Restlessness
The next morning Applejack had woken up before Twilight, a natural habit of working the farm. She lay in bed, watching her marefriend sleep. It was oddly relaxing.
There were two things on her mind. The first was the matter that Greenhooves had talked to her about yesterday. It had faded as she had enjoyed an evening with Twilight, but those thoughts were starting to creep back.
The second, more immediate concern, was Spike. The little dragon was bothered by the relationship, though she wasn’t sure why. He seemed mature enough to accept it even if he didn’t like it, but it was still something she was hoping that she could smooth over.
She tried thinking back to her previous interactions with Spike, wondering if it could be possible she could have gotten on Spike’s bad side. She couldn’t think of any reason why. The only conclusion she could come to was that this was a typical case of a child not liking to have to share a parent.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Twilight stirring. She opened her eyes, looking deep into Applejack’s.
“Morning,” she said.
“Mornin’.”
Twilight stretched, sitting up. “What time is it... ten minutes before the alarm went off,” she sighed. She stretched out, allowing her wings to breathe.
“Guess you’re gonna be busy today.”
“Yeah. I’ll meet you for lunch, then when Night Court starts I’m off. We can sit down with Spike and have that long overdue chat.”
Applejack nodded. She wasn’t looking forward to actually doing it, but she knew it needed to be done.
“Well, first things first, breakfast. What do ya say we get down to the dining hall and rustle up some grub.”
Breakfast had been a nice affair. They sat next to Blueblood, who asked them about Rarity's current health. She’d be visiting herself soon, and he was trying to decide what to get her as a gift.
Applejack was grateful this wasn’t a formal meal, because she didn’t have to remember every little minutia. She leaned down, taking a bite of the breakfast hay.
There was a giggle. She looked up, trying to see where it came from. She found nothing. Nopony was paying much attention to her.
She suddenly felt nervous again. She flashed back to the dinners at her aunt and uncle’s as a filly. Once the thrill wore off, she felt constricted on all the things she had to do. She remembered the looks the rich friends had given her. She remembered overhearing the suggestions that she be sent to finishing school so she didn’t make a scene.
And she never could figure out what she was doing wrong. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember every little detail.
She was starting to see Rarity’s point.
She went back to eating. She took another bite and tried to tune out anything else.
“Applejack?”
Applejack looked at her girlfriend. “Yeah?”
“Are you alright? You seemed a little zoned out.”
“Yeah. Sorry, sugarcube, I was just thinking.”
“Well, do you think Rarity would like this?” Blueblood pushed something past Twilight to Applejack. She looked.
It was a fancy broach. To her, it didn’t really look like anything special. In fact, she thought it was pretty gaudy. Which meant Rarity would probably love it.
“I can’t keep track of what that gal finds fashionable,” she said. “But I’m sure she’ll love it.”
He grinned. “I thought so. I was just hoping to get her something nice. It’s so hard to keep things up when we both have such large workloads.”
Applejack nodded. Rarity was a busy mare, it was something she had respected her for even before they had truly become friends, that night at Twilight’s house. Dating Blueblood had caused her business to expand. She was already talking about opening shops in Canterlot and Manehatten. Her visit soon would not be entirely for pleasure.
“I understand. Even at home we had a hard time making that girl leave her work.”
“Speaking of work, I think we better get to it,” Twilight said. “We need to look over those trade deals with the buffalo.” She turned to Applejack. “Are you going to be fine for a few hours?”
“Relax, Twi, I can keep myself occupied.”
Applejack glanced at the clock. It had only been an hour.
She sighed, putting aside her copy of Daring Do. She had tried getting into the series to have something to share with Twilight, but they just weren’t grabbing her. She was still managing a chapter a day, mainly to have something to do.
She sighed. No farm work at home, next to nothing to do here.
Mainly for something to do, she went down to the library. She browsed the shelves, looking for something interesting. Nothing popped.
She went back to Twilight’s chambers. On a whim, she cracked open one of Twilight’s books, but didn’t understand half the words in them.
She went for a walk. She found herself in the garden again. She could at least enjoy some nature.
She looked around for Mr. Greenhooves, hoping she could at least strike up a conversation. No such luck; whatever he was doing, he wasn’t tending the ground at the moment. The animals were giving her a wide berth, as usual. So she was alone.
She passed by the hedge maze and felt a shiver. Even now, that maze brought up unpleasant memories. She felt uncomfortable knowing that Discord was free, even if he seemed to be behaving himself at the moment.
She didn’t know how long she had wandered before she was interrupted. “Hello there.”
Applejack turned and found herself facing an Earth Pony that she didn’t know, but recognized by appearance. She had seen her in passing, at the Gala and at Fancypants’s party.
“Um, hello,” Applejack said.
“You are Princess Twilight’s consort, aren’t you?”
She didn’t like that term, but still answered. “Yes, Applejack, of Apple Family Farms. Who are you?”
“I’m High Society,” the mare said.
“Yes, I can tell, but what’s your name?”
The pony sighed, apparently used to this. “No... that’s my name,” she said.
“Oh, uh... sorry.”
“Happens all the time,” the mare waved it off. “I was hoping to speak to you.”
Applejack was hesitant. She knew that there was only a 50-50 chance that this conversation would be a pleasant one. “”What did you want to talk about?”
“Have you ever heard of Fancypants?”
It was an absolutely ridiculous question. Everypony had heard of him. He was a business pony that had the political clout of a prince and the generosity of an Alicorn.
“Yeah... I’ve met him before.” She decided to keep quiet on how that disastrous party went.
“I’ve been placed in charge of organizing his latest party,” she explained. “We’ll be raising bits to support Helping Hooves.”
Applejack had heard of the charity before, but only had a vague idea of what they did. Really hoping to avoid revealing her ignorance, she settled on the most neutral response she could think of: “Uh-huh.”
“Do you think you could convince the Princess to attend? She’s well liked among the populace, so we’re hoping to get her to support our work.”
“Well... gee, I dunno Twi’s schedule. I could ask her.”
“Could you? I would very much appreciate it.”
“Sure. How can she reach ya if she decides to attend?”
At this, High Society reached into the saddlebag she was carrying and took a business card between her teeth. Applejack took the card, and with practiced dexterity flipped it up until it was resting in the brim of her hat.
“I’ll pass it along to her, but I can’t make any promises for her.”
“I understand, I very much appreciate it. And of course, you will come along as her plus one, won’t you? We’re ever so eager to get to know you.”
“Uh, yeah, of course,” she said. “I’m going everywhere with Twilight lately. I’ll show up.”
“That’s good. You are the head of the Apple Family in Ponyville, aren’t you?”
“Uh, well, no. My brother Big Macintosh runs most of the business side of things. He’s the one that has a head for numbers. I mainly do grunt work.”
“Does he now? He sounds like a smart pony.”
“Oh, he is. Soft spoken, but very intelligent.”
She always talked about her big brother with pride, but as she did so, she looked at High Society’s face. There was something about it that was... off to her. Like she wasn’t connecting with it.
“Well, you can tell us all about it at the party. I really must be going, but I hope to see you there.”
The two traded goodbyes and High Society walked off. Applejack analyzed her actions, wondering if she did everything correctly.
Applejack wondered if she was already becoming somepony she wouldn’t like. Prior to coming here, she had never cared what others thought of her. She had always prided herself on not caring what anypony thought of her, especially not spoiled brats.
Yet she had spent all day turning over her chat with High Society.
The only thing that pushed that thought out of her mind was the unpleasant task before her and Twilight. The fact that Spike needed to be sat down and talked to.
They had tried rehearsing what to say. Applejack had warned her that she couldn’t plan for everything that Spike could possibly be worried about. Twilight had responded by levitating up several notecards that detailed several different possibilities. She had insisted on a three-hour review session, but Applejack thankfully talked her out of it.
Spike was in his quarters, reading a comic book. He casually picked a gem out of his bowl once in a while to pop into his mouth. All in all, he looked like he was enjoying a peaceful night with a comic book.
It seemed a shame to ruin it, but it looked like they had to. This had been put off long enough.
“Spike?”
Spike looked up. He immediately grimaced. He knew what was coming.
“Yes?” There was a lot of dread in that one syllable.
“Spike, we wanted to have a talk with you.”
There was a lot of tension in the air. Applejack felt like she was a filly again, standing in front of Granny Smith as she lectured her on bad behavior. Even though now she was on the other end of the discussion, it wasn’t any easier.
In fact, it was even harder. She was racking her brain, making sure every action was firm, yet comforting. It had been like this every single time that she had to give Apple Bloom a lecture, but in those cases Big Mac had taken on the bulk of that. True, Twilight was Spike’s sole legal parent, but she was so deeply a part of this that she just couldn’t sit back and leave the heavy lifting to her.
Spike took a seat at the table. Applejack and Twilight took a seat on the other side.
“Spike... we know that the last few months have brought on a lot of changes. Applejack and I have started dating, I’ve become a princess, and you’ve started to enjoy your freedom a little bit more.”
Spike just nodded. His fingers drummed the table, little claws making a soft series of ticks against the surface. He was clearly waiting until Twilight was finished talking. For a split second, Applejack felt jealous. Apple Bloom was largely obedient, but she never sat this still during the difficult moments.
“We’ve noticed that all these changes have been hard on you,” Twilight kept going. “We know that it can be difficult to experience, especially at your age. So we wanted to help you make this change.”
Twilight had rehearsed that, but Applejack could hardly tell. She was good at speaking, a necessary skill for a politician.
“What’s bothering you? Go ahead, whatever you want to say, go ahead and say it.”
Spike was silent for a moment. He looked at the table, looking like he was trying to see shapes in it. When he looked up, he answered.
“I don’t know.”
Applejack wasn’t sure what answer she was expecting, but that wasn’t it.
“Do you think that I’m taking time away from your time with Twi?” Applejack said, speaking for the first time.
“Not anymore,” Spike said. For the first time, he didn’t wait to keep going. “I was worried about that. I know that’s selfish, so I never mentioned it. But now that Twilight’s an Alicorn, she’ll be around for centuries. I’ll have a lot more time to spend with her.”
That sentence wasn’t spoken with denial. That wasn’t what was bothering him.
“Then why...”
“I don’t know!”
It was amazing how much frustration came out in simple words.
“I... I don’t know why it bothers me. I know it shouldn’t...”
Spike just trailed off. He didn’t know what to say. He ended up just repeating his previous words. “I don’t know.”
A long moment of silence hung in the air. For Twilight, this was because her mind was in overdrive, desperately reaching for a solution to a problem she wasn’t prepared for. For Spike, it was shame that he had feelings that he felt were selfish and he couldn’t articulate.
For Applejack, it was because she was trying to pick her next words carefully.
“You don’t want things to change.”
Both Twilight and Spike looked at her. She went on.
“Spike... I understand. Your life with Twilight has been a happy one, hasn’t it? It seemed perfect. I remember you looking for things to do for her when she had nothing. And yeah, I remember that whole mess after I saved your life. You defined yourself entirely by being around Twi. And now things are changing. You’re making friends, and Twi and I are dating. And it’s just a confusing mess for you, isn’t it?”
Spike looked ashamed all over again, but he nodded.
“Spike... you got nothing to be ashamed of. Change is hard, even when it’s for the best. It can be uncomfortable, leaving behind things you know. Even though you logically know that you have time with Twi, not having her undivided attention still upsets you, because you’re not sure what’s going to happen next.”
Spike was looking around, trying to avoid eye contact. But he eventually looked at Applejack. “Yeah... I think you’re right.”
“Well... there’s nothing more I can say, Spike. Change happens, and trust me, you’ll learn to love it.”
Twilight smiled. “You always did have trouble. I remember your first day of daycare...”
Spike blushed. “Twilight... come on...”
As Twilight pulled her little dragon in a hug, Applejack felt a weight slide off her. This problem wasn’t over, but at least it was on track to get better. She just hoped that problem would hold for a while.
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AppulTwi is a new ship for me. It's not a common one, that's for sure.
I'll keep my eyes peeled on this one!
Poor Spike he knows that he is in the wrong but can’t find out why. I hope he can have some fun and be a child even with all his friends.
My grin damn near split my face when I saw this story had updated.
Every day I see an new update from you goes from great to even better.
I can tell that both Applejack and Spike are struggling with this new change, but hopefully they can find a way to adjust.
Great to see this story updated again!
Oh my! So glad to see this once more.
When are you going to finish this this fanfiction🤨?
11175653
Never. It is with a heavy heart that I mention that he passed away back in February. In other words, unless someone else was in the know about this story, it'll be one of the great unfinished works of Fimfiction. At least we still have "About Last Night".
11177665
Oh my god I am so sorry I had absolutely no clue that happened,
My he Rest In Peace 😇
11178224
Fimfiction has suffered a great loss of talent.
None of us knew until today.
11178227
How come no one noticed entail today ?
11178656
The news simply didn't reach this site until March 10th. I presume his family understandably needed time to process his passing.
11179011
makes sense
Darth got into Applejack x Twilight ship and I read many great fanfics because of him. I know a lot of people do like that ship because of him and he’s happy whatever afterlife he’s at.