For Applejack, the Bearers' most recent adventure had consequences. She was the first in her family to break the Secret. She volunteered to become Twilight's teacher for earth pony magic. And with the chains of tradition still falling away, she did something else. She asked Snowflake to go out with her. To see if they were compatible. If it was possible for love to appear. Whether they could take the first steps together on a new road.
But Apples go out with earth ponies. The line marries pure.And it won't be long before the rest of the family starts to find out...
The story may be found here
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Tropes found in this story include:
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: After Big Mac leaves the Acres in the wake of his row with Applejack over her wish to date Snowflake, he proceeds to get very drunk. The combination of alcohol and simmering frustration culminates in him confronting Snowflake. This leads to a brawl.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: Snowflake's strength isn't the only thing about him that Applejack finds attractive — but it is a factor.
- Armored Closet Gay: Big Mac reveals he's a homosexual in chapter 11. He's been hiding his orientation all his life because, whilst most of Equestria sees no problem with it, his family would be a likely exception. Lesbian mares have The Most Special Spell to allow them to produce biological offspring, something that went a long way towards normalizing them. But no such magic exists for gay stallions... and the Apple family is all about family. Which means that getting Applejack to hook up with somepony and clearly be ready to start having foals was Big Mac's only hope for not being called upon to "continue the branch".
- Awful Wedded Life: Akane Mutsu's fiance is so (justifiably) afraid of this that he keeps abandoning her at the altar and has to be dragged back by bounty hunters.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Invoked. When arranging for a fosse, the terms for each participant are set prior to the duel itself, and must roughly balance. The general rule seems to be that the challenger can potentially ask for just about anything, but doing so means the challenged party can demand something equivalent. This means Applejack trying to arrange protection for her entire family officially brings the rest of her bloodline into play — and allows the results of Elstar's potential win to include custody of Apple Bloom.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Fluttershy actually kicks Snowflake and gives him her version of a verbal chewing out in chapter 14 after he engages in some of his Self-Deprecation in front of her about how much he's messing up Applejack's life by accepting her request for a date.
- Centipede's Dilemma: Snowflake goes through a touch of it after learning that his strength training techniques had never done anything for his flight, and winds up leaving Canterlot by train.
- Closet Key: A variant. As Big Mac assures Snowflake in chapter 11, he's not Big Mac's type, but he's still the only pony to ever get the Apple stallion to open up about his true sexuality.
- Companion Cube: In chapter 11, Big Mac admits he kept Smarty Pants as his for somebody to talk to about his problems. When Snowflake warily asks why he didn't turn to Winona, the family dog, for that, Big Mac reminds Snowflake of exactly who Applejack takes Winona to see for medical reasons.
- Cold Iron: Just as silver is the best metal for channeling unicorn magic, and copper the best metal for Pegasus magic, so iron is the natural vessel for earth magic.
- Cool Old Lady: Granny Smith may have her good and bad days, but she's still an impressive old mare. She even mentions in chapter 15 that she's spoken to ibexes — none of the other members of the Apple clan present have even heard of them.
- Crater Power: A potential ancient remnant of one. Canterlot's prison is partially housed within the curve of a vertical slice into the mountain: something which gives Snowflake a feeling of weakness just from looking at it. The current theory is that we might be looking at the actual site of the Great Nearly War.
- Determinator: Snowflake's talent combines this with a degree of Strong as They Need to Be; if he wants to achieve a physical task (and it has to be physical, it doesn't work for anything else), then his body will achieve it — if it's potentially within the ultimate limits of a pony body. The precise limits are unrevealed, but it allowed him to fly despite being physically too mangled to do so, and after he learns its true nature, he subconsciously notes that he could bust his way out of first Miranda Rights' special force-bubble prison, and then the "freezer" (a pegasus full-body restraint) that was custom built for him. This after getting into a fight with Big Mac and managing to physically overpower him — something that shouldn't be possible in the Continuum, even for a pony with Snowflake's extensive strength training.
- However, his ability to subconsciously manipulate vibrations in the soil comes directly from his earth pony essence. When brawling with Big Mac in chapter 10, Snowflake at one point throws Mac into a patch of soft earth — but, because he wants Mac to be hurt by this, the vibrations from Big Mac's impact aren't dispersed but instead rebound back into him, causing him to land much harder than natural.
- Driven to Suicide: After Akane's excommunication, the advocate warns Applejack that this trope is the almost-inevitable response of those earth ponies who have been cast out of the contract. And sure enough, later that chapter Akane attempts to drown herself in the bath.
- Duels Decide Everything: As of the most recent chapter, one may be about to do exactly that. Applejack has decided that the only way to get through is by calling challenge, and so a fosse is being dug out.
- Fantastic Racism: The core of Applejack and Snowflake's problem. Apples marry pure, to keep the magic strong, and Snowflake is a pegasus... at least, on the surface.
- Foreshadowing:
- At the start of chapter 17, Applejack reflects on how she beat the technically stronger but tradition-focused Igneous Pie by being more inventive and creatively flexible than he was. She beats Elstar in much the same way; using that creativity and willingness to innovate to overcome a foe who can't (or won't) step outside of the old ways of using Earth Pony magic.
- In chapter 16, despite being repeatedly scolded for doing so, it's noted that Akane refuses to take any care in following the procedure for digging the fosse dueling pit. She is also apathetic and waves it off when the Advocate asks her if she understands that interfering in the duel will be severely penalized in chapter 17. Sure enough, when her father loses, Akane throws a tantrum and begins collapsing the dueling pit on Applejack, because she doesn't care that she's breaking the rules — only that she isn't getting what she wants.
- Fridge Logic: Applejack has an in-universe moment in Chapter 15 when the Advocate brings out the combination device, wonder, and talisman used to secure a fosse against external interference, and for the first time it occurs to Applejack to wonder how such a thing could be made or recharged with the Secret in place.
- Gonk: A rare case where the subject calls it on himself. Snowflake's most charitable term for his own features is 'rough-hewn.'
- Hope Spot: In Chapter 19, while Applejack and Apple Bloom are cleaning the dirt off Akane, they tell her of stories Applejack had heard from the Advocate. Stories of places where even those who had been cast out of the contract can speak to the Earth and be heard, stories stating that those who had been cast out, if they found their way to one of these places, admitted their guilt, and made atonement, could be reinstated into the contract. But Akane's only response is to repeat, over and over, "You cheated."
- Hypocrite: In chapter 19, even Applejack can't stop herself from thinking on the audacity of Elstar Mutsu to claim that he would "raise Apple Bloom right" when his parental influence was responsible for Akane turning out the way she did — which, in turn, cost her everything that makes her an earth pony in her own eyes because she was so spoiled rotten she didn't hesitate to interfere with a fosse because she didn't like the result.
- It's All About Me:
- Akane's biggest flaw in a nutshell: she only cares about herself, what she thinks, and what she wants. It costs her... big time. Even after she loses her magic, she's still blaming Applejack for it and accusing her of cheating.
- After Akane loses her magic, Elstar joins her in blaming it on Applejack, and promises to slander her to the entire family, even after it's pointed out to her that the Advocate has already informed them of how Akane was the one who interfered and brought her punishment down on herself.
- Jerkass: There is not a single redeeming quality in either of the Mutsus.
- Elstar is a slimy, arrogant, self-righteous tribalist who denigrates Applejack's family for not being as close-minded as his own.
- Akane is even more self-righteous, has a hair-trigger temper, is confirmed as physically abusive, and basically only cares about herself and her desires. As elaborated under Take That!, she's basically comprised almost exclusively of every single perceived flaw in the character Akane Tendo, with the addition of being an Earth Pony supremacist on top of it.
- Meaningful Name:
- The first of Applejack's male relatives to arrive is Elstar Mutsu; both parts of his name are distinct breeds of apple (and are considered to be among the worst-tasting cultivars), and they also give a "Japanese" feel to his name (the Mutsu breed even originated in Japan), which ties him to his daughter, Akane.
- In addition to Akane's name serving as a Shout-Out, there is also a Japanese breed of apple called the Akane, which has a rather "love it or hate it" reputation — rather like the manga character herself.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- In chapter 4 "Dissonance", Applejack realizes too late that she has said too much when her anger over Big Mac refusing to accept her dating Snowflake leads her to remind Big Mac that she is the legal owner of Apple Acres due to their parents' will and not him and that if he won't accept her decision then he can just leave. Big Mac immediately decides to do just that.
- In chapter 10, after kicking Scootaloo, Big Mac is absolutely horrified about it. He spends much of chapter 11 verbally beating himself up for it.
- Never Mess with Granny: Downplayed; senility is eating away at her mind, so she has good days and bad days. But, when the day is good, Granny Smith's tools are potent enough to intimidate even Elstar Mutsu into shutting his mouth.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whatever the penalty for interfering in a fosse is, it scared Applejack enough that she made Apple Bloom swear by their mother and father not to interfere, something she hadn't asked for even for the Crusade.
- Which turns out to be justified fear when we see the penalty: the guilty pony has their magic taken away from them. Permanently.
- Parental Neglect: In chapter 10, Miranda Rights reveals she's not certain that Scootaloo's parents have lived in Ponyville for ages, or even if they've ever been in town, raising the specter that Scootaloo has been orphaned.Miranda Rights: "— while somepony gets her to a doctor. And somepony else finds her parents, if they're actually in town tonight." With fast-building fury, "If they've ever been —"
- Chapter 12 would finally offer The Reveal. Scootaloo has parents, and they send money every moon, but to all appearances, they haven't actually been in Ponyville for years.
- In Chapter 18, Miranda reveals that she's going to use Spike's help to distribute arrest warrants for Scootaloo's parents as a result.
- Partially Civilized Animal: This story is the first major look at the concept of tenant species: races which, while technically sapient, are still so ruled by their instincts that they are unable to maintain a civilization of their own and have to be integrated into the civilizations of the fully sapient to survive.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Subverted in chapter 14, when Applejack privately reflects that between Quiet Presence (whose arranged bride was a selfish, vapid, adulterous Gold Digger) and Akane Mutsu (whose fiance keeps running away and having to be dragged back by bounty hunters, which has resulted in the repeated suspension of the marriage ceremony due to lack of funds), one has all the evidence one needs that Arranged Marriages are a bad idea. (In a minor Ironic Echo, both arrangements seem to have been in the name of maintaining racial purity within the bloodline.)
- The Pig-Pen: The first of Applejack's relatives to arrive after Big Mac foolishly sends them letters about her wanting to date Snowflake is one Elstar Mutsu, who is described as looking like a "poorly groomed mudslide", due to a combination of lackluster personal hygiene and a rather unfortunate color scheme.The stallion was one generation older than Applejack: roughly the same age as her Daddy would have been — and that was the only similarity between living and lost. His coat put her in mind of soil, but it wasn't the kind of earth anypony voluntarily worked with. Something closer to clay than dirt, one of the alkali blends where the Cornucopia Effect wound up needing to put in some serious overtime. The mane was slicked close to the skull, and the clay tones made it seem like an inexpertly-rendered portion of the sculpture hadn't had the chance to set. The tail, however, was carried so high as to almost go backwards: portions of it were doing their best to arc over the spine. It was effectively trying to accomplish the same thing as the high-carried snout, only with slightly less disgusted sniffing.
- Prank Date: Snowflake went through a few as a teen, to the point where he just stopped showing up. The only reason he believes Applejack is being sincere about the request is because of Applejack — and even then, he quickly talks himself into believing Fluttershy put her up to it, in the name of boosting his self-esteem.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Apple Bloom gives Elstar Mutsu a short but succinct one after he declares that he wishes his victory terms to include formally adopting Apple Bloom away from her siblings and grandmother by calling him a "stinking piece of rancid horse apple smear full of half-eaten worms".
- The Reveal: Multiple ones occur over the course of this story.
- Snowflake learning about the hybrids — Doctor Gentle's experiments into infusing non-tribal essence into infant ponies — and the true nature of his talent.
- Doctor Gentle Arrival's fate since he was brought to the Princesses as a criminal after Triptych.
- Big Mac revealing that he's gay.
- Miranda Rights plans to have Scootaloo's parents arrested for neglect.
- Interfering in a fosse results in the guilty pony's magic being stripped away, seemingly permanently.
- Applejack is the first of the Maluses to learn that Big Mac is gay.
- Big Mac is the first non-Bearer to learn that Snowflake is a hybrid of pegasus and earth pony.
- Sanity Slippage: The prison chapter provides the first post-Triptych view of Doctor Gentle. As Celestia notes, he's not as subtle as he once was: there's a lot less self-control present. He's capable of being "normal" during the first minute of Snowflake's visit — and then the mask starts to fall away.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: In Chapter 12, Miranda finally openly admits what had long been speculated (in- and out-of-universe): that the Ponyville police department is under direct Celestial order to bend the law as far as it can be bent without actually breaking it in order to keep the Bearers out of jail — along with keeping both them and their families in Ponyville. Without the protective penumbra provided to the Crusaders, they would have been facing juvenile criminal charges years ago: fraud, theft, trespassing...
- Self-Deprecation: Another mental problem Snowflake has is serious body image issues: he thinks he's too unattractive for Applejack (or anypony else) to sincerely want to date him, and believes Fluttershy asked her to do it as a favor to him.
- Self-Made Orphan: Invoked and subverted in chapter 19; Rocksteady the Advocate doesn't believe that Akane had the intention of burying her father along with Applejack... she was just throwing a tantrum and didn't stop to think about the consequences of forcibly refilling the fosse pit to bury Applejack whilst he was down there too.
- Shockwave Stomp: It's becoming clear that Snowflake possesses some degree of this not from strength, but due to earth pony essence: he's channeling vibrations through the ground. The fight against Big Mac then proves he's capable of redirecting them.
- Shout-Out: In chapter 14, the first of Applejack's female kinsfolk to arrive is a mare named Akane, whose coloration (blue-black mane/tail & eyes against a coat of a yellow so pale it resembles "a particularly aged sort of white"), cutie mark (a distinctive wooden mallet), revealed status as being in an Arranged Marriage, and personality are all a clear evocation of Akane Tendo, the female protagonist of Ranma ½.note She's... not a particularly affectionate homage. See Take That!.
- The homage extends to Akane having two older sisters, with the Maluses privately noting that, whilst the eldest of the three is a perfectly fine young mare, the second is basically a female Flim & Flam team all on her own — an obvious reference to Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo, to those familiar with the manga.
- Square-Cube Law: As it turns out, Snowflake's been breaking it for years. Celestia is the one who finally shatters his self-imposed illusion, pointing out that gaining strength meant gaining mass, and no amount of physical power would allow partial amputations to catch wind for a glide. Snowflake's flight is directly powered by his talent: he gets into the air by essentially summoning a Surge as an adult, at will.
- Take That!: The mare named Akane is portrayed in an extremely unflattering light. Literally the first thing she does after getting off the train is deliberately act in a sexually alluring manner, only to then turn on and verbally abuse the first stallion to look at her... before verbally abusing the first stallion to look away from her. She reveals her fiance has run away from her, and implies she is going to physically assault him when she catches him, for the "crime" of being touched by another mare, and openly admits she didn't listen to a word he said to proclaim his innocence. The trope actually extends In-Universe, with Applejack noting that her sympathies directly lie with Akane's unnamed fiance, even going so far as to mentally proclaim Akane incapable of doing anything but making other ponies around her miserable. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, goes so far as openly calling out Akane when the latter mocks Applejack's ineptitude at securing a date by pointing out that Akane had to have her stallion set up with her by her father... though she is too polite to verbally bring up that Akane's marriage has been postponed several times now due to lack of funds, the money that was intended to pay for the ceremony having instead needing to be spent on paying bounty hunters to track her fiance down and drag him back after he ran away from Akane's abuse.
- Mention is also made that Akane's "middle sister" is, quote, "the only pony on the continent capable of making Flim and Flam look like models of ethical restraint."
- Theme Naming: As per Friendship is Magic tradition, Applejack's relatives are named after apples, albeit rather obscure ones. The Mutsus are also both named at least in part after Japanese apple cultivars.
- Too Dumb to Live: Akane's superiority issues, temper and selfishness all come back to bite her when she throws a tantrum at Applejack beating her father in a fosse... just before the Advocate has formally closed the fosse. This triggers the penalty backlash, which strips her of her magic in punishment.
- Wizard Duel: Chapter 15 gives us our first details on the fosse, with chapter 18 adding a few more:
- Fosses are supervised by an Advocate. Each settlement has one, chosen in secret by the previous Advocate. Ponyville's is Rocksteady, the second-in-command at the police station.
- The dueling arena is secured against outside interference by a special artifact, a combination device, wonder, and talisman. Each of the three pieces detects the approach of a pony of the associated tribe. Earth ponies are permitted to approach but not to interfere, but if a non-earth-pony approaches, both sides are required to halt the duel and work together to cover up the arena. Failure to do so, or attacking during this time, causes forfeiture.
- Prior to a fosse, each side must "sing" for the Advocate, which is apparently intended to confirm that they aren't being tricked or coerced into the duel, as well as allowing the Advocate to detect if either side is using a booster drug.
- Each party must then name their stakes for the duel, which must be in balance. (The challenger is free to demand just about anything, but the more they ask for, the more the challenged party can ask for in turn). If the Advocate determines that the stakes are in balance, the seconds must then ratify them.
- In the case of Applejack's duel with Elstar, Applejack declares that if she wins the duel, she and all other members of her immediate family will be free to date or marry as they wish, without any interference from the greater Apple Clan. Elstar, in turn, declares that should he win the duel, Applejack will be required to marry someone of his choosing, and he will receive full legal parental custody of Apple Bloom.
- Should the fosse be fought, the results are sealed into the earth where the duel was fought, forming what is implied to be a Magically-Binding Contract that forces both sides to abide by the stated terms. Notably, this seal is binding on all earth ponies, not just those that actually fought in the fosse.
- Fosses can be fought to first blood, to unconsciousness, or to death, the challenger chooses which. Either party can also surrender at any time.
- The duelists are forbidden from debating (asking the earth to not do what the other party requested), but are otherwise free to use any tool or other ability they are capable of, including physical attack.
- After completing the fosse, the Advocate is charged with formally sealing the result, which formally closes the Magically-Binding Contract — until this is done, the fosse's magic remains open and in effect.
- Interference in a fosse, and presumably otherwise breaking the terms, results in an earth pony being stripped of their magic.
- Would Hurt a Child: In chapter 19, "Morendo", Elstar comes within a hair of hitting Apple Bloom for talking back to him by revealing that Akane's disgracing herself and costing her own magic has already been revealed to the rest of the Apple family. Granny Smith stops him dead in his tracks, quite bluntly threatening to kill him if he strikes her granddaughter.
- Wrong Context Magic: Invoked at least in spirit; Applejack wins the fosse because she remembers things she learned about pegasus and unicorn magic from her friends on the recent mission and applies that knowledge to her own spellcasting, creating innovative new requests that the traditionalistic Elstar just can't comprehend or counter.
