It's A Magical Life

**Dear Applejack and Big Macintosh:

Please forgive me. This is Applebloom, your brand new baby sister. Please treat her like a good apple, for she is one. So are you two. But I am a bad apple and I have fallen; fallen from the great Apple tree… rotten on the ground.

Listen to Granny. The hat was mine when I was a filly. Now it’s yours.

Love forever,

Mama

Granny Smith read Mama Apple’s short letter the following morning, as the baby filly named Applebloom lay in her cradle-like basket, staring curiously up at her new family. Granny, although not showing signs of fury, was rather agitated how Mama Apple had delivered the baby in the dead of night, when it was threatening to rain. How she had not even woke them up to speak to them. How she hadn’t bothered to see her own two children.

“Ah can’t believe this. A baby…a baby!” she said, shaking her head. “If Applejack hadn’t had woken you up in the middle of the night, Mac…rotten apple…she whacked the nail on the head with that’un…”

She gave a pitying look at Applebloom, who was completely oblivious her own mother had abandoned her. Applejack looked into her big amber eyes, feeling sorry for her as well. Applebloom simply blinked up at her, as innocent as could be. A weird sensation struck her somewhere in the chest, near her heart. A hole, even if it was just a tiny one, had been filled somewhere within her.

Applejack insisted on staying home all day to help take care of her new sister. The run-in with Rainbow Dash yesterday vanished from her mind since her and Mac had discovered Applebloom. All she wanted to do was talk to her, smile at her, and maybe hoping she’d do the same. Applebloom, however, just continued to stare, wondering who in the world these ponies were. Just when Applejack was sure she was about to finally make Applebloom smile when she starting saying the name Pinkie Pie, Granny told her it was time for school, and Applejack could help with Applebloom later when she got home. To her annoyance, Applejack obeyed her grandmother and grumpily left the house with Mac. Her attention then turned to the letter.

“Mac, have you ever met Mama?” she asked her brother, holding down her new cowboy hat from the gusts of wind that were blowing that morning.

Mac shook his head almost immediately. The letter was obviously still fresh on his mind as well.

“Why doesn’t she want us to see her, Mac? What’s wrong with her?”

Mac shook his head again, as in the dark as Applejack was on the situation. Then he added sadly, “’prolly just afraid of us”.

“Afraid? Afraid of what? We’re her kids, aren’t we? She doesn’t need to be afraid…” Applejack kicked an apple core along the ground, assessing the situation. She wasn’t sad; just confused. Confused as to why her own mother, who now had three children, had evaded their company for so long. If her mother really cared that much about them, coming all the way to Sweet Apple, couldn’t she just face her fears and visit them anyway? Applejack didn’t care what Mama Apple said…she just wanted to meet her for once. She forgave her…

Applejack kicked the apple core as hard as she could with her front hoof and sent it sailing all the way over the schoolhouse, where they had just arrived. Mac gave a low whistle, impressed. She and Mac said their goodbyes and Applejack entered Miss Cherilee’s class for the second day of the school year. She had to struggle a bit against the wind to close the door and hold onto her hat at the same time.

Applejack was not surprised to see that Rainbow Dash hadn’t arrived yet. For the fastest pegasus in Cloudsdale, or so she claimed, she was sure the slowest when it came to getting to class on time. Applejack sat down on the front row again, right next to the unicorn named Rarity, who had lent her the colored pencils yesterday.

“Hello,” she said to Applejack cheerfully.

“Oh, um, howdy!” said Applejack, looking around to make sure she wasn’t greeting somepony else.

“Lovely hat!” said Rarity, pointing at Applejack’s head. “It clashes with your mane quite nicely.”

“Why thank you,” said Applejack, adjusting her hat unnecessarily. “Your coat is, um, lovely as well,” she added, referring to Rarity’s expensive coat she had worn yesterday. Rarity simply smiled, still immersed in her drawing.

“You shouldn’t have challenged Rainbow Dash, you know,” she said, delicately coloring what appeared to be a beach and a sunset. For a filly, she was a talented artist. Applejack also noticed a whole heap of crumpled up papers inside of the desk she was sitting in.

Applejack gave a fake laugh, trying to convince Rarity she still wasn’t scared. In reality, Applejack was terrified, but she couldn’t let anypony else know that.

“She’s just a dumb bully,” said Applejack. Rarity nodded in agreement.

“But still,” Rarity said, putting down her pencil and putting a hoof on Applejack, “I thought what you did was wonderful.” She smiled again at Applejack and swept the pencil dust off her paper, evidently finished. Rarity then picked up her drawing and put it on top of Miss Cherilee’s desk, where several other drawings sat in a pile. Applejack had already turned their first assignment in yesterday, although there was much less detail in it compared to Rarity’s. Applejack wasn’t a bad artist either, but she just didn’t care as much about art.

Rainbow Dash finally blasted into the room just as the bell rang and took a seat at the back of the class, where one of the pegasi had saved her a seat. Applejack rolled her eyes as she heard Rainbow Dash making up a cock and bull story of what she had to go through to get to class on time, and how her admirers believed every word she was saying. Applejack was glad Rainbow Dash was at the opposite end of the room so she couldn’t try and pick any fights behind Miss Cherilee’s back again.

Miss Cherilee went through roll call again, checking off something on her list when Pinkie Pie’s seat failed to speak up. Applejack just then realized she hadn’t seen Pinkie at all since after school yesterday. Pinkie had been in such a rush to get back to her new home at Sugarcube Corner, where she apparently had a party to get ready for. Since the arrival of Applebloom last night, Applejack had so much on her mind that she completely forgot about Pinkie and why she wasn’t at Sweet Apple Acres that morning.

“Where’s your friend?” whispered Rarity.

“Oh she prob’ly just ate a l’il too much pie,” sighed Applejack, knowing it was entirely possible. “Gone and made herself sick again, ah reckon.” Rarity made a funny noise somewhere between disgust and a laugh.

“Oh, how lovely,” she grimaced.

Class that day was much more enjoyable than it was yesterday, even with the absence of Pinkie. Miss Cherilee was presenting the pictures they had been drawing in class. They were forbidden to write their names on the papers so ponies in class could try and guess who drew them. The purpose was to get to know a little about each and every pony. Miss Cherilee thought this was a better idea than each pony simply standing up and telling the class something about themselves. Applejack quite liked this approach.

As Miss Cherilee went through the drawings Rainbow Dash laughed rather rudely at Applejack’s picture of her sitting on the top branch of a gigantic apple tree. Applejack put the tree on top of a tall hill, which she had colored orange and red, to imitate fallen leaves. Rainbow Dash simply thought Applejack didn’t know the color of grass. The class didn’t really find this very funny however; on the contrary, Applejack heard a couple of ponies even make a compliment on it. Even Rarity gave a truthful “Ooh, that’s nice,” in an undertone. Maybe today would turn out good after all.

But what really made Applejack’s day was the next drawing Miss Cherilee presented. The whole class responded by roaring in laughter. Applejack had to squint and stare at the drawing for a long time before she could even make a guess what the drawing was supposed to be. When she figured it out, she laughed loudest of all.

The sloppiest imitation of a pegasus Applejack had ever seen was flying above what appeared to be pipes and boxes sticking out of overly-poofy clouds. The pegasus, blue, had colors scribbled all over the sky, which matched the colors of the rainbow. Her face resembled more of an alligator than a pony, and her legs were about as short as a rabbit’s. What the boxes and pipes were was a complete mystery, but Applejack gathered this was Rainbow Dash’s drawing. Topping off the drawing, however, was the fact that she had not only put her name on the paper, (which they were strictly told not to) but she had spelled it ‘Ranebow’ Dash.

“Who doesn’t know how to spell their own name?” said Bon-Bon with great effort.

“Oh my Celestia, my sides,” cried Vinyl Scratch, clutching his chest.

“It’s Cloudsdale, you ponies! Cloudsdale!” shouted Rainbow Dash angrily above the class. She then mumbled something about being too busy last night to draw a stupid picture and folded her forelegs. She rested her head on them and scowled as the pegasi sitting next to her jokingly thumped her on the back and congratulated her on her artistic excellence.

“Awh whatever,” she spat.

“Your friend can’t draw,” Applejack recalled Rainbow Dash saying to her about Pinkie just yesterday. Oh the irony.

It was a long time before Miss Cherilee could get the class to quiet down, seeing as she was trying not to laugh herself at Rainbow Dash’s artistically challenged picture. As she cycled through the remaining works of art, (the class gasped at Rarity’s picture; even Rainbow Dash was impressed) the wind that was blowing against the windows finally stopped, and the sun finally came out. By the end of class that day, the classroom had warmed up enough for Rarity to take off her coat.

“Rarity, I have a phone call for you!” said Miss Cherilee, as she and Applejack were leaving the classroom to go home for the weekend.

“Really? Okay,” said Rarity, taken aback. She bade Applejack farewell and went back in the classroom. Applejack found Mac waiting for her by the flagpole.

“How was school?” asked Mac, taking Applejack’s knapsack and slinking it over his back for her.

“It was good,” said Applejack. ‘Good’ was a bit of an understatement. She had by far the best school day in a long time.

“Listen, Mac, I’m gonna to drop by Pinkie’s house before comin’ home. Can you carry my bag home please?” She put on a cutesy little face for her brother.

“Ok,” said Mac. “Be careful.”

Applejack was just about to turn around to head towards Pinkie’s house when something nearly zoomed right into her. It was Rainbow Dash. She had taken off from the ground and shot into the sky as fast as she could, leaving the other pegasi literally in the dust. They gave a wheezing cheer as the dust cloud hit their faces. Rainbow Dash really was fast. She was already a football’s length away from them in a matter of about five seconds, doing flips and dives around a large treehouse in the distance.

Applejack decided it was probably best to flee as quickly as possible, in case she came back and tried to corner her with her pegasi goons. Away she went.

When she arrived at Sugarcube Corner, she noticed a sign on the door said ‘CLOSED’. Knocking on the door, Applejack stood on her hind legs and put her front two hooves on the door, peering inside. She could see the little glass cases of all kinds of pastry and baked goods and all the tables with their chairs neatly on top, upside down. Sugarcube corner usually didn’t close until much later, so it was rather weird seeing the place so dark at this time of day. The clock inside Sugarcube Corner said it wasn’t even four o’clock yet.

Applejack knocked again, harder this time. Applejack knew Pinkie Pie was there, but didn’t quite understand why she was ignoring her. A whole minute passed, and still no answer. She banged on the door one last time and shouted her name.

“Pinkie Pie! Are you there? Hello? Pinkie? Pinkie Pink? Pinkie…?”

Still, no answer. A few ponies walking by on the street nearby stared at Applejack, thinking she was trying to break into the store.

Defeated, Applejack sat on a beach nearby and looked up at the top of Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie’s room was. All the windows were closed and the drapes were shut as well. Did she go on vacation or what? All Applejack saw when she looked up was a distant Rainbow Dash still doing tricks up in the sky, celebrating the start of the weekend. The other pegasi were up in the sky as well, racing each other. Applejack just relaxed on the bench for a while, half-expecting Pinkie to suddenly come to the door and welcome her inside. It was just nice to be outside, feeling the warm autumn sun and hearing the gentle buzz of Ponyville. Her mind then wandered back to Applebloom and the letter, and how Granny told her she could help with Applebloom when she got home from school.

“Well shoot, Pinkie,” she said to herself, giving Sugercube Corner a meaningful look. She would just have to return tomorrow in the morning when Sugarcube Corner would definitely be open. Saturday was their busiest day, after all. Maybe Pinkie was just sleeping, and Mister and Missus Cake, the owners, had just closed up shop early. She hopped off the bench and made her way back home.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Applebloom was very easy to tolerate for a baby filly. She rarely cried or made any sort of fuss, and she slept a lot. All the way through the weekend, in the few hours she was fully awake, Applebloom would look curiously at her surroundings, smiling at the smallest things. Applejack loved watching her wiggle her tiny little legs when she saw butterflies, birds, and other little animals fly through the sky when they were outside. Applebloom would follow their flight patterns with her eyes, reaching out to them, attempting to touch them. Every now and then, a brave butterfly would flutter around her head and touch down on the tiny earth pony, but never lasting long. When Applebloom was able to walk, Applejack knew, she was going to be chasing everything.

Having a new sister was an odd feeling, as Applejack began to think about the matter. She had gone so long having just Mac as a sibling, comfortable as to how everything was. It was just…weird. Applebloom already wiggled her way into Applejack’s heart, but the feeling still remained. Granny, though, insisted the feeling would pass in due time, and she would get used to the change. Being a seasoned mother herself, as well as full of wrinkles, when it came to filly and colt upbringing, she was one of the wisest around. Despite Granny’s fury with Applejack’s mother, she seemed happier than usual as well. Applebloom was another new recruitment in her mother class, and she was more than eager to teach her the family’s values and introduce her to all matters of life. Applejack, noticing her grandmother’s ways, followed suit, hoping to follow in her tracks.

But when it came to sleeping…the magical flame she had felt within her upon the arrival of Applebloom had faltered a little. Life was all of a sudden put into perspective.

That Friday night, Applebloom woke up and started to cry loudly. Applejack, who had insisted Applebloom to sleep in the same room as her, awoke suddenly, frightened a bit by Applebloom’s sudden outburst. Rather than being irritated, she jumped out of bed like she did on the first day of school. She rushed over to Applebloom and picked her up gently out of her cradle, which Granny had ordered from a store in Manehattan. The cradle was adorned with fake red and orange flowers all the way around. A night light on the bedroom wall cast a warm glow on the flowers of the cradle. Applejack didn’t need a night light anymore, but she knew Applebloom did.

“Shhhhh…shhhhh...shhhhh…it’ll be okay, Applebloom,” she whispered comfortingly to the frightened filly, who continued to cry her eyes out.

“No more dark…it’s okay, I’m here, li’l sis…it’s Applejack…don’t…cry,” she ended with a huge yawn.

Granny, hard of hearing, but with mothers’ intuition, appeared at the door and calmly walked in. She took the poor filly out of Applejack’s forelegs and sat down on her bed, cradling Applebloom in her forelegs. Within seconds, Applebloom stopped crying and then fell asleep again, causing silence to appear in the room once more. Applejack, annoyed that she couldn’t do a better job, jumped back on her bed and put her head on the pillow.

“Don’t pout, dear. Yeh did a wonderful job,” Granny said reassuringly, running her hoof through Applejack’s mane with a free hoof. “She’ll warm up tah yeh more very, very soon. I know it.”

Applejack mumbled “I hope so” into her pillow and Granny lay Applebloom back down in her flowery cradle. She covered her back up carefully with the hoof-knitted blanket she had made herself and gave a wheezy yawn herself.

“Applebloom is goin’ tah do this most nights, Applejack,” she said quietly, straightening out Applejack’s bed covers. “It’s just what baby ponies do. Why don’t yeh just let me—”

“No,” said Applejack stubbornly, turning back around to face her grandmother. “Ah want her to sleep in here. Ah’ll be okay, Grammy. Pink—promise,” she said, catching herself.

Granny sat down on Applejack’s bed and sighed. “Alrighty then. But yeh need yer sleep, dear. Y’er not a mommy yet.” She tucked Applejack back in her bed covers and slipped out of the room, closing the bedroom door behind her. Applebloom’s barely audible little snores could now be heard from the cradle. Barely five minutes ago, she was bawling at the top of her lungs, and now…she was so peaceful. Applejack just didn’t understand baby ponies.

The last of her frustration melted away as Applebloom cooed sleepily in her cradle and continued to snore. How could she stay mad at that?

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Saturday morning was largely uneventful. Applejack got her chores done early so she could drop by Sugarcube Corner to see if Pinkie was feeling any better. Arriving at Sugarcube Corner, just like she expected, the place was busy just like it always was on a Saturday morning. A long line of ponies filed out the door, eager to place their orders. Applejack said hello to a few ponies she recognized and pushed past them, into the store.

What she didn’t expect, however, was Missus Cake’s response as Applejack hurried past the counter and started up the wooden stairs towards where Pinkie Pie lived.

“Pinkie isn’t here, honey,” she said behind the front counter, writing down the information from a pegasus who had just placed his order. “She’s over at a friend’s house!”

Wait—what? A friend’s house? Since when did Pinkie play with anyone but her?

“Do you know the friend’s name?” asked Applejack, running up to the counter.

“We’ll have that ready by two,” said Missus Cake, who handed the slip of paper to a younger blond-maned pony who went through a door into the kitchens. She then answered Applejack, “Rainbow…Dash? I think that’s who it was. They had a sleepover last night. Didn’t she tell you, hun?”

Applejack definitely didn’t expect that.

“Uh, wwwwhat?!” said Applejack, raising her voice without meaning to. Missus Cake jumped in surprise. Rainbow Dash? The pegasus who had been so mean to Pinkie on the first day of school? Even if they were somehow, miraculously, friends, Pinkie still would have been at school yesterday.

“Is something wrong?” asked Missus Cake, seeing the shock on Applejack’s face.

Applejack didn’t answer her immediately. She wasn’t paying attention to anything that was going on in the store as worst case scenarios started appearing in her head. Her stomach suddenly ached as she began to ponder them.

“N-no, ah’ll…ah’ll be okay,” choked Applejack. She ran from the store as fast as her strong legs could carry her, upsetting some of the ponies waiting in line. She just had to find her. She had been gone for the better part of two days. Pinkie Pie…her best friend…

“RARITY!” screamed Applejack as she saw the unicorn walking with a couple of her proud looking filly friends out of the Carousel Boutique. Her two friends jumped back in alarm, thinking they were being attacked. Rarity, although shocked, ran towards her.

“What? What is it? Are you ok?” said Rarity quickly, throwing her mane out of her face and staring at Applejack with wide cobalt eyes.

“My friend—Pinkie Pie—she’s gone missin’—have you seen her at all?” gasped Applejack, trying to catch her breath.

“No I haven’t—missing? How do you know?” She asked, as concerned as Applejack was. Rarity could see the fear in her eyes.

Applejack stamped the ground in anger at Rarity not knowing anything. “Ah just know, you hear? And I also know it’s all that good for nothin’ Rainbow Dash’s fault!”

Rarity’s eyebrows lowered; evidently expressing she was mad too.

“Are you sure?” she asked, a cold tone in her voice.

“Yeah,” growled Applejack, looking away from Rarity, her eyes glossed with tears. “You’ve gotta—” she choked “—help me find her, Rarity, please—”

“Find her? How? Do I look like a Wonderbolt to you, Applejack?” she asked, backing away. “I’m sorry your friend is missing—really I am—but we don’t know where to begin—”

“It doesn’t cotton-pickin’ matter, we’ll find her!” interrupted Applejack, stomping the ground some more. She was starting to kick up a bit of dust. “Wait—,” she added, as Rarity opened her mouth to speak, “—could we really get the Wonderbolt to help us? Where are they?”

“The Wonderbolts live in Cloudsdale, Applejack!” said Rarity, like she was arguing with a three-year old. “And they aren’t a search and rescue team…”

Applejack’s heart sank as she realized this. “O’course…well…,” she couldn’t think of any way to respond. She started thinking of Mac and Granny, and whether they would be able to help. But they hadn’t seen Pinkie since Applejack had—they were too tied up with Applebloom back at the farm.

Applejack looked down at her hooves, thinking of a solution. Her hat escaped her mane and fell onto the ground, as the dust started to settle. She hastily picked it back up, not wanting it to get dirty, and turned it over to brush the inside off. Brushing her hoof along the inside, she noticed a little tag sewed to the fabric. In faded letters read:

The~Mane~Attraction~

Leather: DO NOT MACHINE WASH

SMALL: Ages 6-8

Hoofington 12943

She read the information to pass the time. She felt really awkward standing there in front of Rarity and her two friends. 12943…where had she seen that before? It sounded rather familiar…

“I’m sorry, Applejack...but we need wings to get to Cloudsdale…and I’m not friends with any pegasuses. I mean pegasi—sorry—I say that wrong all the time, ha ha ha—”

Applejack threw the hat back on her head. Rarity’s friends came up to stand by her, giving Applejack a scanning look, analyzing her appearance.

“Can’t she just talk to the sheriff?” said one of her friends, a prissy, cobalt-maned filly, turning to Rarity. “Wouldn’t he know what to do?”

“Yup!” agreed the other friend, who looked similar to the other, but with a peppermint mane.

“The Sheriff!” said Applejack, piping up, like she had knew it all along. “And ah’ll get Rainbow Dash in a whole HEAPA trouble!” She ended with a shout of nervous joy. She then made a step towards the prissy filly. “Thank you so much, uhhh...,” Applejack said, waiting for the filly to say her name.

“Rainbow Dash,” she said very quietly, barely enough for the four of them to hear.

“Your name is Rainbow Dash? What—”

“Get me in trouble? For what?” said a loud voice behind Applejack. All the blood in Applejack’s body froze.

“Where is Pinkie Pie, pegasus?” shot Rarity.

“That suuuuper gullible pony in our class? Ha HA! Why, isn’t she out yet?”

Applejack wheeled around and looked Rainbow Dash in the face, who was hovering a few feet off the ground. Predictably, she had a number of other pegasus friends surrounding her, all of them male and mean looking.

“Whaddya mean, out?” said Applejack through gritted teeth, livid. She was lucky she had friends with her.

All the pegasi burst out in laughter. Passerby ponies started to stop and stare at them, expecting a fight to break out.

“Where in the hay is she, Rainbow Dash? Tell me!” Applejack was about ready to give her a good kick by the way she was laughing.

“Yeah, R.D., where in the haaaaay is she? Tell us!” laughed one of the colts stupidly, mocking Applejack’s accent. To her horror, Applejack started to form tears in her eyes and turned around to hide her face so they wouldn’t see her face. She wished Big Macintosh was here. Why weren’t any of the passing by ponies doing anything? Breaking up the fight? Somepony had to be brave, and it wasn’t Applejack. She couldn’t be brave…there were too many of them…

Rarity took one look at Applejack’s face and stomped her hoof into the ground in a very Applejack-like fashion.

“So help me, Celestia,” she started, walking up to the side of Applejack, facing the whole crowd of pegasi by herself. Her two friends started talking in low tones to Applejack, trying to cheer her up, in a tight huddle. Rarity’s horn lit up. “If you keep picking on Applejack—”

The pegasi stopped laughing and took a step towards Rarity, who just kept moving forward. Rainbow Dash, still in the air, raised her eyebrows, mildly surprised.

“What are you going to do to me, unicorn?” said Rainbow Dash “Make me wear a dress—”

“—I will use my magic to—”

“—one of those ugly, cheap, stupid—,” Rainbow Dash said, counting off each insult by tapping her hoof on the other, “—frilly, lame, piece of—”

“—wipe that ugly little smirk right off of your face, filly!” screamed Rarity, her temper instantly exploding when Rainbow Dash insulted her dress craftsmanship.

FWOOOOOOOOOOM!

Her horn shot a beam of white light directly at Rainbow Dash, catching her off guard, and sending her flying into the group of pegasi, knocking them all to the ground like a bowling strike. Rarity kicked up a cloud of dust in their faces for added effect and sprinted back to Applejack.

“RUN!” she shouted gleefully, grabbing Applejack’s tail and waving at her other two friends to flee with her.

Rainbow Dash roared in anger and shot up to the sky, as her other friends still lay in a heap on the ground.

“GET BACK HERE!” she screamed, shooting like a bullet directly towards the Rarity and Applejack.

Applejack thought quickly and dangerously, Mac in mind. Without giving it a second thought, she skidded to a stop and with impeccable timing, kicked Rainbow Dash in the chest the split second she soared over her head. The abnormally powerful kick sent her flying again, through the air—straight into a nearby light post. Rainbow Dash smacked headfirst into the light post with a loud CLANG! The ponies that were standing around to watch gasped as Rainbow Dash plummeted toward the ground.

Rainbow Dash didn’t get up immediately when she met the unforgiving earth.

“Oww…what  the—,” she said, disoriented. Applejack had struck her too fast for her to even realize what had happened. Her pegasi friends finally got up and went to her aid. Grasping reality, and seeing what her back two legs had just done, Applejack fled from the scene as fast as she possibly could. She was dead meat now, but she didn’t care. Rainbow Dash had got what she deserved. If it weren’t for the fact half a dozen pegasi would be chasing her any second now, she would have stopped for a cheer of jubilation.

Rarity heard the noise while running and turned around to see Applejack gaining on her, a satisfied grin spread across her face.

“Did you—Applejack—WAAAAA!” Rarity squealed, putting two and two together. Rainbow Dash shot back up to the sky, rubbing her head.

“You..are..DEAD,” Applejack heard Rainbow Dash, fury in her voice. She finally managed to get off the ground, but she was still trying to shake the stars out of her line of sight. Applejack then kicked it into her highest gear.

Applejack quickly caught up with Rarity. Rarity’s two friends had disappeared from the scene, not wanting to be a part of this any longer.

“THIS WAY!” shouted Applejack, making a hard left at a large tree house. Rarity ran with her without question.

Applejack steered Rarity around and about all kinds of buildings, through alleyways, and even through the outside dining area of a restaurant. Ponies all around jumped out of the way as the two of them sped past. Immediately following the two of them were the half dozen pegasi and Rainbow Dash, who were hot on their tails. If it weren’t for all the ducking and maneuvering they had to do around the shop signs, overhanging light posts and clotheslines, the pegasi would have caught up to them. However, Applejack, who knew this town like the back of her hoof, and ran along the ground, didn’t have to adjust her speed at all.

“YOU CAN RUN, FILLY—” screamed Rainbow Dash again, her voice cracking this time.

“Y’ALL BET AH CAN!” yelled Applejack over Rainbow Dash, who had tried to finish, “BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE!” Rarity groaned next to her, knowing once they started to slow down they were dead meat.

“Apple—jack—I can’t take—much more—of this—” panted Rarity, who was beginning to slow down.

“C’mon, Rarity! We’re almost there!” encouraged Applejack, cold adrenaline pumping through her body. Although Applejack was terrified of being thrashed by Rainbow Dash, the thrill she was feeling right now was terrific. But Rarity, who was nowhere near as accomplished of a runner as she was, stumbled and nearly fell.

“Apple—jack…,” she whined.

“Ah’ve got ya—” Applejack ducked under Rarity’s stomach and lifted her off the ground, still sprinting at top speed.

“WHAT are you doing—” Rarity squawked. Applejack had picked up Rarity, who was much lighter than she had expected, and was now carrying her on her back. It was nothing more than carrying another bushel of apples. Strong as an ox, just like her brother, Applejack sped up to top speed, her velocity barely slacking as Rarity clung on to her back for dear life.

SMASH!

One of the pegasi had finally lost control and crashed into a store sign. Rarity winced, knowing exactly what had happened.

CLANG!

SMASH!

CRACK!

CRASH!

Every pegasi except Rainbow Dash had met their demises, which took the forms of light posts, more signs, and trees. None of them could have avoided it, however, because Applejack was kicking up such a huge cloud of dust, they were unable to see where they were going. Rainbow Dash, who had an abnormal sense of direction, was able to blindly weave in and out of all the obstacles like it was another day at flight camp.

Applejack saw the road leading to Sweet Apple approaching fast, and gave it all she had. There was no way Rainbow Dash would be able to fly through the forest—the trees were simply too thick. Even a Wonderbolt would have to continue on hoof. But for earth ponies like Applejack who were experts at running through the thickest of trees, they finally had an advantage.

“HA!” yelled Applejack triumphantly, finally reaching the edge of the trees. She plunged into the thicket.

“Rarity, stay low!” instructed Applejack, craning her neck around to speak to her, now weaving in and out of trees. “We can lose her in—”

“APPLEJACK!”

CRAAAASH!

Applejack, who had just turned her head around for one second, collided with a large red tree, which collapsed. The both of them skidded along the ground, apples flying everywhere.

The tree dusted himself off then regained his stance and spoke to them.

“Applejack!” said the tree in a deep voice.

Applejack realized that the tree had legs…and sounded a lot like Mac.

“Mmmac?” gasped Applejack, her vision still swimming.

Mac, who had been harvesting apples, was a muscly and tough skinned pony, but was still not a match for being T-boned by her rambunctious little sister.

“Howdy,” said Big Macintosh, amused at Rarity and Applejack lying on the ground, covered in dust, leaves, twigs and apple debris.

“Ewwwww!” Rarity whined, taking a look at herself as she got back to her hooves. “Just look at my once beautifully white coat! And—ow—my poor mane and tail!” Rarity spent the next several moments complaining about how dirty she was, Applejack not looking where she was going, and pretty much every little thing that was wrong with the current situation.

“Completely unladylike…I will never be able to live this one down…” she mumbled to herself, thinking she was ruined.

Applejack ignored her as she saw Rainbow Dash gliding easily through the trees, completely unhurt and still full of breath. Applejack, however, was still trying to catch her breath. She had never run that fast for so long before.

Big Macintosh noticed Rainbow Dash approaching and blocked her from coming any closer to Applejack and Rarity.

“Awh, now big brother has come to save the day,” she said in an annoying tone.

“Leave my sister alone, pegasus,” growled Mac dangerously. Rainbow Dash may have been a strong flier, but she was hilariously out-bulked by Macintosh.

“Fine,” she spat, frustrated. She gave Applejack and Rarity a deadly look then began to fly away.

“Where is she?” said Applejack, not about to let Rainbow Dash get away so fast.

A few distant birds chirped through the thicket of apple trees in the short silence that followed Applejack’s question. Rainbow Dash stopped flying away and turned around to face them. Instead of a jeer, which Applejack was expecting, she had a different look on her face. Something she didn’t think was possible for such a bully like herself. Not much sunlight penetrated this area of Sweet Apple, but it was still plenty to see the looks on other ponies’ faces at a reasonable distance. She looked scared.

“She wanted to throw me a…party,” she said, in a disgusted tone like Pinkie Pie was diseased. “She said she had one planned for you too, earth pony,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at Applejack. She dropped the scared look on her face.

“So I said, ‘sure, Pinkie, let’s have a party’. ‘I know just the place’.”

“It was a school night, so the pegasi were required to be back in Cloudsdale before sundown. But rules are for losers.”

“No they’re not—” began Applejack

“Um, yeah, they are,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, in a matter-of-fact voice. “Pinkie Pie had to be home before dark as well, so she didn’t like it when I told her our party was going to be at night. She couldn’t do parties past seven o’clock and nyeh nyeh nyeh she’d get in trouble if she did nyeh.”

Applejack scowled at Rainbow Dash, full of hatred.

“So I was like ‘okay, Pinkie, how about we have a party at my house? You can tell your parents you’re having a sleepover at my house tonight.’”

“Did you have a sleepover?” asked Rarity, more rhetorically than curious.

“Ha! Um, No! Why would I let her sleep at my house?” laughed Rainbow Dash. “I told her I lived in the Everfree Forest! And can you believe it? She believed me!”

“WHAT?” said Applejack, Mac and Rarity in unison.

“So now, she’s lost somewhere in the Everfree Forest. Still trying to find my ‘house’, the dumb filly—”

Applejack’s eyes started to well up with terrified tears. How could anypony be so cruel? The Everfree Forest?!

“It’s not my fault your friend is an airhead, earth pony,” said Rainbow Dash, shrugging, like it wasn’t a big deal at all. “I thought she was dumb, but not THAT dumb.”

Mac, who had been steadily getting angrier and angrier with each passing minute Rainbow Dash spoke, lost his temper and ran after Rainbow Dash. Like she was dodging a train, she jumped out of the way and took off out of the forest. Within seconds, she was gone from view.

Mac snorted furiously, stomping the ground with formidable hooves.

“Pinkie Pie…no...” Applejack finally broke down onto the ground, her tear floodgates finally breaking free. She took off her hat and sobbed into it, trying to hide her face from Rarity. But Rarity just put a foreleg around her and tried to comfort her. Applejack responded, giving up trying to hide herself. She took the hat off her face and stared into it, noticing the tag again, trying to think of something to do.

The~Mane~Attraction~

Leather: DO NOT MACHINE WASH

SMALL: Ages 6-8

Hoofington 12943

1. 12943. Wait! Her mind suddenly clicked. The number…she knew she had seen that number before…it belonged to somepony! Applejack jumped up off the ground. It was a number to an address. A number she had completely forgotten two years ago.

“12943, Tumbleweed Avenue…I’m sure your Aunt and Uncle Orange will be able to lead you here when you decide to come play with us.”

Not just anypony—a pegasus. A pegasus who had once helped save her life.

Soarin’.