It's the next day.
By the time Applejack had left your hospital room, she wasn't getting the bed wet with tears anymore, but she still walked out re-asserting her self-punishment plans, in a very serious tone. Your concern that she was being for-real only seemed even more correct; you knew you could not just say "It will run its course" and not do anything.
You had decided the best way to get Applejack help was to reach out to her friends and ask them to confront her. You want to quickly send out a message, but you ran into a rut: they don't have Internet in Equestria. Heck, they don't even have landline telephones! The only way to send a message to somepony who isn't physically with you is to send them mail. And by the time Applejack left, it was getting late, meaning mail delivery was done for the day. You were also really tired; you didn't have enough energy to write a letter.
Hopefully, if she was really going to do all that crazy stuff she talked about, at least she would wait until tomorrow.
Luckily, she did. Upon getting back to Sweet Apple Acres, she decided to get a regularly scheduled night's rest before proceeding with anything. She even decided not to tell her family right away, as she didn't want them to spend the night worrying. But of course, you had no way of knowing this.
You had somehow fallen asleep, despite the agonizing pain in your leg and the anxiety about what Applejack was saying. When you woke up, you immediately remembered what you needed to do.
You reached over and pressed your red "I need something" button, and when the nurse arrived, you requested to write a letter. It's a customary practice in Equestria to have blank letters in hospitals for bound patients to use, given how it's the only form of outside communication.
The nurse brings up the white paper, and you start writing.
Dear Twilight,
I'm sure you've heard the news. Don't worry; I harbor no ill will towards Applejack. I'm very forgiving when it comes to accidents.
However, she does not feel the same way towards herself.
She literally told me that she thinks she deserves to go to prison, and that she would ostracize herself from society. Like, completely. I want to think that it's a knee-jerk reaction that she'll quickly retract, but she left the room still saying those things, several hours later. So I can't help but think she is serious.
So can I ask, would you call a meeting in the castle to talk to Applejack about this? You and the others are her best friends; I believe you can help her.
Sincerely, Your Resident Human
Unlike your good-old friends text messaging and e-mail, physical mail is obviously not instant, so it would take a bit for Twilight to receive this letter. You pray that Applejack won't do anything in the meantime.
But it's now morning, right? She must be awake right now, so isn't she going to start getting things moving?
There's no way to know. All you can do is hope for the best.
Luckily, the letter didn't take long to get to the Castle of Friendship. But wait; there's another thing to worry about! Twilight reads everything she receives, but before reading anything, she sorts out each letter by its importance factor. At first, it seems like your letter would be at the top of the list no doubt, but this is the Princess of Friendship, after all. You just never know what kind of things would get sent to her. Even though you had been in Equestria for only three weeks, you had heard about things that are practically unthinkable in your old home.
Speaking of that, what if, indeed, something more important needs to be tended to? That would give Applejack more time to proceed with her plans. Well, you're hospital-bound, so there's no way to know. All you can do is hope with all your heart that nothing bigger than this is happening right now.
You continue to be on a lucky streak; there isn't. As Twilight sorts, your letter sticks out like a green apple in a pile of red ones. Everything else was the usual; bills and fan mail.
Twilight, unsurprisingly, panics as she reads the letter, starting to pace around the castle.
"What's the matter, Twilight?", Spike asked.
She struggles to get the words out.
"Oh Spike, it's (heavy breath), terrible! (Heavy breath) Applejack wants to... (heavy breath)... ostracize herself from society!"
"Uh, what's that?", Spike asked. He doesn't know what that word means.
Twilight tries to calm down. She needs to explain this properly.
"It means she wants to stop doing everything! Not work at the farm! Not see anypony... anypony! Completely, totally, remove herself from everything!", Twilight said, struggling to keep her heavy breathing under control.
"Is it because of the broken leg? I don't get it; that was an accident! Why does Applejack want to punish herself like that?", Spike said.
"She does have a hard time letting go of guilt. But I've never seen anything like this before!", said Twilight.
"Well, should we talk to her about it?", Spike asked.
"That's what the human asked for," Twilight said. "Go Spike, send out the signal!"
Thanks to magic, Twilight and Spike don't need to send out a whole bunch of individual letters to call a meeting. Thank goodness, right?
The fortunate streak continues: Applejack was still in Ponyville, and she accepted the call.
The meeting starts.
"Look Applejack, this is a huge decision for a short-term problem. You won't feel like this forever," Twilight said to the heartbroken pony.
"Yeah AJ, sudden, rash decisions are inaccurate and quickly regretted!", Rainbow Dash added.
"No! Ah can ever forgive myself for this! Ah was bein' reckless and shattered the poor human's leg! Major damage to their well-being! Ah know leaving is a good decision!", Applejack said, still feeling the same as yesterday.
"You're saying that now, but like I said, wait. There will come a day when you don't feel that way.", Twilight responded.
"How can ya prove that?", Applejack asked.
"Well, remember the time you got the juice numbers wrong? You felt awful about it then, but now, you don't still think about it a lot, do you?", Twilight responded.
"Ah guess that's true, but breakin' someone's leg is a hundred times worse! A thousand times worse!", Applejack said with tears.
The other ponies go silent for a moment, noticing that what they were saying wasn't helping. They needed to think of something different.
Rarity comes up with a suggestion. "We need to tell Applejack how special she is! How much she means to us, her family, and the city! How terrible it would be to lose her!", she said.
Twilight loved this. "That's a great idea, Rarity! Let's show Applejack love!", she said.
"She's not just important to Ponyville, but all of Equestria! Think of the cider! The lesson of honesty! The work ethic! She's given value to many outside of Ponyville!", Rainbow Dash added.
"Yeah!", Twilight said excitedly. "You hear that, Applejack?"
"Ah should stay because of the good that ah've done?", she asked.
"Oh, of course!", Fluttershy said, speaking for the first time in this meeting. "Sweet Apple Acres may not be only you, but think of how it would be without you! Your cutie mark is apples for a reason!", she said.
"Apples would still exist, but it wouldn't be the same!", Twilight added.
"And remember your element! We can't lose the ultimate honesty pony either!", Rainbow Dash said.
"Remember when you told me to let go and fall off the cliff?", Twilight said. "That was at the very beginning, but it made me see you as a great friend! Didn't take long at all!"
"And remember when you taught me about being a good sister?", Rarity said. "My relationship with Sweetie Belle wouldn't be nearly as good if not for you, AJ!"
"Everything they're saying!, Pinkie Pie added. "We need you here, Applejack! We love you!"
The other five ponies smile at Applejack. She starts to feel their words, and smiles too. For the first time in a while.
"Thanks, y'all. Yer really sweet.", she says. "But ah can't stop feelin' rotten 'bout what ah did!"
"Did our human friend tell you anything about that?", Twilight asked.
"Yup, he has already forgiven me, and he told me that sometimes, this is just a thing that happens. Accidents will always happen, no matter how much ya try to avoid them."
"Well, that's a really good point! I would know something about that!", Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, just look at me! I'm without a doubt an awesome flyer, but... I mess up occasionally! Look at the times I've gotten hurt!"
"Yeah!", Twilight said. "Does that resonate with you?"
At this moment, a bomb went off in Applejack's mind. She remembered when you said that to her, and immediately thought about how much you meant to her. You not only helped with work, but were super kind and did fun activities with her and her family! Things that a friend would do!
Then the explosion in Applejack's head got even bigger. She remembered how she had never called you a friend before the accident happened! The first time she made mention of it was when she said that you should end the friendship! A friendship she didn't consciously know had even started!
"Applejack?", Twilight said.
"Huh, what?"
"I asked you a question."
"Oh, sorry about that. Mah answer is yes, that does resonate with me, and it was at this moment that ah just realized that before ah told the human we should end our friendship because of the accident, ah had never called them a friend! That was the first time!"
"Wow, Applejack! That's awesome; you found out you made a new friend!", Twilight said.
"Indeed!", Fluttershy added. "Maybe this accident, while terrible and frightening, opened up your complete feelings! You realized because you hurt a friend how much they mean to you!"
"Whoa there, Fluttershy! Let's not go that far! I could have found out those feelings another way; we can't make light of breakin' someone's bones!"
"That's not making light of it! We're not dismissing the severity of the situation; we're just saying that good things can come out of bad things! In fact, it's important to find that!", Twilight said.
"Think of the time where I hurt my wing and then discovered Daring Do! Perfect example!", Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah, but you only hurt yourself there, not nopony else!", Applejack responded.
The ponies felt somewhat defeated. After they had seemingly struck a chord within Applejack and she seemed to be getting better, she suddenly fell back into how she was acting before. It seemed like all their progress had been lost. After getting ready to ask her "So you'll stay?", Applejack's friends started to worry again that she would end up leaving.
Twilight spoke up. "Applejack, how about you spend some time with the human? I think seeing them would really help you."
Fluttershy interjected. "Yes! Go see them! You know they're a friend now; they will help!"
Pinkie Pie went up and hugged Applejack with tears coming from her eyes. "Please don't leave us!", she cried.
A silence ensues.
Then Applejack speaks. "Okay, y'all. Ah'll go see my human friend. And ah want to thank y'all for talkin' to me here. Y'all were really nice and helpful. But please note; ah have not made a decision yet. Ah may or may not stay.
"No! You must decide! Please stay!", Pinkie Pie said, crying harder.
Applejack tries to think of a more optimistic statement. "Pinkie, ya were part of this! You made it more likely that ah'll stay!"
"Really? Well then, I must do more!", Pinkie said.
"Ya absolutely can do more! Later, though. Ah'm goin' to see the human."
"Please have a good time!", Pinkie said.
"Ah will!", Applejack said as she walked out the door.
So, here we are. Her pony friends had helped Applejack feel a bit better, and helped her realize that you were, indeed, a friend. But it is not yet enough to ensure she will not go off the grid.
She is about to see you, so now, it all comes down to you. Will you be able to, with the boost of the other Mane Six, push Applejack over the positive edge, or at least push her further, for more progress later?
Or, will she succumb and pack her bags?
We shall find out in the next chapter.