Diamond Tiara sat at the rustic farm table in the kitchen. She held a three-week-old foal in the crook of one foreleg and was feeding the foal with a bottle held in her other hoof. They were the only ones in the house at the time. “Happy anniversary little one. Your momma loves you very much, and this momma loves you too.”
Applejack stood on the porch looking at the scene through the screen door. Her forehoof pressed hard enough to make the floor creak. She boiled with hidden rage that had no outlet.
“Hello Applejack.”
She closed her eyes. The last pony she wanted to deal with right now was that prissy unicorn. Maybe if she just ignored the unicorn, it would go away. Instead, she felt the floor move a little as the unicorn moved onto the porch to stand next to her. Her voice terse, she asked, “What do you want?”
“Jackie, I’m just here to see if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine, so you can just go now.”
“Well, I don’t think you’re fine, darling.” Rarity motioned to the two inside, “She’s celebrating her anniversary, and you’re out here.”
“It takes two to celebrate, Rarity.”
“That may be the norm, but not so in this case. Besides, Jackie, there is two in there.”
“Leave me be! You have no idea what I’m dealing with right now.”
“Hmm,” Rarity tapped her chin with a hoof. “Let me see. My sister is running around, but she is rather sad at losing a dear friend. My parents, while embarrassing, are alive and well. You’re right Applejack, I have no idea what you’re going through.”
Applejack’s hoof slammed onto the porch floor cracking a couple of boards. “Get off my farm now! Or you’ll wish you did!”
Rarity saw Diamond Tiara’s ears wilt, but at least the foal wasn’t crying. “At first, we sent Pinkie Pie, but she could stand up against the malevolence and find a happy. Dashie was next, and it’s a good thing she’s fast. You almost took her head off.”
“I’ll take your head off if you don’t leave!”
“Well, Jackie, Twilight isn’t available and…”
“Good, that is the last pony I ever want to see!”
“Yes, yes, of course. And Fluttershy is our last resort if I should fail and it comes to that, we will try to pick up the pieces and put you back together. For now, there is just me. I know the risks, but I’m willing to take the chance.”
Applejack raised the same forehoof she smashed the floor with and turned her full glare on Rarity. Rarity didn’t even flinch. She returned the look, only with sadness in her eyes. The unicorn was the first to break the silence. “If you really want to get physical, or just shout a lot, we should move over to the barn, so you don’t disturb the foal. Now if you need to cry, I’ll sacrifice my shoulder for that.”
Applejack carefully enunciated each word. “I. Am. Fine. Leave. Me. Be.”
“You’re not fine, Jackie. You try hard to hide all that rage, malice, and anger inside, but I can see the cracks. Who will it take down when it escapes? Diamond, the foal, or Princess Twili…”
“Yes, her. I want her to know the misery I’m feeling now because this is all her fault. Her and that Tartarus be damned magic!”
“When Nurse Redheart came out the first time it was you, me, Pinkie, Dashie, Fluttershy, and Diamond.”
“Because she wasn’t there!”
“I’m somewhat appalled by that Jackie. You’re a working mare and so is Twilight. She was in Canterlot where she needed to be. Would anything have changed if she was there?”
“Yes,” snarled Applejack. “I would have beaten so bad she might never recover.”
“It was a good thing she wasn’t there then. As soon as she was able, Twilight came back to…”
“Two weeks, Rarity. She hid in Canterlot for two weeks.”
“This malice is destroying you, Jackie. She came back when the job was done. I intercepted her so, well, you wouldn’t. She was blaming herself for what…”
“Good! This pain should be destroying her as much as it is destroying me!”
“I got Twilight to stop spiraling when I told her I’d talk to Diamond Tiara. She said she would wait for my report. I talked with Diamond yesterday. She told me about her thoughts when Nurse Redheart came out and said Apple Bloom had died, but the foal was alive, and she would bring her out in thirty minutes. Diamond had thirty minutes to find out who was to blame for her wife’s death. Do you know who she blamed first?”
“Twilight, of course. It was that damned spell that killed my little sister.”
Rarity let out a deep sigh, “Really? When you screw up, who do you blame first Applejack?”
Applejack was taken back by the question, “I…” She stomped a hoof, “I blame myself.”
“The first pony Diamond blamed was herself. If she had never proposed to Apple Bloom, she would still be alive today. You thought that didn’t you Jackie?” Applejack could only nod her head. “She loved Apple Boom so much she proposed. Apple Bloom loved her so much she said yes. Then Diamond blamed herself for allowing Apple Bloom to talk her into using magic so they both be the true parents of the foal.”
Applejack grumbled, “Then she finally realized it was Twilight that killed Apple Bloom.”
“No, she never blamed Twilight at all in this.”
“How can that be? It was the spell.”
“Jackie, you really didn’t know your sister as well as you thought” When the mare opened her mouth to protest, Rarity raised her hoof. “Applejack, in no uncertain terms, Apple Bloom was going to get pregnant. She even joked that if Twilight wouldn’t do the deed, she’d get Big Mac to do it.”
Applejack started gapping like a fish, “Wha… Wha… Wha…”
“It was a joke, Jackie. What Bloom was going to do if Twilight didn’t merge hers and Diamond’s egg so she would be the other parent was go down to the clinic and get some random stallion sperm. Get inseminated and get pregnant.” Applejack just stood there and stared into emptiness. “Things may have been different if that happened. If Diamond wasn’t the other parent. Then it could still be like it is right now. Or all three of them could be celebrating this anniversary. Maybe just Bloom and Diamond would be there grieving over a foal lost. Lastly it could just be Diamond in there all alone because you’re out here. Of course, none of those possibilities could have ever happened.” She pointed her hoof into the house. “This is the reality we all have to deal with.”
“So, she blames herself for all this then,” muttered Applejack.
“She did blame herself for one other thing. She could have been first. She could have carried the foal. But she wasn’t ready for that Jackie. She was happy to let Apple Bloom carry that burden right up to the time Nurse Redheart walked into the room. During those thirty minutes she settled on the one true pony to blame for her wife’s death.”
“Who was that?”
“Applejack, do you still blame yourself for your parent’s death?”
“What? What does that have to do with anything? I…” Applejack slumped, “I did, for the longest time I did, but Granny and Big Mac managed to talk some sense into me. I know I’m not the one to blame.”
“That’s good. Did you ever blame Apple Bloom for their death?”
“How could you… Why are you doing this to me? Yes, I thought it once, but I never blamed her. She is no more guilty than me.”
“That’s very true. It was the fire that killed them, and nothing else.”
Applejack scuffed her hoof, “True, but why did you drag that up now?”
“During those thirty minutes Diamond realized the one who killed her wife was the foal. They were going to get married, and nothing would have changed that. Apple Bloom was going to get pregnant, and nothing was going to change that. It was giving birth to that foal that killed her.”
“Then… Then she blames the foal?”
“Look at them Applejack. Open your heart and look at them. Do you see any malice in her as she tends to that foal?”
“No, I only see love and I don’t understand how.”
“After those thirty minutes Nurse Redheart came back in with that tiny foal and put her in Diamond’s hooves. Diamond said something in a whisper, but I know you heard her. What did she say, Applejack?”
“She named her Apple Crown.”
“The moment she saw the foal, Dimond realized she was wrong all those thirty minutes. She finally knew who really killed Apple Bloom.”
“Who, who else? The doctor, nurse, who…” Applejack went silent when Rarity waved a hoof. “Tell me,” she whispered.
“Applejack, would you have given up your life that day if Apple Bloom could have lived?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course, I would. She is the world to me. She has so much to live for.” Applejack squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t going to cry.
“Then for the rest of her life, she would have blamed herself for your death.”
“No, she wouldn’t! She would have…”
Rarity cut in, “She’s alive because you’re dead. Of course, she’d blame herself.”
“No, I could have explained…”
Again, Rarity cut in. “Dead ponies don’t do explanations.”
“But, but why are you dragging me through this. What’s your point?”
“Because, Jackie, the pony Diamond blames for Apple Bloom’s death is Apple Bloom.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I would agree that it is a bit redundant to blame a dead pony for being dead.”
“How Rarity, how can she be responsible?”
“I asked that very question. The mare in there is a strong pony, I think she is certainly stronger than me. Once she told me how, is when I knew how strong she is.” She gave Applejack a level look. “Apple Bloom loved that foal that she would never see so much she gave her life so that she would live. Apple Bloom loved her wife so much she gave her life so that she would be with that foal. Apple Bloom sacrificed herself so that the two of them could live.” Rarity waited to see how Applejack would react, but it was like she was carved in stone. “Jackie?” Her friend said nothing but started to move forward and push her way past the screen door. Rarity was ready to intercede, but she hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary.
Applejack sat down close to Diamond Tiara, and leaned towards her, almost touching. “Happy anniversary.”
Diamond Tiara still held the bottle, but Apple Crown had fallen asleep “It… It could be better.”
Applejack raised a forehoof to help hold the foal. “I don’t know. I’d say you have half of Apple Bloom’s love in your hooves and the other half of her love in your heart.” Diamond Tiara closed the distance to lean against her sister-in-law and cried. The stoic farm pony didn’t try to keep the tears on the inside but let them flow.
Rarity turned away and stepped off the porch least she starts to cry too. She knew the blame game far better than she should. She had talked with Diamond Tiara and Applejack. Now it was time to return to Twilight. She had hope that there would be a chance to let another mare heal.
