Equestrian Rim

by Visharo

At a Loss

"Ah can't believe it! Sneakin' on a Jaeger in the middle of the night, filled to the brim with high-tech weapons, ya could have set the Shatterdome on fire!" Applejack's face was red; the tips of her mane were sparking with embers, and her green eyes filled with pride. Wait... "But Ah'm proud of ya. Of ya all. Instead of runnin' in the face of danger, ya stepped up and fought that beast with honor. Don't ever do that again, ya hear? Not without the proper trainin'."

"Ah'm sorry AJ, we didn't mean to be a part of the fight." Apple Bloom lowered her head in shame, but secretly she was bursting with happiness from hearing that her sister was proud of her.

"Yeah, it was really scary but awesome!" Scootaloo bounced up, and down, her wings buzzing in excitement.

"Are Thorax and Pharynx okay?" Sweetie Belle looked up at the Ranger with some tears in her eyes.

"Yer darn right they are. Thanks to you fillies, I lost a good team and a slain Kaiju on Manehatten's beach, but Carol's Pilots are doing alright. Exhausted, but alright." Marshall Rack came up behind Applejack, causing the young Cadets to snap to place in the proper fashion when a Marshall was nearby.

"Don't let this win go to yer heads, ya hear me?" Applejack stared at them for good measure before trotting after Marshall.

"So what should we do?" Babs turned to face the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. The silence was deafening; the four kept on glancing at each other, as if daring each other to say what they were all thinking.

"I'm thinking food, we haven't had breakfast yet." Scootaloo broke the staring contest first and headed off to tackle some croissants. The other three hesitated for a minute, knowing perfectly well that this was just a distraction, then scampered after the orange pegasus.

***

Applejack trotted to her room and closed the door. She closed her eyes with a sigh and rubbed her head with her hooves. What is she going to do about these fillies? Sure, they took down a Kaiju, but they snuck out, and stowed away on a Jaeger in the middle of battle!

She was proud of her sister, who wouldn't, but the fact that she went behind her back to go do something so dangerous made Applejack mad. She groaned in frustration, not sure what to do, when a knock on her door came out of nowhere. The orange mare stumbled to her hooves and dusted some of the dirt off before she opened the door.

"Miss Applejack? I've got a message from a Pinkamena Pie." A blue pegasus grabbed an envelope from his saddlebag and hoofed it over. Applejack looked at him quizzically, wondering what Pinkie would send. She thanked the courier and went back into her room. Door closed and comfortable on the bed, Applejack opened the letter.

Dear AJ,
I hope this letter will reach you well, as this letter contains unappealing content.

Applejack paused and scrunched her muzzle in confusion. Didn't the stallion say this came from Pinkie? But why does this sound so... so posh? She shook her head, hoping that there's a reasonable explanation, and continued reading.

Rarity's gone missing. It's been days, and nopony has seen or heard where she's been. After that Manehatten attack, she has been snappy and aloof.
A REAL PARTY POOPER!!!
We were wondering if you know anything about this, or where she could possibly be?
Thanks,
Twilight.

Applejack was now even more confused. The Kaiju attack happened just a few hours ago; how can it already be days? Then again, it is from Pinkie and she's known to do weird things. Rarity...Applejack thought, why would Rarity of all ponies, suddenly leave without telling anypony anything. Something doesn't add up.

The orange mare shoved open the door, and stepped out, complete with a bag slung over her back filled with her essentials. She stopped and thought for a moment, then decided, and headed off. She passed by Marshall Rack, and told him about the situation; he wasn't happy, but Applejack wouldn't take no for an answer. After the talk, she headed to the nearest train station and bought a ticket for Ponyville.

***

The four Cadets that snuck upon Advice sat still, chewing slowly, while being cornered by the other Cadets.

"Come on, tell us!"
"Yeah, tell us what happened there!"
"How did it feel to be in a real Jaeger?"
"I bet you didn't do anything."

That last comment was from Peach Fuzz, who looked very snooty. Babs slowly turned to face the peach-colored mare and looked at her dead in the eye. Everypony went silent, trying to guess what would happen. Instead of a fight like everypony wanted, Babs brushed, passed Peach, and trotted away.

"Coward!" Peach spat after the retreating mare. She would've done more if Scootaloo hadn't tackled her. What was supposed to be a match between Babs and Peach turned out to be a beatdown by Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had to drag the orange pegasus off the bleeding, yet grinning, Cadet.

"You have NO idea what happened in there!" Scootaloo yelled, giving them all a glare that rivalled Fluttershy. They all shrunk back.

"Come on Scoots, let's go cheer up Babs." Apple Bloom took the lead. Her thoughts whirled around, no doubt thinking of the same thing that the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were thinking of.

"Guys, I think we should talk about this. Staying silent isn't helping anypony." Sweetie offered gently.

"Yeah, okay."

"I heard from Rainbow Dash that holding things in is never good. I don't want to fail her like this!" Scootaloo's wings buzzed angrily, her hooffalls more heavy.

***

Applejack reached Ponyville, well past the afternoon, and rushed straight to Twilight's castle. There she met the rest of her friends outside the door, sans Rarity.

"Do y'all know what's happening?" Applejack panted, her bag weighing her down.

"Rarity's gone missing! I was planning a surprise party for her, but when I went to her house to deliver the invitation, she wasn't there!" Pinkie pouted, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes.

"Does anypony know why though?"

"Nope, nada, zilch. I haven't done a lot with Rarity recently, there is this Wonderbolt showing that I need to attend, so I've been practicing." Rainbow said while hovering a few centimeters off the floor.

"A-and I've been busy with my animals. Oh dear, I really hope that Rarity is okay. She seemed shaken after the news from Manehatten. Oh dear, those creatures there! They must be terrified!" Fluttershy was close to having a meltdown.

"It's alright sugarcube, the Jaegers took the Kaiju down before it destroyed any more." Applejack tried to smile reassuringly.

"Not to burst your bubble AJ, but statistically, the Jaegers do the same amount, if not more, of damage then the Kaiju." Twilight popped in.

"Twi, ah didn't need to hear that now. Mah sister was in one of those Jaegers and it would help a mighty ton if you could spread some good facts. Not to mention, Rarara's crippled and unable to work a Jaeger. Celestial Advice and Brawling Carol is wrecked and beyond repair. Goldenrod and Silver Platter, didya know that they died? On top of all this, Rarity's gone missin.' Ah need good news Twi!" Applejack gulped in oxygen, her rant taking more out of her, then she realized.

Her friends looked at her with shock. Twilight's mouth was opening and closing as if trying to find words while Fluttershy, bless her soul, was hiding behind Rainbow Dash. Even Pinkie Pie had a frightened expression.

"Right, ah'm sorry y'all. This past week has been stressful as hay! Now, Rarity, does anypony know where she is?"

"Umm...no, as of right now, no, we don't know where s..." Twilight's voice drifted off, her gaze caught on something glowing. Five glowing things to be more accurate. To be even more accurate, the cutie marks of the gathered ponies were glowing.

"TO THE CUTIE-MAP!" Pinkie bounced away, heading straight to the castle.

Author's Note:

Apologies for lack of consistent Apple accent. It's hard to do.

This chapter is a chill one, building on the story a bit. Also sorry for the lack of words...don't really have an excuse for this one. It's just a short chapter.

Hoped you enjoyed, I shall be trying harder to get chapters out more faster. Or not, dunno. Life is weird.

Comments

[Clopian26]

A cutie mark summoning I wonder where that’s gonna take them