The Irony of Growing Up by StarryOak on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE ADVENT OF APPLEJACK. (SPECIFICALLY CHAPTER 25/26) AND THE IRONY OF APPLEJACK
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THAT YET, GO AWAY FROM THIS PAGE.
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, READ IT. ITS AMAZING.
Ironic Applejack Alone: starryoak.deviantart.com/art/I…
Deerling Applejack Alone: starryoak.deviantart.com/art/D…
The Irony of Applejack is made by Mister Friendly. Who is amazing and writes incredibly well despite apparently coming up with the story idea while drunk (btw now the best thing to come out of someone being drunk since forever).
OK, with that out of the way, I'm going to assume anyone left now is totally ok with spoilers for a series they haven't read/already has read this amazing fanfiction and now is ready to read this description.
The Irony of Applejack is one of the many 'What if X was a Changeling' stories, with a twist; Applejack, first of all, never knew what she was her whole life, and second, she isn't just any changeling drone. She's a Changeling Queen.
Things escalate from there. It's a story of intrigue and fighting and lore and fighting and the power of love to conquer all, including your own nature.
I wanted to draw Ironic Applejack (or what I call her for short to distinguish her from canon, Ironyjack) in the canon style. And then I wanted to draw Baby Ironyjack. And... I wanted to draw Deerling (what I call the Reformed Changelings) Ironyjack, after reading her description. And so I decided to put them all together into one big pile
Ironyjack’s design was created by 
and Mr. Friendly (for the Deerling!Ironyjack)
I usually use the cover art for Advent of Applejack as a guide for how to draw Ironyjack, but for this, I mixed Deception Is Magic design in for one bit; her ears. They’re drawn whole in The Advent of Applejack’s cover art, but with holes in them in the Deception is Magic art, because it makes the whole ears on Deerling Ironyjack look more beautiful. The colors for normal, undeerlingified Ironyjack can be found here.
It’s mentioned that Applejack sheds out of her skin like a bug, but that she only has two times in her life, once when she grew out of being a foal and the second when she grew out of being a filly, so this... shouldn’t make sense, right? To have more than three versions of AJ before Deerling AJ?...
But we’ve seen Applejack in different stages of life besides those two, and it also wouldn’t make sense for a foal changeling to be unchanged forever until they shed as an adult, since the size difference is so big. So I think that besides from the painful sudden transformation to a Queen from Amora’s Curse, her shell grew with her until it couldn’t anymore. So Baby Applejack is the first stage, and Filly applejack grew up until she was a teenager like in ‘Where The Apple Lies’, when her shell couldn’t grow with her anymore and she molted again.
Applejack was the daughter of Queen Carnation, the first Queen to break the curse of Amora, what makes all Changeling Queens heartless, hollow inside and hungry. Giving a piece of her Corastone (the crown all queens wear is made when their heart breaks, a Corastone) to Applejack when she was born, she broke the curse of Amora. When she went to fight her cousin Queen Phantasma to protect Equestria, she gave her daughter to her most trusted drone, who left her on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres during the Apple Family Reunion, directly leading to the infamously adorable scene. You know the one.
“I’m Appwejack! Mo appwe fwitter?”
Applejack grew up with her Ma and Pa, who are never described, besides Applejack’s father being a toweringly tall stallion over Applejack as a filly, wearing a stetson just like Applejack does. So, it can be inferred that Applejack’s parents are indeed Pear Butter and Bright Macintosh, since Mr. Friendly never gave them descriptions. According to Applejack, while explaining to Rainbow Dash, the first to find out...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Nopony had the slightest clue where Ah came from, but they were taken with me right off the bat. ‘Course, my folks searched the community fer any reports of missin’ foals, but came up empty. After about a month, they gave up.”
“So what happened?” Rainbow asked, genuinely curious.
Applejack smiled up at the ceiling wearily. “Granny Smith called in a favor with Filthy Rich’s pa and they got me some official documentation made.”
“Wait, wait,” Rainbow said, taken aback. “You’re saying Filthy’s dad forged some papers for you?”
Applejack grinned. “Don’t let Apple Bloom and that brat of Rich’s fool ya; Apples and Riches go way back, and we don’t take that fer granted.”
“No kidding,” Rainbow replied, still sounding shocked. “But wait… when did your folks realize you were… you know…”
“A changeling?”
Rainbow winced. “Yeah… that.”
Applejack sighed. “Not long after that… One day Ah just started fussin’ and carryin’ on. Ah don’t rightly recall that – Ah was pretty young at the time – but accordin’ to my folks, Ah just suddenly burst into flames. Ya see what they saw next.”
Rainbow winced again. “Yeah. I’m guessing they didn’t like that surprise.”
Applejack shook her head a little. “Mama, Papa, Granny and Macintosh all bolted from the house quicker than if it were on fire and bunkered down in the barn. ‘Course, the moment Ah changed, Ah stopped my fussin’. That’s what happens when Ah sit in my pony form fer too long; gotta change to relieve the pressure.”
“Your headaches,” Rainbow said in dawning realization.
“That’s them,” Applejack said. “Anyway when Ah tried to get to my family and realized Ah couldn’t, Ah started cryin’ right there in the yard. Just sat down and bawled my eyes out.”
Rainbow’s expression fell, but Applejack ignored it. In fact, she started smiling a bit. “And Macintosh, that big galoot, came out of the barn ta give me a big ol’ hug ‘til Ah stopped my cryin’.”
She turned her head slightly, her eyes on the wall behind her as if she knew who was leaning against it. “He’s been lookin’ out fer me ever since.”
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Her family accepted her even though they had no idea what she was, as before the Wedding, Changelings were unknown to Equestria at large. Pear Butter and Bright Macintosh wouldn't turn away her, I mean, Pear Butter would know what it's like to be abandoned by your family...
Despite this, Pear Butter and Bright Mac (Or if you want them not to be the canon parents) had Earth Pony pride; they knew Applejack was an Earth Pony at heart and didn’t want her using Unicorn magic to do her work for her.
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applejack sat collapsed on the ground, wiping at tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. “Ah-Ah only wanted ta help,” she bawled.
A comforting hoof was patting her shoulder, a wordless acceptance of her apology.
But the pony standing in front of her was less forgiving.
“We’ve been over this a dozen times, little missy,” the stallion was shouting angrily. “Apples do not use magic! It’s not the earth pony way!”
Applejack looked up at the towering pony with wet eyes. With the sun at his back, all she could see was his broad, powerful silhouette and the beaten cowboy hat resting upon his head.
“A-Ah’m sorry, papa, Ah just…”
The stallion, standing seemingly taller than any living thing should’ve heaved a heavy sigh. “Ah know, honeybunch. Ah know yer heart’s in the right place, Ah do. But ya can’t go usin’ magic, alright? You’re an earth pony, Applejack, and someday yer gonna be a fine one, too. And earth ponies don’t use magic.”
Applejack sniffled, feeling miserable. “O-okay, papa…”
The gigantic stallion let out another breath, then very gingerly he pulled the little orange filly in for a tight hug.
“That’s my girl.”
Applejack buried her face into his shoulder, and tried very, very hard to ignore the remains of the tree she’d accidentally cleaved in two…
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So she held her magic inside, and has of course kept from using it. But of course, she was given leeway, after all... some things are more important than Applejack’s Earth Pony pride. Like saving others.
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applejack stood panting and wheezing, her shoulders and neck heaving with each suck on the oxygen around her.
She was painfully aware of the small bundle of brown fur tucked between her forelegs, whining in pain as it tried to hide behind her hooves.
“Applejack! Applejack!”
She turned, just as a large red colt erupted from the nearby bushes like a cannonball, sending little bits of underbrush everywhere.
When he saw the scene that awaited him, however, he froze.
A huge Timber Wolf lay on its side not five feet from the little filly. And it seemed to be smoking ominously.
The whole clearing had bits of splintered twigs and branches scattered about like a hurricane had just blown through a firewood stack, throwing the contents in every which direction. More than a few were blackened, some even lit with a sickly green tongue of flame.
As he watched, a curl of emerald mist escaped the ravaged beast’s mouth, spiraling up into the air and away on the winds.
“Ah-Ah had ta do it,” sobbed Applejack. “I-if Ah didn’t… Winona…”
Between her legs, the whimpering puppy let out another scared and pained whine.
Big Macintosh’s eyes got huge.
Her little black legs were shaking like a lamb, her alien amber eyes welling with tears. “Ah’m sorry, B-Big Macintosh. A-Ah had ta use magic. Ah d-didn’t know what else ta d-do…”
She turned her scared, tear-filled eyes towards her big brother, looking for some sort of reassurance.
“A-Ah know Ah’m not supposed to use magic. B-but Ah just got so mad, a-and it just happened! Ah just d-didn’t know what else ta do!”
“Hey…”
When Applejack paused in her bawling, she felt her big brother pull her against his strong, warm chest in a bracing hug.
“Ah don’t care what ya did, so long as yer alright, sugarcube.”
He pulled her tighter. Only then did she feel how much he, too, was shaking. “Don’t ya ever let yerself get caught up between wantin’ ta save somethin’ ya care for and what ya got ta do ta save it. So long as ya do, it don’t matter what ya did. Never forget that, Applejack.”
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And she grew up, until the events of Irony of Applejack.
I won’t spoil that, nor the events of Advent of Applejack beyond what I already have, just so I can use the description of Deerlingjack to show how I adapted. But there is a bit of importance; the power of love is involved in the sharing of a Corastone, meaning... Well, the story of Advent of Applejack is an Appledash story, which affected how Deerlingjack looks.
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most beautiful creature she’d ever seen stood over her, head held low over her. A sleek, slate black body. Slender, graceful legs without even the smallest trace of a hole. A flowing mane of amber hair that shimmered and shined like polished gold. Big, twin-ringed amber eyes encapsulating perfectly round pupils. A smile devoid of fangs. And a long, elegantly curved horn with only a single crook slightly above the base…
An amber shell upon her back stood open, allowing her to spread large, translucent wings that shimmered in the light. Sometimes, they appeared to have a red sheen. At other times, they glinted green. At still others, they had a blue tinge. All colors of the rainbow were represented, and though they moved clumsily, the strength in those broad, beetle-like wings was evident.
Rainbow blinked up at the smiling face looking down at her, her eyes huge. And then, she fell flat on the ground with a heavy groan. “Dang it… I knew I was dead.”
“Uh… Why?”
Rainbow put a hoof over her eyes. “Why else would an angel be here?”
She didn’t have to look at Applejack to feel her roll her eyes at her. “C’mon now, enough of that,” she said, sounding both exasperated and a little relieved. “Y’all can save yer flattery fer when we get home.”
Rainbow removed her hoof and looked at the figure standing over her. It sure looked like Applejack. Sounded like her, too. But there was something almost supernatural about her. She seemed to shine; her mane and tail were too bright to just be reflecting the glow of the chamber. And there was this feeling around her—literally around her. Just by being close to Applejack, Rainbow felt something akin to static tickling her fur and skin. It was like there was some thin layer of compressed pressure wrapping around her. Rainbow had never felt anything like it, but when she felt it pass over her, her muscles automatically relaxed and her senses calmed.
“Can ya move?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow grunted, shaking herself back to reality. She rolled over and tried to pick herself up, but her legs felt as weak as jello.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The black chitin was familiar, though… different. Smoother, maybe, softer-looking. Maybe it didn’t have some kind of loathsome sheen she’d never noticed before, or making the black quality of it looked richer somehow, more… healthy? Something along those lines, but whatever it was she couldn’t identify it with simple words.
And there was something in the face that haunted her. It would take a day or two before it struck Applejack that in the strangeness of the features, she could see a ghost of something familiar - a ghost of her mother. There was no concrete aspect that she could point to, but now whenever she looked into the mirror, it always was accompanied by thoughts of Carnation.
The amber eyes were familiar, save for the normal, round pupils that now sat where narrow slits had been. The eyes, once haunting and unsettling even to her, looked… strange. Brighter, perhaps. More expressive, though that could have been because they weren’t quite as alien as before. And now those eyes were looking at her with a strangely speculative, shy look. Guarded, cautious.
She no longer had fangs, and the lack of contact of tooth-on-lower-lip while in this form was something strange to miss. She kept finding herself moving her lips and mouth, trying to find a familiar sensation that wasn’t there anymore. Once, when she was younger, one of her fangs had slipped behind her lip when she closed her mouth, and the sharp edge had gouged her gums. Ever since then, the lack of them against her lip made her anxious.
At least her mane had stopping glowing like molten metal and wafting in an ethereal wind. That had been alarming for a great many reasons. But now it laid motionless and glow-less, like always. Whatever power had erupted inside her had cooled, settled, like lava turning to inert stone. It was still there, buried deep down; when she stopped, closed her eyes and concentrated, Applejack just thought she caught a tickling sensation of something that hadn’t been there before, a nuclei of simmering magma not yet cooled, waiting to wake the volcano inside her.
Her hair brush worked it's way through the strands, tugging lightly as she straightened her mane. It still shined, but not in an otherworldly sense; It was so glossy and beautiful now that anything she did to it now seemed far beneath the standards it deserved. It was longer than she was used to, but then again so were the hooves she was using to brush it. It all equalled out, but the change in scale also did not go unnoticed. The chair she sat in felt like it’d been borrowed for a foal’s plastic playset. The vanity mirror she studied herself in looked almost comically undersized, and the brush she was using felt miniscule. Her hooves felt stretched and cumbersome, her neck just as much so.
Applejack paused mid-stroke. She glanced at her hooves, now without holes riddling them. Everything seemed so… different. The story of her life, perhaps; a tale of peculiarity trying desperately to masquerade as normal. This time she had an aspect of peculiarity she could see, at least.
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those are the descriptions given for Deerling Applejack which I based her off of; I decided to give her the molten gold mane even though it isn’t waving, interpreting the glossy shine and beautiful nature to mean it no longer literally glows, keeping the colors. It’s mentioned her black no longer looks... wrong, as if there was a sheen on it, and one of the ways to make black look better is to give it color, so I did, to make it more beautiful. Her eyes are described as briter, so I included the Deerling trait of uniform eye color, but less so, just brighter sclera. I also gave her Nightmare Moon's body type rather than Chrysalis's filled in, so she looked more whole, but her facial structure is still of a changeling's. Her hair is based on the Queen Applejack in the cover art for The Advent of Applejack. The colors for Deerling Applejack can be found here.
So, meet Ironic Applejack., Starryoak's depiction. I might draw more of the characters, since I absolutely ADORE this fanfiction, but I’ve completed what I set out to do, so not as obsessively as before. I’m working on the Miracleverse, so rejoice followers; I have like, 14 unfinished sketches for it, I have a huge backlog, so I can publish a lot once I finish!