literature

Chaos Competition Chapter 8

Deviation Actions

AAV-sama's avatar
By
Published:
2K Views

Literature Text

Apple Lessons

Discord had managed to delay his ‘Honesty training’ for a few days, until Twilight drew the line and scolded him into shape. He would not get off the hook with her, not after she had worked so hard to plan things carefully for the future of the draconequus and Princess Celestia.

“We’re going with Applejack and that’s final, Discord!” Twilight spoke with a firm voice as she walked out of the Canterlot Castle. She had a determined frown on her face that Discord just would not be able to talk off.

Discord let out a long sigh and fell on the air to float on his back. Perhaps throwing a tantrum will--

“Let’s get moving now. We don’t have all day. I want to get this over with as soon as possible. No more delays, you hear? I’m going to help you, but I won’t be at your beck and call.”

He groaned and grumbled a bit before he floated beside her. "And where is Applejack, anyway?" He glanced around as they went down the path that would take them to the edge of the city.

“Most likely helping with the landscape or stuff like that. She might even have gone back to Ponyville, I wouldn’t be surprised. She always has such busy days. That’s why we’re going to go there, alright? If you’d be kind enough to help with the quick transportation...”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“As in, teleport us to Ponyville? I don’t want to stretch this out more than you already did, remember?”

“Ohhh... How boring. Working as always, that pony never gets a rest! Even though she must know excessive work is terrible for one’s fun complexion. You actually expect me to learn anything from her?” He snapped his fingers and teleported them to Ponyville, right at Sweet Apple Acres.

“Why, yes. Yes I do. You’ll see once this is over, Discord. It’ll all be worth it.” I’m sure of it, for our sakes.

Applejack looked up at them as she carried a barrel full of apples on her back. "Hiya, Twi." She gave her a big, welcoming smile once she made her way over to them for  greeting.

"Oh, good morning, Applejack. Good to find you here so early."

Applejack chuckled and stood in front of the barn proudly. "Well, that's me, you know. Bright an’ early’s what we do." She looked over at Discord and couldn’t help but shrink slightly as she immediately became uncomfortable. "What a... nice surprise to see ya too, Discord."

The apples in the barrel turned into water. Discord pulled himself out of it to greet her. "Why, hello. Don’t mind me at all. It’s just me going for a swim here in the barrel. Care to join?"

Applejack glanced over her shoulder and gave him an uneasy look before she turned back to Twilight and spoke in a worried tone. "A-Alright, Twilight. What're y'all up to now?" She fidgeted with her hooves a bit.

"I need to ask a favor of you, Applejack. You see, Discord here needs to learn a thing or two about honesty, in order to get...” She glanced at Discord with a warning look. “Something important done.”

“Um... Really?” Applejack jumped a bit as loud streamers popped out of the barrel. Mighty apple hilltop, that coulda been Pinkie... She looked away from the barrel to hold in the temptation of looking over it.

“Indeed. Honesty is the subject for today, and...” Twilight smiled at her and lifted her hoof as she spoke with a calm voice. “I think we've come to the right pony for that."

"Discord? Honest?" Applejack grimaced as she watched Discord while he made a bunch of assortments jump out from what was originally a simple barrel with apples. “Uh... Right...”

He laughed from within the barrel, seemingly unaware of the conversation outside. There was a snapping sound from inside, and his containment rolled onto the floor as though it was laughing itself.

Applejack leaned closer to Twilight to whisper to her. "Um... No offense, Twi, but Ah think it was much, much easier for Discord and his weird magic to turn us into our opposite selves than for him to become even close to anything like an Element. Not to mention how imposs’ble it would be for me to actually do anythin’ crazy like--like teach Discord all about--"

"Well, it's worth a try. Fluttershy managed to reform him, right? That was one of the hardest tasks yet, in my opinion. Anything that comes after Fluttershy’s task shouldn’t be so hard.”

“But--”

“Besides, this is one of the things that he'll need to do anyway, to truly fit in with our society. Like Fluttershy said, we have to help him fit in, and we will. He's more than willing to try to do everything we say." Twilight tapped the barrel as she looked at it. "Aren't you, Discord?"

He floated out of the barrel and sat in the air above the mares. "Well... About that...”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t you?”

He rolled his eyes with a displeased expression and shrugged. “Twilight convinced me that it was worth the try, for... for something personal." He blew a raspberry after he muttered his agreement.

Twilight nodded reassuringly. "Like I said, there can't be any kind of relationship without trust.”

Applejack immediately smiled upon the mention of one of her beliefs. "Ah couldn't agree more. Lies at any given time can get to anypony.” She stepped closer to Twilight and nodded. “Ah’ll try to do my best with him, Twi. Though... Ah don't guarantee we'll be gettin’ much out of it."

She grimaced again when Discord continued to play at the side.

"I'll be satisfied with just enough. And I know that certain somepony will be glad with even that small change, too." Twilight glanced at Discord again, then winked at him with a small smile.

"Hm... ‘Special somepony’? Y’all mean Fluttershy? She certainly would like her friend to get even better at this 'reform' thing all on his own, wouldn’t she?"

Twilight held in a giggle with her hoof as Discord glanced aside and fidgeted with his claw and paw.

“Ehm... Yeah, Fluttershy, sure...” Why do I keep putting myself in this position? Completely humiliating, it’s what this is. I don’t deserve it! Asking me that kind of thing...

Twilight gave him a bit of a look once she heard him lie. “Discord...”

He returned the look to her. “I can’t help it if you put me on the spot like that, Twilight.” He then sighed and raised an eyebrow as he stared at both of them. "Anyway, how exactly are we going to 'test' my honesty?"

“Well, uh...” Applejack glanced at Twilight, then sighed when her friend did not provide an answer. “Ah guess that’s something Ah’ll have to come up with.”

Twilight smiled once Applejack fully agreed to assist them. She turned around just as Discord began to mildly annoy the farmer earth pony. “I’ll see you both later, then.”

“W-wait, hold on a second now. You’re already leaving, Twi?!”

“Yep. There’s some stuff that I need to do back at the library, but I’ll be sure to come around later to check on you. Everything should be fine until the afternoon when I come, though.”

“But listen here, sugarcube. Ah actually don’t think Ah can--”

Twilight patted her shoulder. “I’m sure that everypony will do just fine. He’ll be sure to not give you such a hard time. I’ve already talked to him. I know you can handle this and will make Discord learn all he needs for his future task. After all, you’re our most dependable pony. Right, Applejack?”

Applejack looked down before taking a deep breath. “...Sure, Ah guess, Twi. You’re right. Whatever it is, you can definitely count on me.” She gave Twilight a small smile. “Ah won’t disappoint y’all.”

“Oh, I knew I could count on you like always! Good luck, you two!” Twilight hugged Applejack, then gave them one last encouraging smile and a wave before she teleported away.

“...” Applejack glanced at Discord with a doubtful face.

The draconequus had switched his front and back legs, so that now he was folding his lizard and goat legs over his chest. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged when he looked down at her. “What?”

“Gosh, Ah do reckon this is gonna be one of the hardest things Ah’ve done gotten into.” She lowered her hat a bit to express her distress. Harder’n ropin’ a herd of wild buffalo...

Discord turned his limbs back to their normal order, then appeared next to her, standing on all fours. "Come now, Applejack. Surely we don't want to disappoint Fluttershy and Twilight by failing to make me a better citizen, do we? It’s your Honesty lessons alone that will do... some of the trick. According to Twilight, anyway.

She groaned a bit and shook her head at Discord’s persuasion. “Ahh, fine...”

After looking around to gather her thoughts, she became somewhat sure of what the next step to take would be to begin their ‘lessons’. “Ah guess we better start with me, then. Always start teachin’ something by settin’ a good example.”

Though she talked and walked with him, Applejack continued to do her work bucking and packing the apples in the farm. She did not grow distracted even as she started to set rules for their exercises.

“Listen, from now on, till our little... sessions, are over... Y’all can ask me anythin’.”

Applejack nodded and approached another tree. “Yep. Anythin’ at all that strikes your fancy. Ah’ll never fail to tell ya the truth, no matter how difficult or embarrassin’ a question it is.”

He didn’t seem so convinced about such good an offer. It seemed too great to be part of his boring lessons. There has to be a catch. What's the point of it all, when she can just cheat and not have me--

Discord scratched his head, a bit surprised with her sharp thinking. “Uh...”

“Well, sir, let me tell you, Ah won’t refuse to answer anythin’, ‘cause that would be cheatin’ and Ah don’t take kind to that either.”

“But why would you refuse to answer? It’s quite alright, isn’t it? It’s just a way around something that you don’t want to be dishonest about. Isn’t that what you do?”

“No siree, that ain’t what I do.”

He tapped his lizard foot on the ground and folded his arms again as he watched her. “Well, do explain why you’d refuse, then. It’s annoying and it’s making me impatient.”

“Well... That’s easy.” Applejack measured another kick for the next tree, then grunted as she gave it a good buck, then collected the fallen apples. “It’s ‘cause Ah want you to get a good feeling of what pure honesty’s like. Honesty that stays straight and clear through thick and thin, through good an’ bad.”

“Well, if you want to take that approach, Applejack...”

“Yeah, I wanna take this approach.”

“Okay, then... I certainly won’t stop you. In fact, I can’t wait to get started! I bet it’ll be very interesting...” He rubbed his claw and paw together and smiled a little.

“So go ahead an’ shoot, Discord. Do your worst whenever you want to.”

"Hmm...” He grinned at Applejack when he finished thinking. “Is it true that you and Rainbow Dash are an item?" He stifled a laugh as he watched her surprised, wide-eyed reaction. Let’s see if she really is as much game as she says, once a little pressure’s on...

“What the--wait--who in Equestria says somethin’ silly an’ crazy like that?!” Her face and the tips of her ears blushed a bright red as she blurted out her exclamation.

Her flustered stammer only made Discord laugh louder, to the point where he rolled in the air.

“Oh, no...” She took a deep breath to compose herself. Easy, Applejack. Easy, girl. Y’all knew this was gonna be hard. Didn’t think it was gonna be this hard, but hard nonetheless. She faced the apple trees to continue her work. Nothin’ a bit of labor can’t help an’ tune out.

“Well? I’m waiting~”

Okay, maybe it’ll take more than just a bit of labor. “No. Answer is no. That absolutely ain’t true, not at all--y’all do know that!” She huffed a bit and glared at the ground as he continued to laugh at her expense.

She already regretted having given Discord the additional power of truth-bound interrogation. As if the ability to bend reality wasn’t enough...

But, oh well... Horse apples and all... It wasn’t like she could take it back.

Ah’ve already done set the rules, so Ah can’t break them. That would be cheatin’ and I’m not havin’ it.

She gave Discord an annoyed look once she stopped to turn to his direction again. “...Y’all are really gonna hand it to me in this exercise, ain’t ya?”

"In all honesty..." He booped her nose with his finger. "YES!" He laughed again, then tapped his fingers together and cleared his throat for another question.

“Discord--”

"Is is true that Big Mac has a doll of Twilight Sparkle’s and plays with it?"

“I... Oh, gee, Ah dunno. Ah think he might have it...” She looked looked over her shoulder to check if Big MacIntosh was around. “Ah’ve seen ‘im run off to the barn every so often. Ah once heard Twilight talk about how she was missin’ some ‘Mr. Smarty-Pants’ or somethin’, but Ah’m not so sure ‘bout it all...”

Discord folded his arms and smiled with satisfaction. He was thoroughly enjoying Applejack’s truthful answers and would not give up his entertainment for anything anytime soon. “Do go on...”

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she quietly continued to speak about Big Mac’s secret toy. “My lil’ sister ‘Gabby Gums’, also published somethin’ about that some time ago, but Ah didn’t follow into it. Ah didn’t wanna impose on my brother’s privacy more’n it already had been imposed on, y’see.”

“Well, that doesn’t give out much details, does it? We’ll have to find out for good one of these days...”

She shook her head and looked at him again, lifting her hoof to get his attention back. “Listen, Discord--Ah didn’t let you have this chance so you’d just--”

"Is it true that Spike once tried to kiss you?" He laid on the base of a tree to eat an apple.

“Oh, no, no, that ain’t true, either. He didn’t really try to kiss me. Little dragon was daydreaming’ about somepony else; Rarity, most likely. He--”

"How would you feel if I told you that little Apple Bloom's talent has absolutely nothing to do with apples?"

“...Ah’d feel a bit strange, Ah guess. Apples have done been in the family business since... Well, since the family started. Listen here, Discord; these questions may be funny to you, but they’re pointless and they’re teachin’ you nothin’. How about we just drop it an’...”

“Is it true that you were once caught snoozing on the job during a very important time of the apple harvest? For example... Cider Season?”

“What?! Of course not--”

“Did you ever give the foals at Ponyville a hard time after you came back from Manehattan?”

“Did Ah what?!”

“You know, when you got your cutie mark and everything. You spent quite some time in upper-class society after all, right? Maybe the Oranges got to you and you learned some snobbish little things...”

“No! Oh, hay no, Ah’d never do that to any--”

“Won all sorts of places in that Equestria Rodeo Competition, didn’t you?”

“Well...”

“Every place but first?”

Applejack’s ears lowered as she glanced aside uncomfortably. “Um, Ah don’t see--”

“So you ran away to Cherry Jubilee’s cherry farm, didn’t you? Pride was too big for you to handle?”

She grimaced a bit and nervously shifted in her hooves. “Well... Y-Yes? But I--”

"Have you been with a stallion yet? Gone out with a stallion? Or perhaps a mare, since the rumors of you and Rarity spread like wildfire..." He snapped his fingers to appear laying down on the branch of a tree.

“What rumors?! Discord, Ah ain’t ever been with anypony that way! Now listen up, y’all are gettin’ way too far with these questions, and Ah’ve got plenty of work to do!”

He chuckled as he watched her set the baskets of apples down. “Ooh... Losing your temper already?”

“Gettin’ on my nerves, this is. Y’all better keep movin’ along, mister!” She bucked the tree that he was perched on and caught the apples while making him fall.

He landed on the ground and turned into a puddle of himself. He recovered his form and laughed joyously while she glared at him. "My, you sure have an attitude.”

“Oh, y’all haven’t seen the half of it!”

He dusted himself off and gave her a calm look. “Well, Applejack, I've learned so much today. The questions may have been a tad personal, but you answered all of them so honestly... I actually think I'm getting the hang of this rather well, and all thanks to you."

“Are you?” She sighed and calmed down as he quickly nodded his head. “Well... The whole ‘truth-to-question’ thing is still on me... It’ll be for as long as we do this, Ah said...”

Discord grinned with anticipation. “Oh, that’s just lovel--”

Her deadpan look and raised hoof stopped him from snapping into troublesome and mischievous action. “It’s not meant to be abused, Discord.”

He raised his paw and put on a solemn face. “I give you my word, Applejack.”

Which Ah plain don’t believe an’ trust, really... She picked up the baskets to move forward. “Ah want us to try somethin’ else now, if y’all don’t mind.”

She led him away from the trees, to patches of land in the field that needed to be planted and more trees with apples that needed to be picked.

“While we’re on our way... Why don’t we get you started on the truth-to-question game?” She smirked and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He returned the smile with a confident--if not cocky--expression. "Very well. Shoot when ready.”

"Alright, then. Let’s see... You got a thing for Fluttershy?"

"She is a cute mare... But no. I don’t. See, we're just friends. Let’s also consider that she is much, much younger than I am. I don’t go for that, you know." He had no trouble with the question, and even smirked a bit at his ‘humorous’ answer.

"Okay, how 'bout anypony else? Twilight did mention there was a certain somepony..." She chuckled quietly, then shoved another tree with her side.

Discord sighed and scratched his head as he frowned. "...Well... Yes... There is somepony else... Or was... I don’t know, I'm afraid that ship sank. I don’t want to talk about it.”

"That so. That's why you wanna try an’ fix things. Real nice of you it is. Feel like sayin’ her name?" She glanced at him and chuckled at his flustered expression. “Hm?”

“W-Well, um... I... Is this one of the questions? I-I’m not sure it... It doesn’t even--”

She laughed and waved a hoof to settle him down. "Whoa, there. Calm down, sugarcube, that you don't have to answer. But go ahead and think hard about this, now.” She looked at the basket that she almost filled with the red, ripe apples.

He glanced at her as she walked forward. “About what...?”

“Do y’all really think it's hopeless? Or... Do y’all still have a little glimmer of hope in there, somewhere? A glimmer of little hope that wishes for things to work out for you two? Surely that’s the right thing that goes an’ gives you the little faith?"

She pulled out a rope, testing its strength while she let Discord process her words and questions. “Isn’t there something? Oh, surely there must be. Why are y’all here if you don’t think there’s still hope?”

Discord glanced down at the ground while he thought. "Perhaps... There might be... something... Things might work... It's something worth giving a try.” He smiled a little and looked at her.

"Atta boy. That's all there is for you to know, then. Where there's a will, there's a way, Ah always say. And boy, will we be seeing a lot of will in no time! Especially from you." She spun the rope, then threw it on the handle of the barn door to pull it open.

Discord raised an eyebrow as she watched her tie the rope around the handle. “Hm...?”

"Here, pull on this and open it, pal. Let’s get you started in your worthwhile work." She walked over to the door after she gave him the rope.

He simply lifted his eagle claw finger and made the door opened quickly. “There, that wasn’t so hard.”

Applejack moved away so the swinging door wouldn’t hit her. ...This might be a mite harder than Ah thought. But no worries. She smirked with a determined expression and pushed her hat down on her head. That’s what we Apples are used to. We can handle any wild fella.

She walked into the barn, careful to avoid the animals that wandered around her. “Gee, Ah gotta tell Apple Bloom to come give this place a little cleanin’... Be right out, Discord! Gotta get somethin’ from here!”

“Alright, you go ahead and take your time...” He smiled mischievously as he looked down at the playful, happy brown-and-white dog that pranced over to the open barn. I wonder what it would like as a hen...

“Don’t y’all go gettin’ any ideas with my Winona, Discord! That’s if y’all know what’s good for you! You go an’ leave my girl alone, ya hear?”

Discord groaned in annoyance and opted for floating out of Winona’s reach. “Oh, don’t worry! I’m not doing anything to the barking furball, she’s alright!”

Applejack’s voice could still be heard as she strained with something while still inside the red ‘oversized chicken coop’ (according to Discord). "Now, we always... ngh, have Big Mac handle this babe...."

She grunted as she pulled the plow out with plenty of effort. She heaved it towards Discord, then set it down before them with a loud noise. "Ahh! There we go!”

Discord slightly backed away for a brief second after the large tool fell on the ground with graceless and unpleasant preposition. “O-kay...”

Applejack dusted herself, then smiled at him while she pushed her hat back. “Ah think we'll go and make a nice, honored exception since y’all are here."

He walked around the plow and eyed it curiously. "Hmm... And what, pray-tell, is this, Applejack?"

“A plow, that’s what it is. You break up the ground with it so that seeds can be planted an’ grown. See that field yonder?” She pointed to the bare field in front of them.

“I see it.” He gave her an unimpressed look. “What about it?”

“Well, it’s plantin’ season. We need to get movin’ and workin’ over there. That’s what you’re gonna help me do with this babe here.” She patted the plow with a tender smile on her face before she glanced at Discord. “And... Good measure on ya, too. It’ll fit just nicely.”

“Oh, n-no, no, you don’t really expect me to--”

“Ah sure do expect you to.”

“But--not with that! I’m not going to break my back with some medieval, brute--”

“Oh, stop it, Discord, it won’t help any. Complaints will only get you an empty stomach here. Okay, now... Ah reckon that if ya keep it up good an’ steady, ya’ll are gonna be done with the work in a few hours.”

"Hours?! Applejack, you’re hopeless! Why bother with all that when this can be done in seconds?!" He snapped his fingers to magically appear many plows on the field.

They rushed rapidly over the earth and formed the lines. He snapped his fingers again and watched as trees of spectacular colors and shapes rose from the field. Within seconds, they gave all sorts of odd apples and other fruit of his own creation.

"There! Months of hard work finished in an instant. Isn’t it much easier and convenient like that?"

She raised an eyebrow as she stared at the bizarre, grown field. “Uh...” Then she quickly shook her head and give him a look. “You ain’t gettin’ the point of this, Discord.”

“Oh, I’m not? I think it looks wonderful like this, and it’ll be as good as that boring field that would have taken months to finish and harvest.”

Applejack shifted uncomfortably. “Well, it sure does look... uh, colorful. But, y’see...”

She sighed as she tried to find a good way to explain. “Sometimes it’s the things that are worthwhile that take the most effort an’ time to accomplish and finish with good results.”

She plucked an apple from the tree beside her with her tail to show it to Discord. “Like a good, well-cared for apple.” She rubbed the apple on her side and tossed it into Discord’s claw. “That’s what we give everypony here, you see. Our best and most dedicated hard work.”

“And tell me, what about exhausting labor feels good for you folks? Tiring yourselves day in and day out to deliver apples... What’s so great about it? Why is it right for you?”

She had no problem answering the question with proud simplicity. “It feels right ‘cause we know that in our apples is our honest-to-goodness effort, labor, quality an’ care. Our very best.”

Well, everything that has to do with apples is perfect for you... Apples aren’t a good analogy--you always think they’re perfect. Discord scratched his head as he stared at the delicious looking, yet ordinary fruit.

“That’s what Ah want you to give to whatever it is y’all are tryin’ to fix. Your trust, honesty an’ effort.” She sighed and patiently walked Discord’s created crops.

“Ah want you to learn truth from this, not lazy shortcuts. And what better way for you or anypony else to learn about honesty...” She grunted as she pulled the plow down to another field. “Than with an honest... productive... day... of labor!”

She set the plow down again and sighed when they finally got to the field. Then she looked up at him again. “This is what we’re gonna give a try to. You’re gonna take this plow and start over with this bare field here.”

Discord grimaced a bit as he stared at the large, empty field that needed major work dedicated to it. Work that, in all honesty... He did not want to take the slightest part on. He glanced at Applejack as she continued to explain his dreadful assignment. “Plow it an’ do your very best. Ah ain’t gonna fuss about the details, Ah ain’t no Rarity. It’s the thought an’ effort that counts here. Ah just want you to give it a try, an’ to do it all, no matter how it turns out.”

She got the plow ready as Discord grumbled. “Oh, and another thing, Discord.”

“Ohh... What now, Applejack?”

“Here’s one more rule Ah’ll mention ‘fore Ah leave ya to it. It’s a rule ya might know all too well.”

“Alright, spit it out. What is it?”

She smirked and sat down with a smug look on her face. “Heh... This’ll be good. No wings, no magic. An’ everypony mus’ play their fair-and-square part or it’s game over.”

He let out more grumbled whispers as he put the plow on. "Using my own jokes on me..."

He pulled the heavy tool as he walked through the field. His struggles made him pant and sweat as his legs pulled with all their might. He did not even have the strength or focus to pull and think up complaints at the same time, so he simply concentrated on pulling the darn thing through the blasted field.

While he did his best to work, Applejack hoisted a wagon onto her back and pulled it along. The small two-wheeled wagon had a load with baskets, some already full with apples.

“You know what, Discord?”

“Ngh... Wha... What...?!”

“Ah want you to have a little something in mind, for good motivation.”

Discord rolled his eyes once he stopped to catch his breath. Oh, joy. How considerate...

Applejack walked closer to him and smiled. “Everytime ya feel like cheatin’ and usin’ your magic--and Ah know for sure you will-- go on ahead an’ remember this--a good time that y’all had during your life.”

He gave her a questioning look that she only nodded to before she continued with her explanation.

“Some good, happy time you’ve had with Fluttershy so far, or anything nice y’all may have done before bein’ turned to stone for the first time.” She nudged him a bit. “Perhaps even think about your special sweetheart, sugarcube. Do that whenever ya feel like twisting it a notch on the deal we done made. Boy, ya’ll tell me if it doesn’t make you actually wanna keep it straight and honest.”

“Well... It’s just memories, how would they...?”

Applejack dusted her hat and put it back on her head after she winked at him. “Reward yourself with that, too, whenever you accomplish a new bit an’ piece. Every foot y’all get done is all gonna be worth it.” She patted his shoulder, then walked over to the apple trees that still needed to be bucked.

~~~

Hours passed, the sun was almost setting. Though Discord had been tempted several times to cheat, he instead resigned himself to follow Applejack’s advice.

He remembered when Fluttershy befriended him and his first game with Luna... But the most motivating memory was of Celestia and her laughter, which he treasured the most.

He even blushed when he thought of the Princess and her joyous smile, of the happiness that she graced him with so many years ago. All of that gave him the energy to follow through.

Everything seemed a bit easier to do when he remembered the first kiss that they shared the night that he questioned his existence out loud to her. He did not mind the weight of the plow, or the pain of the pulling, or how big the fields appeared with his seemingly insignificant pace.

All that mattered was the happiness and bliss of those memories... And that he had to get those moments back. It no longer matter how much and how hard he had to work for them.

His skinny legs became sore, and his back ached as he moved the plow out of the field after he finished the final lines. He collapsed in exhaustion, but was still awake.

Applejack walked over to him. She now carried a basket with food in her mouth. The basket held all kinds of apple treats inside.

“Mighty worker you are when you set your mind to it.” She put the basket on the ground and pushed it towards him with her hoof. She gently helped him up, then gave him a bucket of water.

She glanced at the plowed field. “Whooey! These are gonna make great plantin’ places for seeds. You oughta be proud of yourself, Discord. For your first honest labor, it wasn’t at all half bad. Now, how’d ya feel? Well, besides the sores and tiredness. That comes with labor, y’know. It might hurt, but in the long run Ah assure you it’s the sweetest pain there is. ‘Cause the results are worth it and lasting.”

She raised an eyebrow with a smile as she showed him the fruit that he had created earlier. It had gone bad and spoiled in the short time that it was out in the field. Even the trees had wilted.

Discord let out a weary sigh. “Hmm...” He looked up at the plowed field as Applejack pointed out to it.

“In a few months’ time, we’ll all be eatin’ out of these apples here.” She watched Apple Bloom sprinkle the seeds around the plowed field, then cover them with the dirt. “They’ll be the sweetest apples victory can reap, Ah reckon. Especially for you.” She tapped his chest with her hoof and chuckled.

He recovered himself as he looked out to the field. He smiled as he watched the little filly spread the seeds down the plowed lines. "Well... I guess it really was worth it. Honest work can be worth something, after all..." He glanced down at the treats before he ate them.

“Sure it can. Ah’m proud of you, too. Fluttershy was right, you really aren’t as bad a fella at all. Ah think you’ve learned quite somethin’ from this, after all. Feel free to leave at any time you wish and take the rest of the evenin’ off, our job here is done.” She offered him her hoof while she smiled.

“You’re letting me go now?” He gave her his lion paw to shake.

“Bet I am, y’all did a great job this afternoon, so you deserve the rest of the time to rest an’ have it to yourself.” She stopped and chuckled as she remembered something. “Oh, heh, heh. Yeah, there’s that other thing Ah wanted to tell you.”

He looked at her curiously. “What?”

“That truth game might still just be on, you know. As a bonus. Feel free to get yourself some fun at my truth’s expense, so long as it doesn’t push it. That’s where trust starts.”

Twilight walked over to them once she teleported into Sweet Apple Acres. “Hello! I’m back! Glad to see you’re...” She looked around at the fields in surprise. “Wow, I didn’t expect those to be done today.”

Applejack grinned and patted Discord’s arm. “Yup! There ya have it! Discord here went an ‘plowed it all on his own! An’ followed his own ‘no wings, no magic’ rule, while doin’ it, too!”

Twilight smiled a little as she looked at him. “I must say, I’m impressed. You really did learn about honesty after all, Discord.” She turned to look at her friend. “I knew we could count on you, Applejack.”

“Ahh, don’t mention it, sugarcube. It was mutual benefit.”

Twilight opened her saddlebag with her magic, then levitated a scroll and a quill out to give them to Discord. “I’m sure Princess Celestia will be impressed and glad with what you’ve learned. She definitely must read about it, if not hear it herself.”

He sighed and gave Twilight a look. Seriously...?

Twilight only smiled at him as she waited for him to write the letter.

Urgh... She’s serious. He took the materials and grumbled just slightly before he began to write.

He wasn’t sure on how to word his discovery, so he decided that he would keep it short and... truthful.

‘Dear Princess Celestia,

I would like to share with you what I learned about Honesty. Yes--Honesty, Princess of the Day; you read right. I actually learned... what you could call ‘quite a bit’ from the very Element herself.

You see, sometimes getting things done the easy way may seem like the better choice to finish the job faster, and have less of a load on your shoulders. One might grow used to taking things for granted, and trust that whatever we want will come easy to us because we will it to be easy.

However, that’s not always the case with some other situations and things... Particularly those for which we want best results. In some occasions, one’s honest hard work can produce results that help give value to what things we treasure the most...

Or... Something like that, you know. Working your tail off in an apple farm all day can teach you things like that, surprising as it may sound.

Signed, Discord.’


He finished the letter with that sarcastic remark and quietly gave it to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight held the letter in the air with her magic while she opened her saddlebag once away to put the scroll away. “Thanks, Discord. I’m sure Princess Celestia will be pleased to read it.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “You think...?”

“And Fluttershy will be really excited to hear about what you did. You’re making quite the progress, Discord. All in just one day, no less.” She looked up with a smile as the sky started to darken, the moon slowly being raised by Princess Luna.

Applejack looked up and noticed that the sky had darkened into Princess Luna’s night. “Well, this is it for me. Ah’ll be seeing y’all tomorrow.”

“You bet, Applejack. Again, thank you for everything.”

“My pleasure, Twi. Good to see you, Discord. Y’all go an’ have yourselves a good night.”

Discord waved his claw at Applejack as she walked away. Then he glanced down and noticed that Twilight was smiling at him. “Hm? What is it?”

“Nothing, really. I’m just glad that things seem to be working out this time.”

“Oh, tell me about it... It better be worth it, Twilight, because--”

Twilight chuckled a bit. “You know it’ll be. You know that better than anypony by now.”

“Yeah, yeah, confidence and all that. Don’t preach me about it...”

“Okay, since it’s night, I’ll let you go and have some rest. Let me remind you, Fluttershy’s back home with the others, if you want to go with her. Or you can come with me. I’m going to head back to the Canterlot Palace. My friends and the Princesses won’t mind if I stay over there a bit longer. If you want--”

"I'm sorry. Thanks for the offer, Twilight, but I have somewhere else to be now.”

“Really?”

Discord nodded as he turned around, towards the Everfree Forest. “Yes, and I’m afraid I should have gone over a while ago... I haven’t been there for a bit of time now.” Oh, hopefully she won’t mind too much... The poor thing must be a wreck. I’m really going to get it...

“But, what about--”

“You go on ahead and say hi to the princesses for me. I have to take care of this private matter as soon as possible. I’ll see you and everypony else tomorrow!” Before Twilight could say anything else, he snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving no trace as to where he was headed to.

She scratched her head with her hoof and frowned with a puzzled expression. “Where would he go off to at this hour...?” Not to the forest again, I hope... That would be way too weird... And what’s with him and private matters?

She walked down to the forest while she thought. If Discord had gone to the forest again, then Twilight had to see for herself what he was up to, and report it to the princesses.

However, another barrier did not let Twilight get very far. It shoved her back onto the dirt road with stronger force than the spell from the other night.

“Ow!” Twilight winced as she fell on the ground. What the... Another barrier... She looked at the mostly invisible force that had kept her away. “This is... Well, it’s covering less ground than the one from before... But just what is it hiding?”

She paced around the spell, careful to avoid it, while she tried to locate the origin. “Is it still shielding the forest...? Oh, this isn’t good... Has it been here all these nights?”

The Royal Guard’s got to hear about this... Whatever is doing this is still here, and can’t be up to any good, I’m sure. If only we had seen if it was here while Discord was in the palace all these days...

Fifteen minutes of searching did not produce any satisfactory results, and Twilight couldn’t afford to waste any more time. She would have to let the barrier go and investigate it within her library, or on her way to the Canterlot palace. It would be better than just standing and wandering around with no grounds or information to cover and report to the princesses.

If it was something serious, then she needed to figure out as much as possible.

“Can’t go around alerting them for something that I have no information about... Let’s see... It appeared just as it did the night of the gala... Even more strength...” She kept muttering her thoughts to herself as she made her way to Ponyville to pack.
Again, LONG DESCRIPTION. But all my thanks to those that will dare read over this big jumble of words.

The title was taken from this expression used in Spanish, I'm not sure if it relates in English... When a child or someone in general doesn't understand something, people go out of their way to explain clearly and make them understand, right? 'Explaining detailedly'. That's what the expression would say, basically. 'Explained so detailedly, I had to use pears and apples for examples. Or sticks and circles'. Eh, doesn't make much sense in English... But I hope you get what I mean. It's also kinda double meaning (in a lame way) because of Applejack and all that was apple-related in the chapter.

I loved doing Applejack’s parts. This chapter was quite fun to work with. I think all characters in here were just great. I felt awesome while acting as Applejack, you know. It was a good time imagining her lines and expressions while her dialogue came up (not that I don’t already do that with all the other characters, but for some reason, featuring somepony canon other than Twilight or the princesses with Discord felt great). I hope I did a satisfactory impression of her.

I couldn’t think of anything else to kind of... show Discord the ropes about what he needs to learn to have a good approach towards the princesses. I thought ‘well, if there’s anything he needs to learn, it’s humility and honesty’. Honesty was the first step that he would have had to get through either way, with or without a relationship, as Twilight explained.

So obviously something nice, fun, and awesome like Applejack teaching Discord would come up. Then my friend and I wondered how exactly Applejack would do the teaching (just like Applejack wondered herself). Being My Little Pony, I considered it could be through a song while they went for a walk dedicated to the teaching of Honesty alone.

Perhaps with Applejack taking him around town, showing him different displays of honesty. Doing the whole ‘truth to question’ game. Yes, that was the best, because we also thought it’d be hilarious. But, we couldn’t just put the truth game--and the inevitable Honesty lecture--like that, there needed to be something where Applejack really fit. Her element, you know?

That’s where I got the brilliant idea as I analyzed her character. Applejack is a humble, honest, hardworking, simple girl. If she’s got something to teach, she still won’t make a confusing fuss that’ll lose someone into the details rather than actually teaching. She’d want to keep it nice, simple, but direct, you know. Not to mention that she’s probably got lots of work to do regardless of what she needs to teach to anyone (which of course Twilight considerately took into account, knowing her friend). She wouldn’t want to miss a day of work that really needs to get done, not even for the favor to one of her best friends.

So it was decided that Applejack’s ideal teaching ground would be the ground itself! The field! Sweet Apple Acres during a good, long work round. Just like she said, “what better way for [Discord] or anypony else to learn about honesty than with an honest, productive day of labor!” And that’s true, you know.

Work teaches you not only to be honest and true about your work, but to be diligent, humble, constant, and to always give it your best shot, the best that you can offer even if it isn’t always the actual best. It also succeeds in teaching that sometimes we have to work hard for the stuff that are worth it. Most times they don’t come the easy way; one has to earn them, and if one doesn’t know how to earn them, one must start by learning how to do so.

She certainly kicked off his lazy take-it-all-for-granted, ‘at the snap of my fingers’, controlling attitude, didn’t she? I reckon she couldn’t have picked a better interactive way for him to learn, and I am very glad that this way actually adheres to her character.

The ‘labor lesson’ idea, while based off Applejack’s character, was also taken from the first concept of the movie The Ultimate Gift. If you guys haven’t watched it, you totally should. It’s amazing. Those that have watched it can definitely relate this to the Gift of Labor.

I also feel like it unintentionally reminds people of The Princess and the Frog.

In my modest opinion, I thought Applejack was right on spot concerning the lectures she gave. Kept them very true, very real, meaningful... and managed to relate them to apples in a perfect way (I’ll admit I had a bit of a hard time finding a good analogy with the Apple Family’s quality and care and Honesty... Wow, me)!

The truth-to-question game was hilarious. Maybe we made it a bit too personal and aggressive... And when Discord tried to get smart with Applejack and her fields, oh, that was amazing. I purposely made his colorful fruit go bad to illustrate something that we all know well, ‘If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly’, or... ‘be lazy and you work double’ (I don’t know how to accurately translate the phrase in English, but you get the idea).

Lastly, I loved Applejack’s Southern accent, but I feel I could have expanded it a bit more. I feel I overused it with the obvious parts. It definitely was easier and more fun than archaic speech, let me tell you (no offense, Luna).

This was another of my favorite chapters for all I mentioned above. I am so glad I was able to put a lesson into the story, MLP style. And Discord even wrote a letter to the princess! Sort of.

Now, there’s the issue that I was thinking of doing a ‘lesson’ for Discord with all of the Mane Six. You know, him learning something essential for his reformed life and aspired relationship with the Princess from all six of the Elements of Harmony.

But then... I didn’t want to overdo it. I mean, this was good, it felt great. But one’s got to know when to stop before you go overboard with the goodness. Besides, my friend and I didn’t RP any other Mane giving Discord a lesson, so they all would have to be improvised and from scratch, and that might be a challenge, because I would have to build ALL of the chapter from scratch: chapter structure, grammar, other points to watch out for, not to mention the lesson plot in itself and the characters in-character.

And... While it would be good that Discord touched upon the Elements of Harmony... I admit, it would be VERY good that he had a one-on-one with all of them... It sounds fun, in my mind. But it’s a lot more work than my mind initially plays it out to be. And, with all the other five, I don’t see a way they could all connect to his thing with Celestia (which is what Discord wants to achieve).

On the other hand, I actually want him to learn these values... But then there’s Miseria. His lovely Miseria, who wants to learn about Chaos from him alone... He can’t really go around learning all the goodness when over his shoulder, someone’s waiting for mischief and the fun that Chaos brings, right? It’s hypocritical, and it’ll cut Miseria’s appearances real short, I’m sure. ‘Cause he’ll end up exhausted from his meetings with the Mane Six, there’d be no way he’d have the energy to keep up with Miseria all night, too.

This was all longer than I expected. Very sorry about that. I bet it was redundant in some parts. Thank you for your time, and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed everything!

Previous: [link]

Next: [link]

IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU READ THESE SERIES FIRST, IT'S THE FIRST PART OF CHAOS COMPETITION, IT WILL MAKE MUCH MORE SENSE --> Chaos Origin (first chapter): [link]
Comments17
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
GUILLE832's avatar
Joder, con esta escritura tan genial estás consiguiendo que me menosprecie a mí mismo. La duración, las escenas, el guión... Todo es perfecto, casi como ver un capítulo. Es decir, ha habido comedia (hilarante si me preguntas) y bastante profundidad respecto al personaje. Me encanta. Bravo :clap: