The Blend
Chapter 4: The Blend
Applejack finished setting up her stand at the afternoon market.
“Alright, Cutie Mark Crusaders, you can sell your apple juice at my stand. Just don’t go pushing ponies into buying it. You want it to look good, not force it on everyone. That means you, Apple Bloom.”
“I promise I’ll be nice, sis,” Apple Bloom replied, pulling the little cart with their wares along.
Soon enough, their own little stall was set up, and Applejack was calling out like the other vendors at the afternoon market. Some of the other foals from their class had tagged along with their parents, though most of them avoided the apple stand. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried their hoof at advertising, but after one eardrum-shattering round from Sweetie Belle the fillies decided it would be prudent to let their product talk for itself.
It was only after the fifth customer to buy apple pastry and no apple juice that Apple Bloom realised all the ponies at the market already had bottles in their saddlebags. Bottles with something red in it.
The girls looked around at the ponies going past the stalls. One by one, they could see the heads of bottles poking out from every pony’s saddlebags.
“I think we might have a bad timing,” Sweetie Belle started. “It looks like everypony’s already got their drinks.”
“You don’t suppose….” Scootaloo suggested.
“Bastion,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “He beat us to it. He must’ve gotten everything done yesterday, or before class this morning. There’s no way he got that many bottles sold while we were still gettin’ set up.”
“It’s no big deal, Apple Bloom. He probably just got something new and a lot of ponies want to try it. You can still sell that apple juice. It’s not wasted, you know that,” Applejack insisted.
“I guess. Just kind of stinks that we’re off to such a bad start.”
“And that’s all it is: a start,” Applejack replied as she took the order of another customer. “Give it time.”
The girls sighed and decided to bite through the initial boredom. Time, however, did not help matters at all. Every time someone would come over for Applejack’s products, and completely ignore the little apple juice stand. All except one.
“Miss Cheerilee, do you want to buy any apple juice?” Scootaloo asked.
“You got apples from your sister, Apple Bloom?” Cheerilee asked.
“Actually, they got them down themselves. It’s the old kind we used to get from the west orchard. The usual, Cheerilee?”
The teacher widened her eyes at that, impressed.
“Yes, please, and a bottle of that juice. I can’t remember the last time you had that in stock, Applejack. I thought you’d given up on that years ago.”
“You know fruit bats: tenacious little critters. It just ain’t worth the hassle to get those trees harvested when those things are tryin’ to take it all back. Still, it’s nothin’ these girls couldn’t handle for a little extra.” Applejack ruffled her little sister’s mane.
“I’ll bet. See you around!”
“Later, Cheerilee,” the orange mare replied while the girls fawned over their first earned bits.
“Well, it’s a start,” Scootaloo said.
“See? Told you it wouldn’t be that bad. Just give it time and you’ll get some sales going.”
The following day went by as the last one did, and before long the girls were awaiting the end of their class. With only three bottles of apple juice sold so far, the Cutie Mark Crusaders felt they needed to adjust their strategy somewhat. Scootaloo was starting to get worried about Apple Bloom: the filly still completely ignored Bastion and she seemed to be grumbling about him beating them in sales. Admittedly, Scootaloo wasn’t too sure how he’d managed that herself, but then he was in the same team as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Whatever he was selling, it must have been popular.
The school bell sounded, snapping the pegasus out of her reverie. With a goodbye from their teacher, all the foals – plus one larva, or whatever he was – went out the door.
“So what should we do now? Try to get our parachuting cutie marks?” Scootaloo asked as they went outside.
“No. We need to get this assignment done right first. We don’t know yet if this is our talent or not, we need to try harder.” Apple Bloom stomped her hoof on the ground for emphasis.
“Maybe we should ask Bastion how he got so much sold on his first day?” Sweetie Belle offered.
Apple Bloom sighed in defeat. Behind them, they could hear the buzz of changeling wings as Bastion was late to exit again. Cheerilee had called him in again, and she was talking to him about something, but they couldn’t quite make out what.
“I’ll ask him,” Scootaloo started. “I have to walk him home anyway.”
“No, I’ll walk him home, you head back to the clubhouse. I’ll get your stuff to your place,” Apple Bloom replied, exchanging school bags with her friend.
“Are you sure?” Scootaloo asked carefully.
“Sure I’m sure. I haven’t really welcomed him to town yet. As an Apple family filly, it’s my duty,” the Earth pony declared proudly.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged a pensive glance.
“What?” the farmer girl asked, confused.
“You don’t have to if you don’t like him,” Scootaloo offered.
“I do like him. I just… haven’t had the chance to talk to him, that’s all. And now I will,” Apple Bloom argued as Bastion finally went outside. She trotted over to him and turned to her friends. “I’ll see you at the clubhouse. We can think of what to do there.”
With a shrug, the other two fillies set off.
“Think we should leave Apple Bloom alone with him?” Scootaloo asked once they were out of earshot, pushing her scooter along.
“I don’t know. I think something’s wrong with her. Like she’s really bothered about him being here. Maybe she just doesn’t like changelings,” the unicorn suggested.
“Maybe, he is a little weird. What do you think is up with him? The way he talked the other day, it was like he’s a machine or something.”
“Maybe that’s just how he was taught. Do you know how changelings think?”
“Not really. He does learn pretty quick, though. He wasn’t all that shy when I talked to him,” Scootaloo explained.
“Really? He was terrified when I talked to him. Think it means anything?”
“I don’t know. It’s not nice to say so, but… he is a changeling, and that counts for something. He has to have some kind of talent for fitting in. I’m pretty sure he knows how he should act around ponies by now, but I don’t think he knows how to act around a single pony. Like he just doesn’t understand there’s a difference between us ponies.”
“Maybe it’s because where he comes from, there isn’t much of a difference,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo shook her head, contemplating.
“That might explain it, but if you look at it like that, it still doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
“Why not?” Sweetie Belle frowned, not really getting her friend's point.
“Think about it. If changelings are all mostly the same, why would Bastion be different? Shouldn’t he be just a drone, too? And if he’s not a drone, why would he be here and not with the other changelings? He’s gotta have something that’s close to family with them, right?”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo mentally listed their suspicions and explanations for the contradiction, but they both decided it prudent to keep it to themselves for the moment. Awkward silence fell between the two friends, and they both started wondering just how awkward a conversation Bastion would have with Apple Bloom.
“So that’s the rule? You can’t walk round town alone?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of a long and boring story,” the changeling replied with a nervous smile.
“I’ll bet. My sister gives me weird chores and rules, too. But it must be for a good reason, right?”
He shrugged, his wings making a sound like scrolls being unravelled.
“I guess it is. It’s just a little weird, you know?”
“Hey, Bastion,” a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark greeted with a smile, walking past the pair.
“Hi,” he answered nervously.
Casting a glance his way, Apple Bloom noticed the stallion had a bottle of the changeling’s nectar in his saddlebag. She also noticed the stallion didn't so much as glance her way when he greeted Bastion.
“So… you got off to a good start on the assignment, right? Pretty much everypony at the market yesterday had a bottle of your drink. What is it, anyway?” the filly started.
“It’s a special recipe, something from my hive. We used to drink it for a big celebration, or after a battle. It’s mostly cherry juice,” the changeling replied.
“And did you do anything special to get it sold?”
Bastion stopped in his tracks, quivering for just a moment.
“Umm… yes? Why do you ask?”
“Me and my friends are having trouble getting our apple juice sold, and it looks like you’re really good at it, so I was wondering what you did different from us,” the girl inquired carefully, keeping her eyes from making contact.
“Oh. Well, that’s easy,” he replied with a flourish, resuming his gait, “for any sort of offensive strategy you need to find the weak points in the defensive structure. In Ponyville, there’s four major points with easy access that give you coverage over the whole town. The easiest way to work is a double hit: one to prepare, one to finish.”
Apple Bloom blinked as his words sank in. Bastion looked a lot more confident all of a sudden, proud, even. As she resumed her walk, the changeling calmed down again. Another pony passed them by and gave the boy a greeting, which he returned with a smile. Again, Apple Bloom found herself completely ignored.
“Are you talking about selling a drink or laying siege to a city?”
“There’s not that much difference, is there? The places where you sell the most and the places where you can cause the most damage are the same thing; where there’s lots of ponies. The rules of strategy don’t change in a different context. The same basic principles always apply, just in a different form or interpretation,” the changeling droned mechanically..
“And where exactly did you learn those rules of strategy?” Apple Bloom asked as they reached their destination.
“Back home, at my hive. Oh, speaking of which, you should see my new hive!” he exclaimed excitedly, bolting off to the yard behind the house. Apple Bloom didn’t see Lyra or Bon Bon around, so she ran after him.
When she saw him next, his face was covered in bees, all buzzing. He blinked from underneath the wriggling mass, showing his clear blue eyes as the fuzzy insects squirmed over him. With the slightest glow of his horn, the insects slowly dropped down to form a beard. He smiled broadly at the little trick and made an excited chittering sound like a bat.
She knew his kind could make that sound, she'd been warned by her sister it might sound a little weird, but it still made her cringe. When her initial reflex faded, though, she noticed the boy looked really happy like that. There was something familiar about the look in his eye and the way those bees moved over him. She wasn't quite sure why, but she felt an odd mix of dread and familiarity at the sight of him.
“A-are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. This is my pet hive. I haven’t had them for long, but they like me,” Bastion replied, smiling underneath that bee-beard and chittering some more, though without opening his mouth at all.
“I can see that,” Apple Bloom noted with a sense of déjà vu. “I take it you kept bees back home, too?”
Bastion’s expression turned serious and his bees suddenly flew off.
“I didn’t, but we – you know – changelings keep bees. I did do a few wild honey harvests, that was pretty fun. And ponies keep bees too, right? It’s normal for ponies to have a hive.” He bent down to inspect the box, keeping his back to her.
Despite her best efforts, that last little remark sent another shiver down the filly’s spine. Luckily the changeling was otherwise occupied, so it went unnoticed. He looked dedicated to his little hive, eyes narrowing to look for anything wrong, she guessed he was looking at the larvae to check for parasites or something like that. She realised then where the familiarity came from: Bastion was doing serious work, but enjoying it as such.
He reminded her of her family.
“Yeah, it is. There’s a beehive on Sugarcube Corner. And one at the library. I suppose you feel more at home knowing ponies have that sort of thing, too?”
“Uh huh. Everypony’s being really nice, too,” Bastion replied as he sent forth a glow with his horn that called out another little swarm. They flew in a figure eight, a pattern she remembered meant something about finding food, then went off towards White Tail Woods.
Apple Bloom bit her lip. She wondered just how much Bastion really knew about interacting with ponies, certainly regarding how he was being treated.
“Doesn’t it bother you a little?”
Bastion got his head out of the little box and turned towards her.
“Does what bother me?”
“That everypony’s being extra nice to you, like they think they should. You know they only treat you special because you’re an orphan, right?” Apple Bloom tentatively inquired.
“That’s not true,” Bastion replied, not shaken by the revelation in the slightest.
“Yeah, it is. They think you’re sad all the time and you need cheering up.”
“I know that. I mean I’m not an orphan,” he replied calmly.
A little bead of cold sweat ran down the filly’s neck.
“You know ‘orphan’ means you lost your birth parents, right?”
Bastion nodded.
“Which is why I’m not an orphan. My birth mom is still alive.”
“Bastion, honey?” a mare called out. Apple Bloom turned and saw a green unicorn come out the back door of the changeling’s house. “Oh, there you are,” Lyra said. “Knock on the door next time, sweetie, you know I can’t hear you while I’m working.”
“Sorry, mom,” he replied, turning his face away from her to hide a blush and seemingly ignoring the fact that the Earth pony filly right in front of him had a clear view of it.
Apple Bloom’s mind was reeling. The quick replies in class, the sudden sales and his fascination for combat strategies all puddled up and painted a most disturbing picture of the changeling in front of her.
“Hey, Apple Bloom,” Lyra greeted. “Want to come in for a bit?”
“No thanks, I need to drop Scootaloo’s stuff off and head back to our clubhouse. I’ll see you around, Bastion.”
“Yeah, see you around, Apple Bloom.”
The Earth pony filly slowly turned and walked off, then started running once she was out of sight.
“Another new friend, huh?” Lyra asked as the pair went inside.
“I think so. I’m not sure,” Bastion replied quizzically.
“She walked you home, didn’t she?”
“I don’t know. I think she might be upset about me selling red nectar, and nopony’s buying her apple juice. Maybe I should stop." He fidgeted, unsure.
Lyra put her hoof under his chin so he’d look her in the eye.
“Bastion, you can’t just stop doing something you like because you think one girl doesn’t like you. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are on your team, they need you to do this assignment right, don’t they?”
“I suppose.”
“Give Apple Bloom some time. She’s a nice girl, she’ll warm up to you,” the unicorn offered, putting a foreleg around him to hold the boy close.
He nuzzled into her at that, shivering.
“Thanks, mom. I really want Apple Bloom to be nice to me, though.”
“You mean she isn’t? That doesn’t sound like her at all. You two do have a couple of things in common, do you think she’s bothered by you somehow?”
“Sort of. She is nice, but I think something’s wrong with her. And I can’t just ask her; she doesn’t know me. It’d be weird if I asked something private like that, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Suppose you tried a little gift to cheer her up? Something special you made just for her?“
“But all I’ve got is changeling blood.”
“Then maybe you should let her try some. Couldn’t hurt, right?” Lyra offered with a wink.
“I don’t know. It just feels wrong. I think she’s acting that way because my nectar’s beating her apple juice. I’m not being unfair, am I?” Bastion looked up fearfully.
“Unfair? How?”
“Using… you know… “
“Hey, Apple Bloom’s got her family’s orchard, all the kids in town have their siblings or parents helping them out. You are doing it fairly. And besides, this isn’t a game you win, it’s just something to see what you can do. And so far you’re doing fine. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed about, got it?”
The boy nodded.
“Good. So Diamond and Silver are coming over after dinner again?” She moved into the living room to rest on her chair, slouched as she so frequently did to get the stress out of her back. Leaning forward to fix instruments for so long did lead to some odd ways of relieving tension.
“Uh huh. We went over the estimate on our first day. I think I might run out in two days at this rate.” The changeling settled down on a couch.
“You’ll be fine. Just make sure you don’t overwork yourself, alright? It’s a school assignment, not foal labour. You don’t wanna go passing out in class.”
“No, I’ll be careful. But mom?”
“Yeah?” She looked at him with an inviting smile, glad to see him speaking frankly.
“Suppose I really don’t want Apple Bloom to try the nectar, but I want her to be nice to me. What should I do?”
“Hmm… I’ll tell you what you should do. You should just ask Bonsy about that one. She’s really good at this sort of thing,” Lyra suggested with a grin.
“Err, girls?” Apple Bloom asked as she came into their clubhouse, finding her friends as they were contemplating their next commercial move.
“What’s the matter? Did you ask Bastion how his stuff got so popular?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Why are you shaking like that?” Scootaloo inquired, fear in her voice from seeing her friend all aquiver. Apple Bloom’s jaw was hanging a little, and she didn’t make eye contact right away.
“I-I asked and he started going on about tactics and damage, like he was from the military or something. And get this: he lied,” Apple Bloom declared.
Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow.
“He lied? About what?”
“He’s not really an orphan. He said his birth mom is still alive. That’s not possible, is it?”
“Unless his birth mom is back at their hive,” the unicorn filly concluded.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I saw some ponies with that nectar of his, and they acted like he’d been in town for ages, but they didn't even look at me. Like he wasn’t even the new kid, and I was invisible. Then when he showed me his beehive, it was like he thinks it’s normal to have a hive instead of a home. Like it’d be fair for him to turn Ponyville into a hive." Apple Bloom went wide-eyed with shock even as she said it aloud.
“Come on, you’re overreacting. You can’t tell that just from walking him home,” Scootaloo replied. “There’s no way he could do that even if he wanted to.”
“Then why is he here and not with the other changelings? They had kids with’em, he should be with his family. He said so himself: his birth mom is still alive. And it said in the papers that all the changelings who could think for themselves left their hive. So why wouldn’t his mom come with him?” Apple Bloom argued.
“Umm… there is one changeling who can think for herself and didn’t leave the hive,” Sweetie Belle noted with an air of dread, ”the queen that attacked Canterlot. I think her name was Chrysalis.”
Scootaloo bit her lip.
“Not you too. He’s new in town, you don’t know anything about him. You can’t just go saying he’s, you know….“
“He’s what? Lying about his parents? It makes sense, doesn’t it? If he is Chrysalis’ son, then that means he’s here for protection, like the ones from the council. They only let one real leader stay in their new town so only one of them had to speak for all of them. And if he is a changeling prince, then other countries could call him the leader and he’d have to deal with all that political stuff. Keeping him away from that town is the safest thing to do, for him. And it would let him do whatever his mom wanted him to do. If he has the same kind of power as a hive Queen, that means he can brainwash ponies with the same kind of spell she did. Nopony would even notice if he put something in that drink."
“You don’t know that, listen to yourself! What proof do you have?” Scootaloo shouted in outrage.
“Well,” Sweetie Belle interjected, “Rarity did say he has a noble name. She thought he might be a noble from another hive that got destroyed before, but to be fair this makes more sense. And you said he wasn’t as shy as you thought he’d be when he talked to you. Did you hear anything that might explain it?”
Scootaloo sighed. She shook her head, but she couldn't hide what she was thinking.
“It’s nothing. It could have been anything.”
“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom threatened, moving closer to her pegasus friend, “what did you hear?”
“Lyra. When she called him in, she… she called him ‘little prince’.”
“And you don’t think that’s weird at all?”
“Why is that weird? I’ve heard Diamond Tiara’s dad call her ‘little princess’. I’m pretty sure she’s not."
“We can’t just ignore this, can we?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Ignore what? Bastion’s not doing anything wrong. You just hate him because he’s a changeling." Scootaloo finally let go of the suspicion she'd had since Bastion had arrived.
“I do not!”
“Then why are you trying to find something wrong with him? You've been grumpy about him being in class since he got here,” Scootaloo countered, wings stretched out in a reflex to look more intimidating.
“I am not grumpy. I’m just sayin’ it’s suspicious and he might be up to something.”
“Like what? There’s nothing he can do. He’s never alone. If he really is a prince, then there’s probably some sort of security for him. Think about it: if you’re right, who do you think needs protection? Us or him?”
“She’s got a point, you know,” Sweetie Belle agreed. “It could still be something else. Maybe his mom was on that council and she had to leave him. Either way, it’s not his fault things turned out the way they did.”
“You’re right, it’s not. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s suspicious. How do we know? Suppose he is putting something in that drink?” Apple Bloom insisted.
Scootaloo groaned.
“Do you really think Lyra or Bon Bon would let him? Not to mention Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.”
“But didn’t Twilight say Lyra was hypnotised by that queen too? She could have been brainwashed to let him do it, or force him to do it,” Apple Bloom offered.
“Now that you mention it, that is possible,” Sweetie Belle agreed. “But Rarity said Lyra was just under the queen’s influence, not any real control. And it was a high level spell that you can't notice, so you can't really fight it. If he is a prince, he probably knows how to do that sort of thing, too.”
“Okay, stop!” Scootaloo shouted. “You can’t just go saying things like this about a classmate, not again. Or have you forgotten what happened when we were on the Foal Free Press? Everypony hated us for making up the kind of stuff you’re saying! You don’t know what is up with him, you don’t know the whole story, and the only reason you’re even suspecting him of anything is because of how he was born. And you know that’s not fair!”
Apple Bloom flinched.
“Of course I know. I’m just worried, is all. Ain’t I allowed to be worried if there might be danger?”
Scootaloo sighed.
“Yeah, you are. But just listen to yourself, Apple Bloom. You’re accusing this kid, the new kid, of some crime and you don’t even know what it might be. It doesn’t matter what he does, you wouldn’t like him anyway. You’re treating him like dirt, for no reason.”
“That’s not true. I’m just as nice to him as I am to anypony else, I don’t hate him for how he was born. I’m not hurting him, and that dodgeball thing was an accident. I do like him.”
“Yeah? Prove it. Name one thing you like about Bastion,” Scootaloo challenged.
“I like the fact that he’s tryin’ so hard to fit in. He’s not shutting himself off like most ponies would, that's mighty big of him. I really like how he is with his bees, Granny Smith would love to see that, too, I’m sure. But that doesn’t mean that I should treat him special, and it doesn’t give him the right to lie. If anypony else was doing what it looks like he’s doing, I’d be worried too.”
“But you do wanna be friends with him?” Scootaloo persisted.
“Of course I do. Now that I've seen how he really is, I guess we do have a couple of things in common. I think he really likes farming honey, so that's kind of like me and my family. It'd be nice to have another farmer in our class, if he does keep that up. Why wouldn’t I want to be friends?”
“If you want to be friends with him, maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt. Cut him some slack; he lost his family, no matter how you look at it." Scootaloo winced at the thought.
“I guess. So what are we doin’ now?”
“Bastion didn’t give you any tips to sell more?” Sweetie Belle inquired.
“Umm, he said there’s four spots in Ponyville that are weakest and it’s best to strike twice; once to prepare, once to finish,” Apple Bloom narrated.
“Four spots, huh? Which ones do you suppose he meant by that?” Scootaloo wondered aloud.
“One of them’s gotta be Sugarcube Corner, and two of them are the market squares, probably,” Apple Bloom deduced.
“I saw Bastion with a little stall on the way from Sweet Apple Acres, actually. He was handing out coupons with Silver Spoon yesterday,” Sweetie Belle noted.
Apple Bloom slapped herself.
“That’s why he sold so much. He handed out coupons the day before.”
“And Silver Spoon said that way, they knew how many bottles they had to make.”
“I guess he meant coupons by that ‘two strike’ thing, too. He set it up before he sold anything. He went for advertising first. We could try that.”
Scootaloo shrugged.
“Or we could wait.”
“Wait for what? Wait for Bastion to beat us?” The Earth pony gritted her teeth.
“He’s not beating us at anything, Apple Bloom. We’re supposed to do this for school, remember? Do you know what you’re supposed to write yet? Do you know why this idea isn’t working yet?”
“Because Bastion’s selling a drink that’s more popular than ours.”
“I'm not so sure about that, actually. I don't think one drink could make it so ponies don't want to drink anything else. There's something else we're missing. But if it is Bastion, why don’t we just wait for him to run out or for ponies to get tired of it? It’s not like he’s got tons of the stuff; we have two weeks and he’ll run out eventually. We don't even know what the rest if our class is planning to do.”
“So we’re just going to let Bastion --“
“Let him what? Do the same thing everypony else in class is doing? Try to fit in and maybe make some new friends? You just said you’d like to be friends with him. It’s not like he’s picking on us. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are acting nicer with him on their team. Why not let him have a little success? We’ve got bigger things to worry about.”
“Like what?”
“Like what we should write for the essay,” Sweetie Belle noted.
Apple Bloom sighed and sat down.
“Oh, right. I should ask my sister about all that.”
“We kind of know what went wrong now: ponies got Bastion’s red nectar, so they don’t want apple juice on top of that. It's not that they don't like it, it's just that they got that red nectar first,” Sweetie Belle took notes of the possibilities. “But we could still try advertising. Sweet Apple Acres is pretty famous.”
“And Miss Cheerilee sounded pretty impressed when she heard it came from the west orchard. What’s so special about the west orchard?” Scootaloo inquired.
“It’s where the juicy apples grow. Different soil, different watering, I think it’s a different kind of apple tree, too. It was pretty popular a couple of years ago, but the fruit bats just made it too hard to keep up with demand. The apples are useless for cider, anyway, not enough pulp.”
“So apple juice from those apples is better than normal? And ponies know it’s good?” Scootaloo looked frustrated at the revelation.
“Oh yeah. We get a little every now and again, but it’s for special orders only. The apples that just fall down when they’re ripe are enough for those. I mean, fruit bats are a protected species and all, and we don’t really need to harvest all those trees,” Apple Bloom reasoned.
“So what you’re saying is: if we tell ponies we have that kind of apple juice, chances are we’ll sell a ton of it pretty quickly?”
It took a few moments to sink in, but eventually Apple Bloom got the idea.
“We should actually tell ponies it’s a special kind of apple juice, huh?”
“Ya think?”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
“Okay, maybe I’ve been looking at this the wrong way.”
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Apple Bloom doesn't seem very bright if Scoots and Sweetie have to spell everything out for her.
Liar! You damned liar! You just used his affinity for beekeeping to say he "thinks it's normal to have a hive instead of a home"! You took what he said and twisted it to your own ends!
"What is he doing?" Ask yourself that, AB. So far all he's done is sell a really popular drink. Think about that for a moment... Now, ask yourself, "Who is selling the drink?"... That's right! I don't see you accusing DT or SS for doing something to the drink!
Ugh, I'm only getting more and more frustrated with AB... but that's a good thing from a storytelling point of view!
lol yay another great chapter! ^_^
and Applebloom....your doing the same things the others did with Zecora you racist :P
lol jk
but!
what is his necotr? i mean it sounds gross i mean is be doing naughty thing in it or is he cutting himself and putting the blood in the drinks? im asking becouse of how its worded! XD
so yeah still wana read more of it! :D
Time for some fancy mathematics!
Odds of Chrysalis being Bastions mother: 93%
Odds of Applebloom's initial dislike being related to shared status as an orphan: 64%
Odds of Bastion doing SOMETHING that regular pony society wouldn't approve of due to ignorance: 72%
Odds of Lyra and/or Bastion being brainwashed/sleeper agent: 21%
Odds of some sort of hooplah in the near future: 99.8%
Odds that all of these values have no real statistical merit and are in fact made up on the spot: 100%
2610736
. At least she's not openly attacked Bastion, right?
Her emotions are getting the better of her, it seems: she can't think rationally anymore, poor girl
2610763
I suppose the worst part is not really knowing if she's lying or not about liking him. Either answer works at this point: she does have good reason to be friends with him, she points them out, no?
And again: she hasn't really attacked him, not to his face. The initial frustration wasn't something she took out directly at him, and the dodgeball incident can still be due to a misunderstanding. She did apologise, and maybe she did think he had Earth pony strength. As for the rest: is it a crime, not liking someone? The accusations are another matter entirely, this is where I'd admit she's going down the slippery slope. But she can still explain herself and apologise for all this, no?
It wouldn't take all that much for them to be friends, if this is just a misunderstanding. If....
2611041
I do have the teen rating for a good reason. I don't want small children getting any ideas. And the Zecora thing wasn't based on race, as far as I'm concerned. This was a pony (no one knew what a zebra was) who lived alone in a place rife with monsters. Race wasn't a causal factor there. Next chapter will be up tomorrow, hope that's not too late for ya.
2611168
You're not making any sense here, man. If Chrysalis is Bastion's mom, then why isn't he in the village, protected by the second most powerful mage changeling in existence? Why even bother taking a prime target? And why would Chrysalis brainwash her own son?
Shared status as an orphan? He just said he's not an orphan, and aside from that he's got two actual parents, not siblings to take care of him. Lying about being an orphan, maybe.
Ignorance of pony society, how? He's had two weeks to prepare, and he's been a sponge for information these past few days. He's as well-educated as they get.
Sleeper agent: well, duh, he admitted to being conditioned as one.
Hooplah in the future? In one of my fics
? Clearly you are new to my works, sir: I play things straight and have very obvious plotlines. There have never been any grand reveals or mind-blowing plot twists in any of my fics, ever. Go on, I dare you to go find them 
.
'Tis true, sir: thine statistical merits leave much to be desired.
2613830
A clarification on the AB orphan thing: She started treating him strangely/badly right from the start before she learned he wasn't really an orphan. I was thinking that she was resentful of the extra nice treatment he was receiving as an orphan that she, herself an orphan, never received.
2613830
ehhh i have to disagree it seemed like more than that to me! XD
but again im poking fun at the chapter because i like it!
don't take everything i say seriously this is a good story an im going to keep reading it.
but i am going to make a few jokes/comments here and there for entertainment X3
2613830
Perhaps our misunderstanding comes from a point of perspective. To me, racism isn't (just) about actions, but thoughts--there doesn't need to be any attacking of any nature. Of course just not liking someone isn't a crime, but reasons matter, and right now Apple Bloom has practically zero reason to be thinking of Bastion as she has--practically zero!--but she's twisting what strangeness she does notice into a ridiculously extremely negative light; twisted to a point that (I'll continue to state) she wouldn't have done if Bastion had only been another pony.
As things are right now, AB can redeem herself and apologize and I would believe her (as long as there are no other questionable acts from her), of course, but what I don't believe as that you, the author, would do such a thing to the story--that would be too easy!
2610763 Ponyville natives are xenophobic. Zecora comes to mind.
Why wouldn't she be suspicious of a changeling, when they attacked the national capitol, especially considering that she may not fully understand the position that these refugees hold in comparison?
Apple Bloom is just being a plain silly filly, and a bit dumb on the side. Her upbringing probably is part of that, maybe, but now she's striking me more as a conspiracy theorist than anything...but sometimes conspiracy theories turn out to be true. Eh, I'm sure we'll get a comedy of errors within the next few chapters before things get explained.