Royal Harvest Festival

by Featherdust418

Chapter 1

"Applejack! Would y'all just calm down for a bit? I haven't seen you this jumpy since you left to go live with your aunt n' uncle Orange in Manehatten," Granny Smith called out as she pulled her head out of her saddlebag.

"Oh, come on, Granny Smith. That was a long time ago! You do realize where we're goin', right? CANTERLOT! But we're not just goin' there for any old reason. No, we're goin' there so that the princesses can taste the finest, if not only, zapapple jam in Equestria! But that's just it! What if we're not the only? Or the finest? What if ours turns out to be terrible!? Why, the princesses would be so disgusted, they- they could shut down Sweet Apple Acres for good! Or"-

"Applejack, STOP!" Granny Smith shouted, rubbing both temples with her hooves. Applejack, who had been running back and forth wildly, ceased speaking and skidded to a halt. Granny Smith and Applejack were getting ready that evening for the Royal Harvest Festival, a competition where the princesses themselves sent hoof-written invitations to select farms and bakeries from all over Equestria so that ponies could come and show off their best fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. If the princesses liked what they saw, or rather, tasted, you would be chosen to cater the Grand Galloping Gala.

"I-I'm sorry, Granny Smith. I'm just so nervous! I"-
"I know, I know," Granny Smith cut off Applejack and sighed. "Y'all just need to calm down. Listen, I know the Royal Harvest Festival is a big deal- believe me! But I also think you may be spendin' a little too much time with that librarian friend of yours. Wait, she is the one who got all worked up when princess Celestia came to Ponyville, right?" she asked, putting a hoof to her chin and looking up thoughtfully. Now it was Applejack's turn to sigh as she said,

"yes, Granny. But Twilight's gotten a lot better since then. Besides, my bein' nervous has got nothin' to do with Twilight. If ya think-"
"now Applejack, I didn't mean to bring down any of your friends. Their all good folk you can really count on," Granny Smith defended, holding her hooves up, "I just want you to simmer down a bit. Stress can spread like a cold, and I think I'm catchin' some o' yours!"

Applejack sighed again and said, "okay, Granny. I'll just try to relax and finish packin'."
"Good," Granny Smith responded, "and remember, let's at least try to enjoy ourselves in Canterlot? I know that this is a competition n' all, but I was also hopin' it could be like a vacation!" A.J. froze and was going to protest, but relaxed, took a deep breath, and said instead, "right. Okay. A vacation. I- I'll try to look at it that way. It may not be easy, but I'll try."

"Thank you, Applejack," and with that things became quieter and calmer. Soon, A.J. and Granny finished packing and, at about the same time Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom were coming in from the south fields, having finished their chores.
"Oh, good, your here! I was just about to come and get you. Well, let's go n' get cleaned up so we can eat. I'm hungrier than a beaver in a desert!" Said A.J. when she saw her siblings. She was met with a chorus of "okay!" and "me too!" as they all rushed off together.

---

After washing up and settling in to eat a delicious dinner of mashed apple oats and seasoned hay fries, Apple Bloom chatted non-stop, full of excitement at the fact that her very own sister and grandmother would be attending the Royal Harvest Festival in Canterlot, which, unfortunately, did nothing to help A.J.'s nerves. "I can't believe your really goin'! Oh, this is so great! I bet the princesses will choose you right away! I mean, I bet there's no jam that could even compare to zapapple jam! Right, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup," was Big Mac's reply. "Not only that," Apple Bloom started up again, "Canterlot's a really pretty place. I remember when I went there with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to the Hearts Warmin' Eve play. Everything was so pretty and sparkly in the snow. It's fall now, but I bet that means the trees will look like big torches, all lit up! How cool is that? And also, I told everypony at school that your goin' to the R.H.F, and now I'm really popular there! Even more popular than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! And"-

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up, Apple Bloom. You mean to tell me that you've been tellin' everypony at school about us goin' to Canterlot, just so you can get popular?" Applejack felt that this wasn't necessarily the case, but she had to stop her sister from going on and on and on- her nerves couldn't take anymore! So she gave her sister a stern look, waiting for a reply. Apple Bloom stared wide-eyed back at her sister and said,

"What? N-no! I-I was just so excited, I just couldn't wait to tell everypony! I mean, I really am proud of my family for this! That's why I told everypony, because I'm so proud and happy! Not because I wanted to become popular. I mean, well… that just sorta came with it, I guess." A.J. was still glaring at her sister, but she softened her gaze when she saw Apple Bloom's puppy-dog eyes and pouted lip. She chuckled a bit and said,

"well, I guess I can respect that. I'm just glad to know your not usin' our good fortune for your own benefit. Now come on, why don't you fill that chatter box with some delicious mashed apple oats before they get cold?" Apple Bloom looked at her older sister one last time, this time with an offended look, but she stayed quiet and ate her dinner. Soon, after everypony was done, Granny decided it would be best to go to bed early, since she and A.J. would be leaving the next day, and Apple Bloom and Big Mac had finished their chores. And everyone agreed that this was a good idea.

Author's Note:

Hello everypony! Wow, my first fanfic ever! And, I hit 1,000 words for the first chapter! Ok, so, I joined fimfiction pretty recently, but I've been reading fimfics for some time now. I've got a couple of ideas for more stories, that is, if all goes well with this story. Anyways, I hope everyone is understanding everything that's going on so far (it's not because I think anyone is dumb, it's just that I get nervous that I may not be explaining certain situations all that well.) If you have any questions about the story, I will be happy to answer them. This fimfic centers somewhere late in the third season, but before Twilight became an Alicorn. I know Applejack tried to sell food at the GGG, and that it ended horribly. This is different, and it will be explained in the second chapter. Ok, technically, beavers don't eat trees, but imagine how you would feel if you were a beaver and the only tree-like things around were these big, sharp plants? Yeah... not so great. Encouragement is greatly appreciated, and so is constructive criticism! Just remember that this is my first story, so please be nice! Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments

[Silver Starlight]

Just a tip, pony creator cover art is frowned upon by many because it looks sloppy and amateurish. In many cases, it's better to have nothing. If you insist, though, at least use an actual vector of AJ alongside the OC, those are nowhere near her colors. There are also many people who can do commissions if you want.

[Featherdust418]

3550646 (Silver Starlight-)
Hello! You know, I actually didn't want to use the pony creator- I know many people are not fond of it. I even made my o.c. on inkscape from scratch. He looked all right, but when I uploaded an image of Applejack, they were all too big. Her head would always seem to be almost twice the size of my o.c.'s, so then I tried to make an image of Applejack from scratch, but I had been doing it all for 7 hours straight- maybe even longer. So I guess I got a little frustrated and ended up using the pony creator. I was basically sick all day, too. Maybe I'll try to make A.J. again and re-upload the image later, but for now, this will have to do, I guess.

[Silver Starlight]

3552535 Use the inkscape OC, and see if one of the artists in MLP-VectorClub will let you use their work. You can find the group on deviantart, just search "pony vector" and most show-accurate images that pop up should provide a link on the right side. They have eight pages of pictures you can use under the Applejack subfolder of "main six and Spike". After you decide on one, using basic photo editing to put them together should be easy.

Good luck!

[Featherdust418]

3552570 I did it (finally!) his tail is a little cut-off, but I hope that's ok- it took me awhile to get it up there. What do you think? Is it better? Worse? Should I try and fix the tail? Please let me know (although I have to get some sleep now,) and thank you for all your help!

[Silver Starlight]

3552992 All you really need now is a background. Much better, IMO.

[Featherdust418]

3554097>>3554097 Ok, cool. I'll see what I can do for a background- that shouldn't be to hard, and thanks again!

[Silver Starlight]

3554113 That DA group I mentioned has backgrounds, FYI. Good luck!