It's Nothing (It's Everything)
Our friendship... gone?
No!
It can't be!
That—that can't happen!
I can't let that happen!
"When all the truth does is make your heart ache..."
Sometimes a lie is easier to take.
"Applejack! Thank goodness! I thought I heard voices over here. Who were you talking to?"
"I was talkin' to—"
To—
"Nopony!"
Yes I was!
"Nopony whatsoever!"
What—?
But I—
But I was!
"We, uh, best be goin'!"
But I was talkin' to somepony and then Discord was there an' Twilight you have to help me!
I don't know what's goin' on!
"Did Applejack just...? Come on, Twilight! Applejack wouldn't lie!"
But I did.
I lied.
Why? What am I?
You're a liar at heart.
No!
I'm not.
My name is Applejack Apple and I am not a liar!
So you say.
An' it's true!
It's true.
But what is truth? Truth itself is a lie.
What in Celestia's good name is that supposed t' mean?
There.
You lied.
I did... what?
Is Celestia's name truly good?
Of course it... is...
Maybe for you. But what if it's not for me?
What if saying Celestia's "good" name got you killed?
Would it still be good?
I—
The truth is subjective, Applejack. The sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be.
Now look here—truth ain't just somethin' you can call as you like.
Truth is real, an' lies are real!
And Celestia's name is a good one. Maybe I'd even die for it.
An' I think my friends would agree with that.
But are these your friends?
"Pinkie Pie! Are we glad to see you!"
"Oh you are, huh? Needed a good laugh?"
"Pinkie? ...What do you suppose has her so upset? It's not like her!"
"I—didn't notice anything strange about Pinkie!"
No—stop it!
All this lyin' has to stop!
Twilight, you gotta help me!!
She can't hear you.
Face it.
You'll never stop.
Because you are a liar.
Yeah? Well, I'll never stop fightin' it, neither.
And you can't make me lie!
I'm not making you do it, Applejack. You're the one lying.
An' I'm also the one who won't.
Stop.
Fighting.
So you say.
"Rarity! Are we glad to see—why are you carrying a humongous boulder?"
"What do you mean, 'boulder'? This big beautiful bedazzling rock is a diamond! And it's all mine. Keep your envious little eyes off it! I found it and it's mine fair and square!"
What in Celestia's name is wrong with everypony?
Do you really want to know?
The truth would destroy you if you knew.
That'd be better than this! If I knew—
What?
If I knew, then—maybe I could help them.
I don't want this!
"And what are you laughing at?"
"...Chocolate milk."
This is... crazy...
You did this!
No, Applejack.
You did this.
All of you. You and all your friends.
It's like I said.
The truth will destroy you.
In this case, it did.
The truth did this?
"Uh, Rarity? This here diamond o' yours—Twilight said we should split it six ways! Since we, uh, found it together."
No—that isn't right! If we could just—just get back to ourselves—
"Well, quit it! You'd better think before you laugh at the Pink!...ie Pie!"
"Oh yeah? Well ha, ha."
If we could just—
"Quit it!"
Just—
"No. Ha, ha."
"Quit it!"
"No. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha."
We can't.
It's tearing us apart.
And none of you could stop it.
All this because—because of the truth? All this because we couldn't take a lie?
Tragic, isn't it?
This... this has to stop.
You can't stop the truth.
But you can stop a lie... you can do that. Right? I mean, I've done that since I was a little filly... it might—
No! No lying. Lying is bad. Lying is wrong. Truth is strong. It held us together!
The truth could fix this. If I could just tell the truth—!
No, Applejack! The truth did this. The truth destroyed you, it destroyed you all!
But lying.
Lying could fix things.
Fix things...?
Yes. If only you lied, you could fix all of this.
Then... maybe...
Go on, Applejack. Just try it. Just try.
I... shouldn't...
I can't!
You must!
Because it will help. It will fix. It will soothe.
I—
If—if it fixes things—
Will it?
It will.
It'll all be worth it in the end.
I—
"Okay, we're here. Everyone please, please, please just go inside, please?"
I—
I absolutely refuse.
"I absolutely refuse."
There now. That wasn't so hard, was it?
I guess... not...
Try again.
"I guess you just bring out the worst in us, Spike."
"I don't have any book."
"Where is she? Where's Rarity?"
"Beats me!"
It's easy.
It—helps.
It helps fix the pain.
See, Applejack? You've finally grasped it. You've found the truth.
The truth? But... the truth is a lie.
No, you've found our truth. The real, simple truth that hides in our corner of the universe.
It's honest.
It works for us.
Remember?
When all the truth does is make your heart ache...
Sometimes a lie is easier to take.
Author's Note
Inspired (in part) by Red's song "Fight Inside". (It also inspired the title. Can you tell?)
Anyway, just a little thing that represents my view of Applejack's corruption. At first her subconscious is fighting it, but as the discording goes on the fighting begins to stop.
