//------------------------------// // The Villain // Story: Parent Trap // by PhantomBulwark //------------------------------// The night did not improve once dinner was over. AJ retired to her room, Vignette’s voice rolling in one ear and out the other. As the door to their shared suite swung open she found herself desperately wishing she had followed her friends. “- and you absolutely should not have invited them to dinner with my parents of all things!” Vignette concluded loudly. “Yes,” Applejack agreed quietly. “I know it was a bad plan and I’ve apologized for it… Are you done?” “No, Applejack I am not done. In less than 24 hours you have sprung an ex and an extra child on me. You’ve forced me to allow your merry band of idiots to attend dinner with my parents. And you have thoroughly embarrassed me.” “You say all that like I meant for any of this to happen! I had no idea the boys were both at Camp Everfree. I had no idea they switched places. I had no IDEA that Rarity was coming here to switch them back! I’m sorry this weekend isn’t going the way we hoped but I’m trying.” AJ’s eyes watered, she felt like her emotions were bouncing around in her rib cage; breaking everything in their path. “Then I suggest you try harder.” Rarity stared at Rainbow Dash with a strange mix of exasperation and respect. All her old friends were seated around the coffee table in her hotel room. The massive white leather couches of the executive suite provided plenty of room. Rainbow had taken the initiative to explain why they were all here… and to tell her the plan. “If Vignette is really as horrible as you all say then why haven’t you said as much to… her.” “Her name is Applejack, Rarity. It won’t hurt you to say it,” Rainbow pointed out. “And to answer that question, we did tell her. Vignette has her convinced that we hate her and that we’re all just spewing bull to get rid of her.” “She’s exceptionally manipulative.” Twilight agreed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “She’s DISNEY VILLIAN EVIL,” Pinkie proclaimed. “Cruella de Vil, the guy who shot Bambi’s mom… Jafar level evil Rarity!” Rarity raised an eyebrow, “so Vignette is devious? Applejack obviously loves her; there isn’t anything any of us can say that will stop her… I don’t know why you all are so fixated on me. I’m here to switch the boys back and find a solution to our new custody situation. I’m not here to… to… win her back or break up an engagement. AJ hasn’t loved me in a long time; we’ve been done for years. We both agreed to separate the boys so she wouldn’t ever have to see me again.” Fluttershy looked Rarity directly in the eyes from across the table. “She wants the boys sent away so that she can get AJ to turn over the part of the farm she deeded to them when they were born... along with Applejack’s own portion. A large vineyard has offered a lot of money for the farm and the family cider recipe.” Rarity’s eye twitched. “Surely she'll will see through that. She isn’t dumb,” she glanced uneasily at her sons who were a few feet away watching the big screen TV (Read: eavesdropping). “Applejack will see her ruse for what it is and that will be that. There’s no reason for any of us to be involved.” “Unless she lies,” Sunset pointed out, “not to be the perpetual dark cloud or anything but she doesn’t seem to care about AJ very much. And Vignette is in charge of advertising and stuff. Last we spoke Big Mac said that their sales were going down before she showed up. And, at first they went up when Vignette joined them… Then all of a sudden Vignette was dating AJ and the farms sales were worse than ever. If AJ believes they’re going to lose it all… she’d sell. To keep the boys happy and safe? To protect her family? For the right price AJ would sell.” “And I looked into the vineyard when Applejack first told me she got an offer to buy the farm, they have a lot of money.” Fluttershy sighed, “Sunset is right; if it were the farm or poverty for her family… she’d sell. And now that Granny Smith is getting up in age Applejack is the executor of the estate. Her name is on everything but the two large parcels of land she deeded to the boys. AJ’s already desperate, all Vignette needs is the boys out of the way and AJ would sell.” Rarity’s face got progressively redder at every word. It was easy to forget with her small stature and soft, high society demeanor that a temper like a raging inferno lurked behind her blue eyes. “And Applejack…” she gritted out, “has noticed none of this?” Twilight frowned, “speaking as someone who works with her often? AJ is lonely Rarity. She’s been a single mother and running a business on the verge of belly up virtually on her own for years. She only met Vignette because of work, and she’s the first person AJ has shown an interest in since you left. She’s afraid that she’s going to lose the farm, she’s afraid of spending her life alone, and she’s afraid she’ll never get over you.” “Wha- But? Me?” Rarity fumbled. “We’ve been separated for years! Why would she still be stuck on me? I’m sure your mistaken darling, Applejack was no slouch then and she isn’t now. She’s had plenty of love over the years, I’m sure.” “No offence Rares,” Rainbow butted in, “but you’ve been gone. The rest of us were here. She hasn’t seen anyone. Ever. That’s why the Vignette thing worries us so much. She doesn’t even really want her. Personally I think Vignette is just after AJ’s money and AJ is all over it because Vignette is the first woman to give her the time of day in ages. She misses you and now a Rarity downgrade is all she thinks she can get.”