An Apple a Day

ALRIGHT, this is probably the last post before I blast off onto my trip tomorrow, thank you so much everyone! (Also sorry for inconsistent styles, I'm trying out new brushes and stuff all the time lol)

Albino Apple is the oldest nextgen in the Gamiverse. So old, in fact, that he was raised alongside Apple Bloom!

Making some adjustments to the Gamiverse and thinking that perhaps Rarity had a thing going on with Fancypants that they ended mutually, but afterwards she didn’t realize she was pregnant…and decided to keep it to herself, knowing that Fancypants wouldn’t like his image ruined.

Alternatively, maybe Rarijack were together before the start of MLP:FiM as we know it… but I quite like their progression throughout the series, so perhaps Albino’s birth would be within the show’s progression?

Buuut if we go by the ages I listed, I think Apple Bloom is about 8 in the show, which would mean Albino would be 3 by the time it started… OH WHATEVER… doing horse age math makes me go crazy. Let me know your thoughts!

In our real human world, there are no true albino horses. The ones mistaken as such are really just a cremello. Cremellos are not considered albino because they don’t have pink eyes, and their coats are a result of a double copy of the cream colored gene, not a result of a LACK of color. As for white horses that aren’t Cremellos, they are actually gray! They are called this because their skin is gray, and not pink like a true albino. Cremellos have pink skin, but blue eyes.

So here is Albino Apple, a true for realsies albino horse who is a product of the lack of melanin throughout his entire body! Not that this really matters in a world of multicolored horses…

1. Albino and Apple Bloom were always a rambunctious pair on the farm. They enjoyed helping just as much as they slacking off and trying to put their chores off onto one another, but ultimately had more fun doing them together. They call each other “brother” and “sister” despite being aunt and nephew because that just sounds downright silly. Even when he’s in his worse moods or ignoring her outright, Apple Bloom makes sure to include Albino in her activities with her friends, but as he grows older she stops because he’s just a stick in the mud who wants to read books and ignore her…whatever. But let it be known she’s the first by his side when he gets sick. Too much roughhousing and sun hurts his delicate skin, even if he does want to play and help around the farm. He also tends to get sick easily when he’s younger, but that improves with age.

2. What doesn’t improve with age… is his hearing. Other ponies will call for him, and he won’t listen. Sometimes he’ll jump if you come from behind him, or he won’t realize a cart is coming his way until a few moments before it passes. Apple Bloom jokes that he’s been hit on the head by a few too many apples, and he kicks dirt in her face. Over time he ends up yelling at his family over even the smallest things, and doesn’t open the door to his room when they knock. Everyone in the family just thinks he’s a bit absent-minded and having an early-onset rebellious streak, so they give him scoldings for causing everyone trouble.

3. Albino, in all his greatest efforts, does continue getting hurt around the farm due to his lack of paying attention, and it’s starting to worry Applejack. She sits him down after saving him from the spurs of their rooster and tries to have a chat with him. He yells at her, per usual, but something seems different about it this time. She can understand him getting mad at his family, but the rooster had been right there. Did he really not notice it? Is this really just him being tough to work with? It was a common back and forth between them: “Quit yellin’!” “You should speak up!” But what if he was being serious? Could he really not hear them? What changed? Since when? A year or two back…? She’s not sure, but she’s going to look into it.

Well, Applejack. She probably doesn’t know this, but albino animals (or even partially albino ones) are oftentimes born with some level of genetic issues, given that albinism itself is a birth defect. Fun fact: most white horses end up dying within a few hours of birth due to defects, they even have a term for it– Lethal white syndrome. So despite Albino Apple being very lucky to be alive, he does still suffer the effects of being a pretty white horse: damaged hearing. Truth be told, his hearing was always damaged. But it just seems to be getting worse…

Characters featured:
Albino Apple: https://toyhou.se/25545625.albino-apple
Applejack: https://toyhou.se/25956773.applejack-au

(Sorry Apple Bloom, be lucky you're not relevant to the Gamiverse lol)

Art (c) @@stimpower