The Crystal Ball

by TobiasDrake

2 - Love's Lament

Rainbow Dash blazed across the sky over Ponyville, punting clouds into vapor. She fought the urge to make a beeline for Sweet Apple Acres and instead opted for a ninety degree turn, straight into another cumulus. The other pegasi had done a fair job keeping the weather on schedule, but they weren’t exactly Rainbow Dash.

She zipped over Sugarcube Corner and beat her wings, sending a pair of clouds tumbling eastwards with the wind. Next, she lined up a straight shot and rocketed to the south, hitting five all lined up for her.

She kept up the pace, hitting one cloud after another until the skies over Ponyville were clear. Hovering in midair, she wiped the sweat from her brow and turned her sights towards the farm. It was time to go see how her wingmare was doing after last night.

She came in low over the farm and saw Big Macintosh pulling the plow. Granny Smith was out in the carrot patch, but there was no sign of Applejack. Zipping down towards the house, she landed on the porch and knocked on the door.

“Hey, AJ, you in there?” she shouted and knocked again. “Come on, we’re throwing horseshoes! You still haven’t beaten my record!” As the door started to open, she continued, “Plus we got to figure out what’s up with – TWILIGHT, HI!” All the color managed to drain from Rainbow Dash’s face when the purple unicorn answered the door.

Twilight smiled politely, holding the door open with her magic. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash.” Her mane was still straight purple from the previous night, but some of the curl had started to come out of it, replaced by stray ends and a flat spot where the pillow must have been. “Would you like to come in?”

Rainbow Dash took a step backwards, still processing Twilight answering the Apples’ door. She knew in her head that Twilight had begun sleeping here from time to time and had even seen a few of her books lying around Applejack’s room, but this was the first time it really clicked on an emotional level.

Over Twilight’s shoulder, Rainbow Dash could hear the sound of rummaging echoing through the house. Raising an eyebrow, she answered, “Maybe I should pass.”

Twilight frowned. “But I’m sure Applejack would be happy to see you.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Really, I’ll just--”

She was silenced by a loud pounding sound as Applejack dropped a jug of fluid on the living room floor. “Alright,” the farm pony announced, “we got vinegar. We got lemons. Let’s get her done.”

Twilight stepped aside. “Rainbow Dash is here to see you,” she told her partner.

“Huh?” Applejack looked up and spotted Dash through the door, who sheepishly waved a hoof. “Consarnit, that’s right, we was supposed to be playin’ horseshoes today. I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I’m gonna need a rain check on that. We got somethin’ of an emergency.”

Twilight blushed. “I promised Applejack that I’d let her try to wash the dye out of my mane and tail.”

Applejack nodded firmly. “I’m bringin’ those stripes back if it’s the last thing I do.”

Rainbow Dash shot a confused look at Applejack. “So…vinegar and lemons?”

“Granny’s idea. It’s an old family secret.”

Twilight stepped forward to explain. “As I understand it, the acids break down the dye so that it comes out easier.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “So, wait, Applejack’s going to burn your scalp off with acid to make you stop looking like Rarity? That sounds awesome! Hey, AJ, if I go get them to turn my mane purple, will you do me next?”

Twilight laughed. “It’s not going to be quite that dramatic. The acids just weaken the dye. There’s no burning involved.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash pouted. “Well, that’s lame.”

Applejack hefted the vinegar jug into her saddlebags. “Anyway, I’m sorry to run out on ya but the sooner as we can get this over with, the sooner we can hopefully get everythin’ back to normal. Twi, can ya grab the lemons?”

Twilight levitated the lemons with her magic. “I can probably take the vinegar too, if you’d like.”

“Nah, I got it.” Applejack pointedly hoisted up her saddlebags and started for the door. “I’ve handled much heavier loads than this.”

Rainbow Dash backed off the porch, fluttering into the air. “Well, I guess I’ll be off, then.”

Applejack nodded as Twilight stepped out to follow her. “Sorry again, Rainbow. Rain check. Tuesday work for ya?” Twilight stopped for a moment to nuzzle Applejack’s neck, giving Rainbow Dash a cold shiver.

With what enthusiasm she could muster, Rainbow Dash answered, “Yeah, Tuesday’s great. See you then.” With those words, she rocketed off.

She careened through the sky to nowhere in particular. What SHOULD have been a fun day with one of her best pals was now left completely open and she had no idea what she was going to fill it with. Now she was angry and hurt, and she had nopony to be angry or hurt towards. Again.

She hated this. She hated every minute of this. She’d thought Twilight and Applejack might have a little fling and then everything would go back to normal, but it wasn’t. That was moons ago, and they were still a couple. It felt like it was just getting weirder and weirder with each week that passed.

She hated the gooky looks they gave each other. She wished Cardinal hadn’t taught her how to recognize them so easily. She hated how hard it was just to get a few hours out of Applejack’s day that weren’t dedicated to either work, Twilight, family, or some group activity. She hated feeling this way about Twilight, because Twilight had been her friend before all this and now, more and more, she was just becoming AJ’s marefriend.

Most of all, she hated this hollow feeling that crawled out of her gut every time Applejack and Twilight acted mushy together. She wished everything could just go back to the way it was.

Idly, she noticed Fluttershy passing by below her. She’d drifted out over the cabin, it seemed. “Hey, Fluttershy,” she called down weakly.

“Oh, good morning,” Fluttershy answered, looking up. “How are you today?”

“Been better,” Rainbow Dash answered honestly. She thought for a couple seconds, then asked, “Hey Fluttershy, how are you at horseshoes?”

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. “Um. I’ve worn them when I had to, but--”

“No, no, I mean throwing them!”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Why would you throw horseshoes?”

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash grunted. “Never mind.” Frustrated, she took off back towards Ponyville.

---

Twilight stood under a waterfall while Applejack scrubbed her mane with her hooves. A light purple trail in the water told her it was working, but it might take a bit more of the remedy before she would see the familiar pink in Twilight’s mane.

“How is it coming?” Twilight asked.

“We’re getting’ somewhere,” Applejack answered her. “Tip your head out for a sec so I can squirt a bit of lemon.”

Twilight leaned out of the waterfall. Applejack lifted up a lemon and pressed it between her hooves, dripping the juice into Twilight’s mane. “Alright, back under the water.”

“Where did you learn to do this?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Granny taught me when I was a filly.” Applejack started scrubbing again. “Ya should have seen the trouble I used to get up to. Granny was at her wit’s end a time or two.”

“I have trouble picturing you dying your mane.”

“Yeah, well, ya didn’t know me back when. Time was, I got to thinkin’ I might make it as a big city pony. That was….” For the moment, Applejack was grateful to be behind Twilight so she couldn’t see the single tear that dripped down her face. “It don’t matter none. Point is, I had all sorts of youthful misadventures before I met ya.”

Twilight sighed. “I didn’t. I read about them, of course, but I just didn’t see the point. I had my studies to complete and my books to read when I wasn’t working on them.”

“What?!” Applejack stopped scrubbing for a moment to lean over and look Twilight in the face. The effect was lost, however, due to Twilight’s eyes being shut tight against the rushing waters. “Ya mean you ain’t the social pony of our group? I’ve been livin’ a lie!”

“Ha.” Twilight coughed out a single feigned laugh.

Applejack resumed her work. The pink stripe was now visible in patches, but the purple one was still masked by the dye. “For serious, Twilight, what possessed ya to do all this? It can’t just be ya thought Rares and I didn’t like each other.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered. “It’s stupid. You’d probably just laugh at me.”

“Well, now I’ve got to hear it.”

“No. It’s…it’s really personal.”

Applejack stopped scrubbing for a moment to stare sarcastically into the back of Twilight’s head. “Can’t be more personal than that time we--”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Twilight insisted. “I just--”

“Sugar, I know what you just,” Applejack answered her, resuming her scrubbing. “I just thought we were past all this secret keepin’.”

Twilight fell silent and for a few minutes, the only sound was the rushing of the waterfall and the scrubbing from Applejack’s hooves. She was making great progress with the mane. The purple trickles in the water were letting up as Twilight’s mane returned to normal. It’d be time to start on her tail soon.

It was Applejack who broke the silence. “Hey Twi, did I ever tell ya about my mama?”

“No. I’ve never heard you talk about your parents.”

“It’s a hurtful topic, so I don’t like to talk about it. My mama was an Earth Pony from Manehattan. She weren’t ever much for farmin’. She was a cook at a fancy diner, but she came on out to Ponyville ‘cause she loved my daddy a whole lot. We owe a lot of our cider recipe to her. She didn’t invent the drink, but she sure did perfect it.”

Applejack stepped back. “Your mane’s done.”

Twilight stepped out of the water and shook her head, trying to get some of the water out of it. “How do I look?”

“Well, the front of ya’s good as new. Let’s head downstream a bit, then we can get the vinegar into your tail.” Applejack led Twilight over to a nice, calm spot in the river. Twilight sat down on the bank while Applejack hefted up the vinegar jar and poured a bit out onto her tail. She began working her hooves through the long hairs, working the vinegar into them.

Once she was finished, Applejack trotted out into the water. Twilight moved over to the edge, sticking her tail into the stream so that Applejack could begin scrubbing it.

“Anyways,” Applejack continued, “The point I was gettin’ at is, my mama weren’t much of a farm pony, but she loved us all the same and we loved her more than anythin’.”

“What happened to her? If it’s okay to ask, I mean.”

“’Course, it’s okay. She got sick. Real sick. I don’t know much more than that. One day she was squeezin’ me and tellin’ me everythin’ would be okay and the next, she’s gone. Apple Bloom don’t know any of this; she was too young to remember, but it hit the rest of us hard.

“Especially my daddy. Losin’ mama just broke him. He quit the plowin’, quit the tendin’, even quit the parentin’. Then one day he went out on a delivery and he just never came back. Not a one of us ever heard from him again, and believe me, we’ve asked ‘round. Can’t prove nothin’, not really, but everypony knows he’s with mama now.”

Applejack took a deep breath, staring down at Twilight’s tail. She stopped scrubbing to process. “That was a long time ago. I ain’t never shared it with nopony. This is….” She sniffed and pushed back tears, then looked up from the tail to see Twilight looking over her shoulder at her. “This is a first for me, Twilight.”

“I’m glad you did,” Twilight whispered. “Thank you. You didn’t have to tell me this.”

“Yeah, I did.” Applejack started scrubbing again. “I love ya, Twilight. More than I’ve ever loved anypony, I reckon. I bared my soul just now ‘cause I don’t want no secrets between us. I want ya to take me as I am. Even the parts that hurt the most, I want to share that hurt with you.”

Applejack heard Twilight let out a faint sob and pulled back, returning her full attention to the scrubbing. She wondered if she’d pushed too hard, but her fears were soon put to rest when Twilight spoke up. “There was something you said back in the Crystal Empire. That’s what started all of this.”

Applejack perked up. “Somethin’ I said?”

“Yes. It’s been going through my head since we left. You said, ‘Good things are better when they’re a Rarity.’ I’ve tried and I’ve tried to figure this out, but I just don’t understand what that means. All I can think is that you were trying to say that Rarity’s…I don’t know. Prettier than me? Better?”

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s what’s been eatin’ ya? Sugar, Rares was hurtin’ ‘cause she’d just lost her Crystal Pony shine. My mama once told me that the reason we can’t have what we want all the time is ‘cause ya get too much of a thing, even a great thing, it stops bein’ so great. Even if it’s somethin’ ya love, too much of it becomes a burden on ya.

“Now, I like me some apple fritters. One of the finest dishes ever invented in all of Equestria. When I can, I’ll nip me up some fritters and have a fine, delicious dessert. But if I ate fritters at every meal, three times a day, I’d get sick of ‘em. They wouldn’t be special no more. They’d just be a borin’, regular ol’ meal.

“For just that little slice of time, Rares got to be a Crystal Pony, but what made it special ain’t the crystal. It’s that it ain’t what’s normal to her. Ya take my meanin’?”

Twilight nodded her head, then shot another look back at Applejack. “I think I do. Being crystal was special for her because of the way it interferes with her standard of normalcy. It was a unique experience.”

Applejack smiled, then started scrubbing Twilight’s tail again. “Eeyup. I passed on my mama’s wisdom ‘cause she’s my friend, and I wanted to try and cheer her up. Slippin’ her name in there was just a clever bit of wordin’ I came up with on the spot.”

“Oh.” Twilight hung her head. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. Now I feel silly for not talking to you about it in the first place.”

Applejack smiled, looking down at the tail between her hooves. The pink and purple were both starting to come through again, contrasted against the natural blue that was emerging. She was nearly finished. “It’s okay, sugar. You’re still learnin’, and I got to be patient with ya. I get that.”

After a couple seconds, Twilight asked, “Do you think I could ever become a burden?”

“Ain’t gonna lie, there’ve been some times ya ‘bout near drove me up the wall. Last night stands out for one. But that’s what happens. Bein’ together like this means havin’ a lot more of each other around and figurin’ out if we can actually stand that much. It ain’t all sunshines and roses. It’s takin’ an honest look at the good and the bad and figurin’ out if that’s somethin’ we want to live with the rest of our lives.”

“Oh.” Twilight shot another look back at Applejack. “Am I something you’d--”

Applejack cut her off with a scolding tongue. “Twilight Sparkle! I would not be out here scrubbin’ out your tail if I didn’t think you were worth every minute of it.” That answered seemed to appease Twilight, because she smiled sheepishly and returned to staring into the distance while Applejack worked.

After a few seconds of scrubbing, Twilight spoke up again. “I feel bad about Rainbow Dash. I didn’t mean to intrude on her time with you. Do you think we might have violated our Pinkie Promise this morning?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah, I’m sure Rainbow’s fine. I’ll make it up to her tomorrow once I finish up in the West Orchard.” Applejack released Twilight’s soaked tail and took a moment to admire her work. “Tail’s done.”

Twilight stood up and swatted her tail, trying to get the water out. “Thank you. I’m sorry again for not talking to you sooner.”

Applejack stepped out of the river and shook herself. “Feelin’ any better?”

Twilight nodded. “I am. I think I’m going to be okay.”

---

Twilight found herself in the black hallway once more. She saw the orange light at the end of the hall, but this time she didn’t run. She strode confidently towards it until she heard the Crystal Princess Rarity’s voice.

“Welcome back. Have you found your answer?”

Twilight held her head high as she spoke. “Applejack was just trying to cheer Rarity up. This was all a misunderstanding. I have nothing to worry about.”

“Don’t you?” Rarity chuckled. “That’s cute.”

Twilight stopped and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Applejack wasn’t saying that Rarity’s prettier or smarter or better than me. What could I possibly have to worry over?”

A light filled the corridor and suddenly Twilight could see Rarity in all her shining glory. Beating her wings, she lowered herself to the polished marble floor. “Look at me, Twilight,” she commanded. “Do you feel beautiful next to me?” She reared up on her hind legs and flared her wings, letting the light shine off her crystal hide.

Twilight took a step backwards and raised a hoof to shield her eyes. “That’s not a fair comparison,” she insisted. “It doesn’t matter anyway!”

“Doesn’t it?” Rarity dropped back down on all hooves.

Twilight shook her head. “Applejack likes me for who I am. I don’t have to compete with you.”

“Is that right? Have you asked her?” Rarity smirked. “Because it seems to me that she went out to the river with you today because you weren’t pretty enough.”

Twilight’s heart sank. Rarity’s words struck a chord in her. Applejack had made a big deal about the stripes in her mane. “But,” she whispered, “she didn’t like me when I tried to look like you.”

“That’s because you can’t pull it off, darling. But I can and you know it.”

Twilight shook her head, looking for an answer. “No, you’re wrong, there’s…there has to be something about me that you don’t have.”

“Better find it fast,” the Crystal Princess teased. Twilight looked over and saw Applejack walking slowly away from her.

“Applejack!” she shouted. “Come back!” She took off galloping towards Applejack.

Rarity simply waved at her as she left and uttered a cheerful, “Toodles!”

Twililght pumped her hooves as fast as they would take her, but no matter how fast she raced after Applejack, her partner just seemed to get farther and farther away. “COME BACK!!!” she screamed after her, to no avail. Heedless, Applejack disappeared into the distance.

Twilight crashed out of her bed and scrambled to her hooves. She took a moment to get her bearings and, realizing where she was, immediately decided on what she had to do. The library faded into her vision as she scrambled down the stairs. Frantically, she lit a candle and levitated her data sheets to the table. She drew an X over the sketches of herself with Rarity’s curls and then floated a mirror over to closely examine her mane.

“Twilight?” Spike called out, slowly stumbling down the stairs. “What’s going on?”

Twilight cursed internally. She must have woken him up when she fell out of bed. “It’s nothing,” she assured him. “Go back to bed. I’m fine.” After a couple seconds’ consideration, she whirled around, shouting, “WAIT!”

Spike, however, was still standing right where he’d been, staring sarcastically at her. “Nothing. Right.”

“Spike, am I....” She took a moment to center herself and try to find the right words. “Would you consider me pretty?”

Spike walked through the question, his gaze now turned to the charts and graphs Twilight had laid out on the table. “What are all these for?”

“They aren’t important,” Twilight insisted, but Spike picked one up in his claws and raised an eyebrow.

“Estimated measurements of Applejack’s bone structure?”

Using her magic, Twilight snatched the paper from Spike’s claws. She swept up all the sheets and piled them together at the far side of the table. “Not important! Focus, Spike! Am I pretty?”

Spike scratched his head nervously. “I…I don’t know. I mean, sure, I guess so?”

“Prettier than Rarity?”

Spike laughed. “Twilight, nopony is prettier than Rarity.”

“UGH!” Twilight shouted, “You’re not helping!”

Spike put a claw on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, what is all this?”

Ignoring him, Twilight levitated a hand mirror and began scrutinizing her reflection. Applejack had been incredibly thorough at getting the dye out, but that was something she’d expected from her. Her strong work ethic was one of the things Twilight admired most about her.

So what did Applejack admire in her? It couldn’t just be the way she looked, could it? She hoped Applejack wasn’t so shallow, but the more she thought about the way her partner had reacted to her new look, the more she began to worry. What if Applejack only liked her because she was pretty?

She had to admit, that would mean Applejack leaving her for Rarity might just be a credible worry. Rarity was gorgeous. And she was kind and compassionate and empathic. Who wouldn’t want to be with her?

“Spike, I’m empathic, right?” She looked up and spotted Spike creeping over towards the pile of papers. She floated them sideways, away from him. “SPIKE!”

“Uh….”

Glaring, Twilight shoved her head in Spike’s face. “I’M EMPATHIC!”

“Okay, okay! You’re empathic! Twilight, what is going on?!”

Twilight felt the energy start to go out of her. She sighed, laying her head down on the table. “I’m sorry, Spike. I just can’t stop thinking about Rarity.”

“What?!” He grabbed at her shoulder with his claws. “Twilight, you CAN’T! You-you already have Applejack and-and-and it’s Rarity! You wouldn’t do that to me, you couldn’t do that to me, please!”

“What?” Twilight looked at him for a moment, and then it clicked. “No, not like that, Spike. Calm down.” She sighed. “I just keep thinking about how pretty and nice she is. How can I compete with that?”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Why would you need to compete with her? She’s one of your friends.”

Twilight huffed. “You don’t understand.”

“No, I really don’t. What does any of this have to do with Applejack’s bone structure?”

“THAT’S PRIVATE!” she shouted. “Just…go back to bed, Spike. I have work to do.”

“Twilight, it’s barely even past midnight. You need to get some sleep.”

“Already slept. Good night, Spike.”

“What, for a couple of hours?” Spike tried to pull Twilight towards the stairs, but she wouldn’t budge. “You’re going to make yourself crazy staying up like this.”

“I’ll be fine.” More firmly, she added, “Good night, Spike.”

Sighing, Spike headed over to the stairs. He stopped just before ascending, shooting Twilight one last glance. “Rarity doesn’t shut out her friends when she’s hurting. Maybe start there.” Then he climbed the stairs, leaving Twilight alone.

She fumed for a few minutes, thinking about what Spike had said. She wasn’t shutting out her friends. She’d just talked to Applejack earlier today! She explained everything! The important parts, anyway. And it’s not like anypony else would understand. This was between her and Applejack.

Taking a deep breath, she started a new sketch. If Applejack liked her stripes so much, maybe she’d like a few new ones? But what colors? Should she ask her? Maybe provide a couple color palletes and she could choose….

---

CLANG

For the third throw in a row, the horseshoe struck the metal post and spun to the ground. Rainbow Dash glowed as she shouted, “HA! Beat that!”

“Nice throw,” Applejack complimented. “Wait ‘til ya see this one, though.” She lined up her shot and then lobbed her horseshoe. It sailed towards the post but went wild at the end, landing a few inches from the post. “Consarnit, I almost had that one.”

Rainbow Dash snickered. “This one’s in the bag!” She lobbed her final horseshoe, which landed almost gracefully around the post. She pumped her hoof victoriously.

“Good game, Rainbow,” Applejack told her. “Bet ya can’t keep it up.”

“YOU’RE ON!” Rainbow Dash zipped over to the post and began collecting the horseshoes.

Applejack trotted towards her to help. “Sorry I had to bail on ya yesterday.”

“Nah, it’s no big deal,” Rainbow Dash lied. “Stuff comes up. I get it.”

“Yeah. It’s just that things with Twi have taken a turn and--”

“Whoa whoa, hold on,” Rainbow Dash insisted. “This is my make-up day. I’ll talk to you about the farm, the family, work, whatever. Anything but Twilight Sparkle.”

Applejack glared at Rainbow Dash. She’d started to notice a few weeks ago that Rainbow Dash seemed to have something against her relationship, but it hadn’t really bothered her until just then. More and more, Twilight was becoming a larger part of her life and she had hoped that as one of her best friends, Rainbow Dash would support that.

A part of her wanted to bring it up right then and there, but Rainbow Dash was right. She did blow her off yesterday and she owed her a day to make up. As it was, she’d had to squeeze her into just a couple of hours between chores and supper, and she certainly didn’t want to spend that time bickering. Instead, she shrugged and started picking up horseshoes. “Alright, sure. So, uh…how’s the weather?”

Rainbow Dash grunted. “Ugh, you would not BELIEVE how much this stratus was fighting me this morning….”

---

“Good afternoon, little birdy,” Fluttershy greeted a small robin sitting just inside her bedroom windowsill. “How are you this morning?” The bird replied with a series of chirps, to which Fluttershy smiled. “That’s good to hear. What can I do for you?”

A knock at the door prevented Fluttershy from hearing the bird’s answer. “Excuse me,” she apologized to it and slipped downstairs to answer. Biting the knob, she pulled the door open to find Twilight Sparkle waiting on the other side.

Several hairs stuck out in places and Twilight’s sunken eyes suggested she hadn’t slept. She seemed to be fidgeting as she waited; her right hind leg was bouncing and her eyes darted around outside the cottage, refusing to remain fixed on anything. Fluttershy’s attention was immediately drawn to the pieces of paper Twilight had levitating beside her.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked curiously. “Are you okay?”

“Better than okay!” Twilight shouted. “I think I’ve solved this thing!” Fluttershy stepped away so that her friend could enter, and Twilight immediately began laying out her papers on the table. Each sheet had a different sketch of her mane with sloppily-applied colors added to them.

“What are these?” Fluttershy stepped over to examine the sheets. One had Twilight’s mane with an extra green stripe added next to the pink with a yellow stripe beside the purple. The second had alternating pink and purple stripes covering her entire mane. On the third, her stripes had been replaced by a series of alternating stripes forming the colors of the rainbow.

Fluttershy looked up and her eyes were immediately greeted by Twilight’s devilish grin. “Twilight, what is going on?”

Frantically, Twilight explained. “Applejack likes my stripes. That’s what I have that she doesn’t! I just need MORE. Which set looks better?”

“Oh, no.” Fluttershy shrank down from Twilight. “Am I still Rarity? I told you I don’t know anything about fashion. I think the stripes you have look nice already.”

“You’re no help either!” Twilight planted her face into Fluttershy’s table.

Carefully, Fluttershy approached her. “Why not just ask Rarity for advice? She could probably tell you.”

Twilight mumbled around the wood. “Cammdock Rirty.”

“I’m sorry? I didn’t get that.”

Twilight turned her head to look weakly at Fluttershy. “I can’t talk to Rarity. I tried to get her to help me the other day and you saw what happened.”

“Twilight, I was there. You made yourself crazy trying to do everything she was doing.” Fluttershy took another look at the sheets of paper Twilight had laid out. “All of this is for Applejack?” Twilight nodded, but said nothing. “Have you thought about asking her which one she’d like?”

“She’s out spending time with Rainbow Dash.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Surely, she’s not going to be spending all night with Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight shot straight up. “You’re right! I should go meet her!”

“Um….” Fluttershy started to speak, but then she saw how fragile Twilight looked and thought better of it. “Never mind.”

Twilight quirked her head to the side. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

Twilight glared daggers at her, causing her to reflexively shrink into herself and step away. “Fluttershy….”

“It’s just…have you been working on this all day?”

Twilight nodded. “Yesterday too.”

Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head. “I was just thinking. Don’t you have assignments from the princess to do?”

Twilight drooped at Fluttershy’s words. The glare remained fixed on her face. “That’s…I mean, she hasn’t sent me much since the Crystal Empire. I’ll get to it, but this is important. We’re talking about my entire future, Fluttershy! Nothing is more important than this.”

“Nothing is more important than putting highlights in your mane? Twilight, you don’t sound like yourself at all.”

Levitating her sketches, Twilight huffed and marched for the door. “You wouldn’t understand,” she retorted angrily.

Fluttershy watched her leave, then took a look around her solitary cottage. “No, you’re right. I probably wouldn’t.”

---

Spike watched the sun approach the horizon through Twilight’s bedroom window. He tapped his claws impatiently on the windowsill. Twilight was supposed to be back tonight; it wasn’t one of the evenings she typically spent with Applejack. She was very meticulous about her schedule; he usually knew when she’d be gone.

This last week had been so strange. He still had no idea what her behavior the last night was about. Why was she being so evasive? And where had all those papers she’d had with her gone? She must have stashed them somewhere, but snooping through her room didn’t feel right.

Suddenly, he felt a bulge of magic inside his lungs. Stepping away from the window, he let out a burst of magic flame that coalesced into a letter with Princess Celestia’s royal seal. He knew at once that it had to be a response! Breaking the seal, he unfurled the scroll.

Dear Spike,

Thank you for writing to inform me of Twilight’s erratic behavior. It is good to know that you are still keeping a watchful eye over her. My sister Luna has also informed me that Twilight may be undergoing a stressful situation and is at risk of becoming irrational. Rest assured that we are monitoring this situation and are prepared to intervene if matters get out of hand.

I have faith that it will not have to come to that, however. Twilight has often proven herself to be a talented student and takes to her lessons very quickly, even the ones that can only be provided by life. It is my hope that these events will merely be another hurdle in that road.

Cadance has devised an idea that we all believe may help her. There will be another letter to follow once she has finished preparing. Please pass it along to Twilight and her friends when it arrives.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

Spike set the letter aside. It wasn’t at all what he’d hoped for. He wanted the princess to fly down here and talk sense into her student like she’d done when Twilight enchanted that doll some moons ago. Instead, he found himself feeling helpless. Twilight was coming apart at the seams and there was nothing he could do.

---

Rainbow Dash’s words were still weighing on Applejack’s mind as she trotted through the gates and into Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash was getting bolder about her disdain for Applejack and Twilight’s relationship, and it was beginning to grate her nerves.

Twilight wasn’t going anywhere. At least, she certainly hoped not. She prided herself on her ability to roll over, get back on her hooves, and keep right on going after a heavy loss, but maybe Twilight was different. With a bit of luck and a bit of work, she thought this might actually work out barring some hideous surprise or another. Even then, given the curveballs life had started chucking at them since Twilight came to Ponyville, her threshold for what constituted a hideous surprise was on the rise.

Rainbow Dash was going to have to deal with that, she decided. There might be times when she’d want Twilight to come with them on whatever adventure they were having or game they were playing. Would Rainbow Dash be okay with that? What if they got married? It was much too soon to start considering, but if it did happen, would Rainbow Dash just sit there and scowl through the entire thing?

Applejack huffed to herself. Twilight was about the best thing that had happened to her and Rainbow Dash was going to have to deal with that. Twilight was smart, she was kind, she was standing on the porch, she always seemed to know how to--

Applejack stopped suddenly, taking in the sight. Twilight was on the porch smiling at her and waving her hoof. She wasn’t supposed to be here, but she was. Applejack had seen an awful lot of unexpected Twilight this week.

“Bein’ together like this means havin’ a lot more of each other around and figurin’ out if we can actually stand that much. It ain’t all sunshines and roses. It’s takin’ an honest look at the good and the bad and figurin’ out if that’s somethin’ we want to live with the rest of our lives.”

She felt a tremor in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or something else, but Twilight’s presence on the farm again so quickly had rattled her. Meanwhile, the fact that it even bothered her at all set off entirely different pangs of guilt and self-reflection. Was more of Twilight a bad thing?

“Uh, hey, sugarcube,” she awkwardly greeted her. As she got closer, she noticed the bags under Twilight’s eyes and the unkempt hairs sticking out. She swallowed hard. Clearly, the unicorn wasn’t feeling any better from yesterday. If anything, she actually looked worse than she had in her faux-Rarity getup. “What brings ya out here?”

Twilight’s entire mood seemed to brighten as Applejack approached. “I needed to see you, but I didn’t want to interrupt again.”

“Thanks for that.” Applejack didn’t want to think about how Rainbow Dash would have reacted to Twilight walking in on their make-up day. Stepping up onto the porch, she invited, “We’re just about to sit down to supper if you’d like to join us.”

“I know!” Twilight beamed. “I helped make it.”

Applejack stopped suddenly. “Beg pardon?!” Twilight had cooked? Twilight didn’t cook. Spike cooked. The family cooked. She cooked. But Twilight didn’t cook. Nowhere in her skillset was preparing food. She’d had so many people to prepare it for her that it was never a skill she needed to develop. Applejack’s mind flooded with images of Twilight dumping eggs into a bowl, shells intact, or burning a pot of water on the stove or slipping on a spill and dumping scalding soup all over her--

“I made the pie,” Twilight explained. “Granny Smith set me up with one of her old cookbooks and told me to just follow the directions. Once I had a set of instructions on hand, it was simply a matter of following them to the letter.”

“Huh.” Relief swept through Applejack like cider in Pinkie’s gullet. Her grandmother was a clever old pony, and if Twilight was insistent on helping, that was certainly the way to do it. She’d need to remember to compliment the old pony on her quick thinking.

“Before we eat, I was hoping you’d help me with something.” Twilight opened the door and entered the house, heading straight for the stairs up. “I brought a few things I need your opinion on, but I left them upstairs in our room.”

“Uh, sure…” Applejack answered vacantly as her mind fixed on those two words: Our room? She hadn’t stumbled on it, hadn’t tried to backpedal. She just said it. Either she hadn’t noticed she’d said it or she just didn’t see anything unusual about it; Applejack wasn’t sure which she hoped was true.

Applejack could hardly believe it was just a couple moons ago that she’d been fretting because she thought Twilight wasn’t into her. If anything, Twilight now seemed to be moving a bit more quickly than she was comfortable with. She remembered what Rarity had said the previous night; Twilight was becoming clingy, which meant she had to take some time to figure out if she was okay with being clung to.

Stepping into her room or their room, she now wasn’t sure, Applejack found herself staring at several levitating sheets of paper. “Uh, Twilight? What are these?”

“Well….” Twilight smiled coyly at her. “I know you like the stripes in my mane so I was thinking, maybe you’d like a few more? I spent all night coming up with ideas.”

Applejack paled at the sight, taking in the different variations. “I really wish ya hadn’t.”

Twilight quivered. “You don’t like any of these?” She pushed forward the sheet with the rainbow coloration of stripes. “Not even this one? It’s very colorful.”

Applejack pushed down the paper with her hoof so that she could look Twilight in the eyes again. “Sugar, if I wanted to be datin’ Rainbow, I’d have asked out Rainbow.”

Twilight levitated the paper back to her and scrutinized it for a couple seconds, then replied, “Oh. That does kind of look like Rainbow Dash, doesn’t it?”

Applejack sighed and stepped further into the room, taking a seat next to the bed. “Listen. I don’t really know what you’re on about now, but if ya want to change up your mane, I ain’t gonna stop you. I just want to know you’re doin’ it for you. Not ‘cause ya think it’ll make me like you more.”

Twilight lowered the papers to the ground. Her body sank as the energy seemed to deflate from her. “You really don’t like any of them?”

Applejack reached a hoof over and lifted up Twilight’s chin, the way she had at Pinkie’s disastrous party, so that she could see her eyes. “Look, I like your stripes ‘cause they’re a piece of you that’s special. Ain’t nopony else I’ve ever met got stripes like that. That don’t mean I go crazy over stripes like some stripe-addicted ciderhound.”

“Oh.” Once again, Applejack’s words didn’t seem to cheer Twilight up and, if anything, had the opposite effect. Twilight’s mood completely plummeted. “I can fix this,” she insisted, but as she started to move for the door, Applejack put herself in front.

“Granny’s right hoof, ya can. I ain’t sendin’ ya home to spend the night scratchin’ up another crazy plan. You’re stayin’ with me tonight and you’re sleepin’. Whole night.”

Twilight protested, “But I have to--”

“Nope. No arguin’. Ya made a pie for me and it’s probably goin’ cold downstairs; I’m gonna be personally insulted if ya don’t stay and eat it with me.” It was a cheap gamble, she knew, but Applejack remembered what it felt like when she wasn’t sure if Twilight cared about her. She vividly remembered the fear of doing anything that might mean Twilight didn’t love her. It made her feel sick inside to do it, but if playing to that fear was what it took to get Twilight to be rational again, it was worth it.

I’m sorry, Twi. I’ll make it up to ya.

She watched that familiar dread creep across Twilight and her eyes glimmer with equal parts realization and trepidation. “I’ll stay,” she whispered.

Applejack immediately softened and put a hoof around her, pulling her in and nuzzling her neck. She got what she needed. Next came the reassurance she’d wished many times she could have gotten back then. “Means a lot to me. I love you, Twilight.” Feeling Twilight melt around her and relax the tension in her muscles was all she needed to know she was making the right call.

“I love you too,” Twilight whispered back to her as she pressed her head into Applejack’s neck and gently nuzzled.

“I know ya do. Come on. Let’s get downstairs before supper gets too cold.”

---

Supper was delicious as it always was. Twilight hadn’t mentioned it to Applejack, but she had no idea what she was doing in the kitchen. Fortunately, when she volunteered to help, it took Granny Smith two seconds to recognize her aimless attempts to make sense of the ingredients. She’d pulled Twilight aside, set her up at the table with a family cookbook, and told her to just follow the directions. Twilight was very talented at that.

End result was that the pie was edible. It was far from the best pie Twilight had ever tasted in her life and was definitely a far cry from some of the Apples’ finest recipes, but the family seemed to appreciate the gesture all the same and she didn’t hear a single pony complain about it.

She also found she felt a weird sense of pride at having made it. She knew it was nothing spectacular, but she’d never felt more like a part of the Apple clan than she did watching Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom take their first bites of something she’d baked with her own hooves. Well, metaphorically, anyways; moving things with magic was second nature to her.

Being with Applejack’s family always made her feel welcomed and loved in a way she hadn’t felt since she’d left Shining Armor to learn from Princess Celestia. Even so, the dark passage was still waiting for her that night when she closed her eyes.

“Have you found your answer?” the Crystal Princess Rarity’s voice greeted her once more, as it always did.

“I think I might have,” she offered. She was less sure of this than ever, but it was all she had. “Applejack told me she liked my stripes because they’re a part of me. They make me unique. She doesn’t like me because of the way I look; she likes the way I look because of me. So I think that’s my answer?”

“Really.” Rarity emerged from the dark so Twilight could see her roll her crystal eyes. “Your answer for what makes you a better partner is that you’re better at being Twilight Sparkle than I am? You do realize this is simply a rephrasing of the question, I hope.”

“What? No, it’s not. It’s….” She took a moment to think about her answer. “It is a rephrasing of the question, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is, darling. Being the best Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville isn’t going to stop Applejack from leaving you if she decides she'd prefer the best Rarity, and you, darling, make a poor Rarity. Hilariously, we have already tested this.

“Ultimately,” Rarity continued, “your assertion proves nothing because it contains nothing about Applejack. Her interests, her desires, her goals in life. What do you have to offer to the farm? To her? Will you even still be here in a few years? Because I will. I don’t have a princess waiting to call me back to Canterlot as soon as my studies are complete.”

“…I hadn’t thought of that,” Twilight admitted.

“Of course, you hadn’t. Your answer is rejected, of course. Say goodbye to Applejack.”

“Wait!” Twilight insisted. “I made a pie today. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. I could learn how to cook. Then I’d fit in with the family. You’re into fashion, so you probably aren’t that talented in a kitchen, right?”

The Crystal Princess laughed at Twilight’s attempt. “Cooking? That’s what you have? You made one pie. Apart from that, you’ve always had somepony to make your meals for you. Whether it was your parents, the castle staff, or Spike. You’ve never had to subsist on your own. I built my own business from…well, let’s presume the ground up. I don’t have an assistant to cook for me.

“You’re welcome to try your pie against one of mine tomorrow, if you really think you’ve found your hook. But for now, you have once again failed your test.”

Once more, Applejack was in the hallway walking slowly away from Twilight. “Applejack, wait!” Twilight shouted after her. She broke into a gallop, once more pursuing the slow-moving Applejack that nevertheless simply became further and further away the harder she ran.

“Come back!” she cried to her. “Please, don’t leave me!”

“Twilight!” she heard Applejack call to her, but this only prompted her to push her legs harder. “Twilight, stop!” She couldn’t stop. She had to reach her. It was the only way to--she felt one of her hind hooves collide with something hard and stopped moving suddenly.

The dark tunnel shattered to pieces around her, slowly being replaced by the dim of Applejack’s bedroom. “OW!” Applejack shouted. She was seated upright in the bed, gently rubbing her eye with the side of her hoof. “Land’s sakes, that smarts! What in tarnation’s gotten into you?!”

As Applejack turned to look at her, Twilight could make out the imprint of a hoof around her left eye. Her heart immediately plummeted. She shook her head and tried to back away from what she was seeing, but the edge of the bed came sooner than she expected and her rump swiftly discovered where the floor was.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight whispered. She tried to move around the bed to get to the door but Applejack dropped in front of it, blocking her.

“Twilight, stop!” Applejack shouted to her, putting herself in front of the door. Twilight’s horn began to crackle with magic, but Applejack urged her, “Don’t teleport, Twi. Please, I can’t stop ya from leavin’, but I need ya to stay here and talk to me.”

“I kicked you,” Twilight whispered through rapid, panicked breaths.

Applejack said nothing and simply stepped forward, putting a hoof around Twilight and nudging her back towards the bed. Twilight’s muscles weakly complied and she took a seat in front of the mattress, resting her head against Applejack’s shoulder.

“I kicked you,” she repeated. “I kicked you in the eye. I’m a terrible Very Special Somepony.”

“Yeah, I’d appreciate if ya didn’t do that again,” Applejack admitted. “That’s going to sting like an unwanted hoof in a hornet’s nest tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know ya are, sugar. I’ll be okay, though.” Despite herself, Applejack chuckled. “Way I reckon it, ya finally got me back for your hip.”

Even through the tears, Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at that. “With interest,” she added.

“Eeyup. Now come on back to bed.”

Twilight lifted her head up and looked at Applejack’s eyes. “I can’t. I have to get back to the library. I need to--”

Applejack stuck a hoof to Twilight’s snout, quieting her. “Ya need sleep, s’what ya need. All night, sugar. You kicked me in the face. Ya owe me that much.”

“I can’t,” Twilight whispered. “I can’t lose you again.”

Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s head and pulled it into her chest. The fluttering in her heart cut silent any protests on her lips, while the stroking of Applejack’s hoof on her mane and the gentle beating sound of Applejack's heart began to lull her back into the thorny embrace of sleep. She was distantly aware of Applejack lifting her back onto the bed, followed by the warmth of the blanket being pulled over them, but so long as her partner continued holding her, her fears and insecurities gently slipped away, replaced by acceptance and love.

Twilight woke up the next morning and stretched. Her dreams had been mercifully vacant for the second half of the night. She didn’t remember seeing Crystal Princess Rarity again all night after the incident with Applejack’s eye, and she was grateful for it.

Approaching the stairs, Twilight caught the scent of breakfast. She hoped she wasn’t too late to see Applejack whirl around the kitchen again and rushed downstairs. “Good morning,” she greeted the living room.

“Good morning, Twilight,” Spike answered her, seated on the Apples’ couch. Applejack sat on her haunches on the other side of the coffee table while Granny Smith reclined in her rocker, paging through an old book. There was a terrible smirk on Granny Smith’s face that left Twilight feeling unsettled, but Spike drew the focus of her attention.

“Spike?! Is something wrong? Do you need me back at the library?! Is this an emergency?!”

“Probably would do ya some good to head home for a bit,” Applejack admitted. “Not that it ain’t been a pleasure havin’ ya, but you must be neglectin’ some duty or another for the princess.”

“A few,” Twilight admitted.

Spike coughed. “Anyways, it’s not an emergency but we need to get everypony together. Princess Celestia sent me a letter last night that everypony needs to see.”

Twilight nodded. “Alright. Let’s go round up the group right after breakfast. …I didn’t miss breakfast, did I?”

Applejack gave her an apologetic smile. “’Fraid so, sugarcube. You were out like a rock. We saved ya some leftovers, though.”

Twilight pouted. “That’s okay. I’m not very hungry anyway.”

Spike hopped off the couch. “Before we go, Applejack was just about to tell me what happened to her eye.” The eye had swollen over the night, while the hoofprint had now turned an unsightly purple.

Twilight lowered her head sheepishly. “Oh, um…I accidentally kicked her in bed last night.”

Granny Smith snickered in her rocker, but said nothing. Applejack shot her a glare. “She’s been doin’ that every time I tell that story too.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, curiously scrutinizing Granny Smith, but the old mare said nothing and resumed reading her book.

---

“Alright, we’re all here,” Rainbow Dash grumpily asserted. “What’s the big news?”

It had taken Spike the better part of an hour to find everypony and get them together in the library. Fluttershy and Rarity sat together while Rainbow Dash hovered overhead. Pinkie hopped restlessly back and forth. Applejack and Twilight were the last. As they came through the door, Spike began. “This morning, I got this letter from--”

Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof at Applejack and interrupted, “Whoa! Before we get to that, what happened to your FACE?!”

Applejack shot Twilight a sideways glance. “You want to tell them or should I?”

Twilight sheepishly admitted, “I kicked her last night.”

“TWILIGHT!” Pinkie popped up between the pair. “That is NO WAY for lovers to act! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“It sounds like a pretty bad fight,” Fluttershy agreed.

Defensively, Twilight insisted, “What? We weren’t fighting. We were in bed!” With those words, an awkward silence fell over the entire group. Rarity exchanged an awkward glance with Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash opened her snout to say something, then seemed to think better of it and close it. Then she opened it to speak again, only to close it once more.

Rarity finally broke the silence. “I have so many questions,” she muttered quietly.

Rainbow Dash followed her up, commenting, “And I don’t want to hear any of the answers, so let’s move on.”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, that would probably be best.”

Twilight and Applejack approached the table and took a seat. Twilight looped one of her hooves around Applejack’s as she listened for Spike to read. The young dragon cleared his throat. “Anyways. Like I was saying, I got this letter this morning.” He walked over to the writing desk and picked up a scroll. “It’s from Princess Cadance, by way of Princess Celestia.”

Twilight perked up. “Cadance sent us something? What is it?”

Spike opened the scroll and began to read.

Dear Twilight,

You and your friends are cordially invited to attend the Crystal Ball, a celebration of the love and friendship that allowed us to liberate the Empire from the brutal reign of King Sombra. The Crystal Empire will be hosting this event at the palace on the Saturday to follow this letter’s arrival.

I hope to see you all in attendance as the Empire’s guests of honor. If possible, please come to the palace first thing Saturday morning so that we may have some time to confer before the ball.

Love,
Princess Cadance

“They’re throwing a party for us?!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in celebration. “Sweet!”

“Did she say anything about letting me cater it?” Pinkie Pie asked eagerly, but Spike shook his head.

“From the sounds of it, the Crystal Empire’s planning on handling it.”

Pinkie stared blankly at the little dragon. “…but they’re going to want my help, right?”

Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “I think Cadance is planning to take care of everything.”

“But she can’t!” Pinkie shouted. “How can it be a super special Pinkie Party if I’m not there, making it the best super-special Pinkie Party it can be?!”

“More importantly,” Rarity mused, casting a glance at Twilight and Applejack, “while the two of you certainly seem to be covered already, I’m not sure where the rest of us are going to find dates on such a short notice.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Who said anything about dates?”

Narrowing her eyes, Rarity stated, “We’re going to be attending a ball,” as if that was sufficient answer to the question.

Rainbow Dash blinked vacantly. “…isn’t that just a fancy word for party? Like the gala?”

Before Rarity could answer, Pinkie interrupted. “A ball is a social gathering where a large number of attendants are expected to gather together and participate in a social dance with their dates.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash paled. “Then I’m not going!”

Pinkie gasped. “You have to go! It wouldn’t be a party without all of us!”

“Pinkie is absolutely right,” Rarity added. “We are the guests of honor, Rainbow Dash. It would be an insult to Princess Cadance for even a single one of us to refuse her invitation.”

“Oh,” came a tiny squeak from Fluttershy in the corner of the room. “I was going to sit out too, but I don’t want to insult Princess Cadance.”

Rainbow Dash looked from Pinkie to Rarity, then back at Pinkie, then over at Twilight and Applejack cozily whispering to each other. “Well, fine!” she shouted. “But if we’re all going, then those two don’t get to go together!”

Applejack jerked up at Rainbow Dash’s assertion. “Now, you hold on just a cotton-pickin’ minute--”

“It’s only fair!” Rainbow Dash insisted. “If the rest of us have to spend the night being awkward and uncomfortable around some jerk, then it’s not fair for you to get a pass just because you two are all gushy over each other now.”

Pulling her hoof out from Twilight’s, Applejack stood up and began to stomp towards Rainbow Dash. “Alright, I’ve had just about enough of--”

“Actually, I think that sounds like a great idea,” Twilight interrupted.

Applejack froze, then slowly turned to look back at Twilight. Her eyes studied her partner carefully, as though scanning to see if she was real. “Ya do?”

Twilight stood up and walked around towards Rarity and Pinkie, then shot her gaze back to Applejack. “I think it could be fun. Think of it like a--”

“Sugar, I love you, but if you say ‘experiment’ I might just have to throttle ya. Right here in front of all our friends. And that’d be real embarrassin’ for me.”

Rarity raised a hoof. “I would help.”

Twilight giggled. “I was going to say a game, actually. Why don’t you start? Applejack, choose somepony to be my date to the ball. It can be anypony in Ponyville, but if we go outside our group, we might have to do some explaining.”

Applejack stared at Twilight for a few seconds and then a devilish grin spread across her face. She knew exactly who she was going to pick. She turned her attention to her target with an almost predatory glee, like a Timberwolf closing in on an injured sheep. “Rainbow. How would you like to take Twilight to the Crystal Ball?”

“Wait, what?!” In that moment, all of the color drained out of Rainbow Dash’s face. Even her mane seemed to turn pale. She looked at Twilight and found her staring back expectantly, then shot her gaze back to Applejack. She blinked a few times as though trying to make this reality disappear.

“It was your idea,” Twilight insisted. “Please, Rainbow Dash?”

Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, Rainbow Dash muttered, “Fine. I’ll take Twilight. But you owe me for this, AJ!”

Twilight smiled warmly. “Then that’s settled and now it’s my turn.” Applejack watched her carefully. She was trying very hard to be positive, but Applejack caught her shivering for just a second.

Twilight took a deep breath, then turned to the others and asked, “Rarity? Would you be willing to take Applejack to the Crystal Ball?”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to panic. Twilight had no idea what she was doing. She couldn’t know; she hadn’t been here that long. And if this had anything to do with how strange Twilight had been acting, that was all the more reason to put a stop to it. “Hold on a second, sugar,” she interrupted. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Twilight turned back to her and, for just a moment, Applejack caught a glimpse of vulnerability behind Twilight’s cheerful façade. “Of course, it is. It’s just a game.”

Applejack shook her head. “I think it’s more. You’ve been jumpier than a tree frog on a hot skillet since we got back, and I keep noticin’ Rares at the center of it all. You’re doin’ somethin’ with this shindig and ya don’t want to tell us about it.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s harmless. Really. It’s not….”

Applejack walked towards Twilight, closing the distance. “It ain’t harmless, Twi. Ya ‘bout near took my eye off last night ‘cause of what’s ailin’ ya.”

Twilight shrank down and started to back away, muttering, “Please. I need this.”

“No, ya don’t. You think you do, but you’re just hurtin’ yourself more and--”

“I’ll do it!” Rarity shouted, stepping between Twilight and Applejack. Neither had noticed, but she’d watched them start to bicker with panic beginning to surge on her face. She stood between the lovers, separating them and almost seemed to be protectively shielding Twilight. “It’s alright, Applejack. I know we’ve had our…differences…but I’m willing to do my part.”

Applejack studied Rarity up and down, then squinted her eyes and asked, “Are ya sure? Rares, you and I ain’t exactly--”

“I know,” Rarity cut her off. “But it’s for Twilight. Please, I can’t bear to see you fight. If this is what she needs, then I want to help her.”

“I don’t know about this,” Applejack replied. “It don’t feel right to me and I don’t buy that this is helpin’ Twi any.”

“Then don’t do it for her,” Rarity answered. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and continued. “Do it because you owe me.”

Applejack’s heart stopped in that moment. She shook her head slowly. “Ya don’t mean….”

“I do.”

Since the day that Twilight had come to Ponyville, Applejack and Rarity had never even spoken about it. They’d made a silent agreement to tolerate each other due to their mutual fondness for Twilight and the others, but that tolerance had somehow grown into a friendship. For the first couple of moons, Applejack wondered when it would come back up to haunt her, but with time she’d let it go and enjoyed being Rarity’s friend. Now, at last, the unspoken history was here and she had no defense against Rarity’s words.

Curiously, Twilight stepped around Rarity and shot a confused glance at her. Rarity’s eyes were burning with determination, but there was a slight moistness around them as if she was struggling to keep her tears in check. Twilight turned her attention back to her partner. “Applejack, what is she talking about?”

“Old piece of history,” Applejack answered. “Don’t fret about it.”

“Will you do it?” Rarity asked firmly.

Applejack sighed. “Yeah. Reckon I have to. I don’t like one bit of this, Twi, but if ya really need it, then I’ll do it.”

“Thank you.” Twilight stepped into Applejack, putting a hoof around her neck and nuzzling her mane. “This means everything to me.”

“I know, sugar.”

Letting go, Twilight turned around. “Thank you too, Rar--” There was no pony where Rarity had been standing.

“She left,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Bolted out the door just as soon as you weren’t looking.

Twilight started for the door, but Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder to stop her. “Leave it, Twi. She needs some time. Let’s just talk about we’re all going to be doin’ at the ball. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

Twilight nodded and returned to the table, but despite her own words, Applejack couldn’t stop thinking about it. Twilight had no idea what she’d just stepped in the middle of, and Applejack had no idea what was going through her head. One way or another, she was certain the Crystal Ball would end in disaster.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Well... if Twilight hasn't exactly made progress in this situation, at least it's lateral movement.

Crystal Princess Rarity's tone is a pretty good blend of the real Rarity and Twilight herself- nice touch.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

she'd prefer the best Rarity

Rairty, Applejack is a hard worker your not, you're logic isn't very sound even in the rules of dream logic.

[Kadigan]

8017114
8513791
Well, considerin'-'s Twilight doing this ta herself, it makes perfect sense don't it? Darn eerie too, the entire thang.

But in all seriousness, "dream logic" doesn't need to make sense to the rest of the world - the state it represents is internal, not external. In fact, considering it "logic" is inconsistent with the idea to begin with - "dream logic" need only keep the dream together, keep it consistent with itself. It hardly goes beyond that, nor should it... and the fun thing about it is that it partly does so by a literary device called "informed {whatever}" - something is so because we're told it's so; it doesn't need to make sense, the dreamer's mind accepts it a priori.

Besides, the whole idea is that Twilight is going through some things, and she's doing absolutely everything except facing it head-on - partly because she has no clue, and partly because she's refusing to accept it. As repressed and outright denied as it ends up, it's little wonder it shows up in her dreams instead.