Applejack was an early riser and nothing could change that about her, not even a late-night dance and battle with a literal demon. And so at five in the morning exactly she was up and moving, ready to take on the day like she had a full night's rest. Stretching as she rose she saw Rainbow Dash hanging half out of her bed snoring slightly, Applejack remembered it being louder the last time they had a sleepover but just reasoned Dash had been working on it since then.
On the other side of the room, Sunset Shimmer was silently laying on her sheets unmoving, breathing so lightly that Applejack actually had to place a finger on the sleeping girl's neck to make sure she was still alive. "Ah don't think Ah've ever seen someone sleep that quietly." She said to herself, Rainbow Dash muttered something incoherent and stretched even further off the bed, someone was going to be waking up on the ground Applejack thought. Sunset meanwhile remained completely still and didn't react in the slightest to the farmer's words.
Heading out of Dash's room Applejack found she was the only one awake in the house, and considering how lazy she knew Dash could get that was likely to remain for at least a couple hours. Wanting to be useful to her hosts and just to have something to do she dug out some cleaning supplied from a closet and went about the house dusting, Dash's parents were pretty clean folks but they did not have the eye for cleaning of an Apple and Applejack found some spots in the house that had never been dusted. By the time she finished, it was past six and she felt she earned some breakfast and might as well make some for everyone else.
One look through the cabinets and the fridge told her that the kitchen had been tailored almost exclusively for Rainbow, filled with more fiber and protein snacks than any athlete should need but still want along with a whole section of the fridge dedicated to sports drinks. She did find some eggs, milk, and bacon as well, since she didn't know Sunset's appetite and it was the only breakfast food that wasn't sport themed she got them out setting the bacon strips on the stove to cook, enjoying the crisping scent they gave off, while she started scrambling the eggs.
The food was just about finished when she heard a door open in the hallway and, to Applejack's mild surprise, Rainbow Dash came lightly jogging into the kitchen dressed for a run. "Well Ah'll be, Ah didn't take you for an early riser Rainbow Dash." Applejack said checking the clock that said it was barely six-thirty.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she stretched in place. "Of course I am, can't stay in shape if I don't run a couple miles every morning." She said bending down to touch her toes. "I see you made breakfast, it'll have to wait till I get back you know."
"Don't worry, it'll keep." Applejack said placing the bacon on a plate covering it with a paper towel. "Will yer parents be getting up soon? Or Sunset?"
"Mom and Dad are normally up not long after me, and I bet they'll appreciate breakfast. As for the living corpse in my room, she looks like she could sleep all day really." Dash explained bending her back out before straightening. "I'll be back in about a half-hour." She said then zipped out the door before Applejack could respond.
"Always dashing away," She said chuckling to herself as she set some eggs and bacon out for herself. She wasn't one to brag, unlike a certain friend of hers, but if she were she would say the eggs were pretty darn good, close to perfect really. She was savoring the taste of the bacon when her phone rang, checking it to see it was from Pinkie Pie.
Since when is everyone a morning person, Applejack thought answering the call. "Good mornin' Pinkie, yer up early." She said.
"OF course I am! There's so much to do today and I was just telling Fluttershy you need to get up early to do it." Pinkie said over the phone.
"Ain't dat the truth." Applejack responded. "So did ya have something particular in mind Pinkie?"
"Yep, I was thinking we get everyone together and have a group day at the mall, we barely got to hang out since we made up and now that we don't have to worry about Sunset Shimmer we can just hang out like we did in freshman year."
"Dat does sound fun, but what about gettin' Twilight home, she probably wants to try and get the portal open. And what 'bout Sunset? Ah know she wants to change and all and Ah want to help her but bringin' her with us might be a bit uncomfortable for everyone."
"It'll be fine, Twilight needs to have some fun just as much as the rest of us and it might take a while to open the portal again so we should show her around a bit, also something's telling me to make sure Twilight has as much fun as possible before she goes home."
"Well if yer sure then okay, but what 'bout Sunset?" Applejack checked the hallway incase Sunset had woken up yet but saw no one.
"Bring her too, if she's going to learn about being friends then we can show her. And sometimes you need to give someone a push to help them get started so don't worry about her being a little uncomfortable, I think she'll warm up to us soon." She added the last part cutting off Applejack's next question.
"Alright, Ah'll tell Rainbow when she gets back 'bout it, what time you want us there?"
"How about nine?"
"Works for me, see ya soon Pinkie."
"Okay-Dokie-Loki, I have to call Rarity next, bye!"
Not long after the call Dash's parents got up and were pleasantly surprised to see breakfast was already ready for them, Sunset had still not woken up yet. It had been over a year since Applejack had been alone in the same room with Dash's parents and she had to say when their daughter was not around they were a little on the quiet side, mostly just eating in quiet contentment, though Applejack noticed they kept shooting glances to the front door. Applejack had finished her breakfast and was cleaning up when the front door opened and Rainbow came jogging in.
"I'm back, morning mom, morning dad, something smells good." The rainbow-haired teen said coming into the kitchen, her eyes lighting up when she saw the food. "Aw yeah, bacon," She quickly snatched up a pair of strips chomping into them as she leaned against the counter whipping her forehead with her free hand.
"Glad you like them, just save some for Sunset when she wakes up."
"She's still not up yet?" Dash asked mouth full of bacon, Applejack shook her head in response. "It's past seven already."
"Guess she's not a morning person. Though she'll need to get up soon if she wants to eat."
"How come?"
"Pinkie called said she wanted to get everyone together for a group day at the mall, said to bring Sunset with us so she can start getting used to the idea of friends." Applejack explained.
"Cool, it'll be nice to just hang out as friends again." Rainbow said diving faster into her food, "I can go wake up Sunset and we can be out in the hour."
"Before you go," Bow cut in. "I have something for Sunset that will help with her leg."
"Alright dad, I'll go wake her up," Rainbow said getting up.
"Maybe I should..." Applejack began saying only to see she was talking to a dust outline of her friend. "Or you can do it." She said gathering up the cleared dishes for the dishwasher. That girl, always dashing.
***
It felt good to be a pony again, Twilight thought as she came through the portal. It had been an interesting experience in the other world but she was happy to be back in Equestria, to feel her hooves against the cool crystal of the Crystal Empire. She was a little wobbly on her hooves standing on her hind legs, but she quickly came back down to all fours, feeling much more comfortable already.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy said, first to acknowledge her return.
"Ah! Your back!" Rainbow exclaimed flying over, getting a little too close for Twilight's liking but she didn't mind.
"You got your crown." Rarity noted looking up, Twilight pushed it back into place. Suddenly Pinkie wrapped herself around Twilight.
"I knew you could do it!" Her pink friend said confidently.
"Oh we were so worried," Applejack added wiping tears from her eyes.
Princess Celestia leaned over the farm pony. "Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?"
"I think she's going to be fine," Twilight said looking back to the mirror, knowing her new friends would keep their promise. "I left her in good hands."
"What are hands?" Rainbow asked, the other four looking just as confused. Suddenly Spike poped through the mirror behind Twilight and quickly examined himself, he seemed happy to be back in his true form wiggling his claws and getting to his feet.
"We should celebrate Twilight's return!" Pinkie exclaimed the others cheered in agreement starting down the hallway. "You coming?" She asked the two. Twilight nodded starting to follow, happy to be home.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
A relentless noise banged through the room as Twilight reeled under the terrible assault on her ears. What in Equestria is that terrible sound! Twilight thought as she tried to cover her ears to drown out the sound but it wouldn't stop, in fact, it seemed to be getting louder. Was it a warning Cadence had put in, were they under attack?
"Hey? what is that?" She asked looking at her friends. She gasped when she saw nopony was in the room with her, even Spike was gone, worse cracks were forming in the crystal walls and ground, growing with each beep. Twilight tried to back away from them but they were behind her as well closing her in trapping her all the while that terrible noise continued to grow.
"What is going on!?" Twilight shouted, nopony answered and the cracks reached her. The ground gave out beneath her and she was falling down into a pit of endless darkness. She flared her wings, trying to fly out of the pit but they refused to move and she just kept falling, all the while the relentless torment of the beeping continued.
Twilight's eyes shot open and she jolted out of her borrowed bed onto the ground, the beeping noise was still present but not as loud as it had been. Climbing to her feet she saw Spike was also awake, curled up on the ground, coving his ears with his paws. "Where is that sound coming from?" She questioned. He pointed to the nightstand next to the bed then went back to covering his ears.
Looking to the nightstand where a small box with a clock printed on its front that seemed to be the source of the beeping, picking it up Twilight began to examine the strange contraption. There were several buttons on top of it but no clear markings or instructions on how to turn the annoying thing off.
"How do I turn this off?" She asked.
"I don't know," Spike said keeping his ears covered, "Just please do something."
Shrugging Twilight started pounding on the buttons, which only seemed to make the contraption angry and it grew louder. Looking around she saw it was attached to the wall by a long cord and quickly yanked it out, the sound finally died.
"Finally," Spike said relaxing.
Twilight sighed as she dropped the cord, she missed her tree home, she missed the wood scent of it, and she missed waking up to the gentle sunlight that passed through her window instead of to mechanical monstrosities. While she had to admit Rarity had a very nice bed, certainly better than the book bed she had spent the previous couple nights on, it didn't feel the same as her bed back in Equestria.
Equestria, how she missed Equestria and her friends waiting for her back there, she hadn't been able to truly feel the homesickness before since she had a goal in mind, and the previous night had been so crazy she hadn't really processed everything. Now, after a night's rest and the dream she had had the homesickness came on in full, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Spike put a paw on her leg looking up at her. "We'll make it back okay." He said, Twilight nodded rubbing a hand to her eye brushing away the tears before they could start to fall. Picking up the dragon-turned-puppy she gave him a quick hug, she didn't hug him as often as she should of but there was something about his new form that told her to hug him more often.
"Right, Spike, I'm sure we'll be back home in no time, who knows it might even be today." She said encouragingly. "Now how about we go make some breakfast? I don't know about you but I could eat."
Smoke, that was the first thing Twilight smelled when she left Rarity's room, it wasn't strong but she definitely smelled smoke. "Fire!" Twilight shouted dropping Spike to the ground. "You go see what's on fire, I'll get Rarity and the girls!" She said running down the hall.
It took her a second to remember in her panic that she didn't know where Sweetie Belle's room was exactly and there were about six doors beside's Rarity's in the hallway. She chose the first door to her right throwing it open. "Rarity!" She said only to see it was a closet with a broom, no Rarity. The next one was a bathroom, and the two after that were both filled with clothes and clothing material.
"Fifth one's the charm," She said the smell of smoke was still in the air but hadn't gotten any stronger. Throwing open the door Twilight paused in confusion, it was not Sweetie Belle's room but a near-empty one with a few boxes and some curtains, though that's not what caused her to pause. It was the large white cat slowly sliding down the curtains with her claws as she stared at Twilight. "Okay..." She said slowly closing the door. Turning around to the final door she sighed and groaned when she saw the small S.B. printed on the door.
Inside it was an open room with some dolls, one of those magical computers she had used at the library, a rather full closet, and a queen-sized bed where her friend was sleeping soundly. Twilight didn't see the CMC's and hoped they were not the cause of the fire, though she had a feeling they were. "Rarity," Twilight said grabbing the sleeping teen. "Wake up."
"Oh yes... I would love another apple..." Rarity muttered in her sleep snuggling a pillow.
"Rarity, wake up!" Twilight shouted shaking her. "There's a fire!"
"What? What!?" Rarity said jerking up in bed fumbling with the face mask she was wearing. "Oh, Twilight darling, whatever are you doing up so early?" She asked with a yawn.
"I told you, I think there's a fire I smelled smoke and came looking for you," Twilight said.
"Really smoke you say," Rarity said looking around the room, surprisingly calm. "It would seem that we have a problem darling."
"Yes, we need to find the fire, identify what type of fire it is, put it out, and figure out how it started." Twilight listed off.
"Oh, that won't be necessary." Rarity said rising. "I believe I know what caused the smoke and the only danger it poses is to your stomach. Follow me." She led Twilight out of the bedroom to the kitchen where the CMC's were grouped together in front of the stove while Spike watched from the corner, eye raised when the two older teens entered. "My dear sister and her friends seem to be trying their hands at cooking again, and forgetting all my lessons while doing so."
"No we didn't." Sweetie protested, behind her the toaster dinged and popped out a pair of blackened pieces of bread that could not dare call themselves toast.
"You were saying?" She asked.
"Okay maybe we still need a little help," Scootaloo conceded. "But we made pancakes as well." She held out a plate of burn bumpy ovals of pancake batter, though they did look slightly edible compared to the toast.
"And we made apple juice," Applebloom added lifting up a pitcher of apple juice, which seemed to be the only part of the meal that had been done correctly.
"Well that's just lovely dear, why don't you go set the table while Twilight and I get some fruits for the side." Rarity said the three chirped in agreement grabbing the so-called food. "They really do try."
"I get it, they're just like this in my world." Twilight smirked, "Though from what I hear Sweetie Belle's an even worse cook over there. They never did tell me how they managed to burn juice."
"Goodness that does sound terrible," Rarity giggled opening the fridge. "Though I guess I shouldn't laugh since she is the counterpart of my sister. Here, a few strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple, and we should have a somewhat fitting breakfast."
When they did sit down at the table Twilight grabbed some of the berries and pineapple along with the apple juice, and a pancake that looked a little less burnt. The fruits were tasty, though they were not as good as the Equestrian foods she was used to, but still better than most of what she had since coming through the mirror. She tried to use the fork and knife on the pancake but she still couldn't get her mind around these confounded hands.
"Um darling, do you perhaps need any help?" Rarity asked wincing when Twilight's hand jerked, clacking the knife against her plate.
"No no, I got it," Twilight assured her narrowing her eyes at her hands. She was one of the most gifted unicorns to grace Celestia's school, she had been the Princess's personal student, she had become an Alicorn for crying out loud! She could figure out how to cut a burnt pancake with her hands!
Her hand spasmed and the knife slid off the plate scratching the table cloth. "Um... sorry," Twilight said to Rarity, her friend's eye twitched but she smiled.
"Don't worry dear, just let me help." She said taking the utensils from Twilight cutting up the pancake, the CMC's and Spike snickering while she did so. After it was cut up Rarity resumed her seat while Twilight took a bite of the burnt pastry, smiling at the CMC's who beamed proudly at their creation.
"So Rarity," Twilight said sipping her juice between bites. "I was thinking we could all go to the portal and I can try and use my magic to force it open. You know, as a first test."
"Sounds like a plan, I can call the others and-" Rarity's phone started buzzing cutting her off. "Well look at that, hello Pinkie Pie how are you this morning." Rarity said. "Oh yes, Twilight and I were just talking actually and... what? today? but we just- oh, Applejack already agreed. Yes, I guess that does make sense, alright I'll tell Twilight and see you then. Goodbye Pinkie."
"What did Pinkie say?" Twilight asked.
"She suggested that we all get together at the mall and have a day together, she already talked with Applejack about it, and she agreed."
"But what about going to the portal?" Twilight asked, as much as she would enjoy spending some time with her new friends without an impending threat to Equestria she wanted to go home.
"We could all go over tomorrow Twilight, it would be nice to catch a breath before dealing with magic again, and it would be nice to catch up with the girls again. We never got the chance before the formal."
"I don't know maybe you should go and Spike and I can go to the portal and try the crown." Twilight suggested.
"You could if that is your wish Twilight but it would be more fun if you joined us." Rarity said. "Though if it does not work I'm not sure how you will get back here without a phone or car."
"Oh yeah," Twilight said thinking it over for a second. On one hand, she wanted to get back to Equestria as soon as possible, her friends were probably worried sick about her, not to mention her family and the Princesses. On the other hand, though, it might be best to remain with the others in case she needed their help. Not to mention the others might be needed to force it open.
"Well, it is just one day..."
"You won't regret this darling." Rarity assured her.
Spike coughed from the ground getting their attention. "So, what do dogs eat in this world?"