Still thinking about a belivable setting.

First, I want this game to take place in the near future.  Approximately 10 years or so.

There are several reasons for this.  This way, you can:

Inherit SAA
Help a strugling Ponyville economy
Make it easier to VA OC ponies.
But still meet the Mane 6  as they'll be about 45ish

In short, from a design standpoint, something has to happen to SAA in order to reduce it to nothing, or else tha game will be boring.  Nopony would enjoy a game where you're handed an extremely productive farm right from the get-go, furthermore, how would I explain that?  "Oh yeah,  AJ decided to pursue a fashion carer, here's the farm.  Go help Big Mac.'

That would be terrible and not in character at all.

From what I gather about AJ's character, she:

-Is very prideful and doesn't like to accept help
-Loves her family
-Is very proud of her farm

So, How do you seperate a character from something she loves dearly?

First, I knew you would have to fast forward 10 years or so- this will allow Applebloom to move away, and Granny Smith to pass away, leaving only Applejack & Big Mac to work Sweet Apple Acres.  This way, I have a bit of creative space-no matter how many seasons there are, SAA won't be affected in the long run, nor will AJ and Big Mac.

That was my dilemma.  My initial idea was if the farm were to burn down-  but that sounded very mary-sue, and unlikely to burn down a whole orchard, as ponies can control rain at will.  My second idea was to have Big mac break a leg, or his back, rendering him unable to work.  I did like this idea, as she loves her family, but that would not separate her from the farm, and while this would allow her to hire a new farmhand, he would be entering an already established, working farm.

And then I did some research.  I found a botanical disease, that affects apple trees, that can destroy an orchard in a single day, called Fireblight.

And the only way to get rid of it is to destroy every single affected apple tree down to the root.

At this point, Braeburn shows up with a couple of settler ponies, one of which is you.  (He received a letter from Big Mac)  Applejack can't simply say no to their offer to clear the land, so everypony pitches in to chop wood. They sell it off as firewood, and while not exactly super profitable, it's more than they would get by letting it rot.  After the land-clearing tutorial on tools, Big Mac convinces AJ to offer one of the young settler ponies a job- after a good bit of prodding.  Reluctantly, she bends to her brother's whim, and offer you a job on the farm, at first letting you stay in Granny smith's room, but after your first year they build you a small house.

In a nutshell.  If somepony stumbles past this blog, what do ya'll think?  I ought to go to ponychan and post it there.