//------------------------------// // Diary Entries: September // Story: Nurture/Nature // by TwoTrenchcoats //------------------------------// ((Note: The following diary entries appear to be more recent than the first. The paper they are written on is newer and the writing is neater, with fewer spelling and grammar mistakes.)) September 3rd Dear Diary, The autumn apple harvest just started. It feels like we just finished the summer harvest and now we have to do it all over again. It was easier to help in the summer 'cause I didn't have school but now school's started again and I have to go to work as soon as I get home. Poppa and Aunt Applejack go out into the orchard and bring in the apples, and then Momma and I turn them into delicious pies, cakes, fritters, and jam. Lots of jam. Most of them get turned into cider, but I'm not allowed to help with that part yet. My hooves hurt and I think I'll have cinnamon stuck up my nose for the rest of my life but supper was extra tasty. After supper Aunt Applejack told a story. I'm going to tell it to you so I can remember it. * Once upon a time there was a filly who lived in a tower. The tower stood above everything in the world, almost as tall as the clouds. When you looked out the window you could see the whole world stretched out in all directions like a huge patchwork blanket. The filly who lived in the tower had everything she could ever want. Good food, a warm home, and all the toys that bits could buy. But she was lonely. She didn't want to just look at the world from a distance, she wanted to live in it. She wanted to make friends and try new things. But the filly couldn't leave. Her mother locked the tower door everyday and kept her trapped inside. 'Everything you need is right here,' she said. And every night the filly would lay in her bed and look out at the world spread out like a patchwork blanket and cry and cry and cry over all that she would never see. Then one day, when Mother was away, there was a knock at the tower window. A pegasus filly had flown all the way up to the top of the tower! The filly in the tower stared and stared at the pegasus filly. She looked just like her! She let the pegasus filly in and asked her what she was doing there. The pegasus filly said she was a wild pony. She lived outside and had never set hoof in a building before. 'What a strange place,' she said, 'so warm and tidy, with so many books and chairs and a bed as soft as clouds and thistledown.' 'What is it like outside?' the filly in the tower asked. So the pegasus filly told her. She told her about the rolling hills and waving fields of wheat. She told her about the way the birds sing and how the foxes bark. She said that the air smells like sweet spices and milk and honey flows in the rivers instead of water. The filly in the tower offered pegasus filly to take her place in the tower. 'Just for one day!' she pleaded, 'If I can just have a taste of the outside world then I'll happily live in this tower with Mother for the rest of my life. You and I look just the same. If you wear this cloak to hide your wings, not even Mother could tell us apart. You will know a life inside and I will know a life outside.' The pegasus filly agreed and the filly in the tower hid behind the door and slipped out when Mother came home that night. She ran through the rolling hills, danced with the waving fields of wheat. She slept under the stars and relished the fresh dew that clung to her in the morning. She sang with the birds and chatted with the foxes, smelled the sweet spices in the air and drank deep from the milk and honey in the riverbed, and forgot all about the tower and the pegasus filly inside. When she finally remembered she returned to find the tower overgrown with moss and vines. The door was left ajar and Mother was nowhere to be found. In the highest room was the pegasus filly, laying by the window and looking out at the world spread out like a patchwork blanket. Her body was thin and frail, and her cloak was torn away from her wings. 'I've come back,' said the filly, 'Mother is gone so we can both leave this tower and go live in the world outside. We can both breathe the sweet spiced air and drink milk and honey.' The pegasus filly smiled and spread her brittle wings, 'Freedom at last,' she whispered, 'come, sister, let us finish this.' She leapt out the window and the filly from the tower raced down the stairs and out the door to meet her. But when she stepped outside all she found was a broken pile of feathers, fur, and a tattered old cloak in a bright red spot on the grass. The filly from the tower stood over the body of the pegasus filly, her sister in torment, and understood. The birds would never sing again. The fields would never dance with wheat again. The air would never smell like sweet spices and there would be no more milk and honey in the riverbed. The filly of the tower returned to her room and lay in her bed by the window and looked out at the world outside all spread out like a patchwork blanket and remembered all the wonderful things she thought she had there that she would never see again. * Momma didn't like the story at all. "Why are you telling such miserable stories to a little filly?" she said. Aunt Applejack didn't pay attention to Momma. She looked right at me and said, "Do you understand what the story was about, sugarcube?" I said I wasn't sure and Aunt Applejack nodded. "Keep thinkin' on it," she said, "you'll understand someday, you're a smart little filly." Momma said she wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. Poppa went to bed right after her so it was just me and Aunt Applejack. She stared into the fire for a long time before she looked at me and said, "Just remember, Apple Brandy: there are some things that ain't meant to be separated." She rubbed her forehead with a hoof and snorted, "Now listen to me! I'm gettin' sentimental in my old age! Don't listen to me, sugarcube, you just be the best little filly you can be, ya hear?" She shooed me off to bed and I grabbed you right away to write down the story. What do you think it means, Diary? It's a sad story, but I don't know if it means anything special. Keep it safe for me while I think about it, okay? ((Note: At the bottom of the page is a note in red ink, which reads: 'I didn't consider how resilient earth pony memories are'.)) September 5th Dear Diary, Triple Axel is so stupid! During recess at school today he was talking about how strong he is and that he can pick up a whole pony. I told him that he can't even pick me up so he's full of applesauce. Then he said that he can't pick me up 'cause I'm an earth pony and all earth ponies are fat and heavy! He said he would prove it by picking up Posey, but Posey was flapping her wings and helping! He's so stupid!! He's too scrawny to carry a bucket of apples across the orchard! He makes stupid faces when I talk about baking with Momma, but when Posey talks about planting flowers he's suddenly all curious! Momma says that's just how ten year old colts are and he probably has a crush on Posey. I think he's a big old rotten apple and a ((Note: The rest of this sentence has been aggressively scribbled out)). Sorry about that, Diary. Don't tell Aunt Applejack I know all those words. I'm too busy to worry about stupid Axel anyway. The autumn harvest is still in full swing and the Cider Festival is going to be starting soon! I can't help with the cider but there's gonna be lots of apple treats to sell too, and that means Momma and I have a lot of work to do! Then, when Axel comes to the festival and tries to buy an apple fritter I can shove it in his big, stupid face! If he wants to eat it, he should be nice to the pony who makes it! September 10th Dear Diary, Sorry it's been so long since I've written, Diary! The Cider Festival was today and I'm dead on my hooves. Who knew so many ponies live in Ponyville?! It was lots of fun though! Momma and I sold all our sweets and then she said I could go play with Axel and Posey. Axel never apologized, but I decided to forgive him anyway. He ate six apple fritters, threw up in a bush and had to go home so Posey and I got to play all by ourselves. Posey's never seen the whole orchard before so I took her around and showed her everything. All the different apple trees and all the tools that Poppa and Aunt Applejack use to take care of them. She really liked the nursery where all the little saplings are. It was fun hanging out with just Posey. She's always with Axel so it was nice to get some 'girl time'. (That's what Momma calls it). September 13th Dear Diary, Axel is missing. His Mom says he never made it home from the festival. The whole town has been looking for him for hours. Where could he have gone? Is he mad that I laughed at him for throwing up? I hope he's okay, he's an idiot but I don't want him to get hurt….