//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 "Applejack and Fluttershy" // Story: Equestria Guardians // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 5 “Applejack and Fluttershy” Or “Apples to Pets” The next morning, on a fine Saturday, Twilight and Rarity took the bus to the outskirts of Canter City, where Applejack lived on her family farm, Sweet Apple Acres. The place certainly lived up to its name, with apple trees that seemed to stretch off into the horizon all surrounding the farmstead itself. There was a quaint, old-fashioned farmhouse, the requisite barn, silos, and other assorted outbuildings that a farm would need to store harvests, and tools. As the two girls walked up, they could see that Applejack was already hard at work, harvesting apples from the trees, stopping for a moment to wipe sweat from her brow, before starting right back up. “My goodness. She does have quite the work ethic, doesn’t she?” Rarity observed, thoughtfully. “And you were right, Twilight darling, any of my old versions of the outfits I made for Applejack would have been utterly ruined… Oh, but it is so beautiful out here… I don’t know why I refused to visit before. I was such a stuck-up fool, wasn’t I?” “You’re just… cosmopolitan,” Twilight said diplomatically. “You’re used to cities, and city life…” “Hm. True. I just feel like I was being about as boorish as that Blueblood. Never mind stifling my creativity. I feel positively inspired by these surroundings,” Rarity gushed, then turned sober. “Oh, and darling? I know I was rather hard to convince, but if you thought I was stubborn… Let’s just say you haven’t seen anything yet.” “She’s worse than you?” Twilight asked. “Much. And my being here is not going to help things at all. I’m afraid, she tends to see me as the worst sort of ‘city folk’,” Rarity said with a sigh. “Even though I’m here to try and mend things…” “Oh boy,” Twilight uttered, slumping. The girls walked down the small path and it didn’t take long to find Applejack. AJ was carrying a basket full of apples and setting them down with a huge pile of even more apples. She then wiped her brow and smiled proudly at her hard work. “That there’s gonna fill a lot of bellies,” She said to herself. “Wow, you’ve really been busy, haven’t you?” Twilight said, as she and Rarity walked up. AJ looked over from her work. “Bout time ya came around Twilight,” Aj said with a smile. “Hope ya got an empty belly, us Apples are always willin’ tah…” She stopped when she saw Rarity standing next to Twilight. Her friendly attitude melted like snow in summer. “And jus’ what are you doing here?” She said, crossing her arms at Rarity. “Oh… I was hoping to tender a long-overdue apology, if I could. I know I owe you several-hundred, for being such a fool to your needs, when I was trying to make you clothing,” Rarity said, entreatingly, a hopeful smile on her face. She wasn’t dressed in her usual city outfit of a skirt, and top, but instead wore clothes that would be practical for visiting the country. Denim jeans (only slightly embellished), and a khaki mid-length sleeve top. “For what I actually said, and did, I apologise, wholeheartedly.” “And some of the more hateful emails, and texts? Uh… Well… Those weren’t sent by Rarity,” Twilight explained. “Her account was hacked, and used to send all sorts of nasty things to you, and the rest.” Aj kept her arms crossed, glaring at Rarity. “So you owe me at least a hundred apologies, it don’t mean Ah have tah hear any of them. Now get on off my property befer Ah kick ya mahself!” To exemplify her point, she casually kicked the apple tree behind her, causing all the apples to fall off. “Wow… She IS stubborn,” Twilight said to Rarity as they both turned to leave. “She is,” Rarity agreed. “It’s her pride, you know. Some of those horrid emails belittled her family farm, and a lot of her pride, and identity is tied up with that farm. But that stubbornness translates into determination, and I’ve always admired Applejack’s sense of integrity. That could be why she never accepted my outfits, before. She felt I was trying to make her into something she’s not. You see, Applejack seems to be quite the believer in the saying: ‘To thine own self be true’.” When Twilight and Rarity got to the gate of Sweet Apple Acres, they paused to look back and wave, before they started their walk to the bus stop. __________________________________________________________________ “A rather stubborn one indeed.” Celestia said as she sat on a small bench that evening. The two were in the park together, Celestia having summoned a small barrier for Twilight to practice her magic missiles on while the Professor sat inside it. The missiles were absorbed into the barrier, but the focus of the practice was for Twilight to be able to fire as many as she could as quick as she could. “Rarity did warn me,” Twilight said, as she rapid-fired her magic missiles. “Applejack was all smiles, until she saw Rarity. Then she turned right off. But then, the hacker said some pretty nasty stuff.” “It’s a shame really, to see such a beautiful friendship fall to pieces,” Celestia said, sadly. “I only hope you can work past that stubbornness sooner or later. Now, try to use as little magical power as you can, remember flashy attacks may look good but they also are power guzzlers.” “Right, get the most bang for the buck, so to speak,” Twilight said, working on being more power efficient. “This is nothing like the seshin or sentai series on television… Pinkie still wants Rarity to make us costumes…” Celestia shook her head, bemused. “You’re right, but there is some merit to those shows. They save their most flashy attacks to finish off the monster, instead of wasting the power on a monster they have no guarantee of hitting.” “Oh. So they save the flashy finishers for when the monster can’t dodge. Okay that makes sense,” Twilight said with a nod, as she kept working out how to be more efficient. “Professor, I have found multiple incidences of where my friends’ texting and email accounts were hacked, to send the others false emails and texts. First to make them miss appointments, then to send insults, and be generally nasty.” “And you believe that the hacker’s goal was to destroy the friendship the five all shared,” Celestia said, thoughtfully. “It sure seems that way,” Twilight said. “Three different people getting their accounts hacked, with similar emails and texts sent to the others, is not exactly a coincidence. A famous author of spy fiction once said: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action’.” “The Elements themselves are stronger when the bond is strong between the bearers.” Celestia said, using her magic to redirect one of Twilight’s magic missiles to fire back at her. “It is possible to steal an element and try to use it, but whoever did this is foolish to think they could take all six of them.” “Oh? Why’s that?” Twilight asked, trying a low-power agility spell, and dodging the missile. “YES! I got a D&D Spell to work! Now if only I could get Acid Arrow for armored enemies…” “The reason that there are six elements in the first place was because the elements were so powerful together.” Celestia explained. “If one were to try to use them all at once, it would utterly destroy them. The power is too much to handle for any one being, at least for longer than a few moments.” “Yeah. But if somebody thought they knew better, or had deluded themselves they could handle the power, or just felt they… Oh… oh wow. I think I have a suspect. Professor, did you tell Sunset Shimmer about the Elements? And did you know who the possible bearers were?” Twilight asked, having a flash of inspiration. “Sunset...is a special case, she did know about the Elements. Though I did not tell her myself, she found out in one of my old tomes on the Elements,” Celestia said. “I will investigate that on my end, you should focus on getting Applejack and Fluttershy on board.” “I’ll try, Professor. But Sunset is looking like the prime suspect in the hacking. Remember how she reacted when Magic chose me?” Twilight replied. “She acted like I stole it from her. Came right out and said that Magic was supposed to be hers.” “Sunset has always had a... problem when it came to entitlement,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “But, don’t worry about her for now, focus on your friends.” She then smiled at Twilight. “To think, a few weeks ago you dismissed the very idea of friends.” “I know. I was really wrong about that, wasn’t I?” Twilight asked with a chuckle. “Never mind they’re all as different from myself, and each other as can be. It’s almost like magic.” Celestia laughed, “More than you realize.” __________________________________________________________________ Sunday was another bright, sunny day that found Twilight out of her usual comfort zone, and going to visit the Rescue Center. She had gotten directions, first, so she wouldn’t get lost, but quickly found her way there. It was a cheerful-looking place, with crates, and a large room, filled with an absolutely amazing-looking hamster habitat. In a basket a puppy and a kitten looked up at Twilight curiously as she walked into the center. There was an ell-shaped counter, where the adoptions were processed, and the rest of the building was given over to the care of the animals. Fluttershy was running around all over the place, dressed in a green apron as she tried to attend to every animal she could. She stopped when she heard the door open. She saw Twilight and smiled. “Oh, hello Twilight, I didn’t expect you to come,” She said with a cute smile. “I said I would,” Twilight said. “So here I am. Where can I find an apron, what do you need me to do, first?” “Oh I got things handled right now actually,” Fluttershy replied. “I was just on my way to feeding our latest addition.” She walked towards a small birdcage on a stand, inside was a tan and brown owl with a bandage over it’s wing. “Oh wow… That’s a bubo virginianus,” Twilight said in a hushed tone. “I hope he hasn’t been too much trouble…” “Oh no he’s actually a real sweetie,” Fluttershy said, opening the cage. “I found him last night and his wing was hurt. I couldn’t leave him there. Here you go little guy.” She was about to hand some food to the owl, only for the owl to look past Fluttershy, and hoot at Twilight. It sounded, almost as if the owl recognized her. “He’s… hooting at me…” Twilight said tilting her head. Fluttershy reached into the cage, letting the owl hop on her hand. She brought the owl over to Twilight, it hooted again with excitement, reaching it’s head to try and nuzzle Twilight. “That… isn’t normal behavior for a predatory bird,” Twilight observed, reaching over, and carefully petting the owl’s head. “And… wow, he’s really soft-footed… People who handle birds of prey usually have to wear leather gloves to protect themselves from their talons…” “Oh I’m just used to handling it, and he seems to know not to stick his talons in too hard.” Fluttershy said, reaching into her apron for a proper leather glove giving it to Twilight. “Want to pick him up? I think he really likes you.” “Uh… Sure…” Twilight said putting on the falconer’s glove, and holding her hand out to the owl. “I hope you don’t mind if I take the proper precautions,” she said to the owl. The owl titled it’s head, hooted, and hopped onto Twilight’s hand with almost practiced ease. When Twilight brought him a little closer, he hooted happily and nuzzled Twilight’s cheek affectionately. Twilight laughed a little at the feeling of his feathers on her skin. “You are no wild owl, I know that much,” Twilight said, petting his head, some more. “And you seem really smart, and surprisingly affectionate… You just need a name.” “Hoo?” It hooted at her. “You. You need a name,” Twilight replied, jokingly. “Hm… How about Owlowishcious? Do you like that name?” “Hoo!” He said in reply, seeming to be happy at the choice. “Twilight if you don’t mind, he could really use a home.” Fluttershy said. “Pets can be a wonderful joy to have in any home. Provided none of your family have bird allergies. But I’m sure you Owlowishcious will enjoy one another and bond just like me and Angel” Sitting in one of the cages was a snow white rabbit that looked up at the mention of the name. Now, Twilight could never convince any of her friends of this. But to this day she swears that when Angel looked at her, it raised it’s cute little paw...and moved it to resemble an obscene hand gesture at Twilight. “Fluttershy, he’s giving me ‘the paw’,” Twilight said frowning at the rude gesture. “Oh Angel would never do such a thing,” Fluttershy said with a naive smile. “He’s just as sweet as his namesake.” “But…” Twilight started, then looked at Owlowishcious. “You saw it, too, right?” she asked her new animal friend. “Hoo…” He hooted in a very disapproving manner at the rabbit. “See? I have a witness,” Twilight said to Fluttershy. “Owlowishcious saw him give me ‘the paw’.” Fluttershy looked back at Angel, who gave big adorable eyes. “Hmmm...I don’t think so…” Lousy two faced liar...Twilight thought, frowning up at the sniggering bunny. “So… how do I go about adopting Owlowishcious? And what do I need to feed him? I’d hate to have to get him mice…” “Oh I have some pamphlets and some forms in the back, if you let me put Owlowishcious away, I’ll get them for you.” She said, holding out her hand. “Uh, sure, here you go.” Twilight said, holding Owlowishcious for Fluttershy. The owl hooted sadly, reluctantly hopping into Fluttershy’s hand and then was put back in his cage, promptly falling asleep when he got inside. Fluttershy closed and locked the cage quietly. “I’ll only be a bit.” She then went through the doors to the back of the shelter. Twilight’s eyes wandered the various cages, until she saw an odd sight. Around the middle of the stack of cages were five empty ones. Twilight looked closer, seeing that they had long since been unused, dusty and were unoccupied. She rubbed the dust off the small name plate under one of them. Gummy “Pinkie’s Alligator?” Twilight said, tilting her head. She then proceeded to rub away the other name plates. Winona Opal The only one that was labelled simply had ‘Rainbow Dash’s future pet’ under it. “Wow… Fluttershy matched pets to all her friends, before they split… That’s amazing,” Twilight said smiling. “Here they are, sorry they took a while I-” Fluttershy stopped as she came into the room and saw Twilight looking at the empty cages. “Oh, you um, weren’t supposed to see those…” “Why not? They just show how good you are matching pets to people… Uhm… I’ve… kind of chatted with at least three of them… They really miss you, you know,” Twilight said, scuffing a foot. “And we discovered that somebody’s been hacking their emails and texts to first send the wrong days for important appointments, then to send nasty messages…” Fluttershy walked to the cages, looking at them with a quiet longing. “Used to be that all of my friends would bring their pets to the park to play. Applejack’s dog Winona, Rarity’s cat Opal, my little bunny Angel, the only one who didn’t get a pet among us was Rainbow. Well, I had one in mind for her, but he turned out to be a hard sell.” She pointed down to one of the lower cages. Twilight kneeled down and came face to nose with...a turtle? Wait. No. That isn’t a turtle. The shell is more rounded, and its feet is made more for walking on land than swimming in water. “You tried to get little miss ‘gotta go fast’ to go for a tortoise?” Twilight asked, sounding surprised. “I can see why it was a hard sell.” “Poor Tank here has been stuck here for so long.” Fluttershy said kneeling beside her. “I was hoping it would convince Rainbow to...ya know, slow down.” “Honestly, she kind of needs to. She’s quick to anger, quick to judge… If she would slow down, she’d learn more,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Speaking of hard sells, I’ve been trying to get her to try books. And I have the perfect series, too. I just know she’d love Daring Do.” Fluttershy’s shoulders started shaking, she then stood up and turned away from Twilight. “Can we not talk about Rainbow Dash please…?” “It still hurts?” Twilight asked, putting a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. Twilight quickly pulled out her phone, sending a text to the others to come to the Rescue Center. “What if I told you… that she missed you?” “Twilight you don’t need to lie to me,” Fluttershy said, her shoulders shaking and a teardrop falling from her eyes to the floor. “I remember all the mean things her and the rest of my so called friends said. All I wanted was help for the shelter, to help all the animals when nobody wants to give them a home. But, they ended up hating me because I was so annoying and pestering.” “Did they say that to your face, or in emails?” Twilight asked. “Because I know that Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity all had their email accounts hacked. And the hacker used them to send nasty emails to each friend in turn to break up the friendship.” “You don’t have to lie to me, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, wiping her eyes. “It’s, better here anyways. I’m fine, none of the animals hate me for trying to help...or ask…” “Why does everybody assume I’m lying?” Twilight said with a sigh. Just then Rarity burst through the door. “Fluttershy, darling! I am SO sorry about anything I actually said to you!” she gushed, falling to her knees dramatically and hugging the surprised animal lover. “Those horrid emails were not my doing! I would never say such uncouth things! I would be only too happy to help out with your animal friends, that sort of thing never goes out of style! Never mind you helping me find Opal. She has been such a joy, and such a handful, but still… Forgive me?” Twilight just looked at Rarity’s drama and had to chuckle, shaking her head. Leave it to Rarity to make an entrance. Before Fluttershy could reply however, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie followed through the door. “Hey Flutters…” Rainbow said with a kind but guilty smile. “Rainbow…” Fluttershy said, averting her eyes from her former friend. “Come on Flutters,” Rainbow said, coming up to her. “None of us are mad at each other anymore. Twilight, sort of knocked some sense into all of us.” “But I…” Fluttershy said, looking away still. “How do I know I can…” Rainbow walked to her, and pulled Fluttershy into a tender hug. “Believe this…” Fluttershy started sniffling, hugging Rainbow tightly. “Awww, you two are just so cute together.” Pinkie said with a small laugh. “Shut it Pinks…” Rainbow grumbled. “Oh, darling, you know Pinkie. She ships everything,” Rarity said with a laugh, getting back up. “She even said that Fluttershy and I would make a fantastic couple… right before trying to pair me with Applejack.” “Don’t care, I ship it,” Pinkie said with a laugh. The others shared the laugh, smiling at Pinkie’s antics. Outside, Applejack was looking at the group through the window. She sighed, looking down at her boots. “What’s am Ah doin’ here? They all know where we stand,” She said to herself, and began walking down the sidewalk. She then reached into her pockets and withdrew her phone, looking up the picture of her and her four friends when they were just freshmen. She couldn’t ever convince herself to get rid of it. “What happened to us? We were the best of friends...so bright and full of hope…” As she kept walking however… BONG! BONG! BONG!! “What in tarnation?” Aj said, and yelped she saw all the cars in the street coming to a halt, but the dust they kicked up hanged in the air. In fact, all the people stood still as well. Time had stopped. “Okay, this here is weird,” Aj said to herself, walking through the crowd, into the now still street. “Everybody ere stopped...wonder wh-” She’s cut off when she hears a loud crash. She slowly turns around…. Before her eyes was a massive dog, only instead of one head like normal dogs, it had three. Three snapping, slobbering, growling heads that all looked like they were about to make mincemeat of AJ. “Okay, that’s it, last time Ah eat Zap Apple with peanut butter. It just don’t work.” She said, thinking it was a hallucination. _______________________________________________________________________ The newly reunited friends all looked up, startled, at the sound of the loud bongs. “Oh no. A witching hour. Everybody outside! We have to see where the baddie is!” Twilight ordered, running for the door, herself. “Right behind you, darling,” Rarity said following. ______________________________________________________________ The dog lunges one of it’s heads at AJ, who just barely managed to dodge it. “T’aint right! T’aint right!!” AJ yelled, taking off and running from the massive monster. She then dug her heel in, and delivered a hard kick to the creature’s muzzle. “How do ya like that?!” she taunted. It yelped at the sudden kick. But then shook its head and all three heads barked loudly at her. “Apparently not too well…” AJ said, nervously looking up at the dog. She closed her eyes as one of the heads lunged for her again. “Haaaaaaiiiiie-YAH!” came a rather familiar yell, causing Applejack to look up to see Rarity karate kicking the head that had been lunging for her. She turned to AJ, holding out a hand to her. “Come on! While it’s still dazed!” “Rares?! What’s goin on!?” AJ said, taking her hand and standing up. “It’s a long story, darling. We’ll explain it when we’re not facing three-headed slobbering death,” Rarity said, pulling Applejack along. “Why does it always take a monster attack?” Twilight asked opening the case, revealing the final two gems that were glowing brightly. She was followed by the other girls, including Fluttershy who was being pulled along by Rainbow. As the case opened, the gems floated into the air, the green one transforming into an apple shape, and the pink one into a butterfly shape. Both gems come to rest in AJ and Fluttershy’s hands respectively. “What’s...this…?” AJ said, and blinked as she faded out. __________________________________________________________________ AJ awoke under a green sky, she walked around for a bit, looking around. “This is real weird. Where is everybody?” She said to herself. Honesty, integrity, yet so very stubborn. Head as hard as granite, and just as hard to get through. It is about time you saw the truth, Applejack. AJ yelped, “Alright! Where ya hidin?! Come on out!” It is good to be true to yourself. However when others have to be true to themselves, it makes you angry. You think they are not being true to you, when they act in ways that are contrary to your firmly held ideals. So you discard them, like so much trash. Is that integrity, Applejack? Is that being honest and true? “Ya..don’t know nuthin’ about me…” AJ said, nervously. “Now, come on out and show yerself…” You are, honestly, needed to help protect the helpless, with the aid of these others. They were the truest friends you ever had, and yet you discarded them, because somebody spread lies in their name. You chose to believe the lies, rather than getting the truth for yourself, and threw your friends away. Then when you were offered a hand in friendship, once again, offered a chance to mend the broken bridges, you spurned it. Because you are just that stubborn, and your pride had been wounded. “Ah jus...Ah mean...Ah jus didn’t want tah open mah heart again…” AJ said, falling on her knees. “What’s to stop a lie from comin’ again…?” Applejack, the tree that doesn’t bend when the wind blows breaks. Just because you were hurt is no reason to be stubborn about mending the bridges. The liar was somebody who wished to break you apart, because you are stronger, together. Where was that stubbornness, when that was happening? Being used for the wrong thing, because instead of seeking the truth, you prefered to believe lies. There are times to be stubborn, this is not one of those times. Open your heart, let them in, and then be stubborn when the world tries to tear you apart! “Ah...want mah friends back...if Ah have tah bow...then Ah...will…” AJ said that, she looks up to see a set of gauntlets and boots, with metal adorning them. Applejack, do you swear to become the truest and most dependable of heroes? Will you protect the helpless, and save those who cannot save themselves? AJ wiped her eyes, stood firm and said, “AH SWEAR!!” __________________________________________________________ AJ came out of the green light in a blaze of glory, adorned in the metal gauntlets and boots, she came out and before everyone’s eyes, delivered a mighty punch to the massive hound, sending it flying across the block. “YEEEE HAAAAWWW!!!” AJ cheered. “That’ll teach ya tah mess with mah friends!” “Well… That was super effective,” Rarity observed, amused. “... Rarity made a Pokemon joke?” Twilight asked sounding shocked. “Uh...don’t spread it around, darling,” Rarity said nervously. “Oh! Closet geek. Gotcha,” Twilight said nodding. Fluttershy meanwhile was holding her gem, and blacked out in a similar manner as AJ began tearing the hound a new one. _________________________________________________________________ Fluttershy walks quietly, holding her hands as she walks under a pink sky. “Um, hello?” She said, looking around. Ah. Fluttershy. So very kind. Sometimes too kind, sometimes scarily temperamental. You are an interesting study in contrasts, Fluttershy. “EEEEP!!” Fluttershy yelped, curling up in fear at the voice. Your kindness is needed, Fluttershy, but it must be leavened with determination. You must be strong, but not so strong you drive people away. “But...I’ve always been so weak and small...my friends think so too...I’m nothing…” Fluttershy said, tears in her eyes. You know for yourself that they don’t, Fluttershy. You know that somebody has been lying in their name. You are not nothing, and you have never been nothing. And you have a fierce temper, when it is unleashed. When you felt confident enough to fight back, you let it loose. Think to those times when you were angered, and moved to protect those the Center wanted to kick out, or send to the pound to be euthanized. However your temper scares you, so you make yourself meek to preserve the peace. “I do...I don’t want to hurt anybody..and...it’s better if I’m at the shelter…” But your kindness is needed, Fluttershy, needed by your friends to save the world from bigger meanies than the beancounters at the Rescue Center. They need your kind heart, and determination to help the helpless. “But...what if I let everybody down…” They will pick you up, and help you overcome your shortcomings. That’s what real friends do, Fluttershy. They will help you find your inner strength, and help you learn when to be kind, and when to be tough. There is a fine line, and it’s not always an easy one to see. There is a time for love, Fluttershy, and a time for tough love. Fluttershy soon stands, and looks up at a bow and arrow quiver floating before her. “I...want to stop hiding...I want to stop making excuses...I want to help my friends, help everyone...I WILL DO THIS!!” _____________________________________________________________ Aj kept up the pressure on the beast, pounding away at it. She jumped back when one of the heads tried to bite her. “Ah ain’t, takin this thing down as well as Ah’d like…” Suddenly, the girls looked back, as Fluttershy stepped out of the light, bow in hand. “Fluttershy?!” Rainbow said in shock. “Hold on everyone, I’m helping out too.” She confidently strode forward towards the beast. It roared at her, but she stood firm, drew an arrow, and shot it’s tail with it, pinning it to the ground. “I think you deserve a timeout!” She shouted, firing successive arrows to pin it’s paws down. It struggled and snapped its jaws, eventually breaking free. Fluttershy watched it come, and drew three arrows on instinct. “Flutters! Get your guardian beast down here!” Rainbow yelled, ready to join the fray at any moment. “I think you mean…” Fluttershy said, smiling, “Guardian Beasts!!” She shot the arrows into the sky, causing three magic circles to appear. “Guardian BEASTS! HOLY SWANS!!” Out of the circles came three beautiful swans with pure white feathers, they all swooped down on the beast, knocking it away with their massive wings. The three then flapped their wings quickly, surrounding the beast and catching it in a cyclone. “Now AJ! Finish it!” Fluttershy yelled. “Ya got it Shy,” Aj said, pounding her fists together. “Let’s give mine a whirl! Guardian beast!” she punched the ground, causing a magic circle to appear. “FENRUS!” Out of the magic circle came a massive orange wolf, it howled upon appearing, bearing it’s teeth at the monster that was trapped in the cyclone. It crouched, and leaped into the cyclone, spinning like a missile, and blasting right into the creature’s throat, knocking it out of the cyclone, and pinning it down on the ground, ripping it’s throat out with it’s massive teeth. The hound gave one last yelp of pain, before the three headed dog fell for the last time...disappearing along with the other guardian beasts. “Okay, everybody, clean-up detail! We’ve got a wannabe detective investigating things, so we can’t leave any evidence!”Twilight ordered to the group. In about ten minutes, all the pavement was fixed by Twilight’s magic. The damage covered up by everybody, and any residue or fur left behind was disposed of. Soon however, the group met up in an alleyway as time moved forward again. AJ sighed as she stood with them, “Ah guess Ah’d better start. Ah’m real sorry everybody, it wasn’t right for me to accuse you all of lyin. Ah wasn’t bein’ honest with mahself.” “Oh, pish tush, Applejack, you wouldn’t be you if you weren’t stubborn as a mule,” Rarity said cheerfully. “And your stubbornness makes you the rock upon which we all lean upon, because you’re always so determined to stand your ground.” “NOW do you believe me about the hacked accounts?” Twilight asked, sounding extremely frustrated. “Somebody had to have hacked yours, too, you know!” “So, the one about the Korean deli wasn’t from any of you…” Fluttershy said, “I’m really sorry everyone, I let my temper get the better of me, and also I was too much of a doormat to stand up for myself when I knew we were heading in the wrong direction...I said so many horrible things…” “Hey, we all said stupid things Flutters.” Rainbow said reassuringly. “But we’re all friends again now!” Pinkie said. “Riiiight?” “Yeah, Ah guess we are sugarcube.” Aj said with a chuckle. “If, you’d all have me…” Fluttershy said with a cute smile. “Darling, I truly missed you all, I want us all together again.” Rarity said, also smiling. “So have I…” Rainbow added. “Alrighty….” Pinkie said, and then suddenly shouted. “GROUP HUG!!” she then pulled all of her old friends into a massive group hug. “Wow. You guys really made up, after all this time. That’s awesome!” Twilight said with a grin. “We couldn’t have done it without you, Darling,” Rarity said, pulling her into the hug with everybody else. “Gah!” Twilight yelped as she was yoinked into the hug. “I mean come on Twili.” Pinkie said happily. “If it weren’t for you, we’d all still be hating each other!” “I know I know. I’m still kind of new to the friends thing, myself… I’m finding it to be better than I ever thought it would be,” Twilight admitted.