Just another average day at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack whistled to herself as she worked the orchards. Today was the perfect day for apple bucking. Not too hot, not too cold, and she had gotten a wonderful night's sleep, so she was as energized as ever. At this rate, she could go all day without stopping. It was just a beautiful day. She had a feeling that somehow, nothing could go wrong today. Her whistling became more enthusiastic the more she thought about it. As she he whistled the highest, cheeriest note it the song, she heard a groan. She looked around, but couldn't see anypony.
She called out, "Uh... Twilight?"
No answer.
"... Rarity, is that you?"
Nopony.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Nothing.
"Fluttershy?"
Silence.
"Listen, Pinkie Pie, if this is a game of Bridle-Go-Seek, I'm really not interested at the moment. But thanks fer thinkin' of me!"
The groan came again. It was deep, male.
"Uhh... Spike? What`re y'all doin' out here all by yerself?"
She walked in the direction the noise came from. It came again from behind a very large apple tree. She walked around it not to see her baby dragon friend, but an orange unicorn collapsed next to it!
"Tarnation!" she cried, "Big Mac! Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, come quick!"
When he finally did come to, he slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a bed. He woke with a start and quickly threw off his blanket to make sure he was still wearing his saddlebags. They were still there. He breathed a sigh of relief before observing his surroundings. As far as he could tell, he was in a bedroom in a quaint country home. He slowly stood up and took a few steps before the door opened and a gamboge mare with a blonde mane donning a cowboy hat and an apple cutie mark stepped in carrying a bucket of water with her mouth.
She looked surprised for a moment before muttering with the handle still in her mouth, "Oh, yehr ehwehk. Gud." She put the bucket down before continuing, "Ya've been out for nearly two days. I had a feelin' ya'd be hankerin' fer somethin' to drink."
He stared blankly for a moment before responding, "Uh... Yeah. Thanks."
He slowly walked over and dipped his snout in the water to drink. He only took little sips at first, but within a few seconds, the entire bucket was empty. Applejack was a little shocked when she looked down at the dry bucket.
"Well, I reckon y`all must`ve been pertty thirsty. How long had y'all been walkin'?"
The orange pony answered, "Not sure. Long enough to collapse from exhaustion, I guess. Say, where am I?"
"Yer at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville."
"Ponyville? Where's that?"
"Sweet apple fritters! Y'all ain't never even heard of Ponyville? Don't ya know yer way around Equestria?"
"Oh, I'm in Equestria. That answers a lot of questions."
"Say, where're ya from?"
"I'm ... Uh... I'm from..."
Another pony, a philly with a red mane, walked in.
She asked, "Oh, he`s awake? Darn! I thought I could invite Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle over to see if we could earn our cutie marks fer First Aid! Well, fiddlesticks!"
Applejack scolded her youger sister, "Y'all don't even know no First Aid!" She turned to the orange pony, "Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Applejack, and this here is my little sis Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom this is... Uhh... Say, what is yer name?"
The orange pony answered nervously, "Oh! My name? My name is uhh... Sol... Solar Flare."
Applejack smiled, "Well, Solar Flare, it`s a pleasure to make yer acquaintance. I, on behalf of the whole Apple family, would like to personally welcome y'all to Ponyville. As soon as yer feelin' up to it, I'd like to give ya the grand tour."
Before Solar Flare could answer, a triangle was heard ringing from the floor below.
Applejack continued, "But in the mean time, who's hungry? I hope ya like fresh apple pie."
Solar Flare's face lit up at the mention of the dish as the trio went downstairs for dinner.