Ledger Line may have found salvation for Cherry Jubilee's failing cherry orchard in a strange, wandering earth pony. Applejack may seem strange and secretive, and that hawk she's always with is a little weird, but at this point, he's desperate.
Ledger Line is an accountant, and a unicorn at that. He can't grow a thing to save his life, which is bad because he's currently the owner of Cherry Jubilee's cherry orchard, and it's drowning in debt.
Enter Applejack. Applejack is an earth pony, not so good with numbers but definitely good at working in an orchard. She doesn't talk about herself much, but he's not about to question his only hope for saving the orchard. Things like her constant recurring nightmares and that hawk she always carries can stay, along with her cherry pies and business sense, if he's got any hope for saving the orchard.
If you've ever seen Ladyhawke, you know where this is going.
Ledger Line did a few calculations by the window. His paper was illuminated by the light from his horn and the occasional flashes of lightning from the storm outside, and the rain pounding against the window in front of him beat a fairly constant rhythm.
The rain pounding on the roof, however, beat a loud and dissonant rhythm; and the rain leaking through some of the holes in the ceiling splashed into various pots and other dishware. Already he could hear that it was almost time to change the bowl right behind him, as it would soon be too full of water to catch any more.
Frankly, the dismal weather was aligned perfectly with his mood. He finished his calculations for the second time, and confirmed what he'd already known. He exhaled as he rested his head on the desk. By this time next month, he'd be out of money. Bank ponies were circling like sandsharks. He'd quite literally lose the orchard.
And he had absolutely no idea where to go from here.
A knock at the door made him jump up. His first terrifying thought was that the bankers had come by to demand payment; but then he remembered that even though it was still early afternoon, there would be no chance they'd come out here in the rain with all this mud. In fact, it would take a truly mad pony to be out in this weather.
Not at all comforted by this second thought, he shivered, and then headed out to the parlor. After a steadying breath, he lit his horn and opened the door.
His first impression was that he had been right about the whole mad pony thing. Standing in the doorway was a mare, wearing a hat and a long poncho that covered most of her body. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, and he saw her striking green eyes.
Those eyes flicked around as she looked past him, inside at the peeling wallpaper, and the leaks in the roof, and she whistled. As if suddenly remembering her actual purpose in visiting, she raised a hoof and tipped her hat up. “Afternoon,” she said. She had a gentle accent that sounded vaguely familiar. “I'm looking for Cherry Jubilee; she around?”
Ledger Line shook his head. “Aunt Jubilee passed on a good six months ago.”
The stranger choked. She reached up and tugged her hat down a bit to cover her eyes. “Mighty sorry to hear that,” she said regretfully. “Cherry gave me a chance to get back on my hooves many years ago, and I was hoping to see if she'd let me come back again for a spell. Who's in charge around here now?”
“That'd be me. For now, anyway.” He held out his hoof. “Ledger Line,” he offered.
She returned it. “Applejack.”
He looked down, having felt something weird against his hoof when she’d bumped. On her hoof she wore something like a bracer, made of thick leather. It would have protected the back of her forehoof from… something. One strap trailed up her foreleg and wrapped around her shoulder, where the leather grew thick and padded again, with more straps securing it under her opposite foreleg and ribs. Strange.
He then realized he was still in the doorway. “Oh, uh, come- come in.”
Applejack stepped inside. She glanced around, and shuffled in place. “So, uh, music pony, then?” she tried.
Ledger smiled wryly, having gotten this response for quite literally his entire life (one of the downsides of living in such a musical society). He rotated slightly, showing her his spiral bound pad cutie mark with pencil. “Accountant.”
“Ah. Sorry!”
He briefly wondered if she were apologizing for getting it wrong, or for his profession.
But he didn't have long to think about that. Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You said ‘for now’?” she asked, for clarification.
He shook his head. “We've had some… financial troubles since she passed. I was her closest relative and so I inherited her orchard; but I'm an accountant by trade and I don't really have the skill to keep it growing.”
“I see,” the stranger said slowly. Her eyes flicked up to his horn, and one corner of her mouth may have twitched slightly upwards before her attention turned back to him. “Sounds like you could use the help of a solid earth pony, and I'm as solid as they come.” She hit a hoof against her chest. “Apples are my normal fruit of choice, but I can handle cherries like nopony's business. There room for me here?”
Ledger chuckled darkly. “All the room you want; it's literally only me here.”
Applejack nearly missed a step. “Really?”
He nodded.
Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. “What happened to the others?” she asked.
Ledger shrugged weakly. “Ran out of cash, and they moved on to, uh, more fertile ground. Pardon the pun.”
Applejack shook her head, though in disgust or disappointment he couldn't tell. She took off her poncho and hung it up on the nearby hat rack to dry.
He stared. Under her poncho she wore two saddlebags, their straps crossed across her barrel; and in her left saddlebag was what was most definitely a bird. A big brown bird. And if he'd hazard a guess, it was a bird of prey; it had large brown eyes and a curved beak. It turned its head and seemed to glare at him.
He shuddered. Who was this mare?
“Ledger Line?”
Her voice startled him back into the present, and she shook his head. “Oh, right. Follow me. We've got plenty of rooms.” He started trotting down to many of the guest rooms. “Take your pick. Like I said, it's just me here.”
Applejack slowed to a stop as she looked up and down the hallway with doors for bedrooms all along the wall. “Where do you sleep?” she asked.
Strange question… He pointed to the master bedroom at the end.
Applejack nodded. “Fair enough,” she said, turning away and looking in the room furthest from his. She poked her head inside, looked around, and nodded approvingly. She turned back to him. “You making dinner tonight?”
That seemed slightly forward to him; but then again, Cherry Jubilee had always been a welcoming and generous host. Only problem with that was, he was definitely not Cherry Jubilee. “Sure. You like daisy sandwiches, right?”
Applejack laughed.
And then her laughter slowly trailed off as he didn’t join in. “You're serious,” she asked flatly.
Ledger nodded sheepishly. “I’ve never been much of a cook,” he admitted.
Applejack opened her bag to let her bird out. It hopped up onto the bracer on her shoulder, and its curved, sharp claws dug into the leather but were unable to pierce it.
Huh. At least that part started to make sense.
She then dropped her saddlebag onto the ground and turned around to face him. “Your aunt Cherry never taught you anything?”
He scratched the front of his opposite foreleg. “She tried, anyway…”
Applejack chuckled. “Well, hold on to your taste buds, because I’m about to give them the ride of their lives!” She trotted out, her bird still clinging tightly onto her shoulder pad.
Not feeling particularly comforted by any of this, Ledger Line followed her back into the kitchen.
* * *
Applejack was like a wizard in the kitchen. Foods, spices, and cookware that Ledger Line didn't even know had existed in the kitchen she pulled out and used as if they were second nature to her, and soon the whole house smelled just like it did when Cherry Jubilee was there.
And when she was done, the food on the plate that she slid in front of him could only be called a work of art.
“Whoa,” Ledger breathed.
“Tastes better than it looks,” Applejack promised, pulling her own plate closer and picking up a fork. “Dig in!”
Ledger Line needed no further invitation. He picked up his fork and took a bite.
It was a flavor explosion in his mouth.
“Sweet Celestia,” he breathed.
Applejack chuckled modestly. “Glad to see I've still got the touch,” she said, taking her own bite. “There's plenty more where that came from, so eat up!”
And there was. Ledger Line had never had such a meal, especially not on his own. Throughout dinner, Applejack chatted about many things, but Ledger Line noticed that she didn't share many personal details about herself. Still, he mused as he helped her do the dishes, she seemed nice enough, and his stomach was happier and fuller than it had been in a long time. He somewhat regretted not trusting her at first.
For a while, anyway.
She entered her room, carrying with her a plate full of food probably for a midnight snack. She stepped nimbly over the buckets, no longer needed now that the rain had stopped and the setting sun peeked through the clouds. She set her tray down and examined the window, even going so far as to open it and close it again. Seemingly satisfied, she turned around. “You don’t… uh… wander outside at night, do you?”
Ledger Line chuckled. “No, can’t say that I do.” He cast a suspicious eye at the sky. “Especially not when it gets like this.”
“Oh, good.” Applejack sighed, relieved. “Because I get some really bad nightmares at night. Like, really bad. Terrible, bad. Tossing and turning all night bad. And sometimes I go outside to clear my head. So if'n you hear screaming from out there, don't pay it no mind.” And with that cryptic statement, she retreated into her room and shut the door.
She opened it again. “And don't ever go outside, no matter what you hear.” She shut the door.
She opened it again. “Like, at all.” She shut the door.
She opened it again. “And maybe stay in your room all night.” And she shut the door for a final time.
That's it, Ledger Line thought, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. I've let a mad mare into Auntie's house and she's going to kill me in her sleep.
Needless to say, though he locked the door and slid a dresser in front of it, he didn’t get much sleep that night.
Especially not when her bloodcurdling screams rent the night as the moon rose.
However, he was not dead the next morning, something he found quite comforting. Nor was she dead, which was also comforting. Instead, she was currently downstairs, very much awake, making pancakes. Her bird was perched on her shoulder, as if silently judging her cooking.
“You're up early,” he observed, glancing at the clock that read a few minutes before eight.
“I slept in,” Applejack corrected him with a grin. “Beds here are just as comfy as I remember.”
He cracked a smile at that. “They sure are. I could probably turn this place into a bed and breakfast if I needed to.”
“Not like you cook, you couldn’t,” Applejack remarked with a wink. “Most ponies don't think daisy sandwiches when they think breakfast. Besides, you’d be letting all the cherries go to waste, and I ain’t about to let that happen.”
“Well,” Ledger Line suggested, “maybe we could have ponies come and pick the cherries and keep the ones they pick.”
Applejack blinked. “Ledger Line?” she said.
“Yes?”
“Stick to your bookkeeping,” Applejack chided gently.
Ledger Line chuckled sheepishly as he slid into a seat at the table. “Fair enough. You, uh, really think you can do that? Save the orchard?”
Applejack chuckled as she deftly flipped a pancake. “I do; but if'n I can't, I'll help you turn this place into a bed and… not breakfast ‘afore I go.”
“You’re not staying?” he said regretfully.
Applejack shook her head. “I’ve got… business to take care of elsewhere,” she said. “I really just came here for some bits to get me there.”
“Bits are in short supply here,” he admitted.
“No, they’re here; you just can’t see ‘em yet,” Applejack insisted, setting down her spatula and walking over to grab him around the shoulders. She turned him to face the orchard. “They’re in the ground, just waiting to grow. See all that out there? That’s good land, fertile land. Land that we earth ponies…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes flicked up to his horn. “...can use, for, you know, growing stuff,” she finished lamely. She quickly perked up again. “Why, I bet with a little hard work, we can get this orchard profitable again, in Cherry Jubilee’s memory. What do you say?”
“I'm behind you a hundred percent,” Ledger Line said.
Applejack grinned. “Good.” She reached down and pulled up a cowboy hat, which she placed firmly on his head. “Work starts in ten, so eat fast.”
Applejack laughed and tipped the hat forward. “Ten minutes, sugarcube,” she emphasized. “Eat up, now!”
Ledger Line felt a cold chill settle on his back. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so eager to help.
* * *
Ledger Line panted as he hauled another bucket full of cherries back to the distribution line. This had probably been the longest amount of time he’d ever spent outside, and he was quickly remembering why he preferred to be indoors. Sweat streamed down his face, and he paused to wipe some of it away.
Applejack trotted past him, carrying two full buckets, one on each side of her body. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to; the little smirk on her face and the little swish of her tail said plenty.
She was leaning against the wagon, showing a little affection for her bird when he finally made it back. “Lookin’ good for your first day, sugarcube,” she said with a friendly eyebrow raise.
Ledger Line cracked a smile as he pushed the basket into the cart. “Thanks, Applejack,” he panted.
“Ready to stop?”
“Yes,” Ledger Line panted. “I'm… I'm ready to sleep. For the rest of the day.”
Applejack laughed. Threw back her head and laughed hard enough that her bird looked concernedly over from its perch. “Oh, no, Ledger, friend,” she said when she finally managed to regain control of herself. “It's only lunch break.”
“Huh?”
“Lots of work to do in a cherry orchard. And we’re just getting started.” Applejack reared up and kicked her forelegs into the air, as if stretching them. “We ain’t stoppin’ until dinnertime.”
Ledger Line’s knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Applejack chuckled. She stepped closer until she was standing over him and grinned. “Should I bring you your lunch here, or do you want me to drag you back to the farmhouse? Because either way works for me.”
“Just leave me here to die,” Ledger Line pleaded.
* * *
Thankfully, Applejack did not abandon Ledger Line to a forlorn and lonely death there on the ground in the orchard; and the lunch she made was good enough that Ledger found it in himself to keep working. Admittedly, at a much slower pace and carrying much less at a time than Applejack; but he did manage to keep working the whole day.
Finally, Applejack looked up at the sun and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Let’s get the last of these moved inside, and we can call it a day,” she said.
Ledger exhaled, relieved. “That's the best thing I've heard you say all day.”
Applejack chuckled. “I dunno. I'm partial to the solid sound of hooves on wood.” She demonstrated by scampering lightly over and delivering a quick, single-hoofed buck to a nearby tree. Ledger Line winced. How did she still have any energy left?
To add insult to more insult, a single cherry fell; and Applejack caught it on her outstretched tongue. She winked and pulled it inside her mouth.
Applejack's hawk screeched irritably.
Applejack rolled her eyes and spat out the pit. “Fine, Ardie, I like the sounds you make, too.”
Ledger Line could have sworn the hawk had understood. Then again, he was about to pass out from exertion, so it could have been a trick of his mind.
* * *
Ledger Line slumped in his chair. Only the smell of the dinner Applejack had made kept him somewhat upright, and even then it was a bit of a losing battle.
Dinner was delightful, though. Each bite seemed to fill him with a little bit more confidence and energy. By the end, he was sitting up of his own accord.
“Thanks, Applejack,” he said.
“Oh, it’s not done, yet,” she said. She returned to the kitchen, and came back out, bearing a cherry pie. She sliced a large wedge out and placed it on a plate. Beautiful, rich cherries oozed out onto the plate.
Ledger Line stared. “When did you have time to make this?”
“This afternoon,” Applejack answered. She paused and tapped her chin. “I think it was about the time you decided to start walking around singing about the daisies and the posies.”
Ledger Line groaned. He’d been hallucinating. Or, at least, he thought he might have been. He wasn’t really sure what had happened. Either way, any ill will he might have felt towards Applejack was quickly carried away on the hot smell of her pie, which she smoothly slid before him along with a fork. He felt replenished with the first bite. Frankly, with how helpful she’d been today, he was half tempted to offer her the main room.
And that definitely wasn't because he was considering just keeling over and falling asleep right then and there at the table.
* * *
Ledger Line had never been so grateful for a bed. He had thrown himself down on it and fallen asleep almost instantly.
He was then woken up again just as instantly by the sound of screaming. His eyes widened. It was dark, darker than it was when he’d first laid down. What was that?
Oh. That’s right. Applejack and her night terrors. He sat up-
Whoa!
Aching pain burned in his back. He groaned, but it didn’t seem to subside. Deciding to be like Applejack, he forced himself to get up out of his bed and amble over to the window. He pushed it open and took a deep breath in. The cool night air felt good, a shock to his system and somewhat soothing against his burning muscles.
Ugh. And he had another whole day of that to look forward to, tomorrow. His legs ached just thinking about it.
On the bright side, it was a lovely night. And there was a lovely rainbow, arcing by overhead before fading to…
Wait a minute. Rainbows didn’t come out at night. Weird.
Curious, he leaned his head outside. Applejack’s warning about him not going outside rang in his ears, but something told him he needed to defend his farm from anything funny going on.
But no matter how hard he looked, the rainbow did not reappear. Perhaps he was more tired than he’d thought. He stumbled back over to bed, and managed to pull the covers halfway over his body before passing out once again.
Bright and early the next morning, Applejack was in the kitchen once more, flipping some cherry pancakes.
Ledger Line shuffled in, groaning. His body ached. His everything ached. Things he didn’t know he had, ached.
The bird Ardie looked over at him and screeched.
“Oh, I heard him,” Applejack said with a small smile. “Shuffling like some kind of zombie pony.” She turned and winked at him. “Sleep well last night?”
“No,” Ledger Line groaned. “Everything hurts and I woke up at weird times. I was so tired last night I thought I saw a rainbow in the middle of the night.”
He’d intended it as a joke, and Applejack laughed at it; but her laughter sounded forced, a bit longer than usual, her smile was shaky, and… was she sweating? “You’re… you’re a funny one, Ledger Line, you know that?” Her voice seemed to crack. “You're a real joker. Hey, how about some pancakes? Nice and hot!”
Ledger Line decided that while Applejack was good at many things, ‘hiding something’ was not one of them. However, he also knew that one good kick of her hind legs, and he’d be missing his head. Therefore, he decided it would be most prudent to not pry further, and instead use his mouth for eating the pancakes.
* * *
Applejack dragged the bucket over to the hopper. She jerked her head, and Ardie flew up into the rafters, keeping watch over them both. Applejack looked back at Ledger Line and grinned. “Alright, Ledge, it’s sorting time. You get in the wheel, and I’ll do the sorting. Ok?”
Ledger Line looked at the large wooden wheel and whimpered.
Applejack kept a straight face for approximately two seconds before cracking up laughing. “I’m kidding!” she said, hopping down and getting into the wheel herself. “You can use your magic to sort, right?”
Ledger Line sighed in relief. “Yes. Yes, I can.”
“Good!” Applejack started trotting, spinning the wheel. “Get moving! We gotta get these cherries sorted!”
“Don’t you ever stop?” Ledger Line grumbled, lighting his horn and beginning to sort.
“Can’t stop, won’t stop!” Applejack answered. “We’ve gotta get these into town by lunchtime.”
“Lunchtime?” Ledger Line asked, confused.
* * *
Apparently, Applejack had decided to start selling the cherries straight in the streets. It was a way to gauge the demand, she said. And anything that gave Ledger Line a respite from the farm was good enough for him.
So thus it was that with a cart full of separated cherries, Applejack and Ledger Line headed into Dodge Junction.
Applejack was a natural salespony. Ledger Line watched in fascination as she started conversations with ponies she had never even seen before, and his fascination only increased when more and more of those ponies left with bags of red and yellow cherries… and left shiny bits behind.
It also fascinated him as to how easy it was for her to talk to anypony. Even younger foals were getting in on this; they would be treated to a quick display of her dexterous hooves and her cherry-juggling ability, and every so often she’d bounce a cherry right into a waiting mouth (accompanied with a quick lesson on spitting out the pit inside). She was a natural, and Ledger Line stood back and let her work her magic.
* * *
“Wow,” Ledger Line said with a little chuckle, walking beside the wagon as they returned to the orchard. Applejack’s bird rode on the top of the cart. “That’s more bits than I’ve seen—or heard!—in a long time.”
“And that’s just the beginning,” Applejack said with a smile. “You hear what everypony was saying?”
“Good stuff?” Ledger Line guessed. He glanced at Applejack’s bird and was moderately jealous of the fact that it didn’t have to walk all the way back.
“Very good stuff!” Applejack answered. “Seems like there’s been somewhat of a cherry dearth around here. And folks are just craving some cherry pies. You know what that means?”
A little smile played at Ledger Line’s lips. “We should get them some pies?”
“We should get them some pies,” Applejack answered. “You happen to know Cherry Jubilee’s recipe?”
Ledger Line chuckled, mirthlessly this time. Aunt Cherry was very secretive about her recipe. “Not a clue.”
“Didn’t think so.” Applejack rolled her neck out, as if stretching. “Welp, I’m always good for experimenting.”
“What’s wrong with the pie you made last night?”
“I know apples much better than cherries, and that was definitely an apple pie crust. Not flaky enough for the cherry texture. Just fine for eating with friends, but not for selling. We got a reputation to uphold, you know. We gotta get this pie perfect.” She nudged him. “And Ledge, lucky you, you’re my taste tester.”
Ledger Line couldn’t help but wiggle his whole body in excitement as he walked. That did sound lucky.
* * *
Ledger Line did not feel so lucky anymore.
Applejack slid another pie in front of him. “Now, for this one I added a little more butter, and a little less salt. Trying to get the crust a bit flakier.”
“They’re all starting to taste the same,” he moaned.
“Oh, come on, Ledge, don’t be like that,” Applejack cooed soothingly. She leaned up next to him and began massaging his shoulders with her hooves. “You want to give the ponies the best pies, right? Best pies they’ve ever tasted, don’t you? Pies worthy of Cherry Jubilee herself, right?” She leaned over and picked up the fork. “I need your help, sugarcube.”
“Right now I want to lay down and-”
But he never got to finish; Applejack took advantage of his open mouth and shoved a large chunk of cherry pie inside.
Ledger Line groaned, but managed to chew and swallow.
Applejack tasted it next. “You’re right,” she said, pursing her lips. “Not enough salt. Back to the drawing board!” She glanced outside and froze.
Ledger Line noticed and looked outside, as well. The sun was getting ready to set, but other than that, he saw nothing alarming.
But apparently, Applejack did. “Uh, you know what,” Applejack said hurriedly, “I think we’re done for tonight. Get some sleep and I’ll come wake you up in the morning.”
Ledger Line watched as Applejack quickly discarded her hat and apron and headed outside. He squinted. “Where are you going?”
Applejack looked back at him, her eyes flicking wildly back and forth. “Uh, I… always go for a walk late at night!” She forced a smile.
Wow. She really was a bad liar.
But feeling too stuffed and lethargic to do anything else, Ledger Line watched as Applejack grabbed Ardie and hurried outside.
He tried to move, but decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. He could sleep here tonight. That would be just fine. He set his head down on the table, and realized that he’d laid it in a pie tin. Oh well.
As the sun set and the moon rose, his ear flicked. Was that… a scream?
Oh, yeah. Applejack. Nightmares again. She was probably in her bed by now, getting ready for a long, long day tomorrow.
He snorted as he realized that he would not be getting up tonight. Lucky her.
* * *
Ledger Line woke up the next morning by Applejack gently prodding him with the handle of a spoon and Celestia’s sun shining in through the window. He tried to lift his head, and brought the pie tin with his face.
Applejack chuckled. Her bird reached up a claw and scratched at the pie tin, and it soon fell back to the table under its own weight.
Unfortunately, try as he might, the fur on his cheek still remained a bright tinge of red, stained by the cherries and the sugar. Applejack smirked the whole time she experimented in the kitchen.
That smirk disappeared after her third pie crust test was deemed a rousing success by both parties; but it quickly returned as they walked all the way into town.
It was worth it, Ledger Line decided as he watched the pies fly off the cart. Applejack was in control and almost everywhere at once, delivering pies, directing the crowd, and making change. Ledger Line tried to find something useful to do. Applejack did that, too; and soon he found himself twirling a sign with his magic, directing ponies to the pies. Not his proudest moment, but hey.
His secondary job was answering questions. Most of them were about the pies, but…
“What’s with the hawk?”
“Uh… it’s our mascot,” Ledger Line answered.
He was getting fairly tired of Applejack’s smirk.
* * *
There is nothing like the sweet smell of results to help strengthen a pony’s resolve. The sound of results isn’t bad, either.
Ledger Line smiled widely the whole walk home, and not just because Applejack let him ride in the cart on the way back (a safe distance away from Ardie, of course). And between his hind legs, there was a large sack of bits kept for safekeeping, even larger than the one from the day before.
There is nothing like the daily grind to crush the feeling of ideality. Applejack may have trotted livelily out of the house, and Ardie may have been circling cheerfully overhead, but Ledger Line was dreading the daily work. It had only been a couple weeks, but it felt like ages. He wasn’t sure what he wanted in a mare, but it was definitely not an orange earth pony who seemed to love the trees an unhealthy amount. She’d even named them. And to make it worse, she said that she hadn’t named them; they had told her their names. Trees talking to ponies? Fantastic! What was next? Was the cast-iron pan going to ask to be called Black Beauty?
He dragged the full bucket of cherries over to the sorting room and slid it over a bit more roughly than strictly necessary. It bounced slightly, dropping a few cherries as it did.
And Applejack remained just as smiley and chipper as ever. He could swear she was doing it on purpose just to annoy him. She hopped into the wheel and just smirked. Ledger Line scowled, but lit his horn to start sorting.
They continued working, and then her bird swooped down and let out a screech.
Applejack chuckled. “Ardie, not in my ear!” she said as she rubbed a hoof against it without breaking her pace.
“Really?” Ledger Line asked irritably. She was definitely doing that on purpose.
Applejack must have misunderstood his irritation. “Nah. She’s trying to tell me something.”
Great. Now animals were talking to her, too.
But then he heard it. The sound of machinery approaching.
Applejack heard it too. Her eyes narrowed, and she stepped out of the wheel.
Two unicorns riding on what seemed to be a motorized float approached the orchard. Applejack growled. Her upper lip curled up, baring her teeth.
Ledger Line hesitated. This was unlike her. What was going on?
It soon arrived at the orchard, and the two unicorns leapt theatrically off.
“Heard there was a little trouble around here,” one started, tugging his striped vest slightly.
Ledger Line opened his mouth to agree wholeheartedly, but Applejack cut him off by pressing her hoof firmly across his chest. Her narrowed eyes didn’t leave the two unicorns. “Somepony’s been tellin’ you two tall tales, then,” she said, her voice low but even.
The unicorn didn't even flinch. “Well, even if that were true, I still feel—my brother and I, of course—that there could be some mutual benefits to be had with a little mutual cooperation.”
Applejack scowled.
“Hear us out. We have what can only be the greatest invention-!”
“-combining the best of both earth pony and unicorn magic!”
Applejack looked supremely unimpressed.
The unicorns continued their spiel as if in front of a large, energetic crowd.
“What we have-”
“-will revolutionize farming as we know it!”
“We have here-”
Together, now. “The Cherry Sorter and Super Pitter 7000!”
“You upgraded,” Applejack said dryly.
“And not without good reason! See, this little device holds the key to success!”
“Hard work and integrity?” Applejack suggested dryly.
“Intelligence and ingenuity!”
“Your cherries will be picked, pitted, and stored, all by machine! Our storage facilities are clean and safe.”
Ledger Line thought that was really convenient. This was sounding good.
“We’ll also be willing to explore other avenues of revenue, such as cherry cordial and wood from the cherry trees-”
“And the Flim Flam Brothers’ Orchard will be back in the black before you know it!”
Somepony who could take over the orchard? Right now that sounded great to Ledger Line. He and his aching muscles would not mind leaving these cherries behind forever.
Still, it was his aunt’s orchard. She’d left it to him. Losing it would be a blow to her memory, and the whole of Dodge Junction. He looked over to Applejack, expecting her to renegotiate.
And renegotiate she did. Applejack looked down and slowly bumped two red cherries together with the tip of her hoof, adjusting them until they looked vaguely reminiscent of those things stallions held under their tails. “It sounds almost like you’re tryin’ to take us for a ride,” she said slowly, “but I know you'd never do anything like that.”
“What?”
“Us?”
“Of course not!” Both spoke in unison.
“Oh, good. Because I'd hate it if…” Applejack suddenly crushed the paired cherries under her hoof, grinding both them and the pits inside into a red, goopy mess, making both brothers flinch. “…something bad were to happen to either of you,” she finished. She absentmindedly licked the juice off her hoof, not looking up. “It's dangerous work, working in an orchard.”
The unicorns gulped in unison. “Th- that it is, my fine earth pony friend. But with our new invention-”
“Lots of sharp objects and plenty of open land; why, if somepony were to get… hurt, it'd be a mighty long time before they were found, wouldn't you reckon? I mean, if they were ever found. Might take years, even; and by then, all that'd be left is a skeleton. With no way to identify it. Clothes, hats, mustaches; all rotted away. Just one really healthy cherry tree.”
“Well, that’s… quite the, uh, mental image there.” Flim threw his foreleg over Applejack’s shoulders.
Ardie let out a short, sharp screech.
“Don't touch me,” Applejack hissed.
Flim did not remove his hoof. “But surely, a businesspony of your caliber-”
Applejack’s flank tensed and a back hoof lifted up, and Ledger Line took an instinctive step back. He knew all too well what those hooves could do.
Flim remained ignorant. “-can see just how both parties can-”
And then she struck.
There was a sound not unlike a rubber duck being squeezed (overlaid with the sounds of multiple sticks snapping) as Applejack's hind hooves impacted his chest. Flim collapsed to his knees and then to the ground, hat askew, mouth open, completely unable to draw breath.
And for the first time since their arrival, the unicorns were left speechless.
“You… you bucked him,” Flam finally managed to say, looking down at his brother.
“I did.”
Flam was astounded. His mouth worked wordlessly. Finally, he managed to stammer, “Applejack never-”
Applejack cut him off. “Yeah, well, Applejack has seen and done too much to take any horseapples from anypony anymore, and especially not from you two. Get. Off. My. Land.”
They needed no second invitation; Flam jumped on the platform, lit his horn and lifted his brother on, and then quickly reversed backwards until he was out of sight.
Applejack didn't relax until the smoke from their machine was no longer visible.
Ledger Line watched her with morbid fascination. Once she exhaled and turned away, he picked up a hoof hesitantly, curious but definitely wanting to stay on her good side. “Applejack?”
Applejack snorted. “Trust me. I know those shysters. We're both better off with them gone.”
There was a pause.
Applejack exhaled and looked down. “I used to have so much patience,” she said quietly. She cracked a wry smile and looked over at her bird. “Hey, Ardie, remember when Apple Bloom tried to save time by shearing the sheep upstairs in the barn? Made a huge mess, most of the wool got muddy ‘cause she didn't clean their hooves, and we had to carry the sheep back down that rickety ladder one by one. Heh.” She looked wistfully down, lost in her memories.
Apple Bloom? A daughter, maybe? Either way, Ledger Line did not want to pry into her life further. Once again, he realized just how little he knew about his house guest outside of work. “I don’t know. I just…” What to say? “I hope they don’t come sneaking around tonight.”
Applejack laughed. Usually, her laugh was light and pleasant, but this one was dark and mirthless. “If they're sneaking around here at night, they're gonna regret it,” she said.
Ledger Line wasn't sure how to respond to this.
“Come on,” Applejack said, trotting away with a little less pep in her step now. She climbed back into the wheel. “We've still got lots of work left to do.”
“Come on!” Applejack urged, prancing nervously in place and casting urgent glances at the sky. “We gotta get the cherries inside before the rain comes!”
Ledger Line nodded as he loaded another bucket onto the cart she was hitched to. As much as he hated it, he had noticed that the work had gotten easier as time had gone on. Now, most of the way through the cherry season, he found himself almost able to keep up with Applejack.
Almost, anyway.
And though a few other ponies had shown up to look around the farm, she had refrained from bucking any of them.
The visits had stopped, though, when the first banker pony she'd caught actually on their property had been unceremoniously dragged into the middle of the orchard proper and given a shovel, as only somepony who wanted to work would come to an orchard on such a lovely day—and uninvited at that. After all, trespassing was a crime in Dodge Junction, and the banks didn’t own the orchard.
Not yet, anyway.
Much more pressing than bank ponies, though, were the ominous thunderclouds rumbling overhead, and the wind whipping through the tree branches. Cherries were notoriously fragile, and it went without saying that this would likely be the last batch of fully-useable cherries this season. Dodge Junction was a town of mostly earth ponies; if the desert wanted a storm, that storm was coming.
And sure enough, come it did.
“I felt a drop!” Ledger Line called.
“I did too!” Applejack shouted back.
Ardie screeched an agreement.
Applejack shook her head. “I’m calling it! Let’s get back!”
Ledger Line pulled the tarps over the wagon, and Applejack began hauling. As they did, the rain seemed to start falling harder. Applejack let out a nervous whinny.
“We're not going to make it back,” Ledger Line warned.
“There’s an old barn up ahead!” Applejack called, adjusting her path. “I think it’s our best bet!”
“It’s our only bet!” Ledger Line said, looking up at the sky—and getting a drop of water in his eye for his trouble.
The barn was old and somewhat dilapidated. From far back, Ledger Line pulled the doors open with his magic, and already he could smell the musty stench from inside. Applejack continued head on, and got inside.
No sooner than she had than the sky seemed to explode; sheets of rain fell so fast and thick Ledger Line couldn’t see the orchard. He chuckled nervously. “Wow,” he said. “Guess that’s that, then.”
“Yeah,” Applejack murmured, unhitching herself from the wagon and looking up at the sky. She muttered something under her breath, and Ledger Line thought he’d caught the word ‘pegasus’.
She turned back around to look at their new shelter. Raindrops leaked in through the holes in the roof, and she nudged the cart over to where it was a bit dryer. She started walking around, picking up stray branches. She even found an old hoe and, after looking over the splintery wooden handle with a careful eye, snapped it off.
“What are you doing?” Ledger Line asked.
“We might be staying here a while, and it’s gonna get mighty cold soon,” Applejack answered, dragging the branches over. “Gonna build us a small fire.” She grinned. “At least we won’t want for water or food.”
Ledger Line chuckled.
“No pies, though,” Applejack said as she built the branches into a small pyramid. “Hope you like your cherries straight.” She held up a dry branch and gestured at Ledger Line’s horn. “Got a light?”
Before long, Applejack’s little fire burned merrily. The rain kept falling, but it was pretty tolerable.
At least, for a little while.
As the sky grew darker, Applejack kept casting more and more nervous looks outside. Ledger Line thought she was concerned about getting home. Until…
“Gonna have to run for it,” Applejack muttered, prancing in place at the doorway and looking nervously up at the sky.
“Applejack?”
She turned back to him. “Look, I gotta go.”
“Out there?! Applejack, it’s still raining, and-”
But Applejack wasn’t listening. She grabbed one of her saddlebags. “Just stay here, and don't come out!” And with that, she ran off into the rainy night.
“Applejack!”
But Applejack was not returning.
Ledger Line dropped onto his haunches, folded his forelegs, and huffed. Crazy Applejack. That’s what he should start calling her.
He heard a rustling behind him. He spun around, and watched as the saddlebag Applejack had left began to wriggle. His heart began to race. What could this-?
And then Applejack's bird poked her head out.
“Oh, don’t scare me like that,” he muttered, resting a hoof on his chest.
Her bird looked around, and Ledger Line felt like he needed to talk to it for some reason. He scooted closer and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Hey. Uh. Ardie, is it? I don't really know how to take care of a bird, but, uh… I'm guessing you don't want a cherry?”
The bird cocked her head. As if she could understand him, she opened her beak. Her sharp, hooked beak. Designed for tearing away-
“Yeah,” Ledger Line said, looking away awkwardly. “Predator. Uh… I'm a vegetarian, so… I guess you're on your own?”
The bird looked away, apparently unimpressed by his command of the equine language.
“I don't even know why I'm talking to a bird,” he said. His eyes flicked down to the fire, which was quickly burning down. He grimaced, then glanced up at the sky and grimaced again. It looked like the rain was slowing down a bit. He glanced back at the fire, which seemed even smaller than the last time he looked. And, honestly, he had not been watching Applejack build it. So really, if it were to go out, he’d be left a sitting duck. A very cold sitting duck.
He could get firewood, though. The heat from the fire would dry it out and it would burn just fine.
Ledger Line took a hesitant step outside. The rain had slowed somewhat to a low drizzle, and he decided it would be worth the risk. He started walking.
The earlier storm had blown down lots of branches. He began collecting some of the larger ones, thinking he could easily break them into smaller pieces later.
A shrill scream split the night. He shuddered. No matter how many times, he would never get used to Applejack and her nightm-
Wait. He slowed to a stop. Applejack wouldn’t be sleeping out here. Not in this weather. Why else would she be screaming? Was she hurt? He tried to focus on the source of the sound, but the rain certainly didn't help things. Still, he lit his horn brighter and started walking where he thought it had come from. “Applejack?” he called. “You ok?”
There was no answer. Concerned, he trotted a little faster. “Applejack?”
He suddenly saw a paired glint of green, and he sighed in relief. “Applejack, you scared me,” he said, drawing nearer. “I know you said don't leave, but we needed more firewood, and…”
His voice trailed off. Now that he was closer, he could see that the eyes seemed to be glowing with more light than his horn was giving. And, now that he looked, they were far too small and too far apart to be Applejack's.
His heart caught in his throat as a low growl filled the air, confirming what he'd already feared.
Timberwolf!
Ledger Line sprinted back to the barn, screaming like a filly half his age. As he ran, it occurred to him that this was probably not the smartest idea; dogs chased things that moved, so timberwolves might be similar.
But apparently the tree aspect of the timberwolf won out; Ledger Line made it back to the barn unharmed and unchased. Carelessly dumping the wood on the ground, he slammed the door shut and barred it, then spun around, as if to try and hold it in place with his body.
And inside the barn, a cyan pegasus pony with a rainbow-colored mane peered around. She seemed confused, as if unsure as to how she'd gotten there.
Which, in all fairness, was the same thing he was wondering. It was just a little bit buried under a sizable fear for his life and a deep-seated desire to not be eaten by a timberwolf.
She looked back and saw him staring and panting. Misinterpreting his stare, she grinned mischievously as she spread her wings wide. “What, you've never seen a pegasus pony before?” she asked.
“No, I have, but… there’s a timberwolf out there!” Ledger Line panted.
The mare grinned and folded her wings. “I know,” she said. “I heard her, too. I'm just wondering why I'm in here,” she nodded at the barn, “and she's out there.” She nodded towards the door.
“Huh?” was all Ledger Line could manage.
“Leave her to me.” And with that, she slid past him and opened the door. She looked up at the sky. “Ugh. Natural storms,” she muttered. “If there were pegasi here, they'd be fired so fast...”
“You're going to be eaten alive!” Ledger hissed.
The pegasus tossed her mane. “Not a chance.” She strode forward into the night, brought a wing up to her lips, and whistled sharply.
“You're calling it?!” Ledger Line squeaked.
And sure enough, the timberwolf soon lumbered into sight. It caught sight of the pegasus and approached, its tail raised. It whined.
“Easy, girl,” the pegasus said gently. She grabbed the timberwolf's head with her hooves and simultaneously pulled down as she flew up, aligning themselves so she could press their foreheads together. “Easy,” she repeated as she gently scratched under her chin.
And to his surprise, the timberwolf seemed to calm down a bit. In fact, he could swear that the branches around her mouth had curled up into something of a wolfy smile, and her tail seemed to wag.
“Come on, girl,” the pegasus said, releasing her head. “Let’s go for a walk.”
All Ledger Line could do was stare. He had seen many a strange thing here. But this one surely took the cake.
The night was cold. Especially because the green branches Ledger Line had tried to use as firewood had killed his little fire rather quickly. He was hunched over, wrapped in the tarp as if it were a blanket (a very thin, wet blanket), wondering just how this could get any worse.
There was a derisive chuckle, and he looked up to see the timberwolf and the pegasus from before, shaking her head as if disappointed. She turned and walked away, and made a clicking noise with her tongue. The timberwolf turned and followed obediently.
That's how. The one pony around—literally the only other pony on this whole orchard besides Applejack—could be laughing at him. Great. Just great. He pulled the tarp around him tighter.
He jumped as a bundle of sticks was dropped in front of him. The pegasus stood in front of him, smirking. “Let's not freeze to death tonight, ok?” she offered. She crouched down and began building up the sticks like Applejack did.
“They're not going to burn,” Ledger Line said darkly.
The pegasus scraped one stick repeatedly against the ground, giving it a bit of a fuzzy appearance. “The green ones you brought won't. You can find dry branches under the wet ones.” She held up the stick. “I'm assuming you can light this?”
Due to the cold and straight misery Ledger Line felt, it took a couple tries for the spell to take, but eventually her stick caught fire, and soon the little campfire was burning again.
Once he was fairly warm again, Ledger Line could speak. “How did you get here?”
The pegasus grinned widely. “Well, I didn't hatch from an egg, if that's what you're asking.”
Ledger Line snorted. “No, I mean, when did you get here on the orchard? And how did you get in the barn?” He looked over his shoulder. “Where's Ardie? And, probably most important, why is the timberwolf inside the barn and just sitting there?”
Realizing they were talking about it, the timberwolf raised its head. It remained close and just inside the door, but definitely at a respectful distance from the fire. Once it realized it was not the main subject, it rested its head on its forelegs again.
The pegasus thought for a moment. “Applejack hasn't told you anything?” she asked.
Applejack? “Not really. You know Applejack?”
She smirked. “Very well, actually.”
“Did you see her out there?”
“Looking at her right now.”
Ledger Line looked out, but saw nopony. “Out there?” he asked to confirm.
She nodded.
“Is she behind the timberwolf?”
The pegasus shook her head and grinned.
“Wait… you're not saying she… she is the timberwolf?”
The pegasus nodded. “That's exactly what I'm saying.”
Gears turned in his head. “And so you're… you're saying you're… the hawk. Ardie.”
The pegasus nodded. “Rainbow Dash, if you wanna be formal. But seriously. Sit down. Breathe. It's a lot to take in.”
Ledger Line realized that his legs were indeed feeling weak. He quickly sat down.
And then stood back up again rapidly because he had sat in a puddle of water. He scowled at his hindquarters, as if it were their fault he was now cold.
Rainbow Dash gently stroked the timberwolf's head. “So I guess I owe you an explanation, huh?” she said.
“It'd be nice, yeah,” he squeaked.
“It’s a pretty messed up story,” she warned.
Ledger Line nodded weakly towards the sky. “We've got time.”
The pegasus nodded and tapped the bottoms of her hooves together. “Well, I was born and raised in Cloudsdale, daughter of Rainbow Blaze and-”
“No, I meant-”
Rainbow barked a laugh. “I know, I know. Ok, well, first thing you should know about me is that I'm pretty awesome.”
He raised an eyebrow.
She grinned. “Applejack does that to me, too,” she said. “Except it's cuter when she does it. Anyway, I’m awesome enough that the Wonderbolts had me in the Reserve.”
Ledger Line nodded. While he had never been much of a fan, he had heard many of the names while in Canterlot, and he had great respect for any athlete.
And definitely any farmer.
“Well, the Wonderbolts have a pretty sizable roster. Ever heard of Stratus Shine?”
Ledger Line nodded. “Sure. 'Shining Star of the Wonderbolts', right? Everypony knows him.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at his nickname, muttering something about kicking and seeing stars, and then continued. “Well, he had a thing for me.”
Ledger Line blinked. She was certainly confident.
“I know, right?” Rainbow said, misinterpreting his look. “I mean, I'd had him pegged full on coltcuddler.” She paused. “I mean… not, not that there's anything wrong with colts,” she added lamely.
Ledger Line cracked a smile.
Rainbow coughed and continued. “Well, he decided he wanted me.” She shrugged, conceding. “Fair enough. Only problem with that is, I'm taken.” She emphasized this by stroking the timberwolf’s head. “He tried to put the moves on me for a while, I kept shutting him down, and eventually he got the message. He laid low for two weeks, and then sent us an invitation. Said there were no hard feelings and invited us to a Wonderbolts show, front row seats—and there's no way I could turn that down. Let us both back in the VIP section and poured us some drinks.
“That was a mistake. He'd decided that if he couldn't have me, nopony could. Turns out those two weeks he was gone, he’d spent in Tartarus, picking up a few things.”
Ledger Line chuckled.
“What?” Rainbow asked.
“You can’t go to Tartarus,” he said dismissively.
“Oh, yes, you can,” Rainbow said with a dark smile. “The gates are only a short journey away from Ponyville. And as it turns out, there are a lot of beings trapped there who don’t care much for ponies. Enough that they’ll sell you things. Crazy things. For the right price, of course.” She sighed. “And, a little dark magic mumbo-jumbo later, I'm a red-tailed hawk during the day; she's a timberwolf during the night.” She chuckled darkly. “Irony. We're always together, but forever apart.”
Ledger Line chewed on his lower lip. “Can you undo it?”
“We think so,” Rainbow said quietly. “The problem with Tartarus is the beings there are very old, and a lot craftier than you’d think. It’s all old magic, stuff that not even Twilight has studied. And it's dangerous. There's a reason dabbling in dark magic is so illegal.”
Ledger Line nodded and gestured to his horn. “I paid enough attention in school to know that,” he said.
“Still, like all magic, there are rules. We figured the spell would be broken if he died. So that next flight show, as soon as I was pony again, I tried to kill him.”
Ledger Line’s eyes widened.
Rainbow continued as if she hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. She made wild gestures with her hooves as she explained. “Flew out onto the pitch, dodged security like they were just hovering, blindsided him, spun him out, slammed him head-first right into the barriers. Left a huge dent. I thought I’d broken his neck for sure.” Rainbow sighed. “It didn’t work. Turns out he’d made a couple other deals there in Tartarus. Sold his soul to some… thing in there for a boost in flight skills. He shrugged it off like he didn’t even notice, and I had to run.” She cracked a wry smile. “Attempted murder in the view of a huge crowd. Now that was a mistake. Applejack was not very happy with me when she found out what I'd done. Not even Celestia could do anything to help me.” She cracked a smile. “And let me tell you, I do not look good in orange.”
Ledger Line bit his lower lip. This story just got crazier and crazier. “So that means he’s undead?”
“Pretty much. Now I’m a wanted criminal, and Applejack ‘disappeared’ right after.” She grinned. “And where else would two ‘dead’ ponies go?”
“Don’t tell me,” Ledger Line whispered.
Rainbow nodded grimly. “Yeah. We went to Tartarus ourselves. And after a lot of searching, discussing, and a lot of games of chess—don’t ask,” she said, cutting his question off, “we finally got our answer.” She glanced out at the sky and grinned wryly. “But you might have to have Applejack tell you the rest.”
Ledger Line started. “Huh?”
“It’s getting light soon,” she observed, “and Celestia’s sun is not my friend.” She lifted her wing and pulled a feather out with her teeth. “You got ink and paper?”
Ledger Line chuckled. “Always,” he said, getting up and retrieving a notebook from his saddlebag.
Rainbow Dash began to write. Ledger Line was curious, but was polite enough to stand back to give her some privacy.
When she’d finished writing, she folded it up. “Could you give this to Applejack for me?” she asked, holding it out to him.
“Sure,” Ledger Line said, somewhat confused. “Are you going somewhere?”
Rainbow Dash nudged the timberwolf awake. She looked at him, her expression haunted. “Trust me. You don't want to see or hear this.”
He watched as she and Applejack slowly disappeared into the darkness. He watched as they faded from view.
And a few minutes later, as the sun rose once again, screams of anguish rent the night.
Morning finished breaking, and the sun finished rising. Not long after, Applejack returned, a wide smile on her face. “Well, hey there!” she started. “How did you sleep?”
“Not very well,” Ledger Line admitted with just a hint of bitterness. “Almost froze my horn off.”
“Aw, shucks. Sorry to hear that.” Applejack stretched. “I got a great night's sleep out there.”
He cracked a smile. She was such a bad liar. “Oh, I’m sure,” he said sarcastically.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “And just what's that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“I met Rainbow Dash.”
Applejack froze. “Who, now?” she squeaked, her voice nearly an octave higher than normal.
He chuckled, almost taking pleasure in her discomfort. “I met Rainbow Dash,” he repeated, a bit slower than before.
Applejack licked her lips. “Did you now.”
“You left her in the saddlebag. You grabbed the wrong one when you took off last night.”
Applejack blinked. “Huh. Thought she seemed a little too quiet.”
He cracked a smile. “She seemed like a great pony.”
Applejack cracked a smile back as she relaxed. “That she is,” she said slowly. “That she is.”
“She, uh, left this for you,” he said, passing her the note.
Applejack nodded as she took it. “Gotta communicate with notes,” she explained, flicking it open with a quick flick of her wrist. As she read it, her eyes brightened, and a genuine smile spread across her face. “Rainbow…” she whispered wistfully. She glanced up at Ledger Line. “Can't wait to hear her voice when it's not just screaming,” she murmured.
“Huh?”
“It's a painful transformation. So the only time we get to see each other, at twilight and dawn, we're in pain. I gotta see her little face all scrunched up and she's screaming like a rusty gate in a twister. It ain't a pretty sight.”
Ledger Line nodded. “She left so I didn’t have to see. I could hear, though.”
“She’s a good mare,” Applejack murmured as she finished reading. She exhaled and folded it. “Ok, since she started this, I’ll bring you up to speed. How far did she get?”
“She said you went to Tartarus and got your answer about what Stratus Shine did to you.”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah. Turns out Rainbow is really good at chess; but don't tell her I told you that. She's super embarrassed about it. Calls it an egghead thing.”
Ledger Line cracked a smile.
“As for the whole curse-breaking thing, we’ve got a couple things to try,” Applejack explained. “One is a potion recipe. We’ve got a zebra friend who can whip it up no problem. Probably. We’re hopin’, since it was something we drank, drinking something else will cancel out the curse.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Ledger Line asked.
“If that doesn't work, we're gonna kill him with this.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a short dagger, curved and wickedly twisted. The hair on the back of Ledger Line’s neck lifted. It was definitely a magic artifact, but like none he'd dealt with before, and he hoped she'd put it away quickly. “It can kill an undead pony. We were right about that part. If he dies, that’ll stop the curse cold.”
Ledger Line hesitated as something occurred to him. “That implies that…”
“Yeah,” Applejack said softly. “No more transformations. Ever.”
Ledger Line nodded, processing this. He licked his lips, not wanting to ask but needing to know. “So which one of you remains pony?”
“I don't know,” Applejack sighed. “It's probably Rainbow; he's a pegasus and she's a pegasus, and earth ponies ain't exactly known for walking on clouds. Unless you know a good cloudwalking spell?”
He shook his head. “Clean out.” Clouds were somewhat hard to come by in the desert, except when they weren't.
Applejack exhaled. “It don't matter too much,” she said. “Hopefully the potion works; but if it don't, and we have to use the knife, I’ll be fine with it. Being together's really all that matters to me, no matter what we look like.” She stood up and stretched. “Welp, that’s enough jawing,” she said, heading over to the cart. “Let’s get going. Got lots of stuff left to do!”
* * *
Back in the main sorting area, the two ponies looked over their haul. The ones in the barn had been more or less spared, but their journey back had taken them past many, many trees that had been damaged in the storm.
Applejack said what Ledger Line had already suspected. “Everything here is good, but just about everything else is a total loss. After lunch, we can go see what we can scrounge from the other trees, and maybe use the better stuff for pie filling; but I think this is as about as good as it's getting.”
“But did we get enough?” Ledger Line asked.
Applejack shrugged. “We can only hope,” she said.
The rest of the day was quietly hopeful, and the trees in the south part of the orchard were not a complete loss, either. By the time they came back for dinner, they were returning with sizable baskets, and more were on the schedule for tomorrow.
As Applejack cleaned up the food, she did another plate and left it on the counter. “For Rainbow,” she explained at Ledger Line’s confused look. “Secret’s out; might as well make the most of it.”
Ledger Line nodded. He'd almost forgotten, but her ‘midnight snacks’ made a lot more sense now. “I'll stay up for her, if you'd like.”
Applejack smiled. “I’d appreciate that; and I bet she'd like that, too.”
* * *
Rainbow Dash ate voraciously, shoving the food into her mouth. Ledger Line had long since given up trying to update her on their situation, instead overcome by morbid fascination at her eating habits.
“I gotta say, it’s really nice eating at a table again,” she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hoof. “Applejack brings me food all the time, but sometimes I miss being civilized, you know?”
Ledger Line cast a suspicious eye at Rainbow’s plate and the bits of food surrounding it. ‘Civilized’ was a bit of a strong word.
She finished everything on her plate, sat up, burped loudly, and then brought her plate over to the sink. “Alright, what can I do?”
“Do?”
“Well, I’ve got no excuse to not help now,” Rainbow said with an easy shrug. “Besides, at this point, I just really want to get Applejack back.”
“Sounds good,” Ledger Line said hesitantly. “Do you know how to use a packer?”
“Sure I do!” Rainbow said. “I worked here for a while, once, chasing down Applejack.” She sighed. “Good times.”
* * *
“It was a long time ago,” Rainbow defended herself.
“Must have been,” Ledger Line snarked, “because you put that gear mechanism on upside-down.”
Once it was oriented correctly, though, Rainbow seemed implacable. She worked fast, almost as fast as Applejack.
“You and Applejack make a good couple,” Ledger Line said, fighting to suppress a yawn.
“Thanks!” Rainbow said. “Now go to bed before you fall asleep on your hooves. If I know Applejack—and I do—she's got a long day planned out tomorrow looking for more undamaged cherries.”
As Ledger Line went to bed, he found himself really hoping that this spell could be broken.
Applejack chuckled as she looked at the sink and the plate in it. “Ain't that like her,” she said. “She hates doing dishes.”
Rainbow may have hated doing dishes, but she was very helpful everywhere else. It was almost like magic, coming back in the mornings to see cherries sorted, things cleaned, floors swept, bottles organized, dough set out. Having Rainbow Dash as an additional worker definitely made things progress a bit faster. The short remainder of the season seemed to fly by.
And finally, Applejack slid the bits she'd earned at market today over. “Alright,” she said. “That’s everything from today, and all she wrote. Harvest is done.” She paused as Ledger Line counted, but could not hide her interest.
She popped up on the desk. “How's it looking?” she asked, more eagerly than she’d intended. She paused, realizing just how close she was, and then sheepishly stepped back, taking her hooves off the desk.
“Promising,” Ledger Line said, doing his best to ignore the recent invasion of his privacy. “Did most of this already. With this, just… carry the one…”
Applejack chewed nervously on her hooves as Ledger Line finished making a few calculations.
He set the quill down, sat back in his chair, and laughed. “We made a whole fifteen bits.”
Applejack exhaled as she watched her hopes dissipate like smoke. “That’s… that’s good,” she said slowly. “I mean, I wish we’d made more, of course; but no more debts for the orchard, right? That’s the important part.”
“Oh, no; that’s the pure profit for the orchard,” Ledger Line said, unaware of Applejack’s internal thoughts and with more than a hint of pride for his number-crunching abilities. He underlined the relevant parts with his quill as he spoke. “I included the cost of the roof repair, future foreseeable expenses, and your wages in my calculations already. Aunt Cherry used to pay her workers pretty well before she passed, so…” He circled a number, pointed to another, and slid the pad over. “That’s your take, and that's Rainbow’s.”
Applejack’s eyes widened as she saw her cut. She sat back, blindsided, her chest heaving. “I don’t… I don’t know what to say,” she said, her voice cracking.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Ledger Line said. “You saved the orchard. Ponies are saying Cherry Jubilee’s name with pride again, not shame. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Applejack grinned wryly and shrugged, but her cheeks did tinge a bit pink. “I worked on a farm, ‘s’all I did. It’s what my calling is, anyhow.” She looked down at her share of the bits again and exhaled, imagining what that number would look like translated into actual bits. “But this’ll help, for sure.”
“I’ll see that you get it from the bank before you go. When are you planning on leaving?”
“Tonight,” Applejack admitted.
There was a long pause.
Applejack adjusted her hat and coughed. “Well, it's been fu-”
“Let me come with you,” Ledger Line blurted.
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“Well,” he defended himself, “you did so much for me, and-”
“Dragged you through the orchard, and that’s about it,” Applejack interrupted, but a little smile played at her lips.
Ledger Line shrugged. “I guess I just… I want to see your happy ending.”
Applejack exhaled. “Fine,” she conceded. “But I ain’t slowing down, so you'll have to keep up.” She faced the horizon and adjusted her hat, and she held out her leather-clad foreleg so Rainbow could land on it. “Saddle up, Ledger Line. We've got a date with destiny.”
* * *
Destiny was not a fun date, Ledger Line decided. The journey back to Ponyville was a bit of a long one, and Applejack definitely didn't stop. Most of it wasn’t bad, aside from all the walking.
Most of it, anyway.
“Is there a reason we’re walking through the forest?” Ledger Line jumped as the sound of an animal cry split the night. He shuddered. “In the dark? In the middle of the night?”
Rainbow chuckled wryly. “This is our hometown. We’re known here. And since I’m a wanted criminal, and Applejack’s presumed dead, strolling down the street is not exactly a good option.”
Ledger Line grimaced as another unknown (but probably predatory) animal cried out.
“Stay cool, Ledger,” Rainbow said loftily. She leaned back to pat the timberwolf on the head. “We’re perfectly safe with Timberjack here. Most animals know timberwolves are bad news.” She leaned back and put her hooves behind her head.
Ledger Line did not care for Timberjack. Mostly because Timberjack had elected to let Rainbow Dash ride, but had bared her teeth at him when he’d tried to get on. So he was walking.
Again.
And it certainly didn’t help that Rainbow Dash flew forward to scout the way every five to ten minutes. She was very fast, and very impatient. The main issue with that was, that left Ledger to walk with Timberjack.
Timberjack didn’t seem to like him very much. And her breath stank.
Thankfully, Rainbow soon returned with good news. “We’re almost there!” she said.
“Where’s there?” Ledger Line asked.
“You’ll see.”
And see he did; he ducked under a branch to see a tree, decorated with large (rather frightening) masks. He jumped, not expecting anything like this in the forest. “What in Equestria?”
But Rainbow Dash seemed to be expecting this; she patted Timberjack on the cheek. “Stay here, girl,” she whispered.
“Who lives out here?” Ledger Line asked.
Rainbow knocked on the door. “A friend of ours. A zebra named-”
The door opened, revealing a zebra. Ledger Line blinked. He’d never seen a real zebra before.
Rainbow Dash, though, had. She brightened. “Ze-”
But the zebra had a very different reaction. She let out what could only be a startled curse in her native language, reached blindly back for a bowl of something on her table, and threw it all on Rainbow. “Begone, spirit! Your time here is done! / I banish you to whence you came from!”
“Zecora!” Rainbow protested, scampering backwards and wiping off her face. “Wait! I’m not a spirit! It’s me! Rainbow Dash!”
Zecora panted, her ears still pinned; but she soon calmed as she realized what was going on. She scuffed a hoof, embarrassed. “I can see, forsooth / that you are telling me the truth. Forgive my reaction; I was not believing / I’d meet an old friend this late in the eve’n.” A wry smile crossed her face. “And I’m grateful you’re of the living group.” She looked down regretfully at the empty bowl she held. “It seems I threw on you my soup.”
Ledger Line didn't pay much attention as Rainbow retold the story. Zecora’s soup was simple but filling and flavorful; and, best of all, it didn't have any cherries in it at all. He ate happily.
“And so that’s why we need your help,” Rainbow finally finished.
Zecora pushed her bowl away and tapped her chin. “I truly wish there was a way / to have at the same time night and day,” she said thoughtfully. “The curse would likely broken be / if you together he could see.”
Rainbow cocked her head. “Say what, now?”
“All spells have fail-safes. The magic may travel / but with a paradox situation, it would surely unravel.”
“Yeah? Waiting for twilight doesn’t seem to work,” Rainbow scowled. “We’ve tried that.”
Zecora hesitated, as if about to say something else, but then smiled. “Then I’ll stick to that which I know how to do. / Let me look at this potion for you.” She cleared the table and rolled out her neck.
If Applejack was a master of the orchard, Zecora was a master of potions. Like some kind of master chef, she cast a practiced eye over the recipe. She pursed her lips, murmured to herself, bobbed her head as she imagined how the ingredients would react together, looked over at her supplies, drew circles in the air with a hoof as she considered it, and then she inhaled through her teeth as she reached the bottom. She turned to look at Rainbow, a slight look of regret in her eyes.
“Expensive and you don’t have all the ingredients?” Rainbow supplied.
Zecora smiled wryly and nodded. She jumped as a sizeable bag of bits landed on the table, spilling its golden treasure across the top.
“Money is no object.” Rainbow grinned widely. She leaned over to Ledger Line and stage-whispered, “I've always wanted to say that!”
But Zecora still didn't look convinced.
“What is it?” Rainbow asked.
“Another hitch, I believe I have found. / This last ingredient: angustia ground.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her hoof in a circle, wordlessly asking for clarification.
“It's a rare mushroom, white and brown / and grows in the forest, close to the ground. It’s rarely found, for it’s rarely seen; / they are only found few and far between.”
“How few?” Rainbow asked.
“How far?” Ledger Line asked.
“They grow every two years or so. / And this last cycle ended four months ago.”
“So how much do you have?”
“Last time I found a little patch.” Zecora winced. “It’s enough for half a batch.”
So just one pony could drink it. Ledger Line grimaced. He did not envy being put in that position.
Neither did Rainbow. She shook her head. “Who else has it?”
“Unless I myself harvested it / I will fear it's counterfeit. // And its most common imitator, Bladewing’s Fall-” here, she pointed at another of the ingredients on the list, “-has a deadly reaction with Ear of Threstral.”
Rainbow looked up at Zecora. “So, basically, one of us is free, the other will keep changing?”
Clearly hating the answer she had to give, Zecora bowed her head and nodded.
Rainbow stood up abruptly. Her face contorted, her expression unreadable, and she disappeared.
Well, a rainbow-colored blur zoomed through Zecora’s hut, rattling most of the items inside; but then, yes, she was gone.
* * *
Ledger Line found her in the forest. It hadn't been too hard; he'd just had to follow the muttered stream of angry words.
Timberjack turned and growled at him, as if letting him know that she preferred to be alone, but Rainbow Dash scratched at her ear, and she calmed down enough to let Ledger Line approach.
Rainbow didn’t even wait for Ledger Line to start before bursting out. “We were so close. So close!” She slammed a hoof into the ground. “Almost free!”
“You're getting somewhere,” Ledger Line wheedled.
“Barely!” Rainbow snorted. “Just one of us? How is that fair?”
Ledger Line inhaled, held it, then let it out. “It's not,” he admitted. “It’s really not.”
There was a lengthy pause.
“What are you going to do?” Ledger Line finally asked.
“What I have to do,” she answered. She looked up. “You have paper and quill?”
Ledger Line cracked a smile. “Always.”
* * *
As Zecora and Ledger Line sat down to breakfast, the door to Zecora’s hut burst open, and a rather disgruntled orange earth pony with her hat askew stomped in. “If that fool pegasus thinks for one pear-pickin’ minute that I'm going for that, she's got another think coming.” She marched over to the table. “Ledger Line! Paper and quill!” she ordered.
Ledger retrieved it quickly. He had no desire to cross Applejack, and certainly not when she was acting like this.
Applejack quickly wrote her response, underlined a few portions, and then snorted, clearly self-satisfied.
There was a pause.
Ardie squawked, as if reminding all that she was currently a hawk, and therefore could not read; and would remain thusly illiterate and unable to respond until the sun set.
Applejack scratched at the back of her neck. “Uh… so, uh, Zecora, need anything done around here while you're gone?” she offered.
* * *
Rainbow Dash crumpled the note and tossed it into the fire. She snorted, self-satisfied, and then looked towards Ledger Line. “Quill!” she called. She paused, then looked at the paper burning in the fire. She bit her lower lip, slightly bemused at her own actions. “And paper,” she amended.
* * *
“It's not…!” Applejack slammed a hoof into the page. “Quill!” she called.
Ledger Line huffed as he retrieved his (now somewhat battered) quill. “You two deserve each other.”
* * *
The door to Zecora’s hut opened, and Ledger Line looked up from the table. “Zecora!” He brightened. “How were the Smokey Mountains?”
Zecora entered and hung up her traveling cloak. “It was glorious. Time flies past / when you're able to afford first class. // But as fun as it is to far away roam / there is no feeling quite like coming home. // It was a productive trip, I picked enough / of ingredients we need, and other rare stuff.” She paused. “If you don't mind me asking you / what is it, that work you do?”
“Picked up some accounting work in Ponyville for the downtime,” he said, gesturing at the pages. “I don't know if you know who DJ Pon-3 is, but her finances are a mess. This mare goes through headphones like they're candy, and unless she can prove she used each pair in her studio or for live monitoring—like, actually for her business—I can't write them off as business expenses.” He sighed. “And Rainbow Dash and Applejack still haven't decided on who’s drinking yet.”
Zecora shook her head wryly as she organized her shelves, sliding her new ingredients in place. “Though offending none is a personal rule / I dare say each of the two are stubborn as a mule.”
“I can hear you two, you know,” Applejack called.
Zecora sniffed dismissively as she pulled a jar off the shelf and looked at the back. “To be fair, I was aware; / I just simply did not care. // Though you may feel the path forward’s hilly / I confess I think you're acting silly.”
“Yeah, well, look at it from my perspective,” Applejack defended herself. “How am I supposed to condemn her to that over myself?”
Zecora shrugged. “You love each other. If I may, / so you may have a better day // have Rainbow drink, and then, for one, / neither of you will fear the sun.”
Applejack paused. “That's… logical,” she was forced to admit. You could do a lot more during the day. She sighed, grit her teeth, and then exhaled. “Alright. I'll let her know.”
* * *
Zecora’s calm words and simple logic convinced Rainbow Dash as well; and before long, Zecora was working on the potion. She hummed contentedly to herself as she worked.
She was the only one. Rainbow shifted in place consistently, and Ledger Line was only awake because he was morbidly curious to see how this would turn out.
Soon, far sooner than either pony had expected, Zecora was done. She poured the potion out, a dirty murky brown, into a small cup and slid it over.
“Nervous?” Ledger Line asked.
“Me?” Rainbow squeaked. “No, no, not at all. Maybe a little apprehensive.” She looked at the potion in front of her. She exhaled. “Yeah, I'm nervous,” she confessed quietly. “It's… logical, I guess. And us both being there during the day, I… day’s good.” She paused, then darted over to the window and stuck her head out. “No offense, Luna!” she called to the night sky.
If Princess Luna had heard, she didn't respond.
Rainbow sighed and pulled her head back inside. She looked up. “Zecora?” she said, asking for advice.
Zecora shrugged. “Any speech I could make, I'll save. / It's time for you to be loving and brave.”
Rainbow nodded. “Alright. Bottom’s up.” She inhaled. “For the day. For Applejack.” Steeling herself, she tilted it back and downed it.
“How is it?” Ledger Line asked.
Rainbow nodded, as if tasting the subtle intricacies of the flavor. “Tasted like a skunk’s tail hole.”
Zecora cracked up laughing.
Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at the timberwolf outside. “Mind if I stay outside tonight? I… I want to see her. When, you know.”
Zecora nodded. “That would be fine. / I do not mind.”
Ledger Line slept well that night, excited to see what the morning would bring.
Applejack’s eyes slowly cracked open. Her throat burned. Her head ached. It was pretty normal an awakening for her, of course, ever since that night. It would wear off-
And then she remembered, and she shot to her hooves. “Rainbow!” she called. She looked around, expecting to see her, but saw nopony. “Rainbow!”
But Rainbow was nowhere to be seen.
She spun in a circle, eagerly looking, and then caught sight of the masks that hung outside Zecora's hut. There! She had to be!
She sprinted over and burst inside to see Ledger Line, chest heaving, looking as pale as a sheet, pressing himself against the corner as tightly as he could, as if trying to force himself through the wall. She raised an eyebrow.
“You were right,” he whispered shakily. “I didn't want to see that.”
Applejack cocked her head. Strange. It almost looked like he was trying to get away from something on the ground, like a spider or…
A small squawk drew her attention. A red-tailed hawk stood in the middle of the room.
“She came in to get a drink; lost track of time,” Ledger Line said hoarsely. “Sun came up. I saw. I saw everything.”
Applejack’s breath came faster, a bit more ragged, as she looked at the hawk. “It… it didn't work.”
“It didn't work,” Ledger confirmed.
Zecora entered, carrying a teapot and three cups. She set them down on the table, and didn't quite meet Applejack's eyes. “Know that I am truly sorry / to have crushed your hopes and dreams so starry.”
Applejack beckoned numbly with her foreleg, and Rainbow Dash fluttered over and landed on Applejack’s head. She cocked her head, able to tell that something was wrong; but, having the mental capacity of a hawk, was unable to figure out specifically what.
Applejack spoke, her head bowed, her voice low. “It's alright, Zecora. We knew it was a long shot, anyway.”
“I knew it might fail, as bad as it sounds. / But still I feel as if I've let you down.”
“No, no; you… you did everything you could.” Applejack smiled wanly, then turned. “I'm… gonna go for a morning walk.” She slowly walked out the door, still carrying the hawk on her head.
“I feel so bad for them,” Ledger Line murmured as the door closed behind her.
Zecora looked down at her tea. “Although I feel guilt aplenty, / the chance of success was one in twenty. // But another punishment I have, in a sense.” Zecora stared blankly at nothing in particular. “I will have nightmares many years hence.”
Ledger Line puffed out his cheeks. “You and me both.”
* * *
Applejack didn’t return until much later, so much later that by the time she did, the tea had long since gone cold, and lunch was spread out.
Ledger Line started. “Applejack… how are you doing?”
“We're out of options,” Applejack said simply.
“So…?”
Applejack smiled darkly. “One way or another, this'll all end soon.”
Ledger Line looked down at his food as a conversation had forever ago wormed its way back into his mind. Maybe Zecora could talk some sense into Rainbow tonight.
* * *
Rainbow Dash spun the knife in her hooves. “I’m gonna do it,” she said.
“This… this is crazy,” Ledger Line insisted. “When? How?”
“Applejack found a newspaper on her walk yesterday. Turns out there’s a special Wonderbolts show going on tomorrow night for this festival thing up in Canterlot. I’ve got one chance, right now, and I’m going to take it.” She cracked a smile. “Twilight’s running it. She always was wondering how this curse thing would end. She was all-” here she messed with her mane, giving it a flat look, and put on a higher voice, “‘There are no such things as curses, Rainbow Dash! It's a transformation spell based on ancient magic I haven't studied yet but I'm sure has rules and laws just like all magic!’” She shook her head and chuckled. “Kinda fun that she’ll be there, I guess.”
“Aren't you friends?” Ledger Line asked. “Can’t she-?”
Rainbow shot that down immediately. “I'm a wanted criminal. I'm not going to put her in that situation. This one is on my own.” She slapped the bottom of her hoof with the flat of the blade resolutely. “Stratus Shine dies on the first day of the Sun and Moon Festival.”
* * *
Applejack was gone for most of that next day. She finally returned late in the evening, carrying with her a small bundle.
“Visited my family's apple orchard,” she explained, gently setting the bundle on the table. “Spent all day there, arguing with myself on whether or not to say goodbye.” She sighed. “Ended up deciding not to. I figured it was for the best. They've already known I'm gone, not gonna give them a flicker of hope and then leave again.”
Ledger Line wasn't sure what to think of that.
She took a seat at the table and pulled an apple out of the bundle. She stared at it. “Kinda wish I could've seen my apple orchard in the spring one last time.”
“Do you need to do this now?” Ledger wheedled.
Applejack snorted. “We might not get another chance. And besides, sometimes another pony just means that much to you.” She stood up. The cooling winter meant that the nights came much faster. “You mind if I leave these here for Rainbow?”
Zecora gestured with her head, giving permission. Applejack set the apples down, smiled wanly at them, and then turned to leave again.
As the door shut behind her, Ledger Line looked over at Zecora. “This just… all rubs me wrong.”
“Inevitable failure, regardless of magic? / I think the word you're seeking is ‘tragic’.”
“What can we do?”
Zecora sighed. “As much as it pains me so / I must respond ‘I do not know’.”
Rainbow Dash finished eating the last apple and stretched. “Welp, it's been fun,” she said.
The morbidity of this being Rainbow’s ‘last meal’ was not lost on Ledger Line. “Um, stay safe?” he tried. “Can I say that?”
Rainbow Dash laughed darkly. “Sure.”
Ledger looked down. Then looked up as Rainbow suddenly reached over and ruffled his mane.
“You’re a good guy, Ledger Line,” she said. “I'll look you up in fifteen to life, ok?” Rainbow reached over to Zecora, and then hesitated. It was clear she was debating ruffling her mane, too; but she settled for a brisk hug.
And then she was gone, no more than a small speck in the distance.
Ledger Line sighed. It was… it was a mess. Life was a mess. Everything was a mess. They didn't deserve this.
But what else could he do? He was just an accountant.
An accountant with a couple accounts to look over. As Zecora studied, Ledger Line started working. Pie Parties, LLC made Vinyl’s records look tidy. Pinkie kept receipts and documented everything (and he did mean everything). Still, once he figured out her system, he was impressed. It was crazy how well everything seemed to work out for her. Under Equestrian law, due to the nature of her services, how most of her income was technically voluntary donations, and how her company was technically based in an unincorporated rock farm, it seemed that she would be getting a sizable bonus on top of her tax refund this year. Ledger Line chuckled as he added it all up. Perhaps he was in the wrong business.
The festival must have been starting; it grew lighter. Ledger Line looked up at the sky, and saw the sun and the moon sharing the sky, as well as the cry of what was probably a very confused animal. It was loud in Zecora’s hut due to its location near the Everfree, and Dodge Junction was sounding pretty nice and quiet to him right about now.
He lowered his quill. “Ah,” he said, suddenly understanding. “Sun and moon festival. I get it!”
“I suppose it’s good for a festival / but it is quite unnatural.” Zecora shuddered and went back to her book.
Ledger Line looked back down and made another mark on the paper. Maybe zebras were somewhat like earth ponies, very committed to how things were naturally. He thought it looked kinda cool.
The door swung open. Zecora gasped.
“Ugh,” Applejack yawned, kneading her eye with the back of a hoof. “Feels like I just had a stampede of buffalo run through my skull. It’s not usually this bad.” She looked up. “Zecora, you have anyth…” Her voice trailed off. “What?” she asked, confused at the looks she was getting. “Do I have something in my teeth, or…?”
“Applejack, this can’t be right,” Zecora breathed. “You are here, but it is night!”
She glanced down at her body—her lithe, pony body—and frowned. She looked over at the sky. “It's dark,” she said slowly, the reality just dawning on her. “That’s the moon. But that’s the sun. And I’m here, so Rainbow Dash-”
“No, we just saw her leave. As… as a pegasus.”
Applejack ran out and looked at the sky. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she slowly spun in a circle, taking it all in; and then she slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Oh, how could I be so stupid? It's not day and night; it's sun and moon!” She looked desperately at Ledger Line. “I gotta get up there, now!”
“How?” Ledger asked. “We can’t catch her! Unless you also picked up a potion recipe that can make you fly?”
* * *
All pretenses of secrecy were now off; Applejack galloped through town, with Ledger Line and Zecora following as quickly as they could. Ledger Line felt moderately mollified that Zecora was also panting and falling back along with him; her sprint was much better than her endurance.
Down at the end of the road, there was an enormous crystal castle. Ledger Line thought her destination may have been behind it.
He was wrong. Her destination was somewhere inside.
“Did you just break down the door?” he gasped, staring in through the open doorway.
Applejack didn't even look back at him. “I got a throne in here, it's my castle too. Spike!” she called. “Spiiike!”
There was the sound of scurrying, and a small purple dragon burst in.
A throne? A dragon? Ledger Line really didn’t know anything about Applejack, did he?
The dragon skidded to a stop. To say he was taken aback would be a sizable understatement. “Applejack?! What are-?”
Applejack cut him off. “Spike, I need to borrow the Twinkling Balloon. Please tell me you still have it floating around somewhere!”
Spike bit his lower lip. “Y- yeah,” he said, furrowing his brow. “I think I know where it is. What’s going on?”
“Don’t have time to explain! I just need it! And I'll owe you one for the rest of my days!”
Spike chuckled, as if remembering something. “Oh, no. Not doing that aga-”
“Spike!”
Spike scampered away. “On it!”
* * *
Rainbow Dash waited patiently in the clouds, listening to the sound of the crowd as the Wonderbolts were announced one by one. The only downside to her colorful mane was it was rather difficult to hide. But where she was going, there wouldn’t be too many ponies to notice.
Like most sports teams, the Wonderbolts didn't use the same entrances the general public did. There was a small, well-hidden entrance built into the bottom of the stadium, concealed by designs in the cloud architecture. Unless you knew exactly where it was—for example, by being on the Wonderbolts Reserve roster—you wouldn’t even know it was there.
Rainbow waited until she was certain she was alone, and then darted over. She flew around and made her way inside. The cloud here was just an illusion; a this cloud sheet made to look like the thick construction cloud everywhere else. She grinned, pleased with her success…
And then she ran right into a young pegasus in a security guard uniform. With a startled grunt, they both hit the ground. His eyes widened, and he turned to raise the alarm.
Until Rainbow Dash, being much faster, clocked him on the back of the head with the butt of the knife. She grimaced as he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Well, she mused as she looked down at him, she was here to end a pony’s life; what was one more assault charge? She stuffed his unconscious body into the towel bin, then removed his own clip-on tie, balled it up, and stuffed it in his mouth. Her work done (and knowing that the rotations the guards had meant he would soon be missed, and so her presence would not continue unnoticed much longer), she sped through the tunnels and came to a stop in the shadows, in view of the pitch.
There he was. The one who had started it all. Rainbow scowled. But he was too far away. She'd draw too much attention if she flew out now. She flipped the knife around her hoof and stepped further back into the shadows. She'd waited this long. She could wait a bit longer.
A unicorn, an earth pony, a zebra, and a dragon were all in a hot air balloon.
What sounded like the setup for a funny joke was actually Ledger Line’s current situation. Spike sat in the crossbars under the balloon, breathing fire to heat the air. Applejack pranced nervously in place. Zecora sat in the basket, breathing shallowly, back pressed against the corner and forelegs pressing against the walls to hold herself in place, clearly regretting the decision to join them.
“I hope we're not too late,” Applejack mumbled, looking up at the sky. She looked up at Spike helplessly.
Spike shrugged. “This is about as fast as we can go,” he said. To prove his point, he leaned his head back and blew another small hot flame, but nothing seemed to happen.
Applejack continued to prance in place, sweat trickling down the back of her neck. Everyone seemed affected by her nervous actions.
Except Zecora, who was still trying--and failing--to calm her own breathing.
As they approached the stadium, they could still hear cheering. Applejack took this as a positive sign. “Alright, we aren't too late,” she murmured, but she was clearly still nervous and unconvinced. “I hope we're not, anyway.”
Ledger Line looked down at the ponies milling around. “Security looks pretty tight. How are you going to get in there?” he asked.
Applejack turned and gave a tight rendition of her typical smirk.
Ledger Line wasn't sure he liked that look.
* * *
Rainbow stayed pressed against the wall, watching the show. All things considered, it wasn't too bad. Stratus Shine certainly was a skilled flyer, but knowing how he'd gotten that skill really rankled her. She could have done all of those tricks, and she didn't even need to make any bargains.
Then her ears pricked as she heard a noise behind her. A rustling. And then-
“Hey!” a voice cried out.
That was it. Security had found her. The gig was up. She had to strike now. She exploded out of the tunnel, leaving behind a rainbow contrail.
The crowd gasped as this new contender appeared, flying right between their formation.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fleetfoot gasped, almost breaking rank.
“It is her!” Soarin shouted, just as surprised.
The announcer spoke, clearly trying to make sense of this new development, and security ponies mobilized; but Rainbow wasn't listening. She was focused on one thing only.
Rainbow cursed her luck; Stratus Shine was on the other side of the pitch. Just like she'd feared, he had time to see her coming, and thus had time to break formation and fly away.
Rainbow may have been slightly out of practice, but she definitely still had her natural talent and an unnaturally strong drive. He tried to dodge around and try to rub her out against the wall, but she remained tight on his tail. He tried to peel away, but Rainbow went right along with him. Desperately, he dove, but Rainbow was faster; she flew along above him and then dove herself, catching up, racing towards him, now she was just above him, her knife raised to-
“Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow pulled out of the dive just barely in time, missing Stratus Shine by inches. She rolled, skimming just above the surface, and then flew upwards, spinning around, eyes flicking wildly around. She knew that voice. “Applejack?!”
Applejack galloped around ponies as if she were at a rodeo and they were just barrels. Security followed her, but they might as well have been a hundred yards back for how fast she was running.
Stratus Shine clenched his eyes shut and flew upwards. Apparently, he knew something. Rainbow understood what she needed to do instantly.
Not being able to see somewhat limited a pegasus while flying, and Rainbow Dash had no such limitation. She blasted past security and grabbed him, clenched her wings against her back, and locked her legs around him, pinning his wings down.
They fell to the ground, ponies scattering in a panic as they did. Right before impact, Rainbow let go and pushed him down, slowing herself and speeding him up at the same time.
Ledger Line and Zecora watched as Applejack (curse her and her earth pony stamina!) ran up the stairs.
Rainbow had already landed and paced in front of him. The impact had broken though some of the clouds; Stratus Shine was stuck.
“Look at us,” Rainbow ordered.
Stratus tried to bury his face in the clouds.
“Look at us!” Rainbow leaned down and seized hold of his head and forced one eye open with a hoof.
And Stratus Shine saw both mares at once.
There was a sound like a small gust of wind. And then, as if they were shadows or ghostly afterimages made of sand, a timberwolf and a hawk seemed to slide off their backs, hitting the ground to scatter into nothingness.
“Did you see that?” Ledger Line whispered.
“Yes, I did, my little friend,” Zecora whispered. “They are together once again.”
“That’s it. Curse is broken. We win.” Rainbow tossed the knife aside. “You lose.”
But curse-breaking or not, you don't just burst into a Wonderbolts show and attempt to kill a Wonderbolt without consequences or drawing attention to yourself.
The consequences were apparent when security (who had finally caught up) and even royal guards with spears at the ready surrounded the three.
There was a pause.
Rainbow inhaled through her teeth. “Oops,” she muttered.
And then they got the attention of somepony very special.
A purple alicorn strode forward, making her way through the crowd. With a gentle head motion, she ordered the guards to stand down, which they did immediately, taking slight steps back. “Well, well,” she said solemnly. “This is an unexpected reunion.”
“Hey, Twi,” Applejack said with a shaky version of her normal smile. “Y- you've gotten tall.”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “‘Sup, egghead?”
Twilight cracked the briefest of smiles before replacing her mask. “I suppose you've got a good explanation for this?”
Stratus Shine blurred out. “These crazy ponies are accusing me of making dark deals in Tartarus! It's not true! They're the ones making deals, trying to kill me! Test them!”
“Really? How long've you been practicing that line?" Rainbow demanded.
“Enough!”
Apparently, the Royal Canterlot Voice was not magical; all three were shocked into silence.
“Dark deals in Tartarus?” Twilight repeated. Her lips pursed. “That is quite the serious accusation. You know what you're insinuating?”
“I do.”
“And you know the penalty for such abominable acts?”
“Yes; but it's not harsh enough!” He reached down and scooped up the knife. He held it up demonstratively, over his head so all could see. “This is a cursed blade!”
Twilight nodded slowly. “There is a test; but the spell is not very distinctive. Any contact with dark magic at all is enough for a positive test.” Her eyes narrowed. “Even just touching such an artifact.”
Ledger Line's eyes widened. This was his plan! Just touching that knife would have 'tainted' him, and he could claim he was innocent!
“So there's no way to tell?” Rainbow demanded.
“I didn't say that,” Twilight said slowly. “In the course of my magical studies, I came across something very interesting. Those who have made Dark Contracts in the realms of Tartarus lose something of themselves in the process. They give up their pure magic in exchange for something tainted.” She began to pace, now immersed in her lecture mode. “As you know, ponies are magical beings, and need their intrinsic magic to survive. Ponies who have replaced it with a dark or tainted magic are almost animated, like a marionette, with that strange, tainted magic. But a simple magic-blocking spell is enough to cut them off from that magic, which would be analogous to cutting the strings off that marionette.” She looked around. “Those magic-blocking gates by the entrance contain exactly the kind of spell I’m referring to. My judgement is that each pony here must walk through the gate. Any pony who has not traded their magic for Tartarus’s gifts will pass through unharmed. Any pony who has…” She let her voice trail off. She didn't need to finish.
Stratus spread his wings, ready to flee; but before he could, there was a flash of yellow. Spitfire was there, holding him down by a winglock, pinning him in place effortlessly even as he struggled to escape. “Going somewhere, Stratus?” she asked icily.
“Spitfire,” he protested angrily. “Let go! You know me!”
“I know you were in the meeting where we decided to ask her to join the main team after Whirligig retired. I know she disappeared two days before we were going to extend that invitation. I know she was there with you that night before she disappeared. I know I was there when she came back and tried to kill you.” Her next sentence came out through gritted teeth. “And I know for dang sure that you're going through that ga- aigh!”
For with strength born of desperation, Stratus Shine had reared back and slammed the back of his head into Spitfire's muzzle. The shock made her loosen her grip, and he burst free.
Twilight raised a hoof. “Seize him!” she ordered.
As the pegasus guards, stadium security, the Wonderbolts, and even a couple civilians took to the air, Twilight cracked a smile. “I've always wanted to say that,” she murmured.
Spike chuckled. “She really has.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle stood on the other side of the gate. She smiled invitingly. “Whenever you're ready.”
Rainbow bumped Applejack with her hips. “Ladies first.”
“Age before beauty,” Applejack retorted, bumping her back.
Rainbow paused, doing a little mental calculating. “Then you go; I'm, like, a year younger than-”
“Girls!” Twilight interrupted.
Rainbow threw her hooves up. “Fine!” She galloped at the gate and passed right through. She thrust her chest out heroically and gave a little victory trot around Twilight.
Applejack rolled her eyes, and trotted after her. She, too, passed through without issue.
Twilight turned to Stratus Shine, wings bound, being held by no less than five royal guards. She nodded. They obediently came over and then physically threw him through the gate.
He passed through as well, but landed on his stomach. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, his body twitched.
But he did not get up again. He lay there, glassy-eyed and immobile.
Rainbow looked at Applejack. “We did it,” she said.
“We did it,” Applejack repeated.
“Hey, Rainbow!” Spitfire trotted over. “Welcome back! It's great to see you again.” She raised an eyebrow. “You know, with that sweet flying you did today, that invitation still stands.” She grinned. “What do you say? You ready to finally move up from the Reserves and be a real Wonderbolt?”
Ledger Line smiled and looked over at Zecora. He was here to see their happy ending after all.
But Rainbow paused. She looked down, looked at Spitfire, and then looked over at Applejack. “You know,” she said, still looking at Applejack, “I'm gonna have to pass. I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up.” And with that, she pulled Applejack into a kiss.
This romantic moment was somewhat spoiled when Rainbow threw her head back and whimpered, “Oh, it has been too long!” before resuming; but for her, that was quite romantic.
Spitfire nodded and turned back to the crowd. She whistled sharply, drawing the attention to herself. “Hey, we've still got another hour and a half left in the show!” she shouted. “Get back to your seats and hold on tight! We're not done yet!”
The show was amazing. At least, so they heard; Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a little bit preoccupied.
Spitfire chewed on her lower lip. “They're still kissing.”
Twilight looked up from her conversation with Zecora and Ledger Line. “Yeah, it probably passed into public indecency around an hour and twenty-five minutes ago,” she conceded. She gently scratched behind Spike’s ear fins. Spike was curled up on a large, enchanted pillow, fast asleep. Years may have passed, but he was still very young for a dragon, and it had certainly been a full adventure for him today.
Ledger Line agreed. He was all for seeing their happy ending, but apparently ‘happily ever after’ involved really sloppy kissing.
Spitfire looked back at them. “Are you going to tell them to stop?”
“Are you?” Twilight challenged.
Spitfire looked at them again, and shook her head. “I'm good. But seriously. It's been, like, two hours.” She turned to leave. “That's gotta be some kind of record.”