The return of Applejewel!
Applejack swipes the sweat at her brow as she works the orchard, smiling at seeing her progress!
"Boy howdy! This batch is comin' along nicely! At this rate, we'll make a haul at market today!"
Pleased with the thought Applejack takes her wagon back to the barn to unload her now full barrels. Her barrels now empty Applejack moves onto another part of the orchard. One by one, she bucked at the trees and each one gave plenty of their fruit. Her mind was so focused as she went from tree to tree hat she forgot to inspect her next target.
She turned, rooted her hooves to the ground and brought up her hind legs. With a powerful outward kick, Applejack bucks at the tree. However, this one sent an echoing tremor through her body, the jolt making her fall forward.
"W-What in tarnation?"
As she turns to see what made that happen, an apple falls from a thin limb and collides with her head with a disturbingly loud 'gonk'! She sways as her consciousness fades to black.
Pinkie pie and Twilight walk up the dirt road leading to apple acres, carrying individual wagons and saddlebags.
"And that's how I taught my little Gummy how to play the bagpipes!"
"Pinkie, that doesn't make any sense. At all."
"What doesn't, Twilight?"
"I don't think blowing up balloons with an oboe counts as learning to play the bagpipes."
"Aww! One day....."
Twilight raises a brow as she sees Pinkie nod her head with narrow eyes.
As they get closer to sweet Apple acres, the two friends come across a concerned Big Mac and Applebloom.
"Twilight! Pinkie Pie!"
"What's wrong, Applebloom?"
"Have any y'all seen AJ around?", Big Mac asked.
If Big Mac is the one asking, then for sure something was up!
"Actually, we were on our way to see Applejack."
"Yeah! We were gonna help her out with bringing her apples to the market today. Twilight was super curious to see how much goes out on a daily basis and the process with which to carry out the constant demand of apples, so she asked Applejack if we could help her out and get a first-hoof experience! *squee*"
Big Mac and Applebloom look to Twilight.
"She is correct."
With an eyeroll, they continued.
"Was it possible she took a break or something? She does work hard."
"But Twilight, Big sis would'a told somepony if she was gonna take a break."
"And when Ah went to go get her for lunch, this was the only other thing there with her wagon."
The stallion turned to his side and retrieved the familiar old Stetson hat his sister wore. Both Twilight and Pinkie pie let out an alarmed gasp.
"Applejack's hat!"
"She never takes it off. Ever!"
"Much less just leave it anywhere. Where could she have gone?"
A grunting Rainbow Dash struggles with a huge roll of silk, carrying it alongside her fellow Pegasus friend Fluttershy. She too was carrying a separate roll of silk, however she actually had her own little wagon to carry it in.
"U-um, Rainbow Dash? There's room to put that in here with mine. I-If you want to, that is."
"Ugh! I got this, Fluttershy! But seriously, what's with the huge cargo?"
"Oh. These rolls are for Rarity! It all came from these talented silk worms that live in my garden. I promised to save some for her new line of fashion clothes."
Rainbow Dash shifts the wheel of silk on her back, adjusting her wings so that they act as secondary arms to keep it in place and on her back.
"Urgh! What kinda silk worms produce heavy silk?"
"Um...too much iron?"
Rainbow deadpans at her friend, making her "eep!" out and timidly walk on, muttering a hushed "Never mind!" as she went on.
They reached Carousel Boutique and opened the front door, bringing in the rolls of silk inside.
"Oh, my! That's a bit bigger then I anticipated. Would you dears put those off to the side please? I'll get to them in a moment."
With a grateful groan Rainbow Dash leaned to her left and let the roll slide off her back as she straightened it upright. Fluttershy brought in her wagon and parked it along the wall of the boutique. Once the two Pegasus ponies relaxed a little, they both looked to their friend and gasped loudly at seeing what she was up to.
Up on a small pedestal-like stand stood a spruced up Applejack, dressed to the nines in a flowing lime green glittering dress with ruby hairpins in her usually unstyled now perfectly maintained mane. She had her arms outstretched as Rarity worked on her waistline and upper hemline.
"APPLEJACK?!", they called out in unison.
Their loud exclamation caught the mare's attention and she flashed a polite smile at them.
"Jewel, my dears. Applejewel."
Her southern drawl was gone entirely, now speaking in a perfect Manehattenite accent! Their jaws dropped open as the former farmer winked at them.
Rarity came up beside them, her red framed glasses resting at the edge of her snout and an all-too-excited smile on her beaming face.
"Doesn't she look absolutely fabulous? What she has on is my latest design in formal attire!"
"R-Rarity, what happened? Why is Applejack here?"
"Yeah, and what's with the frou-frou get-up?"
"Jewel, dear!", Applejack called out.
Rarity went back working on a few loose stitch lines at Applejack's waist, humming cheerily.
"I was just as surprised as you two to be honest. I was measuring strips of cloth earlier, when a distraught Applejack-"
"-Jewel, sweetheart."
"Hee Hee, pardon. A distraught Applejewel came into my front door, quite disoriented and requiring assistance! I'm not sure what made her this way, but once she willingly asked for a mirror and a brush, well....I dare say I may have went a teeny tiny bit over the top. *squee*"
With an arched eyebrow Rainbow spoke up.
"You call this a 'teeny-tiny bit' over the top? She's almost glowing! Literally!"
"Is Appleja-....Applejewel alright? Something doesn't seem right."
Rarity stopped in her gleeful musings and rubbed a hoof along her chin in thought.
"Now that you mention it, that very same thought did cross my mind when I first saw this change of heart. I thought she was baiting me into some sort of prank, but she was genuinely seeking a fashionista comfort."
"And you were right, my dear Rarity!"
Applejewel stepped down from the stand and joined the friends, casually tossing her curled mane over her shoulder and batting her eyes merrily at them.
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but to cringe slightly at the disturbing gesture. A fashion forward Applejack was one thing, but a fashion
forward Applejack that nearly mirrored Rarity perfectly was an entirely eerie thing to witness.
"I wouldn't have lasted longer had I not wondered into your quaint little boutique. You, my dear, are a life saver!"
The two came to stand side by side across from where the Pegasus stood. Before anymore was said, the front door bursts open with a frantic Pinkie pie dramatically thrusting the door open with wide eyes.
"Rarity! We need your help! Me and Twilight can't find-"
The pink party planner stopped talking as she saw both Rarity and Applejack standing together....with Applejack dressed and styled in such flare that it would even give Hoity-toity a run for his money!
A heavily panting Twilight Sparkle came teetering in, tongue hanging out as she tried to catch her breath.
"Hahh! Pinkie pie! Hoo. I...I asked you...to wai-"
Twilight stopped mid sentence as Pinkie took hold of her head and turned her around so that she could see the sight on display.
"Oh, boy...."
-End of side A
Author's Note
Due to a time crunch, I'm ending it here. But the second part will be up ASAP. I just wanted to post this up to share what I have so far. :3
The return of Applejewel!
A confused Twilight looked between the two smiling ponies in front of her. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and confirmed it wasn't a trick.
"Applejack? What's with the dress? And why did you leave without telling anypony? Big Mac and Applebloom were worried sick!"
"It's Applejewel, dear Twilight. And as far as I'm concerned, I did the right thing. I mean, look at the state of my hooves! Even with my dear Rarity's expert help, they're still cracked from years of overuse! She managed to save my coife, much to my elation, and even made an appointment for the spa!
"Oh, my! It's going to be absolutely divine!"
Everyone, except for the duo fashionistas, baulked at what they were hearing!
"Quite right, my dear! See girls? Applejewel is fine as she is. She's safe and sound here at Carousel Boutique!"
"Rarity, Big Mac and Applebloom were seriously worried about her. Apple....jewel, you need to go back to the apple farm and let everypony know that you're alright!"
Applejewel suddenly looked deathly afraid at Twilight's words.
"Y-You mean....the actual farm? As in.....dirt?!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it in anymore. She let out a growl and pointed a hoof at the blonde haired "fashionista".
"Alright, this is all kinds of weird! Look, you! I don't know who you are, but we want the real Applejack back!"
"Um, I don't think that's how it works, Rainbow.", Fluttershy muttered beside her.
"She's not a changling, y'know."
"Look. even Pinkie is weirded out by this, and she's Pinkie pie!"
They all look towards the pink party planner to see her mane flatter then paper and rolling clockwise on the floor while making nonsensical noises. They all cringed lightly and returned to the matter at hoof. Twilight cleared her throat as she tried to calm everypony down.
"Look, let's just calm down and try to sort this out. Applejewel, can you remember anything before coming into Rarity's boutique?"
Applejewel rubbed her chin in thought.
"I can't really recall what I was doing prior to coming to this fine establishment. But I do remember being covered in dirt, and sweat! Oh, my! I was in such a horrid state!"
Twilight rolled her eyes as she listened.
"Let's test out a few things and see what we can find out."
A skeptical Applejewel narrowed her eyes at the mention of Twilight's words.
"What kind of 'things' are you referring to exactly?"
They were all back out on Sweet Apple acres, much to dismay of the blonde fashionista. Twilight stood next to the tree where Big Mac had found
Applejack's wagon. With a scrutinizing eye she examined the bark and the fruit hanging from its limbs. These apples felt harder then the one she normally knew.
"Is this the tree she was working on last?"
"Eyup."
"Me an' Big Mac came back here after y'all left and found out that big sis accidentally tried to harvest a crabapple tree!"
"Ooooh! I didn't crabs could live in apples! I wanna try living in one too! Since they're sooo super-duper delicious, they have to be the best place to live in! Ever!"
"Um, actually, they're not really that good, Pinkie pie.", Fluttershy softly interjected.
"Aww, What?"
"She's right, Pinkie pie. Once in a while, we come across a crabapple tree or two. But because the apples they produce aren't good to eat, we use their flowers and buds for decoratin' and makin' fancy smellin' stuff."
"Applebloom is right. It has something to do with the pollenating process. These crabapple trees are a common occurrence, something I'm sure Applejewel would've picked up on had she been paying attention."
From Twilight the group turns to look at the faux fashionista, who was currently sprucing up her curled updo while donning shades and a parasol, looking eerily similar to Rarity as she fanned herself with a collapsible paper fan.
"so what you're suggesting is that Applejack-"
"Jewel, Dashie dear!"
"Grrrrr! You're suggesting that Applejewel here, was bucking earlier and got knocked out by these wooden apples?"
"That's about the looks of things. She must've gotten hit by one when she tried to buck the tree."
An overly excited Pinie pie sprouted out of Applejewel's updo, flailing her hooves in the air and shouting.
"Guys! Guys! Guys! Lookie here! I found a nasty meanie of a bump on Applejewel's noggin!"
"Oh. my!", a surprised Applejewel exclaimed as she struggled to maintain her balance.
"Pinkie, did you just swim through Applejewel's mane?", asked Rarity.
Pinkie pie giggled as she jumped down onto her hooves.
"No, silly! I waded!", she said simply and bounced out of the mare's hair.
Fluttershy came up and parted Applejack's mane. A swollen raised bump confirmed it.
"Oh, my. It's a huge knot right here."
"Well, now that we know what happened, we need to get Applejewel back to Applejack."
"And fast. This is giving me the willies!", Rainbow said as she shivered at seeing Rarity and Applejewel daintily sipping tea on a checkered blanket spread out under the crabapple tree.
"Hmm, maybe Zecora would have something to help her."
"Um, Zecora went to visit her homeland, Twilight."
"Ah, right. Well, let's see if we can jog her memory."
Just as she said that, the family pet Winona came up from behind her legs, panting happily and wagging her tail. At seeing the orange-furred mare the happy puppy barked excitedly as she bounded up to greet her. A startled Applejewel let out a cry of alarm and scrambled backward as the playful pooch toppled her tea cup over.
"No, No! Bad doggie! You've dirtied the blanket! Shoo! Shoo!"
The farming dog merely quirked her head to the side in confusion, letting out an inquisitive whine as if to say, "What?"
Seeing the display, even Rarity couldn't help but to cringe at the sight. She knew how much Applejack loved the herding dog Winona, but to see her shoo the little dog away left an uneasy feeling in her chest.
"May we please move on, dears? I feel the threat of perspiration coming on, and I don't want to muss my fur!"
The group shook their heads in worry.
"Now what, prey tell, is this supposed to prove, darlings?", a curious Applejewel asked.
In front of her stood a barrel full of water, with a mix of various apples floating about. Beside her stood an excited Pinkie Pie, trotting in place and squeeing with glee.
"As Applejack, you were one of the best at bobbing for apples. Here, you'll be up against Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically at Twilight's words.
"And we are doing this because...?"
"Whoever gathers the most in twenty seconds wins the game."
"B-But, the water will ruin my nicely done coiffeur!"
Acting as referee, Rainbow Dash blows a whistle in Applejewel's ear while holding up a timer.
"No excuses! GAME START!"
At that, she let out a fierce blow of her whistle. Pinkie dunks her head into her barrel and the water immediately begins to drain. Applejewel in the meantime, was looking around the barrel, fretting the water with a tentative hoof.
"C'mon, Apple! Get to it!", spat out Rainbow Dash.
Cringing and scrunching her snout hesitantly Applejack begins to lean toward the water. Just as her snout was about to come into contact with the waters surface, the whistle pierced the air once again.
"TIME!!!"
"Oh, poo! I was just about to get one!", the blonde fashionista whined.
"Rainbow Dash, there was still nine seconds left. And there were plenty of apples to occupy both-"
An irritated Rainbow points her hoof toward the pink party planner. With full cheeks, Pinkie beamed out a wide smile as a long row of apples lined her open mouth. Twilight face-hoofed and groaned out.
The friends were all leaning against the farms' pen of cattle. Here, this time both Applebloom and Big Mac were present in case something should happen.
"Okay, we know Applejack was a pro at rounding up cattle. Perhaps this will help gain your memory back. Here, you'll have to round up the cattle and herd them back into their pen."
Applejewel looked from Twilight to the cows, holding her snout to help with the smell.
"Guh! I-Is this really necessary? And what am I supposed to do with this?"
She held up a coiled bunch of rope in her hoof.
"You use that to round up any stragglers that try to leave formation."
"Swell.", the blonde mare breathes out dejectedly.
"Here we go. Okay, you two! Let them out!"
Twilight waved a hoof toward Big Mac and Applebloom, signaling them to open up the pen. As soon as they spread the pen doors wide, the small herd of cattle trotted out and began to disperse among the yard. Fidgeting, Applejewel reluctantly walks up to a nearby cow. With the rope in her mouth she throws it toward the cow and hoping it got tangled in it. The rope fell with a dull 'flop' at the feet of the cow, who merely continued to chew its cud and graze about.
"Oh, my."
"This hurts to watch!"
"Go get 'em, Applejewel! You got one in your sights! Go! Go! Go!"
"Oh, dear...."
A frazzled Applejewel bit her lip nervously until an idea struck her! With confident strides, the mare stood in front of the mass of bovine and cleared her throat to get their attention.
"My dear bovines! If you would be so kind as to return to your place of dwelling, I would appreciate it EVER so much~!"
"Really?!", Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"That's not the way to round up cattle, Apple-"
Before Twilight could finish her sentence the small mob of cows turned on their hooves and meandered back into their pens, with Applejewel following behind and cooing her appreciation as they went. Once the last cow was inside, she closed the white fence and turned to face her friends.
Rainbow Dash knocked her forehead against the fence line repeatedly as Twilight rubbed her head as an oncoming headache made itself known.
One of the cows then spoke out.
"What? At least she asked this time!"
"I can't think of anything else!"
"What?!"
"You're an EGGHEAD!! Hatch out somethin' already!"
Twilight brought out a book with her magic and flipped through page after page, her eyes scanning over every line of data in the hopes of finding something new to try or finding something she had overlooked before.
"Ooh! Ooh! What about a potion to help her remember?"
"I thought about that as well, Pinkie. But what happened to Appleja-Applejewel, happened naturally. It can't be forced. Just as it happened, her memory has to come back naturally."
Rainbow Dash groaned irritably and kicked a rock with her hoof.
"Relax, darlings! I'm sure our dear friend Applejewel will recall her true self with time."
"Says the one who's filing her hooves!"
Rarity giggles as she continues to play "Hooficure" with her new fellow fashionista.
"I know I'm not complaining, dear.", Applejewel chimes in cheerily.
"We're back with lunch, everypony!", Applebloom announces as she and Fluttershy bring up a couple of trays with food while Big Mac carried a couple
of pitchers of apple cider from the family's personal batch.
Two plates are brought over to Rarity and Applejewel by Fluttershy, each bearing two steaming apple fritters with a side of apple fries and followed by two mugs of cider.
"Thank you, Fluttershy dear. Shall we dine, Applejewel?"
Applejewel stops fawning over her well done hoof to take a gander at the food presented before her. She leans down with a curious look and sniffs at the contents. She scrunches her snout in disinterest and politely pushes the plate away.
"Oh, my! Don't we have something more......savory on the menu? This is....common carnival fare!"
At hearing her words Rarity sits upright in a stiff position, while a nearby "Can I have her fries?" from Pinkie pie.
"No.....", Rarity mutters.
Her eye twitches and her ear flicks in a twitch as she recalls from where she heard those same words herself. The memory hits the fashionista like a ton of gems.
"Um, beg your pardon, dear?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no........"
That awful night at the gala was one that would be in infamy, and hearing those callous, cold and indifferent words, words that were spat to the farmer herself, was the final straw that broke this mare's conscience. Where Rarity had been met with a disappointing night, it was Applejack's chivalry that made the bitter memory bearable.
Now, however.....
"My royal lips have tasted...common carnival fare!"
"Rari-"
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Rarity's outburst made everypony there turn to look in her direction. A startled Applejewel flinched and scooted backwards, with a furious Rarity rising up after her.
"Wha-What in the blazes-"
"SILENCE! You are not the pony I once knew, you FRAUD!", Rarity exclaimed dramatically.
In a blaze of righteous fury Rarity lunged at the faux fashionista, pinning her down with desperate hooves as Applejewel let out a frightened "EEP"!
"Rarity! What are you doing?"
"Twilight! This is NOT our beloved Applejack! She may not be a changling, but the deception is there nonetheless. And I will NOT stand by and let this happen any longer!"
As Applejewel struggled to free herself from the crazed mare, Rarity took her face in her hooves and forced her to look up at her. Emerald eyes met pleading cerulean ones. Applejewel tried to mutter a question but she could not find her voice as she saw the threat of tears shimmer in Rarity's eyes.
And with a careful aim so her horn could be avoided, Rarity reared her head back and brought it down over Applejack's head in a fierce head-butt, shrieking out in desperation as their skulls rang out in painful unison. The group felt the force of impact from where they stood, clamoring in surprise as both Rarity and Applejack fell unconscious in a heap.
The group of friends gathered around the two fallen mares and looked them over.
"Well, that was also a viable plan, I guess."
"Hopefully it worked."
"Let's get these two back home and hope for the best."
With a groan, Applejack groggily opened her eyes to find an icepack on her head and laying in bed.
"What.....in tarnation happened?", she asked wearily.
Everypony let out a breath of relief at hearing the familiar drawl of her accent make a comeback.
"You've been asleep for a few hours now. Do you remember anything?"
Twilight came up to Applejack's bedside and lifted up the icepack to inspect the new bump on her head. Applejack winced but didn't move.
"Ah....remember Ah was out in the orchard, doin' some work. Ah was making great progress and went onto another tree. But when I bucked at it....it gave me a weird feelin'. Then, everything went black."
"You bucked right into a crabapple tree. When you did that, one of the apples fell and hit you on your head."
"Yeah! Then you went totally 'fashionista-zilla' on everypony, calling yourself 'Applejewel'!"
"Ah what?!"
"Pinkie!"
"What? She did!"
In order to distract her friend, Fluttershy waved a slice of chocolate cake on a fishing line in front of the pink pony. The result was instantaneous as Pinkie followed the floating slice, smacking her lips and snapping her teeth like a little piranha.
"What'd Ah do?"
"You totally turned into Rarity! Going on and on about this and that. You even wore some frou-frou get up! Even talked funny too."
With an embarrassed groan Applejack slid under the covers. Doing so made her aware of another's presence beside her. She turned her head to see a slumbering Rarity right next to her, also sporting an icepack on her head with a hole in the middle so as to accommodate her horn.
"Huh? Rarity?"
"She was the one to finally reach you, Applejack. She went along with your change into 'Applejewel' at first, but once she finally saw that 'Applejewel' wasn't who you really were, she acted in desperation and made you remember who you are."
Applejack rubbed the back of her head as she became even more embarrassed. Not only did she go around parading in dresses and fancy make-up, she used her Manehattenite memories and turned into a snooty pony herself. Her ears drooped as she turned to face her friends.
"Ah'm awfully sorry, everypony. Ah done caused y'all alot of trouble today."
"We're just glad to have our old Applejack back.", a smiling Fluttershy spoke up.
"Yeah! Jewel was a no-fun, super-duper cranky, stick-in-the-mud pony.", Pinkie pie chimed in with chocolate frosting smeared all over her snout.
"Well, Ah'm myself again, that's fer sure! Ah'll have to make it up to y'all later. And to Rarity too."
She turned to smile at her sleeping friend, smoothing out a stray lock of her mane as she slept.
"Mmnn.....Ah....Ah can't find.....droopy drawers....Zzzzzzz...", Rarity muttered in her sleep.
Everypony baulked at hearing the slight southern drawl in her voice. Applejack face-hoofed as everypony else groaned and collapsed on the spot.
"Hey, y'all! Is big sis....what the hay?"
-End
Author's Note
Had a bit of internet troubles, but the second and final part is up! This was fun to write, lemme tell ya! I had to tone down a few ideas though, lest it become too repetitive. Hope everyone enjoyed this. :D
