Angry Apple
Special Thanks to Shadowsaint007 and Alphamon_Ouryuken for helping pre-read this chapter
***
I'm honestly surprised that I am not dead when I wake up. I've seen Applejack kill timberwolves with those kicks of hers, and I know for sure they can snap a pony's neck in two. That doesn't mean my head isn't hurting like it got split open. Groaning, I slowly sit up from my bed and rub my forehead. Honestly, I think Applejack kicks harder than Rainbow Dash despite her speed. Looking over to my right, I see Applejack just staring at the wall with a bottle of apple whisky in her hoof. She takes a gulp of it before handing it off to me without even looking in my direction. "Here. You only get one."
A part of me wonders if it's poison, but then again, Applejack wouldn't resort to such a tactic even if she hated me with all her guts.
Besides, I could use a drink.
I take the bottle and give myself a good taste of the warm liquor. Before the war, I rarely ever drank anything heavier than cider save for special occasions. I kinda get very happy and tipsy when I'm drunk like that one New Years' Eve after we defeated Nightmare Moon, and I got dared to take six shots of hard apple whisky. I don't remember what happened, but apparently, I had started grabbing everypony's flank and laying my head on them, saying how hard or soft they were. I couldn't show my face for two weeks in public after that. Pinkie and Dash thought it was hilarious, though.
Once I drink my fill, I give it back to Applejack, who takes another swing before smacking her lips. "Before ya ask, no, Ah'm not going to hit ya again. Though ya do deserve it. Ah just wanted to get it out of mah system for a bit."
"Here to convince me to use my element?" I ask.
"No," Applejack answers, shaking her head. "Truth is, Fluttershy, yer dead to me and Ah'm only here cause Twilight practically forced me in here. Ah'm not gonna bother wastin' mah breath on ya when ya made up yer mind already."
"At least one of you is smart enough to realize that," I reply while rolling my eyes. "So why are you here then?"
"Honestly, Ah just wanted to look at ya in the eye and spit on ya, but deep down, Ah've got a question to ask ya." Applejack puts the drink down and looks at me square in the eye. "What is it that they have that makes them so appealing?"
"Who?" I ask, tilting my head.
"The humans," Applejack grumbles as she spat on the floor as if saying their name was a curse. "What is it that's so great about them that made you, mah cousin and so many other ponies betray their own country for them? Was it the technology? Their culture? Or somethin' Ah just don't understand."
She walks over and points at my chest. "What made ya betray yer own kind for them? An alien race that has done nothin' but screws themselves over time and time again. A doomed race that has never known true peace or brotherhood and destroyed everything around them year after year. What was it, Fluttershy? What was it all worth leaving everything behind for?"
I close my eyes and think hard on that answer, but it all came to one moment in truth. "Do you remember when we were all in London on Twilight's friendship tour?" She nodded to me. "After the event on our last day, one of the attendants told me a little girl wanted to speak to me. She was six years old. She had such a bright sparkle in her eyes as she looked at me as if I was some fantasy creature that came out of a book. She told me she always loved ponies and thought I was the most beautiful creature in the world." I still remember her. Sansa was her name. "She liked what we were talking about, and she wanted to become brave and strong like the six of us on our adventures. She wanted to make the world a better place."
"...She sounds like a good kid," Applejack muttered.
"I told her it would be hard work and that humans needed to learn a lot if they were going to be better, and then she said something that has stuck with me from that day." I took a deep breath. "She told me that her daddy said that humans are like children. They've only just started entering the teenage stage of their existence and are still struggling to find who they are in life. They try certain things, succeed and fail, and figure out what worked and what didn't. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they get it wrong. But they're no longer children like in the old days. Now they know better and are growing. It's slow, but the reward will be worth it. Because one day, humanity will be a grownup that will know what to do when the time is right, and hopefully they will teach someone what they learned and help them grow up too."
That was the day I realized what humanity really was. It was still young, growing, and learning. I really took a look into human history and culture, and I began to open my eyes to the positives. The joys and celebrations. The wonders and achievements. The smiles and laughs. Everyone always focuses so much on the negative that they forget to see the positive. I noticed that humanity had changed so much in the past five thousand years that I only wondered what they could accomplish in the next five thousand.
It was then that I knew why Lyra liked them so much. We ponies had stayed nearly the same for so long, but humans were always moving forward despite the missteps and occasional wrong direction. There was something to admire about them. Something to learn from them.
"...I see." Applejack snorted. "That's naive, though, isn't it?"
"Perhaps, but I believe it to be true," I answer. "What we're doing is killing them, AJ. Even if they live on as ponies, you take away their culture, history, and very beings that make them who they are. That's killing them one form or another."
"Even if what they are losing is what makes them monsters in the first place?" Applejack asks, snorting.
"Monsters exist in all of us," I reply, glaring back. "And we were the monsters this time."
Applejack shakes her head and makes for the door. "Ah'm done listen' to yer hogwash. Princess Celestia will deal with you." She opens the door and pauses. "Maybe what you are saying is true, Shy. But they killed mah brother. They killed ponies I love and care about. And Ah'll never accept a world where they don't pay for that."
"...even if it means the death of an entire world?"
"Mah family is mah world," Applejack whispers before she shuts the door behind her.
***
No less than an hour after Applejack had left did Celestia come in. She looks at me with disappointment and frustration while I just sit on my haunches and say nothing. "So none of them could convince you."
"I told you," I say before shaking my head. "You're wasting your time."
"You would condemn your own kind to more war and death for these humans," Celestia asks in disbelief. "Your friends. Family. Even foals to slaughter if the humans have their way with us?"
"I'm not the one who tricked them all into thinking that we were coming into this world as peaceful teachers and not conquers," I fire back while giving her the most hate-filled death glare I can muster. "Especially since you let us commit genocide already back home."
There is a long silence between the two of us before Celestia sighs. Her horn glows for a bit, and a wave of white magical energies spread across the walls before they disappear, and I realize that she's put up a sound barrier. Turning away, Celestia stares at the wall with eyes that seem to hold, to my surprise, pain and sorrow. "So you did figure it out. I wondered if Twilight had done so on her own if you told her."
"Only after talking to her did I realize the truth," I answer while closing my eyes in disgust. "How many times have you hid the truth from others? How many memories did you wipe or lives you ended to keep it a secret?"
"Believe it or not, but this is the first time I've ever used a memory spell on anyone," she replied to me with regret in her tone. "Sometimes the devotion and trust my ponies put on me is very frightening. You have no idea what it's like to be looked up to as a living goddess and have your word taken literally at every turn. Until now, no pony has ever realized what has happened to our old world."
"But you did...and you made us leave while knowing it would kill billions of creatures," I hiss before making my way to her. "You are a monster."
"I know," Celestia admits, much to my surprise. "You think I even sleep at night anymore? I haven't slept decently since we first arrived on this stupid planet. You think I wanted to do this? I had no choice."
"...tell me everything," I demand. "If you're going to even defend your reasoning, I want the truth and nothing else."
"...very well."
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I’m guessing it’s like other stories where the sun was starting to burn out and because it’s a magical sun it would’ve lasted like three more months before instantly exploding destroying their planet. AJs confrontation was a little short. I wonder how AJ would react if she heard stories like Joshua Graham’s from fallout new Vegas. The whole “I survived because the fire inside of me burned brighter than the fire around me. It was only then that I realized that fire, was love. Live for my family that kept me alive.” to show what could touch a persons heart and what they could value.
Strong, with this one, hypocrisy is.
Angry Apple? What kind of title is that? I was expecting Brutal Honesty.
10821552
Yet she still have a well-oiled propaganda machine to keep convincing Equestrians about her infalibility, plus a secret police dedicated to root out any pony who dares to question it.
Again, Celly proves herself an incorrigible hypocrite and a liar.
10821580
Mostly a strong case of moral myopia. At least she is honest about that.
10821583
Lol I just looked and saw multiple people read my comment on the previous chapter. I merely was spitting out a prediction. ‘Brutal Honesty’ wouldn’t make a good name for the chapter because the stuff AJ does in this chapter is.. well, nothing. XD
10821583
i think angry apple is fitting as she doent seem to have the same hope for her element as the others
she has given up on her element in a way so the tital being diffrent to the others who are still banking on the elements is fitting
Well, Aj has always a quite stubborn farmer set in her, and her family ways all her life, and is obviously not going to change.
And Celestia's apparent sorrow and regret is coming way, way, way, way- (repeated huge amount of times)... WAAYY late to have a effective opinion turn, considering the gargantuan sized amount of sins and oceans of blood she has on her. One on one secret "I did not have a choice"-speech/story ain't gonna help in the grand scheme of things here. Especially since it could have been done in a much, MUCH better way, maybe with portals, since those where used in scouting and all. But now we never know... Because of one foolish pony playing princess...
10821583
As much as I also dislike the title, brutal honesty wouldn't work either. Previous titles highlighted what exactly became of the other elements, and had mostly negative connotations because of what the bearers turned into (except Spike). Brutal honesty isn't necessarily bad on its own, and Applejack here is just a massive hypocrite and a zealot with laser-focus on revenge. Nothing about her is honest.
That is going more and more interesting. Love this universe.
I knew Applejack wouldnt wsnt to talk. Would even be forced to even try. But I am suprised she asked why. I kind of figured she would come in, kick Fluttershy, and then leave without even saying a word.
10821552 My thoughts and feelings exactly, Mr. Crabbs.
Well as I said in the last chapter I was kind of expecting her family to make her use her element (now that I think about it I should say if they're still alive), but this is still good and coming together, 👍🏿 to ya and keep them coming.
You know, a part of me always wondered what Tirek's beef with Celestia was all about.
Wow... I felt that one
.
In the end, none of the Element Bearers were able to convince Fluttershy to use her Element... and now she's going to get an explanation from Celestia about why she left their old world to die. I'm 50% sure that it'll be like that of the one in Truth, but at the same time, I know that it'll be somewhat different from that one
.
I think Applejack was the only one to even entertain the idea they might be in the wrong here. Sure she refuses to change course, but I’m wondering if part of her wonders what would have happened if she didn’t let her brother enlist… or even told Celestia to shove it when she started using her and her friends as propaganda. She’s likely trying to shift the blame onto everyone else while knowing that she at least has some responsibility for what’s happening. Additionally, her anger mirrors that of any family member who lost their family to the war. It doesn’t matter they started it, it’s the enemy’s fault for killing them, it’s not logical, it’s her grief talking. All these characters are blinded with grief and fear for what happens next, they stepped on the lions tail and don’t want to face the consequences. Even with the Twilights revelation about Celestia in Negotiations, we see in Truth she still cared deeply for her. Maybe some ponies are asking some tough questions… but like the family of a monster on death row, can’t accept the Death Penalty as the only option.
10821715
Honestly, I kind of like how the author portrayed AJ this time while also mirroring what happened in Useless, especially as she acknowledges they might be wrong. It hints to a level of self awareness the other characters didn’t have, though she still wants vengeance. Largely because of the loss of her brother, it doesn’t matter if your group is on the right or wrong side of history, losing family is always hard. That’s not even taking into account the other stresses that are weighing heavily on her, it wouldn’t surprise me if part of her hatred came from an attempt to shift blame from herself as a coping mechanism. She can’t be blamed for everything, but her hooves are miles from clean, I feel that part of her knows that, and it’s eating her alive.
She just doesn't get it. Celly, no one outside of your brainwashed toads believes a word you say. The rest realized that you will lie to anyone, even yourself, to avoid having to accept that you are a monster worse that Sombra, Tirek, or the Nightmare.
Which makes me wonder. Maybe Sunsets death was intentional. Cannon and Fandom do paint her as much more independent than Suckup. Maybe she got too close to the truth and was deliberately sent to her death.
Plus there’s the fact that the potion that turns humans into new foals practically mind fucks them, striping them of their free will and making them incapable of feeling anything other then happiness.
And the worst part, because the new goals couldn’t say no to anything regular ponies tell them, this means that some ponies likely took advantage of this and... had their way with them since they wouldn’t resist...
You believe just because you had to leave because of the sun exploding. You did have to escape, this is granted but to not think and share like you always taught... Celestia gets no sympthy she has made her bed she chose this. She declared war, she cannot change who she is now. She will always be. A Monster.
Crashes through the roof Did I hear this come back alive?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F641692646885405846%2F&psig=AOvVaw2K5JdFngylvWsCLhr06thB&ust=1621501715257000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOjlyuSy1fACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
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Ooo, great chapter! Can't wait for the next one :)
10822098
Spike and Pinkie are also clearly aware that they are on the wrong side of the war.
I am still expecting for the elements to not work, like 99% of us are.
@that child didn't say that.
Wait... this isn't facebook! Rofl. Yeah this is what I meant in my previous comments as "on the nose". You try to get philosophical and it ends up feeling awkward.
OK another thing. WHY WASN'T THIS CELESTIA AT THE START? I want this Celestia at the start of this fic. Things are about to get INTERESTING.
10822128
As much as I'd like to not attribute anything good to this Celestia, I don't think that's the case eith Sunset. If she had deliberately sent Sunset to her death, she would have doubtless used Sunset's death as more propaganda to make her subjects hate humans, just like how she lies to Cadance that the humans desecrated Shining Armor's body to drive her to use the Crystal Cannon. That this hurts her so much that she can't even bring herself to use Sunset as further fuel for her subjects' hatred.
10830507
Maybe. Assuming Celly hasn't been lying to herself to avoid feeling guilty for so long that she's come to believe her own lies. Real people have done worse to avoid accepting that the monster in the mirror is themselves.
10823457
Yes and no, Spike hadn’t realized what was wrong on his own, but likely felt something was fishy in the beginning. Pinkie… it’s hard to say, she’s definitely Bipolar and manic, so I’m curious how far her delusions went. Because it feels like Fluttershy broke them… if only for a second. Maybe she felt something was wrong… but avoided thinking about what was wrong with what they were doing, simply telling herself over and order to ignore those thoughts and everything would work out. AJ feels more like she had been thinking about it for awhile.. maybe even came to a similar conclusion as Fluttershy, but refuses to make peace since the war has cost her so much. Which is sad because I love AJ, but considering her struggling farm and loss of her brother… I understand. Maybe if shes more cynical thinks it’s too late for peace… they’ve pissed each other off too much… believing they’ve made their bed… now Equestria has a lay in it.
Besides her vengeance… she might actually fear and hate humans for another reason… she sees them as a threat to her purpose. Her reaction to Flim and Flam reminds me of a Luddite in so respects. They’ve also hinted at least once likely more in the series that her brother is better educated then her (Fancy Mathematics). My guess is that Big Mac handled most of the actual business for the farm and she was just labor. But the best laborer is nothing against even the worst rated harvester. If ponies started using those machines, she would be obsolete and she might be just a little too old to learn something new. Additionally having to accept that something you spent most of your life learning and honing is now useless… doesn’t exactly sit well… Shes scared of losing the one thing she can contribute to her family… especially now she doesn’t have her brothers head for business to bail her out of bad decisions.
10821552
Yeah this summed up my thoughts on her pretty well
10825207
It would be hilarious if Celly here gets so desperate she tries anyways to make them work only for it to fail in front of humanity and we take her down immediately
10832934
I honest to god expect, the spirit of the tree of harmony to appear in it's Twilight projection and basically go:
“None of you are one. None of you represent the virtues you have sworn to uphold. Only Kindness remained true, the rest of you.... Friendship, is no longer in your nature.”
And the elements break into pieces, before reconstituting themselves into the gems we saw in the first episode, and flying off into the distance. Back into the tree.
10834142
And then Celly.exe will stop working
10834381
Does that apply to the situation we were discussing? Don't get me wrong it's interesting to hear but, I'm trying to figure out if you told me this because you thing it has anything to do with Flutters and Rarity or just because you wanted to share how this part of criminal justice works.