Chapter 1: A Little Jaunt
Wind Whistler laid down in a patch of thick, soft grass and rolled on to her back. The bright sun shined down on her pale blue underside, bathing her in warmth. She spread her wings on the ground as wide as they would stretch without straining to catch more of the warm rays. She exhaled a sigh as her entire body relaxed.
It was one of those lazy afternoons when the weather was nice and nothing was going on in particular. There was no news about harpies, and no news was always good news when it came to them. Even the general chores and duties around Dream Castle and the surrounding area were done, leaving everyone to spend the afternoon as they pleased. She usually read or contemplated something for recreation. However, today, she felt like spending the precious reprieve lying in the grass and sunning herself.
“Wind Whistler,” Wind Whistler heard Gusty call out.
Wind Whistler blew her wavy, pale pink bangs out of her eyes. There was always something. She folded her wings against her sides and rolled on to her side. She looked up to see the white unicorn galloping towards her.
Gusty stopped next to her. “Hey, Wind Whistler, what are you doing?”
“I am just sunning myself,” Wind Whistler answered honestly. “Why?”
“Magic Star wants to see you in the rainbow chamber when you get the chance,” Gusty answered. “We’ve found something.”
“What is it?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Gusty said. “We don’t really know what it is. That’s why Magic Star wants you to see it.”
Wind Whistler heaved a sigh. “All right, I will see what it is.” She rolled on to her hooves and stood up.
She spread her wings and leapt into the air. She had picked a spot not too far from Dream Castle and the waterfall that was the head of the stream that passed by it. She flew to the waterfall cascading down from the plateau into a pond as its base.
She landed at the foot of what looked like a normal rock face next to the waterfall. However, they had learned better. Gusty galloped passed her to the cliff and placed her hoof against it. The rock disappeared to reveal a huge, dark gray, metal door. The door split in half and slid open.
Wind Whistler and Gusty walked into the huge elevator beyond the door. The doors slid shut, squeezing off the light from the outside and leaving them in the almost nonexistent light inside. The air also became noticeable cool all of a sudden. Dull clunks resounded around them and Wind Whistler felt the elevator descend.
Wind Whistler’s eyes adjusted to the dimness. Though, there was not much to see. They stood in a giant, metal box with a tiny, dim light in the ceiling and dark purple walls. The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors in the opposite wall slid apart. They walked out into the massive, room on the other side and the doors slid shut behind them with a thunderous thud that echoed around them.
Wind Whistler could not help but think of the irony they called this dim, gloomy room the rainbow chamber. Even after all the time she had been in it, the thought was still the first thing that entered her mind. Tiny lights in the ceiling like the one in the elevator provided scant illumination at best and the dark purple walls absorbed much of what little light there was. It had to the diametric opposite of rainbows.
“I’m glad you could come so soon,” Magic Star said. The yellow earthling walked up to them. “I’m sorry if we interrupted anything.”
“It was nothing important,” Wind Whistler replied. “What do you want me to see?”
“It’s up here,” Gingerbread said. Wind Whistler looked up at the giant control panels along the same wall as the elevator where Gingerbread’s voice came from. The white earthling stood on the main control panel.
Wind Whistler fluttered up to the control panel and landed next to Gingerbread on an area free of illuminated controls.
“I was looking through the controls to see what other capabilities the rainbow has,” Gingerbread said. She motioned to the monitor in front of them. “I unlocked a fourth coordinate to the destination code.”
Wind Whistler looked at the huge monitor in the center. In glowing, red text, it displayed the latitude, longitude and elevation like normal. They were the all too familiar coordinates of Megan’s home as it was the default destination. However, at the end, there was the seven digit number 4907343. It seemed completely arbitrary.
“What does it mean?” Wind Whistler asked.
“We were hoping you would know,” Gingerbread replied. “Could it be time or other planets?”
Wind Whistler pondered for a moment. It did not seem like temporal coordinates ruling out time. The rainbow was also not strong enough to extend very far out of Earth’s atmosphere ruling out other planets. They had made the equipment display its readouts in English instead of its original language. The translation might have lost the format to this fourth coordinate.
Her mind wandered to the rainbow the machine was connected to. It then came to her like the proverbial light bulb switching on in her head. “Of course. It must be a dimensional address.”
“A dimensional address?” Gingerbread asked.
“Think about it,” Wind Whistler said. “This machine is tied to what was a naturally occurring dimensional bridge. Its purpose was probably not only move to different places on the planet but also to different dimensions.” She looked up at the monitor and the number in particular. “This is a huge find.”
Magic Star sighed. “I was hoping it would be something more practical. We don’t need to travel to other dimensions. There are enough problems in this one.”
“We can use it to get back to our home dimension,” Gusty said eagerly. She grinned mischievously. “I’d like to rattle the witches’ cage.”
“We might also search for those who left Ponyland to see if they formed another country on another part of the planet,” Wind Whistler said.
“I like that idea.” Gingerbread walked around the massive buttons, switches, and dials. “We can probably find trips within our dimension in the records.”
She stepped on a rectangular button. It sank into the panel and glowed pink. A list of coordinate sets appeared on the main monitor. She planted her hoof on smaller button and the list changed. Several sets were red while others were white like those at the top. Those in white had the dimensional address 4709343 like those at the top while those in red had the address 2698235.
“Those coordinates in red must be our home dimension,” Wind Whistler said.
“I guess they’re a different color so they stand out,” Gingerbread said. “I’ll just select one and enter it as a destination code.”
She tapped another button repeatedly. A box appeared on the monitor and moved down to a red set. She jumped towards the massive enter button. The giant rectangle compressed and glowed. However, a large, red message stating “RESTRICTED” appeared on the monitor with a low buzzer sounding.
Gingerbread scowled at the monitor. “What do you mean it’s restricted?”
“Perhaps whoever built this intended to limit travel in our dimension,” Wind Whistler suggested. She did her best to hide her disappointment from her expression and tone. It would have been nice to return to their home dimension again. However, that was apparently impossible.
Gingerbread heaved an exasperated sigh. “Figures.”
The list appeared on the monitor again. Wind Whistler read through it. The red coloring must have meant the set was restricted. All of the sets with the dimensional address 2698235 were red. However, one white set near the bottom had an address different from the others: 2692239 instead of 4709343.
Wind Whistler raised an eyebrow. She had not noticed it when the list first appeared. Though, she was concentrating on the colors. “I wonder what is with that one.” She pointed to the set.
Gingerbread looked up at the monitor. “I don’t know.” She hopped on a series of buttons. The box collapsed to one coordinate and worked its way to encase the address. The rest of the list disappeared and the set moved to the top. “It’s the only one to this address. It might have been an expedition or a test of the equipment.”
She looked to Wind Whistler and her mouth widened into a grin as if she had swallowed the pet canary. “Why don’t we check it out?”
“I don’t know,” Magic Star said warily. “There’s no telling what’s there.”
Wind Whistler looked down to Magic Star. She looked up at them with a small, uncertain frown. She had always been the cautious one. It was one of the many reasons she was the mistress of Dream Castle as she reigned in the others when needed.
Wind Whistler considered what dangers might lurk in this other dimension, but also the wonders. Her curiosity won over her caution. “That is the point of exploration, to make the unknown known,” she said to Magic Star. “It would not hurt to investigate the dimension a little.”
“Just on the fly?” Magic Star asked. “That’s not like you, Wind Whistler.”
Wind Whistler could not argue with her on that point. She usually preferred to think things through and not give in to impulse. However, she really wanted to get at least a glimpse of this world. Her imagination was running wild, and her curiosity was nagging her. She could not resist the urge to indulge it.
“I am not thinking of an extensive expedition,” Wind Whistler replied, “just a short little jaunt to see what is there.”
Magic Star paused for a second. “All right. You can open the rainbow.”
“Nice negotiating Wind Whistler,” Gingerbread said.
She leapt onto the enter button. The coordinates disappeared and appeared again in big, red numbers. A yellow hologram of a wire frame globe also appeared. Solid areas representing land appeared on the globe, but not like the continents of Earth. In the middle of one of the continents in the northern hemisphere, a red dot appeared to indicate the location of their destination.
Wind Whistler fluttered down the ground. She happened to catch an orange earthling out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Applejack sitting up against the wall. “I did not know you were in here,” she said to Applejack.
Applejack turned to her and shrugged. “I just felt like being here.”
“Here we go!” Gingerbread announced.
She jumped on the activation button. The metal rings lining a short tunnel in the wall opposite the control panel glowed blue. A vortex of light and color formed in the tunnel and expanded to fill it. The light from the vortex flooded the room with harsh light, casting vivid shadows behind everything.
Wind Whistler turned back to the monitors above the control panels. Gingerbread stepped on a button to bring up a series of readings on the far left monitor. “A nitrogen and oxygen dominate atmosphere and temperature of twenty-three degrees centigrade,” Wind Whistler read out loud. “Sounds like a nice day over there.”
“Let’s see for ourselves,” Gusty said eagerly.
“I’ve got some instructions before you go,” Magic Star said.
Gusty sighed and rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”
Magic Star picked up a band with a watch on it. Wind Whistler lifted her hoof so she could pull it around her front leg. “I’m guessing bridging dimensions will take more time to cool down the system and rebuild power, so I’ll give you an hour over there. See what there is to see, but minimize your contact with whatever is there.”
“We will,” Wind Whistler replied.
“I’ll come along too.” Applejack trotted up to them. She licked her chops. “Maybe there are new things to eat over there.”
“Thinking with your stomach as always,” Gusty said.
Applejack scowled at her.
“You are welcome to come along,” Wind Whistler said.
She flew towards the vortex. The light and color surrounded her and she felt something pull her forward. She tucked in her wings and let the vortex carry her forward.
Usually, their time in the vortex was a few seconds. However, bridging dimensions must have taken longer as the vortex seemed to stretch on. She looked back to see Gusty and Applejack floating just behind her. Around them, the tube of light and color flew past them.
The effect started to hurt Wind Whistler’s eyes and made her a bit nauseous. Hopefully they would arrive at the other end soon.
Finally, the forward pull subsided and Wind Whistler felt gravity taking hold again. She landed on the bottom of the vortex edge. It supported her like it was solid instead of energy.
She walked to the edge and stopped to look at where they had arrived. The vortex opened up to a well established dirt road passing through an apple orchard that covered the hills as far as she could see. A split rail fence ran along the side of the road, suggesting there was civilization for some kind here.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Wind Whistler heard Applejack say from behind her.
The three jumped out of the vortex and it collapsed into nothingness. Wind Whistler set the watch on her hoof to count down from 60 minutes.
“It’s like Dream Valley with all these apple trees everywhere,” Gusty said.
Wind Whistler opened up all of her senses to take in as much as she could. The songs of various kinds of birds filled the air. The smell of dirt and sweet, ripe apples entered her nostrils. She even took note that the road they stood on was soft under her hooves.
She turned her attention to the sky. It was a beautiful. Along with being pleasantly warm, it was sunny with white, fluffy clouds drifting through the blue sky.
She realized the clouds were not drifting at all. She watched them for a few seconds. They were absolutely stationary. Wind Whistler furrowed her brow at this. She had never seen fair weather clouds be stationary.
One of them suddenly moved. It quickly slid across the sky. Wind Whistler wondered what could make it do that when she saw something that made her gasp. It was a pegasus just like her.
“There are ponies here!” she gasped.
“What?” Gusty asked.
“Look.” Wind Whistler pointed up at the mint green pegasus.
Gusty looked up and her jaw dropped. “You’re right. But, how?”
“Apparently ponies like us developed in this dimension too,” Wind Whistler said. She then remembered the dimensional address of their old home dimension and this one. “Come to think of it, this dimension and our home dimension have very similar addresses. Perhaps it represents a high degree of congruency between them.”
“Whatever that means,” Gusty said. “Why don’t we stop talking about it and do some sightseeing.”
Wind Whistler flew up above the apple orchards. She looked around the hilly area. A collection of buildings caught her attention immediately. She flew back to Gusty and Applejack. “There is a town that way.” She pointed in the direction of the community.
“Let’s check it out then,” Gusty said. “Magic Star won’t believe us when we tell her this.”
“Since they are ponies like us,” Wind Whistler mused aloud, “I think we can make contact so long as we do not reveal we are not from this dimension. We are here for only an hour, they would just think we are passing through.”
“I’ll stay here,” Applejack said, licking her chops.
“Suit yourself,” Gusty said.
“Remember, we have to be here in one hour and don’t let anyone know you are from another dimension,” Wind Whistler said. “Also stay out of trouble in general.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Applejack said hastily. “You guys do your thing, I’ll do mine.”
Wind Whistler turned to Gusty. “I figure the town is about five minutes away at a moderate gallop, so we will return with ten minutes to go.”
“Then let’s get moving.” Gusty turned to Applejack. “Try not to eat too many apples, Applejack. You’ll need to fit in the vortex on the way back.
Applejack bent her mouth into an exaggerated frown. “I’ll try to keep that in mind, Gusty,” she said grumpily.
Gusty turned and galloped down the dirt road. Wind Whistler took to the air and followed her.
* * *
Applejack watched Gusty and Wind Whistler disappear around a bend. She then turned her attention to the trees full of big, juicy apples of verying shades of green and red. Her mouth watered at the sight of them. There were baskets sitting at the base of several trees meaning they were to be harvested. They had to be edible.
“You all look so delicious,” Applejack said greedily to the apples. “I could eat you up. In fact, I think I will.”
She looked the orchard. “Now, I just need a ladder so I can reach you.” She did not see a ladder anywhere.
Applejack bent her mouth into a confused frown. How did they intend to get the apples in the baskets without climbing to into the trees to pick them? Moreover, how was she supposed to get up there?
She noticed a little, yellow earthling filly with a large, pink bow in her red mane skipping along the road. She could ask her. Hopefully they spoke the same language. “Hey, kid, you wouldn’t know where I could get a ladder, would you?”
The filly stopped and looked at her quizzically, cocking her head to one side. “What do you need a ladder for, Applejack?” she asked with a slight accent.
Applejack coiled back in shock. At least she spoke the same language, but how did this Filly know her name? Her haunch mark might lend the apple part, but for her to get her full name just like that was a big surprise.
“I want to get some apples, so I need a ladder to climb into them,” Applejack replied, trying to downplay her surprise.
The filly chuckled. “Why don’t you just buck ‘em down like always?”
Applejack raised her eyebrows. The Filly acted like she knew her and that she knew what she was talking about. Why was that?
“What do you mean by buck?” Applejack asked.
The filly frowned at her. “Are you pulling my leg, Applejack? You’ve shown me a thousand times. You buck those trees for all they’re worth to shake the apples out.”
Applejack frowned herself and eyed the filly warily. “Why would I ever do that? The fall would bruise the apples.”
The filly’s eyes widened. “What? What’s gotten into to you, Applejack?” She looked Applejack over. “Come to think of it, where’s your hat, and what happened to your hair. You’re also talking funny.”
Applejack thought for second of her curly, blond hair. It was how her mane and tail had been since she was a filly. “My hair has always been, and I’ve never worn a hat. I’m also not talking funny.”
The filly scowled at her. “Granny Smith’s gonna have to call you the doctor. You’ve obviously been out in the sun too long.” She grabbed Applejacks leg and tried to pull her away.
Applejack pulled her hoof out the filly’s grasp. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”
The filly scowled at her again. She yelled, “BIG MACINTOSH,” at a volume Applejack did not expect to hear from such a little pony.
A thud resounded from behind her and made the ground shake. She looked behind her timidly, almost afraid of what was behind her. The biggest stallion she ever saw loomed over her. The huge earthling had a red coat and ratty, blond hair. However, it was his size that caught Applejack’s attention. She gulped as she wondered what he would and could do.
“What is it, Applebloom?” the stallion, apparently Big Macintosh, asked.
“Applejack’s real sick,” the filly, apparently named Applebloom, said. “She thinks she’s a completely different pony. We need to get her back to the house and call the doctor.”
“All right.” Big Macintosh put his nose under Applejack. Before she could do anything, he flipped her on his back.
“Don’t worry, sis,” Big Macintosh said. “The doc’ll fix you up.”
“Sis?” Applejack asked. “You mean sister? I’m not your sister?”
“See what I mean?” Applebloom asked.
“I’m telling you, I’m not your sister,” Applejack insisted.
Applebloom and Big Macintosh walked down the road in the opposite direction Gusty and Wind Whistler had gone. Applejack was tempted to slide off Big Macintosh’s back and make a run for it. However, he would probably catch her. Her best bet was to let them take her to their house and she could work this out with them.
* * *
Wind Whistler looked around the town as she and Gusty strolled through the streets of the town. Ponies went about their business. They bought food and goods from stands and entered and exited the thatch-roofed buildings. There were more ponies milling about than she had ever seen in her life, and this was probably just a small, rural town.
The town was well cared for. There was no litter in the streets and the landscaping was trimmed and vibrant. The town even smelled almost as clean as the surrounding countryside. The ponies also seemed well groomed and healthy for the most part.
“Reminds me of the pictures from before the Fall,” Gusty said.
Wind Whistler nodded. “I imagine this is what it was like during the time of the Pony Kingdom.”
“Hey, Wind Whistler,” Gusty said. “Why don’t we move everyone here? Let’s forget trying to rebuild. We have a civilization of ponies like us right here with all the comforts and conveniences we need. I’m sure they would not notice an extra eighty ponies.”
Wind Whistler shook her head. “That would be impossible.” She pointed to small, gray colt near a stand. “Do you see that colt?”
“Yeah. What about him?” Gusty asked.
“Notice his flank has no haunch mark,” Wind Whistler said, keeping her voice hushed. “Our foals are born as young versions of their parents, including their marks. They then grow their adult coats and mark when they reach maturity. Although these ponies look very much like us, we are not entirely the same.”
“I doubt they would notice,” Gusty replied dismissively.
“Would they not notice that we live for more than two centuries if they do not?” Wind Whistler said. “The pegasi of this dimension also seem to have some magical relationship with the clouds. The pegasus earlier moved one like it was a solid object. They would know.”
She looked at the buildings. She had no idea what was inside them, but their construction suggested a relatively low level of technology. “That’s just biology. What about culture, history, and technical knowledge? We have had contact with other dimensions and have research and relics of dead civilizations they never knew of.”
She turned to Gusty. “Even if those all were not the case, it is impolite to invite ourselves into their civilization.”
“I get your point,” Gusty grumbled.
Wind Whistler returned her attention to the town. Thankfully, she had been correct about the population’s attitude towards them. They passed by them, barely taking any notice. They were just two more ponies.
“I don’t suppose we can talk to them, can we?” Gusty asked.
Wind Whistler thought for a second. The only real concern she had for speaking with the ponies here was language. However, from what she had heard in the conversations around town, the language was almost exactly like theirs. Their written language was even the same Pictoscript they had used before adopting the English alphabet. “I do not see a problem,” Wind Whistler said. “Just avoid telling them where we are from.”
A pink earthling mare with very fizzy hair walked close to them. She stopped and looked at them. They stopped and looked at her.
“Hello,” Gusty said.
The mare gasped and jumped clear off her hooves before dashing away.
Wind Whistler stared at the fleeing pony as she disappeared behind a building. “That was odd.”
“Maybe talking to them isn’t such a good idea,” Gusty said.
“Perhaps we could do a little research.” Wind Whistler looked at the watch on her leg. They had about 45 minutes before the rainbow would be reactivated. “We can read up on their world for a half hour in a local library.”
“We’re in luck. There’s one right there.” Gusty pointed to a large tree in the middle of the square. However, windows and a door were carved into the trunk to make it a building. A wooden sign next to the door had a picture of a book and the words “Books and Branches Library” written in Pictoscript under it.
Wind Whistler walked up to the French door and pushed it open. They walked in and looked around. The interior of the trunk had been carved out to make a cozy place. Books sat on shelves carved right out of the trunk wood and a stairway led to an open second floor. The semi-circular windows let copious amounts of sunlight into the room.
A purple unicorn mare walked along one of the shelves. Her horn glowed as well as several books hovering around her. The books levitated into empty spaces on the shelves. She looked to them and stopped. “Hello, welcome to the Books and Branches Library. Can I help you?” she asked politely.
“We are just passing thought we would spend our time doing some reading,” Wind Whistler replied just as politely. “Where are your books on history?”
“They’re over there.” The unicorn pointed a shelf on the other side of the room. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way.”
“Wind Whistler.”
“Gusty.”
“If you need any help, just ask,” Twilight Sparkle said and returned to placing books on the shelves.
“At least she didn’t gasp and dart off like the last one,” Gusty said.
Wind Whistler sat down in front of the shelf and scanned the books on it. She saw one titled “Modern History of Equestria.” Apparently Equestria was the name for this country. It sounded like as good a book as any to look in.
She picked the book up in her mouth laid it down on a nearby table and opened it to the first page. “Let us see what it is like here.”
She skimmed through the table of contents. An entry about the “Royal Pony Sisters” caught her eye. She turned to the page and read through the entry. “Equestria is ruled by two apparently immortal winged unicorn mares. Princess Celestia raises the sun in the morning to bring on the day and Princess Luna raises the moon in the evening to bring on the night.”
“That can’t be right,” Gusty said.
Wind Whistler put her hoof to Gusty’s mouth and shushed. She motioned to Twilight Sparkle. “Quietly.”
“Oh, right,” Gusty whispered. “But, that can’t be right. It’s the planet’s rotation that causes days and nights.”
“In our old home dimension and Megan’s dimension perhaps,” Wind Whistler replied. “However, we do not know how things work here.”
She turned back to the table of contents. She saw an entry on a place called Cloudsdale. She thought of the pegasus moving that cloud like they were placing it. She turned to the entry and skimmed over it. She found the passage she was expecting. “Ponies make the clouds and rainbows.”
She found a passage on something called the Winter Wrap-Up where the ponies literally wrapped-up winter in preparation for spring. “Many of the natural processes here are done manually by ponies.”
“Why would that be?” Gusty asked.
“Perhaps there was some titanic calamity long ago they disrupted the natural order of this world and the ponies now have to maintain nature,” Wind Whistler said. “I wish I could do a full study of the ecology of this world.”
She looked up when she heard the front door creak open. A stack of scrolls on stubby, purple legs walked in. The stack turned to show a purple, juvenile dragon with green spines down his back was carrying them.
“Spike?” Wind Whistler and Gusty asked at the same time.
The dragon looked to them. “Do I know you?”
Wind Whistler bit her lip to stifle a gasp. She had to remember it was not the Spike she knew. “I am sorry. You remind me of a young dragon we know who is also named Spike.”
“Oh,” Spike said. He shrugged. “It is a pretty common name for dragons.”
“Small world isn’t it,” Twilight Sparkle said.
Wind Whistler looked to Gusty. Gusty looked back to her and seemed to be fighting an awkward grin as much as she was.
Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed and the scrolls hovered out of Spike’s claws. “I we’re stocked up on scrolls.”
“You can send your reports to Princess Celestia to your heart’s content,” Spike said.
Gusty turned to Wind Whistler and put her mouth to her ear to whisper, “Isn’t Princess Celestia one of the rulers here?”
“Yes,” Wind Whistler replied carefully. “This mare must be one of her protégés. How I wish I could ask her about it?”
“She might get suspicious,” Gusty said. “Besides, we only came here to check it out for an hour.”
Wind Whistler looked at her watch. The numbers counted down past 30:00. She sighed. There was so much to discover but so little time and too many ways to arouse suspicion.
She looked up at Spike and Twilight Sparkle. “It is fortunate we did not bring Spike along.”
“At least we could get away with saying he’s just another dragon,” Gusty said. “Could you imagine if we had doubles in this dimension and ran into them?”
* * *
Big Macintosh carried Applejack to what was apparently a homestead. An orange farm house sat next to a big, red barn surrounded by more apple trees. He carried her towards the farm house.
“Finally, I can explain to you I’m not your sister,” Applejack grumbled.
“Granny Smith, call the doctor for Applejack!” Applebloom yelled at the farm house.
“What?” a tired voice replied from inside. An elderly earthling mare walked stiffly out of the front door. She was pale green in color and her white mane and tail were both done up in buns. “Why does Applejack need a doctor?”
“I think she’s been apple bucking with her head,” Applebloom answered. “She’s acting like she’s a completely different pony.”
“What are you talking about, Applebloom?” a voice asked.
Applejack looked up and gasped. She wondered if her eyes were working properly. Standing at the gate was almost a mirror image of her. The same orange coat, the same blond hair and even the same three red apples on her haunch. She wore her hair differently as it was straight and tied off at the end of her mane and tail. She also wore a Stetson hat.
“Applejack?” Applebloom asked the mare. “But how?”
She looked back to Applejack on Big Macintosh’s back. Applejack stared at her double in shock. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”