Chapter 37: Conclusion
Spoiled Rich stared out at the audience. "To begin, I must state that it is unfortunate and sad that this meeting had to be held. It is not with joy that we must consider the removal of one of our students, but the safety and security of the student body as a whole comes before the needs of any singular student."
Cheerilee grit her teeth behind her lips. The others might have found that true, but Spoiled always was looking for an excuse to remove 'undesirables' from the school. Cheerilee had always been able to stop it from happening, and she wasn't about to let that perfect record fall now.
"Let us list off the reasons why we have been forced to call this meeting," Spoiled continued, looking down at a partially enrolled scroll in front of her. "In the past year, Candy Apple has missed more days of class than she has attended. While this is normally a reason to force her to better attend school, rather than expel her from it, she has also spent at least half the time she has attended causing disruptions in classes, and to the school as a whole. These disruptions include, but are not limited to; use of foul language, theft, tribalist remarks, ongoing speciest remarks, trying to encouraging students to force out dragon students, elaborate lewd descriptions of activities that upset public decency, frequently screaming in class, unsupervised use of- I must stress- dangerous alchemy, encouraging sedition against the crown, assaulting students with magic blasts, destruction of school property, and disruption of important school events."
Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "Encouraging sedition?" She asked in confusion, keeping her voice down.
"A few ya didn't like that it was Princess Twilight in charge instead of Princess Celestia," Candy explained in a low voice. Cheerilee rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure that counted as sedition.
"In addition," Spoiled continued, unrolling the scroll further. "We must consider her actions outside of the school. These actions include, but are not limited to; assaulting the residents of the town, attempting to overthrow the local government, damage to public and private property, crimes against muffins-" Oh, come on! Now Spoiled was just reaching for things! "-violation of underage curfew, endangerment of other foals, and arson." Spoiled unrolled the scroll to its furthest extent, and squinted at the remainder of the text. "And trifling as it may seem to some of us, I must include failure to return library books-- which our princess is known to frown heavily upon, and had once considered criminalizing."
Cheerilee hoped that the windbag was out of charges, but Spoiled looked up at the audience and continued. "I also heard today, on good authority, that her fire in the Everfree may have destroyed several endangered plants and caused severe irreparable damage to a potentially important archaeological site."
Cheerilee facehoofed, she doubted there was any negative intent on Petunia's part, but she wished that the mare had kept her mouth shut.
"As we all have been witness to young Miss Apple's various antics, I think that we should start instead with testimony from the filly in question," Spoiled continued on, giving a snide smile to Candy as she did so.
"Um, excuse me."
All heads turned, and the vast majority of those present immediately dropped into bows as they spotted Princess Twilight Sparkle in the doorway.
Cheerilee was among those who had immediately prostrated herself, but the majority of the Apples did not. Applejack let off a loud whoop from right beside her. "About dang time!"
"You can all stand up. I don't care much for bowing," Twilight said in a long suffering voice. They all did as instructed, and the princess's eyes fell on Candy. "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. That grain sprite that you caught gets really feisty if you do anything to its loaf of bread. It took me a while to get to where I could properly study its magic without having to fend off defensive attacks from it."
Standing right behind the monarch were Starlight Glimmer and Fluttershy. Starlight had a jar with a sample of poison joke held in her magic. Fluttershy had the possessed loaf of bread. The two came forward and set their cargo down in front of Twilight Sparkle.
"You be nice and calm, okay?" Fluttershy lovingly said to the bread, actually petting it like she would any of her animals. "Twilight is going to be really gentle with you, and won't hurt your home. When this is all done, we'll find an even nicer home for you to stay in. We don't want you to stay in there and have your home get moldy, do we?"
There was no way of telling if the loaf of bread actually gave any form of response to this, but a number of ponies in the audience gave Fluttershy baffled looks.
"Your majesty, excuse me, but… ," Spoiled hesitantly began, then seemed to gather up her courage. "We're in the middle of an important school board meeting. I'm sure that whatever business you have with this little malcontent can surely wait until we're done."
The rest of the school board's eyes went wide at her comment. Parasol was so horrified that Spoiled would dare to ask the princess to wait that the pegasus inched away from the mare in her chair. Cherry Tea looked absolutely flabbergasted at the situation. Pip stared on with wide eyes. Applebloom could be seen visibly snarling at Spoiled, and Roseluck fainted right out of her chair. Gasps of shock echoed through the audience at the head of the school board's presumption towards the princess.
Twilight Sparkle did not appear particularly fazed or give any sign of anger at being asked to wait by one of her subjects. The alicorn just smiled at the mare. "Oh, don't worry, I won't take much of your time. I don't want to keep poor Candy waiting a moment more either. That poor filly has endured too much already. From what I understand, her condition can cause another mind to enter her body at unpredictable times. We wouldn't want to delay her getting cured long enough to give an opportunity for yet another mind to take up residence in her, would you?"
Cheerilee watched Spoiled chew over her answer, and felt a surge of rage as realization dawned on her. Spoiled was hoping for exactly that to happen. If it happened in the middle of this meeting it would be that much easier for her to get Pip and Roseluck to vote the way she wanted. That vindictive, nasty, vile, #####! How dare she try to deliberately set Candy up like that!
"Of course not, Princess Twilight!" Cherry Tea blurted out, all but jumping up in her seat.
Spoiled turned and glared at Cheerilee's sister. "You were not given leave to speak."
Cherry grit her teeth, and whispered loudly through them. "You're embarrassing us Spoiled… "
"And we want to see the filly helped, don't we?" Pip added in.
Parasol didn't say anything. The pegasus had chosen to remove herself from view by getting down on the floor and attending to Roseluck-- who was just starting to stir. Applebloom had a smug look on her face as Spoiled failed to find any support.
Spoiled looked around at the rest of the school board, and let off a frustrated whinny. "As you wish, your majesty."
Twilight Sparkle gave a satisfied smile, and Cheerilee couldn't help but let a smug grin spread across her face. However, Ma Apple was above such things, and more focused on the fact that the princess was going to cure her daughter. "Candy, I think the princess is waitin' on you to come over to her," the mother said to her daughter, giving Candy an urgent push with her muzzle.
The filly hurried from her seat, but came to a cautious stop a short distance from the princess, giving the loaf of bread a wary look. She then cranked her head upwards slightly to stare at the imposing alicorn. "Ya're goin' ta fix me, right now?"
The princess gave the filly a gentle smile. "Candy Apple, I'm going to fix the magical problem that you've been having, and I'm sorry that it has gone on for as long as it has, but I don't want you to refer to it as fixing you, because that implies that you are out of order."
Candy blinked a few times. "Ah don't understand."
The princess stepped forward and put a wing around the filly. "I heard about what happened yesterday. Yes, it was very unfortunate that you started a forest fire-- but do you know what would have been even worse?" Candy shook her head. Twilight Sparkle looked around the audience. "Anycreature have any ideas?"
"If that timberwolf had caught her or Cheese!" Cheerilee called out. Pinkie Pie gripped her son tightly to her, and the party pony's eyes watered as she nodded in agreement.
"I hate to refute you, your majesty," Spoiled called out. "But the only reason either of them were in danger was because that filly put them both in danger. The entire situation was her fault, and that she was able to mitigate the potential harm does not excuse her." Spoiled stepped forward, ready to continue to put Candy on trial, even with the princess giving Candy praise. "Further, by the other foal's testimony to the doctors, that filly knew exactly how dangerous a situation she was bringing them into. She knew she could have gotten them both killed, yet she put their lives on the line anyway. She should not be praised for her indiscretions. She is a danger to all those around her."
Twilight gave the earth pony a flat look then turned her head to look back at the doorway. "Hey, Bug, care to come in here?" Bug? Who was Bug?
To Cheerilee's surprise, Bug turned out to be Flurry Heart. The younger alicorn was dwarfed in height by Twilight, and looked more a contrite filly when comparing the heights.
"You all know my niece, Flurry Heart," Twilight said to the crowd. "Flurry has her faults. She is headstrong, arrogant, and more than a little reckless." The younger alicorn seemed to flinch at each of her listed failings. The monarch softened her tone. "But, my niece is not entirely to blame for all of these things, and she used to be much worse. Flurry, please tell the school board about how you used to be, why you think that was, and what turned you around." Flurry used to be worse? That was hard to imagine.
The younger alicorn looked like she would rather do anything else at that moment, but the stern gaze of her aunt seemed to crush any objections. "I used to really not care about other creatures. I was strong and they were weak. My mom, dad, and aunt, were all concerned I was going to turn into some villain or something." The alicorn paused, and looked down. "I'm… ashamed… to admit, looking back, that they might have been right to worry about that." It seemed to take a lot out of her to do that.
"But?" Twilight prompted.
Flurry looked up. "But my parents recognized that part of the reason for that was that I was largely isolated from dealing with others, and they took the blame for that. They'd always been afraid I might accidentally hurt others with my power. I never really got to interact with everyday creatures. After it became clear I lacked much of anything resembling compassion or empathy, they sent me off to the School of Friendship."
"Longest four years of my life," Starlight droned. Flurry shot the headmare a sullen look, but didn't say anything more.
"My niece was a better pony having built friendships, and it was unfair on her family's part-- which includes me-- to have kept her from having that early on," Princess Twilight said stoically.
"That still does not excuse her actions," Spoiled insisted.
Twilight shook her head. "I can't determine how your vote will go, but can state my opinion. Candy Apple is a unicorn with a great deal of promise. She's also a filly who, for the greater part of the past year, has had her friends, family, and community fail to give her the trust and support she desperately needed. Taking her away from a school environment, and punishing her harshly for what has happened, would be a travesty. If she is expelled from your school, I will see to it that she is given full admission to her choice of the School of Friendship or the School for Gifted Unicorns at no cost to her family-- because I see a promising student who should be given every opportunity to flourish."
"I don't want Candy to go someplace else!" Autumn Fire yelled out, shocking the assembled adults.
"Me neither! She's my best friend!" Cheese called out in turn.
"Sshe's nice… " Sisstet called out, and then immediately cowered back down after realizing he drew attention to himself. Silver Spoon smiled and pulled the snake-like pony closer to her.
Cheerilee wasn't about to let her own support go unheard. "At least some of her actions were me acting through her. I demand that the claim she disrupted major school events, and damage to school property, be dismissed. Those were my actions, not hers!"
"My daughter is not a bad foal!" Ma called out, caught up in the moment.
"E'nope!" Big Mac called out in agreement.
Spoiled Rich looked around the room and clearly felt things rapidly shifting against her. She then turned back to the crowd. "We need to have order in this meeting!" She turned to and gave the princess a disgruntled glare. "Do what you came to do, princess, and we will then skip straight to our vote. I don't think any lengthy arguments are going to be needed."
And like that, it became clear that Candy would not be getting kicked out of school. Cheerilee felt glad, but at the same time there was a strange touch of disappointment. Here she was, about to have her big moment defending one of her students, and she became unnecessary. Everything that had happened somehow felt like it had happened despite her, rather than because of her.
The princess looked down at the filly again. "Are you ready for me to dispel this magic?" The filly nodded. Twilight then turned, and to Cheerilee's shock, looked directly at her. "I'll be needing you as well, Miss Cheerilee."
"Me?" She gasped, pointing a hoof at herself. "I'll be happy to help, but what do you need me for?"
Twilight gestured at the two items. "These two things are important and necessary; Starlight and Luster were right about that fact. What they didn't realize is there is more than these two things at work. Flurry might have cut the bond between you and Candy, but that doesn't mean the magic that initially linked you is gone. I need you to be able to find that linking mechanism and stop it from doing any further links. The traces of that magic are in you, not Candy."
She wasn't going to try to contradict the princess and foremost expert in magic. She just nodded and stepped forward to join Candy. The princess lit her horn, and began doing something with the loaf of bread and the sample of poison joke. Whatever she was doing, it didn't seem she was entirely ready to do what she was going to do to Cheerilee and Candy; so they patiently waited. The crowd had cleared backward to give them all space, and it seemed almost as if they were alone together.
The filly looked up at Cheerilee. "Are ya goin' to come back and be our principal again?"
She smiled. "I might come back and teach, Dinky is a great principal, who looks out for her students. I would be teaching the new incoming class next year if I did. Don't worry, Silver Spoon is a great teacher, and you're lucky to have her."
Candy giggled. "It was kinda funny seein' her as a filly."
Cheerilee frowned. "How did you see her as a filly?"
"Ya're memories, ya thought about her as a filly," the filly explained with a shrug. That meant Candy did indeed have full access to her thoughts when she had been in the filly's body. That made her uncomfortable. The filly seemed uncomfortable as well, as she continued. "Ah'd never have done what ah did without ya. Ah was about ta return those books, and wouldn't have even found out about what a grain sprite was if ya hadn't read that book. Ah really started to think ah was crazy."
Cheerilee took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. If I influenced you to run off like you did. I put a lot of pressure on you about this meeting. I just wanted to help you, even if I didn't end up being much help."
The filly seemed confused. "But ya was helpin'. No creature believed me, but ya made them believe. Ah didn't even know before ya figured it out how this happened for sure. Ya never stopped thinkin' that ah… that we... ain't crazy. Ya stood up for me all the time, and ya pulled me out of the fire. Ya're ma hero."
Cheerilee blinked away happy tears, and pulled the filly into a hug. "Thank you. I needed to hear that. It sounds like you put a lot of thought into what you said."
Candy sniffled. "Not much else ta do but think when ah'm sittin' back, just watchin' from ma head." The filly let off an irritated whinny. "Ah… I need to work on how I talk."
That made Cheerilee pull back and frown at her companion of the last few days. "There's nothing wrong about how you talk."
"But… my accent, it makes ma sound like…"
Cheerilee placed a hoof over the filly's mouth. "Your accent is part of who you are, and after all the time you have spent not being able to be you, you should be glad to be able to speak with your accent. It's time for you to stop wishing you were someone else. You're a special, unique, and talented pony; and don't you ever doubt yourself."
Candy stared for a moment, then grinned. "Ah'll not doubt m'self if you don't either."
Cheerilee lifted up her hoof, spit on it, and held it out to Candy. "Shake on it, and we've got a deal." The filly laughed joyfully, and promptly spit on her own forehoof, before pressing it against Cheerilee's.
"I think we're all ready."
The two of them gave a brief startled jump, and turned to the princess. They'd almost forgotten why they were sitting up there with how caught up in their shared moment they'd been.
The princess lit her horn and stared at the two of them. "Both of you just sit still. This won't hurt, but it will take a few seconds, and it will take longer if you're moving around." The two of them nodded, and sat still as statues. Cheerilee held her breath, as if her breathing would somehow constitute too much movement.
A soft glow enveloped both of them. Cheerilee felt a slight tingling sensation, and there was a feeling of warmth deep inside her. It was hard to place where deep inside her it was, there was no real location for it. She tried to focus on the sensation, but the location eluded her all while she was certain that the sensation was definitely there. Maybe Candy was feeling the same thing, and would understand it better. This was a thing of advanced magic, and Cheerilee was just a simple teacher.
It ended so quickly she almost thought something went wrong. Candy must have thought the same thing, because she gave the alicorn a puzzled look. "Is that it?" The filly asked.
Twilight smiled. "That's it. You won't be subject to any more intrusions into your life by random creatures taking up residence in your head." A cheer went up from the assembled crowd at this announcement. The alicorn's eyes flicked to Cheerilee. "Although, they weren't quite random, and I think you both realize that. I didn't realize it till you two did it, but I think Candy having faith in herself was just as important as my spell."
Candy still seemed confused. "What do ya mean? Why?"
Twilight gestured at the jar that had held the poison joke just a moment before. It was now a fine blue powder. "You had to get the joke. The grain sprite's magic amplified the poison joke's magic a hundred-fold, but it still was mainly the poison joke at work. The grain sprite's magic on its own was just causing you to see fake grain sprites everywhere. The joke was that a capable little filly felt she had to be someone else, so it made you have to be someone else. When you ceased to believe that, you basically broke the joke. I was needed to get the remnants of it out, just in case you ever fell into that faulty thinking again, but the joke would have had no power over you if you had just believed in yourself, rather than wishing you were someone else."
Cheerilee's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious! That's all she really needed to do?"
The princess frowned. "We all have moments where we doubt ourselves, and wish for someone else to deal with our problems. The joke would take effect whenever Candy inevitably did, but I've stopped that. There are aspects of this magic I still don't fully know how they work, even if I have dispelled it, and I'll be doing a full study of that grain sprite soon, to try to understand it better. Just know, this nightmare is done and over with."
The alicorn turned her gaze back to the school board, which had been silent through this entire exchange. "You have no more reason to fear she'll be turning into Sombra, or whatever other creature might fit that hurtful joke. I also think that Candy is done with her adventuring, at least for a few more years, and all the trouble and danger that comes from adventures. You can continue with your meeting now."
Spoiled gave a small start at having been addressed. The head of the school board seemed to have been lost in thought while the princess had been at work. She then nodded with a grimace. "Very well… I guess we can get straight to the votes, as I don't see where any debate and discussion will accomplish much at this point. All in favor of having Candy removed from the school, please raise your hooves now."
Not a single hoof among the six-member board rose, not even Spoiled's. "We have five against her expulsion, and I respectfully abstain from voting." Respectfully abstain? It seemed like the mare instead just didn't want to lose face.
"All in favor of having the filly in question be held back a year from her current class due to gross lack of attendance, please raise your hooves now."
This time Spoiled did raise her hoof up, and Parasol hesitantly raised hers in turn, but Spoiled failed to obtain her third or fourth votes. Her mood seemed to darken further.
Spoiled sniffed. "Well, for our final vote, all in favor of Candy Apple being forced to face some form of disciplinary action, as decided by her teacher and Principal Doo, please raise your hooves now."
Spoiled of course raised her hoof right away, immediately followed by Parasol. Roseluck and Pip followed quickly after. Cherry raised her own hoof slowly. Applebloom looked at the other five board members and let off a long sigh, and to Cheerilee's shock, raised her own hoof as well.
Spoiled grimace released into a small smirk. "Well, it seems that at least a small bit of sanity does prevail. I leave the disciplinary action to the appointed parties. This meeting is hereby adjourned."
The Apple clan rushed forward and gave Candy a massive group hug, Pinkie and Cheese quickly joined in. While that was happening, Cheerilee watched as the school board started to exit. In particular, her eyes were focused on Spoiled Rich. This wasn't all over yet, there was one last thing that needed doing, something long overdue.
She slipped quietly away from the small celebration, and stepped out the door that she had just watched Spoiled Rich exit out of. It was a side office, and the head of the school board seemed like she was going to be taking the time to do some paperwork. Spoiled looked at her as she walked in. "What do you want? I've had my fill of unhinged ponies for today."
Cheerilee kept her face neutral. "You're about to find out how unhinged I can be." Spoiled' s eyes went wide and took a few steps back. Cheerilee stood still as she watched. "You've been a plague on the students of this town for far too long, Spoiled. I'm through letting it happen. I demand that you step down from the school board."
Spoiled's fear melted from her face, as it contorted with rage. "You're daring to make a demand? From me? You don't even work at this school. Who are you to make demands?"
Cheerilee stepped forward. "I think I did pick up some things from Candy. In this case, I'm willing to go to any length to see that those I care about-- in this case the current, past, and future students of this school-- are protected from somepony that is more concerned about having power over others than their well being."
"You're unhinged!" Spoiled spat.
Cheerilee smirked. "If I was a petty mare I would buck you so hard in the face that you'd need to get a third nose job, for all the insults you've thrown at me. I really was in Candy's body the other night when you expressed what you thought of me. Lucky for you, I'm a responsible grown adult, that doesn't lash out over being called names."
Spoiled's eyes narrowed. "So tell me, Miss Cheerilee, how do you intend to press your demand?"
Another step forward was taken. "I said I wouldn't lash out for being called names. I didn't make any promises about what I would be willing to do for the sake of our students."
The headmare gasped and retreated backwards again. "You can't! I'd have you arrested for assault!"
"I'd willingly go to jail for a few months if it put an end to your tyranny over this school," Cheerilee said gravely. "I told you I picked up some things from Candy. That filly thought little of her own safety and well-being when it came to protecting her friend; I will do the same for our youth."
"You're insane!"
"I'm a teacher protecting her students!" Cheerilee hissed. "Go become a food critic or something if you want to feel power and terrorize somecreature with your opinions, but you are getting out of this school's affairs. I'll get in trouble for knocking the snot out of you, but everycreature will sit there and wonder why Ponyville's longest serving educator was so furious with the head of the school board that she was willing to beat you down. Bow out now, keep what little reputation you have intact-- along with your nose. I'm willing to sacrifice my reputation for this; what are you willing to sacrifice?"
Spoiled looked around the room frantically, searching for an out. Her eyes turned back to Cheerilee and hardened with hatred. "Fine! I'll step down. There's no need for violence. But know this, I will get you for this. Not right away, but I'll find some fitting way to repay you for this."
"Bring your worst, as long as it is directed at only me, I don't care."
"Oh, it will be," Spoiled snarled. "Now, will you please allow me to exit this room? You have my word I won't speak of this incident."
She wordlessly stepped aside, and the other mare hurried past. As soon as Spoiled left the room, Cheerilee let go of the breath she had barely been aware she had been holding. She couldn't believe she just did that! Was she proud of it? No, but it needed to happen, and now it was done.
After she composed herself, she went back out to see how Candy was doing. It seemed that the majority of the crowd had dispersed, now that the meeting was over. There were a few hangers-on who stayed to talk to school board members and to congratulate Candy, but most were gone-- even the princess and those she brought. Cheerilee walked over to the Apples and rejoined them.
"Aunt Applebloom! How could ya vote ta have me punished!" Candy shouted in betrayed outrage.
Applebloom looked her niece in the eyes. "Ya did steal from ma office, did a dangerous potion experiment unsupervised at the school, and endangered your best friend. I understand why ya did all those things, but that doesn't mean ya get outta havin' ta face consequences for those actions."
The filly pouted, and turned her head away in foalish anger.
Applebloom sighed. "Ya already have a punishment arranged with the principal anyway. I seem to recall somethin' about a report on potion safety."
Candy turned back, and her ears slumped. "Oh… ah forgot about that."
Applebloom smiled. "I was thinking, maybe we can turn it into a better presentation. Not only can you give a report on potion safety, but you could demonstrate making a potion safely-- with supervision from me, of course." Oh, sweet princesses, no!
The filly's ears picked up. "Really?!" Cheerilee's stomach sank further.
"E'yup," Applebloom replied, and winked at Cheerilee. That evil mare!
Cheerilee sighed, knowing that this was probably going to happen. "I guess I should talk to Silver Spoon about what supplies she should keep close when dealing with show and tell. You never know what kind of adventure show and tell can bring."
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I'm disappointed that Spoiled wasn't arrested, for threatening Candy Apple.
Twilight's arrival felt a little like a Deus ex machina, but it was handled well. overall I think it was a good ending. This was a fun story to follow. Great job!
Why so grave when you have all of that oil money?
10152469
I have no idea why my autocorrect suddenly can't tell the difference between said and Arab names. Thanks.
Just wanna express what an incredibly wonderful and imaginative story this was. You really captured the mystery and hilarity from a premise like this, and some of the more dramatic moments were nicely written as well. Stories like these are the reason I find myself coming back to this site because I know there will continue to be a few quality stories like this one. Great work.
An awesome story. I loved every chapter of this. However...
Cheerilee that the windbag was out of charges, but Spoiled looked up at the audience and continued. (
)
I guess something went wrong here? But that aside you are an amazing author! It has been a while that a story captured me like this. I'm really looking forward to more of your work.
10152983
A word got removed somehow when doing this, I recall making a few changes to that sentence. "Cheerilee hoped that windbag was out of charges." I've fixed it now.
Thank you for the compliment. I am working on two other projects coming up, as mentioned. Time frame depends on when I can get their cover arts. I have a cover art in the works for Marshmallow Dreams (Rated Teen), but Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga (Rated Everyone) is currently hitting a brick wall in that regard.
This was great, can't wait for another update! Wait, completed?! NO!
Cheerilee should have done something worse to Spoiled, like, making him write ten different essays on the vast topics of the Evils of Being Spoiled and the Evil History of the Rich Family among other things.
I feel insanely happy just imagining his reaction!
Such a good story. Thanks for the ride!
Story was a good read. You once again showed your talent in worldbuilding and making every character seem a living-breathing individual. Looking forward to your continued work.
Hola.
Uf. Lamento lo demora en este último capitulo.
Es bueno llegar a ver tan pronto el final de la historia. Literal, estoy siguiendo desde el día 1.
Por el momento es la primera vez que leo una historia de este tipo en esta página (También la primera con Cheerilee de protagonista), así que estaba de buenas ganas de comienzo a final. Sumándole un par de otros factores, está se hizo una lectura interesante y entretenida.
Un final feliz, abierto a muchas posibilidades. Al menos estás no se dejaran colgando.
Si bien no estoy decepcionado, insisto en mí deseo de leer que pasó con la Cheerilee del pasado. O sino solo dime qué es un NADA tremendo y ya.
El desorden de las líneas del tiempo tal vez quedo medio colgando, pero bue. Inevitable. Jaja.
Cómo dije. Fue una buena lectura. Cómo dije la mayoría de mis pensamientos a lo largo ando medio colgado con las palabras. Jaja. Pero bue. Disfrute la historia (la tercera en la cual comenté en mis tres años aquí, y la primera en la cual me lo tomé de enserio), así que estoy satisfecho
Adiooos y hasta otro fimfic (que no se si vas a querer verme?)
10155540
Glad you enjoyed it. You can post comments whenever you wish. I don't mind at all.
I almost didn't read through to the end due to my own impatience but I'm happy I did, this was a great time.
Great story. I really enjoyed it.
Re-read the chapter Spoiled is lucky Twilight isn't as vindictive as she is. A lot of 'crimes' she accused Candy of aren't exactly the school boards business especially since they didn't occur at school. Since Candy is a minor in some places Spoiled would be the one in trouble for publicly accusing her since she wasn't charged or accused
I've binge-read almost half the fic over the past few hours. Still going strong, but I wanted to say that I've been enjoying this quite a bit! Compelling premise, and well-done AU!
So, I just finished the story... this was wonderful! I typically only read stories less than ~10k words long, but this one grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go! Well done!
I particularly enjoyed the plot twists in the last few chapters. I like to try and pull the rug out from under my readers from time to time, and was really impressed how you did so! I think I actually gasped in horror at a few of those! Again, well done!
As a diehard Cheerimac shipper, I also really liked how you gave depth to Cheerilee's character, and especially hers and Mac's relationship. Most stories that I've seen about the two of them don't go into very great depth about why their relationship failed, but I especially liked how you put Cheerilee in charge of her own romantic destiny: it didn't just "not work out", she broke it off because her needs weren't being met. That was a lot of fun!
I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding you do, especially the "nextgen" parts of it. It was fun seeing how everyone grew up and changed over the intervening 20 years, and seeing how Ponyville was exactly the same, and also completely different. I thought it was especially clever to make the children seen in the series finale the 2nd or 3rd siblings in their family, not the oldest, which was a convenient way to make everyone a little older.
I will admit, your finale left me with a few questions--mostly plot threads that had been hinted at, but not followed up on. I know you're probably keeping a few of these details under your hat in anticipation of sequel(s), but I would be interested in the answers, if you'd like to offer!
Thanks in advance for your reply!
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I have no problem answering questions.
1. I had initially planned on including it in the finale, but the logistics of the confrontation with the timberwolf simply wouldn't allow for it. Candy lost it when she fell off the cliff, running from the timberwolf. It became ensnared in a branch of bush that she tumbled through on her way down. The remains of it are likely still there.
2. I will include this information Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga.
3. I will include this information Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga.
4. I actually felt like I wrote out this in the story, then remembered that it ended up in a blog because it didn't fit naturally into the story to include it. Here is the appropriate blog Content that doesn't fit..
5. Amber Sap was the pony, and was greatly distressed about the fact she was supposed to be getting married and instead was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar body, with no knowledge to when she'd get home. Amber Sap was not a take charge type, and just let things get to her.
6. Adopted the name Apple after she got involved with harvesting zapp apples. As that was when apples became the focus of the main part of the family.
7. Kirin and pony do breed true. Consider kirin to be a common shared ancestor with unicorns that just went down a different developmental path. You can still see some unicorns have the catch on fire trait when enraged. Twilight herself does this very early on in the series. While this became rare thing for unicorns in their development, it became a defining trait in kirin. A similar pattern can be applied to pegasi and bat ponies, they share a common ancestor, but developed different traits in isolation from one another. Kirin and bat ponies became far more separated in terms of physical developmental quirks because they were isolated from all other ponies and had a more concentrated gene pool to develop these variations of previous pony types till they became something that was a clearly distinctive new tribe. The same thing is in process with crystal ponies separating from earth ponies, although not to the same extremes.
8. Cheese's intersex condition is that he is anatomically male, however, his hormone receptors don't properly make use of testosterone and his body produces it at a much lower rate, and at the same time it produces far more estrogen than is normal. This causes him to become more feminine in sound and appearance as he ages, going through essentially female puberty changes instead of male ones (with the exception of reproductive anatomy). It can be expected that as an anyone looking at or listening to Cheese would assume they were dealing with a mare unless they checked his personal anatomy. It should be noted that Cheese sees himself as fully male, despite the way his body will grow and develop.
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Thanks for the reply! That helps clear up a lot of questions
Again, good job with the story!
Greetings from the My Little Reviews and Feedback group, have a review!
I love how you called-back to the idea of Cheerilee being a hero to her students
This was a really wonderful story and a wild adventure! I was so hooked from the beginning and read it all in two sittings! I had a little cry with Cheerilee both when the ride was rough and when the story was finally wrapping up.
Thanks so much for the fic! It was a great read and I'll be remembering it fondly. 💖
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Glad you enjoyed it.
There is a sequel/spin-off story currently in progress (Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga), but it is more open ended slice of life/drama than a mystery and adventure- at least going through act one of it anyway, which is in progress. I'm planning on bringing Candy Apple back more prominently in the second act forward for that one which should have some age progression at each act.
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I was wondering where that relationship was heading so I'm excited to give the story a read too! Your characters have a lot of heart and personality so I'm eager to see your writings regardless of genre.
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I don’t really think so but whatever
Quite a good story, thanks for the trip! : )
I got to say, i was surprised with how much I like this fanfic, the mystery of the story, and its development its well done, i just have one problem.... It was too looooong, too much filler for my taste if im being honest, but even with that, i will give it a 7.5/10
9/10 Excellent story that almost made me not sleep last night. Also nice bookends.