> Macintosh Unhitched
>  by chief maximus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


1


"Macintosh Apple, you stand accused of murder in the first degree, in front of multiple witnesses, in broad daylight, as well as the arson of the Dirty Trough saloon," the bulky, drably colored earth pony said as he paced back and forth before the judge. The fans hanging from the low ceiling of the small town courtroom did little to move the stale air around the bench. "How do you plead?" 

Mac had never been one for dramatics, so he answered the question promptly. 

"Not guilty."

A rush of murmurs swept through the courtroom, prompting the judge to bang his gavel loudly. The prosecuting attorney continued his questions. "Mr. Apple, do you deny that you fired one crossbow bolt from the weapon you were found to be concealing beneath your duster at Mr. Hide?"

"Ah do not," Mac said calmly, another stirring from the audience washing over the courtroom. 

"Do you deny that during your confrontation with Mr. Hide, you may have started a fire that burned down the tavern?"

"Ah don't." 

"Was it your intention to kill, Mr. Hide?"

Mac shook his head. "It wasn't originally. I gave him a choice. He decided for himself."

Another rush of murmurs, silenced almost immediately by the gavel once again. The prosecution remained unmoved. "Mr. Apple, are you implying Mr. Hide chose to have you put an arrow through his heart?"

"I told him he could either turn himself in, or, I'd have ta subdue him. He chose the latter route, and it led ta tragic and unforeseen events." Mac was as cool as ever, speaking plainly and slowly to the judge and jury while his defense lawyer sweated at the counsel table. 

"Tell you what, Mr. Apple. Why don't you, in your own words, describe for the jury what lead up to your confrontation with the deceased." 

"Gladly." 





The dust of miles of roads clung to the hardened hooves of the red stallion as he entered town. His stetson pulled down low, his duster tied securely around his muscular chest, he made his way into the bustling frontier town of Tumblebrush. Two major trading routes out of the kingdom intersected in town, as such, it had quite a reputation as a stop for any and all vital supplies. Mac waded through the crowd, almost a head taller than all but the burliest of stallions as he carefully made his way toward a nearby bar. From outside, he could hear the shattering of beer bottles and the ruckus of a card game gone sour, as well as the ragtime piano merrily playing through it all.

Macintosh stepped onto the creaky wooden porch in time to nearly catch a young mare tumbling out of the doors. Her mane was a disheveled mess of chestnut and the red dress she wore had tears and stains sprinkled across it. She brought herself to her forelegs, though her hind legs still splayed awkwardly behind her. She looked up at Mac with eyes that shined amber, just like his little sister's. 

"You alright, miss?" Macintosh asked, extending a hoof. 

Before she could answer, another stallion stumbled out of the doors, his drunken eyes focused on the mare in front of him. "There you are, wench!" he slurred. "I dun told you I have good bits here, an' I expect your attention in return!" The drunken patron stepped closer, only to have Mac match his step. 

"Ah believe the lady has a choice. And if the choice is no, then you best be on your way." He looked at Mac as though he's just slapped his mother. 

"Look here asshole, that there's my whore, and what I do with her is my business! After I'm done with her, I'mma cut that tongue a yers out—" Before he could finish his threat, Mac cracked him in the jaw with a right hook, sending him and a few of his teeth clattering to the floor. He turned back to the mare and helped her to her hooves. 

"My apologies for the violence, miss."

She cleared her throat and attempted to straighten her dress and mane before addressing him. "Not a problem at all, Mr... well, I do believe we were never introduced. Mister...?"

"Apple." 

"I don't suppose you came all this way to save mares from uncouth drunks?"

"No ma'am, just a drink, and some information."

"C'mon in sugar, I'll treat ya right." 

Mac pondered her words for a moment before agreeing. "I suppose a drink wouldn't kill me." He stepped over the unconscious stallion and into the smoky watering hole. He paused for a moment, taking in the characters. Gamblers, drunks, whoremongers, rustlers, thieves and ne're-do-wells of all stripes tipped their glasses to another day. It was a bar like any other to be found out in the Disputed Territories. A rough and tumble place many races called home, but none ruled. The law in those towns was either the sheriff, or the criminal with the heaviest weaponry. Sometimes, they were one in the same. 

He followed his new friend to the bar, where a mustachioed stallion in a buttoned shirt rubbed a mug with a cloth. He seemed to be the cleanest pony in this bar, where Mac to place a bet on it. "Cinnamon, another client already? That colt must've had a hair-trigger!" the bartender joked happily. 

"Not quite, Frosty. I found a more gentle soul to spend the evening with instead," she replied, casting a flirty smile back towards Macintosh. He'd have been lying if he'd claimed he wasn't a bit uncomfortable. 

"What'll it be then, stranger?" Frosty asked. Snapping out of his scan of the room, Mac took a seat on a barstool he hoped was sturdy enough to support him. Almost immediately, Cinnamon plopped herself in his lap. 

"Whisky," he wheezed, his new friend having forced the air from his lungs. 

As Frosty turned to make the drink, Cinnamon threw a foreleg around his neck. "So, what kind of information where you after, Mr. Apple?" she asked innocently, twirling her mane with a bit of magic. She couldn't have been more than six years older than his youngest sister. The thought of a mare in her profession at such a young age made his stomach turn, but he hid his feelings well. 

"I'm lookin' for somepony." 

Her eyes lit up in response. "Really? A mare, maybe?" 

"Yes. But right now, I'm lookin' for somepony who knows where she went."

Cinnamon's eyes fell a bit. "Oh. You think someone in this bar knows how to find this mare you're after?"

Frosty slid a small glass full of amber liquid towards Mac. He downed the shot without a second thought. "So I've been told."

"Well then, who is it—" before she could finish, a loud bang drew the attention of the patrons. The doors had swung open, revealing the stallion Mac had punched, and a much larger grey stallion in a dusty suit in front of him. He was a solidly built earth pony, his cutie mark obscured by the tails of his coat. In his mouth sat a shining gold tooth, as well as a scar on his right eyebrow.  

"That's him, the red fella in th' hat!" The wounded stallion managed, a bit of blood still leaking from between his lips. Silence feel over the tavern. The griffon on the piano stopped playing, the glasses stopped clanking, and the cider stopped flowing. Mac recognized the larger stallion from the wanted poster he'd kept in his pocket. 

"That's him," he whispered to Cinnamon as she let him stand up. 

"You the one roughin' up my customers?" The larger stallion asked, stepping forward. 

"The case could be made, but Ah ain't here to beat up drunks. I'm here for you, Cherry Swirl."

Mac watched as his face twisted in rage at the mention of that name. 

"The name's Raw Hide!" he growled. I'd tell ya not to forget it, but you won't be around long enough! Boys!" On his command, five burly stallions stood from their tables brandishing a variety of weapons. 

Mac quickly turned to Frosty. "Might Ah borrow that bottle of whisky?" He asked, tossing a small brown bag of bits on the bar as the thugs approached. 

Frosty nodded, sliding the bottle towards him. "Miss?" Mac said, turning to Cinnamon. "May Ah borrow your hoofkerchief?"

She surrendered her cloth as he took a third of the whisky into his mouth while stuffing the rag halfway into the bottle. Hide's henchponies were nearly upon him when Mac hurled the bottle into the group. Connecting with a skull, the glass shattered, spewing the high proof alcohol across the tables and lanterns, igniting it. Everyone but Mac and his enemies fled the bar in a hurry as the flames began to lick the dry supporting columns holding the building upright. 

One down, four to go Mac thought, his mouth still full of whisky. Behind his opponents, he could see Raw Hide getting ready to leave both him and his subordinates to their fates. The heat began to rise as the flames slowly covered the bar. 

"You better swallow that whisky, 'cause it'll be the last thing you ever taste!" One of the thugs threatened. Mac took ahold of the stool he had been sitting on and bashed it over the lead ponies' head. With his final weapon splintered, he grabbed a flaming piece of timber. 

"This is it, you're through!" Another henchpony shouted. With that, Mac held the flaming debris in front of his lips, and sprayed the alcohol from his mouth. A column of fire akin to a dragon's breath singed the manes and burned off the eyebrows of his attackers, sending them fleeing from the burning building. 

Smiling to himself, Mac tossed the two unconscious stallions out of the windows and strode out of the saloon just as it collapsed. Nearly the entire town had gathered outside the bar as the fire brigade worked fruitlessly to save the building. 

The mob turned its attention to Macintosh. "You see what this stranger has done?" Hide yelled, attempting to whip the crowd into a frenzy. "He has no respect for the rule of law!"

"You're one to talk about th' law, Cherry." Hide's face went red with rage once more. "You're wanted in Equestria by the Princesses themselves," Mac explained. A gasp swept through the gathered crowd.  

"Nonsense! I'm nothing but an entrepreneur! I've committed no crimes!"

Mac nodded, reaching into his duster for a folded piece of parchment. "Then how do you explain this?" Mac unfolded the wanted poster with Hide's face on it. "Wanted for racketeering, murder, exploitation of ponies, and robbery." He looked up from the poster now laying between them. "Th' list continues, but you get the idea."

"A forgery! I don't know why you've come here, stranger, but know that slander does not come without a price!" Hide snapped. "I will have satisfaction! I demand we duel!"

Mac scoffed. "I ain't got time for none of that nonsense. I'm here to take you in. Now are you gonna walk, or will I have to drag ya?" 

"I ain't goin' nowhere with you!"

Macintosh had done a lot to get to this point. He had endured more than he'd ever imagined necessary for the sake of two ponies he loved more than anything in this world. And yet, here was this pony stubbornly impeding his progress. It only served to fuel the anger hiding just beneath his calm exterior. 

"Ah know what you do out here. These townsponies may not, but Ah do. You smuggle ponies, traffic 'em, and sell them to the highest bidder. Ordinarily, I'd just as soon see you strung up than in jail, but I ain't got that kind of time." Mac leveled his eyes at Hide. "Now you got one chance. Either you tell me what you did with the blue mare and her son, or you and I are gonna have problems." 

Hide smiled. "Oh." He nodded slowly. "You're the guy I was warned about. He told me somepony would be comin' after them." Hide stepped forward. "And you know what he told me to do when you showed yourself?"

Mac's eyes narrowed, searching Hide for his next move. Without warning, Hide brushed his coat aside, revealing a single-shot black powder rifle. 

As the glint of the noonday sun reflected off the barrel, Macintosh's eyes widened. Thinking quickly, he dropped his right shoulder, pointing his right forehoof toward Hide as the crack of gunpowder split the smoky air. In a moment, it was all over. A snap echoed in his ears as he watched his opponent take a few steps forward, before collapsing in the street, a crossbow bolt shining red with blood rising from his back. 

Mac got to his hooves, staring at the pool of blood. Atop it and dead was the one pony who had the information he was looking for. 

"Shit." 

"You, in the hat and jacket!" Mac heard shouted from behind him. "Put your hooves where I can see them! You're under arrest!" 

"Shit." 





"And that's the truth, is it?" The prosecutor asked. 

"It is," Mac replied. 

"So, are we to believe that one of our townsponies has been right under our noses, living as a criminal this whole time? Do you think us that dense, Mr. Apple?"

"Ah mean no slight against th' townsponies, but Raw Hide was a criminal," Macintosh explained. "And I have it on the highest authority that he was due for arrest or punishment." 

The judge looked toward Mac's defense lawyer. "Do you have this documentation, counsel?" 

"We do, your honor." The judge used his magic to lift the paper to the bench. The wanted poster spelled out everything Mac had explained in plain Equestrian. After studying the poster for a moment, his eyes flicked up towards Macintosh. 

"Mr. Apple, though your documentation does bear the royal enchantment, you are of course aware that in no way excuses your vigilanteism?"

"Ah am." 

"Then you are of course also aware, that the sentence for your crimes, if convicted, is death by hanging?"

"Ah am." 

The judge paused, puzzled by his demeanor. "Have you anything to say in your defense?"

"No." Macintosh began rolling up the sleeve on his right foreleg to his knee. "But there is somethin' you should see." He showed the back of his foreleg to the judge as another gasp swept through the courtroom. 

"Case dismissed!" 


 
> 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


2


"Mister Apple! Mister Apple, wait!" Mac stopped halfway down the steps of the courthouse as a free pony, waiting to see who had his name stuck in their mouth. 

Cinnamon... he thought. He knew better than to help ponies anymore, yet he continued to do it. "What is it, Ms. Cinnamon?"

"Mr. Apple, please, a mare must be allowed to repay a debt owed. Let me put you up for the night, I have a room at the finest inn across the—" Mac held up his hoof, silencing her. 

"Ma'am, Ah appreciate the thought, but I'll be gone by tomorrow. I have no need for a roof of any sort," he insisted, turning to leave. 

"Wait!" she called again. Mac was too kind for his own good. 

He turned. "Yes?"

"At least allow me to buy you something to eat," she pled. The look in her eyes tugged at his heart in a way only Apple Bloom's could. He cursed his soft spot for mares and gathered himself to refuse once more. 

"As Ah've said before, you ain't gotta—" Before he could finish his sentence, his stomach decided to accept her generous offer. He sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Ah suppose one meal wouldn't hurt..."

"Wonderful!" Cinnamon sang. "Come with me, we simply must wash that dreadful soot from your coat!"

"I didn't say nothin' about a bath!" But by then he already found himself being nearly dragged through the street and toward one of the few inns in town. Before long, he found himself in a rather small room with frilly drapes and various other feminine touches on display. 

"Home sweet home!" Cinnamon said sweetly as she trotted in, loosening her corset. Mac quickly shielded his eyes, though his modesty only brought on giggles. "Come now, it's only a corset!"

"My apologies ma'am, but it ain't right for a married stallion ta—" Mac stopped himself, wishing he could take back his last few words. 

A sly smile crept across Cinnamon's lips. "A married stallion, eh? No reason to fret, I've had married clients before..." she added seductively as she sauntered over towards Mac, flicking her tail back and forth. 

"Miss, I don't mean ta waste your time, but Ah'm not here for pleasures like what you're offerin'." Cinnamon held her bedroom stare for a few more seconds before breaking away. 

"That's very noble of you, Mr. Apple," she admitted, taking a seat on her bed. "There aren't many stallions like you out there anymore." 

Mac felt his blush break as he finally allowed himself to breathe. "Thank ya kindly." 

"Not many stallions would have stood up for a call mare like you did." Though she had dropped her act, parts of her still called to Mac like they would to any stallion. Especially one that had been out on the road for nearly a month. "I know you're married, and I respect that," she whispered. Without even realizing it, Mac found himself seated beside her on the bed, her hoof tracing the buttons on his chest. "But you're a brave stallion. And brave stallions deserve rewards..." She licked her lips and drew her hoof down his chest to his navel, and even farther south. His instincts were screaming at him, but only his heart held them at bay. Every inch of him wanted to take out all his frustrations and anger and lust on this mare, just as she was practically begging him to. 

As he thought about giving in, a brief flash of memory came into his head. His son, playing in the empty applecart as he pulled it back from town with his wife hovering overhead, making silly faces at him. As quickly as it had come, it was gone, but it had left Mac all the strength he needed to keep his mind on his mission. 

"You're a beautiful mare. Cinnamon, but you and Ah just ain't meant to be," he whispered back to her, taking her hoof in both of his. 

For a moment, she looked hurt. But she managed to swallow it as she stood up from her bed. "Loyal to the end. It's a rare quality in this world," she said, looking at herself in the mirror as she used her magic to take the bobby pins out of her mane. 

"It is, but Ah learned from the best."





After Cinnamon had readied herself for dinner, she gave Macintosh use of the bathroom. "Take your time, dinner bell's not for another hour."

"Thank ya," he said, stepping inside the small, tiled room. 

"Don't worry, I'll try not to peek," Cinnamon smiled, closing the door behind him. Mac returned a grin as he heard the handle click in place. He turned to the mirror, dimly lit by the candles beside it. His mane had grown a bit shaggy since he began his journey. His tail was no longer the short, cropped affair it had been. His chin fur had grown out considerably as well. He set his sister's dusty stetson on the counter, and removed his duster. Along his chest, there were scratches and cuts, as well as a sizable scar across his shoulder, coming around it and ending in the middle of his chest. Each one told a story, each one marked a hardship he endured with a single goal in mind. He hardly recognized himself in the mirror. Something about his eyes had grown a bit more tired every time he stopped to look at his reflection. He folded his duster and set it on the counter next to his hat. Cinnamon had already drawn him a bath. Ordinarily, baths weren't his style, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. 

Before setting hoof in the warm water, he reached into his folded coat and pulled out a locket. 

Illegitimi non carborundum he read to himself as he opened it. Inside were a picture of a handsome pegasus stallion and his wife, and opposite them were Rainbow Dash, himself, and their son, Zap. Nothing brought him more joy and relief than the item resting in his hooves. It was both his motivation and his willpower, his strength and his courage. 

Mac set it on top of his coat before turning back to the bath. Slowly, he allowed himself to sink into the tub. It was honestly the first time he'd let himself relax in as far back as he could recall. As he lay there, time seemed to melt away like the dirt from his coat. Soon, he was stirred from his trance by a knock at the door. 

"Mr. Apple? It's nearly supper time! Everything alright in there?" 

"Er... yes, Everythin's fine," he mumbled, half asleep. 

"Need any extra hooves?" she asked from beyond the door hopefully. If nothing else, he admired her persistence. 

"No, thank ya." Mac quickly dried himself off and got dressed. While he was in the bathroom, Cinnamon had changed into an entirely different outfit, much more formal than before. 

"Well, I'm sure the rest of the boarders will be ever so jealous of the handsome young stallion on my arm for dinner this evening."

Mac smiled cautiously. "Ah suppose it's the least I could do." He lead her out of the room and down a long hallway full of dusty portraits. At the bottom of the stairs waited the finest meal Macintosh had seen in ages. Punching that drunk in the mouth was one of his better decisions, it seemed. 





After dinner, the plates had been cleared, and Mac sat beside Cinnamon as he contemplated the chilly night he'd spend beneath the stars. 

"Mr. Apple, I simply cannot allow you to stay in the elements with such a chill in the air."

Mac knew what she was getting at, though the air of seduction in her voice had long since evaporated. Now she spoke with a more motherly tone. Truth of the matter was, he was certainly having trouble saying no to a bed and blankets. 

"Alright Miss Cinnamon, I'll stay one night." 

Her eyes lit up like the lanterns themselves. "Lovely! Come now Mr. Apple, it is well past this young mare's bedtime." 

She hurried up the stairs and beckoned him to follow. Before long, they found themselves back in Cinnamon's room. Mac found her couch and began to settle in. 

"And just what do you think you're doing over there?"

Mac blushed, straightening up before addressing her. "C'mon now miss, it wouldn't be decent for me ta—"

"Hush now," she insisted. "I give you my word that my loins will remain chaste. Even call mare's have their honor, Mr Apple." 

Mac hesitated for a moment, though the memory of how soft her mattress had been was making it difficult to refuse. 

"Okay, But we keep a pillow between us. Sound fair?"

Cinnamon smiled. "But of course."

Mac climbed beneath the sheets after disrobing and felt the bed shift as Cinnamon followed suit. Strangely enough, he was not as tired as he thought he'd be. 

"Tired, Mr. Apple?" Apparently, neither was she. 

"Not as much as Ah'd hoped."

A brief silence covered the room like the blankets they hid beneath. 

"I know, we can play a game I used to play with my sisters when we couldn't sleep!" A lump of concern rose in Mac's throat. "We called it; 'questions'. We simply take turns asking each other questions until the other falls asleep!"

It sounded like a pretty dull game to him, but he was nothing if not courteous to his host. 

"Alright then, who goes first?" he asked. 

"The guest. By all means, Mr Apple."

Mac thought for a moment. 

"What's your favorite color?" he asked. 

"Blue," she replied. "My turn!" she said with filly-like excitement. 

"Okay, go ahead." 

Almost instantly, she asked him one of the hardest questions possible. 

"What happened to the mare you're looking for?"

Seconds ticked by slowly as Mac tried to pick the best way to answer. For a moment, the silence soaked into their very souls. 

"Someone took her. I aim to get her back."
> 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silence permeated the room as Mac laid in bed next to the call girl. He stared at the ceiling as he contemplated the steps he took to bring him here. 

"Oh my... Mr Apple, I had no idea—"

"It ain't your fault, miss," he replied softly. 

Another silence filled the room. 

"I hope you find her, Macintosh," Cinnamon whispered. 

"Me too." 

That night, he dreamt of her. His dreams seemed to be the only place he found refuge from the terrible world he was forced to live in. A world without his wife and son was a world he'd just as soon burn to the ground. In his dreams, he was with her. In his dreams, he was with his son. Zap and Rainbow sat on a blanket, his son babbling as his mother gave him a bottle. The picnic basket was overflowing with fresh vegetables and a bottle of incredibly overpriced champaign. It was one of the things Rainbow always did with her money, though he always made it a point to question why she came home with a five hundred bit bottle of bubbly when a twenty bit bottle would have served just as well. 

"Money is like the wind, Mac. You only feel it when it's moving." She would always say. That fit her personality to a 'T'. She was all about flash and appearances. He was just fine without. 

Sure as his dream began with a lovely picnic, it always ended in a cold sweat. The clouds above them would darken, and a gale would whip up out of nowhere. This gale would blow his wife and son away from him, as though they were made of straw. In an instant they were gone, replaced by nothing but the cold wind of an oncoming storm. Mac found himself wrapped in it, unable to escape from it. An ordinary stallion would have abhorred sleep, if it brought him the same horrifying visions night after night. However, he embraced sleep. He embraced the dream that brought him close to those he'd lost, if only for an instant. 

Besides his love of family, a different force drove him. A different, angry fire rose within him. It was the lust for revenge. It fueled him, in his darkest hour, it drove him. In his weakest state, it gave him strength. He would find those who took his Rainbow from him, those who blotted out his sun, and make them pay. Of that, he was sure. 




Months earlier...




"C'mon, Bug, pump those wings!" Rainbow cheered as her son scrunched in exertion. He was almost to the cloud his mother sat on, a mere two feet off the ground. Though, it might as well have been a mile. 

Zap's wings tried, but eventually sputtered out as he landed on his hooves. 

"Aw, you were so close that time!" Dash said, stepping off her cloud and next to her disappointed son. 

"I'm never gonna get it!" Zap whined. 

"Not with that attitude!" Rainbow countered. "Don't worry Zap, flying takes time. Now lets go, we can't be late for school again." Rainbow picked her son up off the ground and threw him onto her back. "Hang on tight!" she said, zipping through the air and heading towards the single room schoolhouse of Ponyville. 

She landed softly, setting her flank down so her son might slide off it. "Alright buddy, have a good day at school, and Daddy and I will take you to the lake, okay?"

Zap's eyes lit up. "You mean it?! The lake?" 

"You bet, kiddo. Now go on, before you're tardy," Dash insisted. School was never her strong suit, but she'd be damned if she didn't at least give her son the chance to become an egghead. 

Satisfied that her motherly duties had been completed for the day, she streaked back to the farm as fast as possible, to spend the few precious hours without their son with Macintosh. While flying overhead, she noticed a familiar orange coated mare lose control of an applecart. More worrying, the applecart held her and Soarin's infant daughter atop it as it careened down a hill toward catastrophe. Rainbow sprung into action, zipping down to ground level and catching up to the speeding cart as it raced down the abandoned country road. 

Dash plucked the infant from atop the apples just in time as the applecart smashed into a ditch. Rainbow flew to Applejack and set her daughter down next to her. 

"Geez, AJ, be a bit more careful with your kid!" 

"Well, you know me, I'm just a dumb hillbilly," Applejack replied.

Dash raised an eyebrow. "What the heck are you—" a solid crack on the back of her head interrupted her as she fell to the ground. An enclosed chariot pulled up along the road as 'Applejack' bathed in a sea of green light, reveling her true form, as well as the babe she carried. Both changelings. Out of the chariot stepped a familiar villain. 

"Restrain her, and put her in the trunk," he said. "Ready yourselves for act two."

The school bell rang and Zap darted out of the front doors, always one of the first to leave. He bounded excitedly into the schoolyard, looking around for his mother. She was usually waiting for him outside, but today she seemed a bit late. 

"Zap!" A familiar voice called to him as he turned. His mother trotted down the street smiling the same smile to which he'd grown accustomed.

"Momma!" he sang, running towards her. They embraced, but almost instantly, Zap noticed something... off, about his mother. 

"Mom? Are you alright?" she felt... cold, as though he was hugging a statue of his mother. 

"Of course! Now let's head home so you can knock out your homework and have some fun!"

Zap smiled. He recalled her promise to take him to the lake. He only hopped his Dad would get in the water this time. 

A covered chariot pulled up along the road and Dash walked towards it. 

"We aren't flying home?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice. 

His mother seemed puzzled. "Uh... no! A very special friend of Momma's sent this to come pick us up!"

Hesitantly, Zap climbed inside, followed by his mother. Inside, sat a unicorn with a hat and a apple segment cutie mark. 

"Is this your friend, Momma?" Zap asked, turning to his mother. But when he looked at her, his mother was gone. Only the horrifying visage of a changeling stood in her place. Zap tried to scream, but a cloth covered his mouth. A cloth that soon made him sleepy. In seconds, he was unconscious. 

Flim smiled. "Take us to the safe house. Her Highness will want to know of our success." 





Mac awoke with the sun piercing through the curtains. He had the same dream again. It pained him, but at the same time, it drove him. He gathered his duster, his hat, and his weapons off the chair he'd hung them. Cinnamon stirred in her sheets, opening her bleary eyes to look at the stallion preparing to leave her. 

"Not even a goodbye kiss?" she asked. 

"Ah'm afraid not, Ma'am," Mac replied. 

"This wife of yours must be somethin' special." 

Mac nodded. "She is." 

"Well then, I wish ya luck. If you're ever back this way, don't be afraid ta look me up. Just cause I'm a mare of the evening don't mean I ain't got a need for friends."

Mac tipped his hat. "Ah'll keep that in mind." 

With that, he strode out the door and down the stairs of the boarding house, but not before loading up on a few supplies for the road. Sure, fried oats and hay cakes may not last him long, but they were hard to come by out there in the wilderness. He saddled his gear and set off back into town. He was stuck in this town until he got a lead, and seeing as how he killed the crime boss with the knowledge of who had taken the blue mare and her son, he was truly shit out of luck. 

The most productive thing he could think to do was head back to the saloon. If it weren't a smoldering heap. With nothing else to do, he headed to the town whorehouse. After all, it was said that Cherry ran most of the brothels around the frontier lands. Might be that one of his girls had overheard something about his latest score. 

The Shining Doorknob was not the most subtly named of houses of ill repute, but it just made it that much easier to find. As soon as Mac entered, he was greeted by a bevy of fine beauties, all at his beck and call, for the right price. But none of that interested him. He wanted information, not tail. 

"Can one of you ladies tell me about Cherry's latest job?" he asked the group of mares that had surrounded him, each vying for his bits, and his stallion hood.

An older, uglier mare stepped forward, the madame of the house. "You want to know about Cherry, do ya?" she asked, slugging a shot of hard liquor and spitting out a lip of tobacco. "I got all the information a stallion could ever want, for the right price," she replied, smiling. 

Mac sighed. "Ah got thirty bits Ah'm willing' ta part with, miss..."

"Flowers." She eyed him. "You're cute. That'll do. Come on upstairs with me."

Mac followed the haggard old mare upstairs and into a dingy room stained with things Mac would rather not think about. 

"So, what is it you wish to find out here in the wild lands?" she asked, lighting a cigarette.

"My wife and son. I hear Cherry had somethin' ta do with their disappearance," Mac answered plainly. 

"Aye, that he did. Him and the oldtowne gang. Made quite the tidy profit off them."

Mac perked up. Perhaps this old crone would be of some use after all. 

"I got good bits for ya if you can tell me where the blue mare and her son were taken." 

"Aye, I can tell ya, and you can keep your money. But first, I'll need ya to do somethin' for me."





Mac slept on a bed with a roof over his head again that night. His task given to him by Ms Flowers had been one of dubious moral standing. She wanted a stallion in town dead. By her words, he was a rapist, and notorious abuser of her girls that put fear in their hearts whenever he were to show up demanding service on credit. Credit he never paid. 

But still, Mac was no mercenary. He was simply a lone stallion looking for his wife and son. Not some hired gun to sort out the squabbles of whores and whoremongers. And yet, Cinnamon had been so kind to him. To think all she probably knew was cruelty, and the rest of the girls more than likely only knew the same. Was it so wrong for him to rid the world of a stallion with such heartless intentions? He thought not, but he couldn't be sure. 

When Mac slept that night, a different dream came to him. A horrifying nightmare the likes of which he would give anything to her royal highness Princess Luna to erase forever. The day his perfect life was shattered. 

Macintosh paced back and forth across the living room floor of his farmhouse, while the rest of his family sat around him. It had been twelve hours since the last time he saw his wife and son. He now knew what madness must feel like. The royal guards had dispatched search parties, but there was no sign of them anywhere. 

A knock at the door drew the entire houses attention. He answered the door quickly, though a pony in a black suit with a white coat and odd eyes greeted him.

"Mr. Apple?" he asked.

"Eeyup. You find Rainbow?"

The pony remained expressionless. 

"I'm afraid not, but their Royal Highnesses have summoned you at once." 

Mac withdrew. "What? Ah can't leave, my son and wife are—"

The mysterious pony held up a hoof. "I assure you, Mr. Apple, the Princesses are aware of your plight, and will only aid you, should you accept their invitation."

"Who is it, Mac?" Applejack asked from the living room. 

Mac looked back at the pony in black. 

"Someone from the capital. He wants me ta go with him to help find Rainbow. I'll be back by mornin'," Mac replied, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door. 

"What do you know?"

"Nothing that can safely be discussed here," he whispered. "Come back to the capital, and we will tell you everything."

Against his better judgement, Mac followed the stallion to a waiting chariot pulled by royal guards. Once aloft, he turned to his mysterious guide. 

"Just who are you, anyway?"

Only now did Mac realize his guide's pupils were not that of a regular pony's, but that of one of Luna's loyal night guards. 

"My name is agent Bentgrass. I'm a Company stallion."

Mac had heard of Company stallions. Operators with the highest levels of security clearance, privy to secret information even the princesses may not be aware of. 

"And you know where my family is?"

Bentgrass smiled. "I don't, but we've got a few promising leads."

By morning, Mac would know more about his wife and son's abduction than he ever thought possible. 

   
> 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac was up before the sun the next day. If the madame wanted this stallion dead, he supposed he had no choice. He had wrestled with the moral dilemma of killing a pony not connected with his mission all night. 

Ah suppose this is just another stop on the way... he thought, dressing himself in the dingy room given to him by his new employer. A shuffling sound distracted him. A newspaper slid beneath the door with a note tied around it, a last known location of his target, and a grainy photograph. He took the paper, removing the note and stowing it in the pocket of his duster. He tossed the paper on the bed, but took a second glance once he caught the headline. 


ARMY OF THE SUN SWELLS IN RANKS! WORLD POWERS TAKE SIDES AS TENSIONS MOUNT!


Mac's jaw hung slack as he scanned through the opening paragraphs. 

The kidnapping of a vital part of the equestrian national defense six months ago has finally warranted a swift and just response from the crown. The army of the sun's ranks continue to grow as recruits flock to punish those who would commit crimes against the kingdom. 

The lawless territory newspapers usually had a pro-equestria slant, but Mac couldn't doubt the truth in black and white. He knew at the outset of his mission that it would only be a matter of time before word of Rainbow's disappearance became public knowledge. Once that happened, he knew the Princesses would have to do something. 

He would have never guessed that something was rebuild the Equestrian army. Further down the page, a picture of his wife and son stared back at him. His time was running out. Mac knew an invasion would only complicate things. 

"Another ponies blood on your hooves." 

Mac cut his eyes to the old victorian chair in the corner. The light from the lantern didn't quite reach, though there was no need for it. He knew who was sitting there. 

"He knew what was coming. I gave him the choice."

A bright red point of light rose, and then rested on the chair's arm as a cloud of smoke veiled the shadowy figure. "You sure didn't hesitate, did you?" 

Mac hated when he showed up. "You know what happens when you hesitate." 

A scoff echoed from the corner. "Yeah, I do. So, have you thought about what I said?" 

Mac's face twisted into a snarl. "Ah ain't a murderer."

"You don't think so?" The figure leaned out of the shadows. "You know what murderers do, don't you?" Mac stared back at the face that he saw every day in the mirror. "They kill. You've killed." His dark passenger sat back, taking another drag of his cigarette. "Connect the dots."





Mac and Bentgrass arrived at the castle in the dead of night. As they stepped off the chariot, they passed numerous pairs of guards, each saluting as they passed. 

"This gets tiresome, trust me." Bentgrass said, noticing Mac watching as he returned every salute they received.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

"Mr. Apple, I'm guessing all you know about this castle is that it's where the princesses live, am I correct?" Bentgrass said over his shoulder. 

"Well... I mean..." Mac began. 

"Take no offense, Mr. Apple, I meant none by it. In fact, if you had known what goes on in the castle basements I'd have had you arrested for espionage."

They came to a door with the sun and moon carved upon it, and no visible means of opening. 

"We own the shadows." Bentgrass spoke, and a silver light traced the sun and moon, and then became a portal. Mac stared in awe as he turned to him. "After you." 

Mac stepped into a brightly lit room, with all manner of ponies in labcoats working and testing various newfangled equipment. 

"Welcome, Mr. Apple, to a room that does not exist. This is the Special Services Division headquarters," Bentgrass explained, walking past the scientists paying no attention to either of them. Macintosh wagered Twilight would give her new wings to get a peek into this room. Bentgrass kept walking until they reached another door, though this one actually had handles. 

Upon opening it, they were greeted by Princess Luna herself, sitting on a rather ornate onyx throne, her symbology carved into it, as well as the rest of the room. Macintosh instantly bowed his head.

"Arise, Macintosh Apple. I have heard of your plight," Luna replied. Bentgrass bowed as well. 

"Your Highness, as you can see, Mr. Apple has accepted your offer."

Mac raised an eyebrow. "I did?"

"Macintosh, there is more to your loved ones disappearance than you know. In fact, far bigger players had their hoof in this crime than you may realize."

"I don't understand, who would want to hurt Rainbow?"

Luna frowned. "It is not Rainbow they wish to harm, but Equestria itself. For now we have kept this news from the public, but it will not remain that way." The princess began pacing in her office as she continued. "Soon, ponies will find out, and war will be inevitable. Celestia's hoofs will be tied, and an invasion will be the only option. At this moment, there is a fragile trail of breadcrumbs you may be able to follow, a chance for you to stop a war before it begins."

"What the Princess means is, we have a few leads, and we need an operative to follow up on them. We believe you to be the perfect stallion for the job."

Mac was stunned. "Me? But, I ain't no secret agent, I'm a farmer! How'm I supposed to stop a war all by myself?"

"We can train you, we can equip you, but most importantly, we can give you the authority to act as the will of the princesses," Bentgrass explained. "But, how you act with that authority, is up to you."

Mac looked back to the Princess. "Macintosh, your wife has saved our nation and the world, hundreds of times, but now, she needs you to come to her rescue. Will you take up this most important task?"

He knew the answer before she even finished speaking.

"I will."





Mac found his way into old town that morning, a reported hangout of his target. From what he'd gathered, old town was where you went when you had nothing left to lose. It had more bums than Mac had ever seen in Equestria. This was squalor like he'd never witnessed. Ponies, griffons, dragons, you name it, living under bridges, beneath cardboard boxes and overpasses and even on park benches. Everyone he came across seemed to be emaciated, begging him for a spare bit, or appearing as though they'd mug him, should he refuse. Or, at least, try to mug him anyway.

The haggard old madame from the brothel not only wanted this stallion dead, she wanted proof. That proof had to be a bolo tie his target was never seen without, and the bloody crossbow bolt that killed him. According to her, she wanted to mount it over her bar. Truth be told, Mac couldn't care less about what she wanted to do with it. He was after information, and information only. 

The further he walked into old town, the more dilapidated it became. Abandoned buildings dotted the streets between the few stores still struggling to make money, and fires from vagrant camps gave the air an acrid stench, as it smelled as though the bums had taken to burning trash, and street debris, instead of wood. 

Mac scanned the droves of worn and weathered faces, but had only the photograph she'd given him to go by. After asking around, he managed to get a last known location of his target. In an alleyway, behind and abandoned saloon and gambling house, he found not a stallion, but a colt. A young pony probably barely an adult, sitting in front of a barrel full of burning trash to keep warm, staring at a small box in his hoof. Mac walked up behind him. 

"Are you Tumble Weed?" He nearly startled the poor colt out of his skin. Quickly, he scrambled to his hooves. 

"Y-yes, I don't want no trouble, mister," Tumble said, trying his hardest to sound tough. Mac failed to realize how intimidating he must look in his traveling outfit. He was far from the simple, soft spoken stallion he been what seemed like a lifetime ago.  

"You know madame Flowers?" he asked sternly. As the seconds ticked by, he began to realize this wasnt his fight. 

"I do," the colt said, clearly summoning his courage from the deepest pit of his stomach.

Mac stepped towards him. "You been puttin' hooves on her mares?"

"W-what? No! I've never hurt anypony!" He admitted. It made sense. This was a fairly lithe young stallion, and Mac wagered some of the mares would probably be able to take him on if he ever got rough with them. 

"Alright, any reason madame Flowers wants you dead?"

"Dead?!" The color drained from his face. "I... it's Peach Blossom."

Mac raised an eyebrow. "Who is Peach Blossom?"

Tumble hesitated. "She's my fiancé. Or, she would be, if I could get to her." He showed Mac the small box with a tiny engagement earring in it in the shape of a tumbleweed. "I knew Flowers didn't like me around her best bartender, but I never thought she'd want me dead. We were gonna get out of this dead end town and start a new life somewhere."

Mac had been had. He certainly wasn't about to end an innocent life, but he needed whatever information madame Flowers had. "Listen she sent me here to kill you—" The colt stumbled backwards. "But I'm not going to!" he completed. "But we need a plan to make her think that. You'll probably need to leave town."

"Leave town? I can't leave without my sweet Peach!" Tumble protested. 

"Look, what makes you think she'd want to leave her job and run away with you anyway?"

Tumble shook his head. "She ain't working there because she wants to. She's working off debt to Madame Flowers, but she doesn't make enough to get herself out from under it, and she adds to it every day!"

Mac thought for a moment, before rolling up a sleeve, revealing his hidden crossbow. He removed a bolt and took it in his hoof. "Gimme your leg,"  He said, taking it rather than waiting for Tumble to offer. 

"Hey, what—Ow!" Mac drug the tip of the bolt across Tumble's leg, drawing a crimson line of blood out of his light blue fur. 

"She wants proof of your death, so I'm also gonna need your bolo tie." He looked as though he'd just asked him to remove his skin. 

"But it's all I have to my name! Besides the earring, this is all I got!"

Mac leveled with him. "Do you want to see Peach Blossom again or not?"

Tumble sighed. "I do..." he slowly removed his only article of clothing and gave it to Mac. 

"Now, stay here until nightfall, and meet me outside the saloon at high moon. I gotta plan to make sure you and Peach get outta here, without Flowers bein' any the wiser until you two are long gone."





Rainbow's head was pounding. The first sense she regained was smell, and the dankness of her dungeon filled her nostrils, giving the air a weight.  She then realized she was laying on a cold, stone floor, with the icy grip of a shackle around her left hind leg. Dash forced her eyes open, spying a small, yellow colt next to her. Every sense awakened as she scrambled to her son, rousing him from his slumber. 

"Zap! Zap, are you okay, can you here me?"

"M-mom?" He asked sleepily. "Where are we?"

"Allow me to answer that," A sickeningly familiar voice replied from the shadows. "you are my prisoners," The queen of the changelings stepped from the shadows. "In the royal hive."
> 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow glared at the monarch before her. 

"You don't know how bad you messed up, do you?" She asked, comforting Zap beneath her wing. "You know damn well the princesses will come looking for me, and when they find out you kidnapped me, they won't be as nice as they were at the wedding you crashed."

The insect queen suppressed a laugh. "Let them come. They'll never find you." Chrysalis took another step towards Rainbow and Zap's cage. Zap withdrew further behind his mother as Rainbow tried to comfort her son with her wing. The queen stopped right next to the cage, shuddering as she took a breath. 

"Yes, that's it," Chrysalis smiled, licking her lips. "There is no love more pure and delicious than the love of a mother and child. I will be feeding off you two for the rest of your lives." 

"Like hell you will!" Rainbow charged at her, knowing it would be worth it if she could just give her one good smack. Just as she reached the bars, the changeling queen repelled her with a blast of magic, sending her tumbling to the ground in a heap of singed fur and feathers.

"Momma!" Zap cried, racing to his unconscious mother's side, shaking her desperately. 

Chrysalis took one more deep breath before turning away from the cage. The hardest part of the plan had been completed. All she would have to do now is wait for her moment to strike.





Mac headed back towards the nicer side of town with his 'proof' that the job madame Flowers tasked him with had been completed. Now all he had to do was get her info, and honor his word to rescue an indentured servant bartender. One was certainly going to be easier than the other.

He strode into the bar and found madame Flowers waiting by the bar. A mare behind the bar bore a peach flower on her flank. 'Great...' Mac thought as he approached. 

"Madame," he said, tipping his hat. 

"Do you have something for me?" she asked. 

Mac nodded, trying to hand over the items as discreetly as possible to avoid the eye of Peach Blossom. Having her think her future fiance was dead would only complicate her escape. 

Unfortunately his attempt proved futile. He could see the poor mare covering her mouth with a hoof as tears welled in her eyes. She dropped the mug she was cleaning and scampered off to a back room behind the bar. 

"Something the matter with her?" Mac asked, 

"Tears of joy, Mr. Macintosh, I assure you," she said, putting the bloody bolt and the bolo tie in the pocket of her fancy dress.

Mac nodded. Looked like she was going to keep up the lie. "Now, I've kept up my end of the deal," Mac said expectantly. "I believe you owe me some information." 

Madame Flowers smiled. "A deal's a deal. The gang that came through town with a mare and foal was headed west, most likely the town of Amalga." 

Mac nodded. "Does this gang have a name?"

"The Talon gang, they call themselves. A griffon named Daltus runs the show. He'll be the one you need to talk to." Madame Flowers produced a bottle from behind the bar and retrieved two shot glasses as she took over tending bar from her recently distressed barmaid. "But if your past behavior is any indication, I suspect there won't be too much talking, will there?" She asked, pouring two shots. 

Mac took his drink and nodded thankfully in her direction before downing it. "That's entirely up to him."

He slid the small glass back to Flower's end of the bar and took his leave. He would need to catch Peach Blossom by herself in order to explain his actions. Which he knew may be easier said than done. After all, who would want to talk to someone whom you believe to be your fiance's killer?

But, Mac liked a challenge. As the madame busied herself running the bar, Mac peeked behind it, trying to get a bead on where his wayward bar maid. Once madame Flowers had engaged another patron, slipped into the hallway behind the bar and followed the sobs to their source. 

In a storage room, sitting on a keg, a grieving mare wept for her fiance. Females crying never sat right with him. 

"Ms. Blossom? There's somethin' you need to know,"



Mac's training was going to be brief, but such was the nature of his mission. He followed Bentgrass out of Luna's chamber and into another brightly lit room full of unicorns in lab coats and goggles, mixing various chemicals and casting spells over everyday items. 

"This is our research and development department. Any and all weird or fantastical theories and objects have been researched, tested, and unfortunately, rejected within these walls."

"Ah see..." Mac said, following him, his head on a swivel, trying to observe all of the magic and science happening around him. 

"You may be wondering how we're going to turn you from a farmer into a thunderous iron hoof of the Princess' will." Bentgrass continued, stopping in front of a table where another unicorn waited for him. "Mr. Apple, this is our senior researcher, Agent 26." Before him stood a middle aged unicorn mare with a mocha coat, covered by her lab coat. 

"Howdy, miss... 26," Mac replied. 

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Apple." 

"Agent 26 has been working on a spell to transmit years of practice and knowledge of a subject using a single spell!"

Mac stood for a moment, trying to process what Bentgrass said. "So she's just gonna put a spell on me, and make me a secret agent?"

"Yes." 

"Isn't that kinda... easy?" Mac asked. 

"Look, we're very limited on time, do you want to rescue your family and save equestrian civilization or not?" Bentgrass asked.

Mac nodded. 

"Okay, now hold still," Agent 26 charged her spell and faced Mac. "Also, if you could, please take note of any side effects, we haven't tested this spell on ponies yet." 

Mac's ears perked up. "What?"

A bright flash swallowed him, followed by a tingle starting at his head and traveling to his hooves. 

After an undisclosed amount of time, Mac opened his eyes. He rubbed them with a hoof as they focused on the ceiling above him. It was certainly far more ornate than that of his and Rainbow's room. His head was still a bit foggy, but he remembered bits and pieces of what brought him to what he assumed was the castle. He sat up in bed and put a hoof to his head. Instead of his thick tuft of blonde hair, he felt a bandage. 

'Oh Celestia, what did those shifty government types do to me?' He thought. A sliver of moonlight shone through the lone window when a knock at the door drew his attention.

"Mr. Apple?" The door creaked open to reveal a castle servant with a tray of food. "Good to see you awake. Care for something to eat?"

Mac's stomach answered for him as he blushed, and nodded. She set the tray on the night stand next to him. A nice plate of dandelions and fruit slices waited for him. 

"I'll inform Agent Bentgrass that you're awake," she said, leaving the food and turning towards the door. "He should be with you shortly." 

"Thank ya for the food," he said as she departed. Mac ate every last bit of the provisions, leaving nothing but an ornate silver serving tray beside him. Before long another knock and the door opened to reveal Bentgrass. 

"Mr. Apple, how are you feeling?"

"Got a bit of a headache... feeling kinda groggy, but I would like ta know why my head is bandaged," Mac replied in annoyance. 

What could loosely considered the tiniest of smiles hinted at his lips before he spoke. "You'll be pleased to know the bandage is not a direct result of the spell. You simply hit your head on the floor when you passed out." 

"Oh..." Mac said, as though that was supposed to make it better. 

Bentgrass stepped further into the room. "So, Mr. Apple, have you experienced any SIDE EFFECTS?!" He shouted, before turning and throwing a knife at him by surprise.

Mac inhaled sharply as the knife rocketed towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, the glint of the serving tray caught his attention. He slammed his hoof onto the edge of the tray and then swatted it toward the knife with his other hoof, without so much as a second thought. The tray deflected the knife back towards Bentgrass' face. The blade stuck into the wall about two inches from where his face would have been, had he not dodged.  

"Well, the spell seems to have taken," Bentgrass replied, turning to his knife and trying to dislodge it. He struggled with it for a moment before giving up and turning back to him, as though nothing had happened. 

"And what if the spell didn't work?" Mac snapped. 

"Well, I suppose I'd have some explaining to do, but unfortunately we don't have time to allow you to fully recover from your experience. Every day that passes, the world gets closer to war," He explained. "We'll equip you with everything we can, and give you all the intel we have... but the rest, is up to you."





"S-Stay back!" Peach Blossom shouted, as Mac quickly shushed her. "You monster! He was the sweetest stallion in the whole world and you... you..." 

"Miss, ya have ta listen to me, Ah didn't kill your fiance!" he whispered harshly before peeking outside the room to make sure Madame Flowers did't hear him. 

"W-what? But his tie, and—" 

"I know what it looks like, but I worked out a deal with him. I faked killing him so I could get the information I needed to find my family." Mac checked again for the Madame of the brothel. "Tonight at high moon, Tumbleweed will meet you and me  outside the saloon, and ya'll will be on your way." 

Her tears had stopped, but her eyes were still wet. "Really?" She sobbed. "But, why would you do this to help us?"

Mac exhaled, adjusting his hat. "Because I know what it's like to be in love, and I know what it's like to be apart. What Madame Flowers is doin' to ya'll ain't right." Mac brushed a tear from her cheek. "Don't forget, meet us at high moon. Don't be late."
> 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow awoke to the same dingy cell she'd left. Her son snuggled tightly beneath her wing. Feeling her movement, Zap woke up and hugged his mother, crying into her coat. 

"Mom... I'm scared!" he sobbed. 

"I know sweetie, it's okay to be scared." Rainbow whispered hoarsely. "We'll figure a way out of this, I promise."

"B-but what if we don't?" he asked. 

"We will. Right now, I bet your Dad and Mom's friends are on their way here to help us," she said, and secretly prayed that was the case. This did little to comfort her frightened colt, unfortunately. 

"I know it's scary in here, but I need you to be brave for me, okay? Can you do that?" she asked, nuzzling him. 

"Okay..." he replied weakly. 

"Why don't we sing a song to help keep our spirits up? She can't hurt us if she knows we aren't scared of her," Dash said. 

"Okay... but what song?" Zap asked. 

Rainbow thought for a moment. None of her normally preferred genre of music would work in this situation. But then she remembered a song Mac used to use to sing Zap to sleep when he was a newborn. 

"I got one I think you'll remember," she answered with a soft smile. 

"Almost heaven, Appleoosa, Blue Slope mountains, Marendoah river, life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, growing like the breeze," Rainbow sang softly. 

"Country road, take me home, to the place, I belong!" Zap completed, Rainbow seeing him smile for the first time since this ordeal began. 

"Appleoosa, mountain momma, take me home, country road!"

Rainbow continued to hum the rest of the song as her son sang the rest of the song. Behind her gentle, calming smile, she felt a burning rage filling her heart. She was completely powerless to help herself or her son and it burned her up to no end.  Now that she was at least conscious, she just needed time to think of a plan. 

But that would have to come later. Right now, all she cared about was keeping Zap's mind off their predicament. She just had to bide her time. She'd think of something eventually, she was sure of it. She just had to wait for her moment to strike. 




The moon cast a long shadow along the streets as Mac walked toward the agreed meeting place. Peach Blossom stood waiting beneath the flickering light of a lamp post, spotting him as he approached. 

"Ma'am," he said, tipping his hat. 

"Have you heard from Tumble?" she asked softly, as if speaking too loudly would draw the wrath of her employer. 

"Ain't seen him yet," he replied. 

She shifted nervously on her hooves. "How can we do this, have we lost our minds?" 

"Peach!" a voice from the shadows said. Tumble appeared from a darkened alleyway, immediately embracing his lover. 

"Oh Tumble!"

Mac watched the two reunite in the moonlight, acutely aware of how lonely this journey had made him. They both turned to him. 

"Well, thanks again for all the help in arranging this... and for not killing me," Tumble added weakly. 

"Think nothin' of it." 

"But, how can we start a new life without any money?"

Mac produced a moderate sized bag full of bits. "This oughta help." 

He tossed the sack to Peach. She opened it and marveled at the contents. "This... this is more than enough to pay off my debt. Why don't we just pay off Flowers?" 

"I 'spose you could do that, if you trust Madame Flowers to honor her word," Mac answered smartly. 

They both knew what he was implying. Better just to cut and run. 

"I don't know how to thank you, stranger," Tumble replied. 

"No need for thanks, just start fresh somewhere."

Mac turned to leave. 

"Wait!" Peach shouted. "Where will you go?" 

"I'm looking for someone. Next stop's Amalga." 

Without another word, Mac headed out of town. He had certainly left his mark on this town. He'd killed a criminal, burned down a saloon, and rescued a prostitute in distress. And here he was, walking out of town as easy as the breeze. He glanced down at the brand on his forearm. The further away he ventured from Equestria, the less clout the brand would have. Amalga was firmly in the Disputed Territories, and as such, his brand would simply be another piece of body art, rather than the royal endorsement of violence. 

He had given all his bits to the young couple he had just helped, so it looked as though he would have to rough it for the foreseeable future. It suited him just fine. It would be a days walk to Amalga, so it decided it best to make camp for the night. He quickly started a fire and took his rest beside it. The stars in Luna's sky shone brightly, reminding him of his first real experience with his wife; the two of them driving cattle to auction. 

He couldn't help but think about his wife and son. He had to stop himself. It would only make him angry. 

Mac closed his eyes for a moment before someone drew his attention. 

"Well, that was a nice thing you did for those two. Think it'll make up for what you've done to get here?"

He opened his eyes. Across the campfire sat himself, his same cigarette smoldering between his lips. His own dark passenger, manifested before him once again. 

"I don't care what you say. You aren't real," Mac replied. Maybe it was a side effect from that spell in Canterlot. 

"You can deny it all you want. Whether or not I'm real is irrelevant. But what you're feeling, is most certainly real," Dark Mac answered with a smirk. "So, will the killing be worth it in the end?"

"If I get them back, it will be." 





"Mr. Apple, before you go, there is one last matter to attend to," Bentgrass said. 

"What's that?" Mac asked, looking over his fancy new crossbow on his foreleg. 

"We need your foreleg," he said, as a unicorn levitated his leg before he could refuse. 

"What for- OW!" 

A magic brand burned into his foreleg.

"This brand will grant you immunity for anything you do in the lands ruled by the Princesses," Bentgrass stated. "As long as it falls in line with your mission, of course." 

Mac examined his foreleg. The sun and moon superimposed upon one another, with two crossed spears beneath them. 

"You are now acting in accordance with the will of the Princesses. Honor them in your words and actions."

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye," Mac said, fully geared up for the mission ahead. 

"Not goodbye, Mr. Apple. We'll see you when you return, successful."



"Beautiful rendition, really," Chrysalis said from the darkness. 

Rainbow stood from her shackles and growled at her captor. "What do you want? Wasn't it enough that we spared your stupid hive after you attacked us?"

"That attack was just a probe, albeit a well thought out one," she replied. 

"You really think you stand a chance against the princesses?"

Chrysalis chuckled in reply. "Right, the ones that make you and your friends fight their battles for them? You saw me best that overgrown cow, Celestia."

Rainbow was about to release a string of curses before she realized Zap was still clinging to her hind leg. "Either one of them could take you down." 

"Then why didn't they?" 

Admittedly, Rainbow didn't have a solid answer for that. "They'll find you, and this time, they'll kill you,"

"Not likely," Chrysalis paced back and forth in front of her cell. "Say, I have an idea. Would you like to see what your love has been building?"

Rainbow was taken aback. 

"I thought you might. See, we've been trying for ages to catch a mother and child. That is the purest and most potent form of love," She said with a malicious grin. "So why don't we take a little tour, shall we?"

Two changeling guards appeared behind her, using their dark magic to restrain her. She opened the cell and the magic dragged Rainbow away from her son. 

"Momma!" he cried, as magic kept him from moving. 

"Mommy's fine, stay strong for me, Zap, I'm coming back!"

Chrysalis drug her captive out of the cell and through the darkened tunnels, her sons cries fading into the distance. 

"I know you've been wondering why you're here, and that's something that I've failed at explaining. I'm still getting used to the whole, 'gracious host' thing," She said as she walked ahead of Rainbow, her guards sticking by her tightly. 

After many twists and disorienting turns, they climbed a seemingly endless set of spiral steps, before arriving at a balcony. Before her stood tens of thousands of changelings, with more being hatched as they watched. 

"Your love is building me an army. Oh, and there's someone else who had a hoof in this grand plan of mine."

From the shadows, stepped a grizzled looking unicorn carrying another unicorn's skull. A face she instantly recognized. 

"Flam..." she whispered. 

"My brother and I have waited a long time to see you again."