Miscast - Chapter 12

>Still Day 25 in Equestria

>You're shaking off that Applejack Daniels...
>...and Applejack...
>...and Pinkie Pie...
>...damn you have a lot to shake off.
>Still not being entirely sure what happened, you decide the best, simplest, most rational course of action.
>Pretend it never happened.
>Consequence?
>That's future Anon's problem.
>However, one thing you cannot go back on is your offer to Applejack.
>Babysitting Applebloom.
>It's not like you haven't done it before.
>Hell, she ENJOYS your company.
>So why was this babysitting errand so much more important?

>"Hai Anon!"
"Hey 'Bloom."
>She's all excited to hang with you.
>Gotta admit, you always liked when kids looked up to you.
>Boy were they wrong to think that, eh?
>"We're gonna have a ton of fun!"
"Don't we always?"
>"Well this time it's gonna be super special!"
"Oh yeah, how so?"
>"You'll see~"
>Great, now you're in for a surprise.
>Considering the quality of surprises you've had in this world so far...
>...you're less than excited.
>But she's a little kid.
>It can't be too terrible.
>"C'mon Anon, we gotta go get mah friends!"
>Right, the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.
"Lead the way!"
>Turning the cheerful up to 8.
>Hey, you've hung out with her before, and it hasn't been terribly boring.
>Have fun with it!

>Lead out of the orchard, you're back to strolling into town.
>It's not an oddity anymore, which is a relief.
>P0nies have seen you heading to the store and the bar.
>Your new home is on the exact opposite side of town from AJ's barn, too.
>Like it or not, you'll be making the rounds every so often.
>Your first stop on Applebloom's friend-hunt is Carousel Boutique.
>The home of the ever so generous, ever so fabulous, Rarity!
>Easily one of your favorite people right now.
>Applebloom walks up and knocks on the door.
>Expecting a white marshmallow to answer, you prepare a cordial hello.
>However, as the door opens, you're greeted with something else.
>A white mini-marshmallow.
>"Applebloom! You're here!"
>The little thing's voice cracks in the most adorable way, and the two fillies start jumping around in circles.
>Through the doorway, the white marshmallow you initally expected greets you.
>"Why hello Anon. Here to pick up little sister?"
>Must be the little filly.
"Yep. I promised Applejack I'd look after them today."
>Rarity giggles lightly.
>"I hope you know what you're in for, Anon."
>You wave her comment off gallantly.
"I've babysit before, I'm great with kids!"
>"If you say so~"


>Rarity turns to leave.
>Hey, she's wearing pants!
>The assless ones.
>After getting a full view of horse-butt, the two fillies stop jumping around.
>"Hello tall odd looking sir!"
>Blunt.
"Hey there, what might your name be?"
>You bend down to shake her hoof.
>She gladly accepts.
>Raised with class, like her older sister.
"I'm Sweetie Belle!"
>Her voice cracks again.
>Adorable.
"I'm Anon."
>You get up, and Applebloom cheers.
>"Now we only have to get Scootaloo, and we're all here!"
"And where does she live?"
>Silence from both of the fillies.
"Well?"
>Applebloom looks away while Sweetie Belle scuffs her hoof.
>"Ah....don't know."
>What.
"How can you not know, she's your best friend!"
>The side glancing and scuffling increase twofold.
>You roll your eyes.
>This is going nowhere.
"Well, can you at least lead me to her parents?"
>The side glancing and scuffling have reached critial levels.
>Okay, whatever.

"Well, then how are we going to find her?"
>Applebloom lights up.
>"Oh that's EASY! I just do this!"
>She trots out to an open area in the street.
>After a deep inhale, she yells.
>"RAINBOW DASH IS GIVING AUTOGRAPHS!!!"
>The yells rings through the town.
>Not a soul seems to react.
>Except for a dark orange blur headed right for you.
>It stops right in front of Applebloom, and starts darting around like crazy.
>"WHERE IS SHE, WHERE IS SHE?!?"
>A small orange filly with purple mane.
>Safely assuming this is Scootaloo.
>"Ahm sorry Scootaloo, ya just missed her!"
>Scoots stamps the ground.
>"Every single time!"
>Okay, so this one's not so bright.
>And obsessed with Rainbow Dash.
>Explains why she's not so bright!
>Ba-zing.

>Now that the gang's all together, it's time to find out what super amazing thing they have planned for you.
>"Ahlrighty, now that we're all here, we can start..."
>They jump into the air simultaneously.
>"CUTIE MARK CRUSADING!"
>Well, at least they fit their namesake.
>What does this mean anyway?
"Alright, so what IS 'Cutie Mark Crusading'?
>They turn to you in unison.
>"We're trying to earn our cutie marks by finding our special talents!"
>Special talents? Earn?
"I always though those were just tattoos p0nies put on their butts because they were cool."
>The three give you the most dumbfounded look.
>"Dude, haven't you noticed everyone's marks have had to do with what they were good at?"
>Scootaloo starts listing off some examples.
>"Applejack has Apples, Twilight has Magic Sparks, Lyra has a Lyre..."
>Now that she says it, it makes sense.
>It's like a right of passage.
>THAT'S why Applebloom was so sensitive about it...
"Alright, I get it. But they just magically appear when you figure out what you're good at?"
>"Mmhm!"
>They're good at this 'speaking in unison' thing.
>Applebloom leads the charge.
>"Alright girls, let's earn our cutie marks!"

>A few hours later...

>You're running around town while on fire.
>Clearly something has gone terribly wrong during the course of the day.
>The three fillies are chasing you around with buckets of water, clad in firefighter's hats.
>"Anon! Stop so Ah can put you out!"
>You'd love to stop if all of your bodily functions weren't going haywire because, well, you're on fire.
>Eventually you trip and roll on the ground.
>The three fillies catch up and pour their buckets on you.
>Now that the flames are gone, you have enough coherence in your thoughts...
>...TO WRING THEIR LITTLE NECKS.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU THREE?!?"
>They laugh at your anger.
>"Oh Anon, you were never in REAL danger! We were there to put you out!"
>The rage of 1000 suns is building up inside you.
>Just before you explode in a super nova, Sweetie Belle walks up to you.
>"Anon, we're REALLY sorry we didn't put you out faster..."
>God damn that is adorable.
>Adorable enough to quell the rage building inside of you.
>You let out an exasperated sigh.
"It's...alright."
>They all smile and look at their asses.
>Frowns quickly follow.
>"Awww..."
>Not yet, it seems.
>Good.
>They were terrible at firefighting.

>"Now let's try rock climbing!"
>"Laying on beds of nails!"
>"Hoops of fire!"
>"Russian Roulette!"
>These ideas are fucking terrible!
>And damn near suicidal!
"Stop stop stop!"
>The three stop their extremely contrived form of brainstorming.
>Good, shit was getting out of hand.
>Suddenly, an idea strikes.
>A devilish grin on your face confirms it's validity.
"I have an idea for you girls."
>They look up at you with smiling eyes.
>"WHAT IS IT?!?"
"Have you three ever tried...construction?"
>The all look at each other.
>"Ah fixed my clubhouse before, but..."
>You'll take that as a no!
"No? Good! Then follow me."
>You lead the three fillies across town.

>"This is your house?"
>"Ah don't think it's very livable..."
>"It looks so run down!"
>The varied comments about your future abode don't phase you at all.
>Because you know it's about to change drastically.
"I bet you guys could try helping me fix this place up!"
>A couple looks of varied reactions flash among the young ones.
>Applebloom looks the most excited.
>"Come on, girls! We could fix this place up for Anon in no time!"
>The other two groan.
>"'Bloom, we're not GOOD at construction like you."
>"Yeah, we can't hammer or nothing!"
>Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo seem pretty sure in their lack of ability.
>"Ah'll do all the hammerin' and whatnot, you two can do all the interior work!"
>Sweetie lights up at this prospect.
>"Okay! It'll look so pretty!"
>Scoots still isn't convinced.
>"It still sounds dumb to me."
>You devise a plan to get her to work...
>...but Applebloom is three steps ahead of you.
>"Ya know, Dash helped Anon fix a barn before..."
>That sent her over the edge.
>"LET'S GET TO WORK!"
>The three run into the shack, getting ready to create.
>You are starting to have second thoughts about this...

>Applebloom is one hell of a worker.
>You and her patch up every hole in the house, and get to the windows rather quickly.
>She HAS done this before!
>Through a side glance, you keep checking on Sweetie Belle and Scoots.
>Sweetie is rearranging furniture, dusting it off and moving it nicely.
>Scoots is following her order, constantly saying things should look 20% cooler.
>That gets old, fast.
>After a few hours, you notice it's getting dark outside.
>You convinced three fillies to work for you for free for a whole day!
>You should have been born a chinese sweatshop owner.
"Alright girls, that's enough for the day, let's head outside."
>Leading them to the front, you turn back to see what you've accomplished.
>It looks livable!
>"Wow girls, we did a great job!"
>Applebloom's especially proud of her work.
>...it would be unfair to let such proud fillies go home empty handed.
>You reach into your pocket and pull out a few bits.
"Here you go, girls. You earned them."
>You give them 5 bits a piece.
>They just stare at them in awe.
>Then all at once, the ear-splitting shriek is heard.
>"THANK YOU ANON!"
>And they hug your legs.
>Fucking. Adorable.

>You walk them back to their respective homes.
>Rarity and Applejack are noticeably missing from their homes.
>No doubt already gone on their girl's night out with the others.
>You're now alone.
>Well, except for Scootaloo.
"So, where do you li-"
>Before you can finish, Scoots is gone.
>Weird filly.
>Shrugging it off, you walk back to your new home.
>It still needs some touching up, but it's pretty cozy!
>You walk in, appreciating the care put into the furniture arrangement.
>This all started as a ploy for free labor, but you feel those fillies may actually...
>...what's it called...
>...'earn their cutie marks' from this.
>Walking upstairs to your bedroom, you take notice of Scootaloo's biggest addition to the project.
>Rainbow Dash posters.
>Fucking everywhere.
>God damnit it Scoots.
>Whatever.
>You flop down on the mattress that is now yours.
>It's no pile of hay, but it's pretty comfortable.
>You stare up to the ceiling.
>A full body poster of Rainbow Dash is situated right above your bed.
>Okay, that's just creepy.
>You turn on your side.
>Another poster on the wall, staring at you.
>This is gonna be a weird night.

>The next morning, Day 26 in Equestria...

>You're headed out for Sweet Apple Acres.
>After a morning of removing Rainbow Dash posters from your wall, of course.
>Your dreams, not surprisingly, involved Rainbow Dash.
>After all the imagery plastered around your room, how could you not?
>She always appeared in dumb ways, though.
>Imagine a dream where you're shooting a 3-point basket, and get blocked by Rainbow Dash.
>You're relaxing on a beach, and the person bringing you drinks is Rainbow Dash.
>You're driving a fast car in the Indy 500, and the announcer is Rainbow Dash.
>Is this why Scoots is so obsessed?
>You could only imagine what her posters consist of...
>Shaking off that thought, you make it to the orchard before you even know it.
>First things first, you gotta change into your working gear.
>You open the barn door, and as you go for your pile of clothes...
>...you can't help but notice the sleeping Applejack on your pile of hay.
>You close the door promptly.
>You don't NEED to change your clothes today.