A major mistake
So she took you to meet her brother, Chocolate?
That's right, apple blossom! Though what happened after we first met, probably wasn't what the Rainbow pony monk exactly had in mind...
"Hey there, big sis! Good to see you again!" The smug stallion greeted his sister, as she and AJ came trotting through the door. "And who's this fine little filly you have with you, there?"
The rainbow pony monk's home was a modest brown wooden cabin, tucked away in one of the few wooded areas Equestria still possessed. Applejack couldn't believe how humble and simple the place looked on the outside, with quaint curtained windows and a homely looking roof and chimney. But it was something that was inside that took the ancient mare by surprise... and it wasn't the pine wood furniture or matching curtains and tablecloth that caught her eye.
He was a rather handsome looking stallion, as far as appearances went- AJ had seen a number of well-built males in her time, and dated a select very few of them over the centuries- but this one had a certain fire in his eye, a rebellious ember that burned bright hot as he stared at the new mare standing before him. The orange earth pony was shocked, for she had thought no Equestrian stallion carried such a passionate fire in their spirits anymore, and the flame that once made Equestria strong had given way to a lazy complacency surrounded by the soft life of modern conveniences. But this pony seemed like an archaic throwback, and this intrigued the fellow earth pony standing before him greatly.
"Chocolate, this is Applejack, she'll be staying with us here for awhile." The rainbow monk declared, as she hung her cloak up on a hook near the fireplace. "A.J., this is my brother, Chocolate!"
"A pleasure, Miss Jack." The tall, dark, and gruesome stallion greeted her, kissing the mare's hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet such a rare example of classical Equestrian beauty in this day and age."
"Aw, shucks... yer just sayin that!" The mayor replied with a grin, obviously amused with the miserable flirting attempt. But Applejack discovered that the monk's brother was a very good conversationalist, as he was able to hold her attention all throughout dinner.
"So your sister raised you after the two of you's parents died?" The orange mare asked, as she took another sip of the orange juice her hostess had poured for her. "It musta been really hard, growing up!"
"Well, it wasn't really as bad as it sounds, actually!" The stallion replied with a chuckle. "There were always ways for my friends and I to enjoy ourselves."
"Yeah, this ornery colt was always getting himself into some kind of trouble I'd have to bail him out of!" Pinwheel laughed, setting down a plate with two hay sandwiches on it. "You wouldn't believe how many times I had to talk to the authorities about him spray painting a bridge, or throwing rotten apples at a royal guard. This bay was quite a hooful!"
"So y'all were a bit of a troublemaker, huh?" AJ asked, looking the rouge over with a smile. "Yeah, ya don't find ponies that ornery around no more these days."
"Ugh, don't remind me! Equestria is such a soft and easy place to live in this day and age, nopony wants to get up and do anything exciting anymore!" Chocolate replied in annoyance. "I would have liked to have lived in more exciting times, when ponies were real ponies, and not just little weaklings!"
Chocolate was indeed a rebel in this modern world, a throwback to a time before cell phones and computers, when stallions were stallions. Over the next few days Applejack found herself spending more and more time with the stallion, showing him lasso tricks, and chatting about the old wild and free days of Equestria.
"It must of been incredible, when you and your friends were going on adventures." Chocolate commented, watching the mayor jump through a lasso hoop. "Back before Equestria was noting but suburbs, and high rise apartments."
"Yeah, I do kinda miss those days now, apple buckin' and goin ta preform in the rodeo." The orange earth mare sighed, waxing nostalgic for happier times in her life, now long gone. "It's funny, a while back I was tryin' ta get away from my past, and live a new life, but now... I almost kinda miss it!"
Applejack quickly found out what Pinwheel planned to do with her, as the rainbow mare slowly began to teach her older mare companion. Pinwheel taught her the secrets of the followers of the horsemaster; their belief in one supreme creator, their faith and hope in the future their beliefs gave them, despite how had the world had become. It was a philosophy based on love and family, rather than on the important bonds of friendship alicornisim had relied on. Still, it was a concept that the family-oriented applejack could relate to. And besides, weren't friends a lot like family, anyway?
"You seem a little bothered by my sister's teachings," Choclate noted one day, hen they were each having a mug of cider on the veranda. "don't worry, there are a lot of the rest of us who don't agree with her, either."
"But... I thought you and your sister were both horsemasterists!" Applejack replied, surprised. "You mean you don't take her message seriously, ethier?"
"What, you mean all that stuff about 'the prophet Zorypontha teaches balance in all things' and 'everyone has a special destiny?' Oh please!" He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I know my sister isn't forcing you to listen to her message or convert, but I can't believe you actually want to sit there and listen to the junk!"
"A lot of what Pinwheel is saying is making sense, Chocolate." The orange mare replied, looking away. "It explains a lot of the chaos I've been experiencing in my life, too."
"Look, A.J. ... I know you've been through a lot, but I can't believe the great Applejack is giving into all this mumbo jumbo." He snorted in disgust. "The world is screwed up 'cause ponies don't care anymore, not because we aren't horsemasterists or alicornists or whatever other -ist ya wanna slap on at the end of a word. Ponies out there don't give a damn about anything anymore, so why should we?"
The former element of honesty was taken aback by these words, she had always believed in something. "Chocolate, w-what are you suggesting?"
"You said you missed the excitement of the rodeo and performing, right?" The stallion asked, a great big smile forming across his face. "Well, I just happened to know how to get in touch with a few ponies from the rodeo circuit, and get you back to doing what you do best." He looked back into the house, where his sister could be heard upstairs praying. "Unless you'd rather fall asleep listening to another sermon from her high and mighty holiness?"
Applejack looked back towards the house, than looked back at the stallion before her, before closing her eyes and nodding her head.
And that's how I turned my back on a mare who had done so very much to help me, and proceeded to make one of the stupidest mistakes of my life!
Wow, you were acting goofy back then! So did Pinwheel come looking for you and her brother?
That she did, apple blossom. But by the time she found us, ohhh boy had the situation in Equestria changed! Which leads us back into Grogar's invasion...