Applejack watched with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth as Rarity was struck down, her shrill cry of pain cut short the moment before she hit the deck with a loud thud. Ungraceful. Clumsy. No way for Rarity to go. She watched, heart hammering in her chest and angrier than a rattlesnake ready to strike, as the traitor turned away from the body to look straight at her, mouth curved into a lazy, mocking grin. It was an expression she was used to seeing on Rainbow Dash’s face, and it wasn’t the first time Applejack’d wanted to wipe it off her face – but it was the first time it’d sent a chill down her spine, or left her certain she was going to die.
Dash stood in the center of the ship, surrounded by the fallen shapes of so many friends. Twilight’d gone down first, of course – Rainbow wasn’t gonna win any awards for intelligence, but she knew all about taking the biggest threats by surprise and making sure they weren’t anymore. At least Twilight was still breathing, though with how hard Dash’d kicked her she’d have a heck of a headache whenever she opened her eyes. Rarity, though… she wasn’t sure if Rarity was alive or not. She hoped so.
“Oh, come on AJ – don’t gimme that look.” Dash spoke, laughter in her voice as she sauntered across the ship, that grin never leaving her face and her one visible eye sparkling with excitement. Applejack had to admit, she’d been right about the eyepatch making her more intimidating. “You have to have seen this coming. I mean, I’ve been talking about it all trip! ‘Oh boy Twilight, I hope somebody mutinies! I’ve really been itching for a fight!’ ‘Enjoy giving order while you can, cap’n, cause I’ll be in charge soon!’ ‘Hey AJ, switch beds with me and I won’t make you walk the plank when I take over the ship and take all the candy for myself.’”
“Well gee, Rainbow Dash, I guess I thought you were just jokin’ around, bein’ the element of loyalty an’ all. I mean, I knew you still had two eyes, but I didn’t think you had two faces to match.” She hissed the words, leaning forward until she was nose to nose with her treacherous former friend. It wasn’t easy to do, tied up the way she was, but she managed it. It was a small act of defiance, but she could tell Dash was surprised. And impressed.
“Why my dear Applejack,” Dash gasped, doing her best impression of Rarity,”Are you suggesting that I’m lacking in loyalty?”
“Oh no, o’ course not. Blindsidin’ your friends and stealing the shipment they’re s’posed to be guarding is obviously what loyalty and friendship are all about. My mistake.”
Rainbow Dash let out a snort, and nodded her head. “Okay, okay. I get it. I really do – from where you’re sitting it probably does look like I’ve stabbed you in the back. But the thing is, for that to work I’d have to have been on your side in the first place. And I’m pretty sure I was never actually a part of this little group you and Twi got going here. You sll just kind’ve assumed I was in on it. That’s not my fault.”
“Well, excuse usfor thinkin’ that our best friend – my girlfriend – who was hangin’ out with us and sailin’ with us just like part of our crew was actually part of our crew.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I mean, it was kind of annoying, but it made my job like a million times easier. Do you know how weird it’d have looked if I just suddenly decided to come along for this one trip so I could get my hands on all the candy? I’d have had to sign papers, and work – my name might actually have been on the work roster. Can you even -‘
“Shut up.”
“Ouch! Y’know what? I’m in such a good mood I’m gonna let that one slide. This was way easier than I thought it would be. I was all like ‘woah, Pinkie, there’s no way this is gonna work – I mean, with anybody else sure but our friends? They’re like, the most badass sailors ever. No way I can get the jump on all of them! Even I’m not that amazing!”
“Hold on! Pinkie put you up to this!? But it’s her candy we’re delivering!”
“Oh, yeah, about that – turns out she’s kiiiiinda been spending all her money on parties and cakes and didn’t really have enough left to pay people to deliver the stuff or buy any more ingredients. So she started doing this thing where she pretends to send shipments and then has ‘em stolen by pirates – she still gets paid, ‘cause buyer’s risk, and as a bonus she doesn’t have to actually pay the guards she hires. She just pays me, and I take the candy back to her after dumping all of you in the ocean.”
“Uh huh. So uh, tell me – if she ain’t got the money to pay us, where’d she get the money to pay you? You charge as much as the rest of us put together!”
Dash blinked, and her expression morphed into a concerned frown. “Huh. That’s a good point. You don’t think she’s planning to double cross me or anything, do you? Nah. Nah, that’s dumb. She wouldn’t do that – this is Pinkie.”
Applejack rolled her eyes as Dash grinned at her and spun around – only to find herself face to face with Fluttershy, who stood staring at her down the barrel of her rifle. Dash’s face fell, and Applejack could see the fear in her eyes.
“Uh…Shy? What are you doing? We’re on the same side here.”
“Um..well, you see…that is…there’s…a funny thing about loyalty. It um…kind of requires us to be on the same side. And I know you thought we were, and I’m really really sorry about that but…um…Pinkie said that once you were done I should…you know…make sure you didn’t come back?”
Fluttershy pulled the trigger as Rainbow Dash began to swear.