For Want of a Horseshoe Nail

by Sixes_And_Sevens

Exploration

A few minutes later, Bloom found herself strapped to a large chair. The Doctor gently lowered a colander over her head. "Uh, are ya sure this is necessary?"

"Oh, yes. Can't let you leave out even a tiny detail. Far easier to just read your thoughts."

"An' it's safe?"

The Doctor hesitated. "...Pretty safe. Only one person's ever actually died in it, and that was only because of outside causes."

Apple Bloom made to rise, but Maple held up a hoof. "You'll be fine. Promise," she said "I can hold your hoof, if you like."

Bloom's face contorted into a deep scowl. "Thanks all th' same, but Ah'll be fine," she replied, shoving herself back into the device.

Maple shrugged. "Suit yourself," she replied, hopping up to sit on a lab bench.

Bloom's scowl lessened as the colander settled over her mane like a beautician's chair. Thunderlane settled himself in front of a crystal sphere and peered into it. "Ready?" he asked, glancing at Bloom.

She took in a long breath and puffed out her cheeks as she exhaled. "Ready," she replied eventually.

Zecora pulled a large red lever on the side of the device. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, fireworks exploded behind Bloom's eyes and everything went dark.

***

Apple Bloom embraced her best friends as they fell, laughing and merry, into a joyous group hug. "Thank you," Rumble whispered, tears in his eyes.

"Come on, dude, did you really think we were going to hate you?" Scootaloo grinned.

"Well… I…"

"What I can't believe is that you didn't tell us earlier," Sweetie commented. "I mean, Crusaders forever! We were never just gonna abandon you!"

Apple Bloom patted the colt on the shoulder. "Congrats on gettin' yer mark, by th' bye."

"And congrats on finally coming out," Button grinned, softly punching Rumble on his other shoulder.

Dinky gave a slight, lopsided smile, which was quite a lot, coming from her…

Snow fell softly on the ground, dusting the trees and burying the earth.

...Romana...

...Timbucktoo…

...the TARDIS…

Applejack sighed and let her head fall gently against the side of the apple cart. Thunderlane just stared, mouth agape. Summer was torn between laughter and concern. Sweetie chuckled nervously from the top of the pine tree. "Um," she said. "I bet you're wondering what we're all doing up here…"

The elder ponies remained silent. Finally, Thunderlane sighed. "I'll bite. What was it today?"

"...Cutie Mark Crusader Maenads," Rumble replied, eyes downcast. "We needed pinecones for the staffs."

Applejack frowned. "May— what now?"

"Maenads were a group of warrior maidens from the ancient Minotaur kingdoms," Summer replied absently. "Picture Pinkie Pie as a battle-hungry lunatic, and you'll have a rough idea." Then, she frowned. "Scootaloo. Did you come up with this idea?"

"No!" the pegasus protested.

"It was me," Dinky said, raising a hoof. "Mom gave me some history books to look through. I think a few of them were yours."

Summer brightened slightly. "Oh, how nice!"

A flat look from the other two caused her to wilt slightly. Applejack sighed. "Alright. Mac'll be back in a few with th' ladder. Meantime, let's talk 'bout what y'all did t' Rarity's cat…"

The Crusaders collectively winced.

...Cutie Mark Crusader ballet dancers…

… game designers…

… firefighters…

… hoofball players…

… Yay! …

"What?" Scootaloo exploded. "You tried to stop Rainbow Dash from doing the most awesome stunt in the history of ever?"

The pale pink mare looked uncomfortably at Twilight, who merely shrugged in the universal gesture for "sorry, nothing I can do."

The pint-sized pegasus practically blew steam out of her nose. Rumble and Apple Bloom exchanged a knowing glance. Then, in unison, they both leapt on the orange filly just as she was about to jump at Starlight's throat.

"Keep goin'," Bloom encouraged as Scootaloo struggled to get free. "What happened next?"

"Well," Starlight said slowly. "Um. I kept going. I ran into a world ruled by Discord, Tirek, a couple of guys named Flim and Flam…"

Bloom stopped in the middle of putting Scootaloo into a headlock. "Flim. An' Flam?" she echoed hollowly.

Quickly, Button and Dinky leapt on top of her before she could do anything she'd regret. Starlight just watched in stunned silence. Quietly, Sweetie Belle sidled up to her. "So, um, I heard you knew a spell for stealing cutie marks," she said casually.

"Okay, Twilight Time is over for today!" Twilight said quickly, ushering Starlight out of the room.

..."Good luck at yer first day o' school!"...

..."Wake up, Bloomers! Granny made apple pancakes!"...

..."Eeyup!"...

Green. Lots of deep, wet green. Apple Bloom stared up, entranced at the sea of green in the orange. She kicked her hooves in the air futilely as she tried to grab them. "Didja miss me, Bloomers?" Orange asked. "Ah missed you."

Apple Bloom stopped. Orange sounded sad. Maybe she had lost her teddy bear? Maybe. Orange opened her mouth again. "Ah was stupid. Ya can't run 'way from yer problems like that. Granny needed me. Mac needed me. You needed me. An' Ah left. Stupid."

Apple Bloom scrunched up her face. What did Mama and Papa and Greeny and Red call Orange? "Aba," she said. "Abbak."

The green got bigger. "Abba, Abba, Abbajack!" Apple Bloom said triumphantly. "Abbajack Abbajack Abbajack!"

Orange hooves wrapped around the little filly, picked her up and hugged her tightly. "Thank ya," Orange— no, Apple— said roughly.

..."Peek-a-boo… Peek-a-boo…"...

..."Such a big filly!"...

..."Congratulations, Buttercup! It's a filly!"...

***

Apple Bloom snapped back to consciousness, gagging. "That's somethin' nopony oughta have t' see," she groaned, rubbing her head. "That there is how folks get complexed."

She glanced up at Thunderlane, who was peering into the crystal ball. "See anything useful?"

"...Maybe. What did Starlight Glimmer try to do in your world?"

Apple Bloom frowned. "Uh, well, there was th' whole 'force ev'rypony t' be equal' thing," she said slowly. "But I'm guessin' ya mean th' 'time travel revenge' part."

"Yes. That," Thunderlane agreed.

"Time travel revenge?" the Doctor asked, eyebrows raising. "So that's why she keeps trying to get her hooves on the TARDIS…"

"So where did she go?" Lyra asked, furrowing her brow.

"Well, see, back home, the elements belonged to a totally different group of ponies," Bloom began. "Mah sister, fer one. Anyhow, they all got their cutie marks on th' same day, when Rainbow Dash did a Sonic Rainboom."

Maple frowned. "A what, now?"

"Broke th' sound barrier. Big loud noise, lots o' pretty colors," Bloom summarized. "Anyhow, Starlight tried t' go back, keep it from happenin' sos th' elements wouldn't arrive t' stop her li'l town. But she didn't do it! Twilight stopped her!"

The Doctor frowned. "Well. The power of bad literature, I suppose—"

"No! Twilight Sparkle, th' Element o' Magic an' Princess of Friendship!"

The Doctor paused. "Twilight… Sparkle?" He struggled to stifle a snicker, but to no avail.

Lyra frowned. "Huh. I think I actually know that name…" Her eyes widened. "Oh, right! We were at school together! She was kinda an introvert. I think she moved to Trottingham to be a librarian."

Bloom paused. When she spoke again, her voice was slightly strained. "D'ya… d'ya remember her cutie mark?"

"Oh yeah," Lyra said. "Open book, right Spike?"

"Uh-huh. Makes sense. She was always reading."

Bloom looked at Maud. "What's Pinkie's cutie mark?"

Maud faltered for a moment. "It... a lump of basalt. Why do you ask?"

"Fluttershy?"

Maple looked confused. "A red cross, I think."

Bloom looked around in horror. "An' none of y'all ever heard of a sonic rainboom… She musta done it! Starlight Glimmer stopped Dash!"