"Applejack! Where are --"

"-- Ah'm back here in the kitchen, Twi. An' do y'mind? Seriously, do Ah go around slammin' doors an' stompin' mah alicorn hooves when Ah drop by your house, not t' mention push on through before anypony can even say 'hey, it's been a while, come in'? No, Ah don't. An' y'know that from two things: there ain't been no suspicious piles of shards turnin' up at the back of the closets and you're talking t' me --"

"-- we have to talk. We need to talk right now --"

"-- so good thing we already started, ain't it? So if Ah get t' say it now, come on in -- aw, no... Ah ain't seen you this upset since when the writers came up to us for the final season briefing. Remember? They were all like, 'you're gonna take over the thrones' and you were 'Like Tartarus I am!' and they went straight for 'Do you see this part of your contract?' If you're that hurt again, it's gotta be something big -- an' what's that bein' carried in your corona bubble there? Border's a little too bright t' make out the details. Kinda looks like paper..."

"It. Is."

"Newspaper? ...Twi? Ah -- just thought of something..."

"And that's why your ears went back?"

"Kinda feel like that question was a little on the 'too calm' side, especially since your bangs ain't sittin' right --"

"-- what did you think of, Applejack?"

"The date. Oh, horse apples. It's November 12th, ain't it? That's when they make the announcement. An' Ah'm guessin' you've been awake all night at your place, pacin' a fresh grove into your bedroom an' now Ah've probably gotta get the little fragments out of your hooves, the news came down an' it's gonna be at least another year..."

"November 12th. Yes."

"Guess that's mah way of dealin' with it, huh? By actually goin' an' not thinkin' 'bout it so much that Ah went an' blocked out the date. An Ah'm thinkin' that's the official coverage in your corona, ain't it?"

"Yes."

"Ah'm sorry."

"...are you?"

"'course Ah am, Twi! Ah'm sorry for all of us, every year. But there's always a next year, an' everyone in that category deserved t' be there. We jus' gotta be patient, that's all. It'll come. So put that down -- we don't even have t' talk about who did get in -- Ah'll make you some dumplings, an' then we'll go check on the others. You'll feel better after y'eat. Y'always do --"

"-- read. that."

"Twi, when you slam a newspaper down on the counter hard enough t' make the napkin holder jump, Ah'm gonna have some questions --"

"-- READ. IT."

"...oh."

"Do you see it?"

"Ah... oh, Sun an' Moon, Twi..."

"...are you crying?"

"...Twi... y'tell yourself you can wait. You're happy for the ones who make it. Ah really am, because it's the achievement of their lives. It's recognition of their lives. But y'still look at the sky, every time. Ah know Ah do. An' it can feel like Sun's shinin' on everyone except you. You jus' keep wonderin' if anythin' you do can ever be enough. Because we were finalists seven times, Twi. Considered for the party, then stopped at the door. Y'can't control how other people see you. Can barely influence. No chance t' make our case, not in person. Not t' the voters, where they can hear us. An' all you can do is... hope. Y'hope one day, someone notices. Realizes how hard we all tried, t' make the kids happy. T' give 'em smiles an' lessons an' somepony t' hug when they're sad."

"And now you're crying and laughing at the same time..."

"...they -- finally went an' noticed. Twi. They saw how we put in the work. Only kind of labor that counts in this job, ain't it? Construction. We build memories. Stuff t' carry for a lifetime. Bringing us with them. So when they grow up? They can pass us t' their own kids. This is all of that, Twilight. This, right here, is the whole dang industry sayin' we've all spent forty years doin' the job. An' we did it right. We're... we're in. We're in The Toy Hall Of Fame. Ah -- Ah gotta tell Apple Bloom. Ah gotta tell everypony. Come with! Am Ah your first stop? Really an' truly? Then we'll tell 'em all together!"

"Applejack..."

"An' did y'see the other part? We're going in with the gears-and-Sparks crew! It's gonna be a Hasbro party up in Rochester an' we are tellin' Pinkie last 'cause the instant she finds out, she'll go off t' plan it all out an' we won't see her again until the induction ceremony!"

"Applejack."

"D'you think they even know yet? Ah mean the gears crew. Ah kinda wanna tell 'em. But it wouldn't feel right. We ain't met all that often. Y'know, outside of the comics, had the photo shoot for that one game's cards, some executive functions, that one PAC which never got off the ground, an' the hotel launch. Ah still feel like the hotel was the most awkward part. That elevator wasn't designed for 'Bee's weight. Still... really should be one of their own who drops the news on Optimus, right? But if Ah don't hear some happy Autobot car horns honkin' across space in the next six hours --"

"-- look. at. the. picture."

"...Ah can't drop by the stick horse place. They'd think we were classless, droppin' by t' say 'sorry'. An' Ah... Ah jus' can't deal with 'em. It's like seein' somepony who's jus' had an amputation. Of everythin' below the neck."

"Applejack... why are YOU in that picture?"

"...um..."

"And now she's squinting. Why are you --"

"-- that ain't me."

"Nose over the Honesty necklace, please."

"Tree kept it when the prop department did the giveaway party. Ah didn't mind. Twi, that ain't me. Count the apples in the mark. Seven. You're lookin' at mah generational great-granny. That's a G1 Applejack. Ah am... Ah am just so proud right now..."

"WHY ISN'T IT ME?"

"...y'wanna gallop that past me again?"

"We were the most popular release in years! And G4 was my story! I'm the one everyone knows! I even made an appearance with the -- successors..."

"Yeah. Ah remember seein' that. Y'looked like a pony whose pay was in an hourglass. Watchin' her bits drop into the lower bulb, second by second. Ready t' race for the hills as soon as the last coin fell through."

"...you try showing up in a series which says everything wrong with the world is because you messed up and see how you like it... Applejack, everyone knows me! I'm the face of the franchise!"

"An' exactly who chose you for that? 'cause Ah don't remember no campaign an' Ah ain't exactly happy 'bout a nominee who jus' voted herself in!"

"The writers! I was obviously the main character! Unlike our 'successors', who couldn't hang onto a main character for six episodes in a row..."

"Could y'knock off the muttering? Still trying to work out half of what you semi-said durin' that first one."

"Look, I didn't exactly 'campaign' to take over Equestria, either. It just happened. Because that was the story. My story."

"Twilight --"

"I'm in the comics."

"As am Ah. Along with a few other ponies Ah could name. An' non-ponies."

"I have my own books."

"We've all got at least one book. Yours got a little over-edited. Gotta wonder how that happened. Or Ah would, if the answer wasn't standin' in mah kitchen. Could barely get anyone t' work with you twice, not knowin' what happened to the last one's poor innocent gerunds. Twi, when it comes t' most of what got built up around us, you ain't got nothin' which the rest of the core group doesn't have too. Mahself very much included. An' Ah think you're missing a key word in that sentence --"

"-- Happy Meal figure."

"..."

"Don't even say it. I know I'm smirking. I don't care."

"...y'wanna watch your hoofsteps right now. Especially the verbal ones."

"You can lash that blonde tail until the rope loop flies into the sink, Applejack. It doesn't change anything which happened. It was our own personal running joke, wasn't it? Only it didn't run. It got into the air and then it got ahead of the Rainboom. On merit. If anypony was going to get left out of any toy release, it was going to be you. Short on figures. Short on plushies. If there was a variant, it wouldn't reach you. Did you even get Rainbow Power?"

"-- did anypony want it? Ah still catch Rarity starin' after our weather coordinator's tail as she's streakin' away, and sometimes the colors jus' make her sit down in place an' have a good cry. Jus' from rememberin'. An' then we had that wave where we were all painted up with scenes from our own lives, an' she didn't stop screamin' until we finished scrubbin' Season 6 off her flanks. ...seriously, when are we gettin' that mare into therapy?"

"And with the 'successors'? I got to see what was happening there, for myself. Because as the star, I was the only one invited in. And when the writers decided they needed someone else to extend the bridge? Went straight for my brother. But I was there by myself. Dd you know what was taking place, Applejack?"

"Ah tried readin' the comments on their episodes. Ain't sure nopony was allowed t'know what was takin' place --"

"-- Hitch was getting left out of half the toylines."

"...step carefully, Twi."

"Do you know what they called him? The new Applejack."

"Step. Carefully..."

"And the loop lash-lands in the oven!"

"You are in mah house right now, an' you're still missin' the point --"

"Reading comments on their episodes? That's always a mistake, especially when it's your own work. But since we've already crossed that line... let's think about some of the things people said on yours. 'Boring'. 'All of her stories are about the same thing'. 'No fun'. And I'm pretty sure there were a few thousand bronies chorusing on 'Background pony'. And not even the good kind, Applejack, because we both know the fanfic with that title wasn't about you, a mare who was mostly forgotten by the writers and also a mare who apparently has some really bad eyesight because here she is, squinting again --"

"-- do you even know how wet your eyes are right now?"

"-- and they... they... don't think of you, they think of me, they think of all the times I screwed up and when I got freaked out because there wasn't anything to send a scroll about, they think of flanderization and losing so much of myself until I was a gag and not even like Pinkie, where it took so long to get her back after they just forgot who she was and figured there was a breathing curly punchline waiting in the corner. They think of a mare who got to the point where she couldn't even deal with ladybugs and... and if they're going to think of me like that, if they're going to remember us, then they could at least let me be the one in the museum, the one they see and..."

"...keep crying, Twi. Jus' cry into mah shoulder, fur's absorbin' the tears..."

"...maybe if there's a new kid... one who's just seeing me for the first time... she'll just think I'm interesting and she'll like me, there might be a little plush in the gift shop and she'll take me home without knowing that I... ...that I screwed up..."

"...Twilight?"

"...I broke their world. Opaline. It was the worst possible response. I've come with -- three hundred better ones. I write them down so I can finally try to sleep each night."

"You're obsessing."

"No. Obsessing was when I ranked them."

"..."

"It took hours. But I did sleep after."

"...what wound up in last?"

"The variant which would have cost us every hydra in the world. I had that at the bottom of the list because I might have enjoyed it too much. Applejack, everything they had to deal with is because I must have forgotten how to think..."

"Y'didn't."

"You weren't there. I saw --"

"Got a little taste, when we did the reunion for our lead-in cell to start off what should have been their premiere. Caught a glimpse of 'em off in the distance. Too afraid t' come up an' talk. Must've been like the first of the sequel Trek crews seein' the originals, not that we qualify. You're jus' a rookie who ain't earned the right t' talk an' -- that's Shatner. Even when Ah always saw mahself as more of an O'Brien. You didn't wreck their world, Twi."

"...but..."

"That article? Y'read the whole thing?"

"I... I saw we were in, I was getting ready to start making the rounds, there was going to be a reunion -- I started thinking 'I could get the whole town together'. I know where just about everypony is. Everyone, for that matter. I kept track. With Pinkie to coordinate all the checklists, and everypony working on it... I thought I could assemble Ponyville in less than three days. Rebuild the whole thing over there, in -- something over a minute. And then we'd celebrate. Together. It was going to be so good..."

"Twi? ...no, here: back off a little. Jus' for a second. There. Now blow your snout. Okay. Question still holds. Did y'read the whole thing?"

"...no. I broke for your place as soon as I saw the picture."

"Ah wanna Fair Use quote you an excerpt. Ready?"

"...I guess."

"Hang on: gotta do this without mah accent for the best effect... 'kay. 'In addition to the figurines, several animated My Little Pony television series have been popular over the years. Most recent is Hasbro's nine-season series, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," released in 2010.'"

"...'most recent'?"

"Yeah."

"Our -- 'successors' --"

"-- heirs. Not that they meant t' be. Big horseshoes t' have nailed on at birth, don'tcha think? Lotta weight t' drag every day, especially when you're jus' a foal tryin' t' stagger through your first movie. An' they didn't get mentioned at all."

"...well, technically, they didn't have a television series."

"Twi."

"It was streaming."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"...I broke their world --"

"-- writers did that. Didn't want t' make a new home from scratch, 'cause they were hoping some of the last fan group would follow. Couldn't come up with a real reason for the tribes t' pull apart again. So they did what the bad fanfickers do, Twi. What the bad episode scripts did too, come t' think of it. An' Ah mean in our generation. Said that the most talented, skilled, an' lovin' mare Ah know screwed up. Because when it came t' reasons, they weren't smart enough t' come up with something real."

"...but everypony still blames me..."

"Pretty sure the viewer group we picked up knows fast-and-loose writing when they spot it. Twi... Ah think y'had the right instincts, when y'got the news. 'cause we all spent years watchin' you get those instincts back. Y'wanted t' make people happy. So -- Ah'm with you on this. Let's go out there. Get everypony back together, an' have the biggest party ever."

"...you're -- not mad at me? I just... you don't hate --"

"-- blow your snout again... there. Nah, Twi. Nine years, right? Ah've got some experience with how y'think. An' -- when you're too upset t' do much of it. But you're still learnin'. Always will be, for a lifetime. On camera an' off. An' you've been carryin' the pain for somethin' which wasn't your fault. For a while. An' for my bits, there ain't many things more 'Twilight Sparkle' than letting out the right emotion at the wrong time on the silliest trigger... you're giggling."

"Because I think you're right..."

"An' are we friends?"

"...somehow. Still. If you'll take me... okay, okay, you're still a lot stronger than I am. You nuzzle kind of hard. You'll... really help me get everypony together?"

"'course. But it has t' be everypony."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Seven years, Twi. Seven years in the finals, not makin' it through the door. There's some overlap, ain't there? With their time. Ah think... they've probably been blamin' themselves. Wonderin' if they were draggin' everypony else down, because no one thought as much of them and it's the most recent impression which can hit hardest."

"...maybe. But I don't understand what you want to do."

"They're done now. Takin' their rest, off-camera. Means we could theoretically try t' drop by any time we like. So Ah say we do that. Because the key word y'missed in all of that was 'us'."

"We were already going to assemble Ponyville. I can do Canterlot too if we push. I don't know if there's really a reason to bother with Griffonstone if we can just invite the residents over -- you look so serious. I don't think I've ever seen you looking this serious. The last time you were even close when was when the writers said they were going to imply the same thing for you and Rainbow as they did with Lyra & Bon-Bon, and you were thinking about the responsibility..."

"-- because... that 'us' is a big word, Twilight."

"It's two letters long."

"An' forty years wide."

"...oh..."

"'Us'. All of us. Everypony. For real. Somepony had the smallest production run toy in the last year of somepony's generation, they're part of this. An' probably real popular with the collectors, as there ain't that many of that one t' find. Probably managed to dodge 'Rainbow Power' that way, too. A background pony -- a real one -- for a single frame? Still made a contribution. It was a group effort all the way. Five generations, an' -- Ah don't know 'bout you, but Ah'm already hearin' rumors of a sixth. Reached the point where Ah hiked out t' the border an' checked the aether last moon. Ain't nothing fully coalesced yet, but... Ah can see where some of the smoke is gettin' thicker. An' shapin' itself into hooves. So we can't bring them in until they sort of, y'know, exist -- but with everypony else? Cameras ain't on. We can find 'em. Meet 'em. Tell the heirs that they tried, because ain't nopony gets to choose their ancestors an' -- Ah think we dragged them down more than they ever pulled us. Expectations, Twi. High ones. Too high. An' Ah think a student of the Princess -- even one who ain't had that status for a while -- is gonna remember the kind of harm that can do t' somepony's mind."

"...yes. Sun and Moon, the pressure... everything they must have thought they needed to live up to, every day..."

"Mountain on the back, ain't it? So let's go fetch 'em. An' not only do we get t' tell 'em that nothin' was their fault -- but until Ah hear from the voters on every reason for lettin' us in, we could at least... well, it ain't lyin'. Let's call it 'publicly entertaining the possibility that they were the ones who dragged us over the line'. Okay?"

"Okay."

"So let's get out there --"

"-- not yet. Applejack?"

"Still here. In mah kitchen, puttin' up with the stench from lightly-singed rope loop 'cause that oven was preheatin'. Gotta turn it off before we head out. Also dealin' with a former unicorn. Neurotic one. Keeps turnin' up for some reason."

"I'm sorry. I... I know I needed to let that out, but not then. Not because of that, not on you..."

"An' y'think we ain't used to it? -- an' Ah see that sentence formin' behind your eyes. 'You shouldn't have to be.' Writers make me go weird here and there, when they remember Ah'm around. Y'all deal with that until the credits roll. Should you have to? An' call me a background pony? Ah say that with a cast our size, it's hard t' get everypone the same amount of screen time. Still can't have an ensemble group without the full herd, and the schoolkids needed their chance t' learn what their own friendships could be. But somepony's gonna get shorted, an' it was me. Still put in the work, didn't Ah?"

"Every day."

"An' everypony here knows the real Twilight Sparkle, with the good script, could beat 'Opaline Arcana' while down two wings and twenty scrolls. An' you can tell her that in person, when we dig her out of the roots before the party. So don't start."

"...thanks."

"Hey, Ah know mah friend."

"But -- I know the picture was the dumbest possible thing to set me off, and -- no, don't even gesture-joke about pushing my mouth closed! I said stupid things. Hurtful ones. I want to apologize. Do you accept my -- and there's the hat bob I know. And probably didn't deserve. But I still don't get the choice, Applejack. Why is it you in the induction picture?"

"Still ain't. Generational granny. She was the inspiration for Miss Faust t' create me, though. So without her? Ah ain't here. Family-wise, that's the real thing. Look at her there, Twi. Look at how proud she is. Did Ah ever tell you the old stories, from the Beginning Time? We may share a name, but we ain't got much in common. She's the silliest pony..."

"...I... I know I'm not the most important pony to ever live, Applejack. The original generation... if they hadn't caught on, then none of us are here. And someone had to dream of them. She's the one who really counts."

"Ms. Zacherle. Ah'm just glad this happened while she was still around. We'll see her, Twi, at their side of the ceremony. An' if she's still got the dream in her... Ah think she'll see us."

"I hope so. But... I know the next ones will come. They need to. Maybe somepony there will be the one remembered in another forty years. I may not be the most important pony ever in the end, Applejack, not if there's ever a day when all of the stories have been told. And... maybe I shouldn't be."

"An' that? Is why Ah'm still proud t' call you mah friend."

"But that's the future. This is today. And today... I don't understand why it's her there. Her and -- not me. Can you tell me -- you're smiling."

"There's two reasons. Ah'll do the important one first."

"Please."

"She's us."

"...I don't understand."

"Five generations of ponies, Twi. Your name missed a few. But in four of 'em. there was an Applejack. ...and shoulda been with the last crew, 'cause ain't nopony gonna tell me mah family tree didn't keep some healthy roots in that sandy shore soil. It's -- consistency. 'Twilight' is a name which people can associate with a lot of things. an' too many of them are written by tweens with twenty gigs of vampire pictures in what they think is the private folder. With mah name, when it comes to other associations? Ah've got a brew which Ah'm not even sure Ah can mention under our current age rating. An' that's it. For four generations, y'saw a mare with that fruit on her hips, y'thought -- 'Applejack'. An' once that's in your head? The next thought is 'pony'."

"...you're... you're right..."

"She's us, Twilight. She represents all of us. Because when you see her... you think of everypony. Can't think of anything else, not after forty years of pacing out our own groove into the culture. Y'see Optimus there, right behind her? Not t' scale, obviously... Y'see him, y'think -- of a whole world. All of their worlds. An' they could have used Megs, because he's the other one who's always been there, generation after generation -- but it has t' be a choice at the end. They chose our truck. The icon."

"How do you think Megatron took it? The choice? That it was Optimus in the picture and not him?"

"Blew up his house, fought him t' the death, then brought him back -- again -- an' then Megs shook his own head a little before goin' in for the hug an' congratulations. Y'know. The usual. Iconic. It's what we expect 'em to do, and it's what we want. The fight an' the hug. Maybe especially the hug. ...Ah'm thinkin' bout it, Twi. That they said he was worthy to stand with mah generational granny. That's one good Spark."

"He is. ...and she's all of us. Every generation. And we're going to be bringing them together. I just hope I can keep from -- staring. Some of the early designs..."

"They're still part of this. It took everypony."

"And we'll have them all in the same place. I don't think it's ever been everypony..."

"Well, there was that comic. Ah tried t' drop by an' offer respects."

"What stopped you?"

"Staples. Oh, and we're stoppin' by the Breyer crew."

"...who?"

"They've been around a while. An' Ah mean a while. Gonna be seventy-five soon. High-priced line of 'realistic collectible horses'. Three of 'em said we'd never get in, when they ain't. Pretty sure they've never even been nominated. So all things considered, Ah fully intend t' drop in on the long-legs an' totally ruin their day --"

"-- two reasons."

"Ah think the one Ah jus' gave you for ruinin' their day was good enough."

"No. You said there were two reasons for the original Applejack to have been chosen over me. What's the other?"

"Oh, the usual."

"And what would be, oh Ultra-Rare Chase Figure of Excessively Casual Applejack With Lightly-Singed Rope Loop?"

"That's a newspaper picture. Visual medium. An' obviously when you're puttin' out a picture an' the choice is between you and mah generational granny, a sensible sort of editor is gonna go with the mare which the readers can actually stand t' look at. And hey, few more years, some extra alicorn growth, we hit an anniversary an' get a nostalgia figure release -- WITH ME IN IT -- maybe the whole industry ups the molding standards, and then that'll be you. Seriously, Twi: did you ever look at some of your stuff? Like that one which has the mouth open like you're a fish which stuck its head out of the water and somepony yanked on a fin? An' Ah ain't even startin' on those dolls which were supposed t' be some kind of newborn foal you an' wound up teachin' kids how t' spell 'eldritch abomination'. Least Ah was model-accurate most of the time! Unlike some mares Ah could name, whom Ah'm figurin' was tryin' to swat a fly with her tail durin' that one shoot, somehow managed t' jam the dock, had that sensation hit her face as the computer was capturing the vector lines, an' that's why her figure is still bein' listed on eBay as Constipation Twilight -- Twi? You feelin' okay there? Ah know you're still a little worked up from the news, but your eyes are -- gettin' kind of white. An' glowy. Maybe you should take a few slow breaths. An' lie down. Like in the old days. Before Ah have t' go hide Smarty Pants again. ...Twi? Ah'm telling you: y'need to dial the horn glow back a mite and find your voice again, because we both know that was a joke -- TWILIGHT SPARKLE, YOU'RE GONNA PUT THAT SUSPICIOUSLY-AIMED FRUIT DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

Author's Note

We only get to celebrate this once.

This is where you find the Toy Hall Of Fame.

Let's party.