Matt and Applejack get off the train to Manehattan, after a lengthy ride to the bustling metropolis. The two look upon the city as they always had, with awe at how beautiful the city was at any time of day. However, they aren’t there for sightseeing or movie watching, which is usually the case when a cinematic endeavor would be given a limited release only in Manehattan, or even rarer, Applewood.
The two have arrived in Manehattan for the reason that Applejack’s cutie mark has told her to go there.
Ever since Twilight got her castle, new responsibilities came with it. One of which being that she and her friends have been given the responsibility of becoming peacekeepers for Equestria, or, as Matt likes to call them, “The Guardians of Friendship.” Whenever there is trouble in Equestria, their cutie marks would glow, sending them to various places on the crystal map within Twilight’s castle.
Clementine has taken to calling Applejack “Glow Butt,” much to Matt’s amusement.
Whenever Applejack would be sent on a mission, Matt wouldn’t hesitate to join her, both out of a genuine need too help, but also out of fear that the mission Applejack would be sent on could get her hurt…or worse. He doesn’t like to think about the latter possibility too much. Which leads to the annoyance that Matt currently feels.
“I still wish the map was more specific.” Matt grimaces, “What if it’s a dangerous mission like last time?”
“Ya mean the time we was in the Crystal Empire?”
“When we discovered that some punk called Crunch the Rockdog was controlling an army of cerberus’, and Dawning Shield accidentally teleported himself into the lair.”
“That was scary.”
“Exactly! The map only wanted you. It’s a good thing I came along, or else it would have gotten way worse.”
“Yer right. Havin’ Cadance and Shinin’ didn’t hurt either. How many hits with the chair did it take fer ya to knock that Rockdog out?”
“A couple.”
“Ah specifically remember a lot.”
“Well, it felt like a couple.”
“Ah think we was there fer a while.”
“Now you’re just being silly.”
“Ah think Cadance and Shinin’ ordered take-out during the fight. That was a very strong chair.”
“Okay.” Matt chuckles, scooping Applejack into his arms, causing her to laugh. “You need a time out, missy.”
“Hey, I’m in mah thirties. Ah don’t get a time out. Besides, we’re on a mission, and we can’t afford ta take a break.” Applejack glances at her dimly glowing cutie mark. “As much as ah would like ta.”
“Lame.” Matt sighs in disappointment. “Alright, let’s take care of business. That thing glows brighter when we’re close, right?”
“Right, but we need ta figure out what’s wrong, first. Maybe the police can help.”
“Good idea. To the police station!” Matt points his finger dramatically to the right.
“It’s to the left, sugarcube.”
“Right, sorry.” Matt points his finger dramatically to the left, “To the police station!”
It didn’t take long for the couple to find the police station, as they have been there before when it came to matters of the glowing cutie mark. Unlike some adventures, where they had to figure things out on their own, when it came to cities, the natural thing to do was go to the police to see if there were any cases that seemed to be in their field of expertise.
They walk in, seeing that the place is a bit less busy than normal. Then again, it was only noon, so the crazies and criminals must be on lunch break.
At the front desk sits Hard Time, a tough as nails cop, but a nice unicorn mare when she needs to be. Matt and Applejack look at her with familiarity and a smile, remembering that she helped out in the past on a particularly action packed adventure involving drugs, a chariot chase, and a formidable chimera that also had a weakness to chair related objects. But, that’s all in the past, as a new adventure is no doubt forming for them.
“Officer Hard Time.” Matt says, “It’s been a while.”
“What have you done this time?” Hard Time sighs, not putting her head up, as her attention is on signing paperwork with her magic. “Jail cell is to your left.”
“Um, I think you have me confused with somepony else. It’s us…Matt and Applejack.”
Hard Time finally looks up, seeing their faces with a welcoming smile. She breaks her concentration from the paperwork, allowing the pen to fall back into the ink bottle.
“It’s you guys! How are ya?”
“We’re good.” Applejack responds, “How has the Manehattan force treatin’ ya?”
“Haven’t been shot at with lethal magic in a few weeks, so I guess it’s treating me well.” she chuckles. “What brings you two back to Manehattan? Surely, it’s not because you missed me that much.”
“Actually.” Matt looks down, directing Hard Time to Applejack’s dimly glowing cutie mark. She stares for a while, making Matt realize that his gaze has fallen on Applejack’s flank, rather than the important cutie mark. Matt gives her muzzle a light smack. “Hey, watch it.”
“Sorry.” Hard Time blushes and chortles, “Just appreciating a little beauty, that’s all.” Hard Time catches Matt’s glare, “Buuuuttt…I see that you’re here for business, so I’ll refrain from my usual antics. Turns out, we do have a bit of a pickle in the city. Follow me.”
Hard Time gets off her chair, leading Matt and Applejack over to the case office. The room is dark, but not for long, when Hard Time turns on the lights, revealing a massive room full of file cabinets. One of which is called “Active Cases,” which Hard Time goes up to. She opens it up, pulling out a thick blue file. They go to the table in the center of the room, where Hard Time places the file down, and opens it up.
“It’s a case of foalnapping.” she says with traditional cop-like seriousness.
“That’s awful.” Applejack gasps, getting closer to Matt.
“Started up a few weeks ago. Must have gotten pretty bad, if that map of Princess Twilight’s sent you guys. Kind of makes me feel like we are pretty useless.”
“You’re not useless, Hard Time.” Matt nods with a smile. “When have these foals been taken?”
“Usually around the afternoon, after the elementary school gets out, so they take the very young, no reported foalnapping of anypony in their teen years.”
“Do they send any ransom notes?”
“They do. They ask for a certain amount of bits. The parents pay them, but they don’t see their foal. We’ve tried making set drops; putting tracking devices in the bits, but they always catch them. Strangely enough, they catch them at the same exact place.”
“Where?”
Hard Time pull out a map of the city. She puts her hoof down in an area titled ‘The Narrows.’
“My guess is that their base of operations is close by. It’s mostly apartments and a tavern, though. They could be in any of those places. I just had my suspicious recently, so I’m waiting on a search warrant.”
“Ya don’t need one.” Applejack says, determination in her voice. “Matt and ah will take care of it.”
“AJ…” Matt softly lets out.
“Somepony’s been foalnapping the youngins; takin’ em prisoner or worse. We can’t wait fer much longer. Matt and ah aren’t part of yer police, so ya don’t need yer warrant.”
“This isn’t going to be like last time. There won’t be any back up waiting on you, if things get hairy.”
“We don’t need it.” Matt proclaims. “We’ve taken tougher jobs. Like that Griffon Bomber.”
Hard Time alternates between the two. She sighs, knowing that she cannot stop them. The case has struck a chord with them, and she knows not to get in their way.
“I can’t convince you two to wait.” Hard Time closes the file. “But I wasn’t going to, anyway. Just go do that thing you do, and kick their plots.”
“That’s the idea.” Applejack smiles.
“Oh, and…come back alive. I kind of like you guys’ company.”
“More like you like AJ’s flank. Which you’re staring at, right now.” Matt spots Hard Time taking another gander, giving her another half-hearted smack.
“Sorry.”
Applejack and Matt are brought into the Narrows of Manehattan. The place has seen better days, as while it doesn’t look completely unlivable, the area seems like crime is just around the corner. From shady looking gangs, and a particularly menacing stallion in an alley wearing a trenchcoat.
Hard Time brings the two in a stagecoach designed to look like a cab; normally used for sting operations or undercover work, and the two given a bit of a makeover. Matt had the least amount of work, as it’s hard to perfectly disguise the only human in Equestria. Applejack however, is given an overhaul, with one of the unicorns at the station using a transformation spell to give the farmpony the appearance of a different mare.
Yellow coat, raven-maned, while also wearing short shorts and a loose fitting long sleeved shirt that exposes a shoulder; Applejack would be lying if the appearance made her uncomfortable.
Hard Time takes off to avoid suspicion, giving a customary goodbye wave that cabbies are known for. The two look around the area, catching the one place they assume where the culprits are more than likely hiding their little hostages.
The tavern. A place where many mistakes could be made, drunken or otherwise. The two look at the establishment, noting that it’s between two apartment complex’s, finding its placement strange.
“Ya ready for this?” Applejack asks.
“I believe so. You?”
“Ah look ridiculous.”
“You look…um….fine.”
“No like mah human appearance, where ya can take either or, huh?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Alright. Let’s find out where the foals are bein’ kept.”
Matt walks into the tavern first, not unlike a scene out of a western film, where the hero would walk through the doors with a sense of purpose and theatrics. The stallions inside turn their heads the see the human, looking surprised at his appearance inside the place. Applejack soon follows, turning some heads in the process at her sultry appearance; the disguise is working perfectly.
Applejack goes to the bar, where the Barkeep is quick to go to her, leaning halfway across to get a closer look at her. Applejack uses her all to not move back, but instead take on the guise of a mare of the night.
“What’ll it be, sweetheart?” the Barkeep asks with a grin, glancing at her bare shoulder.
Applejack leans in closer; close enough to almost touch his muzzle. The voice that comes out isn’t that southern drawl, but something Matt would probably call “American.”
“I’ll have an appletini. Make it a double, darling.” she requests, practically breathing the words out.
The Barkeep is all too eager to acquiesce to her request. Applejack looks over at the mouth gaping Matt, giving him a wink that causes him to gulp. Maybe he was a bit harsh earlier; maybe he likes this different Applejack after all. He shakes his head quickly, to get other thoughts out of his brain, and focus on the task at hand, or at hoof.
A unicorn stallion; large, grey, intimidating, bigger than even Big Mac, sits down at the stool next to Matt, his eyes laser focused on the human, like he rightfully doesn’t belong. Matt can see him out of his peripheral vision, waiting patiently for the Barkeep to finish Applejacks drink, so that he can order one himself.
Slowly, hesitantly, carefully, Matt looks over at the stallion staring right back at him. Matt keeps his cool, looking at the stallion with a blank slate of an expression, as if he’s not impressed by the stallion’s size. He is…maybe a little bit, but in truth, he’s faced and fought bigger threats.
“Can I help you?” Matt tilts his head at the utterance of the question.
“What’s the human in Equestria doing in this dive?” The stallion’s voice is deep and rumbling. His vocal chords could cause earthquakes if he keeps talking.
“Something wrong with wanting to explore everything Manehattan has to offer?”
“No, but being who you are, it’s pretty odd to see you here.” The stallion glances over at the sexy pony by Matt, who is sipping into her appletini. “And with another mare.”
“What makes you think she’s with me?”
“She followed you inside, and she’s practically next to you. I’d say you two are together.” the stallion chuckles. “What’s the matter, farmpony wife ain’t doin’ it for you?”
The small group of stallions playing cards at a table by the window laugh at the beefier stallion’s remark. Matt remains unfazed, so does Applejack.
“What’s the matter? I can’t have a little fun on the side?” Matt retorts.
“Hey, I’m not judging. That’s a fine piece you got. Never seen her before, but I hope to get to know her better once you’re done.”
“That depends.” Matt smirks, “I plan on keeping her for a while.” The Barkeep finally arrives to tend to the human’s drinking needs. “I’ll have an Appleoosa Shooter.” The Barkeep nods and gets to work.
“Impressive drink.” The stallion admits. “A large glass of extra hard cider, plus five shots of dandelion whiskey. That’ll put a coat on your bare skin.”
“Thanks. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Ponies around here call me Stone Hoof, on account of my left hoof being made of stone.” Stone Hoof puts his left forehoof on the table, showing that it indeed is made of stone. “Lost it in a fight, and I got this thing to replace it.”
“Impressive. Is it heavy?”
“Not to a stallion like myself, but if I were to get into a fight, whomever got hit by it would be down for quite a while.”
Matt drink arrives in a timely fashion. He stares at the beverage, wondering how to approach such a monster. With a shrug and a harrumph, Matt takes a big sip, swallowing the liquid easily. Stone Hoof watches, anticipating the human to drop dead of alcohol overconsumption, but Matt still sits, still conscious.
“Not bad for a first sip.” Stone Hoof lightly pats him on the back.
Matt nods with a smirk. He notices a small distance away from Stone Hoof is a newspaper.
“You mind?” Matt gestures towards the paper, which Stone Hoof obliges by siding it over to him. The article on the front page talks about the kidnapped foals.
“Shame about those foals, huh?” Stone Hoof comments. “Says they were napped after school.”
“Yeah.” Matt agrees.
“What are you colts talking about?” Applejack gets in between them, looking at the newspaper. “Oh no, those poor things. How awful.” Applejack gets close to Matt, grazing herself against his side. “You wouldn’t let anything like that happen to me, would you, sugar?” she asks with saucers in her eyes.
“Never, baby.” Matt kisses her affectionately.
“Wait, how old are you?” Stone Hoof asks Applejack with worry on his face.
“I’m twenty six.” She lies. Being in this disguise hides her mid thirties appearance well. “Why? Do I not look it?” She playfully pouts.
“Uh…” Stone Hoof clears his throat. “No. You look…a bit younger. But when you mentioned being foalnapped…I thought…”
“That she was young…as in…FOAL young?” Matt laughs. “I’m not THAT perverted.”
“Sorry.” Stone Hoof laughs it off, “My brain sometimes tells me weird things.”
“So…” Applejack moves away from Matt, and onto Stone Hoof. He’s sweating bullets now. “What is your brain telling you now?”
“Ummm….I….um…..ghhhggghhh…” Stone Hoof sweats profusely.
“I’ll tell you what, though.” Matt takes a few more sips of his drink. “Kidnapping foals really grinds my gears.”
“Strange set of morals, for a man cheating on his wife with a whore.” A voice calls out from the group of stallions at the table.
Matt turns his head slowly at the group of stallions, with a cocked eyebrow and a look of annoyance and anger.
“Excuse me?” Matt gets up from his chair. “That lady over there ain’t a whore.”
“She’s dressed like one.” The Grey-Coated stallion in the group utters. “Sure looks like one to me.”
“What? A mare can’t trot outside wearing this?” Applejack scoffs, “It’s hot outside.”
“Take it off, then.” The Red-Coated stallion laughs, “Give us a bit of a show while you’re at it, too.”
“Hey.” Matt steps up, “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“I’ll talk to her however I want to talk about her, buddy.” The Red Coat chuckles in disbelief that this human would come to the mare’s defense. “Getting awfully defensive for a man about to cheat on his wife. Don’t you have a foal, too? She would be awful upset that her Dad gets it with whores.”
“Stop calling her a whore.”
“Why shouldn’t he?” the Grey Coat speaks up again. Matt turns his attention all on him. “She looks like a whore. Acts like a whore. In my book, she’s a wh---“
Suddenly, in a surprise to everypony in the bar, Matt rushes the Grey Coated pony, grabs him by the coat, and lifts him up over his head! The human roars in anger at the mouth of these ponies. He should be playing this cool, but now he has officially…in human terms…lost his shit.
“STOP CALLING MY WIFE A WHORE!” Matt bellows, throwing the Grey Coated stallion against the wall.
Turns out, against the wall wasn’t good enough, as the wall easily gives way, allowing the Grey Coat to smash through the flimsy wood, and into a dark room that was meant to be hidden. Inside, are the screams of small voices.
Foal voices.
“Sweet Celestia…” Stone Hoof says in a sotto.
“Oh…well…” Matt looks at the discovery with a sense of pride…but also worry. “…that escalated quickly.”
The Grey Coat stumbles back up, with the crying of the foals inside becoming more whimpered. He glares at the foals with a look that can cut through steel, shutting them up. He looks back at Matt, the hooker pony, and the group of stallions at the table, who are ready to attack at any moment.
“KILL THEM!” He shouts.
On instinct and on the biological traits of the Williams family, Matt picks up the chair that he took the Grey Coat off of, and immediately smashes it over the head of the Red Coat, knocking him out cold. He is then suddenly tackled by other stallions in the bar of varying colors. He punches and kicks, and even smacks them with pieces of the broken chair, but he is risking being overpowered.
Lucky for him, Applejack is there with him.
She drives into the fray, punching and bucking the stallions off of Matt with blinding speed. Innocent bystanders take the opportunity to leave before they themselves become part of the action.
The Barkeep readies his magic to blast Applejack, but Stone Hoof dives behind the bar, and takes the Barkeep with him, smashing him into the floor, and knocking him out with one well delivered punch from his hoof.
Other stallions rush into the bar from different doors, charging towards the couple crime fighters.
Matt rises from the sea of knocked out stallions, and he joins Applejack in taking on the rest, including the Grey Coat, who has inserted himself into the fight. They work together, almost expertly. This is obviously not the first time they have fought groups like this, thanks to their many adventures, and Stone Hoof, though hold his own, can’t help but be in awe of the two’s style.
Matt and Applejack punch the Grey Coat with a simultaneous blow, sending him back down to the floor, groaning and holding his muzzle in pain.
“You’re right…” Applejack pants, going back to her southern accent. “…that really got out of hoof, fast.”
“It jumped up a notch.” Stone Hoof nods.
“It did, didn’t it?” Applejack is surprised that Stone Hoof agrees.
“I smashed a chair over a stallion’s head.” Matt smiles.
“Ah expected nothing less, sugarcube.” Applejack smiles back. “Sorry that we startled ya, Stone Hoof.”
“Don’t be.” Stone Hoof removes his stone hoof, revealing a regular hoof underneath, along with a Manehattan Police badge. “Detective Strong Heart of the Manehattan Police.”
“A cop?!” Applejack gasps.
“A detective, actually. I suspected that this part of the neighborhood was housing the kidnapped foals, so I’ve been undercover for the past week. Sorry if Hard Time didn’t tell you about me. She wanted to make sure my cover wasn’t blown.”
“Speaking of covers…” Applejack says. She shakes her body like a dog shaking water off its coat, and the disguise gradually dissipates, revealing her real self, albeit with the clothes still on. “Now ah can be mah normal self.”
“Got to say, I’m a bit disappointed it was you, Mrs. Apple.” Strong Heart chortles. “I was hoping that you were a new cop on the force. Unfortunately, once Mr. Apple called you his wife, I put it together that you were really Applejack.”
“It’s the outfit, huh?” Matt asks.
“Yeah. Definitely the outfit.”
“I agree…” Matt nods before getting serious. “Now stop staring and check on the foals.”
“Right, sorry.” Strong Heart goes into the dark room, finding the light switch inside. The cries of the foals become startled yelps. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Matt and Applejack can hear him say. He then comes back out in a panic. “There’s supposed to be five foals. One is missing!”
Applejack gasps, while Matt kneels down to the Grey Coat, lifting him up by his chest fluff.
“Where’s the other foal?” Matt growls.
“I ain’t tellin you nothin’!” The Grey Coat spits in Matt’s face. He is thanked by a punch from Applejack.
“WHERE IS THE FOAL?!” Applejack screams.
“I told you, I ain’t…” He doesn’t get another word in, as Matt and Applejack each punch him a few more times. “ARGH! Okay! I’ll tell yas! She’s in the apartment complex on the right! But, ya ain’t going to make it! He’s got bodyguards that can crush yous in seconds!”
“Oh yeah?” Matt picks up a chair. “I got a chair, motherbucker.” He then smashes the chair over the Grey Coat’s face, knocking him out. “Oh…smashed that one. Um…” Matt then grabs another chair. “I have ANOTHER chair…um…motherbu…aw, forget it. Let’s go kick some ass, AJ.” Matt looks at Strong Heart, “Call it in.”
“I’m already ahead of you. Go save that filly.”
Matt and Applejack hurry over to the apartment complex on the right of the tavern. The first floor is desolate, with nopony there to stop them. They are cautious, at their guard, ready to take on all dangers that could be waiting for them. They make it over to the elevator at the end of the hall. Inside, they look over the buttons. Thanks to pure logic, they figure the bosspony is on the top floor. The thirteenth floor. With little hesitation, they press the button. The doors slowly close, and the elevator goes up at an even slower rate of speed.
“This elevator is too slow.” Matt scoffs.
“Ah know. Kinda sucks.”
“Well, since we’re waiting, we should think of a strategy.”
“Good idea.”
“So, who do you think should go first? Me or you?”
“Well, you’re the one with the chair. So ah have ta say that you should go first.”
“I don’t know, your hooves are pretty strong, and you’re a lot more flexible than me and my chair.”
“Ah may have flexibility, but ya have the reach. That chair can clear a room out mighty fast.”
“Good point.” Matt nods, “How should I go about this?”
“Hmmm…” Applejack thinks, “Remember that anime show with the schoolgirl screaming her head off, and hittin’ a buncha guys with her sword to get to a pillar?”
“That’s like every anime ever, but go on.”
“Ah like how she did it. Y’all should do that, too.”
“Okay. Running, screaming, and hitting. Totally got you.”
DING. Thirteenth floor.
The doors open up, revealing a crowd of stallions waiting for them. Each one is looking mean, cutthroat, and ready for action. Matt and Applejack stare at them for a while, before.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Matt roars a battle cry, swinging his chair wildy at the charging crowd. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” He continues to scream. Bam. He hits one across the face. Bam. He hits another one. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Matt is still screaming. Bam. He hits another. The chair cracks. Bam. The chair breaks. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” And Matt continues to scream.
Matt gets to the end of the hallway of now knocked out stallions with nothing to stop his momentum. He smashes through the door, revealing a large brown stallion, holding hostage a little red earth filly. She is trembling in fear at this brute. Matt throws a chair leg straight for his head.
Somepony catches it. Only it’s not somepony. It’s a Diamond Dog. Large, snarling, grey, with red murderous eyes. He snaps the chair leg with his clenched fist, drooling all over the carpet with his disgusting saliva.
“Mad Dog.” The stallion says, prompting the anthropomorphic dog to look to his master. “Kill.”
“Ummm….” Matt trails off, but cannot trail any further, as Mad Dog comes barreling towards him.
Matt swings the last chair leg, but Mad Dog blocks it, smacking it out of Matt’s hand. When it comes to chair assaults, Matt is master class, but in terms of hand to hand combat…less so. He did fine during past adventures, even when he battled King Sombra years ago, but that particular event was due to him being powered by magic. Here, all he has is his hands, feet, and fighting spirit.
The human does his best; even getting a couple of hits in, but Mad Dog is faster. A flurry of punches hit Matt in the gut, and a few to the face. Matt fights through the pain, continuing the battle to save the filly, but he knows that he might be fighting a losing battle.
The vicious fighter tackles the human to the floor, pouncing on top of him to deliver more punches. Quickly, Matt grabs Mad Dog’s hands, holding onto them tightly to prevent further injury. However, Mad Dog continues to live up to his name, as he chomps at Matt; his teeth stopping at Matt’s face just barely, with drool falling all over the hapless defendant.
Sick of being snapped at and slobbered on, Matt delivers a strong head-butt to Mad Dog’s face, sending him backwards, and allowing Matt to stand again. The reprieve is slight; Mad Dog jumps back to him, continuing the fight.
Mad Dog grabs Matt and throws him into the wall with a hard thud. He jumps at the struggling human, ready to end it.
Thankfully, Applejack comes launching in for the assist, kicking Mad Dog straight in the face in mid air, and sending him falling to the floor.
“Get yer stinkin’ paws off mah husband.” Applejack growls. Matt gets up, going to Applejack’s side. “Sorry I’m late. A couple of the stallions ya barreled through were still conscious.”
“What are you talking about? You’re right on time.”
Mad Dog gets back up, growling in rage.
“What are you doing, you mangy mutt? Kill them!” The stallion demands once again.
Mad Dog rockets towards Matt and Applejack, who charge right back. They fight him on both sides, with both of them getting some good hits in on the rage filled beast. Applejack was right; while Matt had the reach, she had the flexibility. She was faster than the two of them, getting Mad Dog’s attention more than Matt, which gave Matt more opportunities to get revenge on the black eye that will soon develop on his face.
In some ways, in many ways, Applejack is more of a mad dog than even Mad Dog, using all of her skill to battle this creature, and is not only managing to hurt him, but is managing to BEST him as well. Even the filly, still shaking in the stallion’s foreleg, is amazed at this mare’s abilities.
Mad Dog, battered and bruised, makes one final leap at the two. Matt and Applejack, as one, throw a powerful punch into Mad Dog’s chest, sending him flying back…and out the window. The screeching of chariot wheels are heard, followed by a series of crashes. Then…nothing. Long silence fills the room, as the once fearless stallion is now showing an unmistakable expression that is filled with the emotion.
“Let…that filly…go.” Applejack growls, out of breath from the fight.
“Never!” the stallion shouts. “This filly is mine! I shall do as I please!”
“Why are you doing this?” asks Matt.
“Foals can be bought for high a price in cities. Colts can be brought into gangs, made into soldier. Fillies…well…you know what they can be good for.”
Matt and Applejack are repulsed by the stallion’s talk, getting closer to him to cause harm. His grip tightens on the filly, causing her to yelp in fear and pain.
“Don’t come any closer!” he demands. “I’m getting out of here, and neither of you can stop me!”
Applejack looks into the fillies fear filled eyes, giving her a calm and gentle expression; smiling in an attempt to comfort her.
“It’s alright, sugarcube.” Applejack softly utters, “You’ll be home soon.”
“Don’t you get it?! I said there’s nothing you can do! Now, nopony move, or el—“
WHAP! A chair leg smacks into the stallion’s forehead, stopping his speech. His eyes roll back, and he falls to the floor with a loud and echoing thud, dropping the filly. She runs into the corner, softly sobbing from the experience. Applejack looks to the source of the chair leg, who, of course, is undoubtedly the master of chair assaults himself…Matt.
“Well…he DID say noPONY. Didn’t say anything about noBODY.” Matt shrugs. Applejack chuckles at his words.
Applejack, with her maternal instincts kicking into high gear, slowly walks over to the sobbing filly, trying to be as gentle as she can be. The filly shivers and cries, briefly looking over her shoulder to see the farmpony carefully approaching her. She looks away again.
“It’s alright, now. You’re safe.’ Applejack says. “Nopony is gonna hurt ya.”
The filly looks back again, seeing the stallion’s unconscious body in a heap. No chance of him moving any time soon. However, he’s still breathing, and that’s more than enough to get the filly scared again.
“Hey, hey…” Applejack gets closer, noticing the filly’s fright. “It’s okay.”
“He’ll get back up again. I just know it.” the filly sobs. “He’ll try to hurt me again.”
“No, he won’t.” Matt interjects, standing over the unconscious stallion with a new chair in his hands. “If we wakes up, I’ll shut him back down.”
“Ya see? He’s got this.” Applejack smiles. “Now, come on. Yer parents must be worried bout ya.”
The filly looks back to see the smiling face of Applejack, and Matt standing over the stallion, ready to hit him with another chair. She smirks at the sight, feeling just a little bit better at the prospect of moving. Slowly, she fully turns around to face them, moving to the open forelegs of Applejack. Finally, she hops into Applejack’s embrace, holding on to her tightly.
Just then, officers from the Manehattan police burst into the room, with the unicorns getting their magic ready to blast any hostile force. Luckily, that hostile force is on the ground in an unconscious heap. Hard Time walks in, looking amazed at all the knocked out henchponies.
“Sweet Celestia…” she gasps. She sees Applejack holding the filly, and Matt holding a chair, and smiles at their safety. “You guys are okay!”
“Of course we are.” Applejack smirks, “Did ya doubt us?”
“Not in the slightest.” Hard Time nods. “We got a diamond dog on the street, looking pretty beat up. Was that your doing?”
“It was the both of us.” Matt chuckles, looking a bit more worse for wear than his farmpony companion.
“You need medical attention? We have an ambulance outside.”
“No need for that. Did Strong Heart manage to get the foals out.”
“With no trouble. Sorry that I didn’t mention him.”
“We know. You didn’t want to blow his cover.”
“Hard Time…” Applejack cuts in, “Do ya mind if ah take the filly downstairs?
“Not at all. Her parents are downstairs. When Strong Heart sent word that you guys found the foals, all the parents were notified.”
“Thanks. Come on you.” Applejack says to the filly, bringing her to the elevator.
“No problem. We’ll throw the books at this one.” Hard Time smirks, looking towards the knocked out stallion.
“Throw this at him, instead.” Matt hands the chair over to Hard Time. “It’s super effective.”
“Ah.” Hard Time nods, “Good point.” She waits until Matt and Applejack get into the elevator, before looking over at one of the nearby officers. "Okay, if anypony asks....WE did this."
Matt and Applejack take the filly outside the apartment, where they see Mad Dog being carried into an ambulance, with cuffs around his paws and covered in bandages. Officers and news reporters swarm the scene, with the reporters shouting questions, and the officers trying to hold them back.
“GEMSTONE!” a voice in the crowd calls out, perking the ears of the filly.
“MOMMY!” the filly cries, signaling Applejack to put her down. Out of the crowd, emerges a white mare and a blue stallion, both with tears in their eyes at the sighting of their little filly. Gemstone makes a dash to her parents, leaping into their forelegs, and tightly embracing one another with love and tears. “Mommy! Daddy! I’m okay!”
Gemstone’s Mother looks up to Matt and Applejack, still crying her eyes out, but with a smile on her face.
“Thank you. Thank you for saving her.”
Applejack wipes a tear away, replying to the mare with only a nod.
“Hey…AJ…look.” Matt taps her on the shoulder, gesturing her to look at her cutie mark. It gives one final flash, before going back to its normal cutie markness. “Looks like this really was what the map wanted us to do.”
“Yer right.”
The two walk past the crowd, giving a wave to Strong Heart, who is chatting it up with the reporters, giving his side of the story. With a few more pushes and asides, the couple is able to get past the crowd, and finally able to breathe after that entire ordeal.
“Man, why can’t we ever have a friendship problem?” Matt asks. “It’s always fighting.”
“Ah suppose that’s why the cutie map choses me. Cause we’re good at it. Plus, it probably knows that you’re going to come with me. We really need ta get ya a cutie mark.”
“I’d love one.” Matt chuckles, “But I’m not a pony, and I don’t think a tattoo would work either. Still, it would be nice to have me floating around on that map somehow.”
“I’d certainly enjoy it.”
The two share a laugh at the image that is circling their minds, inching closer together as they walk away from the crowd.
“Ya know, we finished much earlier than expected.”
“You want to take the next train back to Ponyville; save Discord from Clementine?”
“Actually, ah thought we’d spend the night here. After all, ah DID reserve a hotel room.”
“Hmmm…” Matt thinks. “It would be a shame to let that room go to waste, since you paid for it.”
“Ah could always get a refund…”
“TOO LATE!!!” Matt scoops Applejack in his arms. She yelps at the sudden move, but laughs loudly when he runs rapidly to the left towards their destination. “To the hotel!”
“Matt…” Applejack says through the laughs, pointing to the right. “The hotel is that way.”
“Oh…thanks.” Matt turns to the right, running to the location with the same amount of speed. “To the hotel!”