TSC Ch 4 Pt. 1 - On a Cross and Arrow

The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments
Chapter 4: On A Cross And Arrow
By Wanderer D
Edits: Magical Trevor, Understated Hyperbole, Fifth Alicorn
Pre-readers: Conner Cogwork (Consultant), Cardslafter, Dragryphon

Based on the story: On a Cross and Arrow by Conner Cogwork

o.o.0.o.o

"Sweepy? I heard you shout! Is everything okay?" Elusive called.

Sweetie and Sweepy looked at each other, eyes wide in confusion.

"I-" Sweetie stammered.

"We're-" Sweepy sputtered. "I- What are you doing?"

"Me?!" Sweetie replied. "I just arrived! I'm not doing anything!"

There was another knock. Sweepy looked up and down Sweetie with wide eyes. "Quick! Hide!"

"Where?" Sweetie asked, starting to panic. "There's nowhere to hide!"

"In the water! Quick!"

"No! I can't hold my breath that long and-"

"Okay, I'm coming in!" the voice announced and the door knob started to turn.

Sweepy panicked and grabbed Sweetie, pushing her into the water and closing the curtain.

The door opened and Elusive walked in, eyebrow arched. "I thought I heard something, Sweepy," he said, stopping and looking around the bathroom.

Sweepy smiled, poking his head through the curtains and grinning like an idiot while struggling to keep Sweetie behind the curtain. "Uh, you did? W-well, yeah... I- I dropped the soap!"

Elusive stared at him incredulously. "You... dropped the soap and screamed like a little filly?"

"Y-yeah! Uh, Scooteroll once told me what happens to pretty-faced stallions in prison when they drop the soap and-"

Elusive started coughing as he shook his head in disbelief. "He what?! How did he hear- no, wait..." he took a deep breath and glared at his younger brother. "Sweepy..."

The colt smiled innocently. "Yes, Elusive?"

"Why are you keeping the shower curtain so tight around you?"

"Um... because I'm naked and I want to keep a sense of decency?"

Elusive gave him a look. "Sweepy, we're ponies. We're naked most of the time. And that doesn't explain why the curtain is moving so much."

Sweepy looked to the side, where the curtain was being pushed outwards by Sweetie's hooves as she tried desperately to get out of the water and the shower. "Uh... because... because of... the... uh, vapors?" he suggested lamely.

With a sigh, Elusive conjured up his magic and the curtain was pushed aside. "Are the other Crusaders in there with you? Now, I've told you before that you three can..." he stared. "Oh, my... Sweepy, is that a filly in the shower with you?"

Sweetie gasped for air and glared at Sweepy, using one of her hooves to push away the wet mane from her eyes. "The hay were you thinking?!"

"I don't know!" Sweepy exclaimed, looking back at her. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Something other than throwing me into the water like that!" Sweetie snapped. "Aw... now my mane is completely soaked!"

"Well, you just appeared in here! What was I supposed to think?! Besides, I don't even know you!" Sweepy retorted, shaking his head.

Elusive tried to hide a smile. "Well, she does look familiar. I wonder..." He took a couple of steps towards them, his magic flaring again to turn off the shower and levitate a pair of towels, which he wrapped around both youngsters.

Sweepy and Sweetie glared at each other from beneath the towels.

"Yeah... I think I do recognize you from somewhere..." Sweepy finally said. "Have you been to Ponyville before?"

"I live here!" Sweetie huffed.

"Well, I've never seen you before!"

"Well, I haven't seen you either!"

"Now, now, Sweetie, Sweepy," Elusive instructed calmly. "Just dry yourselves and we can talk a bit before bed time, okay?"

"Okay, Elusive..." Sweepy sighed as he started drying himself.

Sweetie, for her part, was staring at Elusive, towel forgotten. "Wait... how did you know my name?"

Elusive's smile grew as his eyes twinkled in excitement. "Oh, I just knew it! This is the BEST POSSIBLE THING!"

She stared at the grinning stallion in front of her, staring as those familiar words echoed in her brain. Nopony else used those words except her sister. And this stallion... white, purple mane, blue eyes... was he actually...

"R... R-Rarity?"

Her eyes rolled back in her skull as everything faded to black.

o.0.o

Sweetie slowly became aware of two voices talking to each other right next to her. She groggily tried to shake her head, but the darkness seemed to cling to her. Eventually, as she became more aware of what was happening, she was able to slowly make out details.

"- but, she can't be me!  She's all... soft-looking..." one voice, sounding slightly perturbed, said.

"Well, she's not you exactly. She's Rarity's sister, from the dimension where everypony's the opposite gender," another voice said. "Rarity told me about her; you two are really similar!"

"But... she's... a filly..."

Sweetie's eyes fluttered open and she squinted into the light. "Oww... my head..."

"Careful, dear, take it easy," Elusive said soothingly. "You passed out... maybe it was the dimensional jump?"

"That's silly," Sweetie replied. "I've never passed out while jumping dimensions before; furthermore, since I usually end up in another body, my theory is that there is really no exertion, magical or otherwise, on my part for each jump." She rubbed her head as she slowly started taking in her surroundings. "I guess, statistically speaking, I haven't jumped enough times to have a serious point of reference but..." she trailed off when she noticed that Sweepy and Elusive were staring blankly at her. "What?"

"Are you sure that she's me in another universe?" Sweepy asked Elusive, who was staring at Sweetie, slack-jawed. "She sounds like an egg-head."

"Hey!" Sweetie glared at Sweepy. "You don't have to say it like that!"

Elusive closed his mouth with an audible snap and cleared his throat before speaking. "Um, hi, Sweetie Belle. I'm Elusive and this is Sweepy; you might feel a bit confused at the moment, but that is normal. You see, how can I put this?" He sighed. "This is not your home universe; over here, we are the opposite gender than in your own world."

Sweetie Belle giggled nervously. "I-it's okay... I overheard you two just a bit when I was waking up."

Elusive blinked. "Ah, I guess Rarity must have told you about us then... that's good!" He smiled, but then blinked and yawned, covering his mouth with his hoof. "I'm so sorry, I'm afraid I'm rather tired. But first, have you eaten anything, Sweetie? Are you hungry?"

"I'm okay, I ate just before leaving..." Sweetie frowned. "Although I'm not quite sure how that works if I'm in another body in a different dimension."

"I see," Elusive nodded, eyes drooping. "Well, you can take Sweepy's bed, he can sleep on the sofa-"

"Hey!" Sweepy interrupted. "Why do I have to give her my bed?"

Elusive could barely keep himself awake, but he still managed to frown at his brother. "Because you're a gentlecolt, that's why." He yawned again. "We'll all go see Dusk tomorrow then maybe we can show Sweetie around before sending her home..."

Upon hearing that, Sweetie's heart beat harder. Can they really send me home? Do I want to go home? But... what about Twilight?

With one long, final yawn, Elusive tiredly made his way up the stairs into his room. It wasn't long before they heard him shut the door.

Sweepy sighed. "Well, follow me..."

The pair started up the stairs in silence. Sweepy glanced behind him and noticed the far-away look on Sweetie. The more I look at her the more she looks like me! It's weird! She's... what I would look like as a filly! he realized, eyebrow twitching.

When they reached his room and went in, he motioned towards the bed. "There it is, enjoy..." he stated simply, his words in a resigned tone. He turned around to leave, but was stopped by Sweetie's voice.

"Hey, Sweepy?"

"Yeah?" he asked, blinking tiredly as he turned to face her.

"I'm sorry I took your bed..." Sweetie said, jumping onto the bed. "Do you want to just sleep here? I think it's big enough," she offered.

The colt continued to stare a bit more, before he tentatively smiled. "Are... are you sure that'd be okay? I have to admit, I really hate sleeping on the sofa."

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah, I remember... and don't worry, I know I would hate it if somepony suddenly took over my bed!"

Sweepy grinned and jumped up on the bed, lying down. "Yeah, there's enough space!" he yawned and watched lazily as Sweetie's horn flashed with magic and the lights turned off while the door closed. "Sweetie?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry I called you an egghead," he muttered, already drifting into sleep.

"It's okay," Sweetie answered, snuggling into the pillow. "I actually took it as a compliment."

There was a moment of silence. "Sweepy?"

"Yeah?"

"What are the other crusaders like? Is Scootaloo cute?"

"Cute?" Sweepy blinked. "Are you talking about Scooteroll? I don't know about cute, he doesn't seem to get along with fillies..."

"That doesn't tell me much..."

"Well, what did you expect? I don't think he's cute, but you'll probably meet him tomorrow, and then you can tell me, okay?"

Sweetie nodded, yawning. "Okay... goodnight Sweepy."

"Goodnight, Sweetie."

Soon both of them were asleep.
o.0.o

*knock-knock*

Rarity stared at the porcelain cup containing the already cold tea. A freezing breeze entered through the open window, leaving her shivering, but she chose to stay put, her eyes lost in thought.

Opalescence, looking more grayish than white, purred and rubbed herself against Rarity's side to no avail. Eventually, the cat stopped and looked sadly at its master. With a soft meow, she walked away, leaving Rarity on her own.

The wind blew again, the curtains flapped around as Rarity shivered once more.

"Rarity?" a soft voice called as the creaking sound of the door opening echoed through the silent house. "Are you here? Today's Spa Tuesday and..." Fluttershy stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. "Rarity... you're freezing!" she quickly galloped to the window and shut it tight. She went out of the room to come back with a thick blanket, which she draped over Rarity's shoulders.

Rarity's teeth slowed in their chattering, but it continued and her shivering didn't lessen at all. Worried, Fluttershy heated some water and made more tea, which she placed in front of Rarity. "Drink this, it will help."

Rarity, however just stared at the cup, until Fluttershy lifted her chin so that she could stare into her eyes. "Rarity! You will drink this tea now!"

Taken aback, the unicorn nodded and slowly sipped at the tea.

Fluttershy nodded as slowly a bit of rosiness returned to Rarity's cheeks. "What happened? How long have you had that window open?"

"Uh?" Rarity shook her head, looking tiredly at Fluttershy. "Oh... I... I don't know dear, since this morning? After we left Applejack's house and Applebloom was bringing the drawings out of their clubhouse..."

"Rarity..." Fluttershy whispered in horror. "That... that was yesterday morning! Have you just been sitting here since then?"

Rarity slowly dropped down, taking a shaking sip of her tea.

"Has the window been open since then?"

Rarity nodded.

"Rarity... it snowed last night." Fluttershy went to stand next to her friend. "Come on, we need to get you in a warm bath... I'd better get Twi-" she stopped suddenly. "I- I mean... Nurse Redheart."

Rarity however, didn't seem to notice, she was barely able to stand.

"Wait... wait here..." Fluttershy said, guiding Rarity to the couch and helping her settle in it. "I'll go get help... I'll cook you a meal and... just... I'll be right back..." she galloped out as fast as she could.

Rarity didn't say anything at first. She just shivered under the heavy blanket.

"Sweetie..." she whispered.

Sweepy drowsily opened his eyes, wondering what had woken him up. He looked to the side when he heard a whimper.

Sweetie turned, her face contorted in a frown as she whimpered again and curled up.

Sweepy slowly placed his hoof on her shoulder and sighed in relief when she relaxed and smiled, going back to peaceful sleep.

Too tired to do much else, he yawned and lied down, closing his eyes.

o.0.o

Early the next morning, Elusive cheerfully knocked on Sweepy's door. "Sweepy! Wake up!"

He heard a groan from inside. "Five more minutes!"

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head in amusement, Elusive chuckled. "Fine, but be sure to make it only five; your friends will be here shortly!" He then turned around and took a couple of steps down the hall before stopping completely, a realization coming to mind as a frown crossed his face. Wait... that didn't sound like Sweepy...

He walked back up to the room and inside. He blinked as the memory of last night returned to him and the pieces fit together. "Oh, that's right... Sweetie is here." It didn't take long for him to notice a second ivory foal,  passed out right next to her.  Chuckling to himself,  he left the room as he spoke. "Five minutes, you two! Remember that!"

The groans and mutters were answer enough for him as he went down to prepare breakfast.

It was barely a few minutes later when the stallion heard confused shouts coming from the room. They must have forgotten that they were sleeping together. he thought to himself, stifling a laugh.

Elusive levitated the last of the waffles and placed them upon a plate, levitating the whole pile towards the table while counting in his head. Right on cue, Sweetie and Sweepy ran down the stairs together, each of them sporting a similar expression of hunger. It was just... strange at times to think how similar and yet different things were between different worlds.

"Wow, waffles!" Sweepy salivated. "I love these! We should have them more often!"

"Waffles?" Sweetie asked, looking down at her plate. "I've never had waffles before."

"What?" Sweepy's eyes went wide. "You've never had waffles?! What do you have for breakfast then?"

"Pancakes?" Sweetie replied hesitantly as she levitated a fork and knife. "Spike even taught me Princess Celestia's favorite pancake recipe!"

Elusive chuckled. "Well, Spines is rumored to know Prince Solaris' favorite waffle recipe."

"But... never eaten a waffle?" Sweepy insisted. "That's just... wrong..."

Sweetie poured some syrup and took a bite of the waffle. She chewed on it for a few seconds, before her eyes lit in approval. "Hm, not bad..."

"I see that you are very proficient with your magic, dear," Elusive commented after a moment of watching. "Did Rarity teach you?"

Sweetie blinked, noticing for the first time that Sweepy was eating without the use of magic, while both her horn and Elusive's were shining as they used theirs to eat. "Oh... well, not exactly. Rarity asked Twilight to teach me, and that's how I learned!"

Elusive gave Sweepy a considering glance. "Hm... that doesn't sound like a bad idea; Dusk could probably spare some time to at least teach Sweepy some basic magic."

Sweepy gave them a horrified look. "More studying? Yuck! I'd much rather find my cutie mark!"

Sweetie looked down to her own blank flank. "Yeah, I hear you there."

Elusive smiled. "Well, I'm sure you two can try to find it later. First I think we should talk to Dusk about when you can go home, Sweetie."

I can go home! Sweetie thought excitedly, a wide smile crossing her face. I can finally see sis and my Scootaloo and Apple Bloom... I'll be able to study with Twilight and... she stopped her thoughts as her smile disappeared. But... Twilight and Spike will still be gone... or at least I think so... what am I going to do? Don't I need to rescue them before going home?

Elusive noticed her frown. "Are you okay, Sweetie?"

"Uh, yeah... I- I'm okay," she stammered. "I was just thinking... do you think this 'Dusk' pony will be able to help me?"

Elusive raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Rarity tell you? Dusk is Twilight's counterpart."

"Oh..." Sweetie smiled sheepishly. "My... Rarity never said anything about counterparts..."

A pained expression briefly flitted across Elusive's face. "Oh..."

Sweetie blinked. "Was... was she supposed to? She went away recently, so..."

"N-no, it's okay," Elusive said, pushing away a strand of his mane. "I, I understand if- if she didn't feel like telling you... we didn't want to part ways so quickly and I-"

"Ooh Ooh! I just remembered something!" Sweepy exclaimed suddenly, jumping to his hooves. "I have to get ready, I'll be right back!"

Sweetie looked angrily at Sweepy as her counterpart disappeared upstairs. "He wasn't even paying attention!"

Elusive blinked and stood up as well, smiling a little. "He's sometimes like that... I have to get ready as well, I'll be back soon."

Sweetie sighed as she was left alone. Her horn shimmered as the dirty plates levitated one-by-one into the sink. She looked around the room. The decorations between her Carousel Boutique and this one were very similar. The color scheme, the positioning of things all similar... and yet... it had a masculine touch to it, although she couldn't put her hoof on exactly how. Were the curtains a bit darker? Was the furniture just a bit less rounded, and with slightly sharper edges? What was it?

Maybe the glasses? The plates... the table seemed a bit sturdier than the one she had back home. Could that be it?

The doorbell rang. Her musing interrupted, she leapt from the table and trotted into the main room, running on autopilot as she opened the door. "Yes? Who is it-"

"Heya Sweepy!" came a pair of voices from the two colts seated in front of her.

She froze in place, eyes taking in the ponies standing right before her. A yellow earth pony, and an orange pegasus. Not usually an unfamiliar sight, if it weren't for the fact that there was something else clashing against her mind's eye... the fact that the yellow one was wearing a faded baseball cap and not a bow, and the obvious cue that these two were not simply Applebloom and Scootaloo... they were Applebloom and Scootaloo as colts.

"Hey, Sweepy!" Scooteroll said with a bright smile. "Ready to go crusading?"

"Oh, um, hey, Scoot... eroll." Sweetie said hesitantly.

Applebuck frowned as he looked at her. "Heeeey... Sweepy, did Elusive do something to your hair again? You look a bit different."

Sweetie blinked, caught off-guard. "I do?"

Scooteroll looked at her closely. "Hey, yeah! You look... no offense Sweepy, but you look even more like a filly than usual."

Sweetie straightened up a bit. "Is that a problem?"

"Hey," Scooteroll backed up a bit. "I said 'no offense' right? Calm down, it's not like I'm actually calling you a filly or anything!"

"But... what's wrong with being a filly?" Sweetie asked, irritated. I can tell that they're colts... can't they tell I really AM a filly?

"Well... nothing," Applebuck admitted after a second. "Ah mean, my big sis is real strong and all and Ah guess she's cool... but, you know, fillies are... icky."

A delicate eyebrow went up. "Icky?" Sweetie repeated.

"What's gotten into you, Sweepy?" Scooteroll rolled his eyes in annoyance. "This isn't the time to talk about fillies. We should be getting our cutie marks!"

Sweetie glared at him with such intensity that he took a step back. "Talking about fillies is not a bad thing!" She slammed the door shut and stomped into the kitchen, brushing past a confused Sweepy.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

She sniffed dismissively, "Colts," and went upstairs, presumably to get ready herself.

Sweepy blinked in confusion when he heard the doorbell. He trotted up to the door and opened it.

"Hey guys!"

Scooteroll and Applebuck both glared at him.

"What'd you do that for?!" Scooteroll asked, pushing Sweepy a bit with his hoof.

Sweepy brushed it away with a frown. "Do what?"

"Act like a prissy, little filly!" Scooteroll retorted, getting his face really close to Sweepy's, who glared back just as intensely.

"I'm not acting like a filly!" Sweepy shot back.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Slowly, Applebuck's frown started to fade as a look of dawning comprehension seeped in, eyes widening in horror as he looked past Sweepy, seeing Elusive walking towards them in the company of... another Sweepy? No... his fears were confirmed as he glanced from one to the other and he remembered cousin 'Jay Jay'.

"You're whining like a filly! Stop it already!" Scooteroll snapped. He rolled his eyes and, raising his right hoof flaccidly, said, "Oh, fillies are the best, look at me! I am Sweepy and I look so much like a filly I act like one too!"

"Hey! I've never done anything like that!" Sweepy said angrily.

"Ah think maybe we should all calm down..." Applebuck ventured, trailing off as Scooteroll ignored him.

"Oh, I'm so delicate!" Scooteroll pranced from side to side in front of Sweepy, who was now fuming. "I like sweet things, the color pink, and to talk about jewelry! I am scared of spiders and am completely useless!"

When Applebuck saw Sweetie's expression, he took a couple of steps away from the prancing pegasus, making sure he was not in the way of whatever was going to happen.

"Listen, Sweepy," Scooteroll began, affecting his best Rainbow Blitz impression as he looked down at his unicorn friend. "You have to really stallion-up, you know? Stuff like what just happened? So not cool."

Sweepy looked up at Scooteroll, eyebrows raised in surprise. The blue-white aura around the young pegasus seemed familiar to him, although he couldn't place it. "Scooteroll... you're-"

"Fillies are not cool, okay? Just drop the whole being offended thing when we talk about them, and we can go on with our lives."

"Scooteroll! You're flying!" Sweepy finally shouted.

"I am?! I am!" Scooteroll tried flapping his wings. "Wait! Why am I not moving? Hey... I'm still flying without flapping? How does that work?"

Suddenly, he was pulled roughly into the Carousel Boutique and found himself upside down and staring into the angry eyes of Sweepy Belle. Wait a second... "You're not Sweepy!"

"No," Sweetie Belle growled. "I'm a filly! And I am going to show you exactly how useless I am!"

"Uh-oh..." Applebuck whispered, quickly stepping up. "Uh, miss... uh... Sweepy?"

"Sweetie," the filly corrected, without taking her eyes of the terrified Scooteroll.

"Uh, Miss Sweetie, Scooteroll was only being... um..."

"Himself?" Sweetie offered, stealing a glance at Apple Buck before returning her glare to Scooteroll. "Well, let's see how afraid he is of spiders..."

Her horn flashed and a nearby rock turned into a horribly furry black tarantula with red eyes and really big fangs that dripped venom as it looked hungrily at the hovering pegasus. It slowly moved towards Scooteroll, who started struggling violently to get away.

"H-hey! Wait! Let's talk about this! Come on!"

It was about then that the commotion at the door caught Elusive's attention. He stared in surprise at Sweetie as the filly held Scooteroll upside down against his will, and at the same time managing to cast two more spells. When he saw the real fear in Scooteroll's eyes, he knew he had to step in.

"Sweetie, that's quite enough," he said gently, putting his hoof between them.

Sweetie frowned. "No, he said only fillies would be scared of spiders. Let's see how he likes it when one bites him!"

"Sweetie Belle!" Elusive's voice was harsh. "I said that's enough, look at him! That's enough!"

Sweetie blinked, glare softening as she looked at the terrified pegasus. Immediately she dispelled the illusion that had transfigured the rock in a spider. She carefully deposited the pegasus on the floor, where he scrambled away from the rock.

Elusive shook his head at Sweetie, who simply looked away, cheeks burning in shame, and turned to Scooteroll. "Are you okay, Scooteroll?"

The young pegasus took a couple of deep breaths before standing up, still a bit shaky. "Y-yeah..."

There was an awkward silence for all ponies present. Applebuck and Sweepy exchanged nervous glances while the elder stallion turned from Scooteroll towards his 'sister'. "Sweetie... I realize that since you're new here, something like this was bound to happen. Nonetheless, without your sister here to do so, I feel it's my place to say... don't you have something to say to the poor pony here?"

Sweetie sighed. "I'm sorry, Scooteroll, I shouldn't have done that..."

Scooteroll looked a bit embarrassed. "It's- It's okay, I wasn't really afraid..." he cringed when Elusive raised an eyebrow. "But... I guess I shouldn't have said bad things about fillies either. I didn't even KNOW you were... gosh, you look just like Sweepy."

"That's cause she IS Sweepy, ain't she Mister 'Lusive?" the Applebuck piped up, looking up at the suitmaker. "This is just like that thing a while ago wit' Cousin JayJay, isn't it?"

Elusive smiled and nodded in confirmation.

Sweetie smiled. "Well... I'll forgive you, if you forgive me?"

Scooteroll nervously grinned back and bumped a shaking hoof with her. "Deal."

Sweepy snapped his mouth shut. "How did you do all that?! I thought we were basically the same! I can't even levitate a feather yet!"

Sweetie gave him a level look. "Study, study, study..."

The three colts recoiled as if a cow had licked their faces. "Ugh..." Sweepy shook his head. "Maybe I don't want to know..."

"Maybe I should talk to Dusk," Elusive said, a hint of a smile playing on his mouth. "I'm sure he'd be happy to take you on as an apprentice, and, if you can advance this much, well..."

Sweepy quickly shook his head. "Never mind!"

Elusive chuckled. "We still have to go, or at least Sweetie and I do. Would you three like to come as well?"

Applebuck looked at the others and then back to Elusive. "Do we have to study if we go?"

"No," Elusive assured as he took the lead. "Knowing Dusk, he'll be busy planning something for tonight. But we do have to talk about Sweetie now... if I remember correctly, the dimension-hopping spell took some work, so you three can take Sweetie with you while you go crusading."

"But Sweetie's a-" Scooteroll found his mouth covered by a hoof.

"A- a good choice to bring along! Yes!" Applebuck said with an exaggerated smile.

Sweetie giggled and rolled her eyes. "Colts."

o.0.o

"Why did you need 'Memoirs of a 12th Generation Seamstress' again, Dusk?" Spines asked.

Dusk rolled his eyes. "I've told you before, this has to be exactly like the original! When other ponies recognize me, I don't want them to say 'Oh, it's missing the hat!' or 'Hey, Dusk, they didn't have Nylon six hundred years ago!'"

Spines blinked. "What is Nylon?"

"I don't know!" Dusk snapped. "I just know they didn't have it six hundred years ago, okay?!"

Spines cringed. "Touchy!" She left the book next to Dusk and was about to walk into the kitchen when she heard a knock at the door. A glance told her that Dusk was not going to even attempt to open it so, with a sigh, she walked up to it and opened it. "I'm sorry, but this is not the best time to go in there and- and-" Little hearts appeared in her eyes. "Aaaaaannnd Elusive! How nice of you to stop by! Please, come in, come in!"

"Good morning, Spines!" Elusive greeted with a wink that seemed to melt the dragoness where she stood. "Where is Dusk this fine morning?"

"He's working on his project and-" she looked at the Crusaders and the filly. "And..." she frowned. "Does that filly look a lot like Sweepy? Or is it just me?" she gasped, looking at the suit maker in horror. "Elusive! You have a daughter?!"

The sound of a chair scraping on wooden floor followed by a scream of pain and a thud that echoed in the library as Dusk tried to jump out of the chair at the same time he pushed it back at the same time he levitated the newest book he was reading at the same time he inadvertently set three more down on top of his tail.

The group watched with morbid fascination as the studious unicorn collapsed in a heap of books, furniture and pony.

"Oh, my!" Elusive gasped, quickly using his magic to levitate the books and chair off his friend. "Are you okay, Dusk?"

The Crusaders had rushed to watch closely, and Sweetie couldn't help but also stand to the side and watch as Dusk slowly stood and shook his head.

Her breath caught in her throat. His purple mane shook ever so slightly as he turned those wonderfully violet eyes in her direction.

Sweetie smiled shyly. Intellectually, she knew that this stallion was essentially her mentor, Twilight Sparkle. At the same time... she could feel her little heart pounding away like it never had before. She could see how intelligent this stallion was. He has to be! He lives in a library! She felt herself blush ever so slightly as he raised an eyebrow at her and smiled. Such a nice smile... I could look at it forever... and he's talking to me! What should I say? What should I answer? Wait... what did he ask?

"I- I'm sorry, what was that?" Sweetie stammered.

"I asked what your name was," Dusk repeated himself calmly. "You do resemble Sweepy a lot and..." His  eyes widened. "Wait... are you from another dimension?"

"Wow..." Sweetie gushed. "Dusk... you're so smart! It usually takes me an hour or two of explaining!" She batted her eyes at him. "Please... say more..."

"Uh... right," Dusk said uncomfortably as Elusive and Spines watched in amusement. "Elusive, how is this possible?"

Elusive smiled. "Well, Dusk my friend, this is why we're here. Surely you, of all ponies, should have an idea as to why Sweetie Belle here would suddenly appear in my home."

Dusk sighed. "If I know Twilight, she probably tried studying something about interdimensional travel again and-"

"Wow..." Sweetie interrupted, almost hovering in place as her smile grew and her eyelids lowered invitingly. "Dusk... you know so much... just one glance and you knew everything about me... I'd like to study with you for a little while and learn more..."

Dusk took a nervous step back. "Um... aha... lu-look at the time! I... ah... I- I have to..." He turned to Elusive. "Um... help?"

Elusive couldn't help but laugh at his friend's obvious panic. "I'm sorry, Dusk, I shouldn't laugh but..." He covered his mouth for a moment. "This... this is just precious!"

Sweepy stared at Sweetie, completely horrified.

Applebuck chuckled and elbowed him. "Heh... Ah didn't know you like the stu- stoody... the smart types!"

"Studious?" Sweepy asked.

"What are you? A dictionary?" Scooteroll asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's your problem?" Sweepy glared at Scooteroll.

"No, what's your problem?" Scooteroll retorted, getting in Sweepy's face.

"Boys," Dusk started, "I don't think this is-"

"Don't mind them..." Sweetie said, smiling at him. "They're just colts... why don't we talk about something more interesting? Like... Time Diffusion theory? Or maybe Spell Matrices? I have some experience with those..."

Despite himself, Dusk looked interested. "Really? I haven't had much time to study the more complicated Matrices, just second tier and those are-"

"Dull and simple," Sweetie completed for him. "I know, I happen to have an item with me that has no less than forty-two nodes for the Matrix to work with... thirty of which were added later, without destroying the functional sequence..."

Dusk gasped. "That's- that's possible?! But everything I've read indicates that you can only double the amount of nodes at the most... any more would completely overwhelm the spell matrix!"

The three Crusaders had stopped fighting and, along with Spines and Elusive, had were openly gawking at Dusk and Sweetie.

"But you're not looking at it the right way; that's only if you try to simply add more functions rather than redirect the spell fluctuation from say N1 to N7, therefore bypassing-"  Sweetie explained.

"A-anyway..." Elusive interrupted. "We were hoping that you could help Sweetie return home? I know you're busy tonight, but I'm sure Rarity is worried and-"

Both Sweetie and Dusk glared at him in annoyance at having their discussion disrupted. But then Dusk sighed. "I am pretty busy with preparations for tonight..." He glanced at his research.

"Hey! Maybe I can help!" Sweetie grinned hopefully.

"Uh, no thank you." Dusk said, smiling sheepishly. "This is a personal project and I want it to be a surprise for everypony."

"Oh..." Sweetie looked a bit dejected.

"But don't worry, I know the spell pretty well by now and we can cast it tomorrow!" Dusk assured with a smile. "And tonight, if you're up for it, we can talk about magical theory."

Sweetie smiled. "I would like that."

"That reminds me..." Elusive looked at Sweetie as he walked around her, eyeing her critically. "Yes, yes... that will definitely... I haven't tried my hoof at one of those yet, but I think..."

"What is it?" Sweepy asked.

"I'm just thinking of what I can make for Sweetie to wear tonight, brother..." Elusive smiled.  "I-dee-aaa~!  I'll get to work on it right away, since she'll be spending the night. We wouldn't want her to miss any of the festivities!"

Scooteroll looked at Applebuck and leaned in close to whisper, "I think we should all get out of here before Sweetie and Dusk smother us with theory."

Applebuck nodded. "Well, we were going to go try the Manticore thing... and Sweetie also needs her Cutie Mark... and she's a Crusader... Plus she knows magic, maybe if she helps..."

A spark came to Scooteroll's eyes. "Exactly. Let's scram!"

"Well!" Applebuck interrupted Elusive as he was about to explain what exactly he was planning on making. "Ah think we should give Sweetie Belle a tour and maybe see if we can earn our... uh... d-daisy plantin' Cutie Marks."

"Daisy plan-" Sweepy found Scooteroll's hoof covering his muzzle.

"Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders Daisy Planters! Wooo!" Scooteroll waved his free hoof in the air.

"Right!" Applebuck nodded. "And Sweetie should come with us, because she also is a Crusader and she probably would like to earn hers as well, right?"

Elusive and Dusk chuckled. "Well then, Sweetie, why don't you go with Sweepy, Scooteroll and Applebuck? I'm sure you'll have a good time!"

Sweetie looked at Dusk, then at the books. "But... but the books-"

"Will still be here tomorrow," Elusive assured the student, herding the filly and the three colts out. "Don't worry, you'll have time to study with Dusk later on."

"I'll see you all later tonight!" Dusk called after them.

"See you later!" Sweetie yelled back as the door closed behind them.

They all stood outside the library for a moment, before Elusive smiled. "Okay, I have work to do. You four enjoy yourselves and don't get into trouble!"

"We won't..." Sweepy groaned. "Not if we're planting daisies."

Elusive chuckled and walked away, leaving the four alone.

"That was very well done, Sweepy!" Scooteroll said.

"Yeah, Ah almost believed you!" Applebuck added, playfully punching Sweepy on the shoulder.

Sweepy blinked. "Wait, what?"

Scooteroll facehoofed. "You... you didn't think we were really going to plant daisies, did you?"

Sweepy blinked again as he thought about it. Then his eyes lit up as a smile played on his lips. "Ooooh, I get it!"

Sweetie shook her head ashamedly. "Was I really like that?"

Applebuck gave her a straight, deadpan look that would have made Applejack proud. "Most likely? Yes."

o.0.o

"So, what are we really doing then?" Sweetie asked as she walked behind the three crusaders, stopping from time to time to stare at familiar ponies that were, well... male instead of female.

"Well, Ah figured that, since you can use magic, we can change our plans and do something more interestin'!"

"Like what, exactly?" Sweetie pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Manticore Catchers! Yay!" the three colts bellowed at the same time.

"Manticore Catchers?" Sweetie blinked.

The three colts stopped and looked at her.

"You don't think it's a good idea?" Sweepy asked.

"Well, she's been acting more like Dusk so-" Scooteroll started to say.

"That's awesome!" Sweetie gushed. "We wanted to do it last time, but Applejack caught us on the way to the forest and-"

"Wait..." Applebuck said. "Where 'xactly did cousin Jay Jay see you?"

"Right as we crossed the bridge," Sweetie began. "She heard us talking about-"

"Growing Daisies," Scooteroll interrupted.

"What?" Sweetie and Sweepy blinked.

"Y-yeah," Applebuck added. "We can gain our... uh, farmer... or florist? Cutie Marks that way..."

Sweepy frowned. "But why would we want-"

"Ah'm glad ta hear some common sense comin' out of your mouths!" A male voice broke in.

Sweetie looked up to stare at the speaker. And up. And up.

He looked... well, like Applejack, as she had suspected, only... bigger and stronger... and he had a yoke around his neck. Just like Big Macintosh, she realized. Except... not quite as big? He's really close though!

Applejack raised an eyebrow as the filly stared at him. "Now, Ah know Ah haven't met you before, but Ah don't think starin' like that's polite."

Sweetie started and lowered her head, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry! You just reminded me so much of Applejack and--"

"Applejack?" Applejack asked. His eyes narrowed slightly, taking in the small unicorn filly... and the unicorn colt seated right next to her. "Hey, now that Ah think about it... you actually look a lot like Sweepy here."

"That's cause she's Rarity's sister!" Applebuck explained happily. "She's somehow gone and ended up over here!"

Applejack's eyebrows shot up. "Well, Ah'll be. Did Twilight cast that spell again? Ah swear, she an' Dusk have no common sense sometimes."

"Um, well, no..." Sweetie chuckled slightly. "It wasn't Twilight's fault... but Dusk thinks he can send me home tomorrow. I'm staying with Elusive and Sweepy in the meantime."

Applejack sighed and glared at his brother. "Applebuck, you best keep an eye on her, and you too, Scooteroll and Sweepy. You know how we feel about those mares and how we ought to be doin' right by 'em." When the three colts nodded, he smiled. "Well, if Dusk knows and Elusive is putting you up for the night, Ah guess that's okay. So, Ah heard you four were goin' to be planting some daisies to earn your cutie marks?"

"Yes... that's the plan," Scooteroll said, smiling so honestly it was hard to believe him.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Well... that's a mite less... uh, drastic than your last few tries." He coughed. "An'... well... Ah hope you find your callin's... even if it is plantin' daisies."

"Where are you going, Applejack?" Scooteroll asked as the apple farmer started walking past them.

"Ah'm goin' to meet with the Mayor. He's havin' some trouble with supplies for tonight, or so Ah hear." He chuckled. "Ah'm sure there won't be any problems, but the ol' man needs to be told so. You four enjoy yourselves, y'hear?"

"Will do!" Sweepy saluted.

The group watched in silence as Applejack trotted away into the distance. As he departed, he could be heard muttering "If it ain't one thing, it's another. Next thing ah know, it'll be Applebuck's 'cousin' showin' up..."

"Wow, that was close," Applebuck sighed. "It's a good thing ya'll told us what happened in your world, Sweetie!"

"Oh, so that's what it was all about!" Sweepy said.

"Well, duh~" Scooteroll rolled his eyes. "At least now we can get our real Cutie Marks!"

"Instead of fake ones?" Sweetie quipped.

Scooteroll glared at her. "You know what I mean. Who would want a Cutie Mark that meant your destiny was planting daisies?"

All four shuddered.

"I see your point," Sweetie agreed.

Applebuck nodded. "That would be pathetic. Ah mean, of all the cool things you can have as a Cutie Mark, daisies is, well..."

"Sad? Deplorable? Heartbreaking? Inadequate? Lamentable? Pitiable? Worthless?" Sweepy offered.

"Wow, I do sound like a dictionary..." Sweetie mumbled.

"Ahem!"

The four looked up. A stallion with a magenta coat, green mane and two daisies on his Cutie Mark turned to glare at the group before sniffing dismissively and walking away, offended.

"Should we... apologize?" Sweetie asked.

"Nah, he must be used to the abuse by now," Scooteroll said. "Let's get going."

o.0.o

The sun was slowly falling towards the horizon by the time Sweepy and Sweetie strolled back into the Carousel Boutique.

"And how was your day?" Elusive asked

"It was great!" Sweepy replied.

"Oh?" Elusive looked at them with interest, making both cringe a bit and shuffle self-consciously. "Did you do something special?"

"Um... we showed Sweetie around and took her to the club house..."

"Oh yes, it was very interesting! It's almost identical to the Ponyville I come from!" Sweetie added. "Although I wonder... is the Sugarcube Corner the same?"

"Well, you could go check..." Sweepy offered after a moment. "I, uh, have some stuff to do for tonight..." He scratched at the floor with his hoof, looking down. "And, uh, you know the way, right?"

Sweetie nodded. "Sure! Okay, I'll get going; should I bring anything back for you guys?"

"I think we're fine, dear," Elusive said, glancing at Sweepy. "Be sure to say hi to Berry Bubble for me!"

She faltered in her steps for a second, brain working to make the connections, before turning back."Okay!" Sweetie smiled to the two, as she walked out of the door.

As soon as she was out of the door, Elusive turned to look at Sweepy inquisitively. "I can tell when you are trying to avoid somepony, Sweepy. What are you up to?"

Sweepy cringed. "Well... I- I have something... for Sweetie..."

Elusive's eyebrow arched. "Really...?"

o.0.o

Sweetie hummed to herself as she trotted down Ponyville towards Sugarcube Corner. This is so weird, she thought as she passed a male version of Carrot Top. Everypony is different, and yet... the same! I never really thought how different my life would have been if I had been a colt... but I never would have guessed that I would be basically the same... She sighed. If I hadn't been sent through different worlds... Sweepy is nice but he seems... She grimaced... foalish... now I feel old...

She suddenly hit something soft. Or rather, somepony. With a mutual cry of surprise, both fell back.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a female voice said.

"Sorry!" Sweetie shook her head as she stood up, extending a hoof to help the other filly up. "I was just distracted!"

"I guess it's fine..." the filly said, gratefully accepting Sweetie's hoof.

The filly she helped up had a grayish-blue coat and a burnt-orange mane. She was a bit on the heavier side and she reminded her of...

Her face took on a look of unabashed shock as she blurted out "Snips?!"

"Sugar... my name is Sugar," the filly replied, giving Sweetie an odd look. "Do I remind you of somepony else?"

Sweetie nodded. "U-uhm, yeah. Somepony from... way back. Sorry about that."

"Sugar, there you are!" another female voice called. They both looked up to see a taller, skinnier filly trotting happily up to them. "So, are we getting some muffins or cupcakes today?" She had a  turquoise mane and a yellowish coat.

"Spice!" Sugar smiled. "Yes, I hear that Berry Bubble has a new recipe! Can't wait to see what he baked this time!" She looked at Sweetie. "Would you like to come with?"

"Um, sure. I was going there anyway." Sweetie nodded, still a little baffled by what she was seeing. She shook her head, clearing the shock out of her system before facing them again. "My name is Sweetie Belle, nice too meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, Sweetie Belle!" Sugar and Spice chorused as they started walking towards Sugarcube Corner.

"So, I haven't seen you around here before," Sugar said after a moment. "Did you just move?"

"Hm... I don't know..." Spice muttered, looking closely at Sweetie. "She does reminds me of somepony... that mane... that coat..."

I knew this would happen sooner or later. she thought to herself, sweating slightly under their curious gazes. Everypony I've met so far knew about this genderswap business, but these two... What was it that Applebuck said? He said that Applejack was his... 'cousin', right?

"I, um... I'm Sweepy's cousin!" Sweetie interjected, smiling weakly. "I came to visit for a couple of days."

It wasn't the most creative cover, but it was enough to sate the fillies' curiosity, their heads nodding in understanding. "Oooh, and you came in time for Nightmare Night!" Sugar bounced excitedly. "It's the most amazing night, like, ever!"

Sweetie grinned. "Yes, I love Nightmare Night!"

Spice nodded knowingly. "And we have the best pranksters! Between Rainbow Blitz and Berry Bubble, there's going to be a lot of fun scares!"

"I can imagine," Sweetie giggled. "Sweepy and the others are all really excited about tonight!"

The two fillies exchanged glances, then looked at Sweetie. "You mean the Crusaders?"

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah, Sweepy, Scooteroll and Applebuck."

"So... are you interested in any of them?" Sugar asked, eyes glinting.

Sweetie blinked and then blushed furiously. "What? No! I can't date other crusaders!"

That stopped the other two. "Wait, you're a crusader? I thought it was an only-colts club," Spice said.

"We-well..." Sweetie stammered. "It's really up to them, but I think it really has to do with finding your Cutie Mark... why would you Crusade for it if you already have it?"

Both fillies nodded. "That makes sense," Sugar ceded. "Most of the other colts and fillies already have theirs."

"Well, Estella doesn't," Spice pointed out. "Maybe she could join the Crusaders."

"But... why would you want to hang around a group of colts? No offense, Sweetie, but well, colts are... colts, you know? Rough and tumble, don't play nice? Like, nasty stuff like snails?"

Sweetie chuckled. "Well, crusading is fun, but it might not be for everypony."

The three shared a laugh as they finally reached Sugarcube Corner. Before any of them could enter however, the upper part of the door opened in a confetti-coated blast, revealing a pink stallion with puffy hair, blue eyes and a really bright smile looked out at the laughing fillies. "Heya everypony! Guess what?! My newest recipe, the Banana-PB-Blueberry muffin is complete! Would you fillies like a sample!?"

Sweetie's eyes flashed, the memorable taste of those muffins almost tangible upon her tongue. "Oh, I love those!" she gushed, bouncing in place. "Can I have two?"

Berry Bubble looked at her, uncomprehending at first. "But, how would you know how they taste like..."

The pink stallion trailed off, her eyes slowly becoming wider, his pupils shrinking as he proceeded to speak in a very quiet voice. "You're a new pony in Ponyville."

"She's Sweepy Belle's cousin!" Sugar piped up, face in a smile. "She's visiting for Nightmare Night tonight!"

The white filly froze in place, realizing that if Berry DID know who she was... was he going to blurt it out in front of these two fillies who had no idea? "W-well..." she began. "Y'see, I- I..."

He continued, eyes still riveted on her, the two unicorns on either side of her giving each other confused glances. "And since you're a new pony in ponyville... do you know what this calls for?"

She trembled a little, briefly forgetting what it was that Pinkie usually did on such an occasion. "A... a-a... a p-pa-"

"Aaaaa PARTY~!!" he finished exuberantly, leaping into the air, his earlier quiet and suspicious mood now nowhere to be seen. "Oh this is just PERFECT, and right in time for Nightmare Night too! Nice to meet you Sweepy Bell's cousin Sweetie Belle! Oh I can't wait to get everything together now, I had already been planning this super-spectacular punch bowl, but since you're visiting it's going to have to be at least SIX times as super-spectacular! Oh, oh, and I can't forget the pumpkin pies and pumpkin muffins and the pumpkin pops, and pin-the-tail-on-the-pumpkin! Wait, do pumpkins have tails?"

The rambling took her off-guard for a second, before she let out a sigh of relief. I guess he really doesn't know after all. That's good. I wouldn't want to scare off these two new... friends, that I've made. She chanced a glance back towards the two, who were simply regarding the pink pony with looks of confusion.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the colt, and spoke again. "W-well, I think I'd be crazy to turn down a... Berry Bubble party, right?"

The named colt let out a giggle, a odd sound coming from a stallion like him. "You bet your lucky horseshoe! It's going to be the biggest and best Nightmare Night party yet!"

"U-uhm," Attention was turned towards Spice, who had her nose in the air, desperately catching the wafting scents coming from the bakery door. "If we're done saying hi, uhm, can we try those Banana-Fojamma-whatchamacallit muffins now?"

"Well, sure thing girls! Come on in!" Berry Bubble stepped back and opened the door, letting the three fillies into the store.

While Berry Bubble went to get the aforementioned pastries, they sat down on a table. "So, Sweetie Belle, what are your plans for tonight?" Sugar asked. "Spice, me and Estella are going as a group to get candy, you are welcome to join us!"

"Well, I promised the other Crusaders to meet with them later on, but..." Sweetie looked at them. The two fillies were giving her imploring looks, and even though she could still see Snips and snails sitting there...

I wonder what it's like, hanging out with other ponies? I haven't had much of a chance since we started the Crusaders. Before I finally became friends with Twilight, it seemed like my only friends were Scootaloo and Applebloom... it wouldn't hurt to befriend some new fillies.

Sweetie smiled. "You know... I think we can hang out for a while..."

The two fillies grinned happily. "Okay, so, uhm... how about we ask questions to get to know each other better?" Spice suggested.

"Sure!" Sweetie said, looking at the pair. "Who wants to start?"

"Oh, me! Me!" Berry Bubble exclaimed, jumping up and down right next to Sweetie.

Sweetie Belle shot out of her seat with a yelp and landed on the floor with an 'oof'. She glared at Berry Bubble. "Why won't you all stop doing that?!"

The pink pony smiled slowly. "Because it's fun! My turn! Is it true that you have a crush on Dusk?!"

Sweetie's eyes went wide as Sugar and Spice started giggling.

"Well?" Sugar asked.

"Why did I agree to this?" Sweetie sighed as she slumped back into her seat.

The minutes whiled away, as laughter was heard resounding through Sugarcube corner. A peaceful, normal day like any other in Ponyville. At least, up until the point when Berry asked;

"Did you bring Pinkie Pie with you?"