One and a half hours until the party.

The walk to your home from Sweet Apple Acres was a quiet and awkward one. Not because you were mad, which you weren’t, but because everyone knew what was going to happen when you walked in the door. All the guests at your house would be waiting for you, quietly hidden in anticipation for the moment you walked in. then, when you opened the door, Everypony would jump out and yell “Surprise!” Then, while the shock was still setting in, Rainbow would jump into your legs and… and…

You touch your lip, and immediately pulled your hoof away. The area where Applejack hit you was swollen and tender to the touch, large and purple. Though it had stopped bleeding, the wound was still open; you could taste the iron-esq flavor of blood every time you ran your tongue over it, which was often. To make matters worse, your depth perception was completely off, thanks to your eye which was swelled shut. To anypony who hadn’t witnessed the events prior, it wouldn’t have been hard for them to mistake you for a victim of some horrible accident.

You looked behind you, making sure that Big Macintosh and Applejack were still with the group. Not wanting to go to the party because of what happened, Applejack was hesitant to leave. But Big Macintosh had promised he would go with her in case things went south. Still, even with her brothers promise, the silence was almost painful to endure. The only thing worse then the walk was the path you had to take to get to your house. Because of the storm the night before, the dirt path you would have normally taken had been completely washed out, meaning you had to take the old, rocky path through the small stretch of woodland that lay between ponyville and your parents estate. Compared to the Everfree Forrest, this would be a cake walk. But it was late, the sun had already begun to set, and no matter where you were you didn’t want to go into the woods at night.

At least, that’s what your father had told you.

Staring into the dense overgrowth of flora, you felt a sudden sense of apprehension. Turning to twilight you nod; a signal for her to come in closer.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just… have no idea how deep these woods are is all. I’m afraid we might get lost.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “You never played in them as a foal?”

“No…” you shook your head in embarrassment. “Father said never to go into the woods.”

Twilight walked up to the woods, listing closely. “I hear… trickling of water… Is there a stream on your families property?”

“Yeah. There's a pond behind my house that gets its water from a little brook. Why?”

Twilight smiled as her horn lit up. “Simple. If we follow the flow of water we can use it to guide us to your home, easy as that!”

You nod. You had to admit it. Twilight really was living up to her status as Princess Celestia’s most prized student.  As Twilight ventures in, you look back behind you. Applejack is sitting on a log wiping her eyes, her hat on the ground, as her brother tried to console her.

“Hey Twilight… why don’t you go on ahead and wait by the stream? I’m gonna go see if Applejack is alright.”

The purple unicorn looks back at you, then at her friend. She nods, then wanders further into the dark. You turn back to Applejack and begin to make your way over to her, picking up bits of her conversation with her brother as you get closer.

“…Ah just feel so bad fer what ah did… Ah was actin jealous… and petty… Now Rainbow will hate me…” She sniffed and wiped her eyes again. Big Mac was about to interject when he saw your arrival and stepped aside. After a brief exchange of words, he patted you on the back and went on after twilight. Applejack sighed and scooted on down the log as you sat down next to her.

“So… pretty night out…”

Applejack looked up at the sky and smiled a bit. “Ah always been more of a morning pony, but yeah…. It is kinda nice.”

Two tow of you return to looking at the ground before Applejack speaks up again. “Ahm… ahm sorry fer what I did… again…”

You sigh, nodding. “I won’t lie and say that it didn’t hurt, I don’t have that much pride and truthfully, it hurt a lot.”

Applejack lowered her head in a dejected manner.

“But, I understand why you did it, and if I was in your hooves, I cant say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

Applejack nods, looking over at you. “Ya said that all before… but why? Why are ya so… forgiving?”

Before you answer, you look around, making sure the two of you were alone. Sighing, you raised your wings a bit, exposing your flank and motioning for her to look at your flank. This was another secret you kept close to the “vest” as it were. It wasn’t something shameful, just something you didn’t want to have to talk about. This was the curse of having a rather ambiguous cutie mark.

Applejack looked down, then back up at you. “Is that yer cutie mark?”

You nod, putting your wings back down and moving them back a bit so they cover your flank.

“….What is it?”

You sigh. “It’s… easier if I just tell you my special talent.”

“And that is?”

“Understanding.”

For a moment, Applejack was silent; pondering what you meant. “Ya mean… yer special talent is…. Understandin?”

“Yup.”

“Ah… ah don’t want to sound rude… but... how is understandin a special talent?”

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be special anymore, would it?”

Applejack laughed a bit. “Yeah, ah guess it wouldn’t. Yer an ambiguous pony, aint ya?”

“Story of my life…” You look towards the forest, Twilights faint glow barely visible. “C’mon. we can talk more on the way to the party. You feeling better?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, ahm feelin better… Thank ya.”

You smiled, and Applejack smiled back; the two of you making towards the forest together amongst an air that was significantly less awkward.

Next Chapter: The Party Estimated time remaining: 23 Minutes