Chapter 16
Crink… Crink… Crink…
The old weathered rocking chair creaked loudly as the pony sitting comfortably in its embrace pushed her hoof gently against the floor, causing the seat to slowly swing back and forth in a relaxing, if repetitive, rhythm. The pony didn’t care about the creak; she didn’t care about the old wood beneath her in need of replacing or the unbucked apples in need of harvesting or even the forgotten chores in need of being un-forgotten. She didn’t care about anything else in this moment, not even her own tiredness and inner turmoil.
None of that mattered to Applejack as she continued to rock. Her mind was blank as she lay there, enjoying the first chance to rest she had been granted all day long. She didn’t allow herself to dwell on her friend’s sacrifices, or on her brother’s pain. She wasn’t even consumed by the one thing that was usually always on her mind; the one thing that was always nestled at the very core of her being, the one thing that had shaped her into who she was today. The very thing that had been shaken with her brother’s earlier words; the very thing that had been unitentionally brought into question for the mare.
For the first time in a long time, Applejack’s mind wasn’t filled with the thought of family.
She didn’t want to dwell on such a thing for any longer in this moment; didn’t want it to cut her with its double edge. While it had long been the source of her inner strength, the focal point of her happiness; today, on this most horrible of days, it had only served to hurt her. Where once the mere thought of it had warmed her heart, now that flame had scorched her deeply. Where once it gave her the power to move mountains, now it stricken her of her senses. Where once it served as her shield during the harshest of times…
Now it was like a jagged dagger, slowly twisting itself inside of her soul.
Crink… Crink… Crink…
Applejack didn’t want to think about it.
She felt that it was okay not to think about it.
She wanted nothing more than to not think of it.
Crink… Crink… Crink…
For a time, her wish was granted.
… But, while ignorance was bliss, it was not a refuge the farmer could ever find herself living in for too long. That just wasn’t who she was.
And who was Applejack?
Applejack was the middle child of Riosealita Apple and…
‘No,’ the mare thought to herself, shaking her head. ‘That’s not important...’
Crink… Crink… Crink…
Who is Applejack?
Applejack is one of the hardest working ponies around; an honest workhorse if ever there was one. Sometimes rash, sometimes stubborn, but always there to lend a hoof. Always there to be somepony’s legs when they fell. She’s a caring soul, a loving pony, a wonderful big sister…
‘As a little sister though… Big Mac doesn’t think… doesn't lo-...’
The pony shakes her head again, trying to rid herself of these stray thoughts.
Said thoughts would not leave.
With a sigh, the pony watches as her mind began to wander. She was able to do this; was able to ‘watch’ such a thing. ‘Twernt hard in the slightest, she knew. Here, at Sweet Apple Acres, amongst all its nature, memories flew through each trees’ branches like a gentle summer breeze. It was easy for a pony to get lost in this ‘stream’; in this mental river of time. It was harder not to get swept up in such a powerful current then it was to stay ‘dry’. Thus it didn’t surprise Applejack in the slightest when she looked out at the closest tree in the field and saw herself bucking the sturdy bark alongside an always chipper Apple Bloom… and a smiling Big Macintosh.
Crink… Crink… Crink…
Rocking back and forth, simply allowing the memory to play, the orange mare watched neutrally as the three siblings worked themselves sweaty, toiling in the fields they had known all their lives day in and day out. The three of them smiled and laughed together as they went about their business, never prouder to be Apples.
Never prouder to be…
‘No… that’s not important...’
Crink… Crink… Crink…
Time begins to slip as the pony continues to stare, continues to rock. Closing her eyes briefly, for only the briefest of seconds, results in the scene changing completely.
Younger ponies greeted the farmer when she opened her eyes again; younger, but nonetheless happy, ponies. Where once there was a sturdy mare, in her place stood an eager filly. With shiny new cutie mark on her flank, the youthful blond was ready to earn her family’s trust; ready to show that she was an Apple too. With her head bare, her face knitted into a look of pure concentration, the filly spun around on the spot and delivered the strongest buck her tiny body could produce against the opposing tree before her; the strongest buck her inherited earth pony magic would allow her to deliver.
Apples rained down as a result. Soon too did the filly’s tears.
“I… I did it,” little Applejack said proudly in the memory, turning to face her audience.
“Eeyup,” said the small colt beside her, a sleeping yellow foal balanced expertly and carefully atop his strong back. “Eeyup,” repeated the Macintosh of the past, his smile even larger than before.
The filly smiled back.
The mare did not.
Crink… Crink… Crink… Cri-
Applejack stops.
Her eyes are closed.
She breathes through her nose, and out through her mouth. She doesn’t want to open her eyes. She doesn’t want to be taken any further back. Her wishes will be ignored; they’ve been ignored all day long, why would this be any different? The pony didn’t expect anything less from this day, the day that had robbed her of her brother; stolen and replaced him with somepony she hardly recognized. Not the kind stallion she grew to love, but instead a pony seemingly full of hate for everypony around him.
Perhaps even herself.
… Clip… clop… clip… clop...
A noise in the distance lifts the pony’s ears up; the sound of galloping rings out faintly through the trees. With another sigh, Applejack gets up from her chair and onto her legs. Stretching out her back momentarily, the earth pony begins to trot briskly through the memory summoning trees, towards the stomping of hooves. The time to end all this was fast approaching; to end all the pain and sorrow for both Big Macintosh…
… and Applejack.
Reaching a certain tree on her trek, the mare stops mid trot with her hoof hanging in midair. She debates something in her mind momentarily before sighing, resigning herself to turning her head; to contemplating the final scene playing out beside her.
The image of an orange foal, nestled happily against her mother’s side, greets the tired cowfilly.
A younger Macintosh does not.
“...”
Applejack turns away silently. After a time she begins to trot off yet again.
___________________________
Of all the things Applejack had expected to see when her friends came trotting down the path…
… a sole Fluttershy, galloping towards her at top speed, was not one of them.
“What the hay happ-” was all the farmer was able say before the air was stolen from her lungs thanks to a shaking Fluttershy hug. “F-flutter…?” the mare tries to ask as her friend continues to shiver.
Wide, tear devoid eyes greet Applejack as her friend looks at her fearfully. Fluttershy opens and closes her mouth uselessly, trying to say something, but her shakes prevent the words from coming. Lowering her head, the pegasus tries to gather her thoughts again before she lunges forward, laying her head sideways atop the strong earth pony’s neck.
Now able to breathe a little better, the mare with the blond mane attempts to ask her friend again what had happened… only to be interrupted by a quiet whisper.
“It was the worse... I-it was the worst experience of my entire life.”
“... Er… What was that, sugarcu-”
“I-it was the worst experience of my entire life!” wailed Fluttershy loudly, the tears finally falling. She leaned in closer to her friend as they did, causing her to unitentionally knock off the orange pony’s favorite hat in the process.
“...”
Patpat
“Shhhh…” Applejack paid this no mind as she instead began to slowly run a hoof through the river of pink that was the pegasus’ mane, calmly shushing the filly all the while. “Shhhhh… It’s okay, Shy. It’s okay. Let it all out, girl. You don’t have to be brave no more; you’ve done more than enough today…”
“Y-you, you don’t u-understand,” hiccuped the disheartened yellow mare in the embrace. “Y-y-you don’t understand. I… I-I… Sniff...”
Again the farmer shushed her emotionally spent friend, reassuring her as gently as she could. “Take it easy there, Shy. Take your time…”
With a whimper, Fluttershy reluctantly accepts the offer.
Five minutes later, the two ponies could still be found in their embrace. It was around this point that the pegasus of the two felt well enough to speak again. When she did choose to speak though, her words surprised her friend deeply.
“I was given a financial and sociological lecture concerning my animal favoring emotional decision making biases,” Fluttershy answered for Applejack robotically, lacking her once spiked emotions. This caught the cowfilly completely off guard with how ‘Twilight’ it sounded; punctual and analytical... Twilight to a tee, she reckoned. ‘Must be tryin’ to distance herself from the whole nasty thing,’ thought the farmer to herself, making no comment.
“‘K-kind to a fault’,” came the shy mare’s next words, though they weren’t her own, Applejack could tell. “‘Biggest heart I’ve ever done seen, b-but your anti-social lifestyle has seriously hampered the development and growth of your personal worldview in relation to others.” Fluttershy was instead repeating Big Macintosh’s Poisoned Joked rant, she knew; another sign that the poor filly was trying to get as far away from the whole affair as ponily possible, less she break down into more tears.
“‘B-because of this’,” spoke the distraught filly for the absent stallion. “‘I live in constant fear that you’re about to make a terrible decision that will have negative consequences on everypony around you, especially yourself. Please; p-please ignore the fact that these words are coming out of the mouth of a t-t-terrible pony like me and consider them by themselves. Grant this r-ruined stallion that much at least, even if he doesn’t deserve it in the slightest; not after all the bad he’s done, all the secrets and l-lies.’”
Fluttershy takes a shaky breath before continuing.
“‘P-please ignore me and consider this, in regards to how I think you unhealthily exalt animals up above others. Without your friends by your side, you more than likely would have been the fall-mare for the damage the p-parasprites caused to this town a year ago, regardless of Twilight’s magical involvement. We A-apples lost our home in the aftermath of that, along with so many others. How nopony got blamed for the whole thing I-I don’t rightfully know, considering that you being the one who brought them here wasn’t a secret of any sort. Only reason I didn’t report you is because I was honestly afraid that the p-punishment would be too much for you to handle. P-perhaps that was everyponies’ rationale as well...’
“‘I-I also heard that you foalnapped Princess Celestia's bird at some point too. I… I don’t know the full story on that, so I don’t have the right to comment, but I implore you to seriously think about your actions concerning it. The simple fact that it happened at all reflects p-poorly on your character, which is a darn shame.’
“It’s a darn shame that, while you did tame Cerberus, of all creatures; if not for Twilight being there to bring it home I would not have doubted it for a second if you had decided to keep the darn thing as a pet, c-consequences be damned. “It needs me” p-probably would have been your excuse. That’s just the kind of mare I’ve grown to see you as which, again, is a darn shame M-miss Fluttershy’.”
The shaking yellow pegasus is silent for a moment before finding the strength to speak up again, continuing just a tiny bit steadier than she had been prior.
“... ‘It’s also a darn shame that I have to bring up the Vampire Fruit Bats incident now’,” repeated Fluttershy for Big Mac, her voice now lacking even her normal nervousness. It was simply hollow at this point, nothing more. “The one Applejack refused to give me a straight story on... I had to weasle the whole thing out of Miss Pinkie Pie in exchange for an apple pie; not an easy feat, surprisingly. Ha… Ha...’
“... ‘Fluttershy, please understand this, as I’m sure my sister was unable to articulate it properly to you when it was her responsibility to do so. If we had given an entire orchard to those darn Vampire Fruit Bats like you wanted, instead of the portion of one like we ended up giving up, the decrease in profits, thus the decrease in the town’s income, would have been significant enough to s-starve’,” stutters Fluttershy again before sucking in air and continuing to repeat the apple-red pony’s words. “‘S-s-starve out a single family. Said family would have probably been us Apples, c-creating a snowball effect that would have literally destroyed Ponyville. Literally; d-darn place is as fragile as one of our barns in the middle of tornado season. Ha...’
“‘That’s not to say that all of your choices have been bad though, or that you’re completely wrong in your love for animals, Miss Shy; your special talent, your expertise did save us from those beavers, after all, along with so many other creatures. From dragons to gods to Celestia knows what else... I’m just saying that if you make another rash and biased decision without thinking like that again there’s no telling what will happen’.”
The words that leave Fluttershy’s mouth after this come out just as hollowly as the soul crushing last; clearly having been unheard by the pony who they were meant to be for.
“... ‘You’re still a wonderful pony though, one who I see a lot of myself in. I think I understand your shyness better than anypony else, but that would be a selfish thing to admit. All I’m trying to say is that, although it is your special talent and that it grants you your happiness, you really should consider getting out more than you do and try to enjoy the company of ponies over your animal critters all the time. I know you’ll find that you’ll get just as much joy out of the former as you usually do the latter.’
“Keep living in your small world though and you’ll be likely to hurt somepony you now care about, if not completely destroy their l-lives… just like I have. Don’t be me, Miss Shy. Don’t get to the point where you turn into a quiet, backstabbing jerk like me; thinking you can get away with deplorable actions. Please… And… a-and sorry about the flank comment as well, though it’s completely true... Darn it all...’...”
“...”
Nothing more needs to be said as Applejack slowly rocks on her haunches, cradling the shivering Fluttershy in her forelegs with all the love and care she has left to offer.
“I’m sorry,” the shy pony mummbles numbly into her friend’s mane. “I’m sorry for almost… a-almost s-s-starving y-y-y...”
“Nothin’ to be sorry about, Shy,” the apple pony whispers softly in return, reassuring the pony who had only focused on the bad, instead of the good, in Mac’s rant. “Didn’t even realize it mahself... Thank you… Thank you for just being you, each and every day. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Silence reigns as the two continue to sit there in their embrace on the old dusty dirt road.
“... Big Mac is with Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy finally replies after a time, finding the strength to leave the comfort of Applejack’s hooves. “P-past the borders of the residential district, heading this way.”
“I reckoned,” Applejack replies quickly; standing up, picking up her hat, and then casting her eyes out over the rest of the path towards town. “She gave me her word, so I’m gonna do what she asked of me and trust her… Do you think she can lead Mac here all by herself though?”
“Hey; if Pinkie promised it, filly, you’ve really got no right to be doubting her like that.”
Blinking, it takes longer then AJ is willing to admit for her to realize that Fluttershy wasn’t the pegasus who had just said these words.
Rainbow Dash was.
Caught unaware, it was to Applejack’s great surprise when she looked up and found a pony sitting on one of her tree’s branches, looking down on her from on high.
“Rainbow?” the farmer asked with a start. “Y-you’re here too?”
“... Yeah,” is the rainbow pony’s simple reply before casting her eyes over the beaten trail yet again, searching the horizon for movement.
“She joined us while we were leaving the castle,” Fluttershy answers Applejack’s unspoken question, helping to explain the situation despite her still drying tears. “S-she acted as our chaperone when we were heading through town; keeping ponies away from us, especially the ones that didn’t like what Mac was saying to me.” A weak giggle leaves the shy pony’s lips. “I-I apparently have fans... Heh, who knew?”
The yellow mare then sends a content smile the speedster’s way, full of all the warmth and strength left in her drained body. “Thank you so much for doing that for us, Dashie. It made that whole ordeal much easier for me to handle.”
“Eh, it was nothing, Shy.” Dash comments, waving a hoof passively in the air behind her, not even turning to receive the gifted smile as she continued to watch the road. “I’m just glad I didn’t screw up your guy’s plan or something when I came in like I did. I was totally ready to knock some ponies out, filly. I mean, the way Discord made things soun-”
“D-discord?!” AJ stutters with a gasp, cutting her friend off mid-explanation.
Rainbow Dash’s face remained turned as she flips her mane, freeing up her vision from a stray strand of red, and kept her eyes glued to the trail.
“Yeah, Discord,” the blue mare returned to explaining, unphased by the interruption. “I met him in town; told me what happened while I was all… out of it.”
Applejack was still stunned by the revelation, but after a moment she shook her head and gave the weather pony a weathered expression full of tired shame.
“Look... sugarcube?” she spoke to Rainbow’s still turned back. “About Discord... The way Twi-, that we left him earlier… well... Take what he said with a grain of salt is all I’m sayin’. I wouldn’t doubt, or really blame, him if he tried to get revenge on us by exaggeratin' some things to you; tryin’ to paint this whole thing out to be somethin’ downright horrible and awful-”
“So Big Mac isn’t public enemy number one right now?” Rainbow interrupts, finally turning back towards the group below. “Twilight isn’t about to, or already did, explode, and Cheerilee didn’t have her heart stomped into paste? None of that happened, AJ?”
Though her mouth is open, ready to rebuke... Applejack suddenly finds herself coming up short in that particular department.
“... Err… Nope,” the farmer eventually admits. “G-guess that’s about right, actually.”
“Discord told you all that?” Fluttershy suddenly asks, drawing eyes back to her. Seeing this, she explains to Applejack how “Pinkie and I were too busy with Big Mac to ask Rainbow any questions. We still don’t know why she was crying earlier either...”
It was now Rainbow Dash’s turn to cringe.
“Twilight didn’t say?”
The two remaining mares shake their heads.
“Oh… Well… Yeah… about that… You’ll both hear about it soon enough; promise.”
“But-”
“Promise,” the pegasus reassures with finality, turning her head yet again towards the road leading to town.
Before Applejack could object any further…
Clip… clop… clip… clop…
… a hush fell over the gathering as slow, steady hooffalls could be heard in the distance. Silence reigned as the three ponies watched quietly as Big Macintosh and a hopping Pinkie Pie suddenly drew closer.
“... Hey… where’s Rarity and Twi?” Rainbow Dash suddenly asks, breaking the momentary silence.
“Home,” Applejack mutters quickly, her eyes watching her brother carefully. “Twi is sleepin’… Rare is plottin’ murder.”
“... Wha?”
“Big Mac talked to them both,” Fluttershy once again answers for her friend. From her tree branch, Rainbow turns her head towards the butterscotch colored pony’s way as she continued. “Twilight needed to sleep. Needed. And Rarity… well… Spike’s letter said that Big Mac called her hats gaudy. That’s all we really know.”
“Spike’s letters?” asks the other pegasus before a look of understanding dawns upon her face. “Ohhhh, right. Discord did say that he did something like that to him with his magic…”
“It was an accident, Dash...”
Rainbow snorts at this.
“Fluttershy, I may have given him the benefit of the doubt, cuz he was looking all mopey and sad and junk, and yeah maybe his magic is all busted up right now, but an accident? Like, a complete accident?” Rainbow Dash then proceeded to bark out a loud “Hah! Sorry, Shy, but I’ll believe it when I hear it coming out of the dragon’s mouth...
“... Speaking of; where the hay is Spike anyways?”
The silence in the orcharchard suddenly returns ten fold at this question.
Fluttershy and Applejack blink blankly in this sudden sound vacuum, before turning to face one another. In the silence, the two mentally traced their individual memories together before simultaneously remembering the drake’s ultimate fate.
Said fate they only now realize that they hadn’t done anything about.
“... Oops…”
Meanwhile, in the Friendship Death Castle
In a pile of scrolls, a dragon sleeps.
In a pile of scrolls, a dragon snores.
In a pile of scrolls, a dragon’s stomach begins to rumble…
“... Burp!”
In a pile of scrolls, a pillar of green fire shoots forth from the sole dragon within it.
A new scroll emerges from the emerald flames…
… a single scroll from the pile disappears within the magical blaze.
Spike watches through sleepy eyes as the unfortunate scroll turns into vapor and flies away on a stray wind. With a large yawn, ignoring the scene that had just taken place, the young boy stands up out of his makeshift bed of paper and stretches his scaly body out. As he does, scrolls upon scrolls roll off of him and scatter themselves across the floor. The new scroll that had just arrived soon disappears within the flood of paper upon the ground, become indistinguishable from the rest.
Indistinguishable… save for the few unfurled ones laying face up before the drake.
With his right claw throbbing from an unknown pain, the last several hours a blank in his mind, Spike reaches out with his left towards one labeled ‘Dear Miss Cheerilee’ in idle curiosity.
… He moves his appendage towards a second one though when his eyes spy Rarity’s name atop it.
“... Dear Miss Rarity…” the dragon began to read to himself aloud, his eyes devouring each and every word as they danced acrossed the single long page.
“...!!”
Not long after, the Friendship Death Castle finds itself empty yet again as its sole conscious inhabitant zooms off to parts unknown.
________________________
“You left him like that?”
“It was an accident, Dash! Mah head was elsewhere!”
“Mine too,” Fluttershy admits gloomily, her voice full of regret. “M-maybe I should go check up on him and Twilight when we’re done here.”
Applejack cringes.
“Um… er… y-you could actually leave now if you wanted, Shy,” the farmer tries to convince in a rather sudden nervous manner. “I can handle things from here… promise.”
The two pegasi turn to look at their friend more closely at this, curious of her suggestion. When she didn’t elaborate further, Fluttershy decides to continue speaking. “N-no, AJ. That’s fine. I want to stay just a little bit longer and make sure everything is okay…”
“You sure about that, Fluttershy?” asks Rainbow Dash, drawing the group’s attention and unintentionally allowing Applejack the chance to breathe again. “I need to… to… Well things are about to get noisy and that’s all I’m gonna say.”
Fluttershy is not deterred in the slightest, and has in fact put on what her friends now knew quite well to be her ‘brave’ face.
“I… I-I’ve been here for most of it already, Rainbow Dash,” she speaks, something akin to ‘confidence’ appearing in her tone. “I want to help; I want to know how he h-hurt my friends... How he hurt you… I want to help you both if I can... i-if that’s okay with you, that is…"
Though she began to shrink under Rainbow Dash’s unyielding gaze, the speedster couldn’t help but smile warmly at the bravery her oldest friend just displayed.
“... Thanks, Shy."
A small smile soon graces the gentle yellow pony’s lips as well, happy to be accepted.
Clip… clop… clip… clop… cli-
Silence fell upon the gathering once again as the steady background noise of hooves in motion slowly winds down into nothing, the owners having finally arrived.
To a casual observer’s eyes, Ponyville’s premiere partymancer had returned to her peppy self. With a literal spring in her step and a smile upon her face, the young mare appeared to be ready to go on to host as many ‘Get Well Soon!’ parties as it would take for everypony to get over what had transpired this day.
Her closest friends knew better though.
Her jump’s weren’t as high, her energy not as free-flowing, her smile…
A shell of its normal glory.
Yet she tried. No matter the pain, no matter the tears, no matter the doubts; Pinkamena Diane Possibly-Apple Pie wouldn’t be who she was if she didn’t give it the old college try.
“Hey girls!” the pink pony chimed loudly with a beaming, if weak, smile. “W-we’re here… Did you tell her, Fluttershy?”
“Yes I did, Pink-”
That was all the answer Pinkie needed to hear. With a yelp, Fluttershy soon found herself in the softest bear hug she had ever received from the earth pony.
“Good,” softly spoke the pink mare in a rare moment of calm for her. “You good then?”
“... Yes.”
“...”
With a long sigh, Pinkie Pie buries her face slowly into Flutter’s mane and lays there. “Good...”
THUMP
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground catches three of the four mare’s present’s attention. Turning, and looking over Pinkie in Fluttershy’s case, towards the road; three sets of eyes soon fell on the heavily panting, and surprisingly not talking, exhausted form of Big Macintosh.
“M-mac?” quickly asks Applejack, galloping to her brother’s side. “What’s wrong with ya’?”
“You mean besides the obvious?”
Rainbow Dash receives a death glare from Applejack thanks to this, only to promptly brush it off with a shrug.
“Can’t… breathe…” comes Big Mac’s eventual answer; sputtered out between gasps for air. “Pinkie… P-pinkie had me… me…”
“I tired him out!” cheered Pinkie Pie loudly over the stallion, her voice containing a small fragment of her normal bravado for once. She then disengaged her hug with Fluttershy, reached into her fuzzy pink tail with her teeth, and then pulled out a long piece of white cloth. The girls stared at it for quite a time before Fluttershy made the connection.
“Is that… one of the bandages from Misses Cake’s first-aid kit?”
Pinkie nodded her head happily, allowing her mane to bounce around freely. “Yup yup!” she confirmed with something that was starting to look like her normal smile. “I grabbed one before we left, in case of broken glass emergency. Tail wiggle, ear flop, twitchy knee,” she added passively with a wave of her hoof, detailing the exact Pinkie Sense reaction before continuing. “I used it to wrap our hoofsies together for a surprise six legged race!”
“So fast… too fast…” came Big Mac’s borderline delusional response; one that was only given a passing notice from the other ponies.
“Good thinkin’, girl,” complimented Applejack, honest grin beaming. When Pinkie looked over at this though, her own bubbly one slowly dropped.
“... Not really,” replied the party planner gloomily, looking down and absentmindedly making small circles in the ground with a hoof. “I… I-I really should have thought it up sooner. I probably could have saved Fluttershy if I had… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Fluttershy swiftly answered, surprising everypony with the strength the words seemingly held. “... It was something I needed to hear.”
This elected gasps
“But Sh-”
“Flut-”
“No, Applejack, Pinkie” smoothly cut of the yellow pegasus with a soft stomp of her hoove. “I… I needed to hear it… I think we all needed to hear it, in some way… e-even me…”
The two earth pony fillies of the gathering share a look for a moment before becoming somber over the whole event…
… It was then that they came to the realization that one of their own hadn't gasped.
Three mares quickly looked at their fourth, only to find her gone. It doesn’t take long for Pinkie to point a hoof past the other two, towards where Big Mac now lay.
Turning, Fluttershy and Applejack soon found their true blue friend quietly hovering over the still panting stallion.
Originally Rainbow Dash's part was supposed to be part of this chapter, leading into the final cliffhanger ending of the story. After four months of issues, I decided to share what I had so far with friends who proceeded to convince me that this was strong enough to be its own chapter. Thusly do we now have one MORE chapter before the three chapter finale, and it's all dedicated to Rainbow Dash.
I'm very sorry for the wait you guys! A combination of writer's block, school, and a lack of inspiration is what kept this from coming out sooner. My own pride played a part as well, seeing as how I could have posted this awhile ago without Dash's part, but I wanted it in there so badly.
With season five right around the corner, I'm sure I'll be getting the inspiration I need to finish the final four chapters of this story! Hope to see you in the next one, which will also hopefully not be as far away this time 
P.S. Everyone who helped me out during this time will be listed in the End Credits chapter! I'm not listing them here right now because I don't want to accidentally forget someone while I'm quickly uploading this before returning to homework 
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wow. Great chapter. I wonder what these final chapters will hold. I guess we see soon. Good luck. I hope the writers block stops.
Someone needs to give Mac the hug to end all hugs. No one deserves to have their innermost thoughts spilled out like that. Let alone practically forced from them like the girls are doing. They're all so caught up in THEIR petty feelings that the only real victim of this mess is just being dragged around and made to divulge his admittedly sharp insight and ruminations on their person and character... it's tearing him apart. Even they blame him, they don't think twice about saying or thinking "before he hurts someone else" "how he hurt my friends", showing they blame him for something he can't control.
When I guarantee they have similar thoughts about everyone else as he does, because literally everyone does. And none of us want others to know about them, probably because we're ashamed of some of those very thoughts. Whether he's right or not in general, so far he's been mostly on the money, especially with the Mane Six. Fluttershy was right, these are truths they need to hear. The only reason it hurts is because they KNOW it's true and do everything to avoid facing and accepting the truth, preventing them from overcoming those issues. So drastically unhealthy. Twilight was right, the ponies of that town literally are crazy. Damn near felt my heart break as Shy related his self-degrading tone and word choices, that's the speech of someone at the end of their rope.
5799890
5799868
Thank you
5799890
THIS.
It is a bit....painful to see everyone clearly disregard the fact that Big Mac's life in ponyville is, essentially, ruined. All they see is themselves being insulted (again, truth hurts)
Awesome chapter as always, and no rush! =)
Fluttershy is tough to criticize, even though she needs it sometimes.
It already seems like she blames herself for what she does wrong... but for the wrong reasons, and not really accurately on the reason she negatively effects others. The fact that she's so superlatively down on herself makes it hard for someone to come out and say "and you've done wrong because you were self-centered." She already hates that part of herself that screwed up, right?
Maybe some of the stuff Mac says would've been better off not said... although I'd be hard pressed to say which of those that is, but Fluttershy needed a dose of criticism.
So... out of curiosity, who's the one guy who's downvoted every comment?
5800365
*Shrugs* Someone who downvoted the story but didn't think that was good enough? Idk. Seems kinda strange to come back afterwards to do such a thing. I view uncommented downvotes as people just being upset over not thinking of an idea themselves, so the downvoting good comments thing makes even less sense to me
5800415 That’s strange. There’s been no downvotes this month and he didn't downvote your comment…
5800451
WHOO WEE WHOO WEE WEE WEEEE...
Heh. But seriously; this fic is on a few bookshelves marked "Worst thing ever", "Trash", and, because it hasn't updated in awhile, "KIA." The person probably downvoted it in the past and was just ruddily reminded that this still exists thanks to the update.
Again, eh. That's all I'll say on the subject; it doesn't really deserve anymore thought then that. Haters gonna Hat.
5800451
They only seem to have downvoted comments that express a like of this chapter and support for Big Mac. I'd say they're a butthurt Fluttershy waifu-cultist who believes she's perfect in every way.
Even Radical was downvoted, and he was sort of between Fluttershy needing to hear the truth and her inability to take criticism because she's too busy kicking herself, even if she never realizes WHY she needs to be kicking herself and thus never does better the next time.
Poor Big Mac, he just can't be allowed to rest easy. Come dawn he'll have either jumped town or have been tied down by his sister to make him stay in the weak hope that this can be fixed.
It is Celestia's response I am looking forward to, in that case I predict a future as either an overdone kebab and a pot of glue or as the leader of the loyal opposition (I know, the two things are rather similar in function, and in some countries in form as well), as who else would have the stones to say no to her face.
5800482 seriously...
The worst thing ever?
They got to be kidding me...
This story is a million times better than those crack-ficks and 90 % of the clop-fics that exists on this website.
What Big mec said about Fluttershy is totaly right, she is kind for bad reason. It's her way to avoid to enter conflict with other ponies.
There's one thing you need to hear at this point:
You absolutely must get an editor to go over this story. This chapter is rife with errors that need to be addressed, such as verb tense errors, missing punctuation, and general grammar errors.
Also, there are two problems I'd like to call your attention to, unrelated to the above:
You need to break the habit of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome, and you also need to learn the difference between "mare" and "filly". There are innumerable places in this chapter where you used "filly" where you SHOULD have used "mare". I know you were probably thinking it's like using "girls" when you're talking about women, but...it really isn't, it stands out, it's jarring.
But more than that, your problems with Lavender Unicorn Syndrome are...oustandingly bad.
Simply put: if you're talking about Fluttershy, say Fluttershy. Don't say "the butterscotch pegasus". (Especially since her coloring isn't butterscotch in the first place). If you're talking about Rainbow Dash, use her name. Lavender Unicorn Syndrome is a pitfall many writers find themselves facing, and it's one you have to struggle to overcome. The general rule of thumb is this:
Work on this. Work on all the other problems too, and get an editor, but above all, work on this. Speaking as someone who had this problem for a long time, once you break the habit, it really stands out when you run into it.
5800176
it's hard to be sympathetic when he's being such an ass, and quite frankly no one has to agree that "these are truths" they need to hear. Based on the first few chapters I'd expected a light hearted story where an overreacting Applejack and to shy Big mac panicked about him saying things that overall would make everyone as happy as Granny Smith was with the title being firmly tongue in cheek. Instead Mac turns out to be a judgemental jerk who has a negative opinion of everyone and from what the author is writing seemingly always right.
I think he's exposing minor flaws that a group that is always to hard on themselves will cling to bringing them down unnecessarily. Frankly it's a bit like Discord's breakings.
I'm going to have to agree with Big Mac on Fluttershy. Let's look at Power Ponies for an example.
Fluttershy was not able to Hulk Out in her identity as Saddle Rager until the Mane-iac swatted a random firefly, which is played for a mixture of drama and laughs. But still, the fact she can see her five best friends in mortal peril and not freak out, but is only able to do so when some bug she's never met before get swatted... well, that offers some very negative possibilities about her attitude towards ponies in general. It's like the opposite of Dragonshy.
5800482 Well you know what they say... if your not pissing someone off, you're doing it wrong.
5800586 I've heard that word 'Wafu' more and more this year… and this time I actually went and looked it up…
…
…
...
... and suddenly all that vague yet specific hate for Flash sentry makes way too much sense...
5801725
To be fair I don't like Flash either. Many of us believed it when we were told there would be no EQG elements in our canon pony, and then suddenly his pony self appears in a later episode. His pony self which was created for and only shown in EQG. Even stopped to look back at Twilight. That drove quite a few of us into forming abject hatred on the spot. Personally, I didn't think EQG was bad, but I like it better separate. Sequel was much better, but if I have to accept the first movie I'd rather it just be its own alt-verse.
He feels seriously shoehorned in. Also, while I might severely hate modern feminists for a variety of reasons, Lauren was a sensible one. She wanted to break the mold on 'entertainment for girls', and yet suddenly the main character is head over heels for the most popular boy in school, effectively stealing him from his bitchy and domineering girlfriend who's the mean-queen of the highschool prom. So. Fucking. Cliche - seriously this is copy-pasted through so many teen chick flicks and somewhat younger girl shows that it's practically indoctrination at this point (grow up, be pretty, hyperfocus on the 'best' guy and ignore any others, if he's with someone else that's their problem they're probably not good enough for him anyway) there's that mold, not being broken - is that what those budding girls are still being taught? Anyway, he's a pointless character essentially force-fed to us, and people keep trying to invent reasons why they like him when they don't even know.
Hell, half of them are using him in the same way many people use Spike. A 'canon' self-insert. They like to imagine themselves in a prominent male character's shoes (and will complain if you don't write or view said character as being present, necessary to the story, and important to the characters at all times because they're taking it personally and trying to disguise it as a more professional interest), especially one close to their selected waifu, and boy fucking howdy will they get mad if you don't praise Spike or Flash. It still boggles me that I've gotten threats against my physical well-being AND legitimate (laughable) death threats over the same issue. Which further increases my distaste for both characters, but Flash is the one on the chopping block at the moment - rather than an inoffensively placed background pony such as Lyra or Derpy, people are trying to force personalities onto a character who literally defies them. 9/10 times I read a story with Flash in it by someone who likes him or at least doesn't hate him he's only become more wordy and has some kind of edgy backstory as if it gave him depth - when the reality is they still write his 'personality' to be as bland and one-dimensional as fucking SOMBRA: "Crystal slaaaaaves!" "Twilight Spaaaarkle!"
But anyway, having a waifu or horsebando is completely fine. The problem is the people who take it too damn far. The biggest offenders are the Fluttershy/Rainbow Dash/Luna/Spike cultists. If you aren't worshipful of them they will go for the throat in a blind fury, and the ones who don't will spew some pseudo-intellectual bullcrap that's actually just headcanon and not based in actual experience.
5801043
So what you've essentially been saying this entire story is "I don't personally want to see things this way, so I'm going to tell everyone that it's not." and note the lack of a question mark, because every chapter's comments I go back to you're saying the same thing. "Big Mac is so bad and wrong and the girls are sad victims, god Big Mac is terrible. Oh wait, he can't control it - okay he's terrible for thinking like this then."
Oh no, Big Mac is a relatively average and healthy psychological specimen, clearly HE'S the crazy one and the mares dock-deep in denial and self-imposed repression are positively blameless and sad little doves who need to be saved from the big mean stallion who probably wants to kill himself to stop all this, and likely would have long ago if he didn't feel his family still needed him, even if they hated him.
I guarantee you, any other adult with this Joke on them in Ponyville would be spouting similar things, just from a different perspective. How do I guarantee this, do you ask? Look at yourself. Really look. Can you HONESTLY say you've never observed someone? Seen them do wrong? Seen them hurt themselves and others? Can you say you've never had bad thoughts about people who care about you? Can you truthfully say that having those bad thoughts made you incorrect? Amazingly enough, you're not alone - barring the ever-present Minority Law outlier, everyone shares these same sorts of thoughts and observations as you do. We've hated those we love, we've felt ashamed for awkward sexual thoughts about people we shouldn't be thinking about in that way, we've judged unfairly and we've judged fairly. Everyone judges - it is human nature and does not necessarily make us bad or even incorrect about our judgments, any psychology student will tell you this. By extension, these sapient equines also fall into this category - which we have canon inference of.
Big Mac is the victim in all of this, there is no doubt to anyone who has spent time dealing with and understanding themselves and others. The only people disagreeing so far have been people trying to troll (or indirectly attack so they can't be called out for it) the author with pointlessly destructive rather than constructive feedback, people who are effectively dating themselves as children, and absolute shut-ins no different from Fluttershy who lack the empathy and psychosocial comprehension to understand the characters in this story, and should not be acting as though they're any good at analyzing this sort of thing.
i.imgur.com/hKVp1bH.jpg
5802035 Heh... welcome to the wonderful world of fanfiction.
personally, I always just ignored Equestria girls for the soul reason the whole high school drama thing was never my cup of tea. Right now, It seams to be in a place of self contained seni cannon so ignoring it doesn't really matter much, but even if it is ever directly brought up in the show itself, then that would only elevate it to the realm of FanonDiscontinuity for me.
But, like the comics, It does give some nice world building possibilities.
Here are some examples of tenses. Your use of two different tenses (sometimes in the same paragraphs) throughout the story are becoming extremely distracting. If it weren't for the tense issues, this would be a very interesting story
5802431
I'll make use of your link. The story won't update ever again until edits have been made and the issue has been resolved.
5801205
her five best friends can defend themselves and she's seen them do it numerous times. That firefly can't. And as a Hulk analogue Saddle Rager needs to get angry. As we saw with Discord Fluttershy doesn't get angry when she's belittled. Upset, nervous, afraid, those are perfect reasonable things to feel
5802169
I'm not denying everyone judges. I'm also not calling Mac crazy I'm saying he's judging wrong and to harshly, which negates my sympathy for him. Someone could get really messed up listening to a bad psychiatrist. In my opinion that's what Big Mac's basically being like with the mane six
5803837
And again you continue to be incorrect. "He's being a bad psychiatrist." These are his PERSONAL INNER THOUGHTS, he's not sitting them down and telling them these things in a little heart-to-heart, it's being TORN from his mind and lips and he's been trying to stop it! He is being mentally raped and so far they've been assisting in it by being curious as to what he has to say about them, and then getting into situations where he's got to tell them. He has no choice in the matter! To use the hot-button term they've got these days, you are victim-shaming.
Top that off, he's actually been mostly correct so far, what you think about that has no weight on reality. I was a student of psychology and sociology before my education came to a close, and I've been performing my own personal studies and experiments in both fields for well over a decade. With the exception of the Cakes he's so far been quite accurate, and that mistake was due to a lack of information on a factually separate event rather than the analysis of someone's character through their actions and interactions - which is somewhat less fallible. The girls needed to hear these things, otherwise they're going to go about their lives without ever overcoming many of the issues he's spoken about, until it eventually causes them to self-destruct, turns people against them, or they come up on a situation that their self-repression prevents them from performing adequately in, either stealing away windows of opportunity or getting them and others killed. If Mac was telling them these things willingly, he'd actually be the best kind of friend - the one who doesn't let you fuck yourself up just so you can be ignorant and happy. Once they've accepted their issues and overcome them, they will be better and stronger people - and can THEN go back to being happy. And even if he's not entirely 100% on some of the things he says, he's still showing them how they look from an outside perspective which they've been fine with effectively ignoring up until this point - but is also rather necessary for personal advancement.
It's not that Big Mac is judging them too harshly, because as I've said I'm sure many others in Ponyville have thought the same (including the individual mane six themselves, and of each other) and just haven't said anything because they don't want to be rude and it's easier to not upset the status quo. No, the problem is that your apparent affection for these girls or perhaps some sort of emotional issues in your own past are making it so that you are not judging them strictly enough. You need to realize the difference.
5805217
they are taking them as truth so he is working out that way even if that's not what he actually is. I don't care if I'm victim shaming, because in his victimhood he is hurting others. And I don't need to judge anyone more strictly than I feel appropriate
5805234
There you go. You've said what needed to be said. Now let's hope you understand what it is you went and just admitted to.
In other words, as I said before, all of this that you've been attempting to pass off as factual and objective, is in fact absolutely subjective with no basis in experience or knowledge, but rather just the way you happen to feel about the material in relation to the way you feel about the actual subject.
Also, previously stated, they are only hurting because they are being forced to hear and accept truths they've been trying to ignore and repress. Burying their faults and weaknesses instead of confronting them. So, he's not hurting them - he's showing them what they're hiding from, and what they frankly need to face. If, again, he was intentionally doing this, he'd be helping them. Anyone with experience will tell you that most of the time if it doesn't hurt before it gets better, you're doing something wrong.
I also have to point out that you don't care that the man's effectively being raped with trauma equal to the physical act, just because some girls got emotional over hearing some words. Which I might remind you, if it was just words and not something that felt true to them, they would ignore and not think about again. You have displayed your bias and relative ignorance. Please refrain from going around and telling others who are correct that they are wrong, you have no foundation from which to do so. Good day.
Whoa, whoa, wait, hold up. What do you mean, ENDING?
This isn't the end, is it? It can't end like this!
5805296
they are hurting because they are naturally to hard on themselves, because someone they like and respect is telling them things they fear are true about themselves. This despite the fact they are NOT true; which is my opinion but what I am doing is not trying to pass off that as fact but arguing why he isn't doing a good job convincing me otherwise. Frankly getting the Mane 6 to feel bad about themselves is about as difficult as convincing a hypochondriac he's sick.
Such as Rainbow Dash's fear of failure in the Best Young Flier's episode
5805758
No, it'll just be ending on chapter 19 plus epilogue as opposed to 18 plus epilogue. It's only on a hiatus right now as I abide by the commenters' wishes and go back to fix a major writing error that was hindering their enjoyment. I will update again after that, though three of those chapters will be updating all at once so they'll take awhile to come out.
The final three are going to be all RD?
But what of AJ's much needed talk with Big Mac that has been building up all of this fic? What about that scroll that found it's way to Celestia (and her much needed look at what BM said)? What about Twilight's reaction to all of this when she wakes up and isn't all stressed out? And what about Big Mac when he get's all fixed up? Are we going to see that before this becomes all RD?
Also with this close to ending ... is there going to be a continuation that shows the fixing up of Friendship Castle of Death? Still great story, and well worth a later re-read at some point. I'm glad we got a new chapter.
5807991
No just chapter 17 will be Dash's part, in the same sense that this chapter was Fluttershy's time. It'll be more inline with the Twilight talk, taking up the majority of the time. 18 is all Applejack. 19 is the final chapter. Epilogue covers things I'd rather not spoil.
Not sure when anything is coming out though. I can't continue without performing a major edit of the story to compensate for those who were unable to enjoy this or the other chapters due to the massive amount of writing errors.
I'm glad you still enjoyed the chapter, despite these errors. It only resulted in a net loss for me overall; causing the story to lose likes and resummon the trolls. You'll have to excuse me if I'm not really jumping at the opportunity to continue this story, but I'll still do it for those who have been enjoying it.
If you do re-read, please do it after the big thing; the tense edits. Heh... heh...
5808228
Looked through the comments and see what you mean. Yeah, there are a few peeps who are just being parasprites for the sake of being parasprites.
As for tenses. If it's past tense. Never uses (s) ending verbs (stops, approaches, watches, drops, ect. That's present tense.) If it it's present tense never uses (d) ending verbs (said, approached, watched, trotted, releived (sp), should (rather than, shall)). Most fics are written in past tense (with the use of said, and other (d) ending verbs).
But trying to do present tense is hard and easy to mess up in a huge way.
Yeah, tense wise.
Link one simple.
Link 2 (in depth).
Honestly as long as you pick one, and mostly stick to it. Few peeps are going to catch you when talking about the future if you use past tense verbs rather than present tense. Honeslty few peeps care (as long as it keeps with the verb tense of the rest of the fic). Mostly watch out for what ending letter you use (s, or d). That and have an editor around to go over your stuff. Honestly that's what I do for 95% of my fics.)
Best of luck to you, and try going to Overly Extensive Editors.
5809771
Thank you, this is very helpful. I'll go check out that group too once I build up the desire to work on this story once more. On the plus side, going through the story again to correct things might give me the interest I need to properly finish this thing. We're very close to the end, I just need to not to flub my last few lines. Here's hoping.
The Phrase emotional roller coaster I think best describes this story as a whole. It started out kind of funny, but progressively it got a lot darker and actually addressed a lot of things that people have questioned about the show as a whole and I think you've actually tackled them quiet well.
However, what I find so impressive and actually very interesting is well the way you've portrayed Mac's opinions and views. This actually sounds like stuff I think he would say if he had no choice but to say it or at the very least might. More so some of the things you think up, Twilight being irresponsible with magic, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash being a little too crazy or potentially dangerous at times, hell the stuff with Fluttershy, all were hurtful but were also honest and even understandable.
I think that's what sets this story apart from most where something similar like this would happen. It's not meant necessarily as outright bashing of the character or mean spirited actions, but legitimate and well founded criticisms that aren't done out of spite but more out of concern and shows that Big Mac cares for the others, but has kept all this locked up inside him because he was afraid of hurting them. People in generally have a hard time acknowledging they have flaws and hearing it stated outright can be very painful, I know this better than others and I can understand it. The Truth does hurt but you can learn from it and I think that's what you're going for.
Anyway I think this story is really good, save a few minor errors here and there. I'm just hoping it has a happy ending or something similar to an extent. this story has been an interesting character study and I look forward to see how it concludes.
6078828 I have never tried Irish cream so I can't comment on that.
(Discord) + (Getting addicted to Irish Cream) = (Poison Joke)?
Explain to me where is the logic there? What about getting hooked to Irish Cream could lead someone like Discord to create poison joke unless...
Is Irish Cream Alcoholic?
~Leonzilla
6080583 It is.
liqueur.underthelabel.com/sites/default/files/984/media/images/Bradys_Irish_Cream_412629_i1.jpg
As you can see, it really looks milky and brown, making it look like normal coffee or hot chocolate.
It usually has around 17% Vol.%, which is a little bit stronger then most vines with about 10,5- 13 % Vol.%. It's a mix of whiskey and cream, with the taste of coffee or chocolate.
It could be that discord summoned that, instead of normal chocolate.
6082505 Sure,
Irish cream.
Why not?
~Leonzilla
5816862
Don't get discouraged! You're in the home stretch now, and everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows!
You hear me? Sunshine. And. Rainbows.
As for Flash...
His appearance was the animator's doing, iirc. I can wave it aside then.
I usually make my own hc of him that makes him out to be a very silly, dim-witted, waffle stealing but well-meaning pony.
Just finished reading this story. I like it. Well the second half of it mainly. I felt as if the first half of the story just contained way too much padding. Oh there were some great parts but a lot of unnecessary things which ended up attributing to some serious mood whiplash that ended up being the second half of the story.
Big Mac in the latest episode reminded me of this story!
7174217
Hah! This was the first thing I thought of too. He even "Noped" right the hell out of the scene as soon as he could
... I should maybe work on this again some day...
7174302 That would be cool! But take as long as you need, we ain't goin' nowhere
7174375
Thanks for understanding
7179954
I think season four showed her doing some plowing; Simply Ways I think. Regardless though, that's pretty much how I imagined the work actually got done on that farm, with Big Mac silently taking the lion's share. Maybe it was that episode that made Applejack understand and appreciate her brother more; notice how a few episodes prior she joked with Twilight about making a bet against Big Mac in order to get him to wear a girdle (which, in my headcanon, is what caused the poor guy to break his ribs in the first place XD). I'm betting those wagers stopped altogether after that bit of humble pie...
... Though who am I to say? Season five, and particularly one special episode involving the big guy, made me pause and reevaluate my entire opinion of him. While I never had a poor opinion of him to begin with, he struck me as the guy to keep a lot of things in. Making him unable to stop talking revealed a lot of his darker thoughts... but, in all honesty? Who the hell WOULDN'T be spouting out some dark shit if they were in his horseshoes?
All in all, I have a lot to think about first before I ever consider picking up this story again. I think the fans, as well as the vultures, would appreciate the extra effort ^_^
Hello. Just re-read your story. I hope you will consider completing it. It's good.
I just want you to know that I found this, think it's amazing, and hope you consider finishing it someday.
to bad its cancelled
You could have just finished this in one long chapter