As Applejack trotted along, an icy cold wind blasted her coat and whipped her mane. The sky was a sad mottled grey and the sun barely peaked through the thick carpet of clouds. Not many ponies were out that day, but Applejack could see some little school fillies wearing earmuffs and scarves while running around playing hoofball. As the last remaining leaves of the season crunched under her hooves, Applejack couldn’t help but mourn the sound. The apple harvest season, when apples were at their peak of freshness, was over and now the once full trees were barren, waiting for spring to chase winter away so they could blossom once more.

She glanced up at the sparkling castle that was now before her. Even though it was the “Castle of Friendship” it seemed to loom over her like a dark shadow. Applejack shuddered slightly as she walked past the massive doors. Making her way through the crystalline halls, she studied the drapes and the soft lighting. It seemed only a short while ago this castle had been a big surprise and mystery to them all, but now it seemed to have become normal. Well, as normal as it could get. Echoes of the other mares’ laughter and delighted squeals were audible as she entered the passage that led straight to the throne room.

“Hey AJ!” called Pinkie Pie, who bounded over as soon as she saw her.

“Howdy, Pinkie.” replied Applejack.

“Are you excited for the sleepover Twilight’s hosting? I know I am!” said Pinkie perkily.

Applejack nodded and smiled. She had been looking forward to spending some fun with her friends all week. Things at the farm were passing by slowly, and she was constantly searching everywhere for anything she could do.

“Hey y’all!” called Applejack, stepping fully into the throne room. The other ponies trotted over with wide smiles and friendly greetings.

“I hope you didn’t have trouble coming over here,” Twilight said nervously. “I mean, the weather is looking dreary and it’s really cold out, so I was hoping you could still make it.”

Applejack grinned at Twilight’s nervous (yet endearing) antics. “Don’t worry sugar, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Twilight absolutely beamed at this, and Rarity decided to jump into the conversation.

“Oh Applejack dear, you really do need a winter coat!” she declared, staring at the lack of winter gear she was wearing.

“Hmmm I think I have some proper winter fabric at my boutique that would go great with that skin tone of yours-” Rarity was quickly cut off by Rainbow Dash, who said “Enough with the frou-frou stuff! Let’s get down to why we’re really here…” she trailed off ominously.

“To PARTY!” she declared and did a few loop-de-loops in the air.

Everyone gave a hearty laugh and continued the friendly banter before Twilight cut in. “Alright guys, what do you want to do first?” she asked with eyes sparking excitedly.

“Fashion Show!”

“Story time…?”

“A race!”

“A DANCE PARTY!”

Everyone started to call out different ideas until Applejack came up with the perfect one.
“How about hide and seek?” she suggested. “It’s a pretty big castle we got here and it sure would be fun to try and hunt each other down.”

Rainbow gave a broad grin. “Oh so a competition then? I bet twenty bits I could last longer than you, AJ,” she teased.
Applejack gave her a competitive smirk before replying, “Oh it’s on!”

Fluttershy seemed relieved that it would be a more relaxed event than something like tag. Rarity was looking a bit upset that she couldn’t be dressing up as much as she wished, but she seemed happy enough. In the middle, Pinkie Pie was giving everyone a mischievous smile that made even Rainbow Dash look slightly nervous.

Applejack crept quietly up the a looming set of stairs sparkling with lavender and pale blue hues. Since Twilight was hosting, the princess was chosen as the seeker and the rest of the Mane Six had thirty more seconds to hide. With no idea where she was going, Applejack could only hope that it would be a good place to hide. She did her best to muffle the noisy clacking noises of her hooves, but honestly, it was a lost cause.

Finally, she had reached the top right of the stairway when Twilight’s voice rang out like a bell, “READY OR NOT HERE I COME!”.

Applejack was in panic mode. She sprinted down the hall and swung open the first door she saw. With a hasty kick, AJ closed the door behind her but almost immediately had to stifle a groan of frustration at the sight before her. The door had led to yet another staircase. Swiftly ascending the flight of stairs, she raced upward until she came upon a worn wooden door with a rusty handle. Huh, that’s weird. I thought this castle was newly made. AJ pondered. Applejack nudged open the ancient door slowly, slightly afraid of what she would find behind it. The lights flicked on with a dusty WHOOSH as soon as the creaking door opened fully, revealing a strange room full of vintage items. Old archives of century-old tales and contraptions of foreign importance littered the shelves and tables that took up most of the room.

She carefully stepped around the room, examining small trifles such as a shard of glass that faded from a warped surface to a clear crystalline edge, and a device that seemed to change color with each touch. She continued to explore the room for what seemed like only about 10 more minutes before she could hear calls of, “APPLEJACK! APPLEJAAAACK!” echoing up the steps she had ascended before. She dove behind a crate of trinkets before she could hear the other five ponies trot in.

“Wow, what is this place?” asked Twilight in wonder.

“Who cares about that! I can’t believe AJ beat me,” grumbled Rainbow Dash

“Now, now Rainbow don’t be so rash, just look at this marvelous mirror!” exclaimed Rarity with delight. “Oh! Just look at it! Those glimmering crystals on the border, the smooth silver surface, oh it’s such a wonder!”

“And look at these mythical creature diagrams,” cooed Fluttershy, who was examining thick volumes of leather-bound journals at the time.

“And lookie what I found! It’s an exact replica of Applejack!” squealed Pinkie, pulling Applejack out from behind the crate. Applejack nearly toppled over from Pinkie’s hard tug on her backside.

Twilight sighed before saying, “Pinkie that’s not a replica of Applejack, that is Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash gave a little smirk and spoke, “Well, who do we have here! If it isn’t Applejack, caught the second we came into the room.”

Applejack gave her a small glare. She was great friends with Rainbow but she sometimes couldn’t stand how obnoxious Rainbow could get about competition. “Oh yeah? Looks like someone got caught in the first three minutes of the game,” retorted Applejack. Rainbow’s face turned the color of a cherry.

“Oh yeah? Well y-” Rainbow was cut off by an exasperated Twilight who said, “Girls, cut it out. You both would’ve gotten caught if Applejack hadn’t found this room that even I didn’t know about. So please, just calm down and maybe actually look at the wonders in this room!” The two piped down, but still had a silent feuding when Twilight wasn’t looking.

“Wowie, look at this guys!” said Pinkie, eyes wide as she bounced up and down at her finding.

“What is it, Pinkie?” asked Applejack, as the other mares walked over.

“It’s a mini party cannon!” exclaimed Pinkie, “It’s so tiny and adorable and shoots mini confetti and just- eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!” she squealed. She was obviously going crazy from the adorableness of such a tiny item.

“That’s… Nice, Pinkie,” said Applejack, trying to be supportive of her without showing her lack of interest.

“Yeah,” agreed the rest of the mares.

Despite suspecting that they were only trying to please her, Pinkie glowed with delight, beaming at the rest of the group. They then spread out yet again in the room, examining objects and fawning over others. It wasn’t until Twilight picked up a book from a stack on an old worn desk, that everything went crazy. An imperceptibly thin string appeared to be attached to the book cover. The second the string was taut, even though it was just for a moment, the smooth glassy surface of the mirror Rarity had been admiring earlier slid back to reveal a secret compartment.

“Ahhhhh!” screeched Twilight, caught off guard by the sudden movement of the mirror.

“Woah,” whispered Fluttershy in awe.

“Wow! How cool is that! Like on a scale of one to ten, that’d be a nineteen!” Pinkie said, speaking as fast as anyone could speak.

“Eh, it could be about twenty percent cooler,” remarked Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” said Applejack, her voice barely above the sound of silence. “Is the rest of the castle full of hidden traps like this?”

“Who cares about that, when items like this are inside!” squealed Rarity, investigating the contents.

The compartment was covered in a soft purple velvet and inside laid supposedly precious items, all except one. There was a golden goblet, a silver yoke, a couple of bits, and, the most unusual of them all, an old game board.

Applejack frowned, her face scrunching up and her eyes narrowing. “This makes no sense. Why have a compartment full of old items that seem important, but then have a game board… Why have that in there unless…”

“Unless it was dangerous,” Twilight finished, eyes wide.

“Oh please! More likely that it just appeared here in the wrong place, I mean, the castle just appeared randomly, couldn’t it have done the same?” Rainbow challenged defiantly.

When no one answered, Rainbow continued. “Exactly.” she said with a smirk. “So, since it’s here, why don’t we play the game?”

“I don’t know Rainbow… Just because it was here and all doesn’t mean we should play it. It was in a secret compartment for ponies’ sake!” cried Applejack

Rainbow Dash gave her a smug look. “So…You’re too afraid then?”

Applejack nearly split her seams. “I am not!” she said indignantly. With a disgruntled scowl, Applejack grasped the box in her hoof and stormed down the stairs, carrying it with her.

Author's Note

Hey there! Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 1 of our first fic! I personally am so happy that Chapter 1 is done. It took a while especially with the wifi going out at the worst times possible.

Anyways, feel free to comment questions, feedback, etc. and don't hesitate to point us out on anything that should be different (within reason)!

Peace, Love, and Smiles,
Sunshine