//------------------------------// // I Said The Journey Ends, Dammit // Story: Returning Home // by ferret //------------------------------// The Trottingdale Interdimensional Studies Team, colloquially known as Trotwood, were all too happy to provide Twilight Sparkle with copies of the data they had collected, so she really had some numbers to crunch. As far as spatial anomalies go, that one had been quite a doozy. Rosy—er, the traveller had no doubt come from a world far different from their own, possibly with entirely different physical principles! They weren’t quite as happy to agree to pack up their research equipment and ship out, but there was little they could study without any rift left, and there was little Twilight could do to help with that. The situation had certainly called for the Elements of Harmony, and despite any problems they might have caused, the Elements had been a necessary ev—a necessary act. So Twilight enjoyed what she had, and wished the Trottingdale students well, and that was that. Finally, for her and her friends, life returned to normal. Rarity had a fabulous reopening sale. Pinkie got to planning more parties than ever. Twilight finally managed to get some sleep. Every critter was almost as happy to see Fluttershy as her poor critter sitter pony was. Rainbow Dash had to work double time to make a lot of rain, to make up for the abnormal days of sun that had been needed over Ponyville to minimize the shadow’s influence and spread. But the season evened out, and the summer was pleasant and warm, heralding a fine crop for the fall season, and a cold winter. Winter Wrapup came and went with no signs of strangeness, danger or other forms of adventure. The animals awoke, the birds returned, the flowers bloomed and the snow melted. There were still a few of those university students around, but that was hardly unusual. They probably just saw Ponyville as a wonderful place to live and stayed, much like Twilight had done in the past. Twilight took part in ensuring Wrapup went swimmingly well without an ounce of unicorn magic, with some help from her friends. She kept herself busy keeping Rainbow Dash and Applejack in friendly competition without biting each other’s heads off, helping Rarity and the landscape beatification team focus on quality without fixating on perfection, and demonstrating to Pinkie Pie how Twilight was still a meager ice skater at best, but very good at deciding where to score the lakes, what thin ice to avoid, and how to coordinate everypony moving at once. She... observed Fluttershy and the animal team awakening the hibernating critters, though Twilight still stayed a bit leery of that activity, as not all forest critters were cute, cuddly and adorable. Spring came, and delicious flowers bloomed all over town, in planters and public and private gardens. Spring was truly a bountiful time for everypony in Equestria, though many of the other animals who could not subsist on grasses and flowers still struggled to feed themselves until the fruit swelled up for harvest. There was no huge crisis though. Fluttershy had even worked out a deal with the fruit bats similar to her rapport with Ponyville’s bunny population, to keep their numbers of little baby bats down to a dull roar, in exchange for help in surviving the fruitless spring. It was all too soon that the fruit began to ripen and mature, and before you know it, it was a hot summer day, hot enough you could really feel the sunlight on your rear the moment you backed your butt half out of the shade. Even under the thick greenery of the apple trees, Applejack felt the dappled sunlight playing across her back like some kind of a summer symphony of heat and light. The tawny, stetson bearing farm pony was out in her beloved orchards bucking the early apples of the season, when a very familiar mare came trotting down the road from town. Applejack’s orchard was a big’n these days. Every apple tree was planted with care, because it was a big investment of time and space. 12 years, 13 years, some of the most prized variants took a whole bunch of years to mature, and in all that time, little baby trees weren’t gonna be producing apples. Yet the family always managed to plant more trees than they lost, and the orchard was growing, slowly but surely, into a thing of beauty. With hundreds of trees in their orchard, there was no way AJ could remember all their names, but there were a few who stood out, either from being ornery like Clyde, or from being sweet as a button, like Susie here. Applejack was pretty sure Susanna Crisp apples were going to be a fresh new strain in a decade or two of quality care. It’d make up for losing Golden Supremes to age and happenstance. Applejack hopped up and kicked her two strong, orange hooves into the side of the sturdy apple tree, where they slammed with a solid, satisfying thunk. The force travelled up the trunk in an instant, spreading to each of the golden fruits hanging from its branches, and testing the strength of each stem that held them. She made sure to funnel the space above each bucket beforehoof, so the apples cascaded down from all over, but safely poured into her buckets each in a single large heap. Then it was a simple matter to get her buckets up on her back and out to the farm, where they could be used for juice pressing, baked treats, sugar production, and a whole lot of other things. Lots of effort and knowhow went into the process behind that single buck, Applejack had to admit. She figured it would be at least a bunch of years before she had mastered apple bucking as well as her ma used to do. And little Apple Bloom was just getting started, but she was so smart Applejack figured she’d be bucking with the best of them in a score years at most. It was still a while, but that was okay. They all had plenty of time to learn. AJ was working quickly to get through the Golden Pie varieties, wanting to get her done before yet another afternoon shower started. Towards the end of Applejack’s tree rows though, she looked down the packed dirt road that led from her farmhouse all the way to Ponyville, and noticed a mare walking along it, headed her way. Before the mare could pass by, Applejack trotted over to the low picket fence that demarcated the road here, leaning on it and saying, “Howdy pardner! Looking to buy some apples?” The mare who approached had pretty pink hair in a curly swirl that didn’t look like it concealed a horn. Her cream colored coat was a little dirty, but Applejack saw that as a sign of somepony who might be willing to get their flank dirty. The mare had this anxiety in her deep blue eyes that was so familiar! Applejack couldn’t quite place where she’d seen it before, though. “Oh, hello Applej... Applejack!” the mare said in a sweet voice that made Applejack feel guilty for forgetting where she’d seen her before. “I’m actually not here to buy apples,” the mare said, “I wanted to ask about the um—” Ceasing to speak, the mare then turned to her saddlebags, lipping open the flap on one side and sticking her nose in there. She bit down within and pulled out what looked like a leaflet, one of the leaflets Big Mac had gotten printed lately. It said along the lines of: HELP WANTED: sorters, truckers, bakers, buckers SPECIAL: Cider season’s here! Also looking for runners, bottlers, brewers, pressers (Tasters can get in line just like everypony else.) • • How d’ya like them apples? • • Ponyville’s finest, here at Sweet Apple Acres! • • They don’t just grow on trees though. • • Help make the magic happen, and bring about the tastiest darn apples in all the land! • If you want to help out, talk to Applejack, Big Macintosh, or Granny Smith Credit negotiable “Well how about that,” Applejack said, looking happily at the mouth proferred flyer, “We sure are lookin’ for some help with this year’s cider pressing. It’s not very exciting, but it is good, hard work, if’n you’re interested.” “Oh yes,” the mare said eagerly, dropping the leaflet, “I’m a big fan of your cider, and um... your farm. So I thought I’d finally just get over myself and come help out!” “Get over yourself?” Applejack asked uncertainly. “Oh, um... over my hesitation with helping out,” the mare said, blushing shyly. “Sorry Ap— lady Apple—Applejack, it’s just a little intimidating trying to ask to... work with you.” Well, Applejack knew what this mare was about, being intimidated by Applejack’s reputation. Lady Apple? Whooee! Poor thing. But AJ still couldn’t put her hoof on it. It was downright uncanny. Where had she seen this mare before? “So I decided,” the mare continued, regardless of Applejacks inner puzzlement, “With some help from my friends, to try and come help out. It’s been a big dream of mine, for a—a while.” “Cain’t say no to enthusiasm like that, sugarcube,” Applejack told the mare, giving her a friendly nudge. “Just be here at dawn sharp, we’ll be sure to have something ready for you to do. Cider season starts next Mondee.” Applejack’s smile became tinged with concern, as she lay a hoof on the mare’s cream colored back, and said, “And sugarcube, I know you might’ve heard I was all famouslike, but ah’m a pony, just like you. We’re both just little ponies like everypony else, and you don’t have to think ah’m anything greater than that. Just Applejack is fine, an’ don’t let anypony tell you differently.” Applejack backed up then, and said to the mare, “Now, you know mah name clearly enough, so let’s have yours?” “R-Rosy,” the mare said shyly, daring a worried look at Applejack, “Rosy Pink.” “Rosy Pink!” Applejack declared in surprise, “That’s why you seemed so familiar! Put her here, pardner!” As Applejack gave Rosy’s creamy hoof a good shake, the orange farm pony continued, “Ah haven’t seen you in a dragon’s age, not since that shadow beast back in the early spring. Didn’t you get sent back with ‘em?” “Oh, n-no,” Rosy stated with a light of fear in the back of her eyes. “I w-w-was out of to-o-o-own,” “Turribly sorry about that,” Applejack said, continuing to shake the mare’s hoof. “We meant to send you back home’re something.” “T-t-t-tha-a-a-at’s oka-a-ay,” Rosy said, around the—oh... right. Applejack let Rosy’s hoof loose. “The Elements must’ve closed off the only way you had to go home,” Applejack said with concern to the pony who was trying to wrangle her hoof to stillness now, “Ah could go ask Twilight if you need help gettin’ back?” “That’s okay, Applejack,” Rosy said, calming her hoof and standing on it firmly. “I was hoping to spend some more time here, anyway.” “Well, if’n you do Rosy Pink, ah’d be mighty grateful if you helped with the cider making,” Applejack said amiably. “Thanks, Applejack,” the mare said with a look of blessed relief. “It really means a lot to me.” “So... you’re game?” Applejack asked. Rosy nodded with a beaming smile, “I’m game!” “Just show up at dawn when cider season starts,” Applejack said, “If we get her done early, ah might even be able to show you a few apple buckin’ tricks!” The squee was audible as Rosy’s smile spread to her cheeks. “Oh that would be—!” she said in excitement, catching herself and blushing before calmly continuing, “I mean, yes, I’ll be there. Three days, right?” “Until Mondee, yup,” Applejack replied. Rosy giggled, saying in an indulgent voice, “Mondee, hee hee. I love your accent, Applejack.” “What accent?” Applejack asked in confusion. Rosy blinked at her. “When you say eee in Mondee,” Rosy said very uneasily, “And I say ayyy in Monday?” “Oh, mah manner of speakin’!” Applejack realized. She kicked out a hoof, crooking it confidently in front of the other, saying, “Yeap, the Apple family goes way back. We been cultivatin’ our manner of speech for generations. They say ah sound just like mah old great grand aunt Apple Top.” “How did you learn to speak that way?” Rosy asked curiously. “Learn it?” Applejack replied at the very unusual question. “You don’t learn a manner of speakin’,” she chided the mare. “Ah inherited it, just like everypony else. Mine is from good ol’ granny Apple Top. Not sure bout before that. But mah sister’s is from an Apple known as Applebud, who hailed from way back before Ponyville’s founding!” The mare seemed extremely nonplussed at this terribly ordinary thing. Not like she was impressed that Apple Bloom’d be lucky to have such a rich heritage, but like she wasn’t sure that anything she saw in front of her snout made any sense anymore. Hoof lifting and everything! “...you can inherit an accent,” Rosy said cautiously. “That’s right,” Applejack responded equally cautiously. “You were born with it,” she continued. “Once you start speakin’, yup.” The mare put her hoof down and stared forward at nothing, saying, “I... I have to think about that. Thanks for...” she focused on Applejack and gave a genuine smile, saying, “Thanks so much for the job, and for telling me that.” “No problem Rosy, at least ah don’t think there is,” Applejack said giving her a sideways glance. “No! No problem at all,” Rosy said with a happy little kick of her legs. “I really do thank you very much! Oh I’m so happy I could just burst! I can’t wait to go tell Goldenrod about this!” Thinking a moment, Applejack said, “That’s Golden Harvest’s cousin, ain’t it?” “Yup,” the mare said in good cheer. “She was the one who told me it’d be o-okay to talk to you, and nothing bad would happen. Thank you so much Applejack. I’ll be back... on... Mondee! Hee hee!” Rosy about bounced away back up the road then, singing to herself a wordless song that Applejack’d never heard before. Applejack was starting to remember why Rosy wasn’t so much fun to be around. Well, fun or no fun, Rosy started working on Applejack’s farm, and doing a pretty good job at it too. She’d been building her strength all year it turns out, doing delivery jobs and hauling things, and that gave her a good start. She was still pretty scrawny at first, for an earth pony at least, but she filled out quickly, and there was just nothing that could get that girl down. Chores she treated more like sightseeing tours, or something, and she had to rest a lot, but she always went back into it with an admirable enthusiasm. Rosy was just so much in love with the simple sensation of feeling herself alive and moving, that she kept doing better and better. Their second hired hoof, Bubblegum Blossom, was more of a straightforward pony. Easy enough to understand, if a little aggravating at times. She was more interested in eating the apples than bucking them, which was fine when you needed ponies to eat your apples, but she certainly wasn’t living up to her potential with bucking them. Applejack could tell Bubblegum had an eye for detail though. She only worked in the spring, and during harvest season really. She seemed like a lazy sort of pony who spent a lot of time ditzing around town and goofing off, but she never went under quota. She did the exact minimum amount of work needed and then popped off to enjoy her life. Certainly not Applejack’s style; living on the edge like that made Bubblegum weak to schedule changes and unexpected happenings, but Applejack wouldn’t call her a lazy pony. Their other regular Ponyville farm worker went by the name of Vanilla Sweets. Her family hailed from way down south, right underneath the course of the sun’s path. The pale green pony came up north to beat the heat, just one of those ponies who didn’t thrive in it. She came out to help in the fields around Fall and Winter, spending most of the summer living it up and partying. Applejack honestly wasn’t a real fan of her, Vanilla’s idea of a good time was a colt and a show, neither of which Applejack had time for in her life right now. Vanilla did have the cutest little manner of speaking though, from an old Andalusian lost in the mists of time. Or an “accent” if you went by how Rosy called it. Really Vanilla was what Applejack would expect Rosy to be, what with Rosy’s time spent with that mysterious otherworldly theater production, the one that somehow duplicated the lives of Applejack and all her friends up till now. But for Vanilla, some light frippery like a club and a movie was an escape, while for Rosy it seemed more like a prison to escape from. Rosy wanted to be in the here and now, which Applejack found herself able to respect... a lot. There was a third pony working with Granny in the kitchen now, an Apple by the name of Apple Fritter, who was a real whiz at that stuff, but Applejack didn’t know her as well, since Applejack spent most of her time out in the fields. Applejack could still bake with the best of them, but her home within her home was out among the verdancy of her orchard, kicking trees and knocking down their apples, while deep in the earth, her tastiest brews took care of themselves. Thus, most of the interaction Applejack had was with Rosy and Vanilla then, and Bubblegum to a degree. Applejack sure appreciated the help that the ponies of Ponyville gave her, a lot more than she had in past years. That disastrous Applebucking season so many moons ago had shown Applejack the error of her ways, and now she had Rosy and Bubblegum, and Vanilla Sweets helping clear out the trees. That meant plenty of apples for all the sugar Pinkie Pie could possibly want, all the cider Rainbow Dash could drink, and time left over to tend to the grain crops like wheat and alfalfa. Applejack didn’t deal in root vegetables, but mostly because that was Goldie’s thing, and it did both of them a favor to specialize in what they’re best at, and share the extra wealth they made. Applejack kind of started to get what was going on with Rosy after a while. She was a lot like Pinkie Pie, with a hair trigger on her emotions, and a surprising amount of intuition that made her prone to crazy leaps in logic. In comparison with Pinkie Pie, Applejack could sort of understand where Rosy was coming from. Applejack got the feeling that Rosy truly, genuinely loved helping other ponies out; she treated it more like a gift than an obligation to do so. Lots of ponies didn’t understand that they weren’t just helping others with the expectation of help in return, but also because it made life a better place to live. If Rosy understood that, Applejack had to respect her. Even if she did have some freakily accurate stories about Applejack’s childhood. “Sorry about calling you Apple Fritter,” Rosy said once, as she and Applejack both lay on their backs, relaxing on a grassy hill, faces flushed and muscles burning from a whole lot of apple bucking and hauling, respectively. (Applejack did all the bucking. Rosy was certainly not going to learn to buck the fruit off a tree in just half a year.) “I didn’t get you mixed up with the real one. It was just a really bad joke. Y-you told Apple Bloom the story, so I thought it would be okay to tell you um... sorry.” “It’s fine,” Applejack said perhaps not merely flushed with exertion, “That story ain’t such a big secret, just we usually keep it in the family. It’s just one of those embarassin’ things your granny likes to bring up at awkward times.” “I wonder how Apple Fritter got her name,” Rosy pondered, “She was born eating apple fritters too?” “What’re you talking about?” Applejack asked, slightly offended. “Apple Fritter was born just like anypony else, from her ma!” “O-oh, right” Rosy said, lowering her ears, “Right, we... mares actually do that. I guess they just name their um... foals then, when they come... out of them.” “Eyup?” Applejack said, her tail scrunching close at Rosy’s choice of words. Corn gravy but did that filly have some anxiety about foaling. Applejack could sympathize, to a degree. She sure couldn’t imagine herself going through something like that. Well... not outside of a pleasant fantasy at least. It just wasn’t practical now, if ever. “Mommas name their foals,” Applejack said cautiously. “Not sure what you’re getting at exactly.” “Well, if I were your mom,” Rosy said with a nervous laugh, “I wouldn’t want you to be called Apple Fritter. It’d be too confusing to have two of you with the same name!” “Ah reckon it would be,” Applejack said frankly, kind of desperate to change the subject at this point. “Don’t you worry though, Rosy Pink,” she said with a hearty back slam, “Ah’m stickin’ with Applejack through and through, and if you wanna know why, you just wait until cider season. Ah can make a brew that’ll flip your tail!” Applejack internally facehooved at the terrible choice of words that kept spilling out of her mouth now that Rosy got her all flustered about foals and stuff. Rosy herself was kinda quiet and wide eyed at Applejack’s words, before asking in a small voice, “Equestria has whiskey?” Applejack said defensively, “Ah didn’t mean t’imply—” then what Rosy said actually registered on her. “...whiskey?” Applejack asked in a cautious tone. “I-it’s a kind of fermented drink, that’s been distilled—” Rosy started to explain, looking oddly ill as she did so. “Ah know what whiskey is,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes. “And yes, we do make whiskey here.” Rosy just looked stunned at that. What’s her holdup about whiskey now? Applejack was glad for the change of subject away from one’s marely duties though. “Brandy to be specific,” Applejack said smartly to the shocked farmhand, “It’s real popular in the cold months for warmin’ the extremities. Good for the digestion too, and land sakes if’n it don’t make a pony silly now and again. Ain’t nothin’ like that sissy wine stuff.” “Sissy wine stuff?” Rosy asked weakly. “Yeah, wine tastes different, but it really ain’t no different than juice,” Applejack replied, “Keeps forever, and someponies like the aged stuff, but it’s only got trace amounts of alcohol. If’n you want to actually feel anything, you gotta distill th’ spirits outta it.” “So... wine can’t make you drunk?” Rosy asked in peculiar hesitancy. “Sure cain’t,” Applejack replied curiously, “Why? Is wine differn’t in your world?” “I’m not sure,” Rosy said uneasily, staring at the forehooves she had curled above her from where she lay. Rosy did amazing at cider season actually. Rosy sure did have some good earth pony heritage in her, even if Applejack didn’t exactly understand how that translated to becoming a pony out of the blue. So the cider press went swimmingly, and that gave Big Macintosh a chance to buck some apples, which freed up Applejack to fill the barrels, which freed up Apple Bloom to learn the ins and outs of the scent of a good cider apple. Applejack could’ve used some tutelage there herself, but it made her feel good to know that Apple Bloom would learn how you put the sour apples that aren’t the best for eating through the cider press, and that’s what gave the juice its signature bite, and helped it keep longer. But not too sour or you get green tasting stuff. Cider season came and went, and once again this year, Applejack wished that those salesponies that one time had been selling something more than horn oil, but even making cider the old fashioned way, the family managed to satisfy most of the population of Ponyville, thanks to the helper ponies from around town like Rosy and Vanilla. Rosy wanted to stay on after that, build up her reputation as a farm worker, and for good reason. She seemed to love the simple acts that most ponies took for granted. Just running was a joy to this mare, and she was beyond fascinated with the kinetics of apple bucking, even if she couldn’t direct her force to get more than one or two apples at a time. Plus she was extremely curious about Applejack’s special brew, and Applejack didn’t start selling that until later in the autumn seasons. So Rosy stuck around, and they all grew closer together. “Welp, bottoms up!” It was to be expected, but Rosy lost her first shot, gasping and spluttering at the touch of the fiery liquid. Applejack made sure to catch the glass before she dropped it. Rosy was still clumsy as a foal with her hooves it seemed. Vanilla snickered, while Applejack said, “Good try, Rosy.” “Didn’t expect it would—glah—burn so much,” Rosy replied, teary eyes squinted and tongue out. “You need to sip it slowly,” Vanilla Sweet specified. The three of them were down in the cellar, where the products of Applejack’s distillery were busily aging. There was a little tasting area set up, and to start off sales, AJ decided to break open a 2 year bottle and share it with the workers, especially Rosy who said she’d never even touched alcohol before. Pouring a touch of brandy in Rosy’s glass again, Applejack let the bottle out of her mouth and hoofed Rosy the glass, saying, “Go on, let’s see you try sipping it slowly. Don’t be afraid to sniff it neither. It ain’t just the smell of alcohol. “Oh, it smells... woody?” Rosy said curiously. She was more careful with the second glass, delicately tipping its contents into her mouth. “It is good for smelling and swallowing,” Vanilla said, looking into her own glass thoughtfully, “But perhaps not for tasting.” “Ah dunno, you kinda get used to the taste after a while,” Applejack said, swigging the last of hers. “It’s th’ sour apples meeting with the alcohol what gives it that strong taste.” They made conversation while they finished off the bottle. About Vanilla’s homeland, which like just about everything, Rosy was fascinated in. They had enough for roughly a dozen shots for each of them, so they were all definitely beginning to relax and warm up after the bottle was empty. Applejack was feeling a pleasant buzz certainly, relaxed on a hay bale next to Rosy Pink. “Pretty satisfyin’ huh?” she asked the brandy neophyte. “Ha ha yeah, I’d be so blitzed if I wasn’t a pony,” Rosy said cheerfully, with cheeks as rosy as her name. “So this’s A-Applejack, huh?” “It sure ain’t marsh water,” Applejack replied smugly. Rosy gave her a slow look, and asked, “So, you chose the name Applejack?” Applejack nodded and replied, “Yup. This distillin’s kinda mah thing, so ah think the name fits. It’s a better name than Applebuck, at any rate.” Rosy laughed saying, “Oh yeah, totally. I love your name, it’s so clever!” “Suppose so,” Applejack said modestly. “You thought on a different name, yet?” “Nah, Rosy is actually really good,” Rosy said nonchalantly, “Though I can’t use Rosy Stripes since I don’t gotta stripe in my hair. Maybe Rosy... Cheeks?” Vanilla found that one terribly amusing. “Think on it long as you want,” Applejack said. “Long as you’re here, I’ll stick with whatever name you wanna change it to.” “What was your name, before you were Applejack?” Rosy asked curiously. Applejack bit her lip at that, resisting the urge to turn her hat down. “Well it was just th’ name mah folks gave me, on account of mah color and all,” she said noncommitally. “So I’m curious,” Rosy said, rolling limply onto one side to regard the tawny orange pony. “I can’t even imagine you as anything but Applejack. What was it, if it’s not too much trouble?” Applejack blushed, looking the other way as she said in a subdued tone, “Uh... Pippin. Orange Pippin.” After a mite, Applejack risked a look at Rosy, whose blue eyes were wide and glimmering as she exclaimed, “That. Is so. Adorable!” Before Applejack could respond, she was double teamed by Vanilla Sweets, saying on her other side, “Oh, Applejack! You used to be a little pequeño Pippin? That is so sweet!” “I can’t believe they didn’t use that!” Rosy agreed with a bright smile at Vanilla, “Orange Pippin’d be a perfect name for such a cute little foal!” “Ah knewd there was a reason ah never told anypony about this,” Applejack groaned, burying her face under her hat. It was only later that Applejack realized that—in fact—she had never told anypony about that. No reason other than it was embarassing and not really relevant, but it was still true. Applejack really wondered about Rosy. Beyond her “show knowledge” that she let slip at times, she just had a way for bringing out a pony’s secrets, and uncovering what they might have rather left behind. Rosy was a good pony though, and a hard worker, so Applejack really had no complaints, and Apple Bloom loved Rosy to pieces, what with sharing a common unquenchable curiosity for the strangest things. Granny warmed up to her too after a while, and Rosy never took advantage of that trust. Yep, everything was fine and dandy, until Applejack made the harebrained mistake of actually talking to her crazy librarian friend. “And Ponyville’s never been in better hooves,” Applejack said while she had a cup of maple mocha with Twilight at the local Hayburger. “All our applebuckin’ is done, and there’s gonna be a bumper crop of hay for all sorts of delectables over the winter. And let me tell you, the maple leaves were looking mighty green. That means more sweet, sweet syrup now that they’re goin’ to sleep for the long night.” “I am so enjoying the autumn weather,” Twilight Sparkle said fondly over her own hot, sugary drink, “This’s my favorite season really. Maple syrup, the Running of the Leaves, all the trees turning beautiful colors. Everything getting nice and quiet and restful. Nothing like a brisk autumn wind, to make you appreciate a warm fire and a good book.” “I do have you to thank though,” Applejack replied to Twilight’s blushingly adoring description of the season. “Without you, ah’d still be bucking all those trees with just Big Macintosh, and we’d be hard pressed to even get the tree taps in the maples by the turning of the leaves. The help this year’s been more than worth it, even if they aren’t all Apples. Especially Rosy, heh.” “Why especially?” Twilight asked with an amused smile. “Who’s Rosy?” “Well, most ponies who help on the farm come from Ponyville,” Applejack said, “An’ last year when Vanilla came from so far south, I thought that was a pretty wild thing to do. But Rosy comes from so far away, it don’t even show up on the map!” Twilight almost choked on her milkshake. “What?” Twilight said, in the confusion of a pony who knows what she heard, but her thoughts are spinning so fast she can’t make any concrete observations yet. “Yep, you know that mare of yours?” Applejack said smugly, “The one from the other verse place? She weren’t even in town when we let the Elements loose, so she got to stay in Equestria! Now she’s livin’ here and helpin’ on the farm even. Why ah don’t—” “Where is she?!” Twilight blurted out anxiously. Applejack blinked. “...Rosy, you mean? Ah think she’s been livin’ in town?” “She’s been... what?” Twilight said, bug eyed. “Look, she didn’t want me to trouble you with it, on account of she’s gonna be stayin’ here for a while after all,” Applejack said crossly. “There’s no need to be gettin’ all upset over it. What’s the problem here?” “We need to go to the Rift site,” Twilight stated, jumping up from her unfinished milkshake. “Right. Now.” From behind the canvas tape demarcating the impact crater, a metallic boom arm swung with a delicate apparatus fixed to it. From it, a beep sounded out at irregular intervals, as part of it bloomed and shrank in size as if passing behind a distorted lens. On the ground, the base of the instrument was adorned with dozens of very important colored lights, and a continuous ticker spat out line after line of readings fed from within by a thick roll of gossamer tempaper. A grey pony with blue hair stood by the readout, watching it carefully and occasionally scratching out a note on the clipboard floating in her blue magic. The whole crater had been stocked liberally with research equipment and trailers. Next to hers, a pony with a hard hat and a test tube story mark was busily carrying a quartz harmonator on his back, placing it at 22 degrees north by northwest of the central anomaly, flipping a switch to recalibrate it. Another young green stallion strutted past the center of the crater, where an opaque, silvery egg shape was suspended, thin legs on all sides bracing it against the grassy soil underneath and holding it up. The antennae on top of the structure continuously transmitted readings to the nearby receiving station outside the spatial distortion zone, where in a small building, ponies busily adjusted knobs and dials and joked with each other: “I wonder what the humans are up to today.” “Let’s hope it’s not a hurricane, ha!” “Let’s check their weather report. Can you get a visual on the local paper?” “Sunny skies, it says, but you know how clueless they are about that sort of thing.” “I can’t believe they still use barometers!” A purple pony princess charged into the clearing, skidding to a halt at the sight of the equipment, and the ponies, and the tents, and the buildings, and the closely grazed fields, and the persistent spatial anomalies, and the friendly chatter, and the irregular beeping noise coming from somewhere, and shouted at the top of her voice, “What the hay is going on here?” Silence descended on the clearing. Everypony stopped what they were doing, and turned to look at the princess. Ears went low, tails drooped. The only sound that could be heard was an irregular but persistent beeping. “Busted...” somepony finally said. “I can’t believe you would do this!” Twilight stated angrily at the closest she could find to a leading researcher of this mess. “How could you not inform any of the princesses that the Rift was still open?” “We didn’t think there’d be a need for formal inquiry,” said the stallion known as Dr. Harness. While the brown haired, blue furred professor spoke with Twilight, everypony around them was busy scrambling to dismantle and cart away all this fascinating scientific... frippery! “We had the situation under control,” he said, “And a perfectly good research grant.” “Which I wouldn’t have granted if I’d have thought you were going to hide this from me!” Twilight countered with a hoof stomp. “What were you even thinking, trying to sneak this by me. Do you even realize how terrible this is?” The glum researchers and students were now under strict supervision from Canterlot, soldiers watching them carefully as they cleaned up their research equipment, shipping it off in pegasus carriers. How the ponies here were going to dismantle the semi-perminent facilities they’d constructed around this clearing, Twilight had no idea, but frankly she didn’t care. Of all the callous things to do! “What were we supposed to do?” the professor exclaimed, glaring at her with cold blue eyes. “You couldn’t stop going on about how great it was that you closed the Rift. You wanted us to tell you huh? Well now you know, and look what good it’s done! The first thing you do when you find out about us, is shut us down!” Twilight couldn’t believe what he was forcing her to admit to. Was she really doing this? Telling other ponies not to study and learn? But it was wrong to study this and learn that! This wasn’t a sensible, rational, predictable state of affairs at all! It caught Twilight Sparkle completely on her haunches, and it had been going on behind her back for how long?! “How can you act like this is a good idea? Don’t you know what’s at stake here?” Twilight asked in anguish. “Another world!” he roared in return. “Another completely different universe, with mysterious ties to our own! Don’t tell me you weren’t curious about it? And now you’re just going to cut us off from a literal entire world of opportunity?” “No, that’s... not it,” Twilight said, chewing on a strand of mane fussily. “What is at stake,” she said tensely, “Is a traveller who has come to our world, and you stranded her here! You’re keeping her from reuniting with her family!” “She’s hardly complaining about it,” he said in a very unconvinced tone, curling his brown tail noncomittally over his dumb blue hiney. “Just because she’s not complaining doesn’t mean she’s not suffering,” Twilight said angrily. “You don’t understand what it’s like to lose your home, and your family!” “Do you?” he asked with raised eyebrows. “Well... no,” Twilight had to admit, “But it’s really bad! This is objective fact!” she said with a definitive stomp. “You’re making a mistake closing us down,” he replied darkly. “There’s so much we could do for this world, one mare just doesn’t—” “She’s a traveller,” Twilight repeated patiently. “From a strange land, distant from our own. She has to return to where she came! You’ve seen legends like that come to pass. Haven’t you heard the tale of Tornadorthy?” “Not everypony has the good luck to have their life full of adventure like you, Princess,” he said. “Some of these students have hardly been out of the house, and this is their first chance at something really exciting!” “Well, I’ll tell you what’s exciting: all of Equestria in peril because we forced a traveller to never finish her story,” Twilight replied acidly. “How long before something else came through that rift? Do you know how dangerous the Void can be?” “We had it under control, Princess,” he said wearily. “The containment chamber is specifically enchanted against incursions, and after the shadow incident, we installed measuring instruments that could detect any sign of Outsiders.” “Well, it’s good you did that,” Twilight said, “And that’s probably why we haven’t had a total disaster... yet. But I’m afraid the party’s over. You have plenty of data collected from this... other world, and it’s time to reunite Rosy with her family again. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of other opportunities for dimensional incursions in the future.” “From the Void yes, but this is a coherent world!” he protested. “Somepony came through to us. This isn’t just the story of a mare stranded in a strange land—well I suppose it is, but it’s still a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence!” “It’s not something that’s supposed to happen,” Twilight insisted sensibly. “You’re not supposed to study things that aren’t supposed to happen. This doesn’t belong in our world at all. Yes I do agree it’s something I’ve never seen before, and I don’t like it!” Twilight paused, and brushed at her coat with a hoof saying more calmly, “And what I like isn’t a concern here. What is a concern is getting Rosy reunited with her family, and returning the world to its proper balance, where everything is as it should be. Yes we will lose the Rift, but no amount of weird, different world stuff is worth risking all of Equestria over. You know what’s in the Void?” “Frankly... no,” he said. “This is my first chance to study it. But I can assure you that—” “Well, I’ve read extensively on the subject, especially once the traveller came over, and you should have done so yourself,” Twilight said. “One of you should have realized. As it states in Deranged Dweomer’s Dimensional Diatribe, everywhere that is a world is not the Void, and the Void is everywhere that is not a world. Consider that there might be a reason the Void is not a world. There are things which cannot exist in our world, that by existing would destroy it utterly. They don’t exist obviously, because our world is still intact, and has been so for uncountable ages.” She mentally flipped a page and continued. “These world ending catastrophes don’t exist in any other world, either. Because if they did, then there would be no world to exist. But the Void is everywhere that is not a world. Literally anything can be in there. Something that could unravel our world into complete nothingness could be found in the Void. That is why it is absolutely forbidden to travel in it, and why things that come from it are so violent and dangerous. Refer to page bee—” she coughed. “I think my point is fairly clear,” Twilight said, recovering her original mental checklist. “The Void is dangerous. We need the traveller to return to her world, just as if she’d been washed up on a distant shore. She had her adventure, she learned her lesson, and you all prevented her speedy return to the life she knows. I can provide you with grants for any number of subjects you can study that don’t involve world shattering danger. Have you considered studying paleopony history? Or how about a good biography? Clearmark the Fearless is a particularly good—” “Yes, I’ll be sure to check it out from the library,” he interrupted in an acerbic tone, “I think we’re done here. I told you what’s what, and you just have to draw your own conclusions from that. But for your sake, I hope you’re right princess. I don’t know how I’d live with myself if I let an opportunity like this pass me by because I was afraid of it.” “I’m not afraid of it,” Twilight insisted firmly. He didn’t even dignify that with a response. Twilight left that conversation flustered, and somewhat troubled. She knew she was in the right, right? She could objectively prove that all her salient points had been fully valid and in accordance with ethical research, and Equestrian Harmony. These research students just didn’t know how the world worked. They hadn’t seen an adventure, so they didn’t know that the proper resolution was to return home, and be safe from peril. Twilight was in the right here. Still, she hated seeing all the disappointed, and even disgusted looks on the ponies’ faces. Like they resented what she was doing, and somehow as if they pitied her. Well, Twilight didn’t need any pitying. She was just fine the way she is. She was a successful princess and graduate from Equestria’s highest institution, and she knew what she was talking about. Rosy’s quest resolution was somewhat delayed, but with swift, decisive action, once again everything would be back to normal, and everything would make sense again. “Ah dunno about you, but I’ll be glad to have this behind me,” Applejack said, as part of a four and three ponies, who could be found trotting along through the White Tail Woods. “Ah had no idea you were pining for home so badly, Rosy.” “Well, I wasn’t really all that much,” said a pink-haired cream colored mare who’d taken the name of Rosy Pink. “But I know how you feel, and... Equestria hangs in the balance, right?” “Equestria hangs in the balance way too much, in my opinion,” Twilight Sparkle groaned. “But yes, a nice side effect of you passing through the Rift will be ensuring the safety of Equestria from otherworldly invaders, like the thing that was going after pony’s shadows.” “R-right... that,” Rosy said, staring closely at the ground as she plodded along reluctantly. “Aww, cheer up miss grumpy-pants,” Pinkie Pie said ineffectually, bouncing beside the worried mare. “I’m sure your family will love to see you again, even though you’ve been gone for so long that the snow is on the ground again again, and we’re all dressing really warmly. You won’t be able to keep the scarf, by the way.” “Yes, I...” the mare smiled despite herself, tugging at the thick wool scarf around her neck. Personally horn knitted, of course. “I know,” she laughed. “It’ll be fine I’ll just... it’ll be fine.” “You sure didn’t seem like you would be fine earlier,” Rainbow Dash said suspiciously, fluttering beside the mare and squinting at her. “You’ve been trying to dodge us bringing you here for weeks! If I hadn’t found you just now, I think you would have forgotten to show up today!” “Oh, I just... you know, I just wanted to stay a little bit longer,” Rosy said, blushing with embarassment. “I’m not trying to hurt you um... ponies or anything. I just wanted to... just enjoy it a little. Live it up, you know?” “You know you just spent th’ past week hauling away old, dead crops, right sugarcube?” Applejack asked uncertainly. Rosy just shrugged at that. Fluttershy said nothing. “Now now Applejack, one mustn’t judge another pony’s pastimes,” Rarity said coyly to her orange friend. “You can’t possibly understand my amount of enjoyment from an afternoon at the spa, after all.” “Ah could have enjoyed it just fine,” Applejack replied grumpily. “I just liked fixin’ things better.” “And... if Rosy enjoys, um...” Rarity paused, looking to Rosy for affirmation. “What was it you enjoyed again?” Rosy looked at Rarity with a confused expression, but then her eyes cleared and she said, “Ponies. I think I like ponies in general. E-even pulling out the... the dead melon vines, it didn’t hurt to pull them out, and I was hardly even breaking a sweat pulling the cart. The pile was taller than my head! I just like being a... being a pony, I guess.” “Well, as much as you appreciate the better qualities of ponyhood, such as... pulling out old melon vines,” Rarity said touchily, “I’m sure you’ll be happy to finally return home, reunite with your friends and family, and save our world on top of it!” Rarity seemed troubled, as Rosy muttered something noncommital and looked away from them again. It was clearly because the dressmaker simply didn’t know how to deal with a mare who acted so strangely. Rarity didn’t have to worry though. Twilight had this all under control. “I’m truly grateful for your help, Rosy,” Twilight said cheerfully, the princess strutting at the front of the group looking purposefully forward. “Equestria will be forever grateful that you returned home and saved us all from destruction.” “Is it really going to—to destroy Equestria?” Rosy said in a very conflicted tone of voice. Pondering, but not looking back, Twilight Sparkle said, “Well, it’s not like Equestria has been destroyed before, so it’s hard to have a good estimate for what would destroy it. But I am one hundred percent sure that the solution to all our problems is as simple as you stepping through the Rift, and returning to your home world.” “Of course it is,” Rosy grumbled under her breath. “I just wish there was some other way,” she said a little louder, a little more troubled. “I wish that rift would just...” Fluttershy’s hoof trembled, as she held herself away from laying it on Rosy’s back. Rosy noticed Fluttershy’s involuntary approach though, and smiled sadly at the butter colored pegasus. “Guess I won’t be coming over for tea after all,” she said to her. Fluttershy shrank back at that, tears coming to her eyes even at the thought of responding. Who said Fluttershy even had any right to speak to Rosy? Why was Rosy such a nice, pleasant, friendly mare? And Fluttershy was just a... a somepony who didn’t deserve anything good. Fluttershy wanted... Fluttershy was afraid to speak. “It’s no problem,” Rosy said with a nervous smile. “I mean, I... get to go home, right? See my parents maybe. And my brother. And I guess f-find a place to work again and...” she kind of trailed off into a squeak in a manner Fluttershy rarely got to observe from an outside perspective. Looking away from Fluttershy and just staring forward apprehensively as she trotted forward, Rosy was not doing a good job of making it seem like it was no problem. Applejack ran right into Rosy’s pink tailed rear end when the pink haired mare stopped frozen at the crater’s edge. “Whoops, sorry about that,” Applejack said, taking off her hat and backing up from Rosy’s behind. Rosy didn’t answer, just stepped forward stiff legged into the snowy bowl that was the remains of the strange crater she’d emerged from one day so long ago. Applejack wasn’t sure what that meant, but she went along with it anyway. The silver containment chamber had been unlocked, and moved off to the side for the purposes of this event. There were a few worker ponies there, to keep the facilities prepped for Rosy’s arrival today. As a whole, they still seemed pretty disgusted with Twilight, yet also a little relieved that she actually showed up this time, without Rosy being absent again. Twilight found that punctuality did wonders for difficult pony-pony relations! The workers trotted off as soon as Twilight and her friends arrived, leaving the Bearers to manage things. The half dozen stood by, three on each side of the Rift, while Rosy faced it alone. True to its nature, the central anomaly glowed and swelled upon her approach. It was only a tiny wormhole at the start, but once it came to her to restore the balance, it would become a full fledged portal, through which Rosy would return to her home, and the world’s balance would be restored. Rosy approached it, while the Element bearers stood alongside it and faced her encouragingly. The Rift blossomed and spread. It distorted space as if you were looking into a crystal clear mirror, but there was no reflection of a pony in that mirror. Instead, there was another world. There was an apartment, that looked straight out of Manehattan, except that it had broad yellow caution tape wrapped around everything, and all the furniture appeared to be covered by sheets of some sort. There was no one to be seen within, though the university ponies had gotten a good look at these strange, bipedal creatures from their surveying spells that could fit through the collapsed rift. It looked kind of like what you’d expect from a crime scene, perhaps understandable considering the nature of Rosy’s departure from that land. Rosy didn’t look at it so much with recognition though. Nor did she look at it with shock and worry, at seeing the consequences of her ill fated dimensional dislocation. Rosy stared at it like it was a death sentence. “Well, anything you want to say before you go?” Twilight asked with an pleased smile. She was unnerved as all heck by this thing right beside her, and possibly by this thing in front of her calling itself Rosy, too. But at last, Rosy’s story was about to be concluded, and everypony got a happy ending. It truly warmed Twilight’s heart to see everything coming together like this. Even if this darn portal felt like sandpaper on a blackboard to stand next to. “Just um...” Rosy said, pulling her gaze away from the gleaming, eerily silent portal, to look at the others. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Not necessarily in that order. “Um...” Rosy said, tugging the scarf off her neck and holding her hoof out to Rarity. “Here’s your scarf.” “Oh, why thank you dear. It would have been a pickle if we ended up with that across this terribly complicated manner of transportation,” Rarity said gratefully, taking it in the aura of her cool blue magic. Rosy was completely naked now, though it’d be a while until she started to get cold. She was stronger, and more lithe than when she’d first appeared here. In better shape, and well fed. Her off-white coat, still lacking in its story mark, was well groomed and gleaming, except for where the scarf had mussed up her neck fur. Her pink mane just a little paler than Fluttershy’s was roughly combed, not attended to too terribly, but allowed to remain in its natural curly state. Her curly pink tail was clean of any brambles, easily held above her rear with a level of control that would have made you think she was born that way. Rosy turned to Rainbow Dash and said, “Uh, we didn’t hang out a lot, but... I always thought you were really cool.” Dash puffed her chest out proudly at that and said, “Yeah, you aren’t the only one!” Rosy just laughed gladly, and turned to Fluttershy. “Um... I’m not trying to imitate you, honest. I just get so flustered when I’m... like this,” Rosy said to her. “I can understand why you’d want to be so shy and quiet, sometimes. But I’m really grateful for your support and understanding. I wish this could have gone... differently.” Fluttershy couldn’t answer. Rosy pointedly avoided meeting eyes with Twilight Sparkle, instead looking at Applejack, and there were genuine tears brimming in Rosy’s eyes as she said, “I’ve never seen anything quite as beautiful as Sweet Apple Acres. Farms aren’t like that in my world. Nothing is. Yours is just... it’s something else.” And she turned to Pinkie Pie, and said, “Thank—thank you for the welcome—party—” Rosy couldn’t seem to stop crying. What was wrong? Twilight peered worriedly at the shaking traveller, whose eyes were streaming with tears. Was Rosy too happy to be going home? Rosy looked at Twilight Sparkle, too choked up to speak. Rosy tried, shuddering there, trying to get the words out, while she looked—no, she looked at Twilight Sparkle. Struggling to speak, the creamy furred pony fixed Twilight Sparkle in an urgent, seeking stare that captivated Twilight in those deep blue irises, so full of regret, and longing... and terror. “I’m sorry,” Rosy choked out. She turned and stumbled away—she moved one hoof after another, while the open-mouthed group of friends stared after Rosy Pink, until the little pony was galloping as hard as she’d learned how to do, away from the portal, up the bowl of the crater, and crashing into the underbrush, fleeing through the forest. The portal closed with a snap.