Her Frontier

by FromTheMoon

Déjà vu

Chapter 12: Déjà vu

The town of EverGlade was fast asleep. Along the shadows caste by the street lamps two figures moved through the alleys towards their predetermined destination. The lack of wings or horns identifies them as earth ponies with the noticeable diffeence separating them being that one was a bit larger than the other. The two moved silently in tandem avoiding the occasional lights that shone through windows. The leader moved ahead at a swifter pace while his companion stayed closed behind. A moments distraction however caused the larger pony to knock over a trash can and with it fill the alley the two were in with a healthy amount of noise. Light came through from a window above followed by a mare sticking her head out searching up and down for a moment before disappearing again through the window.

Once the light was off again the two ponies continued on their way towards their goal with no other accident taking place. It was only after they were sure that they weren't followed that the smaller one spoke in a silent tone. "Specter didn't any pony ever teach you to watch were were you were put your enormous hooves? Honestly we could of been caught if this towns residents were as smart as canines."

"Sorry Chief. I turned around for a quick second to see if we were being tailed and the next thing I know I'm face first in something rotten. I reckon I'm going to need a shower after we're done with this job." The stallion lifted up one of his forelegs and began to sniff it.

Thatcher moved away from his foul-smelling lackey. "Indeed you will. Just stand over there while I plant this thing."

"To keep a look out for any pony that could spot us?"

Taking a cylindrical container out from his saddle bag Thatcher moved towards a desirable location. "Yes that and because I can't stand the smell of you right now." He looked around and when he saw a satisfactory location he planted the cylinder and then gave the top of the container a quick twist. A hissing sound could be heard for a few seconds before all was silent again. "There that should do it. Come along Specter our job in this town may finally be done."

The two stallions sneaked their way back to their hide out and once inside Specter turned to Thatcher. "Chief do you really think this is going to work?"

"Oh course it will Specter. This is the boss's idea after all and he never makes any mistakes. Soon this land will be in his hooves and then he can move on with the last stage of the plan." Thatcher moved towards a door way but before entering the next room he pivoted to face Specter again. "Please make sure you shower thoroughly Specter since we're going to be laying low for a while."

---

With a tired yawn Rainbow Dash rolled out from the bed and fell unceremoniously to the floor. She remained there with her face against the cold hard wood floor for some time before she gathered the energy to pick herself up. With another yawn she picked up her towel from the floor and made her way downstairs to the bathroom. Checking with a wing to see how cold the water was she quickly hoped in and let the cold torrent wash over her. Despite her initial dislike for the cold water she had gotten used to it over the past months.

Drying herself off with the towel she made her way to the kitchen. With her mane still dripping wet she strode over to the fridge. A quick glace in the direction of the table and she saw Top Notch eating a bowl of cereal. Rainbow Dash was surprised with just how comfortable she had gotten with her home away from home. True to Top Notch's request she had begun treating the farm house as if it was her own home. Her wet maned appearance in the kitchen being a testament to it.

"Hmm that's weird." She thought to herself. Top Notch would often try to look away to avoid staring at Rainbow Dash with the occasional peek. This morning however the stallion just stared into his breakfast without making any eye contact what so ever. Rainbow noticed that he had been acting strange for the past two days ever since they got back from Whisky's restaurant. She grabbed a bottle of milk from the seemingly hundreds that filled the fridge and sat across the table from Top Notch. "So who's on today's milking agenda?"

Top Notch brought the cereal bowl to his muzzle and slurped the rest his breakfast in one swift motion. "I think you're starting to rub off on me. Before you came along I never would of done that before. Any who today we got to milk old Bessie and then we got..." Loud knocking came from the front door. "Huh I wonder who that could be this early in the morning. Folks around here don't usually wander out this far from town."

Rainbow Dash got up from the table and began to walk towards the front door. Top Notch got up and moved to intercept her, for some odd some he had a bad feeling in his gut. "Easy there Rainbow. You go back and have breakfast while I get the door. I'm sure its nothing."

The pegasus gave him a strange look before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright, just call yell if you're being attacked by something." With a simple smirk she made her way back into the kitchen. More knocking came from the front and Top Notch made his way to door. He had a confused and worried look on his face when he saw a familiar looking unicorn and earth pony staring back at him. "Clover Leaf? Whisky? What are you two doing here in the morning?"

Clover gave Whisky a rough shove but the stallion just stood his ground in silence. It was only now that Top Notch noticed that Whisky had a black eye. "We're really sorry to bother you so early Top's but Whisky's got something he wants to tell you and Rainbow Dash. Don't you Whisky?"

"Yes mam." Whisky said in a low voice.

Top Notch closed the front door behind him as he stepped outside. He knew where this was going. "Look Clover he already apologized for what he did. Now I can't say I accept his apology since it feels like I've been stabbed in the back by my best friend."

"Oh believe me Top's he's definitely sorry for what he did behind mine, Rainbow Dash's, and your back. He learned the hard way not to mess around with others lives. That shiner I gave him after he told me this morning is proof enough. Isn't that right Whisky?"

"Yes mam." Whisky said again this time in a much lower voice.

Clover made it her intention to go into the farm house but Top Notch blocked her path. "Step aside Top's. We're going to go give Rainbow Dash a proper apology."

"No." Top Notch stated firmly.

"No!? What do you mean no?" The stare that Clover was giving Top Notch was one that the stallion and Whisky recognized all too well. In a moment a pony was going to be on the ground reeling from pain unless something was said to calm the unicorn down.

"You can't go apologize to Rainbow Dash because I haven't told her what Whisky was doing. I figured it would be better if she didn't know."

"Better she didn't know!? Top's you know I've always trusted your judgement when it came to things but why wouldn't you tell her?" The anger was beginning to wash off Clover's face and was being replaced with a look of concern and confusion.

Top Notch took one look at the farm house and then set his gaze on the distraught unicorn in front of him. "I'll tell you the same reason that I told him. I'm trying to help the girl work out what issues she has in her life right now. I've just recently gotten her to relax and feel comfortable here. She's in my kitchen right now with a wet mane drinking..."

"With a wet mane and drinking? Top's I don't think you and I have the same concept of helping out." Clover peeked past the stallion in front of her as if she could some how see the pegasus through the farm houses walls.

"Drinking milk Clover she's drinking milk. You know, since its breakfast and this is a dairy farm? As for why she has a wet mane in the middle of the kitchen that just goes to show how comfortable she is around me right now. She trusts me and I trust you to keep this within our group."

Clover gave Top Notch an enticed look. "Don't recall I ever walked through your kitchen with a wet mane."

The stallion was at a loss for words by the look he was giving Clover. "Whatever Top's. If you think that she'll be alright not knowing then I'm holding you to that. Just know this though. Me and Rainbow Dash have gotten awfully close over these past months. That being said if you so much as hurt her then know that I'll give you quadruple what I gave Whisky." She put further emphasis on the threat by patting Whisky on the head. "Oh and two more things. Don't bother coming to the restaurant , I had Whisky close it down for the day, we're going to go meet my father. Ain't that right Whisky?"

No verbal reply came from the battered stallion this time. Instead all he gave was a nervous nod.

"Steel Cast over at the tool shop in town said he finished your repair order and said that you should head on over and pick up your stuff." Clover gave Top Notch a quick smile before turning around with Whisky and heading back towards town.

Top Notch stepped back inside his home and headed to the kitchen. He noticed that Rainbow Dash was just finishing up her breakfast. "So I didn't hear you yell. Who was at the door? You talked outside with whoever it was for a bit." Rainbow Dash slurped the last of the cereal bowls contents before slamming the bowl back down on the table.

"Oh it was just Clover Leaf. She came to tell me that the tools I put in for repair in town are done."

"It took her that long to say that one sentence?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We talked about a few other things as well but nothing too interesting. Now come on we got to get the days milking done before we head into town and pick up my tools." Top Notch gave the pegasus a weary smile before heading out the back door towards the stables.

Top Notch's behavior didn't sit right with Rainbow Dash. She couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something from her. She pushed her concern to the back of her mind before heading out the back as well to begin the days work.

---

For the first time Top Notch noticed as he walked alongside Rainbow Dash how the the towns residents gave curious glances their way. The fact that they turned away when either Top Notch or Rainbow Dash looked at them confirmed the stallions fear. There was no doubt about it now, Whisky had been telling the truth.

Rainbow Dash seemed oblivious to it all and for that Top Notch was grateful. "So how much that did repair cost you? Must of been expensive with how that shop keeper was looking at you and at me too for some reason."

Top Notch sighed again which was starting to worry him. He made a mental note to ask the towns doctor about excessive sighing next time he bumped into him. "Oh I don't know like around forty five bits. I know its a expensive but that pony makes sure you get exactly what you pay for."

"Right I guess that makes sense but why was he looking at us all weird like?"

"He's always been weird like that!" Top Notch blurted out.

His pegasus companion gave him an inquisitive look. Now she was certain that something was off about the stallion from the look he had on his face. "Alright somethings definitely up." She pushed Top Notch towards a side alley in between two buildings.

"Well of course somethings up!" He gave her a nervous smile. "The sky, the clouds, and the birds are always up!"

"That was lame even by your standards. Now I know that something is definitely up so come on, to the alley we go." She continued pushing him towards the alleys opening.

The jostled stallion began to protest. "Rainbow Dash wait please stop! Every pony is starting to look at us!" He spoke the truth, every pony on the street was looking at them. The sight of a mare and pegasus heading into a deserted alley for some privacy gave them a faint idea about what was about to occur. Elders walked away disgruntled at the days youth and mothers covered their children's eyes.

"When did you start caring about ponies looking at the two of us? You know the more you struggle the more ponies are going to look." Top Notch continued to struggle despite Rainbow Dash's attempts to speed things along.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, she hoped it wouldn't have come to this. "You know one thing I was real good at back home was getting the attention of the entire town. I'm sure I haven't lost my touch so how about you just step into the alley before I attract even more attention Top's."

Top Notch stopped struggling upon hearing his nick name. He was obviously taken back hearing it come from Rainbow Dash. "Yeah I know why she called you that. Consider it pay back for calling me Dashie to cheat in that race when I first got here. So now are you going to keep fighting me or are you going to let me help you?" Top Notch looked at the alley and then nodded softly before stepping into it.

---

"Okay so now that we're all alone away from the eyes of the town will you please tell me what's got you bothered Top's?"

"Will you please stop calling me that!" The stallion leaned up against a wall after checking that the alley they were in had no windows and was empty. "It just sounds weird coming from..."

"Coming from me?"

"Well yeah I guess. I mean Clover Leaf started calling me that on account of..." Top Notch waited for Rainbow Dash to finish his sentence but she remained silent as if wanting to hear him say it. "...On account of us dating."

"So you two did date then." He slowly nodded his head. "Okay but I'm guessing that's not whats bothering you is it?"

Top Notch glumly shook his head. "So then what's bothering you?"

He figured that there was no use hiding the truth from her. "Have you noticed how the other towns folk have been looking at us?" Top Notch began. "How they've been giving you weird looks for maybe the last month or so?"

"What are you talking about? I talk to ponies around town all the time and they don't look at me weird and when I talk to them about you they don't give me any weird looks either."

Something told him it wasn't going to be easy. "No let me rephrase the question. Have you noticed how they look at us when we're together?"

Rainbow Dash thought back days, weeks, and months to all the times that she was in town with Top Notch. In all honestly after the accident Rainbow had gone into town alone to take care of Top Notch's errands while the stallion stayed back on the dairy farm. The only times she was in EverGlade with him was when she had first arrived, when the water tower was in danger, that time they had gone to the river, and just recently the party Pinkie had thrown a few days ago.

"The party!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed out loud much to Top Notch's confusion. She remembered that when she had hung out with Top Notch at the party Pinkie Pie had teased her about her very special somepony. Rainbow dismissed it as Pinkie just being her normal zany self. Now that she thought back to that night though she had noticed how the party goers had given her strange looks. "So wait you're angry that the town thinks that me and you are like together?"

"No, that's not quite it and there's more to the story unfortunately." He ran a hoof through his mane and smiled. "Shoot we'll I guess its technically later."

"Wait what?"

"Remember that day when I took you to Horse Shoe Bend? You asked me what Whisky was laughing about in the restaurant. I promised you I would tell you later and well technically it is later. Whisky had made a joke about you and me being more...e'hem...intimate with each other and the whole town thinking so as well."

"What was the joke?"

"Something about me finding the gold at the end of the rainbow." Top Notch chuckled nervously.

Rainbow Dash began to feel her face warm up and she quickly turned to face away from Top Notch. "Right so If you excuse me now I think I'm going to go help Whisky find this jaw which I'm about to go knock into next Tuesday."

"I wouldn't bother with it. Clover already took care of his punishment it seems." Rainbow Dash turned around and stared at him with a baffled look on her face. "Before you ask, no, that wasn't the reason why I'm upset right now. The reason why I'm upset is because the pony who I had considered my best friend for the longest time just goes behind my back and betrays me. All the rumors that went around town about us being more intimate were started by Whisky. He said he did it to hide his and Clover's relationship from her father."

Rainbow wanted to speak but Top Notch continued his rant. "I mean honestly he knew I was trying to help you with your problems! I know that he knew that you were troubled and no I didn't tell him any of the stuff you told me that day river. He's smart enough to figure that out on his own. Something I strove to do got all messed up just because it made my best friends life easier! He then tries to justify what he's done by saying you and me really have become more than just friends!"

Friend going ones back? Betrayed by them for a reason that makes their life easier?

Rainbow Dash was getting a crazy sense of déjà vu. "Just like us" She muttered under her breath. She put a hoof on Top Notch's shoulder. "Top Notch I think I should tell you that..."

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. The two turned to look in the direction where a loud yell had come from. Top Notch got off from the wall and started heading towards the origin of the shriek. "What in Equestria was that? Come on I think it came from around the corner at the end of the alley!"

---

The pair of ponies rounded the corner and came upon a confusing scene in front of them. On the ground was stallion knocked unconscious. Above him stood another stallion and a mare. The other stallion had the mare pinned against the wall of the alley as the his victim yelled for help. "Please somepony help! Get him off of me get him off of me!" The mare was practically on the verge of tears.

"Hey you! What do you think you're doing!? Get off of her right now!" Top Notch's attempt at diffusing the situation had failed as the attacker still had the mare in his grasp.

"Yeah! How about you pick a fight against a pony who can fight back!?" Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew over to the assailant determined to tackle him to the ground. At least that was her intent. The stallion leapt off of the mare and Rainbow Dash flew in between the two. She landed on the ground and just as the other stallion was about to jump at her Top Notch tackled him to the ground.

The situation quickly changed however when the stallion gave Top Notch a punch to his injured side and then flipped him onto his back pinning him. Top Notch was stunned for couple of reasons. The first being that he was in pain from the blow and the second being that his attacker was apparently snarling and growling at him. "Hey buddy don't take this the wrong way but I think you got some issues." Now the other stallion was snapping his jaws at him.

Rainbow Dash's second attempt at a tackle was more successful. She knocked the attacker off from Top Notch and slammed him hard against the alley wall. The pony let out a loud shrill before collapsing on the ground. Being sure that the strange pony was out of the fight she quickly made her way over to Top Notch and helped him up. "Hey you okay?"

"Yeah just got the wind knocked out of me ow..." He put a hoof to his side. Top Notch limped is way over to the mare who had apparently been the target. "Miss are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?"

The mare was still shaken up a bit from the ordeal. "N-No but...but... he knocked out my colt friend." She rushed over to unconscious stallion on the ground."

"What do you think that was all about?" Rainbow asked as she made her way over to the mares assailant. The pony lay crumpled in a heap on the ground.

Top Notch moved to stand next to Rainbow Dash. "I don't know but something about him didn't seem right. I guess we'll just turn him into Sheriff Silver Point and..."

Green fire suddenly erupted around the assailant. After the flames died down the pony was gone and in his place was a more insect like creature. Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide from what she had just seen occur in front of her. "Changeling..."

Rainbow Dash started to get a dreaded sense of déjà vu.

Author's Note:

dun dun duuuuuuun!!!

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mare-do-well and Changelings.dam