Chapter 1: An Honest Star is Born
Sailor Applejack
"A Moon Star is Born"
“A thousand years ago, Equestria was home to a great civilization ruled by Queen Celestia. Everything was peaceful until the arrival of the evil Nightmare Moon.”
Nightmare Moon sat on her throne in what is known as the Negaverse. “Ha, ha, ha, ha. First, Equestria shall be shrouded in eternal night, then the world!”
“To shroud Equestria, Nightmare Moon unleashed the great power of Tartarus. Although harmony was destroyed, Queen Celestia's last hope was the power of the Imperium Harmony Crystal and the Unicorn Horn Wand.”
Queen Celestia gave her royal advisors the Crystal and Wand for safe keeping as she quickly gave them instructions, “Only this Crystal and Wand can combat the power of Tartarus. Never let our enemies get them, or the world is doomed, but most of all, you must protect our dear Princess Applejack. Understand?”
Lyra and Bonbon, Celestia's two talking cat advisors, (yes I made them cats, deal with it) acknowledged the order. “Yes.”
“Frozen in Harmony Beam Crystals, the queen sent the Princess and the children of Harmony to the future on Equestria. Their memories lost to them all, the queen's cat advisors, Lyra and Bonbon, must find the Princess, so she will at last be safe. And so, our story begins.”
In a typical house in the town of Ponyville, a not-so-typical fifteen-year-old filly was late for school. Jackie Susan Apple, otherwise known as Applejack, woke up to see the clock and was quickly alarmed, “AAAH! Oh no. I'm a late for school ‘gain.”
She tore down the stairs in a blinding hurry, passing the dining room, where her mother was looking over coupons. Applejack shouted at her in her frustration, “Granny!” She grabbed her toothbrush from the bathroom and brushed while she asks, “Why didn't ya wake me up ‘time for first bell?”
Granny Smith sighed, then responded wearily, “I did AJ, three times, but each time, ya'll said five more minutes.”
Frusterated, Applejack questioned in disbelief, “Why didn't ya try harder to wake me up? ”
Yet again, Granny sighed,“Applejack…”
Hurrying out the door, she shouted to her grandmother, “I gotta go!”
“Aren't you forgettin’ somethin’?”
"What?"
Applejack reappeared and saw what she had forgotten.
"Hmm. Oh yeah." In her rush, she had almost forgotten her lunch. Once again, she ran out the door and shouted to her grandmother. “Bye, granny! See you after school!”
Applejack headed down the street as fast as her still-tired hooves could take her. She's still yawning. “I'm so sleepy. Why can't today be Saturday?” As she passed a parking lot, she noticed three little colts crouched over something. All the colts were muttering at the same time,
“Hold it still.”
“I can feel its tongue.”
“I'm trying. I'm trying.”
Applejack looked and, quickly realized that they're tormenting a cat, yelled at them. “HEY! Stop it! Leave that cat alone!” As they left, she yelled, "Rotten brats!" Having scared the kids away, she attended to the cat. She picked the cat up. It had 2 bandages in an X on its forehead.
“Did those creepy kids hurt ya?”
Suddenly, the cat woke up and struggled to get the bandages off its head. Applejack sat down and placed the cat on her lap. “You're okay, but how about I take this here bandage off of you?”
When she did so, she saw something very odd on the cat's forehead. “Huh? Is that a star?”
Suddenly, the cat leapt into the air, bounded off of Applejack's head, and landed on top of a nearby car.
The cat seemed to be deep in thought, "Hmm, this girl... I sense something..."
The cat was actually Lyra, one of the advisors from the Moon Kingdom. Applejack, meanwhile, was a little frightened by the sudden movements.
“Ni-nice kitty.”
In the distance, a bell rang.
Applejack jumped in shock then exclaimed, “Oh great! Now I'm really late!”
As she dashed off to school, Lyra wondered to herself, “Could she be the one?”
At school, Applejack ate a quick snack while she gave us a few words on what's popular in town. “Hey, did'ya hear there's a new Sailor F video game out? I saw it on TV.”
“Applejack, you need more studying and less TV.”
Applejack's teacher, Miss Cheerilee, was turned off by two things: getting dumped and getting sloppy tests. She held up Applejack's latest math effort: a thirty. She obviously wasn't impressed with Applejack. “There isn't any excuse for failing this exam.”
Applejack looked in shock at the test. “I failed? How the hay can that be?”
Cheerilee handed the grade to Applejack then told her, “Have your mother sign this and return it to me.”
After school, Applejack, down in the dumps, talked with her best friend, Sweetie Belle.
“Aw, chill out, AJ. It's just one lousy test. It's not like it's the end of the world or something.” Sweetie Belle tried to comfort her friend. Applejack wasn't affected by her friend's attempts.
“You don't get it, Sweetie. If my ma finds out I flunked that test, she'll ground me and cut my 'llowance, and I won't get to play the new Sailor F game.” Ouch. Applejack was a confirmed video game addict.
Soon, Blueblood came up to the two and inquired about Applejack's poor test score. “Hey Applejack, I heard about your test. Want me to be your tutor?”
Blueblood was the class nerd (yes he is he needs humility)and had glasses to prove it. He's also a walking gossip column. Anything noteworthy could end up in his ears and eventually in his notes.
Applejack couldn't believe what he had suggested and snapped back in frustration. “'Bout as much as a toothache.”
Blueblood had eyes for Applejack and Sweetie Belle, though both flatly refused to acknowledge it.
Sweetie looked at him in disgust and snorted, “You're such a dweeb, Blueblood. She doesn't need a tutor. She needs a trip to the mall to get her mind off this.” Sweetie Belle gets an idea. “Tell your mom you're at my house studying.”
Blueblood guffawed, “You're going shopping? What's more important than your grades? Look, I didn't study, and I only got a ninety-five. How will I ever be able to explain this to my parents?” He asked holding up his near-perfect paper.
Sweetie Belle sneered at him, “Do we care?” Applejack has another problem: she cries too much.
Applejack soon mumbled sadly, “Maybe he's right.”
Sweetie looked shocked at her friend, “What? We're going shopping. By the time you get home, your mom'll have forgotten all about that dumb test.”
Applejack was growing hopeful at her friends words. “Hmm, d'ya really think so?”
Her unicorn friend looked confident and sure, “I know so. I saw some major awesome boots on sale.”
Soon the little cowpony was getting enthusiastic about a day at the mall, “We can get ice cream…”
“…then shop some more!”
“Can we look for some earrings?”
Sweetie Belle considered this, “Good idea. We can go to my mom's jewelry store. She's got some major cool stuff. I mean wicked cool.”
This is the one thing Blueblood can't stand about them, his likes and their likes are completely different.
“Oh, she's got all kinds of great things! You gotta see it! It'll blow you away! Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, all kinds of stuff! Even some rhinestones.”
“Rhinestones? I LOVE 'em!” Applejack shouted, dazzled at the idea of such beautiful jewels.
“She's got lots of 'em, and in lots of colors.”
“Orange?! And green?!” Her most favorite colors.
“Oh, like for sure!”
“All right! What we waiting for? Let's go!”
As the girls left, Blueblood, having been left out of the conversation, assessed the young hayseed.
“Ha ha ha. Applejack. Ha ha. Beautiful, but a shopaholic.”
Meanwhile, in the lair known as Tartarus, an alternate reality where everything was contrary to our norm. In its heart was the palace of Nightmare Moon. She sat on her throne, and her scepter floated in front of her as she waved her hooves over the orb on top.
The black alicorn informed her minions of the battle plans, “The oracle says it's time to attack the other dimension, to unleash the power of the Negaforce.”
The minions, frightened by Her Majesties power, agrees, “Yes. Yes.”
“But to do so, I shall require energy. Yes, a great deal of energy. We shall get it from the
planet Earth. So Rover, present yourself and tell me of your progress there.”
Rover was a Diamond Dog Tartarus commander with a daring mission: to drain the energy from the inhabitants of Earth and feed it to the Negaforce. Only when enough energy had been collected could the Tartarus be unleashed once again.
"Yes, Nightmare Moon."
He appeared before Nightmare Moon to report.
He bowed before speaking, “As we speak, my servant Morga is on the other side, preparing to gather energy. The ponies are weak and helpless, and they will yield to our will, and then nothing will stand in the way of the great Tartarus.”
The queen tells the dog, “Do not fail me, Rover. I need their energy.”
“Yes, my queen.” The energy seeker reassured.
Mrs. Belle's Jewelry Store was VERY busy. Something was attracting an enormous crowd
“Come on in! Everyone's welcome! Make me an offer!”
She's having a sale. Applejack and Sweetie Belle walked into the store and saw the crowd.
Applejack, a tad skeptical, asks, “Uh, sugarcube, what's going on?”
Sweetie Belle's mother, Mrs. Belle, was walking around the store, talking through a megaphone. “Welcome, ladies! Here's your chance to own diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and a whole lot more!”
Sweetie Belle was also shocked at her mother's behavior, “I don't get it. My mom's sure acting strange.”
“Yeah. What'd she put in her cup o' joe this morning?”
Mrs. Belle continued shouting through her megaphone to the customers, “Today only, everything in the store is ninety percent off! Please feel free to try on anything…” She then muttered, “Hm hm hm hm…and surrender your frantic energy to Nightmare Moon and Tartarus! For I am Morga, loyal disciple to the Tartarus, and my jewels will drain away all your energy!”
Unbeknownst to the mares, the jewels were gradually absorbing the energy from them.
This energy was sent to Rover, who collected it into an energy ball. “You have done well, Morga. So much greed…. So much energy…. Nightmare Moon will be most pleased. Feed the Tartarus, foolish ponies. Nightmare Moon will soon triumph. Prepare them, Morga, for her triumphant arrival! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Morga received the mental message and muttered, “With pleasure.”
Meanwhile, her daughter soon approached her, “Mama?”
Morga was startled for a second, but then, she turned around and resumed her disguise. “Oh Sweetie Belle, what a surprise.”
“Applejack and I came to see some…” She trailed off as Applejack continued her sentence.
“…rhinestone jewelry!”
Morga used the girls' love of jewelry to try to bait them, “Rhinestones? Ha! Don't be silly fillies. Help yourselves to some diamonds instead! There are plenty to go around.”
“Diamonds?” Applejack asked, amazed.
“Why, yes! Any friend of Sweetie's deserves nothing but the best.”
Applejack was shocked and delighted, “I can't believe this! I really can't believe this!”
Sweetie Belle still found this a little weird.
At the display counter, Sweetie's mother showed them a ring with a BIG diamond. She showed it to the orange pony, “Here, Applejack. Would you like to try on this ring?”
Applejack was dazzled by the sheer size of the jewel, “Boy howdy, would I!”
Morga informed the girls of the diamond, hoping to get them to wear it. “It's a flawless twenty carat diamond. For you, ten dollars.”
Shocked by it, the girls shouted out in unison, “Twenty carats, TEN DOLLARS?!”
A rather round mare shoved Applejack and Sweetie Belle out of the way. “MINE!”
This got everypony crowding to the display case. Applejack and Sweetie Belle crawled out of the mob.
Sweetie Belle told her friend of her skepticism, “AJ, this is way weird.”
Applejack agreed, “What's up with your mom, SB? I've never seen her like this before.”
“I don't know, but I'm worried.”
“Hmm. This place is totally wacko, sugarcube. What's going on?
Sweetie Belle, a bit shocked by her friend, asked, “Where are you going?”
“I think I'll hit the hay before showing my mama my grades.”
There's no use delaying the inevitable. Sweetie Belle sighed. “Okay. See ya tomorrow,"
She left the riotous jewelry store. “Oh no. How can I tell ma I flunked another test?” She pulled out her bummer of a test…and promptly crumpled it. “GAH, HOW CAN I SHOW HER THIS THING?!” She threw it over her shoulder…and right on the head of a young stallion wearing a hat similar to the ones worn by those in a rodeo.
“Hey, watch it, Silly Filly.” The stallion said.
Applejack turned around. “Uh? Oh, sorry, partner”
He had already uncrumpled the test and was reading it. “A thirty? Admirable.”
Great. Just what Applejack didn't need: a snoop.
“NO!” She made a grab for the paper and missed.
“Are ya stupid or just…incredibly lazy?” He also has a bit of a bad mouth.
Applejack was taken back by his smart remark. “Hah! How dare you!” She snatched the paper from his hooves. “Give me that!" As she trots away she mumbles to herself, "Hah! The nerve of that stallion. What a total jerk callin' me a Silly Filly. Still…” She glanced back. “He sure is cute.”
The young stallion, meanwhile, had something else on his mind. He pulled off his hat. “Somethin' about that filly…”
Applejack always loved to stop by the Crown Arcade on the way home. As she trotted by, she noticed a poster advertising a new game arrival. “Oh! The new Sailor F video game. Ah…” Sailor F was the cutest fictional heroine of the day. There were books, comics, and, you guessed it, games featuring her. Applejack sat down and admired the poster.
“I wish ah could be like Sailor F. She's so cute 'n kind. Somethin' exciting's always happening in her life, nothin' like mine.”
Behind a nearby sign, Lyra the cat was keeping a close eye on her.
“Who'm I kiddin'? I'll never be like Sailor F, not with grades like this. Granny Smith's gonna blow her top when she sees this.” She got up and tried to stop the tears that were flowing down her cheeks. “Shucks, what am I going to do?”
Still crying, she walked home. Lyra sensed something about her, but…
“I can't believe it. This crybaby? She's the one?”
Applejack arrived at her house, and Granny Smith was waiting for her. She immediately cut to the chase.
“So, how'd ya do on yesterday's fancy mathematics test?”
Uh, test? In math?”
“Ya know, the one ya'll was studying for the other night with Blueblood? You two was up so late at the library.”
Another of Applejack's flaws: she's terrible at lying,
“Blueblood's ma said he got a ninety-five, and they sure were disappointed.”
“Oh yea, that…ha ha ha ha…math test. Well, uh…”
The last thing she would do is study with Blueblood the geekazoid.
“See, that is, well, uh…”
“Applejack, come on. Tell me. How'd ya do?”
She tried to beat around the bush.
“Blueblood gives me the…well, uh, ya see, uh, it's like this. I, uh…well…”
Applejack's granny held out her hoof.
“Let me see, young filly”
Applejack ran out of delays. She showed her the test…very reluctantly.
“Okay.”
Her granny took one look, and…
“THIRTY?! Ya'll said ya studied! Know what you need to do?!”
“No.” Applejack replied, already knowing the answer
“GO BACK TO THE LIBRARY TO STUDY FOR A MAKE-UP TEST!”
And Applejack was promptly thrown out of the house.
Applejack - “Granny, nooooo! It's too late in the afternoon to study! I've got to buck the apple trees!”
Meanwhile, something totally weird was going on back at the jewelry store. The customers were thinking aloud,
“Something's wrong. I feel very strange.”
The mares were starting to get weaker and weaker. They could no longer stay on all 4 hooves.
“Oh, Celestia. I feel as if I'm going to faint…”
She fainted, scattering beads all over the floor. Ponies all over the store were fainting, and Sweetie Belle was very worried.
“Mom, I'm scared. What's happening to all your customers?”
No answer. Morga has her back turned to Sweetie Belle.
“Mom?”
Morga was laughing to herself, “Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.”
Now Sweetie was extremely worried, “Mom?
“I'm not your mother, Sweetie dear.” Morga turns around. “Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Her face had an evil tinge of black. Sweetie Belle's terrified!
At dusk, Applejack laid back after a long trip to the library. “Studyin' so hard is very, very tirin'. All those books and fancy words…. Can't be too good for a pony. How does Blueblood do it? Oh, I'm so sleepy, so tired. I wanna sleep.”
And so, she took a nap. In her slumber, she didn't notice her bedroom window open and something jump into the room. It crept closer and closer…until the wind slammed the window shut. The noise woke up Applejack, and she turned… “Huh? Huh?”
...to see a cat on her bed! It's the same cat she had saved this morning! She jumps upright and gasps. “Ya'll scared me! What you doing here?!"
And then, she witnessed something even crazier.
“Why Applejack, I came to see you, of course. Who else?”
The cat talks! She jumped off her bed and looks back at the cat.
“A talkin' cat? Ah shucks. I HAVE been studyin' too hard.”
Lyra cleared her throat.My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and I have been searching for you for a very long time.”
All this craziness was a bit hard for Applejack to swallow.
“You are the chosen one, and I have been sent here to guide you on the path to your ultimate destiny. I wasn't sure if you were the one the first time we met, but I've been watching you, and now I absolutely know that you are…the Sailor Mare of Honesty.”
What in Equestria was she talking about? This was getting loonier and loonier! Applejack put her head down in hopes that she could stop what she thought was a crazy dream.
“Ah, I'm hallucinatin'.”
“No you're not, Applejack. You are Sailor Honesty, and your friend Sweetie Belle's in big trouble.”
Lyra tried to get Applejack's attention by hitting her head.
“You have got to help her.”
Applejack didn't respond.
“You don't believe me. Well all right, then. I'll prove it to you.”
One of Lyra's tricks was that she had some devices intended for Sailor Honesty. When she backflipped into the air, she could summon one of those devices. She summoned Sailor Honesty's transformation tool: the Honesty Prism Locket. Applejack opened one eye. “What's that?”
“It's a special locket just for you.”
Jewelry? Cool. She picked it up. “Wow. For me? It's beautiful. How should I wear it? My school uniform or my dress?”
“Applejack, it's not just a piece of jewelry. Listen to me! Do you hear what I'm saying?”
No answer. Applejack's still looking at the mirror.
“Sailor Honesty, sworn to defend the princess of Harmony.”
Still nothing. Lyra jumped on the dresser in front of the mirror. “Powerful evil forces have appeared here in Equestria, and that special locket can help you fight them. You are Sailor Honesty, and you must fight evil when it confronts you. You must not be afraid.”
This sounded rather familiar. This sounded to Applejack like a game. “Yeah right. Just like Sailor K.”
“This is no joke, Applejack. Do you hear me? This is your destiny.”
“My destiny? I MUST be dreamin'.”
Lyra then challenged her with the ultimate. “It's no dream. I'll prove it, Applejack. Just repeat after me: ‘HONESTY PRISM POWER.’”
“Okay. HONESTY PRISM POWER!”
Those were the magic words. The Honesty Prism Locket went to work, giving Applejack a brand new look and transforming her into Sailor Honesty, the Champion of Justice. The transformation gave her a shock. “AH! What happened?! This dream is getting weirder and weirder! I'll never study that hard again! I wanna PLAY Sailor F video games! I don't wanna LIVE 'em!”
Suddenly, a cry for help reached Sailor Honesty's ears.
“Help me! Please help me! Somebody please help me! AAAAAH!”
Applejack gasped. “That's Sweetie Belle!”
“That's right. She's in big trouble.”
“Yeah, but what can I do to help? You keep forgettin'. I'm just a kid.”
“You are Sailor Honesty. You will know what to do when you look into your heart. Believe in yourself.”
It's a bit hard for her to do, but if it's to help Sweetie Belle…
“Okay.”
The scene at the jewelry store was getting ugly.
“Somebody please help me!” Sweetie Belle shouted out.
Morga had Sweetie Belle by the throat.
“Hm hm hm. There's no one to help you now, little filly.”
“Oh, help me! Oh…”
As Morga laughed at her struggle, she reverted to her true form, and it was UGLY!
“Soon, you and your kind will cease to exist. Once Nightmare Moon unleashes Tartarus, she will destroy you all!”
“Let her go.”
The voice from behind Morga surprised her. She turned her head around.
“What's that?”
At the door was an unexpected visitor.
“I said let her go!” It was Sailor Honesty!
“And who are YOU?” Morga asked the mare
“Oh, uh, well, my name's…”
Quickly, she cooked up an opening line to disguise her identity. “I'm Sailor Honesty, Champeen of Justice. And I say, on behalf of the truth, I'll right wrongs and triumph ove' evil, and that means YA'LL.”
“Sailor Honesty? Never heard of you, and I'm sure I never will again. Arise, my foals, and serve the great power that is the Negaverse!”
Uh oh. Not only did those jewels drain the customers' energy, they also turned them into zombies. They followed Morga's command and attacked Sailor Honesty.
“Lyra, help me. I don't know what to do.”
Unfamiliar with her enemy, Sailor Honesty struggled to avoid the attacks. Morga herself charged at her, knocking her against a column.
“Ow! That hurt. I don't wanna do this anymore.”
“Sailor Honesty, what are you doing? You must fight this evil monster, or the world could be shrouded in eternal night forever.”
This didn't look good.
“I don't wanna play this game anymore.” Sailor Honesty was scared stiff. “LYRA! I WANNA GO HOME!”
“Fine, I'll send you away for good.”
Morga stretched an ugly arm towards Sailor Honesty. The arm was almost upon the terrified heroine…
“AAAAAH!”
…when something streaked through the air and stopped it short. It's a rose. Morga turned around to find the thrower.
“Now who might you be?”
Standing in a window high above the floor was a strange young stallion, wearing a black top hat, a tuxedo, a flowing cape…and a mask over his eyes.
“I am Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Honesty, look into your heart and find the warrior within you. It is your destiny.”
“But I don't wanna be a warrior.”She did the one thing she could think of: she started to cry and wail. Surprisingly, her powers magnified the noise considerably, sending the entire store into a tremor. Morga's control over the customers was broken, and they all collapsed to the floor.
“Aah! Stop that hideous crying!”
This was Sailor Honesty's big break. Lyra advised her. “Sailor Honesty, quickly, throw your Tiara and then say HONESTY TIARA MAGIC!”
“What for, Lyra? What good is that gonna do?”
“Just do it!”
She took it off. The Honesty Tiara was her strongest weapon against the forces of evil. Thrown, it became a discus that could turn a monster into harmony dust. All she needed to say to activate it is…
“HONESTY TIARA MAGIC!"
Morga was caught off guard, “AAAAAH!”, and can only stand there as the Tiara connected.
“Huh? I did that?”
“I shall return…”
Morga had been harmonydusted.
Rover got a surprise. With Morga defeated, his energy ball dispersed and returned to Equestria.
“What? The energy. Somepony will pay dearly for this.”
Back at the store, the harmony dust soon vanished, and the strange Tuxedo Mask said some parting words.
“You have done well, Sailor Honesty, and now, Sweetie Belle's mother and all the other mares are free. Others will test you. Do not be afraid. I will fight with you.” And he exited through the window.
Lyra, concerned, asked her, “Are you all right, Sailor Honesty? Speak to me.”
But the Sailor Mare was focused on other things. “What a great lookin' guy.”
The next morning, at school…
“Applejack, you're not gonna believe this, but my mom and I had the strangest dream last night, that we were attacked by this hideous monster, and that this beautiful warrior named Sailor Honesty saved us!”
“What? Are you kidding? I had the same dream.” A student said.
Sweetie Belle gasped.
“Yeah, me too.”
She gasped again.
“That's weird…very weird. Applejack, isn't that the weirdest?”
Applejack's head was down on her desk. She's very tired…for a different reason this time.
“Applejack?”
“Shh. Hey, ya'll, could you keep it down? I was up late last night, and I just need a bit more sleep.”
She yawned and went back to sleep.
"Night.”
What a way to start a heroic career.
©Sailor Moon and Hasbro/Lauren Faust/My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
