Thankfully, the weather had remained pleasant during the Mayor's tour of Ponyville, which Twilight was immensely grateful for. After all, if her mentor was going to come here, it wouldn't do to have the local weather team slacking off. As she and Spike walked along the town's streets, their host would often point to the various venues the place had to offer. Sugar Cube Corner, the local flower shop, and so on and so forth. But all Twilight could think of right now was her current task, getting to Sweet Apple Acres. Hence why her expression was one of focus right now. But, in the end, her patience was rewarded, and the Mayor soon stopped as she reached the edge of what appeared to be a small woodland.

"Here we are!"

Looking to it in earnest, Twilight found herself pleasantly surprised by the idyllic look of her new location. Row upon row of carefully tended-to apple trees, giving a quite inviting feel to this farmstead. Giving a brief nod, she looked to the elder mare beside her.

"Very nice. And you're sure the Apple Family can accommodate the banquet?"

A brief giggle escaped the Mayor.

"Oh, I assure you, they very much can. If you need to go anywhere for good food in this town, it's the Apples."

For the first time, her enthusiasm seemed to be genuine, leading to a small smile on the part of Twilight. However, before any of them could make their way further in, they were halted by the arrival of the sound of rapidly-approaching hoofsteps. Turning, they saw that it was a smaller mare, panting as she ran towards the Mayor. At present, she was holding a number of important-looking papers, and once there, she took a moment to catch her breath before finally looking to the Mayor.

"Madame Mayor! There's been...well..."

The Mayor frowned.

"Spit it out, Quill!"

The other mare nodded.

"It's just...those two guards wanted to talk to you about security arrangements."

Hearing that, the Mayor turned to Twilight, clearly taken aback by this news. But, rather than seeming upset by this, as she'd probably been expecting, Twilight merely maintained her warm smile.

"It's fine. Spike and me can probably carry on from here. Go. See what they need."

A moment of hesitancy crossed the Mayor's face, but with the reassuring tone Twilight had taken, I wasn't long before the older mare returned the gesture by giving a slight bow of her head. With that, she turned, now joining her assistant in trotting back towards the centre of Ponyville. Once Twilight had seen her off, she turned her attention yet again to the farm beside her, giving the young dragon nearby a quick nod before, at last, starting to walk within. As one would expect of a place this large, it took quite a while for the mare and her charge to find their way around. The apple trees seemed to go on forever, which was something that Spike seemed to want to comment on.

"So...how are we going to find these ponies?"

Twilight looked to her son, giving him a small smile.

"Don't worry, Spike. They'll be around. We just have to...ah, there we go!"

Spike stopped, seeing where his Mother was now looking. There, just a few yards ahead of them, was an orange earth pony mare, about the same sort of age as Twilight. She ran across the space in-between the trees, before dramatically spinning around and giving the closest tree a good sharp kick with her hind legs. Barely a moment had passed before this resulted in the tree giving up its fruit, which promptly fell into a series of baskets that had been expertly placed on the ground below. After taking a moment to look proud of this, the newcomer soon realised that she had an audience, and took on a more hearty smile, taking a few steps closer to both Twilight and Spike.

"Well howdy there, folks! Name's Applejack!"

Twilight nodded.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Twilight, and this is Spike."

Hearing that, Applejack's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh yeah! Yer the pair from Canterlot, ain't ya?"

Again, Twilight nodded, prompting Applejack to continue.

"Well, if yer lookin ta check up on the food, ya needn't worry. We Apples have got it all covered."

Twilight's smile widened.

"That's good to hear. The Mayor gave some pretty glowing praise of your cooking, Miss Applejack."

The other mare chuckled to this.

"Heck, girl! No need ta be so formal! It's just Applejack! An' the Mayor spoke true. Y'all won't find better grub this side o' Equestria, y'all mark mah words!"

Her confidence was almost infectious, as Twilight looked to her in a manner that very clearly suggested that she believed her. But, it wasn't long after when she took on a more cynical expression.

"I'm inclined to believe you...but just to be sure, I'd like to take a look at what you've got myself."

There was every opportunity for Applejack to be offended or feel slighted over this remark, but thankfully, this turned out not to be the case. Instead, she gave a nod and turned right back around.

"Sure thing! Ah'll take ya ta mah home. We've got a couple of tasty pies just freshly baked if y'all want a preview!"

As she started to walk, Twilight followed, her tone a bit more calm as she replied to that.

"You're sure we won't be imposing?"

As before, Applejack let out a laugh.

"Hardly! Now that our annual reunion with all our kin is over, we got plenty o' space around."

But, after a few more steps, the farmer stopped, and while Twilight was a little surprised by this, she was even more surprised when Applejack turned to her again, her confidence wavering slightly for the first time since this visit began.

"Truth be told...ah'm actually kinda nervous. Nopony in mah family has seen royalty in generations. Heck, it's coz of her that we even have this land, goin all the way back ta mah Great-Grandpappy. Ah just hope the Princess likes what we can give her after all she's done fer us."

While taken aback at this sincere confession on the part of her new host, Twilight soon looked to her with a renewed smile, taking a step forward and speaking to Applejack with softness in her words.

"You have nothing to worry about, Applejack. I know the Princess, and trust me when I say that she's bound to love what you give her."

Seeing the open and honest expression on Twilight's face as she'd said that, Applejack stood tall once more, giving an enthusiastic nod before turning right around again and gesturing to her two companions.

"In that case...let's not waste any more daylight, y'all! Ah'm sure ya got lots ta do today!"

To that, Twilight gave out a brief dry laugh of her own.

"Yeah...no argument on that one."