Forest for the Trees
A loud thunk. A shuffling of leaves. A chorus of percussive sounds as the apples fell into the buckets. It was such a routine task at this point that it was almost entirely reflexive. Applejack had done it for most of her life, and it was a way of life that she’d be content with living forever.
Yet today, that way of life was already coming into question. Days ago, news broke out of an infectious fungus that had appeared one day in Ponyville’s farms. Not long afterwards, Sweet Apple Acres had been infested, and by the time Twilight’s magic had been able to clear the disease, it had already been too late. Vast swaths of the orchard had been destroyed, leaving very few trees behind that still bore fruit.
Applejack looked at the buckets by her side. Normally, they’d all be packed to the brim with apples, but now only a scant few were even half-full. The cart that she left behind her held similarly empty buckets, an absolutely pitiful haul compared to the normal harvest season. A pit formed in her stomach as her eyes scanned the rest of the orchard for any more trees that were ready for applebucking. All around, the only ones that remained unharvested were rotted, leafless, and barren.
Yet somehow, Applejack knew she would find a way to provide the necessary crop this season. She had no other choice.
————————
Applejack had regretted missing dinner with her family. It had been well into the evening by the time she’d had headed back into the house, after checking, re-checking, and then re-re-checking every last tree in the orchard to make sure there were no apples she’d missed. She’d ignored Big Macintosh’s concerns, all of Granny Smith’s calls, everything that would distract her from scrounging every last bit of fruit she could possibly find. She was so desperate that she’d almost harvested the apples and pears that were still growing on her parents’ memorial trees, which were thankfully untouched by the fungus. She couldn’t bring herself to do it in the end—some things remained sacred even in the most trying times—but she’d still considered it for what was probably the first time in her life.
That night, Applejack barely received any sleep. She’d stayed for most of the night, at the old family typewriter, trying to work out all of the finances for the past several months. All of the mathematics of running a farm was usually left to Big Mac, but the constant, nagging worry had pushed her to crunch more numbers than she’d ever crunched before. She wasn’t sure what hurt her head more: the intellectual labor, the sleep deprivation, or the conclusion she realized she couldn’t possibly avoid.
When she finally went to bed, her sleep was shallow and dreamless. Somehow, it was even worse than having the nightmares she’d anticipated.
————————
“…We’ll really have to do it, huh?”
“Eeyup.”
“Do you reckon we could get a grant from one of the princesses in time? Before the debt collectors come ‘round here?”
“Ee-nope.”
Applejack let out a deep, heavy sigh. It was all she could do to alleviate the unbearable tension in her chest, and even then, it was useless. She’d hoped that Big Macintosh would be able to offer some reassuring news. That he’d found some source of income she’d missed, some expense she’d miscalculated, but it was clear the moment he’d stepped into the living room that there’d be no such good news. It was there, written right on his face.
The door creaked open, and Granny Smith trotted in, followed by Apple Bloom. Both of them looked vaguely worried, but neither seemed to be entirely aware of just how dire the situation was. Both of them stood soon stood before her, looking at her expectantly. Applejack swallowed a lump in her throat, and stepped forward.
“Y’all might be wondering why Ah called this here family meeting. You see, the truth is…” The words died off as they left her throat. Ponies often assumed that being the Element of Honesty meant Applejack would always be forward with whatever she wanted to say. And with some rare exceptions, that was true. Where they went wrong was assuming that it would always easy.
“It’s about the fungus, ain’t it?” Apple Bloom’s voice was tinged with worry, but only slightly. She didn’t know just how bad it was.
“Well? What are you waiting for?” said Granny Smith. “If there’s something you want to tell us, then tell us!” Her voice also carried only a slight trace anxiety. Decades of experience with similar concerns had given her idea of what was happening, but even then, she didn’t look like she expected what Applejack would say next. Nothing like it had ever happened, before after all.
Either way, her grandmother was right. Applejack couldn’t beat around the bush forever. In a way, it was outright cruel to make them anticipate the news any longer. Applejack took a deep breath, and her entire body went rigid, as though expecting to be struck by lightning.
“…We’re going to have to sell the farm.”
“WHAT!?”
Though Applejack’s words were spoken barely above a whisper, the reaction it provoked was swift and thunderous. It was a sudden shock to both her sister and grandmother, a split-second impact with the force of a volcano. It didn’t matter what words they’d interjected with, their gasps and the looks of utter horror on their faces were painful enough to leave lifelong scars.
“N-no! That can’t be true! It can’t be!” Apple Bloom’s entire body shook alongside her desperate plea. “Please say it ain’t true!”
Applejack shook her head. It took every bit of willpower she had to hold in the tears that were already forming in the corners of her eyes. “You know Ah can’t do that, Apple Bloom. There’s no use trying to deny the unavoidable. We’ve got nothing left after the fungus destroyed our harvest.”
“But there’s got be something else you can do!” Apple Bloom cried out. “Anything at all! Please! Ah… Ah can’t… This is our home…”
A wrinkled green foreleg wrapped itself around Apple Bloom. Granny Smith embraced her as she broke down, sobbing into the elder pony’s chest.
Applejack didn’t know if she hold herself back any longer. Her composure was slowly crumbling apart, like cracks spreading in a river dam. Already the coat beneath her eyes had become damp from crying. “Ah’m sorry. There ain’t nothing else we can do now. The debt collectors are coming soon, and we have to have something for them. There’s too much bureaucracy involved to get a grant payment before then.”
As Applejack spoke, Granny Smith held Apple Bloom tighter, gently rubbing a hoof across her back. Granny Smith lifted her gaze from Apple Bloom as Applejack continued her explanation, her eyes narrowing into a piercing glare.
“How dare you,” she said.
“Granny, please—”
“You listen when Ah’m talking to you!” Granny Smith snapped back. Apple Bloom had already pulled away from her embrace by then, leaving Granny Smith to step forward, every last wrinkle on her face quivering in anger. “How dare you even begin to suggest doing such a thing! This here farm’s been around from the day Ponyville was founded! This ain’t just our family! This ain’t just our way of life! This here is history, and you’re here telling me you’re going to throw it out like it was some rotten apple!?”
“That’s enough.”
To everyone’s astonishment, it was Big Mac who had spoken up. He stepped forward, placing himself between Applejack and Granny Smith, meeting the elder mare’s gaze with intense, determined eyes of his own.
“You know darned well we wouldn’t do this if we had another choice,” said Big Mac. Even a single complete sentence coming from him was enough to get others to notice, but now he had the entire family’s unanimous, undivided attention. “This here farm means just as much to any of us as it does to you. And Ah’m going to be frank with you, Ah think you ought to be ashamed of yourself for suggesting otherwise.”
In most circumstances, Granny Smith would not have tolerated any kind of back-talk, especially not from her grandchildren. But as Big Mac spoke, she didn’t raise any objection. Her ironclad resolve had faded almost entirely by the end, and she quietly backed down, not even bothering to look Big Mac in the eye. Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, it was clear that Granny Smith knew he was right.
“Listen,” said Applejack. “Ah know it’s scary, thinking about losing everything we have here. Ah know we ain’t used to things being different. But no matter what, Ah promise you that we’ll all be okay. Y’all have mah word on that.”
Applejack stepped forward, and her entire family came together in a circle. Without any second thought, she reached out with her forelegs, and everyone was pulled together in a wide, four-pony hug. In that moment, as she felt the warmth of those she loved, Applejack knew that there was nothing in the world that could bring them apart.
“Wait!” Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up. “Ah have an idea!”
Applejack was startled enough that it broke apart her family’s embrace. As she pulled herself away, she turned to see Apple Bloom with a massive grin. There was something she was excited about, so much so that she was about to jump into the air.
“An idea?” said Applejack.
“Yeah!” said Apple Bloom. “Zap apple harvest season’s coming up, right? It oughta start right around next week! That’ll be more than enough time to harvest before the debt collectors arrive, right?”
“In theory, sure,” said Applejack. “But given all the zap apple trees are done in by the fungus, Ah don’t reckon that’ll make much of a difference.”
“But the ones on the farm ain’t the only zap apple trees, are they?” said Apple Bloom. “Granny, do you remember the story you told when you came to Family Appreciation Day that one time?”
“Of course Ah do!” Granny Smith replied. “Weren’t it for them zap apples in the Everfree Forest, this here farm wouldn’t be standing here today!”
The entire room went quiet. Applejack shared a look with Big Mac. With just one glance, it felt as though she’d carried out an entire conversation. She turned over to Granny Smith, and though it had taken a moment, she could see comprehension dawning on her.
“Well?” said Applejack. “Do you reckon it’s worth a shot?”
Big Mac gave a smile. “Eeyup,” he said.
————————
“Now Granny, are you sure you don’t remember where you saw them zap apple trees?”
“Sorry, Applejack. Even if Ah did remember the exact details, there’s no telling if them trees are even in the same place.”
“Well, that’s mighty encouraging, ain’t it?”
Applejack let out a sigh. She stood by the edge of the farm, just outside of the edge of the Everfree Forest. A pair of saddlebags slung over her back, carrying several lassos and essential survival gear, but with most of the space left empty to carry the zap apple seeds. Her family had come to see her off as she headed into the forest in hopes of finding the seeds that would save the farm.
“A—”
“Nope, don’t say anything, Big Mac,” Applejack preemptively countered. “The Everfree’s dangerous, and Ah’m not leaving without someone staying behind who can take care of Granny and Apple Bloom.”
Apple Bloom’s ears folded against her head. “...Are you saying you might not come back?”
“Well, Ah’d say there ain’t no chance of anything bad happening to me,” said Applejack, “but it never hurts to be prepared for the worst.”
“Oh,” said Apple Bloom. “Makes sense, Ah guess.” She didn’t look particularly reassured.
Granny Smith placed a gently hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder. “Now, don’t you worry there, young’un. Your sister’s tougher than nails. Ah’m sure she’ll be finer than a cask full of cider!”
“Yeah, Ah guess you’re right,” said Apple Bloom. The lines of worry on her face had already been ironed out. “Be careful out there, Applejack!”
“Don’t you worry about it, Apple Bloom!” Applejack called back. “Ah’ll be back before you know it!”
As she made her way into the Everfree, Applejack gave one last look at her family, waving them goodbye.
————————
The Everfree wasn’t usually too hard to navigate, provided you stayed on the dirt trails that crossed the forest. Unfortunately, Applejack also happened to be going quite far off the beaten path, so to speak. Her wanderings had led her across the uncharted depths of the woods, for a length of time she couldn’t even begin to identify. The Everfree Forest was always dark, dark enough that it was almost impossible to see what time of day it really was.
After what had to have been hours, Applejack’s journey had quite literally proven fruitless. Apart from a brief encounter with a chimera, she was lucky enough to have avoided attracting the attention of some of the forest’s nastier predators. A creeping sensation that gradually ran up her spine gave her the feeling that luck wouldn’t last forever.
Sure enough, as she made her way through yet another thick covering of trees and underbrush, a rumbling beneath the earth proved that she wasn’t alone. The rumbling intensified, so much so that the ground itself began to shake with a force of an earthquake. Reacting purely on instinct, Applejack immediately jumped backward, leaping aside from the spot she was standing on.
With a bestial roar, the earth where she stood exploded outwards. A massive green wurm with leathery skin and a circular row of serrated teeth erupted to the surface. The upper portion of its body reared into the air, standing more than fifteen feet tall, poised to strike and swallow Applejack in a single motion. Applejack could do nothing but close her eyes, flinching as she prepared to meet her untimely end.
But the end, to her surprise, didn’t come. Instead she heard a very loud whump and the sound of crunching bone. She opened her eyes, and what she saw was the last thing she expected to see.
Standing just before her was a very large, muscular earth pony stallion. His coat was a dark, grayish green, and his cutie mark a three-toed pawprint of an unidentified beast. His mane and tail were wild, unkempt, and packed with dirt, matching the rough and scraggly beard growing from his chin. A large axe was strapped to his back, designed in such a way that it was clearly not meant for cutting trees, and the top half of his face was concealed with a metal helmet. Most strangely of all, however, was the octahedral stone that was embedded in the front of his chest, engraved with glowing blue runes that pulsed in sync with the veins surrounding the wound it was lodged in. As he stood, an aura of green magic surrounded both him and the wurm. As the aura surrounded the wurm, its body dissipated into wisps of green smoke, surrounding the stallion before dissipating.
The Hunter turned to face Applejack. It was difficult to read him with the mask, but there was something distinctly menacing about the way he looked at her. “Are you alright?”
“Ah think so,” said Applejack. “That was nice going, wrangling that wurm like that.”
“You should go,” said the Hunter. “It’s not safe here.”
Applejack stared at the Hunter quizzically. There was definitely something strange about the Hunter that she couldn’t quite place, something to do with the hedron implanted in him. “Ah think Ah know what Ah’m getting into. But that begs the question, just what in tarnation is a pony like you doing all the way out here?”
A snort escaped the Hunter’s nostrils. “Words lie. People lie. The land tells the truth. This land is wild, and I could hear it calling to me.” A subtle glint appeared in his eye as he spoke. It was a look that Applejack had only ever seen in the eyes of a predator, yet there was also something softer hidden within it. “I meant it when I said you should go. You’ll find that I’m not very nice.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “But you did save mah life, didn’t you?”
“I don’t care about your life,” said the Hunter. “I’m here for the hunt. No more, no less. You simply happened to be there.”
“Horseapples.”
The Hunter’s eyes widened beneath his helmet. “Excuse me?”
“Horseapples, Ah said. If you really don’t care nothing about mah life, you wouldn’t have come right when Ah was about to be eaten alive.”
The Hunter glared dangerously. His muscles tensed briefly, only to relax. “You’re a liar,” he grunted.
Applejack’s eye twitched involuntarily. “Ah beg your pardon?”
“Either you’re too dumb to recognize me for what I am, or you’re a liar,” the Hunter replied. “And you don’t look dumb to me. If there’s one thing I can count on people to do, it’s lie.”
The Hunter turned to walk away, but was immediately cut off. Applejack rapidly maneuvered herself to face him, glaring intensely right into the Hunter’s eyes. Despite his imposing stature and deadly weapon, Applejack remained resolute.
“Now you listen here, mister! Ah can tolerate a lot of things, but for you to so much as insinuate that Ah’m a liar...” She couldn’t even be bothered to complete her sentence. Anger boiled within her chest, stifling any further attempts to articulate herself.
“It’s not wise to antagonize a monster.” The Hunter’s muzzle split open into a grin, revealing a row of yellowed teeth. “Especially not one that hunts other monsters for fun.”
Applejack stepped back, a chill running down her spine at the sight. She could almost believe the Hunter’s claim that he was a monster. And yet, there was something else about him that didn’t add up.
“Well if you’re such a monster, how come you asked me if Ah was okay?”
The Hunter froze. His grin vanished, as though the question had pierced straight through his menacing exterior. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“’Course you do,” said Applejack. “You say you’re a monster, but there ain’t no monster Ah’ve ever heard of that goes around asking other ponies if they’re okay. If you really didn’t care, you wouldn’t’ve been worried about that, would you?”
The Hunter paused. A multitude of subtle emotions ran across his face, and in the silence Applejack could hear the gentle thrumming of the hedron in his chest. She was sure now there was a powerful magic within it, but exactly what it was she couldn’t tell.
Finally, the Hunter once again turned to leave. “It’ll be dark soon. You should leave the forest. The most dangerous predators here are nocturnal.”
Applejack looked towards the sky. Though it was next to impossible to see the sun through the canopy, she could tell that the light filtering through the branches had diminished. “Probably a good idea,” she said. “You take care, now.”
“You too,” said the Hunter.
The two turned and went their separate ways. As she left, Applejack had the strange feeling that she’d done something good, but she couldn’t rightly tell what it was.
————————
It was already well into the evening by the time Applejack had returned to Sweet Apple Acres. Her family was waiting for her in front of the farmhouse, anxiety plainly written on all of them. They could no doubt already see that her saddlebags were far too light to be carrying what they needed.
“Well? How’d it go?” Apple Bloom’s voice had a twinge of hopefulness, but on some level it felt like she already knew the answer.
Applejack’s eyes drifted toward the ground. “Ah’m sorry, everypony. Ah tried to find the zap apples, Ah really did.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at her loved ones. Seeing them hurt by the news was almost too much to think about.
Then, before any of them could respond, a low rumbling noise came from below, followed by the ground itself beginning to shake.
“Applejack! W-what’s happening?” Apple Bloom cried out.
“Get in the house!” Applejack called back. “Now!”
The matter didn’t take any further prompting. Big Macintosh quickly grabbed both Apple Bloom and Granny Smith, carrying them both on his back as he rushed indoors. The rumbling intensified, and Applejack steeled her nerves for the inevitable. There wasn’t any uncertainty left in her mind: she’d protect her family even if it cost her own life.
A terrible cry emerged as the same wurm that had threatened her before drilled through the earth, erupting through the ground with explosive force. Applejack flinched slightly at the sudden spray of dirt, but her hooves remained glued to the soil, remaining steadfast as her eyes met the wurm’s. She didn’t know how to fight something that could easily tunnel beneath her, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.
She tensed her body, preparing for the wurm to make the first strike, but much to her astonishment, the attack never came. Instead, the wurm leaned over, a disgusting retching sound coming from its throat. Then, in discharge of slimy bodily fluids, it regurgitated a massive volume of seeds, spewing them into a hill before Applejack that was easily five times as tall as her and ten times as wide. The wurm then rapidly descended back into the soil, leaving Applejack to stare transfixed at the massive pile of seeds. The crackling sparks that crawled between them made it immediately clear what kind of seeds they were.
“Sweet mother of Celestia... Ah’ve never seen so many of them!”
“You’re welcome.” A voice called from behind the mountain of zap apple seeds. Applejack looking to see the Hunter turning around its corner. The perpetually grim look on his face was gone, replaced with something that might almost look like a friendly smile if you squinted hard enough.
“Ah... Ah don’t believe it. Did you do all of this for us? How’d you even manage to find so many?”
“As I said before, the land speaks the truth,” the Hunter replied. “It’s all I could do to thank you. You helped me realize something about myself. That maybe I’m not as much a monster as I thought.”
Applejack felt a tear forming in the corner of her eye. Her entire body felt so light that she was practically giddy. “Ah... Ah can’t thank you enough for this. If there’s anything Ah can do for you—”
“Don’t,” the Hunter curtly replied. “I may not be as monstrous as I thought I was, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a monster. This world is peaceful. Too peaceful. If I stay, I’ll only end up hurting someone. Possibly someone you care about.”
“So that’s it then?” said Applejack. A part of her was disappointed, but she figured it wasn’t her place to argue. “You’re just going to leave, just like that? Can Ah at least get your name before you go?”
“It’s Garruk. Garruk Wildspeaker.”
Applejack tipped her hat gently, a universal gesture of respect. “Pleased to meet you, Garruk. Name’s Applejack. If you ever change your mind, you can come right over here to Sweet Apple Acres whenever you like. Ah reckon you’ll always be welcome here.”
“Don’t count on it,” said Garruk. “But you have my thanks.”
Green wisps of magic surrounded Garruk’s body, enveloping him completely in a smoke-like cloud. When it disappeared, Garruk was gone.
There was a slow creak as the door to the house opened, and Applejack turned to see Granny Smith stepping outside. “What’s all the ruckus out there? Did you take care of that varmint—Sweet merciful heavens! Are those zap apple seeds!?”
Applejack smiled warmly. “Eyup,” she said. “We’d better find a silo to store these in. Ah reckon we’ll have a lot of work to do in the morning.”
————————
Applejack, Orchard Tender 4GG
Legendary Creature — Horse
Applejack, Orchard Tender can't be countered.
Players can cast nongreen spells only during their own turns.
”Here on Sweet Apple Acres, we do things simple.”
5/5
I’d had this chapter mostly completed for about two weeks, but I wanted to finish Twilight’s Spark before I posted it, and also had the two-part Shadows Over Equestria side-story to complete. When this chapter is uploaded, it’ll be placed before some the other Sideboard Stories chapters I’ve already uploaded.
I’ve heard some argue that Applejack is best represented as green/white, but I’d have to disagree with that for one reason. Namely, that Applejack is the only one of the Mane 6 to completely lack any long-term goals or ambitions beyond living the life she’s always lived (even Fluttershy has her dream of starting an animal sanctuary). She has close friends, a loving family, and an orchard, and that’s all she could ever want. In addition, she’s also remarkably stubborn and slow to accept change, to the point where one of her most famous lines in the show is her proudly proclaiming that she didn’t learn anything.
This is a quintessentially mono-green outlook on life, as green is the color of accepting the world as it is where the other colors try to change it to suit their whims. While agriculture is typically portrayed as white do to its essential role in sustaining community well-being, agricultural lifestyles can also be green-aligned if they’re strongly rooted in traditionalism above all else. This can be seen in the green-aligned farming villages in the Kessig region of Innistrad, which suffer from an even more serious case of medieval stasis than the rest of the plane.
Applejack’s abilities are essentially an upgraded version of Dosan the Falling Leaf, a powerful card that prevents counterspells and other dirty and/or sneaky tricks. Applejack isn’t any stranger to being cunning herself, though, so she’ll let you use your instants as long as they’re honest about what they’re trying to do (i.e. green.)
Garruk’s cutie mark, for those wondering, is the symbol used for the trample keyword in Duels of the Planeswalkers:
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This was a neat little chapter. Minor nitpick, though: The whole point of the chest hedron is to stop someone from planeswalking. There's a reason Ob Nixilis was stuck on Zendikar until it was moved into Garruk.
8553049
Not exactly. The actual purpose of the hedron is to suppress demon transformations. When we last saw Garruk he still had the hedron in him, but was still capable of planeswalking.
Ob Nixilis had already lost his spark by the time the suppression hedron was implanted in him, as a result of some unforseen accident when trying to harness Zendikar’s mana (so says Doug Beyer, one of the current Magic Story writers). The backlash from Zenidkar’s mana caused his spark to fragment, at least until he found a way to piece it together.
So... who owns the farm? And if it's the Apples, what do they owe the debt for? And even then, what's keeping every other in Ponyville—more than a few, given the market booths—from getting repossessed?
This always bothers me about "We'll lose the farm!" stories with Sweet Apple Acres, in or out of canon: Lose the farm to whom? And that's putting aside mortgaging or any kind of help fron friends, including financial advice. Or even help in seeking out zap apple seeds! And that's not getting into the food shortage, which I can only hope Equestria's transportation and food storage technologies are equipped to handle.
Don't get me wrong, this was a really neat cameo, and given Garruk's history as a farm bit, I almost want to ship it. But the underlying structure of the story raises way too many questions for me to enjoy it fully.
As for Applejack's color identity, there are valid arguments for her with or without white.
8553143
Well, that probably involves a load of fancy mathematics, but in times of crisis the I’d imagine Apples are known to take out rather significant loans to keep things afloat. They always pay it back in full (their family is known for having a perfect credit record), but sometimes a conflict might come out of the struggle to pay it off in time. Debt collectors in Equestria are absolutely vicious and a single missed payment can quickly spiral out of control.
I didn’t want to go too deep into the financial workings of it because that’s really just the setup, and having a load of exposition about something ultimately irrelevant to the end result would distract from the actual story I wanted to tell.
I'll admit that I was expecting Nissa to show up and patch up the trees. But I guess this works too.
I do find it a bit strange that AJ never asked her friends for help with this though...
She wasn’t what hurt her head more: the intellectual labor, the sleep deprivation, or the conclusion
1. She wasn't sure what hurt her head more.
Eh, this one is a lot harder to buy, they haven't done a "Apples in financial trouble' episode since season 2, and for a good reason, by this point, it's really hard to buy it happening, between AJ being a several times over savior of Equestria, meaning not only would anypony trying to run her off her farm face a ton of backlash, but she's got plenty of resources to get some money from to prevent that from even happening. I know the story tried to cover that with they dind't have enough time to apply for a grant from the Princesses, but tha's assuming you go through the usual, official, channels. She's BFF's with a Princess, is one good personal terms with at least two more, if not all three more, how much time does it take to walk over to her castle and tell Twi she needs a few bits? Or even the rest of her friends. Rarity is a successful business mare with shops all over Equestria raking in the bits, Pinkie could put together a "Save Sweet Apple Acres" fundraiser in like, an hour, and you know all of Ponyville would help out.
She simply has far to many connections and avenues to avoid this for me to really buy it as a legit threat.
9127033
Having connections isn't necessarily the same as being willing to make full use of them. Applejack could reasonably be many times wealthier than she already is if she took full advantage of her fame and connections, but she's obviously not the sort to so that.
While she's nowhere near as stubborn as she was in Season 1, Applejack's is still very much a pony who prefers to do things the old-fashioned way. More importantly, she dislikes feeling like she's a burden on others, and an entire farm's loan debt is a fairly significant load to bear.
So while AJ does have plenty of options to resolve the conflict, most of them probably wouldn't even come to her mind right away.
9127785
Which is a point, and yeah,she wouldn't be leveraging her actions as a Bearer to make money, even if it would be easy to pop out some "Element of Honesty brand Cider" or something to market to it and make a fortune. But when it comes to the point of losing the farm, it's almost impossible to not see her going to her friends for help at that point.
Again chapter was done well enough overall, but that trope is just too hard for me to buy, but is more an issue with the base subject matter. One of the problems of trying to balance both epic, multi-time saviors of Equestria, with leading just regular, common, everyday lives.
Well that was a nice showing from Garruk. Definitely can't say I expected him to show up and be friendly.