Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic

by nightelf37

The Last Roundup

The Last Roundup

In the dreamscape…

In front of Chronicle was a pony he loathed to ever see again. A white unicorn with red eyes, short black hair, and a fancy blue suit that covered his cutie mark. He was a member of the Story Crew, but he wasn't of the Timer family. Rather, he was recruited from an Equestria, some months after the first day of Chronicle's assignment in Equestria Prime.

The reason for his hate of this pony, who called himself the Director, is because he managed to do something right under his father's nose without his consent. Namely, what he did was—with the help of other SC members—set up a made-up high-tech domed city named Larousse, and manipulated events so that Princess Celestia would send his friends the Bearers of Harmony to that town to investigate a certain problem there. Naturally, he went with them.

And then they got locked in and the girls were plopped into stasis pods while they 'lived' a (necromancer-driven) zombie apocalypse taking place in the city. And thanks to a request to his father, Chronicle's Surveillance was now able to look inside the shared scenario their minds were experiencing, which helped him serve as their benefactor in a way that if they were the player characters in a game, he would be the player 'controlling' them.

But the Director didn't stop there; by a stroke of bad luck, four other ponies from Ponyville (Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, and Golden Harvest) ended up in Larousse as well and were roped into the same scenario but in a different sector. The Director had posed himself as somebody who wanted to test their friendship and how strong will it stand in a zombie apocalypse, and that's all Chronicle thought he was.

Eventually, Record Keeper (Chronicle's father) was able to find out about the Director's scheme, got the victims out, MemLocked away the entire incident, shut down and "removed" the city, and gave a rather severe punishment to the Director. So what is he doing here? There had also been evidence that the Director had not come up with this plan on his own, and the search for the "man behind the man" was still in progress. Or maybe it was already solved; Chronicle didn't particularly care.

"Chronicle," the Director began. He did not even seem to be repentant of what he did. "I know what I did regarding Larousse is inexcusable, but I won't apologize for it. It was meant to test their bond, their capability to work as a team even in dire situations. And I'll have to say that by the time Lord Record Keeper found me out, I'm satisfied with the results. As for why I'm here, I was told to confess those reasons to you."

The dreamscape owner collected his thoughts. Despite what they went through in that…simulation, their teamwork had proved to help them prevail and strengthened their bonds; feelings festered by those bonds—for some reason—remain even after a MemLock, just as "shadows" of memories can sometimes linger even after a classic mind wipe. "All right. Anything else you'd like to say? 'Cause while I can be forgiving, that doesn't extend to violators of our rules."

The Director closed his eyes in resignation. "I see. I don't know if the rules permit it, but I wish you luck on your relationship. She's a keeper." And with that he vanished back to the waking world, muttering, "Did I say that right?"

Daytime…

At the town square pavilion, Rainbow Dash was hoisting up a banner depicting a rearing Applejack, pulling one end up, the other end already been tacked to the second-story balcony. The reason why is… well, you'll see. After a rough day (as well as the burdens of living a double life, and Wonderbolts aren't all fancy tricks), Skyla was resting atop a cloud, watching her 'scout target'—and one other pegasus—do her work, but something was amiss.

Hey, isn't that an Everfree cloud? The difference between Everfree clouds and the ones manufactured from Cloudsdale is that the former are made to be via the phenomenon known as the water cycle, and whatever's inside them is…unpredictable. There could be a little too much lightning, too little rain, off-season snow, sleet, or even hailstones. When she discussed this with Chronicle, the unicorn wondered how a 'natural' cloud can even "store" hail in the first place, and the pegasus just shrugged.

Rainbow's companion was tasked in Bolt Bucking; that is, emptying the Everfree cloud of lightning. But her current position wasn't exactly optimal. And that was made apparent when a bolt nearly struck the speedster and shocked her out of her moment of cockiness with her work and singed the tip of her tail as she ducked out of the way.

"Huh? Now careful, Derpy!" Indeed it was Derpy Hooves, who was cheerfully jumping on a gray cloud, producing a fresh strike with every bounce; indeed, she was emptying the cloud of it. She stopped at the approach of the irate blue pegasus. "Don’t want to do any more damage than you’ve already done."

Indeed, the third-story balcony was sagging everywhere, and the roof had a couple of ragged holes punched through it—doubtless by the constant lightning strikes from Derpy. To add insult to injury, the uppermost piece—already hanging by a thread—broke loose and crashed through the largest hole. But really, the pavilion had already been in bad condition before Derpy did her thing. Boy, was she excited to take part for some extra bits, Skyla mused. And all that noise must've hampered her hearing.

"I just don’t know what went wrong," Derpy said as she jumped again. At the end of that sentence, she managed to shock herself a good one, charring the gray coat and blond mane nicely.

Rainbow threw her a look while tapping one of the banner’s tacks in with a hoof. "Yeah. It’s a mystery," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm as Derpy, now cleaned up, flew over to the balcony.

"Nice work, Rainbow Dash!" On the end of this, she backed into a support post, which promptly toppled over the balcony rail. With a panicked grimace, Rainbow dove after the timber, got under the low end, heaved upward—and then dropped out of sight with a crash and yell, striking Skyla with a pang of worry.

She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that, Skyla reminded herself.

Once the dust cleared, the pavilion’s porch had a brand-new hole from which the pole’s snapped end protruded. Derpy landed next to this and stuck her head inside. "You okay, Rainbow Dash? Anything I can do to help?"

As a plank fell in, Rainbow flew out. "No! Nothing! In the name of Celestia, just sit there and do nothing!"

The cross-eyed flyer plunked her rump onto the porch, whereupon a circle of cracks started to spread in the wood around her. As soon as the spot gave way, she made a desperate grab at Rainbow that only led to both pegasi plummeting into this second hole. "Oops. My bad," her voice echoed from below. Skyla did a facehoof. I wonder how Chronicle's brother is doing with his world's version of her?

Somewhat later…

A large crowd was now gathered outside the pavilion and chanting Applejack’s name. A small stage had been set up here, where the Mayor of Ponyville stood at a lectern atop it.

"Everypony, can I get your attention? Attention, please!" The crowd shortly quieted down. "Yes, we are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year’s Equestria Rodeo Competition in Canterlot."

On the end of this, she gestured to one side at Applejack now standing alongside her. Cheers and stomping applause came from the multitude, and the Mayor waited to continue until the noise stopped.

"And I want to thank Applejack in advance, for generously offering up her prize money to fix Town Hall."

Shouldn't Town Hall be condemned instead of having a celebration near it? Chronicle snarked to himself. Incidentally, Skyla had the same thought process.

By this time, Rainbow had climbed up onto the porch, while Derpy hung at the edge of her hole. "Yeah, Applejack!" the gray pegasus then raised her forelegs. "Woo-hoo!" Gravity wasted no time in yanking her out of sight as Rainbow rolled her eyes disgustedly.

There was more cheering and stomping from the crowd. "Speech! Speech!" Pinkie Pie, among the crowd, demanded as she jumped in place.

"Oh, shucks. I’m not much for speeches."

"All right, then, no speech!" With that, she zipped away.

"Buuuuut this here is the nicest sendoff anypony could ask for." Of course, Pinkie Pie wasn't the only one among Applejack's friends to be there. All the others were too, though Spike had to stay behind at the library to manage it. "Y’all have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little little pony." She glanced toward the Mayor. "So it seems only fittin’ to use my winnin’s to fix up Town Hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud!"

Receiving a third round of adulation, she smiled gratefully and pulled her hat forward over her eyes.

After the speech, Applejack (toting a pair of saddlebags) and a few others were now gathered at the train station. On the platform with her were all of her friends, her family, and the Mayor.

"I want you to show all them highfalutin' rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony’s like!" Granny said.

"You betcha, Granny Smith."

The Mayor then shoved Granny back. "And bring back all that money!"

"You betcha, Mayor." But before the competitor can make for the train, Pinkie cut her off.

"And have fun, and don’t be nervous. Or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better than you already would! And eat peanuts and popcorn and taffy." On the side, Chronicle could see one of the Academy's students Written Script talking with Golden Harvest, who was about to board as well with Derpy's daughter. "Taffy gives you lots of nervous energy." She proceeded to start chomping away at the sweet stuff, burying her face in the bag. Reactions were mixed, from annoyance to puzzlement to hungry chop-licking by Macintosh.

Twilight turned away from the undignified face-stuffing to address Applejack. "Just do your best, Applejack."

"I’ll do better than my best!"

"Before you go, there's something I want to tell you," said Chronicle as he walked over.

"Sure. What is it?"

The two were shortly face to face and he spoke in a whisper. "Don't do anything rash in the event you don't get the money. Personally, I believe you getting many first place ribbons, let alone all of them, is as likely as an eclipse happening without the Princesses planning it. But let that spur you to go further, okay?"

"…Uhh, all right."

"The train to Canterlot is about to leave!" It was a light blue-gray earth pony stallion dressed in a conductor’s jacket and cap, with a white shirt and red necktie. He had dark gray hair and a long mustache, spectacles on his nose, and a pocket-watch cutie mark. He stood on the platform, while the engineer is visible through the locomotive window (light brown earth pony stallion, brown eyes and hair, striped engineer’s cap, and a red bandana around the neck). "All aboard who’s coming aboard!"

"Guess that means me," Applejack said as she stepped to the door.

"See you in a week!" Rainbow called.

"With lots of new blue ribbons!" added Bloom as her big sister entered the train.

"And lots of money!" reminded the mayor.

"Darn tootin’!" With that, steam pours up from below the platform. As the train began to roll, Applejack began to wave and look out from one window. "See y’all in a week, with a big bag full of blue ribbons!"

The well-wishers shouted their last goodbyes while galloping as far as the platform’s end, though Chronicle wasn't one of them. Once they've reached the edge, Pinkie added. "And drink sarsaparilla!" There came funny looks from the others. "What? It gives you extra sass."

Twilight turned away with a slightly exasperated sigh.

She won't win that many blue ribbons, if any, Chronicle thought. Ribbons, yes, but not blue. She's a jack-of-all-trades in all things rodeo, but she won't win against those specialists. I should know. I've watched them, and I've watched her practice. Come to think of it, in hindisght, I think I actually saw Applejack in the competition once before. Obviously didn't know her by name back then.

One week later…

Inside the Sweet Apple Acres barn, Fluttershy and Rainbow were stringing up last week's Applejack banner. Streamers and balloons are present and accounted for as well. And in the guest list, aside from Applejack's friends and immediate family are a couple other relatives who happened to be around, and Bon Bon, who had recently started a business deal with the Apple family, something about apple-flavored candies. All of them were helping set up the area.

"Oh, I hope Applejack is surprised by this surprise party," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow, who was now reeling a streamer from a box as Bloom nipped away one of her own, replied with a little irritation as she flew up to her, "Well, that is the point."

"I know." She caught the free end thrown to her. "But I hope she isn’t so surprised she’s startled." The two tacked up the ends. "Because while being surprised can be nice—" She dropped to the ground and walked off. "—being startled can be very startling."

Naturally, Pinkie chose this very moment to jump into the timid pegasus’s face with a shower of confetti. "SURPRISE!!"

Fluttershy fell backward with a gasp. "Oh, Pinkie, you startled me."

The earth pony helped her up before hopping away. "Sorry. I was just practicing my “surprise” for when we surprise Applejack with this super-cool party for becoming Rodeo Champeen of Equestria!" And then her head drops into Fluttershy's face from the ceiling. "SURPRISE!!" And the pegasus fell backward again.

"I just at least hope Applejack does return," Chronicle stated. His pet armadillo Rock was with him, tying a balloon on a nail while standing on his master's head. Incidentally, Mystic Shield had scheduled another field trip, taking his class to Baltimare to visit his mentor Aegis's family. "Not that anything wrong has happened to her."

"Quiet, Pinkie!" Twilight whispered, peeking out the doors. "I think Applejack’s coming!"

Bloom meanwhile had taken up a position in an empty feed trough. Pinkie dove in next to her. "Don’t worry, Twilight. Got my lips all limbered up." This consisted of a series of goofy facial contortions in which she worked her teeth, her jaw, and her lips. Bloom just stared at her, thoroughly confounded.

Above, Fluttershy and Rainbow jumped up to hide in a full hayloft and peeked out over the scene, Chronicle teleporting up to join them, and Rock deciding to roll and jump into the trough. Everypony took whatever cover they can find as the lights went out.

The unicorn stallion decided to check on Surveillance to see if Applejack was indeed coming, but all he could see was static. Darn it. She better be okay.

After a few seconds that felt like a week, a rectangle of light was cast over the floor from the doors creaking open and a hatted shadow advanced into view. The lights immediately went on and all but Pinkie popped up. "SURPRISE!!"

The noisemaker in Macintosh’s mouth prevented him from shouting with them, so he gave it a hearty blow instead. Pinkie leaped up well after the room had gone dead silent. "Surprise!" A short pause ensued. "Shoot!"

The arrival… was not Applejack, but a telegram delivery stallion. Khaki coat, curly brown hair, medium blue eyes, blue uniform jacket and cap with silver badges, light blue shirt, dark gray necktie, and his cutie mark consisted of a white postage stamp displaying a heart. He had a folded note tucked into his cap’s band.

"Wow! This is the best surprise ever! How did you know it was my birthday?" he said.

Talk about a coincidence! thought Chronicle as everypony else's faces fell and the delivery stallion produced a telegram in his hoof. Where is Applejack, anyway?

Twilight grumpily looked out, levitated it from his grip, and yanked both it and herself back inside. As the door slammed shut in his face, Chronicle teleported down to the floor and smacked his charge in the face with his paddle.

"Very insensitive of you," he said as Pinkie cut a slice of cake, put it on a plate, and opened the door again, showing the delivery stallion pawing the ground listlessly. With a smile, the party pony dropped the plate and shut him outside again, the stallion’s puzzlement giving way to a smile.

Inside, the rest of the crew gathered around Twilight, including Rock as he climbed on top of her head, who was studying the message intently. "Who’s it from, Twilight? What’s it say?" Bloom asked.

"It’s from Applejack. “Family and friends. Not coming back to Ponyville.”" There was shock all around the barn. "“Don’t worry, will send money soon.”" Twilight turned the telegram around in midair to expose its printed side. "That’s all there is."

All the Apples gasped, Rarity standing among them and staring with great concern.

"It's as I feared," Chronicle whispered to himself. "She's done something rash."

"Applejack’s… not comin’ back?" asked Bloom.

"What do you mean, Applejack’s not coming back?" Rainbow was filled with disbelief. "She loves Ponyville."

"And she loves Sweet Apple Acres," added Granny.

"And she loves her family!" Bloom was on the verge of tears, aiming her saddest big-eyed pout.

Rarity let out a melodramatic gasp. "Something just dreadful must have happened to Applejack to make her not return!"

"Maybe she’s hurt, or sad or scared!" Fluttershy suggested.

"So what are we waiting for? Let’s go find her!" Rainbow declared.

The blue wings shifted straight from idle to "fourth gear" and propel her toward the door.

"Don’t worry," Twilight assured as she and her friends made to exit the barn, Rock jumping to his master's head. "We’ll search all of Equestria if we have to. We’ll bring her back."

"Y’all are the best," cheered Bloom.

"Thank you, girls," said Granny. The M.I.A. workhorse’s six friends were now gathered at the open barn doors, and Twilight snapped a salute before they galloped/flew out across the fields. Macintosh fought to keep his composure as Granny stepped up alongside him. The family’s collective mood had just nose-dived again. "Our little bushel just lost one Apple."

The big brother just wiped and sniffled at the tears that have now gotten the better of him.

Eyecatch (video-type) - The six friends running to the left across a field and making for the train station. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.

It was a long ride to Canterlot, and the tension of a missing friend was piling up. Surveillance still wasn't working on Applejack either, so no pinpointing her location from there. Even if it was, if she was in some unfamiliar territory, it wouldn't help much.

The moment the train pulled in, everypony immediately got off, and Rock was now clinging on Chronicle's back. The group shortly reached a stadium, its open gate hung with horseshoe-decorated banners and flying assorted flags, some of which depicted rearing ponies, and the seats within can be seen to be empty. This could only be the venue at which the Equestria Rodeo Competition took place. Everypony stopped for a moment, then scattered at a nod from Twilight, Rock getting off his master and splitting up from him.

Inside, Rarity carried a monochrome photo of Applejack in her teeth and trotted up to a cowboy-hatted stallion talking to a mare in the stands. Both shook their heads at the picture—“nope, haven’t seen her”—after which a rodeo-clown stallion in garish face makeup and clothes rolled by on a beach ball. Right behind him was Pinkie, on a ball of her own and with a copy of the photo in teeth. Once she had pulled even, she leaned over to give him a good look; no good here either. The dejected pink pony stopped dead, her ball deflating to slowly lower her back to the ground.

Up in the stands, two mares taking a break from cleanup duty—Carrot Top and Cherry Berry (they both got part-time jobs fo extra money)—got a look at the photo when it was floated over to them by Twilight. They traded a puzzled look, then gave her a shrug that pegged this try as a bust.

Elsewhere, Caramel was pushing a barrel along with his head. Something stopped him in his tracks, revealed to be Rainbow. He aimed a vexed glare at both her and the photo of Applejack in her teeth, then shook his head.

Next, Fluttershy flew up to the stadium roof, with Rock on her head. , where another rodeo-clown stallion was napping with his hat tilted over his face. She has a fifth copy of Applejack’s photo in her teeth, but he waved her off without even lifting his hat to get a clear look. The armadillo jumped off, nudged the napper, and then pulled off his hat. The stallion then decided to take a look at the picture, frowned, shook his head, then returned to napping and replacing his hat.

As the cleanup crew got everything squared away, Twilight and company made one last, fruitless effort to pick up any hints on their friend’s whereabouts. As for Chronicle, he did his looking around as well outside the stadium, and encountered one old friend of his.

"Hey, we meet again."

"I predicted I'd run into you."

The area was soon clean and empty, with Chronicle's friends feeling very glum and off to one side. Rainbow lay flat in the stands, Pinkie slumped over the rail, Fluttershy sat at it, Twilight was slumped face first at a table on the stadium floor, and Rarity stood nearby. Twilight’s copy of the photo lay in front of her, Rock resting next to it. Just then, a passing mare took surprised notice of it and smiled in recognition. All five were up and beaming at her in an instant as she pointed off in a new direction; a stretch of parched desert land and rock formations, over which a hawk’s lonely cry rings out. Everypony save the informant was genuinely thrown off balance by this new tip. Rock remained asleep.

At this moment, Chronicle came over with his friend. "Girls! I figured out where Applejack is!" He then noticed his friends' expressions as the mare who likely gave them a direction left. "I'm guessing you found a lead, huh?" He was answered by them heading off without a word. He turned to his friend. "Let's go."

Later…

The gang were at the train again, this time headed for wherever their new lead was taking them. There were a few quick introductions to Chronicle's friend Moonbow Peek, whom Rarity had also met before.

"There's no way you can be an actual fortuneteller," argued Twilight. She had put what Chronicle revealed about Moonbow's prophecies behind her back at the day of Spike's birthday (speaking of, he was in charge of the library while Twilight's gone) and dismissed them.

"Despite telling some fortunes I read that came true, you still don't believe, even after you know somepony who does just that?" Moonbow, sitting opposite of Twilight, indicated Pinkie, who was groaning and squirming in her seat. "She pretty much matches the description."

"Pinkie cannot be explained for anything she does, period. She doesn't count."

Moonbow faced Chronicle who at present was seated next to him, who in turn was seated opposite Fluttershy. At the other side of the car were Rarity and Rainbow. "Seriously?"

"Her actions defy logic," he explained. "We've since given up on understanding her. Not just predicting things, but reaching far-off places in an instant, leaving holes shaped like her down to the hair, even carry a room's worth of party material with her." Despite what his cousin Ginger Cloud once said, Chronicle wasn't completely certain that non-unicorns indeed had some form of hammerspace, so he didn't spell that out.

"Really?" The fortuneteller raised an eyebrow.

"I swear it."

"…Fine." Moonbow faced Twilight again. "Well, even if you're unwilling to believe, since you're Chronicle's friends, I'll give you each a snippet of your future, free of charge. Except for Miss Rarity, I already read hers."

"That's nice of you, Moonbow Peek," said Fluttershy.

"I saw you girls in the stained glass, but this is the first time I've met you all face-to-face. Well, except Applejack, though we are headed to her supposed location. I'd be honored to read your fortunes."

"I still say it's a bunch of hooey." Twilight was strangely skeptical.

"Only because I'm not Pinkie Pie? Anyway, I'd like to start with Rainbow Dash. I have to warn you, even I might not understand what I see."

The blue pegasus turned her head upon hearing her name. "All right. Let's get this over with."

Moonbow walked over to the seat opposite the pegasus and Rarity, produced her crystal ball from the folds of her ever-present cloak, and held it in both of her hooves. "Rainbow Dash, I have this to say to you. During one of your demonstrations, an accident will befall you and send you to the hospital for a day. But as you wait to recover, you'll find something else you didn't realize you like." After that, she got off the seat and returned to hers beside Chronicle, rolling her crystal ball along, not noticing Rock rolling along and then substituting himself for the ball.

"That's it?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

Moonbow glanced back. "Not every fortune telling is the length of an essay." She then turned to face Fluttershy as she sat back down and lifted…Rock, and turned him around to face her. "Where's my crystal ball? And who owns this armadillo?"

"I do," Chronicle confessed as he 'took' his pet and placed him between his legs.

"I believe I have it here," Rarity inquired, levitating Moonbow's crystal ball over to its owner.

"Thank you. Anyway…" She turned to look at Fluttershy and held up her crystal ball. "Now it's your turn." The yellow pegasus turned to face her coltfriend, who gave a look of assurance. The fortuneteller looked at Chronicle, her face showing fear of scaring or angering someone, and he 'replied' with a nod of 'go ahead'. "Fluttershy, you will find a way to improve your life. But it will go too far, and turn you into a terror before you finally find a balance in your lesson."

There were gulps from everypony. The very concept of Fluttershy having fear related to what she does instead of what she feels is a foreign one.

Moonbow noticed and added, "I'm sorry about my readings, but I guess that's my specialty; they can be dark, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel. That's one problem with fortune tellers; there are two kinds—true seers and charlatans—and it's hard to tell who's who, with the latter soiling the reputation of the former. Another is that ponies usually want to hear what they want to hear. Charlatans would outright lie, while true seers would be accused for lying when they say dark fortunes. "I do my best to find some middle ground, but even then it's hard."

"I'll be there for her," Chronicle declared.

"I don't doubt that." The fortuneteller then faced Twilight. "Now it's your turn, Twilight Sparkle."

As Moonbow held up her crystal ball, the purple unicorn took the time to analyze the object magically. On the 'surface', it certainly had magical properties in it, so that puts a little doubt in Moonbow being a mere charlatan. And then when she took a closer look, she could see that it emitted blurry (to her, at least) images of what was to come. In the process, she accidentally activated the 'magic sight' spell, learned from Trixie Lulamoon from the world Blue Diary was 'stationed', and saw something strange about Moonbow. If she was reading the spell ight, Moonbow was—

"Huh. Strange." The fortuneteller frowned.

That broke Twilight out of her analysis. "What is?"

"Unfortunately, because "time is meddled with" in what I see, I'm in no position to tell you your future this time. Sorry. What I can tell you however is that in your attempts of deviation, you will still believe it's for naught."

"Time is meddled with? Do you mean time travel?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that. We seers are required to be very, very vague when it comes to events where time is meddled with, as time paradoxes are very dangerous, and can be made by seers with just a stray phrase. Looking into the future is already a risk on its own, since it can e changed just by saying it, and those paradoxes can make it moreso."

Moonbow then left her seat and made her way to the other earth pony in the car, not that they knew that yet as far as she knew; Chronicle had no reason to give her secret away.

"Pinkie Pie. You'll bear witness to a heinous crime. While the case will get solved, it will turn out your friends betrayed your mentors' work."

The party pony, amidst her shaking, listened intently, and once Moonbow was done, she said, "I'll keep that in mind."

"I believe that's all." With that, the fortuneteller returned to her seat. "If you ever manage to defy destiny, that's only because we fortunetellers read it wrong. At least that's what I believe." She then looked out the window. "By Celestia, this is a long ride."

Currently, Rainbow was gazing gloomily out from a window as well. "I hope this lead doesn’t turn out to be a dead end," she said. "I don’t want to go home empty-hooved after promising we’d find her."

"I don’t know how we’ll break it to the Apple family," worried Fluttershy.

"I don’t know how we’ll break it to Ponyville," stated Twilight.

Pinkie now had one rear leg tightly crossed over the other. "I don’t know how I’ll make it to the next stop!" she stated through gritted teeth.

Before anypony can fully wrap their mind around the problem of Pinkie's overloaded bladder, the train’s whistle sounded off to mark their arrival at a station.

Twilight smiled. "This is Dodge Junction, girls." As they reached the station, everypony could see that the station wasn't too different from Appleloosa's. An outhouse stood at one end of the platform. "Applejack is supposed to have come here after the Rodeo ended." As soon as the car's steps were lowered, the group disembarked. "Let’s fan out and try to find her."

In Pinkie’s case, “let’s make a beeline for the toilet” would be a better description as a moaning pink blur flashed past the others.

"Pickles!" She began to knock frantically at the outhouse door. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" She knocked again as she heard a flush. "Hurry it up in there!"

The door was flung open, knocking her silly for a moment, and Applejack emerged.

"Some ponies. Sheesh," she said as her pink friend paid no mind whatsoever, ducking inside and slamming the door… And then throwing it open again with a huge smile.

"Applejack!" She proceeded to alert the others as she hopped around, having apparently relieved herself so quickly. "I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her!"

The others hurried around the corner after her and stopped at her enthusiastic pointing. Sure enough, on the other side of the tracks was Applejack, walking across the main street in the Wild West-style settlement of Dodge Junction. Their lost friend certainly looked surprised, moreso as Chronicle quickly flash-stepped towards her, as if worried she might scramble at any moment, which would be a futile effort since Rainbow was there.

"Oh, Applejack, thank heavens!" Rarity said as she and Twilight trotted towards her. Rock rolling with them before stopping at the farmpony's feet.

The farmpony turned away from them only to find both pegasi—and their new acquaintance— on her other side.

"We’re so glad you’re safe!" Fluttershy added.

"I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her!" Pinkie continued as she bounced before suddenly stopping in mid-air. There, she clamped one hind leg over the other as she did on the train, having suddenly remembered her urgent need to tap a kidney. "Be right back." She then zipped away and slammed the outhouse door. Seems that she hadn't relieved herself, after all.

As the rest of the group walked past the now-occupied outhouse, it was becoming aparent that Applejack’s wasn't enthusiastic at being tracked down.

"Uh…hey, everypony. What’s up?" she asked.

"'What's up?' 'What's up?'!" Chronicle parroted, his indignation showing. "You don't come back after a week as promised and all you can say to us is 'What's up?'!"

"Why didn’t you come back to Ponyville?" Rainbow added.

"Yes," agreed Rarity. "Why are you here?" There was the sound of a toilet flush.

"Are you okay?" queried Fluttershy.

Pinkie poked her head out, having finished her business. "Do you have any snacks?"

"Tell us what happened, Applejack!" Twilight pleaded with urgency.

The blonde’s reluctant silence was shortly broken by a cheerful older mare’s voice with a Western twang. "Applejack?"

At a nearby building standing at the door was a cream-colored earth pony whose two-tone deep red hair was carefully curled and piled high about her head and rump. The mane was held by a yellow band decorated with cherries, her cutie mark showed two of this fruit, and a pink scarf was knotted around her neck. Her eyes were light green with pink eyeshadow, and a small beauty mark can be seen at the outer corner of one.

"Are these some of your Ponyville friends?" she asked as Twilight and Rarity walked over to her.

"Yes, ma’am," replied the bookworm.

"Not me, though," pointed out Moonbow.

"And you are?" asked the fashionista.

"Why, I’m Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry-O Ranch," the newcomer introduced herself as she stepped down the street. "Hasn’t Applejack told you?" The passed the two unicorn mares and stopped by Applejack. "I saw her compete at the Equestria Rodeo. Never saw anypony win so many ribbons in all my life."

"Aw, shucks, Miss Jubilee. You don’t have to go into all that," said the Ponyvillian farmer.

Miss Jubilee (he's not calling her Cherry; that's reserved for Cherry Berry back at Ponyville) lifted Applejack’s chin. "Aw, she’s so modest. Anyway, I can always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back." As she spoke, the rest of the group, including Moonbow gathered around her.

Chronicle also raised en eyebrow, thinking, Wow, she sounds and looks like a brothel boss. Sure hope she isn't.

"So when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, I snapped her up quick as I could and brought her to Dodge Junction," continued Jubilee. On the end of this, Applejack's friends traded a round of worried/suspicious glances as Jubilee then walked away, not noticing the blonde's face was running with nervous sweat. "Well, I’ll let you catch up with your friends. See you back at the ranch!"

Once she was gone, Rainbow immediately zipped in to hover in Applejack's face. "Change of scenery? What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It’s no big deal, guys," she replied testily as she walked past. "I thought cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. That’s it. End of story."

"That’s it? Well, that’s a terrible story!" Pinkie commented.

"Sorry, but that’s all there is to tell. Thanks for checkin’ on me, but y’all can go home now." She began to walked off. "Tell my family hi and that I’m doin’ A-OK."

Rainbow flew over, looking really sore. "Excuse me, AJ—" She then landed and starts to back Applejack up. "—but we didn’t travel all over Equestria searching for you to come home without you!"

"And seriously, they were worried sick!" added Chronicle as he teleported next to the pegasus. "They thought something terrible must've happened to you! For all they knew, you could've been ponynapped or otherwise coerced to go elsewhere against your will!" He then brought his face to hers and whispered, "And my Harmony Link can't notify me of that."

Applejack responded by walking past them again. "Well, I didn’t ask you to come lookin’ for me! There is nothin’ to tell, and I am not goin’ back to Ponyville!" And with that, she galloped off.

"Is that how Applejack is normally?" Moonbow asked. "I didn't think of her as the uncaring type. She didn't even acknowledge me."

"I'm afraid not, dear," Rarity disagreed.

Clever, Chronicle thought. She knows she can't lie to save her life, so she just keeps mum.

"I don’t care what she says," said Twilight. "Applejack’s not telling us something.

"Twilight’s right," agreed Rainbow. "We gotta get her to spill the beans."

"What?!? She had beans?!" Pinkie gasped before sighing angrily. "I told her I was snacky!"

The 'newcomer' of the group adopted a look of confusion. Just how does Chronicle take her antics in stride? "So what's your plan?" she addressed Twilight.

"Hmm…"

Later…

Applejack and Cherry Jubilee were inside a large room decorated with cherries on the walls that contained the following: a conveyor belt with one end butted up against a hatch in the far wall, two large bins alongside this, one marked with red cherries and the other yellow, and a pony-sized version of a hamster exercise wheel, which the two mares crossed to. Applejack was wearing an apron, a pair of saddlebags on her back, and a white hairnet over her mane in place of her hat.

"You ready to put your back into it, Applejack?" asked the Cherry-o-Ranch boss.

"Sure am, Miss Jubilee," replied the Ponyvillian as she jumped into the wheel.

"Terrific! Come on in, girls! And boy!"

And in came Twilight and the others, Moonbow included, all suited up as well. The fortuneteller still had her cloak, refusing to take it off even if it was against the dress code; she was quite adamant she keep it on her. Pets weren't allowed, so Rock was moved somewhere else in the main ranch building to wait. Of course he was properly fed in the meantime.

Applejack’s surprise soon gave way to annoyance. "What are you all doin’ here?"

"What else does it look like?" snarked Chronicle.

"We’re your cherry sorters," his charge gave the straight answer as they all lined up parallel to the conveyor, on the opposite side from the two bins. "Shall we get started?"

"Fine."

Miss Jubilee chuckled as she indicated the bins as she stood at the free end of the conveyer. "Red cherries go in one bin, and yellow cherries go in the other. Simple as cherry pie. Uh, just one teensy thing to remember…have fun!" With that, she trotted out of the room.

"What are you five up to?" Applejack then interrogated once the boss was gone.

"Well, uh…you made working on a cherry orchard sound so delightful," Rarity replied.

The farmpony was obviously not buying it. "Uh-huh." She then pointed at the green-coated mare. "And what about her?"

"I assure you I am not affiliated with these mares," Moonbow stated. That was partially correct; she's only connected to them via Chronicle.

"Whatever. Well, just remember—no talkin’ about Ponyville!"

"Fine!" Rainbow angrily conceded as she thumped the conveyor. "Why don’t you quit talking and get walking?"

Needled by this jab, Applejack turned her head bitterly forward and began to walk inside the wheel. As it turned and gained speed, the pulleys attached to both it and the conveyor started rotating and the belt itself came to life. From the hatch came a steady stream of cherries, which the seven new workers pushed off into the appropriate bins as they passed. As per the ranch's regulations, magic was not permitted.

Moonbow was closest to the hatch, and was pushing the red cherries early, and Chronicle's friends were mildly amazed at how she's able to take into account the belt's velocity and the force and angle of her push to create the perfect trajectory. She also seemed to also take into account the other workers by pushing yellow cherries to those closest to them and only when they're not preoccupied with pushing one.

This work went on for perhaps ten wordless seconds before Rainbow sneaked a peek in the stoic ranch hoof’s direction. Next, she glanced the other way and gave a furtive nod to Twilight, who smiled sneakily and tipped her a wink.

"So, AJ, how was Canterlot?" Twilight asked, trying to sound casual. Applejack’s eyes popped as she glared back toward the unicorn. "Not talking about Ponyville, talking about Canterlot. Totally different town."

"Canterlot was fine."

"Was the Rodeo fun?"

"Yes." Applejack's eyes bugged out a bit again as she saw that Twilight has left her post and was now standing by the wheel.

"Did you meet some nice ponies there?"

"Some."

Rainbow shortly flew over. "Really? Did you see Wild Bull Hickok? Oh! What about Calamity Mane?"

"Yes, I saw ’em both."

The blue pegasus grinned and nodded, hoping for an inside scoop, but got only a dirty look in return. She threw it right back at Applejack as Rarity stepped over to the three.

"And how did you meet Miss Jubilee?" she inquired.

"Um…well…Miss Jubilee had a cherry stand at the Rodeo." Applejack began to speed up to a trot. "Real good treats."

The conveyor accelerated as well, bringing the cherries out at a considerably faster pace. Fluttershy, Moonbow, Pinkie, and Chronicle, the only four sorters still on duty, had to work to keep up. Moonbow seemed to be taking most of the burden, looking a little intense. It was getting a little harder, and the stallion decided a little violation wouldn't hurt in the name of production and conjured little panels to redirect the cherries.

"Um, excuse me?" the timid pegasus tried to bring Applejack's attention, but the stubborn pony paid no mind.

"Cherry winks, cherry cheesecake, cherry tarts. We struck up a conversation, being orchard folk and all."

"So you told her about Sweet Apple Acres?" asked Twilight.

"Yes."

"Did you tell her why you weren’t going back?" Rainbow.

"No, ’cause it was none of her business!"

She sped up again, leaving the four workers still on duty to scramble even faster at the belt. As he was positioned at the far end, Chronicle decided to levitate the cherries the others missed back to the start. He couldn't sort them out himself, not having that fine-tuning in telekinesis that Rarity had.

"Oh…can you please slow down?" Fluttershy pleaded on deaf ears.

"Rrr…" Moonbow growled; even though her talent for foresight could tell her what to do to keep this under control, her body was struggling to keep up with her mind and the cherries' speed.

"Is it because I made it rain on you that one time?" Rainbow continued to ask Applejack, who was now galloping.

"No!"

And now the cherries were coming so fast that Fluttershy gave up using her hooves and put them to the sides of her head. "Help!"

Pinkie frantically gathered up as many as she can hold in her forelegs and dumped them into an indentation in Fluttershy’s hairnet. The latter aimed a pair of extremely worried blue-green eyes up at the impromptu fruit basket. Getting desperate, Chronicle attempted to filter the cherries by trying (and succeeding in) that "selective property phasing" Mystic Shield was proficient in, attempting to block the red cherries while letting the yellow ones through for himself to sort by hoof; not even Mystic can make two different barriers with two different "settings".

As Applejack kept racing along, Pinkie made another desperate grab at the unsorted fruit. Within moments, she had filled her saddlebags and set a pile on her own head, but these moves bought her precious little time. As for Moonbow, she looked like she was about to burst in anger.

"Is it because you were insulted when I gave you that book on organized orchards?" Twilight asked the pony at the wheel.

"No!" The gallop sped up, with the result of bringing fresh cherries out by the bushel. They were now piled high in the bins and on the floor, and Pinkie raced to the end of the belt and put her limbered-up lips to work catching them. In a lot less than ten seconds flat, her mouth was stuffed so full that she faced a real danger of asphyxiation. Chronicle has since decided it was a lost cause, but Moonbow was still attempting to salvage the situation.

"Is it because I threatened to smack you with the pan if you overworked again?!" Chronicle joined in. "Because I'm sorely tempted to do so right here right now!" He actually figured out the real reason, but he thought that might lead to a very heated argument right now.

"NO!"

"Is it because you were insulted when I insulted your hair?" added Rarity.

"No, no, no! I’m not tellin’ you why, so just—"

"STOP!!" Fluttershy cut her off, and the workhorse did, dropping her haunches to act as the brake. A squeal of wood on hide, a few sparks and some smoke, and inertia did that voodoo that it does so well. The cherries’ forward momentum carried them straight off the belt and across the room—with Applejack finding herself directly in the line of fire (which was strange since the wheel wasn't positioned opposite of the conveyer belt to begin with), smashing against her and the wheel, and leaving both of them splattered with the ruined fruit.

At around the same time Fluttershy shouted, Moonbow had reached her limit, grabbed her hairnet, and pulled it off by her two hooves, standing upright temporarily in the process, while letting out a scream of rage, tossing the net across the conveyer belt.

A loud gasp from the other mare, save Pinkie, whose mouth was still way too full for her own good. Chronicle was taking deep breaths, too tired and frustrated to lash out thanks to the sped-up cherry sorting. Applejack got her eyes open, glared at them, and walked out.

"Why? Why can't I keep it under control?" Moonbow was taking deep breaths as well as she spoke those words between sobs. "I saw it coming. Why couldn't I stop it? It was within my grasp. I should've been able to. Why was I fated to fail?"

"Um, Moonbow?" Chronicle called.

That's when she noticed that not only was her hairnet gone, her cloak was now revealing one side, exposing not only her cutie mark (which was a crystal ball on a stand with three diagonal stripes colored orange, green, and purple on the ball), but her distinct wing-less side. In short, her secret was exposed.

Before she could begin to cover her head, the other mares in the room were now looking at her. She just stared back at them for a couple of seconds before saying, "Uh oh."

As the group ditched their work clothes, Moonbow having put on her cloak again and hiding her head with its hood. Everypony had mops and were cleaning up the mess Applejack inadvertently made. Pinkie (who has since disposed of her mouthful) and Rarity were scrubbing the conveyor with cloths, Fluttershy and Moonbow were at the wheel, Rainbow was working up high, and Twilight and her bodyguard were doing the floor.

"Why were you hiding who you are, Moonbow Peek?" Rarity asked.

The revealed earth pony gave a long sigh before answering, "I hide the fact that I'm an earth pony because fortunetellers aren't normally of that race. In fact, I found out that I'm the only true seer who is an earth pony, at least in Canterlot. I feared I wouldn't be credible if others knew, so I concealed my body with a cloak to keep them guessing. Chronicle found out about me after rescuing me from Discord cultists a few years ago, and I made him swear to secrecy. Please promise me you'll do so as well."

Twilight and her friends talked about it for a moment, then all unanimously agreed, and Pinkie made them Pinkie Promise.

"Thank you. As for my outburst, seeing the future isn't always a good thing, and I can sense what's gonna happen in the next few seconds of the present when I concentrate. The reason it's not good is because when I see what's ahead, if I have the power to prevent a disaster, I always try to do so. As your argument with Applejack went on, I foresaw what was going to happen, predict the disaster that would come if it continued (not that it takes a seer to do that), and I tried everything I could to prevent it from coming to pass.

"Failing that just makes me feel so helpless, and I hate feeling helpless. There has to be a reason why I have this talent, and that's why when I'm not reading fortunes, I do everything I can to make a difference with what I foresee. I'll have to remember to train my body so it can keep up with my mind. Speed and agility is what I need."

"Perhaps I can help," offered Rarity. "Thanks to my new connections in Canterlot, I know a lot of ponies. That includes the owner of one prestigious gym there. I'm sure she can help you."

Moonbow was surprised at this offer. "You'd really do that for me? I mean, as far as this circle of friends goes, I'm only connected to you by Chronicle."

"You can trust her, Moonbow," said stallion stated as he used his "rain-drinking" spell to extract the fluids, but did not send them to his mouth. Instead, they went into a large bucket. "Generosity is her thing. Just don't abuse it."

"I won't. I get a stipend from my parents, anyway." This elicited mild surprise from the others as she addressed the offer-er. "Thank you, Rarity."

"My pleasure," the white unicorn replied.

After that, a pained ten seconds of silence ensued before Twilight tackled the other issue as she cleaned up another patch of cherry mush.

"Well, girls…" she began dejectedly. "…we seem to be striking out."

"That’s ’cause we’re playing too nice!" responded Rainbow.

"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Desperate times do call for desperate measures." The blue pegasus descended next to her.

"It’s time to call in the big guns!"

"The big guns?" parroted Moonbow. The two just nudged their heads at Pinkie, who happily used her tongue instead of a rag to pick up a bit of cherry slop, looking unaware and blissful. Moonbow followed their gaze, but she still wasn't following.

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Two-way split-screen. On the right is the stubborn Applejack. On the left is another split-screen, the top showing Derpy speaking as she bounces on a cloud, and the bottom shows a forlorn Moonbow Peek with her hood off. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.

Everypony was now in position around the the Cherry-O Ranch’s orchards, hiding out of Applejack's sight, who was now bucking the trees to fill a pair of baskets sitting nearby. Obviously, she was out of her sorting-room gear and had put her hat back on. After a few hits, she brought down enough fruit to fill the baskets, and that was the cue for Pinkie to zip over.

"Hey, Applejack. Need some help?" she offered.

Naturally, the farmpony was suspicious. "You promise not to ask me any questions?"

"I promise."

The orange-tan earth pony turned away, the pink one followed, and both turned their efforts to harvesting. Applejack bucked as before, while Pinkie shook a tree to fill her own basket. After a few tense seconds, Pinkie spoke up, cheerful as always.

"Have you ever had a cherry-changa?" A pause followed. "Ooh! Sorry. That was a question."

"That kind of question is fine, Pinkie. No, I-I never had a cherry-changa." Pinkie promptly got in her face.

"Well, no wonder, because I made it up myself." As she spoke, she was slowly backing Applejack up. Just as planned. "A cherry-changa is mashed-up cherries in a tortilla that’s deep-fried. Cherry-changa! Great name, huh?" Applejack reached another tree and tried to block out the chatter… "Oh, but maybe I should call it a chimi-cherry. Ooh, that’s good too." But Pinkie popped up behind her, forcing her to walk off. "Which do you think sounds better? Cherry-changa or chimi-cherry? Or what if I combine them? Chimi-cherry-changa!" After a gasp, she followed Applejack. "What sounds the funniest?"

The fed-up cherry picker just snagged a full basket in her teeth and headed off as Pinkie hopped after her.

"I like funny words. One of my favorite funny words is kumquat. I didn’t make that one up. I would work in a kumquat orchard just so I could say “kumquat” all day! Kumquat, kumquat, kumquat!" A short pause. And pickle barrel!" Pinkie soon caught up again. "Isn’t that just the funnest thing to say? Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, pickle barrel!" After dropping from sight, she thrust a hoof toward the strained orange-tan face, having somehow appeared in front. "Say it with me! "Pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, chimi-cherry-changa—"

As Pinkie rambled on, Applejack’s eyes began to constrict and dart around as she promptly blew her cool. She had since dropped her basket, and the stream of funny words continued under the following. "NOOOOOO!!" She began to huddle down. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Rainbow darted in and clapped a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, but this only muffled the babbling instead of shutting her up. The pegasus had stuffed corks into her own ears for self-protection, though nopony else had done the same. "The only way to make it stop is for you to spill the beans!"

"Never!" Rainbow promptly uncovered Pinkie’s mouth.

"Speaking of beans, did you ever realize how many words rhyme with beans?" Applejack started to back up toward a nearby tree and Rainbow held Pinkie out toward her. "Lean, mean, spleen, unclean, keen, tureen…" And the continued to rhyme as Applejack confessed.

"All right! All right! I’ll tell everypony what’s goin’ on!" At that, everypony else came out of their hiding spots and closed in. "Just please stop talkin’!" Only now did the motor-mouthed pony can it. Applejack squatted on her haunches by the tree. "But can it wait ’til tomorrow at breakfast? I’m plumb tuckered out."

Rainbow had since removed the corks from her ears. "Tomorrow, huh? I don’t know."

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" the blabbermouth asked. This demand was accompanied by the Pinkie Swear pantomime—“cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye”.

Applejack mulled it over, then sighed heavily. "I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast." She mimed Pinkie's routine. "Pinkie Promise."

The hoof to her own eye put the others at ease, but Moonbow wasn't as assured, and neither was Chronicle, the former because she doesn't know the significance of the Pinkie Promise, and the latter because he knows of a way one can not meet with them without breaking the promise. And he strongly suspected that Applejack would resort to that.

"One thing, Twilight," he then said, "When we get home, Spike's likely going to be worried, since we've been gone for almost two days without much explanation. Console him, comfort him, explain to him. All right?"

Sunrise, the next morning…

Amidst the rooster's crowing (which isn't always at the sunrise; they just wake up too darn early), Twilight led her six fellow travelers down the hall leading to Applejack's quarters. Rock was returned and on his master's back.

"Question: Why didn't you reason with Applejack much earlier?" Moonbow asked Twilight.

"Well, the last time I tried to reason with her when she was dead set on something, it took realizing that working herself nearly to death only got half the apple orchard harvested for her to finally admit she needed help. Reasoning with her then would've been a waste of time because extremely stubborn when she's set on something."

"I see."

"In any case, I’m glad we’re finally gonna get some answers from Applejack," she said.

Rainbow, still unconvinced, brought up the rear. "Yeah…maybe."

"Don’t worry, Rainbow," assured Pinkie. "She’s gotta fess up after making a Pinkie Promise."

"Actually, I know of one way she can worm her way out of that without breaking it," Moonbow suggested.

"What would that be? Hold on." They stopped at a closed door and Twilight knocked before opening. Pinkie was the first to put her head in past the frame. "Good morning, Applejack! You ready for break—" Her face goes slack with surprise, as have the others behind her save Moonbow, who did a facehoof.

They were looking into a bedroom with a neatly made bed, nightstand, closet, drawn windowshade, pictures on walls—and no Applejack in sight. "Applejack is in deep ████," Chronicle said, breaking the silence.

"She welshed on it," agreed Moonbow.

As for Pinkie, who had voiced a huge gasp as her pupils shrank to points, shock gave way to lip-chewing, eyebrow-lowering rancor, then a paroxysm that sent sweat pouring down her reddening face and bulging cheeks. Her mental steam whistle worked its way toward supersonic frequencies for several unbearable seconds. Finally, she straightened up with eyes burning and steam gushing from both ears.
"Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise!" A vivid pink blur marked her top-speed departure, leaving the others to scramble after her as best they can.

"This is why I, for all my abilities, fear breaking a Pinkie Promise!" Chronicle remarked, also summoning a magical clone to inform Cherry Jubilee of the situation. "If she's lucky, Applejack will only get away with a scolding. But if not…" He shuddered at the thought, instilling fear to the others; if he was afraid of something (that's not pertaining to his phobias), there's often a very good reason to. "If you ever really break a Pinkie Promise, with Pinkie's skills, it's impossible to run from, hide from, or stop her wrath."

At the Dodge Junction train station, an uneasy Applejack waited on the platform along with a few other travelers. She trotted in place, saddlebags slung up, as if ready to break into a sprint at any moment—and the next voice instantly made her wish she had.

"AAAPPLLLEJAAACK!!" The turned to see the approaching septet and in her mind, she saw Pinkie's eyes burn yellow. The 'weird reverberating' voice was heard by everypony else, though. "YOU PINKIE-PROMIISED!!"

The fugitive had enough time for one strangled yelp before galloping off the platform.

"Applejack, come back here!"

The culprit was making her way to an idle stagecoach in dront of a building with a four-stallion team standing in front of a building.

"Giddy up, fellas!" she said as she jumped in. "I gotta get the heck outta Dodge!"

The stallions started off with a rear and neigh, just ahead of the pursuers.

"She’s gonna get away!" Pinkie gasped as the girls stopped. But Chronicle didn't as he used a spell to increase his running speed, his tether spell on Rock and 'throwing' him to grab on to the back of the coach, and pulled out his river-serpent scale shield from under him via his hammerspace as he jumped. The result was that he was now 'skiing' on the dirt, thanks to the tether spell acting like a rope as it coiled around a place to grab on thanks to physics making Rock go around it to tie it up. Once the tether spell was secure, he held on for dear life.

Okay. I'm now at the coach. But how do I get up there? She'd probably buck me off, and tight-quarters combat is not my thing.

"Follow that stagecoach!" He then heard Pinkie's voice.

Risking a look back, he saw that the rest of his friends were pulling a cart of their own, both unicorns and earth ponies are sitting in it while the two pegasi pull.

On the coach, Applejack risked a quick glance behind herself. She had a decent lead on her pursuers, but they were beginning to close the gap.

"Oh, we have you now!"

But suddenly, he heard them brake. He didn't know why, but he didn't care right now. He just hoped they'd catch up soon. Right now, he decided to summon a magical clone up on the coach to talk with Applejack.

The runaway pony was certainly surprised to see him seemingly teleport where she is. "Applejack!" he yelled. "I've never taken you to be a coward! Why are you running?!"

She only answered by bucking him…and hitting a barrier.

"Applejack!" Another buck. "It's the Rodeo, isn't it?!" Another one, and this started to make cracks. "You didn't get enough money, did you?!" Even as the clone tried to patch the damage, yet another buck cracked it some more. "Surely you managed to win even one, did you?!" The next one shattered the barrier, and she knew it wasn't the real him; he can hold on for much longer. "Say something!" Before he can erect a sturdy barrier, the earth pony smashed through his measly defense and dissipated him.

This pain the clone experienced got transmitted to Chronicle, and it hurt him so that he lost focus on his tether spell and was falling behind, leaving his armadillo at the mercy of the coach. Thankfully for him, his friends were catching up, and with a few smooth moves and Twilight catching him by telekinesis, he (and his shield) was on the cart with them, even though there was little room left.

Turns out the chase has long since moved out of town and into the desert. A while later, after a speed-enhanacing spell was cast on Fluttershy's legs (Rainbow was only holding back for her), the cart eventually pulled even, where he retrieved Rock via levitation. ("I'll be sure to do better," he apologized to his pet) And then they started ramming the side, nearly shaking Applejack out of the driver’s seat.

"Whoa! What the hay?" she looked off to her left, and saw her pursuers.

"Pull over!" Rainbow ordered as the cart banged into the coach.

"Hey! Cut that out!" Another hit, and she lost her balance. "Whooaa!" She climbed back up to the driver’s seat and addresses her team. "I’ll pay you double to outrun them!" And they sped up.

"We’ll pay you triple to slow down!" Twilight countered, and they did so as the cart moved ahead.

"I’ll pay you quadruple to leave them in the dust!"

"Slow down right now or I'll bust a wheel and you could crash!" Chronicle then threatened. This elicited a gasp from his friends, and he added with a whisper. "I won't actually do that."

"He's bluffin'!" their target suddenly said. "Hurry!"

And they wasted no time in literally doing so, leaving the seven chasers choking and coughing in the murk. Once the view cleared after a few seconds, Rarity was the first to speak. "That was rude!"

"That's it! She just guaranteed herself a pan-slapping!" Chronicle said.

"What?" Moonbow was confused.

He ignored her and addressed Twilight, "Why didn't you teleport?"

"We're going too fast," was the explanation. "I could get somepony hurt. Me, Applejack, the driving team…"

"Get them! GET THEM!!" Pinkie was yelling.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" Rainbow urged and both both of them shifted up a couple of gears and quickly cut into the coach’s lead. Applejack got a nasty surprise when she looked back to find them closing in.

Applejack began to snap the reins. "Hyah! Come on, y’all! Go! Go!"

Even this was not enough to keep her ahead of the cart, and once it has pulled up, Pinkie hurled herself across the gap. Applejack soon found a pair of furious blue eyes boring into her own at point-blank range. "Applejack, you broke your Pinkie Promise! Apologize!"

"Pinkie, I did not break my promise!"

"Wha…?"

"Oh dear," said Moonbow.

"If y’all reckon back, I told you that I would tell you everything at breakfast! But I didn’t come to breakfast! I couldn’t come to that breakfast! Not if it meant tellin’ y’all what happened!"

"I knew it. She found a loophole."

"Well, I…I…"

"I’m sorry, Pinkie, but I can’t tell y’all the truth." The unicorn mares looked crestfallen, while the stallion seemed to feel as if his suspicions were confirmed. "I just can’t!"

"Well, I heard a “sorry” in there, so that’ll have to do for now. I’ll get a real apology later." Almost immediately, she jumped backward off the coach. "Rarity, catch me!"

"What?! Pinkie!" And she screamed as the impact dumped both of them and Chronicle somehow over the side and left Twilight, Rock, and Moonbow as the only passengers. Notably, the remaining earth pony saw a frying pan on the floor. The unicorn stallion had intended to smack Applejack as soon as he got the chance, but that obviously failed.

"Rainbow! Go back!" the remaining unicorn said.

"No time! They knew what they were getting into!"

We better come back for them later! thought Moonbow as she picked up the pan.

As the vehicle zoomed away toward the horizon, the three jettisoned ponies sat up—badly scuffed, manes askew and full of cactus burrs. Pinkie grinned at Rarity, who coughs up another burr and shot her an icy glare that would freeze her solid if it were at all possible to do so. Chronicle on the other hoof swore, "████" as he immediately cleaned himself up as best as he could. "Come on, girls. Let's head back to town. It's up to them now. We need to have faith in them."

Meanwhile, Applejack’s coach raced over the parched earth, turning it into a drab khaki blur. Not far ahead of her was a railroad crossing whose barriers swung down to block the way as the warning lights and bells started up. The sight threw Applejack for a loop; a speeding train was coming, right on schedule. She smiled wickedly at the opportunity. "Yes!" She pulled her hat down a bit lower. "Hyah!"

A snap of the reins sent her straining team toward the crossing at a truly ludicrous speed. As the train thundered ahead, the two lead stallions tossed a puzzled glance back at her focused, almost crazed countenance. Fluttershy and Rainbow galloped flat out, but cannot catch Applejack before her coach smashed through the barriers. The train rolled by a fraction of a second later.

The coach finally slowed to a stop as Applejack jumps down. "Yee-haa!"

The four stallions have reached their physical limits, but her attention was focused entirely on the passing train. "Lady, you’re trouble!" they said before galloping off, taking the coach with them… and dropping an extra passenger. As it turns out, Chronicle had summoned another clone in addition to the first and ordered him to hold on until it stopped.

"Hah! Try and catch me now!" Applejack dared through the train. It was answered by the cart's winged steeds taking the whole thing airborne. "Oh, nuts." She can only stare open-mouthed as it soared over her head and landed neatly close by. After which she then noticed the other clone ("Surprise," he said) and started to run.

Back at the cart, Fluttershy heaved for breath as Twilight, Moonbow, and Rainbow looked daggers at their absent friend (though that wasn't the case for the fortuneteller), who glared right back as she galloped away.

Rainbow, having had quite enough of this high-speed chase, pulled out of the harness. "Not so fast!" she said as she flew after Applejack, who also had the Chronicle clone chasing him. The pegasus reached her first and laid a flying tackle on the escapee that plowed her to the ground… and ejected all the ribbons and medals that were in the saddlebags.

A disconcerted Applejack lay flat on her belly, with Rainbow standing over her, and the Chronicle clone standing by. A long silence ensued before she began to confess, her voice trembling. "Fine!" She then covered her eyes. "Now you know."

Twilight, Moonbow (with frying pan in mouth), Rock, and Fluttershy, approached the pair, the last of them now out of the harness as well.

"Know what?" Twilight asked as their friend looked up and stood.

"Well, just look!"

Twilight eyed the spread and gave a smile. "I am! You won an amazing number of ribbons, just like Miss Jubilee said!"

The runaway pony hung a red-ribboned medal in her hoof. "Don’t you get it? There’s every color of ribbon down there. Every color…but…" She slumped onto her haunches, dropping the medal. "Blue."

Twilight and Fluttershy started to understand the reason for Applejack’s distraught tone as Rock picked up one of the ribbons and looked at it.

"I came in fourth, third, even second. But I didn’t win one first prize—and I certainly didn’t win any prize money."

"What?!" gasped Chronicle. "There was no runner-up prize money in any of the events you places in?! Surely they should have!"

"The Rodeo is a winner-takes-all competition," Moonbow explained. "I should know. I was a spectator there."

"But the telegram said you were gonna send money," Rainbow said to Applejack as she stood up.

"That’s why I came here." She began to walk off. "I wanted to earn some money. After that big old sendoff Ponyville gave me, I just didn’t have the nerve to come home empty-hooved." And she hung her head. "I couldn’t come home a failure."

"And you thought abandoning your family with little explanation was a better alternative," Chronicle snarked angrily. This just made her lower her head some more.

As for Twilight, she and Fluttershy smiled. "Applejack, you’re not a failure."

"And we’re your friends," Rainbow added with a wink. "We don’t care if you came in fiftieth place. You’re still number one in our books."

"So…you’re not upset or disappointed?" asked Applejack.

The mares save Moonbow shook their heads. "Mmm-mmm!"

"I'm only upset you chose to do this rash thing," Chronicle meanwhile said. "I already figured you wouldn't win many, if any, first place ranks. You're good at many things rodeo, but a specialist will always be the best at their fields by virtue of dedicating all their time to them. But I didn't explain that to you because that'd be adding pressure you could do without, which would've resulted in zero blue medals. Which it did."

Applejack zipped to Twilight. "But what about the Mayor? I don’t think I can face her and tell her I didn’t get that money to fix the broken roof."

"Applejack!" Fluttershy reproofed her gently. "We can always find a way to fix that hole in the roof, but if you don’t come back, we’ll never be able to fix the hole in our hearts."

Applejack finally smiled and shared a nuzzle with her friends, Moonbow standing off to the side, shedding some tears as she put down the pan.

Rainbow was hovering a few feet overhead—and crying softly to boot, which she shook herself out of angrily. "Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy!"

"We can always get the revenue in other ways, like a new tax levy or a bond issue," Chronicle explained as they pulled away, the blonde aiming a warm smile toward her friends. "But you, Applejack, are irreplaceable. As a Bearer of Harmony, as a dependable Ponyvillian, and as a valuable friend, for all the faults I see in you. One of my uncles once told me that lies told in silence are the cruelest. Because of that…" Turning to Moonbow, he 'picked up the pan she dropped and brought it over to Applejack. "I need to make good on my threat."

CLANG!

During the train trip home, Moonbow Peek properly introduced herself to Applejack, was convinced by Twilight and friends to confide to the farmpony of her race, then read her fortune.

"An oncoming threat to your farm is due to come in a season," she had read. "Your defeat is imminent, but victory will be absolute."

"Wha? What the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack had asked. "Can't ya make it clearer?"

"Sorry, but vagueness is a requirement in fortune telling. There is a light at the end of this dark tunnel coming soon. In short, you and your family'll survive the ordeal. Don't worry too much about it."

Upon arrival at Ponyville, she could see—as she waved cheerfully—it was crammed with Apple family members, Winona, Bon Bon, the mayor, and even her "rival" Carrot Top.

Once the train pulled in and the doors opened, as soon as she stepped onto the platform, Winona happily knocked her flat, to the amusement of Chronicle, Twilight, and Fluttershy on the train. Moonbow stayed inside, as the train was headed to her home Canterlot next.

Along the platform; Macintosh tried and failed to hold back his tears of joy as the other ponies smiled in welcome. And then Macintosh, Granny, and Bloom dog-piled on Applejack as the rest of the group watched happily, including a hovering Rainbow. After a good while of this hug…

"Hold on a second!" Chronicle then finally said, ruining the moment. "We forgot our other friends who fell off the cart!"

There were looks of shocked realization from the friends who had taken part, and confusion from the ones who didn't.

Back at the desert railroad well outside Dodge Junction, a hoofcar rolled on the tracks, with Pinkie and Rarity working opposite ends of the handle to keep it moving. Attached to it was a flat car with the real Chronicle keeping lookout as well as aiding in the pushing with his magic. Since none of the others apparently thought to come back for them, they were making their way home the only way they can, short of walking.

"I mean, which do you think, Rarity?" Pinkie continued the ramble that went on in rhythm with handle motions. "Chimi-cherry or cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa?"

"When I get back, you’re gonna get it, Rainbow Dash!" The unicorn mare merely said in exasperation to herself over the earth pony's incessant repetitions.

"Give her a little benefit of the doubt," Chronicle replied. "After the ordeal with Discord, damn that guy, as fast as she is, Rainbow has learned that she can't help out two, let alone multiple, conflicting parties all at once. And so she chose Applejack over us, trusting we'd be able to get back on our own. And we are."

This seemed to soften her mood. "I guess so…"

"But if somepony hadn't wasted time to clean herself up while on the way back to town, we could've caught the train back, and you could've chewed her out right now."

And then it hardened again, but for different reasons."I get it! Let's… just… drive…"

"All right." He let off a sigh as Rarity began her own sotto-voice grumblings . "I certainly hope we make it back soon. And I will smack them for not looking for us after the got Applejack, which I'm sure they did."

“Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s a tad easier to be proud when you come in first than it is when you finish further back. But there’s no reason to hide when you don’t do as well as you’d hoped. You can’t run away from your problems. Better to run to your friends and family."