# A Delicate Balance

## by JapaneseTeeth

### Negative Love

Dresses, food, music, invitations, seating, venues, scheduling, photographers, more music, more food… just planning for this is going to drive me nuts. Why can’t any of this be easy?

Know, what gives fuel to their fire:

My love, though silly, is more brave,

For may I misse, when'er I crave,

If I know yet, what I would have.

-Negative Love,

John Donne

“There we go!” Rarity stepped back and admired her work from all angles at once. She had set up the mirrors in her boutique to let her see an entire ensemble at a glance. “What do you think of this dress?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight answered. “I can barely see myself.” She contorted her body, trying to get a good view of the mirror. The shoulder puffs on the gown (the nineteenth that she had tried on so far) were each nearly as large as her head. In her efforts to see around them, she twisted herself so far that she almost fell over. She couldn’t see Spike, but she could hear him giggle. “You know what? I don’t think this will work. I can barely move in this thing!”

“That would be quite a problem,” Rarity admitted. “It is designed for ponies with somewhat” —she searched for the proper word— “lanky proportions.”

“Then why did you make me try it on?” Twilight grumbled as she began to extricate herself from the mass of frills.

“Well, I started out with the designs that I believed would suit you best, but as you did not make a definitive selection, I figured we could continue down the line.” She tapped her chin with her hoof. “I think we can strike the more ostentatious dresses from the list. Simple designs fit you best.”

“I could’ve told you that,” Twilight said as she wriggled free of the frilled monstrosity that she had just tried on. “I think I’m done with dresses for today.”

“Very well,” Rarity said. “I believe we’ve made plenty of progress.”

“Progress?” Spike asked. “But she hasn’t picked a dress yet.”

“Of course she hasn’t,” Rarity answered. “Do you really think I would let Twilight simply wear a dress off the rack?” She shuddered. “Perish the thought! No, I merely wanted to narrow down the styles.” She waved her hoof at the three dresses Twilight had indicated she preferred over the others. “This is merely a starting point. I’ll begin sketching out some more designs, and before long, we’ll be fitting you with a bright, brand new dress!”

“Another fitting session?” Spike winked at Rarity. “I’d be up for that.”

“Oh, joy. Three more hours of standing on that pedestal while you pin bits of material to my flank.” Twilight stretched. “The wedding isn’t for months yet, and I’m already sick of all these preparations.”

“Trust me, Twilight. When the big day approaches, you will be exceedingly grateful that I convinced you to begin preparing early.” Rarity began to hang the numerous dresses back on the rack. “You will find yourself busier than you think you will. I dare say that you have it easier than most ponies.”

“Yes, yes, I realize that.” Twilight flopped onto Rarity’s fainting couch. Her legs felt like jelly after standing for so long. “I really do appreciate you going out of your way to handle the dresses for us.”

“Think nothing of it, Twilight,” Rarity said. “I simply want you to have the best.”

“And I have no doubt that I will,” Twilight said. “Spike, what other preparations do we have on the list?”

“List? Oh, right.” He dug his clipboard out from under a pile of discarded dresses. “Let me see. Fluttershy dropped off a list of songs for you and Applejack to look at so she knows what to teach her birds. Pinkie wants the two of you to drop by Sugarcube Corner to try the wedding cake samples. You’ll also need to check with Rainbow Dash when you pick a date to make sure that there isn’t any rainfall scheduled. And then Lyra and Bon Bon want—”

“Okay, okay,” Twilight said. “Three is enough.”

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were busy,” Rarity said.

“I’m always busy,” Twilight said with a sigh. “And that’s only the wedding-related items.” She didn’t even need to tell Rarity about all of her research-related duties.

“Of course. Just remember to take a little time to relax. You wouldn’t want to overtax yourself.”

“Got it covered,” Spike said. “She’s scheduled an extra half-hour after dinner before she starts studying.”

Twilight stretched, her back popping. “So when do you want Applejack to come by for her fitting?”

“I’m not sure. The day after tomorrow, perhaps.” Rarity pursed her lips as she examined the dresses Twilight had selected. “By then I’ll have a good idea of what your dress will look like, and I’ll be able to make sure that Applejack gets one that is a suitable complement.”

“Alright, I’ll let her know.” Twilight reluctantly left the couch. “Thanks again.”

“You are most welcome. I look forward to putting together an ensemble for Applejack. Until tomorrow.”

“Goodbye!” Twilight waved as she walked out the door. “Come on, Spike.”

“I was gonna stay and help Rarity clean up a bit,” Spike said, a hopeful smile plastered on his face.

Twilight couldn’t help but grin. “But you said you were going to help me with dinner, remember?”

“Oh,” Spike mumbled, his spines drooping. “I did, didn’t I.”

“Go on, Spike,” Rarity said, shooing him towards the door. “I have things well in hoof here. Twilight needs your assistance more than I do.”

“Alright, fine.” Spike begrudgingly followed Twilight out of the boutique. He held up the clipboard as he stepped over the threshold and into the afternoon breeze. “Dress fitting, check,” he said.

“Okay, so the Cutie Mark Crusaders will handle the flower filly duties, right?” Spike’s pencil hovered above the empty box on the checklist as he waited for a response.

“Yes,” Twilight said. “I’m sure we’ll have no trouble getting them to volunteer.”

“And check!” Spike said. “And the ringbearer?”

“Applejack thought you should do it. Are you up to it?”

“Am I ever!” Spike winked and then checked it off. “Rarity even says she’ll make a new bowtie for me! And now, the most important question!”

Twilight braced herself. “Alright, shoot!”

“What should I make for dinner?”

Twilight chuckled. For a moment she had thought that something important had slipped through the cracks. “Whatever you want to make. As long as I won’t break my teeth on it.”

“Stew it is!” he declared, thrusting his claw in the air. Then he paused. “We do have potatoes, right?”

Twilight nodded. “They’re in the pantry.” She took the list from him. “We’ve certainly made some progress today. Checked off… three things.” Her ears drooped. “I thought we had gotten more done.”

“Well, one of those checkmarks took like three hours,” Spike said with a shrug. “Why don’t you just relax? We already finished up everything we were planning with time to spare. I’ll get dinner fixed up, and you can go see Applejack. She’s probably done with work for the day.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “I can go give Applejack the folder that Fluttershy dropped off so she can help pick the music!”

“Ugh.” Spike shook his head. “You know you could go talk to her without all of the wedding prep stuff. The actual thing is still months away.”

“I know, but Rarity was right; it’s always good to get an early start.” She straightened the papers in the folder before putting it into her saddlebag.

“Alright, whatever,” Spike said. He pulled an oversized chef’s hat out from behind his back. “Just get back here in time for dinner. Or at least let me know if you’re going to stay over there longer.”

“Of course. I won’t be long.” Twilight slid into her saddlebags. “Don’t make a mess, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Spike mumbled as he watched her walk out the door. “Not if I have to clean it up.” He adjusted his hat. “Oh well, if she’s late, that just means more for me.” He picked up the checklist and gave it a final perusal. It did look pretty daunting, even by Twilight’s standards. Hopefully she’d make it through everything with her sanity intact.

“Come on, Twilight.” Applejack plucked her hat from her head and used it to wipe the sweat from her brow before hanging it on the peg next to the kitchen door. The kitchen was still nice and cool; Granny hadn’t started on dinner yet. “I just got back from two solid hours of haulin’ apples. Can’t the weddin’ stuff wait? I just want to get some cider and relax for a bit before dinner.”

“Well, you don’t have to choose the music now.” Twilight rolled her eyes as she placed the folder on the table, nudging the corner to make sure it was straight. “Oh, Rarity wants to set up an appointment to start putting your dress together. Are you free tomorrow, or will it have to be next week?”

“How about next month?” Applejack poured herself a mug of cider and drained it in one gulp. “Or the month after that. Last thing I want to do right now is stand still all day while Rarity wraps me up in stuff. I wish I could just pick something without havin’ to spend so long tryin’ stuff on.”

“Rarity just wants the dresses to be the best they can be.”

“I know that,” Applejack said. “I just wish she could do it a bit quicker. When I get a day off, I got things I’d rather be doin’ than bein’ her dress model.”

“Well, so do I, but I figure that if I do it now it means that I won’t have to do it later. At the very least you won’t have it hanging over your head.”

“I guess,” Applejack said reluctantly. “I swear, if she tries to make me wear a girdle I’m showin’ up to the wedding wrapped in a bedsheet. Just givin’ you fair warning.”

Twilight thought of what Applejack would look like wrapped in a bedsheet. She smiled. Then she imagined what Rarity’s face would look like if Applejack dared to show up at the wedding like that. She chuckled. “Maybe you should just do that.”

“What, and be on Rarity’s bad side for the rest of my life? I don’t think so.” Applejack took another gulp of cider and started flipping through the pile of sheet music. “This wedding’s gonna be a great big hassle, ain’t it?”

“Rarity says that weddings usually are.”

“Do I even wanna know what other preparations we gotta make?”

“Well, there’s dresses for the bridesmaids, music, food, invitations, seating, decorating the venue, the cake, the entertainment at the wedding reception—”

“Alright, that’s plenty!” Applejack reeled from the onslaught of prep work. “Alright, so we got Fluttershy doin’ the music—”

“Some of the music,” Twilight corrected. “We wouldn’t want her to do everything. There’s the prelude, the processional for the bridesmaids, the wedding march, special music during the ceremony itself, and a recessional and postlude!” She paused to take a breath. “Then there’s the reception.”

“Ugh.” Applejack wrinkled her nose. “So that’s what, like three different ponies we’re gonna need to do the music.”

“At least.”

“Well, I’m fine with just about anything you want to do,” Applejack said. “I’m sure Rarity or Pinkie would know somepony who could do it.” She closed the folder. Looking at it now made her head ache. “I’m too tired to be thinkin’ about this now. Why don’t we plan for some of the fun stuff.”

“Fun stuff? Like what?”

Applejack smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Y’know. Like where we want to take our honeymoon. Accordin’ to Rainbow Dash, Los Pegasos is real nice. She says she can get us a great deal on a hotel, too.”

“Los Pegasos, huh?” Twilight considered the idea. “You just want to visit Applewood, don’t you?”

Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth. “Maybe. But come on, you can’t tell me that you wouldn’t want to see the Daring Do film set.”

“That would be pretty cool. And there’s a nice beach in Los Pegasos, too.” She glanced wistfully into space. “I don’t think I’ve been to the beach since I was a filly. Though I was thinking that it might be fun to go to Manehattan. There’s a ton of things to do there.”

“Hmmm…” Applejack considered the idea. “It would be fun to spend some time in Manehattan, just seein’ the sights. The only times I ever go down there is to visit relatives. Or that time that Rarity dragged me to her fashion show.”

Twilight nodded. “And then when we get back we can...uh…”

“We can what?” Applejack asked.

“I just realized that I don’t know where we’d go after that.” She scratched her head. “I mean, obviously we’ll want to move in together, but… how the hay have we never thought that far ahead?!” Her face rapidly began to pale, and the edge of her mane began to crinkle. “What are we going to do? I can’t afford to buy a house, even with my job at the shop! I’ll have to start working double hours. Or maybe I could convince Bon Bon to give me a raise. I guess we could take out a loan, but—”

“Twilight, calm your flanks for a second!” Applejack grabbed Twilight’s head to stop the fidgeting before it could get started. “You’ve got time to figure this out, okay? Seriously, you’re on good terms with like, three different princesses. Even if you did have to buy a house for some reason, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have much trouble. And there’s no reason to go buyin’ a house anyway.”

“Oh, right.” Twilight shook her head at her own mental lapse. “We have the whole library! We can just live there! Unless you were dead set on us getting our own place.”

“Uh…” Applejack bit her lip, and was silent for a distressingly long time. “Actually,” She said carefully, “I was thinkin’ that it would be best if you moved onto Sweet Apple Acres.”

“You want me to move here?” Twilight said, a little more incredulously than she would’ve liked. “I mean, not that I have anything against it, but… where exactly would I go?”

“What do you mean, where would you go? You’d be in my room.”

“I know that,” Twilight said. “But we’d need a lot more space for everything. I have to bring at least some of my books along, and I would probably need someplace to do my research. And we’d need to find a place for Spike.”

Applejack shrugged. “We got plenty of time for renovations. Granny and Big Mac have wanted to add some expansions to the farmhouse for quite a while anyway.”

“But why go to all that trouble when we already have plenty of space in the library? We’ve got the whole basement to store stuff in. It’s more than enough room for your extra hats and a couple barrels of apples.”

“Well, that might work if it were just us, but I can’t just up and leave the farm. My family needs me to be here.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Applejack, the library is like a ten minute walk, tops. Five if you’re in a hurry. It’s not like I’m asking you to move out of Ponyville or anything.”

“It’s not that simple, Twilight.”

“Well, what’s complicated about it?” Twilight asked. “It just makes more sense for us to move in somewhere where there’s already room rather than spend a bunch of bits on an expansion. And it would free up more room in the farmhouse for your family to use.”

“It’s not just that,” Applejack said. “I know that I wouldn’t be goin’ very far, but I’d still be leavin’.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “So I’m supposed to move my entire life over here just so that nothing has to change for you?”

“Twilight, you know that’s not what I’m tryin’ to say.” She frowned. “I’m just sayin’ that I got a lot of stuff tyin’ me down here.”

“What, and I don’t have a lot of stuff tying me to the library? All of my research materials are there. And Spike would have to move, too!”

“N-not necessarily,” Applejack said hurriedly. “I bet Spike could live just fine on his own. And you could still study in the library even if you don’t live there.”

“And you could still work on Sweet Apple Acres even if you don’t live here,” Twilight said sharply. “Spike might be more independent now, but I’m not sure if he’s ready to live on his own yet.” She could feel her entire body tensing up, as if she were a spring in the process of being wound. “Why are so you being so” —she wanted to say “stubborn”, but thought better of it— “adamant about not moving into the library? Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, it’s not that,” Applejack shook her head. “It’s… I don’t know what to say, Twilight. It’s got nothing to do with you or Spike. I just… leavin’ the farm is a big deal, you know?”

“I’m sure it is,” Twilight said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Just like getting married. I know it’s a change, but it’s nothing we can’t work through.” In the distance she heard the clock tower chime. “I have to get going. I promised Spike I’d be back for dinner. But we need to talk about this. You know, get to the bottom of it.”

Applejack swallowed. “I know, Twilight. We’ve been through a lot already. We’ll work something out.” She smiled, but Twilight could tell that she had to make an effort. “See you later.”

“Yeah,” Twilight smiled back. “You too.” As she headed out the door, she couldn’t help but feel like her hooves were a little heavier.

Spike rolled his eyes. Twilight had been home for an hour now, and aside from a brief greeting and a few compliments on his stew, she had spent most of that time talking to herself. He ladled himself another bowl and contemplated saying something. Normally he was content to stand by and let Twilight ramble; when she did so she generally managed to talk herself to a solution. But sometimes she took after her old record player and started to loop.

On one claw, at least it meant that she wasn’t digging herself into a hole of despair or anger. Years ago, back in Canterlot, she had broken her last quill during a 2 A.M. study session, only to find that the stationery shop was closed. The resulting feedback loop of frustration had ended with her being chased by a flock of angry pigeons, and her bed being set on fire. Spike wasn’t quite sure how the fire had started.

On the other claw, the loop would probably go on indefinitely until somepony knocked her out of it, and the last thing she needed was for something else to stall the relationship. He took a bite of stew and waited for her to reach a point in her ranting where he could get a word in edgewise.

“I could understand if there were some pressing duty on the farm that she’d have to stay there for, but there isn’t anything to do that Big Macintosh couldn’t handle!” Twilight muttered to herself in between bites. “And Apple Bloom! If she were a bit younger I could understand. She’d probably be really emotionally attached to Applejack and would have trouble letting go if she moved away. But she’s old enough that she ought to be able to cope with it, and she’s been getting more and more independent lately, so that’s not a problem. I just don’t understand why Applejack is so averse to moving in! It’s not that big of a change. I mean, I’ve moved a couple of times and it took some getting used to, but it’s not that hard to adjust.”

She paused to take a breath, just long enough for Spike to jump in.

“Uh, Twilight? Applejack hasn’t moved anywhere before. She doesn’t know what it’s like.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but instead stuffed a biscuit into it and began to chew. Spike decided to take advantage of her silence.

“Think about it! She has no idea what it feels like to go move to someplace else. She’s lived on the farm her whole life!”

“I know that,” Twilight grumbled. “But even then, it can’t be that bad. I‘d lived in Canterlot my whole life before moving to Ponyville! And when I got here, my social life was totally different!”

“Yeah, you actually had one,” Spike muttered under his breath. “It’s not the same, though. Remember where we lived before we moved to Ponyville?”

“Of course. We lived in the dormitory at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, we weren’t living with family anymore,” Spike said. “We visited Mom and Dad a lot, but for the most part we lived on our own. Do you remember what it was like when we first moved out of the house?”

“Yes, that did take quite a bit of adjusting,” Twilight admitted. “But we survived just fine! I could finally study without having to listen to Dad’s polka music.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Spike admitted, “but it wasn’t like you were moving in with somepony else. I remember that you almost decided to stay at home when you realized you might have a roommate.” He paused. “Besides me, anyway.”

“A roommate would’ve driven me crazy,” Twilight said as she popped a chunk of carrot into her mouth. “What would’ve happened if my roommate was a slob? It would’ve been a disaster! What does this have to do with Applejack anyway?”

“I’m just saying that she might feel the same way,” he said with a shrug. “She’s been doing things the ‘Apple Family Way’ for her whole life, after all. I’m pretty sure that’s not quite the same as ‘the Sparkle Way’.”

“‘The Sparkle Way’? There isn’t any ‘Sparkle Way’!”

“I know that!” Spike put his claw to his forehead. “What I’m saying is that Applejack has lived pretty much her whole life on Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s kind of a big deal to give that up.”

“So I’m supposed to give up my life?”

“I didn’t say that either,” Spike said with a frown. “Seriously, by now I thought you two would’ve figured out how to find a middle ground.”

Twilight looked at Spike for a moment, then down at her bowl. It was a long time before she looked up again. “We do need a middle ground, don’t we?” She was quiet again for a moment. “Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about all this?”

He shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to get used to whatever you two decide. The last thing you need is me making everything more complicated.”

“I don’t want to leave you out of the considerations completely!”

“Well, I don’t think you will. And that’s enough for me.”

Twilight smiled.

“Besides,” Spike added, “regardless of who moves where, I’ll end up getting my own room and you won’t bother me about my comics everywhere.”

Twilight sniffed. “I’m just saying, letting them get crinkled causes them to depreciate.” She shook her head, trying to get all the tangled thoughts to separate. “You’re right about Applejack, though. We need to figure out a compromise.”

“Great!” Spike said. “Now that you’ve had your little ephi...enpha…”

“Epiphany?”

“Yeah, that!” Spike nodded. “Now that you’ve had one, would you like some cookies? They’re peanut butter!”

Twilight chuckled. Spike sighed in relief. He could tell a real laugh from a crazed laugh, and fortunately this was the former. “I think some peanut butter cookies would hit the spot right about now.”

“Alright, I’ll go get them.” Spike hopped off of his chair and went to go retrieve the dessert. Even after everything she had been through, Twilight still managed to find things to worry about. Hopefully Applejack was good at helping her figure those things out.

Because once they do move in together, I probably won’t be doing that anymore.

The next day, Applejack kicked at a tree. The majority of the apples tumbled into the baskets that surrounded it, but some still clung to the branches. Applejack glowered at them. She could barely remember the last time she had failed to buck all the apples off of a tree. Well, she could remember the occasion: it had been her embarrassing-now-that-she-looked-back-on-it attempt to harvest the whole field herself. She couldn’t remember the specifics. Fatigue did that to a pony.

But today, the problem wasn’t fatigue. At least, that wasn’t all it was. She hadn’t exactly slept well, but she had done better work on less sleep. No, the problem was that her mind was elsewhere. As much as she wanted to keep focused on the apples, a splintery little thought at the back of her mind kept poking at her consciousness. The fact that she couldn’t get rid of it bothered her almost as much as the thought itself did. She prided herself on her ability to put her worries aside while she was working. But at the moment it seemed impossible.

She groaned. Was this how Twilight felt all the time?

She bucked the tree again, and this time the last few stubborn apples fell. She grabbed the edge of one of the baskets and dragged it towards the cart. Or at least, that was what she was going to do, but when she turned around she found herself face-to-face with Fluttershy.

“Oh, hey. How are you doin’? Did you need your music back or something?”

“No, I’m just checking up on the fruit bats,” Fluttershy answered. “They haven’t been eating too much, have they?”

“Nope. Well, we had to chase some out of our strawberry patch a few weeks ago, but since then they haven’t been any trouble.” She paused as she considered whether she should say what was on her mind. As much as she liked to solve her own problems, this was probably beyond her. At the very least, maybe telling somepony else could get it off her mind. “Um, if you’re not in a rush or anything, could I talk to you about something?”

“Of course.”

“It’s about Twilight.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh no! Did you have a fight? Is it about the wedding? Is the wedding still going to happen?!”

“What? No! I mean, yes.” She shook her head. “No, we didn’t have a fight, not really. And the wedding is still happenin’. It’s just… we just had a disagreement about something and I just want to talk about it with somepony so it doesn’t turn into a fight next time Twilight and I talk.”

“Um, well, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help, but if you need somepony to listen, I can do that.” She nudged Angel with her muzzle. “You run off and play now. I’ll be done soon.”

Angel nodded and hopped off, disappearing into the orchard.

“And don’t eat any apples!” Fluttershy called after him. Then she turned back to Applejack. “So, um, what happened?”

Now that she had a listening ear, Applejack was a bit embarrassed to explain, but it was too late now. “We were talkin’ yesterday about weddin’ stuff, and naturally we got to talkin’ about what was gonna happen after the wedding.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy’s entire face turned pink, and she looked away.

“What?” Applejack thought for a moment about what had caused Fluttershy’s reaction. Then it was her turn to blush. “I’m talkin’ about our livin’ arrangements!”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said again, this time with a sigh of relief. “That makes more sense.”

“Anyway, we were talkin’ about it, and we realized that we never did get around to figurin’ out where we’re gonna live after we get hitched.” She sighed, and pulled her hat down over her eyes. “She wants me to up and move into the library with her.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said. She was quiet for a moment, presumably waiting for Applejack to continue. When she didn’t, Fluttershy said, “And?”

“And I don’t know if I can move off of Sweet Apple Acres.”

“So there are jobs that you have to live on the farm to do?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, not exactly.”

Fluttershy tried again. “You don’t think your family could handle you moving somewhere else? I suppose that Apple Bloom is still a bit young and might take it hard.”

“Actually I think she’d be okay with it. She asked me a few days ago if she could have my room when I moved out.”

“Okay…” Fluttershy had to think before she hazarded another guess. “Spike doesn’t want you to move into the library?”

“If he doesn’t, that’d be news to me.”

Fluttershy scratched her head. “So, what is the problem?”

“Like, I said, I don’t think that I can leave the farm. And what’s worse, I don’t know how to explain it.” She shoved one of the baskets into the back of her cart. “At least not in a way that she’d understand. And the thing that bugs me most is that I can’t give her a real reason.”

“So you’re” —Fluttershy spoke carefully— “afraid of moving away from home?”

“Well…” Applejack didn’t like the word “afraid”, but she couldn’t think of anything else to replace it with. “That makes it sound a bit too much like I’m a filly gettin’ all nervous about my first sleepover, but I guess I kinda am.” She picked an apple out of the basket. It was still shiny enough that she could almost see herself as she stared at it. “I mean, Sweet Apple Acres is my own. It’s always been. I’ve gone plenty of other places, but I always knew I’d be comin’ back here.”

“I’m sure Twilight won’t mind if you want to visit,” Fluttershy said gently. “She knows that you’ll miss your family.”

“That’s not it, though. I know I’ll see my family almost as much as I usually do and that I’ll still be workin’ on the farm and all that. It’s just that I know even if I still come back a lot, it’s not gonna be my home anymore.”

“I suppose it would be tough leaving the place where you lived your whole life,” Fluttershy admitted. “But I know you can do it! Remember that time you tried to move to Dodge Junction and work on the cherry farm?”

Applejack cringed. That whole excursion hadn’t been one of her finer moments. “That wasn’t supposed to be permanent, though. I was just gonna stay there until I earned the money I said I’d bring back. But this… it’s just so final. Once I move out of my home and in with Twilight, there’s no goin’ back.”

“Well, you may be moving out of your old home, but you’re moving into a new home! I think it would help if you thought about how great it’ll be to live with the pony you love.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The thought made Applejack feel a bit better. The whole question still weighed on her mind, but it was a little lighter now. “It just feels weird to think about it. It’s not a bad feelin’, but I just don’t know what to do about it. It’s just… too new.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It might be, but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad.”

“I know that,” Applejack said. “Doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Well, a lot of things that are good for you are hard to do,” Fluttershy said. “I know all about that.”

“I know that too,” Applejack muttered. “I just wish I knew why Twilight seems to be so opposed to the idea of movin’ in. I mean, sure, it might not be the most convenient thing, but it’s not like it’d be a new thing to her. She’s moved around before.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s really the… uh… problem…” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off.

“Then what would you say the problem is?”

“It’s… well… if I had to take a guess…”

“Just tell me,” Applejack said sharply.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t want to put any words in Twilight’s mouth, but I think it might be that she feels like you’re… maybe having second thoughts.”

“What?!” Applejack could hardly believe her ears. “Why would you think that? I never said that I didn’t still want to marry her!”

“Well, no, but… it’s just… she might feel like you’re just asking her to change everything so you don’t have to.”

The words stung.

“But maybe I’m wrong and it’s something else,” Fluttershy said quickly. “I just… I thought that might be what it is. Maybe.”

“If that isn’t it, you’re probably pretty close,” Applejack said. “I need to talk things over with Twilight and find out how she really feels. I sure don’t want her to give up her whole life, even if she does move in with me.”

“I’m sure that Twilight knows that,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Even if she does, I want her to hear it from me.” Applejack closed her eyes and tapped herself gently on the forehead. “I just have to figure out how to explain how I feel. But how am I supposed to get her to understand? I don’t want her to feel like I’m tryin’ to control her or anything.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find a way to say it,” Fluttershy gently put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “You two always manage to work things out.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Applejack pushed Fluttershy’s hoof away. “I got a lot to think about. Thanks for your help, Fluttershy. I needed somepony to talk to.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Fluttershy smiled. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about? Because I should really get to checking on the fruit bats.”

“Yeah, you can get back to that,” Applejack said absently. “I just need some time to mull things over. Let me know if you need help with the fruit bats.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m glad I could help. I’ll see you later. Have a good day!”

Applejack barely heard. Her mind was already somewhere else.