Rather than heading towards the train station, Twilight had been taken out of sight of Ponyville so she could begin her recuperation in the wake of this tumult. Regrettably, things were not looking up for Twilight any more than before, as her head had been hanging down in anguish ever since she and her friends left Ponyville. After believing they had gone far enough, everyone stopped walking, with Twilight subsequently flopping down on her behind again, her head still drooping low. It was clear that a tragedy as awful as this would not be so simple for Twilight to overcome the guilt of having been the sole perpetrator of. She would need all the help and consoling from her friends she could get, which they were all more than willing to assist with.
"How are you feeling now, Twilight?" Spike asked worriedly.
"Still sick to my stomach, Spike; but thanks for asking," she replied without lifting up her head.
Feelings of awkwardness were setting amongst Twilight's group of friends, as it was rather thorny to compose what could be said to Twilight that would make her feel better without reminding her of the unpleasant incident.
"So...how's the weather?" Pinkie Pie asked, to which Rainbow Dash elbowed her in her front leg.
Rarity elected to correct Pinkie's mistake herself, "I believe what Pinkie meant to ask was: would you like to take some time to rest now?"
"What?" Pinkie asked in puzzlement as she rubbed her leg. "That's not what I meant! I just asked her how the weather was! Why would you think it meant anything else, silly?
Rarity slapped her face in aggravation over Pinkie's invariable jabbering, and Applejack was about to interject, but was stopped by the advanced interjection of Twilight.
"Look, I know what you guys are trying to do, but taking my mind off of what I did won't work. Nothing will ever make me forget any of terrible deeds I performed; whether they had been on just my friends or all of Ponyville—I...I just can't do it..."
All of her friends were rendered wordless from Twilight's disheartening dialogue, with Twilight's unenthusiastic temperament beginning to make her friends feel just as bleak as she was—and the longer this carried on, the more dispirited everyone was becoming. It was apparent that Twilight's disconsolate outlook on these events as they passed was rubbing off on all those around her, and was making it more and more difficult for each of her friends to keep their confidence high enough to carry on with their quest to Canterlot. But then, in a surprise to everyone, the one to change the tone of this collective downbeat frame of mind was Twilight.
"But," Twilight spoke up, causing everyone to look towards her in astonishment. "There is one thing that will make me feel better," everyone leaned forward to hear Twilight out. "...and that's getting Ponyville back to the way it was," and, without another word, the anxious unicorn turned herself around and began walking right back towards Ponyville.
Though initially stunned by this sudden assertion, Twilight's friends realized why she couldn't return to Ponyville, and hurriedly ran ahead of Twilight, blocking her path and halting her advance back to town.
"Whattya think you're doing?" Rainbow Dash asked crossly.
"I'm going back to Ponyville to undo all the damage I've done, and I'm doing it all myself—it's the only way to make up for what I've caused," she tried to move forward again, but was halted by Applejack, who had outstretched her leg right in front of Twilight, stopping her with her hoof.
"Ah'm afraid not, Twilight."
"Hey! Let me through!" Twilight snapped, quite agitated by her friends' constant hindrances.
"No way, Twi-lay!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"This is something we simply must insist upon."
"Even though we're all really sorry we have to insist so hard!"
Twilight continued to struggle against her friends' constant impeding, becoming more goaded the more they opposed her. "Come on guys, this is serious!" she bellowed.
"We know, and that's why we can't let yah through!"
Then, much to the shock of everyone, Twilight's horn began to glow, and there was a burst of magic from her body, creating a field of magical energy entirely surrounding her being. Everyone swiftly backed off from Twilight, all quite astounded by this new occurrence. Through the energy field, Twilight's fury could be shown: her teeth baring and her eyes filled with rage. It seemed that the curse dwelling within Twilight's body was causing her to become more malicious, in contrast to her having enjoyment in her evil deeds previously. This somewhat deterred the perseverance of Twilight's friends, as seeing their friend appear so truly menacing—rather than the more flippant type of evil she was exhibiting before—was quite a fearful sight for them all to behold.
"You are not going to keep me from mending my misdeeds!" she bellowed fiercely. "You may be my friends, but that will not stop me from forcing you out of my way!" her energy field momentarily increased in size upon speaking that last word, and it may everyone even more anxious than before. Such a disconcerting display had nobody wanting to move or say anything, feeling apprehensive that anything would set Twilight off more.
However, Applejack wasn't as intimidated as her friends were, as she was unyielding in her belief that the real Twilight was still in there, and that she would never allow any true harm to fall upon her friends. Grasping these thoughts firmly in her mind, Applejack didn't hesitate as she began to walk slowly towards Twilight. Twilight took quick motive of Applejack's movement towards her proximity, and her magic sparked as the rage swelled inside her.
"Don't you dare come another step closer, Applejack! I will not allow you to halt my righteous quest!" she exclaimed as she intensified the output of her energy field.
With this demonstration of Twilight's immense magic skill, Applejack knew she required every ounce of cunning she had in order to pull this off without causing any harm to herself or her friends—and that included Twilight.
"Ah'm not here tuh try n' stop yuh, Twilight," she spoke slowly and diligently as she slowed her walking down to a crawl. "Ah understand where yer comin' from, and I just want to let you know that as your friends, we all want exactly what you want—hey, look over there!" she abruptly shouted, pointing off to the side.
"Huh?!" Twilight turned her head sharply in the direction Applejack pointed. In an instant, Applejack leapt onto Twilight, knocking her to the ground. This break in Twilight's concentration caused her energy field to dissipate immediately after she had been knocked down.
Applejack forced Twilight to the ground, holding her down as the earth pony stood on top of her. "You tricked me!" Twilight shouted, becoming angry once more. She struggled to force Applejack off of her body as magic began spouting from her horn. Everyone else was stunned by this sudden display, unsure of what to make of it.