• Published 1st Mar 2013
  • 1,668 Views, 109 Comments

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far - KholdstareV



It's the annual Parents' Day Festival, and Applejack is eager to meet all of her best friends' parents! However, when bad family histories threaten to ruin the occasion, she takes it upon herself the save the holiday for everypony.

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A Little Bonus from the Author

Hello everyone. As a bit of a treat to all who have enjoyed (or are enjoying) this story, I decided to throw together some artwork depicting some of my original characters, or at least as I pictured them in my head. If you're curious, see how much my vision matches up with yours, haha!

Brawn Bones and Softheart:
http://serenityserenade.deviantart.com/art/Brawn-Bones-and-Softheart-366359945?q=gallery%3Aserenityserenade&qo=1

Aeroswift and Sweetgood Mac:
http://serenityserenade.deviantart.com/art/Aeroswift-and-Sweetgood-Mac-366361186?q=gallery%3ASerenitySerenade%20randomize%3A1&qo=0

I considered drawing more, but I didn't feel the need. We already know what Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie's parents look like, and the characters of Amazing Grace and Applejack's parents are, in my opinion, better left to the reader's imagination.

Although, in regards to Applejack's parents, I do particularly like this artist's depiction of them:
http://graystripe64.deviantart.com/art/Apple-Parents-345595063?q=gallery%3Agraystripe64%2F11513093&qo=12

That's all for now, folks. Til next time, happy reading!

Comments ( 10 )

I somehow pictured brawn more like Roid Rage/Snowflake, yet bigger, with a buzzcut... ah well XD

That rendition of AJ's parents was done by me! Thank you for thinking they were good enough designs to "feature" in your awesome story! I am flattered and humbled! :rainbowkiss:

Sweetgood Mac was pretty close to what I had I had in mind for Rainbow Dash's father, but I was expecting somepony who looks a lot like the stallion that filly Rainbow was sitting on during her flashback in the episode "Games Ponies Play" (sometimes known as "Rainbow Dad")

2445774

Truth be told, I actually did base his body structure on Roid Rage's. I just changed the proportions of certain body parts (the feet, the wings, the face, etc.) to make Brawn Bones a bit more intimidating and a bit less... goofy-looking. :derpytongue2:

2446080

Oh, is that you, Graystripe64? I didn't realize you had an account on this site. Sweet! But yeah, I absolutely love your vision of Applejack's parents, largely because it's so close to what I envisioned in my head. The only major difference is the color scheme: in the story, I wrote her father as having a red coat and her mother as having a yellow one. Thematically, it made sense to me because Applejack is the result of what both her parents made her, and we of course all know that red + yellow = orange (Applejack's coat color). Despite that, I've considered rewriting that detail to match their depiction in your picture, just cuz I love it that much. You are a truly talented artist, both in your writing and drawing, and I look forward to seeing more.

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I figure, but I did start writing this story well before season 3 even began, so I already had my vision of Sweetgood Mac set in stone by that point. Such is the nature of writing fics about characters' parents, I suppose - there's always the chance that canon will come along and blow some holes in them. :pinkiesmile:

I am so happy I shotgunned this story in one sitting.

I loved every bit of it and may have teared up in some parts. The variety and complexity of family problems on display was my favorite part. Especially the respectful manner you approached it while keeping everyone in character.

Pinkie's family was probably the only one that didn't work for me. It just felt too much out of left field and I kinda hate hippies.

And Rarity folks needed more a Minnesotan accent/way of speaking.

Rainbow's family conclusion made the most sense. Some couples just need to split up.

I will say this story is horribly underrated and needs more exposure. You have definitely earned a watch from me with this one.

I could keep going on about each part I liked, but I won't.

2631249

Thank you for the kind words. And don't worry too much about the story's exposure - while it didn't achieve too much acclaim here on fimfiction, its original posting on fanfiction did very well, and in fact still gets many hits to this day. This was a deeply personal piece, so I'm glad it inspired you and continues to inspire others. :ajsmug:

This story has been reviewed by the The Equestrian Critics Society

Story Title: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Author: KholdstareV

Reviewed by: Perception Filter

A Slice of Live story? Featuring Applejack and her parents? Yawn-o-rama, this is so cliché... Oh, hey, this isn't half bad. Okay, skipping over bad joke intros, the story is actually pretty good. Applejack has to deal with her friend's parental issues before she deals with her own, which leads to some pretty funny/sad/scary hijinks. KholdstareV does a wonderful job with the story, weaving scenes and narrative together wonderfully.

Full Review

Score: 8.5/10

2742278

Thank you so much for the honest review. Your criticisms are very fair; basically, that it's quite dialogue-heavy in its overall structure, and that I take certain liberties with the girls' parents and how they're depicted (or, hardly depicted!) in the show for the sake of the plot. I guess you spotted a few grammatical/spelling errors, too (damn, I thought I got 'em all! :fluttershysad:) With the exception of the latter point, though, I like to think these criticisms are mostly subjective, and that readers' mileage may vary in terms of how much they actually view them as flaws. Not that it's perfect - it's absolutely not a story for everybody. But I would hope potential readers do use your review as a gauge as to whether or not they might enjoy it, as it accurately portrays what type of story it is. I appreciate the time you took to not only read and review it, but to do it well; you really seemed to understand what I was going for. Thanks again, and keep up the good work!

2766073 Thank you. This is my first orthodox review for the group, and I'm glad to know I did good.

I kind of wish you added a bonus chapter about Fluttershy meeting her mom for the first time. It would be nice for Fluttershy to have both of her moms move in with her, as well as Discord...

Wait a sec... if Discord found out about her father did to her... oh boy he is doomed :pinkiecrazy:

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