The Bold, The Brash, and The Beautiful

by Razalon The Lizardman

Day 2- Part 2

Walking protocol initiated . . . *Error 57* . . . . . . . . . . . . Error resolved.

Walking protocol initiated . . . . . . walking protocol cancelled.

Incoming transmission . . . transmission received.

Scanning transmission . . . scanning complete.

Transmission type: Order

Order: No one may disturb the King and Queen at this time.

Scanning for intent clarification . . . scanning complete.

Intent: Negative

Scanning for transmitter/s . . . scanning complete.

Transmitter/s identified: 2

Initiate neutralizing protocol.

Selecting predetermined spell from database.

Selected spell: Mind Crush

Spell activation initiated . . . spell activation complete.

Lock-on protocol initiated . . . lock-on complete.

Attack initiated . . . attack complete.

Scanning targets for damage clarification . . . scanning complete.

Damage dealt: Positive

Walking protocol initiated . . . . . . *Unknown Error* . . . . . .

---

King H.D.'s personal chamber was standard for a ruler of a Kingdom, be it real or pretend. It had an area of about twenty square meters and was located near the top of the Magicworld palace. The lime-green marble floor had a polished feel to it, the window's curtains were sewn from the finest red fabric that existed in Ye Olde Canterlot, and all the furniture was hoof-carved from the sturdiest of oak trees. Gold ornaments decorated the bed along every one of its wooden beams, enveloping it in a bright luminescence whenever the sun shone through the window at the right angle.

At the present time, King H.D. and temporary Queen Rarity were huddled together in the bed, sound asleep. Their slumber was interrupted, however, by a loud knocking at the bedroom door. Rarity groggily woke up and got out of bed. Squinting her eyes, she spied her jewel hammer propped up along the wall. More knocks came. With a growl at being woken up, Rarity grabbed the hammer with her magic and made her way to the door.

So help me . . .

Upon reaching the door she moved the hammer out of the way, just in case the matter at hoof was urgent, though she still kept it grasped in her telekinesis.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" she asked.

Silence.

With an annoyed sigh, Rarity opened the door to find Sin standing there. Rarity's first instinct was to bring the hammer down on its metallic head and smash it a second time, but she thought better than to strike first and ask questions later. Keeping the hammer out of the robot's sight, Rarity stood up straight in an attempt to look as regal and imposing as possible. The cybercorn stood stock still, not moving even the slightest bit.

"What is so important that you needed to wake me and my hus . . . err, your King and Queen from their sleep?"

Sin didn't respond. It just continued to stand there doing nothing, even after being spoken to. Rarity waved her hoof in front of its face in a vain attempt to get its attention. She then tried poking it all over its body, wondering if it would react upon being touched in a certain spot. Yet again, her attempt at getting a reaction out of it was futile. Finally, Rarity gave up and set down the hammer so she could use her telekinesis to move Sin somewhere less in the way.

Suddenly, Sin charged up magic in its horn and lowered it so it was pointing right into Rarity's face. The move was so fast that Rarity couldn't even flinch in surprise as she stared down Sin's horn to the top of its metallic head. Sin then proceeded to walk slowly forward to which Rarity stepped back in response. They kept at it until Rarity was standing in front of the window and Sin was standing right beside the bed.

Rarity scowled. "What do you want?"

This time, Sin answered her. "The elimination of innocence."

"What?"

Before Rarity could fully process Sin's answer, it shot off its charged spell at her. Rarity ducked just in time as the magical blast sailed right above her and smashed through the window's curtains before shattering the window itself and shooting off into the distance out of sight. Panting, Rarity glanced up only to see Sin charging up another shot in its horn. Suddenly, just within the corner of her eye Rarity witnessed her gem-encrusted hammer being enveloped in a transparent aura. A second later, the hammer flew across the room and struck Sin in the side of its face. The hammer then proceeded to smash against Sin over and over, knocking it a little more toward the window each time. Rarity sidestepped out of the way when Sin reached her, and she looked on in stupefied silence as the hammer under-arced into Sin's stomach and flung it out the window, breaking even more glass in the process.

Rarity remained transfixed where she was for a few more moments before turning her head to H.D. who was sitting up in the bed, his horn glowing its transparent aura as he set the hammer back down against the wall. He then turned to look at her and, in one of the few instances of showing emotion, grinned.

"Was he bothering you?" he asked playfully.

Finally breaking out of her stupor, Rarity smiled.

". . . Well," H.D. continued, "he's not going to bother you anymore."

If only I could live here.

---

"So, think this'll be a good place to keep him?" Black Bolt asked her co-worker friend, Kooky Pie.

The two mares had just returned to the CCC with the malfunctioning Brave Heart in tow. After learning that their boss was napping they contemplated where they should leave the robot until the night crew began their shift. Normally broken robots were kept in a special storage room to wait for repairs, but the room in question was currently locked and the sleeping Bite Back had the key. Not wanting to disturb their boss, the two mares searched for an alternative place to store Brave Heart until night fell. Their choice ended up being the Aviworld GMC room.

"Yeah," Kooky Pie replied, "so long as nopony turns him back on and leaves him unattended."

"Alright then."

The two mares proceeded to leave, blissfully unaware of the blinking light currently shining within Brave's robotic retinas.

---

Applejack awoke with a pounding headache and aching joints. She felt the unmistakable touch of cold steel on her belly as she squinted through bloodshot eyes at her surroundings. She saw what appeared to be stripes running vertical just in front of her, to which she found amusingly odd. Once AJ's headache dulled and her vision cleared, she stood up and took stock of her surroundings. She gasped at the realization of where she was. The Dodgeworld jailhouse. The stripes from before were the bars of the cell she was currently trapped in.

"What the hay!?" Applejack grabbed two of the bars and violently shook them. She listened for the sound of approaching hoofsteps, but heard nothing. Panicking, she began pacing the length of her cell.

Okay, calm down Applejack. You'll get outta this so long as ya keep yer cool. Now, what was Ah doin' before wakin' up here? Ah was . . . at the saloon with Prickly. We had 'bout a dozen or so jugs of cider while we listened ta the piano playin'. Then . . . Ah left ta get some fresh air . . . and . . . and . . .

"Hello miss."

Applejack froze. She recognized that voice, and it made her scowl with the fury of a thousand suns. She whisked her head around to find Jack O'Bones standing on the other side of the cell bars, grinning maliciously at her.

"J.O.B.," Applejack muttered under her breath. "Y'all had better tell me why Ah'm in this here cell or so help me, Ah'll beat the livin' snot outta ya when Ah get out."

Jack O'Bones didn't reply. Instead, he merely laughed as he trotted away down the hall of the jailhouse and out of AJ's sight.

"Hey, y'all come back here, ya hear!?"

As the sound of his hoofsteps faded altogether, Applejack sighed and slumped down onto the cold steel floor. Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from behind her. Turning around she saw nothing, but could still hear it. Walking toward the cell's back wall, AJ realized the sound was coming from the other side of it. What's more, she could now clearly make out the sound itself.

Sizzling.

Confused at first, realization dawned on Applejack just in time for her to jump away from the wall as it blew up in front of her. She held her hooves over her Stetson for protection as she felt little bits and pieces of brick and wood chips rain down upon her. Fortunately she wasn't hurt, and once she felt it was safe she stood up and gazed out through the enormous hole that now adorned the back wall of her cell. On the other side she saw Prickly Pear, a wide smile upon his face and an empty box of dynamite clutched in his hoof against his chest. Looking at the box, Applejack saw that it had actually come from outside DELOS, meaning Prickly had smuggled it into the resort.

"Up for a jailbreak?" said stallion asked her.

Applejack went slack jawed. Her mind was buzzing with more questions than a math test, and she'd see to it that all of them got answered. Once she had regained her composure she calmly strode over to where Prickly was standing. Then, she casually lifted her Stetson off of her head and proceeded to smack Prickly Pear right upside the head with it. He dropped the box as he staggered back in surprise and fell to the ground on his back.

"What were y'all thinkin' usin' 'mite ta blow up the wall!?" she screamed in his face. "Ah could'a been killed!"

Prickly sheepishly smiled. "Sorry." He used a hoof to nurse the spot where AJ hit him. "Ah got thrown in here last time Ah visited and wanted an easy way out if it went'n happened again."

Applejack sighed. "Never mind 'bout that. Would ya mind tellin' me just how in the hay Ah wound up here in the first place?"

Prickly got up and shrugged. "Ah don't really know. All Ah do know is that y'all walked outta the saloon ta get some fresh air and didn't return. If'n Ah had ta guess though, ol' Jacky over yonder knocked ya out and tossed ya in there."

"Now, just how in the hay could he- . . . wait."

Applejack turned around to see Jack O'Bones galloping away from the jailhouse towards a carriage with a couple more robot ponies hooked up to it. Applejack and Prickly both watched with interest as he jumped up onto the carriage seat and said something to his robotic peers before they turned around and started galloping in their direction. Once they were close enough to see the wicked smirk on Jack O'Bones' face, it dawned on both AJ and Prickly just what the robot outlaw's intentions were.

"Ummm, Prickly?"

"I know."

With speed that could possibly rival Rainbow Dash, the two earth ponies turned around and began galloping for dear life away from Jack O'Bones. Not sure where to go, the two of them chose to round the nearest corner of the jailhouse and head out to the street in hope of getting some help. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single pony to be found outside.

"What now!?" Prickly asked, panicking.

Panicking herself, Applejack darted her head around in search of something, anything, that could prove useful for their current situation. She spied a second carriage by the front of the jailhouse just as Jack O'Bones rounded the corner and began charging at them from behind.

"Prickly!" Applejack began running toward the carriage to which Prickly followed.

Once they reached it Applejack jumped up onto the seat while Prickly ran around to the front and frantically tried to hook himself up to it. All the while Jack O'Bones was closing the gap between them.

"C'mon Prickly, hurry up!"

"Almost got it . . . there!"

Prickly began galloping as fast as his well-toned legs would let him, pulling the carriage with him just before Jack's managed to reach them. Living and metallic hooves alike pounded the dirt as all three hooked equines pulled their respective carts out of Dodgeworld proper and into the surrounding desert lands. Applejack looked back to see the town getting smaller in the distance while Jack O'Bones got bigger as his carriage started regaining the distance between them.

AJ turned back to Prickly. "Ol' Jacky ain't givin' up, Prickly! How do ya reckon we take care'a him!?"

Prickly briefly glanced behind him to see Jacky's carriage approaching from their right side. After swerving around a good-sized rock that laid in their path, Prickly began slowing his pace to let Jacky catch up to them.

"What in tarnation are ya doin'!?" AJ shouted over the sound of stomping hooves and rushing wind.

"Remember when y'all said ya were chased from Dodge Junction by yer friends!?"

"Yeah!"

"Think ya can imitate what Pinkie did, except more physical!?"

Applejack rubbed her chin. "I s'pose so."

"Was that a yes!?"

"Yeah, sure I can!"

With that settled, Prickly continued slowing down, stopping when Jacky's carriage was right alongside theirs. Applejack looked over to the robot outlaw pony who stared back with a confused look on his face. Setting her hat down on the seat so it wouldn't blow away, Applejack kneeled and then launched herself at Jacky, accidently sending them both careening off the carriage and onto the hard desert ground. After rolling over a few times in each other's hold they came to a stop by a couple of cactus plants.

AJ quickly got up off of Jacky and brought both her front hooves down onto his metallic cranium with a sickening crunch. Applejack almost winced at the sound of surrogate flesh getting squashed and metal crunching under her ferocious stomp. Jacky's now lifeless robot body twitched a few times before going perfectly limp under her fore hooves. With a deep sigh AJ fell onto her back, the adrenaline having run its course, leaving her body too exhausted to move anymore. She heard the faint sound of galloping hooves moving away from her, and a few moments later heard another pair approaching her until she saw Prickly come into her sight and stare down at her, an amused smile adorning his face.

"Need some help there, gorgeous?"

Applejack tried to stifle a laugh but failed. "Yeah, Ah reckon so."

Prickly helped AJ to her hooves and put a foreleg around her to help support her exhausted body.

"What say we find some place ta camp out for the night?" Prickly asked.

Applejack smiled. "Y'all read my mind, sugarcube."

With that, the two cowponies began walking toward a nearby rock formation, hoping to have a camp set up before night fell in an hour or two.

Comments

[Ardashir]

Heh, I should have said before, I really like that starter scene with Rarity and her king facing Sin again; and poor AJ, ending up in jail. Just imagine how Applebloom and the family would react.

[Ponygood11]

Happy Dancer?