Applejack's Vacationby ImmaGenericWriterChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Applejack drew her knife, ready to cut into the apple her family had worked on for several months. “So much for having the winning apple in the Appleloosa State Fair, huh?” Rainbow Dash commented after she revealed the gigantic apple. It still amazed her that any fruit could grow so big without the aid of Unicorn magic. Applejack sighed as her ears drooped. Even though this would be the crowning achievement of her life as an apple farmer, she had no choice. She would lose the apple, or lose her friend. With the knife inches away from the prized apple, she stopped. “Ya’ll hear that?” She asked, dropping the knife. “I don’t hear anything,” Spike commented from his spot behind the mirror. “I just hear Rainbow’s wings flapping.” Even with this said, the rest of them still listened carefully, but could only hear the sound of wing beats. “I don’t hear anything either.” Rainbow Dash said from her spot next to Twilight. The purple Unicorn did a double take upon hearing her friend speak. “Uh, Rainbow?” “Yes?” “If we aren’t hearing your wings flapping, and I’m down here as well…” Twilight trailed off, turning her gaze to the darkened sky. Sure enough, Flutterbat was hovering mid-air, staring them down. Once she realised that she had been spotted, she dove at them with a hiss. “Duck!” Pinkie Pie shouted, snapping the rest of the group out of their shock. They swiftly obeyed, allowing their transformed friend to harmlessly pass over them. Applejack, being the first to recover, noticed the bat-pony hybrid diving again, only this time straight towards the giant apple. Thinking fast, she leapt behind her prized apple and pulled the mirror out while shouting, “Get a move on, Spike!” She refused to buck the apple out of the way, not wanting to bruise it. She had completely abandoned the original plan. She might still be able to win the State Fair if she could prevent With the mirror now being maneuvered by both Applejack and Spike, they were able to get the mirror in the path of their friend. To her unending joy, they made it in time. Flutterbat locked gazes with her mirrored self. “… and in first place, Applejack!” Sheriff Silver Star announced, followed by much cheering from the town ponies. Nearly the everypony had gathered for the fair to take this time to relax. “Well done, Applejack.” Chief Thunderhooves congratulated her as he placed a red ribbon with a big ‘1’ in the centre on the gigantic apple. Every year the buffalo would partake in the festival as a way to increase their relationship with the fairly new town. As a way to show the buffalo that they wanted their friendship, the town had appointed Chief Thunderhooves as one of the judges in the fair. He moved to the next contestant, an orange mare with a poofy mane that was a much darker shade of orange. On the second place pedestal beside her stood a carrot no larger than a pony, but interestingly enough had grown two arms and two legs much like a minotaur’s. The arms were flexed, as if displaying its non-existent muscles. “You did well, Golden harvest. I am certain that you will come in first place next year.” She bowed her head slightly as he placed a yellow ribbon with a big ‘2’ in the centre on the carrot. “Thank you, Chief Thunderhooves.” There was more cheering, but slightly more subdued. Finally, the chief moved to the third place pedestal. Standing next to a pony sized cabbage was a brown stallion with a messy mane that was light green and had several streaks of white in it. His cutie mark displayed a cart filled with, you guessed it, cabbages. “A valiant effort, Cabbage Core.” Said the chief of the buffalo as he placed a green ribbon with a ‘3’ in the centre onto the cabbage. Again, there was cheering, but not as loud as what Golden Harvest had gotten. “Thank you, Chief.” He replied, looking at his cabbage with pride. “Now,” the Chief began softly, turning to face the crowd. “Let the feast begin!” “Feast? What feast?” Cabbage Core asked. This was both the first year he had entered into the competition and the first year he had been to the Fair. The stallion had heard about it through some of his customers. Applejack and Golden Harvest had already removed their ribbons from their entries, preferring not to lose them in the coming frenzy. They both chuckled slightly and exchanged knowing looks. With no warning, the crowd that surrounded the three winners surged forward, tearing into the massive products. “My cabbage!” The stallion cried out in horror. He looked at the flying cabbage bits with the same level of horror that one might have when you witness another individual being torn apart. Oblivious to the borderline mental breakdown their fellow contestant was having, Applejack and Golden Harvest shook hooves. “Nice try Golden, but yer gonna have ta do better than that next year.” “Oh I intend to, Applejack,” she replied with a smile, “the competition isn’t nearly as interesting without you here. Don’t you dare slack off! I want to beat you fair and square.” “Oh dun’ worry, Ah intend to show you who the better farmer is again next year.” Applejack said jokingly, breaking the hoof shake. The two of them have been frenemies for a long time now. They used their competition against each other as a way to motivate themselves to constantly improve. “Ha!” She barked out, stepping away from her rival and disappeared into the crowd. “Applejack?” “Yes, Twilight?” “I think you need to stop this.” Twilight said as she waved a hoof up and down towards her friend. “I know you want to be as prepared for the next State Fair, but this is preposterous!” “What do ya mean, Twi’?” Applejack asked in genuine confusion. “Ah’m jus’ doin’ as Granny Smith said. She might be old, but she sure knows a hecka lot about apple farmin’! There is nothin’ wrong with some creative apple growin’.” Twilight gave a stare so flat that it could have been seen as one dimensional. She lit up her horn, levitating a full sized mirror into view. It showed Applejack wearing a necklace made out of apple stems, some of them still had a leaf or two on them. Her Stetson had been painted red except for a part on the side that was white with a black-ish brown blob in the middle. Even with the deformed shape, it was obviously meant to be an apple. Her fetlocks had several red apples strung around them. Upon closer inspection, they too were held together by apple stems. She stood on one hind leg, the other one pressed firmly against an apple tree. Her forelegs were stretched at an angle above her head. “Wut?” Applejack asked with the same amount of confusion as before. Twilight did the only sensible thing in a situation like this. She lifted a hoof and introduced it to her face. The two became quick friends, but sadly the hoof was needed to keep Twilight from falling down so they had to part ways rather quickly. “Look, Applejack,” Twilight said as she put the mirror down, it would do her no more good now, “I know that this is important to you and all, but you’ve been at this for nearly two weeks! Worse, it’s escalating! Rainbow Dash said she saw you sneaking up on this tree and tried to scare it! Why would you even try to scare a tree?!” “Granny said that we need to keep the tree on its toes!” Applejack retorted, shifting her forelegs into a different angle. “Ain’t no rest for a prize winnin’ apple tree!” She held this new pose for a few seconds, all the while Twilight’s eye twitched madly, before she dropped down to all four hooves and said, “Now if ya’ll excuse me, Ah gotta go get Bloombulk, he has been oglin’ Leafana for a while now.” “No… just... no… Wait right here.” Twilight commanded before blinking away in a brief flash of purple light. A few moments later she returned with Zecora. The Zebra was covered in suds with her eyes wide open in shock as she was levitated by Twilight’s purple aura. “Lat my gan jou mal ding voordat ek jou klap dat jou ore sing!” She shouted in her native language, far too angry and embarrassed to speak proper Equestrian. Twilight looked confused at her words, but when Zecora swiped at her the message was clear. The levitation magic was cut off and she landed on her hooves, glaring at Twilight. “Ahehehehe… Let me get that for you.” She fired up her horn again, producing a stream of water to hose the soap off of the Zebra. She never let her glare waver, even though her mane covered half of her face. With a sheepish smile, Twilight cast another spell to dry off the shamaness. “I hope you have a good reason for interrupting my bath, otherwise I will show you my wrath.” Zecora said, still glaring. Twilight merely nodded as she pointed to the side where Applejack, still in her strange get up, was busy spraying some of Big Macintosh’s cologne on a tree while saying encouraging words like ‘No way she can resist ya!’ and ‘Look at dat bark!’ and even ‘Go plant yer seed!’. “… The flower known as poison joke, did she have any of it to smoke?” Twilight considered the question seriously for a bit before she finally shook her head. “Apparently it’s some sort of ritual to make an apple grow to be half as big as a tree.” Zecora kept staring at Applejack, who by now was making some very suggestive gestures. “I never thought she would use such a strange ritual. Applejack always seemed like a rational individual.” “She usually is, but I have no idea what’s causing this! It’s as if she became a different pony when she came back from the fair!” Zecora considered this before she asked, “How often does she take a break?” “I… I am not sure.” Twilight replied. She raked her brain, trying to think of the times she had seen her friend relax. “When she sleeps or visits any of us, though I’m not too sure.” Zecora nodded as she watched Applejack drag the now uprooted tree towards them. She would occasionally look back and wiggle her eyebrows at the other tree. “If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that this is caused by stress.” “Stress?” Twilight cocked her head to the side. “Why would she be stressed only now? She’s been doing this for years before I even met her.” “I think it is because a lot has been happening recently,” She began thinking of when the entire forest grew spiky tentacles that tried to capture as many ponies as possible and shuddered at the thought. She also remembered that Twilight had told her that they were teleported into a comic book world and had to fight another tentacle-using enemy. “… crazy things have been happening with increased frequency.” Twilight was about to argue that the rest of her friends have been through all of it with Applejack, but stopped short. They all have had time to relax in between the craziness. Rainbow Dash loves practising stunts in her free time. Fluttershy is as calm as calm can be when she is with her animals. Rarity relaxes by making dresses, which puts food on her plate. Pinkie Pie… is Pinkie Pie. Twilight didn’t even have to worry about providing for herself or Spike since the Princess sends her enough bits each month. But on top of all the craziness, Applejack has to make sure that she sells enough apples to keep her family fed. She might have Big Macintosh to help her, but it is still a big burden to carry. “You’re right. I never even considered that she might be overdoing it…” Zecora nodded in agreement. The Zebra might not be as familiar with Applejack as her other friends, but she knew enough about her to know that a week at a luxurious hotel would do anything but relax her. Fortunately, Zecora knew of the perfect vacation for Applejack. “Come, Twilight Sparkle. Let us take our leave. I must tell you of the plan I have up my sleeve.” Chapter 2The following morning Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew towards Sweet Apple Acres to convince Applejack to take a week off. They both knew that this would be a monumental task. The closest Applejack had ever come to ‘relaxing’ was when she had accepted their help with the applebucking season after she nearly worked herself to death. While they were doing this, Zecora had contacted a travel agent to find a suitable travel plan. The two friends were heading straight towards Applejack’s house, hoping to find her where they knew her family might help them convince Applejack to take a break. While over the orchard, they heard the sound of somepony shouting. “You hear that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she tried to pin point the location of the sound. “Yes,” Twilight replied, also searching for the source of the noise. “There!” She shouted, pointing a hoof towards a tree that she immediately recognised. The two fliers swiftly descended, hoping to find out what the problem was. When they finally touched down, the scene they saw greatly confused them. Applejack was busy crying with her muzzle buried in one of the tree’s branches. The ground was littered with tissues, the same ones that the potentially mentally unstable mare was using to dry her eyes out with. Though that didn’t explain why some of them contained tree sap. “Ah’m so sorry!” She bawled, blowing her nose on another tissue before letting it drop to the ground below. “Ah didn’t know he was yer ex-husband’s brother!” Neither of the two had any idea how to respond to what they saw. Luckily Rainbow Dash simply didn’t care. “Hey Applejack!” She shouted with a hoof cupped to her mouth. “What are you doing up there?” Only now noticing them for the first time, she called down, “Oh, hi guys,” she stopped to dab her eyes with another tissue, “Ah was just apologising to Leafana here fer tryin’ to hook her up with Bloomberg’s brother.” Again Twilight was completely unable to comprehend why she would even try to get two trees married and merely brushed it off as Applejack’s stress talking. “We need to talk to you. Can you come down here?” “Sure,” she said in answer before patting the branch she sat on affectionately and said, “Stay strong ‘ol girl…” With no further words, she jumped down from the branch she was on and landed in front of her two friends. Before she could even ask why they wanted to talk to her, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Why were you apologising to that tree?!” Applejack sighed before she said, “Ah told ya, Ah tried t—“ “No!” Rainbow cut her off, “I meant why were you apologising to a freakin’ tree?!” She punctuated her point by thrusting a hoof at the before mentioned tree. “Because Ah hurt her!” Applejack admitted, “What do ya want me to do, Dash? Jus’ let her suffer alone?!” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to try and get her point across that it was a tree that she was apologising to, but Twilight kept her quiet with a Zip It spell. “Listen, Applejack, I’ll get straight to the point. We think you’re busy overworking yourself and that you need a vacation, at least one week long. Zecora is doing her best to help you find a suitable destination. Do you want to go?” “Hay yeah!” “I know you want to stay here and work some more, but—“ it was then that Twilight’s brain finally processed the new audio information. “Wait, what?” Sadly it was still furiously working on a suitable reply. “Ah love Leafana an’ all, but I think she might need some time without me around.” She sighed wistfully as she looked over her shoulder to Leafana. “Ah jus’ want what’s best for her, but she can’t seem to see that. Ah…I think she might need some space.” With even more information being pumped in, Twilight’s brain overloaded and shut down completely. While it was busy starting up again, Applejack continued, “But jus’ one week, alright? We finished harvestin’ after the whole Flutterbat incident. When Ah get back we’ll start again.” As she talked, Rainbow Dash kept pointing at the tree with both of her hooves as she hovered slightly above the ground. Even though no words were said, Applejack caught her meaning perfectly well. “Ah know, Rainbow, she needs me. But she might never trust me again if Ah don’t let her learn this lesson on her own.” Rainbow Dash promptly rocketed into the sky, the shriek of the wind substituting for the lack of her own voice. With her piece said to her friends, Applejack trotted towards her house, having to tell her family about her potential vacation. Twilight finally came to her senses with a shake of her head. “Well, that was easy.” Just then she noticed she was still using some of her magic to maintain the Zip It spell on Rainbow Dash. Not seeing her close by, she released the spell and immediately cringed as she heard Rainbow Dash’s next words being bellowed from above. “IT’S A BUCKING TREE!” “Thank you for your help, Wind Stream.” Zecora smiled as she shook the hoof of the stallion in front of her. “I am certain that this will comfort her as much as a pleasant dream.” “My pleasure ma’am!” Wind Stream said. He was a Pegasus stallion with a light blue coat and wild looking mane of yellow and white. His cutie mark was comprised of a dark blue sickle moon with two white wings protruding from its sides. “I’ll swing around the day after tomorrow to pick her up!” With their deal made, Zecora stood up and left the office building. As she walked, she read the brochure Wind Stream had provided her again. The trip would start in two days where he would pick up Applejack from her house then lead her towards the small airfield just outside of Ponyville. Once there, they would both be picked up by what he called a ‘jet balloon’. At the mention of the strange name, Zecora had asked him what it was. He had answered with a smirk and told her that it was a revolutionary step in air travel. Thinking back on it, she rolled her eyes, Males. She thought to herself, Always keeping their new toys under obscure veils. She quickly scanned through the rest, taking note of several locations that Applejack would visit. First on the list was the famous Maretoria Falls in Zebrabwe. Perhaps she should send a message along with Applejack to give to her relatives while she was there? Zecora had originally picked Zebrica because she had come from there. The cheap prices helped too, of course. She had gotten quite the surprise when Wind Stream had offered to take Applejack for free if he was allowed to occasionally take pictures of her. Her initial reaction had been to slap the perverted stallion, but as she was about to leave he explained that it was for marketing purposes. ‘Imagine how many ponies would travel with us if the Applejack had travelled with us!’ Zecora had initially been confused as to why a few pictures would be a boon to his company. But she soon remembered that while she had grown familiar to Applejack and her five friends, all of them had saved the world several times over and each of them were personal friends with all four princesses. She had then helped the stallion up and offered him an apology along with a herbal balm for the bruise that was sure to form. Everything was in place. Now Zecora could only hope that Twilight and Rainbow Dash had been able to convince— “IT’S A BUCKING TREE!” She winced at the foul language while mothers immediately covered their foals’ ears in case the verbal onslaught would continue. Sadly, they still heard the first one. “Rarity, what does ‘bucking’ mean?” a young Unicorn filly, who Zecora recognised as Sweetie Belle, asked the mare next to her. Her head was tilted to the side, as if trying to puzzle out the meaning on her own. “Oh, well… ummm…” Rarity struggled for an answer. Despite herself, Zecora chuckled at her misfortune. “It means to kick a tree! Yes! Like Applejack often does to harvest her crop.” Zecora thought that she could faintly hear the mare add ‘I’ll get you for this Rainbow…’ in a low growl. “Oh!” Sweetie Belle said in realization. “That sounds like fun, maybe we could try getting our cutie marks in bucking, we haven’t tried that before!” As innocent as that was meant — and is — the horror on Rarity’s face combined with the meaning taken out of context was too much for the Zebra. She broke out in unrestrained laughter. Chapter 3It was a peaceful morning at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and Big Mcintosh had taken the morning off to spend the day with their family. Normally they would do this in the evening, but seeing as Applejack would be leaving for a week, they felt that it was necessary to make up for the seven evenings of family time that they would be missing. It was very early; the sun’s rays hadn’t even found their way over the horizon yet. But that didn’t stop any of the older Apples. Granny Smith had already prepared a hearty apple-themed breakfast for them all. Even if some sleep was lost, it was well worth the cost. As they lazily ate their breakfast, they could see the sun creeping into view, greeting the new day. “Well,” Applejack began, breaking the tranquil silence that had gathered, “Ah better get ready. Big Mac, would ya mind waking up Apple Bloom? She has ta start gettin’ ready fer school.” Taking one last apple in his jaws, the red stallion went to wake up their youngest member. With her meal long since finished, Applejack began piling the plates. Before she could pick them up, Granny Smith stopped her. “You go an’ prepare for yer trip. Ah can deal with a few dishes.” “Are ya sure, Granny?” the orange mare asked, even though she knew the answer. Granny Smith had always been a hard working pony in her youth. But as she grew older she was forced to stop doing some tasks around the farm until her aging body couldn’t even buck a single apple from a tree anymore. But she still kept her pride alive by doing any jobs she could on her own, even if it was washing the dishes. “Ah’ll be fine. Now, git! Ya’ll got a lot to prepare for.” Knowing that any further arguments would be futile, Applejack began her trot towards Zecora’s house. She barely left the doorway when she was temporarily blinded by a flash of purple light. Blinking the spots from her vision, she saw Twilight standing in front of her along with Zecora suspended in her magical aura. The Zebra was wrapped in her bed covers, her eyes blinking blearily. When she saw Twilight she seemed to gain some energy. With a fierce scowl, she brought up her front hoof and smacked Twilight on the back of her head. “Ow!” Twilight yelped, rubbing at the stinging spot. “Why did you do that?!” Zecora held up her covers in answer, her scowl still present. This caused Twilight to blush as she realized what she had done. “Sorry.” “Tell me why you have woken me from my slumber,” she raised another hoof, “because right now I see no reason to keep my anger encumbered.” “I said I’m sorry, I do have a reason for this.” Seeing the Zebra lower her natural bludgeoning weapon, she continued, now much more chipper without the threat of hoof based violence. “It’s part of the day’s schedule!” Zecora and Applejack both sighed, resigning to their fates. They both knew to what lengths the purple princess could go to keep to her schedules. “What’s first on the list, Twi’?” “Well…” In another flash of magic, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight’s face before unfurling and bouncing on the ground several times, only coming to a stop once it tapped against Applejack’s hooves. “Get Zecora to Applejack, check! Get hit by Zecora, check! “Now we have to make small talk for at least ten minutes before we go into town to get a few things. Easy! So Zecora, what’s it like where Applejack is going?” For the life of her, Twilight couldn’t understand why her two friends thought it would be a good idea to hit their faces with their front hooves. A few hours later at the Ponyville Travelling Agency, Wind Stream was working hard to ensure that the trip went smoothly. He had sent several letters to various hotels and guest houses, hoping to get a spot on such short notice. It would have been impossible to even get the letters there in time, were it not for his Unicorn co-worker, Silver Flare. She had been taught a spell that allowed her to send letters across the oceans to other Unicorns who knew the spell in a fraction of the time it took for any zeppelin to get there. It had been quite easy once he mentioned that Applejack would be one of their guests. Unfortunately they didn’t want them staying for free, but he didn’t mind, the advertisements he could make with Applejack as his cover mare would more than make up for it. The stallion was pulled from his musings by another letter floating in front of him, held in Silver Flare’s magic. “Another letter from Protea.” He took the letter and gave his thanks. Without another word, she left his office and closed the door behind her. Swiftly reading through the letter, he smiled. This had been the last confirmation he needed, the trip was now set. All that was left now was to wait for the crew from the jet balloon to arrive so he could give them the travel plan as well as ensure that their transportation was in working condition. Just as he got out his lunchbox, there was a knock on his door. Knowing that Silver Flare wouldn’t bother with knocking, he called out, “Come in, it’s open.” With a sigh, he put the lunchbox away again. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have to wait a bit. The door creaked open, revealing a light yellow Earth Pony with a slicked back red mane. Sitting on top of the no doubt chemically saturated head was a pair of flight goggles, much like the ones used by the Wonderbolts. His Cutie Mark was a bit of an oddity for an Earth Pony, it displayed a compass with a pair of golden wings stretching out from it. The stallion smiled upon seeing Wind Stream, a gesture that he happily returned. The two approached each other, giving a quick hoof bump in greeting. “Good to see you again, Golden Way!” “Same to you, my friend! Who are we taking to Zebrica this time?” Wind snorted at the directness of his friend. “Can’t wait to get back in the skies, eh Golden?” Said stallion energetically shook his head in return. “Well you’re going to have to wait a bit more, we depart tomorrow.” “Awww…” Golden sulked. “Can’t you tell me while we do the checks?” Wind rolled his eyes. His friend didn’t care nearly as much about his passengers as he did about flying, even though the entire flying vehicle had only been reserved for two. Surely that should have at least piqued the Earth Pony’s interest? “Let’s go do the che—“ “OK!” Golden Way blurted out and ran outside before Wind could even finish his sentence. Laughing at his friend’s antics, he followed at a much more subdued pace after putting on his saddlebags. “Twilight, dear. I love fashion as much as the next pony, but don’t you think this is a bit… excessive?” “Ifh ith!” Applejack agreed wholeheartedly through the bags she was holding. They had spent several hours in Carousel Boutique, getting Applejack enough clothes to prepare her for any warm temperature imaginable. Twilight had even labelled them, ranging from ‘Hot, but not hot enough to merit no clothes.’ to ‘Celestia SMASH!!!’ Choosing to ignore the strange tag, Rarity turned to her over encumbered friend before wrapping her in a hug. “Oh you deserve this so much, Applejack! And to think, you even had enough sense to come to me for your clothing needs!” Applejack responded with a flat stare, telling Rarity everything she needed to know. “… This shopping spree was Twilight’s plan, wasn’t it?” A nod. “I thought as much.” She sighed. “So when are you leaving?” “Tomorrow,” Twilight answered for her, not wanting any more words to be massacred, “we just need to have her get some shots from the doctor, then she’s good to—“ “WHAT?!” the two mares pressed their ears flat and winced in pain at the incredible volume of Applejack’s voice. “Ya never said anythin’ about getting needles stuck into me every which way!” “Calm down, Applejack! It’s just a few shots to make sure you don’t get any foreign illnesses!” Twilight hoped the information would calm her friend down a bit. “Nu-uh! No way, no how!” Dropping the bags from her back, the anger filled mare stormed out of the boutique, leaving Rarity to weep over the mess she left behind. “Applejack, wait!” Twilight called after her. Her order was completely disobeyed as her target increased in speed. Looking at her schedule, Twilight saw that she had less than ten minutes worth of ‘Unexpected events.’ pencilled in for the day. With her whole timetable on the line, she set off in pursuit of her friend. “Everything seems in order.” Wind Stream commented as he checked off the last box in his inspection check list. “Are you sure we can’t go now? Get the other passenger here early?” Golden Way complained from the cockpit. “Or at least let us go for a quick fly over Ponyville?” “No can do. The Unicorns and Pegasi need to rest for tomorrow.” “Cheer up, boss!” One of the Pegasus mares from within the flying machine called out. “Just get in a good night’s rest, and you won’t even notice the time go by!” “APPLEJAAAAACK!” The whole crew went completely silent. Whatever had made that sound, it seemed to be coming closer. “Anypony know what that was?” A Unicorn asked as she poked her head out of the hull. Spending the next few seconds in silence, they saw a figure running towards them. As it got closer, Wind Stream could recognise the figure as the pony he was supposed to take with him tomorrow. “Applejack! What are you doing here?” He asked in confusion. They were on a secluded hill far away from Ponyville; did Zecora tell her the location early? Recognising the stallion from Zecora’s description earlier that morning, she shouted “Are we ready to go?” Wind Stream was completely confused, but he was thankfully saved by his ever selfless friend. “Yes! Get in!” A door on the side of the craft opened up, allowing Applejack entrance. It was only when she approached that she took in the appearance of the aircraft. It was much about three times as big as the zeppelin her family had used to get to the reunion. It was easily big enough to hold twenty ponies. But how would they steer the thing and how would it lift off? It would be impossible to see from the basket and the metal it was made off would surely make it too heavy to fly. Her inspection was stopped short when she entered the door, followed by Wind Stream. “Why the rush?” He asked as the door closed behind them. “I mean, we could leave now, but I thought you wanted to go tomorrow?” “Twilight… crazy… needles…” She managed between gasps. Evidently she had been running for quite some time, if the lack of air and sweat was anything to go by. “Filly and gentlecolt, welcome with us this fine morning.” The voice of Golden Way sounded out from an unseen source. His voice was accompanied by the tell-tale fwoosh of a big fire being lit above them. “Our flight to Zebrica will take approximately four hours. The local time at our destination is eighteen-hundred hours, so it will be quite late when we arrive.” By now it was obvious to Applejack that they had risen a fair amount into the air. “Please buckle up as we will be taking off within two minutes.” “Come on,” Wind Stream said, taking a seat close to him and put flat, black material over his mid-section. “Better take a seat quickly. Buckle up the same way I just did.” Unsure of what else to do, Applejack complied and got the seatbelt on after a few tries. She was beginning to doubt if this was such a good idea. How would they be able to outpace Twilight, who was sure to use her wings once she realised they could be used to chase her. There were many empty seats on the vehicle as well, making her doubts grow even further. Why would such a large thing be used for only two ponies? When a high pitched whine filled the air, her doubts were solidified and unmoving as concrete. “Get back here, Applejack! You need to get vaccinated!” The words acted as a sledgehammer, obliterating the newly formed doubt and replacing it with a single thought: Get the buck out of there. “Aaaaand we’re off!” The same voice from before shouted with unrestrained enthusiasm before the world lurched forward, forcing the mare into the back of her seat. Her shout of protest was completely drowned out by the gleeful laughter that came from Golden Way. Chapter 4“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” “Please calm down…” Wind Stream requested. Even though the shouting was quite annoying, he was still impressed that his passenger had been screaming her head off for more than an hour now. “AAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Applejack said in reply. All four of her legs were wrapped tightly around her chair, as if it the piece of furniture was the only thing preventing her from plummeting to her death. At this point Wind Stream’s wings were cramping for keeping his ears plugged up. He needed a way to calm the mare down, lest he be stuck with a banshee for another three hours. “Are you afraid of flying?” “AAAAAAAAAAH!” “Would it help if I said that this beauty only crashed once since it was built?” “I try to break the sound barrier one time and you can’t let it go, can you?” A voice shouted from the front, followed by an annoyed grumble. “There are also seven Pegasi, including myself, on-board.” Wind Stream continued, ignoring their dare-devil pilot. “You are completely safe!” “AAAAAAAAAH!” Applejack said in reply to his safety information. Clearly she had a few trust issues when it came to flying as her only reference point was Rainbow Dash who crashed quite frequently while doing stunts. “Boss!” A purple Unicorn mare shouted as she poked her head out of a door at the back. “Could you please calm her down? Some of us are losing our concentration down here.” “I’m trying, Garnet, but it seems she has a bit of a phobia for speed and heights.” He said. “I just don’t know how to calm her down!” “Try talking instead of giving her a safety lecture!” She shouted back, her nerves already frizzed by Applejack’s constant screaming. The Pegasus thought this over for a bit before speaking again. “Applejack, why don’t you tell me a bit about your family?” He prayed to Celestia that this would work. Professional courtesy or not, even his nerves were at an end. “A-Ah got a lil’ sister, a big brother and a g-g-granny.” She said, supressing her urge to shout for help. Her newfound calmness was largely due to Garnet saying that they were losing focus. She might not know how the flying machine works, but when one of the workers that’s keeping them airborne asks for a bit of calm, she knows she better give it. “Rest of the f-family’s strewn all over Equestria, but we get tagether once every year.” “And all of you own apple orchards?” He asked. “Mostly, yeah.” She answered, much calmer now that she could talk and take her mind off of the whole ‘high speed flying’ thing. “But Aunt and Uncle Orange live in Manehatten, they dun own any orchards.” “I bet you grow all kinds of apples!” He had her calm; it was best to keep her talking and focused on the conversation instead of the aircraft. “Any special dishes you make?” “All kinds!” She said enthusiastically. Apples were her life, she could talk about them for hours on end. “We got apple fritters, apple tarts, apple pie, apple waffles, apple pancakes…” She kept listing them while Wind Stream listened with a smile on his face. He was genuinely interested in what could be made with just a few apples. When Applejack reached the end of her long list, he decided to keep the line of conversation going. “That’s pretty awesome! Do you know that other countries make a few interesting apple dishes as well?” “Really? Like what?” Applejack asked happily, releasing her death grip on the chair. “Well, the Saddle Arabians make some very nice tasting apple curry slices. Wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t like spicy foods though.” “I can’t believe it!” Twilight ranted. “All of that planning for nothing! NOTHING!” After Applejack took off, Twilight went directly to the Apple Family’s house where Spike was waiting. She told them how their sibling had left before being completely ready and how her schedule had been messed up because of it. “Give it a rest, Twilight!” Spike said in a vain attempt to get the mare to calm down. He knew better than anyone how Twilight could get if she couldn’t follow her perfectly laid out plans. “She’s probably nearly in Zebrica by now! Why don’t you just draw up a new schedule? We got lots of work to do while Applejack is gone.” “He’s right ya know,” The oldest pony in the house said. She had fallen asleep moments after Twilight started her rant, but had woken up when Spike spoke as if sensing the opportunity. “With ‘ol Applejack gone, half of tha farm work will be left undone.” “Yes!” Twilight shouted, eager to get something productive done. She fired up her magic, levitating a piece of paper and a quill in front of her. “What do we need to do?” “First off,” Granny Smith swatted at the floating items, causing them to clatter to the ground. “No magic! Yer taking Applejack’s responsibilities an’ she don’t have any magical mumbo-jumbo!” “So…” Spike began as he picked the items up off the floor. “Me and Twilight’s gotta buck trees, instead of just having her float them down like last time?” “Exactly!” She shouted, pointing a hoof at the young dragon. “For the next week, yer flanks are mine!” Somewhere during her speech, Granny Smith got an old army helmet put on her head. “And mark my words, before this week is over, I will have both of you whipper snappers turned into lean, mean, apple-picking machines! Am Ah clear?” Spike instantly stood up straight and saluted. “Yes ma’am!” Twilight just groaned, earner her a swat from the old mare. “Ow!” “Ah said. Am. Ah. Clear?!” “Yes ma’am…” She said unenthusiastically. This was going to be a very long week. “So they just…throw ‘em in a huge pot along with sugar?” Applejack asked, intrigued by the strange apple beverage. “Yup!” Wind Stream said with just as much enthusiasm. “The mixture won’t spoil for years, and you just mix it with water to drink it!” For the remainder of the trip, the two ponies had been swapping stories of different ways to prepare apples. While Applejack knew specific and complicated ways to prepare apple dishes, Wind Stream knew of a few exotic dishes. They were both so engrossed with the conversation that they almost didn’t notice when Golden Way spoke to them. “Buckle up kiddos! We’re about to land!” With that, Wind Stream double checked the straps securing Applejack to her chair. When he was satisfied, the Pegasus returned to his own chair. “All set!” He called back. An instant later the aircraft jerked violently, causing Applejack to yell out in alarm. “It’s ok, that was just the balloon deploying again!” Wind Stream reassured her. “Take a look out the window, we’re here.” Hesitantly, Applejack complied. When she saw the ground slowly approaching she calmed down. She looked around a bit more and spotted a gigantic waterfall where ponies, zebras, donkeys, cows and even a few Griffons were wandering around. There were several market stalls beneath them, each selling strange little trinkets. The tranquil look of it all brought a smile to her face. “Yup,” He said, enjoying Applejack’s reaction. “Welcome to Zebrica.”
Chapter 1Applejack drew her knife, ready to cut into the apple her family had worked on for several months. “So much for having the winning apple in the Appleloosa State Fair, huh?” Rainbow Dash commented after she revealed the gigantic apple. It still amazed her that any fruit could grow so big without the aid of Unicorn magic. Applejack sighed as her ears drooped. Even though this would be the crowning achievement of her life as an apple farmer, she had no choice. She would lose the apple, or lose her friend. With the knife inches away from the prized apple, she stopped. “Ya’ll hear that?” She asked, dropping the knife. “I don’t hear anything,” Spike commented from his spot behind the mirror. “I just hear Rainbow’s wings flapping.” Even with this said, the rest of them still listened carefully, but could only hear the sound of wing beats. “I don’t hear anything either.” Rainbow Dash said from her spot next to Twilight. The purple Unicorn did a double take upon hearing her friend speak. “Uh, Rainbow?” “Yes?” “If we aren’t hearing your wings flapping, and I’m down here as well…” Twilight trailed off, turning her gaze to the darkened sky. Sure enough, Flutterbat was hovering mid-air, staring them down. Once she realised that she had been spotted, she dove at them with a hiss. “Duck!” Pinkie Pie shouted, snapping the rest of the group out of their shock. They swiftly obeyed, allowing their transformed friend to harmlessly pass over them. Applejack, being the first to recover, noticed the bat-pony hybrid diving again, only this time straight towards the giant apple. Thinking fast, she leapt behind her prized apple and pulled the mirror out while shouting, “Get a move on, Spike!” She refused to buck the apple out of the way, not wanting to bruise it. She had completely abandoned the original plan. She might still be able to win the State Fair if she could prevent With the mirror now being maneuvered by both Applejack and Spike, they were able to get the mirror in the path of their friend. To her unending joy, they made it in time. Flutterbat locked gazes with her mirrored self. “… and in first place, Applejack!” Sheriff Silver Star announced, followed by much cheering from the town ponies. Nearly the everypony had gathered for the fair to take this time to relax. “Well done, Applejack.” Chief Thunderhooves congratulated her as he placed a red ribbon with a big ‘1’ in the centre on the gigantic apple. Every year the buffalo would partake in the festival as a way to increase their relationship with the fairly new town. As a way to show the buffalo that they wanted their friendship, the town had appointed Chief Thunderhooves as one of the judges in the fair. He moved to the next contestant, an orange mare with a poofy mane that was a much darker shade of orange. On the second place pedestal beside her stood a carrot no larger than a pony, but interestingly enough had grown two arms and two legs much like a minotaur’s. The arms were flexed, as if displaying its non-existent muscles. “You did well, Golden harvest. I am certain that you will come in first place next year.” She bowed her head slightly as he placed a yellow ribbon with a big ‘2’ in the centre on the carrot. “Thank you, Chief Thunderhooves.” There was more cheering, but slightly more subdued. Finally, the chief moved to the third place pedestal. Standing next to a pony sized cabbage was a brown stallion with a messy mane that was light green and had several streaks of white in it. His cutie mark displayed a cart filled with, you guessed it, cabbages. “A valiant effort, Cabbage Core.” Said the chief of the buffalo as he placed a green ribbon with a ‘3’ in the centre onto the cabbage. Again, there was cheering, but not as loud as what Golden Harvest had gotten. “Thank you, Chief.” He replied, looking at his cabbage with pride. “Now,” the Chief began softly, turning to face the crowd. “Let the feast begin!” “Feast? What feast?” Cabbage Core asked. This was both the first year he had entered into the competition and the first year he had been to the Fair. The stallion had heard about it through some of his customers. Applejack and Golden Harvest had already removed their ribbons from their entries, preferring not to lose them in the coming frenzy. They both chuckled slightly and exchanged knowing looks. With no warning, the crowd that surrounded the three winners surged forward, tearing into the massive products. “My cabbage!” The stallion cried out in horror. He looked at the flying cabbage bits with the same level of horror that one might have when you witness another individual being torn apart. Oblivious to the borderline mental breakdown their fellow contestant was having, Applejack and Golden Harvest shook hooves. “Nice try Golden, but yer gonna have ta do better than that next year.” “Oh I intend to, Applejack,” she replied with a smile, “the competition isn’t nearly as interesting without you here. Don’t you dare slack off! I want to beat you fair and square.” “Oh dun’ worry, Ah intend to show you who the better farmer is again next year.” Applejack said jokingly, breaking the hoof shake. The two of them have been frenemies for a long time now. They used their competition against each other as a way to motivate themselves to constantly improve. “Ha!” She barked out, stepping away from her rival and disappeared into the crowd. “Applejack?” “Yes, Twilight?” “I think you need to stop this.” Twilight said as she waved a hoof up and down towards her friend. “I know you want to be as prepared for the next State Fair, but this is preposterous!” “What do ya mean, Twi’?” Applejack asked in genuine confusion. “Ah’m jus’ doin’ as Granny Smith said. She might be old, but she sure knows a hecka lot about apple farmin’! There is nothin’ wrong with some creative apple growin’.” Twilight gave a stare so flat that it could have been seen as one dimensional. She lit up her horn, levitating a full sized mirror into view. It showed Applejack wearing a necklace made out of apple stems, some of them still had a leaf or two on them. Her Stetson had been painted red except for a part on the side that was white with a black-ish brown blob in the middle. Even with the deformed shape, it was obviously meant to be an apple. Her fetlocks had several red apples strung around them. Upon closer inspection, they too were held together by apple stems. She stood on one hind leg, the other one pressed firmly against an apple tree. Her forelegs were stretched at an angle above her head. “Wut?” Applejack asked with the same amount of confusion as before. Twilight did the only sensible thing in a situation like this. She lifted a hoof and introduced it to her face. The two became quick friends, but sadly the hoof was needed to keep Twilight from falling down so they had to part ways rather quickly. “Look, Applejack,” Twilight said as she put the mirror down, it would do her no more good now, “I know that this is important to you and all, but you’ve been at this for nearly two weeks! Worse, it’s escalating! Rainbow Dash said she saw you sneaking up on this tree and tried to scare it! Why would you even try to scare a tree?!” “Granny said that we need to keep the tree on its toes!” Applejack retorted, shifting her forelegs into a different angle. “Ain’t no rest for a prize winnin’ apple tree!” She held this new pose for a few seconds, all the while Twilight’s eye twitched madly, before she dropped down to all four hooves and said, “Now if ya’ll excuse me, Ah gotta go get Bloombulk, he has been oglin’ Leafana for a while now.” “No… just... no… Wait right here.” Twilight commanded before blinking away in a brief flash of purple light. A few moments later she returned with Zecora. The Zebra was covered in suds with her eyes wide open in shock as she was levitated by Twilight’s purple aura. “Lat my gan jou mal ding voordat ek jou klap dat jou ore sing!” She shouted in her native language, far too angry and embarrassed to speak proper Equestrian. Twilight looked confused at her words, but when Zecora swiped at her the message was clear. The levitation magic was cut off and she landed on her hooves, glaring at Twilight. “Ahehehehe… Let me get that for you.” She fired up her horn again, producing a stream of water to hose the soap off of the Zebra. She never let her glare waver, even though her mane covered half of her face. With a sheepish smile, Twilight cast another spell to dry off the shamaness. “I hope you have a good reason for interrupting my bath, otherwise I will show you my wrath.” Zecora said, still glaring. Twilight merely nodded as she pointed to the side where Applejack, still in her strange get up, was busy spraying some of Big Macintosh’s cologne on a tree while saying encouraging words like ‘No way she can resist ya!’ and ‘Look at dat bark!’ and even ‘Go plant yer seed!’. “… The flower known as poison joke, did she have any of it to smoke?” Twilight considered the question seriously for a bit before she finally shook her head. “Apparently it’s some sort of ritual to make an apple grow to be half as big as a tree.” Zecora kept staring at Applejack, who by now was making some very suggestive gestures. “I never thought she would use such a strange ritual. Applejack always seemed like a rational individual.” “She usually is, but I have no idea what’s causing this! It’s as if she became a different pony when she came back from the fair!” Zecora considered this before she asked, “How often does she take a break?” “I… I am not sure.” Twilight replied. She raked her brain, trying to think of the times she had seen her friend relax. “When she sleeps or visits any of us, though I’m not too sure.” Zecora nodded as she watched Applejack drag the now uprooted tree towards them. She would occasionally look back and wiggle her eyebrows at the other tree. “If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that this is caused by stress.” “Stress?” Twilight cocked her head to the side. “Why would she be stressed only now? She’s been doing this for years before I even met her.” “I think it is because a lot has been happening recently,” She began thinking of when the entire forest grew spiky tentacles that tried to capture as many ponies as possible and shuddered at the thought. She also remembered that Twilight had told her that they were teleported into a comic book world and had to fight another tentacle-using enemy. “… crazy things have been happening with increased frequency.” Twilight was about to argue that the rest of her friends have been through all of it with Applejack, but stopped short. They all have had time to relax in between the craziness. Rainbow Dash loves practising stunts in her free time. Fluttershy is as calm as calm can be when she is with her animals. Rarity relaxes by making dresses, which puts food on her plate. Pinkie Pie… is Pinkie Pie. Twilight didn’t even have to worry about providing for herself or Spike since the Princess sends her enough bits each month. But on top of all the craziness, Applejack has to make sure that she sells enough apples to keep her family fed. She might have Big Macintosh to help her, but it is still a big burden to carry. “You’re right. I never even considered that she might be overdoing it…” Zecora nodded in agreement. The Zebra might not be as familiar with Applejack as her other friends, but she knew enough about her to know that a week at a luxurious hotel would do anything but relax her. Fortunately, Zecora knew of the perfect vacation for Applejack. “Come, Twilight Sparkle. Let us take our leave. I must tell you of the plan I have up my sleeve.”
Chapter 2The following morning Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew towards Sweet Apple Acres to convince Applejack to take a week off. They both knew that this would be a monumental task. The closest Applejack had ever come to ‘relaxing’ was when she had accepted their help with the applebucking season after she nearly worked herself to death. While they were doing this, Zecora had contacted a travel agent to find a suitable travel plan. The two friends were heading straight towards Applejack’s house, hoping to find her where they knew her family might help them convince Applejack to take a break. While over the orchard, they heard the sound of somepony shouting. “You hear that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she tried to pin point the location of the sound. “Yes,” Twilight replied, also searching for the source of the noise. “There!” She shouted, pointing a hoof towards a tree that she immediately recognised. The two fliers swiftly descended, hoping to find out what the problem was. When they finally touched down, the scene they saw greatly confused them. Applejack was busy crying with her muzzle buried in one of the tree’s branches. The ground was littered with tissues, the same ones that the potentially mentally unstable mare was using to dry her eyes out with. Though that didn’t explain why some of them contained tree sap. “Ah’m so sorry!” She bawled, blowing her nose on another tissue before letting it drop to the ground below. “Ah didn’t know he was yer ex-husband’s brother!” Neither of the two had any idea how to respond to what they saw. Luckily Rainbow Dash simply didn’t care. “Hey Applejack!” She shouted with a hoof cupped to her mouth. “What are you doing up there?” Only now noticing them for the first time, she called down, “Oh, hi guys,” she stopped to dab her eyes with another tissue, “Ah was just apologising to Leafana here fer tryin’ to hook her up with Bloomberg’s brother.” Again Twilight was completely unable to comprehend why she would even try to get two trees married and merely brushed it off as Applejack’s stress talking. “We need to talk to you. Can you come down here?” “Sure,” she said in answer before patting the branch she sat on affectionately and said, “Stay strong ‘ol girl…” With no further words, she jumped down from the branch she was on and landed in front of her two friends. Before she could even ask why they wanted to talk to her, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Why were you apologising to that tree?!” Applejack sighed before she said, “Ah told ya, Ah tried t—“ “No!” Rainbow cut her off, “I meant why were you apologising to a freakin’ tree?!” She punctuated her point by thrusting a hoof at the before mentioned tree. “Because Ah hurt her!” Applejack admitted, “What do ya want me to do, Dash? Jus’ let her suffer alone?!” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to try and get her point across that it was a tree that she was apologising to, but Twilight kept her quiet with a Zip It spell. “Listen, Applejack, I’ll get straight to the point. We think you’re busy overworking yourself and that you need a vacation, at least one week long. Zecora is doing her best to help you find a suitable destination. Do you want to go?” “Hay yeah!” “I know you want to stay here and work some more, but—“ it was then that Twilight’s brain finally processed the new audio information. “Wait, what?” Sadly it was still furiously working on a suitable reply. “Ah love Leafana an’ all, but I think she might need some time without me around.” She sighed wistfully as she looked over her shoulder to Leafana. “Ah jus’ want what’s best for her, but she can’t seem to see that. Ah…I think she might need some space.” With even more information being pumped in, Twilight’s brain overloaded and shut down completely. While it was busy starting up again, Applejack continued, “But jus’ one week, alright? We finished harvestin’ after the whole Flutterbat incident. When Ah get back we’ll start again.” As she talked, Rainbow Dash kept pointing at the tree with both of her hooves as she hovered slightly above the ground. Even though no words were said, Applejack caught her meaning perfectly well. “Ah know, Rainbow, she needs me. But she might never trust me again if Ah don’t let her learn this lesson on her own.” Rainbow Dash promptly rocketed into the sky, the shriek of the wind substituting for the lack of her own voice. With her piece said to her friends, Applejack trotted towards her house, having to tell her family about her potential vacation. Twilight finally came to her senses with a shake of her head. “Well, that was easy.” Just then she noticed she was still using some of her magic to maintain the Zip It spell on Rainbow Dash. Not seeing her close by, she released the spell and immediately cringed as she heard Rainbow Dash’s next words being bellowed from above. “IT’S A BUCKING TREE!” “Thank you for your help, Wind Stream.” Zecora smiled as she shook the hoof of the stallion in front of her. “I am certain that this will comfort her as much as a pleasant dream.” “My pleasure ma’am!” Wind Stream said. He was a Pegasus stallion with a light blue coat and wild looking mane of yellow and white. His cutie mark was comprised of a dark blue sickle moon with two white wings protruding from its sides. “I’ll swing around the day after tomorrow to pick her up!” With their deal made, Zecora stood up and left the office building. As she walked, she read the brochure Wind Stream had provided her again. The trip would start in two days where he would pick up Applejack from her house then lead her towards the small airfield just outside of Ponyville. Once there, they would both be picked up by what he called a ‘jet balloon’. At the mention of the strange name, Zecora had asked him what it was. He had answered with a smirk and told her that it was a revolutionary step in air travel. Thinking back on it, she rolled her eyes, Males. She thought to herself, Always keeping their new toys under obscure veils. She quickly scanned through the rest, taking note of several locations that Applejack would visit. First on the list was the famous Maretoria Falls in Zebrabwe. Perhaps she should send a message along with Applejack to give to her relatives while she was there? Zecora had originally picked Zebrica because she had come from there. The cheap prices helped too, of course. She had gotten quite the surprise when Wind Stream had offered to take Applejack for free if he was allowed to occasionally take pictures of her. Her initial reaction had been to slap the perverted stallion, but as she was about to leave he explained that it was for marketing purposes. ‘Imagine how many ponies would travel with us if the Applejack had travelled with us!’ Zecora had initially been confused as to why a few pictures would be a boon to his company. But she soon remembered that while she had grown familiar to Applejack and her five friends, all of them had saved the world several times over and each of them were personal friends with all four princesses. She had then helped the stallion up and offered him an apology along with a herbal balm for the bruise that was sure to form. Everything was in place. Now Zecora could only hope that Twilight and Rainbow Dash had been able to convince— “IT’S A BUCKING TREE!” She winced at the foul language while mothers immediately covered their foals’ ears in case the verbal onslaught would continue. Sadly, they still heard the first one. “Rarity, what does ‘bucking’ mean?” a young Unicorn filly, who Zecora recognised as Sweetie Belle, asked the mare next to her. Her head was tilted to the side, as if trying to puzzle out the meaning on her own. “Oh, well… ummm…” Rarity struggled for an answer. Despite herself, Zecora chuckled at her misfortune. “It means to kick a tree! Yes! Like Applejack often does to harvest her crop.” Zecora thought that she could faintly hear the mare add ‘I’ll get you for this Rainbow…’ in a low growl. “Oh!” Sweetie Belle said in realization. “That sounds like fun, maybe we could try getting our cutie marks in bucking, we haven’t tried that before!” As innocent as that was meant — and is — the horror on Rarity’s face combined with the meaning taken out of context was too much for the Zebra. She broke out in unrestrained laughter.
Chapter 3It was a peaceful morning at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and Big Mcintosh had taken the morning off to spend the day with their family. Normally they would do this in the evening, but seeing as Applejack would be leaving for a week, they felt that it was necessary to make up for the seven evenings of family time that they would be missing. It was very early; the sun’s rays hadn’t even found their way over the horizon yet. But that didn’t stop any of the older Apples. Granny Smith had already prepared a hearty apple-themed breakfast for them all. Even if some sleep was lost, it was well worth the cost. As they lazily ate their breakfast, they could see the sun creeping into view, greeting the new day. “Well,” Applejack began, breaking the tranquil silence that had gathered, “Ah better get ready. Big Mac, would ya mind waking up Apple Bloom? She has ta start gettin’ ready fer school.” Taking one last apple in his jaws, the red stallion went to wake up their youngest member. With her meal long since finished, Applejack began piling the plates. Before she could pick them up, Granny Smith stopped her. “You go an’ prepare for yer trip. Ah can deal with a few dishes.” “Are ya sure, Granny?” the orange mare asked, even though she knew the answer. Granny Smith had always been a hard working pony in her youth. But as she grew older she was forced to stop doing some tasks around the farm until her aging body couldn’t even buck a single apple from a tree anymore. But she still kept her pride alive by doing any jobs she could on her own, even if it was washing the dishes. “Ah’ll be fine. Now, git! Ya’ll got a lot to prepare for.” Knowing that any further arguments would be futile, Applejack began her trot towards Zecora’s house. She barely left the doorway when she was temporarily blinded by a flash of purple light. Blinking the spots from her vision, she saw Twilight standing in front of her along with Zecora suspended in her magical aura. The Zebra was wrapped in her bed covers, her eyes blinking blearily. When she saw Twilight she seemed to gain some energy. With a fierce scowl, she brought up her front hoof and smacked Twilight on the back of her head. “Ow!” Twilight yelped, rubbing at the stinging spot. “Why did you do that?!” Zecora held up her covers in answer, her scowl still present. This caused Twilight to blush as she realized what she had done. “Sorry.” “Tell me why you have woken me from my slumber,” she raised another hoof, “because right now I see no reason to keep my anger encumbered.” “I said I’m sorry, I do have a reason for this.” Seeing the Zebra lower her natural bludgeoning weapon, she continued, now much more chipper without the threat of hoof based violence. “It’s part of the day’s schedule!” Zecora and Applejack both sighed, resigning to their fates. They both knew to what lengths the purple princess could go to keep to her schedules. “What’s first on the list, Twi’?” “Well…” In another flash of magic, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight’s face before unfurling and bouncing on the ground several times, only coming to a stop once it tapped against Applejack’s hooves. “Get Zecora to Applejack, check! Get hit by Zecora, check! “Now we have to make small talk for at least ten minutes before we go into town to get a few things. Easy! So Zecora, what’s it like where Applejack is going?” For the life of her, Twilight couldn’t understand why her two friends thought it would be a good idea to hit their faces with their front hooves. A few hours later at the Ponyville Travelling Agency, Wind Stream was working hard to ensure that the trip went smoothly. He had sent several letters to various hotels and guest houses, hoping to get a spot on such short notice. It would have been impossible to even get the letters there in time, were it not for his Unicorn co-worker, Silver Flare. She had been taught a spell that allowed her to send letters across the oceans to other Unicorns who knew the spell in a fraction of the time it took for any zeppelin to get there. It had been quite easy once he mentioned that Applejack would be one of their guests. Unfortunately they didn’t want them staying for free, but he didn’t mind, the advertisements he could make with Applejack as his cover mare would more than make up for it. The stallion was pulled from his musings by another letter floating in front of him, held in Silver Flare’s magic. “Another letter from Protea.” He took the letter and gave his thanks. Without another word, she left his office and closed the door behind her. Swiftly reading through the letter, he smiled. This had been the last confirmation he needed, the trip was now set. All that was left now was to wait for the crew from the jet balloon to arrive so he could give them the travel plan as well as ensure that their transportation was in working condition. Just as he got out his lunchbox, there was a knock on his door. Knowing that Silver Flare wouldn’t bother with knocking, he called out, “Come in, it’s open.” With a sigh, he put the lunchbox away again. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have to wait a bit. The door creaked open, revealing a light yellow Earth Pony with a slicked back red mane. Sitting on top of the no doubt chemically saturated head was a pair of flight goggles, much like the ones used by the Wonderbolts. His Cutie Mark was a bit of an oddity for an Earth Pony, it displayed a compass with a pair of golden wings stretching out from it. The stallion smiled upon seeing Wind Stream, a gesture that he happily returned. The two approached each other, giving a quick hoof bump in greeting. “Good to see you again, Golden Way!” “Same to you, my friend! Who are we taking to Zebrica this time?” Wind snorted at the directness of his friend. “Can’t wait to get back in the skies, eh Golden?” Said stallion energetically shook his head in return. “Well you’re going to have to wait a bit more, we depart tomorrow.” “Awww…” Golden sulked. “Can’t you tell me while we do the checks?” Wind rolled his eyes. His friend didn’t care nearly as much about his passengers as he did about flying, even though the entire flying vehicle had only been reserved for two. Surely that should have at least piqued the Earth Pony’s interest? “Let’s go do the che—“ “OK!” Golden Way blurted out and ran outside before Wind could even finish his sentence. Laughing at his friend’s antics, he followed at a much more subdued pace after putting on his saddlebags. “Twilight, dear. I love fashion as much as the next pony, but don’t you think this is a bit… excessive?” “Ifh ith!” Applejack agreed wholeheartedly through the bags she was holding. They had spent several hours in Carousel Boutique, getting Applejack enough clothes to prepare her for any warm temperature imaginable. Twilight had even labelled them, ranging from ‘Hot, but not hot enough to merit no clothes.’ to ‘Celestia SMASH!!!’ Choosing to ignore the strange tag, Rarity turned to her over encumbered friend before wrapping her in a hug. “Oh you deserve this so much, Applejack! And to think, you even had enough sense to come to me for your clothing needs!” Applejack responded with a flat stare, telling Rarity everything she needed to know. “… This shopping spree was Twilight’s plan, wasn’t it?” A nod. “I thought as much.” She sighed. “So when are you leaving?” “Tomorrow,” Twilight answered for her, not wanting any more words to be massacred, “we just need to have her get some shots from the doctor, then she’s good to—“ “WHAT?!” the two mares pressed their ears flat and winced in pain at the incredible volume of Applejack’s voice. “Ya never said anythin’ about getting needles stuck into me every which way!” “Calm down, Applejack! It’s just a few shots to make sure you don’t get any foreign illnesses!” Twilight hoped the information would calm her friend down a bit. “Nu-uh! No way, no how!” Dropping the bags from her back, the anger filled mare stormed out of the boutique, leaving Rarity to weep over the mess she left behind. “Applejack, wait!” Twilight called after her. Her order was completely disobeyed as her target increased in speed. Looking at her schedule, Twilight saw that she had less than ten minutes worth of ‘Unexpected events.’ pencilled in for the day. With her whole timetable on the line, she set off in pursuit of her friend. “Everything seems in order.” Wind Stream commented as he checked off the last box in his inspection check list. “Are you sure we can’t go now? Get the other passenger here early?” Golden Way complained from the cockpit. “Or at least let us go for a quick fly over Ponyville?” “No can do. The Unicorns and Pegasi need to rest for tomorrow.” “Cheer up, boss!” One of the Pegasus mares from within the flying machine called out. “Just get in a good night’s rest, and you won’t even notice the time go by!” “APPLEJAAAAACK!” The whole crew went completely silent. Whatever had made that sound, it seemed to be coming closer. “Anypony know what that was?” A Unicorn asked as she poked her head out of the hull. Spending the next few seconds in silence, they saw a figure running towards them. As it got closer, Wind Stream could recognise the figure as the pony he was supposed to take with him tomorrow. “Applejack! What are you doing here?” He asked in confusion. They were on a secluded hill far away from Ponyville; did Zecora tell her the location early? Recognising the stallion from Zecora’s description earlier that morning, she shouted “Are we ready to go?” Wind Stream was completely confused, but he was thankfully saved by his ever selfless friend. “Yes! Get in!” A door on the side of the craft opened up, allowing Applejack entrance. It was only when she approached that she took in the appearance of the aircraft. It was much about three times as big as the zeppelin her family had used to get to the reunion. It was easily big enough to hold twenty ponies. But how would they steer the thing and how would it lift off? It would be impossible to see from the basket and the metal it was made off would surely make it too heavy to fly. Her inspection was stopped short when she entered the door, followed by Wind Stream. “Why the rush?” He asked as the door closed behind them. “I mean, we could leave now, but I thought you wanted to go tomorrow?” “Twilight… crazy… needles…” She managed between gasps. Evidently she had been running for quite some time, if the lack of air and sweat was anything to go by. “Filly and gentlecolt, welcome with us this fine morning.” The voice of Golden Way sounded out from an unseen source. His voice was accompanied by the tell-tale fwoosh of a big fire being lit above them. “Our flight to Zebrica will take approximately four hours. The local time at our destination is eighteen-hundred hours, so it will be quite late when we arrive.” By now it was obvious to Applejack that they had risen a fair amount into the air. “Please buckle up as we will be taking off within two minutes.” “Come on,” Wind Stream said, taking a seat close to him and put flat, black material over his mid-section. “Better take a seat quickly. Buckle up the same way I just did.” Unsure of what else to do, Applejack complied and got the seatbelt on after a few tries. She was beginning to doubt if this was such a good idea. How would they be able to outpace Twilight, who was sure to use her wings once she realised they could be used to chase her. There were many empty seats on the vehicle as well, making her doubts grow even further. Why would such a large thing be used for only two ponies? When a high pitched whine filled the air, her doubts were solidified and unmoving as concrete. “Get back here, Applejack! You need to get vaccinated!” The words acted as a sledgehammer, obliterating the newly formed doubt and replacing it with a single thought: Get the buck out of there. “Aaaaand we’re off!” The same voice from before shouted with unrestrained enthusiasm before the world lurched forward, forcing the mare into the back of her seat. Her shout of protest was completely drowned out by the gleeful laughter that came from Golden Way.
Chapter 4“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” “Please calm down…” Wind Stream requested. Even though the shouting was quite annoying, he was still impressed that his passenger had been screaming her head off for more than an hour now. “AAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Applejack said in reply. All four of her legs were wrapped tightly around her chair, as if it the piece of furniture was the only thing preventing her from plummeting to her death. At this point Wind Stream’s wings were cramping for keeping his ears plugged up. He needed a way to calm the mare down, lest he be stuck with a banshee for another three hours. “Are you afraid of flying?” “AAAAAAAAAAH!” “Would it help if I said that this beauty only crashed once since it was built?” “I try to break the sound barrier one time and you can’t let it go, can you?” A voice shouted from the front, followed by an annoyed grumble. “There are also seven Pegasi, including myself, on-board.” Wind Stream continued, ignoring their dare-devil pilot. “You are completely safe!” “AAAAAAAAAH!” Applejack said in reply to his safety information. Clearly she had a few trust issues when it came to flying as her only reference point was Rainbow Dash who crashed quite frequently while doing stunts. “Boss!” A purple Unicorn mare shouted as she poked her head out of a door at the back. “Could you please calm her down? Some of us are losing our concentration down here.” “I’m trying, Garnet, but it seems she has a bit of a phobia for speed and heights.” He said. “I just don’t know how to calm her down!” “Try talking instead of giving her a safety lecture!” She shouted back, her nerves already frizzed by Applejack’s constant screaming. The Pegasus thought this over for a bit before speaking again. “Applejack, why don’t you tell me a bit about your family?” He prayed to Celestia that this would work. Professional courtesy or not, even his nerves were at an end. “A-Ah got a lil’ sister, a big brother and a g-g-granny.” She said, supressing her urge to shout for help. Her newfound calmness was largely due to Garnet saying that they were losing focus. She might not know how the flying machine works, but when one of the workers that’s keeping them airborne asks for a bit of calm, she knows she better give it. “Rest of the f-family’s strewn all over Equestria, but we get tagether once every year.” “And all of you own apple orchards?” He asked. “Mostly, yeah.” She answered, much calmer now that she could talk and take her mind off of the whole ‘high speed flying’ thing. “But Aunt and Uncle Orange live in Manehatten, they dun own any orchards.” “I bet you grow all kinds of apples!” He had her calm; it was best to keep her talking and focused on the conversation instead of the aircraft. “Any special dishes you make?” “All kinds!” She said enthusiastically. Apples were her life, she could talk about them for hours on end. “We got apple fritters, apple tarts, apple pie, apple waffles, apple pancakes…” She kept listing them while Wind Stream listened with a smile on his face. He was genuinely interested in what could be made with just a few apples. When Applejack reached the end of her long list, he decided to keep the line of conversation going. “That’s pretty awesome! Do you know that other countries make a few interesting apple dishes as well?” “Really? Like what?” Applejack asked happily, releasing her death grip on the chair. “Well, the Saddle Arabians make some very nice tasting apple curry slices. Wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t like spicy foods though.” “I can’t believe it!” Twilight ranted. “All of that planning for nothing! NOTHING!” After Applejack took off, Twilight went directly to the Apple Family’s house where Spike was waiting. She told them how their sibling had left before being completely ready and how her schedule had been messed up because of it. “Give it a rest, Twilight!” Spike said in a vain attempt to get the mare to calm down. He knew better than anyone how Twilight could get if she couldn’t follow her perfectly laid out plans. “She’s probably nearly in Zebrica by now! Why don’t you just draw up a new schedule? We got lots of work to do while Applejack is gone.” “He’s right ya know,” The oldest pony in the house said. She had fallen asleep moments after Twilight started her rant, but had woken up when Spike spoke as if sensing the opportunity. “With ‘ol Applejack gone, half of tha farm work will be left undone.” “Yes!” Twilight shouted, eager to get something productive done. She fired up her magic, levitating a piece of paper and a quill in front of her. “What do we need to do?” “First off,” Granny Smith swatted at the floating items, causing them to clatter to the ground. “No magic! Yer taking Applejack’s responsibilities an’ she don’t have any magical mumbo-jumbo!” “So…” Spike began as he picked the items up off the floor. “Me and Twilight’s gotta buck trees, instead of just having her float them down like last time?” “Exactly!” She shouted, pointing a hoof at the young dragon. “For the next week, yer flanks are mine!” Somewhere during her speech, Granny Smith got an old army helmet put on her head. “And mark my words, before this week is over, I will have both of you whipper snappers turned into lean, mean, apple-picking machines! Am Ah clear?” Spike instantly stood up straight and saluted. “Yes ma’am!” Twilight just groaned, earner her a swat from the old mare. “Ow!” “Ah said. Am. Ah. Clear?!” “Yes ma’am…” She said unenthusiastically. This was going to be a very long week. “So they just…throw ‘em in a huge pot along with sugar?” Applejack asked, intrigued by the strange apple beverage. “Yup!” Wind Stream said with just as much enthusiasm. “The mixture won’t spoil for years, and you just mix it with water to drink it!” For the remainder of the trip, the two ponies had been swapping stories of different ways to prepare apples. While Applejack knew specific and complicated ways to prepare apple dishes, Wind Stream knew of a few exotic dishes. They were both so engrossed with the conversation that they almost didn’t notice when Golden Way spoke to them. “Buckle up kiddos! We’re about to land!” With that, Wind Stream double checked the straps securing Applejack to her chair. When he was satisfied, the Pegasus returned to his own chair. “All set!” He called back. An instant later the aircraft jerked violently, causing Applejack to yell out in alarm. “It’s ok, that was just the balloon deploying again!” Wind Stream reassured her. “Take a look out the window, we’re here.” Hesitantly, Applejack complied. When she saw the ground slowly approaching she calmed down. She looked around a bit more and spotted a gigantic waterfall where ponies, zebras, donkeys, cows and even a few Griffons were wandering around. There were several market stalls beneath them, each selling strange little trinkets. The tranquil look of it all brought a smile to her face. “Yup,” He said, enjoying Applejack’s reaction. “Welcome to Zebrica.”
