MLP The Princess and the Frog

Chapter 1-Bedtime Stories and Apple Pie

All content belongs to Disney and Hasbro

The evening star is shining bright

So make a wish and hold on tight

There's magic in the air tonight

And anything can happen…

Once upon a time, in the uptown part of New Horseleans stood a great mansion. And that night, in the ginormous baby-pink nursery, filled to the brim with toys and books and dresses, Pear Butter, the family's hired seamstress,was reading a story to the two fillies in front of her. One was a beautiful white unicorn with a purple mane and sapphire eyes, the daughter of her employer, she wore a sparkly pink dress, courtesy of Pear Butter. The other was Pear's own filly. She was a little earthpony with an orange coat, yellow mane, emerald eyes and a spattering of white freckles on her cheeks. "Just at that moment, the ugly little frog looked up with his sad, round eyes and pleaded,'Oh, please, dear princess, only a kiss from you can break this terrible spell that was inflicted on me by a wicked witch!',"Pear Butter read. "Here comes my favourite part,"whispered Rarity, the little unicorn filly, grinning. "And the beautiful princess was so moved by his desperate plea, that she swooped down, picked up the slippery creature, leaned forward, raised him to her muzzle…and kissed the little frog!"continued the mare. Rarity exclaimed adoringly while Applejack, the earth pony filly, gagged at just the thought of it. "Then the frog was transformed into a handsome prince. They were married and lived happily ever after. The end,"finished Pear Butter closing the story book gently. The unicorn filly cheered and giggled. "Read it again! Read it again!"she pleaded. "Sorry, Rarity. It's time for us to be heading home,"said the seamstress, she beckoned to the other filly,"Say 'good night', Applejack." "There is no way in this whole wide world. I would ever, ever, ever…I mean, never kiss a frog! Yuck!"the orange filly exclaimed in disgust. "Is that so?"Rarity giggled mischievously, then grabbed her cat, Opal, and shoved her in Applejack's face. "Well, here's your Prince Charming, Applejack. Come on. Kiss him,"she ordered. "No,"said AJ. "Kiss him!"cried the unicorn shoving Opal closer. "Stop it!"shouted the earth pony, backing away. "Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!"shrieked Rarity. "I won't, I won't, I won't!"shouted Applejack. "I would do it. I would kiss a frog. I would kiss a hundred frogs if I could marry a prince and be a princess,"the unicorn pouted. Then she began to chase Applejack around the room, brandishing poor Opal like a sword. Eventually the cat had had enough and leapt out of Rarity's grasp and onto a wardrobe, as far away from them as possible. The two fillies collapsed in a fit of giggles. Opal hissed at them from atop her perch. "You girls, stop tormenting that poor kitty. Poor little thing. Mmm,"Pear Butter chided. Suddenly the nursery door swung open and Bow Hothoof, Rarity's father strode into the room. "Evening, Pear,"he greeted the seamstress. The little unicorn filly rushed up to him. "Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new dress, isn't it pretty?"Rarity squealed, spinning around to show off her new gown. "Why, I'd expect nothing less from the finest seamstress in New Horseleans,"Bow chuckled, smiling at Pear Butter and picking his daughter up into his hooves. Then Rarity noticed the dress that the princess was wearing on the cover of the book they had just been reading. "Ooh! I want that dress!"she cried, pointing to it. "Now, sugarplum…,"her father tried. "I want that one!"the unicorn filly insisted,"Please, please, please, please!" "Pear, you suppose you could whip up something like that?"Bow asked the peach-coloured mare. "Anything for my best customer,"Pear Butter smiled,"Come along Applejack. Your daddy should be home from work by now." Mother and daughter left the nursery and began the walk back home. "Alright now, princess. You're getting the dress but that's it. No more Mr Pushover,"Rarity's dad said to his daughter sternly, then a few seconds later,"Now, who wants a puppy?!" Bow brandished a basket from which a tiny little Pekingese dog emerged. "I do! I do! He's so cute!"the unicorn filly squealed happily.

A few hours later, in a tiny little house in downtown New Horseleans, Applejack's father, Bright Mac, wandered into the kitchen and grinned. He was a handsome yellow stallion with a red mane, well-muscled body and a star cutie mark with an apple inside it. He was also wearing his beloved brown hat which had been passed down from Apple to Apple family member for generations. "Mmm, apple pie smells good AJ,"he said. "I think it's done, Daddy,"said the little filly, taking the pie out of the oven. "Yeah? Are you sure?"the stallion asked. "Mmm-hmm,"Applejack nodded. "Absolutely positive?"Bright Mac teased. "Yes,"the filly confirmed. The stallion cut a little piece of the pie and put it onto a plate, then he spooned some of it up and raised the spoon to his muzzle. "Okay. I'm about to put the spoon in my mouth…,"he said and opened his mouth wide. "Wait!"Applejack cried, suddenly panicked, for it was the first time she had made apple pie by herself. But it was too late. "Done,"the stallion said, chewing,"Hmm." "What?"the filly asked anxiously. "Well, sweetheart,"said Bright Mac slowly,"This is the best apple pie I've ever tasted! Pear, our little girl's got a gift." "I could of told you that,"Pear beamed. Suddenly Applejack's blank flank began to glow and three red apples appeared. "Wow. I got my cutie mark!"the filly cried ecstatically,"And they're apples for apple pie!" "Oh my little girl's growing up!"cried Pear. "You discovered your talent and got ya cutie mark, all in the same day,"sniffed Bright Mac, near bursting with pride. The trio shared a group hug. Then Applejack's eyes lit up with an idea. "A gift this special just gotta be shared,"she said and grabbed the pie before racing to the door and flinging it open. "Hey, everypony, I made apple pie!"the filly cried. "Ooh. That smells good!"shouted one of their neighbours. "I got some hush puppies, AJ. Here I come!"another cried. Soon the whole neighbourhood, most whom were either part of the huge Apple family or extended family had flocked to their house to try some of AJ's delicious pie. Luckily she had made loads of pies so there was plenty for everypony. "You know the thing about good food? It brings ponies together from all walks of life. It warms them right up and it puts little smiles on their faces,"Bright Mac smiled,"And when I open up my own restaurant, I tell you, ponies are going to come from miles around just to get a taste of my food." Applejack nudged him. "Our food,"the stallion corrected himself and looked down at his daughter,"That's right, baby. Our food."

That evening while her father was tucking her in Applejack suddenly caught sight of the Evening Star through her window and shot upright and bolted over to the window. "Where are you going?"Bright Mac asked in surprise. "Rarity's fairy tale book said if you make a wish on the Evening Star, it's sure to come true,"the filly explained, closing her eyes to make a wish. "Well, you wish on that star, sweetheart. Yes. You wish and you dream with all your heart,"the stallion smiled,"But you remember AJ, that that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help it along with some hard work of your own, and then, yeah, you can do anything you set your mind to. Just promise your daddy one thing. That you'll never lose sight of what's really important. Okay?" Applejack nodded sleepily and slid under the covers. "See you in the morning, babycakes. Get some sleep,"her father smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead before heading out of her bedroom and switching off the light.

*Author's note: And so begins the Princess and the Frog. Like I said before the casting was a cinch. Especially thanks to 'The Perfect Pear' episode. I hope that you agree with most of the casting although it really depends who you ship I suppose. Oh well. Everything I do is for a good reason I assure you. Love y'all. XO l3