Ch. 2: Honesty
Ch. 2
Honesty
Applejack woke up feeling perfectly normal. She rolled over and glanced at her clock. The time was a slight surprise. Her family must’ve let her sleep in after all that carousing in the Caustic Caverns, and she had certainly needed it. She slid out of bed, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and finally grabbed her hat and went downstairs.
She didn’t see Big Mac or Apple Bloom around, but Granny Smith was putzing about the kitchen as she walked in.
“Mornin’, Granny.”
“Oh, g’mornin’, sleepyhead! How didja sleep?”
“Oh, alright. I really needed it after that battle with them corrosive whosits an’ their big, bad leader.”
“Well, we’re just glad you made it back safe. Big Mac figur’d you could use some extra rest, so he covered your mornin’ chores. An’ some leftover breakfast if’n you want it.”
“That sounds great, Granny! Thanks.”
Applejack sat at the table, and found a plate with a few slices of toast and a scrambled egg waiting for her, along with a glass of apple juice.
“Thanks, Granny, looks dee-liscious.”
Applejack dug in. Not the finest of meals, but it was still filling after everything she and her friends had been through yesterday.
“How was it?”
“Oh, fine. The eggs were a bit burnt and the toast was a little soggy, but it was fine.” She was taken aback by her own answer.
That was a bit rude, where’d that come from? she thought to herself.
If Granny Smith had noticed, she didn’t say anything. She continued doing the dishes as if nothing had happened. “By the way, I think Apple Bloom and her friends needed your help with somethin’ at their treehouse. They told me ta tell you soon as you woke up. An’ we also need some more flour from town.”
“Well, I’ll go pick some up after I check in on ‘em then. See ya later, Granny.”
AJ walked across the farm, still a bit perplexed by her uncharacteristically straightforward answer at breakfast.
I’m sure it’s nothin’. Just a little tired is all…
She strolled along the farm, trying to put the thought out of her mind. It was a beautiful day, and was all the more pleasant since there weren’t pools of acid everywhere, or critters throwing globs of it at her. She almost shuddered at the thought, but the Elements of Harmony had taken care of them right good. Now she just had to settle back into daily life at the farm until the next ridiculous adventure Celestia sent them on.
Her musings trailed off as she approached the clubhouse. She could hear the three fillies talking inside, no doubt working on some fresh scheme to get their cutie marks.
She climbed up the ramp and found Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle wearing goggles and masks. There were splotches of paint everywhere and anywhere. They had even managed to get some on the ceiling, somehow. A large white canvas sat on the ground, but from the entrance it was hard to tell if it was a casualty or a product of their activities.
“Howdy, y’all. What’s goin’ on up here?”
“Hi, Sis!” Apple Bloom leapt over to her. “We heard all about yer big ol’ adventure fightin’ them poisonous things!”
“Yeah, must’ve been exciting!” Scootaloo did a backflip to punctuate her point.
“Aw shucks, it weren’t no big… Well, I guess it was perdy cool. Anyway, what’re y’all doin’ up here?”
“Oh, we have a play coming up, and Miss Cheerilee said we could design the banner for it!”
“CUTIEMARKCRUSADERSBANNERDESIGNERSYAY!” the three fillies shouted in unison.
AJ blinked a few times and then flicked her ear a few times to make sure it still worked. “Well, that’s, uh, fine, but what exactly did y’all need me fer?”
“Well, we’ve got the basic design down, but we need you tell us how the painting’s going.”
“Miss Cheerilee told us that ‘feedback’ is key to any project’s success.” Sweetie Belle moved her hooves up and down as she pronounced the word.
“Uhm, ok…lemme see what ya got so far.”
They immediately went to the edges of their banner and lifted it up so AJ could get a better look at it. When it was finally in place it was unimpressive, to say the very least.
The three of them beamed while they waited for Applejack’s response, clearly proud of their progress.
A few moments passed noticeably.
“Well…?”
“Whaddya think?”
“Be honest with us!”
“It’s uh…” C’mon, Applejack, just let ‘em down gently, she thought to herself.
“Well, honestly…it’s terrible.” The beaming smiles were promptly replaced by shocked disappointment.
“What!? But we worked so hard on it!”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”
“Well, the colors don’t match, the letters are uneven, I can’t read most of it, there’s paint splotches everywhere, the writin’ looks like a monkey ate a crayon and then threw up, your signature’s the same size as the title…”
Tears started to well up in the three fillies eyes. As they tried to wipe their faces, the admittedly terrible sign drifted to the floor.
“Applejack, why’re you bein’ so mean!?”
“I ain’t bein’ mean, I’m bein’ honest, and honestly, that is the worst sign I’ve ever seen. Y’all should just give up right now, cuz there is no way you’re gonna fix that mess.” She was answered by a burst of tears, and the three prospective painters all rushed down the ramp out of the clubhouse. Before she followed her friends, Apple Bloom turned to Applejack.
“Nice t’ know what ya really think of us!” she shouted before running off with the other two, tears still streaming down her face.
Applejack shrugged. “Well, they wanted honesty. Really, sometimes those three can be so fulla themselves.” Remembering the flour she had to pick up, Applejack climbed down the ramp herself, and she could hear a few echoed sobs as she began walking to town.
As Applejack trotted into downtown Ponyville, she couldn’t help but wonder about why they had gotten so upset.
They asked for honesty and I gave it to them, didn’ I? Yeah, they just overreacted is all… Honesty is the best policy. It must be.
Applejack wandered through the market, trying to find the flour merchant.
“Landsakes, main street’s busier than a beehive, and whoever planned out these stalls must’ve had a head fulla rocks…”
As Applejack was talking to herself, she felt a small something or other smack into her legs.
“Spike? Where’re you goin’ in such a rush? And why is your breath so gosh durn terrible?”
Spike recovered from his fall quickly. He opened his mouth to say something, but took a moment to check his breath first.
“Wait, what am I doing… Applejack! Thank goodness I finally found somepony!”
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s Twilight! She’s acting all…weird.”
“That overconfident egghead…what’s she done to herself this time?”
“I don’t know, but she’s acting really strange.”
Spike began to explain what had happened after he woke up, but as he was telling the story a blue streak shot out of the sky and slammed right into Applejack.
The two ponies tumbled across the street and smacked into a low wall.
“Rainbow Dash!? You direction’ly challenged maniac! Get offa me!” Applejack tried to push Rainbow off her, but the pegasus didn’t budge.
“Finally, I found one of you guys… I’ve been feeling really lonely ever since I woke up.” Rainbow gave Applejack a big hug. AJ struggled to her feet, and the living blue ornament made the act several types of awkward.
Applejack still felt as normal as she had when she woke up, but while she unsuccessfully tried to squirm out of Dash's grip, she realized that this wasn’t going to be a normal day.
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Ha, this is awesome. Manic Twi, Brutally honest Jack, and now clingy Dash. Can't wait to see what is next!
I can't think of words to describe this, so I will give you my reactions:
It's looking good so far. Loved how brutally honest Applejack was. Keep up the good work!
That is all I will say about that chapter.
So tell me, why do you release a fic BEFORE the editor is done? Or to make it more WTF, before he has recieved the fic?
1350063
'cause my last editor wasn't punctual, and because I like attention?
Iwas sad when Project Saturation was canceled, but now I got this to read. Its all okay.
1465813
Never heard of it 'till you mentioned it, but thanks!
Applejack! Applejack! Big Macintosh got caught stealing Twilight's Smartypants doll! He needs your advice!
STOP BREAKING THE LAW, PLOTHOLE!!!
So, Discord used his powers to turn Applejack into a douchebag. Cool.
Some of you guys. Spike's there, too.
I'm not sure how clingyness and loneliness relate to loyalty... I'll have to see
And man, AJ is a killer with that brutal honesty
Okay, Applejack is going to have to give the CMCs a LOT of apology fritters when all this is fixed. At least, she will if she knows what's good for her...
This chapter kind of reminded me of Liar Liar.
damn twilights going all orochimaru
learn all the jutsu! i mean spells.... 
Ok, Rarity is going to give everything away, pinkie will not be able to stop laughing, and Shy.... Kindness? She might be the deadliest, euthanasia, could be a kindness, to a twisted mind, cut? Oh we're going to have to have you put to sleep Mr mouse
>Burnt scrambled eggs
As a man who prides himself on his knowledge of food (nutritional, chemical, and tastual), that part made me cringe. I have ruined many eggs in my day, scrambled eggs especially (they're kind of my specialty in ruining food, really), but the sheer level of overcooking required to burn scrambled eggs at all... I just... what.
Let me tell you something, though: I feel Applejack's pain.
there are seveal episodes that show her to be more than just a little bit humble about her skills the crystal empire for one and both trixie eps for another
3258282 There's also more than a few episodes where she uses magic recklessly, because she overestimates her own abilities. "Lesson Zero" and "Too Many Pinkies" come to mind.
Emphasizing their positive traits to turn them against each other! Brilliant Lord Discord!
2511051 I've had them before...
*shudders*