Chapter Seven
But please, do not misunderstand. I know how this must sound. I am an older mare now, and I fear I have inherited, despite my best efforts, some of my father’s awkward and stilted speech patterns. If meaning has eluded you, let me make things clear, one last time.
Argyle came to us by sea. He gave us his notes, his smile, and his dream of a better world. More than that, he gave us a glimpse into that dream, and all it cost me was everything.
But I loved him anyway. I could not help it, you understand. Your father was simply a pony you had to love, for if you did not, then there was nothing in you but a terrible, wintry draft that billowed through the emptiness of your soul. If I had not loved him, then I doubt I could have kept going for all these many lonely years.
I do not regret meeting him. Neither did my father. I hope your father did not regret meeting us, either, even if it resulted in the banishment of living memory and the unobstructed death of the old ways of thinking.
Not that this meant I banished him entirely from my mind. I’ve thought about him, all these years. He was a constant presence, a warm voice, that traveled with me when I finally decided to rebuild the shop, that comforted and reassured me when I was uncertain as to whether I should keep it the same or change it into what you now see. I could never forget his living ghost, the one that had told me about the secret of the world and the hope for a better tomorrow.
When I heard he died, I wondered if his dream had died with him. Now, though, seeing you stand before me, I realize dreams do not die with their dreamers. If the dream is good enough, then one way or another it will live on—and if we are lucky enough, it may even come true. We need only to reach out and choose to make them real—but you already know that, don’t you?
Good.
Then, please. Why don’t you and your friends step into Maple Craft’s Workshop? There is much I want to show you, and much, I am sure, you would be interested in. Don’t worry: here, all dreams are allowed, even the least likely ones. Those are the kinds that brought Argyle to us, and now, I see, you to me.
Yes… You have your father’s spirit, his passion, his hope…
The End
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An absolutely wonderful work from beginning to end.
Excellent work.
11150751
Thank you! This is definitely one of the stories I feel really had a concrete set-up and execution, all throughout the writing process. I'm definitely quite happy with this one.
Maybe I'm just being selfish and maybe it wouldn't have worked well, but I think it would have been interesting to see a full conversation/interaction between these two at the end.
Great work. It didn't always do what I expected it to, but it is no worse for it.
11150875
I think that's a valid consideration. Perhaps it would have been interesting to have Maple and Sunny actually have a dialogue. But I envisioned the whole story as a long tale that Maple herself is telling, largely uninterrupted, so I didn't think changing that would have meshed with the intent.
Aww, that ending being for Sunny is super cute. I particularly love the the ending is done up like the opening of the story. I love the parable framing for the thing, with the idea being that love is a powerful force, both a love for the past and a love for others.
What you said last chapter rings true, sometimes people aren’t meant to be together however their fates may cross, and I feel like Maple is all the better for recovering from it.
I could go more into detail about why I love this story, but I’m on a time crunch, so all I can say is that this is some fantastic work right here.
11153717
Thank you! I'm truly grateful you thoroughly enjoyed this story. If you have the time, I would more than love to hear your extended thoughts about it, but no pressure.
I thought Maple would turn out to be Sunny's mom, though interesting twist that Maple is telling the story to Sunny in the end. Learning the history behind her figures must be rather surprising to her. I am glad Maple got to see first hoof what Argyle was talking about though Sunny's accomplishments.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. And it provided just a bit more lore to G5. I wonder if we'll see the figures again as we have no idea what happened to them at the end of the movie.
11159842
Unless the series intends to use the figurines as pieces of lore somehow... Well, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm glad you enjoyed my interpretation!
Great characterization throughout for all four main characters without feeling like it's too exposition-y, a fun dynamic to see between Maple and Argyle with the whole romance bit and all, all to also get blindsided by Maple not ending up as Argyle's wife and yet that revelation seems to be swept away so quickly without feeling like it was just thrown out for no reason; I do applaud Maple for being mature to hold herself in during that moment.
I don't have much else to say that hasn't been repeated here, so kudos to something great here! Thank you for the story!
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!
11201769
Thank you so much for this!
Finally got around to reading this.
Yes, I liked the story. More than that, I've always loved the style of fairy tales in modern literary perspective, so seeing another one is always appreciated. Not any author can pull it off.
Perhaps one little thing I could have seen more of was descriptions, fantastic or realistic, of the carving and painting process. Blasphemy, history, fantasy, and hope, all rolled into six little figurines.
The deaths were perhaps a little... deus ex machina. But maybe that's just a consequence of the genre. It's also interesting to consider Easel as a character, filled with the incel-y attitude.
But I digress. I liked this story, and it certainly lived up to it's name of 'parable'.
It takes a very deft hand to get me to appreciate a story with a sad, or bittersweet ending, but you've managed that quite nicely here!
I will admit that I am a terrible reviewer, so I'll just put down some of the thoughts I had while reading.
Very nice touch, giving Argyle's boat black sails at the end. Also, I really appreciate minimalistic world-building, and "Ponyville Badlands" does that nicely. Argyle's character was very well drawn despite him not being the focus of the story. Choosing first person for Maple is absolutely the right way to go. Despite this being very much a fable in tone, it is still a very personal story for her. The story is also a nice match for the feel of the world at the opening of the movie. Superficially bright and pleasant, but grounded in a very damaged world.
And... that's all I can think of at the moment. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to reading more of your stuff!
11205695
I'm glad you enjoyed this story, and I hope you also enjoy my other work, should you choose to read them.
Thank you!
11205818
Just started the next one, and I have to say, I love the nod to Italo Calvino in the chapter names!
Why is "The Cutie Mark Crusaders vs The Cuban Missile Crisis" (by me) in also liked, the premises are vastly different
Like one is a serious story with an actual plot and the other one is pure comedy with no plot
whatsoever and your mom jokes padding out half the word count
11211645
I have no idea...?
Great story.
Sunny is hearing about this in hindsight--after magic is returned and Maple is at last vindicated--makes this touching and adds a little happiness to an otherwise tragic ending.
Argyle mentioning his daughter (and crushing Maple's intentions) was perfectly subtle. One line of dialog and everything changes course and they part ways. Some people you meet for only a moment and then they slip away, changing your life forever. That just happens sometimes.
11281327
Something I really tried to convey with this story is the splendor of the moment and my belief that there is not really much of a difference between mundanity and momentous occasion. A chance meeting here is just as interesting as the work of cleaning and setting a shop up.
Life can be romantic, even, or especially, in plainclothes form. More often it chances to skip by us - so we should treasure the things that come our way, good and bad, because by these things is life weighed in sum rather than in half measure. As most people do not live, nor need to live, lives of epic proportion, I find it is comforting to think that the ordinary is, itself, extraordinary.
I'm glad you enjoyed my fairy tale!