“Now... Applejack... She's an interesting one. Quite the odd case, but I can tell you now. She is... Honestly, one of the most unique people I've invited to this school.”
- -
Brown boots hit the dirt repeatedly, as a teen girl walked through the village. Little grass grew in the village itself, though that was certainly not the case back at her home. Which explained the large cart of apples which she was hauling through the village. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a belt with a buckle in the shape of an apple's core securing them to her waist. She had on a checkered yellow and red shirt which was currently unbuttoned, revealing the plain white tank-top she wore underneath it. She had wonderfully tanned skin, and blond hair that extended down to her mid-back, secured in a tight ponytail, though some of her bangs that protruded from beneath the brown ten-gallon hat she wore hung in front of her sap-green eyes.
She wore a grin upon her face as she walked along. Some people glanced, giving a wave and smile to her as she passed, some calling her name. She simply gave a raise of her own hand or a nod of acknowledgment to them, continuing on to her destination, and pausing briefly once it was in her sight. Rufus Ramsey's Pub. She gave a large smile before running, full speed, toward it, dragging the heavy cart behind her as though it weighed nothing at all.
“Ah'm here!” she called into the pub the second she arrived, her southern accent radiating through the establishment. At the counter, a heavyset gentleman in a brown vest, wearing a white shirt glanced up at her from the mug he was cleaning.
“Howdy, Applejack,” the bartender called back, grinning behind his handle-bar mustache at her. “Got the shipment, Ah take it?”
“Sure do,” Applejack responded, nodding with a grin. “Where do ya want it?”
“Out front's fine,” he said, smirking. “C'mon in! Take a load off!” She gave a nod and set the handle of the cart down upon a barrel so it wouldn't fall over. She dusted her hands off by clapping them together, then went inside, greeting everyone with a wave and a curt, howdy as she went to the counter, sitting on one of the stools. "How's the weather out there?" the barkeep asked, looking at her.
"Eh, same as always," she shrugged. "Mind grabbin' me some cider?"
"Always aim to please, AJ." he chuckled, before pausing then sighing. "I gotta make more with the last few apples we got. Yer gonna have to wait a minute."
"Ah got nothin' but time, Sal," she shrugged, the large man walking into the back. AJ kicked her feet up on a stool beside her's, ready to relax.... Before a loud crash outside alarmed her and several other patrons. She stood up promptly and grunted in annoyance. "What in tarnation is goin' on?" she asked herself, walking outside once she heard some yelling.
Upon exiting the pub, she was greeted with seeing two men and the town mayor, who was on her knees in front of them, and seemed to be trembling in either fear or anger. The mayor was a woman with greying hair, dark skin and who was wearing her usual attire of a purple vest and pants along with black dress shoes and her walking stick, though she didn't truely need it. She just felt it best to be prepared. The men, however, AJ had never seen before. One of them was tall and fairly muscular, having blood red hair and looking as though he were tired, having his eyes half closed and both had bags beneath them. His companion was far smaller, more so than even the mayor(which took some doing, as they mayor herself was half the size of AJ). Both males wore golden armor, the tall one in heavy-looking gear and the short one in what just looked like a golden vest, arm bracers and greeves. The smaller one had two pistols secured to his waist and the taller one had a shotgun AND a large(also golden) broadsword on his back.
"What's goin' on out here," AJ asked, walking over and standing beside the mayor. The short one gave a toothy grin that AJ hated. It just didn't... look right. "Who're ya'll?"
"We, my dear darling hick," the short one said, and AJ had to resist the urge to clock him for the word. "Are emissaries of his highness Discord. The mayor of this backwater town has yet to pay ANY of her Discordian taxes in the entire time we've been sending her the notices. So, we came personally to collect our payment--"
"I don't owe you shit!" The mayor snapped at him, taking a step forward, but AJ quickly held out a hand in front of her.
"Beg yer pardon, but this town's on the Celestian side of the continent," she told them. "It ain't at all part of the Discordian side. It don't owe ya no taxes."
The short one scoffed. "You obviously don't get it, hick," he said, rolling his eyes. "This continent is rightfully Discordian as a whole, and therefore ALL towns must pay the tax."
"Well Ah think that's just plain bull," Applejack said bluntly to him.
"And I think you're a whore, now move out of the way so the grown ups can keep talking, brat," he said plainly.
"Grown up? Ah'm more grown than yer EVER gonna get!" AJ snapped at him. He paused at that, before sighing in anger.
"I tried to be nice. I really did. Bagga," he said, looking over his shoulder at the taller man. "Take care of the both of 'em."
"You got it, Bling." he said in a deep, monotone voice, a grin on his face. He stepped forward, and AJ gestured for the mayor to step back.
"You teach 'em a thing or two about who not to mess with." The mayor said, before walking into the crowd that had gathered outside the pub. Bagga tried to follow after her, but stopped when AJ got in his path, glaring up at him.
"Ya ain't goin' nowhere except outta my town." she said sternly. Both men glanced at each other before laughing.
"You really think you can beat us, kid--" Bagga began to ask, but was cut off by the sharp intake of breath he drew when she spun around, landing a kick to his stomach, just above his waist. He skidded back a yard or so and held his stomach, looking down to see his armor was dented where her foot had hit him.
"Ah KNOW Ah can beat you!" she said, cracking her knuckles and glaring coldly at them. Bling stared at his companion in shock before stamping his foot angrily.
"Get the hell up! Handel her already, you great lummox!" he shouted, Bagga getting to his feet and glaring at AJ.
"I usually hate gettin' rid of kids," he said, taking the sword off his back. "But I'm gonna enjoy this. And a lot."
"So am Ah." she grinned. Bagga rushed at her, letting out a batte cry as he raised his sword, bringing it down towards her. She rushed forward, stepping under the hilt and out of range of the blade, then bent her knees and sprung up, spinning as she did so, her fist hitting his jaw carrying him right into the air along with her. He groaned in pain, wincing before gasping for air as she let another spin carry her around, planting another kick to his stomach in the exact same spot and sending him crashing to the ground. He landed flat on his back as AJ landed on her feet, smirking. Bling sighed before taking out both of his pistols, classic flintlocks.
"Told the big bastard that full gold armor wouldn't help shit aside from looks." he muttered to himself before aiming at AJ. "Want somethin' done right..." he scoffed, before pulling the trigger. AJ spun around quickly, her fist out. The next thing he knew, his hand was stinging fiercely as the pistol shattered from the back from the force of its own bullet returning to it, flying out of his hand. "OUCH! Shit!" he shouted, holding his palm. He stared at AJ before growling and whipping his arm out a few times, to let the air cool it. "You're one special little hick, aren't ya?"
"Eh, my pa used to tell me that." she shrugged with a smirk, cracking her neck before glancing to the side as Bagga was suddenly at her side, swinging his gold-gauntlet clad at her. She ducked down to avoid it, surprising him, before getting back to her feet quickly and throwing a barrage of punches into his face, then punching him in his stomach yet again, the large man groaning in agony before being uppercut again, making him stumbled back. Bling reached into his pocket and pulling out a small knife, then running at her and leaping to cut, to which she bent backwards, making the swipe miss her, before standing upright fast, her head colliding with his chest and sending him flying back.. He gasped for air but landed on his feet.
"That's it..." he growled, pulling out his other pistol as well. He ran at AJ, who smirked, jumping over him as her fired a shot off at her, then dodged back into a kick that knocked the knife from his hand when he spun around to slash her with it. He stepped back and shot at her again, which she dodged by going to the left, and then went forward, landing a punch to send him spinning around back before she jumped, kicking both feet out to knock him forward, sending him flying a short distance above the ground before landing, crashing into a barrel. She landed on her hands and rolled back to her feet, before rolling to the side to avoid a downward slash from Bagga's sword, then spinning around and throwing a kick at him, though this time he had the prescense of mind to dodge it. He spun around, sweeping his sword and forcing her to crouch again.
He shifted backwards and pulled out the shotgun, shooting once at her, though she dodged backwards. He shot again and she leapt forward, punching outward, the bullet flying back and hitting him in the chest, making his chestplate fly off, revealing a red, skintight bodysuit. He groaned and stepped back but slashed out again, AJ ducking under it before jumping up and rearing her fist back. She then noticed that he was in mid-spin, the blade coming for her yet again. She swore silently in her head, before turning toward it and punching the edge, causing a portion of the blade to snap off and fly through the air, coming to rest in a barrel, and cutting an apple in half as it did. He stared in shock before glancing over his shoulder, looking at Bling.
"It's made of Gold, you idiot! It's not friggin' indestructable!" Bling snapped, aiming at AJ again before his eyes went wide. "LOOK OUT!"
Bagga felt a hard kick hit his now exposed stomach and he went flying back, nearly crashing into Bling on his way, before landing on the ground. "Owww...." he groaned, Bling sighing and facepalming before moving out of the way to avoid her crushing him with a diving kick. He turned and shot several times at her, AJ running away from the bullets off to the side before ducking behind a barrel. Bling smirked and took careful aim.... Before crying out as he was hit from behind with a barrel that felt like it was flung into him by a catapult. It also covered him in what looked like grape juice. He looked back to see a tanned teen boy glaring at him with blonde hair, a sprig of wheat coming from the side of his mouth. He had on a watch, as well as he was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans.
"Don't mess with mah sister." he said in a dangerously low voice. Bling stared before fumbling for his gun, then yelping in surprise and Bagga came over and helped him up frantically.
"You okay, Bling?!" he asked worriedly, dusting him off.
"Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me!" Bling snapped, batting at his hands. "I'm fine! Now go take care of--" He froze as he noticed AJ was now in front of them, and grinning.
"Howdy." she greeted, before backflipping away when Bagga swiped at her, landing several feet away. "Ah think it's about time you fellas left..." she said, before spreading her legs apart, crouching low and clenching her fist tight. Her arm began to glow red, the color intensifying as she held the position, eventually turning into a blazing yellow and appearing to have tounges of flame whipping off of it. Both men scrambled for their firearms and began shooting at her.... Only for AJ's entire body to glow bright orange, the bullets bouncing off and falling harmlesslly to the ground. The stared in horror as AJ smirked at them, then charged, both men screaming as she crouched low once she was in front of them. She shot upward, landing a hard punch into Bling's chest, sending him flying into Bagga's stomach. She took a step forward and spun, an explosion of flame erupting from the force of the blow and sending the two flying off into the sky until they twinkled like a star.
"Now THAT'S how it's done!" AJ said, dusting her hands off as the bar patrons cheered for her, the mayor giving her a pat on the back and a smile. AJ walked back into the bar, sitting back at her seat as Sal came over, smirking.
"One Apple Cider." He said, placing a mug of light brown liquid.
"Thanks, big guy." she grinned, taking a swig of the sweet liquid as though it were alcohol. Though at that moment, a smaller girl ran in. She had rose red hair and reddish-yellow eyes. She wore blue overalls that ended off as a skirt, but she had black sweatpants beneath them, which were seen as they only went down to just a bit below her thighs, though the sweatpants ended right above her ankles. She wore pink socks and black shoes, and was carrying a letter in her hands. "Apple Bloom?" AJ asked curiously, looking at her in surprise.
"We got somethin' for ya, sis!" Apple Bloom said excitedly, the boy from earlier stepping into view too and nodding.
"Eeeyup." he said bluntly, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"So that's why Big Mac was here." AJ mused.
"Yup! It's from that big city! From Canterlot!" Apple Bloom said, the bar going quiet at that and staring, shocked.
"What could they want with me?" she asked, confused.
"Well I dunno! Here, you see!" the younger sister said, extending her hand and the letter.
"Sure thing," she shrugged, before taking the letter and ripping it open, looking at the note inside and reading it silently to herself. Everyone waited quietly, wanting to know why just as much as the Apple siblings themselves. AJ seemed to finish reading and set the note in her lap, looking at it.
"W-Well?" Bloom asked, looking up at her. AJ was silent, before giving a small chuckle. "Sis?" Bloom asked, blinking. AJ threw her head back, laughing loudly.
"Well folks!" She laughed, standing and smiling at them all. "Looks like Ah'm headed to Equestria Academy!"