# A Delicate Balance

## by JapaneseTeeth

### An Anatomy of the World

There’s always too much to do. Studying, working, cleaning, finding the time to spend with Applejack, finding time to spend with Spike, finding time for everypony else, helping the cutie mark crusaders with their projects, figuring out how to ask Applejack that question… and now Rarity needs to talk about something. Why can’t I just finish something before some new thing comes along?

There is no health; physicians say that we

At best enjoy but a neutrality.

And can there be worse sickness than to know

That we are never well, nor can be so?

--An Anatomy of the World,

John Donne

“This is so weird.” Twilight’s eyes ping-ponged between her book, her notes, the clock, and Spike. By her estimate, she had fit approximately fifty-four minutes of studying into the past thirty-eight minutes for a cram ratio of 1.42. Not her best (that had been achieved during an all-nighter, where she had gotten all the way up to 1.93), but still above average (that average being a mere 1.29). “What could she possible need to see me so badly about?”

“Who needs to see you?” Spike asked as he placed a fresh inkwell on her desk.

“It’s Rarity,” Twilight answered, gently nudging the inkwell into line with the now-empty one that sat next to her notes. “She came to the Chocolate Shoppe this morning while I was working and said that it was imperative that we talked today. She refused to leave until I managed to fit her into my schedule!” She pulled a large binder off of a nearby shelf and held it up for Spike to read. “Look at how much stuff I had to shuffle around!”

“That’s… a lot of things,” Spike said. He couldn’t make heads or tails of Twilight’s schedule, which resembled some sort of scientific diagram more than any calendar he had ever seen.

“I know!” Twilight grumbled. “I’m just lucky she caught me today. I’m supposed to help the cutie mark crusaders with their science project tomorrow, and that’s something I’m not going to wiggle out of! Seriously, what could Rarity need to talk to me so badly about?”

Spike shrugged. “I dunno, maybe she—” His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he recalled the events of the previous night. “I mean, I have no idea. None, whatsoever.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, you’re almost as bad of a liar as Applejack. What does Rarity want? You didn’t give Sweetie Belle a book on how to make fireworks or something, did you?”

“No!” Spike said indignantly. “I get that it wasn’t the best idea to give Apple Bloom that airbag thing, but I know better than to give them explosives! You think I want to blow a hole in somepony’s roof?”

“Then why would Rarity want to talk to me? I know you know!” Twilight took a step toward Spike. He attempted to take a step back, but found himself hovering, held a few inches off the ground by Twilight’s telekinesis. “I’m not mad at you, Spike. I just want to know what’s going on!”

“Uh, well…” Spike chuckled nervously. “You know when Rarity came to drop that dress off yesterday?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded.

“Well, you kinda sorta might have left some of your magazines out.”

“Oh…” Twilight’s eyes widened. “You mean… she knows?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, she figured it out pretty quickly. I tried to talk her out of it, but like you said, I’m kind of a bad liar.”

“Ugh.” Twilight dropped Spike with a thud. “This is going to be a disaster! She’s going to go and try to plan the entire wedding! She’s probably already hired a band! And the proposal… I don’t even know what she’ll try to pull with that! Although I guess it can’t be worse than whatever it was that Pinkie wanted me to do. But still, I don’t need her hanging over my head!”

As she paused for breath, there was a loud knock on the door. “Twilight!” Rarity’s voice called. “Are you there, Twilight?”

“Oh, this is going to be a long afternoon,” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “Would you do me a favor and make some tea? I think I’m going to need it.” She descended the stairs and approached the door with trepidation. Rarity needed to be let down gently. Twilight appreciated her ever-so-generous desire to help, but at the moment she didn’t require whatever ridiculous thing Rarity was about to pitch.

“Good afternoon, Rarity,” Twilight said as she opened the door. “So, uh, it seems that you… know about my plans?”

“Indeed I do!” Rarity darted inside. “Don’t worry, I fully intend on keeping the whole matter under wraps. Now that you’ve resolved to finally propose we have quite a few things to discuss.”

“Yeah…” Twilight watched as Rarity began unloading both of her saddlebags. “About that…”

“As you’ve no doubt realized, given your rather comprehensive approach to such matters, there are a myriad of factors that would go into the proposal. The ring, the occasion, the location, and such.”

Twilight held up a hoof. “Rarity…”

“And of course, you’ll want to think ahead. It’s never too early to start considering the where, when, and how of the ceremony itself.”

“Rarity.”

“It’s best to get started early, obviously, especially with the guest list, which I’m sure will be quite impressive. The sooner you put that together, the sooner you can begin searching for a venue, a caterer, and—”

“Rarity!” Twilight all but shouted.

“Huh?” Rarity looked up from the numerous notebooks and cloth swatches she had neatly laid out on the table. “What is it, Twilight?”

“Well…” Twilight mentally prepared herself. If she had realized what was going on a bit earlier, she could have rehearsed how to let Rarity down easily. She’d have to just give it her best shot. “Listen, it’s not that I don’t appreciate your desire to help. I’m really happy that you’re willing to take the time to do… all this. But at the same time, it’s just… I think this is something that I can and should do on my own.” She grinned nervously, hoping a smile would put Rarity at ease.

Rarity simply blinked. “Ah.” Her eyes meandered over the sales-pitch like set of samples and brochures she had nearly completed setting out on the table. “Well, even in that case, I still think that I could contribute. After all, I am quite well-versed in all of the various trends surrounding such things.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose. It might not be as easy as she had hoped. “I understand that, Rarity, but I’m pretty sure that Applejack doesn’t really care much about those trends. I’m sure that your magazines or whatever have some good ideas, but I think that I have a much better idea of what Applejack would want.”

Rarity returned Twilight’s narrow gaze. “Yes, but be that as it may, I don’t think it could hurt to gain a bit more information.” She cleared her throat. “You certainly do know what Applejack would want, but you might very well be missing out on something that she would very much enjoy! If you really are thinking of her it would be best to explore all your available options.”

“I am thinking of her,” Twilight said crossly. “That’s why I want to trust my own judgment for once. You remember back when I first realized I was romantically interested in her? I spent all my time trying to figure out what I thought I should be doing based on what everypony else said, and it was a disaster! But I’m past that now. I don’t need anypony else to tell me how to do things! I’ve spent the past year figuring that out.” She snorted. “Unless you think that I’m not capable of doing it myself.”

“I hardly think that because you’ve been dating for a year that you suddenly know everything there is to know about romance,” Rarity said. “One must be careful not to get overconfident, after all.”

“I’m not overconfident, just confident.” There was a note of pride in Twilight’s voice.

“Hmph.” Rarity flicked the end of her mane. “Everypony says that, and they’re rarely right. If you would just listen to me, this could be the greatest proposal ever! Now why don’t we just look through these samples?”

Twilight’s glare could’ve chilled a glass of cider. “Why do you want me to listen to you so badly?! This is my relationship, Rarity. I’ve already told you, I want to do this myself!”

“Twilight, please!” Rarity put on a manufactured look of affront. “There is no reason to be so irritated. I would’ve thought that you would have appreciated some advice!”

“Advice on what?” Twilight stared incredulously at her. “Unless you’ve been secretly dating Fluttershy or something for the past year, I’m pretty sure that I know more about this situation than you do! Why would you know what to do now?”

“Because I have seen, heard, and read about countless approaches to your very situation, made by dozens of other couples!”

“So?” Twilight snorted. “You think I haven’t thought about all of that? That just made me realize that Applejack and I aren’t one of those couples, and that if I’m going to get help from anypony, it’s going to be from somepony who actually knows what they’re talking about! When was the last time you proposed to anypony?!”

Rarity reeled back like she had just been bucked in the face.

“So that’s what you think, is it?” she said. “That I don’t have anything to offer you simply because I haven’t had the time to pursue a serious relationship in the past year? I realize that you might have a bit more practical experience in such matters, but that hardly means that I have nothing to contribute!” She gritted her teeth and growled, “I just want to give you an alternate perspective!”

“If I wanted your perspective I would have asked for it!” Twilight stomped her hooves. “Ever since I first realized I loved her I’ve been driving myself crazy! I was terrified of doing something wrong and ruining everything. And now that I’m finally sure of myself, the last thing I need is you” —she thrust a hoof at Rarity— “coming around and trying to run my relationship for me because you think I can’t do it myself!”

“Fine, then!” Rarity began snatching her things from the table and jamming them back into her bags. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. If you won’t accept my assistance, I suppose I have better things to do with my time!” She slung the bag over her shoulder with surprising haphazardness, and raised her nose with a snort. “When you come around, you know where to find me!”

She stomped out the door and slammed it behind her. Then she whipped the door open and poked her head back in. “And I hope you remember that if it weren’t for me, the two of you might not be together at all!” She slammed the door again, and this time Twilight could see her stamping down the street with as much dignity as she could manage.

“Mpfff…GAH!” Twilight pounded her hooves on the floor in frustration, unable to find any words in her extensive vocabulary that accurately captured her feelings. She settled for punching at the air.

“Are you okay?” Spike poked his head in from the kitchen. “What happened in there?”

“Nothing,” Twilight grumbled.

“That didn’t sound like nothing,” Spike said. “I’m pretty sure that nothing would have been quieter.”

“Spike.”

“Sorry.” He shrugged. “I just want to know what happened.”

“Rarity just tried to shove our relationship in the direction she wanted, and I told her I didn’t want that.” She shrugged. “I may have gotten a little snippy, but I still don’t think she should be poking her nose into my business..”

Spike opened his mouth to answer, but thought better of it. He didn’t quite know what to say, and a grumpy Twilight wouldn’t want to listen anyway. “Well, at least the rest of your evening is free now.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Twilight said, her voice suddenly tired. “I think I’m going to get back to studying. I need to think about something else right now.”

Spike watched as she lethargically ascended the stairs. Whatever Rarity wanted couldn’t have been that bad. He shrugged. It wouldn’t be the first time either Twilight or Rarity had overreacted. Besides, even if one of them had done something mean, they’d come around. They always did.

Rarity sat despondently at her work table, a single lamp casting long shadows across the room. Her eyes were focused on the folds of fabric before her, but her mind was still in the library lobby.

“I cannot believe her!” She snapped to no one in particular. “After everything I’ve done for her. Helping her get a grip on her feelings, listening to her worries, reserving a restaurant for her —multiple times—, designing new dresses specifically for their special occasions… and now she suddenly thinks she’s too good for my advice! Has she forgotten that without me she wouldn’t have even realized her feelings for Applejack in the first place?! She owes me.”

Opal yawned disinterestedly and licked herself, then resettled in her nest of discarded fabric.

“I mean, yes, perhaps I have gone a bit overboard in the past, but she was so unsure of herself that it was only natural to try to point her in the right direction!” She stabbed at her material with a needle, angrily and rapidly, not really caring what she was sewing together. “One doesn’t need a lot of experience to be able to offer a bit of insight, after all! One doesn’t need to be a chef to tell that food is too salty.”

She flipped the ball of fabric over and began jabbing pins into it. “Sure, I may have come on a little strong in trying to direct her, but even so she ought to have understood that I was only trying to help her! She didn’t know what she was doing, and she needed a confident hoof to guide her!”

Opal raised her head and glared at Rarity, none too pleased at the noise.

“Granted, she has gained quite a lot of personal experience over the past year, but that hardly makes her an expert on all things romance! If anything she should be wary of being overconfident!” She snorted and resumed sewing. “If she would let me help her I could ensure that she doesn’t take this whole thing too lightly! A marriage proposal is one of the most important points of a relationship after all. Of course, it’s true that it ought to be specifically tailored to the couple involved in the matter, and she would have the best perspective on that, but still, she ought to realize that I could have helped if only she would let me!”

Opal rolled her eyes.

“What? I realize that she’s probably looked over all the same magazines and catalogues I have, and she’s probably spent hours poring over them and trying to figure out what would be best for her and Applejack, but I… uh…”

She looked down at the tangle of cloth and thread that sat on the table, but her mind was elsewhere, replaying her conversation. Now that she had the time to listen to herself, it didn’t sound quite the same.

“Oh, who am I kidding? Twilight is going to do a better job of it than I ever would. She’s right.” She slumped down on the desk, carefully avoiding the pins. The fabric wasn’t as soft as she would’ve liked, but it would suffice for a temporary pillow.

“I could probably even learn a thing or two from her.” She closed her eyes and mentally began to rewatch the relationships that she had pursued. Or attempted, rather. That was the better word. “At least she had the good sense to fall for a pony who wasn’t… like the ones I’ve dealt with. Even if I did help her a bit at the beginning, she’s far surpassed me when it comes to romance.”

In the distance she heard the clock tower ring ten o’clock. “I suppose it’s too late to head back over there now,” she mumbled to herself. “Very well, tomorrow, first chance I get I’ll have to talk to her. And this time not act like that.”

For the first time she focused her attention on the… item she had been working on. “Oh my.” She held it up. It looked precisely as one would expect a wad of cloth sewn and pinned with utter inattention to look like: a mess. “At least it’s only toile. Perhaps I can pass it off as some sort of a loofah or something. Oh well, for now I suppose I should just focus on getting my beauty sleep. And think of what to say to Twilight tomorrow.”

She sighed and switched off the lamp.

Twilight felt a little bit better in the morning, but only a little bit. She had heard the old “never go to bed angry” cliché, but that was easier said than done. Most of the night had been spent tossing and turning, mentally rehashing the argument and reiterating all the reasons why Rarity shouldn’t have poked her nose into Twilight’s business. Twilight still hadn’t found a perfect line of reasoning when she fell asleep.

But even so she was feeling milder now. Her anger had given way to frustration. As justified as her refusal of Rarity’s “assistance” had been, in retrospect she felt that she had been a bit too curt. But she would have to worry about that later. She was supposed to be helping the cutie mark crusaders on their project this afternoon—that would doubtlessly be quite the experience—so right now she had to get her studies done. She didn’t want that hanging over her head while she was helping three fillies build a pushcart.

No, for the moment she needed to get as much work out of the way as she could. She reached for her quill.

“Twilight!” The library door burst open, despite Twilight clearly remembering locking it the night before. Pinkie Pie bounded in and bounced a few times like a rubber ball. “Twilight, Twilight!”

“What is it, Pinkie?” Twilight grumbled. Normally, Pinkie’s boundless enthusiasm was infectious, but this early in the morning it was just grating.

“I was just thinking about you proposing to Applejack, and I realized that if you two get married” —she sidled up next to Twilight— “you and I will technically be related!”

“What?!”

“Well, technically we would only be in-laws, but that’s good enough for me!”

“Pinkie…” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “I thought you never found out for sure whether you and Applejack were related.”

“We also didn’t find out that we weren’t related!” Pinkie said, a wide grin on her face. Then the grin vanished. “Hey, you don’t look very happy for somepony who’s about to ask their very special somepony to marry them!” She gasped. “Applejack didn’t dump you, did she?!”

“No! Nothing like that!” Twilight shook her head violently. “Why would you even think that?!”

“I just wanted to get the worst case scenario out of the way! So what did get you down?”

“Well, don’t tell anypony, but I just had a bit of an argument with Rarity.” Twilight slammed her book shut. Pinkie probably wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. “She found out what I was planning, and she was trying to insist that I do it her way, even though I clearly told her that I didn’t want any help. It’s just… for as long as Applejack and I have been going out, I’ve never really been sure that I was doing things right. And now that I’m finally confident about what I’m doing, she shows up and tries to mess with it? I don’t think so!”

“Hmmmm…” Pinkie nodded sagely. “That’s great!”

“Huh?” Sometimes Twilight could sort of approximate what might be going on in Pinkie’s head. This was not one of those times. “What’s great about that? It drives me nuts, we had a big fight over it, and now I feel awful! What are you talking about?”

“I wasn’t talking about that, silly. Having a fight with your friend is terrible!” Pinkie shook her head. “I was talking about how you said that you finally know what you’re doing now!” She threw a foreleg around Twilight and gave her a shake. “That’s great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess…” Twilight mumbled as she slid out from under Pinkie’s grasp.

“It’s crazy how fast you figured everything out!” Pinkie said, punctuating her words with a bounce. “You figured out this whole Very Special Somepony thing in only a year! You’ve been studying magic, like, a bazillion times that long and you still don’t have that down! And magic is your special talent, even!” Her eyes widened. “You and Cadance didn’t swap cutie marks, did you?!”

“What? No!” Twilight said, again having lost Pinkie’s train of thought. “First of all, a bazillion isn’t a real number. Second, according to current magical biology theory, swapping cutie marks would be a purely aesthetic change; you’d have to swap the talents themselves for it to make any difference. Third, I’m not even sure that such a thing is possible! And fourth, magic and romance are completely different anyway!”

“Really?” Pinkie asked with exaggerated sincerity. “How?”

“How?!” Both of Twilight’s eyes twitched. “Aside from a few exceptions, such as the Elements of Harmony, the Crystal Heart, and your Pinkie Sense, magic is a set of quantifiable phenomena that can be studied and examined. But romance, eaugh! I’ve looked up tons of information, but it’s all useless! The data is inconsistent, every pattern has dozens of exceptions, and everypony interprets the information differently! There’s no generally accepted theory for it! There’s no consensus!” She waved her hooved in the air. “Nopony can make heads or tails of it!”

Pinkie Pie furrowed her eyebrows. “Soooo.. you don’t have it figured out?”

“No!” Twilight pounded her hooves on the floor for emphasis. “Well, not exactly. It’s complicated. I figured out how I should handle things with Applejack. Or at least, I think I have it figured out.” She sat on the floor, suddenly looking exhausted. “I don’t think that there’s any way to be sure. But I’m as close to sure as I’ll ever be, I guess. I don’t know what else I could do.”

“Um, Twilight, wasn’t Rarity just trying to help you with that?” She scratched her head.

“She thought she was, at any rate,” Twilight said with a snort. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate her desire to help, but she wants to run everything. You know, what we wear, where we go, what we eat, she’d probably have us speaking with fancy accents if she thought she could get away with it!” She sighed. “I just wish that she’d realize that it’s my relationship, not hers.”

“I know what you mean!” Pinkie said with a nod. “Like once, I was throwing a birthday party for Rumble once, and he wanted it to be Wonderbolt themed, but Thunderlane was all like ‘No, there should be lightning bolts everywhere’ and I was like ‘but Wonderbolts and thunderbolts are like totally not the same thing, and—”

“I get it, Pinkie!” Twilight rubbed her forehead. She didn’t usually get headaches this early in the day. “It’s just… it feels like she doesn’t even trust me to be able to handle my own relationship! I guess I should be grateful that she wants to help me, but if her idea of helping is to just do everything for me, I think I’ll pass.”

“Yeah, that would be really annoying. Do you really think that’s what she’s trying to do, though?”

“If the saddlebags of stuff she brought over here yesterday were any indication, yes!” Twilight said. “She probably had it all planned out for me or something.”

“Soooo, you think she was going to do all that because she brought a bunch of stuff? I mean, I bring stuff everywhere, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to use it.” She reached into her mane and pulled out a brightly-colored paper mache ball with what looked like a fuse poking out of it. “See? Party bomb! I always have it with me when my party cannon is under repairs. Doesn’t mean I’m going to throw a party, though.”

“That’s true, I guess.” Twilight grabbed the bomb and shoved it back into Pinkie Pie’s mane. “But Rarity doesn’t usually carry her things around like that. She doesn’t carry around piles of ‘will-you-marry-me’ plans just in case. Besides, you know Rarity. Don’t you think that poking her nose into a relationship is something she would do?”

“It’s something she might do, but I don’t know if it’s something she’d definitely do.” Pinkie scratched her head. “It’s hard to tell what some ponies are up to. I mean, when you saw me today, did you think I would offer you a bowl of oatmeal?” She held up the still-steaming bowl.

Twilight took it cautiously. She was quite certain that Pinkie hadn’t had it with her five seconds ago. “Pinkie, where did that come from?”

“I had oatmeal for breakfast but I made too much! Betcha didn’t see that coming!”

“Well, no, but you do random things all the time! Rarity doesn’t just show up apropos of nothing with saddlebags full of stuff!” She sniffed the oatmeal. A bit too much brown sugar for her taste, but still quite good.

“Okay, so maybe I’m a little more random than some other ponies!” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “The point is that just because you thought Rarity was going to do something doesn’t mean that she was actually going to do the something that you thought she was going to do!”

“Uh…” Twilight wasn’t quite sure exactly what Pinkie had said, but she thought she got the gist of it. “I guess you’re right. You think I should’ve given Rarity the benefit of the doubt?”

“I don’t know!” Pinkie chirped. “That’s the whole thing. You don’t always know what’s going on or what everypony is thinking. But you do know Rarity!”

“So what you’re saying is that even if I’m afraid that Rarity is going overboard, I should remember that she’s my friend and trust that she’ll listen if I tell her I don’t want to follow her plans?”

“Yeah, sure, that works!” Pinkie said. “It was a bit clearer in my head, though.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s a nice thought, but you know as well as I do how Rarity can be sometimes. I’d love to think that she isn’t going to be overbearing, but well, it’s not like she hasn’t done it before.”

“Oh, come on!” Pinkie snorted. “You know she just wants to help! You can’t get worked up over something she hasn’t even done yet. Yeah, she might, but you don’t know that she will. If she does, you can get mad at her then. But until that happens, you should at least give her a chance!”

“I...I guess…”

“Or I could help you!” Pinkie said, grinning widely.

“Okay, okay, fine!” Twilight held up her hooves. “I guess I can give her a chance to explain herself. I should find out what she was really trying to do.”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “That’s great! Let me know if you want any help! I have like a gazillion balloons we could use!”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure whatever Rarity’s proposal plan is, it won’t involve balloons,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “But like you said, you never really know. But for now, if you see Rarity, tell her I want to talk, okay?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie bounced towards the door. “And I’ll be back later to pick up my oatmeal bowl!” She disappeared out the door.

Twilight sighed. Why couldn’t things ever be simple? She picked up the oatmeal bowl and walked to the stairs. “Spike! You want some oatmeal?”

As always, morning in the Apple Family Household was a mad rush. Always too much to do in too short a time. There was breakfast to make, dishes to clean, homework to check, chores to dole out, and a filly to shove out the door. That last one usually took far more work than it should.

“Apple Bloom, you gotta get to school or you’re gonna be late!” Applejack hurled her sister’s saddlebags across the room. They slid to a stop right in front of Apple Bloom, who reluctantly slipped them on. “You got all your books?”

“Yeah, I got everything. I’m goin’ now.”

“And remember, you gotta come right home after school so Twilight can help you out with your project, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She started out the door.

“Remind Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, alright?”

“Yeah, I will!” Apple Bloom answered in frustration. “Can I actually get goin’ now?”

“You have all your homework done?”

“Yes, and if I didn’t it’s not like I’d have time to do it now anyway.”

“Alright, see you this afternoon, then!” Applejack waved as Apple Bloom trotted down the path. Then she turned to her brother. “Can you help Granny clean up breakfast? I gotta run something down to the post office real quick.” She held up an envelope.

He nodded. “Sure. How long will it take?”

“Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes. When I get back I’ll head straight to the barn and get started on fixin’ that hole in the roof that Rainbow Dash made last week.” She clutched the letter against her chest. “I gotta get goin’. This is kinda important. Later.” Without waiting for a response, she darted out the door.

“So you’re finally going to propose?! That’s awesome!” Lyra grabbed Twilight’s hoof and shook vigorously. “Congratulations! Have you decided when you’re going to pop the question? Where are you going to do it? How are going to—”

“I don’t know!” Twilight yanked her hoof free. “I only figured out that I want to do it. I haven’t quite ironed out exactly how.” She returned to polishing the display case. “Just making a decision to do it took enough nerve. Now I have to figure out exactly how to go about it.”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad!” Lyra returned to her seat at one of the tables, where she had been in the process of tuning her harp. “I’m sure if you talked to your friends about it, they’d be more than willing to help!”

“Yeah, I know. If anything, they’re too helpful,” Twilight said. She stepped back and examined the counter. Not quite spotless; she’d have to make at least one more pass. “Besides, I think I want to do this on my own. Mostly, at least. Despite what they’d want to plan.”

“Really?” Lyra plucked one of the strings and winced at how flat it sounded. “Wouldn’t getting some help make things easier?”

“You’d think so,” Twilight grumbled, taking out her bad mood on the few remaining specks of dust. “I just think that this far into the relationship, I should be able to put something together myself. Besides, it would feel weird if I told too many ponies. It would be like everypony but Applejack would be in on it, and it would just be awkward.”

Lyra chuckled. “I guess I should be honored that you told me about it! Even if it’s just because I don’t talk to Applejack often enough for that to happen.”

“Well, it’s not just that. I don’t have to worry about you going and trying to reorganize everything for me.” She paused. “Do I?”

“Nah, I’m terrible at planning stuff like this. When I was going to pop the question to Bon Bon, the only idea I could come up with was to hide the ring in a chocolate, and I didn’t know how to do that. At least not without making a huge mess.” She shrugged. “I’m kinda glad that Bon Bon asked me first. Saved me the trouble of having to think anything up.”

“That’s one way to look at it, I guess…” Twilight blew the last dust bunny off of the countertop. “I guess that you don’t really have any suggestions of how to approach things?”

“Nope. Nothing that you probably haven’t already thought of.” Lyra drew her hoof across the strings. Better than before, but still a bit off. “I was pretty much going to go the standard route. Do my mane up just a little nicer than usual, take her out to a nice dinner, slip the musicians a few extra bits to play her favorite song, you know the drill.”

“So I should ask Bon Bon, then?”

“You could, I guess.” Lyra shrugged as she tightened one of the tuning knobs. “Don’t know how much it would help, though.”

“Why not?”

“Because she didn’t really plan much of anything,” Lyra said. “She just took me out to dinner at my favorite hay shake stand and just went for it.”

“What?!” Twilight gasped. “I didn’t think she’d do anything elaborate, but she didn’t do anything? Like? Not even taking you out to dinner?”

“She did take me out to dinner,” Lyra said. “Just not a particularly fancy one.”

“But… but… That’s not…”

“Twilight, seriously.” Lyra shook her head. “I know we’re not, like, really good friends or anything, but do you really think I’m the kind of pony who’d want something fancy? I mean, yeah, when I was thinking of how to propose to Bon Bon, I tried to plan something great, but that’s because I thought she’d enjoy it.”

“You mean… you really…?”

Lyra nodded. “I had a hay shake and an alfalfa hoagie.” She looked past Twilight and yelled into the kitchen. “Hey, Bon Bon! When you proposed, did you do anything fancy?”

Bon Bon popped her head out of the kitchen. “Of course not!” she snapped. “If I hadn’t just gotten straight to the point, you’d just have fallen asleep.”

“But…not anything special…” Twilight stared blankly ahead, trying to wrap her head around the idea.

“Specialness is in the eye of the beholder, Twilight,” Bon Bon said. “One would think that the question itself would make the occasion special enough.”

Twilight blinked a few times, her eyes wide. “I never thought about it quite like that.”

“I thought so.” Bon Bon said. “My only real piece of advice is to remember that the question is all that truly matters. Everything else is just wrapping paper. You want her to enjoy the night, of course, but you can’t let the spectacle of the thing make you forget that it’s simply about the two of you.” She disappeared back into the kitchen.

Twilight nodded. “I’ll remember that.” She sighed. “Now if only my other friends could give me such useful advice!”

“Your other friends haven’t been there and done that!” Lyra said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, and you aren’t obsessed with balloons or dressing up all fancy or trying to turn it into an event either,” Twilight grumbled. “Did you have friends trying to suggest all kinds of ridiculous things?”

“Well, Carrot Top really really wanted us to celebrate with a carrot cake. That’s about it, though.”

“I wish I had it that easy,” Twilight said. “Then again, maybe this is one of those times where there aren’t any problems except me thinking too hard. I really need to just clear my head.”

“In that case you can get back to work!” Bon Bon called from the kitchen. “I have some five trays of chocolate caramels that need to be put on display!”

“Alright! I’ll be right there!” She turned back to Lyra. “I really should just think about something else for a while. Things always seem to go wrong when I think about them too much.”

Lyra nodded. “That’s why I try to think as little as possible.”

A short while later, Rarity burst through the door of the chocolate shop. Lyra, who had finished tuning her harp and now moved on to a combination of practicing and lounging, raised an eyebrow. Rarity was breathing rather heavily, and her mane, while still meticulously maintained by any normal pony’s standards, was rather unkempt compared to how she usually kept it.

“Is Twilight still here?” she gasped.

“Nope,” Lyra answered as she plucked idly at the strings. “She got off work about fifteen minutes ago.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have any idea where she went, would you?”

“Sorry.” Lyra shook her head. “She mentioned lunch, and a couple of errands she wanted to run. I have no idea where she went first.”

“Phooey,” Rarity grumbled as she sat at the table opposite Lyra. “I was hoping I would be able to catch her over my lunch break. I’ll never be able to find her and get back to the shop in time. I have a fitting scheduled for this afternoon!” She groaned and then gingerly rested her head on the table.

“So...uh…” Lyra continued to pick at her harp. “What exactly did you need to talk to her about?”

“Oh, nothing. We just had a bit of a… let’s call it a heated discussion. I got rather snippy at her and upon reflection, it was quite unwarranted.”

“An argument, then? Those stink.” Lyra nodded sagely. Then her eyes widened for a moment before her face was overtaken by a smirk. “Waaaait. I think I know what you’re talking about!”

“What?!” Rarity immediately sat up. “You mean she told you about the… uh…” She looked over her shoulder. “You know.”

“Yeah, she told me about the… thing,” Lyra said cautiously. The last thing she wanted to do was to inadvertently cause Twilight more stress by spilling the beans.

“Ugh, of course,” Rarity grumbled, more to herself than to Lyra. “She goes off at me for getting involved and then she goes and talks about it to somepony else! Wait, no…” She rubbed her temples and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Lyra.”

“I, uh, it’s okay,” Lyra answered, still not quite sure if she and Rarity were talking about the same thing. “I think she only brought it up because I…” she thought carefully about her next words. “I have some experience in that area.”

“Huh?” Rarity put a hoof to her forehead. “Of course! It only makes sense that she would seek out somepony who’d actually know what they were doing.”

“So I guess this means that you know about Twilight’s…?” Lyra decided to let Rarity fill in the blank.

“Her plan to ask Applejack for her hoof in marriage?” Rarity whispered. “Yes, though I only found out by accident. She seemed quite determined not to let me know what was going on.” She put her head back on the table and sighed. “And I suppose she wasn’t entirely off base. I just wanted it to be special for them. Is that so wrong?”

“I don’t think so,” Lyra said. “Depending how you go about it.”

“Well, I seem to have gone about it all wrong. Twilight was right. I need to keep my nose out of it unless she wants my input. Which she certainly won’t now.” She snorted. “I suppose she asked you about it, given your ‘experience in that area’?”

Lyra nodded. “You could say that.”

Rarity sighed. “If you don’t mind, could you satisfy my curiosity and tell me what advice you ended up giving her?”

“Oh, I could.” Lyra grinned. “You wouldn’t want to hear it, though. Something tells me that we went about things a bit differently than you would have planned.”

“You might as well tell me anyway.”

“Alright then.” Lyra braced herself for some melodramatic response. “We didn’t do anything special. Bon Bon took me out for hay shakes and popped the question on me while we were waiting in line.”

Rarity’s eye twitched, but she remained impressively composed. “Y-you… you didn’t…”

“Nope.” Lyra nodded. “I’ve never been big on ceremony, and Bon Bon knows that. Besides, I was so happy that she asked that the circumstances didn’t really matter. I mean, that’s what’s important. If the circumstances are what decides how you feel about getting proposed to, you should probably turn it down. You’d really be wishy-washy about the whole thing if that’s all it takes to sway you.”

“I… I suppose I can see that. But that’s not really why I wanted to help. I have no worries about what Applejack’s answer would be, and I don’t think that Twilight will either.” Rarity reflexively flicked her mane. “It’s just… it’s something that, ideally, they’ll only ever do once, and I think that they ought to make it something grand! Of course, their decision to marry is the most important thing, but it is not the only important thing. It isn’t as though thinking of one another and wanting the occasion to be memorable are mutually exclusive!”

“You do have a point,” Lyra said, looking thoughtfully into space. “I do kinda wish that Bon Bon and I had a more interesting story, but in a way, the fact that we didn’t really do anything special is what makes it special.”

Rarity couldn’t resist chuckling. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Yes, but that’s just because I’m weird,” Lyra said with a laugh. “It’s not like it’s bad or anything. You just wanted to help Twilight and Applejack celebrate the occasion, right?”

“Yes, exactly!” Rarity nodded, then hung her head. “But I was too pushy, and I made it look like I didn’t trust her to handle her own relationship. I really need to set the record straight and apologize for imposing on her. If she happens to come in, you will tell her I want to talk, won’t you?”

“Sure. Knowing Twilight, I’m sure that once you explain yourself, everything will be fine. She doesn’t strike me as the type to hold a grudge.”

Rarity smiled. “Thank you, Lyra. I’m quite sure you’ve given Twilight better advice than I ever could.”

Lyra chuckled. “I like to think that that’s the real reason Twilight hasn’t quit working here.”

“Perhaps it is,” Rarity said. “Celestia knows I certainly haven’t been as helpful as I thought I had been.” She stood. “And now, I should be on my way. Though I really feel as though I ought to buy something. For wasting your time.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine! Now Bon Bon, she might take a while to warm up to you.” She waved a hoof at Rarity. “But seriously, don’t feel like you have to buy something just because we talked for a few minutes. I don’t mind. And my time isn’t really that valuable anyway.”

“Please, it’s the least I can do,” Rarity said. “That, and it’s been one of those days. I could use some chocolate.”

Lyra grinned. “I’ll ring you up one of our assortments. Do you like caramel?”

“...And one copy of the Prancipia Mathematica.”

“Check!” Spike checked off the final box on the scroll, and then rubbed his wrist. “You do realize that you’re just going to help them fix up a derby cart, right? All you really need is a set of tools and a mechanic’s manual.”

“Spike, this is a school project!” She shoved the large book into her already-stuffed saddlebag. “The entire point is to teach them the principles of motion. I have to make sure they integrate the theory with the practical application!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “You realize that they won’t even know what that means, right?”

“Which is why I’m helping to teach them!”

“I thought you were helping so they didn’t accidentally burn down the orchard or blow their tails off or something,” Spike said.

Twilight thought for a moment, then nodded. “That too. I’ll need my safety goggles.”

“Already have them!” Spike set the glasses on Twilght’s forehead. “You want your hard hat too?”

“No, I’m pretty sure Applejack has some of those,” she said as she scanned the checklist one final time. “Besides, I don’t think I’ll need them for anything today. I don’t plan on letting the crusaders do anything too dangerous.”

“Good luck,” Spike said, shaking his head. “If you aren’t back by dinnertime, I’ll check at the hospital, okay?”

“Ha ha.” Twilight readjusted the goggles. “I’ll be fine, Spike. You remember what to do if you see Rarity, right?”

He nodded. “I’ll tell her you want to talk, and invite her to dinner. Or find out when she has time for a conversation.”

“Right,” Twilight said with a nod. “Let her know that I want to talk things out. Make it clear that I regret being so harsh to her, and want to give her another chance to explain herself. Just don’t make it sound too apologetic. I wouldn’t want her to think that she was totally right.”

“No grovelling, got it.”

“And now, I should be on my way!” Twilight said as she opened the door. “Wouldn’t want to be late on the first day of helping them. It wouldn’t be a very good precedent to set. I’ll be sure to be back in time for dinner, okay? Especially if Rarity is going to be here. I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting, either.”

“I’ll make extra nachos!” Spike said, folding his arms and nodding.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We don’t know if she’s coming or not.”

“I’m making extra nachos because after dealing with those three fillies, you’re going to need it.”

“Good point. Just don’t make them too spicy. Rarity doesn’t like that.”

“Oh, I know. I learned my lesson from last time.” He shuddered.

“Good. I’ll see you promptly at six. Hopefully a little earlier.” She waved and trotted out the door. “Bye!”

“See you later,” Spike said. Then he turned to the pile of unsorted books on his desk. “Where the hay do all of these things come from? I didn’t think anypony checked out this many books!” He took one from the top of the pile and looked at the stamp in the cover. “Oh, right. Carrot Top checked out all of those cookbooks. About time we got those back. At least when I have to shelf them, they’ll all be in the same place. Gives me plenty of time for the nachos!”

He lifted a load of books nearly as tall as himself and began to waddle towards the stacks. He was halfway through his journey when there was a knock on the door.

“Oh, come on!” he groaned, and dropped the books to the floor. It was too far to drag them all the way to the shelves or back to the desk before answering the door.

He took a moment to smooth out his spines. “Good afternoon!” he said as he opened the door. Then he saw who had knocked. “R-rarity!”

“Good afternoon, Spike,” she answered. “I don’t suppose Twilight is here?”

Spike shook his head. “You just missed her.”

Rarity’s eye twitched, as if it wanted to frown and Rarity wouldn’t let it. “I should’ve known,” she said. “Do you know where she went? I really do need to speak to her.”

“She went out to Sweet Apple Acres to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their science project,” he answered. Then he thought of something to add. “You probably shouldn’t go out there.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to intrude on their time. My tendency to stick my nose into her business is what caused this whole mess in the first place.”

“Actually, I mean that you should literally stay away from them,” Spike said. “When those three get to work, the results can be pretty dangerous.”

“Very true,” Rarity said with a nod. “It’s why they are no longer permitted to do any ‘crusading’ in the boutique. But back to business. Do you know when Twilight will be returning? I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday, and I would like to do so face to face.”

“Yeah, about that… Twilight wanted to talk things out with you. You know, get to the bottom of things. If you’re free for dinner tonight, she’d love to have you over. Unless you already have plans.”

Rarity smiled and flicked her mane. “The only dinner plans I had were to heat up the alfalfa casserole that’s sitting in the back of my fridge. Tell Twilight that I would be pleased to visit. May I ask what is on the menu?”

Spike grinned. “Nachos!”

“Oh.” She grimaced.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go light on the spices this time!”

“In that case, it sounds lovely, dear.” Rarity ruffled his spines before heading towards the door. “I’ll bring a dessert. What time should I come by?”

“Six o’clock,” Spike answered. “Providing Twilight can get away from the crusaders on time.”

“Oh please, since when is Twilight late for anything?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but she’s working with Sweetie Belle.”

Rarity thought for a moment. “Sweetie does have a tendency to be a bit… clingy, at times.”

“Yeah, and she’s dealing with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, too. And they’re working on a project involving a zipline, a pushcart, and a compressed air canister. Probably some sort of catapult, too.” He crossed his arms and nodded confidently. “Even Twilight is going to have some trouble making sure they get everything finished on time.”

“Well, if that happens I suppose you’ll just have to keep me company until she arrives,” she said with a wink.

“I… uh… bluh…” Spike tried to respond somehow, but his tongue tripped over his teeth. “Y-yeah,” he managed.

“In that case, I will see you tonight. Hopefully this time Twilight and I won’t be at each other’s throats. You’d better get to work on those nachos of yours.”

He nodded dumbly as he watched her leave. As the door slammed shut before her, the click of the latch snapped him back to reality. “Wuh?” He shook his head. “Real smooth, Spike. Better start thinking up stuff to talk about.” He turned to head for the kitchen and almost immediately tripped over the stack of books he had left in the middle of the floor, landing with a thud. “But first I should probably put these away.”

Every so often, Twilight found herself reminded of the vast gulf between theoretical and practical knowledge. One could certainly know a fact intellectually, but not comprehend the true impact of the information unless one saw it in action. Right now, Twilight was in the midst of one of those moments. She knew intellectually that the Cutie Mark Crusaders tended to be a bit excessive in their approach to most matters, but it wasn’t until she saw the contraption dangling from the the orchard’s tallest tree that she truly recognized what she had gotten herself into.

“Is that a rocket?” she asked.

“No.” Apple Bloom shook her head sadly. “It was gonna be, but Applejack wouldn’t let us buy any more fireworks after what happened after the Summer Festival. We’re not allowed to build catapults anymore, either.”

“Understandable, after what happened to the gazebo,” Twilight mumbled to herself. “So… what exactly is that thing? I was under the impression that your project was going to be a pushcart.”

“It was,” Sweetie Belle answered. “At first. Then we had that… incident with the airbag canister, and Applejack told us we had to do something safer.”

“I see.”

“So then we decided that we’d use the zipline instead!” Scootaloo continued, pointing at the wire in question. “But we didn’t want to waste all the time we spent building the car, so we decided to combine them! And then add some fins. For stability!”

“I can see that,” Twilight mumbled. If she stared at their device long enough, she could make out the shape of a seat, steering wheel, and tires swaying in the wind. “And why exactly is ziplining any safer than using a cart?”

“It has a harness!” Apple Bloom said.

“This harness, it’s designed for holding a pony, right?”

The cutie mark crusaders nodded enthusiastically.

“And it fits all of you?”

More nodding.

“So the three of you took a zipline harness designed for a single filly, and modified it to support the better part of a push cart, which from what I can see lacks any sort of seat belt, and weighs several times as much as the harness is designed to support?”

They nodded again, but with a good deal less enthusiasm.

“And you’re trying to tell me that riding that is safer than just using the harness for its intended purpose?”

“Uh…” Apple Bloom thought for a moment. “We were gonna put a seat belt on it. Eventually.”

“I don’t think that would be quite sufficient.” She eyed the airborne pushcart again. It didn’t appear very stable. “I might not know a whole lot about ziplining, but I’m pretty sure that ziplines and harnesses are designed to handle a certain amount of weight, and that is definitely over the limit, especially if somepony is going to be riding in it. The best case scenario would be that you’d get stuck in the middle due to the wire not having enough tension.”

“Oh,” Sweetie Belle said. “So… what’s the worst case scenario.”

“Either the harness fails, or the mooring point for the wire comes loose, and…” She made a noise with her tongue as she smacked her hoof on the ground.

“So, we’d go splat?” Scootaloo asked apprehensively.

“More or less. I’m sorry to undo your efforts, but I’m afraid that that is far too dangerous to actually use for your project. After talking with Applejack, she’s approved using the cart normally, provided I supervise and make sure that all of you take the proper precautions. Like not trying to ride in that thing.”

“Aww, that’s going to take forever!” Apple Bloom kicked unhappily at a dirt clod.

“And that’s why you need to think things through before you act. If you just charge ahead without thinking things through, you’ll just end up making more work for yourself in the long run.” Then she glanced off into the sky. “Though you don’t want to spend too much time on that either, or you never get anything done. Believe me, I know how that is.”

“So what do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. ”

“Well, the first thing I was going to do is help you create an outline for your project so we’ll know exactly what we have to do and what it will take to do it, but right now I think the first order of business is to get the cart off of the zipline before it falls and squishes somepony.”

“That’s no fun!” Scootaloo said with a snort. “I thought we were going to ride the thing down the hill and time it and figure out how fast we were going and stuff!”

“Yes, but that isn’t possible when the cart is up there.” Twilight nodded towards the sky. The three fillies sheepishly hung their heads. “Why don’t the three of you go get a ladder and some rope, and we’ll see about getting this thing down.”

The three fillies sighed collectively and headed towards the barn. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as they departed. And as they went, so did the distraction. She took a few nervous steps in place and bit her lip.

I wonder if Rarity ever showed up.

She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for that. Yes, it was certainly a hugely important matter. But it wasn’t the only thing. She couldn’t let it completely take over every thought. Right now, it was her job to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders finish their project without injury or property damage. It wasn’t the time to worry about her own issues.

She turned her attention back to the airborne pushcart. It would take some planning to get that thing down.

Rarity slowly trotted back towards the boutique. It was a promising turn of events that Twilight wanted to talk. But what did Twilight want to tell her? Maybe it would be a final ultimatum to leave the matter alone. It would be a bit harsh for Twilight, but not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Rarity sighed. She couldn’t worry herself too much about that. Whatever Twilight wanted was completely out of her control. She would simply listen, give her apology and see how things went.

As the main matter was out of her hooves, she began to think of what dessert she should bring as a gesture of goodwill. Something quick and easy that she’d actually have time to put together before she—

“Oof!” she grunted as she collided with somepony, then took a step back and immediately began apologizing. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention! Are you—” She finally realized who she had bumped into. “Oh, good afternoon, Applejack.”

Applejack readjusted her hat. “Don’t worry about it, Rarity. I wasn’t really lookin’ where I was goin’ either. You got something on your mind?”

“I… I do, but it’s… a personal matter.” Rarity’s eyes darted around the street, trying to think of something else to talk about. She settled on the small brown paper bag that sat at Applejack’s hooves. “It seems that you dropped something.”

Applejack looked down, gasped, and snatched up the bag. “Thanks. I wouldn’t want to lose that. It’s… something I don’t want to lose.”

“Really? What is it?” Rarity asked, her curiosity piqued by Applejack’s reaction.

“It’s, uh, nothing you need to worry yourself about, okay?” Applejack’s voice was surprisingly curt.

“Is that so?” Rarity narrowed her eyes. As much as she wanted to pry further, it was none of her business. “Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I’d love to stay and chat, but I really must be going. I have things I must take care of. It was lovely seeing you though, even if only for a moment.”

“Y-yeah, you too,” Applejack said, smiling awkwardly. “I’ve gotta get back to the farm and take care of some stuff. Sorry I can’t stop to talk.”

“Don’t worry about it. Business is business,” Rarity said. “Have a nice day.”

“Yeah, you too. See you later.” Applejack briskly trotted past Rarity, heading for the farm.

Rarity looked back over her shoulder and watched Applejack disappear. “I wonder what that was about.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll have time to make some nice pudding before I have to head over to Twilight’s.”

The CMC teetered awkwardly as they emerged from the barn, Sweet Apple Acres’ largest ladder balanced along their backs. The simple endeavor of walking in a straight line was proving more difficult than they had expected.

“Apple Bloom, you’re going too far to the left!” Sweetie Belle shouted from the back of the formation. “The ladder is gonna fall over!”

“Well, you’re goin’ too far to the right!” Apple Bloom answered. What little patience she usually had was rapidly evaporating. They were supposed to be ziplining or carting or maybe even learning something, not dragging ladders around.

“Maybe we could ask Twilight to like, magic it down. It would be a lot faster.” Scootaloo suggested from her position at the middle of the ladder.

“Twilight’s not going to do that!” Sweetie said as she walked sideways, trying to keep the ladder on her back. “She’ll probably tell us that this is something we’ve got to do ourselves. Besides, it’s not like it took us that long to get it up there.”

“It took us all afternoon!” Apple Bloom groaned. “I knew that puttin’ that up there was a dumb idea!”

“What?” Scootaloo squealed. “You said that you thought it was cool!”

“Well, it was, on paper. Once we actually started hoistin’ it up we shoulda known it wasn’t gonna work!” Apple Bloom stomped, shaking their load.

“Come on, guys,” Sweetie said desperately, trying to keep her balance. “Let’s just get the cart down so we can focus on getting this project done! If Twilight’s helping us, we’re practically guaranteed to get an ‘A’!”

Apple Bloom thought for a moment. “That probably wouldn’t hurt. My science grade could use some help.”

“I think mine’s kind of a lost cause,” Scootaloo said with a sigh.

“But it’ll totally be better than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s project!” Sweetie Belle said.

“That’s ‘cause they never do any projects,” Apple Bloom snorted as she began to trot into a turn. “They always get Diamond Tiara’s butler to do it.”

“But after last time, Cheerilee said they weren’t allowed to do that any more!” Sweetie Belle sped up, trying to keep pace.

“Like that’s gonna stop them!” Apple Bloom looked back over her shoulder. “They’re just gonna find some way to—”

“Apple Bloom, look out!” Scootaloo shouted.

Apple Bloom turned around just in time to realize that she was about to run over her sister.

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack dove out of the way as the ladder clattered to the ground. “What are you three doin’?” she said as she stood and brushed herself off. “I thought Twilight was gonna be helpin’ with your project.”

“She is. Or at least she’s goin’ to.” Apple Bloom answered as she stooped to pick the ladder back up.

“And what is that for?”

“Oh, this?” Scootaloo smiled innocently. “It’s… not for anything.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you takin’ it?”

“Uh… Twilight told us to,” Apple Bloom mumbled.

“So, if I would ask Twilight why she told you to get it, what would she tell me?” Applejack waited for an answer.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both stepped back and nodded at Apple Bloom to be their spokesperson.

“We… might need the ladder to get something out of a tree…”

“To get what out of a tree?”

Apple Bloom braced herself. “... the cart.”

Applejack’s eye twitched as she put the pieces together. “Y’all tried to hang the cart from the zipline, didn’t you?”

The three fillies nodded dejectedly.

Applejack just shook her head and sighed. “You know what? I’m gonna let Twilight deal with it. I got other stuff to worry about now. Just be careful, okay?” She abruptly turned and trotted past them.

The crusaders watched curiously as she headed up the path.

“Huh,” Apple Bloom said. “Normally she’d have gone and given us a lecture or somethin’.”

“Hey, she forgot something!” Sweetie Belle pointed to a paper bag that sat on the ground where Applejack had been standing a minute earlier.

“Maybe it’s her lunch” Scootaloo trotted over and gave the bag a sniff. “Nope, doesn’t smell like apples.”

“Let me see,” Apple Bloom pushed her out of the way and began to open the bag. “Wonder what’s in here.” She stuck her face into it. “Huh. Didn’t expect to see that.”

“Gimme that!” An orange hoof snatched the bag off of her face. Apple Bloom looked up to see her sister glaring at her. “What do you think you’re doin’?”

“Uh, you dropped it.”

“Yes, I realized that.” She took a deep breath. Apple Bloom recognized it as the type of breath her sister took when she was angry, but trying not to be. “Listen, Apple Bloom, what’s in this bag ain’t any of your business, okay? It’s just a present for Twilight and I want it to be a surprise, okay? None of y’all can mention it to her, okay? You don’t tell her anything!”

“Sure thing, sis!” Apple Bloom saluted. “Will we?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shook their heads vigorously. “Nope!” they said in unison.

“And you.” She focused her gaze on Apple Bloom. “Don’t tell anypony what’s in this bag, okay? Fewer ponies know about it, the less chance there is Twilight finds out. And that includes your crusader friends.”

“Awww.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sighed.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Consider the secret kept!”

“Good.” Applejack took the bag and tucked it under her hat. “Now that that’s settled, the three of you better get back to work on your school thingy. I gotta run back to the house real quick, but when I’m done I’ll come by and help you get it down, okay? Movin’ heavy stuff like that is my kind of work.” She winked and trotted briskly down the path.

“Wonder what that was about.” Sweetie Belle said as she bent down to pick up her end of the ladder.

“You heard her, it’s a present!” Scootaloo answered, rolling her eyes. “So, Apple Bloom… you think you could at least give us a hint about what was in there?”

“You heard my sister. I’m not sayin’ anything. Last thing I need is to get into trouble now.” She lifted her end of the ladder onto her back. “Come on, let’s go get this thing back to Twilight so we can get the cart down and get on to the fun stuff.” She grinned. “I get to drive first!”

Scootaloo snorted as they slowly began to make their way back to the clubhouse. “We’ll see about that.”

“Almost there!” Sweetie Belle waved for the group who held the end of the rope to come closer. As they stepped toward her, the pulley creaked, and the load on the other end of the rope slowly descended. “Just a few more feet… okay, let go!”

Applejack and Twilight released their grips, and the cart thudded to the ground in a puff of dust. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who were still holding on, were hoisted into the air.

“Whoa!” Applejack jumped out of the way as the two fillies swung toward her.

Sweetie Belle wasn’t quite so fast. A moment later the three fillies lay in a heap next to the remnants of their pushcart.

“I told you to let go!” Sweetie snorted from the bottom of the pile.

Applejack shook her head. “I hope you know what you got yourself into, Twilight,” she said as she watched the crusaders clamoring over each other. “Those three can be a real hoof-full sometimes.”

“It’s alright,” Twilight said with a smile. “We’ve already completed the most difficult item on the checklist, so I should be able to handle them. Not that I don’t appreciate your help, of course.”

“Hey, if my help means that nopony gets bonked on the head, I got no problem with helpin’. You ever want my help for anything else, just ask.”

“Well, for today, I think I’ll be fine on my own. Though I could probably use your help to get their attention.” She nodded at the three fillies, who were currently arguing about whose fault their collision had been.

“My help? What do you need my—” Applejack’s questions were momentarily silenced and Twilight suddenly leaned against her, gently nuzzling her neck and purring like a kitten.

“Mmmm… so soft…” she murmured.

“Uh…” Applejack blinked a few times to confirm that Twilight really was pressed against her. “Uh, Twi, what are you doin’?”

“Shh.” Twilight put her hoof tenderly against Applejack’s cheek. “Just be quiet, my little apple dumpling.”

“Eww!”

Applejack looked up to see all three crusaders staring at her with varying degrees of disgust.

“They’re getting all sappy!” Scootaloo grumbled, wrinkling her nose.

Twilight immediately stepped away and straightened up. “Good! Now that I have your attention, we can get back to work!”

Applejack suppressed a chuckle as she watched the crusaders line up.

“So what are we doin’ now?” Apple Bloom asked. “Do we get to ride in the cart now?”

Twilight gave the fillies her most incredulous glare. “You want to ride in that?” She gestured at the object, which resembled a rickety three-wheeled box with a seat more than any sort of vehicle. The mere weight of their glances caused the steering wheel to fall off with a clunk.

“Maaaaybe we have a little bit of work to do,” Sweetie Belle said.

Twilight nodded sagely. “Yes. We have to repair the cart and make it safe to ride. But before that we need to define the parameters of the project, formulate a hypothesis, decide the precise manner of experimentation, and design a suitable method for recording the data.”

Her statement was meant with blank stares.

Applejack cleared her throat. “Uh, Twilight, I don’t think they know what all that means.”

“It means that we need to decide exactly how we’re going to do the project before we actually start doing anything, or we’ll just end up wasting our time.”

“So how long will it be before we actually get to ride?” Apple Bloom asked. “Tonight, maybe?”

“I’m afraid not,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “We can get started on organizing the project, but today I have things to do at home. I have to…” Her eyes darted quickly to Applejack and away. “I told Spike I’d be back for dinner.”

“Yeah, we’re havin’ dinner soon, too.” Applejack said. “I’m real hungry, and we’re not gonna wait up for you.”

“Fine,” Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. “Let’s get all this boring ‘planning’ stuff out of the way.”

“It might seem a bit boring, but that’s what’s gonna get y’all a good grade,” Applejack said. “Just ‘cause something isn’t fun doesn’t mean you can skip over it. You gotta learn how to enjoy doin’ stuff like this. Now I gotta go start helpin’ get dinner ready. You three behave, okay?”

They smiled in a not-at-all reassuring fashion as Applejack began her trek back towards the house.

“See you later, apple bun!” Twilight called after her with a conspicuous wink. Then she turned back to her students, who were currently wrinkling their noses at her saccharine tone. “Now, then. We’re going to need some notebooks!”

Rarity’s stomach growled. She hadn’t had much for lunch, and the fact that her nose had been constantly assailed with the scent of her pudding for the past half hour had done nothing but exacerbate her hunger. She almost wished that she hadn’t decided on chocolate pudding. If it had been mere vanilla, resisting the temptation to dig in would be so much easier.

At least she didn’t have long to wait. The library was right around the corner. She could almost smell the nachos. Now she just had to hope that Twilight was in a forgiving mood. It was either that, or receive an ultimatum to stay out of the way. No point in worrying, though. She’d just say what she needed to, and let things go from there.

She paused on the doorstep to straighten her mane. One needed to show proper respect after all. She took a deep breath, knocked, and waited for Twilight to answer.