Fluttershy has fallen into a universe of genderbent versions of her own friends, and into the adoring eyes of a pony from each world.
Who would've thought Fluttershy would fall into a universe of the gender-bent versions of ponies she already knew? Who would've thought she'd catch the attentions of the male version of one of her best friends in this strange world AND a certain red stallion in her home universe? She sure didn't. Now, she lives two lives; one as Fluttershy, the only foal and shy mare of Ponyville, and the other as Fluttershy, the shy "twin sister" of her doppleganger, Timidbeat in an alternate version of her home. But, she has to make a difficult choice.
Special thanks to Troubleshooter for proofreading and editing! Go love them!
A familiar butter-yellow mare was trotting gleefully along a dirt path, heading toward Sweet Apple Acres. The trail stretched out ahead of her, and the clear sky allowed warming rays of Celestia's sun to kiss her similarly colored coat. The grass on either side of the path sparkled visibly with dew and raindrops, as it had rained lightly the night before.
As Fluttershy trotted along, she contemplated what she would do at her friend's home. Would she help the Apple family bake? Would they have another game night? Would she help on the farm? Well, she didn't really like the sound of that last idea. She was not the most physically fit of ponies, and she did not want to exert herself too much. However, she supposed, if it was for her friend, then she probably wouldn't protest.
The reason why she was even going was really... unknown. She had come to enjoy the company of the Apple family. Once again, she didn't know for sure why. They had never really changed. Apple Bloom got her cutie mark, but other than that, everypony stayed the same.
Well, ever since she started visiting often without the fate of Equestria at stake, one pony had been coming out of his shell - and encouraging her to do the same. Whenever they managed to hold a solid conversation, she did most of the talking, much to her own surprise. She wasn’t used to leading conversations. It felt nice whenever she got him to say more than a simple ‘Eeyup.’
Fluttershy began to slow down. She was nearly there, but she had reached the part of the trail that flanked the Everfree, one that was definitely her least favorite of the trip. She plodded along more carefully, making cautious glances back and forth around her. Her head lowered and her wings remained tightly bound to her sides.
It was then that the air seemed to grow hot, and a shadow loomed past, darkening the ground around the timid pegasus. She cowered at the sound of huge wings sifting through the air in massive strokes in the sky above. Fluttershy shuddered fearfully, and looked up just as a massive blue dragon boomed in a terrifying roar, heading down along the border of the forest. It soared high above, but still far too close for comfort. A terrified yellow mare was in shock for a brief moment.
Fluttershy squealed, and fell sideways down the short slope into the Everfree. She tumbled through weeds and brambles, rolling over and over, branches whipping over her coat, squeaking in pain with every bump and bush she hit. Finally, she landed flat on her stomach, limbs sprawled out, and chin flat in the dirt. She groaned in pain, and tried to stand up.
When she finally managed to bring her hooves under her body and push her weight up, she staggered and took a step forward to steady herself... right into a pond. With the unexpected lack of solid ground beneath her hoof, the weight she expected to send to it instead threw her forward into the water. She plunged into its clear depths, just thankful that it wasn't too cold.
Suddenly, the yellow pegasus blinked in confusion. She was about to swim up to the surface, but she felt her weight shift - as though gravity itself was changing. She looked up - or where she thought was up, anyways, only to see the fading black of the bottom of the pond. She spun in the water and swam quickly toward the dull light that indicated the actual surface. Her breath was running out quickly, as she fell in without any time to take a breath beforehand.
Fluttershy burst from the water with a desperate gasp, throwing her hooves up onto solid ground, which didn't taper all that well into the pond. It was almost like an in-ground pool, how abruptly the transition from earth to water happened.
The mare dragged herself out of the water, heaving in her breath, to find no change that she expected in the environment. As she climbed to dry land and struggled to her hooves, she sighed heavily when she realized that she now had to climb back up onto the path she fell from. With a shake of her coat to dry herself, she began to trod uphill.
When she finally found herself back away from the forest, which was a much longer trip than she had expected, she found herself discouraged from her visit. This was already such a bad day.
But I'm already more than halfway there... I can't go back now.
Fluttershy faced her original direction and started trotting again, finally resuming her now odd journey.
Just as the first few apple trees came into view, so did a pony of a familiar orange color. However, as she was about to call Applejack's name, Fluttershy realized that this wasn't her apple-farming friend. At least, she didn't think. This pony was male, with a taller stature than Applejack, a shorter mane and tail, and a much broader physical form. However, she was sure the colors were exactly the same. Even his eyes! Were they related?
This stallion had been heading in her direction as well, and spotted her right after she saw him. She was sure she saw a hint of a friendly smile, and it looked as though he was about to call out to her as well. However, a confused expression crossed his face, and as they grew closer, Fluttershy avoided eye contact.
It was just as she had feared. Just a short distance ahead, the orange stallion stopped to greet her. Well, that's what she assumed anyways. She could only see his hooves slow to a halt, as she had been staring at the ground ahead of her.
Reluctantly, she brought her head up to meet his familiar green gaze. He really did look a lot like Applejack.
"Uh, howdy!" he began, his expression still somewhat confused.
"Hi.." Fluttershy squeaked, shrinking back.
"Ah- Well, I've got to be honest here, ya look a lot like my friend. Well, he's a colt, not a filly, but still. Ah was wonderin'... Uh, are ya'll related? Do ya know where he is? Because I was expectin' a visit from him today, an' he hasn't shown up yet," he explained, smiling somewhat awkwardly.
"Um.. Well.. I... I don't know where your friend is..." Fluttershy replied very quietly, not making any further eye contact.
"Ah, well, that's a bummer. Well, Ah'm Applejack. What's yer name?"
Fluttershy's jaw hung open. Tha-that- What? Applejack? That's not- that's Applejack? She shook her head, realizing how dumb she must look at that moment.
"Uhm... I'm... Fluttershy..." she murmured, still dumbfounded.
"That's a spankin' great name, Fluttershy! Now, if'n Ah may be excused, Ah'm goin' to head down and see if Ah can find mah friend. Ah'll talk to you later, sugarcube!" Applejack dipped his head in goodbye, and that's when the yellow pegasus noticed he even wore the same hat as her own Applejack - the female one.
"Uhm... Goodbye... Apple..jack..."
Fluttershy watched as he trotted away down the path where she had come, and noticed he also somehow bore Applejack's cutie mark on his flank. He traveled past the spot where she had fallen into that strange pond. He whistled a familiar tune as he left, slowly growing smaller in the distance.
That was certainly the strangest thing she'd ever seen. Well, maybe the strangest. It might not top some of Pinkie Pie's endeavors. But he looked just like Applejack - female Applejack, the Applejack whom she knew so well! And he even used the same friendly general nickname to refer to ponies - sugarcube. He couldn't be her Applejack, not really! He didn't even recognize her, or her name.
Then she realized something. He talked about a friend. A friend that looked a lot like her. Was this friend... a male version of herself? Then what happened?
Fluttershy finally shook all of these strange thoughts from her head. It was ridiculous! Crazy! It had to be some insane coincidence. Applejack might be a common Apple family name, for fillies and colts. It was gender neutral. And sugarcube was probably a common phrase in the family. That hat was probably just a trending style choice among apple folk. And, this stallion, must just be an extremely strangely similar-looking-to-Applejack cousin or something. One who received the same name. And has a friend that looked like Fluttershy.
She sighed inwardly at herself. It was best just to forget it, and not think too much about the confusing possibilities. As she made her way deeper into the orchard, again she spotted a familiar coat color. "BIg Macintosh. It's such a relief to see a familiar face!" Fluttershy called, trotting up to a red figure with a lowered head, picking up a stray apple. When they raised their head, leaving the fruit, to cock an eyebrow at her, the butter-yellow mare was taken aback. This pony was a female!
"..." She stared at Fluttershy, as if taking an extra long time to be sure she was being spoken to, "Nnope," Her voice was a still-feminine baritone, and seemed a bit confused.
"Then... Then what is your name?" Fluttershy asked, recoiling timidly.
"Lil' Cameo." She replied briefly.
"Oh..." The pegasus mumbled, walking backwards away with her eyes trained on the ground.
"Ya'll look like Tim.." Cameo added, seeming to almost be to herself.
"Who?"
"Tim... Timidbeat." For a brief moment, the quiet mare looked as though she might have been embarrassed at the nickname she used.
"I.. I uh..." Fluttershy was shocked. Who was Timidbeat? Was he the friend that Applejack had mentioned? She didn't ask to find out, but slunk backwards to hide behind a tree. For some reason.
"Hi, Cam..." came a soft male voice from the direction of the pathway Fluttershy had taken, "Do you know where Applejack is? I haven't seen him, and I thought for sure he'd be impatient since I'm a bit late..."
Futtershy peaked out from behind the tree to see a stallion with a parted mane that covered some of his face, which was pink like hers. He also had a yellow coat, like her. And a butterfly cutie mark, just like hers... Was this "Timidbeat?" Whoever he was, he was approaching Cameo with a tired trodding pace.
"He went to look for ya."
Timidbeat appeared distraught, his ears turning back. "Oh.. he must have passed me when I fell off the path. I almost fell in a pond you know!"
Fluttershy gasped in shock, revealing her position to Timidbeat, though Cameo didn't seem to pay much mind, perhaps because she already knew where she was.
Timidbeat took a step back, and closer to the crimson mare. Though he appeared overwhelmed with the urge to just run to the hills, he still stepped protectively in front of Cameo. "W-who's there?" he managed to utter.
"That mare looks an awful lot like you," the earth pony explained, before finally, Fluttershy hesitantly moved to completely emerge from her place.
"I'm... Fluttershy..." she murmured, her face half-covered by her pink mane. She looked down to the ground for what felt like the twentieth time.
"Wait..." Timidbeat froze, watching Fluttershy. After a moment, he drew closer, and his head lowered to investigate. This movement was mirrored by the yellow mare doing the same, which caused her to squeak in surprise.
"Why... do we look the same?" he murmured, followed by Fluttershy shaking her head vigorously.
"I don't know..." she responded softly, her gaze trained back on the grass in front of her, "but... Little Cameo... She looks like my friend Big Mac... and... Applejack - your Applejack looks like my friend, a different Applejack... but she's a mare... She lives here too..."
Cameo looked utterly confused. "Ah'm the only mare on this farm," she mumbled.
"Timidbeat... You said you almost fell into a pond, right?" Fluttershy asked, receiving a nod from the shy stallion, and then continued, "Will you... show me where that pond is?"
"Uh.. ok." He responded softly, "I'll be right back, Cammie," the yellow pegasus added, touching his hoof to her shoulder for a moment.
"This way..." he lead Fluttershy along down the path, staying quiet most of the way, until he asked, "So... where do you live in Ponyville?"
"In a little cottage down this path a while. It's about a thirty minute walk from Sweet Apple Acres."
"And... do you take care of animals at this cottage?" he asked, lowering his head as if he knew the answer.
"Yes..."
"I also live in a cottage... thirty minutes down this path... and I take care of animals."
"So... we're.. the same?" Fluttershy confirmed, but became distracted when she recognized the spot where she had fallen into the pond. As she feared, Timidbeat stopped at that very same point.
"I fell down here," he said with certainty.
Fluttershy stared at the spot, down through the broken, bowled over brambles and bushes. She looked back up at him fearfully. "So did I... but I fell in the pond."
Timidbeat stared back at Fluttershy, clearly as shocked as she was. "Then... does that have something to do with you being here?" he asked, his ears flattened, as he looked back down into the forest.
"Maybe.." she murmured, "Maybe we should find out."
At first, it seemed as though he was going to refuse, but slowly he nodded.
Fluttershy led the way down the steep slope, picking her way more carefully, glad not to be... falling. As they made their way down, the yellow mare realized once again just how much the trip had been sped up when there was rolling involved.
As they finally found themselves at the edge of the pond, surrounded by thick thorns and brambles, Fluttershy looked back at her male counterpart. He appeared confused.
"Okay... you.. You stay here, and I'll go in. If I come up again, and you're not here, I'll know that I've gone back to... I don't know where... But I guess, the Ponyville I came from," she explained softly, turning her gaze back to the water when he nodded nervously, "Either way, I'll come back here and... tell you about it."
Fluttershy shut her eyes tightly in anticipation, brought herself forward, and plunged one hoof into the water. After taking a deep breath, she tipped forward, and allowed herself to fall completely. She fell deep into the pond, coming to a standstill some feet under the water. She looked up to see Timidbeat staring worriedly into the water's surface. Then, suddenly, his face wavered, and disappeared, turning to darkness. The yellow pegasus felt the same gravity shift as before, and somersaulted in the water to swim toward the new "up."
Fluttershy emerged slowly from the water's surface, blinking away water from her eyes. She scanned the area around the pool. There was no sign of Timidbeat. The small mare threw her hooves up onto solid ground, and drew herself up from the water halfway, before taking a deep breath and plunging back down. This time, she spun around to watch the yellow face appear again, and she floated back to his side.
The mare resurfaced with a gasp, and stared at Timidbeat. "It worked. Oh my goodness, you were gone! And, I went down again, now you're back... this is so strange..." she told him, pulling herself out of the water.
"Yeah... that's weird..." Timidbeat was watching her with confusion, "It looked like you just... disappeared, like you were swallowed by water."
"Surely, we can't let other ponies know about this! It could be... really really bad..." She remembered the whole situation with the mirror pool, which she realized, was oddly similar. Fluttershy shivered. "Too many Pinkie Pies..."
"How about, as far as other ponies are concerned, you're my... sister? Only if you come back, I guess. You don't have to if you don't want to, but... I do enjoy your company..." he looked down, embarrassed.
"That's a wonderful idea!" Fluttershy reassured him, smiling softly. "If you want me to, I can come back. We can be friends," she reassured him, nodding. That sounded fun. She could meet all of his animals! Even if they were just the reverse versions of her own, it would be enjoyable to her. They enjoy the same things - they had to, they were the same pony! So, whatever Fluttershy wanted to do, even things that she would normally want to do with friends because she would be scared, she could do with Timidbeat.
"For now, I should go. I need to go visit my own Apple family like I was going to," she explained, giving her male counterpart a brief hug, trying to avoid getting him too wet. Of course she already felt like he was a close friend - he was her!
"Okay... Goodbye, Fluttershy," he said, smiling slightly, and backing up to give her room, "You know where to find me if you come back."
"Bye, Timidbeat," Fluttershy replied, turning around and taking a deep breath. She took a step forward and plunged into the water, swimming straight down - and then straight up - toward her real home.
The pegasus mare heaved herself out of the pond and shook almost like a dog, water droplets spraying everywhere. She made her way steadily back up the brush-tangled slope, grunting and heaving with effort. Eventually, she found herself back at the top of the path, looking one way and than the other down the path she knew so well. With a final shake of her head, she trotted back to Sweet Apple Acres to greet her friend and her friend's family. Well, she didn't know if her Applejack was back at the farm yet, but she was sure she would go back soon if she wasn't. With how long this strange adventure had taken, it was just past noon, and she would need to head back in the evening to care for her animals.
With a quiet sigh, she continued on her way, pondering the possibilities of the strange new place she had found. She would return tomorrow, and maybe see what the rest of her gender-bent friends were like.
When Fluttershy arrived again at Sweet Apple Acres, she sighed in relief to see a familiar bulky red figure. He was working with a distracted demeanor, plodding along with a cider barrel on his back, as if just stalling for time. When he spotted Fluttershy just coming off of the path, he seemed to try to hide his face lighting up at her arrival.
The butter-yellow mare trotted over to him with a sheepish smile. "Hello, Big Mac," she greeted him, lowering her head.
"Eeyup," he replied though through his plain words, a smile crossed his features.
"Are you doing well today?" Fluttershy asked, coming to a stop and tracing a familiar pattern in the dirt.
She received another "Eeyup," and a friendly nod.
Fluttershy looked down at the ground with a shy nod in acknowledgement. She was pleasantly surprised to hear from him, "How 'bout you, Fluttershy?"
She looked back up to meet his gaze and grinned, replying softly, "I'm doing very well, thank you."
Just as it seemed Big Macintosh was about to speak again, a familiar voice called out happily. "Hey, Fluttershy! I was lookin for ya!" Applejack's voice came from the path behind her, growing closer. Fluttershy, though hiding disappointment, turned to greet her friend with another "Hello."
"Sorry, Applejack... there were some things that happened along the way."
"Well, how 'bout we all have some apple pie? Granny Smith was jus' gettin' ready to make some, Ah'll bet ya'll we'd be just in time!"
"That sounds lovely," Fluttershy replied, smiling, and standing back to follow her earth pony friend in the direction of the Apple family's house. She found herself walking by Big Mac's side, which she had a feeling was manipulated by the movements of the bearer of the element of honesty. She had sped up and slowed down subtly depending on which pony was directly behind her, until the two were walking side-by-side. Clever Applejack.
Of course, Fluttershy kept her gaze trained on the earth in front of her, and she felt Big Mac's gaze reach her many times.
