Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S2

by Banshee531

The Last Roundup

Today's story begins in the basement lab of Ponyville's scientific researcher Time Turner, better known as Doc. Here, the brown earth pony was busy working on his latest experiment. Standing beside him was another great scientist, Twilight Sparkle, who was looking up at something written on a chalk board.

"I can't believe it's finally finished," she said happily as she reread the equation again and again. "I must say, the formula you're using is incredible."

Doc chuckled as he fiddled with some wires. "Thank you miss Sparkle. It was a lot of work, but its just about done. All I need is one final test, and I should be able to start my patent application."

"Great..." the bored voice of Spike said from behind them. "Does that mean we're finally done?" The two ponies turned to see Spike and Springer sitting on the floor, surrounded by potatoes. The duo were using brushes to paint some of them with an unusual see-through liquid. "This stuff is giving me a headache."

"Same," Springer moaned, looking dizzy as he stood up.

Time Turner pulled out his notebook and wrote a few words down. "Good to know. I'll add that as a side effect. Until then, its probably best to wear a mask while applying it."

"Nice to know we're being helpful," Springer growled as they picked up the potatoes and moved them over to a very familiar machine. They placed them inside a chamber before shutting the hatches and moving over to the safe area. Once there, Doc grabbed the horn instrument that lead to the ceiling.

"Alright Flash, we're ready."

Outside the Doc's house was Flash, who was sitting on a large thunder cloud he had managed to get hold of while keeping his ear close to the horn that was sticking out of the roof. Once he had heard the Doc, he smirked before jumping off the cloud. "Alright, here goes!"

With that, he did a spin kick into the cloud, causing it to unleash a powerful lightning bolt. The bolt struck an antenna that was connected to the roof, causing it's electrical energy to be sent through the wires and into the machine where the potatoes sat.

"Geronimo!” Time exclaimed. Everypony watched in amazement as the machine came to life and sent the gathered lightning into the chambers. The potatoes were electrified for several moments, only for the machine chambers to open as the charge finished. Now safe to do so, the two ponies, dragon, and jakhowl moved over to the machine to check on the potatoes.

"Did it work?" Springer asked.

"Let's find out," The Doc replied as he moved over to the potatoes while carrying an amp meter. As he poked the wires inside the first potato, staring at the device to see if it detected a charge. However, no such reading appeared. The device was completely dead. He smiled at this, quickly picking up a knife and cutting the potato open. It was as hard as rock, hard to believe considering it had just been zapped by almost one billion volts.

At this moment, Flash flew into the room. "Did it work?"

"Indubitably," Doc said as a grin shined on his face. "The isolation paint's property asborbed the lightning and kept the thing it was coating completely safe."

Twilight turned to the pegasus with a smirk. "In other words, lightning-proof paint!"

"Great!" Flash cheered, clapping his hooves. "Now we don't have to worry about things being struck by lightning anymore."

Spike however, had a skeptical look on his face. "Maybe...but will this stuff protect it from Derpy?"

Everyone groaned at that. A recent accident by Derpy had caused the town hall's roof to be almost completely destroyed due to her accidently hitting a thundercloud into the building. This made Doc start up his anti-lightning research again, this time with Flash and Twilight's help as well.

"Well, now we have this." Twilight said as she held up the insulator paint.

Flash gave a deadpan stare. "Though knowing Derpy, she'll probably end up finding some other way to destroy something."

"Speaking of which," Doc said as he checked one of his thirty-eight clocks. "Shouldn't we be heading over to the town square?"

"Oh! He's right!" Twilight agreed, nodding. "Applejack's send off will be starting soon. Let's go!"

The group of five headed out of the laboratory and made their way to the town hall. There, they saw the recently collapsing roof on the building, showing an example of the previously mentioned damage. As they approached it, Doc spoke up, "It still looks bad, doesn't it? At least Applejack was nice enough to donate her rodeo winnings to help repair the roof."

Flash just shook his head, chuckling. "That's just something Applejack does. She lives for helping Ponyville. Too bad we can't go support her for this next event she's going too."

"It can't be helped." Twilight replied, shrugging. "The event was completely sold out. Besides, she knows we'll still be cheering for her here."

"True."

Eventually, they arrived at the town square, which was now sporting a pair of large holes in front of the main entrance. They also saw a large group of ponies gathered around the mayor's podium, all chanting the same thing.

"APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK!"

"Everypony's getting really riled up," Springer said as he looked around.

"Can you blame them? Its not everyday that somepony offers to try and win money to give to the town."

It was at that moment that Mayor Mare arrived at the podium, ready to speak out to the entire town. "Everypony, can I get your attention? Attention please!" The chanting finally stopped, allowing everypony to hear the mayor clearly. "Yes, there we go. We are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year's Equestria rodeo competition in Canterlot." She pointed to Applejack, who had just stepped up onstage as the crowd all let out a mighty cheer. Seeing this, the mayor continued. "And, I want to thank Applejack in advance for generously offering up her prize money to help fix the town hall."

"Yeah Applejack! Woohoo!!!" Flash turned to the voice and saw Rainbow and Derpy next to the new holes. Their sudden appearance made perfect sense, as Derpy let out a cheer and accidentally fell back into the hole.

Flash rolled his eyes and facehoofed at the sight. "Thank Celestia that girl's not a unicorn. I'd hate to see what havoc she would cause with magic."

Twilight and the others who all heard him shook in terror at the thought. "Agreed." they all said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the town were all cheering Applejack on. This included Pinkie, who was screaming as she bounced up and down. "Speech! Speech!"

Applejack blushed in embarrassment. "Aw shucks. I'm not much for speeches."

"Alright then, no speech!" Pinkie yelled before she shot off in a random direction.

"But..." Applejack tried to say, only to see Pinkie shoot back into her original spot before continuing. "This here is the nicest send off anypony could ask for. Ya'll have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little pony, so it seems only fitting to use m'ah winnings to fix up town hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud."

With that said, the entire crowd broke out into cheers before making their way to the train station with Applejack. There, Applejack stood infront of the carriage and waved to the crowd. Applejack's friends and family stood at the every front, all with big smiles on their faces as they waved back. Then, Granny Smith stepped up to her granddaughter. "I want ya to show all them high-volting rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony's like!"

"You betcha Granny Smith," Applejack told her, only to have Mayor Mare push her up front.

"And bring back all that money," the Mayor added.

Flash leaned over and whispered to Twilight. "I know she's excited, but the mayor's really focused on the money. She's gonna make AJ to nervous to compete."

Twilight shrugged before whispering. "Well, you can't blame her. With a hole in the roof, they can't have it rain anywhere near the town square. If that happens, the plants around the place will die, leading to more problems through a domino effect. It might be a small thing, but it can lead to a lot of problems."

Flash blinked at this. "Oh...I see."

"Don't worry yah mayorship," Applejack said as she turned towards the train. "Ah'll bring back a bunch of money."

As she walked towards the train, Pinkie suddenly appeared infront of her. "And remember to have fun! That and don't be nervous, or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better then you already would!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before walking up to Applejack with a reassuring grin. "Just do your best Applejack."

"I'll do better than mah best," Applejack assured her with a literal hoof bump.

As she did this, the train conductor spoke up. "The train to Canterlot is about to leave! All aboard who's coming aboard!"

Applejack smiled before turning to her friends. "Guess that means me."

"See ya in a week," Rainbow told her.

"Win lots of new blue ribbons!" Applebloom added, hopping up and down.

"And lots of money," Mayor Mare repeated.

"Good luck cowgirl." Flash finished with a smirk, crossing his hooves. "Not that you'll need it."

"Darn tootin!" Applejack said as she stepped on board, right before the train pulled off. The crowd kept watching her, seeing her stick her head out the window of her carriage. "See ya'll in a week with a big bag full of blue ribbons."

Her friends all ran along the platform, calling out their support as the train sped off. Then, the train started to vanish in the distance, only for Pinkie to call out, "And drink sarsaparilla!" Everyone gave her a weird stare, obviously not following her. "What? It gives you extra sass."

Twilight shook her head, while Flash simply chuckled before putting Springer on his back. "Welp, I gotta get to my patrol."

"Right..." Twilight giggled before raising a cocky eyebrow. "You don't want to have Iron think you're slacking off."

"Precisely. See you later." Flash scoffed before flying off. As he did, Twilight's friends all gathered around, all thinking about Applejack.

Fluttershy was the first to speak up, "Oh, I hope Applejack will be alright."

"You're kidding!" Rainbow almost yelled back, "This is Applejack Fluttershy, the best athlete in all of Equestria. She'll beat all those other rodeo ponies into the dust."

"That's right!" Applebloom agreed, nodding. "Just wait and see. This time next week, she'll have so many blue ribbons yah'll be able to swim in 'em."

---

A week had passed since Applejack had left town for the rodeo. As it were, today was when she set to return.

Flash, Springer and Iron had just finished their rounds and were heading over to Sweet Apple Acres to help set up her welcome back party. Iron wasn't looking forward to it, though its mainly because he still couldn't figure out what the point of parties were. That and his problems with Pinkie Pie due to his opposite personality of hers. As they arrived at the barn, they saw Rainbow and Fluttershy putting up the same banner they had used at Applejack's send off. Looking around, they saw Big Mac blowing up balloons which Twilight then arranged along with streamers and banners while the nearby tables held cake, jelly and a few welcome back presents.

"Looking good." Flash said as he looked around. "Applejack's gonna love it."

"Oh, I hope so." Fluttershy added as she and Rainbow flew down, "and I hope she's surprised by this surprise party."

"Well, that is the point." Rainbow deadpanned as she pulled a length of ribbon out of a box and threw one end to Fluttershy.

"I know..." Fluttershy replied as she caught it, "but I hope she isn't so surprised that she's startled. Because being surprised can be nice, but being startled can be...very startling."

"SURPRISE!"

Fluttershy gasped as she fell back, startled by Pinkie's sudden outburst.

"Oh Pinkie, you startled me." Fluttershy gasped, holding her chest as she started panting.

"Sorry." The hyperactivate party pony said as she helped her up. "I was just practising my surprise for when we surprise Applejack with this super cool party for becoming rodeo champion of Equestria."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes as she walked toward where Iron was standing, only for Pinkie to appear in front of her again.

"SURPRISE!"

Luckily, Iron was able to catch Fluttershy this time instead of her hitting the floor. As this happened, Twilight stomped her hooves, getting the pink pony's attention. "Quiet Pinkie!" Twilight hissed from the barn door. She was looking out to see when the guest of honor would arrive. "I think Applejack's coming."

"Everypony into position!" Flash whispered loudly as he, Rainbow, Fluttershy leapt into a pile of hay while the rest of the party goers found their own hiding spot. The only ones who seemed to be having trouble were Springer and Iron. Springer was unsure where to go and Iron honestly didn't really want to do this. "Iron!" Flash hissed as he flew back out and grabbed Springer. "Hide!"

Iron just rolled his eyes before halfheartedly hiding behind a beam as the lights were switched off. They waited for several seconds, ready to strike.

Then, the barn doors opened up.

The lights were immediately switched on and everypony jumped out.

"SURPRISE!"

"Surprise!" Pinkie said, a second too late. "Oh shoot!"

They all looked over at the new arrival, only for all of them to let out groan. Except Iron.

"Whoa..." the mailpony said as he looked around. "This is the best surprise ever. How'd you know it was my birthday?"

Twilight rushed over to the mailpony and grabbed the letter he was holding, quickly shutting the barn door in his face. Flash watched as Twilight returned to the center of the room while Pinkie rushed off to give the mailpony some cake. As she did, the others came out of hiding.

"Who's it from Twilight?" Applebloom asked, "What's it say?"

Twilight looked the letter over. "It's from Applejack!" she said happily before reading aloud. "Family and friends, ah'm not coming back to Ponyville." There was a loud gasp at this, shock on everypony's faces. "Don't worry, ah'll send money soon."

"Let me see that," Flash said as he took the letter and read it over before scratching his head. "Whoa, she even writes how she talks."

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she took back the letter, reading through it again. "That's all there is." Everyone began to speak their own concerns, all beginning to worry about what could cause Applejack to not come back to Ponyville.

"Applejack's...not coming back?" a heartbroken Applebloom asked, her eyes tearing up.

However, before anypony could comfort her, Rainbow cut in with anger and fury on her face. "What do you mean Applejack's not coming back?! She loves Ponyville!"

"And she loves Sweet Apple Acres," Granny Smith added.

"AND SHE LOVES HER FAMILY!" Applebloom cried, tears threatening to break out again.

Rarity gasped. "Something dreadful must have happened to Applejack to make her not return."

Fluttershy nodded, gulping. "Maybe she's hurt...or sad or scared."

"Everypony calm down." Flash said as he got between them all. "We don't know that for sure. All we know is Applejack isn't coming back right now, but that doesn't mean something bad's happened. We shouldn't just jump to conclusions until we have all that facts." He turned to Twilight, "Right?"

"Right!" Twilight replied, nodding. "And if that's the case, the only way we're gonna get all the facts is by going to the rodeo and searching for her."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go find her!" Rainbow barked before shooting out of the barn, followed by Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Springer.

Seeing this, Flash let out a small sigh before turning to Iron. "Well that escalated quickly. Anyways, they'll probably need me to come along for the ride Iron. You don't mind staying and-"

Iron flashed his hoof. "Get going Sentry. I can take care of the town."

"Thanks Iron." Flash replied before turning to Twilight.

"Don't worry," Twilight told the rest of the Apples as she started to head out. "We'll search all of Equestria if we have to. We'll bring her back."

"Ya'll are the best," Applebloom said with a small smile.

Granny then continued the sentiment. "Thank you girls...and Flash and Springer."

"Nothing to it ma'am!" Flash said with a salute. With that, the eight of them rushed out the barn and headed towards the train station.

Next stop, Canterlot.

---

The ride to the Canterlot Rodeo was one filled with tension and worry. Rainbow Dash was especially antsy, so much so that the others had to hold her down on several occasions to prevent her from leaving and flying the rest of the way. Thankfully, they were able to keep back the Element of Loyalty and the train eventually came to a stop. The friends quickly left the vehicle and Twilight suggested that they try and ask around the rodeo arena, handing each of them a photo of Applejack to show other ponies. With that, the group split up to get some clues on their missing friend.

"Excuse me," Flash said to the first pony he saw. "Have you seen this mare?" Springer held up the photograph as the other pony took a closer look at it.

The pony nodded. "Oh sure. She was one of the contestants in the rodeo. Came just ahead of me in three different events."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"I imagine she would have headed home by now." the pony replied, shrugging. "Last time I saw her was at the hay toss event."

"So you have no idea where she might have gone?" Flash asked in a disheartened tone.

"Nope. Sorry kid." he said before walking away.

Flash and Springer both sighed in disappointment. "Okay...looks like this might take a while." Flash turned to his partner, tapping him with his wing. "Think you can find her with your aura bud?"

Springer closed his eyes and opened his aura, scanning the whole area for several long seconds. Eventually, his ears flopped down and he opened his eyes, letting out a disappointed pout. "Sorry. There's too many ponies here. I can't tell one aura from the next."

"It's alright bud." Flash assured him, giving him a slight hug. "It was a long shot anyways. We'll just have to keep asking around."

And so they did, asking the many different ponies that were still at the arena.

"Anything?" Flash asked as they grouped up after an hour.

"No," Rainbow replied.

"Nope," Pinkie said in a not surprising uncheerful tone.

Fluttershy shook her head. "No. I'm sorry."

"A lot of ponies have seen her," Rarity commented as she dusted herself off. "But none of them know where she might have gone."

"Yeah, same here." Flash grunted before he turned around, seeing Twilight moan as she hit her head on the table they were sitting at. They others chuckled at her frustrations, only to hear a new voice approach them. It was a pink furred, purple maned earth pony mare, and she had just seen Twilight's photo.

"Oh! Are you folks friends with that Applejack mare?"

"Yes," Twilight said as she and the girls straightened up. "You wouldn't happen to know where she might be, do you?"

"Well..." the mare replied, a look of deep thought plastered on her lips. "Ah don't know where she might be...but ah do remember that the last time ah saw her, she was speaking with Ms. Jubilee."

"Ms. Jubilee?" They all asked in unison.

"Cherry Jubilee," the mare continued, nodding. "She owns a cherry orchid in Dodge Junction."

Flash almost backpedaled. "Dodge Junction? That's miles away. Why would Applejack wanna go there?"

Twilight slammed both hooves down on the table. "There's only one way to find out. Let's get going everypony!"

"RIGHT!" They all exclaimed before rushing out of the arena, leaving a dust cloud in their wake.

When the dust settled, the mare could be seen with her eyes spinning in dizziness. Then, another dust cloud appeared before quickly clearing, only to show Flash and Springer standing next to her. "Thanks!" he said as he shook her hoof. "We really appreciate the help."

"No...problem?" she replied, her eyes still somewhat spinning. Flash smiled and then shot off, kicking up another dust cloud.

Next stop, Dodge Junction.

---

One transition to a train going to Dodge Junction later...

"This doesn't feel familiar," Flash said sarcastically as he and Springer sat opposite of Twilight and Fluttershy in the train. Rainbow and Rarity were sitting on the seat across with Pinkie behind them. Pinkie had her legs crossed, a small bit of panic showing on her face.

"I just hope this lead doesn't turn out to be a dead end." Rainbow grumbled as she watched the wasteland pass by. "We better not come home empty hoofed after all of this."

"I don't know how we'll break it to the Apple family." Fluttershy commented, her ears flopping down.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "I don't know how we'll break it to Ponyville."

"And I don't know how I'm gonna make it to the next stop!" Pinkie concluded, it now being obvious why she had her legs crossed.

"I told you not to drink six bottles of sarsaparilla." Flash told her, an obvious deadpan scowl on his face. He then pointed to the rest of his friends. "And the rest of you need to calm down. We'll find her." Flash then leaned back, staring at the ceiling as he waved his hoof in a cocky manner. "Besides, worrying has never helped anypony." Flash leaned his head back down, showing a slight glare as he did. "We need to stay calm and focused, or we might miss something that'll help us find her. Even something small can lead to a big breakthrough in a case."

"A case?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you preach about stuff like that?"

However, before he reply, Twilight spoke up instead, "You got that from the Shadow Spade novels, didn't you?" Twilight pointed at him, causing Flash to chuckle and scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah...I might've." he admitted, shrugging.

"I didn't realize you read that series darling," Rarity added.

Flash shook his head. "I don't. I just remembered Twilight muttering it out loud when reading it once."

Twilight let out a low growl before turning and looking out the window. There, her eyes shined as she saw a new sight. "Hey! There it is! Dodge Junction!" Everypony looked out the window, only to see a group of buildings in the middle of the desert area, all looking like they'd been plucked right out of an old western. "Wow..."

"Huh. So that's where Applejack is, eh? Sounds good to me." Flash commented before hopping off the chair. He motioned for Springer to ride on his back, which the jakhowl happily obliged before the orange pegasus turned to Twilight. "Alright, what's the first move?"

"We should probably try and find this Cherry Jubilee pony." Twilight explained before motioning at her friends to follow her off the train. As they got off the train, Twilight continued, "Hopefully, she'll know where we can find Applejack. That or some clue as to why Applejack isn't coming back."

"But before that, I need to find a bathroom!" Pinkie chimed in, her whole body shaking like a leaf. Before anypony could reply, she shot off in search of one, only to find a porter potty. Unforunately, she soon found out it was currently occupied, causing her to knock it's door repeatedly. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" she said as she jumped from one back leg to the next, a look of sheer agony on her face. "HURRY IT UP IN THERE!"

Suddenly, the potty's door slammed open, hitting Pinkie right in the face.

"Someponies," the annoyed mare said as she walked out of the stall.

Pinkie shot into the potty, shutting it as she did her business. But as she did, the mare's voice rang a cord with her and made her gasp. Opening the door, she looked outside to see the retreating form of her friend. "Applejack!"

Meanwhile...

Flash and the others had been showing their photo to a couple of ponies, deciding to stay in a more closed group this time. That is, till Pinkie Pie appeared next to them, bouncing around in a circle. "I found her! I found her! I found her! I found her!"

"Where?" Flash replied, his eyes narrowed as he watched the pink pony. Pinkie instead, bounced away, making Flash and the girls follow. The group soon turned a corner, only to see Pinkie pointing a hoof at the middle of the next street. They followed her hoof's direction, gasping at the next sight.

There, in the middle of the street, was a familiar stetson wearing earth pony. Then she turned to look at them, a look of surprise plastered on her face.

"Oh Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed as they rushed up to her. "Thank heavens we found you!"

"We're so glad you're safe!" Fluttershy added as they all went up and hugged her except Pinkie, who was still bouncing around.

The sight made Springer give her a deadpan look. "Didn't you need to use the bathroom really bad?"

Pinkie suddenly stopped in midair, crossing her legs and chuckling nervously. "Excuse me a moment." With that, she shot back over to the porter potty, leaving a very confused Flash and Springer.

"One of these days, I'm gonna figure out how she does that." Flash said as he scratched his head.

"No you won't." Springer snarkly replied.

"Yeah...you're right." Flash bit his lip before moving back to the others.

Meanwhile, Applejack had finished the hugs, only to now start backpedaling. Her body shook as she nervously asked, "So uh...what's up?"

"What's up?! That's all you have to say?" Flash snorted, narrowing his eyes. "Why don't you instead tell us why you didn't come back to Ponyville!"

"Indeed darling." Rarity said with a sour look on her face. "Why are you here?"

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Do you have any snacks?" Pinkie asked, having finished her potty break.

"Not now Pinkie," Flash told her as he fought the urge to face hoof. That and slap her with his wing. He turned back to Applejack. "Now, you could please tell us what happened Applejack? Why are you here?"

Applejack's face was one of fear and haste, as if she was trying to think something up. But before she could speak, somepony suddenly spoke. "Applejack!" They turned to a nearby building, where a cream colored earth pony mare with a cherry red mane stood, looking at them. "Are these some of your Ponyville friends?"

"Yes ma'am." Twilight said as mare walked up to them. "Are you...Cherry Jubilee?"

"That's right sugar!" the mare exclaimed, a giant grin appearing on her face. "I'm the boss of Cherry Hill Range. Hasn't Applejack told yah?"

"No," Flash growled as he glared over at the earth pony again. "She hasn't."

"Well, I saw her compete in the Equestria Rodeo." Cherry explained, chuckling at the memory. "Never saw a pony win so many ribbons in all mah life."

Applejack blushed at this. "Aw shucks Ms. Jubilee, yah don't have to go into all that."

Cherry walked up and tapped Applejack's chin with her hoof. "And she's so modest. Anyways, I can always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back. So when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, ah snapped her up quick as ah could and brought her to Dodge Junction." Flash glanced at the others, who all had the same suspicious look on their faces. Something about this wasn't adding up. But before they could as another question, Cherry quickly turned and patted Applejack's shoulder, winking before leaving the group. "Ah'll let you catch up with yah friends. See yah back at the ranch."

As soon as she was gone, the seven of them turned back to Applejack, scowling. Flash especially noticed that she was sweating like crazy. That is, till Rainbow broke the silence. "Change of scenery?! What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's no big deal everypony." Applejack told them as she began to walk off, "I just thought cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. That's it, end of story."

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. "That's it? That's a terrible story."

"Sorry, that's all there is to tell." She turned back to them, an increasing frown showing on her face. "Thanks for checking up on me, but ya'll can go home now. Tell mah family hi and that I'm doing A-okay." With that, she started walked off until Rainbow landed in front of her.

"Excuse me AJ," the pegasus hissed, anger on her face. "But we didn't travel all over Equestria searching for you just to come home without you."

Applejack's face began to mirror the pegasi's, soon pushing past her. "Well I didn't ask yah to come looking for me. There is nothing to tell and I am not going back to Ponyville." With that, she was gone, leaving the seven behind.

Flash turned to his partner. "Springer, whatcha you get?"

Springer had be scanning the earth pony's aura the whole time, trying to figure out what was going on. "She's definitely hiding something, but I can't tell what. Weird thing was, when Cherry mentioned her winning the ribbons..." Springer scratched the side of his head in confusion. "I sensed a feeling of disappointment coming from her. Strange..."

The girls all shared a glance at each other, wondering why AJ would be disappointed in earning so many ribbons. Twilight then shook her head before getting everyone's attention. "Whatever's going on, we need to find out."

Rainbow nodded. "Twilight's right. We gotta get her to spill the beans."

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed, getting up in her face. "She had beans?! I told her I was snacky!"

"Not now Pinkie," Flash barked as he facehoofed before turning to Twilight. "What's the plan?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought before replying. "We need to stick close to her till she talks, and there's only one way to do that. We need to get a job at Cherry Hill Range."

"RIGHT!" The rest of them replied.

Fluttershy raised a hoof, "But um...how do we do that?"

---

Later that day at Cherry Hill Ranch...

It started when Applejack and Cherry Jubilee entered a room with a conveyor belt that was connected to a large metal hamster wheel. The two mares nodded at each other as they walked up to the machine.

"You ready to put your back into it Applejack?" Cherry asked as they stepped towards the wheel.

"Sure am Ms. Jubilee," Applejack replied as she jumped on the wheel. "Just give me the signal."

"Terrific!" Cherry turned around and exclaimed. "Come on in girls!"

Applejack looked over at the door before doing a double take as she saw Twilight and the rest of her female friends rush inside. "What are you all doin here?" Applejack asked in an annoyed tone.

"We're your cherry sorters," Twilight explained as they all stepped up to the conveyor belt and lined up. "Shall we get started?"

Applejack let out a low growl at this, but soon sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. "Fine. Let's getting going."

Cherry Jubilee stepped up to the girls and pointing to two bins. "Red cherries go in this bin and yellow cherries go in the other. Simple as cherry pie, but just one tinsy thing to remember." Cherry shined a big grin. "Have fun!" With that, she rushed out the door, entering a hallway where Flash and Springer were waiting. Her grin stayed on her face as she motioned her hoof to the duo. "Alright boys, ah'll be puttin you two in the juice room."

"Juice room?" They said together.

"I thought we'd be working with the girls?" Flash asked.

Cherry shook her head. "They've got more then enough sorters in there. What I really need, is a big strong stallion to work the juicer." She led them upstairs, showing them into another room where a large machine sat. It was a large metal bin with a large ball on a stick hanging over it. Cherry led them to a large wheel which appeared to be connected to the stick. "I'll help you at it today to show you how it's done. First, you need to fill the container with cherries."

Flash and Springer looked around and saw several bins like the ones Twilight and their friends were using, all loaded with either red or yellow cherries. Springer walked over to it and picked up a bin before emptying it into the metal device.

"Good job!" Cherry cheered before glancing at the wheel. "Now, the fun part." She began cranking the wheel, causing the ball above the bin to start spinning. She then used her tail to flick a switch, which caused the stick to extend and lower the ball into the bin.

"Ohhhh...cool!" Flash said as they watched.

Cherry nodded. "There's a knack to it, you see. Move the wheel too fast and the ball with cause the juice to fly out of the bin, but move it to slow, and it'll take forever."

"You mind if I try?" Flash asked.

"Go ahead."

Cherry moved aside and allowed Flash to step up and begin cranking the wheel. He looked up and watched the bowl as he slowly sped up, only to notice a few drops flying out. Seeing this, he slowed it down just enough so that it was still spinning without any lost juice. He kept this up for about a minute, until Cherry told him to stop. She grabbed a hoofstool before using it to climb up and look inside the bowl. "Perfect!" she said as she climbed back down. "You're a natural."

She then moved over to a lever and pulled it. Flash heard something that sounded like water going down a bathtub, making her fly up to the top of the bowl. There, he saw the juice he had just made get drained out of bowl, quickly going down a pipe connecting to a bolt in the ground.

"This leaver opens up the drain, which sends the juice down to the bottling room." She pushed the lever back in place, causing the hole in the bottom of the bowl to close. "You think you got everything?"

Flash saluted. "No problem. We'll get this all done in no time."

"Good. Now-"

"STOP!" yelled a familiar voice. The trio glanced at each other for a second before rushing out the door. They headed downstairs, back to the cherry sorting room. They burst through the door and what they saw...made Springer begin to laugh.

The whole place was covered in cherry juice. It looked like somepony had loaded a catapult of cherry juice and fired it on all the walls. Flash looked over at the girls and he too almost burst out laughing when he saw Applejack covered in squashed cherries.

Cherry on the other hoof, had anger filling her face. "What in blazes is going on in here?!"

"Looks like somepony was having a bit too much fun." Flash chuckled, putting his hooves over his mouth.

Applejack glared at Flash before turning to Cherry. "Its all mah fault. Ah got a little carried away and the cherry sorters got overwhelmed."

"Ah see..." Cherry gritted. "Go get cleaned up."

"Yes ma'am," Applejack said as she headed towards the door, glaring at her friends as she did so.

"We'll uh...start cleaning this all up." Twilight said with a gulp.

"See that you do," Cherry agreed as she left the room before glancing back at the two. "Help them boys. You two can do your other job later."

"Got it." Flash replied before helping the others find some mops and buckets. As they began to clean, Flash spoke up, "So...any luck?"

"No. She's not talking." Twilight replied, grumbling. "We seem to be striking out."

"That's because we're playing too nice." Rainbow hissed from the ceiling. "We need to call in the big guns."

"Yes," Rarity said as she and Pinkie cleaned the conveyor belt. "Desperate times do call for desperate measures."

"What do you mean?" Springer asked he and Fluttershy cleaned the wheel.

Rainbow just smiled, slowly pointing towards...Pinkie.

Flash's eyes shrunk. "Oh no. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Rainbow shrugged before giving a sinister smirk. "Maybe. But we've got no choice."

---

Later that day...

Applejack was in the cherry orchid doing what she did best, bucking trees. As she did, she looked around, seeing if any of her friends were around. Seeing nopony, she turned back around, only to find herself face to face with one Pinkamena Diane Pie.

"Hey Applejack, need some help?"

Applejack gave her a sceptical look. "You promise not to ask my any questions?"

"I promise," Pinkie nodded with a smile. Seeing this, Applejack motioned for her to help. The two then got to work, shaking and bucking trees to cause the cherries to rain down upon them. As they did, Pinkie's grin grew wider, before asking, "Have you ever had a cherrychanga?" Applejack turned back to Pinkie, confusion on her face. Pinkie then put her hooves over her mouth. "Oh. Right. Sorry, that was a question."

Applejack shook her head, chuckling. "That kind of question's fine Pinkie." Applejack assured her. "No, I never had a cherrychanga."

Suddenly Pinkie was back in her face. "Well no wonder, because I made it up myself!" Applejack began backing off but Pinkie just followed her. "A cherrychanga is mashed up cherries in a tortilla that's deep fried. That's a Cherrychanga! Great name, huh?" Applejack continued to backpedal, only for Pinkie to continue talking. "Oh, but maybe I should call it a chimicherry! Oooooh, that's good too! Which do you think sounds better? Cherrychanga or chimicherry? Or what if I combine them? Chimicherrychanga! What sounds the funniest?"

Applejack turned around, trying to leave as the pink pony continued to ramble on. "I like funny words!" Pinkie bounced after her. "One of my favourite funny words is kumquat! I didn't make that one up. I would work in a kumquat orchard just so I could say 'kumquat' all day! Kumquat, kumquat, kumquat!" Applejack picked up the pace, but Pinkie kept up with her. "And pickle barrel! Isn't that just the funnest thing to say? Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, pickle barrel!" Pinkie then somehow got in front of Applejack, preventing her escape. "Say it with me! Pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, chimicherrychanga!"

That kind of persistent annoyance would be enough to drive anypony crazy, but for a pony like Applejack...it still worked.

"NOOOO!" She screamed as she covered her ears, but Pinkie's voice could still be heard. "Make it stop, make it stop."

At this point, Flash and Rainbow showed up with corks in their ears, Flash covering Pinkie's mouth while Rainbow smirked down at Applejack. "The only way to make it stop, is for you to spill...the...beans."

"And if not..." Flash removed his hoof, allowing Pinkie to once again be heard.

"Speaking of beans, did you ever realise how many words rhyme with beans? Lean, mean, spleen, unclean, bean."

Applejack tried to funnel it out, but the power of the pink one was just too strong. Gritting her teeth, she then yelled, "Alright! Alright! I'll tell everypony what's going on! Just please stop talking!"

With that, Pinkie's mouth snapped shut as everypony came out of hiding to hear Applejack's confession.

"Talk!" Flash commanded, slamming his hoof into the ground.

Applejack froze, obviously trying to think of a way out. Seeing she wasn't escaping, she sighed with a small gulp. "Alright...but can it wait until tomorrow at breakfast? Ah'm plumb tuckered out."

"Tomorrow huh?" Rainbow asked, sharing a glance at the others. "I don't know."

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie asked as she crossed her heart and put her hoof in her eye.

Applejack sighed again, copying the motion. "I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast, Pinkie Promise."

Everypony smiled at this. Nopony broke a Pinkie Promise.

---

The rest of the day was a blur after that. Everypony found themselves exhausted after cleaning the factory and getting back to work after confronting Applejack. It wasn't long till nighttime happened, and everyone went to bed. Here, they were all given rooms to stay in by Cherry, and Flash with his partner went to a separate room.

As the duo went to sleep, Flash found himself unable to get to the world of dreams. It was here that he felt a certain thirst in his throat, causing him to be fully awake. Slipping out of bed, he tiphoofed over to the door to not to wake Springer before leaving the room. Heading downstairs and into the kitchen, he grabbed a glass of water and downed it. Thirst rightly quenched, Flash was about to head back upstairs when he noticed a light coming from down from the hall. Deciding to take a look, he moved over to the door which was producing the light, only to see Cherry Jubilee behind a desk, surrounded by papers. Seeing this, he tapped the door before slowly opening it.

Cherry looked up due to the sound, causing her to almost hop in place. "Oh! Good evening Flash. Up a little late, aren't we?"

"Just getting a drink," Flash said as he walked into the room. "I saw the light and wondered who would be up at this hour."

"Sleep can wait until ah finish this paper work. Ah'm almost done anyway."

"Oh...alright." He turned to leave, only to hear Cherry speak up.

"You and yer friends seem awfully focused on having mah new prized employee leave. Any particular reason why?"

Flash sighed before turning back to her. "She doesn't belong here. She's needed back in Ponyville, at Sweet Apple Acres. But even if we can't make her come back, I have to know why she's staying here."

Cherry nodded at this. "Ah heard a lot about Sweet Apple Acres. Ah was actually friends with her parents."

"You were?" Flash moved back over to her, curiosity in his eyes. "I've never met them."

"And you won't," Cherry replied, her tone lowering. She opened a drawer and pulled out a picture frame before placing it on the desk for him to see. Flash looked and saw the picture that showed a younger Cherry with two other ponies. One was a stallion that looked like Big Mac with Applebloom's color scheme and Applejack's stetson on his head, while the other was a peach colored mare with an orange mane that would give Pinkie's a run for its money. Cherry stared at the picture with sadness in her eyes. "We used to run into each other at rodeos and fruit fairs. Ah was sad to hear about what happened to them."

Flash didn't want to impose in asking what happened, so he simply remained quiet.

"When ah saw Applejack at the Equestria Rodeo, it was like ah was watching Bright Mac at work once again. She certainly got her will from him for sure. No matter how many times she fell short, she didn't give up and kept getting up."

"Yeah, that's Apple-wait, what do you mean by fell short?" Flash asked, blinking.

Cherry looked at him in confusion. "Yah know, how she kept missing out on first place. Didn't stop her though. She'd just dust herself off and move over to the next event. She had such a look of determination on her face."

"But I thought you said you had never seen anypony win so many ribbons?"

"Yes ah did." Cherry replied, nodding. "But yah don't just get a ribbon for coming in first." Suddenly, a million piece jigsaw fell perfectly into place in Flash's head, as he realised what was happening. Cherry noticed his dazed look and waved her hoof in front of his face. "Flash? Ya'll okay?"

Quickly snapping to attention, Flash turned around. "I'm fine, but I gotta go." With that, he rushed out the door, leaving a very confused Cherry behind.

"Strange colt that one," she told herself as she got back to work.

---

The next day...

The sun was set to rise in the next hour, but it seems somepony was up before it. Applejack's bedroom door creaked open as the earth pony's head peered out. Seeing nopony around, she stepped out and began walking towards the stairs.

"Going somewhere?"

Applejack almost screamed in fright, quickly turning around at the sudden voice. There, she saw Flash leaning against the wall, a smug smirk on his face.

"Flash..." she said, panting as she held her chest. "Tarnation Flash, ya'll almost gave me a heart attack."

Flash chuckled before getting off the wall. "Sorry, but you didn't answer my question. Going somewhere?"

"Er...ah'm just going fer a walk." she mumbled, her eyes slightly darting around.

"Really? With your saddlebag?" He pointed to the green apple themed bag on her back.

"Well...err...I-" She then knew she wasn't escaping this. The mare let out a long sigh before saying, "How'd yah know?"

"Seemed like an Applejack thing to do," Flash explained with a slight shrug. "Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise, so I knew you would have told us everything at breakfast. Plus, you don't lie, so I knew you wouldn't do that to get out of it. The only thing I could think of you doing was running. That way, you could still keep your promise and not tell us your secret."

Applejack frowned at this. "Ya'll gonna yell out and wake everypony up?"

Flash shook his head, leaning back against the wall again. "No." Applejack just gave him a confused look before he continued. "I'm not gonna stop you from leaving. If you want, you can walk out that door and disappear. I won't tell anypony."

Applejack smiled, quickly turning to walk down the stairs.

"But I will tell everypony the reason you left."

This made Applejack stop, turning back to the stallion and giving him a deathly glare.

"What do you know about why I'm leaving?"

Flash just smirked. "Tell me Applejack, what's the best position you got at the rodeo?" Applejack's glare turned into a look of fear. "Forth? Third? Second? I know you didn't get first place."

"How-"

"I spoke to Ms. Jubilee. She told me how impressed she was at your determination. How you kept trying, despite falling short. It didn't take long to put the pieces together."

Applejack looked at the ground in shame.

Flash pushed himself off the wall, moving over to the earth pony with a frown on his face. "You didn't win any money at the rodeo, meaning you don't have any money to give to fix the town hall. That's why you're here, aren't you? You're working here to earn the money."

Applejack fell down onto her flank, as her eyes beginning to water. "Alright, you got me. Ah didn't win any money to fix the roof. Ah let everypony down." With that, the tears came flooding out.

Flash smiled, grabbing her around the shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "It's alright," he said as he felt her tears soak his fur, "you didn't let anypony down."

"Yes ah did." She said as she pulled away from him. "Everypony was cheering me on, but no matter how hard ah tried, ah couldn't win one blue ribbon. Ah couldn't go home empty hoofed, especially not after everypony gave me such a great send off. That's why ah'm came here."

Flash rolled his eyes, slightly groaning before tapping her side with his wing. "Applejack! Nopony expects you to be perfect. If anypony knows about letting those who believe in them down, its me. I'm always worried I'm gonna disappoint Grand Hoof or Twilight, or any of you girls."

Applejack looked back at him, surprise on her face. "Really?"

"Really." Flash replied, nodding. "And I'm not disappointed in you. It wasn't fair to expect you to solely earn the money needed."

"You...you think so?"

Flash nodded again before turning to head back to his room. "Please don't leave. If you tell the others what you told me, I garuntee that you'll find that they'll say the exact same thing." With that, he returned to his room. He wasn't sure whether Applejack had returned to her room or left for the train station. All he knew is he would find out at breakfast.

---

A few hours later...

"You look tired," Springer told him as they and the girls headed to Applejack's room.

"Didn't get much sleep last night buddy." Flash said, yawning.

"I'm glad we're finally gonna get some answers from Applejack," Twilight grumbled as they got closer to her room. "She better give a good reason for all of this."

Pinkie smiled and hugged the purple unicorn. "Don't worry Twilight, she has to fess up after making a Pinkie promise."

They soon arrived at the earth pony's room, where Twilight knocked before opening the door. As the door creaked open, Pinkie looked into the room. "Good morning Applejack. You ready for breakfast?"

Her response however, was a completely deserted room. Seeing this, Flash saw something he had never seen before. For the first time since meeting her, Flash saw Pinkie's face become one of rage and anger. "NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!" With that, Pinkie shot towards the stairs, followed by Flash, Springer and the girls.

"She must be at the train station," Twilight said as they descended.

"Then let's get over there!" Rainbow added, wanting to take flight in the crammed building.

"Hang on." They all turned to look at Flash, who was at the back and had just made it to the bottom. "There's something you need to know."

"What?!" Twilight asked before Rainbow floated down in front of her.

"Can it wait?!" Rainbow barked. "Applejack's gonna get away!"

Before Flash could reply, the sound of a door opening caught their attention. Looking around, they saw Applejack walking into the room with a plate on her back.

"APPLEJACK!" They all said as they moved over to her.

"Hey ya'll. Ready for some breakfast?"

"We thought you'd run off," Rarity told her.

"We were really worried." Fluttershy added before letting out a sigh of relief.

Applejack just chuckled before motioning to the plate on her back. "Sorry about that. Ah just got up early and thought ah'd get breakfast ready. Ah made some of those cherrychanga things you told me about Pinkie." She showed them the tortilla like food product on the plate she was carrying.

Pinkie looked at the plate and licked her lips before smiling at Applejack and throwing her hooves around her. "I should have known you'd never break a Pinkie Promise."

"Err...yeah," Applejack replied nervously.

And so, they all sat down for breakfast. It was here that Applejack explained why she had done what she had done and like Flash had said, none of her friends blamed her. They then told her that they would find another way to fix the roof, causing the mare to let out a huge sigh of relief. However, they also told her that the only way the would agree doing this is that she would return home, which she also agreed to.

---

Later that day, the eight reunited friends were at the station waiting for the train home.

"Ah'm sure gonna miss you kids," Cherry told them as she saw them off. "But ah understand that you've gotta do what you think is best."

Applejack showed a small frown before taking off her hat, sadly looking at mare. "Thank you Ms. Jubilee...and uh, thanks for everything."

Cherry just nodded as the sound of the train caught their ears. "Don't mention it. And just know if yah ever truly wish for a change of scenery, Cherry Hill Ranch will be here waiting."

Applejack smiled and nodded. "Ah'll remember that."

At that moment, the train pulled up and everypony got on board. As it pulled away, they waved bye to Ms. Jubilee, who in turn waved back as they made their way out of Dodge Junction.

Next stop, home

Author's Note:

Hope you liked the connection I made between Ms Jubilee and Applejack's parents.

Comments

[Foxhelm]

Next stop, Canterlot.

did no pony bother to read the return address... would have saved them the how rodeo detour.

Interesting have Cherry Jubilee know more about the Apple family than most.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Nice additions to Cherry Jubilee‘s character. Now I’m guessing the Flim-Flam brothers will appear next.

[Godslittleprincess]

Her response however, was a completely deserted room. Seeing this, Flash saw something he had never seen before. For the first time since meeting her, Flash saw Pinkie's face become one of rage and anger. "NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!" With that, Pinkie shot towards the stairs, followed by Flash, Springer and the girls.

You just had to find a way to leave that in, didn't you?
Also, each of Flash's expressions were on point in this chapter. When you're a guy who's friends with a bunch of girls, you tend to get pulled into quite a bit of insanity, especially if one of those girls is Pinkie Pie.
8591457
Applejack could have sent the letter from Canterlot before she left with Ms. Jubilee you know.

[Foxhelm]

8591741
Given the context, not likely.

[SageBrony07]

Sorry for the late review. Great chapter. I"m glad how Flash figured things out and stopped demon pinkie from coming. Great job.

[HolyCross9]

I really like how you gave a connection between Cherry Jubilee and AJ's parents. Plus having Flash intervene prevented Pinkie and Rarity from having to use a lever cart to return to Ponyville.

[Deathclaw2014]

"Seemed like an Applejack thing to do," Flash explained with a slight shrug. "Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise, so I knew you would have told us everything at breakfast. Plus, you don't lie, so I knew you wouldn't do that to get out of it. The only thing I could think of you doing was running. That way, you could still keep your promise and not tell us your secret."

Flash? Have you been reading the script?

[Kayceejr91]

IN THE FLASH SENTRY CHRONICLES A FRIEND HAVE TO SHOLLOWED THEIR PRIDE

Applejack fell down onto her flank, as her eyes beginning to water. "Alright, you got me. Ah didn't win any money to fix the roof. Ah let everypony down." With that, the tears came flooding out.

[AstralFlare42]

8591741
Been there. Trust me.