//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Whither the Fates Carry Us // Story: Crusader Ponies (Romance of the Six Counties) // by swirlstar //------------------------------// Whither the Fates Carry Us “Erm… Countess?” the gray stallion looked warily at the set of bear plate armor in front of him. He tapped the breastplate, silently cursing his ill luck. So who'da thought I’d get the short straw - again - for the third time runnin'? He rapped again. No response. Typical. But then, there was that time when Ol’ Pacer only got to her after three whole days, so I guess this ain't too much… He kicked one of the legs, taking note of the dulled response. Yep, she’s in there all right. Come on, come on, I gotta be latrine king today! He turned around and bucked the armor semi-gently. Just get the darned letter already! Celestia knows what Shot Biter is up to in the toilet… He shuddered as he pictured a monstrous pile of steaming horse dung, just sitting there in the middle of the john. Oh, just great! He hammered on the flank plates with increasing urgency. Come on! Still no response. His options exhausted, the stallion finally drew back. He pondered over the scroll in his hooves. I guess it can’t be that important, right? Oh wait! Eye slits! He checked. Yep, they exist…well, she’s never complained, right? No reason to start now, huh? He walked up and slotted the parchment through the slit. I am so complainin' if I get a demerit for this! The stallion bolted. In a flash, he had already covered half the stairs and was on his way to the washrooms. He most certainly didn’t hear the excited squeal of Fluttershy, the clang of hastily discarded steel plate, the swoosh of energized wings, nor the gleeful chuckles of a liberated pegasus, penning her response to Rainbow Dash. * Applejack closed the door behind her. “Well?” Rainbow Dash hopped onto her cumulonimbus and closed her eyes, a smile on her face. “Twilight says it’s fine.” “By Celestia, just like that? Was yer letter that convincing?” Applejack, all too aware of the pegasus' weaknesses, raised an eyebrow. “Well, she did say that we should get Fluttershy’s permission. So basically she said 'yeah'.” “Maybe she’s gonna have a chat with Fluttershy and talk her outta it.” “Heh, good luck to her on that,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Or maybe she’s gonna use some of her fancy-schmancy magic to mess with her mind or somethin’.” “That's not a very nice thing to think of Twilight.” “Well, I don’t mind much, to be honest. As long as that problem disappears, I’m fine with it.” “That’s not very nice, AJ.” “Can’t say she wouldn’t be better off like that - least, in certain cases,” Applejack responded pensively. “And oh, before I forget, this here’s for you.” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to see Applejack toting a rolled-up scroll. “Huh? What’s this? No cider?” “Shucks, RD, after this you’ll never be askin’ me for cider again,” Applejack triumphantly unfurled the scroll, revealing a dizzying spectacle of diagrams and numbers. “Ta-da! Hearth's Warming has come early!” “Uh… what’s this?” “This? Why, this ain’t nothin’ less than your very own Apple Cider fermenter!” “Oh… right... ” It took a while to process the data, but as soon as she understood, Rainbow Dash's eyes suddenly shot open. “Oh, right! All right! Oh my goshoh my gosh! Oh, Celestia! Oh, wow! Thanks so much, Applejack!” the pegasus couldn’t resist punching the air in glee. Applejack hugged her prismatic friend. “Don’t mention it, Rainbow; it’s the least I could do after you solved all this.” Dash returned the embrace. “Awww… ” “- for helping all of us when no one else could -” “It was nothing, really… ” “Twi’ must be so proud of you -” Twi- Rainbow Dash was suddenly wrenched out of her euphoria. Oh, um…about that… “- actually, reminds me, I’d better send her somethin’ too, as thanks,” Nagging thoughts, once buried, began resurfacing in the pegasus’ mind. How would Twilight react to Applejack? I bet she’s going to admit defeat - she’ll calm down soon enough - but what if she doesn't? What would happen to Applejack then? Maybe I should just tell her - but she’s going to be so angry at me and so disappointed! But if I don’t tell her and Twilight gets angry, then she’s going to be angry and disappointed anyway… oh, I shouldn't have asked her to join! But then if she didn't, nothing would change! This is just so- “- Rainbow?” Applejack was tapping the pegasus’ back. “Dash! RD!” That broke the train of thought. “Oh...AJ?” “You alright, sugarcube?” “Oh, um, yeah,” Rainbow Dash scratched her mane and looked away. “Guess I just spaced out… ” Applejack frowned. “Rainbow Dash, is something wrong?” Uhh… “No, nothing at all.” The orange mare’s frown deepened. “Something is wrong.” Darn it! “No, nothing is wrong.” “I can smell a lie, RD. What is wrong?” Of all the times you had act like your Element! “It’s nothing, really…” “Tell me.” Oh, she is going to be so angry! “Tell me!” On the other hand, she deserves to know, as a friend- “Rainbow Dash, tell me now!” Yeah, I’d better tell her the truth before she finds out by herself... “Alright, alright, AJ!” Rainbow Dash pushed AJ’s hooves off of her. “Well… you see… I might have been a teensy bit… hard… on Fluttershy in that letter… something about… ummm… ’can’t rule’ and… you know… things like that. Worse.” Great job, Rainbow. Just great. Applejack’s face brightened. “Oh, was that it? Oh, RD,” she chuckled. “you gotta be cruel to be kind sometimes. I mean, it would be nice if Fluttershy could stay, but I’ll take second best. I’m sure the others will understand.” Rainbow Dash smiled for entirely the wrong reasons. Their friendly stalemate was cut short by a knock on the door. “Come in!” Rainbow Dash, silently relieved, called out. A guard entered and saluted. “My Countess, important message from County Fluttershy!” * “Oh, thank you so much, thank you so, so much; I can’t possibly tell you how thankful I am,” Fluttershy said, pouring out cups of tea for the two conquerors. “This whole time has just been an awful nightmare!” “Aww, sugar, don’t mention it,” Applejack said comfortingly. “I’m just glad you’re takin’ all of this in stride.” “Oh, Applejack, you couldn’t imagine how free I feel right now!” Fluttershy smiled. “I’ve made so many plans for the following week! There’s the picnic with Angel’s family, the tea with Mr. White Phoenix, the vacation with the River Monster…oh, it just makes me want to scream with joy! Eeep!” the yellow pegasus squealed with glee. Rainbow Dash laughed. “Hey, here’s our old Fluttershy back! But remember, you still own this amazing castle, right? Don’t spend too much time away from us!” “Oh of course, thank you again so much!” the yellow pegasus sipped her tea. “I guess I should write to Twilight and thank her for allowing this… ” Applejack thought she saw Rainbow Dash twitch. “Your letter must have been really persuasive, Rainbow,” Fluttershy continued. “Just last month, she teleported over and oh, she was so angry… she kept on saying how you ‘betrayed’ her and kept telling me not to accept your help under any circumstances… ” the yellow pegasus sighed and shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why would she say that?” “Well, she said it was something about Celestia deciding who rules over what lands and stuff,” Rainbow Dash nervously brushed the question off. “Pretty lame excuse, if you ask me.” “Have to agree with RD here,” Applejack said. “That just ain’t a reason for making everypony’s lives miserable.” Fluttershy lowered her head in contemplation. “I don’t know… it was like that one time Twilight went bananas back then, you remember that? It’s didn't seem like her… oh I know, how about you see it for yourself?” Fluttershy said, going to her desk and picking up a scroll of parchment. “This was the last letter from Twilight.” The other two mares regarded the parchment. Applejack looked up. “Sugarcube, you sure this ain’t RD’s?” “No, no, it was from Twilight. This was a very strange letter.” Rainbow Dash remained silent, her unblinking eyes scanning line after line of the unicorn’s enraged chickenscratchings. “Huh,” Applejack shrugged. “Figured that she might’ve been able to read it.” “H-hey!” Rainbow Dash frowned. Applejack laughed. “It’s a joke, Rainbow Dash.” “Hmph.” Rainbow Dash put the scroll down. “It just basically says that you shouldn't let me help you - grow a backbone - stuff like that.” “Oh, well, you see now, don’t you?” Fluttershy said. “She was never like that before… I think... I don’t think any of my friends could possibly write something like that.” Applejack clearly noted Rainbow Dash’s twitch this time around. The farm pony picked up the scroll and began to read it herself. “It must have been the war,” Fluttershy muttered. “that horrible, horrible war! Spike… her brother… ” a tear rolled down the yellow pegasus’ cheek. “I feel so sorry for Twilight… it just wasn't fair to her!” “Hey, Fluttershy,” Applejack interjected abruptly, standing up from her chair. “I just remembered. Me and Dash gotta check up on the troops outside, y’know, make sure they’re all fine n’ dandy n’ stuff.” The cyan mare looked around. “Wha- ?” Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash by the foreleg. “Come on! Nopony likes a late commander!” the orange mare looked back at Fluttershy. “Uh, yeah, sorry ‘bout this, see you at dinner?” “But,” Fluttershy began helplessly as the door slammed shut. “I’m meeting the Mooses for dinner…” * Too soon for her liking, Rainbow Dash was again pinned to a wall. Applejack was not amused. “I don’t appreciate this lyin’,” she said sternly. Rainbow Dash unsuccessfully tried to free herself. Being Applejack's prisoner was definitively worse than being Twilight’s. “W-what do you mean?” “The date! Oh, consarnit, Rainbow Dash, you didn’t write that letter!” Applejack exclaimed, making sure her voice wouldn't reach Fluttershy’s quarters. “N-no! I did! I. Swear!” the cyan pegasus protested. Applejack’s moody face darkened further. “So she didn’t let you.” “Well... I guess you could say that.” Applejack released Rainbow Dash, letting her fall to the ground flank-first. The pegasus could hardly blame her for turning so sour. Yet even in her funk Applejack desired activity. The farm pony began trotting up and down the stone corridor, the clopping of her hooves betraying a hidden anxiety. Rainbow Dash reasoned that it was as good a time as any to explain herself. “So you’re not mad?” Applejack was still trotting and thinking. “Dash, I've got bigger problems now. We've got bigger problems. This is treason. I can’t believe I trusted y-…urgh! Look, we need to work together if we’re gon’ make this right.” “Yeah,” the cyan pegasus decided not to comment on how distracting Applejack's gait was. “We had good intentions goin’ in,” Applejack thought out loud. “And I don’t see Fluttershy re-takin’ Countess again... yeah, I think we have a good hand. So if we play our cards right,” Applejack finally deigned to look at her friend, “we should be able to work somethin' out with Twi’.” “But didn't Fluttershy say Twilight was being a bit weird? Aren't you worried?” “We ain't got no better choice now,” Applejack ground to a halt as she scratched her chin. “Plus, you're gon' towrite to Twi’: ask if we can discuss this between the four of us. Please don’t fib again.” Rainbow Dash nodded. "She's not going to like this, though. The letter was pretty crazy." Applejack cursed her lack of a time-machine.