What Your Heart Desires

by DbzOrDie

Awakening Desires

Authors Note: This fic will ignore the Season 3 finale and will continue to do so for its entire duration.

---

The day was long and full for Rarity. Get up at six, make some breakfast, leave for the Carousel
Boutique to work on her dresses, and get back home around dinnertime.

As Rarity was shaking the drowsiness from her head, she turned to the lump on the other side of the bed. “Fluttershy, darling, are you awake? You hadn’t come home yesterday and you had me worried… Fluttershy?”

Rarity slid back the sheets to expose Fluttershy’s side of the bed, unslept in and still tidy. Rarity frowned upon this discovery. It was known that Fluttershy sometimes stayed with sick animals that she couldn’t bring home with her, but usually she’d let Rarity know she was not coming home that night.

Someone had to take care of her animals when Rarity left for work, however. Rarity walked to Angel’s basket and gave it a small shove. The white bunny, clearly annoyed at being woken up so early, gave her a glare.

“Angel, I’m counting on you to keep the animals fed. Fluttershy didn’t come home last night and I have to go to work. Can you handle that?”

Angel made some angry gestures before crawling back in his basket. Rarity knew that it was Angel’s way of saying ‘forget it.’

Rarity, however, had ways to make Angel behave. “Angel, do you know what I do for a living?”
A paw pointed out from the basket towards the dresses that hung in the closet.

“Exactly, and I can make clothes in any size. I could even make them so small that they could fit a bunny. You don’t want me to come home with a bunny-sized dress, do you?”

That definitely got Angel’s attention. Angel stood up from his basket and gave Rarity a solid salute.

Satisfied that her wife’s animals were taken care of, Rarity went downstairs to have breakfast.

---

Applejack awoke the next morning feeling exhausted, despite sleeping for twenty hours. As soon as she got to her hooves, she noticed that she felt heavier somehow. She also had a strange urge to start flexing her back muscles. As AJ looked outside to see where the sun stood, only then did she realize exactly how long she slept.

"What in 'tarnation? Why didn't Big Mac or Granny wake me?" she muttered to herself. Applejack quickly made her way outside to continue her apple bucking from the previous day only to find the trees surprisingly empty.

"That big lug, his sister falls asleep and he thinks he needs to do all my work himself. He has a heart big ‘nough for that huge body," she said with a smile.

Realizing that her entire day just cleared up, she made her way back inside to freshen up a bit. Every step she made was accentuated by her extra weight. She went into the bathroom, past the mirror, and towards the shower. Something didn't sit quite right, though. When she caught a glance at herself in the mirror, she noticed she looked a bit bigger... wider perhaps. Determined to get a better look on how sleeping somehow made her pack on five pounds, she turned around to face the mirror.

---

"What a nice day for a walk," Twilight said to herself as she made her way across Ponyville. She had an appointment at Sweet Apple Acres, however, so she didn't have time to dilly-dally.

Twilight made her way through the East orchard - the one with the unripe apples - and moved towards the North fields where Applejack was supposed to be working. Except she wasn't; all the trees were bucked, but there was no Applejack in sight.

As Twilight was nearing the farm, she heard a shout from inside. Quickly running in, she made her way to the bathroom to find it locked.

"Applejack, are you ok?" she asked, not wanting to disturb her privacy.

"I-I’m fine, there's no reason to come in. I'm just dandy," came the nervous response from inside.

Twilight could tell AJ was lying and knew that postponing problems only created more problems.
"Applejack, you know that you sound as unconvincing as your face looks when you’re lying. Just let me in before whatever’s troubling you gets worse."

Although her subconscious was yelling at her to never show interesting things to Twilight for some vague reason she didn't remember, she filed that thought away for now. "Promise you won't freak out?"

"AJ, I'll give you a medal if you find something that gets me to freak out after all these years in Ponyville. Now get out of there and sho-"

Applejack opened the door and Twilight fell silent. Of all the things Twilight had anticipated, she didn’t expect AJ to step out of the bathroom with a pair of wings bunched up against her side. The wings were orange, just like her coat but they looked thin, less healthy than most.

Applejack was getting nervous due to the silence. Surely Twilight was starting to freak out.

Applejack feared this would happen - now Twilight would run through Ponyville shouting about a winged, earth-pony freak.

After a few seconds of silence, Applejack got the courage to look Twilight in the face. There wasn't a trace of the shock she expected to find, there was only... enthusiasm.

"Applejack, you have wings?!! This is amazing. We'll have to do tests, experiments, maybe have a doctor look at you afterwards," Twilight rambled, getting more eager with every word.

Oh buck. Suddenly, AJ knew why keeping weird things away from Twilight was so important.
Once Twilight had a chance to learn something, there's nothing you could do to snap her out of it. Not without a lot of shouting at least.

After magically getting her wings concealed so they didn't attract unwanted attention, something Twilight had no time for, Applejack grudgingly made her way with Twilight to the library for an afternoon of testing.

“Goody.”

---

A short distance away, Fluttershy was slowly awaking. She had lain down at a tree when her dizziness became too much to handle. She usually slept in anyway, so combine that with the exhausting effects of the potion, you get an awakening near the brink of midday.

Fluttershy's thoughts were hazy as she shook her head. She knew she should usually be worried about her animal friends, but now she just felt as if the unexpected nap just took a load off of her mind.

As Fluttershy got to her hooves, she noticed something strange. She could feel the ground moving, which usually meant...

"Earthquake!!" she yelled as loud as she could and jumped for cover.

After a few minutes of cowering below her hooves, she realized that the sounds of things breaking and animals shrieking in despair never came. Looking around confirmed her suspicion, there wasn't an earthquake. But then, what made the ground move?

Fluttershy slowly got up and placed her hoof on the ground, immediately feeling the ground moving again. Upon closer inspection she noticed that it didn't feel like an earthquake. It felt more like a small consistent pulsing wave that made its way throughout the entire landscape.

Setting her other hooves fully on the ground, she felt the pulse even stronger, like the heartbeat of the ground under her, reaching out to her, letting her feel through it.

As the shock of this discovery wore down, her mind broke through the fog of contentedness.

My animals!! Without wasting any more time, she quickly galloped to her cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest.

Quickly making her way home, she noticed that all the animals were fed and taken care of. Quite a few animals were staring at her, one in particular sprung out. Angel, her trusty bunny, rushed over to her in panic and kept pointing at her back.

“Thank you, Angel, for taking care of them while I was gone. With Rarity leaving in the morning to work at her boutique and me being away, I hoped you’d help them. You deserve an extra belly rub," Fluttershy said, completely oblivious to Angel's hand gestures.

Angel wouldn't let anyone else know this, but Fluttershy's belly rubs were a gift from heaven. Since he obviously couldn't convince Fluttershy that there was something wrong with her, he decided to just ignore it and started preparing himself for his reward.

Fluttershy sat down on her sofa to rest from the slow trot to her house. She was surrounded by all the photos of her and Rarity together from the times as friends, lovers, and the current ongoing series, spouses. Fluttershy sighed in contentment. As she got up, she realized that she hadn’t taken a shower yet.

Fluttershy made her way to the bathroom. Her coat was full of sand and grass from sleeping outside and she couldn't go out looking like this. She turned on the warm water and stepped in with a bar of soup in her mouth. As she was soaping herself in, she noticed something. Or rather, she noticed the absence of something. She slowly turned her head to her back, and then she saw it. Where once her gentle, yellow wings rested was now occupied by nothing else but air.

She wanted to scream, to shout in panic, but a gentle smile made its way to her face. She had a suspicion of what the strange 'heart-beat' that she felt through the ground was. Having no wings meant one of two things: either she was now a pegasus without wings, or the likelier theory, she changed from a pegasus to an Earth pony. The strange feeling the ground had could've just been Earth pony magic, only as the instantly strong feeling of an adult than having the magic increase over time as she’d grow up.

She dried herself and ran back outside, determined to find proof that she had indeed turned into an Earth pony. As soon as her hooves came into contact with the ground right outside the cottage, she felt the special connection between her and the Earth reconnect itself. With every step she took, she felt her hooves discharge a small amount, a burst if you will, of magic. This burst made its way to the plants and the trees around her and then retraced its movement back to Fluttershy. Finally, she could do what she always wanted, literally be 'in touch' with the Earth.

---

As they got to the library, Twilight was already blabbering about various things, "... and this completely disproves Darwing's theory of pony evolution. This is a one in a lifetime study opportunity."

Applejack was surrounded by a variety of machines from heart-beat sensors and x-ray scanners, to magic detectors and brain-wave readers. Twilight had wasted no time in getting Applejack to her laboratory and bringing out the 'good' equipment.

Twilight attached the various machines with vigor, despite a few complaints like ‘That’s cold!’ or ‘You aint puttin’ that on me, Twilight’.

After everything was all primed and ready to go, Twilight made her way back to the master panel, pressed a few buttons, and let the machinery spring to life.

A mass of sounds filled the room for a few minutes. Applejack got more anxious by the second, until all the machines stopped and returned to their starting positions. A long sheet of paper was being printed next to Twilight.

Twilight was mumbling to herself as she checked all the results. "Heart-rate is fine, although a little stressed; pegasi wing-bones fully developed and anatomically accurate; Earth-pony magic output still active, Pegasi wings output slightly active. Brain waves show irritation of subject."

"Twi, you know I got a lot of patience, but could you kindly hurry up? All these magic doohickeys are freaking me out," AJ said, trying to force herself to stand completely still for accurate readings.

"Everything checks out fine so I don't see a reason to keep you strapped in any longer. You still need a full body scan before you leave though," Twilight said in a most professional manner. "But about your wings, can you move them?"

"You know, I actually haven't tried that yet. You dragged me here right when I found out I had 'em," AJ said with a chuckle.

Applejack tried to get her wings to move. To an outside observer, it just looked like she was flexing her back and trying to shake her wings awake.

Twilight levitated up a copy of Fly Like The Pegasi. "It says here that you should try and feel your wings before trying to move them. You should feel them resting on your back, and then trace that feeling to the base of the wings."

Applejack stopped her movements and calmed down. Her frantic moving without result had gotten her worked up a bit. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on just feeling the wings resting on her back.

She took a deep breath and concentrated on moving her wings, not her back.

AJ's wings twitched a bit and slowly they unfolded. AJ never fully realized just how big her wings actually were until she saw them fully spread like that. They were smaller than Dash's but bigger than most of the wings of the pegasi that lived in Ponyville.

"Ok, in the book, it says that that's called the ‘wing awakening.’ It happens when a foal, or in this case a fully grown mare, uses her wings for the first time." Twilight was looking through the book very thoroughly. A quill and notepad was levitating behind her, rapidly taking notes.

Applejack was getting all tingly through her wings. Blood was rapidly rushing through the veins that led into them. As the tingly feeling reached the top, she felt like she could control every part of her wings.
"Oh boy, that was a doozy."

As twilight looked on, she could see how AJ's wings grew slightly thicker as the blood flowed through them. The muscles of the wings were pushed outwards, putting them more on the surface like normal wings. And muscly they were. "I don't know how you got those wings, but they look as if you’ve been born with them. Those must be some of the most developed flight-muscles I've ever seen."

"I reckon I need all those muscles to lift me from the ground," AJ added after having a good look of her wings herself. A smug, proud look decorated her face. "Those there wings feel almost as strong as my bucking legs."

Twilight was still looking in amazement at AJ's wings. A polite cough snapped her out of it. "Wuh? Oh, right, can you fly a bit? I'd like to see those wings in action under the strain of keeping its owner in the air."

"Uh, sure, I guess. I'm not sure I can keep it up for long though." AJ fluttered her wings a bit before slowly moving them in an up-and-down motion. Convinced she got the basic movements down, she increased the speed and power of her flapping. Applejack was trying with all her strength but yet she couldn't get herself even an inch into the air. After a few minutes she collapsed, completely exhausted. "I guess my wings aren't strong enough yet."

"I don't get it. I've seen bigger Pegasi fly around with smaller wings than that. It should be simple for you," she said as she was flipping pages through her book. "And the book doesn't mention anything about Pegasi not being able to fly."

Applejack looked a bit disappointed before quickly composing herself. "Hey now, I 'aint lookin' to fly, I just want to get rid of these things so I can go on with my work as a plain Earth pony, not as a freak with wings." AJ emphasized her annoyance with a glare at her wings.

Twilight's face lightened up with that statement. "I'm sure I can help you with that, you did the right thing coming to me about that."

"Uh, Twi, you dragged me here."

"...Anyhow, let me just do that body scan of you. I should have results in an hour or two and you can get back to me then. You can count on me to find a solution to your feathered problem," Twilight said with a giggle.

Her face scrunched up in concentration as she cast a purple glow on Applejack. A few seconds of the light examining every bit of AJ's body and it was done. "There, now I just have to process the data I gathered and it’ll be done. You can go now, those wings shouldn't hinder you with your usual work around the farm."

"Can't you do the magic thing that makes them invisible again? I don't want everyone to freak out when they see me." As AJ finished her statement, she found herself with her mouth near her wings, almost aching to preen them. With a small pop, she plucked the feather out that had been bothering her ever since she had moved her wings.

"I'm sorry, Applejack. Performing so many magic spells in a short time can be a little overwhelming for a unicorn. I fear that if I tried to do it now, you could get some terrible side-effects," she finished with a sad look.

Applejack quickly realized that Twilight felt bad for this. "Now there, sugarcube, don't you worry one
bit. I'm sure I can handle one day with everypony knowin' I have wings. You just focus on getting them away and that'll make it worth it."

"Of course, Applejack, I'll see you in two hours. Have a safe trip," Twilight said with a wave.

AJ gave a short wave back and stepped outside. Luckily nopony was in sight... except Sweetie Belle who was hiding in a bush, pretending she wasn't looking at Applejack. AJ ignored her and made her way to Sweet Apple Acres.

---

Meanwhile, near the edge of the Everfree forest, a newly turned Earth-pony was having the time of her life. Fluttershy had been practicing her 'nature magic' as she called it, ever since she realized what had happened to her. She felt as if she knew every tree, every bush, even every bit of grass that surrounded her house, as if they were old friends.

Fluttershy was also discovering the practical applications of her magic. Around lunch time, she saw an apple tree and her stomach rumbled loudly to let her know that she hadn't had breakfast. Normally, she would've usually just flown up to get one of the fruits, that option was now out the window. Fluttershy thought that maybe she could ask her 'friend' for one of its apples. Slowly raising her hoof and placing it on the tree-trunk with caution, she felt the same magic-pulse from earlier move through the tree.

Fluttershy frowned, she was sure that the tree would be willing to help her out. As she turned around, a large 'thud' filled her ears. At the base of the tree lay two apples, freshly fallen from the tree.

She hastily ate the apples and looked at the tree with awe. She raised her hoof again and this time, made sure to hit the tree with a solid kick, or whatever could be considered a kick for Fluttershy. The same pulse originated from her again, only stronger this time. Fluttershy kept her hoof on the tree and felt how the wave washed over the apples. Soon after, five more apples fell through the ground.

Gently caressing the tree as a ‘thank you,’ she picked up the apples and made her way back towards her cottage.

She made sure to give Angel her promised, patented 'turn animals to putty in your hooves' belly rub before she went to prepare dinner for that evening.

---

"Alright Crusaders, what do you have to report about Applejack?" The CMC were gathered back at the tree house. Scootaloo started talking as soon as they sat down.

"When I came home, she was sleepin'. Right before lunchtime, I heard her shout from the farm all the way to the back orchards. I just got out of there as quick as I could, 'cause maybe she figured out what we did," Apple Bloom said, the terror from facing Applejack still visible on her face.

"What exactly did we do? I haven't seen AJ all day," Scootaloo asked.

"I can answer that question," Sweetie Belle said proudly. "Applebloom, your sister... she has wings!!"

Apple Bloom responded in disbelief, "My sis? The most Earth-poniest Earth-pony around... her secret desire was to have wings?"

"Yup, I saw her come out of Twilight's place a while ago, with her wings against her side. You should have seen them. They had so many muscles on them." Sweetie Belle was making wide exaggerations with her hooves about how big her wing-muscles were.

Scootaloo was excited. "Really? She has wings? Awesome!!! Maybe she can fly with me and Rainbow Dash some time."

More than anything else, Scootaloo was happy to have found an adult pony who undoubtly would fly worse than her. Maybe I can show off my moves.

"Crusaders, I think this needs more investigation. If the potion worked, then Applejack should've been happy when she got wings, right?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded.

"Well, when I saw her coming from the library, she looked anything but happy. I can't tell for sure but I think she doesn't like her wings," Sweetie belle concluded.

Scootaloo quickly pitched in, "Apple Bloom, you go back home and see if she's there and find out what you can. Sweetie Belle, ask Twilight what AJ was there for. I'll ask Rainbow Dash for advice."

"You're just sayin' that so you’ll have an excuse to visit Rainbow again." Nothing escaped Apple Bloom.

"Um, yeah... Gottagoseeyoulater!" And with that, Scootaloo rushed off.

Both remaining ponies just shrugged, said their goodbyes, and parted ways. Apple Bloom headed towards Sweet Apple Acres and Sweetie Belle made her way to the library.

Comments

[Ravebrony42]

I was so relieved that Applejack had wings. I thought the twist with her being heavier was gonna be that she turned into a stallion. Which would have been a crazy hearts desire to say the least.

[DbzOrDie]

2178365
Now that would've been weird huh?

[Desol]

Holy shit, I was actually right. That "her heart's desire is obviously to be an earth pony" comment was a joke, and I thought it was just a blooper in the art, but... Wow. That's awkward. xD

[Inferno demon Dash]

Stalker Belle.....was all I could think of seeing Sweets Wow, this is crazy, thought AJ would have fallen in love with somepony like Dash but guess I was wrong, nice twist though. This has my attention, not suprise that Flutter's loves her earth magic, shall read on

[ElJorro]

When did rarity and fluttershy get married?