Rainbow is Magic S2 and Friendship is Magic Crossover Special: Equestrian Dimensional Shuffle

Chapters

CHapter 1: The Golden Portal
Chapter 2: Ain't In Kansas
Chapter 3: The Grand Scheme of THings

CHapter 1: The Golden Portal

The Storm King screamed as a burst of rainbow light flowed around his body, as the magical energy flowed from the floating forms of six ponies before him.

“No!” The tyrant screamed. “It can’t be! I was so close! How could you defeat me!? Where did this power come from!? AND WHY IS IT RAINBOWS!??”

He cried out as the force of the magic pushed him through the windows of Canterlot out past the horizon and out of sight, his screams of defeat fading into the distance as the six ponies slowly lowered back to the ground onto their hooves, the golden Elements of Harmony sitting on their bodies as the magical glow of their power faded.

Wearing a beautiful gold tiara, a yellow Pegasus smiled in triumph as she stood with her friends. “I guess that’s something you could never understand, Storm King.”

“yeah, yeah, yeah, power of friendship, yadda yadda, who cares?” a voice spoke out from behind as several ropes flew out, wrapped around each Elements Fluttershy and her friends wore and then yanked them off.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie called out as she turned her immaculately styled head to face the intruder. “How rude!”

Rainbow Dash turned, biting her lip shyly. “O-Oh dear...I-I thought we were done...”

“Who are you!?” twilight sparkle questioned, wearing a chestplate. “Are you more soldiers of the Storm King? Well your boss is down, so there’s no use fighting anymore!”

Rarity held up a camera out of nowhere. “Rarity, reporter for Ponyville Daily! Whoever you are, care for a picture for the next issue before me and my friends trounce you!?”

Applejack sighed and rubbed her snout with her hoof. “Rarity...there’s a time and place...”

However, as the Mares turned all they saw was some sort...golden hole in the air before them a hoof stretched through it and holding the ropes that had been used to take the girls’ Elements of Harmony before quickly pulling them into the hole and out of sight.

“Oh I have no time for introductions, ‘friends’.” A voice spoke out from behind the golden portal. “I have a schedule and a quota to keep. Ponies to knock down a peg or twelve, Elements to take, you know how it goes. But you’ll see me again VERY soon once I’m done, though. Oh yes, you’ll know ALL about me...” They chuckled darkly as the portal disappeared from view.

The six ponies stared in disbelief. “W-what just happened...?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I...I think we were just robbed...” Fluttershy replied. “What...what do we tell the Princesses?”

“The truth, of course.” Twilight Sparkle said. “Then we can work on finding out who that was and where they went and then we can go about catching them and getting the Elements back...though I am curious what they meant by that speech...what could they have meant by ‘Elements to take’? those are the only ones anywhere in Equestria...”

Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin in thought, her mind starting to theorise. Sadly, were this tale restricted to her world she may have played a greater role in figuring things out and saving the day.

But she wasn’t. This tale instead shall move elsewhere, to the TRUE heroine of this particular adventure....

Meanwhile! In a Parallel Universe!

Another Equestria

Manehatten

Rainbow Dash trotted down the street with her friends, exploring the biggest city in Equestria as Fluttershy danced in the air above while singing joyously as Rainbow’s other friends gazed around at the sights they passed.

“Now girls, don’t get distracted.” Rainbow chided, idly double checking that her faithful assistant Spike was still riding atop her back, “We’re not just here to sight see. Remember, we’re here to see the Iron Will Industries Expo, and we shouldn’t be late.”

Twilight Sparkle had stars in her eyes under her brown Stetson as she grinned widely in glee. “You’re absolutely right Rainbow Dash! Imagine all the wonderful new machines they’ve been developing! Why, they might have made something that’d make Flim and Flam’s tractor look like a heap of junk, I bet!”

“OOOH and maybe some flying machines!” Rarity added, trotting at a quicker pace in her excitement. “I bet SOMEPONY at that company could make a soemthign that could somepony in the air REAL fast! And MAYBE I COULD ASK THEM TO LET ME TEST FLY IT!”

“Yeah sure, when pigs fly.” PInkamena said dourly from behind the group.

“I’ve seen a pig fly!” Fluttershy said cheerfully.

“Of course you have...” PInkamena replied with an annoyed sigh.

Applejack gave the pink pony a stern gaze, wearing a beautiful green dress with her mane tied into a lovely braid. “I thought you said you were going to be nicer from now on?”

“NicER, not nice always.” Pinkamena answered. “I’m a grump. I am known for this. Why change entirely, I might as well be a completely different pony in that case.”

“She has a point there!” Fluttershy agreed eagerly.

The six ponies (and a dragon) soon arrived at the large white building the Expo was being held at, a pony in a simple brown cloak standing outside the entrance and waving a hoof timidly at the girls. “R-r-rainbow Dash, I-I’m glad you and your friends c-came by...I-I didn’t want to be a bother but I thought you might enjoy some time here a-and M-Mister Iron Will wanted to make up for what happened on the Race a-and...”

Rainbow chuckled and gave the mare a gentle and quick hug. “Hey, Trix, relax, it’s fine, no way we’d turn down free tickets, especially if Iron Will was paying for the train ride.”

Trixie smiled as she started trotting ahead. “Y-You can f-follow me and I-I’l guide you through the e-expo...i-if you don’t mind...”

“Not at all, darling.” Applejack replied. “Go on ahead.”

Trixie turned and started to trot ahead, leading the group into the building, turning to Rainbow Dash. “I-I don’t wish to b-be a bother but...y-you wouldn’t happen to have brought the E-Elements j-just in case..?”

Rainbow smirked. “Don’t worry, we learned our lessons, we made sure to bring the Elements along. We may not have had to, but you never know...”

Trixie nodded slowly. “W-with all th-these....bad things happening in Equestria so much, i-it’s a good idea t-to be prepared in case...anything happened...”

Rainbow smiled reassuringly, laying a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Hey, relax, nothings going to happen, and even if something DID happen for some reason, we’ll deal with it. Trust me. Now, what’s being shown off at the expo?”

Trixie perked up. “Oh! L-lots of things! F-Follow me!”

The mares followed along as Trixie trotted, the expo filled with ponies and exhibits showcasing various inventions and mechanisms being developed by Equestria’s foremost powerhouse in magic technology. As the group trotted along, Trixie held out a hoof to each exhibit they passed and began doing a lecture on each one.

“Now over here we have a combustion engine currently being devised by our engineers, its still a work in progress however.” Trixie said as she pointed towards a projector showing an enlarged blueprint of a complicated machine on a blank wall. “Once our engineers have a working prototype, then we will begin further testing and improvement until we have one for use by the general public. The engine is theorised to be able to make transportation much easier and available to the general public, with it being suggested that any pony could have their own private transport that required nothing more than this engine powering it.”

“So you’re saying that rather than rely on magic and/or being pulled by another pony like our current carriages, a pony could just like...move it? By themselves?” Twilight asked, eyes shining brightly with interest.

“Oh yes, the current idea is the pony would sit within the carriage and sort of...propel it via a series of mechanisms connected to the engine.” Trixie nodded.

Applejack huffed. “Sounds like a pipe dream to me, darling. Ah don’t really see how such a thing could even work. Sure, maybe a unicorn could move their carriage without any outside help, but AH don’t see how some...hunk of metal could help with that, or how say an Earth Pony could use it.”

“W-well you see...” Trixie began before looking to her side. “Oh! Here’s an exhibit on our magic research! I-I think you will find this especially illuminating, R-Rainbow...”

Trixie lead the group into a circular room, displayed on the walls were schematics of ponies from each of the three races alongside illustrations of each pony’s skeletons, with infographics pointing towards different parts of each skeleton on each image.

“Ever since Rainbow Dash here showed the ability to perform magic in a way no one thought any Pegasus could, researchers have been asking ‘why’.” Trixie continue, falling back into her more controlled ‘guide’ persona. “After years of study, our researchers believe they’ve found the answer: bones.”

Applejack raised a brow. “Ex...excuse me? ‘Bones’?”

Trixie nodded. “Our researchers spent a lot of time looking into how a Pegasus could perform magic, and soon decided to look into common traits the races shared. Eventually, they discovered a surprising fact: Ponies share the same sort of bones. Specifically, all ponies have a special bone made of a substance known as alicorn, and its theorised it’s through alicorn that magic is cast. Unicorns’ horns are made of alicorn, allowing them to channel magical energy to cast spells; earth ponies’ hooves use the alicorn in them to increase their strength and stamina for specific purposes as well as to cultivate growth in whatever they tend to, and the alicorn in pegasi wings allow them to fly and manipulate the weather....and thanks to Rainbow Dash we now know that these traits are potentially interchangeable.”

The mares stared at her as Rainbow and Spike’s mouths hang open...and then stars appeared in the pegasus’ eyes as she squeed. “So magic isn’t unique to just unicorns and me, but ANYONE can do it!? That’s AWESOME!”

Twilight raised a brow. “I..figured you’d be disappointed, because magic is such a defining part of your life...”

“Well yeah but I love magic either way, and the idea that it’s not something special to a select few but available to everyone is just....”

“Awwweeeesome!” Rarity finished for her.

“Yeah!”

Trixie nodded then looked down bashfully. “W-well...w-we s-still need to run some tests, a lot of it is still based on theory...”

“Still though, explains some of the stuff earth ponies can do that nopony else can.” Pinkamena said. “And I always thougth it was weird that Pegasi could fly even though their bones were nothing like a bird’s.”

“I know right!” Fluttershy exclaimed, grinning giddily. “I thought I was the only one who wondered about that!”

Pinkamena huffed in annoyance as she turned her head away, disliking having anything similar to the yellow Pegasus, even if it was an idle thought.

“S-so...n-next u-up...” Trixie began, trying to continue on with her job as tour guide.

At taht exact moment, a golden portal appeared in the middle of the room with a loud noise, making Trixie jump several inches away in fright, Rainbow and her friends turning to the sight in surprise as Rainbow steeled herself, reaching a wing into her bag to begin pulling out her Element of Magic. “Girls, get ready, who knows what’s going on here and it could be bad for all we know...” she yelped as a rope darted forward, wrapped around her bag and pulled it away from her, Rainbow’s wing glowing with magic as she tried to use telekinesis to pull the bag back, but the magic dissipated the moment it touched the bag, or rather the rope wrapped around it.

“Funny ya’ll say that,” A familiar spoke as three figures stepped through the portal and into view, the stallion at the lead smirking. “Ya’ll should know a thing or two about how ‘bad’ we can be.”

The three ponies were VERY famimilar to the group, as not only did they deal with them before, but just a month or two back they had tried to derail the annual Running of the Leaves with a foul scheme. Standing in front was a green stallion with a messy red mane and long red beard, a black hat atop his head and a gun strapped to his back; behind him stood a massive, obese mare who resembled a stallion, she also wearing a smaller, rounder black hat atop her brown mane and her massive round body clad in what appeared to be metal armour; and the final pony was a stallion with orange mane and a brown vest, holding the rope that was tied around the Element of Magic.

These three were the Bad Apples: Rotten Bad Apple, Bruised Bad Apple and Braeburn Bad Apple.

“What are you doing here!?” Rainbow exclaimed, glaring.

“Yeah, we already DEALT with you guys!” Fluttershy added. “We shouldn’t be seeing you again until like next season or something! There’s an order to these things!”

Ignoring the yellow Pegasus, Applejack growled. “Return that bag back at once! You have no use for it!”

Rotten Bad apple pursed his lips in thought. “Hmmm, true, but ya see, we seem to be havin’ a...what would ya call it...a...pressing NEED for these here ‘Elements of Harmony’ and oh mah Celestia it seems we’re runnin’ a little SHORT on ‘em.” With a deft motion of his hooves he reached to his back and pulled out his blunderbuss, pointing it at the group. “So, be a dear an’ hand ‘em all over, no funny business.”

Rainbow tried firing a blast of magic at rotten, who twirled his gun around in front of himself to shield himself, the magic dissipated the moment it connected with the metal. “Now, now, we came prepared, we each got plenty of orihalcum on us to deal with that pesky magic of yours.”

“Good thing not all us rely on magic!” Applejack charged forward, directing a punch at her uncle’s face, only for the massive hoof Bruised to slam down on top of her, winding her. “Oh...right...the other two...”

Braeburn frowned as Twilight Sparkle charged over along with Rarity, the earth stallion responding by quickly wrapping tossing ropes towards them, hitting their snouts with the metal weights on the ends of the ropes. “Pa, we don’t exactly got time ta jus’ fight these girls.”

Rotten nodded, reaching for Applejack as she lay trapped under Bruised’s hoof, her bag quickly being taken. “Then jus’ grab their brags an’ we can go.”

“Oh yeah!?” Rarity challenged, rubbing her face as she stood resolutely. “You think we’ll just let you rob us!? What do you even want them for anyhow?”

“Ain’t none of your business.” Braeburn replied, glancing at the portal behind him. “Pa, Ah got an idea. One that’d simplify things a hay of a lot.”

“Oh yeah?” Rotten smirked, firing a blast at Rainbow Dash as she attempted to charge forward, knocking her back. “Ah suppose Ah’ll jus’ have ta go along with it, won’t Ah?”

Braeburn nodded, held up Rainbow’s bag to theatrically show off the Element of Magic within...and then held it close to his chest as he jumped into the portal.

“Pa,” Bruised growledin her characteristically extremely deep and masculine voice, “Big Bro turned tail and rain.”

Rotten smirked. “Mhmmm. Boy’s got a good head on his shoulders. Hate ta cut and run, ya’ll, but WE have a schedule ta keep.” He tried to bite back a chuckle as he added. “Don’t try an’ follow us, it ain’t exactly gonna be....wise.” And with that he leapt in after his son, disappearing within the portal.

Bruised sighed and growled. “What’s gotten inta them...? Fine, we’ll settle this LATER!” She hopped back into the portal, muttering in annoyance.

“Wait...” Fluttershy said, blinking. “Did...did we win?”

“They really seemed to have had the upperhand...” Twilight muttered then gasped. “Wait! The Element of Magic! They still have it!”

Rainbow frowned and nodded. “Yeah. We only have one choice: follow them.”

“B-but w-w-we have no idea where they went!” Trixie quavered, hiding behind a nearby partition, having done so throughout the short fight. “A-and th-that’s very different from teleportation! I-I’m not sure w-w-what it is! I-it could go ANYWHERE!”

“Yeah, I kinda know that, Trix.” Rainbow said. “Still though, the Element of Magic is important. The other Elements won’t work right without it...I think. This hasn’t exactly happened before.”

“Still, pretty risky either way.” Pinkamena nodded. “So either we risk seeing what we can do with five of the six Elements...or you go in a weird portal that goes who knows where to follow our most annoying archenemies.”

Rainbow smired, turning to the pink mare. “What? Not coming?”

Twilight and rarity trotted to the pegasus’ side, Rarity smirking. “And miss out on another awesome adventure? No way! Beside I’m kinda still ticked at those Bad Apple guys!”

“We’re your friends, Rainbow,”Twilight said, “We’ll stick by your side through thick and thin, no matter what.”

“One for all, all for one!” Fluttershy sang out.

“Not only are you my friend, darling, but my Uncle needs to face punishment for his crimes” Applejack said, frowning. “Besides, the Elements brought us together, Ah couldn’t imagine abandoning it.”

“Count me out.” Pinkamena said. “I’m not risking my life or sanity for more nonsense.” As she finished speaking Fluttershy suddenly lifting her up in her hooves, carrying her while flying above the ground. “Oooor you could just choose for me, what do I know? Not like I have my own business to run or something, nooooo.”

Trixie peeked from her hiding spot, looking ashamed. “W-what should I do?”

“Tell everyone, of course, whoever you can, however many.” Rainbow said. “Ponies need to know. The Princesses, your boss, lots of folks. That way they can be prepared on this end. Also, might be a good idea to have your researchers look at this...portal thing, find out what the deal is with it.”

“I-I’ll...I’ll try....” Trixie said.

“Alright, let’s go people!” Rainbow said resolutely as she charged into the portal with Spike gripping tightly to her back, followed by Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and finally Fluttershy diving in with Pinkamena along for the ride.

Trixie stepped out to trot over to the portal, timidly observing it as she lifted a hoof, then yelped as the portal suddenly vanished, leaving nothing there.

“O-Oh dear...” Trixie whimpered fearfully.

Images flashed through Rainbow’s eyes, way too much and too rapid to really note or examine as she tumbled through a golden tunnel, only to find herself suddenly standing atop green grass, blinking to herself.

“G-Girls?” Rainbow groaned, pressing a hoof to her head. “What the hay happened in there...? Huh...girls?” She looked around herself, Spike sitting upon her back and fighting back the urge to throw up....but her friends were nowhere to be seen. “Oh...oh no...girls!? Girls where are you!? Twilight! Rarity! Applejack! Fluttershy! Pinkamena! Where’d you go!?”

“Rainbow Dash?” A familiar voice said.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she turned to the speaker. “Oh thank goodness, I thought something bad happened, like I....” She blinked as she took stock of the pony she turned to face. “Umm....AJ...? You...You do something with your...everything?”

Applejack tilted her head, her hair done in a loose...well Rainbow wasn’t much of a hair stylist so she settled on ‘braid’ for the time being. The earth pony’s tail matched the style of her mane, and wore a brown Stetson atop her head...and most bizarre of all was her cutie mark. Rainbow knew her friend had cutie mark resembling a cutie mark made of fabric and stitching with a needle for the stem, but this...this Applejack’s one was very different, consisting of a trio of bright red apples upon her flank.

“Rainbow? Ya’ll feeling okay?” The earth pony questioned, her accent much thicker than it should normally be. “Ya...ya look a bit...different?”

Rainbow also noticed something else: rather than being in Manehatten, she was now in the familiar grounds of Ponyville, but even that seemed somehow...off, but she wasn’t sure what.

Just what was going on here?

Author's Note

So to celebrate the Final Season of MLP, I decided to just bite the bullet and do what I had planned for a long, long, long while: a crossover story between my AU and (at least a close enough approximation of) the canon universe! Ideally I WAS gonna do this after I finished a few more stories but....well, makes no difference either I think.

Also this fic may also reference other AU's such as the Lunaverse, so uhh be on the lookout and if you want any AUs to be referenced lemme know. also feel free to write something based on the AU showed in the beginning there, I ain't doing anything with it.

I am writing this to be a LITTLE more accommodating to new readers too, as its not ENTIRELY my AU this go around, so yeah. I hope ya all enjoyed it and please comment!

Chapter 2: Ain't In Kansas

Twilight Sparkle blinked her eyes, disoriented from her trip through the portal. It was hazy but she was positive she saw...something while travelling through it. But she wasn’t sure what exactly it was. As she opened her eyes she took stock of her surroundings.

She frowned in confusion as she found herself standing outside giant crystal tree, she looked around herself and realised she was in Ponyville, and according to her memory of the town layout, this should be wear the Library should be, rather than this bizarre, giant art project. She shrugged to herself and trotted to the thing, and noticed a large door on the tree’s ‘trunk’ and knocked on it, hoping somepony might be inside to tell her what was going on.

All she knew was that Spike and Rainbow would not be happy to have their home replaced like this.

After a long while, the door slowly opened...and the occupant inside caused her to gasp in surprise and shock, as before her stood an almost exact duplicate of her, aside from minor differences: she lacked the same Stetson Twilight wore, her cutie mark was completely different (a bunch of stars in comparison to twilight’s own Soda Pop bottle cutie mark) and, most obvious of all, had a pair of wings on her back.

The almost-doppelganger blinked in surprise, looking over Twilight in turn. “Wh-what the...?”

“A...Chrysalis, is that you?” Twilight asked, jumping to the first conclusion that made sense. Sure, a lot of ponies look alike, but this was too eerie to be a mere coincidence.

The double’s eyes blinked. “Chrysalis...? Wait...are you a changeling?” She looked the generous pony over, as if trying to gauge her intent.

“Wha...!? I’m not a changeling!” Twilight sighed as she looked the pony in the eyes. “Look, I don’t know why you seem to have gotten rid of the library in place of this...thing, but you really need to put it back, Rainbow’s going to be REALLY mad at you, and a lot of ponies depend on the library or information!”

The other pony tilted her head, eyes wide and confused as a little purple dragon popped his head in through the doorframe. “Hey Twi, you...talking...to...yourself...?” The dragon asked aloud, his speech slowing down as his brain shut down trying to process the sight before him.

Twilight smiled. “Oh you’re here Spike! Mind telling me where Rainbow is? Do you know what happened here and who this pony is? Wait, how could you though, you were with us...” She frowned to herself, confused.

Spike pressed closer to the purple pony beside him, gazing up at Twilight. “What the hay are you talking about? Who are you supposed to be!?”

Twilight frowned. “Why I’m Twilight Sparkle! You know me! My family owns a farm near town, remember?”

Spike blinked. “Uhhh no? Twilight lives HERE.”

The purple unicorn before Twilight nodded to herself in thought. “Okay...I THINk I know what’s going on here, though it’s a lot different from what I experienced. Come inside and let me explain...I think you’re from a...well...a different Equestria, I think you could say?”

Applejack rubbed her eyes to clear them after the...disorienting experience she just had. As her vision cleared she looked around, frowning to herself as she realised she was somehow back in Ponyville, standing outside her family’s farm.

“They better not be causing trouble here again...” She said huffily, turning her head as she heard hoofsteps nearby...and stared in disbelief. She saw a bright red stallion bucking at some trees with his powerful hooves. He was the very spitting image of the stallion Big Macintosh used to be, right down to the cutie mark.

But Big Mac wasn’t a stallion anymore. Or at least, not when she last had checked.

“M-Macintosh?” Applejack asked in puzzlement.

The stallion turned to her and nodded. “Eeeyup.”

“Oh your poor dear what happened!?” Applejack exclaimed, distraught. “What happened to change you back!? Was it our parents!? I KNEW they’d try SOMETHING, but...”

Big Mac blinked, tilting his head in confusion. “What...are ya talkin’ about AJ?”

“You’re a stallion, Mac! Not a mare!” Applejack blurted out.

“Uhhh....Eeeyup?” Big Mac frowned, looking his apparent sister over. “ya okay, Sis? Yer actin’ mighty strange, and yer not usually dressed to the nines like that...”

“Ex-excuse me?” Now it was Applejack’s turn to be confused. “What are you saying exactly?”

“Well sis, yer not really one for wearing a dress, at least not outside a special occasion or somethin’, an’...what was that about our parents?”

Applejack huffed, looking aside. “I don’t wish to get into discussing THEM right now...”

Big Mac flinched. “Yeah, AH suppose yer right, still you mentioned them which was pretty unusual...ya don’t really talk about them since they...left...”

Applejack blinked. “Hold on...left..? what are you going on about? When exactly did they leave?”

Big Mac stared at her in disbelief, eyes widened as he noticed the expression on her face and he came to a realisation. “Ya...don’t know? Did ya hit yer head or something...?”

“Don’t know what?” Applejack shook her head. “Look, Ah don’t want to get sidetracked talking about our parents! Ah just want to know what happened to you!”

“Uhhh...nothin?”

“You’re a stallion!” Appljack repeated in exasperation, gesturing to him with her hooves. “Either mother and father pulled some hairbraned scheme because they just don’t GET you’re a mare or...wait, was it Uncle Rotten? Did he and his family have something to do with this?”

“Who? AJ, Ah have no right idea what yer talkin’ about, we don’t HAVE any Uncle named Rotten or anything, and AH certainly ain’t a mare, never have been never will be. Are ya SURE you’re okay...?” The stallion gazed at her in concern.

Applejack blinked, staring at Big Mac in confusion and rising dread. “W-what are you...? Macintosh, you’re a mare! I even helped you talk to Rainbow about it! And what do you mean we don’t have an Uncle named Rotten!? He’s mother’s brother, Granny’s son!”

“Makin’ a lot of assumptions there, AJ.” A familiar voice broke in.

Applejack blinked, turning to look to the speaker, as did Big Mac. Stepping out from behind the barn, a hoof wrapped over Granny Smith’s shoulder, was Braeburn Bad Apple, glaring hatefully.

“Now, AJ, Ah won’t hurt this old mare if ya don’t give me reason to.”He gazed at Big Mac. “That goes double for you.”

Granny Smith gazed at the stallion. “Braeburn, what are ya doin’? Yer actin’ crazy!”

“What are ya doin’ in POnyville anyway...?” Big Mac asked, gazing warily at the other stallion.

“You’re thinking of another Braeburn.” He answered,keeping his gaze on Applejack. “You’re very confused, I get it, ya got a lot of questions, but Ah don’t exactly have patience for ya to argue yourselves in a circle. The Element of Loyalty,now, ah know ya got it.”

“...And what if I were to refuse?” Applejack hazarded, gulping.

“You know exactly what Ah might do, if AH were inclined.” Braeburn said evenly. “Now, are ya willing to take that or risk or”

Something sped through at incredible speed, and Braeburn was suddenly against the barn’s wall, groaning in pain from being pushed into it, a blue Pegasus standing a few inches from where Braeburn had once stood, Granny Smith blinking and looking back and forth between the newcomer and Braeburn.

‘Rainbow! Where did YOU come from!?” Applejack exclaimed in surprise.

“Was napping nearby, then I heard something going on down here, decided to butt in.” The Pegasus shrugged before glaring at Braeburn. “What was THAT all about? Last I saw you was at Appleoosa, what are you doing here?”

Braeburn chuckled as he got up. “Wrong Braeburn, ma’am. Ah ain’t from around here, an’ neither is that mare.” He pointed at Applejack. “But to make things clearer: what’s the name of your parents?”

Applejack scrunched her face in confusion and annoyance. “It’s Juicy Apple and Hard Cider, what is the point, you...” She suddenly stopped as she found Big Mac and Granny Smith staring at her. “Why are you staring at me like that...?”

“Our parents aren’t called that at all...” Big Mac muttered.

“Indeed, Ah’d certainly know mah own son’s name, it certainly ain’t either of those.” Granny Smith concurred with a nod.

“W-wait...what...?” Applejack paled, looking around in confusion. “A-ah don’t...Ah don’t understand...”

Braeburn smirked, gazing at Rainbow Dash. “Ya probably don’t know this, ya seem a simpler type, so lemme just spell it out: she AIN’T yer friend. She ain’t from around here. So what are ya gonna do about that?”

Rainbow turned to Applejack, finally taking in her odd appearance, the confusion on her face, and the confused and suspiscious gazes her grandmother and brother gave her...and then made a decision, rushing at the mare and pushing her to the ground.

“What did you do to my friend!?” She snarled angrily. “If you hurt her I swear I’ll...!”

“Yoink!” Braeburn exclaimed, running off as he pulled the Element of Loyalty that had fallen to Applejack’s side with a long rope from his vest and pulled it under his hoof. “See ya, suckers!” He smirked as he ran off into a portal, disappearing from view.

“What the...!?” Rainbow exclaimed before turning to Applejack again. “What was that about!? What did your friend just take!?”

“Wha...!? FRIEND!? FRIEND!?!?” Applejack sputtered, giving rainbow a headbutt and pushing her off to stand up. “Don’t you EVER say Ah’m FRIENDS with that HOOLIGAN! He kidnapped MAH sister! He threatened MAH family! He, along with the rest of his family, almost ruined one of the most important events in Equestria and helped to DIVIDE mah family! And he just TOOK one of the ELEMENTS OF HARMONY and you just LET HIM! How DARE you!?”

“What in TARNATION is goin’ on!?” Another voice called out, identical to Applejack’s own.

Everyone blinked, eyes wide in surprise as they turned, seeing a second Applejack wearing a brown Stetson over her blonde, loosely braided hair...standing beside a second Rainbow Dash who had what appeared to be Spike on her back.

“There better be a DARN GOOD explanation for what’s goin’ on, Rainbow Dash!” The Applejack doppelganger said in a thick, country accent, looking angry.

The Rainbow that Applejack had headbutted stared, then turned to the fashionista.

“Ah’m just as confused as you are.” Applejack replied dumbly.

Earlier

Rainbow stood before the Stetson clad earth pony, frowning in thought. The voice was the same, as was the face, but as she focused she noticed the differences. The hat and hair, obviously, as well as the cutie mark, that was unmistakable but there were also little things. The WAY she spoke, the subtle hints of muscle on her body, the subtle specks of dirt in her hooves and hair and even a bit on her face.

Yes, now that Rainbow thought about it and focused, something became clear. This was NOT her friend...but she WASN’T just some random pony. She acted like she knew her, or at least someone who looked like her, and she had enough in common with the ‘real’ AJ that it couldn’t JUST be coincidence.

And as she thought about this...Rainbow saw something that derailed her train of thought. Something that silenced all thought in her mind.

Walking through the street...was Grey Mare, formerly Mayor Mare of Ponyville. And upon seeing her, Rainbow was overcome by an intense emotion.

Pure, unbridled rage.

“Dash?” Applejack asked. “Ya alright?”

Rainbow ignored her as she ran towards Gray Mare, standing before the mare with pure hatred as she muttered “youuuuuuuuu” moments before decking her hardin the shnoz with her right hoof.

“Dash!” Applejack called out to her as she ran over. “What they hay!? Why’d ya go an’ hit Mayor Mare for!”

Rainbow blinked, turning to Applejack. “Hold on? You...she’s still Mayor?”

“Wha!? Of course! What are ya talkin’ about, an’ what does that have ta do with anythin’!?”

Rainbow stared at her and then at the mare crumpled to the ground before her, who slowly tried to get back up on her hooves. “I-it’s quite alright, I’m quite fine!” Mayor Mare said, gasping for breath.

Something clocked in Rainbow’s mind as she took of her surroundings and then turned to the dragon on her back.

“We’re in an alternate reality.”

“What.” Spike replied incredulously.

“Alternate what now?” Applejack responded.

“Alternate Reality, alternate timeline, parallel dimension, another world, mirror universe, take your pick.” Rainbow Dash explained. “There are tons of stories exploring the concept, but the idea of actually appearing in one is...not exactly high on things to expect.” She turned to the fallen Mayor Mare with a grimace, gently helping her up her hooves. “S-sorry about that I just...thought you were somepony else...”

Mayor Mare gave her a reassuring smile. “Oh don’t fret, that sort of thing happens all the time, at least in my experience.”

“Rainbow that’s a little ahrd to believe...” Spike said, arms folded over his chest.

“Between how UN-AJ this Applejack is and Mayor Mare apparently still being Mayor despite us BOTH knowing Filthy Rich is Mayor and...loook, just look over there!” She pointed to the giant crystal tree thing in the distance overlooking the town. “THAT certainly wasn’t there in OUR world!”

“Ya’ll mean Twilight’s castle?” Applejack said, head tilted, looking pretty confused.

“Exactly!” Rainbow responded. “That makes literally NO SENSE to me! So this MUST be some...alternate equestrian where everything’s weird and different and crazy! Like...like this applejack could still be a farmer, for example!”

“Ah AM a farmer!” Applejack said.

“See!” Rainbow put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmm come to think of it the others must be around here too, most likely, and the best places to start would be places they’d be drawn to...” She turned to this world’s Applejack. “Mind taking me to your farm? A friend of mine might be there.”

“Uh, sure Dash, Ah still ain’t too sure what you’re on about and uhh kinda still upset you just hit Mayor Mare like that...”

“Oh don’t worry about it, Miss Applejack!” The Mayor replied. “Happens all the time!”

“Look, you’ll better understand once we’ve gotten everypny together and I’ll properly apologise for my behaviour later, but right now we gotta focus.” Rainbow said, taking charge. “Just show me the way, please, there’s still a lot we need to figure out.”

Sweet Apple Acres, Present time

Rainbow stepped up from beside the Stetson clad applejack to move closer to her own doppelganger, looking her over.

“Hmm same basic look, hair’s messier, cutie mark’s different, I think I even see some slight muscle on your body...” She muttered.

“Wh-who the hay are you!?” The other Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Why do ya look like me!?”

“Because I AM you, or rather, a version of you from another world.” Rainbow quickly explained.”That mare you got under you is my Applejack, and I’d like to know why you currently have her pinned to the ground.”

“Well...I...” The Pegasus stammered, glancing at the Applejack in the brown Stetson.”I thought she uh...did something to her so uhh...”

“You can clearly see she is not, and in fact I have stepped away from her so she is in no danger from me.” Rainbow glared. “Get off my friend now or I’ll MAKE you get off.”

“Dash, just do what she says.” The upright earth mare added, gazing at the other other Rainbow Dash like a big sister scolding a little sister.

The Pegasus slowly, dumbly nodded and stepped off, the fashionista quickly getting to her hooves, staring at her double in disbelief...and horror.

“M-my word! Y-your ensemble! Your mane! Your cutie mark!” She shook her head. “No no no no no! This SIMPLY will not do! Somepony can’t go around looking like ME looking like THAT!”

Rainbow facehoofed. “AJ, look, we don’t need to worry about a fashion emergency, besides she looks fine.”

“Says you.” Spike scoffed. “Our Applejack is WAY prettier.”

“NOT. THE POINT. SPIKE.” Rainbow growled, turning to her friend. “What happened here.”

Applejack sighed and looked down. “Nothing too important but....Braeburn took my Element of Loyalty.”

“...Element of Loyalty?” The other Applejack asked. “Not Honesty?”

The fashionista frowned, raising a brow as she turned to Rainbow. “Rainbow, what is going on here?”

“Long story short, it seems the Bad Apples brought us to....another Equestria, where everything is different. First priority, we get everyone together. Applejack, you come with me.”

Both Applejacks trotted to her side.

Rainbow groaned. “NO I meant...okay...FIRST PRIORITY: figuring out what we call each other to avoid confusion. SECOND PRIORITY: We find the others and get them up to speed on the situation.”

“third priority: makesure PInkamena didn’t upset anyone.” Spike added.

“....okay yes that is a good point, we should probably try to find her first. BUT FIRST! You can call me Rainbow, it’s what everypony calls me and what I’m used to.”

The other Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Call me Dash. It’s cooler than just going by Rainbow anyway.”

“Jus’ callin’ me Applejack or AJ is fine by me.” The local earth pony said.

The fashionista frowned. “Very well, Ah SUPPOSE for now you can call me Jackie for short, but only until we get home away from these confusing matters.”

“Just call me Spike.” The dragon said simply.

“And what if we run into another Spike?” Rainbow pointed out.

“Then he should’ve voted first.” Spike said with a wry smirk.

“We could call him Rainbow Spike.” Dash suggested. “Since he seems to be with you and all. Kinda weird to be honest, seeing Spike with someone other than Twilight or Rarity...”

“We are not calling him Rainbow Spike, that’s ridiculous.” Rainbow scoffed. “We’ll figure it out when we come to it, right now we need to find Pinkamena.”

“What, ya mean Pinkie?” Applejack asked. “Why is that?”

“Cause she can be pretty....DIFFICULT.” Rainbow replied.

Pinakeman trotted through the town and as she looked around her Honest nature told her one thing.

This wasn’t her home. It looked more or less the same, the ponies looked more or less the same, but everything was different and she could just TELL, this wasn’t the town she mostly called home, it was someplace entirely and the clues were all there if you looked for them.

For starters there was a pink pony identical to her save for a cheerful disposition and a propensity for stalking Pinkamena wherever she walked.

She turned to said pink mare grouchily. “And WHO are YOU?”

“Hi!” The mare greeted cheerfully. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m ehre to welcome you to Ponyville since you seem new here! Though you look kinda like me but I’m POSITIVE you aren’t one of those weird clones of me and you seem pretty unhappy so I thougth ‘HEY! Maybe I should go introduce myself and help cheer this pony up!’ And here I am to do just that!”

PInkamena stared at the grinning abomination before her, reminded of her worst nightmares AND what happened to her when Discord was around. “Go away.”

“But I didn’t even learn your name!”Pinkie Pie said, aghast.

“My name is Pinkamena Pie.” PInkemena snarled. “Go away, you’re like a living nightmare.”

Pinkie grinned widely. “Awww don’t be like that! I’m sure we’ll be good friends if you just try!”

“Or you could respect my privacy and not force yourself into my life like a weirdo.” PInkamena growled.

“WOW!” A new voice called out. “Hello there Pinkie! Hi there other pinkie!”

PInkamena’s eyes widened as she saw Fluttershy gleefully flying over to them, and just like that the situation had just gotten worse.

Pinkie grinned. “Hey Fluttershy! You seem a lot more excited today!”

“I sure am Other Pinkie!” Fluttershy’s grin widened as she flied to the pink pony. “It’s so great to make new friends!”

“I know right!” Pinkie nodded in agreement. “I’m so glad you understand!”

Pinkamena’s eye twitched as she stared at the pair. This was far worse than any nightmare she had ever had.

“No...” She muttered. “There’s TWO of them...!”

Rarity pouted to herself as she stood before Carousel Boutique.

“Okay so I was in Manehatten and now I’m in Ponyville...in front of Aplejack’s shop. Great.” She sighed. “Well, maybe AJ’s inside and might know what happened? Or something? ....hopefully she won’t try and make me wear a dress of give me a ‘makeover’.” She rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out in disgust and trotted forward....the very moment another Rarity opened the door to step outside.

The other Rarity blinked. “Oh! A customer? I was about to head out to see my friends, I wasn’t expecting...” Her eyes widened as she took in the other mare’s appearance: short messy many, a black ring around one eye, a mouth full of broken teeth, bandages around the legs, a blank flank and several bruises along the back. Her eyes rolled back as she fainted from the dismal sight before her and collapsed to the ground with a dramatic whine of pure horror.

Rarity, for her part, simply watched the performance with a raised brow. “You okay there, ma’am? Also you kinda look like how I used to as a filly before stuff happened.”

The other mare huffed and got to her hooves. “Now this simply won’t do! I have no idea who you are, darling, but you simply MUST get come in! We can’t have you parading around town looking like...THAT. Not on my watch!”

Rarity gasped and stepped back, paling. “Oh no, don’t you dare mess with my awesome look. I’m fine how I am.”

“Darling, you look like you crashed through a building!”

“Hey I haven’t done since I was five!” She paused. “And last month. But still!”

“Whatever are you talking about?” The other unicorn asked in confusion.

“None of your business! All that matters is I am NOT having ANYPONY mess with my look!”

“it won’t take very long and I can assure you you’ll thank me!”

There was the sound of a mechanism cocking, interrupting the two mares and drawing their attention to the green, red bearded stallion standing closeby, blunderbuss at the ready.

“Alright, as amusin’ as this is, AH got important work ta do.” Rotten Bad Apple smirked. “Now, Rarity, right? Give me the Element of Kindness. Or else.”

Chapter 3: The Grand Scheme of THings

“Another Equestria?” Twilight asked her doppelganger.”What do you mean by that?”

The farmer had been lead into the rather decidedly gaudy crystal tree and had been sat down on a chair that was positioned near a large table, the ‘other Twilight’ sitting on a similar char beside her, Spike having brought the pair a couple cups of tea.

“Well...” The winged Twilight began. “A long time ago I...well, long story short, I had to go through a magical mirror and it brought me to a bizarre alternate version of this world, where everypony was different and even the buildings and locations were completely different. So the idea that you are from another Equestria isn’t too far off from that, but what you said and how you reacted makes it clear to me you aren’t from that world I visited which...I actually didn’t think was possible, to be frank.”

Twilight nodded, looking down to her tea. “That...kinda sounds overwhelming. Kinda freaky, to be quite honest...”

“I’d figure you’d find it absolutely fascinating from a magical theory standpoint! I sure do! The possibility of other worlds beside the Mirror World has just been presented to me! Think of the possibilities, and what magic could benefit from that knowledge!”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah I suppose...I just...Haven’t REALLY cared too much about magic since I was a kid...we may both be ‘Twilight Sparkle’, I guess, but we’re not the same pony. You’re...well you’re a PRINCESS with a big gaudy castle in the middle of town! Me? I’m just a farmer who likes helping people and tinkering with awesome machinery....and all this weird magic stuff is kinda a lot to take in...”

The other Twilight frowned. “Sorry, I just got excited, I’m a BIT of a nerd....”

“Well so am I as well as my friend Rainbow and many other ponies when you think about it.” The farmer replied. “Nothing wrong with being a nerd at all. And nothing wrong with you either, I just...I don’t know how this is happening...”

The other Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “You mentioned your other friends...is t possible they could be somewhere around here too?”

“It’s...possible. I remember we were in Manehatten and some...well, some bad ponies stole something from us and we sorta dived through a magical portal or something to follow them and I kind of found myself here...”

“You don’t sound familiar with whatever spell they used...”

The farmer shook her head. “Well, I’m not much a spellcaster myself, I think Rainbow’d know more.”

“Rainbow?” The other Twilight tilted her head. “As in....Rainbow Dash? Why would she know more about magic than you?”

“Well, she IS the Element of Magic after all.”

The other Twilight raised her brow at this in puzzlement as she sipped her tea. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, Element of Magic, Element of Laughter etc.” The farmer unicorn smiled brightly. “And I’m the Element of Generosity, believe it or not.”

The other Twilight stared in surprise. “That’s...surprising to hear. I’m the Element of Magic on my side here and well...I can’t quite believe Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, would be the bearer in your world.”

“Well she’s a remarkable pony! She’s the first Pegasus in Equestria to have learned how to use magic like a unicorn can, she recognised us as the bearers of the elements and brought us all together as friends!” The farmer smiled widely. “Oh and she’s really smart!”

The other Twilight nodded dumbfoundedly. “That...that sounds fascinating. I’d love to meet her.”

“Oh I’m sure you will eventually!” Twilight smiled wide. “Oh, you want to see my Element?”

The Princess of Friendship nodded. “I’d love to, if you can show me.”

“I got it right here!” Twilight grinned and reached into a sizeable knapsack she had at her side, eventually pulling out a purple crystalline choker necklace with the image of a soda pop bottle with a lightbulb forming above, identical to her cutie mark, emblazoned on the front end.

The other Twilight stared wide eyed. “That’s your Element? It even LOOKS different...”

As the pair talked Spike walked in, carrying a tray of cookies, flashing the two unicorns a smile as he placed the tray on the large map that was acting as a makeshift table. “Here you go!”

“Oh, why thank you Spike.” The other Twilight smiled. “We were having a really fascinating conversation, and look, her element is completely different from mine! Not only does it look different, but it’s the Element of Generosity rather than Magic! Isn’t that unbelievable!?”

“I think it’s pretty believable from my end...” The farmer pouted.

Spike walked closer, eyes wide as he spied the Element. “Wow...it looks cool. Mind if I touch it?”

Twilight blinked and shrugged, handing him the trinket. “Sure, I don’t see why not, just be careful with it. Better safe than sorry.”

As the dragon gingerly took the Element into his claws, another completely identical Spike walked through the door, carrying a tray of cookies. “Okay I brought some more...snacks...?” The newcomer blinked, tilting his head as he spied his doppelganger standing between the two unicorns.

The other Spike looked surprised...for a moment, before suddenly leaping up onto the map and holding the Element of Generosity aloft in triumph. “Haha! I can’t believe how EASY it was to get it! The others are gonna be SO proud!”

“H-hey what are you doing!?” Twilight asked in shock as she got to her hooves. “Give that back!”

The thieving Spike wagged his finger, tutting in a mocking manner. “Oh Twilight, no matter what, you never change do you? Always telling me what to do...always shoving me into the shadows while YOU got all the attention and fame...well not anymore! Now WE’RE the ones who will get the spotlight and YOU can just sit back and watch!”

Princess Twilight tilted her head, frowning in confusion. “What are you talking about...?” Her horn glowed with magic. “Look, just give that back and we can talk about this, that’s not yours...!”

As the Princess attempted to telekinetically pull the Element from the Dragon’s grasp, he smirked as he suddenly blew a large plume of green flame onto the object, the Element vanishing from sight as the flame engulfed it and dissipated into smoke, the two Twilight’s eyes widening.

“W-wait!” The farmer cried out.

“Where did you send it!?” The Princess asked.

“What is going on here...?” The Princess’ Spike asked, very out of the loop having only just come in.

The other Spike shook his head, smirking confidently. “None of your business. What IS your business is that outside Carousel Boutique some associates are having an altercation with some of YOUR friends. Now you COULD chase after me, well, make an attempt to do so, and MAYBE get your Element back....OOORRRRRR you could go there and try and help your friends.” He rolled his eyes. “Like I can’t guess, you Twilights are soooooo predictable...”

The two unicorns blinked, taken aback in puzzlement. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand!” The farmer exclaimed, growing ever more desperate.

A golden portal appeared behind the dragon as he smirked. “Hey it’s your choice, try and fight me for a trinket I don’t even have anymore...or run off and help the friends you care oh so much about?” He gave the pair an overdramatic bow before jumping into the portal which disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

The farmer turned to her Princess doppelganger, looking distressed. “What do we do!?”

“Well I could try and find a spell to find him but I’ve never seen magic like that before so I can’t imagine where I’d even begin with that...” The Princess admitted, looking down with a frown. “And who knows WHERE he sent the Element... I just...I don’t understand what just happened...” She turned to her assistant with a worried look. “You...don’t think badly of me, do you?”

The purple dragon, looking equally as dumbfounded as the unicorns were, shook his head. “Of course not! You’re like my best friend, Twilight! I have no idea WHO that guy was or WHY he looked like me or why he seemed to not like you, but I can tell you there’s no way I’d be like that at all.”

“Admittedly I don’t know him very well, but our Spike never acted like that before...”The farmer said, frowning. “Things were complicated enough as it is and now we have a...a Spike from yet another world trying to steal the Elements too...?” She groaned, pressing a hoof to her face. “And I just LET him take it so easily too...”

“It’s not your fault.” The Princess said reassuringly, placing a hoof on the farmer’s shoulder. “Now...he said something about friends and Carousel Boutique. One of my friends works there so I know the way. We’ll just teleport there and...”

“Teleport?” The farmer tilted her head. “I can’t do that...my magic’s not that strong and I don’t even know the spell...”

“Oh...” The other Twilight’s ears drooped as she gave her twin a remorseful look and sighed. “Alright, long way it is. We’ll go there and see what that other Spike was talking about...it’s certainly a better lead than anything and well...if what he said is true I gotta see if my friends are alright...”

The farmer nodded in agreement. “Yeah, same here...I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to my friends...”

As the two purple unicorns began to trot off, the baby dragon spoke up. “Hey what about me?”

The Princess turned to him, her expression stern. “Stay here in case that...fake you shows up again, or any of our friends.”

“Roger!”

The three of them nodded and the two unicorns ran off out of the tree house to see what the commotion at Carousel Boutique could be.

Zecora hummed to herself as she walked through the Everfree Forest, then blinked as she noticed something tied to one of the trees. As she moved closer she found that something was...a pony, said pony’s mouth was gagged with a large sock....which was doubly weird since no one actually WORE socks in Equestria.

The zebra trotted over, pulling the gag out of the pony’s mouth, head tilted in puzzlement.

“I must confess this is quite unexpected, fair mare. How upon did you become erected here, with such purpose and care?”

“Just get me down from here, Zecora!” The pony snapped, face pale. “Before some...MONSTER tries to get us! W-we need to get to town as fast as possible!”

“Whyever for, little pony?”

“In the town...there’s...there’s a PHONY!” The mare froze and blinked before growling in annoyance. “Great now you got me doing it! Just get me down!”

Rainbow and her retinue walked through the town, those not native to this dimension looking around in awe at the familiar town and everything that looks the same and everything else that is completely different.

Rainbow glanced behind herself, looking at the back of the group as she noticed that Mayor Mare was following them. “What are you doing, Miss Mayor?”

“Oh I’m just curious as to what’s going on with all this doppelganger stuff.” The Mayor replied. “Plus I want to make sure if this is a friendship problem or something more serious, and thus react accordingly.”

Rainbow raised a brow. “Okaaayyyy....” She turned to the Stetson clad AJ. “Is she...always this odd?”

“Ah’ll be honest, sugarcube, Ah don’t really know the Mayor that well, we don’t exactly talk a lot outside of big events.” She looked down bashfully. “Plus Ah’m kinda...still wrapping mah head around this...alternate dimension stuff, it’s a bit...much for me.”

“Yeah, I mean, Twi told us about something kinda similar but I mean...it’s one thing to hear about this sort of thing, it’s another to like SEE it.” Dash piped up, gliding a couple feet above them. “And uhhh...sorry about freaking out like that, I’m not usually uhh...like that.”

“No, no, I understand. Element of Loyalty, you believed a friend was in trouble, you leapt to your first instinct.” Jackie said, tossing her mane as she spoke. “Plus Braeburn’s good at convincing ponies to follow his way, honestly I think THAT’S his special talent...”

“Still...I’m not always like that.” Dash replied, looking miffed. “Just...so ya know.”

As they walked down the street they saw Pinkamena step out from behind a building, looking desperate as Fluttershy and another, fluffier Pinkamena chased her.

AJ raised a brow at the curious sight. “What the hay...?”

“PInkamena!” Rainbow called out. “Fluttershy!”

Pinkamena turned to Rainbow, looking somewhat bewildered before yelping as Fluttershy and Pinkie leapt onto her, sending her tumbling to the ground.

“Tag! You’re it!” The two extroverted ponies gleefully exclaimed.

“I’m an adult, and besides we have more things to worry about than a dumb game...” Pinkamena groaned in annoyance, looking at Rainbow. “Hey Rainbow.”

“...Whaaat is going on here?” Spike asked, tilting his head.

Pinkamena frowned. “Tag, apparently.”

The Fluttershy who stood atop Pinkamena looked to the group and waved, stepping towards them alongside the fluffy Pinkie Pie. “HI EVERYPONY! Have you met my new friend, Pinkie!? She’s like Pinkamena, only way more smiley and bouncy and fluffy!” She moved to ruffle a hoof into Pinkie’s mane, making her giggle.

Rainbow sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Everyone, meet Fluttershy. She’s...yeah. Sometimes she can be a handful.”

AJ nodded. “Yeah, Pinkie’s much the same way....” She looked down at Pinkamena, looking perplexed.”Kinda weird seeing somepony lookin’ like her not lookin’ as...bubbly.”

Pinkamena slowly took advantage of Fluttershy’s and Pinkie’s loss of attention to get up to her hooves, dusting herself off. “You expect me to be exactly like some alternate version of myself from another universe? How unimaginative.”

Rainbow blinked, tiltingher head. “You...already know?”

“It’s obvious.” Pinkamena shrugged. “What, do you not pay attention to your surroundings, or the ponies around you? Or read like...ANY fantasy or sci-fi story in the past century? The concept of an alternate universe where everyone looks the same but is different isn’t exactly a REVOLUTIONARY idea.”

Spike shrugged, shaking his head. “And this is Pinkamena. She’s...like that. She’s a bit of a jerkbutt.”

“I pride myself on the jerkishness of my rear, in fact.” PInkamena drawled.

Fluttershy spoke up. “So what’s this about alternate universes?”

“Long story short: the Bad Apples brought us here, and this whole world is like some weird version of Equestria where everything’s different.” Rainbow said, pointing to Dash who hovered behind her. “Like this version of me who’s some sorta sporty jock who acts on feelings more than thinking things through.”

“Hey come on! I may not be an egghead, but I’m not STUPID!” Dash retorted, huffing in frustration.

Rainbow looked at her double pointedly before sighing. “Yeah, sorry, that was rude of me, sorry.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Besides, not like YOU don’t do stuff because of YOUR feelings.”

Fluttershy gasped as she interrupted the conversation. “This means there’s ANOTHER ME here!? I can HUG MYSELF!” Stars sparkled in her eyes at the idea.

Jackie shook her head. “Sorry Fluttershy, darling, but we don’t exactly have time for any distractions. Unfortunately, my disreputable family members stole another Element and we need to track them down, alongside Twilight and Rarity now that our band is getting back together.”

“Which so far involves us basically wandering the town hoping we’ll find somepony.” Spike added. “Though even if they were in town, it’d be like finding a needle in a haystack...”

Then, a loud BANG sounded from nearby.

AJ tilted her head. “The hay was that...? Didn’t sound good...”

Jackie gritted her teeth, looking very angry. “It wasn’t. Ah’d recognise that sound ANYWHERE.”

Rainbow started to take the lead, walking ahead of everyone. “Come on, everypony, it came from over there...looks like we’re dealing with Rotten first. Be on your guard...”

Rotten Bad Apple smirked at the two white unicorns before him, his gun held up high to the sky, smoke wafting from it after he had shot it. “There we go, that oughta draw some attention...”

The fancier of the two Rarities gazed at him. “what are you on about? What even IS that? Who even ARE you?”

The stallion smirked and doffed his large black hat as he bowed. “Why, ma’am, Ah have no quarrel with you, Ah am just a pony on a mission and you happen to be caught in the crossfires, mah most sincere apology. Name’s Rotten Bad Apple.”

The more bruised and unkempt of the rarities jumped between the stallion and her doppelganger, forelegs spread wide protectively. “watch out, miss! He’s a bad pony! He’s tried to ruin a lot of things for a lot of people cause he’s mad at the Apple family!”

Rotten nodded. “it’s true, Ah have been known to keep a healthy grudge. ‘Course, there’s one thing ya got wrong there, ma’am.” His gaze turned far colder and hateful. “This ain’t about the Apples.”

He whacked her across the face with the barrel of his blunderbuss, sending her sprawling to the ground.

“My word!” The fancy rarity exclaimed, looking at the other mare in concern before giving an angry gaze to the stallion. “You BRUTE! That is no way to treat a lady.”

He shrugged. “Hey, she was right when she said I’m a bad pony.” He reached out, roughly pulling Rarity’s Element of Magic off from her. “Now, Ah DID ask fer that Element there, did Ah NOT?”

The Fancy Rarity slapped his hoof, huffing. “I don’t fully understand what is happening, but I’m not going to let you ROB somepony!”

Rotten sneered at the pony as the unkempt Rarity groaned and began to get up, only for the sound of hooves to greet their eyes.

“Rotten Bad Apple!” A voice called out as they saw two Applejacks, two Rainbow Dashes (One of whom had a Spike atop her back), Fluttershy, Two Pinkie Pies and Mayor Mare racing over.

“Ah, took ya’ll long enough.” Rotten rolled his shoulders, making audible cracking noises as he did so, trotting before the group. “What, got caught up having teatime?”

“Rotten Bad Apple!” Rainbow pointed a hoof accusingly at the stallion. “return the Elements that you stole!”

Rotten Bad Apple chuckled. “Ah’m...gonna haveta decline.” He lifted his blunderbuss, firing a shot at the assembled ponies, causing them to dash out of the way of the projecticle.

“Why are you even here, Uncle!?” Jackie asked. “Surely you’re not out to steal the Elements from THIS place too!?”

“And what if Ah am?” The stallion sneered. “The ponies here aren’t exactly paragons, who cares if they don’t have any Elements to protect themselves?”

“And why do you say that!?” Dash called out as she hovered in the air, hoofs held up threateningly. “who even are you!?”

Rotten glared at the Pegasus. “When you travel through worlds sometimes you see...THINGS. Moments of that world’s history. Course, this is your first time, so ya’ll probably don’t remember seeing anything if at all. But me and mah kin? We been doing this a while, we’re used to it, we can see a LOT more. And every time...I see things that make mah blood boil.”

A Twilight Sparkle steeped forward, sporting wings. “I’m not too sure what is going on here, but I think you’ll find you’ll have a hard time trying to steal any Elements from our world. So...can we talk this out? I’m sure if we can sort out any grievances you have with us...though i’m not sure what we could’ve done....”

“That sorta thing is WHY Ah’m so angry. The ponies in this place DON’T take responsibility. They FORGIVE AND FORGET. I AIN’T one to do EITHER. So, NO, PRINCESS, I ain’t down for negotiatin’. NOT AFTER WHAT I SAY YA’LL DO.”

Another Twilight wearing a Stetson leapt in front of him, grabbing his weapon with her hooves as he had started to lift it. “PLEASE, Mr Bad Apple. At least, don’t fight HERE, in the middle of town.”

Rotten looked around as the ponies around him stepped closer. “My, my. Ah sure am in a pickle. Whatever shall Ah do.”

“Give up peacefully?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.

“Haha. No.” The stallion sneered, firing his weapon to the ground and firing, causing a large blast of magic to burst out and push everypony back. “hehe, did you think I only had non-magic on my side?”

Rainbow glared at the stallion, her wings glowing as she shot a few magic blasts towards him, Rotten chuckling as he spun his gun in front of him to block the attacks.

“well, it’s been fun, but...I need ta get goin’. Ah’ll have to get those Elements off of you all when there’s way less of ya.” He smirked, a golden portal appearing in the ground behind him.

“wait!” Jackie called out. “Where the heck are you going!?”

“Hehehe. To the Castle.” Rotten saluted, firing another shot at everpony to make them dash back before he dived into the portal behind him, the portal vanishing once he was out of sight.

The Twilight with wings trotted over as everyone stared at the space Rotten had been. “So, these are the...ponies from the other Equestria?”

“Yeah that’d be us.” Rainbow replied, trotted towards the Princess. “We’re...going by nicknames to avoid confusion, so you can call me Rainbow Dash, Bearer of the Element of Magic.” She held out a hoof in greeting.

“A pleasure to meet you. I...suppose you can call me...Princess Twilight, though I’m still not exactly...comfortable with that title. So... has been going on here.”

“indeed! That brute hurt this poor mare and tried to rob her!” The stylish Rarity interjected, trotting over alongside the more unkempt Rarity.

Spike stared wide eyed, face pale. “W-what the heck!? W...Why is there a PRETTY version of Rarity here!?”

Rainbow held up a hoof as the other mares gathered together around her. “Spike. Not the time. Okay, bringing you all up to speed: We’re you guys from another world where everything’s different from your perspective, some bad guys are apparently going to other worlds to steal the Elements of harmony, they stole The Element of Magic and Element of Loyalty from us and so we’re here to stop them.”

Princess Twilight nodded slowly. “Yes, my, uh, other self--”

“I can go by...Sparkie, if that’s helpful?” The Stetson wearing Twilight suggested suddenly.

“Sparkie, alright, anyway, she told me about some of what’s going on, and...her Element was stolen. By...another...Spike?”

“Hey now, don’t look at me, I have an alibi, i was here with Rainbow all day.”

Rainbow nodded slowly. “Yeah, so, I guess the Bad Apples picked up an accomplice at some point somehow...And that makes three Elements we’re down by...”

“So,what’s the plan, ‘fearless leader’?” Pinkamena asked Rainbow.

“well...you heard Rotten. It sounds he’s going to the castle, so I think we should go after him...even though he probably has a head start now, who knows where that portal went...”

“But uhh what if he steals the Elements? I don’t know why he’s stealing them but...I really don’t want him to take any more.” Spike said.

“If you’re that worried, why not keep them somewhere safe?” Mayor Mare suggested.

“Oh. Right. You’re still here.” Pinkamena retorted, having forgotten the Mayor was there.

“That’s...not a bad idea.” Princess Twilight said.

“Yeah.” Rainbow agreed. “We’ll have to put them somewhere the Bad Apples wouldn’t think of looking at.”

“Or...somepony!” Mayor Mare suggested.

Pinkamena raised a brow. "Sound a bit eager there."

Mayor Mare chuckled. "I'm just trying to help."

PInkamena narrowed her eyes.

Princess Twilight frowned. "Miss...uhhh...Other Pinkie, I'm not sure where this is coming from. Mayor Mare is a kind soul. Besides, why would she want your Elements?"

"I'm telling you something is fishy here!" Pinkamena retorted.

Rainbow frowned. "Hmmm...Pinkamena's the Element of Honesty, if she says something feels off, I'd trust her...."

The unkempt Rarity shrugged. "Hey, come on, it's not like she's Grand Heist or something! That jerk's all the way back in prison in our world!" The kindly mare's horn glowed as she took Pinkamena's and Fluttershy's Elements and, along with her own Element of Kindness, tossed them to Mayor Mare who,surprisingly eagerly, caught them in her hooves.

Pinkamena glared angrily at the unicorn. "YOU. UTTER. MORON."

Rarity blinked. "What did I do?"

Mayor Mare smiled winningly, taking a step back. "Well you all don't need to be in quite such a tissy so I'll just go hide these Elements somewhere for you...."

Rainbow blinked, frowning in thought. Something about the mare's behaviour seemed off. "Hold on...."

"Oh no, no, I really should be going, I mean, you don't want those nasty Bad Apples taking these." Mayor Mare smile seemed a little more forced.

“Wait!” A voice called out suddenly. “That mare is an imposter!”

The assembled ponies blinked and looked towards the voice seeing in the distance Zecora rushing through the town...and at her side was what appeared to be Mayor Mare, looking a little bruised and her mane unkempt.

The ponies stared at the sight and then looked towards the Mayor Mare in front of them, who looked quite surprised before giving Rainbow a wide grin, a mad look in her eyes as she started to sing.

“Time for the main attraction
the story has been told!
Time for a chain reaction
It never gets old!
Some ponies get satisfaction
Brea
king
the
mold!
Some ponies are just distractions”

Rainbow stared wide eyed, brows knitting into a rage as she growled angrily. “It IS you...”

“From what is just Grand.” Grand Heist, Rainbow’s nemesis, finished her song as she held the Elements tightly in her hooves.

Author's Note

I am SO SO SO SO SORRY for the LONG wait. I...hope noone has forgotten me or my work. And I hope what I made here is good for ya all. >.< Apologies if it feels a bit rushed, I...kinda felt I NEEDED to get this out NOW after so long. Hopefully any future chapters (and stories) don't take NEARLY as long to make.