Chapters Friendship is Applejack
By: Astrobrony
The Ponyville train station was alive with activity as the next train to Appleloosa was ready to leave the station. On the platform, several ponies were busy boarding the train while others were saying their goodbyes to their loved ones. And it was on the platform where Applejack was hugging her big brother and little sister. She was answering a call from Braeburn who needed a little extra help raising a new barn, meaning she would have to be away from Ponyville for a few days.
"You tell cousin Braeburn Ah said hi, all right?" Big Macintosh asked Applejack.
Applejack responded with a smile. "Sure will, Big Mac! Hey Apple Bloom, you have a message you want me to tell him?"
She turned to her little sister, only to find her head down and sighing sadly.
Applejack gave her little sister a playful nudge. "Cheer up, Apple Bloom! It's only for a few days. Ah'm not going away forever. Ah'll be back real quick-like!"
Apple Bloom sighed. "I know Applejack. But Ah thought your friends would be here to say goodbye too."
"Oh..." Applejack's smile faded for a moment. She managed to recover enough to give a weaker smile to her sister. "It's all right, Apple Bloom. Ah understand. Everypony's real busy lately."
A little bit too busy, though Apple Bloom thought to herself. The little farm filly had tried to gather her sister's friends together to see Applejack off, but all of them had to decline. Twilight was in the middle of reorganizing the library in advance of a new book shipment; Rarity was working on a big dress order for a very important Canterlot client; Rainbow Dash was training for Wonderbolts Academy; Fluttershy was in the middle of her annual animal census; even Pinkie was backed up at Sugarcube Corner planning three parties at the same time. Ah don't get it! Applejack always make time for them! Why can’t they make time for her? she thought.
Applejack gave her worried sister a hug. "Seriously, Apple Bloom. It's ok. Ah'll admit it would have been nice if they were here right now, but no matter what, they're still mah friends. Ah can't get mad at them because of this."
Apple Bloom tried to counter Applejack's point when suddenly the train conductor shouted out loud.
"All Aboard!!!"
That was the cue for Applejack to board the train. "Well, Ah'm off! You behave yourself, Apple Bloom. Ya hear?"
"Ah will," Apple Bloom smiled as best she could. "See you in a few days!"
"Have a safe trip!" Big Mac shouted out as Applejack got on the train. The two Apple siblings waved as the train began to puff its way out of the station, on its way towards Appleloosa.
"Big Mac? Applejack's friends do care for her right?" Apple Bloom asked her big brother.
Big Macintosh let out a small laugh. "Now that's a silly question."
"It is?"
"Eeyup! Of course they care. That's why they're friends, right?"
"But if they really care, do they know how it makes Applejack feel when they abandon her?"
Big Macintosh paused. "Ah honestly don't know."
That was all Apple Bloom needed to hear. She remained quiet the whole way back towards Sweet Apple Acres. Not even the ice cream Big Mac bought for her cheered her up, and she even got to keep the change this time! She even remained quiet throughout lunch later that day. All of her thoughts centered on her big sister, and how lonely she must have felt at the train station that day. Concerned about his sister's mood, Big Mac decided to let Apple Bloom play with Winona for a while to cheer her up.
So Apple Bloom took the dog and decided to take a walk around the farm. She allowed Winona to wander just ahead of her, happily panting along, while the farm filly stayed lost in her thoughts. It wasn't fair. All over town, she always hears about how wonderful Twilight was, or how awesome Rainbow Dash was, or how beautiful Rarity was, or how nice Fluttershy was, or how fun Pinkie Pie was. But Applejack? Applejack is just always... there. No special description for Applejack. She was just 'that other pony'. She couldn't understand it. She also couldn't understand how Applejack herself seemed to be ok with this. She saw it in her eyes. She was so disappointed that her friends didn't care enough to wish her well on her trip. If they only knew how she felt, she thought, maybe they'll think twice before they abandon her again.
Apple Bloom's train of thought was interrupted when she heard Winona barking just ahead of her. She took a look at her dog and then she noticed what she was barking at.
It was a well; which in of itself wasn't an odd thing to see at Sweet Apple Acres. But what was odd was that with her familiarity of her home, there was never a well in this part of the farm before.
"Where in the hay did this come from?"
Curiosity got the better of her. Apple Bloom wandered over to the mysterious well and took a peek down. It looked like a normal well, there was some water inside of it as she expected a well to have.
"Hello?" She called out into the well. A few seconds later, she heard her voice echo back to her. Stepping away from the well, she noticed the bit she was still holding from earlier. She stepped back to the edge, threw the coin down the well, and watched it fall until it splashed into the water below.
Ah have to ask Applejack about this when she gets back, Apple Bloom thought. She never told me she built this well.
Her thoughts returned to her big sister, and the five friends who failed to show up at the train station. She sighed.
"Ah wish Applejack’s friends understood how she really feels," she found herself saying into the well. She then looked up and noticed it was starting to get dark. Calling for Winona, she began to make her way back to the farmhouse. Moments after Apple Bloom left, the entire well began to emit an eerie glow.
~~~~~
Celestia's sun began to shine through the Golden Oaks Library window, signaling the start of a brand new day in Ponyville. Usually, Twilight Sparkle would be still in bed at this early hour. However, something compelled the unicorn to get out of bed before sunrise that day. At first she found it odd since she almost never wakes up this early, but she decided it was for the best since she did have a lot of work to do in reorganizing the library bookshelves. It also didn't help that Spike was out gem hunting again and probably wouldn't get back until the next day at the earliest. So the best thing for her to do was to hop to it and get to work! Twilight giggled a bit and wondered where this work-ethic suddenly came from. Well, no time to worry about that nonsense. Time to get busy!
So Twilight went to task, first by resorting all the books. She also set aside a couple of books that caught her interest so she could read when she was finished. However, before she was able to finish, she suddenly became aware that something was off. Her magic was becoming less and less effective. She even had to strain to execute a simple levitation spell. She took a break from her work and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her horn seemed fine to her. No cracks, spots, or anything else physically wrong.
Maybe it was time for a test, she thought. She went over to her desk and found the lightest thing on it, a quill. Concentrating with all her might, she tried to summon a basic levitation spell. But this time, nothing happened at all. She tried concentrating harder. It shouldn't have taken this much effort on a simple quill, but she was still concentrating as hard as she could, but nothing was happening. It was as if all her magic was gone!
"Maybe I did wake up a bit too early," Twilight thought out loud. "I'm probably too mentally exhausted to use magic right now. I guess I'll take a break."
She began to make her way back up to her bed when she heard a frantic knocking at her front door. Twilight hurried over to see who it was knocking and what could be the problem. She opened the door and saw Rainbow Dash standing at the door with a very horrified look on her face.
"Twilight! I need your help! There’s something wrong with me!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Rainbow Dash? What's going on?"
Rainbow Dash gulped before she told Twilight. "I can’t fly!"
Twilight's eyes went wide. "What?!?"
"I got up to do my Wonderbolt training this morning," Rainbow explained "But when I tried to take off, I couldn’t! I can’t even open my wings anymore! Look!" Rainbow Dash pointed at her wings. They were folded to her sides. Twilight gave the wings a close look. They seemed fine otherwise, but Rainbow was still unable to unfurl them.
"Everything was fine yesterday, but now I can’t even move them! You have to help me!!!"
Twilight sighed. "I wish I could right now, Rainbow, but I think I’ve worn myself out too much lately. I can’t even use my magic right now!"
Rainbow Dash heart sank in dread. She ran into the library and began to go through Twilight's book pile in a desperate search for a solution. "There’s gotta be a book about this somewhere!!!"
Rainbow went through the books when she noticed something odd about the titles.
"'The History of Gardening Tools '? 'How to Clean Your Chicken Coop '? 'Apple Cultivar '? Twilight, what the hay is this? These are all farming books!" Rainbow Dash frowned.
Twilight did a double take. She went back to take a closer look at the books she set aside earlier. Sure enough, all the books were all about farming and agriculture. "I didn’t notice. I didn’t even think I had this many books about agriculture."
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Dagnabit, Twi! Now’s not the time for horsing around! Can’t you see Ah need help here?"
"Hold on, Rainbow." Twilight said, not quite sure of what she just heard. "What did you just say?"
"I said, quit screwing around, Twilight! I need your help here!"
Twilight shook her head. "No, before that. You said, 'Dagnabit, Twi'."
Rainbow blinked in surprise. "I did?"
"Yes, you did," Twilight nodded. "In fact, you were starting to sound like..."
"Twiiiiiliiiight!!!"
They suddenly heard a voice shouting from afar in panic. Even from a distance, they could tell that the voice belonged to Rarity. Sure enough a few seconds later, Rarity ran into the library looking as if her world was falling apart around her.
"Rarity? What’s going on!" Twilight asked.
Rarity put a forehoof to her head as she overreacted. "It’s awful! It’s horrible! It’s… The! Worst…"
"The worst possible thing!" Rainbow finished. "All right, We get it, Rarity. What happened?"
"My magic! It’s gone!"
Twilight gasped. "You can’t use your unicorn magic either?"
Rarity touched her horn. "Well, I also seem to be having that problem as well, but that's not important. Look!"
Rarity produced one of her design sheets and showed it to the two. What they saw was that the sheet was filled with nothing but drawings of cowboy hats.
"I was trying to design some new dresses this morning," Rarity explained, "But everything I draw comes out like THIS!!! It's like I completely forgot how to design dresses at all!"
Twilight groaned. "Ah have absolutely no idea what to make of all this hullabaloo."
Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked at each other as Twilight unconsciously drawled.
"Twilight? You just spoke with an accent." Rarity said, her voice shaking.
"And you just said hullabaloo," Rainbow added.
Twilight froze. "I did?"
"Get your act together, sugarcube!" Rarity shouted to Twilight. "You’re the only one who can fix this!"
"Rarity, you just said 'sugarcube'!" Rainbow Dash informed the fashionista to her horror.
"All right, everypony, stop!" Twilight shouted. "Ok, let’s recap. We can’t fly or use magic anymore. All of our interests have suddenly turned to agriculture and/or country, and we’re starting to speak with an accent."
Rainbow Dash followed Twilight's observations and was starting to come to the conclusion that...
No way. That was just impossible. There was no way they could be... But, then again, the way they were all acting was proof that it was happening. She turned to Twilight. "Wait. Are you actually saying…"
Twilight scratched the back of her head. "I know it sounds crazy, but I think we’re all turning into Applejack."
Rarity gasped in horror at the news. "No! Not that! Anything but that!!! Twilight, you have to stop this!!!"
"I can’t! I don’t even know how this started!" Twilight nervously shrugged.
"So what are we supposed to do then?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight managed to get her head around the situation. "First things first, we need to see if this is affecting anypony else. Come on!"
The three took to the streets of Ponyville to see if this weird Applejack virus had struck anypony else. They galloped up and down the streets, looking for similar symptoms like they were going through. However, after a few minutes of checking, it became clear that nopony else that they've seen was affected. The pegasi were still flying, the unicorns were still using their magic, and no one was talking with an accent.
"It doesn't look like anyone else is affected." Rarity observed.
Twilight sighed. "So it's just us then."
Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. "None of this makes any sense! Why is it just us?"
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Ah honestly don't know, RD. Ah reckon we take this up with Twilight." She noticed the horrified looks on her two friends' faces.
"You'll talk this up with Twilight?" Rainbow Dash clarified.
Twilight's pupils shrunk as she realized what she had just said. "Oh no! It's getting worse!"
Rarity quickly took hold of Twilight, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Keep it together, Twilight! We can't let this thing get us!"
While the three tried to maintain themselves, Pinkie Pie walked in.
"Hi girls!" Pinkie greeted.
"Howdy, Pinkie..." Rarity smiled. She quickly shook her head as she realized how she greeted her friend. "I mean... Hello, Pinkie darling! Oh dear..." She stammered, she began to sweat nervously.
Pinkie arched an eyebrow at Rarity. "Uh, what's going on?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I don't know how to explain this, but we think we're turning into Applejack."
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm... that explains why I have the sudden urge to turn Sugarcube Corner into a square dance saloon."
Twilight's jaw dropped. "It's happening to you too!?!"
Pinkie nodded. "Yeah. It was really weird. And it wasn't just that. I tried to bake some cookies this morning, but I wound up making an apple pie instead. I even used Granny Smith's secret recipe, and I never knew she even had a secret recipe!"
A chilling thought came to Rarity. "If this is affecting us three and you, then what about..."
Before Rarity could finish her thought, a small white blur and a big yellow blur zoomed right in front of them. Everypony looked on to see that yellow blur was actually Fluttershy. Well it looked like Fluttershy. She had the right mane style and the right cutie mark, but this pony had a determined look on her face and held a lasso in her mouth as she was trying to run down her pet rabbit, Angel.
"Get back here, ya varmit!" the yellow pegasus shouted, holding the lasso in her mouth. In one fluid motion, she looped the lasso over her head and launched it at the bunny, roping him into submission. The four friends watched the whole scene unfurl in absolute shock as Fluttershy handled the lasso like a natural.
"There!" Fluttershy smirked as she corralled her pet. "That outta teach ya to eat yer salad like a good critter!"
"Fluttershy?!?" Twilight shouted.
Fluttershy's ears perked as she heard Twilight call her. She tilted her head in confusion. "Fluttershy? Shoot, Twilight. I ain’t Fluttershy. Don’t you know your friend Applejack when you see her?"
"Applejack?" Rainbow Dash asked. She took a closer look at her fellow pegasus and did a double take. She could swear she could see freckles on Fluttershy's face now.
"Eeyup! That's me!" Fluttershy smiled. "Now if ya pardon me sugarcube, Ah’ve got to teach this young whippersnapper a lesson in manners. Talk to y'all later!"
Fluttershy grabbed the roped Angel and trotted away, leaving the other four ponies stunned.
"Was it just me, or did Fluttershy have freckles?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Freckles?" Rarity's head began to swim. It's bad enough that she started to act like Applejack, but freckles ? She shook her head in defiance. "No! I will not let this get to me!"
Rarity galloped away at full speed, hoping to outrun this horrible affliction. Twilight, meanwhile, sank to her haunches.
"Then it's true," she realized. "We are turning into Applejack."
"Well, I guess we have no choice," Pinkie Pie shrugged. She then produced a cowboy hat from out of nowhere.
"It's time for the Turning-Into-Applejack Hoedown!!!" the pink pony shouted with glee. She then whipped out a tape recorder and hit the play button. An upbeat piano tune began to play and Pinkie started to sing.
"Turning into Applejack seems kind of fun. There’s no place to hide and no place to run! So we might as well accept it, get our face out of the mud, Cause at least we’re not turning into Prince Blueblood! "
"Into Prince Blueblood! " Pinkie, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash happily finished together.
The smiles on Rainbow Dash and Twilight's faces faded as quickly as they appeared when they realized what they were doing, and that freckles had magically appeared on Pinkie's face during the song.
"We've got to get out of here!" Twilight shouted in fear. Not even bothering to respond, Rainbow Dash ran down the street in full speed, with Twilight trailing behind her. Pinkie stood confused as they suddenly left. After a short while, she began to head her way back to her home, passing in front of Sugarcube Corner without a second glance and continuing towards the outskirts of Ponyville.
"Ah wonder where RD and Twi are off to so suddenly," Pinkie wondered. "Oh well, can't worry about any of that. Ah've got to get back to the farm!"
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Twilight hurried their way to find a cure before they lost any more of themselves.
"We need to get to the library!" Twilight said. "There's got to be an answer in one of my books somewhere!"
"Sure thing, sugarcube!"
"Rainbow, focus! We need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres before it’s too late!"
Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks. "Wait, I thought we were going to the library."
Twilight froze as she realized what she said. "Y-yes! The library! We're going to the library! Oh no… I think we’re running out of time!"
With the situation now dire, Rainbow Dash began to run towards the Everfree Forest. "I’ll head over to Zecora. Maybe she has a secret remedy for this," she shouted. Twilight nodded and continued to hurry back to the library.
Rainbow Dash ran with all her might, which was an action the pegasus wasn't familiar with. If her wings were working normally, she could have made it to Zecora's and back by now. But her wings were still immoble, stuck to her sides as if they were glued there. So she was stuck running on the ground. Rainbow Dash kept running until she noticed she was running by Sweet Apple Acres. She slowed her pace as her thoughts got the better of her.
"This would be so much easier if I could fly. But, I can’t. Not with my wings like this." She stopped running and slumped on the ground. "What's the use? Even if we fix this turning-into-Applejack thing, there's no guarantee that we can fix my wings. I could never fly again! I can’t even be Rainbow Dash if I can’t fly." Rainbow Dash glanced over at Sweet Apple Acres. "If I can't be Rainbow Dash, then... who am I?"
While looking at the farm, she noticed something she never had before; Applejack's obstacle course she used to train for the rodeo. She wondered, now she was grounded, if she could handle the obstacle course herself. Rainbow Dash found herself smirking at the challenge. She stated to slowly trot to the first hurdle. Before long, she started to pick up her pace into a full gallop as the obstacle came closer. She reached the first hurdle at full speed and easily leaped over it. She kept her focus on the course as she also cleared the next couple of hurdles with ease. Then, up ahead of her, there it was. The big hurdle, surrounded by that mudpit. Rainbow licked her lips with anticipation. She got this.
With a mighty leap, she sailed over the mud and over the hurdle, with barely an inch of clearance between her legs and the bar. Landing on the other side, she came face to face with the final challenge, the haystack toss. With a determined scowl, Rainbow raced to the haystack. She grabbed the rope that tied it together, and in one fluid motion, did a full 360 before launching the stack into the air. Rainbow kept an eye on the haystack as it sailed over the finish line and landed.
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Yeehaw! A new personal record!" Satisfied with her performance, she started to head back to the barnyard. Freckles had now appeared on her face. "Welp, that's enough training for me today. Time to get back to work!"
~~~~~
Meanwhile at the library, Twilight was buried in books, desperate to find a solution to reverse whatever it was affecting her and her friends. Usually when pressed like this, she would fly through book after book in search of an answer. This time, she wasn't having much luck. Her progress was slower than she was usually accustomed to as she found herself unable to understand some of her most advanced books. The lack of any magic to help her turn the pages wasn't helping things either.
"Ugh, this Advanced Psychological Theories book is like reading Fancy!" the unicorn groaned. "How can Twilight understand any of this nonsense?"
Her words echoed in her mind. She recoiled in horror. "No, wait. I’m Twilight!"
She paced back and forth in an attempt to steady her mind. "Ok, calm down. You can do this. Just focus. I’m not Applejack. I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m from Canterlot. I have an assistant baby dragon named Spike. I have a brother named Big Macintosh… I mean Shining Armor! That’s right, Shining Armor and his wife Apple Bloom! No, that ain’t right. That young’n way too young to get married. Wait... what am I saying?!?"
She shook her head, trying to get these Applejack thoughts out of her mind, and tried again. "Ok, I have a pet owl named Winona. No, that ain't right either. My pet is a dog, not an owl! Wait! I mean my pet is an owl! An owl!!!" Twilight took a slow deep breath. "Ok, I can do this." She closed her eyes and focused her thoughts.
"My mentor is Granny Smith and… ARGH!!!!"
Twilight flipped her reading stand over in frustration, sending the book and several scrolls flying to the floor. Her anger was quickly replace with sadness as she collapsed on the floor.
"This is hopeless. What am I going to do?" She looked at the mess she made and noticed a few blank scrolls on the floor.
"I know! I'll write to the Princess. I'll have Spike send it the second he gets back!"
She gathered the blank scroll and her quill. She also looked for her ink, but her fit of frustration spilled the ink on the library floor. Groaning in frustration, Twilight began to search for some extra ink. A quick search around the library later, she found a bottle of ink on a bookshelf, just a few rungs out of reach above her.
"How am I going to get that down without my magic?" she wondered.
She took a closer look at the ink. It looked to be right on the edge of the shelf. A sudden thought popped into her head. She couldn't use magic, but there was another way she could get the ink down. After giving the entire bookshelf a close inspection for the exact right spot, Twilight turned around, reared back, and bucked the bookshelf, knocking the ink and several books down to the ground.
"Ha! Now that's the way to git r' done!" she shouted, a smile plastered on her now-freckled face. She suddenly blinked as she became aware of her surroundings.
"Wait… what in tarnation am Ah doin’ in th’ library? Ah gotta get back home. Ah’m gonna fall behind at the farm!"
~~~~~
"No. No. No! No! NO!!!"
Rarity threw another cowboy-hat-filled design sheet to the floor. Her attempts to will her way out of this were not working. Everything she tried to design wound up being that same cowboy hat. The hat that was so tied to Applejack that she once wondered if it was glued on. Rarity shook her head. She was going to beat this. She wouldn't let herself be turned into Applejack without a fight.
The thought of being Applejack filled her with dread. She couldn't imagine being outside working on a farm of all places. Bucking apples, tending the chickens, getting her lovely hooves dirty in all that work. But then again, all that work was necessary. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought that all that hard work and labor was actually therapeutic. Ponies like Rarity couldn't understand that ponies like her don't mind a little hard work here or there. Which reminded her that work was starting to back up at Sweet Apple Acres. She really should get back to work as quickly as...
Rarity blinked. Did she really just think all that? No! She took out another design sheet and tried again.
"Ok, Rarity. Focus. I am the most fabulous pony in Ponyville. No, in all of Equestria! I can design the most ornate gala dress the world has ever seen with my eyes closed! I've done it before, and I shall do so again!!!"
She closed her eyes, and began to focus. Her mind began to produce an image of the most beautiful dress she ever saw! Long, flowing, and sparkling with elegance and grace. This was the kind of dress she was looking for to spark her creativity.
"There it is! Now all I have to do is put it on paper!"
Rarity began to draw. "Everypony would want this dress. I bet even Celestia herself would want it in her personal collection! This dress will be all the rage in Canterlot! I could be world famous with this! And... Voila!!!" Rarity finished her work and opened her eyes to see the physical manifestation of her idea.
It was a picture of two cowboy hats.
Rarity blinked.
Freckles appeared on her face.
"Ah, ponyfeathers," the unicorn cursed. She crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash. "Ah don’t even know why Ah wasted mah time with these fru-fru dresses in the first place. Ah'm going home! That's the last time Ah help Rarity design stuff," she grumbled.
With that, she exited the boutique. On her way back to Sweet Apple Acres, she made a point to apologize to Rarity later for making a mess in her shop.
~~~~~
Apple Bloom spent that morning finishing up her school assignments. It was boring sitting in her room reading instead of being outside, but school always came first. At least that's what Applejack would say if she were here right now. She wondered how her big sister was doing in Appleloosa right now. Even though she knew that it was only a short trip, she couldn't help but to miss her. It would have been nice to hear her voice.
"Up and at 'em, Apple Bloom! Time to get movin'!"
Apple Bloom stopped her schoolwork as she heard a voice call her from outside.
"Applejack? She's back already?" she wondered.
She ran over to her window and looked to see who was calling her from the ground, and did a double-take when she saw who was calling her. It was... Rainbow Dash? Well it looked like Rainbow Dash, but she was wearing a cowboy hat and had her mane and tail done up like Applejack. And since when did Rainbow Dash get freckles?
"Um... hiya Rainbow Dash! That's a funny get up ya got there."
Rainbow Dash looked back confused. She took a quick look around her. "Rainbow Dash is here? Well, shoot! Ah haven't seen her."
"You haven't seen her? But you're..."
Rainbow Dash interrupted her rebuttal. "Ah'm Applejack! Yer big sister! Ah always have been. Now, c'mon! Ah need your help with the bruised apples!"
Rainbow Dash ran back towards the apple orchard, leaving behind a very confused yellow filly still staring from her bedroom window. After a few moments, Apple Bloom decided to make her way downstairs. "Ah'm gonna ask Granny Smith about this. Maybe she knows what's going on."
She made her way down to the kitchen and saw her grandmother was busy with a guest. She began to approach the two, but suddenly stopped in shock as she realized who the guest was; or rather, how she was dressed.
Apple Bloom could only watch as Twilight Sparkle, now decked out in a ponytail and a hat, pulled out a batch of Apple Tarts from the oven.
"There ya go, Granny! Some nice apple tarts for brunch!" Twilight smiled.
Granny Smith smiled nervously. "Thank you kindly, but shouldn't you get back to the library?"
Twilight laughed heartily. "The library? Nah, that's Twilight's department. Ah belong right here."
Granny Smith squinted. "Well Ah could have sworn you were Twilight, hon."
"Ha! Yeah, Ah think Ah would make a horrible Twilight!"
Apple Bloom slowly backed away from the kitchen and ran to the front door. What the hay is going on around here. Why were Twilight and Rainbow Dash here? And why were they both acting like Applejack? As she made her way towards the front door, she heard an argument coming from the living room.
"For the last time, Big Mac. Ah'm. Not. Pinkie! Ah'm Applejack!"
"Nope."
Apple Bloom peeked into see a confused Big Mac arguing with Pinkie Pie, who now shared the same mane style and hat as her sister.
"C'mon. Do Ah look like Pinkie Pie to you?"
"Eeyup."
Pinkie Pie pointed at her flank. "Ya think Pinkie Pie has a cutie mark like this?"
"Eeyup."
"Look again brother. Three red apples! Ya see it?" Pinkie Pie pointed at the three balloons on her flank.
"Nope."
Pinkie placed a forehoof on Big Macintosh's forehead. "Ya sure you're feeling all right, Big Mac? Ah think you might be coming down with something."
Big Macintosh sighed. "Ah don't even know anymore."
Apple Bloom left the scene and continued running out the door. She made it outside and stopped in her tracks. There right in front of her, with a ponytail and a hat, was Fluttershy pulling a cart of apples.
"Apple Bloom! How are ya doin', sugarcube?" she shouted as she noticed the filly.
Apple Bloom stammered, her mind unable to reconcile the image in front of her. "Ah'm... Ah'm fine..." she squeaked out.
"That's good to hear!" Fluttershy smiled. "Let me know if ya need any help on your homework!" Fluttershy tipper her hat and continued down her way pulling the cart.
"First Rainbow Dash, then Twilight, then Pinkie, and now Fluttershy?" Apple Bloom thought out loud. "What could be next?"
She immediately regretted ever saying that for now she noticed a pony heading her way, nearly completely covered in mud. The pony looked to have a hat and ponytail too, but upon closer inspection Apple Bloom saw patches of the pony's white coat.
Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. "Rarity?!?"
Apple Bloom remained in shock as the mud-covered Rarity approached her.
"Howdy Apple Bloom." Rarity groaned.
"Wha... what happened?" Apple Bloom managed to ask.
"Well, Ah was running mah obstacle course and Ah failed miserably," she frowned. "Ah'm out of practice, it's like Ah've been sitting on mah keister for years!" Rarity took off her hat and wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Ah'm gonna get a snack from inside and Ah'm gonna try again." With that, Rarity entered the barn.
Apple Bloom stood frozen at what she had just witnessed. "What's going on around here? Why do they all think they're Applejack?" She sat and though for a few minutes. Everything was fine yesterday between the five of them, even though none of them showed up to see her sister at the train station. She remembered wishing that they understood how Applejack felt and...
"The well!" Apple Bloom suddenly realized. "Ah made that wish in the well and it came true!"
On the one hoof, she was glad that Applejack's friends had a newer perspective on how her sister thinks. But then again, judging from the scenes she had just witnessed, she had to turn all of them back to normal. Not wasting any time, she quickly went back inside, grabbed a bit from the kitchen, and headed on out to find that mysterious well so she could turn Applejack's friends back to normal.
As Apple Bloom retraced her steps from yesterday, she began to notice that something was wrong. The well was definitely in this part of Sweet Apple Acres, but the closer she got, the more she realized that there wasn't a well anywhere close to this area. She started to comb the area, just to make sure she wasn't mistaken, when she saw a single bit laying on the ground. Apple Bloom looked around. This was the edge of the farm where the well was, but there was no well here, only this one single bit.
The bit she threw down yesterday.
Apple Bloom gasped. She realized that she was in the same spot as yesterday. But now, the well was gone! She started to look all over the farm. Maybe the well had mysteriously transported itself somewhere else. Her search yielded nothing. She even threw some bits down the farm's existing wells to see if that could work. Nothing worked. It eventually dawned on her that she had no way to reverse her wish. She was now stuck with five Applejacks, and the original Applejack was due to return from Appleloosa in a few days.
"Well, Ah guess Applejack's friends will give her a welcome back she won't forget," Apple Bloom shrugged, letting out a nervous laugh.
Applejack sighed as she got off the train. It seemed like the train ride back to Ponyville took longer than the three days she spent in Appleloosa. As nice as it was to spend time with her cousin, she sure was glad to be back in Ponyville. And not a moment's too soon as far as she was concerned. Despite her efforts beforehand, things were already starting to get backed up at the farm before she left, which meant more work for her the second she returned. Oh well, no sense in complaining about it. Time to get to work! Applejack began to make her way through the town on her way back to Sweet Apple Acres.
As she walked through the town, she became aware that Ponyville seemed a bit darker and shadowy than usual. She looked and saw that the reason for the darker day was because of the skies over Ponyville being overrun by clouds.
"Rainbow Dash must be slacking off again," Applejack groaned. "It ain’t usually this bad though." She kept her eyes on the cloudy sky, wondering how the cyan pegasus allowed it to become so cloudy in the first place, when she inadvertently bumped into something in front of her. Or rather somepony.
"Hey! Wait your turn!" a voice angrily shouted at her.
"Oh, sorry!" Applejack apologized. She took another look and saw that the pony she bumped into was a part of what looked like a long line leading into Sugarcube Corner. Beside the line stood Mr. Cake, hopelessly trying to reassure the increasingly frustrated customers.
"I'm sorry about the wait everypony, but we're trying to get through as many of you as fast as we can!" he shouted to the crowd.
"Mr. Cake?" Applejack called out. "What's going on?"
Mr. Cake looked to be relieved to see the cowpony. "Applejack! Oh thank goodness! I'm sorry, but we're absolutely backed up right now! Have you seen Pinkie lately?"
Applejack shook her head. "No, Ah haven't. Ah just came back from Appleoosa, mahself."
"Well if you run into her, please tell her that we could use her help, and fast!"
"Sure thing," Applejack nodded. She continued down the road, taking one last look at the overwheled Sugarcube Corner. Just where in tarnation was Pinkie, anyway? As her trek back to her farm continued, she started to see some other things off in Ponyville. From a distance, she could see that Carousel Boutique was closed. So was the library. She also took a moment to gawk at a small herd of bunnies eating some daisies on display at the flower shop, much to the flower shop keepers' horror.
"What's going on 'round here? Ah’m gone for a few days and this whole town’s gone out of control!"
It didn't require much deducing to figure out that her friends were responsible for all this. And looking around, it was clear that her friends were nowhere to be seen, and Ponyville was suffering because of it. Applejack sighed. She decided that she was going to have to do her best to fix things in her friends absence. First things first, though. She made her way over to Sweet Apple Acres to set her luggage down.
"Ah can’t believe this," Applejack grumbled as she closed in on her farm. "We’re already way behind on the farm! Trying to keep everything under control in Ponyville is just gonna back things up… further?"
Applejack arrived at the farm's front gates and looked around in shock. In contrast with the rest of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres was in tip-top shape. Most of the trees were bucked, the apples were harvested, and she stood stunned that the barn she never had time to raise was actually raised!
"Everything looks done!" Applejack said, astonished as the state of the farm. "But… how? Who did all this?"
Applejack continued to inspect the farm, taking note of all the completed tasks that had been done while she was away, when she suddenly heard a shouting from behind her.
"YEEHAW!!!"
A purple blur rushed right in front of the cowpony. Applejack looked to see that purple blur was actually...
It would have been too cliche to say that Applejack's jaw dropped on the floor, but that's exactly what happened when she watched Twilight Sparkle, now wearing a ponytail and a cowboy hat for some reason, run towards an apple tree and buck it, sending the apples into buckets on the ground. Satisfied by her work, Twilight crossed her front hooves as if she was gearing up for the big Apple family reunion.
What in tarnation was in Braeburn's cider last night? Applejack wondered. She rubbed her eyes a couple of times. She wasn't hallucinating. It really was Twilight, and she was bucking trees like she was... well... like she was her! The confused cowpony slowly approached Twilight, who was busy trying to get the last apples down from the tree.
"Twilight? Is that you?"
Twilight's ears perked. She turned around, eyes closed, and smiled. "Twilight? Sounds like you came to the wrong part of town, sugarcube!"
Before Applejack could respond, Twilight took her hoof and vigorously shook her hello. "Howdy! Ah’m Applejack! We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making friends!"
Applejack managed to free herself from the furious welcome. She would have taken a moment to appreciate the irony of this role reversal when she took note of something else the unicorn said. "Hold on. Did you say that you’re Applejack?"
Twilight smiled again. "Eeyup! That's mah name! What can I do you for..." Twilight's smile faded as she got a good look at the pony who was welcoming. "You look exactly like me!!!" she shouted.
"Ah look like you?!?"
Twilight groaned. "Ugh, not another one! Ah'm starting to lose count of all these impostors!"
"Impostors?!?"
Twilight nodded. "Last week, four other ponies all show up claiming to be me! Ah would have said something about it, but they all just got to work on the farm. So I let them help me out until I can find Twilight and see if she can fix this. Ah swear that girl’s gone disappeared off the face of Equestria lately. Ah can’t find her anywhere!"
"But... she... you... Twilight! What happened to you?!?" Applejack finally blurted out.
Twilight groaned. "How many times do Ah have to tell everypony that Ah'm not Twilight? Ah don't even look like her! Ya see? Anypony can see plain as day that mah mane is blonde, mah coat is orange, and Ah have three apples as mah cutie mark. And Ah know fer a fact that Twilight doesn't have freckles like me."
Applejack became even more confused. Twilight looked like she always had, except for her mane style, the hat, and the freckles. While Applejack could have denied Twilight's other proof, she couldn't deny the freckles. How did Twilight get those? She started to wonder if Twilight had any bad cider herself when she heard somepony trotting in from behind her. Applejack had to pick her jaw from the ground again as she saw Fluttershy walking towards her, and like herself and Twilight, Fluttershy was also wearing a ponytail, hat, and...
Freckles?!? How in tarnation did Fluttershy get freckles too?!! Applejack thought.
"Hey y'all!" Fluttershy smiled. "How are things going over here?"
"Ah’m fine," Twilight responded. "By the way, it looks like we have another visitor ."
Fluttershy took a good look at Applejack, who had reached the point where words failed her completely.
"How can you be sure this is a different one?" Fluttershy asked Twilight. "She looks just like the rest of us!"
"Trust me, this is a different one. None of you other Applejacks called me Twilight before, but this one did!"
Fluttershy laughed. "Ha, imagine that. You being Twilight. Next thing you know somepony's gonna come in and say Ah'm Fluttershy."
Applejack was finally able to get over her shock to respond. "But... Fluttershy... you... All right, hold everything! Let's try this." She turned to Fluttershy. "What color is my coat?"
"It's orange," Fluttershy replied plainly.
"All right. Now, what color is her coat?" Applejack pointed at Twilight.
Fluttershy groaned in frustration. She was tired of going through this routine from the rest of the Apple family. "It's orange. The same as mine! The same with the others."
Applejack took another close look at Twilight's color scheme. "You think she's actually orange?"
Fluttershy took another look. She didn't know what this odd Applejack was seeing, but her eyes weren't deceiving her. She saw two orange earth ponies with blonde manes and freckles, just like her.
Fluttershy chuckled nervously. "Ah think you've been drinking too much cider, sugarcube. There ain't nopony here but us Applejacks."
"Speaking of which," Twilight spoke up, "Ah reckon we might as well let the others know 'bout this one."
"Ah reckon you're right," Fluttershy nodded. She and Twilight began to walk through the orchard. "Although if ya ask me, Ah think that one's color blind."
Applejack meanwhile, remained frozen in place in response to what she just experienced. "Ah've got to be dreaming. Yeah, that's it!" she convinced herself. "This is just like that seapony dream Ah had once. Although... this feels more like a nightmare."
The cowpony took a deep breath and followed Twilight and Fluttershy down the way. A few minutes later, they arrived at a clearing where three more freckle-faced, ponytail-wearing, cowboy hat-toting ponies were raising a barn.
"Now Ah KNOW this is a nightmare," Applejack observed in horror. Seeing two of her friends dressed up like her was already way too much for her to process. But seeing Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity (Rarity of all ponies!) all dressed up and acting like her broke her brain for a few minutes.
"Look alive, everypony! We've got another one!" Twilight announced to the other three Applejacks. They stopped their barnraising activities and saw that there was now a sixth Applejack on the farm.
"Ugh, not another one!" Rainbow Dash groaned.
"This is getting flat out ridiculous!" Pinkie frowned.
"How many more Applejacks are out there anyway?" Rarity shouted in frustration.
"Ah dunno," Fluttershy shrugged. "There should only be one Applejack ‘round these parts in the first place."
Rainbow Dash went up to Applejack. "Listen you!" she told the stunned cowpony. "Ah don’t know where you came from, but until we find Twilight, you might as well help us out around the farm."
"But no dirty tricks, ya hear?" Rarity added. She gave Applejack a menacing glare. "Ah’ve got mah eye on you."
"Speaking of which," Twilight suddenly said, frowning at Rarity. "You haven’t been misbehaving lately, have ya?"
"Ah should be asking you that very same question!" Pinkie shouted at Twilight.
"And just what’s that supposed to mean?" Twilight replied.
"It means once we prove that Ah’m the real Applejack," Pinkie said, "Ah gonna send you and yer sorry orange hide back to wherever it was you came from!"
Twilight got into Pinkie's face. "Was that a threat?"
Pinkie shook her head. "No. It’s a promise!"
Fluttershy butted in the faceoff. "That goes double for me on BOTH of y’all."
Applejack watched silently as her five friends got into a big shouting match over who the real Applejack was. Before things escalated any further, Applejack yelled out.
"STOP IT!!!"
The shouting stopped. The five ponies' attention was now fixed on Applejack.
"What in tarnation has gotten into all of y’all?!?" Applejack shouted.
"There’s nothin’ wrong with me. Ah'm perfectly normal!" Rainbow Dash replied. The others agreed with that statement.
Applejack shook her head. "No yer not! None of y’all are!! You’re not supposed to be acting like… like me! C'mon girls, snap out of..."
Applejack suddenly blinked in realization. It suddenly dawned on her what the cause of all this really was. Her head dropped a bit as she started to laugh, prompting confused looks from the others.
"What's so funny?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You can drop the act now, Rainbow," Applejack smiled. "Ah see what’s going on."
"Ya do?"
"Of course!" Applejack smiled. "Ah see yer all trying to make up for not seeing me off at the train station. So y'all sprang all this up to surprise me! Ah gotta say that ya got me real good this time, girls!"
Fluttershy frowned. "Just what are ya trying to say?"
"It means y’all are just yanking mah tail making me believe that y’all were me!" Applejack went on. "Boy! Ya really did go all out with this one! Ah never thought I’d ever see Rarity dressed like me."
"How much cider have you been drinking?" Rarity snapped. "Ah don’t look like Rarity."
"Of course you do!" Applejack pointed at Rarity's flank. "Look at that cutie mark, fer cryin' out loud!"
Pinkie Pie groaned. "Ah see her cutie mark plain as day. It's three red apples. Same as mine! Same as all of us!" Pinkie's observation was met with confirming nods from the other faux-Applejacks.
Applejack's smile faded away as she realized that there was no trick or prank involved with all of this. Her friends were thoroughly convinced that they were her, color scheme and all!
An angry Rainbow Dash got into Applejack's face. "Ah don’t know what yer trying to pull, but anypony can see she’s not Rarity, and Ah’m not Rainbow Dash. Who do you think YOU are trying to make us into somepony we’re not?"
"Ah… uh… uh..." Applejack stammered. Fear began to strike her form, making her unable to respond.
Slowly, the other four began to approach Applejack, all of them looking very furious at her.
"That was a dirty trick to pull, Applejack! " Twilight hissed. "Did you really think Ah'd fall for something like that?"
"Ah bet you’re the one behind all this!" Fluttershy frowned.
"You're not getting away with this, partner!" Pinkie Pie shouted.
"Uh… uh…" Applejack began to sweat as five angry scowls closed in on her. She backed away slowly at first, and then she suddenly turned around and ran away.
"GET HER!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Without any moments hesitation, the five ponies began to chase down the apparent impostor.
Just ahead, Applejack's mind was racing as fast as she was galloping. "They're not bluffing! They honestly think they're me! And if Ah were in their horseshoes right now... Oh Celestia, Ah'm in trouble!!" A ball of fear grew in Applejack's stomach. She knew exactly what she would do to somepony trying to impersonate her. And that knowledge propelled her to gallop even faster.
Running for her life, Applejack knew she wouldn't have a chance to lose them in the clearing, especially if they were thinking like her. She looked back to see that they were gaining on her. She galloped a bit faster when she saw a couple of lassos twirling in the air. Thinking fast, Applejack made a sharp cut straight into the orchard. She zigged-zagged her way through the trees, in an attempt to gain some ground. Behind her, the other five kept pace, not allowing Applejack to gain an inch.
As she continued to flee, Applejack saw a low tree branch blocking her path. She looked back again and saw that they were closing in. Rainbow Dash was leading the way with the other four right behind, ready to launch their lassos.
"Ah'm sorry, RD!" she apologized. Galloping at full speed, she grabbed the branch in her mouth, bending it backwards. Before it snapped off the tree, she released it, snapping it back, and right into the face of Rainbow Dash. She stumbled backwards in pain, right into the path of the other four. Soon, everypony found themselves stumbling over each other on the ground.
"That copycat's gonna pay for that!" Rainbow Dash growled. She and the others quickly got back up and resumed the chase. However, the stumble meant that they had lost some ground with their target. By the time they had made it out of the orchard, they had completely lost the renegade Applejack.
"Which way did she go?" Rarity asked. The five looked in all directions, looking to see where their target was. In actuality, Applejack took the opportunity to hide herself behind a tree, just out of sight. She had to find a new way to throw them off, so she peaked out from behind the tree.
"She went back that way!" Applejack shouted, pointing back to where she had just ran from.
"Get her!!!" The five ponies galloped back through the orchard. Applejack remained in place until she saw all of them galloping away, not looking back to where she was. When they were a safe distance away from her, the orange cowpony let out an exhausted sigh of relief. She was safe, but at the same time, she was worried. Just what in Equestria happened to her friends? Who, or what, was responsible? Was there a way to fix this, or will all of them be stuck being Applejack forever? And just what was she supposed to do right now?
It didn't take long for Applejack to decide to make her way back to the main farmhouse. She wasn't even sure if it was safe for her to do so, but it was worth the risk. Trotting quickly, but carefully, she made her way through the farm until she arrived at the house. Completely worn out by her unique welcome back to the farm, Applejack laid her hat on the nearest table and slumped down on Granny Smith's chair.
"Ah heard sompeony come in." Applejack heard the unmistakable voice of her younger sister. She turned to see Apple Bloom coming down the stairs. The small filly stopped when she noticed her sister, her real sister, orange coat and all.
"Applejack!!!" Apple Bloom grinned. "You're back!"
Applejack nodded nervously. "Yeah. It’s me… Ah think."
Apple Bloom's smile weakened. "You think?"
Applejack sighed. "For all you know, Ah might just be another impostor."
Apple Bloom wasn't going to hear this argument. She ran over and gave her sister a big hug. "You're not an impostor. You're the one and only Applejack. The rest of 'em could act like you, but they're not you!"
"So, you can see that they're not really me?"
"Of course Ah can! So can Big Mac and Granny Smith!"
"But if you can see it, then how come they can't see it?"
Apple Bloom lowered her head in shame. "Well ya see, Ah think it’s kind of mah fault." She went on to explain everything, from her discovery of the mysterious well, to her wish and its aftermath.
"We've never had a well in that part of the farm before," Applejack pondered. "So it just appeared out of nowhere?"
Apple Bloom nodded. "And it just disappeared out of nowhere. But that well is behind all this, Ah just know it." The filly lowered her head in shame. "Ah'm sorry Ah screwed up."
Applejack gave her sister a warm smile. "It wasn't your fault, AB. You couldn't have known any of this would happen. Nopony could. It was just an accident. A really, really strange accident!"
"Ah hear ya. Six Applejacks is just way too many. Ah mean, the farm's in tip-top shape now, but Ponyville's not."
"Yeah, Ah saw it mahself when Ah came in today." Applejack sighed. "We've got to find a way to get mah friends to act themselves again."
"But Applejack, Ah don't think we can fix this without that well. So what can we do?"
"Usually Ah'd go straight to Twilight, but we can't even do that with Twilight thinking she's me! Ah don't know what to do." Applejack slumped back in the chair. None of this made any sense. It wasn't like they physically turned into her. Twilight and Rarity still had their horns, Rainbow and Fluttershy still had their wings, and all of them still had their cutie marks. But in their eyes, they were all the same orange cowpony. Applejack refused to believe that, though. She was convinced that her friends were still somewhere in there. Maybe all it would take to snap her friends out of it was a little reminder. But simply telling them who they really were wasn't working. So what else was there.
"If you were Twilight, we would have solved this problem by now," Apple Bloom remarked, trying to lighten up Applejack's mood.
Applejack chuckled lightly. "Yeah, if only. It's too bad Ah'm not really... her." Those last words sparked something in Applejack's mind. Simply telling her friends who they really were wasn't working, but maybe showing them could!
"Ah've got an idea! C'mon Apple Bloom!" Applejack shouted triumphantly. She jumped out of the chair and began to run out the door. Confused, Apple Bloom followed her right out the door.
"Applejack?" Apple Bloom called out, "Where are we goin'?"
"We've got to get to the spa!"
Now Apple Bloom was even more confused. "The spa? You're not turning into Rarity now, are ya?"
I just might if Ah have no choice, Applejack shuddered at the thought. "Ah'll explain everything when we get there!"
"HOLD IT!!!" a voice shouted behind the two.
Applejack and Apple Bloom turned to see Rainbow Dash standing behind them. Applejack had forgotten that her friends were still looking for her, and in her rush to fix the mess, she left herself wide open and now she was caught. Applejack gulped as the pegasus-turned-cowpony approached her.
"Did you find that fake Applejack?" Rainbow asked.
Applejack blinked. "Ah... Ah didn't find her...." she stammered.
"Shoot! She must have gotten away!" Rainbow cursed. A quick shrug later, she turned around and smiled. "Well, we'll get her next time. Make sure you keep yer eyes peeled!" With that, Rainbow Dash returned to finish her farm chores. Applejack and Apple Bloom watched her walk away in stunned astonishment.
"Well... that was easy," Apple Bloom commented.
Once they got over their confusion, Applejack and Apple Bloom continued down the way through Sweet Apple Acres, into Ponyville proper, and straight into Aloe and Lotus' Spa, where they found the spa twins minding the front of the store. The storekeepers were surprised to see who entered their store.
"Applejack!" Lotus shouted. "Haven't seen you here in a while. You came for a spa treatment?"
"Actually, Ah need something else." Applejack replied. "How good are ya with disguises?"
"Well, we're not experts, but we can manage all right," Aloe smiled. "Although you really should go to Rarity for something like this."
"Well, Rarity's kind of... busy... at the moment," Apple Bloom laughed nervously. Applejack gave a nervous nod as well.
"Ah can explain everything... Ah think." Applejack continued. "But Ah need to know if you can help me put on a disguise. It's an emergency!"
Lotus shrugged. "Well, if it's an emergency, then I guess we can help out."
Applejack smiled. It was time to put her plan to action.
"All right, first thing we're gonna need is some purple paint."
Applejack climbed out of the spa bath’s warm waters, having washed all the paint off her body. She was still in a state of disbelief over what she had experienced over the few short hours since she got back into town, not only seeing her friends acting like her, but also all the acting she had to do in order to snap them back to normal. And now, she only had one pony left to go.
Unfortunately, this last pony would also be Applejack’s biggest challenge so far; disguising herself as Rarity. While Applejack managed to get through the others relatively fine, posing as the fashionista seemed almost impossible for her. She was a simple farmer, after all. Acting high class would be a completely foreign experience, even after everything she’s been through that day. She really didn’t want to do it, but she had no choice if she wanted to get Rarity back.
Before Applejack began to make her way to disguise herself, however, she saw Aloe, Lotus, and Apple Bloom enter the room, all three of them looking a bit nervous.
“We have a problem sis!” Apple Bloom said.
“Apple Bloom? What’s the matter?” Applejack asked.
Aloe produced two cans of paint, both of which looked rather empty. “We don’t have enough paint for a Rarity disguise.”
“We were getting low on white in the first place and we used up all the purple to make you up like Twilight,” Lotus added.
“Great,” Applejack groaned. There went the Rarity disguise. “Ah guess it’s for the best anyway. Ah wasn’t sure if Ah could curl mah mane and tail like Rarity.”
“So what do we do, Applejack? How are we gonna get Rarity back?” Apple Bloom asked.
The room fell silent as nopony knew how to answer that question. Despite the dilemma, a small part of Applejack felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to be Rarity. She remembered the last time she tried to act all high class all those years ago. She simply didn’t fit in with those types of ponies, like Rarity, or even her Aunt and Uncle Orange.
It suddenly hit her. Her Aunt and Uncle. They had always stayed in touch here and there ever since she left Manehattan as a filly. They had even sent her some dresses and accessories for her, in case she ever reconsidered.
Applejack’s mind cringed. Did she really want to go back to the time when she was like that? But then again, it wouldn’t require any paint job at all. And most importantly, she had to get Rarity back to normal at any costs, even if it meant going back to… that. It wouldn’t be the most pleasant of alternatives, but it was the best option. With a heavy sigh, she reluctantly asked Apple Bloom to go get Aunt and Uncle Orange’s gift.
~~~~~
Applejack had never felt so awkward entering Sweet Apple Acres in her life. It was like she was living out an alternate reality where she finally returned home after years in the city. She wasn’t wearing any paint this time, but if anypony glanced over at her, they could barely recognize Applejack at all. She was wearing the red dress her aunt and uncle had sent her last Hearth’s Warming Eve, along with the pearl necklace and earrings they sent along as well. She also had Aloe crop her mane up in a simple, elegant bun. She looked as if she never had left Manehattan. Applejack tried to maintain a ladylike trot like her Aunt tried to teach her years ago. It didn’t go over very well back then, but after spending so much time around Rarity, she was able to pull it off more naturally, or as naturally as one could for a self-professed non-fru-fru pony.
“Ah’m doing this for Rarity,” she kept telling herself. “Ah’ve got to get her back.”
She wandered around the farm for a few moments before she came across Rarijack heading towards the livestock pens. She gulped. Ready or not, it was time for her to act fancy. She took a deep breath and called out to the white cowpony, using an accent she hadn't used since that fateful trip all those years ago.
“Um… excuse me, madame? Can you assist me?”
The cowpony stopped in her tracks and turned to see who this strange voice belonged to. She saw what looked to be a fancy, Manehattanite pony standing on her farm. This was odd, Rarijack thought. They never really have visitors like this on the farm. Preferably, she would rather not deal with fru-fru ponies like these since she couldn’t understand that kind of lifestyle. However, Rarijack knew that whoever it may be, they deserved a warm Sweet Apple Acres welcome.
“Well, you sure look like you’re in the wrong part of town!” Rarijack joked. “Ya needed some help?”
“Yes, I do!” Applejack smiled nervously. “I just arrived here from Manehattan. I seem to be a little lost at the moment.”
“Well, Ah’ll do mah best to point you in the right direction,” Rarijack smiled. “Mah name’s Applejack! What’s yours?”
“Mah name?” Applejack slipped a bit as the question caught her off guard. She thankfully got herself back on track to give her new identity a name. “My name is… Orange… Grove…” she nervously said.
“Well nice ta meet ya, Ms. Orange Grove! What can Ah do ya for?”
“You see, I’m looking for a unicorn named Rarity. I heard she had a fashion shop here in Ponyville. Do you know where I can find her?”
Rarijack grinned. “Today’s yer lucky day then because Rarity’s a good friend of mine! Her shop’s called Carousel Boutique. You can find it in the middle of town.”
“Oh wonderful! Would you be so kind to show me the way to Carousel Boutique then?”
Rarijack hesitated for a moment. She remembered her ordeal with dressmaking just a few days earlier and would rather not revisit that experience. In spite of that, though, she decided to do the neighborly thing and help the visitor out. “Well Ah am kinda busy right now. But Ah can walk you over there real quick.”
With Rarijack leading the way, the two ponies made their way away from the farm and into town. Applejack made sure she kept her act up as the curious newcomer, asking general questions about Ponyville every now and again. After touring the city, the two eventually made it inside their last stop, Carousel Boutique.
“Rarity?” Rarijack called out. “It’s me, Applejack! Ah brought ya a customer.” There was no reply from inside the shop. After a few moments, Rarijack started to make her way back. “Ah guess Rarity’s out right now. Ah’m sure she’ll be back soon. At any rate, Ah’ve got to get home right now. Tell Rarity Ah said hi!”
“WAIT! Don’t go!!!” Applejack shouted, forcing Rarijack to stop.
“Something wrong Ms. Orange Grove?”
Applejack had to think fast in order to keep Rarijack at Carousel Boutique, while at the same time keeping up her new Orange Grove persona. “Yes! You can’t leave because...” she held her arm up to her forehead in a fake swoon. “I’ll be all alone! A vulnerable pony in the middle of an unknown town. I could be attacked by ruffians! Or timberwolves! I can’t possibly handle such dangers. Oh, whatever shall a weak damsel do?” Applejack's mind recoiled in disgust over her act. Ah can’t believe Ah actually did that, she thought.
Rarijack shook her head. City ponies were all the same, weren’t they? “All right. If it’ll make you feel better, Ah’ll stay for a little while.”
Applejack smiled. “Oh, thank you! Rarity’s lucky to have a friend like you.”
“Thank ya kindly, ma’am.” Rarijack blushed.
“So while we’re waiting, would you mind telling me what Rarity is like? I’ve heard so many stories about her.”
Rarijack scratched the back of her head. “Well… Ah’m not really the best pony to answer that question. Truth be told, me and her don’t really have that much in common.”
“Is that so? So if I may ask, how do you two get along?”
Rarijack shrugged. “Sometimes even Ah don’t know. We just live two different lives, that's all. Ah can’t imagine what Rarity would think if she had to work on the farm for a few days.”
Applejack held a hoof to her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing. She quickly regained her composure. “Well what about you, Applejack? Can you picture yourself working in a shop like this?”
Rarijack shook her head. “No way! Ah can’t make a dress to save mah life! Ah’d drown if I had to run this place mahself! Trust me, Ah’ve tried!” To prove her point, she showed the Manehattanite to where she had crumpled up a piece of paper which had one of the cowboy hats she tried to design just a few days earlier. In fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn’t even sure why she was helping out Rarity with something like that in the first place. Applejack, meanwhile, simply gawked at the design.
“Nice hat,” Applejack commented.
“Gee, thanks,” Rarijack replied sarcastically.
Applejack understood where Rarijack’s sentiment came from. Cowboy hats were pretty much the limit of her own fashion knowledge. On her own, she couldn’t make anything else beyond that. In fact, all of the previous times she had to dress up for fancy parties, Rarity pretty much did all the work for her. She did remember in those instances, Rarity was more than eager to share her vast knowledge of fashion and beauty to her. As Applejack got to know Rarity more and more, she learned that the unicorn didn’t act out of vanity, but out of pure bona fide generosity to share her gifts with the world. And while her own artistic talents might be lackluster, Applejack decided to try to show Rarijack the art of sharing and generosity.
“You know when you look at this, it really isn’t that bad of a start. If you don’t mind, perhaps I could give you some help with this.”
“Seriously? And what do you know about dresses?”
Applejack knew that she knew nothing about dresses. However, right now she was Orange Grove, and she decided that in order to help get the old Rarity back, she should at least give dressmaking a shot.
“I think I can handle a dress or two,” she found herself saying.
20 Minutes Later…
Rarijack simply stood stunned at the city pony’s lack of dress sense. The dress, if she could even call it that, wound up being a grotesque mismatch of colors, fabrics, and accessories all sloppily stitched together. She took a look at the orange city pony again, her own dress looking like it was done by the finest craftspony in Canterlot. She couldn’t believe this pony could have created… that.
“On second thought, I guess I can’t handle a dress!” Applejack smiled sheepishly.
“Wow, and Ah thought Ah was bad.” Rarijack commented.
Applejack blushed in embarrassment. “I have to confess. I’ve never really made dresses before. My parents always made them for me.”
Rarijack smiled. “It’s all right. First tries aren’t always gonna be the best tries. But with a little practice, Ah think you can make a fine dressmaker.”
Applejack shook her head. “No, I couldn’t possibly. I don’t even know where to start!”
“Maybe Ah can give you some advice from what Ah saw back there,” Rarijack suggested. She walked Applejack over to the sewing machine. “For starters, you were shaking like a scared dog when ya used that sewing machine back there! You need to handle the fabrics more gently and with steady hooves. And if Ah were you, Ah would probably start with a simple backstitch if you’re not comfy with the more complicated stuff.” Rarijack blinked as she realized what she was saying. “Wait. How did Ah know that?”
Applejack gasped. It was working! Just a little more. “It sounds like you know more than you give yourself credit for. Why don’t you give your design another chance? It can’t be any worse than my attempt.”
Rarijack took another look at the design sheet that still had her old cowboy hat drawing. But this time, she was able to visualize something else with it.
You know, maybe it doesn’t have to be that fancy, she thought. Maybe all Ah need is a simple, everyday dress. She began to visualize a modest green outfit that would complement the outfit. Slowly, but surely, she drew her idea down on the sheet. To her surprise, it was actually looking decent!
“Wow, Ah’m actually design somethin’!” Rarijack chuckled.
“How do you feel?” Applejack asked, hoping to nudge her friend back over the threshold.
“Well…” Rarijack hesitated before she found the words. “Ah kinda feel like...”
“RARITY? Are you in here?”
The two ponies jolted in shock as a high-pitched yelling suddenly came from the now-opened front door. Standing in the entry way was Rarity’s younger sister, Sweetie Belle.
“Where were you, Rarity? You just disappeared without saying anything and…” Sweetie Belle trailed off as she saw what she assumed was her sister, but she was for some reason dressed up as Applejack. She also noticed that the second pony bore more than a strong resemblance to Applejack.
“Uh… howdy Sweetie Belle!” Rarijack told the filly.
“Uh, did I miss something?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Applejack cursed silently. She was so close to getting Rarity back and Sweetie Belle interrupted everything. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do about it now. She had to keep the act up for the time being.
“Well, my name is Orange Grove, and I’m looking for a new dress. Rarity’s friend, Applejack, showed me the way over here.”
“But… Rarity’s right there!”
Rarijack chuckled. “Come on, Sweetie Belle. Ah don’t look like Rarity!”
Sweetie Belle tried to counter the argument, when she was interrupted by the front door slamming open. Everypony turned to see who came into Carousel Boutique. All three of them were stunned to see that the newcomer was… another Sweetie Belle?
“Applejack! It’s me, Apple Bloom!” the second Sweetie Belle drawled. “Aloe and Lotus had enough white paint to dress me up! Ah can pretend to be Sweetie Belle to get Rarity back.”
Applejack facehoofed. The jig was up. “Apple Bloom… Look behind you.”
Apple Bloom did as she was told. She turned around and she noticed the real Sweetie Belle staring at her.
“Apple Bloom?!?” Sweetie Belle asked in disbelief.
Apple Bloom blushed in embarrassment. “Uh… hi, Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle looked at everypony in the room, all dressed like somepony else. After a short moment, a thought came to her. “Oh I get it! It’s dress up day, isn’t it? That sounds like fun! Can I be Princess Luna then? I can even do the Royal Canterlot Voice thing! YOU WILL BOW DOWN TO THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!!!”
Sweetie Belle’s shrieking impression of Princess Luna made the other three cringe.
“OK, that’s real nice Sweetie Belle!” Applejack shouted.
“Oh! How about I do Vinyl Scratch!” Sweetie Belle continued. “I can imitate her music!”
The energetic unicorn filly proceeded to imitate the deep bass sounds that is the DJ pony’s trademark, hopping around the room to the beat of the music, knocking around some loose gems and bumping some mannequins to the ground in the process. Applejack and Apple Bloom cringed as her imitation was starting turning the design room into a disaster area. Rarijack covered her ears and shut her eyes throughout all this. She couldn’t take it anymore. Somepony had to put an end to Sweetie Belle’s antics…
And she was just the right sister to do it.
“Sweetie Belle, THAT’S ENOUGH!!!”
The young unicorn hushed immediately. She recognized that tone from anywhere. She looked to see her big sister pointing a stern frown towards her. The freckles that were on her face before were now gone.
“Rarity?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but could you two please take you shenanigans elsewhere? I’m in the middle with an important client!”
“Yes, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said in unison. With both their heads lowered, they made their way out of the room.
After the left, Rarity turned to her customer. She had no clue whatsoever as to what was going on, but she saw there was a customer in her shop that she needed to care for.
“I’m so sorry about that,” she apologized. “That was rather unprofessional of me. I promise I will get to work right away on your new dress!”
“But Rarity…”
“No buts!” Rarity wouldn’t hear any objections from her customer. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me and my work. I’m usually a lot more prepared than this, honestly!” She sighed. “I simply don’t what’s been going on with me recently. It’s like I haven’t been myself lately.”
Applejack chuckled. She began to undo her bun, letting her mane hang loosely once more. “You ain’t the only one, sugarcube!” she smiled.
Rarity became confused as she noticed her customer’s accent. It was at this time she finally noticed what the customer looked like. She was dressed up like a true Manehattanite, but the coat and mane colors, and especially the freckles, were unmistakable.
“APPLEJACK?!?” Rarity shouted in complete astonishment.
Applejack nodded. “That’s right. Ah’ve dressed up all fancy.”
Rarity remained speechless as she suddenly found herself face-to-face with a dressed-up Applejack, not so much that the cowpony actually bothered to don a dress, but particularly over how stunning she looked.
“I… I… I don’t know what to say…” Rarity stammered. “I thought you didn’t like dressing up!”
“Let’s just say that we’re even, all right?”
“We’re even? How?”
“Ah’ll explain later.” Applejack noticed the mess Sweetie Belle had made. “Looks like you need to clean up. Ah’ll keep an eye on Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom for ya!” With a wink, Applejack left the room, leaving a confused Rarity alone.
“What in heavens was that about?” the unicorn wondered. “And what did Applejack mean when she said we’re even?”
Meanwhile in the main foyer, Apple Bloom was doing her best to catch Sweetie Belle up on everything. The two noticed Applejack emerging from the room.
“So what happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Rarity’s back to normal!” Applejack reported.
Apple Bloom cheered at the good news, leaping into her sister's hooves. “We did it! We got everypony back!!!”
While she wanted to celebrate with her sister at that moment, Applejack shook her head. “It ain’t over yet, Apple Bloom.”
Apple Bloom became worried. “But everything’s back to normal now, right?”
“It is, but there’s still one thing left for us to do,” Applejack noted.
“And what’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
At that moment, they heard a sudden shriek of horror from inside the room.
“MY MANE!!!!”
The scream was immediately followed by the dull thud of a fainting pony. Applejack simply smiled as the moment she waited for occurred.
“We have to wake Rarity back up!” she told the two young fillies.
~~~~~
The sun was already high in the sky the following day when Applejack finally got out of bed. Usually she would have been up at the crack of dawn working in the orchard. However, thanks to her friends’ work, all the outstanding chores were done. So Applejack took the rare opportunity to sleep in that day, and she was thankful for that. Doing all the imitations she did yesterday took a lot out of her, so she was looking forward to spend the day off just being herself for a change.
Applejack decided to spend the day in town, checking up on her friends just to make sure they were ok. She also needed to swing by the spa to deliver an apple pie to Aloe and Lotus as a token of thanks for their help. So before she went into town, she went straight to the kitchen to bake the pie. The aroma of the warm apple pie drew Apple Bloom to the kitchen.
“Hey Applejack! Is that Granny Smith’s secret recipe?”
“It sure is! Ah’m taking this over to Aloe and Lotus. Y’know, as a way of sayin’ thanks for their help yesterday.”
“Can Ah come to?”
“Sure you can Apple Bloom! You can even have them dress you up as Scootaloo if ya want!”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nuh uh! Ah think Ah’ve had enough imitations for a while.”
“Me too!” Applejack chuckled.
Later that day, the two went into town and towards the spa to deliver their gift. When they got to their destination, they found that the spa’s waiting room was empty.
“Hello?” Apple Bloom called out. “Aloe? Lotus? Anypony home?”
At that moment, Lotus emerged from the curtain that led to the main spa room.
“Applejack! Apple Bloom! Sorry, but we’re kinda busy right now.”
“It’s ok,” Applejack smiled. “We can come back later..”
“Actually…” Lotus replied, “You can come on inside if you want. I’m sure our guests won’t mind.”
“You sure?”
Lotus stifled a giggle. “Trust me, Applejack. They won’t.”
With a little reluctance from the two sisters, Lotus led them past the curtain to the main spa room. Applejack quickly noticed that the spa was fairly busy right now as Aloe and Lotus were currently helping out five familiar ponies. Applejack’s friends were all here, and all of them looked to be pretty worn out. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were lying down on a massage table where Aloe was trying to massage their backs, and Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie were in the warm bath.
“Hey! Look who’s here!” Lotus announced.
Everypony looked to see the two newcomers
“Howdy Applejack!” Pinkie waved. “Although that was me saying howdy, and not Applejack-me saying howdy. Just so there’s no confusion.”
“Girls? What are y’all doing here?” asked Applejack.
Twilight started the explanation. “We all woke up feeling really sore from all the farm work we did when we thought we were you.”
“It still hurts to move anything!” Rarity whined.
“Even you, Rainbow?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Hey! Heavy lifting isn’t in my resume.” Rainbow Dash tried to defend herself.
“Same here!” Twilight agreed. “I’ve done workouts before, but nothing like that.”
“How do you do it, Applejack?” Fluttershy wondered.
Applejack could only shrug. “Ah guess Ah’m just used to it. Ah’ve been doing farm work mah whole life, so Ah haven’t really thought about it that much. It’s kinda hard to explain if you didn’t grow up on a farm.”
“Tell me about it,” Pinkie nodded, bad memories from her younger days at her family’s rock farm playing in her head.
“You know, Applejack,” Fluttershy spoke up, “I never realized how hard you worked at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Me too,” Rarity nodded. “Although I could have lived without actually experiencing that.”
“You wanna talk about a different experience?” Applejack chuckled, “Ah almost had mah own identity crisis acting like y’all!”
Apple Bloom shifted around nervously. “Ah guess Ah owe all of y’all an apology. Ah’m sorry Ah made that wish, everypony.”
"It's all right, Apple Bloom," Fluttershy smiled. "Although, I guess we're all at fault a bit for letting ourselves get so busy lately."
"Ah know," Apple Bloom replied. "Applejack told me."
Applejack gave her little sister a reassuring hug. “Hey listen, AB. Just because we're all busy, doesn't mean we ain't friends anymore. We understand that we can't all be there all the time. That's life sometimes. It happens to the best of us."
"Ah guess Ah screwed up, huh big sis?"
"Nah," Applejack chuckled. "Ya didn't know. And besides, it’s not every day that ya get to walk in somepony else’s horseshoes for a while.”
“And sometimes,” Twilight added, “In order to be a good friend, you need to look at things from somepony else’s point of view. Although next time, I think I’ll settle with just asking questions as opposed to actually living somepony else’s life.”
“At any rate, I’m just glad this whole things over!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slowly got off the massage table.
Applejack laughed. “Trust me, RD. No one’s as glad as Ah am!”
"Hey, is anypony getting thirsty?" Pinkie suddenly chirped up.
"I am," Rarity replied. "But I'm still way too sore to get up right now."
“Hey, Ah have an idea!” Apple Bloom chirped up. “Why don’t Ah get y’all something to drink? It’s the least Ah can do to make up for it.”
“That’s a great idea, Apple Bloom!” Twilight smiled.
“So what do you girls like?” the filly asked.
Without blinking, the six friends answered at the same time.
“I'll have some apple juice!”
THE END
Author's Note
This chapter would have been out a lot sooner, but my laptop nearly imploded on me a few weeks ago and I just NOW got it back. At any rate, this is the end of the story, although I might add a bonus alternate ending or two later, so I'll leave the story tagged as incomplete for now.
Thanks for reading! :-)
Epilogue 1 – Everything’s Going to be Just Fine!
“At any rate, I’m just glad this whole thing is over!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slowly got off the massage table.
“Me too,” Twilight agreed. “By the way, thanks for helping us get back to normal, Applejack.”
Applejack smiled. “Don’t mention it, Twi! Besides, y’all aren’t supposed to be me anyway. Y'all are supposed to be yourselves. After all, it’s y’all’s true… destiny…” Applejack suddenly felt a light wooziness that made her stumble back a bit.
“Sis? Ya all right?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Ah don’t know,” Applejack answered. “Ah feel… funny…”
Fluttershy suddenly shrieked. “Applejack! You’re glowing!”
Applejack looked down at herself and noticed an orange glow starting to surround her. As the glow became more intense, streaks of white magic began to circle all around her. Applejack looked around in confusion as the magic lifted her off the ground.
“Wha- what’s happening?” Applejack tried to ask, but she was suddenly cut off as the magic surrounding her exploded, enveloping her in an orange ball of magic.
Everypony stood back as the magic reached its peak, shielding their eyes from the sheer brightness of the magic. Eventually, the magic died down and the light faded away. They all saw Applejack magically being lowered slowly back to the floor. When the cowpony’s hooves reached the ground, she majestically raised her horn high in the air, unfurling a pair of orange wings in the process. All the ponies in the spa gasped in stunned shock.
“Applejack? You… you’re an alicorn!” Twilight managed to say.
The purple unicorn could hardly believe she just said those words. She was in total disbelief, as was everypony else. Well, almost everypony. Pinkie was simply scratching her head. She couldn’t quite put a hoof on it, but something seemed off.
Applejack touched her new horn with some hesitation. She also took a close look at her new wings. “Ah don’t believe this!”
“Mah sister’s an alicorn! Mah sister’s an alicorn!” an excited Apple Bloom shouted.
“This is so awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “AJ has wings!”
“Are you all right, Applejack?” Twilight asked.
Applejack nodded. “Ah think so. Ah just don’t know going on right now.”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on. You look absolutely marvelous!” Rarity smiled.
“You look just like a princess,” Fluttershy added
“That’s because she is a princess,” a new voice suddenly appeared. Everypony turned to see that they were now in the presence of Princess Celestia herself.
“Your highness?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on?”
“The fulfillment of a destiny,” Princess Celestia answered. She then turned to address the new alicorn. “Applejack, my faithful subject. By helping your friends realize their true selves, you have demonstrated an understanding of friendship that hasn’t been seen in Equestria in a long time.” Twilight felt the need the object to Celestia’s comment, but she was still in shock from the whole scenario. She allowed Celestia to continue. “And for realizing the true destinies of your friends, Applejack, it is now time for you to fulfill your true destiny as a Princess of Equestria.”
Everypony gasped in delight, with the exception of Twilight and Pinkie. Pinkie became even more confused over this entire scenario while Twilight’s mind nearly stopped working as she watched her mentor pass her over completely. “Princess… Applejack?” she muttered inaudibly.
“Wait a second…” Pinkie objected. “But what about Twi…”
“All hail Princess Applejack!” Princess Celestia shouted, cutting off Pinkie’s question.
Celestia bowed down to Applejack. One by one, the others followed suit. At first, Pinkie and Twilight didn’t bow down as they were still completely dumbfounded over what they were seeing. Rarity noticed the two not bowing.
“Don’t be rude, you two,” she whispered. “Show some respect to the new princess!”
Twilight and Pinkie quickly complied, bowing down to the new princess.
Applejack became overwhelmed by the announcement and the show of support. “Gee, thanks y’all. Ah’m speechless.”
“Congratulations Applejack!” Princess Celestia smiled.
Apple Bloom gave her sister a big hug. “Ah love you, Applejack.”
“Ah love you too, Apple Bloom,” Applejack hugged back. Soon, everypony else surrounded surrounded the new princess, with Pinkie and Twilight left behind, silently trying to figure out what in Equestria was going on.
“You’re gonna be the most awesome princess Equestria has ever seen, AJ!” Rainbow Dash grinned.
“You’ve certainly earned it Applejack!” Rarity said.
“But…. She didn’t really…” Pinkie tried to say to no avail.
“We all love you, Applejack.” Fluttershy said. “You’re the greatest friend in the history of Equestria!”
“But what about my big crown thingy?” Twilight asked in a small voice that nopony heard.
“Come along everypony,” Celestia shouted. “We need to get ready for Applejack’s coronation ceremony!”
Princess Celestia and the soon-to-be-crowned Princess Applejack all led the others out of the spa. Pinkie and Twilight stayed behind, still frozen from everything they had just witnessed.
“That just happened, didn’t it?” Pinkie asked.
“I think it did.” Twilight sadly replied. She slowly sat on her haunches.
“Are you ok, Twilight?”
Twilight sighed. “I guess so. I mean, I’m happy for Applejack. But, I thought with all my work studying friendship, I would be the one who would be a princess. I can’t help feeling that I just got snubbed.”
Pinkie put a reassuring pat on the back. “I know. It does make more sense if you became an alicorn, but this is just how the story is supposed to go, I guess.”
“What story?”
Pinkie pulled out a sheet of paper, which contained a My Little Pony logo on it. She also produced a pair of reading glasses. “It’s all in the plot. See?” She began to read the paper out loud. “After her friends stop acting like themselves, Twilight uses her knowledge of friendship to fix everypony’s destiny, thereby fulfilling her own destiny by becoming an alicorn princess. ” Pinkie blinked. She read the synopsis again, taking a big note of the lack of the word ‘Applejack’. “Uh oh,” she squeaked out.
“Pinkie? What’s wrong?”
“We just did the whole story wrong!” Pinkie shouted in panic.
Twilight did a double take. “We did what?”
“You were supposed to be the one who became an alicorn princess, Twilight. Not Applejack!” Pinkie explained.
“Wait, so you’re telling me that I do become a princess?”
“Yes! Come on, Twilight. We have to straighten this out!”
Pinkie and Twilight ran full gallop to catch up with the others. They had a lot of explaining to do.
*****
Epilogue 2 - Just Perfect
“At any rate, I’m just glad this whole thing is over!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slowly got off the massage table.
At that moment, a sudden slam came from the front door that caught everypony’s attention.
“Girls! It’s me! Ah’m back!” the newcomer drawled.
She was covered in dirt and was catching her breath, recovering from what seemed to be a very perilous journey. She had green eyes, a blond mane, an orange coat, and three apples as her cutie mark, much like the pony already inside the spa. Everypony blinked in reaction to the fact that there were now two Applejacks inside the spa.
“Applejack?!?” Twilight shouted in disbelief.
“Hold up!” the first, original Applejack approached the newcomer. “What in tarnation is this?”
“Don’t listen to her, everypony!” the second, newcomer Applejack warned. “She’s a changeling!”
“I’m a what?!?” the first Applejack shouted.
“It’s true! Ah was ponynapped a few months ago and she’s been impersonating me ever since!”
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh no! Are you all right?”
“Ah am now,” the second Applejack said. “Ah managed to escape the Changeling hive and come back! And now Ah’m here to put an end to this once and for all!”
The first Applejack facehoofed. “This is a bunch of baloney! Ah wasn’t ponynapped. Ah was here the whole time! For all we know, you’re the changeling!”
The second Applejack got into her counterpart’s face. “That’s exactly what a changeling would say! You’re gonna pay for stealing mah life!”
“This is ridiculous! Ah’m the real Applejack! You’re the changeling! If you think you can just waltz in here and pull this nonsense, you’ve got another thing coming!”
Everypony else in the room could only watch as the two Applejacks argue over who was the real Applejack and who was the changeling. If it weren’t for the fact that the second Applejack was still rather dirty from her journey, the two cowponies would be indistinguishable.
Rarity turned to Twilight. “How are we supposed to figure out which one is the real Applejack?”
Twilight shook her head, still not believing what she was seeing. “I have no idea.”
Pinkie Pie offered an idea. “How about I try the Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe technique?”
“They’re not going to start fighting each other, are they?” Fluttershy asked.
“What are we gonna do?” Apple Bloom asked.
Nopony said anything at first, as nopony had any idea how to solve this problem. Suddenly, an idea came to one of them. Rainbow Dash was the one who confidently stepped forward. “Relax guys. I got this.”
The pegasus made her way to the two Applejacks. She started to pace between the two of them.
“So, both of you are claiming to be the one, true Applejack, right?”
“Yes!” the two Applejacks answered in unison.
Rainbow Dash continued to pace before she settled in between them, the second newcomer on her left and the first one on the right. “So, if you are who you say you are, then you wouldn’t mind answering this question.”
“Ah don’t mind,” the second Applejack said.
“Ask me anything!” the first Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Ok then. So Applejack…” she turned to the newcomer. "DoyouhaveacrushonCarameldoyadoyadoyahuuuuh?”
The second Applejack recoiled in disgust. “A crush on Caramel? What? No way!!!”
Rainbow Dash gave her a small nod. She then turned to the first Applejack. “What about you?”
The first Applejack stammered. “Ah-Ah don’t have a crush on Caramel!” Her face scrunched up in reaction to what she said.
Rainbow Dash turned to her friends. “The newcomer’s the fake. This is the real AJ,” she plainly said, pointing to the scrunching cowpony.
“Curses!!!” The second Applejack shouted. With a green flash of fire, the newcomer Applejack transformed herself back into Queen Chrysalis. “You win this round, but mark my words. I will have my revenge! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
With another green flash of fire, Queen Chrysalis was gone.
“Well, that’s the end of that.” Applejack sighed. She then walked back to her friends, who were all smiling at giggling at her. “Uh, what are y’all smiling at?” she asked.
“Soooo…. Caramel, huh?” Twilight grinned.
*****
Epilogue 3: All's Well That Ends Well
“At any rate, I’m just glad this whole thing is over!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slowly got off the massage table.
“There just one thing that's still bothering me,” Apple Bloom wondered. “That well. Where did it come from? And what in tarnation happened to it?”
Applejack shrugged. “Ah guess we’ll never know.”
Meanwhile, millions of miles away from Equestria, in the reaches of the skies far beyond Princess Luna’s influence, a giant spacecraft continued its trek back to its home world. Despite the ship’s size, its population consisted of only three occupants. One of these occupants was a young seven-year old well, who was currently being lectured by both his parents.
“How many times have I told you not wander off, young man?” the father scolded him. “First, that incident with that orange tabby cat, and now this?”
“I’m sorry, dad,” the youngster well apologized. “But can you blame me? It was a planet of talking ponies! I had to see it for myself!”
“Furthermore,” the mother added, “How dare you grant that pony’s wish in the first place? We’ve told you about why we can’t use our powers to interfere with other worlds.”
“But she looked so sad,” the boy explained. “I thought granting her wish would make her happy. Besides, they straightened it out without our help.”
“That’s not the point, Junior!” the father shouted. “We can’t meddle in affairs of others like that. It’s part of the official Wishing Well charter!”
“But what’s the point of being a wishing well if we can’t grant wishes?” the boy asked.
“You’ll understand when you’re older sweetie,” the mother sighed. “Now come along. Your father and I will discuss your punishment after dinner.”
The family all began to make their way to their eating quarters for their family dinner. Behind the parents, the little well was muttering to himself.
“That cat was right. Mondays suck.”
*****
Epilogue 4: Can I Help?
“At any rate, I’m just glad this whole thing is over!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slowly got off the massage table.
At that moment, a knocking came from the window. Applejack went over to open it. A grey, wall-eyed pegasus wearing her official delivery hat was on the other side. She was holding a package in her front hooves.
"Howdy, Derpy!" Applejack smiled. "What are ya bringing today?"
"I've got a special delivery for Aloe and Lotus!"
"Oh marvelous!" Rarity shouted. "That must be the fragrant soaps I told them about."
"Oh, so that's what they were," Derpy responded. "They smell wonderful."
"I think Aloe and Lotus are in the front right now. We'll get them for you."
"It's ok, I'll just give this to them myself." Derpy flew inside the spa and tried to land next to the bath. Unfortunately, she landed on a wet, slippery spot which caused her to slip and fall, dropping the package and sending the bars of soap everywhere in the process.
"Oops," Derpy blushed in embarrassment.
"It's ok, Ah got it." Applejack tried to pick up one of the now wet bars of soap. Unfortunately, her grip was not hard enough. The soap flew out of her hooves and crashed right into a cabinet of expensive shampoos.
"Uh oh!" Applejack cringed.
"Applejack!" Rarity gasped, "Do you know how much that shampoo costs?!?"
Applejack gulped. She turned to her little sister. "Apple Bloom, get Aloe and Lotus. Ah've got to apologize to them."
"Ok, sis." With a little hesitation, Apple Bloom went to go fetch the two spa ponies.
"Now what are we supposed to do?" Twilight asked.
"Maybe we should clean up the mess for them." Fluttershy suggested. She hovered over to the cabinet and landed on the floor... right onto the wet bar of soap.
"Whoa! WHOOOOAAAA!!!" Fluttershy shouted as she started to slide uncontrollably across the spa floor. She bumped and crashed into several walls and cabinets, none of which slowed her down. She bounced around the room like a pinball, leaving a mess in her wake.
"I got you, Fluttershy!" Pinkie leapt into the air, trying to stop the pegasus from sliding. Her timing was just off, as she completely missed her target and instead, crashed into the wall. "I don't got you, Fluttershy." Pinkie groaned as she passed out.
Rarity looked on in disbelief. Aloe and Lotus' spa was getting destroyed. She had to do something! She got off her massage table and tried to run over to Fluttershy. She didn't watch her step though, as she slipped an another wet bar of soap and started to slide around the room herself. Rarity screamed in terror as she slid out of control. Applejack ran into intercept her but slipped on another bar of soap in the process. Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Derpy watched as Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were all pinballing their way around the room.
"Rainbow, you go get Rarity. I'll try to get AJ and Fluttershy!" Twilight instructed.
Without any prompting, Rainbow Dash took off to try to help her friends. Twilight readied her levitation spell towards Applejack. With how fast the cowpony was sliding, it was hard for her to get a direct hit. But it was an emergency, and Twilight didn't have the luxury of practice. She fired her levitation spell towards Applejack, but just missed her. Instead, she wound up levitating the spa bathtub that Applejack was sliding in front of at the time. Surprised at her mistake, Twilight immediately stopped the levitation spell, causing gravity to make the tub crash into the ground, water spilling everywhere.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash quickly caught up to the sliding Rarity. Flying just above her, she scooped her up in one swift move and continued to hold her in-flight.
"I got you, Rarity!" Dash shouted, keeping her eyes down on Rarity.
"WALL!!!" Rarity pointed in front of her.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash looked up just in time as she and Rarity crashed into the exterior wall. The weakness in the wall caused part of the roof to cave in, burying everypony in toppled wood and debris.
Aloe, Lotus and Apple Bloom all arrived just as the ceiling finished caving in. The two spa owners were stunned beyond words.
"Our spa!!!" Lotus shouted. Aloe fainted over, overcome by the shock.
Apple Bloom remained speechless. Moments later, she saw stirring from the rubble as Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Derpy all emerged, miraculously in one piece.
"Is everypony ok?" the farm filly asked.
The seven ponies, all wearing matching wall-eyed expressions answered in unison.
"We just don’t know what went wrong!"
Author's Note
I had a few funny ideas to end this story with, so I decided to just write all of them! Hope you enjoy them! And again, thanks for reading my story. Hope to see you soon!
Later that day, Applejack stood behind a tree as she watched Twilight, or rather the Applejack version of Twilight, finish gathering the apples from the nearby apple tree. As for Applejack herself, she was unrecognizable as her usual cowpony self. The paint job and mane-restyling she got at the spa made her look fairly convincingly like Twilight. She was even wearing a prosthetic horn that Aloe and Lotus had from last Nightmare Night. The only thing that was missing was the cutie mark. It would have taken too much time to sketch Twilight's cutie mark on her flank. So instead, she chose to leave the area around her cutie mark unpainted, choosing instead to hide her flank by wearing a sweater that covered her entire torso, including her unpainted flank. She watched the purple Applejack alongside her younger sister who tagged along from the spa.
"You sure this is gonna work, Applejack?" Apple Bloom whispered.
"Not really," Applejack whispered back, "But look! Twilight's cutie mark is still the same. Ah think the real Twilight is in there somewhere. Ah just have to fish it out of her."
"But what about your eyes?" Apple Bloom pointed out. "She's gonna notice that they're green!"
Applejack shrugged. "Ah'm gonna chance it. Besides, she thinks she's the same color as me, and she didn't notice everypony else's eyes were different, so maybe she won't notice mine."
Apple Bloom nodded. "All right! Ah'll meet you back at the spa. Good luck, sis!"
"Don't forget to get the stuff Ah told ya about, Apple Bloom."
"Ah won't!"
Apple Bloom ran off, leaving Applejack alone. It was now time to put her crazy idea into action. With a heavy sigh, she emerged from behind the tree and approached the Twilight-Applejack, or Twijack as Applejack had labeled her in her head. She cleared her throat and called out, doing her best impersonation of Twilight's voice.
"Howdy Twi…" Applejack quickly caught herself. "Erm, I mean… Hi Applejack! How are you doing?"
Twijack turned to see that, at long last, her purple unicorn friend had appeared from wherever it was she was these past few days. "Twilight? Where in tarnation have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you!"
Applejack smiled nervously. "Well... You see… I’ve been kind of…"
"Hey Twi? Your voice sounds a bit funny." Twijack told Applejack. "Are you sure you’re all right?"
"Mah voice?" Applejack caught herself. "Oh, YES! My voice! I was just getting over a cold!" She faked a cough to prove her point.
"Well that explains where you’ve been. Anyway, Ah need your help, Twi! There are impostors of me running all over the place!"
"Hmm, that does sound like it could be a problem."
"Yer darn tootin it's a problem! They keep showing up claiming they’re me. Ah don’t know what to do!"
"I need to look this up. Let's go back to the library! Come on, Applejack!"
So Applejack and Twilight, or rather Applejack-dressed-as-Twilight and Twilight-who-thought-she-was-Applejack, both made their way through town towards the library. A few passerby ponies did a double take at the sight of two purple ponies running down the street. Eventually, the two made it into the library. Applejack smiled. She got Twilight back home. Now she hoped the familiar sight of her books would be enough to snap her out of it.
"All right, now that we’re here, where should we start, Twi?" Twijack asked Applejack.
Applejack's smile quickly faded. She was not ready to improvise as her eggheaded friend. "Well… we should… um… erm…" she stammered.
Twijack frowned. "C’mon, Twi! You’re the brains! Ah really need your help!"
Applejack began to sweat under Twijack's glare. Horseapples! She's gonna figure out that Ah'm a fake!
Fortunately, salvation came for the disguised Applejack at that moment as Spike opened the door, carrying a whole handful of gems that went up and covered his face. Applejack was surprised and relieved that the baby dragon had returned. Hopefully, this would be the turning point to get Twilight acting like her old self again.
"Hey Twilight, I'm back! Sorry it took so long!" Spike said, being careful not to spill his gen haul all over the floor. With a little effort, he managed to set the gems down on the floor. Now able to see, Spike finally noticed that there were two Twilight Sparkles in the library, and one of the Twilights was dressed up like Applejack for some reason.
"Uh… Did I miss something?" the confused baby dragon asked.
Twijack began to explain. "Well Spike, Twilight here is just helping me with a bit of a problem on the farm."
"Yes, I am!" Applejack said in her best Twilight voice. "Hey Applejack? Could you do me a huge favor and get my… um… my dictionary?"
Twijack chuckled. "You unicorns sure do like all them fancy words."
As Twijack went over to the bookshelf, Applejack leaned over to Spike's ear. "Spike, it’s me. Ah’m the real Applejack," she whispered.
"Wait. You're Applejack?" Spike asked in bewilderment. Applejack lifted her sweater a bit to reveal to Spike her unpainted flank and her cutie mark. She also lifted her fake horn for added measure. Spike was convinced.
"But if you're really Applejack, then who is..."
"That's actually Twilight," she explained. "Long story short, Twilight thinks she’s me, and Ah’m trying to snap her out of it. Ah think Ah might need your help, though."
"What can I do?"
Applejack shrugged. "Ah dunno, do something that'll grab her attention! Ya know, like a shock?"
Spike pondered for a quick moment before an idea popped in his head. "I've got just the thing!"
Without anymore words, Spike quickly went up the library stairs to where Twilight's bedroom was. Applejack wondered for a moment what the baby dragon was up to.
"Twilight?" Twijack shouted out, snapping AJ out of her train of thoughts, "Where do ya keep that dictionary? Ah can’t find it!"
Applejack cleared her throat and continued her Twilight imitation. "Never mind Twi… er… Applejack. I don’t need it."
Twijack dropped her search and rejoined Applejack in the middle of the room. "All right then. So have you found anything about these imposters yet?"
Applejack shook her head. "Nothing yet."
Twijack groaned. "Consarnit all!!! There just has to be an answer for this somewhere!"
"Don’t worry, AJ. I’m sure we’ll find something…"
Suddenly, the two ponies heard loud crashing noises coming from upstairs. They quickly ran up the stairs to investigate where the noise was coming from. The two made it up the stairs and to the bedroom to find the noise was coming from Spike. He had knocked over the bookshelf that was nearest to Twilight's bed. He also had a freshly-opened garbage bag, which he was stuffing with the toppled books. Applejack and Twijack stood frozen as they watched Spike nonchalantly throwing the books away.
"Spike?!? What the hay are ya doin’?" Twijack shouted.
"I’m just throwing away Twilight’s personal favorite book collection to make room for my new Rarity shrine." Spike calmly explained.
Twijack's pupils shrunk. "Twilight's... favorite... books?"
Applejack dropped her Twilight act and pulled the dragon aside. "Spike, stop it! You’re taking this too far!"
"Hey, you said Twilight needed a shock!" Spike pointed out.
"Ah meant something that would grab her attention!" Applejack clarified. "Ah didn’t mean for you to do something this dadgum crazy!!!"
While Spike and Applejack argued, Twijack looked at the book pile in stunned disbelief.
"Ah can't believe it..." she muttered to herself again and again.
The situation was very unbelievable the more she thought about it. These were Twilight's favorite books! She easily guessed that these were very important to her. In fact, they were important! These books on that bookcase were not just her favorites, but it was also the books she was currently reading and researching. It's where she kept her most important and most personal books.
And Spike just threw it all away!
"Spike, how could you?" she muttered repeatedly. Her eye twitched as her face started to twist in anger. Her mutterings became loud enough that Applejack and Spike stopped arguing.
"Spike, how could you?" she growled.
Applejack slowly approached her. "Applejack? You ok?"
Spike and Applejack were astonished to see Twilight's freckles magically vanished off her face.
"SPIKE!!! HOW COULD YOU!?!" Twilight exploded in rage, sending Spike to hide under the bed from the purple unicorn.
"I spent years organizing that bookshelf!" Twilight ranted. "Do you know how long it's going to take to get everything back to the way it was? I can't believe you did something this careless!!!"
"I think she's back to normal, AJ!" Spike shouted from under the bed.
"Twilight? Is that really you?" Applejack asked.
Twilight reacted to Applejack's voice. "Of course it's me, Applejack! Who else would I..." Any other words were taken right out of Twilight's mouth when she noticed another her standing right beside her. However, this Twilight had green eyes instead of her normal purple color.
"Applejack?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
Applejack sheepishly wiped some of the paint away from her face, revealing her regular orange coat. "Eeyup, that's me," she smiled nervously.
An awkward silence hung over the two ponies that seemed to have lasted a few hours.
"Nice hairstyle." Twilight finally spoke out.
"Thanks, Twi."
"So Applejack?" Twilight asked as innocently as possible, "Mind explaining why you're dressed up as me?"
"You might want to take a look at yourself in the mirror, sugarcube," Applejack suggested.
Taking Applejack's advice, Twilight went over to her stand-up mirror to get a good look at herself. She finally noticed the cowboy hat she was wearing, and the ponytail her mane and tail was made up into. Twilight stared into the mirror, stunned into silence.
"Don’t ask how it happened, but you just spent the past few days thinking you were me," Applejack explained.
"I did?" Twilight asked. She was confused until she started to remember the events of a few days ago. "Oh. I did," she realized. "I remembered what happened that morning. All of a sudden, I couldn't do magic. Then I started talking like you. And the next thing I know, I look like this!" She took off her hat and lifted it in the air to emphasize her point.
Spike emerged from under the bed. "But you're over it now, right Twilight?"
"Let's see." Twilight closed her eyes and focused. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm... I'm from Canterlot! I'm Princess Celestia's most prized student! I am the bearer of the Element of Magic!" Satisfied, she opened her eyes again, getting another look at herself in the mirror. "And I really need a brush in the worst way possible right now!"
Twilight found her brush on her night table. With little effort, she summoned a levitation spell. "My magic's back!!!" Twilight smile grew wider as she began to brush her mane back to normal.
Applejack was smiling too. "So this really did work! Ah’ve got to get the others back too!"
"Wait, you mean we all were acting like you, too?" Twilight asked.
Applejack sighed and nodded. "That's something Ah'd rather not go through again." She shuddered at the memory of her five friends acting like her. "Hey Twi? Ah could use your help to get everypony back to normal."
Twilight smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, AJ. I’d love to help, but a certain dragon and I have a bookshelf to reorganize. Don't we, Spike ?" She shot a menacing glare over to the small assistant.
"Eek! Yes ma’am!" Standing at attention, Spike gave Twilight a salute.
Applejack chuckled. Twilight was back, all right! After a farewell hug, Applejack made her way out of the library with a smile a mile wide. She got her friend back! And now it was time to get the others back too.
"One down, four to go!" Applejack made her way back to spa to get the rest of the paint off her and put on her next disguise. On her way, she passed by the flower shop. The bunnies which she saw earlier were still running amok in the flowers. Applejack sighed. She knew who she had to target next.
~~~~~
It had been a very hard day of work for the Applejack who, to the rest of the world, looked like Fluttershy. She was resting underneath an apple tree, enjoying a well earned break. Unbeknownst to her, the real Applejack was watching her from afar. Applejack looked herself over. She had herself painted in Fluttershy's color scheme, pink mane and yellow coat. Her mane and tail were not as long as Fluttershy's, but Aloe and Lotus still managed to pull off getting her mane to look like Fluttershy, only with a shorter mane. Also problematic was Applejack's lack of wings. She hoped the full body sweater she was wearing, which covered much of her body except her head and her legs, would be enough to hide the fact that she wasn't really a pegasus. It wasn't the world's greatest Fluttershy disguise, but if Applejack was successful in making the Twijack believe she was Twilight, then she was fairly certain that she could convince Flutterjack that she was Fluttershy.
Applejack took a deep breath. Being the soft and gentle Fluttershy would be a challenge for the normally rough and tumble Applejack. But if it meant getting her friend back, then she was ready to go through it. With that in mind, she approached the resting Flutterjack.
"Um... Excuse me? Applejack?" she called out in her best Fluttershy voice.
Flutterjack lifted her hat to see and saw a familiar yellow form approach her. "Fluttershy! Ah haven’t seen ya in a while! How ya doin’ sugarcube?"
"I’m fine," Applejack whispered quietly, trying to emulate the pegasus' shy demeanor.
"Beg pardon?" Flutterjack asked. Apparently Applejack emulated Fluttershy a bit too well back there.
"I said I’m fine!" Applejack shouted in a very unFluttershy-like way. Flutterjack had to regain her bearings after hearing such a loud shout from the yellow pony.
"Dang, Fluttershy! You taking those cheering lessons again?"
Applejack mentally scolded herself for acting out-of-character as Fluttershy for the moment. This was going to be tougher than she thought. "Well, I'm trying. I’m sorry if I surprised you."
"Nah, don’t apologize, ‘Shy. You’re trying yer best. And honestly, it sounded real good that time!"
"Oh, thank you, Applejack! Trust me, I'm trying as hard as I can."
"Anyway, what brings you over today?"
"Well, you see," Applejack began, "I've been sick lately so I wasn’t able to take care of my animal friends."
"So that’s where you were! Your voice does sound a bit different today."
"Yeah…" Applejack cleared her throat. "Anyway I’m trying to gather all my animal friends that got loose while I was away."
Flutterjack smiled. "Say no more! Ah’ll get mah rope and we’ll lasso them critters before they knew what hit ‘em!"
"Applejack, no! You’ll scare them!"
"Well maybe a good scare is exactly what them critters need," Flutterjack argued. "Show them who’s boss, ya know?"
"But um… what about kindness?"
Flutterjack decided to humor her. "All right. What about kindness?"
Applejack stammered. She was unprepared to be put on the spot like this. "Well, um… it’s… I mean it's... kind?" She attempted to squee a sheepish smile. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it was convincing enough as Flutterjack frowned an unsatisfied frown.
"Sorry, Fluttershy. But you're gonna have to come up with something better than that."
She's right. Applejack thought. Ah can't convince her on something weak like that. Applejack's expression dropped as a feeling of sadness overtook her. She wouldn't be able to get Fluttershy back at this rate. She might never get her other friends back too at this rate. She couldn't help but let her eyes water at her looming failure. Flutterjack's expression softened as she saw Applejack's eyes water.
"You ok, hon?"
"Ah… Ah don’t know." Applejack admitted in a small voice. Her impression was gone, but Flutterjack didn't seem to notice. "Ah’m really trying as hard as Ah can but... Ah just can’t..."
Flutterjack smiled. "It’s ok, Fluttershy. You’re trying your best. That’s all you can do, and it honestly takes a lot of guts to challenge yerself like that."
Applejack let out a small laugh. "Heh, tell me about it."
Flutterjack put a hoof over Applejack's shoulder. "Ah’ll tell you what, Fluttershy. If it makes you feel better, we’ll try it your way. All right, sugarcube?"
Applejack perked right back up. "You will? Oh thanks Flut… I mean, thanks Applejack!" she corrected herself in her Fluttershy impression once again.
Applejack led Flutterjack off of the farm and into town, where the bunnies were starting to make themselves home at the flower shop. At first, Flutterjack instinctively reached for her lasso to corral the critters. However, Applejack held her back.
"No, you have to be kind to them!" Applejack reminded her.
"All right," Flutterjack reluctantly agreed. She put her lasso down and slowly approached the store, which made the rabbits scurry to their hiding places in fear. "Fluttershy, they're scared of me!"
"Show them that you won't hurt them," Applejack suggested. "Go ahead, it's ok."
"If ya say so." Flutterjack turned her attention back to the rabbits. She could see the poor animals shaking in fear. Flutterjack held out her hoof and smiled. "It's ok. Ah ain't gonna hurt ya." she told them. One of the rabbits tentatively reached out for her hoof. She did her best not to flinch as the rabbit carefully touch her hoof. It was working! This one rabbit, as well as the others, stopped being afraid of her and started nuzzling her leg. She used her other front hoof to carefully pick up the rabbit.
"Well, what do ya know? It worked!" Flutterjack remarked. "Ah guess a little kindness goes a long way!"
"And how does it make you feel?" Applejack asked.
Flutterjack felt a warm feeling well up inside her. Being kind like this felt wonderful. She was so used to rounding up critters that she never really took the time to care for them like Fluttershy did. She made it a point to treat her own animals better at the farm.
This really does feel nice, she thought. In fact, feeling like this, Ah could care for... all the.... animals.
Flutterjack began feeling light-headed. "I feel... dizzy...." She lost her balance and landed softly to her side. As Applejack approached the fainted Flutterjack, she noticed her freckles had vanished. Applejack gulped. If this was like what happened with Twilight, then she wasn't dealing with Flutterjack anymore. She was dealing with Fluttershy!
"Are you all right?" Applejack asked her.
Fluttershy looked around in confusion. Any trace of AJ's accent was gone from her voice. "What... happened? Where am I?" She then took notice of Applejack's disguise. She shrunk down to the ground in fear. "Oh my! You're not an evil twin of mine, are you?"
Applejack laughed. "Don't worry, sugarcube! It's only me!" She wiped off some of the paint from her face, revealing part of her orange coat.
Fluttershy rubber her eyes in surprise. "Applejack? But why do you look like..."
"Ah’ll explain everything later, Fluttershy. But for now, can you round up all these critters here?"
Fluttershy was still hopelessly confused. The last thing she remembered was she was starting to feel more confident, like Applejack was, that particular morning. Beyond that, it was all a blur. However, that wasn't important now. She took a look at all the misplaced bunnies and decided to take care of them first.
Fluttershy smiled. "Ok. I’ll do my best!"
Before heading back to the spa, Applejack gave Fluttershy a hug. "Welcome back, Fluttershy!"
"It's... uh... good to be back..." Fluttershy replied. She decided to ask questions later. Right now, there were a lot of bunnies that needed to be helped right now.
While Fluttershy handled the loose rabbits, Applejack quickly made her way back to the spa. The plan was working! It worked with Twilight, and it worked with Fluttershy. So she was confident that it would work with the remaining three. Once she entered the spa, she quickly got out of her sweater and jumped into the pool, letting the warm waters wash the paint off her. She allowed herself a moment to relax before she was ready for the next part of the plan.
As Applejack continued to wind down, Aloe and Lotus entered the room, accompanied by Apple Bloom who was carrying a duffle bag with her. Applejack got out of the bath to great them.
"Applejack!" Apple Bloom called out. "How did it go?"
"Twilight and Fluttershy are back to normal!" Applejack happily reported.
Apple Bloom gasped. "So it is working!"
"Eeyup!" Applejack nodded. "Now did ya get the stuff from Scootaloo?"
Apple Bloom reached into the duffle bag and pulled out a rainbow-colored wig and a Wonderbolt-themed jumpsuit.
"Here ya go, AJ! Scootaloo even threw in the wig for ya!"
"Perfect! This way Ah won't have to paint mah mane this time!"
"That's good, because were starting to run low on paint," Lotus informed the two. "But we should have enough for your tail and your coat, Applejack."
"Well let's not waste any time then!" Applejack shouted. "Let's get to it!"
Aloe and Lotus went back to get the blue paint ready, with Applejack and Apple Bloom following behind them.
"Hey, Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked. "Are ya sure you won’t have a problem with Rainbow?"
Applejack smirked. She then proceeded to perfectly imitate Rainbow Dash's voice. "Trust me, kid. This one’s gonna be a piece of cake!"
~~~~~
Applejack looked on as Rainbow-jack was bucking a tree around the far reaches of Sweet Apple Acres. She snickered. She was looking forward for this one. While trying to imitate Twilight or Fluttershy was a bit of a challenge for her, Applejack was more than confident that she would have no problem imitating Rainbow Dash. The two have spent way too much time together as rivals, training partners, and all around good friends that Applejack felt like she knew the pegasus inside and out. And at the moment, she was that pegasus, minus the wings of course. The Wonderbolt jumpsuit would hide her non-wings from Rainbow-jack. And while her tail and exposed parts of her body were painted, she made sure her Rainbow Dash wig was on correctly if she wanted this plan to succeed. Satisfied with her disguise, Applejack put her small mirror away and approached Rainbow-jack.
"Hey Applejack!" she called out. She had no problem getting this voice right.
Rainbow-jack turned around and saw the unmistakable multicolored mane and tail that belonged to her best friend. She frowned. "And just where have you been, Rainbow?" she asked her. "Ah’ve noticed that you haven’t been clearing the skies lately."
"I was practicing," Applejack shrugged.
"For three days?!?"
"Hey! I wanted to make sure I was 120% ready!"
"Ready for what?"
Applejack got into Rainbow's face with a confident grin. "You. Me. Race. Now."
Rainbow-jack was more than a bit annoyed by that offer. She turned her back to Applejack. "Some other time, RD. Ah’m kinda busy right now."
"Come on, AJ! I won’t even fly this time."
Rainbow-jack rolled her eyes. "Sure you won’t."
"I promise! Don’t you trust me?"
She didn't get a verbal response. Instead, Rainbow-jack shot an annoyed, deadpan glance over to Applejack in response. "Eh heh heh… forget I asked." she sheepishly smiled.
Rainbow-jack continued back to the tree. "Forget it, Rainbow! Now if ya don't mind, Ah’ve got work to do."
Applejack expected this response. After all, she must have had an argument like this with Rainbow Dash dozens of times by now, so she knew the next step that needed to be taken. "What’s the matter, Applejack? Chicken?"
Rainbow-jack stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"
"Hey, I understand if you don’t want to be embarrassed because I beat you by a landslide in a hoof race," Applejack continued on. "So I’ll just accept your forfeit right now as final proof of my awesomeness. Ha! I’m so good that I made an earth pony scared to race me!"
As Applejack continued to gloat, she noticed Rainbow-jack's face getting more annoyed by the second. She knew that a simple challenge from Rainbow Dash wouldn't be enough to get on her nerves. In fact, she honestly didn't care if Rainbow Dash beat her in a race. Instead, what Applejack couldn't stand was the fact that Rainbow Dash would never shut up about it. And it was that thought that made Rainbow-jack respond.
"All right, ya bucket of feathers! Yer on!!! But no dirty tricks this time, ya hear?" she shouted.
"Well in that case, may the best pony win!" Applejack suddenly began laughing. "Ha ha! I just called myself best pony! I crack myself up!"
"We’ll see whose laughing after Ah win!" Rainbow-jack shouted angrily. She straightened her hat and got herself ready to race.
Applejack watched Rainbow-jack storm away and giggled to herself. "Ah'll never admit this to her, but this is way too much fun!"
Moments later, Applejack and Rainbow-jack got themselves ready for a one-on-one hoof race. The stood side-by-side in front of a makeshift starting line that Rainbow drew in the dirt.
"First one to the barn wins," Rainbow-jack instructed.
"Got it!"
The two lowered themselves into a crouch.
"On yer mark..."
"GETSETGO!!!" Rainbow-jack was bewildered as Applejack started galloping at full speed, leaving her in the dust.
"HEY!!!" Rainbow-jack launched herself into a full gallop, trying desperately to catch up. "Ah thought ya said no dirty tricks!!!"
"Sorry! I had my wings crossed!!!" Applejack teased. Of course Applejack didn't have any wings, but Rainbow-jack couldn't tell.
Rainbow-jack growled. "Why you dirty little... YER GOING DOWN!!!"
"You gotta catch me, first!"
The race continued through the farm. Rainbow-jack tried her best to make up the lost ground, but she simply couldn't catch up. She wasn't ready to give up, however. She wasn't going to let that cheater get away with what she did.
"Ah can’t let her win," she huffed. "Ah'll never hear the end of it if she does. She's not getting away with this."
Suddenly, Rainbow-jack felt a strange twitch on her back. Feathers started to slowly peak out from her sides. She never noticed this though. The only thing on her mind was that pony ahead of her.
"Ah've got to catch her!"
Her wings unfurled. She started to feel lighter. She started to feel faster. Fast enough to catch up with that pony.
"Ah've got to beat her!"
Her freckles faded away. She flapped her wings in anticipation.
"I'VE GOT TO WIN!!!"
With that, Rainbow Dash took off in the air. Flying at full speed, she quickly caught up with and overtook Applejack. The earth pony slowed herself down to a stop as a rainbow-colored streak flew past her.
"She's back!" she smiled. Not bothering with the race anymore, Applejack trotted down the way to catch up with Rainbow.
Up ahead, Rainbow Dash easily made it to the barn first, winning the race. "Aw yeah!!! Score one for team Dash!" she cheered. She whooped it up for a moment in celebration, doing a robot-themed victory dance. She then took pretend bows as if there was a crowd of fans surrounding her. "Thank you! Thank you! You’re too kind. Sorry, no autographs today!" Rainbow Dash stopped for a second when she saw what looked like another Rainbow Dash approaching the barn to.
"Whoa! I’m so awesome that I just beat myself!" she observed in awe.
Applejack chuckled. "Glad to see yer back to normal, RD!" She took off her wig, revealing her unbounded blonde mane.
Rainbow's jaw dropped. "Applejack?!?" She started to snicker and then, she doubled over on the ground in laughter. "Oh, brother! This is too rich! You look ridiculous, AJ!"
Applejack smirked. "Ya know, Ah was just about to say the same thing." She took out her mirror and showed it to Rainbow. The pegasus' laughing died quickly as she took a good look at herself, cowboy hat, ponytail and all.
"Uh…" That was the only sound Rainbow Dash could make in response to seeing herself like that. Eventually, she managed to ask Applejack a question. "I was acting like you back there, wasn't I?"
"Don’t worry, Rainbow," Applejack smiled. "If anypony ever asks me, none of this ever happened. Deal?"
"Deal!" Rainbow shouted out, relieved that her reputation wouldn't take a hit from this. She took off the hat and undid her ponytail. She then took a good look at the now-mostly cloudy sky.
"Looks like I've got some clouds I need to clear up."
"What's the matter?" Applejack smirked, once again imitating Rainbow's voice again. "I thought you'd be up for a little rematch!"
Hearing her own voice mock her was something rather off-putting for Rainbow Dash. "For the record, that impression was a bit too good, Applejack."
"It's only because we've spent way too much time together," Applejack noted in her regular voice.
Rainbow Dash laughed. "Yeah we have. By the way, you're on for that rematch!"
"Ah'll be waiting!"
With a final wave, Rainbow Dash took to the sky to begin clearing the clouds away. Applejack watched her fly away for a moment before she started back to the spa. She was feeling ecstatic! She got Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash to snap out of whatever it was they were under. Now there was only two more to go, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately for Applejack, the last two were also presented the biggest challenge. Rarity and her didn't always see eye to eye on many things due to their vastly different, and completely incompatible lifestyles. Indeed, the one time she tried to act like a proper city pony, she couldn't have run back to Sweet Apple Acres fast enough. So for Applejack, acting like Rarity would be her most difficult task. Which was why she decided to try to get Pinkie Pie first. However, this posed an different, yet equally frustrating issue. Pinkie Pie was too energetic and too unpredictable for Applejack, or anypony else for that matter, to hope to emulate accurately. As Applejack walked away from the barn, she began to think if it was possible for anypony to act like Pinkie Pie.
Applejack's timing couldn't have been worse at that time as Pinkie-jack emerged from the entrance of the apple cellar and noticed her. Applejack started to panic. Here she was in plain sight, still painted blue with a rainbow tail but her untied mane was blonde. She scrambled to find her wig, but couldn't. She couldn't pass herself off as Rainbow Dash without the wig. It was too late for disguises now, though, so she was stuck. As Pinkie-jack got closer, Applejack sat on her haunches, trying her best to hide her painted tail, trying desperately to pass herself off as an anonymous pony.
"Howdy there!" Pinkie-jack greeted. "Say, Ah haven’t seen you around Ponyville before."
Applejack stammered for a second before she faked a generic accent. "Well, you see… I’m new to Ponyville and I was just looking around."
Pinkie-jack smiled. "Well it sure is nice to welcome... a... new pony... to… Ponyville…." Pinkie-jack trailed off as if she was suddenly induced in a trance.
Curious and confused, Applejack carefully approached the frozen pony. "Are you all right, ma’am?" she asked.
"There's a new pony in Ponyville..."
Pinkie-jack's eyes slowly grew wide in joy as the words sunk in. To Applejack's surprise, Pinkie's freckles faded away.
"THERE'S A NEW PONY IN PONYVILLE!!!" With one big poof, Pinkie's hat and ponytail came undone and reverted back to it's normal state. Applejack was surprised again when a happy tune started to play out of nowhere. Pinkie started to dance around and sing.
"Welcome welcome welcome! A fine welcome to you! Welcome welcome welcome, I say how do you do? Welcome welcome welcome, I say hip hip hooray! Welcome welcome welcome To Ponyville today!!!"
Pinkie Pie finished her number in a flourish in front of Applejack.
"Wait for it..." Pinkie told her.
Applejack looked around in confusion. "Wait for what?"
Pinkie also looked around her and noticed a key piece of equipment was missing.
"Oh no! My welcome wagon!!!" She gasped. "I blew the whole song! Stay right there, new pony! I'll be right back!"
With that, Pinkie rushed off, leaving a stunned Applejack in the dust. A few seconds later, Pinkie dashed back to her.
"Actually, would you mind coming over to Sugarcube Corner instead? We're a tad bit busy at the moment. Thanks!"
Pinkie dashed off again. Rather than trying to figure how in Equestria that happened, Applejack simply shrugged.
"Meh. Ah’ll take it," she decided.
Applejack continued her way back to the spa, determined as ever. Four of her friends were back. But there was still one more to go. And she would need to give her all in order to pull this last one off.
