//------------------------------// // Ch. 4 Rarity and Applejack // Story: My Little Pony: Swapping is Magic // by orgo-member-XV //------------------------------// ~~ Rarity and Applejack ~~ They were both walking along the dirt road that took them to sweet apple acres, or rather Rarity was hopping around trying to keep from stepping into the mud puddles that had gathered onto the dirt road after some inexperienced Pegasus fluttered by trying to hold onto a cloud and while she was slowly gliding along the wind she was inadvertently holding onto it to tightly and as a result water had been leaking out of it the whole time she floated along the road so there were mud puddles everywhere ready for an un suspecting pony to fall right in and muddy up their coat. Applejack had sat on a tree branch watching Rarity cautiously sidestep a rather large puddle. “Rarity?” She jumped off the tree and hovered over her. “We need to move faster…if you keep avoidin’ the puddles we’ll both be stuck here till the cows come home!” “Well I would go faster if these puddles weren’t even here if I ever find out who did this I’m going to give her a piece of my mind…ah!” Some of the mud was being splashed up into the air from applejack’s wings since she was flying so close to the ground. “Applejack stop it! You’re getting it onto my mane!!”She was retreating from the drops of mud not looking where she was going and her hoof slipped and she fell back first into one of the mud puddles. “Well there we go” wiping some mud off her face. “You feelin’ better now, now you don’t have to avoid the puddles you can walk through ‘em” She held out a hoof for her. Rarity took it and wiped the mud from her eyes. “After I get back to my body…I’m staying in the spa for a good month!”She wiped some more off and continued the journey to the farm. Now that they were moving faster Applejack didn’t have to keep stopping in the tree’s every few minutes for rarity to catch up and she was flying in loop-da-loops and through the trees and high up into the sky and falling. “yee ha!!” she was falling out of the sky looking like one of her wings were broken and then at the last second she opened her wings and it lifted her up into the air in an arc sending another layer of mud onto Rarity. “This is great!”She glides over and lands lightly next to the mud coated orange pony. “Ah can see why Rainbow loves it so much!” “Well I am glad that you love it so much Applejack but if you don’t mind can you refrain from those dazzling acrobatics and continue onto the farm like you said we have to go before the cows start heading home” she smiled at her and continued walking leaving hoof prints in the mud. Applejack just followed her watching as a cow was walking down the road the opposite way they were going. The cow smiled and waved at her while she was walked past. “Good evening!” “Howdy!”She went to tip her hat the cow but since she wasn’t in her body she didn’t have it on and she just ended up creating a muddy hoof print on her forehead. The cow had continued on her way so she didn’t see Applejack’s head print. “Ah I need to get my hat back” She turned away and followed after Rarity after rubbing the mud off her forehead. Rarity was waiting for her almost to the end of the road looking annoyed that applejack was taking so long. ~At the front of the farm ~ “Here we are rarity!”Applejack flew over the gate of the orchard and landed in one of the trees. “Finally! Now I can rest my hooves!”She walked past the gate and relaxed underneath the tree that Applejack was roosting on top of. “What do you mean?”She landed softly on her hooves. “You’ve gotta get ready to buck the apple’s rarity, remember you promised” she tapped the tree that they were under. “Ah’m going to go check on Apple bloom and Big macintosh” She turned around. “You should practice while you’re out here then once I know everyone’s alright ah’ll show you how to buck them the right way!”Applejack nodded and walked up the steps to the little wooden house and knocked on the door with her hoof. “Hello? Big Macintosh? Applebloom? Granny Smith? Everyone alright?” She pushed the door open.“Everyone’s who their supposed to be right?” she quietly sneaked into the house like she was a burglar trying to keep the tenets of the house from waking. As soon as the door closed behind her there was the sound of tiny hooves hitting wood and before Applejack could say howdy she had been tackled and pinned to the floor. “Gotcha!”The pony Assailant laughed hysterically. “Applebloom! Gosh! What have I told yah about tacklin’ ponies” She was trying to get up but Applebloom was sitting on her chest. “Well she knows not too Applejack you have taught her well!”She smiles. “Ah haven’t been a youngin’ in years! So I wanted to try tacklin’ you…it worked” She jumps off and starts to run away. Applejack stared at her surprised. “Granny Smith…” “Yeppers! I woke up from my nap and ah was outside in the orchard” She jumps onto a chair then jumps off. “Ah think it’s just a dream…and it’s a very good one ain’t it!”She took a running start and started to slide across the floor into the kitchen saying wheee! “Granny smith if you’re here does that mean that Applebloom’s in your body?” She looked around for Granny Smith’s body. “No she left after ah woke up she went with her friends!” There was another set of hoof steps on the wood floors but they were slower and infrequent. “Applebloom?”When she turned around she saw Granny Smith shuffling toward her from a back room. “Nope” She walked over to a rocking chair and sat in it. “Big Macintosh!” “Eyup” He seemed tired and his eyes were half lidded like he was about to fall asleep. “That means…you said that she was going with her friends right Granny?”She turns to see that Granny Smith had found the hidden sweet’s drawer and stuffing her face. “Mhm!” She was mumbling some words after that but with all of the apple sweets in her mouth they were lost in mounds of apples and crumbs. “At least she’s safe and not causin’ any trouble” She sighed and looked at Granny Smith stuffing her young face and Big Macintosh snoring on the rocking chair. “Granny if you keep eatin’ stuff like that…you’ll get sick! Go outside and play I need to teach rarity how to buck the apple’s for me” She opened the door. “If Applebloom comes back keep her here” She opened the door and walked outside into the sunlight watching as big bunches of clouds were starting to get pushed together for the monsoon season. “Ah’ll be there soon Rainbow don’t worry” She trotted over to the tree and saw that Rarity wasn’t there anymore. “Rarity?”She looks around and sees hoof prints in the dirt leading away toward the apple trees. “Oh well I guess she went ahead of me and started to practice” Applejack used her new wings and took the shorter path to the barn landing on one of the trees again and she saw that Rarity was sitting under a tree messing with something. “Rarity?? What are you doing?!”She fluttered down and almost tripped when she saw what Rarity did to her mane. “RARITY WHAT DID YAH DO!!” “Ah-applejack! I-I wasn’t ex-expecting you so soon…”She turned around red hoofed having gotten caught. TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 5