//------------------------------// // Trust and Tryst // Story: The Color of Royalty // by Darkryt Orbinautz //------------------------------// Hayseed entered Rarity’s house after going out and buying a bouquet, part of the long process of not only earning Rarity’s forgiveness, but also getting back into her good graces. Hayseed was perplexed when he returned to find all the lights off and the house dark. “Hello?” Hayseed called into the dark, empty house before flipping on the light switch. “Is anyone there?” Hayseed picked up on the sounds of sobbing, of depressed mares crying their hearts out. It sounded as if it was coming from below the house. Hayseed knew Rarity kept some fine drinks around, so he went to the wine cellar. The sounds of crying increased exponentially when he opened the door. “Hello?” Hayseed called into the cellar, light shining behind him as he descended down the stairs. There, laying on the floor with the social graces of homeless hobos, Hayseed found Applejack and Rarity sitting with their backs to a wine barrel, each of them crying and upset, taking turns pouring the other drinks into wine glasses as they drowned their sorrows. Applejack suffered in complete silence, the only sound she made when she popped off the cork of the wine bottle and clinked her glass, tears streaming down her face. Hayseed got the impression if he asked Applejack why she was crying, she would deny she was. Rarity, by contrast, wailed and wailed, a waterfall of tears gushing from her eyes as high-pitched noises escaped from her warbling mouth. “Er.” Hayseed said. “Could I ask what you two ladies are doing down here?” “Isn’t it obvious?” Rarity asked, pouring herself another drink and gulping it down. “We’re turning to alcohol to cover our pain! Oh, we’re so upset!” Rarity brought her hoof over forehead. “Okay.” Hayseed said, “Mind if I ask why you two ladies are upset?” Applejack said nothing, staring off into space. “It’s Twilight,” Rarity said. “You know my dear friend Applejack has been nursing a big crush on her for some time.” “Uh, yes, I do believe we discussed that.” “And then when Applejack went to confess …” Rarity whined. “Twilight broke her heart! Just grabbed it out of her chest and crushed it into pieces in her cold, iron-clad Princess hoof! She yanked it out and shattered it!” Rarity grabbed Hayseed by the chest. “Shattered it, I tell you!” “Eh, yes, I heard you the first time.” “You see, it turns out… Twilight Sparkle... doesn’t like girls that way!” Rarity said. “And what’s worse, Twilight didn’t even have the gall to stick around to survey the aftermath of her carnage! She said her piece, and then she left before Applejack could say anything or cry for help!” “Calm down, Rarity.” Applejack said, breaking her long silence. “It wasn’t that bad. Sure, it didn’t go the way I hoped... ” Applejack gave a contemplative stare to her wine. “And sure, I won't deny that I'm hurtin', and taking it pretty hard. But y’all are making it sound like she went out of her way to hurt me. Twilight … wasn’t prepared to hear what I had to say, and she did her best to get out of a bad situation, that’s all.” “No.” Rarity shook her head, resting against the wine barrel. “I’m afraid it’s not quite simple as that, Applejack. I simply cannot forgive Twilight for rebuffing you after you’ve pined away for her for so long.” “What?” Applejack said. “Are y’all saying she should love me back just because I loved her for a long time without telling her? Rarity, that’s not fair to Twilight, and you know it’s not. This isn’t one of your romance novels where everything turns out okay in the end, this is … life.” Applejack slumped back, staring into her wine again. “And things don’t always go the way you want them to in life. And all you can do … is accept it and move on.” Applejack looked upwards, remembering other losses of hers. Lost chances, missing opportunities. “Or get stuck living in the past.” “I can’t accept it,” Rarity said, jumping to her hooves. “I won’t accept it!” Rarity tossed her wine glass aside, and it flew across the room before falling on the floor and shattering. “Rarity! Be careful with those things.” Hayseed said. Rarity’s walk was staggered, but she was able to make her way up the stairs. “Where are you going?” Hayseed asked. “I’m going to go give Twilight Sparkle a piece of my mind!” Rarity announced. “Rarity, you’re half-drunk!” Applejack protested. “Only half! Hic!” Rarity responded, stumbling on the steps, but recovering. “I’ll be sober by the time I get there!” “Oh…” Applejack groaned, placing a hoof on her face. “Doggone it, Rarity. Why do you have to be so gosh-darned stubborn?” Hayseed crossed his legs. “Well, Ma, I do believe I’m bearing witness to a pot calling a kettle black.” Applejack chuckled. “Heh. True. Y’all want to join me?” Applejack gestured her cup to the wine bottle. “Truth be told, I think I ought to take that away from you.” Hayseed said. “Yeah, probably.” Applejack admitted. “I’ll just take this bottle here then.” Hayseed lifted up the bottle. “But I know you’re upset, so I’ll leave you be. Stay as long as you’d like. I’ll clean up after you once you’re done.” “Thanks.” Applejack said. She lifted the glass to her face. “Think I’ll finish this one off and then just… lie down here in the dark and feel sorry for myself.” “Whatever you’d like.” Hayseed said as he deposited the wine bottle. He started going up the stairs. “Just as long as you don’t drink all our alcohol.” Hayseed winked at her. Applejack smiled at him. Hayseed exited and closed the door to the cellar, leaving Applejack in the dark, where she was free to do exactly as she said she would and flopped down on her back, sobbing softly into the darkness. “Twilight! Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity knocked with a hoof of fury on Twilight’s door. “I need to talk to you!” Twilight opened the door. “Oh. Hey, Rarity. What’s up?” “Twilight Sparkle, I need to talk with you about a matter of grave importance and urgency.” Rarity informed her while keeping a professional attitude. Twilight’s ears flopped down, knowing what Rarity meant. “Oh. You want to talk about Applejack, huh?” Twilight lowered her head and shrank back. “Yes, indeed,” Rarity answered. “It was unfair of you to leave her like that. Don’t you know that Applejack has been wasting away, pining for you? Don’t you understand the seriousness, the consequences of what you did last night? It was completely unfair and totally brutish of you! I expected better of you, Twilight.” “Oh, gee, Rarity, Twilight said, her ear twitching. “Thank you, thank you so much for the lecture. I badly needed that. Boy, did I need a reality check! I mean, it’s not like I understand what’s going on.” Twilight stepped out of the house, walking with a tense posture which unnerved Rarity, prompting the latter to back away. “After all, it would be unreasonable to expect that I’m fully aware of what I’ve done and what the effect it’s going to have on my friend is. I mean, it’s not like I’m a mature, functioning adult pony and a Princess who gets called away om diplomatic missions and who understands the importance of every little gesture one makes.” “Well, I …” Rarity said. “I hadn’t thought of that.” “Let me ask you a question, Rarity.” Twilight said. “Do you really think I don’t know what’s going on here? Do you think I’m not fully aware of the consequences of my actions? Do you think I’m one of the villains from your romance novels, deliberately playing with and manipulating Applejack’s emotions, preying on her feelings for me like an abusive boyfriend?” Twilight Sparkle rose up into the air and hovered over Rarity, her wings beating furiously, her hooves outstretched as if they were talons and Twilight was a raven sent here to kill her. “YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW I JUST BROKE MY BEST FRIEND’S HEART?” Twilight turned around and went back inside, slamming the door. “Well, I, uh… no?” Rarity answered, fear delaying her ability to process and register the fact Twilight had already gone. "Huh." Rarity turned and left the library grounds. Discord and Celestia went to the restaurant Discord had spoken about for an early dinner. They dressed formally, Discord in a tuxedo and Celestia in a dark blue nightgown which seemed black at a glance. After the waiter took their order and served their drinks, Celestia stared into her cup. “You’re awfully quiet this evening,” Discord said. “Huh?” Celestia asked, jolted back to reality. “Oh, I’m sorry, Discord. I was just thinking.” “Thinking about what?” Discord asked. “Spike.” Celestia said. “Ugh.” Discord waved his hand. “Don’t talk to me about that loser. Bleh.” Discord stuck his tongue out. “You’re just mad because I went out with him before even thinking about giving you a second chance.” “Well, yes!” Discord said, throwing his claws in the air and raising up from his seat. Ponies in the restaurant stared at their table. Discord noticed them and realized he was drawing unwanted attention to himself. “Okay, Discord. Remember what Fluttershy taught you.” Discord took in a deep breath and sat back down. Discord picked up his fork, idly twiddling it in his claws. “Let’s say, in a hypothetical universe somewhere, wherein I wanted to be mature for a change, and I decided to ask you what you’re thinking in regards to Spike.” Discord set the fork down and placed his hands beneath his chin. “What would you say?” “I would say… hypothetically speaking, of course…” “Of course.” “Was it wrong of me to rush out on him?” Celestia asked, turning her gaze back to her cup. “Should I have been more patient with him? Given him more of a chance than I did? We all make mistakes sometimes, after all.” Discord took a sip of his cup while pursing his lips, an impressive feat of dental control. “Well, I can’t answer that for you. You know what my answer to that would be.” Discord placed the cup down. “Hypothetically, that is.” Celestia lifted her head up. “And what, pray tell, would your answer be?” “My answer would be for you to leave him.” Discord said. “To leave him in the dust and… and come back to me.” Celestia sighed. “Discord… you know it would never work between us. It couldn’t work between us. It didn’t work between us. It still won’t.” “Well, why not?” Discord demanded, slamming his fist on the table. “We’ve both matured. We’ve both grown up since then. We can work on what went wrong and fix it, can’t we? A thousand years is enough for a guy to change, isn’t it?” Celestia laid her head down on the table and groaned. “Ugh, Discord…” Discord swiveled his head around, taking notice of a waiter passing by. “Excuse me, waiter!” Discord waved a talon over at the waiter, who approached Discord with visible fear. “We ordered some food and a dessert some time ago,” Discord said, leaning towards the waiter. “Where is it?” “Uh, there has been a delay, sir.” The waiter said. “We were... out of strawberries for your dessert, so we had to go out and buy some more.” “No strawberries?” Discord said. “No strawberries? Are you telling me the complete lack of any indication of our order arriving is due to a lack of strawberries?” “Uh … yes.” The waiter answered, shaking in fear of Discord’s leering eyes. The waiter was convinced he had just signed a warrant for his own death by answering, but he consoled himself: At least he would die in service to his duty as a waiter. “Well, that makes me very upset.” Discord said. “And do you know who I am?” “You are, eh, Discord, Spirit of Chaos,” the waiter answered. “So you do know who I am,” Discord said. He grabbed the waiter by the back of his shirt and lifted the waiter up, raising up his other hand, which was glowing yellow with magic. “So you know bad things happen when I get upset!” “Discord.” Discord looked to see Celestia narrowing her eyes and glaring at him. “Put. The waiter. Down.” Celestia said. “It’s not his fault the chef can’t do his job and keep track of his supplies properly.” Discord, his mouth making a guilty expression, lowered the waiter to the floor. “I’m terribly sorry about that.” Celestia said to the waiter. She levitated out a small number of bits to the waiter. “Here. Take this for your trouble.” The waiter held up the bits in his hoof, delight showing on his features. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all, Your Majesty!” The waiter bowed and left, shaking the coins in his hoof. “I got a tip from Princess Celestia!” The waiter exclaimed to himself. In this case, who was doing the tipping was more important than what the monetary value of the tip was. “That.” Celestia said. “What?” Discord asked. “That right there is the answer to your question. That is why it won’t work between us.” Celestia said. “You can’t just go around threatening and intimidating ponies when things don’t go the way you want them to. And what if I hadn’t been here to intervene? You would have torn the whole restaurant to the ground. It seems a thousand years in stone has done nothing to cool your temper.” Discord said nothing, sadly looking away and acknowledging she was right. Celestia looked downwards. She lifted her head back up. “I’ll stay here until we finish dessert, and then I’m going to go see Spike. I’m going to give him one chance to fix his mistake.” Celestia looked at the platter as the staff brought out their food and set it on the table. “We all deserve a chance to fix our mistakes.” Discord looked shamefully away, rubbed his hands together awkwardly, and they ate. Spike sat down by the river, despondent, his arms curled around his legs. A bolt of rainbow colors flew in and performed a loop before landing by Spike’s side. “Hey, Rainbow Dash.” Spike said, briefly glancing at her. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, you know. I was flying around the neighborhood when I heard this noise. It sounded like a young dragon screaming about why he was so stupid.” Rainbow Dash turned to Spike with a cheeky grin. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” “You heard that, huh?” Spike lifted his head. “Yep.” Rainbow Dash picked up a stone. She bounced it on her hoof a few times before tossing it and skipping the stone on the water. “So, tell me. What’s got you down, kid?” “I did something really stupid.” Spike said. “What’d you do?” Spike sighed. “I… I heard the news that Hayseed’s business had crashed. I thought, since that meant Hayseed wasn’t a rich pony anymore, that might mean Rarity would dump him, and I would have a chance to woo her… and I said all of that in earshot of Princess Celestia. Who I was dating.” “Ooh,” Rainbow Dash said. “You probably shouldn’t have done that. That wasn’t very nice of you.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, for telling me things that I already know.” Spike sighed. “And then Celestia told Rarity, and Rarity got upset at me for thinking of her like that.” “Well, she’s got you there.” Rainbow Dash bounced another stone on her hoof. “You probably shouldn’t have.” Dash skipped the stone. “I know,” Spike said, drawing his head into his knees. “I should have known better. I should know Rarity better than that…” Spike curled up, letting out a chorus of groaning. Rainbow Dash watched the flow of the river before blinking and moving her eyes towards Spike. “Should you?” Spike’s head perked up. “What?” “Should you have known better than that, really?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’m going to play draconequus’ advocate here for a second. It was wrong of you to make that assumption. But was it really a wrong assumption?” “I don’t follow.” Spike said. “Rarity is pretty materialistic, sure, but she’s not that shallow.” Rainbow Dash said. “There’s more depth to her than that. But if you were a stranger from out of town, and you went to her house and looked around, would you really get that impression at first glance? She’s fashion-conscious, materialistic, and likes gems and things. So if you didn’t know her… wouldn’t you think she’d be the type of mare who would dump a guy for not having money?” “But that’s just the thing!” Spike said, tensing his claws. “I do know her! I’ve known for years! I’m a close friend of hers! I should have known better than that.” “You should have.” Rainbow Dash said. “And you’re gonna have to own up to that.” Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky. “Listen… if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all the times I crashed into something, it’s this.” Spike looked up at her, expecting a nugget of wisdom from Rainbow Dash’s life of risky stunts. “The Wonderbolts are the coolest thing ever.” Spike narrowed his eyes, not amused in the least. “Hahaha!” Rainbow Dash, however, got a chuckle from it. “But, no, seriously, though… if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this. We make mistakes.” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, preparing to take off. “My advice to you would be… get over it.” “Okay. But… how?” Spike asked. “I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe start with apologizing to Rarity.” “Why Rarity?” “Uh, because she’s the one you’re not dating?” “Good point.” “Go buy her something. Something nice. Maybe some chocolates in a heart-shaped box.” Spike chuckled. “I think Hayseed might see that as a bit aggressive.” Spike climbed to his feet. “Thanks, Rainbow Dash. I feel a lot better now.” “Don’t mention it. Any time.” Spike waved as Rainbow Dash flew off, a streak of colors ripping through the sky. Applejack returned to the pub where she had taken Twilight Sparkle. She trudged along the hard floor and crawled onto a bar stool. Almost limp, she let her head drop down onto the counter. Applejack wanted to leave the building, come back with a plastic dummy made to resemble Twilight Sparkle’s image, and prop it up on the stool next to her. She wanted to pretend they were still laughing and enjoying themselves as they had last night. She wanted to pretend the good times had never ended, they never left, and the confession - and subsequent rejection - never happened. “Howdy, Applejack! Fancy meetin’ you here.” “Wha?” Applejack brought her head up to see a headband-wearing Cherry Jubilee sitting on the stool next to her. “Oh! Hey there, Cherry Jubilee. What are y’all doing here?” “I’m in Ponyville for a business transaction.” Cherry Jubilee said. “Thought I’d stop by for a drink. Didn’t expect to find you here.” “Yeah, well… what can I say?” Applejack said, resting her head on her hooves. “I’ve not been having a great day.” “Is that so? I’m sorry to hear that.” Cherry Jubilee said. She glanced across the counter. “You know… if it makes you feel better… I didn’t think I would, but after you left Dodge Junction… I missed you. I missed having you around.” “That’s nice, I guess,” Applejack said. “I’m flattered, Cherry Jubilee, but I got folks who depend on me here in Ponyville. I can’t leave them.” Cherry Jubilee narrowed her eyes. She put a hoof to her mouth and coughed. “Applejack, I don’t think you’re quite understanding me. I said, after you left Dodge Junction…” Cherry snaked her leg around Applejack’s neck. “I missed you.” Cherry whispered into Applejack’s ear. Applejack caught wise and finally pieced together Cherry Jubilee was flirting with her. Sweat formed and ran down Applejack’s head. What would Twilight think? Think now, Applejack. What would Rarity say in a situation like this? She’d know. “Why, Cherry!” Applejack said. “You haven’t even bought me a drink yet.” “I can fix that.” Cherry Jubilee said with a wink. “What do you usually drink?” “Uh… uh… I… uh…” Applejack stammered. “Tell you what.” Cherry Jubilee said. “Since y’all seem to be so tongue-tied, why don’t I share with you what I usually drink? Barkeep! Two malt whiskeys.” “Coming up.” The barkeep said. “Now, where were we?” Cherry Jubilee asked, leaning towards Applejack. “Why don’t we go to the part where you tell me more about yourself? We didn’t talk much at the cherry orchard, what with you being my employee and all.” “Well, I, uh…” Applejack stuttered. “Gosh, I don’t even know where to start.” “Start wherever you like,” Cherry said. “Well…” Applejack said, her eyes rolling up as she trailed her words. “I was born and raised on Sweet Apple Acres… I’ve lived there all my life, working on the chores year-round with my big brother while taking care of and raising my little sister into a fine young filly - until the day Twilight Sparkle came into my life. Then, I started travelling all around Equestria. In the spring, we sell cider to the good folk of Ponyville so we can afford to keep our farm afloat in the winter when the crops don’t grow… we make Zap Apple Jam when the Zap Apples are in season, and my granny is partly responsible for the founding of Ponyville. I guess that’s about it for me. What about you?” "You've got quite a lot in there, Applejack. I can't say I get up to much." Cherry braced a humble hoof against her chest. "I took over my cherry business from my family when I was of age, and I mostly just sat there in Dodge Junction and ran the business, occasionally going to the rodeo every year when I could… where I first met you, Applejack." Cherry gave Applejack a flirty glance. "Yeah." Applejack took a swig of her drink. "Probably not my best first meetin' with somepony. I was down on my spirits since I didn't win any prize money, so when we got to talking and you mentioned needing employees, I signed right up." "I remember." Cherry smiled. Applejack took a large swig of her drink before setting it down on the table. "Say … this here malted whiskey stuff isn't too bad. Barkeep! Another one of these!" Applejack raised the mug to show it. The barkeep nodded and got her order ready. Cherry Jubilee chuckled nervously. The barkeep pushed the finished mug towards Applejack, sliding it across the table. Applejack lifted her first mug up and worked on finishing it, while Cherry reached over and stole the refill from under her. "Why don't we split the alcohol content a little?" Cherry asked. "After all, we wouldn't want either of us to get so drunk we couldn't walk home." Cherry took a light sip of the malted whiskey before setting it back down in front of Applejack. Time passed, with Cherry watching Applejack in silence as Applejack worked on finishing her drink, Cherry on occasion taking a light sip of her own. "Cherry …" Applejack wobbled in her seat. "Thank y'all for being here and talking to me and trying to cheer me up. Really gave me a bright spot in my dark nights." "You are most welcome." Cherry Jubilee put a hoof on Applejack's back. "Now, could I ask you to be a gentlepony and walk me home? Oh, if you're feeling alright, that is." "I'm fine." Applejack pushed her stool away from the bar counter. "Are y'all kidding? Please. You've done me a right bit of good tonight, Cherry. I'll walk you home. It's the least I can do to repay you for all the talking we did… and for the drinks." "Speaking of which, let me settle our tab before we go…" Cherry Jubilee paid the tab and walked out of the bar with Applejack. They stumbled on their way, beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. Applejack walked Cherry Jubilee up to her hotel and accompanied her up the stairs to her room. Applejack stayed by Cherry's side while Cherry took out the key to her hotel room and unlocked the door. Cherry stopped before opening it. "Applejack?" Cherry turned to her. "Would you mind… accompanying me inside? Just for a minute?" "S-sure." Applejack nodded. She stumbled in after Cherry, who herself lost her balance and flailed around before recovering and getting back her balance, flashing a smile at Applejack and pretending that didn't happen. Cherry pursed her lips. She walked up to her bed. "Applejack? Would ... you … join me on the bed?" Applejack's eyes widened. "Cherry Jubilee, are y'all askin' me what I think you're askin' me?" Cherry’s eyes shifted. “I guess there’s no hiding it anymore. Yes, Applejack, I am. You don’t have to say yes, but I wanted to ask you… You don’t have to if you don’t want to, so if you’d rather not…” Applejack narrowed her eyes. She thought about it for a minute. "You know what? I've had a rough couple of days. I could use a little more cheering up. I'm fine with it. Yes." "Yes?" Cherry asked, not expecting Applejack to answer in positive. "Yeah! Let's do it!" “Are you sure?” Cherry asked. “We’ve both been - hic - drinking a little bit... the last thing I would want would be to take advantage of you.” “I’m fine,” Applejack insisted. “I’m barely - hic - tipsy.” Even though her leg gave out from under her for no discernible reason. “Let’s do it!” Cherry laid back on the bed, smiling. Applejack leaped on, and the two of them scrambled under the covers. Having finished dessert with Discord, Celestia arrived at and knocked on the door to Twilight’s library. “Spike? Spike, are you in there? I want to talk to you.” Celestia grew worried when, instead of Twilight or Spike replying from inside, there was a boom, a crash, and a shine of colorless light from the library windows. Celestia threw the door open, slamming it against the wall. “Is everything alright?” Twilight Sparkle shifted through her books, levitating one with her magic and flipping through it before rejecting it and tossing it over her shoulder. “No. No. No! Ugh, none of these are useful!” “Twilight?” “Sorry, Princess,” Twilight said. “I don’t have time to talk to you right now. I need to find a solution to my problem with Applejack.” “Problem?” “She’s in love with me,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But I’m not in love with her, and… I’m… not of the same… orientation.” Celestia watched as Twilight Sparkle dove headfirst into a pile of books, burying herself in the mound of tomes. “So far, none of these books have anything useful in them, though!” Twilight complained, popping her head out of the pile and tossing books out of it as she deemed each one unhelpful. “There must be something I can do! I know! I’ll find a spell to change orientations and make myself a lesbian! Or I’ll turn Applejack into a stallion! No, I’ll open a portal to an alternate dimension and bring a doppelganger of myself who’s compatible for Applejack to date here! No, better idea! I’ll make a clone of myself, who is identical to me in every way, except I’ll use my magic to make her a lesbian, and she can date Applejack, and then we can all be happy!” Twilight ground her teeth and tugged at her ears, a book falling over one of her eyes. “Well…” Celestia wrapped her legs together. “From what I’ve heard, it’s certainly a better plan than any other you’ve come up with so far.” Twilight Sparkle let out a sigh. “Damned by faint praise.” “I’m afraid so, yes.” Celestia walked over the book pile. “What do I do?” Twilight asked. “I don’t want to lose her. She’s my friend. One of my best friends... but I don’t love her. Not that way. I don’t want to ruin our friendship …” “Twilight.” Celestia said. She sat down and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, brushing the book off Twilight’s head. “Has it ever occurred to you that Applejack might be afraid of the same thing? That the reason it took her so long to come forward with her feelings for you was because sh e didn’t want to risk your friendship either? That she didn’t want to lose you as a friend, so she suffered her crush in silence instead of doing anything which might upset the delicate balance of your relationship?” “No.” Twilight answered sheepishly. “I assure you, Twilight. Applejack is just as afraid of losing your friendship as you are of losing hers.” Celestia said. Celestia stood up. “You need to go have to a talk with Applejack about this. There’ll be no way for either of you to move forward until you acknowledge your problems and talk them out, so you can bury them and both move on with your lives.” “Thanks, Princess.” Twilight said, smiling. “Oh, and, uh, I heard about what happened. Just … give Spike one more chance, okay? He’s still learning.” Celestia smiled back. “I intend to, Twilight. Don’t worry. I will.” Acting on Princess Celestia's advice, and her faith in her mentor renewed, Twilight sent a letter out to Applejack, inviting her to meet on the bridge where they had parted ways... where Applejack had confessed. “Oooh…” Applejack groaned, rising up from under the covers and rubbing her head. “What happened?” Cherry emerged from the covers and crossed her hooves in a huff. “I thought you said you were barely tipsy and ‘fine’?” “I was still drinkin’, Cherry. Alcohol’s not good for you, even in little doses.” Applejack made her way off the bed. “Ooh… What did I just do? Did I really just do that?” “Hmph.” Cherry turned away. “I believed you when you said you were fine… fine enough to make this decision, at least. Maybe I shouldn’t have… I probably shouldn’t have.” Cherry sighed. “Truth be told, I probably wanted this too much to listen to my head and give you the time you needed to get the alcohol out of your system and clear your head… and after I told you I didn’t want to take advantage of you… ” “No, no,” Applejack said. “It was my decision. I made it, and I was self-aware when I made it. I remember makin’ it, don’t I? Any regret I have should be on my head, because I shouldn’t have made the decision in the first place.” A sliver of green fire made its way inside the hotel room, winding its way under the door and floating up to in front of Applejack, where it changed into a piece of parchment. “What’s this?” Applejack asked, taking the parchment in her hoof. She unfurled and read it. Her eyes widened, and she dropped the letter. “Oh, sweet cinnamon apples. I’m sorry, Cherry Jubilee. I have to go now. I need to tell Twilight. Ooh… how am I ever gonna explain this to her? I’m sorry, Cherry. We’ll talk soon. Bye!” Applejack ran out the door, leaving Cherry by herself and feeling rather cold. “Hmph.” Applejack arrived first, pacing nervously around. She stiffened up at the sound of hooves creaking on the wooden bridge. “Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed as Twilight Sparkle walked up the bridge. “Man, am I glad to see you. I got something I need to talk to y’all about.” Applejack brought her hat over her chest. “Of course,” Twilight said. “After all, talking it out is an important part of the process of moving on.” “Uh-huh, yeah.” Applejack chuckled nervously. “About that moving on, Twi …” Twilight raised an eyebrow and leaned her neck. “Yes?” “I thought you ought to know… y’all deserve to know, I…” Applejack said. “I went back to the pub. You know, where we went to eat? And… Cherry Jubilee was there. She bought me a drink and we got to talking…” “Wait,” Twilight said. “She bought you a drink? Wouldn’t that mean...” “I’m getting to that,” Applejack said. “We were talking, having a good time, and, well… One thing led to another, and I…” Twilight kept her gaze leveled and focused on Applejack. “I slept with her, Twilight,” Applejack admitted. “I went back to her hotel room, and I slept with her.” “Oh my gosh!” Twilight said. “Are you okay? Did she hurt you? Do I need to tell Celestia?” “No, no.” Applejack shook her head. “It wasn’t like that, Twilight. I… I knew what I was doin’, even if I had a little voice in the back of my head tellin’ me to stop. I went to her room and… I had sex with her. I figured you should know, that I should be the first one that you heard it from, so I… I confess and I admit it. I own up to that.” Twilight glared at Applejack. She turned her head aside, her lips contorting as a rush of emotions surged through her. “But it didn’t mean anything, Twi, I swear!” Applejack yelled. “We were just both slightly buzzed and not thinkin’ about what we were doin’!” Twilight began shaking. responded with something Applejack wasn’t expecting; laughter. Twilight responded with unsettling, delirious laughter until her eyes watered. Applejack, unnerved, backed away. “Hahahaha … wow. Do you really that’s the problem?” Twilight dabbed at a hoof at her eyes. “Wow… I… I can’t believe this. I - I knew I upset you. I knew what I said broke your heart. But I didn’t realized I had… broken you.” “What?” Applejack stepped back, lifting a hoof. “I admired you, Applejack. Maybe you weren’t always the most thoughtful, but you were still a moral pony. An honest pony, a pony with principles. I know I said something you really didn’t want to hear. I know I - I broke your heart. But I thought I knew you. I admired you, because I thought- I thought you were strong. Stronger than this. And that I broke you so badly… that you resorted to dishonest, cheap, drunken pity sex with a pony you only barely know like a hormonal teenager… what have I done?” Twilight shook her head, tears still dripping from eyes as disappointment twinkled inside them. “I’m sorry. I can’t handle this right now. W-When we’re both ready to-to sit down and talk ab-about this like adults, you can… find me on this - this stupid bridge.” Twilight displayed her anger by pounding a hoof on the floorboard. “I’ll… I’ll talk to you later, Applejack.” Twilight turned and walked from the bridge, sniffing as she prepared a teleport spell. “Twilight, wait!” Applejack reached a hoof out, unable to stop Twilight from disappearing in a flash. “Oh, no…” Applejack groaned, putting her hat back on and pulling it down over her eyes. “This is just like last night. Time loop. It’s a time loop. I am stuck in some kind of time loop!” Applejack fell to her knees, raising her front hooves and shaking them in anger. She looked up and saw the moon staring down at her. The moon. The cold, impassive moon, shining like a jewel up in the sky. The one constant companion Applejack had had from start to finish, the beginning of her crush all the way up to the crushing of her heart. The moon had always been there for, but in the moment, all Applejack wanted to do was pass the blame. “This is all your fault, ya hear?” Applejack shouted, shaking a hoof at the moon. “I don’t know how, but it’s your fault! I don’t know how, but maybe you give me this crush on Twilight Sparkle! Maybe y’all used your lunar rays to mess with my head, and now it’s your fault she keeps leaving me alone at night! I don’t know how, but it’s your fault!” Applejack collapsed to her knees again. “Your fault…” Applejack whispered, tears dripping off her face. The earth rumbled. Thunderclouds formed in the sky where there were none before, booming and clapping, banging on their drums of electricity. The coldest wind howled by, blowing Applejack’s tears off her face. Shadows swirled and swam around on the surface of the moon, before consolidating together and taking the shape of the other Equestrian Princess, mistress of the moon, walker of dreams, Princess Luna. “I beg your pardon?!” Princess Luna screamed, staring down at Applejack. Applejack stood there with her eyes wide in shock, her mane and tail blowing in the wind, having to hold her hat down with her hoof to keep it from blowing away. “Oh, hay bales.”