Apple Preserves

by Natedogg2006

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Equestria Girls, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Drama
Length: 6654

Twilight Sparkle has never really gotten around to figuring out just how similar the two worlds where her friends exist are. Applejack really wishes she had done so sooner.

A multidimensional slumber party had been something the elements on both sides of the portal wanted to make happen for a long time. Finally, thirteen girls across two different plains of reality managed to find common free time to make it happen.
It wasn't ideal however, as the pony Applejack said that she'd have to leave early. This causes a question to come up, and that was why her human counterpart can stay when she can't.
Wait a minute, didn't Twilight mention that there was some kind of time distortion between the worlds. What does the pony Applejack know that the human does not, and will that change both their lives?
A submission for the "A Most Delightful Ponidox" contest being put on by FanOfMostEverything, although it was actually in idea I had a long time ago but never thought I'd actually ever put pen to paper on. As such it definitely doesn't take into account what we do find out about Applejack's parents later in the series.
A little more serious then my normal work, so please let me know if I handle it with the right care.

Thanks so much everyone. Featured on 10/18/20
My very first:raritystarry:

Published 2020-10-17 23:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-17 23:10:00 UTC

You Can't Change the Past

"Ok, listen here sugarcube. I know myself pretty good, and there is definitely something seriously wrong. I'm going to need some answers here real quick."

Applejack took a deep breath and managed to raise her head. When she did it almost seemed like she was staring into a mirror as familiar green eyes met her own. Even if every other detail was different, that piercing stare was the same. Her human counterpart had turned in her seat to face her, and currently her eyes showed equal parts determination and concern.

And things had been so happy just a half hour ago.

For the first time ever both the human and pony Elements had managed to find the time to get their groups together. Since it was such a momentous occasion, Applejack had decided to attend despite it taking place right before a very important anniversary. And she'd even done her best to be a positive part of the gathering, even with her mind elsewhere.

The only place they knew of that could easily accommodate that many partying girls was the castle home of her worlds Twilight Sparkle. This meant Pinkie Pie had had plenty of time and space prior to the party to go all out. On any other occasion it would have been the party to end all parties and she would have been happy to attend. Instead some of her friends had noticed her distraction. Ponies like Twilight and Fluttershy had tried to ask her about it, but decided against pushing the issue when she had insisted that nothing was wrong.

Why did Rarity have to be such a gossip.

Like all the other girls she had known Applejack had been planning on leaving the party early. But unlike the others she was apparently bound and determined to figure out why. She had waited, and found her opportunity. Standing over Applejack, and keeping her pinned with a large selection of cosmetics leveled at her in her magic. She'd managed to persuade everypony to participate in makeovers, and had chosen the farm pony first to satisfy her curiosity.

Applejack had done her best to deflect her questioning, both when she tried leading questions and more direct ones. Applejack had tried, having already been concerned she was bringing down the mood of the slumber party. In the end all she could manage to say to finally make the fashionista drop the subject was that she had very important, very personal, Apple family business to take care of early in the morning. Thus she had to leave early to be ready for it.

That was when Rarity decided to pull away from her and begin to apply similar cosmetic touches to another pony, one with features that matched her own. And that was when everything had started to go south.

That moment was seared into Applejack's memory, as much as the conversation that followed it. She looked at that face, her face, and saw none of the same emotions she was feeling in it at that moment.

Sweet Celestia she wished she could put that look back on that face that was currently looking at her. But unfortunately words had found their way to her mouth before she'd even processed them.

"Wait a second, why are you staying?"

Her human counterpart had simply looked at her and smiled. With a chuckle she shrugged her shoulders and responded. "I don't know, must just be a pony thing. I'm as free as a bird right now. All my chores for the week are done what with the season being over. That and Ma and Pa are off at a big rodeo in Dodge Junction."

Applejack could not keep the mood from falling at that point. Every occupant of Twilight's massive castle bedroom that had been ponies all their lives had suddenly stopped in their tracks.

The words, spoken with her voice, were still playing on repeat in her mind again and again.

"Ma... and Pa......"

But as much as those words had been a kick in her face, it was nothing compared to the next revelation.

"Wait. Did you say rodeo... in Dodge Junction?" She didn't even recognize her own voice coming out of her mouth. Fear and confusion were mixed with emotions she couldn't even process. It caused the human turned pony staring at her to only be able to nod her head hesitantly. Her body shook with a type of determination she'd never felt before. With absolute resolve and yet not knowing at all how she felt, she spoke again. "Party's over. You and me need to get across that mirror portal. Now!"

And that had led them to where they were. It seemed that Twilight and Fluttershy had not been the only ones to catch on. After insisting that everyone else could stay, even Pinkie had decided that whatever was wrong was more important then the party. After crossing everyone through to the human world Applejack had explained that they needed to get to Dodge junction as quickly as possible and that she would explain on the way. After sorting the new arrivals to the human world into the transportation that the residents there had come in, they had all determined the location of the nearest train station and started off. In the vehicle they had called a minivan with her right now were two versions of herself, two Twilight's, and two Rainbow Dash's. One Rainbow drove while the other had a hand resting on her shoulder firmly.

Applejack struggle to respond as the expression in front of her tore at her soul. She took a stuttering breath before turning away from the eyes in front of her. She settled her own gaze on her worlds Twilight sitting next to her before managing to speak. "Twilight, I never understood it before, but didn't you say once that there was some sort of time difference between our world and theirs?"

Twilight shuffled nervously, considering how to answer for a moment. "Yeah. Sunset, the other Twilight, and I have been trying to figure out the specifics of it. It gets really complicated when you consider the different rates of maturity between humans and ponies. We don't seem to age at the same rate which also seems to make certain events happen in different sequences. But from what we've managed to gather there appears to be a difference or distortion between our worlds of about ten years."

This made Applejack visibly wince, and all the occupants of the vehicle noticed. Her voice was soft and sad as she responded. "Yeah. I think it's exactly ten years." She finally managed to look back up to her counterpart. "I was going to leave the slumber party early, because tomorrow morning me, Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom were all going to go out to the old orchard where Sweet Apple acres first started... And pay our respects to Ma and Pa on the anniversary of their deaths."

Applejack could tell the look on the face in front of her. She knew all the blood in the other hers system had just turned to ice. With clear horror in her eyes she reached into a pocket of her jeans. One the strange devices she'd seen all of her human friends fiddling with at some point was pulled out and she touched it in various ways for a few seconds. She placed the device to her ear and mumbled incoherent things into it for a few moments. A beeping sound could be heard coming out of it before she pulled it away, touched the front of the device one more time, and slammed it to the floor of the vehicle in front of her.

"Dang it! Why the hay isn't there ever any signal in Dodge junction." Her hands went into her own hair, shakily grabbing fistfuls of it. "Not that they'd ever answer their phones during a rodeo anyway." Her whole body shook, but Applejack could tell what was going on. She could see the fear rapidly being overridden with anger. "My parents lives might be in danger and you never thought that would be relevant information to share."

The words were barked at her with enough force that she felt the wind from them impact her face. Rainbow Dash attempted to move in between them, but Applejack held an arm up. If it really was true that she was a decade older than this version of herself then she knew exactly what she was going through.

"Understand right now, that for the past ten years I haven't been able to have the chance to mourn for my parents. We only just managed to keep the farm from being taken from us after they passed. Keeping it running was a whole nother challenge as well. And I never thought at sixteen that I'd end up playing mother to my own little sister. The only way I managed to keep going some days was putting that pain out of my head. It never would have occurred me to mention this to you because it still hurts to think about it to this day. "

Whatever anger that had been building within the other Applejack fizzled out completely at the statement. Her mind desperately jumped from thought to thought, not knowing what it should be doing at that moment. It finally seemed to settle on one question. "What happened to them?"

"..... I don't know."

"WHAT!!!???"

"I don't know!" The words came out more forcefully than she had intended, but as she felt tears finally starting to pour from her eyes she knew she wasn't going to be able to stop that at this point. "Neither does Big Mac or Applebloom. Granny Smith thought we were too young to know all the details when it happened. She said she would tell us all at the same time when we are all old enough. That's why I was going to leave early. She was finally going to tell us before we went to pay our respects this year."

Applejack felt arms embrace her from either side as her body began to be rocked with silent sobs. The ragged breathing in front of her seem to be cut off as a raspy voice from the front of the vehicle spoke up.

"AJ, I know you're freaked out right now and you don't want to hear me say this of all people, but you need to calm down. We're almost at the train station already and we know what we need to do. Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

Indeed it did seem that the vehicle was slowing down. A midsize building stood before them as Rainbow Dash drove them into a lot filled with other vehicles. They managed to find the spot next to a familiar yellow bike that had gone on ahead. Rarity and Sunset stood next to it. The whole van cringed as they got close enough to see the looks on their faces.

Their van and two other small vehicles found parking spaces and all thirteen girls eventually congregated near the entrance to the train station. It turned out that the other ponies had taken time to enlighten their human counterparts on what details they knew of the situation, so little explanation was needed to get the rest up to speed. The Twilight that had come with them in the van now turned to Sunset.

"Okay then. Sunset, how did you and Rarity do?"

The pair had been sent ahead to try and procure tickets. With a disappointed look on her face Sunset now held her hand up revealing just three strips of paper. "The only train going there tonight was already sold out. Rarity had to do a lot of convincing on a few guys to get these tickets. It's all we've been able to manage. Although we did confirm that it wouldn't be any faster to try to take a plane. Dodge junction is hours away from any airport. How much time do we actually have?"

Applejack grumbled in frustration. "I'm not sure, all I know is it happened real early in the morning."

Being that the girls had gotten together for a slumber party, it had already been late at night when they had left. They could all feel the pressure increase at the implications. Twilight let out a breath as she took the lead.

"Well obviously both Applejacks need to go. Having both of them there might be the only way to convince them of our story. I guess the only question now is who needs to go with them on the train while the rest of us try to make up time in the cars."

"I'm going!" Both Rainbow Dash's spoke at the same time, stepping forward with certainty. Twilight seemed to have anticipated this.

"Rainbow.. Rainbow's, I know neither of you are going to want to be left behind, but think about this. This is going to be a complicated situation to deal with, so I think it should be either myself or Sunset. Somepony needs to be there so that we can try to deal with this as rationally as possible."

Both Rainbows didn't back down for a second. The human version spoke up first. "I don't care if I have to cling to the side of a train all the way to Dodge Junction. I'm going."

"Applejack is my best friend and I will not leave her hanging in a situation like this."

It was at that moment that each, human then pony, began to glow. Looking at each other, they seemed to know what it meant at the same moment. They gave a quick smirk to each other as wings began to form on their backs. Before the transformation had even finished they were already airborne, each doing a small flip in the air to come up and hover behind their respective Applejacks.

"You ready?" The human asked her farm girl friend.

"Let's do this."

"How about you?" The former pony asked her own.

"...No, but I'm doing it anyway."

Both now winged humans hooked their friends under the arms and tested the weight on their magical appendages. Satisfied, they turned to the others now giving them shocked looks. "You all figure out the rest and try to catch up. We got this."

Two streaks of rainbow with a little extra orange took off into the night sky.

***

The pairs of flyers and passengers made good time initially. But the flight out into the country was not a short distance and the flyers were carrying fairly solidly built girls as cargo. Their paces had slowed at roughly the same rate their breathing had increased.

"Rainbow Dash," the former pony directed it at both of them. "If you need a break you can set us down and take a quick breather."

Both girls above them shook their heads before the one holding the other her weezed out a response. "No way. We don't know how much time we have and if we stop I'm not sure the wings will stay. And if they don't then I'm not sure they'll come back. But don't worry about us, I think we're almost there."

"How do you know that?" The other Rainbow asked this, strain evident in her voice.

"AJ told me once she was gonna drag me out to a rodeo so we could go against each other in a real competition. So I decided to look up stuff on rodeos to practice. She talked about this one a lot, so I looked it up too. This is starting to look like the map they had on the website for it."

Just then the trees they were flying over seemed to finally clear out on the horizon ahead of them. Now seeing past them they could see off in the distance an illuminated area past the far outskirts of a town.

The human Rainbow gave a shakey sound of triumph at the same time her passenger let a gasp escape her. "Ha, told you." She said this as two pairs of wings above them managed to pick up the pace with their final push of energy.

Both Applejacks could tell there was no way either Rainbow Dash was going to manage a graceful landing. They managed to direct their controlled crashes to just outside the fairgrounds being used to house the rodeo. Bracing for impact they felt their feet hit the ground hard. Much more importantly they felt the girls that had been holding them aloft go limp the second their loads were lightened. Anticipating this, they each managed to skid themselves to a stop before catching their friends before they fell uncontrolled to the dusty earth below. Setting them down both exclaimed, "Rainbow," before finding a hand stopping them from getting closer.

The Rainbow in her arms managed to talk first. "You.. got something.. you gotta do. Go."

Taken aback for just a moment, both noticed the other Rainbow nod in confirmation. Both returned the nod before turning and giving one to each other. They turned their respective best friend and rival on their sides before rising and hopping the fence they'd managed to land next to.

The area was large and it seemed the festivities were still very active despite the early hour. As the apparent twins now ran a full sprint into a more crowded area then where they had arrived they seemed to come to a conclusion at the same time.

They glanced to each other out of the side of their eye as they ran. "Meet back where we started, you circle right, I'll go left?" This was asked from pony to human.

"Yeah. If we don't find them by then we're just going to have to make a scene I guess." Before their paths could break from one another the human had to confirm. "You're sure... you can..?"

Applejack turned away, determined. "I'll recognize them, no matter what." She planted a foot and took a corner hard.

Being from a completely different world didn't make it any harder for Applejack to navigate a rodeo. All the basic elements were in place and she had one bit of information that gave her a clear path.

Lasso competition. The one thing given to them after whatever had happened was a gold medal her father had won but hadn't collected before he died. It was a good bet that wherever the lasso competition was going on was where they might be. Spotting signs as she ran she knew this plan was going to make her path a long and fairly difficult one. And this human body felt so slow on two legs.

But she kept running, despite all the near misses and angry shouts she was getting as a result. They barely registered as she went. She was apparently looking for a tented area near the side of the grounds, and she thought she saw it. A few tight turns, accidently knocking over some hay bales, and getting a very angry yell as she ran up and over a parked trailer, and she had put her destination in front of her. But there was a problem.

The tent was closed, and a large human seemed to be standing out front. It was obviously a security guard by the words printed on his shirt. And she was making an obvious enough of a display that he saw her coming and was already moving to intercept.

Not knowing how to handle this, instinct took over. She was pretty sure the guard couldn't have anticipated it when the young girl coming at him suddenly back peddled as she skidded to a halt. And turned. She then planted her hands on the ground firmly and kicked her back legs out from under her, hard. He was probably lucky she didn't have hooves at the moment as two shoed feet made contact with his chest. Air exited his body as he flew back, landing several feet behind on the ground, unconscious.

Righting herself quickly, she closed the distance to the tent entrance in just a few steps and threw the flap open.

Silence. Inside the tent there was nothing moving. Aj realized that inside was a large collection of ropes that were either neatly rolled up or haphazardly thrown on the ground.

Was she too late? No, whatever had happened, whatever was going to happen, had happened after the competition. She still had time.

I still have time.

The phrase repeated over and over in her head as she heard the groans of a security guard regaining consciousness. She turned and began running again.

The registration desk. If her dad had won gold he'd have to go there to confirm it. But as she ran, catching glimpses of signs as she did again, she realized that was going to be all the way on the far side of the grounds. That should be where her counterpart was looking, but she now knew she didn't have the time to leave it to chance. Her legs and her lungs burned as she kept going. She was pushing herself so hard that it seemed like her vision was getting blurry as she continued. That was probably why she didn't notice in time.

A small barrel anchoring a canopy sat right at the corner of her vision as she ran. She attempted to vault over it without losing any speed as she normally would, but human legs lacked the joints to perform that particular maneuver. Her shin made impact. Her considerable forward momentum made the trip up a much more noticable mistake. The shot reverberated through the bone of her leg as the rest of her body twisted with the opposing forces. Her interrupted speed caused her to roll through the air, landing on her side several feet ahead with a gut wrenching thud.

The pain was the last thing on her mind even as her body let loose a cry of utter anguish. She was already trying to get to her feet, trying again on all fours when she failed that. She couldn't stop now. She hadn't been able to do anything when she was young, now she could. She was older, she was stronger, she knew what she had to do and nothing was going to stop her from....

She let loose another gutteral noise of pain as she tried to push herself forward. Her attempts froze as all the blood in her unfamiliar body grinded to a stop at a feminine sound.

"Applejack?"

Her head snapped in the direction, sending tears she hadn't realized she'd been crying in various directions. The humans she saw standing just on the other side of some unused stalls should have been completely alien to her. The boxes they held in unfamiliar limbs had the Sweet Apple acres logo on them, but other than that they shouldn't mean anything to her. And yet she knew the moment their eyes met.

"Sweetheart?" The male spoke this time, triggering old memories in her mind as she heard the voice of her father Bright Mac. "What in tarnation are ya' doin' here?"

Both the boxes they were holding dropped to the ground as their eyes tracked over her body and realized the state the girl resembling their daughter was in. "Bright, she's hurt." Pear Butter's soft voice came out panicked as they both scrambled over to her and gently flipped her over. They gave her a once over and only now did Applejack realize that the clothes the portal had given her were torn open on the leg. And stained in blood.

Her father's stern voice called out with an alarm she'd never heard before. "Someone, you there! Go get help, our daughter is hurt."

Her mother's voice was soft in her ear giving her a comfort she hadn't known since she was a filly. "It's ok sugarcube, we're gonna get help." She knew she should be in pain, and even more she knew she should be screaming for them to run.

But she was cradled in her parents embrace, and in an instant she was a foal again. The only thing she felt was wetness running down her face. She saw their eyes, so full of concern for her, and she couldn't help but reach out to them. Her foreleg went up unconsciously towards their faces, and her fingers reached out to...

Fingers?

Pain hit her all at once and she wasn't sure how much of it was physical. She pushed it aside as she tried to push these humans away from heras l as well.

"No, forget about me. You both have to get out of here."

"Sweetheart, we aren't going anywhere with you hurt like..."

"I'm not who you think I am! The both of you have to go! Now!"

The pairs of kind eyes finally broke away from her to meet on each others above her. She couldn't be sure how much information passed between the two, but she was sure it was a lot. They both nodded to each other.

"Doesn't matter what's going on, you're hurt, hurt deep, and we're not going anywhere."

Applejack's angry wasps nest of a brain could not even begin to process their words. Her vision felt so blurry she felt like she might be blacking out. If that was the case then she'd do all she could until that happened. She kept trying to push them away. She felt arms close around her as she heard herself repeat the word, "run", over and over.

Everything seemed to freeze in place when the sound of three sets of shoes coming to a stop behind them could be heard. Applejack managed to get an arm up to her eyes to clear her vision. She didn't need to know who had shown up behind her, the looks in Bright Mac's and Pear Butter's eyes was plenty.

"..... What?"

She wasn't sure who said it as the moment was very suddenly interrupted.

"KRAS-BOOOOM"

The ground shook with a deafening impact from somewhere close by. Bright managed to push the injured girl into his wife's lap before rising and looking out across the fairgrounds. "What in the..."

"Mac, what happened?"

"A whole dang silo just came down. Into the east parking lot I think."

"... The truck was parked over there." Pear said this while glancing down to Applejack, then to the long forgotten boxes they'd been carrying.

"Dang the truck. Sweety, we gotta get over there, people are gonna need help."

Applejack was about to protest this, but then she saw the way her counterpart was standing. The way her body shook as she stared in the same direction as her father. She made a gesture to Rainbow Dash. Her friend caught on right away as she dragged her doppelganger along. Two blue arms slipped under her shoulders and lifted her from the familiar and yet completely alien place where it sat.

Pear then stood and went to join her husband next to her daughter where they looked out at the devastation. "Sugar, your friend is gonna be ok, but you need to stay with her and make sure. Can you do that for us?"

Applejack felt her heart sink as her human selfs head snapped to face her mother at the words. Tears flung from her chin as she did. "N.. No! She was right. I, I coulda'. Y'all coulda'..."

"Sweetheart, somebody has to do something. People could be hurt over there."

The shaking teens legs finally gave out as she broke down. Firm yet gentle arms grabbed her before she could reach the ground. Through lung burning sobs she choked out what little explanation she could as she clung to the arms that held her up. "Or died... They could... Or you could... But you still could... Please... You gotta..."

Although they were stopped for the moment to attend to their crying daughter, she was doing a poor job at trying to tell them that they needed to stay as far away from danger as they could for the moment. Applejack looked to either side of her. One Rainbow Dash looked on the scene with worry and confusion evident across her features. The other had a much more firm expression. That one turned to face her, at which point she gestured to the other. Her Rainbow nodded and spoke.

"I got my AJ, you go help yours." The bluntness of the words caught the young girl by surprise, the worry in her eyes becoming all the more obvious. She pulled Applejack free of the support of the other hers shoulder. "She needs your help. You can't face her at her toughest if you aren't there for her at her weakest."

Those seemed to be the right words. The younger Rainbow's eyes didn't lose all the worry, but they hardened enough for her to turn back to her crying friend. She stepped forward with confidence.

The two ponies turned human watched the display for only a few moments before they decided that their other selves should be able to handle it just fine. Applejack didn't quite know what to say at the moment though.

"... Rainbow..."

"I already said I got you. We can go wherever you need." Wings popped from the girls back once again, but she didn't flare them in anticipation as Applejack thought she would.

"Just... anywhere but here."

Rainbow dash didn't need to say anything to that statement, she just took Applejack's weight on her shoulder and started walking them away from the scene.

***

No causalties

A few people had some bumps and bruises from flying debris, some of them serious but not life threatening. A lot of vehicles were destroyed, a pregnant lady's water broke, and some old guy had a minor heart attack but was in stable condition.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had put this together from the words of random passers by. They had found themselves a nice wall to sit against where Rainbow had tended to her friends injury. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had initially looked, and probably not anywhere near as bad as it felt. The wall they sat against was at a corner, allowing for Rainbow Dash to use her own legs as a riser to keep the injured girl's leg elevated.

The Apple family had lost a lot of product they had brought to the event hoping to sell. And no one had yet found enough of their old pickup truck to fill an insurance claim requirement. That was all.

This information was not pieced together. It was told to them directly by their human counterparts who were standing in front of them now. At some point Applejack had grabbed ahold of her friends hand for comfort and had yet to manage to break away.

"I.. I don't think I could ever find a way to pay you back for what you done for me and my kin."

Applejack smiled, a small but genuine one, but one that still didn't make it to her eyes. She began to stand. Rainbow Dash made a move to slip out from under her and help her to do so, but she waved her off. She made it to her feet under her own power, but still propped herself slightly against her now-also standing-friend for just a little support. She then put on the most understanding expression she could manage.

"Just promise me that you'll always appreciate having them around. Never forget what it's like to feel their love, because no matter how much you want to think otherwise, the memories fade at some point."

The words seemed to make her reel back some, but she recovered. She finally managed to wrench her own hand away from Rainbow's and turn to fully face her other self.

"They... Ma and Pa said, that they'd like to talk to ya'. But only if you're up for it."

Rainbow felt the Applejack leaning against her tense up at the words, but both managed to not show it. "No, I don't think so. It's been a long night and I don't think I can handle that right now."

Despite keeping her voice level, one Applejack must have been able to read the other. The human version seemed to wince at the response, stepping back and finding a blue hand to grip desperately again. "I'm sorry. I know this is probably real hard for..."

She was silenced with a raised hand, curled instinctively like a hoof. No words followed, but eventually the human version managed a nod. They both drew away, heading back to where Bright Mac and Pear Butter had taken up a role coordinating damage relief. From far away from danger at their daughters request.

Rainbow Dash felt Applejack relax, allowing more of her weight to come to rest against her. She figured it was time.

"So, are you finally done with the strong silent thing? I know you got a lot you need to get off your chest."

Applejack managed a small chuckle at her friend's insight. "When did you go and get so observant?" Rainbow just rolled her eyes at the jab as she noticed her friend still watching their retreating doppelgangers. Following her eyes she noticed her focusing on their hands, still grasping each other comfortingly. "Do you think they'll, you know, like we did for a while."

Rainbow deeply considered this for a few moments. Having gathered her thoughts on the matter, she sagely shrugged. "No clue. This is definitely no where near how it happened for us."

"Yeah," she smiled softly at that, but then her expression finally started to drop slowly. "But then I guess a lot of things are gonna be different for them from here on out." Her mood became very somber after that. Her other self had reached her parents, and it was clear from the glance they took in her direction she had told them her response. They smiled at her with understanding. "I don't think I can ever come back here. As happy as I am for her, I might end up bucking her in the face. As ineffective as that might be with these flimsy foreleg things humans have."

Rainbow gave a sigh of understanding as she watched her friend clench the odd appendage into a ball. "I believe they're called arms. Arms, hands, and fingers. They're weird alright, but according to Pinkie they do do one thing better than forelegs."

"Yeah, what's that?" Applejack scoffed, before suddenly being wrapped up by blue arms. She felt fingers press into her back to bring her in closer as a hand pressed against the back of her neck, bringing her face into her usual rival's shoulder. She had already cried all the tears she could, but her eyes still stung like they wanted to. Without thinking about it her arms wrapped around and pulled her deeper into the embrace.

"Anything you need to say, now's the time. I promise not to make fun of you for it later."

That actually managed to get a laugh from Applejack even as her voice came out sad. "I really kinda hate myself right now. How can I hate her just for getting to grow up with parents when I didn't. I wouldn't wish that on anypony, and yet..." She paused for a moment to breathe deeply. She noticed quickly that Rainbow smelled thickly of sweat from her earlier flight, but she wasn't going to fault her for it right now. "I got to be held by my parents again today. It's the only thing I've wanted ever since that day. And now I'm not even sure if it was the best moment of my life.. or the worst." She felt a hand patting her on the back, giving her encouragement to continue. "And even more... I always thought that if I was there for my parents I coulda' done something. I always knew that was dumb to think though. I was just a kid, I didn't know what was gonna happen, I'da' probably just ended up dead too if I was there... but now I just saved them.

They stayed like that for several minutes. It was an impasse, an emotional kind that neither were particularly comfortable handling.

Applejack finally managed to relax in the other girls embrace. "I'm not making any sense am I?"

"I'm not even gonna touch that one AJ," Rainbow responded in a blunt tone the farmer actually did expect. "I wouldn't be the right person to talk about this stuff anyway, but this has alternate dimension, space time stuff mixed in. Anything I say is probably going to be the wrong thing. But luckily, that's ok." She finally broke the hug to give a cocky smirk to her friend. "Because I already know you're strong enough to get through this. You've been forcing yourself to get by with it for ten years without the chance to deal with it, but I think now you finally did. You're gonna be fine, I'm just here so you can get through it faster so we can go back to being at each other's throats by this time tomorrow."

Applejack let out a deep and genuine laugh at that. "Thursday, maybe around supper time. Best offer I can make. I might need you for a few more hugs like this after, after I get back from the old orchard..." Realization seemed to hit her and she slumped back against the wall they'd been sitting against. "... Later today. Oh man, Granny is gonna be mad." She stayed slumped there for a minute, stunned. Rainbow let her take the time. "I have no idea what I'm gonna tell them about this."

Rainbow gave her a hand up from her half seated position. "Oh dang. Now that is a really tricky one." Her face contorted as she thought on that for a minute. "I got nothing, but if you need somepony to lie for you, I officially volunteer. That one is rough."

The two shared a sigh as the sound of a train horn from the nearby town could be heard.

"And it sounds like I should start thinking of one just in case. I think our ride is here."

After a long night, the gentle rocking of the train back to Canterlot city was a welcome comfort. In a far back corner of a normal passage car, two sets of girls used the gentle ambience differently. On one side Applejack and Rainbow Dash used each other for support to comfortingly sleep away the ride. On the other side their twins used the ambient noise to talk together as privately as they could. Both looked forward to a new future.

Author's Note

This might be the strangest author notes I've ever written. I literally gave up on this story midway through. No not even midway, I didn't even make it past the intro initially. I randomly offered the idea to anyone who wanted to try to finish it, with a few responses. One of those was a friend called Doubt, who's interest in the story was not enough to want to finish writing it, but was enough to reinspire me to finish it. So hopefully I've lived up to that inspiration. I thought of this story a very long time ago so it's great to finally get it out there. This is for a contest so even more so than usual let me know what you guys think. Good or bad let me have it. This is definitely a much more heavy subject than I usually deal with, so if it was handled insensitively I would definitely like to know sooner rather than later.