Just Apples
As Twilight approached Sweet Apple Acres on that sunny Monday she was relieved to see Applejack right next to the sign, mending one of the white fences. She was headed there to talk to her friend and now she didn't have to make the trek through rows of apple trees in search of her.
“Applejack?” Twilight said once she was close to the earth pony, “Can I ask you a question?”
Applejack looked up and smiled. She dropped her hammer from her mouth and said, “Why sure, Twilight. Ask away.”
Twilight smiled and blushed, “Well, it's kind of personal. . .”
Applejack rolled her eyes a little. “The answer is I don't rightly know. Nopony's caught my eye, so I can't really say if it'd be a stallion or-”
She stopped, seeing the confused and embarrassed look on Twilight's face. Applejack blushed, “Er, different question?”
Twilight nodded, “Uh-huh. But I'll. . . um. . . keep that in mind.”
Applejack chuckled nervously as she leaned against the fence. Then she smiled again, “Right. So what'd ya' wanna ask me?”
“Well, I was going through the genealogy section of the library and I found a book about your family.” Twilight said. She magically lifted the book from her saddlebag, showing it to Applejack. It was green, with a large red apple on the cover not unlike the ones on Applejack's cutie mark.
“We're a big family.” Applejack said proudly. “Folks that like to know their great-great-uncle and alla that keep track of us.”
“Well, I read it, and there was something a little strange. . .” Twilight said, turning the book to herself and flipping it open.
Applejack seemed to deflate, and her expression became unreadable. “That so?”
Twilight nodded. “You see, there's a whole chapter about Granny Smith, and how she took over the farm when her parents died and the things she did in Ponyville. But it says she never got married, and it doesn't mention any children. It doesn't mention any other Apples living at Sweet Apple Acres until the last chapter, where there's a line about you and Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom.”
Applejack nodded with the same unreadable expression. Her answer sounded more like her brother than her, “Eyup. All sounds right.”
Twilight wasn't sure if she should go on. Obviously Applejack didn't want to talk about this. But her curious nature was getting the better of her, and she was sure that Applejack trusted her. She had said that it would be a personal question, after all. So she took a deep breath and asked, “Applejack, if Granny Smith didn't have any children then how can she be your grandmother?”
“She ain't. Granny's her name, Sugarcube. You even call her Granny.” Applejack pointed out calmly, glancing down at the grass.
Twilight almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, her eyes went wide and she hopped into the air as she shouted, “Granny Smith isn't your grandmother?! What- I mean, who- How are you related to her, then?”
Applejack frowned, and thought about that for a moment. “I'm an Apple and she's an Apple. Guess that's best I can explain it.”
Twilight relaxed and smiled, “This whole book is Apple genealogy. Who were your parents? We can find out how you're related to her.”
Applejack bit her lip, “Sugarcube, I think you're gonna wanna sit down for this one. It's a story that takes a bit of tellin'.”
***
It all started with the train wreck. The worst anypony could remember, just outside of Ponyville. Everypony in town was there to help find survivors and clear the wreckage, and of course Granny Smith was taking charge. She was younger then, with yellow hair and a smooth green coat, and a formidable personality that nopony in Ponyville wanted to cross. Everypony said she would have been mayor if she weren't the only Apple left to run Sweet Apple Acres.
Granny was working towards the back of the train, helping survivors to safety. She'd carried a half a dozen ponies over to the first aide tent already, so she was surprised when somepony set a basket on her back.
“What's this?” She snapped.
“A survivor, Granny.” The pony answered nervously.
Granny Smith turned to look in the basket, and a small red face framed with an orange mane peered back at her.
Her face softened, and she sadly glanced back at the wreckage. “Let's hope your folks are okay, little fella.”
She dropped him off at the first aide tent, but she was thinking about him the rest of the day. Later that evening when all of the wreckage had been cleared, Granny went back to the tent.
Heedless of what anypony else was doing, she stepped in front of a nurse. “You find the family of that little colt?”
“Um, colt?” The nurse asked, confused.
“The little red one. I brought him in here all by his lonesome.”
“Oh, um, well they did find his mother,” She said, sadly. “Just. . . not among the survivors. I believe the Mayor is trying to decide what to do with him.”
“Where is she?”
The nurse motioned to a corner, then fled as Granny walked away.
Granny found the young pink haired Mayor speaking to Sugar Plumb. “I can promise it would only be temporary.”
“I know, Mayor, but I can't really. Bon Bon is so fussy, and I don't think I can take in another foal for right now.”
“Course you can't.” Granny announced. “That's why I'm takin' him.”
Both mares looked at her in surprise. Finally, the Mayor said, “That's very kind of you, Granny Smith, but I'm sure that somepony is available who has more experience with foals.”
“I'm sure there is too, but I said I'm takin' him, and takin' him I am.”
The Mayor cast a desperate glance around for any last minute volunteers. Finding none, she sighed. “Very well. This is only temporary, I'm sure his relatives will be looking for him.”
Even if it was supposed to be temporary, Granny Smith took the colt home and got him settled in. She bought diapers and a crib, cleared out a room, and gave the boy a name. She had to leave more work than she liked to the hired hooves, but the colt cheered up her life in a way nothing had for a long time.
A few weeks later she was giving him a bottle when there was a knock at the door. Granny answered it, and found the Mayor on her doorstep. She invited her in and went right back to feeding the colt.
Granny didn't bother trying to make conversation, so the two sat in awkward silence for a moment.
Finally, the Mayor spoke, “It's been nearly a month now. All of Equestria has heard about the train crash.”
“I reckon they did,” Granny said. “Ain't every day so many poor ponies lose their lives.”
“All the families that could be found have been contacted, so I think it's time to proceed.”
Granny narrowed her eyes, “I don't follow, Mayor.”
“The foal. No family is going to come forward, so he should be sent to an orphanage. Maybe a nice couple will want to adopt him.” The Mayor said with a smile.
“Orphanage, ya' say?” Granny asked, eyeing the Mayor suspiciously. “With who knows how many other poor foals, hopin' maybe someday somepony'll come along who's half way decent to give him a family?”
The Mayor sighed, obviously hoping to avoid this. “Yes, Granny Smith. We appreciate you taking care of him, but we know you're very busy running the farm. You know that we never expected you to take on responsibility for raising an orphan-”
“Well then, it's a good thing I don't see no orphan 'round here.”
The Mayor stared at her, and Granny just laughed. “Nope, Mayor, no orphans here. Only a big red Apple. And I'm right good at raisin' Apples. Right, Big Macintosh?”
Macintosh smiled and cooed.
The Mayor stayed another hour trying to talk her out of it, Granny was a spinster with no experience with foals and a whole farm to run. But once Granny made up her mind she couldn't be budged.
Nopony said it to her face, but the whole town thought she was crazy taking in a colt to raise by herself, at her age. But Granny Smith had been called crazy too many times in her life to care what ponies thought. Besides, there was one group of ponies who would never think she was crazy. The Apple clan, the part of it spread out over Equestria, never thought twice about where the little red foal came from. If Granny Smith said he was an Apple, that was good enough for them.
***
“I can't believe this! Big Macintosh isn't your brother?” Twilight was beyond incredulous.
“He is so my brother.” Applejack said. Her tone indicated there was no room for discussion on the subject, but Twilight's logic begged to differ.
“But if his parents died in that train crash, he can't be.” Twilight said. She felt like she was trying to build a completely new understanding of the Apple family from this information.
Applejack continued her resistance to the idea. “Don't matter who his folks were, he's my brother. How'd you like it if I said Shinin' Armor isn't your brother?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “But Shining Armor and I have the same parents.”
“Is that all it takes?” Applejack asked softly.
Twilight thought about it. Logically, yes. If two ponies have the same parents, they're siblings. But the things that made Shining Armor her brother, her BBBFF, didn't really have anything to do with their parents. And she could see the same things between Applejack and Big Macintosh.
She smiled at Applejack. “I guess not.”
Applejack nodded, “Macintosh has been my big brother since he first laid eyes on me. . .”
***
If folks in town thought Granny Smith was crazy, it seemed somepony somewhere appreciated the gesture. Word must have gotten around that she took in Macintosh without a thought given what showed up next.
It was a bright sunny summer day and the field hands were bucking away. Granny Smith was getting older, her hair was going white, but that couldn't keep her from doing her share of the bucking. She was in the middle of her work when Macintosh came running up.
He was just a little tyke, still waiting for his cutie mark. He was quiet both at home and at school, and Granny sometimes worried that he was lost in his own world too much.
“Granny? There's somethin' by the front fence you oughta see.”
Granny paused in her applebucking, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a hoof. “Right, then. Let's see it.”
She knew that the colt probably wanted to show her a birds nest that had fallen, or an interesting rock, but she didn't mind a break to spend a few minutes with her boy. He needed to talk more to other ponies, and if she was the other pony he had to talk to then she'd better make sure that she was up to the job.
As they neared the front fence and Sweet Apple Acres sign, Macintosh pointed out something brown on the ground. An old stetson hat, Granny saw. She was about to tell Macintosh he could have it, but as she got closer her eyes went wide at what was inside of it.
Curled up in the stetson was a tiny orange foal with gold mane. She was sleeping soundly, sucking the edge of her forehoof in her mouth, her gold tail wrapped around her like a blanket.
“Well I'll be. Another Apple.” Granny muttered, looking around. There was nopony anywhere. She thought for a moment that she oughta try to find the filly's parents, but she didn't have any real hope. Babies don't fall asleep in hats and get left on the side of the road by accident.
“Who's she belong to Granny? What do we do with her?”
“Well now little fella, unless somepony comes lookin' for her we'll keep her and raise her up. Looks like you got a little sister.”
He smiled gently at the sleeping foal. “I always wanted a sister.”
“I bet little Applejack here always wanted a brother.”
As time went on, it turned out that Applejack did want a brother. From the time she could trot, she followed Big Macintosh everywhere on the farm. Big Macintosh remained quiet, but Applejack did the talking for both of them. Often Granny would hear a one sided conversation and peek in the barn to find Macintosh literally roped into teaching Applejack to use a lasso, smiling gently as Applejack yammered away, often tangled in her own rope.
In the evenings, after dinner, the two would lay on the floor and play checkers while Granny knitted and listened to the voices of happy foals.
“Tell me again 'bout the hat, Mac.” Applejack said cheerfully.
Big Macintosh gave a smile, and said slowly, “Well, one mornin' I was walkin down by the front fence, and I spotted a hat.”
“A stetson.” Applejack grinned as she moved her checker piece.
“Eyup.” He nodded. “And I thought, that looks like a mighty fine hat. It'd look good on me.”
“It woulda been way too big back then.” Applejack giggled.
“I woulda grown into it. But when I got to the hat and looked in, I saw it already belonged to somepony else. It belonged to the cutest little foal I ever laid eyes on, layin' there and suckin' her hoof.” He said, chuckling to himself.
Applejack was still giggling, “I was not suckin' my hoof!”
“You wanna tell the story?” Mac smiled and raised an eyebrow, moving on of the checkers forward.
“Nah, go on.” Applejack said, grinning.
Mac nodded, “So I saw this little foal, and I loved her right away. I knew she was gonna need a big brother, someone to look out for her, and play with her, and show her how to farm. I went and got Granny Smith, and she told me you were my little sister, Applejack. And that's how it's been since then.”
“I sure am glad you went to look at my hat, Mac.” Applejack got up from the checker board and walked over to her brother. She was beaming as she gave him a nuzzle on the cheek.
He blushed a little and patted her head, “I'm glad you were in it. It'll look better on you anyway, when ya' get a bit bigger.”
***
“So, you don't know who your parents are?” Twilight said, dazed. This was more than trying to understand her friend's unusual family, this was trying to form a completely different picture of one of her closest friends.
“Nope. But I got Granny Smith.” Applejack said, as though that was the end of it.
For Twilight that certainly wasn't the end of it. “Well, yes, but your mother and father. . . I mean, they probably weren't Apples, right?”
Applejack seemed a little annoyed by the question. “I don't know, and I don't rightly care.”
“But Applejack, that means that you might not be an Apple. And. . . your parents might still be alive somewhere! They could be rich and famous, or even royalty!” Twilight was beginning to get excited. This kind of mystery could be so much fun, there would be research to do and clues to uncover . .
She used her magic to lift Applejack's hat off. “I wonder if we could start with this. Maybe we can find out where it was made and-”
Applejack yanked her hat out of Twilight's levitation and flipped it on her head. Then she glared at Twilight, “Twilight Sparkle, you best shut your mouth right now and listen to me. All my life Granny Smith's been mother and father to me. All my life I lived on this farm. Nopony has ever, ever told me I ain't an Apple. And I don't care who left me here, 'cept that they did right by me and put me just where I belong. Every one of us here on this farm is an Apple. . .”
***
Granny was in the kitchen first that morning, so she heard the crying. She opened the kitchen door and peaked out. There on the doorstep was the source of the noise. A little yellow baby foal with a bright red mane, nestled in a basket.
Granny wasn't as young as she once was. Her hip bothered her something fierce, and her applebucking days were through. Taking in another little foal at her age wasn't going to be easy.
Even so, Granny picked up the basket by the handle and lifted it onto the table. Granny always knew that Celestia put her here to care for all of the apples on Sweet Apple Acres, and if this foal found her way here, she was an Apple.
Applejack walked into the kitchen, followed by Macintosh. The filly was big enough to wear her hat now, and almost never took it off. Big Macintosh was full grown, and lived up to his name.
“Mornin' Granny! What do ya' have there?” Applejack said happily, as she noticed the basket on the table.
“Well, seems the two of you got a baby sister now.” Granny said, then she set a frying pan on the stove like any other day.
Applejack's eyes went wide, and she darted to look in the basket. “A baby sister! Where'd she come from? Who're her parents?”
Big Macintosh just made his way over to the basket slowly, smiling. “Don't matter. She's an Apple now.”
Applejack pulled the baby out and cradled her in one foreleg. She smiled as the little filly waved her hoof around. “Well, I guess she is. Ain't she the sweetest thing? Pretty as an apple tree in bloom.”
“Apple Bloom.” Granny said, smiling as she glanced over her shoulder. “That's a fine name, Applejack. She'll thank ya' for it later. Now, I ain't as young as I was when the two of you showed up, I'm gonna need a whole load of help with this young'un.”
Granny chuckled as Applejack puffed up the way she always did if anypony asked her for help. “Don't you worry, Granny! I'll be the best big sister you ever seen. It don't matter how hard it is, she's an Apple now. Right, Mac?”
“Eeyup.” Mac said, smiling at the pair of them.
Just then, Applejack started laughing. “Ya' know, I reckon we shoulda been expectin' her to show up. My cutie mark's three apples, right?”
Granny smiled at her little family as she made breakfast. She'd raised her foals up right, Applejack and Big Macintosh were good, dependable ponies who'd take care of her and her farm in her old age, and there was no doubt in her mind they'd help raise their new sister up just as strong. Everypony in town thought she was crazy when she took in that little red colt, but it was the smartest thing she'd ever done.
***
“So there ya' go, Twilight. You don't need to go lookin' for my parents, 'cause my family is all right here, and they're the best family anypony could ask for.” Applejack finished explaining everything to Twilight with a smile on her face, and maybe a little tear in her eye.
Twilight was a little sniffy too. She remembered the warm welcome Applejack and her family had offered on her first day in Ponyville and realized that she had always known that the Apples accepted anypony, no questions asked. She just never realized how deep that went.
“I'm happy for you, Applejack. You guys are really lucky. You're the closest family I know. I guess it doesn't matter how you became a family, if you all love each other so much.”
Applejack grinned, “I know it. I thank my lucky stars every night, for alla them. Now, if you don't mind, I gotta take care of my farm and finish fixin' this fence.”
Twilight smiled, “Before I go, can I ask one more question?”
“Sure.” Applejack said as she straightened up and stretched a little.
“If somepony dropped off another baby foal here, would you all take them in?” Twilight asked, almost sure of the answer already.
Applejack just chuckled. “Ain't even a question, Twilight. There's no orphans on Sweet Apple Acres, just Apples. And we raise some mighty fine Apples.”
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Eeeyup.
very good story
Anyone have some marble? Because this belongs on a pedestal!
669317
669411
Thank you!
669580
Aww, you're too nice! Thank you, I'm just glad you enjoyed it.
A very different twist to the explanation, very cool. Life is funny like that, family isn't always who you think it is.
Ahh beautiful little story. I love this twist you put on the Apple family history.
I love it
Absolutely love this story, really shows a tenderness and a love that you don't see in many fics, more a lifelong consummate love than a passionate one
669885 and 670226
Thank you! Most of the other explanations are so sad, and while this could be sad, I think it's more happy. It focuses more on love then loss.
670239
Yay! Thank you!
670305
Thanks so much, I absolutely love writing about families for exactly that reason.
673586
Thanks!
You know, I was waiting for your comment, I really appreciate the people who comment a lot on my fics. I had no idea it would be so personal for you, but I'm really glad it was touching.
>stands up from chair after reading story
>applauds loudly
>sits back down
Very good, my fellow brony. This story brought warmth to my heart and a tear to my eye. I'll never be able to look at the Apple family the same way again, and I couldn't be happier about that.
Yes, I greatly enjoyed that. A very elegant explanation for everything, too.
673818
I guess I'll take a bow!
Thank you so much. Pegasister here, but I'm not complaining. I'm so glad you like the story.
675529
Thank you! I thought it was something cool to consider.
676213 I tend to use the term "brony" to apply to either gender. But anyway, like I said before, very good, most enjoyable.
I'm torn. I love the idea and the scenes involving Applejack's families past. On the other hand I feel that Twilight's urge to fix things in between is just a little forced considering her own family situation. I mean half her life she was basically raised by Celestia, Spike is an adopted member of her family, and she suggest's that all of Applejack's friends are honorary family members.
677314
I can see that. I was writing thinking of Twilight's organized mind. She likes things in their place and boxes checked off. She would never call Celestia her mom, or call Spike her brother or son, those labels wouldn't be technically correct even if they fit the spirit of the relationship. I think she would have readily accepted 'honorary brother' for Mac, but that's not how Applejack thinks of him. And when she finds out about Applejack, I saw it as more excitement over an interesting research question. There is unknown information and she wants to find it.
That's where I was writing from, at least. I hope that explains a little.
This is a lovely take on the Apple family! I'm impressed with the depth you brought to them and the explanations you offered for the missing parents. Well done!
Very nice story I finally got around to reading. Very sweet story about the bonds between family members, even when they're not technically related to one another. Actually had me tearing up a bit by the end, so you get props for that!
Well done!
This was a sweet story and managed to explain the Apple family in a way I've never actually seen before. Why does everyone assume their parents are dead, myself included? Aside from the obvious fact that Granny seems kind of old to have kids that age, anyway.
If there were ever to be a canon explanation for the absence of the Apple parents, this is how they could do it. It doesn't involve death and for any kid watching that's adopted, it's a positive message.
I love this take on the Apple family! :D
Bam. Favourited, cause that was amazing.
This is totally my new headcanon now, it's just too perfect.
You are bloody brilliant, good sir!
Well, there's my new headcanon. Every other explanation is usually so depressing. While this one had a sad moment or two, it had more than enough love to make up for it. Thank you for the wonderful story!
Now that's a really sweet story!
danmit man...yu almost made me cry
very creative
anyways really nice fic
so then...
I take it she isn't an orphan? Cause by this point the fanon 'Scootaloo lives in the club house" thing wouldn't have gone on for 3 days before she would have been an Apple.
1697920 That's why that meme has never made any sense to me. There is no way any filly or colt could live, homeless and hungry, on the Apple property for three days at most. Scoots would be Apple Bloom's sister in the blink of an eye. The fact that she isn't suggests that she does have a home somewhere else.
I loved this! I especially loved the fact that they all ARE Apples, and that blood makes no difference. That's the way it should be, and what I'd expect from the warm, family-oriented Apples.
If you want to get technical about it, their parents ARE dead or missing in this story, but then again they're not, because they're a true family.
Fabulous. This should be on EQD if it hadn't been already--so well written, and such a nice contrast to the same old thing.
I love it. i love when something unexplained like this can be made so deep.
i hear this is part of an informal series for you?
2041019
Yes, AJ's backstory from this, and Rainbow Dash's backstory from Of Cottages and Cloud Houses both feed into Somepony's Daughter. I plan to do a sequel to Somepony's Daughter someday, focusing on AJ meeting Dash's family.
852034 Uh...because Lauren Faust herself said it's her headcanon that way? And of course (though you couldn't possibly have known that when you wrote this), because of the scenes with the two shooting stars in "Apple Family Reunion".
Anyway, I stumbled across this story because of the Pony Fiction Vault interview and thought I'd give this one a shot before I dove into a multi-chapter epic.
Turns out, I probably won't do that now. The story is well-written, but something about this whole idea just rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not about to start reading other stories by an author who has this as their headcanon, stupid as that may sound. None of the three is in any way even remotely curious about who their biological parents are? Sorry, but that just shatters my suspension of disbelief into fine powder - I don't believe for a nanosecond that there are adopted kids out there who have zero interest in their original families. I can agree with the idea behind it - adopted families can be just as close as biological ones - but the total lack of curiosity on the part of the entire Ponyville branch of the Apple family killed this story for me. Twilight is probably supposed to come across as someone who won't let sleeping dogs lie, but I fully agreed with her on this issue, and that likely wasn't intended.
Also, the entire concept of how Granny Smith came across the kids is the most unbelievable coincidence in the history of the non-Discorded universe - or are we actually supposed to believe that fate wanted it this way, which is even weirder? Once is believable, twice is suspicious, three times is a conspiracy.
I feel kind of bad about being this harsh, but this fic just struck an entirely wrong note with me, and I'm not even fully sure why I reacted this violently negatively to it. Perhaps it's because there's a lot of potential on display here - the same writing skills put to use to give us a more traditional family background for the Apples in Ponyville (that sounds like a bad indie rock band somehow) could have made for a really great family epic. Instead, we got the three most disinterested adopted children in the history of the known universe. A shame, really.
2058016
Just so that you know, there are a lot of adoptive kids who aren't interested in their birth parents, especially kids who know that they were more or less abandoned. I mean, you don't have to like the story, but be careful about generalizations.
(Also, it wasn't intended as coincidence. It was intended as ponies having heard that Granny took in Big Mac, and assuming she'd do the same for their kids.)
2058130 I didn't say it's impossible. I said I found it nearly impossible to believe, as someone who isn't adopted. From my view, even if my parents abandoned me, I wouldn't exactly want to get to know them, but I'd at least want to know why they did it, and that goes double in Equestria, where you'd think society would help out more than it does on Earth - what drove the parents of AJ and AB to such an incredibly extreme step? Even if that wasn't the case, I'd still want to know where I came from. None of the three Apple siblings strike me as the kind of person who'd completely ignore and abandon their biological origin, precisely because of their deep-rooted sense of home and community. I simply couldn't live with this kind of question mark in my personal life, and I doubt AJ or AB could (Mac at least knows who his biological parents were, or at least his mother).
Also, just because Granny Smith took in one child, people thought it appropriate to push their kids on her anonymously? That doesn't sound right, especially in a sugar bowl like Equestria, where I'd think orphanages are nowhere near the places of terror they are in our world (not to mention that orphanage = horrid is an equation dating back to Victorian times or earlier, and is probably not as generally true nowadays as it was back then). That's another issue I have with this story; the part about the orphanages sounds too "real world". I can see Granny Smith having personal issues with them and therefore taking in Mac, but I have issues with the thought of parents simply abandoning their children as it is, doubly so in a better world than ours. Also, if they're close enough to Ponyville to know about Granny Smith taking in a child, one would think Granny would have at least an inkling of who did this in the first place; her not even going to look for the kids' real parents is yet another problem I have with this story. One would think that an old-fashioned lady like her would try to get the kids into a "real" family, with two parents and all that. (This is not the kind of narrow definition of "family" that I believe in, mind you; it's what I think she'd believe a family to be.)
In short, I see this story as built on very unsteady ground, both in regards to the characters and the world they inhabit. This Equestria sounds a little too dark and too close to Earth for my tastes. Sorry.
2058491
That's okay. This story, as well as Of Cottages and Cloud Houses, and Somepony's Daughter which take place in the same headcanon, are about as dark as the girls books I grew up with. In fact the basic idea came from the books Anne of Green Gables and Ballet Shoes. Not exactly gritty realism, but that is darker than the show, yes.
And I guess we disagree on characterization of Applejack. While I agree that Apple Bloom will probably someday want to know who her parents are, I think it's perfectly reasonable that Applejack, who has her identity tied so closely to Sweet Apple Acres that it's her cutie mark, would resent anything that might imply that her connection isn't solid and true, and not really have anything to say to a pony who doesn't want to be a part of her life there.
But, this is just a story. The headcanon for the three stories I mentioned is unique to them- I don't use it in all of my stories. If you're looking for something closer to the show, I'd recommend The Importance of Being Earth Ponies or Daring Do's and Don'ts. But probably not Best Young Flyer, because of adult situations and humor.
2058665 AWWWWWW! That was so beautiful! I got misty eyed!
MUSTACHES! 
And many manly tears were shed this day...
2041762
Brilliant work on incorporating the same story line with AJ
Why yes, it was quite good.
Very beautiful. I find myself wanting to *smack* Twilight pretty hard but that's not a bad thing n_n
At first I was like
but then I was like 
and now I'm like 
. When I read the description I feared it would be like that movie where they grow a tomato kid in the backyard. Really glad it wasn't that bad.
2626947 I did. Glad that he's back. I tried that series he just finished but found I couldn't get into it. Then again, I liked Melvin... maybe I just have bad taste.
Wait. What would that say about the things I DO like?
2626991 But how does that explain me liking Melvin, Brother of the Joker?
*pauses halfway through* Is Twilight not familiar with the concept of adoption? She's being kind of an idiot here. I mean, if they have orphanages, they have adoption.
Edit: Yeah, honestly I'd really like this... but it relies on my least favorite pony trope to move the story along: Twilight Sparkle being an idiot.
Not being socially adept doesn't make you ignorant of sociological concepts. It's like Spock not knowing what a marshmallow is (he'd do the research!), or Data talking about his boobs firming up (he IS a computer). Twilight would do the research on these things.
My jimmies are restled!
But it was a great story!
Never come across that idea before, but I think I like it; that the Apple clan can grow by more than just blood (or marriage) relations.
Perfection. Smartest idea about the Apples that I've ever even heard of.
AJ is best pony, and there's the story to prove it.
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Too....many....feels!
Though this story doesn't really go with my apple head cannon it was still great. It shows the tight knot bond and open hearts the apples have. Nice job