The Hollow Kingdom of Big Macintosh

Intermission

"No... that doesn't sound quite right."

"How so?" Rarity asks, taking a dainty sip of tea. Applejack is not drinking tea; it is not her beverage. Still, Rarity insisted on talking over something. A full teacup sits before her, but she has yet to touch it.

"Well, I know he didn't sleep, but I didn't think it was a nightmare," Applejack says, explaining why she doubts Rarity's tale of Big Macintosh's strange nightmare. She does not, however, believe Rarity is lying.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to say more than that." Rarity encourages her friend to continue. Big Macintosh has deceived her for some reason, it would seem. She is not angry, but she would like to know why; this time, she wants an explanation.

"I think he was out in that storm last night, for some reason," Applejack tells her. "His sheets were all wet and there was a nice path of rainwater leading from the front door to his room. I'd say that's evidence enough."

"Curious." Rarity doesn't know what else she can say. The answer to her questions, any of them, aren't apparent from Applejack's story. She will have to sort out what it could all mean by herself.

"I'm still not sure I like all this," Applejack says, changing the subject. "I mean, going behind my brother's back and all that."

Rarity pauses to take a sip of tea from her cup. She won't say it, but she doesn't like going behind his back anymore than Applejack does. If she admits it, Applejack will have leverage to bring this all to an end. Rarity will be left with no choice but to take the problem on directly. She couldn't do that.

"Can't you just ask him?" Applejack persists still.

"You ask that, but let me ask you something." Rarity sets her teacup back onto the table. "Why do I have to ask him?"

Applejack doesn't have a response. She averts her eyes, trying not to acknowledge some of the darker realities of the situation she finds herself in. Rarity does, in all honesty, have the right to know what it is she wants to know. Applejack would not deny her friend this.

"This is all too weird."

"Agreed." Rarity raises her teacup to her lips and takes a sip. "You trust your brother, right?"

"Of course!" Applejack says immediately and with strong certainty that is becoming of the Element of Honesty. "I trust him!" She says it herself, to emphasize her unwavering love for her brother. Rarity smiles at her friend's response, but she stares distantly into her slowly emptying teacup. Applejack wonders if she even heard what she had just said, but her concerns disappear when Rarity finally speaks.

"I trust him too."

Ladies and gentlemen, Act II will begin shortly.
Please return to the auditorium in a calm, nonthreatening fashion.