• Member Since 12th Dec, 2011
  • offline last seen 8 hours ago

Impossible Numbers


"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying, And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying."

E

“Somethin’ tells me we ain’t in Ponyville no more, Winona.”

After being misled into drinking a mug of experimental tea in Twilight’s home, Applejack ends up jumping back and forth in pony history, and she doesn’t like it one bit. But the history books need editing: the stories aren’t following their original courses, and it’s getting worse with each century. Ponies are vanishing from their places in space-time. Now far away from home, Applejack just happens to fill a niche in a new discipline: time-travel rodeo.

With the guidance of Twilight Sparkle, who in turn is guided by Spike the dragon, who in turn is guided by a really snazzy Dewey Decimal System, Applejack must impersonate famous ponies from the past and re-enact the events that made Equestria history. It’s a tough job, but somepony has got to do it. Who better than ol’ reliable herself?

There’s just one catch: if she fails, Applejack will cease to exist.

With an assortment of astronomers, archaisms, after-eights, apothecaries, aardvarks, anti-ageing acid, atomic magic bombs, and – of course – lots and lots of apples.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 20 )

I'm actually really enjoying this story! I want to see where this goes, so please don't stop.javascript:smilie(':pinkiehappy:');

hmm...for NO reason whatsoever, it reminds me of...

vgboxart.com/boxes/GBC/17707-the-legend-of-zelda-oracle-of-ages.png
(Maybe it's the picture I'm thinking of?)

Maybe it's more like "Applejack's Time Machine". XD

This is great! Moar please!

“It is also a good idea to add sugar and a lemon, because if you’re going to land in the middle of a civil war, you at least want to have enjoyed a good drink first.”

...This line had me sold.

Interesting concept so far. I would like to see where you go with it.

I saw the description and thought "WizardOfOzrefImustreadthisNOWNOWNOW!!!" Now I think :facehoof:. As in the thing I thought.

Really good story - can't wait for more!

I have to admit, I'm not 100% sure what's going on here. Are any of these scenes flashbacks?

This is well and truly epic. Please, for pity's sake, see this story through to the end, and be careful with it, I really think you've got something special here.

Plot is awesome, and intriguingly complex. Paced very well, too (if you're going to jump right into the plot, rather than taking your sweet time establishing characters/setting and building up to it, THIS is the way to do it, THIS RIGHT HERE PEOPLE). Very, very well balanced with the amount of detail you go into, and where you go into detail and where you just let the characters' actions speak for themselves. Didn't notice any grammatical errors to speak of. Quite enjoy this particular brand of simile, as well.

The bits with Professor Latitude made me grin and served very well as exposition, showing how time and time travel work in this story while still leaving just enough to the imagination to keep me wanting more (also, setting the stage for impending dooooom is always a good way to start a story:rainbowlaugh::scootangel:). Characterization seems dead on so far, and it's nice to see my favorite pony actually get some for a change, rather than being simplified into an accent. :ajsmug: I think I can count on one hand the number of fics I've read that actually focus on AJ and really get her character right...The best you commonly get are in shipfics that inevitably are more about whoever she's paired with...(On a side note, would you happen to have any recommendations for other good AJ fics?)

Fav'ing so darned hard.

Great first chapter! Looking forward to where you take this, eh.

So... quantum-leap like, is her appearance going to change with each iteration through history?

Also, good luck with this one: I can already tell the sort of story you've got planned here is going to be long and involved! (And will be thoroughly enjoyable, eh.)

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys! It's always encouraging to see people are enjoying it. :twilightsmile:

748052

No, they're happening at roughly the same time, with AJ in one place (or set of places) and Latitude in another. Yeah, his lecture was that long. :rainbowderp: :applejackunsure: :derpyderp1:


748542

I'm glad you liked it so much! I most certainly will be taking care with this one, especially characterization. AJ is one of my favourite mane characters in the show.

Interestingly, when I submitted this passage for proofreading on Ponychan, the reviewer suggested I remove Latitude's scenes. I couldn't bring myself to do it, though, because they broke up AJ's segments, they gave some much-needed info, and I had fun trying to think up stuff the students could be doing. Looks like I called it right this one time. :trollestia:

Well, I've got good news - Chapter One is well underway.:rainbowdetermined2: But expect a fairly long wait. It won't be a short chapter anyway, and I will be checking and rechecking it and submitting it for proofreading. Short one-offs can get away with more lax standards of quality, but I hear you and I want to take care on this one.

As for AJ fics, the only two I can think of are Ah Ain't Got No Accent and the Fire of Friendship. Now that you mention it, it is strangely hard to think of many examples for AJ fics beyond Shipping. Maybe she's too often relegated to Only Sane Pony status, making her fanon portrayal a little uninteresting. Or maybe it's because I haven't found them yet. There are some I've seen, but not having read them, I don't know how good they are. Sorry I can't be of more help. :fluttershysad:

762198

I'm glad you like it. Thank you for the comment. :pinkiesmile:

:ajsleepy: I'm not sure. To be honest, I was inspired by The Sweetie Belle Chronicles: Fragments to write something like this, so it might involve some of the stuff you mentioned. Can't reveal too much at this stage though, oh no no no! That would be like unwrapping the present before Christmas Day. The surprise is half the point. :trixieshiftleft::trixieshiftright:

I do plan for a long story, so updates will be on the rare side. See above and on my blog for more details, but that's the main point to get across. I'll be working on the next chapter in the meantime.:twilightsmile:

748542>>820491
For a good AJ fic, I recommend Contraptionology!

820575

:raritystarry: :pinkiehappy: I read Infernal Machines a while back, and that was a great take on Pinkie's character. Plus, the title image on this one looks promising (AJ having a migraine - wonder who caused that...). I'm definitely adding Contraptionology to my reading list. Thank you for the recommendation!:scootangel:

This is a really interesting concept. I can only recall offhand one other ponyfic I've seen that's set at all in all the time between the aftermath of Nightmare Moon's first defeat and the mane six and friends' lifetimes, so I'm curious to see what you come up with. And time travel and repairing history on top of that? I'm definitely tracking this.

Also, nice avatar.

Wow, 74 weeks since the last comment. I notice that this story is marked as "Incomplete". Is that in the intention of "Hiatus", or "Cancelled"?

3736463

I would like to say it's just a "hiatus", but given how long it's been, I might as well just say it's cancelled. :fluttershysad:

Why did you stop writing this story? If it's cancelled, then you should mark it as cancelled.

5533031

Will do.

As per stock message: This thing is six years overdue for an update. Much as I've resisted doing it, I think it's about time I admitted it's not going anywhere anytime soon. As of now, I'm setting the status of this fic to cancelled. I'll remove the status only if I ever actually come back to continue it.

Sometimes, I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew. :ajsleepy:

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