In an effort to keep her mind occupied, Twilight Sparkle decides to delve once again into the grand mysteries of Pinkie Pie. This time, Twilight's focus is on her claims of growing up on a rock farm: like so many things related to Pinkie Pie, the idea that somepony could grow rocks as an agricultural product makes absolutely no sense. However, the investigation eventually leads Twilight to a rather... surprising discovery.

This is the first story in The Petriculture Cycle.

Artwork by Page Turner. Now with a TV Tropes page.

Octavia's new to Ponyville, and she just bought a used couch. As it turns out, she has to move the heavy thing clear across town on her lonesome. That isn't the problem. The problem is these damn crazy ponies who won't stop pestering her.

Cover Art by faloxx

Applejack has always struggled to make ends meet at Sweet Apple Acres. After the chaotic events of the Grand Galloping Gala, she returns home to find her farm experiencing a stroke of good luck. Applejack celebrates her fortune with all her friends, all except for one. Rainbow Dash has gone missing, and Applejack decides to find out why.

Hey you.

Yeah, you.

C'mere, sugarcube.

Lemme tell ya a story.

The sun is big and beautiful and bright. It warms you up, and it makes you smile. But the sun can also exhaust you. And if you stare directly into the sun, if you get all caught up in its beauty and forget to look away, it can blind you.

Pinkie Pie is Fluttershy’s sun.

[Complete] Celestia awakens to see an empty world, white sandstone stretching the horizon. She wanders the world as she builds it from her imagination, filling it with life, but as time passes, the world that she created begins to seem like little more than a lucid dream, conjured from the dust.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash knew this would be hard, but a long distance relationship was in their future from the start. A Wonderbolt and an apple farmer don't have a lot of time in the same place, so they do their best with letters and the occasional weekends. But when Applejack finds out that Rainbow Dash is on the cover of Flyers Illustrated: Wet Feathers Edition, it plays on a fear she never mentioned to Dash: Everypony knows that famous ponies are different from normal folks. . .

Right?

"Wet Mane Rainbow Dash," used in the cover image, is by Suikuzu.
Prereading by DbzOrDie, First_Down, Tchernobog, and Jackie

Celestia likes her routine. Tax reforms, grants, laws and construction projects are all a princess needs to be content.

It's just her luck that for Pinkie Pie, "content" is not nearly enough.

After an incident between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the two are finding it hard to communicate with each other. However, when a friend suggests a pilgrimage to help Applejack settle her feelings over memories of the past, Rainbow Dash and Applejack find that they may have to redefine their friendship.

A pony is called stubborn when they refuse to change their mind no matter the persuasion against them. A pony is called persistent in hindsight when their refusal turns out to be a wise decision. "Persistence" is nothing more than what they call stubbornness when it turns out to have been for the best all along.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack may or may not be persistent, but they are most definitely stubborn.

~This is my entry for the winner of TAW's contest for rare ships. FimFic needs more ApplePie.

Now EQD Approved!