Top Ten Favorite RFD Moments · 5:14am Mar 9th, 2015
Hello, everypony! Here's a thing to bump off the other thing because Tommy's birthday was over a couple of days ago. 
So, I suppose you're wondering why I'm doing a top ten moments thing with The Rock Farmer's Daughters. Well, I randomly decided to reread it just for the heck of it, and I am still quite satisfied with how it turned out. 
And rereading the comments on that thing still gives me the warm fuzzies, because while I doubt it was perfect (no story is), at least I know I was doing something right. 
So, what were my favorite moments in the fic? What did I enjoy writing? What moments am I absolutely proud of how they turned out? Well... let's find out!
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ RFD, THEN LEAVE. GO ON, SHOO!
Let's begin...
#10: Cloudy Quartz vs. Hank.
Hank didn't listen, and turned his attention to Cloudy, who was pawing at the ground as she held the fiercest glare. Giving her an evil eye in response, Hank barked, "RIBBIT!"
Cloudy didn't waver. "Dogs don't ribbit."
With a roar, Hank threw a punch, only for Cloudy to block it with a raised hoof, and then smack him across the cheek with the other. As Hank yelped and tried to soothe his throbbing cheek, she looked at Cheese and yelled, "What are you just standing there for?!"
I have to say, it was fun writing the Pie matriarch in a battle against a giant, ribbiting bulldog. This is where Cloudy really shines, as she simultaneously fends off a Diamond Dog and searches for Cheese's glasses.
Of course, the battle ended when Cloudy hurts her leg, finds Cheese's glasses, and then Cheese leads Hank away from her. Still, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't my favorite Cloudy Quartz moment I've written.
#9: Applejack Appears
Instead, they watched as Seddie answered the door. The open door revealed an orange mare, with a mane of gold, a freckled face, and emerald eyes. Atop the mare's head was a brown Stetson, and on her face was a warm smile."Why, it's Applejack!"
Applejack tipped her hat. "Well, howdy, Seddie! Brought ya those pies."
Now, a lot of folks were guessing that Applejack was going to appear at some point, since the antagonist, Cortland, is her cousin. They mainly wanted her to come to Nickerlite and kick his face in. 
So, naturally, her appearance was actually quite a calm event, where she just takes Cheese, Pinkie, and Aunt Seddie to the Ponyville train station.
The fact is, I had been planning on an Applejack appearance since the earlier chapters of RFD. Heck, I even planned to have her appear in the prologue, getting mad at Cheese for stealing apples--but I ultimately didn't. Still, I wanted to have her appear just so I could get a kick out of everyone's reactions. And, well, everypony get hopped up about it, even if her appearance was just for a chapter. Mission accomplished. 
#8: The Townsfolk Break Pinkamena
"Come on, Pinkamena, smile, smile, smile!Fill his heart up with sunshine, sunshine!
All Cortland needs is a smile, smile, smile!
From that lovely mare of his!"
Out of context, this scene would be ridiculous. But in context... yeah, the Smile Song corrupted like that is pretty creepy. And the way it just breaks Pinkamena and makes her cower, and try to channel 'Giggle at the Ghosties' to comfort herself... yeah, you just feel sorry for her.
Plus, the fact that she smacked Cortland is satisfying.
#7: Cheese Reunites With Tomato
"Eh, Bluejinx told me that when he invited me here. That's why I brought your spares. You forgot them when you ran away.""Wait, my spares? How did you--" He was interrupted by something being gingerly placed on his muzzle, and once the glasses were steady, Cheese opened his eyes to take a good look at the pony before him. Although the glasses weren't the clearest, he was able to make out who was in front of him.
He was nearly as tall as Cheese was, and had green eyes that matched his. The pony was the color that he had saw, while wearing a white shirt and green tie underneath his brown suit jacket. His cutie mark was that of a tomato resembling a money bag. His mane and tail were a dark brown, and although it was slicked down to seem straight--apart from a large forelock curl that was hard to ignore--Cheese definitely knew that this pony's hair was naturally curly.
Cheese blinked. "Tomato? Is that you?"
Now, when I first started to write RFD, Tomato was still in the planning stages. I didn't really have much clue on how to write him, other than he's supposed to be the opposite of Cheese. The thread of brainstorm, inspiration from other shows and movies, and creating an ask blog for Tommy really helped in shaping his character. And while I originally opted to leave out a Sandwich family plot point... it snuck in, and became a huge driving force in much of the conflict. I'm not sure how RFD would have turned out without Tomato, really.
The reason this is lower is because there are just other moments that stick out more to me. It doesn't make this any less of a heartwarming conclusion to the Cheese and Tomato conflict, and it was interesting to finally write his RFD self in person instead of just in letters.
#6: Hank Floats Away
"I hope he's out long enough for me to skedaddle," he muttered. "I'm lucky that he's so dense."Barely a few seconds after he said that, Hank was lifted by the current and carried off. Cheese blinked, and stared at the scene before him. He watched as the large dog floated downriver, going to who-knows-where while out like a light.
"Uh… I guess he's less dense than I thought… bye, Hank…" He continued to stare at Hank, who apparently looked like a boat at the distance he'd already been carried. In light of the awkward moment, Cheese began to sing, "Float, float, float your dog, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life's weirder than a dream…"
This never fails to be amusing for me. Cheese's confused reaction and his singing just sells it. An honorable mention goes to Hank ribbiting all the time, though.
#5: Igneous Visits a Grieving Haralson
Igneous nickered. "No... I'm not going to.""Then what? Ya gonna try an' comfort me with them tired ol' sayings of 'he's in a better place' or 'I understand your pain' or 'be strong' or somethin' like that? It ain't gonna work."
"I'm not, Haralson. I'm only here to see how you're doing."
Haralson snorted. "Well, yer seeing me now."
Igneous nodded. "I know I am. If I'm going to be honest, there's really nothing I can say. I can't even begin to understand how painful it is to lose a child. The most I can say is..." He inhaled as deeply as he could, despite his lungs aching. "...is that I'm sorry."
This scene was a little tricky. After all, how do you approach a bereaved parent and comfort them. I did some research and... you can't really say anything. And frankly, I found it would be in-character for my version of Igneous to just acknowledge that. Really, the most you can do is just be there and be a friend.
And the fact that he does a Pie Promise at the end of it just seals the deal. I was worried that I didn't do this scene justice, but personally, I believe that this scene is Igneous' shining moment.
His fight with the gang comes a close second, though.
#4: Pinkamena Sings
"My name is Pinkamena,
And I am here to say
That I'm glad that I can smile
And it just brightens up my day
For many, many years
I've felt so sad and blue
Until one day all the clouds broke up
And let a shining rainbow through
And now I can surely smile, smile, smile
Yes, it's true
And have a heart full of sunshine all the while
It's so nice
I feel that I should just smile, smile, smile
And let my family feel my cheer."
The RFD version of the "Smile Song", and an indication of Pinkamena's absolute cheer. I love how I used singing to indicate a character's happiness, especially one for a character that hasn't been very happy since foalhood (I'd like to do it again, hee hee). It's a brief, but triumphant reminder of who Pinkie Pie is in the canonverse, and it is glorious and beautiful. Cheese thinks so. 
#3: The Mouse Invasion
"What in blazes is going on here?!" Igneous shouted.Cheese turned to the older stallion. "Isn't it obvious?! It's a mouse invasion!"
"Where did they all come from?!"
"Kitchen!" Cheese jumped as some of the rodents managed to sink their teeth into him. "YOWCH! Geez, I just said I wasn't made of cheese!"
When trying to think of a way to make the Pies accept Haralson's invitation to dinner, this insane idea popped into my head. I just thought, "waterfall of mice falls on a Pie sister's head", and then I just wrote it. I chose Marble for the unlucky victim, and then the insanity begun. I had a lot of fun writing it, especially those moments from the mice's point of view.
Hey, at least I got the Pies to go to dinner at the Apples'... 
#2: The Fire
Pinkamena stopped and sniffed the air. "...huh? Why do I smell smoke?"She stood up and walked to the old railing, where she looked down at the food being stored. Much to her horror, a fire had started on one of the bags of flour, and was spreading to some of the other bags and the straw. With a gasp, she turned back around and started digging [in the tar] faster.
"Whoa! Ow, ow, OW!" Igneous growled. "What's going on, Pinkamena?"
"Fire! And it's spreading fast! We need to get you out quick!"
Ah, yes, the grand old climax. When it came to that, I don't think anybody really expected me to put the three main characters into a fire and come really close to killing them. Having them stuck in a housefire was my plan for the climax for a very long time, and the details of Igneous being the 'damsel in distress', Pinkie injuring her leg, and Cheese losing his glasses were part of it as well.
And I really wanted to emphasize that Cheese and Pinkie were working together to get out of it, though I made sure that Igneous telling them what to do made him not completely the DID. Still, I had always intended for Pinkamena's sisters to ultimately save them, after the smoke turned out to be too much.
In all honestly, my favorite part in the fire is where Igneous and Cheese have both passed out, and Pinkamena freaks out and cries and bangs on the door in desperation. Because really, seeing her panic makes her seem so much more human--er, equine.
Honorable Mentions
--Cheese tells the story of him and Tomato
--Cheese and Pinkamena meet Sedimentary Rock
--Sugar Glider gives birth at the Pies' house
--Cheese outsmarts Hank the Diamond Dog
--Haralson and Purple Prose scold the townsfolk
--Cheese and Bluejinx get pelted with produce, pebbles, and dirt
--The carnival
--Igneous' fight with the thugs
--The wedding
--Every time Mr. Green's cabbage cart is smashed
And now... the moment you've all been waiting for...
#1: Pinkamena Smiles
She nodded again. Cheese saw the corners of her mouth tighten again, and he was finding that to be a little annoying how that kept happening. However, before his eyes, the tight corners were pulled up by an invisible force, and there was a strange air of relaxing upon the entire mouth. Her teeth were bared, and her eyes gleamed as she CONTINUED to stare at the rainbow. And before his eyes, he could see her colors brighten.Cheese blinked at the sudden transformation, his awe directed at the mare beside him.
He couldn't believe it. She was smiling.
It was more beautiful than he had imagined it. There was a distinct warmth and sweetness in her smile that made even the most well-done cake look stale, and the teeth were a whole lot whiter than he thought was possible. Her eyes exposed many shades of blue, and they sparkled to complement the smile. And for the first time, he could see unmistakable joy in her face.
The chapter was the one I wrote in one day because I wanted to get to that one moment. his was the great, pivotal moment that we've all been waiting for when I was writing the story. After all, when that sour and seemingly unshakable character smiles, it is just beautiful. Especially after they've been broken and saddened like Pinkamena had.
It's the moment where she transforms, her emotional side blossoming, and opening herself just enough to truly fall in love with Cheese. Before, she was merely finding him attractive--but he ended up winning her over by treating her like a pony with thoughts and feelings first, and just truly caring for her.
And it's the moment where you just know that Cheese and Pinkie just didn't need to be party ponies for CheesePie to work. That was my experiment with The Rock Farmer's Daughters, and I have succeeded in my task.
I may have finished it back in December, but I'm happy to return to it and reread it.
That's all for now, folks.
An absolutely beautiful tale that came to a great ending I must thank you for writing such a wonderful Fan fiction. Thank you Sketcha-Holic
I enjoyed reading all of your wonderful story! It was a great ride. Have to say the fire was my favorite scene. It was deliciously dark and I have to admit, I have a thing for seriously injuring main characters. Cortland getting run over by the train was a close second though. A great story from a great author. I look forward to reading more from you in the future!
I really liked the carnival because thats where pinkamena and cheese had their moment. that was a long wait with all the tension between the two the kiss finally happened. I thought the hank scene was hilarious it made me laugh so hard your comedy is pure genius. I do like the idea that even without being party ponies cheesepie can work because cheese would always fall in love with her because she's everything beautiful smart funny and her smile. Pinkie and Cheese were meant to be no matter what I see them as soulmates.
A list I can very much agree with. There were a lot of highlights which I imagine you had so much fun writing.
I'm a bit surprised that Cheese going to console Pinkamena at the graves isn't in the list. That felt like another great moment for the story.
I love that you made this top ten list! ^__^ My favorite part is the carnival.