Yeah, please avoid spewing hate, kay thanks bye. Constructive criticism only, please.
Twilight Sparkle stretched as she left her tree-home in the morning. “So, Twilight, what are we going to do today?” her dragon friend, Spike, asked from on her back. “Well, Spike, I was thinking about visiting Applejack today… I wanted to see if I could help Big Macintosh and her with their whole apple-delivery thing they have today.” Spike grinned and replied, “And maybe they’ll give us a few!” Twilight scoffed and shook her head. “Oh Spike, we’re gonna help out because we’re friends. We’re not going to ask them to give us something in return…” She said as she set out for Applejack’s family farm. Along the way, Spike tapped her on the shoulder. “What is it now, Spike?” He pointed over towards Rarity’s home. “Something’s up with Rarity… she’s talking with another random pony…” Twilight turned her head towards where Spike pointed out, and she saw what he was talking about.
Rarity was standing outside of her shop-home, talking with a pony Twilight had never seen before. He had a black body with a white mane, and he had a cutie mark that looked like a cotton ball. Twilight had read about them in one of her many books: they were used to make cloth for clothing. “Oh no, Rarity seems to be worried about something…” Twilight remarked, and Spike jumped up on her back. “Maybe it’s the pony she’s talking to! Maybe he’s being rude! Let’s investigate!” Spike tried to jump over Twilight’s head, but she caught him by the tail. “Don’t you see? She’s laughing. I’m sure you’re just being overactive.” Twilight sternly said as she dropped him onto the ground. A look from Spike caused her to sigh. “We’ll ask once the other pony leaves.”
That happened about a minute later. The pony trotted off, and Rarity went back inside her home, but not until the pony had given Rarity some bags. Twilight trotted over to Rarity’s place, and knocked. “Oh, come in!” Rarity’s voice called, “I might need some time before I can help you though!” Twilight stepped into Rarity’s home and watched as Rarity was levitating some fabric in front of her. The fabric seemed to be coming from the bags she had gotten from the pony. “Um… Rarity? What is all this?” Rarity spun at recognizing Twilight’s voice. “Oh, darling, you’re just not going to believe this!” Twilight’s eyebrow rose as she asked, “I’m not gonna believe what? I mean, I HAVE seen Fluttershy get upset before.”
Rarity shook her head. “This isn’t that kind of unbelievable, Twilight! I have just received fabric from the great Weaver himself! He produces high-quality fabrics for only the most amazing of designers in all of Equestria!” Twilight frowned, not understanding. “And that pony standing outside your door was…?” Rarity seemed to grow even more excited. “Yes, yes! That was Weaver! He normally has quite outlandish prices. However, after Hoity-Toity featured those dresses of mine in his shop, Weaver came here personally! He said that he hadn’t realized that there were excellent designers with not too much money, so he wanted to give me a special discount on everything! He even brought me these for free!”
Twilight still didn’t quite understand. “Why is he so expensive?” Rarity tossed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Weaver hand-weaves every bolt of fabric… it’s quite remarkable! He puts out quite a large amount of fabric, and he will even create rugs on rare occasion! His fabric is notoriously difficult to ruin… icing, sweet tea, and even melted chocolate won’t even leave so much as a stain!” Twilight tilted her head to the side. “And this is why you’re so excited?” Rarity shook her head: “No, no, no, Twilight! That isn’t even the half of it! Weaver gave me an order for semi-formal to formal clothing, and he promised to provide all the materials! This will be a fantastic opportunity for me to help my designing image even further!”
Twilight frowned. “Well, is it really fair for him to give you everything? Isn’t he going to pay you as well?” Rarity nodded. “You are quite right, Twilight. I believe I should help make his job easier. First, however, I must put all this new fabric away where it belongs.” It took Rarity fifteen minutes to put everything away, whereupon Twilight asked, “Have you decided what to make him?” Rarity nodded. “From what I know about Weaver, especially from meeting him, what stands out most is that he’s very humble. He’s also extremely polite. I do not believe that he would enjoy formal clothing too much, so I shall endeavor to make a semi-formal outfit for him. I will most likely need some thread, as I have been running out of black and white threads.”
The pair left Rarity’s home nice and clean, and they were about to go hunt down the necessary thread when they heard Applejack’s voice call, “Hello ya’ll!” Twilight turned towards Applejack, replying, “Hello there, Applejack!” She then suddenly smacked her hoof into her face, before saying, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I was gonna help you, but then Rarity…” Applejack approached before Rarity could grow indignant. “Naw, Twiligh’, it’s all good. Big Macintosh is helpin’ me after all. Between the two of us, we should be able to get all the apples to Granny Smith by the end of the day.” As if on cue, Big Macintosh came into view carrying a large quantity of apples in twin baskets on his back. He lumbered towards where Twilight assumed Granny Smith would be, and was about to say goodbye before Applejack cut her off.
“Oh, an’ by the way, Twiligh’… I think somepony’s been following Big Macintosh an’ me. He got behind us halfway down the road an’ tried to stay outta sight. He was all black n’ white, and he seemed to have some packs on his back.” Twilight frowned, but before she could speak, Rarity hurriedly stepped in. “I’m sure you are overreacting, Applejack. I’m quite sure you two will be fine.” Applejack shrugged and said, “I dunno, Rarity, but I guess you’re righ’. I better catch up with ma’ brother, righ’?” She turned and trotted off to meet up with Big Macintosh, and Twilight turned to talk with Rarity. “It can’t possibly be…” Rarity shook her head. “Surely our dear Weaver was simply returning to my shop…” “Hey! Ms. Rarity! I’ve got what you wanted!”
Twilight turned to find the pony from before trotting down a hill, a small pack on his back. Twilight realized that his eyes were a dull gray, a color she had never seen in ponies’ eyes before. “You needed some thread, extra black, and some white too, right?” Rarity nodded. “Thank you, Weaver. I also needed some gray silk as well, though…” Weaver rubbed his forehead with one hoof, sighing. “I knew I forgot something, I’m sorry.” “Oh, it’s quite alright, Weaver. It was for the end parts of the outfit anyway.” Rarity assured the pony, as Twilight stepped forward. “Um… you are Mr. Weaver, right?” Weaver nodded, before saying, “Yes, I am. May I ask your name?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, and I had a question. Why were you following Applejack and her brother, Big Macintosh?”
Rarity made a movement to shush Twilight, but it was too late. Weaver’s eyes widened as he stepped back a pace. “That’s his name?” Weaver then shook his head and mane, before rapidly saying, “WellI’msorrybutIdon’tknowwhatyou’retalkingaboutsoIbettergivethesefabricsandthreadstoRarityherethereyougo,comeagain,I’llbebackintwodaysthankyouverymuchmadamoisellejusttellmeifyouhaveanotherorderformekaythanksbye.” In one swift motion, Weaver flipped the bags over his head in an arc, landing the sealed bags at Rarity’s feet with a thump before he wheeled and ran off. Twilight stretched out a hoof and called out, “No! Come back!” She wasn’t quick enough, though: he was already out of sight.
“What was that all about?” Twilight asked, and Spike quickly hopped up onto her head. “Did you see that? How nervous he got when asked about Applejack? Suspicious!” Spike exclaimed before Twilight levitated him back onto her back. “Oh, dears, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Rarity murmured before opening the bag to check its contents. “Oh dear… our friend Murmur forgot something.” Twilight shrugged and looked at where he had run off to. “Maybe we could ask him about the whole Applejack thing if we went to ask him about what he had forgotten.” Twilight suggested, but was surprised when Rarity put her foot down rather roughly. “No! You shall not press him, Twilight! I do not want him too upset when I show him what I’ve created, and what you are doing will certainly upset him!”
Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset, but fine, I understand. Still, should we get what you need from him?” Rarity nodded. “I’ll just close up shop for a while until we return.” That process took a few minutes, but they were ready to go. They followed the general path he took, and soon came across a large red barn-like building. “Hm… I had heard that Weaver had relocated, but I hadn’t realized that it was this close to Ponyville!” Rarity reflected, and Twilight found a door into the building. “Here, Rarity.” Twilight volunteered, and she knocked. Surprisingly, a woman’s voice called out to her, “Come on in!” Twilight opened the door and entered, followed closely by Rarity. What they found inside was a series of tubs with various color liquids in them, as in those liquids floated thread and yarn. Off to the side there was a loom, and a pony was standing next to it.
The pony was white with a black mane. Her cutie mark was brown with white wrapped around it… it looked like a spindle, or at least, that’s what Rarity called it. “Oh, how can I help you two?” the pony asked as she turned around, revealing that she was a unicorn. Before Twilight had an opportunity to open her mouth, Rarity spoke first. “I’m so sorry, we didn’t mean to intrude, Ms…” The unicorn smiled, “I’m Spinner. I’m Weaver’s partner in crime… or business, to be accurate.” Rarity nodded, “Well, Ms. Spinner, Weaver asked me to create some clothes for him, and… well, he forgot to get me some black and gray thread.” Spinner smiled before saying, “Oh, you’re the pony he worked with back when he was little!”
Twilight’s eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. “When he was little? I thought you said you never met Weaver.” Rarity frowned. “I don’t remember meeting him before…” Spinner chuckled before saying, “Oh, that’s why you don’t recognize him. Weaver isn’t his real name, you know. His real name used to be something like Emperor… Ruby? Opal? Or maybe Emerald?” Rarity gasped, suddenly exclaiming, “Emperor Jewel! Oh my goodness, I never for a minute believed that he had gotten so successful…” Twilight frowned. “So, you do know him?” Rarity nodded vigorously. “Why yes, I do. He was the cutest little thing when I was a filly. He and I worked together on several clothing projects. He had the most remarkable eye for design, patterns, and fabric quality. His only downfall was… he couldn’t think up proper designs for anything. He helped me decide on costumes and fabrics when I got my cutie mark. He still hadn’t gotten his yet…”
Just then a door nearby Spinner opened and a male pony trotted in. “Well, Spinner, the rabbits are all…” He opened his eyes and noticed Twilight and Rarity standing there, and he got taken aback. He was brown with a slightly darker brown mane. Upon closer inspection of the pony, Twilight realized that he had a rabbit for a cutie mark. “Oh, I’m so sorry for interrupting, Spinner… I’ll go now…” The pony stammered as he hurried through the door Twilight and Rarity had entered through. “Who was that?” Twilight asked, and though Spinner began talking, Rarity cut her off. “Oh, him I know. His name is Murmur. He was a friend of Emperor Je… I mean, Weaver, back when we were in school.” Spinner nodded. “He takes care of the silkworms and rabbits Weaver keeps here.”
Twilight noted that Murmur seemed to have a definite objective, and now that she knew he was friends with Weaver, she figured that Spinner must know something. “Spinner, I don’t mean to sound abrupt, but do you happen to know if there is someone Weaver has an interest in?” Rarity seemed ready to scream at Twilight, but Spinner quickly intervened. “No, not that I know of. Now, madam Rarity, I believe we have a discussion to hold on needed thread.” Rarity nodded and the two trotted off to discuss it. Twilight sighed and turned around. No luck with Spinner, but maybe… maybe Murmur, one of Weaver’s longtime friends, would be willing to explain it to her. This goal in mind, Twilight set off, determined to follow Murmur back to Weaver.
She had some success, getting onto Murmur’s trail fairly quickly. She was about to call his attention when Weaver’s voice called out to Murmur. She ran into a bush, and saw Weaver walking up to meet Murmur. “Murmur, I’ve got great news! I found her for you!” Murmur stepped back. “Oh no, Weaver… what did you tell her???” Weaver laughed lightheartedly. “I didn’t say anything, silly. She’s just down the road: you really should talk to her.” Murmur shook his head, but it wasn’t enough to sway the earth pony. He lightly gripped Murmur’s hoof and began dragging a weakly protesting Murmur to meet ‘her’. Twilight followed at a distance: he might be talking about Applejack. The case was solved!
…Or not. The ‘she’ Weaver was talking about was actually Fluttershy. She was talking to some birds by the side of the road, and Weaver and Murmur hid behind bushes. “C’mon, Murmur, talk to her! She’ll never say yes if you never ask!” Murmur shook his head. “No, no, she’ll think I’m weird!” Weaver chuckled and said, “Nonsense!” before pushing Murmur out of the bush and into Fluttershy’s field of vision. Murmur walked up in front of Fluttershy in a very cautious manner. “Um… I was wondering… would you want to come and say hi to a few rabbits I know?” There was silence for several seconds, and Murmur looked like he instantly regretted talking.
“Oh, why, I’d love to!” Fluttershy responded softly, with a tiny glint of excitement in her eye. Murmur smiled ever so slightly, and the two began to walk off, Murmur leading the way to Weaver’s place. Weaver made a celebratory movement with his leg and hoof, as Murmur’s fading voice said, “Oh, and my name’s Murmur… nice to meet you…” Smiling, Twilight walked towards Weaver, raising her voice to call, “Hey, Mister Weaver?” Weaver’s ears perked up at her voice, and upon seeing that it was, in fact, Twilight, he seemed to be thrown into a panic. “Aaaah, what do you want from me?” He asked in a voice that seemed to be tinged with panic. “Calm down… I only want to find out about Applejack…” Weaver’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Oh no, here they come!” He leaped into the bushes, and Twilight turned to see who he was talking about.
It was, once again, Applejack and her big brother. The two were walking at an identical pace this time, and Big Macintosh was carrying a whole cart. “Hey there, Twilgh’. How ya’ll doin’?” Applejack asked as she stopped by Twilight, Big Macintosh continuing on his way. “I’m doing well, thank you Applejack… just, I think I have discovered who it was that was following you.” Applejack started as Big Macintosh started going downhill and out of sight. “Well, who in blue blazes was it?” Twilight pointed at Weaver’s hiding spot. “He’s in there, and his name is Weaver.” She said, and as if on cue, Weaver stuck his head out of the bush. “Are they gone…?” He asked before laying eyes on Applejack. Before he could speak, the interrogation had begun.
“Jus’ who do you think you are, stalking a pony like that! Why, I have never before met so rude a pony! Jus’ why in tarnation were you following me, gosh darn it?” Applejack asked, getting very close to Weaver’s face. Twilight got close as well, asking, “Yeah, I’ve been wondering that too, Weaver.” Weaver’s eyes darted from Applejack to Twilight and back again. “But… I wasn’t stalking YOU, miss. I wouldn’t dream of doing something like that to such a nice pony as yourself…” “Well, then, why were you following me?” she pressed. “That’s just the thing! I wasn’t following you…” Weaver seemed to instantly regret what he said, and Applejack and Twilight were confounded. “Nah…” “…her?” Applejack and Twilight said in tandem, and Weaver bolted as they were trying to understand.
“Gah, for such a lil’ pony, that Weaver feller runs fast!” Applejack said, but Twilight didn’t notice. “He said he wasn’t following you… but he was exactly behind you and Big Macintosh, and when you two came around the bend, he immediately hid.” Applejack placed her hoof right beneath her chin. “He’s hidin’ somethin’ alright. But what…” Twilight frowned. “I’m not sure. I do know, though, that he’ll be at Rarity’s place in two days…” Applejack looked excited. “Good. Let’s meet there in two days. I have a plan.” She immediately set off, her job with her apples taking precedence over everything else. Twilight just sighed and muttered to herself, “Well, I guess I’ll find out in two days.”
Two days later, Twilight walked towards Rarity’s shop, slightly apprehensive. She had only noticed Applejack’s determined look after she had woken up the day before, and it worried her. She trotted toward the shop, noticing that Weaver was coming out of the trees near the shop. He took ten steps towards the shop, and a rope lashed out from the bushes, wrapping around his neck. He took on a look of panic as Applejack walked out of the bushes, the rope tied to her tail. “Now we’ve got you, ya no good stalking pony!” Applejack exclaimed as Twilight ran to catch up to her. “Now, start talkin’!” Weaver shook his head, looking a little scared. “No… I can’t… I won’t!” Applejack stood closer. “Talk!”
Weaver shook his head. “What do you want from me? I’ve told you that I wasn’t following you, and that I never intended to do anything of the sort!” Applejack frowned. “But why my family?” Weaver seemed too reluctant to talk, and Applejack was getting impatient. “C’mon, pony, explain!” Weaver sighed. “It wasn’t you… it was your brother. I was following Big Macintosh, okay?” Now Applejack was getting defensive. “What do you mean, Big Macintosh? What were ya gonna do, try ta hurt him or somethin’?” Weaver looked horrified. “Never! I would never dream of doing anything to Big Macintosh…” He kicked the ground, looking sad.
He didn’t talk for two minutes, even though Applejack was continuously trying to get him to explain more. In fact, the only time he spoke was when those two minutes were up. “I helped Murmur meet Fluttershy… why can’t I meet who I like?” Twilight squinted, saying, “What was that?” “You heard that?” Weaver asked, panic-stricken. “I told you what was going on, okay? Can I just go and pick up my order from Rarity? Please?” Applejack glared at him, and then huffed. “Fine, I guess.” She used her teeth to loosen the lasso’s knot, and Weaver slipped out. “Thank you…” Weaver said, with a mix of anger and sadness, and he hurried up to Rarity’s place.
“Jus’ what do you think he meant by all that, Twilight?” Applejack asked, confounded, just after Weaver left with his things. “I have no idea, Applejack… I’ve never read of anything like this in any of my books… I knew I should’ve read that Psychology book sooner!” Twilight complained, but was cut off by Applejack, “We ain’t got time for your books, Twilight. We have to find out what to do about this… I still don’t trust him.” Twilight sighed. “You know, we could just ask our other friends what they think about this whole thing…” Applejack thought about it, and then nodded. “You’re righ’, Twiligh’. You can ask Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and I’ll find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” “Meet up at Sugarcube Corner once we’re done… we’ve really got to get to the bottom of this.”
Applejack trotted off, heading to where she seemed to think Rainbow Dash would be. Twilight walked up to Rarity’s door and knocked gently. “Come on in!” Rarity’s voice called. Twilight walked in, and Rarity saw her. “So, Twilight, I have a funny story… Weaver came to pick up his clothes today, you know.” Twilight nodded, “Yeah, and about Weaver…” Rarity talked over her, “And he seemed pretty upset… sort of like when you were so rude two days ago.” “Rude? But I wasn’t trying to…” “You were being far too cruel and persistent with him. Why, I have never…” “Rarity!” Twilight yelled, cutting off the unicorn’s tirade. “Rarity, I understand that I was being a bit rude, but I was just trying to help Applejack. And speaking of which…” Twilight proceeded to tell Rarity all that had happened with Weaver since Rarity stayed with Spinner.
When she was done, Rarity scratched her chin thoughtfully. After a pause, she said, “I’m not sure what he meant by that. Perhaps he… wants to be friends with Big Macintosh?” Twilight shook her head. “I’m not sure it’s that simple… anyway, Applejack and I have decided that we are going to end this today.” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “And what does that mean, exactly?” Twilight shrugged. “Exactly what it says on the tin. I want to make it so Applejack isn’t worried and Weaver has been calmed… and doesn’t freak out whenever I get near him.” Rarity sighed and shook her head. “Too late for that, dear.” “Anyway, Rarity, we were going to meet at Sugarcube Corner… could you lend a hoof to creating a solution?” Rarity sighed once more. “I suppose… you’re going to do something or other anyway, so I might as well come and help.”
The two of them left Rarity’s shop and set off for Sugarcube Corner. When they arrived they were treated to the delightful sounds of… Pinkie Pie. The earth pony was bouncing all around the place, preparing sweets to help out Mr. and Mrs. Cake. “Um… Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Could Rarity and I borrow Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked politely and Mrs. Cake replied, “Of course, dearie.” Pinkie Pie bounced toward Twilight in her usual odd manner, and said, “Hi Twilight! Hi Rarity! What’s going on?” “Well, Pinkie…” Twilight began, and recounted everything to her. When she was finished, Pinkie Pie put her hoof under her chin, taking on an oddly serious thinking pose. “AHAH! I’ve got it!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly. “What? You’ve got what?” Twilight asked, and Pinkie Pie smiled broadly. “I know what it is!”
She stayed quiet for a full minute, and Twilight’s eyebrow rose into the air. “And that is?” “You don’t get it? It’s so obvious! Weaver has a crush on Big Macintosh!” Twilight and Rarity stood stunned by Pinkie Pie’s version of events. Rarity was the first to recover, “That’s preposterous, Pinkie! I’ve known Weaver since he was Emperor Jewel!” Pinkie pointed a hoof accusingly. “Did he ever flirt with any of the fillies? Was he or was he not a very shy pony near other colts? It’s so obvious! He’s shy around Big Macintosh, has been following him, and even compared him to Fluttershy… and you saw yourself how Murmur behaved to Fluttershy!”
Twilight recovered second. “That’s… quite a stretch, Pinkie Pie. Isn’t it possible he just wants to be friends?” Pinkie closed one eye and glared at Twilight with the other. “Do YOU think that he just wants to be friends?” Twilight sighed. “…No… I don’t. But how do you think Applejack will respond… or even Big Macintosh?” “How’ll she respond to what?” a voice asked from above. The three ponies looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering above them. “Oh, Rainbow Dash! Applejack found you!” Twilight exclaimed, and Rainbow nodded. “Yup, I’m ready to do whatever I need to do to help out Applejack. She’ll be along in a bit… she said she had already found Fluttershy.” “Yup, I did! She said that she had an idea of how to help…” Applejack’s voice said, and the four ponies turned to see her trot up to them.
“Well, girls, I think I’ve figured out what to do. Pinkie has presented a plausible possibility, and I think that it’s the one we have to bet on…” Twilight began, but Rainbow interrupted, “Pinkie had a believable idea?” Rarity nodded, “Believe it or not, Rainbow Dash. But first, let’s listen to Twilight… it sounds like she has a plan.” Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Rarity. So, I believe what we have to do is get the two of them to meet. It’ll be easy if we just work together.”
“Firstly, Pinkie. Ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake if we can hold the meeting here. It would make it easier for Fluttershy to find us if her side plan works. Next, Applejack. We need you to retrieve Big Macintosh: he’ll be more likely to come if you ask him. Next up is Rarity. You can use your magic to help me make a signal for Rainbow Dash, when Big Mac has gotten here. Finally, Rainbow Dash: Catch Weaver. He’s smaller than most colts and stallions, so he should be pretty easy for you to pick up.” All four of her friends nodded, and set off for their tasks. Applejack hurried off for her farm while Pinkie Pie hopped into Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash took off for the sky, and Rarity set to work beginning a signal. “And now I just hope that this doesn’t get messed up.”
Weaver sat alone in a clearing. He sighed sadly, looking up at the sun. “I was able to help Murmur… why can’t I help myself? I could just talk to him, but… I’m too afraid to. But…” He just sighed again, looking down. “Hey. Weaver, right?” a voice said from above him. “Huh?” He looked up to see a pegasus with rainbow colored hair flying above him. “Why, yes, I’m Weaver… why?” The pegasus -a girl, he realized- grinned. “Good. Found you quickly.” The pegasus swept down, catching Weaver by surprise. She picked him up quite easily, and she said, “Wow, you ARE pretty light!” She took off with him in her hooves, and he began to panic. “What? Why? Why are you-?” The pegasus grinned, “Oh, you’ll find out. It’s a surprise.”
The pegasus took a defeated Weaver to a small store in Ponyville… Weaver remembered that it was called Sugarcube Corner. “Why’re you taking me here?” Weaver asked, and the pegasus shrugged. “You’ll find out, I told you.” The pegasus dropped Weaver at the door, and pushed him in, where he bumped into Rarity. “Rarity?” Weaver asked, and Rarity smiled. “Come here, Weaver. We have someone we’d like you to meet.” “Huh?” Weaver asked, as he noticed other ponies in the room too. The rainbow haired one had come in and was standing next to a pink earth pony, who was standing next to the persistent unicorn. Across the room was the orange pony -Applejack, he remembered- standing next to… oh Celestia… it was Big Macintosh himself.
Weaver began backing up towards the door, his growing blush being hidden by his black coat. He heard the door behind him open and he bumped into someone. “No, no, I can’t… please don’t…” Weaver stammered, scared out of his mind. “Mister Weaver… someone wants to talk with you…” a soft voice said behind him, and he realized it was Fluttershy. He wheeled and found Murmur behind him, with Fluttershy at his side. Murmur gave him a warm, comforting smile. “You helped me, Weaver… I’m here to help you.” He gestured to something on his back: it was a folded up piece of cloth. “C’mon, Weaver… I know you can do it.” Murmur picked up the cloth and put it on Weaver’s back. Weaver could only smile weakly back at his old friend. “Is this…” Murmur nodded. “It is. It’s what you said you wanted to get done as soon as possible. I just hope it’s finished to your standards…” Weaver mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Murmur, and then turned to Big Macintosh, taking in a deep breath.
Weaver walked forward, standing face to face with Big Macintosh. “Hello… my name is Weaver…” Weaver quietly squeezed out, and was surprised to hear a calm, “Hello there, Weaver. My name’s Big Macintosh.” Weaver gulped and turned his neck to motion at what was on his back. “I… uh… made this for you, Big Macintosh… it’s a little gift, nothing much.” “Can we see it too?” Rarity asked, “I’ve been wondering how you’ve improved, Weaver.” Weaver seemed surprised, “Uh, actually…” Murmur smiled and nodded. “Go ahead, it’s excellent. One of his best works yet.” Weaver made a feeble attempt to shush Murmur, but Rarity had already levitated the work into the air and unfurled it.
Everypony in the room gasped as the fabric unfurled, excepting only Murmur and Weaver, who had ashamedly backed into Big Macintosh by accident. It was a huge blanket, the base of which was a off-black color. It was dual layered, hiding the real contents behind the black background. The blanket’s border was a veritable cascade of apples of every shape, size, and species. They were so realistic, they looked like they might fall out of the fabric any minute! The lifelike apples were framing four scenes: each was an image of an apple field, but each looked radically different. The top left one was bright and green, like spring. The top right one had apples in the trees, like in summer. The bottom left one had brown and red leaves, like autumn. The final one was covered in white, like in the midst of winter.
“Why, look at all them apples!” Applejack exclaimed. “There’s Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Russet… and so many… are those McIntosh apples?” Weaver kicked the ground in embarrassment. “Yeah…” “Oh look, there are ponies in the pictures!” Pinkie exclaimed and Twilight took a closer look. “Pinkie’s right! I think that Big Macintosh is in the spring panel… is he caring for saplings?” Weaver nodded timidly, but the others didn’t notice. “Oh, and there’s Applejack and Big Macintosh apple-bucking in the summer panel!” Rainbow Dash noted. And how right she was. “Oh, is that Big Macintosh wrapping up the saplings in the autumn panel?” Rarity asked, but before Weaver could agree, Applejack finished the analysis off. “And there’s me an’ Big Macintosh preparing for Winter Wrap Up!”
Rarity turned to Weaver, “My goodness, Weaver… this must have taken you ages!” Weaver blushed and lightly kicked the floor with his hoof. “It took me three days…” “I don’t think he slept,” Murmur stated, and Weaver shrugged. “It was for Big Macintosh, and it would’ve turned out terrible anyway…” Rarity shook her head. “Nonsense, Weaver! This is magnificent!” Weaver shrugged. “I think it could have been better…” Applejack squinted at him. “Did you really make tha’ fo’ ma’ big brother?” Weaver hung his head in shame. “Yeah… it’s terrible, isn’t it?” He was suddenly turned around, and brought facing Big Macintosh. “Thank ya’ll kindly. It’s wonderful.” Big Macintosh told Weaver, eliciting a blush from the black coated pony. Twilight grinned and said, “Mission successful! Thank you girls…” Pinkie Pie began clapping excitedly.
“I told you, Twilight! It was a crush, plain and simple!” Pinkie Pie whispered to the group of friends. “Wait wait wait just a minute there, Pinkie Pie. What do you mean, a crush?” Applejack interjected, and Pinkie smiled. “It’s simple! That pony,” she pointed at Weaver, “is in love with that pony!” she pointed at Big Macintosh. Applejack looked horrified, “Oh, what the hay have we done, Twiligh’?” Pinkie giggled and continued, “It might even be mutual!” Applejack turned and horror to find Weaver nudging Big Macintosh’s neck, and the bigger pony seemed completely unperturbed. “What’s wrong, Applejack? I mean… friendship is magic, and love is just a more complex form of friendship… so what’s wrong with it?” Fluttershy asked as Murmur gently nuzzled her side. “Ah… guess you’re righ’, Fluttershy… ah’m sorry, I just… wasn’t expecting it is all…” Applejack muttered.
The group broke up shortly afterwards, in order to leave Big Macintosh and Weaver to talk. Rarity gave the blanket back to Weaver, who officially presented it to Big Macintosh. Everyone else returned home. Especially Twilight, who returned to find a sleeping Spike. Spike was her friend: a baby dragon, to be precise. “Hey, Spike, wake up. I have a message for Princess Celestia.” Spike groaned and rolled out of bed, replying with a, “You can’t just let me sleep, can you?” Twilight chuckled and joked, “Nope!” Spike sighed and took out a piece of parchment and feather.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that not every pony is alike, and that friends can help you gather the courage to do something you could never manage on your own. Applejack learned, I think, that it’s important to accept others for who they are, even if who they are isn’t what you expected them to be. Finally, I learned that it’s important not to jump to conclusions about other ponies: there is more to them than what meets the eye.
From your most faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle”
Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:20 pm
