Chapter 2
Late that afternoon, Twilight and Applejack sat in Granny Smith’s room. They were by the window, near enough that they could check on Granny at any time, but far enough that there were things to see other than a sick mare. The other alicorn's four hour time limit had come and gone, but neither Twilight nor Applejack could say if Granny was better. She’d awoken an hour after her injection, alert but complaining profusely of hunger and thirst. Those complaints had continued intermittently for two hours, no matter how much porridge or water Twilight and Applejack produced. Granny then fell asleep again, and had remained asleep in the hours since.
Much and little had happened away from her bed. Apple Bloom had come home from school and promptly been sent to her room. Doctor Stable and Big Mac had returned, but the doctor had no diagnosis, and eventually returned to the hospital. Spike had arrived at the farm in a rush, bearing a letter from Princess Celestia. He now waited downstairs with Big Mac, but the letter stuck in Twilight’s mind.
The letter spoke of a mysterious alicorn who claimed to be Twilight, appearing in hospitals across Equestria and giving strange injections to the ill. With self-proclaimed royal authority and self-evident magical might, she had set the pharmacies of Equestria to producing more of her elixir. But what it was, none could say, and every time Celestia attempted to speak with her, the mysterious alicorn vanished moments before she arrived.
Twilight had written back to Celestia at once, telling her everything she knew and urging the sun-princess not to trust the mysterious stranger. But since then, Twilight had heard nothing, and the sun was already growing low in the sky. It had been five hours since the stranger appeared, and Twilight did not know what was happening across Equestria.
Twilight looked at Applejack, and lifted her ears. Applejack nodded and looked to the window, but it had been over an hour since the two had spoken. First they’d traded stories, then they worried, then they cared for Granny Smith, and eventually they ran out of anything to say. At one point, Applejack had put her head down to rest, but sleep had not come.
Twilight fluffed her wings, and looked over at Granny Smith again, when her thoughts were interrupted by Applejack’s voice.
“Why is it you didn’t trust her?” Applejack asked, and Twilight’s head quickly turned. “When she first showed up, I mean.”
Twilight paused, and then shrugged. “She doesn't look like me.”
“That’s it?” Applejack glanced back at the bed briefly, then back to Twilight. “She’s too tall?”
“I think if a pony claims to be me, it’s reasonable to expect she actually look like me,” Twilight snapped, her tail lifting as a defensive edge came to her words.
“Woah, woah. I was... just asking. Sorry.” Applejack tipped her hat Twilight’s way. “Didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”
“No...” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. It’s only...”
“I understand. We both got reason to be stressed right now.” Applejack nodded to Twilight, and Twilight smiled weakly in return. They lapsed into silence again, and Applejack joined Twilight in staring out the window. It was perhaps half a minute before she spoke: “She does look like you though.”
“No she doesn’t. It just seems that way because our coats are the same color.” Twilight brushed aside the comment with a hoof. “But pretend you’re colorblind and look at our faces. We’re nothing alike.”
“Not to tell you the shape of your own body, Twi, but I ain’t sure that’s true.” Applejack looked over at Twilight, who soon mirrored the gesture. “I mean, yeah, y’ain’t mirror images or anything. But... well. Shucks. I know Rainbow’s teased ya a bit about how much taller you’ve gotten since you got those wings.”
“Like an inch taller,” Twilight insisted.
“An inch in a year,” Applejack pointed out. “And you do...” She gestured at Twilight’s face with a hoof. “I mean, Rarity would say you look aristocratic.”
“Yes, okay?” Twilight insisted, snorting sharply and turning back to the window. “I’ve been flying a lot, so I’ve been getting more exercise, so yes, I’m a bit thinner and it’s showing on my face. That doesn’t mean I’m going to... end up like that. And growing an inch in a year does not prove I’ll keep growing. By that logic, you’d look at a puppy and say that in ten years it’ll be the size of town hall!”
“I know! I know, Twi. I ain’t saying that’s what you’ll end up looking like. It just... could be that way, you know? Fits the facts and such. Can’t...” She looked over at Twilight, whose gaze resolutely remained at the window. “Can’t rule it out.”
Twilight waited a few seconds before she answered, folding back her ears slowly. “She’s not me, Applejack,” she finally said. “I know that’s what you want to hear. I understand why. And I do hope, whoever she is, that she wants to help Granny. But she’s not me.”
“But how do you know?” Applejack struck her hoof to the floor to emphasize her words, leaning in closer to Twilight.
“Because she doesn’t act like me, Applejack!” Twilight snapped, pushing her muzzle forward right back, “She doesn’t act like me at all. And because I remember this little incident with Canterlot and a wedding and an army of shapeshifters. Do you remember that? Remember what happened the last time my ‘something’s not right here’ alarm went off and you insisted we ignore it?”
Applejack slowly pulled away, and her tail tucked in between her legs. “Yeah, I remember. But this is different and—”
“No, Applejack. It isn’t different.” Twilight’s words were harsh, but after a moment, she moderated her tone and reached out to take Applejack’s hoof in hers. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now. I know you want to believe it’s true. But you saw what she did when I interrupted her. You saw how she talked and moved.There’s something about her. From the moment I saw her, she didn’t feel right. I felt...” Twilight frowned. “Repulsed. There’s something wrong with her.”
“What is it?” Applejack frowned.
“I don’t know. A feeling?” Twilight shrugged. “I’ve already told you all the specific things that were suspicious about her. But it was just something... off.”
“Do you think something will be... off, with Granny?” Applejack swallowed. “When whatever that was is done?”
“I don’t know, Applejack. I’m sorry, but I really don’t.” Twilight looked at her friend, and leaned forward, and soon the two were embraced in a tight hug. Twilight sniffled, squeezed her friend, and said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I let things come to this point. I hope Granny Smith is okay.”
“It’s okay, sugarcube. I know you did your best,” Applejack said, and again, the two lapsed into a lasting silence.
They sat there for nearly twenty minutes before anything else happened. The blankets rustled on the bed, then again.
“Hey, Granny,” Applejack called. “You need more water?” Both she and Twilight rose and moved up to the bed, but Granny did not answer. She was still asleep, but in the short time since Twilight and Applejack had last checked on her, much had changed. Her hair was falling out in clumps. Long white hairs and short green ones lay scattered over the pillow and sheets, matching the bare patches on Granny Smith’s head, tail, and sides. Even as they watched, a clump of her tail simply fell off, hanging askance from the other hairs before drifting to the floor.
“Hey, Granny,” Applejack repeated, her voice trembling. “You awake?”
“She’s not awake,” Twilight said gently, reaching out to rest her hoof over Applejack’s. “Come on, let’s... clear this hair off her. Take a look at her.”
Applejack nodded, and together, the two removed the blankets and started sweeping the fallen hairs away. In the few minutes it took them to finish, the rest of Granny’s hair fell out, leaving her bald as a plucked chicken. Applejack sniffled quietly, but kept working even as tears formed in her eyes. She diligently continued sweeping and cleaning the bed, even as her sides started to shake, and the tears rolled down her face. It wasn’t until Twilight touched her shoulder that she stopped. Then they embraced, and with her head buried in Twilight’s shoulder, Applejack cried.
There they stayed for some time, as Applejack allowed Twilight to ply her with sweet and hollow reassurances. Until eventually, Applejack’s ears perked up.
“Hey. Look!” she said, sniffling as she tried to get her voice under control. “Peach fuzz.” Twilight followed Applejack’s eyes, and saw that Granny’s pale tan skin was turning an off-green, not from any sickness, but from the little hairs that were already emerging. The fuzz around her head, neck, and dock was golden instead of green, showing the distinctive pattern of a mane and tail. “That’s good! She’s recovering.”
“Yeah...” Twilight said slowly. “But why is it yellow?”
“Huh?” Applejack looked over at her friend.
“Her mane. Why is it yellow? Granny’s hair is white,” Twilight said, pointing at the mare before them with the tip of a hoof.
“Oh,” Applejack sighed, a smile appearing on her face. “It used to be yellow back in the day. A real golden-blonde she said. I reckon whatever other-Twi gave her is just... making it come back in its healthy color.”
Twilight turned her head to glance at Applejack, but said nothing, and turned back to Granny a moment later. She lifted a hoof, and pressed it to Granny’s side, and frowned. “Something is wrong with her skin.”
Applejack mirrored Twilight’s motion, pressing her hoof against Granny’s ribs, and then turning her ankle to brush carefully. “Feels healthy to me,” she said after a moment.
“That’s what’s wrong,” Twilight said. “A pony’s skin shouldn't feel healthy at that age. It should feel... weak. Like paper that’s easily torn. I remember when I was little, and my grandfather felt that way.”
Applejack frowned, and repeated her feeling gesture. “Well... other-Twi did say that she was suffering from a plague. Maybe that was a symptom all along and we never knew it.”
“She’s not another me,” Twilight said. “Call her... whatever you like. But not that.”
“Well,” Applejack said, putting her hoof on the floor. “We’ll see, won’t we? She’s getting some proper color back already.”
And she did get her proper color back. It was only a few minutes before peach fuzz was a short but passable coat, topped by a golden mane in what seemed a boyish buzz-cut. Her wrinkled skin grew taut, and her jowls faded as the flesh adhered closer to her cheeks. The swelling around her joints faded away, as did the stretch marks along her belly. In her sleep, Granny stretched and twisted her legs, and a profusion of pops and cracks came forth. But the sounds soon faded, and her legs moved more easily. Blood ran from her mouth, but when Applejack and Twilight pried open her jaw to see if she’d bitten her tongue again, they found she was bleeding from the gums, where a new row of white teeth could be seen forcing their way out.
At first, Applejack and Twilight commented upon these things to each other. But as the changes crew more extreme, they lapsed into silence, and simply watched. Granny Smith’s motions grew more agitated as time went on, until eventually, her eyes flew open and she sat up sharply.
“What happened!?” she shouted, eyes wide. She was soaked with sweat, and her breathing came in quick and shallow gasps. She looked all around the room like she didn’t know where she was, until her eyes settled on Applejack. “Applejack? What...”
“How you feeling, Granny?” Applejack asked, leaning forward as Twilight did the same. Both of them peered at Granny Smith’s face, but all they could see in her expression was a hint of confusion.
Granny Smith paused before answering, looking down at her legs and the bright green skin there. “I gotta pee like a racehorse,” she answered, brusquely, hauling herself out of bed and trotting around to the bathroom door by the bedside. She left the door half ajar, and through it, Twilight could hear the tap come on. She and Applejack looked at each other, waiting in silence as they heard the toilet flush. Then they heard water splash, a scrubbing and a loud hiss. Then the faucet turned off, and the door opened the rest of the way.
The pony who emerged from the bathroom door was unknown to Twilight. She couldn’t have been over twenty, and if she was a day under it, it was surely to tempt older stallions to ruin. She was short but fit, with a lime-green coat and a bright golden mane, cropped close around her ears. Her eyes were a bright and lively orange, and her ears came to two sharp tips above her head. Her cutie mark—an apple pie—stood out in contrast to her natural colors, her short coat making the image appear crisp and sharp. She stopped then, and stared at Applejack and Twilight. Applejack and Twilight stared back at her.
“Well, if you two will excuse me,” Granny Smith said, turning and promptly walking out into the hall. Twilight and Applejack looked at each other quickly, and then took off after her, following her through the hall and down the main stair. Granny breezed through the kitchen without slowing down, trotting past a stunned Spike and Big Mac with nothing more than a, “Gentlemen.” Then she shoved out the kitchen door, picking up her pace and trotting off into the yard.
Twilight watched her from the doorframe, Applejack, Big Mac, and Spike not far behind. While the three behind her joined into a hushed conversation, Twilight took a hesitant step forward, and then walked up alongside Granny. She had stopped about a dozen paces out into the yard, and was looking out over the orchard beyond.
“Granny Smith, I...” Twilight looked behind her to the house, and then back to the pony in front of her. “How are you feeling?”
“Princess,” Granny Smith said, glancing at Twilight and then back to the farm. For a little while, she didn’t elaborate on that, flicking her stub of a tail back and forth. Finally she continued, “Am I dead?”
She continued before Twilight could reply. “Because I remember suddenly getting the most powerful headache, and then I fell, and it all started to go funny.” Her voice grew strained, and she swallowed. “And now I’m feeling things that can’t possibly be real. I look like I’m supposed to, again. And the farm.” Her voice cracked, and she swallowed. “I ain’t seen it this clear in years. Not in a long time.”
Tears formed in Granny’s eyes, running down her cheeks. As Applejack and Big Mac emerged from the house, making their way up behind her, Twilight reached out to pat her shoulder. “You’re uh...” She stumbled over her words, swallowing. “No, you’re not dead. You’re not... dead, Granny. But I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know. So you need to come back inside. We can get the doctor and see what he thinks.”
“I think I’ve spent enough time with doctors, Princess.” Granny Smith reached up to rub the tears from her eyes, turning to look at Applejack on her opposite side. “Applejack. Big Mac. Lands sake, you two grew up to be some beautiful young ponies, you know that? Your parents couldn't have been prouder.” She reached out, pulling the two of them into a tight hug and squeezing them against her. Both were caught off-guard, but returned the hug after a moment.
“Of course, Granny. We know that...” Applejack said slowly. Granny pulled out of the hug, and though her cheeks were still stained with tears, she smiled up at her two grandchildren.
“Good. You should know that,” she said. She sniffled, and then pulled back another step. “Well, I’m going to go for a walk around the barnyard. Stretch these legs.”
“Granny, I ain’t sure that’s such a good idea.” Applejack stiffly adjusted her hat. “We still don’t know what’s happening, and—”
“Fiddlesticks!” Granny replied. “It’ll be fun. Don’t wait up.” Without another word, she turned and broke into a trot, heading out onto the farm. Applejack, Twilight, and Big Mac all exchanged a quick look, and again took after her.
“Granny, wait!” Applejack shouted, but the other mare put on a burst of speed in response, accelerating from a trot to a gallop. Like a pony possessed, she shot out into the orchard, weaving between trees and leaping over fences or obstructions. So fast was she, that even Applejack and Big Mac started to fall behind, and Twilight was forced to use her wings, taking to the air. Thus advantaged, she quickly outstripped both Applejack and Big Mac, catching up with Granny as she wove through the trees. There was a strange sound coming from her, a noise that Twilight only heard when she got close.
It was laughter. Granny was laughing.
“Catch me if you can, Princess!” she shouted over her shoulder, taking a hard left turn and leaping over the fence to the adjacent carrot farm. Her course was erratic, weaving left and right with no obvious destination in mind, dragging her three pursuers through the carrot fields. It was only when one of the barns came into sight that her meandering course straightened, aiming directly for a wagon parked in the yard. It was being attended by one of the carrot farm’s hired hooves—a soft, brown pony by the name of Caramel. He started as Granny Smith sprinted up to him, screeching to a halt with Twilight and company only seconds behind.
“I have always thought,” she said to him, barely audible to Twilight above. “That you were a very handsome young stallion.”
“Uh... thank y—” Caramel said, before Granny grabbed him with both forehooves and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. His eyes wide wide, and his ears and tail shot up as he stood frozen to the spot.
“Stop by sometime?” Granny asked, eliciting a round of incoherent stammering from Caramel, and much the same reaction from Applejack and Big Mac. It was Twilight who pushed forward, and physically separated the two.
“No! No, Caramel. No, Granny! No... you’re... Granny. You’re unwell,” Twilight said, the firmness in her voice rising sharply and tinged with anger. “You need to come back to the house with us. Now. We need to find out what’s wrong and—”
“I don’t think anything’s wrong,” a voice sharply cut into the conversation. Twilight, Applejack, Granny, Big Mac, and Caramel all looked up to the roof of the nearby barn. There, the strange mare could be seen, grinning down at all of them. On her high perch, her thin frame and large wings made her seem almost like a statue—an artist’s elongated representation of a pony, designed to emphasize lightness and motion. It was an emphasis that became clear when she lept from the roof-top and—steering with her wings—landed beside the little group.
“In fact,” she continued, as she folded her wings. “I think she looks more right than she has in a long time. So how about we trust her judgement that she knows what’s best for her?”
“What are you doing here?” Twilight demanded, now with naked hostility in her voice.
“I said I’d be back, didn’t I?” she asked, unmoved by Twilight’s anger. “My spell gives me a few hours here—I’ve got a good twenty, thirty minutes left.” She slid her saddlebags off her barrel, and undid the clasp with a sharp twist. They fell to the ground, obviously empty, and a moment later, the injector syringe landed in the ground beside them, sticking into the dirt point-first like a dart. “As promised.”
“Stuff your gifts! Tell us what you did to Granny. No more lies. There is no plague! Why are you really here!? Tell me!” Twilight shouted, and her horn came alight, but her alter-ego only laughed. Like it was all some big joke.
“Well, if that’s what you want. We’ve got some time to chat.” She turned to Applejack, still with that grin on her face. “Hey, did you get that cider I asked for?”
“Uh...” Applejack stammered, looking back towards the distant apple farm. “It’s back at the house...”
“That’s fine,” the strange mare agreed. Her horn began to glow, and in a flash of light, she, Twilight, and Applejack all vanished.
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youth serum? Has future twi snapped fromseeing her friends and family die and came back to make everyone immortal/younger with some twisted logic? Is the mysterious plague she mentioned in reality just old age?
It be death. Isn't it? I realised this shit as soon as she said it only affects the elderly and the coming chapters have only affirmed my conclusion. Twilight has been driven mad by death and feels the need to fix it.
5852049 Mad? Seems more like sane to me.
Letting loved ones die when you can save them is what sounds like madness to me.
Oh, yep, old age. Knew some kind of magical disease was too low on the totem pole for your work.
Thrilling so far! I loved the time-loopy aspect of this from the first chapter:
Little typos in Chapter 2:
Should be "they"
[Finished reading edit]
The way you write the character's being so logical, persuasive and compelling whilst staying in character is just fantastic. I love this, your A Change in Three Parts and Intern for that! Hope to see more of your brilliantly tense character interactions
I know TD criticized the passivity of Twilight and Applejack, but in the end, they and likely everypony around them (royal sisters included) were powerless when future!Twilight was around. As she suggested, they're much more assertive in the coming decade. After all, that forced powerlessness passivity is what leads young Twilight to her anger – she hates things she can't control.
Also, GapJaxie – have you played Bastion? There is a strange and spoilery (click only if your okay with spoiling the game for yourself) but wonderful coincidence between that game's amazing storyline and your amazing story. In fact, your story give's some insight, particularly the following line, into spoilery Bastion speculation:
“Well, I can’t call you ‘Twilight,’” the strange mare said. “It feels weird. That’s my name.”
I'm wondering if you did that in reference or something...
Yep, old age. Aging is a genetic disease that people accept just because they are so used to it. Totally called it.
6532909
The proper term is scenesense, and it's a condition where some of your cells will not commit suicide and instead tske up useless space, thus becoming harmful and causing the gradual destruction of vital organs and systems until the body totally crashes.
Theoretically, deleting scenesense could lead to never dying by the causes of old age.
It cannot, however, reverse the effects of aging completely, if at all depending on their age and the amount of damage done.
Nooooope, Alter-Twi is using some dark magic here, I just know it.
Dark magic in science terms, which is arguably worse.
This is one of the most uplifting stories I have read in a while. I am getting whiplash. I really hope future Twi doesn’t turn out to be evil or something.
9048830
Perhaps you simply are assuming too narrow a scope for what it is doing without "black magic". Perhaps you simply know more about medicine than the writer (perhaps...). This is hardly written to be an intricate exploration of the medical science of aging. Seems to be focusing on the philosophical implications.