Canterlot Adventures

by The Blue EM2

A Sister's Embrace

“Ah got ya Sugarcube!”

“Pull me up!”

“Ah’m trying’, but the portal-my strength-Ah can’t lift ya!”

“Know that...Ah don’t regret a thing!”

“Sugarcube! SUGARCUBE!”

Applejack awoke with a start, her body coated in sweat. She looked around her room to see sunlight flowing into the room from her window, illuminating the green environment that was her bedroom. Her alarm clock was blaring, telling her the current time.

05:00. It was therefore a school day. That was the worst thing, ultimately.

Applejack pulled herself out of bed and walked over to the mirror, switching the light on as she did so. She looked a mess, as you’d expect of a person who had just woken up. Her hair was messy and all over the place, her vision was bleary, her face and cheeks were watery, and her eyes were red. She had cried herself to sleep the previous night. And the night before that. And the night before that one, as well.

The cause of her sadness and pain was clear to anyone. Apple Bloom was dead, and AJ missed her very much.

The last few months had been happy for her. First having reunited with her friends, they had both reformed Sunset Shimmer and defeated the Sirens, which itself was a benefit as it meant that, in most student’s eyes, Sunset had redeemed herself. That Christmas had even seen the Crusaders do something nice for them, in the form of a special meal to say ‘thank you’. That had been, safe to say, the best Christmas they’d ever had at Sweet Apple Acres.

Naturally, those three had got up to plenty of ‘Crusading’, or what looked like playing to anybody else. What had always amazed her was the large and vivid imaginations those three had, effortlessly able to transform a basement into a lost temple, or an artificial cave (of which there was one in Canterlot Park) into an Egyptian tomb. It seemed a skill of kids their age, something Applejack herself had lost as she aged and took on more responsibility alongside her brother. Luckily, her parents were there to help her cover the load, a luxury her pony counterpart lacked, according to Twilight. Though it was unclear whether they were missing or dead, it might as well have been the latter.

But this spring had thrown her world into chaos. Everything she had believed as certain, as true, had come crashing down.

First had been the revelation that the Apple Bloom she had been with for those few months was not her sister, but an imposter called ‘Tom’, who simply looked like her. This was shocking enough, but the revelation that her world was a TV show where Tom was from caused her to question her very existence.

But it only got worse from there. The real Apple Bloom had behaved unlike herself, being rude and bossy. It saddened Applejack that this had happened, but she had treated the other Apple Bloom horribly, even when she had saved her life. When Midnight Sparkle had attacked, the other Bloom had knocked her out of the way, but had been sucked into the portal.

And now she was gone, forever. Applejack never even got a chance to say sorry. It saddened her deeply that she had failed so badly as a sister. Never again would she hear Apple Bloom and her friends charging around the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, or have a chance to ask her about her day at school, or even try to out-farm her in Farming Simulator.

It hurt so much.

Applejack got dressed, and then went downstairs, sitting at the breakfast table. Nobody spoke. There was nothing worth discussing anymore, as their eyes scanned over to the empty chair. Apple Bloom had always had the biggest appetite of them all, but now nobody had much strength to eat.

The funeral was in a few days, but as a body had never been found, they had made the decision to bury her most treasured possessions in the casket instead. It was the worst thing possible for the family. No child should ever have to lose a sibling, nor should a parent ever have to lose a son or daughter. But that was the reality of the situation, and Applejack knew it was her fault, and her fault alone.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been badly affected, as far as she could tell. Both of them had slipped into depression over losing their best friend. Pip was suffering especially badly, as he had sheltered her for a few days before she vanished. AJ’s own friends were prepared to stand by her side, but there was no denying that such a loss cut through the community of Canterlot, not least as it was somebody who was taken as their life was just beginning.

Grand Pear sighed as he stood up. “I’d better get the truck out,” he said, stepping out of the door.

A few minutes later, Applejack and Big Mac stepped out into the courtyard. This was always the hardest part of the day for AJ. It was here, when she was a little under two years old, she’d learned she was going to have a little sister. And now that sister was gone.

As she went to get into the truck, she suddenly heard a voice in the distance.

“Applejack!”

She dismissed it. She’d been hearing voices for a few days now.

“Applejack!”

There it was again. Applejack looked down the lane, and saw a sight that made her gasp in amazement.

There, running towards her from the direction of the drive, was a girl with lemon skin and red hair, wearing a green shirt, blue jeans, orange boots and a red bow in her hair.

It was Apple Bloom.

Applejack’s heart leapt for joy. “Sugarcube!” she cried, and she ran toward her little sister.

As I ran closer, I could see the tears streaming down Applejack’s face. She was clearly overjoyed to see me again. To my amazement, the other members of the family turned out to see what was going on, and were all equally stunned to see what was happening.

Applejack wrapped her arms around me, as we embraced. “Sugarcube, yer alive!” she exclaimed.

I smiled in her warm embrace. “Well, Ah couldn’t leave ya, could Ah?” I replied.

She stopped briefly. “Are ya Tom?” she asked, confused.

“No,” I replied. “Tom don’t exist no more. Ah’m Apple Bloom.”

Applejack laughed. “That’s a relief ta here.” Her face then grew stern. “But don’t go scarin’ me like that again, you hear me?”

I nodded. “Ah got it, sis.”

Bright Mac had reached the scene, and took me in his arms. “We shall turn this day of mourning into one of celebration. ‘For this child of mine was dead and is alive again; she was lost and is found.’ Ah’ll get to work on party plannin’ right away!”

“Ah think you’ve forgotten somethin’,” Big Mac interrupted.

“Yes?” asked Pear Butter.

“We need to get off ta school!”

I panicked. “Do ya still have mah books and rucksack?”

Granny Smith nodded. “We kept those things to act as a memorial to ya. There in yer room.”

“Thanks Granny!” I sprinted past, toward the house. I had never been so glad to step through that great wooden door, through the kitchen where we’d made that dinner, up the stairs and into my room.

Everything was exactly as I’d left it. I went over to the bed and grabbed the bag, loading today’s books and folders into it. I then turned around, only to see a note lying on the table.

It read as follows;

Hi Apple Bloom,

Glad to see you decided to go back to Canterlot. I hope you enjoy your life here, just as much as I’ll try to enjoy mine.

Sorry about the lack of heritage railways here! I did make sure to add some UK routes to Train Simulator though, namely Woodhead and NYMR.

Have a good time, and make sure to make your friends happy.

Your’s sincerely,

Tom Haddington.

I headed outside and onto the porch, sprinting down to the truck. I hopped in the rear seat and we set off for Canterlot High. We had new adventures, but I certainly had some explaining to do.

Author's Note:

Well, it begins.

I had no idea that this setting would become so popular, so I've opened it up to being a collab. If this interests you, PM me for further details. We already have 2 stories underway, with a third to be added soon.

Happy thanksgivin', y'all!

Comments

[Sunny Starscout]

Hot stuff

[The Blue EM2]

9308070
Well, it is spring!

You also get first comment. Have some Zap Apple Jam!

[everydaygamer]

I really liked the original story but I gotta say it's a little messed up that noone cares that the original Applebloom is gone forever.

[Bigpokemonfan]

Hey, Blue! I was hoping that you mention chapter 1 contains sadness, plus the fact I was tearing up for reading this.

Add something at the beginning, one that's similar like 'This chapter contains sadness'.

[The Blue EM2]

9308341
The whole point is that Tom is effectively Apple Bloom (never did get to the bottom of whether it's one word or two...

[The Blue EM2]

9308358
I didn't intend to make people cry. Sorry.

[everydaygamer]

9308622
Yeah, but he's not, the original Apple Bloom still exists and nobody seems bothered by the fact that she's effectively been replaced in fact they seem happy to have a new Apple Bloom because it turns out the old Apple Bloom wasn't what they wanted in an Apple Bloom.

Not criticizing the story just pointing out that it's kind of messed up.

[The Blue EM2]

9308686
I suppose when looked at that way, you have a point. But as you'll recall from An Apple a Day, Apple Bloom chose to go back to our world of her own free will. She wasn't forced to. Furthermore, the point I was trying to make was that by having been stuck in each other's bodies for so long, they were no longer truly who they had been.

[Yosh-E-O]

I just realized that I wasn't following you. :( Fixed that.

I definitely want to try and follow the story. I may not be able to add to the universe but I really like how you've created a most epic collab group to build upon an alternate universe. It's impressive and loads of fun.

[The Blue EM2]

9314461
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it. It's most certainly great when you come commenting.

[The Blue EM2]

9516823
This is a fun one.

[kwr2k13]

9516841
I was thinking of doing a side story from AJ's pov. would that be okay, since some of the CMC's classmates have their character's reacting to Apple Bloom's reappearance at school.

[Undyne Devotion]

Much stronger start here.

Excellent job.

[The Blue EM2]

9850823
Thanks.