Chapter 34: Applejack's Dilemma

It was that time again at Canterlot High, mid terms. Students had to hit the books, do practice tests, and quiz themselves on everything they knew. In the cafeteria, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were discussing their study plans.

"I'm going to make flashcards, look at all my notes, and re-read certain chapters in my textbook." Twilight said.

"(Chuckles) Gee is that all?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well what are you going to do, Rainbow?" wondered Rarity.

"Just going to do the practice tests that the teachers give us." she replied.

"I'm gonna hit the books." Fluttershy mentioned.

"My sisters and I are gonna have a study group." Pinkie said.

"I'll be rereading." Rarity told.

"What about you, Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"I think I'm just gonna look at study guides." Applejack replied.

After lunch, Applejack was in Mr. Cranky Doodle's math class.

"All right, people remember this midterm is important." he announced.

That got everyone's attention.

"This grade will either bring it up a letter grade, or drop it down one."

That made, Applejack a little nervous. She currently had a C in math, and if she failed the midterm then that would mean she'd be practically failing math. Mr. Cranky Doodle then explained what specific topics would be on the midterms, and what chapters examples were in.

At her house, Applejack was in her room studying. She managed to get through English, history, and science.

"Now it's time for math." she said.

She looked through her textbook, and looked over the math problems. She managed to get some practice problems done, but she was still struggling with some of them.

"Oh, come on Applejack you know this."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Big Mac poked his head in.

"Hey." he said.

"Oh, hi Big Mac. What's up?"

"Studying, you?"

"Same, how's it going?"

"It's going fine, but..."

"The math?"

"You mean you had issues too?"

"Eeyup."

He walked into the room, and handed her some papers.

"What's this?"

"My math midterm from last year. You can use it as a study guide."

"Thanks, bro."

And with that, Big Mac left, and Applejack went back to studying.

When it was time for midterms everyone was ready more or less. In Applejack's math class she waited in her seat waiting for Mr. Cranky Doodle to pass out the tests.

"All right, people this test will probably take all period. Take your time, show your work, and don't even think about cheating. That means automatic F."

Everyone understood, and then he started handing out the papers, and they all got started. As the clock ticked, some looked cool, while others looked a little nervous. Applejack was able to do her test with ease.

"Looks like all that studying paid off." she thought to herself.

After 50 minutes, class was over, and Applejack had finished her exam. When Mr. Cranky Doodle took the papers from them, Applejack happily handed hers to him. At lunch, the girls talked about the tests they took.

"That science midterm was a little hard." admitted Twilight.

"You should've seen the English midterm." Rarity mentioned.

"I didn't think the math midterm was that bad." Applejack said.

"Really?" asked Pinkie.

"Yeah, I just studied hard."

"Hope I find it easy." Fluttershy hoped.

The rest of the school week the students took their midterms, and felt relieved when it was all over. On Friday afternoon, the girls left school feeling like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

"Whew, glad those midterms are over." said Fluttershy.

"As am I." agreed Rarity.

"So what do you say we go over to the Sweet Shoppe for some sweet treats?" Pinkie suggested.

"Sounds good to me." replied Twilight.

And off the five went.

A few weeks later, the results of the midterms were out. Many students were either disappointed, satisfied, or overjoyed. When the girls got their results they were pretty satisfied. In Mr. Cranky Doodle's class, Applejack waited for her test to be passed back to her.

"All right, people here are your tests. I was pleased, satisfied, and a little disappointed by some of your results." Mr. Cranky Doodle told his students.

He passed them out to the students, and when Applejack got hers she was delighted to see that she got an A on it. This meant she was on track for passing math class.

That night, Applejack went through her school stuff.

"Well now that that's all done, I can get rid of some of this stuff."

She went through her old papers, tests, and notes separating what should be kept and what could be tossed. Then she came across Big Mac's old test.

"This really came in handy. Gotta make sure to do something to show my gratitude."

She then took out her math mid-term but then noticed something. Both tests had similar questions. Having an uneasy feeling, she began to compare the tests. Each question was the same, all of them.

"Oh my gosh." Applejack whispered to herself.

"I looked at the test before I even had, I already knew all the answers. I...cheated."

Applejack tossed and turned all night. She couldn't believe she had cheated on a midterm, granted she didn't mean to and didn't even know she had done it but still. What was she going to do?

She knew cheating was wrong, but she really needed that good grade to pass. She needed advice, so she decided to talk to her friends the next day.

The next morning, Applejack was on edge. As she got her breakfast, Apple Bloom tapped her arm. Startled, Applejack jumped a little.

"You okay, sis?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. You just startled me, what is it?"

"I asked if you could hand me a glass."

"Oh, sure."

And with that, she gave her sister the glass. At the breakfast table, Granny Smith spoke up.

"So I hear you all did pretty good on your tests."

Big Mac and Apple Bloom smiled proudly and began talking about their tests while Applejack remained silent.

"Applejack, I heard you did well too. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Granny."

When they finished eating breakfast, they all went to school. Applejack had texted her friends and told them to meet her in the library. As soon as they all got to the school, Applejack went to the library. The rest of her friends were already there waiting for her.

"What's wrong, Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Is everything okay?" wondered Fluttershy.

"Girls, I need to tell you something really important." Applejack told them.

They went to a corner of the library, and made sure no one was around or listening in.

"Okay, girls. On the math midterm...I cheated." Applejack confessed.

The girls' eyes grew wide and some of their jaws dropped.

"You did what?" Rarity gasped.

Applejack looked down in shame.

"How could you?" Pinkie wanted to know.

"I didn't mean to, and it wasn't intentional."

She explained to them the situation.

"What are you gonna do?" Twilight questioned.

"I don't know."

"Well I say don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Rainbow Dash mentioned.

All the girls looked at her in surprise.

"What? No one necessarily has to know. And it's not like you did it on purpose." she explained.

"Maybe you should just come clean." suggested Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy has a point. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna are pretty understanding." added Twilight.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" Pinkie asked.

"I really needed this good grade if I wanted to pass math class."

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell rang.

"Don't worry, AJ. We'll figure this out." Twilight assured.

And they all went to their first classes.

All day, Applejack thought about what to do. On the one hand she didn't mean to cheat, and it was sort of an accident so she probably wouldn't get in much trouble. But on the other hand, the only ones who knew she cheated was herself and her friends and she could count on them to keep a secret.

She didn't know what to do. School seemed to drag on, and as soon as the final bell rang Applejack shot out of the classroom. Her friends were there able to be there for her, and decided they should go to the Sweet Shoppe for milkshakes.

Luckily an apple pie shake help calm Applejack's nerves.

"Feel any better?" asked Pinkie.

"A little bit, thanks girls." Applejack said.

"Have you thought more about what you're going to do?" Twilight wondered.

"I think...I'm going to have to confess." Applejack replied.

"You're seriously gonna do it?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"I'm gonna have to. I couldn't live with myself knowing I cheated on a test, that'd be so dishonest."

"Well we'll make sure to back you up." Fluttershy told her.

"Yes, darling. We'll be there no matter what happens." added Rarity.

And with that, they shared a group hug.

The next day Applejack called a meeting between her, Mr. Cranky Doodle, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna. She sat outside the office, trying to get herself together.

"All right, Applejack. Telling the truth isn't always easy, but it'll set you free." she told herself.

Just then, the door opened.

"Applejack, you can come in now." Vice Principal Luna told her.

Applejack took a deep breath, and went inside. She sat in the chair in front of Principal Celestia's desk, Mr. Cranky Doodle stood to the right, and Vice Principal stood on the left.

"So Applejack you called this meeting because you had something to discuss with us?" asked Principal Celestia.

"Yes. I needed to tell ya'll that...I cheated on Mr. Cranky Doodle's math midterm." confessed Applejack.

That made the three shocked.

"You cheated?" Vice Principal Luna wondered.

"But how can that be? I had my eyes on all the students taking the test. You kept your eyes on your own paper, you didn't look at anyone else's paper and you had no kind of cheat sheet." Mr. Cranky Doodle mentioned.

"Well it was a different kind of cheat sheet."

Applejack reached into her backpack and pulled out two pieces of papers. One was her math midterm and the other was Big Mac's.

"You see Big Mac gave me his old midterm to use as a study guide, but I didn't realize until I got my midterm back that it was the same test. So I already knew the questions and the answers."

"Let me see them." Principal Celestia said.

She handed them to her, and the three adults looked at them.

"Applejack, please wait outside while we take a moment to discuss this."

Applejack nodded, and left the room.

She waited out there for about five minutes, and then she was called back in. She sat in the chair and waited to hear what her punishment would be.

"Well Applejack, we want to say firstly we appreciate your honesty." Principal Celestia told her.

"And after some discussion, we've decided that you may keep your A, and that you'll face no punishment." Vice Principal Luna explained.

Applejack was shocked.

"Really?"

"Well, we know you're a good student Applejack and you didn't intend to cheat. But we do thank you for calling this to our attention." Mr. Cranky Doodle added.

A wave of relief went through Applejack's body.

"Thank you very much." Applejack told them.

And with that, she got her backpack and left.

"We better get a new set of midterms before anyone else gets any ideas." Vice Principal Luna said.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna have any black market term papers going around." Mr. Cranky Doodle agreed.

Outside the office, Applejack saw her friends waiting for her.

"So how'd it go Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"Are you in any trouble?" Rarity wanted to know.

"Actually, I'm not in any trouble at all." Applejack replied with a smile.

"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash gasped.

Applejack explained what happened, and they were all relieved to hear that she wouldn't face any serious consequences. It just goes to show you honesty was always the best policy.

That's chapter 34, plz review