Applejack agrees to be the surrogate mother for her favorite cousin and his husband. She'll have to endure the trials of pregnancy, but at least she'll have her faithful marefriend, Rarity, by her side.
6291376 There's one teeny, tiny thing I want to wrap up in the last bit. Just an epilogue to kind of cap things off. Hopefully it'll be up before the end of next week.
As a father who has lived through this twice, do you have any idea how dusty this chapter made my office? Do you?
Telling the story from Rarity's perspective was particularly riveting to me. You have done an absolutely tremendous job of capturing the emotions of the party that has to endure the utter hopelessness of not being able to do anything while the one you love suffers. It's heart wrenching
6291376 I see you anticipate the next chapter. It's good to see the gender of the foal did not dissuade you from reading further, you'd surely be missing out if that were the case.
6291763 I'm not sure what the problem is? He's just doing all he can to try and comfort her. Try to remember, these are ponies, not humans. They'll sometimes do things differently than we would.
I actually have never really gone through this myself. I based the general idea off of what I remember when my step-mother was having her first child, but that was nearly fourteen years ago. Granted, I wasn't allowed to be in the delivery room at the time (I was twelve, so yeah...) so all I could really do was imagine what someone in that situation must be feeling like.
6292575 Strewth mate, you composed this purely from memories from when you were twelve? And you weren't even present at the birth?
That just makes it all the more astounding with what you have been able to do here. My kids were born seven and five years ago respectively and I still remember it as vividly as if it was yesterday. They were the most amazing moments of my life.
Never before have I made such a deep emotional connection with a story, in any form. You my friend, are an amazing author, don't let any one ever tell you different.
I just wished I possessed the skill to truly impart to you how much I have thoroughly enjoyed this tale.
I have nothing but love for 'To find a Rainbow,' but for me, this little tome has outshone it in every way. Maybe it is because I have experienced close to everything that has transpired here. (Forgive me if I don't go into details here.)
I know I usually just say some stupid and sometimes mildly amusing in my comments. Not this time. I want it to reflect how deeply I have been touched by your work.
That was really sweet. Feels all around, everywhere. So just an epilogue left? Looking forward to it. You've written a very nice story so far, and the conclusion will be no less fitting I believe
6293006 For all the human characteristics we project onto them, they are still ponies, and contain many of the associated traits and mannerisms. communal grooming, including but not limited to, nuzzling, nibbling and licking is a common bonding practice among equine herds.
By all means correct me if I'm wrong 6292564, But this being a side story to TFAR, where family members shower and bathe together. Surely a few comforting licks, as a sign of nervous support cannot be misconstrued as something of an alternative nature.
Or maybe I'm wrong and it was only added in to antagonize Pusspuss.
6294539 As to your first point, yeah, that's exactly what I was going for. I wanted to inject just a little more... for lack of better word, animalism into their actions. To help show that they are different from humans and behave slightly differently in certain situations. And yes, all those things you mentioned are absolutely things ponies do to bond with one another in their culture as it's presented in TFaR.
As to your second point, well... I mean, a few comforting licks could be misinterpreted, I suppose. In the same way a hug in our culture could be misinterpreted to mean more or less than was intended. But did Big Mac intend it as anything other than a sign of brotherly affection and support? Well... I'd never dream of putting words in his mouth.
Who am I to judge what may or may not have been implied in such an action? I wasn't there during the long, lonely nights on the farm when all they had was each other. When they were stressed and exhausted from having far more work than two young ponies should have ever had to manage on their own. I wasn't an overworked, hormonal teenager lost in the confusing throws of puberty with only my closest sibling to even interact with throughout the day. I didn't have to balance trying to do enough work during the day to keep my brother from breaking his back doing too much with getting my schoolwork done. I didn't have to drop out of school at fifteen to care for my two baby sisters. As such, I could never judge one way or the other if they happened to find just a tiny bit of solace with one another.
...Or I could just be messing with Puss. Yeah, that totally sounds like me.
6291376
There's one teeny, tiny thing I want to wrap up in the last bit. Just an epilogue to kind of cap things off. Hopefully it'll be up before the end of next week.
What the hell?
OH MY GOD! I can't explain how adorable that was! Thank you for a great story!
F@#K You! JeremyStorm! You flamin' wanker!
As a father who has lived through this twice, do you have any idea how dusty this chapter made my office? Do you?
Telling the story from Rarity's perspective was particularly riveting to me. You have done an absolutely tremendous job of capturing the emotions of the party that has to endure the utter hopelessness of not being able to do anything while the one you love suffers. It's heart wrenching
Brilliant, bloody brilliant.
6291376
I see you anticipate the next chapter.
It's good to see the gender of the foal did not dissuade you from reading further, you'd surely be missing out if that were the case.
Good onya mate, hang in there.
6291763
I'm not sure what the problem is? He's just doing all he can to try and comfort her. Try to remember, these are ponies, not humans. They'll sometimes do things differently than we would.
6291867
Thank you kindly! (BTW, I love your avatar! Makes me want to watch Markiplier's series of Kerbal again!)
6292298
Twice? Oh man!
I actually have never really gone through this myself. I based the general idea off of what I remember when my step-mother was having her first child, but that was nearly fourteen years ago. Granted, I wasn't allowed to be in the delivery room at the time (I was twelve, so yeah...) so all I could really do was imagine what someone in that situation must be feeling like.
6292575
Strewth mate, you composed this purely from memories from when you were twelve? And you weren't even present at the birth?
That just makes it all the more astounding with what you have been able to do here. My kids were born seven and five years ago respectively and I still remember it as vividly as if it was yesterday. They were the most amazing moments of my life.
Never before have I made such a deep emotional connection with a story, in any form. You my friend, are an amazing author, don't let any one ever tell you different.
I just wished I possessed the skill to truly impart to you how much I have thoroughly enjoyed this tale.
I have nothing but love for 'To find a Rainbow,' but for me, this little tome has outshone it in every way. Maybe it is because I have experienced close to everything that has transpired here. (Forgive me if I don't go into details here.)
I know I usually just say some stupid and sometimes mildly amusing in my comments. Not this time. I want it to reflect how deeply I have been touched by your work.
Thank you for sharing it.
You have mates,
PhucknuckL
6292564 But licking? They behave more like humans, than dogs.
6293006
I felt it was something ponies would do. Nuzzling, grooming and the like. Sorry you didn't care for it.
That was really sweet. Feels all around, everywhere.
So just an epilogue left? Looking forward to it. You've written a very nice story so far, and the conclusion will be no less fitting I believe
6293006
For all the human characteristics we project onto them, they are still ponies, and contain many of the associated traits and mannerisms. communal grooming, including but not limited to, nuzzling, nibbling and licking is a common bonding practice among equine herds.
By all means correct me if I'm wrong 6292564, But this being a side story to TFAR, where family members shower and bathe together. Surely a few comforting licks, as a sign of nervous support cannot be misconstrued as something of an alternative nature.
Or maybe I'm wrong and it was only added in to antagonize Pusspuss.
6293087
Thank you kindly! And if I do say so myself, I think what I have planned for the epilogue will be a nice little end note.
6294539
As to your first point, yeah, that's exactly what I was going for. I wanted to inject just a little more... for lack of better word, animalism into their actions. To help show that they are different from humans and behave slightly differently in certain situations. And yes, all those things you mentioned are absolutely things ponies do to bond with one another in their culture as it's presented in TFaR.
As to your second point, well... I mean, a few comforting licks could be misinterpreted, I suppose. In the same way a hug in our culture could be misinterpreted to mean more or less than was intended. But did Big Mac intend it as anything other than a sign of brotherly affection and support? Well... I'd never dream of putting words in his mouth.
Who am I to judge what may or may not have been implied in such an action? I wasn't there during the long, lonely nights on the farm when all they had was each other. When they were stressed and exhausted from having far more work than two young ponies should have ever had to manage on their own. I wasn't an overworked, hormonal teenager lost in the confusing throws of puberty with only my closest sibling to even interact with throughout the day. I didn't have to balance trying to do enough work during the day to keep my brother from breaking his back doing too much with getting my schoolwork done. I didn't have to drop out of school at fifteen to care for my two baby sisters. As such, I could never judge one way or the other if they happened to find just a tiny bit of solace with one another.
...Or I could just be messing with Puss. Yeah, that totally sounds like me.
6295237
6295237
...
That went... Places.
*sigh* What is wrong with you two?
luv ya
6295261
Suck it up princess...
6295283
So very many things...
6295314
I don't know precisely what your issues are.
But I'm sure they are hard to pronounce.
You just keep being you, you wonderful you, you.