"Heh... well, you were just a bit ago, sugarcube~!" Granny Smith chuckled to herself as Rainbow Dash landed with a gust that ruffled her mane.  She raised a creaky foreleg to pat the girl fondly on the shoulder.  "I wanted t'ask if y'happened t'have seen any of th'youngin's 'round t'day?  Applejack and Big Macintosh ain't been 'round all mornin' and I was gettin' a mite curious.  Last I saw she was at th'Library with Twilight."

Rainbow Dash chuckled at her bad joke, more to spare her feelings than anything. Granny Smith was an interesting sort to put it mildly, and Rainbow Dash never really felt right around her. When she asked her question, Dash let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't another one of those 'when I was your age' stories. "I haven't seen Big Mac or Applebloom all day, but AJ's in town looking for something. I was actually helping her find it. An apple cart has gone missing. So... I should really go check in with her. Can I pass on a message?" She asked the oldtimer, hoping more to get out of this situation than anything.

The aged equine perked up at the mention of an apple cart, though her expression shifted quickly to one of consternation.  "Ooh... don't tell m'that silly pony's been hoofin' it all over Celestia's green grasses t'day for that cart, has she?"  Granny Smith sighed as she pointed over to the barn.  Sure enough, tucked just inside the building doors was the sought-after cart, no worse for the wear.

"Consarn it... I knew I forgot t'do somethin'.  I was gonna tell her earlier but it plum skipped right outta m'head."

Rainbow Dash looked into the barn and at the cart a few moments before she facehoofed. "It's been there all along??" She asked with a smile and a laugh at the silliness of the situation. "Sorry to bolt, Granny Smith, but I have to go tell her as soon as possible. She's pulling her mane out with stress trying to find it." She hopped up into the air and with a gust of wind from her wings, she was gone.

---> To Schoolhouse

Visible from the farm, a dust cloud barrels down the road  and over the hill, toward Sweet Apple Acres. As it gets closer, the flying rainbow above it and Applejack at it's head came into view.

In from Schoolhouse

Slowing to a steady trot as she passed the gates, Applejack slowed to a stop to look about, and threw a hoof up to right her wind-shifted hat. She trotted on toward the house, expecting that Granny would already be back there.

---> From Schoolhouse

Rainbow Dash came to a stop above Applejack as they arrived on the scene. She spiraled down before landing on the gravel path that led through the farm. She then followed her up to look for Granny Smith.

--> Twilight Sparkle enters from Ponyville Schoolhouse

Twilight wasn't quite as quick as her friends, so she chose to 'cheat' instead.  Only moments after the other two ponies arrived at the farm she winked into existence, having teleported the difference to be left shaking sparkles of magic from her mane.

Meanwhile, Granny Smith was easy enough to find.  She'd been on the porch when Rainbow Dash left and she hadn't moved, still seated in her favorite rocking chair to watch the day roll by in peace.  She perked up as all the girls arrived and gave a creaky wave of her foreleg.  "Ooh, there y'youngin's are~!  I was wonderin' when y'all would be comin' 'round."

Trotting along to the porch, Applejack made room for her friends - including the appearing Twilight. That still startled her, but at least she wasn't being teleported too, this time.

"Heh.. Ah guess ah should thank ya' for helpin' me out this mornin'?" Applejack led. She took her hat off with a hoof and tucked it...somewhere, out of sight.

"I'd reckon', but from what this flashy filly said before, it sounds like I caused y'a bit of strife.  What happened?"  Granny Smith thankfully didn't seem unaware of the problems that had arisen.  Older ponies sometimes had a habit of dismissing the concerns of their younger kin.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Wed 25 Apr 2012.

"What happened? We only tore the town apart looking for the darn thing!" Dash flailed her hooves in too much excitement as she told the tale, but then calmed. "Still, I'm just glad the cart is back where it's supposed to be and all the apples are accounted for."

Xing Ming was not pleased about having to walk to Sweet Apple Acres by herself from the train station. Her ears were down and her head stooped, sweat on her brow from pulling the little wagon of supplies along with her saddlebags under the bright sun. She had, of course, been offered help to take the items to the farm for her, but she had been far, far too shy to accept it. Luckily, it wasn't all that far from the train station, and soon enough, she came up onto the farm.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, there were several ponies outside, and she shrank down for a moment. She recognized one of the ponies from a picture her mother had shown her - an older pony, whom she would feel more comfortable meeting, that she knew was named Granny Smith, and whom her mother told her to find. She stayed still and quiet at the gate for a few moments, before she rose up, took in a deep breath to steady herself, and finally came forward into the farm proper, where the other ponies were standing about. She ducked her head slightly, knowing that she would be noticed, in no small thanks to the very squeaky wheel on her cart.

At last, she came up to them, her head down all the way. There was a moment of quiet, and finally, she spoke. Kind of. _"Nihao..."

"It's not.. that bad Rainbow Dash. Ah' just didn't know where it had gone, so ah spent all morning lookin' for it. At least Blue Shield got to help with somethin'! Ah could tell he was excited for a case. Ah'd say it was an alright mornin'" She nodded, and looked to the other ponies. Then paused, at the sight of a pink filly coming through the farm gates. She put her hat back on her head and trotted over to meet her. "Hay, there." she chimed, then glanced along to the cart of personal effects. "Err... Ya'll right there, filly?"

_{"I... um..."} Xing cleared her throat nervously, glancing up at Applejack only momentarily, but was still keeping her head down. She raised her voice slightly, to make sure Applejack heard her. "I'm... Xing Ming... I was... told to... come here... To meet a Missus Granny Smith... about housing arrangements...?"

Rainbow Dash joined Applejack in welcoming this newcomer as she took to the air and hovered just above their heads. "Hey, uh, Xing Ming? That's a cool name. By Celestia, there's a lot of new ponies moving into Ponyville of late. Heh." She scratched the back of her head with a hoof as she tried to make smalltalk. "Why are you living here at the farm? I mean, there's no better place I think... well other than the clouds, but... you can't go there."

"No kiddin', but business is great!" She chimed to Rainbow. "If yer' lookin' for Granny, she's right over there. Ah'm Applejack, and this is Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. Mah sister Apple Bloom is about yer age, ah'd reckon. She'll still be at school right now though." Applejack led her over to Granny Smith, with a mildly bewildered but friendly day. At this point, she'd expect anything to happen on a day like this.

"Well, reason bein'; After y'left this mornin' I went on into town m'self t'go gab with a friend.  I went past th'Libarry and saw th'cart outside, so I thought I'd poke m'head in t'say a quick how y'do as well.  But when I did, I saw y'lookin' over all those books all curious and bright." Granny Smith explained in her usual wheezy manner.  "I thought I'd do y'a favor and take care of th'job m'self, so's y'could stick 'round and maybe read a bit.  Wanted it t'be a surprise for ya'.  I know y'heart belongs t'Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, but I sorta felt bad.  There's more t'a filly's life than workin' on th'farm, after all, and I was happy t'see y'maybe takin' an interest in some learnin'.  I didn't mean t'cause a ruckus for everypony."

It came just in time that, after finishing her explanation, a cute little filly came meekly up the way.  She was immediately the attention of the other girls, though Granny was a bit slower on the uptake as she peered over with a squint.  She brightened up just fine once she realized who it was though.

"Oh!  Xing Ming!  Y'got hear earlier than I was expectin'... train must be ahead of schedule again.  C'mon y'poor thing -- Applejack, help her with her luggage."

AJ rubbed a hoof on her cheek as she spoke about having been spoted looking over the books. That look on her face hadn't been curiosity so much as overwhelmed... fear almost, but... close enough... "Ah, that did remind me. Ah was gonna ask if ya' had a book I might like, Twi."

"Sure thing, Granny." She went along to do so, and shouldered some of her bags from the cart. "Who is she, Granny? Ya were expectin' her?" She asked, curiously, but seemed cheerful enough about the guest.

Xing turned to look at Granny Smith, and smiled at her as she approached. "Nihao, Granny. It is... good to finally meet you... in person. Thank you, for agreeing to let me stay here..." She turned to Rainbow Dash and gave her another small smile. "I come from... a very big city. My mother is in Equestria on a... um... 'mission of diplomacy'. She thought it... would be healthier for me... to stay somewhere small, and open... where I can see the stars clearly at night... So she contacted Granny Smith... to arrange for me to stay, and go to school... here in Ponyville... My mother said it would be like... a foreign exchange student... except they got me for free..." She gave a very weak and shy smile at that sentiment.

"Thank you," she said shyly as Granny Smith told Applejack to help her with her, to her anyway, heavy luggage and supplies. Among the suit cases was a long black case that held a heavy brace telescope. Her eyes brightened almost instantly as she looked up at Twilight Sparkle, and her cheeks flushed. "Miss Twilight... your magical prowess... is famous even in Shanghay. My father used to study magic, and the connection it had to the stars... I... I am pleased to meet you! I never expected... I thought that... that you would be in Canterlot..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:41, Wed 25 Apr 2012.

"Precisely!  Lil' Xing Ming here's gonna be stayin' with us for a spell while she gets her schoolin' taken care of.  Her ma's an old friend and I'd never turn down such a request.  'sides, it'll give Applebloom another cutie t'play with too." Granny Smith ambled over and rubbed Xing's head in a friendly manner.  She gestured to each of the ponies around in turn.  "Applejack here's m'grand daughter and th'others are honorary Apples as well.  S'long as you're in Ponyville, you're one of th'family too, Xing Ming."

Twilight had sat back to listen to the explanation of what had happened passively.  Huh... so it had all been because Granny Smith wanted to do something nice, but didn't take the time to tell AJ about it.  As she reflected on what had happened that day, Twilight could already think of what would be going into her next letter to the Princess.  But perhaps she'd wait until later to begin drafting it...

"Oh, of course AJ~!  You know you're always welcome to anything my library.  I can think of all sorts of books you'd be interested in." she seemed quite pleased by the idea of getting yet another friend into the library since Rainbow Dash often came by to read as well.

With the arrival of another little filly around, Twilight once more lingered in the background until she was spoken to by name.  If anything, she seemed surprised that she had a reputation and blushed modestly over Xing's wide-eyed expression.  "Oh... well, thank you Xing.  I'm happy to meet you too!" she greeted.  "I used to be in Canterlot, but now I live in Ponyville as I perform my studies for Princess Celestia.  If you're interested, feel free to come by my Library whenever you like, okay?  I've even got my own observatory platform and telescopes..." she'd recognized the thick box from Xing's luggage for what it was and took a chance at her hobby, especially given the girl's Cutie Mark.

"That would... that would be wonderful," she said, her lavender cheeks flushing with a blush as Twilight invited her to the library whenever she wanted, to see a real observatory and study in her surely expansive library. "Maybe... maybe some night after school...?" she breathed. "I do my studying at night... mostly... Astronomy and... whatnot... I hope it won't be too... late?" she asked timidly.

"Tha... Thank you, Granny. I hope to make... make friends at this new school... and I am... happy to be part of... your family," she said meekly, nodding her head softly.

"C'mere, sugarcube." Applejack chimed, and put a hoof around the young filly. "Ah'll set you up to share Apple Bloom's room. Twi, seems like you an' Xing have some stuff in common. Ah don't know much about stars an' all, but you do." She chimed, then shouldered all the bags, with relative ease. "Ah'll be back in a bit. Rainbow, wanna help me get this stuff upstairs?" she asked

She did notably leave the telescope case in Twilight's hooves - she didn't even trust herself to handle something so sensitive without breaking it.

"That won't be any problem at all.  I pull all-nighters so often that I've got two assistants; one diurnal and one nocturnal."  Twilight reassured the antsy filly.  Her horn glowed softly as she levitated the telescope case from her friend's hold.  With it safely encased in a magical dweomer, she trotted along after the rest to help Xing get settled in.

>> From Market District >>

Roaming at a steady trot back into the farmstead, Big Mac is almost to the barn and still intending to get back to work when he spots the others inside. Wondering what brought the crowd here, he'll trot up and inside the main house to give a look.

Nosing his way inside, he looks after the group and speaks up, briefly peering at the new filly. "What's goin' on? We got a guest?"

Xing was a little surprised when Applejack put her hoof around her shoulders, but looked equally pleased a second later, recognizing it as a sign of acceptance. Ponies in Shanghay, after all, while definitely not unfriendly, usually weren't very physical with each other unless they were family. It was just culture. She couldn't say she minded, though! "Wow... you're... really strong... Applejack," she said as Applejack so easily lifted all of her bags so easily, even without magic.

"I could... teach out... about the stars... if you want..." she said in another shy tone in reply to Applejack explaining she knew nothing of stars. "Mapping the stars... and planets... has help farmers in Shanghay... better time out when the seasons... are scheduled to change... and prepare their crops better..." She got shy again, though not as badly. "I mean... I'm sure that... you're a great farmer as is... but my mother says... 'the only way you start getting worse... is by thinking you can't... get any better.'"

Slightly worried she had accidently insulted Applejack, Xing turned her attention to Twilight and visibly brightened. "Ooh... that would... that would be wonderful," she said happily. "Xing Ming means... Shining Star... I only got my cutie mark... a week or so ago, on the trip... to Equestria. The stars in Equestria... are in different position this time of year... than in Shanghay... which is much more north... I cannot help but to wonder... since magic is so... dependant on the stars..." she looked to Twilight's cutie mark for emphasis, "is magic effected by your... place in the world... where the stars at night... are different? Maybe one day... I will find out myself..."

Xing followed the pthers into the house and took her time looking around. It eas a lot different than any house she had ever seen before, but she liked it a lot! It seemed warm and inviting, with lots of room to play and cozy corners tobread in. Turning when Big Macintosh appeared and questioned her being there, the shyness immediately returned to Xing's demeanor. She slightly stammered, flummuxed, before lowering her head again, the hot blush on her cheeks once more."N-Nihao... I am... Xing Ming..."