chapter 1

                                    

                                          
"Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?"

"OOH OOH ME, MEMEME!" Pinkie squealed, bouncing over to the door.

Twilight watched silently as the shadow of the unidentified person walked across the opposite end of the gym followed by a bobbing Pinkie Pie. Their frames seemed unrecognisable, mainly due to how Twi never experienced living in this humanoid body before, yet the voice sounded so incredibly familiar...

Applejack dropped a heavy case of drinks on one of the decorated tables and let out a long held breath of air due to the weight of the items. Of course for her is wasn't too heavy since she'd gained a significant amount of muscle mass after years of farm work but it wasn't without some strain. She lifted her hat and dragged her arm across her forehead, wiping the beads of sweat that has slowly started to trickle down as her eyes shifted to the gym entrance.

"Can you bring the rest in?"

"Eeeyup," A deeper voice echoed from outside.

The source of the vocal rumble revealed itself as the one named Big Mac, walked through the low door, ducking slightly as he passed through into the gym.

Twilights jaw dropped and eyes widened immediately at the sight of the two Apples. Thoughts and questions in her head were racing and dots were connecting as if there werre red strings between her theories, yet she remained unmoving until Applejack spoke again.

"Hey I know you..." She stated as she leaned against the collapsable table, crossing her arms and she looked her up and down.

"You do?" Twilight responded in disbelief. Not only was there a Pinkie and Fluttershy here, but also an Applejack? Could there also be another Rainbow Dash? Another Rarity?

Too deep in her thoughts related to multiverses and how many other neither human nor horse realities there are, Twilight only heard snipets of Applejacks response.

"New girl...Sunset Shimmer..."

Applejack then grabbed a bottle of her cider and cracked the lid open with her teeth effortlessly, spitting the metal out onto the floor with the edge malleable and bent at the tension applied. She started to drink it in large gulps, the liquid disappearing fast from the bottle as she fairly must have needed some sustenance after carrying several cartons of the fizz.

Twilight snapped back to reality and realised she didn't hear much, however, before she could ask Applejack to repeat herself, Pinkie energetically slid into the conversation.

"Twilight Sparkle here is going to run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the fall formal!"

Applejack's eyes widened and her emptying of the glass bottle stopped as she proceeded to slam the wide base onto the creaky plastic surface she was against, her impulse reflex spat the drink out into a stream infront of her.

"I'd rethink that if I were u" Applejack said, narrowing her eyes in Twilights direction. "At first she's all 'i'm up for some friendly competition!' but the next thing you know, she backstabs you!" She continued to educate the other perspectively, "Theres only person in this school less trustworthy than Sunset Shimmer and that's Rainbow Dash," Applejack crossed her arms and lowered her gaze, hat brim covering her face as there was an obvious history she must have been hiding.

"Rainbow Dash?!" Twilight was shocked. There was another Rainbow Dash here. But why would Applejack say that about Rainbow? They were best friends in the pony world, and often accusatorily, more than just 'friends.'

"So much for loyalty..." Applejack muttered to the ground, reflecting on something that led with inklings of the exact allusion Twilight was pondering.

"What was that Applejack?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. Applejacks eyes shifted up to Twilight in an instant, almost in alarm as she buffered by uttering "Err..." yet thankfully for her, before Applejack could respond, Pinkie interrupted her.   

"Rainbow Dash is like the captain of every sports team here in Canterlot High!" Pinkie chimed, preparing to list the various sports of soccer, volleyball, netball, and so on off her fingers.

"She's also the kind of captain to say she'll do something for you and turn it around and never even show up!" Applejack huffed while rolling her eyes with obvious mindless angst peering through.

Twilight walked over to a tense Applejack with an analytical perspective yet also a newly adapted friendship optimism, sensing something deeper happened between the two. Where could it have all gone so wrong between two best friends? Twilight opened her mouth to ask about what happened but quickly closed it and chose another approach.  "Thanks for the advice Applejack but I have to do this..." Twilight thought she should bring it up another time as she had really only just met this new Applejack, it was unlikely she'd even tell her about this suspiciously rough patch they were in and furthermore, she had no idea if the AJ and Pinkie in this universe were anything like hers back home. Besides, she had more important things to focus on.

"Alrighty then Twilight...wait...how'd u know my name is Applejack?" She asked raising an eyebrow as she resumed her drinking of cider, only a few spills worth left inside anyway.

Twilight realised her mistake and tried to find an excuse yet her attempt could only come out in lame stutters as she less confidently spoke. "Oh...Didn't you...um...mention it?"

"Nope," Big Mac called across the gym before exiting out the door again to get more cases of cider, abandoning the conversation he was seemingly eavesdropping on and making his own annotations about. 

Twilight started heating up and light sweat emerged on her forehead. "Oh...well it was sure nice meeting you all I'm sure I'll see you around!" She quickly mumbled while slowly backing away towards the door, only breaking into a sprint when she was far away enough from the odd encounter.

Applejack watched her leave with a perplexed expression as her cousin and close friend even after the faltering of their group, swooped in nearby to share her thoughts, AJ especially cherishing the hyper girl for aiding a her heart through an aligned breakup. 

"She's got a secret and I'm totally onto it!" Pinkie whispered to Applejack even though Twilight was way out of earshot. "She's psychic!" Pinkie added softly yet somehow aggressively as her pupils dilated with each word.

"If you say so..." Applejack responded, unsure whether Pinkie was right or this was another one of her crazy theories but still greatly siding with disbelief in that magical nonsense.

Suddenly, the two girls heard a loud crash echo from the end of the gym that sounded like metal to wall. Whipping their heads over to identify the source they noticed the doors had been thrown open with such great force that the handle almost made a dent in the felt lining the billboard next to the frame. Yet that wasn't the worst part. There stood Sunset Shimmer with her two minions, Snips and Snails.

"This. Looks. Terrible!" She shouted, bringing her arms up and waving it at the decorations. "There should be more streamers near the stage and fewer balloons!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed as she strided over to a pair of air filled, perfect, yellow balloons and poked one with a hatred, her negative vigour being read transparently. 

"Yeah, too many streamers!" "and too many balloons!" Snips and Snails repeated like the suck-ups they are, ripping up the nearest colourful paper garlands. Pinkie watched devastated as her hard work was being destroyed, mostly driven by how her passion she considered artistry was torn hence she bit her bottom lip to try not to fire back at Sunset. Applejack noticed her saddened energy and slight rage, swearing she observed her curls deflate as she stepped closer to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly but before she could kindly say anything, Sunset continued her complaining. 

"Fizzy apple cider?! This is my coronation! Not a Mowdown!" She said glaring at the two girls, her behavior completely unacceptable yet teachers and peers alike had let it slide for so long that her ego grew with each demand. Applejack's emotions quickly erupted, she wouldn't let anyone talk    about her family business like that, degrading her work and quality time invested into what the Apples do. While she never normally talks back to Sunset, making the mature decision to ignore the wrench, she had to say something to defend herself.

"Well now, it ain't necessarily going to be your coronation this time a'round!" AJ shot in response while pointing a finger at her as she spoke but she should have seen a mirrored fight in return, Sunset would not go down without a fight. Unlike Applejack, she was willing to get personal. 

"Is that so?" Sunset argued, grabbing Applejack's hat and moving it around until it were swivelled over her face, it was humiliating even though only Pinkie and the two followers were there to see it. Applejack tensed up since she never let people touch her hat, not even to mention wearing it due to her close tie to how it were her deceased fathers before it was handed down. She desperately wanted to jerk away or slap her hand off to defend her honour that was being bruised, but considering the outcomes, it would be a bad idea to mess with her any further.

"You country folk really aren't that bright," Sunset wrapped up with a final insult, really shoving the hat over Applejack's face to which the girl then shook off once the enemy took her hand away. "That must be why all the other students say such horrible things about you..." She slyly concluded, smirking as she turned on her heel to walked away to leave the potential, of whether it were honesty or manipulation, in the air.

Of course she felt hurt by the unknown truth, she'd never want ti think people were talking about her like that yet no matter how hard she may try to force the words away and to not impact her, they would definitely linger. Anger was the particularly more dominant emotion in that moment however so the expected disappointment didn't fully hit, using every ounce of her dignity left to prevent herself from saying anything else she'd regret.

"Obviously it's going to be my coronation," Sunset called out to almost no one, turning around to face the two teenagers again. "I'm running unopposed."

"Not this time!" Pinkie chirped as if she had no social skills to read the hurtful environment, holding up a form Twilight tried her best to fill in with hands and not hooves before Applejack entered the gym. "The new girl just signed up!" Pinkie continued, smiling sneakily.

"What?" Sunsets whole body sprung backwards in shock and her eyes carried a glare that could kill as she snatched the form from Pinkie's grasp to scan it rapidly, identifying the name of her competitor.

Sunset was instantly furious. Her temper was tested and little did Applejack and Pinkie know this, but it would not necessarily be her first run in with the Princess of Friendship.

"Where is this...Twilight Sparkle."
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WELCOME NEW READERS! i started this fic when i was in grade 9 and finished it after i've graduated so my writing quality gets so much better over time, please hang in there HAHAH theres some real good appledash flirting moments to come! 
i am also going back and fixing some of the old chapters now to imrpove quality so ignore if there is a fluctuating between good or bad writing AHHHAAHHAHA