//------------------------------// // Apple Industries // Story: Multiversal Voyage // by King Ice //------------------------------// Universe 25197 Applejack yelped as she hit something hard and finally came out of the portal, only to sink into an unknown container. The earth pony groaned in pain as her head spun around, feeling as if she had been hit on the head by a brick. The mare put a hoof on her forehead and looked around, realizing that she was stuck in a dark and cramped place. "Where in tarnation am I?” Applejack muttered as she moved her hooves around, feeling the fabric around her. It seemed she was surrounded by plastic bags… And it stank! She gagged in disgust as she quickly escaped the container and jumped out of it. Looking back confirmed it. She had been in a dumpster. “Great. I sure do enjoy gettin' teleported right into them trash bins!” She grumbled sarcastically as she noticed her hat was missing. She looked at the dumpster and sighed before sticking her head inside and finding her hat. “Now that’s better!” She exclaimed as she put it on. Her eyes scanned the area, inspecting where she had landed. She seemed to be in a small alley, dirty and cramped. Not as much as the dumpster she was in before, but still. Well, she wouldn't complain. Ending up in a dumpster was better than being vaporized by a magical stone. She also noticed that she was between tall buildings, which meant that she had probably been transported into a big city somehow. However, before she could ask any more questions, a white light flashed in front of her and turned into a portal-like mirror, revealing Twilight's face. “Oh, I hope this works… I-I don’t know if this message will reach you or when it will reach you, girls, because… Time is all messed up in this place! Broken and unrepairable! And I’m not sure I’ll ever manage to get back without you, but listen carefully!” Twilight frantically shouted while seemingly running from something. “You can’t escape!” A distorted and almost demonic voice screamed from behind the alicorn. “The stone is… some kind of magical artifact that allows… multiversal travel!” Twilight shouted between breaths before shooting a beam of magic at something out of the picture’s range. “Basically, you are all in different worlds! Okay? This is not the Equestria you know! No matter how nice or how bucked up it seems… Just remember that! Luckily… I have… Found another stone in the universe I’m in… Ah!” Twilight screamed in pain, seemingly hit by something, but kept running. “We’ve traveled together, so that means we’re still connected… I don’t have… Time to explain it fully, but find another stone! No matter… How the universe you are in is… The stone will be there! It always will! Once we’re all holding on to it at the same time… We’ll go back ho-” Twilight explained before the portal was suddenly shut, and the light faded away. Applejack simply fell silent after witnessing this display. Her mouth was agape, seemingly ready to let flies fly in as she struggled to find the words. The earth pony closed and opened her mouth, only to close it again as she facehoofed. “So not only am I separated from my friends… Ah’m stuck in a whole dang different world? I just got here and you give me all of that to digest?” Applejack complained as she rubbed the back of her head. “How in tarnation am I s'posed to find that stone?” She figured she should start by figuring out where she was and what kind of fucked up world this was. Because there was no way she was going to miraculously end up in a nice place. That would be too easy! She walked to the end of the alley to see what the outside world looked like, narrowing her eyes as the sunlight blinded her. She let out a scream as the state of the world confronted her... Then she stopped when she finally got a good look at it. It was a city, Manehattan to be exact. She screamed louder. This forced several ponies to turn around and give her a few glances, but they quickly looked away, unwilling to meet the eyes of a maniac. A few seconds later, Applejack finally calmed down and walked away. “Ah reckon this world doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would… Well, Twilight did say it might be a nice universe, too,” Applejack talked to herself while looking around. She didn’t really go to Manehattan a lot, but it seemed to be approximately the same as it was back in her original world. “Should I look for this world’s versions of ourselves? Might be the only way to get back home, ah suppose,” She added as she inspected herself. No saddlebags and no clothes, which meant no bits on her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any under her hat either. Taking a train to Ponyville or Canterlot would be difficult without money. Though, worrying about that made her notice some of the looks she was getting just now. They were different from the ones she had gotten earlier when she had screamed like a mad mare. Most indicated that the ponies were surprised to see her there, while others were in awe. Well, that wasn't so unusual since she had saved Equestria and all, which must have been true for this version of herself as well. But being stared at like that was a rare occurrence. She wondered what she and her friends were doing in this world, or if everything was the same. Luckily, she came across some free newspapers. This was the perfect opportunity for her to see what was happening in the world lately. First of all, today's year was 2800, which meant... Actually, she didn't know what it meant. Was she two years into the future, even if this was a different world? She read the headline and immediately raised an eyebrow. PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND HER FRIENDS DEFEAT THE PONY OF SHADOWS! The following text named every one of them and explained how they’ve beaten the pony of shadows, even if it wasn’t totally accurate. Why did they defeat only now in this world? Shouldn’t that have happened two years ago? There were several other articles on them. But wait, she only now noticed something… strange. She didn’t appear in any of the pictures with them! Her name wasn’t mentioned either! Applejack carefully inspected the articles and the pictures again, then widened her eyes in shock. Someone else… Someone else was the element of honesty. Someone else became friends with Twilight and the others. Someone else helped them and lived the happiest life she could imagine, one surrounded by outstanding friends. And that someone else… was Lyra. Lyra replaced her?! What the hell?! Why wasn’t she with them?! Did she not go with them in that forest that night? Did Lyra go instead? Or did she die against Nightmare Moon and they just went “Buck it! We’ll find a replacement!” She reread the articles, hoping to be wrong, but it was useless. No matter how much she read it… She still wasn’t mentioned once. She knew this wasn’t her home, and that she shouldn’t care because she was friends with all of them in her world. They lived those things together and that was all that mattered. Nevertheless, thinking that there was a universe where she wasn’t friends with them kinda hurt. Especially if she was replaced by Lyra. She didn’t hate her, but still… There were better options, surely! At least, they looked happy. Maybe that universe wasn’t so bad… She read a few other headlines out of curiosity. SCHOOL OF FRIENDSHIP: SOON TO OPEN! FLIM AND FLAM BROTHERS CORPS NEAR BANKRUPTCY: STOCK FALL BY 80% WONDERBOLT RAINBOW DASH BEATS ALL SPEED RECORDS! IS SHE EVEN A PONY? DRAMA AT ANNUAL SUGAR-EATING CONTEST: 3 INJURED! HERO OF EQUESTRIA, PINKIE PIE, REFUSES TO COMMENT! PRINCESS LUNA AND TWILIGHT VELVET? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING? Applejack's eyebrows furrowed as she tossed the newspaper away. This would serve as a friendly reminder to avoid reading the magazine in her universe. There were no articles about her, so she figured this version of her was probably not famous or anything. Well! As long as she was happy back on the farm and her family was well, Applejack was delighted. Her train of thought was abruptly cut off when she was faced with something unusual. Not unusual per se, but something she was sure wasn’t supposed to be in Manehattan. A remarkably tall and fancy-looking building. What shocked her was what was written on it in huge letters: “Apple Industries”. Was… Was that just a coincidence? Was there someone from her family that had a huge business? Staring at the great tower, she didn't notice the two unicorns (apparently security guards) whispering to each other and glancing in her direction. Suddenly, someone burst out of the front door and muttered orders at them, to which they nodded. “Excuse me, ma’am,” One of the security guards called out to Applejack, attracting her attention. “Our boss would like to see you,” The second one explained as the earth pony raised an eyebrow. “Can I know why?” She inquired as the guards looked at each other. Considering she was in another world, she didn’t want to waste time getting into trouble with someone from this place. Moreover, she found it too suspicious that someone would want to see her when she just got there. Unless… “Our boss says that you will be interested in meeting her since… You are new here,” The security guard replied as the other soon joined in. “You have a familiar face,” He added. Unless the owner of this building actually was her alternate self. If anyone could help, it would be herself, right? Still… That remained suspicious. Why wasn’t she friends with the others? “Alright… Lead the way,” She conceded as the guards nodded and walked back toward the building, closely followed by Applejack. To say she was impressed was an understatement. This tower had up to 18 floors, and the elevator they took was transparent, so she could see what each floor looked like. There were so many desks and ponies working behind them, she couldn't even count them all! It made her wonder if she was wrong, and that this wasn't actually being run by a version of her. She knew she would never work in such an environment. And she wasn't sure how any of this helped sell apples. Finally, they reached the last floor. The security guards led her until they reached a single door at the end of an empty hallway. “Boss is waiting for you inside,” One of the guards said as Applejack nodded and walked in without further due. The room was spacious, with a few bookshelves and certificates on the walls that she didn't bother reading to see what they were about. There was a large window in the back that offered a great view of Manehattan. But what caught her attention was the large desk and the chair behind it, facing the window. The moment she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, the chair turned to face her... and she was met with an identical copy of her face. As expected, another Applejack was sitting behind the desk. She was not wearing a cowboy hat, much to Applejack's dismay, but had a gold necklace with a red gem pendant. She was also wearing a business suit. "Well, well, well. It wasn’t just my impression! You sure do look like a spittin' image of me, but Ah reckon you ain't no changelin', now, are ya?" The splitting image of Applejack exclaimed as she got off her chair and walked to the original Applejack. The outworlder widened her eyes as they landed on the other Applejack’s cutie mark, which wasn’t apples but stacks of bits. “How do ya know I ain’t a changeling?” She asked with suspicion only for the second Applejack to chuckle. “'Cause you sure ain't the first one to come from some other world and landin' right on my doorstep! And looking at ya… Ah suppose your life took a different turn from mine,” The other Applejack replied as she looked over the original, noticing her cutie mark. “Ah already know what yer looking for. First, some presentations are in order, aren’t they… Other me?” She added with a small smile. Applejack gulped as she stared at her with apprehension… She already saw those looks on other ponies… On ponies, she would rather avoid. The earth pony was starting to understand why her other self wasn’t friends with the others, and saving the world with them.