Putting the Pieces Back Together

by Wheller

Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Sweet Apple Acres.

The Doctor stood at the edge of the gigantic apple farm, nearly a kilometre out of the Ponyville town limits. The Doctor was amazed that two ponies were able to work the entirety of it.

The Doctor also noted that it was probably easier than other large farms he’d seen. Equestria was heavily climate controlled. It had likely never even occurred to the ponies of Sweet Apple Acres that the growing season could go wrong at all. The Doctor found himself scoffing at the way the ponies controlled their world. Just because you could do something didn’t always mean that you should.

He was biased of course, the reasons were obvious. They’d farmed where he’d come from, but despite the wonders of his people’s technology, they didn’t need to control the weather. He’d seen micromanagement destroy whole worlds before. Eventually it was going to turn around and bite these ponies.

The Doctor shook his thoughts off and made his way along the dirt road to Sweet Apple Acres, entering the property close to the barn.

Two ponies were standing near the barn, doing some miscellaneous midday chores, the younger of the two, a dark orange mare wearing a hat that the Doctor thought was cool, looked up at him and smiled.

“Well howdy stranger!” Applejack said, greeting him warmly.

The Doctor knew this was Applejack because he was here to see her.

The earth pony slowly hobbled over to him, the Doctor noticed her bad hind leg. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Arces! Ah don’t think Ah seen ya ‘round before. I’m Applejack! That’s my brother, Big Macintosh, an’ my cousin Braeburn’s ‘round here somewheres...”

“Pleasure to meet you, I’m Doctor Blacksmith,” the Doctor said with a smile.

“Doctor? What’s a Doctor doin’ here?” Applejack asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m setting up a practice. Just in from Canterlot, wanted to see the sights,” the Doctor said.

Applejack looked at the Doctor with suspicion. “Did an all black pegasus pony doctor from the Royal Hospital put ya up ta this?”

The Doctor knew who she was talking about. It had been the pony doctor who had been in charge of Rainbow Dash’s case before it had been thrust upon the Doctor.

“I know of Doctor Nightsinger, mostly by reputation, I haven’t actually met him myself.”

Applejack either believed him, or was backing off in response to the glowering looks being given to her by Big Macintosh, plus a yellow earth pony that had appeared from around the corner, clad in a leather vest and hat that was almost as cool as Applejack’s. The Doctor figured this was the Braeburn that she had mentioned earlier.

She smiled, and lifted her hat off her head, there was a small red apple sitting under it. “Apple?” she offered.

“Oh thank you! I love apples!” the Doctor said. He had never actually tried an apple before, so he couldn’t be sure. But everypony seemed to eat them, so they had to have been good. Right?

“Huh, maybe you’re not so bad after all,” Applejack said with a chuckle.

The Doctor took a bite of the apple. He promptly spit it out. “Ew! I hate apples!”

He realised quickly that this had not been a good choice of actions.

Applejack deadpanned him. “Big Macintosh? Please escort our guest off mah property before ah resort to violence.”

Big Macintosh sighed and walked with the Doctor to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres.

“You’re here for her aren’t you?” Big Macintosh asked.

“To help her, yes, I told the truth when I said Nightsinger didn’t send me.”

“Ah know,” Big Macintosh said. Clearly, the doctor realised, this pony was smarter than he let on by his simple farmer’s lifestyle. He instantly respected Big Macintosh; He’d reminded him of himself.

“Ah appreciate it even if Applejack don’t. She’s stubborn and ain’t gonna listen though. I need to get back, make sure she doesn’t sneak off tryin’ to buck trees with that bad leg o’ hers,” Big Macintosh gave the Doctor a polite nod before turning around and walking back.

“Ah see ya sneakin’ off Applejack!” The red earth pony shouted.

…

The Doctor returned the next day. Applejack was sitting in front of the barn staring at an apple, the Doctor cast his shadow on her causing her to look up at him, giving him a nasty scowl and asked what he wanted.

“It’s important to you, being useful isn’t it?” the Doctor asked, sitting down opposite from her.

“What’s it ta ya?” Applejack asked, not taking her eyes off the apple.

“I haven’t lived in this town very long Applejack, but I noticed something very quickly upon arriving in it. There is no happiness in the air.”

“Ah don’t follow,” Applejack said, taking her eyes off the apple and looking the Doctor in the face.

“Ponyville is dying. The town’s spirit is broken because the pillars of the community are gone. I’m talking about you and your friends. You’re the livelihood of this place. You make it what it is, and now that you’re all gone...”

Applejack frowned, looking down at the apple again. “It is... important to me, I mean, feeling useful. Ah’m an ‘ard worker, that’s just what Ah do, an’ then Ah broke mah damned leg. Cast been off for a month, but Ah can’t hardly use it. Big Macintosh says if Ah try an’ buck a tree it’s jus’ gonna break again. Deep down, Ah know he’s right, but that don’t mean Ah’m willin’ ta be sidelined.”

Off into the distance, she spotted Braeburn bucking an apple tree, she sighed sadly and guiltily. “Braeburn’s a good colt, he’d do anythin’ ta help his kin, but he’s got his own farm ta look after out west, an’ here Ah am takin’ him ‘way from it.”

Applejack looked at the visitor oddly. “Why am Ah even tellin’ ya this?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Probably because it’s eating at you inside, and the last pony you want to tell is Braeburn or Big Macintosh. You don’t exactly have any other choices but me.” He offered her a smile, and was very pleased to see that she returned it, even if it was ever so slight. “You trying to help with that bad leg will just make you feel more useless when you have to go through another cast. Sometimes Applejack, our greatest strength is knowing our limits.”

“Ya’ll sound just like Big Macintosh.” Applejack said with a small chuckle.

“I knew I liked that pony.”

…

Applejack seemed to take their conversation to heart. The Doctor had come back to watch her for an hour or two every day for the last week, she had taken over the tasks on the farm that required the least amount of exertion. She stopped trying to sneak off into the apple orchards, but that didn’t keep Big Macintosh and Braeburn from keeping an eye on her.

Eventually the two stopped watching and Applejack continued her good behaviours. The Doctor smiled. She’d learned the lesson that she needed, in order to be able to help others, you had to help yourself first.

His work here was done.
...

Tracking down Rarity had not been an easy task for Trixie. In truth it had been impossible for her on her own to obtain Rarity's large stack of room transfers, discharge papers, and admittance forms. She'd used the Doctor's position at the Royal Hospital to get them. It had led to other issues with hospital staff who didn't want to give them over, once again, saved by the Doctor, who had been able to get the papers by showing a small card in a leather holder that identified him as the King of Belgium. Trixie didn't know what Belgium was, and a night of browsing Twilight's library came up empty. When asking the Doctor about it he merely smirked and avoided the question.

Trixie supposed in the long run that it didn't matter, as "the King of Belgium" had obtained all the papers she needed. This led Trixie to where she was now, In front of Carousel Boutique, the shop in Ponyille in which Rarity lived and worked at. Everypony in town had been under the impression that Rarity had not returned, and Trixie now understood why. The shop looked as if nopony had been inside for nearly two months. Trixie had been forced to track down Sweetie Bell, Rarity's younger sister, staying with friends for the time being, to confirm if Rarity was here or not. After much coercion, Sweetie Bell gave up the information Trixie had been after, and learning she had been sworn to secrecy, not even telling her best friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, names of fillies that Trixie was not familiar with.

Trixie pushed open the shop's door, Surprised to find that it was unlocked. Did anypony actually use the locks that came with the doors on their homes? Trixie did remember that Derpy had told her that she had been locked out by her landlord for not paying her rent, but even before that, she'd made use of the lock frequently after she caught two mischievous colts trying to steal her mailbag from her flat as a prank. Trixie suspected that the colts had not intended to return it, which was required for it to be a "harmless" prank, but rather a mean spirited attempt to get the Pegasus down. If it had bothered her, Trixie didn't see it. Derpy hid her emotions well.

"Hello?" Trixie called out.

"We're closed!" a frightened high pitched voice cried from the corner. Rarity, of course.

Trixie did not leave. It wasn't an option. She saw the White unicorn sulking in the corner, sobbing quietly.

Rarity sighed. "I guess it was only a matter of time before you figured out I was here Twilight."

"I'm not Twilight," Trixie said plainly.

Rarity whipped her head around to look, any faster and she would have broken her own neck.

"You?" Rarity asked in astonishment. She remembered her. "What are you doing here?"

good question. Trixie admitted, she didn't know how she was going to help, when she'd been to see Twilight Sparkle, at least then she knew something about what was wrong.

"Well?" Rarity asked again.

Trixie renewed her resolve. "I'm here to help you."

"Why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." Trixie said.

Rarity stood up and turned to face her. Trixie discovered that all the hair on her right flank was gone, and her skin was covered in scars.

"Can you help this?"

Trixie did her best to stifle her surprise. What had happened to Rarity did not look natural. "What happened?"

"It was supposed to have healed by now! Doctor Nightsinger said it was a simple procedure. The healing would take place and the scars and my hair would heal on their own. But no, that stupid orderly..." Rarity was beginning to cry. "I can't go out like this, I'm a monster, and children would be scared of the ugly unicorn. Sweetie Bell would never hear the end of it."

Trixie didn't think it was that bad. But Rarity had probably convinced herself that it was far worse than it actually was. Trixie looked at it. It was a minor healing spell that had gone wrong. The unicorn who cast this clearly didn't know what they were doing. Trixie was specialised in illusionary magic, but this was still something that she could have done, and done right. She removed her hat and her horn began to glow, she waved it over Rarity's wounded flank, the scars began to shrink, and the hair began to grow back to its appropriate length. Rarity had her eyes shut the entire time; she opened them the moment that Trixie had finished. She gasped, looking at her mended flank with awe.

Rarity dashed over to mirror, admiring her in it. "I'm beautiful again!"

"Trixie thinks you didn't look hideous even before using her magic."

Rarity smiled at the azure unicorn. "Why did you help me?" she asked.

Trixie searched her brain for a good answer. She didn't want to explain the Doctor and his box, or his plan. Rarity wouldn't believe it. Trixie would not have believed it herself had it not appeared in front of her.

“It was the right thing to do,” Trixie said with a small smile. Rarity returned it.

“Thank you. Oh now I have a lot of work to do! I have to get ready for my grand reopening!” Rarity said. “Oh my not a lot of time! I have next to nothing prepared for the winter!”

“I’ll get out of your way.” Trixie said, as she politely withdrew herself. She was smiling brightly; she’d given Rarity her confidence back.

“Oof!” Trixie grunted in surprise, she’d walked into somepony on her way out not paying attention.

She looked up to find a pitch black unicorn stallion with an equally black mane, dark amber eyes looking back at her.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” The black unicorn said.

“No no, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” Trixie said apologetically.

“Neither was I,” the Unicorn said with a shrug.

Trixie looked over the unicorn, something seemed familiar about him, but Trixie couldn’t place where from. “Do... I know you?”

“I don’t think so... I’m Nightshadow. I’m an Apothecary.”

“Trixie. Master Illusionist.”

Nightshadow smiled at Trixie, “I just got to town, so it’s nice to meet someone friendly right off the bat. I’ll be seeing you Trixie.”

Trixie smiled as Nightshadow trotted off. Now that is a good looking stallion!

Comments

Interesting....not only is Derpy the only one who actually bothered locking her door, she joins the Doctor and Trixie in being the only ponies in this series that seem to not immediately blurt out what they're thinking. Also, it's interesting to see that Trixie doesn't quite remember the two hooligans that made a moderately bad day into a disaster.

[Csquared08]

Ominous unicorn is ominous...

[Lucky424]

Nightshadow is foreshadowing!!!

[Wolfren]

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