Seeds of the Past
After all the excitement and life-threatening danger, it was nice to spend a normal week at school. Then, on the first day of summer vacation, I had my cuteseanera. It was a simple get-together in our orchard. We invited all my classmates and their families, and most of our kin from all over Equestria wanted to come and take a gander at my new cutie mark too. I was amazed at how young everyone looked compared to when I last saw them. Braeburn was no taller than I am now, but he did have his apple cutie mark. Young Cheerilee showed up, too, and passed most of the afternoon playing horseshoes with Mac. Granny Smith and some of my aunts made hayburgers, grilled carrots, macaroni and cheese, and apple fritters (they were obligated to make one food with apple in it, else everyone would've asked why we didn't have any).
Just about everyone was clambering to see Apple Bloom and play with her. She was on her best behavior, smiling at everyone without a fuss. And when Rarity arrived with her family, little Sweetie Belle babbled to AB in her baby talk. Sweetie's a couple months younger than Bloom, and it was like they understood each other even though no one else did. They were cuter than breezies, I don't care what anyone says.
While I gazed at the foals, Dad sat down on the soft grass beside me, sipping a cup of fresh cider. “I hope you don't mind your sister getting so much attention. You have to remember that several of your aunts and uncles haven't seen her since she was born.”
“What?” I tore my eyes away from watching Apple Bloom feed Sweetie Belle an apple fritter, and I stared up at my dad. “Oh, that's ok. If it wasn't for her, they wouldn't've come here.”
“You know that's not true, Jackie. Even if they've only seen Apple Bloom once, they've never seen your mark before.”
“I suppose you got a point.” It was true, though, what I said about Bloom. See, I never had a proper cuteseanera before. I'd gotten my other cutie mark later in the year, when the apple blight was super aggressive, and without Mom and Dad to help, we were much too busy to bother with something as trivial as a cutie-mark-getting shindig. But thanks to Apple Bloom I had all the time I needed.
“Oh, look at our little sisters,” said Rarity, strolling over and sitting on my other side. “I can't decide if they're adorable or disgusting.”
AB took a piece of pastry out of Sweetie's mouth and stuck it in her own mouth. Sweetie whined and held her hoof toward the deep fried dough.
“Aww,” chorused the aunties and uncles watching them. Sweetie's mother offered her a piece of macaroni.
“No!” said Sweetie, turning her head to one side and pushing away the floating pasta.
“Obviously they're adorable.” Dad waved his orange foreleg. “And anyway, this is nothing compared to the time Bloom shared her cornbread with one of the pigs.”
Rarity's pupils shrank. “She ate cornbread after a pig ate from it?”
“Eyup, that happened,” I said, smiling at the memory.
“And that doesn't concern you at all?” Rarity's lips hardly moved out of their grimace as she spoke.
“There was a time when I would have been concerned about my foal ingesting pig saliva, but I've learned since then that foals have strong immune systems, and they grow even stronger when their defenses are exposed to a variety of bacteria,” answered Dad.
Rarity's eyes swelled as she put on a strained smile. “I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear any of that because it's Applejack's special day. Anyway, darling, I have a present for you.” She floated up a small, thin box with her tinkling blue magic.
“Aw, you didn't have to give me nothing. Granny Smith says a cutie mark is its own reward.”
Her awkward smile relaxed into genuine happiness. “That may be true, but presents are a nice perk too, don't you think? Besides, I wanted to give you this. Go on, open it!”
I tugged off the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside the box was a gold rope chain.
“I didn't have enough bits to by a real gold necklace, but I hope you like it anyway. At least it's better than that cord, and it goes well with your hair. And I put a bit of gold-tone wire in the box so you can attach your chimera claw to the necklace.” She tapped her hooves together. “What do you think?”
“I love it. Thanks a hole heap, sugar cube, it was mighty thoughtful of you,” I said with a grin.
Then I sensed Mom's presence – especially the scar tissue forming on her chest – before I turned my head and saw her walking toward us.
“That sure is a spiffy necklace, AJ,” said Mom. “Put it on so's we can see how it looks on you.”
I slipped the cord over my head and untied it. This is where my “contact telekinesis” came in useful, because the ends of the cord fell away just how I wanted. I barely had to move my hooves. Bending the wire as a touch harder, though, so Rarity helped me wrap it round the claw and chain.
“You know what this means.” Mom pointed at me. “You'll have to get Rarity something good for her cuteseanera.”
Rarity laughed. “Oh Mrs. Apple, you are a card.”
“Oh no, she wasn't kidding,” said Dad, draining the last of his cider.
“Really? Well, Applejack, you shouldn't have to give me a gift just because I gave you one. I gave it to you because I wanted to make you happy. Besides, all I really care about is earning my cutie mark before we have to go back to school. I just couldn't start the fourth grade still a blank flank. It would be so humiliating!” She lifted the necklace with her magic and fastened it round my neck. “Voila! It looks even better than I imagined. Rugged, yet glamorous!”
“I'll take your word for it,” I said with an amused smile.
“Hey Applejack!” Braeburn waved at me and broke into a gallop, almost tripping Cousin Goldie Delicious on his way toward me. He leaped over Rarity and me and spun round to face us.
Mom narrowed her eyes. “Braeburn, watch where you're galloping.”
“Beg pardon Auntie.” Braeburn flattened his ears for a second. “Anyhow, there's a boatload of faces here that I ain't never seen before. Aren't you gonna introduce everypony, Applejack?”
I raised my eyebrows. “That'd take almost an hour and nopony would remember all the names.”
His expression grew thoughtful as he turned his head to look round the orchard. “I suppose you got a point. But at least you could introduce me to your friend here,” he said, gesturing toward Rarity.
“Fine, I reckon I can do that much. Braeburn, this is Rarity, my friend from school. Rarity, this is my cousin Braeburn from Appleloosa.”
Braeburn tilted his head. “Apple-what-now?”
I cringed. How could I have been so dad-gum careless? Appleloosa wouldn't even exist for seven years.
“What in the world are you talking about, Jackie?” Dad stared down at me with his brow all wrinkled. “I've never even heard of Appleloosa. I have heard of an Appaloosa, a pony with a rare spotted coat, but that's not a location.”
“Yeah, why'd you tell Rarity I was from a spotted pony?” asked Braeburn.
My face and neck felt sweaty. “Well, you were born in a place named after a coat pattern, weren't you? I must've gotten them mixed up.”
He nodded. “I was born in the San Palomino Desert, but I haven't lived there since I was a little foal. You'd think you'd remember that, seeing as how you're a palomino.”
I let out a nervous little chuckle. “Eyep, you'd think so. Oh would you look at that, Apple Bloom got crumbs all over her face and mane. I'd better hustle over there and clean her up.”
I stood, only to feel Dad's long tail wrap round my leg, holding me fast. “That was the clumsiest, most obvious pivot I've ever heard.”
“Uh, I'm sorry? AB really is messy though.” I pointed at my sister, who was letting Sweetie Belle chew on her front hoof. Sweetie let out muffled giggles while Bloom squealed with joy.
“In that case, you can help your mom and me take Bloom inside and clean her off.” Dad gave Mom a significant glance.
“Oh. Right.” I could tell that Mom smelled what Dad was stepping in, so to speak. “You carry her inside, AJ, and we'll come with you.”
Speaking of stepping in it, I was up a manure creek without a paddle. Even if I came up with another distraction, I'd only be putting off the unavoidable.
Rarity had always been great at picking up on social cues, even as a little filly, and I knew that she realized that my mom and dad wanted to chat with me alone.
She cleared her throat. “You go ahead, Applejack.” She turned her head to give Braeburn her attention. “So, Braeburn, you said you're from the San Palomino desert? What's it like there?”
Dad moved his tail from my leg to the back of my neck. “Come on, Jackie.”
I walked with my parents toward Apple Bloom, wondering what I should say. There were a few reasons why I didn't wanna tell anyone that I was from the future, and most of them were selfish, I'm afraid. First, I wanted to try to live my life without anyone treating me different, like I didn't belong – a mare at the right place at the wrong time. If my folks found out I was a grown mare in a little filly's body...I had no idea how they'd take it, if they'd even believe me. But I couldn't imagine them taking it too well. Would Dad still give me rides on his back? Would he and Mom want me to move out and find my own place? OK, that one wasn't too likely. They'd understand how hard it would be for me to get a new job to support myself when I looked and sounded eight years old.
Still, they might start asking me all sorts of questions about the future, and they were sure to be disappointed when I explained that I only know what might happen, not what will happen.
And what would Rarity think of me if she knew I was from more than fifteen years into the future? Usually I'm not one to care what others think of me. But what if Rarity was so weirded out that she didn't want to be my friend?
In my original timeline, Rarity and I got along well when we were real little. I would invite her over to my ramshackle tree house where we'd play make-believe, which often involved Rarity trying to act out her favorite mystery stories and me messing up what was “supposed” to happen.
Then, when we were eight, Rarity designed costumes for the foals' summer play. I promised her that I would watch the musical, but then I lost my parents, and well, you remember how I mentioned I went to Manehattan afterwards? I didn't make it back in time for the play. Didn't even write her to say there'd been a change of plans. After I came home, she gave me the silent treatment, and I was so thick-skulled, I didn't understand why for the longest time. I asked her, of course, but that got me nowhere. Eventually I stopped trying to patch things up between us. It wasn't till Twilight Sparkle moved to town that Rarity and I reconnected, and then it was touch and go for a while.
I won't let anything like that happen again, now that I know we were meant to be the best of friends.
I wasn't worried about having to lie no more. I was just worried about coming up with any reasonable explanation for why I said that my cousin was from a pun-named city that didn't exist.
Also, I was a mite bothered that I wasn't worried about lying.
Anyhow, I scooped up AB and set her on my back, making sure she was balanced.
“I hope you don't mind us stealing Bloom away from you,” Dad said to the aunts and uncles (and Sweetie Belle). “We'll bring her back soon.” He rested his big hoof on Bloom's back. “Say bye-bye, Bloom.”
“Bye-bye,” she said, waving.
Sweetie waved back with both forelegs.
“Aww,” said the aunts and uncles.
Dad waited till we'd walked out of the guests' earshot before saying, “Jackie, your mom and I can't help but notice that you've been behaving oddly ever since you earned your cutie mark.”
If he'd been paying closer attention, he'd've noticed that I actually started “behaving oddly” the day before I got my mark, but it made sense that he'd connect the cutie mark to the change. And if Mom and Dad pinned the change on that, they'd be less likely to dig any deeper, so that worked out better for me.
“You keep saying these off-the-wall things and dodging followup questions,” added Mom.
“First you mentioned a bugbear out of nowhere,” said Dad.
“And the other day you asked your granny where Winona was, whoever that is.”
“And you keep setting the wrong number of places at the table and getting flustered about it.”
“And now you tell Rarity that Braeburn is from someplace named after a spotted pony,” finished Mom, staring down at me with her eyebrows angled upward. “So what's the matter? A cutie mark don't change you. Not like this. There's gotta be some other reason.”
I glanced away from her and stared at the house off in the distance. “I've just been a tad forgetful lately, that's all. Nothing to worry about.”
“But why have you been forgetful, and what's got you so rattled?” Dad swished his chestnut tail. “Did you hit your head during the chimera attack?”
It was amazing – Dad was offering me a believable lie on a silver platter.
“Well, I didn't want to say nothing on account of everyone was fretting over Mom, but since you asked, I did hit my head on the ground when that chimera pinned me.”
Mom put her front hoof on my shoulder, stopping us both in our tracks. “Oh sugar cube! You should've said something!” She gently hugged my head to her chest.
Apple Bloom started petting the back of my head the way she did with our hogs. “Issokay Appujack.”
“I didn't want y'all to worry,” I said, shifting my weight.
“We're parents.” Mom held me at foreleg's length and searched my face. “We can't help fretting. And you got no more control than we do over how much we fret.”
“Well, at least we finally got to the root of the problem,” said Dad. “Tomorrow we'll schedule a doctor's appointment. He should be able to give a prognosis and treatments to help you, Jackie.”
I fought the urge to smack myself in the forehead. It had seemed like the perfect lie, but nope. The doctor was sure to realize that I had no signs of recent head trauma, and then what?
They'd know I'd lied, that's what.
Mom took her hooves from my shoulders and stood. “Doctor's office is closed tomorrow, Arbor,” she reminded him. “We'll have to wait till Monday.”
The sun felt mighty hot and bright all of a sudden, like I was an ant under a magnifying glass. Not that I would ever do that to an ant, mind. But you hear stories.
“Uh,” I wiped my forehead. “I don't know if I hit my head that hard.”
“Now, now.” Dad put his hoof on my foreleg. “We'll just see what the doctor says about that.”
“Really, Dad, I couldn't even feel it.” My voice grew quieter. All I wanted was to talk my way out of going to the doctor, but knew in my heart how useless it was to try. I gazed up at the sky and spotted birds flying, making high-pitched, sorta whiny peeps.
“Maybe there's another reason my memories are all mixed up.” I could hardly hear my own voice over the birds' calls.
Apple Bloom started chewing on my ear at that moment, which didn't help me at all.
“It's possible.” Dad stroked his chin, as though he had an imaginary beard. He always wanted to grow whiskers but Mom didn't like anything beyond sideburns.
“There are many different causes of memory problems, which is all the more reason to have a medical professional examine you,” he added.
Mom smoothed down my forelock. “It's gonna be all right, hon. Let's try to put it out of our minds for now and enjoy the party.”
We reached the house then, and Dad opened the kitchen door. I stepped in after him, my thoughts spinning like a twister.
Dad's words got me thinking as I watched Mom wipe Bloom's face, forelock, and hooves with a soapy washcloth. There were all kinds of causes of memory problems and brain fog and suchlike. Maybe the answer I needed was in a book. The library was sure to have books about magic or plants or creatures or other things that can change memories. Shucks, magic has effected my memory before. One time Twilight accidentally mixed up my cutie mark and my other friends' marks, and it gave me false memories of choosing to become a tailor of all things. The false memories covered up my real memories of going to Manehattan and returning home to be with my family, and most everything that happened after that.
That's a once-in-a-lifetime doozy of an example, but maybe I could find something else that could cause the changes other ponies saw in me. It had to be something that was hard to test for in a blood or urine sample. Something that even a doctor might not know much about.
The real filly me wouldn't have thought things through this carefully. She would've panicked and blurted something even dumber than the things she'd already said. Shoot, I ain't even sure if twenty-year-old me was as much of a planner as mid-twenties me. But when you start spending time with Twilight Sparkle, you start to see that research can be a useful tool to have in your belt, as long as you don't spend so much time on it that you don't get anything done.
So, I had a plan, though it was a sketchy one. I'd just have to wait till the next day to go to the library. Or maybe Monday, if it was closed on Sunday. No one would look at me funny if I visited the library, right? I could always say I was fixing to check out a Western or a field guide.
Mom brushed out the crumbs that had fallen into my mane while Dad changed AB's diaper, and then he set her onto my back, and we were all ready to return to the celebration.
As we walked up to the section of the orchard where the ponies were gathered, we heard music.
Mom frowned. “I hope they didn't start a square dance without me.”
It wasn't a square dance. Rarity, Cheerilee, and Mac were singing a song that I had never heard before. Sweetie Belle sat next to her big sister, beaming up at her and stomping her tiny hooves in time to the music. For such a young foal, she had decent rhythm.
In the Culinary Castle,
There's always room for more,
And the bales of hay and sunflowers
Come dancing through the door...
Mom froze. Her orange eyes grew huge as a smile slowly stretched across her face, as if someone had just given her the best Hearths Warming Eve present ever.
“Well I'll be!” Her voice was quiet, but I got the feeling that she really wanted to shout. “That is so precious, I could die!”
I gave her a sharp look at her choice of words, but she paid me no mind, staring at Mac as though he'd ascended to alicornhood. Had she never heard him sing before? I thought for a moment and realized I couldn't remember hearing him sing until some time after we'd lost our parents.
“Mama,” said Apple Bloom, leaning toward her. My little sister had a small vocabulary, but her message was clear. “I'm the cute one, remember?” That's what she was saying.
“What?” asked Mom, not glancing at her.
“Mama. Wook,” said AB. I'm pretty sure she meant, “Look at me.”
“Uh-huh.” Mom's eyes were still fixed on Mac.
“Let Mac be the center of attention for a change, Bloom.” I reached back and put my hoof on her foreleg.
She shook her head. “No.”
Dad stepped toward the trio of singing youngsters, but Mom put her hoof on his withers to hold him back.
“Wait! He's like a wild rabbit,” she hissed. “You'll spook him if'n you get too close.”
So we stood there and waited for Mac, Rarity, and Cheerilee to finish their song. Bloom was a lot less patient than the rest of us, as you've probably guessed. She squirmed and commenced sliding over my side. I crouched down low so that she had only a short distance to tumble onto the grass. Then she toddled toward Mom.
...You can find any kind of food you please in the Culinary Castle!
Cheerilee reared up on her hind legs and posed on the final note. Mac held his note just a split second longer than the fillies, which caused his face to turn pink. Don't ask me how that works on a red-coated pony because I have no idea. As for Rarity, she just stood there putting on a show of modesty, slowly fluttering her eyelashes to soften her look. The other party-goers stomped their hooves in applause.
Dad glanced at Mom. “Is now a good time to go over to him?”
Mom nodded, and they both trotted toward Mac, weaving between the ponies who were grouped around him. My brother started to slink away as they came near.
I glanced down toward my sister and saw a clump of tall grass that hadn't been there a minute earlier. It was a deeper shade of green than the blades around it, with a red bow sticking out the top.
“Apple Bloom?” I brushed the grass aside and stared at her. She had all four hooves planted firmly at the grass roots.
“Did you use life pulse? I didn't know you could do it this young!” I gave her a gentle hug. “I'm so proud of you sugar cube.”
“Where Mama?” she asked, unaware that she'd used her earth pony energy in a way that most foals several times her age had a hard time doing.
“Did I hear that right, Applejack?” asked Cousin Apple Rose, strolling closer to us. “Did you say Apple Bloom used life pulse?”
I waved my hoof toward the tall grass, beaming. “She sure did! She grew this patch all by herself in a minute!”
“Aw, she's such a big girl!” squealed Auntie Apple Dumpling, her voice pitching up so high that I reckon only bats could hear parts of it.
“It's no surprise to me,” said Uncle Apple Seed, trotting over to us with a grin. “She's an Apple, ain't she?”
“To the core.” I rubbed AB's head before leaving her in the company of the aunties and uncles and elderly third cousins.
Then I moseyed over to check on Mac, and caught the middle of Granny Smith reassuring him.
“You got nothing to be embarrassed about, Mac,” she said, her eyes twinkling up at him. “That song was a toe-tapper!”
“It's an ear-worm too,” said Dad. “It'll likely be stuck in my head for days. Where did you hear it?”
As you can imagine, Mac was none too eager to answer, so Rarity spoke up first.
“It's from the first annual foals' summer musical!” She shook her head back and forth a bit as she talked, the way she does whenever she gets all excited.
“First annual? I like that confidence,” said Dad with a grin.
“That's what Ms. Play Write called it,” said Cheerilee, who was a few inches taller than me, and gangly with youth. “She's the producer and director. And the writer, I think.”
“What with her name and cutie mark I would hope she wrote it,” said Granny, letting out a soft laugh.
“Why didn't you children tell us about this play?” asked Mom, swinging her head from Mac to me.
“I dunno.” I shrugged. “I wasn't planning on being in the play, and I didn't think Mac was either.”
“I think both of you should try out.” Rarity waved her foreleg vaguely at us. “If Mac has a good singing voice, you probably do too.”
“I can carry a tune, but I don't got the best range compared to some fillies.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “And I can't act worth beans.”
“Eyup,” agreed Mac.
“Well, why don't you give it a try, Applejack?” Rarity leaned closer to me. “You may be better than you think.”
“I think Mac should try out. I'll bet the musical could use his voice. But if I were to help, I'd rather make props or backdrops,” I said, scratching my chin.
“Why not both?” asked Dad. “Audition for a part and plan on helping with the scenery whether or not you land a role.”
“I'll think about it,” I said. But I only said that so Dad would drop it. I was pretty sure I didn't have the acting chops to nail the audition, and even if I did, I didn't want to risk stealing the role from some other filly. Then I realized Mac might also take a part from a filly who would have otherwise been in the play...But nah, Mac deserved this. He loved performing and roleplaying, he just didn't know it yet. Besides, the play was apt to be better with a tenor.
Heavens to Betsy, I was getting scary-good at justifying my preferences. Best move along.
“What about you Rarity? What do you wanna do for the play?” I already knew the answer, but I hoped that if I got her to talk about it, she'd figure out what her special talent was.
“I'm designing the costumes! I loved making my own costume for Nightmare Night, so this will be like that times...” she looked up at the sky as she thought. “Five! That's how many parts there are.”
“That's right, you were a detective for Nightmare Night,” said Cheerilee.
“Shadow Spade.” The breeze picked up then and blew her mane across half her face, which made her seem mysterious.
“That's the one. But do you think you can make ponies look like food?” Cheerilee held up a hayburger to emphasize her point.
Rarity pulled her mane away from her eyes. “I don't know, but I shall try my best.”
“You can do it Rarity.” I swung my foreleg in my best give-it-the-old-Filly-Scout-try gesture. “Can't wait to see 'em.”
Suddenly Mom glanced round. “AJ, did you lose track of your sister?”
“She's somewhere that-a-way.” I waved my foreleg at the herd of older relations several yards away.
Mom frowned. “'Somewhere that-a-way' ain't good enough.” She sighed. “My fault really. I should've kept a closer eye on her.”
“Don't worry, Spice. I'll go and pinpoint her location.” Dad started trotting in the direction I pointed.
A smile worked its way across my face as I wondered how long it would take him to find out that Bloom had used life pulse. I cantered after him. This would be fun.
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Hooray! And it only took you over a year.
Awww so adorable, AJ turned into a widdle loophole seeking stinker.
7946809 Right? Thanks for sticking with it that long.
A very sweet slice-of-life chapter. I would love to see how the play goes. Applejack could play the guitar, if there's a part for that.
7950984 Glad you enjoyed it. But this is actually just the calm before the storm. Sooner or later the Adventure tag is gonna kick back in.
Earth pony magic phew isn't That a huge debate in the fandom of
So when she came back from Manehatten, the orchard was blighted? Better start working on that, although durned if I know how she'll explain it to her parents. Maybe keep a close eye out for patient zero & jump on it super hard?
There are exceptions but most diseases are species specific. Risk of infection, she's better off kissing a pig than a pony
8083976 Good points. Yeah, Applejack will have to keep a close eye on the orchard to nip the disease in the bud. She's still got a lot on her plate even though the worst is over (or is it?).
Thinking about "Who is next & when?" Everyone should be OK until Rainboom Day. Then, in an unsupervised/unauthorized race, Dash knocks Fluttershy to what would have been her death except for a miracle (even by EQ standards). If I was in charge of that camp, I'd take a DAMN dim view of that. Least I can see happening is Dash getting kicked out & some councilors getting fired. (& that assumes no serious injuries)
Griffon the Brush Off, Gilda knows Dash from camp, but doesn't seem to know Fluttershy. This makes sense if you assume Dash was sent to another camp.
God knows, if I was Fluttershy, I'd NEVER go back to that camp. So, maybe she moved to Ponyville to be near her beloved critters?
Annnnnd you just doomed the world to eternal night.
Wait, false alarm.
Well this is a neat idea. I think Applejack is the most intriguing of the 6 to be sent back to change history, because she's so pragmatic, yet bold. Hope you have luck writing it in the future. I'm particularly curious how Applejack is going to feel when Rarity gets dragged off to her destiny. Or what she's going to think years later, meeting Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Or years after that, meeting Twilight. Is Applejack gonna fix her sprinklers preemptively? Is she gonna try to reunite with her distant maybe-relatives over at the rock farm? Is she going to take a trip to
Dodge Junctionthe-Frozen-North-but-inexplicably-desertlike-mesas to see Starlight's village? Or heck, maybe the village Starlight was born in? It's about time for a certain lonely filly's betrayal.8213926
Thanks for the comment. Applejack’s pragmatism is the main reason I decided to put her in this type of time travel story. I’ve read a few fanfics with Twilight time traveling and trying to micro-manage everything, and frankly this approach started to annoy me. On a similar note, I’d also like to read a time travel fic with Rainbow traveling to the past - I imagine her approach would be halfway between AJ’s practicality and Starlight’s who-gives-a-crap attitude. Eh, maybe I’ll write one for RD someday if I have time.
Anyway, glad I got you thinking about the different possibilities. I probably won’t write far enough into the future for AJ to meet all of the M6, much less Starlight. But she is going to meet some other interesting characters, without giving too much away.
8215215
Starlight Glimmer actually is getting her heart broken right now. It's not far into the future at all. Then again, it's really not Applejack's business, so she probably wouldn't interfere unless forced. It's just we don't know much about the past from the show, and I was looking for opportunities for Applejack to end up in a pickle.
...on a semi-related note, is AJ going to be like
and Diamond isn't even due for another like, 5 years. (Knowing the future can seriously change the way you look at somepony.)
8215921
That’s a good point, but keep in mind that I started writing and outlining this story before the S5 finale. At that point I didn’t even know Starlight was going to be reformed. Plus, Starlight never talks about her family or the town she’s originally from.
But I’ll give it some thought. I do at least feel more capable of writing Starlight’s character now than I did at the end of S6.
8216399
No pressure, or anything. I just was trying to think of suggestions for what to write about. ...huh, if Applejack got her cutie mark after Apple Bloom is born, and Spoiled Milk got together with Filthy Rich after Applejack became a teenager... wow, Diamond Tiara is a lot younger than Apple Bloom.
Hope to see an update sometime soon.^_^
8412716
I was actually thinking about writing a blog post about this soon. I'm wondering if I should rewrite what I have so far to change my OC parents to Pear Butter and Bright Mac. Even if I continued this fic as is, I'd be thinking about the canon parents the whole time I write. But I don't know if I should change this story or leave it as a canceled fic and upload the new version under a different title.
8413394
Cancel this one and write a new one under a new title. Put in the description that it's a rewrite of this one. Also put in this one's description a link to the rewrite too.
Oh...
On the new one it might be a good idea to use a new pic that has Bright Mac and Pear Butter in it along with AJ.
8413404
Thanks for the input. It wouldn't be that difficult to rewrite since the show never said how the parents died. The basic plot would stay the same, but I'd have to change a lot of the dialog and some of the details.
I love this, sadly it’s dead : /