My Little Redemption

by F-ShyAustin

Chapter I

Chapter I

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there lived two regal sisters who ruled the land. The eldest, Princess Celestia brought forth the sun during the day, and the younger, Princess Luna brought forth the moon and the stars at night. This was seemingly incessant. But eventually, Luna became jealous. The earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns played in and relished her older sister’s day, but slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, Luna refused to lower the moon and stars to make way for the sun. Her older sister tried to reason with her, but Luna would not hear of it. Luna had turned into someone not entirely herself, a monster, even: Nightmare Moon. To make way for the sun, then, Celestia was forced to do exactly what she feared might one day happen. She harnessed the power of the most powerful objects known to pony-kind: the Elements of Harmony. She defeated her younger sister, banishing her to the moon itself for 1000 years…”

This was the first time Twilight Sparkle had really started to look back on the events that had brought her to where she was now. She had, according to her mentor and teacher, Princess Celestia, discovered all there is about friendship. Not to say at all that she didn’t need friends anymore; quite to the contrary, in fact. But still. Wasn’t there more?

“Surely I can’t be at the end of the rope,” Twilight thought to herself. “This can’t be all there is.”

Maybe she was having a down day. After all, Celestia had just told her the week before, after completing the unfinished spell by Starswirl the Bearded, the she would not be her teacher “in the same way as before. Now, you are our teacher”, she told her. But “teacher”?

Twilight still lived at the library with her brother/assistant Spike, and still loved it. But again, maybe she was just having a down day.

“Off to Sugar Cube Corner for me, I suppose,” thought Twilight on a whim. “I need to talk to Pinkie Pie.”

As Twilight walked along the road to the center of Ponyville, she saw the various sights that she saw every day: The open-air market, Rarity’s dress shop, and the house that Fluttershy lived in. It didn’t feel the same. Though it was a far-fetched idea, it seemed almost uncanny to her that the feelings she was having were the same as those that the crystal ponies had described when the Crystal Heart had not yet been found.

“It feels the same, but something’s missing,” Twilight remembered. “Almost an eerie feeling.”

“Hey, Twilight!” shouted a couple of Ponyville’s citizens in unison.

“Hi, girls,” Twilight said back.

“How’s it going?”

Twilight would have answered, but she was too lost in thought to consider answering. She had never felt this way before, and somehow, deep down inside, she knew that Pinkie wouldn’t be able to help.
Pinkie Pie was a master of baking and parties, and as such, was apprentices under Mr. and Mrs. Pound Cake, who owned Sugar Cube Corner. It was located on the other side of town that the library where Twilight lived was. The walk over had given her plenty of time to think, but it hadn’t really gotten her any closer to what she was seeking. If anything, she was actually more confused than ever.

“I’m a princess,” Twilight thought. “Shouldn’t I know all this? I’ve fulfilled my destiny! If this is all there is, shouldn’t it be a little more glamorous? Less… sad? Downtrodden, even?”

“You alright there, sugercube?”

Twilight heard the all too familiar drawl emanating from the orange pastel pony in front of her. She didn’t look quite the same. She reasoned that maybe her down day was effecting her senses, so she ignored it.

“Apple Jack! Am I glad to see you!”

“Um…You too,” Apple Jack smiled. “You were yellin’. Thought somethin’ might be wrong.”

“Oh…yeah. That was - I was just – thinking, is all.”

“Pretty loudly, too. Somethin’ wrong?”

Twilight mulled it over in her mind before responding. She could trust Apple Jack, couldn’t she? Of course she could. Apple Jack was the embodiment of honesty. To say that Twilight couldn’t trust her would be ludicrous.

“Um…AJ, I've been feeling really down. Like, I’m... maybe I'm incomplete. I feel empty. Like I’m… I… never mind - I’m not making sense.”

Apple Jack’s face was visibly downcast now. “No, you are making sense.” She returned. “Unfortunately,” she added under her breath. “Go on, Twi.”

O...kay. Have you ever… had the feeling that there was something more to your life than what you were doing right now? Like there was something more?”

Apple Jack thought about it, as was obvious by the look on her face. The look of pain was clear to Twilight now, as if she had uncovered a long buried element of Apple Jack’s past.

“Well, to be honest, ever since my parents – well, you know… passed on? Ever since that, I’ve felt kind of – empty, I guess. I suppose after that, I felt like there was more work to be done, and not enough pony to do it. I felt kind of alone. I mean, I had Grannie and Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh, but I just felt – empty. Like there was more than work to be done. It just didn’t – doesn’t - feel right. Is that what you mean?”

Apple Jack was a tough pony. Her exterior was evidence enough of what she did for a living, but what she had just told Twilight was unprecedented to say the least, especially after only having talked to her for one or two minutes, tops.

“Well, sort of.”

A pregnant pause ensued as both ponies stared at each other.

“…Sort of? You know, Twi, this sounds serious. Almost like this is the same thing I’ve been dealing with. You wanna head on down to Sweet Apple Acres so we can talk about it?”

Her question passed through her audience’s ears without an answer. At least for a long while.

“Yes. Yes, I think I need that.”

The two ponies walked side by side down the road together. It seemed odd that these two would walk together: an Alicorn princess and an earth pony. But despite Twilight’s transformation, both were still very good friends. They walked in silence, nodding at the occasional wave from various passersby. As they neared the farm, Apple Jack cleared her throat.

“Well, here we are. Let’s get to the house. I don't know what’s going on, but I’ve got a feeling that Grannie might.”

“I’m game for that,” Twilight muttered. “Lead the way.”

As they walked into the house, Twilight spotted Grannie Smith on her usual chair, rocking back and forth. She wasn’t sleeping, though. She was thinking – deeply, too.

“Howdy, girls,” she finally said.

“Hello Grannie Smith,” Twilight and Apple Jack returned.

Apple Jack spoke. “Hey, uh... Grannie?” She was visibly putting effort into sounding at least a little cheerful.

“Yes?” Grannie’s voice was laced with age, but its drawn-out nature was distinctive to the Apple family, and could be easily discerned, even in Grannie’s.

“Can we talk to you?”

“Now, honey, when have I ever NOT been able to talk to y’all?” Grannie quipped.

“Well -” Apple Jack started.

“We have a question,” finished Twilight.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Grannie remarked.

“I -”Both girls started in in unison. “We’ve been feeling kind of down lately.”

“Not lately, Grannie,” Apple Jack said in her defense. “Ever since Mom and Dad -” She pushed back a wave of emotion.

“- died. I feel… empty. I think we both do.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. Grannie’s face froze and all three ponies stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. As Grannie began to understand the full scope of what her grand-daughter had just said, she began to move slowly to the bookshelves in the family room that held the scrap books.

“Apple Jack...” Grannie started slowly, “…I – I loved my son and daughter-in-law as much as you loved your parents. When they died, it was traumatic for all of us. I even saw your brother get teary. But you wouldn’t remember that. When they died, I began to realize that – well - that ponies die. I always thought that I would go before they did, but it seems I was wrong.”

Twilight and Apple Jack stood silently, seemingly dumbstruck.

Grannie opened up a scrapbook, and pointed to one of the pictures.

“See here? This is when your ma and pa got married! It was a joyful day for all of us; the day when they were ready to step out into the world and take it on. Big Mac was born just a year and a half after their weddin’ day. Now that was joy if you ever saw it!

“Then you came along a few years after, and Apple Bloom after that. You were just 5 years old when Apple Bloom was born! Can you believe that? But… a few years after Apple bloom was born, your ma started having… problems. Nobody knew what it was, not even the best doctors of Canterlot. She eventually withered away, and your pa was never the same. He died of grief just about a year later.

“Things ain’t never been the same since. I was already gettin’ old, so I couldn’t do too much, ya know, ‘cept make my zap apple jam that I made every year, and host the family reunion once in a while.” She chuckled a little at that.

“You started developin’ a work ethic I ain’t ever seen before - in nopony. Some might say you became a workaholic; so dedicated to your family that, to see them die, you felt like you owed them somethin’. It ain’t somethin’ I can rightly explain now.

“Apple Jack, you worked and worked from sunrise to sunset, like a full-grown stallion. An’ I think if sweet Celestia had let the sun be up longer, you would have worked that much longer. I think that’s where you are now.

“When I was your age, I had the same feeling you’re having right now. I found what I was looking for, because a very wise stallion told me once that ‘Everypony has a hole in their heart that only He can fill.’ I didn’t know who ‘He’ was, but that stallion said ‘He’ll find you if you look for Him.’”

Twilight spoke up, after a long silence. “…Him? Who’s Him?”

Silence.

“I could tell you,” Grannie slowly answered. “But this… this is somethin’ you’ll have to find out yourself. But…” she continued. “You – everypony – was meant to find Him. Trust me. He’s lookin’ for you, too.”

All three ponies stood there, not saying a word. Finally Apple Jack spoke up.

“Grannie – this isn’t… that God stuff again is it? You know how hard I’ve tried to accept that; that this God person loves everypony, that he has a plan for me – for us. But how could such a loving God allow my own parents to die like they did?!”

Grannie tried to reason with her, but she Apple Jack went on.

“How could he take both your son an’ your daughter-in-law, and then still claim to love you?! How?! It doesn’t make sense! After all these years, you’d think that He would let off on me, that He would give me the strength that He said he would! He lied to us, Grannie!! How can you believe in a God that tells people lies like that?!”

Apple Jack stormed out of the house crying, like so many times before. Twilight stood there in dumb silence, contemplating how to take it what had just happened. She had never seen an outburst like that from AJ before. Grannie settled to a silent reserve. Apparently this wasn’t the first time this had happened. A tiny tear slipped from Grannies right eye as she sat back down on her rocking chair.

“I’m sorry…” Twilight was about to say. But Grannie got to speech first.

“She’ll come around. One day, she’ll realize how much He loves her. He told me she would.”

Twilight didn’t know what to say. She stayed in the same place for a good while before Grannie started again.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Twilight.”

“I – It’s alright,” was all she could manage.

Twilight turned to walk out the door, when Grannie spoke one last time.

“I know, I think, what you're goin’ through, Twilight. You need to find Apple Jack. She needs you. But trust me on this: look for Him, and He will find you. He’s already lookin’.”

Comments

[Raistlin]

And the human tag?

[F-ShyAustin]

2518051

I had to tag all characters that I'm going to use. I don't think I can tag chapter by chapter. The human's don't show up yet, but I don't want to give too much away. You'll notice that Big Mac is on the character list, even though he has been mentioned, though hasn't actually entered the scene yet.

[LordCaledus]

2518051

I believe the author has it here because of the obvious parallels (at least obvious to me) to Christianity.

That said (and I'm directing this at you, author-person), I don't think the 'Human' tag really belongs here. Unless you plan to have humans directly involved in the story, as in the real deal, humans from Earth, the tag doesn't fit.

[F-ShyAustin]

2518116

I don;t want to give too much away, but Christ shows up later in the book. In My head. In the book in my head. I'm still working on how to play it out.

[LordCaledus]

2518137

Alright, makes sense. It just didn't seem apparent at the start.

[F-ShyAustin]

2518148

Sorry about that.

[Kolwynia]

This looks cool. Everyone seems pretty in-character. I like the idea that Twilight feels unfulfilled after becoming a princess. Sometimes it gets a bit dialogue-heavy and I'd like to see a bit more of what Twilight is thinking during those scenes. (Especially her reaction to Granny Smith's story and Applejack's outburst.) I'm interested to see where this goes.

[F-ShyAustin]

2519174

Thank you :) I will certainly keep that in mind as I write this. When the characters are by themselves, especially, I'll try to add some "thought-dialogue".

[F-ShyAustin]

Chapter 2 will be up soon! Expect it by Weenesday!