Friendship is Failure #22: Pride and Punishment #2 (Family Unties)

by DakariKingMykan

Act 3: Scolding the Parents

ACT THREE

Twilight and Applejack were a mix of emotions, including shock, disgust, slight understanding, but above all, they were disappointed in both parents for their horrid and baffling behaviours.

“So you choose to punish ponies, and yourself, just because you got a job?” asked Twilight.

“More than that…” insisted Scribbler. “I lost my pride-- the essence of who I was, and for what: to become something I never wanted to be, and all because Ruby was never satisfied.”

That was about the only thing that Twilight understood about his anger.

“But punishing others by pushing them away, being mean, and renouncing all morals and friendship?!” she exclaimed. “What do you hope to gain for all of this… sympathy?!”

“On the contrary; I don’t expect others to sympathize with me… but to beware of me.

I want no good things happening to me from this job, which is why I reject most forums of goodness and kind gestures

As for others… now they know how angry I can be when I get stepped on. They wanted me to change, okay… I changed, and now they’ve been given the bill and it’s quite expensive too.

But that’s the way life goes: Everything has its price to pay, its sacrifices to make.

If you want something, Can you afford it? Can you keep it? How will affect you and those around you even if you can?”

Twilight felt like she was listening to the ramblings of a mad-pony. Never had she heard of or met someone who was so determined to spit in the face of well-meaning attitudes and changes in life… even though part of his anger was only slightly justified for being ejected from his family.

Scribbler finished by saying, “My pride was taken from me, I did what you all wanted; I got a job and a way of life I did not desire.

…NOW PAY FOR IT!!”

She had heard enough, and was very angry with him.

“As far as I see it, both you and your wife are disgraceful ponies. You’re spending so much time yelling and arguing with each other that you’ve completely ignored and neglected the needs of your own son, a pony that needs you far more than either of you needs each other, or your silly prides.

He is at my castle right now, shaking with fear and tears because his parents keep scaring him with all their yelling and making him feel uncomfortable, especially because they aren’t there for him.”

Scribbler fell silent, but he still looked as stubborn as ever.

Unfortunately, Twilight had no authority to force him to make up with his son or Ruby.

She had said her piece, and decided to set him back down again by his house.

“I can’t control your life, but think about what I said, and think about the used to be… when you cared about more than just yourself.”

Then she teleported away, leaving the enraged pony to angrily kick the stoop, only to injure his hoof and he wailed as he hopped up and down clutching it.

At the same time, Applejack was appalled with Ruby.

“All this because you couldn’t’ control your pride?”

Ruby looked at her sternly. “What do you want? I get that he was a good father to our boy, but he ought to make a living for himself instead of laze about the house all day making hack scripts, and embarrassing me.”

The more she went on, the more livid Applejack got.

“…So I felt Sticker was better off without him, and that’s why I filed for divorce unless Scribbler straightened up. He was nothing… nothing but a bad influence.”

BAM!! Applejack pounded the table with her hooves, making Ruby jump, and other ponies look her way in shock.

Applejack glared her right in the eyes and spoke severely to her.

“Now you listen to me, you twisted mind of a busy body!

I thought I’d seen worse until I met the likes of you, and while I don’t have the power to tell you how to live your life, you’ve pushed me to read you out, and that’s just what I’m going to do!

You had a good setup. You had a husband who loved you and took care of your home while you couldn’t because you were always working your tail off with your businesses and coming home late, too wiped out to make dinner, or look at your boy’s school work and stuff like that, but you still had it fine.

Scribbler couldn’t sell his scripts because maybe he was a lousy writer, I don’t know, but he could have used better support and understanding, and even then he was willing to settle for just being a Homemaker, and I don’t think that’s altogether too bad…

Lots of mares dread being housewives, and others who work like you do often come home only to have to do more chores and cook meals while their husbands neglect them and really laze about.

But, no, having a homemaker and a loving father and supporter for a husband weren’t enough for you.”

Ruby was shaking as she looked away from Applejack’s furious face.

“You get your head up when I’m talking to you, Missy!” she thundered at her, making her jump.

“Now I’m not approving of Scribbler’s attitude, ma’am. As far as I see it, you’re both out of whack, but if you think you’re going to do any table pounding to convince me that you’re right and he’s wrong, you better think again.

He’s not the one who gave into mocking and ridicule; that was all you, and then you got on his back and pushed him into a life that wasn’t needed because you all had more than enough to go around.

Then you divorced him, and you sent him packing. You kept him away from his kid, but it wasn’t for your family’s sake… No, ma’am, it was all because you couldn’t take having your image questioned, when really you could have set a better example and stood by your husband’s side and be thankful for what you had.

...But no, you threw him out to the dogs, and you got your son warped in the middle of this.

You’re always dumping sitters on him, which costs you money when a father can do it for free and did so every day out of love and compassion because he was happy and couldn’t ask for more.

Then you throw yourself in your husband’s face, balking at him even more to do what makes you and only you happy.

Sure, you may bring your son into the picture once in a while because you took his daddy away from him, but it looks like you just use your boy as an excuse to cover your own tracks!”

Ruby was quivering fretfully now. No one had ever talked down to her this way before, usually because she was never listening, and now her guilt which she had tried to supress all this time was grabbing her full force.

Applejack was quite right.; It was her fault her family had fallen apart, and even though Scribbler’s attitude today was nowhere near enlightening and driving them further apart…

…It was she who was the main catalyst and started it all because of her pride and demands.

Seeing she had at least struck her hard, Applejack left some money for her food on the table and began to walk away.

“One last thing, you senseless nighthowl… I say this to you because I’m a better family pony than you’ll ever be the way you’re going at it. I have to be both a motherly and a sister figure, and I learned to think of others than just my own needs.

…So you think about your son and your husband. If you did that in the first place instead of thinking of just yourself, you’d have been happier.”

Then she left, feeling beat and exhausted from blowing her stack so hard. She even regretted doing that.

As for Ruby, she collapsed onto the table, burying her face in her hooves and sobbed in shame.

Back at the Castle of Friendship…

Starlight had fixed the mares some tea the second they got home, and they both told her and Spike what they had missed.

“Sounds like you both really went a little off the deep end tonight.” said Spike.

Twilight and Applejack hung their heads in shame for losing their cool.

“What happened to Sticker?” asked Twilight.

Starlight explained she had Pinkie and Fluttershy take him home. “His mother still has custody rights over him, so we have no right to bring him here.”

Twilight felt really back for Sticker, having to put up with all this. “That poor little colt… It’s not fair he has to be caught up in the middle of this.”

Applejack sighed, “But what can we do about it? Both his folks are stubborn as mules, and we can’t force them to forgive each other.”

Twilight just felt something had to be done and fast before Scribbler moved away, and as he was the most stubborn, practically violent, he would be the hardest to convince yet.

Spike then suggested, “Maybe you could bring the whole family together and get them all to talk it over with the entire Friendship Council.”

All the ponies’ eyes lit up.

“Spike, you’re a genius!” cried Twilight, and she began to pace around the room really fast.

“We can invite them… Yes. And then we show them the values of family, and how they all have to lay their pride aside.”

She kept on rambling to herself to make sure everything was perfect.

Even after she went to bed, she was sitting upright with the light on and writing down notes on her pad what to do and where to setup.

Spike was ever so annoyed that he got up and pulled his basket-bed out into the hall to sleep in quiet.