Ponies of two Worlds

by Golden Paw

Prologue, Events so far

In the Apple family home, three ponies shifted heavy boxes back and forth. Dust was all pervasive, and every so often the toil was interrupted by a irritated sneeze. Their appearance would have surprised many ponies had they seen; for one thing they were all of mixed breed and the oldest stallion certainly could never be mistaken for a normal earth pony. His light brown coat put the viewer in mind of wicker baskets while his mane and tail were the colour of sanded wood before the varnish.

These traits were not uncommon among earth ponies, but they were almost unheard of in a pony sporting a pair of black, leathery bat wings. This strange equine called to the other two, showing them what he had just found. He finished moving aside a particularly heavy container made of a dark wood to reveal a treasure trove of notebooks.

"Hey 'Glade', 'Sky' come look what I found!" ‘Star oak’ called, his slitted turquoise eyes glinting with sudden excitement. His accent was a little muddled, mostly well spoken, but with hints of the farmer's 'twang' common to members of the Apple family. His brother and sister made their way over to him with curious glances.

Simple and without adornment, he lifted the books carefully before blowing the dust of ages from the dark red covers. The others crowded in as he opened the uppermost book, its yellowed pages covered in simple neat writing, page after of page of it. The text surrounded the occasional photo along with other little keep safes tucked between the pages.

‘Evening Glade’ smiled with surprise, his sharp white teeth in stark contrast to his jet black coat. Squeezing in close Glade forced the others aside to make room for his well-built form. Muscles, powerful from hard work on the family farm, were used with astonishing care as he gently took the proffered book and scanned it with his amber eyes.

Both brothers smiled up at the last pony and it was easy to see the family resemblance between them. The same tufted ears and cat like eyes, that certain something about the muzzle hinted that they were infact brothers despite Glade’s surprising lack of wings.

With a slight grin the final member of the trio looked at the photos and gave out a girlish giggle, “Wow we’re so young in this one!” Far slighter in build than her brothers ‘Sky Petal’ held the book up to compare the image to her siblings.

“Would you look at that, were my wings ever that small?” Sky asked as she looked over her grey coat with its white slightly mottle pattern. “And my mane!” She added, seeing the tiny bleached blond pigtails framing her young face. Sky’s green eyes, round and full of mirth looked at her brothers in turn.

Sky turned the pages back and chuckled, quickly showing Glade another photo. A very cute picture of his little black form being cradled by Applejack who wore a huge, if weary smile.

"I were bigger than you even then Star, ma always said she had a lot more trouble getting me out than you," Glade's voice was deep and resonant, just like his uncle Big Mac's.

Star continued to rummage, "These must be mum’s diaries from when we were foals. Ma always told us she had written lots of things, so she could tell us when we were older."

. They continued to look through the books they found, all were old and preserved with obvious care. Thus showing them to be something precious, each wrapped in protective paper to keep them cool and dry. A few more embarrassing baby pictures later they sorted the books into chronological order and began looking through the writing they all recognised as belonging to their mother.

"Wow, Ma really did write a lot didn't she?" Sky Petal commented as the three ponies looked through the assembled dates and notes.

Applejack had been methodical in keeping a personal record of the three sibling’s foalhoods. They saw birthdays, sick days, Star Oak’s first day at school, all written down with care onto the now slightly yellowed pages of the dairies. These volumes represented years of effort on their behalf.

"Look this is one is about how Ma met Pa!" Sky Petal pointed out, showing her siblings the picture of their father. His dark grey coat along with black mane and tail showed their father ‘to be’ was a full blooded bat pony. His happy blue eyes looking lovingly into Applejack's green ones with a slightly dreamy aspect. The three children, now grown up themselves, happily replayed the memories of their younger days as they read the account of their growing up as written by Applejack.

"Go on, read it out Sky. would sound better coming from a mare and Ya always do mum’s voice best,” Evening prompted.“

How'd I tell y'all the story of me meetin ya farther? Well Shadow Guard is one of the bravest n lovin ponies I have ever known. He's a knight of Princess Luna n though he can be a right numb-skull at times he does have his good points and what-not too. Now most ponies reckon it’s right crazy me fallin in love with a bat pony, they say that we're just too darn different. They don't know the half of it, but being a family ain't about y'all bein the same, it's about yer lovin each other ‘because’ of yer differences.

But I get off the subject, I was writin about the time I met yer farther. Yer may have heard of that odd pony that came ter Ponyville all those years ago, how 'Stage Cloak' caused a right ruckus fer me and ma friends. There are things that I could tell yer about her that would turn yer brain upside down. But I promised I would'ner tell ‘that’ story of her until the time is right so I ain't.

But if that strange pony hadn't of come ter our little village then I probably never would have met yer farther Shadow. The girls, ‘Rainbow’, ‘Twi’ n I had just rescued Stage Cloak from the Everfree forest. The poor filly had gotten herself blasted there by that good fer nothing Trixie when she came ter Ponyville n made our lives a right misery.

Gah I went and did it again, yer can see why I ain't good at tellin stories. I guess I take after Granny in that way, always rambling on about summit. This time I promise I’ll write about Shadow, he was called ter come n collect Stage Cloak. She was ter go and see the ‘Royal Pony Sisters’, that n us ‘Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Twi had written ter princess Celestia about that there pony-bot Gah I did'ner mean ter write that. If anypony asks yer Stage is a normal pony, nothin about her bein made of metal or bein from. That's it I'm stoppin writin about her now.

Shadow was one of the bat pony guards that came ter get Rainbow, ‘Rarity’ n I. He was ter fly us all over ter Canterlot so we could all tell our bit about that there pony I ain't gonna mention again. Now I wasn't in the best of moods ya hear, I was still tryin ter make sense of all the crazy stuff that Buzz (Carn darn it!) Stage Cloak had done.

Now those what know Shadow know that he can't keep his mouth shut. My dear Knight don't know when not ter say summit (look who's talkin) and though I love it about him, he’s just tryin ter be honest and what-not. But that does tend ter get himself inter trouble a lot.

Well that night weren't no different n we had a tiny bit of a ruckus about what he thought of my friends. He said that we weren't up ter being the bearers of the Elements of Harmony n that weren't the worst of it. Now I don't take offence easy, but as I said I was'ner thinkin right that night I am sure. I learnt ter see the better side of Shadow after that first meetin n that's kinda how we ended up with me writin in this here diary about the whole thing.

Now where was I......