Ashen Apples

by ErraticOverlord

An Ashen Awakening

I open my eyes to find myself in my bed, Big Macintosh must have moved me from the hall while I was asleep. I sweep my eyes around the dim room.

I slept past six.

I kick the blankets to the floor.

I never sleep past six.

I turn to the right to get off my bed when my eyes meet with another mare.

She smiles. "Howdy, cousin."

I scramble to the other side of the room and lean up against the wall.

She's strange seeming, she has a muted gray coat with a lighter gray mane and dark gray eyes - almost black. The strangest part is that apart from the gray colors and missing my hat, she looks exactly like me.

She slides off the bed, still smiling and takes a step toward me. My back is to the wall so I take a step to my left, sliding along it.

She stops. "What's the matter, cousin Applejack? You seem frightened."

I gulp. "You're no cousin I know of."

She laughs. "Funny. That's not what you said last night."

My eyes dart to the bed and back to her.

She smiles again. "Nothing happened, if that's what you're wondering. You were half asleep, I'm not a monster." She turns around and starts trotting out the door to my room but peeks her head back once she's in the doorway. "Maybe later."

She trots out the door and down the steps. I brace myself before she starts going down the steps but she seems to be doing it with reasonable silence.

I sigh and slide down the wall to the floor, breathing heavily.

Okay. Who was that? Why did she look like me? What will my family say?

My eyes widen.

My family.

I gallop down out the door and down the stairs, heading into the kitchen. I see Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh sitting down for lunch with the strange mare.

Noon? I slept till noon.

Granny Smith looks up at me. "Howdy Applejack. What's the big hurry tearing through here? Have a seat."

I bring a seat over from the next room and sit down next to the strange mare. Big Macintosh raises his eyebrow but says nothing.

I motion to the mare next to me. "So who is this?"

Applebloom raises an eyebrow in the spitting image of Big Macintosh. "You mean me? I'm Applebloom, Applejack. Don't you remember me?"

The mare looks at me with a mock hurt expression. "If you really wanted to know my name, you could've asked me."

I look at the mare, then at Applebloom. I stand up. "Excuse me."

I lean down to whisper in the mare's ear. "You too, 'cuz'."

She stands up and we walk into the next room. I close the door behind me. "What's going on? Who are you?"

She trots around me, circling me like a shark. "What happened was you acting like a crazy pony in front of your family. As for who I am?" She pauses for a moment then a thought hits her and she smiles. "You can call me Ash."

My eyebrows furrow, creating a crease in my forehead but I shake my head. "What do you mean crazy? Can't they see you?"

She laughs. "See me? I'm just a picture in your head, cuz. Which is getting really crowded, come to think of it."

I glare at Ash. "I'm not crazy."

She laughs again. "Of course not, cuz. You're just talking to a pony nopony else can see or hear who looks just like you. Your subconscious must be pretty boring if you can't think of anything better than a copy of you for your imaginary friend."

I shake my head. "Stop it."

She shrugs. "Stop what? We're just talking. Though, technically, you're talking to yourself."

"Stop it."

Her smile gets wider. "What's the matter, Applejack? I thought you appreciated honesty."

I shake my head. "No. This isn't true."

"Isn't it?"

I trot out the door and head toward Ponyville, ignoring Ash's repeated attempts to start another conversation.

Twilight will help sort this out.

The day is overcast, clouds blocking out most of the sun so only some small patches remain.

It'll probably rain later.

On my way I run into Rainbow Dash, clearing the sky for today's sun. "Hey, Applejack. Feeling better?"

Rainbow Dash lands. "Big Macintosh said you weren't feeling well yesterday so are you feeling better?"

What was Big Macintosh doing talking to Rainbow Dash in the middle of the night?

Ash slips next to my ear and whispers inside. "Why don't you ask her?"

I step away from Ash and move closer to Rainbow Dash. "I'm fine. Thank you. When did you see my brother yesterday?"

Rainbow Dash shrugs. "I was working all that morning so I didn't have time to get groceries until that night. He just had a question about the shower, earlier."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Was there a shower? I knew there was a storm, was that before then?"

Rainbow Dash shakes her head. "Nope. No storm. Just a shower. Heh, that's actually what Big Macintosh asked. He wanted to know if the shower started on time or ran long."

Ash shakes her head. "In case you were wondering, it did start on time and it didn't run long. If it did, Big Macintosh wouldn't be so suspicious of you."

I nod, frowning. "Right. Rainbow, do you know where Twilight is?"

Rainbow Dash shrugs. "Her library maybe? I haven't seen her today. She could be at Lyra's house. I dunno. How was the expedition yesterday? Did you fight a lot of cave monsters?"

Ash giggles. "Isn't she adorable?"

I roll my eyes. "I didn't fight any monsters. I did find a body and bring a wall down on top of me."

Rainbow Dash's eyebrows raise and she takes a step back. "What happened?"

Ash shrugs. "At least she believes you, Element of Honesty and such. Comforting, I'm sure."

I tune Ash out. "I'll tell you later. Right now I need to find Twilight."

Rainbow Dash flaps her wings and gains some height. "I'll look around town for her and let you know if I see her." She flies away.

"Isn't that cute. She's got your back."

I turn away from Ash and trot towards Lyra's house. It's closer so if Twilight's there I won't have lost much time.

After trotting a few meters I stop and swivel to face Ash. "Why isn't everything as loud as it was last night?"

Ash trots around a patch of sun. "Everything's just as loud today as it was last night. You just can't hear it as well."

I shake my head.

Should've expected an answer like that.

I keep trotting toward Lyra's house while Ash seems eerily quiet.

When I arrive, I knock twice and wait.

Is she home?

Right before I knock again, the door opens, revealing the mint green coat and silver mane of Lyra Heartstrings.

"Oh, hi Applejack. How's your cut?"

I dip my Stetson in greeting. "My cut's fine. All healed up, actually. Is Twilight here?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. Not here. We talked for a bit on the way back last night but last I saw she was heading home. Your cut healed already? It looked like your leg was going to fall off."

I pause for a comment from Ash but none comes. I turn around.

She's gone?

I look up and down the street but still can't see her.

"Applejack?"

I turn around to see Lyra, head a bit turned to the side and a look of concern over her features. "Are you okay, Applejack? Here, come inside. I'll give you a break from that sun."

Sun?

I look up to see the clouds completely gone. No shred of them left in the sky.

I feel a headache come on and I start to get dizzy.

I nod to Lyra and half trot, half stumble inside. Until she sets me down on a couch.

She trots into the next room. "I'm going to put on some water for tea."

I lie on the couch, my mind starts to clear and I start to breathe easier. The room is dim, with one or two scattered lamps but mostly pillows and some counter space. Far from being the only couch in the room, I seem to be laying on one of several. Still panting, I turn to my right to see a familiar face.

"Miss me, cousin?"

Author's Note:

I had way too much fun writing for Ash. Way more than anyone should decently have.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Aatxe360]

Very eerie. I like it so far.

[ErraticOverlord]

5720781 Thank you.