Chapter 5 - Albums
~~~~~Three days later~~~~~
Scootaloo was a little nervous, but that wasn’t an alien emotional state for her. She was also grimly satisfied, which actually was kind of an odd emotional state for her. Since sure enough, she’d been suspended from school for two weeks. Justified though she might have been, Scootaloo had still broken more than a few of Miss Cheerilee’s rules, and she had to get some kind of punishment for that. Luckily, Applebloom had talked Miss Cheerilee out of doing the same to Sweetie Belle for tackling her.
Scootaloo didn’t know what exactly was going on, given that she hadn’t been outside the farm since that day, but Applebloom had said the entire town was in an uproar over the incident. Apparently it had been such an uproar that the subject of her nervousness was coming to the farm to discuss it personally. She’d never had much direct contact with Filthy Rich, but he had a decent reputation around town as a no-nonsense sort of stallion who never stood on formalities and was never afraid to get his hooves dirty.
He also apparently had a long standing relationship with the Apples, courtesy of his father and the famous Zap Apple Jam that had started his father’s career. Kinda fascinating, but not really relevant to her current nervousness, most of which was based around the fact that Diamond Tiara had apparently been checked into Ponyville Hospital for a day or so before going home.
According to Applebloom, the total damage had been a broken snout bone, bruised ribs, two fabulous black eyes and a schoolyard legend that was growing by the hour. Though Miss Cheerilee had sternly forbidden discussion of the fight, that hadn’t stopped Button Mash, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Twist, Rumble, Pipsqueak, and Dinky Doo from holding a little celebration in her honor at lunchtime yesterday. Scootaloo wished she could’ve been there, but was really glad that she didn’t have to face school for a while just the same.
Though given the choice, she’d rather have been at school today than stuck here in the Apple kitchen, waiting for Mister Rich to arrive. Granny had been very insistent upon calling him Mister Rich, even though she too was more than a little peeved at his daughter’s behavior. Scootaloo didn’t have any feelings about him one way or the other, so she didn’t much mind the command to be respectful. She was pretty sure she’d have called Diamond Tiara some less than respectful things, though, if she had been coming too. Thank Celestia for small favors.
Still, nerves were nerves no matter how unusual the subject, and that meant sitting in the tall wooden chair and swinging her hind-legs back and forth while picking patterns out of the wooden floor with her eyes. Rainbow Dash called this sort of thing the twitchies, and insisted that even the best of the Wonderbolts went through them. That helped a little, but she still didn’t feel any less silly cooling her hooves in the kitchen all by her lonesome while Applejack and Big Macintosh apparently did a little private talking before Mister Rich arrived.
More than anything, Scootaloo wanted a chance to get off the farm to go see Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Both of them had been… not exactly parental, but they had been a good source of advice on how to deal with unexpected new events and the complexities of life. Besides, she was pretty sure that a cupcake right about now would do wonders for her nervousness. Or a nice hard ride through the orchards on her scooter to build up her wingpower, something she’d been neglecting the last few days.
Alas, it was not to be, as Big Macintosh trundled into the kitchen with that easygoing smile and quiet demeanour of his. She wondered how Mac had dealt with his parent’s deaths, but figured if he wanted to tell her, he would do so in his own sweet time. “C’mon, Scoots. Gonna go get some work done, an’ it’d be best if’n you was outta the house, eeyup.” Big Mac had turned out to be surprisingly talkative amongst his family, when Scootaloo simply couldn’t remember a time when he’d strung together more than a couple of words during normal conversation. Incidentally, she didn’t count the time he’d chewed them all out as being ‘normal’ conversation.
It was actually kind of a relief that she didn’t have to be present for the meeting though. So she hopped off the chair with a fair amount of gusto and grabbed up her scooter and backpack that were leaning on the entry way wall. Big Mac shoved his way through the back door and Scootaloo followed close in his wake, reveling in the feel of the sweet and gently warm summer breeze that blasted her right in the face as she exited.
Scootaloo didn’t even bother to put on her helmet, hopping on her scooter and blasting off through the barnyard, pulling a picture-perfect 90 degree turn as she reached the fence. The wind blasted through her mane and immediately turned her nervous smile into a full on grin. There was no other time she felt quite as free and alive as when she was on her scooter, it being the closest thing to flying she could manage at this point in her life.
She couldn’t go too far, but that didn’t stop her from pulling a few well known tricks and getting some of the stress out of her system. A couple of quick rail-grinds on the fence, a little jump or two over some discarded barrels, and a backflip with a perfect four-point landing was more than enough to set her at ease. All the while, Big Mac went about a couple of small chores while keeping a close eye on her and a faint smile on his face.
It wasn’t until she could hear a pair of voices drifting out from a nearby window that she realized Big Mac’s ingenious little plan. He probably thought she’d want to hear the conversation, so he made up an excuse to take her somewhere she could without getting in trouble. “...Thank ya fer comin’ Mister Rich.” That was Applejack, her voice quite distinct. “I know ya love yer daughter, but I hope ya ain’t got any notions ‘bout what I invited ya here fer.”
“No illusions whatsoever, Miss Applejack.” The second voice was distinctly male, smooth and surprisingly lacking in the smug quality that Scootaloo had come to associate with Diamond Tiara’s voice. “So let me get us off on the right hoof and personally apologize for my daughter’s abhorrent behavior the other day. Her words were utterly and completely uncalled for.” Scootaloo promptly fell off her scooter, sending the device clattering to the ground and her jaw to silently working in total shock. What came next was even more incredible. "I would like to assure you that whatever... assumptions I might have had about Diamond's behavior, they have been thoroughly dispelled. I am afraid so many eyewitnesses cannot be wrong."
There was a pause and a wheeze of laughter floated out of the window. “Glad ta’ hear ya say that, Mister Rich.” That was Granny Smith, her voice practically dripping with humor. “Now if’n ya want my advice, I say ya go home an’ tan that little filly’s hide till she learns her proper manners! An dont’cha dare replace that ridiculous thing on her head till she apologizes herself!” Granny’s harrumph was so loud it practically made the ground shake, and Big Mac’s small smile turned into a huge grin at the sound of it.
Scootaloo could hardly believe her ears - completely flabbergasted by the turn of the conversation. She’d been expecting hard words, maybe even Diamond’s father coming to her defense, but nothing even close to this! Big Macintosh winked at her as the words turned into more quiet mutters for a while before rising loud enough to hear again. “... I swear to you, Miss Applejack, I’m at my wits end. I’ve tried my best to be a good father to her, even with all of my responsibilities to the business. Society is a good hearted mare, and marvelously caring in her own way, but she simply can’t handle my little Diamond at this age.” There was a loud, gusty sigh from Mister Rich following that statement, and the sound of clinking glasses soon followed it.
Scootaloo pulled herself off the ground and hopped up onto the fence next to Big Mac, who had dropped all pretension of working to cock his ears towards the windows. “I don’t know High Society all that well, but she seemed like a nice enough mare when we met her last year,” Applejack mused as a little pop announced the opening of some kind of bottle. “Still, can’t she handle her own daughter? I ain’t never met the filly who wasn’t at least a little intimidated by their mom.”
That produced another sigh from Mister Rich, with a brief pause after. “Ah, thank you, Granny. The fact is, Miss Applejack, is Society isn’t Diamond’s mother. Her mother and I separated after she was born for a whole host of reasons.” A glass hit the wooden table with an audible thunk before the conversation continued. “I took care of Diamond all by myself when she was a foal, until I met Society at that function in Manehatten. I fell head over hooves for her, I’ll admit, and she seemed enthusiastic about helping to raise a child not her own, but…”
Another sound of the glass hitting the table, and Scootaloo cast a worried look at Big Mac, who shook his head subtly before nodding towards the window. Mister Rich’s voice sounded oddly flat coming out of the window. “Diamond just won’t give her a chance, and Society doesn’t know how to apply discipline to a little filly. The two of them go at it at the drop of a shoe. Up until recently, I’ve managed to keep the peace well enough, but Diamond has been getting more and more snotty with her.” There was one more sigh and a much heavier thump of something hitting the table. “I should have realized that behavior wasn’t just with her step-mother, and I just kept denying it, blind as a batpony.”
Scootaloo hopped off the fence and turned away, unable to take any more of that particular conversation without feeling more sick to her stomach. On the one hoof, it was good to hear that Diamond Tiara was finally going to get her just desserts from her father, and at last she might even be able to enjoy going to Miss Cheerilee’s class again. But the rest of it was just… too much.
Fortunately, Big Mac either agreed or didn’t care that much about the conversation anymore himself and was trundling right alongside her. She picked up and shouldered her scooter and kept walking, wanting to get as far away from the Apple house as she dared so that she could do...something. She wasn’t entirely sure what that would be, but she needed to clear her head a little.
Their mutually silent walk took them into one of the many apple orchards that surrounded the farm, this one dense with golden delicious trees with the fruit just getting ready to perfectly ripen. Scootaloo stared at the fruits for a moment, wondering what it might take to get up to one until Big Mac poked out with his rear hoof and gave one of the trees a good smack. Perfectly, exactly two ripe apples tumbled off of the branches and right into Big Mac’s awaiting hooves, who tossed one to Scootaloo with a faint smile. “Know that feeling, Scoots. Eeyup.”
Scootaloo caught the apple and, without more than a moment or two of hesitation, bit into the juicy and sweet fruit with no small amount of relish. “Thought things might get a bit emotional in there, figured you’d wanna be elsewhere for a while,” Big Mac explained, leaning against the tree he’d just smacked and giving his own apple a modest little nibble. “So. Apple fer yer thoughts, Scoots?”
Scootaloo licked at her lips and leaned back against the same tree, wondering how to tackle this problem without the keen insights of Pinkie or Dash. “I just… don’t really get all of this. I mean, yeah I’d do anything for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle if they were in trouble. They’re my friends, and that’s super important to me. And I know that family does a lot for one another in tough times, but why is Applejack going so far with this? I mean, I practically beat Diamond Tiara into the hospital! Why am I not grounded or locked up in a box or something?” She shook her head in confusion, trying to clear it and hoping she wasn’t ranting or coming across as kinda stupid.
Big Mac didn’t seem to think she was, anyway. “Ah… Eeyup, I can see how ya might be a bit confused there.” He tossed his applecore into the woods behind him and turned to start walking into the orchards. Scootaloo blinked, but quickly followed him, wondering what he was getting on about. “Ya know AJ’s story about how she got her cutie mark?” He cocked his head at her, and Scootaloo nodded slowly. “Well she prob’ly didn’t tell ya that she left ‘cause of Poppa and Momma passin’ on. She couldn’ handle bein’ around the farm without ‘em, so she headed off t’ Aunt n’ Uncle Orange.” He shook his head slowly, almost sadly.
Scootaloo had indeed remembered Applejack’s story, but wondered why she’d left out the part about leaving because of her parents. She could… sort of understand not wanting to talk about losing them, but why omit the detail? “Cuz she couldn’t admit how much she needed ‘em.” Big Mac said softly, coming to a stop amidst a particularly beautiful little copse of trees, with the sun streaming down between the leaves and giving the whole place a faintly ethereal air. “How much she needed havin’ Poppa an’ Momma around, so she went lookin’ fer a new Poppa an’ Momma. If’n she hadn’t seen the Rainboom, I reckon she woulda stayed there just cuz she couldn’t stand to be without ‘em.”
And that made just a little too much sense for Scootaloo, now that she sat and thought about it. Especially given how much she herself had been trying to find her own solution to that particular lack in her life. Her friends might’ve been the most awesome friends in the world, but there were just some things you couldn’t get outside of a family. Big Mac kept talking over her thoughts, and she forced herself to keep listening, knowing that what he might say could be pretty important.
Big Mac was still walking, so she scrambled a little to keep up as he spoke, “When she came home, AJ was diff’rent. Anypony who talked badly ‘bout Momma and Poppa got a taste of her temper.” Big Mac’s tone remained laconic as they reached one of the main orchard paths and he turned down it, obviously heading for the Apple Barn near the front of the farm. “An’ she had a powerful temper. Beat the stuffin’ out of colts twice her size, sometimes. Was more outta school than she was in it, no matter what Granny did or said.”
Big Macintosh sighed softly, his steps slowing for a moment. “Nopony believed her either when she said they were talkin’ bad about Poppa. They jes’ saw the fights AJ kept gettin’ into, thought she was a troublemaker. Granny eventually just pulled her outta the school and said t’ Tartarus with it.” The giant red barn loomed large in front of them, its paint still as fresh and shiny as it was on the day the Apple clan had accidentally blown it up for either the fifth or sixth time since she’d come to Ponyville, and then rebuilt it in that same day. “If’n you wanna know what I think, Scoots, I think she’s tryin’ to keep you from endin’ up like she did.”
Scootaloo half stared at Big Mac before trying to really sit down and think about that statement. Scootaloo hadn’t been in many fights, and certainly not ones of the epic scale she’d had with Diamond Tiara. But it was true she let her temper get the better of her sometimes, and even worse that sometimes that temper had led to some bad situations. Or maybe it was more about the fact that she simply didn’t care as much about potentially dangerous consequences because… well, there wasn’t anypony else around to care either.
Introspection wasn’t the kind of thing Scootaloo did on any regular basis, nor was it the sort of thing she was instantly comfortable with. The deep fears she’d been forced to face on that camping trip had been a rare moment of clarity, and Scootaloo remained convinced half the reason she’d gotten to that moment was thanks to Princess Luna. Since, of course, one tends to get really philosophical about stuff when the being who watches over one’s dreams drops by and gives you advice.
But aside from that, Scootaloo tended to shy away from self examination too much, simply because it tended to be distracting from the things she enjoyed doing. The fact that the things she enjoyed were frequently reckless, crazy, and sometimes even absurdly dangerous to the point of physical harm couldn’t have anything to do with her feelings of loss… could they? Scootaloo didn’t know much, if anything, about psychology. But she did know that she’d always felt the most… alive when she was putting everything she had on the line, and that the last few days had produced almost as many thrills in her heart as any of her stunts or tricks had.
That was something both odd and unnerving enough to make her stop and try to think, instead of just going whole hog into whatever she was currently setting her mind to. “Y’ ain’t gonna solve this in one sittin’, Scoots,” Big Mac’s voice intruded on her thoughts, startling her enough to nearly send her tumbling to the ground. “Listen, kiddo,” he rumbled, plopping himself down next to her with a soft but serious look. “It ain’t never easy dealin’ with change. Don’t matter if it’s little things like changin’ weather or big things like changin’ lives. All ya’ll really can do is jes stick to the things ya know for certain an’ work ‘round the rest as it comes.”
A big, heavy red hoof plunked down on her shoulder, and Big Macintosh smiled faintly. “Jes don’t forget, yer an Apple now. We stick together, thick or thin.” His hoof came down and gently bopped her nose, crossing her eyes trying to follow it, and a rough chuckle tumbled from his lips. “Now c’mon. Best cure fer too much thinkin’ is good work, an we’ve got plenty’a apples need haulin and stuff needs doin’, eeyup.” Big Mac patted her on the shoulder again with a grin before getting back to his hooves and trotting over toward the barn.
Scootaloo raised her hoof in protest, but paused before saying a word. Maybe he was right. Maybe she just needed to work some of this crap out of her system; and besides, she’d been pretty lazy the past few days. She wasn’t ever going to get anywhere if she didn’t keep training hard. “Yeah, okay Mac. How can I help?” she called after him trotting fast to keep up with him. Not unlike how her mind kept racing to try to keep up with all the changes that had been going on the past few days.
~~~~~~~
The Apple kitchen smelled strongly of the Apple Family brandy that Granny had broken out for the meeting, and the table was covered in various bits of detritus from the snacks that had gone along with it. Mister Rich had done away with his tie and was leaning on the table with a morose but determined look on his face. “I suppose you are both quite right. The business will keep for a time, but my daughter will not. She must see that this behavior is unacceptable from this moment forth.” Filthy Rich’s words rolled low, slightly slurred by the liquor and his own emotional turmoil.
Granny Smith nodded sagely, leaning back with a look of satisfaction on her face. “Jes’ don’t go easy on her, Mister Rich. Little filly like that can still be taught manners, but she ain’t gonna like it one bit.” A faintly toothy grin crossed her face a moment later, as she stabbed a hoof towards him. “An don’t gimmie that hogwash about yer business. I raised three foals while keepin’ this farm runnin’ fer almost ten years, so you got no excuse. Take ‘er with ya on yer trips. Show ‘er how bein’ a decent pony’s gotten yer family to where it is today. Make ‘er get her hooves dirty! Good hard work’ll kill attitude faster’n an early frost kills vegetables.”
Applejack herself smiled slowly at that one, a faint chuckle escaping her lips. “An’ don’t let her drag along that Silver Spoon. She’s gotta learn there’s consequences she cares about when she screws up.” Applejack lifted her glass and gave the business pony a decisive nod. “Far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of it. But if’n I hear she’s piling on Scootaloo or Applebloom again, I ain’t gonna sit here an’ take it.”
Filthy Rich raised his hooves in surrender, a half smile crossing his face. “Remind me never to go up against you two in a business deal. You are both very much correct, and I shall take all of your considerable advice into account.” He clapped his hooves together and exhaled. “Now, would you two be amenable to talking about something a bit more positive? I need some good news today after all of this kerfluffle.”
Granny grinned broadly, cocking her head to one side. “Well yer’ gonna be pleased t’ hear this’ll be the biggest cider harvest we’ve had in a long, long time. An’ thanks t’ those Flim Flam Fools from last year, we’ve even figgered out a faster way t’ make the Cider at the same level of quality, which means we might jes see our way t’ selling you some fer yer stores.” Her eyes sparkled a bright green as she sipped at the brandy with obvious relish.
Filthy Rich’s transformation of mood was instantaneous - his eyes brightened instantly and all of the dark rings under his eyes seemed to vanish. “Oh, great day in the morning, Granny, do you really think so? I would be…” He waved his hooves in the air excitedly, practically giggling. “So, so incredibly thankful to you! My father never shut up about the years when he got a supply of the cider to sell, and that would be a perfect way to educate Diamond about how important it is to be good to everypony, because you never know who might have the next big product.” Filthy was practically bouncing in his chair, a sight which was instantly amusing to the two Apple mares.
Applejack chuckled richly, shaking her head slowly. “Simmer down, Mister Rich. Ain’t fer certain yet, but I promise we’ll do our best fer ya. Gonna be tough gettin’ all the cider produced properly, but I ain’t backed down from a challenge yet.” She lifted a hoof up to casually adjust her hat, tugging on the brim with no shortage of pride in her eye.
Granny waved her hoof airily though, a slow smile on her face. “Oh, I don’t think it’ll be that tough, youngin’. We got another set of hooves now to help, an I bet yer friends’ll be excited to come by and lend a hoof in exchange fer a few fresh mugfulls.” Appleajck turned to give Granny a surprised look, and Granny simply smiled back at her. A devious little glint had lit in her eyes and she pressed her aged hooves together. “That young Scootaloo is a pretty clever little pony, yanno. I wouldn’t be surprised if she even managed to teach me somethin’ in the process.”
Granny cackled and tossed back the last of her liquor, smacking her lips in appreciation of the fine flavored drink. “Eeyup. It’s sure to be a mighty interestin’ cider season this year, an’ I can’t wait t’ see what craziness we get up to.”
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Words of wisdom Granny Smith, Diamond Tiara needs to learn that being nasty gets you nowhere.
I have to say I like your take on Filthy in this fic. Too often we see him as the elder example of DT's excreble behavior. It's nice to see him as simply an overwhelmed and overworked father. Very nice addition to the story, and I'm looking forward to future chapters.
Another great update. Big Mac explains it all. I always thought they should have just bought the FlimFlam brother's machine. Can't fight technology.
yes yes yes
Loved the scene with Big Mac and Scootaloo.
I too liked 'Mr' Rich's attitude in this chapter; I doubt the Apples would be doing business so closely with him if he hadn't a sense of decency about him.
Awesome chapter, I loved the interaction between Big Mac and Scoots,
I can hardly wait for the next chapter, keep up the awesome work!
Your back story for AJ had just become my head-canon.
MOAR MOAR!!!
This is one of the best fics I have read in a long time. I have almost reached feels overload and trust me,
I can take alot of feels. You have done well, And I commend you for it.
3569230
Or beaten 'em and taken it when no one was looking. o/ I mean, they did kinda cheat the family out of house and home... just a little beating and robbery would make up for that. We could call it reparations for emotional damages.
Also, seems to be a chronological issue here. Filthy's grandfather (not father) was the one who originally got the Zap Apple Jam shipments, when between him and Granny they more-or-less founded Ponyville. On top of that, Twilight's mentioned Ponyville has been around for hundreds of years. ... I think Granny might be centuries old. >_>
I'm slowly starting to see the word kerfluffle more and more and I hearby accept my new vocabulary overlords.
3570343 Kerfluffle has been around for ages. It was one of the false swears people had to come up with because of censorship.
3570523
I'm aware of that. It's just the fact that I've lived my entire life without such a golden word ever gracing my lips, and now I'm seeing time and time again.
I really like this story so far!
It doesn't seem to have a real plot just yet, but wherever it goes, I will be absolutely DELIGHTED to see it go! I think you're a very talented writer for making me feel each character's feelings and getting every character just right! 
(Approving Granny, excited Apple Bloom, pissed off Diamond Tiara insert here). Since we all saw how the Apples made cider, maybe Scootaloo's scooter could be on the treadmill thing, like an endurance exercise 
In general, excellent story and I desire more of Scoot's character development and family-ness 
3570134 Wouldn't be the first time. Just recently, season 4 when Luna rebelled against Celestia, she was a young mare or a grown mare, kinda hard to tell. Season 1, she returned as a filly version. Yes, you could say her evilness was linked to her power so when cleansing away the bad, she was left in a weaker, younger form
but I think that's just being apologetic for errors unforeseen 
but should've been. 
There's a ton of inconsistencies in the show, but we love MLP:FiM, flaws and all 
3568959
I had a feeling it'd be something like that.
Something else I've noticed, though –
(Oh, hay, here we go again...)
(Quiet, you.)
While your writing mechanics are pretty much spot-on as far as spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., there is one thing you're doing wrong: Compound adjectives like these:
need to be hyphenated. Any time you have two or more words acting together as a single adjective modifying the following noun, link them with hyphens.
(*raises a hoof* Um...)
(Yes, Twist?)
(How can you tell if you need to uthe the hyphenth or not?)
(...if I may?)
(Go ahead, Miss Cheerilee.)
(A useful rule of hoof is that if you can put “and” between the two adjectives or words, and have the sentence still mean the same thing, then the two words are acting independently and you don't need the hyphen. If you can't insert "and" between them without changing the meaning or making nonsense of the sentence, then you need the hyphens. For example:)
(The "and" doesn't alter the meaning of the sentence, since the book is still both big and blue, so "big blue" isn't a hyphenated compound adjective. On the other hoof:)
(is obviously silly, so "world-famous" is a hyphenated compound adjective.)
(Ohhh! Thweet trick!)
Also:
Plural possessive, so the apostrophe comes after the S.
Oh, one more tip that might come in handy. To get the long dash separator for sentences like this:
Hold down the [ALT] key and hit 0150 on the numeric keypad for an en-dash – , or [ALT]0151 for an em-dash —
(Are you done bein' pedantic now?)
(That's your new favorite word, isn't it, Applejack...)
(Hey, you taught it to me.)
3570845
I don't count either as a flaw, to be honest, until it's later discounted.
3571118
Quiet, you.
You know, I was just thinking about something as I was reading this whole story. To an outsider reading this (as small of a chance as that might be), I was wondering how characters would be introduced so that the uninformed reader would understand who the characters were. The last sentence in this passage doesn't just describe princess Luna and her role in one of the episodes, but it does so from the perspective of Scootaloo, which makes it fit. I realize me saying that isn't relevant to anything, but I just thought it was neat XD
3571118
What about people without a number-pad?
Granny, you crazy ol' coot!
You devious, genius old coot!
I loved the bonding big brother little. Sister moments between Mac and scoots. Very well done
The only gripe I have is a fair few of the eeyups felt a bit forced and out of place. That's a line best used when Mac's just gonna be quick. Or at least at the start of his sentence instead of at the end. At the end just seemed really out of place.
Other than that one gripe, this chapter was great and i look forward to the next chapter
Screw it im finishing it
Filthy Rich has had two big appearances in the show (and a few minor appearances, like when he goes all Pulp Fiction with Big Mac in 1, 2, 3, Testing), and Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep only came out after this was published. But his appearance in the episode where Granny tells about the founding of Ponyville shows him to be a pretty decent pony overall, maybe a little zealous about his business but hardly on the likes of DT. So glad to see you did him the 'right' way.
At least the Apple family learned something from Flim Flam, like having more helping hands means they can produce faster, especially when Scoots gets to flying. Until Big Mac collapses from running a treadmill again of course
3570134 Granny Smith is a Highlander, of course.
Y'know, it is possible for both Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo to have done wrong. Apologizing to Diamond Tiara for breaking her nose doesn't suddenly make her justified in going after Scootaloo's mom. Diamond might think so, but it's sort of important for Scootaloo to learn that even people attacking you don't deserve to be attacked. Scootaloo needed to defend herself, and Diamond needed to be taken down a few pegs, but it was a necessity, not a good thing. The only way to end the cycle of violence is for someone to apologize for what they've done, even if it was the right thing to do, and convince the other side that they only fight out of necessity. If they can do that, then both sides can put down their arms. Diamond won't fear Scootaloo glorifying in her misery and pushing her even lower, so she won't fight as desperately to destroy Scootaloo first.
Mother Teresa often spoke on how times of consolation were there to build the practices and solidity of virtue to carry you through the times of desolation. That way, no matter how deep the pain, the consistency of the good you had built when your heart sang and your faith was strong could light your way in the darkness. She'd know - she suffered a dark night of the soul that lasted 50 years, over half her life.
What I'm saying is Mother Teresa would get along with Big Mac.