Why doesn't Applejack save her parents?

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

You'd think that after two episodes dealing with time travel, Applejack would ask Twilight if she could help her jump back to the past and prevent her parents' deaths. Not only would that make the Apples' lives 10x happier, but it would also give people a better explanation for why they died in the first place without actually showing it. Plus, parents wouldn't have to complain about Hasbro scaring their kids, as ponies escaping near-death situations is already a common occurrence in the show.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Lord-Pomegranate

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

You'd think that after two episodes dealing with time travel, Applejack would ask Twilight if she could help her jump back to the past and prevent her parents' deaths. Not only would that make the Apple's lives 10x happier, but it would also give people a better explanation for why they died in the first place without actually showing it. Plus, parents wouldn't have to complain about Hasbro scaring their kids, as ponies escaping near-death situations is already a common occurrence in the show.

Maybe applejack isn't foolish enough to try and mess with time travel for incredibly selfish and delusional reasons.

 

 

Applejack is the element of honesty: that means accepting reality when it happens, even if its harsh: People eventually die and that's the fate of things. Not letting go and risking the entire timeline for your own gains, when not everyone can be saved, would be absolutely antithetical to Applejack's Role as the element of harmony.

 

 

hell, that'd be a great episode IMO, with a villain trying to dispose of her by trying to play on her emotional connection to her parents. (Like the episode perchance to dream where Batman is trapped in a dreamworld where his parents are alive)

[Sunny Fox 5,929]

Well, the first time travel event ended up resulting a Stable Time Loop and was essentially useless, and the second time travel event led to a buttefly effect of progressively worse "presents" until it culminated in a wind blasted, ashen deadland. Twilight knows enough not to go messing with the timeline by this point that even if Applejack did suggest it, Twilight would almost certainly refuse. If it were to be a plotline for an episode, no doubt it would end up with the result that the timeline would need to be put back the way it was. I can see the Apple parents agreeing to re-sacrifice themselves to whatever caused their deaths in the first place. I think such an episode would be a little too dark for the show.

[Jeric 46,834]

Read Flashpoint Paradox. Sometimes going back to save your parent is a bad idea.

[Luminance 2,181]

Applejack exploiting time to prevent her parent's death is only remorse for Applejack. It's only going to hurt more for her if she doesn't let them go.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

You're assuming her parents are dead and not just far away for reasons unknown.  I'm sure the idea is that they are dead, it's been hinted at heavily enough, but never actually outright confirmed.

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Read Flashpoint Paradox. Sometimes going back to save your parent is a bad idea.

THE REVERSE APPLE O GOD NO!!!!!

 

I kinda want a villain as insanely hilariously dickish as Eobard at some point, though that might be too much.

Edited June 3, 2016 by M'gann M'orzz

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

You're assuming her parents are dead and not just far away for reasons unknown.  I'm sure the idea is that they are dead, it's been hinted at heavily enough, but never actually outright confirmed.

It wasn't directly confirmed in the show, but by DHX. 

 

But if that wasn't true, and they were in fact still alive, Applejack should be feeling resentment towards them. You don't just dump your kids at your mom's place for the rest of their childhoods and then piss off.

[heavens-champion 1,893]

She would be tempted to do it. But after the Cutie Re-Mark, I don't think she'd consider altering Equestria's future worth it.

Edited June 3, 2016 by heavens-champion

[The MegaBrony 218]

"Applejack, I am your father. If only you knew the power of the dark side..."

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

The result might not be that bad when you think about it. Starlight made Equestria a wasteland by undoing what brought the Mane Six together and destroying their friendship. Saving Applejack's parents wouldn't necessarily lead to that conclusion, though it really depends on the circumstances behind why they died. If they just got exposed to some virus that made them terminally ill, then the only change I could see happening in the present is they'd be running everything on the farm and not their kids.

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

Some good points made already.  Messing with time is unbelievably dangerous, and for all they know, preventing her parents' death could unravel the fabric of the universe and end life as they know it.  Hopefully, the 'lights know better than to ever use time travel again, under any circumstances, unless the universe would be doomed anyway.

 

Also, this:

 

 

[cider float 2,535]

Wonder why Starlight didn't just time travel to get her Equality Town back?

[SpectraDust 149]

Because if you mess with time, everything gets messed up. Though I think something like this could make for a very interesting episode.

[PiratePony 8,473]

As Doc Brown says, "the consequences could be disastrous."

 

As @Unlikeable Pony said, a villain tempation episode on this subject would be entertaining.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

As Doc Brown says, "the consequences could be disastrous."

 

As @Unlikeable Pony said, a villain tempation episode on this subject would be entertaining.

 

That's just a tired old cliche though.

 

What if Pinkie Pie screwed up baking a cake, like she somehow added the wrong ingredient and made it taste like crap? And she didn't have time to bake another one, so the only way to rectify her mistake was to jump back a few hours in the past to make it right? I don't see the world ending over something like this. For that to happen, you'd need the right set pieces. Like if the cake was meant for Celestia, and the one bad ingredient prompted Pinkie to find a substitute that was so nasty, it made her go insane and vaporize Equestria or something. And even then, there's no reason why she couldn't have the free will to pay more attention to what she was doing and make a proper cake that tasted normal.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Lord-Pomegranate

[heavens-champion 1,893]

That's just a tired old cliche though.

 

A king once said "There is is nothing new under the sun." In other words, just about everything has been done.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

A king once said "There is is nothing new under the sun." In other words, just about everything has been done.

That may be true, but still. Why does time travel always have to lead to dire consequences? Stories have been made where changing the past happened for the best. 

[heavens-champion 1,893]

That may be true, but still. Why does time travel always have to lead to dire consequences? Stories have been made where changing the past happened for the best. 

Like in Back to the Future?

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Like in Back to the Future?

I was thinking more about a certain time travel episode from Gargoyles. One gargoyle disappeared during WWII. Goliath saved him in the past, then brought him to the present and reunited him with his clan in London. The world didn't just suddenly turn to shit.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Lord-Pomegranate

[PiratePony 8,473]

That's just a tired old cliche though.

 

 

Applejack's parents live and Apple Bloom dies, or Sombra takes over because AJ isn't strong enough to join the Mane 6, because she never had to endure losing both parents and raising a farm on her own.

 

I know there's been bad things in my life that eventually lead to good, some of the greatest good of my life even. These may never have come to pass if I changed thise bad events.

 

Sometimes cliches are really just used so much because they're universal truths.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Also, this:

 

 

 

That was a terrible film, and you are a terrible person for reminding me of its existence.  The original was far superior.

 

But yes, messing about with time is an undertaking fraught with difficulties, paradoxes and butterflies everywhere!

[cmarston1 5,951]

Because Applejack is smart enough to not want to deal with any of the paradoxes and complications that would come across because of messing with time travel.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,234]

Because as we have seen with Starlight, if you mess with the past, it could have some very destructive consequences. It would be impossible to know what chain reaction that would cause.

[Gestum 2,493]

Maybe she can't. Or maybe she simply doesn't want to.