//------------------------------// // I Swear it's everywhere (part 2) // Story: A Bushel of Apples // by dramatic_spoon //------------------------------// Dimension 29 “Hey kid, wake up.” “Mmhhurm?” Golden Gem stuck her head out of the covers, to see Cloudchaser standing in the doorway. “Get up, kid. If you’re going to be stuck here for a few days, you might as well meet Stratos’s friends.” “He has friends?” Cloudchaser shot a dirty look at the filly. “I mean…um…erm…” Golden Gem broke out into an embarrassed grin. “…Just get out of bed, kid.” Cloudchaser shook her head as she left the room. Golden Gem slunk out from underneath the blanket, trotted out the door and headed towards the dinning room. Big Macintosh sat near Cumulus, trying to feed the foal. “C’mon Cumulus, open it up for daddy.” The stallion held out a spoonful of applesauce. The filly pouted and moved her mouth away from spoon, smearing it on her muzzle. Cumulus noticed Golden Gem as she sat at the table and squeed in excitement. Big Macintosh took advantage of the opening and placed the spoon in the filly’s mouth. As Big Macintosh pulled the spoon out of her mouth, Cumulus spat her mouthful of applesauce at Big Macintosh. The stallion sighed as she giggled. “Hi dad.” “Mornin’ Gem. What you gonna do today?” Big Macintosh asked as he tried to feed Cumulus another spoonful of applesauce. “I dunno. Mrs. Cloudchaser said I should try and hang out with Stratos’s friends.” “…That might work, they’re both friendly enough.” Big Macintosh frowned as Cumulus spat out another mouthful of applesauce, “C’mon Cumulus, you oughta like applesauce, you’re an Apple.” “Pllllllb.” The filly stuck her tongue at him again before giggling. Golden Gem levitated several slices of bread onto her plate, as well as a jar of jam. Opening it, the filly sniffed its contents before making a horrified face. “…What is this?” “Carrot and Apple jam.” Big Macintosh attempted to feed Cumulus again, “It was a gift from Carrot Top an’ Brauburn’s wedding.” “…I’ll pass.” The filly screwed the cover back onto the jar before selecting another one, “What’s this one?” “Apple butter.” Big Macintosh closed his eyes as Cumulus spat more applesauce at him, “…and yet you still eat enough ta leave your diaper covered in it,” the stallion grumbled. Golden Gem levitated a knife towards her and opened the jar. As she scooped the butter out and onto the bread, Cloudchaser entered the room carrying a towel. “…I knew that would happen,” the mare sighed as she went over to Big Macintosh and Cumulus. “How much of it did she actually eat?” “ ‘bout a quarter of it.” Big Macintosh took the towel and began to wipe the spittle and applesauce off. “That’s more than usual,” Cloudchaser smiled at Cumulus, “Aren’t you getting to be a greedy little filly?” Cumulus responded by giggling and burping. Cloudchaser picked her out of the seat and began to gently pat the baby on the back until she burped. “Good girl.” “Um…Where’s Applejack, Applebloom and Granny Smith?” Goldem Gem asked. “Granny an’ Applejack are in the old house,” Big Macintosh vaguely motioned to his left, “We built this one after we got married. As for Applebloom…she’s..What’s today?” “She comes back from Greater Zebrabwe next month,” Cloudchaser’s nose wrinkled, “Somepony needs a diaper change.” “She’s off learnin’ about Zebra culture. Turns out her special talent is learnin’,” the stallion chuckled, “Even sent me a letter sayin’ she’s met a nice Zebra fella named Oareb. Had a photo too, lemme see if I can find it…” Big Macintosh stood up and trotted off. Cloudchaser followed him, Cumulus carefully perched on her back. A knock on the door caught Goldem Gem’s attention. The filly hopped off the chair and opened the door. An over excited amber coated unicorn colt with a messy curly pink mane leaped into the room, knocking Golden Gem over. The colt was followed by a light brown earth filly with a rainbow mane, and equally bright scarf wrapped around her neck. “HI STRATTY! How was it visiting your…” the colt trailed off as he realized who he was standing on, “…You’re not Stratos.” “How observant of you,” Golden Gem grumbled, “Now please get off.” The unicorn leapt off. Gem coughed as she got back onto her hooves. “Who are you?” the colt tilted his head to the side, “and what happened to Stratty?” “Presumably she’s Mr. Macintosh’s daughter from another universal stream,” the earth filly muttered, “Judging by her coat and mane style, I would have to guess Missus Rarity.” “...” the unicorn colt craned his neck some more, “I sort of see it, then again, she doesn’t really look like Golden Breeze anyway.” “Of course she doesn’t,” the Earth filly shook her head, “Genetics would indicate that the probability of the two being identical is nigh impossible.” “Yeah, but Stratos was talking about the ones that are because Mr. Macintosh married Princess Luna, and the other one where Missus Macintosh married Prince Luna, and those guys are almost the same.” The colt countered. “But they’re not the exact same,” the filly argued back. Big Macintosh trotted back into the room, carrying a photo in his mouth. “Here it is…Oh.” “Hi Mr. Macintosh!” the colt beamed. The filly nodded her own greeting. “Well…I guess that solves one problem,” the stallion sighed, “This here’s Golden Gem, one of Stratos’s…friends.” “We figured out that she’s probably Stratos’s alternate universe counterpart, Mr. Macintosh,” the earth filly adjusted her scarf. “…Well, that makes things easier. This is Golden Gem. Gem, That’s…” “I’m Cream Pie!” the unicorn beamed. “…Temporal Spectrum,” the Earth filly shrugged, “Call me Spectrum. Or Temp, whatever’s easier for you.” “…Well, guess you all oughta be on your way then, Have fun kids.” “But…” Golden Gem began to protest. “Don’t worry, I know where we can go an get super delicious awesome sugary snacks for free!” Cream Pie beamed as he pulled Golden Gem close, “Oh I know! We should have a donut cake!” The two unicorns left, while Temporal Spectrum gave Big Macintosh a concerned look. “…What?” the stallion shrugged, “We figured she might like hangin’ around with you all.” “Mr. Macintosh, I don’t think this is going to be the best way to introduce Golden Gem to everypony. Especially Mrs. Pinkie.” “…good point,” --- PONYVILLE Golden Gem and Temporal Spectrum trotted down the road, as Cream Pie bounced along. “Oh I know, we should go and visit Missus Rarity and her husband! Do you know who she married? He’s really famous an-” With a flick of her hooves, Temporal wrapped a second rainbow patterned scarf around Cream Pie’s mouth, tying the ends in a knot. “I think that’s enough of that,” the earth filly gave Golden Gem an apologetic look, “Sorry, he’s sort of noisy.” “He reminds me of somepony I know back home, only less annoying.” “There’s a pony more annoying than Cream Pie?” Temporal Spectrum shook her head in disbelief, “I find that hard to believe.” “He can’t fly through the air, dropping surprises on ponies,” Golden Gem watched as Cream Pie continued to tug at the scarf, “That makes him less annoying in my book.” Temporal Spectrum watched as Cream Pie continued to struggle with the knot, eventually crashing into a wall. “I agree.” Somepony behind the two fillies fake coughed to get their attention. A young yellow unicorn with her orange mane done back in a ponytail, and a cutie mark in the shape of a two layered cake with white frosting and a missing slice, frowned back at them. “Um…Hi Miss Pumpkin Cake.” Temporal pulled her scarf up, hiding her muzzle. “...Would you mind telling me why my little nephew is running around town, crashing into things?” the mare’s eyebrow rose as she asked the filly. “…” Instead of responding Temporal pulled her scarf higher up her neck, burying her face in it. “…Just go and untie it,” Pumpkin Cake shook her head, “I know he’s annoying, but you can’t keep doing that.” Instead of responding, Temporal Spectrum trotted over to Cream Pie, and yanked the scarf off, sending the colt rolling into another wall. “…Well, you can’t win them all.” The mare sighed before turning her attention towards Gem, “Now you’re a new face.” “Oh, um…I’m Golden Gem,” Golden Gem shrunk back a little, “I’m…” “She’s –MRFPH!” Temporal Spectrum quickly wrapped the scarf around Cream Pie’s mouth, cutting off his response. “She’s Stratos’s cousin.” Temporal responded. “Eeyup!” Golden Gem nervously grinned at Pumpkin Cake. “…Seems like he’s been having a lot of cousins come and visit him lately,” Pumpkin Cake shrugged, “Oh well, they say the Apples have a lot of relatives. I’m Pumpkin Cake, by the way.” “Um...Nice to meet you,” Golden Gem nodded. “Well, I need to head back to the bakery. You should stop by sometime,” With that, the mare trotted off, leaving the three foals behind. Temporal unwrapped her scarf from around Cream Pie’s mouth. “That was close,” the filly sighed, “We’re not suppose to tell other ponies about that, remember?” “Yeah, but we know. My mom knows. Why can’t Pumpkin know?” Cream Pie shrugged. “Why does your mom know?” Temporal shot back. “Her Pinkie sense!” Cream Pie bounded off, leaving the two behind. “…He seemed excited to see her.” Golden Gem noted. “He has a crush on her,” Temporal shook her head, “I don’t think he realizes that he’s doing a terrible job of keeping it secret.” “…that sounds like Uncle Spike.” “…Yeah,” Temporal nodded, “Before it was Rarity, Rarity, Rarity, and now it’s Trixie.” “…What.” Golden Gem stared at her in surprise. “They have a….what’s the proper thing to call something that’s half pony and half dragon?” Temporal cocked her head to the side. “…I don’t know, I think Scootaloo and Spike said it before they had Quartz, but I don’t remember.” Gem shrugged. “…Scootaloo and Spike?” Temporal’s face twisted into an expression of horror. “…Alternate universes are weird,” Golden Gem nodded. “I agree,” Temporal nodded. “Oh there you all are,” a new voice called out to them. A white pegasus colt with a well cared for blue mane trotted over towards the two fillies. “Oh. Hi Golden Breeze,” Temporal smiled, “You just mi-” “HI BREEZY!” Cream Pie leapt through the air at Breeze. Temporal and Golden Gem both reached out and yanked the pegasus to the ground, the unicorn sailed past the group and crashed into an empty barrel. “…Thanks.” Golden Breeze got back onto his hooves, “Who’s this?” “Oh, this is….” Temporal trailed off. “Oh, I’m Golden Gem,” the filly grinned, “I’m Stratos’s cousin.” “Ah, you do sort of look like him,” the colt nodded, “My name’s Golden Breeze. My father’s Soarin’, maybe you’ve heard of him?” “Soarin? The ex-wonderbolt? He mar…” Golden Gem trailed off. “Ex-wonderbolt?” Golden Breeze cocked his head to the side, “He’s still a Wonderbolt.” “…Oh, right,” Golden Gem gave the colt an awkward smile. “…You seem oddly familiar…” Golden Breeze frowned and looked at Gem closer. “Well, um…” “That’s because you guys have the same mom!” Cream Pie cheerfully informed the colt. Golden Gem stared back at him horrified, while Temporal buried her head into her hooves. “…I beg your pardon?” Golden Breeze inquired. “It’s…sort of complicated,” Golden Gem sighed. “What’s so complicated about being from an alternate universe where Stratos’s dad married Breezy’s mom?” Cream Pie shrugged. “The fact that you’re technically the alternate universe counterpart to not one but two ponies from very different backgrounds, both in the genetic and historical sense? The fact that unlike Stratos, Golden Breeze has never encountered one of his counterparts, nor has Golden Gem encountered one that is her counterpart on her mother’s side?” Temporal Spectrum shook her head, “You can be such a dense idiot at times.” Golden Gem looked down, away from Golden Breeze. “…Perhaps we should talk about it?” the colt offered, “We can go to my house, Dad is off at a function and mom went with him, and Aunty Sweetie Belle is off with her marefriend. That is, if you want to.” “…Alright.” Gem nodded. And with that, the pegasus and unicorn began walking towards the boutique. “I wanna come t-” Temporal Spectrum grabbed Cream Pie by the tail, preventing him from following the two counterparts. “No we’re not,” Spectrum grumbled. The two alternate counterparts continued their way through town. “…So, Big Macintosh and Rarity?” Golden Breeze inquired. “Uh-huh.” “You wouldn’t happened to have known Center Stage, would you?” the colt continued. “He’s…also one of our counterparts.” Gem added, “I mean one to Stratos and I.” “I figured,” the colt sighed, “…Mom’s always busy isn’t she?” “Eeyup,” the filly nodded. “It gets lonely, doesn’t it?” Breeze noted. “Eeyup,” the filly nodded. “Well…Mom’s famous, and I guess marrying someone just as famous does that. And Mr. Macintosh is always busy running the farm, so I guess that’s just how things are.” “That doesn’t mean we have to like it though,” Gem added. “Nope.” The two stopped in front of the boutique, Golden Breeze fiddled with the door, finally unlocking it and pushing it inwards. The colt stood to the side, offering Gem the option of going in first. “We have pie. Apple Pie from Mr. Macintosh, since dad loves those so much.” “That sounds fine.” The two ponies entered the building, closing the door behind them.