• Member Since 28th Jan, 2012
  • offline last seen Mar 3rd, 2018

Cloudy Skies


Cloudy writes stories. Cloudy likes it when ponies like each other maybe a little too much and sometimes end up in love. Cloudy writes stories about these things, often.

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Source

Being a blank-flank filly is tough enough, something all the Cutie Mark Crusaders can attest to. When somepony points out that Apple Bloom has neither fancy magic nor awesome wings, the world can seem downright cruel. Fortunately, she's not alone, and Applejack knows a little story or two.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 145 )

Okay, I finally can redo this comment with the help of all these people below me. I loved this, I am going to add this to my favorites and take some writing notes from this so I can help improve my own writing.

New Cloudy? Drop everything, it's readin' time!

Man, I remember reading this on EqD during last year's summer hiatus. Somepony's gotta stand up for us earth folks, and I'm glad it's Cloudy hoisting the figurative banner here.

This sounds familiar? :twilightoops:

So the moral is that earth ponies are only good for growing food? Seems a little depressing for them.

AW YEA. I've been wondering about the whole earth pony thing too. I still wouldnt want to be an earth pony, but I loved the story! :ajsmug:

It's familiar to me! I've read this before. Was this reposted?

Oh hey! It's nice to see this story over here!

::sigh:: I've had an idea about what this looks like for a while... Never could really find the right words to write it and I really don't want to read this until I do.....

Guess this is going on a major backburner for a while....

1393828

It's... it's been around? Huh. Well, YOU KNOW WHAT!?

And that's where I stand on that issue. As for the actual story...

:ajsmug: All of my yes, sugarcube. That was probably one of the cutest, smartest, most episodic stories I've ever read. God, it made me feel like a filly again.

(Oh, wait. Nope, I have male anatomy. Nevermind.)

Point is--I felt for Apple Bloom, and I felt with Apple Bloom, and I know this story worked for me because at certain points, I started to feel the world in it and see it. That's always how I can tell a story is being told right--it transports me. I become synthesized with the story, and this tale did that for me. Apple Bloom really feels like an adorable, beloved kid sister in this, and I loved that. Hey, I even loved that someone picked up on the extra level of inferiority Apple Bloom (and a lot of other Earth ponies, at times) may feel; she's not just 'late' for her cutie mark, she doesn't have wings or a horn.

You still got the point across that Apple Bloom does have her own certain magic, as we all do, even if we're blind to it. And, of course, Apple Bloom's position in regards to the tomato plant at the end just seems perfect for her character and understanding of how things work. It may took her awhile, but she'll understand the magic eventually; if not in her back hooves on the dirt, then in her forehooves, as she holds a tomato she, herself, has grown.

You've won an Inky Award. Go get some champagne, buddy.

lol XDD i love this story :heart:

A decent story, but I've seen it several times before, and this one didn't really bring anything new to the table. It wasn't bad, just... average. /shrug

TAW

Yay! I enjoyed this one a lot. It's cute, the characters feel right, and it has a moral that really makes you think. I wish I could write stuff like this, but I'm also happy to read it <3

L4

:heart::fluttershysad::heart:

I really loved it. It was honest and simple...

1393870

The moral of the story is that earth ponies are good with nature and earth in general. :ajsmug:

Earth is one of those things we take for granted, but no earth is not the same everywhere it has different qualities and those qualities determine for example where to build houses, dig channels, tunnels, lay railroads, dig mines, basically plan the infastructure, grow food etc

And "growing food" isnt a minor skill, its the whole base of the society. Without it, no amount of studying or kicking clouds is gonna stop them from starving to extinction.

1394534 Sure, food is a necessity, and maybe earth ponies would also make good engineers and tradesmen or something, but I'd still wouldn't want to be one. They get the short end of the stick. Unicorns seem to be the master race. Magic trumps all.

This reminded me of another story where Applebloom learns a similar lesson of appreciating her earth pony heritage. Though in that story the "magic" for earth was their ability to create things for everybody such as Pinkie creating her flying machine that any pony could use so that any pony could fly. It was a togetherness angle.

I thought the ending was so in character and was hilarious.

1393828 1393889 It's been on EqD for a long while, but I rewrote it for FimF because some people read it in a way I hadn't intended.

1393870 If you choose to see it thus, I can't tell you you're wrong, but I choose to read it as earth ponies being the glue that binds pony society together, and as practical applicants; as stronger for their lack of special ability, not weaker. I understand some fics love giving earth ponies super abilities (Dangerous Business for example), but that's not really my headcanon,

1393874 Thank-you very much!

1393976 1394334 It's hardly a 100% original story topic, but it's a year-old story that I just never had up on FimF before.

1393981 Thank you very much! I really tried writing this as a simpler fic for a purpose. I heard back from somepony who read this to their child, way back when, and that was super extra special to me, too, hah. Thanks for your comment!

1394254 Thanks!

1394433 Thank you for helping me with it! I would've made an A/N but it's very short, so I figured I'd make a blog post instead.

1394514 I'm glad; thank you for your comment!

1394534 And this, pretty much. Us humans (i.e. most who read this!) see farming and skill with the earth as something boring and mundane because farming is considered a "low tier" skill, but to unicorns and pegasi, being able to grow things is magic. Farmers are earth ponies. End of.

1394561 Also true of course. If you're sitting around dreaming, you want the most fantastic powers you can get, right? I personally don't believe they get the "short end of the stick", but they're more mundane and relatable. That makes them extra precious to me, but I can sympathize with those who'd rather have wings or magic.

1394561
Magic can't grow food. Sure you can use magic to manage and manipulate ingredients, use magic to build the items needed for farming, but only Earth Ponies have the ability to grow food. And call the Unicorns the master race all you want, but they'll starve just as easily as the Pegasi if the Earth Ponies left.
It's also a major part of the conflict in the Hearth's Warming Eve play, as the Earth Ponies are once again the only ones who can grow food at all.

So how 'bout them apples? :ajsmug:

1394761 Why are earth ponies the only ones who can grow food? With info about agriculture from the internet, and seeds, tools and fertiliser from a hardware store, I could go out right now and plant a vege garden. The canon that is it fundamentally, physically impossible for unicorns and pegasi to grow crops makes no sense. In the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 episode, Fluttershy helps pick, Rarity helps sort, Rainbow help run the press and Twilight casks. So that's canon proof that other races are capable of doing hard work. I don't see why they can't grow their own crops if they had to.

1394779 In the show, all the farmers are earth ponies, and in the Hearth's Warming play, earth ponies alone grow the food. There's nothing that prevents them from picking a carrot up from the ground, but they seem to be the only ones who have green hooves at all. :)

1394799 *grumble grumble* You don't need green hooves (thumbs in our case), you need science! Science can be learnt by anyone. Pest control, nutrient management, water management, GMO crops, etc etc.

Ninja edit: Maybe it is a fundamental property of Equestria's universe that a plant will die if planted by a unicorn or pegasus, but that makes so sense!

1394808 And you're of course welcome to keep that as headcanon! I just wanted to explain how I interpret what I see and such. I certainly don't try to insist this is pure canon. It's an observation and an attempt to glorify an aspect of earth ponies' abilities.

1394827 :pinkiehappy: Yup. I'm just sad that this is the first one of your fics that I haven't absolutely loved.

1394829 Not quite sure how to respond to that, really, but I will say I fully expect people to be split on a story that both moralizes and tries to spread an interpretation of pony types.

Thank you for your comments at any rate.

First time reading this and I found it to be an endearing tale with Apple Bloom.
I also loved how you made Applejack stress that where the story took place, who the sisters/brothers were, and when it took place didn't matter in slightest. All that mattered was that while the Pegasus took to the clouds, and the Unicorn took to the vast opens of space, the Earth Pony merely observed what happened around her and learned just as much as her sisters.

Wow this story was awesome! Earth Ponies for the win!:ajsmug:

1394779 The way I see it is that while Unicorns and Pegasi have the ability, and often times the skill, to farm neither(usually) have the sheer endurance or brute strength to properly care for the land. Winter Wrap Up shows that Twilight can't push a snow plow to clear fields for WWU. I know that Twilight isn't the most active of ponies, but she did place 5th in the Running of the Leaves so she does have some physical prowess.

This was downright sweet. It's family!AJ at her best, and that circular ending... This was a fine read. Thank you.

I freakin love the crusaders.

And tisk tisk Applebloom, there's no cutie mark for bad language! And if there is, you don't want to get it. :I

Nice little story, warms an ol' brony's heart. :twilightsmile:

1394808
Hearth's Warming Eve

Obviously unicorns and pegasi can't grow food. You don't migrate and starve on a large scale because you'd rather make someone else do it.

Applebloom, missing the point.:applecry:

Lad

“Think it's apple soup tonight." Do those guys never eat anything but apple related food?

Farmers are earth ponies. End of.

Problem.
How many earth ponies are actually farmers? Just because all farmers are earth ponies, doesn't mean all earth ponies are farmers.
And, actually, when you get down to brass tacks, they're not even particularly good at farming either. Only at growing plants. Harvesting, sorting, transporting, fixing fences, feeding livestock, sheering sheep, milking cows, and everything else is better done by a unicorn or an pegasus.

To get proper employment, they'd have to either segregate themselves into towns and villages to avoid unicorns and pegasi, or the law would need to force employers to hire them. Hiring an earth pony is hiring a flightless pegasus, or a magicless unicorn. A cripple that you either pay less money for their lower work output, or a liability to the company. One or two would be fine, but a third of your workforce having the human equivalent of having their hands cut off is not conductive to good business. It wouldn't even be racism to fire them or simply not hire, as any look into their productivity would be enough grounds to lay them off.
And they'd suffer even more attempting to self employ. A unicorn would be capable of doing a cheaper, quicker, and much more polished job for pretty much anything, so who would be the client for an earth pony, unless they had no other options? And how quickly would they end up out of business if a unicorn started offering the same service?

Now pegasi, while suffering from the lack of unicorn magic that earth ponies do, at least have job security because they have cities/town in the sky. While getting up there is possible for unicorns, it would be dangerous to do so. Very dangerous. So conclusion is -

Pegasi rule the sky
Unicorns rule the ground
Earth ponies get whatever scraps are left over

Not only that, but I can't help but feel that Applejack is very selfish here. "Growing plants works for me, so every other earth pony should be fine being an earth pony!" while Pinkie Pie, Cheerilee, Aunt and Uncle Orange, Applebloom, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Mayor Mare, Filthy Rich, the Cakes, most of the earth ponies in Ponyville, most earth ponies in any town, village, and every single one in a city have lives that could be improved several times over by not having been born an earth pony? Tsk tsk.

Never liked the 'express canon' EP's. There's quite a few problems in how they fit into a capitalistic society. They just don't.

1393981 so that's what/who they were synthesizing

Loved this story, especially how AJ and Big Mac had the little argument about how it was brothers or sisters. That should have tipped off Applebloom that it was a lesson story and to not ask questions (though then maybe she would have just zoned out). Either way, its a good moral about how never to underestimate the importance of your talents.

Also, am I the only one who wants to know just what the unicorns were synthesizing? TELL ME NAO!:flutterrage:

JAG

So it's been rewritten? Cool. I've been in an Apple Bloom mood lately, anyway, so this gets to be the first ponyfic I'll reread. I have a couple of new things to read first, but I'll get to this in the next few days.

1394968 Thank you! It started out as something more closely following the traits of a fable, but it kind of changed along the road, so it's not quite as lesson-y as I'd have liked. If it were a classical fable, it'd probably be harsher on the pegasi and unicorns.

1394978 Thank you very much! Am a huge earth pony fan m'self.

1395082 Aw, thanks!

1395268 Will check it out, but thanks for reading at any rate!

1395384 Thank-you! I actually wasn't a huge fan of the CMC initially, but damn have they ever grown on me, hah.

1395426 But Applejack SAID to keep the earth under her hooves, and and and- (Thanks for reading!)

1395443 Apples? Apples. Apples-apples apples apples. No, seriously, we know they have a varied farm with corn and other things besides, it'd just feel like a crime to have AB name something other than an apple-related dish as her favorite,

1395467 You'll forgive me if I don't go into detail because I've had quite a few people overinterpret the first version of this story too, but suffice it to say it was never meant to be a social commentary. It's about elevating and emphasizing the things that earth ponies are best at, from AJ's point of view; that the earth is theirs, and theirs to share. It was written in a simplistic manner to be appealing to younger audiences too, and the focus of the fic is narrow because of it, but it also points at harmony. Again, that sharing. I have never ever managed to understand fics that try to twist Equestria into something dark because earth ponies are allegedly the "lower class"; that's just rampant fabrication mixed with conjecture induced by night-colored glasses.

Thank you for reading and for your comment though! I'm normally happy to discuss these things, but I'm not sure this is the place because it's not in the scope of the fic.

1395500 I imagine Granny Smith either varied the story when she related it to Big Mac. That, or he heard it from somepony else; in my head, it's a rather common earth pony fable, not specific to the Apples. That's just me though. Thanks for reading!

1395528 Oh, hi again! Hope you enjoy; I modified it quite extensively because the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with some of the comments on EqD. Gonna ask Seth to change the link to point here now - not that I expect many people trawl EqD's archives.

1395532

but I'm not sure this is the place because it's not in the scope of the fic

Oh, no problem. It's just something I've had WAY too long to think on. I read a fic ages ago that had a line like,

"There must be something that I can use to prove earth ponies equal to unicorns and pegasi."

It made me stop and actually think deeper into the whole shebang. And afterwards, it's kinda made me bitter about the whole thing.
And I don't really feel that it's a dark look at Equestria, but rather an honest one. Equestria isn't shown as some magical utopia. It's a capitalistic country with government, taxes, rich and not so rich. Just because the county is more 'Harmonized', doesn't mean that individuals don't want the best bang for their buck.

I think I remember the first version of this story? The one where people interpreted the earth pony's answer in the story to be 'My ignorance is better than knowing the truth'? This version is definitely better at getting your point across.

And I'm going to bed, cause it's 4:30 AM, and I'm getting very ranty and preachy and probably rude.

1395602 I'm very glad you thought the fic improved thus, because that exact sentiment (ignorance) is one I was very, very eager to get rid of. I can live with being misunderstood or whatever, but fact is, ignorance is damn dangerous, and coming off as glorifying willful ignorance is something I could not stand for, ugh.

I guess we just disagree on Equestria though. Your "honest" view doesn't mesh with mine, where ponies break into song at the drop of a hat and there seems to be a sense of all-encompassing community. Where you can no doubt highlight examples to prove your point, so can I, and in the end fact of the matter is that scriptwriters of FiM never tried to present a unified world view; they're all interpretations based on varied episodes that use tools and moods that they need for the occasion.

"How's that supposed to help me? Am I supposed to go watch sunflowers?" Apple Bloom whined. "What in the hay is that all supposed to mean?"
"You watch your mouth young lady!" Applejack snapped, jabbing her flank. "Now you apologize. I won't have the h-word outta you like that."

They Can't say the word Hay :rainbowhuh:
They EAT!! Hay
so if they go to a restaurant and ask for hay every pony will think their swearing :facehoof:

Ahhg, why did my story get stuck right under a popular author ;-; DAM YOU ADMINS
Nice story BTW +1

1395688 I've never known anyone to be a fan of AB specifically, but I'm glad!

1395721 It's kind of meant as a joke on exactly that; I agree it's utterly ridiculous, but they do use it as a mild swear!

1395784 Ugh, for what it's worth, I detest the system as well. Not saying Knighty and the admins've made a bad system, but the way the feature box works creates only grief, at least for me. :|

Thanks for reading though!

1395832
Its not the feature box i care for, its just views. I am lucky to have the story stuck on the front page for so long. I consider my story a small gem, so as to make it shine above the others, i rather it be posted around a bunch of crap stories.

Right now, it sits right under a pile of platinum bars. :raritycry:

That was deep man, real deep

1395832
Well she's obviously the best pony. :pinkiesmile:

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