Chapter 4
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Apple Bloom yawned, stepping out from Twilight’s bedroom. She looked around the long crystal hallways and felt herself shiver a little. She hadn’t realized how big the castle was til now.
“Wonder where Twilight an’ Spike are,” she murmured to herself, quickly trotting down the hall, looking from one side to the next for any indication as to where to go.
“So, that’s it?” Spike’s voice asked from behind a door.
Pushing it open, Apple Bloom found herself in the castle’s throne room. Her heart leaped in her chest. All the seats around the table Map were filled, including her sister’s.
“Ah, good. You’re here,” Twilight said, her tone seeming jovial… but something about it made Apple Bloom uneasy. “We all just finished discussing what to do with you.”
Apple Bloom blinked, confusion and worry blending together. “Wh… What d’ya mean?”
“Frankly, darling, we’ve all decided Ponyville isn’t the place for you, after all,” Rarity said, sounding rather uninterested.
The filly’s eyes widened. “What?!”
“Well, you’re not really an Apple anymore and it’s clear your extended family don’t want you either,” Rainbow Dash said casually, shrugging. “And you can’t actually expect Twilight to take you in, do you? She’s a princess. She doesn’t have time t’ raise a brat like you.”
“Not to mention the damage it would do to her reputation,” Rarity waved a hoof in a shooing manner. “A princess taking in a reject farmer filly? Completely ridiculous.”
“But… but…” Apple Bloom wilted as she looked desperately around at the ponies and dragon gathered. “Wh-where will Ah go? Where will Ah live?”
Twilight shrugged. “Not our problem.”
“I hate goodbyes,” Pinkie said sadly, before smiling wide, grabbing Apple Bloom and shoving her into what took Apple Bloom a second to realize with horror was her Party Canon. “So, let’s skip the goodbyes and just send you off! Weee!”
Apple Bloom’s eyes widened in horror as the canon was aimed at a window and firing.
She screamed as she was flung into the air, soaring higher and higher—
“ENOUGH!” a loud, familiar voice boomed.
Apple Bloom stopped screaming and opening her eyes… only to find herself floating in mid-air.
Glancing around, she frowned as she saw the moon was suddenly in the sun’s place, before it seemed to open up and a dark-blue Alicorn with a star-filled ethereal mane stepped out of it.
“P-Princess Luna?” she asked, before blinking and looking around, before going, “Ooooooh. Ah’m dreamin’?”
The Alicorn nodded. “Indeed, young Apple Bloom.” Then she frowned. “I do not understand. What is this dream?”
The filly looked down at her hooves as their surroundings turned into the apples fields of the farm. “Ah don’t have an Apple Cutie Mark… an’ mah family kicked me out fer it.”
There was silence for a moment, the Lunar princess wearing a very confused expression, before frowning slightly. “You… jest, yes?”
The filly didn’t answer, wrapping her tail around herself.
Luna’s jaw dropped. “What? But… since when does…? And why would…? Does my sister know of this?!”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Not likely. It only happened last night.”
The princess frowned, in puzzled thought. “I had noticed something odd about your dreams last night, but it was so busy that night I failed in finding time to look into them. Why would such a loving family even do this?”
Apple Bloom briefly explained what she’d learned about the Apple Family’s tradition of Burnt Apples. Once she was finished, Luna look torn between understanding and confusion.
“Well, I can see why such traditions are still upheld and how they actually can benefit the Apple clan… but that is so out of character of Granny Smith. From what Tia has told me, your grandmother would never do such a thing.”
“But, she did,” Apple Bloom whispered quietly. “Ah wouldn’t be sleepin’ at Twi’s castle if’n she hadn’t.”
Luna frowned, rubbing her chin in thought for a few moments. “I shall look into this myself, dear Apple Bloom. While I do not deny you are correct in what was done to you, I feel there must be something else among this. Something we cannot see openly.”
Apple Bloom sniffled, wiping her nose on her foreleg. “Ah… Ah wanna believe that, Princess Luna, Ah do… but…”
The older pony nodded, gently nuzzling the anxious filly. “Rest easy, Apple Bloom. Things will make sense soon, I am sure.”
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Apple Bloom stirred, opening her eyes and looking around to find herself back in Twilight’s bedroom. Spike was sitting next to her, his back turned and seemed to be reading over a scroll of some kind.
Had Princess Luna sent a message to him as soon as the dream ended?
“Spike?” she asked, failing to hold back a yawn.
The dragon jumped, before turning around and smiling, pulling the filly into a hug. “I’m an older brother! Welcome to the family, little sister!”
Still partially asleep, Apple Bloom felt very confused. “Huh?”
He pulled back and showed her the scroll he’d been reading. It had a lot of fancy words, but two words caught her eye right away: Adoption Form.
“Twilight sent it over right after she visited the school,” the drake said eagerly, hugging the filly again. “It’s isn’t official til tomorrow afternoon, but you’re a member of the family now, Apple Bloom.” He smirked. “Or should I call you Apple Sparkle?”
Apple Bloom blinked, before giggling, then laughing, Spike joining alongside her.
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“I cannot believe you failed so dismally,” the elderly griffon said, glaring at the green Earth Pony mare as she walked into the clearing of the Everfree.
The mare returned his glare. “Hey, mah mission was just t’ get the filly outta the house an’ away fr’m her family. Ain’t mah fault you messaged up the pickup location. Ah was just t’ bring ’er there, then leave the family as soon as their grandmother got back.”
“By the time we got there, she was gone,” the griffon growled. “And now the purple princess is looking after her. All that work for nothing.”
The elderly mare scoffed. “At least Ah didn’t try t’ replace a griffon in Griffonstone and failed to get the fledgling.”
He snorted. “How was I supposed to know griffons wouldn’t be like ponies?” He grumbled. “They didn’t even think my being overly mean would be seen as just Grandpa Gruff being Grandpa Gruff. Fledgling didn’t even seem phased and just kept doing as usual. Couldn’t get her alone enough to steal her not matter what I tried.”
“Let’s just get out of here, already,” the mare grumbled, walking passed him. “That wimp Kevin’s going to keep hanging around and could squeal on us at any time.” She snorted. “I don’t know who’s more pathetic, him or that traitor... whatever his name is. Do you remember his name?”
The griffon scowled. “You think I would remember? Why would I wanna remember a traitor like him?!”
With that, the two walked off into the forest, arguing with each other as they were consumed by green flames and vanished from sight.
Holy shit shit shit shit shit
...Now I have to re-read this!
Hey, I'm just happy you did update this; it has, indeed, been awhile.
And Holy Smokes! It hit the "Featured" Box with this update!
Many congrats on that, Autum!
Interesting. I'm interested in seeing what happens.
Shore - land along the edge of the sea. Sure - certainly.
Wow, never imagine this story got update. Now the plot got thicken with the cliffhanger. And I want to see Big Mac's reaction to this revelation.
Good to have you back. Looking forward to seeing update on other stories too.
Hahaha. Finally! for the first time i got to move something from my hope box! to favorites no less!
Ahh... Neat.
Love this chapter, leaving a eerie ending to keep you hooked
I mean... interesting development, but I kind of hoped for a story about family, broken relationships and where there were no direct bad guy, just a serious of circumstances with tradition vs what is best for everyone.
Now that there is a clear-cut villain, I kind of lost interesting tbh. Not saying it is a bad idea, just not something I am interested in continuing on.
It's alive
An update! BEST DAY EVER
9101396
I have to agree with what this guy said. I was expecting this to be about family, how to deal with a breakup, how to handle misunderstandings, communication and to quote from him:
Now with an introduction of a villian group, I'm not sure how to feel about that and kinda lost some interest in the story. Now it's not a bad story, it just took a turn I was not expecting.
Also I feel that Apple Bloom being adopted into the Sparkle family happened a little to fast for my taste. Apple Bloom JUST got dumped by her family (mostly Granny Smith) last night, and I don't think the adoption should happen just yet. I'm not against it mind you but I feel it would have been better to have the misunderstanding sorted out first then talk about adoption later in the story. Unless you have a plan on this getting explained later then ignor all that. Also Apple Bloom took that news to well. Might be her way of coping I guess? idk
This is all my opinion of course so take it how you will. I'm not a writer/author by anymeans, just a fellow reader so I may not know or understand how the writing/planing process works. But this chapter just kinda....I dont know, irked me in a way I guess. I'll keep track of the story to see where this goes in the mean time.
This update came out of nowhere; not a complaint, just saying that I didn't expect it. Glad to see the store get updated. I wonder how all the other ponies (especially those is Ponyville and the Apple family's trade parters) will react if they find out that the Apples don't really care about their family and will kick them out at a young age.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! YES YES YES YES YEEEESSSS! I need more.
It LIVES! Seriously awesome chapters, and we see Changelings are plotting in the shadows, but just what is goal for all this? Why did they want to take Apple Bloom?
9101396
I mostly agree with Cloud Dreamer, this is looking like it might not be the story I was expecting. But there's nothing stopping you folks from writing a (recursive) fanfiction of this fanfiction. One that is about family and broken relationships, just a serious of circumstances with tradition vs what is best for everyone.
Actuality, remember all the posts about when Chapter 4 would be posted? There was nothing stopping you folks from writing a fan-continuation of this story, from writing your own Chapter 4 and beyond.
9101691
I don't think the adoption happened too fast. The Apple family kicked Apple Bloom out. So naturally, Twilight took her in.
And Twilight did check to see if it was just a misunderstanding. It mostly wasn't: The Apples did kick Bloom out. It didn't happen the way the Apples planed it, Bloom wasn't supposed to be left at the orphanage. But they did kick her out, that was no misunderstanding! So Twilight took her in.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh Update Freak Out Time
Holy S*yay* did I go on a brain storm while in the shower because of this story!
9102337
Ok after alot of thinking I can agree with you. the adoption was fine but I think my main issue with this is that I, as a reader, don't know what the relationship is between Apple Bloom and Twilight. As far as I can remember from the show, I see them as....not as acquaintances but not really friends either. I can't remember them interacting with each other much in the show aside from maybe Twilight Time, but even then it was more of a teacher/student relationship.
Another thing is why did Apple Bloom go to Twilight first? Twilight is one of two I can think of that would take in Apple Bloom and the other is Rarity. Why only these two? Well I'm assuming that the orphanage is somewhere in the middle of town, and a storm hitting hard she had to get somewhere fast. Fluttershy was on the edge of the Everfree so she's too far. Rainbow lives in a cloud home so she cant be reached. Apple family kicked her out (thus the reason of the story), and Pinkie lives with the Cakes and they already have two children to take care of. So that leaves Rarity and Twilight. In this story Apple Bloom could have gone to Rarity because of her connection to Sweetie Belle, but instead Apple Bloom went to Twilight first. Of the two options she had why did she go to Twilight first? You could ague that Twilight was closer but again I'm going off the assumption that the orphanage is somewhere in the middle of town and the two locations are about equel distance from her. So my question is why Twilight? Why was Apple Blooms first thought for safety Twilight? For Apple Bloom to think of Twilight first she must have some kind of closer connection to Twilight instead of a Teacher/Student relationship and I think this is my main issue and why I thought it was happening to fast. Its not believable
Using Scootaloo and RD as an example, I have read stories where RD adopts Scoots early and I believe it because the show already eshtablished that sister relationship they have with each other and if done right in the story, can grow to a motherly relationship. Here with Apple Bloom and Twilight, I don't see any relationship they have with each other that could lead to Twilight adopting Apple Bloom so quickly, thus making it hard to believe or unbeleivable for me.
The one way I can see the author fixing this is maybe a flashback with them having a moment for them to get closer. be it with multiple moments where Apple Bloom going to Twilight for help with school work and Apple Bloom starts growing to see Twilight as more then a Teacher, moments during thier Twilight Time, Sleepovers with the other cusaders, or something else. Something to really give them a deeper bond to make it more believable.
TLDR: Twilight and Apple Bloom need an eshtablished closer connection to make the adoption more believable, and I am TAKING THIS FANFIC TO SERIOUSLY! LOOK AT THAT WALL OF TEXT! OMG!
Side note: as for the villian group...idk yet. not enough info to go off of. But omg look at that wall....
9102981
We only saw her tutoring the CMCs in the episode "Twilight Time", but I think the episode implied that it was a regular thing. You said yourself, it looked like a teacher/student relationship. A lot of kids would go to their teacher, before going to a friend's parent (kids often know their teachers better then their friend's parents).
And that's assuming their relationship is just teacher/student. Considering that Twilight is the CMC's tutor: It wouldn't surprise me if she were the mother-figure of the CMCs as a whole (even if each individual Crusader has her own mother-figure).
Edit: It helps that Twilight doesn't have any kids of her own (unless you count Spike). I can see Twilight coming to love the kids she's tutoring, and for them to feel like daughters to her. But yeah, some flashbacks of Twilight doing motherly stuff with Apple Bloom and the CMCs might help.
Really hope to see more soon. :) Apple Bloom and Twilight have a nice teacher/student in the show, which some people see as a motherly-figure/dauhter relationship, which I can see an angle on. So with Twi being a princess does that make Bloom royalty I wonder what Diamond Tiara will think of that... Then again maybe she wont like the new attention... ? Update soon ...
Well this took a surprising turn. I would like to see what happens next.
And this night have been so freaking long...
Hell yeah a new chapter and please make more chapters I like to see the end of this great story
Update?
Changelings nice twist on the story.
9102981
Apple Bloom is considered to be closer to twilight, because of the tutoring, which fanon assumes happens several times a month, if not every week.
There is also the fact that rarity,like the majority of the main 6, is generally busier than twilight. In order to make a living she needs to both hunt down rare gems for her dresses, design them from scratch, and then magically put them together, all while meeting/measuring clients and looking after her kid sister. She also seems to volunteer for a number town events. AJ isn't the only pony in the show who tries to do to much on their own in my opinion.
As a result she spends less time with all the crusaders besides Sweetie Bell than twilight does.
update please
Nice story. Why do I get the feeling that when they find out, that the other crusaders will first comfort Apple Bloom/Sparkle, then decide to become Cutie Mark Crusaders Pranksters, (Yeah!) and prank the Apple family to get back at them for doing what they know about. Also I think Twilight will make a great mom. Hope you update soon.
Please upload the next chapter
Will there be an update, soon?
really good story hope it isnt dead
It's been 3 years, THREE YEARS, since the last chapter. Where's the next one? I need me my Apple Sparkle adoption fic fix.
More good
More pretty please? This is too wholesome to let die!
7480355
You're pulling the cart before the horse there! You said yourself:
The reason that tradition needs to be reevaluated is not that it's [current year]! The reason it needs to be reevaluated, is that it's a cruel thing to do. It was a cruel thing to do a hundred or a thousand years ago, and it's a cruel thing to do today.
Why are Americans so accepting of cutting the foreskin off newborn baby boys, because of a tradition? Why are Middle-Easterners and Africans so accepting of cutting the clitoris off girls? Why are the people of Fanfiction so accepting of pedophilia, how is "foalcon" one of the most popular groups on this site?
The answer is simple: People can become blind to the horror and immorality of a behavior, if that behavior is promoted as normal and acceptable.