The orange pony plucked another cream-colored flower and tucked it into her worn leather saddlebag. "Zecora, do ya think we got enough of these things yet? My saddlebag is startin' to bulge at the seams from all the... uh, what is it ya call 'em again?"
The zebra lifted her nose from the roots of a giant oak tree, her mouth full of the flowers. She dropped them into a basket at her feet and smiled at her companion. "They're Satin Stars, dear Applejack." Zecora glanced up through the vines and branches at the bright blue sky and frowned. "And yes, we should be turning back. Dark rain clouds are coming soon, you'd best head home before high noon."
Applejack glanced at her bag. "But how will you get all these Satin Stars back to your tree if I head home?"
Zecora laughed. "Help me take these to my tree, then go leave the forest, see?"
Applejack smiled. It amazed her how the zebra could find a rhyme for everything she said. She probably had to be very careful not to end a sentence in "purple" or "orange."
As the two mares arrived back at Zecora's tree home, a light rain started to fall. The thick clouds kept even more light from the already dim Everfree forest floor, so much that a pony unaccustomed to the forest's shadows would find it quite a struggle to see.
"Ugh!" Applejack swatted away yet another face-slapping branch in exasperation, only to knock her ankle painfully against a tree root. "How can ya stand t' live in this Celestia-forsaken forest, Zecora?" Applejack froze, realizing too late that what she said might hurt the other mare's feelings. She scanned her friend's face nervously. To her relief, Zecora didn't look offended at all - she was probably the most patient and tolerating pony Applejack knew.
"So, can you take things from here, pardner?" Applejack took off her saddlebag, grasping the bottom in her teeth. The beautiful flowers tumbled out into a pile on the forest floor. Zecora nodded. "Yes, I believe I can... 'partner.' " she frowned, gritting her teeth for a moment. Applejack knew it was rude of her, but it was quite funny to watch Zecora try to speak with the farm pony's southern dialect, as well as not end her sentence in a rhyme for once.
"Well, I'll be seein' ya then, Zecora!" Applejack called as she trotted off in the direction of Ponyville. She hardly went five steps before she tripped over something on the dark path. She hit the ground with a thud and a disgruntled "who put that tree root there?!"
Applejack was getting more and more frustrated with every step she took. She'd been counting on the trees to shelter her from the rain, but the Everfree being the strange place it was, she was probably drenched deeper than she would have been had she stood directly under one of the clouds.
"Rainbow, you haybrain! Why didn't ya tell me you were plannin' a storm for the afternoon? I tell ya, when I get back to Ponyville I'm gonna- WAAAAAAGH!" The ground suddenly fell out from under Applejack's hooves, sending her tumbling down a rough earthen tunnel. Rocks protruded from all around, bumping and scraping and bruising her in every place imaginable. Thinking fast, AJ struggled into an upright position and slammed her front hooves into the tunnel floor. Dust clouded her vision as her hooves shoved into the soil and brought her to a stop. She coughed as the dust she'd churned up got into her throat.
Opening one eye slowly, she took in her surroundings - or at least, she tried to. It was very dark in the tunnel, as well as cramped. She felt something cold and damp skitter over her hoof, and she let out a scream. Regaining her composure before she went into all-out panic mode, she took a few deep breaths. "Of course there's goin' to be bugs down in a dirt tunnel," she told herself.
AJ listened carefully. Apparently she was just close enough to the surface for the thunderstorm to still be audible, but it was very faint. The tunnel stretched off into darkness and more darkness, but ahead she could hear a rushing sound... water? Yes, that was definitely water. She got to her hooves - feeling the dull ache in her everywhere flaring up with the movement - and started down the tunnel, keeping her head low to avoid hitting it on any unseen rocks. She stubbed her hooves several times, but soon enough a soft, faint blue light was visible. Now that she could see a little better, Applejack broke into a trot.
The tunnel bent sharply to the right, and after a few feet the floor dropped out abruptly. Applejack almost trotted straight over the edge before she regained her balance and took a step back. She gasped at the beautiful cavern before her - the stone walls were dripping with long tendrils of flowering ivy, and in the center was a mirror-smooth pond that appeared to be what was lighting up the cave with a cool blue glow. Leaning out, she could see that the tunnel opening she was standing in was some fifteen feet above the floor of the cave. Well, that ruled out jumping to the cave floor.
But... could she jump far enough to land in the pool?
Probably, but it was a big risk to take such a large leap as that.
Applejack glanced back at the dark tunnel she'd come from, remembering the slimy, unidentified creature crawling over her with a shudder. No, she definitely wasn't going back that way. Besides, the initial drop had been pretty steep - probably too steep for her to climb back out the way she came in.
Downwards really was her only option.
Unless "slow death by starvation" was an option?
Applejack examined the ivy climbing the wall about a foot away, wondering if it could hold her weight. Leaning out further, she wrapped a hoof around some of the shiny leaves and tugged firmly. It didn't tear from the wall immediately, which was definitely a good sign. Applejack gradually climbed all the way out onto the vines, checking every few seconds to see if it would give way.
After a nerve-wracking two minutes of descending carefully down the vines, Applejack set her hooves on solid stone with a relieved sigh. She glanced around the roof of the cave, looking for any gaps that may lead to the surface. As she looked around, a sudden thought struck her: had she even considered that maybe there was no way out from the floor of the cave? Had she just risked life and limb climbing down for nothing?
Apparently.
"Pony-feathers!" Applejack grunted and she slipped and fell into the dirt. She got up again, putting her hooves on the large boulder and getting ready to push. She stood at the top of an earthen ramp that led from the floor of the cave to the roof; it was obviously at one time the entrance to the cave, but now a huge rock plugged up the way to the surface like a giant cork.
From the way Pinkie had described the Mirror Pool Cave, Applejack was pretty sure she'd discovered another way in. Too bad she hadn't discovered another way out, too. After a few more vain attempts to move the giant rock, Applejack finally slumped to the dirt in resignation, breathing hard from her efforts. "There's just... no way A'll ever get this rock t'move!"
Applejack glanced around the cave sadly, feeling her hope ebbing away. Her stomach rumbled hungrily. When was the last time she'd eaten? Three hours ago? It felt like an eternity.
Was this how it was going to end? Oh well. It was a nice cave, a nice place to die. Pretty vines with pretty flowers, a pretty pool with a pretty glow about it...
Wait a minute.
She sat up, something dawning on her. There ain't no way Ah can budge this thing by m'self, but what if... what if there were more of me?
Applejack jumped to her hooves and trotted down to the picturesque pool, still amazed at her own brilliance. Why hadn't she thought of this half an hour ago?
AJ looked into her reflection, feeling a bit nervous. Did duplicating yourself hurt? She sighed. "No time for the jitters now! If Ah'm gonna get out o' here, Ah'm gonna need some help."
What was that rhyme Pinkie had mentioned? She thought long and hard. "And into... uh... yearning for..."
Oh, just forget it.
Applejack jumped into the pool, swimming around doggy-paddle style. A moment later, another pony surfaced - bouncy golden mane, orange coat, cutie mark of three red apples, emerald-green eyes and three adorable freckles on each cheek... Applejack paddled over to her duplicate. "Why hello, uh... Applejack! Yer gonna need a name o' yer own; we can't both be callin' each other the same thing!" She looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "How's about Copy-jack?"
"That'll do it!" Copy-jack nodded, grinning at her creator. "Now that Ah have mahself a proper name... uh..." the duplicate glanced around the cave then frowned, turning back to Applejack. "How're we gonna get out o' here?"
Applejack pointed with a forehoof to the top of the ramp and the large boulder blocking the entrance. "Ah made you to help me get out o' here. C'mon, Copy-jack, wanna help me move that boulder?"
"Hmm..." Copy-jack rubbed her chin with a hoof. "No."
"No? Why?"
The copy eyed Applejack with distrust. "Cuz you'll just get rid o' me once we got the boulder all moved."
"Well..." Applejack hated to lie, but she couldn't just tell her copy that that was actually exactly what she'd been planning - she would never help her then!
Applejack sighed, seeing only one way around the situation. "Alright, CJ; if you help me out o' this cave, Ah won't send y' right back into this here pool after." She flapped her front hooves and planted one over her eye to show that she solemnly Pinkie Promised. "Ah promise."
Copy-jack jumped out of the pool, shaking out her wet coat until it was fluffy and dry. She grabbed one of AJ's hooves and shook it firmly. "Then we got ourselves a deal!"
"C'mon, keep shoving!" Applejack grunted, breathing hard. The two ponies had been pushing at the boulder with all their might for five minutes, and they'd barely moved it at all.
Copy-jack stopped pushing, shaking her head. "Applejack, we ain't gonna get this rock moving. Not without... help."
Applejack paused. "So, you're sayin' we need more copies?"
The duplicate nodded. "You just wait here, and Ah'll be right back with a few more pairs o' hooves."
A few minutes later, that last of Copy-jack's duplicates climbed out of the mirror pool, shaking out their orange coat. "Hey, watch who you're shakin' that water onto, Three!" Number One growled, shoving a brand-new copy Number Three back into the mirror pool.
She didn't resurface.
Applejack was still at the top of the ramp when she heard surprised Applejack voices from around the pool. She sighed, getting up and trotting down the ramp. "What is it y' done, Copy-jack?"
Copy-jack looked alarmed. "I swear it weren't me!" She jabbed a hoof at Number One. "She shoved Three into the pool!"
Number Two nodded. "And she hasn't come back up!"
Applejack nodded, and without another word dived into the Mirror Pool. She opened her eyes under the water, surprised it didn't hurt like normal water - well, it wasn't really normal water, after all - and glanced around. She could only see in blurs, but even at that she could tell she was alone in the pool.
Until a large dark shape popped up directly in front of her face.
Applejack panicked, adrenaline pumping as she swam for her life from the unidentified thing, kicking desperately for the surface. Her head popped back out into the air of the cave and she scrambled out of the water, still shivering from the scare that... whatever had given her.
Copy-jack, Two and One all looked at her quizzically.
"What? What'd you see?" said an Applejack voice.
Applejack watched as two more copies climbed from the pool. So that's what she'd seen! She suddenly felt really dumb when she realized she'd actually been scared of herself.
Number One fell over in hysterics. "Y... you actually swam for your life... from yourself!" She was laughing so hard she was starting to cry. Copy-jack and Number Two gave Applejack a sympathetic look.
Number Three and the brand-new Number Four glared at Number One. "Oh shut up," Four growled. "You're being mean."
After Number One's laughing fit finally subsided, Applejack briefed all four of her new copies on the plan.
"See that rock? I need it moved cause it's blockin' the only way out o' this cave. Now I know what you're all gonna say - so yes, if you help me I won't send you right back to the mirror pool. Now c'mon!"
All five copies followed Applejack to the top of the ramp. "Now on the count of three, push really hard!" AJ commanded. The copies put their hooves on the rock, ready.
"One... two... three!"