Apples and Lightning

by Leaf Blade

01. Pride and Prejudice

Canterlot’s Royal Military Academy. Applejack’s dream since she was a kid was to one day enter this prestigious school, to train at the elite academy that her brother trained at, and her father too, and probably his father before him!

For as long as Apples lived in Equestria, they became knights, and eventually Holy Knights. Applejack was determined to become one too, and her first step was to walk into the courtyard of the Academy, to take in the stone walls surrounding the main entrance, that made the place look almost more like a fortress than a school.

She wasn’t intimidated by the sight though, it only made her more excited, and so did taking her first step onto the frosty grass of the courtyard; it was crisp and frigid from the winter air, but Applejack was burning up inside with anticipation.

This was it. Her very first day at the Academy, the very first step on her journey to becoming the Holy Knight of Strength.

Applejack’s ears twitched as the chattering of a large gathered crowd reached them, piquing her curiosity. Something big was going on in the courtyard, and Applejack almost missed it because she was too starstruck by a bunch of old buildings. She’d have to be more alert than that if she wanted to fit into this school!

She tugged on her straw hat as she walked over to the crowd, cautiously sizing up the situation before getting too close, and she had very mixed emotions upon finding that the people were gathered to watch a fight in progress.

Looked like a quarrel between students, and while Applejack felt some headiness bubbling in her gut, eager to see how the fight played out, her head reminded her that this was a prestigious academy, and that the students here were training to be Knights. Just fighting in the middle of the courtyard might send the wrong impression, and everyone standing around gawking would look like a bunch of fools if the instructors saw them!

Applejack would have to put a stop to this.

She pushed past some of the gathered folks to see the combatants; a bright orange young man with almond-colored, slicked back hair fought with his fists against a light blue girl with striking rainbow hair tied behind her in a loose ponytail. Her movements—both on her feet and with her pair of knives—were almost too quick for Applejack’s eyes to keep up with.

Applejack’s first thought was that she was glad she wasn’t the one in the ring with that girl, because that guy didn’t stand a chance, and judging by the horrified look on his face— and the cuts across his cheeks— he probably knew it.

Applejack’s second thought was to be dazzled by the woman’s beautiful, somewhat masculine features. She didn’t look like a man, per se, but she looked odd. Familiar, almost. And then it hit Applejack that the girl was probably trans, and it warmed Applejack’s heart to know she wouldn’t be the only trans girl in her class.

Still though, this fight had gone on long enough.

Blue girl may have been fast, but her moves were pretty basic and predictable. Applejack jumped into the makeshift arena and grabbed Blue’s arm mid-swipe, and when she tried to swing at Applejack with her other knife, Applejack twisted the girl’s wrist to knock her off balance, then grabbed Blue’s free arm and yanked on it hard enough to bring her to the ground.

The guy looked giddy—assuming that Applejack had come to his defense— as he rushed to stomp on the grounded girl, and he was caught embarrassingly off-guard when Applejack punched him in the stomach and brought him to his knees.

“Hey, what gives?!” Blue’s raspy voice and fiery tone alarmed Applejack, who took a step back as the girl got to her feet and pointed a knife her way. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, just barging into my fight like that!?”

“Yer fightin’ on school property!” Applejack rebutted. “Don’t you have any respect for this place?”

“Not really?” Blue shrugged, and Applejack felt her eye twitch. Blue scoffed, “Whatever! What do you care anyway, just who the hell are you?!”

“The name’s Applejack,” Applejack took a step forward and cracked her knuckles, though her dramatic entrance was somewhat downplayed by the cooing of the crowd, who she’d momentarily forgotten about.

“Applejack?” Blue grinned and bit on her thumbnail, before pointing a finger at Applejack. “You’re one of them! One of those big fancy Apple clods!”

“Don’t you dare talk bad about my family, uhhh…” Applejack moved her hand in a forward circle, hoping Blue would give her actual name.

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow flashed another grin, baring sharp fangs on either side of her mouth, “and if you’re soooo insistent to get in my way-” Rainbow flicked her knife and bobbed her head toward the almond-haired boy slinking unsubtly into the crowd “-maybe you’d like to take this dunce’s place!”

Applejack grit her teeth. It wouldn’t do to start a fight after she’d just broken one up, but she didn’t like this girl’s attitude one bit, and she knew this type of person wouldn’t listen to reason, but she’d have no choice but to listen to Applejack’s fists.

“Okay, Rainbow Dash, you’re o—”

“Hold on, now,” the voice of one of the instructors chimed in; a chestnut-skinned man with spiky blue hair, and a thin beard on his chin, by the name of Flash Sentry. “Everybody break it up! The orientation lecture will be in half an hour, and all of your butts should be in seats!”

The chastised crowd soon dispersed as Flash continued to reprimand them, until only Applejack and Rainbow remained; Applejack out of mild shame and a desire to make her case to the instructor, to apologize for almost getting goaded into a fight, and Rainbow probably stuck around cuz she was a stubborn bitch.

“Rainbow Dash, right?” Flash said as he walked up to the pair, and the distaste in his tone was met by utter apathy for it that was clear as day on Rainbow’s face. “Yeah, Shining Armor warned me you’d probably try to pick fights.”

“Don’t worry your spiky blue head about it, chief,” Rainbow’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and Applejack felt her face twisting into a bitter frown more with each word, “soon everyone’s gonna know that I’m the strongest fighter here, then no one’s gonna wanna fight with me! Problem solved!”

“Right,” Flash pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unless you want a fight with me, you’d better get to class.”

Rainbow scowled, and for half a sec Applejack honestly wondered if Rainbow was gonna start a fight with an instructor, and what should she do if Rainbow did, but thankfully Rainbow just spat at the ground and walked away without another word, giving Flash a firm slap on the shoulder as she passed him.

“Flash Sentry, sir, I—”

“Applejack, right?” Flash raised his hand and Applejack shut her mouth and nodded. “Academy’s been expecting you for a while, what’s been the hold-up?”

Didn’t want anyone to think I was a boy.

“Just some personal stuff I needed to clear up,” Applejack shrugged and tipped her straw hat. Technically that wasn’t a lie, so she could say it with a straight face. “But hey, better late than never, am I right?”

“Absolutely,” Flash bore a goofy grin on his face and Applejack pre-emptively rolled her eyes, “or should I say applesolutely?”

“You shouldn’t,” Applejack griped, “sir.”

“Right then,” Flash cleared his throat. “Anyhow, you’ll be in the Squire class, correct?”

“That’s right,” Applejack nodded.

“A little odd,” Flash hummed, “you’re already qualified to take the basic Knight class. If you cleared that, it would just be a matter of deciding what type of Knight you want to be, take that class, and you’d be set. You’re basically setting yourself up for an extra year’s worth of unnecessary work.”

“I appreciate the advice, sir,” Applejack drew herself up proudly, “but I’m an Apple. We do things the proper way. Just cuz I’m ‘qualified’ to jump ahead, doesn’t mean it’d be right. I need to go through all the steps if I wanna achieve my dream. Just like my brother did, and my pa, and my granpappy, you get it.”

“I do,” Flash nodded, and the smile on his face warmed Applejack’s heart. “You’re a rare one though, Applejack. Most of the students here aren’t going to see it that way. Most just want to get ahead in the world, to achieve a lucrative station and then just coast.”

“Good news to me, then,” Applejack chuckled, “I’ll have a one up on ‘em.”

“Well, I wish you luck,” Flash said, “you have a lot riding on you, after all. Apples have served the Cross since the day it was founded, and with your dad’s heroics during the Scarlet Rebellion, the Apple name’s never been more important. Lotta pressure.”

“Th-thanks,” Applejack said. She wasn’t nervous before, least she told herself she wasn’t, but she sure felt it brewing inside her now. “Anyway, I’d better get to class.”

“Right,” Flash laughed, “don’t let me hog any more your time! Good luck, Applejack.”

“Thank ye kindly, sir.”

As Applejack rushed to class, through the courtyard and into the halls, taking only a brief sec to be awestruck by all the history and magic that flowed through the marble floors and stone columns inside the building, she thought about what Flash said.

Instructor may have had all the tact of a drunken prep school student, but he wasn’t wrong. The pride of the Apple family rested on Applejack’s shoulders now, and she couldn’t afford to let her family down.

More than that though, her personal pride rested on her becoming a Holy Knight. She took the straw hat off her head and stared at it, at the hat she fashioned herself after the one her father had given to Big Mac, and she gave a bitter sigh as she put it back on her head.

There could only be one Holy Knight of Strength, and the men of the Apple family had held that honor for long enough.

Applejack had no trouble at all squeezing into her chair in the classroom, which made her feel nervous. She’d been reminded time and time again that her hormone therapy wasn’t actually making her smaller, but she still couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about her size; she was fit, and buffer than most girls, but she was practically a mouse compared to the mountain-sized men in her family.

Then again, comparing herself to the men in her family never did anything but give her a headache and a stomach full of anxiety, but that didn’t mean she’d stop doing it constantly.

Flash Sentry gave the orientation lecture, and while it was nothing too special, it was inspiring to hear anyway, at least to Applejack. He explained how the Holy Knights were so much more than just Equestria’s protectors; they were the land’s beacons as well, symbols of everything Equestria and its Cross stood for, and to be one meant to be a role model to all the land’s citizens, with all the honor— and pressure— that implied.

But there could only be six, one for each of Equestria’s Pillars, and so not every student would be able to become a Holy Knight. Flash explained that despite that, every single student, every single soldier in Equestria’s service, was valued and important. That each and every one of them would carry a sword that may one day slay Equestria’s enemies, and a shield that may save a comrade’s life.

Every person mattered, no matter who they were or where they came from. It was a message that brought a smile to Applejack’s face, even as she wondered how much she mattered outside the shadow of her family’s name.

Once the lecture was complete, Applejack looked around to see many of her fellow students chattering excitedly about their future plans, and their dreams and ambitions, and she couldn’t help but feel pumped up by all the heated energy surrounding her as she idly fiddled with a nearby pencil.

Except for one girl, who snored loudly as drool fell out her mouth and onto the desk where her head rested atop folded arms. Rainbow Dash had slept through the entire lecture, and Applejack snapped the pencil in her hand and nearly pounded her fist on her desk.

Applejack couldn’t believe how little Rainbow seemed to care about even the most basic shows of respect. The absolute least Rainbow had to do was to just stay awake during orientation, and she couldn’t even do that!

It got Applejack’s blood boiling for sure, but she took slow, deep breaths to try and calm herself. It wasn’t worth getting into a fight on her first day at the Academy.

Was it?

No, no it definitely wasn’t.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t at least give Rainbow Dash an earful for her ridiculous behavior.

Applejack slammed her palm onto Rainbow’s desk, the rainbow-haired dolt’s head jerking up awkwardly as she looked tiredly up at Applejack, affecting a smirk as she blinked herself awake.

“Oh hey, Applesack,” Rainbow’s smirk morphed into a conceited grin, “how’s it goin’?”

“I can’t believe you slept through the entire lecture,” Applejack scolded, and Rainbow just snickered.

“Not my fault the lecture was so boring!” she shrugged, and Applejack practically felt steam pouring out of her ears.

“Don’t you have any respect—”

“Nope! No respect at all, Applesack!” Rainbow jumped up, planting her feet on her chair which allowed her to just barely see above Applejack’s head. She put her hands on Applejack’s shoulders, and it took every ounce of willpower Applejack had not to just break Rainbow’s fingers off right then and there. “And if you have a problem with my attitude, Applesack, you can take it outside with me!”

Rainbow snickered again and hopped onto her desk, jumping off it and behind Applejack.

“But I know you won’t,” Rainbow said smarmily, an utterly despicable smug grin plastered on her face, “your whole ‘family pride’ shtick would never let you fight on schoow pwopewty, especially not with a nobody like me.” Rainbow flicked her hair and turned her back on Applejack, “So I’ll sleep wherever I damn well please.”

Rainbow walked toward the exit, and Applejack watched her go, seething with anger. Every eye in the classroom was now homed in on Applejack, waiting to see how she’d respond to Rainbow’s taunts. Thing is, Rainbow wasn’t wrong; Applejack had no intention of risking her reputation, or her family’s pride, on something as petty as a grudge between schoolmates.

But letting all her peers see her buckle to a few taunts was even worse. Besides, like Applejack figured before, Rainbow wouldn’t listen to words, but Applejack could still get through to her with fists.

“Rainbow,” Applejack said firmly, and she caught the flicker of a grin that Rainbow made before she turned around with a stone-faced expression. “I’ll meet you in the courtyard. Let’s settle this right here and now.”

“Fine by me,” Rainbow hissed, “but don’t come crying to me after I kick your ass.”

Applejack flicked her nose as Rainbow tore her jacket off, throwing it onto the courtyard grass. Applejack removed her plaid jacket too, and while Rainbow took her hair out of its ponytail, letting it fall across her shoulders, Applejack kept hers in the loose, messy bun it was in.

No surprise, a crowd of fellow students were gathered around the arena where Applejack and Rainbow were about to square off, chattering amongst themselves and placing bets by the sound of it.

Rainbow was lean and muscular; contrary to her lax attitude, Applejack could tell just by looking at her that she took her training regiment seriously. She was short, maybe two or three heads shorter than Applejack, and Applejack was quite a bit bigger too; a mixture of overcompensating during hormone therapy and a natural love for strength training gave Applejack a body that could crush apples just by flexing. That was a fact, she’d done it before.

Be that as it may, Applejack had a good feeling that she’d better not hold back against Rainbow… too much.

Applejack scoffed as Rainbow drew her knives out of her pockets.

“Yer gonna use knives?” Applejack cocked her head and put a hand on her hip. “What’s the matter, ‘fraid you can’t beat me if you fight fair?”

“There’s no such thing as a ‘fair’ fight, Applejack,” Rainbow said coldly, and her glare pierced right through Applejack, who hadn't expected Rainbow to get serious at all, much less over a basic taunt. “You either do everything you can to win, or someday your family’s gonna have to bury you. That’s all there is to it.” Rainbow’s smug grin returned, “But if you’re scared of getting cut, we can call this off.”

Applejack cricked her neck back and forth. She said nothing, just put her dukes up.

Rainbow started the fight off by throwing one of her knives right at Applejack’s face, and Applejack was alarmed that Rainbow would start off with such a dirty trick, but she really should’ve seen it coming.

She tried to grab the knife out of the air, knowing if she tried to dodge, it might hit a student behind her instead. Granted, maybe the other students should’ve known better than to crowd around a fight in progress instead of getting an instructor to call this whole thing off, but Applejack wasn’t about to let other ponies get hurt because of her fight.

She did manage to catch the knife, but only by grabbing the blade and cutting up her hand in the process. Rainbow dashed to the side, and she was much faster than Applejack remembered from this morning; she grabbed a stone off the ground and threw it at Applejack, who was just about done with Rainbow’s petty tactics.

Applejack threw the knife to the ground and did nothing as the rock hit her square in the cheek, leaving a bloody cut across her face. She simply stared Rainbow down as the blood trickled down her face, though she did crack a smile at seeing Rainbow’s eyes widen.

Applejack ran at Rainbow and tried to throw a punch, but only hit empty air as Rainbow effortlessly jumped away from her attack. Rainbow sliced Applejack with her knife and cut her arm, but Applejack barely felt it, throwing another punch at Rainbow’s face that whiffed as Rainbow jumped back.

Applejack waited patiently for Rainbow to make her next move, but even though she was ready and on-guard, Rainbow’s blazing speed still managed to make her jump, and before she knew it, Rainbow was behind her.

Applejack turned on her heels and managed to catch Rainbow’s hand before she could plunge the knife into Applejack’s back, though Rainbow was all too happy to just drop the knife to avoid taking a punch from Applejack, especially since Rainbow’s speed made it easy for her to pick up the other knife off the ground, which she did while flashing a smug grin.

“Hope you didn’t think usin’ these things’d give you an advantage against me,” Applejack mirrored Rainbow’s grin and tossed the knife aside. “I ain’t about to lose to no one, ‘specially no one like you.”

“You say that,” Rainbow spat, “but I can tell you’re holding back. What’s the matter, Appleslack? You tryin’ to stall ‘til a teacher gets here? Afraid you can’t beat me on your own?”

Applejack took a sharp breath in through her nose. Rainbow wasn’t wrong, Applejack was holding back. Applejack had magic—not much, mind, but enough that she could probably end this fight with one or two blows, but could she really justify using her magic in a petty grudge fight?

Looking around at the crowd, some of the onlookers were starting to get bored and disperse. It wouldn’t be long before someone called an instructor, and Applejack wasn’t gonna get away with just a slap on the wrist if she was caught fighting a second time today.

Was that Rainbow’s plan all along? Goad Applejack into a fight just so she’d get in trouble with the instructors? It’d be awful shrewd of her.

“Earth to Applejack!” Rainbow laughed. “You losing your nerve? The oh-so-great Apple family ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, I guess! You can’t even land a single punch on me!”

Well. If Rainbow was that insistent on Applejack not holding back, it’d just be rude to not use her magic at this point, wouldn’t it?

“Alright, Rainbow,” Applejack said coolly, “but don’t blame me when you get hurt!”

Rainbow wasn’t stupid, Applejack had to give her that at least, and she’d probably figured by this point that trying to hit Applejack head-on was gonna be a no-sell. When Applejack approached, Rainbow would try to get behind her, and that’s when Applejack would strike.

Applejack stood at the ready while Rainbow stared her down, knife in hand. Applejack felt the energy of the Earth Aura flowing through her legs, and she charged at Rainbow, who smirked as she dashed underneath Applejack’s thrown punch, and Applejack managed to fight back her own smile as Rainbow tried to get behind her, just like she figured.

Applejack spun around, and though she wasn’t fast enough to avoid getting cut across the side of her gut, she fought through the pain and grabbed Rainbow’s hand. Just like before, Rainbow dropped the knife and slipped her hand out from Applejack’s, rolling her eyes at Applejack’s seemingly basic strategy.

But before Rainbow could get away, Applejack kicked her in the thigh and shattered her femur.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she stumbled backward, and Applejack just threw the knife away and cracked her knuckles, waiting for Rainbow to make her next pained, sluggish move.

“Wh-what did—” Rainbow looked up at Applejack in shock. “You have magic?!”

A wave of chatter washed over the crowd of onlookers, and Applejack’s nose curled. She didn’t want anyone to look at her any different than any other student, and she knew her family name was gonna make that hard enough, now she was known as probably the only student in the class to have access to magic.

“It’s a basic spell,” Applejack shrugged as Rainbow gently touched at her thigh and hissed in pain, “you’ll learn the same one next year in the Knight class. You didn’t think, just cuz I’m late to join the Academy, that I been restin’ on my laurels, didja?”

“What the hell did you do to my leg!?” Rainbow yelled, her ‘cool’ façade falling away entirely as she panicked over her injury. Was this the first time Rainbow had seen magic before? Or maybe she had a bad experience with it sometime? Cuz this response wasn’t what Applejack expected at all.

“Like I said,” Applejack said calmly, trying to reassure her opponent, “it’s a basic spell. It won’t do any permanent damage. I mean, you’re still standin’, ain’t ya?” To be honest, it was kinda a marvel that Rainbow was still standing. Applejack hadn't expected that either. “You’ll be able to walk that wound off in a couple hours. Magic’s funny like that.”

“Right then,” Rainbow sighed, before fixing a steely glare on Applejack. “Then I guess we’d better get back to the—”

Applejack punched Rainbow hard in the nose, closing the distance between them faster than Rainbow could react on her busted leg, and knocked Rainbow to the ground, planting a foot on the girl’s stomach and glaring down at her in contempt.

“No, Rainbow,” she said coldly, “we’re done here. And let this be a lesson that you don’t insult my family again, got it?”

Applejack didn’t wait for an answer before walking away from her defeated opponent, especially when she saw Flash Sentry approaching in the distance, looking none too pleased. She barely registered Rainbow shouting at her in the distance, but entirely tuned her out as she walked away to meet Flash.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Flash barked through gritted teeth, trying not to cause yet another scene as he scolded Applejack.

“I couldn’t just let her talk about my family like—”

“A lot of jealous folks are going to be talking about your family, Applejack,” Flash said sternly, “and if you fly off the handle every time it happens, what kind of message does that send? What does that say, other than that those critics are right to think badly of you?

“Think about that next time, before you jeopardize your family’s reputation, and your place here in the Academy.”

“What about her?” Applejack threw her fist up and grit her teeth. “She’s the one who—”

“I’ll deal with her,” Flash’s tone was cold as the winter’s bite, and Applejack knew her time to talk was done. “Orientation’s over for the day, Applejack. Go home.”

“Right,” Applejack hung her head and headed off, not even bothering to return to where she’d left her jacket. “See you tomorrow, sir.”

“I hope you’ve thought about what I said by then,” Flash said, his words searing into Applejack’s mind like a hot iron.

“I will. I won’t let my family down.”

Won’t let myself down either. I… I can’t.

After what felt like sixty hours of lecturing from Flash Sentry, Rainbow was finally left to her own devices in the school courtyard. All the spectators were gone too, probably cuz they were too afraid of Flash to stick around and gawk at Rainbow and her stupid broken thigh or whatever.

She didn’t want to admit it, she really didn’t wanna say anything about it or even acknowledge it, but whatever Applejack did to her leg really hurt.

Rainbow kept gently pressing on the thigh, hoping that she could maybe reset the bone by herself or something, anything that would make it stop hurting. It wasn’t until the fourteenth time she heard herself let out a pathetic whimper that she finally gave up and just threw her face into her hands in resentment and disgust at herself.

“Umm… excuse me…”

Rainbow barely heard the vague whisper, but it was enough to draw her attention and jolt her head up, finding a tiny, skeleton thin yellow waif of a girl standing in front of her, loose clothing billowing in the gentle wind, and an absolute ocean of pink hair falling down her back and shoulders.

“What’s up?” Rainbow asked casually, acting like she wasn’t in terrible pain. She actually recognized the yellow girl from earlier in the day, from right before the fight that Applejack had broken up.

“I just wanted to, um,” the girl bit her thumb, and Rainbow guessed that talking probably wasn’t her strong suit. “I wanted to say thank you!” she blurted out, throwing her head down in a bow, pink hair flying every which way.

“Hey, it’s no big—” Rainbow grit her teeth and hissed in pain as she moved her leg, and the girl gasped.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands over her mouth. “This is all my fault, if you hadn't been protecting me—I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, it’s no biggie,” Rainbow shrugged, “it’s not your fault, so stop apologizing.”

“Oh, okay,” the girl said, “I’m sorry.”

Rainbow just sighed, and she looked dismally at her thigh.

“Apparently I can just walk it off in a couple hours,” she grumbled, more to herself than to the girl. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Um, it’s Fluttershy,” Fluttershy said, and Rainbow smiled at what a pretty name that was. “If it’s alright, I have something that might help you with your injury.”

Rainbow’s eyes lit up and she held out her hands. “Give it here then!”

“Oh! Uh, okay!” Fluttershy said bashfully, pulling her backpack off her shoulder and rummaging through it, pulling out a tiny pink vial. “I’m in the Chemist class, and I made this one myself as a practice, but it should work to—”

Rainbow snatched the bottle out of Fluttershy’s hands and popped the cap off with her teeth, downing the bottle as quick as possible, and just as quickly realizing the potion tasted like tree bark and raw vegetable oil, and spitting it back out.

“Sorry, but yikes!” Rainbow’s face twisted in disgust as she handed the bottle back to Fluttershy. “I can’t drink that.”

“Um,” Fluttershy giggled, holding a hand over her mouth and gently pouring the potion over Rainbow’s thigh, “you’re not supposed to drink it.”

Rainbow watched in amazement as the liquid seeped through her pants and into her skin, a cold, tingly feeling enveloping her thigh for a moment before soothing relief followed it, and Rainbow gasped as she realized that she wasn’t in pain anymore.

“Good as new!” she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, smacking her healed thigh for good measure. “Thanks, Fluttershy! You’re amazing!”

“Oh, I’m not,” Fluttershy brushed a strand of hair out of her face, “it’s just some basic alchemy, I—”

“Pfft! Nonsense!” Rainbow beamed and slapped Fluttershy’s shoulder. “You fixed my leg up, so that’s amazing in my book! And hey, I guess we’re all square, so you don’t need to thank me for protecting you earlier or anything.”

“I guess,” Fluttershy nodded, “thank you again, though.”

“Like I said,” Rainbow shrugged, “no biggie. I’ll stick up for anyone who gets bullied. In fact, if those guys— or any other guys— try to give you any trouble, you come to me!”

“R-really?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow tapped Fluttershy’s nose. “Stick with me, Fluttershy! I won’t let anyone hurt you! Promise!”

“Th-thank you,” Fluttershy said, tears falling out of her eyes. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“I mean it too,” Rainbow grabbed her jacket off the ground and threw it over her shoulder, before looking up at the sunset. “I won’t let anyone get bullied on my watch, I promise.”

“Applejack wasn’t bullying anyone though,” Fluttershy muttered, crouching to pick up a red plaid jacket off the grass, “how come you seemed so insistent on fighting her?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s different,” Rainbow shrugged, slyly avoiding giving an actual answer. “I’m not done with her yet either! I’m gonna kick her butt tomorrow!” Rainbow threw her fists into the air.

“She didn’t seem very interested in fighting you again.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow grinned and put her arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder, who made a little ‘meep!’ but otherwise didn’t seem to mind. “You let me worry about that. Applejack’s one of those girls who’s all about honor and pride and stuff, they’re super easy to provoke.”

Rainbow clapped her hands and rubbed them together, before clenching her fists and staring at the ground.

“Everyone’s gonna know that I’m the strongest Knight in Equestria,” Rainbow bit her thumb, digging her fang into her flesh. “Next time, I’m gonna settle the score between us once and for all.”

Author's Note:

What if Appledash, but they're knights.

Please feel free to alert me to any typos or errors.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.

Comments

[Whooves235]

This, is going to end well...hopefully

[VampDash]

Okay you're gonna need to work hard to make me like RD here and I hardly say that.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

*Sigh* Dash attacking a dude with knives? Just...ya don't bring a knife to a fistfight. It is without honor. For shame Dash.

[jnzsblzs]

It is a really great concept ruined by a couple of fatal flaws. Kinda want to continue reading it but I'm already fearing the headache this story is going to cause me.

[SnowOriole]

I'm aware that this is old and discontinued, but still, I was amazed to find that someone had a similar idea as mine! I had an idea something like this, also Appledash, but never got around to writing it (yet). So far I'm really enjoying it.