Diplomatic Troubles

The rest of the evening was a happy blur to Twilight, and she went back to her home reluctantly, but eager for the next day. Spike was spending more time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and had asked Twilight if he could stay with Sweetie Belle overnight to make what he called "crusading plans." After some coaxing, the baby dragon finally wore Twilight down, and she agreed to let him go.

Now with the house to herself, Twilight could think of nothing better to do with her free-time than make a list for the next day.

"Alright, Twilight!" she announced to herself, as she often did whenever she was alone. "Tomorrow is the Festival. The big day! We need to get it together if we're to have the perfect Festival this year!"

She continued in this manner for about two hours before she fell asleep atop one of her titled, "Successful Methods for Staying Awake." The page she fell asleep upon ironically detailed why it was a bad idea to read while trying to stay awake.

She awoke with a groan and a crick in her neck, but after a few delicate turns, she was able to correct that problem. Turning to the clock, she saw that she had ample amounts of time to prepare for the day ahead, and she smiled pleasantly.

Moving into the kitchen, she began preparing hay sandwiches for her and Applejack, and began humming "Ladybugs Awake" with a smile on her face. After glancing at the clock, she judged that Applejack would be there at any moment, and she packed the sandwiches neatly into her saddlebags just as she heard a knock at the door.

"One moment," she called to the door as she donned the bags. As she approached the door, it was surrounded in a faint purple hue, and it swung open due to her magic. As expected, Applejack stood waiting on the other side, smiling away.

"What's in the bags?" she asked curiously, quickly glancing at them then back up to Twilight.

"Hay sandwiches," she replied. "I deduced that we'd get hungry during the course of today's events, so I prepared some lunch just in case.

"Well alright, then - that's mighty thoughtful of ya. Thank you," Applejack replied, tipping her hat to Twilight as a friendly gesture of gratitude.

After giving a nod, Twilight moved out of the library and received a slight nuzzle from her friend. Still unaccustomed to such treatment, her face flushed a bright shade of red and she drew a quick breath.

"Y'alright?" Applejack asked with a small, knowing grin.

"Y-yeah," Twilight stuttered. "Just not used to that, is all."

"Well we're just gonna have to change that, now ain't we?" her friend replied, turning to walk down the path with Twilight close behind.

Without a reply, Twilight nodded quickly and mumbled out, "Mhm!" Afterwards, she shook her head quickly and began cooling off, her blush fading away.

"Passed by Town Hall earlier," Applejack announced. "Mrs. Quill said that we oughta head to the Festival today, and make sure everything's on the up and up. So I figured we oughta just head their straight-away?"

"That seems fair, yes. But why were you near Town Hall, might I ask?" Twilight inquired, "It is quite out of the way from Sweet Apple Acres."

"Pinkie came over to the farm and said she needed some apples, so I figured I'd help 'er out. What she was doin' up at that hour, I 'ave no idea," she replied with a shake of her head.

Accepting that as a logical scenario, Twilight said, "Well that was quite kind of you. Then it's off to the Festival for us, then?"

"Seems that way," Applejack replied simply.

"Terrific!" Twilight said happily, eager to experience the Festival first-hoof. "I can't wait," she said giddily, not noticing that Applejack had turned and was now staring dreamily at her.

"Me too," she said calmly, looking away with a calm smile. "Me, too."