Applejack frowned. Staring down at the paper, she scrunched her eyes to confirm her thoughts. Looking back up at the stallion behind the desk, she sighed heavily and gave him a tired look.

"How much?"

The sheriff adjusted the hat atop his head with a smile on his face. "Two hundred," he said matter-of-factly.

Applejack faltered for a brief second before she sighed once more, reaching into the saddlebags by her side and retrieving a small coin-purse. Placing it on the table, she eyed its contents for a second of her time, and promptly turned the bag over, the bits spilling onto the table and splattering every which way. The sheriff looked up at her with a hint of glee on his lips, only to see her staring at him, a completely unimpressed look on her face.

He stared at her for two seconds, before he tipped his blue hat, cleared his throat, and swept the bits closer to his side of the desk as if the mare would swoop in and grab them if he left them where they landed. Clearing his throat once again, he threw a hoof out to his right and said almost too quickly, "He's back there."

Applejack tipped her hat, replacing it atop her head with a glare and an icy edge in her voice, "Thank ya kindly, Sheriff." Walking briskly past the stallion at the desk, she walked down the hallway, intent on giving her victim an earful for landing himself in jail once again, only to halt midstep, screeching along the concrete at her hooves and staring dumbfounded at what she saw.

"Apple Bloom?"

She looked to her sister's left.

"Scootaloo?"

Looking toward the cell door, she added.

"Sweetie Belle...?"

The three fillies didn't even give her the time of day until she stepped closer, her sister suddenly calling cheerily, "Hey sis, what'cha doin' here?"

A look of confusion on her face, she slowly tread into the jail room, finding a small mess on the floor. Looking at her sister, she said simply, "Ah could ask y'all the same thing. What are ya doin'-"

"Making a cape," Scootaloo said from Apple Bloom's side, not even turning to look at the older mare as the sound of scissors snipping filled the room.

"For who?"

"For Delirious," Apple Bloom chimed in almost immediately, pieces of red fabric in her hooves. As she grumbled something inaudible, she looked to her left and called, "Hey, Sweetie Belle?"

The Unicorn filly sat on a stool against Delirious' cell door, a roll of measuring tape around her neck and another roll currently enveloped in her magic, sliding around Delirious' neck in kind. She turned not one bit either as she responded, "Yeah, Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom raised two pieces of fabric into the air in front of her, adjusting their height like a weight counter. "What kinda red is th' bottom part? Sangria or Burgundy?"

Sweetie Belle sighed dramatically. "Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle?"

"Do me a favor and look at the bottom of your cape."

"Uh..." She droned, a look of pure confusion on her face as she whipped around, lifting her cape up with a hoof. Finding the bottom, she stared at its gold color.

"Now tell me, what kind of red is that?"

Apple Bloom stared blankly into space, her lips flat as she gave the ground a dumb look. Finally, she placed the pieces of fabric on the ground and picked up the nearby golden fiber, grumbling something under her breath.

Applejack stood against the wall, her tongue against her cheek. Replacing it, she swallowed and asked, "How long have y'all been here?"

"Couple hours," Scootaloo said, her back still turned to her. She continued to snip away.

"Really...?"

"Yup," her sister said, pulling out a sewing machine from behind her and turning it on.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Apple Bloom you don't even know how to use one of-"

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRR

Applejack straightened herself, a blank look on her face.

The machine stopped.

Apple Bloom held a piece of red and golden fabric in her hooves. Suddenly looking up at her big sister, she asked, "What didja say, sis? Couldn't hear ya over the sewin' machine."

Applejack blinked rapidly, and said quickly, "Nothin', Apple Bloom." Looking to the ground, she suddenly perked up and added, "Where'd ya learn how ta-"

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRR

Thwarted once again, she looked at Scootaloo and waited for the machine to stop. As it halted, she spoke, "Hey, Scootaloo."

"What's up?" She asked, seemingly not interested as she continued her work.

Applejack drew her head back, caught off guard. ".....what are you doin' in all this?"

Scootaloo's scissors snipped. Loudly. "What kind of question is that-"

"A normal one."

The filly sat in silence, her head barely turned the mare's way. Four seconds passed, and an answer was given.

"I'm cutting stuff."

Applejack adjusted the hat atop her head, focusing on the Pegasus filly. "Ah can... er, see that. Which, uh... which pieces ya-"

SUH-NIP

Applejack gulped, and she hadn't an idea why. Looking over at Sweetie Belle, she thought she could get an answer from the voice of reason.

"Sweetie Belle?"

She sighed, her horn lit as the measuring tape moved around Delirious' neck. "Yes, Applejack?"

Geez, she's really turnin' into her sister. Applejack thought. Coughing into a hoof, she requested, "Ya mind tellin' me what y'all're doin'? Y'all shouldn't even be back here." Catching the sight of Quick Time napping in the corner, she added, "Criminals, an' all that-"

"We're making Delirious here a cape."

Applejack raised a hoof to ask why.

"He doesn't have a cutie mark, so we made him a Crusader. And when we pay his bail, we'll get him out of here and help him get his Cutie Mark."

"Delirious doesn't have a Cutie Mark? Huh." Shaking her head, she realized what the filly had said, "Wait wait wait, how did y'all think you were gonna pay for his bail? It's two hundred bits-"

Something loud shook itself into her head. Turning to her left, she found Scootaloo, still turned away from her as she shook a small burlap sack in the air, the familiar sound of bits tinking together filling the air. Raising a brow, she turned back to Sweetie Belle.

"And just where did y'all get two hundred bits from?"

"It's actually about two-hundred and seventy-four bits," Sweetie Belle explained matter-of-factly. Hearing no response, she turned quickly, "We did some summer work this year and saved it up for Crusaders equipment, but getting Delirious here out is a lot more important. No Crusader Left Behind, Mother Bucker."

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you here, Applejack?"

The mare looked down at her sister. "Ah already paid Delirious' bail outta mah pocket change. Ah came back here so Ah could get 'im out-"

Scootaloo suddenly got up without a word, startling Applejack, who stepped out of the way involuntarily. Watching worriedly as the Pegasus filly walked past her and down the hallway, she perked her ears up.

"Hey li'l miss. What're ya-"

CRASH

"Hey! Those're my-"

CHH

Silence.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya."

Hoofsteps echoed down the hallway, and sure enough, Scootaloo reappeared, burlap sack dragging behind her. She turned, like a hawk, to Applejack. "Open your saddlebags."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Applejack complied, turning her head and unclasping the buckle with her teeth. "There," she said, looking back up at Scootaloo. The filly walked over to her without another word, turning the burlap sack completely upside down and flooding her saddlebags with her two-hundred bits. Looking inside, shocked, Applejack turned to Scootaloo. "You paid with your own bits-"

"Yup," the filly replied, walking back to her scissors and fabric.

"Ya said ya had two-hundred and seventy-four. Where's th' change?"

Scootaloo halted mid-step, holding a hoof in the air. Turning her head slowly, she simply said, "Not yours to worry about," and fell to her haunches, resuming her work of cutting the cape's pieces up.

With the whirring of Apple Bloom's sewing machine, the snipping of Scootaloo's scissors, and the humming of Sweetie Belle's vocals, Applejack blinked in silence, and finally glanced at Delirious, a soft smile on her lips. He didn't even look at her, his expression dark and looking to be completely fed up with everything, crossing his forelegs and sitting on his haunches in a scary hush.

"Delirious?"

He gave no response.

"Are you... are you okay there, Sugarcube?"

He turned toward her, glaring. He growled down in his throat somewhere, and turned back, like an automaton.

"Yer bail's up, so Ah guess y'all can get out now," Applejack said, stepping toward the jail door quickly. Reaching a hoof up to touch the handle, she watched as Sweetie Belle delivered a small smack to the appendage. Recoiling slightly, Applejack seethed. "Sweetie Belle-"

"Yes."

She said it like it was an answer, not a question.

Applejack frowned heavily, unsure of what was going on. Taking a step back, she coughed into a free hoof and wiped her brow, "Whoo! It sure is... uh... hot in here..."

"Apple Bloom-"

"It's currently seventy-two degrees outside, with a slight chance of clouds."

"Thank you, Apple Bloom," Sweetie replied, marking a spot on her measuring tape.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRR

SNIP

"Ah'll... uh... wait outside."

Applejack stepped back uneasily, and turned tail, cantering down the hallway and crossing into the Sheriff's office once more. The stallion behind the wooden desk perked up, looking at her in silence. A large pile of bits sat next to him, scattered across his desk.

"Uh..."

"Ah ain't askin'," Applejack spoke, walking past him and to the row of chairs lining the wall. Taking a seat, she sighed heavily, frowning at nothing in particular. Looking around for something to keep her busy, the silence of the office and the ceiling fan met her gaze. Rolling her eyes, she glared at the floor. Left with nothing to do, she placed her cheeks into her hooves, shut her eyes, and decided to get some rest.

Applejack awoke to the sound of hoofsteps clicking against concrete. Straightening herself in her seat, she wiped the drool from her mouth and looked toward the entrance to the jail cells. Two heartbeats later, Delirious walked out in silence, a large red cape around his neck. Behind him emerged Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom. Scootaloo pulled up the rear, and suddenly stopped as the other three halted in the middle of the room, turning toward the Sheriff as one.

He gulped. Loudly.

Delirious hissed like an animal, eyes narrowed in feral anger. Pulling his head back, he watched as Scootaloo walked past the three, standing in front of the Sheriff's desk, still as a statue. Eyes peering down at the surface, she glanced back up at the stallion. Suddenly, she threw a foreleg across his desk, the papers previously atop it now flying into the air. The Sheriff got up out of his chair slightly, but sat back down as Delirious hissed again.

Scootaloo smiled slyly at the uniformed stallion, her eyes peering to her right. Swiftly, she grabbed the can of soda, downing it in a few short gulps. Throwing it back down on the desk, she looked to her left and found his cup of pencils and pens. Picking one up, she held it in two hooves. Applying pressure, she snapped it in half and looked for a reaction in the Sheriff's face. Finding the already prior look of fear, she dropped the pencil halves on the floor, turned on her heel, and joined the other three as they filed out of the Sheriff's Office.

Applejack stood in silence, a look of shock on her face. Looking over to the Sheriff, he slunk back in his seat, avoiding her gaze. Narrowing her eyes and scanning the area in front of her, she looked back at him, smiled, and tipped her hat with a chillingly cheerful call.

"G'day, Sheriff."

Author's Notes:

See? You should have listened. Here's this week's chapter. I got it done early, and I had a really hard time saving it for this Friday.