> An Apple Far From the Tree
>  by Autum Breeze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


An Apple Far From the Tree

Chapter 1

___________________________________________________________



I could hear the sound of my family getting up for the morning. Of course, I had no plans on joining them, at least not for a little while longer.

I was curled up, nice and warm in my bed and the last thing I wanted right now was to get up. I had opened an eye and glanced at my digital clock a little before the sounds of my family had started.

It had said 7:34AM. Translation: I’m not getting up yet.

It’s one of my days off work, and on these days, I just love lying in bed, even though I’m awake, til at least 9 o’clock on weekends, around 8 o’clock weekdays.

This is due to my job, which I have to get up about twenty minutes or more before seven, then take a few buses to get to work around two and a half hours later to start my shift.

This happens three days a week and when my days off come around, my body immediately takes advantage of the fact that I don’t have to get up too soon on these days and convinces me to remain in bed, enjoying the relaxing time I have before the time I eventually do get up.

Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Sam, Sam Wilson. I’m your average 23-year-old Australian brony, who enjoys watching the show, chatting with other bronies and pegasisters online, watching fan videos and reading and listening to fanfics of MLP.

I hear a loud knocking on my door. “Sam,” my mum’s voice calls from outside my bedroom door. “Time to get up. Your dad’s got to work today, so we want to give him his presents before he goes, meaning you’ve got to get up. I’ll be back in two. If you’re not up, I’m coming in there and pulling you out of bed myself.”

I groan, shifting in my bed as I think about what she’s just said. She’d pull me out of bed herself? What am I, five?

Oh yeah, should probably explain.

You see, I still live with my parents. It’s not that I won’t move out, I just can’t right now. I’ve yet to find a place where I can stay, so I just pay my parents for room and board and they let me live with them.

Though, thinking about what else she said, I remember now that it’s September 7th, Father’s Day and Mum had been hiding Dad’s presents in my room.

I yawn, trying to lift a hand to my mouth and push myself up.

At once, something seems off. It feels like I’m underneath a second blanket beneath my quilt.

I raise an eyebrow at this. That doesn’t seem right. I know I only had my quilt and bed sheets last night. How is there a second blanket over me now, this one underneath my other covers?

“What in tarnation...?”

I frown. That’s... not mah voice. But, I was definitely the one saying that. Why did I sound... girly, I guess? And, why did I hear a southern accent in my voice? On top of them, my slightly still in lie-in mode brain is still too sluggish to fully send the message, but I have an alarming feeling that I’ve heard that voice somewhere before.

I open my eyes and move my head to look around. Something seems off about my room. It seems... bigger than it had last night, for some reason.

Whoa! What the heck is that thing in front of mah nose? It’s huge, and... yellow?

I shake my head. Am I still sleepy? Man, this last week of work must’ve been more tiring than I thought, if I’m so exhausted on my last day off for the week that I’m so groggy in the morning.

I try to sit up again, but the bed covers feel a lot heavier than before. I really have to push to get them off.

Once the covers are off me enough that I can move and sit up... before I notice something else that’s odd. I’m sitting like our dog, on all fours.

“Wha...?” I say with that odd voice again. “Why am Ah sitting like a dog an’... Okay! What in the hay is up with mah voice?”

I look down at myself, my eyebrow rising again. What I’d thought was a second blanket before was actually... my pajama top? Okay, this is really getting weird.

To clarify, my pajama top is really just an old jumper that isn’t good enough to wear out anymore, so it functions as the top half of one of the pairs of my winter pajamas instead.

Though, looking at it now, it’s so big it’s as if I’m a child again, trying to wear adult clothes.

I shake my head again. This is too confusin'.

As I shake my head, however, my hair bobs around (okay, that’s not right, my hairs way too short to do that) and some pops into my line of vision on my right and my eyes go wide.

My hair is normally a dark-mousey-blonde. However, the hair that fell into my line of sight was a pastel red and a lot longer than my hair should be.

Another part of my brain wakes up and things start to click in, causing me to start shaking. High, girl-like voice, southern accent, yellow nose so huge I can see it in front of my own face, long pastel red hair... I know who all those belong to and the thought turns the blood in my veins to ice, especially when I realize I can’t feel the thing that makes me a man anymore, but something very different down below.

“Sam!” Mum’s voice calls in a very annoyed tone as the door starts to open. “I thought I told you to—”

I’m not even given time to panic. She stops as she looks at me and I have a very bad feeling I know exactly what she’s looking so wide-eyed about.

I gulp. “Uh... Ma... this... ain’t what it looks like...” the words die in my throat at the even wider-eyed look she gives me.
“S... S-S-S-Sam?”

I nod slowly. “Is... am Ah... what Ah think Ah am?”

Her face seemed to crack. “... If you mean I’m currently seeing a pastel yellow pony in my son’s bed, calling me “Mama” then... I... think... so...”

With that, her eyes roll into the back of her head and she collapses backwards, out of my room.

“Ma!” I shouted, trying to rush to her, only to get tangled up in my now way too big pajama top and fall to the floor. Lucky it’s carpeted or that might have really hurt.

“Mum!” a chorus of voice sound, followed by hurrying footfalls as I struggle to right myself and get out of the tent of a top I’m now wearing.

My dad, two brothers and three sisters all crowd around Mum, bending down, worried looks, before my oldest younger sister, Jane, looked to my open door and saw me.

I freeze where I am, just about out of the damn top and stare at her. Her sudden stiffness caused the others to all look at me and then they were all wearing the same dumbfound, what-the-hell-is-going-on? look Jane was wearing and that I was probably wearing too, along with a just-how-am-I-going-to-explain-this? look.

In all honesty, I couldn’t explain it. I had absolutely no idea how I’d gone to sleep a bit after midnight and woken up as the pastel pony I was now.



___________________________________________________________



“When Mum said to play a joke with ponies for one of Dad’s presents, I don’t think she meant turn into a pony yourself, Sam,” Mike, my youngest brother said, cocking an eye at me from across the table.

After several long moments of having stared at me, Mum had woken up again, before fainting again at the sight of me and I’d had to try and explain something I didn’t even understand to my own family to prove to them I was indeed Sam Wilson.

After that, we’d put Mum to bed and let her rest, while we all tried to figure out just how I’d gone from a 23-year-old man to a small pastel yellow filly with a red mane and tail.

Yeah. A tail. I’ll tell you, it feels damn weird realizing your whole body structure has changed and that you now not only don’t have fingers anymore, but also have an extra appendage, one right above your butt.

I’d explained what I could, though that admittedly wasn’t much. I’d mainly just told them about the character I’d now become, explaining Apple Bloom’s origins as far as I know about them and so on.

When Mike pointed out after I’d explained about Cutie Marks that I didn’t have one, I gave him a sour look. Of course I didn’t have one. I’d become Apple Bloom not Applejack. Though I’m sure waking up as the orange mare wouldn’t have been any easier to come to terms with. Hell, I still hadn’t fully come to terms with this yet.

“So, how do you think this happened?” my first brother, John’s girlfriend, Jill (yeah, John and Jill, go ahead and laugh if you want) asked, looking at me with an expression I could only assume one wears when looking at something cute, like a puppy.

I sighed, shaking my head. “Like hay, Ah’d know. Best Ah can guess is some kinda rift ’r warp in time and space did this. The why an’ how Ah ain’t gotta clue, though.”

Jane frowned, leaning against the wall, her arms folded over her chest. “So, why’re you talking like that? Can you just talk normally? You never had a southern accent before. You had a more American-Aussie one.”

“Ah’ve tried!” I said, holding my arms... I mean, forelegs in the air angrily. “But it’s like Ah can’ stop it. If’n Ah wanna talk like before Ah gotta really focus and it gets hard.”

“So, what do we do?” Milly, my second sister asks, looking similar to how Jill’s looking at me, then looking away angrily, as if she doesn’t like giving me that look.

I slump, my head resting against the table (though that’s my whole body or else my head wouldn’t reach above the table at all). “Ah got no idea, Milly. It ain’t like this’s ever happened before. Have ya’ll ever heard o’ someone in the news sayin’ they suddenly woke up as a filly fr’m a cartoon show?”

They all looked away, not meeting my gaze.

I sighed, raising my head. “The only thing Ah can think that comes close ta this is Becomin’ Sweetie Belle.”

Dad raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s that?”

I shake my head. “It’s an MLP fanfic where this guy wakes up as the character Sweetie Belle, then ends up teleportin’ him, er, herself to Equestria.”

My third sister, Jean, fidgets, before asking, “And... how does that fic end?”

I shake my head. “It ain’t done yet. Ya’ll can check online if’n ya wan’. Should still be logged inta my fimfiction user name. Ya just gotta look in my Favourites an’ it’ll be there. Not sure what page, though.” I sighed. "'Sides, Ah doubt it'll help us. It ain't like it's a reference guide 'r anythin'."

Dad shook his head. “Well, this is certainly the weirdest Father’s Day ever. I doubt any other dad has woken up to find his eldest son has turned into a small pony from a TV show?”

Mike frowned. “How old are you now, anyway?”

I shook my head. “Ah got no idea, Mike. The ages o’ the ponies is kinda left ta interpretation. The only clue Ah can think o’ is that, in the Equestria Girls movie, Apple Bloom was about pre-teen, so, maybe eight, nine, ten? Sumthin’ like round that area.”

Dad sighed. “Anyone got any clues as to how we might be able to get Sam back to normal?”

For some reason, that offended me and before I could stop myself I shouted, “Hey, Ah’m perfectly normal. Jus’ cuz Ah’m a Blank Flank it don’t mean Ah ain’t normal!”

They all stared at me, shocked.

I blinked, frowning. Where in the hay did that come from?

Oh, great. Even in my head I’ve got the accent.

The rest of the day was... awkward doesn’t quite do it justice. Everyone kept glancing at me whenever I left my room, as if unsure what to do.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to do either. I mean, how do you adjust to turning into a child pony and the opposite gender at the exact same time?

Plus, my new form and gender proved... annoying for several reasons. It took my ages, several hours, to figure out how to walk on four legs. It just felt so different and weird.

On top of that, something that had become easy for me over a decade and a half ago now was really difficult. Going to the toilet was embarrassing enough now that I was female, but having to do it when you’re a quadruped? Forget it!

I messed the floor several times, not being able to really sit like a human anymore on it, so, in the end, if I wanted to relieve myself I had to go outside, like an animal.

Oh, yeah, and there’s the little matter of our Jack Russel.

Luckily, unlike whenever he normally sees an animal he knows isn’t meant to be in our yard, he didn’t attack me. He just looked at me in confusion as I walked passed him, went into one of the bushes in our yard and went.

Of course, the insult came when, as I was walking back inside and HE SNIFFED MY BUTT!

I had to resist bucking him in the face, then and there, not an easy thing to do when you suddenly feel a cold nose pressed against your ass.

Along with all the other things, I was naked the entire day, since we had no clothes my size anymore. Yes, in the show ponies don’t normally wear clothes, but I felt really uncomfortable being nude around my family.

I couldn’t be happier when dinner came, it meant the day was almost over and I could go to bed and maybe wake up tomorrow and learn this was all just a really weird lucid dream.

As I looked at my meal (I was sitting on a box so that I could reach the table from the bench), I frowned. On my plate was some mashed potato, carrots, peas and some pumpkin. Not that those were a problem, I enjoy those vegetables.

No, what caught my eye were the chicken and herbs sausages next to the peas and carrots.

I looked to Mum, my face in a deadpan. “Ah’m a pony, Ma.”

Mum had woken shortly after our discussion early that day and, while it had been difficult, she’d come to accept that the pony talking to her was indeed her child. At least one of us could accept this.

She blinked at me in confusion. “Yes. We kind of figured that out already, Sam.”

I shook my head and pointed to the sasuages with my left forehoof. “Yeah, an’ these’re sausages.”

She nodded again, still looking confused. “I know they are, Sam. I’m the one who cooked tonight, remember?”

I groaned, grinding my new pony teeth before shaking my head. “Ah’m a pony an’ ya’ll gave me sausages ta eat. Ya gave me meat!”

Still she didn’t seem to get it. “What? Are you saying you don’t like sausages anymore?”

“ARH!” I yelled, face palm— I mean, face-hoofing. “Ponies don’ eat meat!”

She blinked, confusion playing across her face, before her eyes went wide. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Sam, I— I thought you still liked meat and—”

“Ah never said Ah don’ like it no more,” I gave an exasperated sigh, “but Ah can’ eat it no more ’ecause my new pony body won’t be able ta process it. Ah’d probably get sick.”

Mum apologized a few more times as she took the sausages off my plate, only for Mike to call in a very obnoxious way, “If she won’t eat them, I will.”

I scowl at him for referring to me as a “she”. “Ah may be a filly now, but Ah’m still yer older brother, Mike. Show my some respect, would ya?”

He snorted. “Yeah, right. Why should I show you any respect when you're smaller than me?”

This earned him a smack upside the head from Dad.

“Ow!” he snapped, glaring at Dad, his hands where he’d been smacked. “What was that for?”

Dad scowled at him. “Sam’s been through enough as it is, Mike. He doesn’t need you making him feel any more uncomfortable about this than he already is. And he's right. I should have said this sooner, but you’d better start showing more respect, to all of us!”

“Or what?” Mike retorted and I could see a smirk hidden on his lips.

That smirk was the result of years of my parents really doing nothing to quell his brattiness, thus he just got more and more smug, thinking he could do whatever he wanted.

Dad’s scowl grew deeper. “Or I’ll take away your computer, iPad and Xbox rights.”

I would have burst out laughing as the smirk vanished from Mike’s face if I wasn’t staring at Dad in shock. It had been so long since he’d actually threatened to take anything away from Mike as punishment.

However, Mike’s smirk soon returned. “Right. Like all the other times you said you’d do that.”

Dad’s reaction was one none of us could’ve expected. He got up; walked into Mike’s bedroom (Mike’s smirk faltered slightly at this) and several moments later came out with Mike’s Xbox held in his hands.

Mike’s mouth dropped, before he was up and by Dad, pulling at his Xbox and swearing like there was no tomorrow. I won’t say what he said, but it was along the lines of “You jerk. You can’t take that,” and when asked why replied with, “because I said so.”

Dad just glared and pulled it out of Mike’s grip and went down the hall, Mike following him, still trying to pull it away from Dad and swearing his head off, and, just so you know, he’s only twelve.

I couldn’t help but smirk as we heard Dad’s retorting to Mike’s demands. He’s had that coming for a long time.

“That’s not fair!” Mike continued as they both came back down, Dad putting something in his pocket. “My iPod too? Why am I getting punished?”

“Just for that, no lunch money for five weeks, either,” Dad snorted.

Mike looked close to blowing his top.

The rest of dinner, he gave me death stares while I enjoyed a vegetarian meal. And when I say “enjoyed” I mean I was in heaven. I don’t know if it’s because ponies have more or stronger taste buds than humans, but these were the most flavourful, most amazing carrots, peas, pumpkin and mashed potato that I’d ever tasted in my whole life. I was practically salivating whenever I finished and had to open my mouth to get more, completely forgetting the indignity of having to eat like a dog because couldn’t figure out how to grip my cutlery with my new hooves.

When dinner was over we had ice cream with lemon syrup (my taste buds were practically screaming with delight) before another awkward part of the day came along.

Since I was so small now, I couldn’t reach the shower taps. I couldn’t even use the shampoos or soap, so my mum had to bathe me in the bathtub.

I never felt so humiliated in my whole life. I was a 23-year-old guy less than twenty-four hours ago, fully capable of caring for myself and now here I was getting bathed by my mother as if I were a toddler again.

When Mum had finished bathing me, she lifted me out (again, making me feel like a baby), dried me off (causing my yellow fur to poof out before I shook myself like a dog) and I went back to my room, used the stepping stool Dad had put by my bed so I could get up to it and squirmed my way under the covers.

Technically I didn’t have to go to bed yet, it was only 6:55pm and I normally wouldn’t go to bed until much later, but I just wanted this day to be over.

Mum walked in, sat down on my bed and put her hand on my head. “Hey, it’ll be okay.”

I gave her a deadpanned looked. “How? How is this gonna be okay, Ma? Ah’m a filly, Apple Bloom. How we gonna deal with this?” I face-hoof as I remember what day it is. “How am Ah gonna explain not goin’ ta work t’morrow?”

Mum sighed. “Dad called them while at work. He told them you won’t be in this week because you’re sick.”

I snorted. “This ain’t sumthin’ we can just cure, ya know?” I sighed, slumping. “Ah’m probably gonna be stuck as Apple Bloom fer the rest o’ my life.”

I suddenly got a shiver, realizing just how much I needed to keep myself hidden. What if a Clopper, one who didn’t care about consent, found me? They’d—

I shook my head. The thought was too horrible.

Mum seemed to see I was scared, because she leaned down and hugged me. I latched onto her, putting my forelegs around her neck.

“Ah-Ah’m scared!” I said, tears welling in my eyes, some of the first tears I’d shed in a long time. “What’s gonna happen ta me?”

Mum just rubbed my back gently. “Shh, shh. It’s okay. We’ll get through this. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, be we’ll get through this together, okay? Your father and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

I nodded against her shoulder, sniffling.

She gave a small chuckle. “We haven’t done this in a long time, have we?”

I shook my head. It had been a really long time since I’d needed her comfort the way I did right now. The last time I could think of such a thing happening was when I’d been a little older than ten.

Still, it was nice to have Mum hold me again. She made me feel safe.

After a few minutes we pulled away from each other, she laid me down and lifted two white pills to me. I nodded, taking them on the flat of my right forehoof and tossed them into my mouth. She held a glass of water to me and I gulped it down, washing the pills down my throat.

They were my medication. I don’t produce melatonin as much as others do, so I need to take it in pill-form before going to bed.
Mum smiled as I finished the glass, taking it away from me. She kissed me on the forehead, tucked me in and left the room, turning the light off before closing the door.

I sighed, turning to my left, holding my Togepi plushie I got on my eleventh birthday close. It was now almost half as big as me, but I still felt comfort in holding it close to me.

I was asleep about fifteen minutes later, wondering just how we were going to deal with my being Apple Bloom for the rest of my life.




> Chapter 2 (rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2


___________________________________________________________



“Sam! Sam, please wake up!”

The voice is shouting at me, sounding like it’s very far away. I can feel my body moving as if I’m being shaken.

What in the hay...?

“No! We can’t call an ambulance or a vet!”

“What if she doesn’t wake up, huh? They could figure it out—”

“And then have them report her to the government and be taken away for experiments? Over my dead body!”

“Then what will we do, huh? She’s not waking up!”

I groan. “Could ya’ll stop yer shoutin’? It’s too early fer this.” While the voices had started off far away at first, they’d become all too loud all too fast.

“Oh, Sam!”

I slowly manage to open my eyes to find my head resting on Mum’s shoulder. John, Jill and Mike are standing with Dad in the doorway, all of them looking relieved.

I suddenly become aware that Mum is sobbing as she holds me tightly, as if she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she loosens her grip in any way.

“Uh, did sumthin’ happen?” I ask, looking at those gathered in the doorway with confusion.



___________________________________________________________



It turns out I had not woken up in the morning. I’d woken up in the late afternoon. It was already 2:54pm.

I blink, frowning in confusion as I’m told how they’d just thought I was sleeping in when Ten O’ clock came and I hadn’t gotten up, which they’d taken as my body getting used to itself and left me to sleep.

It was only around 12:30pm that Mum had come in to wake me, only to find that, no matter how hard she shook me, I wouldn’t wake up.

This had caused them all to panic, thinking I’d maybe slipped into a coma or something, as I didn’t respond to anything. Mike had kept saying they should call someone for help, despite everyone explaining to him that doing so could cause us more trouble, because others in positions of government employ would know about the talking pony.

“So, how come Ah slept fer so long?” I ask, cricking my pony neck. To be honest, I feel really refreshed.

Mum puts her head in her hands. “It was my fault. I didn’t think that your being a little pony now would mean your medication could be dangerous to you now.”

I blink, before grinning anxiously. “Uh... ya mean... I shouldn’t take mah med anymore.”

Mum, still keeping her head in her hands, shook her head.

I frown, folding my forelegs and looking up. “Well... with everythin’ tha’ happened yesterday... I’m not surprised we didn’ think o’ that.

John nods. “Yeah. We were all pretty antsy. A mistake was bound to be made. And, think. We were lucky. It coulda been far worse, but everything's okay... well, aside from Sam still being a filly from a cartoon show.”

Dad sighs. “What’s done is done, right? You’re awake now, so we don’t have to worry about that again. We’ll just have to remember that you don’t take your medication anymore.”

“But how will Ah sleep?”  I ask, holding my up my forelegs. “Ah’ve needed those meds ta sleep since my operation.”

“That’s actually why I think Dad believes you don’t need them anymore, Sam,” John says, nodding sagely. “Does Apple Bloom have any of the head problems you did as a human?”

I cock an eyebrow, before I frown. “O’ course not. Thanks to those dang soccer moms having a beef about Derpy, the show can’t have ponies like that. Despite Snails bein’ even more stupid seemin’ than Derpy did atall,” I add in a mutter. “Guessin’ it’s okay ta make the guys look stupid ta them, but try the girls an’ they spit the dummy.”

John just nods, folding his arms. “Well, if Apple Bloom doesn’t have any problems like you did as a human, then you don’t now, either, right?”

I blink. “Uh, come again?”

Jill blinks, before her eyes widen. “That’s right. Sam, when you became Apple Bloom, you became her in body. That means, any damages your body had when you were human no longer exist. I mean, think about your eyesight.”

I stare at her, before I gasp. I hadn’t even noticed my eyes were seeing things normally for the first time since I was seven. My right eye works just well as my left now.

I stare down at the table, just gobsmacked. “Ah... Ah don’t...” That’s when I notice we’re not all here. “Hey, uh, where’s everyp—one?” Did I almost unconsciously say “everypony”?

Mike shrugs. “School.”

I frown at him. “Then why ain’t ya’ll at school, Mister? Last Ah checked, you and the others still go ta the same school.”

He shrugs again. “Got sent home cos I threw up. Don’t feel sick, but you remember that’s what they do, right?”

I glare at him. “Jus’ cos Ah’ve gone an’ turned inta a filly from a cartoon, it don’t mean Ah’ve lost mah memory, little brother!”

“Quite it with the little brother, will ya?” he says angrily. “I’m bigger than you now!”

“But Ah was still born afore ya,” I smirk. “That makes you the little brother.”

He sits there, fuming at me.

An awkward silence flows through the rooms, which is eventually broken suddenly by my stomach grumbling.



___________________________________________________________



“It jus’ ain’t fair, Jack,” I say, looking up at the sky.

A sniff comes from my side as the Jack Russel sitting against me lifts his head and stares at me. Yeah, our Jack Russel is called Jack Russel, so inspired right?


We’d played around a bit after I’d come outside, not feeling like hanging around inside all day. He’d been confused at first, but he seemed to remember my scent from yesterday and identified me as friend... something I’m honestly still surprised by, since he’s so territorial about the yard he’ll angrily attack any animal that comes in.

One time a blue tongue lizard came in and we’d barely stopped him from getting bitten by it, since he’d refused to back down from the reptile.


Til I hung out with Jack in a way I never could’ve before, I’d forgotten just how fun it was to simply run, play a game of tag, small things I hadn’t done in years. Thanks to my Earth Pony strength I was stronger than Jack and tended to win most of our tussles.

However, as time wore on I got tired, my thoughts returning to my current state and the problems it could cause making me not want to play. So I’d just sat down in the middle of the yard and lain down on my stomach. Jack joined me once he realized I wasn’t going to play anymore and sit down next to me, pressing his body against mine.

Time was he could never sit still around me, always jumping around, trying to climb up my legs.  Now he seemed to know I wasn’t in the mood and had decided to lie down next to me.

It was rather comforting, having him next to me. We are about the same height now, with me being maybe a little taller than him. Sometimes, when I started crying as thoughts of what would happen if I got caught and the government took me away from my family, never to see them again, he nuzzled me, which made me giggle as her fur and whiskers tickled me.

Our understanding of each other was certainly different than it had been when I was human. I wasn’t so much one of his owners anymore, as much a good friend.


That night, I don’t have my medication before bed, not wanting a repeat of this morning.

Mum walks in as I snuggle into the covers and sits down on the edge of the bed. “You doing okay?”

I give a sigh, looking down at my hooves. “Well, better than before... not that that’s sayin’ much.”

Mum nods, them leans over and pulls me into a hug. “we’ll all be here for you, remember that, okay, sweetie?”

I give a half-hearted chuckled. “Ah’m not Sweetie Belle, Ah’m Apple Bloom.”

She chuckles and pulls back, flicking me on the forehead. “You can still make lame jokes. I guess you are doing okay.”

A small, sheepish smile adorns my face. “Night, Ma.”

She leans forward again and kisses my forehead. “Goodnight, Sam.”

She gets up, turns off the light and closes the door.

I roll over and close my eyes and, after a short while, sleep takes me.



___________________________________________________________



That became the routine of our house. I’d get up in the mornings, eat breakfast, then go outside and play around with Jack. While not too productive, it helped me stay fit, which, for an Earth Pony, I knew was a good thing.

I didn’t just mess around all day, though. I’d help out any way I could. When Mum needed to do the washing, I’d pass her the pegs from the pegs bag.

I even helped out with the gardening. To my surprise, it seemed my Earth Pony magic was flowing out whenever I did that. Our tomato plants, which usually only grew a few tomatoes at a time, suddenly seemed close to growing twice the usual.

Thankfully, we were able to keep Jack from eating them all this time, as he usually tries to do. I simply asked him not to and he did... though I did promise to share a tomato or two. Hey, loses a few is better than all of them, right?


However, the good times didn’t last for long. Within two weeks of my turning into Apple Bloom, I got found out. I don't know when it happened, but apparently the Channel Nine News copter had been flying over our house during one of the times I'd been out in the yard, just sitting with Jack.

We learned about this the next night.


We all sat at the dinner table, Dad was at work and John was out with Jill. We were having a pasta meal, purely vegetarian. John had said some equines could eat meat, so we'd given it a shot a few days ago, Mum using one of my Hungry Jacks dockets and getting a free cheese burger with a hot chocolate on her way back from work.

I'd enjoyed the burger, like I always have before, but several minutes later, I'd had my head in the toilet, up-chucking my burger and lunch, so we'd stopped with the meat idea.

As I slurp some spaghetti off my fork (I’d sort of figured out the whole holding things with my hooves thing the second day. If I didn’t think too hard about it, something would stick to my hoof and I could pick it up),  Casey Grimshaw's voice spoke from the TV.

“And now to an interesting sighting by our news copter, over a week ago. We've been asked by Hasbro to wait until today to show this, but Mike, our new pilot looked out the window at one point and saw what he thought were too dogs in a backyard. At first glance, that's what it seemed, however, when he asked the cameraman to zoom in it revealed the second dog was not a dog but, in fact, according to Mike, a small yellow pony with a red mane and tail.

I almost choke on my mouthful of pasta, Mum spat out her drink and all our heads whip to the TV. There, on the screen, is footage of our backyard from above and, sitting in the grass was Jack... and me.

We all sit there, our eyes glued to the screen. They knew. The world now knew.

Mum leaps up, her eyes wide with panic. “We need to go, now!”

We all nodded, not needing her to explain. We all got up and bound towards the door, when we heard a set of knocks. I skidded to a stop, my eyes wide, my blood running cold. I could see several shapes outside the window of our door. They were blurred, but that didn't make me any less afraid.

“Jane, with me,” Mum said, her voice taking on a firm, dangerous tone. “Everyone else, stay with Sam. If it comes to a fight, Jane and I will use our karate to hold them off for as long as possible while you get Sam to safety, got it?” Everyone nodded, crowding around me as I hunched down, wrapping my tail around me.

Mum opens the door and from behind everyone, I saw someone I recognized, not from TV, but from the internet.

“Lauren Faust?” I cry before I can stop myself.

It was. The creator of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was standing at our front door. Behind her I could make out tons of cameras and news vans. How had she gotten here so fast?

“Hello, there,” she said, holding out a hand to Mum. “As she just said, I'm Lauren Faust. I created the show that she came from.”

Mum took her hand back and shook her head. “Not quite, Miss Faust.”

“Ms.” she corrected. “I'm married, but kept my maiden name.” She then chuckled as I face-hoofed at my mum's words. “But, what do you mean?”

Mum shook her head and stepped aside. “Come inside and maybe Sam can explain it to you herself.”

“Who's Sam?” she asked as she and a cameraman walked in.

“That's me,” I say, both nervously and with excitement. I was meeting Lauren Faust, in person. “Ah'm Sam. It's a long story.”


Several minutes later we’re sitting in Mum and Dad living room (we have two in the house, one for Mum and Dad and one for the rest of us), with me sitting on the couch on the far wall, whilst Ms. Faust is sitting on the other, looking at me.

There’s also a cameraman holding, as his name suggests, a camera, filming our conversation.

“So... you’ve really no idea how... this happened?” Ms. Faust asks, indicating to me, to which the cameraman turns to me.

I’m trying to ignore him, but it’s getting harder. “No. Ah just woke up like this on Father’s Day.”

She frowns, looking to my parents; Mum’s sitting next to me, as if to protect me from... well, I dunno. She’s my mother. Plus, she’s been far more protective of me since my change.

“She’s telling the truth,” Dad sighs, scratching the back of his head. “Weirdest Father’s Day I’ve ever had.”

“Ms. Faust...” I begin.

“Call my Lauren, dear,” she chuckles. “I feel weird when people who aren’t interviewing me or fan meeting me call me Ms. Faust.”

I pout. “Bu’ Ah’m a fan.”

“Different scenario, honey,” she smirks. “None of my fans have ever turned into one of the characters I created.”

I keep my pout, folding my forehooves. I almost roll my eyes at the obviously hidden squeal she hides at seeing me do that.

“Can we please get to the business at hand here?” Mum asks, sounding annoyed as she looks at Ms. F— Lauren. “My child. Thanks to your friends at Hasbro, the whole world now knows about her.”

I shudder a little. God, I hope the Foalcon loving Cloppers hadn’t heard about it yet. The last thing I needed was to know guys and girls (hey, I ain’t discriminating on gender, here) were jerking off or whatever it’s called for girls to thoughts of me. Bleh.

Lauren sighs, putting her hands in her lap. “We wanted to speak with you before it went public.” She scowls. “Trust me, the heads at Hasbro are looking into just who gave the okay to go public before we could talk with you first.”

“What I don’t get,” John says, leaning against the wall, “is how you guys were able to keep the government away from all this. I’d have thought the knowledge of, what they’d see as a creature from another dimension being around would’ve met we’d have hazmat suits coming and taking Sam away.”

She giggles a little nervously. “Yeah... that... might still happen.”

“WHAT?” we all cry, our eyes going wide, Mum’s arms wrapping around me protectively.

Lauren sighs. “If you don’t do as I’m about to ask... I’m afraid there are guys in hazmats ready to take Sam away,” she sounds none to happy as she says it.

“WHY?” Dad shouts, standing up. “Is that a threat so you can get our child?!”

Lauren looks horrified. “No! It was the only way we could stop them from just barging in and taking her!”

He falters. “Huh?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, before looking to me. “It wasn’t easy, but the heads were able to convince them to stay away if we could get Sam in an interview with the news so she could explain things and prove she’s no threat to national security, both for your country or any other. If you refuse, though...”

“They’ll come an’ take me away without a second thought, right?” I finish, my expression grim.

She nods, looking at me apologetically. “I’m really sorry, Sam. I know the idea of just going out on TV and telling the world you’ve become a little yellow pony can’t be comfortable for you—”

“Ya’ll have no idea,” I mutter.

“—but it’s the only way to get the government of your back about this,” she goes on, shaking her head. “I wish I could help some other way, but this is the best offer I can give you.”

I look to Dad, then to Mum.

They both glance at each other, then sigh, before Dad says, “It’s your decision, Sam. We’ll go with whatever you choose.”

Gee, no pressure, then.

I sigh, turning to Lauren and nod. “Ah’ll do it.”

She gives a relieved smile, gets up, walks to the door and opens it, calling out in a firm tone, “You boys can hit the road. She’s doing the interview.”

My pony ears pick up the sound of annoyed voices, followed by a lot of shuffling and, three minutes later, several loud vehicles driving away.

Lauren walks back in as I’m prying myself from Mum’s arms and look to the creator of the show I know am living advertisement for. “So, who’s gonna be the first interviewin’ me?”







> Chapter 3 (rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3

___________________________________________________________



“Welcome back to Weekend Sunrise, you’re live with us on this fine morning,” Andrew O'Keefe smiled “now to our next, and most interesting story.”

“Yes,” Monique Wright said, an amused smile on her face, before the screen behind them and completely for viewers at home showed footage from above showing a dog and a yellow pony sitting in a backyard.  “Not more than a few hours ago—” 

“Well, yesterday evening now,” Andrew cut in.

“Yes, thanks for that,” Monique replied with a playful frown, “A Current Affair released footage of what many have been considering a hoax.” 

“However, we had had confirmation that it wasn’t a hoax at all,” Andrew says, sounding shocked. “It was very real. To help us prove this we have four special guests, Lauren Faust, a well-known producer for many shows...”

“Hi,” Lauren said, waving to the camera as it panned out to show her.

“Also we have three other guests, two of whom work on a project Ms. Faust used to be a part of before leaving it,” Monique said as the camera showed the other two guests sitting on the couch, “Miss Tara Strong and Miss Michelle Creber. Welcome, girls.”

“Hey,” Tara smiled, nodding.

“Glad I could be here,” Michelle grinned.

“Now, do either of you two realize what’s going on?” Andrew asks the two. “Because, to tell the truth, I’m really confused here. And when we were told you’d all be here today, I wasn’t sure what to think.”

Both look at each other, before shrugging.

“Aside from the footage, I’m as clueless as Tara on this,” Michelle answered, shaking her head. “Though I’ve seen the footage and you wouldn’t believe how crazy the blogging sites have been since it came out.”

“For those who don’t know,” Monquie said, looking to the camera as a banner for My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic appeared on the screen behind her, “Mrs Strong and Miss Creber provide the voices for characters in the show, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, a show that was revamped by Ms. Faust back in 2010. Who do you both voice again?”

“I play Twilight Sparkle,” Tara replies, before slipping into the voice. “I’m a main character in the show and the Princess of Friendship.”

“An’ Ah play Apple Bloom,” Michelle says in her Apple Bloom voice. “Ah’m also the singin’ voice for the character Sweetie Belle.”

“And it’s your character, Apple Bloom, this is all about, isn’t it, Michelle?” Andrew asks inquisitively, holding a stylis to his mouth as he held a tablet in the other.

Michelle scratches her neck. “Yeah. To be honest, I’m still not sure what’s going on here,” she returned to her regular voice again. “I’m actually still not sure I believe what it implies.”

Monique chuckles. “Well, I’ll confirm it for you then. Our final guest in this story is the one from the very footage itself. Please give a warm welcome, to Apple Bloom.”



___________________________________________________________



I watch from onset as Andrew O'Keefe and Monique Wright starts the interview with Tara Strong and Michelle Crieber.

I gulp as the footage comes on the screen behind her.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and jump, only to turn and see it’s Mum, giving me a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to—”

“Ma, if’n that sentence is gonna end in “do this is ya don’t wanna”, then don’t. We both know Ah ain’t gotta choice.” I sigh, looking back towards the set. “It’s either this or gettin’ taken away fer experiments and there ain’t no way Ah’m choosing the latter o’ those options.”

To be honest, it’s only the knowledge of the other option that’s keeping me from bolting. I’m scared shitless right now. I’d even avoid being seen by Tara Strong and Michlle Creber because I wasn’t sure how to act around them, especially Michelle. How do you talk to someone when you’re voice sounds just like one they can do perfectly?

Mum looks apologetic and stands up. “I need to use the ladies’. Will you be okay without me?”

I give a half-hearted smile. “Sure.”

She smiles back and heads off, leaving me alone as I wait for my time in the interview to go out.

Seeing it will still be a little while, I move over to the catering table and, using a stool to give myself some height, look over the spread.

I give a sad sigh at the sight of the ham rolls, knowing I can’t ingest them anymore. Still, I can see some salad things and there’re a few pastries to choose from.

I lean forward, intending to grab a blueberry muffin from a nearby plate.

“Hey. Who let this animal in here?” a voice says from behind me. “Get down from there, you filthy thing.”

I’m taken by surprise when I feel a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and lift me up. I struggle, trying to free myself from whomever’s got me.

“Hey!” say, but make sure not to be loud enough to be heard by the mics. “Let go o’ me, ya jerk!”

The person holding me gives a slight cry off alarm, dropping me. I get up and turn to see a young man standing against the all, his eyes wide as he stares at me.

“I-i-i-it talked?!” he asks, his voice shaking.

I frown at him. “Hey, Ah got a gender, ya know. Even if it ain’t my original one,” I mutter, before looking back to him. “Ah ain’t no it, got it?”

He nods rapidly, before scurrying off.

“Sorry ’bout that,” one of the grips says, shrugging. “Tom’s new here. Guess he didn’t see the footage, huh?”

“How is beyond me,” I scowl in the direction Tom ran off in. “Even Ah’ve seen how far it’s spreading on the social networks, an’ Ah ain’t even got no Twitter, Facebook or any o’ them accounts.”


“... give a warm welcome, to Apple Bloom,” Monique’s voice calls from onset.

“Sounds like you’re up,” the grip says to me.

“Yeah,” I sigh, moving off towards the set. “Wish me luck, Ah’m gonna need it.”

“Good luck, kid.”


I walk out onto the set, not the least bit surprised by the shocked expressions on Andrew, Monique’s, Tara or Michelle’s faces. Lauren just smiles at me, nodding.

“Um... do not adjust your TV signals, people,” Andrew says, seeming really uncertain. “We’re seeing this too and... oh, my God. There really is a yellow pony.”

I smirk a little. “An’ Ah talk to.”

I give an honest small chuckle at the further shock that enters their faces, not to mention the stunned looks of the people at the window; you know the one’s always trying to get attention during the filming of the show?

I move over to the spare spot on the couch, the one next to Michelle, clamber up and sit down.

“Uh... right,” Andrew says, the shock still not seeming to have worn of, not to my surprise. “So... uh... you’re Apple Bloom.”

At that my mirth drops and I scowl. “That’s the pony Ah’ve turned inta, yeah. But mah name’s Sam Wilson and Ah’m twenty-three, so let’s not talk like Ah’m a kid, okay?”

Michelle is just staring at me, her eyes wide at the living representation of a character she voices.

“So... how did this... um, start?” Monique asks.

I sigh. “It started on Father’s Day. Don’t know why, but, when Ah woke up, this is how Ah was. We ain’t got any idea how or why.”

“Wait, Father’s Day?” Andrew seems to come out of his stupor. “But, that was two weeks ago. You’re saying you’ve been this way for a little over two weeks?”

I nod. “Ain’t like we can just change me back ’r nothin’.”

“Why didn’t you come out, right away?” Monique asks, looking confused. “Scientists might’ve been able to figure out what happened.”

I scoff. “Or just made me a lab experiment. If Ah’d had a choice, Ah wouldn’a come out at all. But, thanks to someone telling it was okay to show that footage when it weren’t, Ah had two choice. Either come here and do this interview, or get taken away by guys in Hazmats. Which do ya'll think Ah'd prefer?”

All save Lauren stare at me in shock. She just sighs, shaking her head.

“Well...” Andrew says, glancing down at his tablet. “Well, let’s answer some questions. In the last minute our inbox has been flooded with Tweets. Uh, this is from ApplesAreSweetest, who asks, Have you had fun with your new gender?”

I scowl, before looking to the camera. “Ah’m afraid Ah can’t properly answer that, since this is a mornin’ show, but no. Ah ain’t plannin’ on it. Ah’m physically about ten now.”

“Oo-kay,” Andew sighs, looking uncertain. “This one’s from Telltail, who ask, How did you change? Can you tell me? I’ve always wanted to see what being Zecora is like.”

Monique blinks in confusion. “Who’s Zecora?”

“Another character on the show,” I sigh, before shaking my head. “Sorry, Telltail. Ah can’t tell ya, cos Ah don’t know. An’ even if Ah did, Ah don’t think Ah would anyway. Havin’ ponies start poppin’ up all over the world would cause more problems than ya’d think.”

“How can you know?” Andrew asks, looking confused.

“Have ya’ll read the fanfics where masses o' people start turnin’ inta ponies?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Trust me, it ain’t all sun shine and rainbows.”

“Okay,” Monique says uncertainly. “How about we take some calls? This one is from Brue Johns in Hampton. Hello, Bruce, what did you want to say?”

“Yeah, this is for the one of you that isn’t human,” the voice of a young man says over the phone’s speakers.

“Ah’m listenin’,” I say, though I’m a bit hurt how he just said I wasn’t human. Sure, my body’s not human anymore, but I’m still one inside.

“Go back to the pit you came from, you spawn of Satan!” he says, his tone darkening.

My eyes widen, as do everyone else’s as we look at the phone on the desk.

“Excuse me, but that’s uncalled for,” Michelle says, glaring at the phone.

“She’s unnatural!” Bruce Johns’ voice says, his tone firmer. “Send her away before she brings doom on us all.”

I recover and glare at the phone. “Ya’ll are an Anti-Brony, ain’t ya?”

The line goes dead as he hangs up.

“Um, what’s an Anti-Brony?” Monique asks, looking at the four of us in confusion.

“A male fan of MLP is called a Brony, , and what the fanbase is most known for,” Lauren says, not missing a beat. 

"Though some o' the female fans like callin' 'emselves Bronies, too," I cut in.

Lauren sighs. “Sadly, an anti-fanbase was also created. Anti-Bronies are people against the idea of guys being a fan of the show.”

“And who tend to look down upon it an' those associated with it,” I nod, still scowling at the phone. “Though Ah didn’ think any o’ the Antis would go so far as to call a livin’ pony the spawn of Satan.” I snort, looking at the camera. “Fer the record, if’n yer still watching, Bruce Johns, Ah’m a Christian, so anyone else who wants ta give me the whole Devil Spawn shtick, don’ bother. If’n Ah were, the holy water at church woulda burnt me. Hay, Ah wouldn’a even been able to set hoof in there.”

“You’ve been to church like this?” Andrew asks, looking confused. “How’d no one notice you were a pony?”

I smirk. “Dressed me up in some clothes and I walked on two legs whilst holding mah Ma’s hand. Made it look like I was wearin’ a costume the whole time.”

Michelle grins at me. “Smart.”

The rest of the interview goes by without much more hassles. The remaining calls we take are viewed before being sent through so we don’t have to deal with anymore Anti-Bronies talking about me being the child of the Devil and plunging the world into darkness with my very existence.

Michelle and the others talk about things in the show, Lauren explaining the difference between the four types of ponies, myself adding in confirmations about Earth Ponies, having lived as one for over a fortnight by now.

When asked what I’d be doing after this interview, I looked to Lauren, who explained that I was going to be appearing of several more shows, including a few light-night ones.


Once the interview was over and we’d been queued that the cameras weren’t filming us, the hosts thanked us for coming, especially me and we all walked off.

“Wanna catch a lift with me?” Michelle asks as we head offset and Mum comes towards us, wearing an apologetic look in my direction.

I smile up at her. “Sure, s’long as ya don’ mind me askin’ lots o’ questions an’ such?" 

"The same goes for me,' she grins down at me.

"That okay, Ma?” I ask as she bends down and hugs me.

“Well, I guess so...” she stands, frowning. “I’ll have to tell work I’m gonna be gone for a while, but...” she smirks, “seeing as they’ll no dobut have seen that interview as well, I’m sure they’ll be lenient with me.”

I nod, before looking to Lauren. “So, where to next?”

She grins. “America.”






> Chapter 4 (rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


.Chapter 4

___________________________________________________________



“So, when’s the flight gonna leave?” I ask, standing on my hind legs, pressing my forelegs against the window of the hummer we’re riding in towards the airport.


After the interview with Weekend Sunrise, we’d gone home and Lauren had explained to my family what was going on.

Of course, getting home and even inside had been a challenge, what with the countless reporters, MLP fans and, sadly, Anti-Bronies/People thinking I’m the spawn of Satan.

Admittedly, my family were hesitant to the idea of me leaving for America, but, seeing as the alternative was going to some secret government facility, likely to never see the light of day again, they came around pretty fast.

In terms of packing... there wasn’t really much needed. Being a pony for so long (not to mention appearing on live TV wearing nothing at all), I’d gotten used to walking around nude, so I didn’t have to pack any clothes... not that I even had clothes that fit me anymore.


The tricky part had been getting away without the camera crews following us. Thankfully, Tara and Michelle had come prepared, with a plushy of Apple Bloom, which they pretended was me, with Tara pushing through the hordes of people to get to a taxi, holding the plushy close and talking to it as she forced her way to and into the taxi.

The moment it took off, everyone else followed after, thinking they were following me.

Once the coast was clear, we hurried back to the hummer and the driver headed towards the airport.


My family sit around me, each talking about my trip. Aside from Mum. She’s calling someone, I’m guessing work, to let them know she won’t be in for a while.

“What? What do you mean I can’t take time off?”

My head turns from the view of the Ikea store I know is very close to the airport and turn to see Mum with her phone against her ear, and angry expression on her face.

“My child needs to go overseas and you’re telling me I can’t take some time off to be with her?” she demands into the phone.

We all sit there, watching, Tara (we met up with her several miles away from where we currently are, her having shaken the groups following her), Lauren and Michelle glancing at each other.

“No, but—” Mum pauses, listening the other end, her expression softening a little. “I understand, but I can’t just leave her— Okay. Yes. Yes, I understand. But, my husband can’t get time off either, so maybe you could— Right,” she gives a dejected sigh, her expression drooping. “Yeah, I— I understand. Okay.”

She hangs up and there’s silence in the car for several long moments.

“Uh... Ma?” I ask, looking at her. “Is... is sumthin’ wrong?” Well, o’ course there is, stupid.

“I... I can’t get time off,” she says, looking down at her lap, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “I... I can’t go with Sam to America.”

“Wait. What?” Dad stares at her with wide eyes. “But, we can’t just send her alone!”

“And you know neither of us can keep our jobs if we try to go with her,” she shoots back, glaring at him, despite tears forming in her eyes.

She pulls me into a hug and silently cries as she holds me. “I can’t leave you alone! I won’t!”

“Maybe I could go with her,” John suggests, leaning forward. “I mean, I do have some time off from my studies and I’ve a huge amount of leave.”

“We could consider it the vacation we were planning for a few years from now,” Jill says, before frowning in thought. “Though we’ll need our passports, which I left back at my place.”

“Same with mine,” John says, before slumping, putting a hand to his head. “This is ridiculous.”

“So... ya can’t come with me?” I ask, looking to each of them. They all lower their heads and tears stream down my face as fear floods my veins.

I can’t go to America alone! I don’t know anyone there. Where would I stay? What would I eat?

“Um... I have an idea.” We all turn to Michelle, who’s looking a little sheepish, but places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “If you like, Sam could stay with me and my family while she’s in America. I can even go with her should she need to travel interstate and stay in motels/hotels and the such.”

We all blink at her, my shivers slightly lessening, along with the fear gripping me tightly.

“Ya... ya’d be okay with a pony stayin’ at yer place?” I ask, the fear still within me causing my voice to squeak a little.

She gives me a warm smile. “I’d be honored. Plus... I kinda feel like I owe it to you. if not for the character I play, you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”

I open my mouth to argue that logic, when a “Hmm” from John causes me to turn and see him pondering. “Sumthin’ wrong, John?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “It was a silly thought is all.”

“What about? Also,” Tara asks, raising an eyebrow, before indicating to me, “your older brother has turned into a little pastel pony filly. I think we can handle silly thoughts.”

He shakes his head, leaning back. “It was a dumb idea, but, seeing as Michelle voices Apple Bloom and now Sam physically is Apple Bloom, does it kinda make them sisters?”

Silence sounds throughout the hummer as we all process what he just said.

I just stared ahead, all thoughts of my fears gone in an instant as my brain went over the theory... somehow finding plausibility in it, despite the human within me saying it couldn’t possibly work... while the Brony in my reminded myself that whatever had changed me from a human to a pony was due to magic of some kind, so the human logic could take a hick.

After what felt like forever, Dad finally managed to cough, bringing us all out of our stupors. “I’d say sisters might be going a bit far,” he said slowly, as if going over his words several times in his mind before speaking them. “Perhaps... cousins?”

There was a pause, before Lauren said, “I think... that would be reasonable to conclude, Mr. Wilson, given the circumstances.”

Michelle looks to Mum, her eyes soft. “Mrs Wilson, I know we barely know each, so trusting your... child—” I wasn’t sure whether to be angry or thankful she had avoided calling me Mum’s “daughter” yet hadn’t referred to me as her son due to my current gender “— but, I promise that I would look after Sam. I wouldn’t let her come to any harm if I can help it.”

Mum remains quiet, looking unsure of herself. I can imagine the warring battle in her mind. She doesn’t want to just trust my safety to someone she barely knows, but can also tell Michelle does care about me and that it would be rude to say no. Not to mention the constant backdrop that I would have to go no matter what to avoid being taken by the government and Michelle seemed the best chance for a place to stay whilst I was overseas.

After several moments of quiet, she gave a reluctant sigh and nodded. “Alright. I guess we can agree on that.” Her eyes narrowed. “But if anything happens to her, you will have me to answer to. Understood?”

Michelle stiffened and I felt like I was looking at the cockatrice that Fluttershy used The Stare on. Michelle gave a shaky nod, clearly making a mental note not give Mum reason to regret this choice.

“Anyway,” John said in a tone clearly met to try and lighten the mood, holding up a small leather square-shaped pad. His flipped it open and gave a cocked eyebrow. “I don’t understand why the government agreed to giving Sam as passport... especially with the... current photo.”

I get up and hop down from my seat, climb onto his lap and look at the photo... and find myself torn between wanting to burst out laughing and groaning in irritation at the same time.

The passport has all the regular details one would expect, age, name, home address, date of birth and so on. however, in the photo area, it was an image of myself— my current self— looking up in with a smile.

“Ah’d ask if they just went an’ grabbed an Apple Bloom pic fr’m online, but that background looks too real and this don’ look photo shopped atall.”

“That’s gonna cause some serious confusion when you change back,” Tara says jokingly.

A dead silence follows and she looks around at us in confused concern.

“You... do think she’ll change back... right?”

Mum shakes her head as I snuggle into Johns lap a bit for comfort. “We... honestly don’t think so, Mrs Strong. We’ve had theories about how she went from the Sam we knew to how she is now, but... as for changing her back...”

“Humanity just has no idea how to work that kind of thing,” John said as he began to stroke my mane. “I mean, when was the last time someone turned into another species and humanity figured out a way to change them back?”

Tara looks away, a somber expression falling over her face. “I guess you’re right.”

“We can hope that she’ll change back somehow, someday,” Mum says, looking to me with sad eyes. “But... other than a sudden change happening in reverse to what made her transform in the first place... we’re pretty much preparing for her life to be like this.”

I snort. “An Ah’m really lookin’ forward to female pony puberty,” I say sarcastically. “Can’t wait fer mah first heat.”


By now we’re nearing the airport, passing through the parking areas... when we notice a large gathering around the entrance. It’s s huge that it stretches to and through one of the parking lanes.

Taking note of all the security trying to keep the many people away from the entrances, I was reminded of what happens when celebrities arrive in airports, all the fans wanting to see them. 

For a moment, I wonder what kind of big celebrity could’ve caused this much of a fuss... before I notice the multi-coloured wigs, T-shirts and such of many of those grouped.

I face-hoof. Of course. No celebrity would be as big news as the living, breathing MLP character who appeared on TV. How could I be so stupid?

“This might not be as easy as we’d first thought,” Tara says, frowning at the large crowd. “We may need to use the fallback plan.”

I blink, looking to her. “Fallback plan? What in the hay is that?”

Michelle smirks. “You don’t get famous without learning a few tricks on how to avoid the press.”

“Driver?” Lauren calls, tapping on the screen between us as the front of the car.

The screen lowers and the driver, I can’t see him aside from a silhouette from my current position, looks back. “Yes, Ms Faust?”

“Round the back way,” she says, leaning back in her seat.

He nods, the screen going back up again.

The hummer turns away from the direct path to the entrance and heads down another road, one I notice looks more private. When the hummer pulls up a few minutes later, I can see several people standing outside a double door. They’re wearing uniforms that tell me they work for the airport.

As we step out of the car, they all look at me for several moments with the smallest amount of surprise I’ve yet seen someone wear when first seeing me, before they move to the back and start taking our luggage out, placing it onto a steel trolley.

We follow two that didn’t move with others inside, heading towards the front area.

I can already tell things are still going to be difficult, despite avoiding the front entrance crowd.

Inside are a far smaller amount of people wearing MLP related stuff, T-shirts, wings, onesies.

Thankfully we avoid being spotted as we move along what’s mark as the Private Line. As we wait, though, I can’t help looking out from between the legs of everyone, wondering if we’re going to get spotted.

When we finally get to the front, Lauren, Tara and Michelle deal with getting their boarding passes printed first, the woman behind the counter not blinking an eye despite their fame. When she gets to my passport to print my boarding pass, though, she frowns, looking toward everyone.

“Is this some kind of joke?” she asks in a very unamused tone, holding up my passport, showing the picture of a yellow filly with red hair.

I nudge Michelle’s leg and she bends down, picking me up holding me in view of the woman.

She just turns up her nose. “Animals go in the animal care compartments,” she says, reaching for a plastic cage I know animals go in.

I glare at the woman. “Do Ah look like Ah’m jokin’, lady?”

She blinks, looking up from the cage she was about to grab, before giving the most amused, yet at the same time, unamused smile. “Very funny, Miss Creber. I know about your role in that show my niece is so fond of.”

“She weren’t the one talkin’,” I say, directly in her line of sight.

She just stares, her eyes going wide.

“An’ Ah ain’t goin’ in no cage,” I snort. “Ah may be a pony now, but Ah was still a human once an’ as such, Ah’m going on the plane like any other human. Okay?”

She just keeps staring at me, before her body starts moving as if on its own, handles my details, printing my boarding pass, then hands them over, Tara taking them, before murmuring, “Hey a nice flight,” in a distant voice, as if she isn’t really here anymore.

Nodding, Michelle puts me back down and we start heading for security to put our stuff carry-on luggage through.

Again, things go normally as one would expect (in truth I’ve only ever been to and from an airport twice in my living memory, once to Queensland and another time to Hong Kong before heading for Japan). 

Whilst the other three go through the process I turn to my family, each of them giving me a hug and wishing me luck in America, John and Jill promising to do what they can to meet up with me at some point.

With our goodbyes, some of them tearier than I’d like to admit, over with, I turned to follow Michelle, who’d just passed through security. However, as I move to pass through the metal detector, the security guard stops me by putting a foot in front of me.

“Sorry. No pets allowed.”

I look up at him with a cold glare. “Pet?! Do Ah look like a pet ta you, pal?”

He takes a step back, his partner at the machine they scan luggage with an x-ray staring at me with wide eyes.

“Ya know, seeing as Ah’ve been on the Weekend Sunrise, the lack of people knowin’ me by sight’s kinda annoying,” I say, looking at the girls on the other side, who shrug.

I glare back up at the guy who stopped me. “Ah’m gettin’ on that plane like any normal human. If’n ya got a problem with that, talk to the government, pal.” And with that, I just walk through, both guards still looking like they were trying to process the situation they’d just experienced. 

Gone through security, I glance back at my family on the other side and give a finally wave, before I follow Michelle and the others into the airport.

I feel both self conscious and like laughing at the endless number of people who suddenly stop whatever they’re doing, even those running to clearly get to their plane, and stare up me in expressions ranging from shocked, confused, surprised to plain dumbfounded.

I stay close to Michelle. One thing we got right, without my family, she’s the one I feel safest with. I can only assume it’s something in my subconscious about her being Apple Bloom’s and technically my, voice.

After checking in at our get, we’re told we have about an hour before the plane arrives. With my stomach growling, we decide to pass some of the waiting time by getting an early lunch.

We stop by a McDonalds, the girls ordering salads for all of us. I end up waiting at our table towards the corner of the small restaurant. Along with our salads, we each have a fries (large for me), a sundae (Lauren has chocolate, Tara has strawberry and Michelle and I have caramel) and drinks (Lauren and Tara have Diet Coke, Michelle has lemonade and I have Fanta). 

We tuck into our lunches, the others deciding to chat with me about our personal lives, most likely just for something to do.

I certainly learned things I hadn’t known before.

Tara has two kids, Sammy Strong, who is twelve and Aden Strong who’s ten.

I almost cough on my lettuce when she says that. I’d had no idea Tara was a mother.

Michelle also revealed a few things I’d not known about. Her mother, Monique Creber, is a singer, voice over artist, actor, artistic/musical director, producer and performance coach and her father, Michael Creber, is a Grammy nominated and Juno Award winning jazz pianist/producer/musical director who has toured and recorded with k.d. Lang, The Rankin Sisters, The Irish Rovers and Raffi... though who those were I have no idea. But they sound important and famous, so I don’t say anything.

It seems fame and talent run in the Creber family.

Another thing she answers for is why she didn't order a burger and went with a salad too. It's because, whilst not a vegetarian, she has a low tolerance for beef, making it clear she didn't just order a salad to make me feel better because I can't eat meat and she didn't want to remind me of that, at least anymore than being in a McDonalds does, anyway.

Shortly after we finish our food, I glance at the menu and frown.

“What is it, Sam?” Michelle asks, noticing me looking at the board.

“Ah’ve never tried their apple pies afore,” I say, scratching my chin. 

“Do you like apple pie?” Tara asks, before snickering. “Or do you like them now that you’re an Apple?”

I roll my eyes and give her a deadpan look. “Har dee har har. No. Ah’ve had apple pie afore, just not theirs.”

“Well, maybe a little extra snack before we board,” Lauren says, glancing at a clock on the wall. “We’ve still a few minutes before our plans meant to board, so why not?”

Turns out the apple pies aren’t that good. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice and the flavour is pretty tasty. In truth, my dislike is more because of the pastry it’s inside. It just doesn’t feel right.

Flight 216 to Los Angeles, California, now boarding, a female voice says over the airport PA system. Flight 216 to Los Angeles, California, now boarding, All First Class and Business Class passengers now please line up to board.

“That’s us,” Lauren says, getting up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and starting back towards our gate, myself, Michelle and Tara following after.

“Which class are we?” I ask, moving a bit faster so I can look at Lauren as I talked to her.

She grins. “Seeing as you mentioned before that you’ve been to Premium Economy and really liked it, thought we’d all go Premium Economy.” She winks. “though we will be right up the front; hope you don’t mind.”

I shake my head. “Nah, it’s okay. ’Slong as Ah can sit at a window seat.”

They all chuckle and I blush, my ears folding against my head, realizing how that made me sound like a kid. But, I can’t help it. The first time I went flying for the one day stop in Hong Kong before we went to Japan, my dad had put me by the window seat and I’d loved it. It was the second time I'd flown from home to somewhere else (the first time I'd not been next to a window at all) and I'd never thought I'd be likely to get on a plane again, so I was eager to see that view again.

“You can’t let it on!”

The shout causes us to pause and glance around, before spotting a group of people, men and woman, standing by the gate to our flight. They seem to be in a heated discussion with the people at the desk.

“Whom we let on isn’t your concern, sirs and madams,” the girl behind the desk says, wearing an expression that clearly shows she’s tired of whatever they’re talking about.

“If you let that freak on the plane, you’re begging for a disaster!” one guy says, shaking his head.

“That demon shouldn’t be allowed on the plane,” a girl says, slamming her hands on the desk. “You’ll doom everyone on board.”

“Why do I get the feeling these guys are talking about somepony we know?” Tara says, a very unamused expression on her face.

“Looks like some snuck through security,” I snort, looking at the group. There’s nine of them in total, fives guys, four girls.

“This is going to be fun,” Michelle mutters as we move towards the gate.

As we get nearer, one of the girls in the group spots me walking next to Lauren and points, shouting, “There it is!”

The group, not to mention everyone within earshot of her call turns, the group charging forward, their expressions grim.

Michelle quickly comes forward and bends over me, spreading herself like a human shield, while Tara and Lauren stand in front of us.

“Get out of the way!” one of the men says, trying to push past them to get to me as I cowered under Michelle. “It needs to be dealt with!”

Security to Gate A. Security to Gate A, immediately, a voice says over the PA.

This only seems to make the group angrier and more frantic to get to me, which only makes the girls redouble their efforts to keep them back.

“Halt!” several voices shout, followed by running footsteps.

Several of the group break away and run off, while some turn to deal with security guards and the last few try in vain to get to me.

However, all those nearest who didn’t run away get pressed against the floor, their hands cuffed.

“You idiots!” one of the guys on the ground says, glaring at me as Michelle stands, moving off from me. “Why do you defend that freak of nature?!”

One of the guards pressing his foot down on the guy’s back, making him return to laying flat on the ground. “Freak of nature or not, she’s innocent and was doing nothing wrong. You, on the other hand, attacked without reason.”

“Without reason?!” one of the girls shouts as a female guard presses her down. “Without reason?!”

“Without logical reason,” Tara supplies coldly, glaring.

The guards give their apologies and we’re moved to the front of the line, where our things are quickly looked over and confirmed, before we head onto the plane, myself hoping the flight is less eventful than the boarding.





> Chapter 5 (Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5

___________________________________________________________




As I walk onto the plane, I glance up to see several of the stewardesses looking at me. The moment they see I see them; they turn and continue doing whatever they were doing to prepare the plane for when it took flight.

I walk with Michelle until we’ve found our seats in Premium Economy and take them, Lauren and Tara taking seats in the row next to us.

As we sit down I look out the window, my thoughts elsewhere.

Seeing the kind of anti-pony reactions already here in Australia, I’m a little anxious as to the reactions of those in America. From what the others had told me, both the girls and even my family, the web had gone bonkers over the news about me. The clip showing Jack and I in the backyard had over ten million views and my interview on Weekend Sunrise had been streamed by someone and posted on Youtube.

It eclipsed the first video at twenty million views and Twitter, Facebook, Snapchats, every single part of the net was abuzz at the news of my ponification.

The chances I wasn’t the talk of pretty much the whole planet wasn’t too hard of a stretch to believe. It made me worry just what would be waiting for us when we arrived in Las Angeles. Would it be a mob of screaming fans, all wanting to see the living, breathing pony... or a bunch of people wishing my death?

I have a sudden understanding of how native Americans, African Americans and pretty much anyone who wasn’t white felt in regard to the KluKlux Klan.

It was saddening to think that was probably the equivalent to what we encountered at the gate. Wonder if those people will realize that’s how their acting?

I settle into my seat, struggling to do up the seatbelt. I may be able to hold things with my hooves, but some things don’t like to cooperate. 

Michelle sits down next to me, leaning over to help me with my belt.

A few moments later, one of the stewardesses comes over, looking at Michelle.

“Miss, if you’re going to have your pet onboard, could you please...?”

Her voice trails off as she notices me giving her a death glare.

“Ah. Ain’t. No. Pet!” I snarl threw gritted teeth. “During the flight, watch the news. Ya might just learn sumthin’!”

Looking a little taken aback, she leaves to deal with whatever else she needs to.

I huff, folding my forehooves across my chest. At least sitting like a human in this seat gives me that luxury.

“Sam,” Michelle says quietly.

I snort, looking out the window. “How is it people working in an airport don’t know about this? Ah’m gettin’ tired of it.”

Michelle sighs, before nodding. “It is pretty rude, I’ll admit. Even if they hadn't seen the videos or the interview, you don’t move or act like a normal animal, so you’d think that would be a clue to them.”

We slip into silence as we wait for all the other passengers to finish boarding, before a stewardess comes out to the front of the compartment and gives the unusual instructions on flight procedure.

I choose not to listen to her directly, fitting, with some difficulty due to them not being designed for an equine's head, my earphones and watch the safety demonstration video playing in the screen in the back of the chair in front of me instead.

Once it’s over, I just sit and watch the plane’s flight path video being shown. I’d seen this kind of thing back when my dad and I went to Japan in 2012, though back then it had shifted between English and Asian for each part of the demonstration, whereas this time round it was all in English.

After a while, the plane starts moving, before heading down the runway for takeoff.

As we rise, I wince, my ears folding against my head. Okay, the ear-popping thing? Way worse when you’ve equine ears that are far more sensitive than human ones.


“Sam?”

“Hmm?” I murmur, turning my head.

Michelle smiles at me, pointing towards the seat in front of me. I turn my head and see a tray of food there. It has a small selection of veggies like a baked potato, some pumpkin and sliced carrots. Next to that is a small tub of noodles with corn and spinach. And finally, a small bar that, upon rubbing my eyes and reading the label, says it’s raspberry and vanilla ice cream.

I blink, before turning to her with confusion.

“You kinda zoned out during the takeoff,” she chuckles, starting on her own food tray. “Guess it took longer for you to recover than us because, well...”

I nod, turning to look at my food. Leaning forward, I use my mouth to untie the napkin around my cutlery, which takes a bit of maneuvering, then take the fork with my right hoof and the knife with my left.

As I eat it, I can’t help remembering something the puppet comedian Randy said in his show Randy Is Sober, where he mentioned how aeroplane food is lance with Imodium so everybody’s doesn’t back one out at altitude.

Right now though, that’s fine with me. I do not want to have to use the restrooms on this plane. Trying to figure out how to do your business in this form is hard enough on the ground. In the air, surrounded on the outside of the room by several dozen people I don’t know? Forget it.

So, I just eat my meal without complaint. Well, okay, I do have one problem.

Ever since I became Apple Bloom, I’ve need a lot of high calorie foods to keep up my energy. Day three of my change my parents had taken note how low I reacted to things.

A little looking into the show and just how many high calorie foods they eat and they took a gamble that my body needed more than I originally did as a human and it paid off.

This meal, sadly, was lacking in the amount of calories I needed for my new body. That being the case, it isn’t enough to have recharged my energy levels that much and I’m honestly already tired from the early wake-up to get on Sunrise.

I yawn, which causes Michelle to look at me “Ah’m gonna take a nap.” I settled into the chair, wishing I could curl up or something, but I’m so tired, I’ll make do.

“Sure,” Michelle’s voice says, starting to sound faint. “I’ll wake you if we start landing before you wake up.”

I nod absentmindedly, before sleep takes hold of me in it's gentle embrace.




___________________________________________________________




“Sam? Sam!”

“Hmm?” I murmur, noticing a head on my shoulder, shaking me. I open my eyes to see Michelle smiling. “We’re landing soon.”

I glance to the screen on the back of the seat in front of me, seeing it’s returned shifting of the screen showing the flight plan, which then goes to current time of the destination, along with several other things that will repeat over and over til the plan lands and all the screens go off completely.

I remember this from my Japan trip too.

I yawn, sitting up straighter and stretch. “So, where we goin’ first?”

Tara smiles at me. “The Ellen Degeneres Show.”

I blink, before giggling. “That’s gonna be a fun show.”

The four of us all laugh together.

About twenty minutes later, the plane lands and moves to the docking area. We all get off, myself riding on Michelle’s back so I don’t get lost amongst all the tall humans.

As we exit customs, the sound of angry shouting can be heard. Moving out of customs, we’re met with an odd sight.

It’s a shouting match, that’s for sure. Like back at the airport at home, there are people dressed in MLP memorabilia, T-shirts, wigs, even some full body suits. A lot of Apple Bloom merchandise can be seen.

However, along with them are groups holding signs saying things like, “God Mad Man In His Image, Not The Animals,” and those are the tamest of things written.

As we listen, I can understand what’s going on. The fandom people are arguing with people like those who came after me back at Adelaide airport. With all the arguing, none seem to have noticed us yet and it looks like we’ll be keeping it that way, as several security men come over and escort us out through another entrance, assuring us our luggage will be delivered to the station.

We get outside and are hurried over to a group of taxis. As Michelle and I move towards the nearest one and get in, the driver glances back, asking, “So, where to Miss...” His eyes widen as they fall on me. “Apple Bloom?”

I look to him, irritated at being harassed even though we avoided the anti group inside the airport. “Yeah, what of it?”

“What are you doing on Earth?”

I groan, facehoofing. I'm sick of explaining this, especially since I’m likely going to have to do so when I get on TV later. ”Look. Ah was a normal guy, then Ah woke up as Apple Bloom. That's it. We don’t know why, but it happened. Ah ain't no pet, no animal, no Equestrian refuge, an’ Ah ain't no demon!”

His only response is a casual, “Oh. Alright then,” and turns back to Michelle, who quickly tells him to head for the studio and he then turns back around to the wheel.

I blink. “Wait, wha...? That's it? Yer just gonna let it go?”

He smiles slightly at me through the rear view mirror. “Hey, I've been in the taxi service here for nearly thirty years now. It'd take more than meeting a Cutie Mark Crusader at LAX to rattle me.”

I just stare dumbly as he starts the cab and drives us off into the city.




___________________________________________________________




We sit in the greenroom as we wait for the show to start. Once we’d gotten into the city, it was easy to get to the studio where the The Ellen Degeneres Show is filmed.

It took some time getting inside, as it seemed news had gotten out this would be my first interview here in the US.

Now, we wait for the big moment... which feels like it’s taking forever!

“How much longer?” I grumble quietly.

Suddenly music starts up, followed by the sound of the crowd. Then, the woman herself, Ellen Degeneres enters from stage left.

She dances in front of the crowd, the cheers seeming to grow louder somehow, though my ears are already flat against my head to try and block some of it out.

Once everything calms down, as much as that statement holds water when it comes to this show (I’ve seen it a few times in my life, so I have a good idea of the levels for that), Ellen smiles for the cameras. “Welcome to my show. I know I don't usually get to the guests so quickly, but I'm just so excited about these guests, one in particular. If any of you have watched the news recently, you know who my first guest is.

The crowd burst into cheers and clap as the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic logo flashes on screen. She points back at the screen, “Yes, the characters from the show are real. Or, that’s what we’re going on, as, just a few days ago, it was confirmed that we have one of them right here on Earth.” Behind her the screen flashes scenes from the episodes that have Apple Bloom in them, which are quite a lot.

Ellen waits til she can speak again and be heard clearly. “My guest today has been all over the internet since a video of her came out. And she's here today to talk to all of us and let us know her side of the story. Ladies and gentlemen, Sam Wilson, or, as others are calling her nowadays, Apple Bloom.”

I can’t help rolling my eyes. She could’ve done that a bit better.

Sighing, I put a smile on my face and trot out. As I walk out, a spotlight hits me, nearly blinding me. So I slowly walk in the direction I’d been before, making sure my balance doesn’t shift, thus changing my direction, giving my eyes time to adjust to the onslaught of light. 

I almost scream when she pulls me into a hug. Being hugged by someone you can’t see isn’t exactly a confidence boaster.

I’m lowered back down, then guided to the couch. I settle into it and watch her take her seat as well.

After what I feel is a ridiculously long time with a lot of applause, the audience finally calms down. I can't see them, not with all the stage lights, but I can sure as hell hear them. Ellen clears her throat and starts, “Well, first off, why don't you tell your story.”

I look to her and shrug. “Ain’t really much ta say, Ellen. Father’s Day Ah woke up and found mahself like this,” I indicate to my body. “No clue as t'  how or why, Ah just suddenly am Apple Bloom.”

I like the thoughtful look on her face. After a moment she continues. “How did your family take your... change?”

I can’t stop myself from chuckling. “Mah ma fainted soon as she saw me.” That earns a few chuckles from the audience. 

Ellen tries to hold in her giggles. “And after she woke up?”

“She fainted again,” I smirk.

A lot more chuckles follow that.

Once Ellen stops giggling, she looks to me again. “So, how have you been coping with all these sudden changes?”

I shrug. “Well, at first, Ah would mostly spend mah time in the backyard, just resting or playin’ with our dog. He seemed ta understand me better, now that Ah’m a pony.”

“Like Fluttershy and her animals in the show?” she asks, interested.

I shrug again. “Ah guess. Though, Ah doubt mah special talent’s dealing with animals like her.” 

She nods, before looking to the camera. “And you’re not here alone, are you?”

I shake my head. “Eenope.” That gets another round of chuckles and even a few whistles from the crowd. “Ah came here with three women involved in the show Ah look up to, literally,” I add, earning more chuckles. Jeez, I should be a comedian. Hey, maybe that’s my special talent.

I glance at my flank, but sigh. Ellen doesn’t ignore that, either. “Um, what’s wrong?”

I give a playful shrug. “Nothing. Just, with all the laughs goin’ round, Ah thought mah special talent might by comedy. But no. Guess failing to get a Cutie Mark’s something else Ah can add to the list o’ things that’ve happened since Father’s Day.”

A few pitying chuckles come from the crowd.

Ellen coughs, clearly wanting to get back to what we were talking about before. “Well, as you said, you aren’t here alone. Please welcome, the original producer for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Lauren Faust, and the voices of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Apple Bloom herself, Tara Strong and Michelle Creber.”

With that, the three women came out on stage and joined as in the seats provided.

“So, Michelle,” Ellen asks once they’ve all sat down, “how weird is it having the pony you voiced sitting next to you.”

Michelle smiles. “It was really surprising at first,” she says, looking to me. “But Sam and I got to talking before we went on Weekend Sunrise and we got along pretty well. We even had a few role plays.”

“Changeling,” I say in answer to Ellen’s questioning look. “Ah’d pretend to be a changeling lookin’ fer her and she’d hide, doing her Apple Bloom voice.” 

We answer some more questions, namely the plans for what we’d be doing after this. After heading for Michelle’s home and meeting her parents, we’d be heading for the studio where the David Letterman show is filmed, appearing on there.

After a while it goes to a commercial break. When the light on the camera extinguishes, Ellen visibly slumps a little. After a moment she looks at me, smiling. “This is just... wow.”

A few minutes later, Ellen nods at the cameras and cues flash for the audience to start applauding. After a long moment, Ellen speaks up. 

“And we are back, if you didn't know, I’ve been talking to Sam Wilson, the boy who woke up on Father’s Day as Apple Bloom from the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” She gestures with her hand, and I watch another camera swing a bit towards us, with a red light on the top. I'm guessing that's the active camera right now. The applause swells for a moment before calming down once again.

“Oh, hang on,” Ellen says, holding a hand up to her earpiece. “I’m told we’ve got some calls coming in, you wanna take them?”

I look at Lauren, Tara and Michelle, who nod and smile. “Sure. Ah don’t see why not.” Ah just hope we don’t get any haters callin’ like last time, I think to myself.

“First, we’ve got a call from Lilly from Longhaven. Lilly, your on the air.”

“Apple Bloom, you’re my favourite CMC, ever!” a little girl’s voice screams excitedly.

I chuckle along with the others, shaking my head. “It’s nice t’ meet you too, Lilly. But Ah’m not really Apple Bloom. Ah’m just stuck lookin’ like ’er.”

“Oh,” she says, sounding a little disappointed. “Well, I still think she’s the best, which means I kinda think you’re the best now too!”

I can’t hold back the smile. “Thanks, Lilly.”

“Okay, we’ve got another caller,” Ellen says, nodding to someone. “Charlie Higgins from Carolina. What’s on your mind?”

“Am I speaking directly with Apple Bloom?” the male voice on the other end asks.

“Ya sure are,” I grin. “Well, actually, Ah only look and sound like her, but—”

“It’s because of freaks like you that Robin Williams decided to kill himself!” the man shouts, cutting me off.

We all flinch, caught way off guard and my mouth drops open in horror. Ellen, wisely, motions to end the call.

“That... How can he say that?!” I growl, pounding the cushion of my chair. “That... ARG!”

I’ve always been a huge fan of Robin Williams and his death last month took me by surprise as much as it did for everyone else. But this pony hater is going to use that as an excuse to say something bad about me because I’m a pony? He’s gonna blame me for that? Seriously?

Thankfully, the rest of the show goes without too much more hassle and the rest of the callers are actually nice people.

Well, a few were clearly weirdos, since they asked if I’d be willing to donate my body to science when I die... which also put me a little on edge.

Once it was over though, Ellen thanked us for coming on and we all headed off, Michelle and I heading over to her family’s house, where I had a feeling I’d be staying for a long while.








> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6

___________________________________________________________



I shifted, moving my hoof, trying to find my blanket. I must have kicked it off during my sleep. It's been three months now since I woke up as Apple Bloom on Father's Day.

After my interview on the Ellen Degeneres Show, we'd gone to Michelle's family's house and made the arrangements. Hours later, we'd gone on the David Letterman Show, which was amusing, I'll give it that. thankfully, he managed to keep any haters from getting involved.

.Within days I'd been in interviews for Nine News, Ten News, The Project, Seven News at six  and ABC News all via satellite, since it was harder to just keep going back and forth than simply talking via satellite. I even got to appear on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. In truth, things had gone better than I could have expected. I was a worldwide celebrity.

On every interview Michelle was always with me, sometimes with other from the MLP production team, including other voice actors, like Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, though my personal favorite to meet was John de Lancie, the voice of Discord. We all had a lot of fun role playing with their voices for the cast, especially me and Ashleigh, since she voices Applejack, my technically big sister now.

I’d also gotten to meet Gabriel Brown or as he’s known on YouTube, Black Gryph0n, since he and Michelle are very good friends and we had some really interesting conversations.

However, the highlights soon stopped being fun for me. A lot of people joked with me about finding a stallion one day, something I was uncomfortable about for multiple reasons, the main one being I wasn’t interested in males, let alone equines, but also because of the fans.

I’d never understood why some non-bronies got anxious around bronies... until I met a ton of heavy Apple Bloom fans later on. I’d needed several security guards to keep them off me.

Plus, it wasn’t just the MLP fandom I really started having to worry about. There was also the Anti-Brony community. At every appearance I made they were shouting taunts, calling me a freak or abomination. A few even went so far as to tell me to go back to Hell and leave the world alone.

Those remarks really hurt a lot.

It got to a point where, three weeks after one incident, I’d stopped leaving the house, barely even left my room for fear of the paparazzi being at the windows. We even had bouncers outside our house and in the backyard, making sure no one got in without them knowing.

Admittedly, I’d at least gone two days without an incident. I hadn’t even spoken to anyone online.



As I lay in my bed, I frown, keeping my eyes closed as I continue trying to find my blanket. As I search, my frown deepens. Why did it feel like I was lying on grass, like when I used to hang outside with Jack?

That’s also something I can’t really do anymore, not while feeling at ease, anyway, with all the bouncers around.

Suddenly I hear the sound of barking not too far off and groan.

“Jack,” I call out, completely forgetting that the rest of my family might still be sleeping, “quit barkin’, will ya? It’s too early fer yer yappin’.”

Suddenly the barking changed, as if he’d found something... hold on. His bark sounded... more feminine? How the hell can I tell that?

The sound of pounding steps on... ground(?) reached my ears, which swivel in the direction of the sound.

The sound of the paws pounding the ground comes really close, it's as if Jack has ran up to me (which does not make sense, since I’m inside and in my bed, elevated from the ground), before they stop and I fee; a wet tongue lick my cheek.

I yelp, leaping up, my eyes shooting wide open and flopping down again, seeing who’d licked my face. It was a brown collie dog with a white stomach, paws, snout and white at the main end of its tail. It was wearing a red collar and was smiling at me, its mouth open and tongue out as it pants.

Something is wrong here. I know this dog, but it isn’t Jack. What's more... this dog looks like it was a cartoo—

My gut drops and I stand up, whirling my head in every direction. I'm not in my bedroom. I'm standing in an open green field, off in the distance I can just see what looks like a farm, surrounded by trees. But what really makes me freeze in fear is it doesn’t look real. It's like a cartoon. A cartoon I’d watched many a times over. A cartoon that my current form came from in the first place.

My mouth quivers as I tried to speak. “Ah... Ah... Ah’m...”

The collie bounces in front of me, wagging its tail, as if ready to play.

I stare at it, then up at the barn in the distance. “Ah’m... in Equestria.”

The brony part of me wants to whoop and cheer, dance around like a complete idiot. But it is but a whisper in the screaming fear in my mind as it tells me this is all wrong.

What am I doing in Equestria!? How did I even get to Equestria? Why am I in Equestria?

"Apple Bloom!"

The stern, female voice makes me yelp again and my eyes widen as they fall upon the owner as they walk towards me, a very unhappy look on her face. It's Applejack and she doesn't look too pleased with me.

I try to say something; to form some kind of response, but it's like my mouth has forgotten how to talk. I can't even form a single vowel.

"Yer in big trouble, little missy," the orange mare says and before I can even process what she's said, she whirls me around, bites down on my tail and starts dragging me across the field.

I flop on my stomach, caught off-guard and am dragged several metres before I realize what is going on and start to fight against her. I try digging my hooves into the ground to give me some traction, but all they do is create grooves where my hooves passed, leaving the under dirt exported.

"Applejack, stop!" I say, still trying in vain to resist her grip. Man, why couldn't I have turned into Big Mac instead? "Ah ain't Apple Bloom! Ya got the wrong filly!" Not sure why I thought that argument would work, but it's what comes out my mouth, regardless.

"Uh-huh," she replies through my tail in her mouth. "Yer just some random filly who just looks like my sister, sounds like my sister and who Winona likes, right?"

I'm about to say "yes" before I realize she's being sarcastic. I try several more times to free myself from her grip, before I just give up and let her drag me along like a sack of potatoes.

Whilst she drags me, I decide to use the time to think about what was going on.

Okay. So, three months ago Ah woke up as Apple Bloom and then, three months later, Ah wake up in Equestria, with no idea how 'r why Ah got here, Winona finds me, then Applejack finds me, mistakes me fer her sister and now Ah'm being dragged around by mah tail, I think, frowning. So, how did Ah get here, anyway? It don't make no sense. Ah go to sleep in my bed at home, then Ah wake up in an open field in Equestria?

I wince as I bump on something wooden and glance around to see, while I'd been lost in my thoughts, Applejack had brought us to Sweet Apple Acres. If I weren't preoccupied by the feeling of my stomach dragging on wood as we go over the porch, I'd probably be curious about my surroundings.

I hear a door open and we pass through a doorway. I'm then dragged up another set off stairs and down a hallway, Applejack stopping in front of a door I recognize from the show as the door to Apple Bloom's room.


Applejack pushes open the door and I brace myself to be dragged in or maybe tossed, when I feel her let go of my tail and hear, “What in tarnation?”

Finally free, I stand up and turn around to see what she’s looking at... before my jaw drops, hanging open just like hers.

Sitting on the circle of carpet of Apple Bloom’s room are Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and...

“Apple Bloom?”

The filly looks up, saying, “Yeah, sis?” before her eyes go wide as she stares at me and I stare at her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle soon follow, their eyes wide as they look from Apple Bloom, to me, to Apple Bloom again and then back to me.

I see movement in the corner of my right-eye and glance over to the taller mare to see her turning to me, a much sterner expression on her face than before.

It takes me two seconds, the time it takes for her to fully turn her head, for me to realize what must be going through her head.

Two Apple Blooms couldn’t happen. One of us had to be a Changeling and since I’d actually told her I wasn’t Apple Bloom on the way here...

I turn and bolt, heading for the stairs, thankful I'd figured out running on four legs months ago.

“Oh, no ya don’t!”

I immediately hear thundering hoofsteps behind me and panic. There’s no way I can outrun Applejack! I’m a filly, she’s a full-grown mare.

I reach the stairs too fast and trip, tumbling down, hitting my head several time, before I flop on the wooden floor below and everything blacks out.


> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7

___________________________________________________________



"Well, my next guest has been all over the news the last couple months. She's the newest hot story all over the world and been on here once before. The guy turned into a filly. Give a round of applause and please welcome, Sam Wilson, or as the fan base know her, Apple Bloom!"

I nervously walk out onto the set as Craig Ferguson introduces me with that great Scottish accent of his. I smile as the studio audience cheered. I walk up to Crag, who kneels down and shakes my hoof, before I go and hop up onto the seat next to Michelle. He'd already spoken with Lauren and Tara and we were the next guests.

Craig looks to me. "So, how does it feel, still being a fictional character?" he asked, genuine curiosity on his face. "Is it easy? Do you look in the mirror every morning and have to remind yourself that's you looking back?"

I give a small laugh, shaking my head. "No. It's not easy. Ah still have to remind mahself this ain't some weird dream or some kooky fanfic one of the fans wrote." I giggle. "Mah family an' I are doing fine. Though we have had to make some changes around the house."

"Oh, really? Like what?" he asks, surprised.

I sigh. "Well, ya heard about how the Anti-Brony community have been reacting to this over the last three months?"

He nods. "Oh! Ooh, yes. I hear you had to get security at your house after the last incident."

I nod, sighing. "The fact that they keep acting like Ah'm some kinda act o' the Devil really hurts. Ah just wish they'd let me live my life, what of it Ah can these days, anyway."

"Ah, yes, I heard you've not gotten much time back home anymore, what with all the interviews and the promotions. What was the latest, by the way?"

I smile. "Well, as anypony— a small laugh and several cheers came from he crowd at my purposeful pun— "knows, Ah was at the premier of the new Mlp movie, Rainbow Rocks."

"Really, how was that?" Crag leans forward on his desk a little.

I giggle. "It was a lot of fun, really. Ah was really happy seeing all the little girls there... an' the bronies, o’ course."

A loud group of cheers came from within the crowd and one guy shouts, "Apple Bloom, we love you!"

Michelle and I shake our heads and she continues where I'd left off. "Yes, they were all really excited to see her. We even had a little fun with them all, didn't we, Sam?" She winks at me and I grin.

I turn to Craig. "We had a little play on voices."

He frowns in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well," I glance at Michelle and we both giggle, "Ah'd let the little girls an' the guys ask me questions..."

"Then Ah'd answer 'em from outta sight in my Apple Bloom voice," Michelle answers, causing Craig to jump with surprise, and causing us and the whole audience to laugh.

"Wow, that— that was creepy," he said, looking amused, though a little shocked too.

"Yeah, yeah, that's kinda creepy," Geoff the skeleton said, then made a shuddering sound. "Sorry, but that's way too creepy."

I smirk. "This comin' from the talkin' skeleton with neon lights fer eyes."

"Well, yeah, guess you got a point there," he agreed, sounding sheepish.

"Anythin' else ya wanna know?" I asked, looking back to Craiv.

He smiled. "Don't worry, Applejack. The spell shows that she's not a Changeling, so you don't have to worry."

I blink. "Uh, pardon, Craig?"

He just looks at me, not moving.

I turn to Michelle, an eyebrow raised. "What's up with him?"

She smiles back. But when she opened her mouth, it wasn't her voice. "Ah know, Twi. But she looks and sounds just like Apple Bloom. Is she one o' those clones from the mirror pool?"

That... That's Applejack. But Ashleigh Ball isn't in the studio. What the heck is going on here?

Suddenly the world goes black and I feel like I'm falling through nothingness.



___________________________________________________________



“Ya sure she’s alright, Twi? Ah didn’ mean fer her t’ fall down the stairs like that?”

“Don’t worry, Applejack. She got a few bumps and bruises, but other than that, she’s fine. Though, this is unusual. If she was just a Changeling that would make this a lot simpler, but she seems like a normal pony.”

“But she can’t be. She’s Apple Bloom, but Ah know she ain’t Apple Bloom neither. Heck, Bloom’s so curious ’bout ’er Ah had to get Mac to keep her an’ the girls busy.”

The voices are faint as I came back to consciousness. I can feel myself lying in a soft bed. Maybe I'm still asleep and this is just some weird dream... well, weirder than life has become anyway.

“Well, this isn't something I've ever seen before. She seems like Apple Bloom, though the genetics are a little off. I’ll need to run some tests on the samples of her mane and fur I took before I can really say what she is. But, since she didn’t change when I used the spell, we know she isn't a Changeling, but I don't think she's Apple Bloom from the other world, either. She would've run from you otherwise, knowing her big sister was after her.”

I moan, slowly opening my eyes. I am lying in a bed. If the ceiling’s any indication, it’s Apple Bloom’s room.

Blurry brightly coloured shapes are standing around me, one purple, one orange. I rub my eyes with my hooves and my vision clears. Standing around me are Applejack and Twilight Sparkle.

“Hey there, surgarcube,” the orange mare says, smiling gently at me. “Doin’ okay?”

I shift, before wincing. My whole body aches. I can feel plasters on my front legs, one on both cheeks and a small bandage around my head.

Applejack puts a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s okay. Yer safe here. Sorry Ah acted the way Ah did. Ah didn’ mean fer ya t’ get hurt.”

I want to panic, I want to thrust off the covers on me and run, but my body is refusing to do as my brain screams at it to move. I slump back, looking to Twilight. “How’d Ah get here?”

She blinks, then smiles. “Applejack brought you up here and put you in bed. Then she had Big Macintosh come and get me so I could—”

I shake my head. “No. How’d Ah get here, in Equestria?”

This seems to take them both off-guard and they glance at each other, before Twilight looks back at me.

“Where were you before?”

I sigh. “First off, Ah ain’t a pony. Or, Ah wasn’t a pony afore a few months ago.”

Twilight leans a little closer, concern and worry showing in her eyes. “What were you?”

I sigh. “Ah was a human.”

Twilight gasps, her eyes going wide, but I hold up a hoof to stop her, though it came up slowly.

“Afore ya get all frantic, Ah ain’t the Apple Bloom fr’m the other world, so don’t worry ’bout that.”

The Earth Pony frowns. “If ya’ll ain’t fr’m there, then where were ya fr’m?”

I shake my head. “A diff’r’nt world. There, I used ta be an adult male. My name was... is Sam.” I sighed. “But, fer some reason, little over three months ago, Ah just woke up lookin’ an’ soundin’ like Apple Bloom... then Ah wake up here shortly afore Applejack spotted me an’ mistook me fer her sister.”

Twilight suddenly looks more concerned than she had when she thought I was the other Apple Bloom. “Three months ago?”

I nod. No point in lying, the Element of Honesty is in the room, so may as well tell the truth and get it over with.

Twilight bites her lower lip. “Oh, Celestia. Tell me that didn’t happen,” she whispers, though I heard it clearly and so did the other mare.

“Tell ya what didn’t happen, Twi?” she asks, cocking an eyebrow.

Twilight almost jumps, as if she’d been lost in thought, then shook her head firmly. “I need to see the princesses. Maybe they know what happened and how we can send her back.”

Applejack blinks. “Send her back? Looking like mah sister? Twi, that’s gotta be onea the worst ideas Ah ever heard, an’ Rainbow Dash has had a ton o' ’em.”

I look to Applejack, feeling hurt. “Ya’ll think sendin’ me home’s a bad idea?”

She widen her eyes, shakes her head and smiles sadly at me. “Sorry, sugarcube. Ah didn’ mean it like that.” She puts hoof on my shoulder. “Ah jus’ meant sendin’ ya looking an’ soundin’ like mah sister might not be the best. Ah don’ think yer race were exactly happy ’bout it, were they?”

I wince at her words, then looked down. It was true. While things hadn’t been as bad as they could’ve been (no people in black vans, wearing HAZMAT suits coming to take me away for study or experimentation at any point), it had started going downhill during the third month.

Several times after leaving from a place I’d made an appearance, whether just as an appearance or for an interview, some of the Anti-Bronies in the crowd had thrown stuff at me. I’d even been hit in the head by a bottle and when I came to, I was being driven away in an ambulance, having received a concussion from the impact and had a massive gash on my forehead.

One night, I’d woken up to a bunch of guys standing in my room and saw that they all had their pants down. I’d screamed and my parents had come rushing in. I’d never seen my dad so angry before and Mum? Well, let’s just say the sight of Celestia as Solar Flare wouldn’t come close to how scary my mum looked at that moment.

All those creeps (half Anti-Bronies who’d obviously just wanted to hurt me) had been sent to hospital for care, then arrested for what they’d been about to do to me, the thought alone always gives me shivers. I’d spent the next few days sleeping in my parents’ bed, I was too scared to sleep on my own and we’d gotten more security all around the house to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.

I’d refused to do any more interviews or leave the house for the rest of my time on Earth (not knowing I’d be leaving Earth at all, though), and remained in my room, just sitting on my bed, holding my Togepi plush toy close, sometimes watching cartoons or other shows from my DVD collection, even MLP a bit.


I nod, tears brimming in my eyes.

At once, I feel someone... no, somepony embrace me in a warm hug, and from the scent of apples and earth, I know it's Applejack.

As soon as she held me I couldn’t stop myself. I wrapped my legs around her neck and bawled. I couldn’t hold it in. This was all just too much. Not only had I been through everything I already had, now I'm in Equestria, with no explanation as to why or how. 

I'm completely separated from my parents, my siblings, everyone I know and care about. I was a stranger in a world I wasn’t even sure had existed until a few hours ago and I'm all on my own.



___________________________________________________________



I cried for what felt like hours, just crying, not wanting to be here, but knowing I don’t have a say in the matter. All the while, Applejack held me, rubbing my back and making soothing noises. It helped... a little.

At some point, I was vaguely aware of Twilight saying something about sending a letter to the princess, but didn’t listen. I didn’t want to listen. I just wanted to be home, to be with my family and friends, to live my life without any more weirdness than I’d already had to deal with.

At some point, I must have cried myself to sleep, because I woke up to find Applejack still holding me, her head resting on top of mine.

“Ah... Ah know how ya feel, Sam,” she whisper, either just to say it or because she knew I'm awake again. “Ah know just how ya feel.”

I push her aside, glaring at her, tears still in my eyes. “NO, ya don’t!”

She blinks. Apparently she didn’t know I'm awake and heard that. She then frowns. “Yes, Ah do. Ah know just how ya feel.”

I growl at her. “No, ya don’t! Ah’ve been separated from my parents! Ya’ll don’ have a clue how that feels!”

I realize just what I’ve said too late.

Applejack looks at me, an angry, but sad look in her eyes. They start to fill with tears and she wipes them away with a foreleg, before looking back at me.

“Ah know just how that feels, Sam. Ah lost mah parents when Ah was just a little filly. Apple Bloom was barely more than a foal.” 

She shifts forward and I try to move away, worried she’ll hurt me. The bed doesn’t give me much room to move and I’ve somehow gotten my hind legs tangled in the cover. She reaches out and I brace for the worst, only for her to wrap her hooves around me and hold me close.

“Ah know how it feels ta lose yer parents. Ah do.”

“Ah’m... Ah’m sorry,” I whisper, shame etched on my face and in my voice. “Ah... Ah didn’t mean ta say that. Ah... Ah’m sorry, AJ.” She pats my back gently, which makes me feel a bit better. 

“It’s okay, sugarcube. Ya’ll were angry an’ yer worried ’bout getting home ta yer family an’ how they’re doin’. It’s natural.”

I hug her a little tighter. Held in her bigger legs I feel comfortable. I don’t feel so scared anymore.

She pulls away enough to look me in the eye, a warm smile on her face. “Til Twi can get ya home, ya’ll can stay here, alright?”

I look at her in confusion. “But, what if she sends me back t’day?”

She shakes her head. “Tain’t that easy. World crossin’s big magic and even Twi can’t do it like that.” She lifts a hoof and somehow causing a clicking sound, like when humans click their fingers. “She’ll need time to find yer world an’ send ya back.”

I look down, my ears drooping at the knowledge I wasn’t going home.

Applejack tilts my head up and smiles. “Like Ah said, yer more than welcome ta stay here til then, ’kay?”

I wipe my eyes on my foreleg, then give a small smile. “Okay.”

She nods, right before a loud gurgle/rumbling sound comes from my stomach. She grins as I blush furiously.

“Looks like somepony’s hungry. What’s say we get you sumthin’ ta eat, huh?”

I nod, my blush refusing to go away, which only makes me blush more.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8

___________________________________________________________



I hesitantly follow Applejack out of Apple Bloom’s bedroom and downstairs.

I can’t help looking around as I walk, seeing all the family pictures and mementos the Apple family had gathered over time. One picture showed a filly Applejack, a much younger than I’d ever seen Big Macintosh, a much younger looking Granny Smith who looks like a young mare, just with some lines under her eyes and two ponies I didn’t recognize.

One, the stallion, had Apple Bloom... and I guess my colours, yellow coat, red mane and tail. He was wearing AJ’s hat, which confirmed for me that he’s likely the Apple siblings' dad.

Standing next to him was a mare with a light-tan coat and a fluffy orange mane and tail, both tied at the end similar to how Applejack wears her mane and tail, with a small buttercup in her mane. 

Held in her right foreleg I can see a small foal that looks a lot like Apple Bloom... and myself, I suppose, wrapped in a blue blanket. She looks like she was asleep.

Applejack notices me staring at the picture and puts a hoof on my shoulder, causing me to turn and look at her. “That’s mah family. Big Mac’s the red—”

“Ah know him,” I said, trying my best not to sound rude and point to the two ponies I’ve never seen before. “Ah know ’bout Granny an’ Apple Bloom too. But what about those two in the back? Are they yer...?”

She nods, a sad smile forming on her face as she looks to the picture. “Those’re mah Ma an’ Pa, Bright Macintosh,” she pointed to the stallion, “and Butterchup,” she points to the mare.

Huh. So Mac got his last name from his dad? Interesting. And their mother’s name was Buttercup and she wore a buttercup in her mane. Makes sense.

I look at the photo, then down. Why do I suddenly feel guilty?

Applejack seems to sense how I'm feeling, because she puts a leg around me and hugs me. “Don’t feel guilty, Sam. They left a long time ago.”

She pulls her leg away and turns to head into another room. I take one more look at the photo, sigh and follow her.

No sooner have I done so, however, I am staring at a face I have seen in the mirror for the last three months right in front of me, staring right back.

I yelp, jumping back, slamming my head against the wall.

Before I can even acknowledge the pain, I'm surrounded by three fillies, each bombarding me with questions.

“Who are you?”

“How come ya look like me?”

“Are you a robot?”

“Hey, are you one of those Changelings?”

“Where’d you come from?”

“How’d you get to Ponyville?”

“What’s yer name?”

I cower away from them, flicking my tail over my eyes as I crouch down, trying to make myself smaller. Up close like this and with those looks in their eyes, the CMC seem really scary for some reason.

Suddenly there is something orange between me and the three drilling fillies. “Girls! Sam’s been through a lot. She don’t need either of ya scarin' her with questions.”

All three fillies look at Applejack with confusion.

“Sam?” Scootaloo asks, frowning. “What kind of name is that?”

“Well...” Applejack pauses, frowning slightly, before turning to me. “She’s got a point. While yer here, ya’ll should probably go by a more pony-soundin’ name.”

I don’t really want to give up my name, but since it would only be until I go back home, I suppose it would be okay. I nod.

“Oh! Oh! Can we pick her name?!” Sweetie Belle shout-squeaks, bouncing in place.

Applejack raises an eyebrow, then nods. “Okay. Got any ideas?"

Sweetie Belle puts a hoof to her chin for a moment. “Maybe Apple Seed? Or how about Apple Wood? Apple Flower? Hey! If your special talent is square dancing maybe we could call you Apple Square.” 

Scootaloo gives a deadpanned look to the unicorn. “A square dancing Cutie Mark? That sounds lame.”

I have to agree with her there. No offence to square dancers, I’m not going to diss their skills or enjoyment of it, I just wouldn’t like... Wait, my special talent!?

A shiver goes down my spine. Please don’t let them notice Ah’m a Blank Flank. Please, please, please, please, please!

Scootaloo frowned, thinking. “Maybe she should have a name that doesn’t really say Apple family, so ponies don't get confused.”

“Hmm,” Apple Bloom looked up. “Maybe sumthin’ t’ do with flowers.”

“Autumn Floret? Autumn Blossom? Floral Fallal? Summer Dew? Summer Song?” Sweetie listed off several names in quick succession. 

“Summer Song?” Scootaloo cocks her head. “Wouldn’t that suggest her special talent is singing?”

“Ah don’ think Ah’m a good singer,” I murmur. I know Michelle’s a good singer, she’s Sweetie Belle’s singing voice in the show and I think Apple Bloom’s sung at least one, during The Perfect Stallion song and sounded pretty good, but I doubt I’d be that good a singer, even with the same voice.

“I got it!” Sweetie Belle cries, making us all jump. “Apple Blossom!”

Apple Bloom gives her a deadpanned look. “Don’t that sound a bit close ta mah name?”

“Apple Bloom, Apple Blossom,” Sweetie murmurs, then frowns. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, my bad.”

Applejack tilts her head, an odd, distant look in her eyes. She looks down to me. “How about... Applebuck?”

I lift up a bit, blinking. Applebuck? Okay, that’s a little creepy. That's the name of Apple Bloom’s male self in the fic A Cross and Arrow, where the Mane Six went to an alternate reality, in which every mare in their world was a stallion in that world and vice versa.

What is creepy is I’d only finished listening to an audio version of that fic a short while before I woke up as Apple Bloom. The timing is just really creepy. 

However, I put the creepiness of the timing aside and think about it. Applebuck. Hmm. Well, it does sound normal, in the Equestian sense of normal, anyway. And it doesn’t really mean anything for me to be called that I suppose.

I look up at Applejack and nod. “Okay. Call me Applebuck whilst Ah’m here.”

She smiles down at me and nods.

Inwardly, I'm curious as to why she called me that. Is this maybe an Equestria based on that fic? If I went to talk to Rarity and mentioned Elusive, would she react in anyway?

Wait. Did I seriously just think about going and talking to Rarity? No way! If I can help it, I'm not setting hoof off the farm. Sure, part of me is dying to do see Ponyville. But, at the same time, I don't want to have to meet too many ponies. I'm not exactly going to be staying here long, so it wouldn't mean much anyway.

My stomach growls again and I blush. However, before the CMC can even snicker, their stomachs growl too and they all blush.

Applejack smiles down at me, then at the other fillies. “Well, looks like all o’ ya’ll could use some food.”

The four of us, still blushing furiously, follow Applejack into the kitchen. The first thing I notice is that neither Granny Smith, nor Big Macintosh are here, but a large spread of several sandwiches and what look like apple pastries are set out, one for each of us.

I look up at Applejack, an eyebrow raised. “Um... Applejack?”

She turns to me, smiling. “Yes, Applebuck?”

I hesitate for a second at the name, then shake it off and plow on. “Um, how come Ah don’ see Big Mac ’r Granny Smith?”

She chuckles; a knowing look in her eyes, a look I only ever saw when someone knew that someone was hiding a love interest. And I know only one member of the Apple family who definitely had some kind of love interest in the show,  so I had a feeling I know what she is going to say.

“He’s off havin’ a “normal friendly” dinner with somepony,” she chuckles.

I smile slyly. “So, he finally makin’ a move, huh?” About time Mac and Cheerilee started dating. The fandom's known about it for ages.

Applejack snickers. “Eeyep. He thinks Ah don’ know 'bout it, but Ah do.”

I giggle. And here Big Mac thought he was keeping it secret.

After that we went to the table, sat down and started eating with the CMC. As we eat, I'm thankful I’d gotten used to eating flowers back during my first week of being a pony.

They taste really nice, to be honest. My favorites are roses. They just have this rich, wonderful flavour. They’re like the richest of cherry chocolate, but lighter and less rich at the same time and even better. On top of that, they're light and fluffy and so soft to the touch on the tongue.

As we eat, the CMC tell Applejack about all the things they’d done that day to try and get their Cutie Marks. A quick glance at each of their flanks makes it obvious they hadn’t gotten them.

As we continue eating,, a thought occurs to me. Why are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo still here? A quick look outside tells me it's close to sunset... I mean, Celestia would be lowering the sun soon. So, if it's so late, why are the unicorn and Pegasus still here and not at home? I decide to pose this question to the older mare. The answer, however, comes from the Pegasus.

"We're having a sleepover to figure out what our Cutie Marks are!" Scootaloo said, grinning.

I freeze. A sleepover? A Cutie Mark Crusaders sleepover? Oh, please, no! I saw what happened during their sleepover in The Stare Master episode. I may as well forget going home, because I won't even last the night.

"Hey!" Apple Bloom cries, in an excited tone that chills me to the bone. "Ah just noticed, Applebuck doesn't have her Cutie Mark!"

I'm doomed.

"Hey, yeah!" Sweetie cheers, leaning to look behind Scootaloo and seeing my flank. "Do you wanna be in our sleepover too? Maybe we can figure out your Cutie Mark."

I shoot under the table, run to Applejack and hold her tightly, whispering, "Don't send me in there!" I pleaded. "C-can Ah stay with you t'night?"

She looks down at me as I hold onto her waist, my eyes pleading for her to save me from the disaster that will doom me if I join the sleepover.

She waits for a few moments, though it feels like hours to me, before she answers. "Girls, Ah think Applebuck should stay with me t'night."

"Aw, but sis—" my double begins, a pout on her face.

The older mare shakes her head and I snuggle a little closer into her fur as she wraps her forelegs around me. "She's still upset 'bout bein' away fr'm 'er family, Bloom. Ah think it'd be best if she stayed with me t'night, okay?"

Apple Bloom looks like she wants to protest, but sighs and nods.

We finish dinner in an awkward silence. When dinner is over, I help Applejack clean and put away the dishes. She tells me I don't have to, but I insist. Since she's letting me stay until I go home, it's the least I can do, right?

Half way through finishing the dishes, I suddenly find I needed to use the little fillies' room. I ask Applejack where it is, she gives the directions and I go up the stairs to it. Surprisingly, Equestria has flushing toilets. Or not, maybe?

However, there is one problem.

"AJ?" I call, sticking my head out the bathroom door.

"Yeah, sugarcube?" she calls back, stepping into view from the kitchen.

I blush, pawing with a hoof at the floor. "Um... Could y'all show me how Ah'm meant t' use this thing? It ain't the same as the ones fr'm mah world." Forget blushing, my face is so red a tomato would probably be jealous.

Yes, I'm having some trouble getting onto the toilet. Though, to be fair, toilets in Equestria are more like basins than the ones on Earth and I'm not sure how I could get into a position that wouldn't leave me sitting in my own pee.

Applejack helps me get on and shows me the position so that I won't be in the way of my leavings, though my face remains bright red throughout the whole experience. I mean, I have to have an adult watching me pee,  for crying out loud! What am I, five?

Once I'm finally done, I wash my hooves in the sink (luckily these are still the same as on Earth) and head downstairs again. I find Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders playing some kind of chasing game in the living room. It... it looks like they're having fun.

I shake my head and go over to the bookcase. May as well read a little on Equestria. After all, it's information the show could never have, since this is really the world of Equestria.

I skim through the titles before I give up, having found nothing that catches my interest right now and just grab one with a black cover and carry it to the coach, sit down and open it, doing my best to ignore the taste the cover leaves in my mouth.

At once, I realize I've picked out a photo album. It's from when Applejack and Big Mac were still little. Since most of the photos have Applejack with her Cutie Mark, it must be from shortly before and then after she'd gone to Manehattan and gotten her Cutie Mark after seeing Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom.

I can't help daa'wing at the pictures of Apple Bloom as a foal. She looks so cute I just want to reach into the pictures and hug her.

I must have gotten lost looking through the album, because the sound of Applejack's voice causes me to jump. She is standing in front of me, smiling.

"Ah see ya found one o’ our family albums," she says, nodding to the book in my forehooves. "Whatcha think o' our past?"

I can't help but smile. "Apple Bloom sure was cute as a foal."

"Eeyep," the older mare nods. "Cutest little foal Ah ever saw."

I look down, a frown on my face.  "Ah guess, if Ah'd changed back when Ah was a baby, Ah'd o' looked like that too?"

Applejack looks at the ceiling, as if in thought at that, then looks to me and smiles. "Maybe ya would've. Guess we can't know, can we?"

I smile, shaking my head. "Nah. Guess we can't. Don’t rightly know why Ah even asked. Still, bet Ah'd o' looked just like this," I point to a picture of baby Apple Bloom, sleeping in a crib, her nose scrunched up, but a smile on her muzzle.

The farm mare nods, then tilts her head to the stairs. "It's pretty late, Applebuck. Let's turn in fer the night. Ah’ve already got Bloom and the girls ta bed."

I nod, put the book down and hop onto the floor and follow her upstairs to her room.

Applejack tells me I don't need to shower. She'd given me one after I'd been knocked unconscious so that I wouldn't get dirt in Apple Blooms' bed, so I sit on her bed and wait for her to finish her shower.

As I wait, I look around the bedroom. It looks like it did in the show, green walls, and a writing desk with a cushion to sit on with a hook close to it where a rope and AJ's Stetson hangs. There is a mark of an apple high above the door as well as on it. Her curtains are a bluish purple with white butterfly-like designs. The bed is made of some dark wood, with a red apple painted at the foot of it. The covers are pink and the pillow is white with apples all over it.

Something about the room makes me feel a bit more comfortable, calmer.

Shortly after, Applejack’s voice calls, “Apple Bloom, you girls go ta sleep, now, ya hear? Ya’ll can do all the Cutie Mark Crusadin’ ya want t’morrow!” 

A few seconds later she comes in the room, her mane and tail still slightly wet from showering. I hop off the bed as she pulls the covers back and gets in, then holds them open for me to do the same.

I get in and lay down as she puts the covers over us both.

For some reason, I find myself snuggling closer to the mare and relaxing as I feel the heat from her body. It's a comfortable feeling, only helped when she pulls me closer and hugs me, causing a smile to form on my muzzle.

I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the pony next to me. I feel safe, for some reason. As if, with Applejack around, I'll be okay. Well, she is the most family friendly of the Mane Six. I guess she can make anypony feeling uneasy feel safe around her.

Though, that suddenly reminds me of something, the first thing she’d said.

“Um, Applejack?” I ask, glancing up at her, before looking down again.

“Hmm?” she murmurs, her eyes still closed.

“Um, ya’ll remember, back when ya thought Ah was Apple Bloom, whatcha said ta me?”

“Hmm?” she opens her eyes and tilts her head to look at me. “What about?”

I shift a little. “Well, when ya’ll thought Ah was yer sister, ya told me Ah was in big trouble. What was that about?”

Applejack blinks, then chuckles. “Aw, don’ you worry none. Apple Bloom just had some really bad grades on her last maths report.”

I frown. She was in trouble for that? Applejack had made it sound like she'd caused the barn to collapse or something. 

Wait, she's bad a math? I’d watched a comic dub not too long ago making that joke, but I didn’t think it would relate.

“But, ya’d think with all the stuff she’s good at buildin’ she’d be great at math?” I said, looking up at her with confusion. “Ta build sumthin’ ya need ta know math fer the measurements, dontcha?”

Applejack chuckles. “Eeyep. Strange, ain’t it?” She then smiles warmly, and nuzzles my mane, which feels really nice. “Now, hush up, little one. Time we got some sleep.”

I can’t help but yawn at that moment and close my eyes, resting my head against AJ’s fur.

Why is she so comfortable to be around? I'm almost as at ease with her as...

I inwardly shake my head. Nah. That’s crazy. She don’t feel like Ma does. Ah must just be really tired. It’s been a long and stressful day and Ah just need sleep is all.

With these thoughts sifting through my head, I feel my eyes close and am soon embraced by sleep.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9

___________________________________________________________



The rooster crowed loudly as Celestia’s sun slowly started to rise, bathing Sweet Apple Acres in its warm early morning glow.
The sunlight filtered in through the window, passing across Applejack’s closed eyes. Her closed eyes fluttered and she slowly opened them.

It wasn’t like she’d been woken early; she had always been an early riser, even as a filly. She’d get up, wash her face, get breakfast ready for all still asleep, then head outside and start with the day’s chores.

However, something prevented her usual schedule from happening right away. As the orange mare moved to get up, she felt something held in her forehooves move. Looking down, she saw her sister lying next to her, snuggled close.

No. Wait. Not Apple Bloom. She shook her head. That’s Applebuck. She shook her head again. No... Sam. She sighed, looking down at the sleeping filly. Poor little thing. Ah kinda know how she feels, bein’ separated from her family. Ah went through that back when I was in Manehatten.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

Though, really, Ah don’t know how she’s feelin’ at all. I can’t really compare our experiences too much. Ah still had the option o’ goin’ home whenever Ah wan’ed... she doesn’t. She’s totally cut off from her family, her whole world. And she’s gotta wait fer somepony else ta help her get home. I can’t even imagine how painful that must be, t’ know you can go home, but have ta wait.

She tried to move so she wouldn’t wake the sleeping filly, but said filly responded by shifting in her sleep and snuggling closer into the mare’s fur.

“Mama...”

Applejack’s heart stopped for a second, before she closed her eyes, sighing. Don’t go feelin’ all worried, AJ, she told herself. She’s sleepin’. She obviously thinks everything that happened afore was just a dream and that her Ma’s holding her whilst she sleeps.

She saddened at that thought, a few tears leaking from her eyes.

Poor filly’s gonna be heartbroken when she wakes up and finds Ah’m not her Ma. She pulled the filly closer and held her. She couldn’t really move without waking the young pony and she didn’t want to make her sad by learning what was going on when she woke up, so she’d let her sleep longer, prolong her happiness before it’s crushed by the reality around her.

AJ knew Twilight would find a way to help the filly. There’s no way she couldn’t. Maybe she’d be able to fine tune that mirror to go to Sam’s world instead and the filly could go home.

Still, it didn’t stop the fact that she was stuck here til then, away from her family and anyone she knew. She couldn’t even compare this to what Twilight had had to go through the first time she’d gone to that alternate world to get her crown back.

When Twilight had arrived at that Canterlot High place, she’d had Spike with her. This meant she’d always had a friend nearby that she could confide in and fully understood her. Beyond that, from what she’d told them, Canterlot High hadn’t been that entirely different from Equestria. There were alternate reality versions of the ponies she knew, and their personalities had been the same. That meant she’d had something to fall back on when needed. Sam didn’t have those luxuries.

She was all alone; no one who she could really connect to, no one who truly understood her, she was all alone in a totally alien world.

Applejack remained where she was, even though her brain’s daily schedule was telling her to get up and start working.

She chuckled a little. She and Twilight were alike in that sense; they followed a schedule and never liked faltering from it even a little. Though, unlike the alicorn, she wasn’t likely to cause a disaster just because of a small slip up... unless you counted last years Applebucking Season.


Applejack must have dozed off again at some point, because she awoke to the sound of her door opening and glanced up to see Big Mac walking in.

“AJ, what’s up?” he asked, looking confused and a little annoyed. “Ah’m workin’ on mah own out there! Why ain’t you—?”

“Shh!” Applejack hissed, then shot her eyes down.

Mac followed, then frowned. “Is that Apple Bloom ’r that filly that looks like ’er?” he asked, now whispering as he noticed the sleeping filly in his sister’s bed.

“It’s Applebuck,” his sister whispered back, looking down at the small pony. 

Mac’s frown became one of confusion. “Applebuck?”

His sister nodded. “That’s the name we decided she should go by til she can get home.” She glanced down as the small pony breathed a little deeper and breathed a sigh. “Ah let her sleep with me last night t’ make her feel better. Ah haven’t gotten up yet cos Ah I don’ wanna wake ’er.”

Mac raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

AJ shook her head. “Think, Mac. She’s all alone in our world. She called me “Mama” in her sleep a little while ago, thinking she’s still at home with her family, cuddlin’ with her Ma. How’s she gonna feel when she wakes up and finds out she ain’t even home, let alone with her family?”

Mac’s ears drooped and he looked down. “Poor thing.”

Applejack nodded, then stroked a hoof through the sleeping filly’s mane. “Yeah. Ah know we can’t really help her right now; Twi’s gotta find a spell that can send her home and, til then, she ain’t got anywhere t’ go. So, I offered she can stay here. We’re probably the closest thing ta family she’s got in this world.”

Mac’s frown of confusion returned. “How d’ya’ll figure that one, sis?”

She looked at him, smiling. “Well, she looks like Apple Bloom, she sounds like Apple Bloom and Ah’ll bet my hat that, when Twi’s done with those genetic tests, she’ll have the same DNA as Apple Bloom.”

Mac nodded, though it was clear that last part had gone a little over his head, not that AJ would lie that it had kinda gone over her own, and she’d been the one saying it.

There was a small moan from under the blankets, the kind of moan one makes when they’ve just woken up.

The filly stirred, shifted around for a bit, then lifted her head, opening blearily eyes.




___________________________________________________________




I shift in my sleep. My bed is surprisingly warm today. I can feel another body laying next to me.

I smile. Mum. I must have dreamed all that and been crying in my sleep or something and she’d come in my room and either gotten into my bed with me or brought me to hers and Dad’s.

I snuggle closer, enjoying the feeling of her warmth... though, when she does have furry pajamas? Those can’t be too comfortable, even in winter.

I can hear a deep voice, maybe Dad’s already up?

No. That voice is deeper than Dad’s. And, now I think about it, I’ve only heard it a few times and...

I slowly open my eyes and lift my head. Though my vision is blurry from having just woken up, the bright orange blob in front of me is easily identifiable as not my mother. 

Suddenly what I thought was a dream comes crashing back to into me, along with all the implications it presented. My ears droop as I lower my head and start sniffling. I’m in Equestria, with no idea how I got here or why and, worst of all, I can’t even talk to my family about it.

I’d been able to handle the whole being Apple Bloom thing only because I’d had my family to support me, along with Michelle and all the other friends I'd made during the last three months. Now, I don’t have anything. I'm in an alien world, where I only know those around me from watching a TV show.

I feel something warm wrap around me and realize it's Applejack, holding me. I quietly cry into her. Why did this have to happen? Why did I have to wake up here? Why couldn’t I have just slept until Twilight or Celestia sent me home? Then I could put this all behind me and try to get on with my life.

After a while, I notice I can hear something. It's faint, really quiet. It sounds like... crying. But... it isn’t me.

I look up to see Applejack has her eyes closed, her face holding a pained expression. Even though I'm hurting, I don’t like seeing others in pain, so I lift a hoof to her face and wipe her cheek.

She gasps, opening her eyes and looking down at me.

I look back. It seems she understands my sadness. I'm glad I can at least talk with some... pony who understands what I'm going through, at least to some degree, but that doesn’t make it any better that I'm not home with my family.

“Listen, Sa— Ah mean, Applebuck,” the orange mare says wiping a few of the tears that have streaked my face. “Ah won’t lie an’ say Ah know just how yer feelin’ right now. But Ah’m bein’ honest when Ah say, until Twi gets back to us and let’s us know when an’ how ya’ll get home, Ah’ll watch out fer ya, okay?”

I nod and lean into her. If there is anypony I’d trust my temporary care to, it would be Applejack. Out of all the Mane Six, she is the most responsible and the most understanding. Yes, Fluttershy is a very understanding pony herself, but she wouldn’t really be able to understand me properly, what with her timidness.

Thinking of the other characters, however, reminds  me of something. It's been bugging me ever since I woke up and told AJ and Twilight everything.

“Um, AJ?” I whisper.

“Eeyep?” she whispers back.

I hesitate, not sure if I’d like the answer or not, but move on. “How come ya’ll never asked me how Ah knew who you were? Ah mean, Ah talked ’bout yer little sister and chatted a bit like Ah knew all o’ ya personally. How come ya’ll didn’ find that strange?”

Applejack's silent for a bit, then she chuckles. “Thought ya’d watched a fair bit o’ the show, t’ be honest.”

My head snaps up and I stare into her eyes, my own going wider than saucepans.

What? She knows this world comes from a TV show? How? Pinkie and Discord are the only ones who can break the fourth wall, so hearing it from them would've been fine. But coming from AJ, that’s just creepy!

Well, maybe Cheese Sandwich could break the fourth wall, too as he is pretty much a rule 63 version of Pinkie without actually being a rule 63 version of Pinkie.

She chuckles at the shocked, open-mouthed look I'm giving her.  “We all know about that TV show about our world, sugarcube. Well, sum o' us, anyway. Mainly just ponies who've play a key role in Equestria.” 

I cock an eyebrow. ”Like, bein' the princesses o' the sun and moon, love and the Bearers of Harmony?”

She nods. “Our world came first, but was filtered into the thoughts o' that Lauren Faust lady. We just don’t worry about it. It’s like Twilight said back when she first returned fr’m that alternate world where Ah’m a human; every action has a reaction."

I look down, shocked beyond words. They all know this world was created from a TV show. They all know there's a world where other beings watch them, even some of their most personal moments, yet they're fine with it?

I feel AJ shift and see her giving me a sheepish smile. “Um, ya know it’s past time Ah was up, right? This is a farm, ya know.”

I blink, before my brain catches up with me (though, after the bombshell I’d just had dropped on me you can forgive it for being a bit slow) as I see the sun in the sky outside. It's mid-morning. As a farmer, Applejack should’ve been up ages ago. She must have stayed in bed so as not wake me.

I quickly scramble to get off the bed and flop face-first to the floor.

AJ chuckles as she gets down and helps me up. “Come on, sugarcube. Let’s get you sumthin’ t’ eat.”

As if to answer her, my stomach gives a loud... I’d say growl, but I don’t think that’s the word. It made that gurgling sound that apparently also counts for growling in cartoons. Don’t know what you’d call it, though. Still, it happened and I can’t help but blush from it, to which the older mare just chuckles and leads me out the room.

When we get to the kitchen it's to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders chatting away as they eat a breakfast of waffles and fruits. As soon as we come downstairs, however, the three fillies heads snap  in my direction so fast I can’t help but flinch.

“Hey, Bucky,” Scootaloo says, waving a hoof to the seat next to her. “Saved ya a seat.”

I frown as I walk towards her and sit on the seat. “Bucky?”

The Pegasus nods, munching on a bite of waffle. “Well, yeah. I mean, having to always say Applebuck makes you sound like a normal pony, but it takes too long and can tie your tongue in knots if you’re not careful.”

She swallows and grins, not paying attention to the bit of maple syrup sliding down her lip.

“Bucky, however, is short and easy to say, and you can easily just tell anypony that it’s short for Applebuck afterwards.”

I frowns, looking down. She does make a good point. It would be a lot easier to shout Bucky if somepony needed to warn me about something, or just wanted my attention quickly. However, I can’t help noticing this means I’d gone from being called “Sam”, to “Applebuck” and now “Bucky” in a span of less than twenty-four hours.

However, all that is put out of my mind as Big Mac places a plate of waffles dripping in syrup in front of me. My mouth waters and my stomach again reminds me that it wants food.

Without a second thought to it, I dive into the waffles, savouring every single pony-tastebud-enhanced bite. I’d really started enjoying a lot of foods more than I used to since becoming a pony and waffles are no exception to this.

Back on Earth, whenever I had to get to a studio really early in the morning for an interview, I had breakfast at the studio from the catering provided and almost always went for the waffles. With pony tastebuds they were just too amazing.


Once breakfast is over I wipe my mouth with my leg at the same time as Scootaloo, both of us getting looks from the other ponies and grin sheepishly.

Of course, I have to go upstairs to the bathroom and wash my leg after; the syrup was making the fur all sticky, something I’d even had problems with back on Earth.

While the two of us are cleaning our legs and faces, Scootaloo glances at me.

I look to her as I rub my face. “What?”

She shakes her head. “It’s just weird. You look and sound exactly like Apple Bloom. You’re even a Blank Flank, just like her.”

I pout, looking away. “Yeah, well, don’t go exceptin’ me ta be like her. I ain’t her and I won’t be.” Though, now that I think about it, what does that make me?

I’m not Apple Bloom, because she’s already here. It would be a little easier to figure out if she wasn’t and I was merged with her, like guys who write themselves taking over the body of a pony unintentionally in fics, I might have an idea.

But, that isn’t the case. Apple Bloom is still around, she and I are completely different ponies, yet physically alike.

So... what does that make me? A copy? Twin? Doppelganger? Clone? What am I? 

My inner thoughts are stopped when I feel someone lift my tail and I “Eek!” while going stiff. “Scoo-Scootaloo?” I stutter, seeing it’s her due to the mirror. “Wh-what’re you doing?”

Scootaloo gives a confused frown. “Huh. Yeah. You’re definitely a filly, too. You’re practically her identical twin.”

I’m blushing frantically and quickly move my tail to cover my end again. Didn’t this Pegasus know anything about personal boundaries? Then again, she’s always following Rainbow Dash and trying to be like her and Dash isn’t exactly known for thinking about personal boundaries either, so that would explain it.

“No way!” the angry voice of Apple Bloom comes from downstairs, pulling both our attention to the open door. “Why’s she gotta be here?”

“Her father’s bringin’ her along cos they both got somewhere t’ be after,” Applejack’s voice follows. From the sound of her tone she was in “Get Apple Bloom to Calm down and listen to reason” mode. “She'll only have t’ be here fer as long as Rich wants to talk. If’n ya don’ wanna see her, ya can stay in yer room or go out to the barn til she’s gone.”

The sound of hoofsteps stomping up the stairs soon follows and the slamming of a door not long after.

Scootaloo and I glance at each, both thinking the exact same thing and saying it in unison. “Diamond Tiara.”

We go to Apple Bloom’s room to find Sweetie Belle already having gone inside, leaving the door open as she tries to reason with the angry farm filly.

“It tain’t fair!” the red-head is saying, waving her forehooves in the air dramatically, seeming more like Rarity at the moment than a farm filly. “How come it had t’ be t’day? Why couldn’t her dad have come t’morow, when we’re at school?”

I'm able to follow her logic right away and can’t help rolling my eyes. “Ya do realize ya’d still have ta deal with Tiara at school, right?”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle jump, clearly not expecting a voice just like Apple Bloom’s to point out a flaw in the filly’s argument.

Apple Bloom just frowns at me. “Yeah. But school’s normal. Ah can deal with that. But in mah own home? That’s just not fair!”

“She’s still peeved cos Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon got her with a good prank two days ago,” Scootaloo whispers to me.

I blink. A prank? I frown, thinking. A prank, huh?

“Oh, Ah wish Ah could get her back, that no-good-spoiled-little-brat!” my counterpart continues to rant. “If only Ah had a prank that would make Tiara look like a right fool! That’d show ’er!”

I put a hoof to my chin, thinking. I’m not exactly a big fan of the pink earth filly myself. While I get the point of her character in show as being the dick of the school, I’d always felt the urge to reached into the television and teach her a lesson.

“Too bad we can’t trick her in  some way,” Sweetie Belle says, looking slightly depressed. “Something that would make her say some really dumb stuff that’d make ponies laugh at her.”

Yeah, keep wishin, there, Sweetie. It’s not like we could make her think there was two of some... pony.

I blink, a light bulb turning on in my head and I smirk. “Oh, Ah think Ah know a good one.”

They all look to me, confused.

“Why would you wanna help us?” Sweetie Belle asks, tilting her head. “Diamond Tiara’s never done anything to you.”

I nod. “Yeah, but, even if Ah didn’t already know what a jerk she is, after hearing what ya’ll were sayin’ an’ how much ya’ll wanna get back, Ah feel like lendin’ a hoof.”

The three crusaders look at each other, then back to me, devilish grins spreading on their faces.

“Okay,” Apple Bloom says, nodding, “tell us yer plan.”

I nod and walk towards Apple Bloom’s closet, hoping my memory of the episode Somepony to Watch Over Me is accurate to this world. This is going to be fun.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10

___________________________________________________________



Diamond Tiara pouted, her forehooves crossed as she listened to her father blabbing away with the farm mare.

This was such a waste of time. She’d had plans with Silver Spoon to go shopping and maybe tease some of the losers around town. Instead, she was stuck waiting for her father to finish his boring talk with the hillbilly, then her daddy was taking her to another boring meeting in some building for something she couldn’t care less about.

"Hey, AJ, Scoots an' Ah're gonna go slop the pigs," Diamond growled at the sound of the farming Blank Flank. She'd honestly hoped she wouldn't have to even be near her during this waste of time.

"Sure thing, Bloom," the older farmer said absentmindedly, not turning to look as the little filly stood in the doorway. "Jus' make sure they all eat the same amount. We don't need no fightin' among them."

The yellow filly nodded, then hurried off.

Well, at least she didn't stay long, Diamond thought to herself.

"AJ!" 

She grit her teeth. Spoke to soon.

"Where do ya keep the corn seeds? Sweetie Belle an' Ah wanna do some plantin'."

"Left shelf in the shed, Bloom," the orange mare said, still paying more attention to Diamond's father.

The Blank Flank made to leave, but Diamond looked at her, frowning. "I thought you were going to do something with that Blank Flank Pegasus."

The yellow filly stopped just as she turned to leave, and gave Diamond a confused look. "No. Ah ain't doing anything with Scoots."

Tiara narrowed her eyes. "Yes, you are. You just came around a few seconds ago, interrupting my daddy's talk with your sister, telling her you'd be slopping hogs, or whatever."

Something seemed to flicker in the filly's expression, but she just shook her head. "Eenope. Ain't seen Scoots since a bit afore ya got here." And with that, the yellow filly hurried off.

Diamond Tiara cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Why would she say she was going to do something with one of her pathetic friends, then come back saying she was going to do something else with another and act like she didn't do the first thing?

Tiara suddenly smirked. Maybe that farm filly wasn't so dense after all. Maybe she left the Pegasus because she realize how pathetic she was.

She snickered at her own joke. Like that hay head would have any sense.




___________________________________________________________




Time wore on and Diamond was becoming gradually more bored by the second. As she heard the farm pony talking about some nonsense about tiling the fields, whatever that meant, Tiara realized she needed the loo.

“I need the bathroom,” she said bluntly, not caring that she interrupted the mare.

Filthy Rich gave her a slightly annoyed looked, but nodded to the mare.

“Second floor, second door fr’m the right,” she told Tiara, sounding like she was trying to remain polite, despite the filly's interruption.

The filly “hmffed” and walked up the stairs, following the directions given to her.

As she neard the bathroom, she saw the Blank Flank sister of the farmer, with her stupid bow and scowled. “Blank Flank,” she said as they passed each other.

“Tiara,” the other filly replied, with just as much disdain.

Tiara reached the door to the bathroom and tried to open it, only to find it locked.

“Hey!” she said loudly, pounding on the door. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Alright, alright, hold yer horses!” the farm filly’s voice called from the other end.

Tiara scowled deeper. Typical. That filly was always making things harder for her. First she had to deal with her being confusion early in the day, then has to see her on the way to the bathroom and now she was using the bathroom, meaning Tiara... couldn’t...

Wait.

Her scowl turned into a confused frown. She’d passed the Blank Flank in the hall, hadn’t she? How could she have passed her in the hall leading away from the bathroom, then be in the bathroom when Tiara arrived?

The door opened and the farm filly looked at her with a confused expression. “What?”

Tiara looked behind her, then back to the filly standing in front of her. “Didn’t...” she pointed a hoof behind her. “Didn’t we just pass each other on my way to the bathroom?”

The other filly frowned, cocking her head to one side. “No. Frankly, Ah'd rather avoid ya like the plague.” She closed her eyes, her frown shifting a little. “Now, if ya’ll excuse me, Ah was jus' gettin' back to plantin’ with Sweetie Belle.”

The pink filly shook her head and glared at the farmer. “Look, just let me through, would you? Forget what I said before. The fumes of your stinky farm must be affecting my brain.”

The filly scowled and pushed passed the Tiara wearing one, being sure to bump into her. “It only stinks cos yer here.”

Tiara stuck her tongue out at the filly as a final jab, before she went into the bathroom to finally relieve herself. Once she was done, she left the bathroom, then paused.

Why couldn’t she stop thinking about seeing that Blank Flank passing her twice? It just didn’t make sense. She knew she wasn’t imagining it. She had somehow passed the filly in the hall, yet that same one had been in the bathroom, the opposite direction that the one she’d passed was heading. It just didn’t add up.

She went downstairs and saw the farm filly drinking a glass of water in the living room.

She frowned. “I thought you said you were going back to planting in the mud?”

The filly just scowled as she finished her water. “Ah am not. Ah just wan’ed a glass o’ water afore Scoots an' Ah tend t' the sheep.” She put the glass down and walked passed her.

Tiara rolled her eyes and headed further into the house. Before stopping, frowning. Wait. Hadn't that Blank Flank told her she'd be planting with that unicorn Blank Flank, then just now said she wasn't and was helping the Pegasus one tend to the sheep?

Curious, and since  continuing to listen to her father blabber on with the farm pony still wasn’t any more appealing than it had been hours ago, she decided to go outside and find out what was going on.

Going around the kitchen so she wouldn’t get roped into the adults’ boring conversation, she headed outside and looked around, trying to figure out where the Blank Flanks could've gone.

"Hey, Maribel says she wants a light trimming," she heard the Pegasus call from somewhere.

"Got it!" the farm filly's voice called back. "Big Mac keeps the wool cutters in the shed. Ah'll be right back."

Within moments the Blank Flank farmer was coming up the path from one of the fields, she passed by the rich filly without a second glance, heading into a rusted down shed Tiara wouldn't be caught dead walking into.

"Ah'll get the weed whackers," Tiara's head whipped in a direction opposite the shed, only for her eyes to widen as the same Blank Flank from before came running towards her, before turning into the shed.

"Okay. Where would AJ've put the weed whackers? Over there. Got it. And here're those wool cutters. Nice."

Tiara frowned at the wording used, before the filly ran back out of the shed, carrying two things that looked like a small rake with a maneuverable handles in her mouth.

"Whoa, hold on!" Tiara leaped in front of the filly, causing her to skid to a stop. "What the heck was that about?"

"Hwha' wash hwha' abou'?" the filly asked around the tools in her mouth.

"Didn't you just go in that shed to get some wool cutters or whatever for somepony called Maribel moments ago?"

The farm filly cocked an eyebrow. "Wh' wou' Ah do da' when Ah'm doin' gard'n'?"

"You tell me!" Tiara scowled.

The yellow pony shrugged, before pushing past her. "Shweediesh waidin' fer me."

And with that, the filly hurried off, leaving Diamond fuming.

"Okay. That should be all Ah need. Maribel's gonna be glad to be stylin' when it comes t' sheep."

Tiara's eyes bugged out and she whirled around to see the farm filly exiting the shed again, this time, carrying a pair of what looked like fancy, strong-looking scissors.

She looked from where she'd just seen her hurrying of to help that unicorn, then back to the one walking towards her direction from the shed.

She hurried forward, blocking her path again. "How did you do that?!" she demanded.

The farm filly just blinked, before lowering down what Tiara assumed were the wool cutters, and gave her an odd look. "Uh, how do Ah do what?"

"You just left that shed with some weird rake things moments ago," Tiara shouted, pointing in the direction she'd seen her go. "You were going to help that unicorn friend of yours, even though you said before you're helping your loser for a Pegasus friend."

The yellow pony furrowed her brow. "Ah am helpin' Scoots. An' she ain't a loser!"

Tiara narrowed her eyes. "Then how come you just left with those rakes to help that unicorn instead? And how did you even get back into the shed without passing me?!"

She cocked her head. "Ah didn't. Ya saw me go by, Ah know cos Ah saw the look ya gave me." With that, she picked up her wool cutters and hurried off, leaving Tiara fuming to the point she wanted to scream.

What the hay was going on?! How come she was seeing the filly once, then seeing her again?!




___________________________________________________________




Tiara growled. She'd had it up to here with whatever little trick those Blank Flank Crusaders were playing on her. For a whole hour she'd been going back and forth, trying to figure it out. Whenever she went to where the sheep were, she saw the yellow filly helping that flightless Pegasus.

But then, she hurried to catch the unicorn on her own and tease her about being left behind, only to find the yellow filly was somehow there too, and both kept acting like they hadn't been doing the thing they clearly had been.

It was driving her crazy.

As she slumped on the farm house porch, wondering if it was worth it to go back inside and listen to her dad, she saw the Blank Flank farmer and the Pegasus coming up the path, before turning towards the barn.

"That was fun," the farmer was saying as they passed Diamond, not even acknowledging her. "Though Ah honestly thought we'd get Cutie Marks in hair stylin' or sumthin'."

The Pegasus shrugged. "Meh. I'd rather not have one in that. Kinda sorry we didn't help Sweetie with planting though."

"Ya'll would'a wanted a plantin' Cutie Mark more than a hair stylin' one?" the farmer joked.

The Pegasus laughed. "Good point. Well, let's get inta the barn to meet up with Sweetie."

Tiara rolled her eyes as the two losers headed into the barn, closing the door behind them.

Several minutes passed by, before she heard voices coming from closer to the house.

"Man, that felt good," the farm filly's voice said, causing Tiara to sit up straight.

Moments later, Tiara's eyes widened as the farm filly and her unicorn friend came from around the house, both covered in light layers of dirt.

"You liked getting dirty?" the unicorn, in Tiara's personal opinion, reasonably asked.

The farmer nodded. "Been a while since Ah got down'n dirty like that. Helped me more than ya can know."

Tiara watched open mouthed as the two walked right passed her, headed for the barn and went inside, the door closing behind them.

For several moments she stood there, mouth agape, before her eyes narrowed. Alright. Enough was enough. She was going to find out now, whilst those three losers were all gathered together in the barn, just what in Celestia's name they'd been doing all day!

She knew something was up and with her tiara as her witness; she was going to find out and expose whatever little secret those Blank Flanks were hiding.

She barreled across the yard, her destination set. The barn looked as lame and poor-pony-owned as ever. Sure, it looked kind of new, but that had to be a trick. This farm was a waste of space. Why her daddy didn’t just buy the place and tear it down for something useful, like a fast food joint, instead of being a business partner to them, she’d never understand.

She was steps away from the barn, when the door suddenly opened and the farm filly stepped out. They both stopped, looking at each other.

The other filly gave a bored looked. “Oh, hey, Tiara. What do you want?”

“Where’s that other you?” she demanded, pointing at the yellow one. “I saw her go in there after you and those losers you call friends. Where is she? That's the only explanation I can think of! Where's the other you?!”

The filly just gave a smirk. “Other me? Why, Ah don’t know what ya mean, Diamond Tiara. There’s only one o' me? How could there be two?”

Tiara scowled, jabbing a hoof at her. “Don’t lie to me, Blank Flank! I saw her go into the barn after you and that worthless excuse for a Pegasus! She went in with that useless unicorn.”

The filly's eyes narrowed slightly, before she just shrugged. “There ain’t another me in there, if that’s what yer ’mplyin,’. But, if ya’ll wanna go in, be mah guest. Ah’m just goin’ ta get sumthin’ an’ then Ah’ll be right back.”

She walked passed, looking smug about something.

Tiara just scowled until the filly had gone back inside. Then, she turned her attention to the barn.

“Nice try, Blank Flank,” she muttered, her expression set. “But I know something’s going on and when I find out, you are so busted.”

She pushed open the barn door and walked inside. At once she was hit by the strong smell of dung and had to cover her nose.

How could they stand to live in this stench? They had to have been pigs in another life, surely. There was no other way they couldn’t have a problem with this smell.

At that moment she saw a pair of hooves descending a ladder that led to the upper level of the barn. The hooves were yellow and the tail that followed was red.

“Ah-ha!” Tiara shouted, causing the filly to jump. “I knew something was going on!”

The filly just looked at her with annoyance. “And just hwhat is that?” she asked as the unicorn and Pegasus hurried down to help their friend up.

Tiara walked up to her, getting face to face. “There’s two of you!”

The fillies just looked at each other, then giggled, the farmer saying,  “Two o’ me? Now, that’s just cooky talk, Tiara. Are ya’ll feelin’ alright?”

She glowered. “I know what I saw! I saw you come in here with that Pegasus," she point to the pony in question, "Then I saw you coming back again with her," she indicated to the unicorn. "And just now, I just spoke to you as you left the barn to go get something. Then I come in here and your still here! Admit it, there’s two of you, Blank Flank.”

“Now, that’s just silly.”

Tiara froze. That had been the filly’s voice... but her mouth hadn’t moved. She slowly turned her head around, swearing she could hear a creaking sound as she did so. Standing in the doorway of the barn... was the same filly standing in front of her.

Her head darted between each of them, focusing on one for a second, then back to the other.

“What’s the matter, Tiara?” the one at the door asked, stepping in.

“Yeah,” the one in front of her said, causing her to step back in fright. “Ya’ll look like ya’ve seen a ghost.”

“B-but—” she stammered, her eyes flicking back and forth. “Y-you— an-and her— but, you’re both—”

"Tiara?" the unicorn asked, cocking her head. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you see them?!" Tiara cried, pointing from one yellow filly to the other. "There are two Apple Blooms!"

The Pegasus just cocked an eyebrow. "Um, Tiara, I can only see one Apple Bloom here. What about you, Sweetie Belle?"

"Yeah," the unicorn nodded, still giving Tiara a confused look. "There's only one Apple Bloom in this barn, Diamond Tiara."

“What’s wrong, Tiara?” both yellow fillies asked in unison. “Do ya’ll need some help?”

Tiara screamed, darting out the barn as fast as her hooves would take her, flew across the yard, burst inside and skidded to a stop in the kitchen. Both adult ponies sitting at the table looked to her in shock as she stood there, panting, her mane disheveled, her eyes wide.

“Two— barn— same time— Blank Flanks—” she tried to speak, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and the world went black.




___________________________________________________________




We're rolling around on the floor, laughing like crazy.

“D-did— did ya see her face?” Apple Bloom cackles as she holds her stomach. “That was totally priceless!”

“Ah know, right?” I manage through my own laughter. I look up to the loft of the barn. “D-did— Do you two get everythin’?”

Sweetie Belle struggles to get up through her fits of giggles, whilst  Scootaloo continues rolling on the floor in laughter. The unciorn lights her horn, before bringing down a camera that had been stratigically placed and set on a timer.

“Yeah, we did!” Scootaloo barely managed, whilst Sweetie grinned at me. “Check ’em out!”

We do and we doubled over with more laughter. The photos of Tiara’s expression when she saw the two of us are too hilarious. I haven’t had a good laugh like this in ages. It feels good.

When we finally manage to calm down, still giggling a little, we head back out the barn, the photos in Scootaloo’s saddlebags.

However, our good moods stop the moment we go inside. Applejack is standing in the middle of the hall, a firm frown on her face.

We all gulp.

“Uh, hey, sis,” Apple Bloom says weakly, giving a nervous smile. “What’s up?”

Applejack’s frown somehow grows deeper and we all flinch. “Diamond Tiara came in some time ago, babblin’ sumthin’ about two o’ sumthin and then Blank Flanks, afore she fainted in the middle of the floor.”

“She fainted?” Scootaloo asks, then pumps a hoof. “Sweet. Didn’t even plan that. Wish we'd gotten a photo o' that too.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow, just as I jab the Pegasus in the gut, hissing, “Shush!”

Applejack then turns her gaze to me and I can’t help but wilt under it. “Applebuck?”

I gulp. “Ye-yes?” Okay, why do Ah feel so scared all of a sudden? Has being this size for so long really made me so easy to intimidate?

Applejack cocks her head. “Just why are ya’ll wearin’ one o’ mah sister’s bows?”

We all freeze. In the excitement of a prank well done, I’d completely forgotten to take off the bow. And with Tiara mentioning two of something and Blank Flanks, plus the fact that wearing the bow makes Apple Bloom and I look exactly alike...

I gulp. “Ah... We, er...”

Applejack cocks an eyebrow in a way that makes me feel very uncomfortable. It's like she's looking right into me.

“Okay, we did it!” Sweetie Belle cries, her voice squeaking with panic. “We played a trick on Diamond Tiara, making her think there were two Apple Blooms by having Bucky wear a bow.”

The rest of us face-hoof. Of course. Of all ponies in the show, Sweetie was most likely to cave under pressure and that's just what happened.

Applejack’s glare intensifies and we all lower our heads and ears. “Ah am very disappointed in you four, especially you, Applebuck. This ain’t yer world an’ you go and play a mean-spirited prank like that?”

I look up, my confidence returning in an instant as she defends Tiara. “Applejack, ya’ll don’t know just how horrible Diamond Tiara is. She’s been torturing Apple Bloom and the others fer ages.”

Applejack just raises an eyebrow. “So ya’ll’re sayin’ two wrongs make a right?”

“Ah...” I look away. “Well, no, Ah wouldn’t say that, exactly...”

She shakes her head. “Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Ah’ll be lettin’ yer parents know ’bout this, got it?”

The unicorn and Pegasus hang their heads, nodding.

“An’ as fer you two,” she rounds on us, making us flinch, “Yer both grounded. Up to Apple Bloom’s room, now!”

“But, AJ—” we both say.

“No,” she cuts us off, pointing a hoof upstairs. “Room, now!”

We hang our heads and go up to Apple Bloom’s room, myself kicking the door closed with a hind leg.

We sit in the middle of the room silently, listening to the muffled sounds of Applejack still telling the other two off and warning them that their families would learn about what we’d done and that we were expected to apologize to Diamond Tiara the next time we saw her, which if I was lucky, wouldn’t be ever again.

I take off the bow I’d been wearing and hand it to Apple Bloom. She takes it, nodding.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering how Applejack can ground me when I'm over twenty-years-old.

Well, seeing as I'm smaller than her. Plus, she's giving me a place to stay, instead of just leaving me with somepony else until we can figure out how to send me back, and... well, even if I don't agree with it, I'm still just a guest in this house and I have to follow the rules, even if I don't want to.


After a few more moments of silence, Apple Bloom speaks up. “That was a pretty good prank, ya know.”

I nod, not looking up. “Too bad we got caught. Ya think AJ took the pictures?”

Apple Bloom shakes her head. “Dunno. Hope not." She looks at me, a small smile crossing her face. “Ya know, knowing Tiara, she’ll probably believe you or Ah was a Changeling, or that the whole farm is.”

I chuckle at that. “Bet she’ll demand that Twilight use that spell.”

We both giggle.

“Boy, will her face go red when it don’t work,” Apple Bloom gets up and walks over to her bed, getting up on it and lying down. “Whatcha think mah sister’s gonna do?”

I shake my head. “Dunno. Probably sumthin’ like no supper, or no dessert t'night.”

Apple Bloom sighs. “Ya’ll don’t know mah sister, Bucky. We’ll probably be given some gross job ta do.”

We sit, waiting for the orange mare to come up. For hours we wait, wondering when she’ll come up. We wait and wait, but she never comes up.

However, neither of us wanted to get into any more trouble, so we didn’t leave the room, even as the day slowly moved along.

By the time our stomachs are rumbling, we risk leaving. But, as soon as we open the door, we find two sandwiches, two apples and two glasses of water sitting outside the door.

We don’t need telling to know what to do. We take the plates inside the room and eat our lunch. Or rather, Apple Bloom ate. I don't want to, not after being punished for doing something to help out three of the nicest fillies in Equestria.

As Apple Bloom eats, we start talking. Apple Bloom asks me about my life on Earth, so I tell her. About how I’d spent the first twenty-three years of my life, right up to when I woke up as here.

She becomes very interested when I tell her how hard it had been for me to cope with being her. I tell her about how I had started to struggle, dealing with everything that had been happening and then, on top of that, finding myself here in Equestria and the fears that put in me, being separated from my family, not knowing when I’d get home...

As I tell her how broken-hearted I’d been this morning when I woke to find this all hadn’t been a dream, we hear a knock on the door.

We both look to it as the door opens, revealing Applejack. Her expression from before isn’t there anymore. Instead it has become one of slight worry.

Apple Bloom looks a little confused by this, but I glare. Whatever she has to say, it better be an apology for punishing us. If not, I know about a certain paper that would give her reason to back me up with doing what I did to Tiara.

She flinches at my glare, then walks in and I notice she's holding a scroll, one I recognize as being from Twilight, her Cutie Mark being the torn seal. Applejack hands the scroll to me.

I scowl.  "What?"

She blinks, a little surprised by my reaction, then glances to the scroll. "Ya'll should read this."

I bat her hoof holding the scroll away and glare right into her eyes. She recoils, clearly not have been expecting it.

I'm fuming, mad beyond mad. I'd found something I could do, something that made me useful while I'm stuck in this world and what had I gotten in return? Scolding and punishment, when the one who really deserves punishment is probably being cooed at and pampered more than her snobby self usually is even as we speak.

"Why?"

Applejack cocks an eyebrow, clearly confused. "Why what?"

I turn away, snorting. "Why do you always side with Tiara over family?"

She blinks, her eyes wide, as are Apple Bloom's though with a different look in them.

I look back to the older mare, snorting once more. "Ah told ya'll the truth. Right away, first thing Ah said t' you was the truth, AJ. Yet, ya'll wouldn' even listen ta me when it came ta our prank on Tiara." I narrow my eyes. "Are ya'll so determined to keep business with Filthy Rich that ya'd ignore the truth, even when it's strain' ya right in the face!?"

Her eyes go wide. "Ah'd never— Why would ya—? How can ya'll say that, Applebuck?" 

I point a hoof at the other filly in the room. "Cos ya'll never seem ta take yer own sister seriously 'bout all Tiara puts her through." I snort. 'n fact, the only time Ah think ya'll had any understandin' 'bout it was that day Rich made Tiara dance with the others with Granny fer the Zap Apples after she insulted Granny at Family Appreciation Day."

Applejack's eyes widen and she looks to her sister, wearing an expression that begs her to tell her that isn't the case.

Bloom looks away, her face sad. "Well... she's kinda right, sis. Ya never really, Ah mean really listen ta me when Ah talk 'bout it. Ya just brush it off as me being a silly filly."

You can hear the hurt in Apple Bloom's voice at that fact that she was not only saying this, but that it was true and that hurt only makes me angrier.

Applejack looks heartbroken as she stares at her sister. However, I don't give her time to dwell on that, coughing to get her attention.

She looks to me, still wearing that expression, to see me holding out a hoof. Now that I'd gotten that out of my system, I want to find out what Twilight had sent, 

She holds out the scrolls to me and I snatch them away, giving her a look that says, while I was done ragging on her right now, I wasn't done yet.


I take a deep breath, open the scroll and read.


	Applejack,

This letter is about the young filly now in your care.

It would seem that my hunch about her reason for looking and sounding just like your sister has been confirmed. After what she said about the timeframe, I did some research and it would seem it was due to the moment when Tirek and I were fighting and our magical blasts collided.

His magic at the time was a combination of all five of your magical energies, along with Discord’s Chaos Magic, as well as the countless ponies from Canterlot, Hoofington and Appleloosa that he drained.

When it and my magic, which was the combined power of mine, Cadance, Celestia and Luna’s magic, collided with the intensity they did, the explosion managed to pierce through the walls of reality into Sam’s own world and he was unfortunate enough to be the one near where the magic seeped into his world through the weakened wall.

As to why he transformed into a duplicate of Apple Bloom, I’m still unsure. It was most likely just a random draw of which pony he was turned into and your sister happened to be the one.

I have confirmed through tests that Sam is now physically identical to Apple Bloom in every way. Her DNA and magical aura match Apple Bloom’s completely.


I sent a letter to the princess to see if she could help, maybe send Sam back. However, mere minutes after sending that letter I got a reply, not from Celestia, but Luna. I have attached a copy of the letter.

If you can, please let Sam read this herself. I think it would be better that way.


I am sorry about this, Sam. I know you want to go home, but I’m afraid it may not be for a while. Until then, I am placing you in Applejack’s care. Trust me; you couldn’t be in better hooves.


Twilight.


I don’t like where this was going. Why would Luna answer a letter sent to Celestia? And why does Twilight feel she has to apologize to me?

I shift the paper, finding the second letter and start reading.


	Dear Twilight Sparkle,


I am afraid my sister cannot answer your letter right now. Though she is not in any danger, she appeared this morning in the castle grounds, completely exhausted of her magical energy and unconscious.

Her physicians have confirmed that she had been using some incredibly powerful magic and will not regain her full strength for several weeks, two months at the most. The only thing I can compare it to is world crossing, which, as you know, is dangerous magic to mess with.

While you were able to return to the alternate world through the mirror using those devices, that is different from what my sister appears to have done. You were merely manipulating the mirror’s magical energies to reopen the portal. That was a stable way to cross dimensions.

What my sister did, is far more dangerous and much more taxing on the body and inner magic. She literally crossed the dimensions with no real protection.

I did not know why she would have done this until your letter arrived. If this filly that looks like Apple Bloom is indeed from another world, my sister might have had a role to play in her being here. However, I would like to believe, if that is true, there was a good reason, though there is every chance my sister was trying to keep the filly in her own world, but failed to do so.

While I do believe my sister did not knowingly take a filly from her world and family, it makes me no less aggravated that my sister may have brought a being from another universe into our own. That filly should be with her own family, whether they be human or not and not have to suffer waiting until my sister’s recovery to return to her home.

And yes, I am sorry to say that, until my sister has recovered enough to at least give me the frequency of this filly’s homeworld, she must remain in our own.

As such, until such a time as my sister is able to resume her duties, I will be taking over the rising and lowering of the sun, while continuing my own duties of raising and lowering the moon.


As you mentioned the filly is currently staying with Applejack, I will entrust you to place her legally in the farmer’s care until such a time as she can be returned to the world from whence she came.



And young Sam, I know Twilight well enough to know that you are reading this due to her sending a copy of my letter to Applejack, who will have let you read it yourself, instead of reading it out to you.

Please know that I am truly sorry for the trouble we have caused you and that I will do everything in my power to ensure your safe return to your own world.


Luna.


I blink, staring at the words. I... I'm stuck here until Celestia gets better? She might have been the reason I’m here? Why? Why would she take me away from my home, my family? Why would she do something so cruel?

Tears slide down my muzzle, landing on the scroll, staining the ink.

I feel a pair of hooves, one pair small, the other larger, pull me close. I push the larger ones away, I don't want Applejack to hold me right now and I quietly cry into the other pair instead.



> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11

___________________________________________________________




I feel a hoof on my shoulder and yank again, pulling out of Apple Bloom’s hug and glaring at Applejack.

She looks shocked as the tears stream down my face.

“Ah trusted you.”

She blinks at the quiet whisper, then steps forward as I turn around. “Applebuck—”

Her sentence is cut off as I rear back and buck her, sending her flying at the wall. She goes right through it, across the hall and through the wall into the next.

I whirl around and look at her with both pure rage and heartbreak. “Ah trusted you!”

I bolt out the door and down the stairs, my eyes shut. I don’t even care where I’m going anymore. If I suddenly find myself in the Everfree Forest when I open my eyes I honestly don’t care. I just need to go somewhere, anywhere away from—

I slam into something and feel it nearly move away from me, but something holds it in place. It’s soft, like a pony’s fur, but the impact leaves me a little stunned, not having expected it.

“Sam hill. What’s goin’ on around here?” a voice says as I feel hooves wrap softly around me. It sounded like...

I look up, opening my eyes. Through my blurry vision I can see something green above me.

“G-Granny Smith!” I wail, burying my face into her fur and bawling. It’s a wonder I still have any tears to bawl at all.



___________________________________________________________



Granny Smith stared down at the young filly, wondering just what could have happened to make her so upset. When she’d arrived back from her spa trip that nice Rarity had offered her, Mac had blubbered something about two Apple Blooms.

Now, Granny Smith prided herself on being able to tell one member of her family from another, even if they were disguised, whether by dressing up or magic.

And as she looked down at the filly in her hooves, a filly that looked just like Apple Bloom in every way, she could tell, despite the everything in regards to looks, this was not Apple Bloom.

However, the filly was clearly distraught and Granny Smith would’ve been ashamed of herself if she didn’t comfort the poor dear.

“Applebuck!”

Even though she was able to tell the filly she was holding wasn’t her granddaughter, hearing her voice from the stairs while holding a filly that looks just like her still was a little unsettling even the elderly mare.

She looked up to see Apple Bloom hurrying down the stairs, Applejack right behind her, sporting a rather nasty looking bruise on her chest that could only have come from a buck.

They both stopped when they reached Granny Smith and Big Mac, both looking uncertain what to say.

“Ah think we need a family meeting, in the livin’ room,” the elderly mare said firmly, brushing the filly’s red mane. “Tell me everythin’.”



Several hours later the four members of the Apple family were seated in the living room, Big Mac sitting in his father’s old chair, Applejack their mother’s, whilst Apple Bloom sat on the shared couch with Granny Smith, who still held the Apple Bloom look-alike called Applebuck in her forehooves.

The young filly had cried herself to sleep in the old mare’s hold. While she seemed calm, she still sniffled in her sleep from time to time.

Granny Smith gave her older granddaughter a very angry, very disappointed look.

“Ah just can’t believe you, Applejack,” she said quietly, causing said mare to haunch over. Granny talking quietly to you like that was worse than her yelling at you. It meant she was extremely disappointed in you. A disappointment that dug deep.

“But... why, Ganny?” she asked meekly, not even able to lift her head to look at her grandmother. “Ah was just tryin’ ta teach her not to pull mean-spirited pranks like she did.”

Granny Smith huffed. “If'n that’s yer idea o’ mean-spirited pranks, AJ, then Ah guess ya’ll have fergotten what it was like afore Bloom found her friends.”

Applejack hunched even lower. That soft voice was like a weight bearing down upon her with each word.

“Do ya’ll understand why she reacted to ya the way she did?”

Applejack, caught a little off-guard by that question, looked up, confusion on her face. “Huh?”

Granny Smith sighed. “Clearly ya don’t. Well, Ah’ll tell ya. Ya said last night ya let her sleep with ya?”

“Yeah,” Applejack nodded slowly.

“Why was that?”

Applejack looked to Applebuck, her as going misty. “She’s scared, Granny. Ah could tell she needed some comfort, so Ah offered.”

“An’ how did she react once the two o’ ya were in bed?”

Applejack looked away. “She... she relaxed. She seemed more at ease than she had been all day.”

“And in the mornin’?”

Applejack felt herself choking up a little. “She... she was snuggled right next ta me and... and called me “Mama” in her sleep, thinkin’ she was home.”

Granny Smith sighed, shaking her head. “She trusted ya, AJ.”

Applejack looked to the older mare, frowning slightly. “That’s what she said right afore she bucked me through the wall and bolted downstairs.” She raised an eyebrow. “What’s that got ta do with it.”

Granny glared, causing the orange mare to cower a little. “She’s a world tha’ tain’t her own, with none she feels truly safe around and’s worried she might not get home. Then ya’ll give her a reason t’ make her feel safe and she puts her faith and trust in ya. Then, when she tries ta help yer sister deal with a bully, ya go an’ punish her for it.”

“But that prank—” Applejack began.

“Was nothin’ but that, a harmless prank,” Granny cut her off. “Ah’ve spoken with Miss Cheerilee and, trust me, compared t’ what that filly puts our little Bloom through on a daily basis, that prank was nothing a’ all.”

“But, Ah—”

Granny shook her head, a sad look on her aged face. “Ya’ll were the first pony she put any faith in, AJ and then ya went an’ stomped on it. Ah bet if ya asked she’d say she feels betrayed by the only one she felt she could trust.”

“But, Granny, Ah... Ah didn’t mean... Ah didn’t want...” Applejack trailed off as the full weight of what the older mare had said sunk in and cemented itself within her.

She’d betrayed Applebuck; less than a day after promising to look after her and keep her safe, she’d gone and left that filly feeling betrayed and hurt. She suddenly felt she deserved worse than the mark on her chest. 

She had to give it to the filly; they’d chosen the right name for her. She could buck hard as any Apple. Still, that didn’t lift her spirits enough from the pain she’d caused the filly entrusted to her care.

Granny Smith sighed and looked to Apple Bloom. “Bloom?”

“Yeah, Granny?” the little filly asked, turning to her with a concerned expression.

“Would you mind if Applebuck slept with you t’night? She needs somepony to be there to comfort her when she wakes up and, sadly, Ah don’t think she’d feel comfortable waking up with Applejack—” the orange mare pulled her Stetson over her eyes in shame— “and since she used ta be a male, Ah don’t think she’d really feel comfortable waking up next to Big Mac—” said stallion blushed heavily, trying not to picture an adult male version of the small filly lying in a bed next to him— “and Ah don’t think she’d really wanna wake up next ta an old mare like me,” Granny finished, looking down at the sleeping filly. “But, since yer about the same age as her, she might feel at ease wakin’ up ta find you there ta comfort her. Ya understand?”

Apple Bloom nodded, then looked sadly at the filly that looked just like her.

Granny smiled and nodded, gently getting up and looking to Big Mac.

The stallion got up and helped his grandmother slip the sleeping filly onto his back. He then headed upstairs to Apple Bloom’s room and laid the filly in Apple Bloom’s bed, leaving enough room for said filly to get in when she herself went to bed.

After that they had an awkwardly silent dinner, before Bloom decided to turn in early.

She showered, brushed her teeth and went to her room. She carefully got into bed, making sure not to wake the sleeping filly and lay down.

However, before she could close her eyes and drift off to sleep, Applebuck started sniffling.

Apple Bloom noticed tears sliding down her face, a hurt expression on her muzzle.

Not knowing what else to do, Apple Bloom leaned closer and pulled her doppelganger into a hug. The sniffling slowly subsided and Applebuck was soon sound asleep again, her breathing the only sound she was making.

Happy to have helped, Apple Bloom closed her own eyes and let herself drift off into the sleep of Luna’s night.




___________________________________________________________




“Mama!” I wail, leaping up into her arms and snuggling against her chest.

She holds me close, whispering assurances into my ear as Michelle and Tara look on sadly.

We’ve just come from America, where I’d been of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It had gone well for the most part, I’d even had some fun messing with Geoff the skeleton.

However, while the interview went well, what happened after is another story. As we were driving back towards the airport, another car nearly caused us to crash. What’s worse is it was intentional. If not for our driver’s quick thinking, we could’ve all died in a crash, or at the very least be left badly injured.

We learned later that a bunch of guys got arrested and when asked why they’d tried to run us off the road, it was because I was in the car.

“Maybe we should hold off the interviews and appearances for a while,” Tara says, looking sadly at me. “Wait til things have calmed down a little, you know?”

“It’ll never calm down,” I sob into my mum’s chest. “There’s always gonna be people who hate me just cuz Ah’m a pony.”

“Which is why I will be taking her away now!”

We all turn, my eyes going wide as I see Princess Celestia standing in the middle of the living room, her expression grim.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Mum cries, holding me tighter.

She cries out suddenly as a golden aura envelops us and I’m pulled out from Mum’s arms. Michelle and Tara hurry towards me, but are blocked by a wall of glowing golden energy.

I look to Princess Celestia with wide, fearful eyes. “You have not kept my little pony safe. Now, she will return to the world where she belongs, with her own kind.”

Suddenly we’re outside Sweet Apple Acres. Celestia releases me from her magical hold and disappears.

Looking around, I see Applejack walking away.

“Applejack!” I cry, trying to run towards her, to ask what’s going on, but it’s like I’m not moving forward. No matter how hard I run, it’s like I’m staying in one place.

As I run though, Applejack is fading away, until I’m standing in a world of pure blackness.

I drop to my knees, sobbing. Why? Why is this happening?

“Enough, young one,” a soothing voice suddenly says.

Looking up quickly, I gasp as I see Princess Luna standing in front of me, a very sad expression on her face. Glancing around, I see the darkness has faded away and I’m in Luna’s Dream Realm.

“It... it was all a nightmare?” I look to the lunar princess and she gives a small nod.

“Fear not, little one,” she says, leaning down and nuzzling me, using a forehoof to wipe the tears from my eyes. “When my sister is better, we shall learn the real reason you have ended up in our world and do what we can to send you back. And I can personally assure you, you’re coming here wasn’t anything like what you just dreamt.”

I want to argue, to understand why Luna doesn’t believe her sister brought me here against my will, when I know I didn’t want to go to sleep at home and wake up in Equestria, but she just seems to exude a calming aura that makes me relax.

She does have a point. Why would Princess Celestia just barge into my world, yank me from my family and bring me to Equestria so forcefully? She’d never have done that.

With my mind at peace again, I drift into a peaceful, dreamlessness.



___________________________________________________________




I awake to the sound of a rooster crowing. I’m about to decide to ignore it and go back to sleep, when I notice I’m against a warm body.

My first thought is Applejack and I prepare to buck her out of the bed for daring to try and comfort me after what she did, but I hesitate, noticing the body next to me feels similar in size to me.

Frowning curiously, I open my eyes, blinking to get the sleep out of them. When my eyes have adjusted, I just stare blankly for several seconds.

Apple Bloom is sleeping right across from me. actually, her face is alarmingly close. Doing my best to observe the situation as much as I can without moving and waking her, I realize she’s holding me in a very tight hug.

I can feel the pressure against my spine. If I wasn’t an Earth Pony, I’m pretty sure she would have snapped it with how strong she’s holding me.

“Apple Bloom?” I grunt, before struggling to try and free myself. Damn, this filly’s got a strong grip. “Apple Bloom, wake up!”

“Mmm?” she murmurs, before slowly opening her eyes and looking at me blearily.

I give a slight grimace. “Can... can ya’ll please let me go now? Any tighter and ya’ll break mah spine.”

She blinks, glancing down at her forehooves, before blushing and quickly pulls away, apologizing,

I stretch my body, doing my best to get any stiffness out of it, which, thanks to how Bloom’s been near crushing me all night from the given evidence, there’s a lot.

I crick my neck a few times, before twisting my limbs back and forth to get full circulation in them again.

Once that’s over, we both head downstairs to find Granny Smith setting plate for us with hash browns, apples and each a bowl of porridge. We both move to the table and start eating.

“So, Granny, where’s AJ?” Apple Bloom asks.

I pause, my grip on the spoon I’m holding tightening a little.

“Yer sister’s working the market stall t’day, Bloom,” Granny says, before looking to me. “Applebuck, Big Mac needs a little help with the apple bucking t’day. Wanna lend a hoof?”

I blink, looking at the elderly mare with a raise eyebrow. “Uh, Granny, Ah ain’t never done any apple buckin’ afore.”

She just waves a hoof. “No worries, child. Ah saw the mark ya left on mah granddaughter. Ya got the bucking skills.”

I frown, for some reason feeling offended by that, but I honestly can’t say why.

Once breakfast is finished, Apple Bloom grabs her saddlebags and heads off for school, leaving me with Granny to be shown into the fields. We find Big Mac as he gives a tree a hard kick and apples cascade down into the baskets stationed around it.

“Ah’ll leave you two to it,” Granny says, before turning to Mac. "Now, she says she ain't ever apple bucked afore, Mac, so show her the ropes, got it?" 

"Eeyup," he replied with a nod.

Granny smiles at me, winking, then walks off to do... whatever Granny will do today.

After she’s gone Mac and I stand in silence for a while.

“So...?” I say once the quiet becomes to awkward for me, “ya wan’ed mah help with the apples?”

“Eeyup.”

I inwardly deadpan. Please don’t tell me this is the most conversation I’m going to have today.

I sigh, moving over to one of the trees. “Now, ya’ll wanna take it easy,” I almost jump in shock when he really speaks. “Since it’s yer first time bucking, how about we—”

“Who said it’s mah first time bucking?” I ask, rearing back and delivering a strong kick to the tree. Second later, apples tumble down into the gathered baskets.

When the falling of apples stops, I turn to look at Big Mac, who’s just staring at me with his mouth wide open.

“But...” he says with an expression that suggests he’s trying to remember how to work his mouth. “But Granny just said ya’ll said ya’d never been apple buckin’ before.”

I nod. “Yeah. Ah ain’t til t’day. Never said Ah ain’t learned how t’ buck though.”

That actually causes him to close his mouth and raise an eyebrow.

I look away, scuffing a hoof on the ground, my ears splaying back. “Let’s just say, shortly after Ah changed, I learned t’ buck t’ defend mahself. Not everyone in mah world was exactly okay with me bein’ this way.”

We lapse back into silence for a little, before I hear a snort that I’ve learn to associate with a smirk. Looking up, I see Big Mac giving me a challenging look. 

“Ah bet Ah get buck more apples than ya’ll by the end o’ the day.”

I give him a deadpan stare. “Yer challenging a filly to compete against ya, when yer a full grown stallion? How exactly is that fair?”

“Alright, then,” he says, still wearing that same smirk. “If’n ya’ll think ya can’ handle a little competition, then Ah guess yer not tough enough.”

Even though a part of me knows that he’s just baiting me here, trying to draw me into a challenge and I know I should be the smart one, if only to show him up, and deny his taunting... but something in me suddenly wants to prove to this damn stallion that I ain’t no pushover!

“Fine!” I say, narrowing my eyes. “It’s on!”

As I run to the nearest tree and start bucking, I fail to notice the slightly warm smirk the slips onto Mac’s face.







> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 12

___________________________________________________________




“Ya’ll have a good day now,” Applejack called after Lemon Hearts as she walked away with her purchase. Once the unicorn had moved far enough away, the farm mare sighed, letting her ears and expression droop.

She still felt horrible about what happened with Applebuck. The poor filly was just trying to keep things together until she could go home, and she’d gone and made her feel betrayed.

Not only that, she worried just how much of Applebuck’s words in regards to Apple Bloom were true. Had she really been ignoring serious issues Bloom was struggling with and passing them off as just her little sister over exaggerating things, since fillies and colts tend to do that?

“Is everything alright, darling?” the farm mare glanced up to see Rarity standing before her, a concerned looking her eyes.

Applejack sighed. “Guessin’ not, Rares.”

The unicorn gave a comforting smile. “Well, care to talk about it? I couldn’t call myself your good friend if I see something is troubling you and ignored it.”

Applejack couldn’t help the tiniest of smiles at that, before glancing down, thinking. Was she allowed to just tell anypony about Applebuck? Then again, Rarity wasn’t just anypony. She was her friend and a fellow Element of Harmony. If she could confide this in anypony, despite said pony being known for gossip, it was her.

“Well, Ah’m kinda caring’ fer a... distant relative, ya could say,” she began. She felt she didn’t have to tell Rarity everything, just enough that it wasn’t hiding it from her. “Thing’s... ain’t goin’ so well.”

Rarity’s expression saddened a little. “Oh, what’s wrong?”

Applejack looked away. “Well, she wants t’ go home, but t’might be a while til she can. Plus Ah... I kinda did sumthing stupid. Now she don’t trust me.”

Rarity put a reassuring hoof on her friends shoulder.




___________________________________________________________




“Told ya t’weren’t easy,” Big Mac chuckles.

I glare at him. My mane is plastered to my head, my body covered in sweat and I’m panting heavily.

It’s been about two hours since I came out to help Mac with the apple bucking and I’ve been putting my all into it. I’m going to show him that, just because I’ve got a filly’s body, doesn’t mean I’m a pushover.

I’ve been at least a hundred trees by now. Or, at least I think I have. I lost count after tree eighty-four.

Mac just chuckles again as I stand on shaky legs, getting ready to buck the tree behind me.

“Ah... Ah can do this,” I pant, determined. I... I won’t let him get the better of me. I’ll show him and the two hims either side.

I rear back, only to topple forward, faceplanting into the dirt. 

Another chuckle draws my gaze over to the red stallion walking towards me. “Sure ya can keep goin’?”

“Ah sure... can,” I say, feeling dizzy. When did the apple trees learn to dance?

Big Mac shakes his head and lifting me up onto his back. I want to protest, I’ve still got to finish bucking all the apple trees I can to prove I’m no light-weight, but the moment I’m resting on his back my body betrays me and goes limp.


I must’ve zoned out at some point, because next thing I know, we’re walking inside and into the kitchen, where Granny’s set up some lunch; hay sandwiches, apples and water.

“So, how’d she do?” Granny asks as Mac lowers me into a seat and I slump down in it.

He laughs heartily.

“Reminded ya o’ when Apple Bloom first tried her hoof at bucking, eh? Little one kept going all out, not even pacin’ herself?”

“Eeyup,” Mac laughs again, sitting down next to me, despite my giving him a death glare. Well, a weary one, but a death glare is still a death glare.

“Well, after lunch Ah think ya’ll should get yerself some rest, Applebuck,” Granny says as she pour me a drink.

“Ah... Ah can keep going,” I say, before having to hold my head. Why is the room spinning so much?

Granny keeps smiling, but her voice suddenly holds a hidden firmness that causes me to straighten up a bit. “Now, listen, missy. If’n when we send ya home, Ah don’t want yer parents thinkin’ we went an’ let ya wear yerself out while we let ya stay. Once ya’ve finished lunch, ya goin’ up t’ Bloom’s room and havin’ a rest. Ya got it?”

“Yes, Granny Smith,” I grumble. Jeez, she’s not even my grandmother, yet her firm tone works just as well on me. I’ll blame it on my DNA being so similar to Apple Bloom’s. Must be some subconscious, ingrained thing going on here.

When lunch is over, Mac guides (carries) me upstairs to Apple Bloom’s room and settles me down on her bed, pulling the covers over me.

Now, I may have had my occasional nap or two with our dog, Jack back home, but napping during the day isn’t something I’m used to. So, imagine my surprise when, moments after the stallion leaves, I feel sleep crawling into my mind, the world fading away around me as slumber takes its hold.




___________________________________________________________




Applejack entered her home later that day. Glancing around, she could see Granny was busy fixing dinner.

“Granny, where’re Bloom and Bucky?” she asked as she walked up to the elderly mare.

Granny Smith glanced at her, before returning her eyes to the food she was preparing. “Bloom’s upstairs doin’ her homework. Big Mac and Bucky are out in the field.”

Applejack blinked, before frowning. “Bucky’s apple bucking? Why?”

Granny paused, before sighing. “Frankly, Ah got her t’ do it t’ take her mind off things, especially after she woke up fr’m her nap.”

Applejack’s frown deepened with worry. “Wh... what d’ya mean?”

Granny sighed, and told Applejack what happened after Bucky had woken from the nap she’d taken after she exhausted herself apple bucking.




SEVERAL HOURS AGO




“Applebuck?” Granny called, knocking on the door to Apple Bloom’s room.

No sound came from within. Cautiously, the elderly mare slowly opened the door, peaking her head inside.

Moments later she hurried in, moving over to the form sitting in the corner. Applebuck was curled up, sobbing silently.

When the green mare reached out, the filly recoiled, looking up with wide eyes, before they softened and she hurried forward, latching onto the older pony’s barrel.

Granny was unsure what had happened, and the filly refused despite several minutes of trying to coax and explanation out of her, so Granny merely held her close, letting the young one cry her woes out.




NOW



Applejack glanced to the windows uneasily, watching Applebuck and Big Mac working together to buck trees from a fair distance.

“And... ya don’t know what did that to ’er?”

Granny Smith shook her head. “No idea. She was fine afore she went fer her nap. Must’a been one nasty nightmare, whatever it was.”

Applejack said nothing, lowering her head and ears in shame. Was she somehow in the nightmare? What was going through that young filly’s mind?

They’d barely known her for long, but Applejack was worried there was something they should know, something that happened to her that hurt the poor thing... more than Applejack’s betraying her trust had, anyway.

Talking with Rarity had really helped her clear her mind, though she'd made sure not to reveal too much until Twi gave the go ahead. She still felt horrible for how she made the filly feel and understood it was her fault... but there was something else she’d come to realize.

Applebuck might know about their world and things she’d seemed to miss and true Granny said it seemed the filly had gravitated to her as her comforting adult figure, but there was something more to it than that.

Applebuck’s reaction, upon further thinking, had been so sudden. Even with the feelings of betrayal she’d clearly put the poor thing through, that was still too strong a reaction for her to have.

There was something about Applebuck they didn’t know, something the filly hadn’t told them, something that was painful for her.

Applejack was certain she needed to know what was wrong. As Applebuck’s designated carer until the filly could return home, her emotional stability should be Applejack’s top priority and she couldn't help if she didn't know what was troubling the filly in her care.

She sighed, though, realizing it wouldn’t be that easy. Applebuck needed a reason to open up to them, and she’d not given her much reason to, not after leaving her with feelings of betrayal.

She frowned, thinking. She needed to find a way Applebuck to feel more at ease. From what Granny explained happening earlier, the filly still needed help emotionally.

She glanced up the stairs, to her sister’s bedroom. The two yellow fillies had gotten along well since Applebuck had arrived. Maybe she could get Apple Bloom to help bring her further out of her shell.

Applejack frowned, suddenly noticing a flaw in that plan. Apple Bloom would be at school five out of seven days each week, regardless of just how long it would be before Applebuck could go home.

Apple Bloom couldn’t stay with the filly if she had to leave her for school every day.

Applejack blinked, her frown becoming contemplative. Perhaps... if Applebuck went with Bloom to school, Bloom could keep close to help her more often.

Nodding to herself, Applejack made a mental note to speak with Miss Cheerilee about a sudden short-term transfer into the school tomorrow.



___________________________________________________________




I yawn as I walk downstairs the next morning. Apple Bloom had insisted sleeping with me like my first night. I didn’t mind. Being next to her was comforting. I felt a bit more at ease sleeping next to her. Though I’d woken up in bed on my own, having slept through Apple Bloom getting up.

Reaching the bottom, I turn into the kitchen to see Big Mac washing the dishes.

I frown, glancing around. “Where’s Granny?”

“Tending to the stall,” he replied, putting a clean dish on a rack to dry. “AJ’s meetin’ with Miss Cheerilee t’day, so Ah’m cleanin’ up breakfast. Left ya some waffles on the table.”

I nod, trying to ignore the sourness that entered my mood at the mention of the Bearer of Honesty, went to the table and began eating.

Once I’m done, I head outside and am quickly pounced upon by Winona, who has a bright blue ball in her mouth.

I laugh. “Ya’ll wanna play fetch?”

She drops the ball, whacking me in the snout, before leaping back and barking excitedly.

Grinning, I pick up the ball, pull back and toss it hard. However, I don’t just leave Winona to go running off after it. I run with her. Jack and I would do this a lot before stuff got serious back home. I’d throw the ball, then we’d race each other to see if I could get to it before him, at which point at throw I'd again, causing him to have to change his direction whilst I galloped ahead, so I do the same for her.

This goes on for several minutes, Winona and myself just having fun. I pause to stop when Big Mac comes out and offer to help with the apple bucking again, but tells me to just keep having fun with Winona.

I notice an odd look in his eyes when he says this though. Before I can ask why, however, my yet to even be spoken sentence is cut off when a rainbow blur shoots down from the sky and skids to a halt in front of me.

“Apple Bloom? What’re you doing here? Didn’t I just see you at school?”

Aw buck.




> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 13


___________________________________________________________




Almost done, Applejack mused to herself as she and Cheerilee sat in the teacher’s office, finalizing Applebuck’s transfer.

With only a few more papers to go, Cheerilee looked to the orange mare. “So, you mentioned something about how I’ll need to make sure your sister and Applebuck keep distinct from each other. What exactly did you mean?”

Applejack blinks, before facehoofing. How could she forget that detail? Sighing, the farmer looked back to the teacher. “She’s just like Apple Bloom.”

Cheerilee blinked, confused. “You mean they have similar personalities?”

Applejack shook her head a bit firmly. “Not really. If anythin’ Ah’d wager she and Bloom have totally different ones.”

Cheerilee frowned. “Then why did you say she just like your sister?”

Applejack glanced down at the papers. She was honestly trying to avoid this because she knew what the teacher’s first thoughts would be. “Applebuck looks and sounds just like Apple Bloom.”

She waited for the pin to drop as she watched the mulberry mare’s features.

She blinked in confusion, then frowned, then her eyes widened.

Applejack shook her head. “No, she ain’t a changeling. Trust me. I made that same mistake and... it didn’t go over well.”

The other mare just stared at her, her mouth trying to work. “But... Applejack, how...? How can another filly look and sound exactly like your sister and not be her? Wait,” she gave a deadpan expression, “Apple Bloom hasn’t been messing with the Mirror Pool, has she?”

Applejack blinked, surprised they’d never considered that either. Though, if Applebuck had been a Mirror Pool clone, she wouldn’t have been able to give such a detailed example of her human life. Heck, she likely wouldn’t have even known about humans unless Twilight told her, which she knew the Alicorn had not.

She shook her head. “Ah give you mah word, Cheerilee: Applebuck ain’t no Mirror Clone.”

Cheerilee looked at her uncertainly for several moments, before nodding and returning to the paperwork.

“Ya’ll look up what Ah told ya she mentioned, right?” the farmer asked. Before they’d actually started with the creation of Applebuck’s school file and entry, she’d talked with the teacher about concerns regarding what she’d learned about Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom.

Cheerilee sighed, looking suddenly a bit older than she really should, before turning to Applejack. “In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me. Diamond Tiara was the one in charge of the Foal Free Press when that Gabby Gums incident happened and I learned she was forcing your sister and her friends to keep going with the embarrassing stories or she’d post similar stories about them.”

Applejack blinked, before scowling. “Please tell me yer not just lettin’ her get away with all these things.”

Cheerilee returned the scowl, though Applejack could tell it wasn’t directed at her. “Oh, believe me; I would if I could, Applejack. However, Diamond Tiara’s mother is on the school board and, loath as I am to admit it, when Diamond causes problems, she does it in a way her mother has managed to get her off almost scot free.”

Applejack blinked, before folding her arms. “What Filthy sees in that mare Ah’ll never understand.”

“You and me both,” the other mare agreed.

With that said and done, they returned to finalizing Applebuck’s admission into the school.




___________________________________________________________




“Well, what’s up, kid?” the blue Pegasus leans down, looking at me with a raised eyebrow of curiosity. “I know I saw you at school when I flew over there. How’d you get here so fast and... wait. Why aren’t you wearing your bow?”

I glance up at my mane, where a bow would likely be expected to be sitting atop. I gulp, before glancing at Big Mac, begging him for some help, but he looks as stunned as I feel. Not good.

“Er...” I say, my brain deciding now to go completely blank when my ability to think on the fly, one I relied on so much back in high school, could really come in handy right now. “Ah, er... um...”

As I stammer, I can’t help getting anxious as I see the look in Dash’s eyes change. She’s becoming suspicious. Crap, crap, crap!

“Wait a minute,” she looks from me to Mac, before her eyes narrow, then turns back to me. “What did you and the crusaders do that nearly tore my cloud home apart?”

My body goes stiff, locking me in place. Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! She thinks I’m a changeling! Why else would she ask me a question clearly only the real Apple Bloom would know?

Crap! What do I do now?! Do I tell her? Will Rainbow Dash even believe me?

“She’s a distant relative.”

Oh, thank sweet pony Jesus!

I turn to look at Mac with more gratitude than I probably ever have anyone before for saving my ass there... until I see Rainbow's skeptical expression.

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?” she glances from Mac to me and I wilt under her gaze. “Mac, she not only looks like Apple Bloom, she sounds just like her. What’s going on?”

Well, at least she isn’t downright jumping me and holding me down.

Looking to Mac, I sigh and turn to Rainbow. “It’s... kinda a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” she says flatly. “Now spill.”





“So, just to get this straight: You’re a human from a world that is like the one Twilight went to through that mirror, only there, there’s no places named similar to the places here, nor are there humans that match ponies here?”

“Well, when ya say it like that...” I say, looking down and the floor.

I’m honestly glad Big Mac had been there when Rainbow Dash just dropped in like she did. It made confirming my story, as ridiculous as it really does sound when you think about it, a lot easier, which, despite everything Applejack told me before about key characters knowing there’s a show about them, even if they don’t know all the specifics, did not seem to ease Dash’s suspicions about me.

I should probably get used to having to explain I’m not a changeling, I have a strong hunch this won’t be the last time.

Dash glances at Big Mac with lidded eyes. “And you’re sure you can believe her.”

“Eeyup,” Mac said, his tone a firmness I’ve ever heard a select few times in the show, which is remarkable in itself, seeing how little he talks in the show. For some reason, hearing it makes me feel warm inside, safe somehow.

Dash just sits on the couch, her forelegs folded.

We sit in silence for several moments, myself hunching down and my ears flatting as the seconds move on. Why isn’t Dash saying anything? What’s she thinking?

“Okay,” she shrugs.

What could she be thinking that’s keeping so quiet that— wait, what?

I stop and stare at her, wide-eyed. Really? Jus’ like that?”

She smirks. “Look, kid, throughout your story you sounded like you weren’t lying and the way you stood up for the crusaders was pretty cool. You seem like a good kid, so I’m willing to give you a chance.”

I blink for several moments, before giving a small smile. “Thanks, Dash.”

She chuckles, turning to Mac. “I can’t wait t’ hear what happens when she and Apple Bloom go to school together.”

I find myself chuckling now. “Oh, Ah ain’t goin’ ta school here, Rainbow.”

She turns to me, looking confused.

I smirk. “One, Ah graduated fr’m high school several years ago back home, so Ah don’t need t’ go t’ school here when it’s pretty much stuff Ah covered years ago. Plus, Ah’m not gonna be here too long. Once Princess Luna can get some answers fr’m Princess Celestia, Twi’s gonna get me a way back home quick, so mah goin’ t’ school wouldn’t make sense,” I turn to Big Mac, grinning. “Right?”

I expect him to answer right away with a chuckling “Eeyup” and we move on... but he doesn’t.

I frown, looking back up to him and notice he’s not meeting my eyes.

“Mac?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow. “Why’re ya’ll lookin’ away? What’s up?”

“So, she is going to school?” Dash asks, looking between the two of us.

“No,” I say.

“Eeyup,” Mac says quietly at the same time.

I blink, thinking I must have misheard. I turn to Mac, confusion on my face. “Mac, Ah’m not going to school, right? Ah’m just gonna be hangin’ round til Twi can send me back.”

I notice he’s started to sweat a bit and is pointedly not meeting my eyes, keeping his own averted, looking up at the ceiling.

A frown creases my brow. “Mac, Ah’m not going t’ school here, right?”

For several moments he sits there, doing his best to look anywhere but at me. He starts fidgeting, his lips curling in a bit, a sign I know from Applejack means the truth is being hidden. Seems all the Apple Family have that tick.

“Mac,” I say flatly, my tone seeming to unnerve Rainbow if the look she’s giving me is any indication, “Ah’m not goin t’ school.”

“... Eenope,” he manages to stutter, still refusing to meet my gaze.

“Ya mean no, Ah’m not goin’ t’ school, or no, Ah am?” I ask firmly.

“Eenope.”

I grit my teeth. “Mac, am Ah goin’ t’ school?”

At once his body tenses several times over.

My eye narrow to slits. “Answer me, Big Mac. Am. Ah. Goin’. To. School?”

He looks from me to Dash, as if she can get him out of this somehow, but she’s looking back just as worried.

I swear, if he doesn’t answer me soon, I’m going to use my likeness to his youngest sister against him. I swear, as God as my witness, I will!

“Ee.... yup,” he slowly manages, sounding defeated.

I blink, his answer taking several moments to process through my mind. Once it has sifted through completely and settled into place, however, my lips pull back into a snarl.

“ARE YA’LL KIDDING ME?!” I scream, so loud I apparently cause a wind to blow against Mac’s mane for a second. “AH AIN’T SOME LITTLE FILLY! AH’M A GROWN HUMAN BEIN’ THAT GOT STUCK LOOKIN’ LIKE YOUR SISTER COS A SUMTHIN' THAT HAPPENED IT YOUR WORLD THAT SOMEHOW LEAKED INTA MINE! AH AIN’T GOING’ T’ SCHOOL! AH AIN’T YER SISTER, SO AH AIN’T DOING IT!”

“AJ wants you to be around others.”

The words in a low squeak cause me to halt in my tirade and my eyes narrow til they’re almost completely close. “What?” I hiss quietly.

The two larger ponies flinch at my quieter tone, Big Mac refusing to look at me, seeming to find staring at a hole in the living room carpet far more an appealing sight to observe.

“She... she knows yer unhappy and wants ya to feel better around us,” he says with a shaky tone. I indicate for him to go on, my expression never changing. “W-well, she thinks, since you and Apple Bloom seem to be getting along so well, if’n ya were with her more, ya might feel more at home here.”

I snarl. “This. Ain’t. Mah. Home, Big Macintosh.”

Saying his whole name seems to make him wilt, almost like it was explaining to him just how much trouble he was in.

“Ah... Ah know, that, Applebu—”

“Sam.”

He pauses, glancing at me uncertainly. “What?”

I dig my hoof into the floor. “Mah name... is Sam! Sam Wilson! Ah’ll go by Applebuck outside the farm and if’n others outside the Element Bearers are around. But, here, when it’s just us, Ah. Am. SAM! Got it?!”

I turn towards the stairs, looking coldly at them over my shoulder. “An’ ya’ll can tell Applejack that if she thinks Ah’m just gonna do this, she’s got other fucking thing commin’!”

Rainbow’s mouth drops open as I turn and stomp up the stairs.

“Apple— Sam, wait—” Mac calls out, but is cut off when I slam Apple Bloom’s bedroom door behind me.




___________________________________________________________




Applejack was walking home, feeling better about things. Miss Cheerilee had agreed to do what she could to make sure Applebuck wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable whilst attending school. She’d make sure Diamond Tiara didn’t give her too much strife, nor would any of the other fillies and colts, just because the filly looked just like Apple Bloom.

As she turned down the familiar path to the farm, she could sense something was... off. She couldn’t explain it, but there was some kind of tension in the air as she neared the farm.

Curious, she quickened her pace, hurrying up the porch and inside. What she found was Big Mac and Granny Smith sitting in the living room, their heads bowed, their expressions crestfallen.

Applejack’s heart clenched in her chest as she rushed over to her family. “What happened? What’s wrong?” she asked, looking from one to the other.

“It’s Apple... It’s Sam,” the elder mare murmur quietly.

Applejack’s heart tightened further. “Applebuck? What happened? Is she alright? Did she get hurt?”

“In a sense, hurt’s sure the right word Ah’d use,” Granny replied solemnly.

“Why? What’s happened to ’er?!” the orange mare asked, panic seeping into her skin.

“She learned ya’ll wan’ her in school.”

Applejack blinked, before glancing to Big Mac in confusion. “Hwhat?”

“She learned ya plan on sendin’ her t’ school with Bloom. Now she won’t talk t’ any o’ us, save Bloom, an’ even then she’s barely spoken.”

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “Wait. She’s not talking to ya jus’ cuz Ah’m sending her t’ school? That’s the problem?”

They both nodded solemnly.

“Phew!” she called, her body relaxing, wiping her forehead. “Ya’ll had me worryin’ it was sumthin’ serious, there.” She laughed, but cut herself off when she realized neither pony was joining in. “Uh... did Ah miss sumthin’?”

“She says she ain’t goin’ t’ school,” Granny murmured.

Applejack just chuckled. “Granny, that’s normal fer fillies. None o’ them wanna go back t’ school. If she’s not talking t’ anypony, that’s fine. It’ll pace. Bloom’s always having these little grumps. All fillies and colts do that from time t’ time.”

“But she ain’t a filly.”

Applejack blinked, before turning to her brother. “Huh?”

He looked to her firmly, though the sadness was still there. “She ain’t a real filly, AJ. She’s an adult, stuck in a filly’s body. It ain’t the same as with Bloom.”

Applejack blinked, before her shoulders sagged slightly, along with the rest of her. He was right. Applebuck had told them when she first came to that she was really an adult human stuck in an identical body of the Apples’ youngest member.

She’d been thinking of her like any ordinary filly since going to bed the night before last and had let that dictate how she treated her. Punishing her like she would Bloom, lecturing her as if she was a filly who’d broken a rule...

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then let it out. “Ah’ll go talk to ’er.”

She turned and headed upstairs, stopping and knocking on door to the bedroom the two fillies were sharing.

“Go buck yerself!” Apple Bloom’s voice growled from the other side.

Applejack’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to tell her little sister off, before she closed it, recognition filling her mind. That was Applebuck who’d spoken.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and pushed the door open. What she found worried her. Apple Bloom was sitting on her bed, looking sadly at her double, who was sitting in the corner of the room, her body tense, shoulders hunched.

Glancing to her little sister, then back to the other yellow filly in the room, Applejack slowly made her way over, before stopping just behind the angry pony.

“Oh, it’s you,” she spat, her voice filled with venom on the third word. “Well, then, what now, huh? Gonna tell me no dessert for a week? That Ah’m grounded until Ah learn t’ behave like a good little filly?” She shot up, whirling around, her eyes narrowed to slit, her mouth pulled back into a snarl that reminded Applejack of a Timber Wolf. “Or how about explaining how ya’ll went behind mah back and put me inta school without even askin’ me first?! Or do Ah not get a choice cuz yer the Elemnt o’ Harmony, not me?!”

Applejack’s eye widened in shock, before narrowing. “Now, see here, little missy; Ah ain’t never thought mahself better or more important than anypony else just cuz Ah’m an Element o’ Harmony.”

The yellow pony’s right eye twitched. “Little missy? LITTLE MISSY?!” Applejack flinched at the sudden volume rise as the filly before her glared at her with hatred the like she’d never seen. “AH’M OLDER THAN YOU, YA SELF-CENTRED BITCH! YA’LL THINK, JUS’ CUZ YER BIGGER THAN ME, YA’LL CAN JUST GO ON AND DO WHATEVER YA WANT WITH ME?! NEWS FLASH, APPLEJACKASS, AH AIN’T SOME FILLY YA’LL CAN ORDER AROUND! AH’LL GO TO SCHOOL ALRIGHT, BUT YA’LL WANNA KNOW WHY? SO I CAN GET AWAY FR’M YOU! AN' DON’T COUNT ON ME COMIN’ BACK AFTER!”

Before the farm mare could really process what was happening, the yellow filly whirled around, reared up and slammed her back hooves into the larger mare’s chest with so much force that she went flying out the door, slammed through a wall, and tumbled several feet.

Applejack winced, taking in a hiss of air as she held her chest. That was way harder than the last time Applebuck got her. She could swear her ribs were even bruised this time round.




___________________________________________________________




“Applebuck, wait—”

Applejack’s voice is cut off as I storm out of the house the next morning. I don’t want to listen to her.

And I wasn’t lying either. Soon as school ends, I am not returning to Sweet Apple Acres. I don’t care where I go, I’m not going back there. At first I thought it would only be Applejack I couldn’t stand, but no I can’t even look at Big Mac or Granny. Neither of them bothered to try and change Applejack’s mind? Not once?! And they weren’t gonna tell me til when?

The only Apple it seems I can trust is Apple Bloom. As I stomp through Ponyville, Apple Bloom having caught up several minutes after I left and showing me the right way, I grit my teeth, going over places I can stay that won’t have me seeing that stupid orange mare’s muzzle til I can go home already. Screw the jerks that kept trying to hurt me there, I’ll take them over ponies lying and talking behind my back any day. At least I can buck pain into those assholes, being the only Earth Pony on Earth.

As we head towards the school, the hairs on the back on my neck stand on end. It’s a warning I learned my body sense when I’m being watched.

No sooner have I thought this, however, before a cart appears before me, a bright pink pony alone with it.

“Hi there!” Pinkie Pie cries, grinning widely at me. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I just wanted to welcome you to—”

“DON’T FUCKING BOTHER!”

The pink mare freezes in places, as do a lot of nearby ponies, who all turn to me as I glare at the pink mare.

I know Pinkie Pie didn’t do anything wrong and I know I shouldn’t take my anger out on her, but I am in no fucking mood for her happy go lucky antics right now. Maybe when I’m on my own, away from the Apple Family, I’ll indulge her, but right now, the idea of her celebrating what is basically my being taken from my own home and ending up stuck in the care of a family where only one member seems trustworthy anymore, pisses me off to no end.

“But... but, I don’t understand,” Pinkie says, wilting a little.

“Oh, well there’s a big fucking surprise!” I snark, gritting my teeth. “Ya know Pinkie Pie, Ah'd think after what happened with Cranky, ya’d know not everyone wants a welcome party the first moment they meet you!” I snort. “Now, if ya’ll excuse me, Ah got somewhere ta be afore Ah find a new place ta live whilst Ah’m stuck in this world!”

With that, I stomp passed the pink mare as her mane slowly deflates, Apple Bloom’s voice giving assurances, before calling after me. 





___________________________________________________________





“I knew I was right! Your family are all changelings!”

I feel my left ear twitch in irritation, before looking over my shoulder as I stand before Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

My introduction into school was as loud and confusing as you would expect. The first thing every filly and colt asked upon seeing me was if I or Apple Bloom were changelings. Thankfully, Cheerilee dissuaded the majority of these, I introduced myself until that name I know hate, we went with the stupid cover story of how I’m I distant relative of the Apples and we went from there.

Classes were as annoyingly easy as you’d expect for someone who graduated high school already and hearing the term nerd whispered around (mostly by Diamond fucking Tiara), didn’t help matters.

When Recess finally came around, I joined the crusaders and we talked about our unfair punishments after pranking the school bully.

And now, it seems said school bully wants to shove her hoof into a hornets’ nest.

“Give it a rest, will you, Tiara,” Scootaloo says, looking bored. “You’ve been at this since yesterday. It wasn’t funny then, and sure as hay isn’t funny now.”

“How would you know?” the pink filly retorts, giving Scootaloo a firm, pitying look that makes me want to sock Tiara in the jaw. “You remember what happened to Prince Shining Armour. He was mind controlled to love that bug. How can you be sure you’re not just friends with those country bumpkins because they’ve used their mind control magic on you?”

“Don’t you dare insult mah family like that!” Apple Bloom shouts, getting up and cutting herself on a thumbtack that was lying in the grass. She winces, pulling back, a tiny trickle of blood flowing from where she pricked herself.

There’s silence for several moments, before Tiara whirls on me, shoving her hoof in my direction. “See? I told you! Not only was I right that I didn’t imagine seeing two of that Blank Flank at the farm, but she’s a changeling!”

“What?” I snarl, getting up and glaring. “An’ what evidence do ya have t’ prove it!”

“Her blood’s red!” Tiara shouts, pointing at Bloom as Sweetie Belle and Twist are tending to her cut. “Changelings have green blood, and since she has red blood, that makes you the changeling! That’s my evidence! Wanna prove me wrong? Show us! Prove you’re not a monster!”

Prove you’re not a monster!

The world goes white.



___________________________________________________________




Tiara smirked after her last words seemed to hit it to the changeling that it had been caught as its eyes shrunk to pinpricks.

Suddenly, the changeling narrowed its eyes, causing them all to flinch. But, instead of charging at them, or dropping its disguise, it turned and walked over towards the most broken of the playground equipment that had been damaged during Princess Twilight’s battle with Tirek.

She frowned, wondering what the changeling was doing, until it bit down on a large splinter of wood and yank it, before glaring at Tiara. “Ya wan’ p’oof Ah ain’ a ’hanghin,” it said through the wood in its mouth, turning its head and holding out its left foreleg. “Then Ah’WW SHOW HOO!”

With that it thrust the wooden spike right into its leg, causing a burst of... red to burst forth.

All was silent for several moments as the yellow filly before them stood, tossing her head back and letting go of the wood after yanking it out from where she'd thrust it into her foreleg, her red blood drooling down from the large gash she’d made in her leg as she glared daggers at Tiara as tears started dripping from her eyes.

“What was that ya’ll said?” she hissed, thrusting her bleeding foreleg forward, causing blood to spatter outward, hitting the ground just before the group of mortified fillies and colts. “Ah’m a changeling cuz Ah got green blood, huh? Well, Ah must be colour-blind then!”

With that, she turned and stomped off, heading away from the school all together, a trail of blood following in her wake as her wound kept seeping the red liquid






> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 14

___________________________________________________________




“Applebuck, wait!” Apple Bloom cried, before wincing as she put pressure on her forehoof.

“Way to go, Tiara!” Scootaloo snarled. “Bucky’s having a hard enough time and you just had to make it worse. What, is that yer special talent? Making other ponies’ bad situations worse?”

Tiara’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me, Blank Flank? What right do you think you have to—”

“What’s going on here?”

All heads whirled around to see Cheerilee hurrying towards them, a firm and worried expression on her face.

“Tiara called Applebuck a changeling and Bucky ran off after proving she wasn’t one!” Scootaloo said, thrusting a hoof in the pink filly’s direction.

At once Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed and she looked to Tiara with a disappointed, yet stern frown. “Diamond Tiara, is this true?”

“But... But... How was I suppose to know she wasn’t a changeling?!” Tiara cried, pointing in the direction the yellow filly had run off.

Cheerilee’s expression became a bit sterner, causing the filly to wilt. “You could have given her a chance. You could have tried talking to her instead of outright accusing her of being one of the creatures that tried to invade our homeland.” She sighed, before glancing around, her frown returning to worried, but with confusion mixed in too. “Where is Applebuck, anyway?”

“She’s ran off!” Sweetie Belle cried, pointing in the direction their friend had gone, where Cheerilee’s eyes widened at the red trail.

“What... what is that?” the teacher asked, looking a little faint.

Apple Bloom glared at Diamond Tiara. “When Tiara demanded Bucky prove she weren’t a changeling, she said something that made Bucky so made, she jabbed herself with that piece o’ wood,” she pointed to the bloodstained shaft of wood, “showin’ her blood’s red ’n’ not green like a changelings.”

Cheerilee’s expression became slightly horrified. “Wait! She was bleeding that badly and just ran off? And none of you even stopped her?”

“It happened so fast,” Pipsqueak pipped up. “We were all kinda taken by surprise.”

Cheerilee looked frustrated, but the older mare took a deep breath, before looking firmly around at all the fillies and colts. “We’re going to go looking for her. We can’t just leave her to wander off on her own, not if she’s bleeding that badly.” She turned that told several ponies to remain at the school, on the offhand chance that Applebuck might come back. “The rest of us are going to split into group and start searching for her. She can’t have gone too far.”




___________________________________________________________




I continue to stomp down the road, ignoring the jabbing pains every time I put pressure on my now injured leg.

Stupid Diamond Tiara! Stupid changelings for existing to make such a situation even happen! Stupid whatever the hell turned me into this form! Stupid Celestia from bringing me here! Stupid Applejack for being against me! Stupid everything!

After several minutes of walking, I have to stop and lean against a tree, shaking my head a little. I feel drowsy, like I’m being wrapped in a warm blanket and snuggling down for a nap. 

But, I don’t have a blanket. I do feel all warm though.

I shake my head again, trying to clear it.

You know what? Forget school at all. I’m going. Where? No fucking idea, but I’m going... somewhere.

I stand up, before the world whirling around me and I shut my eyes to stop the fog from clouding my vision. Wait. When’d it get foggy? Wasn’t it a bright day just moments ago?

I blink, before turning to the tree I’d been leaning against. I stare at it blankly.

Several long minutes later, I snarl and slam my head against it, wincing from the pain, but not caring either.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I shout to myself, before slamming my head again. “Ya... ya shouted at Pinkie Pie! She didn’t even know about ya... probably. It’s Pinkie, wouldn’t really be that surprisin— Shut up!” I bang my head against the tree again, feeling a bit woozy for it. I try to shake it off. “Ya can’ trust AJ. But... but Big Mac an’ Granny didn’ seem happy ta hide anythin’ from ya. Why’d ya treat them like that? And why Pinkie, of all ponies?!”

I turn around, biting my bottom lip. Well, since I’m not going back to school, I may as well try to find Pinkie and apologize for being such a jerk.

I take a step, before flopping forward.

What? Why did I...? I feel my eyelid droop a little. Maybe... maybe a nap would be a good idea first. I seem pretty tired and... what was I thinking about again?

I put it out of mind as the darkness closes in and I feel a warmth come over me. Sleep is good. I like sleep.




___________________________________________________________




Fluttershy hummed to herself as she walked down the road, a small basket held in her teeth. She was going to get a few small things for dinner tonight. Angel had been so well behaved; she felt he deserved a reward.

As she walked down the path leading from her cottage to Ponyville, she paused, blinking in confusion, before glancing around.

“I... I could’ve sworn...” she murmured.

“Mmmm,” a voice groaned.

Fluttershy squeaked, shivering. “Who-who’s there?”

When nopony answered, she slowly lowered the basket and crept towards where she’d heard the sound.

After several minutes of trying to shore up some courage, she took a deep breath, then glanced around the corner.

At once her eyes widen. It was Apple Bloom. She was lying near a tree, unconscious, with her usual pink bow nowhere in sight. However, that was not the Pegasus’ main concern. Her concern was that Apple Bloom was bleeding from both a nasty gash on her foreleg and one on her head.

“Apple Bloom?!” she cried as she hurried over. She took the filly in her forelimbs. She wasn’t responding and it was clear from the amount of blood she’d been here a while.

Fluttershy held tight, before shooting off at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash jealous. She passed by several fillies and colts from the school, and briefly wondered why they weren’t in school, but quickly pushed it aside as she raced through the town towards the hospital.

Within minutes she’d reached the hospital. She rushed through the doors, startling several ponies, including Nurse Tender Heart, who was behind the desk.

“Miss Fluttershy, what—?”

“Apple Bloom needs help, now!” the Pegasus cut off the nurse, indicating to the limb form in her grasp.

The pink Earth Pony’s eyes widened, before hardening. She reached down and pressed a button on the desk. Moments later several ponies came rushing over, pushing a stretcher bed with them.

They got Apple Bloom on the bed, before moving as fast as they could towards the ER.

Fluttershy watched them go, worried for the filly’s health as she paced back and forth, before her eyes widened. Applejack. She needed to let Applejack know what had happened.

With a quick explanation to Tender Heart what she been able to gather, she hurried out the hospital, back across town towards Sweet Apples Acres. 




___________________________________________________________




“I wonder why Fluttershy was in such a hurry,” Sweetie Belle asked as she and the other crusaders were searching for Applebuck.

“Dunno,” Scootaloo said, frowning.

They’d all nearly been bowled over by the yellow Pegasus as she bolted through air like Rainbow Dash. The orange Pegasus had had no idea the shy mare had it in her to go that fast.

“She theemed pretty worried about thomething,” Twist said as they moved to search another area. “Wonder what it wath.”

“Ah can’t think ’bout that right now,” Apple Bloom muttered as she moved over to a bush. “We need ta focus on findin’ Bucky.”

They all nodded and renewed their searching. As Apple Bloom leaned into a bush several minutes later, she tumbled in, becoming sealed away from sight.

“Apple Bloom, you okay?” Sweetie asked the bush.

“Fine,” the farm filly’s voice called back. “Just feelin’ a little woozy. Gimme a sec, ’kay?”

The three fillies nodded, understanding the yellow pony’s anxiety and were about to return to searching, when Scootaloo noticed a yellow something charging in their general direction. It was Fluttershy.

“Hey, Flutters!” Scootaloo called, waving as the Pegasus drew nearer at rapid speeds. “What’s the rush?”

“Can’t talk! Apple Bloom injured. In hospital. Gotta tell Applejack!” were the rushed words they heard before and as the yellow mare shot passed them all, headed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

The three fillies frowned, before looking to the bush where, moments later, Apple Bloom walked out, rubbing her head.

“Uh... why did Fluttershy just fly past saying you were in the hospital?” Scootaloo asked, frowning at the yellow filly. “You didn’t bang your head that hard, did ya?”

Apple Bloom shook her head to clear it, before giving Scootaloo a raised eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Fluttershy,” Sweetie pointed in the direction said mare had gone in. “Whilst you were recovering, she flew past saying something about you being injured and in the hospital.”

Apple Bloom blinked, before frowning. “Huh? Now why in the hay would Fluttershy be scared that Ah’m in the hospital when Ah...?”

She trailed off, her eyes widening along with the other fillies.

“APPLEBUCK!”





> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 15

___________________________________________________________




“IfoundAppleBloombleeding, soItookhertothehopsitaland—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Applejack cried, holding up her hooves, trying to calm down her frantic friend. She’d been busying herself with fixing some girders in the barn when the yellow Pegasus had barrelled in, speaking a mile a minute and being incomprehensible. She reached forward, putting one hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, while the other covered the yellow mare’s mouth. “Now, hold up a second there and try explaining slower. Ah ain’t Pinkie. Ah don’t speak rushed.”

“I found Apple Bloom bleeding and took her to the hospital!” Fluttershy blurted after pulling the orange hoof away from her face.

There was silence for several longs seconds as her words filtered into the farm mare’s mind and processed.

Her right eye twitched. “Wh-wha?”

“I was going into town to get a few small things for dinner tonight. Angel’s been so well behaved over the last few days; I felt he deserved a reward. But, as I was walking, I found Apple Bloom lying by a tree, unconscious and she was bleeding from a horrible gash on her right foreleg.”

Applejack just stood there for several seconds as her brain tried to wrap itself around what she had just been told.

Before Fluttershy could respond to her farmer friend’s silence, the orange mare bolted out the door screaming, “APPLE BLOOM!”




___________________________________________________________




Nurse Tender Heart sighed as she sifted through some papers after just having spoken with somepony coming in for a check-up.

She couldn’t stop worrying about Apple Bloom. She’d dealt with injuries the filly had gained during her and her friends many failed attempts at getting their Cutie Marks.

However, never had any of them come in as badly as when Fluttershy had brought her in. It had only been about ten minutes since the youngest of the Apple Family had been rushed into the ER.

“Where is she?!” a quartet of familiar voices shouted, causing the mare to jump, scattering the papers she’d been holding as she fell back.

When Tender Heart managed to get back up, she looked over the desk to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Tender Heart inwardly sighed. Of course they’d be here. They probably met up with Fluttershy and she told them. The four are worried about their friend. She gave a small smile. Makes sense. Those three and their other friend are so close, of course when one of their own is in trouble all three Crusaders would— Wait a minute!

Her eyes bulged open and she looked at the four fillies, her mouth agape, namely due to the yellow-coated, red-maned Earth Pony of the four, who was looking up with more worry than either of the other two.

“I— But how—? And you’re—” she turned her head from the fillies to down the hall, her brain not able to understand what was going on.

“Is Bucky okay?” the yellow filly asked.

Tender Heart felt very light headed. Leaning towards her desk, she pressed the intercom button. “Nurse Redheart? Can you please come to the front desk?” she asked in a faint voice. “Apple Bloom and her friends are here to see Apple Bloom.”

“Um, come again?” the other nurse’s voice replied from the other end.

“Just what I said,” Tender Heart replied, her eyes drooping. “Also, be sure to get somepony to take over front desk duty. I’m gonna pass out now.”

And, true to her word, Tender Heart flopped forward onto the desk, unconscious.

The four young fillies just looked to each other with raised eyebrows.

“What was that all about?” Scootaloo asked.




___________________________________________________________




Twilight stepped out of her home, intent to go and asked Applejack how things had gone last night. However, as she walked into town, an orange blur shot past her.

The Alicorn blinked, her mind doing a quick reset at the fact the blur had not been pink, before she lit her horn and teleported.

When she reappeared, she was flying alongside Applejack, who was running at speeds Twilight was sure Earth Ponies shouldn’t actually be able to... unless they were Pinkie Pie, of course. However, any questions about how Applejack was pulling a Pinkie were suddenly put on hold when she saw the look of outright fear in the farmer’s eyes.

“Applejack?” she cried, concerned for her friend. “What’s wrong?”

“Apple Bloom’s in the hospital!” the orange mare replied, before increasing her speed, leaving the Alicorn in the dust.

Twilight hovered in place for several moments as she processed what the apple farmer had just said. Once they’d worked their way through, however, her own eyes widened in horror and she shot forward, charging her horn.

She reached Applejack in a matter of seconds, grabbed the running mare in her magic and pulled her along in a teleport.

As the teleport faded to show they had appear outside Ponyville Hospital, due to Applejack having been running at the time of teleport, she was still running, thus slammed through the doors.

Everypony inside leaped as the doors were flung open and the orange mare and Princess of Friendship came barrelling in, only to suddenly skid to a stop when they saw a black unicorn stallion talking to four fillies.

“Apple Bloom!” the fillies barely had a chance to respond before the farm mare had rushed over, grabbed the yellow filly and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “Apple Bloom! What happened? Fluttershy said she brought ya bleeding.” She blinked, before pushing her sister back a bit and looking her over, her urgency at once being replaced with confusion. “But, ya’ll look fine.”

“She didn’t bring me, sis!” Apple Bloom said, trying to get out of the older pony’s grasp. “She brought in Bucky, thinkin’ she was me.”

“That’s what we’re talking to this stallion about,” Scootaloo said, indicating to the black stallion.

Applejack, however, had gone rigid as her little sisters words went through her mind, then processed with everything else.

Applejack suddenly launched at the stallion and grabbed him by the collar of the white doctor’s jacket he was wearing. “What happened? How is she? Why was she bleeding? What—?”

She was cut off as a white aura encased her, the stallion’s horn glowing.

“Calm down, ma’am,” he said in a monotone voice. “It’s only been a little over ten minutes. Give the doctors and nurses time. Sit in the waiting room with everypony else and we will inform you when the young filly is out of the ER.”

It took several minutes of Applejack struggling against the unicorn’s magical hold on her, before, finally, she calmed down and he released his hold on her.

With that done, he gave them a nod and moved over to the front desk, where he sat down and began dealing with the tasks he’d been left with.

However, though she had calmed down enough that she wasn’t barrelling through the hospital, trying to find the young filly under her care, she rounded on the four fillies, her face determined. “What happened?”




___________________________________________________________




“An’ then we all rushed here and tried t’ find out what happened and how Bucky was doing,” Apple Bloom finished several minutes later.

They were all sitting in the waiting room, still unsure how the youngest Apple’s doppelganger was doing. The CMC had spent that time informing Applejack of everything they could. During which time, Fluttershy had managed to catch up and had listened in too, though not before they all went through the confusion of Apple Bloom being there like when AJ and Twilight had first gotten there.

“I wondered why Pinkie seemed so upset earlier,” Twilight said, thinking back to when the pink mare had come to look for a book in the Public Reading area of the castle.

“Oh, the poor thing,” Fluttershy murmured, her ears wilting. “Lost from her family and then this?”

“Ah am havin’ stern words with Diamond's parents later,” Applejack growled through gritted teeth.

“Miss Applejack?” the sudden monotone voice startled them all and the turned to see the unicorn who’d been speaking with the CMC when Twilight and Applejack arrived was staring at them from the front desk. “You can go and see her now. Room 236.”

Twilight was disconcerted by the second more Pinkie than Applejack behaviour the orange mare had displayed that day as Applejack was suddenly gone, a fading smoke imprint of herself being the only thing left as they heard running hoofsteps on tiled floors.

Nodding amongst each other, the group hurried at a decidedly slowly pace, Twilight following the room numbers, until they found an open door with Room 236 on the front of it.

Walking inside, they all took a quick breath at what they could see. The young Apple Bloom lookalike was laying on her back in the hospital bed, a drip and heart monitor attached to one foreleg and a breathing mask over her face. Her other foreleg had a large bandage around it, causing the four fillies to squirm a little and the two mares to take another gasp.

Applejack was staring down at the unconscious filly with blank eyes as Doctor Stable was talking to her.

“... stable for now, though we’ll keep her in for a few days, to monitor her progress,” he was saying, though it was clear Applejack was not listening. He looked over to them all, nodded and headed out.




___________________________________________________________




My mind feels so sluggish. Where... where am I?

“Sam?” a faint voice calls out to me.

I slowly open my eyes, but my vision is really blurry. I notice there’s someone next to me. “Sam, hey. How are ya doing? ”Their voice is soft and gentle.

I feel my brain’s trying to tell me something, but I just give a small smile.

“Mama?” I chuckle. “Ah had the weirdest dream. Ah was in Equestria and staying with the Apples.” I close my eyes, feeling relieved that it was all a dream. That doesn’t explain why I feel so drowsy though, but I’ll ignore that for now. It hurts to think too hard.

“It’s alright, Sam,” she says and I feel her stroking my mane, though it feels weird for some reason. “You’ll be okay. Just rest, alright?”

I nod, feeling the world already fading away again. “Ah love you... Mama.”




___________________________________________________________




Applejack felt horrible as the young filly before her went back to sleep.

Stepping back, she wiped the tears from her eyes.

The whole gang had come by after a while, Pinkie, Rarity and Dash. Both Pinkie and Rarity had been shocked to see two yellow fillies that looked like her younger sister. Twilight had thankfully filled them in with Dash’s help. However, they couldn't all stay. they all had their own jobs they needed to do, and though Applejack was thankful to them for staying to give their support, she refused to let them cause themselves problems for her own mistakes. So, they left, giving their best wishes and promising to come soon, Big Mac and Granny taking Apple Bloom with them, leaving her and the injured filly alone.

Now, Sam had briefly regained consciousness. However, she’d been so out of it, she hadn’t been able to tell Applejack wasn’t her real mother... and the farm mare hadn’t had the heart to tell her otherwise.

As she sat, watching the sleeping filly, she became aware of voices outside the door of her charge’s room.

“But Daddy, why do we have to be here? It’s not like her being in here is my fault.”

“Agreed, dear,” another voice said, in a haughty tone. “Why you feel our daughter holds any responsibility for this situation, is beyond my understanding.”

Applejack turned to the door, frowning. Getting up, she walked over and pushed it open to find three ponies. A brown stallion with a black, greying mane, a pink filly with a tiara and a mare with a diamond ting for a Cutie Mark.

“Miss Applejack,” Filthy Rich said, a bit startled by the sudden opening of the door. “We... we came after Miss Cheerilee informed us something had happened to... um...”

Applejack just gave the filly a cold look. “Yeah. She’s asleep right now, but thanks fer comin’ t’ apologize at least.”

“Apologize?” Spoiled Rich asked, giving the farm mare an indignant look. “And what exactly is my daughter supposed to be apologizing for? She wasn’t the one that thrust that wooden spike into that filly’s leg. She did that all on her own.”

“After yer daughter went pushing her with accusations o’ bein’ a Changeling!” Applejack snapped back, her eyes narrowing at the unturned-nosed mare. “That filly is in mah care. She’s away fr’m her family, her home and has been dealing with Ah don’t even know what kinda stress before and after she got her and yer daughter wouldn’t leave her alone. She’s emotionally unstable right now an’ Diamond’s pushing her like she did didn’t help none at all!”

Spoiled just sniffed, lifting her nose. “Well, if she’s emotionally unstable and under your care, I guess that doesn’t say much about your abilities to care for a filly, does it?”

Applejack’s right eyebrow twitched. “Oh, really? Well, Ah’d say the fact yer daughter is so cruel to another filly that that filly ends up in the hospital doesn’t say much about yer abilities in caring fer a filly either, does it?!”

Spoiled eyes narrowed, before she pushed her face up to Applejack’s. “How dare you, you filthy farmer! Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

“Not a good parent, Ah’ll tell ya that!” Applejack shot back.

A vein on Spoiled’s forehead twitched. “I am the head of the school board and one of the wealthiest mares in this town! How dare you speak to me that way!”

Applejack snorted. “Am Ah supposed t’ be impressed? Cuz Ah ain’t! If’n it weren’t fer mah grandmother’s Zap Apple Jam, ya’ll wouldn’t even have all that money!”

Spoiled scoffed, giving Applejack a pitying look. “Well, I can imagine toiling in the fields all day like a beast would lead to such delusions.”

“Enough!” Filthy Rich did not raise his voice, but his tone shut both mares up in an instant. He gave his wife a disapproving look, before looking to Applejack with a stern one. “Miss Applejack, I can see you’re under a lot of stress at the moment. I believe it would be better if we came back another time.”

Applejack gave a firm nod to him, before glaring at Spoiled. “Eeyup.”

With that, the trio of ponies left, Diamond Tiara quickly sticking her tongue out at Applejack, whilst Spoiled gave her a scathing look, before they followed after Filthy and left down the hall.

Applejack took several moments to calm herself down, taking deep breaths, before returning to the room and watching over the young filly once again.











> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 16

___________________________________________________________



The orange mare looked down with drooping eyes at the yellow filly resting in the bed before her, still save for her chest’s rising and falling with each breath.

Two days had passed since Sam had been brought into the hospital. She had regained consciousness once or twice, though only for a few moments and was barely coherent enough to speak with, before drifting back to the realm of sleep.

“Applejack?” she lifted her head slightly and turned to see her purple Alicorn friend walking into the room.

“Hey, Twi,” she mumbled, her voice sounding tired and worn out.

Twilight looked to her friend, worry etched deep in her expression. “Applejack, you’ve barely left this room since Sam was brought here.”

The farm mare nodded, her gaze returning to the sleeping filly before her. “Ah ain’t leavin’ her again, Twi. Ah won’t let her down like Ah already have.”

The room was silent for several moments, before the Alicorn sighed. “Applejack, you know this is serious.”

She nodded.

“As much as I know Sam isn’t going to like it, things are going to have to change whilst she’s staying here in Equestria.”

Applejack nodded again.

Twilight cast her eyes down to the filly as well. “I’m not going to pretend I understand what happened in her world, it clearly being different than the alternate one I went to, but it's obvious there are things she hasn’t told us, bad things.” She sighed. “For whatever reasons, she’s hidden them from us. Those are personal matters and she have a right to her privacy. However,” the firmness that entered her voice caused Applejack to glance at her, “whatever happened, it clearly affected her negatively.” 

Applejack couldn’t stop herself from snorting at that, a bit of anger entering her tired eyes. After she’d gotten to Sam’s room and been told the short version of what they’d needed to do for Sam, she’d had to wait for Doctor Stable to come back for more information, during which time, the rest of the her friends had arrived and seen the state Sam was in.

However, Sam’s self-inflicted injury was only the first they’d learned about. When Doctor Stable had returned, he’d informed them all about things he and his fellow doctors and nurses had noticed whilst trying to stabilize Sam.

She had scars in several places on her body, scars similar to what they were told would likely form where Sam had hurt herself. They were mostly hidden by her fur, but if you looked closely enough, you could see them. When they all panicked, as if this meant Sam had harmed herself before, he shook his head.

Several patients he’d had to deal with over the years had caused self-injury. However, aside from the injury she’d given herself at the school, he said it seemed like the other scars were from wounds inflicted upon her by outside forces.

The idea that any being would willing harm such an innocent and clearly emotionally hurt filly made Applejack’s blood boil and, when the princesses could send Sam back, if she could go with her, she vowed she’d find the ones who’d inflicted the injuries that made those scars and make them pay for harming Sam.

A sigh from the Alicorn next to her pulled Applejack from her thoughts and she looked to the mare. “Applejack, I’ve spent the last two days going over everything, from what you and your family have told me about Sam and what I’ve been told by the witnesses at the school, which includes Apple Bloom.” She heaved another sigh, before continuing. “If what I’ve theorized is right, Sam stopped acting like herself right before she sliced her own foreleg open.”

Applejack couldn’t help but squirm uncomfortably. Jeez, did she have to word it like that? She felt bad enough about everything as it was, but that just made her feel sick to her stomach.

Twilight closed her eyes, continuing. “Princess Celestia has told me about similar situations she’s dealt with in the past before, and yes, I am including Luna in that.

“Princess Luna suffered great emotional trauma before and during her banishment. She has much improved, but, before her decent into Nightmare Moon, Celestia did at times notice points where Luna’s demeanor would change. Her eyes would go out of focus, or shrink to pinpricks, after which she started acting erratically different, with no proper memory of what happened after. True, Celestia unfortunately passed this off as small anxieties that Luna would get over and we all know where that lead, but the principal applies here.”

Applejack looked worriedly at Twilight. “An’ just what does all that have ta do with Sam?”

Twilight looked down at the sleeping filly sadly. “She’s going to need to always have somepony with her from now on, at least for a while. This is to ensure what happened a few days ago doesn’t happen again.”

Applejack nodded, before returning her gaze to Sam. “Ah know, Twi.”

Twilight grunted and Applejack glanced at her to see she was wearing a mixture of annoyed and worried. “No, Applejack, you don’t understand. You and the Apples need to take her original age into account from now on when it comes to any matter, but, from here on out, you will make a lot of decisions for her.”

Applejack blinked, before worry entered her own expression. “Why’s that? Twi, she hated when Ah started doing that. Ah can’t do it again!”

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead and rubbed her temple. “Applejack, I’m not sure if you or even Sam herself have realized it, but, whilst she is still mostly an adult mentally, her mind isn’t meant to cope with that. Whilst her mental brain is that of an over twenty-year-old human male, her physical brain is that of a young filly. I believe the reasons she’s been having such extreme out bursts is because her mind is getting confused with how to act. Add to that whatever trauma she clearly went through back in her world right before coming here and it’s likely a mess in her head. I don’t think I could even pretend to begin to understand what she’s been through.”

Applejack just remained silent, her gaze remaining on the pony she’d failed so badly.

A sigh and hoofsteps indicated Twilight getting up to leave. “Applejack, I don’t know how bad things are going to get from here, but it will not be pleasant for anypony. When she does finally fully return to consciousness, I think taking her to a therapist would be a good move. Whatever caused her to react like she did, we can’t just ignore it.”

Applejack just nodded, returning her gaze to the filly as the sounds of Twilight’s hoofsteps and the door closing came from behind, leaving the room in silence.

Applejack leaned forward slightly, her eyes drooping. She hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since Sam was put in hospital.

Much as she tried to stay awake, she slowly flopped forward onto the bed and joined Sam in the realm of sleep.





___________________________________________________________





Applejack blinked as the world came into focus around her, before she blinked again in confusion. She was in some kind of a starry void of sorts.

“Greetings, Applejack.”

The farm mare whirled around to see a slightly tired looking Princess Luna standing before her.

“Princess Luna?” she glanced around, before cocking an eyebrow. “Am Ah dreamin’?”

The dark-blue pony nodded. “Yes. I apologize for not coming sooner. With my sister still bedridden, it has fallen upon myself to handle most of the day to day tasks of running the kingdom along with my own personal tasks. As such, I have not been able to come to your aid sooner.”

“My aid?” Applejack felt even more confused. “What aid?”

“Aid to fully understand the being currently under your charge,” the princess replied.

At once, Applejack’s body sagged. This was about Sam.

The Night Alicorn nodded her head so slightly, before the faintest of a worried expression crossed her face. It was fast and, had Applejack blinked, she likely would’ve missed it, but she didn’t.

“What is it?”

Luna looked away, sorrow entering her eyes. “I honestly never thought I’d see what I have in young Sam’s mind. Her memories... though there are good, the bad are... they are not at all pleasant.”

Applejack took a deep breath and stilled herself, looking firmly at the Alicorn. “Princess, Ah’ve failed Sam too much. Please, if’n ya think in even the smallest sense, that ya’ll can help me help her, Ah would be forever in yer debt.”

Luna seemed to ponder this for several long moments, before eventually relenting, sighing heavily. “Very well, dear Applejack. Just know, what you are about to see will not, in even the slightest sense, be pleasant.”

Her horn glowed and the world seemed to zip by them, before stopping abruptly, leaving them standing before a door. It was pure white with no other discerning features, but what worried Applejack were the chains around it.

“Her dreams are not the easiest to enter,” Luna answered the unasked question. “She is in a lock where she is reliving her memories in her dreams. I have had to break through many mental barriers, which seem to rebuild themselves every time I leave. Thankfully, I have learned most of them, so it will not be too difficult to show you what lies beyond.”

Her horn light with her night-blue aura, which encased the chains. After several moments, the chains snapped, falling away.

“Be warmed, Applejack,” Luna stated firmly, looking to the mare. “Bad as you may feel Sam’s memories are, they are worse than that.”

With a gulp, Applejack followed the Alicorn as she opened the door and lead her into Sam’s mind.




___________________________________________________________




Applejack just stared opened mouthed at the huge number of tall beings on two legs. They seemed so much like what Twilight had described seeing through the mirror, but, unlike that world, skin colours of these humans seemed few and far between.

A nudge from Luna’s wing made her shake herself and focus on what they were meant to be looking at.

For a moment, she thought she was seeing Apple Bloom walking out of a large building down a space that had been fenced off, followed by several of the humans, before realizing it had to be Sam.

She, along with the other humans, were waving happily to other humans in the crowd, a smile on her face so happy Applejack had never seen.

However, the cheers of the crowd and the happy atmosphere were suddenly halted when a glass bottle came flying out from within the crowd and smash against Sam’s head.

Applejack’s eyes widened as the filly tumbled back from the hit and lay on the ground, not moving, blood seeping from a gash just above her temple. A little lower and that hit would have killed her! It was also where Applejack had seen one of Sam’s scars.

After that, everything happened so fast. Several of the humans started trying to force their way through the crowd, screaming things like “Freak!” and, “Go back to the pits, you monster!”

As that was happening, the humans that had been following Sam hurried towards her, one with long blonde hair that looked younger than the others picking the prone filly up in what Applejack recognized as arms and holding her close, calling out Sam’s name in worry.

At the same time, other humans were hurrying to stop the crowd, themselves wearing suits Applejack realized looked like those of police or security. She’d seen a fair few in her lifetime, especially during her stay with her Aunt and Uncle Orange before she got her Cutie Mark.

Not too long after, a large carriage that wasn’t being pulled by anything stopped nearby and the human carrying Sam hurried over, taking the still unconscious filly with her.

As the memory faded away, Applejack’s eyes were wide with shock. Sam’s own people had done that to her? They’d called her a monster? Why? What could she possibly have done to warrant such a thing? Though, more importantly, if Sam was unconscious after being hit by that glass bottle, how could she remember it?

“The mind tends to fill in the blanks when it cannot remember something,” Luna answered, as if hearing Applejack’s thoughts. “Sadly, this is but one of many times Sam suffered at the hands of those she once called her own kind. And it is by far the tamest.”

Applejack gulped, trying to get herself under control. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Those creatures had hurt Sam and she wanted to hurt them back even worse. At the same time, she felt horrible for Sam. To have those that were once your own kind turn on you like that... she couldn’t even pretend to begin to understand how horrifying that must have been for Sam to go through.

“I will spare you the most of it,” Luna said, with a sigh. “However, that is only because I must find what Sam keeps most hidden.”

After a few moments, Applejack glanced at the Alicorn, confused.

Luna wore a slight frown. “There are some memories that are very resistant, almost to the point I would almost beleive they had been magically sealed.”

“But, Sam said there weren’t any magic like Equestria’s back in her home,” Applejack blinked, confused.

Luna nodded, her frown deepening a little. “That is what worries me. Now, come. We have much for you to see before I get to the hardest memories and not much time to do it before the barriers return.”

They spent what felt like several hours going through Sam’s memories and each one caused the farmer’s heart to sink more and more.

There were happy memories, where she would often see one of the humans she’d seen in the first memory, the young one with blonde hair, the two talking animatedly and laughing.

Other happy memories included a human female with short brown hair, whom Sam often would hug and be hugged back by. It took Applejack no time to realize this had to be Sam’s mother and the sight of them being so close to each other tore her heart in two ways. The first was sadness for Sam not being able to be with her mother and the other was... pain for herself.

However, as many happy memories as they were, it was the darker ones that stood out in Applejack’s mind as she saw them.

Tall humans standing in Sam’s room at night, followed by her screaming in mortal terror, Sam being held by the young blonde human as they tried to break through a crowd of humans waving crosses and torches, among others.

However, the worst were the memories where Sam wasn’t with any of the humans from her happy memories. Applejack saw one where the filly was running for her life from several cruel looking humans. On memory showed her trapped in an animal crate, only at the last second being rescued by humans wearing those uniforms.

But, now they had reached the last of the memories that were before Sam awoke in Equestria. Applejack could see Sam’s waking moments of that time just in the distance.

Luna grunted as her horn glowed, fighting what was keeping them from the memory. It was a dark cloud of purple gas. It continued to strain against Luna, until a small hole finally opened up in its centre.

Before Applejack could react, Luna grabbed her and they slipped into the memory.

Sam was lying in a bed in a room that was clearly her bedroom. Applejack could see strange devices on a desk, a wooden closest and shelfs with very slim looking books with titles she’d never heard of.

Applejack’s eyes returned to the sleeping filly, however. Or, rather, the filly who was pretending to sleep.

Soft sobs and slight jerking motions told her Sam was wide awake and very upset.

“As you saw, this memory came right after a particularly nasty experience after leaving an interview,” Luna stated, glancing around the room, a confused expression on her face. “Though I do not understand yet why this memory was so hard to get to. It seems normal and quiet enough at the moment.”

Suddenly, shouts from clearly outside the house sounded, followed by explosions like Pinkie’s Party Cannon, only smaller, but also rougher sounding. Most like sounds of the explosions some of Twi’s experiments gone wrong would make.

Sam at once jerked up, her eyes widening in worry. “Gabe?!”

Whoever this Gabe was , Sam clearly cared about him, as she leaped from her bed, running to her bedroom door and used her mouth to pull on a string that pulled what looked like a new push-down handle and pulling the door open, before hurrying out into a small living room with several couches and another weird screen like Sam had had in her room, only much bigger on a large shelf.

No sooner had she run out however, were the sounds of banging and smashing glass heard. Within seconds, several tall humans wearing nothing but black were forcing their way through the large windows in the living room.

Sam screamed, before turning to run, only for someone to tumble past her, causing her to skid to a halt, before her eyes widened in horror.

The human, like those still forcing their way through some of the windows, was dressed completely in black, no sign of what was underneath visible.

“We got her, boys!” he called out, his voice filled with cruel glee.

Cheers from outside followed, along with a young male voice shouting, “Sam, run for it!”

“Gabe!” Sam cried, running towards the voice, only to be kicked by another human who’d just gotten through the window. She tumbled back, before whacking her head against the metal leg of a long table.

Sam struggled back up as the sounds of angry shouts and screams could be heard, only with the voice of the human Applejack knew as Sam’s mother crying out her foal’s name.

Sam’s expression hardened and she turned, heading for the sound of her mother’s voice, but was stopped by a human who leaped through one of the busted windows and pinned her down.

Sam screamed, trying to break out from under the human, before he was helped by several others, all who held one of her legs down, whilst another human stepped towards her, pulling out a long, sharp knife, the sight of which caused Applejack’s gut to drop.

He held the knife up in both hands, before bringing it down. However, the knife barely did more than slightly graze the filly as the human was tackled by a large human Applejack had come to understand was Sam’s father.

His eyes were filled with a rage she remembered seeing in several adults whenever their families were put in danger. She herself had had those same eyes several times when defending Apple Bloom when she was younger.

The shock caused the humans holding Sam down to lessen their grip in confusion, which Sam used to kick free and try to run, only to get a kick from one of her former binders, causing her to slam into one of the walls.

As she tried to get up, he came at her with his own knife, aiming for her heart. She screamed, “Please, Ah ain’t a monster, like ya think!” trying to move out of the way. 

However, the knife got her in the stomach, slicing across it as the man yelled, “Prove you’re not a monster!”

She cried out in pain, falling down and skidding a bit along the floor. The human, however, stopped his advance, his eyes, the only thing visible under all his black clothes, stared, wide in horror as the gash he’d given Sam began to heavily bleed red liquid.

“She... she has red blood?” he gasped, the knife falling from his grasp as he took several steps back. “Only God’s creatures have red blood. That... that would mean...”

Sam struggled to stand, before falling down onto her side, looking at the human. “Ah... ain’t a monster.”

This shocking revelation to the human was short-lived, as another shoved past him, grabbing the knife as he made his way to Sam, his movements clear he was intent to do what the other hadn’t.

Sam just stared up at him, struggling to get up and run, her eyes fixed on the incoming knife, wide with absolute terror.

“SAM!” Sam’s mother’s voice cried out in manic fear as the human stopped in front of Sam, raising the knife. “NO! PLEASE, GOD, SAVE MY BABY!”

What happened next caused Luna’s eyes to widen as big as Applejack’s as, right after Sam’s mother’s desperate plea, the human with the knife was suddenly hurled back by a blinding white light that had appeared above Sam’s prone form.

When it faded, Applejack  and Luna saw something they had not been expecting, if the Alicorn's shocked expression was anything to go back.

The figure was standing over Sam in a very protective manner. It was an Alicorn, tall, with white fur and a pink, green, white and yellow mane that moved in a non-existent wind.

“P-Princess Celestia?!” Applejack cried, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

She was not the only one. Everyone had stopped whatever they were doing, their eyes wide at the sight of the two beings before them.

“Thank you, old friend,” Celestia said, closing her eyes briefly. “I only wish you could help more.” Then Celestia opened her eyes, turning a steely glare on all the black-clothed humans, all of whom were staring at her either in shock, awe, or terror.

“BE STILL!” she yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice, her horn glowing with its golden aura.

At once, every human wearing black was surrounded by the same aura as that from Celestia’s horn. Such a glow also appeared around the bleeding cut on Sam’s stomach, which sealed itself.

There was silence for several long moments, before Sam’s family, the young blonde haired human Sam was clearly friends with and a male with short brownish-blonde hair and wearing different black clothing from all the humans who’d been breaking in hurried over to Sam, whom Celestia stepped a little back from, allowing Sam’s mother to pull the prone filly close to her.

After a few moments, it was the male human in black who looked to the Alicorn, both amazement, worried and confusion written all over his face. “Um, I don’t understand. I.. Are you really Princess Celestia?” His voice sounded like the one that had called to Sam outside, whom she’d responded by calling out Gabe, this must be him.

The white mare nodded, her expression solemn. “I am.”

“But... I don’t understand,” the young blonde asked, looking to Celestia. “Why’re you here and... just how did you get here?”

The smallest of smiles fluttered over Celestia’s expression for a brief moment. “God.”

Again, silence fell, before everyone in the room, including those still bound in Celestia’s magic screamed, “WHAT?!”

The smile was gone as fast as it appeared, a firmness returning. “Well, a deity beyond time and space, anyway, but calling them God saves time. They came and brought me to your world as soon as the desperate plea of a mother wanting her child to be saved was heard.”

“But... why?” Sam’s father asked, looking both worried and confused.

Celestia closed her eyes, before opening them in a glare aimed at all those held in her magic. “They are the reason. They are not the only ones. I was warned me more will come. They have spent weeks studying how best to get into your home, all to harm an innocent foal.”

“I’ll say,” Gabe said, holding his arm, a sicking crack being heard, followed by a gasp from him. “They were well-trained. I’m in the military for crying out loud and they still got the drop on me.”

“What can we do?” Sam’s mother looked to her husband, her eyes filled with tears of fear. “Sam’s not safe here anymore. Where can we take her?”

“It is I, who will be taking her.” They all slowly turned to the Alicorn, who nodded her head sombrely.

“What?” Sam’s father cried in anger. “Why?!”

Celestia fixed him with a firm glare that rooted him to the spot. “Your foal is no longer safe in your world. While many have accepted her, those who wish her gone will never stop. In Equestria, I can promise you she will be safe.”

“How can we be expected to believe that?!” the youngest male human, Sam’s youngest brother as Applejack remembered it from past memories, shouted angrily. “We’ve seen the show! Wolves literally made of living wood! Creatures that feed on love and can look like anyone they want! A fucking centaur that broke out of what I’m guessing is Pony Hell and can steal magic from others. Sirens that cause chaos with their Dark Magic. Even, hydras,  fucking hydras!”

“Do you feel she will be any safer in this world after tonight?” Celestia shot back at once, giving him a cold glare. “In Equestria, she can be protected from those things by my former student and others. Here, there is no magic. She is the only being in your world with true magic and she cannot properly defend herself with it against so much.”

The room was silent save the sound of police sirens coming closer.

Celestia looked over her shoulder at the sound, before sighing. “We must act quickly.” She looked to Sam’s mother, sadness in her eyes. “I would never wish to separate a mother from her child, but, if she stays, her life will never truly be safe.”

Sam’s mother looked from Celestia down to the barely conscious foal in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

After several moments, she gave a shuddering breath, before standing and walking over to the Alicorn. Leaning down, she kissed Sam on the forehead, whispering, “I’ll always love you, my little Sammy,” before holding her arms out to the white mare.

Celestia’s expression could not be any more sad as her horn glowed a little brighter, the filly becoming encased in it and levitated up and onto the taller mare’s back. “I will explain what I must to your world’s media. Then, we must go.”

Sam’s mother could only sob as she was pulled into a hug by her husband, who himself had tears streaming down his cheeks.

Celestia lead that all out the front door, pulling every single human in her aura with her. Upon getting outside, the whole road was filled with police carriages. Several other humans were out, likely neighbours, along with several humans with large black boxes that looked like cameras, which Luna had explained were called video cameras, like viewing crystals for humans, instead of normal cameras that took photos.

All eyes went wide at the sight of the white Alicorn stepping out of the house with Sam on her back. 

Celestia looked around at all the humans gathered, specifically the ones with the cameras. “Humans of Earth,” she began in a firm, authoritative tone. “I was brought to your world by a being beyond time and space, maker of all there is, when they heard a desperate plea for the safety of a mother’s child. They has watched you all, hoping the accident caused by events in my own world would be worked out evenly, that your kind would accept one of my little ponies into your world as one of you own.”

Her expression hardened. 

“Whilst some of you have indeed done so, there are many of you, dangerous humans out there, who refuse to accept that one of your own has become one of my subjects. As such, tonight, they decided they would no longer leave this filly in danger from your kind. If you are saddened by this, as many of you know doubt are, it is those humans you should blame. Those unwilling to accept the impossible and deny that an innocent being affected by events out of her control, is still one of God’s children. As such, tonight, Sam Wilson shall leave this world forever more. I will be taking her back with me to Equestria, where she will be accepted among my subjects.”

She looked back to Sam’s family, her expression sympathetic and apologetic.

“I am sorry it has come to this. If it were up to them, you would all have lived happily together.” She levitated out all the men wearing black, her eyes going cold. “However, it is because of these horrible humans and those like them that such a thing cannot come to pass.”

One reporter stepped forward, holding out a small mic towards the Alicorn. “What will you do with them?”

Celestia snorted, lumping them all together, before releasing her magic, causing them all to fall in a mass pile on the front lawn. Another flash of her horn and they were all bound together by a strong rope.

She then looked to the reporter. “That, I leave up to your own authorities and government. Now,” her horn began to glow again, herself and the filly on her back starting to shine with white light, “we will be going. Know, humankind, that you had a chance to coexist with my little ponies... and failed.”

There was an enormous flash of light, followed by Luna and Applejack feeling like they’d been yanked back by the scruff of their necks, before tumbling out of the smoke, the hole closing up behind them.

Applejack stared, wide-eyed at the smoky cloud before her, her body sagging and her eyes brimming with tears as more fell down her cheeks.

“I am sorry, Applejack,” Luna said, sounding like she was struggling not to sob. “I... I never would’ve guessed...”

Before Applejack could respond, the world swirled around her and faded away.





___________________________________________________________





Applejack jerked up, looking around to find herself back in Sam’s hospital room.

Turning her attention to the bed, her heart broke as she saw tears were running down Sam’s cheeks. She was still asleep, but her tears fell, all the same.

“Oh, Sam,” she sobbed, leaning forward and pulling the filly into as best a hug she could without risking anything with the devices attached to the filly. “Ah’m so, so sorry!”
















> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 17

___________________________________________________________



Twilight peeked into the room to see Applejack sitting next to Sam’s bed, where she’d barely moved away from two weeks ago.

Applejack had told the other Element Bearers, Spike and the CMC some of what she had seen with Princess Luna in regards to Sam’s past. She hadn’t said everything, in fact, a lot of the time, Applejack had been vague about what she saw. Though, that could very well be due to the fact she’d been crying every time she tried.

All Twilight and the others had been able to properly get out is that Sam had suffered at the hands of those she’d once called her own kind. Though the orange mare never managed to go into detail, she did say that what Sam had been through, no young being should have to go through.

As for what brought Sam to Equestria, she hadn’t told them that either. The look of hurt on her face when asked made it clear she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to tell either, so they all left it alone.

Whatever she’d seen in Sam’s dream memories, it had only made her more determined to care for the filly in her charge. She only ever left her side to use the facilities and her meals would be delivered by a nurse, not that she ever seemed to eat much of her meals, anyway.

The farm wasn’t doing too well with Applejack gone, either. With her not keeping things in order, it had fallen on Twilight as a princess and friend, to lend a hoof around the farm. With her organization skills, she was keeping the farm afloat, especially with the rest of their friends helping out whenever they had the time to spare. She knew it would be faring far better with Applejack there herself, but that wasn’t going to happen.

Whenever she’d been able to take a break from helping out at the farm, Twilight would check in to see how Applejack was doing or if Sam had woken up.

It broke her heart, seeing Applejack so down. And it only hurt more when she would come to find Applejack singing to Sam. Where she’d heard the song from, Twilight had no idea, but it mentioned waking up as if pleading for it multiple times, the expression Applejack wore when singing it tearing at Twilight’s heart.

Now was one such time. Applejack was slowly stroking Sam’s mane, singing with all her heart, begging the pony before her to truly wake up again.

As the song ended, Twilight turned to leave, feeling it was better not to disturb Applejack right now.

“Mmm?”

A gasp from the room sounded as Twilight froze in place. That was not Applejack’s voice. In fact, it was Apple Bloom’s but from a source it had not been properly heard from in so long it brought tears to the Alicorn’s eyes just hearing it.

“Sam?” Applejack’s voice was filled with hesitant joy as the purple mare hurried in.

The young filly on the bed stirred, before slowly opening her eyes and looking around, tired confusion playing across her expression.

“Sam!” Applejack cried in full joy now, leaping forward and pulling the yellow pony into a deep huge. “Oh, thank Celestia! Yer awake! Yer finally awake!”

“Ashleigh...?” the filly said, sounding uncertain. “Why’re ya’ll using yer Applejack voice? And... why’re ya’ll in mah bedroom?”





___________________________________________________________





I can’t help groaning. I feel so drained. How can a dream be so draining? And fading in and out of consciousness makes it even worse. At least Mum’s been by my bedside this whole time. She’d been singing The Long Song from Doctor Who. Not sure how she learned the lyrics or why she’d be singing it to me, but I’d been able to pick up pieces of it every once in a while when I’d briefly gain some form of consciousness before returning to the realm of sleep. She was even singing it as I came to this time. Huh, guess the lyrics were perfect for the situation then, since I was waking up.

“Sam Oh, thank Celestia! Yer awake! Yer finally awake!”

Ashleigh? Why is she doing her Applejack voice? And why is she even in my bedroom? Dammit. I think I voiced those thoughts. Really best not to talk too much to someone else right after waking up from whatever the shit I’ve been in was. You’re brain and mouth don’t like working together right away

Wait. Is someone hugging me? I shake my head as best I can in my laying down and being hugged tightly position as best I can, trying to get my eyes to focus.

As I do, the person holding me pulls back and into my field of view. Everything’s blurry, but I can make out an orange blob.

At once, everything crashes back in and I know exactly what is going on before my vision even clears.

I... I’m not home. I’m stuck in Equestria, having to wait until the princesses can send me back... and Applejack is a fucking jerk! And I actually thought she was Mum?! I HATE THIS PONY!

I glare as the orange pony comes into focus. I don’t even care that she has a concerned expression.

“What do you want?” I snarl, looking away.

I hear her give a small gasp, but don’t bother looking at her to see her reaction. Instead, I take in where I am. From the looks of it, I’m in a hospital room.

Glancing around, I notice my right foreleg is connected to a heart monitor and a drip. My own forelimb has a large bandage around it, right where I...

I cringe. Did I seriously do that to my own body? Why? What the hell possessed me to think mutilating one of the limbs I need to move around was a good idea?

I wince as I feel a sharp pain in my head. I can vaguely remember Diamond Tiara being a bitch, like she always is and she was grilling me about being a Changeling, hammering it in damn hard, but... after that, it’s a bit of a blur.

“Sam, please, just look at me, will you?”

I glance in annoyance at the farm mare, before I blink, realizing something. Applejack’s calling me by my real name, not that false name she’s been using for me. That’s not all though. She... holy crap, she looks more guilty than I’ve ever seen her.

She glances away, shame clear in her expression. “Sam, Ah...” She looks back to me and it’s like the shame doubles, “Ah know Ah messed up, Ah do. Ah stopped thinkin’ o’ ya like who ya are an’ more how ya look an’... an’ Ah’m sorry.”

I blink, before narrowing my eyes.. “Yeah, well, sorry ain’t just gonna solve what happened, ya know? Ah ain’t just gonna let it go like that.”

A deep sigh comes from the mare. “Ah... Ah know, Sam. An’, Ah totally get it. Ah don’t expect ya t’ be okay with everythin’ right away.”

I give a short dry laugh. “Took ya long enough.”

She sighs again, her eyes downcast. “Sam, Ah... Ah know Ah’m the last pony you wanna be around, but, Ah promise, things’ll be different from now on.”

I cock an eyebrow. That didn’t sound like an order regarding how I need to act. More, it was as if she was saying she was going to make things better for me. Considering how she’s been treating me, this feels a bit sudden. I’m still pissed off at her, but... Dammit, it’s hard to stay so angry you’d call it had when a pony is looking so guilty at you and is admitting they fucked up.

Still, I’m not sure I trust she won’t go back to treating me like I’m actually a filly the first chance she gets. I need proof that she’s serious about treating me like me and not some random filly. “Pinkie Promise?”

This is the decider. If that mare really is honest about treating me with more respect and not like I’m a child that doesn’t understand anything, she will make that promise. If not, it shows Applejack isn’t as worthy of her Element as the Tree of Harmony thinks.

Imagine my utter shock when she actually performs the motions, sounding completely sincere as she does. There’s no joking due to the nature of how the phrasing sounds or how silly the movements are; she’s serious. She seems completely genuine as she makes a Pinkie Promise to me.

I frown, looking away. “Fine. Ah guess Ah gotta give ya at least one chance after that.” Though, if she breaks her word, she knows how bad that will be. She’s treading on thin ice, as far as I’m concerned.

“Sam?” I blink, before realizing there’s another pony in the room, a purple pony with wings and horn.

“Oh,” I say, looking at the Alicorn standing next to the orange mare. “Um... hey, Twilight.”

She looks just as relieved to see me awake as Applejack, who’s... looking intently at me for some reason.

I turn my attention to her, an eyebrow raised. “Um, what?”

Applejack blinks, before looking away... looking sad? Okay, I’m lost.

“Sam,” Twilight says in a cautious tone, putting me on alert that something was up, “do you remember what happened at the school?”

I try not to, but I know I blanch as I’m reminded of what I did. I look away. “Ah... Ah do, but...”

“But...?” Twilight tries to get me to continue.

I sigh. “Ah don’t know why Ah did it.”

That causes both of them to stare at me with shock.

“You... don’t remember why?!” Twilight’s mouth is agape.

I can’t meet their eyes, worry edging into my mind. Why don’t I remember why I did that? Why did I even think that was the best idea at the time to begin with?

After several long moments, Twilight sighs. “Well, whether you remember why you did what you did at the school or not... we need to talk.”

I’m struck by two conflicting emotions. First, I feel myself wilting at Twilight’s tone, but the other half of me wants to be angry at her for using it on me. It’s the tone you use when speaking to a younger person who’s in big trouble.

Twilight makes sure I’m paying attention before continuing. “Sam, what you did scared everypony. I understand you’ve been under a lot of stress, but what you did was not the best way to handle that situation.”

I feel the annoyed half of me get a little more control, so I groan to hide how scared I am by the subject. “Twi, Ah know. Ah get it. We have those kinda bad things happen back on Earth, too.” I look down, failing to repress a shudder. “Ah ain’t got the foggiest why Ah thought it was right ta...”

I glance at my forelimb and wince.

Twilight sighs, but nods, her expression still firm. “Sam, you’re not going to like this, but, for the moment, you’re going to have accept some things are out of your control. Applejack and the rest of her family are going to have to make decisions for you until we’re sure you’re okay. Now, before you get angry,” she adds as I open my mouth, “they will be taking your original age into account from here on out. I feel that is where this whole mess started. Due to your appearance, it was easy to forget that you’re not really Apple Bloom’s age.”

I nod. Well, I guess while I’d rather have them treat me completely like an adult, it’s better than being treated like a naive child.

“However, your reactions are showing something is wrong.”

I glance at her, an eyebrow raised. Huh? What the heck does she mean by that?

“Sam,” Twilight takes a deep breath, before letting it out and fixing me with a firm, yet slightly worried expression. “While you may mentally be an adult, you’ve been in a body identical to Apple Bloom’s for over three months now, correct?”

I nod. Why do I get a bad feeling about this? Oh, yeah, the serious tone Twilight’s using. In the show, it was usually followed by the season disaster, be that in the finale or premiere.

Twilight nods, closing her eyes for a moment. “I think that might explain it, then.”

I cock my head. “Explain what?” I’m really confused now.

Twilight opens her eyes, fixing her gaze with my own. “Sam, I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but your mind isn’t able to work like it did when you were a human. Your mind is that of your old self, but your brain is that of a young filly and that’s causing problems with your mental state.” 

I blanch. Okay, this is starting to sound bad. I’ve read foalfics, stories in which ponies are regressed into babies and how being in a baby’s body affects their minds with time. I really hope that’s not what Twilight’s getting at.

“I’ve spoken with a friend of mine, Sunset Shimmer, about this,” Twilight goes on. “Since she lives in a human world similar to yours, I thought she might have an idea as to how best to explain this without things getting too difficult. I know you're smart, Sam, but if I go into an explanation of the brain, it might go a bit over your head.”

Considering how Twilight is pretty much a library of information in pony form, I don’t doubt that. Doesn’t mean I can’t still feel a bit offended, though.

“Seeing as you were human as well, Sunset gave me some phrasing she says fits your situation pretty well and that will make sense to you,” Twilight then levitates a scroll from... you know what? It’s magic, why question it? The Alicorn clears her throat. “From what you’ve told me, Twilight, this Sam’s mind is facing a problem like a computer. If you take two neural networks (in this case Sam’s brain and Apple Bloom’s brain, whom her new body is based on) and give them one and the same input data (situation around Sam) on output you’ll get two different results (Sam’s reaction and Apple Bloom’s). Basically Sam now reacts like Bloom would react if she was in her place. Since she doesn’t understand that the change to Bloom’s body changed her brain too, she doesn't reevaluate her decisions on the fact of  “What would I REALLY be about to do before the change?”

I really hope Sunset gives a little simpler an answer after this. I do kinda get where she’s going with this, but it’s still too technical for my still waking up mind to process at the moment.

“She ends with this,” Twilight clears her throat again, though the raised eyebrow shows the words are confusing her. “To put it simply, it’s like Sam-OS is now running on a different set of brain hardware, one which, when compared to her human body, isn’t working quite right, because it isn’t grown up yet. Hence childish decisions, not because she’s a stressed-out ass, but simply because the new pony brain isn’t working the same way as her old one.”

I wanna be angry at Sunset for referring to me as an ass, but, as Twilight finishes, my eyes are wide as I look back on my time here in Equestria. I really was acting really childish at times, wasn’t I? I mean, I was an adult several months ago, yet, when Applejack grounded me, instead of calmly explaining to her why that doesn’t make sense, one, I wasn’t her sister, two, I’m not really a pony and three, I’m an adult mentally so she can’t really do that, I just sulked, threw a hissy and bucked her through the wall... twice.






___________________________________________________________





Applejack bit her lip as she watched Sam listening to Twilight’s explanations. A lot of it was going over the orange mare’s head, especially these computer things from Sunset’s world, but from Sam’s reactions, she was somewhat understanding it and it wasn’t good.

The final straw was, after Twilight said something about Sam’s new pony brain not working like her human one, Sam looked down for several moments, before her eyes widened and her whole body seemed to sag, her ears splaying back as far as they could go.

“Sam?” Applejack waited several moments, before the filly slowly raised her head to look at her. “Ah know this is hard, even if Ah don’t understand all the fancy terms Twi was using, but, Ah promise, Ah’ll do whatever Ah can to make up for what’s happened.”

Sam just looked at her for several moments, before lying back in her bed and turning to face away from the two mares. “Can Ah just be alone, please?”

The defeat in her voice pulled at Applejack’s heart. No filly’s voice, regardless of how old or what they were before, should ever sound like that.

A tired sigh came from her Alicorn friend. “No, Sam. This is a serious matter. Right now, the hospital staff don’t want you left alone, for fear you might do something like you did at the school again. I know you don’t plan on doing something like that ever again, but it’s procedure. You understand that, don’t you?”

A half-hearted snort came from the filly as she kept her back to them. “This ain’t mah first time is hospital, Twilight. Ah know how these things work.”

That set off alarm bells in Applejack’s mind, before she remembered the things she’d seen with Princess Luna. Sam could very well be talking about some of those times she was horrible injured by those humans that thought of her as a monster and her needing to go to hospital because of them.

Twilight nodded. “Then you know they’re not allowed to leave you alone.”

“Then can ya have Granny or Big Mac come over?” the filly mumbles, her voice having no anger, just tiredness. “Applejack needs ta get back ta the farm, right?”

Applejack felt tears in her eyes. Though she hadn’t said it, she knew the real reason Sam wanted her out. She didn’t trust Applejack and wanted somepony she felt she could trust.

Twilight glanced at Applejack, before looking to the back of the yellow filly. “Maybe later. For now, Applejack will have to stay with you. Okay?”

A grunt was the only response they got.

Twilight sighed, turning to leave. She was just at the door when Sam spoke up again.

“An’... if’n ya can... can ya get Pinkie Pie ta come visit. Ah... Ah got somethin’ Ah need ta tell her.”

Applejack looked up in shock. Sam sounded... ashamed.

She looked to Twilight, who looked equally surprised, before giving a small smile and nodded, saying, “Sure, Sam” and left, closing the door behind her, leaving the room in silence, save the sound sof the machines.
> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 18

___________________________________________________________




Twilight gave Pinkie Pie a comforting smile as the flat-maned mare walked past her and into the room, a very downtrodden Applejack leaving the room at the same time.

The disheartened look of the orange mare was so saddening for the Alicorn. She knew she couldn’t really help fix what was causing it, as it was Sam’s trust in Applejack herself that needed to be fixed and she had no idea how she could help with that, if at all.

As Pinkie went to sit in front of Sam’s bed, Applejack sat down next to Twilight, but facing away from the door. There were tears in her eyes that she clearing was doing her best to hold back.

“Sam didn’t even say anythin’ afore Pinkie got here,” she mumbled, her hat tilted down, covering her face. “Ah... Ah tried t’ get her ta talk, but... she didn’t say anythin’.”

Twilight sighed, turning around and wrapping a wing around her friend. “I’m sure it will just take time, Applejack,” she reassured. “Sam’s been through a lot. She won’t come back to us right away, but she will open up, given time.”

“She’s suffered more than ya’ll could know,” the farm mare whispered, though Twilight failed to catch it as she had turned her head and attention towards the room, where Sam and Pinkie’s voices were coming through the ajar door.

“Ah’m... Ah’m really sorry, Pinkie,” Sam said, sounding completely sincere in her words. Twilight could swear she could even hear a held back sob in the filly’s voice. “Ah was angry at AJ and everythin’, but Ah shouldna taken it out on you. Ya’ll didn’t deserve it.”

There was quiet, before Pinkie’s voice answered, sounding hopeful, but pleading as well. “So... you don’t hate me?”

The sound of quilts shifting could be heard, before Sam’s replied, in a shocked voice, “Hate ya? Why in Equestria would Ah hate ya, Pinkie Pie? Yer the funnest pony out there. Someone would have ta be totally heartless ta hate you. Ah... Ah was a grade A asshole that day,” she finished, sounding ashamed.

A half-hearted giggle came from the pink mare. “You didn’t look like a donkey’s end back then to me.”

There’s silence for a moment, before slight giggling could be heard, before turning into outright laughter from both ponies. Chancing a glance as best she could from her position and the crack in the door, Twilight could see Sam smiling for the first time since she’d woken up, Pinkie Pie, mane all poofy once again, laughing along with her.

Twilight returned her gaze to Applejack and saw the faintest of a sad smile on her lips.

Twilight gave a small smile of her own. It wasn’t going to be easy, not be a long shot, but, with Pinkie and the others help, they would all get through this, together.



___________________________________________________________




The next couple days go by, everything moving at a snail’s pace. Applejack heeded my wishes and either Big Mac or Granny stay with me. Thankfully, Granny doesn’t keep talking to me about old stories from when she was younger. 

I get visits from the CMC, Twist, a few other foals from the school, though a lot of them always seem worried when they come in and only a little less when they leave.

Applejack’s always coming for visits when she can, but whenever she does, I just face away from her and don’t say anything. I don’t have anything to say to her anyway.

I don’t know how to feel around that mare. I don’t hate her like I honestly thought I would, but... I can’t stand being near her right now either.

Frankly, the sooner Celestia recovers and can send me home, the better.

One oddity of a visitor I get over the couples days, though, is Filthy Rich. Of all ponies to come and visit me in the hospital, I have to say he would’ve been the last on my mind.

He told me it was because I’m a member of the Apple clan and he was worried about a relative of his most valued business partner, but I know there’s something else there. He’s apparently even paying the medical fees.

Likely, he feels guilty that his own daughter drove me to what I did. I still don’t understand why I thought doing that to my foreleg was such a smart idea at the time. Everything’s still pretty blurry from back then.

About a week after I woke up, I’m allowed to leave the hospital. I follow Granny out the doors and head towards the farm. Can’t say I’m looking forward to being around Applejack again, but at least I can do some apple bucking. That’ll take my mind off things, at least a little.

When I arrive at the farm, however, it’s to find Apple Bloom and her big sister are nowhere to be found.

“Uh, Granny?” I turn to the older mare and ask where her two granddaughters are.

She chuckles. “Applejack got a message from cousin Braeburn,” she says as we walk up towards the porch and head inside. “Poor young’n went’n hurt his leg, so he asked Applejack t’ take his place in the Appleloosa Rodeo.”

I cock my head. Huh. Now that I think about it, I remember Apple Bloom and the other CMC mentioning that and how sad they were I wouldn’t be able to join them in a search for our Cutie Marks.

I shake my head. Finding my Cutie Mark isn’t a top priority for me. I don’t even care about getting one. Once I’m home, I can just put all this behind me.

No, wait. Scratch that. Once I get back home, I’ll have to explain where I was all this time. Ooh, boy. That’s gonna cause a stir. I mean all those who were dissing me and calling me a fluke freak of nature? Let’s see them be so cocky when they learn the pony world is real, especially the idea of a pony controlling a freaking star. That’ll shut ’em up.

Still, that’s for them, not now. Granny gets me to help her move a few things, before I get an okay to go out and start bucking. She does stay with me until we find Big Mac though, and I’m instructed that I’m not allowed to leave his line of vision.

Now, if they had done this before, I’d have been pissed off. I mean, I’m still pissed about it, but I also know why they’re doing it. For a couple weeks I’ll have to be kept a close eye on, to make sure I’m not still suicidal o still willing to self harm, not that I actually ever was, but I can see why the doctors came to that conclusion.

I nod and Mac and I get back to bucking the apples. It’s hard, tiring work, but I feel good doing it. It feels natural and calming and lord knows I need as much calming as I can get nowadays.

After a while, I notice a blur streak across the sky and pause, putting a hoof to my mouth. “Hey, Dash! Howsit?!”

The streak stops to reveal the rainbow-maned mare, who glances around, before looking down and noticing me. she zips down, skidding to a halt mid-air, before landing in front of me.

“Sup, Sam?” she says, holding out a hoof, which I bump. “Glad to see you outta there.”

I nod, before rearing up and bucking a tree, causing apples to fall down.

Rainbow looks at the tree for a moment, before smirking. “Well, I know you don’t like how AJ tried to give you a new name, but it does fit.”

I glance to her, an eyebrow raised as I give a slight frown.

“Applebuck. You got a strong set o’ legs there, buddy.”

I chuckle, giving a coy smile. “Sorry, Dashie. But, thanks t’ this body, Ah’m a little young fer ya. Thanks fer the offer, though.”

She blinks a few moments, before her eyes widen and her cheeks go bright pink. “What?! I never meant— Why would you even—? Why would—?”

I give a hearty laugh. Man, Dash made that too easy.

It takes a few moments, before Dash realizes she got trolled and laughs along with me.

After that, we spend a bit of time chatting. Dash talks about how the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up soon.

I can’t help wondering why she seems so interested in it. I mean, back in season 1, it was proven to be boring as hell, annoying as shit and a waste of time. Why’s she so interested in it now?

Before I can verbalize my questions, however, a Pegasus who looks like Twilight with a Lightning Dust’s colours and green eyes comes down, asking Dash to come help with something over at the weather factory.

Dash hoof bumps me again and flies off, leaving me alone, with Mac not too far off.

I sigh, before returning to bucking.

“Not having as much fun now dear little Dashie’s gone?”

I freeze in place. I know that voice. Any fan of MLP who’s seen from season 2 onward knows that voice.

Before I can react, I find myself hanging upside down, my tail held by another tail. Turning my head, I see the face of the Lord of Chaos himself smiling back at me.

I blink a few times, before a huge grin forms on my face. Clearly this wasn’t the reaction Discord was expecting, as he got a confused and slightly uneasy look.

“WAAAAAHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I cheer, thrusting a hoof... downward? Huh? Never thought I’d be aiming down when doing that. Oh, well.

Discord’s cocks an eyebrow. “You’re glad to see me? Hfff.” He folds his arms, looking away. “Apple Bloom never seems cheery when I’m around.”

Yeah, I’m not even gonna touch that. Besides, I got other things on my mind.

“Ya’ll can send me back!” I cheer, holding my hooves over my head. How did I not think of this sooner? Screw the princesses, Discord has Chaos Magic. He can just send me back with a snap of his fingers.

At once, a displeased, but not angry frown forms on the Master of Chaos’ face, before a flash of light blinds me and were on the ground. He lowers me down, uncoiling his tail, before folding his arms and looking away. “Sorry, no can do.”

I halt, my brain taking a few moments to try and understand what I just heard. “Huh? But, yer Discord, Lord of Chaos.” I hold my hooves up. “Ya’ll can do anything!” 

“Within reason, yes,” he says, before muttering, “Isn’t that irony for you, me following chaos with reason.”

I frown in confusion. “But... But, ya’ll have Chaos Magic. Ya’ll could easily just toss me back inta mah world, right?”

He groans, sounding annoyed, though I get the feeling it’s not aimed at me, for some reason. “Yes, I can do it. I would, since you asked. But, Celly isn’t exactly up for it, so I can’t do much on my end.”

I blink, before cocking an eyebrow. “Huh? Discord, Ah don’ get it. What does Celestia not bein’ able t’ send me back have t’ do with ya’ll sending me back?” I frown. “Wait. Does she wanna talk with me first?”

He shrugs, suddenly a woodpecker in the tree above me and starts pecking at the bark.

I groan. “Great. So Ah gotta wait anyway. Peachy.”

“Well, it was fun bantering, Sample Bloom,” he says, now next to me and leaning on thin air. “However, Fluttershy and I have an afternoon tea planned, so I must go. Ta ta.”

And with that he disappears, the sound of the British anthem playing in the background and fading away.

It’s Discord. I’m not going to bother trying to question it.

Still, I’m sad he couldn’t stay longer. Meeting the Lord of Chaos is any Brony’s dream. Even with everything I’ve been through, I can still feel joy at the idea of meeting him.

I blink, before smirking. Oh, I hope he and I get a chance to be good friends before I leave. If I’m right, we can work a way so that he’ll be able to come to my aid should anything bad ever happen to me again. Let’s see those people who see me as the devil’s spawn lay a finger on me when I’ve got the Master of Chaos watching my back.

I move to go back to bucking, when his last words catch up to me. Wait. Did he really just call me Sample Bloom?

By the time dinner rolls around, Applejack and the CMC still haven’t come back. Guess they’re spending the night in Appleloosa, or sleeping on the train.

Either way, dinner is nice and quiet with just me, Mac and Granny. Thankfully the meal isn’t all apples or apple related. Too many apples can lead to poisoning, ya know. Though, that’s in the human world. In equestrian, for these equine bodies, who knows?

After dinner, I decide to turn in early. Plus, if Applejack gets home soon, I’d rather be asleep already.

Heading up to Apple Bloom’s room, I get into the bed, making sure to leave plenty of room for her to get in if she gets home whilst I’m asleep and close my eyes, letting Luna’s wings guide my sleep.