The Magic of Friendship Grows

by anonymousponywriter

Chapter 1

The weekend before school was a godsend for the students of Canterlot High. With the summer holidays filled with camp, family trips abroad, or summer jobs to tie them down, friend groups couldn’t wait to get back together once again. Especially a certain group of girls, who had been forced into a summer away from their usual closeness.

***

Applejack rose earlier than usual that Saturday morning. Her friends were due to arrive at Sweet Apple Acers that afternoon for their big reunion – that was more for Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilights benefit, as the rest of the group had still managed to spend some time together – and end of summer camp out.

Sneaking quietly down the creaking staircase, Applejack quickly got to work in preparing the farm for her friends. She’d spent the day clearing out the old barn on the east of the farm, she set up a projector that would connect to her laptop, she cleared out all of the cobwebs and had Fluttershy gather up all of the mice and critters. Freshly washed blankets sat folded up in the corner, next to a mountain of pillows, that AJ could already imagine Pinkie Pie cannonballing into upon arrival. As Applejack padded softly into the old fashioned kitchen, she happily got to work fixing up her friend’s favorite apple family treats.

Applejack had spent most of her summer days working hard on Sweet Apple Acers. With Applebloom away at camp she easily picked up on her chores, as well as taking on a few of Granny Smith’s jobs to help the aging woman. While any free time the golden-haired girl found herself having was spent at her desk, trying and failing to keep up with her assigned summer studies. It didn’t come as a shock to anyone when Big Mac announced that he would be leaving school to dedicate more time to the farm and their family business deals, but Granny Smith had made it extremely clear that she didn’t want the same for Applejack. So when her report came, the older Apple woman was less than pleased with Applejack's results, and had, in turn, asked Twilight to set up a study plan for her granddaughter. Studying had gone alright in the beginning, but was quickly put on the back burner as a case of blight hit the west orchard and required Applejacks full attention. Now her books lay dust-coated on her desk, completely untouched for the last few weeks. She knew that her studies were important and that no Apple had advanced in education as of yet, but similar to Big Mac, AJ found herself pulling away from the academic world as she found herself with endless responsibilities.

By the time AJ had her apple pie, apple fritters, and gooey caramel apples cooling in the fridge, the rest of the Apple family had risen and stumbled into the kitchen. Still on a high from her time at Camp Everfree, Applebloom – who usually dreaded the rosters cry in the morning – was practically skipping to her seat at the kitchen table.

“Mornin’ Sis! Smells mighty fine in here!” The littlest apple remarked, her toothy grin shining bright.

“There for ma friend’s party later, so keep yer little hands off of em.” AJ warned, her stern voice turning into a slight chuckle as she watched her little sister retreat ever so slightly. “I put some in this yer box for ya,” She gently ruffled the young girl's red hair amusingly, before getting back to her role as chef for the day.

“I told that there smartypants friend of yers, that yud be done with that ‘er work today,” Granny spoke up as she lowered her aching body into her usual seat at the head of the table. “Yer done, right Applejack?” The older woman questioned, taking Applejacks sudden change in demeanor as an answer before the nervous girl had a chance to respond.

“Well, I was gunna get it done...but then we hadda fight the blight, an with Applebloom away at Everfree...I...I didn’t.” She gulped as Granny’s stare in her direction intensified.

“Applejack!” The oldest member snapped, her frail fist slamming against the hardwood table. “Yer studies are important! Take it from me, I wish I hadda kept my nose down at school!”

“I’m sorry Granny.”

“This er year is important!” Big Mac spoke up, his deep voice drawing the attention away from his younger sister.

“Don’t yer start now! I still ain’t happy bout yer dropin’ out mister!” Granny yelled at the oldest Apple sibling, prompting the man to turn a deep shade of red and sink into his seat.

“But Granny-”

“Don’t yer ‘but Granny’ me!” She snapped as she gently reached over and tapped the back of Big Mac’s head. “Lookie her’, Applejack. I only want what’s best for ya,”

“I know Granny...I promise that’ll try harder.” Applejack swore, before walking over to give her Granny a tight hug, one that was gladly accepted by the oldest woman.

“That’ll do youngen.” Granny placed a small kiss on her granddaughter's head. “Are ya cookin or what? I ain’t getting any younger here girl.”

***

Being at Camp Everfree for a second year in a row was not how Pinkie Pie had planned to spend her summer, but when Gloriosa Dasiy had called her offering her a job for the summer, the pink-haired couldn’t be more excited. But the party animal very quickly learned that life as a camp counselor wasn’t as jampacked with fun as she thought. All of the elements of Camp Everfree that she had loved from the year previous were still there, there were endless activities for her to take part in, loads of new faces for her to make new friends and a lifetime supply of marshmallows – as per her contract – for her to gorge on. But without her friends by her side, Pinkie found the experience to be quite boring at times. Until she met him. Her camp crush. Cheese Sandwich was just like her. His smile, his attitude, his marshmallow addiction. At first, Pinkie was threatened by the hyperactive man who she thought was out to steal her role as ‘the fun counselor’ but when she finally spent some time with him, all that distaste seemed to melt away like a crispy mallow in a super doper chocolate s’more.

Their summer romance had been the most amazing experience of Pinkie’s life and she couldn’t wait to tell all of her friends about it. Her first boyfriend. Her first kiss. Her first time...that’d be one that would leave even Rainbow Dash blushing. Everything about her time with Cheese Sandwich was utter perfection, well apart from when he broke her heart into a million pieces on the last day of camp. But Pinkie chose to forget about that part of her summer romance and focus on the good times instead, no one likes tear dampened marshmallows after all.

It was her job to bring some of her infamous cupcakes to the big end of summer campout, so the pink-haired girl got to baking the moment she arrived home from camp. In hindsight, she might have gone a little overboard with the sheer amount of cupcakes she had boxed up in the back of her car, but she’d happily donate the rest to Applejack’s cows and pigs when they were done with them.

The music poured out from the pink Mini as Pinkie drove the short distance to Sunset’s house, the girl in question still yet to pass her drivers test and completely reliant on her friends and public transport to get around.

Summer for Sunset Shimmer used to be filled with pure boredom. With no friends to her name and the majority of her classmates out of town or busy, she found herself left with no one to torment. But with a great group of friends, Sunset had been counting down the days until summer – especially since their first summer together had ended up being so jampacked with exciting adventures – only to be disappointed to find that most of them had their own things planned. With a lot of free time on her hands, Sunset tried to keep herself occupied, she completed most of her video games, got caught up on tv shows she’d been keeping on the back burner. But all of that happened in the first few days of summer. In desperate need of some sort of fun, Sunset applied to endless amounts of part-time jobs and in the end landed herself one working alongside a few of her classmates in the Mall’s food court. Flipping burgers ended up being more fun than she thought, even if the thought of eating meat still didn’t sit right with her. But at least spending all of her time at the Mall allowed her to update her wardrobe, much to Rarity’s annoyance that she couldn’t be there for the occasion.

As Pinkie pulled up outside of Sunset’s apartment, the thumping pop music signaled the hyper girl’s arrival before her high pitch voice screamed, “Sunset! I’m here!”

Grabbing her backpack with her games console and her ever-growing collection of favorite games, Sunset ran down the stairs of her apartment complex, to meet Pinkie. She’d been counting down the days until she’d been able to see all of her friends once again.

As Sunset stepped into the hot summer air, she was greeted by a bouncing pink-haired girl who instantly threw her arms around her friend and squeezed as tightly as possible.

“It’s...good...to…see...you...to...Pinkie.” Sunset mumbled as she happily patted Pinkie’s back, hoping that Pinkie would release her from the bone-crushing hug.

“Oh my god Sunset, it’s been sooooo long since I’ve had a Sunset cuddle!” Pinkie spoke in her usual quick tone as she released Sunset from her grip and linked their arms together as they walked towards the car. “I’ve got so so so much to tell you guys!”!

“I take it Camp Everfree was good?” Sunset smirked as she caught sight of the stack of boxes filled with cupcakes.

“It was...magical.” Pinkie gushed in an un-Pinkie like fashion.

“Magical?” The red and yellow-haired girl questioned, a teasing smile falling onto her face as Pinkie slid into her seat, a lovey grin still playing on her lips.

“All in due time…”

***

“Yeah, I heard ya Mom!” Rainbow shouted over her shoulder as she hopped out of the car with her right leg sporting a bight blue cast. Reaching back into the car she pulled out a pair of crutches and secured them under her arms before leaning back on the door to close it.

“I mean it Dashie, stay off the leg.” Her Mom warned but Rainbow simply brushed off the comment with a wave as she hopped towards the Apple family house.

For Rainbow Dash, her summer wasn’t as enjoyable as everyone else’s and in fact, she would wholeheartedly call this the worst summer of her life. For Rainbow Dash, summer was all about sports. Then again, for Rainbow Dash, her entire life was centered around sports. She was the captain of every sports team – a title she held with pride – and had brought the Canterlot Wondercolts to a surprising victory in the last year. As the school year drew to a close, Rainbow and her couch, Spitfire, had come up with the perfect game plan for the long summer days, a plan that was going to enhance Rainbow’s abilities and put her in the perfect position for recruitment agents. But all of that was put on hold when Rainbow shattered her leg while playing a pickup game at the park with a few of her teammates just as school ended. So, after nearly a month in the hospital, the rainbow-haired girl was forced to spend her summer inside with a cast reminding her of the fun she was losing out on and her friend's visits and phone calls making her countdown the days until school started up again.

Slowly she made her way up the dirt path – one that her Mom had offered to drive up, but Rainbow Dash was quick to reject her offer – the white tails of her cast turning a light shade of brown. In the distance, she could hear the childish laughter flowing from the small patch of woods behind the farm. A small smile tugged on Rainbow’s lips as she thought back to the endless summer days she had spent in the treehouse with Applejack and Fluttershy, back when she was Scoots age. She wished to be brought back to a time where all she had to worry about was making it home in time for dinner. Looking down at her leg, she let out a muffled sigh as she continued on her journey to the home of one of her oldest friends.

“Howdy, there miss Rainbow Dash.” Granny Smith’s voice startled the star athlete as she failed to notice the older woman tending to her flower bed.

“Afternoon, Granny Smith. Is AJ in the house?” Rainbow stopped to exchange pleasantries with the oldest Apple. She had always liked the older woman, after all, she had spent the majority of her childhood at Sweet Apple Acers and Granny Smith never seemed to have a problem with an extra mouth to fed or bloody leg to dress.

“Fraid not youngen. Out in the east orchard...or was it the north?” The older woman rubbed her chin in thought with the back of her mucky gloved hand. “Big Mac!”

“Eeyup.” The older Apple sibling poked his head out of the main barn, his floppy ginger hair stuck to his sweaty forehead.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind-”

Granny quickly cut the rainbow-haired girl off, Rainbow Dash putting it down to her bad hearing or Apple family stubbornness. “Where’s that there sister of yers?”

“What’s all this hollerin’ bout?” Just as Big Mac was about to respond, Applejack rounded the corner that leads to the west orchard, carrying a large pail of freshly picked apples. Her dirt-covered shirt clung to her chiseled body, the sight making Rainbow Dash’s mouth go dry momentarily. Rainbow quickly shook any unwanted thoughts from her mind, blaming her uncharacteristic reaction of her best friend on her weeks of isolation and nothing else. “Howdy there RD.” Applejack gently placed the bucket on the path next to the barn and tipped her hat in a welcoming fashion.

“AJ.” Rainbow muttered as Granny and Big Mac shared a chorus of knowing glances at each other. There was no denying that there was something brewing between the two tomboys, even if neither girl was ready to admit it, even to themselves.

“Applejack, didn’t I raise ya better than tis? Get ta girl a drink and somewhere to sit!” Granny shouted as she walked past the two friends and joined Big Mac in the barn ready to sort out the bucket of apples for their cider.

“Come on in.” AJ chuckled nervously as she quickly skipped up the few steps that lead to the main house. “Shoot...want a hand?” She asked, after remembering that her friend might not be able to manage the handful of steps that lead to her house.

“Nah, I gots this, AJ.” Rainbow insisted as she paused in front of the steps. Sizing up the narrow steps she tried to lift her good leg while balancing on her crutches, only to lose her footing and slowly start to fall backward. Quickly, Applejack jumped into action and grabbed Rainbow’s frailing arms pulling the shorter girl into her embrace.

“Woah there Nelly. I got ya.” Applejack smiled as she moved to Rainbow’s side and wrapped her arm around her thin waist before helping her hop up the small steps. “See, no trouble at all.”

“Ha...thanks, AJ.” The rainbow-haired girl blushed lightly, but before she allowed Applejack to see the faint hint of pink on her cheeks, she quickly hopped towards the front door of the Apple house.

“Not that I’m glad to have ya here, but ya know that the party don’t start for a few hours?” The golden-haired girl smiled as she leads the injured athlete towards the kitchen.

“I managed to convince my Mom that we were starting earlier than usual so I could escape from her evil hold!” Dash exaggerated as she waited for Applejack to pull a chair out for her. “Thanks...again.” She nodded as AJ went to retrieve two bottles of cold apple cider and easily popped the two caps off with her spare hand.

“Well, I still got a few things to set up fer tonight. I could always use the extra set of hands.” AJ added before taking a large swig of her apple cider, finishing off almost half of the bottle in one mouthful. “An I don’t think the girls would appreciate my current getup.”

“I can set up as best that I can if you wanna take a shower.” Rainbow’s mind disobediently thought about how that scene would unfold. She could imagine every muscle getting soaped up and glistening in the sun that peered through the small window. Her flowing locks free from their signature braid, their length reaching the small of her back. Rainbow’s mind begged the blonde to turn around, to revel her rock-hard abs and what Rainbow could only imagine as perfect breasts.

“Ya alright there, Sugar cube? Yer ain’t lookin so good.” Applejack’s worrisome look broke Rainbow Dash from her unwanted trance and as the farmgirl reached over to check her temperature, Rainbow prayed that her cheeks would stop burning.

“Fine!” Rainbow snapped as she tried to move away from Applejack's touch, only to send her chair flying backward with a thud.

Worried about her friend, Applejack jumped to her feet to check on the groaning girl. “Yer sure bout that?”

“Maybe I could use a hand...”

“Good thing I gots two.” AJ chuckled as she pulled the shorter girl to her feet and grabbed her crutches which had fallen along with Rainbow Dash. “How bout I bribe Applebloom an her friends inta helpin’ and yer can sit an supervise the littleins?”

“I don’t...I think I can live with that.” Dash gave in as she pulled away from Applejack's strong hands. As much as she couldn’t wait to get out of her house to spend time with her friends, with the way her body seemed to be betraying her that day, she figured that time away from Applejack – at least until their other friends arrived – would be a good thing.

***

Fluttershy was running late. Which if you knew the light pink-haired girl, you knew that Fluttershy was never late. She was meant to be picking up Rarity and Twilight, but when she was on her way she happened to pass by a cardboard box with the word ‘free’ written on the side. Pulling over she was distraught to find a litter of hungry kittens who looked far too young to be separated from their mother.

“Oh my little darlings,” She cooed as she scooped the kittens into her arms and placed them in a dry and clean pet carrier she had in the back of her car. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now little ones.”

With all of the little kittens safely tucked away in their pet carrier, Fluttershy headed back to the Canterlot Mall. Fluttershy’s summer was no different than the rest of the year. She spent all of her free time tending to the animals at the Canterlot Animal Shelter. She watched in excitement as little babies were born and cried as some of the older or sick animals took their last breathes. She nursed the injured when she could, and never stopped trying to find every animal their forever home.

Worried that she leaving her friends waiting, Fluttershy called Twilight, knowing that she was most likely to answer her phone.

“Hey, Flutters.”

“Twilight, I’m so sorry. But I was on my way to pick up you and Rarity and then I came across this little box of the most adorable little kittens, and I couldn’t just leave them there. So now I have to drive back to the shelter and get the little ones settled. I’m so sorry, I never meant to be late but-”

“Breathe Fluttershy. I was just about to call you, Shining Armor was heading that way, so I managed to convince him to give me a ride. We can pick Rarity up on the way as well.” Twilight's confession was like music to Fluttershy’s ears, and the shaky breath that she didn’t know she was holding filled the small car.

“Oh thank you Twilight. I’ll you girls at Applejacks!” She happily exchanged a quick goodbye before ending the call. Now all she had to do was deliver the kittens to their new – temporary – home and make it to Sweet Apple Acers before dusk was upon them.

As Fluttershy let herself back into the now-closed shelter, she smiled at all animals who were excited to see their favorite caregiver. As quick as she could, Fluttershy got the litter of kittens settled into their own little pen and made sure that they were all fed and had access to water. Noticing the time ticking by fast, Fluttershy ran into the office to leave a note for the evening staff about their newest arrivals. Quickly she scribbled a few details about the kittens and stuck the posted note to the to-do list. She was ready to sprint out of the shelter for the second time that evening when a letter caught her eye with the words ‘Final Warning’ in big red print.

“Oh, dear...” She muttered to herself as she scooped up the letter and quickly skimmed the page. “Double oh dear.” She added as the realization of the financial situation of the shelter hit her and her heart began to break. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to the innocent animals in her care, no matter how hard it might be to save the shelter.

***

As Twilight Sparkle watched the city streets turn into beautiful forests, she couldn’t help but think back on her summer that had spent traveling with her family, her mother had suggested that developing her worldliness would look great on her college application and while Twilight had been apprehensive at first, she soon allowed herself to relax into her surroundings and opened her mind up to the possibility of attending a college further away from home than she had originally planned. From the different foods to the cultural difference she witnessed, Twilight enjoyed every second of her travels. All apart from the feeling she’d feel every time she taste something new or saw an amazing street performer, she missed her friends and maybe one more than the others.

“Missing the world, Twily?” Shining Amor asked, bringing his sister back into the real world.

“Maybe a little bit.” Twilight turned to face her brother, her smile halfway between happy and sad. “But I missed my friends more.”

“All of them, or a certain one in particular?” He teased, reaching over to poke his sister in the ribs.

“Shut up.” Twilight blushed as she sunk into her seat, crossed her arms over her chest, and fought the urge to smile. She told her brother everything, but a part of her regretted her decision to inform him of her first crush on her best friend, Sunset Shimmer, especially when he would act like an idiot whenever Sunset was around, just to make Twilight squirm. “Please don’t say anything in front of Rarity,”

“Give me some credit, Sis.” He winked playfully as he turned down the street that led to the fashionista's house. “But, all joking aside.” He turned to face his sister, now that the car was in park. “Don’t wait around forever, Twily.”

“I...I don’t even know how to-”

“Hello, darling!” Rarity squealed happily as she flung over the car door. “I need to hear all about your worldly travels darling! Oh how I’d love to spend the summer traveling,”

“Hiya Rare,” Twilight turned around to face her glamourous friend and was slightly taken aback to find six outfit bags in hooked over her arm as she climbed into the car. “What’s that you got there?”

“Presents from my time in Manehatten, darling!” The purple-haired girl answered matter-of-factly, as she unzipped one of the bags to reveal a flowing green dress with flowers and butterflies attached to the lace. “Fluttershy is going to love it!”

Rarity had spent her summer working with some the top Manehatten designers, she had found a home away from home in the Big Apple, her goodbye being almost as bittersweet as the one she’d shared with her friends weeks before. But she knew that she’d be back in no time. Between the connections she made and the list of fashion design schools that she complied, Rarity was determined to make her way in Manehatten.

“Onward, ladies?”

“Let’s get this party started.”

Author's Note:

If you liked this and what to see more, let me know!

Currently without anyone to proofread, so if anyone is interested Pm me!

Comments

[The Voice in the Water]

This is off to a good start. Will be keeping an eye on this one.

[anonymousponywriter]

10198397
Thanks!

[Captain Rackham]

Fun start
Looking forward to more :)

[anonymousponywriter]

10198930
Thanks for reading! Already halfway through the second chapter