The Core of the Problem

During the days after, Twilight didn’t know what to make of the situation with Applejack. She noticed that the strange looks, the zoning-out, and even the sadness just completely melted away for her friend. She couldn’t say everything was “back to normal”, because it wasn’t. She was different; very… detached. It was as if everything, all of a sudden, didn’t really bother her, anymore. She seemed to be happy with this new “normal” for herself.

Small things that used to upset her, like Big Macintosh sleeping in, Applebloom venturing into the forest with her friends, or Rainbow Dash zipping by and stealing her hat—she would just give a small chuckle, barely over a giggle, and shake her head with a sigh. Larger things, like a beaver cutting away an apple tree and hauling it down river, or a small fruit bat infestation—she would grow upset, but after a moment almost seem to shrug it off and carry on to fix the problem. The animated Applejack was just… gone. Twilight was pretty sure that things weren’t out of hand, and didn’t care… as long as Applejack didn’t seem to mind, but this sudden change just sort of caused her some uneasiness.

“Perhaps she just doesn’t want to fight? I mean, Applejack doesn’t like fighting, so it makes sense that she just pretends to not care.” Fluttershy looked behind her at the pony in question, glancing back over at Twilight, who pondered the idea.

“I don’t know. It just seems like there has to be a reason behind a change like this. You’ve noticed, haven’t you? It’s kind of obvious…” Twilight whispered, fighting the urge to glance behind her at Applejack.

The six were on the pathway from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s old castle, just finishing up their work for the day. It was quite the jaunt, giving her the time to talk to Fluttershy while Pinkie Pie and Rarity occupied the pony in question. She hated to talk about somepony behind their back, but she felt as if it was for the best, all things considered.

“I… not exactly…” Fluttershy whispered, “I think Applejack is acting fine…”

Twilight couldn’t believe that Fluttershy was this blind. Maybe her always seeing the best in everypony just caused her to overlook such a drastic change? In the past four days, all of the girls had gotten together three times to work on the castle—each time for quite a while. It was impossible that Fluttershy just hadn’t been around her long enough. It was just that—

“I—is it because of me?” she asked aloud. Perhaps too loud, as Rainbow Dash, who was flying circles a few lengths ahead, turned around at the sound.

“Is what because of who?” she asked, alighting right near the two. The loudness of her voice made Twilight cringe, aware that Applejack was only twenty paces behind the three.

“Shhhh!” Twilight hissed, glancing behind them. She sighed in relief, thankful that Pinkie’s current energetic outburst had Applejack and Rarity completely captivated. Instead, she turned back toward the newest addition to their conversation. “Rainbow, have you noticed something’s wrong with Applejack?”

“Not really,” she deadpanned, hopping over a rock on the pathway. “I thought we had already solved all of this? It’s kinda last week’s news, isn’t it? Pinkie and I went on a walk, Rarity made her the boots—remember?”

Fluttershy continued the explanation: “This is a new problem, now. Twilight thinks that Applejack is being too dismissive about everything.”

Rainbow Dash snorted at that. “Twilight, the only problem around here is that you’re obsessed with Applejack.” With that, the Pegasus took into the air, continuing her patrol, and leaving a certain pony dumbfounded with the statement.

Ob…sessed? She wasn’t obsessed! There was no way that that was the case! She just cared about one of her best friends; that wasn’t being obsessed. She knew for a fact that Applejack was acting differently. She saw it in the way that Applejack talked. She saw it in the way she carried herself. She saw it in everything. And if she was the only pony that could see it, then she would just have to fix it on her own.

And besides, this was coming from Rainbow Dash. Twilight loved the pony, sure, but that specific Pegasus wasn’t exactly known for being too intuitive… or gentle with her words. Now if this was coming from Fluttershy? Yeah, she would consider the possibility, but not Rainbow Dash…

“I—I’m not obsessed, am I, Fluttershy?” she asked, glancing over with a defiant look.

Fluttershy visibly broke her stride, freezing in place for just half a moment. It was almost a flash, but just long enough to give Twilight pause. She watched, almost slack-jawed as Fluttershy resumed her pace, even speeding up just slightly. “I—you’re not obsessed. You just—” the words came out slow—calculatedly, “tend to spend a lot of time with her.” It was as if each syllable was delivered in order to make the blow on Twilight lighter, but it only worked to do the exact opposite.

Her friends thought that she was obsessed. First of all, Twilight didn’t even know what that meant. How can you be obsessed with a pony? And why was Twilight the one that was obsessed? She was accepting invitations from Applejack—why wasn’t she the source of this gossip?

“I am not! What about AJ! Do you think she is, too?” The words came out louder than they should have, but at this point, Twilight wasn’t even concerned with the prospect of the other pony finding out.

Fluttershy flinched at the outburst, freezing in her tracks and not recovering, this time. “I—I—no? Maybe? Yes? I don’t know.” Shaking, the reply came out weakly, but Twilight still wasn’t satisfied, as she prepared another question.

“What’s goin’ on, here?” As the two had stopped, the ponies behind had finally caught up. Applejack tilted her head, a confused face showing. “Somethin’ wrong?” The question came, glancing between the two with an uneasy gaze.

A call came in from overhead as a rainbow blur collided on the ground, a few steps away. “Fluttershy! What did you do to her, Twilight? She’s freaking out!” With a comforting hoof, Rainbow Dash draped her arm across Fluttershy’s back, consoling her. “You okay, Flutters?” she asked. The shaking pony only nodded, looking back at Rainbow Dash with a small smile. “I—I’m okay. I’m sorry Twilight, I—I didn’t mean to make you mad; it was just my opinion.”

Twilight froze, looking at her friends, who were all staring at her expectantly. She cowered from their gazes, feeling mixtures of concern, anger, and fear. She had messed up, and she knew it. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy—everypony. It’s just—” a sigh stopped her. It was time to look inward. “Do you think I’ve changed?” The words came out before she could stop them. Her reasoning was stretched, but without cause a single statement came to mind, something that may explain everything that was happening now and for the last few months. It was what Spike said:

“You know, you’ve been a lot happier since. She helps you wind down and not be so… tense.”

She wasn’t sure why she was… obsessed. She wasn’t sure what was going on, both in her heart and mind, but… she was the one that was different.

Applejack had been changing Twilight, not the other way around. It wasn’t the country pony that had been changing—morphing through this strange experience and coming out a brand new pony—it was her. She was told from almost the very beginning that everything she was accusing Applejack of had been happening to her, and she just dismissed it without so much as a second thought.

“Not going to lie, dear: you have.” Rarity cut the silence, lifting a hoof in anticipation. “Lately you’ve been all—” she waved a hoof in thought before gesturing at the princess, “strange.”

Pinkie Pie jumped in: “And you’ve been talking about nothing but Applejack. It’s ‘Applejack this’ and ‘Applejack that’—I mean come on. It’s like you spend all of your time there…” She paused, a look of realization flashing across her face: “Well actually you kinda do… so I guess that makes sense!”

Applejack stiffened at this, glancing around at the crowd. “Now c’mon, y’all, let’s not talk like this. So yeah, maybe Twi has been actin’ a little funny, but so have I. I don’t think ya can start talkin’ like we’re crazy jus’ cause we’ve been helpin’ each other out for the last few weeks. Ya girls helped me when I came to ya, needing advice about how to help Twilight, and now you just wanna throw ‘er on the tracks when she needs us the most?

“Twilight, yeah, you’ve changed. I asked ya if that was okay a couple of days ago, and even though ya thought I was talkin’ about me, I was really talkin’ about you. So, I’ll give ya the same answer ya gave me: as long as you’re happy with the new you, I’m completely okay with it. Just… maybe try and not scare Fluttershy.”

“…wait—what?” Twilight, no matter how many times she tried to wrap her head around this, couldn’t. Applejack was asking for help about her? Applejack was poking and prying, trying to lure answers out of her, when Twilight was doing the very same thing? What for? And why? And when? All the journalistic questions were running through her mind as she felt utterly lost. It was as if she was missing a single piece of the puzzle, only to find out she had been putting the wrong one together from the start. “You were talking about me? You’ve been trying to help me? But you—the crying! You were crying!” She couldn’t even speak coherently as all of the unspoken facts were filtering through her mind.

Applejack giggled (drawing quite the reaction from Rainbow Dash, who visibly flinched) “Yeah, I was. But I told you: I’m as right as rain, now. I have been for over a week. You kept on havin’ the girls try to help me, but in truth, I was already talkin’ to them about you. On the bright side: I did happen to get a fancy pair ‘a boots outta the whole ordeal. Ain’t too bad, if I say so m’self,” she said, lifting a hoof and smiling at the shoe while Rarity beamed in the background.

She sighed, a shiver running down her spine as she plopped on her hindquarters in the middle of the path. “I—really?” It wasn’t believable. It didn’t answer any questions. It didn’t solve any problems. Fitting this in the realistic contexts of her mind… It just didn’t. If she was going through a change, so be it. But Applejack couldn’t have been trying to help her. It just wasn’t possible. She didn’t need help! She was just trying to—

That was the problem: she had no idea what was she was trying to do. She didn’t know why she was at Sweet Apple Acres. She didn’t know what Applejack’s problem was. This circled right back around to the center of her original problem: Applejack had a secret. And Twilight didn’t know what it was.

Rainbow Dash shrugged, her hoof still on Fluttershy’s back. “I think you need to just chill, Twilight.”

Even if this was the case, Twilight only had one question that she still couldn’t figure out: “So what should I do?”

The exchange of glances told her only one thing: They didn’t have the answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Books. Twilight had read a library full of books. She had studied more spells, cultures, histories, and languages than most ponies did in a lifetime. She had been lectured by royalty and famous philosophers and had aced tests many thought impossible. But now? Now this was her own thoughts and feelings, and every book in her library didn’t have the answer.

She sat in just that very place, looking out of the window at the western sunset. She knew her friends were just trying to help after that outburst. She had, just as Rainbow Dash had said, “freaked out”. The apology to Fluttershy didn’t help, as her friends continued to fuss over the pink maned pony. And, afterwards, they fussed over her.

Even now, sitting in the library, she could feel Rarity’s eyes burn into her back. Twilight knew she was there. She had been standing in the doorway for minutes, both of them in silence. But Twilight didn’t really have anything to say.

“Are you sure you’re okay, darling?” She didn’t even turn around at the words, as they were getting repetitive at this point.

“I’m fine, Rarity. I just need time.”

The sound of hooves clattering against the wooden floor told Twilight that she was approaching. Once a hoof was on her shoulder, a reply came: “I’m afraid that what I have to say isn’t going to help, dear.”

Twilight lifted an eye in confusion, as she finally tore herself away from the window: “Continue…”

“As your friend and confidant, I find it is my place to warn you,” Rarity moved her hoof, taking Twilight by the shoulders, and staring intently into her friend’s eyes. “People are talking, and while I don’t know all the details about you two, I am pretty sure the stories aren’t true.”

“What isn’t true?”

Rarity hopped down, running over to close the curtain of the window they were standing right before. “I don’t know how to say this… but people have been seeing you and Applejack together quite a bit. They are starting to think that the air between you two has changed.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s kind of what started this whole intervention, Rarity.”

Rarity shook her head in return. “I’m not talking about that. They’re saying that things have moved beyond friendship. To… something more.”

Twilight shook her head, annoyance and confusion racing through her mind. “Yeah. I told Applejack that, and she asked some question that apparently meant something else, and I just—“

“They think you’re dating!” Rarity burst out. She immediately covered her mouth with her hooves. A moment later, she removed them, breathing deeply. “I tried to stop the rumors, I really did. But they’re just everywhere, and the way you two are carrying on isn’t really helping the situation, frankly.”

Her immediate reaction was explosive: “What? Where did they even get that from?”

Rarity only laughed, her expression light, despite the gravity of the situation. “Really? If I didn’t know you two, I might have thought the same thing.”

Twilight was stunned. She couldn’t even think of anything to say in response. Applejack… dating… her… It was so—she hadn’t even thought of that… ever. Sure, they were getting along great; when you spend weeks with someone, you’re bound to fall on either side of the aisle: friends or foes. That’s just bound to happen. But dating? Sure, she could see how strangers would think that. The way she and Applejack had been acting certainly made it seem that way. But… this was Ponyville: everypony knew everypony around here. Didn’t they know Twilight and Applejack well enough to know they were friends? Better yet: what should she do about it?

She couldn’t shove Applejack away. That would be the exact opposite of helpful right now, for a myriad of reasons. It would fuel the rumors. It would probably send Applejack spiraling right back down into her… problem (she still hadn’t worked that one out). It would… honestly really hurt her to do that to a friend, too. That left her with… what options?

“I—what do I do?” The words came out far later than she had meant them to. After a moment of silence, Rarity grew a soft, sympathetic smile. She placed a hoof on Twilight, turning the gaze of the shocked pony upwards to meet hers. “We’ll figure something out, dear. Just—just tell Applejack. That’s the best thing you can do, for now. And you two being together at this point is far better than you trying to distance yourself from her. I’ll do what I can, but at this point, we might need to just let things settle down naturally for a while.”

Twilight had no idea what to say—but she had even less of a clue as to what it all meant. This only made her situation worse; it made all of the thoughts racing through her mind increase to near the breaking point.

But further yet: she had no idea where this put her and Applejack. First, she was somewhat angry with her. All of the deception the pony had put her through, when she herself was just trying to help. Then, she was faced with the reality that she and the pony had been getting closer and closer through the past weeks—Twilight had thought she had found a sister-like figure in the country gal. Now, she had the news that everypony thought they were dating… it was like a break-neck speed whirlwind of relationship issues she was entirely unprepared for.

So, what should she do? Once again: she had no answers.

And she was pretty sure there wasn’t a book for this, either.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~