Psychological Analyses Entry Two: Applejack

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Psychological Analyses Series Links:

1. Fluttershy

3. Rarity

4. Rainbow Dash

5. Pinkie Pie

 

Applejacks analysis is shorter than Fluttershys because there simply isn't as much to say about her. I apologize for that.

 

Of the Mane Six, Applejack is by far the most down-to-Earth pony, no pun intended. Unlike the rest, she tends to stick to what she knows, what she believes in, and doesn't concern herself with too many frivolities. She's no-nonsense, preferring function over form in all things. Her life is simple, with lots of honest hard work and few fanciful frou-frou notions. She lives up to Element of Honesty through the values she expresses in her life, her integrity and dependable nature. She can also be caustic as all get out if she doesn't like what someone is doing or if someone has raised her hackles, which happens all too often due to her abundant pride.

 

Applejacks Element of Honesty, like most of the Elements, appears simple on the surface. Don't lie, be honest, etc etc...simple, right? Wrong. It's about far more than that. Honesty as a virtue is about being true to your hearts desires, true to how you want to live your life, as well as being true to your family, your friends, and where you come from. It's a virtue that permeates everything you do. Though Applejack doesn't quite get as many chances to shine as the rest of the Mane Six when it comes to her Element, she does demonstrate this devotion to Honesty with almost everything she does, from how she does everything she can to keep a promise she makes, to her decision to return home during her Cutie Mark story, and even her complete inability to lie effectively--even misleading or leaving out pieces of the truth are difficult for her, at least when directly confronted over the issue. Though the nature of the show makes it difficult to examine Honesty from too many different perspectives, with the evidence that is available let us go into why Applejack is so devoted to her Element. It starts with her Cutie Mark story.

 

Despite the way Applejack attempts to paint her story, I believe there is quite a bit more to the events than just the small slice we saw in Cutie Mark Chronicles. As before this will be rife with speculation, but although Applejack tries to portray her story as being that of a filly's snap-decision, a quick running away from home that she regretted soon afterwards, I refuse to buy that. There's quite a lot more to it because the story provokes a significant number of unanswered questions.

 

First of all, we don't see Applejacks parents anywhere during the episode. We see Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom is missing presumably because she either hasn't been born yet or might just be in the cradle inside the house, but Applejacks parents are gone. Why? Though it's possble that her parents are simply at the hospital, with Apple Bloom just being born right at that moment, that can only explain one of the two absences. Plus it seems like Apple Bloom being born would be a particularly odd time for Applejack to suddenly decide "Hey, I'm off to live in Manehatten with my Aunt and Uncle Orange! Bye now!" even when you factor in a young teenagers tendency to lack logic. I speculate that perhaps Applejack had a falling out with one or both of her parents over some issue, maybe even something simple that normally wouldn't have provoked her to move away, but said issue was taken advantage of by internal Apple family politics. After all, the Oranges, being Manehatten elite ponies, wouldn't normally accept a farm filly. Applejack would be beneath them, too uncultured to live in their home. So why take her in unless they were trying to take advantage of the situation? Perhaps one of the Oranges, whichever one is a sibling to one of Applejacks parents, was trying to use Applejack to get back at said parent for some old grudge, such as how they became Manehattenites instead of joining the rest of the Apple family in being farmers. If Applejack was just running away from home, the Oranges would have returned her to Ponyville instead of taking her in.

 

Of course that could be completely off base. It assumes that Applejacks parents are alive at all, something we still haven't received confirmation of. For whatever the reason, Applejack spends a good several weeks minimum in Manehatten, long enough to train away her accent and educate her about proper etiquette in her new-found social setting. This, incidentally, may have also been the time she learned how to ice sculpt. How long did it take homesick to set in? Again, it is hard to say. The episode gives us only a brief portrait, an abridged version too bereft of details. I have wavered back and forth between believing that Applejack, though homesick, was not about to just turn tail and flee back to Ponyville without some sort of prompt, to thinking she would have eventually headed home regardless of whether or not there was a Sonic Rainboom. She might've lived her life in Manehatten, with a personality cold as ice and a heart of stone, might've stayed essentially the same pony, if more like Rarity with her culture, or she might've arrived home in Ponyville, changed, altered, and no longer able to represent the Element of Honesty. There's no way to know other than that the Sonic Rainboom did something truly special for her, as it did for all the Mane Six. She realized how she really wanted to live her life, so she returned home and gained her Cutie Mark.

 

How much did her Manehatten experiences influence her life? Well, it's hard to say without knowing more about the day to day operations of Sweet Apple Acres, but I like to believe she took the knowledge she gained and used it as she could, bolstering the business of the farm, how it negotiates to sell food throughout Ponyville--I imagine they provide one of the primary sources of food for most of the restaurants, bakeries, and other food-oriented businesses in town, particularly given that they grow quite a few more crops than just apples. Though the first season implied that Applejack was both the owner and primary operator of Sweet Apple Acres, season two has revealed that Granny Smith is much more responsible at least for ownership than I had originally suspected. That said, I expect at some point in the future Applejack will gain control over the farm, once Granny Smith passes away. In the meantime she is probably responsible for most of the economic side of the farms business, number-crunching and the like, because though Applejack may live a fairly simple life, she is not stupid.

 

Unfortunately she tends to let her pride get in the way of common sense. Her Mantehattenite experiences have left a long-lasting impact on her psyche, causing her to view frou-frou activities with absolute disgust, because she had seen that lifestyle and decided it wasn't for her. I imagine part of her desire to attend the Grand Galloping Gala and earn money through selling her "common carnival fare" to quote Prince Blueblood rather than through something more intelligent was her wanting to say to the world that she made the right decision, that she is being true to herself. Applejack is smart enough to understand that if you're going to be attending a gathering such as the Gala, you don't try to make money by selling food by the side of the road. That's like opening a lemonade stand on a residential street corner when you need to earn ten thousand dollars to buy a car. Instead, Applejack should have schmoozed around with the upper class of Canterlot and find someone new to purchase her farms food, such as the chef for a five star restaurant, a hotel owner, maybe even those responsible for sourcing the food for the castle itself, SOMEONE that would have been able to give Sweet Apple Acres significant amounts of long-term profit. Instead, she acted like a complete idiot and cost herself a huge and lucrative opportunity, because she was NOT about to start acting like a Manehattenite again. Her pride has manifested again and again throughout the series, whether it was the Iron Pony competition, her foolish stubbornness in trying to harvest the entire farm by herself, her eagerness to prove herself in the Canterlot rodeo, her confidence in Sweet Apple Cider, or any number of her various random antics and actions.

 

When Applejack makes a promise, she keeps her word, and will do just about anything to see that word through, even if it means a small amount of leaving out the truth. She demonstrates this most cleary

through her actions in The Last Roundup. Though some have said she was too scared to return home simply because she failed to obtain a blue ribbon, I think there's more to it than that. Oh, certainly she

was upset she didn't win a blue ribbon, because you don't become ten time champion of Ponyvilles rodeo show without developing at least some pride in your abilities. Her failure to win a blue ribbon was

important because she failed to earn the prize money, money that Ponyville was counting on. She had promised that money to fix up town hall. She made a promise she needed to keep, a promise she failed to keep. That meant that by failing to win a blue ribbon, she'd broken her word. She couldn't make good on what she promised to deliever. Applejack wasn't about to allow that. Where she made her mistake was in failing to explain this to her friends. Her pride interfered again, keeping her from fully explaining the truth. Had she simply explained, it's likely that her friends would have let her be...she would have spent a few weeks, maybe even a month or two, working at Cherry Jubilee's ranch to earn the money, then returned, having kept her word. But she chose not to do that and instead caused more trouble, thanks once again to her pride. Fortunately, Applejack has learned her lessons over time. She may have refused help in Applebuck Season, but when the time came around again for assistance in SSCS6K, she accepted it gracefully, and as a result she managed to stick to her values the right way, rather than the wrong way as she had in the past.

 

Applejack has a strong, healthy relationship with her family, minus whatever possible relations she might have with her parents, wherever they are. She cares about her grandmother, relies upon her brother, and strongly supports her little sister. Her relationship with Apple Bloom is especially strong and one, I believe, that is responsible for her being such good friends with Rarity. Because of Rarity's lifestyle, one that Applejack has rejected, it took a long time for Applejack to accept Rarity as something more than the comrade she fought beside during the hunt for the Elements. Though they became a bit more accepting of each other after the slumber party, I believe if it weren't for Apple Bloom becoming close friends with Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Applejack would have remained more like acquaintances at best. Of course if it hadn't been for the fact that they are both spirits of the Elements of Harmony, they wouldn't have become friends at all.

 

Applejacks depth is a bit difficult at times to appreciate because unlike the rest of her friends, she just doesn't have as many lessons she needs to learn or lessons she can teach the others. Though I mean no disrespect to the others, she's a bit more...psychologically stable. She's also always so busy with her farm work, work that keeps her from being around as often as the others--probably a good explanation for why we haven't seen her in as many episodes as she really ought to be in. Still, I would like to see more episodes about her in season three, episodes specifically about her and not just her along with the rest of the Apples. I want to learn more about her past, get some answers about her parents, more about her childhood, just plain learn more about her. Applejack is too interesting a character to let her fall by the wayside.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Kyronea Tich

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Applejacks depth is a bit difficult at times to appreciate because unlike the rest of her friends, she just doesn't have as many lessons she needs to learn or lessons she can teach the others. Though I mean no disrespect to the others, she's a bit more...psychologically stable.

 

That's quite true. Despite the fact that she can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes (e.g, refusing help when she clearly needed it in "Applejack Season"), she acts more like a parental figure towards the rest of the Mane 6 rather than just a young mare like how the rest of them seem to do (with the possible exception of Rarity who seems to act like both ways).

[Prince Lightning Da Cute 616]

Thank you my dear Kyronea! I love reading this analysis while I listen to some classical. I read the 2 first paragraphs, saving the rest for lunch. Applejack seems way more interesting than I thought...

 

Thanks alot I love hearing these, Keep it up!

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

cool thesis!

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

Applejacks depth is a bit difficult at times to appreciate because unlike the rest of her friends, she just doesn't have as many lessons she needs to learn or lessons she can teach the others. Though I mean no disrespect to the others, she's a bit more...psychologically stable. She's also always so busy with her farm work, work that keeps her from being around as often as the others--probably a good explanation for why we haven't seen her in as many episodes as she really ought to be in. Still, I would like to see more episodes about her in season three, episodes specifically about her and not just her along with the rest of the Apples. I want to learn more about her past, get some answers about her parents, more about her childhood, just plain learn more about her. Applejack is too interesting a character to let her fall by the wayside.

 

Not for this guy

[Nas 2,863]

Talk about in-depth. This is one of my favorite parts of the Brony community! Bravo!

 

I mean, seriously, the show just throws endless logical stuff at as to thoroughly review and study the very, very deep and hidden things that attain to the very context of the show. I seriously think there should be a class in high school or college about logical analysis of movies, cartoons, video games, etc. Once again, bravo!

[Purple 6]

Wow, amazing read. Applejack just went from my #3 favorite character to #1. She really needs more episodes in season 3.

[Yellow Diamond 7,564]

You managed to get a lot of mileage out of analyzing AJ, Kyronea. Much of what we might say of her is speculative---not that such analysis in inherently bad. For all of the attention turned toward the Apple family over the course of two seasons, we know little of AJ's past with the exception of her Cutie Mark. I hesitate to offer an explanation about the absence of her parents. It has apparently not negatively affected her attitutes toward others or her own immediate kin. They may very well live outside of Ponyville, perhaps providing for the family farm by some other means. Yet it just seems so strange that her parents would be elsewhere while Apple Bloom would be left under Granny Smith's care. If they indeed died, it would have to be fairly recent; and I am not terribly convinced from a narrative perspective, either. Maybe Lauren Faust knows.

 

AJ moving away due to internal struggles within the family is an interesting hypothesis. There is enough content available to reasonably suppose Uncle and Aunt Orange opened their doors for Applejack as part of sticking it to their rustic cousins. At the risk of sounding cheeky, there is also the aphorism "comparing apples and oranges" to describe distinct differences. I am almost certain that is what the writers were going for since the Orange family comprised urban socialites versus the Apple rural country folk. Whether or not that translates into familial tension is up for interpretation.

 

Despite the way Applejack attempts to paint her story, I believe there is quite a bit more to the events than just the small slice we saw in Cutie Mark Chronicles. As before this will be rife with speculation, but although Applejack tries to portray her story as being that of a filly's snap-decision, a quick running away from home that she regretted soon afterwards, I refuse to buy that. There's quite a lot more to it because the story provokes a significant number of unanswered questions.

 

This is a tricky area. On the one hand, Applejack is a terrible liar and hates to deceive her friends. "The Last Round Up" threw a wrench in the gears by making AJ very much capable of finessing the truth. She can make mental reservations without being transparent. On the other hand, AJ was never asked directly, "Why did you leave the farm?" In that case, were she obscuring the truth, it would be plainly obvious. Having said all of this, I am inclined to take AJ's word more or less at face value because a.) she is the Element of Honesty and b.) to presume an ulterior motive is an argument from silence. Nevertheless I enjoy toying with the thought of there being more to the story; undoubtedly there is inasmuch as Applejack never goes into details about life growing up on Sweet Apple Acres. What that additional information is exactly remains a mystery.

 

Good stuff, Kyroena. I enjoyed the reading.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Thereisnospoon303

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

You managed to get a lot of mileage out of analyzing AJ, Kyronea. Much of what we might say of her is speculative---not that such analysis in inherently bad. For all of the attention turned toward the Apple family over the course of two seasons, we know little of AJ's past with the exception of her Cutie Mark. I hesitate to offer an explanation about the absence of her parents. It has apparently not negatively affected her attitutes toward others or her own immediate kin. They may very well live outside of Ponyville, perhaps providing for the family farm by some other means. Yet it just seems so strange that her parents would be elsewhere while Apple Bloom would be left under Granny Smith's care. If they indeed died, it would have to be fairly recent; and I am not terribly convinced from a narrative perspective, either. Maybe Lauren Faust knows.

Unfortunately she doesn't know. I can't quite find the quote at the moment, but Lauren Faust has gone on record that, at least at the time she left, they hadn't figured out where Applejacks parents were. She prefers the idea that they died at some point, but she also said they were either not able to do that in the show, or were extremely wary of doing so in the show, something along those lines.

 

Thus I think it's more likely they're estranged somewhere, out there. Maybe one of their parents died and the other ran off, which might give Applejack further reason to feel she must keep her word, uphold what she says, etc, because she wants to be better than her parent that ran away.

 

But that is probably a bit too dark, that kind of abandonment.

 

AJ moving away due to internal struggles within the family is an interesting hypothesis. There is enough content available to reasonably suppose Uncle and Aunt Orange opened their doors for Applejack as part of sticking it to their rustic cousins. At the risk of sounding cheeky, there is also the aphorism "comparing apples and oranges" to describe distinct differences. I am almost certain that is what the writers were going for since the Orange family comprised urban socialites versus the Apple rural country folk. Whether or not that translates into familial tension is up for interpretation.

 

What I find most interesting is that the Oranges are related to the Apples to begin with. One would think that the Oranges would be a different family altogether, unrelated to the Apples. That's why I suspect there are some serious internal politics going on behind the scenes. Quite possibly, one of the Oranges outright loathes one of Applejacks parents and wants to get back at said parent in any way possible.

 

This is a tricky area. On the one hand, Applejack is a terrible liar and hates to deceive her friends. "The Last Round Up" threw a wrench in the gears by making AJ very much capable of finessing the truth. She can make mental reservations without being transparent. On the other hand, AJ was never asked directly, "Why did you leave the farm?" In that case, were she obscuring the truth, it would be plainly obvious. Having said all of this, I am inclined to take AJ's word more or less at face value because a.) she is the Element of Honesty and b.) to presume an ulterior motive is an argument from silence. Nevertheless I enjoy toying with the thought of there being more to the story; undoubtedly there is inasmuch as Applejack never goes into details about life growing up on Sweet Apple Acres. What that additional information is exactly remains a mystery.

 

Good stuff, Kyroena. I enjoyed the reading.

 

It's possible that AJ isn't even aware of the political issues behind everything that happened with her. She might believe a version of events, the one she told the CMCs, because she doesn't know the real truth.

 

Which could provide for some interesting episode potential, if the show creators are thinking the same thing I am: they could have AJ discover the truth and use that discovery to cause her to seek out her parents. Or, if her parents are dead, she could go to Manehatten and demand answers out of her Aunt and Uncle instead. Either way it could give AJ some rather serious character development.

 

Or someone could turn that into a fanfic. That could work too.

[NavelColt 22,876]

She's definitely one of the top role-models in my opinion. As was shown in the sister episode about Rarity and her own sister, Applejack not only demonstrated wisdom about siblings, but her other adept traits like friendliness, open-ness, etc. I do agree, of the six she probably has the least issues sticking out about her personality, making her very mature and mentally stable.

[Radiance64 7,051]

Great analysis. I too, would like to know more about Applejack's parents- perhaps they could be introduced in a similar manner to Twilight's brother, as in they live farther away or something? :/

[Sunny Fox 5,933]

Another winner, Kyronea. You always have the most thought-provoking theories. On the subject of the Apple parents, given that we don't see them in Cutie Mark Chronicles, it's just possible that they were already dead by that time, and that Apple Bloom is actually adopted. Admittedly, I have no real proof for this, and it's a rather far-fetched speculation. Even Apple Bloom's baby pictures don't feature the Apple parents, which seems odd to me.

[WildCard 1,037]

Finally an analysis on my favorite pony!

Well done and it's really interessting how much you can find out about someones personality just by looking at their life-story. Somehow makes my wish someone would analise me and tell me thing about myself I don't know yet

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

This is short?!

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Good stuff, Kyroena. I enjoyed the reading.

 

That's how it generally goes when reading Kyronea posts.

[Halfblood 364]

What a delightful and interesting read! I also just read your analysis of Fluttershy as well, and I gotta say, you have an amazing analytical ability.

 

I eagerly await further analyses on the other four ponies.

[Proctra Music 335]

[Iris Melody 90]

Thus I think it's more likely they're estranged somewhere, out there. Maybe one of their parents died and the other ran off, which might give Applejack further reason to feel she must keep her word, uphold what she says, etc, because she wants to be better than her parent that ran away.

 

But that is probably a bit too dark, that kind of abandonment.

 

 

I have been of the belief that her parents died somehow and that is why/how Granny Smith became their guardian. Or, assuming Apple Bloom is a full biological sibling, her mother died in child birth and the dad went nuts and abandoned the family? AJ may have felt like he lied, saying he'd love them forever, but losing it after losing his wife. Or, potentially worse, mother died in child birth and the dad mourned himself to death instead of bothering to care for his own children, whether he actively committed suicide or not.

 

Or maybe the dad died somehow (disease? farming accident?) and, despite being pregnant/having a newborn, the mother fell into such a deep depression she didn't even bother to try to care for her children, and her lack of a will to live lead to her demise.

 

Either way, I can see Granny Smith moving in to help out around the house with the kids, and then becoming the only adult left...

 

I can see how the upheaval of her family would send AJ running to Manehattan to "escape" her problems, sorta. Running from her problems, running from herself, running from the truth. Being honest with herself, confronting herself and returning home is why I think she was granted her Cutie Mark. A deep and personal inner conflict she naturally wouldn't want to tell young fillies.

 

I can definitely see where ugly family politics could come into play. Or the Oranges may have thought they were humoring her, or "saving her" from that stupid, dirt poor savage lifestyle, naturally thinking very lowly of ponies who actually choose to live that way. Whichever parent was originally an Orange (I'm guessing her mother) well, her mother ran off and married some dirt poor small town farmer! The horror! The disgrace! Maybe served her right for her terrible fate (or) hooray they could at least save their young niece from that ugly, disgraceful lifestyle.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Iris Melody

[lazyd3vil 3]

What I find most interesting is that the Oranges are related to the Apples to begin with. One would think that the Oranges would be a different family altogether, unrelated to the Apples. That's why I suspect there are some serious internal politics going on behind the scenes. Quite possibly, one of the Oranges outright loathes one of Applejacks parents and wants to get back at said parent in any way possible.

 

It's possible that AJ isn't even aware of the political issues behind everything that happened with her. She might believe a version of events, the one she told the CMCs, because she doesn't know the real truth.

 

Which could provide for some interesting episode potential, if the show creators are thinking the same thing I am: they could have AJ discover the truth and use that discovery to cause her to seek out her parents. Or, if her parents are dead, she could go to Manehatten and demand answers out of her Aunt and Uncle instead. Either way it could give AJ some rather serious character development.

 

Or someone could turn that into a fanfic. That could work too.

 

.

.

.

 

Sorry, sorry, it's just kinda funny how you're insisting that they're doing it all out of spite. Especially considering what fact I have in the back of my head while I read this: They are related. So they're completely different concerning lifestyle and personality. What does that matter? Is it that they're not 'apples'? Well, that doesn't matter much either. Please let me elaborate.

In the second season's episode "Family Appreciation Day", you might've noticed that in Granny Smith's story, everyone of her family is "marked" as either seeds, horseshoes or... well, some banjo thing. Granny herself had a pie, not necessarily an apple pie, though to be fair, her name is an analogy to green apples. Still, even if her bloodline could only leave Apples, which would be improbable if not unreasonable, her two brothers didn't have to. So, yeah, the Oranges can and probably are related to the Apples.

 

Now concerning the possibility of a familial dispute in the backgrounds, I'm kind of inclined to say no. That is mostly, if I'm allowed to quote someone which put it so well before me, an idea brought out of nothing... (or something like that, I can't find it anymore...)

So they would've taken Applejack in. They would've taken their own niece in. I don't see the problem there. From their personality, I'm rather inclined to think they're not as bad as you're taking them to be. They seemed like really decent folk to me. Still, your interpretation is valid... only slightly stretched. I have another interpretation I'd prefer...

 

What if, since Applejack's and Big Mac's parents presumably died, the remaining Apples might not know what to do anymore? What if they were left with an old woman, too tired to work the fields, a teen-aged-at-most Macintosh, a baby Applebloom and a little girl that doesn't even know what she wants to do with her life? Big Mac could've (maybe) been able to sustain a little income working the fields, maybe support the family with a little support from Social Services or something (or savings), but doesn't it seem likely that Applejack, not being strong enough to work the fields yet, wanted not to feel like a burden? She was, after all, 'even littler than any of the Cutiemark Crusaders'.

Maybe the Oranges were happy to take her in, since the other options weren't as pretty? She was, after all, either one of their sibling's little daughter. They had the money, if that was any problem. They were part of the upper crust, so the least they could do was to NOT let their family members fall on hard times, right?

 

I apologize if I sounded arrogant or anything like that, but just to back my claims up, I did in fact think of what might've happened to AJ's parents. A lot. Partly because I might also plan on going including that story in a fanfic some time soon... so yeah, please don't think I might not be taking this thread seriously, I actually am.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

 

 

I apologize if I sounded arrogant or anything like that, but just to back my claims up, I did in fact think of what might've happened to AJ's parents. A lot. Partly because I might also plan on going including that story in a fanfic some time soon... so yeah, please don't think I might not be taking this thread seriously, I actually am.

 

I will admit the picture felt a little unnecessary.

 

In any event, your alternative perspective is perfectly valid. I'm not about to claim mine is fact. I simply look at the way the situation unfolds, the nature of the differing lifestyles between urban elite and rural farmers, and I see great potential for conflict. I also have a tendency to promote sadder, more tragic backstories for the Mane Six than others might...not quite sure why that is.

[Espelancer 108]

I find it highly difficult to believe Applejack would foster any ill feelings towards either one of her parents, or really anyone for that matter. Applejack isn't really the type to hold grudges for very long. She may have had her differences with Rarity during the sleepover episode, and she was extremely upset with Apple Bloom in Ponyville Confidential, but she was able to accept her differences with Rarity and was eventually forgiving for her little sister.

 

It seems that one of her parents comes from the Orange family, so would have been born into a significant amount of wealth; it is quite possible that the Orange family is in the upper echelons of a large corporation. These executive types tend to live for their work, and also travel frequently on business trips. Perhaps the Orange spouse met the Apple spouse on a business trip to Ponyville, they became involved romantically, and eventually eloped and had 3 foals. I would further speculate that given traditional familial roles, Applejack's father was the Orange, so Applejack's mother would possibly move in with her new husband and travel with him whenever possible, perhaps even working together as partners. (Of course, in a world where males are outnumbered by females 10 to 1, perhaps this should be reversed.) Realizing that life on the road is not a conducive environment to raise children in, Applejack's mother sent Big Macintosh, Applejack, and later Apple Bloom to live on the farm with Granny Smith, and they would later help in running the Apple side of the business on the farm.

 

I think that Applejack and her siblings love their parents very much, and at the very least their mother loves them back, however it is clear that their parents have other priorities that come before their children, such as expanding their business. This happens in the real world as well -- some parents believe that being a good parent means advancing their careers in order to be a better caretaker, and somewhere along the way their career becomes the number one priority. If this is the case, the Apple siblings are actually quite fortunate that they were able to live with someone who can give them the time and dedication they needed in order to grow up and lead healthy lives, rather than being forced to move from place to place with parents that could not make the time for them.

[lazyd3vil 3]

I will admit the picture felt a little unnecessary.

 

In any event, your alternative perspective is perfectly valid. I'm not about to claim mine is fact. I simply look at the way the situation unfolds, the nature of the differing lifestyles between urban elite and rural farmers, and I see great potential for conflict. I also have a tendency to promote sadder, more tragic backstories for the Mane Six than others might...not quite sure why that is.

 

Oh no, the picture was totally necessary. Just look at it. I just felt like it might've given a bad idea after I posted it.

Anyway, I might be able to explain why you are looking for the darkest interpretation. It might be because you're looking to give the said universe more contrast, making it more like this one?

[NavelColt 22,876]

So tired of Applejack being so underestimated and under-appreciated. She's the most mature of the 6 if anything, because like you say, she's the most stable, with the fewest lessons to learn. People go on about how amazing the show is because of how realistic it is, but then some of them turn their back on a character who represents the older, mature sister figure, who works hard for her family every day, and loves her friends equally. Meh. Their loss in my opinion. But AJ needs more love. A nice review, as always.

[Guile 18]

I like to think that her hat once belonged to her father, something about that I like.

[lazyd3vil 3]

I like to think that her hat once belonged to her father, something about that I like.

 

Sweetheart, that's kinda basic.