Episode 9: Shine Brighter, My Fist Loosely based on the Episode ‘Shell Bullet’.
HOLY HQ – Rarity’s Personal Quarters
Rarity stared at her reflection in the mirror. It had been a few days since Applejack and Vinyl Scratch disappeared, and Rarity felt like she was falling apart. Perhaps this was a sign of things to come. A strange thought crept into Rarity’s mind: Her behaviour, her increasingly bad attitude, and her violent outburst. It all occurred after Vinyl Scratch began to hang around Applejack. “No. Was I…jealous? Why?”
Undisclosed Location – The Inner
“They got everyone… It’s just like all those times…” Scootaloo said, while Luna covered her ears, whispering to Vinyl, “Emo time…” Applejack rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Scootaloo continued, “Nothing ever goes our way-” “-Except that time Applejack escaped from HOLY.” Luna cut in. Vinyl looked up, “How’d you do it? I was on duty that day.” “Are you guys even listening to me?!” Scootaloo asked. Vinyl waved a hoof at Scootaloo. “Moan moan moan, bitch bitch bitch. That’s all I hear from you.” Applejack giggled, “Vinyl 1, Scootaloo 0.” Scootaloo looked at Applejack indignantly, though she appeared to be truly hurt by this. “Whose side are you on?” “Hers,” Applejack said, pointing in Vinyl’s direction, “Yes, things are bad. Yes, HOLY wins most of the time. And NO, whining about ain’t gonna change a damn thing, Scootaloo. You may not have an Alter, but you have a brain. Use it.” Scootaloo and Luna looked at Applejack in surprise. She sounded unusually confident, even by Applejack standards. It was almost inspiring…until Vinyl decided to join in. “You’re soooo hot when you’re determined.” “And the magic’s gone,” Luna quipped while Scootaloo sniggered to herself.
HOLY HQ – Observation and Secondary Recreational Room
Twilight was trying to figure all of this out. According to what little data she could recover last time she tried snooping, Applejack had not been removed from the records. There were rumours that Luna was still in HOLY’s employ, but she hadn’t been seen for some time. It was all very suspicious. And Commander Macintosh would know about it. Hopefully…
“Pinkie, new orders. We’re to report to the Southwest area tomorrow at 0800. We’ve been assigned Derpy, the Guards, and-” A high-pitched voice cut Rarity off as a pink-ish pony with the most ridiculously designed HOLY uniform ever charged up beside her, bearing a smug expression that would make one wish to melt her into tiny little atoms. “Diamond Tiara? Oh no…” Pinkie said as she put down her playing cards. “What’s wrong, Pinkie? Afraid I’ll get in the way?” Diamond Tiara said mockingly. Pinkie grinned, though it was more in a pained way; even Pinkie, who usually gets along with anyone who can tolerate her, couldn’t stand Diamond Tiara. “Not at all. I’m more worried that I’ll accidentally save you.”
The Inner Farm
Applejack had been thinking for a while. As she sat there, watching, a thought came to mind: The Everfree Forest. Rumours say it’s the source of Alter power, but it was never the same as the rest of Equestria, even before the Great Uprising. Maybe there, Applejack will find what she’s looking for.
Luna sipped her tea carefully, noting the tension in the room. With just her, Vinyl and Scootaloo, the tension was so thick, it was almost hard to breathe. They heard the door open and everyone bolted, raising defensive implements. “Watch where you point those things. Do ya want them to come bangin’ on the door now?” Applejack said as she was greeted by the barrels of Scootaloo’s guns, Vinyl’s Bass Cannon and Luna’s Nightmare Moon. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief and put away her guns while Vinyl went to hug Applejack, an act that never failed to amuse Applebloom, who walked in with Applejack. “Awww, that’s so cute,” Applebloom said with a giggle as she started cooking, “It’s about time you settled down a bit, AJ. All this runnin’ around you do will get you killed one day.” As if on cue, Vinyl squeezed tighter, “No one’s gonna hurt her. Not while I’m here.” By this time, Applejack had given up struggling or fighting off her feelings towards Vinyl. “I’m so glad I’ve got you here, Vinyl.” Before they kissed, Scootaloo averted her gaze, “Could ya do that someplace else? I’m still here-” Luna sharply cut her off, “Be silent. After this morning’s performance, you should be lucky we’re acknowledging that you exist.” “Talk about cold…” Luna scoffed, “Then you shouldn’t insult me because I was with HOLY.” Vinyl grinned, “And they make more money than you, Scootaloo.” Applejack laughed. Best to enjoy the good times while they can.
HOLY HQ – Twilight’s Quarters
Twilight had been busy. She found the official records of Applejack, Vinyl Scratch and Luna deleted, along with any trace of the Native Alters and their destination. A buzz on the intercom informed her of a visitor. “I wonder who that is.” She got up and peered through a tiny hole in her door. It was Rarity. She hurriedly put on a jacket over her casual attire and went to greet Rarity. “Twilight. Am I interrupting anything?” Rarity said, her voice calm. “No. Would you like to come in?” Rarity shuddered, “I’d like to keep any memory of tonight if possible. And I will be leaving for the Southwest area for a few days.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed, “It’s about Applejack, isn’t it?” “Yes. A rogue agent is dangerous, and I feel a strange connection to her, like…” Rarity trailed off. Twilight seemed puzzled, “It’s a poor example, but this usually happens in romance novels, but less violent.” “How did you-” Rarity began, but Twilight held up her hoof, “I’m not stupid, Rarity. And I’m not blind. I can see that there’s a certain attraction that Applejack has and you’ve latched onto it. But the thing is, you don’t know how to react to it, and that’s what is driving you crazy, isn’t it?” Rarity scoffed, “Me? Attracted to Applejack? That psychotic lunatic who doesn’t seem to care about anypony?” Twilight grinned mischievously, “Wouldn’t think it, would you?”
Applejack’s house – The Inner
Applebloom raced frantically through the house, calling for Applejack. She checked Applejack’s room, but only fond Vinyl. “Has anypony seen Applejack? She’s supposed to help me today.” Vinyl groaned as she got up, and stretched. “She vanishes just like that, huh? I wish she told me where she’s goin’.” Applebloom sighed, “You and me both…”
Unknown location – Presumably the road to the Everfree Forest
“Yo, Applejack! What are you doin’ all the way out here?” Scootaloo called as she drove up on a new car, which has a life expectancy of around 16 seconds from the start of the next fight scene. “The reason I didn’t tell nopony where I was goin’ is so they don’t follow me. So go away, Scootaloo. This is somethin’ I gotta do.” Scootaloo growled under her breath, “Friends don’t leave friends hangin’. I’m not like that, you’re not like that, so get in the car and I’ll take you to wherever you’re goin’.” Applejack shook her head and grinned, “Then get me to the Everfree Forest as fast as ya can.”
“Are you sure you wanna go in there alone, AJ? I can go back and get Luna or Vinyl-” “How many times do I gotta say it? I don’t need no help from nopony!” Applejack said as she leapt off the edge of the cliff, the air shimmering all around her as her Alter formed. Scootaloo called out to her, “FINE! GET YOURSELF KILLED! SEE IF I CARE!” She walked back to the car, and looked back, “I’d actually care a lot…”
Applejack ran down the cliff face, slamming her fist against the wall and launching herself into the air fist first. “Let’s see if this power really exists. If it does…” She braced for impact with the ground. “I need to be strong for them. Scootaloo, Luna, Vinyl and Applebloom. HERE I COME!” The ground erupted into a huge dust cloud as Applejack landed and shot out of the cloud, spitting out dirt as she went. “Nasty…”
HOLY Transport – En Route to the Southwest district
This was awkward and highly uncomfortable. While Rarity got to brood on her life, the Guards were always silent, and Derpy got to retreat into her own little world where everything is muffins, Pinkie had no escape from Diamond Tiara, then she did the forbidden act; She touched Derpy’s muffins. “HANDS OFF! YOU WANT MUFFINS, MAKE YOUR OWN!” She yelled at the top of her voice. Pinkie laughed as they argued back and forth about the muffins, but it was still a looooooooong trip…
HOLY HQ – Central Database
Twilight tried logging into the Mainland’s data systems, but something blocked her all the time. Her screen flickered and died. Someone was coming, and he didn’t look happy. “She’s with me. You can go about your business.” An all too familiar voice sounded just behind Twilight. She turned around to see Rainbow Dash standing right behind her, with a big grin on her face. “Thank you,” Twilight said gratefully. Rainbow winked, “Anytime, Twinight.” Twilight’s face hit the desk so fast, it was virtually instant. “It’s Twilight…” Rainbow’s reply was genuinely remorseful, though perhaps overdone. “I’ve really gotta memorize that…Sorry.”
The Everfree Forest
The problem with the Everfree forest isn’t the dirty colours, as in even for a forest. It’s not the humidity, either. It’s the wildlife. Each one is an Alter User, and they were currently throwing everything they had at Applejack, who was less than pleased about the amount of resistance. “I ain’t turnin’ back! Fightin’ you guys hurts me more than you, but you did ask for it.” She threw a heavy punch at the nearest Alter, disabling it. As two more came up, she sprinted between them, using her fist to throw up a dust cloud, which she dashed through, escaping the horde of angry Alters and Alter User animals behind her. “Y’know…I think there was somethin’ like this in a video game. Somethin’ about fantasy? Ah never mind. Nearly there.”
Applejack panted heavily. She fought her way through three or four more waves of Animal Alters and walked a looooong way. And now she was finally here. The middle of the Forest, where it was said that one could find the pure power of Alter there. As she looked around, taking in the sights, a blast of thunder knocked her off balance, throwing her against a tree. Applejack got back up and opened her eyes. It was definitely an Alter, but it looked different. Wait? A black right arm and a white left arm?
HOLY HQ
“There. Last one gone.” Twilight said victoriously. Rainbow Dash nodded, “So, whacha gonna do with the intel?” “I don’t know. But there’s one more thing. Do you know what happened to the-” Rainbow cut Twilight off quickly, “I know a lot of things. We’re all players in a grand game. But not everyone wins. As far as the superiors are concerned, the moment they can replace us, we become expendable. It’s a cynical way of looking at it, but it’s there.” Twilight stared at Rainbow, thinking of what to do. If what Rainbow said was true, then she should start making contingency plans. Depending on who’s calling the shots, things could get ugly.
The Everfree Forest…again
Applejack jumped towards the Alter, aiming for its horn. She slammed her fist into the Alter’s flank, knocking it back, and it remained silent. Then, it let out a low mournful sound, sort of like: ‘Ooooooooooooooooooh.’ Applejack leapt up and attacked from the air, “Try this one! SHOCKING FIRST BULLET!” She shot forward, slamming fist first into the Alter, breaking apart the scenery around them. While the dust was still in the air, Applejack followed up with another attack. “ANNIHILATING SECOND BULLET!” She charged again, though this time she was blocked by a barrier of pure light. “THAT AIN’T GONNA STOP ME! EXTERMINATING LAST BULLET!” The combined force of both Bullets shattered the barrier, launching Applejack straight through and into a tree. She leapt down, holding a portion of the Alter’s horn. “Not so tough, are ya?” The Alter spread its wings and the horn began to glow. Applejack screamed in pain as a white-hot pain surged through her arm, like someone just injected the sun itself into her veins. Every Alter could feel it all over the Lost Ground, and a pure white flash illuminated the sky.
When it was over, Applejack stared at her arm. It had changed. Where before it was golden and ended in red, now it had more ornate armour and a larger pauldron on her shoulder, with a single golden wing and a glowing red stripe running up her arm. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the goggles Scootaloo gave her while they were driving. They had become part of the Alter, a pair of golden shades with a bladed design on the right side. She laughed madly, “Now we’re talking.” Applejack put on her new shades and held her fist in front of her as her wing extended. “More power…” She started sprinting towards the Alter, he fist glowing brightly. “SHINE BRIGHTER, MY FIST!” Almost without any effort required, she flapped her wing, propelling her to a speed she never dreamed she could reach, slamming her fist into the Alter as it let out its mournful wail. A bright light flashed and it was gone. Applejack grinned, “Guess it didn’t cut it…” She stopped as the pain shot through her arm again. “What the…” She let out a scream of pain, and given the intensity, can one blame her? Still, somehow she managed to stumble out of the forest. Then, she blacked out…
“APPLEJACK?! Are you ok, Applejack?” Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the shape of Scootaloo’s face just as Vinyl Scratch shoved her out of the way. “Are you ok, sweetie? Come on, say something!” Applejack raised her hand triumphantly, “I…got it.”
Elsewhere…
“I see… Interesting. My plan is progressing further than I thought. Her Alter is quite interesting, too. Continue to monitor them. The time will come.”
End of Episode 9