My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Last Roundup
A/N: Yahoo and welcome to the next installment, MLP fans, and it's time to do some lassoing and having fun with our favorite ponies! Let's get this rodeo show on the road!
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER ONE: OFF TO THE RODEO!
It was a nice day and over at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom was wearing her sister's hat while her big sister trained for the upcoming rodeo.
Applejack ran the course, leaping over the barriers, just barely tapping one with her back hooves, and as she did the full course, she could hear her little sister cheering for her.
"Whoo- Whoa!" Apple Bloom cheered, almost falling off the fence, and as she waved her forelegs, she accidentally knocked off the hat. "Whoo-hoo! Applejack, you're sure to knock everypony's hat off at the Equestria Rodeo competition!" she declared.
Applejack blushed and put her hat on. "Aw shucks, Apple Bloom. I sure hope so."
"Hope so?" her little sister repeated. "I know so! After all, you're the ten-time rodeo champeen of Ponyville! Why, you've got more blue ribbons than anypony in Ponyville ever!" And she nodded to a case that was filled with blue ribbons from pervious competitions. "And I can't wait for my big sis to win every blue ribbon in Equestria and bring home the title of Equestria Rodeo champeen!"
Applejack's face went red with embarrassment. She was hoping that she could win, too.
The next day at town hall, Rainbow Dash was trying to attach a banner to the front of the building, but it wasn't easy since a large section had been damaged and the pegasus responsible, Derpy, was still bouncing up and down on a storm cloud nearby. Every time she bounced, lightning flashed out and struck the building, causing even more damage.
The blue pegasus managed to get the banner into position. "Huh?" She duck, but the tip of her tail got grazed by a stray lightning bolt, and she flew up to the bouncing grey pegasus. "Now, careful, Derpy!" she warned. "Don't want to do any more damage than you've already done." And she winced when a section of the damaged tower fell with a crash.
"I just don't know what went wrong," Derpy remarked and bounced on the cloud again, making more lightning zap outward.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and finished nailing the banner into place. "Yeah. It's a mystery," she said sarcastically.
Derpy flew over and admired the banner. "Nice work, Rainbow Dash," she complimented and accidentally bumped into one of the pillars on the third floor, and the wood splintered as it fell toward the ground.
Yelping, Rainbow Dash shot upward and tried to slow it down, but both she and it ended up crashing into the porch, creating a big hole.
Flying down, the grey pegasus stuck her head into the hole to look at the bruised blue pegasus. "You okay, Rainbow Dash?" she asked. "Anything I can do to help?" And she winced when a piece of wood fell into the hole.
"No!" Rainbow Dash shouted, shooting out of the hole. "Nothing! In the name of Celestia, just sit there and do nothing!" she pleaded.
Nodding, Derpy sat down, only to have the wood start splintering, and she grabbed the blue pegasus right before they crashed through the floor, creating another big hole. "Oops. My bad."
Meanwhile, a large crowd was gathered and they were chanting one name. "Applejack! Applejack! Applejack! Applejack!"
"Everypony, can I get your attention?" Mayor Mare requested. "Attention please!" And the crowd stopped chanting. "Yes, we are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year's Equestria Rodeo competition in Canterlot." And the crowd cheered and stomped their hooves while Applejack, who was standing next to the mayor, flushed at the attention. "And I want to thank Applejack in advance for generously offering up her prize money to fix town hall," she added.
Rainbow Dash was beaming at her friend, having just flown out of the hole, and Derpy, who was halfway out of the hole, cheered. "Yeah, Applejack! Whoo-hoo!" And having thrown her hooves into the air, she fell back into the hole with a loud thud, and the blue pegasus shook her head while the crowd did more cheering and stomping.
"Speech! Speech!" Pinkie Pie called out.
"Oh, shucks," said Applejack, still flushing. "I'm not much for speeches."
Pinkie Pie nodded. "Alright then, no speech!" And zipped away.
"Buuut!" said Applejack and the pink pony returned. "This here is the nicest send off anypony could ask for. Y'all have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little little pony. So it seems only fittin' to use my winnings to fix up town hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud." And the crowd cheered again.
An hour later, Applejack, her friends, and her family were at the train station, and she was getting some last minute advice.
"I want you to show all them highfalutin rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony's like!" Granny Smith instructed.
Applejack nodded. "You betcha, Granny Smith."
"And bring back all that money!" Mayor Mare added eagerly.
"You betcha, Mayor," Applejack promised.
"And have fun," Pinkie Pie advised. "And don't be nervous. Or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better than you already would! And eat peanuts and popcorn and taffy and taffy gives lots of nervous energy!" And she began munching on taffy.
"Just do your best, Applejack," Twilight Sparkle suggested.
"And work hard," Sunrise Blossom added.
Applejack grinned at her friends. "I'll do better than my best!"
"The train to Canterlot is about to leave!" the conductor called out. "All aboard who's coming aboard!"
Applejack started a little. "Guess that means me," she remarked and boarded the train.
"Seeya in a week!" Rainbow Dash called out.
"With lots of new blue ribbons!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"And lots of money!" Mayor Mare added again.
As the train pulled away, Applejack waved to them from the window. "Darn tootin'! See y'all in a week, with a big bag full of blue ribbons!" she called back and sat back in her seat.
The six ponies ran along the platform until they reached the edge and stopped while the train disappeared down the tracks.
"And drink sarsaparilla!" Pinkie Pie shouted and got odd looks from her friends. "What? It gives you extra sass." And her friends just rolled their eyes.
A/N: And Applejack is off to the rodeo. See you all on Thursday to see what happen next. R&R everyone!