Apples and Oranges
It was still early in the morning when the two pegasi arrived at the Ponyville train station. The previous day had, fortunately, passed without incident. Fluttershy had not experienced any more bursts of memories from Other Fluttershy since her meeting with Rarity the day before. Despite Cloud Kicker's objections, Fluttershy had insisted on fulfilling her weather team duties as usual.
"Just take the day off," she had said, "I can take care of everything. Besides, you're the manager anyway. It's not like there's anypony around to tell you that you can't."
Fluttershy wouldn't hear of it, though. "I'm already taking time off to go to Manehattan, though. I shouldn't take advantage of being in charge just because I can."
Unable to convince her that avoiding a very real risk of blacking out again and plummeting to the ground did not count as "taking advantage", Cloud Kicker insisted on accompanying Fluttershy herself. At least Flitter hadn't taken much convincing to agree to switch assignments.
Soon, the train to Manehattan arrived from Canterlot. Fluttershy looked at it with dread. It was already so crowded, and it would probably only get worse as the train kept making stops. If this was what the train was like, how crowded would the city itself be?
Eventually, they found an open pair of seats. It wasn't long before the train began to move.
"Cloud Kicker?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for coming with me."
Cloud Kicker placed a foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulder and drew her into a hug. "Of course."
Hours passed, with nothing to do but stare out the window at the scenery. Fields and hills stretched out for miles, broken only by the occasional cities and towns the train stopped at. At some point, Cloud Kicker had dozed off, and was snoring lightly next to Fluttershy. This left the shy pegasus with plenty of time to think.
The ponies she was searching for... were they just the easiest way for her to try and understand what was going on, or was there something more? Fluttershy had thought that she was unique in being a full-grown pony without a cutie mark, but Pinkamina didn't have one either. That seemed too unlikely to just be a coincidence. Apple Bloom had said she didn't think Applejack had hers, but given the filly's rather intense fixation on cutie marks, it was hard to say how accurate that was. At any rate, she'd find out on her own soon enough. With Rarity, there was no way to tell, since she had kept her flank covered, and as for Rainbow Dash... Fluttershy realized that she couldn't remember if Rainbow Dash had a cutie mark or not. She hadn't thought to check at the time.
It was more than just the absence of cutie marks, though. She was starting to feel that she was connected to these five ponies in some deeper way. She had seen a lot of ponies the past couple of days, many more than she normally would. There were dozens on the train alone. Out of all of them, these ponies were the only ones that brought these strange memories to the surface. Even her best friend hadn't, she thought, gazing sadly at the pegasus sleeping by her side. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help but feel that she was being disloyal to Cloud Kicker somehow.
----------------------------
This place is enormous, Fluttershy thought to herself as she looked at the station before her. The train station in Ponyville was just a platform with a small ticket booth, and she and Cloud Kicker had been the only ones there. Manehattan's station, on the other hoof, was a gigantic building full of ponies rushing around in all directions, possibly even enough to fill a decent-sized town. She had never seen anything like it, even at the airship docks in Cloudsdale. There, the passengers had nearly exclusively been members of the pegasus elite, so the area wasn't very crowded despite its size. Here, however, ponies wearing top hats and strings of pearls made their way through the crowd past harried-looking ponies in messenger's outfits. At a nearby newsstand, a stallion in an expensive business suit and a younger mare wearing saddlebags that were emblazoned with the logo of the University of Manehattan and overflowing with books waited as a pony in a floral-print shirt and a camera slung around his neck asked the clerk for directions to the Statue of Friendship.
Beyond the crowds was the building itself. The walls were covered, in some places with boards indicating arriving and departing trains, but in many others with advertisements. There were ads publicizing the opening of at least four new plays in the theater district, including a new production of famed playwright Busy Quill's Platinum IV, Part 1. Notices announcing an upcoming Ponet exhibition at the Manehattan Museum of Art were plastered up next to others declaring that Manehattan Meadowlarks season tickets were now available.
A particularly large poster had caught Fluttershy's attention. It was announcing events at the city's convention center. The left side was dominated by an illustration of a grinning light blue mare wearing a star-covered hat and cape. She was reared up on her hind legs with her forelegs spread out in triumph, surrounded by fireworks. The bottom promised "The most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" and listed this week's dates. On the right was some kind of creature Fluttershy had never seen before. He was a muscular bipedal bull-like creature, and he was smiling and making an enthusiastic gesture. Apparently, he was holding some kind of assertiveness seminars next week. Although she was more than a little intimidated by this "Iron Will", she had to admit the idea sounded intriguing. She regretted that she wasn't planning on remaining in the city that long, and that she hadn't come here for pleasure anyway. She needed to meet with Applejack and get back home as quickly as possible. She wasn't going to give the ponies whispering that she wasn't qualified for her job something else to whisper about.
Fluttershy was so engrossed in taking everything in, that she didn't realize she had wandered into the middle of the pathway. A gray earth stallion nearly bumped into her. "Well, excuse me!" he shouted in a gruff, sarcastic manner.
"Oh, my! I didn't mean to stand in anypony's way. I'm sorry," she said to the back of stallion, who hadn't stopped. She looked around and saw ponies milling all about her. Muttering apologies, she quickly backed up, but suddenly found herself knocked onto the floor.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
Fluttershy nervously got to her hooves. She hoped the pony she had bumped into wouldn't be too angry with her. She sounded really angry. She turned around and realized that the pony wasn't a pony at all. It was a griffon.
The griffon was ignoring her for the moment, but only because she was too busy glaring at Cloud Kicker, who was glaring right back at her. The pegasus was the first to break the silence. "Do you have a problem?" she asked, her voice calm, but with an undercurrent of hostility.
If the griffon was supposed to be intimidated, she didn't show it. "Yeah, I do have a problem. It's bad enough I got dragged out here where I have to put up with all you lame ponies, now I can't even walk without some dweeb bumping into me."
Before Cloud Kicker could respond, Fluttershy spoke up. "It's alright, Cloud Kicker. I should–"
A loud cackle startled both pegasi. "You ponies kill me with those names of yours. 'Cloud Kicker'? Yeah, I'll bet those fluffy white clouds are real tough."
"If you'd like to see what else I can kick, I'd be happy to show you."
Fluttershy turned an even paler shade of yellow at her friend's words. Why was Cloud Kicker trying to pick a fight? The griffon was larger than a pony, and angrier, and she heard that they ate... meat. Cloud Kicker could get seriously hurt, or worse!
The griffon stood on her hind paws and flared her wings, towering over the two ponies. "Is that so? At least one of you ponies is interesting." Her mouth curled into as much of a cruel smirk as her beak would allow as she brandished her talons. "Let's if you can back it up." Her attention was suddenly drawn away. Faintly, over the murmurs of the passing crowds, the two ponies heard a voice with an unfamiliar accent calling for somepony named Gilda. "Looks like it's your lucky day, Cloud Kicker." The griffon headed towards the caller, who turned out to be another griffon standing by a pile of boxes. He had a gray coat and a long handlebar mustache and wore a red bandanna around his neck. "The things I do for family," she muttered.
After Gilda had left, Fluttershy was the first to speak. "You didn't have to do that for me."
Cloud Kicker scoffed. "You mean just let that jerk push you around? I couldn't do that."
"But you could have gotten hurt."
"We work right next to a creepy forest full of self-generating weather. Why would I be scared of one griffon?"
Fluttershy couldn't understand how Cloud Kicker could be so calm about this. "W-well, because she would have beat you."
"Probably, yeah, but I don't think she really wanted to fight. Besides, she wouldn't have gotten the chance. Look where we are," she said, gesturing at the crowd, where even now, ponies that had stopped to watch had still not all gone on their way. "Any fight would have been broken up long before she had time to get the upper hoof. Upper talon. Whatever. The important thing is that she focused on me and left you alone."
In a way, it was touching that Cloud Kicker was willing to brave angry griffons for her, but it also served to make the guilt Fluttershy had been feeling earlier return. "I really appreciate it, but please don't put yourself in danger again just for me."
----------------------------
"So, this Applejack we're looking for," Cloud Kicker asked, "What's she like?"
"I don't really know that much about her, just that she left her family's farm to live with her rich aunt and uncle." Fluttershy recounted what Granny Smith had told her. The two ponies had been making their way through the busy Manehattan streets, and had nearly arrived at where Cheerilee's map indicated their destination would be.
Even with the map to keep them from getting lost, it had taken them a long time to get there from the train station. Manehattan was a very large city, even without the crowds all over the place. Fluttershy was intimidated by seeing blocks and blocks packed with ponies, and more than once had to fight the urge to run and hide somewhere until everypony went away. Due to the crowds, walking took significantly longer than flying would have, but Fluttershy was in no rush to draw so much attention to herself in what was largely an earth pony city. Not just an earth pony city, the earth pony city. She couldn't believe she was really in the heart of Manehattan. It was just so much to take in. Occasionally, she would forget about the crowds and just stare in awe at the buildings. There were so many of them and they were so tall, and they hadn't even been built out of clouds by ponies that could fly. Fortunately, despite all the complications, there were no further incidents like the one with Gilda.
They had finally reached the address Big Macintosh had given to Fluttershy. It was a tall brick building covered with intricate light gray stonework carvings dominated by leaves and branches, perhaps inspired by Celestia Park across the street, a haven of nature in a city that seemed to want little to do with it. Now, all Fluttershy had to do was find which apartment was Applejack's, and–
There had to be some kind of mistake. Fluttershy read over the building directory a second time, and then a third. The name "Applejack" wasn't there. After asking Cloud Kicker to confirm what she saw, she noticed the building had a doorpony, a tan mare wearing a red shirt with blue trim and shiny golden buttons and a fancy hat to match.
"Excuse me. I was just wondering if you could help me, if you're not busy, I mean. I'm looking for a pony named Applejack, and I was told she lived here, but I can't find her name. So I was hoping you could tell me. If you want to."
"I'm sorry, but there isn't anypony with that name here."
"Oh... I see... I must have read the map wrong. I really don't want to impose, but if you could give me directions to here," she removed Big Macintosh's envelope from her saddlebag and showed it to the doorpony, "I would really appreciate it."
The other mare looked over the envelope before returning it. "That's right here, but like I said before, there's no Applejack living here. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Is there any place else you'd like directions to?"
"No, thank you. I'm just sorry I took up so much of your time for nothing." Fluttershy turned and began walking back the way she came, with Cloud Kicker soon following.
The lavender pegasus broke the silence. "What now?"
"I didn't come all the way here to go back empty hooved, and I don't want to go back to Sweet Apple Acres just to come back here."
"I know what you mean. That train ride only felt like it lasted a week, right?"
"From here, there's only one thing I can think of that I can do." She sighed so deeply that her entire body seemed to slump. "But I really don't want to."
----------------------------
Hello Dad,
How are you and Mom? I'm sorry that I haven't visited more, I've just been so busy with work. There's something that I'm hoping you could help me with. I need to go to an upcoming society event in Manehattan, and the sooner, the better. If there's anything you can do to make that happen, I would be very grateful.
With Love,
Fluttershy
----------------------------
Fluttershy explained her plan to Cloud Kicker as they looked for the local branch of Equestrian Express.
"Isn't he going to wonder why, though?"
"Maybe, but he's spent years trying to get me interested in being a part of these things, so I'm hoping he'll be too happy to ask the obvious questions." She sighed. "That's actually why I didn't want to have to go to him for help. It's not that he doesn't care about my happiness, I just want the chance to fly on my own two wings. If I told him everything, he'd never stop treating me like 'Daddy's Little Filly'."
"Are you sure it would really be that bad?"
"We just travelled halfway across Equestria so I could meet somepony I've only seen in memories of things that never happened. Right now, the best plan I can think of is to go a fancy party and hope she's there too. Explaining any of that to my father doesn't seem like a good way to convince him I can handle things on my own."
Cloud Kicker admitted she had a good point. "Couldn't you just tell him you wanted to meet somepony?"
Fluttershy's cheeks turned bright pink, which soon spread throughout her face. "I think he might get the wrong idea."
"That you wanted to meet a specific pony? A mare?"
Somehow, Fluttershy's face grew even pinker, and the blush spread to her neck. "I... I think he still might get the wrong idea."
Feeling bad at accidentally causing her friend's embarrassment, Cloud Kicker decided to change the subject. "So, we might be here longer than we thought, huh?" Fluttershy, who had managed to compose herself by that point, agreed. "I'd better let Blossomforth know. She's going to be so mad."
Fluttershy couldn't help but smile. "I thought you said before that you didn't get scared."
"Yeah, of some jerk griffon," Cloud Kicker responded in kind. "But you've clearly never seen Blossomforth angry."
----------------------------
Fluttershy was in luck. They had sent off the letter (as well as an apology to Blossomforth) via the fastest, most expensive type of delivery Equestrian Express offered, and a reply came the following morning. There was the opening of a prestigious new art gallery being held the next day, and Giltwing had managed to get his daughter's name added to the guest list. As hoped, his letter didn't ask her about her oddly specific request, although the pleasure evident in his words let Fluttershy know she was going to have to deal with this the next time she saw him.
In order to prepare, Fluttershy had bought a dress from a nearby boutique – something appropriate to the occasion, but at the same time, simple and understated. Cloud Kicker had come across a chauffeur's hat there and suggested that Fluttershy impress everypony by arriving in a pegasus-drawn carriage, but Fluttershy didn't want to make herself the center of attention. She just wanted to go, find Applejack, talk to her, and leave.
Inside the gallery was a sight all too familiar. Although this was her first visit to Manehattan, the only thing separating this event from the dozens she had been dragged to by her parents growing up was the general lack of wings. While some ponies were looking at the artwork, many were simply looking at each other. A few of the less artful socialites tried unsuccessfully to pretend that they hadn't come just to be seen.
Amongst the ponies that were paying attention to the paintings or the string quartet the gallery had hired to provide the appropriate ambiance, most remained quiet. Occasionally, somepony would be apparently brave enough to express their opinion of a piece, which would soon after be greeted with enthusiastic agreement by their neighbors. Even the largest crowd, the one in front of The Persistence of Harmony, the famous work by the surrealist Melting Clock generously on loan from Canterlot to celebrate the gallery's opening, seemed to follow this pattern. Somepony Fluttershy couldn't see near the front of the group had said something she couldn't quite make out, but whatever it was, the rest of the group was happily nodding in response.
Despite all that she had been through, Fluttershy silently thanked Celestia. If she had to experience the memories of some other Fluttershy, at least it wasn't a Fluttershy that had followed in her parents' hoofsteps like they wanted. She could all too easily see herself having become just another one of those ponies, and it frightened her. All they care about is wearing their fancy clothes and going to their fancy parties and agreeing with anypony more "important" than them. What kind of life is that? It seems so... pointless.
She wanted to run. To fly. To escape from that place however she could. She still needed to find Applejack, but surely there was another way to do that. She didn't know what it was yet, but she'd come up with it eventually. She just had to get this dress off, and go find Cloud Kicker, and together they'd come up with something.
The quickest way out took her past The Persistence of Harmony. She was in such a rush that she almost didn't see the other pony walking there until it was too late. She turned to apologize, and a pair of bright green eyes returned her gaze.
----------------------------
Fluttershy regained consciousness to the feeling of being dragged on her back. The dirt and pebbles scraped against her withers, irritating it, and causing her to cry out. The dragging stopped.
"Welcome back, sugarcube. How ya feelin'?"
Applejack helped Fluttershy to her hooves, brushing the dirt and dust off the pegasus's back with her own tail. Fluttershy wondered what the two of them were doing out on this lonely path until she saw the torrent of thick black smoke that stretched across the sky. Oh. That's right. The d-dragon. For a moment, she had allowed herself to believe that had all just been a nightmare.
"Uh, Fluttershy? Y'alright?"
"Oh, um, yes. I'm sorry, Applejack. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm fine."
Applejack smiled. "Don't you worry none about that. It's good to have you back." She began trotting down the path. "We need to get a move on, though. Don't wanna keep the girls waitin'."
Fluttershy tentatively followed behind. "Actually, Applejack... I was thinking that it might be best for everypony if I just... didn't go." By the time she had finished, her voice was barely above a whisper.
The orange pony stopped short. "The Princess is countin' on us. Heck, all of Equestria's countin' on us. Why don't you wanna go?" She looked her friend in the eyes. "Is somethin' wrong?"
"Well, it's– I mean, I think–" Fluttershy dug at the ground with her hoof as she tried to find the words. She had been afraid to say something in front of everypony at once, but maybe with only Applejack here, it would be okay. "I don't want to be a burden," she blurted out. "I'm not strong like you and Rainbow Dash, or powerful like Twilight, or charismatic like Rarity and Pinkie. And I'm certainly not brave like you girls. I'm a coward, and I'll just get in the way."
Applejack was silent for a while before she spoke. "Is that what's been buggin' ya? Shoot, Fluttershy, y'ain't no coward." She pressed on before her meek friend could object. "Remember that day we all met Twilight? You only knew her for a few hours, and you still followed her into the Everfree Forest to help her stop a mad alicorn. I don't reckon that a coward woulda done that."
She looked Fluttershy square in the eyes, and spoke clearly and deliberately. "You know how I don't like to lie, right? So believe me when I tell you that I know you have courage in you, even if you don't see it right now."
Fluttershy thought about what Applejack said. Maybe she–
A deafening roar resounded from the mountain above, causing the ground to shake. Fluttershy saw the ground fall away from her as she slipped back into unconsciousness.
----------------------------
The green eyes continued to look at Fluttershy, but now it was with concern, as an orange hoof waved in from of her face.
"Excuse me, but are you feeling alright?" The voice was calm and elegant, a fitting companion to its owner. The pony before Fluttershy wore her blonde mane up with a small but stylish tiara that complimented nicely the string of pearls around her neck. A slim black dress hugged her body down to her flanks. From this angle, Fluttershy couldn't get a good look at her cutie mark.
"Oh, yes. Thank you. I'm sorry that I nearly bumped in to you."
"Not at all. Some of these soirees can get so crowded, it's bound to happen occasionally. Besides, it was as much my fault as yours."
Three times Fluttershy had met with a pony from Other Fluttershy's memories, and three times she had failed to get the kind of information she needed. This time, she had decided to simply introduce herself and press forward without a plan. "Well, it's nice to meet you." She extended a hoof. "I'm–"
"Fluttershy," she responded, accepting the hoof in kind. "I know who you are."
Fluttershy's heart leapt. "You do?" Applejack knew her? She'd have to remember to not plan more often!
"Of course. You're the daughter of Giltwing and Clear Skies of Cloudsdale. I must say, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Oh." Is that all it was? "I see." Not wanting Applejack to question her reaction, she quickly continued, "I'm just surprised somepony's heard of me outside of Cloudsdale. Well, and Ponyville too, I guess. I'm on the weather team there."
At the mention of Ponyville, Fluttershy could have sworn she saw Applejack flinch slightly. If anything was bothering the socialite, however, she didn't let it show. "Perhaps you simply haven't been around the right ponies. At any rate, it was rude of me not to introduce myself. My name–"
"Actually, I've heard of you, too. You're Applejack, of Sweet Apple Acres."
The flinch was definitely noticeable that time. "That is the name I was given, yes. However, it's never really felt like who I am." She composed herself and smiled. "Please, Fluttershy. Call me Valencia."
"O-okay, Valencia." An awkward silence settled over the two. Eager to break it, Fluttershy said, "I've met your family, by the way. They're really nice."
"Thank you." Not-Applejack looked uncomfortable. "I'd rather not talk about my family, though, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course," Fluttershy agreed, before she suddenly remembered her last conversation with Apple Bloom and gasped. "Um, V-valencia? I know you just said you didn't want to talk about your family, b-but I, um, I promised your sister that I'd tell you that she wants to meet you and for you to visit them. I'm so, so sorry. I won't say anything else about it."
"I understand," Valencia said, causing the cringing pegasus to relax. "It's important for a pony to keep her word. I'm glad you did that for her." She sighed. "She's still just a foal. When she grows up, she'll understand the economic realities of the situation. Well, Fluttershy, it has been a pleasure meeting you. If you'll excuse me, there are a lot of ponies I must go mingle with. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to see some art, too."
Fluttershy said her goodbyes and watched Valencia walk over to a light green stallion in a tuxedo. She didn't say anything else. What was there to say? Whatever she wanted to call herself, the orange mare didn't seem like she was going to be any help. There was one question she could answer, though. On her flank, just past the hem of her dress, Fluttershy spotted one and a half orange wedges.
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So here's chapter 4. Sorry it took so long to get this one up. I just want to thank everyone reading for putting up with it and deciding to stick with me.
I'm surprised.
Did Applejack...I mean...Valencia have an orange-cutie mark?
im guessing the cutie marks a fake, They wouldnt want a highclass pony with no cutie mark
Oranges? WHaaaaaa?
Applejack's special gift has always been her family; Valencia is just dedicated to a different part of it. And seems to have regrets that AJ never did, although the story has suggested that Valencia has brought more money to Sweet Apple Acres than AJ does. The different cutie mark may just be about how she's helping her family; keeping them comfortable by sending home money vs. just scraping by but being there is another of those apples-to-oranges comparisons.
Poor Fluttershy :-(
972401 A fake cutie mark that matches her relatives, to boot.
Poor Trixie, only able to obtain the fame she craves in a doomed alternate universe.
972401
You have read my mind, good sir.
972119
Excellent story! :D
973095
Who says its doomed?
973350
I guess it doesn't have to be doomed, necessarily. But, I'm getting the feeling that rather than a true parallel universe, this is a case where someone's been messing around with time travel or memory spells or something, and once Fluttershy figures it out everything will snap back to normal.
it could be a fake, but i don't think that's likely, simply because AJ is - or would be - the element of honesty. on the other hoof, she can't really have an other cutie mark, one pony's special talent is settled from birth on, isn't it?
i guess i'll just have to wait for the next chapter
Now just Twilight is left, I wonder how Fluttershy will find her.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
973497
It does seem that way doesn't it.
Man, I'm really digging this fic! I'm not much of a Fluttershy fan in the show and most fics I read don't feel like they get her voice and mannerisms down right, but gosh darn it you've got it down so great. Without a doubt my favorite Fluttershy focused fic and definitely one of my favorite fics overall! I eagerly await the next installment!
*HIT FOR A LOOP!* Ok, fake, its painted on, it has to be...Darn it why do you have to be good at keeping us in suspense!!!!!
I would alos like to say, I am feeling bad for Cloud kicker...we dont know is this is an alt reality, messed up timeline, or a lotus eater machine. With the last twon there is a good possibilty that the friendship between Cloudkicker and Flutters would never be.
"On her flank, just past the hem of her dress, Fluttershy spotted one and a half orange wedges."
Snap, crackle, and pop? She has a cutie mark, but Apple Bloom mentioned that AJ was hesitant to bring it up whenever the topic of cutie marks came up. So... a fake?
Anywho, this is a great story, sir. I look forward to the next update. Happy writing
973095 I don't know. Given the timeline I think this is still prior to her Ponyville visit. She had fame in the show, only she was unfortunate enough to come across someone who could bust her boast. Although at this point I guess Twilight failed the magic exam, so she won't be dispatched to Ponyville in the first place. Trixie will get her 15 minutes of fame, but only under the shadow of eternal night.
Very nice. I do appreciate the ongoing nods to Winning Pony.
Orangejack (er, Valencia) was interesting to see in action; I agree with some of the speculation about the Cutie Mark being a fake; covering up her blank flank would make sense for high-society ponies, and her lying about having a Cutie Mark would fit with most of the other ponies being not-quite-right in this universe.
Still very eager to see where things go from here.
973534 As far as I know, cutie marks are not predestined. They frequently run in families, sure, but in the end it's a declaration of what and who you are.
Interesting. So AJ/Valencia found a different talent, rather than not finding one at all.
I'm guessing the cutie mark is a fake. Either painted or glued on.
>>nemryn Regarding messing with time travel. Is it just me or is Dr. Whooves gonna make an appearance.
But that's probably me and my fandom for him.
So the only one left is Twilight. And while the other ones seem to have carved at least something out of RDs lack of Sonic Rainboom I can't for the life of me imagine how Twilight must be doing.
If only Fluttershy could work up the guts to tell a complete stranger about those (prophetic?) dreams she keeps having, Twilight is definitely the one to gain the most from it and therefore the one most likely to listen to her.
Finally this story updates! yes! I really love this story and I can't wait to see what the deal is with this universe.
977053
I agree. That seems to be most likely. The fact that Applejack would therefore be dishonest here definitely encourages it. After all, Pinkie showed more business sense than laughter, and Rarity didn't really demonstrate any generosity there.
Good gracious. They merged!
990961
Thanks for catching that.
Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting! I'm honored that so many people are interested enough in my story to speculate about what's going on, especially with Valencia's cutie mark and what Twilight's up to. I wish I could give more thorough responses without accidentally revealing what I've got planned for upcoming chapters.
973497
Sounds like something Discord might do.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png
Interesting....very interesting......
I can't wait to read more!!!
Very intriguing. AU tags are always hit-or-miss, but I really like what you have so far.
I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly, but I really like something about the way this story is written. I guess it probably has to do with the fact that it's certainly not heavy on dialogue, and that gives it an interesting sort of calm, introspective flow.
So here's my random shot-in-the-dark guess about what's going on: Something happened that destroyed Discord permanently, instead of just disabling him for a while. He represents such a fundamental force in their world, though, that killing him erased him from time itself, so he retroactively never existed in the first place. That means that Luna and Celestia never had to discover the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, so when Luna went all Nightmare mode, Celestia had no way to banish her to the moon. The only option was to outright kill her, so Luna's gone forever, and no threat ever existed for Nightmare Moon to return. All of that means no connections to the Elements of Harmony for Fluttershy and her friends, meaning Rainbow Dash had no Loyalty drive to push her that extra bit to pull off the sonic rainboom, or maybe she never defended Fluttershy from the bullies in the first place. And from there it's pretty obvious where their lives went different.
The Elements of Harmony aren't the only force in their world, though, because like Twilight said in one episode, everypony everywhere has a magical connection to their friends, even before they meet, so those bonds still exist, and their failure to meet means they're all missing something important from their lives. As for why Fluttershy seems to be the most affected, I'm not sure. Maybe it's because she has the most trouble getting to know other ponies, and losing her group of friends tore the biggest chunk out of her ability to be happy in life, or she somehow got hit the hardest by whatever killed Discord.
I'm probably not even sort of close with any of that, though.
1036715 Wow! That was really creative. The only problem I can see is that your logic for why Rainbow didn't pull off the Sonic Rainboom is flawed. As shown at the end of this chapter, when Fluttershy came out and told Applejack what Apple Bloom wanted her to, She responded like this,
It would seem that Apple jack still values Honesty, and was not upset, even though she had already made it clear how she felt about further discussion regarding her family.
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Well, you don't have to be the Element of Honesty to think it's important to be truthful and keep your word. They aren't completely different ponies, mostly have just lived through different experiences.
But yeah, my little explanation is kinda convoluted, and it's probably not even similar to where the story's actually going. I was just trying to come up with a reason for Nightmare Moon's absence, and just why this alternate universe seems to be linked to the main one. Normally an alternate universe is just that--alternate, without needing a reason why. But the fact that Fluttershy is aware there was another version of herself implies there's a reason why this version of reality exists in the first place, like this is some sort of "sub-universe" that was caused by something in the primary universe.
Excellent twist. Now I'm impressed. But I could be impressed more. Let us see.
OH MY GOSH
THIS STORY GOT ME THINKING WHAT IF THE CMC ARE LIVING IN ALTERNATE UNIVERSES WHERE THEY GOT THEIR CUTIE MARKS? LOL. But it seems like the answers to their cutie marks are right in front of them and they just can't see it so that might not be the case... but maybe...
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This man, right here.
I love how this twist of AJ getting her mark kind of throws things for a loop.