Applejack's Kin (Great-Great and Great-Grandparent Generations)

This is a tentative and incomplete list of Applejack's kin, roughly by generation. Relationship to Applejack assumes direct-matrilineal unless stated otherwise -- we are following the primary line of descent by mothers. This works well for the Apples because they are one of the most traditional Earth Pony families in Equestria. The list favors females and omits many male descendants and other relatives, because upon marriage they ceased to be matriocal Apples. Chronology takes YOH 1500 as the year of Luna's Return.

Bloom Apple, "Apple Bloom the Elder" (1331-1388): Great-great-grandmother of Applejack. She was a younger daughter in a large Apple family around Morgan (far NE Equestria) born on crowded lands; in 1352 she married her long-time friend Goldheart and set off for new lands. She settled one after another area, and died of fever on the road. She started the branch of the Apple Family that moved south.

Pine Apple (1342-): One of the younger sisters of Apple Bloom the Elder who joined her on the exodus from Morgan. Incredibly lucky and tough, she survived all hazards, outlived six husbands, and was still alive in 1504, at that time aged 162 years, physically-crippled and dim of senses, but still mentally alert. Her descendants are the 5th cousins of the Apple siblings of Sweet Apple Acres.

Apple Tart (1336-1398): First cousin to Applebloom the Elder and Pine Apple, he decided to join them on their exodus in 1352. He married a Berry in 1365 and thus technically left the Apple Family, but lived long enough to be remembered by Granny Smith. He is an ancestor of Cheerilee and her sisters.

Golden Heart, "Goldheart" (1332-1372):: Husband of Apple Bloom the Elder and hence the great-great-grandfather of Applejack. He came by matrilineage from the Hearts, a clan which repeatedly intermarried with the Apples; Apple Bloom the Elder was his third cousin.

Pure Gold (1322-1405): First cousin of Golden Heart by Golden Heart's father's younger brother. He joined the exodus in 1352 and in 1368 quarreled with Goldheart, and broke off from the main party, continuing to head south. He wound up in South Dunnich where he married a Pie in 1381, becoming the grandfather of Goldie Pie and hence the great-great-grandfather of Pinkie Pie. He is thus the source of the kinship between Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

Dawnflower ("Sew & Sow") Apple (1361-1465): Great-grandmother of Applejack, she was the eldest daughter of Apple Bloom the Elder and Goldheart. She was born on the road and participated in the settlement of Sweet Apple Acres and thus the foundation of Ponyville. In 1383 she married Acorn ("Pokey") Oaks, and had at least one daughter by him, Green ("Greenie", later "Granny") Smith Apple. She died by violence at 99, protecting one of her grandsons and several other children from a creature which had come out of the Everfree.

Acorn ("Pokey") Oaks (1351-1421): Born back in Morgan and a friend of the Morgan Apples, he befriended Apple Bloom the Elder's family and in 1388 encountered them again soon after Apple Bloom's death. His friendship with Dawnflower grew into love, and he married her in 1390. He was the father of Green Smith Apple and her siblings, and hence the great-grandfather of Applejack. He was a leader in the settlement of Sweet Apple Acres and the foundation of Ponyville. He died by violence in 1421, leading the fight against a particularly nasty incursion of creatures from the Everfree.

Duskflower ("Applesauce") Apple (1369-): Born to Apple Bloom and Goldheart during one of their rare sedentary periods, she was a younger sister of Dawnflower the great-grandmother of Applejack. She disliked life on the road. However, she married Happy Trails, a teamster-pony who loved life on the road, in 1390 after a sometimes-stormy courtship. In 1400 they settled near Sweet Apple Acres, but later bought land northeast of what would become Ponyville. Differences (mostly over his yen for travel) increasingly separated them, they separated in 1404, and in 1412 she did something which shocked her family -- she actually divorced her husband. She then did something else which shocked her family again -- she frequently received her ex-husband as her lover at Applesauce Farms, his last visit coming in 1454, two years before his death. She was still alive as of 1503. She is the mother of Apple Rose and Goldie Delicious, and her descendants are 3rd cousins of Applejack.

Happy Trails (1369-1456): A scout, teamster and habitual traveler who joined Pine Apple and Dawnflower's party in 1388. He fell in love with and married Dawnflower's younger sister Duskflower in 1390, and was the father of Apple Rose and Goldie Delicious. He and Duskfower could not get along as stallion and wife, so they divorced in 1412. They then remained lovers for the rest of his life, though his visits to Applesauce Farms sometimes came years apart. He last saw Duskflower in 1454, and died in 1456 of respiratory illness in Vanhoover.

===

Comments, questions and suggestions welcome. I cannot for the life of me find any useful fanon regarding somepony very important to this story -- Granny Smith's husband. The best I've found so far is Ardashir's concept ,from My Little Balladeer, of him dying of cancer in the 1490's. I'm figuring that any stallion who won and kept the awesome Green Apple Smith must have been pretty awesome himself, but I'm wondering if anyone knows his name or anything else about him. I'm also fairly sure that she must have had siblings, but don't have any good candidates for them as of yet.

I like the idea that her eldest daughter was named Melanie Rose ("Melrose") Apple and is the mother of Applejack and her siblings. I've given Granny three other daughters -- Apple Brown Betty, Apple Dumpling and Apple Leaves, and thus Applejack a swarm of full first cousins, plus any first cousins who may come from the marriages of Melrose's brothers (who matrilineally would not be Apples, but would be Apple kin).

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Before "Apple Family Reunion," my headcanon was that Granny actually married into the Apple family. She was the only daughter of the Smith family and the youngest of four siblings. Her brothers were Gold, Silver, and Tin. Her actual name was Sugar Smith, and her talent was in recipe innovation, making her something of an odd duck. Sadly, that was rather thoroughly jossed.

As for her husband, you may have to make something up yourself.

Also, with a name like "Pure Gold," I can't help but wonder if Pinkie's great-great-grandfather is related to the Riches. Imagine Diamond Tiara's face if she found out she was at all related to Apple Bloom. Or vice versa.

[Jordan179]

She was the only daughter of the Smith family and the youngest of four siblings. Her brothers were Gold, Silver, and Tin. Her actual name was Sugar Smith, and her talent was in recipe innovation, making her something of an odd duck.

Some of this might be useable.

To digress upon "Granny" in general ...

I know full well that a "Granny Smith" is a kind of apple, which is where they got the name form. But it's improbable that anypony would call a small filly that unless they were being deliberately ironic (like calling a really big pony "Tiny"). So I doubt very much that this is what she was originally named. (I used the same logic with Pinkie Pie's grandmother, who now that she is the wise old mare of the Pie Family is called "Granny," but whose real name is "Golden" and usually went by the name "Goldie" when she was younger).

As with any pony with a use-name which makes sense only for the old, she obviously had another name when she was young. I picked "Green" because a green apple isn't yet ripe, and hence is an obvious name for a subadolescent filly. The name might stick into adulthood, too, especially if it was seen as cute, ironic or both. (Consider "Honey Apple," who obviously is sticking with a use-name given her as a foal).

It's possible that "Smith" wasn't part of her name from the beginning. What if she married a stallion whose family name was Smith, and they chose to consolidate their names (going by "x" Smith Apple)? This would be a somewhat untraditional and rebellious thing to do, but we're talking about Granny Smith here (see "Family Appreciation Day"). As a relatively young mare. In love.

It's quite possible then that her brothers-in-law, or her sons, might have these names. My genealogies are gynocentric -- I've been assuming all along that there are numerous sons whose existence is not apparent because they join their wives' families upon marriage, and who are considered unimportant from a family tree standpoint for that reason. The exact same technique gender-flipped (androcentric) can often be seen in medieval and early modern genealogies, for the same reason.

I had the same thought regarding the Apples, Golds and Riches. The Riches were clearly among the early settlers of Ponyville (maybe not first-wave, but at least second). Maybe the first Rich to settle in Ponyville -- Stinkin' or his mother -- married a Gold. Indeed, that marriage might have been why the family wound up in Ponyville in the first place.

The Riches may or may not be patrilineal. There is some evidence that they are matrilineal, though -- "Tiara" may actually be the family name of Filthy's wife ("Golden" in the PonyPOVerse, which I may adopt since there's no good reason not too and besides that comes with a terribly Gothic and heart-breaking story of madness, diabolic intervention and a resultant love triangle involving three fundamentally-decent ponies, if I go with Alex Warlorn on this). If that's the case then maybe Filthy married one of his cousins from the Gold side of his family? I've noticed that nopony ever calls Diamond Tiara by the name "Rich."

I'm still not sure what Granny's talent is, but it may well be recipe innovation. Or maybe just concentrated awesomeness. If it's the latter, she's definitely passed it on to Applejack.