Apple Bloom on Earth (Parts 11-15)

Parts 1-10: http://pastebin.com/8K8YYPt8

 

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...but unfortunately it did.

 

I got out of bed an hour later and carried the sleeping filly to the lounge, placing her on the couch. She curled up into a little ball and began snoring again.

 

I had a little time to myself before she woke up, so I went back to my room to pick out a nice book to read. I had an array of historical non-league tables which I liked to go through, plus detailed results from the FA Cup. I pulled out the latter book to read, headed back to the lounge and sat down as I flicked through the pages.

 

Just as I got up to the Alvechurch-Oxford City replay saga, Apple Bloom stirred. She opened her eyes and yawned, getting onto her haunches and looking at me.

 

"Hey ya'll, whatcha readin'?" she asked.

 

I looked over to the filly, who tried to climb onto my lap to have a look at the book. "A few results from years gone by," I replied.

 

"R'sults?"

 

"Results from a famous annual tournament in a country called England," I explained. "Where you come from, do you have a team game where you kick a ball around and try to get it in the other team's net?"

 

Apple Bloom thought. "Ah think we do, s'called hoofball,"

 

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"We have a similar and much more popular sport in this world," I explained. "We call it association football, or soccer for short."

 

Apple Bloom interrupted me, "Uh, Anon, ah have a question."

 

"Yes?"

 

"When ya'll called me 'sweetie', well, why?"

 

It seemed like a harmless question. "I just called you that because it's a cute thing to say."

 

"Well, ah got a friend where ah live, she's called Sweetie Belle. Ah was wonderin' if you were mistakin' me fer somepony else," she replied.

 

I stopped and had a think. Maybe it was time to let Apple Bloom know about the show.

 

"Apple Bloom, maybe I should have said this earlier, but your world is actually very well-known in our world," I explained. Apple Bloom looked over to me. "Huh, ah don't understand?"

 

"Let me show you," I replied, walking with her to the bedroom and turning on the television. I found a taped episode of 'My Little Pony' and showed it to her. It was the episode where she met her friends for the first time, at Diamond Tiara's cute-ceanara.

 

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"So, what do you think?" I asked, hoping there would be a positive reply.

 

Apple Bloom pondered it all for a moment. She didn't expect to see the moment when she tried desperately to get her cutie mark, all being replayed of one the creature's seemingly much more complex machines. But she thought it was amazing nonetheless. She realised that if she was known in this world, she could just be as known in many others, if there were more.

 

"So, ah'm famous?" she asked.

 

"Believe it or not, yes indeed," I grinned, ruffling Apple Bloom's mane. "There's just more to it though: These stories are drawn up in our world."

 

Apple Bloom's eyes widened. "But th' things ah see really happened."

 

"How can I explain it in simple terms?" I wondered. The gears in my brain clicked as I tried to come up with a good explanation. Then, I knew exactly what to say.

 

"Apple Bloom, do you know someone called 'Lyra' in your world?" I asked

 

Apple Bloom thought for a moment. "Fact is, ah do. She's always going on about these 'hyoo-man' thin-". She stopped. She had seen Lyra's drawings of humans before. The creature was similar to those drawings! "Are ya'll a human?" she asked.

 

"That's right, I was getting to the part about humans," I replied. "Do humans exist in your world, or 'Equestria' as I should call it?"

 

"Nnnope."

 

"Well, we don't have colourful ponies in our world, but we do have regular ones. However, they don't talk and are dull in colour," I replied. "So, if we think about all this, things that are mythological in one world exist in another, but we need to find those worlds."

 

To Apple Bloom, all this talk about worlds and humans was complex and hard to understand. She recited the things she had learned about humans from Lyra's drawings.

 

"W-wait, are ya'll...carniv...carnivorous?" Apple Bloom asked, a little scared.

 

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"Carnivorous?" I asked. "Well, that's a good question. Us humans are, but meat isn't a staple of life. We can easily survive on vegetables and non-meaty products."

 

"But why do ya'll humans eat animals?" Apple Bloom asked.

 

"As best as I can explain it, when animals grow old and weak, they cannot perform their chosen tasks anymore," I explained, "such as how old cows can't produce enough milk. Additionally, dying animals sometimes die slowly in pain, so putting them 'out of their misery' is best."

 

"So whut happens to th'm?"

 

"We can't leave them out, rotting in the sun. We have to use their body to make more things to support humans and the economy. Such as leather, which is used in many things, such as soccer balls, clothing and all that, because of its durability."

 

Apple Bloom had a mixed feeling about it. It was bad that humans ate meat, but at least the innocent animals were being used for things in the future. "Anon, kin ya'll not eat meat fer me?"

 

"Of course, I eat a variety of food not made from animals, such as pasta and certain types of pizza," I replied.

 

Apple Bloom felt better. "Kin ya'll show me around the house?"

 

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I got up and took Apple Bloom to various rooms, such as the lounge, the bedroom, the study and a few other rooms where I performed different tasks, such as collecting things I liked. The house might have been large, but it had only a few rooms, and they were all quite large.

 

After showing off all of the rooms, I took Apple Bloom outside. The rain had stopped during my nap and the ground was rather moist, but it had done a good job in soaking up most of the rainwater. The backyard was very large considering there was no other house for miles.

 

I showed Apple Bloom my garden, consisting of various types of flowers, some of which were exotic. She found the water tanks and asked me what they were, and I explained their function and how it related to her bath. Finally, I opened a gate at the back of the garden and took Apple Bloom out to my pride and joy: A full-sized soccer pitch.

 

"Whut's this Anon?" Apple Bloom asked.

 

"This is my soccer field. I spent quite a bit getting the goals and the white paint to mark the lines, but it's all worth it," I grinned. "It doesn't even cost anything to maintain. I actually have teams play here sometimes when other fields can't be used."

 

I walked to my shed and looked inside, finding my soccer ball in there. I grabbed it and took it out to the field. "This is a regulation soccer ball, made of leather so it's durable. Want to have a kick?"

 

Apple Bloom was eager to try. "Sure!"

 

I rolled the ball out in front of her. She trotted back and galloped forward, striking the ball with her right front hoof. The ball went quite a long way, about twenty metres.

 

"Wow, you're good at this," I said. "Our game is slightly different. We can only touch the ball with our feet when it's in play, unless the player is a goalkeeper. Because our bodies are bigger, we can kick much further."

 

After retrieving the ball, I showed Apple Bloom my power and thumped the ball fifty metres, landing it smack bang onto the crossbar.

 

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Parts 16-20: http://pastebin.com/FBMmGTLG