//------------------------------// // Ch. 1: The Hierophant // Story: Generation 4: P-1 Grand Prix // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Hierophant --- Fancy Mathematics and Zebra Senses Muddle Her The Xenophobic Farm Hoof of Honesty APPLEJACK! --- "What in tarnation does Xeno-pho-whatever mean?" --- Applejack looked around quite puzzled at her surroundings. Well, any pony would be a bit freaked out getting sucked into some new device called a "tee-vee". But how in sweet thunderation did she get from the center of the library to this weird yellow-skied, apple tree lined, patch of wooden floor in the middle of nowhere? Still, certain things made her focus her mind away from freaking out and fainting from the overwhelming newness of her new environment. For example, none of her friends were around even though she was sure that they had all been pulled in together. "Twi? Apple Bloom?" she called into the open air, "Where is every pony?" As if those were the magic words, spotlights shining from above without a light source shone on the ground in front of Applejack. Though, there wasn't anything particularly interesting to look at in the light. "Fillies and Gentlecolts!" declared a loud voice from everywhere, "The P-1 Grand Prix Tournament is about to begin. We shall be thy host, Princess Luna of the Night. We shall give thee, how you modern ponies say, the play-by-play of the action. Here, the citizens can let out their pent up frustrations and release their rage against their fellow common ponies. The last filly standing wins!" "Wah?" coughed Applejack as she looked up, "Princess Luna?" "So the Xenophobic Farm Hoof is within study range!" chuckled a familiar voice. Applejack returned her gaze to in front of her. Surprisingly she wasn't blinded as one of the spotlights shone on her. What was more interesting was who was doing the taunting. To say Applejack was dumbfounded would be lying since she actually had several questions about what she was seeing. "Twi?" she said in a very confused tone, "What's going on?" "I must get more confrontational to get more conclusive results!" declared Twilight tapping her chest with a hoof. "Twilight, you're talking nonsense!" Applejack tried to reason. "The specimen has raised her hooves in an en garde stance!" gasped Twilight in awe, "I accept the challenge!" "Guh!" exhaled Applejack, "Nothing I say is gettin' through to her. I guess I have no choice." Round 1 Fight! Twilight took the initiative and fired a slow volley of magenta, bolts of magic. Luckily, Applejack was already familiar with this attack and knew when to dodge each blast. Running up close and personal, she let loose a flurry of hoof kicks and tail smacks. "That looks like it hurts," groaned Luna mockingly. After that combination, Twilight put up a magic shield bubble to try an hold off her opponent. Applejack jumped back a few paces and pulled out her trusty lasso. After whirling it around a few times for show, she tossed the loop toward Twilight. Amusingly, it fit snugly around the magic bubble. Giving a rough yank on her end of the rope, Applejack managed to lift the bubble with Twilight in it and swung it around herself like a yo-yo. "We may feel inclined to hurl," said announcer Luna. A few more round-the-worlds, and Applejack sent Twilight flying right into one of the apple trees. The bubble popped and Twilight fell to the floor on her back. A few apples from the tree fell onto her, following the rhythm of the kiddie song "shave and a mane-cut, two bits." A loud bell dinged itself three times out of sight. "How unfortunate!" declared Luna, "They lost!" Twilight rubbed her head trying to alleviate the pain. She managed to raise herself into a sitting position and looked at Applejack with an eyebrow raised. "Applejack?" she asked before coughing once, "What happened?" "Twilight!" exclaimed Applejack, "Oh heavens to Betsy, are you alright?" "I think so," Twilight grunted as she slowly moved to stand up, "Last thing I remember was Pinkie Pie pressing the button marked 'on' and then... here." Applejack nodded in confirmation. But as they were getting reunited, the two ponies were interrupted by a giant screen-shaped image floating just above their heads. In this magical projection appeared to be a pony with a familiar, transcendent mane. But the apparel seemed to suggest "airship captain" rather than "princess". "Congratulations, Element of Honesty," chuckled 'Celestia', "You're on your way to becoming the best of the best! Please keep in mind that only the winner may advance to the next round." On that note, the image flickered out of existence. "The Princess?" wondered Applejack, "Is she behind this?" "I don't know, AJ," answered Twilight shaking her head, "But it sounds like I'm stuck here until some pony wins this... P-1 Grand Prix tournament. I'm guessing the 'P' stands for pony." "That makes sense," affirmed Applejack, "Wait... does that mean that the others are also being forced to fight?" "Most likely," figured Twilight, "and in order to get every pony out of this mess, someone's going to have to win this whole thing." "Then you should go," insisted Applejack, "Your magic is the best chance we've got against unknown forces." "No, Applejack," negated Twilight with a shake of her head, "You beat me here. That's a sign that my magic won't be enough to take on this new challenge. Besides, whoever it was said that only the winner can move on." "I... I don't know if I can," thought Applejack out loud, "Not without you." "I believe in you Applejack," smiled Twilight, "My spirit as well as the spirit of our friends will assuredly fight alongside you." Applejack sighed, "Alright. I'll do my best." She looked up and lowered her eyebrows in determination, "No, I'll do better than my best. I'll give it 110%, win this thing and save every pony!" "Good luck, AJ!" called Twilight as Applejack ran through the conveniently marked 'exit' doorway. --- A new challenger has appeared! The Sugar Rushed Pin Cushion Of Laughter PINKIE PIE! As soon as Applejack made it to the end of the hallway, the 'doorway' shut itself and disappeared. Now she found herself inside a fairly vibrantly decorated room. The room was filled with scattered cookies, cakes, and candies of all shapes and sizes. Yet, they all lacked the smell sweets would normally have. Bouncing on one of the pies like a trampoline was the energetic pink earth pony herself. "Ooo! It's the Xenophobic Farm Hoof!" chirped Pinkie Pie, "I'd bet I can make her smile with a couple one-two hoof bumps!" She's loopier than usual, thought Applejack, I hope I can snap her out of it. Round 2 Fight! If there was one thing Applejack knew about Pinkie Pie, it was that a pony could only expect the unexpected. So it didn't surprise her at all when the pastry chef trainee pulled out multiple cakes and threw them at her. Applejack bobbed and weaved as best as she could around the cakes. The frosting from the tenth one scraped against her side and sent her sliding back a couple feet. "It looks as though the Element of Laughter is starting strong!" commented announcer Luna. From a convenient inventory space, Applejack brought out a pile of apples. She started putting Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee to work at bucking the apples in Pinkie Pie's direction. Pinkie Pie let out a 'woah' while twisting her body left and right. A few times, she actually opened her mouth wide enough to catch and eat the apples. Though immediately after Applejack's assault stopped, Pinkie grabbed her stomach in pain like something had hit it the wrong way. "Some pony's going to feel that in the morning," declared Luna. In that moment, Applejack took the opportunity to gallop towards Pinkie Pie with all her running might. Just as she stepped in front of the still aching Pinkie Pie, she turned around and smacked Pinkie Pie in the face with her tail. Pinkie went face-first into one of the taffy wrappers. The wrapper was empty, though, so she felt the full force of the floor. An invisible bell rang three times. "What a stunning victory!" praised Luna. "Ow, Applejack," moaned Pinkie Pie, "You didn't have to whack me like you meant it." "I'm sorry, Pinkie," apologized the sincere earth pony, "but there wasn't anything else I could rightly do." "Oh, that's all right!" chirped Pinkie going right back into her happy mode, "I was just imitating Teddie's line." Applejack only tilted her head in confusion. "Anyway," she said shaking her head from the confusion, "I gotta get going. I'm sure the rest of our friends need some sorting out too." She ran off. "Okay, bye Applejack!" waved Pinkie Pie enthusiastically. --- Well, who do we have here? The Unintentional Troll Of Equestria PRINCESS CELESTIA! Applejack galloped into the next arena area. It looked like an open grassy meadow of sorts surrounded on all sides by unnatural trees like those of the Everfree Forest. She briefly considered trying to just run right on through until a blinding vertical light blocked her path. When the light cleared, she could see a tall and regal form. "Princess!" addressed Applejack, "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop this crazy tournament right now!" "Brash and forward, dear Applejack," chuckled Celestia, "I'm afraid actions will speak louder than your words here." Oh, pony feathers, thought Applejack, I'm in over my head. Fighting the Princess?! She shook her head and remembered her exchange of words with Twilight. No, I can't and won't give up now. I gotta win, for all of them! Round 3 Fight! Hoping that a straightforward charge would overcome any form of trickery, Applejack immediately galloped headstrong toward Celestia. Too bad for her, Celestia charged up a circle of magical lights with her horn. Each of the lights alternated blasting magical energy at the charging pony. These were a bit broader and slower than Twilight's magical bolts. That didn't stop the third, fourth, and fifth blasts from nicking Applejack's sides and causing some nerves to feel like they were on fire. The sixth blast sent Applejack careening into the other treeline of the clearing. "And big sis gets in the first hit!" announced Luna. In all the blasting, Applejack's stetson hat had fallen to the grass a few feet in front of her fallen form. Celestia had started walking toward her opponent. In her focused mindset, she didn't notice as one of her hoofs stepped on the hat nearly flattening it. Applejack's eyes dilated when she saw this happen. --- "Here, AJ. It's yours now." --- "Big Mac," she whispered. She could feel tears forming in her eyes from the memory. Suddenly, her vision became clouded in red as she scowled her face in anger. "Woah! An awakening!" shouted Luna, "Could this turn things around for the villager?" Immediately, Applejack was back on her hooves and charging strong. Something was fueling her power and it felt a whole lot stronger than any adrenaline rush. She didn't know what was going on. At the time, she didn't even care. No pony messed with her family in any way and got away with it. The sudden charge caught Celestia off guard. Applejack's collision knocked her off balance and her hooves slid around on the grassy field. This was soon halted by a barrage of lasso tosses by Applejack. Where she got so many ropes, no one will ever know. In any case, Celestia's horn and wings were currently handicapped by the new bindings. Applejack pulled out a large helping of apples and piled them up for her two favorite hooves to get to work. She had never kicked so quickly before. It was like how ponies of an ancient war had fired machine guns or something like that. Celestia took the brunt of each and every one of the fruit projectiles. AJ then picked up her hat and threw it forward. It smacked Celestia in the face as she fell back in a shocked position. Three invisible bells rang one after the other. "Better luck next time!" commented Luna's voice. The red aura surrounding Applejack faded as she trotted over. She patted her hat a couple times to fix its shape before putting it back on. After the fight had been rung as over, her ammo had somehow vanished from Celestia's fallen form. Applejack offered a hoof to help the Princess up. To this, she happily accepted. "Sorry, your highness," chuckled Applejack nervously, "I guess I don't know my own strength." "I must admit I wasn't expecting that," agreed Celestia, "Still, that proves there is much potential hidden within you, Applejack." "Aw, shucks," Applejack blushed. A sound like static suddenly filled the air as a screen-shaped projection appeared next to the two ponies. "Hello?" inquired Luna's voice, "Is any pony there? Please answer." "Princess?" pondered Applejack. "Luna?" asked a shocked Celestia. "Please help if you can," pleaded Luna, "There's a fake Celestia around here and she used my voice to host this Grand Prix that's really a fighting trap. Uh-oh! She's ba-!" The voice crackled back to static as the image faded. "My sister is in trouble!" worried Celestia, "And there's nothing I can do for her in this strange world!" "Don't worry, Princess," insisted Applejack patting her chest once, "I'll go save her and every pony else too. I'll even clear your good name of that impostor." "You have my thanks, Applejack," bowed Celestia. Applejack nodded and galloped off. --- On to the next round... Everything about this one is a complete mystery! ???? The newest room that Applejack had entered looked like a really high-tech and fancy board. It was filled with buttons, switches, and screens that flashed at irregular intervals. Currently, two ponies were in the room having a heated argument. "As Princess of Equestria," tried Luna, "I order you to release us as well as our subjects from captivity!" "You're in no position to make demands," countered 'Celestia' smugly. "Princess!" shouted Applejack as she ran up next to Luna. "Fair Applejack!" exclaimed Luna, "It is good to see a benevolent face rather than a malevolent one." "Alright, you," said Applejack turning to 'Celestia', "I know you ain't the real Princess Celestia. Why don't you show us your true self?" "Heh heh heh," chuckled 'Celestia' as a cloud of indigo smoke engulfed her completely. It swirled around a bit before becoming sort of translucent and the new entity appeared. "No," whispered Luna, "It can't be." "Hello, Luna," cooed the black alicorn in midnight blue armor, "Did you miss me?" "Th-that's impossible," insisted Luna shaking a bit. "You can't exist if you're me." "Oh, but I'm not you anymore," chuckled Nightmare Moon, "Those Elements of Harmony stripped all of my dark powers from your very soul." "Hold on," interrupted Applejack while looking at Luna. "Didn't you turn into Nightmare Moon that one time during Nightmare Night?" "A simple transformation into a familiar form is nothing," spoke Nightmare Moon, "An optical illusion does not automatically mean that you still have all my powers. Well, not anymore. I've forced every pony into a place where they can destroy each other and experience true fear of the familiar just as I once knew fear of the ponies that I simply wanted to love me." "Stop this madness!" cried Luna. Nightmare moon cackled loudly and maniacally, "Stop? This is only the beginning 'your highness'! Soon, all shall either love me or despair!" Lightning and tornado-like purple clouds surged and burned around Nightmare Moon. It blew the other two ponies back a few feet. Applejack managed to stop her sliding by slamming her hooves hard into the floor and standing her ground. "I've got a better idea," Applejack stated flatly before raising her voice above the gale winds, "I'm going to defeat you and get us all out of this crazy place!" "Good luck on your foolish endeavor!" mocked Nightmare Moon floating a few inches above the floor. Final Round Fight! --- Experience -- Tradition -- Naïve -- Maturity