It all hinges on one good deed · 2:15am Apr 28th, 2017
One pebble after another, row after row, careful, thorough, meticulous effort. Such was the way to perfection. Oh, Sumac could no doubt glue on whole bunches of little pebbles at a time, but then there might be gaps, flaws, clusters of tiny pebbles that were all the same colour. This was an instance where patience would be rewarded.
“So much hinges on one good deed,” Octavia said, sounding distracted while she stared off in Tarnish’s general direction. She was quite enjoying watching him play with Megara and Boomer.
“What do you mean?” Pebble asked while Sumac affixed yet another tiny stone to the birdhouse.
“Pebble darling, every bit of happiness you have all exists because of one good deed.” Octavia turned and gave Pebble a smile, then focused her attention on the hardworking colt striving for perfection. “Once upon a time, there was a young colt that was on the verge of adulthood. He made a few mistakes, as colts tend to do. Yes… mistakes were made… anyhow, something truly awful happened to this colt, and what happened isn’t so important.”
Octavia paused, drew in a deep breath, and continued, “But what is important is that a very nice mare saved this colt. She was just a bit older, a bit wiser, a bit more wary to the ways of the world. From that moment, when she saved him, some might say she saved herself. She found a happiness she might not have known otherwise. She took him home so he could get himself all fixed up.”
When Octavia paused for a moment, Pebble looked over at her father. The birdhouse he was working on with Megara and Boomer was finished. The filly blinked once, twice, and with her third blink, she returned her attention to Octavia, who was just about to start speaking again. Pebble sighed, a somehow happy sound, and Sumac continued his meticulous labour.
“In fertile soil, this colt bloomed and became himself, the colt he was meant to be. With some right and proper role models, this colt was turned around and he grew strong in the ways of goodness. After some adventures, quite a number of them in fact, he saved a wayward mare. Now, this by itself doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is, you see. He saved that wayward mare, ensuring that she lived, and because of one selfless good deed, that mare was able to perform her own good deed. She rescued and took in a curious little colt.”
Sumac paused in his efforts to look up at Octavia.
“Saving that little colt wasn’t enough, and this wayward mare realised that she had to save herself. So she did, or she tried to. She made a valiant effort, and with time and effort, she did a rather remarkable good job.” Octavia smiled, reached out, and booped Pebble on the nose. “And this is how good deeds can compound good deeds. Because Maud did the right thing, because she was a good pony, you exist, Pebble, and even more so, Sumac exists. So much hinges on one good deed, and every great thing that the two of you do together, it all goes back to that moment when Maud decided to what was right as a pony.”
“I never thought about it that way,” Pebble admitted while Sumac returned to his task.
“Because Maud did what was right, because she did what was moral, Vinyl and I know a happiness that I did not imagine possible.” Octavia’s smile vanished and she sat there, shaking her head. “The four of us have done some good deeds together, and as for Tarnish and Vinyl, the two of them together…” her words trailed off and she became quite somber.
“Mum?” Pebble’s single syllable was soft, and she sounded a bit out of place when she uttered it.
“I’m sorry, I need a moment.” Octavia swallowed and she began rubbing her front hooves together, looking fretful and in pain. “I was just thinking back to the day when Maud and I received the news that Vinyl and Tarnish had died. It was winter, like it is now, and you were very little, Pebble. You had just been born a short time before, as a matter of fact. Princess Celestia came out to the rock farm with a whole contingent of soldiers. She was grief-stricken.” Reaching up, Octavia wiped her eyes, then, lowering her foreleg, she returned to rubbing her front hooves together.
Pebble, in silence, looked at her father for a moment, then looked over at Sumac.
“You never quite realise what you have until such a time that you are without out,” Octavia continued. “For a time, it appeared as though Maud and I were going to have to make a go at it alone, with only each other. It was then I knew that we had to remain together, no matter what. Again, it all goes back to that one moment of kindness, just one good deed. So much hinges on just one good deed.”
So many things can be traced back to just one moment. Just like a certain rainboom that set everything into motion.
...I wonder just how long Celestia gave it before breaking it to them. Or if she just assumed the worst immediately after they arrived at Skyreach.
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This will be revealed at the end of the story. She had very good reason to believe they were dead though.
Indeed....one moment in time; a hoof selflessly extended in empathy and concern, can truly bring the light into onepony's soul. And so to the rest of Equestria.
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Even if she did, she forgot one Important Thing. Tarnished is a Weed. Weeds are very hard to kill.
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Looking down at the severed rope held in his magic, Tarnish felt hatred and cruelty sprout in his heart. The tendrils tightened, gaining strength, and for the first time, he felt the curious prickle of strong magic. It was time for the world to pay. Eyes narrowing, he looked about, unsure of what to do or where to go next.
in his head, a list was forming. A shit list, as it was. First would come the ponies of Dodge City Junction, all of them, for doing nothing to help him. Then, maybe, with time, Ponyville. He had experience in destroying Ponyville, only this time, it would be intentional. He would make Twilight hurt by wrecking her city, and then, if he could, he would wreck her.
After Ponyville... there was Canterlot. Perhaps the princesses might explain why they sat back and did nothing to help him.
It was time to make ponies pay, and he would choke them out with the very thing they hated and feared.
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WELP! I think I can likely tell where that is from...
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do
Have Tavi & Vi throw a love concert like Woodstock?
Make it a tour starting with Dodge Junction.
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I felt she was a bit melodramatic at the start of the story, telling then she had to go mourn them while they were still in the room, but she probably wouldn't be that quick to write them off.
Off course, then a while later being unable to reach Tarnished through his magic mirror is another matter...
There's clearly some sort of supressing field around Skyreach, and not just for pegasus magic.