Twilight woke up with a groan. Her head hurt, her body ached and she just wanted to lay her head back down. As the librarian moved away from her desk, her makeshift bed after she passed out from an intense night of studying, and turned her attention towards the pounding on her door that had woken her from her much craved sleep.
“One second! I’m coming, I’m coming.” Twilight shouted towards her door. Groaning again as she stood up, the purple mare shuffled towards the door. She grumbled as she moved across the room with her eyes almost completely shut, the precious few hours of sleep she got obviously not enough. When the sleepy mare finally reached the door, she quickly opened it, a look of strong displeasure aimed at the pony standing on the other side, her eyes squinted, a scowl across her face and her mane sticking up all over the place. The glare dropped from her face as she saw Big Mac waiting outside, confusion quickly replacing it.
“Big Mac, what a surprise! Do you want to come in? I mean, I wasn’t expecting anypony this early, so the place is a little messy, but still you’re completely welcome here. This is a library after all, although most ponies don't come here. Which I don't completely understand because libraries are a fantastic place to be.” Twilight paused taking a deep breath before continuing. “Anyway, what can I do for you?" Twilight said to the down crested farmer. She tilted her head slightly, trying to get a better look at the stallion.
What she saw were the telltale signs of exhaustion, from the red, bloodshot eyes to the large bags underneath them. Big Mac sighed deeply before looking up to the sky for a moment, gathering his thoughts. After a few seconds, the giant stallion lowered his gaze back to the purple mare in front of him.
"Ah need your help Ms. Twilight. Somethin' big is up with AJ, but I can't get a thing outta her. All Ah know is she got in a tussle with the friend of y'all, the one with the rainbow mane, an' now jus’ sits on her bed starin' at the wall. Ah don' know what tah do with her. Ah tried givin' her some space, but Ah'm at the end of mah limits. Ah need her to start workin' again, else Ah dunno what'll happen tah the farm." After the stallion finished speaking, Twilight sat there for a few moments, thinking over what she had been told of. She had just found out about a fight among her friends. And from the looks of Big Mac, this fight had obviously been a few days ago at least. Slowly, Twilight nodded to the farmer, signaling that she was willing to help with Applejack, even if she had no clue about what had happened.
"I just need one moment to take care of a few things really quickly before we leave." added the purple mare before heading back into the library. Taking out a quill and some parchment for her desk, Twilight scribbled out a note to Spike explaining where she had gone and that she didn't know when she would be back. As soon as she finished that, the purple mare quickly brushed her hair and headed back outside. When she got outside, she closed the door and locked it.
"Thank ya kindly Ms. Twilight. Jus' follow me." Big Mac said before turning around. The duo slowly made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was shining and not a cloud in sight. But none of this meant anything to Twilight. She was too busy focusing on why Big Mac had asked her to come with. One of the things that seemed to define Applejack was her work ethic. The idea that something had upset her to the point where she stopped working was astounding.
But it was more than just Applejack’s sudden loss of motivation that confused Twilight, she was also confused by the fact that the fight had been with Rainbow Dash. The two had a history of being competitive, but would they really let it go that far. That also left the question of what could possibly cause Rainbow Dash to go that far? All of this ran through the purple mare’s head as the pair headed towards the orchard.
The red stallion in front of her, on the other hoof, had substantially less on his mind. He was busy thinking about what needed to be done around the orchard, from fixing broken fence posts to bucking more trees. He was glad that Ms. Twilight had agreed to talk to his sister though, because he couldn’t handle all the work on his own.
Soon enough the pair reached Sweet Apple Acres. After walking through the immense property, the two ponies reached the old Apple homestead. Big Mac turned to Twilight, who was still lost in her own world. Twilight kept walking forward until, with a solid thunk, she hit the farmpony who brought her here in the first place. Blushing, the unicorn picked herself up. When she was back on her hooves, Big Mac spoke.
“Ms. Twilight, as much as Ah’d like tah take ya up tah mah sister, Ah need tah get work ‘round here else we’ll fall even further behind. Ya do know where her room is, don’t ya?” The red stallion asked. After receiving a slow nod, the workhorse trotted away from the house to begin his chores for the day. Twilight watched him as he walked away, uncertain about how the visit would unfold.
When Big Mac finally disappeared from her sight, the purple unicorn turned around to face the house. Carefully she walked up to the home, the boards creaking under her as she passed over them. The librarian made her way into the house and up the stairs. There, on the left, was Applejack’s door sitting slightly ajar. As she approached, Twilight looked through the slit of space between the door and the door frame. Just as Big Mac had described, Applejack sat completely still, staring straight at the wall. Getting closer now, Twilight used her magic to push the door further open to the point where a pony could enter with ease.
Stepping through the door frame, Twilight finally was able to get a good look at her friend. The orange mare looked awful. Her mane was a bigger mess up than usual, her coat was covered with stains, and she did not appear to have bathed in a few days, which was unbelievable, even for a mare like Applejack. Her shoulders were slumped forward and dark circles danced under her eyes, their hue rivaling those of her brother. Her bloodshot eyes were void of any sentience, like her mind is someplace worlds away. Twilight continued to move through the room, receiving no reaction from her friend on the bed. As the unicorn walked through the room, she accidentally hit her hoof on a loose plank, making a small noise. The sound quickly brought Applejack’s mind back into focus, her eyes darting towards the offending sound. The orange mare’s eyes screamed out to Twilight, the green irises completely void of emotions.
“Howdy Twilight.” was all the farmer said to her friend before she turned back to the wall. Twilight quietly began to approach the bed, watching Applejack’s reaction with every movement. The orange mare did not react, her eyes focused forward, her mind somewhere else. When Twilight finally reached her friend’s side, she quietly sat down on the bed, staring at the ground. Her mind was preoccupied with how to start this conversation. The purple mare was absolutely lost on what she could possibly say to begin to get to the problem her friend was dealing with. Deciding that the direct approach would work best, Twilight hesitantly put her hoof on Applejack’s shoulder and sighed. The orange mare looked at her, and the librarian began.
“Applejack, what happened to you? I’ve never seen you like this before. Even in your hardest times, you would always atleast try to work through the problem. What could Rainbow Dash have possibly done to change that?” The purple mare said, her eyes staring straight into the farmer’s. Slowly, the orange mare’s eyes began to change, from icy, unreadable walls into deep, emotion-filled pools. Her inner turmoil surfaced only temporarily, giving Twilight a glimpse of what her friend was feeling. Then Applejack closed her eyes and turned away, her attention turning towards the window on their left, towards the green treetops and the blue sky just outside.
The two of them sat there for a few minutes, neither saying a word. Applejack was off in her head again, while Twilight waited impatiently for her friend’s troubles to be revealed. The emotions the purple mare caught a glimpse of in Applejack’s eyes ignited a burning desire within her to find the answers, so she could help solve the puzzle that had put the blonde mare in such a state. With a deep sigh, Applejack began to speak.
“It ain’t jus’ somethin’ that she said Twi’. It’s what she tol’ me. She tol’ me how Fluttershy tried tah take her own life, all cuz of somethin’ Ah said.” At this point tears were welling in Applejack’s eyes, but her facial expression did not change, remaining as stoic as ever. Twilight was shocked at the news, finding that one of what she considered to be her closest friends, tried to kill herself. Before the purple mare could begin to ask questions, the farmpony continued.
“Surprised me too. That’s what Rainbow had come over here for. She wanted ta know why Ah would do that sorta thing ta Fluttershy. Ah don’ rightly know myself. Ah mean, my Ma an’ Pa had always taught me that fillyfoolin’ and coltcuddlin’ was wrong. Ever’ time we’d be walkin’ through town, and a couple’a mares would be sittin’ a little too close, then Pa would jus’ go off. One time, when Pa was takin’ me home through Ponyville, we saw these two stallions who were havin’ a picnic. They were jus’ eatin’ some strawberries when one leaned in real close like an’ their lips were touchin’, only they didn’ stop touchin’. Pa scooped me up an’ covered mah eyes. When we finally got home, he sat me down and tol’ me ‘AJ, Ah wan’ ya to listen to me, an’ listen good. What those stallions were doin’ in the park is wrong, ya hear me? Mares ain’t supposed to have feelin’s for other mares, and two stallions shouldn’ be kissin’. Tha’ is somethin’ that should only happen between a mare an’ a stallion, an’ don’ you dare let me catch ya cuddlin’ up to ‘nother filly, or Sweet Celestia, there will be Tartarus to pay.’ An’ Ah believed him. Twi’ Ah believed him.” The farmmare was openly crying now, tears streaming down her face as she hung her head before she continued, “An’ now one of mah best friends went and tried tah kill herself. Ah jus’ dunno what tah do anymore.”
Twilight said nothing, shocked by what she had heard. Quietly, the purple mare reached over to her crying friend, and pulled her into a tight embrace. This caused the Applejack to break out into another wave of tears, sob beginning to shake her body. The earthpony returned the hug, burying her head into the shoulder of her friend. The two mares continued to sit there like that for a while, long past the point where the tears stopped flowing. As they sat there, busy weather ponies pushed clouds across the sky. The sky rapidly began to darken, until a bright flash of lightning followed by a thunderous crack signaled that the bright day had been replaced by an aggressive storm.