//------------------------------// // Unstable Equilibrium // Story: Bloom Filter // by ferret //------------------------------// Apple Bloom wished she could have said the day with Applejack went any differently than the day with Big Macintosh. She wished she could say that her sister found the clearing, and they uncovered the secret of the evil wizard or space horse princesses, or whatever was causing this. But in the end, it was just another day of kicking around the ball, and growing increasingly disgusted with eating hay. Especially when it came out the other end. Apple Bloom hated that about being a horse the most, she figured. There were other problems, but that really took the cake, for the first few days at least. Or the horse pie, as such the case may be. It was nice at least that Applejack brought her school textbooks back. Apple Bloom needed something to do, even if reading terribly dry textbooks was all she could think of. Though, a lot of them seemed even less relevant to her now, if that were possible. Algebra for instance, was all about solving and simplifying, and that was all stuff you did on paper, with a pencil, held in your hand. English again, it wasn’t any more fun to learn how to speak correctly when you had a new mouth to deal with, on top of being an uneducated hick stuck on the farm all day, who didn’t even get to be a high school graduate. Apple Bloom never thought she’d miss Ms. Harshvoice’s presence, but it turns out talking to yourself, instead of in class, is a lot less fun. Biology was great, and she read everything that textbook had to say about horses, and about the coloring of human skin. French was just impossible though; 90% of that class was sounding things out to each other in class, and not reading the slim and summarily unhelpful textbook. Though, a bilingual horse, that’d have to be a first. Her family seemed to get comfortable with her transformation relatively quickly. There was always that uncomfortable smile whenever they were reminded of yet another thing she could no longer do, but they never judged her for it. In particular Applejack, not on the first day but two days afterwards spent a lot of time with Apple Bloom. It was getting embarassing at one point. Apple Bloom had to practically shove her out the door, just so her sister would find something to do with herself. Applejack was used to keeping busy, always doing something, and when she was stuck taking care of Apple Bloom, then that ‘something’ invariably became hovering over her like a mother hen. Applejack was just trying to make sure Apple Bloom didn’t have any problems, but just making more problems in the first place! There was little interest from the media on Apple Bloom’s transformation. Canterlot had always been a pretty laid back town. The one news station they did have already did its piece on her, and didn’t really seem interested in day-to-day updates on the thrilling taste of hay. Either the world news never got wind of it, or didn’t care. She honestly couldn’t imagine why anyone would be interested in a girl changing into a horse, so long as it wasn’t happening to them or anything. And since Apple Bloom had been thoroughly housebound, that meant nobody ever happened to see her anyway. As far as Apple Bloom was concerned, the fewer people who saw her as a tiny little buck naked horse, the better. Oh, for that matter, on the fourth day, Apple Bloom was practicing her important “rolling on the grass because I’m so damn bored”, when she heard Applejack approaching from inside the house. Groaning, Apple Bloom addressed her sister upside-down, from belly up there on the ground. “No ah’m no’ hungry,” Apple Bloom lied. “No ah’m not tired,” she lied. “And no ah don’ need any help!” she... lied. “Aw don’t be like that lil’ sis,” Applejack said in a tone of disappointment. “Stand up so ah can get your measurements.” “Measuremenths?” Apple Bloom said curiously, tilting her head back to actually look at her sister. Applejack was holding onto a flexible measuring thingy, a long flat tape with numbers and tick marks all along it. It was the sort of thing you’d see in a fashionist’s hands. It looked out of place in an athlete’s. “Yeah, ah got a ...pattern,” Applejack said, folding her hands holding the tape behind her, insecurely. “Was thinkin’ ah could use some of mah time to make you a little something.” Apple Bloom was on her feet in an instant, and zipped over, bracing her hooves on Applejack’s thigh looking up at her eagerly. “You mean clothing?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed breathlessly. Applejack laughed and reached down to rumple Apple Bloom’s hair. “You got it,” she said reassuringly. “Ah’m not real good at makin’ anything fancy, but ah figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot. Mah friend even loaned me one of her sewin’ machines.” “Rarity, righ’?” Apple Bloom prompted, backing up from Applejack to clip down on all fours. “That’s right,” Applejack agreed. “Ah’d have asked her to do it herself, but well, she don’t exactly... know, y’know. About all this.” “Y-you can tell her,” Apple Bloom said uncomfortably, turning self consciously and ending up looking at her tail, which curled towards her the other way. “Ah tried!” Applejack said in an exasperated tone. “She don’t believe me.” Apple Bloom uncurled to look up at Applejack again, puzzled. “But what about the TV news?” she asked, “She didn’t see ith–see it?” “Rarity is... something else, sometimes,” Applejack said dispiritedly, “She thinks it’s all a big hoax that ah’m pullin’ on her. Ah tried to, but– ah mean– she’s so sensitive about the littlest thing. Ah didn’t want to send her into a panic.” “What abou’ your other friends?” Apple Bloom asked seriously. “Ain’t asked them,” Applejack said quietly, looking away this time, herself. It made Apple Bloom’s heart hurt to see her sister so disconsolate. Apple Bloom understood where Applejack was coming from though, and how she was feeling. Apple Bloom certainly hadn’t asked Applejack to tell her friends about it, either. She didn’t know what Sweetie Belle would think, maybe panic as she’s Rarity’s sister and all. Or more likely not panic, because she knew how to deal with craziness, as she’s Rarity’s sister and all. It was Scootaloo Apple Bloom would be more worried about, honestly. Sweetie was so much better at taking things in stride. Matter of fact, the one she was really worried seeing about was that new friend of theirs, Diamond Tiara. You wouldn’t think Diamond would be a problem, but something was really shaking that poor girl, last time Apple Bloom saw her, and it was at the start of all this horse nonsense, too. Tiara was a character for sure. She seemed both unflappable, and yet strangely vulnerable in some aspect. Kind of like her name, diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, but if you held them under a candle flame they’ll eventually burn to smoke. But yeah, so Apple Bloom was glad Diamond Tiara wasn’t around. She’d either make fun of her for being this way, or freak out, or ...something. Applejack measured Apple Bloom as best as she could, trying, and failing, to reveal that what she had found was a cutout pattern for silly pet clothes. Then Applejack got to work, and well... at least she didn’t burn the house down. It looked like Apple Bloom was going to have to wait a while, to get any sort of decency in her life. Apple Bloom tried to console her sister, and say it was no big deal, and they’d just get new curtains, and it’d have been fine... but Apple Bloom sorely needed some consoling herself. Apple Bloom tried to look on the bright side. If there was a bright side. It wasn’t that bad, is the thing! She still had her wits. She wasn’t an invalid or anything, just sort of missing her hands, and having a lot harder time with going to the bathroom. Horses suck, in that regard. At least... she wasn’t supposed to be an invalid, but the dreariness just started to ...get to her. No matter how she tried to keep her spirits up, Apple Bloom just stopped being able to find it in her to be happy anymore. Her life was over. Dragging herself around, feeling empty inside all the time, and terribly lonely. Her family loved her, and she loved them but, it wasn’t enough somehow. She was missing something terribly. It didn’t help that every dish her family cooked was absolute torture. Apple Bloom actually began to dread dinnertime, and took to sitting on the hill outside her property, for the period of time that her family was eating. She loved them and all, but when they were eating, she just couldn’t stand the smell. It was all Apple Bloom could do to keep herself from lunging at the table like a hungry panther. It helped once she started eating dinner outside, but it still bothered her like crazy. And, truth be told it was hurting her a lot more than she realized. Thankfully, Apple Bloom had guardian angels watching over her. Two to be specific. Two very foolish guardian angels, watching over her from a distant tree at the edge of her property, with the help of some purloined telescopic binoculars, and camera equipment. “Subject remains on hilltop Promise Peak,” Twilight Sparkle announced to the scratching of a pencil on paper behind her. “Assumes a supine position.” She pulled away from the binoculars to check her watch. “Time is 18:27,” she announced, putting the binoculars to her eyes again. Twilight wore an improvised leaf hat to camoflage her natural colors against the tree foliage. It kept falling down over her eyes, but she easily pushed it up to resume her unflinching vigil. Twilight looked away again, over to check the timepiece wrapped around the narrowed joint her upper forehoof had become, which humans gave the special name of a ‘wrist.’ Ironic that these human beings would name their own body part after the object that covered it, but nevertheless, with the wristwatch securely on her ‘wrist’ Twilight announced going back to her binoculars again, “Assumes a lupine position, time is 18:34.” Twilight noticed the pencil scratching had stopped, and once again had the irritating experience of being unable to angle her ears to verify what she heard, without having to turn and face it. But such is the consequence of a vastly altered biology, of a singularly unique species, of whom Twilight really should not have been a member at all. So she tolerated the inconvenience, looking away from her binoculars. The purple girl was balanced precariously in the tree, adjacent to the mounting for an advanced electronical camera, one that even now was recording the Apple family household (the Apple family of this world) in high definition, several times a second. It was a feat Twilight would have thought impossible, before having seen it in action. From up at that vantage point, Twilight Sparkle looked down at her only friend in the world. “I said,” Twilight repeated clearly, “Assumes a lupine position, time is 18:34.” Below her, the indomitable Sunset Shimmer stood with tresses of flame falling on a black leather jacket, next to the tree and next to the collector equipment for this camera’s electronical ‘film’. According to Sunset, an electrical substance vibrated from that camera through metal wires into a boxy looking collector machine. The wires were trailing down from Twilight in the tree, to dangle beside the fiery haired girl Sunset, who was looking up at Twilight with a disgusted expression. Not only had the Sunset stopped writing, but the hand holding the clipboard, and the hand holding the pencil, were both braced on separate hips. It was a gesture that Twilight felt, with her unfamiliar instincts, was very disapproving. Twilight exclaimed, “Why aren’t you writing—” and Sunset chose that moment to interrupt tetchily, “This is stupid.” Sunset Shimmer took her hands from either side of her denim jeans, and crossed them, across her repulsive cow skin jacket. At least this was a gesture of discontent that wasn’t totally alien to Twilight’s experience, albeit not one ponies adopted often. “What do you mean?” Twilight called down, feeling hurt inside, despite what she knew of her friend’s nature, and her situation. The leaf hat fell over her eyes. “We are getting nowhere!” Sunset shouted up at her. “Apple Bloom is a pony. She remains a pony. There is no reason she should be a pony. We have learned nothing else, from watching her for the past two days!” “Well, if we could just talk to her,” Twilight shouted in pleading protest, fighting with her unruly headgear. “You know we can’t!” Sunset shouted back. “We could ruin the whole thing if our influence determines the outcome!” “We have to do something,” Twilight called back. “The facture isn’t expanding on its own!” Sunset looked down at her clipboard, then just threw it aside with a clatter. She faced up again with a surprisingly level look in her eyes, saying tiredly, “Just... come down from there, and let’s try to figure something out again, based on what we know.” Twilight Sparkle climbed down from the tree. She didn’t fall this time, because she had at least 2 days practice of climbing trees, and of climbing this tree in particular. The rope ladder Sunset set up for her also helped matters. When down, Twilight took a moment to review the footage. When the camera captured the image of Apple Bloom, the distortion around her was obvious, but still no different than the day before. It appeared as an overexposure to the camera film, due to the bipartial velocity superluminal particles that—it appeared as a faint white aura around Apple Bloom, that vaguely conformed to the girl’s shape... her pony shape. It should have been rapidly fractalizing, but... it was just sitting there. Flowing around her like an ill fitting suit. “Alright,” Twilight said, pausing the superfast slideshow these humans invented, and turning to Sunset Shimmer with a grim look on her face. “What we know is, five days ago a filly known as Apple Bloom found the Golden Apple, and as far as we can tell it’s the real deal, not anything we suggested to her. Subsequent to this discovery, she, for some reason, transformed into a pony, even though ponies do not even exist in this world.” “There are many myths and legends,” Sunset offered speculatively. “Yes, myths... unsubstantiated, at that,” Twilight grumbled unsatisfactorily. “Still, it has definitely been a very long time since ponies existed in this world. Yet here Apple Bloom is, as much a pony as she is back home. It has to have something to do with the Golden Apple. I just know it!” Twilight stomped, frustrated, and ineffectively with her weak foreleg, and sideways against the side of the tree. Right, the human word was ‘punched’ not ‘stomped.’ “The Greeks bear a strong parallel to the ancient Sheep empire,” Sunset pointed out, while Twilight shook out her hand hissing in pain. “Perhaps this world’s Tambelon...” That drew Twilight up short. “Don’t even joke about that,” Twilight said edgily. Sunset pondered, “So, she dreams up the Golden Apple, turns into a pony, and then what, nothing?” She leaned agaist the tree, hunching her shoulders. “Could the apple have just been a setup? Just an unrelated party trick, and there’s no way to break it after all?” “There’s no reason to get pessimistic just yet,” Twilight asserted fiercely. “The key is in the lock, and we just have to figure out how to turn the Celestia damned thing.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. Twilight sniffed unsorrily, and blithely replied, “It’s not vulgarity, when Princess Celestia really does damn it.” Sunset laughed coarsely. “Whatever you say, princess,” she asserted emphatically. Despite Twilight’s blush, the purple girl continued to grind her mental gears. “Alright, what do we know about the dream itself?” Twilight prompted. Sunset cast her eyes down at that, saying, “Not much. I haven’t been able to get much out of Applejack, without... skewing the results.” Twilight smiled at Sunset somewhat sadly. Twilight couldn’t even comprehend what Sunset has been through all this time. She lay her articulated hoof on Sunset’s shoulder, and just gave it a warm squeeze. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that for such a horrifying product, it was a very comfortable feeling jacket. Sunset smiled, but didn’t otherwise acknowledge Twilight, or even look at her. Instead the flame haired girl said, “The odd thing isn’t the dream, but how my other friend reacted to it.” “Rarity,” Twilight agreed in understanding, taking her hand back to herself. “Rarity knew about the Golden Apple too, through her kid sister,” “Sweetie Belle,” they said simultaneously. Not in triumph, but just from knowing it previously, as an obvious fact. “But how did Sweetie Belle learn about it?” Twilight wondered. “Apple Bloom must have told her. Oh, if only we had that conversation!” Sunset started to nod, then blinked. “Wait, you know,” she said unsurely, “Sweetie also knew Apple Bloom was a pony. Rarity said as much, that her sister must have guessed it from the ‘tabloid’ news, but how could she have known how big Apple Bloom was going to be?” “Apple Bloom’s other friend might have been involved too,” Twilight suggested. “What do we know about her?” “Which one, Diamond Tiara or Scootaloo?” Sunset asked curiously. Twilight visibly flinched at that. “Sorry,” she said with a bashful smile, “I keep forgetting this world’s Apple Bloom is very different from our own.” “She seems like a decent, bright filly in both worlds,” Sunset said pensively. “I wouldn’t mind meeting her one of these days... ours, I mean.” Twilight nodded, diverting the topic tactfully, “Now, Diamond Tiara on the other hand, I don’t know what that filly’s problem is on our world. You know, she once made the whole town think Spike thought I was a snob?” “Spike? Really?” Sunset asked disbelievingly. “He doesn’t even think Rarity is a snob!” “Hope he’s doing alright back at the er, hideout,” Twilight said nervously. Meanwhile, back at the house for sale they broke into, with a loud clatter the failure of an omelette went flying in several directions around the room. “Why can’t I have opposable thumbs?” Spike’s voice could be heard in a mournful howl, “Why does this universe hate me?” “Anyway,” Sunset cut in, meanwhile, back at the ranch, “So we know that Sweetie might maybe know something. It might be safe to mess with her a little bit... but she can’t know we’re doing it, because she’ll tell Rarity, and Rarity will tell Applejack, and then we’re busted.” “All this secrecy is terrible,” Twilight grouched, “But... you’re right. We have to be subtle about this. Either for her, or for Scootaloo.” “Or Diamond Tiara,” Sunset added. Twilight shook her head bemusedly, “It still surprises me how similar, but how different these two worlds are. You know in my world, Scootaloo is an orphan? Yet here, the tables are turned, and she’s Cheerilee’s biological daughter. Makes me wonder if there’s something the Cheerilee from our world isn’t telling us.” Sunset gave a lively laugh at Twilight’s speculative drawl, but then Sunset stopped, mid-laugh, with a look of realization. Twilight asked hopefully, “Did you figure something out?” “Applejack called me about this,” Sunset said thoughtfully, “It was a change, so I paid attention, and she wanted Cheerilee’s phone number. And then, she called again saying Cheerilee thought she was pranking her.” “So, I... really don’t follow,” Twilight said unsurely. “You know Cheerilee was complaining the other day, about a prank caller telling her that Scootaloo had horse ears?” “Right, based on the news broadcast...” Twilight said agreeably. “No that’s just it,” Sunset exclaimed, “I think she was talking about Applejack’s phone call, not a real prankster!” Twilight hummed, “So, Applejack must have called Cheerilee and warned her that Scootaloo was changing into a pony?” “Why would she only call her though?” Sunset insisted. “Why only Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?” “And not...” Twilight said in realization. “Diamond Tiara!” they both exclaimed. “Those three must be special in both worlds!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly. “But they didn’t change into ponies!” Sunset shot back equally excitedly. “Why would she be saying they did?” “They have to have something in common!” Twilight declared. “Some reason Applejack would think to contact those two, but not all of Apple Bloom’s friends.” “And that reason is...” Sunset trailed off, arms spread dramatically. “...” Twilight answered equally awkwardly. Sunset let her arms drop. “You know what, I just need to talk to them again. I’ll talk to Rarity, and see if I can pick her brain any more, without ruining it for her. She believes it to be a hoax anyway, so it should be easy to get her to open up.” “Yes, that’s probably the best idea,” Twilight said agreeably. “You go talk... to Rarity...” she drooped at the thought of that, and sighed fitfully. This time it was Sunset’s hand on her own shoulder providing that human measure of support. “We’ll get your friends back too,” Sunset said with a sloppy smile, “Come on, you’re here. Princess Twilight Sparkle. You don’t think Celestia sent you here, because she didn’t think you were going to come back, do you? We’re going to figure this out, and we’re going to fix everything.” “Thanks... Sunset,” Twilight said, clasping her hand in hers softly. “You know, I don’t know what I’d do if at least one of my friends weren’t right here with me, going through all this.” Sunset Shimmer blushed, and for a rare moment in time, she didn’t have any words to say. It wouldn’t be exactly right to say that Sunset Shimmer looked forward to meeting with Rarity. Sunset had always been a pony who thrived on conflict and adversity, even when she was not a pony. She stared down the rather dingy looking apartment complex she walked towards with a keen sense of anticipation. It was best to catch Rarity off guard, or she would get you involved in one of her own crazy endeavors. Sunset really wondered how the real Rarity... how the other Rarity could be anywhere near as fashion obsessed as hers was. One thing Rarity remained ashamed of, was her living arrangements, though Sunset couldn’t fathom why. Sunset had used it to humiliate her in the past, but it was also a good way to get past Rarity’s defenses and get her to open up, instead of letting Rarity float around like the social butterfly she wished she could be. So, well after school, Sunset Shimmer rang the doorbell to Rarity’s apartment. The hallway leading to the apartments was brown and nondescript, but Rarity’s was easily identifiable by the bedazzling she applied to the just-about-everything. It was unusually restrained for Rarity, in fact, just a pattern of sparkling plastic stickers applied around the peephole, turning it into a feature of the door instead of a veiled threat. It made it really easy to find her apartment, though Sunset had long since memorized the exact number and floor. There was a familiar shouting match that happened, once the door buzzer sounded inside. It looked like this one was going to be a “prove yourself”, for these two. Sunset calculably smiled, as the lock was undone and a girl with candy curled hair close to Sunset’s human age, but some years younger than Sunset, Sweetie Belle opened the apartment door. Sweetie Belle was one Sunset wasn’t especially familiar with, except through her connection with Rarity, but there wasn’t a human in school that Sunset didn’t know inside and out. This younger girl was the sort who loved every opportunity to take charge, and Sweetie Belle clearly knew the power she held in having a sister who enjoyed long time consuming soaks in the bathtub, answering the door despite Rarity’s protests, protests which fell embarassingly silent the moment the door opened. Gusto aside, when Sweetie Belle saw Sunset standing there, like a hawk about to descend upon its prey, the younger girl shrank back and said nothing, not even introducing herself, clearly regretting being the first to make it to the door. Sunset put on as friendly a face as she could manage these days. “Hey there,” she said to Sweetie, leaning on the doorjam, “I’m Rarity’s friend, Sunset Shimmer. She might have told you about me?” Sweetie relaxed a bit, but still gave Sunset a long look before asking, “Would you like to speak to Rarity?” in that darling voice of hers. The voice that made Sunset want to jump on her and squeeze her cheeks, because you’d have to be a demonic monster to not feel that way when Sweetie Belle spoke to you. Sunset instead nodded calmly and answered, “Yeah, I’d appreciate it if you could tell her I’m here. If she’s not too busy, that is.” “One moment,” Sweetie said politely, turning and closing the door behind her. That didn’t stop the sounds of frantic movement from within, when Rarity herself entered the front of her apartment. Rarity pulled open the door, to reveal herself in a long fuzzy white bathrobe, with her dripping hair wrapped up in a personally embroidered towel. “Sunset!” Rarity said entirely too cheerfully, “What a surprise to see you here! I wasn’t aware that you... knew where I lived.” “Word gets around,” Sunset said noncommitally, with a casual shrug. “I... I’m terribly sorry I was not prepared, if you’ll just give me a moment to put my face on,” Rarity said in a fluster. “Sweetie Belle is... visiting you see, and I had just paused for a moment to—” “No, no don’t worry about it,” Sunset said waving her hand, “I just had a quick question to ask you. It’s about a research project I’ve been working on about Greek mythology. You remember how Sweetie Belle was going on about a Golden Apple?” Rarity smiled wanly, saying, “I do recall, yes. Among other foolish things.” Sunset pressed on, saying, “It’s a story you might like, actually. Basically, at a royal wedding, that all the gods attended, a goddess inscribed the name ‘to the most beautiful’ on an apple made of solid gold, then tossed it amid all the other gods. Naturally all of them assumed it was in reference to herself, and the resulting argument over who was the fairest resulted in the uh... Trojan war. A total war that devastated Greek society.” “Now why on earth would she do that?!” Rarity exclaimed, a hand to her chest aghast. “Beauty is not a thing to be tossed around like a bauble or a trinket!” “She wasn’t invited to the wedding, I gather,” Sunset shrugged. “Well that’s no reason to—” “Yeah, I know!” Sunset cut in. “Most mythology doesn’t make sense that way. Look, think of it this way, there was a big war where a lot of people suffered, and everyone wanted someone to blame for it, but nobody could blame the people who caused it because those people had all the power. So they did what they usually do, make up gods to blame for it.” “I cannot imagine anyone would fight so bitterly, over something so trivial,” Rarity persisted somewhat mournfully. “Wouldn’t you want to be the most beautiful?” Sunset asked testily. Rarity smiled at Sunset, as one does to an uppity child. The ironic thing is, that didn’t even phase Sunset anymore. It was just something Rarity did without even thinking about it. She did it to just about everyone, in fact. “Sunset, darling,” Rarity said melodically, “Beauty isn’t something you can prove, or claim. If you have to prove you are the most beautiful, then you are not the most beautiful. Simple as that! Why, I would be fighting to make someone else take that apple. Whoever needed an apple before anyone would think they were beautiful, would be most ugly indeed.” Rarity paused, and added, “If that was your question, then I suppose I will retire to my afternoon soak?” Sunset found herself a little tongue tied. She wasn’t used to Rarity being so darned... insightful! “Alright, no,” she pinched her brow collecting her wits. “I was researching it because of that news report, you know the one with that local girl, Apple Bloom?” Rarity rolled her eyes, drawling out, “Please don’t tell me you watch that tripe, either!” Sunset smiled loosely, saying, “Hey, you know me. Crazy stories are my bread and butter. I was wondering what you thought about it. Apple Bloom is your sister’s friend, isn’t she?” “What I think,” Rarity said angrily, “Is Applejack is making a huge mistake, pulling Apple Bloom out of school for a, for what amounts to a prank of all things. You think you know someone, and then she does something like this! Where has my good, decent, honest friend gone, wrapped up in all that media hype?! How much do you think they’re paying her to lie to us all!” Sunset’s eyes went from side to side, because to look forward now was to look at Rarity, who had come nose-to-nose with Sunset. Rarity’s angry, forward facing eyes were focused right on the target of her wrath, an abstract concept. Sunset just happened to be standing in the way of it. That’s what it felt like at least. Then, Rarity realized she was being ...forward, and straightened up, collecting herself and adjusting the towel on her head. “I haven’t anything to say about that sordid article,” Rarity said snippily. “Except that I would appreciate if you could be so kind as to tell Applejack that she needs to pull her head out of her rear end, and send Apple Bloom back to school where she belongs, and stop ruining the poor girl’s future like this.” “Yeah, alright I’ll... do what I can,” Sunset said unhappily. Rarity smiled silently, and closed the door to her apartment. Sunset stood there in the hallway, rolling around Rarity’s words in her head, trying to find some hint of what Rarity knew, about how Sweetie Belle might be connected to Apple Bloom, and the Golden Apple. Rarity hadn’t said that Sweetie had any strange dreams, and didn’t seem to even slightly connect the old legend with her sister. Yet she learned about the apple through her sister, so Sweetie had to know about it somehow. Groaning, Sunset leaned against the wall of the hallway, scrunching her hands up in her hair. She listened to the slosh of bathwater inside, and the pleasant sound of Rarity’s close lipped humming, as she got about her important bathing ritual. Sunset Shimmer knew she was so close to an answer, but her leads were slipping out through the fingers that she still hadn’t gotten used to, even after all this time. Even after all this fighting. Sometimes Sunset Shimmer didn’t even know what she was fighting for. Her family? As if. Her home? Changed beyond recognition. The arrival of that purple princess was evidence enough that Sunset had nopony waiting for her back home. So why did she still fight? When it all came down to the wire, there was one thing Sunset Shimmer wanted more than anything in the world. An end. She wanted this all to end so much that it drove her insane. And then drove her sane again. She was so tired of this thrice damned bizarre dimension of bizarre creatures and rituals and that Celestia bucking school! She— Sunset’s heart skipped a beat and she inhaled sharply, when the door to Rarity’s apartment opened again. Standing up straight, Sunset found herself looking at Sweetie Belle again, the pink and lavender curl girl peering out at Sunset worriedly. “Oh good, you’re still here,” Sweetie Belle said, with a look of relief. Sunset... had nothing she could say to that. What the buck was going on here? “Listen,” Sweetie said urgently, “I know Apple Bloom is a little baby animal now. You don’t have to lie to me. I already know, so you don’t have to hide her from me.” “Wh–huh?” Sunset said intelligently. “The dream,” Sweetie Belle said. “I saw her changed all the way, in that dream we had, when she touched the golden apple. So please, Rarity won’t tell her, but you have to tell Apple Bloom that it’s okay and she doesn’t have to hide from me. I don’t mind at all, and I... really miss her.” “I can... talk to Applejack... about...” Sunset said in an almost paralytic grip of terrified reticence. “Please,” Sweetie said with a soulful pout, “Scootaloo was in the dream too, so Apple Bloom doesn’t have to hide from her either. “Sweetie Belle!” came Rarity’s voice echoing through the walls, “Who are you talking to?” “Gotta go,” Sweetie Belle said hastily, closing the door in Sunset’s face. Sweetie opened it again and repeated, “Tell Applejack I really mean it.” Then closed the door. Sunset didn’t waste one more second, but turned around and ran full tilt out of the hallway, down the stairwell and out the front lobby to the street below. She was breathing hard when she got to the bus stop, leaning on her knees with a wheezy exhaustion, but there was a fiery light in her eyes, if not of triumph, a light of desperate hope, of possibility. Sometime later in that dingy apartment, which was much less dingy on the inside, Rarity was brushing out her luxurious hair, expertly conditioned into stylish squiggles. Sweetie Belle spoke up in a most curious tone, from the homework she was working on, laid out on the apartment floor. “Rarity,” she asked offhandedly, “Why does your friend Sunset Shimmer keep introducing herself to me? We already met like twice!” The weekend came for Apple Bloom, and it was the worst weekend ever. She had a whole life of weekends now, and nothing to do in it. She just lay around all day, not moving much, staring listlessly out the window. She wanted to forget what she was, pretend she was just a normal girl again, who could eat normal things, and do normal things and... she really didn’t have the energy to think on it, further than that. It was almost hay time for her. She hated hay time. No, that’s not quite right. She didn’t even feel like taking the effort to hate it. Fortunately, her life was about to improve in more ways than one. Her first surprise was when Big Macintosh got back from slopping the pigs, those forbidden walking bacon factories that had no right to look as happy as they did, hanging on to all that tasty meat. The time Apple Bloom thought he’d been studying the past days, he was actually busy with something else entirely. So she lifted her head and turned to look, as he walked down the stairs from his room, holding some kind of white cloth in his enviously large, capable hands. He looked at Apple Bloom, and she looked at him dully. And he said, “Need ya to try this on, see if it fits.” Apple Bloom couldn’t scramble to her useless hooves fast enough. “You made it?!” she exclaimed incoherently, running up to him in broad jumps, a gait she’d figured out yesterday, that her family observers told her was a gallop. “You–whath is it? Is ith clothing? How am ah gonna geth it on?!” “Calm down, sis,” Big Macintosh said, pushing her back from rearing up to climb up his legs. “It’s a dress,” he explained, “Supposed to be at any rate. You just put it on like a t-shirt. Should give you some modesty, if ah measured right.” Apple Bloom eagerly complied with his demands, and ended up sitting back on her haunches and pulling her elbows out to hold her hooves high above her head, so he could slip it down on top of her that way. She actually pulled it on herself, the rest of the way, by sticking her hooves through the sleeves and tugging the edges of the cloth with her teeth to get it all wrapped around her. It was a dress made out of cheap linen, not died or adorned with lace or anything, but Apple Bloom was ready to say it was the best dress she’d ever worn in her life. It felt so good to have clothing on again. It had basic sleeves, and a skirt that was long enough that it draped down right around her bottom, and there was a special addition to it that she really appreciated, a hole for her tail! Seriously, Apple Bloom couldn’t imagine what kind of ridiculous design for a dress that would go on top of your tail. She turned in excited circles to look at her now covered rear end, pausing a little bit disappointed. The cut of the tail hole still kind of gave her some sort of butt cleavage, but it was lots better than just showing it all off to the world. “Was gonna add buttons,” Big Mac said getting down on a knee, and observing what she was looking at, “But... y’know. Maybe a pull string to tighten it.” “Thank you so much, Big Macintosh!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, leaping to wrap her arms around him joyfully. Part of the way around him at least. She couldn’t even get her tiny little hooves halfway around his big broad chest. Matter of fact, why wasn’t she just slipping off him and falling, like this? Oh well, it didn’t matter because she had dignity again! As she tested out her garment, Apple Bloom found herself trodding on the drooping hemline, fussing about it until Big Macintosh just went and got some cloth shears, cutting it so it didn’t catch on her feet anymore. He didn’t bother hemming it, but that was fine. Apple Bloom looked at herself in the bottom of the full length door mirror, like some kind of little pony diva. It didn’t look fancy but, it was a lot better than she even imagined. Apple Bloom hadn’t even realized just how vulnerable being buck naked all the time was making her feel. Later, she heard Applejack’s truck pulling into the driveway, her sister back from the weekend shopping. Apple Bloom ran to greet her, though stopped and wobbled... a bit dizzy halfway there, and just walked the rest of the way. “Sis, look!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, as Applejack opened up the front door. “Applejack! Look!” “Well isn’t that just the most darling thing ever!” Applejack declared, coming down to Apple Bloom’s level. “Big Mac outdone himself, ah have to say!” “You knew he was making this?” Apple Bloom gasped. Applejack nodded. “He wanted it to be a surprise, after ah tried... y’know, with the messed up stitchin’ and all. It looks great on you!” “It is great!” Apple Bloom agreed fervently, “Ah feel so much bether. This is the bes’ news ah’ve had since this happen’ to me!” Applejack gave a self satisfied smile at that, saying, “Well ah may be able to one-up Big Macintosh in that regard.” “Whahddya mean?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at her sister trying to read her expression. “Just wait one sec,” Applejack said, standing up and leaving Apple Bloom there on the floor. “Ah’ll go get... ah’ll be right back.” Applejack walked out the door, leaving it closed but unlatched and just went back to her truck, where the door could be heard opening and closing again. Using her freaky ears, Apple Bloom could hear Applejack, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, all walking together towards the house. Though she recalled Granny’s footfalls to be heavier than that, and wasn’t Big Mac’s stride a whole lot longer? When Applejack returned to the house and opened the door, Apple Bloom froze on the spot, just like a deer in headlights, at the second surprise of the day. She she she she she she she wasn’t ready! She wasn’t she... she was looking right at the gaping, open mouthed faces of two very close friends of hers. “S-Sweetie Belle?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, “Shcootaloo?!” “I knew it!” Scootaloo cheered, pumping the air. “You are so ado҉rable!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, kneeling down and clasping her pale white hands in delight. “But...” Apple Bloom balked, “Ah don’... ah ain’...” “Now Apple Bloom,” Applejack spoke down to her chidingly, hands on hips, “These are your friends, you can trust them. Plus they already know about you, so there’s nothin’ to hide.” “But Applejack!” Apple Bloom protested, shifting on her hooves agitatedly. “But nothing!” Applejack cut her off. “It took a good friend’a mine to show me this, but you caint just hide away your whole life. Your friends need you, and you need them, and it don’t matter if you’re some kinda pony or not.” “Ah guess so...” Apple Bloom said when she couldn’t think of any way to argue, around her full face blush, and around her hoof covering her face from everyone’s inquisitive eyes. “And that is why ah’ve given your friends permission to carry you around like a dolly, until you loosen up a bit,” Applejack concluded smugly. Apple Bloom smiled guiltily, saying, “Yeah I...” she paused. “Wait, what was that last part again?” Sweetie Belle’s bright smile seemed so much more predatory all of a sudden, as the adorable little girl wrapped her arms around the even more adorable little pony, and lifted Apple Bloom high up into the air. Apple Bloom had only a small chance to glare at Applejack, point a hoof and avow to her, “You owe me big for this,” before her giggling friends dragged her bodily outside into the bright sun to play. On a seemingly unrelated note, while the three kids played together and made friends with each other all over again, at least a mile away at the base of a rather technologically augmented tree, an unlikely pair were engaging in the unlikely act of hugging each other, laughing excitedly, and dancing in a circle. And, that should have been it. That should have solved everything. With her new dress and her beloved friends, Apple Bloom had never felt better than she had ever felt all the past five long days. Six, if you counted the one where she was half a pony. Seven, by the time this sleepover was done. Apple Bloom wanted so badly for it to be enough, for it to get her out of this god damned funk she was in, but it just wasn’t working, even now. Apple Bloom had a lot of fun, but kept coming up short. She wanted to show them all the cool physical stuff she learned how to do over the past days, but she got tired so quickly now. She wanted to learn everything about school and about what she’d been missing outside the farm, but she just felt too spacy to put more than two thoughts together. And she wanted to laugh at their jokes and their joyful acceptance of her condition, but she just felt so bitter, and drained. Apple Bloom was in the middle of trying to pantomime Ms. Harshvoice’s reaction to Apple Bloom’s ears being real, and she just got tired all of a sudden and fell painfully on her belly. And then she started crying, and she couldn’t stop! So that’s how her afternoon ended, crying inconsolably, carried in the arms of her friends, who asked Applejack in a panic what was wrong and what they should do, and Applejack didn’t know, and Apple Bloom didn’t know, and... that was when everybody, including Apple Bloom, started to suspect that there was something seriously wrong with her. The next day wasn’t any better, and Apple Bloom felt even worse if that were possible. She should have had a sleepover, but she just woke up alone. Apple Bloom couldn’t even bring herself to eat anymore. She was just so very sick of hay. She’d humiliated herself in front of her friends, and she didn’t even know why. It couldn’t have been a simple answer either. The vet didn’t know what to do. Dr. Cureall was downright paranoid, accusing Apple Bloom of having eaten a million things from onions to chocolate, to pain pills. She said Apple Bloom had to eat or she’d keep getting more anemic, and Apple Bloom said maybe she’d go eat a big old bowl of black forest ice cream with chocolate syrup on top, and it kind of devolved into shouting from there. That lady really knew how to take care of their animals, but she was not a people person. Dr. Cureall gave Apple Bloom a sickly sweet paste to rub on her gums, and it really did help a little, but the doc said it was a totally different situation than ice cream or candy, and then the doctor said you know what I don’t even know anymore. Go ahead and give yourself metabolic syndrome. And when the vet drove off in a panicked huff, Apple Bloom just... Apple Bloom just went meekly to her hay bale and, she really did try to eat that hay, and she really did chew it, and swallow it and consume the tasteless stuff. It just wasn’t making her feel better though, so Apple Bloom just went to bed early, again. Didn’t even bother getting on the bed this time, just pulled a blanket down and curled up underneath it. Like a horse. And that’s why only a day later, with the end of the weekend at hand, Apple Bloom was creeping downstairs in the darkness, in the middle of the night. She had smelled it before she saw it: a triple layer chocolate fudge cake, lovingly crafted on special request for a faculty holiday party. Granny wasn’t the best at baking, but being on school payroll made her the cheapest, and that left it to her to make something special to really wow the administrators involved. Apple Bloom couldn’t get it out of her head all night. She remembered what the vet said about the terrible consequences of chocolate... but she also remembered the taste of chocolate. The taste of thick, rich, creamy chocolate frosting, sealing in the buttery, complex moisture of the dark as night, syrup drizzled cake. So, she crept down to take a look at it. Apple Bloom had not yet gone down the stairs herself as a pony, but it couldn’t be harder than messing around on the fence. She eased down a step, found her footing (or, hoofing?) firm, and continued the next step. She wobbled and tottered, but somehow made it down in one piece, and more importantly quietly. Because she was just going to take another look at it—she wasn’t going to eat it or anything, and if she woke anyone up, they just wouldn’t understand. They’d think she was going to go try and eat it, when she was just going to look, so there was no need to alarm them over nothing. The cake was sitting on the kitchen counter, ready to lift out and carry to the truck, and from there to the hungry mouths of school administrators. First Apple Bloom’s bouncy red curls, then her yellow furry pony ears, and then her gleaming orange eyes rose from beneath the level of the counter to peer at the cake. It looked so huge, with how small she was now. It was like a tower of chocolate. Apple Bloom had long since removed her dress and bow for sleeping, though sleep proved impossible tonight. It left her now as naked as the day she was born, if she had been born a pony, that is. It was too much trouble to put that stuff on, since Apple Bloom couldn’t ask for anyone’s help now, or they wouldn’t let her eat—look at the cake. It’s not like anyone would see her, or ever know about this. She was just considering, you know, considering. There was just a flimsy layer of cellophane between Apple Bloom and the cake. An effective barrier against moisture, for sure. Apple Bloom wondered if she could maybe pull it aside just a little bit, and just maybe take a little taste of the cake, just a little lick to make sure she really can’t eat food like this. It’d probably taste bad, like poison like the vet said. Then Apple Bloom would know, and she could eat hay forever and never be happy again. The cellophane crinkled way too noisily as her hoof disturbed it, picking away at the rolled edge and separating the edges into a broad gap. She looked around in paranoid fear at the silent darkness around her, the blue moonlight filtering through the windows seeming entirely too bright for her liking. She didn’t see any signs of movement, so carefully she pulled the cellophane aside just a bit. The heady smell of chocolate immediately assaulted Apple Bloom’s nose, and it was all she could do to stop from drooling all over the floor. No really, she had to wipe at her mouth and everything. Maybe just a teeny little, she told herself silently, heart thudding as the cake beckoned to her in the moonlit darkness. Just an edge of the frosting, the teeniest little bite. It was frosting, so it couldn’t be bad, right? Frosting wasn’t a bad thing, the bad thing was the chocolate, right? Maybe if it was chocolate, but frosting, then it was okay? Needless to say, Apple Bloom wasn’t very cognizant in her thoughts when she stretched her neck forward, and took just a tiny little nibble from the edge of the third layer of cake. When the morning came, Apple Bloom woke up nice and easy. She felt funny, but she felt too lazy to even open her eyes. The sunlight was shining across them uncomfortably, and she shifted to take the glare off them, and doing that felt funny too. But it wasn’t until five minutes later, that her doze was abruptly terminated by the sound of Applejack hollering, not three feet away from her, at the top of her lungs, “Apple Bloom, what have you done?!” “Wuah!” Apple Bloom squealed, half sitting up, and then falling back as she slipped in place. She was on the kitchen counter; why was she on the kitchen counter?! Why did everything feel all sticky and messy? What the blue blazes was she lying in?! It was brown and chocolatey and oh. Oh right.... “I-I-I can explain!” Apple Bloom stammered drunkenly, struggling up from her belly up position, throughly buried in the remains of a triple layer chocolate fudge cake. What remained of it—and a very large amount of it was mysteriously missing—had been utterly ruined by the pony sitting in the middle, squashing the whole thing to pieces. Apple Bloom slipped again, and fell back into the mess, getting herself thoroughly splattered with gooey chocolate frosting. She lay there, staring at the ceiling dolefully, then said in a disgruntled tone, “You know what, actually, I cain’t explain.”