Carrot Top and Applejack
“I’ll need to work out if I have any money left over,” said Carrot Top. “But if I do, the first thing I’m doing is taking you two out somewhere nice.”
Berry Punch grinned. “You don’t need to do that.”
“You just helped save my farm. I’m taking you out nice,” said Carrot Top. “Objections will be overruled.”
“No objections here,” said Trixie. “By the way, I prefer Neigh Orleans cuisine. And the finest champagne.”
“Excuse me!”
Carrot Top looked over to see Resplendent Orange. “Uh oh.”
“Congratulations on your placement. Your food was spectacular.” Orange seemed sincere. “I know you’re probably eager to get home, but I was wondering if I could buy you a drink?”
Carrot Top hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please? I would love to talk to you some more. It’s been years since anypony from a small Farm has done that well in this contest,” said Orange. “I simply must know more about you.”
Trixie stepped between them. “She said no. If you want to say something, say it now.”
“Well, alright. Carrot Top, your farming ability is clearly exceptional. You’ve demonstrated an incredible ability to produce crops and make business deals – I noticed how many ingredients you had. Betting your farm on the competition was a brilliant masterstroke.” Orange smiled. “How would you like to join the Trust?”
“What?!”
Orange grinned. “You’re exactly the kind of farmer we want. If I recommend you, I can have you approved in a week. And that approval comes with access to the Trust funds, a start-up bonus, disaster insurance, equipment… a piece of our time-share resort in Las Pegasus… and assistance for your friends and business partners too, of course. If you have a particular restaurant, say, that you favor and sell a lot of carrots to, we could certainly kick a little support their way.”
Trixie and Berry Punch seemed frozen in shock. Carrot Top recovered first, pushing through the sudden visions of having money, security, and everything else the Trust could offer. “What would that mean for me, though? I mean, what would my responsibilities be?”
“You might be required to help other Trust farms – if they needed a carrot expert, for instance. You would also be required to pay a certain amount monthly into the Trust coffers. Besides that, you’d have almost total freedom. You could run your business as you saw fit, as long as it was profitable enough.”
Carrot Top thought she knew where Orange was going. “So I wouldn’t have to… say, run it as aggressively as Applejack. If I could find some way to do it without taking down the other farms, you’d be okay with that.”
“We’d be thrilled. The independent farms are where we find most of our new talent. If you could run a farm as profitable as Applejack’s, but without being so aggressive, we would be more than pleased.”
Carrot Top thought for a moment. “You know… Applejack’s a really smart businesspony. And I don’t think she’d be running her farm so aggressively if she could meet her profit margins without hurting the other farms. But she can’t find any way to do it besides driving us out. If she can’t, I probably can’t either, so to meet your margins, I think I’d need to be as brutal as Applejack is.”
Orange shrugged. “Be that as it may, the Trust could help you. Set aside the money for the moment -- Duke Greengrass seemed quite interested in you. I don’t know all the details, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s got some political designs on you for some reason. The Trust has politicians too. We can keep him away.” He nodded. “I’m sure you can see how much the Trust can help you.”
“I can.” Carrot Top gestured back at Applejack, who was being supported by Big Macintosh as they dragged themselves out of the park. “But I can see her. And I can see the farm I had to wager just to stay open when pressured by your Ponyville branch. I can see what the Trust costs.”
Orange sighed. “Alright, then. I won’t push you. I still do wish you luck, though, and perhaps in the future you’ll change your mind. The offer's open for as long as you need.”
He walked away. Trixie ran over to Carrot Top. “Carrot Top, are you sure?”
“Yes, I am.” Carrot Top smiled at her friends. “None of the Trust teams had any friends of supporters come with – didn’t you notice? I don’t think Applejack’s the only Trust farmer who’s completely isolated on her farm. I’d rather have my friends than a pile of bits and nopony to care about me.”
Smiling happily, the three friends walked back to the train.
“Can ah talk ta ya?”
Carrot Top looked up from the bed. She had been trying to nap on the way back to Ponyville. But the competition was over now, and she’d lose nothing by talking to the apple farmer. “Sure.”
Applejack didn’t just look tired now, she looked weary and beaten. Like she just wanted to collapse, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. “So, uh. Good job.”
“Thanks.”
Applejack sank against the wall of the compartment. “First time another Ponyville farm beat ma. But ah guess ah shouldn’t be surprised. Apparently everypony in town hates ma. Even ah couldn’t beat that.”
“That’s not true,” began Carrot Top.
“Really? Apples ain’t sellin’ well anymore. Ain’t nopony even gives ma the time of day. They barely even sell ta ma.” She sighed. “Ah ain’t greedy, Carrot Top. Ah don’t know if yar gonna believe ma, but ah ain’t greedy.”
“I didn’t—“
“Ah don’t spend any money on maself. Ah don’t have any nice things, don’t eat fancy, don’t ever go ta the spa or buy tickets ta shows or anythin’. This hat’s five years old an’ it’s all fallin ta bits, but ah ain’t bought a new one. Ah ain’t taken a vacation in forever; ain’t even paid farmhands ta take over ma shift in years. Every jangle ah get goes inta the farm, the Trust, or the rainy day fund. But… but all them other ponies just say ah’m greedy an’ ah’m bleedin’ the other farms dry.”
“We’re all hanging on by threads,” said Carrot Top.
“Ah know! What, ya think ah like that? But ah can’t worry ‘bout that, ‘cause the Trust’s gotta be strong enough ta handle whatever Equestria throws at it! We can’t fail! The Trust cannot fail! An’ if that means we gotta be aggressive an’ buy up the good land, then that’s what it means!”
Carrot Top didn’t know what to say. Eventually, she managed, “Why do you have to be the one to save everypony? Don’t you get that it’s not right, that you think it’s all on you?”
“But it is! That’s how ah was raised. Ma parents, they told ma ‘bout how we were entrusted ta make sure there ain’t no famine anymore. They told ma it was up ta ma. Ah mean, Big Mac was the other heir ta our particular farm an’ the Trust, but… well, ya know him. He’s too nice. They caught him givin’ way apples too often, to his friends or a couple of the poorer foals. So they taught ma that ah’ve gotta be the one to ensure that everypony gets fed. In Ponyville, maybe even Canterlot, someday, if ah take over the Trust, then all Equestria.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Ah ain’t neva had many friends. Bein’ a farmer, well, ya know how long the days are, an’ fer ma, where every minute had ta be buildin’ up the Trust, ah had even less time than most. All ah had was ma family. But ah’m okay with that. Somepony’s gotta do it, an’ ah’m strong enough to handle that burden. All ah wanted was… just some recognition of all ah sacrificed, ya know? Ah worked real hard ta make apples so plentiful an’ cheap in Ponyville. An’ the first time ah get mad at somepony, they all say they hate ma.”
“But why does it have to be you?” asked Carrot Top. She felt bad for Applejack, despite all the things the apple farmer had done and said. “Forget some century-old edict. Just let the other farmers handle some of--”
“But they can’t! Ah mean, ya’r different. Ah see that now. Ya worked real hard this past week, an… an ah can see that ya’d keep goin’, come Tartarus or Corona. But look at Boxxy Brown an’ Lily. Boxxy’s always getting’ drunk an’ startin’ fights. Lily’s sellin’ more flowers fer decoration than eatin’, an’ half her land’s messed up cause she always overwaters. If the last farmer standin’ was one of them, we’d all starve.”
“Why does there have to be one left?!” Carrot Top shook her head. “This is what I don’t understand! There doesn’t have to be just one farmer for Ponyville! Why can’t we all work together? And if one farmer gets hit with a blight or whatever, we all chip in and save them! That’s a lot safer than hoping that one really great farmer will always save the day!”
“If it was just farmers like ma an’ ya, maybe that’d work,” said Applejack. “But in a group, the weak always drag down the strong. If we joined with Lily, we’d be given her time, an’ money, an’ supplies that we might need but wouldn’t have. Probably couldn’t save her fer long, an’ we’d only be weakenin’ ourselves.” She shook her head. “No. There’s too much at stake.” Her voice was growing fainter. “Ah have a duty ta make sure that nopony starves in Ponyvile. Ah’m gonna do whatever it takes ta fulfill that duty. Ah don’t… it don’t matter if they hate ma. Ah can take it. Someday, they’ll need ma’.”
Carrot Top began to get up.
“Wait. What ah want ta know is… ya believe ma, right? Ya’r smart an’ ya’ve seen ma work. Ya know ah ain’t just some greedy money-grubbin’ jerk, right?”
“I believe you,” said Carrot Top, quietly. “I think you’re wrong, and if you keep trying to drive out the other farmers, I’ll fight you. But I believe you.”
“Thanks.” Applejack sighed. Her eyes were sliding shut. “Even ma own sister, she thinks ah don’t love her now. Thinks ah didn’t want ta look fer her when she went off with those rascals. But ah did, and ah do. Ah love her so much ah…”
Carrot Top hesitated.
“Sometimes ah don’t want her ta go inta the business. Ah don’t want her ta have ta bear this burden. Ah want her ta be able ta have friends an’ all, an’ grow up normal. But it ain’t up ta ma, ah guess. The Apple family’s got duties, an’…”
“I’ll get her,” said Carrot Top, getting up. “I’ll talk to her.”
“No, wait, ya don’t gotta do that!” But Carrot Top was already out the door.
Carrot Top found Apple Bloom at the end of the train.
“Hey, Apple Bloom? Your sister wants to see you.”
“Hmph. She didn’t care when ah went missin’ durin’ the competition.”
“She wanted to go look for you, but Big Mac and I decided I should go instead. She was really tired, and we were afraid she’d get hurt.”
“She still could have looked a little,” said Apple Bloom. “An’ she’s been real mean fer a while, an’…”
“Your sister loves you very much.” Carrot Top sat so that she was more level with the foal. “Have you ever had a responsibility so big that you felt like you couldn’t do anything you liked until it was done?”
“Ah guess… sometimes, if the chores back up or they’re real urgent. Like with the zap apples. Once they show up, if we don’t pick ‘em day an’ night, they all vanish.”
“Your sister feels like that all the time. She’s… she’s confused about some things. But she always feels like, if she stops working, horrible things will happen. So she’s under a lot of stress. If she gets mad at you or acts like she did this week, it’s not because she doesn’t love you. She just feels like the world’s collapsing, and even she can’t hold it in all the time.”
“But why does she feel like that? Ah don’t want her ta feel like that!”
“She just feels that her farming is that important…”
“But yar a farmer, an’ ah know yar happy all the time! Yar always laughin’ an’ smilin’ with yar friends, even that jerk Trixie.”
Carrot Top chuckled. “Trixie is… hard to get to know, but she’s got a good heart under it all.”
“Carrot Top? Can ya teach ma sister ta be a happy farmer?” Apple Bloom looked very sad. “Ah don’t like it when she’s like this. When she’s up all night in the fields an’ mutterin’ stuff an’ sayin’ how the whole town’ll be sorry some day fer doubtin’ us. Can ya help her?”
“I’ll do my best.” Carrot Top nodded. “But right now, I think she wants to see you.”
“Well… maybe ah don’t want ta see her. She didn’t look fer ma today. She didn’t care where ah was if it meant missin’ the competition. Ah don’t wanna talk ta her now.”
“That’s not true, but even if it was… didn’t you tell me that everypony has bad days now and then?”
Apple Bloom hesitated. “Yeah, ah guess ah did.” And she smiled slightly.
“She’s had a very bad day, and she really needs her little sister right now. C’mon. I bet she’ll be thrilled to see you.”
The two entered Carrot Top’s compartment.
“Apple Bloom?” Applejack’s smile was genuine, and it occurred to Carrot Top that she’d never until then actually seen the mare smiling over anything that wasn’t business. “Apple Bloom, ah love ya. Ya’r the best sister in the world.”
Apple Bloom hugged her. “Ah love ya too, sis.”
Carrot Top smiled.
A huge crowd was waiting for them when they got to Ponyville.
Applejack, looking marginally better after having slept the rest of the way home, spoke first. “Sweet Apple Acres got fifth place. We’ll donate the quarter of the prize money as soon as we get it. Oughta help spruce up town square, install the extra lampposts y’all were wantin’.”
There were a few perfunctory cheers… but not many.
Carrot Top coughed. “I took third place, and—“
A huge roar swept through the crowd.
Carrot Top blushed scarlet. “And we’ll be buying the irrigation system for all the participating farms. I wanted to thank everypony who helped make this possible. In particular, Green Grape and the other small farmers, for fronting me all the ingredients.”
Green Grape, near the front, smiled. “It was a sound business decision. We know how talented you are.”
“Helpful Hooves, Plougshares, and the others who assisted me with farm chores for this past week.” The farmhands cheered. “The other Elements and the other tasters, and, of course, Berry Punch, who trained me. I’d probably have burned my house down if she hadn’t helped me figure out what I was doing.”
Berry Punch laughed. She seemed… a little tipsy, having apparently utilized the train’s bar on the ride back, but she wasn’t totally soused. Good. Carrot Top was thinking that a party might be fun for later. “We’re your biggest fans, Carrot-Top!” she yelled.
Carrot Top smiled. Yes, they were her friends. They’d come through for her. She’d never feel like she should be less generous again, and the Trust offer wasn’t even tempting. Sure, she might have more money, but she’d end up like Applejack, and…
That reminded her. She saw the Apples starting to leave the station, and quickly called, “Hang on, there’s one more thing. Could I have everypony’s attention?”
Applejack looked at her, clearly confused.
“The last week has been extremely stressful. I’m sure I’ve probably said some things I shouldn’t have. If either of us have offended you, please, forgive us.” She inclined her head. “We’re all Ponyville citizens. We shouldn’t be boycotting or threatening each other. Let’s work together to make this town as stable and prosperous as it can be.”
The crowd was silent, but Carrot Top could feel an energy building within them. They were expectant and hopeful. If Applejack accepted this peace offering, the boycott and the anger could end. Maybe Applejack could even find peace and happiness.
“Applejack. I think that we – and all the other farms – should work together. Let’s make Ponyville the produce capital of Equestria. We can do it if we stop fighting each other and help each other.” She stuck out her hoof. “All the farms, working together. Can’t do it without you.”
Come on, you can feel it, Applejack. They want to forgive you. We’re all good at heart, we don’t like to hate, even the ones you offended the most – me and Berry Punch – we want you to work with us, stop acting like it’s us versus you. Take this peace offer.
Applejack stared at the hoof.
“C’mon sis,” whispered Apple Bloom. “Please.”
But Applejack shook her head. “Ah can’t. Ya know why,” she murmured. Then, louder, “Sorry. But ah can’t. There’s too much at stake.” She paused. “Ah’ll get y’all the money soon as ah can.”
She almost ran out of the station.
“That ungrateful…” began somepony from the audience.
“I forgive her,” said Carrot Top, as quickly as she could. “And I know I can’t speak for all of you, but I ask you to forgive her too.”
She could tell it wasn’t having much of an affect. But… she did see a few ponies thinking it over. And if she could persuade ponies a few at a time that Applejack wasn’t evil, there might still be hope for her.
And then they were carrying her home on their shoulders, and it was still her home and always would be, and she lost herself in a joyful party. But before the euphoria of glee completely overtook her, she had one more serious thought.
I’m glad I’m not like Applejack. I’m glad I’m me.
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One more chapter to go! Just to tie up a couple loose ends, like... whatever happened to Flim and Flam? They didn't get away with all they did, did they?
And did the Apples really save the world by being the Best and Biggest farm a few hundred years ago?
Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!
You know, this idea has been percolating in my mind for a bit, but Resplendant Orange's offer and description of duties to the trust cemented it as a good one in my head.
What do you think of the Ponyville Farmer's Union?
Each individual farm still conducts its own business, but they work with each other to gain things that will benefit all of them as a whole. Like pooling their money to purchase equipment upgrades in bulk that they could never afford on their own. Lobbying as a cohesive unit for stall space at festivals. Stuff like that.
I just think that it would be a shame if the level of organized cooperation that Carrot Top inspired in this story simply went away after one time.
872940
They proooooooobably didn't save the country; what they probably did was help Luna by not forcing her to make a decision she would not have liked to have made. I've been running it over in my head for a while and it seems to me that what the Apples did was keep Luna from having to agree with some jerk who said "Let the strong survive and we can breed new foals after the famine is over."
(I also remember a word that AJ doesn't: monoculture.)
mostly good but it has a few defects ,
1) carrot top betting her farm so easily for farmers who werent willing to help until she promised almost everything she had , it was worse tham the supercider6000 in the maneverse where stupidity wasnt punished but at least it wasnt rewarded .
2) carrot top didint learn anything , she got into a very tight place for being so generous and despite that she came on top beliving it is good idea .
3) applejack being a good bussines mare has became a "infromed ability " of her . never in this fic i saw her do a good decision and she isnt even unscrupulous enough to compensate , it is unbelievable she could have a succesfull farm without someone pulling her strings .
873091
873196
I really think Carrot Top should have joined up with the Trust. Something that is worrying me is how the Trust is being portrayed as some kind of evil Megacorp, Crisis's suggestion is literally exactly the same as what the Trust is. Applejack is a psycho who's business sense is an informed ability, but that doesn't make the trust evil. A big part of the Lunaverse is that the Apple Trust is a big business, nothing more and nothing less. It isn't a big family of loveable hicks that provide a ton of food to their towns for next to nothing and are constantly on the brink of collapse. It isn't a shadowy conspiracy for whom cruelty somehow magically translates to profit. It's a trust of farms who work together for mutual benefit, and do their jobs very very well.
That's not to say that the events of this chapter don't work though, it is another example of AJ's insanity causing even more problems by giving the Trust bad PR. Carrot Top would have fit right into Orange's vision of the trust, an association of farmers who work together for mutual benefit. Just like what happened when Carrot Top enlisted the aid of the other farmers.
873336
How is my idea the same as the trust? I'm not proposing that they all form one giant business after all. I'm proposing that they do more of what they did in this fic, which is help each other out for mutual benefit.
873196
One would assume that Applejack's business dealings are typically performed when she is less sleep deprived.
873357
Neither is the Trust from Orange's description (Which I am taking as far more accurate than anything that comes out of AJ's mouth) one giant business. Orange said that Trust farms operate independently while paying dues to a central treasury which is used along with specialized help if necessary on purchases which benefit all farms involved. Presumably those purchases would be in the form of research (as that benefits all parties once uncovered), an insurance policy to spread the risk more thinly, and farm equipment obtained at a discount and gotten on credit.
873384
They are also invite-only and seem to have some pretty high standards on said dues if Carrot Top's fridge logic on why Applejack is such a wreck is anything to go by.
A Union is basically a bunch of underdogs banding together to ensure they get fair treatment. Like the thing Fancy Pants revealed about the public works contracts always going to the Apples.
And what you said about the Trust being portrayed as an evil megacorp? Well, real life Trusts were kind of the original evil megacorps. They got away with things that would make your typical evil overlord drop to his knees and scream "TEACH ME THE SECRETS OF YOUR WICKED WAYS, OH MASTERS!"
Underdogs are only underdogs until they start winning. And I personally am not blaming the Trust for AJ's breakdown, I think that's her own issue. We don't have direct in-story proof yet that isn't the observation of a third party who doesn't know the whole story.
And then Applejack teleported away without learning anything.
I agree with Carrot Top's reasoning for not joining the Trust. It's easy to say "I'm not like Applejack, the Trust won't make me like that", but all of the available data indicates that it would. As far as the independent farmers of Ponyville are concerned, the Trust is the problem, not the solution, and joining it would make Carrot Top part of the problem. Other farms have a right to exist, and the Trust puts its own success over that right. Now, I do empathise with both Resplendent Orange and Applejack - Applejack has been fed a massively skewed worldview, and Uncle Orange may be the same, although it's also really easy to rationalize that one group's success is vital to the welfare of the nation when you, personally, are in that group - but they need to be made to see the error of their ways, or they'll keep hurting other ponies and themselves.
Again, the scenes of everypony being happy for Carrot Top, and her reaffirming her dedication to generosity and not being like Applejack are just sweet and touching. Well done.
So AJ repeats the Cider Squeezy friendship letter, but in a bad way. Ah, well, we can still live in hope of Mane!AJ giving her a buck to the head during the crossover coming up. I've retracted my earlier opinion that both AJs were too similar for it to happen.
873336 ok , but from the very beginning of the fic she has done done nothing but poor desicions and was incapable of dealing with the problems she had . for example her treament of the farmhands is very strange , generally farms have a small standing personal and when it is time to harvest they contract a lot of workers for a short time , so them working in others farms must be usual , so applejack expecting the farmhands to have "loyalty" to sweet apples acres is crazy.
applejack in this fic was incapable of gaining supporters , managed to get started a boycott against her farm, alienate the entire town and lose most of her contracts , was incapable of solving the plague on her own , her own sister was kidnapped and she couldnt do anything to help , made a fool of herself in front of fancy pants and was humillated by a small farm who only had one week to prepare . it is too much incompetence to make her the mind behind a prosperus farm . that makes sweet apples accres a much less credible threat
There's actually a problem with Carrot Top's offer. Representing the Apple Trust has nearly broken her. Asking her into another grouping would wreck her mentally.
I'm sorry but over all I hope this story goes into the non canon column
Wasn't it stated that the Apple trust hires so many workers it can be tough for other ponies to get help with their harvests? If this is the case what is Apple Bloom doing helping with the zap apple harvest
overall I'd prefer it if the Apple Trust were more Applejack's problem than any benefit. Yeah, she may get equipment at a better price. But at the cost of her brother being away from home a lot, dealing with idiots who don't understand that Zap apples will only go in select places, who are always looking to cull the herd so their share of the profit increases, who don't get that her farm doesn't always have the luxury of perfect weather, since she's on the edge of Everfree and those storms that develop and have to be broken up hit Sweet Apple acres almost immediately after clearing it.
I just thought of something. Blights and famines are usually caused by droughts right? But how can there be droughts when they control the weather?
874089
blights can be caused bt diseases
Hmm, one more chapter. *Still hoping for a broken jaw for Applejack* She's stubborn and dumb at this point, for me.
And go, Carrot Top!
873731
L!Applejack is what would happen to M!Applejack if her pride and stubbornness were dialed up at the expense of her honesty. The idiot who alienated the local farmers, told a sister who thinks she hates her a horror story and can't see that competition =/= mass starvation isn't honest enough with herself to ask "Am Ah lyin'to mahself?"
874885
I'm sure that one day, L!Applejack will somehow find proof that not even she can deny that her point of view and truth aren't at all close. This will end up devastating her. The realization that she's lived a lie her whole life will make her finally see the ponies she call 'varmints who want ev'rypony ta STARVE!!!" as friends she can never have will combine with the recognition that a hard-working single mother working too damned hard on minimum wage still treats herself better than a member of the Mighty Apple Trust to make herself see a fool who lied her way to becoming lonely, frightened and miserable and was happy to do it.
875048
And that second point right there is why the "Lunaverse burn" is so devastating with Applejack.
I'm also worried that L!AJ doesn't do any of the athletic competitions she's into in M!Ponyville.
875265
Of course not. Doing that would risk starvation for all. Odd. The Burn seems to affect the most likable characters the worst.
873091: I really like that idea. I think it would be very useful for the Ponyville farmers... and some good world-building too.
As to how it's different from the Trust: one big difference to me would be in what they did for farms that didn't want to join for whatever reason. With the Ponyville farm union, if a farm doesn't want to join, no problem -- the goal isn't making buckets of bits, but of supporting the community. With the Trust, a competing might cut into their profits, which would mean they'd be more or less obligated to drive out the other farm.
And the other: the Trust would not be a fan of her bailing out the other farms as much as Carrot Top seems to have been doing. That would cause conflicts. Orange might not want to actively run them out, but he'd be annoyed if he found out that Trust resources were going to their competitors.
873952: Well, she still came in fifth despite having massive handicaps by the end (sleep deprivation, difficulty in obtaining ingredients, etc), and if she was incompetent she wouldn't be running Acres. She screwed up during this story, but I think the others stories have indicated that she normally knows what she's doing.
873731: Heh. "Dear Princess Luna: I didn't learn anything! Yeehaw!"
875265: I can imagine her doing them for the prize money, sort of like how she did this one.
873428: Right. The Trust isn't evil, per se, but they want to make money, and Carrot Top knows that if she joined them, she'd have to make that her priority. As much as she might like to continue being generous, to continue, for instance, selling her hangover tonics at cost+1 bit, she wouldn't be able to keep doing that to make the Trust's margins. As she pointed out, Applejack can't seem to figure out a way to sell enough apples without driving out the other farmers, and Applejack's normally a pretty good businesspony, so Carrot Top would be unlikely to do any better on that front.
(It might also be a huge slap in the face to the other farmers, to use their help to get herself into a position where she can join the Trust, which, through SAA, has been hurting them. "Thanks for your help! I'm joining team Applejack now!" That wouldn't go over well.)
873641: Thanks! I liked those scenes too. It's always nice when the good characters have good things happen to them. :-) And Carrot Top deserves a party after her week.
875816
The Trust wouldn't have let her run the farm if she were an incompetent. (Granted, they also wouldn't have let her run it if she didn't believe the founding myth but that's another story.)
I'm so glad that Applebloom and Applejack got to reconcile. Though I don't think I've ever felt more for sorry Applejack than I do now reading this chapter.
I'm not saying that I want things to go back to the way they were but I do hope that things starting getting better for her.
That said it was nice to see Carrot Top turning down the Trust offer in a way that wasn't quite a 'screw you' but still manage to show that there was something wrong with how the Trust does things.
Applejack goes full lesson zero. Nice.
Still got one more chapter to catch up on, but as of right now I need to unload something that's been building up for a few chapters now. Regrettably, that means despite all the praise I've been handing you it's time for me to chew into you again.
Now don't get me wrong, unlike with DatB I still enjoy this story far more than I don't. The parts with Carrot Top putting it all on the line, bringing the whole town together, giving it her all in the completion and pulling through with just enough to make good on her promise; that's all powerfully inspirational stuff. Even the FlimFlam Brothers, who I felt got increasingly flanderized as the story progressed, were at least always entertaining. So what's the problem then?
Applejack!
Prior to this story I saw her as having a hint of blind paranoia, a refusal to see just how financially secure and prosperous her farm and the Trust really were, but mostly she was just a shrewd business pony who through talent and hard work really did deserve to be at the top of the Ponyville farming heap. True she should be more willing to give the other farms a fair cut, but that was her character flaw. However this story paints a very different picture; by this point you've dialed up her paranoia to such ludicrous heights that I can no longer see any way to salvage the situation. You've completely overshadowed her more positive characteristics and essentially pushed me into choosing to either write a large portion of this story out of my personal headcanon or else lose all respect for L!AJ.
Granted the worst of her actions were the result of stress and sleep deprivation, but even if this is the worst pressure she's ever been under it still shows that her head for business isn't anywhere near sound. I defended you when Candiru was saying AJ was a loose cannon that the Trust needed to kick loose, but now I sort of regret that, because that's exactly what you've made her out to be. The worst part though is that myth/history of the Trust being responsible for seeing Equestria through any famine. As a foundational motivator that turned little AJ into the cold minded businesspony she is today I liked it, but you managed make her repeatedly harp on it to the point that it became an obvious madness mantra and proof of the fact that she needs to not just have her ego knocked down a few notches, but outright needs to be removed from her managerial position of Sweet Apple Acres before she does serious damage.
Now maybe I'll end up taking all this back when I finish reading the last chapter, but I just don't see any way to fix this anymore. It really does hurt for me to say that, because other than ruining L!AJ for me, you really did deliver a top notch story.
898302 Well... Instead of fixing AJ (even though I'm 62 weeks late) how about helping fix these well, I would call them grammar mistakes even with the accents and all.
First time another Ponyville farm beat ma
Apparently everypony in town hates ma
They barely even sell ta ma
Ah don’t know if yar gonna believe ma
They told ma it was up ta ma
ya know how long the days are, an’ fer ma
they all say they hate ma
If it was just farmers like ma an’ ya
it don’t matter if they hate ma
Someday, they’ll need ma’
ya believe ma, right
But it ain’t up ta ma
She didn’t look fer ma today
All of these no matter how I see it should be Me and not Ma because even with a horribly strong accent, how is this supposed to be right? I can't picture it at all!
But yar a farmer
with yar friends
And these would be some smaller ones that I think would be Yer instead. I think I remember why I don't like writing accents. They. Are. Horrendous. My one weakness indeed
CT should be glad that she's herself.
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If you want to see some of the greatest southern dialect in fimfic writing. Foal of the Forest heck the entire Savage Skies series has superb dialects when they pop up. On top of an utterly amazing amount of world building, and characterization.
But yeah, this fic's Ma and yar/ya'r need to be fixed into me [unless it was meant to say my] and yer.
______________
At this point, Fluttershy and Pinkie are the only ponies in the lunaverse I still like at this point, since everypony else has either become a paranoid antagonist or just straight-up jerk.
This alternate universe feels depressingly too close to our own sometimes...
liberalbaptistrev.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/sigh-charlie-brown.jpg?w=231
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Yep.
Wait, why do we hate Rainbow, again?
One of my favourite stories in the Lunaverse, though that's not saying a whole lot since I feel that way about most of the Lunaverse stories.
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Apologies for responding to such an old comment, but I just had to let you in on L!Applejack's terrible secret and the whole reason she talks the way she does.
Applejack is 1/4 goat on her father's side.
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No it's just that GAC2 is bad at the Southern Dialect and doesn't ever do grammar corrections XD. But yes, I can agree even with the ignored grammar corrections in all of his fics I've read. Once I got over my annoyance at that ... to a small degree. I can admit to this being one of the better L!Verse stories.
Especially after getting hooked on Shokugeki no Soma (both the Abridged Series, Anime, and Manga).