This story is a sequel to Asking a Favor
Sunset Shimmer has an interesting encounter with this world's version of a horse when she goes to help Applejack on the farm. This leads into a conversation that gets a bit more introspective than Sunset was probably hoping for when she came over that day. Sometimes you just need to hear the right advice from a friend though, and Applejack is plenty happy to oblige.
Set between the first Equestria Girls movie and Rainbow Rocks. Part of a series of fics I've been working on about Sunset's early days learning how friendship works, which starts with my previous story Asking a Favor. Can absolutely be read as a standalone though.
Rated Teen for one double entendre joke that I feel keeps it just out of E territory.
Man, and I thought this series would never get updated, and here we are!
I missed small, introspective fic likes these, wtih how much had gone in the EqG World, things usually only gets bigger.
psst, may I ask your headcanon about the Shadowbolts? What do you think they like and whatnot?
Very nicely done!
s6.postimg.org/5pzpmopep/Pirate_Approved2.jpg
EDIT: Gonna assume those downvotes are from folks tired of seeing my ugly mug,
That was a beautiful Sunset character piece, especially at the very end.
Is it weird that I got hung up on Sunset using a stool to trim Thunder's hooves?
Every time I've cleaned a horse's hooves, and every time I've watched a farrier work, it's been standing up.
Does this mean you might write a story where Sunset goes back to Equestria to see Celestia?
7636816
General thoughts on the Shadowbolts, they're a bunch of girls who spend most of their time in a highly competitive environment, which is why they come off as so abrasive. But going by how quick they were to defend Twilight at the end, I think they're good kids who just needed an extreme situation like that to realize what they were doing wrong. They've got the potential to be interesting characters if the writers decide to use them again. I'm also partial to the headcanon that Sunny Flare is Cinch's daughter.
7637177
The stool really just ended up being a prop for Sunset to move around to help illustrate her mood, but feel free to pretend it's not there if it doesn't make logical sense to you. My cursory research was clearly not very efficient.
It is not weird, that is exactly the kind of glaring mistake I figured I would end up making when I went into this knowing nothing about hoof care.
7637190
I have written about a thousand different versions of that story in my head, but never actually sat down to type any of them out. I'm currently tossing around the idea of one where Celestia decides to take the situation into her own hooves and comes to the human world to see Sunset herself. What with Sunset's new mind reading empathy powers, I feel like that could be a more interesting version of the encounter.
Loved the dialogue in this fic. Interesting perspective but really nice message. Still a sucker for sunset fics.
It never occurred to me that a farriers work could be considered the equine version of doing your nails...
This was a very nice story
It was part adorable, and partly it just felt really good to read.
I found quite a lot of grammar mistakes, but the idea was executed well and I really enjoyed it! Have a like.
7637703
Yeah, this is usually how a farrier will work:
drgarfinkel.com/images/site/images/farrier.jpg
Standing with hoof between the legs, using leather pads over the pants.
And this is usually how an owner or rider will clean a hoof:
horsechannel.com/images/horse-news-article-images/pick-a-hoof_400.jpg
Standing with hoof to the side. Some people will hold the hoof like the farrier picture, above, because this version requires slightly more training for the horse to stand still while you work.
Sitting on a stool also puts you closer to where a hoof will land if the horse slips out of your grip and stomps down suddenly, and gives you less ability to react if that happens. It also means you've got to move the stool several times as you work on each hoof.
7638628
Huh, that is actually pretty cool. Thanks for the visuals. The idea that you need special pants covers is especially weird and interesting to me. Good to know for future reference. It does seem rather dangerous to be near ground level of a horse hoof now that mention it.
7638646
I'm not certain, but I suspect the pants covers is because the farrier is doing this dozens of times each day, and they don't want to seriously damage their jeans. That, or the leather may be more comfortable for the horse than denim.
Edit from Wikipedia:
"chinks" being a specific style of chaps.
I've always wondered what it's like for them to see non-intelligent horses for the first time.
Just one problem.
Sunset should be freaking out over the fact that the shoe gets nailed into the hoof now.
Equestrian ponies have much more sensitive hooves and that would be agony there. As for shoes. I think they have them magically adhesive.
This was...quite enjoyable.
7638646
It's not just the possibility of the horse kicking, it's even more the steady wear and tear caused by the horse moving subtly to adjust its posture, and that the horse is much stronger than most humans. And of course there's a horseshoe on that hoof, that's the whole point of the exercise.
What I really like about this is that you avoid the really horrible cliches about Sunset Shimmer's reaction to seing a Humanoid world horse. In particular, she instantly grasps that it's not sapient, and responds appropriately.
7636933 *hugs* I'm sorry about those people, sweetie.
7638669 I would imagine it similar to a human seeing a gorilla for the first time if they had never heard of one before. A more powerful, larger, more animalistic non-sapient version of your species. for some, they may take it in stride, others may find it in their uncanny valley, and still others may feel that it is closer to them than other animals might be.
For some reason when Sunset pointed out how surreal seeing the horse was I was reminded of the phrase "naked cliff ape" and I have no idea why(or where I heard it for that matter). The comment about her jacket being fake leather was kinda jarring, as I was assuming that it was what the portal dressed her in when she came through and therefore real leather.
7642273
I used to assume it was real leather too, for the same reason. But the more I thought about, I realized that it would make more sense for it to be fake. Because the portal does seem to have some level of intelligence and forethought built into it, so it has to know she comes from a world with talking cows. Culturally sensitive magic portal for the win I guess.
I know that this is basically irrelevant to the story (which was great!), but...
Well, no wonder Applejack is poor!
Not only have most farmers (In America, at least) moved on to no-till farming, but trying to do a modern farm one row at a time at the rate that a horse can pull a plow ... they could never hope to finish in time to plant. Or harvest, probably. Not even if they used several horses at once. Modern farm equipment plows/plants/sprays/harvests MANY rows at once, usually guided by GPS.
I mean, yes, the Amish and Mennonites still do farming that way, but their farms are tiny and require the labor of many, many people. They survive through lower costs and selling their crops at inflated 'organic food' prices. I doubt that the Apples are going to be able to survive that way.
7642379
More subjects I know very little about that end up breaking the immersion for people who are educated on this stuff.
On the bright side, I am learning new things every day from the comments on this fic. Twilight would be proud of the educating going on in this comment section.
7642379 Well, they could use more modern methods on other parts of the farm to actually get money, but use old-timey methods on a small area around their house to keep tradition for the family and show off for interested persons. Also, unlike her Equestria counterpart, EQ Applejack does seem to be from a farm family that makes enough to sustain them being farmers. Also, it's not like they need to grow new plants each year, just tend to already grown trees. Just checked, and apple trees can stay fruiting for a hundred years, with at least one tree being 200 years old and still bearing fruits. Every few decades they probably remove a section, sell the wood, and plant saplings.
I see some people have given comments regarding farriery, and I hope you don't mind if I give one more. Before Sunset begins trimming and filing the hooves she would have to pull off the old shoes. You can't trim with the shoes still on. She also ought to use a pick to clean out any mud and stones before starting.
I like this series. I look forward to seeing who Sunset visits next.
7642976
That's really plausible -- I know of a couple of farmers who do this, and at least one museum. But then Applejack said
meaning that apparently the Apples don't use tractors -- at least for tilling. That's the part that bugged me. She also implies that they routinely use Thunder to pull loads rather than trucks and tractors (at least, that's how I read it.)
Plows aren't used for planting trees. Plows are used to break up the soil to make room for new roots while simultaneously removing obstructions such as pre-existing roots. This would destroy the sod in an orchard leading to excessive erosion and dry infertile soil, plus it just compacts in a few months anyway so it makes no real difference to a 200-year lifespan tree. Fruit trees are planted in individual containers and raised in nurseries until the saplings are big enough for step 2: cutting the trees in half and grafting a branch of your desired hybridized variety to the bottom half (rootstock) of the sapling to create a new super-tree. These are further raised in a tree nursery until they are planted in individually dug holes several yards apart. Remember Bloomberg?
Implications of the (somewhat absurd) recent episode aside, I suspect that pony Applejack is actually one of the wealthiest ponies in the Ponyville area -- at least on paper. Farmers own LOTS of assets and the Apples have a complete monopoly on zap-apple products and a local monopoly on cider and possibly other apple products.
7644101 Huh, didn't notice it, but I meant EG Applejack's family probably only makes enough to live off of. Hit Q instead of G by accident, also forgot the n in Equestrian.
Other than that, the extra info about tree farming really only supports my point. Most of what they are doing is tending to grown tree and growing saplings to replace them. They don't really need machines to do that other than watering and harvesting.
Likely any plowing they do is for the field they use to grow other vegetables for themselves.
Also, not a farmer, so most of what I've said is based off of trivial tidbits I've picked up.
Aww. This was a sweet little story. Can't wait for the rest of the series!
wrong kind of "its"
Well, Sunset has been shown Generosity and given Honesty. Who's next?
nicely done
...I've got no joke here: this is gold on it's own...
that's...actually kind of true, if you think about it: even if her self-inflicted exile becomes more-or-less permanent, I highly doubt that Sunset's the kind of person.pony/whatever to throw away her Equestrian identity completely...
i1.ytimg.com/vi/zxfox0eFFsI/maxresdefault.jpg
cdn.emgn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/78307-ouch-right-in-the-feels-meme-cjiS.jpeg
pre02.deviantart.net/8f1b/th/pre/i/2013/205/8/6/aww____so_cute____by_nicksfluffyshit-d6eyttf.jpg
blog.sheasilverman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/tumblr_lwhv2roIab1qd47jqo1_500.gif
I've been meaning to read this for a while now. This was nice.
The functionality of pony hooves as sensing and manipulating appendages does not lend itself well to the idea of horseshoes. A horseshoe gets nailed through the insensate hoof wall, no problem if it's done well. Pony hooves are too nimble, too versatile for that to be a realistic aspect to their biology.
...for a given value of realistic.
I enjoyed this little tale very much indeed: The mechanics of writing are competently handled, the storytelling style is immersive and literate, the world-building is top-notch, the characterization is solid. It is precisely the sort of story I aim to tell, and I couldn’t resist slipping an oblique reference to it into one of my own!
Actualy Celestia would be standing at a height were an average man (since the show is from USA 5'9" or 175.7 cm ) could look her in the eyes without looking upward. Otherwise she could not still be considered a pony. Princial Celestia could look her in the eyes if there wasn't this whole "change specie when you cross the mirror" thing. Bottom line no horse not fitting the pony criteria where depicted in Equestria. The saddle arabian? ponies.
It's time to update to the new Applejack(EQG) tag
7794188. Maybe they're like "hoofshoes", boots for hooves. I've seen those mentioned before in other stories.
7907991 That would make more sense, but I don't think it fits Sunset's story.
7878875
Oh, neat! I haven't been on in a while and didn't know they'd added those tags. I'll have to got update my stories. Thanks for the heads up!
So what's up with the other stories in this series? The author's note mentioned that all but one of them were done, and that was a while ago.
I really liked both Asking a Favor and this, and I'd love to read more of it.
I'm pretty sure the sheep actually don't talk, just like the pigs.
This section really got me inside Sunset’s thoughts!
8264145
Nope, sheep definitively can talk.
'You could'a just asked', remember?
8356095
Ha, yeah! I actually happened to see that clip just the other day by coincidence. I had forgotten about that.
I wonder what happened to Sunset's nail-on horseshoes when she came to the EG world...
Man, for some reason, I thought the description meant she was gonna talk to the horse. Turns out I'm just a doofus.
Good stuff.
I randomly remembered how awesome your 'Asking for a Favor' story was, and I just had to look you up and checkout what else you had.
This story was so immersive when it comes to the characters' personalities and life experiences. The way you described how Sunset perceived the differences and similarities between a horse in the human world and where she came from, as well as just the candid explanations about her feelings and experiences that she shared with Applejack.
Both characters really felt real here, like you could actually meet them and have an honest conversation, even make friends with them. Usually there's something sort of... subtly removed about reading characters in a story. But this just had some quality to it that made it feel less like a tale told, and more like a genuine exchange between two people. A extremely unique read, and in a distinctly good way. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent stuff. Seeing Sunset interact with horses is always fun, and the character interaction was handled fantastically. I'm glad I finally read this.
You can has review!
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!