//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2. James 1:4 
// Story: The Draconequus with the Dragon Tattoo 
// by A M Shark 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."—James 1:4





"You sure you'll be okay out here?" Rainbow Dash asked as she plopped some of Fluttershy's yarn-filled saddlebags down on the cabin floor.

Fluttershy glanced around the cabin. It had been divided into four rooms: a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a living room. They were small but considering it would just be herself and Angel staying there for the next couple of months, they would do. "We'll be fine. Thanks for helping me move my things here."

"Hey, no problem," the blue pegasus grinned. "I'd planned to stop over here anyway. Wanted to get some Sweet Apple Acres Cider." She flew down closer to Fluttershy to whisper in her ear. "Word of advice: when the snow starts coming down, don't go out any more than you have to. Looks like we've got a pretty bad blizzard on the way."

As if affirming this, a great burst of wind howled outside and even though it didn't get through the thick cabin walls, Fluttershy trembled. "Can't the weather ponies thin the clouds out?"

"They've been trying. Even we Wonderbolts have been trying but as soon as we clear the clouds up they come right back just as thick as ever. The best we can do is make sure everypony stays inside with plenty of blankets, fuel, and food, and wait till this thing blows over on its own. That's why I came to get some more cider. I intend to spend this winter reading and sipping cider."

Fluttershy smiled back up at her friend. Over the years the athletic pegasus had become quite an avid reader, mostly of adventure stories and mysteries. "I hope you enjoy yourself."

"Oh, I intend to," said Rainbow Dash, swooping back out the cabin door.





"Thank you for inviting me to dinner and letting me stay here," Fluttershy said later that evening as she and the Apple family finished up their supper.

"Shucks, weren't nothing. It was nice to have you over," said Apple Bloom.

"Eeyup," said Big Mac.

Granny Smith didn't say anything but she took Fluttershy off to the side later while they were cleaning up and whispered, "Meet me upstairs. There's something I need to tell you."

What would she have to tell me that she couldn't just tell me now? Fluttershy wondered. However, she decided to go along with the old pony's request and followed her upstairs after they'd finished cleaning up.

Once they were alone in Granny Smith's room, the old earth pony eased herself onto the bed. With a pained expression, she spent several moments adjusting herself on the bed. Fluttershy thought the expression was merely due to physical discomfort until Granny Smith blurted out, "I had another reason for offering to let you stay here."

"Another reason?"

Granny Smith nodded. "I suppose you know that Applejack went missing after the family reunion all those years ago."

Fluttershy nodded in turn. "We tried our hardest to find her, but no one had seen her." Fluttershy wasn't sure what that statement had to do with her staying at the farm, but before she could give it much thought Granny Smith spoke again.

"I know you tried, and I think I know why you couldn't find her."

"What do you mean?"

Granny Smith looked around as if to make sure they weren't being observed. Then leaning in close she whispered, "You're the first pony I've ever told this to. I haven't even told Apple Bloom or Big Mac, but," she dropped her voice to an even lower whisper. "I believe Applejack was murdered and somepony from the Apple family did it."

Fluttershy gaped at her, stunned. While she and the rest of Applejack's friends had not discussed it in great detail, after all their fruitless searching they had come to an unspoken agreement that the earth pony must be dead. Why else would she never have contacted them in the past years? Fluttershy herself had vaguely felt that Applejack must have met with some sort of accident. She might have slipped away during the reunion, fallen into a river, drown and been swept away. She might have gone into the Everfree Forest and been attacked and eaten by some creature. Either one of those cases would explain why they hadn't found her body, but murder?! And by a member of her own family?!

No, the idea was absurd. There was no way that—

"I don't like to speak badly of my kinfolks," said Granny Smith. "but the more I've thought about it over the years, it's the only thing that makes sense."

"But there's so many ways she could have disappeared. So many reasons why we couldn't find her—"

"But murder is the only reason that explains what's in there," said Granny Smith, pointing to her closet.

Fluttershy looked nervously at the closet. Not sure what to expect, she opened it cautiously and peeked in. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw that in the closet were just rows of fancy corked-and-sealed cider bottles.

However her relief was quickly replaced with confusion. "I don't understand. What do these bottles have to do with Applejack disappearing?"

"It's those rosebuds that are with them."

Fluttershy peered closer at the rosebuds and realized that they weren't actual flowers but dried apple peelings rolled into the shape of roses. A clever little idea but... "I still don't understand."

"I didn't think you would. I doubt Applejack told any of you, but when she was younger, we had some relatives from Manehatten come to visit and we wanted to impress them. Applejack had been planning to get some flowers for the table to make it look nice, but she had been so busy making cider that she ran out of time. So she gathered up the apple peelings left over from the cider-making and rolled them into little rosebuds just like those, and used them instead.

"After that, those little flowers became something of a secret trademark for her. Sometimes she'd tuck them into gifts or just give them on their own, but they've always been something that she reserved for other Apples." Granny Smith's face looked even droopier than usual. "We've received one of those bottles with those rosebuds every year since Applejack disappeared. Why would they be coming that regularly if she had just died a natural death? Who would be sending them? Only another Apple would know those rosebuds were associated with Applejack. That's why I think one of them murdered Applejack and has been sending those bottles here to taunt me."

She gave Fluttershy an apologetic glance. "That's why I asked you here. I'm hoping you can help me find out who killed Applejack."

"I—uh—b-b-but how?" Fluttershy spluttered. She was still reeling from the revelation that Applejack had been murdered. Now she of all ponies was being asked to find the murderer?!

"I already have a plan." Granny Smith pulled an old battered-looking book from under a pillow and flipped to a bookmarked page. "There's a potion in here that can temporarily change cutie marks. I've already made it and if you drink it, it will make your cutie mark look more apple-themed. I'll then introduce you to the rest of the family as Apple Butter. Your story will be that you just discovered you're related to the Apples and want to know more about your new family. That will give you an excuse to look through all our information and records. I've been checking through our family tree over the years, trying to find out who could have wanted to kill Applejack, and now I'm hoping your newer eyes might spot something I missed."

So it would be like a research project. "But why ask me to do it? I'm not that good at that sort of research. That's more Twilight's thing—"

"But she's too well-known as a princess. Rainbow Dash is a famous Wonderbolt, Rarity is a famous fashion designer, and Pinkie Pie is a famous party pony."

Fluttershy could see where she was going with this. While Fluttershy was famous to a certain degree, she'd kept much more out of the public eye than the rest of her friends had. If disguised, her cover would be much harder to blow than theirs would. But still she couldn't ignore the fact that mystery-solving was far from her strongest point. She'd read her share of mysteries but her track record for solving them before the fictional detectives was pretty low. Still as she looked at Granny Smith's wrinkled face, she found herself wanting to help the old pony. She had to at least try.

"Before I agree to this, will you explain why you're telling me all this now? How come you haven't mentioned any of this to anypony before?"

Granny Smith sighed. "Because I hate thinking that one of my own killed Applejack. I've been trying to deny it all my life, but this year I went to the doctors and found out that I'm dying. They think I have roughly about another year to live. And knowing that, I've realized that I don't want to die without knowing for sure what happened to Applejack. Now I know I wasn't right to put you in this position but—"

Fluttershy raised a hoof. "I understand why you did, and I can't promise I'll be able to find Applejack's killer, but ... I'll try."





Discord continued his soft tapping of the stone. It felt thinner. He put all his strength into trying to arch backward ... and felt the stone crack!

Oh come on, oh, please let the rest break! Please let the rest break! Please let the rest break! He tried to twist in another direction and was rewarded with the sensation of even more cracks appearing in the stone. He would have whooped if he could have moved his mouth. Instead he contented himself with a low chuckle in the back of his throat.

Now if I can just... With a quick surge of all the energy he'd been harboring since he'd been imprisoned, he broke completely through and tumbled to the ground! He landed in a thin layer of newly fallen snow only to promptly leap back to his feet, chuckling and practically prancing with glee. He was out! He was out! After all these centuries he was finally out!

He jumped again and this time floated in midair. Oh yes! He still had it. He looked down at the disturbed snow and swept it smooth with his tail. Then he cracked his knuckles and stretched his limbs before snapping the fingers of his eagle talon. A statue that looked just like him appeared on the pedestal where he had been. The royal sisters would probably eventually realize it wasn't him but it would do for now until he had taken steps to ensure they couldn't imprison him again. He threw a sarcastic salute toward the castle. Hope you enjoy the new lawn ornament, princesses. I hate to miss your visits, but I got places to go.