//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Apple Core // Story: Discourse with Discord // by Gohma Dameon //------------------------------// It was a brisk, sunny morning in early Autumn. The day before, Discord had stopped for tea with Fluttershy in a tiny pocket of space-time that he'd borrowed from one of Equestria's beautiful, unspoilt coastlines. Of course, it was much prettier once he'd spruced it up with some garish colors and inexplicably consolidated the land, sea and sky, but that was the only fun part of the visit. It wasn't at all uncommon for Fluttershy to try roping him into some sort of bonding exercise with her friends, but for some reason he'd actually agreed this time. I suppose if I always reacted the same way, or even how I expect myself to act, then I wouldn't be the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Ironically, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was on his way to make friends with the second most boring, structured, orderly pony he could think of. It was best to get the worst out of the way early on, but he didn't think he could stomach the shear mind-numbing ennui of being entertained by a librarian/princess hybrid right away. He had been flying very high above Ponyville, amusing himself on the way to Sweet Apple Acres by making crude, immature shapes out of clouds in a meager attempt at distracting the ponies below. He'd only managed to make one stall tip over when a pegasus flew sideways into the awning, but it would have to do. He plummeted out of the sky at uncanny speed once he saw the orchard beneath him, and then defied both gravity and inertia by coming to a complete stop a few feet above the ground. Floating along haphazardly through the trees, Discord took his time searching for Applejack. To his dismay, she was already working the fields nearby and making quite a lot of noise as she did. “Good morning, Applejack,” he said in greeting as he suddenly materialized in front of her, interrupting a solid kick and causing her to leave a sizable mark on the trunk of a Red Delicious tree. “Now, look at what ya made me do!” she cried out while examining the damage. “What do ya want, Discord?” “Why, I don't want anything. I'm merely here on the advice of our mutual friend, Fluttershy. You see, she suggested that I spend some quality time with each of her very best friends – one-on-one – so that we could all get along just a little bit better. As I understand it, today the six of you are meeting for a late lunch in Ponyville, and I thought I'd surprise her by talking to all of you beforehand.” A day planner that had been doodled all over suddenly appeared in his hands. “You're an early riser, so if I’m going to squeeze in everypony, I'd better start with you.” Applejack rolled her eyes, before giving the patchwork demigod a hard stare. “Alright, I appreciate that yer actually listenin' ta Fluttershy, but if you get in the way of my chores with any of yer tricks we're gonna have ourselves a problem. I need ta buck this here field before noon or we'll never be done in time fer cider season.” “That's going to take all morning.” “Exactly, I'm an early riser fer a reason, you know.” “In that case, let me lend a paw or claw. Just tell me what to do.” “There's nothing I need you to do. I just need ta get the apples outta these here trees. Which I can do on my own, thank-you-very-much,” she added a bit defensively. Realizing that talking wasn't going anywhere very quickly, Discord decided to act instead. With a snap of the fingers on his paw, he removed the apples from the trees in an instant. He even went the extra distance and removed them from existence entirely. “Ta-da~! Apples removed. No need to thank me, I'm more than happy to be of assistance.” “Wh – but where are they!?” Applejack shouted. “Bring em back!” “I thought you trying to get them out of the trees. I'd hate to make more work for you.” “Outta the trees and into these here baskets! I'm harvestin' em!” “OH! Why didn't you say so? Silly me.” One snap of Discord's claws and the baskets Applejack had brought with her were filled over the brim with an entire fields worth of candied and caramel apples. “There you go, ready to eat. Consider it an apology for the mix up.” “No, no, no! Discord! If y'all are just gonna mix words with me, then just put everything the way it was before ya did anything to the apples with yer magic. I don't need yer help, I can buck all these trees on my own just fine!” “Fine.” Discord snapped his fingers once more, and the trees were full of perfectly normal, boring apples. “Don't blame me that you don't have the patience for a few jokes that could easily save you hours of work.” “I don't hardly see how it would save me any time at all if ya don't know when ta stop joking. Everything goes too far with you; it's more exhausting than working these fields.” Discord suddenly had an idea. It was uncharacteristic of him – that is the idea itself, not that he'd had one, he considered himself rather imaginative and quick on the draw – it wasn't entirely his style, but it could work. “What if I cast a spell that made the chores easier?” “I don't need-” “Yes, yes, you don't need any help workin' them there trees all the gosh-darn day. But, what if it didn't take all day? In fact, what if you could get just as many apples from just as many trees just the way you always have, except it didn't take any time at all?” “I don't want you doin' anything to my trees or my apples.” “Hear me out. What if the apples picked themselves? What if the trees knew when their apples were ripe, reached up with their branches, plucked the fruit and deposited them in a basket sitting at their roots. Tartarus' Gates, the baskets could even run on back to the farmhouse when they were full.” “Even if I thought you could set all that up an' not have it backfire somehow, I still wouldn't agree. It's just not how we do things.” “SO?” Discord's voice rose a little as he asked, “Are you saying you'd rather not have things be easier, just because it's different? You'd actually prefer to be stagnant?” “It's not about keepin' things the same. It's about taking pride in the work. The Apple Family have always had a hooves-on approach to the way we work and do business. It's how we know the value of the fruits of our labors.” “Working hard isn't the only thing that makes the work meaningful. I've heard that every year you fall short of the demand for cider. Either for lack of ponies to pick fruit or apples to pick.” Discord snapped his fingers again, and a single apple appeared in his paw. He ate it, picked a seed from between his teeth and dropped it into a hole he dug with his cloven hoof. As he stepped back, a sapling grew and rapidly matured into a large apple tree. “It's... ” Applejack slowly trotted up to the tree in awe. “There's every kind of apple.” Just as she reached the base of the tree, it began plucking it's own fruit and depositing them in baskets. A new fruit grew to replace each apple, so that the tree could sustain its pace perpetually. Applejack's face was a mix of wonder and trepidation. “Beautiful, isn't it? It could feed the entire nation. It could pay all of your debts, supply the means for all your needs and still support a healthy savings account at the First Equestrian Bank.” “That doesn't matter! This is... it's like cheatin'! Nopony should be able to profit from somethin' they didn't put any of their time, effort an' passion into.” “Cheating?” Discord said with a mock-hurt tone. “I'm surprised you feel that way. After all, you'd still need to cook all the pastries and make the cider and sell your products to other ponies. It's just that this way you never have to worry about a bad harvest one year. You get to spend more time with your family and friends, instead of in the fields all alone. Your family can afford to experiment with their recipes without wasting apples. You'll be able to sell fresh apples off-season. Isn't the opportunity to make life a little easier, a little better, for your family worth while?” Applejack paused, and thought about it for a minute. Was an infinite supply of fresh apples really a bad thing? Maybe if it didn't pick itself, she wouldn't be so concerned. Maybe if the normal trees just made apples a little faster. Then again, she'd just be in the fields even longer. Besides, if she could have all those apples, it would just make them less valuable. “No, Discord, I still think yer wrong.” “What?” he cried as his wings flared and he threw him arms up in exasperation. “Why?” “The value of what we do comes from how we do it. If we could have trees that just give us all the food we want, then what's the point of bein' a farmer pony in the first place? The apples wouldn't hardly be worth anything if there were always more. We'd be throwin' em away.” “Don't be silly, you have the tree. Nopony else needs to know about it. Even if they did, you could just guard the tree. You only sell as many as you need to at the price you decide on.” “That's dishonest! I'd be lyin' to everypony about what my apples are worth.” “Applejack, sweet, silly Applejack.” Discord reached behind Applejack's ear and produced a single bit. “Don't you know that 'value' is an arbitrary concept? Consider the value of a single bit. How many apples is it worth?” “Dependin' on the type of apple and time a' year, one bit might be worth two apples. Maybe more or maybe less if we're factorin' in things like the crops lost to bad weather an' pests or a better yield than normal.” “We'll just say that one bit is two apples for now. So, suppose that I...” Discord broke the bit in half evenly, like the cookies Fluttershy baked to go with tea. “Had two half-bits. Each is worth one apple. So, because I have two, instead of one, they are only worth half as much? That's what you're saying.” “Er,” Applejack stuttered, unsure of what Discord was getting at. “Ya don't don't have two, ya have two halves of one... I don't think a half-bit is actually a denomination you can use.” “Alright, let me start again.” Discord licked the broken ridge of one half of the coin and stuck the two pieces back together, inexplicably fusing them. He then proceeded to make it disappear and produced two whole coins using nothing more than simple slight-of-hand tricks which most ungulates, such as ponies, typically mistook for a subtle form of his actual magic. Thus far, the only one to see through it was a mint green unicorn with a harp for a cutie mark. I should really find out her name. “OK, now I have two coins. Since I have two instead of one, does that mean each is only worth one apple?” “Of course not, that's not how it works. It's not about how much money you've got, it's how many apples are available fer purchase.” “So, it doesn't matter how many bits are in circulation, they will always have the same value? And the price of goods will always be determined compared to the value of a bit? Even though bits are inherently worthless other than as a stand-in for easily transferable value of goods and services?” “Princess Celestia decided how many bits there are a long time ago, and she sees to it that the number doesn't go up or down any more than it has to.” “I doubt that she personally does so, but I understand what you mean. However, if she wanted to, she could have more of them minted, yes?” “I reckon, but that would make each one worth less.” “Why?” “Because, it'd be easier to get em.” “How so?” “Because – 'cause there'd be more.” “Ah, ah, ah. That's circular logic.” “No, it ain't. Circular is when yer cause an' effect are interchangeable. Here one cause has a direct effect an' an indirect one. More means easier to get and in turn means less valuable.” Discord clapped sardonically. “Very astute. However, you still have yet to explain why common means easily attainable. In your argument, less valuable and easily attainable are effectively the same. So, why does the abundance of bits make them any less valuable if, say, Celestia minted ten million bits and kept them in her coffers. Her buying power would increase, but the value of the bit would be the same.” “That's because nopony but her would have em. Their value would go down once she spent the bits.” “So, you're saying that the availability of something and it's attainability aren't the same?” “I guess.” “So then, if Tia had ten million bits, but didn't spend more than she needed, and the value of the bit didn't waver much; why would you having all the apples you could possibly ever want, but only selling what you need to, diminish the worth of your apples?” “Because they'd only be worth what I wanted them to be!” “Just like bits are only worth as much as Celly wants them to be.” Discord relished the look of doubt that flicked across Applejack's face. She won't buckle so easily, but the chinks in her armor are showing. This is more fun that I would have thought. “That ain't the same at all. The princesses aren't sitting on mountains of bits, and even if they were, they know how to keep the economy stable. Anything they do to change it is for the good of all Equestria.” “Oh, I'm sure it is. Yet, you have to admit, just because they don't have the bits on hoof doesn't mean they can't have them at a moments notice. The value of the bit is chosen by a small number of regal ponies. Why not let the Apple family choose the value of an apple? Besides, there is one very important thing that I think you haven't considered.” “What's that?” “You attribute the value of your apples to that of your hard work, but what if it's actually the other way around? What if all of your 'time, effort and passion' is wasted on something which can be easily attained? Of course you'd prefer to think that removing your work from the process devalues the product, otherwise...” Discord allowed the thought to go unspoken, but he could see that Applejack was contemplating what he had insinuated. Before she could rally back, he continued. “I'm just afraid that you've set your goals awfully low. After all, it's mostly just you and your brother here tending these trees. Your little sister hasn't decided what she wants to do yet, but she hasn't really given being a farm pony much consideration during all her 'crusading.' Someday you'll want to find a special somepony and have foals of your own. How will you make the time for starting your own family? What will you do if none of your little colts and fillies want to buck apple trees all day long? For that matter, you're always saving up for the next renovation, not to mention your poor, old grandmother's medical expenses. Can you afford to expand enough to have new family members?” “It's not as bad as all that,” Applejack protested weakly. “Money isn't so tight; there's always wiggle room when we need it.” “But never enough to stretch your legs. To really see how far you could go, given the space to run full tilt.” Applejack didn't know what to say. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't bucked a tree for several minutes and the chore she had set for herself that morning seemed more daunting than ever. Discord could see that she was floundering. “Has it ever occurred to you that traditions, which exist to preserve a way of life, may not allow for progress? That merely staying alive isn't enough to appreciate life?” “The Apple family has done well all across Equestria fer generations. Some members pursue careers doin' other things, but there's always somepony to tend to the trees.” “That's all they aspire to? Kicking trees?” “There's more to it than that!” The earth pony cried, desperation creeping into her voice. “You don't know how hard it is to take care of an orchard! Years of perseverance and generations of inherited know-how go into it. You can't possibly imagine how hard it is to get a fresh crop o' Zap apples!” Discord intently walked once around his apple tree. He gestured to a branch on the far side and a basket beneath it. There, the tree was slowly stacking Zap apples, one after another. “Then again,” he mused, “I've never had to struggle for what I've wanted. I can just snap my fingers and get anything that comes to mind, even if it doesn't exist. Perhaps the ceaseless fight to provide for oneself and others makes ponies stronger, wiser even. Thank you, Applejack, for this delightful debate.” The embodiment of chaos snapped his talons and the tree producing a never-ending supply of apples evaporated, taking the many fruit it had already left in the baskets with it. “Now that I see things from your perspective, I think I can appreciate the value of day to day struggles. Of wondering whether or not one is doing well enough, whether or not their efforts will pay off in the long run or merely push back the inevitable. Of how each generation gives everything they have just to leave a little more to the next generation, passing down all of their achievements and burdens in a cycle that becomes a family's pride. I of all people crave the unpredictable, and yet I failed to see how clinging to the traditions of the past leaves room for uncertainty in the future.” Discord rose off the ground, his comically small wings flapped in a rhythm that had more in common with the tune of a half-remembered melody than any kind of realistic pace for flying. He began humming to himself as he lazily flew towards town, looking forward to his next encounter with one of Fluttershy's friends. The conversation with Applejack had pleasantly surprised him; he expected the meeting to be dull at best, and at worst a shouting match that would incur Fluttershy's paradoxically impotent yet distressing anger. He hoped the others would surprise him as well. Applejack sat where the shade of the magical apple tree had been, and stared at the empty basket of Zap apples. Without trying, Discord had replicated – no – improved everything her family had learned about farming apples. She stood, rearranged the baskets under the next tree she had to buck and resumed her work. However, for the first time she could remember, she wasn't sure if this was what she wanted to do all day, every day, for the rest of her life. And her children's lives. And their children. She didn't notice as her cutie mark began to fade.