At Twilight's door the disgruntled mare gave it some knocks then waited, slapped her tongue a few times to resist a yawn. She knocked some more and her studious friend appeared, mane disheveled.
The purple mare stared, blinked and rubbed her eyes: "Oh, good morning Applejack! Good very, very, very early in the morning." She said glancing at the dawn.
"Well sorry Twilight, but today is Tuesday." Applejack stated, not too happy. "So now ya'll have some explaining to do, with ya harassing me the whole week and all!"
And she waited for the unicorn taken aback to give an answer, other than wonder what her tired friend could mean.
"I… have an idea!" The student smiled, "I was about to have breakfast! Why don't you join me?"
She offered some space for her disgruntled friend to enter, showed her the table with fried eggs, some bread and a big glass of orange juice. There only was one plate so as she let the cowmare sit Twilight went for the kitchen, spoke softly to avoid waking up Spike:
"Don't wait for me, I won't be long!" She happily said. "Then we'll solve what I'm sure is just a big misunderstanding!"
"Well" The brave mare answered, smiling back, "that's so neighborly of ya!"
Once the door was closed Applejack looked at the stair, at the room slightly open where she guessed the little dragon was sleeping, and she felt relaxed. She sighed with pleasure, lapped the orange juice and then shivered when the ball of light and thunder burst behind her.
"Applejack! By all means!" The mare's teeth clenched fast. "Don't touch the eggs!"
The cowmare turned on her stool to see her purple friend distressed, bandage at her head and her ruffled hair all spiked. She pointed at her as if a ghost, stammering words of disbelief, then she pointed hurriedly at the kitchen door.
"Oh, yes, that too!" Twilight calmed, smiling and then suddenly yelled: "Don't tell her about me!"
"But she's ya!" Her tired friend yelled back: "Ya're her! I dunno' anymore!"
"And I know that if you tell her" The last vowel lasted on the student's tongue before exploding: "this! is what happens!"
On her stool the mare had almost hopped in fear, looking desperately at the kitchen still closed and she felt her future friend approaching.
"She will ask a lot of questions that you won't be able to answer and so she will go ask experts at Canterlot, making her miss the Grand Ball Supreme that will happen in exactly two weeks three days and fourteen hours from now!"
Applejack's hooves on the table were slipping to keep her from falling back any more as she smiled nervously to Twilight's explanations.
"Since she won't come Pinkie will give up on her cheerleader idea and Ponyville will win! But! This victory will attract crowds to the town and forty-six years from now the Mayor's daughter, struggling with impossible urbanism problems, will be defeated by the first elected frog in Equestria! Thus, provoking a new era of tolerance…"
The unicorn's smiling muzzle was almost touching Applejack's nervous one.
"… that will vanish when ponies discover that frogs can't speak! Their confidence in authorities will plunge, the Law will disappear and four centuries from now? Six colts will imprison the Princess! So please please please!" Twilight's eyes were trembling before those of the shocked earth pony. "Don't tell her…"
All she could do to answer was nod slightly, just before they heard steps behind the closed door. With Twilight coming back Twilight panicked, looked under the table and plunged, leaving her friend alone to welcome back the purple mare.
"I heard voices, where you…" The student stopped. "You didn't touch your eggs?"
Applejack was about to answer when she felt her leg poked. No touching the eggs, so she smiled nervously.
"You don't like them?" Twilight approached, a bit worried. "I cooked them myself… are you sure you don't want just a taste?" She pleaded.
"I uh…" The mare suddenly twitched, her leg hit by an angry hoof. "I'm not angry! I already ate!" She sweated, looking down and up at the two purple unicorns.
"Oh... I understand…" Twilight sadly sighed. "I guess I will eat later."
And she turned away to bring back her plate to the kitchen, to her distressed friend trying to stop her but the door closed and just then Twilight jumped out from under the table.
"That was close!" She rejoiced.
"Why couldn't I eat them eggs?" Applejack grunted.
"What? Oh, because it's gross!" Her friend grimaced. "I mean, eggs, bwah!" And to her friend's hissing ears she added, thoughtfully: "Wait… this is the present, eggs are fine! Silly me… so, you don't want them?"
The cowmare was too stunned to even listen, only snapped out of it when she saw the purple unicorn catch the fried eggs, throw them in the air and swallow them, then lick her lips with delight.
Before she could wonder why her friend was angry, they heard a groaning voice:
"What's all the noise?" Spike was on the stair, arms crossed. "Some of us are trying to-" He was cut by Twilight jumping on him, clutching him against her torn leather suit so happily. "Eh! Where is that coming from!" He said, choking.
"From the future!" She happily answered, rubbing her cheek. "Next Tuesday to be precise."
"We! Are! Tuesday!" Applejack screamed, exasperated.
"And I'm from the next one, bye!" The studious mare smiled under the blinding light of her horn, and in a flash she was gone, leaving Spike completely at a loss and Twilight rushing in to see what was happening.
"Did I miss something?" And she saw the empty plate. "Eh!" The unicorn got angered: "You did eat them after all! Are you playing with me?"
To which the brave mare simply fell off face first on the plate, hat hiding the despair in her eyes.