Part 5: To Remember a Place.
On a Whisper of Wind
By Conner Cogwork
What would you do, if you met a pony who was at once your brother, and yet not? Applebuck wishes to reunite with his 'Cousin JayJay', and braves the dimensional divide to reach his goal. But being a small foal, how will he deal with a world in which everything is flipped? His friends, his family, and even... himself?
Part Five
To Remember a Place
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"You promise we won't bungee-jump from Dead Hoof's Drop?"
There was a reluctant sigh and groan as Scootaloo laid her head across the scooter's handlebars. "Yes, I promise. We'll bungee-jump from the clubhouse deck. With lots of pillows standing by. Are you happy now?"
"Much so." Sweetie Belle smiled as she climbed out of the red wagon. They had stopped at the crossroads right outside the Acres, one road branching off into the farm, the other heading off in the direction of Ponyville. This was usually where the last two crusaders would part ways after having dropped off their amber-hued friend.
"So, before you go, mind if I ask.. what was up with that kiss?" The Pegasus gave her friend a sly grin. "I didn't think you'd go for the country-pony type, Sweetie. What with your sister's family and all."
"Oh, well, uhm, ah..." the diminutive unicorn rubbed the back of her head, the pink tint from before returning in full force. "It's just... he was such a nice pony. Not like any of the boys in class, you know? I mean, yeah, he seemed kinda off at first, but he's new in Ponyville, right? Once he warmed up to us, he was fun to be with."
"Once he warmed up to us, he and Applebloom started acting creepy similar." the scooter filly allowed a shiver to go through her body and wings. " 'Special' cousin nothing, I'll bet he's like... her long lost twin brother or something."
The white pony's green eyes lit up. "Oh I like the sound of that! Maybe he'll move in with the Apples, and start hanging out with us more!"
"You're missing the point, Sweetie. Yeah, the guy's cool, but there's something weird about him. He stuttered whenever he said my name, y'know. And in case you forgot, he also called you 'Silvy' back at the clubhouse."
"Hmmm... that IS true..." Sweetie conceded, a hoof going to her chin in thought. "I wonder who 'Silvy' is? Maybe they're a friend of his who looks like me? Or-... wait..." She then perked an ear up, turning her head to look about her. "... am I just hearing things, or am I hearing somepony screaming?"
Scootaloo swiveled her own ears about, searching for any noise. Indeed, she found it, a steadily increasingly loud wail, coming down the road. "I'm hearing it too. It's... it's coming from the Acres!"
Both ponies looked down the dirt path and listened as the screaming grew closer, and perhaps worse, louder. After a few seconds, the sound of pounding hooves joined the wailing, before the familiar form of a filly crested over the top of a hill, her red mane flowing loose behind her as she worked her legs faster than they'd ever run before, tears running across a panicked face as she shrieked at the top of her lungs
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Applebloom!" the two crusaders exclaimed.
"HELP!!" the apple pony screamed. "HELP!! HELP ME—!!" She then proceeded to trip over an errant rock in the road, the speed she was moving at contributing to her tumble as she rolled down the remainder of the hill, head over hooves. As she reached the bottom, the girl took to her feet once more, resuming her rapid escape, despite the dirt and bruises she now sported.
"Applebloom!" Sweetie Belle called out again, as the earth pony ran closer. "What's going on?! Why are you— "
The farmpony dashed right past her and made a headlong leap into the perceived safety of the wagon. "HELP ME!! HE'S GONNA GET ME!! DON'T LET 'IM GET ME OR AH WON'T BE ME ANYMORE!!"
The orange pegasus lifted an eyebrow. "Get you? Who's gonna get you?"
"HIM!!" Applebloom screeched, sitting upright and waving her limbs about. "HIM! ME! HE'S ME! AH'M HIM! MAHSELF! HELP ME GET AWAY, AH CAIN'T LET 'IM GET ME!!"
The unicorn opened her mouth to ask for clarification, only to be interrupted by another set of galloping hooves in the distance. She turned to look in time to see a yellow colt come running up to the top of the hill, pausing as he spotted his doppelganger. "Applebloom!" he called out. "Cousin Applebloom, wait!"
The named filly proceeded to let out another shriek of unbridled terror, before scampering up to Scootaloo and shaking her by the shoulders. "GOSCOOTALOOYAHGOTTAGONOWHE'SGONNAGETMEDON'TLETHIMGETMEOHPLEASECELESTIADON'TLETHIMGETMEGOGOGOGONOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!"
The orange pony, now thoroughly goaded by her friend's panic, kicked her wings into overdrive. With an ascending buzz, the Crusader-mobile pulled away at rapid speed, its cargo still screaming at the top of her lungs. With a cloud of dust, they disappeared down the road.
In all the commotion, a single unicorn blinked and sat there alone in the road. Sweetie Belle raised a hoof as she proceeded to tell nopony in particular, "Um... you forgot somepony..."
A wheeze was heard behind her, prompting her to turn her head and see Applebuck come up next to her, panting in exhaustion. His mane was in disarray, and the cap was at a crooked angle on his head. "Ah... Ah told Cousin JayJay..." he breathed heavily, a look of frustration on his face. "Ah knew it was a bad idea..."
"Applebuck?" the white pony asked warily. "What's going on? You and Applebloom were getting along earlier... why's she suddenly... she's not scared of you now, is she?"
He lifted his head up to look at her, apparently registering her for the first time. He let his orange eyes look up and down her form, before tears began gathering in their corners. "It's... it's complicated, Swee-... Sweeet... oh Solaris damnit all!" he suddenly cried, plopping himself onto his haunches as he let out a sob. "Ah'm gonna wind up callin' you Silvy every time Ah say yer name, y'know! You're just so much like him! Ah'm sorry miss Belle, but wit' this, that an' th' other thing," he gestured off down the road in the direction the wagon had departed. "-Ah just don't know what to do anymore! Now Ah'm wishin' Ah'd never come in th' first place! Ah... Ah wish Ah..."
The lavender-maned filly sat there in surprise, biting her lip as she watched the other pony sag and weep. A minute passed, before she raised a hoof and placed it on his shoulder. "Um... I-It's okay, Applebuck. You can... you can call me Silvy if you want. I-I don't mind..."
The colt looked up and gazed into her green eyes in considerable surprise... before breaking down and wrapping his hooves around her, letting his frustration out on her shoulder. She held him in turn, the expression on her face belying both confusion, and compassion. "Applebuck?" she began again. "What happened?"
"Ah... A-Ah told her th' truth. Ah told her who Ah really was.."
"Who you... really were? She WAS saying 'He's me' over and over again... How... does she mean?..."
Applebuck sat himself back up, doffing his cap and looking her again in the eyes. "Silvy... you live with yer older s-sister, who's a clothes-maker, you once used some of their fabric to make yer capes, you an’ th' others once went into th' Everfree Forest an' found a Cockatrice, an' at least once, while you were all doin' a play, you've been asked if you were usin' power tools or not."
Sweetie gaped at him. He drew a shuddering intake of breath, before letting it all out. "Yer 'bout to say that only Applebloom knows that last one. Ah know it, cause Ah've already been through it all wit' Silvy. Applebloom... she's right, Ah AM her. And she's me. An' now she's plum scared of me, thinkin' that Ah'm out to take her place! A-Ah tried to explain to her that wasn't th' case, that Ah just wanted to see mah cousin, but she's so darn plum freaked outta her mind that she won't listen! A-and now Ah've... Ah've..."
He noticed that the unicorn's expression was now one of dumbfounded shock. He grimaced as he took a step back from her. "A-an' now that Ah've told you, yer 'bout to go off screamin' just like her, aren't yah? P-Please Silvy, ah already got issues, please dun loose it, please? Ah'm not out to hurt anypony, Ah swear! Ah... A-Ah just..."
He trailed off in his stuttering, looking fearfully as the small white pony. After a few seconds of silence, she then got onto all four hooves and trotted up to him. The colt flinched as she brought her forehooves up and around his head. However, he then felt his mane being tugged at slightly. It felt like she was holding it together, into... a ponytail?
Her emerald eyes widened further as she took him in. "O-oh my," she said softly, relinquishing her hold on his hair. "You... you really are! You're Applebloom! I mean, you look just like her!"
"Y-yeah," he stammered, a hoof going to the back of his head. "Th' place where Ah come from, everypony's genders there are th' opposite of what they are here. You... yer not scared?"
"N-No! I mean, if you're Applebloom, then... I-I know that she would never hurt me. A-and if you're her, then that means that I...oh," her hooves went up to her mouth as her cheeks colored once more "O-oh my..."
Applebuck blushed in turn. "Y-yeah, yah did. And... yeah, it was k-kinda weird... Ah'm not quite sure how ah feel 'bout Silver kissin' me..."
"Silver..." the filly echoed, her mind apparently churning at the name. "Is... T-that's me, isn't it? As a boy? I mean, if you're Applebloom as a boy, then, where you come from, Scootaloo and I are both boys too, right? Oh my, this... this is a lot to— "
She was cut off by the sound of another set of hoofsteps running up the trail. Both foals turned and watched Applejack gallop up to them, a worried look on her face. "Where'd she go, Cousin?" she asked breathlessly.
The colt shook his head. "She hopped into the wagon and had Scooteroll— ack, Ah mean, ScootaLOO, take off with her. She's plum freaked outta her mind, JayJay, she's not gonna listen to whatever Ah say."
"She seemed really scared." the white pony agreed. "They took off without me. I bet they're halfway across Ponyville by now."
The farmpony let out a sigh of frustration, before looking down the road. "Well this is a pickle an' a half. Sorry Ah was so slow, but Big Macintosh held me up, wonderin' what was goin' on. C'mon Applebuck, we need to find her. Maybe Ah can talk 'Bloom back down to level ground, b'fore she has to see you again."
With that, she began trotting down the road in the direction the Crusader-mobile had left in, Applebuck and Sweetie Belle falling in step behind her. "Uhm, how are we gonna find her?" the unicorn asked. "There's a lotta places she could have had Scootaloo take her to."
"That's true." the earth pony drawled. "But Ah have a hunch 'bout where she might go first. It's gonna be a fair walk, but Ah think we can make it 'fore it goes completely dark."
"C'mon guys. We're goin' to th' HEDGE."
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If one were to walk past a large clump of tall bushes sitting at the edge of the Everfree Forest, they would hear a sound not usually associated with shrubbery... that of a filly's tears.
Scootaloo looked worriedly at Applebloom, who still had her face buried in her forehooves. They were both seated at the rock table inside of the hidden burrow that made up the majority of the HEDGE. It had been the first place that the yellow pony had mentioned, and once they had made it inside, she had been content to sit and cry her troubles out.
"So, um... Applebloom?" the pegasus began. "What exactly is going on? You and your cousin didn't have a fight right after we left, did you?"
"He's not mah cousin," her friend replied with a ragged moan. "He's more than that. B-both he an' AJ told me themselves..."
"Well then, what is he?" she pressed, rearing herself up onto the table. "You kept screaming 'He's me'. back at the farm. What, he's like, a male version of you from another dimension?"
Whatever the orange filly had been expecting as a retort from her companion, it hadn't been the yellow pony suddenly breaking out into another wail, as she buried her face deeper into her forelimbs.
"Ah cain't BELIEVE it!" she cried. "A-and Applejack knew th' whole time! Ah cain't believe she thought it'd be okay! Ah've read enough Nann-ga to know that's NEVER a good thing!"
The winged pony's eyes widened as it finally began to sink in. "Applebuck... I knew there was something weird about him! Y-you're saying that he... he's really... is he?"
"He's me." Applebloom confirmed, finally lifting her head and allowing herself to look at her friend with puffy eyes. "Applebuck's me if Ah'd been born a boy! Do you know how weird that is, Scoot?! Ah've been ridin' in th' wagon an' touchin' an' holdin' mah OWN self this whole time! Not to mention he— "
"Not to mention, Sweetie kissed him on the cheek." Scootaloo leaned forward. "You do remember that, right?"
Her orange orbs widened even further as she placed a hoof on her own cheek. "Y-yer right! She did! Sweetie kissed him! SWEETIE KISSED ME!!" A queasy look came over her features. "Ah like Sweetie Belle enough, but not like THAT!"
The pegasus couldn't help but grin slightly as she continued "And what about when you had him go and flirt with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara?"
That did it. The apple filly gave a 'hurk', before jumping to her hooves and dashing out of the HEDGE. Scoot waited patiently as sounds of upheaval came from beyond the hideout's entrance. At length she returned, dragging her hooves as she seated herself back at the table, her face tinted a slight shade of green. "Please, let's not mention those two again?" she asked wearily.
A muffled chuckle. "Alright 'Bloom. Sorry about that. So... Applebuck is you. What's he doing here then?"
"He was lookin' fer Applejack." her friend groaned, resting her chin on the tabletop. "There never was a Dusk Blitz, he was lookin' fer her all along. He... he w-wanted her to be his sister! But she's MAH sister! It all makes sense now... Scoot, he..." she lifted her head to stare into purple eyes. "He wants to take mah place! Ah cain't let 'im get me, or else he'll do sumthin' an' make me disappear! A-Ah mean, what else happens when there's two of th' same pony in th' same place at th' same time? What does 'Buck to th' Future' say 'bout that, Scootaloo?"
Scoot made a face. "That's time-traveling, not dimension-hopping. Not exactly the same thing."
"You know what Ah mean." Applebloom dipped her head back downwards, her eyes locked on the checkered pattern of the tablecloth. "Every movie an’ comic Ah've ever read an’ watched say th' same thing. If there's two of th' same pony... then one of them has to go."
"Maybe the movies have it wrong?" the orange pony asked. "I mean, he hung out with us all day, and you touched him plenty of times. I didn't see either of you fading out of existence at any point in time, so... that's something at least?"
The red-maned one's brow knitted in thought, before she shrugged. "Ah dunno. Ah'm still not lettin' 'im get me. If he's gonna make me go poof, he's gonna hav'tah look all over Equestria a'fore he finds me!"
Again, Scootaloo cracked a small grin as a thought occurred to her. "If he really IS you... you know he's going to know where all your hiding spots are, right?"
The earth-pony's eyes widened, before she plopped her face onto the table, forehead hitting the rock with a dull thud. "WHY didn't Ah think of that?! Yer right, he's gonna know mah every move! Maybe if Ah got somepony else to hide me..."
"You really are scared of him, aren't you? Huh... you know actually, that explains a few things, now that I think about it..." The scooter pony got to her hooves and walked beside Applebloom, putting a forehoof on her shoulder. "You remember when we first ran into him, earlier? He was super-nervous, actin' like he'd never seen a filly before!"
Her companion lifted her head again, once more in thought. "He… he coulda taken me out right then... why didn't he then? Was it because you an' Sweetie were around?"
"Bloom, listen to me." She moved her head down to level with the other filly's own. She knew she was never usually the voice of reason, but if it would make her friend think, she would give it a try. "Think about it. If he is you, and you're scared of him now that you know... then who says that he didn't know who you were the instant he saw you? Think back to earlier today. He was stuttering and stammering when he first met you! And when you shook his hoof, I swear he looked like he was about to have a heart attack!"
The apple pony raised an eyebrow. "Scoot.. are you sayin' that..?"
"I'm saying that if he really is you, then the way that you reacted to him, is the same way that he was reacting to you, earlier! He was scared of you too! Doesn't that make sense?"
Applebloom blink a number of times as she recalled the events of the day. Now that it was mentioned, she saw for herself her 'cousin's odd reactions and stilted speech. The way that he had been afraid to even touch her when they had first met. Now that she knew who he was, she could feel a slight crawling of her hide whenever she thought about coming into contact with him...
"... he felt th' same way." she whispered in realization. "Ah dunno why Ah didn't notice b'fore, but you’re right... he was scared of me too..."
"…Applebloom?"
Both fillies popped their heads up at that last spoken name. It had come from the HEDGE entrance, spoken by a hat-bearing mare, who was currently looking at the two with a worried expression on her freckled face.
"A-Applejack!" the younger sister sputtered, sitting herself upright. "A-Ah, Ah'm sorry, but, ah, uhm, he, me, ah—"
"It's okay, sugarcube." the farmpony soothed, working herself down the incline and walking over to the table. "Ah just wanted to know if you were ready to listen. If y'need more time, ah can wait..."
The yellow filly turned her face back to the tablecloth, once again in deep thought. After a period of time, she quietly asked "Why didn't you tell me?"
Applejack lowered her head. "Ah... Ah didn't think this would happen." she admitted guiltily. "Ah was actually expectin' a lot more ponies to show up all at once. Not just Applebuck... if they'd all appeared at th' same time, Ah coulda explained th' whole thing much easier to you. An' then maybe y'all wouldn't have become so... panicked an’ all that..."
There was a huff. "AJ, how else was Ah supposed to react?! Don't you know what all those books an’ movies say 'bout two of th' same pony bein' round each other? Somethin' bad always happens!"
She gave a small snort in return. "That's what Twilight thought would happen too. Ah'll let you on a li'l somethin' sis. That's all a buncha horseapples. Nothin' of th' sort ever happened when ah met MAH cousin, y'know."
"...your cousin? Y-you mean... you met your… own…?"
The blonde nodded, before trotting over and taking a seat next to her sibling. "Yeah, Ah did. Ah'm sorry fer not tellin' you sooner, sugarcube. Lemme start from th' top, just what happened when Ah was away."
Scootaloo, having been quiet thus far, settled herself into her seat next to her friend as the both of them listened with rapt attention to the orange mare's tale. "We were tryin' to go to Manehattan. Twilight, bless her heart, made a mistake an' took us all th’ way to another dimension altogether, instead. To all looks an' appearances, we were still in Ponyville. But then we found out later that everypony in that world was the' same in ours, save fer just one li'l detail..."
"Their Genders were switched?" Applebloom guessed.
She got a nod in return. "That's right hon. Twilight starts gettin' scared that if we met our male selves, we might wind up causin some sort of universal calamity or somethin'. We all decide to hide away 'till she can do th' spell again. But any place that we would think of, our other selves would know too. So, we wound up havin’ to enlist th' help of... uhm, well..."
The pegasus leaned in closer. "Who? Who'd you get to help you?"
AJ bit her lip for a second. "... a trio of colts. Called Applebuck, Silver Bell, an’ Scooteroll. They were th' ones who actually showed us th' HEDGE."
Mouths gaped open at that, the two fillies giving looks to each other as the apple farmer continued. "We were stuck there fer 'bout five days in total. Over time, each one of us wound up meetin’ our other selves, and we managed to do it without blowin' ourselves up. Twilight was th' most scared of meetin' her other self, y'know..." she gave a dry chuckle as she shook her head. "But by th' end of it all, she was callin' Dusk her brother! Ah tell yah, it was one wild an' crazy trip..."
The young pony looked up at her elder. "You said you met... your other self?"
"That's right. When Ah met Applebuck... well, lemme say, mah heart wasn't ready fer it. Ah didn't want him t'know who Ah was, so Ah called mahself 'Cousin JayJay.' Then later, 'Buck introduces me to his big brother. Turns out, he's called Applejack there too. We got off to a rocky start... but somewhere in there, ah started thinkin' of him like, he really were mah cousin. Even at th' end, when Ah told him who Ah really was, we were still callin' each other cousins."
"A-and neither of you, uhm... 'poofed' each other out?"
"Nope!" Applejack confirmed. "Barrin' th' one time that Dash kicked Blitz in th' face, an' when Pinkie an' Berry were wantin' to throw some kinda huge party, our meetin' ourselves never really brought 'bout th' end of th world."
"You've mentioned a Dusk and a Blitz now." Scootaloo piped up, raising a hoof. "When we first met Applebuck, he gave us a cover story that he was looking for a 'Dusk Blitz'. Are they... doubles of...?"
The mare gave a smile. "Dusk Shine is Twilight's male self. As fer Blitz..." her smile grew even wider now, as her eyes drew slightly distant. "He was a pretty colorful colt. Gave Dash a run fer her money. His full name was Rainbow Blitz, Scoot. He's Dash's other half."
The pony's purple-hued eyes grew wide as she held her mouth in both hooves. "Two... T-TWO RAINBOW DASHES! Like, if ONE Rainbow Dash wasn't cool enough!... w-wait, you said earlier she—… Why would she kick him in the face?"
Chuckles were had, as the applebucker shook her head. "Ah'll let her tell you th' story herself. Either way, by th' end of it all, we all got t'gether, an' Dusk an' Twi both managed to get us all back home. We all said our goodbyes to everypony b'fore we left... well..." She glanced down at her hooves, a sad expression going over her face. "Almost everypony..."
Applebloom's eyes grew wide as she remembered the words exchanged between her sister and her male self upon their reunion. "He did say... that yah never told him goodbye..."
A slow nod. "Though Ah'd made peace wit' mah other self, ah wasn't lookin' forward to seein' him... to seein' you, as a boy, again... imagine this if you can, Applebloom. A buncha colts asks you to hide them someplace, an' one of them, who's blond an’ orange, wearin' mah hat, catches yer eye. He looks like me. He introduces himself as... Ah dunno, Cousin Johnny Appleseed or sumthin'. Y'talk wit him some, gettin' to know him. He's like me, but he's not. He's a colt, but he's nuthin' like Big Macintosh. How do yah feel 'bout him?"
As the filly tried to process the scenario, her sister continued. "Then one day, y' try to find him at the HEDGE, an' all that's there is a note tellin' you thanks. You head on over to Twilight's place... ah still dunno how you'd know to go there... but once you get in, y' find yer cousin with th' five other colts, and they're in th' middle of some spell, 'bout to go somewhere. And y' cain't touch him. He was about... ab-bout to leave without... tellin' yah goodbye..." Her green eyes became misty once more, a hitch appearing in her voice. "An' when yer tellin' them you wanna be family with ‘em... there they go. In a flash of light. And then… I’m gone, like Ah was never there..."
Applejack looked back to her little sister, a sad smile on her face. "Tell me Applebloom... how would you feel? And what would yah do?"
The silence that drew after that was deafening. The yellow pony sat there, imagining the events described by her sister, a mixture of emotions playing across her face.
At length, she took a breath and looked back up at her sibling. "Was… w-was that really how it happened, AJ?...”
The cowpony nodded back to her, before heaving a sigh and hefting herself back to her feet. "Things happen, Applebloom. Ah didn't give him a proper goodbye... so he came here, to say hello... Runnin' into you was probably th' furthest thing from his mind."
The other two fillies followed her stead, getting to their hooves and following Applejack as she trotted towards the HEDGE's exit. Applebloom worked her mouth silently for a second, before shooting a worried look. "You promise he's not gonna make me fade away, or sumthin' like that?"
A chuckle. "Ah promise, sugarcube. Now c'mon you two. Sun's settin', we need to get on back home."
The trio stepped out into the waning light, the sun finally beginning to kiss the edge of the horizon. To the two fillies’ considerable surprise, they found another pair of foals sitting not three yards away from the HEDGE's opening. Sweetie Belle was in quiet conversation with the yellow colt, who had his back turned towards the small group. The colt who was the center of everything happening.
Applebloom, despite all the assurances that she'd been given, still gave a soft gasp as she hid behind her big sister. The white unicorn looked up over Applebuck's shoulder, prompting him to turn and spot the two orange ponies, and the red tail that stuck out from behind the elder mare.
"Applebloom..." The farmpony stepped to the side, depriving her sister of cover. "Ah think th' two of you have somethin' to say to each other."
Orange eyes locked on each other once again, as they beheld their other selves. With an ounce of trepidation, the boy got to his hooves and slowly walked towards his femme self, who unsteadily righted herself onto her haunches.
Now face-to-face with themselves, the two ponies simply stood there, taking in each other, looking in each other's eyes for any sign of fear, or intent. At length, it was Bloom who spoke first.
"H...h-hi, uhm... cousin."
The colt hemmed and hawed himself, before replying with a simple "Hey."
A few more seconds of silence passed, before the both of them opened their mouths at the same time. "Y'know, Ah just wanna say—"
Scootaloo and Applejack joined Sweetie by the wagon, as they all watched the yellow ponies try to make peace with themselves. "Y-you should go first." Applebuck stated, hooves pawing at the dirt. "Ah can wait."
"N-no, you should go first." the filly countered, her ears folded back slightly. "I-it's only right. Yer a... visitor an’ all..."
He bit at his lip, before nodding and beginning to speak. "Ah just... Ah wanna say Ah'm sorry, Appleb-bloom. Ah was so excited 'bout seein' JayJay again, that... Ah didn't think 'bout you. Ah never wanted to take yer place, or anythin' like that, y' gotta believe me. Ah'm SO sorry fer scarin' you. Ah just... Ah'm just sorry fer a ton of things." He let out a sigh as he lowered his head. "Ah've been nothin' but a mess-up th' second Ah landed here..."
Applebloom let her eyes drift to the ground, before looking back up at her other self. "Ah'm sorry too." she whispered. "A-Ah'm sorry Ah ran off screamin'... Applejack explained a lot of things to me. A-Ah think Ah know now, you didn't mean any harm. It's not yer fault. Ah was just... just..."
Slowly, she got back on all four hooves as well. With no small amount of trepidation, both yellow ponies stepped towards each other again, orange orbs locked on each other as they closed in, inches difference between them as they finally stopped.
The girl half gulped, before resuming. "It's just that... you're me... an' that's still really... weird."
The boy half let out a quiet chuckle. "Yer tellin' me... Ah had half a mind to run away from you girls when you first found me, y'know..." He then lowered his head slightly, bringing himself eye-level with her. "But... Ah also want yah t'know. Ah really did enjoy t'day. Even with all this weird stuff... If you'll let me, Ah don't think ah would mind... bein' your cousin."
Applebloom turned her head to the side, thinking for a second. Recalling the past few hours. How, despite all the false starts her male half had presented, despite the awkward moments and confusing slipups... they had still managed to have a good day with him. Enjoyed a snack. Pulled a caper. In the end, it was all just about having fun.
Finally, she looked back at him, and gave him a smile. A small, nervous smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Ah... Ah think Ah'd be okay with that... Cousin Appleb-buck." she replied, tongue tripping up only slightly.
The colt returned her smile, before looking down at the ground, and then timidly raising a forelimb. Almost as if on-cue, the filly lifted her own, and they both met them together, pads clapping slightly as they held each other's hooves, each with the full knowledge that the other pony was their own self.
It still didn't keep goosebumps from crawling over Applebuck's hide as he touched his female doppelganger. "Um..." he started. "Does this feel any less creepy to you?"
Her expression shifted into one of distaste as she readily admitted "N-not really."
"Me neither."
They broke contact, hooves and gazes lowered as they fidgeted on the ground. Thankfully, it was then that Applejack decided to speak up again.
"Well, Ah'm glad we got that straightened out," she drawled, getting to all four hooves and walking over towards the pair. "Ah know you two, it's awkward as hay, but just so long as we dun have any misunderstandin's, it'll all work out. You'll see." She then proceeded to lean down and nuzzle each one on the cheek, buoying their spirits somewhat.
Off to the side, Scootaloo glanced uneasily between the Apple siblings and Sweetie Belle, a slightly confused expression on her face. "So..." she began. "What happens next?"
"Now..." The orange mare stood up tall as she looked back in the direction of Ponyville. "We head to Twilight's. And get Applebuck back home."
The capped pony jolted in his stance in surprise, before galloping up to his extradimensional sibling's side. "B-but JayJay! We haven’t even gotten to spend any time together!"
"Sugarcube, Ah know y'all were lookin' forward to stayin' over. But th' plain facts are, yer own family probably don't know where you’ve gone, it's gettin' dark, an' Ah can just imagine yer brother makin' a furrow in th' livin' room rug, waitin' fer you. Th' sooner we get you home, th' better!"
"Awww, c'mon b… b-big sis!" Applebuck pleaded. "Just lemme stay th' night! Ah left them a note in th' house, they shoulda found it by now! So, you don't have to worry 'bout them none! Just lemme sleep over t'night, an' then y'all can send me back tomorrow! Though, uhm, that'd mean missin' out on bungee-jumping..." He spared a glance towards the crusaders. "Do y'girls mind me skippin' out out Bungee-jumpin' tomorrow?"
The plans had almost been forgotten by the fillies in all the fracas. Hurriedly, Sweetie shook her head while Scootaloo nodded.
"There y'see!" he turned back to AJ, apparently not minding the mixed signals. "We can make this work! Cain't we, JayJay? Please?"
The apple farmer regarded her 'brother's face with a sad one of her own, an eyebrow furrowed in thought. Silently, she admitted to herself her own indecision on the subject. Cousin AJ may or may not find that note, if he really wrote it. It might be okay. Then again, it might not. Better th' play it safe than t' be sorry—
"Applejack... cain't he stay fer th' night?"
This last plea was a pitch higher than 'Buck's own. Applejack turned her head towards the source, spotting Applebloom giving her an imploring gaze. "H-he's not askin' fer much... Y'know, maybe dinner, a game of cards? H-he can sleep in mah room! Ah mean, since it's y'know, um... his room too..."
Applejack found herself assaulted by big-eyed stares from two sources at once. Getting it from 'Bloom alone was usually bad enough. Now that there were two of her, she found herself withering under the combined powers of sad foal's eyes.
With a sigh, she removed her hat and rubbed at her mane, before looking up at the two. "Okay. Fer t'night then—"
She didn't get to finish her sentence, as she was suddenly assaulted by the young colt, a tackle-hug launched right into her midsection as he went "Oh THANK you JayJay, Thankyouthankyou thankyouThankyou SO MUCH JayJay! Ah promise Ah'll be good, 'n not be a scaredy-pony, a-and help do th' chores, and, and, and—"
He trailed off into grateful sniffling, as AJ returned his hug, a hoof coming up to stroke his mane. She chanced a glance over to her little sister, the yellow filly giving her a thankful smile as well.
The pegasus boarded her scooter, wings revving up as Sweetie climbed into the wagon's basin. "Are we 'bout ready to go?"
"Almost," the farmpony drawled. "Sweetie, when you come 'round t'morrow... can ya'll bring one of yer sister's rubies?"
The petite unicorn blinked. "Uhm... sure, I guess. Why do you need one?"
" 'Cause that's one of th' things Twilight'll need to send 'im back. Scoot, yer hanging wit' Dash, right? Has she been molting any?"
Scootaloo's eyes widened, before her ears laid back against her skull. "What's it to yah?! That's not something us Pegasuses let just anypony know!"
"It is if we’re gonna be using one of her feathers to seal th' deal," AJ replied, getting onto all fours again and trotting towards the beaten path. "If she's got any of dem feathers lyin' around, bring 'em along tomorrow."
Both yellow ponies fell into step behind the blonde mare, the Crusader-mobile pulling alongside and keeping pace. By now, the sun had settled well over the horizon, the last few rays of the day painting the scenery in a stark relief of oranges, purples, and dark blue hues. An uneasy silence settled over the traveling group, heavy in its awkwardness. It would be a minute or so before Sweetie broke it with a question.
"This other world... is it nice?"
Applebloom looked over toward her male self, who smacked his lips lightly before answering. "It's... it's not bad. It's not real... different, from this world, actually. We got a Sugarcube Corner. We got a Town hall, and a spa. We got Sweet Apple Acres, an' th' Library too... 'Bout th' only difference b'tween this world an' mine, is... well... you know..."
The curly-haired equine blushed slightly as she nodded, before her eyes widened in realization, the pink on her cheeks turning a reddish hue. Timidly, she turned back to the twins again. "Uhm, by the way... Applebloom, Applebuck? Um... I'm awfully sorry for... y' know, for... doing that, um..."
A collective groan went up among the remaining crusaders, as the colt and filly apple ponies looked at each other with embarrassed blushes. Applejack rolled her eyes as she continued leading them back into Ponyville.
This is gonna be a looooong night.
-----------------------------
To be continued…
ON THE NEXT WHISPER OF WIND
"Aha!" she cried out, her magic snagging an old dog-eared tome from the shelves, giving it a once-over with her seasoned eyes. "'Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit'. Now let's see... there WERE some mentions of things like... 'Dimensions' in here, weren't there? Now where..."
Her browsing eventually landed her on a page about midway into the book. A spell for viewing other dimensions, placed right above another spell for long-distance teleportation. She remembered it partly because of the large warning placed on the bottom of the page, about using one spell in conjunction with the other. Why such a thing was printed was beyond her.
"It matters not. All I need is this simple spell here." she told herself, performing her hopscotch yet again back across the room towards a nearby dresser. "It all makes sense when viewed in this light. If I did not cast this spell, but it still feels of Trixie…”
“...then some OTHER Trixie elsewhere must have cast it!"
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This brings me great joy!
Holy shit this just updated. I thought for sure you were gonna cancel it or something.
UPDATE!?!
... It's time to dance!
Of course I find that this has updated after I've decided I need to go to bed...
...grr, and I really can't afford to lose more sleep. I'll be back.
IT LIVES
Holy crap IT LIVES!!!!!
3933315
[youtube=XhI0OVs_zj0]
Ohmygosh.
IT'S ALIVE!!!
I say, it's back!
AND WE LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has returned! Hooza!
So, because of canon, this story stopped to consider the options... You do know there are more than one dimension, and this also means, you can still create a vein of a sequel stating this version is season 1 heavy. Heck, for the sequel you can make them travel to the canonverse.
3933373
Could you be more vague?
What emotion were you trying to provoke with that response?
FUCKING APPLE ACCENT EVERYWHERE, FUUUUUUUUUCK
Omg you updated though :3 These cute fillies and an awkward scenario! Gotta love it~
I thought this story would not update anymore but it. What was the hold up for so long?
Thought that mighta been what happened. Hard to force yourself to continue a story when the cannon breaks it. Still a wonderful update!
Its good to have you back conner!
Worth the wait. In a way, it hearkens back to a simpler time in the fandom before Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, and Alicorn Twilight made things a complicated timey-wimey jumble.
I'm glad your back writing. I hope though you don't lose your passion for writing sequels. I understand you don't plan on making any more sequels. I understand you want to end this story and be done with this series. I am grateful this chapter came out. Best of luck, but I want to encourage you not to worry about the show ruining your series. IF you like it keep it up. Don't worry. Best of luck with the next chapter.
Exploring the aether for fun and profite? i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/MaudDibb/2011-07-24_011328.png
I'm going to take my time and reread the story before reading this chapter because HOLY CRUD, IT'S ALIVE!!!
I'd say I've been waiting freaking forever for this story to update, but is there anyone who hasn't? It's so exciting!
I'm pretty sure we're happy to take anything we can get.
Ooh! This story updated at long last! Hurray! This'll make my day!
That's understandable.
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I was going to post that exact clip, I even have it stored for dead stories coming back to life, but then you stole the moment from me...oh, well. I'll just have to beat you next year when this updates
Sjukejkfjdjn holy shit it's alive! Good to see this is back up now, even if I'm not sure when the next update will come.
3933498
Fair enough. Good luck for next time.
Wow.
You know, I had forgotten how thickly you write the Apples' accent.
But mostly, just wow.
~Welcome back and thanks for all the memories~
(Ah, ah, ah, ah)
(Ah, ah, Connor Cogworth)
(Ah, ah, ah, ah)
(I still like the fic)
...and I've been watching way too many parodies of Attack on Titan's intro.
The show canon messing up story canon never bothered me. As a story goes on it splits off from the original series of events in the show. It's just something to keep in mind. It's only a problem when it's because someone doesn't know what they are doing and not because their story took on a life of it's own. Glad to see this get an update. I would like to see this story continued.
I just don't understand why people make such a big deal about changing canon. Just write the story as it was intended from the beginning of the story, and ignore new information if it clashes.
Well, glad to see this is still a thing. Welcome back!
Definitely worth the wait!
Canon is merely a suggestion. That's what the AU tag is for.
I personally like Changelings, but I won't hesitate to mess with them if it suits the setting. And plus I suck at writing nice characters for some reason.
Character X doesn't work in Setting A? Toss 'im. Don't need 'im. Octavia is Pinkie's sibling? Why not. Vinyl is related to the Sparkle Family? Sure, let's see how far that goes. Don't want Cadence as Twi's babysitter, and instead make Vinyl her playmate? Toss Cadence then.
yay your back!
Show is Show.
Fic is Fic.
Just because stuff happens in the show dosnt mean you have to use or accept it.
specially with more and more of it going from acceptable canon to crapon.
YAY, IT SURVIVES!!!
Ha... AB is a scaredy pony! Well, at least she knows the truth. I wonder if Twi and Dusk might be able to make some form of permanent bridge between worlds...
Wow, after like a year or 2, it's finally updated
IT IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!
I don't really care if it is or isn't canon anymore.
As you said, you wrote Twilight as being an only child because Shining Armor didn't exist then. Many stories have faced such challenges before even on this website, one of the biggest examples is when Alicorn Twilight became canon, it destroyed many stories including Twilight as an elder pony.
Try to see it in this light: you are writing a story in an alternate dimension that had all the same events as season one except for the fact that Twilight was an only child. In your universe Shining Armor never existed nor it had any reason to exist.
Don't limit yourself to the boundaries set by the canon of the show, let your imagination roam free in your own version of the show. I know most of the people who is tracking your story is expecting to read where it was let off, we don't care if Twilight has a brother in the show or not, we are here to read your story.
Hope to see this story to an end even if I have to wait 3, 4 or even more years for you to finish it, just take it to your own pace
I may or may not have went fan-girl when I noticed this updated.
This story destroyed all man in me.
HOLY NACHOS BATMAN AN UPDATE
It's great to see you writing again.
It's doesn't matter to me if it's based on Season 1 only, I just love the story concept.
IT LIVES!!!
and it was totally worth the wait. Also I noticed this chapter lacked the art the previous chapters had (not that I mind, I'm in this for the story not the art, I just simply pointed it out).
There are very few pony fanfiction stories I even remotely like. Yet this one I absolutely love. I really hope you do end up finishing it. Good luck!
constants and variables, you work with alternate dimensions. Whoever said this dimension is the same as the one in canon? In this one lady Sparkle is a lone child. Whoever said sir Shining Armor was a constant? They lucked out and hit another dimension where Shining Armour = false.
I am just glad to see an update. As a reader I don't mind when a fanfic deviates from canon, it's a fanfic after all. I guess that's different as a writer for most people.
PRESTO!
Heh, been so long, I had to go back and reread the last chapter to get the memories flowing.