Chapters Twilight sat at her desk, asleep. She had been up late, studying. "Twilight?" Spike asked. "Twilight wake up."
"Wha- what? Why are you waking me up, Spike? It's early."
"It's 10:00, and I've made breakfast. Come eat."
Twilight groaned, and trudged over to the table where Spike had made her a plate of eggs and hay bacon. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"By the way, there's a package here for you from the princess."
Twilight paused. "Which one? There's three, not including me."
"Princess Celestia," Spike said, tossing it to her.
Twilight caught it expertly with her magic and placed it on the table.
"Are you gonna open it?"
"Can I eat first? If you want to know what inside so bad, you open it," Twilight said.
Spike picked it up and ripped it open with his claws, and read the letter out loud.
Dear Twilight,
After the changeling incident in the Crystal Empire, I have decided to increase security measures to prevent such a thing happening again. Enclosed is a changeling detector. I want you to use it to scan everyone in Ponyville. If you happen to find a changeling, I trust you to handle it however you see fit.
-Princess Celestia.
Twilight picked up the black plastic device. She pointed it at Spike and pressed the button. It beeped once, and the small screen flashed green. "Well, you're not a changeling," she sighed and took the last bite of her food. "So I guess I have to do this to everyone in Ponyville. Well there goes my afternoon. Not like I had anything planned anyways."
Several hours later, Twilight had scanned nearly every pony in Ponyville. She had yet to scan Fluttershy the and Apple family, as they lived rather out of the way. She headed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, when she ran into Fluttershy. "Oh hello Twilight. How are you today?" she asked
"Princess Celestia wants me to use this to detect changelings. You don't mind if I scan you, do you?" Twilight said
"Oh not at all. Whatever you need to do." Fluttershy said. Twilight pointed the device at Fluttershy. It beeped once and flashed green.
"You're good. I'd love to stay and chat, but I still have to go to Sweet Apple Acres."
At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac was out in the fields bucking apples. "Hey Big Mac?" Twilight said. He looked in her direction, but said nothing. "Is it cool if I scan you to make sure you're not a changeling?"
"Eeeyup," he said. Twilight pointed it at him. It beeped once, and the screen flashed green.
"Thanks," Twilight said. She walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
"Come in," an elderly voice said. Twilight walked into the kitchen to find Granny Smith and Apple Bloom washing dishes.
"Hello, Twilight," Granny Smith said.
"Can I scan you guys to make sure you aren't changelings?"
"Sure," they said. Twilight scanned both of them. It beeped once and flashed green. "Where's Applejack?" she asked.
"Upstairs." Apple Bloom said.
She walked up the stairs and found Applejack sweeping the hallway, humming a haunting melody to herself. "Applejack?"
"Oh, howdy Twilight. What's that thing you got there?"
"It's a changeling detector. Is it okay if I scan you?"
Applejack suddenly looked very nervous. "Do you think could uh... Not do that?"
"Why?"
"Can't you just trust me that I'm not a changeling?"
Twilight sighed. "Can you please just cooperate? It looks really suspicious if you-" Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. Applejack had jumped through a nearby window and was running faster than Twilight had ever seen her. "Applejack!" Twilight yelled.
Twilight opened up her wings and flew out the window after her. She was still a crummy flyer, and no match for the seemingly superhuman speed Applejack was traveling at. She decided she would have better luck chasing her on hoof. She was able to run faster than she could fly, but she would never catch Applejack at that rate.
She chased her all the way to town, and stopped when she saw Rainbow Dash. "Whoa!" Rainbow Dash said. "Did you see something orange and yellow zoom by you?"
"You have to help me catch Applejack!" Twilight said, out of breath. Immediately Rainbow took off, and while Applejack was fast, Rainbow was faster. She landed in front of Applejack, blocking her path. She turned the other direction, only to see Twilight standing there. Twilight pinned her down with her magic, and scanned her. It began beeping like crazy, and the screen flashed red. "She's a changeling!" Twilight yelled. Rainbow tackled her. "WHERE IS SHE?" she screamed. Twilight pulled her off.
'Applejack' transformed back into her true form, and sighed heavily. "All right. You caught me. Don't kill me please."
"I'm not going to kill you," Twilight said dragging her toward the library. "We have a few questions to ask you."
Dear Princess Celestia,
So it turns out a changeling has been impersonating Applejack. I'm handling it, but you may want to come down here, seeing as she's one of the Elements of Harmony.
-Twilight Sparkle
Celestia couldn't help but smile as she read the letter. Despite the dire circumstances, she was so happy to have received a letter from her former student for the first time in a very, very long time.
Derp.
The library had been darkened, except for a single headlamp placed on the table and pointed at the changeling's face, who had been tied up. Rainbow Dash tackled him and started to strangle him. "WHERE IS APPLEJACK!?" she screamed.
"Rainbow, please!" Twilight said, pulling her away. She turned her attention to the changeling. "First off, what is your name?"
"WHO CARES ABOUT THE NAME?" Rainbow yelled.
The changeling cleared his throat. "My name is Siphyus."
Rainbow scoffed. "How long have you been impersonating Applejack?" Twilight asked.
"Um... About two years?" Siphyus said.
"TWO BUCKING YEARS? ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME YOU'VE HAD MY BEST FRIEND IN SOME CREEPY CHANGELING HIVE PRISON FOR TWO YEARS? I BET YOU KIDNAPPED HER WHEN YOU GUYS INVADED THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, HUH?" Rainbow yelled, attacking Siphyus.
"No!" he yelled. "She's not in any hive. She's in Sweden, and she's fine."
Twilight pulled Rainbow off of Siphyus. "Okay. I want to here the whole story. Don't leave anything out."
"First off, I want to tell you that I'm not involved with Chrysalis's army in any way. I left the hive after the invasion of the Crystal Empire."
"Bullshit." Rainbow muttered.
"About a month later I witnessed a pretty gnarly argument between Applejack and her brother."
Applejack was sitting outside eating lunch when Big Mac stormed outside. He slammed a large yellow envelope on the table. "What is this?" he asked, calmly, but dangerously
"Uh...An envelope," Applejack said.
"Don't play dumb with me. It's our parent's will. Have you had a chance to look at it yet?" he asked.
Applejack had been dreading this conversation. She set down her sandwich and did her best to look placid. "Yes," she said calmly.
Mac exploded into a fit of rage. "DO YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHY THEY LEFT THE WHOLE ESTATE TO YOU!?"
Applejack flinched. She had never heard her brother raise his voice, let alone yell before. She still remained undisturbed, however, and said calmly, "I don't know." And that was the truth. She didn't know why her parents had left everything to her. After discovering this, she decided not to tell anyone because she knew they would be upset.
"I PUT JUST AS MUCH INTO THIS FARM AS YOU DO, IF NOT MORE. WHILE YOU'RE OFF RUNNING AROUND WITH THOSE FRIENDS OF YOURS I'M HERE WORKING THE FIELDS. I DESERVE TO OWN THE FARM, NOT YOU. YOU AREN'T EVEN A REAL APPLE!" he shouted.
Applejack had had enough. "FINE! YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN HAVE THE DAMN FARM! I'M SICK OF BEING STUCK HERE ANYWAYS! I'M LEAVING, AND YOU CAN DO ALL THE CHORES!" she yelled.
"FINE!"
"FINE!"
Applejack packed her bags, and boarded the next train. "Where to, miss?" the conductor asked.
"I don't care," she said.
"A few hours after that, I went to the farm and pretended to be her. I apologized, he apologized. I figured I'd leave when she came back, but she never did."
"That's bullshit. She would have contacted us," Rainbow said.
Siphyus pulled a huge stack of letters out of nowhere. "She tried to. I also blocked her number from all the phones in Ponyville."
Rainbow Dash attacked him again. "You bastard! She probably thinks we've been ignoring her purpose!"
Twilight pulled her off. "What is her phone number?"
Twilight dialed the number Siphyus had given her. After ringing a few times, it picked up. "Hello?" a male voice said.
"Um, hi. Is Applejack there?"
"I'm sorry, there's no one here by that na-" He was interrupted by a female voice in the background.
"Honey, who is it?" it said.
"Um.. Who is this?" he asked.
"Twilight Sparkle."
"It's Twilight Sparkle."
The female voice said something indistinguishable.
"Um.. She doesn't want to talk to you, to put it nicely." he said. "I'm sorry."
"It's really important." Twilight begged.
"She says she doesn't want to talk to you," he said firmly. Please leave us alone." The line went dead.
Twilight sighed and dialed the number again. This time it picked up on the second ring. "What could you possibly want with me," an accent-less female voice said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Applejack? Is that you?" Twilight asked.
There was a pause.
"Bitch it might be."
"Applejack! You need to come back to Equestria."
Applejack scoffed. "You're kidding. I'm not using vacation time for that."
"You have to!"
There was a sigh. "Fine, but only because you were my friend. I'll be there in three days. Be ready," she said, and hung up.
Twilight sighed. "Doesn't anyone know telephone manners anymore?"
Twilight and Rainbow Dash had called Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity to the library to tell them the news. Needless to say, everyone was shocked. "I-I just can't believe it," Rarity said, sitting down. She hadn't even bothered with her usual theatrics, she was so stunned. Fluttershy could barely pull herself together, she was just a shaking mess on the floor. Pinkie's mane had gone flat, but upon hearing that Applejack was safe and sound, had puffed up a bit, although it had not yet returned it's full poofiness.
"Are you sure about this?" Pinkie asked.
"Pinkie, the changeling is sitting right there," Twilight said, pointing to Siphyus.
"I know, it's just-" Pinkie struggled to find the right words to describe the situation.
"The worst possible thing?" Fluttershy asked.
"Exactly."
"I've written a letter to Celestia asking for assistance. I haven't heard back from her yet but-" Twilight was interrupted by a knock on the door. Twilight opened the door to reveal a pink alicorn standing there.
"Twilight! It's always good to see you, even under the circumstances" Cadence said, giving her a hug. Twilight, while surprised to see her, hugged her back. "Is it true what Celestia said? Applejack was replaced by a changeling?"
"Yeah," Twilight said.
"Celestia sent me because I have more experience with them. I hate those little parasites. I still have nightmares..
"He claims that he's not in league with Chrysalis, and that he impersonated Applejack to avoid persecution. He had been living off of the love of her friends and family."
"Well, even if he isn't with Chrysalis, identity theft is still a felony. So you," Cadence said, pointing at Siphyus, "are under arrest." Two Crystal guards burst through the door, handcuffed him, and dragged him away.
"Um, now what?" Twilight asked
"Did Applejack say when she'd be back?"
"Three days."
"I guess we wait until then."
Another silence.
"All right, I'm just going to say it. Couldn't you have had that changeling bastard arrested yourself?" Rainbow Dash
"Yes, I suppose so."
Cadence cleared her throat. "Since I'm here, I'm going to get a cupcake. She slowly backed out the door.
Three days later, the five ponies waited at the train station for Applejack. Everyone was excited to be reunited with their friend, but Rainbow Dash was a little too excited. "What time does the train get here?" she asked.
"2:45," Fluttershy said.
"What time is it now?"
"2:43," Spike said, checking his watch.
"You drew that on your wrist with ink, darling." Rarity said.
"Now what time is it?" Rainbow asked.
"2:44,"
Twilight, meanwhile, was lost in thought. She couldn't stop thinking about the phone conversation with Applejack. She had seemed cold, cynical, bitter even. Had she really changed that much in two years? I probably just caught her at a bad time. she thought.
"Twilight! It's 2:45 and train isn't here yet! Where is it?"
"Rainbow, you have to be patient."
Maybe she resents us for not keeping in touch, even though we didn't know she was gone. She can be irrational sometimes. I think. Twilight thought.
"It's 2:46. The train is officially late." Rainbow said.
"There it is!" Pinkie cried.
The train pulled up, and ponies began to exit. "I don't see her." Fluttershy said.
The last of the ponies left the train. Just when they thought perhaps she was not on this train after all, an orange mare approached them. Her hair was in a simple braid, and she was wearing a red trench coat, with a black and white striped headscarf.
"Applejack, darling! I barely recognized you! You look absolutely lovely," Rarity said.
"You don't need to sound so surprised." Applejack said dryly.
"I-I um, er-" Rarity stammered.
"I'm kidding."
Applejack coughed
"So how was your trip?" Fluttershy asked.
"Horrible."Applejack said..
"Oh."
She picked up her large rolling suitcase and started walking. "I need to check into my hotel and take a nap. I've had a long trip."
"Hotel? Wait, why?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You aren't going to Sweet Apple Acres?"
Applejack shot her a warning look, and Rainbow decided not to push it.
Twilight, however was focused on something else. Walking behind Applejack, she noticed that she was not touching her suitcase. Even more curious, was that the handle of the suitcase was surrounded by a light green aura. Almost as if..
Twilight walked up next to Applejack, reached up and removed the striped scarf. Applejack stopped walking and stared at Twilight curiously. Everyone else stopped and stared at her. After a few moments of shocked silence, Twilight finally broke the silence. "Applejack... Why do you have a horn?"
"I was actually going to ask the same thing about your wings." Applejack said, gesturing to her wings.
"Princess Celestia made me a princess. Now your turn."
"It's a long story I don't feel like telling right now," she said, trying to suppress a coughing fit.
"Are you okay?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need to take my cough medicine, like, now."
"Is this your hotel?" Rarity asked, pointing to the large building in front of them.
"Yes, I think so. Now if you'll excuse me," she said, opening the double glass doors with her magic and going inside the hotel. "I'm going to take my medicine, and then a nap. Perhaps I'll see you later."
Several hours later, Twilight knocked on the door of Applejack's hotel room. She could hear the TV on, so she had to assume she was awake. "Applejack?" Twilight asked, knocking again. There was a pause.
"Come in." Applejack said.
"That isn't how hotel rooms work. It won't open from the outside unless you have a key."
There was a loud sigh. "Coming." Then Twilight heard a loud bang, followed by a series of swears.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just stubbed my hoof." The door opened. "Please, come in," Applejack said. She was no longer wearing her coat or head scarf, and her braid had been taken out, leaving her blonde hair in rippling waves. Twilight stepped inside the room and looked around. It was well furnished, but nothing the suites at Canterlot Castle she had stayed in before. Applejack had sat back down on the bed, and was focused on the TV.
"This famous unicorn wizard has been called "the father of the amniomorphic spell, and "the most important spell conjurer of the pre-classical era." said the game show host.
"Who is Star Swirl the Bearded." Applejack said. The contestant was still thinking. "Who is Star Swirl the Bearded! Who is Starswirl the Bearded!!
"Who is Prince Blueblood?" the contestant said.
"Prince Blueblood? " Applejack yelled at the TV. "Are you bucking kidding me!?" Glancing apologetically Twilight she said, "I'm sorry. Capricorn says I get way too intense about Jeopardy."
"Who's Capricorn? Is he the stallion who answered the phone when I called you? And the one in this picture?" Twilight asked, pointing to a photograph on the nightstand, next to a strange grey machine. It showed Unicorn Applejack with a light grey stallion with a navy blue mane, and pale blue eyes. Both of them were smiling and laughing at the camera, and he had one wing wrapped around her shoulder.
"Yep," Applejack said absently. Her mind had drifted back to the TV.
"This elite group of ponies was founded after the banishment of Nightmare Moon to serve and protect Princess Celestia."
"What is the EUP," Applejack said.
"What is the EUP?" the pony on the screen said.
"Yes!" Applejack looked at Twilight again. "I'm sorry, did you need something?"
"Yeah, the others are at the coffee shop downstairs, I was thinking we could," she glanced at Applejack's horn,"catch up?"
Applejack picked up the remote with her magic and shut off the TV. "Sure, let me just-" she picked up a hairbrush and ran it through her hair several times, then opened her closet. She picked up a red scarf. "Green will bring out my eyes," she muttered Then she picked up a red one. "But red matches my cutie mark. Then again so does green. But what about blue?" she said, picking up a blue one. "The blue one," she said. "All right."
When she had her back turned, Twilight got a nice view of her flank. "Applejack, now you have a horn and a different cutie mark?"
She glanced at her flank. "Yeah. I'll explain when we get downstairs, I don't want to have to tell it twice."
The two mares headed downstairs, and saw the others sitting at a table with drinks in front of them. "We already ordered. Please don't be mad," Fluttershy said. Applejack waved it off and walked with Twilight over to the counter. "I'll have a latte with whipped cream and extra oats," Twilight said.
"Green tea. Iced. No sugar," Applejack said.
The barista handed them their drinks, and they headed back to the table. "So, Applejack. What have you been up to?" Rarity asked.
Before she had a chance to reply, however, Pinkie asked loudly, "Why do you have a horn?"
"Oh my god Pinkie, you can't just ask ponies why they have a horn."
"I'm guessing you guys are wondering about the horn?" Applejack asked.
"Yes!" they all said in unison.
"I'll start at the beginning. About two months after I had moved to Sweden and I was just starting to adjust to my new life, I started to get the severe headaches. I was taking aspirin, but they just kept getting worse and worse. Finally, my roommate had to take me to the emergency room when I woke up in the middle of the night screaming because the pain was so bad. They told me that I was born a unicorn, but my horn had been cut off. I had years and years of pent up magical energy, and I was only now feeling it. They said if it wasn't released, it would kill me, and the only way to do that was with a horn. So they had to do an emergency horn transplant, luckily the waiting list is always really short. After the surgery, I had this like, crazy magical surge, not unlike what you described in your cutie mark story. Nearly blew up the hospital wing. After few minutes, I went back to normal, but when I looked at my flank, I saw that my cutie mark had changed," she stood up and turned so they could see her flank. The three apples had become a green and red heart shaped yin yang with an apple leaf on either side.
"What does it mean?" Rainbow asked.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out. All I know is that when I got this horn, my destiny was altered." Her phone started to ring. She looked at the screen. "I'm sorry, I need to take this." The others didn't know who it was, but they could her end of the conversation and guess the nature of the call.
"Hi honey."
"It sucked."
"Not your fault."
"Just having some tea with friends."
"No, no, it's fine. You're not interrupting."
"I miss you too."
"I don't know."
"I love you too."
"Goodbye."
"No you hang up."
"No you hang up."
"No you hang up.
"Fine, I'll hang up." She pressed the end call button.
"Sorry about that," she said.
"Was that your boyfriend? " Pinkie asked in a sing song voice.
"Yes, it was."
"Oh, so you met someone?" Rarity said. "Tell us about him. What's he like?"
"Well, his name is Capricorn, and he plays bass in a band. Have you guys ever heard of a band called Cerberus's Angels? They're pretty popular in Sweden."
Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight all shook their heads, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash said at the same time, "I love that band!"
"I didn't know you liked rock music," Rainbow said.
"I have a large range of musical preferences, darling. Music gives me inspiration, and god knows I can't get enough of that."
"I can't believe you're dating a member of one of my favorite bands!" Rainbow Dash said, making her wub woo face.
"Wait, I thought Capricorn was dating that model, Amara Jaquelin? Remember, she was on Sweden's Top Model? Right, Fluttershy? You said she looked kind of like Applejack."
"Yes, and I think she won. I think she deserved it, too. She seemed really nice," Fluttershy said.
"My name is Amara Jaquelin too, and I also won Sweden's Top Model. Wait, are you guys talking about me?" Applejack asked.
"But your name is-"
"Amara is my real name. Well, actually it's Amara Jaquelin Marianna Apple. Applejack is just nickname that hardly anyone calls me anymore. You can still call me that though.
Then she started coughing again.