Choices, Chances, Changes...
Fluttershy was really worried about Discord.
That in and of itself wasn’t anything out ordinary for her, because he tended to usually and repeatedly do things which caused that. Every time he just left without saying a word, sometimes for days and weeks, Fluttershy couldn’t help but worry. Even if he wasn’t around, Discord had the ability to keep you constantly on your toes.
And she loved every second of it.
Her friends had seen only malicious intent in him during his reformation, much to Fluttershy’s dismay. She knew mean, she experienced mean during her childhood and pure evil like Sombra in her adult life. Discord was a prankster and a bit on the insane side, but had not a single evil bone in his body. Nobody in their right mind would think that, seeing the extent of his powers and what he eventually does with it.
He didn’t have to jump through all those hoops to defeat them when he was released the first time. A snap of his talons and they could have been be scattered across the whole planet. Dying of thirst in the desert, freezing to death on a snowy mountain top, or simply falling to their doom from a large height without wings or horns to do magic.
If he’d felt like being creative, instead of simply incinerating their bodies on the spot.
The possibilities to deal with them had been endless, but Discord had chosen to play games. Games he still played with Fluttershy to her guilty pleasure and she couldn’t see evil in anymore.
A dancing teapot shooting water is annoying, but also really sweet if it hums your favourite song while doing it.
A door that leads to a different place every time you open it wastes your time, but only if you don’t appreciate the possibility of witnessing a sunset over the ocean at any time of the day.
And a giant talking statue of yourself and him dancing can be irritating, until you notice that while his stone version looks crude and ugly, your version is a perfect and masterfully crafted copy of yourself.
Without him, Fluttershy’s days had often been painfully boring. She simultaneously dreaded and longed for his eventual return when Discord would reappear in Fluttershy’s house as if no amount of time had passed, which for him it probably hasn’t. What are a few days or weeks to an immortal being?
All the more, it had been especially worrying for Fluttershy to see him so out of character as he returned this morning. At first she had not noticed anything out of the ordinary, with him sitting quietly at the coffee table and looking out of the window.
Only to freeze halfway through grabbing her mug out of the cabinet, as the realisation hit her like a rock.
Nothing had been out of the ordinary.
Nothing had been out of the ordinary with Discord being around.
“Do you have some playing cards, Fluttershy?” he had asked then, sounding bored.
She had playing cards, dozens of sets actually, for when her friends had come over to play. Sets she had replaced as soon as her new mansion had been built. Fluttershy had opened a drawer in a hurry and given him all of the cards she had, still having frantic thoughts in the back of her head.
“Why does he need playing cards? Why didn’t he just get them with magic? Did… did he just open the door to the living room with his paw?”
Forgetting her breakfast and everything else for that matter, Fluttershy had observed Discord from the kitchen through a crack of the door to this very moment as he built a structure of cards.
No magic, no craziness, no nothing.
As the minutes piled up, so did the intricate object in front of him. She watched from beginning to end and couldn’t tell what it’s supposed to be until it was almost finished. It looked like a simple tower, but soon branched off into several other pillars that looked like legs.
Which somehow turned into an impressive model of an alicorn that resembled Celestia to a tee.
“I can’t remember the last time I did this, Fluttershy,” Discord said, staring into the empty eye sockets of the life-sized alicorn model, “I used to do this all the time for fun, because it reminded me so much of life itself.”
Being caught stalking, Fluttershy timidly walked into the living room to keep the unusually somber and philosophical draconequus company on the couch.
“On it’s own, building with cards follows really simple rules as life does. Nothing ever rests, nothing is relatable on it’s own and always has a source and impact of equal force, everything has an opposite, anything has a given time to manifest and linger, and nothing is ever truly lost.”
She did her best to follow his explanation, but couldn’t quite grasp what he meant by that. Seeing her questioning look, Discord continued regardless.
“Somebody who knows all this information should never be surprised by anything.”
He took out a card from the center of the model and large parts started to crumble away, until it looked exactly like Princess Luna to Fluttershy’s amazement.
“And I do know it, Fluttershy,” Discord said with sad tone, “although, I try my hardest not to. Given enough time, even the dumbest can unravel the mysteries of the universe and the boredom that comes with that epiphany.”
Another card was pulled and she looked awestruck at the replica of Twilight.
"She will learn this too, though I think that it’d be best that she doesn’t.”
The Twilight model lost it’s wings as two more cards were pulled.
“The only saving grace of this predestined train ride we call life, are the small unexpected bumps along the way that shake things up and still manage to surprise us, which have sadly become less and less frequent in my existence.”
He poked Fluttershy in the ribs to make her jerk and she involuntarily bucked the table. That sudden movement let the whole structure of cards collapse on the table and floor. She looked horrified at the random pile of cards, feeling a bit sad of the destruction of something so beautiful.
“Look closer. What do you see?”
Realizing his intention, she stared at the pile with squinted eyes until the random shapes and colors formed a picture in the same fashion as a rorschach test.
“I see two rabbits, wearing cute hats and embracing each other.”
“Really?” Discord said, squinting his own eyes before chuckling, “I can’t see anything, but that’s to be expected.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t get it.”
He gently put his paw on her head. “Be glad, you don’t...”
This was the first time, Fluttershy truly understood how old Discord really was.
“I think I lost my edge, Flutters.”
He looked so very old right now, his expression unmoving like stone and focused in the distance.
“Do you know what it’s like to be bested in something you’re supposed to be the embodiment of?”
Fluttershy knew what this was all about, but kept silent to let him finish.
“I took pride in my craft and the ability to squeeze out every single bit of chaos to disrupt the grand plan, relishing in the thought that nobody could do things like I did.”
The card pile vanished with a snap of his talons and reappeared neatly stacked on the table. Drawing a card from the nearest deck, he looked at a Celestia version of the queen of hearts.
“Tia wasn’t even very original or revolutionary yesterday. I’ve done things just like that in the past, but…”
Discord snapped with his talons again, to let a chalkboard appear in the middle of the room. As he walked around in thought, several different colored lines started to form on the board, drawing a picture.
Fluttershy could recognize what most of the crude doodles should represent, if only through the color and general shape. In the center was an especially ugly drawing of Celestia with a huge butt and numerous circles drawn around it.
“Our usually so painfully boring princess created a chaotic masterpiece with tools, I’ve regarded as inferior for such magnitude. A mismatched cacophony of off-tuned instruments that somehow in summary made the most beautiful symphony that I’ve ever heard.”
It was weird for Fluttershy to hear Discord talk about causing chaos and mayhem as an art form. The thought of planning to be chaotic seemed a contradiction to her.
“The most infuriating thing is that I know how she did it. In hindsight it is painfully obvious, like coloring by numbers with only one crayon to choose from. But for a reason unknown to me, I can’t for the life of me figure out what she’s gonna do next.”
The Celestia doodle on the chalkboard started shaking it’s huge butt at Discord with an evil grin.
“It’s similar to playing chess against someone without knowing how the opponents pieces can move.”
Lightning struck the chalkboard from nowhere and only left a huge scorch mark behind.
“Chaos at it’s finest.”
Fluttershy dove behind the couch, startled at this point, but still desperately trying to pay attention to Discord from the floor.
“Have I met my match? Is it possible for me to be beaten that easily in my own game? And why am I so happy about it, that I could cry for joy?”
Discord turned around to the couch and frowned at the now empty spot. Peeking behind it, he saw a ball of yellow fur quivering on the floor. Grabbing her with his magic, Discord levitated Fluttershy gently beside him with an apologetic expression on his face.
One look at that face, and she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him.
As usual.
“I really don’t think so,” Fluttershy said, patting his paw, “I mean, you’re the only being with powers like yours.”
He didn’t return her gesture, but didn’t stop her either. “Yes I am, but they also make me complacent with my work.”
He struck a thinker pose with his chin resting on his fist and petrified to solid stone. She got the joke, but nonetheless didn’t find it funny to see him like that. The possibility for this to be permanent had been too real in the past.
Every time he moved or talked, Fluttershy could see small parts of him crumble away.
“Do I have my magic, because I’m the Spirit of Chaos? Or is it only my magic that empowers me to be one?”
“Isn’t that the same?” Fluttershy said, tilting her head.
Discord shed out of his stone skin like a snake, showering the living room with debris and dust.
“For me it couldn’t be more different, my dear Fluttershy. It makes the difference between having earned your place, and having a title only because of predestined circumstances despite someone being more capable than me.”
She noticed his disdain as he spoke the word “predestined”.
“You think that it’s only your powers that make you the Spirit of Chaos?”
“I want to find out.”
“How?”
Before she could blink, Discord vanished and a unicorn stallion of her size with a brown coat took his place. He wore a grey suit that complimented his mane and beard in the same color. The white streaks in them gave him a regal aura, clashing heavily with his goofy smile.
“By starting from scratch, not as spirit but as missionary and explorer of chaos,” he said, admiring his new form at the mirror, “what do you think? Definitely an upgrade to my old ugly self.”
“You weren’t ugly…”
Fluttershy watched him almost tumble over his own hooves. “That’s... nice of you to say, Fluttershy. So... what should be my cutie mark?”
Symbols started to appear on his flank in rapid succession as he tried to find something that captured his chaotic and random personality. While he got more and more into his task, Fluttershy got more and more panicky. It didn’t take a genius in her eyes to see, that his newfound enthusiasm meant trouble.
“Appearance aside, your powers are still there, aren’t they?”
Discord stopped admiring his rear and frowned. A heartfelt smile grew on Fluttershy’s face as he turned himself back to his old disproportioned self.
“That’s true, I haven’t thought of that. My magic would tamper with the results of the experiment.”
Her heart got lighter again. Fluttershy felt it would take just a bit more, and she would have convinced him to drop this stupid idea. Thinking feverishly for arguments, she said the first reasonable thing that came to mind.
“And it’s not like you could simply give them away.”
She knew in an instant from his euphoric look that it was that simple.
“That’s it Flutters, you’re brilliant!”
Fluttershy wanted to protest, to stop him from making a mistake, but any resistance melted as Discord did something he hadn’t ever done before.
He picked her up like a doll and gave Fluttershy a kiss right on the lips.
There had been hugs in the past. Discord thought very little of personal space and was always one of the first to initiate physical contact, but this was most likely the first genuine kiss he had shared with somebody to Fluttershy’s knowledge. The one with Princess Celestia didn’t count in her book, as both of them were drunk and he got beaten up pretty bad for it.
“You’re welcome…” she said dreamily, inhaling the cotton candy scent of his coat.
Doing some twirls with the small mare in his arms, Discord wore the largest grin of his life. “And I’ve already got the perfect pony in mind to give it to.”
At the same time at the airship...
“I hope you learned something from your little stunt,” Luna said, using her magic to smear some butter on her toast.
Instead of answering, Frank took his third gulp from the sixth mug of coffee this morning. Luna noticed with a frown how he still wasn’t able to use his magic to grasp the mug, shakily holding it between his hooves and ignoring the pain as the scalding hot liquid shot down his throat.
Blueblood sat to Frank’s right with some warm chocolate milk. “What’s there to learn, brother? I thought what aunty did was super fun!”
Luna’s gaze went to her nephew and softened at the sight. The young stallion had begged Frank early in the morning to borrow his costume and wore it now with the enthusiasm of a colt playing superhero. Frank couldn’t deny how well the “Hulk Hogan” look suited him.
She actually laughed when he started flexing and tried to look intimidating, missing how his fake moustache was now dripping with the brown beverage.
“Yes it was fun, nephew,” Luna said as she wiped his mouth with a napkin, “so much so, that there isn’t any reason to do it again anytime soon, right Tia?”
All she got as an answer, was some unintelligible mumbling in his mug of coffee.
Frowning again, Luna took the knife and put it into the nearby glass jar with jam. Frank winced as the metal utensil hit the inner side, producing an audible clank and adding to his murderous headache. Unaffected by his anguish, she put some extra pressure on the knife, creating a sound that made his teeth hurt.
“You are so lucky, that I love you more than anything,” Frank thought, looking at the smug Luna with bloodshot eyes.
It felt weird to just sit normally on the breakfast table after what had happened in the last few days. Between totally going rampant in Ponyville and almost getting obliterated by Twilight Sparkle, this mundane activity seemed out of place. Luna and Frank fully expected something to break this peace and quiet at any second, but as their breakfast went on nothing happened.
“That reminds me. Here’s your pretty necklace, aunty.”
At first.
Frank looked at the ancient artifact on the table and got lost in the sparkling ruby centerpiece. Like in trance, he inched closer with his hoof and licked his lips in anticipation. The solution to his plight seemed so simple now. All Frank would have to do, is to snap that little trinket around his neck to get going again.
A vicious slap on his hoof brought Frank back, making him snarl at the perpetrator like a wild animal without looking who it was. When he finally did with bared teeth, Frank saw the teal eyes from Luna staring at him with worry.
Mere inches apart from being poked out by his horn.
Nobody in the room dared to speak as the seconds passed. Blueblood had dove under the table and glanced at his two aunts with fear. Luna just stood there with a stone-faced expression to hide any emotion that she felt right now, in blatant contrast to Frank whose face couldn’t fell fast enough in horror.
“Nephew, could you see how Trusty is doing? Tia and I, have something to discuss.”
Blueblood could read the mood in the room and nodded, before leaving the table in a quick pace. Once he was gone, Frank shakily buried his face in his front legs. “We need to get rid of that thing...”
“That sounds like a really good idea to me, sister,” Luna said with a healthy dose of sarcasm and ire in her voice.
Which wasn’t directed at Frank directly, but at the alicorn amulet. Luna hated this artifact with a passion. It was a curse like none other, lulling their wearers into a state of false security and dragging them to their inevitable doom.
“I’m sorry, Luna…”
Or leaving a guilt-ridden soul behind.
They tried everything in the old days to get rid of it, but nothing worked. The thing was virtually indestructible and had a mind of it’s own. The bottom of the sea or the center of the sun, were two of the first places they tried to no avail. Some unlucky sod would find it some decades later in the belly of a fish or smoldering in a crater when it somehow reentered the planet.
Eighteen times, they had to deal with the amulet during their rule, not counting the thousand years her sister had to do it alone. Luna shuddered, thinking about how many more times they would have to endure it. The battle against the amulet was a war of attrition, which her sister had finally crumbled under.
Whoever made this godforsaken trinket, Luna hoped they burned in Tartarus for all eternity.
“It’s alright,” Luna said, rubbing his back, “I know the ugly side of temptation firsthoof.”
Frank chuckled dryly. “So, it’s my turn now to be banished to the sun?”
The sudden hug from her was as tight as a vice. He wiggled a bit against her grip, but those strong legs wouldn’t release him, as if Luna feared that he would disappear the moment she let go.
“Not funny...”
“Very sensitive Frank, you goddamn idiot,” he scolded himself, returning her hug.
As a consequence, Frank stopped trying to get free and they remained like this for a while. He started to get a bit sleepy again from Luna’s body heat and sweet smell. Just in time to stop him from nodding off, she said something quietly in his ear.
“This may sound weird... but a small part of me is happy that this happened. Do you know why?”
Frank suppressed a yawn and answered. “A sadistic pleasure of seeing me suffer?”
“No dummy,” Luna said, bonking him on the head, “because you’re actually behaving like a pony with flaws and weaknesses.”
“That’s good how?”
Luna was baffled. Her sister really didn’t seem to know why.
“Do you have any idea how intimidating and unapproachable you are? How inferior ponies can feel in your wake? Twilight was your student for over a decade, and she still grovels like an unworthy servant at your hooves.”
Frank couldn’t deny the truth of that. Way before he experienced it himself, Frank hated how spineless Twilight was in the show when it came to her mentor. When his antics had a positive effect at all, then it was her newfound wariness against him.
Blind fealty is never a good thing.
“Speaking of her, how exactly did Twilight solve your problem yesterday?”
“She didn’t. Blueblood did. The little guy saved me from getting my ass beat by her.”
Luna let go and looked at him with raised eyebrows. Frank mimicked that look when she toppled over backwards and started to cackle, kicking wildly with all four legs.
“I fail to see what’s so funny about that.”
“Really?”
Frank sighed with a smirk. “No, not really. Why are we around anymore? She’s so much better than us at this whole princess thing, it’s almost ludicrous.”
“You aren’t thinking of quitting, you crazy old coot?”
She winced at her own insult. Her sister was not vain in any way, but her age and immortality had always been a bit of a sore spot. Outliving everyone you know and the repeated pain of loss can be a real strain on your psyche. She had involuntarily stepped on a landmine and waited with bated breath for it to go off.
Nothing came.
“With you on my side?” Frank replied, rubbing her cheek with his hoof, “sounds wonderful.”
This caused Luna to blush again. Even if it was only meant as a joke, to hear that he would abandon his duties and choose her over them made Luna happy beyond belief.
“What’s taking Trusty so long?” Luna said a bit choked up, pouring herself a cup of juice and trying to divert Frank’s attention from her beet red head, “didn’t she have something important to tell us yesterday?”
Thankfully, Blueblood came back at the right time to save her from further embarrassment. “She’s coming any second, aunties. I found her snoring under the bedsheets and she wouldn’t get up from my yelling.”
“So what did you do?” Frank asked casually, while Luna was taking a sip from her cup.
“I climbed onto the bed and tried to shake her, but she grabbed me instead.”
“And then?”
“We cuddled.”
Luna did a spit take on Frank and followed up with a nasty cough when some of the liquid came out of her nose. Frank only responded with a deadpan expression as the mixture of orange juice and princess snot ran down his face.
“You cuddled.”
Ignoring the combined stares of the alicorns, Blueblood continued with a content smile on his face.
“Yep, it was pretty nice actually. With her being asleep, I would call it sleepcuddling though. It’s rare these days to find somepony who is willing to do that with me without getting weird about it.”
“Weird how?” Frank asked, sensing a sudden mood shift in the room from which the still happy prince seemed unaffected.
“Some of the castle maids were eager to do that with me in the past, but at some point started touching me at weird spots and showing me theirs.”
“Oh god, don’t tell me…”
“Remember aunty? You got really flustered when I asked about those spots and showed you what they did to me. Strangely enough, nopony ever tried to do it anymore after that and we never found out why.”
Frank had never felt so uncomfortable in his life.
“YOU DIDN’T HAVE ‘THE TALK’ WITH HIM?!”
And it got worse.
“Apparently not, Luna.”
“HE’S IN HIS TWENTIES!”
“Luna, indoor voice please.”
Blueblood pouted. “What do you mean? Me and aunty Tia talk all the time.”
Trusty chose the following silence as the exact moment to burst into the room, receiving various kinds of stares from the three ponies inside. Blueblood looked just as happy and innocent as he had the whole time, while Frank looked incredibly relieved and Luna glared at Trusty as if she was trying to melt steel.
She bowed down so low, that her nose hit the floor.
“I overslept! I’m so sorry your Highnesses!
“Oh look nephew, it’s Trusty with very important news for us,” Frank said, frantically guiding Blueblood out of the room, “here, take some bits to do whatever you want in town. We’ll continue this conversation later!”
“How much later, aunty?”
“Much, much later, nephew.”
Meanwhile, Trusty was still bowing and saw suddenly two silver clad hooves in front of her face.
“You’re in the know about his condition right?”
Trusty flinched at the sharpness of Luna’s tone and nodded without looking up.
“That’s what I thought, you’re a smart mare after all. Unfortunately, it came to my attention only recently and I can’t help but feel some motherly need to ensure the wellbeing of my nephew. So it’s needless to say, that any kind of exploitation of him on your part would have consequences.”
Trusty’s head shot up from the ground to look directly at Luna.
“I assure your Highness, that this morning was only…”
Luna eyes turned catlike for a second. “Dire consequences.”
Frank came back just in time to witness it. “Don’t scare her like that, Luna. Trusty has always been good to him and will be so in the future. Right?”
“Of course your Highness!”
“Good. With that out of the way, lets start our meeting. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can figure out how the hell to teach my adult nephew about the birds and bees! Please tell me you have educational movies about this?”
“Tia, focus,” Luna said, helping Trusty on her hooves, “Trusty, please begin your report.”
“How bad could it actually be?” thought Frank, taking seat and watching Trusty take a deep breath before starting.
Twenty minutes of explanation later...
“Well… shit.”
Frank and Luna stood there with wide open mouths, trying to process the information as best as possible.
It was hard to decide on what item of her lengthy list of problems to focus on. For Frank, It was a three-way tie between the issue of future payment of all the state employees like guards and officials, the prospect of losing the public trust in general, and the fact that a huge chunk of that wasted money wasn’t really theirs to begin with.
Approximately half of it was only meant to be stored for the surrounding nations as a means to exchange currency.
He had wondered why there were griffons and minotaurs on some of those spent coins.
“We’re so screwed.”
Leave it to Luna to summarize the situation in four words.
“I wouldn’t go that far, sweetums.”
“Not that far? Tia, this thing couldn’t be farther gone if you sent it to the moon!” she said, starting to hyperventilate into a conjured paper bag, “That’s where you and I are heading for, unless we find a solution and fast!”
“There, there. No need to get upset.”
The paper bag popped, but was still stuck on her face like a muzzle. “How can you be so calm? This is all your fault in the first place. How could we possibly make this much money in such a short time?”
“Prostitution and drugs?”
Both mares looked at him with expressionless faces.
“Just thinking out loud, ladies. Geez, get a sense of humor.”
“THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER, TIA! I SWEAR YOU WILL BE THE END—”
He gave Luna a swift kiss, which startled her into silence. It looked kinda silly with the paper bag still on her face like a censor, blocking the sight of those two mouths going at it. The wet slurping sounds and moans were enough though, for Trusty to blush and try to look away awkwardly.
They stopped eventually to Trusty’s great relief and Frank pulled the paper bag off her face. “Please Luna, for my poor ears sake. I get it, this is all my fault.”
“You have a plan?” Luna said, still a bit dazed from the kiss they had shared.
Frank nuzzled her cheek. “I know what to do.”
Trusty and Luna both relaxed from Frank’s calm demeanor. For them, the situation looked to be hopelessly in the toilet with no way out. His treatment of this problem as a non-issue made their faces light up in hope.
“We have until the weekend is over before it becomes impossible to hide anymore, your Highness.”
“That’s plenty of time, Trusty.” Frank said, trying to use his magic to summon a pair of sunglasses for emphasis. All he got was a weak zizzle, paired with nausea and a searing pain in his head. Miffed about his failure, Frank turned to leave. “If you’d excuse me, I’ve got plans for today.”
Luna tackled him in the side with the force of a cannonball. Tumbling to the floor, he felt her lay on top of him and pinning him on the spot. One of his hooves found grip on the floor to pull himself along the ground while Luna held on for dear life.
“Oh no you don’t!” Luna said, applying more force and weight to stop him from crawling away. Frank was at an advantage due to his weight and size, making Luna struggle against him with everything she had. Then she realized that on the contrary to his magic, hers was perfectly fine and ready for use.
Two little glows around his hindlegs, and Frank dangled upside down from the ceiling.
“Luna, not in front of the hired help!” Frank said, acting coyly and using his tail to hide what you couldn’t see from this angle anyway, “That’s naughty!”
One glance at the empty spot where Trusty had stood told Luna that their secretary had fled the premise as soon as they had started their little floor wrestling.
“Stop being cheeky. You are still worn out from yesterday. No magic and no flying!”
Frank frowned, clearly disappointed. “How am I supposed to get around town without my magic and wings?”
He got flipped around and seated on his haunches, before a flash from her horn let an object appear in front of him.
“You’ve got to be kidding me...”
“Nope! Look, it even got cushions!”
“You really are lucky that I love you so much…” Frank thought, taking a seat in Luna’s chosen form of transportation.
Some time later at Ponyville market...
“Why is Princess Luna pulling her sister around in a red wagon for little foals?”
That was the question on everyone’s mind as the eye-catching duo paraded down the street. While Luna replied to the stares and murmurs with happy smiles and waves, Frank just buried his face in both hooves to hide his embarrassment. His posterior did barely fit in that wagon, forcing him to sit like a dog with his hindlegs hanging out on the side.
“Couldn’t you have made this a bit bigger?” Frank hissed at his royal chauffeur and winced as the rattly wagon hit another bump in the road.
“My apologies, sister!” Luna said chipperly, “It’s the same size it was the last time we used it. Maybe you gained a bit of weight on those generous curves of yours.”
“You don’t like my butt?”
“I love your butt! The more the better!”
“Are you calling me fat? I’m in the best shape of my life!”
“Tia, I would never…”
Somehow mesmerized by that display, most of the surrounding townsfolk waited until the princesses were out of sight before continuing their daily tasks.
One of those ponies was Rainbow Dash on her lunch break. In contrast, her two lunch partners showed a distinct lack of interest in what had happened. Spitifire’s head rested lazily on the table, still tired from the strenuous flight yesterday, but too proud to admit it to their youngsters.
Lightning Dust on the other hand just didn’t give a hoot.
“Waiter, another drink!”
The irritated stallion carrying the trays, gave Lightning Dust a withering look. She pulled out a sack of coins from her saddlebag and jingled with it in front of his nose, which lightened his attitude towards her tremendously as he put the large keg of hard liquor on the table.
“Keep em coming, this one’s gonna be gone in a moment!”
Even for her standards, Lightning Dust seemed to be in an extremely bad mood. Rainbow Dash glanced into the keg after she was done with her first gulp and noticed with awe, that already half of it was gone.
“Slow it down, It’s barely past morning and you’re gonna drink yourself straight to the hospital at that speed. Aren’t you a top athlete? Don’t let yourself go that much!”
The keg hit the table hard as Lightning Dust put it down. She licked the foam from her upper lip and gave Rainbow Dash a hard glare.
“Let me tell you something about how I do things: When I don’t challenge myself, I train. When I don’t train, I try to have fun. And when I’m not having fun, I drink.”
Lightning Dust took the half-empty keg and downed it as visual aid.
“But not matter what I do, I do it to it’s utmost limit. If I can’t take it, then at least I kick the bucket happy.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “That’s a very sad way to live your life.”
“What more is there, Dashie?”
“Important things!” Rainbow Dash said enraged at her companions lack of enthusiasm, “like family and friends!”
Lightning Dust sighed into her empty keg. “You're lucky that you're so good at what you do. Otherwise you can be unbelievably dull, Dashie.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“Is that an order, boss?”
Ready to throw down, Rainbow Dash smacked the keg from the table. Lightning Dust’s eyes went wide for a second, but then she grinned as every muscle in her body visibly tensed up. The keg had been empty, but the gesture was what counted for both of them.
Lightning Dust needed to vent after they had arrived too late yesterday and the excitement was already over. Rainbow Dash saw now that she’d given her the perfect excuse to start a good old fashioned hoof-fight as a substitute event. She tensed up as well when Lightning Dust grabbed the table to flip it, ignoring the head of Spitfire that was still resting on top.
“Rainbow Dash!”
And relaxed from a familiar voice calling her.
“Scootaloo?”
The two mares turned their heads in the direction from which the sound had come from, and saw a small orange and fuchsia dot in the distance, which got larger and more defined at an extremely fast rate.
Lightning Dust grudgingly let go of the table. “Scootaloo? What kind of name is that?”
“Don’t mock her! She’s my number one fan, and practically a sister to me!”
Lightning Dust glanced from Rainbow Dash to the running filly with sudden interest, raising an eyebrow as she increased her speed even further to get to their table quicker, seemingly unaffected by the heavy looking package on her back.
“Is that so?”
“I’m her idol,” Rainbow Dash said with a puffed out chest, “she wants to be exactly like me in the future.”
The small glimmer in Lightning Dust’s eyes vanished. “What a waste. There’s already somebody like you, yourself. Why not let her strive to be better than you?”
Scootaloo arrived at the table before Rainbow Dash could ask what she meant by that.
“Hey squirt, you won’t believe what—”
“Sorry Rainbow Dash, I’m already late as it is. Here’s the Daring Do book you gave me to read.”
The thick book hit the table and Rainbow Dash blinked twice, having lost her train of thought from being interrupted by Scootaloo. She pulled herself out of it just in in time to look at her retreating back.
“Oh yeah,” Lightning Dust said smugly, nudging the book on the table with her hoof, “I can feel the love and admiration from here. What do you say old timer?”
Spitfire only groaned, pulling the book towards her and using it as a cushion.
Rainbow Dash bolted from her seat and swooped up Scootaloo with her forelegs, flying back to their table and sitting her down on the fourth seat.
“What’s the hurry? Come on sit down with us, we haven’t really talked in a while.”
“When was the last time?”
That put Rainbow Dash on the spot. After some thought she realized that they never had a simple talk about things in the past. When they talked, it was usually about how awesome she is and what shenanigans the crusaders had been in recently.
Seeing her absentminded look, Scootaloo took the initiative. “Look another time maybe, I’m currently returning all the things I lent from ponies, which is a lot because I don’t own much myself.”
“Why?”
“I’m moving out from the orphanage in a few weeks and wanted to return everything before that.”
“Orphanage?”
Scootaloo’s eyes twitched slightly. “That’s where I live. I don’t have parents or related family.”
“You never told me that.”
“You never cared enough to ask, I guess.”
Her retort hurt in Rainbow’s chest. There had been no sadness or disappointment in Scootaloo’s voice as she said that. It sounded like she was stating a simple fact, and Rainbow Dash didn’t like it. She also didn’t like the sudden laughter from Lightning Dust from behind that made her turn around.
“What’s so goddamn funny?”
Lightning Dust, fully unimpressed by Rainbow’s anger, wiped the tears from her eyes and answered. “I’ve never heard of a good sister that didn’t know her sibling had no parents. That’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one. You two are entertaining as hell!”
Suppressing the urge to deck Lightning Dust in the face, Rainbow Dash forced herself to calm down and turned back to Scootaloo.
“Where are you moving to? I want to visit you.”
“Detrot.”
That got the attention of everyone around the table. Spitfire was now wide awake and sat upright on her seat, while some of the customers at the surrounding tables started to murmur.
Lightning Dust whistled. “You’ve got guts kid. That city is a criminal-infested dump.”
She was right about that. Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of many other places she disliked more than this city. A city with high crime rates and unemployment, mostly governed by corrupt officials and large companies with little to no influence by the princesses. Most visitors from other nations see Equestria as the jewel of the world, but Detrot is the one city where harmony is told to piss off.
A tough city, that made tough ponies.
Scootaloo glanced over to Lightning Dust to address her. “I heard that too, but their hoofball team is one of the best in Equestria.”
“What does that have to do with you being adopted?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m not getting a real family in the traditional sense. The Detrot Busters have an aid programme for young players and want me to join it. They have special living quarters for their staff, and as long as I play for them I get to stay.”
Spitfire and Lightning Dust snorted at the words “aid programme” and Rainbow Dash knew exactly why. The Detrot Busters were without a shadow of a doubt the best hoofball team out here, but that came only to fruition through brutal natural selection.
Either you get good or you’re tossed aside.
“Think about this Scootaloo, do you really want to be adopted by someone who only does it to benefit from your talent?”
Scootaloo didn’t hesitate for a second. “If my only other choice is nobody, then yeah. I’ll take my chances.”
The uncomfortable feeling returned with a vengeance to Rainbow’s chest, while the corners of Lightning Dust’s mouth started to rise slowly as Scootaloo continued.
“For a long time, I thought that eventually somepony would come for me and give me a real home. If I was patient enough, I would get a real loving mother who would show me how to be a proper mare, and a dad that would teach me how to fly with these tiny wings of mine.
“Staring at that closed door and waiting for it to open, day after day, was my whole reason to get up in the morning until I met Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“That hoofball game was one of the happiest moments in my life and opened my eyes to reality. I’m done with waiting for something good to happen. Screw the door and screw everyone not opening it for me up to this point! If it won’t open, I’ll kick it down myself; smash it into splinters!”
And yet again, Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear any sadness or disappointment in her voice, just acceptance and determination for the cards life had dealt the little filly. It was simultaneously heartwrenching and awe-inspiring to look at.
“Congratulations to your epiphany kid. It took me way longer to realize how shitty life can be!” Lightning Dust said happily, sporting the glimmer from earlier in her eyes.
The waiter put another large keg of alcoholic cider in front of her. Under the gazes of Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, she downed the whole thing in one go.
The giddiness of her behaviour didn’t quite match the seriousness of her following words. “Life is no whimsical journey full of rainbows and fairy dust. It’s a brutal infight with one mean son of a bitch, beating the crap out of you with metal-spiked hooves until you drop on the ground and stop moving.”
“Never stop moving!” Lightning Dust said in louder voice, now standing on the table, “Being content with what you got is for failures and wusses!”
She jumped down from it, throwing a few punches in the air. “From the ground is the best position to punch life in the balls as hard as you can. Then drag it kicking and screaming by the mane to have your way with it!”
The two adult mares at the table were horrified at the crudeness of Lightning Dust’s words. That was no way to speak in front of a child, but luckily for them, Scootaloo seemed to be still innocent enough to not know that last phrase.
Her smile indicated that the little filly got the general gist of the speech though.
“I like you. I’m Lightning Dust,” she said, reaching out with her hoof, “remember that name. Once you become a famous athlete, I’ll come to challenge and beat you.”
Scootaloo hesitantly shook the outreached hoof. “Aren’t you a Wonderbolt? I’ll be playing hoofball, so no flying.”
“So? The game doesn’t matter,” Lightning Dust said, letting go of Scootaloo’s hoof to look at her own with interest, “I’ll beat you anyways, but first you’ve got to get good for it to be worth my while.”
“Anyway… I really have to go now. See you guys later!”
Rainbow Dash watched Scootaloo run away with a huge lump in her throat. There would be some serious effort required to patch up their relationship and to become something remotely like a sister to that filly again. She wondered when everything had gone so wrong from those heartfelt moments during the camping trip not long ago.
Lightning Dust stepped beside her with a similar intense stare, but for completely different reasons. “To think that somepony could be like this at that age… gives me goosebumps… and I love it!”
The buck to the face came faster than lightning.
Lightning Dust was barely able to find her bearings from her new position on the floor, before Rainbow Dash pressed her nose firmly against hers.
“Are you insane? You can’t talk like that with a kid, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Good competition is rare and I have to plan for the future, especially with that kind of potential rival to look forward to,” Lightning Dust said, pinching Rainbow Dash’s cheeks, ”but no worries, you’ll always have a special place in my heart Dashie.”
Rainbow shoved her away. “Again with the touching and the nicknames! Keep your hooves to yourself! Do you have the hots for me or something?”
The moment it crossed her lips, Rainbow Dash regretted saying those words. The look on Lightning Dust’s face went thoughtful. She closed her eyes and started to grin like a predator with the occasional giggle strewn in for good measure.
“Haven’t thought about it, but it sounds pretty good in my head,” Lightning Dust cooed, opening her eyes with a hungry glimmer sparkling in them, “you’re quite the looker. Wanna rut later?”
The asked pegasus could only facehoof at that.
A few streets away...
“That mare is weird,” Scootaloo said to herself, walking to the meeting spot which she and Sweetie Belle had agreed upon earlier.
She was hoping that Sweetie Belle had been patient enough to wait for her and was still there. Returning the book had taken more time than planned, mostly because she hasn’t been able stop herself from rambling. In hindsight, Scootaloo felt like the way she told Rainbow Dash about her plans was a bit much.
With Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, she couldn’t and wouldn’t be as blunt.
Timing was everything in her eyes. It wasn’t for a good while until the hoofball season started and she would have to move, so there was still time to have fun with her friends. After that, Scootaloo would tell them and hopefully soften the emotional blow with a well thought out explanation.
“One I currently don’t have…” Scootaloo thought grimly, jogging down the path to Ponyville Center.
Halfway there, Sweetie Belle already came running towards her.
“There you are!”
Sweetie Belle grabbed her without another word and dragged Scootaloo along, but not in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Where are we going? Apple Bloom lives that way!”
“Small change of plans! You won’t believe this! It’s them!”
“What about Apple Bloom and who’s them?”
“It won’t take long to see for yourself. Come on!”
Both fillies ran as fast as they could, or in Scootaloo’s case, as fast as to not leave Sweetie Belle in the dust. A few moments later, they closed in on the northern entrance of town and heard a familiar catchy tune echoing through the streets with some pieces of sung lyrics here and there.
…opportunity in this very community…
“There’s no way that those two would ever show their faces in town again!” Scootaloo thought with wide eyes, glancing back at Sweetie Belle.
...the world famous Flim Flam brothers...
“Ok, that clears up all uncertainty, but what in the world would drive them to come back?”
...Traveling salesponies nonpareil!!...
They turned around a corner and froze at the sight before them. There stood the familiar vehicle from last cider season in the middle of the road. The large train-like machine known as the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 and the two lanky unicorn stallions who named it that were surrounded by a large crowd of ponies, which slowly dispersed because the song was over.
One of the twins with the red moustache they knew as Flam, wore his signature striped vest and strawboater hat, while the other one whose name was Flim had strangely enough only his hat on. Where the vest went was answered, as a door to a hidden cabin inside the machine opened and a familiar orange hoof poked out.
“Although you’re good for nothing vermin most of the time, I simply can’t get enough of this song. Come on sing it again! Start at the chorus and give me your hat, Flim! I feel naked without one!”
The addressed stallion grumbled in annoyance, but tossed his hat at the outstretched hoof who caught it. Soon after, the pony which the hoof belonged to stepped out completely and let the fillies jaw drop.
“Applejack!?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle yelled, getting the mare’s attention on top of the vehicle. Both of them weren’t sure if it was really her. She talked like Applejack, had the same cutie mark as Applejack, and definitely had the same smile as Applejack, although it looked much wider than normal.
Everything else was seriously off.
Her trademark stetson hat was nowhere to be found as she wore Flim’s hat and vest instead, the stallion was currently wearing nothing. Her movement had an unusual spring to it, while she shuffled closer to them at the edge of the vehicle with dance-like moves.
“Howdy, you two,” she said, jumping down from it and looking back to yell at the brothers, “come on guys get to work on that hunk of junk, I don’t pay you for nothing!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle couldn’t hear what they were mumbling as a response, but both of them were sure it wasn’t anything nice.
“Oh, shush you! You know you love me!”
“Yes, we do…” Flim and Flam said, before sighing loudly and continuing to work on the vehicle.
“Yes, we do whaaaaat?” Applejack replied with a sing-song voice.
“Yes we do, Miss Apple.”
Her eyes turned half lidded in bliss. “Hmm, gives me shivers every time!”
Applejack blushed as she noticed that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were still staring at her warily. Trying to find something to change the subject, her eyes fell on somepony sitting on a table outside a nearby diner and eating a meager looking sandwich.
Meager was also the word you could use to describe the establishment the table belonged to, which was much less appealing than the one Scootaloo had seen Rainbow Dash at earlier. The large stallion eating the sandwich though, wasn’t for all intents and purposes.
Applejack rubbed her eyes a few times. “Who’s that?”
“Who? The one who looks like a unicorn version of Big Macintosh?” Sweetie Belle asked, following her gaze to the big red stallion and recognizing him, “his name is Crusher, he was with me in the magic competition yesterday. He looks mean, but seems nice enough from what I could tell.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He apologised for having to beat me up… what?” Sweetie Belle said under the deadpan stare of her friend. “What? That was nice! Right Applejack?”
Both fillies turned to get the farm pony’s input and found an empty spot. Meanwhile, Applejack had walked up to the table and looked at the stallion with interest.
“What’s your name big guy?”
Crusher looked up from his sparse meal and eyed Applejack suspiciously. He held his emotionless stare under the bright smile of Applejack shining at him.
“Crusher.”
She said nothing further and started to walk around the sitting stallion, scrutinizing every inch of his body and making him visibly nervous. As the waitress came, Applejack asked for a pen and a piece of paper from her notepad. After drawing for a few moments, she held it in front of her to look at Crusher and covered his cutie mark with it.
“Do you want a job?” Applejack finally said, grumbling the piece of paper and putting a hoof on his foreleg with a wolfish expression.
Crusher looked down as she rubbed over his biceps. “Depends… what kind of job?”
Applejack lifted one his forelegs with two hooves and surveyed the muscles and veins running under his coat with great interest.
“You look like a big and strong stallion, capable of pulling his own weight. Those two are lacking at that part.”
“Hey!” Flim and Flam said in unison, before looking at their spindly legs and grumpily continuing their work on the vehicle.
“Do you need any references or recommendations?”
She sat down on the empty seat opposite of him and thought about Crusher’s question, cupping her chin in both hooves and finally stating the following answer in a serious tone.
“Say ‘eyup’ for me.”
“Eyup?”
Applejack tilted her head and pouted. “Hmm nope, not feeling it… but wait a second!”
Under the stares of Crusher, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and the brothers, Applejack went into the closest clothing store.
“She behaves really weird.” Sweetie Belle said slowly, not leaving her eyes from the storefront.
“You don’t know the half of it kid.” Flim replied, while his brother nodded in approval.
Several minutes later, Applejack came out of the store with a stetson hat that looked almost exactly like her old one. She wordlessly put it on Crusher’s head and hid his horn beneath it. Taking a step back, her eyes sparkled from his new look.
“Now say it again, but this time slower and more pronounced.”
“Eyup...”
“No, deeper and with more feeling!”
“EYUP!”
“DEEEPPPEERR YOU PANSY!”
That pushed him over the edge.
“EEEEYUUUUP!” Crusher yelled in a volume, which made quite a lot of the townponies turn their heads or open windows.
Applejack just stared entranced at him with big glossy eyes, flushed cheeks and ringing ears. Crusher looked really uncomfortable as a little strain of drool flowed out of her mouth.
“Say that you love me…”
Crusher took a step back from the staring mare. “Beg your pardon?”
Flam sighed and took a small pebble with his magic. After taking aim under the watchful gazes of the two fillies, he shoot it with high velocity against Applejack’s flank that produced a meaty smack and high pitched yelp from her.
“You got the job! Let the brothers show you the ropes,” Applejack said, rubbing her butt before whispering the next part in his ear, “when we’re alone I call you Mac.”
Crusher watched as she strutted to the two fillies with an emphasized sway in her hips and hurried as fast as he could from his table to Flim and Flam.
“Hey guys, what did I just agree to?”
“Congratulations dear friend,” Flim said patting his back as Flam shook Crusher’s hoof, “it seems like you just became Miss Apple’s eyecandy!”
What followed, was a very rapid succession of expressions on Crusher’s face. It changed from shocked, to angry, to thoughtful, and finally after a second good look at Applejack’s retreating flank to a satisfied smile.
“Could be worse. How is the pay?”
Flim answered his question, taking him on the side with his brother. “Well she doesn’t pay us per se. You see in our case it’s more like an allowance...”
The three stallions huddled up under Applejack’s fond gaze and didn’t go unnoticed by Sweetie Belle.
“You seem different Applejack…”
“Yeah, less boring!” Scootaloo blurted out, and got a hard poke in the rib from Sweetie Belle as a result, “I mean…not that you were boring… but in relation to usually… you’re even less boring than before?”
Scootaloo grinned at Sweetie Belle for praise of her brilliant save, who was lying down on the ground to effectively facehoof with both forelegs. Applejack laughed at their routine and ruffled their manes in turn.
“No need to be so tense, I get what you want to say. Things have changed and I try to be less stiff about things.”
Satisfied with her explanation and relieved to have avoided a scolding, Sweetie Belle got up from the floor and joined Scootaloo’s side who currently tried to neaten up her messy mane.
“SHE PAYS HOW MUCH?! FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY SHE CAN CALL ME HUBBY!”
And tumbled back again from the startling yell of Crusher, while Scootaloo had given herself an involuntary mohawk from jerking backward.
Applejack was now fully rolling on the floor, howling and pointing at the two with gusto until she noticed someone missing.
“Where’s Apple Bloom?”
“We’re supposed to meet her at Sweet Apple Acres...” Sweetie Belle said still lying on the ground, pointing in the direction of the orchard, “...where giant black smoke is coming from!”
Everyone present looked in shock at the smoke cloud that had built outside town without anyone noticing. Applejack was the first to recover, tossing the hat on her head back to Flim and jumped on the machine to bark orders.
“Flim! Flam! Get this piece of junk running! Crusher hop on, It seems today is your first workday!”
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YAY!!!!
EEYUP!
This chapter is gewd. :3
Well I loved it, can't talk for anyone else because I'm not them.
So good chapter keep going at your own pase and have fun doing it.
The Applejack part is a bit tough to read...
But ah really liked this chapter as a whole. It's wonderiffic. :3
Ah really liked 1) the Discord part, 2) Celestia/Frank's section, and 3) Applejack bein' mentioned.
Ah'm really excited to read more. Gwah!! Yer too awesometastic.
um... whut? oh dear lordy lord...
Lightning Dust deserved that buck the moment she started talking to Scoots, and AJ!? holy hell in a hand basket!
this is madness
4886470
Could you tell me why?
Are the sentences too long and convoluted? Or is something wrong with the grammar?
3747737 Frank west photo journalist from the game dead rising
3756152 Frank west photo journalist from the game dead rising
4886488 no its chaos :}
4886563
It probably has something to do with his Avatar.
4886563
*It's the least ah could do. Thank's again for the wonderful chapter.
FEEDBACK ON AJ!!! 
...while she shuffled closer to them at the edge of the vehicle with dance-like moves.
What does that even look like???
--------------------------------------------------
“Howdy, you two,” she said, jumping down from it and looking back to yell at the brothers, “come on guys get to work on that hunk of junk, I don’t pay you for nothing!”
Whu...
Mah attempt:
"Ey' Sweetie and Scoots, well ah'll be!!" AJ leaped from the stage. "Now how's-" the mare paused, before turning to Flim and Flim. "Ah said, get that junk workin! What do ah pay you for!" Satisfied, she spun back to the fillies grinning happily. "Sorry 'bout that. That's just how we show our love." squee
--------------------------------------------------
Meager was also the word you could use to describe the establishment the table belonged to, which was much less appealing than the one
Scootaloo had seen Rainbow Dash at earlier.
Nooo... >_>; *squirts water* Baddd. That scene is pointless. An' bad. *squirts water*
--------------------------------------------------
The large stallion eating the sandwich though, wasn’t for all intents and purposes.
Mah attempt:
The large, muscular stallion slowly chewed a daffodil sandwich. *no need ta be fancy*
--------------------------------------------------
...version of Big Macintosh?” Sweetie Belle asked, following her gaze to the big red stallion and recognizing him, “his name is Crusher, he was with me in the magic competition yesterday. He looks mean, but seems nice enough from what I could tell.”
Attempt:
"...version of Big Macintosh?" Sweetie Belle asked, following AJ's gaze. Sweetie shuffled her hooves uncomfortably, as the orange mare began to pant heavily. "Um. His name's Crusher. He was with me in yesterday's competition. He seems... friendly enough."
--------------------------------------------------
“He apologised for having to beat me up… what?”
Attempt:
"He apologized before trying to beat me up... What?"
--------------------------------------------------
Both fillies turned to get the farm pony’s input and found an empty spot. Meanwhile, Applejack had walked up to the table and looked at the stallion with interest. “What’s your name big guy?”
Attempt:
"Applejack, tell Sweetie that... Applejack?" Both fillies stopped arguing, realizing that a certain farm pony had vanished.
"What's yer name, big guy..." cooed a familiar southern drawl. The fillies froze as they watched Applejack wrap herself around the Big Mac-lookalike. "Ah can't hear ya," she giggled.
--------------------------------------------------
He held his emotionless stare under the bright smile of Applejack shining at him.
Attempt:
He watched as the strange orange pony's smile widened. Her warm breath cascaded down his neck.
--------------------------------------------------
She said nothing further and started to walk around the sitting stallion, scrutinizing every inch of his body and making him visibly nervous. As the waitress came, Applejack asked for a pen and a piece of paper from her notepad. After drawing for a few moments, she held it in front of her to look at Crusher and covered his cutie mark with it.
Ah honestly don't wanna retype that entire thing. BUT ah'm sure you could'a wrote this more effectively. Good idea tho. ex: She sniffed his flank, before slapping it hard with a hoof. ex: Applejack's giggled maniacally as she lowered her scribbled paper.
--------------------------------------------------
Applejack lifted one his forelegs with two hooves and surveyed the muscles and veins running under his coat with great interest. “You look like a big and strong stallion, capable of pulling his own weight. Those two are lacking at that part.”
>_>; Ewww. Veins. Could'a did...
Attempt:
She roughly brushed his familiar red coat, almost choking as she felt how large and defined the stallions muscles actually were. "Ah want you." She then slammed a huge sack of golden bits which snapped the small table in half.
--------------------------------------------------
Scootaloo grinned at Sweetie Belle for praise of her brilliant save, who was lying down on the ground to effectively facehoof with both forelegs.
Huh??? I don't get it... ? Please, ah don't even think that's a sentence.
--------------------------------------------------
“SHE PAYS HOW MUCH?! FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY SHE CAN CALL ME HUBBY!”
That's just tacky. >_>;
--------------------------------------------------
Applejack was now fully rolling on the floor, howling and pointing at the two with gusto until she noticed someone missing.
I don't get it. When and why would she laugh on the floor???
--------------------------------------------------
“Flim! Flam! Get this piece of junk running! Crusher hop on, It seems today is your first workday!”
Really weak ending.
--------------------------------------------------
4886842
Ah'm sorry, but whu?
Mah sister's part was strange. Honest!
Grammar error here too. Ah see a misplaced comma.
Eeyup... Discord is REALLY going to fu*k things up now. (No i don't point at the Smoke) but more in the direction of Celestias (franks) time.
Oh and Celestia (frank) would most likely start a war. I'm dead serious with this. Her/his economy is practically crumbling, most likely wanted dead for possible treason from other nations money horde, possible riots from this *new princess* (aside from most stallions I guess...), and finally;
Will fix everything that happened miraculously because of bucking magical rainbows. Yeah. That seems about right.
LATER ON
cdn.justpo.st/images/2014/03/b101d33c9fa8e9f4a86db57e9217fc34.jpg
My two prime candidates for who Discord is going to give his magic to are Fluttershy and Frank. Either one will be very interesting.
what the hell! what has happened to applejack?
4887588 She became an industrialized farmer, alot like miss cherry jubilee, that means she runs the business and may work everynow and again but she is mostly the manager.
4886386 well i asked him if he understand german and that are actually already all persons which should read that. it was just a question for the story. Its easier with my words. If someone are from German i hoped to get the answers.
well i don´t like flim flam, i don´t are the real fan if it comes to Fluttershy and Discord shipping( but it is ok ), and i don´t know what to think of the hint about Applejack like her brother or something like that.
The possible incest thing...... i really don´t like that, but if there are really people who honestly like that, i mean if someone really like someone in his family.....it is hard but i won´t judge them, i think it can happen and their are just poor that it happen to them. But i don´t like Applejack with her brother together, actually i only like Big Mac being together with Cheerilee.
I don´t remember every little thing in the story, the last chapter arrived to long ago, but why is she with Flim Flam?
Honestly i think Rainbow Dash should quit the team and adopt Scootaloo, because Dust and Spitfire are not very responsible there.
I really missed the story, and don´t worry i am not really complaining, i just started to look a bit more at some story elements.
4886997
Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind.
I plan to eventually revisit my older chapters when I've become better.
I'm not a huge fan of writing in accent, so I won't emphasize on Aj's southern drawl.
more
also the smiley again ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Oh AJ, you loosened up but it seems that you drove it a bit too far
Frank, Frank, Frank... good luck solving this mess. This is one that Twi probably won't be able to, and won't even want to, save
4888376
Honestly, I didn't really miss the accent.
It was mostly how the scenes flowed. A bit too rough and unclear, imo.
Scootaloo'a change is still the best. Frank and Luna could still cut and run.
Meanwhile at the crystal empire....
Cadence: "Nice day today isn't it?"
Shining: "Yes, yes it is"
Critique: The number of times Lightning Dust was kicked in this chapter was in the single digits.
0/10
Would kick again.
Until we meet again,
~Mcstuffins
I love Scootaloo in this chapter! I hope no matter what she really does move to Detrot and toughen up. You're going to have to explain why the Flimflam brothers have an allowance instead of wages. I definitely love/pity Crusher.
4888376 i'd like to tell you that so far this story has nearly killed me from suffocation ... in a good sorta kinda way some of that shit is reeeeeallllyyy. Funny
I'm cheering for Pinkie Pie to be the successor of Discord's powers, she has all the qualifications for that. Or Blueblood, that would be fun
4895224
Who is a rich pony?
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING OONNN!!!
Everything I know is WRONG!
Good story though
I WANNA SNUGGLES BLUEBLOOD!!!!!!
I stiil hate this guy, he's so dumb.
But it's pretty funny what he can come up with.
Oh well, let's keep reading ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
9447264
Cool, using Inuktitut syllabics in creating, creative emojis.
A few grammar and spelling errors here and there, but if you can ignore the plot holes... this is hilarious
His actions definitely have consequences
I love this chapter. It's like the crash everyone gets after an intense adrenaline-filled cocaine party.
1. Discord lost his job as the resident chaos god. I love how beautifully you made him reminisce and his conclusion of starting anew, and his relationship with Flutters.
What Franklestia did was not chaos. It's pure, unadulterated randomness. Chaos implies you know what the social norm is, and strives to break away from that. Randomness means there are no rules to follow, no norm to go against. Randomness doens't necessarily mean making a fuss against the laws instilled, but the law of grey area meant that most of them would just skirt the line between illegality and legality. Chaos is going straight into the illegality and ignoring the vast grey area.
2. Scootaloo left for Detrot. Honestly sad, yet makes so much sense. Love the little bit of tension betwee Rainbow and Scoots.
3. APPLEJACK WENT FULL ON INSANE! IT'S FREAKING HILARIOUS!
I love how she basically let some of her straps away and enjoy herself, now more than ever thanks to the money she has.
And Flim Flam! AHAHAHAHA! They lost their spark and went deadass burnt, perfect karma if you ask me.
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Can't have shit in Detrot bro