Chapters Rockstar pushed his sunglasses from his eyes to his forehead and stared at the sign in the middle of a crossroads. The sign pointing to the left had the world Fillydelphia carved into it. 'Nope ,' Rockstar though to himself, moving to read the other signs. The sign pointing to the right held the name Canterlot. 'Absolutely not ,' Rockstar though, wrinkling his snout as though the name itself gave off a horrible odor. Rockstar had come from the path labeled as Manehattan, so there was now only one more town to consider visiting. 'Hope this last'n ain't a bust, too ,' he thought as he moved over to examine the fourth sign. "Ponyville? Dude, old names 'n good times," Rockstar said reminiscently as he set off along the path, using his wings to hover slightly above the ground.
Within less than five minutes, the silent traveling had become enough to bore Rockstar to death. He landed momentarily to fish something out of his nearly overflowing saddlebags. "Sweet, sweet music," He said as he placed a headphone in each ear. As Rockstar hovered down the path, muttering the words and bobbing his head to the Ramanes' Pegakrieg Bop, he noticed that he had reached Ponyville. He also noticed that he was getting a number a strange looks from the townsponies that were in the park he was passing through. Rockstar just ignored the collective gaze of the park's patrons. Weather it was because of his sporadic head motions or his strange mane and coat colors, he didn't know. He had grown up being the pegasus son of an apple farming Earth pony and a mute Zebra, so he had grown mostly ammue to the stares. Mostly. From a young age, he figured that he was somewhat of an Equestrian anomaly. He was either picked on or simply ignored by his classmates at any school he went to, be it the school house here in Ponyville or Flight School in Cloudsdale. Rockstar quickly pushed these old memories from his head and hovered onward to see if his cousins still lived at Sweet Apple Acres, bobbing his head to Rainbow Day's Equestrian Idiot as he went.
Rockstar stopped just outside the simple wooden arch that designated the plot of land to be Sweet Apple Acres. "This is Sweet Apple Acres? Naw, never would'a known if it hadn't 'a been for that sign," He mused, smiling at his own sarcasm. He then picked himself up with his wings again, hovering to the front door of the farm house that was surrounded by hundreds of apple trees. He dropped to his hooves in front of the porch steps leading to the door and powered down his music player, slightly sad that he was halfway though Nat King Colt's Orange Colored Sky. Rockstar walked up the steps and knocked on the door.
A lavender unicorn answered the door, staring at Rockstar for a moment, not realizing that she was. She quickly shook her head and asked, "Hello, can I help you?"
Rockstar could imagine how strange he looked to the mare, a stallion with a long black and green striped mane that came down onto his face and was pushed over to cover his left eye. His brown coat with very light black stripes also did nothing to bring down the weird factor. He smirked a little bit and answered, "I'm sorry, I thought that the Apple Family still lived on this here plot 'a land."
"Oh, they do," the unicorn said before the strange stallion could walk away. "Applejack, there's somepony here who is looking for the Apple Family."
An orange Earth pony with a blonde mane and a cowpony hat came into view from the inside the house. "Cousin Rockstar, is that you?", she asked when she saw the strange pony.
"Hey cousin AJ!", Rockstar said before crushing the Earth pony mare in a hug that had a grip to rival that of an Ursa Major. It took a moment for Rockstar to realize that his cousin was in desperate need of oxygen. "Oh, sorry," He said as he released his grip and chuckled nervously.
After regaining her ability to breathe, Applejack smiled at seeing her cousin , "What brings ya down to little 'ol Ponyville, cousin?", she asked, motioning him to come inside.
"Just wanderin' around," he answered, sitting down on the couch Applejack had motioned him to. "Saw the town's name on a sign at the crossroads down aways an' just decided to wander myself up on this way."
The lavender unicorn came to a chair beside the one that Applejack was in and sat down. "Rockstar, this here's my friend Twilight Sparkle," Applejack said, motioning towards the mare.
"Evenin' Miss Sparkle, I'm Rockstar Apple, Applejack's cousin," he said, shaking Twilight's hoof. "Don't know why they named me Rockstar, though. Not a kinda apple I've ever heard 'a."
"Hi, Rockstar," Twilight greeted warmly. "And you can just call me Twilight."
"Say, Rockstar," Applejack started. "You got a place to stay, seein' as how ya just wandered into town?"
"Naw, but I can find somewhere to stay the night," Rockstar answered dismissively.
"How about ya stay here at the farm," Applejack offered.
"Naw, ya know that I couldn't take off 'a ya like that,"
"Now ya know I can't just let ya go nowhere without ya havin' a bed to sleep in," Applejack said in a slightly more assertive manner. "And if ya saw no, I'll just hog tie ya and let ya sleep right on that there sofa."
"Well, when ya put it like that," Rockstar began, pretending to weigh his options. "I guess I could stay here."
"You are a smart stallion, Rockstar," Twilight said, smirking from witnessing the friendly exchange between the two cousins.
"Now if ya'll just follow me upstairs, Rockstar, I'll show ya to your room," Applejack said as she trotted towards the stairs.
After Applejack had shown Rockstar to his room, a small but very comfortable bedroom in the corner of the house, he took off his saddlebags, sat his sunglasses on the table next to the bed, and proceeded to pass out on the first comfortable bed he had slept on in a long while.
"Are ya'll ready ta rock!?", Rockstar yelled from behind the mic, hyping the crowd. The mob of ponies went insane, chanting, "Rockstar," in unison.
"Rockstar, Rockstar, Rockstar," he was soaking it up on stage, enjoying every moment of it. "Rockstar, Rockstar, Rockstar," Rockstar couldn't tell if it was because of the hearing damage, but the crowd's chant seemed to be focusing into one voice.
"ROCKSTAR!", Applejack yelled, making Rockstar jump out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud. "C'mon Rockstar, morning comes early at Sweet Apple Acres,"
Rockstar groaned, reaching a hoof up to the bed to grab a pillow. He threw the pillow in Applejack's general direction, missing by a mile.
"C'mon Rockstar, wake up," Applejack continued to try to coax the stallion out of his sleep as she flicked on the light switch. This prompted a grow from Rockstar as he rolled over to face the floorboards and retrieve another pillow to throw at his cousin. He missed again, but was getting closer to hitting his mark. "Fine, I guess you'll miss breakfast."
At the mention of food, Rockstar sprung up and grabbed his saddlebags at a speed unimaginable by most, all while screaming, "I'm up! I'm up." Rockstar unfurled his wings and took off though the open door, barely missing his cousin.
THUD!
"Ow!", Rockstar was sprawled out on his back. "Hey AJ, there's a wall right there," Applejack chuckled as she walked past her strange cousin.
Rockstar squinted his eyes, which had still not adjusted to the light level, and stumbled down the hall. "Knew I should'a put on my glasses," Rockstar muttered. As he continued to shuffle down the hall, he did not notice that he was approaching the staircase.
THUD THUNK BAM THUD
After bouncing down many stairs, Rockstar again layed sprawled out on the floor at the bottom. Rockstar staried at the floorboards for a moment. 'Yeah, definitely should'a put on my glasses,' He thought to himself. He looked up to see a small yellow filly with a big red bow on top of her head staring at him in confusion.
"Who are you?", she asked, still staring at the strange visitor.
Rockstar stood up slowly, now awake due to the blunt force trauma. "Mornin' Applebloom, I'm your cousin Rockstar," he could see that the young filly did not recognize him. "I met you when you were too you to remember me, I came here to Ponyville ta visit ya'll."
The filly continued to stare at Rockstar. He put on a small smile and tried to guess which one of his features had her transfixed the most, his mane and coat, his wings, or his strange Cutie Mark. Rockstar's Cutie Mark was indeed a strange one, as it was two musical notes: one a regular Equestrian quarter note, the other a tribal Zebra musical note.
"Applebloom, you know it ain't nice ta stare at other ponies!", Applejack scolded the small filly from the kitchen.
"Sorry, Rockstar," Applebloom offered sincerely.
"Oh, it's alright, I know I'm weird. I can't even walk down the stairs right," Rockstar replied, getting a small giggle from Applebloom.
A filling breakfast and copious amounts of caffeine later, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Rockstar sat at the kitchen table talking. Granny Smith had moved to the living room where she was telling old stories to Applebloom and two other fillies who had come to visit.
"So Big Mac, you still play guitar?", Rockstar asked, an idea starting to formulate in his head.
"Nope," Big Mac answered simply.
"Aw, why not, you were good," Rockstar continued as he started digging through his saddlebags for something.
"I'm a farmer," Big Mac said simply. "Apples to be bucked."
"Well I don't remember you as an apple farmer," Rockstar announced, whipping a photograph out of his saddlebags and holding it in his hoof for all the table's occupants to see. "I remember you as the cross dressing, blood sucking incubus from The Sun Won't Rise." Rockstar pointed to a red teen aged colt with heavy makeup standing in a group of tree other two other ponies and a gryphon. Big Macintosh sighed and facehoofed while Applejack was trying her hardest from busting out in laughter at the old photograph of her brother. "So, whadda ya say, pick up the guitar for old times sake?" Rockstar asked, putting on a big cheesy smile.
"Nope," Big Mac answered. "Too many apples needs bucking."
Rockstar thought for a moment. "If I help you with your apples, will ya help me by pickin' up your old guitar?"
Now it was Big Mac's turn to think. Finally, he answered with a simple, "Eeyup."
Rockstar was about to jump up in victory and celebrate, but then he realized something: He had signed up for a day of work at Sweet Apple Acres. 'I really should'a thought that'n through before I opened my mouth, ' Rockstar thought.
Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Rockstar stood on a small hill that overlooked acre upon acre of trees bearing the ripe, red fruit that his cousins made their living off of. "I should really think about what I'm about to offer before I open my big fat mouth," Rockstar said quietly. It wouldn't take an expert to tell him that he had a long day ahead of him.
"C'mon, ya'll, we'd better get ta work," Applejack said. With a nod, Big Macintosh silently walked off to start the day's work. "Here, Rockstar, you can help me today." Rockstar followed Applejack in the opposite direction in which Big Mac had walked.
"Would ya mind if I listened to my music while I worked?", Rockstar asked.
"Sure, just keep one ear open fer if ya can hear me," Applejack answered. Rockstar then pulled out his music player from his saddlebags and put in one ear bud, being greeted by Foalbeat's song, Still Counting. While he was readying his music player, Applejack positioned herself to face away from an apple tree and bucked it as hard as she could, causing a rain of apples to fall into a few well placed buckets.
'Alright, looks easy enough,' Rockstar though as he readied himself to buck the closest tree to him. He put all the power he could in his hind legs, bucking the tree as hard as he possibly could. Rockstar turned, expecting to see the buckets full of apples, only to find that he had done little more than make a few of the branches shake. "Oh, tough guy, huh?," Rockstar said, not realizing that he was talking to a tree. He turned around once more and bucked the tree harder than the last time, then turning to see the same results. Rockstar turned around again, now very annoyed by his new wooden foe, and began furiously bucking the tree with his hind legs. Panting, he turned around expecting to see at least a few apples to be in the buckets now. His hope were soon crushed as he saw that the buckets were still devoid of the cursed red fruit. Rockstar groaned loudly in annoyance, banging his head against the tree once. As if it were the punchline of a joke the tree had with it's other leafy friends, an apple feel off of it's branch and bounced off of Rockstars head. As if to add insult to injury, he turned to see his orange cousin, who had apparently been watching the entire time, laughing her flank off. Rockstar was about to let loose with a string of curses at both the tree and his laughing cousin, but was cut off by streak of rainbow color that sent a powerful gust of wind through the apple orchard. "What in the name of Celestia was that!?", Rockstar asked, picking himself up after the the gust had knocked him on his flank. He was answered by the sound of a crash.
"Rainbow Dash!", Applejack yelled, running in the direction that the speeding blur had crashed.
"Rainbow what?", Rockstar asked, running alongside his cousin.
They reached the scene of the crash, which was the old barn that now had a hole in the roof. "Rainbow Dash, my show off pegasus friend," Applejack explained. "Rainbow, you alright?", she yelled into the barn.
"She crashed at like a hundred miles an hour, she can't possibly be.." Rockstar began.
"Fine," came a voice from the inside of the barn. "I'm alright." After a moment, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored main and tail came stumbling dizzily out of the barn, covered in dirt, hay, and a few bruises.
'Oh, hellooo, ' Rockstar though, trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head. He quickly shook the thought away and asked the mare, "You sure you're okay, not many ponies can take a crash like that and walk away."
"You kiddin', she crashes like that at least three times a week," Applejack said, going up to help dust off her friend.
"Yeah, no big deal," Rainbow Dash said. "Who are you, anyways?"
"This here's my cousin Rockstar," Applejack answered for him. "Came to Ponyville ta visit." Rockstar and Rainbow Dash hoof bumped.
"So you're new in town, huh?", Rainbow asked
"Naw, Ah used to live here for a little while, but my family moved around a lot," Rockstar answered. "Just revisiting old times."
"Well then we should throw you a welcome back party!", a pink mare with a poofy pink cotton candy mane exclaimed as she popped out of a barrel. Rainbow Dash jumped in surprise at the mare's sudden materialization behind her.
"Pinkie, stop sneaking up on me like that!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Why was she in that barrel?", Rockstar asked.
"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and I'm friends with everypony in town but you're new around here and that means that I'm not you're friend yet but we're gonna be bestest friends really soon. Ooh, now I have to go organize your party, bye!", the pink mare had said this in one rapid, run-on breath and disappeared just as quick back into the barrel, leaving Rockstar dazed and still processing the rapid fire stream of information that had just been shot at him.
"Well, we'd better get back ta havestin' them apples, Rockstar," Applejack said as he was inspecting the barn for any sign of the strange pink mare. "See ya later, Rainbow Dash."
"Later AJ, later Rockstar," Rainbow said as she flew off in the general direction of town.
"Need help fixin' the barn later?", Rockstar asked as he walked out of the barn and began to retrieve his music player.
"Naw, nothin' that Big Mac can't patch up in a few minutes," Applejack answered. In a few moments, they were back to the spot that they came from. Rockstar could see that the sudden blast of wind that Rainbow Dash had created had done a better job at removing the apples from their trees than he had. He looked at his wings and sparked an idea.
"I... am.... dying!" Rockstar moaned dramatically as he laid on his stomach, wings spread out and sore. He was never the strongest flier and he rarely used his wings for anything more than gliding from place to place. The sun was beginning to set on Sweet Apple Acres, and around Rockstar and Applejack, buckets upon buckets were full of the cursed red fruit. "I will never eat another apple again," Rockstar said from his position on the ground as he switched the song on his music player to Marilyn Maneson's The Beautiful Ponies. 'Or until the next time you do, ' his brain told him.
'Shut up, Brain, no pony asked you. '
"Ya did good today, Rockstar," Applejack said as she began pulling the 'dying' stallion to the farmhouse by his tail.
Skilled for an Earth Pony
"Why would you keep it out here, Mac?!", Rockstar asked his cousin, appalled by the place where he stored the his old instrument. Termites, dry rot, and Rainbow Dash's crash were all factors that did not equate to the well being of the guitar in Rockstar's mind.
"Takes up too much room inside," Big Mac answered tersely. He pushed open the barn door and walked inside, inspecting the damage caused by the falling pegasus before sighing and shaking his head. Surprisingly, the damage wasn't all that bad, or at least compared to the damage that Rockstar had seen bands cause at their concerts. The damage consisted of the hole in the roof and a roughly pegasus shaped hole in the floorboards, which was just a few feet short of missing the piles of hay in front of it.
"Hey Mac, need any help fixin' your barn later?", Rockstar asked.
"Nope," Mac answered as he rummaged through a small closet in the corner of the barn. "Easy fix.". Mac pulled a small dusty wagon out of the closet that had a slightly battered guitar and an amp covered in stickers sitting in it.
Rockstar walked over and looked inside the small closet, then the wagon. "How did that fit in there?", he asked his silent cousin, head still tuning to look from the wagon to the closet.
"Bigger on the inside," Big Mac answered as he took the wagon's handle in his mouth and closed the closet's blue door.
'Note to Self: Investigate blue closet later, ' Rockstar thought as he followed Mac and his wagon full of musical equipment back to the house.
Mac plugged the guitar up to the amp and listened to the familiar idle humming that it made. He sat down in one of the living room chairs and strummed the strings and tuned them for a moment, smiling as old memories came flooding back. Rockstar smiled too, some of the same memories coming back to his mind too. He was surprised that the crystal power core that powered the amp still worked, but he never understood unicorn magic all too well.
"Play me somethin', Mac," Rockstar said, growing more and more inpatient with an old childlike excitement as he waited to here his cousin play again. Mac closed his eyes and began to play a rock tune. Rockstar quickly identified it as the Red Hot Filly Pepper's song Snow and smiled as he leaned back to enjoy one of his favorite songs.
After Big Mac finished playing, Rockstar sat up and clapped his hooves. "Still sing?", Mac asked simply.
"Hay yeah I still sing, it's how I got by in Manehattan," Rockstar answered eagerly. "What song you got in mind?"
"Remember you kept singin' when you moved here?", Mac asked.
"Oh no, not that one," Rockstar said as he sat upright and crossed his front legs in refusal. Big Mac knew his cousin enough to know that all he had to do was start playing the song and the Apple pegasus would soon start singing, no matter how much he refused at first. Rockstar saw Mac close his eyes and begin strumming the strings as a gentle melody floated out of the amp. 'No, I am definitely not singing this song, ' Rockstar thought as he tried to follow his own orders. Mac continued to play and Rockstar continued to resist the urge to not come in and sing. Rockstar's mental fortitude collapsed. 'Ok, just one verse.'
"Hey there, Cloud Dancer
What's it like in that Cloudsdale city?
I'm a thousand miles away
But, filly, tonight you look so pretty
Yes, you do
Celestia's sun can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true."
'No memories, no. Get out of here!! ', Rockstar balanced his singing and blocking out of any unwanted memories brought forth by the old song.
"Hey there, Lightning Twister
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice, it's my disguise
I'm by your side."
Big Mac ended the song and smiled. He had forgotten how good of a singer Rockstar was. He was surprised that Rockstar hadn't gotten famous with a voice like that. Rockstar was equally impressed with his cousin. He was exceptionally talented with a guitar for an Earth pony. Rockstar gave it a moment to wonder if Big Mac were secretly a unicorn. Stranger things had happened in his family, he was a half pony half zebra preasus, for Luna's sake. "I never finished that song, did I?"
"Nope," Big Mac answered.
"Well that's for the better, I suppose," Rockstar said. "You know any other songs?"
Before Big Mac could answer, Applejack came into the house. "Hey Rockstar, c'mon or else you'll miss the party Pinkie went and threw for ya."
"She actually threw me a party?", Rockstar asked in mild disbelief, surprised that somepony he just met would go through all the trouble to throw him a party.
"Yep, I sure did!", Pinkie answered as she poked her head out from in between the couch cushions, making Rockstar jump in surprize . "There's gonna be cake and games and music and all sorts of other fun things! You're invited too, Mac," the strange pink mare added before her head disappeared back into the couch. Big Mac got up and walked to the door with his sister while Rockstar removed the cushions and questioned yet again how Pinkie's appearance was possible.
"You comin', Rockstar?", Applejack asked from the doorway.
"Huh, oh yeah, comin'," Rockstar said as he put the cushions back on the couch. He figured that he might as well try to make a few friends while he was in town. 'And that Rainbow Dash mare might be there, too... '.
Ain't No Party Like A Pinkie Pie Party
Rockstar and his cousins walked through town chatting idly, with the exception of Big Macintosh, as they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. Rockstar looked around at the buildings, feeling as though he should know at least a few of them from his time living here as a colt. In truth, Rockstar was very glad that he had Applejack and Big Mac leading the way, or else he would be very, very lost. The only routes though town that he remembered from when he lived in Ponyville were from his old house to the schoolhouse, and to Sweet Apple Acres to hang out with Mac. Even though his cousin was his only friend, Rockstar was never picked on much, but he was extremely introverted, and the most socializing he did with other ponies was receive a few strange looks.
"Well, here we are," Applejack said as she gestured towards a very strangely designed building. Rockstar stared at the building for a moment, taking note that is was "very subtly " made like a giant gingerbread house. 'But then again, it's not the weirdest thing that I've ever seen, ' Rockstar thought as he walked into the bakery.
"I'm so glad you could make it to your party because if you didn't make it to your own party then it wouldn't really be your party, now would it?" A voice asked in rapid succession, making Rockstar jump into the air in surprise and crash on the ground on his back. 'You have wings, idiot, ' Rockstar's brain snarked.
'Shut up Brain, nopony asked you this time either, ' Rockstar thought. He returned to his hooves and faced the pony responsible for the barrage of words. "Hey Pinkie. How did I not know that was you?", Rockstar returned with a smile on his face. "Thanks for throwin' a party for a stranger you just met, that's real thoughtful."
"Oh it's no problem," Pinkie said. "Everypony is my friend, and I like making my friends smile." And with that, she trotted around the floor of Sugarcube Corner to mingle with the other ponies at the party. Rockstar and his cousins followed the strange pink mare into the crowd and were met with a group of ponies dancing in front of an odd, blue haired DJ who was currently playing a Swedish Hoof Mafia's song. Rockstar looked around at the interior of Sugarcube Corner, which seemed as chaotic and loud as the Manehattan bars he would play. He felt completely at home.
"When Pinkie throws a party, she pull out all the stops," Applejack yelled over the music, drawing her cousin's attention back to her and Big Macintosh, offering him a mug of amber colored liquid. Rockstar recognized what it was immediately.
"No thanks, AJ," He declined, waving a hoof at the cider. "I have absolutely no resistance to alcohol."
"Suit yer self, but it would be funny seein' you get drunk and trying to dance or somethin'," Applejack said as she walked away to socialize with the other party goers, cider in hoof. Rockstar looked around the room, tapping a hoof in time with the song the DJ just put on, the Poniez's song, Dare.
'Remember Rockstar, make some friends, you're not a scared little colt any more, ' he thought to himself. Rockstar slid his aviator sunglasses up and looked into the crowd of ponies for a candidate to start a possible conversation with. Just then he spotted a rainbow mane in the crowd. Rockstar worked his way through, trying his hardest to not bump into every other pony in his path.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash," He said as he finally reach where she was sitting.
"Hey Rock," Rainbow Dash answered, motioning for him to sit in the chair across from her. "Pinkie throws an awesome party,doesn't she?"
"Yeah," He answered. "You doin' o.k. after that crash you took into the roof of the barn?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rainbow Dash replied, simply waving the recent incident off like it was nothing. "I've taken worse hits and come back, like this one time that I crashed and broke my wing after I was trying to do this awesome routine to impress the Wonderbolts with," She said as she relayed the entirety of the routine and the incident. "So what have you been doing, Rock?"
"Settlin' in. I supposed that i might as well stay a while, revisit old times," Rockstar answered. "I used to live here for a while when I was a colt, but where didn't I live is the question I ask myself a lot. My momma, dad, and me moved around a lot when I was younger to help with the harvests at whichever one of my family's farms was closest. I even wound up in Cloudsdale for a while at one point."
"Cloudsdale, how'd you get up there?", Rainbow asked, now confused.
Rockstar unfurled his wings and said, "I used these here wings."
Rainbow Dash looked slightly taken aback for a moment, surprised that she had not noticed his wings when he was sitting right in front of her. "You're a pegasus, too? I mean, I though since you were related to AJ and Big Macintosh you'd be an Earth pony, too."
"Eeyup, being an Earth pony in the Apple Family is the norm, but there's so many of us spread out so far that there's a bit of everything floating around in there somewhere," Rockstar clarified for the rainbow maned mare. "I never was that good of a flier, and I don't even know how I got up there, but my parents thought that if they sent me to Cloudsdale for Flight Camp it would help me learn to fly better, but it didn't do much."
Rainbow Dash nodded and said, "Well, if you're going to be spending a some time in Ponyville," Rainbow forced a mug of cider into Rockstar's hoof and held her's in the air. "To old times and new friends," she proposed. Rockstar looked at the mug and thought for a moment. 'Well, what harm can on cider do? ' he thought.
"To old times and new friends!", Rockstar said, clanking his mug against her's.
