//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Indignation // Story: Final Verdict // by Material Defender //------------------------------// Jamie opened the door to the Apple family home and immediately stormed up the stairs to his room. Reaching his bag, he immediately retrieved the magazines from within and stowed them under his arm. Big Macintosh returned with Applejack and the two fillies, stopping just outside as they met Jamie in front of the house. "Are you goin' to be headin' for the forest?" Mac asked. "No, not yet. I'm not the only bounty hunter here... one of my team came here to visit a zebra that lives within the forest, and another one, a buffalo, is stayin' at the inn in town. I'm goin' to gather them all up first before we head out," Jamie said. "All of you stay inside, lock the doors, and don't come out until I return. Don't worry about warnin' the town, I'll deal with that myself." "Well, if you say so, Jamie. Just stay safe out there, you hear?" "Always, Mac. Don't you worry 'bout me, I can take care of myself." Jamie nodded at the door behind him. "Now get yourselves inside and lock the doors." He avoided meeting Applejack's eyes as he began his sprint for the town. A small trail of dust picked up behind him as he ran through the orchard's path for the front gate. If what he assumed was true, then the criminals involved would have most likely been sloppy, and left minor but telling clues for Jamie and his group to track them back to their hideout. Given Ponyville's location and security, they would most likely set up somewhere close to the town but in a place where none would venture. Like the Everfree forest. His journey had to be quick, and he needed his equipment. The element of surprise was still there, as it was highly unlikely that the perpetrators had been tipped off to his presence, but extra urgency never hurt. He just hoped Applebloom wasn't their last grab before moving on to another town. "Redhorn? Redhorn!" Jamie shouted, running up the stairs of the inn. He heard a loud groan coming from the buffalo's room as he opened the door to his own, immediately pulling out his combat equipment from his luggage and slinging his heavy crossbow over his back. "We got trouble!" With that, there was a loud thud as Redhorn immediately jumped out of his bed, followed by the sound of clanking as he struggled to put his armor on hastily. "What is it, Jamie? What's happened?" he shouted through the wall. "I'll talk about it later, when we head out. But all I can say is that trouble's a-brewin', and we got a filly that's in danger. Where's Anora?" "She's still out. Might be for the whole day, who knows?" Redhorn appeared outside of Jamie's doorway in full battle armor, ready to move out. "Damn, every single damned time this happens, I always hate how none of us have magic. The unicorns can use their badges to communicate through magic, but us...? Dead like a fish out of water." He stocked his belt's pouches with his variety of pistolbow ammunition and slung the heavy crossbow bolt quiver across his back. "Let's move." Jamie quickly locked his door and walked downstairs, leaving the key with innkeeper and Redhorn thundering down behind him. The pony gave an interested look. "I assume something has come up?" he said, slowly filing several papers into a cabinet, before folding his arms and reclining into his chair. "Nothin' that I was expectin' to happen. So much for a vacation," Jamie said. "I'll leave the key here with you, but I'm just here to let you know that I am going to return." "If you say so. Good luck with whatever it is you're doing... and keep the townsfolk safe." "As always," he said, tipping his hat as he ran out the door, pistolbow in hand. Almost as if on cue, Jamie bumped into a familiar unicorn, knocking over her saddlebags full of groceries and various book-related goods. "Ow!" Twilight said. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was—oh, hello, mister! I'm sorry to ask, but I never really got your name when we spoke earlier. I'm Twilight Sparkle." She quickly got to her hooves and replaced all the contents in short time with her magic. "Jameson Harper, Jamie for short. Uh, listen, I have something really important to attend to, so I'll have to talk to you later." Twilight's eyes widened when she noticed the badge on his belt, and slowly drifted her gaze to his pistolbow and the lumbering buffalo behind him. "Uh... sure... that's fine..." she whispered. "Thanks. Come on, Redhorn, we have to move." As if we didn't already have enough trouble... A number of ponies gave him strange looks as the two ran through the town towards the Everfree forest, some displaying outright shock when they realized that their quaint little town had bounty hunter visitors. Doors and windows began closing and it became plainly obvious that the town's streets would be empty before they finished their task. Entering the path outside of town as the sun was lowering, they spotted the familiar sight of a hooded zebra approaching them. "Jamie?" Anora asked. "What's going on?" Her saddlebags were stuffed to the brim with various alchemical agents and poultices of all kinds, but unfortunately, did not seem to have many of her bombs. "A foal's been taken, right outside of Ponyville. Redhorn and I are goin' to track 'em down and bring 'em to justice." Anora gasped. "Really? I... I didn't hear of such a thing. Forgive me, I took far too long trying to catch up with my own kin." "Just grab your gear and meet us in the Everfree on the stretch between the Apple family orchard and the forest. If what I'm thinkin' is true, then the tracks might still be fresh. We have to move fast." "Of course, Jamie. I'll be back as quickly as possible." Anora galloped for the town, leaving Jamie and Redhorn to continue on to the forest uninterrupted. "See anythin'?" Jamie asked. "I have several hoof tracks here, leading into the forest," Redhorn said. "However, it seems that given the dirt's consistency, they weren't moving very quickly. There are a lot of tracks that go further in." "Then that means that they aren't aware of us. That's good." Jamie kneeled and closely examined the tracks. Given the number, and split paths, there was obviously more than just one involved in this abduction. "I am here!" Anora said, running behind them in with stocks of bombs all over her belts and in her saddlebags. "Are we too late?" "No, you're just in time," Jamie said, loading in a magazine of shock bolts into his pistolbow. "Trails lead into the forest, and it seems that we might just catch them with their pants down." They carefully proceeded into the Everfree, still conscious of the forest's reputation for harboring dangerous creatures in addition to their wanted criminals. The birds chirped nonchalantly as the trio entered the gradually darkening shade of the forest, their steps growing increasingly erratic as simple dirt and roots gave way to more rocky paths and precarious falls. The trail also began to fade, but they occasionally found a single hooftrack or a group of them, or even markers, indicating that they were going in the right direction. "Shh..." Jamie held up a hand. "Do you hear that?" "Hear what?" Anora whispered. "I hear nothing." "That 'nothing' is exactly the problem. No birds. No chirpin'. Even in the Everfree, birds chirp even if there are beasts running around. Here... there's nothin'." "What could cause such a disturbance?" "I've been around on a few errands 'fore I joined the Judicators that were like this..." he said. "These critters ain't stupid. They can recognize the smell of death, and they'd be rightfully dense to linger 'round long enough to find out what's causin' it." "You can't possibly believe that—?" Anora began. "I don't," Jamie said, cutting her off. "But that possibility is always there. And I never like bein' right when it matters most." He motioned for them to continue forward, as the natural green of the trees began to change, turning into a more twisted sickly green as the bark accompanying the trees began to appear more mangled and unsightly. There was no doubt that they were far into the forest, farther than Jamie thought they would have had to go. "Luna watch over us..." Anora whispered. "This place... it feels so... disturbing..." There was the sound of clamor on the wind, faint, but still there. They took cover behind a group of rocks—quietly enough, despite Redhorn being a walking castle—and listened closely for the source of the noise. "...get the foals out of here now! We've already had enough trouble with one of our own trying to turn us in..." "...serves him right. Grows a spine now of all times? Damn pathetic, if you ask me." "Shut up, both of you! Ready the wagons and prepare to move! And if the foals try to start making noise again, then you shut them up! Our clients are paying top-notch for this sort of cargo, and we've already stirred up enough trouble by cutting our numbers from four down to three!" Jamie exchanged looks with Anora and Redhorn. At least there weren't any doubts as to who their targets exactly were. Anora already knew what Jamie had in mind, and nodded as she proceeded down the trail to their left and took up positions in the trees above the small cave. Jamie headed off to the right, weaving between the rocks as he moved in to get a closer look at the traffickers. The small cave was brightly lit, with a wagon and several metal cages surrounding it. Within said cages were foals, numbering a paltry number less than five. Applebloom was among them, cowering in fear with the rest of the group as one of the stallions came by to inspect them. "You little shits better not give us any trouble, or else we'll put the stick to you, real nice like," he said. The foals quickly clamored to the corner of the cell opposite the stallion as he gave a throaty chuckle. "Yeah, that'll teach you. Play nice and we won't have to hurt you, understand?" Jamie stowed his pistolbow, slowly taking out his heavy crossbow as he made sure the bolt within was locked and loaded. He still sat quite a distance from the cave, the ground between his rocky cover and entrance containing nothing but open ground. When the trap was sprung, though, that would only work heavily in Redhorn's favor. Open ground, for Jamie, was a great boon when he wanted to gain the upper hand with his crossbow. Leveling the sight, he aimed at one of the stallions outside the entrance, examining the wagon for final checks before they left. At this distance, the shot would be a fairly risky one, but in the case where he failed and they took notice... Anora was waiting above to deliver her own brand of justice to them. Nodding to Redhorn, he steadied his breath and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew from its perch, advancing with lethal speed and impacting the side of the stallion's neck with a thud, knocking him over underneath the wagon and into the darkness where he couldn't be seen. A quiet croak escaped the pony's lips before he went quiet. No survivors were needed, and if proof was required, Luna needed only to send out her own Night Guard to examine the location themselves. "Hey, you got any..." One of the other stallions walked out of the cave, and looked around for his comrade. "Huh...? I could have sworn he was here a moment ago... maybe he went to take a piss." He shrugged and went back inside. Anora hopped down from the tree she was hiding in and perched herself on the arch of the cave's entrance, acting as overwatch for their approach. Jamie quickly skulked towards the wagon by staying on the sides of the approach, staying in the shadow of the hills as the orange of the horizon faded into darkness. "Hey, where's the rest of the crew? Didn't they say they'd be back by sundown with more supplies? Oh, I sure hope those bastards didn't go turncoat on us..." he heard from within. The body of their former comrade lay nearby, covered with a lethal amount of slash marks. "I don't know, just give them time. If they don't show up, then we leave without them. Simple and easy." So there were indeed more of them... Jamie locked another heavy bolt into his crossbow before switching it out with his pistolbow again. In such narrow conditions, a more versatile weapon was better. As Jamie prepared to storm the cave, however, there were a number of shouts and clanging in the hills behind him. He turned to look just as a pony was thrown clear off of the ridge above, landing in the ground behind him with a painful thud as the hill exploded with a rain of ponies. Redhorn had run into the returning group, charging down the hill and engaging them in combat. "What the—a buffalo? Here?!" one of the cave-dwelling stallions said. "Then stop yapping and start bruising him up! We can't let anyone know about our stint here, buffalo or otherwise!" They ran outside to join their friends, circling around Redhorn as they attempted to size up the armored behemoth. Some of them gave looks of disbelief and fear at seeing what was essentially a tower of steel staring them all down as if they were insects. "How... uh, how do we deal with him, boss?" "Rough him up!" The boss jumped forth and whirled around, planting a solid buck against Redhorn's chest... which did absolutely nothing, save for earning a deep chuckle from the buffalo. "You're all going to get what's coming to you," Redhorn said simply, slamming his plated head into the boss's, sending him crumpling to the ground with a sickening crack. A small pool of blood formed on the ground as the ponies nervously stepped back. There was a gasp as all heads turned to one of the other members of the group. "Shit! He's... he's got the badge! It's a damned bounty hunter!" one of them cried fearfully. "Oh, fuck!" Several of them turned tail, only for Redhorn to break out of his circle and immediately run them down with no qualms. "Screw him, boys, let's take him down! He can't fight all of us at once!" If only they knew... Jamie chuckled to himself, looking up into the darkness and nodding towards Redhorn's direction. Two small casks were let loose by Anora and cut off the path of retreat for the traffickers, dousing the areas around them with a crescent of fire. "Shit! Where in Tartarus did that come from?!" "We're all screwed!" "Run for your lives!" "You idiots, we're cut off! We've got nowhere to run!" Jamie took the opportunity to knock out several in the ensuing chaos, eliciting several bouts of jittery screams as his marks fell unconscious as unrestricted magical shocks coursed through their bodies. He was rather surprised that Redhorn was actually holding himself back here: perhaps he just didn't want the fillies knowing that the traffickers actually died, but were instead just wounded to a point just before death. Either way, Princess Luna would be pleased with the outcome of the results. A blur escaped the corner of his eyes as he saw a pony—most likely the one chastising his comrades over their lack of proper situational awareness—opening the cage and taking a foal. As the child struggled in his grasp, he managed to gain ahold of a knife, and held it close to the foal's throat. As Redhorn finished off the last of other traffickers with controlled strikes, he paused as he approached the cave. "Stay back! I—I'll do it! Stay back or I'll hurt the filly!" The rising smoke from Anora's incendiary bombs partially obscured Jamie's sight, but eventually, he could make out the color of the fur and mane of the filly that the trafficker was holding. As if it wasn't already worse enough... it was Applebloom, fearfully staying silent as the blade remained held at her throat. "That son of a bitch..." Jamie swore under his breath. The shock bolts produced spasms in the body, which meant that if he decided to use it, there was a chance that Applebloom could get hurt or even killed. He couldn't chance that, nor did he find any greater solace in knowing that any shot with his pistolbow regardless of ammunition could force the pony's knife to inadvertently shift. So a close-quarters option was the only choice here. Holstering his pistolbow, Jamie slowly began to creep around into the cave, passing just behind the cage holding the foals. He stopped behind them as he attempted to console them. "Who... who are you, mister?" a blue pegasus filly asked. Her face was covered with dirt and what appeared to be... bruises. Jamie's heart sank for a moment: for children to experience such pain... "I'm a bounty hunter, miss," he said, tipping his hat to her. "Don't you worry. I'll make sure you all get out safe and sound, I promise you that. Now I need you all to be quiet... I know another filly over there is in danger, and I don't want her to get hurt, either. Do me a favor and... just try not to make any noise, okay?" The foals nervously nodded at him. "Great. I'll be back for you all." Turning his attention back to the trafficker, he tuned into his ramblings as he slowly began to approach from behind him. "Now... now you'll let me pass, unharmed, and you won't give any chase! Otherwise... I'll hurt this filly real bad, you hear? Now move aside and let me pass!" Redhorn stood silent, waiting for Jamie to strike. "You fool, let me through!" Jamie paused as he saw the pony hold the knife straight against Applebloom's neck, earning a shriek from her. Redhorn only then decided to step aside as the flames behind him began to subside. The stallion laughed crazily to himself, assured in his victory as he slowly stepped forward, knife still in hoof... *CRACK* ...only for Jamie to appear beside him, leveraging his arm in the opposite direction away from Applebloom's throat, and snapping the elbow joint. With a shriek of pain, the knife clattered to the ground as he planted a swift jabs into the stallion's side and throat, knocking him out instantly. Jamie mentally thanked himself for actually taking the martial arts classes on Griffonic Wingbelt. Applebloom fell to the ground, coughing as she breathed in for air. She struggled as he picked her up, only for her to cease her struggling when she saw who it was. "Hey, there, kiddo," he said, smiling at her. "Mister Harper! I... I don't understand. What're you doin' here?" "Your friends came runnin' through the orchard and told me and Mac what happened. I couldn't just let that slide, now could I?" Anora hopped down from the cave arch and moved to release the rest of the foals, shepherding them outside as she produced small flasks of water for them to drink. Redhorn merely turned around and kept an eye out for any others that would attempt to gain the jump on them. "You... really came all that way just to rescue me?" "Applebloom, you're family. I'd wade through Tartarus to save you if I had to," he said, chuckling. "Now, come on. Let's get you back to your family." He ruffled her mane and placed her back on the ground as he heard a mare clear her throat. He turned around to see Anora standing in front of the foals as they fed themselves on the former trafficker's food supplies and water. "There's still the issue of these foals, Jamie. We can't just leave them here." "I know, Anora." Jamie sat down in front of them as they stopped, waiting to hear what he had to ask. "Where are you foals from? Do you have any family?" They sadly looked to the ground, avoiding his gaze until one of them found the courage to answer. "We... we don't have families, mister... we're orphans." Jamie nodded: orphans were among the most common targets for foal traffickers. While children being left on their own at such early ages was rare, it certainly wasn't unheard of, either. "All of you are orphans?" he asked. They all nodded, sniffling sadly at their own state of affairs. "Then don't worry... you'll be coming with us. We'll keep you safe." Their eyes brightened at the news, and they all scrambled around to hug him. "Whoa, hey there, don't all jump at once." "Oh, Jamie, you're so good with kids..." Anora laughed. "I guess it must be my rustic cowboy charm," he said. "Come on, let's get you all out of here. This forest is already a terrible place as it is." The crickets had long begun chirping by the time they had returned to Ponyville, and as expected, the streets were completely empty, devoid of even the standard nighttime crowd that would frequent the clubs and taverns in the area. Jamie and Anora led the group of foals through the streets as they approached Sweet Apple Acres, with Redhorn silently bringing up the rear. "Hold on a moment," Jamie said, stopping right outside of the Ponyville Library. "I need to contact the Princess." He knocked on the door and saw a light flip on upstairs. He was soon met with the sound of hooves thumping on the treehouse's wooden floor as the door opened. "Uh... who is it—oh, Jamie! I hadn't expected a visit on such short notice..." She looked past him and saw the group of foals huddling outside. "Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly. "The problem's been solved," Jamie said. "But I need your help. Can you use magic, or specifically, communication magic?" "Why, yes, I can, but that normally requires a focus object in which to—" Jamie tapped his badge. "Oh. May I ask as to who you're going to call?" "Princess Luna." "Oh... well, of course then!" She sighed, concentrating her magic as she activated the moonsteel badge's enchantment with energy, surrounding both her and Jamie in a purplish glow. "There we are. The link has been established, and you'll be able to speak telepathically." "Twilight Sparkle?" Princess Luna's voice came in clearly. "I hadn't expected you to speak with me, of all ponies. To what do I owe the—" "That would be me, Princess. Judicator Jameson Harper speaking, Your Majesty." Jamie merely fiddled with his belt, unsure of what one would actually do in a telepathic conversation. "Ah! Well, then, Mister Harper. I trust that your interruption was with good reason?" "It is. My group managed to catch wind of a foal traffickin' group within the Everfree Forest, after I learned that one of Ponyville's own had been abducted. We tracked them back to their hideout and incapacitated them with controlled force, and they await imprisonment by authorities." "Excellent work. I shall dispatch my Night Guard immediately to bring them to justice. I assume you've found the foals?" she asked. "We have, Your Majesty. Save for the one from the Apple family that we rescued... the rest are orphans." Twilight's eyes widened at the mention of Applebloom, now aware of the hurried business that Jamie had mentioned earlier in the day. "I had assumed that to be the case... as our usual deeds go, this one is no different. Very well, then, I shall arrange transportation for them. They must be very tired and scared, and I wish to grant them a safe place to stay within the Canterlot Orphanage." "Thank you, Your Majesty, that was what I had intended to ask 'bout. Let your guards know to look for us at Sweet Apple Acres outside of Ponyville. If they lose their way, just tell them to look for the acres of apple trees just outside town." Luna's light laugh was like the sound of chimes tingling in the breeze. "Of course, Judicator Harper. Like all Judicators, you have done well. Never cease to stop in the deeds that you carry out, for all of the Commonwealth benefits from it. Thank you for taking the time to contact me directly about this affair... the wellbeing of the foals is something I would have been very concerned about." The magic faded away as Princess Luna closed the line of communication between the badge and herself. Twilight merely stood for a moment, curiously gazing at the badge until Jamie cleared his throat. "Well, thank you for your help, Twilight. Have a nice night now, and don't tell anyone about what you just heard..." He tipped his hat to her and walked back to the group, leaving the mare to go over everything she had just seen. Jamie waved her goodnight as Twilight lazily did the same, closing the door behind her as she returned to whatever it was she went to do, seeing as the lights in her treehouse stayed on as they walked away. "Well, what did our dear Princess have to say?" Anora asked. "She's sendin' guards to pick up the goons in the forest, and transportation for the foals here to take them to the Canterlot Orphanage," he said, trudging along in the darkness as they veered on to the path that led to Sweet Apple Acres. "We're to meet 'em at Sweet Apple Acres." "Fantastic, then! I must admit, this has been quite the long night. Strangely enough, I think we've had official assignments less intense than this, actually." She snorted. "Ah, if only things were as easy as a simple track-and-arrest job from the bounty board." "Be careful what you wish for," Jamie said. "We might just end up gettin' a job where we bite off more than we can chew." "It'd certainly be quite the day when that happens, though..." she laughed. Her hooded head turned to see the foals chatting among themselves, Applebloom regaling the group with tales of her adventures in Ponyville with her friends. "I certainly wish the best for these little foals... they have much ahead of them." "As do we," Jamie said, as they walked past the wooden gates of Sweet Apple Acres and entered the orchard. "See, look! This here's my family's farm! Sweet Apple Acres!" The foals gasped in awe as they looked on the lines upon lines of apple trees, illuminated with the light of Princess Luna's moon, now high in the sky. "Oh, I can't wait to reach our home! You can try all sorts of apple foods and it'll be delicious!" "They're certainly not doing too badly," Anora said. "Being scared does things to you, Anora," Jamie said. "I guess that since that's all been said and done, they just want to return things to normal. The other foals, though... I don't know how long they've been like that. Days, weeks, months, even years. And we might have just been the first kind folks that came along and helped 'em." "Such thoughts are dangerous to dwell upon... what matters now is that they can get help, and Princess Luna will see to that." They entered the dusty ground outside of the lit Apple family home as Jamie walked up to the door and knocked. "Who's there?" a voice came from inside. "It's me, Mac. Open up." Big Macintosh opened the door slightly, and only then revealing himself after he saw Jamie at the door. "Where is she, Jamie? Is she safe?" "She's safe," Jamie said, as Applebloom and the other foals approached from behind him. "See, here she is. Get along now, Applebloom, your friends are waitin' for you inside." "Hey, Applebloom!" Sweetie Belle cried. "Oh, you're safe! We were so worried that you would get hurt!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered together in a group hug as a white unicorn mare stepped towards him with Applejack. As Jamie met eyes again with Applejack, however, she only looked away. "Oh, my, so this is the dashing hero who helped save my sister's friend?" the unicorn spoke. "I thank you for all that you've done, as Sweetie Belle was worried sick over here. I dare not think what would have happened if things hadn't turned out the way they did." "It was no problem, miss. It wasn't anythin' that we couldn't deal with," Jamie said. "Well, I certainly hope you put those ruffians in their place," she said. "But, enough of that. Please, come in, I'm sure you must all be tired." "I can't object to that, miss...?" "Rarity, darling. I am Ponyville's premier fashion designer, and a dear friend of Applejack here." Rarity looked to Applejack with a smile, only for her to frown as she noticed the earth pony's face. "Darling, you've been silent the entire time. I would think that your sister returning would be great news." "I know it's great news, I'm just... I don't want to talk 'bout it," Applejack said, walking off into the kitchen. "Hmm..." Rarity said, staring at the kitchen doorway. "There must be something going on... I have never seen her so... cold before." "I have to apologize for that, Miss Rarity. She's actin' that way because of... well, we had a few... disagreements," Jamie said. "Well, my dear, I won't pry, but you should sort out whatever it is with her. To see one of my dearest friends in such a temperament makes me deeply worried... and I'd rather not have to get involved," she added, with a tone of accusation under her voice. "What is your relation with Applejack?" "I'm an old family friend. I lived here at Sweet Apple Acres for a time until shortly after... her parents passed away. I moved back to the Southlands after that." "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, dear," Rarity said quietly. "I had no idea that the Apple family had relatives outside of their own already-large extended family. Nonetheless, I would hope that you would try to patch up your relations with her. It wouldn't do either of you much good to keep things going like this." Jamie looked to the living room as Granny Smith dispersed various baked treats and drinks to the foals, as they talked among themselves. "I certainly hope I can, Miss Rarity." "Well, then you know what you must do," Rarity said, walking into the living room. "But I'd like to make it obvious that if you hurt her... then you shall hear the wrath of myself and all of her friends." He sighed sadly. "I wouldn't ever dream of doing such a thing, Miss Rarity." "Then I hope you will remain a gentlecolt. Now, if you don't mind, I bid you a good night." She joined speaking with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith in the living room as Anora walked up beside him. "Well, I think things have gone quite well, haven't they?" she said. "Better than I expected," Jamie said, turning around and finally noticing the red sheen on Redhorn's armor. "Redhorn, go find some water and get yourself cleaned up. I can only imagine you'd only end up scaring the foals half to death with that blood all over the armor." "Fine, fine..." Redhorn muttered. "I noticed a river nearby when we walked out of town. I'll be right back." He trudged back along the path to Ponyville as Anora and Jamie stood watching him go. "Sometimes I think we don't appreciate Redhorn enough for the work that he does," Anora said. "He's a strong buffalo with a good heart... and he's gotten us out of so many situations that I think we should actually find a way to give thanks for his help somehow." "We'll get to that in due time. Perhaps we'll throw one around the time we go visit the Southlands," Jamie said, laughing. "You can head on in now, join the folks in partyin'." "Not going to join us?" she asked, pulling off her hood and giving her mane some air. "Maybe later, but for now, I'm just goin' to get some fresh air. Let Redhorn know when he gets back, okay?" Anora nodded and Jamie walked off into the orchard, contemplating on his own set of affairs. Eventually, his feet brought him to the very hill where he, Big Macintosh, and Applejack stayed out during the nights, watching the stars... but the tree was gone. Perhaps it was merely a sign that things were changing, that they had grown up and realized that the real world had taught them things that meant that they could never return to what once was. Sitting down in front of the rough patch of dirt where the tree once stood, he looked into the night sky as he felt a presence coming up behind him. He turned to see that earth pony mare he'd known for so long looking at him with her emerald eyes. "Hey..." Applejack said awkwardly. "I just wanted to... thank you for savin' Applebloom today." "It was no problem, Applejack," he said. "I'd help family in a heartbeat." "See, 'bout that... I kind of feel... really bad for what I said earlier today... you didn't deserve it, and I was bein' a bit dense for not listenin' to you. So I want to talk with you... in earnest, and not all that word-slingin' we did earlier." "Of course, Applejack, I would appreciate it if we could talk. But I have a question, though..." Jamie said. "Yeah?" she said, watching as Jamie pointed at the rough patch of dirt with his thumb, his face scrunched into one of pure confusion. "What happened to Bloomberg?"