Trust
Both Applejack and Twilight received a scolding for letting the food almost go to waste by Granny Smith. Big Mac just sat in his seat and ate silently, while Applebloom kept asking Twilight questions about her life in Canterlot. A.J just kept to herself only answering here there if Granny asked something or telling Applebloom to calm down and eat. Twilight had tried to talk to A.J once more after dinner when they returned to sort the apples but was just deflected with questions about her family instead. A.J was better at changing the subject at hoof than Twilight gave her credit for in the first place. The night went on uneventfully, and the Apple family plus their guest slept through the night.
Twilight was awoken by the sounds of the rooster going off in the field who signaled the start of a new morning. She was not used to getting up so early but adjusted nonetheless due to her study habits. She noticed that the room was empty other than herself as A.J had apparently gotten up earlier to either start working or avoid her. It didn't surprise her in the least as she still felt guilty for pushing a subject that A.J was adamant on avoiding. That, however, didn't mean she wouldn't keep trying to talk about it. It was evident to her that A.J was suffering because of the matter and according to everything, Twilight has read friends help each other through such problems.
"I have to show her how good of a friend I am, and for that to happen I have to make her open up to me enough to talk about such things."
Twilight brushed her mane and went downstairs to find everypony except A.J at the table eating breakfast. Mac gave her a cursory glance; Granny invited her to sit and piled food on her plate while Applebloom continued her barrage of questions from last night.
"So is it true that you hatched Spike all by yourself when you were mah age?"
"Well actually I was a bit younger than you are now, but yes that did happen. It was during my entrance exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."
"Wow, Twilight that must have been the best day of your life."
"Well, it sure was one of the best days of my life. It was the same day I got my cutie mark and became the personal student of the Princess…" She trailed off slightly, and a tinge of sadness could be caught in her eyes at the mention of Princess Celestia.
Big Mac caught it just in time and cleared his throat before putting away the dishes. Everypony looked at him, and he motioned for Twilight to follow him.
"Applebloom, it's time for your chores. Make sure to have them done before you leave for school. Granny I'll be at the east field today and have Twilight help me for a bit. Let A.J know where to find us once she's done feeding the hogs."
"Alrighty Big Mac, I'll let her know. Be sure to bring in our portion of apples to fill the pantry. Having an extra mouth to feed does make a difference, and I don't want to skimp out on hospitality."
"Yes, ma'am. Come on Twilight."
Twilight finished her last bit of apple pancakes and followed after Mac as he stepped outside. She stopped at the doorway and turned back before going further. "Granny Smith? If it's not too much trouble would it be alright if we talked about something later today?"
"Why sure sweetie, I'll make time before tonight's dinner, just be sure you're done with everything A.J and Mac have for you before then. Even if you are a guest, you still have to work if you want to eat around here."
"Got it, thank you, Granny Smith. I'll see you before dinner." She walked outside only to run into Mac immediately outside the door.
"What are you going to ask her?"
This was the second time the stallion was looming over her, the second time he had a threating tone in his voice, and the second time he eyed her with nothing short of suspicion. Twilight took a step back and looked as the stallion eased back a little to give her room.
"I was going to ask her about why Applejack won't talk about your parents. I figured that I should ask Granny Smith given how she's lived the longest and probably knows a lot more about it than anypony else…"
"Twilight… I've warned you once, and I'll do so again. If you're doing this just because of some need to fix whatever problem is in front of you, then you need to stop right now. I will throw you out regardless of what Granny or A.J say about it. Granny may be the one the farm is under and A.J may be the one ponies see as the icon for the farm, but be advised that I'm the one in charge of things around here. I'm the one that keeps things afloat, the one that knows the business better than A.J, the one that'll inherit the farm once Granny passes, and the one looking out for the family. So if you think I'll stand aside and watch you make my family into some experiment of yours just to satisfy the Princess, then you're even dumber than I initially thought."
"I'm not doing this for the Princess! I know that it looks bad considering what happened these past few months, but I swear I'm not trying to do this just to send a report to the Princess!"
"Are you sure about that Twilight? Can you honestly say that even if you never have the answer you're looking for; you'll back down enough to just let things be? That this whole week here with A.J is truly just for the two of you to get closer and not because you're studying friendship?"
"I... I…" Twilight stood still trying to gather her thoughts. It wasn't the first time she thought about writing to the Princess about the whole situation. She had wanted to send a letter first thing that morning but figured she would do it after her talk with Granny Smith. The only question that lingered was if she was doing all of this for A.J or herself. Did she only think of this as an attempt for a friendship report? Was she so obsessed with pleasing the princess? Surely, that couldn't be the case…
"I'm sure Big Mac. I'm doing this because I'm her friend. I want us to be closer and if doing this helps me do that then so be it."
Mac looked at her one last time and walked off to the east field, Twilight followed close behind. The walk was silent, and only nods and looks went between the two as they got the carts and baskets loaded. It was agonizing for Twilight as she was still thinking about what Mac had said to her before coming to the east field. She bucked trees for a good two hours before taking a break for water; she watched as Big Mac kept going at a pace much faster her; which was to be expected from the difference in experience.
"Hey Twi, sorry it took so long to get you. The hogs were a mite picky about what they wanted to eat today." A.J said as she came up behind Twilight resting underneath one of the trees she had successfully harvested.
"Oh! It's ok Applejack; I don't want you to change your way of doing things around the farm just for me. Besides, I think the exercise is good for me considering… you know."
"Yea, I can see it's doing you a bit of good. Helping with the bit of pudge you have." A.J poked at Twilight's barrel and laughed as the unicorn flushed with embarrassment.
"Applejack!"
"Oh calm down Twi, it's perfectly natural. Given the time you were holed up in that library I'm surprised you didn't come out a tad bigger."
Twilight's face scrunched, and she pushed A.J a bit. To which, A.J shoved back with the same force. They laughed about it for a while, and soon Twilight followed A.J to the well near the main barn. They waved goodbye to Big Mac and took one of the carts that were already full of packed baskets. When they reached the barn, they unloaded, and A.J left Twilight to sort them as she returned the cart to where Mac was still harvesting. Upon A.J's return, they finally started on the task for that day.
"Alright, the well is getting on in years and is barely holding together as it is. So what we're doing is replacing any of the stones and finding out what the water level is at compared to two years ago."
"Why two years ago?"
"That was the last time we had to fix the well. Usually, we do this at least once a year, but we didn't have the funds for the materials last year."
"Alright, let's get to work then."
They work kept them busy as it was delicate work to replace the stones without any tumbling into the water and contaminating it. Throughout the work Twilight couldn't help but feel as if she should at least try talking to A.J once more before the talk with Granny Smith. However, each time the thought came it went away just as quickly as Big Mac's words kept echoing in her mind. She decided against bringing it up again and kept to the task at hoof. All she wanted to know would be answered when she finally got to talk to Granny. Her question could wait until then.
As they set the last of the stones and made a record of the water level, they lay down to enjoy the brief rest.
"So… I hear from Mac that you want to talk to Granny. Any particular reason as to why?"
Twilight looked away from the gaze and swatted at some grass in front of her. "Oh, just to ask about the history of the farm and things like that."
A.J just stared at her a while longer before getting up and packing away the tools and extra materials back in the barn. "Twi, I want you to know that I trust you. Despite everything that has happened these past few months and yesterday. I want you to know that I've always been there for you and always will be."
"Applejack…"
"However, trust is something that can easily be lost… So please understand when I say that I hope all you do is ask about the farm..."
A.J turned to look at Twilight, and they shared a moment in silence as the wind picked up and blew through their manes. A.J pulled her hat down on her face and turned towards the east field.
"Granny told me that once you're done here to go to the house for that talk. I'll be helping Big Mac for the rest of the time so once you're done get us for dinner."
Twilight watched her walk away and felt like the biggest idiot in the world. She hadn't exactly lied to A.J when she said her questions were about the farm. She just didn't mention that the farm could also include its residents… past and present.
"I'm sorry A.J. I promise this will be the last time I do something like this."
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"Wow, you hatched Spike when you were my age?! That must have been a great day!"
"Yeah! I got my cutie mark and became the student of the Princess. Those were great things that happened that day."
"... What about hatching a person who's your permanent companion?"
"Oh. I guess that happened too."
Am I reading into this too much, though? Maybe this is not her taking Spike's hatching for granted and putting that the other stuff in her life is more important than him, and just how the conversation turns out... but given Twilight's hyperfocus on the Princess, I think it'd be consistent with Twilight to subtly be like "oh yeah! Spike hatching was important because he's just something that came with being the Princesses student and being part of me fulfilling my dreams, not like... a good thing on his own."
And, honestly, at this point I am having a hard time sympathizing with the Apples. Are they so sensitive they won't share an old tragedy with a supposedly close friend? And at this point, basically Twilight wanting anything other than to leave them alone will be characterized as "this is more about your obsession with the princess than me, isn't it?"
And even their reasons are a little cagey. They're not straight up saying "You can't talk about this it's too sensitive" and instead they're saying "if you talk about this it has to be for the right reasons, but we will basically tell you what your reasons are and not work to help figure it out."
I do know the solution to this lies outside of a flat idea that Twilight is doing it for "good" or "bad" reasons and telling her that they're wrong... If Twilight really is doing it for bad reasons, she won't be figuring that out on her own.
7223737
Wowee, that is certainly a critique. Well, to be honest, my train of thought for Twilight is more focusing on being the student instead of the other events that happened during the exam. I was slightly rushing the chapter though as I wanted to have something out after so long so that might also play a part into ignoring it. As for the Apples, it's more towards the fact of the mother that they avoid talking about since that was the original spark of the conflict. I have no doubt in my mind that the father is just as important, but with the way I want the story to develop I want the focus to be more on the events regarding the mother. Also, you're right on the whole "good" or "bad" point regarding Twilight. I'm putting the thoughts there since her character overthinks everything and those kinds of thoughts wouldn't be so strange. The only problem is that with racing thoughts come even more racing thoughts. So the solution is something that might be there in her mind, but that doesn't mean she'll be able to find it on her own.
Let me know if I missed anything, or if I didn't quite explain anything at all. I'm trying to explain it without spoiling a lot. Writing is indeed a lot harder than I originally thought. That's a good thing though as I'm really loving it the more I do it.
man twilight is walking a razor edge!she does not know when to pull back!i guestshe is going to learn the hard way!fantastic chapter! showing twilights emotions like you are , really makes me feel for her! outstanding writing! well done!
7224062
Seems like it's a pretty good bet for me reading too far into the Spike/Twilight thing, yeah.
I even went back and reread the prequel and while she's obviously obsessed with the Princesses reaction and it's hurting her relationship with Spike, it's not the kind of thing that's implying that she's taking Spike for granted.
Definitely me reading too far into it.
Twilight is going to lose a friend and get kicked off the farm, isn't she? She going to be stupid, isn't she? She was warned twice and she won't be warned a third. I am actually scared of reading the next chapter.
7229943 ditto