An accident involving some untested potions, leaves Applejack and Rainbow Dash transformed beyond recognition and unsure of who they are while in an unfamiliar city.
An accident involving some untested potions, leaves Applejack and Rainbow Dash transformed beyond recognition and unsure of who they are while in an unfamiliar city.
“Now let’s see.” Applejack hoofed through the book of listed Canterlot adresses. “We got Spark, Sparklywinklyful; I don’t see no Sparkle.”
“Are you sure that’s her last name?”
“Now what sort of question is that. You think I don’t know Twilight’s last name?”
“Well,” replied Rainbow Dash, “Her brother is Shining Armor, so it could be Twilight Sparkle Armor.”
“Sparkle Armor! That’s just silly. Armor sparkles, it’s not made of sparkles, so it must be Shining Armor Sparkle; unless he took Cadence’s last name.”
“It might not be either. Take your family for instance. You have Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith, but they’re all Apples.”
“Well Sparkle is Twilights last name, just like Pinkies last name is Pie and your last name is Dash.”
“My last name isn’t Dash.”
Before Applejack could follow up on that statement, another pony chimed in. “Are you looking for the Sparkles?”
AppleJack and Rainbow Dash both turned to face a friendly looking unicorn.
“Yes ma’am,” Applejack answered.
“I know where their business is.” The ‘Sparkles Potion Shop’, it’s on Secretariat Avenue between the Star-Bucks and Colts Book Store.”
“Thank you kindly ma’am.” Applejack tipped her hat in appreciation.
Rainbow Dash also gave a gesture of appreciation, though it was so quick the unicorn was likely to have missed it. She was now urging Applejack to hurry.
Applejack didn’t know what Rainbow Dash was in such a rush for, aside from how the pegasus was always in a rush. Perhaps she was just anxious to unload their cargo. Even in seed form, poison joke made her a little bit antsy.
“Although,” said the unicorn, “I don’t see why you’d want to go there.”
Secretariat Avenue turned out to be one of the longest streets in Canterlot, and the two ponies had already passed three Star-Bucks locations. Rainbow Dash was considering scouting ahead by air.
Applejack turned to a nearby couple, deciding to ask for directions.
“Howdy folks. Beg your pardon, but me and my friend here are a little lost. Would you happen to know where the Sparkles Magic Shop is.
“Oh you don’t want to go there,” came Upper Crust’s haughty reply. “Such a dull little store. It has nothing of interest for young mares.” The yellow unicorn turned up her nose as she spoke. “Now I know this other shop on Icelandic lane, they have a callus remover you could desperately use, and maybe a shampoo for your friends split ends.”
“Actually ma’am, we really do need to go to the Sparkles shop.”
“Nonsense you’re wasting your time.”
“Hey our friends parents own that shop, and what do you mean by split ends?”
“Oh, I see. Well it’s another two intersections from here. Keep going straight.”
Soon they were on there way.
“The nerve of that woman. I don’t have split ends.”
“I reckon you do.”
“Well if I do they only make me look cooler.”
“You think my callus’s are really noticeable?”
“Yeah... I mean no.”
Finally they made it to the shop.
When they entered, Twilights mom was showing an elder mare how to apply her rheumatism cream. Upon seeing the two ponies her eyes lit up.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, welcome.
Twinkle Sparkle was a white coated unicorn with a white and purple striped mane. The lavender of Twinkle’s mane matched Twilights coat better than her mane. Though she wore pearls and styled her hair in a manner becoming of a slightly older mare, one would never of guessed she could possibly have a daughter Twilights age. The most certain connection between mother and daughter was the similar, though not identical, star pattern that made up her cutie mark.
“Howdy ma’am. hope we didn’t keep you waiting.”
“Not at all.”
Soon after they left the shop and made their way to Twilights family home. Twilights father led them to the downstairs lab / storage room.
Applejack tossed the bag of assorted seeds next to a large stack of shelves. When she did this the shelf teetered slightly, and Rainbow Dash flew in to stabilize the unit. It contained nine rows, not unlike a book case. Oddly the bulkier items seemed to be stacked higher though each row was full with various potions and concoctions.”
Twilights dad noticed that one leg had rotted to be a bit short. He found an old magazine and propped it underneath to stabilize the shelves. “I’ll have to fix that better when I have time,” Said he. Had his wife been there, she would know that this most likely meant he wouldn’t fix it at all.
“Sorry about that,” Applejack insisted.
“Quite alright. So how long are you girls staying in Canterlot.”
“A week.” Rainbow Dash answered. “We came early so that Applejack wouldn’t be train lagged. The rodeo starts in two days.”
“That’s right. You’re competing in the rodeo, aren’t you?”
“Yes sir.”
“And you,” he turned to face rainbow dash.
“Ah, I’m just here to cheer her on.” Actually Rainbow Dash came to make sure it wasn’t a repeat of last years rodeo.”
“Well it sure was nice of you girls to drop off those seed samples. We’ve been wanting to experiment with those unique Everfree forest plants for some time.”
As they left the back store room, the breeze from the door blew a single seed of poison joke into the damp rotted wood of the shelves. The seed, having some fungal properties began to take root.
They chatted for awhile. The Sparkles insisted they stay for dinner and sleep in the guest room.
“Then this other lady said: ‘it has nothing of interest for young ladies,” Rainbow Dash did her best to mimic Upper Crusts haughty tone of voice.
Sometimes it seemed like Rainbow Dash should have been the element of honesty. Applejack wouldn’t have even mentioned the incident.
Twinkle and her husband just laughed.
“Beg your pardon, but what’s that about.”
“Well, I can’t deny our shop doesn’t have much for young ladies, at least not the ones who are in good health.”
As if on cue, Twinkle continued her husbands explanation. “Now don’t worry girls. We do more than enough business to get by.”
“In fact we should be raking it in soon, thanks to the baby boomers.” Mr Sparkle added.
Twinkle gave a small chuckle, then continued. “Our store deals exclusively in medicine, and it caters to the elderly. We do okay, but all the other potion makers make a fortune. That’s because they sell youth and beauty products. In Canterlot there are laws whereby medicine cannot be overpriced, and skilled potion makers must dedicate 30% of there business to needed medicines in order to stay licensed. However, if you have a beauty product that works or even one that’s hard to prove doesn’t work, you can charge an arm and a leg for it. All the younger healthier shoppers go to other stores who tend to badmouth their competition. It’s no matter. They all come to us eventually.” He chuckled.
“Why not sell a little of both. You got some moral objection or something?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Not moral exactly. It’s just a waste of time. You see, potions take a long time to make. Many of the herbs come from our own garden. Others we gather from the forests. They may need to be pressurized, decompressed, burned, frozen, smoked, cured, fermented, marinated, sung too, passed through a wild cats digestive system, sun ripened, marinated in mustard, pickled, caramelized, stewed, baked, salted, desalinated, jumped on, kneaded...
“Okay I get the point.”
“Anyway, potions take so long to make, we have to decide which potions are worth making. Sure we can charge absurd prices for youth and beauty products, but we’d rather spend out time on remedies that help ponies.”
“So you’ve never made any of those youth or beauty potions.”
“Well, actually we did, once.” Twilights father replied. “It was back when Twilight was first applying to Celestia’s magic academy. She was such a clever girl, we had no doubt she’d be accepted, but we never expected her to get a full scholarship, or become Celestia’s own apprentice.”
“What’s that got to do with...”
“Let them finish sugar cube.”
Twinkle continued her husbands story. “We were afraid we wouldn’t have enough money to pay the tuition.”
“Which the scholarship took care of.”
“Yes, well, for awhile we worked late nights. We created a whole new line of products, experimental ones.”
“Experimental products have to get approved by the licensing board. It’s a big hassle, so when Twi got the scholarship, they ended up sitting on a stack of shelves in our supply room.”
“Really dear, you should have disposed of them properly.”
“I thought you were still using them.”
“What! Why I never.”
“Ponies don’t stay as youthful and pretty as you are without a little help.”
“Well maybe I tried some under eye cream and a dab of hand lotion, and...
“You tried untested formula’s.” Rainbow asked in surprise.
“They’re only illegal to sell dear.”
That makes sense, she thought. Twilight experiments all the time, but she’s never talked about licenses.
“Any side effects.”
“The eye cream had one but I forget... Oh yeah, it causes memory loss.”
<hr>
“Rainbow Dash, wake up!” the orange earth pony shook the shoulder of the sleeping pegasi. “Wake up.”
“Dashie I need your help.”
“Okay, I’m up, I’m up.”
“They added a new event to the rodeo, and I’m not ready for it.”
“So. You don’t have to compete in every event.”
“The Apple family honor is on the line.”
“What’s the event.”
“Catching a greased pig.”
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “You’re family honor will probably do better off if you let that one slide.”
“I have to do every event, if I want to get best in show.”
“Best in show!” Dash pulled the covers over her head to try and give Applejack a hint. “Isn’t that a bit much. I mean c’mon AJ, you didn’t even get any blue ribbons last year.”
Applejack gave Rainbow a cross stare. Dash had forgotten that her friend was still really sensitive about that. Rainbow tried to explain it away as still being half asleep.
“Don’t you have pigs on the farm?”
“Yes. The porkbelly’s; they’re a very nice family, dignified too, though a little snooty for folks who live in a muddy sty. Don’t tell them I said that.”
“So you’ve never caught a greased pig before.”
“Nope.”
“Do you have a pig to practice with?”
“Nope.”
“Do you have a sty?”
“Nope.”
“So what are you planning to do, grease me up.”
“Hmmm, If I can catch you, surely I can catch a pig.”
“No way!”
“We could just play wrestle in the back yard, that ought’a be practice enough.”
“Well...”
“And instead of grease we can use...”
“I’m out.”
Rainbow Dash got out of bed and poised to fly away.
Fortunately Applejack knew how to appeal to Dashies competitive spirit. “What’s a matter Dashie, afraid I’ll beat you.”
Rainbow Dash turned and steeled her gaze. “Let’s do this.”
For about twenty minutes, Rainbow Dash would let Applejack get close, then leap off and fly out of reach. With each escape, AJ became more and more determined to pin the elusive pony.
As usual Rainbow dash was showing off. Since she wouldn’t let AJ catch her, she couldn’t get any real practice in grappling, although they’d worked up enough of a sweat, that maybe they didn’t need any grease after all.
Twinkle called from the window, “Girls, we’re off to the market to get some fresh herbs. Play all you want, just remember to wipe your feet off before you come in.
“Thank you Mrs Sparkle.”
Once that was out of the way, AJ redoubled her efforts to catch dash. She tried climbing a tree and leaping at her. She goaded her to come closer, then pounced. Through it all Rainbow boasted about being uncatchable.
A pig couldn’t be nearly this frustrating. At this point Applejack didn’t care whether this was good training or not, she just wanted to catch her.
Dash stood on the storm doors that provided a back entrance into the Sparkles basement storage room. She was waiting for AJ to come at her when she heard laughter in the distance. Was somepony laughing at her friend. Sure they must look ridiculous right now, but only Dash was allowed to do that.
At that moment Applejack pounced. She would have pinned Rainbow Dash in a single motion, except that the wooden doors broke and the two ponies fell down a staircase, rolling across the store room floor, and hitting a stack of shelfs.
The shelves began to wobble back and forth, looking like they might fall upon the two ponies. They struggled to get away, though tripped and faltered, as their bodies were tangled together.
The shelves continued to wobble back and forth, each time looking like they may finally tip. One bottle fell The glass cracking on the floor. Ricochets of glass cut into Applejacks neck and she felt something chemical seep into the wounds.
Finally the shelves stopped rocking and began to settle. The two ponies let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Well that was close.” Said Rainbow Dash.
At that moment the shelves just fell apart. They broke at the joints, which seemed to have familiar blue flowers growing between them. Then Rainbow Dash realized where the mysterious laughter had come from The flowers laughed as the shelves broke apart. Both ponies screamed.
Fumes and pollen filled the room as chemical after chemical doused the two ponies.
About an hour later, two foals emerged from the storeroom. Both were even smaller than the cmc.
The first pony was a pegasus. Though tiny her wings were already big enough to support her in flight. her coat was an off white, barely blue at all. She basked in the sunlight and flicked her head to remove long volumes hair from her wide expressive pink eyes. Her hair was perfectly conditioned and free of split ends, with pink replacing red in a rainbow of colors.
The second filly took longer on account of she could not fly up the stairs. Her eyes stung from the fumes of the room they had just left. She blinked a few times then they watered slightly. She examined herself having the most vague, yet frightening memory of being cut with glass. The colors of her mane and coat had reversed. Her yellow coat was perfect. Not only were there no cuts, but no blemishes of any sort. Her coat was smooth and soft. It certainly wasn’t the coat of somepony who ever did physical labour.
The two stared at one another. They didn’t recognize one another, but they didn’t recognize themselves either. Both had only the vaguest notion that at least they were in this together. The yellow and orange filly wanted to wait, see if anyone came who recognized them. The rainbow filly was more adventurous. She wanted to go out and search for answers. Neither wanted to be separated, so what were they to do?
The two fillies had taken to calling each other Rainbow and Apple. Rainbow’s name was obvious on account of her polychromatic mane. Apple almost got saddled with the name Orange, until Rainbow told her she smelled like Apples.
“We’re not going in circles,” Rainbow insisted.
“We’ve passed that coffee shop three times.”
“No we didn’t. There are just three coffee shops that look alike.”
“No way. That’s just silly. Stop being silly”
“I’m not being silly. You’re being silly.”
Rainbow continued on for a bit, before realizing that Apple hadn’t made a snappy comeback. She turned to see if her friend had fallen behind.
Apple was indeed behind, only she made no effort to catch up; instead she was staring wide eyed at a poster on a fence. Rainbow flew back to get her. She nibbled on Apples ear, urging her to keep moving. When Apple barely acknowledged her, Rainbow turned to see what was so interesting.
It was a poster of the Rodeo. Rainbow thought for a moment, then turned to her friend.
“Apple, you’re a genius.”
“Am not,” she insisted. “You’re the genius, you genius.” They’re memory loss was oddly selective, and Apple somehow came out even younger than Rainbow, so it happened that she didn’t know what the word genius meant.
“Every pony in towns gonna be watching the Rodeo, right?”
“Maybe.”
“If we get into the Rodeo, then someones sure to recognize us.”
“Like our mom?”
Rainbow thought about this. She couldn’t even remember having a mom. Did Apple know something she didn’t? Both were concerned about who they were, only Apple seemed to have a much stronger longing for family.
She looked again at the poster. It showed a big strapping stallion, trying to keep his balance and avoid being bucked as he sat on the saddle of a bigger stallion. They looked awfully big, Apple thought. In contrast, her and Rainbow were very little.
“Do you think they’ll let us play?” Apple asked.
“They will when they see how awesome we are.”
At this time, Twinkle was talking with the local constabulary. Apparently a neighbour saw smoke coming from her basement, and contacted the fire ponies before Mrs Sparkle and her husband had even arrived home.
“Where’s Applejack? Where’s Rainbow Dash?” she asked in a fluster.
“We don’t know ma’am. Was there anything dangerous in your storeroom.”
“Oh yes. We have many dangerous chemicals down there. The most potent potion ingredients are poisonous in there untreated forms.”
“Then I assume your licenses are up to date?”
She turned to her husband, who took a moment before giving an affirmative nod, which might have been a shrug.
“Is this really the time to worry about that. Those girls could be hurt.”
The officer grunted. He was a stern and suspicious stallion, who had more than once been reprimanded for badgering victims. “How old are your foals ma’am?”
“Oh, they’re hardly foals. They’re adult mares.”
The officer seemed to think for a moment. “We found some footprints downstairs. Judging from they size they could only belong to little fillies, probably too young to be vandals, though I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility.”
“Little fillies you say.”
“Hey boss,” they were interrupted by an excited looking colt. “Gusty tore his hazmat suit on one of the blue flowers thorns, and got exposed to the gunk down there. That goo is doing something really freaky to him.”
Twinkle turned to her husband. “Fillies. Do you think the youth potions could have…”
“Oh come now Twinkie. You know there’s no restorative powerful enough to shrink a ponies bone structure.”
“What if it got mixed with that poison joke pollen. We already know that poison joke made Applejack shrink once before.”
Hoots and hollers could be heard from their basement storeroom. A statuesque mare who looked like she could be a runway model emerged from the staircase. “Looking good Gusty,” one of the stallions called from behind.
Gusty gave a very unladylike response and stomped off. “How the heck am I gonna tell my wife about this.” she grumbled.
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Grumble.
Rainbows stomach rumbled. Her inability to stay on the ground had caused her to work up more of an appetite then her travelling companion. Apple was hungry as well. Neither knew what to do about it. They considered grazing on grass or flowers, which would be fine except it was rude to eat out of a strangers lawn.
At the moment they were trying to find the way out of Canterlot. The Canterlot stadium was actually a little bit outside of city limits it towered over a field of otherwise open prairie.
Open prairie, Rainbow thought. Though it seemed like a chore walking across a mile of grass, they could snack all they wanted on the way to the stadium, and it would all be free.
“Be strong,” Rainbow told Apple. “We’ll have all the food we can eat, as soon as we get out of this dirty city.”
Apple smiled, mostly to encourage Rainbow who herself was trying to lift Apples spirits.
“How much further?” She asked.
“Just a sec.” Rainbow ascended into the air, trying really hard not to lose track of her launching point while getting high enough for a proper view. She looked ahead in the direction they had been going. It was the way out of Canterlot, which seemed to border mountains, a moat and a cliff. There was only one way out of the city, yet the stadium didn’t seem to be in that same direction. She turned around, and in the opposite direction was the stadium. “Oh horse apples.”
When she descended back towards equestrian soil, Apple was talking to some pony that Rainbow didn’t recognize, not that she recognized many ponies. This pony was dressed up in golden centurion armour.
Perched on a lamp post, Rainbow listened in. The centurion spoke about helping Apple find her home. He thought it was odd that she didn’t know who her own parents were, and suggested they ask the princess. He spoke of how Equestria has two great princesses and both know the names and families of every pony. One watched over the dreams of all her subjects, and the other simply loved her subjects enough to know every life her sun touches.
It sounded to Rainbow like the centurion was trying to rope Apple into some kind of weirdo cult.
The centurion turned and walked away, and in that moment Rainbow leaped to the ground in front of Apple.
“We gotta get out of here,” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Why?”
“Why! Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers.”
Apple thought for a moment. She couldn’t remember anyone ever saying that before.
When Apple wouldn’t come Rainbow nipped on her ear. Apple tried to push her away with her hooves. Soon they were on the ground chasing each others tails. In the two ponies minds all attempts to be civil had failed and they had erupted into a fight. To onlookers their tussle seemed less like a fight and more like two kittens at play. A few people even stopped to watch, swept up in the cuteness of it all.
When the guard returned, he watched for a minute or so, his heart exploding.
Finally he told them to settle down and presented the fillies with some sweet potato fries and a side of daffodil petals. Rainbow wanted to object but her stomach objected to the objection. They ended up accepting the food and agreeing to go with him to meet the princesses.
Might as well, Rainbow thought. The Rodeo’s not till tomorrow anyway.
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At that time Fluttershy was having her weekly tea with Discord. Most think that Discord decided to live outside of Ponyville, and only exchanges letters with Fluttershy. That’s not exactly wrong. Discord decided to travel, and see how the worlds changed in his long absence. For awhile the draconequus was content to simply exchange letters with Fluttershy. The problem was that he always had to outdo his own past efforts. Each letter needed to be more vivid and paint a broader picture than the previous.
He didn’t write longer letters. The idea of boring anyone was aberrant to the creature. Instead he wrote poetry, then songs, then sent packages with keepsakes from his travels.
He sent her a pin with an odd insignia, that made beeping noises when she tapped it. She was still trying to figure out what that thing was wen he sent her a betamax video cassette.
Fluttershy explained in her next letter that she had no idea what that was either.
Finally she received a normal looking envelop. She handed the mail pony a muffin as a tip, and opened the letter. When she opened it Discord himself erupted from inside, blowing on a party favour.
From then on he’d pretty much just been appearing in her house for weekly tea time. She was finally getting used to the house being upside-down and spinning while he was there.
She told him about all the weekly happenings, like how misses pork belly was pregnant again, Rarity started a new line of medieval tapestry inspired hats, or how the CMC tried synchronized water ballet.
Desperate to get away from boring topics, he actually asked how the other ponies were doing.
She told him about how Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in Canterlot, and should by now have given some poison joke seeds to the Sparkles.
“Ah yes, poison joke. How is that little experiment of mine? Is it blooming across Equestria. Has it surpassed the dandelion in potency.”
“Experiment?”
“Yes. It was sort of a prototype for those vines that attacked the tree of harmony last year. A valiant effort, only I tried to put too many jokes in one perennial, and it ended up weakening the magic.”
How callous, thought Fluttershy. Does he have any idea how much trouble that plant causes. Does he even know what it did to my voice that one time. I should say something cross. I should get mad right now.
Fluttershy breathed in preparing for what she had to say.
“Would you like some honey in your tea.”
“Please.”
At that moment Spike rushed in. The little dragon had been running as fast as his legs would carry him. He was eager to say something yet needed a moment to catch his breath.
“Fluttershy. Something happened in Canterlot. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are missing.”
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Apple admired the stain glass window’s. She was looking at a window painting that depicted the second defeat of Discord. The actual discord felt it was awfully rude that Celestia still kept that particular mural around. Poor Apple never would have guessed that it was her depicted in the stain glass wielding the element of honesty.
“The centurion exited the throne room.”
“Good news girls.”
“You know who we are.”
“No.”
“You talked to the princesses.”
“I will when they get back. They’re overseeing preparations for the rodeo.”
Rainbow and Apple eyed one another, both thinking they were wrong to follow this doofus.
“What I did do is talk to my superiors, and they talked to the people in another department and we found a nice foster couple that will take care of you until we can get this sorted out.”
“You suck.”
“Hey, at least you’ll have a bed tonight.”
“you were right Rainbow. We should have stuck with your plan and joined the rodeo.”
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“Are you sure about this darling,” asked Jet set. “We only signed up for the foster program last week, and I never thought they’d actually find us children.”
“Oh how hard can it be to handle a pair of little fillies. We’ll clean them up, put some nice clothes on them, show them off to our friends, then maybe Mint Julep will stop acting so superior just because she adopted that Buffalo calf from the Appolosian territory.”
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“So you’re saying that, according to Twilights mother, Applejack and Rainbow Dash may have been transformed in some way, and no pony knows what they look like.”
“Do they still have their cutie marks?” Discord asked.
Fluttershy was a bit surprised at what a reasonable question that was. On the other hand, she’d never heard of a pony actually losing a cutie mark, aside from the exchange incident.
“I don’t know,” Spike answered. “Nobody saw the accident, or knows what really happened.”
“Do you know something Discord.”
Discord took another sip of his tea. “Just thinking it through my dear Fluttershy. If they have their cutie marks you can identify them no matter what they look like.”
“Oh that’s good.” She was relieved. After all she now knew that Discord was somewhat of an expert on poison joke.
“Though if they don’t have their cutie marks…” Discord paused, probably well aware that he was creating dramatic tension. He waited for his cue, and waited. Eventually Spike took the bait.
“Then what?”
“Well, two things could happen. They can rediscover their special talents. When the cutie mark reappears the magical jolt might even snap them at least partially back to normal.” Discord waited for his next cue. Nobody played along, so he decided to bait them a little bit more. “A cutie mark tells a ponies destiny, however it’s not destiny in the predetermined sense of the word. Therefore, it’s possible they might find a different destiny.”
“Then what?”
“Well obviously, with a different destiny they’d never be the same ponies again.”
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Rainbow felt ready to gag. She knew that Apple had some longing for family, but how quickly Apple clung to her new foster mom was just disgusting. Perhaps it was because they both had yellow coats. An outsider would probably think they really were mother and daughter.
At that moment Upper Crust was fixing Apples hair to look like her own. Upper had tried to do the same with Rainbow but couldn’t catch her. Apple, on the other hand, revelled in the attention.
It was clear Rainbow would take longer to warm up to the couple, so Jet Set decided to put forth a bit more of an effort.
“You know, the whole towns in a tizzy about this RO-DE-O. Perhaps we should go. You kids might get a laugh out of it.
“Really.”
“Oh sure. In fact, they have some junior events. You could even play if you want.”
Upper Crust looked like she wanted to argue. She bit her tongue when she saw how excited the fillies looked.
“Well I suppose it’ll be fun for you children.” She couldn’t leave it at that. “Although I don’t see why they even have a rodeo in a refined city like Canterlot. Every year we have to put up with rowdy country yokels flooding our hotels, and restaurants, just so they can go play in the mud with cows and pigs.”
“I think Rodeo’s are silly.” Apple commented. She looked towards upper hoping for approval.
“Of course you do dear. You’re well on your way to becoming a fine and refined young lady.” She gave her a little hug and Apple was quick to squeeze back.
Rainbow looked like she was about to cough up a hairball.
Apple strutted with her nose held high. Her prideful manner was not derived from any sense of superiority, mostly she was just mimicking her new role model. Perhaps she did want to show off her new hairdo, or the pearls and earrings Misses Upper Crust had lent her,
Upper on the other hand did strut out of a sense of superiority. Many viewed her as a Canterlot snob, and why be ashamed of that. Canterlot has the best theatres, museums, and restaurants in all of Equestria. The Princesses themselves live in Canterlot. She didn’t even mind the word snob, believing that only jealous people use it.
Rainbow, embarrassed by their good posture, had discovered a way to slouch while in flight.
Jet Set turned to make sure Rainbow was keeping up. If he had known Rainbow better his concern would be keeping up with her. Rainbow looked at him, still a little defiant, half expecting a lecture about posture or something to that effect. He simply smiled, then gave a nodding gesture that Rainbow needed a moment to figure out. With a second nod Rainbow descended onto his back for a pony ride. He whispered something about saving energy for the Ro-De-O, and they continued on their way.
At this point they were in line for tickets. If Upper knew they’d be doing this she’d have ordered advanced seats. She wasn’t sure if Ro-De-O had advanced seating, but that’s what she always did with the opera.
“Upper.”
“Upper Crust, is that you?”
Upper turned and lowered her nose. She came face to face with Mint Julep. “Mint, dear, how nice to see you,” she said in an insincere voice.
“Are those fillies with you? Wherever did they come from?”
Hearing ponies talk about her, Rainbow lifted her head from her nap. A small buffalo colt looked at her, and she gave him a sleepy smile.
“This is my son Tyson, by the way.” It went without saying that Tyson the buffalo was adopted.
“Hi,” said Tyson.
“Hey yourself,” Rainbow answered.
Upper and Mint chatted for a bit. Upper explained how they took these lost fillies in because they were selfless members of the Canterlot foster program working hoof and hoof with filly services. Apple nodded with everything Upper said, emphasizing how selfless and courageous she described herself as being.
Mint was clearly impressed.
“And you brought them to the Rodeo. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I always thought you saw these sorts of events as being low brow.”
“Yes, well, sacrifices have to be made for the children.”
Uppers response led to an awkward silence. Mint broke the tension by bragging about her own son. “My sons in the junior competitions obstacle course. It’s too bad there aren’t more buffalo here. He has such an advantage I’m surprised they’re letting him play. We chose racing events because he’d just sweep us ponies away in any strength competition.”
“Now hold on,” said Rainbow, “we’re no light weights.”
“Oh, you kids are joining.”
Apple tried to say something, but Upper Crust cut in.
“Why yes they are, these children are natural athletes.”
“Heck yeah,” Rainbow added. Then she pointed right at Tyson. “You’d better watch out, cause I’m gonna smoke you.”
“Cool. What kinda sports are you into.”
“Well, I think I’m good at aerial acrobatics.”
Tyson almost jumped with excitement. He encouraged Rainbow to join him in the obstacle course. “It’s not aerial exactly, but you gotta be fast and agile.”
“Well, that’s me, fast and agile.”
Mint complimented Upper and her family several times, then wished them luck in the rodeo. Once gone Upper whispered under her breath: “I hate her.”
Around this time Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Apple Bloom were on the friendship express bound for Canterlot.
Everyone was a little anxious around Apple Bloom. They were all equally worried about Applejack and Rainbow Dash, only the younger filly was less equipped to deal with such emotions.
Discord didn’t have a train ticket, but he appeared in Pinkie’s tea cup. He’d expected to surprise her and make her drop the tea. Instead Pinkie, brought the tea as far as her lips and prepared to drink. Disappointed, the draconequus poofed himself out of the cup and into his normal body.
“Discord, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Really!” Discord placed his hands on Twilights forehead, checking to see if she had a temperature.
“You came to help us find Applejack and Rainbow Dash, right?”
The mixed and matched creature gave a pause.
“Right?” Fluttershy added.
“Sure, let’s go with that.” Actually Discord did feel somewhat responsible, him being the creator of poison joke.
Once that was firmly established, Twilight asked the obvious. She asked Discord if he could just use his magic to take them to their friends. He said he’d have to know where they are.
Next she asked, “If they’ve been transformed in some way, then would you recognize them?”
The answer was no. He might be able to read minds, Discord could never remember if he had that particular ability or not, but what good would that do if even Applejack and Rainbow Dash don’t know who they are.
At this point Twilight was getting frustrated. Back when he was the villain Discord seemed like he could simply do anything. Finally she asked “if we do find them, can you change them back to normal?”
“I probably can. I would almost say maybe. If not I can turn them into billy goats, or cheese platters.”
Apple Bloom walked up to Discord, and looked to him with pleading eyes. “Could you help us get to Canterlot faster?”
Discord smiled and snapped his claws. In an instant they were at the Canterlot train station.
“I had luggage on that train,” Rarity complained.
Annoyed Discord snapped his fingers again, and a pile of suitcases fell on top of her.
“Now what events would you darlings like to sign up for.” Upper read through the registration form.
Horse Back Riding
“Poppycock, Rainbow is riding on Jet Sets back right now, and she hasn’t paid a cent in entrance fee.”
Catching a Greased Pig
Upon hearing that one, Apple began to Shudder. Upper assumed the darling filly was just too ladylike to want to do such a horrid thing.
Fence Jumping
“I can jump real high.” Apple announced.
Seeing her excitement, Upper didn’t hesitate to sign her up.
Obstacle Course
“Right here.” Rainbow declared. “I already promised Tyson I’d smoke him in that one.”
“Oh you’re competing against Mint’s colt” She bent down towards Rainbow. In a cold icy voice that gave chills to the little filly, Upper told him “Don’t lose.”
Rope tricks.
Apple took a lasso, from who knows where and began showing off her skill.
“Darling, wherever did you learn to do that?”
Apple paused for a moment. “I don’t know,” she answered.
An idea occurred to Upper Crust. Apple could have been raised outside Canterlot. She had an accent. The filly tried to hide it most of the time, yet when she was excited her speech changed noticeably. On top of that she’d clearly used a lasso before.
Her coat was fair and her hooves where polished, perhaps she had been cleaned up, a final kindness by the family that abandoned her. Maybe she came from some small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. Maybe her family members where a bunch of riff raft who filled their fillies heads with promises of big city adventure, then abandoned them in said city away from their neighbours prying eyes.
The children say they don’t remember where they came from. Were they coached to say this? Are they afraid to go back?
As she watched the children play with one another she began to think, she thought it wouldn’t be so bad if their parents were never found.
“Pinkie,” Apple Bloom asked, “is it really okay to be here?”
“Of course it is. If not all these people are in a lot of trouble.” She gestured towards the massive crowd.
Upon arriving in Canterlot, Pinkie took Apple Bloom straight to the rodeo. Her reasoning was that Applejack would never miss it. In fact, this made so much sense that Twilight had asked Fluttershy to cover the place by air. She considered asking Discord, but didn’t want to scare the populace. Not every pony accepted that the dark lord of chaos was reformed.
Apple Bloom had to admit it was true, not much could keep her sister away from this place. That’s not what bothered her. It was obvious Pinkie was trying to take her mind off her worries, maybe the other ponies were even trying to keep her out of the way.
“You wanna sign up for any events. Maybe she’ll spot you.”
“You think so? How about I sign up for fence jumping.”
“I’ve already got the registration form.”
Rainbow was cheering for Apple from the stands. Even though they were in the junior competitions, it was too late to get good seats, they were stuck in the nosebleeds.
Upper Crust was allowed to stay close to Apple. Jet Set, ordered some hot dogs, him and Rainbow shared a conspiratorial grin, both knowing that Upper would never let them eat such junk food if she were there.
Apple Bloom made her way to the waiting area, and began stretching for the fence jumping competition.
She saw another yellow filly jumping over a pylon for practice. The girl smiled when she saw Apple Bloom, but when Apple Bloom tried to approach her Apple became shy and moved back to hide behind Upper Crust.
Noticing the similar colouring of their coats, Apple Bloom assumed they must be mother and daughter.
Upper nuzzled Apple affectionately, then suggested she go talk to the other girl.
“Hi,” said Apple Bloom.
“Hello,” said apple. Apple tried to speak in the sophisticated manner that Upper always spoke. She was getting better at it considering the short time she had been practicing.
“Have you been training long?”
“Yes, I’ve been training all morning.”
Apple Bloom laughed a little, though not in an insulting way.
“Have you been training long?”
“Naw, I didn’t think I was gonna be here actually.”
“Oh.”
“I came looking for my big sister.”
When she said sister, Apple felt a flutter in her stomach. Of course she said big sister, and Apple was clearly smaller than her.
Soon they were called to take their places. Apple and Apple Bloom stood side by side.
When the buzzer sounded both fillies were off.
Of course it was only the junior events, and the hurdles were not very high. Fillies were still penalized for knocking over a hurdle, but not as seriously as in the adult fence jumping.
The apple sisters put all other contestants to shame, both were soon a mile ahead of the competition, and nose to nose with one another.
Apple Bloom did get an advantage at the end. Though they were in the same division, Apple Bloom was clearly on the higher end of the age spectrum, so there was no shame in it. Each received ribbons.
“You jump like a pro,” Apple Bloom commented.
“Thanks, it weren’t nothing.”
Did she suddenly talk with an accent.
“Hey, you wanna come see my sister in the obstacle race?”
“Sure.”
Proud of her second place ribbon, Apple strutted with her nose held high. Apple Bloom followed, for the time being forgetting her worries.
When the call was made for contestants, Rainbow flew down. Apple Bloom was speechless. That had to be Rainbow Dash. Sure her coat was only off white, and her mane had pink replacing the red, but how many rainbow pegasi was one likely to meet.
No, wait a gosh darn minute. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?
“All right everyone,” Rainbow announced, “get ready to cheer for the top junior flyer in all of Equestria.”
It was her.
Apple Bloom had no trouble getting a name and address from Apple. She even asked her to come play sometime. The information was quickly related to Pinkie Pie.
Princess Celestia herself spoke with her pony services people and a royal guard to get all information she could about the fillies. The royal guard was commended for bringing them to a safe home.
Once the mystery was solved, the ponies all conferred about how best to handle the situation.
Fluttershy believed they should just go to the Crust home, explain everything, and work things out from there.
Most agreed, however, there was a problem looming over their heads. According to Apple Bloom, the two fillies didn’t remember them. From what they’d learned about the accident from Twilights parents, changing them back to normal would be extremely difficult. They’d been exposed to no less than 53 separate potions, all amplified and warped by the effects of poison joke. It was lucky they had only turned into fillies and not some sort of Cthulhu.
“It’s too bad we can’t just recreate the events that gave them their cutie marks.” Fluttershy commented.
“Excuse me?” Twilight asked.
“Uhm, well, Discord said that if they got their cutie marks back, the magic jolt might snap them back to normal.”
“Fluttershy you’re a genius.”
From then on Twilight took the lead, as she now had a plan.
They spent the next day or so making arrangements.
The next night, Twilight went to the Crusts home. She wore her tiara and yellow sash thing. If this was to work Twi would have to step into her princess role. Everyone trusts a princess.
She knocked on the door.
A little yellow filly with an orange mane opened it.
“Hello, you must be Apple.”
After exchanging a greeting, the little filly ran to tell Upper Crust who had come calling. The two joined hooves, hopping in the kitchen, both excited to have a royal visitor.
Hearing the commotion, Rainbow flew down from one of her nap perches.
“Hello,” Twilight greeted the second filly.
“You’re a princess!”
“Yes, I am.” Fillies their age were always excited to meet a princess.
“Are you the one that enters dreams and protects us from nightmares?”
“No that’s Princess Luna.”
“Are you the one who rules the Crystal Empire?”
Upper Crust patted the fillies on the head. She told them to simmer down and let the princess explain why she was there.
Twilight told them a little white lie. She said that for doing so well in the Canterlot Rodeo, junior division, they had won a chance to meet and train with the Wonder Bolts.
“Who are they?” Both fillies asked.
Twilight was a little surprised, even Rainbow didn’t know. Still it wasn’t hard to get the fillies hyped for their supposed prize.
Soon a golden chariot appeared, driven by two pegasi stallions ready to take them to the Wonder Bolts stadium. It was nice of Princess Celestia to lend her the vehicle.
“Say Pinkie,” Apple Bloom asked. “Is this really a good idea.”
“It’s more than good. It’s a super fun idea. We’re gonna recreate that special day when Rainbow Dash and Applejack first got their cutie marks. How often do ponies get to relive the best ever day of their entire lives?”
“AppleJack once told me that the mare’s in our family are all late bloomers. If she’s younger than Rainbow Dash will she still get her cutie mark?”
Pinkie and Discord paused. Discord thought back to one of the cardinal rules of villainy which nobody actually followed. If an eight year old can see the flaw in your plan then rethink it. On the other hand he wanted this to work. It was rare that he got to be sneaky these days, and to think that an oh so pure princess had come up with this little scheme.
Twilight flew a little ahead of the chariot in order to check on her final preparations.
When she entered the stadium everyone was waiting for her.
“Are you ready for your part Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gave a meek nod.
Discord rubbed his hands together, building magical force between them. He used that magic to transform Fluttershy into a filly.
A tiny and adorable version of Fluttershy made pleading eyes at Twilight. It took all the princesses strength not to grab her in a tight hug. Pinkie didn’t have so much restraint and soon all the girls were fawning over her and pinching her chubby little cheeks.
“Okay, when I give the signal, Fluttershy will pretend to have a wing cramp and free fall from the sky. She can fly and Discord will have his magic ready so theres no real danger.”
“That’s right,” Discord added. “If things don’t work out then I’ll turn her into rubber just before she hits the ground.”
“Couldn’t you just teleport her out of harm.”
“Teleporting won’t cancel the inertia, obviously?”
Twilight went over the physics in her head, but decided to just trust in Discords expertise.
“Wonder Bolts, can you handle putting on a show.”
“Of course,” answered Spitfire, “that’s what we do. Besides we owe Rainbow Dash a favour or two.”
Soon the chariot arrived with Upper Crust, Jet Set, Rainbow, and Apple.
Apple Bloom rushed to greet them. As for Apple, she was more excited to see Apple Bloom again then to meet the Wonder Bolts.
Little, temporary filly, Fluttershy walked up to them and gave a meek hello. Twilight made up a story about her winning some other contest.
The Wonder Bolts started their show with a demonstration of astounding aerial feats. Rainbow quickly rediscovered her love for her former idols.
Next they played games with the fillies, and taught them about the various training exercises they do. They made sure to have plenty for Apple and Apple Bloom to do, though neither could fly. Finally they gave flight lessons to the pegasi.
These lessons where mostly team building exercises. Twilight felt her plan would be more successful if Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy bonded.
At last, feeling that the time was right, Twilight gave her signal.
“Oh no,” cried Fluttershy, “I have a wing cramp.” It was obvious to everyone but Rainbow that she was faking it. That was fine, Rainbow was the one they needed to fool anyway.
Fluttershy dropped into a free fall.
You may wonder, with the great Wonder Bolts there why should a little filly like Rainbow be the one to rescue her?
Well, Rainbow Dash didn’t think that way for even an instant. The element of loyalty immediately acted, moving to terminal velocity and accelerating, determined to save her new friend.
“She’s getting too close to the ground,” said Rarity.
Discord prepped himself to turn Fluttershy into rubber.
Rainbow could see colours coalescing like an air pocket, holding her back. She pushed harder. She had to overcome this resistance.
Suddenly there was an explosion of polychromatic light. Everyone was blinded by the sonic rainboom. The sight was magnificent.
When they dared look again everyone cheered at what they saw.
Rising above the clouds, holding chibi Fluttershy tight to her chest was a full grown Rainbow Dash.
Her body was fully adult, even the red in her hair returned, complete with cool looking split ends. Moreover, there was a sharpness in her eyes. Everyone just knew that her memory had also been restored.
Ponies continued to cheer their shared triumph.
Apple Bloom was ready to cheer along side them, then she turned to check on Apple and her joy melted away.
Apple was biting her lip, and holding back tears. There was also anger in her expression.
“What did you do to my sister,” she cried out.
Upper Crust was also in shock, and lost for words. Apple ran up to her and embraced the pony who was practically still a stranger.
