Apple Bloom Defeats Tirek

by km

Epiphany

Chapter 2:
Epiphany

Seven weeks later

Apple Bloom sighed as she looked out upon the orchard. She found it hard to believe how much things had changed since everypony’s magic had been stolen.

The orchard was now littered with tents as far as the eye could see.

Without their magic, the citizens of Cloudsdale quickly found themselves now homeless. Because of this, many of them had since taken up residence within the orchard. It was, in fact, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Ever since Apple Bloom and her family had lost their earth pony magic, maintaining the farm had proven to be even harder than she had anticipated. She had figured, at worst, that they would have to work twice as hard, but even that expectation had proven not to be enough.

So, in exchange for room and board within the orchard, many of the pegasi were now helping out where they could with the chores and the general upkeep of the farm. But even with the extra help, the farm was still struggling a bit with their resources now even tighter than before.

Pulling a small water wagon behind her, Apple Bloom made her way over to one of the pegasi tending to one of the many trees in the orchard.

“Hey, Soarin. Need some water?” She asked.

“Yeah, thanks. I think we both could use a little,” he replied with some amusement.

Taking the hose from the wagon, he first filled his personal water jug and then began giving the tree a good watering before placing the hose back upon the wagon’s tank.

“Supper should be ready within the hour,” she told him as she prepared to move on to the next pony.

“Thanks. I’ll see you at the barn,” he smiled back with gratitude.

It was yet another reminder to Apple Bloom of just how much things had changed. Sure, their family often had large clusters of relatives visiting off and on, but with so many more mouths to feed now on a regular basis, the barn was now largely doubling as a mess hall.

“See ya,” she smiled back sadly as she began to walk away.

“Hey,” he called out to her, causing her to stop, “Are you okay?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

“Sorry,” she apologized as her ears folded back against her head, “I just never thought it would be so hard without our magic. I mean, Granny Smith always told me just how much our earth pony magic helped us out, but I guess I always figured that she was just exaggerating.”

“And the pegasi and unicorns ain’t doing much better,” she continued. “What if we never get our magic back? What if nopony figures out how to stop Tirek? What if…” she was cut off as she felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up to find Soarin giving her a reassuring smile.

“I know it’s hard right now,” he began solemnly, “but don’t give up, okay? Somepony will think of something. It may just take a while, so try and stay strong, okay?” He asked with a hopeful smile.

Apple Bloom blinked and then returned his smile, albeit with a somewhat weaker one. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Soarin nodded happily as she began to walk off again.

Soarin’s words had reminded her of one of her days at Twilight Time. Her potion making lessons hadn’t gotten off to a great start and she had found herself becoming quickly discouraged. She was reminded of a particular exchange with Twilight.

***

Apple Bloom looked despondently down at her latest failed attempt at potion making.

“I don’t know Twilight,” she began, “maybe I ain’t cut out for potion making after all. I mean, I ain’t a unicorn, or even a zebra.”

“Apple Bloom,” Twilight said consolingly, “you don’t need to be a unicorn, or a zebra, for potion making. In fact, being an earth pony gives you a bit of an advantage.”

“What? How?” Apple Bloom asked incredulously.

“Because,” Twilight continued while smiling brightly, “earth ponies have a strong magical connection to all things earth related, and a large amount of ingredients in most potions come from the earth.”

Apple Bloom considered what Twilight had said. Though while it sounded reasonable, she still had her doubts.

“But ain’t unicorn magic stronger?” The filly asked.

“Ugh… Speak for yourself,” Sweetie Belle said while rubbing her sore neck. She was still having trouble keeping her neck muscles relaxed while attempting to lift heavier items with her magic.

Having heard the conversation, she and Scootaloo had decided to take a break from their own training difficulties.

“Not necessarily,” Twilight smiled as she continued her explanation. “Pony magic in general is fairly strong, but the strength varies both between the pony tribes, and the individuals within those tribes. Some unicorns could use magic to manipulate the weather, for example, but most pegasi can already use their own magic to do so with much greater ease.”

“And as for individuals, most unicorns can use telekinesis, but far fewer can teleport.”

“Oh, oh!” Scootaloo began, “You mean like how most pegasi can fly, but not every pegasus can do a Sonic Rainboom! Right?”

“Exactly!” Twilight beamed.

The conversation wasn’t exactly filling Apple Bloom with encouragement, however.

“It still don’t sound like earth ponies can do all that much with their magic,” Apple Bloom added glumly.

“Apple Bloom,” Twilight said consolingly, “an earth pony’s magic may not always be as obvious as something like telekinesis, or manipulating the weather, but it’s much stronger than you seem to realize in other areas.”

“For example, even those few pegasi and unicorns that have green hooves rarely manage to grow much more than a small garden. It’s earth ponies that tend to have far greater results when it comes to growing large crops. And earth ponies tend to be far stronger as well. And in both cases, it’s earth pony magic that gives them an advantage in these areas.”

“Yeah, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle began, “remember when you tried to keep your brother from running off by tying him to a small house and he started dragging the house with him?”

Apple Bloom wilted at the reminder of yet another of her potion making attempts. Sure, the potion had worked, but the results weren’t exactly what she had in mind.

“And your sister once used her earth pony strength to stop a carriage bus from going over a cliff,” Twilight continued.

Apple Bloom seemed to consider what the others were saying. She still had her doubts, but maybe they had a point.

“And then there’s Maud,” Twilight mumbled a bit more to herself, though it was still loud enough for the others to hear.

“Who’s Maud?” Scootaloo asked.

“Oh, isn’t she Pinkie’s sister? I think Rarity once mentioned her.”

“Is she really strong?” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s… a bit of an understatement,” Twilight replied as she began to relate an incident that still troubled her greatly given how close she had come to losing one of her friends that day.

“Not very long ago, while her sister was visiting Ponyville, Pinkie got her hoof caught between some rocks as she was climbing a pony-made rock mountain. But before Pinkie could free herself, a large boulder from the top of the mountain came loose and started falling directly toward her.”

The fillies gasped at the tale.

“Wh-what happened?” Sweetie Belle asked fearfully.

Twilight gave the fillies a reassuring smile, and decided to continue the story in a manner not unlike one of her Daring Do novels.

“Maud dashed forward in the blink of an eye, made a huge leap over Pinkie and was headed straight at the boulder that was nearly about to strike her sister.”

Twilight then stopped in order to leave the fillies in a moment suspense.

“A-and,” Apple Bloom finally spoke back up, having remained quiet for much of the conversation.

“And she used her forehooves to pummel the boulder into tiny pieces before it could strike her sister!” Twilight finished brightly.

“No way!” Scootlaoo said awestruck.

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked in amazement.

“You… you ain’t just making that up?” Apple Bloom asked in mild disbelief.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight replied while making the necessary gestures.

“Awesome!”

“Amazing!”

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom finished, clearly impressed by the tale.

Seeing how caught up the fillies now were in her favorite topic, Twilight then began to briefly expand on the many intricacies of magic. She continued by comparing pony magic to the magic of other creatures, and the various strengths and weaknesses of the magic within each different creature, including ponies.

She was more than happy to see the fillies continue to be gripped by the discussion. And she was especially happy that Apple Bloom seemed to have come around some regarding her own magic within herself. Though it was also clear that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had also gained a new appreciation for pony magic.

“Wow,” Scootaloo exclaimed, “pony magic is even cooler than I thought!”

“That’s right,” Twilight agreed, “pony magic is a special kind of magic.”

Twilight then turned back to a now much less pessimistic Apple Bloom.

“So don’t be too quick to give up, okay? Even if you’re having a bit of a rough time. Believe me, I had a few of those when I was a filly,” Twilight finished with an encouraging smile toward the filly.

Apple Bloom quickly returned Twilight’s smile. “Okay!” She replied with far more determination in her voice than earlier.

***

Apple Bloom sighed at the memory as she continued walking through the orchard.

If only Twilight had mentioned centaurs when she had told them about the strengths and weaknesses of various other magical creatures. Then maybe she might have some idea about what weaknesses Tirek’s magic might have.

Apple Bloom abruptly stopped, her eyes going wide as an idea suddenly came to her.

Maybe Tirek did have a weakness!

She contemplated her idea as she recalled Twilight’s lessons on magical weaknesses. And the more that she thought about it, the more it seemed as though her idea wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibility.

Sure, her idea might be a long shot… okay, maybe a BIG long shot, but could it actually work?

Author's Note:

On the off chance that any readers can’t recall some moments mentioned from the animated series:

It was in the episode “The Mysterious Mare Do Well” that Applejack had used her earth pony strength to keep a carriage bus from going over a cliff.

Big Mac dragged a small house in the episode “Hearts and Hooves Day”.

And of course, Maud saved Pinky in the episode “Maud Pie”.