Evening
“Ya mean ya actually enjoyed all those chores?” Applejack raised a skeptical eyebrow Trixie’s way. “Ah never took ya fer a farmin’ pony.”
“I’m not,” Trixie admitted with a shrug. “To be honest, when I worked on a rock farm I hated it. But Sweet Apple Acres? It’s not so bad. I kind of like it."
They were passing through Ponyville, Applejack taking the lead. Trixie had been very nervous about this at first, but soon she came to realize that she had nothing to be nervous about. As far as the citizens knew, she was Applejack, and they all seemed very pleased to see her. The public acceptance she now enjoyed was a huge difference from how she’s been perceived last night, and it was most welcome.
Trixie was going to miss this body.
Applejack continued, “So Apple Bloom an’ the others didn’t notice anythin’ off about ya? Ya don’ sound a lick like me.
Trixie blushed. “They caught on to that, but I was able to convince them it had something to do with the auction.” She paused to think on her pronunciation. “Ah did try it out, though.”
Applejack covered her lips with a hoof and snorted. “Yeah, that was terrible.”
Trixie’s cheeks warmed even more. “It… got me through the day. Back on topic, I think I was able to do all your chores because I was in this body. It’s really well built for such things.”
“Why thank ya.” Applejack strutted for a few steps. “Ah happen ta be rather proud of my body! Which is why Ah want it back lickety-split.”
Trixie’s ears lowered as her eyes roamed the town. “But can we even do that without my body? I really think we need to find it first.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Applejack shrugged. “Ah’m sure Twilight can tell us.”
Trixie’s legs locked and her eyes went wide. She stared at her companion for several seconds before Applejack noticed she was alone.
Applejack turned back and tilted her head. “Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?”
Trixie’s lips trembled and her heart hammered in her chest. “You… you’re taking me to Twilight?”
“Well, yeah.” Applejack’s head cocked a little further. “Magic problems call for magic experts, don’t ya think?”
Eyes widening, Trixie took a step back and shook her head slowly. “N-no… I can’t. I don’t want to see her.”
Applejack leaned back a little with a frown. “Why?”
“Because I’m responsible for this!” Trixie took another shaky step back. “I… I can’t face her, not like this. I’ve already caused her so much trouble, I can’t do it again.”
“Ya act like she’s gonna eat ya or somethin’.” Applejack approached at a trot. “Come on, Trixie, we just need her ta—”
“No!” Trixie’s instincts told her to flee… so that’s exactly what she did.
Or would have if Applejack hadn’t caught her by the tail before she could properly bolt. Trixie fell to her belly and tried to crawl away, tears welling in her eyes. “Applejack, please! Don’t make me do this!”
“Cmm onn,” Applejack said through the tail hair in her mouth.
“I don’t want to!” Trixie covered her head in her hooves as she was dragged backwards. “Please, I don’t want to offend her again. There has to be some other way! Please, anypony but Twilight.”
Applejack spit the tail from her mouth. “Gosh darn it, girl, would ya calm down? Yer drawin’ attention.”
Trixie raised her head to find that ponies on the street were staring at her. The world had noticed her again.
The world always noticed.
Cheeks burning, Trixie promptly dove for the nearest alleyway. She set herself in a shadowy corner and trembled, her cheeks moist.
Applejack caught up to her pretty quickly, but she made no attempt to drag Trixie any further. Instead she sat before Trixie and studied her, ears low and eyes sympathetic. “Yer really that afraid of her?”
Trixie shook her head. “It’s not that I’m afraid of her. It’s… just once I’d like to see her when I’m not making a complete foal out of myself.”
She raised her shaking hooves, noting their unfamiliar color. “She’s… she’s going to pity me. I’m a wreck in so many ways! I want to be a pony she can respect. This isn’t it, Applejack. This isn’t it.”
Applejack shifted, her head bowed. “Ya’ve got lots of respectable points.”
Trixie scowled at her. “Name one.”
“Umm…” Applejack averted her eyes, her lips coming up in a weak smile. “Ya got… uh…”
“‘Uh-uh-uh’ is right.” Trixie covered her face in her hooves. “I’ve got nothing. No bits, no job, no respect. I’ve been trying so hard to turn my life around, but the whole of Equestria seems to be against me. I came here to sell something at the auction just so I could pay my rent tomorrow and not end up homeless, and look where it got me? Us. Where it got us.”
Trixie leaned back against the wall with a long sigh, her eyes gazing up to the clouds. “Nothing ever goes my way, not a bucking thing. Every plan, every idea, every hope I’ve had in the past year has been crushed. I’m pathetic. I can’t let Twilight see me like this… I just can’t.”
Silence filled the air. Trixie wondered what her companion was thinking. She was probably filled with pity. Or loathing, that would be appropriate.
“Yer… yer really gonna be thrown out on the streets tomorrow?”
Trixie sniffed and turned away, pressing her forehead against the cool wall. “If I don’t end up in jail after how I accidentally hit Rarity last night.”
“Yer not gonna go ta jail fer that.”
“Am I not?” Trixie turned to Applejack and counted by tapping her hooves together. “First I accidentally got two colts to bring an Ursa Minor to town, causing hundreds of thousands in property damage. Then I insulted Twilight and exiled her from Ponyville, and sealed the place in a force field that put the local economy in a state of freefall. Now I’ve somehow caused us to swap bodies – which knowing my luck was probably caused by some forbidden magic. All of that on top of assaulting the Bearer of Generosity! I’ll be lucky if I ever see daylight again.”
Applejack caught Trixie’s hoof in both of hers. She looked into Trixie’s eyes with a smile that was surprisingly warm. “Ya just spent the whole day with my family doin’ a hard day’s work. They’ll vouch fer ya… an' so will I. Yer not gonna go ta prison fer anythin’, Trixie.”
Trixie gazed into those green eyes as she processed what she was hearing. “You… you’d do that?”
Applejack nodded. “An’ Ah’ll talk ta Rarity. Once she knows it was an accident, she’ll forgive ya, it’s a promise.”
A weak smile crept its way onto Trixie’s face. “You… you really are the nicest pony alive.”
Her companion rubbed the back of her head with a blush. “Well, Ah’m no Fluttershy, but Ah try.”
She turned and gestured for Trixie to follow. “Now come on, let’s see if we can’t find that body of yers.”
Trixie blinked. “My body? I thought we were going to Twilight's?”
Applejack shook her head with a friendly smile. “Ya don’t wanna see her, right? We’ll see if we can‘t figure this out on our own.”
Trixie gaped… then smiled.
“Yeah… Yeah, we’ll do it together.”
They were halfway across Ponyville when they spotted the chariot. It glistened in the twilight, catching their attention. Applejack recognized it almost immediately as belonging to Princess Luna. That alone was enough to warrant extra attention, but what really made her stop and stare was when the chariot began to circle the town in gradually shrinking circles.
Trixie – Applejack was still very uncomfortable with using that name to reference her own body – saw where she was looking and came to a pause. “What’s the princess doing in Ponyville?”
“Searchin’ fer somethin’ would be my guess.” Applejack peered at the chariot. It was easy to follow, even as it disappeared behind buildings in the distance. “Normally Ah’d guess she’s lookin’ fer Twilight, but if she was doin’ that she’d just head ta the library.”
Trixie turned away. “It probably doesn’t concern us. No disrespect to Princess Luna, but I think finding my body and fixing this problem trumps her visit.”
“Ah hear ya.” Applejack followed, though she couldn’t help keeping an eye on the chariot.
Which was why she was first to notice when it abruptly turned and dove right for them. She tapped Trixie’s rump and nodded towards the approaching vehicle. “Ah think she found what she’s lookin’ for.”
They shared anxious looks, then sat to wait. Sure enough, the chariot landed right in the middle of the street, lead by four dark pegasi. But the pony who stepped out wasn’t Luna. Applejack didn’t recognize her at all. The tall, pink unicorn said a few words to the pegasus team, who immediately lifted off and began making their way back to Canterlot.
That was when Applejack noticed that Trixie was barreling towards the unicorn. “What the—”
“You!” Trixie slid to a stop before the unicorn just as she turned to face them. “You’re the one who made me chase after that bastard. You owe Trixie a lot for this, and you better pay up before I—”
Applejack caught her by – well, her own tail – and pulled her back with a jerk. “Whoa, there, sugarcube! No need ta go pickin’ fights in my body. That won’t end well.”
The unicorn raised her hooves high, eyes wide. “Please, I’m not who you think I am! I… wait, who’s who?”
Applejack blinked, cocked her head… and realized. “You got caught in the spell, too?”
The unicorn’s eyes lit up. “Applejack?”
Applejack blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Accent gave me away, huh?”
Trixie looked between them a couple times, then pounded her hooves together. “Oh, I get it!” She turned to the unicorn. “So you’re not the pony I met last night?”
The unicorn shook her head and pointed at Applejack. “I’m Golden Harvest.”
“Carrot Top!” Applejack let out a whoop and embraced the much taller pony. “Am Ah glad ta see you.”
“Err… thanks.” Golden pushed her back. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time. If we don’t fix this in another hour or two we won’t be able to go back!”
“What?” Applejack and Trixie blurted in unison.
Golden nodded, her eyes frantic. “Do either of you know anything about an anklet? One that got broken?”
Trixie let out a gasp. “Yes, the Ring of Something-or-Other. You – I mean, the pony whose body you’re in – wanted it. She offered to pay me big time if I could get it back from Caballeron!”
Applejack eyed her. “Is that why ya were chasin’ him?”
Trixie nodded. “He tricked me into selling it dirt cheap, but she—” Trixie pointed an orange hoof at Golden, “—said she’d pay me five times as much if I could get it back for her. That’s when this whole mess began.”
“Trot and talk, ponies!” Golden gestured with her pale head down the road. “We don’t have much time. We’ve got to find all the pieces and reunite them in order to fix this.”
She started to run. Applejack and Trixie had no other option but to follow.
“Hey!” Applejack struggled to catch up on her shorter legs. “Slow down, would ya? Ah got ta talk ta ya!”
Golden obeyed, taking a moment to lift a hoof and study it from several angles. “Strong and fast. And here I thought supermodels were all feeble fillies.” She resumed her run once the others had caught up.
Applejack eyed her. “Look, Ah trust ya an’ all, but how’d ya figure out how ta fix this?”
“Fine Crime told me.”
Applejack tripped and almost fell on her face. “Fine Crime? That’s gotta be one of the most dishonest ponies in Equestria! You trust what he says?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Trixie countered. “If he’s right and we don’t listen, we’ll be stuck like this forever.”
Horseapples, that was a good point. Applejack grimaced and increased her speed, glad to find that Golden’s body was more than capable of going for a while without tiring. She just couldn’t believe they were going on the word of a pony renowned as a habitual liar.
Trixie was easily able to keep up in Applejack’s conditioned body. “What about me? We still haven’t found my body yet.”
Golden glanced back, her breath coming in small gasps. “You haven’t? I think we need all four of us to be there!”
“Maybe Trixie’s body will be there already. If…” Applejack observed Golden’s slender form. “Who are ya supposed ta be?”
“Fleur de Lis.”
“If this Fleur pony was after the anklet, maybe she’s already there lookin’ fer the pieces.”
“I hope so.” Trixie’s words were barely audible over their pounding hooves. “I really do…”
At last they reached the alley where last night’s chase had concluded. Trixie let out a long groan; her body was nowhere to be found.
Applejack set a hoof to her shoulder. “We’ll find it, Trixie. Don’t you worry none.”
Golden stepped into the alley, her head swiveling about. “Okay, the pieces have to be around here somewhere.”
They began their search, the three ponies spreading out and scouring the grass. Applejack kept her head high and walked slowly, eyes shifting back and forth in a steady rhythm over the grass. She hoped the thing would be obvious.
Her eye kept roaming to Golden. She had a lot of questions for the mare, such as what she’d been doing all the way in Canterlot and – perhaps more alarming – how she’d managed to get her hooves on one of Princess Luna’s royal chariots. More important than questions, however, was the desire to speak up.
Now that the possibility of her being stuck in Golden’s body was very real, Applejack couldn’t help feeling shame. It was like all the rotten thoughts she’d had back at Golden’s place might be about to come true. Goddess, she couldn’t let that happen! Yet even as she redoubled her search efforts… that guilt nagged at her.
She could hold it in no more. “Carrot?”
“Did you find something?”
“No…” Applejack glanced at Trixie, who was well away from them.
Chewing her lip and dreading what might come of it, Applejack spoke. “Ah… Ah owe ya an apology.”
“An apology?” Golden paused in her search to cast a questioning look Applejack’s way. “For what?”
Applejack blushed and averted her gaze. “Ah sorta went ta yer place an' did some snoopin’.”
Golden shrugged and went back to work. “I don’t mind. I’ve got nothing to hide, and you were in my body. Go there hoping to find me, did ya?”
There was no way Applejack could keep searching; her mind was too preoccupied. Sighing, she turned to Golden and sat with head bowed. “Yeah, that was my excuse. Ta be honest… Ah was real mad at ya.”
Once again Golden paused, and this time when she looked at Applejack her eyes were wide. “Mad? Did I do something wrong?”
“Yeah.” Applejack gestured to her. “Yer datin’ Rarity.”
"But what does that have to do with..." Golden leaned forward to peer at her studiously. After a few seconds her eyes widened a second time and she pointed. “You… you were jealous?”
Applejack’s cheeks burned. “Ah still am. Ah was madder than a bunch of hornets. Ah even thought about keepin’ yer body, just so Ah could be with her fer a while.”
Golden fell to her haunches and her jaw dropped. “Y-you… AJ, I didn’t even know you could be jealous!”
“Well Ah was!” She turned her face away with a pout. “Am… Ah am.”
Golden stared at her for several seconds, tapping her chin as she considered the situation. “What changed your mind?”
Applejack glanced at her and fidgeted. “Ah found the dress.”
Now it was Golden who averted her gaze, pale cheeks turning a deep crimson. “Oh…”
“It kinda jarred me,” Applejack confessed, turning to her – rival? – with a weak smile. “Ah suddenly saw how important Rarity is to ya. Once Ah understood that… well, it just made me feel awful that Ah was schemin’ ta take her away. So Ah’m sorry… Golden.”
Golden blinked and considered Applejack with curious eyes.
Then she smiled. “Apology accepted.”
They shared smiles for a moment. Applejack felt as if a terrible weight had been lifted off her shoulders; suddenly she didn’t mind so much that she’d lost her chance at Rarity to this pony.
“Oh,” Golden pointed at her, “and you can keep calling me Carrot if you want. I don’t mind it anymore.”
Applejack chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. “Nah, now Ah feel bad that Ah used it fer so long.”
“I hate to break up this touching heart-to-heart,” Trixie called, “but we still have an artifact to find.”
Applejack and Golden jerked back into their searching, sharing a blushing grin as they did.
They’d been scouring the alley for a long time, but still they couldn’t find any pieces of the anklet. Golden was beginning to fret; they couldn’t have much time left, and they still needed to find Trixie’s body. They expanded their search to include the streets on either side of the alley, but as the light of dusk faded they still found nothing.
Yet Golden’s worry was nothing compared to Trixie’s. More than once they had to encourage the pony.
“I can’t calm down,” Trixie whispered as Applejack patted her on the back – an odd sight for Golden considering it was her body doing it. “Everypony’s going to blame me for this. I’ll be stuck as you forever. And my horn… I want my horn back!”
Trixie felt at her the hornless forehead of Applejack’s body, tears swelling in her eyes. “I don’t want to go the rest of my life without a horn…”
“Don’t ya worry none, Trix,” Applejack reassured her with a weak smile. “We’ll fix this. Trust me.”
“But what if we don’t?” Trixie’s eyes roamed the street slowly. “Fleur might be in a dungeon right now because of this screw up. Worse, if we get stuck like this Twilight will find out in no time and then… Goddess, Applejack, I’d be humiliated. Again.”
She jerked away from Applejack’s comforting presence and resumed her search with fervor. “We’ve got to find it, we just have to!”
“We’ll find it,” Golden said, though she kept her face turned away to hide her frown. “This is the correct alley, isn’t it? We didn’t get confused in the chase?”
“Naw, this is the one alright.” Applejack went back to her exploration, though she kept casting fretful glances Trixie’s way. “Everythin’s right, the buildin’ an' the street names. They’ve gotta be around here somewhere.”
Trixie’s head rose with a jerk. “Oh no, what if Caballeron took them?”
Golden and Applejack exchanged wide-eyed looks. Golden asked, “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Ah dunno.” Applejack considered the idea, her pupils shrinking. “Ah thought he’d just run away. He might have come back fer the pieces, though…”
“If that were the case, he’d be long gone.”
The ponies all spun about in unison, just in time to see a familiar figure emerge from the shadows behind one of the buildings.
It was Trixie’s body.
“Thank Luna!” Trixie bounded to her, eyes alight and a big smile on her face. “You’re here! I almost lost hope.”
Golden pointed to her. “Fleur de Lis?”
Fleur nodded, her expression stern. “Hello, Golden. I hope you’ve been taking good care of me?”
A weak chuckle escaped Golden’s lips as she blushed. “I’m trying. I, uh, might have screwed up a photo shoot, though.”
“Ah think we’ve got more important things ta deal with, ladies.” Applejack turned to Fleur. “Tell me ya know what ta do.”
“I know how to put us back in our bodies,” Fleur replied. “If we find the four pieces of the anklet, it should be very easy.”
Trixie threw up her hooves. “But we can’t find them!”
Golden nodded emphatically. “That guy – Dr. Crabslawn or whatever – may have taken them.”
Fleur raised a hoof. “Dr. Caballeron is still in Ponyville. He wouldn’t have remained here if he already had the pieces.”
“An’ how do ya know he’s still here?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.
“He might have some of the pieces,” Golden ventured.
“I believe he does,” Fleur admitted.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Trixie reared back with a sneer. “Let’s find that jerk and get those pieces before it’s too late!”
Fleur looked at each of them in turn with a concerned frown. “You mean none of you have a piece?”
The three ponies exchanged questioning looks.
“Oh!” Applejack raised a hoof to catch their attention before turning to dig in one of Golden’s packs. “I found this earlier today, but didn’t know what it was.” She pulled out a broken, circular bronze object and raised it up for them to see. “Is this one of ‘em?”
“Yes!” Trixie snatched it from her hooves with a gleeful cry and studied the piece from several angles. “You mean you had this with you all along and didn’t bother to say anything?”
Applejack blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Ah didn’t know what they looked like.”
Golden tilted her head as she observed the piece. “What was it doing in my saddlebags?”
“Somepony put it there, of course.”
The mares all exchanged wide-eyed looks before turning as one to the new voice. Dr. Caballeron stood in the alley, having just stepped out of a doorway. He eyed them all with a smirk. “Hello, ladies. Did you miss me?”
Fleur facehooved. "Such a copycat..."
“You!” Trixie jumped forward to take on an aggressive stance. “What did you do with the pieces? I want my body back!”
Golden stepped up beside her, expression fierce, and was soon joined by Fleur and Applejack.
“Oh my.” Dr. Caballeron set a hoof to his cheek with an expression of mock alarm. “A united front! Whatever will I do?”
Fleur’s blue horn shined so bright the others had to cover their eyes for a moment. “This body has more power than your feeble mind can imagine—”
Trixie raised an eyebrow her direction. “It does?”
“—and I am not afraid to abuse that power to turn you to ash! You will give us what pieces you have found and walk away.”
Dr. Caballeron huffed a small laugh. “Will you? I have hidden the pieces somewhere none of you will ever think to look. Kill me and you will never get them back.”
A blue beam cut a deep trench right beneath his hooves, making him back off with wide eyes.
“Test me,” Fleur hissed. “If you dare.”
Golden, feeling encouraged by Fleur unwavering confidence, took a daring step forward. “You won’t get out of this one. Play nice before we play mean.”
Dr. Caballeron raised his hooves high. “Okay, okay!” He lowered them, stepped forward… and smiled. “But you might change your mind after this.” He reached into the nearby doorway and pulled; a pony fell out and onto the grass.
Golden’s heart stopped as she gazed upon the familiar slumbering form.
“Rarity!” She and Applejack cried the name at the same time.
“What did you do to her?” Trixie snarled.
Golden started to approach, but came to an abrupt pause as the doctor dropped low and pulled out a knife, which he hovered over Rarity’s exposed throat. “Let her go, you bastard!”
“Do not fret so much.” Dr. Caballeron patted the sleeping pony’s shoulder with a smug smile. “I merely used some chloroform. Give her another hour or two and she will be right as rain… if you play by my rules.”
“But why her?” Applejack cried. “She’s got nothin’ ta do with this!”
“Actually she does.” Dr. Caballeron pointed at the piece still in Applejack’s hooves. “When I came back to get the missing pieces, this young lady was already here. I waited until she left, but I could only find three pieces. Clearly she must have found and taken it.”
He petted Rarity’s mane as he went on, “I thought perhaps she had kept it, so I waited until she was alone and… well, she was easy to sneak up on. So busy she did not even notice me.” His smile faded to a grimace. “I turned that boutique inside out trying to find the last piece. In the end I had to assume she had given it to one of you.”
“So you came back here and waited for us,” Fleur concluded for him, her horn not dimming in the slightest. Her eyes shined with her anger. “You knew we would come back searching for the pieces!”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Not bad… for a mare. Now, be good fillies and give me the last piece.”
“Not a chance!” Applejack brought the piece close to her chest. “Let her go, first!”
“You are in no position to bargain, young filly.” Dr. Caballeron brought the knife just a little closer to Rarity’s throat, his smile fading quickly. “You will give me the last piece, and then you will remain right here while I take it and this mare far away, where I know I shall be safe.” He pointed to Fleur. “You might want to dim that thing before I decide to act first.”
Fleur grimaced… but let the glow of her horn fade. “We can’t just give it to you. Let us have the pieces. We’ll use them to return to our regular bodies, then give it back to you. It’s worth more to you whole, anyway.”
“And give you an extra edge in the negotiations?” Dr. Caballeron shook his head. “I think not. Besides, by the time I get them it will be too late. I waited this long to show myself for a reason.”
“You bastard!” Trixie pawed at the grass with a snort. “Don’t think you can just walk away from us!”
“Ah’m not givin’ you anythin’ until ya let her go!” Applejack took a step back, her jaw set. “Yer not leavin’ Ponyville with her, ya got me?”
“You’re lying,” Fleur added. “All you ever do is deceive! You will give us the other pieces. I am not going to spend the rest of my life in this body.”
Golden’s heart pattered in her chest. She looked to her companions, then to the sleeping Rarity.
She looked down at her own pale hooves. She didn’t want to be stuck like this forever, either, but could she bargain that against Rarity’s life? Rarity had brightened her existence, had helped her realize a foalhood dream, had showered her with so much affection! She was even planning that trip to Prance. Golden didn’t know what she’d done to deserve the attention of a pony so perfect… but she wouldn’t sacrifice it for anything.
Not even her body.
“Hey!” Applejack blinked as the piece suddenly flew from her hooves to hover before Golden’s face.
For a split second Golden could only stare at the glowing piece – it was the first time she’d actually been able to use Fleur’s horn – but shook off her surprise and stepped back from the others.
“I don’t care if I’m stuck in this body, I will not risk Rarity’s life!”
“Whoa, wait!” Applejack raised her hooves in a calming gesture. “Golden, think about what yer doin’. Ya’ve got no idea if he’ll even keep his word!”
“He won’t,” Fleur insisted. “His word is worth dirt.”
Golden took another step back from them, her eyes locked with Dr. Caballeron’s. “I will give you the piece if you promise to let her go.”
“What?” Trixie started to approach but was pulled to a stop by Applejack. “Who gave you the right to bargain Trixie’s body?”
“I already told you the deal,” Dr. Caballeron replied, though he was smiling. “You give me the piece, I walk out of here with her. I’ll release her once I feel I’m a safe distance away, and then she’s free to come back to you.”
Golden chewed her lip, eyes set on her marefriend. She knew she couldn’t trust him… but the alternative was even more of a risk. “I want your solemn vow that no harm will come to her.”
He nodded, his frown fading. “No harm will befall her, you have my word. Now give me the piece!”
Fleur leaned forward, her eyes wide. “Golden, please, don’t do it! He could kill her as soon as he’s out of sight.”
“If we don’t give it to him,” Golden replied slowly, her eyes set on Rarity, “he’ll kill her for sure.”
The piece began to float towards Dr. Caballeron’s outstretched hoof.
“You stupid foal!” Trixie clawed at Applejack, struggling to break free. “This isn’t going to solve anything!”
Applejack pulled her back with a firm tug. “Be quiet! Golden has more right ta this decision than any of us.”
Golden stared at Rarity’s beautiful face. She looked so blissful, so pure.
The piece stopped just outside the doctor’s reach. “If you hurt her, I will hunt you to the farthest corners of Equestria.”
Dr. Caballeron met her eyes, his expression as solemn as the grave.
“I believe you.” He gestured. “The piece.”
Golden hesitated, tears beginning to swell in her eyes. Could she really do this? Was she just going to trust him?
With a choke, she let the piece land in his hoof.
Dr. Caballeron pulled the piece close with a relieved sigh. “Good, good. Now I can retire and not have to worry about this kind of thing again. Now to take my insurance policy.” He set the piece in his vest and bent low over Rarity.
The mares gasped in unison: Fine Crime was standing right behind the doctor, his hoof held up to his shoulder.
“Hey.”
Dr. Caballeron blinked, stood and turned around.
“Your style is boring as buck.”
Whack.
Dr. Caballeron dropped to the grass without a sound, felled by a single hit to the side of his head.
The mares all exchanged dumbfounded looks.
Fleur stepped up. “You... when did you…?”
Fine gestured to her with a smug smile. “You didn’t think I’d just gone back home, did you?”
Trixie balked. “You mean you planned this? …who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Fine replied, giving a small kick to the doctor’s unconscious form. “Important thing is: bad guy’s down.”
Golden rushed to Rarity, cradling her in her hooves. “Rarity? Come on, wake up! Please, let me know you’re okay…”
Fine patted her on the shoulder. “She’ll be out for a while, but don’t worry; she’ll be back on her hooves in no time.”
“But what about the pieces?” Trixie looked about frantically. “How are we supposed to get back into our bodies? We don’t have any time left!”
“We needed him to be awake, Fine,” Fleur said with a scowl. “He needs to tell us where the pieces are!”
Fine rolled his eyes. “Oh, please, Fleur. The stallion’s file is only five pages long.” His horn shined red and a moment later all four pieces floated up from Dr. Caballeron’s vest. “He’s not exactly the Chevaleon of Crime.”
Fleur was gaping as a piece floated to each of the mares. “He had them on him the whole time? How did you know?”
Fine smirked. “And that, my little pony, is how you handle convoluted plans. I hope you were taking notes.”
Fleur glanced at Applejack and Golden, who were hovering over Rarity as if she were still in danger. Her eye turned to Trixie, who was bouncing from hoof to hoof with her piece and eyeing her companions warily.
“Can we please do this before it’s too late?”
Fleur nodded. “Indeed. Applejack, Golden?”
“Right.” Applejack pulled Golden away from Rarity. “Come on, sugarcube, we’ll take care of her in a moment.”
“Yes… yes, you’re right.”
They each took their still-hovering pieces from the air, and the four mares stood in a circle. They each eyed their respective pieces, and one another.
Trixie shook hers experimentally. “So… do we just put them together again?”
“That should do it,” Fleur replied. She held her piece in the center of the circle, the broken ends aimed outwards the others. “Same time?”
They all nodded and brought their hooves forward. The broken pieces were just held apart, forming a broken circle.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t they… Ah dunno, glow or somethin’?”
Golden shrugged. “On three?”
Everypony nodded.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Thr—”
The pieces came together; an instant later Fleur’s vision was a blur and her stomach went topsy-turvy.
After about a second, she fell to her knees, the world spinning crazily in her vision. But even as she fought to hold down the contents of her stomach, she saw what she needed to: Trixie’s body.
A wave of pleasure engulfed Fleur. She shook her head sharply to clear it, blinked a few times and stared at Trixie, a slow smile coming to her lips.
“Wait,” Golden groaned, “is that it?”
“Ah was expecting a bang or a flash,” Applejack admitted.
“My hooves!” Trixie sat up and beamed at her own hooves for about a second before rubbing them against her face with a grin. “My hooves, my beautiful, beautiful hooves! And my horn!” She pawed at her glowing horn with an ecstatic cry. “I swear, I’m never parting with it again!”
Fleur looked down at her own pale appendages and felt a wave of elation. She lifted them up and brushed her mane back, delighting in its silky smoothness. “Oh, that is so much better.”
“You can have it!” Golden wiggled her own legs around as if to test them. “I like my own body, thank you very much.” She promptly turned and made her way towards Rarity.
Applejack heaved a deep sigh and bowed her head. “Ah’m just glad it’s over.”
She jumped as Fine Crime appeared at her side. “Well, almost.”
The mares exchanged bewildered looks. Fleur leaned towards him with a frown. “Almost? What else is there?”
He bent down to take the now-intact Ring of Mudarra in his hooves. “They all know about this, and as Caballeron demonstrated, there are ponies who would go to violent ends to get their hooves on it. I intend to wipe their memories regarding the past couple days, just to ensure nopony has a reason to come looking for them.”
“Ah.” Fleur sat up straight and nodded. “In my excitement I had forgotten.”
“Wait a minute.” Applejack raised a hoof with a firm frown. “What if we don’t wanna forget? Maybe Ah learned somethin' impor—hey!”
Fleur blinked as something blue flashed past. She turned to see Trixie galloping away. “What?”
Fine glowered. “There’s always one. Fleur, do stop her.”
“But I—”
“Now.” A second later, Fine had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Fleur hesitated for but a second before giving chase. She heard extra hoofsteps and glanced aside to find Applejack next to her. “You’re helping?”
“That depends,” Applejack said, her eyes hard. “Ah might be helpin’ Trixie.”
Fleur thought she felt the slightest twang of guilt in her heart. She said nothing and continued the chase.
Trixie might have had a head start, but her speed was nothing compared to her pursuers. Fleur was much faster than Applejack, however, her longer legs and a life of training allowing her to rapidly move ahead. She called out as she approached her quarry, “Trixie, please stop!”
“No!” Trixie looked back with wide eyes. “I won’t let you take my memories away!”
“Would you at least tell me why before starting a pointless chase?” Fleur’s blessedly-familiar horn flashed and a small ball appeared up ahead. It gave off a blinding flash. Trixie shouted and raised her hooves to cover her face, but it was too late: she tripped and tumbled to the grass.
Fleur was standing over her in seconds, her breathing scarcely affected by the sprint. “Please, Trixie, this is for your own good.”
“Like Tartarus it is!” Applejack was at her side, huffing a little and glaring. “Ya can’t just choose fer us what we can an’ can’t remember.”
“Oh, yes we can.” Black clouds formed in the darkness, and when they dissipated Fine Crime was standing opposite them from Trixie. He stared at the fallen pony with a dark glint in his eyes. “We are free to do whatever we want.”
“Wait!” Trixie tried to stand, but the blast had also knocked her off balance; she wobbled and fell to her knees. “You can’t do this. I don’t want to lose my memories!”
Fine sniffed, his expression as hard as granite. “What you want is of no importance to me.”
Applejack dropped to Trixie’s side and helped her stay upright. “Would ya give her a chance ta defend herself?”
Fleur fidgeted, guilt and worry filling her. “It… can’t hurt to listen, would it?”
She leaned back with wide eyes as he aimed a hoof her way. “You’re on thin ice as it is, so stuff it.”
Trixie shook her head and blinked. At last she was able to lock her eyes on her aggressor. She sneered and pulled herself to her hooves. Her horn began to glow as she leveled him with what had to have been her most menacing glare. “Did you miss it? ‘More power than your feeble mind can imagine.’ You want a taste?”
Fine scoffed. “Except you don’t know how to use it, do you? You never even went to magic kindergarten.”
Trixie’s ears lowered.
“No parents to teach you.”
Her shoulders sank.
“Even if there is phenomenal magic locked in that horn, you don’t have the key to get to it.”
Her body dropped low.
“You’ve got a half-dozen self-taughts and some parlor tricks.”
Her horn fizzled.
“You probably couldn’t stop me if I wanted you to.”
Trixie turned away, and Fleur felt her heart twist at the sight of moisture on her cheeks.
“That’s enough!” Applejack held Trixie even as she glared at Fine. “Ya don’t have ta be so mean.”
Fleur opened her mouth to speak, but a firm look from her boss made her freeze. She knew he could make some cold decisions at times, but this…
“Please,” Trixie whispered. “Today was such a good day. I was liked – I was welcomed. It’s been so long since anypony looked at me like that. I had a family. For a few precious hours, I felt loved!”
She gazed up at Fleur with big, wet eyes. “Don’t take that away from me, please. I want to remember Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and Big Mac. Let me have this one thing, I’m begging you!”
Fleur saw those eyes and heard the anguish in those words… and her heart broke.
“Ya see?” Applejack shot Fine another glare. “The past two days were important fer us! Ya can’t just take 'em away like that.”
Fine raised an eyebrow. “And how do you propose to stop me?”
Fleur looked to his cold eyes. She couldn’t believe he was doing this…
She looked to Trixie and saw the mare bury her head in Applejack’s shoulder with a quiet sob. Applejack petted Trixie’s mane and kept her eyes locked on Fine… but there was uncertainty behind their anger.
“That’s what I thought.” Fine gestured to them. “Fleur, take them.”
With a deep sigh and her head raised high, Fleur approached. She completely ignored Applejack’s eyes and Trixie’s sobs. This time there would be no mistakes:
She walked past and stood between them and Fine, leveling him with her harshest stare.
Fine tilted his head with a frown. “What? Don’t tell me you’re actually going to defy a direct order.”
“I thought you were a good stallion,” she hissed. “You’ve done questionable things, but I always saw the good intentions shining through. Yet this is not something I will tolerate.”
His eyebrows rose… but then he grimaced. “You know the dangers as well as I do. I’m doing this for their sake, Fleur.”
“Are you?” Her body lowered in a threatening gesture. “What about me, Fine? I learned something very important today. If you were to have my memories taken away, I’d lose that lesson.”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t intend to wipe your memories.”
“That is beside the point!” She stomped her hoof and tossed her mane. “These ponies don’t deserve to lose whatever they’ve gained today. Trixie’s life has been misery ever since she first came to Ponyville years ago, but today something truly good clearly happened to her. It’s the kind of thing that keeps ponies going! Taking that memory away may be even more dangerous than her knowledge of the Ring.”
Fine waved a dismissive hoof. “Spare me your moral righteousness. I gave you an order, Fleur.”
“We’re not goin’ anywhere with you.” Applejack stood at Fleur’s side. “We won’t let ya do it, Fine.”
Fine scowled at her, then turned his eyes on his agent.
“Fleur, if you do this—”
“You’ll what?” She bared her teeth as her horn began to glow. “Demote me? Fire me? That would be better than going through with this! You just let me rot in a cell for half a day trying to teach me about being considerate of innocents, and here you are defying your own lesson! I had no idea you were such a hypocrite. I thought you were a pony of integrity, but now I’m starting to think I was better off on that bucking island with the dragons!”
Her body shook and steam snorted from her nostrils. Her breathing came in a slow, heavy rhythm as she stared him down.
He only watched with a bored frown.
“You don’t even care do you?” Fleur pawed the grass. “Well I took your lesson to heart, even if you never meant it! I will not let you take Trixie or Applejack without a fight, and the same goes for Golden. If that lands me in a dungeon for the rest of my life, so be it.”
Fine stared at her for several long, tense seconds, his expression slowly growing darker.
“You’re really going to do this?”
Fleur only snarled in response.
He watched her for a little longer. His eyes shifted to Applejack, then to Trixie.
Then he smiled and sighed.
“Good. Very good.”
Fleur paused, her rage dissipating with astonishing speed. “What?”
He gestured to her with a grin. “You took the lesson well. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Fleur’s jaw fell loose as he turned and began to walk down the street. “Y-you… you’re letting them go?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, thank you!”
Fleur glanced back at Trixie’s cry and saw the pony embrace Applejack with shaking hooves.
It clicked.
Fleur ran to catch up to Fine. She grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to face her. “You never intended to wipe their memories… did you?”
He examined her peering face, expression solemn, then gained just the slightest smile.
“Did you take notes?”
She gaped as he resumed his walk… then felt anger boiling up from within. “You’re a real bastard, you know that?”
He waved without looking back. “I get that a lot.”
He was gone in a cloud of smoke.
Fleur sneered and lowered her head in thought. How much had he really known? How much of this night had he prearranged? She abruptly realized that, in terms of scheming, he was light-years ahead of her.
Despite her anger… she smiled.
This was a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
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A pretty satisfying conclusion to the whole debacle.
Had a feeling Fine Crime was going to let them go. He's a softie under all that gruff.
4622507
That would be Fluttershy's bad influence on him.
I was all set to take back my praise for Fine Crime, then figured out his game about two seconds early. I suppose I could complain about him being so far ahead of everyone else, on the other counts at least. I mean, he just shows up out of nowhere and finishes everything, and Fleur seems so shocked by this, I had to wonder at his estimation of her as a top agent. It's all very confusing. Stop being confusing! D:
4967521
You wouldn't know this thank to having not read my No Heroes series (the first two books are canon to the Fleur AU, of which this is a part), but Fine is a natural. While Fleur's continuously learning and having to work to come up with plans, Fine was already at a very high skill level by the time he earned his cutie mark. Plans form in his mind more-or-less naturally. Fleur is good at deception, but not scheming; Fine's got both in spades.
But again, without reading the source material, it's impossible to know that, so perhaps that's my bad for never clarifying in an AU or the description or... or something.
One of my current major projects actually shows how Fine and Fleur met, and I aim to show exactly why he took her on as his apprentice.