Diplomatic Troubles

"What? I can't do that!" Twilight exclaimed as she looked at the three apples that Applejack had laid out in a line in front of her.

"Sure ya can!" Applejack replied with a grin. "It's easy!" she added as she stomped the ground near one of the apples, ducked her head, and then balanced it on her nose. She then stomped near the second apple, causing it to land on her foreleg's knee. Repeating the same motion with her back leg, she held the apple on her hoof. Twilight thought she looked like a deranged circus act.

"See? It's easy," Applejack stated proudly as she let the two apples on her legs roll off, then bounced the third one from her nose. "Just takes practice. Try it out," she said, her large emerald eyes instilling Twilight with a sense of false confidence.

"Well, you did make it look pretty easy.." she said uneasily, considering the challenge. She looked down to an apple and nodded with a confident smile. "Alright, I'll do it," Twilight said, Applejack giving a satisfied chuckle.

Twilight approached the apple and lifted a forehoof. As soon as she made contact, Applejack burst into a loud laughter. She had missed her mark beside the apple, and instead stomped on the apple itself. She held up a hoof and could not stifle back a laugh of her own as she joined with her friend.

"Bet no book'll have that in its pages," Applejack said with a grin. "Go ahead, give it one more go. I bet you just had a bad start, is all," Applejack reassured her.

Twilight shook the smashed apple from her hoof and sighed. She stomped her hoof down once more, careful to hit her mark. It bounced up, and she accidentally kicked it in excitement.

"See? You're gettin' better!" Applejack cheered her on. "Try again. This time, bend over and balance the apple on your nose," Applejack suggested, sitting back on her haunch legs.

Twilight gave a nod and looked to the third apple with a narrowing of her eyes. Determined, she stomped near the apple to bounce it into the air, and bent over to catch it on her nose. To her surprise, she was successful. Her eyes crossed as she focused instinctively on the apple, and she wobbled to balance it. "Look! I did it!" she exclaimed happily, as if she had accomplished something monumental.

"Looka you! You're a regular rodeo star!" Applejack said with a beaming smile, "'Fore ya know it, you'll be balancing two at a time!"

Twilight's eyes uncrossed as she lost her footing and fell over, the apple falling from her nose as she let out a yelp of surprise.

"Woah there, partner," Applejack said, moving under Twilight to prevent her from falling. Twilight moved to get to her feet and could feel her face slightly heated by embarrassment.  "Thanks," she said, and Applejack nodded to her.

"Here, follow me. You ain't done yet!" Applejack said, moving towards a table with an apple and a rope on it. Twilight had the sinking feeling that whatever Applejack had planned, she was not going to be so great at.

"All ya gotta do is lasso up this here apple. Simple and easy," Applejack said as she grabbed the rope.

Twilight watched, astonished at the speed that Applejack could fashion a functional and sturdy lasso. She had been to a few of Applejack's rodeo performances before, but never before had she seen her work closely. "There," Applejack said, her voice muffled by the rope clenched between her teeth, "that oughta do it."

She turned and threw up the lasso, grabbing the rope were it wasn't looped. She maneuvered her neck in such a way that made the lasso hover in the air steadily, as if it were defying gravity altogether. She stared at the apple for a moment or two, then moved to toss the lasso towards it. The loop landed cleanly around the apple, and the orange mare pulled back, jerking the apple in her direction. She then stopped it in midair with her hoof, causing it to land atop her hat. Twilight wondered how many times she'd performed such a trick before, as she had done it with amazing ease and confidence.

"Alright, now it's your turn," Applejack said as she handed Twilight the rope. It had the pre-fashioned loop already on it, and Twilight was thankful that she did not have to create one herself. Though it was a simple loop, she had no doubt that it'd turn out to be quite difficult for herself to mimic.

Applejack walked over and placed the apple on the table once more, and gave Twilight a wink. "Go for it!" she called to her. Twilight threw the lasso in the air and attempted to mimic Applejack's movements. It worked for a few brief moments before the lasso landed with a thud before her.

"Hey, ya got it up there for a few seconds at least," Applejack said, bolstering Twilight's confidence. Twilight nodded and was determined to give it another shot.

She threw the lasso up in the air once more and concentrated on the way she moved her neck more than the lasso itself. Keeping it in midair, she slowly turned to the apple, afraid that if she turned away too quickly the lasso would fall flat on the ground once again. In the corner of her vision, she saw Applejack smiling happily and looking up at the lasso. Twilight couldn't help but smile along with her, and her concentration faltered. By the look on Applejack's face, Twilight could tell something went wrong. She looked up to see a bundle of rope descending upon her head it a tangled mess.

Twilight sat, or rather was trapped under, under a bundle of ropes. She looked over to see her friend holding her hooves to her mouth to stifle a laugh, and she attempted to free herself by wiggling. Having seen this, Applejack burst into an abrupt, tear-inducing laughter.

"I'm.. I'm sorry. It's just.. That's funny. That right there, that's funny," Applejack said between spouts of laughter, trying to explain.

"Yeah I bet it's hilarious," Twilight said in mock annoyance, though her smile betrayed her anger. "Would ya mind helping me out here?" she said, holding up a leg with a rope draped over it.

Applejack calmed herself down and nodded. She moved over to Twilight, pulling away the ropes in such a way that Twilight had to crawl out in an awkward fashion.

"Thanks," Twilight said as she turned to face Applejack with a look that consisted of a mixture between disappointment due to failure and joy at having fun. The result was a smile and furrowed eyebrows that must have looked quite awkward for anyone that happened to see it.

"Wanna try again?" Applejack asked with a grin growing on her face, seemingly not noticing Twilight's odd expression.

"Maybe some other time," Twilight answered, rolling her eyes. "Any other events?" the purple unicorn asked.

"Actually, I was hopin' to talk with ya 'bout the festival and all. Reckon you're up for a chat?" Applejack said more seriously, but still in a lighthearted manner. Twilight had almost completely forgotten about the festival, as well as her new position as mayor.

"Oh," she said, her eyes slightly widening, "sure. I'd be happy to talk about it with you."

She was slightly surprised. Applejack usually wasn't the talking type. Twilight had her pinned as more of the "get up and go" type of mare. But, if she wanted to talk, then Twilight could not refuse.

"Positive?" I'm sure I could fashion up another lasso for ya, seeing as you're a pro and all!" Applejack joked.

"Oh of course, but first you'll have to get your hat," Twilight said, feeling an uncharacteristic sense of energy within herself.

"My hat?" Applejack said, looking up in a confused manner. Twilight levitated the farmer's hat from her head and laughed as she bounded away from the orange mare.

"Oh that's how you wanna play, huh?" Applejack said with happiness tinging her voice, trailing behind her. "Sure, I'm up for a chase!" she yelled after her.

"Talking can wait," Twilight said to herself quietly as she attempted to outrun her athletically superior friend in a futile race.