AUTHOR'S NOTES: So one of the things I've been thinking about with this story is—how is Applejack's mother, Honeycrisp, alive in the human world if she isn't in Equestria? Well, that's answered here along with what's up with Scootaloo's parents? Answer—it's not pretty. Like… It's really bad.
Chapter 4
After a long day of discussing the possible sale of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack felt beat and more confused than ever. Not to mention that the more she mulled over what Twilight had told her about her doppelganger in Equestria, the more Applejack began to feel guilty about not being honest with her family. Going to her laptop computer, she pulled up the photos from the Fall Formal, smiling as she looked at her friends—particularly the pictures of the six of them with full pony ears, tails and wings.
She'd never told her parents about what was going on but with Discord and everything else… She wondered if perhaps it was time for her to tell them the truth.
"Everything okay?" Honeycrisp said as she entered her eldest daughter's room. "You barely ate anything at dinner, sugercube." Seeing Applejack's nervousness and glancing briefly at the picture of the computer screen, she sat down on the bed. "If this is about you and Twilight Sparkle being more than friends… sweetheart, I'm okay with that. If you're happy, that's all that matters."
Catching on as to what her mother was saying, Applejack quickly corrected her. "No, Mom, it's nothin' like that. I…" But looking at the picture once again, she sighed. "It's complicated." And after a moment, she told her mom the whole story—from Twilight being a pony princess in the magical land of Equestria to the suspicions of the seven friends that someone named Discord was attempting to hurt or divide them. At the end of the tale, Applejack even showed Honeycrisp the photo of the six friends with the tails, pony ears, and—in the case of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy—wings.
At first, Honeycrisp didn't know what to say. She knew Applejack had been hiding something but this was far beyond anything she could ever have imagined. "Element of Honesty, huh?" she said, finally, smiling. "Does have a certain ring to it."
Grateful that her mom believed her and didn't think she was crazy, Applejack decided to voice the thought she'd been holding back all day. "Mom, this guy who wants to buy the farm…I think it's really Discord and I think he's up to something. The only thing is… I have no idea what. Why would he help us? I mean, could he not really be as bad as Twilight thinks he is?"
For the longest time, mother and daughter just looked at one another. The more Honeycrisp thought about the questions, the more she realized that this was one of those rare times that the decision wasn't hers to make—it was Applejack's. "What do you think? What do you feel is the honest truth?"
Applejack thought about it for the longest time before she realized what she knew to be the truth. "I think Discord's up to something and it's up to us to stop him."
"Then get some sleep," Honeycrisp replied with a smile. "Tomorrow, you and your friends can start figuring out what to do."
Leaving Applejack and her family alone for the evening, Twilight gratefully accepted Rainbow Dash's sleepover invitation but when the two got to Rainbow's house, she was surprised to find Scootaloo sitting on the front porch with a fully stuffed backpack, duffel bag, and computer bag.
Even more surprising was that Rainbow Dash didn't seem surprised in the slightest."Go on inside, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said with a smile. "Just give me and Scoots here a couple minutes alone."
Twilight complied and went into the kitchen where, after some searching and trouble, managed to get a pot of hot water boiling for tea. In the pantry, she found a stash of cookies and after a little more work, was able to get a respectable meal together.
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said as she entered the kitchen and went to the phone attached to the wall. "Give me a minute and I'll order us a couple pizzas."
"It's no trouble," Twilight insisted but acquiesced to the alternate dinner plans. While Rainbow made the call, she looked at Scootaloo and asked, "Are you spending the night, too, Scootaloo?"
The younger teenager looked nervously at Rainbow Dash as she replied, "If that's okay? I mean, Twilight's already here…a-and I can go ask Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle if it's not."
But Rainbow waved away the argument and smile. "Of course it's okay. Mom and Dad are out of town so you can crash in their room if you want to." Once Scootaloo had taken her things upstairs, Rainbow waited until she heard the door close before taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Scootaloo's parents are getting a divorce and it's been really hard on her, especially since…" she hesitated for a moment or two, suddenly worried that she was betraying her young friend's confidence. "Since her dad's been drinking and… taking things out on her."
Twilight wasn't even aware of sitting down at the table. True, there were a lot of similarities between this world and Equestria, but never once had Twilight ever heard of anypony hitting their children. "Why doesn't her mother do something about it? Get help, or something?"
"Because it's not that easy, Twilight," Rainbow explained. "Scootaloo's mom didn't press charges for years and when she finally did separate from her husband…. Well, let's just say it didn't go over well. Then social services found out about the abuse and put Scootaloo in a foster home where she was hurt even worse. She ended up in the hospital. So now, when her dad drinks she comes over here."
Looking upstairs and thinking of what the poor young girl was dealing with, Twilight asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Rainbow shrugged, uncertainly, and after a while, she said, "Mom and Dad are getting licensed as foster parents so Scootaloo can stay with us. We're also trying to help get her dad arrested for assault but the police don't know what a creep he really is."
It was well after 1 in the morning and Honeycrisp still couldn't sleep. Everything she'd been talking about with Applejack was rattling around in her mind and keeping her from relaxing. Plus, the more she thought about the land of Equestria, the more Honeycrisp thought about when she was in labor with Apple Bloom.
Macintosh had been her first pregnancy and relatively normal.
Applejack had the easiest by far and the only pregnancy that had resulted in NO morning sickness whatsoever.
But when she was carrying Apple Bloom… that had been the hardest.
Honeycrisp had been sick the entire time and spent almost the entire pregnancy in the hospital on bed rest. Her body seemed to go haywire and she'd developed gestational diabetes which thankfully had gone away once she'd given birth.
But the night Apple Bloom was born was the night mother and daughter had nearly been lost.
It was a month and a half before her due date and the contractions were more painful than Honeycrisp could remember. And then she heard the doctor's frantic shouts as she started slipping into unconsciousness, only faintly hearing the words 'abruption' and 'blood loss'.
And then she felt floaty and beside her was a tan colored pony with a yellow mane. The pony was also in labor and as the two locked eyes, Honeycrisp reached out a hand to touch the soft mane.
"We're losing her… the baby, too…"
The pony's eyes were soft, warm, and loving and as she nosed Honeycrisp's hand, the human felt something flow into her as she heard a soft whinny coming from the newborn foal.
"She's coming back! The baby looks perfect! I-I don't understand…"
After she woke up in the hospital after a week in a coma, Honeycrisp didn't know what to make of the vision and even after being home for a while she wasn't sure how to tell her family about what had happened.
When the clock turned to 2am, Honeycrisp finally gave up on sleep and slipped out of bed and pulled on jeans, shoes, and a sweater before grabbing her purse and keys and heading outside. Maybe a drive would help soothe her thoughts.
Heading into town, she was surprised to see that there was still one shop open but getting closer, she realized that it was Zecora's Everfree Herbals. Pulling into a parking spot and turning the car off, Honeycrisp got out and walked up to the door, opening it quietly.
"My dear Honeycrisp… You look distressed. What is keeping you from your rest?" Zecora led the tired mother to the table in back and soon had a mug of tea in front of her.
Honeycrisp sipped the tea and after a while relayed the entire tale Applejack had told her. "I know it sounds unbelievable but it's true. I-I wouldn't have believed it myself, but…" She paused again before also telling the herbalist/enchantress about the vision she'd had when she was in labor with Apple Bloom.
It was very rare that Zecora didn't speak in rhyme, especially since that was how her parents had always spoken to her. But she felt that, in this case, directness was the best approach. "In this other world, you died in childbirth. But the death was not in vain for you allowed yourself in this world to live along with your child. One sacrifice to save two."
In an old, ramshackle house well beyond the edge of town, Discord sat at his computer, perusing the notes he'd made on Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. While it was true that he'd caused the injuries to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, he was unable to take credit for the other two. Rarity's illness was simply bad luck although he did enjoy the irony of Fluttershy's predicament.
"Give us back our talismans or I swear we'll—"
"Oh, do shut up, will you?" Discord snapped, anger mixed with annoyance in his voice as he looked at the three Sirens who were chained together in the living room. "I think we've firmly established by now that the three of you are completely helpless without these." He held up three red gems on black cords.
It was purely by chance that he'd witnessed the three using what meager magic they possessed and after cornering them outside of a diner it was the work of a few minutes to convince the three that he could help them get their full power back. Then it was only a matter of knocking the three girls out and taking the talismans they'd so eagerly protected.
Going back to his computer work, Discord was too distracted to notice when Aria Blaze picked the lock on the chain restraining her until he heard the door open and the sound of running footsteps. Furious, he looked at the other two captives but after a while, his temper cooled. What was he keeping these girls for anyway? They were powerless…
Twilight was sleeping on the couch in Rainbow Dash's living room when she was startled awake by someone banging loudly on the front door. Jumping up, she wasn't sure what to do, especially when she remembered that it could be Scootaloo's father on a rampage—a thought that had obviously occurred to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash who came down moments later, the first holding a hockey stick and the second holding a baseball bat in one hand and leaning on a crutch with the other.
Since Rainbow was wearing a pair of pajama shorts, it was the first time Twilight had really had a chance to see her friend's missing leg and she had a hard time not staring.
"Later, Twilight," Rainbow Dash snapped with more harshness then she'd intended as she led the trio towards the door. Slowly, she looked through the peephole, pulling back quickly with a confused look. Opening the door, she studied the disheveled teenager standing on the front porch. "Who are you?"
Aria looked at the others and felt suddenly very scared about talking but there was no choice. "My name is Aria Blaze. I'm one of the Sirens."
While Scootaloo looked puzzled, Twilight and Rainbow exchanged a wary glance.
A/N: Next chapter, we'll see more of Discord and we'll hear more about the Sirens.
