“What?” growled Shining Armor.
“I said no!” shouted Applejack leaping to her hooves, “Ain't no way that you’re leaving me behind on this one; there ain't no way! I won't be left behind again. I won't!”
Twilight took a step back, Applejack had been so quiet during everything she hadn't thought to ask her opinion. Sometimes she could get irritated when she didn't feel listened to, but this was something new. “When have we ever left you behind?”
Applejack looked down between her hooves, “You didn't.”
“Then who did?” asked Rainbow, who was just as confused at Applejack's sudden surge of emotion as Twilight.
Applejack looked between her friends and then answered in a voice full of hurt, “My papa.”
Twilight was stunned, “You’ve never said anything about your parents before, not ever.”
“Well that's cause you never asked! It’s not something we really talk about.”
Shining Armor regarded her solemnly, “Who was your papa?”
Applejack fought for a minute to get her feelings under control, “His name was Lasso Mac and he was the best darn rodeo king ever to set hoof inside the ring. He was amazing, Twilight, you should have seen him; he’d fill his lasso with dozens of little whistles, so he could play them like an instrument, or he would weave little bottles into it, that would open when they spun at different speeds and release different colored smokes.”
“Traveled all around Equestria he did, winnin’ medals and trophies until he met mamma and settled down at the farm. I remember growing up with Big Macintosh, how we wanted to be just like him. When I was a filly he got me my first lasso and taught me to throw it. He was great at the farm too; he had a special connection to the apple trees that kept them healthy and I don't reckon I've ever tasted apples as sweet as when he was growing ‘em.”
Twilight looked on in amazement as her friend poured out things she had never heard her talk about before, things she may have never told anypony. So far these sounded like they should be happy memories, but the way AJ was saying them; it was like a dam full of hurt and frustration had suddenly burst and wouldn't stop flowing until it was emptied.
“Us and mamma adored him, but he never stayed! HE NEVER STAYED! He would just disappear, for weeks at the time, and he never told us where he went! When we asked him where he went, he'd say he didn't want there to be any lies between us, but that he couldn't tell us the truth. Tore mamma up inside being treated like that, tore the rest of us up too, but she was the one I heard cryin at night for him ta come home.
I started practicing with my lasso as much as I could, hopin’ maybe if I was as good as he was, maybe he'd want to stay home more; but no matter how good I got it didn’t seem to matter. We never knew when he'd be home or when he'd leave. Sometimes he'd bring strangers home for dinner, sometimes he'd take a wagon of apples away and not come back with any money, but quite often he'd have money that we didn't know where he got it from. But he'd NEVER tell us what was really goin on.
Then one night right after Apple Bloom was born, he just disappeared and never came back. Mamma couldn't take the secrets anymore so she decided to go out lookin’ for him. She followed his tracks into the Everfree Forest and she never came back either. Big Macintosh shut himself off from the rest of the world, Apple Bloom never knew either of her parents; Granny Smith was too old and too upset to help much with the farm or Apple Bloom, so I raised Apple Bloom like I was her mother and kept the farm running!
Now you’re tellin’ me about these secret Ranger folk livin’ in the woods, fightin’ against these terrormonger and changelings and who knows what else. What if my daddy was one of you?! The answers could be in that forest. If you know the deep forest, and you’re goin’ in, then I'm comin’ with you!”
Applejack stood squarely and faced Shining Armor down, turning almost as red as he was, but whether from anger or shame at realizing what she had said, Twilight couldn't tell. In all the time Twilight had known AJ, she had never acted like this. Twilight was scared; a few hours ago she thought she knew what the world was like, but now it seemed she knew absolutely nothing about a forest that was practically on her doorstep, or about the truth behind her education, or her brother, or even her closest friends. At the same time she felt compassion welling up inside her for the entire Apple family and couldn't believe her ears when she heard her brother say “No. You're not.”
“Yes I am!” insisted Applejack, “I won't take no for an answer.”
“This is an urgent rescue mission for two missing ponies. We do not have time to help you run down a personal family vendetta. If you ran off by yourself past the first dragon wall, you would be dead within a day, and I will not have that on my hooves.”
“I won't run off, I'll help with the rescue, but in exchange, on the way back, I want you to point me to where I can find somepony who can tell me if my papa really was a Ranger.”
“Let her come B.B. I've seen what she can do, she - ”
“Stay out of this Twily!” snapped Shining Armor sounding much more like a military officer than Twilight liked, “I said no, and that's my final answer; you're too emotional. I'll pay you double for your wares, otherwise I'll confiscate them; but either way you're staying here.”
What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. Shining Armor turned to leave, but before he could take a step Applejack raced around, blocking his path. Shining Armor moved to push her aside but she lunged forward with a kick, barely missing his head. Before Twilight could do anything, her friend and brother were both rearing and kicking fiercely. Twilight tried desperately to leap forth and pull Shining Armor and Applejack away from each other but found she could no longer move.
Shining Armor flipped AJ, who tumbled onto her back. Lowering his horn, Shining Armor ran forward as if to hold his horn to her throat; but before he could get close enough, AJ's hind hoofs kicked powerfully into his chest. Shining Armor staggered, and AJ leaped to her hooves in a single splendid movement. Grabbing another coil of rope from another tree, AJ lassoed his front-right hoof and pulled, trying to drag him to the ground.
Shining Armor began to fall forwards but stomped his front-left hoof onto the rope, canceling the pressure. Ducking his head, Shining Armor plunged his horn through the rope and into the ground; then, flicking his head back up, he sprayed Applejack's face with loose bits of dirt. Strangely, thought Twilight, Shining Armor wasn't using any of his magic. His horn was glowing brightly, but she could see that it wasn’t having any effect. She tried again to move, but still seemed to be paralyzed.
AJ retreated to a nearby apple tree, one kick summoned a cascade of falling fruit, another kick sent two apples directly toward Shining Armor's face. He ducked just in time and rolled; then picked himself up and charged full speed. Applejack stood her ground until the last second and then leaped to one side, letting Shining Armor barrel harmlessly past.
Shining Armor cantered around a tree before wheeling back to face Applejack; but instead of trying to charge her again, he slowed to a trot and then a walk, “You’re not bad for a farm girl,” he said smiling, “Not bad at all.”
“I've wrestled with Big Macintosh often enough, and I'll finish you yet!” Applejack shouted as she charging toward Shining Armor. But suddenly she was lifted off the ground, with her legs running helplessly in the air.
“Enough,” said Shining Armor.
“I ain’t letting you go without me!” Even powerlessly dangling in the air, Applejack still had the nerve to make demands.
“All right, you can come,” with that Shining Armor’s horn died down and Applejack fell a few feet to the ground. Twilight gasped as she suddenly realized she could now move as well.
“Do you mean it?” asked Applejack slowly.
“First of all” said Shining Armor, “I needed to know if you could fight, and you do, at least enough not to be a liability. You were highly emotional, but you didn't let that block your thinking, as demonstrated by the tactics you used. Second, I can't be sure, but I think the name Lasso Mac sounds vaguely familiar. Third, there are archives and graves that are maintained between the first and second dragon walls. After, and only after, we find Storm and Cadance I will show you where they are, and you can search for your father there. However, if you come on this mission you will accept my command. I am the only one with experience in the deep forest, and I meant it when I said that if you ran off by yourself, you wouldn't last one day. Do you accept?”
Applejack blinked a few times trying to process everything had happened then broke out into a smile, “Yes sir.”
“Good.” Shining Armor turned back to Rainbow Dash, and nudged her onto her hooves with his telekinesis; “Get the Wonderbolts.”