The Shadow, the True Self

Headcanon Adjustment for This Story: Equestria has black-and-white television, the old boxy models you saw in the 1950’s with turn dials. It’s a new thing for ponykind, less than ten years old.

The Shadow, the True Self
Part 1: Applejack I

Dear Princess Twilight,

Something bad has happened, we need your help. Applejack went missing a few days ago, and now she’s on TV. I think something is very wrong with her. Turn the TV on at midnight, to the channel on the dial with no number. You’ll see what I mean. Please hurry, I might be next.

~Fluttershy

Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle frowned with concern at the letter. Gently rolling it up again, she checked the time. The sunset court was not over yet, and she couldn’t just leave early. Princess Celestia and Luna had ordained her to rule the kingdom from 3pm to 11pm (the “Twilight Hours”, they decided to call them, since there were three princesses in Canterlot now). She had another hour or so, but this sounded dire. “Captain Dusk Glory?” she asked, looking to one side of herself. The guard turned with a snap in his hooves. “Cancel any further appointments. Something has come to my attention that needs my focused attention.”

“Cutting the court short, your majesty?” he asked, sounding shocked.

“Is… is that a problem?” Twilight said timidly, still not used to all the authority thrust on her.

The stallion coughed, quickly getting his guard-face back on. “O-of course not! There were only a few appointments, I’m sure they’ll be fine to return tomorrow!” he would not be responsible for making his new princess cry or something. The royal guards had been trying to get a vibe on Princess Sparkle since she’d arrived to assume the throne a month ago. Her odd mood swings were very different than the anchor-like Celestia or the passion of Luna, it was difficult.

“Thank you.” Twilight nodded, minding her wings as she stepped off of the throne (The first night she’d face-planted down the dais, sending the entire throne room into an uproar). “Tell Princess Luna I’m sorry, I had to go to Ponyville right away.”

“Yes your majesty!” Dusk Glory saluted. “I’ll muster a sky chariot for you, and a pair of Lunar Stallions for your journey.” He turned on his heel, then went to send squires to do the message-running.

Twilight walked quickly and worriedly to her private chambers. It was not unusual to get letters from her friends in Ponyville, and she made a habit of visiting them once a week, but… Fluttershy’s letters were often longer, more detailed and filled with details about her animal friends. Five sentences was nothing for a Fluttershy letter.

The purple Princess arrived, stepping daintily into her room and shutting the double doors behind her. Setting her crown and regalia aside, she opened her closet. Pushing aside a few book stacks, she found a great hulking shape pressed into the back of it. Levitating it out with magic, she set it out next to the outlet. Pulling the dust quilt off, she stared at the device. TV was an odd concept to Twilight Sparkle, but she’d been given one when they’d been invented. Fumbling with the plug for a bit, and then the buttons, she turned the channel dial back and forth.

She checked the clock, it was some time until midnight. Frowning anxiously, she went into her private bathroom. Grooming for a bit (still unused to her wings), she did her best to waste time until the midnight hour was upon her. Why had she left the court early, if only to waste time afterward? Sigh. She was no good at this Princess thing yet. Princess Celestia still swore there was not a book to read about being one, but Twilight wasn’t sure she believed her.

Ah! Finally! The Princess found it to be midnight. Leaning eagerly, she crouched in front of the box TV and got down on her belly. She clicked it on and the strange machine whirred to life. The hum of electricity and white-noise slowly filled the room, until she turned the volume down. “Channel… dash-dash? What does that mean?” she mumbled, reaching up for the channel dial again. She click-click-clicked from channel twenty-five to channel three— then two— then double zero and then dash-dash. She jerked to a halt. “Dash-dash.” She mumbled. The TV was supposed to tell what number the channel was, but there was a not-number channel? Hmm. The screen wasn’t showing anything. Not even white noise or static. It was a nothing channel. How strange. The clock struck midnight, making Twilight jump a little.

Whuk-wuh-whrrrrr---!

Light slowly filled the dark bedroom as the TV suddenly decided to bring up a picture. It was filled with static at first, warped beyond any sense. Lines went up, then down, then rushed back up again. Twilight leaned back, like the strange device might blow up in her face. It labored and whined, forcing a picture slowly into focus. Before her eyes, a scene took shape.

It looked a lot like Sweet Apple Acres! There was the barn, huge and mighty as it always was. There were the corn fields, the apple orchards, everything looked okay… but wait no. The barn was covered with swing-open windows. All over it. Why, if that arrangement of windows was correct, that would make the barn ten stories tall! Twilight knew that couldn’t be right. She rubbed her chin, squinting and leaning to try and see better. “BOY HOWDY!” Applejack’s face suddenly crammed itself up into the camera, startling Twilight back with a shriek. “Welcome, y’all! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! Name’s Applejack, and boy are y’all in for a treat!” The orange mare was in her normal Stetson, but she had a loop of rope across her shoulder. “Ah’ll have y’all know, the Apple family produces some’uh the finest stallions in Equestria! And we’re gonna rope one just for me today, yee-haw!” she reared, flailing her hooves about.

Twilight cocked her head with a frown. What was this supposed to be? Was Applejack making an advertisement for Sweet Apple Acres or something? She leaned, trying to get a better look at her. The black and white image didn’t help as much as she would have liked-- but she could tell from squinting, Applejack’s eyelashes had been done. There was a light blush to her cheeks. She was wearing a ponytail holder on her tail. Odd.

The farming mare did a couple of rope tricks, jumping gaily back and forth in her excitement, grinning from ear to ear. The camera changed angles a few times, which made Twilight frown a bit. No matter what angle she was being seen from, none of the cameras ever showed any of the other cameras. A mental chart of the area came up in her mind. Either each camera was invisible, or something weird was going on here. “Welcome toooo---!” Applejack reared up and suddenly fireworks blasted across the screen, displaying a strange logo that read:

APPLE FAMILY ROMANCE HOE-DOWN SPECIAL: SEXY STUD STALLIONS EDITION!

Twilight blanched. What the heck was all this?! She turned the volume up a little, eyes glued to the screen. Applejack turned, batting her lashes at the camera with bedroom eyes. “Mares like me ain’t got time to search far and wide for the right stallion, ah tell ya! We’ll be goin’ for the strong and dependable variety, right here at home!” Turning, the farming mare went to a conveniently-placed chart on an easel. “Here’s the plan!” she gestured. The chart showed a little cartoon Applejack, a little cartoon Big Macintosh, and a big heart around them both. “Easy enough, right?! Now let’s go rope us a loverboy! Yeeee-haw!” she turned, bucked the barn doors open, and dashed inside. They slammed behind her. After a few moments, the channel with no number stopped broadcasting and the picture vanished.

Twilight stood, more than a little disturbed. Fluttershy was right. Something was very, very wrong. Wherever Applejack was, that certainly wasn’t Sweet Apple Acres. It just looked like it. Turning, the newly-born alicorn dashed out her bedroom doors with no crown or regalia on. “Guards!” she said. “We need to go now!”

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

The wee hours of the morning were not kind to Twilight Sparkle, she’d not slept at all. After sending letters to each of her Ponyville friends, she’d set off for the town itself. She’d not received any replies. Arriving via sky-chariot pulled by two Lunar Stallions, she’d stopped at Fluttershy’s cottage first. Nopony was home. She went to Rarity’s boutique next. No answer. Sugarcube Corner produced a grumpy Mr. Cake being awakened at three in the morning, but no Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was not in her cloud home. “Where is everyone…?” The Princess murmured worriedly. “Let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres.” She bade her chariot stallions. They obeyed.

Sweet Apple Acres looked normal enough. The barn was most certainly not ten stories tall like it had been on the strange TV show. It was just four stories like it was supposed to be. The crisp quiet of the night time air was not even broken by crickets. Twilight was no nature expert, but absolute silence often meant trouble—or a predator. The two Lunar Stallions perked their ears, sniffed around, searching for any signs of life or movement. Their bat-blood helped them sort out anything that might not belong, but there was nothing.

Getting off her chariot while the guards silently searched, Twilight Sparkle stuck her head into the barn. No Applejack. She found the row of tool tacks and hanging hooks on one wall. Sure enough, one of the ropes was missing. Wherever Applejack had gone, she’d taken her rope with her and… and why was she acting so strange? It was a terrible, unfounded stereotype to think about incest in an earth pony herd. The Applejack on the TV had looked positively in heat, and even had visual aids that she had… intentions, with her own brother. Something bad was going on, and nothing was adding up.

Where were her friends?

Why was Applejack on TV, acting so oddly?

Why would somepony make a TV show meant to look like Sweet Apple Acres?

The questions spun in the alicorn’s mind, and she held her temples for a moment. She didn’t have enough evidence. She looked around. There didn’t seem to be any signs of struggle on the dirt floor of the barn, she’d not been taken, surely? Though, Applejack odd behavior sure made Twilight wonder if she was drugged or something. “Somepony knows. Somepony has to know.” The Princess murmured, turning to go outside. Her two guards had turned up nothing. “Surely this would’ve been all over the newspaper? Or I would’ve heard if suddenly my friends all vanished at the same time? They’re the Elements of Harmony!”

“Should we question the townsfolk, your majesty?” One guard asked.

“No. At least not yet.” Twilight said tiredly. “I don’t want to start a panic, with this many mares missing. I need more facts before I can string this all together.” She hunched for a moment, sighing in frustration. “I need to go and watch the midnight channel again to see what’s going on.”

“The what?” asked the other guard.

“There’s a channel on TV that has no number, and it only shows something at midnight.” Twilight said, folding her wings as she got back into the chariot. “Back to Canterlot. I have to gather more information.” They stallions hitched up and started at a brisk pace for home.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

Princess Sparkle sat hunched in front of her TV the next night, waiting for the midnight channel to return. She flicked her eyes up at the clock. Chimmmme. “Midnight.” Twilight licked her lips and, sure enough, the channel with no number on the dial began to whir to life. The black-and-white Sweet Apple Acres returned, and once again Applejack was front and center, trumpeting exactly what she had before. “Oh Applejack, what’s happened to you…?” the purple mare whispered, reaching up and gently stroking the screen where her face was. “Where are you? Where are our frien—nyahhh?!” Her hoof went right through the glass of the screen and sank in with a ripple of magic. Twilight leapt back, rubbing her hoof feverishly. The TV screen bubbled a bit, then returned to normal. The rerun of Applejack’s odd behavior kept playing. Panting in anxious fear, Twilight went back to the screen. Was that it? Was it really that easy? “She’s really… IN there?” she got a quill, poking at the TV screen. Nothing.

She tried her hoof again. It bubbled, rippled, and sucked at her with a shivery sort of ethereal magic. The image warped and twisted about, wanting more of her arm to become one with the TV. The purple mare took a deep breath, feeling around inside. It felt like dirt and grass on the other side. She checked her bedroom door. Nopony would believe this, it was too literal! Taking another deep breath, she tucked her head and climbed into the TV. She squeezed her eyes shut, not sure what to expect. The not-glass consumed her with a loud sucking sound, and then the Princess was gone.

When the screen had settled back into a normal shape, the TV whirred and gave loud static sounds like it had been before. Applejack was standing in the middle of the barn area in (not) Sweet Apple Acres. She looked directly into the camera— and grinned. Then the TV flipped off all by itself.

End of Part 1