At the end of every major battle come reparations. Every once in a while, particularly diplomatic parties could decide on a punishment that was just enough to keep the enemy down without inflicting any more damage than that. But, more often than not, the victors are fueled only by revenge. As such, they overlook the more practical solutions in favor of completely breaking their opponent, not realizing just how dangerous a disheartened pony could be.
Applejack alone understood the dangers of the decision her family was about to make, but opposing it was a deed easier said than done. After issuing the report to all its members, a general fury surged through the family, one that was all too familiar to her. In fact, she never once thought she’d be fighting for the things she was proposing now, and just suggesting it went against everything she thought she’d stood for.
But, if it protected Coco from the incoming storm, everything would be worth it. That was what she told herself as she defied everything she knew.
The decision was almost too simple: two possible paths with nothing in between them. Either allow Mosely to stay an Apple or face a far worse fate. That second option would involve propositioning with the police to let him go for a single day, just long enough for the reunion time to pass. Like it or not, the expulsion ritual in almost all the Fruit Families required the subject to be present. And, as much as Applejack tried to find a loophole, none existed. Not even Goldie Delicious could find one.
The member in question must stand in front of the family’s ruling members, even if their guilt is already known. Anything else is tyranny and intimidation.
“Tyranny and intimidation.” They sure didn’t apply to the Apples, but she knew how they could. When Mosely would get off that train and lock eyes with Coco. When what she’d done would really sink in. When he could finally get his final revenge before being locked away for good.
Applejack didn’t know a lot of things, but she knew villains and what they could do when they got a second chance. Any victory the Apples might gain from disowning the pony that’d plagued them for so long would only be drowned out by heartbreak. Bloodshed, even, if he was really willing to risk it all. For once, bureaucracy might actually be on his side.
If only the other Apples could see it the way she did. For the most part, a lot of them were starting to, if only because she’d prattled on about it for long enough in her letters. After the travesty that’d almost happened during their last one, the last thing anypony wanted was more trouble at the reunion. At the very least, this matter was, in the opinion of many, something that could be settled in private, outside of what was always meant to be a drama-free space for fellowship. That way, she could convince them to keep him on for just a while longer without having to mention Coco at all.
But at the end of the day, just like in the Orange family, the Apple matriarch had the most deciding power. No matter how hard she tried or wished this wasn’t the case, Applejack knew she couldn’t keep Granny Smith from doing the unthinkable. Maybe the other Apples could override her somehow, but convincing her to move the issue to another date was something Applejack had given up on days and days ago.
Looking at the scandal from Granny’s perspective, her second-oldest grandchild could almost see why she was so set on this dubious plan. While it had taken place even before Big Mac was born, Applejack knew that Mosely’s marriage to the then-Cameo Apple had been a frivolous way for her family to show their growth in the market. Make the former number one produce sellers come to you with heads held low, and you’d be willing to do anything to rub it in. From the discussion she’d heard all week about the marriage, the Apples at that time had figured they had nothing to lose from an alliance with the Oranges, and Granny’s deceased husband had been a businesscolt every bit as shrewd as Filthy Rich. Not only that, but he’d been a stallion who knew when his foals were at their happiest, and from his perspective, Cameo had already made her decision.
Granny, on the other hoof, had regretted it just about as soon as the wedding invitations went out. Applejack had always wondered why she’d distrusted the Oranges, and up until a few months ago, she’d never gotten a concrete answer. Even her suspicions about Mosely had been vague at best, limited to just getting “a bad vibe from that stallion” and nothing else. Now that Granny’s instincts had been confirmed and now that she knew all about the abuse her daughter had been through, all she really wanted was justice to the point where other ponies didn’t register.
Applejack had known this sort of feeling enough to tell that Granny wasn’t really as uncaring about the other relatives hurt by this problem as she seemed, and yet she still wished she could make her see. There was no way a plan like this could possibly go right. Not even revenge could justify it. If Mosely was there, and he still had the sorts of threats in mind that he’d spewed out of his mouth before, the reunion could turn out to be the worst ever. That is, assuming after two failed reunions, they would still hold one again.
She moved her head towards the front door, looking at the open window like she always did every day before an upcoming reunion.
“Are things really gonna turn out like that?” she whispered to nopony in particular. “Or do you think I’m just overreactin’ like usual?”
As usual, the two stars beside her twinkled in response and didn’t say a word.
****
As usual, all it took to complicate Coco’s morning was a single letter. Granted, it wasn’t one of his letters, thank Celestia, though she half-expected it to be. She’d thought about that every time she checked the mail bin that week, and it never stopped throwing her off, no matter how much she thought she’d recovered. Didn’t ponies get one last contact before going to jail? Or was that just another silly drama convention? In any case, she got ready with a start once she saw its contents.
All cast and crew of Spellshock and employees of the former Stealer-Orange Productions are expected in the theatre on 235 West 50th Street at eight-thirty sharp. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, play production will continue immediately and performances will reopen within the week. I realize that changing producers during a run may have been a temporary inconvenience for many of you, but as a team, we have every intention of bouncing back from this scandal and improving working conditions for everypony involved.
The results of the impending trial will have no bearing on Spellshock production. If by any stroke of fate Mosely Orange is declared innocent of his supposed crimes, the Bridleway Theatre Council and I have already voted to block his reentry and to raise the possibility of an appeal. We have unanimously declared him to be a hazard to our reputation and, more importantly, to our staff.
In the next few weeks, I hope we can all try our best to make the theatre as peaceful and welcoming as it once was in spite of all this upcoming difficulty. After all, politics have no place on a stage.
Scene Stealer
Spellshock, Director and Interim Producer
To be frank, she hadn’t expected them to find a new producer this quickly, and she couldn’t help but silently curse herself as she looked at the clock. By the time she checked her mail, she’d already dried her mane and helped Babs get ready, and she would’ve gone back upstairs to eat breakfast had she not realized how late she was running. Babs’ school started a half hour later than early theatre meetings like this one did, so she’d gotten used to sleeping longer than usual. While she could already feel her stomach berating her for hurrying, she figured she could pick up a doughnut at the shop next door to the theatre and call it close.
Just as Coco was about to head out the door, she caught Babs coming down the stairs out of the corner of her eye. Strangely enough, the foal seemed to have forgotten her saddlebag—something that’d chew up her time even more.
“Where’re you goin’?” Babs asked, blinking in confusion. “I figured you were gonna stay home today like you have the last few days.”
“I almost wish I could,” Coco answered with a sigh, “but Scene called me in for work. Supposedly, they’ve narrowed down their options for a new producer, and they want everypony to meet him. If we take a taxi, I could have time to drop you off at school like I used to.”
Her daughter gave her a blank look before blushing suddenly and shifting her tail over her cutie mark.
“I guess I forgot to tell you about the teacher holiday,” she chuckled nervously. “I…actually don’t have school today. But I should be fine to go to the theatre with you if they’ll let me.”
The foal’s eagerness to come with her didn’t really strike Coco as odd until the two had already hailed a cab. But, getting into the cart, she suddenly remembered how Bambi told her about Babs’ experience on the way home from the fateful performance, how she almost didn’t want to come back home after that. That, plus the encounter she’d had with Suri over a month ago, could’ve scared anypony away from the place. And yet here she was, wanting to go back there like old times.
Old times. It hadn’t even been six months. Had things really gotten so bad with her that she was driven to reminisce about a past that wasn’t even that far away? If so, when had those sorts of feelings really begun? Was the answer really as easy as she thought it was?
“Are you sure you’re all right to go with me?” Coco asked suddenly.
Babs looked from side to side, barely even paying attention to the question at first. Just like on that night, she seemed to be in her own world.
After a while, she questioned, “What exactly d’ya mean by that, Coco? I know I tried to run away last time I went to work with you, but I’m over that. ‘Sides, you told me that one mare I worked for might not be comin’ back, and that she definitely wouldn’t be there today. So what’s the problem?”
“Nothing. It’s just that…you haven’t really had the best memories there, even without the thing with Suri. Especially considering the last time you were there, you found out one of the ponies you trusted most—“
“Mosely?” Babs asked, waving one of her front hooves to the side. “He’s old news. I don’t let him bother me too much anymore now that I have you around. Even before I found out ‘bout what he did, I still would’ve chose you over him in a heartbeat. I guess I shoulda seen that when he wasn’t treatin’ you well and all. Sorry I kinda took his side there for a while.”
Somehow, even as she said this, her words didn’t seem to match her actions. As tough as she was trying to sound, Coco could still notice her fidgeting slightly, and she hadn’t taken her tail off her cutie mark the entire time she’d mentioned him.
“Don’t worry, I was never upset about that,” replied Coco. “I don’t blame you, even. It was hard enough for me finding out, and I’m glad to hear you’re already finding a way through it all. I guess that means I’m the only pony that’s having trouble getting over it now.”
The two ponies exchanged glances, seeing uncertainty in both of their eyes. The theatre was just around the corner, and yet they barely noticed it, too focused on trying to understand how much each other was truly hurting.
“Can I tell ya somethin’ real quick before we go in?” Babs asked, finally noticing how close they were to their destination.
Coco nodded in response, still somewhat embarrassed at how much she was letting this problem get to her.
“You gotta promise not to tell anypony else.”
“Not even Bambi?” Coco asked.
“Especially not her. Not with the way she’s always frettin’ over me and all. I don’t want her to be any more worried about me than she already is.”
“Okay, you can trust me on that. I’m all ears, and I won’t tell a soul.”
Stepping out of the cab, Babs confessed, “If it makes ya feel any better, I’m far from over it, no matter what I might want anypony else to think. Nopony at school other than my teachers know about what happened, but they’ve been givin’ me special treatment anyway. They say they wanna make up for all the love I never got back then.”
“That seems reasonable enough,” Coco answered.
“Yeah, and I get what they’re tryin’ to do, but I feel like I’ve got to turn it down, ya know? Ponies like me, we’ve got reputations to keep. We’re not supposed to let little things like this get to us, but—“
“Then I guess this just means we’ll have to get through it together. And honestly, sometimes even the strongest ponies can have times like this. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve always heard.”
Coco’s nerves shot like lightning bolts all around her body, and she almost felt like she was even getting worse at giving advice to her own daughter. Had things really turned that distanced between them?
Not anymore, not if she had anything to say about it.
“At least from the plays I’ve seen, every hero has trials,” she continued. “And a few heroes are even like you, ponies considered to be illegitimate by those who try to hold them down in life.”
Taking the filly into her extended forelegs, she whispered, “From everything I’ve seen, you’re definitely a hero in my book.”
“Even if Mosely thought I was a bad seed?”
“A bad seed doesn’t have a right to call anypony else that. If anypony’s really one in this situation, it’s him.”
The filly squeezed into the older mare’s fur and didn’t say a word after that. While the relief would only be temporary, it would be enough for today.
Now, Coco thought to herself, if only I could convince myself about that same thing.
She hadn’t seen the auditorium door since the night of the first showing, and just trying to open it brought bolts of fear into her heart. She’d certainly never thought about how everypony would react now that her proposition with Mosely was common knowledge, seeing as none of the other Manehattan citizens seemed to have a problem with it. For one, the most negative reaction she’d seen about it was disappointment from the more lovestruck Bridleway fanatics that compared Scene and Mosely to a sinking ship, whatever they meant by that. And even though the scandal had been all over the papers, the most recognition she’d gotten was a slight glance of pity, and so far, nopony seemed to have blamed her for the incident. While Babs did have a point about how tiring other ponies’ sympathy could get, it was at least better than Coco had always imagined it would be.
With her crewmates, however, guarantees like that didn’t come so easy. From what she knew, a lot of ponies on set had admired Mosely, even if he hadn’t checked up on the play as much as Scene had. Considering that she was just an upstart designer, it wouldn’t surprise her if ponies blamed her for his firing. She figured she’d probably make an easy scapegoat for the problem, so the cast could keep seeing him as an esteemed producer and sleep at night without guilt.
Coco knew she should’ve been in a hurry and shouldn’t have been bothering with this sort of hesitation, but even then, she still couldn’t bring herself to open the door. Even with all the courage she could muster, all she could do was quietly knock on the door. Even at that, she’d barely expected it to be audible, and with the reputation she was about to get, she definitely didn't expect anypony to open it.