The Apple Falls Far from the Tree

by David Silver

2 - CMC Regroup!

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo returned to find Applejack hugging Apple Bloom. They shared a glance before sitting down patiently. The embrace did not last too much longer. Applejack ran her hoof through Apple Bloom's hair, "Alright, everything's gonna be alright. Now, what happened?"

Apple Bloom glanced around, looking uncertain, "Well... Ah..."

Applejack let out a slow breath, "Just this once, free pass. Tell me true, Apple Bloom. Ah promise to not be angry."

The rest of the CMC advanced together, joining Apple Bloom. Apple looked happy for the company, or at least relieved. She nodded hesitantly, "Well, OK... Y'see, we kinda borrowed a book..."

Applejack raised a brow high, "What kinda book are we talkin'?"

Apple Bloom reached into her saddlebag and drew out Twilight's book. As it entered sight, Applejack gasped loudly, "Ya didn't!"

Apple Bloom cringed, dropping the book to the ground, "Ya promised!"

Sweetie Belle bobbed her head, "You promised to not be angry."

Scootaloo joined in nodding, "I definitely heard that."

Applejack lowered her hat over her eyes a moment before she pointed at the book, "Twilight's been madder than a beehive in a clothes dryer about this thing. What were ya doing with it, besides setting fires?"

Scootaloo rose up to her hooves and spoke words that were familiar to Applejack. A floating sphere of almost invisible force began to circle her. Applejack's eyes widened, "Ya... learned that on yer own? Land's sake girl! On one hoof ah should be fuming, on tha other, that's just amazin'!"

Emboldened by Scootaloo's confession, Apple Bloom pulled out a few potions, "Ah made these mahself. Watch." She worked off the cork of one in her teeth and spit it aside before chugging down its contents. Applejack watched on curiously as Apple Bloom hopped up to her hooves and dashed off at an incredible rate, even though she looked like she was just walking. She did a wide circle around the group before coming back to where she started.

All eyes settled on Sweetie Belle. "What?" she asked, "Oh! Uh..." She rose up on her hind legs and spread out her forehooves. Sweet words began to emerge from her as she sang, and the world responded with several balls of light that orbited her a moment before one darted over the head of each of the others.

Applejack shook her head, "Ya... did good, in a kinda bad way..." She took the time to pat the head of each of the three, "Ah'm right proud ya came so far fer how little time ya had, but it's never right to steal from somepony. Twilight's plum beside herself. That book is a lot of her work and I didn't raise no thieves." She gave Apple Bloom a hard look.

Apple Bloom nodded slowly, "Yer right... We shoulda asked, but she woulda said no!"

Applejack crossed her forelegs, "And that makes it right?"

The CMC shook their head in unison. "No," they all said, looking downcast.

Scootaloo suddenly perked up, "Cutie mark check!"

The fillies quickly peeked at their own rumps, which were as blank as the day had began.

Applejack snorted softly, "Yer talent isn't book stealing, thank goodness. C'mon. Ah'll try to smooth things over with Twi if y'all promise not to do it again."

That deal seemed to agree with them, and soon the four were walking towards the town of Ponyville. Sweetie moved closer to Applejack as she pointed out, "Since we're being honest... we kinda borrowed your book first."

Applejack took a slow breath, visibly restraining the first urge to berate. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle, for being honest. Please leave my book alone in tha future. It wasn't easy ta write and I'm a mite protective of it."

Scootaloo raised a hoof, "What if I ask real nicely? We're sisters now! Sorta... We're the only two ponies learning our kind of magic."

Applejack raised a brow at Scootaloo, "Whattaya mean by that?"

Apple Bloom pointed at Scootaloo, "She took after ya, big sis. She's learning how to be a magus! Ahm an alchemist, like Twilight was starting to show me, and Sweetie's a singer, with magic!"

Applejack hesitated, slowing to a stop. "Scootaloo."

Scootaloo tilted her head at Applejack, settling on her haunches as she asked, "What?"

Applejack took a slow breath, "Tha art ah learned is mainly for fightin'. Ah've learned how to use it for some peaceful things, sure, but that's not what it was made for. Do ya want to fight?"

Scootaloo squirmed a little, "Not... really? But I can use it for good stuff, like you! Nothing bad about protecting yourself, or other ponies!" She flashed a brilliant white smile, "And I'm a pegasus with magic! How cool is that?!"

Applejack smiled thinly, "Yeah... That was a good feeling. Take that, snooty unicorns."

Sweetie pouted. Applejack immediately looked guilty, "No offense or nuthin', Sweetie. Yer a darling. Ah meant other, snootier, unicorns." The pout continued. Applejack threw her hat on the ground in frustration, "Ahm sorry! That was a mean thing to say."

Sweetie's pout turned into a dazzling smile, "You're excused."

Applejack let out a slow breath as she regained her hat, "Alrighty, so, Sweetie Belle. You sing magic? That's kinda lahk how Pinkie was doing it, back in Everglow."

Sweetie blinked and tilted her head. "I have something in common with Pinkie Pie!?" she squeaked out.

Applejack chuckled, "Yep. That magic ah feel better about. It seems a lot... nicer. Like you, Sweetie."

Sweetie blushed softly at the praise, tail swishing back and forth, "Aw, thanks AJ!"

Apple Bloom raised a hoof, "What about mah magic?!"

Applejack shook her head, "Can't say ah ever saw quite the like, but it reminds me something awful of Zecora. What else kin ya do?"

Apple Bloom shrunk, "Uh, well..."

Applejack frowned a little, "Offer's still good, out with it."

The other CMC looked to Apple Bloom but said nothing. Apple Bloom squirmed a moment before she confessed, "Ah can make explosions real good... Ah kinda started that fire." She hung her head low and shamefully.

Applejack sucked in breath through her teeth, "Well... ya kinda punished yerself there, kiddo. Ah know how much y'all loved that clubhouse."

All three sagged in place at the reminder that their beloved clubhouse was destroyed. Applejack felt her heart wrench at the sight of them, "Look, we'll get this straightened with Twilight, then we'll see about maybe making a new clubhouse."

With renewed spirits, they resumed their trek through town, arriving at the towering home of Twilight Sparkle, looming as it was over the rest of the city. "Still not used ta that," said Applejack as she entered with the others following behind. "Twi? Ya in here?"

Soft Mane was there, reading a book in the entry foyer. She looked up at Applejack and smiled, then noticed the three fillies behind her and it became a frown. "You're not here to make another mess, are you?"

"Nope." "Nuh-uh." "Promise!" were the replies of the three, wearing innocent smiles.

Applejack chuckled nervously, "Hey there. Don't suppose ya know where Twilight is?"

Soft Mane shook her head, "Can't say for sure, but I heard her steps upstairs. Third or fourth floor. She sounded like she was researching something."

Applejack tipped her hat at Soft Mane, "Thanks kindly!" And off they went, proceeding up the stairs. As they scaled them, they noticed a cordoned off pattern on the floor. With their enhanced learning of things magic, it seemed obvious that it was a spell of some kind. A small sign was posted in front of the velvet rope. Even Applejack felt curious, and soon all four had diverted to peek at the sign.

'Official monument. Do not touch. In memory of Equestria's new age, and what might have been its last. -- Twilight Sparkle,' it read.

Sweetie tilted her head, then ducked easily under the rope, looking around. The other two joined her shortly, inspecting the odd symbol. "Ah don't get it," said Apple Bloom, "What's so special about it?!"

Applejack clenched her teeth, "Alright, y'all, get offa that thing before it... does... something."

Sweetie backed up and drove a splinter, that had gotten lodged in the wall of her hoof when she had haphazardly slid down the wooden steps to safety, inwards. After all the walking it finally penetrated and pricked the sensitive flesh beyond. She gave a sudden yelp of pain, collapsing on the spot. The drop of blood was enough to rouse the portal. Apple Bloom was standing far too close to the center, and was swallowed up with barely a blink. The portal swirled and eddied dangerously. The blood had been enough, but not sufficient to keep it steady for long. Scootaloo rushed after Apple Bloom without much forethought, hoof extended as if she could catch the vanished Apple. She too vanished.

Applejack stomped her hooves and looked around in a frantic motion. She could hear Twilight coming down the steps, but the portal was already closing. Sweetie Belle suddenly lifted from the ground, sucked in with a loud squeal. The portal began to wobble and shake, looking like it was about to collapse. Seeing no other possibility, and fearing how long it may take Twilight to figure it out, Applejack charged in, knocking aside one of the posts and dragging it along with her as they all tumbled into Everglow.

They arrived abruptly on sandy ground that did little to cushion the fall as they had appeared several feet up, with Applejack landing on the fillies with the velvet rope and posts coming behind her.

Apple Bloom, at the bottom of the heap, gave a soft, "Ow..."

Applejack hoisted herself up and off, and soon they were seated in a rough circle. All four heads craned around, taking in the desert they were in. The heat was intense, easily penetrating their fur and making them uncomfortable.

Applejack buried her face in a hoof, "Ah don't even have mah book!"

Apple Bloom nudged Twilight's book forward, "We got a better one."

Applejack sighed softly, "That's... not better. That means Twilight will be working from scratch while trying t'find us." She rose up and looked around again, seeing little but scrub plants and dunes. She stomped a hoof in the sand. "OK... keep it together girl..." she said to herself, mumbling, "First step, find a town. Then ah guard the girls, and then Twilight finds us."

Sweetie Belle pointed off into the distance, "I think I see something that way!" The CMC were soon on their hooves and moving as one towards the top of a dune. Applejack quickly grabbed the abandoned book and tucked it away before rushing after them.

"Y'all can't just... do that. No running away!" said an irate Applejack, "If this here world is the one ah think it is, it's mighty dangerous! As the responsible adult, ya stay by me at all times, got it?"

A new male voice spoke, "Good advice. A shame you didn't hear it earlier." Sand parted in several mounds as the group became aware it was surrounded by cloaked individuals. Their faces were visible and looked a bit odd, at least where their bandannas didn't conceal their mouths. They were furry, but not pony furred. It was odd to place. Some of them held long curved blades, and two of them had crossbows. They clearly had fingers rather than hooves, covered in gloves. Lashing against their cloaks were long, thin, and furry tails. "Put your hooves in the air. We're taking your gold. Make it pleasant and we'll leave your water behind. Don't, and we'll let the desert claim you."

Author's Note:

Welcome to Everglow! The typos grow extra large in the elemental energies.

Comments

[Mad Maudlin]

We're talking your gold

Taking

[David Silver]

5852486 Oops! Fixed.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Twilight only has herself to blame. If you're going to make a museum display of the portal circle, fine, but don't make it actually functional. Especially not in a town with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Major miscalculation there, Purplesmart.

Well, at least retrieving them will be relatively easy... assuming they survive. Still, Twilight's going to be furious with the Crusaders when they get back.

Also, given how cutie marks work in Everglow, I'm not sure if the Crusaders will even be able to earn theirs while they're there. That should be interesting to see.

[David Silver]

5852548 Twilight, always thinking things through to the end! Wait...

Applejack and company have some serious disadvantages, namely not having Spike around to send letters from, or Twilight around with her magic mastery. They won't be easy to find by their Equestrian allies, and they even still have Twilight's spellbook, which is hardly a good thing for Twilight's efforts. They are likely on their own for a while. What could go wrong?!

[BronyPonyMan]

seriously, i'd have tanned their hides long before they went and did something this stupid! what kind of responsible adult doesn't make absolutely sure they know not to fucking touch something!?!

[David Silver]

5852883 And people mocked Applejack when she put two safety helmets on Apple Bloom.

The CMC done messed it up, but it was Twilight that left it there for them to mess up. You can't assign all the blame to them.

[BronyPonyMan]

5852888 that's like saying that people who touch and ruin museum exhibits aren't entirely at fault because the museum people left them out with only ropes to keep people away.

[David Silver]

5852898 Except they didn't ruin the exhibit, Applejack did. The exhibit ruined them. It's more like someone wanted a museum exhibit of a rifle and went ahead and made it fully loaded, for authenticity. Unless that thing is locked in glass or similar, that guy shares some of the blame if it goes off and hurts someone, whether or not they were standing in the wrong place at the time. A loaded gun is a bad exhibit. A finished arcane rune is a bad exhibit.

[harts fire]

ok a vary interested Harts Fire here.

[David Silver]

5853333 I'll try to keep it interesting!

[Alzrius]

Applejack ran her hoof through Apple Bloom's hair, "Alright, everything's gonna be alright. Now, what happened?"

Shouldn't that be "through Apple Bloom's mane"?

Apple Bloom reached into her saddlebag and drew out Twilight's book.

Wait, didn't they return that before the first chapter ended? I thought that was a salient point.

"Nope." "Nuh-uh" "Promise!" were the replies of the three, wearing innocent smiles.

There needs to be punctuation after "nuh-uh."

Scootaloo suddenly perked up, "Cutie Mark check!"

Don't capitalize "mark" there.

[David Silver]

5854018 Fixed! Thankee. They returned Applejack's book and went for Twilight's.

[Alzrius]

5854051 So this took a very unexpected turn, with the group returning to Everglow! I'm rather shocked that I didn't see this coming, as it not only solves a lot of problems with forcing the Crusaders to keep practicing their new talents - and, for that matter, keeping the action firmly on Applejack and the fillies - but also speaks to a much more fundamental point of the story: that it's a Ponyfinder, and thus Everglow, crossover! How that particular detail escaped me, I'm not at all sure.

Given that, this seems to be a case of deja vu all over again, as Applejack and co. have immediately managed to get themselves in trouble upon arriving. Just so long as things don't go down exactly the same path as they did before (have a kindly local help out and then take them to a friendly town for a training montage), things should be very interesting to watch unfold. They seem to be quite far from any of their old haunts, so it'll be amusing to see them have to figure Everglow out almost totally from scratch.

Of course, I doubt Twilight and the others will let this stand, but as you noted earlier, there's no way to get a message to Applejack and the others, so there's almost certainly not going to be any help coming for quite some time, barring truly bizarre coincidences (which would feel somewhat trite, at least at first). That said, it's going to be quite nice to see more of the feline cultures and inhabitants of Everglow, as I've long found them to be much more interesting than many of the native tribes that have been given a place of prominence up until now. Purrsians and sun cats and other patriarchal cultures ahead!

Unlike Equestria, Everglow is a world meant for adventuring, so there's doubtlessly quite a bit of good stuff in store!

[albedoequals1]

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh

You just blew my mind. This is going to be epic! Thumbs up, mustaches, and all that.

A couple typos (some are disputable):

Twilight's been madder than ah beehive in ah clothes dryer about this thing.

Since "ah" is how you write "I" for AJ, this should probably just be "a"

Thank you, Sweetie Belle, for being honest. Please leave my book alone in tha future.

Your normal accent for AJ would have those words be ya, bein' and mah. Unless, of course, you are deliberately subduing AJ's accent to convey her struggle with self-control.

Look, we'll get this straightened with Twilight, then we'll see about maybe making ah new club house.

"a" again

Applejack charged in, knocking aside one of the posts and dragging it along with her as they all tumbled into Everglow

extra space

[David Silver]

5854433 All fixed, thanks! Welcome to the story!

[Seeking Dusk]

5852562 Well, Sending Spike should be in the spell book, though it will be a long while before any of them are capable of casting it... maybe they can hire a wizard to do it for them? Still, Spike (and Celestia and presumably Twilight) can send messages across dimensions and Zecora can scry them. Have Spike send a note and read it over their shoulders as they write it.

Speaking of spell books, does AJ have her's with her?

5852902 I still wouldn't blame Twilight really. It did take blood to activate. Not something most ponies would have out in the open.

[David Silver]

5858559 Applejack does not, though she has Twilight's to use.

[Spiritus Arcane]

5859437
Been wondering about that. Do Magus and Arcanist share a spell list...or are all arcane book casters able to use each other's spellbooks(barring spellcraft checks, of course)?

[David Silver]

6147834 Magus and Arcanist do share many spells, and use the same 'writing'.

An alchemist shares many spells with both, and can learn from their books, but they can't read the mad scribblings of the alchemist.

A wizard can read/write from the pool of arcane words, provided the spell is on his list(shared completely with the arcanist, mostly with the magus).

[Vutava]

"Ya... learned that on yer own? Lands sake girl!

Land's

"Ahm sorry! That was a mean thing to say."

Ah'm

Ah know how much y'all loved that club house."

All three sagged in place at the reminder that their beloved club house was destroyed. Applejack felt her heart wrench at the sight of them, "Look, we'll get this straightened with Twilight, then we'll see about maybe making a new club house."

clubhouse