Rainbow Dash lives an exciting life and is swiftly becoming the most daring, awesome pegasus in all of Equestria. She would gladly give it all up, though, just to confess her love to Applejack.
It was an early foggy morning, and Applejack was even foggier.
She stumbled out of her farmhouse on heavy hooves, staring at the ground as she approached the barn. The mare was too tired to trot straight... yet too depressed to release it all with a yawn.
As she came closer to the structure, she heard loud claps echoing from the orchard.
"Mrmmff...?" She tilted her head up. Tear-stained freckles scrunched as she squinted into the mists.
Big Macintosh stood, facing out into the apple trees.
"Huh...?" Applejack picked up the pace, shuffling towards him. "Uhhh... Big Mac?" She just then noticed row upon row of baskets filled with apples. The mare's muzzle fell agape, and she spun to look at the barn. She noticed that the door had been left slightly ajar, and a pair of wagon wheels led out into the orchards. "Big Mac, have... have you been buckin' the apples overnight?"
"Grmffff..." The stallion's reply was a surly growl. "Eeeenope." He stood up, nostrils flaring, and marched off into the fog with an impenetrable glare.
"But..." Applejack blinked again. "Then who...?"
Once more, there was an echoing clap. Applejack spun to face the orchards. She made out the outline of a wagon, and beside it a figure... shuddering... limping... but proceeding to approach each tree one by one, bucking them hard and with diligent motions.
Muzzle agape, Applejack slowly approached the scene. She passed by bucket after bucket—filled to the brim with freshly harvested apples. At last, she stood within earshot of a panting, wheezing breath.
"... ... ...Stu?"
"Mrmmmmf!" Stu threw himself at another trunk. Clap! Apples fell neatly into a pair of buckets beneath the branches. Sweating and out of breath, the stallion leaned against the tree. He bore a haggard expression as he swiveled about. At last, his eyes met Applejack's, and he jolted in place. "AJ..."
"Stu..." Applejack was too confused to grimace or frown, so she chose a breathy wince in between. "Just... j-just what in tarnation have you been doing?!"
"I... I-I wanted..." He wheezed, fumbling for a voice. "I wanted to give... give you a break..."
"And so ya cleared out half the dang orchards on your own?"
"Look, I... I know it doesn't make up for what I've done..." He gritted his teeth, shivering. "I know it doesn't make up for anything. But... but I wanted you to have some time off. You deserve some time off. And... and I also wanted an opportunity to give... to f-finally give you this..."
Applejack merely blinked.
Stu jerked into movement. He hobbled behind the wagon, grunted, then came back dragging a tall object covered with a tarp. He slid it before Applejack, paused to wheeze once again, then yanked the tarp clean off.
Applejack's green eyes reflected a shiny crystalline ornament of an orange tree.
"Is..." Applejack blinked. "...is that supposed to be an orange tree?"
"Yeah... I know. I-I get it." Stu gulped. "To you, it's probably junk. Heh... to anypony, it's probably junk. But... b-but I got it for you with several months' worth of savings because... because I thought it might somehow impress you or... or win your heart or... or I dunno. It... it j-just seemed like the romantic thing to do."
Applejack squinted. Hard. "An orange tree."
"Because... b-because your mother was all about oranges. Her side of the family... one half of you. And... and..." Stu pointed. "You've gone on and on about how your Pa wanted to make half the orchards dedicated to orange harvesting at one time. But he never got to it. And... and I wanted to make it real for you... more than just a comfortable thought. But then... then..."
Stu sniffled. He sat on his haunches, gazing at the crystalline branches of the gift.
"...then you showed me their graves, Applejack. And... and it became real for me. And... I wasn't strong like you. I couldn't handle how real it all was..." He looked up with pained eyes. "How real we were. It suddenly dawned on me that... that the road that you and I have been taking... and how much we've been enjoying each other's company... I might... I might someday be buried here too. And... and I didn't feel that I deserved it, Applejack. This place is so amazing... you are so amazing. But... but to pollute all of that with a moron like me?"
Applejack stared at him silently.
Stu gulped hard and looked at the orchards abroad. "I only came to Ponyville because I felt like I had to. If I was any other stallion... any other pony, I would have stayed in Cloudsdale. But... but I didn't fit in there. I was so... so pathetic... so wishy washy. Everypony talked down on me. And the cruddy thing is... I-I began believing them. I didn't think I could make it there in Cloudsdale. So I came down here and... tried to start over. And for a while there... I-I began believing that I had what it took to not be... such a lame fool. Spending so much time with you... receiving your attention. I started to feel confident. But..."
He clenched his eyes shut.
"...to possibly... maybe be part of your family here? On this farm? Where you, your family, your parents and your forebearers and so many other ponies far more awesome than me have made a name for themselves?" He gulped hard. "I... I just didn't feel worthy. Cloudsdale caught up with me, and I didn't want you to be... poisoned by the same thing that drew me out. And... And I punished you for it, Applejack. I punished you for it and I fled like a coward because none of it seemed possible. None of it."
He looked up, his eyes teary. A fire flickered across his pupils.
"But then... just yesterday... I did something impossible." He gulped. "I saved all of Ponyville from a tornado." His head shook. "I didn't do it on my own... but in the end, it was all up to me. And I made the impossible happen. And... and I didn't have any time to feel proud about it. All I could think of is how I failed you when I could have had the strength... I should have had the strength to carry on. And... I'm sorry, Applejack. I'm so very sorry..."
He pointed at the tree.
"You can have this if you like. You can enjoy this whole early harvest of apples if you like. None of it can make up for what I've done to you, and I know that. But... but I also know now that I'm strong..." He clenched his teeth. "I'm strong, Applejack... but I ought to be stronger. And... and there's only one pony in this world who can help me get there." His sad eyes darted to her. "And that's you, Applejack. If you're willing to let me back in, I promise I will never hurt you ever again." He swallowed a lump down his throat. "I'm... not scared anymore..."
Page generated in 0.111 seconds
Total duration
583 users online
854,676 hits today, 2,130,388 yesterday
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
... Dammit Stu, stop making me like you.
Never mind the fact that Rainbow practically shoved him into action, but whatever.
well at least somebody bucked up and told the truth. Too bad it wasn't Rainbow (and we'll all die of shock when it actually happens)
except for this:
yeah, I think he's still scared, he's just not running away from it
Gee that felt an awful lot like a proposal....
GG Rainbow
...Welp, I don't see how Appledashery's gonna be happening any time soon, or at all.
I hate it when I'm right.
Man, this is all so sweet. It's almost enough to make me worry for the next great big 'fuck-you' inevitably on its way.
6944568 True bravery isn't fearlessness, it's acknowledging those fears and facing them anyway.
------
Damn right you didn't do it alone.
of course Dash is gonna keep her mouth shut about how she voluntarily let the tornado throw her out.
But is Stu gonna keep his mouth shut about Dash confessing she loves AJ, or if he's told her, is she going to mistake it for Philia instead of Eros.
Great now Stu has an ego just what this story needs
6944597 I did say this is going to likely be a friendship fic didnt i
Once again: making the impossible happen - is it ever a labor of love.
6944562 No matter what he does, I still don't like him.
Never will.
6944597 I'm beginning to agree with you.
Makes me wonder why I'm still reading this.
'Cause it sure as hell ain't for this "Apple-Stuery" bullshit.
Why is he so perfect!? Why is Stupid Leaves a Gary Stu? Why does JE torture us like this? Whyyyyyy~
At least Rainbow has been having character development lately. That almost sorta kinda maybe not really at all makes up for this.
The only way I can see Rainbow and Applejack ever hooking up is if Stu dies at some point. Seriously. He's clearly a good stallion, and Applejack is obviously crazy about him. Unless all the "It ends with them cuddling" stuff was meant to mislead us, I don't see how said cuddles will happen unless Stu's prophecy comes true and he gets buried in that cemetery.
I'm sorry, I'm just a little confused.
Was this story marked "Romance" for AppleLeaves or AppleDash?
Given the circumstances, it's really hard to tell.
6944745 There should be a new tag, just for this story.
"Trollmance."
Edit: Hey, where are all the "I like Stu" Devil's advocates today? Taking the night off?
OH COME ON! Damn it Stu! Sooooooo pissed off right now. Thanks a lot JE...... Aw hell, I can't stay mad at you
cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/947926/funny-gif-man-jump-out-the-window.gif
6944715 I think most of us are pretty tired of Stu at this point i was really hoping he'd just die in Cider space when that all happened, but no he's been draggin his way through the story demolishing any actual hope that Appledash will ever happen
6944597
It'd be interesting to see a poll of this story's followers asking exactly how disappointed, on a scale from "mildly so" to "Teen Titans Go!", if AJ stays with Stu and Appledashery doesn't actually end up happening. Then again, Skirts might change his plans based on our responses.
Jesus christ why do I enjoy torturing myself so fucking much that I read this? It always hurts me but I love it to much to quit. I feel certain comparisons could be drawn here to a cyan pegasus, but I am far to insecure to admit I could emotionally compare myself to a fanfiction of a show geared towards young girls.
6944654 You don't think this chapter was a great big fuck you?
we've all read through 900k words, just give it time people. I'm still confident Appledash will happen.
We will have Appledash if Rainbow does something to extend her life. Stu will probably not live for another 40 years, and when that happens, Applejack will be free again. Rainbow just has to survive long enough.
6944597 6944700 6944715 6944736
People, relax. Based on what Skirts has said, this is probably going to be about 2000 chapters long. We might not even be halfway done yet. There's still more than enough time for things to happen.
6944715
Boo.
6945678 Yep. As far as I know, we're at/not even at halfway.
...I still suspect changelings, though. >_>
What's really neat about this is that the annoying Gary Stu "perfectness" is in itself a flaw in Stu's character. He tries too hard to be the wishy washy nice okay with everything guy. And it's pathetic and a bad thing. But he's growing.
... You know, replace oranges with pears and this gets remarkably close to predicting the show.
Honestly, unless Stu dies or turns out to be a magical chaotic construct, I'm not much seeing how AppleDashery-ing is going to happen at this point.
Yet I'm still enjoying the story. Leave it to Skirts to make me feel miserable, and enjoy it.