14 – Damage Control
Chapter Fourteen
Damage Control
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During the year since Twilight became a princess, she had learned many new skills related to her new title. She was still far from becoming an expert, but she did think she was getting the hang of her new role and responsibilities.
But nothing she’d learned so far was very helpful for the skill she suddenly found herself needing to master: damage control.
Of course, that was surely something Celestia and Luna would know all about, and even Cadance had probably found herself in a few PR disasters over the years that she’d been a princess. But none of them knew about Fluttershy, which meant that even if Twilight did reach out to them for advice, they couldn’t possibly help her with her current situation.
So she’d have to improvise. After all, wasn’t that what she and Fluttershy had talked about? They would figure things out as they went, as they always did. Twilight wasn’t always good at that, but this wasn’t just about her – Fluttershy also needed her to handle this, and Twilight was not going to let her down.
It wasn’t much of a plan, but Fluttershy’s idea to split up made Twilight realize that being seen around town on her own might help. Plus that way she might be able to catch anyone else who insisted on asking questions, which would keep Fluttershy from having to worry about it.
Without any clear destination in mind, Twilight more or less wandered around aimlessly. She stopped at a few few shops and talked to some acquaintances, mostly just killing time and staying visible. As expected, a few ponies did ask if she’d seen the article, but fewer than she feared. Even better, nopony really seemed to believe it was anything more than an unfounded rumor.
She was able to think of one thing she really wanted to do, though. It wasn’t until around noon that she finally got the chance to make her way to the newsstand.
“Well hello there, Princess!” the salespony greeted her. Although he used her formal title, he dispensed with all other formality, which made it feel almost like a friendly nickname. Ever since Twilight became a princess, she found herself with more reason to keep up with current events, and chose this particular newsstand to do so because of the friendly face. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for a magazine, but I’m afraid I don’t know the name of it. It came out yesterday and there’s a story about me in it.”
The stallion nodded, although he wore a frown. “I know which one you mean, but, Princess… You really don’t need to worry about junk like that. It’s nothing but a gossip rag, they just print whatever to get ponies to buy their magazine instead of a real paper.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about it,” Twilight said, although she’d been worrying nonstop since she first heard about it. “I just think it would be fun to see for myself is all.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, suppose I can see how that could be. Maybe bring it around to show Fluttershy, give her a laugh too.”
“I think I might do just that.” Twilight would do no such thing, but she did want to buy the magazine so she had a copy on hoof in case she decided to do something about it. Not that she was likely to – the magazine was no doubt well aware of libel laws, and would certainly have played it safe in any story involving a princess. Even if she wanted to, she would have no legal grounds to do anything.
But that didn’t matter, since now Twilight had a perfectly reasonable excuse to spend the day with Fluttershy! No one could think they were dating if they were spending the day laughing about how ponies thought they were dating!
On second thought, that might be a horrible idea… For it to work, they’d have to tell ponies that was why they were together. Otherwise, they were just spending time together again. Fluttershy had obviously found it difficult to talk about it before, so maybe it would be better to leave her alone for now.
But Twilight could still use this to her advantage, she just had to rethink her approach. “I bet Applejack would get a kick out of this. I think I’ll go show her.”
There. Now somepony knew she was heading to Applejack’s, and with any luck, some others would find out as well. It was all well and good for Twilight to be by herself, but it would be even better to remind ponies that she spent time with all of her friends.
She paid for the magazine, much as she didn’t really want to give them her patronage, and said goodbye to the salespony. She set out towards Sweet Apple Acres, and was delighted when somepony asked her what she was up to. The more ponies who knew she was spending time with Applejack instead of Fluttershy, the better.
She did consider alternatives as she strolled through town. There was a significant chance that with Twilight unavailable, Fluttershy would go to Rainbow if she needed to talk to someone. Or Rarity. Twilight chose to believe Fluttershy would go to Rainbow and crossed her off the mental list.
As for Rarity herself, she would already know about the magazine and might even be able to help her figure out how to deal with the news. All in all, she’d be a great choice, and Twilight knew it. But as much as she hated to admit it, Twilight still hadn’t managed to stop comparing herself to Fluttershy’s crush.
‘Former crush,’ Twilight reminded herself. Fluttershy said she loved Twilight, and Twilight believed that. She didn’t still have feelings for Rarity, and the sooner Twilight fully accepted that, the sooner she could go back to feeling normal around her friends.
Good reason or not, Twilight was feeling insecure enough without adding anything other factors, so Rarity was out of the question. That left Applejack and Pinkie Pie. And as much as Twilight loved Pinkie, she was the last pony Twilight wanted to go to with a delicate situation like this.
And even if Applejack still wasn’t the best about situations regarding their romance, she was the least likely to even know about the magazine. Twilight would be able to spend the day with a friend and they wouldn’t even need to worry about anything awkward.
Thinking of it, Twilight sent the magazine away to the castle with a flash of her magic. Better to not have it on hoof at all, that way it couldn’t come up.
She felt better about her decision with each step towards Applejack’s. As much as she wanted to be seen without Fluttershy in Ponyville, she only felt how tiring it had been to be in town once she was leaving it. And the rustic countryside of Sweet Apple Acres made it hard to let her worries get the best of her.
Surprisingly, the first pony she met at the Apple orchard wasn’t a pony at all. “Twilight?” Spike shot her a confused look as she walked up, which she shared. “What are you doing here?”
“I just thought I’d pay Applejack a visit. What about you?”
“The Crusaders and I were going to play in the woods, but then Apple Bloom had some chores. So the four of us are chipping in to help get them done faster.”
Twilight smiled. “That’s sweet of you. Wonder if Applejack has anything she could use help with.”
Spike shrugged. “She’s out back if you want to ask her. But you better be quick, I think she’s on her way out to the orchard.”
“Thanks, Spike, I’ll head there now.”
As he had said, Applejack was in the back, although she was a good deal farther than Twilight had expected her to be.
“Applejack!” she called. Applejack looked up and waved, so Twilight mimicked the action. She chose to fly the distance, noting how much smoother she was flying ever since Fluttershy’s pointers on preening.
She landed next to Applejack, who was dragging a cart with an axe in it. “Hello, Applejack. Want some help?”
Applejack smiled. “Howdy, Twilight. I reckon a bit of help and some company would be mighty appreciated.”
Twilight fell in step beside Applejack. “What are we working on?”
“There’s a few older trees that don’t bear fruit no more and won’t make it through the winter, so we’re gonna chop ‘em down for firewood.”
“Getting a head start on winter already? We haven’t even done the Running of the Leaves.”
Applejack nodded. “Gettin’ an early start gives us time to strip the bark off the trees, which we can use to make mulch. We’ll spread a layer of that around the apple trees to keep their roots warm in the winter.”
Learning something new about her friend’s work brought a smile to Twilight’s face. “That’s really interesting! But are a few trees really going to have enough bark to make mulch for all of Sweet Apple Acres?”
Applejack chuckled. “Nah, not even close. But it doesn’t hurt to get what we can for ourselves. One of my pa’s old friends is a woodcutter, he’ll sell us the rest of what we need.”
“Makes sense.” Twilight noticed a withered old apple tree and inclined her head towards it. “Guessing this is one of them?”
“Eeyup.” Applejack stopped and unhooked herself from the cart, then pulled out the axe. “Now stand back.”
Twilight did as instructed, watching as the practiced earth pony got to work. She looped her front hooves through handles on the axe so she could wield it, then reared back on her hindlegs and brought the axe down with a crack!
Although the tree was very thick, Applejack managed to get a sizable scar in it. She reared up and struck the same place, then did it again, and again. Most ponies would’ve been chopping for quite a while to bring down such a large tree, but Applejack made short work of it.
Applejack set the axe off to the side. “Alright, make sure you’re good and clear.”
Although Twilight could easily handle a falling tree if she needed to, she still took a few extra steps back for Applejack’s peace of mind. “Ready when you are!”
Rather than use the axe, Applejack backed up to the tree and gave it one solid kick with both hindlegs. There was a loud crack, then the tree came crashing down.
Although it didn’t fall too close to Twilight, she still tensed up as she watched it land. Applejack just grinned. “I reckon she’ll make quite a few good logs for us.”
Twilight quickly composed herself. “I’m sure you’re right. Now, what should I do?”
“Ya ever sawed a log before?”
Twilight smirked. “Not unless you mean ‘pass out in the library until Spike wakes me up’.”
Applejack chuckled. “That’s about what I thought. We’ll never get through this whole thing with a regular axe, so we’re gonna use the saw. Goes by better with two ponies, so I was thinkin’ I’d need Big Mac to come help once I got the tree down, but I guess no reason we can’t give it a shot seein’ as you’re here.”
Applejack pulled a saw out of the cart and balanced it on the tree. She stood on one side, and Twilight took the other. They took turns pushing the saw back and forth between one another, which was much harder work than Twilight had expected it to be.
It could have been done much easier with magic, but Applejack was finicky about Twilight using magic on the farm. It wasn’t that she never allowed it, but rather that she decided when magic was okay to use without any sort of logic Twilight could figure out.
If she had wanted Twilight to use magic, she could have asked. And in the meantime, becoming an alicorn hadn’t just given her wings; she had earth pony magic she could rely on as well. She could almost sense where the weak parts of the tree were and guided the saw towards them.
“You know, you’re not too bad at this,” Applejack said. She spoke effortlessly, as if she was doing nothing more than idly walking around the orchard.
“Uh huh,” Twilight managed with obvious effort.
Applejack stopped. “You okay, Twi? If you need to take a break, just say so.”
Twilight’s breathing was heavy as she answered. “But we… haven’t… gotten through… the tree!”
Applejack let go of the saw and walked over to Twilight’s side. “Come on, let’s get you a drink.” She gently guided Twilight away, leading them towards the farmhouse.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t realize how tough that would be.”
Applejack chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. You did do pretty good for what you did, though. Me and Big Mac can finish the rest.”
Twilight wondered if she should point out that she could easily split the log with magic if Applejack was okay with it. She decided against it, not wanting to do anything her earth pony friend might view as untraditional if she could help it.
They were still on their way back to the farmhouse when they were interrupted. A blue streak flew in from above, landing in front of them. An entrance like that was hardly out of the norm for Rainbow Dash, but in place of her usual cocky grin, she wore a determined expression. And Twilight didn’t like the way it was pointed directly at her.
“Hey there, Dash,” Applejack said. “We were just headin’ inside for some refreshments. Feel like joining us?”
“Not really a good time,” Rainbow said, her voice as serious as her expression. “Gotta talk to Twilight about something.”
There was no doubt what Rainbow would want to talk about. ‘So much for getting away from that for the afternoon…’ Twilight forced a smile in spite of the unwanted subject. “You mean the magazine. I already know about it, but don’t worry; everything’s been taken care of.”
Rainbow glared. “Oh, I know one thing that’s not taken care of.”
Twilight frowned. Why in the world was Rainbow upset with her?
Maybe she thought Twilight hadn’t actually taken care of it? Or… maybe she hadn’t? Had Rainbow heard something Twilight didn’t? “Did somepony in town say something else about it?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “The only thing I heard in town was that you were here.”
At least it seemed that Twilight’s plan for ponies to take note of where she was apparently paid off. But she couldn’t exactly be happy about that when Rainbow was inexplicably upset about something. “So… what’s the problem exactly?”
Rainbow frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one? How can you seriously not know what this is about?”
Twilight’s ear twitched. Why the hay couldn’t Rainbow just get to the point? She wasn’t the only one wondering that, as Applejack cleared her throat. “Ya wanna maybe tell us what’s goin’ on here? Don’t sound like either of us knows what you’re talkin’ about.”
Rainbow turned away from Twilight slowly, then finally started to give a straight answer to Applejack. “Somepony caught wind of Twilight and Fluttershy and wrote some stupid article about it.”
“Oh.” Applejack turned to Twilight and frowned. “You didn’t mention anything about that.”
Yeah, why in the world would Twilight not want to talk to Applejack of all ponies about a problem like this? But she took the high road and gave a diplomatic response. “Because I handled it. Hardly anypony in town even cares about the article, let alone believes it.”
Rainbow’s eyes snapped back to Twilight. “Yeah, as far as you know…”
This was getting ridiculous. “Okay, what? What is it? If nopony said anything, is there another article or something? Because all I know is I was trying to put this past me, then you came in out of nowhere and started getting an attitude with me!”
“Wonder why that could be?” Rainbow said accusingly. “Maybe something to do with the fact that your bucking marefriend is miserable because of you!?”
“What?” Twilight recoiled and shook her head. “What are you talking about? And not so loud!”
“Oh yes!” Rainbow said, even louder. “Celestia forbid anypony learn about your deep dark secret! Because that’s what’s really important here!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight gritted her teeth and took a step closer to Rainbow.
“Now hold on!” Applejack stepped between them and turned to Rainbow. “Somepony writes about Twilight and you get mad at her about it? Wanna maybe explain yourself a bit better, ‘cause ya ain’t really makin’ a lot of sense here.”
Twilight threw a hoof into the air. “Thank you!”
“I’m not mad about the article, I’m mad about what Twilight did afterwards.”
“Which was…?” Twilight asked through gritted teeth. The slow trickle of explanation was trying to hold off a river of Twilight’s mounting irritation, and it was losing.
“You just had to jump at the chance to deny your relationship, then you left Fluttershy all by herself!”
Twilight shook her head, still failing to understand what the hay Rainbow’s problem was. She tried to keep her voice quieter than Rainbow’s, but that was becoming more of a challenge. “What? You know we always planned on keeping it a secret. And splitting up was Fluttershy’s idea.”
“Bet you were really happy with that one though. Couldn’t wait to get away from her once your little secret was at stake.”
“It wasn’t like that! I was with her this morning and she’s fine.”
“Yeah? Well, I was just with her twenty minutes ago and she’s not.”
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but a stamp from an orange hoof silenced her. “Enough! Both of y’all need to calm down! Now.”
“Hmph.” Rainbow turned away. Twilight just kept frowning at her, waiting for an explanation.
Applejack wasn’t waiting, though. “Rainbow, what exactly is going on with Fluttershy, and why do you think it’s Twilight’s fault?”
“Because it is!”
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Now what did I just say? Calmly.”
Rainbow sighed. “Because Twilight thinks it’s okay to deny she cares for Shy, then just fly off and leave Fluttershy alone! She didn’t even think to check on her or anything!”
“What!? I –”
“Calmly,” Applejack said with a sharp look.
Twilight took a deep breath. “Of course I planned to check on her. It’s only been a few hours, and again, it was her idea.”
“Yeah, but news flash, Twilight: You have to talk to your marefriend before doing things like that!”
“What?” Twilight ignored how Applejack squirmed at the word ‘marefriend’. That just meant she wouldn’t stop Twilight from being blunt. Being ‘calm’ didn’t matter anymore; she’d heard enough from Rainbow, and was ready to shut her up. “I talked to Fluttershy! I talked to her, I planned it, and I stuck to the plan! And since you weren’t there, I don’t know where you get off on saying otherwise! And I also have no idea why Fluttershy would be upset, since this is exactly what was decided!
“Yeah, you planned it!” Rainbow shot back. “You stuck to your precious plans so you could save your precious reputation, even though it’s been bucking months! Just how long are you planning on keeping this a secret for?”
Twilight shook her head. “We’ve both kept it secret for years, I don’t think a few months to get used to being together is that big of a deal! And I don’t think it’s any of your business.”
Rainbow glare turned to a scowl. “Fluttershy is always my business!”
“No, she’s not!” In a conversation where Rainbow did nothing but go too far, this was still more than Twilight could stand. “I know you two are close, but when it comes to our relationship, just stay out of it! She’s my marefriend, not yours!”
“Maybe I’d stay out of it if you weren’t too ashamed of having a marefriend to notice when she’s hurt!”
“I’m not ashamed of her! It’s just complicated!” Twilight shoved past Applejack to get up close to Rainbow. “Not that you know what it’s like to have to worry about something like that. All the stallions you date, and nopony bothers to write any articles about that!”
Rainbow glared. “What are you trying to say?”
Thankfully, Applejack yanked Twilight back before she could say anything else. “Enough! Twi, that was uncalled for and you know it. Besides, you have to realize Rainbow has a point.”
Twilight’s head whipped from Rainbow to Applejack. “She what?”
“Look, I get why ya did what ya did, but it’s important to tell the truth.” Although Applejack was unfazed by having Twilight’s anger directed at her, she couldn’t maintain eye contact as she continued. “Even when it comes to, er, your ‘friend’.”
“Fluttershy is not just my friend!” Twilight was practically shouting, but she didn’t care. All she had wanted was to get away from the stupid magazine, but instead she got two of her best friends teaming up on her.
“That’s not what you said earlier!” Rainbow shot at her.
“Ugh!” Twilight had finally had enough. She was done sitting around listening to her friends berate her for something that wasn’t her fault.
Without another word to either of them, Twilight lit her horn and disappeared. She could only teleport so far, but she had no hope of outflying Rainbow. Better to teleport as far as she could first, that way when she did take to the air, Rainbow wouldn’t be able to see where she was taking off from.
There were only two places that made any sense to go. She could go after Fluttershy, or she could go back to her castle. From the sound of it, Fluttershy would benefit from Twilight checking in on her.
‘If Rainbow isn’t full of it, that is…’ Where did Rainbow get off saying all that stuff? Fluttershy had suggested they split up, that was what she wanted. If anything, that proved they were on the same page.
Twilight shifted course for her castle, positive that’s what Fluttershy would want. Rainbow didn’t know what she was talking about, and that was all there was to it.
She didn’t pay attention to anyone as she flew through Ponyville. She just had to get to her castle as quickly as she could, had to shut herself away from everyone else until she was ready to face them.
Nopony tried to stop her, but she only really felt safe when she was on the other side of the castle door. As soon as it was shut behind her, she leaned against it and slid down to the floor, holding her head in her hooves.
All she could think about was the argument that had just happened. Applejack’s hesitance at anything gay was to be expected, even if it was frustrating; the bigger deal was that she had sided with Rainbow on coming out, as if she didn’t see how important it was that they take their time with that.
But worst of all was Rainbow Dash. She had just been so hostile. It was the same as the day she found out that Twilight had overheard Fluttershy talking about being gay. It was the same baseless anger directed at someone who was supposed it be a close friend.
And like then, this had to be some silly misunderstanding. But whereas that argument had been short and ended with things being cleared up, this one still wasn’t resolved.
‘Some Princess of Friendship I am…’
A glance at her surroundings revealed that the magazine from earlier was lying on the floor near the door. A reminder of what started this whole thing, exactly what she needed.
With a sigh, Twilight picked herself up and walked to the kitchen. She didn’t really want anything, but getting herself a glass of water was at least a reason to pick herself up off the floor.
It didn’t keep her preoccupied for long. Within a minute, she was sitting at the kitchen table and sipping on a glass of water that she didn’t really want, still replaying the argument over in her head and trying to figure out exactly what went wrong.
That’s where she was when Spike came home and found her. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed with her sitting alone. It was only when she saw the worried look on his face that she shook off her daze enough for the weight to hit her, and she immediately had to hold back tears.
“I, uh, I heard everything with Rainbow Dash…” Spike took a seat beside her.
Twilight sighed. “Great… Did anyone else hear?”
Spike frowned. “Yeah… Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all did. But I don’t think Big Mac or Granny Smith were around, at least.”
That didn’t feel like much of a comfort. She groaned and let her head fall to the table. “Now I’ll have to figure out how to explain it to them! I’m sure Rainbow will be just thrilled about that…”
Spike patted her on the back. “Don’t worry about it, I already talked to them.”
Twilight lifted her head up to give him a surprised look. “You did?”
“Of course I did! Why do you think it took me so long to get here? I was making sure they were okay with it and wouldn’t tell anypony.”
Twilight wanted to believe that Spike had handled it, but that was hard. He was only eleven, and only barely at that. True, he was mature for his age, but how far did that go with something like this? “So… how’d they take it?”
“Pretty well.” Spike smiled reassuringly. “They were all pretty surprised, but they already knew to keep it a secret before I even said anything. Turns out two of Scootaloo’s aunts are gay, and Rarity’s taken Sweetie Belle out to dinner with Hoity Toity and his coltfriend. Apple Bloom didn’t know any gay ponies, but she laughed and said it wasn’t as weird as finding out you became a princess.”
In the end, there wasn’t much she could do but hope Spike was right. She wasn’t too worried about Sweetie Belle, since Rarity would be sure to talk to her about it once Twilight told her what happened, but who knew what Applejack and Rainbow would tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?
So Twilight smiled, even if it wasn’t reflective of how she really felt. “Thanks for talking to them.”
“Of course!” Spike beamed proudly, but turned it down as he said, “But speaking of talking to ponies, how come you’re here instead of with Fluttershy?”
No. She was not going to get this from Spike too. “Like I told Rainbow, Fluttershy is fine. This is what we both want.”
“Oh, I know,” Spike answered quickly. “But, well… you’ve still got to talk to her.”
She knew Spike meant well, but he was just a kid and he didn’t understand. “I can’t just tell Fluttershy ‘Hey, did you know Rainbow can be a huge jerk?’ They’re too close.”
“So… you’re just going to pretend this whole thing didn’t happen?” Spike frowned. “But what if Rainbow tells her about the fight first? Wouldn’t it be better to get your side of the story in before she does?”
That was actually a good point, and Twilight mentally kicked herself for not being the one to think of it. “I guess I should talk to her. If Rainbow isn’t already there…”
“Oh yeah… She left after you did, but I don’t know where she went…”
Twilight sighed. She’d had the head start, she should’ve gone right to Fluttershy after all. “Why can’t this just be easy?”
She had only been thinking out loud, and hadn’t meant for Spike to reply. He did anyway though, but not with words. He leaned closer to her and put his arms around her, holding her in a sideways hug without saying anything.
Following suit, Twilight wrapped a wing around his back and levitated his chair a little closer. At least no matter what else happened, she could always count on Spike sticking by her side.
Even if she did turn out to be wrong. Although she hadn’t wanted him involved in this at all, he already was. And, after all, he was mature for his age. “What do you think, Spike? Was I wrong to shut down the rumor?”
Spike hesitated, and she felt him squirm awkwardly beneath her wing. “I dunno… I don’t think so. But… maybe you should talk to Fluttershy, and not just so you can tell her your side of the story. Rainbow’s wrong about a lot of stuff, and she’s probably wrong about stuff here too. But you know, she’s usually right about when Fluttershy’s upset.”
That was true. Twilight didn’t want it to be, but it was true. She’d just been too focused on being right to see it. “I’ll talk to her. I should probably go do that now, even if Rainbow might be there…”
“Probably…” Spike pulled away to look up at Twilight. “Want me to come with you?”
Although that would probably keep any arguments away, Twilight didn’t want to use her little brother as a shield. “No, I think it’d be better if I went alone. Besides, if Fluttershy’s there, maybe Rainbow will keep her temper in check.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
Twilight smiled. It was a real smile, even if she wouldn’t be happy until this whole thing was behind her. Spike was growing up and becoming more dependable by the day, and that was reason enough to smile all on its own. She kissed the top of his head. “Thanks, Spike.”
Then again, in some ways, he was definitely still a kid. He immediately squirmed away and rubbed his claws over his head as if he could wipe away the kiss. “Okay okay, no reason to get all sappy.”
Twilight giggled, which was a lot more than she expected to do under the circumstances. “I’ll probably be back sometime tonight. Hopefully not too soon though.”
“I’ve heard that one before.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but he had a point; she’d developed a bit of a habit of spending the night at Fluttershy’s on a whim. She could only hope that things would go well enough for that to be the case this time.
“Well then, if I’m not back tonight, I’ll be back tomorrow morning.” She stood up and started walking away, then turned back. “Love you, Spike.”
Spike rolled his eyes, but still grumbled an “I love you too.”
At least that put a smile on her face as she left the kitchen. It fell away by the time she reached the front door, however.
With a deep breath, Twilight opened it and stepped out to face whatever would come.
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hmm, now it does make sense why going from previous chapter to next one felt like a skip. I can't believe I missed the whole act 2 being incomplete thing
9776758
Yeah, for one more week. Sorry for the confusion, I tried keeping things clear in the author's notes
Nice to see the fact that alicorns have earth pony traits too get acknowledged by someone.
"I don't see a princess here."Wait, what? But the first chapter of Act III has been labeled as chapter 16 this whole time... This is chapter 14... Which means the next two chapters would be 15 and 16? Unless there's a numberless interlude?
9779530
I think a lot of people just don't know what to do with earth pony magic. I've seen people say it's extra strength, but nothing in canon actually supports that. Rather, I like to think it's a sense for the world around them (which means Pinkie sense is just incredibly powerful earth pony magic).
Chapter 25 is also new; if you check the table of contents, there's a gap between 24 and 26 right now
9779603
That's not quite true. In Twilight's Kingdom, when Tirek saps earth ponies of their magic, Celestia talks about earth ponies losing their strength:
But I do also like the theories that they have a sense of the world around them in addition to that.
Ahh, that explains it. Nice!
9779629
Ah, forgot about that with Celestia and Tirek. The problem with that though is that in the competition episode with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, they were shown to possess similar strength (they hoofwrestled to a draw) and in general, Dash is consistently shown to be particularly strong, on par or above any earth pony.
9779685
That's fair, though it could just mean Applejack has less baseline strength before any bonus the magic gives her. Maybe Dash, through her athleticism, is just a particularly strong pegasus, similar to how even if amab humans are on average stronger than afab ones but there are tons of afab people who'd trounce me in arm wrestling?
But who knows. Ultimately it's up to you as the author.
You do love to take the drama up to eleven eh?
I really like Spike in this story. This kind of unconditional support is exactly what Twilight needs throughout all this.
Oh boy, drama! :D The tribulations of being in a relationship with autism.
Was this added in later, or did you successfully predict the existence of Burnt Oak? :O I notice some of these middle chapters have 2019 as a publish date...
Check your fucking privilege, Rainbow Dash. :V
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When I originally wrote this story, I left a sizable gap from they're first date to several months into their relationship. At the time I felt that was okay and I didn't feel confident in writing a slowly developing relationship. It was easier to go from brand new relationship, skip the hard stuff, then go into when they're established. I later went in and closed the gap. All of Act II was written well after the original version of the story, with other chapters being heavily edited so that the quality of my writing doesn't jump noticably (although the story content of the other chapters remains the same as they always were, just the writing itself was spruced up). So no, I didn't predict Burnt Oak, I was referencing an episode I had already seen at the time of writing
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That's pretty amazing, then, it doesn't feel like there was any difference in when this act was written. :O Excellent editing job!
I sense a pattern in Rainbow Dash's overprotectiveness toward Fluttershy. She tends to yell a lot and not see the other side's point of view.
Regardless, I can sympathize with Twilight; in fact I probably would have done the same thing. Fluttershy should have told Twilight what was wrong instead of leaving her to assume. Rainbow Dash shouldn't have come to yell at her like that, especially in front of Applejack (not because of her problem with their relationship but because she's not involved in the situation) but Twilight definitely should have went to check on Shy.
They all made some mistakes here and there that unfortunately added up to this mess of a situation. At least Applejack still tries to stay objective and offer some kind of rational thinking and voice of reason, even given her, uh, opinion.
Really dislike the "overprotective Rainbow" trope. It just makes her look like an asshole, when if Fluttershy did the same thing I know this argument wouldn't be happening.. And once again this all happens because Twilight and Fluttershy can't communicate
Maybe they'll learn one of these days.