The Apples get a letter, and Granny reads off that AJ's cousins on the west coast want her to bring some of her apples to Applewood to use in a dessert. Realizing this as a potential financial opportunity, AJ prepares to leave and asks Rarity for a traveling bag. Rarity, upon hearing the name "Applewood" is immediately eager to join AJ, not only to meet the celebrities in Applewood and its fashion sense, but also to sightsee along the way.
Their first stop puts them at Salt Lick City with a few hours layover, and Rarity suggests they go see the Largest Ball of Cashmere Yarn in Equestria. AJ obliges, but gets bored and falls asleep quickly. When she wakes, she realizes they are late for the train and barely make it on before it leaves the station - only to learn that this train is not theirs, which is running late, but one bound for Seaddle, where they can transfer to the right train - after another brief layover. Rarity, again, suggests taking in a seaside attraction. However, when their taxi back to the station is wrecked, and they get caught in a rain shower, they hastily take shelter for the night, knowing they'll miss the train. Fortunately, Rarity finds a pedal-powered aircraft that they take.
The two get into an argument over the lack of any serious business plan AJ has to sell her apples, causing them to crash into Mount Monument. As they get down safely, AJ realizes they were flying the wrong way, but they are fortunate to find a small western town with a stagecoach puller willing to take them to San Franciscolt where they can catch a quick train ride to Applewood. Rarity insists on more sightseeing but AJ shuts her up, until they are attacked by a gang of Cattle Rustlers. AJ and Rarity manage to work together despite their arguments to fend off the bulls and help reach safety.
A brief train ride later lands them in Applewood, and the two apologize for each others behavior. AJ has a way of making it up to Rarity, taking her to Whinnyland as she had been asking during the trip. The two enjoy a fruitful day as friends before they head to AJ's relatives. They are as surprised to see her and have no need for her apples, but Rarity sees they are throwing a party and joins in, dragging AJ along with her.
Back in Ponyville, Granny Smith realizes that she misread the letter and sent AJ off in the wrong direction, and it was really Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten that wanted the fruit.
This issue provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Applejack manages to beat up several of the rustlers, with Rarity getting in a few licks as well.
- All Animals Are Dogs: After getting caught in the Seaddle rain, AJ and Rarity take shelter; Rarity has managed to stay mostly dry but AJ is sopping wet, and not amused. Rarity tells AJ to calm down, goading AJ into shaking off the water like a wet dog would, totally drenching Rarity.
- Amusement Park: Whinnyland.
- The Cameo:
- Derpy appears as the mailmare.
- Whinnyland includes an attraction based on Pirates of the Caribbean, and in it is Captain Hoofbeard from the pirate arc of the main series, who himself is an Expy of Captain Jack Sparrow.
- The Observer ponies briefly show up again.
- Jim the Troll (based on "Big" Jim Miller, the show's co-producer) is on a billboard and called out as "Big Jim".
- Aunt and Uncle Orange appear, albeit at the very end.
- Captain Obvious: In the finale montage, "Apple Bloom: Did not get her cutie mark in base jumping"
- Casual Danger Dialog: Applejack and Rarity get into disagreements over AJ's business plan while flying a plane and fighting off the Rustlers.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mount Monument is in the middle of an expansion to add Princess Twilight Sparkle's head to the sculpture. A small sign, petitioning to add Queen Chrysalis's head, is hidden below it, and with only one signature, Chryssy's herself.
- Rarity offering to help AJ with her business plan despite the anger between them mirrors Rarity's line from "Testing Testing 1 2 3" where she's willing to help Rainbow Dash despite her offhanded comment.
- Rarity and AJ are doing The Navigator dance (from the Big Mac arc of the main series) at the "City Bear Disco" attraction at Whinnyland.
- Death Glare: AJ gives Rarity a very impressive one at one point.
- Epic Fail:
- Big Mac builds the replacement barn so poorly that it collapses and he has to start all over again. It's implied a similar situation is why the barn collapsed early in the comic.
- Apparently, the Seaddle's show always ends with the boat crash-landing out of the stadium, usually wrecking a taxi or some other vehicle in the process.
- Expy: There are several locations that are blatant copies of US locations.
- Mount Monument is a obvious copy of Mount Rushmore, but with the faces of the four Princesses instead of presidents.
- Whinnyland is the Equestrian answer to Disneyland, with a wombat Mickey and an eagle Donald.
- Foreshadowing: Lampshaded, as the Cattle Rustlers promise they will be back in a future issue (in this case, main series #25-26 announced just before this issue came out).
- Grave Humor: When Applejack and Rarity go on "The Haunted Stable", one of the tombstones reads "I told you I was sick".
- Hero of Another Story: The stallion that carted Applejack and Rarity then went on a series of adventures of his own, and apparently became a king, but we don't see any of it.
- Hilarity Ensues: The issues is pretty much set out for wacky hijinks.
- I'm Going to Disney World!: Both Rarity and Applejack are really ecstatic about going to Whinnyland, and they go on almost all the rides, shouting "Whinnyland!" all the while. Their excitement is comparable to Real Life adults visiting Disneyland for the first time.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- The goat at the Biggest Ball of Yarn has a chewed up version of a season five script in its pen.
- One of the Cattle Rustlers says that they'll be back in another issue.
- Missing Steps Plan: Applejack's business plan: "Sell apples".
- In a Brick Joke, they decide to actually deconstruct the trope, of all the tropes to deconstruct. Rarity is exasperated that Applejack thinks business is that simple, wondering how the farmer expects to settle a supplier/salespony partnership contract if her business model begins and ends at "fruit stand".
- Museum of Boredom: Rarity eagerly drags AJ to visit the Largest Ball of Cashmere Yarn and its associated museum while at a scheduled train stop at Salt Lick City. While she is initially impressed and gets to pet the goat, AJ tires of it quickly.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Literally, with Big Macintosh destroying the barn more than once, and Applejack and Rarity wrecking the aircraft.
- Noodle Incident: Oh, we see how Big Mac destroyed the barn, but AJ's Death Glare suggests this is not the first time this happened with Big Mac. From the images at the end, it appears that he just isn't very good at making sure the barn is sturdy. That or he's so strong that any attempts would end up breaking the barn even more.
- Road Trip Plot: Applejack and Rarity take a road trip to see Applejack's relatives, and it goes just about as well as for them as it did for the Apple Family and Pinkie Pie.
- Schizo Tech: Rarity and Applejack use a pedal-powered two-seater airplane (a "gyro-flyer") at one point of their trip.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Granny's misreading of the Oranges' letter sets off the whole disastrous chain of events for nothing.
- Shown Their Work: Assuming that the geography in Equestria is similar to the real world, the travel challenges in this issue make sense. They leave from Ponyville (somewhere in the mid-west) , to Salt Lake City, get on the wrong train to Seattle, find the plane but take it the wrong direction (east, instead of south) as to end up in South Dakota, then find a western town that is close to San Francisco which is then a short train ride to Hollywood/Los Angeles. Mind you, some of the attractions don't make sense (the Biggest Ball of Twine is in Minnesota, and Seattle doesn't have the type of body of water to make a good water-skiing show, at least as large as the one shown with sharks and dolphins), but otherwise still spot on. The inconsistencies can probably be pinned on the fact that Equestria isn't an exact copy of Earth.
- Skewed Priorities: Rarity gets into an argument over AJ's (lack of a) business plan for selling her apples while flying a plane. They crash.
- Stealth Pun: There's a mention of Rodeo Drive, which given the series' fondness of horse-based puns is likely pronounced just how it looks, unlike the real street in Beverly Hills which is pronounced "Ro-DAY-o."
- Swapped Roles: Normally Applejack is the calm and steady one, with Rarity as the Drama Queen getting worked up over small details, but Rarity is remarkably calm about things, while Applejack is the one getting stressed out more. AJ lampshades this at one point. Things apparently go back to normal after the trip is over.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Applejack and Rarity, of course.
- Where Are They Now: A series of photos at the end of the comic shows what became of the characters after the events of the story. Applejack learned a lesson...about something. Rarity had a minor breakdown over her own project sometime later. Applebloom did not get her Cutie Mark in base jumping. Big Mac built a barn...He didn't do a very good job on the first barn and had to do it again. Granny Smith has an optometrist appointment next Tuesday. The stranger sought adventure and eventually became a hero. The curator of the world's biggest ball of yarn is currently working out how many socks can be knit with the ball of yarn. The owners of the gyro-flyer that AJ and Rarity took were incredibly confused when they returned to their barn some weeks later. The Manehatten Oranges are still waiting for Applejack.
