Applejack's Vacation

by ImmaGenericWriter

Chapter 3

It 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.

Author's Note:

Three test this week with another four next week. I am VERY glad that I mostly completed this chapter last week ><

Ah well, no use complainin'! I'm sure it'll calm down eventually.
...right?

I'm actually quite surprised, this story somehow got nearly as much views on the first chapter as the first chapter of Freddy's New Job, thanks guys!

Comments

[Catsofwar108]

I see you realized that AJ is best pony?