If a Slenderman falls in the forest, does anyone care?
Season 6 Spoilers!
After helping Applejack out with her chores, Twilight and Rarity wonder about their friend and Earth Ponies in general. Applejack doesn't seem that good at thinking, lateral or otherwise. But is she really as slow as she seems?
Page generated in 0.09 seconds
Total duration
1,079 users online
1,641,606 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I take it the new episode was horrible
ugh, I hate the new episode, AJlearns nothing, and it only proves that AJ and Rarity are not even CLSOE to "freinds"
It seemed AJ fixed the valve in less than an hour...
So is this complete or not?
Well, that was a hilarious twist. Very good.
7255312
Oops. Yeah, it's complete. Thanks for pointing that out.
So what inspired you to write this story?
7255829
I've made it my goal to write a new story each time an episode comes out for all of Season 6. In all honesty, this was the hardest one to write just because I didn't know what to do with the latest episode. I almost feel like the secret organization hiding in the shadows plot is overused, but that's all I could come up with given Applejack's antics.
I liked this! Reading this well made up for today's episode. For me at least. Sadly, this is one Applejack episode I didn't particularly enjoy. I got the moral they were trying to pass on, but...the approach/delivery of said moral could've been executed better.
Nice job! :D
I can't believe it.
I didn't think any good fics would be written for this episode, considering how little fuel it gave us (other than Rainbow officially liking going to the spa—I can anticipate some RD-shaming stories), but you managed to do it with a nice little twist. Kudos! 
As an editor, I have to say it—there were errors sprawled around in quite a few places—but you've still got my upvote. Nice job!
This is wonderful at addressing the common trope of Earth Ponies being less influential/intelligent than the other species! Tribalism is actually quite strong on FIMfiction.
Also, please write a sequel/chapter on the society of Earth Ponies getting busted!
Of course, the pigs and Earth Ponies were quite unaware they were being watched by the chickens through the spy ray...
Nuu! Earth ponies are just as intelligent! I feel Rarity and Twilight were really OOC
7256097
I'm glad it helped. I too felt this was a less-than-par for the course episode, mainly because of how long it took Applejack to figure out an elementary problem. See steam leaking out of pipe? Fix pipe. But at least we got to see ponies confining other animals in small, cramped spaces possibly against their will, right?
7256298
I know. And I feel guilty about all my spellinks errogs. But that's the tradeoff of writing these stories within hours of watching the episode. That said, if anything ever really makes you tear your eyes out, write it in the comments and I'll fix it.
7256700
I'll...think about it. Any followup chapter would have to be cleverly done, and I'm sick right now and out of clever. But regarding the theme of Earth Ponies < Other Ponies, I wonder if tribalism also extends to the episode writers? I'm still waiting for a devious Earth Pony villain, or at least, a villain that isn't horny.
I find this short so hilarious, especially because I proposed my OC on this site when I joined years ago, for just these problems, and the reson they hadnt occured to date. Like Disneys Theme parks background workers, with the hidden entrances and underground workings etc.
I just wish I could get round to writing again, workng over the Ponyville Spa was the main arc. That and the sewers, digesters, compost heaps, other supplies. Been too long since I last did the analysis between Electric, Gas, Halogen/Magic and other methods. Wonder how difficult it is to do a Solar to Microwave downconverter out of Ruby.
Given how intelligent Pigs are, and the Cows talk, theyre definitely doing a Dolphin.
I find the Everfree useful for training and resources. Zecoras levels are climbing like crazy with her occupation there.
More stories from the Earth Pony Underground? They who keep their hooves planted?
Alright. Twist aside, here are my thoughts.
First off, I liked this episode, because I think we've all been in Applejack's position at one point or another. We do what works because it works, and we rarely find ourselves thinking about how to make it more efficient. I've been in that position a lot in the work I do, and thoughts on simplification are few and far between, especially between people who have been doing things for a long time, and are familiar with the routine.
Secondly, a lot of Applejack's behavior in this episode makes sense, if one looks at it from the perspective of resource conservation, like if there's a drought or lean crops and whatnot to work with.
Not dumping out a big pile of feed to lure all the chickens out at once, that makes sense to me because if they don't eat it all, you have to gather it back up, or waste a whole lot more.
Opening and closing the gate long after the hinge has stopped squeaking? Hinges are metal and exposed to the elements, them not squeaking is temporary at best, always.
Only opening certain parts of an irrigation system? If crops are thin, or water is low because of a drought, it makes sense not to waste it; just ask California, they'll tell you.
Patching sections of old fence, rather than replacing the entire section? If you've ever been without enough material, you'd stretch it as far as you can, cutting it into as many pieces as you needed to cover the most area.
It's entirely possible a lot of Applejack's routine was born out of less than optimal conditions, and she simply never abandoned them when the years weren't so lean, and resources were more prominent.
To me it makes a lot of sense, because Applejack has told tales about life on the farm being hard before, so it's not unreasonable to think that pickings were slim, and supplies were limited at times. Ask anyone who had family that went through the great depression, and you'll hear tales about making do with what you think would never be enough to get the job done under normal conditions. And if Sweet Apple Acres wasn't prosperous during the time Applejack was growing up, those would be hard learned lessons that wouldn't easily be broken regardless of how much time passed.
Hmm, you'd think AJ would know about humans since her friend went to a human world and her friends were asking about it.
Guess the super duper smart genes skipped over that Earth Pony if he ate a whole ten pounds of coins at once. He either couldn't tell that metal coins aren't pie fillings or he ate the whole damn thing without chewing.
"Ve are not actually ze Earth Ponies darlink, we're actually hornless how you say 'uneecorns'"
7258962
I agree that Applejack isn't being stupid or foolish in the episode, she's sticking with what works. Granny Smith Zap Apple routine likely left the wrong impression on AJ, that ALL things no matter how illogical must be worth it, leaving out that Granny Smith's Zap Apple routine was the result of a life time of experiments and trial and error.
7259688
In addition, at least with the whole matter of feeding the pigs, animals are a lot more finicky than people think. I've seen pets that have refused, absolutely refused, to eat or drink anything unless it's prepared a certain way; like one who wouldn't drink water unless it came straight from the fridge and was properly chilled, or wouldn't eat until it first got petted. Not even just a few minutes, but rather hours, simply because their routine wasn't followed.
With house pets, not eating is one thing, but farm animals need to eat and keep up their weight since they're sort of the livelihood of the farm. Farmers can't really wait for them to stop being stubborn and act reasonable if they're the finicky sort.
7257276
You're probably never going to see a major non-magical villain. I mean, think about how that would play out. Villain arrives, does something villainous, and Twilight Sparkle immobilizes the villain with magic. Problem solved.
It's not impossible, but the whole thing would wind up having shades of the Iron Pony competition, like where Rainbow Dash "won" the game of tug of war by taking flight and literally lifting Applejack off the ground. Such an overwhelming advantage that you wind up looking at the winner and thinking, "That was bad and you should feel bad".
You can't even really do the whole Lex Luthor you'll-never-win-in-court routine very well, since Twilight is co-ruler of the country, and it seems like the princesses' collective authority is limited only by their restraint and good judgement.
The most likely way it would work out is that Our Heroes would spend about two thirds of an episode dutifully bearing the Ceremonial Idiot Ball, until the critical moment of the plot where they pass it over to the villain. And then there would be sunshine and rainbows. The whole thing would wind up being kind of embarrassing for everyone involved.
7265758
Oh, come now. Can't I dream of the writers making a smart villain who could deal with the alicorn problem? If I had to think of an earth pony's solution to the Twilight problem, I'd probably just lure her into a cave and collapse it on her. While she's holding up the rubble around her friends you can do all kinds of nasty stuff. And if you've gotta take out Rainbow Dash and the others, there are nets, tripwires, disposable minions, poisons...
Plus, Twilight's got terrible aim. I personally would be more worried about Starlight being a threat, but even then, so long as you're not caught flatfooted any clever individual can use anything from Trixie's smokebombs and horse-fu to advanced techniques like hostage-taking and blackmail to defeat the heroes.
Worst comes to worst, you could always go for a physical god route. Somepony like Cruciger from This Platnium Crown who would be really hard to stop even for a powerful magician (even without his horn), or someone like Lightning Dust who's probably fast enough to outrun almost every spell.
I dunno. I hope it's possible, and that a writer makes an epic few episodes someday. It just feels limiting if our only villains are magic users, that's all.
7265884
Well, sure, you can dream. But it's so much harder to do it well, and so much easier to just provide the villain with magic, or applied phlebotinum that is functionally equivalent to magic.
Also, Starlight won't be as dangerous as all that. Sure, she was an amazingly powerful, skillful, and effective opponent, but now that she's joined the good guys she'll automatically be about 90% less useful. I think they have those idiot balls surgically implanted or something.
7266098
I'm crying inside, but I do think you're right now that I reflect on the laziness of people. Alas, those writers...maybe I should make it my goal to become a writer for the show. Then I could destroy the series but do it my way.
I sometimes fantasize about a story where the Earth ponies have a secret underground society in which they keep Equestria running despite the incompetence of the other tribes, and so do the unicorns, and so do the pegasi, and none of them realize they're all feigning incompetence to each other.
7287327
HEH!
Didn't any pony tell them that Twilight's as an Alicorn embodies all three tribes, INCLUDING Earth Ponies. Which means she has all the abilities they do.
7306939
Oh, that'd be perfect, because all three of them would try to introduce Twilight to their conspiracy.
Yes! I just love this story. It's always amazing to see stories about Earth Ponies, they're my favorite tribe. Too bad the fandom likes to call them useless because they don't have flashy magic or wings.
I laughed my flanks off with the Human Insanity Visions. But most surprising was the talking pig in the end.
This fanfic is going to my favorites folder just like Maran's "Earth Ponies Are Overpowered".
GOOD WORK! Have a lovely day!
7287327 hehehehe
Poor Earth Ponies... Too stupid that they need help.