Chapter 1:
The sun rose in Equestria bringing with it the sounds of morning birds and a warmth that cut the brisk autumn air. It was apple bucking season once again and a young pony named Applejack was getting ready to start the harvest.
She emerged from the barn, pulling behind her a large wagon for the apples and immediately she felt the chill. 'Autumn,' she thought, 'I love this brisk feeling.' She gazed at the ground softly, feeling the dirt under her hoofs, hard from the drying frost and cool like the water's edge of the beach. It was a very pretty morning. A great morning to be alive and tasting the air with her natural orange coat; every cell rejoiced in a shiver of excitement. It didn't take long, however, for Applejack to see something that really twisted her saddle bags.
Pinkie Pie, Applejack's aptly named pink pony friend, was eating the apples right off the trees. Every bounce of the light-hearted pony equaled another bite into the ripened apples and without even finishing a single apple first, Pinkie Pie was systematically taking one bite out of every single apple.
"Pinkie Pie," shouted Applejack, the temperature rising around her body, "What in sam'hell do you think you're doing?"
"Oh," Pinkie Pie chortled as she bounced, "Hi Applejack. I'm just looking for the best apple. I haven't found it yet, but don't worry, I'm sure it's around here some where."
Pinkie Pie continued her onslaught upon every apple in Sweet Apple Acres while Applejack grew more angry.
"Pinkie Pie, stop right now!" she charged at Pinkie Pie and knocked her out of the air in mid-jump. Pinkie Pie laughed as she lay pinned by Applejack. "Are we playing tag, Applejack?" she asked innocently.
"I'm not playing, Pinkie," said Applejack, "You've got some nerve, eating my apples. What are you thinking?"
Pinkie thought for a second. "I think it is time to play keep away," she said and she rolled out from under Applejack, grabbed the hat off Applejack's head and ran down the dirt path towards Ponyville.
Applejack clenched her teeth. "I'm going to get you Pinkie!" she shouted and ran after her leaving behind her harvesting duties and a white stranger perched on her barn roof.
Back in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was enjoying her morning too. The scent of fresh, out-of-the-oven cupcakes wafted to her nostrils making it nearly irresistible for her to not gobble up the new batch like she had the last one. Mrs. Cake was trying to stock her tables with sweets and Pinkie Pie was trying to help, but it seemed to Mrs. Cake that Pinkie was more of a problem than a solution.
"Now Pinkie Pie," she said while pulling out the next batch of cupcakes, "You can't eat any of these. These are for paying customers at 25 cents a piece."
Mrs. Cake could see Pinkie Pie's eyes drooling as she began to frost the new batch.
"If you can do that for me, I'll bake you my special cake."
Pinkie Pie gasped. "You don't mean that cake, do you?" she said hopefully. Mrs. Cake shook her head yes. Pinkie Pie's pupils grew three sizes.
After they frosted the cupcakes, Mrs. Cake asked Pinkie Pie to place them on the table in the store front window. As Pinkie backed out of the kitchen, the swinging door tapping against her rump and the tray of fresh cupcake in her mouth, Pinkie Pie resisted all temptation of throwing the tray up in the air and gobbling them one by one, wrapper and all, into a sugary puddle in her stomach. It was extremely hard, but Mrs. Cake's special cake was worth it.
Once she set the tray down, she noticed one of her friends had come to visit Sugarcube: Applejack. Applejack was eying all the sweets and candies, particularly a large carrot cake that sat with the other cakes. She looked extraordinarily hungry, which seemed slightly weird, because Pinkie had never seen her friend look like that before. Her eyes seemed almost as mesmerized by the sweets as Pinkie had often felt hers would look while she stared at cupcakes. But this was Applejack, her friend who could show amazing willpower and discipline. It was just slightly unnerving..
"Hey there, Applejack," Pinkie Pie giggled, trying to lose her apprehension, "Are you as hungry as I am? I feel like I could eat that whole carrot cake myself."
Applejack looked up from the cake to Pinkie Pie; she looked so strange.
"Hel-lo," said Pinkie Pie, "Applejack, are you ok?"
Applejack's eyes wandered to the cupcakes that Pinkie Pie had just bought to the table. Pinkie Pie followed her friend's eyes. "Oh Applejack, you can have one; they're awesome! Just baked and frosted. They're 25 cents each."
Applejack shoved Pinkie Pie out of the way and with a flick of her hoof, the tray flipped into the air and all the cupcakes descended down Applejack's throat, never to be heard from again.
"Hey!" shouted Pinkie Pie, "No fair! I wanted to do that!" Pinkie Pie's face turned into a pout.
"Too bad, sugarcube," said Applejack as she snickered out the door, "Put that on my tab." She slammed the door on her way out.
"Hey wait a minute," said Pinkie Pie, "You don't have a tab! You get back here and pay for those cupcakes!"
She ran out the door trying to catch up to Applejack, but she was gone. Furious, Pinkie Pie walked back into Sugarcube Corner under the gaze of a strange, white creature on the roof.