Every year, Princess Twilight puts on a Hearth's Warming Party at her castle. Good times are had by all, and this year it pays host to one very special guest in a certain talkative Kirin. Applejack's idea, for the record. Laughs are sure to result, right?
Well, maybe that and possibly a few other things. Applejack would have been a foolish mare not to have noticed that Autumn once sang about being trapped in a silent prison with only the voices in her head for company. And if Starlight has anything to say about it, Autumn won't have to suffer alone...
(Featured on 12/16/19, 12/17/19)
Chapters (1)
The fact there isn't a romance tag on this saddens me! Not like that's going to stop me from reading it though, hehe.
This was a great story! I really liked the fact that you brought up the conversation about Autumn possibly suffering from mental health issues. It was a good, straight forward talk that Starlight had with Applejack. And showing Applejack having that difficult conversation with Autumn was wonderful. I hope that it gives others the confidence to talk to and be there for those that need a friend and need someone to be therefor them.
9991225
Yeah, I sorta figured the romance tag might be a bit inappropriate with what the story turned into in the end.
9991274
Yeah, the possibility of Autumn being... well, not all there is definite. She's about as out there as Pinkie, and unlike Ponks she has a solid reason for being the way she is. (And no, Pinkie being Pinkie doesn't count as a solid reason.) All of that isolation for god only knows how long? I'd be more amazed if it didn't affect the poor mare.
And yeah, Starlight being the one to tell Applejack point blank she was being an ass was so like her. Originally, it was Twilight or Fizzlepop in the original draft, but Twilight I felt wouldn't work and Fizzlepop I didn't want to overuse. Starlight fit the bill perfectly. She's quite blunt and to the point, and rather brazen as shown by the whole Sun and Moon swap incident.
To be honest, I was... actually sorta scared about handling the topic of mental health, given it's a delicate subject really. I'm still not sure the conversation went the way I would have liked. I was worried a bit more show, not tell should be in order actually.
9991406
I don't think you wrote Applejack so much as an ass, but more of being unsure of how to broach the subject or how to convey her thoughts. This combined with her budding romantic feelings just made her feel less confident and a bit ill at ease in how to handle things.
In short, a bit like most of us would feel, so to me it felt very genuine.
And don't worry. You did a fine job of writing this and touching on a subject that is difficult to talk about. Putting Starlight in the role of asking the tough questions was perfect! Your dialogue was very good and Autumn's breakdown with Applejack was a great way to bring it all together.
You did great!
awwww....
That was too damn precious, super cute. And great job on Autumn, very well done.
9991799
....really? You sure?
I wasn't sure if I did Autumn right or not. She's possibly my least favorite character to write, her motormouth combined with confirmed mental issues here... Hoo boy.
9991406
Also, Starlight's remarkably perceptive, and I'm pretty sure she's got personal experience with mental issues.
Overall, a very good story, and I for one would quite enjoy a shippy sequel once Autumn's got her voices under control.
9992355
....Yeah, she probably does given her state at the start of things, given she was very willing to impose a 1984 style dictatorship upon a town for losing a friend and then change time.
But sequels? ....Yeah, I'm of the mind once you've got a good thing, you don't mess with it unless you really know what you want to do. So, probably not.
So, was Starlight Chrysalis after all?
9992490
No.
9992496
Darn
That was way too adorable!
I'm with AJ here, better quit while you're still ahead... or is it too late to do that?
This was a nice story but I would have liked it more without the ship teases. Autumn probably does have some mental issues as a result of the isolation.
This was nice! I'd like to parrot some of the other commenters— the conversations and emotions felt very genuine, and even if you don't like writing Autumn, you did do a great job.
Since this was originally for me, I'll say thank you again!
10000749
Yeah, I'm willing to handle characters I don't like, such as Queen Novo for the sake of the story. Autumn is a slightly different story, I like her as a character but writing her is a different story. I'm not one for motormouthed partially insane types.
But you're very welcome, as once I did find my groove I actually adored writing this little piece.
Huh. I somehow read a completely different premise from that description than what I got:
I thought this was about Autumn being asked to put on the Hearth's Warming play for Ponyville, with Autumn taking one of the parts, and Applejack taking another. During her performance she seizes up due to her mental problems. Starlight tries to help out with an untested spell, but instead of the intended effect, the spell causes Autumn's voices to manifest as spirits taking the roles of characters in the play. In confrontation with the spirits and with the help of Applejack, she is able to work through her issues, at least enough to get past her crisis.
What you wrote is a nice enough story, but it's the second story in a row I've read (after "In Silent Prison") where the story is just about Applejack getting Autumn into therapy, without going into any detail about what would happen during that therapy. I really wish somebody would write something like that.
10352800
This assumes us authors would know how to touch something as delicate as this. I'm glad you liked the story, but really there's a certain approach you have to take with therapy for issues like Autumn's. Not sure most of the community has the delicacy required for it.
"missing one less bauble" means there is now one more bauble than there was to start with. That's probably not quite what you meant...