//------------------------------// // The Morning After // Story: Applecorn // by tokyooranges //------------------------------// Applejack groaned loudly as she rolled over in bed, trying to avoid the sunbeams assaulting her eyes. Her body protested from the sudden motion and her head throbbed as though a long spike was being pounded into it. The farm pony wasn’t usually one to sleep in, however, whatever Pinkie Pie had put in the punch at her birthday party last night had certainly done a number on her. Rainbow Dash once said that If you couldn't remember it, it must have been awesome. Applejack strongly disagreed, at least there wasn't some strange stallion or mare in bed with her. "Those apples won't buck themselves." She mumbled into her pillow. She stumbled out of bed, shaking her head, trying to clear it. This only made the throbbing pains in her head worse. Suddenly there was a sharp knock at her bedroom door. Applejack cringed as the noise ricocheted around her skull, turning whatever solid brain matter she had left into the muddled mess it felt like. "Applejack, you awake? Granny Smith says breakfast's ready!" Applebloom cried. "Ah'm comin'." Applejack groaned, "You don't havta shout." "You alright? you sound like you swallowed a bullfrog, and Ah wasn't shoutin' Ah was just tellin' you." Her younger sister replied. Applebloom pushed open the door and looked up at Applejack, her jaw dropping. "Oh mah stars, Applejack, you're a princess?" Applejack frowned "What the hay are you talkin' about? Ah ain't no princess." "Look in the mirror. You got a wings and a horn." Applebloom nudged her sister in the direction of the mirror sitting above her dresser. Applejack looked into the mirror if only to humor her sister. She saw herself with her blonde mane and tail extremely disheveled. There was something pointy poking from her bangs. A horn was sticking out from her forehead. It was longer than Rarity or Twilight's by almost half and ended with a sharp tip instead of her unicorn friends' rounded ones. Two feathery wings hung limply from her shoulders. She glanced over to her bed and saw it was littered with bright orange feathers. She smiled and began to laugh. "Hoo-ee Pinkie Pie's outdone herself with this one. Ah didn't even notice them 'til you pointed them out." "Uh," Applebloom said, raising an eyebrow and prodding her sister's new wing. "Ah don't think this is somethin' of Pinkie's. These look and feel pretty real." "So did the apples Pinkie and Rainbow Dash painted up a while back. This is probably some kind of super special birthday prank of hers. Besides, if they were real, Ah'd be able to move them." Applejack assured her sister. The filly shook her head, "But what if they are real? You'd probably havta go live in Canterlot with the princesses and stuff. Ah don't want you to go away Applejack. Nopony else does either." Applebloom bit her lip and looked up at her big sister, a glimmer of something like fear in her eyes. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Now don't you worry none. After breakfast Ah'll find Pinkie and we'll get her to take these off. But If they are real, which Ah really doubt, and Ah am a princess, that means Ah can do what Ah want and Ah won't be goin' nowhere you can count on that." "Morning Applejack!" A bright pink, frizzy maned pony's head popped up outside her window, staring at the apple farmer with large blue eyes. Applejack jumped and her wings stiffened, standing straight up. "Pinkie Pie, how the hay are you out there, mah room's on the second floor." The pink party pony lifted a hoof from where she had it planted on the wall of the Apple family farmhouse, "Suction cups." She said brightly. "Ah see." Applejack said, having learned not to question her friend's peculiar quirks. Pinkie managed to push open the window and tumbled into the bedroom. "Nice wings, ooh a horn too, fancy!" "Speakin' of wings." Applebloom added, her ears drooping slightly. "Yours moved, they gotta be real." "Nonsense, that's just part of the prank right Pinkie?" Applejack asked, swallowing hard. "Oh no, why would I turn you into an alicorn? I only came over here because my Pinkie Sense told me that some super, ultra possibly catastrophic life changing thing was happening at Sweet Apple Acres. Anyway, it's usually Twilight who has that happen to her and usually it isn't for fun. Like this one time..." Applejack flinched at the word 'alicorn'. Her wings flopped uselessly to her sides and she barely heard the rest of Pinkie's ramblings. This just had to be some kind of joke. She was an earth pony, an apple farmer. She never had the slightest interest in magic or flying, or whatever it was that alicorns did. Sure she bore the Element of Honesty, but that was different, probably. She was broken off of her train of thought by the sound of two sets of hoofsteps. Granny Smith was standing in the doorway with Big Macintosh standing behind her. His usually stoic expression faltered momentarily. Other than that he said noting. "Ah send Applebloom up here ta git yer rump outta bed and the next thing ah know y'all are makin' more racket than a pack of timber wolves at a zap apple harvest." Granny smith scolded, gazing at Pinkie and her two granddaughters. "Sorry Granny, you see ah, uh-" Applejack was cut off by the old mare. "So yeh got yerself some new appendages, doesn't stop yeh from walkin' or buckin' apples does it? There ain't nothin' wrong with yeh." "Yes Granny Smith." Applejack said, dipping her head. "Ms. Pie, yeh kin stay fer breakfast if yeh like." "Thanks Granny Smith!" The pink pony said, trotting after the Apple family matriarch, her suction cups making popping noises as she walked. Big Mac gave his sister a worried look. "Ah'm fine." She said, meeting his gaze, "Really. Ah'll be down in a sec, just gotta brush my mane and what not." She said forcing a smile. Big Mac blinked and made his way downstairs. Applejack closed the door and slid her her hoof under the strap on her brush and began to run it through her tangled mess of a mane. She paused, staring at her reflection. "What the hay is happenin' to me?" She whispered. "Applejack!" Applebloom cried from the bottom of the stairs, "Ya better hurry or Pinkie Pie's gonna eat everything!" The farm pony's stomach grumbled in protest. She dropped her brush and grabbed her stetson, planting it on her head, and trotted down stairs. She sat down at the table and grabbed a plate of pancakes that Pinkie had not discovered yet and began to eat. The food made her feel a little better, but the knot of worry in her chest only tightened. Applebloom said she was a princess, it was indeed a ridiculous notion, but what if she was forced to live in the palace to rule Equestria with Celestia and Luna. She strongly disliked politics, that was more Big Mac's cup of cider. 'No.' She thought to herself, her expression hardening momentarily. 'Ah'm gonna stay here in Ponyville no matter what. Mah place is at Sweet Apple Acres. "Wow Pinkie!" Applebloom said, watching the party pony practically inhale her food. "You could probably give Big Mac a run for his money." "Eenope." The stallion in question said. Applejack noticed he had barely touched his plate. Usually the stallion would have been on his third plate of food by now. Was it because he was being polite, or because of her. "Ooh maybe we should have a pancake eating contest!" Pinkie added."Then we'd know for sure who could eat more." Applebloom snorted, "Ah don't think there's enough pancake batter in Equestria for that." "I'm sure we could figure out something!" Pinkie said before gulping down the last of her apple juice. "Thanks for breakfast Granny Smith!" Pinkie said cheerfully. Applejack looked down at her half eaten breakfast then up at Pinkie, who was heading toward the door. She didn't want everypony else knowing about her, changes, at least not right away. "Pinkie, wait." She said, getting up and trotting over to the pink pony. "What is it Applejack?" "Can you uh, not tell anypony about this?" She whispered. "Your secret's safe with me! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She said going through the motions of the Pinkie Pie Swear. Applejack chuckled, as erratic as her friend's behavior was, she could always be counted on to keep her word. "Thanks Pinkie." "No Problemo! I gotta run though, the Cakes need me to watch Pound and Pumpkin for a bit while they deliver an order. See you later!" With that, Ponyville's party pony left. Applejack raised her back hooves to buck a tree, but as she did her wings flopped forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. "Horsefeathers!" She swore, picking herself up. Big Mac trotted up to her, a worried look on his face. "Ah don't need help!" She snapped, glaring at her brother. Big Mac sighed. "Ah was only gonna ask why don't you just fold em." He glanced at her wings, they were now dirty and some of the feathers bent at odd angles from the falls she had taken because of them. "Ah would if Ah could." She rolled her eyes and adjusted her stetson. "They don't do anything at all, they only flared up that one time when Pinkie spooked me, but that was it. Rainbow once said something about how pegasi wings get a mind of their own whenever a pegasus gets excited." "Ah see." Big Mac replied. Applejack grumbled incoherently and attempted to buck the tree again. This time she made her mark and apples rained down into the bushels positioned around the tree. "Ah can still do this. You can get back to your part of the orchard. Ah just had to adjust mah balance was all. Ah'm fine, just like Granny Smith said." Applejack said, waving a hoof at her brother. "If you say so." Big Macintosh said, frowning in disbelief. "Ah'm serious. now get back to work or Granny will tan both our hides." Big Mac sighed and walked back over to the other side of the orchard, casting one last look at Applejack. The farm pony snorted and got ready to buck another tree. "Hi again!" Pinkie Pie cried. She was hanging upside down from the apple tree holding an apple in her hoof. Applejack's wings flared and she toppled forward again. "Stop doin' that!" she grunted and stood back up with as much dignity as she could muster. "Sorry." The pink pony said brightly, taking a large bite out of the apple. "I finished watching the twins and I thought you could use some company." "Well ah don't. I just wanna be alone and do my job." Applejack grunted, bucking another tree and toppling over for the third time as her wings flopped back down. "Well, according to my Pinkie Sense, one of my friends was feeling down and the only pony who I could think of who had any reason to feel down was you. I mean you were suddenly turned into an alicorn against your will and all." She tossed the rest of the apple into her mouth. Applejack snorted vehemently, "Maybe you're wrong, Rarity probably has some kind of silly crisis of hers or Twilight lost one of her checklists." "If Twilight misplaced a checklist of hers she'd just make a checklist of all the places she could have possibly placed it. Why she doesn't just make a new checklist is beyond me, but, I got it!" Pinkie clopped her hooves together. "We could ask Twilight about the whole alicorn thing. She'd know something. Even if she didn't she can get in contact with the princesses and they could fix this. But if they could just like that this story would end up being a lot shorter. Anyway, I know you made me promise not to tell anypony, but I think the girls should know, Spike too. We're your friends A.J." Applejack frowned, her brow furrowing deeply. "Ah guess so." She said with a sigh. "Okey dokey lokey! I'll be back in a jiffy." "Wait!" Applejack called as the tip of Pinkie's mane disappeared into the branches. "Yeah?" Pinkie said, popping out of a bushel of apples. Applejack blinked, slightly confused, but quickly regained her composure. "Just uh, tell them to meet me in the barn where we had my party last night." "Alrighty!" Pinkie Pie saluted her before sinking back into the bushel. Applejack shifted through the apples, but there was no sign of the party pony. She shook her head and turned to see Big Mac bucking a tree not far from her. "Hey, Ah'm supposed to be doing this part of the orchard!" Applejack said, giving her brother a stern look. "Your mind isn't on your work. If you can't focus, it might be better for you to just take the day off. Ah don't mind the extra work." Big Mac said simply. "Don't you be gettin' all philosophical on me Big Macintosh. Ah can buck all these apples and more! Just you watch!" She bucked another tree, this time managing not to fall over but she still stumbled forward a few paces. "See!" She said, her voice shaking slightly. "Ah told you Ah could." The workhorse sighed and looked at his younger sister. "You need to stop bein' so stubborn and let us worry about you sometimes." "No you don't! Ah- Ah'm..." She faltered, her voice cracking. "Ah'm scared Big Mac." She shuddered and a single tear rolled down her cheek. A moment later her body was wracked by sobs. Big Macintosh wrapped a comforting foreleg around his sister's shoulders, pressing her against his body as she sobbed into his chest. Applejack felt like a filly again with her big brother to protect her. The solid warmth of his presence made her feel safe. Nothing could hurt her here. She had not cried like this in a long time. Not since their parents' funeral. "Ah dunno what's gonna happen to me. Ah don't wanna leave the farm." She hiccuped. Big Macintosh made gentle shushing noises. "Everything's gonna be alright." He murmured. "Anypony who wants to take you away from here is gonna have to get through me first." "T-Thanks Big Mac." Applejack said, pressing herself closer to her brother.