Something had to be wrong; of that Sunset was very certain.
Her normal chaotic threesome had not uttered a word since they left the school, save for saying thanks when Sunset opened the door and even then it was only Apple Bloom who spoke up. She had wanted to ask what was up but thought it wise not to pry.
Even after becoming their “idol” – often she would blush at that word – Sunset didn’t want to ruin the warm relationship she shared with her adorably troublesome gang. That said, she wasn’t completely free of her past yet and never wished to inflict any emotional harm – let alone physical – on the friendships that she had worked so hard to attain. Yet the feeling that her sisterly friends might be suffering inside never left her.
A wail from behind her however whizzed her mind back to the present and she quickly went to the aid of her falling friend. Sunset managed to catch her by the hand; Scootaloo narrowly avoiding injury.
“Is everything ok, Scootlaloo?” she asked anxiously, still holding on as the crusader calmed down from the shock.
Sunset pulled Scootaloo to her feet and still clung on as the wavering youngster found her balance. She sighed in relief and gave a weak smile to Sunset.
“Yeah…I’m fine,” Scootaloo replied awkwardly.
“Are you sure? Because you seem to have trouble walking.”
In fact, all three of them seemed to have difficulty walking today. What Sunset thought would be a simple leisurely walk to the apple farm ended up being a constant rhythm of misplaced feet as they scraped across the gritty asphalt of the pavement. The image sounded humorous in the mentor’s mind but she was determined not to let it show.
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know why though.” In fact, Scootaloo did know but knew better than to voice it. “But…it will get better,” Scootaloo said with a confident smile.
“Hmmm…well if you’re sure….”
Sunset turned back around and resumed walking, the crusaders yet again struggling to keep up.
No awkward silence this time. “So girls, how did you enjoy the party last night?”
How in the hay did she know that? Apple Bloom looked to her equally astounded friends.
“Has she seen through our ruse already?” Sweetie Belle whispered, her attention returning quickly to her mistimed stepping in order to stifle the subsequent wobble.
“Ah don’ think so,” Apple Bloom replied in a hushed tone.
Sunset grew worried. She had expected Scootaloo to at least enthuse about Rainbow Dash or something as per but no response came.
“Girls?”
“It was great,” Apple Bloom spat out in desperation.
Sunset did not expect the country girl to answer.
“Uhh…Twilight took to the floor and… did an awesome dance with this orange stallion…uh…person with blue hair and…”
“Wait, Twilight? Twilight wasn’t at the dance,” Sunset protested, looking round to Apple Bloom while still moving. “Twilight was having a sleepover at Fluttershy’s.”
Apple Bloom craned her head at Sunset’s response. Fluttershy had been there too.
“And I didn’t see you there either Apple Bloom. I thought you said that you and AJ were going to do some chores. Did AJ change her mind?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow at the nervous country girl.
“Uhh…,”
Then the realisation hit her. There must have been a party here.
Stupid! Now ah’ve gotta think o’ summin real fast! “Oh right, the dance…sorry ah thought you were talking bout’ summin else…sorry,” she uttered, trying to make it sound as casual as possible.
The questioning look that Sunset was giving Apple Bloom grew only deeper. There was something about Apple Bloom’s way of talking that was slightly off.
She may have just gotten mixed up, she thought optimistically. But going over the crusader’s words in her head she came across one that didn’t sound right. For a human anyway…
Sunset soon saw that the intensive stare that she was giving Apple Bloom was causing the crusader discomfort so she retreated her head back to her front.
Sunset felt about as awkward as Rainbow Dash getting a pedicure. She hastily moved the conversation forward.
“And how about you two? You girls have fun?”
Scootaloo grinned happily at the memory. “Rainbow and I did some wicked moves!” She then remembered the remorse she felt this morning and her tone turned annoyed. “But I wasn’t able to stay awake long enough to enjoy it…”
“Hehe, I noticed Rainbow slipping away earlier than expected.” For her, anyway, Sunset thought humorously. “And you, Sweetie Belle?”
“I had lots of fun! Too bad parties have to end though…” she replied, happy about how natural that sounded.
“Well you sure looked tuckered out when I dropped you off at home.”
Having witnessed Apple Bloom’s exchange with the unfamiliar teen, Sweetie Belle knew to accept that.
“Yeah, I guess…” she simply said in a happy tone.
Sunset smiled and grunted happily. She was delighted that her words between them were no longer hesitant and difficult.
“So…what were you three doing at the school anyway?”
“We were checking out this really cool thing that Apple Bloom found over by the school!” she said as if she had expected that question.
“Oh and what was this cool thing?”
There was a pause. The crusaders shared a glance at each other.
“Uh…” started Scootaloo.
“It was…,” continued Sweetie Belle.
“A bunny!” Apple Bloom finished.
The other two sighed and signalled Apple Bloom to continue. To their mutual amazement, they found they were able to do the same motion with their new hands as their old hooves.
“Yeah, a bunny!” repeated Apple Bloom confidently, attempting to get on Sunset’s good side again.
“Ah saw one the other day and ah thought it might still be there. But it wasn’t.” Apple Bloom faked a sad tone towards the end.
“Oh I’m sure there are plenty of bunnies to be seen at the farm if you look hard enough.” Hmm, I should start sketching there more often come to think of it.
“Speaking of which…” began Sunset as she saw the cosy homestead on the horizon. “We’re almost there.”
It was getting quite late when the four of them reached the fence encircling the apple farm. There was still plenty of sunlight to be had given it was the summer but the “beep-beep” as her digital watch struck sixteen hundred confirmed her assumption.
She spied Applejack working with some sort of contraption over towards the barn. That must be the “doo-hickey”.
It didn’t look as though the farmer had noticed the group assembled outside the fence with her attention solely fixed on her work.
Just as well.
The thought of being caught off guard by the honest farmer sent butterflies down Sunset’s stomach and before long she realised that she was blushing. Not wanting the girls to see her like this, she briefly shook her head and proceeded to the gate in front of her.
The metal hinges of the gate creaked as she pushed it open. She held the gate open while the crusaders walked in. This time she was greeted with more smiles and notes of appreciation which was very comforting to the once worried mentor. She closed the gate behind them, making sure to hear the clicking sound of the latch springing back in place.
The group walked up to the humble Apple homestead and Apple Bloom took a quick glance at her new home for the week. Technically, it wasn’t new as this was her home but aesthetically it looked slightly different. For instance, the barn had no windows nor did it feature anything that would make it look homely.
How do they live like this?
Her gaze then fell upon the building adjacent to the barn.
Oh. Right.
Sunset was surprised that Applejack hadn’t noticed them yet. Then again, the machine that she was using was letting out quite a racket.
“Hey AJ, we’re here!” she called out to her friend.
The farmer looked round and smiled then turned off her “doo-hickey”.
As the sound of the motor died away, Applejack walked over.
“Mighty thanks, Sunset!” She embraced her best friend in a hug. Sunset blushed as she heard a giggle from the girls.
When Applejack broke off, she realised that her oiled-up hands had covered her friend’s back torso in black.
“Aww, shucks! Ah’m sorry Sunset, shoulda washed these hands first,” she said apologetically.
“Don’t worry about it AJ,” she replied. “I’m sure it’ll come out.”
“Ah hope the girls weren’t a handful. Were they?” She turned to the girls. “Well, were ya?”
“Not at all, sis!” stated Apple Bloom proudly. The other crusaders nodded in agreement.
“Hmmm, I wouldn’t say that exactly…” started Sunset with a sly tone.
Her smile turned into a laugh at the sight of the open mouths that her companions shot at her.
Applejack shared in the laugh. “Ah’m sure it’s nothin’ to fret about then!”
“Well why don’ ya youngsters and go on upstairs while Sunset and ah have ourselves a chat?”
“OK!” said Apple Bloom confidently. The thought of her room was a relaxing one after the day she had just had. But then-
Stairs!
They hadn’t much practice when it came to climbing. Still, she knew not to question her sister. Besides, with no-one to see them fail perhaps they could be excused from embarrassment.
As the crusaders cautiously made their way into the house, Sunset couldn’t help but let out a big sigh of relief as she leaned back against the porch fence. The honest farmer picked up on that.
“Ya sure they weren’t a handful?” joked Applejack, leaning in a similar fashion beside Sunset.
“Nah, it’s just been a hell of day.”
“Ah’ll bet…”
Applejack straightened up from the fence and put on a more assertive tone.
“Listen Sunset, ah’ve got summin’ important ah need ta ask ya bout’.”
Sunset woke up out of her daydreaming; her face taking a more serious tone at the farmer’s statement. “Sure AJ, what is it?”
“Look, ah know yar like sisters with the girls now but ya really shouldn’t be tellin’ them bout’ yar lovelife!”
Sunset stood upright at the accusation. “Excuse me?”
“Apple Bloom told me that yesterday ya told them that ya were plannin’ on gettin’ back tagether with Flash Sentry. She’s too young fer that kind o’ stuff!”
“I’m not getting back with Flash!” retorted Sunset in a firm but calm tone. “I told you guys before that Flash isn’t the kind of guy for me and I certainly wouldn’t involve Apple Bloom in this!”
“That the honest truth?”
“Of course, AJ.” Sunset moved her lips to create a friendly smile.
Applejack sighed. She was good at reading the truth in people’s words and Sunset’s vocation seemed legit to her. She took the Stenson resting squarely off her hat and let it droop with her right arm.
“Ah’m sorry, Sunset. My stubborn streak can get the best o’ me sometimes. Can ya forgive me for speakin’ out o’ turn?” she asked quietly, eyes closed.
“There is nothing to forgive, AJ. You know I’m far worse, right?”
Applejack’s eyes opened and she giggled at the crack. But then her face turned irritated again as she put the Stenson back on her head.
“But that means that Apple Bloom straight up lied ta ma face! And spread horrible lies bout’ ya, Sunset!”
“Why did she tell you this, anyway?”
Applejack sighed to calm her down slightly before explaining.
“Apple Bloom came home yesterday sprouting off about this cool thing that she’d found in school that day.”
Applejack paused.
“Come ta think of it, after ah asked her bout’ it she became less excited; almost as if she didn’t want me to know about it…”
Sunset could relate to that – the girls seemed like they had been hiding something all morning.
“Well, I thought it was nothing but there was something strange about the girls’ behaviour today when I went to pick them up at the school.”
“Like what?”
“For one, they were quiet.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Both of them found the idea amusing yet at the same time scary.
“They hardly said a word to me until we neared the farm; nor did they speak with themselves. They also had difficulty walking which seems the most strange.”
Applejack craned her head at Sunset. “Trouble walking?”
“I know, I don’t understand it either. But I recommend keeping a closer eye on them…at least until we figure out what’s going on.”
Applejack nodded. “Will do.”
The two resumed their lax positions on the porch fence. They watched as the sun tiptoed into the last segment of the sky overlooking the horizon.
“So…” Applejack started. “What made ma sister think ya were gettin’ back with Flash?”
“I’m not sure. I certainly didn’t give her any signs. I don’t like Flash; I like-”
“Me?”
Sunset looked at the honest farmer with utter astonishment. How could she have possibly know that? She knew there was no way of lying herself out of this mess. All she could do was mutter incomprehensible gibberish and simply stand there as her cheeks turned rosy red.
Applejack chuckled as she moved closer to her embarrassed admirer.
“Ah guess not everything Apple Bloom told me was a lie…”
If somepony told Apple Bloom that one day she’d find herself in an exact replica of her house but in a different world; she would have mostly likely hit them on the nose. But here she was, truth as clear as daylight sitting on her human-sized bed next to her fellow amazed crusaders.
The stairs hadn’t proved to be that difficult actually; in fact if she had to go back learning everything from scratch again, she’d likely find that it was easier climbing stairs with just two legs instead of four. Then again, all three of them had been hanging onto the bannister precariously with their hands but Apple Bloom didn’t want it to diminish the feat of getting upstairs without falling down for a change.
By natural instinct after climbing the stairs, Apple Bloom supposed that her room would be in the same location in relation to her family on the landing as her house in Ponyville. It was! The first room as you came up the stairs! It had been so obvious because everything that made up her room in Ponyville had just been scaled up to meet human proportions. Her apple themed wallpaper was the same, her apple themed duvet was the same; everything had just been made a bit bigger. It was comforting to know that they shared cherished things as well as relatives with their human equivalents – who were no longer the humans, Apple Bloom thought.
And now the three friends were here sitting on the country girl’s bed chatting like old times in a whole new world.
“Ah can hardly believe how real this all is!” Apple Bloom cried with excitement.
“I know right!” Scootaloo strained as she tried to rapidly flap her absent wings. “Oops, I guess I forgot about that!”
She giggled nervously trying to hide the fact that she felt a teensy bit sad that an iconic part of her was gone.
“By the way, you girls have any idea who that bacon-haired Sunset woman was?”
“Bacon-haired?” giggled Sweetie Belle. “I suppose her hair does look like bacon, teehee!”
“No idea, Scoots. She seems nice though. Ah guess there are some minor changes in this world.”
“But I really can’t wait to see what other things we can do here!” Sweetie Belle added enthusiastically.
“Maybe like-”
Scootaloo’s bottom started to vibrate violently as the sound of a humming buzz emanated from the girl’s tushie. It quickly faded.
“What in the hay was that?” Sweetie Belle asked, surprised but not scared.
“I don’t know…” replied Scootaloo, her hands feeling around her bottom. To her surprise, a part of it seemed to stick out from the rest and as she felt around the jut in her posterior she came to realise that the green shorts she wore had back pockets. Her left hand reached in and grabbed something solid and after pulling the object out she held it out for her friends to see as they studied it carefully.
“What do ya think it is?” Scootaloo asked her friends, hoping for an answer.
“Looks like some sort of brick…” Sweetie Belle said.
The brick lit up suddenly and a picture of a blue skinned woman with multi-coloured hair holding Scootaloo in her arms; both sticking their tongues out came into view of the girls.
“Who’s that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I’m not sure…someone who’s close to me for sure…”
Scootaloo’s face lit up when she noticed the array of colours in the woman’s hair along with a symbol on her shirt which looked very familiar. A rainbow with…
“I think it’s Rainbow Dash!”
“Yeah I can see that!” Sweetie Belle agreed. “What’s that flashing thing at the top?”
Scootaloo hadn’t noticed. There was some text flashing green at the top of the picture. She moved her hand towards it but then quickly retracted it as the motion of her hand across the brick caused the picture to move with it.
“Whoa!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Heh…maybe it responds to touch?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo touched the flashing text with her index finger and she watched as the picture disappeared completely to reveal some sort of message.
“What’s it say?”
Scootaloo cleared her throat.
“Hey Scoots, just finished up an awesome football match. We won, unsurprisingly. I’m not doing much tomorrow, u wanna hang? Dash.”
“Dash? Hah…Rainbow Dash! She wants to hang out tomorrow!”
“Really? That brick can tell you what she’s saying even though she isn’t here?” questioned Sweetie Belle.
“That’s amazing!” said Apple Bloom.
“Hmm…how do I give her a reply?”
Scootaloo looked all over the phone for a button that could give her idol a message. She looked under the phone and everything but to no avail.
“What about that?” Sweetie Belle’s finger pointed at a flashing line in a white box. Ever so faintly, Scootaloo could make out the words “Write your message here.”
Since most of her solutions involved touching the brick, Scootaloo did so again in the white box and a box full of the letters of the alphabet appeared magically before her.
“Ah, I get it. I write out the message by touching these letters here. One sec, girls I’ll be done soon.”
Scootaloo went about typing a message out slowly while making loads of mistakes. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle spoke with Apple Bloom.
“Rainbow Dash said she played football…do you think that might be human hoofball?”
“Ah wouldn’t be surprised!” said Apple Bloom smugly adding a confident smile.
Apart from the brick, Apple Bloom was certain now that most things in Equestria had a human equivalent not just their friends and family.
“Ya know ah think the brick might be the humans’ source of magic,” she theorised.
“Well we don’t have it in Equestria and they don’t have magic here so yeah I guess you could say that.”
The girls continued chatting while Scootaloo put the finishing touches on her message.
“Done!” she exclaimed happily.
“Let’s see!” Scootaloo held it out in front of the pair.
It read “Sure, what ya want to do? Asdhfkhlpb.”
“What’s the bit at the end mean?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“What? Oh…oops I couldn’t figure out how to send it…”
At that the bedroom door swung open and Applejack entered laughing like a hyena. She stopped and blushed when she saw the girls looking at her.
“Y’all are welcome to stay the night if ya’d like,” she offered kindly.
“Really? Thanks, Applejack!” cried Scootaloo, glad that she didn’t have to find her house until the morning.
“Yeah! Thanks!” Sweetie Belle added, feeling the same.
“Ah’ll call yar parents then and ask them if it’s alright.” She left the room and giggled again. “Hold yar horses, Sunset ah’m a coming!”
She shut the door behind her leaving the three human ponies alone again.
“What do you think that was about?” said Sweetie Belle.
“Ah haven’t a clue…” replied Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom was dumbfounded. Not long ago, the idea that you could teleport yourself somewhere didn’t even register itself in the filly’s mind but then neither was the idea that there was somehow a magical world with talking ponies alongside the world she knew. Still at least the country girl got to experience the thrill of being whisked away from some place to another in a matter of seconds.
That is before she was submitted to the gruelling task of her typical everyday chores; made even harder by her missing digits. Apple Bloom was really missing her opposable thumbs right now as she tirelessly tried her best to clean the house like Big Macintosh had instructed. Golly had her brother looked big compared with everybody…everypony she noticed in Ponyville; but his normal affirmation was spot on.
It was lucky that he wasn’t around to see her fail at holding the broom as she attempted to sweep the kitchen floor. Funnily enough, Apple Bloom had found walking around on her hind legs much easier than she first expected it to be. This made the job a whole lot easier even if the broom kept slipping from her grasp due to the difference in grip that her hooves offered rather than her hands.
She had still managed to cope with making the beds and tiding up the bedrooms so it seemed that Apple Bloom could get used to this new way of life. Yet some part of her thought that this was routine for her and actually passing off as pony Apple Bloom may be harder. Whatever she thought, she’d find out soon enough.
The creak of the front door reached Apple Bloom’s ear and she peered round into the hallway to see who had come in. The voice of her sister was apparent.
“How was the meet-up with Golden Delicious, Granny?”
No way is that-
“It was mighty fine youngin’. Golden Delicious gets pretty lonely ya see so she thought it was mighty fine for me ta come. Wait…did ah say that already?”
The voice of her elderly relative was crystal clear – well as far as Granny Smith’s croaky voice could be clear.
“Don’ worry about it, Granny. Ah’ve had plenty of customers repeatin’ word after word.”
Apple Bloom turned back to her work in case her sister came prying to check on her. And do that she did.
“Howdy, Apple Bloom! Just finishing up ah take it?”
“You got it, sis!” she exclaimed as she walked on over to the last bit of the kitchen.
“Thank-”
Applejack hesitated but the reply came anyway from the filly who was traversing perfectly balanced on just her hind legs. She couldn’t help but stare and in fact had not heard what Apple Bloom had said to her.
“Eh…is something the matter, sis?”
Her sister had been staring at her for some time now causing Apple Bloom a teensy amount of distress. She still had to get used to the way of life in Equestria and perhaps supposed that this was natural. Still, she felt uneasy.
Applejack snapped out of her trance at the filly’s question and proceeded to stutter before uttering something clear.
“Eh…it’s nothing, sis. Thank ya fer cleaning and all. Ah’ll make a start on dinner.”
Dinner! The idea of food after a long day like this made Apple Bloom soar with joy.
“Oh! What are we havin’?”
“It’s yar hometime favourite! Hayburgers!”
Was it?
“Don’t ya mean hamburgers, sis?”
Applejack threw the filly a puzzled look. “Hamburger? What’s that?”
What? No hamburgers! Apple Bloom was ready to cry out in woe if her mind hadn’t stopped her at the last second. The loud outburst manage to turn into a disappointed grunt.
“Nevermind…”
Hayburgers! Who would have thought it! The explosion of taste as it had entered Apple Bloom’s mouth had been beyond belief. Perhaps it was because of her new equine anatomy that she found eating hay to be so good. She didn’t care really; only that she could live life here knowing her favourite food was edible.
Apple Bloom lay in her bed that night thinking just how life in this world could be. With every day there would be new adventures, new things to discover and best of all instead of one family she now had two! Two sisters to love and cherish, two strong brothers to look up to and two babbling old grannies.
The little filly couldn’t recall another time when she had felt so loved.