//------------------------------// // 2 // Story: Mirrored - Part 1: Applejack // by Jet Cannon //------------------------------// AJ lay in bed, sleep ending gently as the late morning sunlight streamed through a crack in the curtains. The familiar sounds of the farm filtered in from outside, animals lowing and machinery at work (although some of this sounded a bit strange), with the scent of ripe, fresh apples just ready for harvest completing everything. Not yet ready to get up, AJ snuggled under the covers more, eyes still closed, and thought about last night. Whoo-ee! That sure was one humdinger of a dream Ah had last night! Felt so real, too… Ah looked all funny, then Ah was fallin’ through the air, and Ah fell into a big river. That was real scary; Ah thought Ah was a goner fer sure. N’then, this weird lookin’ guy showed up n’saved me! Huh, actually seemed kinda handsome fer a… whatever he was. Better not tell Rarity ‘bout that, or she’ll tease me somethin’ proper! Applejack yawned, bringing a hand to her mouth, before snapping her eyes open and recoiling from it when she realised that it was just that: a five-fingered hand and not a hoof. She threw back the covers and examined herself quickly, seeing her body for what it was (although now dressed in a tank top and shorts), and realised that her dream had actually happened. She shivered then as she remembered the cold and her fear, clutching her arms across her chest and holding herself for a few moments until she calmed down. She looked around the room she was in, realising that it was, of course, not her own. It didn’t appear to be anything special, perhaps slightly longer than her room and not as wide, with a simple dresser on one side and a wardrobe on the other, plus a stand-alone mirror in the corner. Perhaps the only familiar thing there was her hat, which she saw hanging by a hook on the back of the door. Springing from the bed with the intention of retrieving it instead gave her backside a rather forceful introduction to the hard wooden floor. Ouch! Guess Ah’m not quite used to these ‘ere pins… She grimaced at her injury and tried to lean forward to rub it, but her limbs, unfamiliar as they were, refused to fully cooperate (again), and instead introduced her face to the floor as well. “Consarnit!” At least her voice sounded the same. With some effort she raised herself to a seated position again, managing this time to actually rub her cheek. Face cheek, as in. Wait, why am Ah explainin’ things t’mah subconscious? Get a grip, girl. She focused her attention on her new hind legs, or rather just legs, as her new body seemed to be bipedal: they were simple, with only two sections, and had five-toed feet instead of hooves. How good for bucking apple trees they were she couldn’t begin to say, but they did at least seem firm and well-toned. Her cutie marks now adorned her outer thighs, and unlike before were actually ingrained in her skin, rather than just being made of fur. Her attention then moved to her arms, which looked similar to her legs except for being thinner and jointed in the opposite direction. Having hands was one of the biggest changes in her physiology. She held them in front of her face, turning them over and flexing her fingers again and again. There could be advantages to having them she supposed, especially as she neither had magic nor highly supple wings, but still… they would take some getting used to. Well, Spike’s got them Ah guess, and he’s really great at bein’ Twilight’s assistant, so it can’t be too hard to use ‘em properly, right? Deciding to risk standing again she turned and held onto the bed, slowly raising herself to her knees before making the transition to her feet. Now that she thought about it, and didn’t try moving like a pony, standing wasn’t quite as hard as she had feared, so taking things to the next level she walked the length of the bed and back again. It came naturally enough, although she remained slightly wobbly and had to practice for a minute before being able to go to the mirror for a more thorough examination of her body. Applejack spent several minutes staring at her face alone, amazed at how flat it looked whilst still being recognisably her. Her mane now sprouted from all across the top of her head and down the back to just above the neck, but was otherwise largely unchanged. Have to find some ribbon or somethin’ ta tie this together with. The lack of any visible tail was in fact even stranger than having hands: replacing one appendage with something else was one thing, but removing an appendage entirely… She shook her head and tried not to think about it too much. For better or worse, the next part of her examination proved plenty distracting. Applejack had never really… experimented with herself particularly, mostly due to her father’s rather strict lessons on the subject, and so did not pay her nethers anywhere near the same amount of attention that others did theirs (some of her closest friends included). But this, coupled with having to check and see what differences her new body had brought, were more than enough reason to give her a growing sense of trepidation as she slowly reached for the waistband of her shorts and began to pull down. Oh! Well, Ah guess that’s not so different after all. Whew, had me worried there. But now hold on a minute! Where are…? They’re not here! Where’ve they gone?! A brainwave struck Applejack then, and she pulled the tank top over her head. There they are! But why’re they on mah chest now? And what in the hay’re with these things?! She held the two sizeable fleshy mounds in her hands, completely nonplussed, before abandoning any attempts at trying to make sense of them, instead sitting back down on the bed and holding her head. Lesser minds may have broken in confusion, leaving their owners gibbering wrecks at the senselessness of it all. Applejack did not pretend to be particularly learned, but such does not define a strong mind, and as such she quickly composed herself and decided to take the next logical step of discovery: leaving the room. She stood and walked to the door, but her hand stopped on the doorknob, and she looked down at herself again. She didn't normally wear clothes apart from her hat, still hanging on the hook in front of her, as they were both unnecessary and would only get dirty with her work on the farm. But this new body suddenly felt very exposed, with no hair to cover herself except that on her head, and she was all too aware of her more private areas being on display rather more than they were before. And so, by the time she finally left the room, she had replaced the tank top and shorts, completing the admittedly odd ensemble with her Stetson and making her way downstairs, handrail held tightly in case of wobble. Ah think Rarity’d have a fit if she saw me like this… The house was very similar to her own: rustic, chaotic, cosy and, most importantly, it felt like a home. She could feel family history oozing from the walls, and she knew that everywhere she looked would bring another happy memory to its owners. She wandered from room to room, not wanting to pry into this family’s personal place, but at the same time curious as to why she hadn’t come across anypony yet. Well, anyone, Ah s’pose, seein’ as Ah’m not a pony no more. She came into the kitchen/dining area, which had good views to the farmyard outside, and looked through the windows to see if there was anyone around. Not a soul to be seen. She idly looked at the large barn outside before her attention was grabbed by a board stuck to the wall between two windows. On it was a display of family photographs, showing several of the creatures she had now become. Raising her eyebrows in surprise, she realised that this family was very similar to her own, comprising three children and a grandparent. In one picture of the children, a little red-haired boy in a yellow t-shirt was shown climbing a tree whilst his older sister stood underneath, her ginger hair hanging loose against her red blouse, concerned amusement evident in the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. And from behind her, clearly running into frame just as the picture had been taken, was another brother, much taller than either of his siblings and with a blonde ponytail flying in the wind behind him. His expression was all too clear, Applejack herself having one very much like it: “Apple Bloom, you get down from there!”. Oh gosh, Apple Bloom! She’ll be wondrin’ where Ah’ve got to! An’ all the girls too! Gee, Twilight, you and yer crazy spells! Wait, spell? Yeah, that was it! We were all ‘round at her house, she cast it just last night! Now what in the hay was it meant to do, again? Consarnit, brain, work! Somethin’ ‘bout… lookin’ at different… somethin’ or other… Gah! Ah can’t think of it! A mental mist had descended upon her memories of the previous night’s events, prior to falling from a cloud. Try as she might she couldn’t budge it, not even by screwing her eyes tight shut and straining her mind with all her might until she thought she might burst. “Excuse me, miss, are you alright?” “Wah!” She instinctively jumped away from the voice which had appeared behind her, but unfortunately was intercepted by a well-placed footstool and found herself once more sprawled upon the floor. “Ow…” she moaned, her backside barely having recovered from its previous assault. “Oh God, are you ok?” The voice sounded out again, and she looked up to see the older brother from the photograph. He was leaning over her, hand outstretched to help her up, concern etched on his face. Seeing him again made her realise that it was also he who saved her from the river; somehow seeing just a photograph had not been enough to connect him with her memories of last night. “Uh, yeah, Ah… Ah think so.” She accepted his hand, grasping it somewhat awkwardly in her own, and he pulled her to her feet. Neither had been easily able to judge their heights to the other before, and although he was in boots and she was barefoot it was clear that he was at least head-and-shoulders taller than her. Applejack wasn't quite sure how tall this made her new body compared to her old one, but thoughts of height were momentarily replaced by thoughts of his face, in a similar fashion to Adam’s own thoughts the night before. She shook herself mentally: now was not the time to think about that. “Listen, before anythin’ else, thank you fer savin’ mah life. Ah was mighty cold and disoriented after fallin’ outta that cloud, an’ Ah probably would’ve died if you hadn’t been there. Ah’m mighty grateful, and Ah’m more than willin’ to repay ya in any way Ah can, although Ah don’t really have anythin’ much with me right now ‘cept mah hat−” “There’s no need fer any o’that!” Adam quickly said, raising his hands in protest. “Ah was just doin’ what any decent person would do in the circumstances.” “Decent or not, it was mighty brave to jump into a ragin’ river to save the life o’somepony you’ve never even met before! You have to let me make it up to you somehow!” she pleaded. As far as Applejack was concerned one right deserved another, regardless of how little you may be able to give back. Adam seemed to be considering her offer, but was actually just puzzling over her choice of words. “…somepony?” he queried after a short while. “Oh, right. Guess that wouldn’t make much sense, huh?” She laughed awkwardly and rubbed her arm, thinking desperately as something rather important popped into her mind: How the hay am Ah gonna start explainin’ this?! Ah’m not even sure what happened in the first place! “Tell ya what,” said Adam after a short but uncomfortable pause, “Ah’ve gotta go clean up fer lunch. How’s about after that, Ah’ll cook us both up somethin’ and you can tell me why exactly you were fallin’ outta a cloud in the first place?” Right on cue, Applejack’s stomach rumbled loudly, and Adam grinned as she blushed and turned away. “Ok then. Make yerself comfortable, Ah won’t be too long.” And he went upstairs, leaving Applejack alone. Precisely five seconds later, they each thought the exact same thing: Consarnit, didn’t even introduce mahself!