"Well I guess we settled that argument, didn't we?" Applejack said incredulously to her brother who was currently lying in a hospital bed, a bandage around his midsection, "just because you can lift four hundred pounds doesn't mean you can carry it up a latter by yourself." It was the first time in the past two hours that she had shown an emotion other than panic.
When she first found Big Mac in the barn, on his back and clenching his side with the heavy load that he could 'definitely carry on his own' scattered all over the place, she had very nearly freaked out. Memories of her parents and that fateful night their freight hauler ran off road flooded her mind. It took all her will power to maintain her calm and contact the hospital.
Her emotions didn't level out until nurse Red Heart came into the waiting room to assure her that Big Mac would be fine and that she could come in to see him. The big dope had the audacity to smile at her when she walked in as if nothing happened.
A doctor walked in shortly thereafter, he held a clipboard in his magic which marked him as a djinn and a white doctor's coat with an electrocardiograph cutie mark embroidery sewed above the left breast. "Good morning, Miss. Apple, my name is Dr. Horse," he offered his hand for her to shake, "I've completed my preliminary of your brother and would be happy to answer any questions ether of you may have."
"Well, whats the damage, Doc?" she asked.
"Nothing serious, fortunately," he replied, looking up from his charts. "He's twisted his right ankle and pulled a muscle in the lower abdomen." He looked at Big Mac, "you should be fine in a few days but you need to stay off that foot and avoid any heavy lifting for at least a week."
"A week!" AJ shouted, "but, this week is when we have to harvest the south fields!"
"Eeyup," Big Mac added.
"Well, I'm sorry, Miss Apple, but that muscle is in a very fragile state, any strain on it before it heals completely could cause it to rip and then we're talking surgery." Dr. Horse's gentle but stern tone told AJ that this was not an opinion, it was fact.
AJ let out a deep breath while slumping into the bedside chair, her hands running down her face, "thanks, Doc," she said with resignation, "I don't suppose you can give us a second?"
"Of course, I'll come back in five minutes and we'll talk about whether or not you want any painkillers."
When Dr. Horse left, the room fell silent for a moment as the reality of the situation began to sink in. AJ turned to her brother with an angry scowl, "well, you done gone and did it now."
"Eeyup," Big Mac said with a resigned tone.
"Don't you 'eeyup' me mister!" she retorted, "thanks to your stubborn pride I have to harvest the whole south fields on my lonesome."
Big Macintosh was a terran of few words but not because of shyness. When he was young, he found that his deep baritone voice could be intimidating to other children his age and in particular his littlest sister, Applebloom who, as a baby, was often woken by it. So, he developed a habit of only answering with a 'yes' or a 'no' whenever possible. In this situation, it wasn't.
"AJ, the south field is our biggest crop, ain't no way y'all can handle it on your own."
"What choice do I have?" AJ waved her arms to the side, "Applebloom has her schoolin, and there's no room in the budget for more farm hands!" She placed her hands on her hips, "besides, I reckon I could do it. In fact, there's still plenty of daylight left, I'll bet I could take a bite out of this job by day's end."
"Biting off more than you can chew is just what I'm afraid of," Big Mac said.
"Are you saying I can't do it?"
"Eeyup."
"Why of all the... This is your sister Applejack, remember? The hardest and most dependable of workers?" her arms were crossed as she stared him down.
"But you're still just one person, and it takes one person a day to do an average of five or six acres. We're talking over thirty acres here. The math just doesn't add up."
"Now don't you go throwing numbers around to muddy the issue! I said I could do it and I'm gonna prove it. By the time the last freight train leaves on Friday, I'll have every last apple in the south field harvested and shipped all by myself!" AJ looked out the hospital window, from there she could see the edge of the south fields, there were quite a few apples. I hope.
***
Daisy Jo was quite satisfied with herself that day. She had made excellent time on her cattle drive and now the Ponyville train station was in site. In a few hours the train would pull in to the station so she could load her herd of cows onto the cars where they would be shipped off to auction in Chicacolt and she could finally go home and rest.
She was quite happy to have arrived in time to catch the first train, with luck, she could probably avoid being ask the same question she was asked every time she encountered a Homo Genus with her herd of cattle; "Isn't it weird to have cow livestock since your a minotaur?" It was such a stupid question, just because she had horns and a muzzle that automatically made her the second cousin of common cows.
Daisy removed her hat and took a swig from the water canteen she stored inside it. It was then that she heard an unmistakable sound, a rapid succession of short sharp sounds that could only belong to one creature, "Rattlesnake..." she whispered. She turned and there it was, a full grown diamondback rattler, right behind the herd and the town, the worst possible place it could be.
Ok don't panic, she thought to herself, just have to get it away from the herd before they get spooked. The cows on the edge of the herd were already looking nervous at the site of the creature, all it would take would be for one of them to panic and then the rest of the herd would follow suite.
Picking up a stick off the ground, Daisy slowly approached the rattlesnake. It turned it's attention towards her and began vibrating its namesake violently in warning. "Easy there," she said as the snake let out a loud, threatening hiss. She slowed even further with both the stick and her hand raised. With careful precision, she maneuvered the stick under the snake's belly, allowing it to coil around.
The snake raddled and hissed but otherwise didn't move much. Daisy relaxed a bit, letting out a breath she'd been holding, confident that the hard part was over. The snake, however, took exception to the sudden exhalation. With a lightning fast movement, it snapped its fangs at Daisy. It wasn't able to reach her do to the length of the stick but it did have the effect of causing her to jump, flinging the stick and by proxy the snake as she did.
The snake flew through the air, landing right on top of one of the cows. The cow, as most creatures would, flew into a wild panic at the sudden appearance of a deadly predator landing on its back. Daisy Jo watched helplessly as one by one, the panic spread throughout the herd. The cows in the front didn't know what the problem was, but they knew that the cows in the back were running from something and that meant they should run too.
Cattle drivers have two things they fear most, rustlers and stampedes. "Wait, stop!" Daisy called out even though she knew it was pointless, her herd was now charging full force right towards Ponyville. She hoped back on her horse and rode as fast as she could. She only hoped to stop them before anyone got hurt.
Meanwhile, in the brush, a lone rattlesnake slithered away, wondering why in the world that rude cow lady tossed him like that. He was only trying to say 'hi' after all.
***
Rainbow Dash hovered along the cloud line, reviewing her task list for the day. "Ok, we got one point two gigs of cumulus, today, so if I divide that by seven zones that leaves one point seven, one... ah screw it, the park needs sunlight anyway." She folded the paper in half and shoved it in her back pocket, "alright, lets get this thing cut into shaders and-" She stopped when she heard a loud rumbling sound coming from the south. "Damn it, Thunderlane," she sighed, "I thought I told you to stop discharging... storm..." she trailed off when she saw a herd of cows running head long into Ponyville.
"STAMPEDE!" she yelled. The people below looked in the direction she was pointing and began to scramble in panic. Dusk Shine and Pinkie Pie, who had both met up while shopping in the town square, were among them.
"Heeeeey," Pinkie said with a vibration to her voice, "this maaaakes my voooice sound silllllly!"
"Pinkie, MOVE!" Dusk yelled.
The herd of rampaging cattle was mere moments from entering town. Rainbow hovered helplessly above the road, looking around frantically to make sure no one was in the path when she spotted Applejack coming in over the hill on one of her horses, her Border Collie, Winona, following close behind. "Guys, look!" she shouted.
"Yeehaw!" AJ hollered as she and Winona came up behind the herd, "alright girl, straighten em out!" Winona let out a loud bark and split left as AJ rode to the right. With practiced team work, the farmer and the dog 'pushed' the scrambled herd into a more manageable shape. AJ could hear her faithful hound barking from the other side of the stampede and knew it as the signal that she was in position.
Looking ahead, she saw that the closest building was mere seconds away. Gotta act fast, alright, which one o' you under cooked hamburgers is leading this thing? There! she spotted the cow that was at the head of the herd. If she could get it to change direction, the rest would follow.
AJ readied her lasso, there wouldn't be time for a second attempt, this first one had to land. With skill that came from many years of rodeo competitions, she managed to land the rope right around the head of the lead cow. "Now, Winona!" she yelled and directed her horse to turn right. Winona let out several loud barks, barring her fangs to further persuade the cow to turn.
Slowly, the lead cow veered off to the right, the others in the herd following one by one. A few of the cows turned too wide causing them to trample the 'Welcome to Ponyville' sign but by and large the town was missed. The citizens cheered and Dusk let out a deep breath.
Now that the town was clear of danger, AJ had time to bring the herd to a stop. She pulled back on the rope attached to the lead cow, slowly bringing it to a halt. One by one, the cows all slowed and gathered into a huddle, still mooing excitedly but otherwise still. AJ jumped down from her horse as Winona ran up to her, "good girl," she said, running her hands through the dog's fur.
"Applejack!" AJ turned to see her friends, as well as the town Mayor, Jennifer Mann, heading her way. "That was awesome!" Rainbow stopped to hover just above the ground in front of her.
"Indeed," agreed Mayor Mann, "on behalf of Ponyville, I'd like to thank you for your heroic actions."
"Aww shucks, Mayor, I was just doing my duty."
"Hey, is everyone alright?!" came a new voice. Daisy Jo pulled her horse up to the group and hopped off, "please tell me no one was hurt."
"Well howdy, Daisy," AJ said with a tip of her hat, "everyone's fine but what in tarnation happened?"
"Well," Daisy said, holding her hat shamefully, "there was a rattler and while trying to move it I... well, maaaay have tossed it at the herd. It was an accident!" she added quickly, noting the stairs she was getting, "it snapped at me and I sorta... jumped."
AJ gave a sympathetic nod, "I understand completely, but next time, try and point the herd away from Ponyville." AJ then mounted her horse, "well, I'd love to stay and chat but I got a ton of work to do back on the farm, c'mon, Winona," with a bark from Winona, the two were off to Sweet Apple Acres.
"Accident or no," Mayor Mann said once AJ had left, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cite you for reckless endangerment and destruction of public property," she pointed to the destroyed sign.
"What!? B-but that'll take away from all my earnings for this entire trip!" Daisy cried out in alarm.
"I'm sorry but the law is the law, just be thankful that Miss Applejack was on hand to stop you're cows before they did any real damage to the town, otherwise you'd likely be in jail," the Mayor said sternly.
Daisy gulped and whimpered out a reply, "I-I understand..." As the Mayor walked away, Daisy slumped down on a nearby rock with her hands on her face. "What am I gonna do?" she asked aloud, "without the money from this cattle drive, I wont be able to pay the mortgage on my ranch."
"Is it really that bad?" Dusk asked.
Daisy sighed, "I'll figure something out, I guess..."
Dusk pondered for a moment, this could be a good opportunity to solve a friendship problem! Also I should probably help her anyway, but how? Wait, I got it!
"Objection!" Dusk suddenly shouted, pointing his finger at Daisy. She and the other girls jumped as they turned to look at Dusk. He grinned and placed his arms on his hips, "Daisy Jo, you just leave this to me. Dusk Shine, Ace Attorney will get you acquitted of these charges!"
"Oh, I love that game!" Pinkie bounced excitedly, "can I be Maya?"
Dusk rolled his eyes, "I'm serious, I've studied a lot about Equestrian law, I bet I can find a way to get Miss Jo off the hook."
"Uh, Dusk," Rainbow asked, "since when are you an attorney?"
"Well, I'm not but I don't need to be to help someone through the process of appealing," he paused, "I'll bet I could get AJ to help as well. If anyone knows this towns farming and livestock laws it would be her."
Daisy's mouth hung open as she stared at Dusk, "Y-you'd do that for me?"
"I'd be happy to, I just hope AJ isn't to busy this week..."
***
The soft pink glow of the illumination crystals was the only light in the underground complex. For K'Vann, low light conditions weren't an issue, unfortunately, K'Vann's true identity was known only to the highest ranking and most trusted members of the Secret Magic Intelligence League of Equestria. To maintain secrecy, it was often referred to simply as 'the agency' by its members. At least that was the reason given by Director Furlong, the real reason was that he hated saying he worked for a place called S.M.I.L.E.
Kevin's natural abilities made him the perfect candidate to be an agent. His power to change shape at will allowed him to perform deep cover missions in criminal organizations and, if necessary, target elimination. Then, there was his ability to sense emotion, it made him the ultimate interrogator. That ability was rarely called on since he could only see emotion while in his changeling form, not to mention that emotion reading was technically considered a form of mind reading which was illegal thanks to Bigby's law.
Kevin could tell when he entered the room that this would be one of those rare occasions where his unique talents would be called upon because the only other people present were Director Furlong, the head of S.M.I.L.E. and Princess Celestia. Two of the only people who knew his secret. They were standing in front of a large glass window that viewed into a plain white room consisting of nothing more than a table and two chairs, one of which was occupied by a seraphim bound by handcuffs and wing restraints.
"Ok, so what's this guy's story?" Kevin asked when he reached the window. The prisoner in question sat still as a statue, eyes closed and a steady breathing the only indication that he was even alive.
Director Furlong handed a file to Kevin who looked through it as he spoke, "L-Sec got a call about a shady character sulking around the Canterlot hotel district. Caller was some minor celebrity or something so they figured it was just a fanboy who needed to be reminded of personal space. When they arrived though, they found this guy staring at the hotel like a hawk," Furlong gestured towards the prisoner. "According to the reports, when they approached him he began talking and acting all cryptic like."
Kevin looked at the description portion of the file, it named the prisoner as one Lock Tight with both a picture of his face and his cutie mark, an open padlock with a key. "Five-eight, one hundred and eighty pounds, brown hair, blue grey eyes, age: thirty seven, occupation: locksmith," he read aloud, "nothing that jumps out at me." He closed the file and looked back at Lock Tight, "bit old to be a stalker too, who was the celebrity he was watching?"
"When she called L-Sec, she said and I quote: 'The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to remain anonymous...'" Furlong said.
"I... see... So, do we know the real reason he was at the hotel? Because I know you wouldn't have called me down here, or be involved for that matter, if he was just stalking this, 'Trixie' person."
At that, Celestia finally turned her gaze from Lock Tight to Kevin, dropping her crossed arms as she did, "I believe there is more to this individual than appears. He speaks plainly and coherently, yet the things he talks about are nonsensical but what troubles me most is the fact that he apparently has knowledge of things that no ordinary citizen should. The Elements of Harmony for instance," Celestia paused and looked back towards their prisoner, "the only information I've released to the public regarding the Nightmare incident was that they were artifacts used to free Luna from a dark spirit. Yet he not only knows what they are but how they were found, where they're being kept and most troubling of all, the names and residences of the ones who welded them."
"That... is a bit disturbing," Kevin agreed, "any idea how he got his hands on this info?"
"That's what I want you to figure out," Celestia answered, "I'm authorizing the use of your emotion reading abilities. I want you to talk to him, see if you can find something we cant." Celestia turned her gaze back to Kevin, "he keeps saying he was told by some mystical force, but with your powers you can see when hes lying and what buttons to push to get him to talk. If there is a leak or, Harmony forbid, a spy deep enough in our ranks to get this kind of information, it is imperative that we root it out immediately." Kevin nodded and in a flash of green, the young man was replaced with an elderly looking gentleman wearing a formal brown suite and sporting a black goatee with hints of grey.
Kevin proceeded into the room and took a seat in the chair across from Lock Tight. The large window through which both Celestia and Furlong were watching had been enchanted to look like part of the wall from this side. "Good, afternoon," he said, "my name's Dr. Winslow. I'm a criminal therapist and I've been asked to speak with you today." 'Dr. Winslow' was one of Kevin's many, many aliases. He found that people were far more likely to open up to a therapist than an authority figure. It wasn't, strictly speaking, legal for him to interrogate under a false identity but then again, this whole thing was off the record.
Lock Tight opened his eyes and smiled at Kevin, "you've been asked to speak with me, because they don't understand. They're too afraid to understand." His voice was calm and level, just as they had said.
"You're right," Kevin said, "they don't understand you're behavior. That's what I'd like to talk about today." Kevin leaned forward in his chair, "lets start with the young lady you were following, who is she to you?"
The seraphim smiled, "she is the Antagonist of Evee," he said as if it were the most common knowledge.
"Antagonist?" questioned Kevin, "what has she done?"
"It is not what she has done but will do," Lock closed his eyes, "They Who Are In know, you see, they know everything. The past, the future, but the Antagonist of Evee will change the variable. Some changes are unavoidable but they have determined that the outcome of her epic soul will cause to much of a divergence, thus They Who Are In have decided the easier option is to prevent her epic soul in the first place."
Kevin wrote down several of the terms Lock had just used in order to question him further. It was all madness, of course, but it would allow him to further lower the man's defenses before he started asking the real questions. "So, you said she was 'the Antagonist of Evee', what is 'Evee' exactly?"
"Evee is a designation used by They Who Are In," Lock answered casually.
"And who are 'They'?"
"They are the ones who are in..."
"What are they in?"
"They just are in..."
Kevin sighed, this was getting him nowhere, time to get to the real questions. "Lets change the subject, you seem to be quite well informed about certain things, things that, quite frankly, you shouldn't know without being in Princess Celestia's inner most circle." Kevin interlocked his fingers on the table. "Tell me," as he leaned in, he engulfed himself in green flame, becoming K'Vann, "how do you know about the Elements of Harmony's bearers?"
The sight of K'Vann seemed to flip a switch in Lock Tight's brain, going from cool and collected to terrified lunatic. "Y-you! You should not be! Not yet, its too early!" The man pulled back as far as his restraints would allow.
"Answer my question, seraphim, where did your knowledge come from?" K'Vann stood, starring down Lock with his solid, icy blue eyes. "Did you hear it from some one in the palace or do you have another source?" He searched the emotions of the man before him, but to his surprise, in addition to fear, was... confusion?
"W-wrong, all wrong!" Lock began to take deep breaths, "The variable can't know! If it knows, it will deviate and They Who Are In will..." K'Vann grabbed Lock by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him up to the point where the restraints were tugging on the bolted down chair.
Outside, Directer Furlong moved to open the door, presumably to stop K'Vann's aggressive behavior but Celestia stopped him. "Do not worry, Director, K'Vann has my full confidence, he will not hurt the prisoner." Furlong was still apprehensive but obeyed the Princess's wishes.
K'Vann opened his mouth to reveal four sharp unnatural fangs, "listen to me, seraphim, with my power, I can reach into your mind and extract your memories by force if necessary. It is a painful process and often causes permanent damage to the victim. Now, you can tell me where you learned of the Elements of Harmony, their location and the names of their bearers or I can scramble your brain looking for it but one way or another I'm getting what I want. Now, make your choice." In truth, K'Vann had no such power but people tended to believe a lot when starring into the dead eyes of some unknown monster.
Lock Tight stared at K'Vann, fear in his eyes, "M-my house in L-Las Pegasus," he stammered, "there's a safe behind a poster of Daring Do, it has everything I know about They Who Are In, it's where I learned everything I know about the Elements-"
"Whats the combination?"
"Ten-ten-ten," Lock Tight pleaded, "p-please don't take my love, I don't want to be a cha- oof," K'Vann dropped him and, with a flash of green fire, resumed his guise as Kevin. He left the room, walking up to a confused Furlong and Celestia.
"Well, I can say this much," he said, "that man definitely needs help. Everything he said was, in his mind, true." He crossed his arms, looking back at the prisoner through the one way window, "whoever's giving him this information has some how infected his mind, I doubt we'll get much more out of him."
"He isn't thralled," Furlong argued, "L-Sec ran a test on him for mind altering drugs and mind control enchantments. They all came back negative."
"Those tests wouldn't find anything if the controller could jump in and out at will..." Celestia added.
"No spell can do that," Furlong retorted, "at least none that I've ever heard of."
"In any case, I think I should pay his home a little visit," said Kevin.
"I'll leave it to you then, K'Vann," Celestia said.
He nodded turned to leave.
"Wait," Furlong called out, "you need a warrant to search his house."
"Oh Directer," Kevin said with a grin as he was once again surrounded by green fire, this time taking on the form of Lock Tight, "why would I need a warrant to search my own home..."
***
It was Thursday morning and Dusk was pacing in the lobby at the Ponyville municipal court. In the seats behind him were Daisy Jo, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. "Jeez, Dusk, calm down," Rainbow said, "Jo is the one on trial here not you."
"It's not a trial, Dash, it's an appeal," Dusk said as he took a deep breath, inhale, count to four, exhale, "I just want everything to go right, I made a promise after all."
"Dusk, you've done more for me in the past few days than most people have in my life," Daisy put a hand on his shoulder, "whatever happens, I'll always be grateful for that."
Dusk returned her smile, "thanks, hearing that makes it worth it." Dusk's heart was lifted by the feeling of appreciation, he only wish he'd known how good helping others felt sooner. He looked up at the clock on the wall, "it's almost time, is Applejack all set?"
"Actually, I haven't seen her all week," Rainbow said.
"Not since the stampede," Pinkie added.
"She'll be here though, AJ is never late."
The door to the court opened and a bailiff ushered the group inside. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy took a seat in the front row while Dusk and Daisy stood in front of the bench. "The honorable Judge Fudge presiding," the bailiff announce. Rainbow let out a sinker but she was elbowed by Fluttershy.
An elder terran entered the room wearing a traditional black gown with a scales of justice emblem on the upper left side to represent his cutie mark. His long grey beard reached down to past his neck and stretched out wide enough to almost cover his chest. After seating himself behind the bench he banged his gavel twice, "Daisy Jo, approach the bench."
Daisy gulped as she walked forward with Dusk just behind her. "I understand you wish to appeal your fine for causing a stampede?" Fudge asked.
"Y-yes sir, I mean, You're Honor, um, actually, my friend Applejack is supposed to-" she stopped as the door to the court room opened. Everyone turned to see a very ragged looking Applejack walk in.
"I'm here, sorry I'm late- whoa," AJ stumbled into the wooden gate separating the gallery from the bench area.
The judge looked at Daisy with a raised eyebrow. "Um, shes my uh... what'd you call it Dusk?" Daisy asked.
"Character witness."
"Right, that," Daisy turned back to the judge, "and I also gathered some, uh, presidents-"
"Precedence," Dusk corrected.
"Y-yea, precedence to um... show you why I shouldn't be... charged?" Daisy bit her bottom lip, she couldn't quite explain why she was so nervous. It wasn't like she was facing jail time but something about being in front of a judge seemed to drive a pick right through her confidence.
"You're Honor," Dusk spoke up, "I have the preceding cases here." Dusk handed over the file he was carrying, "if You're Honor will please note the first case of Ponyville vs Troubleshoes wherein the court ruled that a first time offender may be forgiven if said offender can be shown to be of upstanding character and lacking of malicious intent." Dusk crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.
"I'm familiar with that case, Mr. Shine, I presided over it."
Dusk smiled sheepishly, "ahem, right well, in any case, I included the testimonies of these three here," he waved to his friends in the gallery, "Rainbow who was the first to spot the stampede, Fluttershy, who spoke to the cows and can confirm that it was indeed a snake that triggered it and Pinkie who said the town's people were never in any danger. Something called a 'Pinkie Sense,' gonna have to look into that later, finally, Applejack here can vouch for Daisy's character." Dusk pointed to AJ, who was leaning on the railing with half opened eyes. Dusk cleared his throat, "ahem, AJ?"
"Wha? Oh right, Daisy didna menno harm..." she slowly trailed off as her eyes fell closed. The judge banged his gavel loudly causing her to jump awake. "What, oh yes Daisy's a good sort, she just made a mistake is all. I've known her for a couple ah years, she's always put the safety of others first."
The judge stroked his beard for a moment then looked down to Daisy, "because this is your first offense, and because Miss Apple is one of our more respected community members, I'll wave the reckless endangerment charge." Daisy's elation was clearly visible on her face, "but," the judge continued, "I'm upholding the charge for destroying the sign, you must ether pay to have it fixed or repair it yourself," he banged his gavel twice, "case dismissed."
Daisy ran up to Dusk and embraced him in a bone crushing hug, "thank you so much, Dusk! How can I ever repay you?"
"S-stop crushing me?" Dusk said in a strained voice.
"Deal!" Daisy said as she dropped him, she then turned to AJ who had dozed off again while standing. "And thank you AJ, I owe you big time!"
AJ let out a yawn, " Yeah, I like helping the Ponyville folks and, *yawn* and stuff. Oh, uh, I got to get back to the farm, lots to do." AJ waved to the others as she stumbled out the door.
Dusk and the others stared after her, "was it Just me, or did AJ seem a bit..."
"Tired?" Rainbow offered.
"Yea, I'm going to go make sure she's alright," he turned back to his friends, "thanks for coming and helping you guys, and Daisy, it was great meeting you, hope you keep in touch." He followed AJ out of the courthouse and back to the farm.
***
When Dusk arrived at Sweet Apple Acres he found Applejack in her orchard leaning against one of the trees. In front of her was a spilled basket of apples likely meant for the cart that was half full of similar baskets. Dusk approached her with concern at first until he heard a loud snore coming from under her hat. Lifting the hat, he saw the side of AJ's face scrunched up against the bark of the tree.
"Hey, Applejack!" said Dusk, she didn't move.
"Applejack!" he said louder, only to receive a snore in response.
Dusk furrowed his brow then remembered a trick his sister used to use on him. Sticking his index finger in his mouth, he twisted it to get it nice and wet, he then stuck said finger into AJ's left ear. It seemed to do the trick as AJ jumped and slapped her hand against the side of her head.
"Guah, what? Dusk?" AJ looked around in confusion before glaring at Dusk, "what'er y'all doing, going around giving people wet willies? I'm trying to work here."
"You were asleep," Dusk countered, "what are you working on anyway? I thought we already harvested you're apples last week?"
"Those were a different breed, different apples get ripe at different times." AJ picked up the basket and moved it to the cart while they talked.
"Ok, fair enough but why are you doing it alone?" Dusk followed her to the next tree.
"'Cause Big 'I can carry four hundred pounds up a ladder on my own' Macintosh hurt himself," she said with irritation, "which means I should get back to work." AJ cleared her throat, "hint, hint?"
Dusk sighed but moved out of her way. AJ wobbled past, almost as if drunk. "AJ, you don't look so good..."
AJ turned to look at Dusk, her eyes were having trouble focusing, "ah, you're worrying over nothing, Mr. talking gumball machine, I'm just fine and dandy."
"Ooooookay, why don't you go and take a quick nap, I'll go get Spike and the girls and we'll finish-"
"No way, no how." AJ interrupted. Having snapped back to reality at the mention of help.
"But you can't do this on your own."
"Is that a challenge?!" AJ glared at Dusk.
"No?"
"I'll show you! I'll show all y'all! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got apples to buck," AJ stormed forward with her cart to the next tree leaving Dusk behind.
***
Rainbow paced back and forth, her frustration growing with each change of direction. She was about to fly straight to Sweet Apple Acres when she finally spotted Applejack heading her way. "There you are," she said, dropping her hands to her sides, "I've been waiting all morning. Whats up with you lately? First that trial thing yesterday and now this?"
AJ let out a yawn, "sorry there, Rainbow. I was up late applebuckin' and I guess I over slept." In truth, she had intended to take a quick nap but ended up sleeping for four hours which, to her, was too long to keep up her schedule. "I don't mean to be rude but can we hurry this along? I still got to meet with Pinkie and Fluttershy and then finish my harvest all before Five o'clock."
"Ok, now, you see this thing here?" Rainbow pointed to a machine on a tripod with a long barrel and a basket of tennis balls on top. "I'm gonna fly out in front of it and you're gonna use it to try and hit me with those balls."
"Isn't that dangerous?" AJ asked as she looked at the ball thrower. On the back was a dial with three images, a slingshot, a rifle, and a mini-gun. The dial's arrow was pointing to the mini-gun image.
"No, see that's the thing, I'm going to dodge each and every one of them with amazing flips and spins, and Dusk over there is going to record the whole thing for me!" she waved over at Dusk who was standing about a hundred feet away next to a small floating crystal sphere. In between his hands was a projection displaying the sphere's point of view. Dusk looked up at Rainbow and nodded. Rainbow nodded back and began putting on a light blue helmet and matching elbow and knee pads.
"We'll alrighty then," AJ said as she got behind the ball thrower and tilted it so that it was pointing up.
Rainbow shot into the air, "Ready?" she called to Dusk as the camera sphere hovered beside her. Dusk nodded up at her. "Ok, one... two... THREE!" Nothing happened. Rainbow looked down to see AJ asleep while leaning over the ball thrower. Rainbow rolled her eyes and flew down to AJ, stopping to hover just in front of the device. "AJ, I thought you said you were ready?"
AJ suddenly snapped back awake, "wha, ready? Ok here we go."
Rainbow's eyes widened, "No no wait I'm not in posi-" Rainbow never got to finish. The machine hummed to life and pelted her with dozens upon dozens of tennis balls, "Oh, ah eek, oof..." A ball struck Rainbow right in the stomach causing her to double over. As soon as she did, another one slammed right into her forehead, dazing her enough to finally lose flight and collapse, back first, on the ground.
The machine eventually ran out of ammo and automatically shut off. AJ, who was too tired to think straight, merely tilted her hat at her groaning friend and said, "You're welcome," and headed off to her next appointment.
Dusk rushed over to Rainbow who was groaning on the ground. "Are you ok, Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he lifted her upright.
"I can't even think of a good 'balls to the face' joke..." she groaned while rubbing her forehead. She then reached down and lifted her shirt just a bit to expose her midriff. Next to her navel, a large bruise was forming. "That's going to be sore in few hours."
"Here, let me see if I can fix that," Dusk said. He had been practicing the healing spell ever since he watched Celestia perform it on himself and his friends after the battle with Nightmare Moon. With practiced hand gestures, he combined several of the basic cantrips to form what was commonly referred to as the 'Lay On Hands' spell. Once his hand was glowing with a lavender aura he placed it on top of Rainbow's bruise, causing her to wince just a bit.
At first, nothing happened, then, slowly, the bruise shrank and vanished under Dusk's hand. Rainbow rubbed her own hand over the area but found that she felt no pain. "Wow, thanks, man."
"You're welcome, but you might still want to go to the Hospital just to make sure you don't have a concussion," Dusk said, "and to heal any bruises that might be in more... private areas." Dusk said, noticing the edge of a dark spot on Rainbow's collar.
Rainbow grinned cheekily, "What's the matter, Dusk? Never seen a girl topless before?"
"I-I just don't have much practice with that spell!" he said, blushing furiously. "N-not that I'm a prude or anything, I just, I think a doctor should-"
He was interrupted by Rainbow's laughter, "Ha-ha, oh Dusk, you're too easy some times." She climbed to her feet and stretched her wings, "I'll go have a doc look at my head, you should probably go follow AJ, that girl needs some sleep."
***
Pinkie Pie rocked back and forth on her feet happily humming to herself. It was her first time cooking the treats for the Sugar Cube Corner bakery and with Applejack's help, it was sure to be a success. "Today is going to be the best day ever! Well, except for yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. And tomorrow sounds fun too, come to think of it."
"I'm here!" AJ said as she entered the kitchen where Pinkie was waiting.
"Yay! I'm so excited, I've already got the bowl and mixy thingy. You ready?" Pinkie asked.
"Yea, yea," AJ yawned, "um... what'er we making again?"
"Apple Fritters remember?" Pinkie asked, oblivious to AJ's condition. "You're gonna walk me though the recipe. Don't worry, I'll do exactly what you tell me!"
"Right, right, well letsseehere..." AJ walked over to the counter, "first thing ya need is... that stuff... fer baking... SODA! Baking soda," she shook her head to wake herself.
"Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie chimed as she filled the bowl with baking soda. "What next?"
AJ rubbed her eyes, "then ya take the eggs and the apples and the... tater chips in the bowl."
Pinkie paused, "potato chips? Hm, oh well, I'm sure you know what you're talking about." she shrugged and dumped a bag of Plays potato chips in the bowl along with several apple slices and an egg. "Now what?" she asked, "Applejack?" Pinkie turned and found AJ leaning against the counter with both hands, her eyes closed.
"APPLEJACK!"
AJ snorted as she jumped awake, "I what? Vinegar!"
Again, Pinkie merely shrugged. She grabbed a bottle of vinegar out of the pantry and poured its contents into the bowl.
***
Outside the kitchen, Dusk was at the counter talking to the middle aged tarren woman who owned the shop with her husband. "I'm sure nothing is wrong, Mrs. Cake, I just want to make sure. I'm worried Applejack isn't getting enough sleep."
Mrs. Cake rubbed her chin with her hand, getting pink frosting on her face, "now that you mention it, she did seem a little out of it when she came in."
That was when they heard a loud fizzing noise coming from the kitchen. "What on earth?" Mrs. Cake asked as Dusk went to open the door. When he did, an avalanche of fizz flowed out of the kitchen, covering both Dusk and Mrs. Cake. Pinkie's head poked out of the fizz with a guilty smile on her face.
"PINKIE!" Mrs. Cake yelled, "What IS this stuff?"
Dusk scooped a bit with his finger and gave it a taste, "if I had to guess, I'd say it was a sodium acetate solution, likely the result of a double replacement reaction." Both Pinkie and Mrs. Cake stared at him like he'd just spoken gibberish. "Someone mixed vinegar with baking soda," he answered the implied question.
"Pinkie, what were you thinking?" Mrs. Cake scolded the young tarren.
"Well, I didn't mean too," she pleaded, "I was just doing what Applejack told me. I figured she knew something I didn't."
"Well," Mrs. Cake said with a stern tone, "I expect you to have this mess cleaned up by the end of the day, young lady. Understand?"
Pinkie sighed, "yes ma'am." With that, Mrs. Cake headed up stairs, presumably to wash the fizz off herself.
"Wait, where is AJ? She was in there with you right?" Dusk asked worriedly.
"Oh, I think she got pushed out the back door. Said something about Fluttershy as she was swept away." Pinkie then grinned an innocent grin at Dusk. "Say Dusty, you wouldn't happen to have a spell that could help me clean all this up would you?"
Dusk rolled his eyes.
***
Applejack made her way to Fluttershy's cottage on autopilot. She was vaguely aware that it was noon and she had only five hours to finish the last of her trees and then get all her apples to the train station for shipping. Hopefully whatever Fluttershy needed wouldn't take too long. Something about rounding up a bunch of rabbits.
"Oh, hello Applejack," Fluttershy called when she saw her friend walk up the path.
"Howdy there, Flubbershy..." AJ answered, to tired to notice her mispronunciation.
"Oh my, are you ok? You don't look so good." Fluttershy asked in concern. She hovered over to AJ to get a better look.
"I'm fine, just in a bit of a hurry."
"Are you sure? You look-"
"I said, I'm FINE! Now, what'er we doing here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, um, well," Fluttershy stammered a bit. Something was clearly wrong with AJ but she just didn't have the assertiveness to do anything about it. "I was hoping, if you don't mind, if you could gather up all the bunnies from their warrens in the fields? See it's time for their annual checkup and census and I need-"
"Round up some rabbits, got it," AJ said and gave a loud whistle. A few moments later, a loud barking could be heard in the distance when Winona came running down the path. The border collie came to a stop right at AJ's feet, waiting patiently for orders.
Fluttershy tapped AJ on the shoulder, "Um, Applejack, these are bunnies. They're a timid bunch, are you sure Winona wont scare them?"
"We'll be fine, Flutters," AJ insisted.
"Well, alright then," Fluttershy lead AJ and Winona to the field where the rabbits made their homes. "Come out little ones, gather up in the middle," she called and several small white bunnies slowly poked their heads out of holes in the ground.
One by one the little critters began hopping around the field, that's when AJ jumped into action. "Alright, lets go! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!" she yelled. She then let out a whistle and Winona barked in acknowledgement, running around the bunnies in an attempt to heard them as she had been trained.
"Applejack, stop! You're scaring them!" Fluttershy yelled.
"We know what we're doing. Get along, little bunnies."
Winona skirted the edges of the group and growled, baring her teeth. The bunnies, upon seeing the fangs of an angry predator, bounded as fast as they could in the opposite direction. Winona was fast but frightened rabbits in an open field were much faster, they darted towards the town leaving a frantic Fluttershy and oblivious AJ behind.
***
Dusk was a man on a mission. Applejack had nearly ruined Daisy's appeal, mowed down Rainbow with tennis balls and wasted a perfectly good baking soda and vinegar reaction without a paper mâché volcano. The latter of which he had just spent an hour helping Pinkie Pie clean. He was going to find AJ and put an end to her stubborn pride. Nothing was going to stop him, not even a horde of rampaging rabbits... wait what?
The path to Fluttershy's cottage was covered by a sea of white as hundreds of little rabbits ran towards him at an alarming speed. "Oh raspberr-ieeeeeeeeees," he screamed as the horde engulfed him like a tidal wave."
***
Rabbits, everywhere there were rabbits. Every shop stall, every windowsill and every rooftop, all covered in little balls of fluff. Merchants were trying their best to shoo the pests away from their produce while several little girls were darting from bunny to bunny trying to figure out which one was the cutest.
At the flower shop, Lily Valley was holding her sobbing sister, Roseluck, as she lamented the destruction of their flower garden. "Every last flower," she stammered, "devoured by those... those monsters! The horror, the horror!"
Fluttershy was beside herself, "Oh my. Oh... Please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness!" she cried when she reached the town square. There, laying sprawled out on his back with a little white rabbit sitting on his forehead, nibbling on a leaf completely oblivious to the indignation it was causing, was Dusk Shine.
"Dusk, are you ok?" she asked.
"Mousetrap..." he answered.
"W-what?"
"I wanted to play Mousetrap, you roll your dice, you move your mice. Nobody gets hurt," he said as he sat up. "But no, Rainbow needs some one to film her stunt flying, so I agree to help her out. Then AJ comes along looking like she's pulled several all nighters and knocks Rainbow out of the sky! So, because I'm a concerned friend, I follow her to Sugar Cube Corner, where I end up buried in sodium acetate and have to clean that up. Finally I head out to look for her again, but not before Pinkie has some sort of arm spasm and tells me to watch out for a bunny stampede. Apparently she can predict the future, REALLY need to investigate that. But to cut to the thesis of my rant, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH APPLEJACK!" Dusk punctuated his speech with heavy breathing.
"Well," Fluttershy said meekly, "she went back to her farm after scaring off all the bunnies. Why don't you go talk to her, I'll gather up all my friends."
"Oh, I'm gonna talk to her alright..." Dusk said. Clasping his hands together, he pictured AJ's farm. Like last time, there was a pop sound and he felt himself pulled in the direction of the farm but now, with his eyes open, he could see the world stretch and shoot past him before coming back into focus as he landed among the trees. He staggered a little bit as he arrived a bit forward and above where he intended. Guess I need to practice more, he thought.
Over in the fields he saw Applejack kicking a tree for its apples. "Applejack! We need to talk," he said. Dusk marched over to her and spun her around. "AJ, you're not well, I can respect you're pride and desire to do things the traditional way but it's starting to effect you're health. You gave it you're all and no one can say otherwise, but it's time to admit defeat. You can't do this on you're own."
"Can't do it on my own, huh?" AJ said and pointed to the tree she just finished, "that there's the last apple tree. I just finished harvesting this whole orchard. All. By. My. Self! How'd you like them apples?"
"So, you got them all picked, huh? All packaged and ready to go?" Dusk asked with crossed arms.
"Yessir, every last apple," she beamed.
"How are you going to get a warehouse full of apples to the train station in three hours?" he asked knowingly.
"Well I..." AJ paused, the reality finally sinking in for her. "I... I'm not going to, am I?"
"Applejack," Dusk put a hand on her shoulder, "you're friends can help, why wont you let us?"
AJ sighed and removed her hat, letting the hand holding it drop to her side, "Everyone looks to me as the girl that can get things done. No matter what the situation, you can rely on Applejack to finish the job. I.." she bit her lip, "I've never failed before."
"But I don't understand," Dusk said, "how is asking for help failing?"
"Because I'd be giving up!" she put the hat back on her head and turned towards the barn. "I promised Big Mac that I'd be able to finish this all on my own, it was a challenge and if I ask for help, it'd be the same as giving up." She sat down against the tree, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"You know," she continued as Dusk took a seat beside her, "the night I lost my parents, they wrecked their freight hauler because the road was too muddy. Ma died in the crash but Pa, he lived long enough to get to the hospital." AJ paused for a moment to collect herself and even Dusk, who was until recently introverted knew that this was a situation where he should say nothing until she finished. "Me, Big Mac, Applebloom and Granny were all there, I'll never forget it. Big Mac fighting tears and failing, Granny was holding baby Bloom, trying to be strong for us with a sad smile but I could tell she was broken on the inside. And me? I was holding on to the bed, sobbing my eyes out."
"Pa, he... he said his goodbyes to everyone in the room one by one but I didn't really hear him. I was in too much shock. Then Pa grabbed my hand, he looked me in the eye and said 'Jackie, y'all are gonna to be the lady of the house now. Ya gotta be strong, because things are gonna be hard going forward. But I know ya can do it, you're honest and dependable. Promise me, Applejack, promise me that no matter how hard things get, no matter what anyone says, you'll never give up.'"
AJ wiped a tear that had been forming in her eye at the memory, "those were the last words he ever said to me." She turned to face Dusk, "that's why I can't ask for help, Dusk. I'm know this is impossible, hell I knew from the beginning, I just didn't wanna admit it. But even so I can't give up, I just can't."
Dusk looked at AJ and then at the barn. What on earth do you say to something like that? It took him a moment to choose his words. "Applejack," he started, "I never knew you're farther but, it sounds like he was a great man who loved his children." He turned to face her, "but I think you may be confusing giving up with admitting defeat."
"What do you mean? They're the same thing aren't they?"
"I once asked Celestia that same question," he said. "I was trying make a perpetual motion machine, impossible to do according to the laws of physics but I didn't know that at the time. Finally after staying up for three days straight, Celestia told me to take a break. She explained to me why my little project could never be completed but it confused me because I had always been told by both my parents, my teachers and every cliche crystalvid special that you should never give up."
AJ let out a small chuckle at this as Dusk continued, "so I asked her and she told me 'That depends on why you're quitting. Are you doing it because it's too difficult, or because you realize what you're doing isn't working?'"
AJ considered that for a moment, "I-I never thought of it that way."
Dusk stood, "well, it's two fifteen by my estimation, what do you say we give the girls a call and get these crates down to the station."
AJ smiled, "I think I'd appreciate the help."
***
It was eight P.M. by the time Dusk finally got home. Taking a relieved breath, he dropped the bag he was carrying and let himself fall on the couch as Spike walked in holding a piece of paper. "Hey, Dusk, long day?" he asked.
"You could say that," Dusk replied while kicking off his shoes. "The girls and I had to scramble to get Applejack's shipment down to the train station with enough time to load it. We just barely got the last case on board before the conductor closed the door. Then we went celebrating at Sugar Cube Corner, which reminds me," Dusk pointed to the bag he dropped by the door, "I brought you some dinner."
Spike eyed the bag with a lick of his lips. Dropping the paper, he ran over to the bag and began to rummage through for whatever treat his step-brother had brought home. "Thanks, so I guess you'll be turning in early tonight?"
Dusk yawned, "yea but first I have to wright a letter to Celestia, this whole thing with AJ would make a great friendship report."
Spike was about to bite into what looked like a delicious blue frosting cupcake coated with sapphire flakes when he turned to Dusk in confusion. "I thought you already did..."
"No, I've been with the girls all evening."
"Then what's that?" Spike pointed to the paper he dropped. Dusk picked up the paper and gave it a look.
Dear Princess Celestia, it read, My friend Applejack is the best friend a person could ever have, and she's always there to help anyone. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it, so while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer. Your faithful student, Dusk Shine.
Dusk turned the letter over and back, "Spike... I didn't wright this," he said in a confused tone. "I mean, that's my handwriting and that's also pretty much the wording I was planning on using but..." he trailed off, "where did you get this?"
"I got it off you're desk just now..." Spike said with a raised eyebrow, "are you sure you didn't write that? Maybe when you stopped by earlier to grab your bits for Sugar Cube Corner?"
Dusk rubbed his head, it was starting to feel like a small headache was forming. The pain vanished as quickly as it came and suddenly he remembered sitting down and penning the letter for Spike to send. "Y-yea, that's when I did it," he laughed forcefully, "I must be more tired than I thought."
"Here, send it off," Dusk passed the letter to Spike, "I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Spike." Dusk walked upstairs as Spike eyed him with minor concern. When Dusk disappeared into his room, Spike shrugged and breathed his dragon fire on the letter, sending it off to Celestia.
Dusk lay in his bead, still unable to shake the thoughts of the letter that had mysteriously appeared. Whats going on with me? he thought, first I start hearing things and now I forget a letter I wrote hours ago? I did wright that letter didn't I? That memory felt more like a dream, but what other explanation is there?
Dusk rolled over and grabbed his bottle of OCD medication, swallowing one of the pills with a swig of water. If this happens again, I'm going to call Dr. Meyer, I don't have time to go insane. His last thoughts were lost to him as he drifted off to sleep.