Expanding Your Horizons

by _OtakuTsundere_

Rating: everyone
Tags: Drama, Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Discord, Crossover, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2169

(Animal Crossing X MLP) After one stressful year of ruling a country, Queen Twilight just wanted a peaceful Nightmare Night vacation with her best friends. But when Discord comes along, hijinks ensue.

Cody, a self-aware protagonist in her game, has a normal encounter with her two new neighbors shortly after purchasing the Island-Getaway Package.

The only problem is, they weren't exactly the two neighbors she was expecting..

Instead of them being a confident, sporty ant-eater and a chic, sisterly dachshund; the two beginning villagers were a dramatic, platinum unicorn and a southern, orange pony.

Who exactly are they, and how did they get in and manipulate the game's code?

(A My Little Pony and Animal Crossing: New Horizons crossover.)

(Originally meant as a Halloween/Nightmare Night story, and an early birthday gift to my sister who plays Animal Crossing.)

Published 2020-10-26 22:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-26 22:40:00 UTC

Prologue

Twilight Sparkle was seated at a small round table, glaring in concentration at the five cards in her magenta aura.

She playfully stared at the three guards also seated at the table, and they all watched as the green stallion smacked down his winning cards onto the table's surface.

The lavender alicorn, neon orange unicorn, and cerulean earth pony gaped in disbelief as the pale vermilion pegasus chuckled while claiming the enormous pile of Nightmare Night candy as his prize.

The unicorn mare started shuffling the cards for another game, until there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Twilight gently said to the cerulean stallion rising out of his seat. The alicorn's magenta aura enveloped the doorknob, and she opened the door slowly.

Spike, who was dressed as a DJ, stood on the opposite side of the doorway, escorting ten familiar ponies behind him.

Twilight exclaimed as she rose out of her seat, "Girls!"

Every best friend she had personally known for the past few years were there for Nightmare Night:

Spike, who we already mentioned, was there. (He nicknamed himself 'DJ Spike,' as everypony would've guessed.)

Pinkie Pie had dressed with a white tank top, a three layered skirt with different shades of pink, and had a magenta necklace. (She refers to herself as 'Totally-Human-Pie.')

Fluttershy was wearing a white laced dress with a red ribbon at the waist, a matching white sun hat, and brought with her a mini parasol. (She's nicknamed 'Flutter Poppins.')

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were plumbers with overalls and mustaches. (They call themselves 'Mario Dash' and 'Luigi-jack'.)

Rarity wore a yellow bodysuit and helmet which had a pixelated version of her cutie mark. (Pinkie dubbed her 'Daft Rarity'.)

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom were there as well, with the former dressed as a chocolate bar, the middle dressed as a marshmallow, and the latter dressed as a square graham cracker. (Their nickname CMC stands for: 'Chocolate, Marshmallow, Cracker,' or 'Scoota-chocolate, Mallow Belle, and Cracker-bloom.')

And finally, Starlight Glimmer was wearing a simple kite costume. (Her nickname was 'Star-kite.')

Nopony was missing.

"Twilight!" the group shouted happily.

They shared a group hug for a few moments, right before Twilight asked, "Where should we go trick-or-treating? I haven't even begun with making a list of where to go yet. What should I dress as?-"

"We'll figure somthin' out, sugarcube," Luigi-jack calmly stated. "You've been overworkin' yourself this year, so maybe we could go trick-or-treating somewhere peaceful and then spend a week there for a vacation."

"Good idea, Applejack!" Totally-Human-Pie praised cheerfully.

"And I have a spare costume for you, Twilight!" Daft Rarity chimed from under her helmet, pushing Twilight out the door and down the hall. "I'll be back, darlings!~"

A few short minutes later, Twilight and Daft Rarity came right back into the room.

The alicorn was now wearing a pointy dark purple hat, a matching robe, and a broomstick.

Flutter Poppins complimented, "Your costume looks lovely, Twilight."

Twilight replied exhaustedly, "Thanks.."

"So where are we vacation-ing, Witch-Twi?" asked Mario Dash excitedly, right before her fake mustache fell off.

Dash quickly plopped the accessory back on her muzzle as Mallow Belle suggested, "Ooh, ooh! How about we go to another dimension?"

"I don't think Twi-Witch and I can do teleportation spells to other worlds, yet," Star-kite explained, chuckling.

"But Discord can!" shouted Scoota-chocolate, raising her hoof.

Flutter Poppins said, "He might be busy; this is his first Nightmare Night he's celebrated. We don't want to bother him, right?"

Twi-Witch nodded. "I really don't want to deal with chaos magic today, either. Let's come up with something else."

"Oh. I wasn't saying-" Flutter Poppins attempted to reply, before there was a poof of white light.

"I think going to another dimension is a wonderful idea!" boomed the familiar voice of Discord.

Scoota-chocolate happily muttered to Cracker-bloom as they hoof-bumped, "Score! Bert-cord is here!"

"Can it be a peaceful one this time?" Twi-Witch pleaded to the draconequus, who was wearing a red and white striped suit with a matching hat; and to be honest, Twilight thought he was cosplaying as the Flim Flam brothers.

Star-kite and Daft Rarity added hopefully, "Maybe a beach?"

"A beach in the middle of October..?" Bert-cord mumbled to himself. "How chaotic! Let's go!"

Luigi-jack agreed, "As long as there ain't any scorpions or money-stealing varmints, ah'll be good.."

Mario Dash and Cracker-bloom shrieked, "Don't get us started on those evil insects, Luigi-jack!"

"They're called arachnids," dryly explained Twi-Witch.

Flutter Poppins quietly added, "Don't hurt yourself, um.. Bert-cord.."

"Oh, you know I'll be fine!" Bert-cord replied as he snapped his claw.

"Wait! Disc- uh- Bert-cord, don't!-" Twi-Witch shouted before being enveloped in a bright flash of light. She groaned to herself and face-hoofed. "I hope he at least paused time in Equestria.."

Author's Note

October 26, 2020.

Message for my little sister, who we'll nickname Sushi:

Dear little Sushi,

We both know I suck at literature, so I hope you enjoy this while it lasts.

Happy ninth birthday to you, you silly Shiny Umbreon, you.

~Your weird quesadilla-obsessed sister, Otaku Tsundere.

(P.S: And don't sneak onto my account if you know what's good for your adorable yet dark mind.)

Island Day 1: The Getaway-Package

Applejack blinked her eyes open. She definitely wasn't in Canterlot Castle anymore.

Instead, she felt air-sick and claustrophobic in her newly discovered seat. Applejack also noticed she didn't have her plumber costume on, either.

It appeared she was in a small room that was somehow floating.

The orange mare sat upright when she heard snoring to the right of her. She swiveled her head, and saw a costume-less Rarity smiling with her mouth wide as she slept.

Rarity's snoring stopped as she fluttered open her blue eyes, realizing something was wrong.

"Oh my, where is everypony, Applejack?" the unicorn asked as soon as she noticed Applejack.

"Ah don't they're here. But I do know we're in a floating doo-hickey," Applejack replied.

All of a sudden, a new voice added, "This is my helicopter. You two don't have this technology where you're from, hm?"

The two mares turned to see a creature sitting from across them. It was a brown male racoon of some sort, wearing a smug, green sweater and khakis.

"Well, we do know what helicopters are, Mr. Racoon; we just aren't this advanced in it," Rarity calmly stated.

The creature nodded and explained, "Oh. I am actually a tanooki, yes. You can call me Tom Nook. So what are your names, hm?"

"The name's Applejack."

"Mine's Rarity. Pleasure to meet you, darling."

The two mares looked at the tanooki, and noticed another creature sitting near him.

It looked feminine, due to the very cartoonish eyelashes it had atop her yellow eyes. Her hair was a wavy pixie cut, and it was a darker shade of pink than Fluttershy's. She wore a purple shirt, and a dark teal skirt to finish the look.

She barely whispered to the tanooki, "Tom, do those two look odd?"

"They look like regular horses, yes?" Nook replied in a whisper.

The creature sighed. She pulled out a virtual menu that was invisible to every creature on board. The girl glanced at the game's code, and internally gasped.

'They aren't Cherry or Antonio! Did those mares sneak in through the code..? That's impossible!' she thought to herself.

Suddenly, a tiny bell dinged, and the speaker above Tom Nook said, "Excuse me, Island-Getaway passengers. We have landed at our peaceful destination. Thank you for taking Dodo Airlines."

Applejack, Rarity, Nook, and the mysterious creature got up from their seats and slowly exited the helicopter.

The two mares gazed at their surroundings in awe. On the coast of the island lay platinum, shining sand that touched the crystal waters. There was a tiny slope at the other end of the giant row of sand, which led to soft, green grass.

Apples trees were spread as far as the eye could see, and there was a green tent already set up in the midst of it all.

Tom Nook looked around and swiftly led the three females towards the little tent, where two smaller tanookis awaited their arrival.

Applejack's mouth watered as they strode past the trees, and Rarity resisted the urge to trot towards the beach and lay in the sand.

As soon as the group made it to the tent, Tom Nook asked, "We should put up our own tents to sleep in, yes?"

The creature, now known as a human, shrugged and took a tent kit from one of the mini tanookis. She walked off towards the waterfall up north to set up her tent.

Meanwhile, Applejack decided to put her home near a pond that was surrounded by about twelve trees. After she finished placing the orange tent there, she noticed something shine in the corner of her eye.

Applejack turned to see an axe and fishing rod both laying next to a tree. The mare picked them up with her mouth and thought, 'These will do mighty nicely..'

Nearby, Rarity was struggling to find a good spot on the beach. Every time she placed her tent down down, it wouldn't fit in between the shore and grass.

The human approached her and asked, "Need some help, little pony?"

"You can just call me Rarity, darling. And yes, I'm afraid this tent isn't working here," the unicorn responded.

"Cody. Anyway, let me just-" The human, now referred to as 'Cody', took the tent kit out of Rarity's hooves.

Cody appeared to pull something out of her pocket, but nothing was there. She then placed the azure tent where Rarity previously had struggled to set it.

Rarity squealed in delight and hugged the girl. "Thank you, darling! Also, Cody is a- uh.."

"A boy's name. You could just say I was just nicknamed because of my.. talent. Yeah, that's it," Cody responded. "See you at Nook's tent, Rare."

Rarity exclaimed, "Alright, darling!" The unicorn hummed as she went to decorate the inside of her new azure tent.

As the sun set in the horizon, the three females were all gathered by Tom Nook's tent.

Tom Nook asked, "We should gather sticks to build a fire, hm?"

Applejack blazed off, leaving a trail of dust.

Seconds later, she came back, carrying a dozen sticks on her back.

"Got 'em!" she announced triumphantly while panting.

"Or that, yes," Tom Nook stated.

All five creatures sat around the campfire, relaxing and getting to know each other.

Apparently Tom Nook owned a company, and Cody bought a getaway package from him, which was what got them to this island.

The two smaller tanookis, named Timmy and Tommy, were Nook's nephews and assistants.

Then Cody, Nook, and the Tanooki Twins learned Applejack owned an apple farm, and Rarity was a fashion designer; but the mares mentioned nothing else.

Cody knew they were hiding something.

Silence followed, and the only thing heard was the crackles of the fire.

Tom Nook suddenly spoke up, "We should name this island, yes?"

"That's a wonderful idea, darling," Rarity agreed.

"Any suggestions, hm?" Tom Nook asked.

Rarity exclaimed, "Sandgem Island!"

Tom Nook nodded approvingly, right before Applejack suggested, "What about Big Apple Ridge? This island is filled to the rim with apples and cliffs!"

"Yes, Applejack, darling; but the sand here look like they are tiny gems!" Rarity explained.

"Maybe we could try the name Pony Island..?" guessed Cody.

'I assume more ponies broke through the coding of this game, too. I can just feel it-' she thought to herself.

"Pony Island, it is!" declared Tom Nook. Applejack and Rarity nodded their heads in approval.

After hours of chatting and laughing, every creature parted ways to go to their tents.

Applejack shouted from her orange tent, "G'night, Rarity and Cody!"

"Sleep well, darlings!" chimed Rarity before closing her azure tent's flap.

"Good night.." loudly moaned an exhausted Cody. She stepped towards her cot and smacked the back of her head on the pillow.

Cody took out her Nook phone and started scrolling on the internet.

Rarity dreamed of sewing dresses and opening a business on the island.

Applejack dozed off, chuckling while thinking if Applebloom and Rainbow Dash had a pie-eating contest.

And Cody finally fell asleep, dreaming of what the second official day on the island would be like, with just her, Tom Nook, the Tanooki Twins, Rarity, and Applejack.

Little did that human know that there were other guests that arrived to Pony Island that day..

Author's Note

October 26, 2020...

Again.

I'm on a writing streak, bro!

Next few chapters, we're going to explore the adventures of where everypony else were when Applejack and Rarity landed on Pony Island.

(And yes, Cody is sorta dressed like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Except she has a pink pixie cut, and she's wearing a purple t-shirt with a green-ish blue skirt.)

Thanks for reading!

~Otaku Tsundere.