//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 A.K.A Applejack is back, baby! // Story: Applejack Abroad // by ChaosSlayer //------------------------------// "Oh Celestia, I'm so excited! Is everypony else as excited as I am?" asked Pinkie Pie, hopping around the Far-From-Ponyville-But-Sill-Counting-As-A-Part-of-Ponyville Sea Dock 9.75 "Yes Pinkie, we're all excited, but you should calm down. After all we haven't seen Applejack in a year, so we should greet her as true friends." said Twilight, levitating the every-hyperactive Pinkie Pie back to their group. "Appl'jack is very lucky to 've been asked to travel to Manechester an' help with appl' harvest. It ain't ev'ry year that Apples from th' continent get invited to Great Britail." said Granny Smith. "Eeyup." agreed Big Macintosh. "Oh, I do hope that she brought some beautiful clothes from the isles. Their style is simply fabulous." said Rarity. "I can't wait to race her again!" shouted Rainbow Dash, flying in circles from excitement. "I, uhh... I hope she had fun..." said Fluttershy timidly. "Look ev'rypony! There's 'er ship!" shouted Applebloom, pointing to the horizon with her hoof. Indeed, a black shape appeared there and was heading to the docks. 5 hours later "So... how long until the ship gets here?" asked Pinkie Pie, yawning. It was getting dark and the ship didn't seem to get any closer. "Well, it's getting late. We might as well rest and maybe tomorrow morning the ship will get here." said Twilight. "Eeyup." said Big Mac. 11 hours later The sun bathed Twilight Sparkle's face as she awakened and got to her hooves. She made a brief tour around her sleeping friends and nudged them awake. With everypony awake, they finally decided to look for the ship. It was literally coming into the docks as they woke up. The energy from yesterday returned to everypony, especially Pinkie who tried to jump onto the ship and would've fallen down if Rainbow Dash didn't catch her. Stomping with anticipation, the ponies watched as the door of the ship opened with a hiss and the first pony that came out was... not Applejack. The next 15 minutes were spent watching everypony else leave the ship before Applejack came out as the very last passenger. "Applejack!" shouted everypony and awaited her response. She opened her mouth to speak, and what happened after that... I'll try to explain. Granny Smith fainted. Big Mac's jaw dropped so far he broke the cement. Applebloom's jaw dropped so far she nearly broke it. Rainbow Dash was in the air and her jaw still managed to reach the ground. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped and bounced her into the air. Fluttershy's jaw nudged down slightly. Rarity gasped on her entire breath. Twilight gasped while her jaw was dropping. Twilight wins the best reaction contest. Then again, what do you expect? You wait for your friend/sister/grandchild to say "Howdy everypony!" and she says "Hiya chaps!" Later that day Sugarcube corner God I love horizontal rule "So... Applejack, how was your time in Manechester?" asked Twilight nervously, looking at Applejack. "It was bloody marvellous mate! Amazing, all of the apple trees and long orchards stretching out for miles!" she said happily, picking up a cup. "Cheers." she said, gulping down apple juice. "Cheers?" whispered Rainbow Dash to Twilight, who shrugged cluelessly. "Oh, I saved up like 100 quid working part-time in a pub so a pint of cider for everypony tonight, eh?" said Applejack. A few minutes passed in nervous silence before Applejack spoke again. "What got you all so surprised in the docks chaps? Something not right around here?" she asked, sounding worried. Twilight answered Applejack's question with a question, "Applejack, do you feel alright?" "Me? Oh, I feel fantastic mate. You think something's wrong with me?" "Oh... no, it's just... we haven't seen you in such a long time... and you seem to have... changed." "Don't worry Twilight. I'm still the old me, so no worries mate! Really, nothing's wrong. You're just imagining things, I tell you." said Applejack before putting on a small bowler hat and getting up, "Now I've had a whale of a time but sadly I have to go back to the farm, make sure Applebloom didn't botch anything up while I was away. Cheerio!" And then she left. "So... does anypony have any idea what she was talking about? I mean, all those weird phrases and words..." said Rainbow Dash. "She also lost her accent!" said Pinkie, sounding a bit disappointed. "And that bowler hat... I mean, it is a lot more stylish and fashionable than her old stetson hat but that is exactly the point! Applejack would never change her stetson hat for something stylish." said Rarity. Twilight tapped her chin with one of her front hooves, "I have an idea about what could have happened but a further investigation needs to be done. I'll tell you if I was right." she said. "APPLEJACK WAS REPLACED BY A ROBOT! CALLED IT!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "Just sit down Pinkie. There is no such things as robots." said Twilight. "Yeah! Obviously it's not a robot. It's an evil clone!" said Rainbow Dash, her wings popping up in excitement. "Rainbow! There are no such things as 'evil clones' either." said Twilight. "Perhaps it would be best if you started your investigation right now Twilight," said Rarity, "before this turns into something crazy." "REPENT! THE PONYBOTS ARE COMING! PROTECT MAYOR CONNORS!" shouted Pinkie. "DON'T LISTEN TO HER! BURN YOUR SHAVED MANE AND TAIL HAIR! PREVENT EVIL CLONING!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Perhaps it would Rarity... perhaps it would..." said Twilight. A minute of random 'repent' rants passed as Twilight took a sip of her tea. "Well come on Twilight! Start investigating!" shouted Rarity. "Oh, right. Yeah, sorry. I kind of... phased out here..." said Twilight before she got up and galloped to the Library. Fluttershy flew out after her, "Bye Rarity! I'll help Twilight okay?" Rarity waved after her, "Okay, bye!" . . . "Hey lady! Could you silence your friends! I'm trying to eat here!" shouted somepony. Rarity got up and patted Rainbow Dash on the back. "Okay dear, I'm leaving. Pay for the meal, I'll repay you later. Bye!" she said before storming off. Once Rarity left, Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie. "Now that they're gone, shall we go back to what we've planned for tonight?" she asked. Pinkie giggled, "You bet." Then they both left without paying.