Orange, Lemon, Lime

Part 8

With every step towards Celestia's throne room, Twilight's heart beat harder inside her chest. It had been alright for a while, but walking silently beside Applejack, who she thought was immeasurably disappointed in her...She had worked her way up from 'I'll be exiled,' to 'Celestia is going to annihilate me on the spot!' How was she going to run her library as a pile of ash?

Twilight's hooves squealed on the marble floor just as the guards who watched over the deep-set doorway came into sight. The baby carrier rocked on her back - Applejack's head whipped towards the sound.

"I-I can't go in there..." Twilight sputtered. Her thin legs shook under herself. "I can't go in there, Applejack, I just can't!"

Her tiny magical creation whimpered. It was not but a second later that Applejack took the baby carrier into her own protection. Twilight sat heavily, her breathing got frantic.

"There's no scenario here where things go back to how they were before...this is just so wrong. I just want things to go back to normal..."

When Applejack didn't respond immediately, Twilight looked up from her hooves at her. Through her bangs, she watched Applejack rocking the baby carrier, the foal nestled deep inside under an aged baby blanket. She was jittery, looking up from the foal to the guards just blocked from Twilight's view thanks to a pillar. Twilight leaned forward to see the guards whispering to each other, as if wondering what to do about their hesitant visitors. They had seen Twilight hundreds of times, and probably knew Applejack as well...

Applejack's breathing came quick, her brow knitted in thought. As if arrested by Twilight's will, she stole a look at the unicorn. It was so unusual to see Applejack turn her eye away dreadfully, to hear her swallow, to shake her head how she did. She was quailing like a child in trouble.

"Applejack..." Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder.

"I-I, Twilight, truthfully, I'm scared out of my wits myself. I don't know..."

A sudden realization sparked within Twilight's very soul. How could she not think about how affected Applejack probably was? What was going on inside her head, what sort of awful things did she think was going to happen if they told Celestia? Would she be an accessory to a crime, or worse? What would happen to her farm, her family, if she got thrown in jail? What was her mind thinking, running on such little sleep?

Twilight curled her hoof around the back of Applejack's neck, feeling her blonde mane mingle with her own purple feathering. She pulled her forward, gently, her eyes closed, until their foreheads met, her horn pushing Applejack's father's hat up and away.

"It's okay...we're both scared. But we both have to be brave, as well. Neither of us can do this alone. I needed your help, and you helped me...so, I'm going to do my best to be brave for you, Applejack." Twilight thought she might pull away.

Instead, she pulled herself forward, curving her neck against Twilight's to rest her head upon the unicorn's shoulders.

Twilight whispered, "I know there's no going back now. What we do next, though, is all up to us. Let's just be honest with her. We need her help."

"Right," Applejack did pull away, then, quickly fixing her hat and clearing her throat. "That's all we're here for. Some help." She sat, staring at the ground for several voided moments. Twilight watched her wake herself up from her short stupor, her re-warming. "'Sides, she's probably waitin' on us. Don't wanna keep her."

Twilight stood first, taking Applejack's larger hoof on her own, helping her up, as she felt she ought to. The little pink foal watched them the entire time, silently, digesting this new world she had only just recently been introduced to.