//------------------------------// // A Royal Misunderstanding // Story: The Mystery of a New World // by Fanthrose //------------------------------// ((I made a couple of changes to chapter 10. I realized I forgot to save Smarty Pants, so I rewrote her into the story.)) Chapter 11 The sun was shining down and a nice breeze was blowing as AJ sadly stared down at his father’s makeshift grave. As he looked at it, many memories ran through his head. He smiled as he thought of these, but there was one memory that always overtook the rest; one that always tainted his memories of his father with sadness. A tear ran down his cheek. “I’m sorry dad.” “So this is where you've been goin’ off ta every so often.” Shocked to hear a voice behind him, AJ whipped around to see Applejack and Fluttershy standing there with smiles on their faces. “Thanks fer helpin’ me find’im Fluttershy.” “Hello AJ,” Fluttershy said in her normal quiet tone. She noticed the wet line on his cheek. “Oh, did we interrupt something, I’m sorry.” AJ was too busy mentally chastising himself for letting someone find him in this place that he barley heard Applejack speak. “Hmm? What’cha got over here? Jolting out of his thoughts, he tried to stop Applejack from seeing the gravestone. “No wait!” He was too late as Applejack was already reading. Her head lowered as she turned to look at AJ. “Oh Sugarcube, Ah’m so sorry.” She took her hat off, put it to her chest and gave a prayer. By now Fluttershy was getting curious and decided to see for herself what was there. She let out a small gasp as she brought her hooves to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.” They sat in silence for a minute before Fluttershy spoke up again. “W-what happened? How did he…?” AJ flinched when Fluttershy asked the question, almost as if the question had physically hurt him. More tears rolled down his cheeks. “U-u-umm…l-l-look at the time. I-i-i-i should get back to work.” Without answering the question, he rushed back to Ponyville, wiping tears from his eyes. “W-was it something I said?” Fluttershy asked as she lowered her head. “Do you think he hates me now?” Applejack put her leg around Fluttershy, “Ah think he just needs some time Sugarcube. Now come on, we should be gettin’ back ta work too.” ******************** Applejack and Fluttershy followed behind AJ a bit on the way back to Ponyville. None of them said anything, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward. As they walked down the street they looked around and watched the many rebuilding projects that were taking place at the moment. Every able bodied pony was busy helping rebuild after the storm. The first day was spent cleaning up the streets of debris and fallen trees and then moving on to replacing windows on the buildings that were still intact. Today they finished up the windows and started working on the buildings that had the least amount of damage. Second in command of the Cloudsdale weather team Cappuccino and his best pony Cool Star were left behind to take care of weather while the Ponyville weather ponies helped with construction. The mayor had asked the ponies whose houses had survived if they could help house those who were now homeless until they could get to their houses. With not enough homes surviving, businesses started accepting ponies in. Places like Sugarcube Corner and Bon Bon’s Sugar Shack were filled with cots for ponies to sleep in. Even town hall and the library were packed full. This is why Mayor Mare had wanted the buildings with the least amount of damage taken care of ASAP; to open up more housing for the ponies of the quaint town. By the time they reached the path to Fluttershy’s house AJ had calmed down again. They all said there goodbyes as Fluttershy flew the rest of the way to her house. Fluttershy happily agreed to take care of the pets of the families as the construction was taking place and she had to get back and check on them. AJ and Applejack waved goodbye as they continued down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. ******************** As the Two of them got back to the farm, they noticed Twilight talking to Big Mac and Apple Bloom. “Hey Twilight, what can Ah do fer ya?” Twilight turned and smiled as she saw Applejack walking towards her. “Oh hello Applejack, I was just informing Big Mac that the princess is sending workers from Canterlot tomorrow to help rebuild. When I told her how much damage was done to your farm, she also told me that she would send a unicorn that specializes in plant magic.” “So, yer sayin’ th’ trees can be saved?” When Applejack saw Twilight nod, she couldn’t control herself. She started bouncing around in a circle with a beaming smile on her face. She didn’t care how childish she looked, she was just happy the trees were going to be OK. She stopped bouncing rushed over to Twilight and grabbed her up in a big, bone crushing hug as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. “Oh thank you, thank you so much!” ”Apple…jack…can’t…breath.” Once Big Mac was able to pry Applejack off Twilight took a few seconds get her breath back. “Well, I should be getting back to the library. I left Spike in charge and I don’t think he was too happy about that with all the extra ponies around. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then bye.” As Twilight was leaving Applejack started bouncing in place again. In one sudden movement, she threw her self at her brother and wrapped her legs around his neck. Not expecting this, Big Mac fell to his haunches, putting pressure on his injured leg causing him to grunt in pain. “Sorry Big McIntosh, but Ah’m just so happy that th’ farm’ll be OK.” Big Mac just smiled and returned the hug. “Eeyup.” ******************** “Hey Applejack, could you help me with this one, it’s really heavy?” AJ asked as he strained to lift a particularly big piece of the fallen farm house. “Be right there Sugarcube, just gotta finish up over here,” Applejack shouted through a piece of debris in her mouth. They were busy cleaning up the fallen house so a new one could be built in its place. They had already sent out a message to Braeburn to gather all the Apple family present in Appleloosa for help building a new house as, like the old house, they wanted it to be a family endeavor. The old house was built by past members of the Apple family and they wanted to keep the tradition, and with Big Mac still out of commission, they needed all the help they could get. “Shame Rainbow couldn’t help us on account of’er injuries.” “Oh my god, I wish you could have been there to see it Applejack, it was hilarious,” AJ said as he stopped trying to lift the heavy piece of debris. ******************** “Sweet Apple Acres is destroyed?!” Shouted Rainbow Dash as AJ informed her of the damages. “Why didn’t anypony tell me this?! I gotta get over there to see how the-AHH!” As Dash leapt off her bed, the landing jostled her ribs, sending her to the floor in pain. “Woah, settle down Dash, I think you should just take it easy and rest for awhile.” Not taking AJ’s advice, Rainbow got up on shaky legs and started running through the door of her room. “Or not.” As she made her way down the hall, she was stopped by Nurse Redheart blocking the main entrance. “And where do you think your going Ms. Dash?” The scowl on her face told Dash she meant business. “Can’t talk right now. Gotta see Applejack.” Rainbow kept trying to get around the nurse with no luck. “Come on, move!” Dash tried to rush the door but was stopped once again by Redheart. “I can’t let you leave and get yourself injured even further Ms. Dash. Could I get some help over here?” At her call, Dr. Whooves and a unicorn nurse came to her aid. The unicorn levitated Rainbow up and held her in place to prevent her from leaving. Dr. Whooves opened her mouth, shoved 4 blue pills in her mouth and poured some water to help them down her throat. The unicorn continued to hold her in place as she struggled for a few minutes until Dash started to slow down. Her struggling got slower and slower until her legs and good wing hung limp in the air. Smiling, Nurse Redheart left to go get something to transfer Dash back to her room. AJ walked up to Dash as the unicorn placed her back on the floor. Lying on her belly, her legs were sprawled out to the sides with her right hind leg twitching occasionally. Her wing, like her leg was twitching. Her face was one of pure ecstasy. Her mouth was open in a dopey smile as her tongue lolled out of the left side of her mouth. She stared at the wall through half closed eyes and started rolling around, laughing uncontrollably for absolutely no reason. Seeing Rainbow Dash reduced to a drugged up pile of laughing pony was absolutely hilarious to AJ as he tried his hardest to hold in his laughter. “So doctor, what was that you gave her anyway?” “Oh just a little something to help her…calm down.” He produced a bottle with more of the pills he jammed down Rainbows gullet. “Just two of these things will help even the biggest of ponies relax and ease their tension.” AJ looked back at Rainbow who was being levitated onto a gurney. They had to strap her down so she wouldn’t roll off. He had to stifle another laugh as he turned to Dr. Whooves again. “If two of them would have worked just fine, why did you give her four of them? Couldn’t that, you know, hurt her?” Dr. Whooves laughed and waved his hoof at AJ. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” ******************** “She woke up yesterday morning moaning something about it feeling like a hydra was wailing on her head with a sledgehammer.” The two of them laughing drew the attention of Apple Bloom. “What’r y’all laughing at?” “We're just laughing at Rainbow’s misfortune,” AJ said regaining his composure. “So, did ya finish yer job Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked as she sat on her haunches. “Yup, it’s lookin’ mighty nice right now.” Apple Bloom put on a proud face. “Do ya wanna see it?” “Sure, we could use a break anyway.” Applejack took off her hat and wiped her brow. “Ah, haven’t gone ta visit’em in awhile anyway.” AJ followed Applejack and Apple Bloom to a small clearing in the trees. With the sun at its peak, the clearing was lit up magnificently. In the center of the clearing sat three grave stones. The one on the left read ‘Bright McIntosh’ the middle read ‘Pear Butter’ the right, ‘Granny Smith.’ “Ah wasn’t able ta plant th’ flowers on account of all th’ seeds bein’ in th’ barn.” “It’s alright Apple Bloom, ya did good,” Applejack said as the two of them walked over to the graves and sat down. “Sorry ah haven’t been around in awhile. A lot of things have been happenin’ on th’ farm. We miss ya mom an’ dad.” She looked over to the third grave. “We miss ya too Granny smith. It’s just not th’ same without ya.” ******************** “Alright, on th’ count of three, we’ll lift. One…two…three.” At Applejacks mark, she and AJ lifted the heavy piece of debris from the pile. They moved it to the side so they could break it down to be disposed of later. AJ noticed something when he looked back at the pile. He saw what looked like a bit of blue and pink cloth sticking out from between two pieces of wood. He walked over and shifted them around. There lying in the debris, was a badly damaged Mr. Bun bun. It was missing one of its ears and an eye. The bottom half was hanging on by a thread and was burned beyond repair. The arm that wasn’t missing was torn open with fuzz pouring out. AJ sighed as he gently lifted it out of the wreckage. “And this was a gift from Fluttershy too. Applejack, I’ll be right back.” AJ walked through the trees to the clubhouse. He placed the no longer stuffed bunny on the table near the door. “What’s that ya got there?” AJ turned around to see Big Mac lying on the floor in the back of the clubhouse doing what looked like paperwork. “What this?” AJ asked as he pointed to Mr. Bun bun. “It’s just something Fluttershy gave me after Applejack…well you know.” AJ started rubbing the left side of his head. AJ’s head still hurt whenever he thought back to the buck to the head. “She gave it to me so I would always know I’m not alone here.” He smiled at the memory. “She’s a real sweetheart ain’t she? Why jus’ th’ other night she came over ta make sure Ah’m not puttin’ any strain on ma leg.” Due to his already crimson coat, AJ couldn’t see the blush that grew on Big Mac’s face. “Well, I should be getting back to work. See ya later Mac.” With that AJ started leaving the clubhouse. “Tell Applejack Ah’m almost finished reworkin’ th’ finances. Everythin’ looks ta’ be in order,” Big Mac shouted to AJ. AJ stopped and looked back to Big Mac. “You reworked all the finances already?” He got a nod from Big Mac. “All from memory?” Another nod from the big red stallion. He gawked at Big Mac for a few seconds. “Damn you're good.” He heard Big Mac chuckle to himself as he headed back to Applejack. ******************** AJ woke up the next morning to the sounds of conversation. He sat up and stretched before rubbing his eyes. He heard the conversation stop as he prodded around for his glasses. He found them, put them on, and finally opened his eyes. The first thing to greet his vision was a pair of green eyes framed by a smile to match Pinkie’s signature smile. “Why howdy friend!” “YAHH!!” Seeing the face right in front of him made AJ jump back and smack his head into the wall of the clubhouse. “Ow.” “Well shoot, sorry ‘bout that. Ah didn’t mean ta scare ya.” The amber pony’s smile dropped to a frown. AJ sat up again rubbing the back of his head. “Don’t worry about it. I really should be used to it by now.” He looked over to Applejack who was laughing. “So who’s this? Don’t think I’ve ever seen him around Ponyville before.” Applejack threw her leg around the pony’s withers and smiled. “This here’s mah cousin Braeburn. As soon as he got mah letter about th’ farm, he gathered all th’ Apples in Appleloosa and came ta’ help.” “Us Apples always stick together.” Braeburn stood up and took a prideful stance. “That’s how we built the good ol’ Town of AAAAAAPPLELOOSA!” “Good mornin’ ta you too Braeburn,” grumbled Big Mac from his bed. “Mornin’ Big McIntosh,” Braeburn said with a big smile, seemingly oblivious to how unhappy Big Mac was at being woken up so abruptly. “Sorry ta hear about yer leg. Knowin’ you, you’ll be right as rain in no time.” Big Mac grumbled in acknowledgement as he stretched his three good limbs. “So, who was all able ta come help?” Braeburn labeled off about ten different names; all having something to do with apples in one way or another. When he finished Big Mac had a smile on his face. “Th’ house should be rebuilt in no time now.” AJ got up and brushed the dust off his pants. “I think I’ll go to the hospital for awhile, I’ll be back at probably around noon.” “Actually, you could probably help out somewhere else. With th’ family here ah don’t think we’ll need yer help fixin’ th’ farm,” Applejack said, clearly proud of her hard working family. “You sure?” A nod of the head was all the conformation AJ needed. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do elsewhere then, later.” “Oh, an’ keep an eye out fer Apple Bloom. She went ta go play with’er friends.” Applejack shouted out the window to AJ. ******************** “So, what’s new around the farm?” Rainbow asked with a hint of venom in her voice. She was still angry that the hospital wouldn’t let her leave. “I know you wanna get outta here Dash, but you gotta take it easy. You don’t wanna get drugged again.” She immediately backed off at the threat of the evil blue pills of head crushing pain. “Besides, they got plenty of help now.” “Help, what help?” Dash asked. “Well, a pony named Braeburn came this morning and…” “BRAEBURN’S HERE!?! LIKE, AT THE FARM HERE!?!” Rainbows good wing sprung up and her eyes grew big and looked like they were shimmering. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.” She crumpled slightly as her ribs protested her excitement, but that didn’t stop her. “I take it you know him then. Saves me time from explaining who it is. Anyway, he came this morning and brought a bunch of the Apple family with him.” AJ reclined in the chair he was sitting in a bit. “With so many ponies there, Applejack told me they didn’t need my help cleaning up anymore. So after I’m done here I plan on going to make sure Apple Bloom and her friends aren’t raising hell somewhere. So, any clue when they will…let you…out?” AJ looked around and saw that he was talking to himself. “Where the hell did you go?” He peaked his head out of the room and could hear what sounded like Rainbow pleading to someone. “Pleeeeeeeease let me leave. I swear I won’t try to help with the construction.” Dr. Whooves sighed as he looked at his clipboard. “I don’t know Ms. Dash; you’re not scheduled to leave for two days." he put a hoof to his chin and thought for a moment. "I suppose if we give you some…” As soon as Dash heard the doctor even considering her release, she bolted out the door with a giant smile on her face, leaving her signature rainbow trail in her wake. “Well that was awfully rude.” “I think she started channeling Pinkie there for a minute,” AJ said as he came walking up to Dr. Whooves. “I’ll just have to make sure these painkillers get to Ms. Fluttershy’s cottage then.” He wrote himself a reminder before turning to AJ. “Anything I can help you with?” “I was just wondering if Ditzy was up yet.” “Nope, but Dinky is. I think she’s watching cartoons right now. If you’d like, you’re welcome to go see them.” ******************** Twilight was spending some of her free time reading. With all that has been happening, she has been very stressed, and with all the other ponies temporarily living in the library, she was finding it hard to get a good night sleep. So she thought, what better way to relieve stress than a nice cup of tea and to catch up on her studies. She took a nice big sip of her tea and was interrupted by a knock on the door. Aggravated that her studies were being interrupted, she swore under her breath. “Coming!” She made sure she looked presentable and answered the door. What she saw shocked her. At her door stood Prince Blueblood flanked on both sides by two members of his personal guard. “Prince Blueblood? What are you doing here?” “Ah, Lady Twilight it’s so good to see you again.” Blueblood bowed to Twilight. With how close Twilight was to Celestia, she was almost seen as part of the family depending on who you talked to. “As to why I’m here, Aunty Celestia has sent me to overlook the reconstruction. We have set up camp just outside Ponyville and are preparing to get started as we speak.” “Hey Twilight, who’s at the door?” Spike came down the stares. When he saw Blueblood standing in the door, he went from zero to murderous in an instant. “What are you doing here?! You’re lucky I don’t set you on fire for what you did to my sweet Rarity!” Blueblood shuddered when he heard Rarity’s name. “Nice to see you too Sir Spike.” “Oh calm down Spike, he’s here to help. Don’t mind him, he’s just a bit cranky from lack of sleep,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. “If you don’t mind, I would like to speak to the mayor. I would like to go over her plans for the construction,” Blueblood said as he turned to leave. “Oh, of course, Spike could you keep tabs on the library for awhile?” “Yea, sure.” Spike turned to Blueblood. “I’m watching you.” ******************** “Ah reckon he must be pretty tough if he’s up n walkin’ after a buck from you,” Braeburn said. He and Applejack were still sitting in the clubhouse catching up. They had sent letters to each other, but they haven’t actually seen each other since Applejack and her friends dropped off Bloomberg. Big Mac left a short time ago to supervise the work on the house. He knew he had plenty of time to catch up. He was also hoping Braeburn brought some of his special hard apple cider. Nopony made hard apple cider like Braeburn. “Trust me, if Ah actually tried when ah bucked’im, he wouldn’t have gotten up.” Applejack gave a sad chuckle. “Ah still feel terrible ‘bout th’ whole thing.” Braeburn put a reassuring leg on her shoulder and gave her a smile. “Don’t feel too bad cuz, it don’t look like he’s holdin’ any grudges against ya. An’ even if he did, Ah’m sure he’d see how sorry ya are an’ come around.” “Thank’s.” She gave Braeburn a hug. “Come on, we should get ta work.” The two of them left the clubhouse and headed through the trees. Suddenly they heard something coming straight for them. Braeburn was the first to speak up. “What’s that?” “Ah don’t know, but it almost sounds like…” Applejack was interrupted when she saw a blue blur careen into Braeburn at full speed, sending him to the ground and bringing up a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, she saw Rainbow Dash hugging and nuzzling against Braeburn on the ground once again ignoring the punishment her ribs were dishing out. As Braeburn shook the cloud from his mind, he hugged Rainbow back. “Howdy ta you too Rainbow. Ah suppose it has been awhile since we’ve seen each other hasn’t it.” Rainbow nodded into his chest. “Yea, two weeks is a long time.” Applejack clearing her throat brought the two of them out of their own little world. “What in tarnation is goin’ on here Rainbow?” Dash’s face turned crimson. She hadn’t even noticed Applejack standing there. “Well…umm.” She turned to Braeburn. “Didn’t you tell her?” He shook his head. “Ah though you were gonna tell’er.” “Tell me what?” “He’s my coltfriend/She’s mah fillyfriend,” The two of them said at the same time. Applejack stared at the two of them slack jawed. “Ya mean you,” she pointed at Dash, “And you?” she pointed at Braeburn. They both nodded. “How long has this been goin’ on?” Dash was still blushing as she answered, “about a year. I got a letter from Little Strongheart one day saying that she wanted to see me again. So I took a week off and flew down to Appleloosa. It turns out since they worked out their differences with the buffalo; Little Strongheart has been making trips into town whenever she can. We hung out for awhile and Braeburn offered me a room at his house to stay while I was visiting and well…” she trailed off as she got lost in her memories. “As the days went by we kept spending more and more time together. He just made me feel so safe. I didn’t have to keep my guard up around him. On my last night there I started feeling so depressed. I…I didn’t want to leave, but I knew I had to get back to Ponyville." ******************** Dash was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about all the time she had spent with Braeburn over the week. She sighed, “I don’t wanna go back.” She heard a knock on the door. “Come in.” Braeburn came into the room with a smile on his face. When he saw how depressed Rainbow was the smile fell. “What’s wrong Dashie?” Dash turned away, trying to hide the tears that were starting to form. “Braeburn…I don’t know if I wanna leave tomorrow.” A tear rolled down her cheek. Braeburn grew concerned. “What’s wrong, don’t ya wanna see yer friends? Ah’m sure they’ll be happy ta see ya come home.” Dash sat up and looked at Braeburn. “That’s not it. I love my friends, but…” She sniffled and wiped more tears from her eyes. “I don’t wanna leave Appleloosa, Braeburn. I don’t wanna leave you.” Braeburn’s eyes grew wide when he heard this. “You’re the only stallion who ever treated me like this. The only one who ever treated me like a mare, and not some tomcolt to compete against. I’ve had so much fun here, and it’s made me feel so…happy. The thought of leaving all that…it hurts.” Braeburn didn’t say a word. He just walked over to the bed and drew Dash in a hug. “Ta tell ya th’ truth, ah don’t want you ta leave either.” Dash gasped and looked up at him. He lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. It surprised her at first, but after a few seconds, Dash felt herself melting in his embrace. She hugged and kissed back. After a minute they both released the kiss, and continued to lay there the bed before Dash asked the question that was burning in her mind. “Braeburn, c-can you stay with me tonight?” “Anything fer you.” Dash happily stayed in his embrace until she fell asleep against his chest. ******************** “I love him Applejack. He makes me feel like a mare, makes me feel like I’m special. I don’t need to act tough or try to be somepony I’m not around him.” She shed a tear of happiness as she nuzzled into Braeburn again. Applejack smiled at her best friend’s story. “Well, ifin y’all're happy, who am Ah ta say otherwise.” Her face turned from happy to one of ferocity. “But if EITHER of ya hurt th’ other, Ah’m commin’ ta get ya, do you hear me?” They both quickly nodded their heads. As the two of them started getting up, the pain from Rainbow’s ribs finally got the better of her and she collapsed with a yelp of pain. Braeburn caught her with a worried look in his face. “Dashie, are ya alright?” “I guess I over did it. Think you could help me to Fluttershy’s house?” Rainbow grunted out in pain. “Of course. Could yawatch her while ah go get a free wagon Applejack?” Applejack gave him a nod. “Ah’ll be right back.” He ran to the construction site as fast as he could. ******************** “Fillies and genalcolts, our benevolent Princess Celestia has done a great thing for us today,” Mayor Mare began as she stood in front of the crowd. “This morning, a team has arrived from Canterlot to help with repairs to our fair town.” The crowd erupted with cheers and applause. “With them they also brought food and supplies to help support us in our time of need.” More cheers from the crowd. “Now, I would like to introduce the pony who will be supervising the reconstruction of Ponyville. Give a warm welcome to Prince Blueblood!” As Blueblood stepped on stage, the cheers of the crowd grew loud, especially from the fillies and mares of the group. Though, over the crowd, one certain alabaster white unicorn with a violet mane could be heard shouting in rage. Blueblood stood in front of the crowd with a proud yet smug smile on his face. “Hello citizens of Ponyville, I am Prince Blueblood. As your fine mayor has just informed you, I have with me a team of highly skilled architects who will be able to restore this fine town to its former glory in no time at all.” Once again the crowd erupted with cheers. “Your mayor and I have worked out what we think is the best and fastest way to rebuild Ponyville. The team should be ready any time now and will begin post haste. I bid you farewell, my fellow ponies.” ******************** “I still can’t believe you two did that,” Ditzy said with a grumpy look on her face. “Oh come on Ditzy, you know it was funny,” AJ said while chuckling to himself. While AJ was visiting Dinky, he had gotten an evil idea in his head. He asked for a marker that easily washes out of a ponies coat and started drawing on Ditzy’s face. Dinky, thinking it was funny, wanted to join in. By the time the two of them were done, not an inch of her face was left without some kind of drawing, marker mustache, or monocle. She woke up to the laughter of the two of them and started laughing with them not knowing why they were laughing. After going to the little fillies room, she stormed out looking furious. She demanded to know who did it. AJ and Dinky looked at each other and started laughing uncontrollably to the point where AJ tipped over in his chair and Dinky was rolling around in the bed. “I guess it was a little funny, and my muffin did have fun. Just don’t do it again, OK?” A small smile grew on her face. “No problem.” AJ looked at the clock. “Oh crap, I should probably go looking for Apple Bloom. Applejack wanted me to make sure she wasn’t getting into any trouble.” “OK. Are you going to come back later?” Ditzy asked. “Yup, I’ll probably be back around normal time. See you later.” AJ waved and walked out of the room. ******************** The hardest part of AJ’s job was finding where the CMC would be. He expected someone to have seen them. After all, they were usually causing some kind of trouble or terrorizing someone with one of their stunts to get their cutie marks. But everyone he asked had the same answer. So with no help, he decided to just wander the streets searching for them. As he looked around, he noticed he was getting a lot of strange looks from some of the ponies working around Ponyville. It was starting to make him feel a bit uncomfortable, but he decided to just brush it off as he continued his search. As he started to get near the school, he noticed a constantly moving blob in the distance. As he got closer, he realized that it wasn’t a blob; it was three fillies tangled up in a ball of rope. And not just any three fillies, it was none other than the CMC. “So this is where you three have been. Having fun?” “What, who’s there, all I can see is the ground?” Scootaloo asked. “Ah don’t know, ah cant see anythin’ around Sweetie Belle’s butt,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s AJ!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Maybe he can help us get untangled from this rope!” AJ couldn’t help but laugh. “OK, before I do anything I gotta know, how the hell did you three get into this mess in the first place?” “It wouldn’t have happened if Scootaloo wooda jus' let me have th’ rope,” Apple Bloom said. “I hade the rope first, you could have carried the hammer,” Scootaloo added. “But Ah wanted th’ rope!” “Well now you got it!” The two of them started fighting as best they could while being tied up in the rope. “OK, OK, I think I understand. Settle down and I’ll cut you free.” AJ pulled out his knife and started cutting through the rope. ******************** Blueblood was walking through the streets of Ponyville doing what he said he would be doing, supervising. “Hmm, all looks to be going quite well, wouldn’t you say Steel Hoof?” The captain of his personal guard grunted in acknowledgment. “Maybe if things keep going this well I might be able to turn in early today. With all this dust here I’ll have to spend twice the amount of time getting groomed tonight.” As Blueblood turned the corner his guards stepped in front of him as if to protect him from something. “What, what’s wrong?” “There appears to be a strange, possibly dangerous creature up ahead sir,” Steel Hoof warned. “Shall we apprehend?” Blueblood looked up ahead and saw a strange ape like creature standing in front of a few fillies sprawled on the ground with what looked like a cut rope around them. The thing that caught his attention the most was the knife in the creature’s hand. “That…thing must be attacking those little fillies! Guards…” a thought came to bluebloods mind. ‘If I personally take care of this threat, I’ll be a hero in this little backwater town. Maybe they’ll even dedicate a statue in my honor.’ “Guards, allow me to take care of this threat.” His guards saluted and stood down. Blueblood stepped forward and ignited his horn. ******************** “It feels so nice to be able to move again,” Sweetie Belle said with glee in her voice. “Yea, I was getting tired of counting the blades of grass,” Scootaloo added. “Ah guess we don’t make good construction workers after all,” Apple Bloom said dejectedly. “I’m sure you three will find your special talent soon enough, for now why don’t you just…” AJ was interrupted when he felt his knife yanked out of his hand. “What the hell?” “Don’t you dare harm those little fillies you evil creature. I, Prince Blueblood, shall strike you down.” Blueblood was standing in an offensive position with the knife poised to strike. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve had my share of combat training.” AJ gawked at Blueblood for a second. “Umm, what are you talking about, and give me back my knife, it was a gift from my dad.” He had to jump back as Blueblood flung the knife at his feet, embedding it in the ground to the hilt. “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU PSYCHO?!” Blueblood pulled the knife out of the ground and readied it again. “Have at you monster.” He swung the knife at AJ, causing him to run. “You think you can get away from me? That’s laughable.” Blueblood took aim, and launched the knife again. It flew through the air and stabbed AJ through his right shoulder. AJ fell to the ground in pain. He looked at his shoulder and saw the end of the knife sticking out with blood dripping from it. He cried out in pain as he felt the knife forcefully yanked out, leaving an open wound. Clenching his shoulder, he turned to see Blueblood standing over him with a smile on his face, and the blood stained knife hovering over him. “I told you it was futile to run.” “Hey, what’s your problem?!” Scootaloo shouted as the three CMC ran over to AJ. “He didn’t do anything to you!” The three of them stood between AJ and Blueblood. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo put on a tough front as Sweetie Belle was using all of her will power to keep herself from cowering. “Why don’t you go pick on somepony who deserves it?” “Yea, he didn’t do anythin’ wrong!” Apple Bloom shouted, stomping her hoof for emphasis. “Y-yea, what they said,” Sweetie Belle squeaked out as she started shivering. “Girls, get out of here, you’ll get hurt.” AJ didn’t want to see the CMC get hurt by this new pony that had started attacking him for no reason. “No, we won’t let him hurt you anymore,” Sweetie said, now starting to tear up as she saw the blood slowly pouring out of the wound. “I’m sorry you had to see this, young ladies, but I can’t let this…monster harm any of the ponies here in Ponyville,” Blueblood said as he tried to get around the CMC. They matched his every move and kept getting in his way. He was starting to lose his patience with the three fillies. “OK, if this thing’s safety is this important to you, I won’t harm it any further. Guards…” Blueblood’s personal guards came forward at the command. “Take him to camp and lock him up. He will stay there until further notice.” One of his guards herded the CMC away from AJ; Steel Hoof got him up and got him ready for transport. At this point, Sweetie Belle couldn’t stand it anymore and ran back to Carousel Boutique. ******************** “Oh Fluttershy, I must thank you for agreeing to take care of my dear Opalescence,” Rarity said as she handed Fluttershy Opal’s cat carrier. “With all this construction I’m just not able to spend enough time taking care of the poor dear.” “Oh, don’t worry Rarity; I’ll take care of little Opal for you. We’ll have so much fun, wont we Opal.” Opal purred as Fluttershy put her face up to the door of the carrier. Suddenly Sweetie Belle burst through the door, bawling her eyes out. “Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong darling?” Rarity went to Sweetie Belle and started to comfort her. “*Sniff* Rarity, AJ’s hurt,” Sweetie got out between sobs. “Some bad pony hurt him.” Both Rarity and Fluttershy gasped. “Sweetie Belle, tell me.” Rarity lifted her sister’s head to look her in the eyes. “Where is he, is he OK?” “S-some guards took him.” “Guards?” Rarity’s eyes went wide. She had an idea who Sweetie was talking about, but she needed to make sure she was right. “Sweetie, what did this bad pony look like? Did he have a white coat with a blond mane? Looking full of himself?” Sweetie Belle nodded. Rarity’s eyes fell to slits as she spoke with the most venom in her voice that both Sweetie and Fluttershy had ever heard, “Blueblood.” “U-um Rarity, are you OK?” Fluttershy asked as she saw Rarity’s eye twitch as she shook with fury. She started to back away from the infuriated unicorn. “Fluttershy!” Rarity’s shout caused Fluttershy to hide behind a mannequin. “Go get your first aid kit. I’ll go deal with Blueblood.” Fluttershy poked her head out from behind her hiding place. “B-but Rarity, do you really think this is a good idea? He is royalty after all.” “Oh, if he wants to keep his horn, he’ll listen to me.” Rarity looked down at her sister who was still crying. “But first, I need to take care of my sister. Go ahead Fluttershy; I’ll be along when I can.” ******************** “P-please let me through sir. I-I just want to help AJ.” Fluttershy was attempting to be as brave and assertive as she could possibly be as she stood in front of Blueblood and his guards. Key word was attempting. She was shaking like a leaf as the guards glared at her. “*Squeak*” “I must apologies Ms. Fluttershy, but I can not allow anypony see the prisoner. We have no idea how dangerous he may be.” He looked Fluttershy over and smiled. “I wouldn’t want him to hurt even a hair on such a beautiful mares head.” Fluttershy squeaked again when she heard Blueblood hit on her, and hid behind her mane. “When this is all over, would you like a tour of the castle courtesy of me? I could take you to see all of the most beautiful sights of Canterlot. It would be the most…” “BLUUUEBLOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!” came a shout that to Blueblood sounded to be of the devil. “You stop hitting on Fluttershy THIS INSTANT! If you don’t I swear by Celestia’s good name, I will find the biggest, messiest, most frosting covered cake in all of Equestria and I WILL throw you into it myself.” Blueblood immediately shrank back at the threat of another cake bath courtesy of Rarity. Rarity walked beside Fluttershy and put her leg around her withers. “He didn’t hurt you, did he Fluttershy.” She shook her head behind her mane. Rarity smiled, “Will he let you in?” She shook her head again. Rarity turned to Blueblood and glared death at him. It was Blueblood’s turn to cower now. “W-w-we don’t know i-if he’s dangerous, so I can’t allow anypony to see him.” “If you don’t want your horn to be snapped off like a twig and shoved straight up your ass, you will allow Fluttershy to see him. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!?!” Rarity’s outburst made Blueblood hide behind one of his guards. Armies of opposing ponies or griffins, easy. Monsters from the Everfree forest, piece of cake. The wrath of a mare that must be possessed by the devil, scariest thing in the world. He didn’t want to feel the wrath of the evil, white, cake demon that was Rarity. He gingerly nodded his head. “B-b-b-b-b-but only if a guard acc-c-c-c-companies her in.” Rarity glared at him again. She let out a frustrated grunt, “Fine.” She looked at Fluttershy who was staring at Rarity, eyes wide and mouth agape. She had never seen Rarity get this mad. She also never expected a threat of physical harm to royalty from Rarity of all ponies. Rarity blushed a bit. “I’m sorry you had to see that Fluttershy, but look on the bright side, you won’t have any problems with the likes of Blueblood anymore.” As Rarity started walking towards the library, she could have sworn she heard Blueblood start to cry. ******************** “He’s in here.” The guard opened the flap of a tent to let Fluttershy in. The only thing in the tent was AJ who had his hands chained together and a chain around his neck holding him to some wooden beams that were stuck in the ground. The right side of his shirt was covered in blood, and there was a white, blood soaked cloth wrapped around his shoulder. He lifted his head and looked at Fluttershy. He wanted to smile, but with the events that happened earlier in the day, he wasn’t in the mood. “Watch out Fluttershy. Don’t get too close. I may be dangerous.” He spoke in an angry, sarcastic tone. He cringed as he moved his shoulder. Fluttershy slowly walked up to AJ, eyes never leaving the blood soaked cloth. “W-what happened? Sweetie Belle just told us you got hurt?” AJ gave a quick angry look at the entrance of the tent. “A misunderstanding happened. Seems to be the story of my life as of late. Someone misunderstands me and then hurts me." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I’m starting to think I’m the most unlucky bastard in the world.” He cringed again. Fluttershy walked up to AJ and undid the white cloth. “Umm, Mr. Guard?” The guard standing by the entrance flap turned to look at Fluttershy, causing her to squeak and hid behind her mane. “Umm, could you please, undo his restraints so I could properly clean the wound? Umm, that is, if it’s OK with you.” The guard looked hesitant at first, but nodded and undid the chains around his arms and neck, staying close in case AJ were to lash out at anypony now that he was free. “Thank you. Could you please remove your shirt?” With difficulty, and a lot of pain, AJ was able to get his shirt off with one arm. Fluttershy started looking over the knife wound. It was clear they gave him only minor first aid as it looked at least mostly clean. Fluttershy pulled her medical supplies out of her saddlebags and asked the guard if she could get a bucket of warm water and some clean towels. He asked the guards on the outside to retrieve them. Fluttershy was preparing her supplies when she started talking. “AJ, I’m sorry.” “Hm, about what? You didn’t do anything.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” “Yesterday?” He thought back. Then he remembered back to when he was visiting his dad’s grave. “Oh, that. *sigh* It’s OK Fluttershy, that’s just a…touchy subject for me.” “I’m sorry for bringing it up. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” “It’s OK Fluttershy, you don’t have to…” He looked into Fluttershy’s eyes. She was serious about this. He lowered his head in defeat and started to think. He opened his eyes and smiled. “I found Mr. Bun bun in the debris of the farm house today.” Fluttershy looked at AJ in surprise. She had expected everything in the house to have been destroyed. “Needless to say, hes in pretty bad shape. If you help me fix him up, I’ll call it even.” Fluttershy smiled and nodded. A guard entered the tent with a bucket in his mouth and some towels sitting on his back. Fluttershy thanked the guard and began working on AJ’s injury. “Now, this is going to hurt.” “I’m sure it won’t hurt as much as getting stabbed.” AJ was, of course, proved completely wrong as Fluttershy started washing and disinfecting the wound. It hurt at least ten times worse. ******************** Twilight, once again, had her studies interrupted by a knock at the door. She smiled as she saw Rarity at the door. “Why hello Rarity. What can I do for you?” Rarity was able to calm down by the time she got to the library. “Hello Twilight, Is Spike home?” “Spike? Yea he’s home. Spiiike, Rarity’s here for you!” Twilight shouted at the stairs to the upper level of the library. The pitter patter of claws could be heard rushing down the stairs as spike tore through the room. “Hi Rarity, What can I do for you?” Spike had a big smile on his face. “Hello Spike, I need to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Would you be able to do that for me?” “Of course, anything for you Rarity.” Spike pulled out a quill and an empty scroll. “Why do you need to send a letter to the princess?” Twilight’s eyes grew and she started smiling. “Is it another friendship report? Oh, tell me what you learned.” “Oh I wish this was a friendship report Twilight. No, this is about getting that cad Blueblood out of Ponyville and in the gutter where he belongs!” Rarity’s rage was starting to rise again. Twilight was caught off guard by this. “Why, what happened?” “What happened, WHAT HAPPENED, HE ATTACKED AJ, THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED!” Rarity was in full on rage mode again. “AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE SCARED MY LITTLE SISTER! POOR SWEETIE BELLE RAN HOME, TERRIFIED OF HIM BECAUSE OF HIS ACTIONS! I will NOT have such a brutish, snobbish, egomaniacal, ARROGANT, SELF LOVING, PIECE OF SHIT…” Rarity saw the reactions on both Twilight’s and Spikes faces and took a minute to calm herself. “As I was saying, I will not allow him to stay here and terrorize the fare ponies of Ponyville.” “Well, I can see you’re very…passionate about this Rarity. We’ll send the letter right away, wont we Spike.” Still dumbfounded by Rarity’s outburst, Spike just stood there. The scroll and quill had fallen out of his hands. Twilight gave Rarity a sheepish smile. “Eheh, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” ******************** Princess Celestia was sitting in her room, reading some books Luna had given her for her Birthday. “I have no idea where she finds these books, but I must know. These are great.” She had just finished the second of the five books she had received and was about to move onto the third when a puff of magical smoke blew in through the window. A scroll materialized in front of her and she smiled. The thought of reading another friendship report from Ponyville made her happy as always. She unrolled the scroll and started reading. As she read through the letter, her smile slowly fell. When she got to the end she blinked a few times; then she re-read the letter, making sure she didn’t just misread the entire thing. Once she got to the end again, she got up and left her room, heading in the direction of Luna’s room. She knocked on Luna’s door and entered the room. She giggled a bit as she saw Luna playing video games. It had become one of her favorite past times of late when she wasn’t busy helping her sister with the politics of Equestria. Celestia looked at the TV screen and saw Luna’s character shouting what looked like fire at a dragon. After she killed the dragon, the screen started glowing and a message saying “Dragon soul absorbed” popped up. “Haha, I have slayed another one! Take that you evil dragons!” “Having fun Lulu? You may want to be careful who you yell that around.” Celestia giggled again. “Ah, hello sister, can I help you with something?” Luna asked with a smile. “I have a question. I just received a letter from Twilight, and well…Did you ever tell Blueblood about Ponyville’s newest member?” Celestia asked. “Do you mean AJ?” Celestia nodded. Luna put her hoof to her chin as she thought. “Nnnno, I thought you did. Why?” Celestia let out a sigh. “Shit.” Luna put a hoof to her mouth as she stifled a giggle. “Why Tia, I never knew you used such language.” “Some situations call for it Luna.” An evil grin crept on her face. “And besides, I hear you swear all the time when you’re playing your games.” Luna blushed. “I-I don’t know what your talking about Tia. I’m a perfect angel.” She turned back to her game to find herself being mauled to death by a Frost Saber Cat. She forgot to pause her game. “What? I can slay a dragon but I get killed by a stupid cat? What the hell?!” She threw her hooves over her mouth and blushed. She looked at Celestia who was trying and failing to stifle her laughter. ******************** It had been a few hours since the letter had been sent and Rarity had decided to help with the restorations of Ponyville. Knowing that Celestia knew of Blueblood’s deeds made her feel much better. Sweetie Belle was with her friends again and was happy once again. As she was helping the flower trio lift their sign back up into place, she saw Fluttershy walking back to her cottage with a smile on her face. “Fluttershy, darling hello.” “Oh, hello Rarity. You seem much happier than earlier.” Fluttershy turned away as she mentioned Rarity’s earlier outburst. “Oh, I have so much to be happy about, but that’s beside the point, how is the poor dear doing.” Fluttershy smiled once again. “Oh, he’ll be fine. He’ll be in a sling for awhile, but no permanent damage was done.” “Oh, that’s wonderful news.” After setting up the sign with Rarity’s help, the Flower Trio left for Daisy’s house to get the seeds she kept at her house. Rarity looked herself over and noticed how sweaty she was. “Oh, I’m going to need a bath after this. I’ll see you later Fluttershy.” As Rarity headed back to her boutique, she heard the tell tale signs of the princess’s arrival. She got positively giddy when she saw the royal chariot land in the town square. She joined the crowd that was swarming around Celestia and bowed along with them. At the head of the crowd, Blueblood sat with his personal guard. Celestia smiled at all the ponies before her before turning to Blueblood who, as usual, had the smuggest grin on his face. “Auntie Celestia, so good to see you. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that the reconstruction of Ponyville is going swimmingly.” “Hello Prince Blueblood. Unfortunately this is not such a simple visit.” She said as her smile fell. “If you’ll come with me, we have some business to take care of.” She saw Rarity in the crowd and nodded to her to join them. Blueblood saw Rarity approaching them and started shaking again. “U-um Auntie, w-why do we n-need her?” “Because she is the one who asked for my presence.” Rarity gave Blueblood an evil smile as she passed him. ******************** As they went to the camp, they stopped off at the library to pick up Twilight who, with Spike, was busy cooking a meal for all the ponies that were currently living in the library. Lemon Hearts and Lemon Tart took over for them as they left. They had Blueblood lead them to the tent where they were keeping AJ. “In here?” Celestia asked Blueblood. Blueblood nodded but started to protest, “But, I’m not sure if letting him go is such a good idea, he may be dangerous.” Another glare from Rarity quickly changed his mind. “Or we could let him go. Letting him go sounds like a great idea.” They saw AJ in the back as they entered the tent. His hands were no longer chained together due to the sling, but they had the restraint around his neck back on. He was leaning against the wood beam, supporting himself as he slept. He woke up when Twilight started nudging his good arm with her hoof. “Hmmm-wha?” He looked around the tent, noting all the ponies, and one dragon, in there with him. “What, are we having a party or something?” Rarity and Twilight both started looking around the tent, but breathed a sigh of relief as Pinkie didn’t pop out of the woodwork at the mere mention of a party. Celestia motioned to her guards to undo the restraints. AJ stood up and started stretching. He glared at Blueblood and walked up to him; motioning to the empty sheath at his side. “I’d like my knife back, please.” Blueblood quickly slipped out of the tent. AJ looked at Celestia who had a frown on her face. “I must apologize for everything that happened here.” AJ looked confused. “Why, you didn’t do anything.” “And that’s exactly why I must apologize to you,” Celestia said. “Both Luna and I forgot to mention your presence to Blueblood.” Blueblood entered the tent once more, carrying a plaque with the knife on it. It looked like he was going to keep it as a trophy for stopping the 'monster.' He floated the knife off the plaque and over to AJ who grabbed it out of the air. He smiled as he looked at the now clean knife before placing it back in its sheath. “If it’s alright with you all, I need to be getting back to the hospital. I was supposed to meet up with Ditzy, and I think I’m late.” He waved to everyone in the tent as he started walking out. “Oh and Princess, no hard feelings.” **************************************** ((This one was fun to write :D Especially Rarity going into a blind rage. My god, good thing I split this from the last chapter. It would have been a LONG fucking chapter. And before anyone asks, Fluttershy’s worked with monkey’s and chimps before. Similar enough to humans. And damn, with all the punishment I’m putting myself through in this story, if a psychologist was to read it, they would probably think I like to hurt myself :P As for the Braenbow ship, it originated from this picture Also, if you ever wanted a face to put to AJ, got a pic of myself on mah Tumblr Also, this is the face I was trying to emulate when AJ woke up in the clubhouse. )) My little pony © Hasbro Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust