Dear Princess Celestia,
Today, I learned a valuable lesson about friendship...
"Twilight?" Spike looked up from writing Twilight's dictation. When the unicorn noticed his disapproving stare she grinned at the realization.
"Sorry, force of habit." She said meekly. Spike rolled his eyes and tossed the crumpled parchment into the fireplace. Twilight took a sip of tea, ready to start anew.
Dear Princes Celestia,
Today, I learned a valuable lesson about family. There's no doubt that all parents love their children. It's easy to point out how much they go out of their way to embarrass you, but it's easy to overlook the intention. Photo albums full of baby pictures or funny stories at your expense can easily be fond memories being looked back on. In the end some parents feel like that's all they have left when you finally grow up and leave the nest. It's always important to remind them that even though you're not a child anymore, that they're still your parents and you can never outgrow that.
Your Faithful Student,
~Twilight Sparkle
Spike proudly rolled up the scroll, sealed it and bealched out a small cloud of fire. As usual the correspondence disintegrated into sparkling dust and drifted out the window heading for Canterlot. Suddenly, the library door flew open, pulling Spike and Twilight out of their own thoughts and stared at their guest in shock.
"Applejack? I-Is that you?" Twilight stammered, almost dropping her teacup.
Applejack was without her trademark stetson hat. Instead, she wore an assortment of beads decorating her cornrowed mane that ran down her shoulders into long braids that were accented with feathers. A stack of multicolored chokers ran up her neck, stopping just under her chin and a set of bangles ran up her right foreleg. The biggest shock was Applejack's coat, once a single tint of orange, was now covered in red stripes. Her cutie mark was decorated with a circular frame of glyphs that blended in with the almost natural looking stripes.
As if her appearance were nothing out of the ordinary, Applejack walked across the library and sat at the center table across from Twilight. When she noticed Twilight and Spike were too busy gawking to pour her a cup of tea, she reached over the table and decided to pour it herself. Taking a few gulps of the hot liquid, Applejack let out a sigh, gently placed the teacup on the table and looked to address the still wide eyed dragonling and librarian.
"Uhhh... Howdy?"
Twilight was the first to snap to reality. She gave her head a few firm shakes and jabbed an elbow into Spike's shoulder which he answered back with an annoyed glare. Trying hard not to stare too much, Twilight looked down at her tea and made an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"Soooo Applejack, how was the trip?"
Applejack gave a proud smile. "Gotta give Zecora credit, her family and the locals were just as welcoming as any Apple Farm."
"B-But, you got stripes- Ow!" Spike tried to say, before Twilight gave him a not too gentle hoof to the back of his head. "So how did Pinkie Pie make out?"
Applejack took another sip of tea and looked back over to the door. "Get on en here Anansi!"
In usual fashion Pinkie Pie bounded into the library. She wore several arachnid themed necklaces that clanked with each bounce. An eight legged headdress rested atop her poofy mane that was pulled back into a ponytail. Twilight raised an eyebrow and made an attempt to make sense of it all.
"What's an Anansi?"
On cue, Pinkie Pie drew in a deep, deep, deep, deep breath preparing for the mother of all run-on sentences. The party pony's continuous inward breath pulled at the library's candles and even drew a few embers from the fireplace. Satisfied with a comically over puffed chest she opened her mouth to speak...
...only to have a red striped, orange hoof shoved in it.
"Hold yer horses sugar cube, we got plenty o' time to tell the whole story."
Smiling behind Applejack's hoof, Pinkie looks in your direction and gives a knowing wink.
Coming Soon: Pinkamena 'Anansi' Pie