Applejack sighed, wiping off the last of the lipstick as she stared into the mirror. She took a deep breath, putting her hat back on, and walked out of the bathroom; the mare was still a bit wary of wearing her make-up at home, so she always took it off before heading back.
Not that she even liked it in the first place. She'd been.... experimenting. Trying to see if it felt right, and... well... it hadn't. After the whole plushie flood, and associated letters to Rainbow Dash, she seriously considered...
...but it was a stupid idea anyway.
Distracted as she was, she didn't notice Twilight until she bumped into her. The unicorn shook her head, looking at the earth pony. "Hey there, AJ.... AAA! THE JAR!" Her horn flared as she desperately tried to catch a small vial before it hit the ground. "Got it!"
"Whooee!" Applejack stood up, helping her friend to her hooves. "Mighty sorry bout that, Twi, Ah... wasn't really payen attention to where Ah was goen." She glanced at the glass test tube curiously. "What's in thar anyway?"
"Um--Bio, um, contaminants!" Twilight nodded, blushing furiously. "It's very dangerous for the wrong mare to handle, so I DON'T want it breaking. I'm only using it for an... experiment. Just had to pick it up and take it to F--to my home, haha!"
"Sounds... mighty dangerous."
"Yep! That's why I want to be extra careful with it."
The farmpony nodded briefly. "Well, why don't Ah walk ya to yer place so we can both make sure you don't spill any of it?"
"Oh I really don't need you to--"
"No, Ah insist." Applejack gave her friend a gentle smile. "Likely as not somepony's gonna come chargen round that corner and cause ya'll to drop that on accident. Ya know that Ponyville's a place fer crazy thangs ta happen."
"Um... okay. Sure!" Twilight grinned awkwardly, unable to deny the truth of her friend's words. They began walking down the road, the unicorn glancing around for some reason.
"...Um... Twilight?"
"Yeah?"
"How do ya think of me?"
Twilight gave Applejack an odd look. "How do I... what do you mean? You're my friend, AJ."
"Yes, that's a given but... as a mare, Ah mean. Would... not that Ah'm romantically attracted ta ya!" the farmer clarified quickly. "Ah'm just looken fer an opinion here, cause... Ah may sorta kinda have mah eye on somepony."
"Oh. Oh! Um... I...." Twilight blushed, glancing around. "I... hold on, you know I don't have a clue when it comes to this sort of thing..."
"Never mind, Ah... Ah shouldn't have put you on tha spot."
The two of them continued to walk on for a while.
"Um..." Twilight fidgeted. "I... honestly can't see you in any romantic relationship."
Applejack rose an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Not that you're not a nice pony! You are, you really are! It's just..." The unicorn flicker her ears back. "You're pretty much already complete, AJ. I mean, Rarity is striving to improve her dresses, Dash and I have the Wonderbolts and scholastics respectively, Fluttershy needs to gain some confidence.... and Pinkie's going everywhere. You, though... you're kinda deep rooted. Everything you want translates right back to the three Fs. Farm, family, and friends. You don't need anypony... not yet anyway." She shrugged. "I don't know how to say it, but the idea that you would even be open is startling to me."
Applejack stared at her, openmouthed.
"...That's just my opinion though," Twilight reassured her, giving a half-hearted grin. "I could be completely off the mark. So, who is it you're interested in anyway?"
"Um... well..." Applejack fidgeted. "Yah know how Ah was in tha lead fer Rainbow's potential gettogether's during that whole plushie thang?"
"Yes?"
The farmer glanced left and right, before leaning in closely. "Thar's a good reason fer that."
"...Oh! Oh, um... oh." Twilight nodded. "Okay, I can get that."
"Thang is..." Applejack sighed. "Look, sugarcube. Can... can ya'll keep a secret?"
"Well..." The unicorn tapped her chin. "I... might be better at keeping secrets then I used to be. But I'm not sure. It really depends on the secret, and how long it needs to be kept. After all, I am an analytical mind which means I like cross-referencing things with--"
"Twilight." Applejack leveled her gaze. "Yes or no."
"....um..." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "Yeeeeeeeesssssssss...?"
"Ah... well.... here's tha thing. Ah don't... in tha truest sense of tha word... think of myself, exactly, as a mare."
Twilight stared at her.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah, Ah figgered that'd be yer response."
"Well... um... I... have no idea how to respond to this, actually." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "I'll, uh, just have to think on this a bit and, um, not tell anypony. OH LOOK here we are at the library, thanks for walking me here!" She waved quickly, ensuring her bottle of bio material was safe as she zipped inside and shut the door.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Well, Ah guess that could have been worse--" She turned and jumped suddenly, coming face to face with Pinkie Pie. "AAAAAAAAAH! Pinkie! What are ya doing here?!"
"Ah shaid, shaid I wouldn't help Twilight in chapta five. Sho... sho I am not!"
The farmer tileted her head. "...Are ya'll drunk?"
"Nah.... ish a plashebo."