Chapter 3: Bribery
Twilight was off to the Quills and Sofas shop to get some quills. The upcoming fair was looming on her mind, specifically her role as judge for the Great Ponyville Bake-Off. It wasn’t that she was nervous about the responsibility. Rather, she didn’t want to have to choose between her two friends.
Her train of thought was broken when Applejack bumped into her.
“Oh, Twilight!” she said a little too loudly. “Didn’t see ya there! Howdy!”
“Hi...Applejack,” Twilight said, wondering why her friend was acting so strangely.
“What’re you up to?”
“Oh, just running some errands. Nothing special.” Twilight walked briskly away from Applejack, already suspecting what she wanted from the shifty look in her eye.
“Oh, but it’s right around lunchtime, and you must be hungry!” Applejack cried. Twilight kept walking, but Applejack kept pace as they moved through the streets of Ponyville. Applejack suddenly grabbed her shoulder and started leading her in a different direction.
“I’ve got some of the finest apple fritters at my stand today. You can have one on us, the fine folks at Sweet Apple Acres!”
“Applejack, stop!” Twilight shouted. Applejack took her hoof away from Twilight, looking dismayed. A few of the other ponies in the street stopped and looked at the two friends out of curiosity. Twilight smiled nervously at them and dragged Applejack away from the main road.
“Applejack,” she said sternly, “I know what you’re trying to do. Attempting to bribe me so I’ll judge in your favor at the bake-off is not going to work, and it actually might entice me to do the opposite.”
Applejack gasped. “Twilight, how dare you! I was merely trying to offer you a bite to eat in the most courteous way possible. I had no intentions of trying to butter you up or anythin’ like that.”
“Applejack, please,” Twilight said with a sigh, shaking her head. “You’ve always been a terrible liar.”
Applejack’s face suddenly drooped, and Twilight’s attitude toward her softened a bit.
“I’m real sorry, Twilight, but you gotta know how much this means to me. It ain’t just a contest. Endorsements from the royal princesses would drum up a lot of business for the farm, and it’s money we could really use right about now.”
“Well, if you wanted an endorsement from royalty, why didn’t you just ask?” Twilight put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder and smiled. “You know I’d be more than happy to recommend your goods to everypony in town.”
“You would? That’s mighty kind of you, Twilight,” Applejack said, offering a small smile in return. She then glanced around. “I just hope Pinkie Pie doesn’t find out—”
“Find out what?” Pinkie shouted, rushing into the alley. Twilight and Applejack both jumped, and eyed Pinkie nervously. She had a steely gaze in her eyes that was quite foreign to her normal, jovial nature.
“P-Pinkie,” Applejack stammered. “What are you doin’ here?”
“The question is, Applejack, what are you doing here?”
“I’m just tryin’ to have a friendly conversation with Twilight here.”
“Oh, sure,” Pinkie snapped, stepping closer to Applejack, who started backing up towards the end of the alley. “Just a friendly talk with one of the judges for a certain competition you’ll be taking part in. Nothing wrong with that!”
“Now, hold on just a second there, missy!” Applejack snapped back, taking a defiant step towards Pinkie. “What made you jump to that conclusion, huh? And just what brought you to this here alley anyway? You weren’t thinkin’ of tryin’ to do Twilight some ‘favors,’ hopin’ to give you an edge in the bake-off, were you?”
Pinkie’s mouth fell open. “Why would I ever want to do that? I was here making sure you wouldn’t be doing that, trying to keep things fair for the competition! You’re the scroundel here, not me!”
“What did you just call me?” Applejack asked menacingly.
“Girls?” Twilight said.
“Scroundel! Weasel! No-good, conniving, manipulative cheat!”
“What did you, read the dictionary this morning?” Applejack asked with a sneer.
“Admit it!” Pinkie shouted. “Admit you were trying to schmooze your way to that gold ribbon!”
“Why don’t you admit you were tryin’ that, too, and that’s why you followed Twilight all the way over here?”
“Girls!” Twilight called a little louder.
“You keep harping on that. Sounds like a guilty conscience.”
“You’re goin’ on about it as much as I am, if not more. Who’s got the guilty conscience now?”
“Girls, if you don’t stop arguing, I’m going to vote for Bon Bon and Lyra!”
That got Pinkie and Applejack to stop bickering. They turned towards Twilight, looking like they had just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. Twilight sighed and gave them each a glare.
“The bickering needs to stop,” she said. “I’m not going to hear my friends shouting insults at each other over a silly contest at a fair! I know what you said, Applejack, about the business, but it’s really not worth being at each other’s throats like this. Now, I suggest you two look each other in the eye and apologize.”
Pinkie and Applejack groaned and turned to face each other.
“I’m sorry,” Applejack said. “I shouldn’t have tried to bribe Twilight in the first place, and I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Pinkie replied, “for all of that.”
“That’s much better,” Twilight said with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have errands to attend to.”
Twilight walked out of the alley, and once she had her back turned, Pinkie and Applejack glared at each other.
“Don’t think you’re getting off that easy, chum!” Pinkie whispered harshly. “This isn’t over.”
“I look forward to creamin’ you in the competition,” Applejack bit back. The two of them stared daggers into each other’s eyes before they walked off in opposite directions.
Twilight sighed again as she made her way to the Quills and Sofas shop. I hope this doesn’t cause a rift between them, she thought. I don’t want to lose out on two good friends.
Twilight hoped that after the fair, things would settle down. It was all she could wish for right now.