About Appledash: How It Would Happen

In this post, I'm going to be talking a bit about my thought process during writing this, and why I wrote it the way I did. I'm also going to be talking about where I'm going with the story, because some people (at least two people! I'm so popular ) seem to be interested in that. So, if you want to just skip to that, it's one of the last paragraphs.

I've read a lot of stories where one character likes the other, and is nervous about telling them, and there's this whole big thing about that. And that's fine. However, there seems to be a lack of ones where it's just "hey, wanna go out?" "sure." A story like that may seem like it might be boring, perhaps because of a lack of conflict, but that doesn't have to be the focus of the story. That could just be a part of it. And even if it is the focus of the story, it doesn't mean it's bad. If you can capture the characters and their interactions right, it could still be a good story.

Another thing I'm a little tired of is one character confessing their secret, undying, burning, passionate love for another character. While that's fine in some cases, I think that it would be nice to see more fics where a small crush, or something like that, is what leads to the beginning of a romantic relationship. I'm do not claim to be an expert in love and romance; in fact, just the opposite. I am, as the kids say these days, a "complete noob" when it comes to romantic experience. However, I do have experience reading ship fics, and from those I can tell what I, as a reader, liked or disliked about the romance. And while what I described does work sometimes, it, again, doesn't seem too realistic.

Another thing that seems to be played out is mutual crushes, where one character has a crush on another, only to find out that the other had a crush on the first all along. Again, doesn't seem realistic. From what I know about romantic relationships, they don't start with both people liking each other from the start. Feelings grow and develop during the relationship. That doesn't mean that two random strangers could just start dating, and feelings would develop. However, in most of these stories, both characters already know each other, and have a close bond. Taking that a step further doesn't seem like too much of a leap to make. I feel like, at least with the Mane 6, they are close enough friends, and care about each other enough to at least give a romantic relationship a try if feelings were developed for them. For example, I could see Twilight having a crush on and asking out Applejack, and Applejack giving the relationship a shot, even though she may not know if it would work out. This may just be personal opinion, but if one of my close friends asked me out, I would probably go out with them and see how it goes.

Some people (again, two people. rdinme14 and Nightmare mare, looking at you here) seem to be interested in where the story is going. The truth is, it's probably not really going anywhere. Aside from a chapter about Granny Smith's reaction to Applejack's date with Rainbow, I don't have anything planned. As I said before, I have little experience with actual romance, and I have no idea how it might turn out if I tried to write the actual date. I also have no idea what I would write about for that. I might come back to it sometime, so I'll leave it as incomplete, or on hiatus, but I have no plans for it to become anything more than two chapters. I actually just thought of this story when I was halfway through reading another fanfic (I read too much of those), and I decided to write it down for once. The story as it is is the result of about ten to twenty minutes playing the scenario out in my head, and then just taking a couple hours to type it up. It evolved a fair amount from what I originally had, though. I just wrote whatever came to mind, as long as it felt like it fit in the story. Maybe I'll have some more inspiration when writing the second chapter. Who knows.

I might write some other stories, too. I come up with ideas all the time, but instead of writing them down, I just let them play out in my head. I might start typing them up and making full-on stories out of them, but some of the stories might be a bit too much for me with my level of experience. For example, I came up with an idea for a story that included Twilight, Moondancer, and Sunset being in a polyamorous relationship, Rainbow introducing her homophobic parents ("I'm sure it's just a phase. Maybe she's just trying to get our attention. Maybe if we humor her, she'll come to her senses.") to her marefriend Applejack, and them all having dinner with the Apple family. In that same story, there is a Rarity who is slightly homophobic (as in, homosexuality makes her uncomfortable, but she tries not to judge. She subconsciously avoids homosexuals, which makes her seem even more homophobic), and a Sweetie Belle who has a crush on a filly and is worried about what Rarity might think, so she goes to Twilight for help. ... I usually think of these stories after my ADHD medicine has worn off. I go off on mental tangents, adding much more than was initially intended. Exhibit A: This blog post.

tl;dr:
I wanted to keep the interactions between the characters casual, and not make too big of a fuss about the fact that Rainbow was asking AJ out. I have an idea for one more chapter for the story, and I may end it after that, but who knows. Also, I might start writing more fanfics.

Until next time,
Some Random Brony Online

P.S. Thanks for all of the kind feedback. I just posted this because I felt like writing it, and I didn't really expect much. While there may not be many comments, the comments that have been made are very positive, and that makes me very happy. Also, thank you to all of you who have favorited or liked this story. This is a lot more than I expected, especially in just one day. Thanks!