Blooming Talent 2: The Apple Falls Far

"Its a lovely day, is it not?" Princess Luna said, trying to strike up conversation with the namekian walk in beside her.

Piccolo merely grunted and continued to stare forward as they walked down the path leading towards their destination.

"Piccolo..." She started. "You've been very quiet since we got that letter yesterday...its only a summit; a meeting of leaders to discuss business."

"Business. Right." The namekian finally spoke. "Governments only call things like this when some of the leaders feel they have less power than another leader and don't like it. This is just a big political game, and I'm not sure I'm going to like how it turns out."

"That isn't always true, Piccolo."

"And when exactly was the last time a summit was called, Luna?" He questioned.

"Well..." She spoke, her face scrunching into a thinking one. "That would be right after Discord was reformed. "

"And what was the topic then?"

"How to...make sure we didn't use Discord to gain some kind of overhand on the other countries..." She admitted.

"And after all that time, now they want another summit. After Goten, Trunks, and I have established ourselves here. I'm frankly surprised this didn't happen sooner." The namekian huffed. "I bet they just want to make sure we don't invade or whatever it is they think we'll do to them."

Luna gave him astern look. He was always paranoid, and specifically so. "You know, dearest, you have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions."

Piccolo turned to the alicorn with a mildly incredulous look on his face. "What do you mean?"

The duo stopped in the middle of the path and faced each other. The only sound for a few moments was the leaves rustling in the lush trees that surrounded them on either side of the pathway.

"Take for instance when you destroyed the Dragon Balls..."

Piccolo growled under breath. " I thought you and I were in agreeance it needed to be done. After that brawl in Ponyville last year..."

Luna put a hoof to the namekian's mouth so as to speak. She knew he'd just keep talking if she didn't say this now.

"I agreed that fighting over them was ridiculous, and that indeed they were dangerous...but we had promised Apple Bloom that specific wish. Even if we did destroy them anyway, we could've let her make the wish then and there and then found some other way to deal with them." She told him calmly.

Once she let go of Piccolo's mouth, he almost instantly started speaking again in an annoyed tone. "That would be like giving a spoiled child a treat after shed been acting up! Rewarding that kind of behavior is just wrong, promise or not. There were many other less violent ways she couldve handled it."

"How can you know, dearest? Were you there when the conflict initiated?"

"No I...." He stopped for a moment.

No, he hadn't been there at the start of the fighting, nor had he let Apple Bloom explain things. Perhaps she did have a legitimate reason for doing what she did, but he felt it was highly unlikely. "Besides, I didn't see you stopping me at all."

She furrowed her brow a little at this. "I said nothing because you were the creator of the Balls, and I felt you would do what you felt needed to be done. That does not mean I completely agree with your methods. Besides...you are a grown being, Piccolo. You shouldn't need me to tell you what to do."

Piccolo looked down at the ground for a few moments before speaking again. "So you're saying...I should have just let it happen then?"

She shook her head gracefully. "No, dearest, I'm saying you should have practiced what you preached and compromised..."

Silence once again felt between the couple as the wind even died down to little more than a breath from nature. Perhaps Piccolo had handled it wrong; Apple Bloom just wanted to see her family again. But still, she could've probably found another way around the situation, right? Besides, if he'd let her have her wish after all that, then how would the other ponies think of her...or of him?

Why was it so hard to just accept his decision?

"Come, Piccolo, we do not want to be tardy." Luna finally interjected, placing the brakes on his train of thought.

He nodded, and they continued walking; the namekian was going to have some serious thinking to do now...but then again, he already had been before this...

***

Apple Bloom smiled as she watched her son Carrot Apple try to stand up on his own. The young anthropomorph was near the spitting image of Big Mac, with the exception of his black mane and tail; that was from Goten. And it wasn't just his looks; the little tyke's attitude was about the same as her late older brother as well. She often wondered how he got to looking so much like Big Macintosh. Must just be in the blood.

Carrot succeeded in staying upright for a full two seconds before plopping back down and giving a dissatisfied grunt.

"Ah, Big Mac...if only you could see him...and Applejack too..." Apple Bloom mused as she watched her son go for what seemed like the hundredth attempt. "C'mon, Carrot. You can do it."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her husband Goten and Princess Cadence conversing on the edge of the path leading to the house. The sight of Shining Armor's wife made her face heat up a bit with anger. She hasn't forgiven that stallion for what he'd cost her a year ago.

As the two finished talking, Goten walked up to his family. His smile faded when he saw his wife's expression, and he stood back a few feet.

"What did she want?" Apple Bloom asked bluntly, picking up Carrot in her arms, much to his chagrin.

"We were just talking about Shining." Goten explained. "I offered to pick up the tab on his anti-depressants for the month."

Apple Bloom whirled around and shot a glare at the half-saiyan. "Why?!"

"Well, for starters, you kinda beat the crap out of him a year ago, and because of the fighting he has no guarantee his sister will ever be sane again..." Goten said. "Since you're my family, I feel kinda responsible."

"Well, you shouldn't." The southern antro mare spat venomously as she turned to stride hastily into the house. "That stallion got what he deserved for costing me a chance to see my siblings again. I don't care if he offs himself."

Goten's jaw dropped slightly at that. "How can you say that? That's awful! I know he did wrong by us, but you did wrong by him too. Just like you he was trying to help his family."

"Are you saying you're on his side?"

"There are no sides, Apple Bloom!" He stopped to emphasize. "You both had good intentions, and honestly, you both went about doing it wrong. Cadence even admits her husband was crossing a line then, but she doesn't want that to come between our families."

"I'd say those bridges were burned a long time ago, Goten. Stop trying' to rebuild 'em. Every cent you spend on that bastard's meds so he doesn't do me a favor, is a cent we coulda used for our son or repair in this farm."

"We are financially stable, AB, its not like we can't lend a helping hand every now and then."

"Just stop talking." Apple Bloom finally said, seeing Carrot was starting to tear up. "I can't believe you."

With that she slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Goten to rub his temples out on the porch. He knew Shining had been in the wrong; oh did he ever know it. But it wasn't like his wife had acted much better. He wished Gohan were here; advice on marriage would be useful, even three years in.

He stared down at the bill he had been carrying in his hand the whole time, and sighed. Everything was going downhill so fast...