Chapter 2
Starbloom woke up feeling better; pushing the events of yesterday from her mind, she got out of bed and checked the time. It was still early. Even Twilight was still in bed, so she headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower before school. She stood under the warm water letting it relax her before washing herself off.
She was getting used to doing things without magic, though it could still be tricky. Once she had finished washing, she turned the water off and shook herself dry before getting out. She went to the mirror and brushed her mane and tail out then brushed her teeth.
By now, Twilight was up and getting breakfast ready for the both of them. She smiled to herself, she had only been here a day but Twilight had made her feel very welcome. She wasn't sure if it was because they are the same pony at heart, or because she felt responsible for bringing her. Either way she was grateful for it. Starbloom headed downstairs to the kitchen and took a seat, looking up at Twilight as she finished preparing breakfast and placed it on the table.
"Good morning Starbloom, did you sleep well?" Twilight asked, joining the filly at the table. Since she hadn't been in such a rush, she was able to make a better breakfast than the day before.
"Yes I did, thank you." Starbloom replied smiling at Twilight. Starbloom had been having dreams of her former life, but they hadn't been bad dreams. She ate quietly, thinking about something before she spoke up. "Do you think I can walk to school myself today?"
Twilight was surprised by the request looking at the small filly, but she had to remind herself that Starbloom was a grown up at heart. "Yes of course, if you think you’re ready." Twilight said after thinking about the request. "Just don't push yourself too hard okay?"
She smiles at Twilight nodding at her. "I won’t Twilight, I promise, thank you." She finished her breakfast just as a knock came from the library's front door. She got up from the table. "I think that's Sweetie Belle," she said to a confused Twilight as she goes to get her saddlebags. "See you later Twilight."
"Have a good day Starbloom." Twilight called back to the filly and smiled, shaking her head giggling softly hearing the door close. "Wonder if I was like that at her age." She cleaned up the dishes and put everything away. She started to make some tea and get things ready for her friends. She had promised to explain about Starbloom today.
Twilight
About an hour after Starbloom and Sweetie Belle had left the library and went to school, Twilight's friends arrived. She opened the door to let them inside. She still wasn't sure if she had made the right choice, but it was too late now. Once they had come in, she closed the door and went to take a seat with her friends.
"Good morning everyone, thank you all for coming." Twilight smiled at the gathered group of friends. "As I had promised yesterday, I'll explain about Starbloom today. I must admit I spent all of yesterday and last night thinking about the best way to do this." She looks up at the ceiling closing her eyes for a minute.
"Take yer time, sugacube." Applejack said reassuringly to Twilight. "We wanna know ‘bout this new filly an’ all, but don't stress yerself about it."
Twilight smiled at Applejack before nodding. "Rarity, you remember when I came to your place about two weeks ago with those dreams I been having?" She asked, looking over at Rarity who nodded at her with a smile. "But of course I remember. I had never seen you in such a state." Rarity answered her.
"Well it turns out the dreams went beyond just being simple dreams. What I was dreaming turned out to be a different timeline all together," she paused to let that sink in as she considered how to continue. She looks over at Fluttershy spoke next.
"You mean, like the multiverse theory?" Fluttershy asked, and then shrank back when everyone looked at her wide-eyed as if she had a manticore on her head. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt with my silly idea."
Twilight shakes her head, "No, not at all Fluttershy that is actually correct. It is like the theory of the multiverses." She said then looks at her other friends, most of whom didn't seem to understand. "Let me explain it this way," she said using her magic to float over a coin. "Say I threw this coin in the air, there is a chance it'll land Celestia side up, and a chance it'll land Luna side up."
"What does that have to do with the multiverse thing you and Fluttershy were talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked looking at the coin then back at Twilight blinking a bit. She looked at the others to see if any of them was getting it. Rarity seemed to have an idea about it, but Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked just as confused as Rainbow Dash was.
Twilight tosses the coin in the air; watch it flip in the air and land Luna side up. "In this timeline, it landed Luna side up. But just consider for a minute, the moment the coin went into the air, a separate timeline came into existence where it landed Celestia side up."
"I still don't get it, does that mean there is a thousand me's running around?" Pinkie Pie asked looking at Twilight, then down at the coin picking it up. "What if I caught the coin when you threw it?"
"In theory, yes Pinkie." She said looking over at her taking the coin back. "If you had caught it, then we would be in that time line." She shakes her head and smiles. "But let's put the whole multiverse theory aside for a minute. I'm getting off track. The dream I was having I was seeing into one of these other timelines. The experiment I was performing that resulted in the small explosion, well in the timeline I was seeing into the explosion had been a lot bigger, Spike actually died in it, and the most of the library was destroyed in the blast."
The other five all looked at each other for a minute before looking back to Twilight, who gave them time to let what she had just said sink in. Rarity spoke up again as she looked at her, "What does this have to do with Starbloom, Twilight?" though having said that something dawned on her, "You don't mean... she is actually you from that timeline do you?"
Twilight gave a slow nod to her friends, "Yes Rarity, she is. Why she is a filly I'm not sure but I brought her here from her timeline to ours." She took a deep breath, "The explosion had caused many events to unfold that resulted in Celestia stripping away her horn, and cutie mark."
Everyone was quiet for a few minutes before Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and Rarity spoke up, "You didn't want her to suffer that fate alone did you?"
Twilight shook her head and smiled at Applejack, then looked back to the others. “I had to try to do something to help her, though I'm not sure how I managed to bring her to this world. Now that she's here though, I'm going to do my best to help her. It could have easily have been me in her place."
The other five nod at Twilight and smiled at her in understanding. "We will all do what we can to help as well Twilight. You don't have to do it by yourself." Rarity said, the others nodding in agreement.
Starbloom
"Good morning Starbloom." Sweetie Belle smiled at her as she walked out of the library closing the door, both started to walk to school. "After school you wanna come to the Cutie Mark Crusader club house with me?" She asked looking over at her Starbloom.
"Good morning Sweetie Belle," Starbloom smiled back, Sweetie Belle following alongside her. "Sure that sounds like fun Sweetie Belle. I suppose Apple bloom and Scootaloo are going to be there?"
"Not today, Apple bloom has to help on the farm and Scootaloo said she wanted to practice some new tricks, so it'll just be us." Sweetie Belle answered.
"Well, that's too bad, but I'm sure we'll still have fun." Starbloom said with a smile to Sweetie Belle.
Starbloom looked up at the school when they got to it. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo arrived shortly after, and all four of them went inside to get into their seats. The school day passed quietly, Starbloom avoided any major slip-ups and at lunch Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon pretty much avoided her and the other members of the Crusaders.
Once school was over, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo headed home and Sweetie Belle and Starbloom first went the Library so Starbloom could drop off her saddlebags and let Twilight know where she was going. After that, they went to Carousel Boutique so Sweetie Belle could do the same.
At the boutique, Starbloom noticed the odd look Rarity kept giving her, but she kept quiet. She figured by now Twilight had told Rarity and the rest of the girls about her, though she wasn't too sure what exactly Twilight had told them. "I'll be back later Rarity," Sweetie Belle said, bringing Starbloom out of her thoughts. She nodded at Rarity and smiles.
"Alright Sweetie Belle, you two have fun and stay out of trouble." Rarity said smiling to both of them as she sees them to the door. "And Sweetie Belle, try to be back before dinner alright?"
"I will Rarity," Sweetie Belle smiles and the two fillies head out of the boutique and make their way to Sweet Apple Acres where the club house was. Passing by where Apple Bloom was helping, stopping to say hi to her. "Hi Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle greeted her friend. Starbloom smiles "Hello Apple Bloom."
"Hiya girls, what brings ya'll here?" Apple Bloom asked smiling coming over from where she had helped to stack baskets of apples.
"We're going to club house; I thought it would be good to show Starbloom." Sweetie Belle said smiling at Apple Bloom. Starbloom remained quiet but gave a nod at what Sweetie Belle had said. Looking all the work Apple Bloom had to do then looked over at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
"If you want we could help you with this work," Starbloom offered, Sweetie Belle blinks at her and Apple Bloom shakes her head. "Nah that's okay, I can handle this. Ya'll go ahead and check out the clubhouse," Apple Bloom said smiling.
Sweetie Belle smiled, "We'll see you later Apple Bloom." she said before leading Starbloom away. "See you later" Starbloom called behind her as she ran to catch up with Sweetie Belle, following her along the path heading into the apple orchard where the clubhouse was.
Soon they came upon the clubhouse built into one of the bigger trees, Starbloom looked at it in amazement smiling. "That is very cool, you girls built this?" She asked looking over at Sweetie Belle, her eyes wide.
"Well no, it used to be Applejack's but Apple Bloom fixed it up for us." Sweetie Belle said smiling at Starbloom. "Scootaloo and I helped, but Apple Bloom did most of the actual construction work and painting."
"Oh I see," Starbloom nods as she listens to Sweetie Belle, wondering why Apple Bloom didn't get a construction cutie mark for all the work she did to the clubhouse. She followed Sweetie Belle up the walkway and inside, still amazed by everything. It was her first time seeing it. Even when she was still Twilight, she never came out to the clubhouse.
Sweetie Belle gave Starbloom the basic tour of the clubhouse. Showing her their thinking spot, the map, roll call list, and everything. "I must admit, I’m impressed with everything." Starbloom said she walked around looking at everything, "I never had anything like this growing up...." She blinks and quickly corrected herself "In Canterlot I mean" she looks at Sweetie Belle and smiles, relieved that Sweetie Belle didn't seem to notice the slip.
Sweetie Belle smiled big at Starbloom and nods a lot. "We're very proud of our club house. We have all kinds of fun out here coming up with plans and adventures to get our cutie marks."
Starbloom nodded, she knew that much. she moved to the window and sat down, looking out it. "I'm sure we'll get our cutie marks soon." She looks over her shoulder at Sweetie Belle smiling.
Sweetie Belle smiled back at her and nods. "That's the right attitude for a Cutie Mark Crusader!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly. "Oh yeah I almost forgot." Sweetie Belle goes to a trunk, opens it taking out a newly made Cutie Mark Crusader cape, and gives it to Starbloom. "We'll still have to do the initiation but I think it'll be fine if you have your cape now."
Starbloom smiled wide taking the cape, trying it on and looking it over, and smirked lightly to herself seeing the gold silk on the inside. She had heard from Fluttershy how upset Rarity was when she found out Sweetie Belle used it the first time. However, since then Rarity had kept a supply of the silk just for Sweetie Belle to make capes out of for new members. "It's great Sweetie Belle, thank you so much."
Sweetie Belle and Starbloom spent the next hour or so talking about ways to earn cutie marks. Starbloom restraining herself to keep from telling Sweetie Belle she should focus on singing. She knew it was best for Sweetie Belle to discover the talent on her own, despite it being so obvious. Once it started to get dark, they left the clubhouse and started heading back into town.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school Starbloom, have a good night." Sweetie Belle said after reaching the middle of town waving to Starbloom before heading to the Boutique.
"Good night Sweetie Belle, see you tomorrow." Starbloom said waving back to Sweetie Belle before heading on her way to the library, still wearing her cape and smiling happily. She broke into a gallop, feeling the wind in her mane and the cape ruffle behind her. She giggled to herself before slowing down and blushing once she got near the library. She hadn’t done anything like that in years.
She got over to the door and opened it, heading inside looking around, "I'm home Twilight." She called and closed the door behind her, seeing Twilight coming out of the upstairs area. She shows off her cape to Twilight and grinned. "What do you think?"
"Very nice Starbloom, I see you got your own Crusader's cape." She was happy to see Starbloom's spirit was up after yesterday. "I'm glad you had fun, now go get cleaned up for dinner."
"Alright Twilight," Starbloom said smiling as she heads to her room, she removed the cape and put it away before going into the bathroom to wash up. Today was definitely a good day for her, and she hoped tomorrow would be just as much fun.