Chapter 6
The Final Chapter
Twilight looked up from her arcane tome as the library’s door shut behind Applejack, and she took a place at the table in the center of the library. The last of the former Mare Do Well ponies to arrive, Twilight was simply thankful that fate had at least allowed her to come before Rainbow Dash. Although, the unicorn had to wonder if Rainbow Dash had just been giving them lip service with her promise to come, or…
No, she said she would be here and Rainbow keeps her promises, Twilight told herself firmly.
“Kay Ah got mah group home and went and told Granny what happened,” the farm pony said barely loud enough for Twilight to hear before she slumped into a sitting position.
For a moment, the unicorn looked up at her friends and sighed. Rarity was looking quite perturbed and glanced back at her saddlebags every few moments. Fluttershy visibly trembled. Pinky actually looked annoyed with the whole situation, and Twilight had seen her hammering a ‘No Mare Do Wells’ sign outside Sugarcube Corner while Twilight had been escorting her group of foals home. Applejack looked…barely functional.
“Ah just don’t understand how something like this could happen,” she mumbled. Ah never told…Ah never said…Applebloom, she just…”
Fluttershy smiled at the other mare. “Nopony blames you Applejack. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I do,” Rarity grumbled, which got a flinch from the farmer as she pointed to the floor in front of her. “I blame you. Blame on your hooves, right there.”
“Ditto,” Pinkie Pie agreed.
Twilight sighed and lowered her head. “This was all our fault,” she said. “I created Mare do Well. I made the plan, but I…sweet Celestia.”
“I don’t remember telling foals to pull knives on each other,” Pinkie said in a deadpan voice.
The comment a panicked rise out of Applejack. “S-She wasn’t gonna…try…and…hurt,” the farmer trailed off before her head lowered at Pinkie’s raised eyebrow.
A somber silence descended over the room, and Twilight tried to shift the conversation to something more productive. “Well, there is something I want to discuss while it’s still just the five of us,” the unicorn said. “It’s about Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh bucking Tartarus, you’re not going to start going on about that again, are you?” Rarity grumbled, causing Twilight to flinch. Then, before the purple unicorn could even get out a no, the fashionista went on. “Because after that little schoolyard display, I’d rather everypony in this town be loudmouth braggart than…Mare Do Well.”
Twilight shook her head as hard as she could. “N-No!” she exclaimed. “We…we need to apologize to her.”
When nopony raised an objection or asked a question, Twilight’s attention centered on Applejack and the orange pony gave her an innocuous, empty look in return. “At this point…Ah ain’t gonna say no to nothin.”
Rarity let out a sigh, and her horn lit up a second before her saddle bags opened. A wrapped present that filled the whole of her pack floated out, then landed on the table. “Well I was going to give this to her after I dropped Sweetie Belle off as an apology for that mess but…if the rest of you want to put your names on it too, I won’t object.”
“Rarity…this is your gift to Rainbow, we couldn’t-”
“It’s an apology,” the other unicorn said, cutting Twilight off. “One that she isn’t going to have to listen to. Because I very much doubt she’s going to stick around that long. Now if you’re all apologetic, just sign your names on the box as well.”
After a minute of deliberation, Twilight sighed and got a quill and ink to write a short message on the box before she sighed her name. A moment later, the rest of the girls followed suit until the quill floated over to Fluttershy.
“I…I don’t understand Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke up. “W-Why is Rainbow so mad at us?”
Applejack let out a sigh and shook her head. “We stole her thunder Fluttershy. Ya know how that pony is, she-”
“We purposely out staged her, stabbed her in the back, and laughed in her face when she came to us looking for moral support,” Rarity said with a scowl.
Twilight sighed and added onto the evaluation. “It’s more than that,” she began. “When I talked to Rainbow the other day, she…what we did to her…we have never done to another pony, and it sickens me that-”
“N-Now hold on a second Twi,” Applejack said as she raised a hoof. “Rainbow…she was out of control.”
The world seemed to spin as the unicorn heard the words coming from the earth pony’s mouth. All of a sudden, it was as if she was standing back beneath Rainbow’s cloud house a few days ago and…hearing those words again, coming from another mare… “AND YOU WEREN’T?” Twilight demanded, the intensity of her shout cowing Applejack in second. “Hey, remember that first week I was in Ponyville? When you were the CAUSE of all those ponies getting hurt, and sick, and…I’m just thankful you were herding bunnies instead of something actually dangerous like cattle!
“But when you bit off more than you could chew, we came in to help you,” she went on before her anger deflated. “Like…we should have done…with Rainbow. If we had just…offered a helping hoof…even in that stupid costume…we would have been showing her a better way to do things instead of…showing her up because she annoyed us.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Is…is that what you were doing?” she asked before looking around the table. “I thought…you said…I thought you said you were showing her a better way to do things. T-That’s what you said…we were…doing. You told everypony that we were teaching Rainbow Dash a lesson in humility.”
As Fluttershy’s words resonated in her ears, Twilight felt the strength drain out of her body and then Pinkie spoke to deliver a devastating blow. “Of course we were Fluttershy,” she assured the pegasus. “We were humiliating Dashie for her own good! Right, Twilight?”
Since she didn’t feel she could take having to even contemplate an answer to that question, Twilight decided it was best to change subjects. “She’s also mad at us for something else but…I’m not even sure what it is,” the mare said as the memory began to make her tear up. “She said it was for…thinking about her the way we did. But I’m not even sure what that means!”
The silence returned, and Twilight lowered her head when her hope that at least one of her friends would be able to puzzle out the meaning to Rainbow’s words was dashed by their silence.
“And she thinks we…or I…caused all those accidents,” Twilight went on.
“WHAT?” Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity exclaimed while Applejack just looked up at her in surprise.
“How in the hay could she-”
“Darling, that is a little bit-”
“But we didn’t-”
“…yeah, makes sense,” Pinkie added before Twilight spoke up and cut the others off.
“Smarty pants,” she mumbled before she found some strength in her voice. “And why not? We ran around in a costume, shoved our achievements in her face…”
Fluttershy reached over and patted the unicorn on the back. “I think you’re beating yourself up a little too much here Twilight.”
Despite the gentle nature of Fluttershy’s words…Twilight found little comfort in them. “I…betrayed Rainbow’s trust Fluttershy, and dragged all of you along for the ride.”
Applejack looked up and shook her head. “No this…all of this…it was… just bad-”
Before the farmer could finish, the door banged open and the last of their group trotted in with a scowl on her face. “I would have gotten here sooner, but I had to drag half a dozen foals home while they told me how much of a horrible pony I am for abandoning my mom and dad when they were in the poor house hospital after I stole all the money out of my mom’s purse every day of my life,” she grumbled.
“But Rainbow, you told me your mother died when you were-” Fluttershy snapped her mouth shut as the pegasus looked over to her. “Sorry. I um…know how much you don’t like talking about it.”
Then Rainbow turned her head towards the farmer. “They went on and on about how horrible a pony I was compared to Applejack, about how I should have stayed at home and helped on the farm like Applejack, and how my dead mother must be crying herself to sleep every night…unlike Applejack’s!”
Although the farmer’s eyes had gone wide at the mention of Rainbow’s family, they had opened to their maximum by the time she was done. “Rainbow Ah…” the mare got out before he lowered her head. “You never…said nothin bout yer folks so Ah just thought…”
“Poooooooor Applejack,” Rainbow went on with clenched teeth. “She lost her mommy and daddy, but she still gets to live at the rest of her family on a farm that was practically given to her while some ponies have to throw away everything when their father-”
Rarity cleared her throat and looked up at the pegasus. “Rainbow, that’s enough.”
For a second the pegasus met the unicorn’s eyes, then looked back at the earth pony. “My father gave me the only thing of any value my family ever owned so I could live here in Ponyville and maybe make something of myself someday while he makes do with a studio apartment in Cloudsdale,” she said before her words became a growl. “Parents exist to provide something better for their foals, not as some…leech to be placed on our backs as soon as we can work! And if you ever insult his sacrifice like that again, I will make sure that you stupid little farm receives so little rain your apples will dehydrate while they’re still on the branch!”
Twilight looked over to the pegasus with understanding. Her house…that’s why its so different than she is, the unicorn told herself. For a minute she wondered if Rainbow’s mother had a special connection to the place, but then realized the foolishness of wondering such a thing. Of course she did…why else would Rainbow and her father hold onto it? Just looking at the size of the place made it obvious it was made for a large family.
One that would never be.
“Rainbow,” the lavender unicorn said before the pegasus cut her off.
“No!” she exclaimed before Twilight could really begin her apology. “You idiots got to say your stupid moral junk. Buck you even got up in front of the whole town to talk about how right you were! WELL NOW IT’S MY TURN!”
Rainbow looked around the room with a frown. “WHAT THE BUCK WERE YOU IDIOTS THINKING?” she demanded. “You stood up in front of all those foals and went ‘this is how to behave everypony, teach your friends a lesson when they annoy you’ AND YOU DIDN’T THINK THEY’D COPY IT?
“BUCK!” she went on. “Just how stupid are you ponies? Do you know what I say when some idiot little foal tells me she wants to be like me? Aim high, but not too high!”
Before Twilight could question the…un-inspirational message verbally, Rainbow just went on. “Translation,” she said. “DON’T BE LIKE ME AND GET YOURSELF KILLED!”
As Rainbow Dash was catching her breath, Applejack spoke up. “W-We didn’t think…I never told them to…they weren’t supposed to do that.”
“Newsflash Applejack!” Rainbow exclaimed. “FOALS ARE STUPID! You’ve seen the leader of my fan club, what was my fan club anyway. I just thank Celestia that Scootaloo can’t actually fly yet, or she’d already be dead! Buck! The crashes she gets into on just her scooter alone are barely enough for a pegasus’s magic to negate. If she was a unicorn or an earth pony, I would have had to put a stop to it weeks ago!”
Since it seemed Rainbow had said her peace, Twilight spoke up. “Rainbow, to be fair, we never told those foals to do…what they did.”
A second later, Twilight discovered she made the wrong choice and found herself on the receiving end of Rainbow’s glare. “Well welcome to the spotlight Twilight!” the pegasus told her harshly. “When it’s shining on you, every little thing you do, every little action you take, every time you open your mouth, every single pony you know will be pulling everything you do apart to do something stupid with it! Read a bucking Wonderbolts magazine for once!”
Once again, Twilight sighed and lowered her head as she waited for Rainbow to continue. But when no other words came…she looked back up at the pegasus. “Is…can I speak now?”
“Fine, let’s hear your stupid lesson,” she mumbled.
Twilight took in a calming breath. “You’re right…about everything, and…and I’m sorry for everything I said to you yesterday, and…everything else too. I singled you out for something that…I don’t even know if…no…I should have just been a more understanding friend and helped you when things got too tough for you to handle on your own,” she said before looking into the other pony’s eyes with tears glistening in her own. “Rainbow, please believe me when I say…I really didn’t have anything to do with all those accidents. I used my magic to follow you around by teleporting, but I should have helped you when you were trying to save ponies instead of when you had gotten in over your head. If I was any kind of friend…that would have been the example to set.”
Rainbow held Twilight’s gaze for a long minute, then let out a sigh. “Okay…yeah…that was…what I said yesterday. You don’t really deserve-”
“No, I deserved every word,” the unicorn told her. “If I was really any kind of friend…a real friend…I would have been there to support you…instead of judge you like I did.”
The pegasus let out a low growl and looked away. “This doesn’t…we’re not… This doesn’t make us okay, you know.”
Twilight lowered her head and sighed. “I know,” she whispered before looking back up. “But…is it…a start?”
“Do you know what you did to me? What you said to me, really said to me with this whole Mare Do Well thing?” Rainbow Dash asked as her mouth contorted into a snarl.
After a few moments of looking her in the eyes, Twilight shook her head. “No…I don’t. And the fault for that lies with…me.” She looked up at the other girls with a sad expression. “We say we’re friends, but how much do we really know about each other? Not just our past but…our whole thought process!”
She looked back at the pegasus. “I call you one of my best friends, but I didn’t know anything about your personal life,” Twilight said before she addressed everypony else. “And I’ve never told you girls anything about my family, or my deepest thoughts or…anything!”
“You’re a lousy friend, I knew that already,” Rainbow grumbled before she rolled her eyes.
Fluttershy stood up and gave the pegasus a hurt expression. “Rainbow.”
In response, the cyan pegasus rolled her eyes. “What? Am I not caring enough about how safe ponies are still?”
“W-What?”
The question got an angry frown from the other pegasus. “That’s what you said!” Rainbow exclaimed. “When everypony else was going on and on about how much better Mare Do Well was than me, you just trot up and go…and she really cares about ponies!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “That...” she said before trailing off and looking away.
“Like I don’t?” she demanded. “Buck! When we were going to fight a dragon, I was ready to counterman an order from Princess Celestia of all ponies and tried to talk Twilight into making you stay home where it was safe! I am always the first one flying towards danger, fighting a manticore and NIGHTMARE BUCKING MOON! But I don’t care about other ponies and their safety?”
A second later she practically deflated. “You…Fluttershy, how could you say that I didn’t really care about anypony’s safety.”
“I DIDN’T!” she cried desperately. “I…everypony else could go on and on about their accomplishments as Mare Do Well, but I had nothing! Rainbow, I haven’t ever done anything worthwhile! All I could say about me was…I care about ponies.”
Rainbow looked at the other pegasus in shock for a second before anger returned to her face. However, it looked to Twilight more along the lines of a normal kind of anger that Rainbow usually possessed rather than what she had been seeing from her lately. “Horse apples!” she exclaimed. “You’ve done a ton of awesome things, and I’m not talking about that junk those idiot foals are spewing out of their mouths either. You’ve fought manticores, a dragon, and stared down a bucking cockatrice that one time the CMC wandered into the Everfree Forest!”
Unlike when it was directed toward Twilight, the angry compliment didn’t seem to get through to Fluttershy very well. “But those were all just…special circumstances,” she mumbled. “I’m not brave, or special like you Rainbow. “I’m just-”
“UGH!” the pegasus exclaimed before she looked over to Twilight with a frown. “You see? THIS is what happens when ponies constantly put themselves down!” she exclaimed before turning back to Fluttershy with a much calmer expression, and let out her anger in a long breath. “I’m sorry I yelled at you Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “No you don’t need to-”
“I’m sorry…for everything!” Rainbow Dash went on before the other pegasus could really start. “I…sorry.”
“I’m the one who's sorry Rainbow,” Fluttershy replied as she looked away and hid behind her mane at the same time. “I’ve known you since we were fillies and… I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for you when I should have.”
The blue pegasus let out a disgruntled breath and looked over to the pink pony. Pinkie’s mane deflated a bit, and she let out a long sigh. “Sorry Dashie, I just…Twilight said it was all going to you head and…we had to fix…it.”
For a moment Rainbow looked at the pink pony, then let out a sigh. “It’s…okay Pinkie,” she said after a moment. “You didn’t run around town telling everypony what a jerk I was, or…buck, you weren’t even in Sugarcube Corner that day, where you?”
As Pinkie shook her head in a negative, Rainbow Dash looked around at the others. “And another thing!” she suddenly said before turning to face the others. “I never ONCE forced you guys to come listen to me! I didn’t corner you, or anything! YOU CAME TO ME! You came to talk behind my back, you came to look down on me, like you were sooooooooo much better than me! Just standing off in the back, mumbling to each other and looking at me with your bucking frowns!”
Twilight flinched at the accusation as she reviewed her memories and…couldn’t discount the accusation. Although… “You saw that?” she asked nervously. From what she remembered, the pegasus had only glanced their way a few times when she was flying around, telling one story or another.
“OF COURSE I DID!” Rainbow Dash roared.
“Hey!” Applejack spoke up. “You were getting mighty jealous of me as I recollect!”
Rainbow Dash spun and snorted at the earth pony before she started approaching her. “I was angry at a jackass in a costume that seemed intent on showing me up rather than helping me out! YOU WERE JEALOUS OF A FRIEND’S SUCCESS AND DECIDED TO TAKE IT AWAY!” she shouted in Applejack’s face.
“I-”
“And that’s what it really was, wasn’t it Applejack?” Rainbow spat before she pointed over to the mares around her one by one. “I can understand Pinkie and Fluttershy. Buck, I can even understand Twilight being stupid over this junk, but you?”
“Just let me say mah peace,” the farm pony said.
Instead of calming down and lightening up, Rainbow Dash just seemed to become even more enraged. “NO!” she shouted in the earth pony’s ear, making Applejack wince. “I’m going to let your actions speak for you. That’s what you wanted, AND THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!
“You LIE about my family! You turn the entire bucking town against me like I’m a bucking super villain or something! You stand there looking down on every single pony that walks by because they’re not stuck in some stupid little town in the middle of nowhere!” she exclaimed before flying back into the air and looking at each of the other girls. “Twilight and Rarity are probably going to be big shots in Canterlot one day, Pinkie Pie could probably open a club in Manehattan, or Las Pegasus, or some other big party city. Buck, even Fluttershy could probably write her own ticket in some kind of animal…care…thing, and I’m going to be a Wonderbolt! But you?
“This is all you are,” she went on evenly. “This is all you will ever be! A nopony who can’t even run her own farm without five other mares helping her out. You. Petty. Little. Nag.”
Twilight looked over to the pegasus with a tired expression. “Rainbow, that’s enough,” she mumbled. “ I didn’t call you here so you could…do this.”
“Well what do you want?” she demanded.
“I want to fix this!” Twilight told her. “We screwed up. Fine that’s…I get it okay? But right now…it’s not just about you anymore it’s about…what we did. What our actions did. What we…showed other ponies. That’s what we need to fix right now.”
A few seconds passed as Rainbow looked at her with a frown, then she groaned and took a seat between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “What’s next, a new superhero to beat Mare Do Well up or something?”
Twilight shook her head at the suggestion. “No…I think we need to…purge the town of all the Mare Do Well stuff. After tonight…I think the parents will be up for it.”
“I’ll cancel all the costume orders I took,” Rarity added, surprising Twilight. She knew the white unicorn would take a major hit to her reputation from such a move.
Not to mention a financial one, the lavender unicorn told herself as she remembered just how much purple fabric Rarity had in her shop. Even if she made purple outfits for years, the unicorn would never be rid of the stuff.
With that realization, Twilight remembered how she had thought that Rarity had cared so much about money just the other day…and felt ashamed of herself for letting such a thought cross her mind.
“And then what?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight took in a deep breath to help brace herself, and then let out a long sigh. “Well…we can’t just get up in front of everypony and say Made Do Well is bad. It’s like…” She looked over to Applejack. “It’s like what Applebloom said. We can talk all we want, but its our actions that foals pay attention to. So I think we need to destroy our costumes…in front of everypony…and invite them to do the same.”
The suggestion managed to get the rise of a head out of Applejack. “Ain’t that a bit…much?”
“What else can we do Applejack?” Twilight asked in a low tone. “Mare Do Well did this because of our actions. Just talking to ponies isn’t going to end it. And…I want to make a public apology to you Rainbow Dash in front of everypony, and that’s when I want to explain why it was wrong.”
Rainbow’s eye twitched and she opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie Pie beat her to it. “Sounds like a plan Twilight!” she exclaimed before reaching beneath the table and pulling out the wrapped gift. “Now open your apology present Dashie!”
Across the table, Rarity blinked and looked at her saddlebags, then over to the gift box that had been in them and sighed before she perked up and looked over to Rainbow. “Like everypony keeps saying, it’s our actions that show everypony how we really are. I made it myself but…it’s from all of us darling,” she told the pegasus. “Honestly…it’s the kind of thing a real hero should be wearing.”
Once again, the look of anger on Rainbow’s face deepened at the comment, and she tore off the package’s wrapping before opening the box.
Then, for the first time since she had come into the library…the first time that Twilight could remember since the Mare Do Well mess started, the anger on Rainbow’s face vanished…and she lifted the Wonderbolts uniform out of the box. “This is…”
“I know it’s not an official one darling,” Rarity said. “The material is probably all wrong, and I only copied what I could see from some of those magazines you mentioned but…I think I at least got the colors and shape right.”
“Th-thank you Rarity…I…” The pegasus took in a breath and blinked a few times before looking back up at the unicorn. “I accept your apology,” she said before looking over to Twilight. “And…you never stopped being my friend Twilight. Not…really.”
The change left Twilight stunned for a moment, and she wondered how something so simple could have such a profound effect on the pegasus. She knew there was something important she was missing but…the unicorn knew she couldn’t let her curiosity ruin this opportunity to begin the healing process. “Maybe not…but I did stop acting like one, and for that I am ashamed.”
A silence fell over the room once again, and after a few minutes, Twilight understood that it was time to call this little meeting to an end.
However, there was still some things that needed to be done…
Dear Princess Celestia,
Whenever I’m with other ponies, especially my friends, I sometimes find myself pressured into situations that I don’t want to be in…like the time I became a model because of Rarity. However, just because one pony…or even a lot of ponies tells you to do something, doesn’t mean you should, or even that it’s the right thing to do. All that ends up doing is making one more pony wrong.
Fluttershy
“Thanks for walking me home Rainbow,” the yellow pegasus said. “Um…I’m sorry.”
Rainbow Dash took a look at the Wonderbolt outfit held under her wing and let out a long sigh. “It’s okay Fluttershy. I already said I forgave you, remember?”
As much as those words helped, Fluttershy still found herself rather depressed. Her friend’s forgiveness was one thing, but…the real question was, how much longer would it take to forgive herself?
“So…what now?” Fluttershy asked.
Another sigh came from the stunt flier’s mouth. “Well, I can’t up and transfer to Manehattan or Vanhoover, or…wherever now,” she bemoaned. “It would be like running off. Like you girls chased me out of town or something.”
Fluttershy tried to hide her shock at the announcement. “You were going to…leave…Ponyville?” she asked in fear.
The hurt look Rainbow Dash gave her made the pegasus want to cry. “Fluttershy, you girls made the whole town forget about me, then all of you acted like you didn’t care about me, and then Applejack turned the whole bucking town against me!” she exclaimed. “I may be loyal Fluttershy, but even I have my limits.”
A second later, Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s neck and whispered into her ear. “I care for you! You’re my…you’re practically my sister Rainbow! Please don’t leave me.”
“Uh…you heard the part where I said I can’t up and transfer, right?”
Dear Princess Celestia,
Even smart ponies do stupid things.
Pinkie Pie
“So…I’m waiting.”
Pinkie looked over to the other earth pony out of the corner of her eye and frowned at the poofless strand of hair that was blocking a good bit of her vision. Applejack was up and about, but her movements were still sluggish and there was a depressed gait to her walk as they made their way back to the farm. “Fer what?”
The toneless question turned frown even frownier. “For your apology to me. You gave Dashie hers…I think. Now I want mine.”
Applejack stopped and looked up to raise an eyebrow at Pinkie. “What fer?”
“Oh I dunno, how about cause I abandoned my family,” she said before turning her flank to face Applejack. “You know, cause I have a cutie mark that doesn’t look like big hunk of granite, or pumice, or stone, or sediment-”
“Okay okay! Ah’m sorry, alright?” Applejack said.
With the apology she needed given, Pinkie felt her levels of joy rise back to normal, and she bounced along the path as they entered Apple Country. “Thanks Applejack! I forgive you for being a complete donkey and hating anything that doesn’t fit inside your teeny-tiny, itsy bitsy little worldview of morality!”
Applejack let out a sigh and shook her head. “So…you think Rainbow Dash will ever…you know.”
“Buck no!” Pinky replied with a cheery smile and voice. “She’ll never forget all that stuff you said about her…or forgive!”
“W-What?” Applejack stuttered.
Pinkie had to stop bouncing along as her friend stumbled on the road so much she nearly fell. Then, once Applejack was up on all fours again, Pinkie explained the basics while they walked up to her house. “Oh I’m sure she won’t show it. Wellllll, okay that’s not true. I’m sure the next time you and Twilight get into some trouble and need her to help you out, Dashie’s just going to point and laugh at how stupid you look until the last possible second, and when you need her help to bail your farm out because you bit off something too big to chew, she’ll be smiling on the inside at your panic while helping you out because it’s the right thing to do before eventually letting go of her smoldering anger buuuuuuuuut…
“You’re never gonna be super duper best friends like me and Dashie are!” the pink party pony exclaimed with a smile before turning around to head for the nearest shortcut back to Sugarcube Corner. “Buuuuuuuuuuuut, cheer up. I’m sure it’ll all work out.”
“Well…I guess yer right I mean, me and Dash have always had our differences and things have always worked-Uh Pinkie, that’s the tool shed,” Applejack said from behind her before the pink pony closed the door.
A second later, Pinkie jumped out of her room’s closet and headed for bed.
Dear Princess Celestia,
You shouldn’t bring knives to school, even if they were your only option for shaving off another pony’s coat where their cutie mark is to get back at this snooty filly that tossed you to the curb and never helps you get your cutie mark.
“Hey wait a second…how come Ah’m the one writing one of these and not you?” Applebloom asked as she looked away from her older sister. “You were the one telling everypony what to do and calling Rainbow Dash a super villain, even though she saved Scootaloo and helped Dinkie!”
Applejack let out a sniff. “Then you need to learn to pay better attention!” she exclaimed. “Everything Ah said about Dash was right on the money, cept that part about her ma…Ah couldn’t of known she was done passed. Same reason Ah don’t talk about ours.
“It’s her fault fer never tellin, and yer fault fer doin as Ah did, not like Ah said to do!”
“But you said not to listen to what you say!”
“Then why’d you go and listen to that? Applejack told her before she turned around and started heading for the door. “Now Ah gotta go and start trainin fer the Canterlot Rodeo. Only got a few weeks to prepare. Gotta get back all them ponies respect, an that outta do it.”
Applebloom blinked at the sight of her departing sister. “…YOU DIDN’T LEARN ANYTHING!” she shouted as the door to her room closed.
And my sister is an idiot!
Applebloom
Dear Princes Celestia,
After living so long in Ponyville, after writing friendship report after friendship report, I thought myself an expert on it. After all, I have spent over twenty-six weeks studying the subject, when even the most complicated of spells takes me just a few days to learn. So after I thought I had mastered the subject of friendship, I sat in judgment over others, and even threw away previous lesson about always expecting the best from my friends.
While I completed some assignments…I failed the test.
And to be honest, I’ve been failing in friendship for awhile now.
I abandoned my friends to Discord’s magic because they annoyed me while under his influence, and talked behind the back of another time and time again.
When I looked back and examined things, what I discovered was that I was missing two key components of creating lasting friendships with others: compassion and understanding.
But don’t worry. I know what I need to do now, and I’m sure everything is going to be fine!
Twilight Sparkle
“Twilight?” a high class voice called out as the unicorn heard the library’s door open behind her. “Spike said you wanted to see me?”
The purple unicorn turned and smiled. “Hello Rarity, I need your help with a spell.”
Rarity laughed a little nervously. “Well darling, I think you for your confidence in me, but I’m not really talented in anything beyond-”
“Oh! Nononononono!” Twilight said as she raised her hooves before the other unicorn could continue. “I’ll be powering and crafting the magic. I just need you to hold, aim it at me, and trigger it. Just…let me get onto the bed before you release it.”
After following Twilight into her bedroom, Rarity nodded in understanding. “Trouble sleeping? Spike said you have been keeping odd hours since…you know.”
“I’m sure I’ll be better in the morning,” Twilight told her before she gulped down her nervousness and began weaving her magic into the form it needed to go. As much as she wanted to cure all her problems…multiple uses of the reform spell could have detrimental effects. So Twilight needed to make this single change count.
If she was wrong, then it would only be a matter of time before she ended up hurting her friends again.
“Pardon Twilight, but…isn’t that a little complicated for a simple sleeping spell?” Rarity asked as the other unicorn expelled the matrix from her horn while keeping it intact so Rarity could take control of it. “Not that I’m an expert mind you.”
Twilight smiled. “It’s not a simple sleeping spell,” she half-lied.
Thankfully, the other unicorn took the magic Twilight was offering, and then the younger of the pair laid down on her bed. A wave of guilt washed over her for a moment. “Rarity…I just want to say…” I’m sorry for ever thinking of you like I did…and tricking you like this.
“Hush dear, we’ll talk in the morning,” the other unicorn told her before Twilight felt the magic rip into her own mind.
“Sweet dreams.”
And the world faded to black.
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Well. I guess it was too much to hope that they could all pick up where they left off.
wait Twilight's using it on herself as well?
gonna be completely honest here: It was a good ending, but I was kinda hoping for Celestia to deliver divine punishment to the town.
4830702
there was no as well, she just had Rarity use the spell on her without Rarity knowing what she was casting.
Curse you applejack!
4830711 oh right I thought that was intended for Rainbow
A great ending to a great story!... And yes, Applebloom. While I think your sister is a great character, she is most certainly an idiot.
OH MY SWEET LUNA!!!!!!! PLEASE DO NOT SAY THIS IS THE END!!!!
Ah, well. Wait until the rodeo. Once that happens, a certain idiot will finally see the light.
So Applejack is still the same? She didnt mean her apology or anything, and is certain that what they did was right??? She is an idiot!!!
4830722
Oh no, if you want it to continue, go watch Sweet and Elite.
That is the true tragedy of the fic...put it into the Equestrian timeline, and it taints EVERYTHING that happens afterwards while not changing a thing.
I still think the Element of Honesty needs to melt Applejack's face the next time she touches it. And that Celestia gets a full report of all of this.
A good story. I would've liked to have seen Dash move away and the
Fellowship of the RingElements of Harmony shatter like glass, in order to really earn that Tragedy tag, but still a good story.And does anyone else think that Pinkie knew what was going to happen the entire time and just decided to let them learn from experience?
wait what happen?
.... Applejack sucks.
Reform spells are EVIL and should not exist. There should not be 20 copies in Twilight's Library. Mind Control is BAD.
4830297
Basically? Applejack spent a good amount of time feeding Applebloom high grade horse shit to the point where AB started seeing it that way.
YES! A REALISTIC ENDING! I mean, not that I expected any different given the premise and writing of this story, but far too often I've seen a story try and succeed at being taken seriously, then have a fairly tale ending that makes no sense. Bravo.
WUT?!
huh, a bittersweet ending I guess.
4830702 I think Twilight's only using it on herself, I'm not sure though, when it said she was sorry for tricking her my first thought was "Holy shit is it a spell to kill herself?!" It musn't be, everything turned out alright right? RIGHT?!? TELL ME WHAT THE SPELL WAS DAMMIT!!!
4830796 I agree with this gentlemen here, the hell happened?
Honestly Rainbow Dash's... how do I put it... hypocrisy is showing here. Like she's unhappy at Fluttershy being down on herself... but totally fine on being condescending to everyone else, and super condescending to Applejack, but that could be because AJ pissed her off unrepentantly.
I never really made the connection before now but... having the only friend you have when you're a kid be someone who constantly talks about how great they are (and conversely how terrible everyone else is, including the slow, unconfident, and weak flier Fluttershy) probably doesn't help your self-esteem much. Even if they say not to feel that way, they reinforce it with their attitude. And it's like... RD can't stand being humiliated, but has little care for anyone else who gets humiliated.
Not that the Mane 6 didn't go way overboard, nor is it out of character for RD to be insecure about this, and being unable to see past her own frustrations to see how she might affect others.
...Wanna kick Applejack in the face..
I doubt the Westboro Baptist Church are as fucking stubborn.
Dear god, HOW IS SHE NOT ARRESTED.
I'll be honest, I didn't expect this to be the ending, but the story was alright. Good job.
That was good, and much more positive than I was expecting given the rest of the story. Yes AJ is still a complete and total idiot who needs to die a painful death, but the rest of the cast came around about as well as they could and I was very surprised Rainbow did not shut them out and move on without them like I expected her to.
That said, the most interesting twist was that reform spell. I was expecting it to blow this situation into a total clusterfuck, but the way Twilight used it at the end was very interesting and totally unexpected.
Rainbow Dash was being a braggart and a loudmouth, no doubt, and she knows it. My objection with that episode was always with the method the others used.
and AJ refuses to learn anything the conflicts with her own views
Gunna be honest, you handled this better than what I was expecting. You had a lot riding on this and although I feel this could have been expanded on, I feel like there is enough for this story to come to a conclusion. So well done on completing it.
4830764
I can see how they could be used beneficially, in the same way as prescription drugs. A pony might have some severe issues and want their personality reformed. Maybe get rid of the voices telling him to kill and eat his neighbor.
Of course, those spells should be restricted to a small minority of professional psychiatrists who've demonstrated restraint, self control, complete professionalism and a dedication to helping their fellows. And their use should probably be cleared by a tribunal beforehand.
Putting any kind of mind control magic in Twilight's hooves is a huge mistake, given how she responds to stress and her complete willingness to whip out mind control spells whenever it's convenient as seen with the parasprites, Smarty Pants, and the vampire fruit bats off the top of my head.
Okay, that's got my vote for all time burn. Honestly, I feel you've poured a lot of time into Rainbow as a character and it's really shown in your story. Applejack on the other hand, she really is a blowhard here. Doesn't look like she's actually gained any real experience or wisdom from this whole ordeal at all. Rarity, I could see as fessing up to her mistake. I think she's portrayed as a snob too often that takes away from her character but we've seen why she is the element of generosity after all.
The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is that reform spell that Twilight tricks Rarity into. Really, didn't we just have a whole little fiasco about tricking are friend here Twi? I don't think she should've used the spell, kind of defeats the purpose of learning from her mistakes here. AJ, maybe but not Twilight.
so, i'm guessing there's not going to be a sequel anytime soon? you know, like an aftermath story detailing their lives after all of this? because i'd love to see how they all react when they realize that Applejack didn't learn a thing, and that Twilight used a spell on herself to change her ways of thinking.
Damn, magic is a dirty thing. You got mind control, memory sweep and a bunch of others out there... like forced love. Yup.
awesome please make a sequel if you can it would be very nice
applejackass is an idiot and doesn't have the will to change
The way I predicted this ending was thus:
Twilight goes back in time and begrudgingly hits Rainbow Dash with a reforming spell IN THE PAST right when they did the mare do well stuff... Then Dash gives the canon response instead of getting angry... She comes back to the present to see that all of this never happens, but will never forgive herself.
4830934
Which is why, if I were a Pegasus or Earth Pony, I'd be busy kissing Zecora's hooves in exchange for an education in Zoodoo.
Or trying to find where they buried Hydia in order to recreate her witchcraft.
No.
I'm sorry, but no.
This is not how the story should end.
Seriously, with the way this story was carried out, logic dictates that Celestia needs to physically interact with the others over the Mare-Do-Well incident. Especially after the events of the previous chapter. There is no way she's letting any of this slide, especially after Twilight tricked Rarity into helping her brainwash herself.
And what this story also needs is for Applejack to put two and two together, having seen Appleboom's attack on Twist (which she defended by throwing what Applebloom was told back into her face) and been told point-blank by Pinkie that there is no way Rainbow Dash will ever forgive her, and stop being a massive fucking hypocritical cunt who refuses to accept reality and is refusing to pull her own head out of her own ass.
You ended this too soon.
That is a sin to this story.
4831006
Sin? Or a call for a sequel!
4831001 Indeed. Being a Earth Pony or Pegasus, leaves you pretty damn open to all types of magic. Learn a bit of Zoodoo, and you'll have at least some type of defense to magic.
peace should be piece.
Made should be Mare.
Good otherwise!
T
Again, from the mouths of foals. The author must really hate Applejack to portray her this badly Part of me wants Celestia to call Applejack to Canterlot for a discussion on the lack of a letter from her, or Luna pays a visit to her dreams.
Well, the air is clear, at least. Now, they all can try to rebuild their friendship. Plus, they have to repair all the damage that was done because of all this. This would also change all the episodes that follow.
Anyway, excellent work.
Overall a good story, though the fact that AJ doesn't learn anything pisses me off something special. Sorta like the Super Speedy Cider episode. Her thoughts about being right were dead wrong, and the fact that this fic ended up like that episode just REALLY makes me want to punch her. I'm hoping that there'll be a sequel in which you FINALLY give her the wake-up call she needs.
Is Rainbow a braggart? Yes, she is. But she also never lies outside of "I wasn't scared" and other little white lies. And that's not even really lying, it's bravado. As much as Pinkie is the laughter of the group, Dashie is the courage. If she can at least hold an outward appearance of being brave, the others can take courage from her. So she never brags about things she can't do (that I can recall). Add in the horrible way that the Mane 6 try and teach her a lesson, and RD was in the right for being upset. AT times, I felt that you were trying a little too hard to make Twi and the others seem like bad guys, but I think in the end it worked out really well.
4830830
Might just be me, but I think AJ could be a member of that group. Stubborn, a traditionalist to the point that she'd let it get in the way of saving her farm (see the Super Speedy Cider episode for a big example. On that note, am I the only one who realized that Flim and Flam now legally own Sweet Apple Acres? Even if the cider sucked, the stipulation was that it was whoever made the most cider, not who EARNED more than the other.) and never listens to others or considers other ideas if it goes against ANYTHING she thinks is right. As much as I see potential for character growth and development for AJ, it's episodes (and stories) like this that really point out just how bad of a pony she is. For one of the good guys, she's certainly one heroine that I would never want to have as a role model.
I just read back to where Twilight finds the reform spell and honestly this ending is even worse than I thought it was. You've moved this outside the realms of "dark suicide" and into the realms of "destroying a person's free will."
In ch. 5 Twilight finds a "reform spell" that "would allow the caster to alter a pony’s personality to suit her needs, completely reforming them." And I'm assuming the author is implying that Twilight used it on herself here. And that he knows exactly what that means since he framed it like she was committing suicide.
This is horrible, absolutely abysmal, this is literally the end of 1984 pushed into this story. Twilight has literally brainwashed herself. Is she going to wake up tomorrow morning with "false memories" memories that she has altered her mind to not think? Is she going to have thoughts in her head that are wrong because she has altered her mind for them to be so? Because this ending implies that Twilight has murdered herself, she may be walking around tomorrow morning and she may even have a conversation enough to fool other ponies.
But she hasn't learned anything, Twilight can't learn anything anymore, Twilight Sparkle isn't Twilight Sparkle anymore. She is a product of a mind altering spell meant to bring her into line. Twilight Sparkle as we know her is gone, she has killed her identity.
Overall I love the concept of the story and I was happy with the execution, until this really abysmal dark chapter out of nowhere. Applejack needs to be shown the error of her ways, you can't end this with her still being an asshole. It can't end with Twilight literally mudering her own identity.
Great story. Any chance of an sequel?
you Rainbow Dash is a terrible self-absorbed pony who thinks you have to agree with everything someone does to hang with them.
How does the Element of LOYALTY complain about the others hanging with her while not happy with her actions? Does she think the appropriate response is to shun the offending pony? I'm talking about when she makes the comment about her not tracking them down.
And her comments about Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack's family makes me really hate her
A sequel please?
4830842
her personality is why they needed to use that method. Try to talk to her: "Dash we're concerned about your actions when you've been helping out other ponies lately. You've been wasting time trying to make your rescues more dramatic and not asking for help at appropriate times."
and they'd just get a response like: "Shah, don't worry about it Twi. I'm the fastest most awesome pegasus in Equestria. I'm giving myself a ton of time. Hay, I could wait even longer before I pulled those ponies tails out of the fire."
They'd needed to show her just how much time she was wasting
4830731
no, she's correct
Good ending where there is a little unfinished work to maybe warrant a sequel while not demanding one. If there is a sequel then that is great but if there isn't then that is fine too. Really hope for a sequel where everyone finds out that Applejack is still ignorant. Also the way people keep bringing up the element of honesty pulling a Ark of the Covenant on Applejack to be a little . . . intriguing
Well that went to some really dark places.
4831100 Maybe that's true. On the other hand, maybe the pony who embodies loyalty might have taken it seriously if the ponies she's most loyal to sat her down for a serious chat.
You know what? Even if the others knew, for a fact, that RD would have brushed off an attempt to talk to her - they still should have tried. They should have shown willing. If somebody is your friend, they have earned that much trust.
4831067
Flim and Flam never took control of the deed and they never even tried to, so no they don't own the farm.
And since nothing was ever written out I'm sure the number of ponies who confirm that the claim of such a bet is ridiculous would take care of any issue for courts
Tbh. I thought this was going to set itself up as the stereotypical and cliche of getting the group together and lock them in a room together. But I'm glad it didn't and this did not leave a bad taste in my mouth. Most of everything to sorted out, except for Applejack but she kind of deserved the short end of the stick anyway for turning the town against Dash. The friendship aspect did not seemed forced this time around and I'm glad Celestia or any other high-authority figure stayed out of this
And fine point about the foals/kids learning through the actions of the figure and not what they are really trying to teach. You can be passive all you want but down the line, others are going to get the wrong idea about you. Sometimes being more passive just leads to more tragedies . But we're not here to talk about that. I'm glad this ended on a good note, well mostly a good note.