Twilight trotted up the road to Sweet Apple Acres. Her saddlebag contained the following: A book titled Magical Secrets of the Everfree Forest, two scrolls about flora and fauna of the Everfree Forest, a blank scroll, a quill, an ink pot, two sandwiches, two chocolate chip cookies, and two napkins. It was only going to be an afternoon trip, but Twilight had been considering it for a week. Well, parts of it. Some of the parts were so well considered that she sometimes slipped into them without meaning to, resulting in some serious distraction and a few incidents of doodling on scrolls that were supposed to be a scholarly review of a recent study.

So for the sake of her reputation and productivity, today was the day! Twilight smiled as she came to the gate of Sweet Apple Acres and walked through in search of Applejack. It was a spring morning out of a painting, a cheerful landscape of green and blue, with touches of red apples and barns. Days like today, she loved this farm, and she could see herself working in the warm sun, side by side with Applejack—

“Twilight!” somepony called urgently, stopping her in her tracks. She looked over to see Applejack farther down a row of trees, chuckling as she trotted over.

Looking around, Twilight found the source of Applejack’s amusement; she happened to be a step away from running face first into a tree.

“Oh.” She blinked, then blushed and took a step back as Applejack reached her.

Applejack grinned and gave her a playful nudge. “There ain’t a cloud in the sky... so I dunno where your head’s at.”

“I was just enjoying the morning and looking for you. I guess I need to pay a little more attention to where I’m going.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Then she glanced back at Applejack and a smile lit up her face. “Anyway, I had a question to ask you!”

“Ask away!”

“Well, since the Mirror Pool incident, I’ve been doing some research into other magical spots in the Everfree forest, and I came across one I think I’d like to find.” Twilight paused to float her book out of her saddlebag.

“How deep are we talkin’ into the forest?” Applejack asked, eyeing the floating book. “It ain’t exactly safe in there…”

“I don’t think it’s very deep. And that’s one of the reasons I came to you. You know your way around there, so you can take care of us.” Twilight almost giggled at how Applejack stood slightly taller at hearing that. She flipped through the book to the right page, then held it for Applejack to read. “It’s, well… the Tunnel of Love. The real one, not like what they have at fairs. And my books say—”

“That ol’ thing?” Applejack raised her eyebrows.

“You know about it?” Twilight asked, slightly surprised at a pretty special, romantic, magical spot being called an ‘old thing.’ “Do you know where it is?”

“Well, sure. Everypony in these parts goes there once or twice…”

“You’ve been there? Did you go through it?”

Applejack hesitated, then nodded slightly. “Yeah...”

“Who with?” Twilight asked, trying to remain calm. She couldn’t believe that she’d never heard about Applejack having a special somepony. It might not have been a real special somepony. Maybe it was just a mare — or a stallion — AJ used to like. Twilight really hoped it wasn’t a stallion...

Applejack’s eyes dimmed, and she looked away. “You’ll need a pony to go through with, if that’s what you wanna do.”

Twilight was too intrigued by the unanswered question to let her disappointment become blatantly obvious. But there was still a hesitation and a hint of sadness as she looked at the side of Applejack’s face. “Well, I didn’t know you’d already been, but I was thinking we could go together.”

“You wanna go with me?” Applejack looked up, shocked.

“Yes.” Twilight tried to smile in her most friendly way, watching the reaction closely. When there was no response but a frozen stare, Twilight rushed on in a panic, “I mean, um, not like that. I mean, not that I’m saying I wouldn’t— or would!— want to get involved with you romantically…” Twilight trailed off as Applejack’s expression turned to confusion. A blush burned Twilight’s cheeks as she clarified, “I just thought you’d be willing to try it out. From what I’ve read, it’s just visions.”

After a long pause, Applejack shook her head. “Nope. I’m never goin’ through that again.”

“What happened? Is it dangerous, or scary?” Twilight bit her lip nervously, wondering what else she might have missed. Planning while distracted seemed to have been a bad idea, even if she’d been distracted by the thing she was planning.

“It’s just visions, like you said.” A slight grimace flashed across Applejack’s face, replaced by a stubbornly flat expression. “But I’m not doin’ it. I’ll take you there, ‘cause you’re my friend...” she hesitated. “and you can bring somepony else, if ya’ really want. But I ain’t gettin’ in that boat with anypony.”

“Oh.” Twilight sighed. But she couldn’t keep from glancing at Applejack, searching for the answers that her normally open friend was hiding. “Well, why don’t you just show me, today? Then I can go back when I can find somepony to agree.”

Applejack shot a considering look at Twilight, but nodded anyway. “Okay. Lemme get some stuff cleaned up ‘round here, and we’ll go take a look.”

Both ponies wore masks of good cheer as they left Sweet Apple Acres and headed into the dim forest.

Applejack’s shifted on and off; she smiled like her normal, cheerful self when she talked to Twilight about the weather, about her farm and about the forest. But when the conversation died down, as the path wound deeper into the Everfree, the smile slipped more and more frequently into a thoughtful melancholy that felt unfamiliar for Twilight to see on one of her friends.

Twilight’s smile covered for a day that was not going according to plan. An afternoon that was supposed to be spent exploring new magic, having fun with her friend, and having a conversation that she’d been thinking about for quite some time had vanished, thanks to research she’d never even considered the need for. It might have been smarter to abort the expedition entirely, but she felt certain that this would be the best chance to get to the bottom of Applejack’s romantic history and why she looked so sad at the thought of it. But this was delicate, and the last thing Twilight wanted was to hurt Applejack.

“Here it is…” Applejack announced as they passed through an arch made by tree branches.

Twilight walked around the clearing; a flat mossy bank next to a deep creek where the trees hung back in a dense line, offering room to walk around on the shore where the small wooden boat was tethered. The creek flowed towards the large entrance of a cave in a craggy wall of rock. Vines with white flowers grew over the rock and covered the cave entrance in a curtain. Those same vines climbed and twisted through the trees, some of them hanging like streamers from the branches.

In the shade of the trees, the flowers reflected the light and seemed to glow like stars. Twilight could feel herself relaxing, her concerns seemed distant compared to the beauty right in front of her. She smiled, using her magic to part the hanging vines without disturbing them, and thought about sitting on the soft bank with Applejack, having a picnic and taking in something so delicate and beautiful.

Twilight glanced back at where Applejack still stood, where the path met the clearing. She leaned against a tree there, staring blankly at the location. Twilight watched the subtle changes in her friend’s face. There was none of the relaxation that Twilight felt, just barely detectable uncertainty and sorrow fighting beneath a mask of stoicism. But Twilight was almost certain she knew the reasons for the shifting emotions.

“Who was it?” Twilight asked softly.

“Fluttershy.” Applejack didn’t turn her head, she just stared at the creek. “Not long after she came to Ponyville I fell for her, real hard. She came out here with me, and we went out for a bit.”

Twilight felt a blush on her cheeks, and for a second she was speechless. Finally she stammered, “I— I had no idea you and Fluttershy had been together…”

“It kinda depends who ya’ ask. We went out for a bit, I thought we had somethin’ special, but...” Applejack swallowed hard. “She didn’t feel the same.”

Twilight felt her eyes grow wide. “She broke up with you? Fluttershy broke up with you?!”

Applejack pulled her hat a little lower over her face. “I don’t think she ever meant to date me, bless her heart. I was so wrapped up in how things could’a been that I didn’t notice she was just doin’ it to be nice to me.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to,” Twilight said, walking over to Applejack and giving her a comforting nudge.

“There’s not much to talk about. It ain’t nopony’s fault. I sure don’t hold it against her, I was the one too in love to find my own tail. It’s no good plowin’ a field when the crops already growin’, but when I think how I felt back then…” Applejack poked the ground with her hoof, and let her words disappear into the past.

“It hurts?” Twilight whispered.

“Huh?” Applejack looked up. Then she shook her head clear. “Nah. It’s just somethin’ that happened. We didn’t feel the same. It’s for the best, anyhow.” She walked over to the edge of the creek and sat down.

Twilight nodded, but clenched her jaw. How could Fluttershy have done that to Applejack? Couldn’t she see how much that would hurt her? There was no reason to lead Applejack on and break her heart when there were ponies who would give their cutie marks to get Applejack to think about them like that!

Twilight took a deep breath. She reminded herself that Applejack was right, this was nopony’s fault. It wasn’t even the dumbest thing she’d seen happen thanks to Applejack’s enthusiasm or Fluttershy’s fear of confrontation. And since neither of them had even mentioned it before now, it certainly did seem to be in the past...

Avoiding the issue would be best for the moment. She decided she should focus on why she actually came here… the other reason. To see the tunnel and learn about it.

“So… do you know how long this has been here?” Twilight said, walking down the bank to the vine-covered rock formation and touching it gently with her forehoof.

“Who knows? Nopony built it.” Applejack thought for a moment. “Granny never talked about coming here, but… ya’ know, I never heard an all the way grown up pony mention it, ‘til you. Even me and Rarity, both of us have been here, and we talked about it when we were silly young things, but it’s been years.”

“That’s interesting.” Twilight turned back, looking through the hanging flowers at AJ still sitting on the bank. “You knew exactly what I was talking about, when I asked… I wonder if I asked Granny Smith, if she would know?”

“Could be. Like I said, nopony ever came into the Everfree and decided to put a big magic cave, so it musta been here longer than Ponyville— like the castle, or the Mirror Pool.”

“Has the boat always been here?” Twilight moved over to the little craft, just large enough for two ponies sitting next to each other. There were no paddles, which made her wonder how it ever got back to shore… let alone back upstream after each trip.

“Since last time I came.” Applejack looked at it and bit her lip. “It’s a bit wobbly. You gotta have somepony hold it while you get in.”

Twilight glanced at the boat again, envisioning a younger, happier Applejack holding the boat steady for a blushing Fluttershy, before hopping easily in after her. It felt almost like spying, even if it was her imagination. She got the feeling that she wasn’t supposed to think about Applejack and Fluttershy being here together.

Twilight shook her head and left the boat to join Applejack on the bank. “So, ponies come here when they’re young?”

“Yeah. It’s somethin’ to do for a date. A little sneaky… everypony knows their folks wouldn’t like ‘em runnin’ off to the Everfree. And nopony’s around anywhere, and the bank here is real soft, so… well, it’s a place to be alone, if ya’ know what I mean.”

Another, much worse, moment of imaginary spying invaded Twilight’s mind, but she coughed and said quickly. “Yeah. What about the cave?”

“‘Course ya’ go through that together. It fills your head with nonsense. When we came out, even Fluttershy seemed happier than usual… I was over the moon. I would’a asked her to marry me right then, for all we were barely old enough.” Applejack shook her head. “That’s probably why folks don’t go back.”

“What are the visions of?”

“Nonsense. Like I said. What your life could be like together. Some time where everything’s perfect, and you know you’re happy, and ya’ got everything you ever wanted in another pony…” Applejack stared at the creek while her tail knocked a small stone into the water. “It makes ya’ feel like it’s real.”

Twilight sighed. She couldn’t help feeling that her chances of seeing that herself, with Applejack, were getting farther away with every question. Right now she just wanted to stop time, so she didn’t do any more damage today, but that seemed a little excessive. Instead, she used her magic to open her saddlebag and pull out the food she’d brought.

“Would you like a sandwich?” she offered to Applejack. “I didn’t know how long we’d be, so I made us some lunch…”

Applejack smiled for the first time since they came to the tunnel. “Thanks, Twi.”

Twilight smiled back, and the two ate their lunch on the bank of the creek, talking and joking like any other day. As it went on, it seemed to Twilight like a really good day, even. They leaned back on the mossy bank and discussed who was doing what for the Ponyville Festival of Festivities — a redundant, town wide event that had finally led to Twilight determining that Pinkie was messing with the official town calendar. But since planning was underway, they’d decided to let this one pass.

As they talked for a while, she wasn’t sure how long, Twilight absently picked a vine of white flowers with her magic. She ran her hoof over the petals, then gathered several flowers into a tiny bouquet and tied it with the stem. During a lull in the conversation she considered giving it to Applejack, but twirled it in her magic instead.

“It’s pretty here,” Twilight said with a happy sigh.

“Yeah…” Applejack nodded at the little bouquet. “The Everfree’s got some flowers that don’t grow nowhere else.”

“Do you know what these are?” Twilight asked, sniffing them. The smelled light and sweet, beautiful while she was smelling them but lost the second she pulled them away.

“Nope, never seen ‘em anyplace else.”

“I have a list from Zecora. Let me take a look.” Twilight retrieved the scroll from her bag with her magic and opened it in front of her. She scanned the sketches and descriptions of plants. “They’re called Lover’s Web. And this is the only place they grow. And… hmm.”

“Hmm?” Applejack echoed, raising an eyebrow.

“Zecora says they can be used to make a potion that produces a euphoric contentment.” Twilight frowned at the details.

“A what now?”

“It makes you perfectly happy and content… for a little while, at least.” She looked up and gave a grim smile. “Of course, it also makes you forget to eat and go to work, so you shouldn’t use it for too long.”

“How can ya’ be content when you’re forgettin’ to eat?” Applejack asked, confused.

“It tricks you. It just makes you think you’re content. I guess when it wears off, you’re even more hungry.” Twilight rolled up the scroll and placed it back in her saddlebag. She picked up the bunch of flowers in her magic and examined them again.

Applejack glared at the flowers. “Sounds like a nasty piece of work.”

“It’s not the flower’s fault. A pony has to make the potion.”

“Yeah…” Applejack admitted, still looking at the twirling flowers in Twilight’s magic. “I reckon so.”

“It really is pretty here. I can’t get over it. If I had tried to imagine a romantic place in the forest, it would look just like this.” Twilight smiled and sniffed the flowers again, then looked up at Applejack.

Applejack’s eyes had followed the flowers, and now she was looking into Twilight’s eyes. For a moment they were quiet as their eyes met. Twilight held her breath; Applejack looked almost pleading, and Twilight hoped she could tell Applejack what she wanted to hear. Or, she hoped Applejack wanted to hear what Twilight wanted to tell her.

Applejack whispered, “Don’t be a fool, Twilight.”

Everything came crashing down. Tears stung Twilight’s eyes as she searched everything she’d said or done that day for where she might have let it slip and everything Applejack had said or done for the answer she’d overlooked. Finally she was left with no choice but to nearly whimper, “What? What did I say?”

“Nothin’, sugarcube,” Applejack said gently. She sighed. “I just— I don’t wanna see you… don’t let this place fool ya’.”

“Fool me how?” Twilight asked, confusion replacing the frantic dread.

“By lookin’ all pretty,” Applejack motioned with a hoof to the clearing, “and makin’ ya’ wanna see what’s in the tunnel, and makin’ ya’ feel all content and ya’phoric. It ain’t real.” Applejack looked in Twilight’s eyes again, and this time Twilight could see the pain and frustration. “You’re too smart to get turned ‘round, Twi. This place is only pretty ‘cause— cause it’s all empty and good-for-nothin’!”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked softly.

“This ain’t life!” Applejack insisted. “Ya’ come here with a special somepony, and everythin’ feels right, and good, and you love each other. And you see— you see the weddin’ you coulda had, or the foals you coulda had, and it looks like just what you want… but it ain’t real. It never was there at all…” Applejack looked to the cave, and Twilight caught a glint of tears.

Twilight caught her breath for a moment, giving Applejack time to gather herself. Twilight’s ears drooped, she couldn’t help feeling guilty for bringing Applejack here, for opening up old wounds, and for doing it all because she’d been caught up in exactly what Applejack was trying to warn her of. She looked down and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Twi,” Applejack said simply. “I just never should’a come back here. I should’a told you to get somepony else to take ya’.”

Twilight took a deep breath and looked up. She picked up her flowers and examined them skeptically. “Actually, AJ, I’m glad you’re with me. I’m sorry you don’t want to be here, but I think what you’re saying is important for me to hear.”

Applejack shook her head. “It ain’t. It’s just some stuff I gotta get over.”

“It is important.” Twilight frowned at the flowers. She looked around the clearing and went on, “You’re right, this place isn’t real. The magic from the cave is probably twisting it so that everything about this place is perfectly romantic. I never would have realized that, if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

“So… the cave is doin’ this on purpose?” Applejack asked skeptically.

“I don’t know about on purpose. But the magic here is designed to encourage love by showing the beauty of it… so that spread to the areas around the cave. The feeling the flowers produce in the potion is probably similar to the feeling of being in love, I’ll bet.”

Applejack gave a sour snort towards the cave. “Pretty lies.”

Twilight nodded sadly.

“I’m sorry, sugarcube.”

Twilight just stared at the flowers, thinking. “Do you think this magic is really love?”

“It can’t be.” Applejack said softly. “Real love’s way more than pretty lies.”

“You loved Fluttershy.” Twilight looked up and bit her lip. “I feel like… from the way you talk… that was real to you, even if it wasn’t to her.”

Applejack swallowed, and her ears drooped. “That’s why I don’t like it here, Twi. These lies, they get in a pony’s head… maybe you’re right. Maybe that’s all love really is.”

“I didn’t say that.” Twilight set down her bouquet. “Just because this magic comes from love, doesn’t mean it’s all there is to love.” She looked at Applejack and smiled a little. “Look at it like… the Elements of Harmony. Honesty is a part of friendship, but it’s not the only part of friendship. If we tried to base our friendship only on honesty, the six of us would never talk to each other again.”

“Yeah…” Applejack nodded. “I can see how that might get rough.”

“So, maybe pretty lies… romanticism, is an element of love. To be in love, part of you has to see your partner, and the future, as perfect… but that shouldn’t be all you see. If it is…” Twilight gave Applejack a sad smile and laid a hoof on top of hers. “You might get hurt.”

“That makes sense.” Applejack looked down at Twilight’s hoof on hers. “When Fluttershy-- when she told me the truth, it felt like my world fallin’ apart. I’d built up so much, and it was all… gone. I was some kinda fool, huh?”

“You weren’t that foolish, AJ,” Twilight insisted gently. “Fluttershy should have told you the truth from the start.”

Applejack was just quiet. For a moment, Twilight was afraid that Applejack might think she was accusing Fluttershy of being cruel on purpose, but Applejack nodded and sighed.

“I know it. I make excuses, but… things woulda been better if she’d just been honest with me,” Applejack said. Then she drew her hoof away from Twilight’s. “But that was no reason for me to be thinkin’ about gettin’ hitched after a few dates, or thinkin’ like my life was all about her…” She swallowed and pulled her hat down low over her face. “‘Cept that it felt so good. Like she was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Twilight bit her lip, not sure what to say. She understood, more than she was willing to let Applejack know. But there was also a knot forming at the back of her throat. Twilight couldn’t talk, or couldn’t trust herself to talk, she wasn’t sure which. Luckily, Applejack broke the silence.

“If that’s what them flowers feel like, they’re dangerous.” Applejack pushed her hat back up and looked to Twilight, who just nodded in response and tried not to glance at her bouquet. “That feelin’ kept me from seein’ she was lyin’. It kept me from seein’ how she'll never look a pony in the eye, and how she's always hidin' behind her hair, and how she can’t blink without askin’ if it’s okay… I just knew I loved her and wanted to be with her forever.”

“But you see those things now.” Twilight hoped she sounded normal. Not eager, not satisfied. Just pointing out a simple fact.

“Yeah. Nopony’s perfect, we all got our flaws. Those things about Fluttershy ain’t any worse than how you can get all wound up ‘til ya’ snap, or how I… ain’t always the best at lettin’ go of things.” Applejack smiled sadly at Twilight. “But I think even if she’d loved me, these days I’d be scared I was pushin’ her ‘round. Now I know her better, it’s kinda hard to know when Fluttershy needs pushin and when ya’ oughta stop.”

“That’s a flaw in Fluttershy that a pony has to be ready to deal with if they date her,” Twilight agreed. She leaned back a little, considering her friends, rather than her own emotions.

“I dunno if I could do that now…” Applejack shook her head. “I reckon it makes sense that I was never gonna know what to do with it right out the gate on my first rodeo.”

“So you painted over it with some daydreams, and some visions from the tunnel, and you were happy.” Twilight frowned. “But that couldn’t make the flaws go away... you were pushing Fluttershy for something she just couldn’t give you, and she didn’t know the right way to deal with that.”

“It’s a good thing it never worked, ain’t it?” Applejack raised an eyebrow with a small smile. “I can’t help thinkin’ things woulda turned out a right mess, bein’ as young as we were then.”

Twilight gave a resigned sigh. “I’m starting to wonder if the emotions involved in love can be anything other than a mess.”

“Maybe they can’t.” Applejack got a strange look on her face. Then she chuckled a little. “Maybe… that’s okay. Ya’ can’t do real work without makin’ a bit of a mess, ya’ just gotta know what you’re takin’ on before your hooves are covered in mud. Or your face, for that matter.”

Twilight blushed and looked at her perfect little bunch of flowers. “But that’s not how it’s supposed to be…”

“Ya’ mean, that ain’t what a pony wants to see in the tunnel,” Applejack said softly.

“Yeah…” Twilight glanced nervously at the tunnel, then her bouquet. Her wings twitched. She didn’t want to walk away from this place… but that made her want to leave even more.

“Twilight?” Applejack was looking at her. Twilight tried to shake her head clear, but Applejack shifted over, sitting down next to Twilight. “What’s wrong, sugarcube?”

Twilight could feel Applejack’s coat brushing against her and smell the earthy, sweet smell that was Applejack’s alone, and she cringed a little. “I’ve never really been in love before, and I’m not good at letting something be unorganized. What if I try to clean things up too much, and in all of my simplifying and making pieces fit, I’m left with… with what’s in the tunnel. And I don’t even realize it.”

“That’s not gonna happen.” Applejack wrapped a comforting foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders. “You’re too darn smart to get fooled like me.”

“I was fooled before I even came here,” Twilight admitted. “I heard about the tunnel and I thought it sounded so neat. I thought about coming here all last week, I could barely concentrate… I didn’t even consider possible complications. And this morning everything seemed so perfect. And when I got here everything was perfect, and I— I was just so happy that you were with me.”

Applejack was quiet. Her foreleg didn’t move from around Twilight, but she said slowly, almost confused, “Twi… you asked me to come to help ya’ through the forest… right?”

“Uh… some?” Twilight said in a tiny voice. “I mean, I needed to know where the path was, and I don’t want to be eaten by timberwolves.”

“You got wings,” Applejack said flatly. “Timberwolves don’t fly.”

Twilight sighed. “I feel safer with you… I mean, I had to come with somepony, and... I’m sorry, Applejack. I— I don’t know what I was thinking. Pretty lies. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Twilight looked at the cave, then down at her hooves. She picked up the tiny bouquet of white flowers and tossed it in the river. She stood up, shrugging off Applejack’s leg, and turned towards the path. “Let’s go home.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Applejack said. Twilight glanced back, and saw that Applejack hadn’t moved except to stand up. “You got somethin’ to say to me?”

Twilight turned and looked into Applejack’s serious expression, and blurted out exactly what came to mind, “... I’m scared. You’re not ready. This is a bad idea. I messed up. I’m sorry.”

“None of that was it,” Applejack insisted calmly.

Twilight cringed, but took a deep breath. “I— I wanted to go through the tunnel with you.”

Applejack nodded. “Ya’ know, I wouldn’t ‘ve come here again for just anypony,” she said, walking cautiously over to Twilight. “But I came here for you... and I can go through the tunnel with ya’... as long as that ain’t all ya’ want.” She bit her lip and looked into Twilight’s eyes. “If it is, we oughta leave. Now.”

“Right now, all I want is to make sure I don’t hurt you…” Twilight’s eyebrows went up as she realized. “But that’s what— that’s just more pretty lies, isn’t it?”

Applejack raised her eyebrows and waited patiently.

“I’m not doing that.” Twilight assured her. “I’ve just spent so much time lost in my daydreams and fantasies... when you warned me about this place, that was the first time I really thought about what was real and what was just a dream.”

Twilight frowned, thinking of the emotions that came with that… guilt, fear, sympathy, understanding. She looked up at Applejack, and she could have sworn there was a flash of hope in the green eyes looking back at her.

Twilight gave her a small smile. “Thinking about it hurt but it made us closer, and it let us help each other… I want that, Applejack.”

“I trust you, Twi, you got a good head on your shoulders. Me and you make a good team.” Applejack smiled and laid a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, then stepped closer and pressed her cheek to Twilight’s in a gentle nuzzle. She went on softly, “Maybe a little romance wouldn’t hurt that.”

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes as she returned the nuzzle. “Whether I have a good head on my shoulders is debatable at this point... but, I’m good at learning, at least.”

“You and me both.” Applejack dropped her hoof and took a step back. She glanced down. “But you came here to learn about the tunnel. I told ya’ I’d go through with you… do you still want to?”

“Of course not!” Twilight said with a flip of her mane. But her eyes caught the mouth of the cave hidden by the veil of flowered vines. She lingered on it, imagining the sorts of dreams that darkness held, comforting and beautiful, even if she knew they were no more real than a story in the library. “I— I don’t think so.”

“Twilight. Do ya’ wanna go through with me?” Applejack asked, glancing suspiciously from Twilight to the tunnel.

Twilight knew that she could tell real life from fiction, even if the fiction was in her head. She looked at Applejack and knew that wouldn’t be a problem there either. They could go through, and come out, and anything they saw of the ‘future’ would be like a dream they’d had one night, forgotten as more important things were enjoyed or dealt with.

But that wasn’t the question Applejack asked her.

"Do I still want to go through and see a future where we’re happy with foals, or growing old together?” Twilight smiled as she examined Applejack’s face. “I have to admit, I do... but I’ll take a chance on doing it the long way, over time. Even if it’s messy, I think it’ll mean a lot more if it’s true.”

Applejack grinned at Twilight. “I never been through it that way… sounds like it could be worth tryin’.”

Twilight gave a contented sigh. “In the meantime, I’ll come back another day with some equipment and take some measurements here and wherever the tunnel ends.”

Applejack shrugged. “Well… if ya’ can find it.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight raised an eyebrow and nodded to the creek. “Where does the boat land when it comes out of the tunnel?”

“Right here.” Applejack motioned to the spot where the boat was tied. “Ya’ wake up from the vision and the boat bumps right into the shore where ya’ started from. Nopony knows how that works. It don’t seem to be a circle, but… well, who knows how long that cave is.”

“Interesting…” Twilight eyed the boat, then a smirk grew on her face. “So it turns out that all those dreams and visions don’t actually take you anywhere.”

Applejack gave her a knowing grin. “Good thing we’re two strong ponies. Maybe we can make it someplace else on our own, goin’ the long way.”

Twilight grinned and draped a wing around Applejack as they started back down the path towards home. Applejack’s tail wrapped around Twilight’s, and together they walked away from the romance and illusions of the Tunnel of Love.

Author's Notes:

Lots of thanks to Jake R, Tchernobog, Bad Horse, GhostOfHeraclitus, and First_Down for prereading and ideas.