Applecornby tokyoorangesChaptersThe Morning After Wings and a HornMind Over MagicThe Morning After The Morning After Applejack groaned loudly as she rolled over in bed, trying to avoid the sunbeams assaulting her eyes. Her body protested from the sudden motion and her head throbbed as though a long spike was being pounded into it. The farm pony wasn’t usually one to sleep in, however, whatever Pinkie Pie had put in the punch at her birthday party last night had certainly done a number on her. Rainbow Dash once said that If you couldn't remember it, it must have been awesome. Applejack strongly disagreed, at least there wasn't some strange stallion or mare in bed with her. "Those apples won't buck themselves." She mumbled into her pillow. She stumbled out of bed, shaking her head, trying to clear it. This only made the throbbing pains in her head worse. Suddenly there was a sharp knock at her bedroom door. Applejack cringed as the noise ricocheted around her skull, turning whatever solid brain matter she had left into the muddled mess it felt like. "Applejack, you awake? Granny Smith says breakfast's ready!" Applebloom cried. "Ah'm comin'." Applejack groaned, "You don't havta shout." "You alright? you sound like you swallowed a bullfrog, and Ah wasn't shoutin' Ah was just tellin' you." Her younger sister replied. Applebloom pushed open the door and looked up at Applejack, her jaw dropping. "Oh mah stars, Applejack, you're a princess?" Applejack frowned "What the hay are you talkin' about? Ah ain't no princess." "Look in the mirror. You got a wings and a horn." Applebloom nudged her sister in the direction of the mirror sitting above her dresser. Applejack looked into the mirror if only to humor her sister. She saw herself with her blonde mane and tail extremely disheveled. There was something pointy poking from her bangs. A horn was sticking out from her forehead. It was longer than Rarity or Twilight's by almost half and ended with a sharp tip instead of her unicorn friends' rounded ones. Two feathery wings hung limply from her shoulders. She glanced over to her bed and saw it was littered with bright orange feathers. She smiled and began to laugh. "Hoo-ee Pinkie Pie's outdone herself with this one. Ah didn't even notice them 'til you pointed them out." "Uh," Applebloom said, raising an eyebrow and prodding her sister's new wing. "Ah don't think this is somethin' of Pinkie's. These look and feel pretty real." "So did the apples Pinkie and Rainbow Dash painted up a while back. This is probably some kind of super special birthday prank of hers. Besides, if they were real, Ah'd be able to move them." Applejack assured her sister. The filly shook her head, "But what if they are real? You'd probably havta go live in Canterlot with the princesses and stuff. Ah don't want you to go away Applejack. Nopony else does either." Applebloom bit her lip and looked up at her big sister, a glimmer of something like fear in her eyes. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Now don't you worry none. After breakfast Ah'll find Pinkie and we'll get her to take these off. But If they are real, which Ah really doubt, and Ah am a princess, that means Ah can do what Ah want and Ah won't be goin' nowhere you can count on that." "Morning Applejack!" A bright pink, frizzy maned pony's head popped up outside her window, staring at the apple farmer with large blue eyes. Applejack jumped and her wings stiffened, standing straight up. "Pinkie Pie, how the hay are you out there, mah room's on the second floor." The pink party pony lifted a hoof from where she had it planted on the wall of the Apple family farmhouse, "Suction cups." She said brightly. "Ah see." Applejack said, having learned not to question her friend's peculiar quirks. Pinkie managed to push open the window and tumbled into the bedroom. "Nice wings, ooh a horn too, fancy!" "Speakin' of wings." Applebloom added, her ears drooping slightly. "Yours moved, they gotta be real." "Nonsense, that's just part of the prank right Pinkie?" Applejack asked, swallowing hard. "Oh no, why would I turn you into an alicorn? I only came over here because my Pinkie Sense told me that some super, ultra possibly catastrophic life changing thing was happening at Sweet Apple Acres. Anyway, it's usually Twilight who has that happen to her and usually it isn't for fun. Like this one time..." Applejack flinched at the word 'alicorn'. Her wings flopped uselessly to her sides and she barely heard the rest of Pinkie's ramblings. This just had to be some kind of joke. She was an earth pony, an apple farmer. She never had the slightest interest in magic or flying, or whatever it was that alicorns did. Sure she bore the Element of Honesty, but that was different, probably. She was broken off of her train of thought by the sound of two sets of hoofsteps. Granny Smith was standing in the doorway with Big Macintosh standing behind her. His usually stoic expression faltered momentarily. Other than that he said noting. "Ah send Applebloom up here ta git yer rump outta bed and the next thing ah know y'all are makin' more racket than a pack of timber wolves at a zap apple harvest." Granny smith scolded, gazing at Pinkie and her two granddaughters. "Sorry Granny, you see ah, uh-" Applejack was cut off by the old mare. "So yeh got yerself some new appendages, doesn't stop yeh from walkin' or buckin' apples does it? There ain't nothin' wrong with yeh." "Yes Granny Smith." Applejack said, dipping her head. "Ms. Pie, yeh kin stay fer breakfast if yeh like." "Thanks Granny Smith!" The pink pony said, trotting after the Apple family matriarch, her suction cups making popping noises as she walked. Big Mac gave his sister a worried look. "Ah'm fine." She said, meeting his gaze, "Really. Ah'll be down in a sec, just gotta brush my mane and what not." She said forcing a smile. Big Mac blinked and made his way downstairs. Applejack closed the door and slid her her hoof under the strap on her brush and began to run it through her tangled mess of a mane. She paused, staring at her reflection. "What the hay is happenin' to me?" She whispered. "Applejack!" Applebloom cried from the bottom of the stairs, "Ya better hurry or Pinkie Pie's gonna eat everything!" The farm pony's stomach grumbled in protest. She dropped her brush and grabbed her stetson, planting it on her head, and trotted down stairs. She sat down at the table and grabbed a plate of pancakes that Pinkie had not discovered yet and began to eat. The food made her feel a little better, but the knot of worry in her chest only tightened. Applebloom said she was a princess, it was indeed a ridiculous notion, but what if she was forced to live in the palace to rule Equestria with Celestia and Luna. She strongly disliked politics, that was more Big Mac's cup of cider. 'No.' She thought to herself, her expression hardening momentarily. 'Ah'm gonna stay here in Ponyville no matter what. Mah place is at Sweet Apple Acres. "Wow Pinkie!" Applebloom said, watching the party pony practically inhale her food. "You could probably give Big Mac a run for his money." "Eenope." The stallion in question said. Applejack noticed he had barely touched his plate. Usually the stallion would have been on his third plate of food by now. Was it because he was being polite, or because of her. "Ooh maybe we should have a pancake eating contest!" Pinkie added."Then we'd know for sure who could eat more." Applebloom snorted, "Ah don't think there's enough pancake batter in Equestria for that." "I'm sure we could figure out something!" Pinkie said before gulping down the last of her apple juice. "Thanks for breakfast Granny Smith!" Pinkie said cheerfully. Applejack looked down at her half eaten breakfast then up at Pinkie, who was heading toward the door. She didn't want everypony else knowing about her, changes, at least not right away. "Pinkie, wait." She said, getting up and trotting over to the pink pony. "What is it Applejack?" "Can you uh, not tell anypony about this?" She whispered. "Your secret's safe with me! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She said going through the motions of the Pinkie Pie Swear. Applejack chuckled, as erratic as her friend's behavior was, she could always be counted on to keep her word. "Thanks Pinkie." "No Problemo! I gotta run though, the Cakes need me to watch Pound and Pumpkin for a bit while they deliver an order. See you later!" With that, Ponyville's party pony left. Applejack raised her back hooves to buck a tree, but as she did her wings flopped forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. "Horsefeathers!" She swore, picking herself up. Big Mac trotted up to her, a worried look on his face. "Ah don't need help!" She snapped, glaring at her brother. Big Mac sighed. "Ah was only gonna ask why don't you just fold em." He glanced at her wings, they were now dirty and some of the feathers bent at odd angles from the falls she had taken because of them. "Ah would if Ah could." She rolled her eyes and adjusted her stetson. "They don't do anything at all, they only flared up that one time when Pinkie spooked me, but that was it. Rainbow once said something about how pegasi wings get a mind of their own whenever a pegasus gets excited." "Ah see." Big Mac replied. Applejack grumbled incoherently and attempted to buck the tree again. This time she made her mark and apples rained down into the bushels positioned around the tree. "Ah can still do this. You can get back to your part of the orchard. Ah just had to adjust mah balance was all. Ah'm fine, just like Granny Smith said." Applejack said, waving a hoof at her brother. "If you say so." Big Macintosh said, frowning in disbelief. "Ah'm serious. now get back to work or Granny will tan both our hides." Big Mac sighed and walked back over to the other side of the orchard, casting one last look at Applejack. The farm pony snorted and got ready to buck another tree. "Hi again!" Pinkie Pie cried. She was hanging upside down from the apple tree holding an apple in her hoof. Applejack's wings flared and she toppled forward again. "Stop doin' that!" she grunted and stood back up with as much dignity as she could muster. "Sorry." The pink pony said brightly, taking a large bite out of the apple. "I finished watching the twins and I thought you could use some company." "Well ah don't. I just wanna be alone and do my job." Applejack grunted, bucking another tree and toppling over for the third time as her wings flopped back down. "Well, according to my Pinkie Sense, one of my friends was feeling down and the only pony who I could think of who had any reason to feel down was you. I mean you were suddenly turned into an alicorn against your will and all." She tossed the rest of the apple into her mouth. Applejack snorted vehemently, "Maybe you're wrong, Rarity probably has some kind of silly crisis of hers or Twilight lost one of her checklists." "If Twilight misplaced a checklist of hers she'd just make a checklist of all the places she could have possibly placed it. Why she doesn't just make a new checklist is beyond me, but, I got it!" Pinkie clopped her hooves together. "We could ask Twilight about the whole alicorn thing. She'd know something. Even if she didn't she can get in contact with the princesses and they could fix this. But if they could just like that this story would end up being a lot shorter. Anyway, I know you made me promise not to tell anypony, but I think the girls should know, Spike too. We're your friends A.J." Applejack frowned, her brow furrowing deeply. "Ah guess so." She said with a sigh. "Okey dokey lokey! I'll be back in a jiffy." "Wait!" Applejack called as the tip of Pinkie's mane disappeared into the branches. "Yeah?" Pinkie said, popping out of a bushel of apples. Applejack blinked, slightly confused, but quickly regained her composure. "Just uh, tell them to meet me in the barn where we had my party last night." "Alrighty!" Pinkie Pie saluted her before sinking back into the bushel. Applejack shifted through the apples, but there was no sign of the party pony. She shook her head and turned to see Big Mac bucking a tree not far from her. "Hey, Ah'm supposed to be doing this part of the orchard!" Applejack said, giving her brother a stern look. "Your mind isn't on your work. If you can't focus, it might be better for you to just take the day off. Ah don't mind the extra work." Big Mac said simply. "Don't you be gettin' all philosophical on me Big Macintosh. Ah can buck all these apples and more! Just you watch!" She bucked another tree, this time managing not to fall over but she still stumbled forward a few paces. "See!" She said, her voice shaking slightly. "Ah told you Ah could." The workhorse sighed and looked at his younger sister. "You need to stop bein' so stubborn and let us worry about you sometimes." "No you don't! Ah- Ah'm..." She faltered, her voice cracking. "Ah'm scared Big Mac." She shuddered and a single tear rolled down her cheek. A moment later her body was wracked by sobs. Big Macintosh wrapped a comforting foreleg around his sister's shoulders, pressing her against his body as she sobbed into his chest. Applejack felt like a filly again with her big brother to protect her. The solid warmth of his presence made her feel safe. Nothing could hurt her here. She had not cried like this in a long time. Not since their parents' funeral. "Ah dunno what's gonna happen to me. Ah don't wanna leave the farm." She hiccuped. Big Macintosh made gentle shushing noises. "Everything's gonna be alright." He murmured. "Anypony who wants to take you away from here is gonna have to get through me first." "T-Thanks Big Mac." Applejack said, pressing herself closer to her brother. Wings and a Horn"Oh Angel. I'm sorry, it's only for a little while." Fluttershy told her rabbit companion. The rabbit in question was perched on a fencepost with his front paws crossed over his chest and a sullen expression on his face. His mistress was currently scooping out chicken feed and scattering it in front of her large red chicken coop. "I know we had a picnic planned for today, but um, we'll have to postpone it until after I get back from Applejack's. Pinkie said it was important, she sounded worried about her." The rabbit rolled his eyes, unconvinced. He hopped off the fence, dodging the plump white and brown bodies pecking eagerly at the feed on the ground and followed the timid pegasus inside the coop. "Now, um, don't give me that look," Fluttershy said, glancing at him. She then stuck her head into one of the nests and delicately picked up the egg with her mouth. Gently she put it into the basket at her hooves. Angel did the same, having retrieved one from the other side of the coop. "Pinkie might have been acting like her usual goofy self, but she um, wears her heart on her hoof, even when she doesn't think anypony else can tell what she's feeling. Um, at least that's how it seems to me." She said sheepishly, scuffing her hoof on the hay strewn floor. Angel sighed and gave his mistress a look that seemed to say 'if you say so.' He hopped over to gather another egg, as Fluttershy placed another two in the basket. "I do hope that Applejack isn't sick or injured or anything." Fluttershy's gaze swept through the coop making sure that they had not forgotten any of the nests before picking up the basket and trotting out of the coop, Angel hopping beside her. She mumbled a muffled thanks to the chickens. They barely acknowledged her, still pecking happily at the ground. A light breeze began to blow and she could smell a faint trace of the apple orchards on the wind. Back inside her cottage she set the basket of eggs on her counter and looked around, making sure she had taken care of all of her chores for the morning. "I'll be back soon Angel. Be a good boy and watch the house while I'm gone okay? We'll go on that picnic as soon as I get back." The rabbit nodded, still looking a tad sullen. as he watched his mistress leave the cottage. Fluttershy soared over the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, the crisp scent of apples perfuming the early autumn air. Suddenly she heard a strange sound. Startled by the noise, she fled to a low hanging cloud, curling up and making herself as small as equinely possible. The noise continued, but the more she listened to it the less it sounded like anything that might hut her, in fact it sounded like a creature in pain. She couldn't possibly let it suffer. She flew down from the cloud and landed daintily on the ground next to an apple tree. Carefully she trotted through the orchard in the direction of the noise. The closer to it she got, the more it sounded like somepony crying. She quickened her pace, a small knot of worry growing in her chest. She halted abruptly, not 10 hooves away from her, she saw Applejack huddled against Big Macintosh, sobbing into his chest. Briefly she glanced at the wings and horn her friend seemed to have sprouted. These changes to her appearance were not the most shocking thing about her. She had never seen the stubborn farm pony looking so vulnerable before. Her first instinct was to comfort her friend, but she felt she would be invading something extremely private, not meant for equine eyes. She was about to head towards the barn, pretending that she had not seen anything when Big Mac caught her eye. She froze, her wings flaring, ready to take flight at a moment's notice. The large stallion gestured subtly with his head for her to come over. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before cantering over to her friend. Big Mac gently lifted his hoof from his sister's shoulder and stepped back a couple paces. "Oh, Applejack." Fluttershy said, taking in the mare's appearance. Applejack looked up at Fluttershy, her eyes were red and puffy from crying and long dark trails running down her cheeks showed where tears had flowed freely. Her trademark Stetson was askew and her mane was disheveled, several pieces of hair had come loose from their ties. Her wings looked pathetic, streaked with dirt and some of the feathers were bent at odd angles. "F-fluttershy?" Applejack hiccuped. She gave a hearty sniff and said, "Ah must look a real mess." "Oh no, you look um, nice...?" Fluttershy said, scuffing the ground with a hoof. "You don't have to try and make me feel better Sugar cube." Applejack said, giving a watery chuckle. "But, um, you would look nice once you cleaned up a little, I bet your wings would be especially pretty, just like the pri-" Applejack shot the timid pegasus an angry glare, she quailed beneath it. "These wings are pretty, useless that is. All they do is flop around and get in mah way! Ah can barely move them as it is. The only time they've done anythin' at all is when Pinkie Pie spooked me." She kicked a rock on the ground in frustration and watched as it hit a tree a few hooves away with a satisfying thunk. "I-I'm sorry." She squeaked. "If um, you want, I can help you with your wings." She dipped her head, her long pink mane obscuring most of her face. "No." Applejack said. "Ah can figure this out on my own." "I-if that's how you um want to do it." Fluttershy mumbled. Applejack strained, attempting to force the limp appendages to move, trying to use muscles she had not possessed twenty four hours ago. Fluttershy shook her head, internally berating herself for not being more assertive. She reached out to touch one of the farm pony's bedraggled wings. "Please, let me help. I Know you don't want to accept it, but-" "GET YOUR HOOF OFF MY WING!" Applejack snapped. She felt a strange energy course through her body and a bright red burst of energy sparked from her horn. With a crack like a whip, Fluttershy was sent crashing into a tree. Big Macintosh was at the pegasus's side in a moment, with a shocked expression on his face. Applejack merely stood there, breathing heavily and feeling drained. Had she just done magic? She began to tremble, her mind was racing at a dizzying pace. She did the only thing she could think of when she heard the sound of four sets of hooves cantering towards them. She bolted, thinking only of getting away from them. Twilight Sparkle cantered up to where Fluttershy lay, followed by Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. She glanced up at Big Macintosh. "What happened? Is Fluttershy going to be alright? I just felt a powerful surge of magic. Why does Applejack look like an Alicorn?" The unicorn said this all very quickly. Big Mac opened his mouth and was about to say something, but just as he was about to speak, Fluttershy began to stir. She blinked open her eyes and managed to sit up. "Take it easy Fluttershy, don't push yourself." Twilight said, glad that the timid pegasus seemed to be no worse for wear from whatever had happened to her. "I'm fine, but, um I'm more worried about Applejack, did you um, see her at all?" Fluttershy asked, looking from one pony to another. "I only caught a glimpse of her before she ran off. At least I think I did. It almost looked like she had a horn and wings." Twilight said. "She does. I was only trying to help her fold her wings when she got mad, and um she- I'm sure she didn't mean to launch me into that tree with magic." Fluttershy said, hiding behind her bangs. "She couldn't have meant it." Twilight said. "It was probably an involuntary reaction triggered by stress. But she could be a danger to herself and others if she doesn't get a hold of herself." Rainbow Dash snorted, "How can you just say that she needs to get a hold of herself Twilight! I don't know about you but I'd be pretty freaked about this whole thing." The rainbow maned pegasus said in frustration. "T-that's not what I meant." Twilight said, her ears drooping. "She's got a lot of magic that she has no idea how to control. If she doesn't at least try to calm down, it could keep bursting out of her without any warning. Next time things might not turn out as well as they did this time." "Then why are we still sitting here?!" Rainbow said, a faint trace of worry in her voice. "We should go and find her!" Big Macintosh glanced down at the four mares. "If you want to find her she's probably in the clubhouse that Applebloom and her friends use. Applejack used to hide in there a lot as a filly after our parents passed." "Thanks Big Macintosh." Twilight said. "Eeyup." The red stallion replied. Fluttershy got to her hooves, gingerly testing the weight on her limbs. She would probably have a few bruises in the morning, but was otherwise no worse for wear. "On the way to the clubhouse, I can tell you a little more of what happened. Pinkie Pie probably knows a bit more though." "I Pinkie Promised Applejack I wouldn't say anything until she told you herself." Pinkie Pie said. "But Pinkie dear, we all know already why Applejack wanted to see us in the first place." Rarity said glancing at the party pony. "If there's anything else you know it might help." "I know, but breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend's trust and A.J. is more important at the moment. Let's go find her!" Pinkie Pie said bouncing off through the orchard. "Pinkie's right about Applejack. We need to find her before something else happens." Twilight added. The other four ponies had little choice but to follow the eccentric pony to where Applejack might be. Mind Over MagicApplejack raced through the orchard along its familiar, well worn paths, her heart pounding hard. She didn't want to think about what had just happened, what she'd just done. She wanted to get away from everypony else. She had just injured one of her best friends, even though she was just trying to help. 'But Ah don't need help.' She thought to herself. 'You do. You know you can't just block off everypony. They want to help you.' A small voice at the back of her head said. Applejack slowed to a walk as she approached the old clubhouse. The place made her feel a little more at ease. She had always come here whenever she felt down or had a fight with Big Mac as a filly. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the clubhouse, a wave of exhaustion hit her and felt wobbly on her hooves. She slid down, lying on the rough wooden floor, feeling her eyelids begin to droop. A nap seemed like a good idea. She wouldn't have to think about anything. 'Perhaps when Ah wake up Ah'll find out this was all just a nightmare.' She thought before she let herself slip into blissful unconsciousness. -- -- -- -- “I found her!” Pinkie Pie cried, bouncing up the ramp of the clubhouse and sticking her head inside the doorway. “Real subtle,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “She’s probably going to run again.” “Nope, she’s asleep, which is oddly convenient.” The party pony said, looking back at the four mares just below her. “She’s probably worn out, I mean she just did magic for the first time without meaning to and I can’t imagine being able to get a good rest while growing wings and a horn in a single night. Also, she’s been worrying about all of this and she barely ate anything at breakfast.” Pinkie rambled. Rainbow sighed as they walked up the ramp and filed inside the clubhouse, careful not to step on the alicorn who was sleeping just inside the doorway. Applejack lay sprawled on the floor, hooves akimbo and her stetson tilted to one side of her face. She was snoring lightly with a small scowl on her face. "Oh my." Rarity said in a hushed voice, taking in her friend's appearance. "There isn't any spell that can do this is there Twilight?" The purple unicorn shook her head, "Nothing that I know of. There are no spells that can give a pony feathered wings, or the ability to use unicorn magic." "Well, the princesses are alicorns, they may know something about this." Rarity said, "I do not think it would hurt to write them a letter dear." Her horn ignited in a pale blue aura as she levitated a blank piece of paper from the large, untidy pile, on a small table and a quill, floating them towards Twilight. "Well, yes." Twilight said hesitantly, "But, it wouldn't feel right doing this without Applejack knowing about it. It's kind of like we're going behind her back." "Well then let's wake her up!" Pinkie said, hopping over to the sleeping alicorn. "Hey Applejack! Wake up!" She cried, her head inches from Applejack's ear. "Gah!" Applejack cried. Her eyes flew open and she scrambled to her hooves, her wings flaring up and almost hitting Pinkie Pie in the face. "What the hay?" Still disoriented, she looked at her five friends as they formed a semicircle around her. She was relieved to see that Fluttershy was standing, though she could see the beginnings of a large bruise near her flank. "See, she's awake." Pinkie said brightly. Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, quickly growing irritated. "Don't you know when somepony wants to be left alone?" "But, we're worried about you." Pinkie said, somewhat subdued. "Ah don't need worryin' about by nopony." The farm pony said. Her wings flopped down to her sides again, causing her to wince as they scraped the walls of the clubhouse. "But, we are your friends Applejack. Even if you say you don't need to be worried about, we have every right to be." Rarity said. "You would be concerned for one of us if the shoe were on the other hoof, would you not?" She met Applejack's glare with her own imperious gaze. The farm pony merely snorted. 'She's right you know.' the small voice at the back of her head said. "We were going to write the princesses about this to see if they know anything. Twilight wanted you to be awake so she didn't feel like we were going behind your back so I went and woke you up and here we are." Pinkie said, bouncing on her hooves. "Do what you like." Applejack said in a hollow voice. "Just get out and leave me alone, Ah need some time to think." "A-alright AJ." Twilight said, "We'll leave you be, but we're going to be nearby just in case." She picked up the paper and pen from where Rarity had dropped them and walked outside, followed by the other four mares. Applejack sighed and was about to shut the door when a cyan hoof stopped it before it could close. "You can't shut us out forever AJ." Rainbow dash said, her rose colored eyes showing genuine worry. "Go." Applejack said, a hard edge to her voice. "Just saying." The pegasus said as she removed her hoof from the doorway as the door snapped shut. Twilight was sitting in the grassy clearing below the clubhouse at a small picnic table, deep in concentration as the quill skated across the paper at the whim of her mental dictation. Dear Princess Celestia, Something has happened to our friend, Applejack. We're not sure quite how, or why, but it seems as though she has transformed into an alicorn. Is there anything you or Princess Luna may know about this? Your faithful and very concerned student, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight rolled up the paper and sealed it. "Hey Rainbow," She called to the cyan pegasus who was gliding just above the orchard, venting her frustrations by doing a few aerobatic maneuvers. "Yeah Twilight?" She replied, hovering in the air and looking down at the unicorn. "Could you get this to Spike, so he can send it to the princess?" "No problem." Rainbow Dash said, gliding down, landing next to Twilight. "Be back in t-" She was cut off by Pinkie Pie "Ten seconds flat?" "That's my line." The rainbow maned pegasus said, rolling her eyes. She took the scroll in her mouth and took off. Moments later was a loud thud as she crashed into a blonde maned, gray pegasus, sending them both to the ground. Derpy Hooves quickly got off of Rainbow, first checking to make sure her mailbag was secure and none of her packages were damaged before she checked on the cyan pegasus. "Sorry Rainbow Dash." She said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. Rainbow coughed, as she got to her hooves, "Ith okay Derpy." She said around the scroll in her mouth, briefly amazed that she managed to hang on to it. "I could deliver that llama-" The wall eyed mare shook her head, "No, letter, for you if you want, it's the least I could do after crashing into you." Derpy said. "Uh, sure why not." Dash said. "It needs to get to spike at the library as soon as possible, let him know it needs to be sent to The princess." "No problem." The mailmare said, tucking the letter into her mailbag. She pulled out a box and gave it to Rainbow before saluting and taking off in the direction of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash opened the box, inside were six blueberry muffins. "Sister, what art thou doing?" Princess Luna asked watching her sister levitate several buckets into the air with a look of heavy skepticism. "Well, you see dear sister," Celestia said, a wry smile on her face, "The guards seem to think I'm getting stale with my pranks. At least the ones that have been here for a while. Perhaps after a thousand years they might be right. So I got to thinking last night and I came up with this beauty." She gestured to a complex structure suspended above them, looking quite pleased with herself. Luna frowned, it looked more like a Rube Goldmane machine than anything to do with the practical jokes that her elder sister so loved. "How does this... contraption work pray tell?" She said drily. "I'm glad you asked little sister." Celestia said. "Tomorrow morning when the guards assemble for their morning assembly, it's going to be a little bit damper than they had expected. When the general steps up to the podium to address the guards he'll hit a switch that will have buckets of water dumping on everypony's heads. They won't even see it coming because I'll cast a spell on everything to make it invisible." Luna sighed, "Should thou really be setting up elaborate pranks when thou hast to hold court soon?" Celestia clicked her tongue, "Oh Woona, you're no fun." The lunar princess rolled her eyes at the moniker from her fillyhood. "Thou bore the Element of Laughter, not I, Celly." "True, but you still need to loosen up a bi-" Celestia paused, there was a faint pop accompanied by the acrid tang of dragon fire. A scroll appeared in front of her. She caught it with the golden aura of her telekinesis and unrolled it. Her eyes quickly flickered across the page and her expression quickly turned from one of whimsical delight to deep concern. "What is it?" Luna asked. Celestia didn't respond as she vanished the strange contraption. "I hope this isn't what I believe it to be." She said more to herself than to Luna. "Could you hold court in my place, there is something I need to investigate." "I-but, uh, what is going on? Holding court unsupervised?" Luna stammered,it took her a moment to realize that Celestia had already teleported away. She sighed, knowing that things were bound to end disastrously for her. "But Rarity!" Sweetie belle cried. "We need to get in to the clubhouse!" "Yeah!" Scootaloo added. "The sooner we can get our stuff, the sooner we can get our cutie marks! I can feel it, this is definitely gonna be the day!" "Well, um," Fluttershy said, hovering next to Rarity. "We're using it for... something." "Yeah! Something top secret!" Pinkie said, bouncing out from behind a bush. "Top secret eh?" Scootaloo said, narrowing her eyes. "Is Applejack in there right now?" Applebloom asked, looking at Pinkie and biting her lower lip. The pink party pony nodded.Suddenly there was a bright flash behind them as Princess Celestia appeared. "Hiya Princess!" Pinkie said brightly. "Hello Pinkie Pie." Celestia replied. There was a flash of red-violet light as Twilight teleported in front of them. "P-Princess!" She cried, "How- but- why? You didn't need to come all the way here!" The purple unicorn spluttered. "True, I could have sent you a letter Twilight, but, this is something I had to confirm for myself. Could we please go inside so we can discuss this?" "Uh, Yes princess." Twilight said. Applebloom gasped, but quickly turned it into a cough when she caught Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's glances. "Ah- Ah guess if the princess needs to use the clubhouse there's not much we can do about it. Let's uh, try frog catchin' again." she said to her two companions. "Sounds fun, or at least much safer than sky diving." Sweetie Belle said brightly. "Fine, whatever." Scootaloo sighed, following the two fillies back into the orchard. They stopped behind a tree near the clubhouse. "Applebloom." Sweetie Belle said, looking at her friend, "What's wrong? You've been acting odd since this morning." "Yeah. Why's the princess need our clubhouse anyway?" Scootaloo added. "Well. uh," Applebloom hesitated, "This morning Ah went upstairs to get Applejack for breakfast because she was sleeping in. But when Ah got up there, Applejack had these wing and a horn, like one of the princesses and there were feathers everywhere. She thought they were a joke or something, but Pinkie came over and spooked Applejack and they flew right up, like yours do Scoots, which means they have to be real. Ah'm scared that she's gonna be taken away to rule in Canterlot. Sweet Apple Acres isn't Sweet Apple Acres without Applejack. Ah don't want her to leave, ever." Applebloom said this all very quickly and was tearing up when she finished. "Hey, It's okay." Sweetie Belle said, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "We'll keep her here, even if nopony else can." "Well, I don't want to get all mushy about it, but we're your friends. Crusaders, we've got a new mission!" Scootaloo said holding out one hoof. Sweetie Belle put her hoof on top of Scootaloo's and Applebloom put hers on top of the unicorn's. Cutie Mark Crusaders - Sister Rescuers! They cried in unison before dashing back to the clubhouse. -- -- -- -- "Ah thought Ah told you to leave me alone." Applejack said, glaring at her friends as they entered the clubhouse, her eyes rested on the princess. "Why'd you tell her to come over here? Ah thought you were just writin' her a letter." "I came over of my own accord Applejack." The princess said, nonplussed with the farm pony's rudeness. "I had to confirm what Twilight Sparkle had told me in her letter." "Do- do you know how this happened." Fluttershy said, her mane obscuring most of her face. "II do. I feared this would happen one day." Celestia said solemnly. "What do you mean?" Rarity said. "Yeah, what's going on here?" Rainbow Dash cried. Celestia looked around at the six ponies, her eyes finally resting on Applejack. " In extremely rare cases, when a pony with powerful magic is exposed to a powerful artifact such as the Elements of Harmony, their magic will react with the magic in the artifact and begin to mutate. It will reach a point where the pony develops the characteristics of other pony races, the end result being what is known as an alicorn." "Ah don't have powerful magic though." Applejack said, "Ah'm just an earth pony." "But you do." Celestia replied, shaking her head, "Earth pony magic is the most subtle and hardest to measure of the three pony magics, but your magic is the strongest i have seen in an earth pony in several centuries. It is roughly on the same scale as Twilight Sparkle's magic." Applejack stared at the princess in disbelief. It can't be true can it? Ah'm just an apple farmer. She thought to herself. An apple farmer who can go over a week without sleep while bucking half of the orchard by herself. Not even Big Mac can do that. A small voice at the back of her head said. That was just a fluke. Probably. She argued. What about the trolley car you stopped with your back legs? Her conscience argued back. Ah'm strong is all, Ah've been bucking apple trees since Ah was Applebloom's age. The same apple trees that she can barely rattle. "Alright, maybe Ah do have strong magic. But why me? It makes about as much sense as bucking unripe zap apples." She said after several moments. "Chance. It could have easily happened to either of you." Applejack's frown deepened. "Ah thought this would have a lot more complicated of an explanation. Like Ah was destined to be the next ruler of Equestria or something like that." "That is not to be the case." Celestia said, looking at the newest alicorn. Her stubborn frown, defensive stance and the vulnerable look in her eyes reminded her of Luna "Has this happened before Princess?" Twilight asked. Celestia nodded, "Four times that we know of. The first two were Luna and myself, after we defeated Discord. Luna was a pegasus and I, a unicorn." "Um, what about the other two?" Fluttershy asked. Celestia dipped her head, "They are dead." "How? I thought alicorns were immortal." Twilight stammered. She glanced over at Applejack who had dropped to her haunches and seemed to have turned pale beneath her bright orange coat. "We are, to an extent, we can be mortally wounded, but that would take more power than anypony could muster. However, newly transformed alicorns, no matter how powerful they were before the change, are not able to handle the influx of new magic and their power becomes unstable. This causes it to leak out at random moments, at first it is mostly harmless, but slowly these leaks will become stronger and eventually, they will end up releasing all of the energy in their body, effectively killing them." Applejack's eyes widened in fear. "So, Ah'm going to die?" she said, her voice quavering. "Not necessarily. With early enough training you won't have to, we had no knowledge of the other two before it was too late to help them. Which is why I would like to ask you to come to Canterlot, for a year at the most, to learn to tame your new magic." "No!" Came a voice from outside, Applebloom scrabbled through the window, followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Judging by the looks on their faces they had heard most of the conversation. "You're not taking mah sister anywhere! Ah'm not gonna let you! Nor are Big mac, or Granny Smith or the rest of the Apple Family!" Applebloom cried, she galloped between Applejack and the princess, standing protectively in front of her sister, despite her small stature. "You don't need to, Ah'm sure Twilight could help Applejack with her magic and Rainbow Dash can teach her to fly!" Celestia looked taken aback for the briefest of moments before looking up at Applejack. The farm pony was just as surprised, but not as good as hiding it. after a moment she smiled. "Ah'm afraid Ah must decline Princess, though it is kind of you to offer. Ah can't leave the farm. Besides, Like Applebloom said, Ah've got mah friends to help me through this. Guess it just took mah little sister for me to get it through mah thick skull." Celestia looked at Applejack for several long moments, her expression unreadable. "If that is what you want to do, I doubt I can stop you." She said. There was a trace of something like regret on her face. "I will then give the orders to Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash to teach you in the arts of magic and flight respectively." "You don't have to give any orders Princess, we would have done so regardless." Rainbow Dash said sheepishly. Celestia smiled, her kindly mask reappearing. "I must be getting back to Canterlot," She said, "I left Luna in charge of court today and I fear that things have probably gone very awry by this time." "Don't worry Princess Celestia," Twilight said, earnestly, "We'll keep you up to date on what's happening here." "Thank you Twilight." Celestia said, disappearing in a flash of sunlight. Celestia teleported just outside of the throne room, loud noises could be heard through the thick stone walls and heavy wooden doors. The solar princess smiled, pushing open the door to see Luna standing in front of the throne, using her Royal Canterlot Voice on a young merchant pony. "PLEASE, TELL US WHAT THOU WOULDST LIKE US TO DO FOR THEE. WE WISH ONLY TO SERVE OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS." Luna shouted. Judging by her strained smile, she was clearly trying to be friendly, but nerves and her general social awkwardness were getting in the way. "Voice, Luna." Celestia said kindly. The lunar princess jumped and looked over at Celestia. OH! SIS-ter. she said, quickly adjusting the volume of her voice. "I uh," "It's alright, much better than last time, nothing's broken." Celestia said, she turned to the few ponies who still remained, whether it was out of bravery or fear that they would be sent to the moon, (where had ponies even gotten the crazy notion from?) and said, "I'm afraid we will have to call this session to a premature close. On the account of an important matter which has recently come up." The ponies seemed relieved to be allowed to leave and the throne room quickly emptied. "Why didst thou have to leave so suddenly?" Luna asked after the last pony left. "There is a new alicorn." She said. Luna looked sharply at her sister. "Who? Is it Twilight Sparkle?" "No. It is one of her friends, the earth pony, Applejack." "Didst thou bring her here?" Luna asked, looking around, expecting to see the pony with her sister. "No, she will learn to control her powers through her friends." Celestia said. Luna frowned, "Is this wise?" "I can only hope. If I forced her, that would only be counterproductive." Luna nodded, "I guess that thou art right, I just hope this will not become a death sentence for another innocent pony."
The Morning After The Morning After Applejack groaned loudly as she rolled over in bed, trying to avoid the sunbeams assaulting her eyes. Her body protested from the sudden motion and her head throbbed as though a long spike was being pounded into it. The farm pony wasn’t usually one to sleep in, however, whatever Pinkie Pie had put in the punch at her birthday party last night had certainly done a number on her. Rainbow Dash once said that If you couldn't remember it, it must have been awesome. Applejack strongly disagreed, at least there wasn't some strange stallion or mare in bed with her. "Those apples won't buck themselves." She mumbled into her pillow. She stumbled out of bed, shaking her head, trying to clear it. This only made the throbbing pains in her head worse. Suddenly there was a sharp knock at her bedroom door. Applejack cringed as the noise ricocheted around her skull, turning whatever solid brain matter she had left into the muddled mess it felt like. "Applejack, you awake? Granny Smith says breakfast's ready!" Applebloom cried. "Ah'm comin'." Applejack groaned, "You don't havta shout." "You alright? you sound like you swallowed a bullfrog, and Ah wasn't shoutin' Ah was just tellin' you." Her younger sister replied. Applebloom pushed open the door and looked up at Applejack, her jaw dropping. "Oh mah stars, Applejack, you're a princess?" Applejack frowned "What the hay are you talkin' about? Ah ain't no princess." "Look in the mirror. You got a wings and a horn." Applebloom nudged her sister in the direction of the mirror sitting above her dresser. Applejack looked into the mirror if only to humor her sister. She saw herself with her blonde mane and tail extremely disheveled. There was something pointy poking from her bangs. A horn was sticking out from her forehead. It was longer than Rarity or Twilight's by almost half and ended with a sharp tip instead of her unicorn friends' rounded ones. Two feathery wings hung limply from her shoulders. She glanced over to her bed and saw it was littered with bright orange feathers. She smiled and began to laugh. "Hoo-ee Pinkie Pie's outdone herself with this one. Ah didn't even notice them 'til you pointed them out." "Uh," Applebloom said, raising an eyebrow and prodding her sister's new wing. "Ah don't think this is somethin' of Pinkie's. These look and feel pretty real." "So did the apples Pinkie and Rainbow Dash painted up a while back. This is probably some kind of super special birthday prank of hers. Besides, if they were real, Ah'd be able to move them." Applejack assured her sister. The filly shook her head, "But what if they are real? You'd probably havta go live in Canterlot with the princesses and stuff. Ah don't want you to go away Applejack. Nopony else does either." Applebloom bit her lip and looked up at her big sister, a glimmer of something like fear in her eyes. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Now don't you worry none. After breakfast Ah'll find Pinkie and we'll get her to take these off. But If they are real, which Ah really doubt, and Ah am a princess, that means Ah can do what Ah want and Ah won't be goin' nowhere you can count on that." "Morning Applejack!" A bright pink, frizzy maned pony's head popped up outside her window, staring at the apple farmer with large blue eyes. Applejack jumped and her wings stiffened, standing straight up. "Pinkie Pie, how the hay are you out there, mah room's on the second floor." The pink party pony lifted a hoof from where she had it planted on the wall of the Apple family farmhouse, "Suction cups." She said brightly. "Ah see." Applejack said, having learned not to question her friend's peculiar quirks. Pinkie managed to push open the window and tumbled into the bedroom. "Nice wings, ooh a horn too, fancy!" "Speakin' of wings." Applebloom added, her ears drooping slightly. "Yours moved, they gotta be real." "Nonsense, that's just part of the prank right Pinkie?" Applejack asked, swallowing hard. "Oh no, why would I turn you into an alicorn? I only came over here because my Pinkie Sense told me that some super, ultra possibly catastrophic life changing thing was happening at Sweet Apple Acres. Anyway, it's usually Twilight who has that happen to her and usually it isn't for fun. Like this one time..." Applejack flinched at the word 'alicorn'. Her wings flopped uselessly to her sides and she barely heard the rest of Pinkie's ramblings. This just had to be some kind of joke. She was an earth pony, an apple farmer. She never had the slightest interest in magic or flying, or whatever it was that alicorns did. Sure she bore the Element of Honesty, but that was different, probably. She was broken off of her train of thought by the sound of two sets of hoofsteps. Granny Smith was standing in the doorway with Big Macintosh standing behind her. His usually stoic expression faltered momentarily. Other than that he said noting. "Ah send Applebloom up here ta git yer rump outta bed and the next thing ah know y'all are makin' more racket than a pack of timber wolves at a zap apple harvest." Granny smith scolded, gazing at Pinkie and her two granddaughters. "Sorry Granny, you see ah, uh-" Applejack was cut off by the old mare. "So yeh got yerself some new appendages, doesn't stop yeh from walkin' or buckin' apples does it? There ain't nothin' wrong with yeh." "Yes Granny Smith." Applejack said, dipping her head. "Ms. Pie, yeh kin stay fer breakfast if yeh like." "Thanks Granny Smith!" The pink pony said, trotting after the Apple family matriarch, her suction cups making popping noises as she walked. Big Mac gave his sister a worried look. "Ah'm fine." She said, meeting his gaze, "Really. Ah'll be down in a sec, just gotta brush my mane and what not." She said forcing a smile. Big Mac blinked and made his way downstairs. Applejack closed the door and slid her her hoof under the strap on her brush and began to run it through her tangled mess of a mane. She paused, staring at her reflection. "What the hay is happenin' to me?" She whispered. "Applejack!" Applebloom cried from the bottom of the stairs, "Ya better hurry or Pinkie Pie's gonna eat everything!" The farm pony's stomach grumbled in protest. She dropped her brush and grabbed her stetson, planting it on her head, and trotted down stairs. She sat down at the table and grabbed a plate of pancakes that Pinkie had not discovered yet and began to eat. The food made her feel a little better, but the knot of worry in her chest only tightened. Applebloom said she was a princess, it was indeed a ridiculous notion, but what if she was forced to live in the palace to rule Equestria with Celestia and Luna. She strongly disliked politics, that was more Big Mac's cup of cider. 'No.' She thought to herself, her expression hardening momentarily. 'Ah'm gonna stay here in Ponyville no matter what. Mah place is at Sweet Apple Acres. "Wow Pinkie!" Applebloom said, watching the party pony practically inhale her food. "You could probably give Big Mac a run for his money." "Eenope." The stallion in question said. Applejack noticed he had barely touched his plate. Usually the stallion would have been on his third plate of food by now. Was it because he was being polite, or because of her. "Ooh maybe we should have a pancake eating contest!" Pinkie added."Then we'd know for sure who could eat more." Applebloom snorted, "Ah don't think there's enough pancake batter in Equestria for that." "I'm sure we could figure out something!" Pinkie said before gulping down the last of her apple juice. "Thanks for breakfast Granny Smith!" Pinkie said cheerfully. Applejack looked down at her half eaten breakfast then up at Pinkie, who was heading toward the door. She didn't want everypony else knowing about her, changes, at least not right away. "Pinkie, wait." She said, getting up and trotting over to the pink pony. "What is it Applejack?" "Can you uh, not tell anypony about this?" She whispered. "Your secret's safe with me! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She said going through the motions of the Pinkie Pie Swear. Applejack chuckled, as erratic as her friend's behavior was, she could always be counted on to keep her word. "Thanks Pinkie." "No Problemo! I gotta run though, the Cakes need me to watch Pound and Pumpkin for a bit while they deliver an order. See you later!" With that, Ponyville's party pony left. Applejack raised her back hooves to buck a tree, but as she did her wings flopped forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. "Horsefeathers!" She swore, picking herself up. Big Mac trotted up to her, a worried look on his face. "Ah don't need help!" She snapped, glaring at her brother. Big Mac sighed. "Ah was only gonna ask why don't you just fold em." He glanced at her wings, they were now dirty and some of the feathers bent at odd angles from the falls she had taken because of them. "Ah would if Ah could." She rolled her eyes and adjusted her stetson. "They don't do anything at all, they only flared up that one time when Pinkie spooked me, but that was it. Rainbow once said something about how pegasi wings get a mind of their own whenever a pegasus gets excited." "Ah see." Big Mac replied. Applejack grumbled incoherently and attempted to buck the tree again. This time she made her mark and apples rained down into the bushels positioned around the tree. "Ah can still do this. You can get back to your part of the orchard. Ah just had to adjust mah balance was all. Ah'm fine, just like Granny Smith said." Applejack said, waving a hoof at her brother. "If you say so." Big Macintosh said, frowning in disbelief. "Ah'm serious. now get back to work or Granny will tan both our hides." Big Mac sighed and walked back over to the other side of the orchard, casting one last look at Applejack. The farm pony snorted and got ready to buck another tree. "Hi again!" Pinkie Pie cried. She was hanging upside down from the apple tree holding an apple in her hoof. Applejack's wings flared and she toppled forward again. "Stop doin' that!" she grunted and stood back up with as much dignity as she could muster. "Sorry." The pink pony said brightly, taking a large bite out of the apple. "I finished watching the twins and I thought you could use some company." "Well ah don't. I just wanna be alone and do my job." Applejack grunted, bucking another tree and toppling over for the third time as her wings flopped back down. "Well, according to my Pinkie Sense, one of my friends was feeling down and the only pony who I could think of who had any reason to feel down was you. I mean you were suddenly turned into an alicorn against your will and all." She tossed the rest of the apple into her mouth. Applejack snorted vehemently, "Maybe you're wrong, Rarity probably has some kind of silly crisis of hers or Twilight lost one of her checklists." "If Twilight misplaced a checklist of hers she'd just make a checklist of all the places she could have possibly placed it. Why she doesn't just make a new checklist is beyond me, but, I got it!" Pinkie clopped her hooves together. "We could ask Twilight about the whole alicorn thing. She'd know something. Even if she didn't she can get in contact with the princesses and they could fix this. But if they could just like that this story would end up being a lot shorter. Anyway, I know you made me promise not to tell anypony, but I think the girls should know, Spike too. We're your friends A.J." Applejack frowned, her brow furrowing deeply. "Ah guess so." She said with a sigh. "Okey dokey lokey! I'll be back in a jiffy." "Wait!" Applejack called as the tip of Pinkie's mane disappeared into the branches. "Yeah?" Pinkie said, popping out of a bushel of apples. Applejack blinked, slightly confused, but quickly regained her composure. "Just uh, tell them to meet me in the barn where we had my party last night." "Alrighty!" Pinkie Pie saluted her before sinking back into the bushel. Applejack shifted through the apples, but there was no sign of the party pony. She shook her head and turned to see Big Mac bucking a tree not far from her. "Hey, Ah'm supposed to be doing this part of the orchard!" Applejack said, giving her brother a stern look. "Your mind isn't on your work. If you can't focus, it might be better for you to just take the day off. Ah don't mind the extra work." Big Mac said simply. "Don't you be gettin' all philosophical on me Big Macintosh. Ah can buck all these apples and more! Just you watch!" She bucked another tree, this time managing not to fall over but she still stumbled forward a few paces. "See!" She said, her voice shaking slightly. "Ah told you Ah could." The workhorse sighed and looked at his younger sister. "You need to stop bein' so stubborn and let us worry about you sometimes." "No you don't! Ah- Ah'm..." She faltered, her voice cracking. "Ah'm scared Big Mac." She shuddered and a single tear rolled down her cheek. A moment later her body was wracked by sobs. Big Macintosh wrapped a comforting foreleg around his sister's shoulders, pressing her against his body as she sobbed into his chest. Applejack felt like a filly again with her big brother to protect her. The solid warmth of his presence made her feel safe. Nothing could hurt her here. She had not cried like this in a long time. Not since their parents' funeral. "Ah dunno what's gonna happen to me. Ah don't wanna leave the farm." She hiccuped. Big Macintosh made gentle shushing noises. "Everything's gonna be alright." He murmured. "Anypony who wants to take you away from here is gonna have to get through me first." "T-Thanks Big Mac." Applejack said, pressing herself closer to her brother.
Wings and a Horn"Oh Angel. I'm sorry, it's only for a little while." Fluttershy told her rabbit companion. The rabbit in question was perched on a fencepost with his front paws crossed over his chest and a sullen expression on his face. His mistress was currently scooping out chicken feed and scattering it in front of her large red chicken coop. "I know we had a picnic planned for today, but um, we'll have to postpone it until after I get back from Applejack's. Pinkie said it was important, she sounded worried about her." The rabbit rolled his eyes, unconvinced. He hopped off the fence, dodging the plump white and brown bodies pecking eagerly at the feed on the ground and followed the timid pegasus inside the coop. "Now, um, don't give me that look," Fluttershy said, glancing at him. She then stuck her head into one of the nests and delicately picked up the egg with her mouth. Gently she put it into the basket at her hooves. Angel did the same, having retrieved one from the other side of the coop. "Pinkie might have been acting like her usual goofy self, but she um, wears her heart on her hoof, even when she doesn't think anypony else can tell what she's feeling. Um, at least that's how it seems to me." She said sheepishly, scuffing her hoof on the hay strewn floor. Angel sighed and gave his mistress a look that seemed to say 'if you say so.' He hopped over to gather another egg, as Fluttershy placed another two in the basket. "I do hope that Applejack isn't sick or injured or anything." Fluttershy's gaze swept through the coop making sure that they had not forgotten any of the nests before picking up the basket and trotting out of the coop, Angel hopping beside her. She mumbled a muffled thanks to the chickens. They barely acknowledged her, still pecking happily at the ground. A light breeze began to blow and she could smell a faint trace of the apple orchards on the wind. Back inside her cottage she set the basket of eggs on her counter and looked around, making sure she had taken care of all of her chores for the morning. "I'll be back soon Angel. Be a good boy and watch the house while I'm gone okay? We'll go on that picnic as soon as I get back." The rabbit nodded, still looking a tad sullen. as he watched his mistress leave the cottage. Fluttershy soared over the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, the crisp scent of apples perfuming the early autumn air. Suddenly she heard a strange sound. Startled by the noise, she fled to a low hanging cloud, curling up and making herself as small as equinely possible. The noise continued, but the more she listened to it the less it sounded like anything that might hut her, in fact it sounded like a creature in pain. She couldn't possibly let it suffer. She flew down from the cloud and landed daintily on the ground next to an apple tree. Carefully she trotted through the orchard in the direction of the noise. The closer to it she got, the more it sounded like somepony crying. She quickened her pace, a small knot of worry growing in her chest. She halted abruptly, not 10 hooves away from her, she saw Applejack huddled against Big Macintosh, sobbing into his chest. Briefly she glanced at the wings and horn her friend seemed to have sprouted. These changes to her appearance were not the most shocking thing about her. She had never seen the stubborn farm pony looking so vulnerable before. Her first instinct was to comfort her friend, but she felt she would be invading something extremely private, not meant for equine eyes. She was about to head towards the barn, pretending that she had not seen anything when Big Mac caught her eye. She froze, her wings flaring, ready to take flight at a moment's notice. The large stallion gestured subtly with his head for her to come over. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before cantering over to her friend. Big Mac gently lifted his hoof from his sister's shoulder and stepped back a couple paces. "Oh, Applejack." Fluttershy said, taking in the mare's appearance. Applejack looked up at Fluttershy, her eyes were red and puffy from crying and long dark trails running down her cheeks showed where tears had flowed freely. Her trademark Stetson was askew and her mane was disheveled, several pieces of hair had come loose from their ties. Her wings looked pathetic, streaked with dirt and some of the feathers were bent at odd angles. "F-fluttershy?" Applejack hiccuped. She gave a hearty sniff and said, "Ah must look a real mess." "Oh no, you look um, nice...?" Fluttershy said, scuffing the ground with a hoof. "You don't have to try and make me feel better Sugar cube." Applejack said, giving a watery chuckle. "But, um, you would look nice once you cleaned up a little, I bet your wings would be especially pretty, just like the pri-" Applejack shot the timid pegasus an angry glare, she quailed beneath it. "These wings are pretty, useless that is. All they do is flop around and get in mah way! Ah can barely move them as it is. The only time they've done anythin' at all is when Pinkie Pie spooked me." She kicked a rock on the ground in frustration and watched as it hit a tree a few hooves away with a satisfying thunk. "I-I'm sorry." She squeaked. "If um, you want, I can help you with your wings." She dipped her head, her long pink mane obscuring most of her face. "No." Applejack said. "Ah can figure this out on my own." "I-if that's how you um want to do it." Fluttershy mumbled. Applejack strained, attempting to force the limp appendages to move, trying to use muscles she had not possessed twenty four hours ago. Fluttershy shook her head, internally berating herself for not being more assertive. She reached out to touch one of the farm pony's bedraggled wings. "Please, let me help. I Know you don't want to accept it, but-" "GET YOUR HOOF OFF MY WING!" Applejack snapped. She felt a strange energy course through her body and a bright red burst of energy sparked from her horn. With a crack like a whip, Fluttershy was sent crashing into a tree. Big Macintosh was at the pegasus's side in a moment, with a shocked expression on his face. Applejack merely stood there, breathing heavily and feeling drained. Had she just done magic? She began to tremble, her mind was racing at a dizzying pace. She did the only thing she could think of when she heard the sound of four sets of hooves cantering towards them. She bolted, thinking only of getting away from them. Twilight Sparkle cantered up to where Fluttershy lay, followed by Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. She glanced up at Big Macintosh. "What happened? Is Fluttershy going to be alright? I just felt a powerful surge of magic. Why does Applejack look like an Alicorn?" The unicorn said this all very quickly. Big Mac opened his mouth and was about to say something, but just as he was about to speak, Fluttershy began to stir. She blinked open her eyes and managed to sit up. "Take it easy Fluttershy, don't push yourself." Twilight said, glad that the timid pegasus seemed to be no worse for wear from whatever had happened to her. "I'm fine, but, um I'm more worried about Applejack, did you um, see her at all?" Fluttershy asked, looking from one pony to another. "I only caught a glimpse of her before she ran off. At least I think I did. It almost looked like she had a horn and wings." Twilight said. "She does. I was only trying to help her fold her wings when she got mad, and um she- I'm sure she didn't mean to launch me into that tree with magic." Fluttershy said, hiding behind her bangs. "She couldn't have meant it." Twilight said. "It was probably an involuntary reaction triggered by stress. But she could be a danger to herself and others if she doesn't get a hold of herself." Rainbow Dash snorted, "How can you just say that she needs to get a hold of herself Twilight! I don't know about you but I'd be pretty freaked about this whole thing." The rainbow maned pegasus said in frustration. "T-that's not what I meant." Twilight said, her ears drooping. "She's got a lot of magic that she has no idea how to control. If she doesn't at least try to calm down, it could keep bursting out of her without any warning. Next time things might not turn out as well as they did this time." "Then why are we still sitting here?!" Rainbow said, a faint trace of worry in her voice. "We should go and find her!" Big Macintosh glanced down at the four mares. "If you want to find her she's probably in the clubhouse that Applebloom and her friends use. Applejack used to hide in there a lot as a filly after our parents passed." "Thanks Big Macintosh." Twilight said. "Eeyup." The red stallion replied. Fluttershy got to her hooves, gingerly testing the weight on her limbs. She would probably have a few bruises in the morning, but was otherwise no worse for wear. "On the way to the clubhouse, I can tell you a little more of what happened. Pinkie Pie probably knows a bit more though." "I Pinkie Promised Applejack I wouldn't say anything until she told you herself." Pinkie Pie said. "But Pinkie dear, we all know already why Applejack wanted to see us in the first place." Rarity said glancing at the party pony. "If there's anything else you know it might help." "I know, but breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend's trust and A.J. is more important at the moment. Let's go find her!" Pinkie Pie said bouncing off through the orchard. "Pinkie's right about Applejack. We need to find her before something else happens." Twilight added. The other four ponies had little choice but to follow the eccentric pony to where Applejack might be.
Mind Over MagicApplejack raced through the orchard along its familiar, well worn paths, her heart pounding hard. She didn't want to think about what had just happened, what she'd just done. She wanted to get away from everypony else. She had just injured one of her best friends, even though she was just trying to help. 'But Ah don't need help.' She thought to herself. 'You do. You know you can't just block off everypony. They want to help you.' A small voice at the back of her head said. Applejack slowed to a walk as she approached the old clubhouse. The place made her feel a little more at ease. She had always come here whenever she felt down or had a fight with Big Mac as a filly. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the clubhouse, a wave of exhaustion hit her and felt wobbly on her hooves. She slid down, lying on the rough wooden floor, feeling her eyelids begin to droop. A nap seemed like a good idea. She wouldn't have to think about anything. 'Perhaps when Ah wake up Ah'll find out this was all just a nightmare.' She thought before she let herself slip into blissful unconsciousness. -- -- -- -- “I found her!” Pinkie Pie cried, bouncing up the ramp of the clubhouse and sticking her head inside the doorway. “Real subtle,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “She’s probably going to run again.” “Nope, she’s asleep, which is oddly convenient.” The party pony said, looking back at the four mares just below her. “She’s probably worn out, I mean she just did magic for the first time without meaning to and I can’t imagine being able to get a good rest while growing wings and a horn in a single night. Also, she’s been worrying about all of this and she barely ate anything at breakfast.” Pinkie rambled. Rainbow sighed as they walked up the ramp and filed inside the clubhouse, careful not to step on the alicorn who was sleeping just inside the doorway. Applejack lay sprawled on the floor, hooves akimbo and her stetson tilted to one side of her face. She was snoring lightly with a small scowl on her face. "Oh my." Rarity said in a hushed voice, taking in her friend's appearance. "There isn't any spell that can do this is there Twilight?" The purple unicorn shook her head, "Nothing that I know of. There are no spells that can give a pony feathered wings, or the ability to use unicorn magic." "Well, the princesses are alicorns, they may know something about this." Rarity said, "I do not think it would hurt to write them a letter dear." Her horn ignited in a pale blue aura as she levitated a blank piece of paper from the large, untidy pile, on a small table and a quill, floating them towards Twilight. "Well, yes." Twilight said hesitantly, "But, it wouldn't feel right doing this without Applejack knowing about it. It's kind of like we're going behind her back." "Well then let's wake her up!" Pinkie said, hopping over to the sleeping alicorn. "Hey Applejack! Wake up!" She cried, her head inches from Applejack's ear. "Gah!" Applejack cried. Her eyes flew open and she scrambled to her hooves, her wings flaring up and almost hitting Pinkie Pie in the face. "What the hay?" Still disoriented, she looked at her five friends as they formed a semicircle around her. She was relieved to see that Fluttershy was standing, though she could see the beginnings of a large bruise near her flank. "See, she's awake." Pinkie said brightly. Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, quickly growing irritated. "Don't you know when somepony wants to be left alone?" "But, we're worried about you." Pinkie said, somewhat subdued. "Ah don't need worryin' about by nopony." The farm pony said. Her wings flopped down to her sides again, causing her to wince as they scraped the walls of the clubhouse. "But, we are your friends Applejack. Even if you say you don't need to be worried about, we have every right to be." Rarity said. "You would be concerned for one of us if the shoe were on the other hoof, would you not?" She met Applejack's glare with her own imperious gaze. The farm pony merely snorted. 'She's right you know.' the small voice at the back of her head said. "We were going to write the princesses about this to see if they know anything. Twilight wanted you to be awake so she didn't feel like we were going behind your back so I went and woke you up and here we are." Pinkie said, bouncing on her hooves. "Do what you like." Applejack said in a hollow voice. "Just get out and leave me alone, Ah need some time to think." "A-alright AJ." Twilight said, "We'll leave you be, but we're going to be nearby just in case." She picked up the paper and pen from where Rarity had dropped them and walked outside, followed by the other four mares. Applejack sighed and was about to shut the door when a cyan hoof stopped it before it could close. "You can't shut us out forever AJ." Rainbow dash said, her rose colored eyes showing genuine worry. "Go." Applejack said, a hard edge to her voice. "Just saying." The pegasus said as she removed her hoof from the doorway as the door snapped shut. Twilight was sitting in the grassy clearing below the clubhouse at a small picnic table, deep in concentration as the quill skated across the paper at the whim of her mental dictation. Dear Princess Celestia, Something has happened to our friend, Applejack. We're not sure quite how, or why, but it seems as though she has transformed into an alicorn. Is there anything you or Princess Luna may know about this? Your faithful and very concerned student, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight rolled up the paper and sealed it. "Hey Rainbow," She called to the cyan pegasus who was gliding just above the orchard, venting her frustrations by doing a few aerobatic maneuvers. "Yeah Twilight?" She replied, hovering in the air and looking down at the unicorn. "Could you get this to Spike, so he can send it to the princess?" "No problem." Rainbow Dash said, gliding down, landing next to Twilight. "Be back in t-" She was cut off by Pinkie Pie "Ten seconds flat?" "That's my line." The rainbow maned pegasus said, rolling her eyes. She took the scroll in her mouth and took off. Moments later was a loud thud as she crashed into a blonde maned, gray pegasus, sending them both to the ground. Derpy Hooves quickly got off of Rainbow, first checking to make sure her mailbag was secure and none of her packages were damaged before she checked on the cyan pegasus. "Sorry Rainbow Dash." She said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. Rainbow coughed, as she got to her hooves, "Ith okay Derpy." She said around the scroll in her mouth, briefly amazed that she managed to hang on to it. "I could deliver that llama-" The wall eyed mare shook her head, "No, letter, for you if you want, it's the least I could do after crashing into you." Derpy said. "Uh, sure why not." Dash said. "It needs to get to spike at the library as soon as possible, let him know it needs to be sent to The princess." "No problem." The mailmare said, tucking the letter into her mailbag. She pulled out a box and gave it to Rainbow before saluting and taking off in the direction of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash opened the box, inside were six blueberry muffins. "Sister, what art thou doing?" Princess Luna asked watching her sister levitate several buckets into the air with a look of heavy skepticism. "Well, you see dear sister," Celestia said, a wry smile on her face, "The guards seem to think I'm getting stale with my pranks. At least the ones that have been here for a while. Perhaps after a thousand years they might be right. So I got to thinking last night and I came up with this beauty." She gestured to a complex structure suspended above them, looking quite pleased with herself. Luna frowned, it looked more like a Rube Goldmane machine than anything to do with the practical jokes that her elder sister so loved. "How does this... contraption work pray tell?" She said drily. "I'm glad you asked little sister." Celestia said. "Tomorrow morning when the guards assemble for their morning assembly, it's going to be a little bit damper than they had expected. When the general steps up to the podium to address the guards he'll hit a switch that will have buckets of water dumping on everypony's heads. They won't even see it coming because I'll cast a spell on everything to make it invisible." Luna sighed, "Should thou really be setting up elaborate pranks when thou hast to hold court soon?" Celestia clicked her tongue, "Oh Woona, you're no fun." The lunar princess rolled her eyes at the moniker from her fillyhood. "Thou bore the Element of Laughter, not I, Celly." "True, but you still need to loosen up a bi-" Celestia paused, there was a faint pop accompanied by the acrid tang of dragon fire. A scroll appeared in front of her. She caught it with the golden aura of her telekinesis and unrolled it. Her eyes quickly flickered across the page and her expression quickly turned from one of whimsical delight to deep concern. "What is it?" Luna asked. Celestia didn't respond as she vanished the strange contraption. "I hope this isn't what I believe it to be." She said more to herself than to Luna. "Could you hold court in my place, there is something I need to investigate." "I-but, uh, what is going on? Holding court unsupervised?" Luna stammered,it took her a moment to realize that Celestia had already teleported away. She sighed, knowing that things were bound to end disastrously for her. "But Rarity!" Sweetie belle cried. "We need to get in to the clubhouse!" "Yeah!" Scootaloo added. "The sooner we can get our stuff, the sooner we can get our cutie marks! I can feel it, this is definitely gonna be the day!" "Well, um," Fluttershy said, hovering next to Rarity. "We're using it for... something." "Yeah! Something top secret!" Pinkie said, bouncing out from behind a bush. "Top secret eh?" Scootaloo said, narrowing her eyes. "Is Applejack in there right now?" Applebloom asked, looking at Pinkie and biting her lower lip. The pink party pony nodded.Suddenly there was a bright flash behind them as Princess Celestia appeared. "Hiya Princess!" Pinkie said brightly. "Hello Pinkie Pie." Celestia replied. There was a flash of red-violet light as Twilight teleported in front of them. "P-Princess!" She cried, "How- but- why? You didn't need to come all the way here!" The purple unicorn spluttered. "True, I could have sent you a letter Twilight, but, this is something I had to confirm for myself. Could we please go inside so we can discuss this?" "Uh, Yes princess." Twilight said. Applebloom gasped, but quickly turned it into a cough when she caught Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's glances. "Ah- Ah guess if the princess needs to use the clubhouse there's not much we can do about it. Let's uh, try frog catchin' again." she said to her two companions. "Sounds fun, or at least much safer than sky diving." Sweetie Belle said brightly. "Fine, whatever." Scootaloo sighed, following the two fillies back into the orchard. They stopped behind a tree near the clubhouse. "Applebloom." Sweetie Belle said, looking at her friend, "What's wrong? You've been acting odd since this morning." "Yeah. Why's the princess need our clubhouse anyway?" Scootaloo added. "Well. uh," Applebloom hesitated, "This morning Ah went upstairs to get Applejack for breakfast because she was sleeping in. But when Ah got up there, Applejack had these wing and a horn, like one of the princesses and there were feathers everywhere. She thought they were a joke or something, but Pinkie came over and spooked Applejack and they flew right up, like yours do Scoots, which means they have to be real. Ah'm scared that she's gonna be taken away to rule in Canterlot. Sweet Apple Acres isn't Sweet Apple Acres without Applejack. Ah don't want her to leave, ever." Applebloom said this all very quickly and was tearing up when she finished. "Hey, It's okay." Sweetie Belle said, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "We'll keep her here, even if nopony else can." "Well, I don't want to get all mushy about it, but we're your friends. Crusaders, we've got a new mission!" Scootaloo said holding out one hoof. Sweetie Belle put her hoof on top of Scootaloo's and Applebloom put hers on top of the unicorn's. Cutie Mark Crusaders - Sister Rescuers! They cried in unison before dashing back to the clubhouse. -- -- -- -- "Ah thought Ah told you to leave me alone." Applejack said, glaring at her friends as they entered the clubhouse, her eyes rested on the princess. "Why'd you tell her to come over here? Ah thought you were just writin' her a letter." "I came over of my own accord Applejack." The princess said, nonplussed with the farm pony's rudeness. "I had to confirm what Twilight Sparkle had told me in her letter." "Do- do you know how this happened." Fluttershy said, her mane obscuring most of her face. "II do. I feared this would happen one day." Celestia said solemnly. "What do you mean?" Rarity said. "Yeah, what's going on here?" Rainbow Dash cried. Celestia looked around at the six ponies, her eyes finally resting on Applejack. " In extremely rare cases, when a pony with powerful magic is exposed to a powerful artifact such as the Elements of Harmony, their magic will react with the magic in the artifact and begin to mutate. It will reach a point where the pony develops the characteristics of other pony races, the end result being what is known as an alicorn." "Ah don't have powerful magic though." Applejack said, "Ah'm just an earth pony." "But you do." Celestia replied, shaking her head, "Earth pony magic is the most subtle and hardest to measure of the three pony magics, but your magic is the strongest i have seen in an earth pony in several centuries. It is roughly on the same scale as Twilight Sparkle's magic." Applejack stared at the princess in disbelief. It can't be true can it? Ah'm just an apple farmer. She thought to herself. An apple farmer who can go over a week without sleep while bucking half of the orchard by herself. Not even Big Mac can do that. A small voice at the back of her head said. That was just a fluke. Probably. She argued. What about the trolley car you stopped with your back legs? Her conscience argued back. Ah'm strong is all, Ah've been bucking apple trees since Ah was Applebloom's age. The same apple trees that she can barely rattle. "Alright, maybe Ah do have strong magic. But why me? It makes about as much sense as bucking unripe zap apples." She said after several moments. "Chance. It could have easily happened to either of you." Applejack's frown deepened. "Ah thought this would have a lot more complicated of an explanation. Like Ah was destined to be the next ruler of Equestria or something like that." "That is not to be the case." Celestia said, looking at the newest alicorn. Her stubborn frown, defensive stance and the vulnerable look in her eyes reminded her of Luna "Has this happened before Princess?" Twilight asked. Celestia nodded, "Four times that we know of. The first two were Luna and myself, after we defeated Discord. Luna was a pegasus and I, a unicorn." "Um, what about the other two?" Fluttershy asked. Celestia dipped her head, "They are dead." "How? I thought alicorns were immortal." Twilight stammered. She glanced over at Applejack who had dropped to her haunches and seemed to have turned pale beneath her bright orange coat. "We are, to an extent, we can be mortally wounded, but that would take more power than anypony could muster. However, newly transformed alicorns, no matter how powerful they were before the change, are not able to handle the influx of new magic and their power becomes unstable. This causes it to leak out at random moments, at first it is mostly harmless, but slowly these leaks will become stronger and eventually, they will end up releasing all of the energy in their body, effectively killing them." Applejack's eyes widened in fear. "So, Ah'm going to die?" she said, her voice quavering. "Not necessarily. With early enough training you won't have to, we had no knowledge of the other two before it was too late to help them. Which is why I would like to ask you to come to Canterlot, for a year at the most, to learn to tame your new magic." "No!" Came a voice from outside, Applebloom scrabbled through the window, followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Judging by the looks on their faces they had heard most of the conversation. "You're not taking mah sister anywhere! Ah'm not gonna let you! Nor are Big mac, or Granny Smith or the rest of the Apple Family!" Applebloom cried, she galloped between Applejack and the princess, standing protectively in front of her sister, despite her small stature. "You don't need to, Ah'm sure Twilight could help Applejack with her magic and Rainbow Dash can teach her to fly!" Celestia looked taken aback for the briefest of moments before looking up at Applejack. The farm pony was just as surprised, but not as good as hiding it. after a moment she smiled. "Ah'm afraid Ah must decline Princess, though it is kind of you to offer. Ah can't leave the farm. Besides, Like Applebloom said, Ah've got mah friends to help me through this. Guess it just took mah little sister for me to get it through mah thick skull." Celestia looked at Applejack for several long moments, her expression unreadable. "If that is what you want to do, I doubt I can stop you." She said. There was a trace of something like regret on her face. "I will then give the orders to Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash to teach you in the arts of magic and flight respectively." "You don't have to give any orders Princess, we would have done so regardless." Rainbow Dash said sheepishly. Celestia smiled, her kindly mask reappearing. "I must be getting back to Canterlot," She said, "I left Luna in charge of court today and I fear that things have probably gone very awry by this time." "Don't worry Princess Celestia," Twilight said, earnestly, "We'll keep you up to date on what's happening here." "Thank you Twilight." Celestia said, disappearing in a flash of sunlight. Celestia teleported just outside of the throne room, loud noises could be heard through the thick stone walls and heavy wooden doors. The solar princess smiled, pushing open the door to see Luna standing in front of the throne, using her Royal Canterlot Voice on a young merchant pony. "PLEASE, TELL US WHAT THOU WOULDST LIKE US TO DO FOR THEE. WE WISH ONLY TO SERVE OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS." Luna shouted. Judging by her strained smile, she was clearly trying to be friendly, but nerves and her general social awkwardness were getting in the way. "Voice, Luna." Celestia said kindly. The lunar princess jumped and looked over at Celestia. OH! SIS-ter. she said, quickly adjusting the volume of her voice. "I uh," "It's alright, much better than last time, nothing's broken." Celestia said, she turned to the few ponies who still remained, whether it was out of bravery or fear that they would be sent to the moon, (where had ponies even gotten the crazy notion from?) and said, "I'm afraid we will have to call this session to a premature close. On the account of an important matter which has recently come up." The ponies seemed relieved to be allowed to leave and the throne room quickly emptied. "Why didst thou have to leave so suddenly?" Luna asked after the last pony left. "There is a new alicorn." She said. Luna looked sharply at her sister. "Who? Is it Twilight Sparkle?" "No. It is one of her friends, the earth pony, Applejack." "Didst thou bring her here?" Luna asked, looking around, expecting to see the pony with her sister. "No, she will learn to control her powers through her friends." Celestia said. Luna frowned, "Is this wise?" "I can only hope. If I forced her, that would only be counterproductive." Luna nodded, "I guess that thou art right, I just hope this will not become a death sentence for another innocent pony."
