//------------------------------// // Morning Revelations // Story: Bloom Filter // by ferret //------------------------------// They say parallel universes are impossibly distant, but suppose there were a parallel universe nearly identical to our own, except that your own parents, your physical makeup, and your circumstances were switched with that of a friend you know. In this other universe, you grew up in a different environment, with different experiences and values, the same experiences of your friend. Suppose you built a colossal device capable of bridging the gap between these two universes, and you spoke with your counterpart in that other universe, about your differing experiences, opinions and beliefs. Would that be any different an experience than just picking up a telephone, and calling the friend you already know? Is their own personal experience in any way distinguishable from a parallel universe, in which you are them and they are you? Can you tell the difference between travelling to another universe, to meet your counterpart there, and simply... walking down the block, and across the street? It might be safe to speculate that parallel universes are closer than we think. “Hello?” “Hey. How ya doin’?” The girl talking into her phone brushed a lock of hair away staring dully at the stupid chalkboard full of stupid facts that she already knew ten times over, saying, “Oh, hey Applejack. Good as I usually do, I suppose.” She didn’t even care that Applejack was interrupting her in the middle of class. Her new friend’s rude interruption was a blessed novelty in this sea of inane repetition and rote. “Ah was wonderin’ if you know the number of the school’s librarian, you know Ms. Cheerilee,” Applejack asked. She rolled her eyes at that, saying snarkily into the phone, “Oh, so because I’m the book-worm, means I automatically know the librarian on a personal basis?” Applejack was unphased. “You do know though, do ya?” A tired anger flashed across her face before she said, “Sure, hold on I’ll text it to you.” “So, why are you calling the librarian?” she asked afterwards. “It’s uh... personal family matter,” Applejack said enigmatically. A puzzled frown crossed her face as she said, “Well, okay then. Uh, good luck with that I guess?” “Thanks... call ya later maybe.” She stared at her phone thoughtfully. “You know there is a rule about phones in class,” her teacher muttered, inches away from her ear. The situation took a turn for the downright strange, when after class, Applejack delivered another unexpected phone call. “Sorry to bother you again, but the librarian thought ah was prankin’ her! Could you maybe ah dunno, do your thing with her and get her to call me, so she knows who she’s talkin’ to?” The girl gave the phone an odd look before bringing it to the side of her face, saying, “Why did the librarian think you were pranking her?” “Y’know, this was a bad idea, sorry to bother ya, talk to you later maybe!” Applejack belted out nervously and quickly. Then there was a click as Applejack hung up. That was definitely what she would call strange, but it wasn’t until later in the afternoon that things started to get really peculiar. Applejack called her again out of nowhere, this time when she was relaxing in a cheap Indian place where she could actually get some halfway decent vegetarian food. It wasn’t that she was squeamish about killing animals, not anymore certainly. But she never could get used to actually eating their flesh. It just wouldn’t settle right in her gut. “Hey, uh... you know a lot about like, spooky myths and stuff right?” Applejack had said right off the bat. She sounded uncharacteristically weary, worn out and uncertain of herself. It was hard to hear over the phone, and with these little ears, but it was clear something was bothering the farm girl. “You know I’ve studied folklore,” she answered noncomittally, sipping at a tasty mango smoothie that was supposedly foreign around here. Never did any good to answer that question truthfully when Applejack asked it, because as far as anyone here knew, myths weren’t real, and what she was really an expert on was nothing more than fiction. Never did any good to answer truthfully, because here she didn’t have a horn, and here she was about as magical as a rock. And that’s not even a farmed rock. “Well have you ever heard of a uh...” Applejack offered hesitantly, “Golden apple?” Welp. It looked like the girl was going to find out if a mango lassi flavored chickpea masala tasted any good. She put down what was left of her drink, spluttering and grabbing a napkin to wipe her mouth with. Then she brought the phone to her ear again. “It sounds vaguely familiar,” she said in a disinterested tone. “I think it’s a somewhat less well known Greek myth. You should read about it. It’s very fascinating.” “Yeah, maybe... later...” Applejack’s voice said in a distracted tone. The girl tried to resist rolling her eyes at her stubbornly ignorant friend. Just because you were a farmhand didn’t mean you had to avoid learning anything. At least that Apple Bloom girl seemed to understand this. There was only one thing Applejack was interested in, and that was cows. Still, the girl also tried to resist rolling her eyes, because she was honestly intrigued at this point. This was starting to seem like something that hadn’t happened before. There was no way that particular myth could be just a coincidence. Had she forgot again, and mentioned the myth to Applejack earlier? “Why are you asking about a golden apple?” she said curiously over the phone. “Well it’s ...sort of a... private family... matter,” Applejack said sounding unconvinced of that herself. “Oh, don’t be so closed shop,” she said with a jesting quality to her voice, “You know you can trust me. What has been bothering you about the idea of a golden apple? It’s not like you’ve been oh say, dreaming about one or anything, right?” “Actually this ain’t concernin’ me so much as Apple Bloom...” Applejack said trailing off in a fatigued tone. Her? But that girl wasn’t even... though it would be strangely appropriate, if so. “Those three?” she laughed, “What kind of trouble have they gotten into this time?” “No, just...” Applejack hissed a sigh of frustration over the phone, “Look you wouldn’t believe me if ah told you, but she went and told the whole town about it practically, so just check out the evening news tonight.” Wow, they made the news? That sounded more like a disaster than a peculiar dream. The news wouldn’t report if something hadn’t gone wrong, would it? “Alright, Applejack,” she said, “But what—” “Ah gotta go,” Applejack said shortly, “The cows are makin’ noise again and ah been puttin’ off milkin’ em too long.” “Fair enough, but—” Applejack had hung up. The girl stared at the phone, confounded. She got to that cheap motel she was staying at today, in short order. Hurrying in, she didn’t even pause to throw down her coat before flouncing on the bed and turning on the squawk box. The news wasn’t on yet; it was just that show about adopting animals as pets or something, so she just sat there staring past the television waiting for the news to come on. She’d seen that episode already, anyway. When the news program finally started, worryingly, it was at the hospital. She really hoped those three weren’t in traction, this time. The golden apple shouldn’t have caused that, even if it was finally showing its face around here. There was a reporter there, in front of what looked like a smaller doctor’s clinic, with the larger hospital further in the background. Standing alongside the reporter was a short little... “This is Channel 7 news reporting at the local hospital where a fantasy scenario seems to have come to life... The girl stared blankly at at the scene unfolding in the television before her, then violently smacked the book out of the hands of the other girl lying next to her on the bed, the one of them who wasn’t even paying attention to the news, or any external stimulation for that matter. With her nose out of the book, the other girl said irritably, “What was that for, Sunset?!” but then Sunset Shimmer unceremoniously pulled the purple girl’s chin around to face the television together with her, saying, “Twilight, we have a problem.” Applejack woke up a little horse. When the morning dawned, it was revealed that Granny and Big Mac had squirmed away in the night, but Applejack had fallen dead asleep on the floor there, with Apple Bloom passed out on top of her. Applejack carefully lifted the blanket, which the others had kindy laid over both of them proper, and was met with a surreal sight. It was surreal because... it still looked like Apple Bloom. Same colors as her, even the mane was just like her hair, if a bit shorter. She even had forgotten to take out her bow, which looked huge in contrast to her now. But at the same time, Applejack was looking at a little horse on her chest, sleeping soundly on her side. The tiniest horse you would ever have imagined, outside of a doll maybe. She couldn’t have been much larger than a cat, not counting her head. The nightgown tangled up and draped around Apple Bloom, but her limbs were curled forward like a horse’s and her face was dominated by a rounded muzzle. She still had a large brow, but there was just no trace of humanity left. Even her unconscious breathing was horselike, more of a whinny than a sigh. Applejack laid the blanket back and gently stroked along Apple Bloom’s barrellike side. It didn’t feel right to do so, but it didn’t feel wrong, and she knew better than to awaken a horse quickly. Applejack shifted underneath uncomfortably, her butt sore from lying on wood all night, with nothing but a pillow to rest her head against. There was nothing to be done about that though. And this was probably the closest a horse had ever allowed Applejack to be to her, so it might be the last chance Applejack had to be this close to Apple Bloom for... a while. Applejack did have to wake her up though, as she couldn’t just lay around being Apple Bloom’s mattress all day. The old trick of scratching behind a horse’s ear seemed to do it. The little horse gave a noise almost like a murmuring grumble and lifted its head off of Applejack’s chest. Its eyes were possibly even more vivid and full than Apple Bloom’s had been, when it opened them, looking at Applejack with a sleepy expression full of confusion. “Applejack...?” the little horse said. Apple Bloom woke up, a little horse. Someone’s hand was scratching pleasantly behind her ear. Apple Bloom noticed with concern that she wasn’t in her bed for some reason. It felt like she was lying against someone, but someone big. She lifted her head, readying to sit up, but then her head just kept lifting from that point, and Apple Bloom knew there was something seriously wrong then. Apple Bloom didn’t even have to twitch her upper body before she could face, and focus on what she was lying against. A warm giant’s chest, a giantess who bore a very familiar face. “Applejack...?” she said confusedly. Applejack gave an inarticulate “Wlueuh!” and lunged backwards, her eyes bugging out, dumping Apple Bloom unceremoniously off her chest onto the wooden floor. “Ow! Ugh...” Apple Bloom’s elbow hit the floorboards when she fell. She could still lift her head, but she couldn’t figure out how to raise herself up. She couldn’t move right! Her legs wouldn’t move right. Her arms felt like, stuck at the elbows. What was goin’ on? Worse still she was all tangled up in a mess of blanket and a white nightgown that she hadn’t worn in... Apple Bloom stared down at that nightgown, at herself underneath it, stared at something she’d seen once before, but not while she was awake. Her arms were curled in front of her, buried in the folds of fabric. It felt natural the way they were, but it didn’t look that way. Her wrists were turning down she could feel, as if she would be pointing at her own feet. She extended the upper arm that wasn’t braced under her, dumbfoundedly wiggling it in the air, the fabric that covered it shaking as she did so. Apple Bloom craned her neck around to look at Applejack again, finding herself rolling automatically to her belly as she did so. Applejack had a petrified look on her face, mouth agape, fallen back on her butt, and leaning on one hand, the other outstretched towards Apple Bloom but unmoving. “Thath washn’t a dhream, wasz it,” Apple Bloom said in a disjointed daze. “Apple Bloom!” Applejack exclaimed loudly making Apple Bloom’s ears twitch with a wince. “Apple Bloom,” she said more quietly, “You’re talking!” “Ah gueth I am...?” Apple Bloom said, beyond belief. “Are you finished yet?” Applejack asked nervously, “How are you talking? Are you still you?” “Ah sthink sho, yeah,” Apple Bloom said hesitantly, growing more excited as she said, “Ah sthink I am! And ah’m— mah moushth ish awrl lorng, sorry,” she said smacking her lips to familiarize herself with them. Even that felt different though. She crossed her eyes at the blunt muzzle hiding at the edge of her vision. How did Granny say to do it again? Pull your tongue out more? What did you do when your tongue was thicker though? “Shh sth sss,” she said experimentally, sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry. “Quick, read this!” Applejack shouted suddenly, sticking the book she’d retrieved in front of Apple Bloom opened to a random page. “If hyou eveur neezh– need ush agaiiinuh nuh, shorry ish mah moufth.” “One more time...” Applejack said hopefully. “If hyou eveur need us again zh– she said, come outh inth–into the fielrd an’ call—” “Oh Apple Bloom!” Applejack proclaimed joyfully, “You’re still here!” “Buh for how hlong?” Apple Bloom countered worriedly. Applejack’s expression froze. “Ah-ah’m just glad y-you made the night,” she struggled out with difficulty, “Apple Bloom, look at ya!” Apple Bloom looked back at herself lying prone there, and then her eyes widened as she realized she could look at herself. Just with the act of looking to the side, she could almost turn her neck all the way around! The rest of her body, she wasn’t quite so confidently in control of as her neck though. She looked back at Applejack concerned, saying, “How do ah hlook?” “Just like a little horse,” Applejack answered honestly, “Littler than a pony, littler even than a dwarf horse.” “Why ith sthe univerthe conthpiring to make me litthle?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed angrily. Applejack thought a moment, then commented flatly, “Ah honestly do not know how to answer that.” “Ith okay ah’m juth comphlaining,” Apple Bloom said, ears drooping glumly. “How do you feel?” Applejack asked hastily, “Can ah get you anything? You need a pillow? Another book? Some breakfast maybe? Brush your hair? Maybe a bath? Need me to—” “Ah’m fthine,” Apple Bloom interrupted, still sitting there helplessly on the floor. She wasn’t fine of course, but when Applejack got like this she really got like this, so you had to cut it off at the pass. It was just so annoying when her older sister doted on her just because she’s older. And in this case it would be because her older sister has a normal body. With hands. And wasn’t crippled. And could talk right. Maybe some doting wouldn’t be so bad after all. “Um...” Apple Bloom shifted hesitantly, but just couldn’t make heads or tails about which way her limbs were supposed to go. Her left arm was feeling a bit numb from lying on it, but that’s all she could get. “Buh ah don’th hknow how to sthand up... can you herlp me?” Applejack crouched down, then knelt down. Apple Bloom just couldn’t believe how huge her sister was now. Applejack had her huge hands held out but wasn’t moving, a nervous tension in her expression. “Can ah... touch you?” she asked, bewildered. Apple Bloom wanted to nod but she was on her side and she wasn’t even sure if ...whatever she was, was capable of nodding at all. So she just said, “Pleashe do,” as clearly as she could. Apple Bloom still closed her eyes in uncomfortable fright when Applejack’s arms stretched out and those hands came down around her, untangling the helpless Apple Bloom from her sheets and nightgown. “Ah’m gonna have to get you out of this,” Applejack said with a fatalistic determination, undoing the buttons on the neck of Apple Bloom’s nightgown. “Sorry, it’s jus’” “Ah hknow,” Apple Bloom said pleadingly, peeking down at the strange yellow furred animal inside the top of her nightgown, “Jus’ helrp me up!” Applejack hesitated on how to do it, but her hands gripped underneath Apple Bloom’s wrists easy enough. Apple Bloom’s own “hands” just plainly hooked over her sister’s grasp. Apple Bloom looked up at Applejack as Applejack slid her out of the nightgown entirely. Her sister had such a worried look on her face! At first Apple Bloom was lifted too far, and her feet started to dangle in the air, but then her sister set her two legs down to the wood floor firmly, and slowly. Apple Bloom found she had to balance up on her toes, with her arms still hooked over Applejack’s hands. Her feet were just so weird now. Hooves now? How do you stand on these things? Applejack then carefully let go of Apple Bloom’s wrists leaving Apple Bloom to balance there by herself. Apple Bloom continued to look up at Applejack, trying not to move a muscle, as it was crazy awkward to balance like this, but inevitably she wobbled and fell forward, and put her arms out to catch herself. There was a light clop as Apple Bloom felt her arms firmly take on her weight. But... Apple Bloom was still staring up at her big sister. She didn’t have to hunch over. She didn’t feel contorted or strained, or anything. Her neck just bent back that way easily, situating her head comfortably above her horizontal torso. She wasn’t on her knees. She was... Apple Bloom didn’t want to be standing like this, but there she was, easy as pie. Apple Bloom turned her head down from Applejack’s stunned gaze, and Apple Bloom could see her arms not in front of her, but underneath her. It felt like she was sticking her finger against the wood, but her fingertip firmed and spread slightly when her weight was down on it. There was no question about what was on the end of her hands. And her feet felt the same way. “Oh Apple Bloom...” Applejack said in a surprisingly loving tone. That bothered Apple Bloom for some reason. Applejack was upset about this, right? “Ah’m okay, ah can dtheal with sthis,” Apple Bloom insisted. She turned her head around to look at the fallen nightgown behind her and... once again her head just kept on turning. Her arms and legs were still braced, not even twisted at the shoulders, but Apple Bloom could still crane around all the way to look at her own backside. It was like looking down the back of a horse, a kind of weird colored one but, a horse. The cherry red tail erupting from her spine curled merrily in an arc through the air behind her. She could feel the tension in it as it hung there. Her legs, or rather hindquarters, widened slightly at the rear, and her chest was a chubby looking barrel shape. “Apple Bloom,” Applejack repeated, prompting Apple Bloom to turn to look up at her sister again. “You are so gosh darn adorable!” “Ah am n—” Apple Bloom started to shout, then blinking asked up in surprise, “...wai’ rearry?” It looked like Applejack was trying really hard not to bite her lower lip. “Say,” Applejack said excitedly, “You want me to get you a mirror?” “Ah hknow ah’m a horth,” Apple Bloom said forlornly. “Yeah, but you should really see yourself!” Applejack insisted, “You look just like... just like you, but horse.” “Ah guethh,” Apple Bloom said, giving in with a bit of disgust. In her opinion, Applejack was way too happy about her own sister being some dumb looking horse thing. Applejack squatted, then jumped up standing, striding over to the wall where she pulled off the wall mirror by the window. She carried it back and brought it down, and Apple Bloom actually found herself cringing back when she saw herself swing into view. She didn’t want to see it! But then she stopped short at what she saw. There was a pony in the mirror cringing away from her, with one hoof slightly raised in the air from doing that. Apple Bloom looked at her own raised hoof and the mirror pony did the same. She hadn’t even noticed she raised the thing. The generally shocked expression on the mirror pony’s face was adamantly clear. It didn’t look anything like Winona’s disinterested and constant horse frown. Apple Bloom’s face was so expressive, it was even kind of silly looking, like exaggerated or something. Above that cute little muzzle of hers were these big liquid eyes, opened wide as they can go, dominated by the ebony pupils rimmed in a vibrant orange ring. The mirror pony’s hooves weren’t knobby or boney at all, more like smooth cylinders that gave easily as they bent at the joints. The grain of her fur was so fine that it didn’t even shine in the morning sunlight. This pony’s bright red mane was curling around its head, just like Apple Bloom’s hair was supposed to do, except attached from the neck up instead of just on the head, and her triangular pony ears nestled in those bouncy red bangs in a way that looked like they belonged there. Framing her whole head was Apple Bloom’s favorite pink bow, disarrayed and askew because she forgot to take it off and slept on it. Except... her bow hadn’t shrunk. So saying it framed her head, it literally framed her head. It was giant in comparison. Apple Bloom stared at herself in the mirror and she couldn’t think of what to say. Applejack was right. She was adorable! She was an adorable little pony trussed up in a big pretty pink bow. She looked kind of like a little kid, but maybe that was just how things... like her were supposed to look? What do you even say to the sight of this in the mirror? After a long pause, Apple Bloom quietly declared, “Mah bow ish crooked.” She lifted a hoof up to fiddle with it, or at least push it around. When Apple Bloom spoke, Applejack responded by standing up, leaning over the mirror to look down at her, and pulling the mirror away. She hastily leaned the mirror on the wall, turning to Apple Bloom and holding a hesitant hand out saying, “Oh heh, that it is. You want any help with that?” Apple Bloom ignored her though. She wasn’t really paying attention to anything right now, other than her own arm. When Apple Bloom reached it up to fiddle with the bow it became... just an arm, like any arm she’d had before, but when she brought it down straight, her shoulder sort of... disappeared. It like, went up into her and against her side and... locked into place or something. “sThis ith weird...” she whimpered nervously, standing on all fours and not moving again. “We should probably call the doc,” Applejack suggested wanly. “Yeah...” Apple Bloom agreed quietly. “You want me ta go wake up the family first?” Applejack asked hopefully. “Yeah...” Apple Bloom agreed quietly. “How are ya doin’ for walkin’?” Applejack asked crouching down again going from towering over her to slightly less towering over her. “Can ya move around?” “Ah ain’ thried,” Apple Bloom said lifting an arm. It came away from the ground easy enough and she felt her tail swaying naturally as she leaned more on the other arm. Putting the arm down she noticed Applejack watching intently. Well, Winona could walk right when she was a baby, so it can’t be that hard can it? Apple Bloom put her left arm forward, and soon as she did her right leg lifted up and went forward too. She wobbled on two opposite limbs, then pulled her left arm back and planted it back down underneath her with a clop, so she could ease her right leg slowly back to where it was before. She experimented with that a few times, lifted her arm, put it down. Lifted her leg, put it down. Just vertically a few times. She lifted them both again, and stuck her left arm forward, having to lean forward to plant it further ahead of herself. Her right leg planted underneath her, leaving her in a bit of a contorted position. Leaning forward but not moving her right arm meant that Apple Bloom’s right arm was going to get tucked underneath her, while similarly leaving her left leg stretched out behind her. Before she toppled forward onto her right shoulder, she had to lift her right arm, and stick it out to catch herself, stumbling a few steps before... “Ah guess you can!” Applejack said positively while Apple Bloom stood there trembling uncertainly, trying to figure out how she did that. “You work on that while ah get the others, an’ then we’ll rustle up some grub.” Grub sounded really good right now. It brought a genuine smile to Apple Bloom’s face and she looked up at her sister saying, “Thanksh, Applethack,” Apple Bloom tried again, moving her right arm forward again as her opposite leg took itself a step. That naturally made her left arm off balance so she lifted it forward as her right leg pulled up and planted down, and she paused then, wobbling in place. Oh, so now her right arm was underneath her and off balance just like her left arm had been. She corrected that, and it returned her to a standing position. Then she took another half step forward, and she was in that arm-leaning stretched-leg position thingy. It was pretty obvious how to walk now. When you correct one arm, the other ends up off balance needing correction, and as long as you keep putting your arms forward to correct that you’ll keep walking forward, and the legs just sort of push from behind while you’re leaning into that. She practiced just lifting her opposite arms and legs in place, without moving them forward, until she felt like she had a sort of rhythm going, and wasn’t wobbling too much when she was balanced only on one arm and one leg. Then she took a deliberate step forward just like before, and just like before, her opposite arm needed balance correction, so she corrected it moving it forward with her leg. Then she corrected the opposite pair, and so on, awkwardly sort of stretch stepping forward with a heavy clop every time her toes–hooves on two of her feet came down at once. Apple Bloom only stopped when she got to the fireplace mantle, her nail tapping its stone edge with a click before settling down to bear her weight again. Now all Apple Bloom had to figure was how to turn around. After a bit of analysis and swivelling around on her hooves, she came to the conclusion that a combination of sheer and rotation could do the trick. Rotation alone wouldn’t turn her entirely around of course, as her hooves couldn’t rotate around on their axes to face backwards, and that wouldn’t have rotated her torso anyway. But what she did was slide her left arm and leg both back at the same time, ending up splay legged from that, but then she rotated so she was facing the angle of the sheer, and it made her hooves line up right nice again. So she stepped back again on one side, and repeated. She was little over half the way around, when Big Macintosh came down the stairs. He didn’t seem in a huge hurry, but he was watching her closely. “Ah’m shtill me!” she shouted out behind herself across the room, then went back to her determined scissor legging until she could face him directly. And she was still her! She just... couldn’t talk right, and was standing on four legs like it weren’t no thing. But she could still do math, right? She hadn’t tried but, but she could still talk! ...sorta. What even was she?! Big Macintosh’s slippers came up to stand before her. His slippers specifically, because those were his most defining features at her level right now. She turned up from those ridiculously fuzzy pink things to look him in the eye. It made Apple Bloom sit down dizzly from a sense of vertigo. He was so darn tall! She looked up at him and he looked down at her, and she wasn’t sure what he was so happy about with that silly smile growing on his face, because she had real things to worry about now! “D’aww,” he said tenderly. That made Apple Bloom’s brows knit in alarm and frustration. “Ah’m not hcute!” she protested up at him futilely with an angry huff. Big Macintosh tried, and failed to hold back a snicker. Apple Bloom really wanted to know what twisted god was responsible for this so she could punch him in the face. Or wait, she couldn’t really do that anymore. Kick him in the butt then. “Ah’ll be in the kitchen,” Big Mac said, turning on his heels and striding over in that direction. When he was gone, Apple Bloom’s shoulders sank and she let out a whimper. She couldn’t talk right, she didn’t even have hands anymore, and worst of all he was right. Apple Bloom was totally adorable! If she’d seen herself like this, she’d have run up and grabbed her, and hugged her so hard her eyes popped out. Apple Bloom was torn between feeling complimented and feeling slighted for how it was belittling (ugh!) her predicament. This whole past day had been just one emotional roller coaster after another, and Apple Bloom just wanted to get off the ride. “Apple Bloom?” Granny Smith spoke up from the stairwell leading Apple Bloom to lift her gaze from the floorboards again. “Applejack said you were okay...” she explained to Apple Bloom hesitantly, as if Granny didn’t believe it herself. Apple Bloom honestly didn’t blame her for not believing it, but... seeing that momentary hesitation in her grandmother hurt so much more than it should have. “Yeah ah’m okay,” she said clearly... one of the few sentences she could say clearly. Even before Granny came over to her, Apple Bloom just wanted to run into her arms and get a big hug. She could barely even walk though much less run. She wanted to tell her how terrible it was, but she couldn’t even say “terrible”, and that was terrible! Even her whimpers didn’t sound normal. She wasn’t used to sounding so high and reedy. She guessed it had to be the nature of what... whatever she was changing into was. She didn’t even want to think about how horselike that huff had sounded. “Are ye all done changin’?” Granny asked settling heavily to the floor beside Apple Bloom in as close to cross legged as she could manage. Apple Bloom stood up... well, lifted her butt, which made her arms slide forward, and that was about as good as she was going to get, as far as standing up was concerned. She felt stable standing like that, but her legs were still trembling for some reason. “Ah don’ kn–” her voice broke as she said it. “Ah don’ know,” she repeated, ignoring her watery eyes, “Ah jus’ wanna be hdone with—” Apple Bloom had to stop talking again as her breath caught. She tried to compose herself, but it wasn’t working. “Why am ah crying?” she protested angrily. She wanted to lift a hand...arm to wipe away the tears running down her face but she couldn’t even do that because she felt so unsteady she needed all four of them to stand on now. “Oh Apple Bloom...” Granny said laying a hesitant hand on her back. Apple Bloom knew what she needed but, but she wasn’t a baby so she couldn’t just ask for a... well, she could ask for something else though. “C-coul’ you lif’ me up jus’ forl a sec?” Apple Bloom asked looking at the ground. “Well, okay ah guess so,” Granny said, reaching out with both hands around Apple Bloom’s midsection, and lifting Apple Bloom up with some difficulty. As soon as Granny Smith pulled Apple Bloom close to her, Apple Bloom wrapped her arms as far as they would go around Granny’s broad torso and just hugged her hard as she could. Granny stiffened in surprise then relaxed. She smoothly cradled to her bosom the quietly sobbing horse thing that Apple Bloom had become. Apple Bloom didn’t know why she was crying now after all that had already happened, but she couldn’t do a thing about it, and she just desperately needed the soft soothing warmth of her ma— her grandma against her. That was how Applejack came upon the two of them. Though Apple Bloom’s need to cry had blessedly ceased, she didn’t let go of Granny, afraid of what she’d do if she didn’t have someone to hold onto. “How’s about some breakfast?” Applejack said quietly, making Apple Bloom’s ear turn around to face the cowgirl. Apple Bloom lifted her head to look at her sister, feeling sort of dull inside. “Htat’d be greath Applezhack,” she said neutrally, tilting her head up at Granny. “Ah sthink ah can shdand up now,” Granny carefully lowered her to the floor, making sure all four of Apple Bloom’s feet were planted before letting go. “Yer gotta work on yer pronunciation,” she said guidingly, “Y’remember what ah said about esses and tees?” “Yeah, ith... iths eashy to forge’p rthough,” Apple Bloom regretfully admitted, “An’ mah thounge ith all thick an’ thuff.” She stuck out her tongue to emphasize what she meant and... it just kept on stuck-outing. How long was...?! She pulled her tongue in hurriedly and blushed saying, “...thee?” “That is one long tongue,” Applejack stated the obvious in a flustered tone. Granny scratched her head and muttered dazedly, “Ah can’t really say ah know what ter do bout that.” Apple Bloom wanted to shrug, but her shoulders were kind of stuck right now. She decided she might as well just silently walk to the dining room, then. So she uh, she lifted a hoof and uh... dangit how do you walk again?! Okay, one hoof, then the back–no the other back one, and yeah that’s right, except no that goes back to standing so you turn it full ways and that... yeah that’s it! Apple Bloom stumbled in place and came to a halt. Looking back at Granny and Applejack bashfully, she faced forward and resumed her slow walk. ... Well now she really needed to use the booster seat. Apple Bloom couldn’t even see what was on the dining room table, just the table’s dusty underside. She could probably fit underneath it completely without even a squeeze. She tried to sort of rear up like a horse to get her hand-hooves up on the chair, but it was surprisingly unintuitive how to do so, and Apple Bloom just ended up setting roughly back down on her butt again. But this time she regretted it. There was no giant brother towering above her to distract her now. Just Apple Bloom and her butt. Her very unclothed butt. She bit her lip anxiously, squirming in place but afraid to stand up again. “Need help up?” came her brother’s voice belatedly. Oh now he shows up of course. She turned to look up at him from half underneath the table, sitting there beside her chair with the booster seat, shaking her head a negatory. She couldn’t be sure how much of it even showed underneath the fur, but when she asked him in trepidation, a full blush rushed to her face. “Can ah geth shome... c-can ah getsh some c-clothes maybe?” His expression was even more unreadable from way down here, but she could certainly see his eyes widen. “...ah’ll get Granny,” he said noncomittally, turning and walking off a bit more hurriedly than a calm, easygoing, unconcerned brother should be. Maybe Apple Bloom could just scoot around on her butt for the rest of her life. “Come on Apple Bloom, we’re all family here,” Granny told her comfortingly. “Ain’t nothin’ ah haven’t seen before, heh heh!” Apple Bloom just blushed more at that. “Please, Apple Bloom, just... put up with it for now?” Applejack pleaded, “We’ll figure out somethin’ but ya caint sit around under the table forever. None of us’ll laugh ah promise. Anyway your tail it—” she stopped uncomfortably, then just went and said, “Your tail covers most of anything up anyways.” “Ith keepth going up tho,” Apple Bloom said disagreeably. “Juth wathch.” Blushing heavily again she lifted her butt up going back to a standing position, and sure enough her tail lifted up into a cheery arc over behind her, exposing way more of her underside than she was comfortable with. She didn’t even know what was down there anymore! Did it look like Winona? Apple Bloom’s pupils narrowed at the thought and she really hoped it didn’t look like Winona’s. “There, see your tail is goin’ down just fine,” Applejack chided her, prompting Apple Bloom to look back at her butt. Her tail had indeed shoved itself up against her legs all by itself, when she felt the cold wave of dread that can only come from realizing your private parts might resemble that of the local livestock now. She peered at it, wiggling the muscles in her butt trying to find whichever one governed the raising of the tail. If she could get conscious control of that then maybe—woah it was—darn it, it was lifting up again! It felt more like straining her back than her butt, oddly. “Well, uh,” Applejack vacillated, “But when you sit down in your chair it’ll be fine!” So Apple Bloom got to sit in the booster seat again, this time having to sit like a little dog in a booster seat, with her bottom embarassingly cold against the hard plastic. “Ah figure you didn’t wanna try uh, eggs,” Applejack said nervously as she presented Apple Bloom with a steaming bowl of fresh cooked oatmeal. “So uh... here you go.” Apple Bloom stared at the bowl in front of her disapprovingly, then looked up at her sister exclaiming, “How am ah shupothed to eaht thish?” Applejack blushed and fiddled with her own hands self consciously, saying, “Well you just, you just stick your uh, you can... how about some... toast?” “Tothsht..tosht woul’ be gool,” Apple Bloom said, ears drooping. So Applejack ended up with a nice hot steaming bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, to which she added some honey and butter she was afraid would hurt Apple Bloom’s stomach. And Apple Bloom got plain... toast. Just plain toast. “Aw ‘ou pthure ish oesthn’t” Apple Bloom asked through a mouthful of toast, then blushed and carefully finished what she was eating before saying, “Are you shure thish doeshn’th have budder inshide?” “Nope,” Big Mac said, “Just plain toast. Still too rich?” Apple Bloom nodded, looking at the remaining half piece with trepidation. “An’ ith reawlly shweeth,” she added. “Guess you’re done?” he asked plainly. Apple Bloom nodded again, saying “Can ah geth down an’ thry more warlking? ...war... wa-l-king?” However terribly she said it, they somehow seemed to understand, and Applejack hooked under Apple Bloom’s wrists again and lifted her to the ground, thankfully avoiding supporting Apple Bloom by the bottom of her very embarassing posterior right now. Apple Bloom toddled about in her odd double step, until it fell all on its own into a quadrupal beat. Pausing she noticed that what was happening was her back hoof was pushing the opposite front one down, so instead of them both hanging in the air at the same time she went off balance toward the front hoof, so she always had three on the ground at any given time. She looked up feeling excited about her discovery, and... there was her family over there, sitting at the dining room table and eating themselves a nice hardy breakfast. Granny was talking about something and Applejack was barely listening, watching Apple Bloom walk around while she twirled the spoon idly in her oatmeal. Big Macintosh just went slicing at his eggs benedict quietly. “Lookin’ good, Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted out when Apple Bloom looked up at her, and that really did make Apple Bloom feel good, it really did, but... then her stomach growled. Like, really loudly. Applejack’s smile faltered and she said, “You feel up to eatin’ any more?” Apple Bloom was just too unsure of herself to say yes. She was hungry, but... she already had toast, and orange juice. She was all juiced out. Just like... last night.... The plate with the hay on it lay discarded on the counter, and Apple Bloom eyed it with unease. It just didn’t seem natural... she didn’t even know if she would like it. And then... a thought occurred to her, a thought that really probably oughtn’t to have occurred to anyone anywhere ever, except maybe to a girl who’s been transformed overnight into a tiny horse. Apple Bloom was still trying to figure out turning. It was easy if you had some space to move forward, just to angle your hips around. Without moving forward, though? The scissor stepping she supposed, or maybe just walking her back legs around like she had an orbiting butt. At least Apple Bloom didn’t have any trouble navigating her way to the back door in the dining room, pausing at it saying, “Can ah go outhide for a bith? Ah wanna thry something” Big Macintosh stood up, walking over to her and pulling the door open. Applejack stood up too, but Apple Bloom didn’t wait, walking out before she lost her nerve. The morning sun was bright and cheery but the air was still frigid. Apple Bloom didn’t need to worry about that, since she had a fur coat to keep her warm, but it still unsettled her. You’re supposed to walk out into the cold, and blow into your hands, and feel the chill bite at your cheeks, and the rest of your body is supposed to be bundled up and protected. But, Apple Bloom didn’t get to do that anymore, so she just felt cold all over. The frost hadn’t yet come this year so everything was still reluctantly green from the bountiful summer before. The noise from the auto traffic drifted through the air even from way out here in the outskirts of town where her farm lay. There were hills around here where you could see the whole town from above, but the farm house was located low and in a big clearing surrounded by trees, so there was no sight of anywhere else in the world, only the distant sounds. Applejack and Big Mac had their heads poked around the doorway, and Granny squeezed in underneath the two of them, all of them looking at her concernedly. Apple Bloom knew this would work though, because why wouldn’t it? It was just what the doctor ordered. So Apple Bloom stuck her neck out and it was easy to lower her head to the level of the ground without barely even hunching over. She looked at it with apprehension, trying to see how it was gonna work, and opened her mouth uncertainly. Then she closed her eyes and just took a big bite out of a tuft of grass in the untended field just outside her house. Her teeth cut through the blades like a knife and she lifted her head slightly to pull the last strands apart from the ground. Her heart was thudding in her chest as she felt the taste of it hit her tongue, the smell rising through her sinuses. It just... tasted like grass, so why.... She chewed her little bite carefully and experimentally, then stuck her head down for another bite of grass. There was some water hitting the ground next to it for some reason. By the third bite, the others had come outside too and surrounded her on three sides as Apple Bloom put on her little show for them, using herself as an example. Granny murmured in an apprehensive tone, “Apple Bloom, are you okay?” “Ith good!” Apple Bloom admitted loudly, and she would have said more, but her voice was going all over the place, and she just couldn’t control it right now. “Ith’s...” she couldn’t think of what to say, or what would you say, so she just took another bite of grass. Her experiment was a success! This had been just the right thing to do, and she was so hungry she needed it bad. It was hitting the spot she hadn’t been able to hit all today and yesterday, and that was great! Problem solved! Then why couldn’t Apple Bloom stop crying? Apple Bloom felt more than a little shell shocked, by the time her family finally managed to coax her back inside. Her thoughts were so slow and muddy, like the dumb animal she was supposed to be. She couldn’t even find it in herself to care whether she could do math or read or remember her own name, or anything she used to be able to do. What was even the point anymore? All she could think to do was stare dully forward wishing that she could have maybe made something of herself as something besides some kind of circus freak horse thing. Applejack managed to coax her out of it by patiently sitting with Apple Bloom and talking with her until she listened, about silly things like dances and cow poop and that funny news crew (they hadn’t even bothered to tune in to see if the story aired), and about Applejack’s silly friends like how Pinkie Pie was trying to coordinate a stage play with the Ecology club and didn’t seem to mind she was failing utterly at it. Pinkie was the kind of person who could get a laugh out of you even if she was halfway across town being talked about by proxy to a girl who had for all intents and purposes been changed into a horse. Laughing helped a lot more than Apple Bloom wanted to admit it did. What really helped though was when Granny charged up like a raging bull with a tape measure in one hand and a cell phone in the other, and made Apple Bloom stick her neck out to measure how long she was now, from head to ...butt. Not counting tail. Granny recited the measurements rapid fire to ...whoever it was on the other end of that phone. “Oh thank heavens, doctor!” Granny said, making Apple Bloom at last pay attention to whatever it is that Doctor Stable guy is saying. At least, her ears turned towards the phone. Good grief did that still feel weird. All the doctor said though was, “May I speak with her right now?” Granny heartily agreed, and squatted down to the level of Apple Bloom and Applejack. Applejack was still sitting there next to Apple Bloom, on the living room floor where after her ill fated grass venture, upon reentering the warm confines of her home, Apple Bloom had collapsed hopelessly on the spot. Granny was all awkward about the phone, trying to hold the earpiece up to Apple Bloom’s ear, but Apple Bloom just turned her head to face it and said into the tiny microphone, “Dthocg?” She grimaced, forgetting how weird it was to speak now. “Dth...doc?” she managed to say clearly. “Sh-sorry mah voice ish kindtha weilrd stirll.” Gosh darn it where do you put your tongue to say ell? “Apple Bloom!” he said in a pleasant tone made tinny over the phone speakers, “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that you’re still defying the laws of physics. Are you well? Granny said your mental faculties were intact!” “Faculthy?” Apple Bloom said confusedly, “Ah ain’ go’ no teaschers running aroun’ in mah headh.” After the doctor got over his sudden spontaneous leg cramp explaining the prolonged silence with chortling noises in the background, he explained to Apple Bloom that he’d been measuring her height... which is now her length if that weren’t obvious, and according to his calculations she should be 2 feet 1 inch long. Apparantly she was 2 feet, 4 inches long though! 3 inches didn’t seem a very decisive amount, especially since she could stretch her neck really far forward, but it was a promising sign at least. As a more reliable measure, he asked her if she could weigh herself, to see if her weight was still changing like it had been, and they had a bathroom scale but it only was accurate to the nearest pound. She couldn’t balance enough to put her entire weight on it either. Her legs were... her arms and legs were just a little bit too far apart to all fit on there. He grumbled a bit at that, and said, “You need to talk with the vet. I know, you don’t want to be thought of as an animal, but she knows how to weigh animals so she can probably help you there. Just tell her that you should be less than 17 pounds. If you weigh more than that, then the rate at which you are transforming may have slowed down, or stopped entirely!” “Thath greazhe–” she exclaimed excitedly, stopped, and said very slowly and sounding out, “That...’s... greeea...t... hnews.” “Hmm,” came his thoughtful response. “Mah moush ish weirld sorry,” she said. “Ah cang shtill think an’ shtuff.” “I’m going to make a few more calls,” Doctor Stable said, “You get in touch with the vet and have her check you over. She should be more confident if you are... convincingly animalistic.” Granny couldn’t hear the other end of the phone like Apple Bloom could, so afterwards Apple Bloom told her what he said (with difficulty), and when she did, Granny Smith brightened right up like a Granny shaped sunrise. Granny called the vet right away, and Dr. Cureall was apparantly happy to drive on over to see Apple Bloom face to face, or, face to knee as such the case would be. It was strange having a doctor be so accomodating, but Apple Bloom must have excited her a whole lot, and it was clear that Apple Bloom was in no mental state to be in any kind of stressful unfamiliar environment right now like a vet’s office. Or at least, stressful to a dog maybe, but the vet wasn’t really used to having patients who understood what a doctor’s office is good for. Both Apple Bloom and Applejack were upset to hear Granny say on the phone, “Ah caint be here cause ah gotta work, but one o’ my grandkids will show ye around.” “Ah gotta get to school, Granny!” Applejack protested afterwards. “Caint anyone sub for you today?” “Nope,” said Granny, “Either ah stay here or the whole school goes without lunch, an’ ye can only pick one! So’s it’s gotta be either you or Big Mac, an’ ah know Apple Bloom likes you best.” It might have been relevant to say that Applejack and Granny Smith were having this discussion privately behind closed doors. Apple Bloom’s new ears were really easy to press up against those doors though to hear what goes on behind them in quiet tones. “Don’t be silly, Granny,” Applejack said abashedly, “Apple Bloom likes all her family the same. Ah ain’t anythin’ special.” “Well who did she wake up on top of this morning then,” Granny countered, “Winona?” Apple Bloom almost stopped listening at that point. The thought of herself being anywhere near Winona or Gummy right now was chilling. If those horses were huge before, now it’d be like two giant mountains of bestial equine flesh. And that was making Apple Bloom feel very uncomfortable to think about, in ways that were very uncomfortable to think about. “Point taken, Granny,” Applejack grumbled, “But tomorrow it’ll be Big Mac, and ah’m gonna need a letter excusin’ me for today.” So it was decided, that Granny and Big Mac would head on over to the high school today, and Applejack would stay behind with Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom scrambled back from the door before they opened it, sitting there trying to look all innocent and not listening in, because she just happened to be sitting on her butt in the hallway, just coincidentally. Neither lady gave her a hard time of it. Mac fired up the truck and he and Granny drove off for Canterlot High. That left Apple Bloom and Applejack with nothing to do but wait for the vet to arrive. That and practice walking. She was gonna have to eat more grass, wasn’t she. That hay was starting to look a lot less unappetizing in comparison.