still sad, managed to smile, “ok. Thank you, Applejack”
Twilight Sparkle entered the house and Applejack watched Twilight enter before closing the door. Twilight Sparkle waited for Applejack. When Applejack with started walking, Twilight followed, “Applejack, I hope you don’t mind if I ask that”
“Ask me what?” asked Applejack.
“Is it okay if I have dinner with you and your family? It’s just that I haven’t had dinner yet”, answered Twilight Sparkle.
“Of course you can, sugarcube”, replied Applejack with a smile.
When they got to where they were having dinner, Apple Bloom, Bic Mac and Granny Smith looked at Twilight Sparkle and Applejack, “Applejack, Twilight was at the Door?”
“Yes, Grandma,” answered Applejack. “She wants to talk to me about something. So I let her in, and also because she’s hungry. I hope you don’t mind if she eats with us”
“Of course not, Applejack”, answered Granny Smith.
“Nope”, answered Bic Mac.
“I don’t care. Dinner with Princess Twilight is going to be awesome”, said Apple Bloom, cheerfully.
“Thanks so much everypony”, said Twilight Sparkle, before popping up a chair and sitting down.
“Do you have an extra plate?” asked Twilight Sparkle.
“Yes. There’s one in a kitchen cupboard”, replied Granny Smith.
“OK. I’m going there to get a plate”, said Twilight Sparkle, before getting up and going to the kitchen cabinet.
When she arrived in the kitchen, she saw a cabinet. She believed this was the cupboard where she had a plate for her. She went to the cupboard, opened it and saw a stack of plates. She took a plate that was in the pile with the greatest care. Because she didn’t want to break the plates. Lucky the plates didn’t break, they just moved, as if they were going to fall. She let out a sigh of relief.
When Twilight arrived at the table where ApplejacK and his family were, saw that there was no one else around the table but Applejack, who waits for Twilight. Twilight Sparkle sat down and set the plate on the table and served herself to eat. Applejack watched Twilight serve and eat. Because after all, Twilight wanted to talk to her. Applejack wondered what Twilight wanted to talk to her about.
When Twilight finished eating, she got up, took the plate with her magic, took it to the kitchen for the sink. She turned on the sink tap and was about to clean the dirty dish, until…
“Twilight, do you intend to clean the plate?”
Twilight Sparkle looked back and saw Applejack, “yes, Applejack. Why?”
“No need to clean the plate, sugarcube. My Granny washes them”, replied Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle looked uncertain, “are you sure? Wouldn’t your Granny bothered?”
“I’m sure, Twilight. Let’s go outside. That way you can tell me about what bothers you”, replied Applejack.
Applejack and Twilight Sparkle approached the door and saw Granny Smith sitting, “Grandma, me and Twilight are going to talk outside”
Granny Smith, smiling, replied, “ok, Applejack”
“Brigade, Grandma,” Applejack thanked her before leaving. Twilight Sparkle followed Applejack, Applejack And closed the door.
That done, she looked at Twilight, “So, Twilight? What would you like to talk to me?”
Twilight Sparkle looked insecure. She feared Applejack wouldn’t forgive her, “c-could we walk while I talk about it?”
“If that makes you feel comfortable, okay”, said Applejack.
“Thanks, Applejack”, said Twilight Sparkle with a smile. She might be smiling on the outside, but inside she was very nervous.
They started walking around the farm. Twilight Sparkle knew she should tell Applejack what was bothering her. But how would she talk about that? She didn’t even plan it.
“So, Twilight. What did you want to tell me about?” asked Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle was nervous, but decided to say, “Applejack, do you remember when you tried to tell Celestia about Celestia’s acting and I stopped you from telling her?”
“Yes, Twilight. I remember. But what does this have to do with what you want to talk to me about?” replied Applejack.
“It’s just… Applejack… I… I’m so sorry”, said Twilight Sparkle, now sad And with ears down.
Applejack didn’t understand why Twilight was sad out of nowhere, “I didn’t understand, sugarcube. Why are you apologizing to me?”
Twilight Sparkle realized that Applejack didn’t seem angry with her. It was as if Applejack were forgiven her. Maybe she didn’t need to talk about it. Maybe Applejack forgot about her hiding the truth from Celestia. No! She couldn’t escape the subject now. She needed to apologize to Applejack. Twilight wanted to know if Applejack was still upset with her. She couldn’t escape the subject. She came flying here just to talk to Applejack. She shouldn’t run away like a scared foal now.
“Are you ok, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.
Twilight, still nervous, replied, “Yes. I’m just nervous”
“Nervous about what?”
“Nervous that you’re upset with me, Applejack”
Applejack is now confused, “upset about what?”
“May you not forgive me”, answered Twilight Sparkle.
Applejack still doesn’t understand, “I still don’t understand. That I didn’t forgive you about what?”
“That you didn’t forgive me for hiding what I thought about Celestia’s acting”, replied Twilight Sparkle, now about to cry.
Applejack stopped walking, “ah. It’s about that, right?”
Twilight Sparkle looked at Applejack. Now she was crying, “could you forgive me?”
Applejack stopped to think. She put the hoof on her chin, “look, Twilight. What you did was unforgivable to me: You hid what you feel, pretended it was all right just to please Celestia and you hurt my feelings because you were fake about the princess”
“I know, Applejack. What I did was unforgivable. I understand if you don’t want to forgive me”, said Twilight Sparkle, still with tears in her eyes. Her cheeks were wet. She had her eyes closed.
“Calm down, Twilight. I’m not done talking yet”, said Applejack.
Twilight looked at Applejack, “I’m listening”
“When you were hiding what you felt about Celestia’s acting, it made me feel very uncomfortable. And especially when you kept me from talking to Celestia about what you thought about acting”, continued Applejack. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes as she cried.
“I know and understand, Applejack”
“But I forgave you”
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes in surprise, “what?”
“I forgave you, Twilight”, replied Applejack.
“But why?” asked Twilight Sparkle. Her cheeks were wet.
“Simple, sugarcube. When you kept hiding what you felt about Celestia, it bothered me a lot. But after you went to apologize to Celestia for hiding from her about how you felt, I could see how sorry you were”, replied Applejack.
“So you won’t stop being my friend?” asked Twilight Sparkle.
“Look, Twilight. I’ll be very honest. When you kept hiding what you felt about Twilight, it let me down. Because you were lying and hiding what you felt. And if you hadn’t apologized to Celestia, you wouldn’t even be my friend anymore”, replied Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle started crying again, “but I apologized to her. Are you still my friend?”
“Of course I still am, Twilight”, replied Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle was surprised, “really?”
“Yes, sugarcube”, answered Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle cried again. But this time for joy. She hugged Applejack, “thanks, Applejack. I promise I’ll never be fake with anypony just to please the pony”
Applejack smiled as she hugged Twilight Sparkle, “Glad to hear it, Twilight”