//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Always Together, Forever Apart // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash finished eating the last apple and stretched. “Welp, it's been fun,” she said. The morbidity of this being Rainbow’s ‘last meal’ was not lost on Ledger Line. “Um, stay safe?” he tried. “Can I say that?” Rainbow Dash laughed darkly. “Sure.” Ledger looked down. Then looked up as Rainbow suddenly reached over and ruffled his mane. “You’re a good guy, Ledger Line,” she said. “I'll look you up in fifteen to life, ok?” Rainbow reached over to Zecora, and then hesitated. It was clear she was debating ruffling her mane, too; but she settled for a brisk hug. And then she was gone, no more than a small speck in the distance. Ledger Line sighed. It was… it was a mess. Life was a mess. Everything was a mess. They didn't deserve this. But what else could he do? He was just an accountant. An accountant with a couple accounts to look over. As Zecora studied, Ledger Line started working. Pie Parties, LLC made Vinyl’s records look tidy. Pinkie kept receipts and documented everything (and he did mean everything). Still, once he figured out her system, he was impressed. It was crazy how well everything seemed to work out for her. Under Equestrian law, due to the nature of her services, how most of her income was technically voluntary donations, and how her company was technically based in an unincorporated rock farm, it seemed that she would be getting a sizable bonus on top of her tax refund this year. Ledger Line chuckled as he added it all up. Perhaps he was in the wrong business. The festival must have been starting; it grew lighter. Ledger Line looked up at the sky, and saw the sun and the moon sharing the sky, as well as the cry of what was probably a very confused animal. It was loud in Zecora’s hut due to its location near the Everfree, and Dodge Junction was sounding pretty nice and quiet to him right about now. He lowered his quill. “Ah,” he said, suddenly understanding. “Sun and moon festival. I get it!” “I suppose it’s good for a festival / but it is quite unnatural.” Zecora shuddered and went back to her book. Ledger Line looked back down and made another mark on the paper. Maybe zebras were somewhat like earth ponies, very committed to how things were naturally. He thought it looked kinda cool. The door swung open. Zecora gasped. “Ugh,” Applejack yawned, kneading her eye with the back of a hoof. “Feels like I just had a stampede of buffalo run through my skull. It’s not usually this bad.” She looked up. “Zecora, you have anyth…” Her voice trailed off. “What?” she asked, confused at the looks she was getting. “Do I have something in my teeth, or…?” “Applejack, this can’t be right,” Zecora breathed. “You are here, but it is night!” She glanced down at her body—her lithe, pony body—and frowned. She looked over at the sky. “It's dark,” she said slowly, the reality just dawning on her. “That’s the moon. But that’s the sun. And I’m here, so Rainbow Dash-” “No, we just saw her leave. As… as a pegasus.” Applejack ran out and looked at the sky. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she slowly spun in a circle, taking it all in; and then she slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Oh, how could I be so stupid? It's not day and night; it's sun and moon!” She looked desperately at Ledger Line. “I gotta get up there, now!” “How?” Ledger asked. “We can’t catch her! Unless you also picked up a potion recipe that can make you fly?” * * * All pretenses of secrecy were now off; Applejack galloped through town, with Ledger Line and Zecora following as quickly as they could. Ledger Line felt moderately mollified that Zecora was also panting and falling back along with him; her sprint was much better than her endurance. Down at the end of the road, there was an enormous crystal castle. Ledger Line thought her destination may have been behind it. He was wrong. Her destination was somewhere inside. “Did you just break down the door?” he gasped, staring in through the open doorway. Applejack didn't even look back at him. “I got a throne in here, it's my castle too. Spike!” she called. “Spiiike!” There was the sound of scurrying, and a small purple dragon burst in. A throne? A dragon? Ledger Line really didn’t know anything about Applejack, did he? The dragon skidded to a stop. To say he was taken aback would be a sizable understatement. “Applejack?! What are-?” Applejack cut him off. “Spike, I need to borrow the Twinkling Balloon. Please tell me you still have it floating around somewhere!” Spike bit his lower lip. “Y- yeah,” he said, furrowing his brow. “I think I know where it is. What’s going on?” “Don’t have time to explain! I just need it! And I'll owe you one for the rest of my days!” Spike chuckled, as if remembering something. “Oh, no. Not doing that aga-” “Spike!” Spike scampered away. “On it!” * * * Rainbow Dash waited patiently in the clouds, listening to the sound of the crowd as the Wonderbolts were announced one by one. The only downside to her colorful mane was it was rather difficult to hide. But where she was going, there wouldn’t be too many ponies to notice. Like most sports teams, the Wonderbolts didn't use the same entrances the general public did. There was a small, well-hidden entrance built into the bottom of the stadium, concealed by designs in the cloud architecture. Unless you knew exactly where it was—for example, by being on the Wonderbolts Reserve roster—you wouldn’t even know it was there. Rainbow waited until she was certain she was alone, and then darted over. She flew around and made her way inside. The cloud here was just an illusion; a this cloud sheet made to look like the thick construction cloud everywhere else. She grinned, pleased with her success… And then she ran right into a young pegasus in a security guard uniform. With a startled grunt, they both hit the ground. His eyes widened, and he turned to raise the alarm. Until Rainbow Dash, being much faster, clocked him on the back of the head with the butt of the knife. She grimaced as he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Well, she mused as she looked down at him, she was here to end a pony’s life; what was one more assault charge? She stuffed his unconscious body into the towel bin, then removed his own clip-on tie, balled it up, and stuffed it in his mouth. Her work done (and knowing that the rotations the guards had meant he would soon be missed, and so her presence would not continue unnoticed much longer), she sped through the tunnels and came to a stop in the shadows, in view of the pitch. There he was. The one who had started it all. Rainbow scowled. But he was too far away. She'd draw too much attention if she flew out now. She flipped the knife around her hoof and stepped further back into the shadows. She'd waited this long. She could wait a bit longer.