Madrigal
Her hooves were impacting the hallway with more force than they should have, as she marched away from him. Strength deliberately misdirected, trying to give it a false outlet in order to keep it away from the true -- but there might have simply been too much to channel, and so the rope loop shifted as the bound blonde tail lashed.
He watched all of that. It was quite possibly the longest amount of time he'd ever looked at her in a single unbroken stretch and if it wasn't, it certainly qualified for the greatest duration spent observing from that angle. But he was only looking for one reason: because he couldn't look away. In some ways, he couldn't move at all. Not purposefully, for there seemed to be no amount of strength which was sufficient for deliberately shifting his own body.
Admittedly, there was a degree of movement taking place. The amputations -- it was easier to think of them that way now -- were vibrating, and a number of muscle groups were bulging outwards from sheer tension. (He could have named every last one of them, and done so faster than many physicians.) But to rise from his haunches, to take a step forward, to follow her... he couldn't. The truest movement came from his thoughts, and they mostly seemed to be going in a circle.
I'm not worth it.
I'm not worth it.
He was ugly and as far as he was now concerned, that status had existed since the moment of his birth. He was a freak, and the past few hours had only seen that indicator gain in mass: a new burden to carry across all the remaining span of his life. And she had... she'd...
I'm not --
-- and she went around the corner.
His ears managed to rotate a little. Turning forward, and a little more dried blood fell away as he listened to the last of her hooffalls. It was enough to identify her weak side, along with the fact that it wasn't much of a difference.
She asked me out. She asked.
He didn't understand that. For Fluttershy to have put forth the request, to have arranged things -- yes, that had seemed to be possible. Just something to boost his self-esteem, although he was having a hard time picturing any attempt to set up something similar for her as ending in anything less than full retreat. But for him -- a favor requested by a friend, for somepony who was very much like a sibling. It was what had to have happened, because it was the only way he could see it happening at all. The other options...
I'm not worth it.
The Bearers pranked: most of Ponyville knew that, and the population generally did their best to stay out of the direct line of corona projection. Little irritations inevitably arose from the clashes of six very different personalities, and in order to prevent them from building into something which might tear Harmony apart -- well, there were worse outlets for that kind of emotion, although there were times when residents had spotted Pinkie's well-jammed back end sticking out of a recently-emptied barrel and wondered exactly what 'worse' was supposed to entail. They pranked -- but with the exception of Rainbow (who occasionally coordinated with the baker, and more frequently baited the barrels), they went after each other. Applejack choosing him as somepony from whom she could gain a laugh, somepony she could hurt... it wasn't her.
(So many fillies had seen it as funny.)
(There had been a time when it had felt like all of them.)
(There were days when it still...)
So it had to have been Fluttershy setting up the date, because that was the only thing which had made any sense at all. Except that Applejack had just told him...
She can't lie.
...that it had been her idea. That she had wanted to go out with him, and --
She can't lie.
-- she had been on the mission. They had all been there, watching the presentation from their hidden perch. Six mares, one dragon, and the Lord of their host castle, seconds away from betraying them all.
She knows what I am.
She knew before I did.
She asked me out...
...he seemed to have been sitting in place for some time: the small portion of sky visible through the elevated windows was starting to lighten (although not very much: the light had a dim quality, one which indicated that the weather team was herding in extra clouds), and an officer was coming down the hallway. An earth pony stallion of mingled grey and black: hard shades over a rough body, and it made every movement seem as if it should have been shedding stone dust. He almost had the name...
"You okay?" the officer carefully asked.
"...yeah," Snowflake lied. It was easier with one word.
"Sun's going to be raised in a few minutes," the earth pony continued. "You should head home."
"Yeah." Which emerged as something toneless: potential agreement, or just acknowledgment of the point. Really, it was amazing what a single word could do, if you happened to pick the right one.
The officer nodded, then moved past Snowflake in the hurried trot of a pony who had something important to do.
Home. Home and sleep --
-- not yet. Not when there was so much still wrong, not with Applejack's extended family closing in and the absence of Scootaloo's direct one finally having been revealed, not when he seemed to be destroying every life he touched. It was as if he had performed his most typical landing on glass. He hated breaking anything, he had to fix things, and it left him trying to race ahead of a thousand spreading cracks...
He couldn't stop all of them. Something would shatter, and it would be his fault --
She asked me out.
She asked.
-- but maybe there was still a chance to keep something intact. He just had to think...
Snowflake forced himself to stand, began a slow, careful trot: one which was just proceeding in the direction he'd already been facing. He didn't really have a destination yet, which clearly meant that was the first thing he had to think of. Figure out where to go, and then maybe he'd realize what to do when he got there.
Think.
-- and his brain, which had been racing in circles for what seemed like hours, pulled up in a full halt, shed an ocean of froth, and sank down into the mire.
It left him trotting forward in outwards silence while the inner screaming began, trying to come up with anything --
-- a side door opened, the shapely head cautiously peeked into the corridor, and the lone unobstructed eye spotted him.
He instinctively stopped moving. She managed to maintain momentum long enough to get most of her body into the hallway.
"...Genova's at the cottage..."
"I'll fix the door --"
Both stopped. The near-siblings (and so much more now) looked at each other, mostly in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Snowflake softly said. "About the door. I -- I just had to -- it was instinct, I felt like I had to get out and..." Red eyes briefly closed. "Thank you. For taking Genova in. Ever after you saw what I did --"
"-- you were trying to protect Scootaloo --"
"-- I didn't have to attack him. I could have just gotten her out of there and --"
"-- Snowflake?"
It had been a soft word: it usually was. But there was an odd sort of force behind it, the verbal equivalent of having been hit with an exceptionally large pillow, and it was something which made him fall silent.
"...you're allowed to be upset," Fluttershy quietly told him. "You're even allowed to be angry. You... went through a door. When I found out, I..." Her rib cage slowly shifted. "...didn't have a chance to run. Or fly. But I would have, if I could. I might have gone straight up, as high as I could go before the air got too thin, and then I would have..." The one visible eye slowly shut, opened again. "...old thoughts, Snowflake. I had a lot of -- old thoughts, because it was easier than being angry. But I was with Rainbow after, we were trapped together, and she let me be angry. It... got easier after that."
It felt like something less than a benediction. "I kicked him. I slammed him."
"He'd kicked somepony you cared about." Her wings rustled. "On instinct, by accident... but you're allowed to be angry. You were already upset, you were having the worst day of your life, and... we all get angry, Snowflake." And her head turned away -- but only for a second, and then she turned back. "It's... harder for me. I'm supposed to be Kindness, and... when I get angry, it feels like I'm losing that. Like I shouldn't be Kindness at all. I've had so many ponies telling me it's okay, just being angry sometimes, if I let it out when it's right. Ponies and a minotaur and one rabbit. But with you... it was the worst day of your life, wasn't it? Because the presentation... that was the worst hour of mine. But Rainbow was with me, and you went through the door, I couldn't find you, and..."
Her head dipped. Both ears flattened.
"...you had to go through it alone. I should have known you might leave, because I wanted to when I heard him talk about me. I should have been ready. You were alone, and that was my fault..."
Perhaps it should not have surprised him, that he nuzzled her then, and did so just in time for the first tear to be absorbed by white fur. He hardly ever touched anypony, did whatever he could to avoid contact -- but it was different, when it was Fluttershy. Because there was a nuzzle which was meant for family.
They stayed that way for a time, as Sun was brought into the sky.
"...are you okay?" Maintaining contact.
He couldn't lie to her. "Not yet." (The second word had surprised him.) "There's -- too much going on, and now it isn't even me any more. Applejack --"
She pulled back just enough to let him see her wan smile. "-- you're lucky."
It felt as if his entire torso had just been hollowed, and it gave his response an odd inner echo. "...lucky."
"I think you'd be good for each other," she softly stated. "You've needed somepony for a long time, and -- Applejack's always had trouble asking for help. That was one of her first lessons, before you moved to Ponyville: that she had to ask sometimes. And she's not very good at remembering it. She still takes too long most of the time. But asking you out..." She tilted her head slightly to the right, and the smile became a little stronger. "...that's sort of asking for help, isn't it?"
"I don't understand." Maybe those could become his new go-to words. Recent events had proven them to be fairly universal.
The tilt became somewhat more pronounced, and the one visible eye roamed across his features.
"'Help me have a better life.'"
And for a moment, there were no words at all.
"...imagine how she must think of you," his near-sister patiently went on, "to ask that. To think there's a chance that the two of you could make it work. That you'd be -- good for each other. That your lives would be better together --"
"-- her life," he just barely managed to cut in, "is worse because of me. Mac. Her family. I have to fix this, Fluttershy, I have to stop this before it gets any worse --"
"-- do you want to go out with her?"
He blinked.
"...I think you must," Fluttershy placidly observed. "Because you did say yes. Or something which was close enough. You told me about what it was like for you in school, Snowflake. You... got to the point where you stopped saying yes, because you never believed any of it was real. But you said it to her."
"I thought you told her to ask me out -- !"
Her lips quirked.
"...Applejack," Fluttershy stated, "doesn't really deal well with ponies telling her what to do. She asked you out, Snowflake. And you wanted to go out with her, didn't you? I know..." and that eye slowly closed again "...that there's a lot happening. Things she didn't think about, because she just wanted to try. But they're happening now, and -- she still wants to try. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"I'm not worth it."
She kicked him.
It happened before he could move, before he fully realized what was happening at all. Her wings flared out, she reared up on her hind legs, and her forehooves slammed into the densest part of his torso.
The impact was not insignificant, for she'd always been stronger than she looked (and he finally understood why). But there wasn't much pain, because she understood something about pony anatomy, almost as much as he did, and so had aimed for a section of muscle which could take the blow. Most of what staggered him backwards was sheer shock.
"...and now," she softly told him, "...I'm angry."
He helplessly stared at her, at yellow wings beating in a pattern which maintained the half-hover. It gave her the ability to look down on him and, perhaps just as significant, put her in a good position to kick him again.
"...I don't want to hear you say that again," Fluttershy stated (and perhaps that was something they had both learned from that first friend). "Ever."
His right forehoof came up, awkwardly rubbed at the impact site. No words followed the movement.
"...maybe that's how my friends feel with me," she thoughtfully added. "When I say I can't do things, or I'm not good enough for something, and they keep trying to tell me that I'm wrong. I think I understand that a little better now, because it's so frustrating to hear it from you. Over and over."
She was older than he was. Just a few moons, and among those whom Doctor Gentle had delivered, it had once made her the eldest. But that status had been lost, because the true first delivery had been that of his own daughter -- and now there was a new description, one which still left her as the eldest. The first hybrid. The older sister to a new kind of family.
"...can I beat you to a few of the next ones?" Fluttershy softly inquired as her wings maintained the beat. "You're not handsome, not in the way a lot of ponies say they want to see, and I'm not beautiful -- " the former model winced for a moment, and then quickly added "-- in a way that's in fashion right now," mostly to block his own opportunity. "You're not good with ponies, not socially, and guess what? I'm not either. You're afraid of yourself some of the time --" the sarcasm never touched her volume "-- and I wonder what that's like, Snowflake? But she still asked you out, because maybe none of that bothers her. She still wanted to try. And I think you two would be good for each other, so good -- and with everything that's happening, she needs somepony to be there for her. Somepony who could help her have a better life. She thinks that's you."
Her best life is the one she spends without me...
Perhaps some part of that had made it to his face, because her forelegs twitched.
"...you're my brother," she quietly finished. "More than Zephyr, in some ways, because I can trust you when you're alone in the cottage, and know everything will still be there when I get back. Because I want you to visit, and with him..." Her upper body dipped for a moment. "...I hate how I feel about him. I hate being angry, even when I remember how much he did to earn it. But you're my brother, Snowflake, and that makes me your big sister. I'm older than Zephyr, and I never really got to do something with him which big sisters are supposed to do, because I was quiet, I left for ground when he was still a colt, and he never would have listened anyway. I didn't get to tell him when he was being stupid. You're being stupid, Snowflake. Stop it. Or I'll kick you again."
She landed, and did so with a little flip of her head, one which tossed her mane straight back. It let both eyes focus on him, something he'd hardly ever seen.
He risked a breath.
"She's still in trouble." It didn't draw a kick. "Her family..."
"...yes," Fluttershy agreed. "And... I'm worried about Mac too. But right now, that's pressed under Chief Rights' hooves. She'll try to help, I know she will. She always tries..."
She doesn't know.
"...but with the rest of it," she went on, "Applejack -- has a plan. She's going to do whatever she can to make it work out. And if she does -- what are you going to do?"
They looked at each other. And still words would not come.
The heavy paper of the half-crushed disposable cup rebounded off the refuse container's edge, then skidded across two body lengths' worth of the empty platform before coming to a halt. A single drop of creamy yellow fluid (which the recent consumer was already regretting having missed) slowly slumped from the rim.
"Y'usually jus' carry it over," the youngest sibling observed.
"Had t' check mah aim," Applejack shrugged. "Cup was available." Thoughtfully, "But a rock wouldn't have crumpled up like that when Ah kicked it. Changes the trajectory."
Still... some of the miss could be blamed on the material, but it was possible that a portion was due to the pony. She'd been drinking wake-up juice, but it could only go so far. And given what was coming...
Green eyes quickly looked up and to the left. The train schedule which had been attached to the notice board still said the exact same thing it had declared ten minutes ago, only with somewhat more urgency.
"Jus' 'bout the last chance, AB," the older sister softly said, now tracking the presence of the very few other ponies on the opposing platform: the outbound train had recently departed, and so the majority of those staggering around on the other side of the rails were those who'd been too weary to catch it.
But the sisters were the only ones waiting on the inbound platform: the early hour had just about guaranteed that. It gave them a certain degree of privacy, along with a lot of room to miss refuse containers in.
"Same as Ah told you at the station," Applejack continued. "Y'say the word an' Ah'll stop this right here. But once it gets started, Ah might not be able t' put the brakes on."
"Do it," the filly steadily told her.
Applejack glanced down.
"That came out quick."
"Yeah," Apple Bloom agreed. "'cause it's mah life too, an' Ah know that's why y'wanted t' give me the chance t' say no. But the way Ah see it..." She took a deep breath. "...Ah made a lifetime's worth of mistakes." With a smile, "Ah guess y'get t' make one."
The glance rapidly began to transmute into a glare.
"An'," the youngest sibling added, "if'fin Ah ever wanted t' try with somepony, then... it's mah life too, right? Eventually, enough years an' branches on the family tree, it's gonna be somepony's life. So maybe it's best, gettin' it done now. So the next pony don't have t' worry."
The words made Applejack blink, and she carefully looked down at their source. Her little sister. A filly who, in many ways, wasn't quite as little as she'd once been.
"An'," Apple Bloom made the mistake of continuing, "Ah wanna see it!"
Don't facehoof. Don't facehoof. Don't facehoof.
"Ah mean, Ah missed the first one! Only got to hear 'bout it way after! Like 'bout twenty minutes ago! Ain't many ponies around who've gotten t' see one, Ah bet! An' if'fin Ah ever need t' do it, this way, Ah'll have some experience..."
Don't facehoof...
"Not that watchin' is the same as doin'," Apple Bloom thoughtfully added. "So Ah'd need some practical experience. An' since Ah don't really want t' go 'round lookin' for ponies t' do it with, maybe you an' Ah could --"
She paused.
"-- Applejack?"
"What?"
"Don't that hurt?"
"Some," Applejack admitted, and had to do so past a partially-blocking hoof.
"Then why did y'do it?"
"'cause it was me or you." She lowered her foreleg, glanced up at the sky and examined the two weary-looking pegasi working within the visible layers. "Weather team's jus' 'bout done here. They'll have the Acres covered by the time we get home."
"An' that helps?"
"Ain't ideal," Applejack admitted. "Last one was a sunny day. Even with things set up proper, made it hard not t' keep lookin' up. Less t' worry 'bout this way, but... Ah'd prefer drier air, mahself." And she couldn't ask Rainbow: there was no cyan body flitting around the local vapor, and they didn't have time to track the pegasus down --
-- there was a high-pitched whistle, off in the distance. A steamstack venting.
We're almost out of time.
"Last chance, AB," the older sister quickly said. "Last for real --"
"-- Ah know what it's like," the younger interrupted. "Bein' an outcast."
Nodding felt inappropriate.
"No matter what happens," the filly continued, "we're still a family? You an' me an' Granny? An'..." The young features tightened, and she looked up at Applejack, with her eyes full of desperate hope. "Mac, once he sees some sense? We're all t'gether?"
It wasn't the first time she'd had the thought. It wouldn't be the last.
Honesty is the worst Element t' be.
Rarity could choose to not give something over. Rainbow was loyal towards ponies: the weather schedule got the thin end of the carrot. But Applejack never had the option to lie.
"Ah don't know what's gonna happen with Mac," she replied, and felt the weight of every word. "Ah hope it works out, AB. But Ah don't know. Ah... don't know him as well as Ah thought Ah did." With a sigh, "Probably could say the same comin' the other way. But he still loves you. Ah..."
She wanted to end it there. She couldn't. It wasn't fair to Apple Bloom, not with a filly who'd already lost so much.
"...don't know what the missions are gonna bring. Ah know that..." Green eyes briefly closed. "...you're scared 'bout that. So am Ah, every time. But Ah'll try t' come back, every time." Her right foreleg stretched out to the side, rumpled the mane bow. "'cause somepony's gotta keep an eye on you. No matter what happens today -- we're a family."
She gave her sister a few seconds. The time required for the train's engine to come into view, and for the shivering to go away.
"Then," Apple Bloom said, "speakin' from experience -- if you're gonna be an outcast, it's best t' be with company. Do it."
It was an early train, and so there weren't many passengers coming into Ponyville. For the most part, those coming out of the cars had business in the settled zone: ponies they needed to see, things which had to be managed. In that sense alone, the ones who strode across the platform, moving as if every hoofstep represented one more portion of claim, fit in perfectly with the majority.
There were two of them and looked at from one perspective, they were the worst of what the Malus family could have expected to see. They possessed multiple qualities which guaranteed that state and, when the telescope was dialed to a different level of focus, it also made them ideal.
The stallion was one generation older than Applejack: roughly the same age as her Daddy would have been -- and that was the only similarity between living and lost. His coat put her in mind of soil, but it wasn't the kind of earth anypony voluntarily worked with. Something closer to clay than dirt, one of the alkali blends where the Cornucopia Effect wound up needing to put in some serious overtime. The mane was slicked close to the skull, and the clay tones made it seem like an inexpertly-rendered portion of the sculpture hadn't had the chance to set. The tail, however, was carried so high as to almost go backwards: portions of it were doing their best to arc over the spine. It was effectively trying to accomplish the same thing as the high-carried snout, only with slightly less disgusted sniffing.
The mare, however, was just three years older (and claimed to look six years younger). She had blue-black eyes to go with a matching mane and tail, but her coat was a yellow which had been so washed out as to approach a particularly aged sort of white. Her hips shifted in an entirely deliberate sway as she moved and as the train had already pulled away, they did so in a manner which instantly drew attention from the more awake occupants of the opposing platform. And of course, she noticed their attentions.
"What are you looking at?"
"...huh?" said the first unlucky local victim.
"You think just because a mare is walking around in perfect innocence, that gives you the right to look at her? I ought to come over there and pound you! Looking at a mare! What kind of pony just goes around doing that?"
"...but you were..." the trapped stallion protested, and got no further than that.
"Fine!" declared the mare with the mallet icon on her flanks. "Pounding it is! Just stay right there and --"
The stallion had a train to catch, and so naturally decided that the best way to do so was through galloping out of town at top speed and catching it quite some distance away.
"-- stupid," the mare muttered at a volume which most ponies reserved for shouts. "Stupid stallions. All stallions are stupid." She took another look at the opposing platform, and found absolutely nopony making eye contact. Or, for that matter, visual contact with any other part of her form. "What's wrong with you?"
"We're respecting your privacy," Victim #2 shakily declared. "I'm sorry if I offended --"
"-- are you saying I'm not good enough to look at?"
The stallion, however, had spotted the sisters, and so the clay flowed towards them.
"Wasn't expecting to be met," he tightly said. "Not by you."
It was like watching the approach of a poorly groomed mudslide.
"Mac's kind of detained right now," Applejack neutrally replied. "Figured somepony else should fill in. Lets us get things started quick-like, 'specially since Ah knew you were comin'. So how's it feel to be back in Ponyville?"
"Feels," the stallion said through clenched teeth, "like getting things started quick is the right idea, especially since there's just so much to do. I was going to do some extra rehearsal on the way to the land, but maybe the train was enough."
His head tilted back towards the shoddy right saddlebag, something so dirty as to have momentarily blended into his fur. Teeth which encountered dental potions more frequently than the fur met brushes nipped out a scroll, and then derisively head-tossed it towards the refuse container. Applejack watched her Granny's mouthwriting land dead-center.
"Even with the interruption," he half-spat as his daughter caught up. "And ain't you gonna greet us?"
Applejack glanced down at her sister.
"Welcome to Ponyville," Apple Bloom smiled. (At least, she'd meant it to be a smile, for her clearest memories were of the most recent reunion, and so the attempt at pleasant greeting represented the sort of Crusade which came pre-failed.) "It's good t' see you both."
"I'd expect somepony who was so happy to see us," the daughter declared, "to be happy by name."
The hair bow bobbed a little. "Ah know, Akane." A quick look at the stallion. "An' Elstar."
Elstar Mutsu, who'd clearly been hoping for something extra to criticize, still managed to conjure a frown. "I'm surprised you remember us," he darkly stated. "Especially given how short our conversation was at the last reunion."
"Kinda stuck out," Apple Bloom countered. "Ain't everypony who spends that much time talkin' 'bout our crops."
It triggered a raised eyebrow. "Oh. So you do remember."
"So do Ah," Applejack smoothly stepped in. "Because it also ain't jus' anypony who steps onto the Acres an' feels free t' provide so much advice." And before he could react to that, she switched her focus. "Kind of surprised y'came along, Akane. Ah thought you'd be busy with that fiancee of yours."
The mare's features didn't go tight: it was more that they existed in a state where skin-tearing tautness was generally about a second away and occasionally decided to test the issue. "He's having some problems right now."
"Sorry t' hear that," Applejack offered.
"And he'll have some more," Akane darkly added, "as soon as I catch him."
Probably a good thing that Ah didn't say who Ah was sorry for. "So what did he do this time?"
Furiously, "He let a mare touch him."
"Oh," Applejack considered. "An' what was his excuse?"
"I don't care what he said! He was just trying to get a rival for my affections!"
Technically, can't have a rival unless you're actually playin' the game. "Y'think so?"
"Besides, it's not like I kicked him that hard! Those injuries could have healed on their own!"
...right. "Anyway, Ah'm sure y'had a hard trip an' all. 'specially since the way Ah figure it, the only way y'get here this fast is t' jus' gallop for the train right after the scroll came in. Doesn't even look like y'packed much." Because the saddlebags were, at best, half-full, and there was no rolling luggage being towed along by hitch.
"We can send back for the rest," Elstar declared. "Since we may be staying for quite some time. Although we presume you're ready for drop-in guests, as a proper member of the family would be." More slowly, "You certainly don't seem to have any problems with having somepony unexpected share your life."
"Rainbow drops by a lot of nights," Applejack admitted. "But that's mostly to mooch a meal."
There were many skills which Akane felt herself to possess and when it came to subtlety, she was equally wrong. There were full-grown dragons who wouldn't have considered her effort to come across as a whisper, and the only thing keeping Applejack from listening for the sound of disturbed Ursa Minors was her temporary inability to hear anything else. "I thought the feather duster's name was Snowflake."
Elstar's left forehoof slashed out.
"OW! Dad!"
Applejack held back the smile.
"Like Ah said," she casually interrupted, "this lets us get started quick. An' Ah see you're pretty current on the basics."
Akane stepped forward.
"I," she declared, "am so sorry."
"Are you?" Applejack asked.
"Of course!" She took a few hoofsteps closer, all the better to let her attempt at sotto voce communication deafen from short range. "I mean, I can't imagine what it's like! To be so incapable of attracting a good pony that you start to feel like you have to... start thinking about..." She shuddered. "Oh, desperation can make mares do strange things, Applejack. And I'm sorry that you started to feel that desperate."
"Really." Because being Honesty also meant that there were times when the choice of safe things to say came from a rather short list.
"Although it's only natural," the mare added, carefully looking Applejack up and down. "Given your looks."
"An' what 'bout mah looks, exactly?"
"Your mane! Your tail! Your muscles! Oh, I know it was fashionable for an earth pony to display visible strength -- once -- but really, so much of it? It's no wonder you haven't been able to get anypony worthwhile!"
Apple Bloom frowned.
"Akane?"
"Yes?" the visiting mare broadcast to half the town.
"Ain't your fiancee -- not quite sure of the word here, gimme a second -- arranged?"
The elder sister allowed herself a grin. It was a rather special sort of grin, one which much of Ponyville had learned to fear.
"...yes," Akane eventually admitted.
"So if he was arranged," Apple Bloom went on, "then it ain't like you had t' attract nopony, right?"
As grins went, it was more than a little vicious, and somewhat mercenary.
"My father," Akane instantly huffed, "had the decency to make sure I would be happy."
An' the lack of foresight, Applejack's mind added, t' not understand that all y'can do is make everypony else miserable.
Quiet had said it (and she was briefly proud of herself for remembering his name): there were parts of the continent where ponies did things a little differently. And for those families who were insistent on keeping their blood pure...
Between you an' him, there ain't much of an argument for arranged marriages. Quiet's union, however, had at least managed to reach the actual ceremony. Akane's was forever being postponed, mostly due to the recurring need to spend the wedding funds on bounty hunters.
"It's something you would have benefited from," Elstar stated. "It's part of why I tried so hard to get you two, after your parents died."
Apple Bloom stared at him.
"...y'what?" was her only contribution, and that with her tail starting to twist itself.
"You didn't know?" He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, you were rather young. There was a certain amount of concern regarding the loss of your role models." Which was followed by the thing which made him perfect. "Such as they were."
Applejack's grin became wider.
"So a number of families offered to take you in," he continued. "Myself included. I wanted you to be raised properly, and given certain -- influences..." He snorted (and now Applejack's lips were starting to hurt). "Well, I'll certainly give her credit for choosing well at the end. Mac was too old, but with you two -- I offered to adopt you, Apple Bloom. Both of you. To make sure you had a proper adult example in your lives."
"Adopt?" Apple Bloom shakily asked. "Why -- why not jus' let us stay? We're already family --"
"-- legal reasons," the elder sister softly said. "Let's leave it at that for now."
"But Mac -- well, too old to be adopted was also old enough to put up a fight," Elstar bitterly added. "And once he got Granny on his side -- that was it." A small shrug joined the disdain parade. "Truthfully, fillies, I was angry with him for a while, because I felt he'd robbed you of your chance. But now? Finally say I've forgiven him, because when something happened, something where a proper role model would have prevented everything -- he stretched out a hoof towards me."
"It's not your fault," Akane sympathetically said. "You just weren't raised right." And in the tone which would have normally made her the backup plan, "From the start. But we're here now, and there's more help on the way. We'll make it better, Applejack! And maybe we'll even find somepony for you, wouldn't that be nice? Somepony proper. My father knows all sorts of stallions -- it's just stallions, isn't it? -- and I'm sure at least one of them would be willing to settle for you!"
You'll do.
Either of you will do.
An' maybe it ain't anything close t' a guarantee, but if'fin this works out, at least the other one has t' watch.
"Anyway," Applejack casually broke in, "we could jus' hang around here for a while. 'specially since there might be more family coming. But Ah figured you'd be first in, an' Ah wanted t' greet you personal. An' walk you in. For the rest..." Her own shrug felt overdue. "...Ah asked somepony t' watch the platform: anypony who ain't quite so early, they'll get told where t' go. Ready t' head out?"
"Yes," Elstar said. "This is long overdue."
"And speaking of being told where to go," Akane chirped up with a force equal to twenty Crystal Geese, "where are you getting that hat restored? And is there anything else they could sell you instead?"
Applejack wondered if her lips were starting to split.
"It's her father's hat, Akane," Elstar reminded his daughter, which briefly kept him alive -- and that was followed by a look at Applejack which brought him that much closer to death. "You're wearing your father's hat --"
"-- no," Applejack declared. "Ah ain't."
He stared at her.
"I know that hat. It's just about the only thing the recovery team brought --"
"-- Ah ain't." And there was nothing which made them worthy of hearing the explanation. "So let's go."
It was just about a direct trot, given the path she'd provided: the shortest one possible. It was also a wandering tour, and the trail being covered was her life. This turned out to be a potholed mess in desperate need of repair, and her visitors knew exactly how to smooth the road. All they had to do was gather up a huge pile of cobblestones, and then they would bury her under them.
She listened. She shrugged a few times. She didn't say much, because her range of public vocabulary was becoming more limited with every hoofstep. And she held it in until they were out of Ponyville, well along the road to the Acres (the first road), on the border of her own soil...
"...and some of the fault has to go to Granny Smith!" Akane exclaimed. "Not that it's really her fault, not when you think about her. And her age. She really wasn't ready to bring up children again, and given what happened with your father -- well, yes, that did sort of work out, but still! When you go looking for ponies on your own, things can happen! You're the proof!"
Ten. Nine.
"That's why we're here," Elstar added in a tone which completely failed to pass for compassion, largely due to not having tried. "To make sure things come out right. Still time to fix everything, Applejack. And that's not just for you, of course."
Four. Three.
"We're here to help!" Akane declared. "You need so much of it!"
"And since you're family --"
Her left forehoof landed on her own ground.
Zero.
And then every hoof was planted in home soil, because she'd spun to face them during the twisting jump.
"-- shut it."
Apple Bloom scampered forward, stopped at Applejack's side. The intruders were frozen --
-- but only physically.
"If that's the way you treat --" Elstar began to huff.
"Well!" Akane shouted. "After what you've done --"
Her soul asked a question, and did so at a somewhat higher volume than usual.
The ground vibrated. Pebbles danced. Several trees prematurely celebrated the Running. And her relatives shut up.
"-- an' keep it shut," Applejack hissed. "Ah was givin' y'time back there, time t' prove why you came here. Y'did that in the first minute, an' Ah let you keep doin' it. Sometimes Ah jus' like t' let ponies weave their own lassos. An' sometimes, they wind up with somethin' too long t' cast. But it's their so-called lasso, so they get their head movin', they try anyway 'cause they're too stupid t' admit they messed up, they try the toss an' the loop goes down around their necks. All that work jus' t' hang themselves, an' the amount of rope you two wove up, you're practically dangling off Town Hall. An' as far as Ah'm concerned, that would be an improvement."
They were still speechless. Because there were things which family members didn't say to each other, not if they wanted to stay family. Applejack knew that, had received a recent reminder. And in this case, she knew what the consequences would be. For she had offended them: she could see it in their faces. As soon as the shock wore off, they would be looking for ways to express that anger.
So she would give them one.
"But now we've got privacy. An' somethin' else. We got a disagreement here," the eldest daughter of the Malus line declared. "Y'think mah life should go the way y'want it to. Ah say different. Ain't no arguin', ain't no compromise. So there's jus' one way t' settle this."
She looked directly at Elstar.
"Decide which of you it's gonna be," she told him. "Because the Advocate's already on the way an' once he gets here, we'll dig out the fosse. Y'wanna do things the old-fashioned way? Then that's jus' what Ah'm givin' you. We're gonna duel."
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Some?
I relate to Apple Bloom on a spiritual level.
Oh... oh my. Did not see that coming in an official way.
Also assertive Fluttershy ftw.
We're gonna duel.
...As a fan of Ranma 1/2, I must say, the Akane in this chapter feels like a shout-out to a certain tsundere female designated love interest. But... no, surely not. I can't see Estee reading or watching Ranma 1/2, for some reason. Doesn't seem like something they would subject themselves to.
One comment on the last chapter. Given the male/female ratio, homosexuality may be legal, but IMO it’s still disapproved of by mares
(I mean, there’s already Not Enough Stallions & this just makes bad into worse.)
1) I see bills for bounty hunters, their medical care, long-term disability care, legal bills, etc, etc, etc, at al.
And, I so want to see this particular piece of stupid dope-slapped into next week. If only because I know-personally-too many women like her in real life.
2) Congratulations, Akane. You've just proven why the harem doors lock on the outside. And don't have any way to open them on the inside.
3) I really, really hope someone in the family is keeping a good eye on the family tree. Because when you start having those kind of breeding discussions, you start getting the really interesting inbred recessives. And, "interesting" tends to result in things like the midwife declaring a "stillbirth," Pedigree collapse, and Charles II of Spain.
Wow, those two are a real prize. And just the sort that you want to fight in this sort of thing, anyone so blind to their own faults hasn't a very flexible mind.
And with this, I think I understand you better as a fanfic writer.
You're one of those people who just can't let comedic exaggeration go, so when you see someone cause a wreckage or smack someone with a hammer, they're not the butt or perpetrator of a joke, they're a goddamn menace.
OH DAMN! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO DAMN GOOD!!! applejack is a stone cold badass and fluttershy is such an amazing big sister and applebloom is growing up to be so wise! and and and just EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
**passes out from lack of air**
AJ, AB & Fluttershy are so awesome here
They're going to dig up Bob Fosse and do intricate choreographed musical routines?
"...and now," she softly told him, "...I'm angry."
You won't like her when she's angry.
9835080
Back in the fic "Triptych", it's established that a fosse is an Earth Pony duel, one fought exclusively between Earth Ponies because it relies exclusively on... I don't remember the technical name that Estee established for them, but it's basically an Earth Pony Mage's Duel - combatants exclusively use their geomantic powers to force the other to submit, which means the tradition is kept top secret from all other pony tribes. Ironically, in defiance of the trope of earth magic-users being stubborn and inflexible, it's a dueling system where flexibility, creativity and imagination count for a lot - the winner is usually the one who can use their "spells" in the cleverest and most inventive way. As proven when Applejack beat the spit out of Pinkie's abusive dad, despite him being WAY stronger, because she was far more open-minded and adaptable with tweaking the uses of what tricks she could perform.
You choose your friends & are responsible for them.
GOD chooses your relatives & they are Not Your Fault
SOMEBODY is in for an attitude adjustment
Having Fluttershy kick you is like being savaged by a duck. It's one of those things that is just really hard to process.
Madrigal is a good word. It reminds me of Final Fantasy which has a lot of positive memories for me.
TOURNAMENT ARC!
I'm kidding, but this is gonna be a tough row to hoe without some traditional limits (number of challenges a day, recovery, etc.)
The other question, of course, is who the advocate is...
The Earth pony contingent of the Elements of Harmony just threw down a challenge to duel. Why are these fools not running away? Do they really think they have a chance against one of the ponies that the princesses get to do their dirty work? We have a couple of contenders for TV Tropes: Too Dumb To Live.
"had an dim quality"
"had a dim quality"?
"of the sculpture
hadn't had"
Stray line break?
9834973
we saw a bit of this in triptych - diseases of the blood.
as far as keeping an eye on things, those most obsessed with purity (and likely the most racist) are probably the least likely to care about the long term consequences. they picked their hill to die on, and so die on it they shall dragging as many as they can with them.
sounds like a good chunk of applejack's "family" are really "ponies i happen to be distantly related to, but would rather not". after all, if the only time you see them is at the reunion while they criticize everything and the most notable contribution is their departure, are they really family?
looking forward to applejack firmly teaching some racist distant relatives to keep their noses out of other ponies' business.
Oh wow! I did not expect to see Fluttershy getting angry! Kick some sense into that thick head of his, 'Shy!
And it looks like AJ's approach to handling the Disapproving Family is going to be "If you're going to be reasonable, I'll be reasonable too; if you're going to be a pain, I'll kick your ass."
9812511
Well, I wouldn't call it a "good" reason, but there is a reason why the Princesses would let it stay silent: as the Continuum has repeatedly taken pains to point out, despite all the (mostly unintended) propaganda otherwise, the Princesses are still just normal mares at heart, and thusly they suffer from foibles and failings. Their entire reason for leaving the Secret in place could have been, simply, "we didn't realize it was causing problems".
This is especially true when you remember that Celestia's primary failings, as established by the continuum, are:
#1: She's a natural conservative, of the "don't fix it if it ain't broke" variety".
#2: She's a slave to PR who is often unwilling to say what she really thinks or do what she needs to do if it means going against the reputation she's painstakingly developed for being fair, equitable and all-around "the Mother of Equestria". There's a reason she depends so much on Luna to be "the nasty one" to counterbalance her own position as "the sweet one".
#3: Her instinctive reaction to anything that might be problematic seems to be "hide it and hope it goes away".
#4: She tends to "baby" the ponies under her.
It's a recurring minor theme for the Continuum that a lot of problems Celestia faces, she honestly brought on herself, usually by way of deciding the best thing to do was to ignore it or hide it when it first came up and then it smoldered underground and sprang up to burn her later. The Secret being yet another of those problems would not surprise me in the slightest.
9835203
Well, we know the Advocate's male, so it's not Granny...
Gotta be another Earth Pony...
Time Turner, just because he's been seen at least a few times?
Filthy Rich, because he's important?
Seeing Snowflake prefer to call his wings "amputations"... Ouch. Really goes to show how deep the damage is.
Good. Not just how Fluttershy worked to get Snowflake out of his own head, but also the moment of perspective where she realized just how much effort her friends put into performing the same work on her.
Brilliant work with balancing Apple Bloom's budding wisdom with Crusade-grade enthusiasm.
Ah, yes. Certain names come with... let's call it baggage. Especially after decades of post-series memetic mutation. I assume that she's also the worst cook in the entire Apple family, though heaven help you if you say that to her face.
The gauntlet's been thrown. This should be very interesting indeed, especially since one of the other pieces of baggage in that name is martial competence taught by her father. And there's the question so few ask when fighting over a love interest: How does said love interest feel about being fought over?
Ranma 1/2 reference! Did not expect that. It's going to be interesting. I hope those two end up in traction.
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But the thing with Akane in Ranma 1/2 is that it was badly done. She was always at an hair trigger from blowing up, full of contradiction and zero tolerance. That running gag was used too much and it escaleted to the point where it wasn't funny anymore and the readers started to ask question about Akane mental health.
9835526
They made mention specifically that the Second-in-Command of the police force is an earth pony. I’m expecting an OC, since we don’t really have any police ponies in the background. Probably good to have with all the lynching language being thrown around.
I’m always so pleased when I see this story update!
Loved Fluttershy’s talk with Snowflake, and her insights on him, herself, and her family dynamic. I also really enjoyed the interaction between AJ and Apple Bloom, and the observation that while AJ might be making things harder on herself, she was making them easier for any family that followed... which is why, I imagine, certain members of that family feel the need to come down on her as quickly as they can. It was the right argument to make to Applejack, reframing what was about to happen from a fight against family to a fight for it.
9835598
Yeah, honestly, I really hope that Estee is going to give us the satisfaction of watching Applejack beat down Akane in the next chapter, because this bearer of her name really made me want to see her get a pounding. I mean, I'm not a huge Akane fan in Ranma 1/2 myself, much preferring the other girls, but this Akane is pretty much all of Akane Tendo's bad traits and devoid of any of her redeeming factors... sorry, I'm rambling. Long story short: this Akane Mutsu filly is a douche and I really want to see Applejack rub her snout in the dirt.
Also, I agree with you that Akane Tendo's tsundere act got really old, really quick. It was worse in the manga, in my opinion, because whilst the anime version yells more, the manga version goes to much more extreme depths - like accusing Ranma of being a potential rapist.
It really says something when Takahashi did everything she could to sabotage the likability of Ranma's other fiancees, from attempting to portray Shampoo as a bully and potential murderer to make Kodachi into an arrogant psycho to flanderizing Ukyo, originally the sanest and least violent of the fiancees, to the point that she attacked Ranma's wedding by throwing bombs everywhere... and yet Akane still comes off as the least likeable girl compared to Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi.
Akane... Oh geez, she's like THAT Akane. The bad fanfic Akane. (I'm not calling your fanfics bad, Estee. I am in love with your writing and always will be. I'm just saying that you're using the portrayal of Akane used in bad fanfics, ones that exaggerate all her worst qualities.)
God, honestly, I'd just take Ranma out of Nerima entirely and have him date NONE of those psychos. Break all the engagements and force them to work from the ground up.
Anyway, story commentary - You REALLY have me hoping that Akane and her idiot father get stomped in this upcoming duel. And if for some reason AJ loses, then I hope that freaking Yandere Apple hears this little Avengers Assemble next: "We are seven.
Challenge one, challenge ALL. BRING IT."
9835515
I'm reminded of the bit about The Fund in Triptych. Celestia managed to go two years without realizing the financial hardship that missions were causing for the Bearers.
The old mare can be a bit out of touch.
9835598
Not to defend Akane as a flawless character - she isn't, not by a long shot - but the fandom perception of her was always way worse than actual canon. The interpretation of her in this chapter represents a typical example of this; canon-Akane wouldn't threaten complete strangers for looking and/or not looking at her.
(Yeah, yeah, hit me with those downvotes, folks, I don't care. None of the rest of the fiancee harem were any better than Akane, not even Saint Ukyou. But that's not an argument I want to inflict on Estee's comments page.)
Applejack is being stupid. They are hear talking about whether to exile her and her plan is to beat them all up.
Also if Applejack really cared about applebloom she would not drag her into exile over something she has no part of.
Applejack is perfectly fine with the rules as long as the do not affect her directly but once they do she just plows through them and make a mess of everything and drags anyone close by in with her.
Damn you, Estee.
Because of this chapter, I am having to drag up out of my head all of my knowledge of Ranma 1/2, because I know what the canon/fanon issue is here and I do not want to remember why I learned all this shit. Namely, a cute girl at the local JC that was into Ranma fics and she needed an editor. There were fluttery eyelashes, sweet words, and low-cut blouses involved-and I was young and stupid.
Being me, I wanted to be sure that I did it right, so I did all the research...
Oh, it's an interesting character study, no argument. But the "everyone knows" fanon interpretation is so far out into left field that the fanon Akane Tendō and the canon Akane Tendō are so completely different they're pretty much two different characters.
(Saw a photo of the fanfic writer a few months ago. Thank GOD I didn't stick anything into her, then or now. There are Daemonettes of Slaaneesh that have safer holes than her. Most certainly most have fewer and shorter teeth...)
9835849
I agree with you on the fandom general perception and use of Akane in fiction. It's widely exaggerated. While in Ranma Akane was used for comedic exaggeration in think Estee here in using, not the opposite but something similar in concept: dramatic exaggeration. She boost the flaws of this character to such proportion that they become a caricature of an archetype.
The problem come from the fact that she used a cameo character to help the readers put the character in a niche. Most know Akane from Ranma 1/2, some by reputation, so the association with the behavior and the familiar background it give the character as to why she is acting this way, so it help the readers further shape the image in their mind. But if she didn't use the name, we would have the same character with an horrible personality and nobody would have made a fuss.
It's just a tool for the author to help a character that we will probably never see or hear from again after this have an impact on the reader.
I think Ranma 1/2 and MLP have something in common: the use of characters with mental and personality problems. One show how to BADLY handle, well... everything, while the other does the opposite. The clash between the two make it even more jarring and I think it help illustrate Estee point.
Assertive Fluttershy tells Snowflake what they both need to hear. And badass Applejack puts her entitled relatives in their place. This is a good day.
9835849
I'm in full agreement. It's why I called Akane Apple here Bad Fanfic Akane. And why I said I'd like to just break all the engagements and get Ranma out of Nerima. (There's a porn fanfic/Totally Spies crossover that does this and finally points out the insanity that is Ranma's life, as well as deliciously points out how bad a father Genma is.)
9835851
Beavis and Buttbrain would take Apple Bloom into exile whether Applejack got her involved or not. They're being ridiculously judgmental, have already outed themselves as tribalist... Yeah. They're deliberate hate sinks. I look forward to seeing Applejack literally bury these two scumbags.
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9835887
Let's just clear this up.
Like many writers, I tend to stick with the traditional theme of naming Apple family members: namely, I try to stay within the realm of actual, recognized cultivars. However, I do allow myself to go obscure and given the sheer number of fruit varieties found worldwide, it gives me a lot to choose from.
In the case of our new arrivals, I stayed with that theme -- but I started looking for a very specific subset of it. I researched to learn which cultivars are considered to be the worst-tasting apples. And guess what?
raintreenursery.com/pub/media/catalog/product/a/0/a020_akane_4.jpg
That is the akane. As apples go, it doesn't have the best reputation. And, knowing that it existed...
Go ahead. Tell me you would have been able to resist.
9835855
It takes a creative mind to mangle Applejack heel-face turn from 'the rules were always bad, so now I'm going to break them and do right' into this weirdly pro 'racist douchenozzle' narrative you've concocted. Especially when it involves siding with Akane.
9835928
I'd actually read the Patreon notification before the chapter. Probably should've said something in my earlier comment to that effect. Sorry.
9835922
I only know Ranma 1/2 from the Teen Titans crossover 'The Long Road.' Should I try it? That story gave me the impression that it's some kind of fighting animie.
Male fiance has one E.
9835937
Honestly... it hasn't aged all that well. When slapstick romantic violence comedy was new and we had just started getting the anime/manga fandom going over here, it was pretty good. Now, though, we've seen relationships handled so much better, and the Ranma 1/2 crew does not come over well in comparison. There's just not a whole lot of depth to the characters.
9835928
No, and you made a great shot.
Just...the eyebrow and eyelid twitching is getting old at this point.
Oh SHIZNAP!
Touching scene from Flutters and Snowflake, BUT DAMN IF I'M NOT SHAKING IN MY SEAT FROM THE CHALLENGE AT THE END!
looking forward to the next chapter!
9835935
Oh Snapple, this just reminded me there was a patreon...I ought to sign on to that!
I'm loving this , i hope the cliffhangers and escalation never end, just forever ratchet up the tension.
9835937
Okay...this is the Teal Deer version of Ranma 1/2, so take it with a grain of salt-
Ranma 1/2 is a martial arts/romantic comedy/gender-bender comedy show from the late '80s to the early '90s. where the main character, Ranma Saotome, is a part of an arranged marriage with Akane Tendō, to take over the Tendō Dojo because Ranma's father and Akane's father are old friends and they want to keep the dojo in the family.
Unfortunately, Ranma has quite a few problems, besides being kind of a dick himself (50/50 "just an ass" vs. "kind of justified"). The short list-
1)During his training-because his father can't read Chinese-Ranma fell into the "Drowned Girl Spring," and every time cold water is poured on top of him, he turns into a girl. A red-headed girl that is cuter, bustier, and more attractive than Akane. He turns back if hot water is poured on him.
2)Akane has always been trying to be the best, and she was the best, before Ranma showed up. Because her father has said that she can't date until someone beats her in martial arts, she gets attacked every day as she comes into school, and wins without even breaking stride. Unfortunately, she has zero ability to learn any feminine skills (she chops carrots so hard that she carves gouges out of the cutting board and put the splinters in with the poorly-carved carrot chunks is the least of it) and it is only in a few areas that she's Ranma's equal, let alone superior. She's also incredibly possessive, jealous, stubborn, physically expressive, and saying she has a hair-trigger temper implies that there is a delay in her temper.
3)Ranma's father, Genma, isn't in the running for the Gendo Ikari Award For Best Parent Ever, but he's pretty much in the semi-finals. He dragged his son around the world for training of dubious safety and security, all in the name of making him the best martial artist in the world. Not the least was one time where Genma tied fish to a young Ranma and tossed him in a pit of starving cats-resulting him Ranma learning a martial art based upon cat fighting techniques and giving him a permanent fear of cats.
Genma also has previous form in the following way of learning forbidden martial arts-
*Genma and Ranma find somewhere that has a forbidden martial art,
*Genma offers an arranged marriage with Ranma to learn said martial art-without telling Ranma, mind you,
*When they learn said martial art, Genma immediately books it with Ranma in tow.
*Jilted fiancee tracks Ranma down, believing that he was the one that jilted them,
*Jilted fiancee, who probably has fallen into a cursed spring in China at some point to involve a ridiculous transformation, is there to -
a)kill,
b)kidnap,
c)marry,
d)impregnate or be impregnated by,
e)any combination to any degree of a, b, c, and d,
-Ranma, usually while insulting Akane at the same time over her appearance, feminine skills, and/or martial arts skills.
And, the scary thing? He's safer with his father, as Ranma's mother Nodoka has sworn that if her son is even the slightest bit unmanly, she'll make sure he performs Seppuku. And, she'll serve as Ranma's second, with the drawn sword to cut his head off after he disembowels himself. Fails to disembowel himself if Ranma commits the slightest unmanly act? She's more than willing to instantly cut his head off for him, out of kindness...
4)Add a whole array of characters with martial arts skills ranging from the odd to the downright strange, stretch over 33 manga compilations, 145 TV episodes, seven movies, four or five fighting games, an RPG or two, way more hentai doujinshi than you ever want to think about (including people answering the question of "what happens when Girl Ranma gets pregnant?"), and three or four OVAs, and you have Ranma 1/2.
To understand how memetic it became here in the US, the show was coming out in the early '90s, back when most people watched anime in college clubs or in the back rooms of comic book shops. It was the era of the wall of VHS tape decks, making copies off the original LaserDisk, adding subtitles by Amiga Video Toaster (and, sometimes these subtitles were...enthusiastic), talking to people on BBSes (maybe CompuServe and later AOL), and mailing the tapes via the US Post Office. God knows none of this was being done legally, but nobody really cared at the time. Unless you Knew People to get your own supply of tapes, you watched what the club watched, and one of the things every club seemed to watch at the time was at least a two episode spread of Ranma 1/2 (and Dragon Ball Z and The Rose of Versailles). So, even if you didn't want to...you caught some of the stories, against your will.
It's a fun show and you can get the manga compilations and the DVDs of the show legally these days. Just, grain of salt-this was the late '80s to early '90s, the show was the founder for a lot of tropes, and when you watch it, sometimes you have to remember "they did it first, before (insert show here)."
9835928
*cackles madly* Estee, I love you!
9835937
Ranma 1/2 is a harem-comedy with some martial arts themes. It's a funny manga, if you don't mind protagonists that are jerks, psychotic, take too much abuse without retaliating appropriately, or any combination of the above. Plus zero resolution to the main plot of the story whatsoever by the time it ends.
Oh hell yeah.
This is gonna be AWESOME - regardless of how exactly this goes down, I'm incredibly excited to get a deep look at earth pony magic and how exactly a fosse works. No matter the outcome, the chapter(s) depicting that should be really interesting to read.
Applebloom's wisdom was great. The magic of friendship, basically, but the way she said it was really cool and on the nose for someone so young. It's nice to see her character development play out in this fic. She's finally learned some very hard lessons and did a bunch of growing up. And yet she's still good old Applebloom... all excited to see something COOL. (I'm right there with her, haha.)
Finally, Fluttershy talking some sense into Snowflake and realising how her own friends feel about it when they do it with her... a beautiful moment. So many characters showing their strengths and best sides in this chapter.
Really good read.