One Shot Storiesby jszellmerChaptersApple Family RelationshipsElusive LoveThe Obligatory Shining Armor/Twilight Sparkle StoryApple Family ConclusionA Matter of PreferenceApple Family RelationshipsApple Bloom sat dejectedly on the swings, slowly rocking back and forth. Nothing had gone right that morning. She had been looking forward to the Sisterhood Social with Applejack and now AJ had told her that she was going to be too ‘busy’ to go with her. Apple Bloom didn’t buy it for a second. There wasn’t any extra work to be done at Sweet Apple Acres. Macintosh certainly hadn’t mentioned any. Rarity wasn’t too busy to go with Sweetie Belle, and Sweetie Belle told her that Rarity had gotten a large order of dresses recently. Apple Bloom got off of the swing. Come to think of it, Applejack had been acting strange for a while now. Well, stranger than usual, anyway. Something was up, but Apple Bloom couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe it was some of that ‘Adult Stuff’ they wouldn’t tell her about. Apple Bloom decided to find Sweetie Belle. They could swing around, grab Scootaloo and do something. Even getting covered in tree sap again would be better than anything else that had happened. At least her friends would be there with her. Sweetie Belle was at the boutique, helping Rarity out. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie called. “Wanna help out? Rarity’s finally letting me help out with her dresses. It’s mostly sorting and stuff, but at least she’s letting me do something. She wants to be ready for next week at the Social.” “Not really,” said Apple Bloom. “I was hoping that we could get Scootaloo and go play.” “Can’t today,” Sweetie said. “Hey, maybe tomorrow we can go practice for the Sisterhood Social? We could race and stuff and… what’s wrong?” “I’m not going to the Sisterhood Social,” said Apple Bloom. “Well, why ever not?” said Rarity as she came into the room, using her magic to carry several bolts of cloth. “Organize these, will you please, Sweetie?” “Applejack said she’s going to be ‘busy,’” said Apple Bloom, making air quotes with her hooves. “She won’t tell me what it is, and she’s been avoiding me all day.” “You know, Apple Bloom,” said Rarity. “You’d think that, after you two didn’t get to race together last year, she’d be eager to go with you this time. Perhaps if we went over and talked to her, we could find out what all this is about.” “Thanks,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if it will work. You know how she is when she’s made up her mind.” The other two ponies nodded. Apple Bloom went back home, alone. Rarity came by early the next morning and had brought the others as backup. Apple Bloom took them inside. “Applejack?” called Twilight. “Are you here? There’s something we want to talk to you about.” A mumbled reply led them to the kitchen. Applejack was facing away from them and didn’t seem to want to look at them. “Applejack,” continued Twilight. “We’re starting to get worried about you. You’ve been avoiding us and Apple Bloom says you can’t go to the Sisterhood Social with her.” “I told her I’m busy,” said Applejack. She still didn’t turn around. “I’m sure she can borrow one of you girls, like how Sweetie Belle borrowed me last year.” “That is simply preposterous,” said Rarity. “I am quite busy as well, and I still have the time to go with Sweetie Belle.” “And will you please look at us, AJ?” said Twilight. “Seriously, you’ve been acting weird for a while now. What’s going on?” “I don’t want to talk about it, all right?” said Applejack. “It’s… personal.” “But we’re your friends, Applejack,” said Pinkie. “You can tell us anything.” “Not this,” said Applejack, finally turning around. “Please, girls. If you just give me till after the Social, everything will be back to normal. And why are you getting on my case about this? Rarity didn’t want to go to last year’s Social and none of you went after her for it.” “This isn’t just the Sisterhood Social,” said Twilight. “It’s other stuff, too. You skipped Pinkie’s last party. You turned down that spa invitation with Rarity and Fluttershy. I know you like those, no matter how much you deny it. You’ve never avoided us like this.” Applejack was silent. “I… I can’t tell you,” she finally said. “You’ll hate me if I tell you.” Twilight walked up and put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “We would never hate you,” she said. “Please, Applejack, just tell us what’s wrong.” To everyone’s surprise, Applejack started to cry. Nopony had ever seen Applejack cry. “I can’t go with her,” she said, “because she isn’t my sister.” “She… isn’t your sister?” asked Twilight, confused. “What?” asked Pinkie. “Is she adopted or something? ‘Cause that’s not something to be ashamed of. We could even have an ‘Adopted’ party for her, like a birthday party. And maybe you could still borrow her, like you suggested that we do. Wait, can you borrow your own sister? Who would you return her to?” “No, no,” Applejack shouted. “She’s not adopted! She's not 'something!' She's not anything like that! We’re not sisters at all!” “Then what are you?” asked Fluttershy. Applejack lowered her head. She was crying harder now. “I'm not her sister,” sobbed Applejack. “I’m her mother,” she whispered. There was total silence as everypony stared at Applejack. They couldn’t believe what they heard. Apple Bloom was the first to break the silence. “You’re my mother?” she gasped. Applejack could only nod. “But, but Mom and Dad,” Apple Bloom continued. “They’re not your real parents,” Applejack said. “We all just said they were so that it would be easier.” “So what would be easier?” asked Twilight. “How did this happen?” “I was so young when it happened,” Applejack continued. “You all know what it’s like, the first time you go into heat. How confusing the emotions and urges are. I was too scared and confused to ask for help. Apple Bloom’s father was the only one who noticed. He’s the one who helped me out.” “So, who is my father?” asked Apple Bloom. The other horseshoe dropped. “Macintosh,” said Applejack, quietly. “Macintosh is your father.” “Your brother?” gasped Rainbow Dash. “Your brother is Apple Bloom’s father? Oh, my brain hurts so much right now.” Applejack winced. She sometimes wished Rainbow Dash had gotten the Element of Tact, rather than the Element of Loyalty. “He helped me out the only way he knew how,” said Applejack. “He could see what I was going through, but he didn’t understand. Not totally. He helped me with my physical needs, hoping that he could also satisfy my emotional needs at the same time. And then, one day, we made a miracle. A miracle named Apple Bloom. After we found out I was carrying, we decided that I would live with family in Manehatten until I gave birth. When I had Apple Bloom, I would come back with a brand new little sister. We wanted Apple Bloom to have a normal life, and we felt she could only have that if she were our sister. We were afraid she would suffer if everyone knew she was our daughter.” “Were you ever going to tell me about this?” demanded Apple Bloom. “We were going to tell you when you were older,” Applejack replied. “We argued a lot about how we were going to do it. We wanted to do it gently, so we could help you through it. I’m so sorry, Apple Bloom. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way. And this Element of Honesty hasn’t helped matters any. As long as I could avoid referring to you as my sister, I could avoid it. But when the Sisterhood Social came up, I just couldn’t live with the lie anymore. Last year I got around it when I was supposed to run with Sweetie Belle, but this year I couldn’t. And we’ve been pretending for so long, I just can’t reconcile them anymore, not with my Element trying to make me tell the truth. I wanted to keep pretending that you’re my sister, but I just can’t do it anymore.” Everypony was silent for a while. Applejack and Apple Bloom were both crying now. “Are you all right?” Twilight asked Apple Bloom, putting her hoof on the filly’s foreleg. “No!” yelled Apple Bloom. “I’m not all right! I just found out that my whole family has been lying to me for my entire life! The ponies I thought were my siblings are my parents! How could I possibly be all right?” She smacked Twilight’s hoof aside and ran outside. Macintosh walked in. “What the hay just happened here?” he demanded. Applejack started crying again. “They know,” she said. “About everything. Us, Apple Bloom, all of it.” Macintosh walked up and began to comfort his sister. “We’ll get through this Applejack. We’ve gotten this far, we can get through the rest.” “And we’ll be here for you too,” said Twilight. Elusive LoveThe night Twilight Sparkle became a Princess, Swift Light cried herself to sleep. Now there was another barrier between Swift and her beloved. There’s no way a special pony like her would even look at a nopony like me, much less love me back, she thought. Besides, she’d think that I was only interested in her for her status as Princess, not for her as a mare. Even when Twilight had been ‘marely’ Princess Celestia’s protégé, she probably had more marriage prospects and love interests than she could count, all of them from ponies far more 'appropriate' than a mere guardpony. Now that she was a Princess, and the circle of acceptable partners has shrunk even more, she was hopelessly out of reach. Swift Light had been a new recruit to the guard when she first saw Twilight. So beautiful, so divine, so lucky. A cream colored Pegasus, she was the first mare in her family to make it into the Royal Guard. The day her unit was presented to Princess Celestia for review was the first day she saw her. One look and Swift Light knew that there was room in her heart for nopony else. Not even bedding the other filly foolers on the guard could get her mind off of Twilight. She worked her tail to the bone, eventually landing her dream position as an endurance flyer for the Information Service. She could travel all over Equestria, delivering critical communications to far off locales. She had seen Manehatten, Apple-loosa, even the Crystal Empire. But her mind always came back to Canterlot and the beautiful, wonderful, utterly unattainable Princess who owned her heart. “Hey, Swiftie,” said Ambush. She and Open Order had swung by the Skydancer, a tavern popular among the guards, to pick up Swift Light. “Come on. I scored a case of Apple Family cider and we’re going back to the barracks to play some drinking games.” “How’d you pull that off?” asked Swift. Apple family cider was hard to get a hold of here in Canterlot. Swift wondered who Ambush had to murder to get a whole case’s worth. “Open Order slept with the general’s daughter,” Ambush explained. “Funny thing is, I’ve been trying to boink her for months,” said Open Order. “I was on the verge of paying her for the privilege. So not only does she come to me first, but when I told her I wanted the cider in return for acquiescing to her request, it’s like I got rewarded twice for doing a favor I would have done for free.” “I’m not in the mood right now,” said Swift. She had been feeling particularly down lately. She seemed to run into Twilight everywhere lately. The Skydancer seemed to be the only place Twilight might not come. “Come on,” said Ambush. “We need an even number of ponies. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone whose name you were moaning the last time we made love.” “You wouldn’t dare,” Swift said. Ambush grinned mischievously. “Fine. I’ll go.” There was no way she could afford to let the others know she was in love with Twilight Sparkle. She’d never hear the end of it. As they left, one of the stallions said to them, “You ladies looking for someone to keep you company tonight?” “Sorry,” said Ambush. “But we’re filly foolers.” To drive her point home, she kissed Swift, right then and there. To Swift’s eternal horror, who should walk in at that exact moment but Twilight Sparkle? Swift never got to find out what Twilight was doing there, slumming among the soldiers, for when Ambush broke off the kiss, she dragged Swift out of the tavern. No! she screamed inside. Not when I'm so close! She could feel fate laughing at her. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. There was her special somepony, there at the Skydancer! And she was kissing another mare! She did have other partners. Twilight wouldn't normally go to a guardpony hangout, but AJ had told her to do a little ‘slumming,’ as she called it, to help cheer her up. Twilight couldn’t tell her why she was feeling so morose. AJ wouldn’t understand what it was like to want the one thing you couldn’t possibly have more than anything in the universe. But of all the places that she could have gone, why did she have to go to the same place as the mare of her dreams? Why did fate have to taunt her like this? In an instant, the mare was gone, dragged out of the tavern by the other mares. Who knew if there would ever be another opportunity for them to be this close? Twilight had first seen the mare a few years earlier, when Princess Celestia took her to review a new unit of guardponies. A cream colored pony caught her eye and it was love at first sight. There was no real reason why she would stand out, but she, she, would steal Twilight’s heart and refuse to give it back. Her duties and later life in Ponyville would prevent her from meeting the mare of her dreams. Twilight considered herself lucky she was able to find out the mare’s name and repeated it to herself often, to help keep the image of her beloved sharp in her mind. Swift Light, Swift Light, Swift Light. Several days later, standing on a balcony, Twilight looked down at the guardpony she loved. Swift Light, she thought. A perfect name for a perfect mare. She looked so beautiful in her armor, the way the sunlight glinted off the burnished metal, the way it showed off her cute flanks. I can have anything I want, she thought, except for the one pony I actually want. There’s no way a special pony like her would want somepony like me. She’d only think I was toying with her, leading her on, only to dump her when somepony ‘appropriate’ came along. Twilight couldn’t hurt another pony like that, but would her beloved know that? The mare had at least one other partner. She probably has more options than she could shake her tail at. Anypony would be lucky to have one of Equestria’s elite guards as their Super Special Somepony. Unfortunately, anypony seemed to exclude her. And now that she was a Princess, fate mocked her again, for who would approve of her having a love affair with a guardpony? Twilight watched as the guardpony took a messenger bag from a fellow guard, salute the other pony, and take off. Twilight watched her beloved fly off into the sunset. When would she come back? What stories would she have to tell? Why did such a wonderful, beautiful and elusive pony have to steal her heart and leave her bereft? That night, Twilight went to her room and cried herself to sleep. Author's Note I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for mutually unrequited love. The Obligatory Shining Armor/Twilight Sparkle StoryShining Armor wasn’t sure exactly when he first started ‘noticing’ Twilight Sparkle. It was after she had gone on to be Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, for certain. She was still the adorkable young mare she had always been; her nose stuck in a book, oblivious to the world around her. But something was different since she had really started growing up. Shining noticed how cute her flanks looked and how perfectly placed her Cutie Mark was to highlight her developing curves. How she would sometimes fall asleep in the most compromising of positions. How she would sometimes move her tail just the right way while she was concentrating, innocently exposing the alluring pinkness of her sex. It would be bad enough for him to be lusting after his own sister if that were the only thing going on in his life. But he was married to Cadance. Married! To a mare he loved! And he still couldn’t get his mind off of his own sister. At first, he had tried to keep his mind off of his sister’s sexy little body by making love to his wife’s sexy little body, but it didn’t work for long. Soon he was imagining his sister underneath him in his wife’s place. He thought about confessing his feelings to Cadance. She'll understand, he thought. She’s the Alicorn of Love. Besides, she was a Pegasus before and aren’t Pegasi into the whole polygamy thing anyways? But somehow he couldn’t imagine her allowing him to sleep with his own sister. He had tried asking Twilight if she would be interested in being more than simply a sister, but his awkward lines of questioning had only seemed to confuse her. As far as Twilight was concerned, Shining Armor would always be her BBBFF, nothing more and nothing less. But Shining Armor needed Twilight. Needed her more than he needed Cadance. Needed her more than air or food or water. He even needed her more than he needed… well, a thing that he needed really, really badly. Insert one colossally stupid idea, a forbidden magical spell and a secret that couldn’t be revealed without taking a sledgehammer to the windowpane of his relationships with both his sister and wife and he was set. He had come across a lot of forbidden magic as a result of his duties as Captain of the Guard. Included in one grimoire was a spell for cloning another individual. All he needed was a portion of that person in order to proceed. Twilight still maintained a chamber here in the palace. Shining Armor knew where Twilight kept her hairbrush. All he needed from it was a few strands of hair and he could proceed. Fortunately for Shining Armor, Cadance had a diplomatic tour of duty for a few weeks, Twilight was back in Ponyville doing her Friendship Studies and the princesses didn’t ask a ton of questions as long as he got results. (Well, Luna was asking a lot of awkward questions about certain websites Celestia had said she wasn’t allowed to look at, but that was another issue entirely.) Shining Armor took the hair and the tome down to a portion of the castle that was reserved for guests, but hadn’t actually been used in years. Celestia had built the castle far bigger than it really needed to be, which sometimes made Shining Armor wonder if she were compensating for something. He found that he had to alter the spell slightly to get the results he wanted. He wasn’t as skilled a spellcaster as Twilight was, but he was still accomplished and had a lot of raw power backing up his talent. He set the book down on the bed and began to read the spell. Power began to gather around him, until the saturated air fairly crackled and his hair stood on end. Finally, Shining Armor spoke the last words of the spell and the magic came to a head, raising the hair off of the bed and coalescing around it. A spectral form began to appear; first blood vessels, then nerves, bones, muscles, skin and, finally, fur. The being twitched and moved spasmodically as it coalesced, then, almost anticlimactically, a perfect copy of Twilight was created on the bed. She was identical in every way, except for one. The adaptation Shining Armor had made to the spell caused the new Twilight to view him not only as a BBBFF, but also as the love of her life. New Twilight looked at Shining Armor with adoration in her eyes. “Welcome to life,” said Shining Armor and hugged her close. “But why can't I leave, Shiny?” whined New Twilight. “I’m bored here with only the books you bring me and I miss you so much when you’re gone.” Shining Armor pulled New Twilight close. “I told you why, Twily. Ponies wouldn’t understand how special we are to each other. They would become jealous and would try to take you away from me. They would perform experiments on you to study how clones work. I don’t know if I could protect you if others found out and wanted to hurt you. I can bring you books on how to use your magic. Would that help?” New Twilight knew she couldn’t win against that logic. She couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from her beloved Shiny, much less being used for the horrible experiments he said that those awful scientists and doctors would perform on her. Then she had an idea. “But, couldn’t you talk to Princess Celestia? She’d protect me, wouldn’t she?” “I don’t know how she’ll react either,” said Shining Armor. It was a lie. He was pretty sure he knew exactly how she would react. Badly. The magic used to create New Twilight was forbidden, though he hadn’t shared that with her. “Celestia might understand, but she might be angry that I made you. She has a special relationship with my sister. If she found out about you, she might be jealous that somepony besides her has a special relationship with you. She might take you away for her own uses now that my sister lives in Ponyville. I might never see you again.” New Twilight was sad. She wanted to go out and meet other ponies. She knew nopony besides her BBBFF and she was lonely. But staying with Shiny was more important. If she had to give up meeting other ponies to do it, then she would endure. Cadance arrived home early; her diplomatic negotiations with the Buffalo Nations for increased acreage for settlers in return for concessions regarding their stampeding grounds had taken less time than she had anticipated. Now that the initial conflicts had been resolved, it was easier to negotiate with the now-friendly tribal chiefs. She was looking forward to seeing Shining Armor again, as well as doing certain ‘extracurricular activities’ with him, as well. An Alicorn had needs after all. She had even gone out of her way to bring Twilight Sparkle to the capital for a surprise visit. Her brother would be thrilled to see his sister after so long apart. Cadance couldn’t find Shining Armor in their suite, however. After asking around, she was told that Shining Armor had been ‘entertaining guests’ in one of the unused wings of the castle, with orders not to be disturbed. None of them seemed to know just who he was ‘entertaining,’ nor did they know for what purposes. Food, books and other supplies had been delivered there, but nopony had seen the individual with whom Shining Armor had been ‘meeting.’ This all smelled funny to Cadance. Making their way towards the wing, Twilight and Cadance noticed a distinct lack of servants. Usually there would be at least a few maids or other staff to keep the rooms clean. As they came to the end of one hallway, they could hear voices. One of them was Shining Armor’s, though they couldn’t tell what he was saying. The other voice was disturbingly familiar, though they couldn’t place it right away. “Ohh, Twily,” said Shining Armor. “Right there, Twily, right there.” Cadance and Twilight looked at each other; mouths open as they tried to comprehend what they were hearing. Moving quietly, the pair came to the door, opened it silently and received the shock of their lives. There, on the bed was Shining Armor. And mounted on Shining Armor, thrusting away with a look of primal bliss on her face, was an exact duplicate of Twilight Sparkle. When she finally regained her ability to speak, Cadance, using what Princess Luna would have viewed as a most impressive use of Royal Canterlot Voice, shouted, “Shining Armor, what are you doing? And who is that?” Cadance didn’t remember much of what happened next through the crimson veil of rage at seeing her husband in bed with a duplicate of his sister. Her next clear memory was of the four of them standing in front of an extremely angry pair of princesses. Shining Armor had taken the brunt of her anger and it showed. Beaten and battered, he was barely keeping himself upright. New Twilight had evaded any physical retaliation and was now clutching Shining Armor tightly, wailing on and on about doctors and experimentation or something along those lines. Twilight felt violated on so many levels. Finding out that her brother wanted to have sex with her was bad enough. He could have asked, for Celestia’s sake. It would still have been freaky, but at least she would have known. But the clone was even worse. Shining Armor had stolen her body, her mind, her very identity, and made a whole new pony based on it. Sure, New Twilight was innocent in that regards, but she couldn’t believe that her oh-so responsible brother had done such a horrible thing to her and to the clone. “Shining Armor,” said Princess Celestia. She was livid; her alabaster fur was tinted red and there was fury in her eyes. “You have committed crimes most heinous and for that you shall be punished. You have used forbidden magic to steal the identity and everything that made your sister the special, unique pony that she is to make little more than a toy for your own perverse lusts. You have cheated on your wife with this ‘toy’ and not once did you consider the ramifications of how this would affect your sister or wife. This thing is your creation and disposing of it shall be your responsibility as well. You will eliminate her properly and, upon bringing back proof of your deed, we will discuss the rest of your punishment.” “As you will, your majesty,” Shining Armor said sadly. Turning to New Twilight, he said, “I’m sorry, I really did care about you, but I have to do this.” Gently picking up his creation with his magic, he slowly and painfully carried her out of the throne room. New Twilight, unskilled in the use of her own magic, was powerless to resist. As understanding dawned on her, New Twilight began to scream, “Please Shiny! Please don’t do this! I love you, Shiny! I love you! You made me, Shiny! I want to be with you! I want to make you happy I’ll do anything you want! I’ll make sure nopony finds out about us! I want to live! I don’t want to die, Shiny! I don't want to die!” Struggling uselessly, she continued to beg and wail long after she passed out of hearing range. “Is killing her the right thing to do?” Twilight said after a time. “It seems so extreme. I feel so violated that she exists, but she’s as much an innocent victim as anypony else. She didn’t do anything to merit that.” “Twilight,” Princess Celestia replied. “You saw for yourself why creating clones is forbidden. Everything that made you special was perverted to satisfy your brother’s most selfish desires and basest needs. We need to make an example, otherwise it just becomes easier to justify letting other ponies get away with it in the future.” The divorce went through quietly, as did Shining Armor’s transfer to an obscure post in the far north that conveniently ‘needed’ an experienced commander. Shining Armor’s second in command was promoted to Guard Captain to ‘give him experience in command.’ Most ponies accepted the official story on Shining Armor’s departure, and the divorce was quietly buried under a sea of Canterlot scandal. There were enough celebrity divorces as it was for that particular royal disaster to quietly die beneath the weight of new scandals. Shining Armor had taken only a few possessions along with him: his uniform, a picture of his family, a few books and a lock of Cadance’s hair that she had given him upon their engagement. He hoped that it would be enough. Shining Armor looked over his shoulder for the hundredth time that day. Even months after his exile, he was still unsure if his plan had truly worked, or if Princess Celestia had seen through his deception and was coming to punish him for not following her commands. Either way, he knew that he would likely be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. He had presented the severed horn to the princess two days after his sentence was passed down and she had seemed satisfied that he had gone through with the terrible act. It had taken him a long time to alter the cloning spell to make just a horn and he hoped that Celestia would not see through the imperfections that would have revealed his duplicity. The small garrison he commanded didn’t ask any questions, for which he was grateful. Neither did the motley collection of citizens in the nearby border town. It was a long walk back to his personal quarters, made longer by the lingering effects of the poorly healed injuries he had sustained at the hooves of Cadance He opened the door to his private suite and was ambushed by the lavender figure that was waiting for him. “You’re finally home, Shiny,” New Twilight squealed. “You were gone forever today. Did something go wrong?” “No, Twily,” he said, lovingly stroking her mane. It had been difficult to smuggle her up north with him. It had been torture keeping the whole thing under wraps so that nopony would talk. “I just had a lot of extra paperwork to do today. And I don’t move around as quickly as I used to. I hope that you weren’t too lonely.” “No,” replied New Twilight as another figure came out to greet him. “Not since you gave me the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters to keep me company.” New Cadance, cloned from the hair that Shining Armor had brought with him, nuzzled her beloved Shiny and Twily. The three of them collapsed into a pile of laughter and love. Though he was trapped in exile in the most backwater portion of Equestria, as long as he had his beloved ones, he was happy. And the ponies he had created were proving to be even more wonderful than the originals that he had left behind. Author's Note After reading a number of stories in which Cadance is fine with Shining Armor having sex with Twilight, I decided to try writing a story in which she doesn't approve. Apple Family ConclusionApple Bloom didn’t know how long she had been running. All she wanted to do was get away from them. They had lied to her. They had all lied to her. Apple Bloom could still hear the words echoing in her head: “I’m her mother. I’m her mother. I’m her mother.” What kind of mother would lie like that to her own child? She passed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” said Sweetie Belle as she passed. “How’d things go with your sister?” Apple Bloom didn’t answer; she just kept running. Things didn't go with her sister. Things went with her mother. They weren’t the same thing. They weren’t the same thing at all. She finally found her way to the playground. Fortunately for her, it was deserted. She climbed up onto a swing and started crying all over again. It didn’t take long for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to find her. The playground was a logical place to look. “What happened?” asked Scootaloo, who had been briefed about the coming altercation by Sweetie Belle. “Maybe you should ask my ‘Mom,’” said Apple Bloom. “But your Mom’s dead,” Sweetie Belle said awkwardly. Nopony liked bringing that subject up. “Then maybe you should ask my real mom and not the pony who only claimed she was my mom,” Apple Bloom returned. This set off another round of crying. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn’t know how to react. Apple Bloom crying was like Applejack crying. Nopony ever saw her do it. “What do we do?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle. “I don’t know,” answered Sweetie Belle. “Maybe we should ask Rarity. Or maybe Twilight. She always knows what to do.” “Good thinking,” said Scootaloo. “Um, you ok without us for a while, Apple Bloom?” When Apple Bloom didn’t answer, they prepared to leave. Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and the others were still with Applejack and Macintosh. “And you're still ‘together?’” asked Twilight. “Yes,” said Applejack. “Part of it was for Apple Bloom, but part of it was for us. I don’t expect it to make sense to any of you, but, over time, we found that we completed each other. I suppose we’ve been fortunate not to have any other children, but I wouldn’t have changed anything if it meant giving up Apple Bloom.” Macintosh was silent through all this. Applejack was always better with other ponies than he was. It was hard for him. He couldn’t even imagine how it must be for Applejack, for the Element of Honesty to give birth to a child and then feel compelled to lie about it because she felt it was in Apple Bloom’s best interests. He didn’t want to hurt Apple Bloom. He had agreed to keep the secret because he, too, felt it would cause fewer problems than revealing the true nature of their relationship. But now he felt that maybe they had been wrong. “This needs to get resolved,” said Twilight. “Any idea where Apple Bloom could have gone?” “Well,” said Rainbow Dash. “There’s the clubhouse, Rarity’s, does anypony know where Scootaloo lives?” This one elicited blank looks from the others. “Ok, hopefully not there. She could even be going to Zecora’s for all we know.” “All right,” said Twilight. “We’re going to split up into groups of two. Meet back here every hour with your progress, but if you find her, don’t bother waiting. Just find the rest of us as quickly as you can and try and keep Apple Bloom from leaving.” “Stupid, stupid Element of Honesty,” Applejack said to herself. “Why couldn’t you just let me pretend!” In the end, it didn’t take long for them to find Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, in their attempt to find Twilight, found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie had insisted on going there first because she figured that if eating cupcakes helped her feel better, then maybe Apple Bloom would do the same. From there, it was not difficult to locate the others and have them meet at the playground. Fortunately, Apple Bloom didn’t seem to have much motivation to avoid them anymore. Applejack and Macintosh went into the playground to talk to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stopped the others from going in. “This is something we have to do ourselves,” he said. “And it’s probably better that we do this alone.” The others agreed. “What’s going on?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “Apple Bloom’s crying and she said we should ask her ‘real mom’ for answers.” “I know that this will be hard for you to hear,” said Twilight. “But I suppose that you’ll find out eventually. Applejack and Macintosh aren’t her siblings. They’re her parents. They’ve been keeping it a secret from all of us, including Apple Bloom. We just found out and the poor dear is devastated.” “Really?” asked Sweetie Belle, her mind trying to reason things through. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed so wrong. “If AJ and Macintosh aren’t Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not each other’s siblings then, either? I mean if they aren’t telling the truth about being Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not telling the truth about being each other’s siblings?” “No, Sweetie,” said Rarity. “I’m afraid that they are really siblings. It’s hard to believe, but that’s how it appears to be.” “Ewww,” said Sweetie Belle. “They are siblings? How does that even work?” “Not so loud, Sweetie,” shushed Rarity. “We need to give them time to talk without being disturbed.” “They’re going to need a long time to heal,” added Twilight. “But, hopefully, they’ll be able to get the process started.” Applejack sat on the swing next to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stood nearby. “There’s no easy way to fix this, is there?” asked Applejack. Apple Bloom sniffed. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call you. Do I call you Mom now, or do I keep calling you Applejack?” “I was hoping you would call me Applejack,” Applejack said. “Even with you knowing that you’re my daughter, it still doesn’t feel right to have you call me ‘Mom.’” “Why couldn’t you have told me?” asked Apple Bloom. “Even if you didn’t tell others, you could at least have told me.” It was Macintosh who answered her. “I suppose that, once we got used to keeping the secret from everyone, it was just easier as time went on. It seemed like we could put it off forever, and we’d never have to deal with it. I’ve never talked much, especially about personal things, but I probably should have a long time ago in this case. And now we’re all paying for it now.” “I’m so angry at everyone right now,” Apple Bloom said. “You two, Mom and Dad. I suppose that Granny Smith has been in on this too, hasn’t she?” Macintosh nodded. “It seems like everyone knew but me, and I needed to know most of all.” “You have every right to be angry at us,” said Applejack. “There were a lot of things that we might have done differently. And a lot of those things probably would have hurt as much as what we’re doing right now. But hopefully we can forgive each other and start moving on. We’re still Apples and no matter who your real parents are, we still love you.” “I… I want to forgive you,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if I can do it yet.” “We can wait,” said Macintosh. “We can wait as long as it takes for us to heal and be a family again.” “We will still be a family, right?” asked Apple Bloom. “Always,” said Applejack. Applejack and Apple Bloom got off of their swings and the three of them hugged. “Now let’s go home. I don’t know how things will go for us, but we’ll do it together.” The three began to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. Regardless of what would happen in the future, they were still a family. A broken family, maybe, and one in need of healing, but still a family. Author's Note The conclusion to Apple Family Relationships. As always, I appreciate any comments and cricitcism. A Matter of Preference“Cutie Mark Crusader Matchmakers Yay!” the three fillies chorused. They had finally gotten a formal date between Cherilee and Macintosh. They raced around the two adults cheering excitedly. The two adults silently looked at each other, a look of mild panic on both of their faces. “Awkward,” Cherilee said out of the corner of her mouth. “Eeyup,” Macintosh replied. Later that night, during a strained ‘date’ at the Silver Horseshoe, Cherilee said to Macintosh, “They have no idea, do they? About either of us?” “Nope,” Macintosh agreed. “I mean, they’re nine,” Cherilee said. “How do we explain this to them? That we’re both gay? If it were just one of us, it'd still be weird, but we would have a common preference to talk about. But this is just beyond awkward. They think it’s so cute that their teacher is out with Apple Bloom’s brother and with them so excited, I hate to break this to them.” Macintosh sighed. “Those three are the only ones I know who could manage to set up a filly fooler with a colt cuddler.” “Are you sure we should be doing this?” asked Cherilee. “I don’t like lying to them and I doubt you do either.” “Look, I thought we agreed that this was the best option,” replied Macintosh. “We’ll go out on a few ‘dates’ and about the time they get themselves covered in tree sap, we’ll tell them it didn’t work out. They'll be disappointed, but they'll forget the instant they find something new to crusade over. It’s the truth, or close enough anyways. And when they’re old enough, we’ll tell them the whole truth.” “I guess you’re right,” said Cherilee. They paid for their meal and got up to go. “At least we can still be friends, even if we aren’t compatible in the way the girls want us to be. I really do like you, just, not in that way. And Macintosh?” “Eeyup?” he asked. “I hope you won’t be offended if I don’t kiss you goodnight.” “Nope.” Author's Note Yeah, it's short, but I had this idea running around for a while and wanted to explore it a little. I might edit it later and add more. And, honestly, I could totally see the CMC's inadvertently pairing off two gay characters.
Apple Family RelationshipsApple Bloom sat dejectedly on the swings, slowly rocking back and forth. Nothing had gone right that morning. She had been looking forward to the Sisterhood Social with Applejack and now AJ had told her that she was going to be too ‘busy’ to go with her. Apple Bloom didn’t buy it for a second. There wasn’t any extra work to be done at Sweet Apple Acres. Macintosh certainly hadn’t mentioned any. Rarity wasn’t too busy to go with Sweetie Belle, and Sweetie Belle told her that Rarity had gotten a large order of dresses recently. Apple Bloom got off of the swing. Come to think of it, Applejack had been acting strange for a while now. Well, stranger than usual, anyway. Something was up, but Apple Bloom couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe it was some of that ‘Adult Stuff’ they wouldn’t tell her about. Apple Bloom decided to find Sweetie Belle. They could swing around, grab Scootaloo and do something. Even getting covered in tree sap again would be better than anything else that had happened. At least her friends would be there with her. Sweetie Belle was at the boutique, helping Rarity out. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie called. “Wanna help out? Rarity’s finally letting me help out with her dresses. It’s mostly sorting and stuff, but at least she’s letting me do something. She wants to be ready for next week at the Social.” “Not really,” said Apple Bloom. “I was hoping that we could get Scootaloo and go play.” “Can’t today,” Sweetie said. “Hey, maybe tomorrow we can go practice for the Sisterhood Social? We could race and stuff and… what’s wrong?” “I’m not going to the Sisterhood Social,” said Apple Bloom. “Well, why ever not?” said Rarity as she came into the room, using her magic to carry several bolts of cloth. “Organize these, will you please, Sweetie?” “Applejack said she’s going to be ‘busy,’” said Apple Bloom, making air quotes with her hooves. “She won’t tell me what it is, and she’s been avoiding me all day.” “You know, Apple Bloom,” said Rarity. “You’d think that, after you two didn’t get to race together last year, she’d be eager to go with you this time. Perhaps if we went over and talked to her, we could find out what all this is about.” “Thanks,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if it will work. You know how she is when she’s made up her mind.” The other two ponies nodded. Apple Bloom went back home, alone. Rarity came by early the next morning and had brought the others as backup. Apple Bloom took them inside. “Applejack?” called Twilight. “Are you here? There’s something we want to talk to you about.” A mumbled reply led them to the kitchen. Applejack was facing away from them and didn’t seem to want to look at them. “Applejack,” continued Twilight. “We’re starting to get worried about you. You’ve been avoiding us and Apple Bloom says you can’t go to the Sisterhood Social with her.” “I told her I’m busy,” said Applejack. She still didn’t turn around. “I’m sure she can borrow one of you girls, like how Sweetie Belle borrowed me last year.” “That is simply preposterous,” said Rarity. “I am quite busy as well, and I still have the time to go with Sweetie Belle.” “And will you please look at us, AJ?” said Twilight. “Seriously, you’ve been acting weird for a while now. What’s going on?” “I don’t want to talk about it, all right?” said Applejack. “It’s… personal.” “But we’re your friends, Applejack,” said Pinkie. “You can tell us anything.” “Not this,” said Applejack, finally turning around. “Please, girls. If you just give me till after the Social, everything will be back to normal. And why are you getting on my case about this? Rarity didn’t want to go to last year’s Social and none of you went after her for it.” “This isn’t just the Sisterhood Social,” said Twilight. “It’s other stuff, too. You skipped Pinkie’s last party. You turned down that spa invitation with Rarity and Fluttershy. I know you like those, no matter how much you deny it. You’ve never avoided us like this.” Applejack was silent. “I… I can’t tell you,” she finally said. “You’ll hate me if I tell you.” Twilight walked up and put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “We would never hate you,” she said. “Please, Applejack, just tell us what’s wrong.” To everyone’s surprise, Applejack started to cry. Nopony had ever seen Applejack cry. “I can’t go with her,” she said, “because she isn’t my sister.” “She… isn’t your sister?” asked Twilight, confused. “What?” asked Pinkie. “Is she adopted or something? ‘Cause that’s not something to be ashamed of. We could even have an ‘Adopted’ party for her, like a birthday party. And maybe you could still borrow her, like you suggested that we do. Wait, can you borrow your own sister? Who would you return her to?” “No, no,” Applejack shouted. “She’s not adopted! She's not 'something!' She's not anything like that! We’re not sisters at all!” “Then what are you?” asked Fluttershy. Applejack lowered her head. She was crying harder now. “I'm not her sister,” sobbed Applejack. “I’m her mother,” she whispered. There was total silence as everypony stared at Applejack. They couldn’t believe what they heard. Apple Bloom was the first to break the silence. “You’re my mother?” she gasped. Applejack could only nod. “But, but Mom and Dad,” Apple Bloom continued. “They’re not your real parents,” Applejack said. “We all just said they were so that it would be easier.” “So what would be easier?” asked Twilight. “How did this happen?” “I was so young when it happened,” Applejack continued. “You all know what it’s like, the first time you go into heat. How confusing the emotions and urges are. I was too scared and confused to ask for help. Apple Bloom’s father was the only one who noticed. He’s the one who helped me out.” “So, who is my father?” asked Apple Bloom. The other horseshoe dropped. “Macintosh,” said Applejack, quietly. “Macintosh is your father.” “Your brother?” gasped Rainbow Dash. “Your brother is Apple Bloom’s father? Oh, my brain hurts so much right now.” Applejack winced. She sometimes wished Rainbow Dash had gotten the Element of Tact, rather than the Element of Loyalty. “He helped me out the only way he knew how,” said Applejack. “He could see what I was going through, but he didn’t understand. Not totally. He helped me with my physical needs, hoping that he could also satisfy my emotional needs at the same time. And then, one day, we made a miracle. A miracle named Apple Bloom. After we found out I was carrying, we decided that I would live with family in Manehatten until I gave birth. When I had Apple Bloom, I would come back with a brand new little sister. We wanted Apple Bloom to have a normal life, and we felt she could only have that if she were our sister. We were afraid she would suffer if everyone knew she was our daughter.” “Were you ever going to tell me about this?” demanded Apple Bloom. “We were going to tell you when you were older,” Applejack replied. “We argued a lot about how we were going to do it. We wanted to do it gently, so we could help you through it. I’m so sorry, Apple Bloom. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way. And this Element of Honesty hasn’t helped matters any. As long as I could avoid referring to you as my sister, I could avoid it. But when the Sisterhood Social came up, I just couldn’t live with the lie anymore. Last year I got around it when I was supposed to run with Sweetie Belle, but this year I couldn’t. And we’ve been pretending for so long, I just can’t reconcile them anymore, not with my Element trying to make me tell the truth. I wanted to keep pretending that you’re my sister, but I just can’t do it anymore.” Everypony was silent for a while. Applejack and Apple Bloom were both crying now. “Are you all right?” Twilight asked Apple Bloom, putting her hoof on the filly’s foreleg. “No!” yelled Apple Bloom. “I’m not all right! I just found out that my whole family has been lying to me for my entire life! The ponies I thought were my siblings are my parents! How could I possibly be all right?” She smacked Twilight’s hoof aside and ran outside. Macintosh walked in. “What the hay just happened here?” he demanded. Applejack started crying again. “They know,” she said. “About everything. Us, Apple Bloom, all of it.” Macintosh walked up and began to comfort his sister. “We’ll get through this Applejack. We’ve gotten this far, we can get through the rest.” “And we’ll be here for you too,” said Twilight.
Elusive LoveThe night Twilight Sparkle became a Princess, Swift Light cried herself to sleep. Now there was another barrier between Swift and her beloved. There’s no way a special pony like her would even look at a nopony like me, much less love me back, she thought. Besides, she’d think that I was only interested in her for her status as Princess, not for her as a mare. Even when Twilight had been ‘marely’ Princess Celestia’s protégé, she probably had more marriage prospects and love interests than she could count, all of them from ponies far more 'appropriate' than a mere guardpony. Now that she was a Princess, and the circle of acceptable partners has shrunk even more, she was hopelessly out of reach. Swift Light had been a new recruit to the guard when she first saw Twilight. So beautiful, so divine, so lucky. A cream colored Pegasus, she was the first mare in her family to make it into the Royal Guard. The day her unit was presented to Princess Celestia for review was the first day she saw her. One look and Swift Light knew that there was room in her heart for nopony else. Not even bedding the other filly foolers on the guard could get her mind off of Twilight. She worked her tail to the bone, eventually landing her dream position as an endurance flyer for the Information Service. She could travel all over Equestria, delivering critical communications to far off locales. She had seen Manehatten, Apple-loosa, even the Crystal Empire. But her mind always came back to Canterlot and the beautiful, wonderful, utterly unattainable Princess who owned her heart. “Hey, Swiftie,” said Ambush. She and Open Order had swung by the Skydancer, a tavern popular among the guards, to pick up Swift Light. “Come on. I scored a case of Apple Family cider and we’re going back to the barracks to play some drinking games.” “How’d you pull that off?” asked Swift. Apple family cider was hard to get a hold of here in Canterlot. Swift wondered who Ambush had to murder to get a whole case’s worth. “Open Order slept with the general’s daughter,” Ambush explained. “Funny thing is, I’ve been trying to boink her for months,” said Open Order. “I was on the verge of paying her for the privilege. So not only does she come to me first, but when I told her I wanted the cider in return for acquiescing to her request, it’s like I got rewarded twice for doing a favor I would have done for free.” “I’m not in the mood right now,” said Swift. She had been feeling particularly down lately. She seemed to run into Twilight everywhere lately. The Skydancer seemed to be the only place Twilight might not come. “Come on,” said Ambush. “We need an even number of ponies. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone whose name you were moaning the last time we made love.” “You wouldn’t dare,” Swift said. Ambush grinned mischievously. “Fine. I’ll go.” There was no way she could afford to let the others know she was in love with Twilight Sparkle. She’d never hear the end of it. As they left, one of the stallions said to them, “You ladies looking for someone to keep you company tonight?” “Sorry,” said Ambush. “But we’re filly foolers.” To drive her point home, she kissed Swift, right then and there. To Swift’s eternal horror, who should walk in at that exact moment but Twilight Sparkle? Swift never got to find out what Twilight was doing there, slumming among the soldiers, for when Ambush broke off the kiss, she dragged Swift out of the tavern. No! she screamed inside. Not when I'm so close! She could feel fate laughing at her. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. There was her special somepony, there at the Skydancer! And she was kissing another mare! She did have other partners. Twilight wouldn't normally go to a guardpony hangout, but AJ had told her to do a little ‘slumming,’ as she called it, to help cheer her up. Twilight couldn’t tell her why she was feeling so morose. AJ wouldn’t understand what it was like to want the one thing you couldn’t possibly have more than anything in the universe. But of all the places that she could have gone, why did she have to go to the same place as the mare of her dreams? Why did fate have to taunt her like this? In an instant, the mare was gone, dragged out of the tavern by the other mares. Who knew if there would ever be another opportunity for them to be this close? Twilight had first seen the mare a few years earlier, when Princess Celestia took her to review a new unit of guardponies. A cream colored pony caught her eye and it was love at first sight. There was no real reason why she would stand out, but she, she, would steal Twilight’s heart and refuse to give it back. Her duties and later life in Ponyville would prevent her from meeting the mare of her dreams. Twilight considered herself lucky she was able to find out the mare’s name and repeated it to herself often, to help keep the image of her beloved sharp in her mind. Swift Light, Swift Light, Swift Light. Several days later, standing on a balcony, Twilight looked down at the guardpony she loved. Swift Light, she thought. A perfect name for a perfect mare. She looked so beautiful in her armor, the way the sunlight glinted off the burnished metal, the way it showed off her cute flanks. I can have anything I want, she thought, except for the one pony I actually want. There’s no way a special pony like her would want somepony like me. She’d only think I was toying with her, leading her on, only to dump her when somepony ‘appropriate’ came along. Twilight couldn’t hurt another pony like that, but would her beloved know that? The mare had at least one other partner. She probably has more options than she could shake her tail at. Anypony would be lucky to have one of Equestria’s elite guards as their Super Special Somepony. Unfortunately, anypony seemed to exclude her. And now that she was a Princess, fate mocked her again, for who would approve of her having a love affair with a guardpony? Twilight watched as the guardpony took a messenger bag from a fellow guard, salute the other pony, and take off. Twilight watched her beloved fly off into the sunset. When would she come back? What stories would she have to tell? Why did such a wonderful, beautiful and elusive pony have to steal her heart and leave her bereft? That night, Twilight went to her room and cried herself to sleep. Author's Note I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for mutually unrequited love.
The Obligatory Shining Armor/Twilight Sparkle StoryShining Armor wasn’t sure exactly when he first started ‘noticing’ Twilight Sparkle. It was after she had gone on to be Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, for certain. She was still the adorkable young mare she had always been; her nose stuck in a book, oblivious to the world around her. But something was different since she had really started growing up. Shining noticed how cute her flanks looked and how perfectly placed her Cutie Mark was to highlight her developing curves. How she would sometimes fall asleep in the most compromising of positions. How she would sometimes move her tail just the right way while she was concentrating, innocently exposing the alluring pinkness of her sex. It would be bad enough for him to be lusting after his own sister if that were the only thing going on in his life. But he was married to Cadance. Married! To a mare he loved! And he still couldn’t get his mind off of his own sister. At first, he had tried to keep his mind off of his sister’s sexy little body by making love to his wife’s sexy little body, but it didn’t work for long. Soon he was imagining his sister underneath him in his wife’s place. He thought about confessing his feelings to Cadance. She'll understand, he thought. She’s the Alicorn of Love. Besides, she was a Pegasus before and aren’t Pegasi into the whole polygamy thing anyways? But somehow he couldn’t imagine her allowing him to sleep with his own sister. He had tried asking Twilight if she would be interested in being more than simply a sister, but his awkward lines of questioning had only seemed to confuse her. As far as Twilight was concerned, Shining Armor would always be her BBBFF, nothing more and nothing less. But Shining Armor needed Twilight. Needed her more than he needed Cadance. Needed her more than air or food or water. He even needed her more than he needed… well, a thing that he needed really, really badly. Insert one colossally stupid idea, a forbidden magical spell and a secret that couldn’t be revealed without taking a sledgehammer to the windowpane of his relationships with both his sister and wife and he was set. He had come across a lot of forbidden magic as a result of his duties as Captain of the Guard. Included in one grimoire was a spell for cloning another individual. All he needed was a portion of that person in order to proceed. Twilight still maintained a chamber here in the palace. Shining Armor knew where Twilight kept her hairbrush. All he needed from it was a few strands of hair and he could proceed. Fortunately for Shining Armor, Cadance had a diplomatic tour of duty for a few weeks, Twilight was back in Ponyville doing her Friendship Studies and the princesses didn’t ask a ton of questions as long as he got results. (Well, Luna was asking a lot of awkward questions about certain websites Celestia had said she wasn’t allowed to look at, but that was another issue entirely.) Shining Armor took the hair and the tome down to a portion of the castle that was reserved for guests, but hadn’t actually been used in years. Celestia had built the castle far bigger than it really needed to be, which sometimes made Shining Armor wonder if she were compensating for something. He found that he had to alter the spell slightly to get the results he wanted. He wasn’t as skilled a spellcaster as Twilight was, but he was still accomplished and had a lot of raw power backing up his talent. He set the book down on the bed and began to read the spell. Power began to gather around him, until the saturated air fairly crackled and his hair stood on end. Finally, Shining Armor spoke the last words of the spell and the magic came to a head, raising the hair off of the bed and coalescing around it. A spectral form began to appear; first blood vessels, then nerves, bones, muscles, skin and, finally, fur. The being twitched and moved spasmodically as it coalesced, then, almost anticlimactically, a perfect copy of Twilight was created on the bed. She was identical in every way, except for one. The adaptation Shining Armor had made to the spell caused the new Twilight to view him not only as a BBBFF, but also as the love of her life. New Twilight looked at Shining Armor with adoration in her eyes. “Welcome to life,” said Shining Armor and hugged her close. “But why can't I leave, Shiny?” whined New Twilight. “I’m bored here with only the books you bring me and I miss you so much when you’re gone.” Shining Armor pulled New Twilight close. “I told you why, Twily. Ponies wouldn’t understand how special we are to each other. They would become jealous and would try to take you away from me. They would perform experiments on you to study how clones work. I don’t know if I could protect you if others found out and wanted to hurt you. I can bring you books on how to use your magic. Would that help?” New Twilight knew she couldn’t win against that logic. She couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from her beloved Shiny, much less being used for the horrible experiments he said that those awful scientists and doctors would perform on her. Then she had an idea. “But, couldn’t you talk to Princess Celestia? She’d protect me, wouldn’t she?” “I don’t know how she’ll react either,” said Shining Armor. It was a lie. He was pretty sure he knew exactly how she would react. Badly. The magic used to create New Twilight was forbidden, though he hadn’t shared that with her. “Celestia might understand, but she might be angry that I made you. She has a special relationship with my sister. If she found out about you, she might be jealous that somepony besides her has a special relationship with you. She might take you away for her own uses now that my sister lives in Ponyville. I might never see you again.” New Twilight was sad. She wanted to go out and meet other ponies. She knew nopony besides her BBBFF and she was lonely. But staying with Shiny was more important. If she had to give up meeting other ponies to do it, then she would endure. Cadance arrived home early; her diplomatic negotiations with the Buffalo Nations for increased acreage for settlers in return for concessions regarding their stampeding grounds had taken less time than she had anticipated. Now that the initial conflicts had been resolved, it was easier to negotiate with the now-friendly tribal chiefs. She was looking forward to seeing Shining Armor again, as well as doing certain ‘extracurricular activities’ with him, as well. An Alicorn had needs after all. She had even gone out of her way to bring Twilight Sparkle to the capital for a surprise visit. Her brother would be thrilled to see his sister after so long apart. Cadance couldn’t find Shining Armor in their suite, however. After asking around, she was told that Shining Armor had been ‘entertaining guests’ in one of the unused wings of the castle, with orders not to be disturbed. None of them seemed to know just who he was ‘entertaining,’ nor did they know for what purposes. Food, books and other supplies had been delivered there, but nopony had seen the individual with whom Shining Armor had been ‘meeting.’ This all smelled funny to Cadance. Making their way towards the wing, Twilight and Cadance noticed a distinct lack of servants. Usually there would be at least a few maids or other staff to keep the rooms clean. As they came to the end of one hallway, they could hear voices. One of them was Shining Armor’s, though they couldn’t tell what he was saying. The other voice was disturbingly familiar, though they couldn’t place it right away. “Ohh, Twily,” said Shining Armor. “Right there, Twily, right there.” Cadance and Twilight looked at each other; mouths open as they tried to comprehend what they were hearing. Moving quietly, the pair came to the door, opened it silently and received the shock of their lives. There, on the bed was Shining Armor. And mounted on Shining Armor, thrusting away with a look of primal bliss on her face, was an exact duplicate of Twilight Sparkle. When she finally regained her ability to speak, Cadance, using what Princess Luna would have viewed as a most impressive use of Royal Canterlot Voice, shouted, “Shining Armor, what are you doing? And who is that?” Cadance didn’t remember much of what happened next through the crimson veil of rage at seeing her husband in bed with a duplicate of his sister. Her next clear memory was of the four of them standing in front of an extremely angry pair of princesses. Shining Armor had taken the brunt of her anger and it showed. Beaten and battered, he was barely keeping himself upright. New Twilight had evaded any physical retaliation and was now clutching Shining Armor tightly, wailing on and on about doctors and experimentation or something along those lines. Twilight felt violated on so many levels. Finding out that her brother wanted to have sex with her was bad enough. He could have asked, for Celestia’s sake. It would still have been freaky, but at least she would have known. But the clone was even worse. Shining Armor had stolen her body, her mind, her very identity, and made a whole new pony based on it. Sure, New Twilight was innocent in that regards, but she couldn’t believe that her oh-so responsible brother had done such a horrible thing to her and to the clone. “Shining Armor,” said Princess Celestia. She was livid; her alabaster fur was tinted red and there was fury in her eyes. “You have committed crimes most heinous and for that you shall be punished. You have used forbidden magic to steal the identity and everything that made your sister the special, unique pony that she is to make little more than a toy for your own perverse lusts. You have cheated on your wife with this ‘toy’ and not once did you consider the ramifications of how this would affect your sister or wife. This thing is your creation and disposing of it shall be your responsibility as well. You will eliminate her properly and, upon bringing back proof of your deed, we will discuss the rest of your punishment.” “As you will, your majesty,” Shining Armor said sadly. Turning to New Twilight, he said, “I’m sorry, I really did care about you, but I have to do this.” Gently picking up his creation with his magic, he slowly and painfully carried her out of the throne room. New Twilight, unskilled in the use of her own magic, was powerless to resist. As understanding dawned on her, New Twilight began to scream, “Please Shiny! Please don’t do this! I love you, Shiny! I love you! You made me, Shiny! I want to be with you! I want to make you happy I’ll do anything you want! I’ll make sure nopony finds out about us! I want to live! I don’t want to die, Shiny! I don't want to die!” Struggling uselessly, she continued to beg and wail long after she passed out of hearing range. “Is killing her the right thing to do?” Twilight said after a time. “It seems so extreme. I feel so violated that she exists, but she’s as much an innocent victim as anypony else. She didn’t do anything to merit that.” “Twilight,” Princess Celestia replied. “You saw for yourself why creating clones is forbidden. Everything that made you special was perverted to satisfy your brother’s most selfish desires and basest needs. We need to make an example, otherwise it just becomes easier to justify letting other ponies get away with it in the future.” The divorce went through quietly, as did Shining Armor’s transfer to an obscure post in the far north that conveniently ‘needed’ an experienced commander. Shining Armor’s second in command was promoted to Guard Captain to ‘give him experience in command.’ Most ponies accepted the official story on Shining Armor’s departure, and the divorce was quietly buried under a sea of Canterlot scandal. There were enough celebrity divorces as it was for that particular royal disaster to quietly die beneath the weight of new scandals. Shining Armor had taken only a few possessions along with him: his uniform, a picture of his family, a few books and a lock of Cadance’s hair that she had given him upon their engagement. He hoped that it would be enough. Shining Armor looked over his shoulder for the hundredth time that day. Even months after his exile, he was still unsure if his plan had truly worked, or if Princess Celestia had seen through his deception and was coming to punish him for not following her commands. Either way, he knew that he would likely be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. He had presented the severed horn to the princess two days after his sentence was passed down and she had seemed satisfied that he had gone through with the terrible act. It had taken him a long time to alter the cloning spell to make just a horn and he hoped that Celestia would not see through the imperfections that would have revealed his duplicity. The small garrison he commanded didn’t ask any questions, for which he was grateful. Neither did the motley collection of citizens in the nearby border town. It was a long walk back to his personal quarters, made longer by the lingering effects of the poorly healed injuries he had sustained at the hooves of Cadance He opened the door to his private suite and was ambushed by the lavender figure that was waiting for him. “You’re finally home, Shiny,” New Twilight squealed. “You were gone forever today. Did something go wrong?” “No, Twily,” he said, lovingly stroking her mane. It had been difficult to smuggle her up north with him. It had been torture keeping the whole thing under wraps so that nopony would talk. “I just had a lot of extra paperwork to do today. And I don’t move around as quickly as I used to. I hope that you weren’t too lonely.” “No,” replied New Twilight as another figure came out to greet him. “Not since you gave me the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters to keep me company.” New Cadance, cloned from the hair that Shining Armor had brought with him, nuzzled her beloved Shiny and Twily. The three of them collapsed into a pile of laughter and love. Though he was trapped in exile in the most backwater portion of Equestria, as long as he had his beloved ones, he was happy. And the ponies he had created were proving to be even more wonderful than the originals that he had left behind. Author's Note After reading a number of stories in which Cadance is fine with Shining Armor having sex with Twilight, I decided to try writing a story in which she doesn't approve.
Apple Family ConclusionApple Bloom didn’t know how long she had been running. All she wanted to do was get away from them. They had lied to her. They had all lied to her. Apple Bloom could still hear the words echoing in her head: “I’m her mother. I’m her mother. I’m her mother.” What kind of mother would lie like that to her own child? She passed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” said Sweetie Belle as she passed. “How’d things go with your sister?” Apple Bloom didn’t answer; she just kept running. Things didn't go with her sister. Things went with her mother. They weren’t the same thing. They weren’t the same thing at all. She finally found her way to the playground. Fortunately for her, it was deserted. She climbed up onto a swing and started crying all over again. It didn’t take long for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to find her. The playground was a logical place to look. “What happened?” asked Scootaloo, who had been briefed about the coming altercation by Sweetie Belle. “Maybe you should ask my ‘Mom,’” said Apple Bloom. “But your Mom’s dead,” Sweetie Belle said awkwardly. Nopony liked bringing that subject up. “Then maybe you should ask my real mom and not the pony who only claimed she was my mom,” Apple Bloom returned. This set off another round of crying. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn’t know how to react. Apple Bloom crying was like Applejack crying. Nopony ever saw her do it. “What do we do?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle. “I don’t know,” answered Sweetie Belle. “Maybe we should ask Rarity. Or maybe Twilight. She always knows what to do.” “Good thinking,” said Scootaloo. “Um, you ok without us for a while, Apple Bloom?” When Apple Bloom didn’t answer, they prepared to leave. Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and the others were still with Applejack and Macintosh. “And you're still ‘together?’” asked Twilight. “Yes,” said Applejack. “Part of it was for Apple Bloom, but part of it was for us. I don’t expect it to make sense to any of you, but, over time, we found that we completed each other. I suppose we’ve been fortunate not to have any other children, but I wouldn’t have changed anything if it meant giving up Apple Bloom.” Macintosh was silent through all this. Applejack was always better with other ponies than he was. It was hard for him. He couldn’t even imagine how it must be for Applejack, for the Element of Honesty to give birth to a child and then feel compelled to lie about it because she felt it was in Apple Bloom’s best interests. He didn’t want to hurt Apple Bloom. He had agreed to keep the secret because he, too, felt it would cause fewer problems than revealing the true nature of their relationship. But now he felt that maybe they had been wrong. “This needs to get resolved,” said Twilight. “Any idea where Apple Bloom could have gone?” “Well,” said Rainbow Dash. “There’s the clubhouse, Rarity’s, does anypony know where Scootaloo lives?” This one elicited blank looks from the others. “Ok, hopefully not there. She could even be going to Zecora’s for all we know.” “All right,” said Twilight. “We’re going to split up into groups of two. Meet back here every hour with your progress, but if you find her, don’t bother waiting. Just find the rest of us as quickly as you can and try and keep Apple Bloom from leaving.” “Stupid, stupid Element of Honesty,” Applejack said to herself. “Why couldn’t you just let me pretend!” In the end, it didn’t take long for them to find Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, in their attempt to find Twilight, found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie had insisted on going there first because she figured that if eating cupcakes helped her feel better, then maybe Apple Bloom would do the same. From there, it was not difficult to locate the others and have them meet at the playground. Fortunately, Apple Bloom didn’t seem to have much motivation to avoid them anymore. Applejack and Macintosh went into the playground to talk to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stopped the others from going in. “This is something we have to do ourselves,” he said. “And it’s probably better that we do this alone.” The others agreed. “What’s going on?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “Apple Bloom’s crying and she said we should ask her ‘real mom’ for answers.” “I know that this will be hard for you to hear,” said Twilight. “But I suppose that you’ll find out eventually. Applejack and Macintosh aren’t her siblings. They’re her parents. They’ve been keeping it a secret from all of us, including Apple Bloom. We just found out and the poor dear is devastated.” “Really?” asked Sweetie Belle, her mind trying to reason things through. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed so wrong. “If AJ and Macintosh aren’t Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not each other’s siblings then, either? I mean if they aren’t telling the truth about being Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not telling the truth about being each other’s siblings?” “No, Sweetie,” said Rarity. “I’m afraid that they are really siblings. It’s hard to believe, but that’s how it appears to be.” “Ewww,” said Sweetie Belle. “They are siblings? How does that even work?” “Not so loud, Sweetie,” shushed Rarity. “We need to give them time to talk without being disturbed.” “They’re going to need a long time to heal,” added Twilight. “But, hopefully, they’ll be able to get the process started.” Applejack sat on the swing next to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stood nearby. “There’s no easy way to fix this, is there?” asked Applejack. Apple Bloom sniffed. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call you. Do I call you Mom now, or do I keep calling you Applejack?” “I was hoping you would call me Applejack,” Applejack said. “Even with you knowing that you’re my daughter, it still doesn’t feel right to have you call me ‘Mom.’” “Why couldn’t you have told me?” asked Apple Bloom. “Even if you didn’t tell others, you could at least have told me.” It was Macintosh who answered her. “I suppose that, once we got used to keeping the secret from everyone, it was just easier as time went on. It seemed like we could put it off forever, and we’d never have to deal with it. I’ve never talked much, especially about personal things, but I probably should have a long time ago in this case. And now we’re all paying for it now.” “I’m so angry at everyone right now,” Apple Bloom said. “You two, Mom and Dad. I suppose that Granny Smith has been in on this too, hasn’t she?” Macintosh nodded. “It seems like everyone knew but me, and I needed to know most of all.” “You have every right to be angry at us,” said Applejack. “There were a lot of things that we might have done differently. And a lot of those things probably would have hurt as much as what we’re doing right now. But hopefully we can forgive each other and start moving on. We’re still Apples and no matter who your real parents are, we still love you.” “I… I want to forgive you,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if I can do it yet.” “We can wait,” said Macintosh. “We can wait as long as it takes for us to heal and be a family again.” “We will still be a family, right?” asked Apple Bloom. “Always,” said Applejack. Applejack and Apple Bloom got off of their swings and the three of them hugged. “Now let’s go home. I don’t know how things will go for us, but we’ll do it together.” The three began to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. Regardless of what would happen in the future, they were still a family. A broken family, maybe, and one in need of healing, but still a family. Author's Note The conclusion to Apple Family Relationships. As always, I appreciate any comments and cricitcism.
A Matter of Preference“Cutie Mark Crusader Matchmakers Yay!” the three fillies chorused. They had finally gotten a formal date between Cherilee and Macintosh. They raced around the two adults cheering excitedly. The two adults silently looked at each other, a look of mild panic on both of their faces. “Awkward,” Cherilee said out of the corner of her mouth. “Eeyup,” Macintosh replied. Later that night, during a strained ‘date’ at the Silver Horseshoe, Cherilee said to Macintosh, “They have no idea, do they? About either of us?” “Nope,” Macintosh agreed. “I mean, they’re nine,” Cherilee said. “How do we explain this to them? That we’re both gay? If it were just one of us, it'd still be weird, but we would have a common preference to talk about. But this is just beyond awkward. They think it’s so cute that their teacher is out with Apple Bloom’s brother and with them so excited, I hate to break this to them.” Macintosh sighed. “Those three are the only ones I know who could manage to set up a filly fooler with a colt cuddler.” “Are you sure we should be doing this?” asked Cherilee. “I don’t like lying to them and I doubt you do either.” “Look, I thought we agreed that this was the best option,” replied Macintosh. “We’ll go out on a few ‘dates’ and about the time they get themselves covered in tree sap, we’ll tell them it didn’t work out. They'll be disappointed, but they'll forget the instant they find something new to crusade over. It’s the truth, or close enough anyways. And when they’re old enough, we’ll tell them the whole truth.” “I guess you’re right,” said Cherilee. They paid for their meal and got up to go. “At least we can still be friends, even if we aren’t compatible in the way the girls want us to be. I really do like you, just, not in that way. And Macintosh?” “Eeyup?” he asked. “I hope you won’t be offended if I don’t kiss you goodnight.” “Nope.” Author's Note Yeah, it's short, but I had this idea running around for a while and wanted to explore it a little. I might edit it later and add more. And, honestly, I could totally see the CMC's inadvertently pairing off two gay characters.
