Author's Note
Reading the entire story description first is recommended, as there's some important information in there that you might have missed.
Also, since this story is told from Applejack's perspective and personally narrated by her, there's a lot of countryisms in here, so they might throw you off. Just a warning! 
Just an Anomaly
Anomaly
Written by Frost Vortex
Sweet Apple Acres
Ponyville
It's all wrong. It must be.
Yet Ah didn't find mahself agreein' as Ah continued the tirin' work of producin' ready-to-eat meals for the fighters of the Solar Resistance, tryin' to push mah suspicions to the back of mah mind. It couldn't be an "anomaly", like mah gut kept tellin' me, when everythin' was clearly as real as can be. Ah couldn't even believe that Ah'd ever think that, dishonorin' the Cause and its soldiers. Everything had to be true; Ah'd seen enough death and bloodshed for it to be, one even bein' from our own family.
From our own family...
Ah paused, a wrenchin' feelin' in my heart as Ah thought of that day one year ago, where Resistance messengers had gave us the shockin' news that Granny Smith had been killed in action at the Battle of Appleloosa. Despite everypony's reassurances, Ah couldn't help but feel guilty 'bout everythin', since it was me that'd failed to convince her not to join the Resistance months before her untimely death.
Sweet Apple Acres (One Year Ago)
Ponyville
"Granny, ya can't!" Ah exclaimed in disbelief. "Yer too old to join the Resistance! Didja bump yer head or somethin'?"
"No can do, AJ!" Granny Smith shook her head gravely. "Ah've made mah choice, and Ah'm gonna go through with it! 'sides, it doesn't matter how old Ah am as long as Ah see to it that ol' Sombra is rid of for good! Anypony can join the Cause, accordin' to the Princess."
"But Granny," Ah pleaded to no avail. Ah couldn't let her just go like that; she wasn't in any shape for such a risk! "What 'bout the others? We need ya for the producin'!"
"Ah trust ya to take care of them for me, Applejack. Ah'll be back soon, Ah promise."
And with that, Granny Smith left for war, leaving me to stand there alone.
"But ya couldn't keep yer promise," Ah muttered bitterly, "ya couldn't come back, an' now we'll never see ya alive again."
Ah activated a nearby lever for one of the machines before movin' to push a cider-filled barrel outside, where an old, wooden wagon would be waitin' for it. Just as Ah forced the barrel halfway through however, Ah heard my name bein' called just before somethin' lavender crashed into me, huggin' me tightly. Slightly surprised, Ah pushed the pony away before speakin'. "What can Ah do for ya?"
"It's so good to see you, Applejack! We couldn't find Pinkie, or Rarity, or Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash anywhere, but I just knew you'd still be here!" an unfamiliar, yet somehow still familiar voice answered cheerfully.
"Of course Ah'm here; this is mah home. But who in tarnation is Pinkie Poe or Flutterdash?" Ah thrust the barrel onto the wagon, keepin' it steady in order to prevent any accidental spills. Ah turned around after Ah was finished, eyein' the speaker - who happened to be a lavender... alicorn that was also accompanied by a young purple and green dragon - before slowly makin' my way back for another barrel. "Or ya, for that matter. Ah don't recall ever meetin' ya two."
"You... don't know who I am?" the alicorn's voice cracked, lookin' to be on the verge of cryin'. Her dragon companion merely stared at me in shock, eyes wide.
"Nope. The only name Ah recognize is Rarity, but she left for Manehattan years ago," Ah responded, currently in the process of propellin' another barrel to the wagon.
"Probably to become a world-famous fashion designer or something like that," the dragon suggested, the pride evident in his voice.
"Not that Ah know of; last Ah heard, she went to help with the Cause like everypony else."
"The Cause? What's that?"
"The war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire, duh."
"WHAT!?" Flinchin' in unison, they exchanged horrified glances with each other.
"Ya haven't heard 'bout it? Where have ya two been?" Ah raised an eyebrow, beginnin' to suspect these strangers.
"Actually, it's when," the dragon corrected, glancing at his alicorn friend, who looked like she was thinkin' really hard 'bout somethin'. It was when a few long minutes passed that she finally opened her mouth to speak.
"I know this is hard to believe, Applejack, but you and I and those other ponies that I mentioned are friends!"
"Didja bump yer head on a crate of cider or somethin'?" Ah gave her a half-lidded stare, clearly doubtful of her words.
"I'm telling the truth, and if you come with me, I'll prove it." She placed a firm hoof on her chest to emphasize her words.
Ah glared at her like she was mad. How could she expect me to just leave mah family like that? An' all for some stranger's crazy words, no doubt! Shakin' my head in disbelief, Ah whirled around to continue doin' mah job, not even botherin' to consider goin' with the lunatic. The alicorn must have noticed me reject her, though, 'cause she immediately activated that horn of hers and magicked me over to her.
Ah groaned. This wasn't gonna be good.
The Cutie Map
Ponyville
"Well Ah'll admit, Ah've lived here in these parts mah whole life and Ah've never seen this before," Ah said, starin' at the dull table in front of me. At least, that was what it looked like even though it was very "powerful" accordin' to the newcomers.
"There's also supposed to be a castle that goes with it," the dragon said, his tone wistful.
"But Ah still don't see what this has to do with ya and Ah bein' friends," Ah added immediately, glancin' at the lavender alicorn standin' next to me.
"Another pony named Starlight Glimmer used this Map to travel through time and change things in the past. For some reason, the Map's still here, but everything else is just different."
"Different how?" Ah narrowed my eyes at her, tryin' mah best not to show any of mah emotions. If what the pony said was really true, then mah gut would have been right all along.
"Well, for one thing, where we came from there's no war with King Sombra."
Mah ears folded against mah head; Ah couldn't bear to hear that monster's name. All it did every single time was to remind me of Granny Smith's death.
"Maybe you could tell us how the war started," the alicorn suggested warmly, sensin' mah despair, "then we can figure out when everything changed!"
"That's easy enough," Ah glanced up at the unnatural sky, sighin' half-heartedly before startin' mah tale, "when the Crystal Empire returned, it brought King Sombra back with it too..."
The Cutie Map
Ponyville
The alicorn gazed at me in horror as Ah finished recountin' the story that everypony knew - well, the ponies here in this time, at least. "I just can't believe it; we stopped King Sombra! You and me and all of our friends!"
"But we aren't friends... at least not here," Ah stated matter-of-factly, pushin' her off as she tried to envelope me in a hug again.
"Right." The alicorn averted her gaze, tryin' to avoid mah eyes.
Ah glanced at her dragon companion, who was slouched over the table with a defeated expression on his face, before Ah started talkin' again. "Look, Ah hope all this helped, but Ah really need to get back to cannin' those apples." Ah promptly turned around and began trottin' in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, head down.
"Thank you, Applejack. I promise you we're going to set things right." The alicorn's voice grew fainter an' fainter.
Ah sighed, haltin' for a brief moment before continuin' on mah way. "Ah hope ya do, sugarcube. Ah hope ya do."
Sweet Apple Acres
Ponyville
As Ah retired for the night, Ah couldn't help but crack a slight smile, the first time Ah've ever done so since the beginnin' of the war. Ah finally could feel again, an' it was all 'cause of those two ponies - er, Ah mean one pony an' one dragon.
Mah gut had been right the whole time. The whole thin' was just an anomaly, just there 'cause of somepony named Starlight Glimmer. Ah knew now never to doubt mah gut feelin' again, even if it didn't make sense at all.
'cause what's mah life if not an anomaly?
