//------------------------------//
// Prologue Two: Apple Introduction 
// Story: According to You 
// by Razor Blade the Unicron 
//------------------------------//

Bleary-eyed, Star awoke slowly. She absentmindedly rubbed her cheek across the soft cushion beneath her head. The comforter she laid on was was thick and irresistibly soft, yet slightly itchy. A thin blanket laid across her back, keeping any bugs from getting on her fur.

As her vision slowly focused, she began to take in her surroundings. Within her line of sight she could see a tan side table, yellow lamp, plain pink plastic cup filled with water, and a window with blue floral curtains. A loud crash caused her to bolt upright in surprise, and she looked out the window. There were miniature red buildings with bales of hay next to them, a long white fence, and dozens upon dozens of apple trees.

"Apple Bloom!" cried out a heavily accented voice in worry and irritation.

"Sorry, Applejack!" called back a filly's voice with the same accent. "Ah was just tryin' ta fix the crank on the well!"

Star had never been on a farm before, and she wasn't even sure how she had ended up at one. Last thing she remembered was walking through Ponyville, and after that was nothing. She quietly slid out of bed, noticing that her bags were neatly piled on the other side of the room. She didn't see the hat the breezie had been sleeping in, and her stomach dropped.

She quickly exited the room and headed downstairs, trying not to panic. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she crashed into a large pony with a bright red coat. Before she fell back on her haunches, a single hoof with unshorn fetlocks caught her and helped her to stabilize.

"Mornin'," greeted a deep, yet very quiet, voice. "You okay?"

"Where's the breezie?" she asked nervously.

The Earth pony stallion that stood in front of her arched an eyebrow in confusion. "The little insect-pony?"

"Yes!" Star was exasperated. "I need to know where she is! I need to know if she's hurt or scared or-"

He gently placed a hoof over her mouth. "We brought her over ta Fluttershy's. She can understand all creatures." He lowered his hoof. "You should eat somethin'."

She reluctantly followed him into the kitchen, where a stack of three pancakes were waiting on the table. With a slight nudge, Star sat down on the floor next to the table, with the Earth pony pushing the plate over in front of her. He gave her a gentle look that she interpreted as a request to stay put, and then walked outside. She gave a sigh, and pulled off a piece of the top pancake with her magic.

She took a bite, immediately tasting a surplus of apple. For a moment, the taste was delicious. Then the pancake tasted like the most bitter and salty food she had ever eaten. Star choked, tears welling up and threatening to spill down her cheeks. She heard hoofsteps approaching, and forced herself to swallow the disgusting food. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped away as much as possible with her magic.

An orange Earth pony mare walked in, pushing a sweaty blonde mane out of her eyes. "Well, howdy!" she said in a chipper tone. "Ah was wonderin' when you were gonna wake up!" Star shyly stuck out her hoof in greeting, which the Earth pony grabbed and shook vigorously. "Ah'm Applejack, and the stallion outside is mah brother Big Macintosh! Plus there's my sister Apple Bloom and Granny Smith!"

"I'm Star," she responded automatically, before realizing her terrible mistake. "Amethyst Star, I mean." So much for a new name. What else was she going to screw up?

"Well it's a pleasure ta meet ya, Star!" The unicorn tried not to wince. "You sure did us all a fright when Big Mac found ya in the market. Fortunately, that lil' bug-pony managed to explain some of what happened, even though she was talkin' in some other language. Speakin' of, what happened to ya?"

Star bit her lip. "I, uh, think I passed out."

"That much Ah could figure out mahself." Applejack frowned in concern. "But why were you all alone with a bunch of bags?"

"I wasn't alone," she replied, trying to deflect the question. "I was with my breezie friend."

She sighed. "You know what Ah'm askin'." Star looked away nervously. "Just..." Now Applejack bit her lip. "How old are ya, Star?"

She reluctantly answered the new question. "Eighteen."

As Star had seen far took often before, Applejack's eyes widened in surprise. "...You're eighteen?" she asked incredulously. "And how far from home are you?"

"I didn't run away, if that's what you're asking," she sniped tersely. "And before you ask, I'm from Manehattan, thank you very much. I'm sure you heard about what happened."

Applejack said nothing. She stared wordlessly at a single tear on Star's chin until it dripped to the ground. Star, in turn, kept a cold glare aimed towards Applejack until a high-pitched voice interrupted.

"Applejack! Big Mac says he needs help with somethin'!" chirped a yellow Earth pony filly from the door.

Applejack said nothing to Star, and turned towards the filly. "Did he now? Ah wonder what the problem is. Why don't you show Star around Ponyville while Ah go help him out."

"Sure thing, sis!" She practically bounced over to Star as Applejack walked outside. "Ah'm Apple Bloom! Welcome to Ponyville, Miss Star!"

Star gave a faint smile. "Please, call me Amethyst."

"Sure thing, Miss Amethyst!" Apple Bloom eagerly grabbed her forehoof and led her outside. "Ah'll show you some of Sweet Apple Acres and then we'll head into town!"





"-and this here's the spa, and this is Quills and Sofas, and this-"

Star couldn't stop thinking about the breezie. She had no idea who Fluttershy was, nor did she know what Big Mac meant by her being able to understand all creatures. What if Fluttershy was crazy collector who just wanted to keep the breezie as a pet? What if she decided that the breezie would be better off with her? There were far too many terrible possibilities.

"Incoming!" cried out a raspy voice, snapping Star out of her thoughts.

Apple Bloom knew what was coming after the cry, so she instinctively scurried over to the side of the road. Star, of course, had no idea who was even yelling, let alone any clue of how she was supposed to react. A rainbow blur slammed into her at an absurdly unsafe speed, sending her tumbling across the ground. The two ponies skidded across town, before splashing down in a body of water. Star accidentally sucked in a breath of water, and began to choke once again.