"Come on Winona! Fetch!" Applejack threw the stick and Winona, her beloved brown and white dog, ran over to where it landed. This is what Applejack liked, no worrying about her new responsibilities, or the entire safety of the country. Just enjoying a nice, peaceful morning before school.
Winona had just brought the stick back when when her Granny called out:
"Soups on, Applejack!"
Apple jack just dropped the stick and gave Winona a good pet before heading inside. Applejack came from a long line of Apple farmers, providing most of the country's apple supply and products. She had more family spread all across the country than she could ever keep track of. She entered the modest farm house and found her close family waiting for her at the table.
At the head of the table was Granny Smith, her grandmother on her pa's side, and the matriarch of the Apple clan. She was a large lady with grey hair and green skin. She was also the lunch lady at Canterlot High, making sure each students gets a tasty and nutritious meal. Despite her age and foggy memory, she was sharp as a tack and could tell the quality of an apple by just a quick sniff.
Next to her was Big Macintosh, the oldest of the apple siblings. Having graduated from CHS the previous year, he now worked full time on the Apple farm, making sure everything is spick and spam. He didn't talk a lot, but was a pretty good listener.
The final member was Apple Bloom, the youngest. Like Applejack, she was mage, something they had inherited from their late mother, Buttercup. Just as Applejack was rarely seen without her signature brown stetson hat, Apple Bloom was rarely seen without her pink bow. This was her first year at CHS and she and her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, always seemed to be getting into mischief.
"So any big plans for today?" Granny asks while they eat.
"Twilight texted us to meet her at school, said she discovered somethin big." AJ said, taking a bite of her oatmeal.
"Scoots wants us to see if we're any good at spelunkin'." Apple Bloom said, with a swig of milk. Granny's eyes narrowed at that.
"Now you youngins ain't thinking of checking out those old minin caves at the edge of the far, are ye?"
"I don't think so.." Apple Bloom shifted nervously.
"Now Apple Bloom, you know those mines are off limits." AJ said sternly. "They're ready to collapse any minute! You could be hurt!"
"I know! I'm not a baby!" Apple Bloom pouted.
"I'm jus making sure..." AJ said, but she knew that once she and the other crusaders got an idea in their heads, they tended to go overboard, even not paying attention to their safety.
Breakfast soon ended and, after saying good-bye to Big Mac, they were on their way to CHS.
At school, everyone met up in the music room just before school started. Twilight looked positively giddy, like a child who was told a huge secret and was struggling not to just burst it out.
"You guys are not going to believe this." She said. She then pulled out the Elements of Harmony book from her backpack. "So, after taking care of those timberwolves last night, I decided to do a little studying..."
"Egghead." Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack which caused them both to go into a fit of giggles while Twilight glared in annoyance.
"...and I decided to research the Elements more. And look at what I found out!" She opened the book and flipped the pages until she found a specific one.
"Ahem, 'Once the elements have chosen their new bearers, they will be bestowed upon with mysterious powers, along with their magic, to help them in their duty to protect the world.' Do you know what this means!?"
Pinkie gave a loud gasp. "We're getting superpowers!?" The others just looked at her oddly, but Twilight was nodding excitedly.
"I think so!" Almost everyone was excited.
"This. Is. So. Awesome!" Rainbow cheered.
"Does it say what kind of powers we'll be gettin'?" Unlike the others, Applejack was more apprehensive about this revelation.
"Well...no. But they should be coming soon! It also says they'll come to us one at a time until we all have them." Twilight explained.
"One at a time!?" Rainbow said, impatient to get her new power. "I hope I get mine first. I want to be able to fly even without the wings!" Rainbow imagined flying like one of the superheroes in her comic books, free to go wherever they wished.
"Oh! I wonder what I'll get." Rarity wondered. "Maybe I'll have the power to predict future fashion trends! That would certainly be useful."
"I hope they're safe." Fluttershy said. "I wouldn't want anything too... destructive. Maybe the ability to attract butterflies?"
"Oh! Oh! Maybe mine'll be the ability to stuff fifty cupcakes in my mouth all at once!" Pinkie said excitedly, imagining all the sugary goodness.
"I don't know ya'll. Personally, I think we have enough on our plates without the crazy powers." Applejack was stressed enough with all the new responsibilities and expectations, now she had to deal with freaky powers too?
"Aw come on AJ!" Rainbow playfully punched her arm. "Maybe you'll get something cool, like....just being able to tell how fresh an apple is just by looking at it?" She gave a nervous smile. Applejack just rolled her eyes.
"I can already do that without the elements."
Just then the bell rang, and everybody prepared to head off to their classes. Just before she left, Applejack felt someone tough her arm and turned to see Twilight looking at her with worry.
"Applejack, are you ok? You don't really seem all that excited about this."
AJ sighed. "I guess ah'm not. I just keep thinkin' how so much has changed lately, and now this? Ah'm just not sure how to take it all."
"I understand." Twilight said, empathizing with her. "One minute we're normal high school girls and the next we're the guardians of ancient artifacts that were lost for ages? It's a lot to take in. But this is our duty, and I believe we were chosen for this for a reason."
"Ah know."
"If you want to talk about it, I'll be right here, ok?" AJ nodded and Twilight walked off to her own class, leaving Applejack to her own thoughts.