//------------------------------// // Diary Entries: June // Story: Nurture/Nature // by TwoTrenchcoats //------------------------------// June 5th Dear Diary, It's summer break now, Diary. Triple Axel comes over to play a lot. I showed him the little apple tree that Poppa gave me to practice my bucking. He said he doesn't understand why we don't just get pegasus ponies to pick the apples instead of bucking them. I tried to explain that Apple ponies just don't do that, but he didn't get it. Posey Parade comes over sometimes too ((Note: the name has been circled several times in red ink)). She moved here with her poppa from Cloudsdale a few weeks ago. She's really nice, but I think she likes playing with Axel more than me. Maybe it's because they're both pegasus ponies. Posey says she wants to be a princess when she grows up, but I don't think there are any cutie marks that make you a princess. Auntie Diamond Tiara's cutie mark is a crown and even she's not a princess. Auntie Apple Bloom says that your cutie mark is a symbol of the pony you are deep inside. ((Note: This sentence was circled several times in red ink and a note in the margin in Princess Twilight's writing read: 'According to current understanding'.)) I wonder who I am? June 9th Dear Diary, Princess Twilight came to visit today! She's the princess of friendship and the prettiest, nicest pony in the whole world! She's a super hero too! She's saved the world a bunch of times! AND she's an Alicorn, so she has a sparkly horn and wings at the same time! She was sitting on the porch, drinking tea with Auntie Applejack and talking about boring grown-up stuff. But when she saw me she smiled and asked Auntie who I was. "That there's Apple Brandy," Auntie said, "Big Mac and Sugar Belle's little one." "Is that so?" I stood up real straight and told her it was nice to meet her, just like Momma and Poppa taught me. Auntie looked happy and Princess Twilight smiled real big and said it was nice to meet me too. She asked me all about myself and was really interested in my friends ('cause she's the Princess of Friendship) and how I'm practicing my apple bucking with Poppa. Then she patted me on the head and told me I'm a 'very special filly' and Auntie told me to go play and let them talk. I noticed Princess Twilight watching me as I walked away, though. Maybe she wants to make me her student when I'm bigger, just like Princess Celestia did with her! I'm not a unicorn though so she couldn't teach me any sparkly tricks. Do you think a regular old earth pony could be a student to a princess, Diary? ((Note: This entry has no date and has a different writing style than previous entries, clearly having been written by an adult.)) Keep the tree square behind you. Keep your front hooves spread wide so you don't fall on your face. Raise up your back legs, but be careful you don't twist your back (SUPER IMPORTANT!) Bring your back hooves up and forward like you're gonna scratch both ears at the same time and then kick the tree as hard as you can. Make sure you hit the tree with both hooves at the same time. June 12th Dear Diary, Thanks for holding Poppa's notes for me! He wrote them down so I can look at them whenever I need to. June 14th Dear Diary, I did it! I bucked the apple off the tree! I did everything Poppa told me and the apple fell out of the tree! It fell in the bucket and everything! I was so excited I grabbed the bucket and ran all the way out into the orchard where Poppa and Auntie were working to show them. "Well now, look at that!" Auntie said, "Looks like little Apple Brandy is growin' up quicker than a jackrabbit on a hot griddle, ain't she, Big Mac?" Poppa just said 'eeyup', but I know he was happy because he smiled and his chest swelled up real big. I brought my apple home to Momma and she showed me how to turn it into a little apple tart just for me! Momma cut up the apple 'cause I'm too little, but I got to put in the flour and sugar and cinnamon, and roll out the crust and put it in the pan. Momma even let me put in the apple slices and put it in the oven! I told Axel and Posey about it and Posey was happy but Axel didn't seem very excited. He still thinks that pegasus ponies should pick all the apples, I think. He made a face when I told them about making my special apple tart too. "I don't wanna hear about silly filly stuff!" he said, so I didn't talk about it anymore. *** ((Note: The following was written at the bottom of the page in red ink. The writing matches that of Twilight Sparkle.)) A shame they happened to meet so early in their development. Perhaps I should put them in a group of their own? Pairs A, C, and D are progressing normally. Pair B will be categorized as an anomaly and observed more closely over the course of the next ((numbers ranging from 2 to 7 are written and scratched out)) until I have enough data. If their progress is irreparably affected I will scrap that pair entirely. *** June 20th Dear Diary, I wish I could have brothers and sisters. I can't say that to Momma and Poppa 'cause they'll get sad again, but I can tell you, Diary. I love Momma and Poppa and Auntie, and I love playing with Axel and Posey too. But Axel and Posey can't be here all the time. It was better when Auntie Apple Bloom was here. My bedroom didn't feel as big when she was here. I don't like seeing her empty bed in the corner. I don't like the empty bed in my room. There should be someone asleep there. Beds shouldn't be empty at night. Maybe I could imagine myself a brother or sister? Miss Cheerilee says that our imagination can do even more than unicorn horn sparkles. Maybe if I imagine real hard I can have someone with me when my room feels all empty and big. I could imagine someone in the bed. Then it won't be sad anymore. Should I imagine a brother or sister? Definitely a sister, then I could talk to her about silly filly things all the time. We could bake sweets together and make pretty patterns out of apple slices on the tops of all the pies and special little apple tarts we would make. And she would have a horn too! That way she could make the apple slices float and dance like Momma does and she wouldn't have to hold the knife in her mouth. What would she look like? I'll think about it tomorrow, I'm getting sleepy. Goodnight, Diary.