The Next Generation of Harmony

by SammyRosePony

9: Communication is Key

It was another wonderful day in the town of Ponyville. Today, was another festival that Ponyville seems to always have. The smell of fair foods covered every inch of Ponyville. Ponies of all ages were trotting along the roads seeing what games to play and what rides to ride. Three little ponies walked along the road trying to find something to do.

“So what do you say Jazzy,” asked one of the little fillies.

“Me? Why me,” Jazzy said. “Why don’t you ask Sound Wave?”

“Okay, Sound Wave what do you want to do,” the little filly asked.

“Well Harmony,” said Sound Wave. “I wanna watch the Wonderbolts’ show, but that was three hours ago. What do you wanna do Harmony?”

“I don’t know,” Harmony said. “Why do you think I’m asking you two?”

“Good point,” Jazzy replied.

The three fillies kept on walking until they heard hoof steps running towards them. They turned their heads around to see who was coming.

“There you three are,” Misty yelled turning the corner. Apple Slice and Jade followed closely behind.

“You know,” Sound Wave started. “There was something I knew we were forgetting when we left that magic show.”

“Harmony, why did you three run off like that,” Jade asked.

“Sorry cousin,” Harmony said. “I guess we just wanted to get out of there before the crowd. I honestly thought you guys were right behind us.”

“Yeah,” Jazzy said.

“And you little miss Jazzy Jubilee,” Apple Slice said. “Your mom is counting on me to keep an eye on you. Since the twins are sick and she couldn’t come to the festival, it is up to me to keep you out of trouble.”

“Couldn’t my dad watch me? I mean mom did say she could handle the twins on her own, so dad should be here.”

“Tender Taps is performing in Manehattan. Did you forget that Jazzy?”

Jazzy’s smile went down to a frown. She had forgotten that her father wasn’t going to be present. She put her head down as her ears flopped down.

“Hey, what’s wrong,” asked Misty.

“It’s just, daddy is always away performing all over Equestria. When he is home, he always spends it with mom more than me. It’s like he’s too busy for me. It’s not just daddy who seems to be too busy for me. Ever since my brother and sister were born last year, mom has always been busy taking care of the twins. When she does have free time, somepony always ends up having a cutie mark problem.”

“Wow, seems like you have a lot to deal with,” Jade said.

“Hey,” Harmony said. “At least both your parents don’t travel. My dad is away a lot too since he creates video games all over Equestria. My mom travels too sometimes since she’s a singer. When mom is home, she seems to take care of my little brother more than myself. Sometimes, both my parents are gone, and Joystick and I have to stay with Aunt Rarity, Uncle Spike, and Jade.”

“Well your parents aren’t gone as much as mine. They come home often, and they spend a lot of time with you. Trust me, I’ve seen you and your family hang out a lot. And your brother isn’t that much younger than you. Your eight and he’s four. Joystick is at the point where he doesn’t need his mom taking care of him every minute of his life. My brother and sister are only a year old,” Jazzy said trying to hold back tears. “Listen, I don’t want to start a fight, so forget I said anything.”

“Why don’t you add something Sound Wave,” Misty said.

“I’m not saying a word. One: Both my parents don’t leave home very often. Two: I’m an only child,” Sound Wave said holding back.

Things were silent for awhile. Two ponies walked from behind to greet the six. “Hey there everypony,” said the white mare.

“Mom! Dad,” Harmony said running to her parents.

“Did you have fun,” Sweetie Belle asked her daughter.

“Yep,” Harmony replied. “Did you two have fun with Joystick in the kiddy areas?”

“I had fun. Did you have fun Joystick,” Sweetie asked.

“I did mama,” he replied.

“Dad, did you have fun,” Harmony asked her father.

“I never want to hear that song again,” Button Mash said as he looked traumatized.

“Well anyway,” Sweetie said. “It’s time to go. Sound Wave we’re going to be taking you home. Aura Mist, we ran into your mother, and she wants you to be home before the moon rises.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know,” Misty replied.

“Is your mom home,” Sweetie asked Jada. “I’d really love to have a talk with her. I can’t believe my own sister and I haven’t talked in so long.”

Jade giggled. “Yeah she’s home. You can bring the rest of the family too. I’m sure father will enjoy having some guy time with Uncle Button. I can hang out with the kids while you guys do your bonding.”

“Thank you.”

“Well we best be goin too,” said Apple Slice. “My cousins and siblings are probably already home. Bye y’all!”

Apple Slice and Jazzy started making their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Slice noticed that Jazzy hadn’t said a word since the conversation.

“What’s got you down,” Apple Slice asked.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Jazzy said with an unhappy tone.

—————————————————————————————————

The two cousins made it back to their home on the farm. Since the family has gotten bigger, the Apple Family added some extensions to the barn to make it bigger to fit the family. Some ponies may want to have time away from their family, but the Apple Family is one tight family and could not be separated.

As Apple Slice and Jazzy entered the house, the aura of dinner being cooked filled the room. Applejack, Flim, and Cheerilee were in the kitchen making their family a nice meal. Big Mac was out in the fields, and Apple Bloom was in the living room caring for her twin son and daughter.

“We’re home,” Apple Slice called out.

“Welcome back sugar cube,” Applejack said greeting her oldest child.

“How was the festival,” Cheerilee asked. “My kids decided not to go this year, but I do know that Pinkie Pie went all out this year.”

“It was a pretty good one. It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before given just how many celebrations Ponyville has.”

“Well at least it wasn’t terrible,” Flim added. Flim looked down at Jazzy and noticed she was unhappy. “Hey Jazzy Jubilee,” he said bending down to her height. “What’s got you down?”

Jazzy looked at Flim, then at her two aunts who watched from behind.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Jazzy said as she gave a fake smile.

“Hey,” Applejack said interrupting. “Why don’t you two wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.”

Apple Slice and Jazzy left the room. Applejack turned around to the stove where Cheerilee was.

“She’s lying isn’t she,” Cheerilee asked knowing Applejack could practically see through anypony.

“Eeyup.”

—————————————————————————————————

As Jazzy walked out of the kitchen, she passed by the living room. Apple Bloom had noticed as her daughter walked passed.

“Jazzy,” she called out.

Jazzy walked back towards the living room.

“Oh hi mom,” she said trying to seem happy.

“Are you alright? I overheard the conversation in the kitchen. Is something going on that I need to know about?”

“Don’t worry mom,” Jazzy replied. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Well okay.”

Silence filled the living room with awkwardness. Jazzy looked down at her brother and sister playing on the ground and decided to break the ice.

“Did Rhythm and Gala get any better,” She asked.

“Oh yes. They are actually doing better. Both their runny noses and fevers went away. All they have now is a slight cough,” Apple Bloom said with a smile.

“Well that’s good to hear,” Jazzy said.

Jazzy’s eyes started tearing up as she realized how much she was missing her dad. She wiped a tear, and that’s when Apple Bloom noticed.

“Jazzy Jubilee,” she said reaching out for her daughter.

Jazzy walked over to her mom for a hug. Even though she didn’t really spend a lot of time with her anymore these days, she still loved the comfort of getting a hug from her mother.

“I know you were really looking forward to going to the festival with daddy, but these things just happen. You’re father had to perform a couple more nights. I do know that he was looking forward to coming home to be with you. I’m sure he just cannot wait to come home to me, you, your brother and your sister.”

Jazzy didn’t reply. It didn’t bother Apple Bloom that she didn’t. She knows her daughter doesn’t like talking about her feelings, and she didn’t want to aggravate anything.

“Dinner’s ready,” Applejack called out.

“Come on,” Apple Bloom said getting up and picking up the twins. “Let’s go enjoy a meal with our family.”

—————————————————————————————————

A couple days after the festival, Jazzy was joined again by Harmony and Sound Wave. They just got done with school and were heading over to Sweet Apple Acres.

“I can’t believe how many classes your Aunt Cheerilee has to teach in one day,” Harmony said. “I mean you have my brother’s age group first thing in the morning, then us around mid-morning, then you have the kids like Rainboom, Sweet Apple, and Starlight Aurora in the early afternoon.”

“You would think Ponyville would add another school building and get more teachers,” Sound Wave added.

“Yeah I wonder why they don’t do that,” Harmony said. “I should get my mom to talk to Princess Twilight or Mayor Mare about it.”

“You guys don’t have to worry about her,” Jazzy said. “Aunt Cheerilee loves to teach. You should really see her during dinner discussing how she’s gonna go about teaching a certain lesson. Plus, she has her daughter Cherry Blossom to help her out.”

“Is that really what you guys have to talk about at the dinner table,” Sound Wave asked. “At least my family talks about how our day has been.”

“Well we do that too. That’s usually how it starts.”

“Well that certainly is interesting,” Harmony replied.

“You know, it’s hard to believe that our teacher went to school with my aunt and your aunt,” Jazzy said to Harmony.

“It’s even weirder to believe that she was our moms’ teacher too,” Sound Wave added.

“Totally. Hey I wonder if in the future the she will teach our own-”

Jazzy was cut off as she opened the door to the barn. Inside she spotted an orange stallion with a purple mane and a spotlight and top hat as a cutie mark.

“Daddy,” Jazzy yelled running up to give her father a big hug.

“Hey Jazzy! I missed you so much while I was away, and I’m so sorry I missed the festival,” Tender Taps said to his daughter.

“I missed you too daddy,” Jazzy said.

Tender Taps looked up to see Harmony and Sound Wave.

“Well it’s nice to see you two lovely fillies too,” she said.

“It’s nice to see you too Mr. Tender Taps,” they both said simultaneously.

After a couple hours, it was already late afternoon, almost evening, and ponies were deciding on what they were going to be doing for dinner.

“Hey daddy,” Jazzy said. “Are we doing anything special for dinner since you’re back?”

“We’re actually going out for dinner,” Tender Taps replied as he fixed put on his suit.

“Really,” Jazzy asked excitedly.

“Oh um,” Tender Taps said. “You’re not. Your mother and I are just the two of us. We just wanted to spend time together as husband and wife since I’ve been gone for awhile.”

“Oh,” Jazzy said as her smile went away.

“I hope that’s okay with you,” he asked.

“No, no. It’s fine,” Jazzy said.

“Good. So you’ll be staying here enjoying a nice home cooked meal while your mother and I go out with the twins.”

“Wait, the twins,” Jazzy asked confused. “I may only be eight, but I know a date doesn’t involve two kids.”

“Well you know, they’re babies,” Tender Taps said as he smiled.

“Of course,” Jazzy mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Just go enjoy your evening in with mom. And Rhythm and Gala.”

“Well okay. Apple Bloom,” Tender Taps called out. “Are you ready to go?”

“Just a minute,” she called back.

Apple Bloom came out of the bedroom. Her mane was done nicely and she wore her favorite necklace. On her back sat the twins.

“Jazzy, I hope you don’t mind your father and I going out to eat without you,” Apple Bloom said.

“It’s fine mom. Just go have fun with dad,” Jazzy replied.

“Okay then,” Tender Taps said as he headed towards the door.

Apple Bloom kissed Jazzy on the head as she said goodbye.

“Be good for your aunts, uncles, and cousins.”

“I will don’t worry.”

Apple Bloom and Tender Taps left just before jazzy had tears streaming down her face.

—————————————————————————————————

The Apple Family was gathered at the table for another home cooked meal. Everypony was enjoying their food except for Jazzy. Sweet Apple had noticed that Jazzy wasn’t a her usual perky self during dinner.

“Ma,” Sweet Apple said tapping on her mother.

“What is it Sweet Apple,” Applejack asked.

Sweet Apple pointed at Jazzy who was just in a daze and not even looking at her food. Cheerilee also looked over at Jazzy.

“Is there something wrong Jazzy,” Cheerilee asked getting her attention.

“You’ve barely touched your food,” Applejack added.

Jazzy looked down at her food. She grabbed the fork and took a bite of food.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Jazzy replied obviously not fooling anyone.

Crimson Crisp (Big Mac and Cheerilee’s son), Cherry Blossom, Big Mac, Flim, Apple Slice, Appleseed, and Sweet Apple had stopped eating to hear what was going on.

“Something’s definitely going on,” Cheerilee whispered into Applejack’s ear.

Applejack replied, “Well no duh.”

“Um Jazzy,” Cherry Blossom said. “We can kind of tell something’s wrong. Can you just tell us what’s going on?”

Tears started streaming down Jazzy’s face once more. Anger began building up inside her.

Jazzy yelled, “THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND LEAVE IT AT THAT!”

Everypony was shocked at her outburst. In the eight years she’s been apart of the family, she’s never yelled like that ever.

Jazzy looked around the table at her family. She was officially done with everypony for the night.

“I’m done eating,” Jazzy said pushing her plate and leaving the table. “I’m going to start getting ready for bed.”

Jazzy left the room, and everypony was still in shock. Once they all collected in their minds what just happened, they all glared at Cherry Blossom.

“What,” Cherry Blossom asked.

A few hours later, Applejack went up to Jazzy’s room to check on her. She opened the door and saw that Jazzy was fast asleep in her bed.

“Oh Jazzy,” Applejack said. “You’ve always been so happy. Just tell us what’s wrong. We want to help.”

Applejack gave one more look before shutting the door and leaving Jazzy to herself for the rest of the night.

—————————————————————————————————

A few days had passed, and things weren’t getting any better. Jazzy seemed to shut everypony out. The only ponies she talked to were Harmony and Sound Wave.

“Aren’t you ever going to tell your family how you feel,” asked Harmony.

“Nope.”

“Jazzy, they want to know,” Sound Wave said.

“I know they want to know, but I can’t let them know,” Jazzy replied.

“What the hay is that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just forget about it. Can we talk about something else?”

Sound Wave and Harmony looked at each other. They knew they weren’t gonna get anything out of her.

For the past few days, Apple Bloom and Tender Taps have been spending a lot of time with each other or with the twins. Jazzy was hardly ever included. Jazzy’s depression had turned more into an ignorant attitude. She didn’t care about anything anymore. Actually, she couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“Hey Jazzy,” Apple Bloom said.

“What,” Jazzy said as if she was annoyed.

Apple Bloom was shocked she had replied that way. She never replied to her that way. It’s like Jazzy’s attitude took a total 360.

“Um, your father and I were wondering if you would like to join us for lunch at Sugar Cube Corner.”

“Oh so now I’m included,” Jazzy replied.

Cheerilee looked over at the scene. She thought to herself, “She can’t keep it in anymore.”

Apple Bloom started to get nervous. Tender Taps walked over to join in.

“We’re just going to go over there to get a bite. That’s all. Just you, me, your mother, and the twins,” Tender Taps explained.

Jazzy’s ears twitched at the mention of her brother and sister. Anger and tears began to build up. By this point, everypony in the house was paying attention to what was going on.

“Why do they have to go? Can’t we just go alone for some quality time. You guys have been places with the twins and without me.”

Applejack thought to herself, “That’s it.”

“Well you know,” Apple Bloom said. “They’re babies.”

“That’s your excuse for everything! It’s always about the twins! No matter what we do the twins always come first! Ever since they were born, daddy had to leave home more often, and you never pay attention to me anymore! You guys even go out and do things with the twins and not me.”

By this point Tender Taps was shocked and Apple Bloom was on the verge of tears.

“I thought when a new baby is born, the older sibling was still loved. I guess that’s not the case.”

“What are you talking about Jazzy,” Apple Bloom said her voice a little shaky. “We still lo-”

“NO YOU DON’T. I WISH THE TWINS WERE NEVER BORN!”

Everypony went into shock once more. Jazzy had just realized what she had been saying. She seemed to be losing air as she thought about it even more. She ran out of the house and out towards the orchard.

Everypony was too shocked to go after. Everypony except Cherry Blossom and Appleseed. The nodded as if they could read each others’ minds.

—————————————————————————————————

Jazzy ran all the way to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. It was in great shape given how old it was. That’s probably because it was given a slight fix up since Apple Slice, Midnight Sparkle, and Misty were crusaders when they were younger. It still was a little run down given it hadn’t been used for at least since Jazzy was first born.

Jazzy sobbed into her little hooves, and her tears fell on to the couple decades old wood. She had wished she never said what she said. She really does love her brother and sister. In fact, she was the most excited about their arrival. Apple Bloom and Tender Taps deserved Rhythm and Gala as children and not Jazzy. Jazzy now wished she hadn’t been born. How could she have been so selfish?

She cried once more until she heard voices in the orchard.

“Jazzy,” they both called out.

The hoof steps could now be heard on the stairs of the clubhouse. Jazzy looked back to see Appleseed and Cherry Blossom.

“Hey there,” said Cherry.

Jazzy didn’t reply.

“Listen,” Appleseed said. “We know what you’re going through.”

“Really,” Jazzy asked.

“You wanna go first,” asked Cherry.

“Sure.”

The two ponies sat next to their cousin.

“Part of how you feel has to do with that you’re not the baby of the Apple Family anymore. Am I correct?”

Jazzy nodded. “Such a silly thing to get upset about.”

“Actually not at all,” Appleseed said. “You know how you had the longest time of being the baby of the family? You were the youngest for seven years. That’s a pretty long time.”

Jazzy nodded.

“You know who had the longest time being the youngest before you were born?”

Jazzy shook her head.

“I did,” Appleseed said. “I was the youngest for five years. Those were a happy five years for me. Ma and Pa always did so much for me then. Uncle Big Mac, Aunt Cheerilee, your parents, even Great Granny Smith did a lot for me. Then one day when I was five, my parents told me and my brother that they were going to have another foal. That of course ended up being a baby sister named Sweet Apple. I was excited to be a big brother, but I never anticipated for all the baby praise to go to her. I became mad kind of like you.”

“What did you do about it,” asked Jazzy.

“I told my mom about it. She told me that she honestly was jealous about all the attention her parents were giving Apple Bloom when she was first born.”

“Oh. What about you Cherry Blossom. You have a story don’t you?”

“Yep I do.”

Jazzy turned her attention to her other cousin.

“When I was little, your mom and I were very close. She was my favorite aunt. Don’t tell Aunt Applejack I said that.”

Jazzy giggled at her remark.

“At the time, Apple Bloom didn’t have any kids or even was married for that matter. She was just a single mare taking on the world. Hanging out with her was always my favorite. Despite me never becoming a crusader, she still took me up to this very clubhouse for fun. I never wanted those days to end. Then when I was about six or seven, she reconnected with this stallion who she knew from when she was in school. They started going out. She spent less time with me. I didn’t like it, but I let it pass since she still hung out with me a lot. I also believed it wouldn’t last long. Well, I was wrong because when I was ten they got married. You better believe I was furious about it. I didn’t care that I got to be a flower filly. I just wanted Apple Bloom back to myself, but that wasn’t the end. When I was fourteen, they had a little foal of their very own. Things have changed a lot ever since I was little. I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for that baby at first.”

“Hey,” Jazzy said knowing that the baby was herself.

“Don’t worry. I love you now,” Cherry Blossom said.

“Please,” Appleseed said. “She started to care about you like three hours after you were born. The reason is because you turned out to be a filly instead of a colt like we thought.”

“Hey,” Cherry Blossom. “I was the only filly up until Sweet Apple was born. I spent eleven years of my life living with colts. Jazzy, be lucky you didn’t have to experience what I did. I don’t know what I’d do if you or Sweet Apple turned out to be colts.”

Jazzy laughed.

“Back on topic. The whole point of my story is that I had a hard time adjusting to changes in my life, especially with a pony I was very close to. Before the twins, you were extremely close with Apple Bloom and Tender Taps.”

Jazzy nodded.

“What I did to get over the change was I talked to my mom and Apple Bloom directly. They helped me see that things change and things won’t be the same, but ponies love towards each other won’t change. Ever.”

“That’s right,” said another voice coming from the door. Apple Bloom and Tender Taps were standing there.

“Thanks for talking to her you two,” Tender Taps said.

“Now it’s our time for talking to our little girl,” Apple Bloom said.

Cherry and Appleseed left as Apple Bloom and Tender Taps sat next to Jazzy.

“Why didn’t you say anything about how you felt,” Apple Bloom asked.

“Because I thought you two would be mad.”

“Why would we be mad,” asked Tender Taps.

“Because I was being selfish and only wanting attention for myself. I know now that I was wrong. What did you two ever do to deserve me as a daughter?”

“Oh Jazzy Jubilee,” Apple Bloom said pulling her in for a hug. “I’m asking myself the same thing. How did such an awful mother as myself deserve such a wonderful daughter like you.”

“You’re not a bad mom. You were just trying to do your job.”

“But like you said, I barley paid attention to you. If you had just said something maybe I-”

“Your mother’s right,” Tender Taps said. “If you had just said something, this whole problem could’ve been adverted.”

“I’m sorry,” Jazzy said.

“No, I’m sorry,” Apple Bloom said.

“How about let’s just say it was nopony’s fault,” Tender Taps suggested.

Apple Bloom and Jazzy looked at each other and smiled. They hugged and tender Taps joined in.

“But you promise to start telling us how you are feeling because in any perfect relationship, communication is key.”

“I promise.”

Author's Note:

So Apple Bloom's, Sweetie Belle's, and Scootaloo's children have finally been fully introduced. Well, mostly Jazzy. I know last chapter I mentioned her name was Jazzy Sapling Apple, but I changed it to Jazzy Jubilee just to shorten it. Despite this not being my longest chapter so far, I didn't anticipate it to be this long. I hoped you all enjoyed it nonetheless.

P.S. Thank you guys so much for over 800 views. It's only been over a year since I started this series/story. I honestly didn't think anybody would want to read it, but people did and liked it. Thank you guys so much for reading about characters that I had come up with Christmas Day 2013. Thank you guys so much for reading about characters I put so much thought into that I think I'm attached to them a little too much.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Who is the blue Pegasus in the picture, and why does she look exactly like Minuette/Colgate?

[SammyRosePony]

7404274 She is my next gen for Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Her name is Aura Mist (Misty). I will admit, she does look a little like Minuette to some extent.

[Bronydude23]

You know something Jazzy reminds me so much about myself. I too was upset about the fact my parents paid more attention to my sister then me, but I got over it knowing that they still loved me even though my sister drew their attention from me, but I learned to accept the fact and grew to love her