//------------------------------// // IV // Story: All Good Things // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Twilight Sparkle ran as she had never run before, tears streaming from her eyes. Princess Luna was right. What she had done... it was unspeakable, intolerable in their society. She had to make things right with Applejack lest she ruin things forever between the two of them. She ran until she found herself at the edge of Apple family property, and she slowed herself down to a trot. Perhaps running had not been the best choice. She was already exhausted, her breath was heavy, and her lungs burned. She stopped for a moment, taking deep breaths and allowing herself the chance to recuperate. If anything, this would give her time to think about what she was going to say to Applejack. Twilight mentally kicked herself. This wasn't like her either, rarely did she become so emotionally charged that she threw all caution to the wind and dashed at her problems head on without any thought as to how she was going to actually deal with them. She was so unlike herself today. She'd stepped outside the controlled setting that she struggled to keep her life in and was now playing things loose. She smirked, she was acting like Rainbow Dash. She looked up at Applejack's farmhouse. She couldn't avoid this any longer, she was here and she needed to find something to say. Twilight took one last deep breath before trotting up to Applejack's home and giving the door a knock. 'Ah'm a comin'!' Applejack's heavy dialectic voice called from somewhere deep within the farm house. Twilight heard the sound of her hoof steps marching down the stairs growing louder and louder... or maybe that was the sound of her heart beating... Applejack opened the door, looking outside at Twilight and offered her a scowl. 'An' what do ya want?' she said her voice stinging with hostility. Twilight frowned and glanced down at the wooden planks lining the porch. 'Applejack I... I came to apologise...' Twilight began as she looked back up at the earth pony mare before her, surprised to find that her scowl had been replaced with a frown. Applejack glanced down at the floor and let out a sigh before nodding her head. 'Come on inside...' she added, her voice trailing off as she held the door open wider for Twilight to enter. Twilight took her up on the offer and went inside, Applejack shut the door behind them and they walked over into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. 'Applejack!' Twilight began. 'I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper at you, it wasn't right and—' 'No Twilight, Ah need ta be apologisin' ta ya, not the other way 'round,' Applejack said with a frown. 'Ya'll were just tryin' ta make Princess Luna feel a bit more comfortable while she's here in town, and Ah wasn't willin' ta listen ta what ya'll even had ta say.' Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack was quick to interrupt her again. 'Let me finish, Twi. Ya'll know how Ah am about this farm, it's everythin' Ah got. All mah family has got. So Ah don't like it when sudden changes come 'round that impact how Ah run mah farm. An' changin' tha weather is just that,' Applejack said, taking her hat off her head and brushing her mane out of her eyes with a hoof. 'But tha' don' make it right ta get mad at ya for it. Yer just doin' what ya think is right.' Applejack paused for a moment, and gritted her teeth, looking very nervous before swallowing hard, it was as if what she was about to do was very, very difficult for her. 'Ya got yer proposal on ya?' Twilight nodded her head, and looked to the saddlebags adorning her flanks. She lit her horn and pulled the proposal out of her bag with telekinesis and passed it to Applejack. Applejack looked at it for a moment without opening the folder it was in before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. 'Yer mah friend Twi, Ah knows Ah should have more faith in ya. Ah know ya'll wouldn't do something if ya knew it end up hurtin' me and mah farm... so imma go over yer proposal with Big McIntosh and see if we can make it work,' Applejack said before setting the folder down on the end table next to her. She looked up at Twilight and offered her a small smile. 'Sound good ta ya?' Twilight nodded her head and wrapped her forelegs around Applejack in a tight hug. 'Oh Applejack... I'm sorry for getting angry.’ Applejack returned the unicorn's hug, patting her friend on the back and letting out a sigh of relief. 'On a posative note. Thisis somethin' ta write to Princess Celestia 'bout.' Twilight chuckled, indeed it was. Before she knew it she was already planning what exactly she was going to say. She and Applejack, having patched things up, parted ways, and Twilight returned to her home in the library. She pushed open the door and trotted inside. 'Spike!' she called out to her little dragon assistant. 'Come here please! I need you to take down a letter to Princess Celesta!' 'That will not be necessary Twilight, for I am already here,' the voice of Princess Celestia called out to her. Twilight jumped in surprise, nearly hitting the ceiling. Low and behold, none other than her mentor, Princess Celestia herself was sitting on the sofa in her home, sipping a cup of tea, waiting patiently for her to return. 'You have learned something about friendship?' Celestia asked as she took another sip from her cup. Twilight paused for a moment before nodding her head. 'Dear Princess Celestia... today I learned that even close friends are not always going to agree with each other. Sometimes we'll have vastly differing ideas about how to deal with a situation, but no matter what it is, it is imperative that we always listen to others point of views and take them into consideration. We can't allow ourselves to get angry over something and let it destroy our friendship; as long as we are willing to work together we willl always find a way.' Twilight said, finishing her summary of the lesson learned. Princess Celestia finished her cup of tea, setting it down on the coffee table. She looked up at Twilight and smiled. 'Surely, an excellent lesson... however...' she said, her voice trailing off. 'However?' Twilight asked, looking at her mentor with confusion. ‘However... the circumstances in which you learned it were unacceptable,' Celestia said as her golden magical aura enveloped her horn. 'Princess? What are you...?’ Twilight started, before she felt her head begin to ache. There was a sharp pain, as if somepony had just shoved a metal rod into her brain. Twilight collapsed onto the floor before her mentor, clutching her head and screaming. Princess Celestia rose from her seat, standing over Twilight and extending her wings out to their full wingspan. She lowered her head and touched her horn to Twilight's. Twilight continued to writhe in pain, screaming, and incoherently begging Princess Celestia to stop before her body became still on the floor. A small moment of panic overtook Celestia, had she over done it? No. Twilight was still breathing, she had merely fallen unconscious. It had been a long time since she had last resorted to this kind of magic. Princess Celestia frowned as she pulled her head back away from Twilight's. Frowning as she picked her student up off the floor and took her up to her bedroom. 'I am sorry you had to experience that Twilight,' Princess Celestia said as she walked with Twilight into the room, where she placed her student down on the bed, and pulled the covers over her. 'Memory modification is not pleasant... fortunately for you, when you wake up, you won't remember the pain. Or the desire you had to do harm to your friend,' she added, aware that her student could not hear her. She wasn't saying it for Twilight's benefit. She was saying it for her own. Princess Celestia tucked Twilight in, and quietly departed Golden Oaks Library for Castle Canterlot. … I took no pleasure in what I did to Twilight Sparkle that day. The Modification of one's memory is painful, a truly deplorable act to be sure. At the time, however, I saw it necessary to curb the aggression of my subjects. I wept for Twilight for what I had to do to her, but it was necessary! … 'Sister?' Princess Luna said as she approached. In the darkness of the night, my sister blended in perfectly. My eyes, ill prepared for the darkness of night could barely make her out. 'Luna?' 'Yes sister,' 'You have dealt with Applejack?' 'I have done as you instructed, sister.' I nodded my head in understanding. 'I take no pleasure in this Luna... but we do what is necessary.' 'Of course, sister.' I nodded my head and bid my sister farewell. It had been too dark to see then, but I know now that my sister had been very upset by the day’s events. It was on this day. This day marked the beginning of the end.