Rainbow Dash was flying around Ponyville to tell everyone the news that Twilight Sparkle found out about. Naturally, her first destination was AppleJack's place. She swooped down to a lower altitude and glanced over the apple trees. After searching for a few minutes, she finally found the orange cowpony.
"Hey, AppleJack!" Rainbow Dash called out as she touched down. She found AppleJack bucking apples in her orchard on her own. But she did not acknowledge that she heard Rainbow Dash, which was unusual.
Rainbow Dash walked over to her. "AppleJack! How come you didn't answer me?"
"Please, Rainbow. Ah don't wanna be bothered right now," AppleJack said. She looked up to show an unhappy look.
"Are you... What's the matter?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Ah'm beginning t' think that this here is as far as Ah'll ever get in life. Ah'm just a hillbilly t' the rest of Ponyville..." AppleJack walked over to another tree to start kicking it.
"What do you mean?"
"Shucks, Ah feel like Ah'm the one at the bottom of the totem pole."
Rainbow Dash still did not get an answer that she was looking for. "Uh, how so?"
"Just think about it. Pinkie Pie is the funny one, Rarity is the glamorous one, you're the cool one, Twilight Sparkle is smart, Fluttershy is kind... And Ah'm just the one who works with apples. Nothin' more..."
"Aw, come on, now! A bunch of ponies have seen you perform awesome athletic feats, like with the lasso and with your great legwork!"
"Yes, except Ah can only put that into use t' buck apples. The lasso is just a hobby."
"Well, what about your natural honesty? You're the most trustworthy pony anyone knows!"
"Yeah, and that turned me into a welcome mat when Ah had a huge forest of apples to pick from last applebuck season."
Rainbow Dash saw that she was getting nowhere in this disagreement, and sighed. "I guess there's no arguing with you now. Just continue feeling miserable bucking apples."
"It's what Ah've been doin' the last few days."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Fine." Then, under her breath, "Still a stubborn pony." She began to fly off when she remembered to tell AppleJack the news. "Oh, and one more thing."
"And that is...?"
"We have a new colt coming to Ponyville, and Pinkie Pie invited all of us to throw a surprise welcome party for him."
"Okay, Ah'll come to it. When is it?"
"Tommorow at 3 in the afternoon."
"Eh, I dunno. Ah think Ah still have to..."
"Do NOT, say that you have to buck apples during it!"
"Okay, okay, Ah'll be there."
"Good. That's what I thought." After that, she flew away, leaving AppleJack to continue her work, which she now no longer enjoyed right now.
The next day, Twilight Sparkle walked with Ponyville's newest resident, Trailblazer. He was an earth pony with a shaggy chocolate-brown mane and a coat that was a somewhat lighter shade of that brown. His tail also matched the color of his mane, but it had split ends, bearing a close resemblance of Rainbow Dash's tail. His cutie mark was a pair of crossed Stratocaster guitars, the left one was blue, the other, red. As the two were walking to Ponyville, they chatted to get to know each other better.
"...And when I got to perform in front of our entire city, I was cheered, and got my cutie mark."
"I guess this goes to show that a lot of cutie mark stories come from great self-discoveries and experiences. Yours was no different," Twilight complimented.
"Thank you. I guess it also goes to show my attitude too," said Trailblazer.
Twilight giggled. "Oh, you..." They reached the location of Pinkie Pie's surprise party, which was Mr. and Mrs. Bake's house, and opened the doors. Inside was all of Ponyville's residents.
"SURPRIIIIISE!" came the booming reply from everypony inside. All except one. AppleJack's shout was more mellow and lasted a bit longer than everypony else's, making her lack of enthusiasm obvious.
Trailblazer had a look of shock on his face. "You threw this all for me??"
"Of course, silly!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced over to him. "Every new pony who comes to live here gets a welcome party! It's so that everyone here gets a chance to know you!"
"Oh, well, that's very thoughtful of you," Trailblazer said.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie Pie said with glee.
After some time passed so that everyone got their refreshments, Twilight Sparkle got some of her friends over to meet the new stallion.
"This is Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.
"Heh, and you must be Trailblazer," Rainbow Dash responded. "Sounds like you love the thrill of high speed!"
"You bet I do!" Trailblazer replied. "I just love the thrill of running past and way ahead of the competition! And I love to win too!"
"It feels great, doesn't it?"
"You bet it does!"
"Sometime, we'll have to race each other and see who wants to win the most!"
"I'd like to, but I can't fly..."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll go on foot, just like you."
"Thanks! I look forward to it!"
Once Rainbow Dash walked away, Trailblazer quietly said to Twilight, "She's going to fly, isn't she?"
"I have a feeling she will."
"And, you must be our newest pony in Ponyville," Rarity said as she walked over. "You may call me Rarity, darling."
"Nice to meet you, Rarity," said Trailblazer.
"Ooh! I must say, you have quite the figure. Broad shoulders, nice tone... Oh? What's this?"
"What's what?"
"Your mane... It's quite messy. I know that no one's perfect, but you could've fixed that before you came here."
"My mane has always looked this way."
"Oh, good heavens!" Rarity said in shock. "That's no way to show off your stature! Well, rest assured, I can fix that if you stop off at my place sometime. Anyways, I'll let you meet the others. Until we meet again!" Rarity trotted off after saying that.
Trailblazer looked at Twilight. "Is she really THAT judgmental of other ponies' looks?"
"Quite. The first time I met her, it was a big game of dress-up for her."
"That sounded like fun," Trailblazer said sarcasticly.
"It sure was," Twilight said with sarcasm of her own.
"Um... Pleased to meet you..." said Fluttershy meekly. "I'm Fluttershy."
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Oh, no, it's fine. It's just, this is the first time I've seen you. I'm just a little nervous."
"I guess you do live up to your name of 'shy'."
"I'm sorry. Did I make a bad first impression?"
"Oh, no. I guess I'd be nervous too when meeting someone completely new to me." Then, under his breath, "No way in Hell would I be THAT nervous."
"Ah, okay. Well, I guess that's it for me then..." Fluttershy stuttered as she slipped away back into the crowd.
"She seems WAY too timid," Trailblazer judged.
"She forgot to tell you that she has a way with animals," Twilight added.
"Still, she should shown a warmer greeting and not so much a quiet one."
"Oh, she's just too kind to be mean," Twilight said, defending Fluttershy.
"If you say so..."
"And, I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie added. "I was the one who set this whole thing up!"
"Well, again, that was nice of you."
"Oh, I just LOVE to be happy and to make others happy, because it makes me happy and it make the friend's friend's happy!" she said quickly.
"Whoa!"
"Was I too fast for you?"
"No, you're fine."
"But you get the idea. It's all in good fun, and joy is spread and shared with others!"
"Yes."
"Anyways, enjoy the party!" With that, Pinkie hopped away.
"Too much caffiene?" Trailblazer turned to Twilight again.
"Oh, how you saw her now means she's on a caffiene withdrawal," Twilight mentioned.
"Oh, boy..."
"I know, right?"
Both of them let out a short laugh. Then, Twilight looked around, confused.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Dash flew to Twilight Sparkle. "What is it, Twilight?"
"Have you seen AppleJack around here?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a second. "She didn't leave, did she?"
"Not that I've seen."
"Hmmm, well, I guess I'll go look for her." Rainbow Dash went airborn again and looked around a group of ponies.
"Hey, who's her?" Trailblazer asked Twilight.
Twilight turned to her left to see where Trailblazer was looking to. Off in a corner, drinking a cup of cider on her own, with drooping ears, was AppleJack.
"There's AppleJack!" Twilight exclaimed. "What is she doing over there? She was supposed to come and greet you."
"Oh, that's no problem," Trailblazer said. "Actually, I find her interesting already. I think I'll come to her."
"Uhh..." Twilight tried to think of something to say, but Trailblazer had already walked away to greet AppleJack.
"You must be AppleJack." said Trailblazer as he walked up to her.
"Ah am..." AppleJack said with a little bit of sorrow. "I reckon that you're our new colt in town..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's just that Ah've been working in an apple orchard fer so long, and Ah can't seem to go any further than that. Ah buck them, bake them, and no one seems to care who puts the effort to provide those desserts. Ah feel like Ah'm in a rut."
"You work with apples?" Trailblazer's eyes widened. "I love them!"
"You do?"
"Of course! They're my favorite fruit, whether as themselves or as desserts! I really like the work of anyone who makes that stuff!"
AppleJack was a bit surprised at what he said, and her mood started to improve. "You're the first pony in a while that's appreciated mah work at the farm. Thanks, sugar."
"Oh, it's no biggie. I like to bake too, making some of my own treats when I'm in the mood for something sweet." Then, a thought came to his head. "Do you think we could hang out together sometime?"
AppleJack was feeling happier by the minute with this stallion. "Oh, that'd be great! Y'know, Ah haven't had a visitor stay and actually take the time to be with me for a while either, so Ah'd love that." AppleJack paused for a small moment. "Could you... tell me more 'bout yourself?"
Back at the enterance where Twilight Sparkle was chaperoning, Rainbow Dash flew back to her.
"Twilight, I couldn't find AppleJack here..."
"Well, Trailblazer did," said Twilight.
"Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash turned to see what Twilight was looking at, and sure enough, Trailblazer and AppleJack were chatting. AppleJack was even laughing.
"Wait a minute!" Rainbow Dash was confused. "Yesterday when I saw her, she was feeling miserable because she said that all she did was buck apples. Now, she's feeling better all of a sudden?"
"It looks like she has made another friend," Twilight added.
"It sure does," Rainbow Dash said. They heard more chatter and laughter coming from both ponies for quite a while, and it seemed to last through the remainder if the party.
"...So, maybe you'll be around tommorow?" asked Trailblazer.
"Well, you'll always find me in the orchard bucking apples when Ah'm workin'. You'll be sure to find me there!" AppleJack replied.
"Great! I'll be there."
"Allrighty then. Bye, sugarcube!" AppleJack said in an affectionate way.
As everyone was getting ready to leave, Twilight said her good-byes to everyone leaving the building. She stopped AppleJack to talk to her.
"So, I couldn't help but notice that you and Trailblazer talked quite a lot," she asked.
AppleJack let out a short laugh. "Yeah, we did! Ah've never met anyone quite like him. Has a big imagination, a great way with music, and a gentlecolt. Ah gotta tell ya, Twi, meeting him was one of the best things that's ever happened to me recently."
"You really mean that?"
"Heck yeah, Ah do! Ah'm also grateful that he likes what I do for Ponyville. You've seen how no one seems to acknowledge that Ah provide fruit for everypony recently."
"Uhh..."
"Don't you deny it. Ah'm just glad he's around! Anyway, Ah need to go hit the hay. Later, Twi!" She walked away back to her barn after that.
"Uh, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah, Dashie?" she asked back.
"You don't think that AppleJack and Trailblazer... Well..."
"Oh, definetly! The way they were talking, the way they were laughing, it just seemed so obvious that they're already great friends!" Pinkie Pie declared quickly.
"Well, I was actually thinking... You don't think that they will... Eh..."
"Oohhhhhh, you're thinking that they'll be MORE than just friends??"
"Well, they MIGHT."
"Might what?" Trailblazer asked as he was leaving.
"Oh!" Rainbow Dash looked around for assistance. "Uh..." She saw Pinkie Pie shaking her head. "It's nothing."
"Well, whatever. I just thought I'd let you know that AppleJack and I have a lot in common! Athleticism, a liking for apples, both of us having younger siblings, the list just goes on!"
"Well, good for you," Rainbow Dash said with a half-forced smile. "One thing I couldn't help but notice is how you seemed to cheer her up almost instantly."
"Yeah, she looked bummed when I first met her. But I don't think that's any of my concern." He walked out of the building. "Thanks for the party, Pinkie!"
"You're welcome!" she replied gleefully.
After Twilight Sparkle left the house and went back to the library, she went to her room and got into bed to sleep, pondering on how AppleJack, a friend she has known for a fair amount of time, was already a great friend with Trailblazer, a pony everyone in Ponyville had just met today. She drifted off to sleep, imagining how the whole scenario would unfold.
Back at Trailblazer's new home at the edge of some woods, he set up a few things that he packed with him and got his bed made. Just then, a light that looked like it came from a flashlight shone into his house from a window. He quickly got outside to try to catch the eavesdropper, but when he got to the area that the unwelcome guest came from, all he saw darting back into the woods was another pony's black tail. He knew what it was, but he didn't know just exactly who it was, but he had a good idea just who that pony was part of.
"I know you're out there..." he said in a low dark tone. "Pony up and show yourself."
Nothing happened.
"And I know what you're here for. But I cannot let you take it."
He slowly backpedaled back into his new home, locked the doors, closed the drapes to the windows, and went to bed. Either it was just some prankster, or one of his adversaries. He thought about what happened in the recent past. Could it really be THEM? he thought. No, he feigned his death and snuck away disguised. But he couldn't help but think that he was discovered to be still alive. He knew that he had the power to stop the imminent threat, but he still had to act just like any new neighbor. The thought faded back into memory as he fell asleep.