//------------------------------//
// The first day back home.....means questions and answers. 
// Story: The Twin Apples. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//

_____*the next day, Sarah's room, 7:26 AM*_____

Sarah awoke to the annoying sound of a rooster call, she groaned and rubbed her eyes as she sat up. "Ugh.....forgot about that darn bird." She muttered.

Sarah yawned as she stretched, she slowly stood up and rubbed her eyes, she walked over to the table and grabbed her necklace, she then put it around her neck and secured it, she walked over to the door and opened it before walking out.

When Sarah left the room, she immediately headed for the bathroom, as Sarah walked she couldn't help but wince every now and then, she paused and took a deep breath, she exhaled and continued walking to the bathroom, when she reached the door she lightly pushed it and to her relief it was unlocked, she walked inside and closed the door, once the door was locked, Sarah took care of her business, once that was done, she went into the shower and closed the curtains.

Sarah winced upon entering the shower and rubbed a sore spot on her shoulder, she took a deep breath and reached for the shower handles, she turned the hot and cold water on until the temperature was hot, she let the water soak into her fur for a moment before beginning to actually wash her fur.

Sarah grabbed a bar of soap and began to scrub herself with it, she was about the scrub her right shoulder when she accidentally dropped it.....her eyes widened and she looked around frantically, she even peeked into the bathroom from behind the curtains, when she was certain that nopony was around, she calmed down and picked the soap up, she then continued her shower in silence.

After Sarah was finished with the soap, she put it back where it was before and looked around for shampoo, she spotted a few bottles in the corner, she examined them for a moment before picking the apple scented one, she chuckled at how ironic it was but still used it.

After about three minutes, Sarah walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the stairs, when Sarah reached the stairs, she sighed and carefully made her down, she winced with every step but continued walking, when she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she smirked at her victory and walked to the kitchen.

Sarah stopped when she caught a whiff of a pleasant scent, she smiled happily at the welcoming scent. 'Oh.....cinnamon, I approve.' She told herself mentally.

Sarah walked into the kitchen and saw Applejack making pancakes, she smiled and walked up. "Morning AJ." She said.

Applejack turned around and chuckled. "Morning Sarah, I'm making breakfast, do you want some?" She asked. [1]

Sarah shrugged and nodded. "Sure, I'll need to eat anyway." She replied.

Applejack smirked and turned back to the pancakes, but she lost her smirk upon seeing an unfamiliar sight at Sarah's sides.......it looked like wings. "Ok.....but we need to have a talk after breakfast you hear?" She said.

Sarah nodded. "Yes ma'am." She gave a mock salute as she turned around and walked to the dining room.

Applejack had a disturbed look as she continued cooking. "This should be interesting." She commented quietly.

____*six minutes later, the dining room.*____

Sarah sighed as she sat back in the chair, she was currently whistling a catchy tune as she waited patiently for Applejack, the mare in question soon entered the room and set a plate of pancakes on the table, she then slid it over to Sarah and walked back into the kitchen.

Applejack soon returned and set her own plate on the table, the two sisters then began to eat their breakfast in silence, the silence was broken however when Sarah spoke up.

"AJ, I know that you have questions, but at least tell me where I'm going to work so that way i have something to do." She requested.

Applejack sighed and nodded. "Alright....we'll be working the western field, we need to get most of it done before applebuck season." She said.

After that, the sisters ate their breakfast and got everything cleaned up, after that, Applejack and Sarah went into the living room and sat down for a talk.

Applejack was the first to speak. "Alright, the first thing will be the most obvious." She pointed at Sarah's new appendages. ".......Why are you a Pegasus?" She asked.

Sarah sighed and unfurled her wings, she winced as they reached full length, they were at least a centimeter longer than normal wings.

"I was selected for an experiment."She explained with obvious hatred for the words.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What kind of experiment?" She asked.

Sarah shivered at the mention of it, she looked at Applejack with a sad expression. "They surgically implanted me with these wings and gave me the magical core of a Pegasus." She explained.

Applejack didn't seem to be to thrilled about it either.....she actually seemed disgusted by it. "That's disgusting." She said plainly.

Sarah nodded and sighed. "Yea, I'm not exactly happy about it either, but I can't do anything about it.....they forcefully moved me into this lab and I was soon knocked out, when I woke up, they were still in surgery.....needless to say I was horrified, but I was strapped down while they worked, but when they implanted the magical core of a Pegasus I fainted, when I next woke up i was in an unknown lab in a cell." She paused as she took a slightly panicked breath.

"....Anyway, for the next few weeks I was forced into a cruel series of tests which tested how my body adjusted to the implantation, after a few more weeks I was finally finished with tests, when I returned to Trotterdam they took a blood sample and I was returned to my home." She continued.

Applejack seemed to be listening intently to Sarah's tale, her eyes nor face betrayed any emotion, after Sarah took another deep breath, she continued.

"When I was completely settled in again, I was strangely welcomed back by the others, they appeared to be sorry for me or something, because the ponies that used to torment me stopped, they even apologized!.....anyway, it was then I met a Pegasus called Star." She had smiled at the mention of the mare's name. [2]

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing as Sarah seemed to have brightened up a little.

"Moving on, me and Star got to know each other over the course of several weeks, eventually however, one thing led to another and uh......well, you know." She said while looking away.

Applejack's eyes widened and prayed that she was lying, but her sisters blush was all the information she needed. "Oh." She said in realization.

Sarah nodded and looked at Applejack. "Yea......anyway! over the years, our relationship developed, and one day, Star told me that she got me my jacket......and YES it's leather but I don't care, and that I just had to pick it up at a friends store, i was never able to repay her but she told me that it was a gift......a couple months passed and our relationship only grew, at one point we were able to make each other necklaces, they were both silver and each had a music note on it, we hid them where only WE could find them." She paused for a moment.

"We tried to spend the rest of our time together the best that we could, eventually however....Star was released, we said our goodbyes and she left, and a few years later, i was released.....I went back to the place we buried the necklaces and found that Star has taken hers, I took my necklace and I started to make my way here after grabbing the jacket.....I arrived in Ponyville by train a week later and you know the rest." She finished.

Applejack let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, she gave Sarah a firm glare. "Why didn't you go looking for Star?" She questioned curiously.

Sarah sighed and stood up. "I didn't know what town to search, the pony that gave me the jacket had no idea where she went so that eliminated my only lead.....I decided to come home soon afterwards, I hopped on the train and that was that." She replied.

Applejack stood up and looked at Sarah. "Come on, let's get to work, these apples won't harvest themselves." She said.

Sarah silently thanked Applejack for the change of subject, she followed her sister out of the farmhouse and they made their way to the western field.

_____*two hours later, deep in the western field, 9:51 AM*_____

Applejack kicked the tree with her hind legs and the apples fell perfectly into the baskets, she moved on to the next tree and did the same, she glanced over to Sarah and saw that she was doing just as well. 'I guess being a half Pegasus doesn't mean she lost any of her strength.' She pondered as she kicked another tree.

The sisters worked the field for twenty more minutes before Sarah said that she saw somepony coming over, Applejack looked and saw her friend Pinkie Pie bouncing over, she started to walk over to her friend. "Hey Pinkie Pie." She said.

Pinkie Pie seemed to teleport as she was next to Applejack a second later. "Hey Applejack......listen, my pinkie senses tell me that there's somepony new in town, but I can't find him or her anywhere!" She proclaimed in a panic. 

Sarah chuckled and kicked a nearby apple tree. "Have fun with that." She said quietly.

Pinkie Pie looked over. "Hey." She said shortly, she went to continue her rant to Applejack but quickly paused and looked at Sarah, her eyes widened and she looked between the two farm ponies. "Wait, what? who......what?" She said in confusion as she frantically looked between the two.

Applejack chuckled and put her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "Pinkie." She said simply.

Pinkie looked at Applejack. "Yes?" She asked quickly.

Applejack pointed at Sarah who simply waved. "Allow me to introduce my twin, Sarah......Sarah, this is Pinkie Pie." She introduced.

Sarah nodded at Pinkie and continued working.

Pinkie then gasped loudly and zoomed off for no apparent reason, Applejack blinked. "Your in for a party, you know that right?" She said.

Sarah shrugged and kicked another tree. "Then let's get back to work, so that way we can blow off some steam at the party." She replied casually.

Applejack nodded and returned to her work. "If you react to surprises like you used to......this will be interesting." She commented.

____*five hours later, Apple family farmhouse, Sarah's room, 3:21 PM*____

Sarah and Applejack entered the room and walked over to the stack of boxes in the corner. "I still can't believe that you didn't go through these." Sarah said with disbelief.

Applejack chuckled. "Granny made me swear to it, I guess we're about to find out why." She replied.

Sarah reached over and flipped the lip on the box, a cloud of dust came out of the box, making the mare's cough, once the dust settled, Applejack and Sarah started to look through it all.

The first box held a few old books and some photos, the sisters decided to go through those later, soon enough, Sarah chuckled as she pulled an old guitar out of the box, Applejack smiled at the sight of it. "Ma's guitar.....and it still has that paint you put on it." She said.

Sarah looked the old guitar over, it was a light brown in color, it was missing some strings and was in desperate need of cleaning, there was an old strap that could be fastened around the back, and all around the hole at the middle was white paint that was in a thin vine pattern, Sarah couldn't help but laugh quietly. "I can't believe she didn't get rid of it, this thing is ancient." She said.

Applejack smiled and pulled out a small and damaged old drum. "Dad's drum." She said as she looked it over.

Sarah nodded and gently set the guitar down, she continued to go through the boxes until she pulled out an old photo, she chuckled. "AJ, you remember this?" She asked as she showed Applejack the photo.

Applejack looked at the photo and her smile grew. "Yea, I remember." She said with a smile.

The photo showed two young fillies covered in dirt on it, they were both smiling widely at the camera, the fillies in the photo were side by side and completely identical, the only difference was the eyes and the fact that one of the fillies had dirt on her eyebrow while the other had dirt on her nose.

Sarah and Applejack slowly looked through the boxes, when they reached the last box they were confused, for inside the box was........a large wooden box. 

Sarah facehoofed and pulled the wooden box out, it was a simple brown box with a busted padlock, Sarah and Applejack shared a glance before opening the box, the contents of the box was what appeared to be a long wooden stick with silver steel near the front and along the back, there was a short steel tip on the end of it with a small hole in it, the steel at the front had strange spiral patterns on it, there was also a letter and a small brown wooden box.

Applejack reached out grabbed the smaller box and opened it, there was a compass on the other side of the lid, the rest of the box seemed to be filled with small cylindrical tubes that each had a metal tip.

Sarah picked up the stick and letter, she examined the stick for a moment before turning her attention to the letter, she opened the letter and began to read it aloud.

'Dear Applejack and Sarah, if you have opened this letter, then you have come into possession of the box that you retrieved this letter from, you two are the best thing that ever happened to me, so I wanted to leave you this as a momento and means to defend yourselves.

But it is with a heavy heart that I write this......for you see, your father and I are sick, and not with the common cold......we are sick with a special kind of cancer that attacks the heart directly, and there is no known cure, as it stands I am barely able to write.

The contents of the box are family heirlooms, the stick itself is a shotgun, and it is at least seven centuries old......do NOT use it unless your family and/or friends are in mortal danger, also, I would avoid dropping it.....it tends to fire on its own that way.

Anyway, Granny Smith is the only one that we told about this, we felt that you didn't need to know about this now, but know that I love you I hope that I can beat this cancer, if not......well, I won't go down like a wimp.

Applejack, if I know you correctly you will probably end up being the boss around here, you always did have that energy around you, ever since you were a filly, you had a knack for taking charge, and as for you Sarah, It would have been nice to see you when you were released, you always did brighten the farm up when you were here, so I hope that you are still that kind hearted filly from all those years ago.

Love Mom.

Ps. If Filthy Rich ever asks either of you to work for him.....tell him to blow it of his.....' The letter ended.

Sarah couldn't help but laugh softly at her mothers words. "Blunt as always I see." She commented.

Applejack simply rolled her eyes as she knew what her mother would say. "Eyuup!" She immitated.

Sarah walked over to her bed and set the shotgun down, she then walked over to the guitar and picked it up gently, she walked back to her bed and sat down it on it to tune it.

Applejack began to stack the empty boxes inside each other as Sarah tuned the guitar.....eventually, Applejack heard a pleasant sound coming from the guitar, she turned around and saw Sarah carefully plucking at the strings.

Applejack looked around the room and saw how lively it looked, she couldn't help but give a small smile, she then spotted a stray feather on the floor, she raised an eyebrow and walked over, she grabbed the feather and noticed that it was the same color as Sarah's wings, she looked over at Sarah and saw that her sister was still working with the guitar, Applejack decided to ask her about it later and her eyes soon turned to the jacket, it was longer and thicker than any jacket she had seen before, she thought a moment before a theory came to mind. 'It might be like that to hide the wings.....I didn't even notice them before.' Satisfied with her theory, Applejack walked over to the door and walked out. "Come on, we can get some more work done before the sun sets in." She said as she walked to the stairs.

Sarah nodded and set the guitar down, she walked over to her jacket and grabbed it. "Ok, I'll be down in a minute!" She called as she began to put the jacket on.

'Habit I guess.' She told herself.

____*ten minutes later, the western field.*____

Sarah and Applejack worked hard on the field as the sun beat down on them, Sarah wiped her forehead with her hoof and continued to work, she approached another tree and kicked it hard with her hind legs.

Applejack wiped her forehead and looked at Sarah. 'How has she not fallen over in that jacket? I'm getting baked over here!' She asked herself.

The sisters continued working through the field at a rapid pace until Applejack finally called it a day, the sisters began to grab the baskets and take them back to the barn, as they did this, Sarah couldn't help but feel at peace......she shrugged it off as being back home where she belonged.

After about an hour of grabbing baskets and taking them back to the barn, the sisters were finally able to rest, they headed inside the house and sat down on chairs.

Applejack and Sarah then balanced house work with resting and then a knock came at the door, Applejack walked over to the door and opened it, she sighed and walked outside.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and soon enough, Applejack walked back in. "Come on Sarah, let's head into town." She said.

Sarah smirked and leaned back on the chair. "It's the party....this is the subtle way of getting us to the town so that way we end up going into the building that the party is at, or we come home to find the party....am I right?" She asked.

Applejack chuckled and nodded. "Looks that way." She replied.

Sarah then stood up and walked up to Applejack. "Let's not disappoint them then." She said.

With that the sisters left the house and Sarah made sure that she locked the door. "Just in case." She said.

____*twenty minutes later, Ponyville.*____

Applejack and Sarah received many confused or shocked glares from the citizens of Ponyville, Sarah had commented that they must not have many twins in the town, coincidentally, the sisters passed Lotus and Aloe's spa along the way, Applejack had told Sarah that the spa ponies their were twins, Sarah chuckled and continued walking.

The sisters eventually decided to get something to eat, Applejack immediately recommended a bakery called Sugarcube corner, Sarah had replied with. "Your the expert." 

With that the sisters headed for Sugarcube corner, when they arrived, Sarah catiously approached the building, while Applejack casually walked up.

"Come on, the sooner we get inside the sooner we can relax." Applejack said.

Sarah sighed and quickened her pace, once she was at the door, she walked inside next to Applejack.

The inside of Sugarcube corner was dark as if the lights were off, Sarah blinked. "Who turned off the lights?" She asked.

Suddenly the lights flashed on and the room was filled with tons of ponies and brightly colored party decorations, Sarah had a shocked look on her face while Applejack sidestepped two feet away.

In a flash, there was a brightly colored pink pony in Sarah's face, and just as quickly Sarah did something that was uncommon.....she flew straight up towards the ceiling and went through the roof......literally.

Applejack looked up and backed away precisely one foot away from her current position.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash walked to the spot directly below where Sarah shot up. "That was unexpected." Dash commented as she looked up.

"Uh.....Applejack, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked as she watched Applejack move around in a strange pattern with a thin line of sugar.

Applejack chuckled and finished with the sugar, which pointed directly to the middle. "Wait for it....." She replied.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, she went to say something but a faint screaming put an end to that, the screaming continued until Sarah crashed through the ceiling and landed directly on Applejack's target. "Told ya so." Applejack said smugly.

Pinkie catiously approached Sarah as the mare groggily stood up. "I can fix that.....I WILL fix that." Sarah stated as she stretched.

Applejack noticed that all of the ponies in the room had genuine confusion and shock on their faces from what just happened, she looked at Sarah who was currently under barrage from Pinkie's questions and odd topics.

Sarah finally got a break after about a minute of Pinkie's rambling, she looked at the crowd of ponies and gave a short wave. "Hi, nice to meet ya." She replied simply before Pinkie proceeded to introduce every single pony in the room to Sarah, needless to say, Sarah was occupied for a long time.

Applejack thanked Celestia silently when the party actually started, she was soon found by Rainbow Dash who wanted to talk, she sighed and proceeded to talk to her friend.

The party had gone on for about two hours before Sarah finally got some peace, she sat down in a booth and rested her head, she then listened to the loud music that was playing, the music was so loud that she barely heard the sound of ponies walking over, she looked and opened her eyes, she saw Applejack and she had brought five of her friends, the only ones she recognized was Twilight and Pinkie, she sighed and started to stand up. "Hey magic girl." She teased.

Twilight grumbled at the nickname and the rainbow maned mare snickered. 

Sarah got off the booth and stood near Applejack. "So AJ, care to introduce us?" She wondered.

Applejack chuckled. "Alright, you already know Twilight and Pinkie." She said.

"This here is Rarity and Fluttershy." Applejack continued while pointing at the respective ponies, Rarity was a white unicorn with a styled purple mane, Fluttershy was a yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane.

Sarah and the two mares exchanged greetings before Applejack got to the impatient one of the group. "And this here is Rainbow Dash, self proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria." She introduced teasingly, Rainbow Dash was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane.

Rainbow Dash huffed but still bumped Sarah's hoof. "Hey." She said.

Applejack then looked at Sarah. "Everypony, this is Sarah, my sister." She introduced.

Rainbow Dash then blinked and looked at Applejack with a skeptical stare. "You never told us about Sarah, AJ......what gives?" She questioned.

Applejack shrugged. "Two reasons....the first being that I wasn't in the mood, and the second was...." She was cut off by Rainbow just as she went to speak.

"And don't say 'because we didn't ask." Dash warned.

Applejack smirked. ".......You didn't ask." She replied teasingly which made Dash groan and bury her face in her hooves.

Sarah could only chuckle at the pegasus' dilemma, she noticed that she was receiving a curious stare, she glanced over and saw Rarity eyeing her strangely.

"Can I help you?" Sarah asked the unicorn.

Rarity shook her head. "It's nothing darling, I was simply curious about those." She said while gesturing to Sarah's wings.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and looked at her wings, she went to speak when realization hit her. "Oh.....your curious as to why I have wings?" She asked.

Rarity nodded and Sarah sighed. "Look.....no offense but I don't want to explain it twice in one day, I'd rather wait a while for that story, it'll just be easier to say that it wasn't willing." She replied simply. 

Rarity seemed to flinch ever so slightly, she then apologized and heard Fluttershy say something, she turned her attention to the timid mare and Sarah rolled her eyes.

Sarah took a look around and saw that Applejack was talking with Twilight and Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy were discussing something quietly, and Rainbow Dash looked bored, Sarah decided to talk to the Pegasus and walked over.

Rainbow Dash was currently hovering off the ground and didn't notice Sarah right away. "Hey Dash." Sarah said shortly.

The Pegasus looked at Sarah and lowered down to the ground. "Hey." She replied.

Sarah leaned against the wall and looked to the party. "I guess Pinkie went all out." She said.

Dash leaned against a nearby wall and nodded. "She always does, you should've seen Twilight's party." She replied.

Sarah halfway nodded and looked at Dash. "So Dash, Applejack told me a bit about you, it true you trying to get into the Wonderbolts?" She asked.

Dash grinned and looked at Sarah. "Oh yea, they're the best!" She proclaimed.

Sarah rolled her eyes which made Dash lose her grin. "Something funny?" Dash asked as if offended.

"No no, you misunderstand me, it's just that actually getting in Wonderbolts is near impossible, regardless of your speed or intelligence, now then......I know a guy, he was in the Wonderbolts for twelve years, and it took him four years to get in." Sarah said.

Rainbow Dash seemed shocked at the news but didn't let it show. "Four years?" She asked.

Sarah nodded and looked around the room. "Yep, so you have your work cut out for you girl." She replied.

Rainbow sighed and rested her head on the wall, she glanced at Sarah's wings for a moment. "Hey Sarah, I don't mean to be rude but do you and Applejack have the same parents?" She asked.

If Sarah was offended or angry, she didn't show it, instead she looked at Dash with a blank stare. "We have the same mother and the same father, my wings were implanted into me forcefully, so I am an Earth pony with Pegasus powers." She replied bluntly.

Dash said nothing as she looked away with wide eyes, she soon walked away to avoid making a big scene out of this.

The party lasted for a few more hours before guests began to leave, Sarah had left quickly and Applejack was forced to follow her sister to keep her out of trouble.

The Apple sisters walked back to the farm in silence as they had nothing to talk about, when they reached the farmhouse, Sarah opened the door and immediately went into the bathroom, after she got out she went into her room and locked it.

Applejack could not understand her sisters behavior, but she did not want to anger Sarah, so Applejack simply headed into her room and shut the door. "Goodnight Sarah." She said quietly.

Over in Sarah's room, she was on her bed with her mothers guitar, she gently played some soft notes on it to calm herself down, she was not angry, quite the opposite, in truth, she was more scared then anything, Rainbow Dash almost caused Sarah to become angry with her questions, she was scared that she would've had another......incident.

Sarah shuddered at the thought, the last time she had an incident......she was taken to prison for nineteen years.

"There just had to be a party......ugh, damnit all." Sarah cursed silently as she leaned the guitar on the wall nearby and sat up on the bed, she unfurled her wings and looked at her left wing, she brought it in close and rubbed a hoof over it.

Sarah gained a sad expression on her face as she slowly curled up in a ball and looked at her right wing. 'Why me?' She asked herself.

Sarah sat in this position for what felt like hours, with her hind legs and arms curled up in a ball, she wrapped her tail around her arms and wrapped her wings in the same way.

'No place like home........right.'