Dear Diary,
Today I met the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, it’s that time again. Thought I’d have found somepony to hash these sorts of things out with by now but I guess with my lifestyle it’s not happening any time soon. Kind of sucks. Not a big fan of diaries and stuff, but hey, what am I supposed to do? Live in one place? Make some permanent friends? No way.
Anyway, I was visiting Ponyville. Small town. Not very important or anything. Summer Sun celebration. We were going to do a show for Princess Celestia. It didn’t pan out. Long story short, we were invaded by this sort of dark alicorn from space? It’s probably normal. So Celestia was a no-show, and things were looking a bit dicey, so I decide to hang out away from town, in this farm I once helped. They like me there. Gave me pie. I’ll have to work it off later, but pie’s pie.
Then she showed up. Hadn’t heard of her before. I’ve never seen anypony as strong, and for an Earth pony, she’s darn fast. Came all the way from Manehattan because of the trouble, then headed to the Everfree. I tried to follow, but she told me not to. Said she’d knock me out if I tried.
It was hot.
Anyway, I don’t think she expected me to regain consciousness as quick as I did. But hey, things happen, and at least she took it in her stride.
When everything died down, I asked her out. She said she lived in Manehattan. I told her I’d be there next week. Then she kinda started sweating. Not sure she gets out much. I think I laughed, which probably made things worse.
It’s weird. Everypony only ever talks about her mane. About how it’s like steel, or titanium, or whatever cool silver-y metal they can think of. I just remember her eyes. They were like a forest at mid-day. It was like poetry. And they looked like they could do anything. Like a space alicorn was just a warm-up. I’m not one for pretty words, but even I’ll shell out a cool turn of phrase for her.
I want to find out more about her. Hopefully, next time I’m in Manehattan, I will.
Through every street and under the shadow of every building, Twilight couldn’t shake the now-familiar feeling. In other timelines, she had felt it, creeping up her spine like a fly that had landed on her skin. It was the feeling that, even though every brick and tree looked the same as it did back home, everything was alien and unfamiliar.
Twilight had hoped it would never become as familiar a feeling as it did right now. When Starlight cast her into this timeline, and she stumbled onto her hooves, she kept thinking what is wrong with this timeline ? What mistake came to pass in this universe? Was it Sombra again? Nightmare Moon? Which villain had taken command of Equestria and twisted it into their image, whether it would be by fluke or overwhelming force?
Twilight’s hoof drifted to her saddlebags where Starswirl’s scroll used to be. She winced.
One thing she found strange was that, unlike in most other universes, no battalion of armed ponies marched up to arrest her. There was no cloud of evil that hung over the country. Just the ordinary civilians of Ponyville, going about their seemingly ordinary lives.
It was perhaps the creepiest thing Twilight could have found from an alternate timeline, but she allowed herself a glimmer of hope. Perhaps on this occasion, the river of time simply hadn’t altered its course. Perhaps this timeline was, by dint of sheer coincidence, the same one she had left?
This theory was quickly crushed when Twilight remembered the state of her castle. Gone, evaporated into thin air, like it had never existed. Some change had to have occurred here, some difference.
Twilight reached a familiar sight. Shaped like a large tent, elegant and colourful, the Carousel Boutique looked identical to the one from Twilight’s original timeline. She smiled, and put her hoof on Spike’s head.
“Maybe we can get a warm welcome this time,” she suggested, and tapped the door with her hoof.
The bell above the entrance rang, just like the one back home. Spike fidgeted with his claws as the two stepped into the Boutique. Dresses and outfits adorned mannequins that piled up in an appealing crowd.
“Hello, I’ll be right out in a minute,” came Rarity’s sing-song voice. “Do make yourself at home!”
Spike smiled at the familiar surroundings. “Don’t mind if I do,” he said.
Twilight breathed in. She was still getting her bearings in this new timeline. When Rarity walked out from behind the shop she remembered why.
Rarity was different. She didn’t have quite the same sparkle in her eyes, not the same gait. Her walk, her stance was different, built by different experiences. By a different life.
Rarity’s eyes widened as she examined Twilight. “Goodness!”
Twilight frowned. “Yes?”
Rarity rushed towards Twilight, her eyes darting from Twilight’s face to her back. “Well, it’s a good thing you found me, darling. Most places can’t quite handle the alicorn physique, you see.” She began to take measurements of Twilight’s wings. “Most ponies assume it’s the same as pegasus, at least where the wings are involved, but it’s really rather not. Larger wings, fluffier feathers. Same bone structure as an Earth pony, you see, but applied to wings. It’s all rather complicated.”
“I’m actually not looking for a dress,” Twilight said. “This… is actually rather difficult to explain.”
Rarity halted, and took a small step back. “Do tell, dear. I’m all ears.”
“I’m actually a Princess.” Twilight sighed. “And I’m from a... “ Twilight swallowed. “I’m a long way from home, and I want your help to get back.”
“A long way from home?” Rarity asked. “Where are you from, originally? I do so like hearing about distant countries. You know, I always wanted to travel when I was in school…”
“Well, actually, I’m from Canterlot…”
Rarity raised her eyebrow. “It is a rather long way by hoof… About twenty minutes by train, though.”
“...but that was in an alternate timeline.”
Rarity stared into Twilight's eyes for a moment, and began to stroke her chin. She analysed every one of Twilight’s expressions, every twitch and wayward gaze. Eventually, Rarity let out a long, uncomfortable sigh.
“I think perhaps I should give a friend of mine a call… She won't be happy about this.”
Manehattan’s skyscrapers rose like fingers trying to grasp the sky. They cut through the clouds and tore at the moonlight. Large airships and balloons drifted between them, following roads nopony but the pilots could see, their headlights illuminating the streets below.
Applejack was stood in her apartment building, the yellow and blue from the lampposts turning her room into a kaleidoscope. She breathed out, blood dripping down her chin. She raised a hoof to feel the cut. Only by sheer chance had it cut at parallel to her fur. If it hadn’t, she wouldn’t have even felt it. She trotted to her kitchen, rolling off the aches and pains from her little hobby.
She liked yellow. It reminded her of the sunlight, which she didn’t seem to see much of these days. Nor did she see blue skies, or green grass. Her days were mostly filled with concrete and overcast greys, electric greens and neon, and newspaper browns.
The only splash of colours in her room were in the pictures on the walls. She moved past them and opened the fridge, raiding it for food. She quickly located oats and dried fruit she had left over from lunch.
She closed the fridge, and saw for the first time a note trapped under one of the fridge magnets her family had sent her over the years from places they had visited. She put the oats to one side and plucked it from the fridge door.
Leaning against the kitchen counter and scratching her dirty coat, she read the note and smiled.
“See you soon, sugarcube,” she muttered, and put the note to one side. She picked up her oats again and moved to a small sitting area. Newspapers piled up on either side of a singular, lone armchair by the window. A phone overlooked the empty fireplace. The apartment was not lived in enough to gather any kind of clutter other than dust.
Applejack sat down and pulled the most recent paper from the pile. She skipped the headlines. She already knew she was on them. She had been involved in most of it, after all.
As the news from the paper began to sink into her mind, her expression hardened. She didn’t have any job, not in the conventional sense. She knew ponies that did. She had friends in fashion, her family were farmers, and her adoptive parents had been businessponies.
Not her, though. She lived off inheritances and generous donations from the city. An unofficial peacekeeper, of sorts.
Her ears flicked to the side. Hoofsteps at the door. She listened as intently as she could. It was too late for guests.
The siren of her phone deafened her as it went off. She jumped out of her chair.
The door was smashed in, and two dark ponies rushed into her apartment. Applejack’s ears flattened as her eyes darted from the phone to the intruders. She raised her hooves defensively.
The phone rang once. Then twice. Thrice.
Applejack grunted and picked the phone up, stepping over the fallen bodies of the ponies who had invaded her home.
“Who’s there?” she snapped, rubbing her neck. “You caught me at a bad time.” She lifted her head. “Rarity? What’re you callin’ me for?” She looked back towards the two ponies on the floor. “They found out where I live again. Gotta move is all. You said you had a what visit the boutique?”
The apartment fell into silence for a good minute or two, punctuated only by the groans of the two assassins who had tried to get the better of Titanium Jack.
“What do you mean, ‘alternate timelines’?” she asked, frowning and playing with the phone cord. “Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can. I’ll fit her into my schedule somehow.” Her brow began to knot together even more. “No, I ain’t heard of any Starlight Glimmer. Listen, is this important, ‘Equestria in danger’ sort of stuff? I’ve had a busy day and now I need to get a new apartment, and get a telegram to my marefriend sayin’ she can’t meet me here no more.” She kicked one of the assassins, and snorted. “I’ll be fine. Oh, my neck-tie got a few scratches. I'll be needin' a new one.”
She propped her phone between her shoulder and ear for a bit, listening to the rant pouring from the phone like water flooding from a bad leak.
“Well, livin’ the hero life ain’t great for takin’ care of my clothes. They ain’t arrow-proof.” Applejack listened some more, then broke into a small smile. “Oh, she’s doing okay, is she? Well, that makes one of us.” She tilted her head indignantly. “Yeah, ‘course I’ll treat her right. I’ll do dinner ‘n everything. Yeah, I know you like her.”
She looked back at the assassins. They were beginning to stir.
“Listen, I gotta go. I’ll be on the first train to Ponyville tomorrow, see what I can do about this ‘alternate timeline’ nonsense.” Applejack smiled. “See you ‘round.”
She put the phone down.
“So,” she grunted. “Looks like you two tried to take me by surprise.” She picked one of the thugs up by the mane. “Your boss knows I don’t appreciate that. What, you two lose the lottery or somethin’? Really get a bee in your boss's bonnet? Have him send y'all on a lil' suicide mission?”
The thug groaned.
“Listen, I tackled Nightmare Moon. I can handle you two, even if you caught me in a compromising situation, which you’d have to turn up way later to do anyhow on account of me not sleepin’ that much. So, how about I call Inspector Truncheon and you spend the next, what, ten to twenty in a concrete box, and I don’t smash your face in?”
The thug breathed out.
“Sounds good, boss-pony.”
“Well, I’m glad we have an understanding.” Applejack gave a business-like nod. “Just let me dial. You two stay put.”
Dear Diary,
On tour across Equestria. Doing a lot of shows in Earth pony towns. Finishing off in Manehattan, which is where I’m at now. Dropped by to see her. Went to one of my fave places, up near the pegasus arena. Showed off. Not sure it worked great.
She changed, after the whole chaos demon thing. She’s even stronger than before, if that was possible (which it is, obvs). Funny how she always seems to turn up when things go south. Or in her case, she literally goes south to Ponyville. It’s a bit of a magnet for trouble in the shape of a town.
Now I got a long look at her away from ‘stuff’, she looks sad, I guess, but that’s probably just because she’s so serious all the time. Talked for a bit, had some drinks. She doesn’t have friends. Says she knows this pony who does dresses or something down in Ponyville. I don’t really hang out there for the fashion, so I’ve got no clue who she’s talking about. Apparently she used to order capes from her for ‘work’, before deciding it was too 'fancy-schmancy'. Doesn’t sound like a friend, though. More like somepony she used to know. Competition?
Don’t think so. I think she likes me. Probably? I’d like me. I’d be all over me.
She says she’s been fighting crime in her spare time. Like that’s some kind of hobby. Reminds me of the pony I used to think I’d be, before I bust my flank in flight school and Flutters left to live in some Earth pony town.
Asked her about her mane. I think that was a mistake, cause she stopped smiling then. Told me something happened a long time ago. An accident or something. Maybe hit by a cart? She said she had surgery. Not sure what kind of surgery turns you into a superhero, I said. She laughed when I said that, but it wasn’t a ‘ha-ha’ laugh, more like a ‘yeah, whatever’ kind of laugh or something. It wasn't happy, that was for sure.
Seriously, though, feeling pretty pathetic that I’m writing this in a book. I’d literally die if somepony other than me found this. It’d suck.
I asked her about living in Manehattan. She told me all about it. She told me about how she left home as a filly to go stay with her aunt and uncle. She told me about how lonely she felt at the start, and how she worked off the stress by, well, working. Businesspony stuff, I guess. Sent cash back to Ponyville and made things move. Pretty awesome, but not exactly what I was expecting from a mare who tried to drop-kick a funky chaos demon-thing.
Still, it sounded similar. I told her about me, about how I did terrible in flight school and had to work my flank off just to get by. Kinda like what she did with her family business. She liked me talking about that. Funny, if all I had to do was tell her how much I sucked as a filly to get her to like me, I’d have opened with that.
I like talking about how much I sucked to her, though. It’s like I’ve got nothing to prove. That’s nice for a change.
I’m out.
The train station was packed with ponies of all shapes and sizes. Uniforms and outfits from all across Equestria passed Applejack by as she stared at the clock hanging above her. The large, wrought iron hands flicked the minutes away, tick by tock. She pulled her hoodie closer to her eyes to hide her mane. Publicity never helped her in her line of work.
Inspector Truncheon had been understanding, and had quickly moved her things to a new location across town. Applejack was certain that there was a mole in the police force that, when wrangled, would disclose where she lived again. She licked her lips. That was a problem she’d have to deal with eventually. One day they’d get lucky and catch her asleep, and somehow manage to not wake her up.
Or they’d get unlucky and find her with her marefriend.
“Oh, Applejack!”
The rogue hug blindsided Applejack more than any assassination attempt. She raised her hoof to try to pry Rarity off of her, but the unicorn was stuck fast.
“Honestly, you really need to visit when something isn’t wrong, dear!” she exclaimed, releasing Applejack from her death-grip. “Oh, and you’ll be utterly fascinated to hear what Twilight is saying about you, little farmpony.”
Applejack brushed herself down and readjusted her hoodie. “Y’know, a simple ‘hello’ would do,” she grunted, and her eyes quickly fell upon the only alicorn at the station. “I take it this is the ‘alternate timeline’ pony?” Her eyes narrowed. “And her dragon.”
“Hello, Applejack,” Spike said.
“I don’t like dragons,” Applejack told him, deciding to dispense with the casual greetings.
“Um,” Spike replied.
“Nearly burned my eyebrows off once.”
“They, um, grew back, though” Spike pointed out, and looked closer at the silver-maned mare. “Is that why they're sort of silver-y?”
“No.”
Twilight interposed herself between Spike and Applejack. “Hello Applejack,” she said, attracting the silver mare’s attention. “Wow, you’re… so different from the Applejack I know.” Twilight tilted her head to the side. “Your accent is different. It sounds a bit watered down, I think.”
“What’s that about my accent?” Applejack asked. “I lived in Manehattan for years. It changed. Mostly. Listen, who the hay are you? I was a bit busy last night, so I didn’t exactly ask Rarity any questions about, y’know, your little ‘story’.”
Twilight bit her lip. “Okay.” She held her hoof out. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m from an alternate timeline and I need to get home so I can save Equestria.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes, and slowly reached out to take Twilight’s hoof. “Well, my job is saving Equestria. Has been since the whole Nightmare Moon shebang.”
Twilight cracked a small smile. “Back in my timeline, we all saved Equestria together.”
“What, like some sort of… super-team?”
“More like hobbyist national heroes. Of the 'ordinary' variety;”
“Well, in my timeline, it was just me. And a tag-along, I suppose, for some of them.”
“Tag-along?” Twilight asked.
Rarity’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh, you know, she’s so excited you’re back in town!”
Applejack groaned. “You told her?”
“Well of course I did! You know how much she likes seeing you.”
Applejack folded her forelegs. “Yeah, that’s why I was keepin’ my bein’ here quiet. Besides, I ain’t sure I want her near lil’ miss ‘alternate reality’.”
“Timeline,” Twilight corrected.
“Whatever. Sounds like an alternate universe to me. Y’know, Discord has one of ‘em. We beat him back there all on our lonesome, without no team of ‘hobbyist national heroes’ to do it.”
Twilight bristled. “Well, that’s not how things worked out where I’m from.”
Applejack grunted. “Then explain it.”
Twilight breathed in. “I will.”
Rarity smiled. “Well, perhaps we should talk on our way back to the Boutique, ladies?” she suggested, nudging the two ponies away from the train station. “It’s early, and I think we could all use some coffee.”
This wasn’t the first alternate timeline Twilight had visited. By the sounds of things, it might be the last. She had seen worlds drowned in eternal night, resistances beleaguered by shape-shifting saboteurs, and wastelands crushed to ash by Tirek’s rampaging ambitions. Applejack listened to every single one until Twilight reached Applejack’s own timeline. The timeline with the implacable Titanium Mare.
To listen to Twilight talk about it, it sounded like an alien planet. She gestured wildly at the very idea that Nightmare Moon could have been defeated without using some magic jewellery. Her eyes boggled at the suggestion that you could just punch Discord into submission. Applejack spluttered when Twilight mentioned how surreal it was that she, who in her timeline was a simple farmpony, was a superhero who had villains on the run.
“She sounds so quaint!” Rarity commented. Applejack’s brow furrowed angrily.
“How about I explain how it really went down?” she grunted.
Nightmare Moon was a siege. The night she brought never got a proper handle outside of the Everfree because every time she tried to leave the forest, Titanium Jack ambushed her. She raided the castle and kept Nightmare from sleeping. Exhausted, Nightmare Moon was an easy target for her and Celestia.
Discord was worse, but he had one weakness: he couldn’t kill Titanium Jack, or anypony else for that matter. Something about his magic petered out when it came to ending life, and Applejack's body couldn't be changed easily. Over and over she pestered him, until weeks later he offered her a deal: he stayed in his nonsense realm and she stopped being such a ‘buzzkill’, as he put it.
Chrysalis, by comparison, was easy, but that didn’t mean it didn’t take time, sweat, and tears. Her army got bludgeoned to pieces and, whilst distracted, Applejack disabled the queen bee.
It wasn’t like she could just solve every problem with ease. It took effort. Strategy.
Twilight listened to her as if she was talking to a total stranger.
“This is all wrong,” she said. “In my timeline, we didn’t win by… being alone.”
Rarity snickered. “Well she wasn’t exactly alone, now, was she?”
The group arrived in front of the Carousel Boutique. They could all hear movement from inside, and as they walked through the front door, Twilight spied a Wonderbolts uniform hanging by the door.
Applejack turned away from the uniform. “No, not completely.”
Twilight gestured towards Applejack’s mane. “How’d you do that to your, um, mane? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Applejack sighed. “It’s always the mane, isn’t it? You know, only one pony didn’t ask me about that first time I met them.” She shrugged. “I had a bad day, once. I had surgery. Real bad surgery. Now, it’s like this. It’s why they call me Titanium Jack.”
“Sounds like somepony's been reading Power Ponies,” Spike pointed out. “I guess that’s your superhero name.”
"I ain't no—"
The door to the kitchen opened. An explosion of colour hit Applejack square in the barrel.
“TJ, you gotta tell me when you’re coming to town,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Otherwise I’m gonna have to keep twisting Rarity’s hoof until she breaks, and I’m starting to feel a bit bad about that.”
Twilight lit up. “Rainbow!”
“Random pony!” Rainbow replied with equal and opposite enthusiasm.
“That’s Twilight,” Rarity said. “She’s an alicorn princess from an alternate timeline.”
Rainbow grinned, still not releasing Applejack. “”Sweet. I’m Rainbow Dash, the most famous pony of all time. I'm thinking of a title. Something like arch-admiral?”
Twilight looked over at Rarity.
“No questions for our guest?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, one,” Rainbow replied, and turned back towards Applejack, who this time wasn’t trying too hard to release herself from Rainbow’s grip. “How long are you in town?”
Dear Diary,
I never head to Manehattan anymore. TJ just won’t meet me there, says it’s too dangerous. Which is fair, since last time this rat plague broke out because of some evil pony? I dunno, it was crazy and I stayed out of it. We only meet in Ponyville, but every time me and TJ are in Ponyville together, it’s because something is wrong. I think TJ tries to keep me away, which is starting to really get on my nerves. Loads happens there, which is weird cause it’s just a small town.
At least I get to spend more time with her, regardless of how much she tries to protect me. Finding out what made her tick. Found out about her accident. Why she lives alone. Why she’s so strong. I mean, I make sense. I just worked my flank off every day and every night for about ten years until I was ultra-fit. But her? She’s different. She says she’s a freak, and y’know, I think I agree with her. But she’s a cool freak!
She’s also fun, sometimes, usually by accident. When she smiles, this hokey accent just comes out of nowhere and hits you like a truck. She’s got freckles, too. You don’t notice cause of the scowl she has all the time. Muscles everywhere, too. And I mean everywhere. I checked.
Scars too. They’re under her fur (which btw is real soft, like pillow feathers, but the tips can be really sharp and sort of prickly), but when she sleeps real soundly, I can trace where doc Trabecular had her open with my hoof. They go from below her belly across her ribs (which you can barely feel for all the muscle she built on them), up under her forelegs and towards her neck. She has others in the area between her hind legs and her body (note to not trace that bit with hoof, makes her stir, possibly wake up?), which twist up near her dock. There are probs more on her legs and neck. I found a bit of one on her left leg, and I bet there’s more.
Her bones are like living titanium, except titanium isn't really alive. When she broke, she broke so bad that when her body fixed itself up, it just kinda ate the implants and the fixtures and the total joint replacements.
When she’s awake, sometimes I see her move different. I think she can feel the implants in her, where whatever happened to her isn’t working quite right. Makes her attitude even cooler. Like she thinks all of Equestria is her responsibility. Just because she can help, means she should, even if she hates herself for it. But that’s sad too.
I’ve not known her long, but I think this mix of admiration and… comfort, I guess, that I feel around her is probably what I’d have thought love feels like. Not sure, though. Never felt it before.
Not gonna tell her, though. I think she’d worry about me. She’s protective like that. I just wish she’d smile sometime like she actually means it.
Bye
Twilight was sat next to Rarity as she ran through the changes in this timeline through her mind again. She wasn’t blind or stupid, and she could tell that despite her cold, bitter exterior, Applejack had succeeded in convincing at least one pony she was worth being around.
That implied that Rainbow, like Applejack, had taken a radically different path in this timeline. On a usual day, Twilight might not be interested in snooping, but after losing the spell at the site of the Map, she was inclined to believe that the fate of her friends held the clues to her getting it back.
Perhaps it was little more than a hunch, but if there was something out there that existed as a result of the differences in timelines that would steal maps from time-travellers, she needed to know what it was.
Luckily, Rainbow was only too glad to talk about herself. It was a topic she was clearly invested in.
“Well, where do I begin?!” she exclaimed, her wing brushing Applejack’s hoof at all times, despite Applejack’s frosty expression. “So, I was born in Cloudsdale. Great town y’know, great altitude. Didn’t fit in great, didn’t have many friends. Managed one, I guess, but she didn’t actually talk much so I’m not one-hundred percent sure that she actually liked me all that much? Anyway, she left one day to live in Manehattan taking care of rodents or something and I never heard from her again, mostly because I was way too busy training and working…”
“You didn’t perform a sonic rainboom when you were young?” Twilight said. It was a statement, not a question. After all, if she had performed the Rainboom, they wouldn’t be in this situation.
“No… that’d be… weird and kinda fantastic,” Rainbow replied, her concentration broken. “Why’d you say that?”
“Alternate timeline related things.”
“Wacky shenanigans, huh?”
Twilight allowed herself a smile. “Something like that.”
“Sounds like a load of hooey to me,” Applejack grunted.
Rainbow pressed into her side and nudged her aggressively. The move didn’t seem to even inconvenience the tougher pony. “C’mon, TJ. Be nice.”
“TJ?” Twilight asked.
“Titanium Jack,” Rainbow explained. “It’s her superhero name.”
“It’s a dumb name,” Applejack replied.
“Hey, the paparazzi like it and so do I. Besides, you are basically all titanium now.”
Applejack sighed. “Just the bones and fur,” she grumbled.
“And some of the cells, organs, and other stuff.” Rainbow waved her hoof. “Anyway, enough about you, TJ. This is my story.” She turned back towards Twilight, smiling. “So, remember me saying I never fit in? Well, it’s kinda true. I wasn’t good at flying (I kept on crashing), math, history, or anything at all in school, so it was looking kinda grim. I felt like I wasn’t going to do anything with my life.” She paused. “Uh, where was I?”
Applejack nudged her in the side. “You were about to say you worked your flank off in high school.”
Rainbow brightened. “Right. So, like, I worked really hard. I trained every day and learned everything I could, ‘cause I really wanted to be good at something. Turns out that’s the sort of attitude you need to be a Wonderbolt, so as I kept on mastering different flying techniques in Cloudsdale, they eventually just offered.”
“In Cloudsdale? Not Ponyville?”
“Not Ponyville. I live in Ponyville now, though. Does that count?”
“No.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So, then?”
Rainbow cleared her throat. “Then one day I met this cheerful bundle of fun over here,” she said, gesturing towards Applejack. Applejack did not smile. “I might have done a few favours for her Ponyville family on the odd Wonderbolt tour. You know, sometimes ponies just need a little good weather, and hey, I know weather. When I found out that TJ was, in fact, the Applejack from their cute little pictures…”
“Focus,” said Applejack.
“Right. Me and TJ met the day Nightmare Moon returned,” Rainbow explained matter-of-factly. “TJ hit me to try to stop me from going with her into the forest.”
“Didn’t work,” Applejack grumbled.
Rainbow beamed. “No it did not,” she said. “It was awesome. I’m pretty sure Nightmare Moon blasted TJ at least seven times, but she just didn’t care.” She prodded Applejack’s mane. “I guess that armoured mane of yours has to be good for something, even if it doesn’t wash easily.”
Applejack folded her hooves, visibly disgruntled at being poked fun of in front of Twilight, whom she kept flashing sideways glances at. “Washes just fine.”
“Yeah, with bleach.”
Twilight’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you mean to say you’re… actually made of metal?”
“Accident,” Applejack grunted. “Real bad one.”
Spike nodded apprehensively. “Classic superhero origin. What was it? Radioactive metal?” He looked over at Rainbow Dash. "I read comics sometimes."
“Last I heard it was just normal metal,” Applejack replied. “I was more implant than bones at one point. Now they’re one and the same. Doc’ spent ages tryin’ to figure out how it happened.” Her hoof drifted towards her side and gently rubbed a scar that was showing from underneath her titanium-laced coat. “Can we talk ‘bout somethin’ else?”
Rainbow caught the motion of Applejack’s hoof, and immediately softened. “Sure thing,” she said. “So. What’s life like in Twilight-land?”
“It’s not called Twilight-land. It’s an alternate timeline.”
“Whatever. What am I like in your ‘alternate timeline’?”
Twilight’s heart sunk. Rainbow Dash was looking at her like she was little more than a curiosity. Of course she didn’t believe Twilight’s story. Of course. Stupid to think otherwise, really.
“You’re like who you are now… except I don’t think you worked as hard. You only recently became a Wonderbolt in my timeline.”
“Wow. A bit slow, wasn’t I?”
“I guess your natural talent got in the way, so to speak. You always knew you were going to be a Wonderbolt, I guess, so there was less of a rush.”
Rainbow folded her hooves. “Doesn’t sound like me.”
Twilight, now frustrated, shrugged. “Well, Applejack isn't anything like her either.” She eyed Applejack. “My Applejack smiled more, for starters. And also wasn’t made of metal.”
“What was she instead?”
Twilight’s eyes misted over. “A farmpony who loved her family very much,” she said. “She laughed a lot and worked hard and never had any ‘accident’, whatever that was.”
Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, I can see TJ working on a farm.”
“I take it in your ‘reality’ I never left Ponyville?” Applejack asked, taking special care to make the word ‘reality’ sound like a swear.
“Never. You loved it here because here was where your friends and family were.”
Applejack folded her hooves. “Hrmph.”
“And now I can’t make that happen again because I lost the spell that makes it possible,” Twilight said miserably. “It could be anywhere now.”
Applejack remained utterly silent. Rainbow leaned back, her wings folding into her sides.
“I’m sure Applejack will help,” Rarity suggested. “She’s a hero, after all.”
Applejack gave Rarity a withering stare. “Sure. Except there’s one thing that don’t sit right with me ‘bout all this.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” Applejack got to her hooves. “You keep sayin’ ‘timeline’, and way I see it, timeline ain't the same as 'universe' or world.” She narrowed her eyes at Twilight. “Meanin’ you’re not actually ‘going home’. You’re just movin’ all of us around the way you want, right? Like you’re all that matters?”
Rainbow shot up to her hooves after Applejack. “TJ, maybe we should have a word? Like, at least three?”
Applejack stared at Twilight for a moment, then turned back to Rainbow. “Sure. I wouldn’t mind catchin’ up, anyhow.”
The pair disappeared out of the Boutique, leaving Twilight, Rarity, and Spike on their own.
“I’m sure she’ll come around,” Rarity said. “I believe you, after all. I can spot an honest pony. And I think Rainbow likes you, and if anypony can get through Applejack's metal skull, she can.”
Twilight hung her head, defeated. “Sure.”
It didn’t sound to her like believing her or not was the problem Applejack had with her. Since when had the likeable, pleasant farmpony become so cold and suspicious?
Okay, it feels like I only use this journal to rant about TJ. Maybe that's true, but I want to get some stuff off my chest in the most uncool way possible.
Dear diary,
So, we went to Cloudsdale. I think Rarity talked her into going. It’s like she’s allergic to fun or something. Anyway. It was supposed to be good times, and now and then, when I twisted her hoof, she’d smile like she was enjoying herself, but it always felt fake. Like when I made her try zapicana. Best drink ever. You wouldn’t think lightning in drinks would work but it definitely beats carbonated in my opinion. Carbonated sucks. She did the smiling thing but it wasn't real.
The rest of the time she never seemed to focus on anything when I wasn’t talking. Even when she’s out of her environment, she just doesn’t seem to let any happiness in. Not sure she knows how to. I always thought she was so serious and when she was around me, but I never remembered seeing her upset. I thought nothing could ever hurt her. I think that was wrong.
She’s just so miserable and hurt all the time that I couldn’t tell. She's wallowed in her own misery since the accident, and represses so much anger all every single day.
Well. I say repressed. She does kinda beat ponies up as a job/hobby.
Speaking of, isn’t it tradition for supervillains to kidnap the hero’s marefriend? Boy will that be an exciting change of pace. Usually I'm the one looking cool and TJ just sort of scowls in the background. That was a really bad photo op. Reminder to not do it again.
I kind of hoped that she might be able to seize a second chance at happiness with me, but at least for now that just isn’t happening, and that makes me real sad. Probably because I'm not her second chance. I'm more like her third. After she ran away from the first family and lost the second...
We’ve been through a lot together and, well, it doesn’t sit right that she doesn’t get to be happy, whether that’s because her life sucks or because she’s just forgotten how.
I guess I’ll keep looking for a way to fix that. You know, whenever I get time off work. Find a way to make that second chance of hers work out, somehow.
Dash out.
“Don’t tell me you believe her?” Applejack asked as the pair stepped onto the streets. Rainbow directed Applejack towards the outskirts of town, her wing keeping her close.
“Maybe I’m crazy enough to consider it,” Rainbow replied, looking over at Applejack. “C’mon, does she really strike you as a liar? Maybe a crazy pony, but…”
Applejack snorted. “That’s what I thought about Cadence, and look how that turned out.”
“Hey, you punched your way out of that one. It wasn’t that bad.” Rainbow slowed down, and leaned her head into Applejack’s metal mane. “Besides, you can’t not trust anypony just because you’ve had some bad experiences.”
Ponies passed them by as the pair arrived under a large, extravagant cloud-house. Rainbow had multiple similar homes dotted around Equestria. Living on a Wonderbolt’s salary had some uses.
“Bad experiences that keep happenin’,” Applejack retorted. “I can’t help it no more. All I see is dangers and enemies, always. Some mare from an alternate universe wants a spell to travel through time? The risk that she might destroy this world is too great for me to even consider that she might be on our side.”
“The world isn’t your enemy,” Rainbow retorted.
“Feels like it is, and I ain’t been wrong so far. Like I said, all I see is enemies and threats.”
“Then look at me.” Rainbow grinned. “C’mon, would it really be so bad if you were a farmpony? It’d be hilarious.”
Applejack snorted. “Just carry me up to your house already,” she said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Fine. Since when were you allergic to jokes?” She smiled. “Besides, I wouldn’t mind if you were just a farmpony.”
“If I were just a farmpony, how’d I be supposed to take care of you?”
“I guess you wouldn’t.”
“Don’t sound like a timeline for me, then. You get in trouble every other Tuesday.”
“So do you,” Rainbow retorted, carrying Applejack up to their house. “You got your horseshoes on?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. You falling through the floor would be bad.” Rainbow sighed. “Making sure you don’t have more reasons to act miserable is a full-time job.”
The pair landed inside the luxurious hallway dotted with statues and Wonderbolt posters. Tall white columns supported the ceiling that was arranged to resemble a clear blue sky.
Applejack tested the floor twice to ensure the horseshoes were working. She breathed in.
“Listen, I know I have a hard time showing it, but I do really like you, yeah?”
Rainbow moved closer to Applejack, brushing her nose against Applejack’s cheek.
“Yeah, I know,” she said. “That's what makes the fact you can't show it hard."
"I don't mean to..."
Rainbow shook her hoof. "Hey, wanna go to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow?”
Applejack replied with a frown.
“C’mon, you like cake,” Rainbow replied. “We can get that disgustingly healthy one you like.”
“I ain’t five.”
Rainbow threw her head back, groaning. “You act like it sometimes. Fine, I’ll eat the cake, and yours, and you can just sit in silence across the table like you always do, grumpily fixated on all the different ways Equestria needs you. Because, for whatever reason, you're all that passes for heroes in this crazy world.”
“It does need me,” Applejack replied. “There’s no such thing as magical jewellery that can just make bad things go away, no matter what that alicorn says. There’s just me.”
“Ugh, if your heroic self-sacrificial shtick wasn’t so darn hot…”
Applejack managed a rare smile. “...But I need you, so I guess that means we’re in this together, right?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “You know I’d do anything to make you happy. Even eat your cake.”
“Yeah, I do. But sugarcube, even though you're great and all, it's my cake, and ya can't have it.”
In the dead of night, as Ponyville drifted back to sleep, one lone pony walked, eyes on his surroundings, through the streets. On his back he carried a heavy suitcase. He adjusted his glasses, the light from the windows glinting off them.
“An alicorn, then,” he muttered to himself, his voice gravelly and strained, as if every breath was a struggle. “Fascinating as usual.”
He stopped, looking up at the Carousel Boutique with a critical expression. His hoof drifted towards the suitcase on his back, then paused.
He chewed the inside of his mouth for a moment.
“Perhaps when morning arrives,” he said, his hoof returning to the ground. “No sense initiating something I’m not prepared for before a good night’s rest.”
He trotted away from the Boutique.
“Tomorrow, Titanium Jack. Tomorrow we shall meet again.”
***