When a Hypothetical Future for Non-existant Ponies Make Me Sad... · 7:25am Jun 5th, 2013
Sooo, every once in a while I think about the futures for the Mane Six. They include, of course, Dash being a Wonderbolt, Rarity being a renowned designer in Canterlot with a successful store, and Twilight taking up residence in the castle, or always on the go doing her princess-y duties, and the like.
And it makes me soooooo sad.
Because even though Applejack loves her farm and would never dream of doing anything else in her life, I have to imagine it would hurt to have at least three of her friends be far away. I can't help but wonder if Fluttershy would open up to other ponies once half her friends are no longer near. And Pinkie Pie, I'm not sure what will become of her. Because while she loves the Cakes and her friends in Ponyville, I feel like she would be torn between where to put her attention, and maybe be unhappy that she can't drop in on some of her friends whenever she feels like it.
It just makes me sad to think that while the others would probably be distracted in the pursuit of their dreams, A, Flutters, and Pinkie would be the ones who got left behind in their own lives. And while they may love what they do, it probably can't compare to how life was when their friends were a stones throw away.
This makes me sad because, well, I lost almost all of my friends from moving to different states, taking the next step in their lives, or just losing contact with them because our lives got in the way. Basically, my circumstances made me feel like I was left behind. While that is the story of most people's lives, I don't want to think about it in my favorite fictional characters.
They all have goals, and they are all working towards their goals - to deny them that is to deny them a part of who they are. And with that comes the time when they will eventually not all be in Ponyville anymore. And while they hold powers by being best friends, and are very close with one another, I can't separate the reality of what has transpired in my life to the fictional lives of these ponies.
And that breaks my heart a little bit, because it's a sharp reminder that all good things must come to an end, and how painful it can be when it does.
I remember when I first got into the fandom, there was a comic where Twilight was sad, and one by one her friends came to cheer her up. That was rather depressing for me to see. I wished I could have had that kind of friendship. I was very sad and lonely at the time (it's actually hard to think about now), and while I loved how the comic represented the group of friends, I was also bitter that I didn't have that. I suppose when I think about the friends and their futures, that is the first emotion I go to. That's actually why I started writing fanfiction for ponies- because they had a friendship where they could be there for each other when things went bad.
In the future, when they are all living their dreams, and they need somepony else, will they be able to reach out to another pony? How can they see when another pony is so down that they need somepony to stop and tell them, "I'm here for you. Tell me what's wrong"? When they are busy securing their own futures, will their thoughts of their friends go from, "I wonder how Rarity is doing?" to "Hmm, I haven't heard from her in a while. Better send her a telegram" to a passing thought when somepony does something that reminds them of her?
I guess I've just seen how friendships can be easily dropped, and how hard they are to pick back up again. Especially when everything goes to hell. Especially when you feel like a burden on somebody else who is trying to achieve their accomplishments while you're struggling in the muck and mire of your own life.
And it's probably a reason why I like Appledash so much - since I know they will go their separate ways some day, I get sad to think of them as just friends. With a relationship, Dash would have somewhere to come home to. Which solves the equation for at least one of the friends who is going to go away to achieve her goals...
Yeah...
This is what happens when it's midnight, and I get too contemplative.
So...if anyone would like...replace my headcanon of the friends separating in the future by giving me something to look forward to? I'm unfortunately stuck on this head canon, and I'd rather not be.
OK, headcannon... let's see here, let's start with the obvious: AJ, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would stay in Ponyville, as far as the others go, Rainbow Dash would be away alot on Wonderbolt tours and such but would most likely stay in Ponyville during her off-season/ vacation days, Rarity... is more of a general headcannon surrounding Ponyville, that hosting the elements of harmony/ Princess Twilight would bring in various tourists and residents from paranoid ponies thinking they'd be safer to business ponies wanting connections to the princesses, and as such Rarity wouldn't really need to move away as there would be enough of a population to support her and others would travel to see her, note: Sapphire Shores. And Twilight, with Celestia's advice, would stay in Ponyville in order to keep the elements together.
There are a few things that others could point out about this reasoning, like there being too much farmland to handle an excessively large population growth, but over all it's a pretty sound theory/ headcannon. Hope I helped.
1125456 Hmmm....I could accept that....except that I still think Rarity would want that store in Canterlot. One way I've gotten around it in my headcannon is that she has the store be very successful, but finds that she hates having to deal with the picky high-society ponies as customers on an everyday basis, and when she gets enough money, manages to keep two stores open.
BUT can't quite accept the Twilight thing. Plus, Dash being away until the off seasons, while making sense, still makes me a little sad. But better than my head cannon.
Rarity- Being the element of generosity and having a great passion for fashion she attempts to make it in Canterlot. She finds that public image is everything, and after a while it interferes with her ways of life. She moves back to Ponyville and realizes that her favorite thing about fashion is finding beauty in everypony. Rather than designing clothing lines that are mass produced, Rarity designs unique fashions for individuals. Although she continues to design for big clientele, she refuses to have her work replicated, and rather encourages ponies to find they're own personal beauty.
RD- Rainbow Dash joins the Wonderbolts, at the end of her first contract (about 4 years) she returns to Ponyville. Since it is a small town, they had rarely had any events in Ponyville. Upon seeing her old friends RD becomes nostalgic. She realizes that she wanted to join the Wonderbolts for being recognized as the best flyer in all of equestria. Satisfied with her work in the past years, she know strives to be the best friend she can be. Still enjoying the feeling of being looked up to, she trains Scootaloo and other pegasi in the ways of flying.
Twi- Shortly after becoming an alicorn, Celestia hints that she can no longer be her mentor. Now that Twi has reached her destiny she has to learn from experience on being a princess and more importantly becoming the mare she will grow into. Deciding that she learned so much with her friends already, she opts to stay in ponyville, awaiting whatever adventures and experiences she will learn from.
Pinkie- Pinkie realizes that she has to make a decision between the cakes and her family. She travels back to the farm, where her family is happy to see her. After spending a few days at the farm she realizes that her parents along with her sisters are content with running the farm for their lives. Pinkie, however, knowing that she finds happiness in spreading joy decides to stay in Ponyville to cheer up the lives of all the ponies that inhabit it.
Hopefully this will bring ideas for a new headcannon. I'm sorry if its unreadable with verb repetition and all that, but I'm lazy and should be asleep.
1125464 Awwwww.
I really like the Rarity one. It's beautiful and so her! ^_^ The RD one I can get behind. I could totally see a story in that, like the two returning to Ponyville a few years later to find where they belong. Twilight, i don't know. I think I would have to see more of what they do with her as a Princess in canon.
Before I knew she was going to become a princess, I thought she would become kind of like a right hand mare to the Princess. It's hard for me to get the idea of becoming this mare with tons of royal responsibility out of my hear...
And the Pinkie one I could get behind. I can never settle on a head canon for her future.
Thanks for the input ^_~
I could come up with reasons for all of them to stay in Ponyville, for one plausible reason or another, but in the end it's more plausible that at least two if not three of them will leave, as you said. The others (Pinkie, AJ, and Fluttershy) don't really seem to have long-term goals so much as they have already found what they love doing and are satisfied to do it where they are.
However, that doesn't mean their friendship is doomed because some might leave. This is a very special friendship, one which is pretty well forged on reliance on each other in need and on trust with each other's lives, many times over. They have serious disagreements and outright arguments now and then, and yet they still manage to set them aside and remain close. That kind of closeness can be stronger than being family, in some ways. And though they might not be able to spend as much time together in this scenario, it seems more likely to me that they wouldn't lose touch and that their friendship wouldn't fade as a result.
I could totally see a series of short stories coming out of this, hitting the positive side of it all. Maybe it would help you to try one out? Just a thought.
I wish I could, but I can't.
It seems like about half the stories I try to write are prequels to the show, about what the mane six went through in becoming so tuned to their particular Element. Roughly another half always seem to be set five to ten years after S3, for 'distance', so I can plausibly have them at least a little grown apart.
(There's a Supremely Bad Case I'm working on for poor Fluttershy.
Would that it were not so.)
What I'd like to think is that they all learn they need friends, and at least pair off in the places they move to. I can see Rarity moving to Canterlot, and Fluttershy moving just outside it; Pinkie can't be without her pranking partner, so she moves as close to Cloudsdale as she can on the ground (or, hell, makes a flying house or something, even). That leaves the two homebodies, Twilight and Applejack, who stay in Ponyville. (I always imagine Twilight deferring most of her official royal duties, with Celestia's blessing.)
But it's kinda like you said, really. It's unrealistic to think it'll last forever. If it did, it wouldn't be nearly as valuable.
1125461
Well... it's 4:30am right now so I can't really explain my thought process, but even if they do get separated from each other I'd still think they'd keep in close contact with each other (weekly letters and such) and attend parties together to catch up (birthdays, weddings, etc.) I read a story that explains this better than I ever could: Windfall
But, for the sake of argument let's try and keep them together/ have hope for the future. So, Rainbow Dash, I'm assuming being a Wonderbolt would be similar to being an Olympic athlete in that there would only be a few years of peak performance then after that you'd get reassigned to train new recruits or go into retirement. So, after a few years of maintaining the tours it's safe to assume that RD would get to live in ponyville with being called out every now and then for publicity/ maintaining good standing, all that mumbo jumbo.
OK, my reasoning for Twilight was weak but hey, I'm tired. And almost all of my reasoning stems from rather abstract thoughts and wishful thinking. But the show's creators did state that Twilight would be living in ponyville as a princess, and that Twilight 'wouldn't outlive her friends'.
And I like your point on Rarity and don't really have anything to add to that.
you guys are making sound like Canterlot is on the opposite side of Equestria, its only a couple hours away remember in the best night ever they had those two guys pull the carriage, and only a few minutes by train so even if Rainbow, Twilight and Rarity all moved to Canterlot the other three could probably come visit whenever they wanted if you need a reason for the other three to come to Canterlot Pinkie opens a bakery in Canterlot, Fluttershy becomes the groundskeeper for Celestia's menagerie, and Applejack opens a outlet store in Canterlot to sell Apple goods there maybe put Applebloom in charge, I see the other two CMC being there too Sweetie for her singing a Scootaloo with her stuntpony/choreography stuff
1125559 The thing is, Canterlot seems to get farther and farther away every time. In MMMystery on the Friendship Express, the train ride was an overnight train ride, so it was quite a journey for them to take, while other times, it seems like a small ride. So I really have no idea exactly how far away, but even just a couple of hours away can strain a friendship, compounded by the fact that friends on both sides would be living busy lives. For example, I have a friend who lives two hours away after she finished college and moved back to my state. But we never see each other because of gas prices, work, and the time it would take to travel there and back, and my schedule is a nightmare to work with if it's not in the area. We haven't seen each other in person in years...
Interesting idea, though, bringing all the ponies to Canterlot, though I think Applejack's side needs some work.
I just think of it following the cartoon laws of time like in The Simpsons where time is actually static and no one ever actually grows any older.
1126090
Normally they take the express train, but those didn't have room for the desserts? I dunno.
You've brought up one of the reasons I love FiM so much. I grew up as a military brat, so every year I could expect to lose about half of my friends to moving, or all of them if I moved. I learned to make one or two something-between-acquaintances-and-friends quickly each year, and not get too involved. Once in a while, I'd get a friendship that lasted a few years, but I think four years was the record.
I believe next season this will be the main theme of the show. Being torn in between two different places. For me going into the military I have the same fears. That I will lose connections between my friends and family. I have already lost connections with a few friends and I cant think of losing connections with others. I also feel I will lose connections between myself and the other Bronys. I have grown used to the Brony field and you guys are almost a second family to me.
1126271 Awwww. That must be hard having to make new friendships each year. I don't think I would have been able to do it - I'm not good at making friendships. Rather, I can make acquaintances pretty well. Do you have any longtime friendships now?
1126913 Awww. I'm sorry. Well, if it makes you feel better, at BronyCon last year, there were army men with Applejack and Rainbow Dash patches on their uniforms - so there is an army Brony community out there. As for your family and friends, I also hope you don't lose the connections with them, and I hope you stay safe.
This post has been marked for inaccuracy by the royal gaurd for saying that pinkie can't drop in on her friends if they move far away, she teleports using chaotic magic, distance doesn't affect this.
1127178 But she can get worn out trying to be with more than one friend at the same time (the beginning of Party of One when she is personally inviting all her friends to her party, and the entire premise of Too Many Pinkies.) Distance complicates this even more.
1127101
Life-long habits are near impossible to break. I even decided to go to university over 1000 km away from home, and I've learned that "your co-workers are not your friends", at least where I've worked. So no long-term friendships here. It doesn't really bother me, but just like seeing big, close families (nope, don't have one of those either) I sometimes wonder "what if".
This has been bothering me, too. But the way I see it, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. She will never leave her friends behind. She might be gone sometimes, but she will always come back. I have faith in that.
As for Twilight, it was already confirmed that she would stay in Ponyville! Of course, that might not last forever. Fortunately, Twilight is now a super-powerful Alicorn, who can Teleport really easily. I feel like she would visit them, and they would visit her. I mean, isn't she like, the Princess of Friendship or something? She wouldn't become a Princess due to being an expert in Friendship, only to drop everything, and stop talking to her friends. She wouldn't do that. Even over time.
And Rarity. This is kind of interesting for me. As a character, Rarity is really complicated. I don't think she'd be able to forget about her friends. They were the ones who helped her get to where she was. Remember, she's the Element of Generosity. It would be pretty selfish to never talk to them after they helped her get to the top.
In my headcannon, I think that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash would be the group's best hope to stay friends, even over a distance. As Loyalty, Rainbow Dash would do her best to stay Loyal to both her friends and her dream. She wouldn't drop either one. She doesn't accept defeat. If she planned a get-together, and something happened and her friends couldn't make it, she'd just invite them to her next show. As for Pinkie Pie, her friends are her life. She loves to see her friends smile, but I guess she can't really do that when they're far away. But remember that Pinkie Pie's talent includes throwing beastly parties, and somehow managing to get everyone to attend. Remember when Pinkie Pie relocated Twilight's birthday party to Canterlot because Rarity couldn't make it back? Combine that with somehow being able to move faster than a speeding pegasus (See 'Party of One'), and you've got a great fulcrum on which things turn.
I understand what that feels like, though too. I can't let this invade my head. I lost most of my friends because I started taking college classes early. I never saw them. But, a friendship like the ponies'... it doesn't get ripped apart by something so trivial as distance. Sometimes, I get really bitter too. I long for friendships like theirs. It just breaks my heart that I wasn't important enough to my friends for them to actually hang out with me. Talk to me. Remember me.
Sorry for the wall of text!
-CalculusFilly