Saved!!!

by ArchoPony

7 - Honesty Restored - Part 2

“ Now I want to apologize for the wait, and for That. “ She started.
The sun was slightly over noon.
It was hot.
Ponder was irritated by the smell of pollen.

“ And I expect an apology from you too. “ She looked at him with determination.
“ For? “ He asked, not wanting to be getting the better of.
“ For traspassin. “ She said slowly and deeply, anger coming back.

“ You were gone for hours. “ He rebuked.
“ Now look here. “ She was getting angry.
“ I was only gone for a hot minute. “
“ Don't you say- “

“ That. “ He pointed at the sun.
“ The sun? “ She questioned, alarmed by his interruption.
“ Yes. Didn't know what you called it. “ He hastily and immediately responded, further stretching his tone for another response:

“ Was there. “

He pointed to where the sun was, much earlier in the day.

“ Oh. “ She had relaxed a bit, but still had tension.
“ That's almost two and half-hours. “

“ My apology still stands, and is further extended for that trans-gression. Sorry. “

” Your turn. “ She said with much less hate and hostility.

Ponder just about had it. This pony had ditched him in the hot sun, not taken any of this seriously when he had killed some ponies, and now she wants to play meaningless word games when she instead could be helping prevent another possible crisis?

“ I'm sorry Applejack, am I supposed to be learning something from this, or getting better somehow, or less likely to accidentally cause damage again? “ He said with notable ire, annoyance oozing out with every syllable.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow.

“ Because the way I see it, your not taking this seriously. You want to get this done and over with because- “ He regretted his verbal retaliation in the middle of a sentence. A first.
“ Because you rightfully don't trust me around your family. “ He said, switching to a remorseful tone.

Applejack closed her eyes a bit to think about what he had said.

She opened them, slightly squinted at the floor to signal her closeness to speaking.

“ Alright. “ She sighed. “ Like to go straight into the deep end, do we? “ She said with hesitation.

“ No. I don't. “
“ I don't want to do this, and I suggested that you be sent straight back to wherever the other hu-mans are as soon as you were better. “
He shrunk down a bit.

“ But- Twilight insisted that you could stay, and against my own better judgment, here you are. “ She said with pure frankness in her voice.

“ And here I am. “ She replied to her own statement.
“ Sittin' here with you. “
“ I want to make things better, and I want to do good by you, whatever that means. “ She said with confidence.
He didn't fully understand that last one.

“ But Applejack, - And I'm no friendship expert, but - “

“ Come on, out with sugar. The sooner you stop being shy the sooner you can get back to Twilight's. “, “ I don't judge and it's pretty clear to me you meant no harm. “
“ Um. No. That's not what- I mean “

She waited patiently for his response.

“ I'm having trouble finding words that don't imply anything negative. “ He eventually said.

“ Well then out with them, because later on in this here conversation things are gunna get about as negative as they can get. “ She said in frankness, attempting to steel PonderBright's resolve.

Ponder was very worried.
She noticed.

“ It's nothin' accusatory, and none of this is just your fault. “ She replied with a sigh.

“ Oh. Well then. “ It took Him awhile to course correct.
“ I'm having trouble seeing how playing meaningless word games makes any sort of progress. “

Applejack looked confused.

He elaborated:
“ When I went to Fluttershy's Discord was helpful enough to remove my horn, When I was talking with Luna, she explained the importance of telling another pony about something serious to me, even if I think it wouldn't be important to them. “

And He continued:

“ And the initial... trail with Celestia and Luna defined solid next steps and safety restrictions. “
He pointed to where his horn used to be.

“ Ah. “ Applejack finally spoke.

“ I think I see what's going on here. “ She had taken a thoughtful tone.
“ And look, I don't know what sort of messed up creatures or culture got you to thinkin' that... “,
“ Or even what a hu-man is.“

“ Human. “ He corrected her via a gap in her speaking.
“ Right. “ She said, minor one time annoyance in her voice

“ But here we do things this way. “
“ We apologize. “

“ And I don't know what worked for you in the past either, but this is what works for us. “
He still was unconvinced. Ego. He averted his gaze from her.

“ Twilight trusted me, no matter on how much I insisted otherwise, She said I was the right pony for the job. “ She said as pointing to the floor; the space in between them.
“ And I don't know what worked for you before, but It obviously did not work here. “ She said sternly.

She was right. And it didn't work for him before, either.

“ The human world was a horrid cesspool of backstabbing and competition, where any good is snuffed out by evolution and the law of averages. “ PonderBright emotionally said with disdain.
Applejack looked shocked. She didn't recoil, though.

Ponder looked down in anger, sadness, and a whole slew of other negative emotions.

He saw a slightly-more-yellowish-then-his hoof peak into his field of view from along the ground. His que to look up.

“ Back on … track... “ She seemed thrown off.
“ Well, uh, we're... Or somepony, is definitely going to want to talk to you about that. What you just said. “
He stared back, completely expressionless, thousand yard stare and all.

She seemed to notice. And understand the subtext, too.
“ Look, It's gonna be much harder to do this if you don't trust me, right? “
Ponder just viewed this as her assuming.

He nodded. Finally something he could rationally agree with.

“ And like I said, Twilight and the others trust me. “ , “ So I'm askin' you to trust me. “
“ Basically, save all questions for the end of the lecture. “ She was getting stern and slightly annoyed. The joke she tried to make did not diffuse the tension.

He sat back up straight, and nodded a feeble nod.
“ Ok? “ Applejack asked.

Her logic was sound. He could not argue. He could not argue.
“ Ok. “ He said with uncertainty.

He took a deep breath and focused on Applejack.
“ Sorry. “ He said; completely out of practice apologizing.

“ Hm. Alright. “ Applejack was thinking about something.

“ A good first attempt. “ She admitted.
“ I can see your tryin', but you got a ways to go. “
This time HE raised an eyebrow.

“ Now- I thought you said you trusted me! That we had an understanding! “ She seemed frustrated. And hurt. But Ponder did not recognize that last one.

He look dumbfounded.

“ I- I did. “ He responded with confusion, looking back and forth as if someone else was watching.

Applejack purposely waited a moment.
Ponder grew restless.

“ Now, you see, that's the first thing we need to talk about. “ She exclaimed.
“ Ponies half the time can't even tell what your sayin', let alone thinkin. “
“ If you'd been better at that, maybe this wouldn't have happened. “ She said with a more somber tone, tipping her hat a bit downward and looking away from him.

He was confused on so many levels.
BUT
First thing was first.

“ But, I did... L I T T E R A L L Y say that I trusted you. In plain... words. Do you call your language English? “

She sighed. A lot to unpack.
“ Yes. You did say that. And then you seemingly threw all that out the window when you looked at me like that! “
She said while pointing to him. Not sternly, not aggressively, just making a point.

“ Wh- What? “ He had never entertained such nonsense before. Such roundabout and illogical arguments had always been dismissed, and the user of said argument permanently demoted to ' dumb animal ' in his mind.

But this time was different.

This time he was actually trying.

This time he was actually listening.

He and Applejack interrupted each other with a single syllable, when Applejack yielded by tipping her hat down to him.

' Much appreciated. ' he thought.
' Giving you a chance wasn't a mistake after all. '
An abnormal amount of joy filled him, though he had no idea why.

He continued on:

“ I did say that. “,
“ I meant it. “

“ Did I- “
He was struggling immensely with what to say next.
“ Did I somehow imply otherwise? “
He was very unsure about his last statement. It showed tremendously.

Applejack looked almost amused. Almost.
“ Yes. “
“ Um. Hope you don't mind me askin'... “
“ It's almost impossible to offend me. “ He said, this time knowing what to say via experience.

' Just get on with it, Applejack. ' he was thinking.
“ Aight. “ she muttered, almost wanting to prove him wrong now.

Ponder did not notice this.

“ But, are you kind of slow? “,

“ Like, A slow learner? “

Ponder had one thousand and one rebukes to that mental trainreck of a conclusion. Patrice makes perfect, after all.
Let's hope a literal horse brain succeeds where the monkey ones have failed.

“ No. “ Ponder said with absolute confidence.
“ Certainly not. “ He continued further.

“ I don't have half the emotions or mental needs you have. “ He said while pointing to her. She looked surprised.
“ I'm much simpler a creature. "

" That's why I didn't understand your need for an apology. “

Applejack was still confused.
“ That, uh, wasn't my question. “ She had to say.

“ Then what is? “ This time he was totally lost.

“ With your facial expression back there. “

She continued:
“ It looked like you was' doubtin' my assertion that you needed to work on your apology. “

“ Yes. “ He responded in his usual monotone, waiting for a response.
Applejack was getting even more confused.

“ Well – THERE YOU GO! “ She said, strain in every word
“ OH! I think I know where the disconnect was. “ He blurted out.

Applejack now genuinely wanting to continue the conversation to hear his answer.
“ I now trust your intentions, not necessarily that everything you say is true. “
He clarified.

“ Oh. “ Applejack said.

“ That was a good explanation. “ She admitted.

“ But all that could have been avoided if yall' just saved your' questions for the end of the lecture as I said! “ She said with concern.

“ I did. “ He said.
“ I didn't ask a question. “ He said with confusion In his voice. Raising yet another eyebrow, ignoring what got them into this mess of a tangent in the first place.

Something clicked in Applejack.
“ You know, “ She said with certainty.
“ We had a similar pony come to visit not too long ago. “
Ponder was invested in this tangent of a tangent. He could do this all day.
“ Maud Pie. “ She said.
“ I'm not very good with names, Please don't expect me to remember that. “ He said with embarrassment.

“ I won't – I won't “
“ Now back on track. “ She did a little wave to him.

“ Long story short she can't take a hint to save her life. Or- anyone else's for that matter. “ She was frank.
“ She has to have everything be very literal. Well, at least the words spoken to her. “ She corrected herself.

“ YES! YES! YOU GET IT! “ He was overcome with joy and got up from his seat, scaring Applejack a bit.
“ Oh. Sorry. “ He genuinely stated, and sat down.

“ Huh. “ Applejack said in another moment of realization.

“ So, what were you trying to say? About you raisin' an eyebrow at me, who was tellin' you that your apology needs improvin' ? “,
“ Sorry for the mouthful. “ She apologized, looking knowingly at PonderBright.

“ I was letting you know I wasn't following your logic without breaking up your sentence. “
Appplejack looked confused and embarrassed. Such big words.
“ I was trying to say that I wasn't getting it but without interrupting you. “ He said with annoyance.

Applejack ignored his minor rebellion.

“ Hm. “ She said as if she was trying to remember something specific.

“ I understand. “
“ You do? “ Ponder wasn't sure about that. Too many past experiences told him otherwise.

“ Yes. I do. “ She assured him.
“ I want to get work done as good and as fast as just about anyone in ponyville, and just about anyone at the farm. “

She looked over at Big Mac, still harvesting.
“ Just about anyone. “
He just stared at her.
She continued.

“ But the thing about workin' with others “ She segwayed:
“ Is that you need to try to meet them at their level first and foremost. “
Ponder looked unamused.

“ Now, see what a simple little miscommunication did, right now, and well... “ She trailed off.
Ponder got sad.

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(2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.

- Sun Tzu, Art of war.

Author's Note:

I am open to PM. No discord or email. Do not use email. Please.
I am open to work, even collaborations. I can't draw. Muscle condition.

I find it very funny that the first written record of how to wage war references the magic of friendship. (In Sun Tzu's own demented way)
Ill be posting some after every chapter.

Want to test my writing with this one. Will try to write more and more challenging subjects as time goes on.
All criticism minus something that can only be seen as a nitpick will be appreciated.

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I DO NOT want Ponder to be characterized as a jerk. Only socially retarded. And a snob, but only on the inside.