Pre-read by Majin Syeekoh (who also gave me the idea), King of Madness, TheBritishPony, and Zendar.
Edited by James Fire.
Cover art by HPBudgecraft.
Applejack is many things. Honest, hardworking, kind, and trustworthy. To her friends, she's somepony they can always count her to be there when they need somepony to talk to, or when they simply desire a snack or cider. To her family, she's everything they could've asked for in a farmpony.
But beneath it all, there's a voice that cries day in and day out, yearning to be free. Never is it heard, ever is it present.
That is, until one autumn day when her wish is granted, for the hat gifted to her all those years ago is blown away, breaking her free of its eternal grip.
Now, her hat must get back home by any means necessary. Lucky for it, Ponyville has plenty of potential hosts for its calming and motherly touch...
wat.
This is an interesting concept. I enjoyed reading the story. :)
Well that some grade A nightmare fuel there... And she was the element of honesty huh...
Alright, so the hat is for Applejack. I guess it's the yoke for Big Mac, and the scarf for Granny...
And the Bow for Applebloom.
8624594 You would be correct.
8624528 It is the Element of Honesty.
8624497 Glad ya did!
8624463 Oh, definitely. Probably broke a bone though.
8624433 taw
Reminds me of this
So...Applejack's hat is like some kind of evil Symbiote? Am I understanding this correctly?
Whoa...
8624968
Mhm.
Wait, if the hat is the symbiote, why was she okay taking it off this time?
8625066 The hat had to be a certain distance away for it to lose its influence on Applejack. In this case, it was still very close to her. So, it opted to not control Starlight (as it did with Pinkie)
So.. Applejack is really just one of those hat things from Mario Odyssey, same with Applebloom, Granny and Big Mac.
Would that make the apples functionally immortal as long as they can find new hosts?
Did Super Mario Odyssey have anything to do with this?
...Now I wanna see a Mario Odyssey crossover.
And it is odd how the Ponyville Apples all have accessories. What about the extended family?
8624662 I did indeed.
8625147 Yup. They're basically immortal beings.
8625222 It wasn't inspired by Mario Odyssey, though my girlfriend did end up pointing that out to me after she read it. As for the extended family? That did cross my mind, but I never added it in as I couldn't find a way to do so. However, yeah, the extended family would be parasites too. Apparasites I guess.
I actually want to see the Orgins of them, who the Apples were (well, their hosts) and what happened when Southern was loose. Still, I love these Mind Control stories.
So this is like Resident Evil 7 in a way
8637310 Have not played that. Though... perhaps?
Is it wrong that I was rooting for the parasite?
8677823
Yep.
I hope there's more... OH NO, SCOOTALOO! Scootaloo is liable to tell the crusaders about it, and similarly to PinkiePie (whom I suspect shall go to Twilight adding credibility to Trixie's story), is too prone too determination/perseverance to just let it go. While Pinkie is Pinkie and may even have the assistance of Twilight/Starlight/Trixie Scootaloo is young and will be bringing along Sweetiebelle and Applebloom.