Sweet Apple Acres, The Place to Be?
Chapter 14
Sweet Apple Acres, The Place to Be?
Spike has remained quiet in all this. Maybe he just wanted to see if we could actually resolve our issues together. But he too is looking confused. “She is?” He asks.
“Yes,” Twilight says, astutely. “You do need some time out of the library.”
I look around and smile slightly. “T-that would be nice...”
“Time in a place that has open spaces.” I can feel my ears droop. Knowing my stories, this is a, ‘bad thing,’ scenario in a story. “With lots of fresh air!”
“Well, yes, that’s what I said, Twilight, but-” I begin.
“But what, H.B.?” She says, all too sweetly. “Don’t you want some grass under your hooves? I mean, you’re a student with some needs you don’t feel are getting filled. And as a teacher, I need to help facilitate those needs!”
I want to giggle about how dirty that sounds, but at the same time, I have a bad feeling about where this could possibility be going. “Well,” I start out saying. “The last time you said something like that-”
“Yes, but this time is going to be different, seeing that magic tea won’t be involved. You see, I know the perfect place where we can go to get all those things, and a few things that I think, as a good teacher, you would benefit from.” Yup. I have pushed Twilight too far. Fuck. But she pushed me too far with that comment! How dare she! “Because with the need for some open space, some fresh air and some grass, I think you need a bit of discipline!” She starts to walk around me. “Some exercise!” She gets up and close to me. “And you know, maybe this whole situation could have been avoided if you were just a little more honest!”
Crrrrrap. That clenches it on what is going to happen today. Fuck.
==============================================================
Heartbreak’s face completely changed from that of being hurt and sad to being worried and afraid with in the span of a few seconds. “Heeeey, you know what, Twilight, you were right, and I was wrong!” Heartbreak says, looking really nervous.
“Really now?” Twilight asks.
“Oh yes, I was totally in the wrong, completely. About the library, that is. The library is a wonderful place to be!” she replied, rubbing her hooves together and attempting to try and back peddle.
“Really, now?” Twilight repeated.
“Oh yes,” Heartbreak repeats. “Right, Spike?”
Spike puts up his hands. “Hey, I should be asleep right now, and you two woke me up. And while I don’t agree with Twilight on everything here, H.B., I’m staying out of this one.” He pats H.B. on the shoulder and starts to walk to the kitchen. “But good luck.”
Twilight looked at her student. “Now, you were saying?”
Heartbreak let out a rather nervous sounding laugh. “Well, it’s just that I have really grown used to the cozy feel of the library! And then there are all the books!” She bent down and took a deep sniff of the books that she had knocked down. “Mmmm! I would miss the smell of the bo-” she started to say before being interrupted by a coughing and sneezing fit. She looked up at Twilight with rather big eyes.
Twilight only responded with lifting up Heartbreak’s saddle bag and glaring at her with a small smile. “We’re going out so we can take care of your, ‘needs,’ H.B.”
Heartbreak’s sad face broke and she crossed her arms. “I don’t want to go outside, Twilight.”
“You just said that you did, H.B.,” Twilight replied, attempting to place the saddle bag on Heartbreak’s back.
“I changed my mind! I can do that you know!” Heartbreak replied, fighting the bags.
“But you really, really, really wanted to go outside, H.B.!” Twilight said, grunting as she fought back.
“No I don’t, Twilight!” Heartbreak replied, trying to counter.
“Yes you do, H.B.!” Twilight said, fighting back.
Spike watched from the doorway and munched on some gems indifferently.
“No, I don’t!” Heartbreak grunted.
“Yes, You Do!” Twilight shouted.
“No, I don’t!” Heartbreak repeated again.
“Yes you do!” Twilight rebutted.
“No, I don’t!” Heartbreak said, still fighting the saddle bags.
“No, you don’t!” Twilight said, making sure to see that Heartbreak didn’t see her sly smile.
“Yes I do!” Heartbreak replied.
“No, you don’t!” Twilight said in mock anger.
“Yes I do!” Heartbreak said, fighting even harder.
“NO! YOU DON’T!” Twilight shouted.
“YES I DO, TWILIGHT! I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE AND I WANT TO GO OUT NOW!” Heartbreak’s face blanched when she realized what she just said. She stopped fighting in her confusion just long enough for Twilight to strap the saddlebags on.
“I’m glad we agree finally, H.B. Now come on, we have a big day ahead of us. Spike, please take a letter and send it to Applejack. Tell her that she’s going to have some unexpected help today.” Twilight looked at Heartbreak’s twitching and confused face. “And if she’s lucky, for the week if she’d like.”
Heartbreak drooped and scowled at herself. “I did not just fall for the oldest trick in the book...”
Spike chuckled while he walked past her to get a quill and some paper. “Yes, You did.”
Heartbreak ground her hoof on the floor, while Twilight opened the door. “Crrrrrudmuffins..” she said, exasperated.
Twilight looked at her impatiently. “Come on, H.B.,” she said, smiling that all too sweet smile. “We haven’t all day, and knowing Applejack, she’s already up and doing chores.”
==============================================================
With as many cartoons, movies, and shows I have watched, I can’t believe I just fell for that. I can’t believe that Twilight just pulled the wool over my eyes and was able to trick me with one of the oldest and most well known comedy routines ever.
I also can’t believe that I am standing outside right now, and I am wanting to go back into the library. I have been spending nearly the past two weeks aching over the fact that I can’t go out, and now I want to go back in. The door is still open, I could make a last ditch effort to race back in and hide.
“Oh, Twilight, I think I forgot som-” the door glows with magical energy and then slams shut.
“H.B. Don’t be silly, you didn’t forget anything,” Twilight says, smiling a rather unnerving, sweet smile. She starts walking into the direction of Applejack’s farm. “You barely own anything. You won’t need any of your drawings where we are going, and I did the favor of putting your art supplies, special pencil, sketchbook, and even your diary-”
“Journal,” I correct, following slightly behind her.
“Your journal, in your saddlebags,” She finishes.
“What about my bathroom stuff?” I ask.
“Unless you are misbehaving, you won’t need them.” The threat here is neither vague or sugar coated in my mind. The more I ‘misbehave,’ the longer I will be at the farm.
Yet I feel the need to ask something. “And if I ‘misbehave?’”
“I’ll send your towel and bath things over,” Twilight says. That smile on her face is one that is all too happy. I want to yell at her, I want to tell her to fuck off, I want to get upset and throw a fit. But if I do that, I’ll only be digging myself into the hole I have already dug myself into.
Sighing, I look around. It is a partly cloudy morning and there are only a few ponies up and about. A few shops are preparing themselves for the day to come. Right now I can see all the landmarks that I know so well. There’s Carousel Boutique, Town Hall off in the distance, and finally as we approach Sugar Cube Square - Sugar Cube Corner.
“Cheer up!” Twilight looks at me and frowns. “You wanted to get out of the library, H.B. And while I might have come up with this idea in fit of spite,” she pauses, “I think it will do you some good. After all, you are getting everything that you wanted here.”
“While at the same time being forced to do manual labor...” I mutter.
Twilight shoots me a look. “Nopony is forcing you to do anything, Heartbreak.” Crap, she’s back to calling me Heartbreak again. “However, as your teachers and your guardians, we do set the rules,” she says in a, ‘matter of fact,’ manner. “And you said it yourself before: You’re a grown mare, you can make choices, but there are consequences to those choices.”
I frown and sigh. There isn’t much use in fighting this. Seriously, how do you fight something with magic? I try to run, Twilight can teleport to anywhere I am. I try to fight? Twilight can stop me with magic. She has all the power in this situation, and there is little next to nothing I can do to stop it. It’s like having a mini-Celestia around me. Always watching, always cracking the whip, always-
“Good Morning Twilight! Good Morning H.B.!” My heart skips a beat and I feel myself nearly leap a good four feet into the air as I am startled by what is clearly the voice of Pinkie Pie.
“FFFEt-Locks!” I gasp.
Twilight rolls her eyes and gives me a bemused expression. She turns and smiles sweetly at Pinkie. “Good morning, Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie has baskets strapped to her sides and a basket hat on top of her head. All of which are filled to the brim with various baked goods. Mostly cupcakes and muffins that are individually wrapped. She smiles and an altogether too happy sounding squee noise comes from her. Then she sees my face and her smile kinda wobbles. “Aww, come on, H.B.! Turn that frown upside down!” She proceeds to do what I would expect Pinkie to do. She uses her hooves to push the corners of my mouth up into a faux smile.
“Pinkie...” I begin to say though my teeth. However, Twilight shoots me a glare. A warning shot that says, ‘You do anything to upset my friend and you will be working the farm for the rest of the month.’ Weighing the options, ignoring that warning isn’t a good idea. Gently, I push her hooves away from my face and give a tenuous smile. “Good morning.”
Twilight gives me a look of, ‘See? Now was that so hard?’ Which it shouldn’t be, but with everything that has happened this morning, last night and the night before? It almost felt like pulling teeth. I really wish it didn’t.
“Wow, you two are up early! I’ve never seen you out this early before, Twilight. Well expect on your first Winter-Wrap-Up here in Ponyville. Then you were up waaay too early.” Pinkie says, talking exactly like you would expect her too. “What are you doing up this early?”
“Well,” Twilight begins. “I feel that it is time to further H.B.’s education. And to do that, I have decided the best way to do that is to have her help Applejack on the farm.”
Pinkie starts ponging after us as we continue to walk in the direction of the farm. “Oooh, that’s right! We’re her teachers! Ooo! Can I help?!”
Twilight gives Pinkie a bit of a look. “Well, I would say yes, but it looks like you are going to have a busy day yourself.”
“That’s true,” Pinkie replies. “But I’m not going to be doing deliveries all day! I could totally help after I’m done!”
Twilight looks thoughtful and then shakes her head. “Actually, I was hoping that H.B. would have some one on one time with Applejack and really get to know about honesty.” She shoots me a look that feels horribly smug.
“Aww! But I am really, really, really looking forward to teaching! I’ve never taught anything before! And H.B. looks like she really could use a lesson in laughter!” Pinkie smiles a really wide smile. “I mean, I don’t even know when I am going to be teaching her!”
Twilight rolls her eyes and looks at me. “I don’t know either, Pinkie. You might want to ask H.B. about that, seeing that she’s really good at telling her teachers about what she needs and how they can best help her reach those needs!” Her voice chimes with a sarcastic tone that reflects what happened this morning.
Before I can respond, Pinkie is already back up in my face. “When do you want me to teach you? Huh? Huh? Huh?” She asks, fluttering her eyes and smiling super widely. Good gods, I can practically see myself reflected in her teeth.
I look away before I die from the sweetness overload. I need to think of something quickly, lest my brain be consumed by the pink fluffball monster before me. “I-I-I don’t know...Pick a month that has the best party in it?”
Pinkie blinks and looks totally taken back. “The best party?! But all parties are the best parties! Especially if I’m the one throwing that party!”
“Whichever month is your favorite and has your favorite party in it,” I reply. Come on Pinkie, take the bait...
Pinkie holds up a hoof and then blinks. She sits herself down on the ground and starts mulling it over in her head. “My favorite month and the month that has the best party...That’s a tough one! I’m going to have to really think about that one!”
I back away from Pinkie and catch up with Twilight. As much as I don’t want to go to the farm, talking with Pinkie Pie is even less appealing. “Yes, you just have a good think right there...” When we are in a safe distance I let out a sigh of relief.
Twilight frowns at me. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t like Pinkie Pie?” she asks me, as we walk down the unpaved dusty road leading up to the farm.
“It’s not that I don’t like Pinkie, Twilight,” I reply.
“Then what is it?” She asks.
“I’m just not ready to deal with that much...happiness...all at once,” I reply. Crap. That makes me sound like an emo pony. Wait, fuck. I am an emo pony. I couldn’t be more emo unless I was a generation one pony that cut themselves.
“I’m sure you realize that one day, you will have to, ‘deal with that much happiness at once,’ right?” Twilight asks. I frown and push down the overwhelming urge to say, ‘Well Duuuuuh.’
“Yes Twilight,” I reply. “I know that. I hope by then I’ll be more ready...” I really don’t want to have any more conversations right now, I just kind of want to get to the farm and do whatever it is that Applejack is going to have me do.
==============================================================
Pinkie Pie sat on the ground looking thoughtful. What was the best month and the best party throughout the whole year?! She tap tap tapped her head
“Think! Think! Think!” She said out loud. “What’s the best month with the best party?”
With as fast as Pinkie’s brain could go, no real answers were being reached. “They’re all really good parties, and all really good months! But what would the best one to teach her about laughter?! Any normal pony it would be easy to teach. After all, laughing is easy! But Heartbreak is a horse of a different colour! And horses of different colours need to be put in a different light! After all, if she can resist my super special Pinkie-Pie-Plead-To-Smile, then I am going to have to use a really really special party to cheer her up!” She tapped tapped her hoof on the ground. This was harder than anything! Her eyes wandered around the sky and towards Canterlot..
Suddenly she jumped up and stomped her hoof down. “Oh! Oh! Oh! OF COURSE! Why didn’t I think of it before!? What’s the one party, the one month, the one night, with the one Pony that she couldn’t possibly resist!?” Pinkie squealed happily and started bouncing around in a circle. “I know what month I want! I know what month I want!” she suddenly halted. “Though that month is really far away...” she shrugged and then looked determined. “Oh well! I Double-Pinkie-Pie-Promised that I would party with that pony, and nopony breaks a Pinkie promise! Plus I’ll have a lot of time to plan that party! Oh! I can’t wait untill Twilight gets back so I can tell her!” she said, jumping up and twitching in excitement. Pinkie started humming to herself some little song as she trotted away to make her morning deliveries.
After Pinkie had left, there was a rustle in the bushes. Lyra popped out and looked at Heartbreak through her binoculars. “Target sighted going to Sweet Apple Acres...”
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14 chapters in and it looks like the title is finally coming into play. Also Lyra, Huzzah!
Wants to giggle?
1207429 D:
fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/042/6/b/ninja_lyra_vector_by_queen_alice-d4pbunt.png
1207778Well that doesn't Stand out at all!
................ I dont know why, but I dont like Twilight very much right now.
I could not stop giggling at that emo pony part. That was hilarious.
Awesome chapter man!!!
Hmm... which month has the best month for the best party for a sad pony like HB? Hmm.... and something to do with Canterlot...
I'm only pulling up either the Summer Sun Celebration or Hearths Warming Eve....and since the Summer Sun one is Celestia that leaves the Hearths Warming Eve.
And this should be... interesting, trying to get HB to be more honest around AJ.... This is going to be the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooongest week ever.
1207879
Not at all.. not at all
Ninja Lyra's 1st rule of invisibility: "If you can't see them, they cant see you"
1208259 Nope on both accounts.
At least HB can swear in her head.
Though I can see HB chiding Twilight back with a "Eat your meat, Hymie!" in a Gilda impression.
I wonder if it's the Grand Galloping Gala that Pinkie's talking about.
1209261 Probably too pretentious and upper class, and requires tickets... and involves Celestia. Pinkie is random, but would know better then to scuttle a party like that.
My money would be on Nightmare Night... It would have a bit more significance. Don't several old Fey legends involve that time of year.
That would include Fall Solstice, Halloween, Harvest festivities...
Jet_Black1980 Clearly has a plan and i eager wait for more.
1208137
They're both being rather insufferable. I give Twilight a little more credit because she's at least trying; the breakdown is in HB's past. HB can't reasonably explain how he/she feels, all things considered, and Twilight has no concept of his society or culture and thus she can't react properly to his moodiness. Furthermore, HB's been thrust into a world that mocks the very cold and cynical state of "reality" that he clings to, compound that with having 9 of your exes literally sever their ties to you in a spite of magical rage and you get someone who's so emotionally tattered it's a near miracle they're even standing.
Twilight is overwhelmed by HB and HB is trying to survive one hell of an identity crisis, and that's before their respective character traits come into play. Celestia had a point in the original story, even if she went about it in a tyrannical way: HB would be quantitatively better off not remembering his/her past, but to him that would be not just a sacrifice of identify but an admission he'd been beat. (Side thought: it would also be the trump cards of trump cards for lying to yourself about yourself, quite the philosophical conundrum; I am curious how Applejack would approach that).
1207879
Spies need only look cool, everything else just deus ex machinas around them.
1210374 You act like there's no hope.
.1210374 Wait, strike a bit of that statement, you're responding to another person. There is a good deal of assessment there.
More Lyra! Something tells me that she will make H.B's life that much harder.
Let the rage and screaming at the silly green unicorn commence within a few chapters.
1210276 Eh possibly. We will just have to wait and see I guess.
1210646
Twilight uses puppy dog eyes...
img6.imagebanana.com/img/wz4vk891/HB1.jpg
But, it's not very effective...
I guess it was bound to happen that twilight gets a little bit more 'agressiv' with HB or they will never get anywhere... but i still think twilight is a bit mean here.
also apparently HB has a hat in this picture, makes her more cute and... well, tomboyish i guess? But in my little head-world annoyed/angry HB is always cute...
1212349 Just don't make her ultra angry.
fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/191/9/8/angry_heartbreak_by_sabertooth1980-d56qwfk.jpg
Her eyes and mane really do that. BUT, SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I love this picture! It's like you are my personal illustrator...I might have to think about paying you for this you know...
1212349 And the hat does! But where is it from?
1212500
well, i thought that maybe i draw a madhatter HB next but then i have to reread some older capters first to get the other OC's right but if you have a request i could try that to 
Nah, i just draw for fun and for getting better at it
as for the hat... i don't know... i, well just made it
and by the way i'm glad you like what i'm drawing... keeps me motivated, you know... thanks for that
1213247 Draw crazy eyes Heartbreak!
1213301
mad science at it's best
img6.imagebanana.com/img/yvxo0h0s/HBeyes.jpg
i wasn't realy sure what a crazy eyes heartbreak looks like, but i guess thats as crazy as i can draw them
1213247 I was rereading this story and I returned to the chapter "The Shower Scene." Suddenly the image of HB with her butt plopped down and her mouth open to drink in water appealed to me as a drawing.
That is if you aren't uncomfortable with that imagery.
I’m sure you realize that one day, you will have to, ‘deal with that much happiness at once,’ right?” Twilight asks. I frown and push down the overwhelming urge to say
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSD-uKmloK5ov_fRB3y8cp2P9Tt52jXjkvdDHgm0lBDmhxiX82NAw
That is going to be a very interesting Nightmare Night
H.B.buse, nuff said.
2346949 Heartabuse.
2610086 *snirks* Heartabuse.
1208246 *boops your nose.*
Wow I sure hope Twilight dies of cancer!
Finally getting to the AJ stuff. I was getting tired of Twilight Sparkle: Pony Politeness Police. It's especially annoying coming from her, since she has a tendency to be rude to other ponies a lot herself, even if most of the time it's unintentional.
Fuck you Twilight. You're a shitty teacher. I have officially lost all sympathy for you. She has no empathy for anyone other than herself, and I am really starting to dislike her.
Also, manual labour as punishment is NOT a reasonable reaction to a person's outpouring of grief about how they were ripped from their home universe, had literally everything of their own stolen from them, then had an overbearing and honestly cruel 'teacher' lock them up in their house, feed them magical drugs which are insanely addictive (while using the actions of said individual while under the effects of said drugs as an example for when said 'teacher' decides that their behaviour is not good enough) while lambasting them for any and every slight misdemeanour even if they are justified in their actions.
I'm disappointed, Sparkle.
7823557 I don't think "disappointed" is the right word to use here. I'm not even sure such a word exists in mankind's -frankly overburdened with swear words- vocabulary.
I had such high hopes given that the last chapter ended with Twilight finally admitting she was in the wrong.
...And then it turned out she was just setting up the punchline for more unnecessary cruelty.
The first story did such a good job of pulling me in and making me want to see how things would play out. Unfortunately every single moment in the series since the first story's final chapter has been nothing but Twilight acting like an asshole for inexplicably no reason.
I know I said in my comment last story that I intended to see this series through to the end...but that was mostly under the impression that the parts that I liked about the series would be able to overwrite my disdain for how poorly Twilight is being written in the context of this series.
Now that the series has become nothing but:
H.B. does anything what so ever -> Somepony flips their shit for no reason -> Twilight spouts bullshit and pretends like everything is always H.B.'s fault
I don't even know if it's remotely possible for me to eek out any kind of enjoyment from reading further.
9255357
I completely agree, 99% of the time its twilights fault and it frustrates me the way that twilight is acting.
9255357
I agree, and feel the same way, it just feels like hb 'exists' and everypony has a hate on for her.
10670737
Kinda like her presence is ... altering things? As if there could be a malicious magic sabotaging her efforts? And none of the ponies are coming wise to this, maaaaaaaaybe?