It was another gorgeous day at Sweet Apple Acres. The sun shone happily down on the endless expanse of apple trees, whose fruit-laden branches swayed in the spring breeze. Two ponies were walking down one of the countless rows; an orange earth pony with a hat, and a pale yellow pegasus, the latter of which was pulling a simple wooden cart along behind her.
“It's such a lovely day,” Fluttershy chirped quietly, her pink mane swinging around as she glanced at the scenery. She jumped a little with every squeak from the cart's wheels, and her friend couldn't help but snicker.
“Don't think the cart's gonna bite ya, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a grin. Every so often she had to pause, raising a hoof to bop her hat back down onto her head after a gust of wind tried to take it away. Fluttershy appreciated the breaks; even though the cart was empty, she looked positively exhausted. “Y'all all right? We ain't even started the buckin' yet and ya look like ya might keel over.”
“Oh, I'm fine,” she whispered, looking rather embarrassed. “I'm just not used to pulling my cart on the ground. The grass is a lot more...” she trailed off, staring ahead as she searched for an appropriate word. “Friction-y?”
The earth pony busted out laughing, dropping her head and shaking it with the peals. “What in tarnation is friction-y?”
Fluttershy blushed, but smiled as her friend chuckled. “You know what I mean,” she said, making an attempt at mock annoyance. They fell quiet and continued trotting, coming to a halt about five minutes later at a stand of trees whose branches were absolutely saturated with apples. “Oh my, I didn't know a tree could have that many apples,” she gasped, walking under one and staring up through the canopy. They were so laden, the entire stand was bending to one side or another. “No wonder you wanted to harvest them.”
“Yep,” Applejack replied, frowning up at the mass of fruit. “Park your cart over here for me, I'll buck this one first,” she added, pointing a hoof at a tree across the row whose limbs were empty. Fluttershy nodded, halfway dragging it over to that trunk before emitting a squeaky series of pants and unhooking herself. “Uh, y'all okay over there?” the earth pony asked, tilting her head.
“I'm fine,” the pegasus replied, trotting back over with her wings stretched. “I, um, I accidentally harnessed myself too tightly, that's all.” She made an unhappy face at the smile that crossed Applejack's lips. “Don't laugh, I'm not used to carts.”
“Aw, I'm just teasin',” Applejack apologized, shuffling her forelegs. “Hey, ya wanna give this one a kick? I can pull the cart around.”
Fluttershy blinked at her, then at the tree, then shook her head. “Um, I don't think I could do it as well as you,” she admitted, dropping her head and cutting her eyes up at the earth pony. “You're much stronger than I am.”
“Shoot, these trees are so heavy y'all could probably sneeze on 'em and make 'em shed,” Applejack encouraged, walking over and giving her a heavy pat on the back that caused her to cringe and squeak. “Er...my bad. Come on, give it a try!”
Reluctantly, the pegasus shuffled over and eyed the tree for a long while. Applejack swished her tail back and forth as she waited on her to kick, but after some time had passed it appeared the action would never come. Clearing her throat, she decided to move things along. “Just turn and whack it, sugarcube, nothin' to it.”
“Are you sure I won't hurt the tree?” Fluttershy asked, turning and pinning down the earth pony with a surprisingly serious gaze.
“Uh, well...” she replied, her mouth hanging open slightly with surprise as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. “I ain't never thought about that. I'm fairly sure the tree don't mind it. Heck, it's probably in a bigger pickle havin' ta hold up so many apples.”
A wide-eyed Fluttershy considered this possibility for a moment, then accepted it and nodded. “That's probably true. Okay, here I go,” she whimpered, turning around and backing up to the trunk. It still took her ten seconds to unleash the one-legged kick – although unleash was much too strong a word. Applejack made a face at the gentle movement, hardly able to hear the woody noise it generated. After withdrawing her leg, she stood there awkwardly and glanced around, her cheeks tinged red. “I don't think it—” An apple detached, plunking her on the head and interrupting her words. “...worked.” She frowned down at it as it rolled to a stop on the grass. “Ouch.”
“Nice try,” Applejack offered, an awkward grin on her face as she trotted over. “I'd best do the buckin', else we might be here for a while. Uh, no offense,” she added, her tone apologetic. Fluttershy simply nodded her acquiescence and moved back a few steps. The earth pony only glanced at her target before loosing a mighty kick, so strong it sent her hat hopping off her head for a moment. A storm of fruit fell down almost instantly, and Applejack was struck several times. “Shoot! I shoulda asked Rarity for her saddle umbrella,” she exclaimed, rubbing her head where it had been bonked. “Oh well. Y'all can help me pick these up.” She turned to where Fluttershy should have been, but saw only a pile of apples. “Hey, Shy? Where'd ya run off to?” The earth pony blinked when the pegasus poked her head out of the pile.
“Ouch!” she whined, grimacing and tilting her head wildly as she tried to free herself from her fruity prison. She fell still after a few tries, sporting an unhappy look on her face. “I'm...I think I'm stuck.”
Applejack dropped her ears in apology and trotted over to help extricate the poor pegasus. “Oops. Pardon. I thought y'all had backed up more than that.” She used her strong forelegs to brush apples off the top, until enough weight had been removed for Fluttershy to shake the rest of them off herself. Now free, they went to work collecting them, and fell into the quiet concentration of accomplishing the task. This went on for about ten minutes before the she turned to the earth pony with an odd glint in her blue eyes.
“What's up?” she asked, dropping an apple into the cart and adjusting her hat. “Ya look like somethin's botherin' ya.”
Fluttershy shuffled a foreleg, staring at the ground briefly before raising her eyes and frowning. “Don't you think Twilight's been awfully tense lately?”
Applejack gazed off across the hills as she went over her most recent encounters with the purple unicorn. She flicked her tail idly as she went over what details she could recall, and finally decided that Twilight hadn't seemed any more neurotic than usual. “Naw, not really. She's always a bit stressed out, anyways. I think that's just her nature.” She watched as the pegasus went back to the tree to pick up more fruit and followed.
“I'm not so sure,” Fluttershy replied, her words muffled by the stems of several apples. “I'm worried about her.”
A light frown set in as Applejack continued collecting fruit. “I'm sure she's fine. We've all got our little oddities. Twilight bein' a bit high-strung is one of hers. I wouldn't fret about it none. Besides, if she had a problem, she'd tell one of us.” Fluttershy came to a stop in front of her, dropping her cargo and turning around. The earth pony was stunned by the look she bore.
“Like the time she ran out of friendship lessons?” Fluttershy said, flapping her wings as she walked back over to Applejack. “Or the time she tried to figure out how the Pinkie Sense worked?”
Applejack began to sweat under her stern eyes, and backed slowly away. “Okay, so she ain't the most open pony. I ain't either, sometimes.”
The intensity melted away into something closer to worry. Fluttershy stopped approaching and sighed, slumping her shoulders and dropping her head. “I know, I just wish she would tell us more often when she's bothered or upset. She tries to solve so many problems by herself. Doesn't she understand we're always here for her?”
“Sugarcube,” the earth pony sighed, moving up to give her a gentler pat on the back. “I'm sure she does. That's just one of her quirks is all.”
“Quirks?” Fluttershy blinked, turning again so she could face the earth pony. “What do you mean?”
“Well, take Rarity for instance,” Applejack began, doffing her hat and shaking her mane out before putting it back on. “Y'all know how she likes ta have everything in a certain place in her shop, right?” She watched the pegasus nod. “That's a quirk. Or, how Pinkie bounces everywhere instead of walkin'. That's a quirk. Come ta think of it,” she said, tapping her chin as she squinted up at the sun. “I think Pinkie might be a quirk.” She chuckled a little before returning her gaze to Fluttershy. “They're just little things unique ta each one of us.”
“Do I have a quirk?” Fluttershy asked, looking more worried than curious as she pawed at the grass.
“Aw, sure. Y'all don't like bein' around a buncha other ponies,” she said, smiling gently as she turned to go back to the tree. “That's not a bad thing, it's just the way ya are.”
The pegasus pursued her, taking to the air and fluttering slowly. “Are you saying that Twilight worrying so much is just the way she is?” Applejack nodded, and that caused Fluttershy to gasp. “That's not healthy for her! I read in one of the spa's magazines that too much stress is bad for you!”
Applejack groaned faintly, wiping her forehead before bending down to start picking up more of the apples. “Sugarcube, she's fine. I wouldn't worry none.”
They continued to work in silence, but the earth pony could feel the concern radiating from her friend as they busied themselves. Soon, the little cart was stuffed to overflowing, and Applejack let out a relieved sigh as she admired their progress.
“I'll haul this one back ta the barn,” she said, hitching herself up to it and pulling it around before heading off. “Y'all just wait--” She blinked at Fluttershy's anxious face and lost her train of thought. “Somethin' the matter?”
The pegasus fluttered over, bearing a heavy frown as she went. “It's still bothering me!” Applejack watched her as she hovered in circles – it was the winged pony equivalent of pacing. “I really think I should have a talk with her.”
Shaking her head, the earth pony finally admitted defeat. “Y'all ain't gonna let it go, are ya?” A shake of Fluttershy's head confirmed the obvious. “Well, I ain't gonna keep ya if y'all are so worried. Go on ahead, I'll bring your cart back later.” The pegasus clamped to her in a brief hug and was gone, fluttering lazily over the tree-lined hills at her top speed of not particularly fast. Applejack watched her go with a smile, adjusting her hat and getting back to work as she faded out of sight.
Twilight Sparkle pranced at a snail's pace around the main room of the library, her hooves emitting faint clops on the wood as she traveled. Her gleaming violet eyes swept slowly over the shelves. After examining each, she pulled a random book, looked at the title, and put it back. Once she reached the windowed side of the space, she turned and took a wider look at the shelves, gave a firm nod of approval, and smiled. Her horn glowed, and from across the way a scroll and quill flung themselves at her. She took the quill, drew a checkmark on the parchment with a flourish, then sent both back to a nearby desk.
“Re-shelve every book in the library: check!” she declared, her snout rising up slightly with satisfaction. She looked down and awaited a reply, but the dragon from which it should have come was busy dragging himself along the floor with shaky arms. “Spike? You're supposed to say 'check'. You know, to double-check my check?”
“I can't feel my claws,” the dragon whined, struggling to haul himself into a chair. “I can't even feel my scales.” He finally succeeded, slumping against the wooden back and panting for breath. With every exhalation, a glowing green ember drifted from his nostrils that faded out after a couple of seconds. “Please tell me we're done for the day.”
Twilight looked up at the wall clock and gasped slightly, trotting over to the dragon afterward. “Not quite. There's one thing left.” She whirled around and posed, clearing her throat and trying to look as studious as possible. “Spike, take a letter!” That facade collapsed with the dragon's obnoxious, pouty groan, and she spun again to smile gently at him. “It won't be long, I promise.”
“Fiiiiiiiine,” he grumbled, producing from some unseen space a quill and special parchment. He tapped the quill to ensure it bore ink, then positioned himself in his usual writing posture. “Ready.”
“Dear Princess Celestia,” the unicorn began, walking back and forth in front of her assistant as she spoke. She listened for the end of the quill scratching before continuing, but realized it had stopped a lot sooner than it should have. She dropped her eyes onto the dragon and saw him giving her an odd look. “What?”
“Is this a friendship report?” he asked, setting parchment and quill on his lap before folding his arms.
Twilight blinked, raising her foreleg in surprise at his tone. “Yes, why do you ask?”
“What in the world could you have learned from five and a half hours of sorting books?!” he exclaimed, throwing those arms up above his head.
She shot him a playful grin and turned back around. “If you'll let me finish the letter, you'll find out.” She ignored his loud groaning and resumed her pace, glancing over to make sure he had taken up his implements again. “There will not be a friendship report this week.”
“Excuse me?” the dragon blurted out, face twisting into an unhappy frown. “I thought you said this was a friendship report?”
Twilight turned again, regarding her assistant as she swished her tail idly. “Well, it's a report about friendship reports, so, technically, it's a friendship report report,” she explained, smiling a tiny bit at herself. Spike was not amused, however, and she made a face at his unpleasant demeanor. “Spike, if I don't tell the Princess not to expect a report this week, how will she know not to look for a report that isn't coming?”
He was about to attempt to set her straight, but slumped over in surrender and began scribbling. “There will not be a friendship report this week,” he droned as he laid the words down on the paper. “There. Fine. What else?”
“That's all!” Twilight replied happily, trotting away for a few steps before stopping and looking back over her shoulder. “Oh, wait. I forgot the 'signed, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle'.”
“I got it,” he waved, scribbling again. When he had finished, he rolled up the parchment and wrapped the special seal around it, then expelled a burst of peridot flame that sent it on its way. “Can I go take a nap, please?” he asked, nearly falling out of the chair as he tried to stand. The unicorn used her magic to help him up.
“Of course. I'll wake you for lunch,” she said, smiling again as she watched him drag himself up the stairs to their living quarters. A knock from the front door snapped her back to attention, and she trotted over to answer it. On the stoop stood an anxious looking Fluttershy, wings spread and eyes glittering with worry. “Good morning!” she greeted, stepping back for the pegasus to enter then falling in behind her after she shut the door. “I thought you were helping Applejack today?”
“Um, I was,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. They went over to a pair of large, puffy red pillows and sat down. “I couldn't concentrate. I was worried.”
Fluttershy worrying was like Celestia raising the sun in the East, and as such it didn't surprise the unicorn a great deal. She still put on a slightly concerned face, however. “What are you worried about?” she asked, being extra careful to leave off a 'this time' as she spoke.
The pegasus raised her blue eyes and managed to frown even more. “You.”
The concern instantly became confusion as she dropped her ears and blinked. “Me? Whatever for?” she asked, shifting on the pillow to get more comfortable.
“You...um, well, you've seemed a lot more stressed lately than usual.” Fluttershy closed her wings as if to protect herself, expecting to be scolded or laughed at.
Instead, Twilight stood up and walked a distance away as she reflected on her behavior. Only two terribly stressful things had occurred recently. The first was the fiasco that had she and her friends sprouting six legs – something the Princess still teased about occasionally – and Pinkie possibly being a fire hazard. Those incidents were two months in the past, however, and Twilight hadn't given them a further thought until that instant. Otherwise, her life was as it usually was: reading, studying, writing to the Princess, and whatever adventures she ended up on with her five best friends. Satisfied, she nodded once and turned to Fluttershy once more. “I'm fine. There's nothing going on that's bothering me.” The pegasus gave her a look she'd never seen before – disbelief.
“Twilight, sometimes you don't tell us if something is wrong,” she said, her voice firm and gentle simultaneously. She also stood, walking over to stand with the unicorn before continuing. “Are you sure everything's okay? You've been staying in here a lot.”
She tilted her head for a moment, then started to laugh lightly. “Oh, I've been studying for a couple of exams coming up, that's all.” Confusion crept back onto her face as Fluttershy let out a whisper-quiet gasp. “What?”
The pegasus stood up straight and gave her friend a worried gaze. “Are the exams important?”
“All exams are important,” she replied, tilting her head. By the look in her eyes, the unicorn could tell she wanted a clearer answer than that. “These two aren't any more important than the others were, I guess?” she added, pinning an unsure inflection to her words. She watched as Fluttershy began to walk in circles around her. “Really! I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about.” The pegasus kept walking; her silence was beginning to introduce anxiety where none had been. “Is there? Is there something to worry about?”
“Um, if you say there isn't, there isn't,” she said, turning to face her friend as she swished her tail idly. “It's just that...well, sometimes you can overreact, and I worry about you when you get so tense.” She tacked on a faint 'sorry' to the end of her explanation, dropping her ears and frowning shyly.
This, of course, only served to make Twilight even uneasier. “Overreact? About what?” She peered at the pegasus as she started tapping her chin, gazing up at the ceiling as she mined her brain for an example.
Suddenly, her blue eyes lit up. “Oh! What about the time you caught on fire?”
Twilight's jaw dropped after she processed Fluttershy's statement, and it took more than a little effort to keep herself from flopping over onto her side with amazement. “The what?”
“The time you caught on fire,” the pegasus replied gently, approaching as slowly as she could with her wings spread in surprise. “Remember when you were following Pinkie Pie around? You got so angry after the hydra...thing...you burst into flames. I had the smell in my nose for two days afterward. You were terrifying.”
The unicorn was silent for a time, running over her almost flawless recollection of the day she attempted to slap an explanation on the power of Pinkie Pie. She noted being carpet bombed by Derpy's piano, plummeting head over hoof into the Apples' new cellar, and facing down the hydra that lived in the bog. Now that Fluttershy had brought it up, however, her final explosion of displeasure at the Pinkie Sense caused her mind to race with worry. She had caught on fire. In fact, she nearly exploded. Feeling a bit wobbly, she laid a foreleg across her face and sighed. “Yes, I remember. I guess that was something of an overreaction.”
“No kidding,” the pegasus agreed, nodding sagely. “Those health magazines the spa has say that stress is really bad for you. I wouldn't want you to get sick or anything.” Her glacial approach finally brought her to Twilight's side, and she placed a gentle leg across the unicorn's back. “Are y-you okay? You look a bit pale...”
“Fine!” the unicorn blurted out, causing Fluttershy to squeak with fear and withdraw. “Sorry. I'm fine, really!” Her nervous laughter did nothing to assure the pegasus, however, and the look on her face showed it. “Don't look at me like that, I'm fine, I promise. I was really upset at that moment,” she explained, trying to convince herself as much as anyone, “I think that was probably a one-time occurance.”
Fluttershy blinked, flapping her wings a bit to fan herself. “But what about the other time you caught on fire?”
“The what?!” Twilight's jaw again hit the floor.
The pegasus was gone in a smeared yellow flash of color, hiding under one of the fat pillows and peering out with fearful eyes. “Wh-wh-when you drank the hot sauce by accident!”
It took her a little longer to pull up this memory, one of her first in Ponyville. She managed to find it and analyzed it, blinking when she reached the impromptu party in the library. A grimace etched itself on her face at the part where she drank the hot sauce and went up like kindling. “Oh, right. I remember that.”
“I'd never seen that happen before,” Fluttershy said, feeling brave enough to emerge from her pillow armor and stand up again. “The smell was stuck in my mane for a week.”
Twilight's fear reached an entirely new level, and she began to pace under its weight. While she was confident that she could probably never lose her temper again like she had the day Pinkie drove her logic nuts, drinking hot sauce and catching on fire was a serious concern. It took all her inner strength to not engage in blind panic. After a minute, she heaved a powerful sigh and looked over at her friend. “Well, I don't like spicy stuff, and that was an accident.”
She nodded a little, moving over to stand with the unicorn once again. “Oh, yes. I'm just saying, I think you probably overreacted to that too, is all.”
“Maybe so...” Twilight glanced around, trying to slow down her mind before it ran itself ragged with anxiety. She finally settled on the wall clock and blinked. “Oh, I'd better start lunch.”
“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy murmured, turning back toward the door. “I should get back and make sure Angel hasn't broken into the kitchen cabinets...again.” That last word was tinged with just enough frustration to be apparent, but the shy pony hid it with a smile. “Goodbye, Twilight. Please try to relax, okay?”
“I'll do my best!” She saw the pegasus out and shut the door firmly with her magic. As she stared around, she unconsciously pressed herself against that door and started to pant. “Sure, relax, just relax...relax in a structure made entirely of flammable material!” she screeched lowly. Only one thing stopped her snowball of terror: the growling of her stomach. “M-maybe I should eat. That will help me calm down.” Nervously, she trotted toward the kitchen, all the while trying hard to steady her breathing.
The act of cooking lunch nearly broke her, and eating it was hardly better. Spike drowned his hay fries in hot sauce, as usual, and the mere sight of it caused the unicorn to feel lightheaded. She excused herself abruptly to hide in her bedroom, and on the way magically yanked several books from the shelves. These now lay in a pile at her side on the bed. One was opened, perched between her forelegs as her eyes tore through the text. Several more lay scattered on the wooden floor.
“It has to be in one of these stupid books!” she growled lowly. Her hope was fading, however. She'd already demolished the information in her books on loan from Canterlot's library without finding anything useful, and she found herself now reading the bulk of her basic magic texts. She'd been going for so long, the sun was almost done setting, but she pressed on. It was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. Once she'd dispensed with the book in her grasp, she set it aside and dropped her face into the purple blanket. “Nothing...I can't be the only one.” Her strained eyes demanded attention, and she rubbed them. “This isn't going to work.”
“Studying again, huh,” Spike had arrived, grinning as he trundled up the steps. “Geez, didn't we just sort all this stuff?”
“I'll get them when I'm done,” Twilight replied, still rubbing at her eyes. “I'm just trying to find an answer.”
“Does this have something to do with why you freaked out at lunch?” he asked while sliding into his basket bed. “'Cause you really freaked out.”
“No, I was just...never mind,” she sighed, spending a few seconds to blink the blurriness from her sight before looking over at the dragon. “I'm just a bit stressed out, is all.”
“Take a nap. Always works for me.” He punctuated his advice by lying down and getting comfortable. “I'm beat. Good night.” He turned over with a wave and left Twilight to stare at his back.
“Maybe you have a point,” she whispered, allowing her head to settle on her legs. “If I sleep, I can't be stressed out. And if I can't be stressed out...” She fell silent, grimacing at the image of herself on fire. “No no no, stop that. Sleep is good. Sleep is...sleep is calming...” She yawned, unable to stop her eyes from sliding shut. “Sleep is...” She couldn't even get the word out – it instead twisted into a strange snore as the unicorn went out like a light. All the tension in her shoulders departed, and for the first time all day she was at last calm.
Until the dreams started, that is.