The light of dawn warmed the panes of glass between the outside world and Applejacks room as the sun was slowly pulled over the horizon by a faraway princess the farm-pony had no quarrel for.
With the peculiar rustle of dried grass, a figure rolled over to shield herself from the heavenward rays; only acknowledging their existence after a rowdy call from the local rooster.
Groaning softly, the mare finally made the torturous journey of leaving the warm comforts of her bed for a place on cold wooded flooring and the sound of Granny Smith snoring.
The apple farmer shuffled over and pulled her ever faithful hat off its hook and onto her head, barely registering the crackle until a few splinters of dried wheat stalk fluttered down from her hair.
Which then prompted her to grow confused, hadn’t she had a thorough bath last night? She hummed, trotting over to her bedroom door and raising a-
She didn’t remember wearing any clothing to bed, and not with anything made from greyish brown hessian with straw poking out of it!
“What in the ha -” Applejack began, head tilting dangerously to the side before the crackling of dead grass took prevalence in the quiet room; and with the soft thump of tough orange skin, her head slipped off her shoulders and landed on the floorboards.
There was silence for a moment as the mare processed what had just occurred, registering no pain or discomfort as she remained aware of everything her body felt despite no longer being solidly attached to it.
“What the buck” she observed her descent into shock as she mechanically reached a hoof over and picked herself up, only wobbling slightly due to the constant and unnerving state of being picked up and picking up the same thing at the same time. Especially if she counted the blur of motion, the world took on as she rose back to a proper height and was once again secured between her shoulders.
She stood there, staring at the door and just had to wonder what this was? Was she the only one? Was every pony else ok? Did she dare go check on them or should she check on herself first?
With slow and cautious steps, the mare crept out into the hall and towards the bathroom; the rasp of hay almost stopping her in her tracks several times before she poked her head around the exit- and fainted at what greeted her in the mirror.
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The loud thump of a heavy object hitting the floor outside her room jolted Apple Bloom awake, causing her to leap forward to prepare for danger.
Only to get tangled up in her covers and barrel onto the ground in a heap with a soft “unff-!”
There was something amiss about her legs- and something was wrong with her tail and back.
“Ugh?” a voice sounded over her shoulder.
Apple Bloom snapped up and around, but promptly fell over when she realized how numb her left leg was-
“Woah!” the same voice as before piped up “why am I in Apple-”
“Scootaloo?!” Apple Bloom cried, turning her head to look into the yellow eyes of a goat with orange and purple fur.
The goat gasped and jerked back “a-a lion?”
The earth pony made an alarmed expression as she noticed one last detail “why… why in the hay is a goat's head attached to my back?”
“What goat? And why do you sound like Apple Bloom!” said goat cried.
“Guys, what’s going on?” the sleepy voice of Sweetie Belle piped up behind the two.
“Ey?” the two said in unison, twisting to look back.
A white snake was blinking up at the two blearily before she seemed to register what she was looking at.
She squeaked “who are you? Why are we in Apple Bloom's room?”
The snake hastily tried to slither away but seemed to be attached to the tailbone of their shared body.
“Wait…” Apple Bloom gasped, looking back and forth between her two new additions.
“Scootaloo?... Sweetie Belle?”
Dawning realization crossed the animals’ faces.
“Oh jeez, Bloom? Is that you?” Scootaloo asked.
The yellow… pony… cringed “am I really a lion?”
At their nods, she sighed “ok, well- can we figure out how to walk?”
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After a clumsy session of stumbling, Scootaloo controlling their left front leg, Sweetie Belle controlling the back legs and Apple Bloom controlling the right front leg whilst cursing the terrible controls of a chimera’s body.
The three groaned as they slid onto their stomach “How in tarnation do these creatures function like this?”
But before anyone could respond, they heard a groan from the bathroom, freezing as Apple Bloom remembered what had woken Apple Bloom up in the first place and shakily rose to go check it out.
They made their way along the slowly brightening hallway, hoping no pony stepped out and saw them like this right now.
Finally, they stumbled into the bathroom to be greeted by a confusing sight.
“Since when do we need a scarecrow?” Apple Bloom muttered, nudging the hessian sack of hay, carved wooden hooves and grinning orange pumpkin head lying on the tiled floor “this is an APPLE farm.”
“And why does it have my sisters’ hat,” she continued, crouching down to squint into the hollowed vegetable through an eye socket “was my sister trying to make herself a decoy and run off to save the world or something?”
There was a flicker, and suddenly the wick inside the pumpkin was alight with a green flame; a tired groan escaping the jagged mouth of the jack-o'-lantern.
Air was released explosively from between the three fillies tightly closed lips as they jolted backward, painfully smacking something against the sink as she huddled by a wall.
The Scarecrow seemed to push itself up and rub a hoof against an eyehole before freezing.
“So, it wasn’t a dream” it stated, peering at itself in the mirror before looking around and spotting the young ‘ponies’.
“S-sis,” Apple Bloom quailed, eyes wide and frantic as she recognized the monster's voice “why are you like that?”
Applejack blinked, small circles of pumpkin floating in her empty sockets representing pupils as the trained her eyes on the younger mare “I don’t know, why do you look like a chimera?”
“Uh… what happened last night?” Scootaloo piped up.
Applejack just shook her head in silent befuddlement before sighing “c’mon sugar cubes, let’s have breakfast before we try to bite our own ears off about the situation.”
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“Boy howdy!”
Applejack almost dropped the pan as Granny Smith's voice rang out cheerfully from the hallway; barely catching the pancake as it made its way down from where she’d thrown it.
She shuffled to see what the old pony was so happy about finding her looking no older than Applejack herself, two sharp fangs poking over her lower lip.
“I haven’t felt this good in years!” the green mare laughed, bucking the air in a celebration before her eyes alighted on the pancakes.
“You sure seem rather chipper about this situation, Granny” Apple Bloom observed as she attempted to learn how to hold a fork with lion paws with Scoots.
“Eh, I woke up younger and fitter than I would sleep, and it looks like I’ll stay that way for the rest of eternity; excuse me if I don’t see a downside to that" was her response.
“Speak for yourself” a deep voice spoke up, Big Mac stepping into the room and revealing he was now, in fact, a skeleton.
Author's Note
I think it might be a little rushed around when Apple Bloom wakes up, but I'll fix that when my brain wants to cooperate.
