Chapter 23: Balance
Clean Slate
By Alaborn
Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.
Chapter 23: Balance
My return to school gave me back something I had lost with my memories. Familiarity. I was returning to a classroom I knew, meeting students I knew, and learning from a teacher I knew. The normal post-summer doldrums soon passed as Miss Cheerilee caught our attention and inspired us again.
On the farm, we headed into applebuck season, the time of year when the Apples coaxed the last fruiting out of most of the cultivars of apples. I now understood why certain parts of the orchard were left untouched in this process; those were the apples used in making cider. Hearing about the harvest brought back bad memories, of the sacrifices the Apples made for me while I was in the hospital. But seeing the apples come off the trees made me feel better. We were making good progress on filling the cellar and turning fresh apples into pies, fritters, and applesauce.
In addition to my chores and schoolwork, I wanted to learn more about the other races of Equestria. I spent many an afternoon in the library. Twilight Sparkle, despite being primarily known as Princess Celestia’s personal student, a pony with incredibly powerful levels of magic, a national hero, and Equestria’s newest alicorn princess, was actually a skilled librarian, too. With her help, I was able to borrow books acquired on interlibrary loan from libraries across Equestria. The books helped, but I still felt like I had a lot to learn.
Cider season was the next event on my mental calendar. We all contributed in harvesting the apples, and Apple Bloom even got a turn on the treadmill of the cider press. Over the three days of selling cider, I was put in charge of sales. “You’ll get your cutie mark for sure!” Apple Bloom told me.
I loved selling, loved the sound of bit coins as they filled a chest, loved seeing happy ponies and empty cider mugs. But selling Apple family cider had to be the easiest selling job in all of Equestria. It didn’t give me my cutie mark.
In between harvesting apples and making cider, I hadn’t thought much about what my adoptive sister was doing with her time. I had the general idea that while I was studying, she was building something out in the old barn. Just like when she was in search of her cutie mark, she kept quiet about what she was building, and we respected her desire for secrecy.
Finally, Apple Bloom was ready. She brought me and the rest of the Crusaders out to the barn. In one corner, I saw a tarp draped over the two trebuchets she built. But there was something else here, something even bigger.
“Behold, everypony!” Apple Bloom announced. “Presenting... the best Nightmare Night costume ever!” Apple Bloom tugged a rope and pulled down the tarp.
Apple Bloom had constructed an oversized mechanical Nightmare Moon on a wheeled base. It looked big enough for....
“And all four of us can fit inside and operate it!” Apple Bloom said. She crawled inside, and demonstrated some features. The whole thing moved, powered by a motor harvested from a parade float. The wings could be moved up and down with a lever. The eyes opened, revealing glittering green emeralds in the shape of Nightmare Moon’s frightening catlike eyes. And then Apple Bloom opened the mouth.
“Give your Princess her offering of candy, lest you bring about eternal night!” Apple Bloom shouted through the mechanical monster’s mouth.
I then noticed the large sack Apple Bloom had attached to the base of her creation.
Scootaloo grinned. “This is going to be the best Nightmare Night ever!”
It was the best Nightmare Night ever. Last year, with my legs still feeling week, I wasn’t up for collecting candy or wandering around, playing games. And any year before that, I couldn’t remember. Maybe I attended a party at my home, or Silver Spoon’s; we probably only invited the “right” ponies. I didn’t think I would have joined the rest of Ponyville in the festivities.
And Apple Bloom’s creation did earn us an impressive haul of candy. Every foal respected the princess of the night. Unfortunately, Applejack stepped in, and made us share our haul with our classmates the next day.
We all participated in the Running of the Leaves this year, in some aspect. I chose to run in the fun race with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Our race was uneventful, save for missing one of the turns. While trying to find the trail again, we slipped down an incline, and ended up covered in tree sap. When we met up with Applejack again, she took one look at us, and smacked a hoof to her face. But I still felt happy. I saw her and Rainbow Dash together, eagerly debating over the details of the race they ran together.
It was also nice to see Applejack again win the prize for felling the greatest number of leaves.
With the main harvest, cider season, Nightmare Night, and the Running of the Leaves over, we set about harvesting the remaining apples and produce from our garden, canning and preserving food for the long winter. That left only one activity on my mental calendar. The zap apple harvest.
There was a palpable feeling of anticipation in the farmhouse, as we all waited for the signs of the arrival of the magical apples. The exact day could not be planned, but it was always in November, before the first snowfall.
We reached the day when we heard the first sign last year, but the zap apple orchard was still.
We passed the day last year when we made the zap apple jam. Still nothing.
I don’t think I was alone in feeling uncomfortable. It was all the little signs. The way Apple Bloom fidgeted with her hooves. Big McIntosh’s heavy hoofsteps. The way Applejack pushed through the halls. Only one pony still appeared calm.
I found a time when Granny Smith was alone. She was tending to the simmering pot of stew on the stove, humming to herself as she often did. She noticed my approach, smiling warmly as she turned to face me.
“Have the zap apples ever been this late?” I asked.
“Can’t say they have. Course, this old noggin isn’t as sharp as it used to be.” Granny Smith tapped her head with a wooden spoon to punctuate her statement.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Of course I think about it, but there’s not much point worrying about something you can’t control. In fact, all that Everfree magic has a way of responding if you try,” she said.
“Try what?” I asked.
“Let me tell you about one year. I was still a spring chicken, not much older than Applejack. We Smiths had gotten settled in, gotten a little complacent. Thought we knew everything about those zap apples. Then that one year, they were late. Middle of November, and they’d never taken that long to appear.
“We were all worried, but I had this fool idea to interfere. Thought it would help. There was a wandering unicorn who liked to visit Ponyville with his cart and magical doohickeys. Smart, charming, but he had a head as big as his horn. Later found out that horn was an extension, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, I asked him to use his fancy magic to get the zap apple trees to bloom. Of course, he said he could do it, for the right price.
“So, one hundred bits and one cask of apple brandy poorer, I followed him out into the orchard. He said all it would take was his astounding magic. His horn glowed all nice and bright, but the trees didn’t care. He tried a few more spells, but still nothing. I could see he wasn’t used to hearing the word no, especially when spoken by trees.
“Finally, that huckster stared at the biggest zap apple tree. He scrunched up his face all fierce, and lightning started collecting around his horn. He rose into the air, too. But them this blue flash flowed from the Everfree Forest to us. Knocked us to the ground, but didn’t do a thing to the tree. The unicorn got a case of the floppy horn for his trouble, and I lost all the hairs from my mane and tail. That unicorn never set hoof back in Ponyville again. And I couldn’t hide what I did. I spent the whole next year working off my mistake. And the zap apples came, same as they always did.”
I was thinking somepony like Twilight Sparkle could help, but that now sounded like a bad idea. We could wait. “But what if the zap apples don’t come?”
“You’re saying that if the zap apples, after working every year for the last seventy-five years, decided they wanted to rest fallow for a year, you’d tell them no?” Granny Smith asked me.
I really hadn’t thought of it like that. The idea of thinking of inanimate objects having feelings was odd to me, but it was very much a part of the Apples’ understanding of the magic involved with these zap apples.
“But we need the zap apple jam!” I protested.
Granny Smith looked me in the eye. “You know, little one, for each of us, there will be a time when we’re told the time for work is over. How do you think those around us get through that?”
Looking at her aged form, I realized what was on her mind. It was a transition she must have experienced many times, but she kept her family together. “We rely on our family.”
“That’s right. Family will get you through anything. Now put those worries aside, else I’ll ruin the stew!”
With that, Granny Smith went right back to work, cooking the stew and humming her tune. She said not to worry, but I saw the way she stole glances out the window. Worry weighed on her mind as well.
A full week passed. I stared at the calendar hanging in the kitchen, counting and recounting the ten days left in November. In the living room, Applejack and Big McIntosh were arguing. It was just a dispute about the repairs the family should tackle first, but they were shouting at each other.
I had never heard either pony raise their voice like that.
I ran past them and up the stairs, seeking refuge in my room. I jumped on my bed, covering my head with my pillow. I tried to focus on something, some other noise, but all I could hear was that infernal argument.
I had to do something.
I stopped by the library after school, just like I did many other days. But I had a different subject to study this time.
“Are there any books about zap apples?” I asked Twilight Sparkle.
The young alicorn shook her head. “Certainly not a full book. And even if there were a book on the subject, I don’t think they could match the knowledge of the Apple family.”
“I know, but I wanted to try something,” I said.
Twilight Sparkle knelt and looked me in the eyes. “I want you to know that I’ve talked to the girls, and as soon as the zap apples appear, we’re all going to help harvest them.”
“But what if they don’t show up?”
“They will,” Twilight Sparkle said, though I don’t think she believed her own words.
I sat down on the couch and looked at her pleadingly. “Please, Twilight, is there any mention of zap apples anywhere in here? I have to do something,” I said. “Applejack and Big McIntosh were arguing last night. They never argue.”
Twilight Sparkle stared out the window for a few seconds, and then focused on one shelf. Her telekinetic aura pulled a thick book off the top shelf. “Argent Aura wrote the defining treatise on the manifestations of wild magic in Equestria, and zap apples are one of the examples in the Flora chapter.” She placed the book on the table next to me, open to the right chapter.
I saw illustrations of a zap apple and its tree, both while dormant and fully in bloom. But that’s all I could understand. The writer’s prose was dense, passages filled with impenetrable jargon that no doubt required an advanced degree in thaumaturgical studies to understand.
“As you can see, it doesn’t even detail the signs you need to look for. I wish I could do more to help you.” Twilight Sparkle sighed, and then turned and started upstairs. “Please let me or Spike know if you need any more help.”
I idly flipped through the pages of the unhelpful book. The signs wouldn’t be considered important to somepony who was interested only in the details of the magic involved.
I took the time to think about the signs we were looking for.
“Hey, Spike?” I called.
The baby dragon, looking adorable in his apron, stepped out of the kitchen. “Yes?”
“I want to check out a book before I go. For school. What kind of books do you have on the creatures of the Everfree Forest?”
“Now that I can help you with!” Spike said eagerly.
I came downstairs the next morning, wanting to talk about the zap apples. I found Applejack in the kitchen, whipping up some apple pancakes.
“Um, Applejack, about the zap apples,” I said.
Applejack turned around quickly, a very sour look on her face. I felt my rump run into the door frame after stepping back involuntarily.
“Do... do we have all the jars we need?” I asked quietly.
“We do, sugarcube. Thanks for asking,” she said, with a smile that looked totally forced.
“Okay,” I said. “I can’t wait for breakfast.”
I sat and watched Applejack cook breakfast. Each time she flipped the pancakes, she let the pan fall heavily on the stove. Every move she made was direct, harsh.
I couldn’t bring up that subject again. But still, I had to try something, and I worked out the plan’s details in my mind.
“Now why in tarnation are you all dressed up?”
I was doing my chores that evening, sweeping and dusting the living room. The fact that I was doing it in an elegant though ill-fitting gown was what had caught Applejack’s attention.
“I remembered I had these three dresses in my closet. I haven’t touched them in a year, so I wanted to see if they still fit. If they don’t, we can give them away.”
Applejack scratched her head. “That’s kind and all, but aren’t you going to get those dresses all dirty?”
“We can clean them later,” I stated.
Applejack nodded, still looking confused, and returned to her own chores. Her distraction helped me avoid questions. I’m sure she still would have noticed if I had lied. Of course, I didn’t lie; I was planning on giving away these dresses.
I worked fast, sweating profusely while wearing each of the three dresses. I had grown over the last year, to the point where tailoring wouldn’t be enough to allow me to fit into these dresses. I folded each of the dirty dresses and returned them to the box in my closet.
I rested my forehooves on the windowsill in my bedroom and looked out, the stars and moon casting a dim light over the orchard and forest beyond. It was quiet, just as it had been for months. And that had to change.
I took a break from cleaning the barn the next evening. Everypony else had chores in a different part of the farm. I had also made sure to check the weather schedule in the Ponyville Express that morning; it was going to rain tomorrow. That made this evening the best time to work on the next step of my plan.
I pulled a box out of the old barn. I had placed the box with my old dresses there that morning. I set it next to three hefty stones, each about the size of my head.
Now came the hard part.
I pulled the tarp of Apple Bloom’s improved trebuchet. I secured a harness to myself and then hooked up its rope to the machine. I pulled, willing my heavy load to move.
I really wished Apple Bloom were here to help me. But even she would say my idea was crazy.
This is just like the sledge, I told myself. Keep pulling, and let momentum aid you. I finally felt the slight give as I pulled the wheels out of the rut they had made where the machine had been resting. With considerable effort, I moved the trebuchet outside.
Apple Bloom had talked to me a lot about how the trebuchet worked after she revealed it. It was pretty simple, load, aim, set the angle, turn the crank, and release. The fourth step was the hardest. While Apple Bloom was capable of turning the crank with her mouth and neck, I needed to put my entire body into the movement. I planted my rear hooves firmly in the soft soil, willing the earth below me to grant me the strength I needed.
After that, the release was anticlimactic. The old dress, wrapped around the boulder, was fired some distance into the Everfree Forest, though nowhere near the maximum range of Apple Bloom’s dangerous weapon.
I put even more energy into the springs for my next two shots and adjusted the angles, firing the other two dresses further into the Everfree Forest. The landing spots of the three missiles should have formed an equilateral triangle, pointing to one edge of the forest.
If this didn’t work, there was only one thing left for me to do.
Friday night. Five days until the scheduled first snow. By this time, Apple Bloom had been joining me in our room once our chores were complete, as we sought to escape the unhappy emotions coming from downstairs. She sidled next to me. “Are the zap apples ever going to come?” she asked.
I placed my foreleg over her withers and pulled her close. “We’ll pull through, even if they don’t. That I promise.”
“But we need the zap apple jam!” Apple Bloom protested.
I didn’t know if Big McIntosh ever gave her that lesson on the farm’s finances, how the zap apples were the only way for the farm to pay next year’s taxes. The contract wasn’t a problem; if the zap apples never arrived because of wild magic beyond anypony’s control, then it would be as if Sweet Apple Acres and Barnyard Bargains had never signed it. Thinking of that reminded me that there were a lot of ponies that needed zap apple jam. The buyers in Ponyville. The store managers looking for the sales the jam would bring. The fans of the jam across Equestria. So many ponies would be let down if the apples never arrived.
“I know,” I said quietly. “I know how important it is.” I sniffled, finally noticing the tears that were threatening to trickle down my muzzle. “I want to thank you for welcoming me into your home, even though I didn’t deserve it. Thank you for teaching me what it’s like to be a family.”
I squeezed Apple Bloom tight. She squirmed out of my forelegs, looking uncomfortable. “Uh, you’re welcome, I guess, but what is all this? You’re sounding like you’re going away for good or something.”
The awkward moment was interrupted by another shout from downstairs. I crawled into bed, even though it was early, and pulled the covers over my head. “You’ll be fine, I promise,” I said softly.
I awoke before dawn and crept out of bed. As quietly as possible, I gathered a few basic supplies: a lantern, some apples and carrots, two canteens of water, and a compass.
I walked in the dark to the edge of the Everfree Forest. I shuddered, both from the cold air and the foreboding forest before me. I stepped just into the forest, far enough in that I couldn’t be spotted from the farm, and waited for the first light of dawn.
Once dawn broke, I started walking, checking my compass to make sure I was moving in a generally easterly direction. I objectively knew that morning was the safest time to be in the Everfree Forest, with its most fearsome creatures active in the evening and night, but I remained alert to the possibility of trouble. After about an hour of walking, I started looking up, searching for broken branches.
Once I found what I was looking for, I started searching with greater intensity, keeping an eye on the ground. I found the boulder I had shot into the forest three days prior. The dress was torn, now just very expensive and dirty rags. I looked for signs that some creatures had found it, but it looked undisturbed.
I had noticed the nights being quiet. I finally realized that I hadn’t heard the howl of a timber wolf in months, not since Applejack and Big McIntosh drove away the ones that attacked me and Apple Bloom. Normally, we heard their call two or three times a month. Maybe if I had lived on the farm all my life, I might have been able to tune out the howls, but I still noticed each one. And now, for five months, there had been none, at least none close to the farm.
The book I had read indicated that timber wolves were very territorial, and their foul scents persisted for a very long time. If my family’s actions had caused a small group of timber wolves to abandon the territory near the farm, it might take an entire year for another pack to move in. And it would take something unusual to make the original group return.
Say, something they wanted and were once denied.
I checked the compass, turning somewhere between northeast and east-northeast, and went in search of my second missile.
After finding nothing around the second boulder, no sign of the creatures at all, I turned south. If the timber wolves were truly gone from this part of the Everfree Forest, then that would mean no zap apples for the year. There’s still the odd possibility that something else triggers the first sign, something that also causes the timber wolves to howl, but that seems like a long shot.
As the morning progressed, and the forest got marginally brighter, I felt my spirits lift. What I was doing was a long shot for sure, but it felt right to at least try.
Up ahead was a lighter patch. Looking up, I saw that something had broken branches in the canopy ahead. My final missile was probably nearby. The chill wind blew, causing me to shiver.
No. It wasn’t the wind. It was the scent carried on the wind. Sulfur and decay. Only one thing smelled like that.
I took a step back, a twig snapping underhoof. The fallen branches collected on the forest floor shifted.
Words I had read recently flooded my mind. Timber wolves are active in the late evening and night, but can be encountered at any time of day. They are notoriously light sleepers, and are dangerous no matter when or where encountered.
Several piles of wood were now rising. The largest pile of wood opened its eye. There were holes in several of its wooden pieces, each a random gouge with a black substance burned onto the edges. Most notably, it was missing the part of its head around its left eye. But its jaws were intact, and dripping greenish ichor.
I turned and ran. Ran for home. The creatures’ howls marked their pursuit. I needed to get close to home. That was all that mattered.
I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I ran between trees, jumped over rocks, ducked under low-lying branches. I did anything I could to trip them up. Branches snapped, but still the sound of animated wood and leaves approached closer. I didn’t know how many were pursuing me. Six? Ten? One hundred? All the time, I heard their howls, a call and response, an eerie form of communication. I could hear something missing from the howls, though.
Then there was one more howl. I knew immediately it came from the alpha timber wolf, the one that wanted revenge on me. It was loud. The howl seemed to vibrate through every plant in the Everfree Forest. The hairs of my mane and coat rose in fright. I voided myself. And still I ran.
I could feel the heat and corruption of a timber wolf’s breath on my rear. My tail was tucked between my legs, to protect it from being grabbed, but I didn’t have long. The hairs on my hind legs withered as the acrid breath washed over them. I jumped onto a boulder ahead and leaped blindly to the other side.
When I landed, I lost my purchase on a pile of loose leaves, and slipped to the ground. I’m sure I sprained something, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. I scrambled to my hooves, and ran again, only to fall to the ground again. I heard a sickening crunch. A scream pierced the air. Then I realized it was my own.
I finally felt the pain, the unbearable pain, as I realized my left hind leg was in the jaws of one of the timber wolves. I turned and looked. It was trying to shake me. Copious amounts of blood spurted from my leg and dripped from the timber wolf’s jaw. Its one eye glowed, and the other timber wolves surrounded me. The first two pounced. I tried to close my eyes. They wouldn’t close.
Purple beams of energy blasted the timber wolves back before they could reach me. A light blue blur leaving a rainbow trail flew straight into another timber wolf, and it too splintered into kindling. Heavy hooves crushed more of the creatures. Two other timber wolves stood still, captivated by the eyes of a kindly pegasus. The chaos grew distant around me.
“She’s going into shock!”
“Somepony get a bandage!”
“Twilight! Can you teleport her?”
“I can’t! I’ve used too much energy!”
“Don’t die on us!”
“I’ll fly her! Get her tied on.”
I felt myself floating. In the distance, I saw unnatural dark clouds over Sweet Apple Acres, already coursing with strange energy. I smiled, and closed my eyes.
The first part of my body that worked was my nose. The unpleasant smell of harsh antiseptic registered in my mind. My nose twitched, then my ears. They swiveled to pick up a smooth pattern of beeps.
I struggled to lift heavy eyelids. I winced as I saw intense light. Opening them again, my eyes adjusted. It wasn’t a bright light at all. It might have been morning, though it was hard to tell given the gray cloudy sky outside. Frost traced a jagged pattern on the window.
I focused on my sense of touch. What I felt was like a heavy blanket, and beneath that, a throbbing pain in my hind leg. I regretted my decision immediately, as the pain forced its way to the forefront of my mind. I moaned.
“You awake, sugarcube?”
I put all my remaining energy into turning my head. Standing vigil over me was Applejack.
“Don’t try to move too much,” she warned. “The doc put a really powerful painkilling spell on you, to try to let you rest.”
“Then why does it hurt so much?” I croaked.
“The good news is, the docs saved your life and your leg. The bad news is, you won’t be walking on that leg for a long time.”
“What happened? How did you find me?” I asked.
“You can thank Apple Bloom for that. When we didn’t see you at breakfast, and couldn’t find you anywhere, she was afraid you were in danger. She didn’t relent until we agreed to talk to Twilight Sparkle. She was also worried, knowing that you had checked out that book on creatures of the Everfree Forest, even though Cheerilee's lesson was last month. And when Twi cast that spell that said you were somewhere in the Everfree, then we organized a rescue mission with everypony we could get on short notice. And it’s a good thing we did.”
I let Applejack’s words soak in.
“That’s what you should have done,” Applejack stated.
“What?” I said.
“You should have talked to somepony. Gotten help. I’m very disappointed that you pulled a stunt like that.”
“I tried to talk to you,” I said. “But when I mentioned the zap apples to you, you looked like you were going to rip my head off.”
Applejack bowed her head. “And I’m sorry for that. But, still.” She paused. “I never told you about the time I tried to handle applebuck season by myself, did I?”
“No,” I said.
“Big McIntosh was injured, so I was the only pair of strong legs on the farm. And at the same time, I had made promises to help my friends. I was stubborn, too stubborn, and refused to say no or ask for help. I gave up sleep. I made most of Ponyville sick with some bad baked goods. And then I returned home, and saw that I still had another part of the orchard to harvest. I admitted that I needed my friends’ help; lesson learned; now let’s put me to bed.
“But that wasn’t the most important lesson I learned that day. When I got home, and saw Apple Bloom out in the garden, I thought about her. What if I needed to protect her? How could I protect the most important things in my life when I was dead on my hooves? With my condition, the results could have been a lot worse than making a bunch of ponies sick to their stomachs.
“So what I’m saying is, if I’m ever having problems with keeping myself honest, you have my permission to talk to Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash or anypony who can set me straight. Don’t let me do something so stupid, and I’ll ask the same of you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. I really felt sorry. I didn’t think it through.
“So why’d you do it?” Applejack asked.
“I was sure I had the answer. I knew it was dangerous,” I said. “But when I thought about the zap apple jam, the farm, everything you built, I thought it was worth the risk.”
“It was more important than you?” Applejack suggested.
“I think that’s the thought that drove me into the Everfree Forest, but taking that to the extremes I did was selfish.” I pondered that for a moment. “That’s really not that different from the selfishness I used to show.”
Applejack nodded.
“There are things worth fighting for, and I’m one of those things. I need to seek that balance,” I said.
“That must be what that means.”
I followed Applejack’s hoof to my flank. I got my cutie mark! The black T was familiar from accounting, representing the two sides of the ledger. On the left was my familiar diamond tiara. On the right was a rainbow-colored zap apple. Myself and my leadership, my family and my heritage, all in balance.
I marveled at finally regaining my cutie mark. I saw Applejack slide something to me. “I bet you’re hungry,” she said. “Sorry, the bread’s a bit stale. You were out for three days.”
I looked at the bread. All that mattered was the rainbow-colored jam smeared on it. “It worked?” I gasped.
“Sure did,” Applejack said. “In fact, all the signs happened faster than we’ve ever seen them. It’s like that magic was building up, just waiting to be released.”
I bit into the bread. It wasn’t the multitude of fruit flavors that made the jam taste good this year, it was just knowing there was jam at all.
“Now, Fluttershy had a nice talk with those last few timber wolves,” Applejack said. “I think they understand they don’t need to go hunting ponies anymore. But no matter what happens, you are not to use yourself as bait again.”
I laughed, though it came out as more of a wheezing. “I think I can agree to that,” I said.
“Well, now that you’re awake, I’m going to let the others know. I bet you’ll be seeing a lot of visitors this time,” Applejack said. She got up and headed to the door. I closed my eyes, feeling about ready to fall asleep.
“In fact, there’s one right now,” Applejack called from the door.
I opened my eyes and looked to the door. Applejack stepped aside to let in a huge light blue earth pony mare.
“You are very correct, Applejack. I’ll be visiting you a lot over the next few weeks, Diamond Tiara,” Muscle Memory said. “We’ll get you back on your four hooves.”
I groaned. I did say I wanted to find balance. But I didn’t mean the kind of balance that requires brutal sessions with my physical therapist!
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It's two-thirty AM in the morning
I have class tomorrow.
...
*wills self to close computer and go to sleep*
Great ending, Now only if this story could go on for a longer time...
Nice cutie mark. When Diamond Tiara noticed that the polka dot paint they used for the zap apple jam harvest was the same color as her coat, I wondered if her cutie mark had anything to do with zap apples. I was right!
I think I might have missed something in these past few chapters. When exactly did Granny Smith die?
3194060 You're commenting about her lack of screen time, I take it? The later chapters focused on Diamond Tiara's interaction with various other ponies: the Cutie Mark Crusaders, her relatives, and the business world that represents her future. In all of these scenarios, a scene with Diamond Tiara and Granny Smith would be superfluous at best. She wouldn't travel, for example, and has never been shown to be that involved with Apple Bloom's efforts to get her cutie mark.
The only chapter where she fits is this last chapter. I saw her as just as overwhelmed as the others when it comes to the conflict presented by the lack of zap apples. As Applejack is closer to her age and has been acting as more of a mother figure, I thought a scene with Applejack losing it would be more powerful than one with Granny Smith fretting.
3194230
I agree a scene with Granny Smith taking center stage would have been superfluous, but her total absence from such a pressing family matter gave me serious implications that either she's not around anymore or Diamond simply doesn't care about her. Zap Apples were Granny Smith's discovery. You'd think we'd at least get a sentence of her being upset they're not coming this year, especially if this is the first time it's happened since she discovered them.
Will Tiara ever find out what happened with the carriage and her dad?
3197085 It will be mentioned in the epilogue, though she won't be certain of the details.
3194369 I edited the chapter to add in Granny Smith's perspective. Enjoy!
3197206
Nice addition you have there. Now to prepare for the review.
3197385 Do you want to wait for the epilogue, to see what kind of mare Diamond Tiara turned out to be?
3197404
I can't go over a meal in full if the dessert hasn't been served yet.
Zap apples not growing on time? Why not try feeding yourself to timber wolves, its sure to work!
Well.. that couldn't have been pretty.
Awesome work, loved the story!
Also:
6544762 Thanks for reading and commenting on the story. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
No thanks to the show's writers, who made this story non-canon by both giving Diamond Tiara an awful mother and giving the Cutie Mark Crusaders cutie marks that aren't what they hinted at in Season 1.
This looks close enough to imagine Trojan Nightmare Moon.
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/160/e/3/lego_princess_luna_nightmare_moon_by_captainbeans-d52v9au.jpg
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