Applejack had learned very little from the time she had decided to single-hoofedly buck every apple tree in Sweet Apple Acres – she was still stubborn as a mule. So when Twilight came up with the idea of organizing a care package for the newly rediscovered Kirin, Applejack had turned down Fluttershy’s help and volunteered to take the package herself.
It had started out small and harmless enough: Twilight and her friends had each agreed to chip in, sharing a little slice of Ponyville with the distant Kirin. Twilight had gathered a travel atlas or two, for any Kirin who either wished to venture out into Equestria or enjoy its wonders from inside the comfort of their home.
Rarity, having never met a Kirin before, had a harder time deciding what to pitch in. Given the warmer climate of the Peaks of Peril, she felt scarves and warmer accessories would be irrelevant. Sun hats, too, seemed impractical due to the lush foliage overhead and the Kirin’s gnarled horns. In the end, she had settled on decorative sashes in a range of verdant colors – various shades of green to complement their natural home.
Fluttershy, seeing as Applejack was making the trip alone, had to change her decision from taking Angel Bunny with her. Knowing that the Kirin shared their home with numerous butterflies, she settled on rounding up a variety of flower bulbs and seeds for the Kirin to grow for their butterfly friends, and a simple guide on how to cultivate them.
Rainbow Dash, wanting to impress the Kirin, had rounded up a variety of Wonderbolts posters. Whether by coincidence, or – in Applejack’s opinion, her ego – most of them featured the rainbow-crested Pegasus front and center, along with her autograph. The Earth pony just rolled her eyes and smiled when the Pegasus rolled them up and added them to the pile.
Applejack herself had decided to contribute the best of what Sweet Apple Acres had to offer: apples. Rather than try and bake some famous Apple family recipes and pray they made it in one piece, or add hefty Applewood crafts to her load, she settled on an apple seedling she had named Apple Blaze, trying to give it a Kirin-like name to fit its future home. Among the Kirin’s numerous fruits, she had noticed they were lacking apples, and she wouldn’t be a true Apple if she didn’t share her family’s heritage.
And then there was Pinkie Pie.
The plan had originally been to box up everything but Apple Blaze, and carry them to the Kirin Village. The box was relatively small, given the others’ contributions, and she had bucked a boulder heavier than Apple Blaze – it would’ve been no sweat.
That all changed the minute Pinkie Pie demanded to know everything Applejack could tell her about the Kirin. Among other things, Pinkie Pie was a determined present presenter – she wanted her presents to be absolutely perfect for the recipient. It wasn’t any different from Rarity wanting her stitching to be on point or Rainbow Dash ensuring her flight maneuver went smoother than a summer breeze.
Applejack listed off all of Autumn Blaze’s talents she’d witnessed or heard about in her time with the Kirin, hoping that in reducing the information to just one Kirin, the potential load she’d receive wouldn’t be too bad.
Her ears drooped when Pinkie Pie rolled out one of her many spare party cannons and dove into her party planning cave for more. When it was all said and done, the pile of various party supplies and “special effects,” as Pinkie had insisted on calling them, was triple the size of the others’ total pile and nearly as big as Apple Blaze.
Knowing she’d need a bigger box, she went to the local post office. Derpy Hooves stumbled slightly as she slid one of the biggest cardboard boxes Applejack had ever seen from around behind the counter. It could easily hold all of the care package’s goods with room to spare for an extra Apple Blaze or two.
Packing had been rather easy, especially after enlisting Rarity’s help. The heavier things – the books, Pinkie’s supplies, and flower bulbs and seeds – went to the bottom. Then came the party cannon, followed by Rarity’s neatly folded sashes for extra padding on the side. The rolled up posters filled one corner of the box snugly, while Apple Blaze took up the other.
However, the sapling’s branches prevented the box from being sealed, meaning Applejack would have to carry it upright. Borrowing a rolling service tray from Pinkie Pie, Applejack used the tray to cart the box to the Ponyville Train Station.
From there, Applejack had to move the box into the train’s baggage car herself, as the box plus the tray was too tall for the doorway. Taking the tray with her, Applejack was forced to ride in the baggage car as the train departed for the end of the line closest to the Peaks of Peril, having to fight off jostling baggage all the way.
The serving tray had seemed practical enough for Ponyville’s smoother streets, but was little to no help on the wilderness trail leading up to the Peaks of Peril. With a sigh, Applejack left the tray behind at the station, figuring not even the station master who ran the rundown platform at the end of the line would be crazy enough to take it.
This, however, meant that Applejack had to lug the heavy box on her back all the way up to the Peaks of Peril. The boulder she had bucked on Rockhoof’s island had seemed like actual cardboard compared to the care package.
The trek through the grasslands had been simple and even enough. She had to watch where she stepped, lest she trip over a rock and spill her cargo. Finally, however, she reached the rockier portion of her journey. Those big boulders she had hopped across and the bog beyond them had looked a lot easier the first time.
Fortunately, just as she was about to make the first jump, she was interrupted by someone calling her name. “Applejack?”
Applejack turned and with a relieved smile, found Autumn Blaze standing there. She was certainly a sight for sore eyes – and backs.
“Autumn Blaze, just the Kirin was I fixin’ to come see,” Applejack replied, dismounting her heavy load.
“You weren’t about to hop up there with that on your back, were you?” Autumn Blaze asked, walking over and looking the box up and down. “Because, you know there’s a cave like, right over there, right?” She gestured with a hoof behind her.
Applejack smacked her forehead – she had been so determined about carrying the box she had forgot all about the shortcut cave that Fluttershy’s squirrel friends had found. No wonder those chores had been so complicated on the farm all those moons ago.
“Plum near forgot about it,” Applejack remarked, removing her hat and wiping her brow.
“So,” Autumn Blaze sounded out, rubbing the side of the box with one hoof. “What do we have here?”
“Well, Twilight thought it was a good idea to set you Kirin up with a care package, from my friends in Ponyville. Give y’all a little taste of life back where me and Fluttershy are from.”
“Well that is super neighborly of you, and I really do appreciate it.” She leaned in and sniffed at the box’s exterior. Applejack raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Luckily I was down here picking some more foal’s-breath, or you’d have taken the long way around. Man, what a trip that would’ve been.” She laughed absently.
“More foal’s-breath? You ran out back at the village?”
“Hmm? Oh, no, no, no, these are a present for Rain Shine. You remember her, right? Big, tall Kirin, sort of our leader? Wears a little crown thingy? Wonderful harmonizer? Anyway, foal’s-breath really compliments her mane. And I didn’t want to take any from the gardens of them we have now.”
“Sounds fair enough.” Applejack turned to the box, and a new problem presented itself: how to remove the care package items. The box was too tall to easily climb in and out of, and was more than liable to tip over.
“So, whatcha bring us?” Autumn Blaze asked with an eager grin, getting in Applejack’s face. The Earth pony gently pushed her back.
“Well, if you could use your magic to get stuff out, I’d be happy to show ya,” Applejack said. “I just don’t want to tip this thing over and spill everything out.”
Autumn Blaze nodded and the stripes of her horn lit up blue. She went for the most obvious thing she could see from outside the box: Apple Blaze. Fortunately, the sapling wasn’t nearly as heavy as a couch, allowing the Kirin to lift it out and set it on the ground to examine it.
“This here’s Apple Blaze.” Applejack chuckled. “Thought of the name myself. Ya see, I live on an apple farm back in Ponyville: Sweet Apple Acres. I didn’t see any apples when we visited, so I thought I’d bring you a Sweet Apple Acres staple: apples!”
“Well it is very nice to meet you, Apple Blaze. Love your name, by the way. I think you’re going to fit right in,” Autumn Blaze said to the tree, shaking one of its lower branches gently. She turned to Applejack. “That was sweet of you, Applejack, but I think I might have to water him with foal’s-breath flower water to open him up some.”
Applejack chuckled, turning back to the box. “If you’d help me tilt this thing over slowly, I can fetch ya the rest of what’s in here.”
Autumn Blaze nodded, and the box became encased in a blue glow. Gently, with Applejack guiding it, the box laid down on its side with all the gentleness of a falling leaf. The only thing to roll out was the party cannon.
“When I told Pinkie Pie how much you loved puttin' on plays and actin’ in them, she thought it’d be a good idea to fix you up with, uh, ‘special effects.’ This here is one of her party cannons – it shoots confetti when you pull the string.”
Autumn Blaze poked her head down the cannon’s barrel, not noticing that its pull chord had gotten stuck in the books still in the box. When the cannon rolled forward slightly, Autumn Blaze was ejected with a loud bang full of whistles and a burst of multi-colored confetti both in her hair and flying about.
The Kirin just sat up on the ground, blinking, before bursting out laughing, even as Applejack helped her up. “Oh, wow,” she said. “This Pinkie Pie is my kind of pony. I got a ton of plays I could use that for.”
“There’s other effects in there, too, but the cannon’s the biggest,” Applejack said with a sheepish smile.
Autumn Blaze nodded, then used her magic to levitate out the other items, looking through them one at a time, with Applejack explaining what each and every one was and who it was from. The Kirin nodded along thoughtfully.
“Can I just say you have some amazing friends?” Autumn Blaze said when the explanations were over. “This was so nice of them! I’ve gotta get some Kirin stuff together for them too. Ooh! Maybe some paintings, or buckets, or music compositions – you ponies like that kind of stuff, right? Maybe a vase or two… or one for each of you, wouldn’t want you to argue over them…”
“That all sounds swell, Autumn Blaze,” Applejack interrupted. “But we should get this stuff to the village. I’ve gotta catch the train back home in a few hours. I guess the easiest way would be to put it all back in the box.”
“Is that what you call this fascinating thing?” Autumn Blaze asked, strolling into the box with the curiosity of a cat. “It’s so… roomy, and I love the texture. So smooth! With a hint of wood smell, yet.”
“Don’t y’all have boxes here?” Applejack asked, tilting her head like an inquiring Kirin.
“Not made of this stuff!” Autumn Blaze pushed against the bottom of the box, using her weight to set it upright. Applejack watched as she bounced enough to hook the edge of the box and peek out. “What is this glorious thing?”
“It’s… just a cardboard box. Just kinda on the large side.”
“I could find so many uses for this thing!” Autumn Blaze ducked back into the box, and Applejack could hear her scurrying around. The box rocked this way and that in turn. “Like it could be its own little theater! I always wanted to do this thing with little dolls, but you levitate them and act out plays and stuff through a little window.”
“You mean puppets?”
“I mean, I was going to call them ‘floating actors,’ but puppets sound cool, too.” Applejack winced as a loud scraping sound could be heard from inside the box on one side. “What acoustics, too. This thing feels so sturdy.”
“I’ll, uh, have to remember to bring ya another one next time I visit. Post office has plenty, as far as I know,” Applejack remarked with a chuckle.
“There’s more?” Autumn Blaze squealed, popping up on the edge of the box excitedly with a wide grin. Too excitedly, however, as the box tilted forward and the Kirin went with it. Applejack stepped back as the box spilled its flammable contents out before fulfilling its momentum and winding up upside down on Autumn Blaze.
“You alright?” Applejack called.
“It’s so dark in here!” came Autumn Blaze’s muffled voice. “This thing would be good for a set piece, too! We could do a whole building, or a mountain, or maybe the trunk of a tree! It’s really dark in here though… oh, I know!”
Applejack scrunched up her face as she tried to figure out what the Kirin was talking about, then her eyes widened in realization. “Wait! Don’t use your-!”
The entire cardboard box went up in a burst of pink and blue fire. Autumn Blaze just sat there, stupefied. Her horn was ablaze with Nirik fire, but nothing else. She looked around at where the box had been, now just a rectangular, scorched outline in the dirt.
Autumn Blaze’s fire snuffed out as her eyes grew watery. Applejack walked over and patted her on the shoulder. “I should’ve warned ya that cardboard is a might… flammable, among all the things you said,” she said. “I can always bring ya another one like it soon.”
“Really?” Autumn Blaze’s face lit up instantly. She squealed with delight when Applejack nodded, and nearly strangled her with a hug.
“But, uh, first we should get this care not-so-package to the village.”
That evening, the bell over the door of Sugarcube Corner rang as Applejack stepped through. She found Pinkie Pie in the kitchen, baking her usual sustenance of two baker’s dozens worth of cupcakes, frosted in a rainbow of colors.
“Oh, hi Applejack!” the pink pony said cheerfully over her shoulder as she used an oven mitt to pull out a tray of cupcakes and set them on the counter. “How’d it go with the care package?”
“It went really swell. The Kirin really liked what you got them. Autumn Blaze is already talking about fixin’ us up with a Kirin care package,” Applejack replied. “Say, uh, Pinkie Pie… do you think the post office has another box? As big as this last one, I mean.”
“I think so, why?” Pinkie asked, bouncing merrily over to the cupboards.
“Well, let’s just say Autumn Blaze really enjoyed the package more than the care that went in it.” Applejack chuckled.
“Aww, I knew she’d love her gift!”
Applejack looked at the pink baker as she bounced back to her cupcakes, an icing bag in her mouth. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, Applejack.” Pinkie brushed a hoof her direction and rolled her eyes. “When you told me how creative and talented Autumn Blaze was, I knew she had an imagination nearly as good as mine. So I gave her one of the best gifts I could think of: a box! And the bigger the better.”
Applejack huffed. “You mean to tell me all that stuff you added onto the care package was just so the box I had to use would be bigger?” she asked.
“Yep! But don’t worry: the cannon and all those party favors were a part of it too, just… icing on the cake.” She frosted one of her cupcakes, wiggling an eyebrow at Applejack to inquire if she saw what she did there.
Applejack sighed and shook her head with a tired smile. Silly minds thought alike.
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 10/23/19 for the word document, though the idea was much earlier.
This marks my first standalone MLP story -- by which I mean MLP alone, without a crossover.
I don't know what, if anything, the Kirin are inspired by, but to me they resemble lions. I mean, in total I feel they're a mixture of unicorn, dragon, lion, and changeling, but mostly lions. That means cat-like behavior. That means an affinity for cardboard boxes. And you can't tell me Autumn Blaze wouldn't see potential in a cardboard box.
Please note that this story did not participate in the PANIC fiction itself. Even if it did, it'd be around 2,000 words over the word limit. I just happened to be on the Discord when the contest was in progress, and the idea occurred to me. The title came to me later, and is a play on the alliteration of A Study in Scarlet.
As for the song I listened to for this one, it was "sans" from Undertale. I needed something a little corny but not too energetic. And yes, the lack of capitalization is accurate.
-yours truly,
The Legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast.
ing Cardboard Box," from the Quills and Sofa Speedwriting Competition.