Look Who Came Trotting Back

by AceOfSpades1309

Chapter 1

Look Who Came Trotting Back

Chapter 1

Sweet Apple Acres…

“Ho doggy, that was one hard day of apple bucking, wouldn’t ya say, Big Macintosh?” said Applejack as she finished bucking the last apple tree for the day. Her big brother simply put the apple-filled barrel in the cart with the other barrels before replying, “Eeyup.”

“After all that apple bucking, I can’t wait to eat whatever Granny Smith is cooking up,” exclaimed Applejack as she wiped the sweat from her brow. As if on cue, her little sister Apple Bloom came trotting from the farmhouse, a big smile across her face, hollering, “Dinner’s ready!!!”

Smiling just as big as her little sister, Applejack looked over to her big brother, saying, “Wanna race, Big Macintosh?” The stallion simply looked at his younger sister, before turning back to the barrel-filled cart he was attached to. He turned back to his sister and simply replied, “Nnnope.”

“Aw, ya ain’t never wanna race,” said Applejack, nudging her brother with her hoof. “What about you, Apple Bloo…,” continued Applejack, but as she turned back, she found her little sister was gone. “I’m already half way there!” cried Apple Bloom from a distance. Applejack simply laughed before trotting after her sister, leaving her big brother to pull the cart back to the farm.

Course, he didn’t mind watching his two younger sisters have fun while he did the heavy lifting. He enjoyed the quiet and the gentle breeze that blew in the air. As he pulled the cart down the road towards the farmhouse, however, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a grey dot in the sky growing bigger…

Even though Apple Bloom had started early, her sister quickly gained speed and passed her little sis with ease. “Ha ha, sorry Apple Bloom,” laughed Applejack, looking back at her little sister, “Maybe when ya get older, ya’ll be able to keep with me.” Suddenly, a loud crash came out of nowhere, as an apple tree began to tip over, right in front of Applejack’s path.

And just as quickly as the tree had fallen, Applejack crashed right into it. “Applejack!” cried Apple Bloom as she ran up to her sister, “are you alright?” Applejack pulled her face off the trunk of the tree, seeing stars circling her head, before she answered, “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Shaking her head to get rid of the stars, she looked at the tree trunk on the path in front of them and asked out loud, “What the hay just happened?” And her answer came in the form of a grey, wall-eyed Pegasus. “Oh, hi Ditzy,” sighed Applejack, knowing exactly what had happened.

“Hiya, Applejack,” smiled Ditzy Doo, as if she hadn’t just crashed into a tree so hard that she knocked it over, “hey, what happened to your tree?” Applejack just sighed and said, “It ain’t important, what brings yourself here, sugar cube?”

“Uhhh…,” thought Ditzy, putting one hoof to her chin and the other to the top of her head. It took her a second to remember, before exclaiming, “Oh yeah, I got a letter for you, AJ.” She grabbed her mail bag and pulled out a scroll with Applejack’s name on it.

Applejack took the scroll in her mouth as Ditzy gave her a little salute, lifting off the ground, and proclaimed, “I hope you were satisfied with our mailing service, Derpy Air Mail, and hope to see you again!” After which, Ditzy flew off back to Ponyville, only to crash into Big Macintosh, who had finally caught up with his sisters.

Applejack simply sighed, opened up the scroll, and began to read its content…

Dear Appleblank (Appleblank? Why, she hadn’t heard that nickname since her school days, before she got her cutie mark. In fact, only one pony ever called her that…)

How have you been? I’ve been great, traveling all over Equestria, seeing so much this world has to offer. I hear that you’ve been working at that farm of yours with your big brother and granny. Dang, she still alive? How old is she now? 80? 90? 100?

Ah, it doesn’t matter, I guess. Heck, you probably don’t even remember who I am, it’s been too long. After all, last time we saw each other, you still had a blank flank. Hey, are you still a blank flank? Just kidding. Anyway, I can’t wait to meet up with you when I come back to Ponyville in a couple days. Don’t I have stories to share with you.

From your old friend,
Trotting Guardsmen

Applejack’s mouth hung open as she read the name on the bottom of the scroll. No, it couldn’t be, not him. Not the one pony she couldn’t stand in school, the one pony she never thought she would ever see again.

Ditzy had finally left as Big Mac had finished cleaning the mess she made. He walked over to his middle sister and peered over her shoulder at what she was looking at. But before he could read any of it, Applejack rolled up the scroll, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.

Apple Bloom asked her older sister, “Who’s Trotting Guardsmen?”

Applejack looked at her little sister, took a deep breath, and answered, "My old school bully."

Ponyville Train Station, Three Days Later…

Applejack was at the Ponyville Train Station, waiting for the train to come in. It had been three days since she received the letter, three days that gave her plenty of words to come up with when he finally showed up. Unbeknownst to either of her, Apple Bloom had followed her. She had been very curious as to who Trotting Guardsmen was, but all she had found was an old picture of him as a young colt.

It was old and the color had faded a bit, obviously the picture had not been taken care of, but she was able to tell that his coat was black, and his mane and tail were white. He was also wearing a little red outfit and a little vest that matched his mane and tail.

The only thing Apple Bloom couldn’t figure out was the color of his eyes, that area of the picture too faded out to make an accurate conclusion. She put the picture away and returned to her hiding spot, when she heard the sound of a whistle, signaling the arrival of the train.

The train rolled into the station, coming to a complete stop at the end of the station. The car doors opened as a few dozen pony folk walked out, filling out of the station, and off into Ponyville.

From the caboose of the train, walked out a black stallion with a long white, messy mane, a tail to match, and bright green eyes. His eyes were so bright and green; it almost drew attention away from the red shorts the stallion was wearing, covering his flank.

“Ah Ponyville,” said the young stallion out loud, taking a deep breath of the Ponyville air, “I missed this place. I forgot how beautiful this place was.” The stallion suddenly caught the site of an orange mare, and his smile got bigger. “Applejack, is that you?”

“It is you, oh how have you been?” asked the stallion as he walked over to the young mare.

"This is Applejack's old bully?" thought Apple Bloom, watching from her hiding spot as the friendly stallion walked over to her older sister. "He doesn't seem like a bully to me."

Applejack simply stared daggers into the direction of Trotter, whose smile began to fade. “Uh...Applejack, whats wrong?” asked Trotter, who was starting to feel rather uncomfortable, "Is there a problem?"

“You’re darn tooting, there’s a problem,” exclaimed Applejack, not taking her eyes off the stallion, “ya think ya can come back and expect a welcome back party? After what ya did, I’m surprised you’d be stupid enough to show your face around here again.”

“Applejack, what are you talking about?” ask the confused stallion, reaching out to touch her. That was a huge mistake. One second later, Applejack slammed the stallion into the wall of the train station and held him there by the throat. “Don'tcha dare touch me,” threatened Applejack.

"Applejack!" yelled Apple Bloom, who jumped out of her hiding spot, horrified at seeing her sister act this way. Applejack turned and saw Apple Bloom, quickly letting go of Trotter, before walking over to her little sister. She didn't say a word. As far as Apple Bloom was concerned, she didn't need to. Her eyes seemed to scream "What are ya doing here?!"

Trotter was breathing hard, trying to recover his breath. But before he could completely recover, Applejack walked back to him, put a hoof to his chest, and proclaimed, “Now I can’t stop ya from staying in Ponyville for however long it takes for you to leave, but know this, if ya set one hoof on Sweet Apple Acres, I’ll buck you back to the stone pony age.”

Trotter could only continue breathing hard as Applejack turned and walked away, picking up her younger sister to prevent her from being left alone with the black stallion.

Just outside of the station, Applejack let Apple Bloom go, quickly turning to face the little filly. “Listen Apple Bloom, ya must promise me not to go speaking to that stallion, no matter what.” Apple Bloom looked at her big sister. Looking into the eyes of her older sister, she knew she wasn’t gonna win this argument. She simply nodded her head, and the Apple Sisters turned and headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom looked back to see the stallion had come outside, and was staring at them with the most confused face she had ever seen.

CMC Headquarters, One Hour Later…

Apple Bloom had gone to her clubhouse by herself to try and figure out just what had happened between her sister and this new pony in town. It was then that she heard a screeching sound, followed by the clip clopping sound of hoofsteps. The door opened to reveal Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom’s best friends and fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” cried the two young fillies, as they entered the club house. “Did you hear there’s a new pony in Ponyville?” asked Sweetie Belle as she walked over to Apple Bloom. “Yeah, I’ve meet him,” sighed Apple Bloom, wishing she could have gotten a chance to talk to him. “You did? Well, what did his Cutie Mark look like?” asked Scootaloo, her eyes widening with anticipation.

“Huh,” said Apple Bloom, confused by the sudden question, “Well, he was wearing something that covered his flank, so I didn’t get to really see it. Why do you ask?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other before smiling back at Apple Bloom.

“Well, I just thought that since we’ve already heard everypony in Ponyville tell us how they got their cutie marks,” said Scootaloo with a matter-of-fact attitude, “that maybe we could get advice from this new pony or hear how he got his Cutie Mark.” Sweetie Belle nodded and added, “Yeah, this might help us get closer to finding our own Cutie Marks.”

Apple Bloom thought about this for a second, and then remembered reading the scroll that was sent to Applejack from Trotter. “Ya know,” she said, a smile growing on her face, “He said something about traveling all over Equestria, seeing all the sights.” With this new found knowledge, the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn’t help but get bigger smiles.

“Then he’s got to have some awesome explorer Cutie Mark or something,” exclaimed Scootaloo, nearly jumping for joy. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but feel excited too. Applejack said she couldn’t talk to Trotter, but she never said Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle couldn’t.

“Alright,” proclaimed Apple Bloom, “Let go Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Trotter’s New House, Ten Minutes Later…

It didn’t take the Cutie Mark Crusaders long to find the new pony’s house, even though it was on the edge of the town, near the road to the Everfree Forest. The three little fillies walked up to the door, and Apple Bloom went to knock on the door with her hoof…

…Only for it to slide open with the slightest touch. “I guess he forgot to close his door completely,” said Scootaloo, walking inside as if this were her house. When she noticed the two other fillies hadn’t followed her in, she turned around and said, “Come on, fellow Crusaders, we’re on a mission to get our Cutie Marks.” With this proclamation, the two other ponies nodded in agreement and followed their friend inside.
The house still had boxes yet to be unpacked as they looked around for the stallion who owned this place. It was when they headed into the bedroom that Apple Bloom found the red shorts Trotter had been wearing were tossed onto the floor.

It was also when they had entered the bedroom that they heard the water running. Trotter must have been taking a shower. But just as the CMC had come to the conclusion, the water was suddenly silenced, and the door to the bedroom bathroom opened.

Out walked Trotter, a towel covering his face, not even noticing the three little intruders in his house. Apple Bloom was the first to notice that something was amiss. For where there should have been a Cutie Mark, there was only the black coat of Trotter’s fur. There was no Cutie Mark on this stallion’s flank. He was, in fact….

“A BLANK FLANK?!” cried Apple Bloom, causing Trotter to jump up, throw off towel off his face, and stare at the three little fillies who had snuck into his house.

“What in the whole wide world of Celestia is going on?!”

Comments

[-Brutus]

I'm not too sure what to say about this chapter, however Ill track and thumbs up to see where this will go.

[Sphier]

*Finishes reading the ending*

DUN DUN DUN!!!

Joking of course, I liked this, I think I'll keep an eye on it for sure!

[AnotherStraightEdge]

Pretty good! I like the first chapter so far! A few things could've been a bit better in here but overall, a great start! 4/5!

[Neon Czolgosz]

I would like this more if not for pony creator images...

[musicman722]

dis gon be gud
seems like a legit story *fav*
make MOAR!

[AceOfSpades1309]

898151

Really? What's wrong with having the pictures? Not to start an arguement or anything. Just want your opinion.

[-Brutus]

898491 I think he meant the picture in the story is fine, not the General Zao's Pony Creator

[PinkPearl]

will follow to see how it goes

[Frizzy]

Update soon, please!

[AceOfSpades1309]

904766

Don't worry, everypony! Tomorrow I will start work on Chapter 2.

[EnderPon]

Do you have an editor?
Just wondering, 'cause you said it was rushed, and I wasn't sure if you were looking for one . . .
static6.depositphotos.com/1003625/592/i/450/dep_5927192-Look-here.jpg

[AceOfSpades1309]

913018

Well, I was just saying it had been a long time since I wrote a fanfic, around 2008. I'm just rusty writing, that's all. But if you would like to edit my work, I would be more than happy to welcome the extra help.

899317

Oh ok. Well, I just wanted to show how Trotter looked like when he was a colt and what he looks like now. Don't worry though, this will most likely be the only chapter to have pictures in it, seeing as I can not draw if my life depended on it.

Lastly, the second chapter is almost done. Would've been done sooner, but I had to work this weekend. You know how it goes. Anyway, I should be able to finish the second chapter and upload it either today or tomorrow.