//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Royal Harvest Festival // by Featherdust418 //------------------------------// "I GOT A LETTER! I! GOT! A! LETTER!" Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly, bouncing around the Sugar Cube Corner mailbox. "Well, what does it say? C'mon, open it!" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently, hovering in place nearby. "Oh, Dashie, I REEEAAALLY want to see what's inside too, but this letter is addressed to all of Applejack's friends and her immediate family- so we just have to wait till they get here!" "Ugh, were are those slowpokes, anyways?" Rainbow grumbled. "Relax, Rainbow, were all here," said a familiar voice. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom all walked up to the mailbox. "Finally! What took you so long, anyways?" "Well, we had to stop by Sweet Apple Acres to get Big Mac and Apple Bloom, cause some ponies didn't know about the letter," said Twilight in a chiding tone. Rainbow looked over to the earth pony siblings and, while rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof, said sheepishly, "Oh... right. Sorry, guys." "It's alright, Rainbow Dash! Well, now that we're all here, let's read that letter- c'mon, I wanna know what my big sis said! Right, Big Mac?" "Eeyup!" "Okie-dokie-lokie! Well, here you go, Twilight- you may do the honors!" Exclaimed Pinkie as she bowed in front of Twilight, with the letter somehow gripped in the small curl in her hair. "Uh... thanks, Pinkie?" said Twilight, and she used a bit of magic to take the letter from the pink party pony. Pinkie slunk away, and disappeared behind her friends. "O...kay? anyways, let's see what this letter sa-" "DID YOU READ IT YET!?" "Whaaa! PINKIE! How- ugh, no, I haven't read the letter- I just- no, you just- would you sit STILL!" Twilight's horn lit up a bit stronger, and she forced her pink friend onto her rump. Pinkie, however, simply grinned and replied, "Okay, Twilight!" The learned unicorn sighed and said, "Thank you. Now... Howdy, everypony! How are you? How's Winona, and how's everything in Ponyville? As she continued to read on, everypony around her smiled- despite Pinkie's "crazier than usual" antics, it was nice to here from Applejack. Also, from her letter, she sounded quite calm, which was nice- considering how much her nervousness showed for a few days before she had left for Canterlot. As she got to the part about the storm- I think there were clouds stuck in the vents at the Canterlot weather factory, or something. I bet Rainbow Dash would know a lot more about that than me, though!- Twilight stopped reading and everyone looked up at Rainbow. After a second, she looked around and said, "What?" "Well? Do you know anything about it?" asked Twilight. "Oh, yeah! Sometimes, clouds get stuck in the vent system. When it's repaired, though, the pressure of the clouds is too much- so they all come pouring out at once. It happens, but it's no big deal," Rainbow responded while making a circular motion with her hoof- partly to emphasize that it wasn't a big deal, and partly to move on with the letter. "Oh! "That makes sense!" "I see..." "All right, all right! Can we get on with the letter?" Rainbow asked- she did have an early afternoon nap calling her name, after all! "Okay, okay! Now where was I... Ah! Here we go-" and with that, Twilight read the last part of the letter. "Well, that was quite nice! What did you think, Pink- Pinkie?" As Twilight turned to look at her friend, she saw that she was sitting there, frozen, with a look of shock plastered on her face. Then, she slowly started to grin, and it was getting wider and wider. "That... was... perfect!" she said as she shot up into the air, and then somehow gently floated back to earth. "Whew, aren't letters great? It's so nice to know A.J. hasn't forgotten us! Well, time to wait for the next one!" she said as she put herself in front of the mailbox in a guarded position. Everyone sighed, and Twilight said, "well, I guess we better get back to work." "Not me! I'm going to find a nice tree and get started on my nap! See ya!" cried Dash, and the next thing anypony knew, she was gone. As they all turned to leave, Twilight looked over her shoulder and said, "Pinkie... don't you think you should get back to work, too?" "Weeell, I COULD, Twilight- but then I might miss A.J.'s next letter! And if THAT happened, then-" "It's okay! I, uh, get it, really! Heh, well, you do what you have to do! Goodbye, Pinkie!" Twilight said, grinning nervously. "Bye Twilight!" replied Pinkie, giving a big smile in return to her friend. Then, her face turned dead-serious, and she turned her attention back to the mailbox. Applejack looked around at the large landscape before her, took a deep breath, and grinned widely. The field, although big, was surrounded by trees on the sides, and on one far end, there was a clear, pristine lake. The sun was shining brilliantly, and all the clouds from the previous night were nowhere to be found. The field itself, although rather damp, was filled with soft, lush grass of a vivid green color. This large yet secluded field was where the R.H.F would be held. Ponies were working hard, setting up booths and stalls that would have food, games, and prizes of all kinds. There was even a large stage that was nearly finished being built for the music and announcements. "Whew, Granny, look at all this! Ain't it amazing? Oh, this is so exciting! C'mon, let's go set up our booth!" Granny chuckled at her granddaughter's enthusiasm and replied, "okay, Applejack! Just slow down a bit, this grass is still wet, and I don't want you to fall!" Applejack stopped running and started to trot, but she still had a bit of a skip in her step. Soon, they found themselves at the competition area. They found a nice, unoccupied spot, and they began to use the materials they had brought to make a nice little stall. As they were setting up, A.J. looked around at her competition. There were ponies all around, and she even saw a few mules and griffons as well. 'Wow, we sure got a lot of ponies- and, uh, mules and griffons here! I... I don't know if I can do this...' before her excitement and confidence could slip away, however, her eye caught something. An orange-coated earth-pony stallion. "'Now that's strange. Why would a pony like that catch my attention? I don't know anypony that looks like that!... unless...' she looked around quickly, then squinted her eyes to see his cutie mark... and saw... 'no... it couldn't be!' but it was. For the mark on his flank was that of an apple tree. Immediately, memories and curiosity were at the front of Applejacks' mind. Finally, she could find out this ponies name- and if he was really related to another Apple family! "Granny... I, uh... okay, see that pony over there?" "Who? Oh, you mean that orange one over there? What about him?" "Well, remember how yesterday I told you I bumped into somepony... an orange earth-pony stallion with an apple tree cutie mark?" 'Oh, please remember...' Applejack wasn't sure why, but her curiosity was gnawing away at her. She at least had to find out this ponies name, and she hoped she wouldn't have to recount last night's events so her grandmother would allow her to go and speak with him. "Hmm... orange... earth-pony... apple tree... hmmmmm..." Granny mumbled to herself. Finally, she spoke: "Ah! Why yes, I do recall! Well, what about him?" 'Thank Celestia', A.J. thought to herself. She then asked, "Well, I wasn't able to find out his name, and I really would like to find out. Can I please go and ask him what it is?" "Ask who what what is?" "..." "Oh! The orange pony! Right, right! Sure, you can ask, go right ahead!" Applejack gave a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks, Granny! Don't worry, this won't take long!" Soon, as she was nearing his stall, she started to get a bit nervous. What should she say? Would he even remember their encounter yesterday? She then started to abandon her plans as she turned to leave. At that same moment, however, he turned and locked eyes with her. They both froze. He squinted at her, then a look of realization spread across his face. "Applejack?" So he did remember! A.J. immediately relaxed and smiled in return, the trotted over to him. "Well howdy! Wasn't quite sure if you'd recognize me..." "Ha, I never forget a face! Now, if my memory serves right, you never did get my name, did you? Well, It's-" "AAAPPLEBUUUCK!" an aged voice roared across the competition area, and Applebuck's ears fell immediately and he shrunk a bit. "Oh no, not again..." was all he said before a gruff, robust-looking elderly pony barreled through the field towards them.