//------------------------------// // The Worst Possible Thing // Story: Bloom Filter // by ferret //------------------------------// The days after the Fall Formal were ...peaceful ones for Apple Bloom. It was a few days leeway before it all started to happen, and during those days she woke up still hurting, but felt more like herself again before the first day was even over. Her kin were... well they weren’t punishing her none, so Apple Bloom just tried to be extra good for them. She followed Big Macintosh out on Wednesday to help bring the cows home, but she made sure she was back at the house in time, when Applejack and Granny Smith, those of her family at school came trundling down that dirt road in that beatup old pickup, to return to her. She didn’t get up to much, but she just sort of didn’t feel like getting up to much. Not with walking on eggshells about her encounter last Tuesday. She even helped make breakfast once. Well, sort of. She stirred the waffle batter. With her uh, mouth. Spoon handle in mouth, so it wasn’t gross or nothing. She didn’t get to talk to her friends, but that was nothing new, and she certainly wasn’t going to make an issue of it. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to face them again. They didn’t even know how different she was now, and they wouldn’t understand why she was having such a hard time. Apple Bloom just didn’t want to see that look in their eyes, uncomfortable from just being around her. She’d have to address it at some point, if she ever wanted to see them again, but the weekend was still a ways off, and Apple Bloom felt she could coast for a little. So, coast, she did. Didn’t make it to the weekend though. It was a lazy Thursday afternoon right around lunchtime. Apple Bloom was quietly sketching at the floor by the kitchen table waiting for Applejack to finish with the cows so they could eat, when her ears pricked at the sound of a car coming down the road. It was a big long growly old tuna boat that she knew by heart, by now. But why was Rarity bringing Sweetie Belle? Rarity sure never came here to the farm for any other reason, other than to bring Sweetie Belle. It wasn’t even the weekend, though! It was the middle of the school day! There was an unsettling screech of tires, and the pounding of footsteps, and then Rarity was all out hammering at their door, shrieking, “Applejack, you get out here right this instant!” No, that wasn’t quite right. It needed more vigor. More urgency! It was more like “APPLEJACK! YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” No, still not quite there... APPLEJAGYOUGEDOUDHERENOWWWWWW There we go. Apple Bloom crept up to the door hammering on its hinges. She didn’t want to upset Rarity by talking to her again, but that lady wasn’t going to stop freaking until she found Applejack, and Apple Bloom sort of really, really wanted her to stop freaking right now. “Applejack’s not here!” Apple Bloom shouted tremulously at the door. “She’s out with the cows!” The terrifying hammering blessedly stopped. Apple Bloom let out a breath. Then the latch turned and the door swung open, and Apple Bloom found herself staring up into the face of death itself. Rarity stood there... it was probably Rarity, but her hair wasn’t just rumpled anymore. It was curling back on itself in swinging strands going every which way that almost seemed to move independently, as the imposing girl twice, no three times Apple Bloom’s height, bore down on her hissing out lividly, “You...” Apple Bloom couldn’t even. “This is your fault!” Rarity shouted stomping into Apple Bloom’s house while Apple Bloom scooted back desperately, hooves catching on her dress as she frantically turned her rear at Rarity. Why had she worn her dress today? She just didn’t want to be naked for a while! “You did this!” Rarity shrieked while Apple Bloom untangled her dress from her hooves, “YOU did this to her!” The girl reached for Apple Bloom, with hands twisted into horrible claws of hatred and malice. Apple Bloom found her hooves were beating on the carpet, even before she even realized she was running for her life. Up the stairs, down the stairs, it didn’t matter. Rarity just wouldn’t leave her alone! This was a nightmare. This had to be a nightmare! Where are you princess, oh where are you? The dream princess didn’t come, and an inhuman squeal of terror escaped Apple Bloom when Rarity found her hiding under the table, and came clutching for her, eyes full of anger, fear, vengeance and madness. Bloom had to find somewhere Rarity couldn’t go. She couldn’t think. She leapt crying up the stairs again, and dove right underneath her bed. It was no hiding place. From her refuge, her last stand, Apple Bloom screamed as Rarity’s clawlike fingers came after her under the bed, knocking them away with her hooves before they could touch her. “Leave me alone!” she shouted through her tears. “You did this!” Rarity shrieked like it was a mantra, still grabbing for her. “Ah’m sorry!” Apple Bloom begged, shoving Rarity back from crawling under there and getting her. “You’ll be sorry!” Rarity shouted back, fighting against the panicked filly. “What the fuck are you doin’ in mah house?” Applejack shouted from the doorway into Apple Bloom’s room. Rarity made one more desperate grab for Apple Bloom, before she was dragged by her waist out from under the bed by a furious Applejack. “No!” Rarity shouted, “She must pay, she must pay!!” and then she was gone. Then there was the sound of two struggling girls. Then there was the sound of someone getting punched in the face. Then the sound of a body crumpling to the floor. Then silence. Terrifying, terrifying silence. “Apple Bloom!” came Applejack’s voice, dropping to the level of the bed as a a battering ram of relief smacked Apple Bloom right across the head making her dizzy from the emotional inversion. But she still kept crying! She couldn’t stop feeling like she was going to die! “You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked tentatively, picking up the bedspread to see under there. “Why is this happening to me?” Apple Bloom shrieked at her sister, just completely losing it there under the bed and she didn’t even know why. “It don’t—” “It don’t make sense!” Applejack shouted back at her forcefully, “Don’t ask why! Just let it not make sense! We’ll figure it out later, you need to just calm down!” “Okay sis, ah will, thank ya kindly,” Apple Bloom wanted to say, but the most she could say is a sort of “Huuuuu” because she just felt so torn up inside, and scared and guilty because why did Rarity just hate her for... don’t ask why. She just curled up in a ball and tried to calm down. There wasn’t any Rarity out there to get here. There wasn’t nothing wrong. Everything was fine. Everything was terrible, but it could get better. She wasn’t really an animal, it was all their fault! It was... Yeah, somehow by just trying to stop figuring out what was going on, Apple Bloom did find herself strangely calming down. The sobs stopped wracking her, and she just gulped in deep breaths, now that she could. The quiet of the farm, when she stopped vocalizing, was only broken by her sister’s purposeful movements, stomping around and something about a scooting chair, and a limp thumping. There was no why to worry about, Apple Bloom was just there, and nobody was trying to kill her anymore. Apple Bloom finally peeked her head out from under the bed, to see Applejack working there purposefully, right there in Bloom’s own room tying Rarity to a chair. It... it looked kinda funny. Apple Bloom shouldn’t have been laughing but, but it made her feel better somehow. She couldn’t be scared at some skinny high school girl, who was all wrapped up in sturdy rope and tied to a chair like in a movie, even if she was like three times the pony’s height. And when Applejack tamed Rarity’s hair by dumping a bucket of water over her head, Apple Bloom had to fight to keep from snickering. She was... she was kind of dizzy from the last five, ten minutes. Rarity spluttered, coming to consciousness suddenly, and Apple Bloom even now found herself tensing up. But her sister was here, and the ropes held, no matter how Rarity tried them. The white girl was already sporting a shiner as her eye began to bruise. Before Rarity could say a word, Applejack got right in her face and accused her angrily, “Mind tellin’ me why you broke into mah house right now, and attacked mah Apple Bloom?” Rarity stared back at her unrepentantly, which was itself an impressive feat considering the girl was more rope than human at this point. She was clearly not in the position to bargain. And she didn’t even answer the question, just saying, “Your Apple Bloom? Is it not just ‘Apple Bloom’?” Applejack said haltingly, “Well, she, uh—” Dangit, Rarity was already getting under Applejack’s skin! Apple Bloom was about ready to start shouting at Rarity herself, while Applejack defended herself all goofily, saying, “You’re always on about your dear lil’ Sweetie Belle, so why cain’t I?” “Because my dear sweet sister has no one else to care for her,” Rarity countered acidly. “We have no loving family, no kind grandmother to cook us meals, no idyllic countryside farm house to call our own. If I must take a parental role, then so I shall gladly, because she has no one but me. And she,” Rarity hissed with an accusing glare at Apple Bloom, “Ruined my own dear sister’s life!” Apple Bloom stared in shock for more reasons than one. Apple Bloom ruined Sweetie Belle’s life? Was this about the Formal? Apple Bloom was ashamed, but not guilty! Had she done something to Sweetie after she passed out? Was Sweetie Belle hurt? She didn’t hurt herself?! Oh no, she did! And Sweetie was showing all the signs and Apple Bloom just didn’t say anything. And... Sweetie Belle didn’t have a family? Since when? Well maybe she didn’t talk about them much, but Apple Bloom always just assumed she... did. It occurred to Apple Bloom that it was always her sister who came to pick Sweetie Belle up from school, never her pa or ma or anything. And... “A-ah told her not to do it,” Apple Bloom said desperately. “She said she wouldn’t!” “What on earth are you babbling about?” Rarity responded contemptuously, “What do you think Sweetie Belle did?” And if Rarity knew, then she would understand why Apple Bloom didn’t want to tell her. Why Apple Bloom didn’t even want to say that sort of thing out loud. Why she didn’t even want to think about her best friend’s darling little face being so horribly ...cut up. Applejack looked from Rarity to Apple Bloom and back, and said, “Okay hold on, wait. Start over again, from the beginning.” Rarity raised an eyebrow saying, “Applejack, you get out here right this instant? I think we rather covered that already.” At Applejack’s unimpressed glare, Rarity dropped her gaze and said, “See for yourself then, what your foolish sister has done. Sweetie is waiting in the car.” Applejack squinted at Rarity, then gave Apple Bloom a look and asked the little filly, “You do anything to hurt Sweetie Belle?” “Ah swear ah didn’t!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Ah didn’t even know she was hurt!” “Well, now you do,” Rarity said snippishly. “You know very well what you did.” “No ah don’t!” Apple Bloom said back. Rarity still wouldn’t answer though, just looked aside with a sniff. “Why you gotta be so dramatic, Rarity?” Applejack sighed exasperatedly. “Sweetie ain’t hurt or you’d be at the hospital yellin’ at me over the phone.” “Some hurt goes further than mere wounds, Applejack,” Rarity said ambiguously. Applejack facepalmed. “Look, ah’ll just go get Sweetie Belle—” Applejack started. “Well I would volunteer,” Rarity cut in, “But I seem to be...” eyeing the thick rope encasing her and securing her to the chair. “...otherwise engaged at the moment,” she concluded , with a no doubt deliberate pause for everyone to prepare to groan in disgust, only to deny them that small pleasure in life. “Ah’ll go get Sweetie Belle,” Applejack declared in grouchy resolution, “An’ the four of us can work this out like calm, rational adu—” she glanced at Apple Bloom, “...people.” “Ah’m normal size for mah people!” Apple Bloom protested hotly to Applejack. “Just because ah’m smaller than a human, don’t mean ah’m not an adult!” “Just... wait here,” Applejack said wearily to Apple Bloom, “If she tries anythin’ you come runnin’ for me.” Apple Bloom nodded and Applejack left, clomping down the stairs in her outside boots that she never bothered to take off. Apple Bloom stayed in her room and stared at Rarity suspiciously. The white girl was even elegant in her state of disarray and imprisonment, despite being soaking wet from the neck up. She didn’t move or struggle, or say anything, or even acknowledge Apple Bloom’s presence. “Listen,” Apple Bloom said to Rarity resolutely. “Ah know you don’ like me, an’ you don’t like what happened to me. But could you at least be civil?” “We are not on speaking terms,” was Rarity’s short answer, and then she looked away again. Somehow she made it seem like it was Apple Bloom who should feel insecure for having been looked away from, instead of the other way around, like it was supposed to be. “Ah didn’t cut her face!” Apple Bloom spat at Rarity angrily, and surprisingly she felt angry at Sweetie Belle. Not only was Sweetie doing things to herself, she was turning around and saying Apple Bloom did it? That wasn’t what friends did! And Rarity just kept staring at her, making those fishmouthing faces! There was a careless clomping of boots on the stairs again, along with a... second pair of softer feet. Applejack returned to the room again, walking through the doorway looking considerably more haunted than she had been when she left. She didn’t spare either of them a look, before announcing bleakly, “We got a problem. A big problem.” Apple Bloom felt her ears go down. Behind Applejack walked in Sweetie Belle, who... looked kind of short. There was nothing... wrong with her face. Apple Bloom’s eyes widened in shock, as she realized exactly what was going on. Sweetie was in her school clothes still, but she’d taken off her shoes, probably the biggest reason why she looked shorter than usual. But that wasn’t the only reason. It was subtle but very apparant. The girl’s bountiful generous locks seemed... less bountiful somehow, with how they were being pushed back from her guilty looking, smoothly unblemished expression, by a pair of triangular, conical ears. Her face wasn’t cut, or wounded, but it wasn’t normal either! Her nose wasn’t thin and pointy anymore, now more of a round flat bump all over. The beginnings of a muzzle, clearly. It was impossible to see what might have been growing out of her butt, because it would just be under the dress at this point. Sweetie Belle’s jacket was hanging kind of loosely around her shoulders. This had clearly been going on for some time now. “I... um...” Sweetie Belle broke the silence, saying with a bit of a lisp, in a nervously pleading tone, “I’m sh-sorry Apple Bloom. I didn’t mean it. I don’t supposhe you could take it back?” “...take what back now?” Apple Bloom asked distantly, thumping down on her hindquarters. “W-well if you ashked the dream prinsh...princess, I mean I don’t know if you did but I didn’th mean it, sho you could just pleashaskhertoshtop,” Sweetie’s voice faded off into a desperate mumble. Apple Bloom’s gears ground around in her head, and she shook that head slowly. “Ah told the princess all about this Tuesday night,” she said as frankly and clearly as she could, “About how there weren’t no demon or magic horses or anything, but it was still a disaster, and about that purple girl who got so mad at me and um, didn’t answer anything.” She stood up her little pony butt, and said earnestly, “But ah didn’t tell her about—” and she halted, glancing aside at the other two girls in the room, “About that,” Apple Bloom said to Sweetie enigmatically. “That was private, Sweetie. Ah wasn’t just gonna... oh Sweetie, please don’t cry!” “I thought it was... I thought maybe she could...” Sweetie said with big tears in her eyes. She sank to her knees right on the floor there, and the back of her dress shifted when she did, in a clear indication that she probably did have something growing down under there. Sweetie sat there, squeaking out whimpers and rubbing at her eyes. Apple Bloom ran up to her and just like, climbed up her knees, and Sweetie wrapped her arms around and hung onto Apple Bloom, staining the pony’s shoulder with her tears. Without pulling away, Apple Bloom looked behind her at the others pleadingly, but Applejack had just set down heavily on the edge of Apple Bloom’s bed. And Rarity was a little tied up at the moment. Sweetie was just beside herself with dismay. And Apple Bloom was... curiously empty of emotion. She just didn’t have it in her to react any more. The situation had just gotten too weird for her to wrap her head around. She didn’t have to, thankfully. She just had to play teddy for Sweetie, like Apple Bloom’s own teddy did for her. “Ah’m sorry, Rarity,” Applejack said, defeated. “You were right to be mad.” Rarity was looking long at Sweetie, who was still hanging onto the wide eyed Apple Bloom, and Rarity shook her head slightly. “No, Applejack you... did the right thing,” she admitted reluctantly. “I... shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Thank you, for stopping me from doing something I would come to regret.” “What are we gonna do?” Applejack moaned, head in her hands. “Are they all gonna change into ponies now? Is everybody? Oh, why did I let you even bring poor Sweetie over to play? This is all mah—” Rarity stiffened at that, saying, “No... no I was wrong, and I will not allow you to be wrong either. I will not even entertain the possibility that this could have been quarantined. We may come... of an undesirable fate, but this has gone on for months on end, without any developments like this whatsoever. If any is at fault, it is certainly not a po—not Apple Bloom, who wouldn’t have done this to Sweetie Belle even if she could, nor could it be a loving sister, who did nothing other than save her... pony... sister, from a terrible life of loneliness.” Sweetie was just cradling Apple Bloom now, looking over at the older girls with a lost expression on her face. “It’s gonna be okay, Sweetie,” Apple Bloom spoke up from her lap. “You can come live with me, now. And ah can teach you all about how to get around, and talk an’ all. You’ll be okay, I promise!” It wasn’t clear whether Sweetie coughed or laughed, but a little smile did tease on her altered face. “Now, hold on now,” Applejack said with a worried look at the two of them. “Applejack,” Rarity interrupted curtly, “She is not going to stay at the apartment. She would be a prisoner in her own home!” “But we’re outta town,” Applejack protested. “We ain’t got all the fancy uh, things, like sometimes the hot water coughs out, and it’s all dirtylike round here and stuff.” “If Sweetie is going to be an animal,” Rarity said resentfully, “I hardly think she’ll mind a little dirt and inconvenience. Am I to understand you expect me to fill my apartment with bales of hay? Oh, maybe I could add a few mud pits too, for the pigs! That would just lend such a rustic atmosphere, don’t you think?!” “Ah get it, Rarity,” Applejack said. “Cain’t you see you’re upsettin’ Sweetie Belle?” “N-no i-it’s okay,” Sweetie said unconvincingly, clutching Apple Bloom closer. “If I have to eat hay and um, and walk on my handsh I won’t mind I just d-don’ wan’ to... to... can I p-ple-ease shtay with you, Applejack?” “I’m sh-sh-sorry Rarity,” she added woefully, with more tears brimming in her eyes. “If Rarity’s okay with it,” Applejack said uncomfortably, “We can put you up for a... while. She’s right, it wouldn’t do to freak out your whole apartment complex, unless they’re all turnin’ to ponies too or somethin’.” “I will allow it on one condition,” Rarity said, turning her nose up haughtily. “What is it, Rarity,” Applejack sighed, turning to Rarity and rolling her eyes. “Could you be a dear and untie me, please?” Rarity said, with an eye flutter and a teasing smile. While Applejack untied the hopefully less berserk Rarity, Apple Bloom was still resting her rumpled green dress against Sweetie Belle’s soft skirt and blouse. Something about the strong division that cloth defined between them was making her feel uneasy, but she ignored it. More weird pony thoughts, no doubt. She hesitantly asked Sweetie Belle, “You didn’t maybe dream of another golden apple, did ya?” “No,” Sweetie said drawing her knees up and settling them down again, unable to get comfortable, from holding Apple Bloom in her lap, and... from other things. “I didn’t dream about anything. It just shtharted happening. I d-didn’t even notithe until fourth period and zhen—” “That’s before lunch?” Apple Bloom asked with a sudden feeling of concern welling up in her. “Yeah...” Sweetie Belle said and added with a hiccup, “I’m h-hungry...” “We can get you something to eat, but what I mean is,” Apple Bloom said in honest worry at this point. “You didn’t see Diamond Tiara, did ya?” Sweetie’s eyes widened. “Applejack!” Apple Bloom shouted out. Sweetie put her on her fours and she ran up to her sister right away, uttering urgently, “We gotta find Diamond Tiara. She also kinda told me she wanted to–ah mean—that she wouldn’t mind being a pony, so it might be happening to her too!” Applejack’s face twisted up in consternation, and she groaned. “You know Diamond doesn’t have a phone,” Applejack said, “She’s an or—a freshman! And she could be anywhere. She’s surely hidin’ up if’n she noticed anything happenin’. But how could we even tell if there was?” “She doesn’t have a phone,” Sweetie said speculatively, “But maybe her teacher does. Does anyone know what her next class is?” Apple Bloom snickered. People looked at her strangely, so she said reassuringly, “That’s a good idea, Sweetie Belle. Ah was just rememberin’ how Diamond was all whining about her geography class in one of our sleepovers. Her professor is all cranky and doesn’t really wanna be there.” When no realization dawned in anyone’s eyes, she added, “Her geography class is right after lunch.” “Ah’ll call the—” Applejack said standing up, only to be pushed down by a hand from Rarity, who said delicately, “No dear, I will call the school. I can manage as much as a telephone I think, but I scarcely know the kitchen, and we have two ...” She looked at Apple Bloom, then Sweetie Belle. “...children who need someone to fix them lunch.” Applejack went downstairs to the kitchen after some grumbling about being a serving maid, and she led Rarity to the telephone, where Rarity had a fit about it being rotary dial, then resolutely started calling the school and trying to get connected to the number of a certain cranky geography teacher, whose name Apple Bloom was quite happy to provide. Apple Bloom stayed up with Sweetie Belle, and helped her with her... clothing. It was pretty obvious where all of Sweetie Belle’s hair was going, and why she looked like she had bloomers on under that dress. Her tail was already big, and fluffy, and curly in bright pink and purple. And it was just started going! She looked kinda like a bunny girl like that, especially how she was all bunny white already. Sweetie whimpered when her tail came out into the open. She said it hadn’t nearly been that big when they left the school. Sweetie couldn’t reach back there, so Apple Bloom got a needle and thread, and pinching it in her lips she pulled out the hem of Sweetie’s dress to sew a little strip of cloth to it. It’s about then that Apple Bloom discovered that Sweetie Belle wore sky blue panties, with lace on the leg holes, and a little white kitty of some style in a prominent logo right over her bottom. That was not the sort of knowledge that your best friend in the whole world was supposed to be privvy to. “Thank you, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie said behind her gratefully, as Apple Bloom snapped out of her trance and started sewing again. “I dh-don’ know how I’ld keep my dzress on, otherwishe, with my... um... I can’t move my thail. I’that normal?” “Shure’z,” Apple Bloom slurred around the needle, flipping the cloth strip over the hardy base of Sweetie Belle’s tail, as it pushed down the edge of Sweetie Belle’s stop thinking bad thoughts about your best friend you ninny. She sewed that strip to the hem on the other side of the dress. Apple Bloom had gotten pretty good at doing this actually, once she figured how to keep the needle from slipping through her teeth or poking her when she grabbed it again. Couldn’t always have a brother, or a Fashionist in training to take care of your clothes after all, plus it made Apple Bloom feel more accomplished, and less of a helpless little baby. She couldn’t stitch worth a darn with a mouth of course, but she could get the basic stitching in, enough to hold it in place. Once Sweetie’s tail was secure, Apple Bloom pushed away from her and let the dress snap back to her waist, except where the tail pushed it down, but now that was helping hold it up too. Rearing up to her dresser to stick the needle in a pincushion she had ready up there, Apple Bloom got back down and with a clear mouth said, “Ah couldn’t move mah tail at first either. Took a while to figure it out, but it came. Trick is to think of it like part of your back, and not part of your butt.” Sweetie shifted on her feet uncomfortably, her knees already looking a little squat compared to what they should be. It occurred to Apple Bloom that the two of them were on the second floor. “C’mon Sweetie, let’s go downstairs,” she said, walking to her open door. “It took me forever to figure out stairs, an’ you’re gonna wanna stay where you can just walk around easy at first. “I, um,” Sweetie repeated with a note of dread, slurring out fretfully, “Thish ish sh-sh-so shtupid–” Apple Bloom lay a hoof on her shin, looking up at Sweetie saying, “It’s gonna be okay, Sweetie. Just keep doin’ whatever you can.” Some part of Apple Bloom felt terribly guilty about this, but as a little pony who had to walk around on all fours and barely came up to waist height of even her friends, Apple Bloom was sort of starting to feel terribly, eagerly excited about what was happening to Sweetie Belle. She had no right to feel that way though. Just because she’d have a friend to share in her misery, was no excuse to wish that misery on a friend. But Sweetie had no distrust in her eyes as she smiled and said, “Yeah, you’re rhight,” with that peculiar looking half pushed out mouth and nose of hers. Apple Bloom led the way down the stairs, as if by example, though she knew she’d be teaching Sweetie a lot more after she was all the way to becoming a pony. Sweetie followed along behind, leaning on the bannister railing more from anxiety than actual balance problems. One way or another, it was definitely not a good idea for that girl to be up stairs right now. In fact, wasn’t Rarity’s apartment on like the fifth floor or something? A vision of a pony Sweetie Belle just trotting blithely out of the elevators of some fancy apartment made Apple Bloom snicker. She actually hadn’t seen Rarity’s apartment before. Rarity was kind of insecure about that sort of thing, and didn’t entertain guests. Apple Bloom had figured it was pretty fancy, with how Rarity was and all. But she also figured Rarity had rich parents or something, and Sweetie lived a life of luxury. She didn’t even think that Rarity was all the family that Sweetie had. On the ground floor, Applejack had sandwich makings on the counter. Looked like pastrami and swiss was in Sweetie Belle’s future. Rarity was busy arguing with someone on the phone, something about still trying to get in touch with her. Apple Bloom really hoped Diamond was okay, but she was trying to focus on Sweetie Belle right now. “Now hold on Sweetie, ah gotta do uh... well, y’know,” Apple Bloom said hurrying over to her hay station. It always helped to get a good belly full of this stuff before eating for real, but it took so long to eat it! Apple Bloom was already chewing the crackly alfalfa grass fast as she could, breaking it up to deliver to the back of her mouth, when she noticed Sweetie had stuck with her this time instead of heading to the table. Sweetie was watching Apple Bloom with a more intense fascination, that before this time she had never—oh, of course. Apple Bloom finished getting her mouthful to the chewing point, saying to Sweetie, “Yeah this part still ain’t so fun, but um...” Sweetie blushed and pulled back saying, “Yeah I was um, jush fhinking how I um, I guessh I’ll have to eash...ea... conshume it now too, huh?” “At least until we get changed back,” Apple Bloom said with confidence. “Though ah cain’t say for you really, just comparing with what happened to me. It’s not so bad though. Y’can even figure how t’ chew an’ talk, at leas’ once it’s in the back.” “What doesh it thaste like?” Sweetie asked curiously. “Grass,” Apple Bloom answered flatly. “Yeah buth...” Sweetie said, and Apple Bloom interrupted her saying, “Hold on ah gotta take another bite.” Apple Bloom said. She washed down a gulp of water from the bucket, and took a big bite of hay, so she could get through it faster. Sweetie Belle wrung her hands together nervously, while Apple Bloom tried to clear her mouth again. Hand wringing. Apple Bloom remembered when she used to do that. She never felt like fiddling her hooves together though; it was kinda weird to think about it. She felt like raising one of them, sometimes. When she thought about it, doing that wringing with your hands just didn’t look natural, looked more like a raccoon than a real uh... human. Apple Bloom tried to focus on the taste of this bland stuff she was eating, to distract her with how alien a simple human gesture was seeming to her. It wasn’t an unpleasant taste, but not very prominent. More of a feel than a taste, really. “s’ more of a feel thayn a taste, really,” Apple Bloom confessed to Sweetie Belle. “Tastes like grass but it’s nothin’ more than what it smells like. But it makes me think about how it’ll feel in mah belly all warm and cozy and stuff.” “You think I could ea–conshuhme i... could do it with the hay now?” Sweetie struggled to enunciate, pulling out a few strands with her hand. “Ah dunno, y’r teeth changed yet?” Apple Bloom asked uneasily. Sweetie gaped at her. “Your teeth change?” Apple Bloom sighed inwardly, and finished off her mouthful completely, saying, “Okay Sweetie, just this once take a look.” She opened her mouth and... closed it and said, “With your fingers, like the Vet did. Mah teeth got like a gap or something, go ahead.” Then she opened her mouth and Sweetie cautiously stuck her slim fingers inside. They tasted like sour sweat and pencil erasers, kind of salty actually. Sweetie stuck her fingers through that gap thing on the bottom and the top, and didn’t really jam her fingers down deep in there thankfully. Sweetie pulled them out and said worriedly, “No, my teeth haven’t changed. Yours are really different.” “It ain’t so bad...” Apple Bloom assured her. “Hardly felt it, at the time. Mostly jus’ lost mah canines. Incisors are a lil bigger and sharper, and molars are a bit flatter. Just be sure not t’swallow, if you start spittin’ teeth out. Scuze me,” she took another big hay bite, the strands dangling out of her muzzle as she munched on them placidly. It always calmed her down to do this. She’d have felt way more anxious just standing there doing nothing, while Sweetie waited on her. “Only happened towards the evening for me,” Apple Bloom sounded out around her chewy hay thing once she cleared the way enough. “You might be diff. though I dunno.” “Well don’t lose your teeth just yet, ‘cause it’s ready,” Applejack said with a strained cheer in her voice, picking Sweetie up by her hand and leading her over to the table. Apple Bloom took just one more mouthful of hay before hurrying over there herself, where Sweetie was busy looking uncertainly at a pastrami swiss on rye sandwich. She sat with Sweetie at the table, Apple Bloom in her booster seat, and Sweetie normally. Sweetie was again looking with new eyes at that booster seat, probably seeing something like that in her near future. And at her very well stuffed sandwich. “Wow, this is...” Sweetie trailed off at the thick sandwich in her dainty hands. “Thank you this is really nice!” Applejack wordlessly put a plate down for Apple Bloom that had a bunch of rough cut carrots and beets along with a slim piece of toast just dripping with blackberry jelly, before saying to Sweetie, “Well yer diet’s gonna be changin’ and all, and ah thought you might appreciate one last y’know, normal uh, meal?” “I’ ain’ stho bad Sweethie,” Apple Bloom said quickly before the girl could start crying again, around a mouthful of stick sugary goodness, swallowing and biting on the glass of water that was already there to pour it down her throat. “Y’can eat all the sugar you want, and every veggie tastes real good. And you can eat a little meat an’ stuff.” She eyed Sweetie’s sandwich. “So uh,” she said self consciously, “Can ah have a piece?” Applejack snickered and strode off. She went in the meat freezer and pulled out the latest pack of pastrami they sliced, taking a single piece out and carrying it back over. Sweetie was still in the process of deconstructing her sandwich, so Applejack just unceremoniously dumped it on Apple Bloom’s plate saying, “There ya go. Enjoy!” “Thanks, sis!” Apple Bloom said with a bright smile up to her, then guiltily to Sweetie Belle, saying, “Guess you get yer sandwich in peace then.” Sweetie smiled gratefully, then lifted her sloppy sandwich and took a big indulgent bite out of it. Rarity walked up then, looking with severe disapproval at Sweetie’s activity without saying anything. Then she turned and noticed what Apple Bloom was up to. As Apple Bloom tore into the thin strip of beef with gusto, Rarity positively turned green. Which didn’t make sense, as Apple Bloom had like a tenth of the meat Sweetie did, and she was a big enough pony for that, so what was the problem? “Hello Miss Rarity,” Apple Bloom said uneasily, stopping from shearing off bits of meat to pick up a carrot slice in her teeth delicately, chewing it with care. “Y’don’t look so good. Is Diamond okay?” “Y-yes she’s fine I just... hadn’t anticipated that you... as a pony as it were, would still eat... meat...” “Well ah’m a lot smaller, and ah still cain’t eat much,” Apple Bloom said, going back to nibbling at her strip of tasty cow death. “It’s still awful good though.” “Awful is right,” Rarity muttered discomfitedly to herself. Apple Bloom heard it of course. Actually, so probably did Sweetie Belle. “Sh-sorry,” Sweetie said guiltily, pushing the plate away from her. Rarity waved her hands at that saying, “Oh, no no no! You are a guest here, and you are in no way obliged to observe my personal dietary habits, even if ... just enjoy, Sweetie.” Rarity sounded downright gentle by the end there. She still turned away and shuddered when Sweetie eagerly went back to ruining her pastrami and swiss on rye. Apple Bloom watched Rarity walk away warily, until Sweetie whispered to Apple Bloom, “We’re kind of vegetarians for her meals.” Apple Bloom had to snort at that, looking down at what was left of her meat and going after the beets this time. “That’s a sight,” Apple Bloom remarked sending tasty and sweet morsels of beet root down to her happy stomach. “A vegetarian human, seeing a pony eating meat.” She raised her hoof to whisper back to Sweetie Belle, not even trying to lean forward to be heard, “Between you and me, Winona has been known to sneak a piece of a hot dog when we’re out having a campfire meal.” “You’re gkidding!” Sweetie whispered back. “Ah swear on mah... something, it’s true,” Apple Bloom whispered back. She didn’t ever swear on her mother’s grave because, well, it just seemed disrespectful. Just didn’t seem right somehow. She didn’t even know how she died really; nobody liked to talk about it, and Apple Bloom was sure too young to remember. And she didn’t swear on her left hand, because, yeah. Sweetie nodded to Apple Bloom, right about the same time that, across the room, Applejack could be heard exclaiming, “Scootaloo?!” Apple Bloom’s ear swiveled around behind her. “...told Ms. Cheerilee to find her at all costs!” Rarity could be heard saying quietly. “When I heard she didn’t show up for her classes, it just made me think of the worst!” “Ah cain think of a lotta worse possible things than changin’ into a pony overnight,” Applejack said quietly to her with a serious expression. “Fair enough,” Rarity admitted. “It made me think of the most likely unfavorable outcome, is that sufficient?” “Works fer me,” Applejack said with a belly chuckle. “You can’t find Shcootaloo?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in alarm. Applejack and Rarity startled up from their little impromptu huddle. “Oh, y’all heard that, did you?” Applejack said with a weak smile. “Of courshe I—” Sweetie paused, and wiped her hand on her napkin, then lifted it up to touch her left ear. The big furry thing twitched the moment she touched it. “I guess I did,” Sweetie said in a somewhat stunned tone, letting her hand drop. “I didn’th mean to eaveshdrop shorry I jus’,” “It’s fine,” Applejack said walking over to her. “We were just gettin’ it straight anyway. You girls are plenty old enough to uh... well, you look like you...” “We can take care of ourselves?” Apple Bloom prompted. “Yeah! That.” Applejack said with a nod. “You don’t really look like it, but we all know the truth, right?” “Righth,” said Sweetie a bit uncertainly. “I managed to speak with Diamond’s teacher,” Rarity explained striding up behind Applejack, “On the emergency line, via the school phone forwarding service, and from there to Diamond directly. Diamond Tiara is is doing perfectly fine, with no unusual symptoms whatsoever,” Apple Bloom spared a pitying glance at Sweetie, saying to Rarity, “Aw, that’s—” But before she could say anything, Rarity continued her story. “But Diamond had not seen either Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo at lunch today. For Sweetie, the reason is obvious. But I then got ahold of Ms. Cheerilee, and she had thought her child was in her classes as normal!” “I told her to find Scootaloo as soon as she could, and she promised me she would try, but...” Rarity trailed off dissatisfied. “Do either of ya know where Scootaloo might have gone and hid, if something strange happened to her?” Applejack asked, pushing her head up beside Rarity’s. Apple Bloom had to roll her eyes at the thought. “She’d probably try to walk all the way to the farm from the school like Diamond did.” Sweetie Belle gasped, saying, “Dthiamond did that?” Apple Bloom blushed and hoofed at the tablecloth saying, “It was supposed to be a secret, sorry. She kinda really wanted to see me. Ah mean, because of the visions and all. For that matter, how has she been holding up?” “What do hyou mean?” Sweetie asked cluelessly. “Ah mean after the dance,” Apple Bloom clarified. Sweetie dropped her gaze and said, “Oh. She’s been... fine.” Applejack was grabbing her boots by the door, and Rarity was at her shoulder saying, “Oh, no. I shall be the one to search for her.” Applejack steeled Rarity in the eye, saying a little angrily, “Your sister needs you. And you need to stay with her, while this’s happenin’ because ah don’t know if you’ll be able to tell if she’s still the same person if’n you don’t!” Rarity was looking a bit red faced angry as Applejack insisted to her more pleadingly, “You have to see this through. It will help you so much if you do.” “But you can’t leave me with...” Rarity looked the way of the two littler girls, with a look of fearful apology. “I mean, of course she’s my... I would never just because she... something terrible happened for which she was not to blame.” “Just wait here,” Applejack said flatly. “No!” Rarity gasped, grabbing onto Applejack like as a lifeline. “Please, I can’t bear to do this alone! I need your support, in my and Sweetie’s time of most terrible need!” “Ugh, fine,” Applejack said disgustedly shaking Rarity limply off of her. “Ah guess ah could call... ah guess maybe you could ask Cheerilee if she could take a look around. But she could be halfway through the city by now. You know how that girl moves!” Apple Bloom considered that. Scootaloo had one of them fancy scooters that she could ride around on. Get lots farther faster than even a determined Diamond Tiara. But she’d just come here then, right? So what’s the problem? Unless she got stuck halfway, but... but if she’s as bad as Sweetie, she’s got a half day left at least before she starts to lose serious ambulation. So Rarity talked with Cheerilee hurriedly on the phone, telling her what to do and wishing her good luck, then hung up, and leaned against the wall with one hand on her forehead. And Apple Bloom was pretty much expecting Scootaloo to come bursting through the door at any minute. When she didn’t though, Apple Bloom got to thinking, and something occurred to her that might not have been the wisest thing to withhold. Apple Bloom hopped out of her seat at the dining table. She didn’t even bother to push it back, just jumped over the back right down to the floor. Then she ran over to the two older girls who were still searching each other out for weak points over in the hallway, and quickly barked out, “Miss Rarity! Applejack!” That got both their attentions. “...did you know you sound rather like a horse, when you—” Rarity said bemusedly, and Apple Bloom cut her off with, “That ain’t important. Ah just wanna say that if Scootaloo is comin’ here, then she’s gonna make it, and the best is to wait for her right here. And if she ain’t, then...” Apple Bloom looked aside, finding it harder to say than she’d anticipated. “Ah might know where she might have hid.” Big Macintosh put down the phone. He had a troubled expression on his face, which is to say not much of an expression. He went back to his station, and lay the mask and apron there, then walked up to the shop instructor and said, “Family emergency.” The instructor took a look at him, and sighed, and shook his head, saying to Mac, “I worry that you may not have time to finish the project at this rate. But a family emergency is a family emergency. You may go.” “Just,” the instructor called out before Mac was out the doors. Mac looked back, and the older bluer man with the white streak in his short cut blue hair said, “If it isn’t an emergency, don’t just skip out on this. It’s your grade on the line, remember.” With a heavy heart, Mac nodded, turned and walked out the door. The halls were empty this time of day, between classes and all. Made it easy for him to move through the school. He honestly did not know what to feel about this potential development in the whole fandangle of Apple Bloom turning into a pony. Was everyone going to turn into ponies now? He sure didn’t feel like a pony. He probably should have said something to Mister Minuette, the man was rightly worried about Big Macintosh’s grade. He wasn’t sure he could pass his classes at all, with having to watch over Apple Bloom every other day. He’d never admit it to her of course, poor thing was having enough troubles to be saddled with his own. But no amount of studying in your room can make up for labs and shops that you missed, and Mac didn’t exactly have a high tech soldering station at his run down old farm, and certainly not an arc welder. He kinda wished he did, but those things are expensive, and you gotta put them somewhere you can share them with everyone else. Which is about the opposite of where you’d want your shy little sister to be hiding out, on account of turning into a cute little pony. He exited the building into the blustery day. The clouds were scudding across the sky, providing infrequent partial sun, something Mac wasn’t really in a place to appreciate, as cows only cared if the grass grew enough, and grass wasn’t picky about sun. When the winter came, and everything stopped being all sunny, well, that was when you could start eating the cows. By the time the grass came back again, everyone would have overwintered well fed, with plenty of grass for the cows to eat the next year. Maybe minus a cow, and plus a calf or two. They had a pretty good meat larder already built up, anyway, would be a while before he had to go give some Bessie the last goodbye again. Still, with how Apple Bloom was being so finicky about meat, Mac wondered if they might have a problem after all. She was an honest to gosh pony. She was small and human colored, and smart, but he didn’t think she could make it on a preserved meat diet, if their hay started to run out. They could shrink the herd to make for extra hay easily; heavens knows that tiny pony didn’t eat much of anything, but if they all were gonna be eating hay come winter... that wasn’t looking like the most stellar situation. He crossed the basketball courts, meandering through some air conditioned portable buildings. They had been constructed recently, to take on the extra student growth this year. It honestly terrified Mac that he might wake up a pony one day. It did Apple Bloom well, but him? He needed his hands, for his studies and his work. A pony and a welder just didn’t add up. And forget about typing. Apple Bloom hadn’t even asked for access to a computer since she lost her thumbs. Though maybe you could work out something with your mouth somehow, at least for typing. Mac certainly wasn’t going to understate the abilities of these pony alien things, not after he saw Apple Bloom tie a hitch with only her lips and tongue. She didn’t even think it was no big deal. He really wanted to tell her how proud he was, of how well she was dealing with all this. Of how she was growing into such a beautiful person, no matter what happened to her body. It almost seemed like she was coming to even more life and liveliness than before she was a pony. Apple Bloom just had such joy on her strangely expressive face, just from simple running around. It was enough to stop a lesser man’s heart. He wanted to tell her, but he could never find the courage, or the words to express what he felt. Mac got to his destination, which is to say a supply shed for assembling the portable buildings. Of course it wasn’t used anymore, since the portables were all set up. The city’s maintenance and construction department would get around to removing it one of these days, but for now it was just taking up some space in an out-of-the-way corner of school. That’s why the doors were securely padlocked and chained shut 24/7. Or at least they should have been. It was mighty clever actually, the way they were tied up to look like the chains were still in place, but when you looked close you could see that the padlock wasn’t holding anything shut, and the chains weren’t actually blocking off the doors. Someone must have jimmied the padlock, and set it up to look like it was locked. He stood quietly in front of those doors thinking about what he might find within, and what to do about it. Then he looked to the left, and looked to the right. Nobody was around to see him. He reached a large, dark red hand out, and gripped the chain, pulling the door open with a groan of cheap hinges. Pulling the door carefully closed behind him, Big Macintosh entered the unofficial secret headquarters of the Cutie Major Crusaders. It was actually pretty nice in here. The wind made a noise on the cheap aluminum, but someone had brought in a carpet and table, and there was a big bright fluorescent light hanging up on the wall. The wiring didn’t look too good from what he could see, but getting working electricity in an out of the way shack like this was an accomplishment in of itself. There wasn’t much space in here, just enough for a bookshelf with various articles of relevance to learning about one’s future, travel brochures, a good number of adventure stories. Besides that, just four chairs, stools really, around the small round table that currently had a street map of Canterlot city spread out on it, a red circle around where Sweet Apple Acres was, and a discarded red marker lying on it, left uncapped. This was all rather subsidiary to the cowering orange girl in the corner. Just a little, skinny, quivering wreck, in an ill fitting hooded sweatshirt and slacks, trying unsuccessfully to hide herself behind the bookcase.